SOURCE SECTION: salvian_gov_07_book .htm
Salvian, On the Government of God (1930) pp.189-223. Book 7
Salvian, On the Government of God (1930) pp.189-223. Book 7
Book VII.: Wherein Roman vice is contrasted with Vandal virtue
1. On the wretched gaiety of Rome.
2. On the corruption of southern Gaul.
3. On the lusts of its men.
4. The corruption of their households.
5. That their vices are increased by their distress.
6. On the chastity of the Goths.
7. The Vandals in Spain.
8. The punishment due to presumption.
9. Humility and pride.
10. God's judgment in time of battle.
11. The judgment of God shown in the strength of the enemy.
12. On the invasions of the barbarians.
13. The Vandals in Africa.
14. Their devastation of Africa.
15. The wickedness of Africa.
16. Its obscenity.
17. The corruption of the African churches.
18. The continuance of their general guilt.
19. Their prevalent vice of effeminacy.
20. The contrast between the Romans and the Vandals.
21. On the discipline of the Vandals.
22. On the reform of Africa.
23. On the regulation of marriage.
[Translated by Eva M. Sanford]
THE SEVENTH BOOK
1. My description, at the end of the previous book, of the weakness and misery of the Romans, may seem to be at variance with my general proposition. I admitted that the very people who, as pagans, conquered and ruled the world, are being conquered and enslaved, now that they have become Christians. Is not this clear evidence of God's neglect of human affairs? The charge is easily refuted by what I said long ago about the pagan nations. Those who know the law of God and neglect it are more guilty than those who fail to observe it through lack of knowledge.
However, if God is willing, since we have reached the point in our undertaking at which something should be said of the old Romans, we shall, with God's help, prove that his favor to them in the past was as just as is his present severity toward us, and that his help to them in former times was as fully deserved as is our punishment now.1
Would that this same punishment were of benefit to us! Much harder and more grievous than punishment is the fact that no amendment follows. The Lord wishes to cure us by his chastisement, but improvement does not result. How can we explain this evil? Cattle and flocks are cured by surgery; when the diseased organs of mules, asses and swine have been cauterized they acknowledge the healing effect of the fire, and at once when the corruption of the infected parts has been burned away or cut out, living flesh grows in place of the dead tissue. But we are burned and cut, yet are not healed by the surgeon's tools or the burning of the cautery. |190 What is more serious, such care makes us even worse. It is not mere chance that we undergo the same treatment as flocks and cattle afflicted by incurable diseases. For in all parts of the world, since the healing care that is given us has no effect, our lives are being brought to an end by death and destruction. Indeed, not to repeat what I said some time ago, how can we define these disorders except by saying that we are at the same time living in misery and in luxury? Grant that luxury is the vice of the fortunate (though no one can be both infamous and happy at the same time, since there is no true happiness without honor), grant that these are the vices of a long peace and plentiful security, why then are they found where there is no longer peace or security? Almost throughout the Roman world peace and security have ceased. Why do only the vices they engender survive? Who can tolerate licentiousness in a needy man? Wantonness in poverty earns the more reproach, and a worthless fellow is more heavily censured if his condition is wretched.
The whole Roman world is at once wretched and voluptuous. What poor man is also wanton? What man awaiting captivity thinks of the circus? Who laughs in the shadow of death? Yet we, in the fear of captivity, continue to frequent the games, and shadowed by the fear of death, we laugh. You would think the whole Roman people had been steeped in Sardonic herbs:2 they are dying, yet they laugh. So in almost every part of the world tears follow close upon our laughter; and the saying of our Lord comes home to us at the present time: "Woe unto you that laugh, for ye shall weep." 3
2. The great length at which I have spoken of the disgraceful character of the public spectacles may have led you to assume that the abstinence of the barbarians from this particular vice of |191 ours is their only point of moral superiority to us, inasmuch as we are not polluted as they are by the crime of carnal lust and the filth of mortal fornication. Let us then, if you please, compare the Romans in this respect also with other nations. I cannot indeed think of any with whom we may be more justly compared than those whom God has put into the very bosom of the state and made owners and lords of the Roman land. Although there was absolutely no ground to dispute his judgment in this, still, since he has taken away from us the best part of our territory, and given it to the barbarians, let us see whether he seems to have exercised justice in this transfer.
No one questions that the Aquitanians and the Nine Peoples 4 had the very marrow of the Gallic provinces, rich in every sort of fertility, and not in fertility alone, but in qualities sometimes ranked above this, charm, beauty and luxury. Almost all that district is still covered with close-planted vines, flowering meadows, plowed fields, fruit orchards, charming groves, springing fountains, flowing streams or waving grain, so that the owners and masters of the land truly seem to have taken for their own not so much a section of ground as a likeness of paradise. What conclusion can be drawn from this? Unquestionably those men ought to have been more fervent in service to God whom he had especially enriched by the most abundant evidence of his favor. What is more right and fitting than that those whom their Lord seemed especially to have favored by his gifts should themselves make an earnest effort to please him by their religious worship, particularly since God lays no heavy or burdensome demands on us? For he does not call on us to plow or hoe, to spade up the earth or prepare the ground for vines, nor, to sum up, does he exact from his slaves what we require of ours. What does he himself say? "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest; take my yoke |192 upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly of heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls; for my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." 5
So we see that the Lord calls us not to labor but to rest. What does he exact of us, what does he order us to offer him, save only faith, chastity, humility, sobriety, mercy and sanctity? All these assuredly do not burden but adorn us. Nor is this all; they adorn our present life to the end that they may adorn even more the life to come. O good and loving master, of inestimable mercy! He has given us the gifts of religion at the present time that he may later reward us for the gifts he now gives! These virtues, then, all the Aquitanians should have cultivated, and indeed, as I said before, they should have made more especial efforts in this direction, since they had received the especial gifts of God. What resulted from their prosperity? What was bound to result? Was it not the exact reverse of what should have happened? In all the provinces of Gaul these men who are first in wealth, are first also in vice: nowhere is pleasure more shameless, life more vicious, or moral standards more corrupt. This is the return they have given God for his sacred gifts, that as far as by his generosity he had drawn them to his favor, so far they by their abuse have labored to arouse his anger.
3. Or is this perhaps false, and are all my statements due to envy rather than truth? I shall not use the method of proof some men employ in the courts, bringing in as witnesses outsiders or persons unsuitable to testify for some other reason. I shall cross-question the very men by whom these things have been done. I have spoken falsely if they deny me. They confess, and indeed, which is much more serious, they confess without any apparent grief. For now in their confession they have the same attitude as in their commission of the fault. Just as then they were not ashamed to perform disgraceful acts, so now they do not in the least repent having |193 performed them. We must indeed make exception for a very small number of men distinguished for their holiness, who, as one of their number has said, "have given their wealth to redeem their crime." 6 Of these we must make an exception, men who, we believe, were actually guilty only of lesser crimes even in the midst of the almost universal entanglements of vice, and who merited conversion by God's divine power. Now one for whom favor is reserved has not been altogether injurious to his master in his actions. What more can I say? I think that a man whom God has persuaded at last to cease from his wrongdoing has always had God in mind, even in the midst of his error.
The rest, however, at least the great majority and the most noble, are all very nearly of a kind: the intemperance of all is a devouring whirlpool, their life a brothel. Why should I speak of brothels? Even those I think are less wicked than the men of whom I spoke. For the prostitutes in them have not experienced the marriage bond, and so do not defile what they do not know; their shameless lives require atonement, it is true, but they are not liable to the charge of adultery. Add to this that such haunts are few, and few the prostitutes who have condemned themselves to a most unhappy life in them. Among the Aquitanians, on the other hand, what city in its richest and most elegant quarters was not practically a brothel? What rich and powerful man did not live in lustful vice? Who among them did not plunge into the pit of the most sordid associations? Who honored his wife by a faithful observance of his marriage vows? Nay, as far as passive endurance of their lust is concerned, who among them did not reduce his wife to the status of his maidservants and degrade the sacrament of holy matrimony so far that no woman in the house was made to seem more |194 contemptible by her husband's conduct than she who was made chief in it by the dignity of marriage?
4. Perhaps some one is thinking that what I say is not strictly accurate; for the matrons of southern Gaul did continue to exercise their rights and to hold honor and power as mistresses of their households. That is true. Many of them indeed did keep unimpaired their right of government, but scarcely one kept her marriage rights unpolluted. Our present object of investigation is not the power of women, but the infamous conduct of their husbands. However, I should not even say that the matrons kept their power uninjured, since a wife who has not kept her connubial rights safe and inviolate has not kept her full rights of domination. When the master of the house acts as husband of the maidservants, the mistress is not far removed from the mean position of the slave. Who among the rich men of Aquitania did not so act? Who among them has not been considered by his shameless maids, and with good, reason, as either adulterer or husband? For, as the prophet said: ''They were as fed horses in the morning; everyone neighed after his neighbor's wife." 7 Those of whom he spoke sinned perhaps less grievously, and, I think, with less intention of wrong than did our men. The Aquitanians more truly resembled the post horses: they whinnied not after a few women merely, but after all their household maids ---- that is, after their own herds ---- and, like those; beasts called the stallions of the herd, they waxed wanton with the heat of their intoxicating passion, and attacked whatever woman was first exposed to the onslaught of their shameless lust. Since this is the case, I ask the wise what sort of families they think were found where such men were heads of the households? What corruption do they think there would be among the slaves, where there Avas such great vice among the masters? For if the head is diseased no part of the body is sound, and no member performs its functions when the dominating part is not functioning. Moreover, |195 the master's relation to his house is that of the head to the body, its very life, setting up standards of living for all its members. The most unfortunate aspect of the matter is that all follow the worse example more readily, and evil associations corrupt good manners more easily than good ones will correct the evil. Furthermore, since even good and honorable heads of families cannot make their slaves good, what do you think becomes of the household morality when the master himself sets an example of lewdness? And yet in such a case we have not only an example of immorality but a sort of enforced necessity, since the slave women are compelled to obey their wanton masters against their will, and the lust of those in power is the compulsion of their subjects. From this we may see how great was the filth of shameless vice when women subject to the most depraved of masters were not allowed to be chaste even when they wished.
5. It may be difficult, you think, to prove this, and no traces are likely to be found remaining of the past debauchery and lust. See, then, how many of these men, even though they no longer have any country, and are living as paupers in comparison with their past wealth, are really worse than before. They are worse not only in that they continue to live as they did formerly, but in the very fact that their crimes never cease. Indeed their evil deeds, though not worse than before in character, are more numerous; thus, even though no new devices lend novelty to their sins, the number of their misdoings is increased.
Add to this that, as I have said, it is old men, and poor ones, who live in such a fashion; for each of these points increases the evil. Surely it is less shocking for young men and rich to sin. But what hope of cure is there for men who are not recalled from their wonted vice either by miserable poverty or by extreme age? Some of them, I suppose, are relying on a foolish assurance of long life or the intention of eventual penitence; is it not a strange prodigy that men should be given over to vice even at the very time of |196 death? This being the case, what more can be said? I add one more point, however, that many are living in this fashion today, even among the enemy, and subject as captives to daily fear and danger, and although it was on account of the excessive wickedness of their lives that God surrendered them into the hands of the enemy, they do not forsake their vice even among the barbarians.
6. Perhaps those among whom they now live are of such a character that these vices please them, and they would be most grievously offended if they were to see the Romans living chastely in the midst of their vices. If this were the ease, still the wickedness of others ought not to make us wicked. It should be of more importance in every man's eyes to be good on his own account than to be wicked for another. We should strive to please God by our uprightness rather than men by our vices. Consequently, even if a man lives among unchaste barbarians, he ought to seek chastity, which is of service to him, rather than lewdness, which pleases his lustful enemies. But note a point that serves to increase our guilt: among chaste barbarians we ourselves are unchaste.8 I shall say even more; the barbarians themselves are offended by our vices. Among the Goths no one is permitted to indulge in fornication; only the Romans in their land, by national and titular prerogative, are allowed this vice. What hope, I ask, have we then in the sight of God? We love vice, while the Goths execrate it; we flee from purity, while they love it; fornication with them is a perilous vice, but with us a mark of honor. Do we think that we can stand before God, do we think that we can attain salvation, when every crime of impurity, every disgraceful vice, is committed by the Romans and censured by the barbarians? At this point I ask those who consider us better than the barbarians to tell me which of these evils are committed by even a very few of the Goths, and which of them are not committed by all or nearly all of the Romans? Yet |197 we wonder that the lands of the Aquitanians and of us all have been given by God to the barbarians, though those same barbarians are now purifying by their chastity the places polluted by the fornication of the Romans.
7. Is this the case in Aquitania alone? Let us pass under review other parts of the world also, and not speak exclusively of the Gauls. Have not the same crimes or greater ones destroyed the provinces of Spain? Even if the divine wrath had handed these lands over to any other barbarians you might name, the enemies of chastity in them would have suffered tortures worthy of their vices. But as an added evidence of the condemnation of their shamelessness they were delivered into the hands of the Vandals, the most shamefast of barbarians. In the captivity of Spain God wished to give a twofold evidence of his hatred of carnal lust and love of chastity, when he put the Vandals in command solely on account of their preeminent chastity and subjected the Spaniards to them solely on account of their surpassing lewdness. What do I mean by this? Were there not anywhere in the world stronger barbarians to whom the Spanish lands might be surrendered? Many, without doubt, nay, all of them were stronger, if I am not mistaken.9 But he handed the people of Spain over to the weakest of the enemy expressly to show that it was not the strength but the merit of the Vandals that conquered, and that we were not being overwhelmed by the power of our foes, who then seemed most unheroic, but only by the wickedness of our vices, that the saying of the Lord to the Jews might be fulfilled in us: ''According to their uncleanness and according to their transgressions have I done unto them, and hid my face from them.'' 10 Elsewhere speaking to the same people, he said: ''The Lord shall bring a nation against them from far... |198 with the hoofs of his horses shall they tread down all thy streets; they shall slay thy people by the sword." 11
So all that the Lord said has been fulfilled in us, and our punishment has vindicated the force of his divine words.
8. Since the majority of barbarian nations have drunk Roman blood and torn our flesh, we may ask why it is especially into the power of those once considered the most cowardly of the enemy that the Lord has delivered the greatest resources of the state and the wealthiest people who bear the Roman name. Why else indeed, except to make us recognize, as I said before, that the outcome depended on merit, not on strength, and that this should serve to confound and punish us, that we were given into the power of the weakest, and must recognize the correction of God's hand in the fact that not the bravest but the most despised of our enemies overcame us. For we read that whenever God has willed that men should clearly see his great works, the action has been performed through the medium of a few men, of men of the lowest sort, so that his divine handwork might not be ascribed to human power.
Thus indeed Sisera, the captain before whom the Hebrew army trembled, was laid low by a woman;12 a woman's hand struck down Abimelech, the stormer of cities,13 and the ironclad hosts of the Assyrians were routed by the help of a widow. Not to speak of women only, did not the Lord wish Benedad, king of Syria, whom thirty-two kings and armies of like proportions served, as well as countless thousands of his own people, to be conquered by a few serving-men, so that God himself might be recognized as the author of so great a victory?14 Against the Midianites also, who, as the Book of Judges relates, had filled all the land like locusts, Gideon was ordered to fight with a few men, not because he had not more in his army, but he was forbidden to lead many men to battle for |199 fear that a multitude might claim some share in the victory as their own. When Gideon had gathered together thirty thousand armed men, the Lord spoke thus to him: "The people that are with thee are too many for me to give Midian into their hands."15 What followed? He left Gideon, to fight against countless thousands of barbarians, only three hundred men. Indeed, he commanded the force of soldiers to be reduced to such a scanty number in order that their lack of men might prevent any claim of credit for a victory divinely won. Why he did this, the Lord himself declared most plainly: "Lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying: 'Mine own hand hath saved me.' ''
Let all the wicked hearken, I say, let all the presumptuous hearken, and all who excel in power; let all men hear what the Lord says: "Lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, 'Mine own hand hath saved me.' "
9. Let all men hear, I repeat, who utter blasphemies against the Lord, let all hear who put their trust in man. God declares that all men speak against him who presume to think that they can be freed by their own might. Who is there among the Romans who does not hold this opinion? Who is there in our number who does not blaspheme in this respect almost constantly? It is common knowledge that the state has no longer any strength, yet not even now do we acknowledge to whose favor we owe it that we still live. Whenever God gives us a degree of prosperity beyond our hopes and deserts, one man ascribes it to fate, another to chance, another to the strategy of our leaders, another to their foresight, another to the administration, another to his patron, but none to God.
Yet we wonder that his divine hand fails to give us some things for which we wish, though we deny him credit for what he has given in the past. What else are we doing, when we ascribe the good things he gives us to the blind workings of chance, the ability of our leaders, or any other minor agencies? Following such |200 arguments we ought to thank the earth for our yearly harvests, the vineyards for the vintage, the sea for hauls of fish, the forests for the wood we cut, the sheep for our clothing, and other beasts for the meat with which we are filled. What sense is there in our willingness to be grateful to God for his other gifts when we deny him gratitude for his greatest benefits? What man of our condition would be satisfied to have another thank him for some minor favor if he had denied him credit for his greatest gifts? So though we cannot thank God worthily, we shall fall far short of what is due him if we are grateful to him only for the means of daily life, and withhold from him our gratitude for helping us in time of trouble, freeing us in the midst of dangers and preserving us by his constant protection when we are placed in the midst of barbarous nations.
Not so do the Goths or the Vandals regard him, being better in this respect than ourselves, though trained by heretical teachers. However, I have grounds to suspect that certain men are offended by what I say. Since the truth must outweigh the fear of giving offence I shall say it nevertheless, and say it repeatedly: not so do the Goths or the Vandals act, for when they are in danger they beg help of God and they call their prosperity the gift of his divine love. In fact our misfortune in the last war furnished proof of this difference between us. For the Goths through fear put their hope in God, and we through presumption put ours in the Huns. The Goths sought peace and we denied it; they sent bishops to make terms and we rejected them; they honored God even in the person of alien priests and we despised him in our own. Was not the outcome of these events consonant with the actions of each side? To them in the depths of fear was given the palm of victory; to us in the height of confidence was given confusion, so that the words of our Lord were clearly exemplified in us and in them: "For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased, and he that |201 humbleth himself shall be exalted." 16 To them was given exaltation for their humility and to us humiliation for our pride.
10. This the general of our forces learned when he entered as a captive the same city of the enemy that he had boasted he would enter that same day as victor.17 He proved indeed the words of the prophet: "For a man's way is not his own, nor is it in his own power to walk and direct his steps.''18 Since he thought his actions were under his own control, he could neither direct his steps nor find the way of safety. So we read: "He poureth contempt upon the prince and causeth him to wander in the wilderness where there is no way.... He has been brought to nothing, even as the waters which run continually." 19 In him, indeed, in addition to his actual misfortune, the present judgment of God was clearly shown. He has endured all the sufferings that he had boasted he would inflict on others. Because he trusted that the enemy could be taken without God's aid and consent, he has himself been captured; he claimed foreknowledge and wisdom and has met with disgrace for his presumption; he himself has worn the chains he prepared for others.
What clearer proof, I ask, could there have been of the judgment of God, than that the general who boasted of plundering should be counted as booty; that he who counted his triumph already won should be led in another's triumph ---- be surrounded, seized, and bound, his arms twisted behind his back; that he should see those hands tied whose prowess he vaunted; that he should become a spectacle for women and children, see barbarians making sport of him, endure the derision of both sexes, and though he had |202 the greatest pride in his bravery, meet a coward's death? Would that this might have been a speedy cure for his wrongdoing, without longer suffering! But, as befits the greatness of his punishment, wasted by the days of his captivity and by the prolonged anguish of a barbarian prison,20 he was reduced to such misery that he roused the pity of the enemy, and this most men think harder and more bitter to bear than the imprisonment itself. Why did these things happen? Surely because, as I have already indicated, the enemy were humble before God, whereas we were rebellious; they believed the victory lay in his hand, we that it lay in our own ---- a sacrilegious and wicked conception that makes our sin so much the worse and more injurious to us. Lastly, we learn from an authentic report that the king of the enemy21 himself lay on haircloth and prayed up to the very day of the conflict; when battle was imminent he lay in prayer, and rose only to fight. Before he assumed command in the battle he fought in prayer, and so went forth to the fight with confidence in a victory already earned by his prayers.
11. Moreover, the experience of the Vandals was not dissimilar: when our people went against them in Spain and had as much confidence in a complete victory as they had recently against the Goths, the same overweening pride engulfed them in the same disastrous ruin.22 Then the words of the prophet were fulfilled for our army: "The Lord shall reject thy confidence and thou shalt not prosper in it."23
For we trusted in our own wisdom and strength against the |203 command of the Lord, who said: "Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither the mighty man in his might, but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord." 24
So we have not been conquered undeservedly, for the enemy sought better aid than we did. While we prided ourselves on arms and auxiliaries, on the side of the enemy the Book of the Divine Law opposed us. To its help most of all the fear and terror of the Vandals then resorted, to oppose to us the Divine Word and to open up to those who came against them in rivalry the writings of the Sacred Book which may be called the very voice of God. At this point I ask: who of our number ever did this, or who would not have been derided if he had thought it should be done? He would have been scorned indeed, as almost all religious acts are derided among us. Then what value can our claim to a religious title have for us, what use is it to say we are catholic, to boast that we possess the true faith, to despise the Goths and Vandals, reviling them as heretics, when we are living in a truly heretical depravity? The words of the Divine Scripture addressed to the Jews who trusted in the law are most fittingly applied to us: "How do you say, 'We are wise and the law of the Lord is with us?'... Trust ye not in lying words, saying, 'The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, are these.' For if ye thoroughly amend your ways and your doings; if ye oppress not the stranger and the fatherless and the widow and shed not innocent blood in this place, then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I gave to your fathers for ever and ever.'' 25 By this surely it is shown that if we do not amend our ways, it is useless for us to vaunt our claims to Catholicism.
Enough of this has been said already, and more must perhaps be said later, though there seems little need to discuss the point |204 further, since the judgment of God is constantly manifested. Recent history shows his verdict both upon us and upon the Goths and Vandals; they increase daily while we diminish; they gain in power while we are humbled; they flourish and we wither away. So the words of the Holy Scriptures concerning Saul and David may be truly spoken of us also: ''David waxed stronger and stronger, and the house of Saul waxed weaker and weaker."26 For the Lord is righteous, as the prophet says: "He is righteous and his judgments are upright." 27
12. We are judged by the ever-present judgment of God, and thus a most slothful race has been aroused to accomplish our destruction and shame. They go from place to place, from city to city, and destroy everything. First they poured out from their native land into Germany, which lay nearest them, a country called barbarous, but under Roman control. After its destruction, the country of the Belgae burst into flames, then the rich estates of the luxurious Aquitanians, and after these the whole body of the Gallic provinces. This ruin spread gradually, however, in order that while one part was being visited with destruction, another might be reformed by its example.28 But when has there been any amendment among us, or what part of the Roman world, whatever its affliction, is corrected by it? As we read: "They are all gone out of the way, they are altogether become useless."29 And in like manner the prophet cried out to the Lord, saying: "Thou hast stricken them but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction; they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return.''30 |205
How truly this applies to us the present situation shows. Gaul long endured devastation; did Spain, her near neighbor, mend her ways? Not undeservedly, since they showed no fear whatever, and no reform, the people of Spain began to catch fire from the flames by which the Gauls were consumed.31 The worst and most evil aspect of all this is, as I have said before, that the fires which, to speak figuratively, consumed the bodies of these sinful men, did not burn away their vices.
Thus God has been compelled by our crimes to scatter the enemy's forces as a scourge for our sins, from place to place, from city to city, and to send nations aroused almost from the very ends of the earth even across the sea, to punish the crimes of our people in Africa. Why was this? Having been led forth from their own country, could the Vandals not have remained within the Gallic states? Could fear have prevented these tribes from abiding there, who had already devastated all the land without injury from us? But suppose they had cause for alarm in Gaul, why should they have feared to settle and stay in Spain, where they had completely crushed our armies in battle, where they were already triumphantly victorious, having reached such a height of valor as to learn that after trial in a war long anticipated, the strength of the Roman state, even with barbarian reinforcements, could not equal theirs?
13. They could have stayed there, then, and were not afraid, but surely the heavenly hand that had dragged them thither to punish the vices of the Spanish compelled them also to cross the straits to devastate Africa. In fact, they themselves confessed that they did not act of their own volition, for they were driven and urged on by a divine command. From this we may learn how great are our misdoings, since to destroy and punish us the barbarians are compelled |206 to move against their will, following the words of the devastator of the land of Israel, the king of the Assyrians, when he said: '' And now without the will of the Lord am I come up against this land? The Lord said unto me, 'Go up against this land, to destroy it.' " 32 And elsewhere the Sacred Word says: "Therefore thus saith the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel: 'Behold, I will send and take Nabuchodonosor 33 the king of Babylon, my servant, and when he cometh, he shall smite the land of Egypt.' " 34
From this we may know that all things which are afflicted are indeed smitten by the judgment of God; their overthrow, however, as I have often remarked, is due to sin. So whatever is done on account of sin is not to be ascribed to God, since a deed is rightly ascribed to that cause which has made it unavoidable. For example, a murderer sentenced to death by the judge is actually punished by his own crime; a thief or a man who has committed sacrilege is consumed not by the flames that burn his body, but by his own sin. Whence we see that the Vandals did not cross to Africa because of God's severity but because of the sins of the Romans in that country. By their grave and long continued iniquity these people were forcing the Vandals to come before they actually left their native land. Therefore we must understand that only God's mercy postponed the punishment so long due, and their misdeeds and crimes at length brought upon these sinful people the chastisement they deserved. Or are we to believe that they did not deserve their fate? Have any people better deserved ruin than these, in whom all sorts of shameful and indecent lust have flourished at once? For the rest of the world, though bound by some disgraceful vices, has some virtue still remaining: men who are subject to drunkenness are free from malevolence; those who live in a fever of lust do not suffer from raging greed; finally, many who are |207 accused of physical incontinence are commended by the simplicity of their minds. But among the people of Africa, with few exceptions, you will find none with an equal measure of good and evil, for almost the whole population is evil. So the purity of their original nature has been shut out and their vices have, as it were, created a new character among them.
14. Indeed, aside from a very few servants of God, what was the whole territory of Africa but one house of vice, like that bronze vessel of which the prophet said: "Woe to the bloody city! to the bronze vessel whose scum is therein, and whose scum hath not gone out from it, because the blood shall not go out from it!" 35 He compared the city, as we see, to a bronze vessel and its iniquity to blood, that we might know that the iniquity of the people in a city is like blood seething in a brazen pot. And again, not unlike this is another saying of the Sacred Word: "The houses of Israel have all been made a mixture before me of brass and iron and tin and lead, in the midst is silver mixed with the mass. Therefore say this; thus saith the Lord God: 'Inasmuch as ye are all made one mass I shall blow upon you and melt you in the fires of my wrath.' " 36
How are the very dissimilar metals that the Scriptures have named melted together in one furnace? Surely in the diversity of metals the unlike qualities of men are figured. Thus even silver, that is, metal of the nobler sort, is cast in the same fires as the rest because men have debased the gifts of their nobler natures by their degenerate lives. Even so we read that the Lord spoke also of the king of Tyre through his prophet: ''Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, 'Thus saith the Lord God: thou hast been the seal of likeness, and a crown of beauty in the delights of paradise; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius and topaz and emerald.' " 37 Again he says: |208 ''With silver and with gold hast thou filled thy treasuries, from the multitude of commerce hast thou filled thy storehouses." 38 Do not all these things seem to have been said expressly of the people of Africa? Where are greater treasuries, where is greater commerce, where are fuller storehouses? "With gold," he says, "hast thou filled thy treasuries from the multitude of thy commerce." I add more: Africa was once so rich that the abundance of her commerce seems to have filled not only her own treasuries but those of the whole world as well.
What did the prophet say next? '' Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, because of the multitude of thine iniquities have I cast thee to the ground." 39 How does this apply to the power of Africa, and how does that land seem to have been laid prostrate on the ground? How except that when she lost the height of her former power, she also lost her almost celestial honor? "And I shall bring forth," said the prophet, "a fire from the midst of thee, it shall devour thee." ' 40 What could be truer than this? The fire of sin went forth from the midst of their iniquity, and devoured the happiness of former times. "And all they that know thee among the people shall be sore afflicted over thee." 41 We might think that this phrase did not apply to them, were it not that the destruction of Africa is the sorrow of the human race. "Thou art become destruction," said the prophet, "and never shalt thou be any more." 42 It is only too well known that everything in that province has been completely destroyed; all that we can do is to prevent those evils which are now being punished from being continued forever.
15. May God in his merciful kindness not permit this! Indeed, as far us the deserts of our crimes are concerned, there is no reason |209 why he should not. What misdeeds are not constantly committed there? I shall not speak of them all, for their enormity is such that they cannot be known or discussed. I shall talk chiefly of the obscene nature of their indecencies, and, which is more serious still, of their acts of sacrilege. I pass over their insane greed, a vice shared by the whole human race; I pass over their inhuman avarice, an evil characteristic of most of the Romans; let their drunkenness be left unmentioned, since it is common to noble and base alike; let swelling pride be omitted, for this is so particularly the province of the rich, that they would perhaps think they were losing something of their just due if anyone else wished to claim any share in it. Finally, let almost all the wickedness involving frauds, forgeries and perjuries be passed over, for no Roman city was ever free from these evils. Yet this crime was the especial prerogative of all the people of Africa. For just as the filth of a boat is washed down into the bilge water in its depths, so vices seem to have flowed into their habits from the whole world. I know of no wickedness that did not abound there, whereas even pagan and barbarous nations, though they have evil ways especially characteristic of their own races, still do not merit reproach in all things. The race of the Goths is treacherous but chaste, the Alans unchaste but not treacherous; the Franks are deceitful but hospitable, the Saxons savage in their cruelty but admirable for their chastity; to conclude, all races have their own peculiar vices accompanied by their own good qualities. But among the people of Africa practically without exception there is nothing but evil. If inhumanity is the subject of our accusation they are inhuman; if drunkenness, they are drunken; if falsehood, they are most false; if deceit,, they are unexcelled in deceitfulness; if greed, they are surpassingly greedy; if perfidy, theirs is unequalled. Their impurity and blasphemy must not be confused with these other sins, since in the evils of which I have spoken above they have surpassed the vices of other nations, but in these they have outdone their own. |210
16. To speak first of their impurity ---- who does not know that all Africa has always flamed with the torches of obscenity, so that you would think it not a land and abiding place of men, but an Aetna of unclean fires? As Aetna has always seethed with certain inner flames of heat implanted in it by nature, so also has Africa with the abominable fires of fornication. I do not wish you to believe my words alone in this matter, but to seek the corroboration of the whole human race. Who can fail to recognize that all the people of Africa are unchaste unless they happen to have been converted to God, and changed by their religious faith? This however is as rare and strange as to see a Gaius who is not a Gaius or a Seius who is not a Seius.43 It is as unusual and rare for an African not to be unchaste as for him not to be an African.
So general is the vice of impurity among them that whoever ceases to be indecent seems to be no longer an African. I shall not discuss the individual cities nor mention all the different localities, for fear of seeming to search out examples too curiously. I shall content myself with one city instead, the chief of all the cities of that land, and in a way the mother of them all, the eternal rival of Rome's citadel, of old in arms and courage, afterwards in splendor and dignity. It is Carthage of which I speak, the greatest rival of the city of Rome, and a sort of Rome in the African world; she alone suffices as an example and witness of my words, since she has contained within herself all the resources and governance of statecraft in the world.
There you would find all the appurtenances of the public offices, schools of the liberal arts, the studies of the philosophers, training schools in languages and ethics; there also were military forces and the powers that control the army, there was the office of the |211 proconsul, there the daily judge and ruler of the province ---- in name, indeed, proconsul, but in power a very consul; there lastly were the administrators of the state properties, their honors differing from one another in rank and name ---- procurators, as I may call them, of the public streets and crossroads ---- governing all the wards of the city and all sections of the people. With this one city we may well be content as an example of the others, and as evidence of their condition, so that having seen the character of the city where the officials have always been of the highest grade, we may infer what those towns were like that had the supervision of less honored men.
At this point I almost repent of my promise made above, to omit almost all the vices of the people of this province and to speak chiefly of their obscenities and blasphemies. For I see the city overflowing with vice, boiling over with every sort of iniquity ----full indeed of people, but even fuller of dishonor, full of riches but fuller still of vice; men striving to outdo one another in depravity and lust, some vying with their mates in rapacity, others in indecency. Some are languid with wine, others distended with feasting-, some garlanded with flowers, others smeared with unguents, all wasted by various forms of dissipation, but sunk in the same mortal error. Not all, indeed, were intoxicated with winebibbing-, but all were drunk with their sins.
You would judge such a people lacking in sanity, not in full possession of their senses, steady neither in mind nor in gait, attacking each other in a mob like drunken men. Now we must consider also another charge of a serious kind, unlike this in its nature but not unlike it in gravity, unless its greatness sets it in a different class. I mean the proscriptions of orphans, the afflictions of widows and the crucifixion of the poor. All these made their moan daily to God, and prayed for an end of their sufferings. Nay, what is worse, they were sometimes driven by their bitter woes even to pray for the arrival of the enemy. These have now at last obtained from |212 God the privilege of enduring with the rest such ruin from the barbarians as they formerly suffered alone from the Romans!
17. But let us pass over these matters, for they may be paralleled in practically every part of the Roman world, and I promised to mention them only briefly. As to the unchastity and impurity which I have been discussing, would these not have been sufficient of themselves to destroy Africa? What part of the state was not full of indecency, what street or bypath was not a place of shame? Lust had so cut off most of the crossroads and streets with its snares, and entangled them with its nets, that even those who utterly abhorred such vices could scarcely avoid them. You might compare them to brigands lurking in ambush and snatching their spoils from passers-by; they so hedged in the paths, the winding roads and byways with their close-set traps, that scarcely anyone could be cautious enough not to fall into some of their treacherous snares, however many he escaped. All the citizens reeked, if I may use the expression, with the stench of lust, all inhaled the fetid odors of their mutual impurity. Yet this horrid condition inspired no loathing in them, for the same plague had infected them all. You would think the city a sinkpot of lust and fornication, like the muck collected from the offscourings of all the streets and sewers. What hope could there be in such a place, where, except for the temple of the Lord, there was nothing to be seen but filth?
Yet why should I except the temple of God? The church was, to be sure, completely under the care of the priests and clergy, whom I prefer not to discuss. I am bound by reverence for my Lord's ministry, and think that those men who served at the altars alone preserved their purity, as we read that Lot stood alone on the mountain when the people of Sodom perished. As for the people, however, who among such countless numbers was chaste? Chaste, did I say? Who was not guilty of fornication, or adultery, and that too without ceasing? Therefore must I cry out again ---- what hope could there be in that people? One adulterer sometimes |213 pollutes a whole church congregation, but there you could scarcely find one chaste man among thousands, if you searched most diligently, even in the church.
I have much more than this to say. Would that what I have said included the whole accusation, and that these men in their indecency had been content to satisfy their lust with fornication of fallen women only! Their fault was still more serious and wicked than this, for nearly all the vices of which the blessed apostle Paul complained so bitterly existed in Africa. "The men leaving the natural use of women burned in their lust toward one another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient." 44 Was it not of barbarous and savage races that the blessed apostle spoke? Nay verily, but of us, that is, expressly of the Romans, whom indeed the people of Africa, since they were not able of old to overcome them in power and might, have now outdone in the only way left to them, to wit, in lust. Whoever thinks he has a right to be angry at my words should rather be incensed at the apostle, for what I have said of the character of the inhabitants of Africa, he once said of their masters, the Romans.
18. Perhaps the vices of which I spoke were hidden, or the men in charge of the public morals in different places took care that the diffusion of such crimes should not sully the eyes of the people. If this had been done, however many had been defiled by the actions themselves, all would not have been injured by the sight and thought of them. However disgraceful a vice is, it does not as a rule deserve full credence when it is committed secretly. But to commit the greatest sins and feel no shame for what one has done, demands censure passing that of the sins themselves. What more prodigious wrong could have been performed there? In a |214 Christian city, in a church which the apostles founded by their teachings,45 which martyrs had crowned by their passion, men took upon themselves the functions of women, without any shame to cloak their action, without the shield of modesty; as if their sin would be too slight if only the authors of these evils were stained by them, through the public knowledge of their vice it became the wrong-doing of the whole city. The entire city saw this and suffered it, the judges saw and condoned it, the people saw and applauded, and thus when fellowship in disgraceful lust was spread through the city, the general consent made it common to all. But, you say, perhaps there was at length an end to the evil and some emendation of the wrong. Who could believe or even hear calmly that men converted to a feminine passivity not only their natural functions but even their looks, their step, their clothing and everything characteristic of the male sex and appearance? So completely was nature reversed in them that although nothing should be more shameful to men than to seem to have any feminine characteristics,46 nothing seemed to certain of these men more disgraceful than to seem in any respect masculine.
19. You may argue that this disgrace was that of a few men only, and what was not perpetrated by the majority could not injure all. Indeed, I have said before that very often among the people of God the crime even of one man has been the ruin of many, as the people were betrayed by the theft of Achar, a pestilence arose from the jealousy of Saul, and a plague came from the numbering of the people by the blessed David. For the church of God is like an eye. If even a little mote fall into the eye, it blinds the whole sight; so, if even a few men in the body of the church |215 act indecently, it darkens the whole light of the church. Therefore the Savior called the chief part of the church its eye, saying: ''The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness," 47 Whence the apostle asked: ''Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?" 48 I should not say, however, that there was in Africa a little of this evil, but overmuch, not that most of the people there were effeminate, but that the effeminacy of the few was the corruption of the many. Even if there are few who live disgracefully there are many who are stained by the filth of the few. As one harlot makes many commit fornication, so the abominable unions of the effeminate few infect the vast majority of the people.
Nor do I know which of them are worse in the sight of God, since in the Sacred Scriptures they are condemned by one and the same decree. "Neither effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, shall inherit the kingdom of God," 49 said the apostle. This makes it the more lamentable and deplorable that such a sin should appear to be the wrongdoing of the whole city, and that the honor of the Roman name should be branded with the infamy of prodigious wickedness. Men took the garb of women and made their steps more mincing than women do; they wrought for themselves the tokens of a monstrous impurity and swathed their heads with the wrappings of feminine veils. And this they did publicly in a Roman city, the greatest and most famous city in that region! Was this not a disgrace to the Roman power, which permitted a most execrable wrong to be openly committed in the very bosom of the commonwealth? A great and strong power, capable of preventing the greatest crime, must approve the actions which with full knowledge it suffers to be committed, for he who has prohibitory power sanctions any action that he does not prevent. |216
20. Once again, impelled by my grief, I ask those who are angry at my words in what barbarian nations such things have at any time been done or permitted with general impunity? Finally, to save the necessity of longer discussion or investigation of this point, let us compare the actual devastators of Africa with the people whom they conquered. What actions of this sort have been performed by the Vandals? Surely barbarians, swollen with pride, puffed up with victory, rendered lax by the abundance of riches and luxuries, would have been changed by their unusual good fortune and prosperity, however chaste and continent they had always been before. They had, as it is written in the Scriptures, entered "a land flowing with milk and honey," 50 a fertile land, so rich in all delicacies as to be almost intoxicating in its plenty. Under these conditions it would be no cause for surprise that a barbarous tribe should wax wanton where nature herself seems unrestrained. Who would doubt that the Vandals, upon entering such a country, would plunge into all manner of filthy and unclean vice? Or, to speak more moderately, that they would at least copy the constant behavior of the people of Africa, into whose province they had come? Indeed, if that were all they did, they would deserve to be judged most continent and moderate, whom good fortune had not rendered more corrupt. For how often do you find a wise man whom prosperity does not change, whose faults do not increase with his fortunes? It is certain that the Vandals were most temperate, if they, the victors, merely resembled their captive subjects. In such great abundance of wealth and luxury, however, not one of them was rendered effeminate. Does that seem a small matter? Certainly the Romans of noble birth made effeminacy a regular practice. What more have I to add? Not one of the Vandals was polluted by the incest of the effeminate Romans about him. Certainly, effeminacy had long been considered by the Romans as a virtue rather than a vice, and those men thought themselves models |217 of manly strength who had put others to the basest uses. For this reason the attendant boys, who once followed the soldiers, were given as a reward for services well performed on campaign, the privilege of being shamefully used as women, since they had proved themselves brave men. What a crime was this! Such were the actions of Romans, and Romans not of the present time; nevertheless ---- not to accuse the men of old ---- they were not the ancient Romans, but those who had already become corrupt and dissolute, no longer living up to their former reputation, but resembling Greeks more than Romans. Hence, as I have often said before, it should cause no surprise that the Roman state is at length suffering what it has long deserved.
21. This vice began among the Romans before Christ's Gospel, but that it did not cease after the Gospel was preached among them is still more grievous. After recalling this fact, who can help admiring the Vandals? They entered the wealthiest cities, where such vices were common, and took over the riches of dissolute men in such a way that they rejected their corrupting customs and now possess and use those things that are good, and avoid the degrading influence of those that are evil.51 This ought to be enough in their praise even if I add nothing more; for they have abominated the illicit acts of men. Still more noteworthy is it that they have also abstained from the corruption of women; they have shrunk from evil haunts and brothels, they have avoided illicit unions and the company of harlots. Can it be credible that the Romans permitted these things and barbarians abhorred them? Is there anything more to be said after this? There is indeed, and much more. That they have avoided foul actions is the lesser part; for a man can abhor disgraceful deeds without abolishing them. Their great and singular merit is that not only do they themselves avoid pollution by this |218 stain, but they take care that others shall not be polluted. Indeed, a man is in some sort a guardian of human welfare who not only endeavors to be good himself, but also strives to bring it about that others may cease to be evil.
What I have said is a great point, surely, great and of preeminent importance. Who could believe that the Vandals in the Roman cities committed such sins? Sexual vice has been completely abolished by them. How was it removed? Not as some crimes are wont to be prohibited by the Romans, who decree that there shall be no theft, and go on thieving; who decree that there shall be no adultery, and are first to commit it. Yet I should scarcely say that they commit theft, for theirs is no mere theft but highway robbery. A judge punishes a petty theft in another though he is himself a robber: he punishes rapine, though he is himself guilty of the same crime; he punishes the cutthroat, though he himself wields a sword; he punishes those who break down bars and doors, though he himself destroys cities; he punishes those who burglarize houses, though he himself robs the provinces. Would that this were true only of those who are set in positions of power and to whom the very honor conferred on them gives some right to carry on their robberies; it is worse and more intolerable that even private citizens do the same, that is, men who have previously held high office. The honor once given them affords them this much advantage, that they may keep forever the legal right to plunder. So even when they have ceased to wield public administrative power, they do not cease to enjoy the private right of plundering. Thus the power they had as judges is slighter than that they have as private citizens, for in the former case successors were sure to be appointed for them, but now they have no successors.
See then how much legal decrees are worth, what profit we gain from the passage of ordinances which those men most scorn who administer them! The humble and lowly are forced to obey, the poor are compelled to accede to the orders of their superiors, and if |219 they fail in their obedience, they are punished. The same rule is observed in this case as in that of the taxes: the poor are the only ones to obey the public decrees, as they alone pay the taxes. Thus in the laws themselves and in the execution of justice, injustice is most criminally wrought, since the lesser men are compelled to observe as sacred the laws that their betters continually trample under foot as of no importance.
22. Indignation has led me to exceed somewhat the appointed order of my discourse; let me now return to the original topic. I said that the cities of Africa were full of monstrous vices, and especially the queen and mistress of them all, but that the Vandals were not polluted. How unlike the Romans: did these barbarians prove themselves, in cleansing the stains of our disgrace! For they have removed from every part of Africa the vice of effeminacy, they have even abhorred intercourse with harlots, and have not only shunned or done away with it for the time being, but have made it absolutely cease to exist. O kindly Master, O good Savior! How much the desire of discipline accomplishes with your help, through which the vices of nature can be changed, as they have been by the Vandals! Let us see how they have been changed, since it is important to show not only the results of this action, but also the method by which it was made effective. It is difficult to have lewdness removed by a word or order, unless it has been done away in fact, and to have decency required by a command unless it has been enjoined before. Knowing this to be true, they removed unchastity while preserving the unchaste; they did not kill the unfortunate women, lest they should stain their prevention of vice with cruelty, and sin themselves in the very act of destroying the sins they desired to abolish. But they corrected the erring in such a way that the change should be a medicine, not a penalty. They ordered and compelled all prostitutes to marry; they transformed harlots into wives, fulfilling the word and command of the apostle that every woman should have her husband and every man his wife,52 that |220 since incontinence cannot be restrained without some permissible indulgence of the flesh, sexual desire might have this legitimate outlet without sinful lust. In this, indeed, provision was made not only that women who could not live without husbands should have them, but also that through their domestic guardians those who did not know how to protect themselves should be safe. While the marriage bond constantly bound them, even if the customary unchastity of their former lives enticed them to sin, their husbands' guardianship should keep them from going astray. The Vandals also added severe requirements of chastity to prevent lust, coercing lewdness by the sword with the obvious purpose of preserving the chastity of both sexes by conjugal affection at home, and the fear of the laws in public. Thus purity should rest on a double basis of love at home and fear abroad. Moreover, the laws they possessed were not at all like those enactments that removed a part of the wickedness without preventing all of its obscenity, or like those Roman decrees that cut off adulterers from other men's wives but left them free access to single women, forbidding adultery while encouraging houses of ill fame.53 Those seem to have feared that men would be too chaste and pure if sexual vice were entirely forbidden. Not such are those of whom we speak, who have forbidden loose living as well as adultery, who wish women to be women only to their husbands and men to exercise their male functions only with their wives; who do not permit sexual desires to stray beyond the marriage bed, but order their laws after the pattern of the divine law, so that they think nothing permissible to them in this matter that God did not wish to permit. So they did not think any man should be given license by them to do anything that is not permitted to all by the divine power.
23. I know that what I say may seem to some intolerable, but |221 I must treat these matters, in the light of reason, not oil personal prejudices.54 Let anyone who is angry at what I say tell me this, has not Socrates always been considered the wisest of all men, and that too on the testimony of the Delphic demon, who might be called the prince of philosophers, as he was the prince of demons? Let us then consider what laws Socrates decreed as to chastity and what those men of whom we have been speaking have ordained about it.
Socrates said: "Let no man have a wife of his own, for marriage should be common to all; for so there will be greater harmony among the states, if all men have intercourse indiscriminately with all women, and all women with all men, and if all men become husbands of all women, and all women wives of all men." 55 Have we ever known any madman, or any possessed or driven out of his senses by any sort of insanity, say such a thing as this? You say, O chief of philosophers, that by the terms of this ordinance all men will be the husbands of all women, and all women the wives of all men, and all their children the offspring of all parents. But I maintain that no man would then be any woman's husband, no woman the wife of any man, and no child the offspring of any parents, for where all is promiscuous and confused, no one can claim anything as his own. And some men say that it was not sufficient for the wisest of philosophers to teach others such ideas, but he must needs carry them out for himself, handing his wife over to another man, as indeed the Roman Cato, that second Socrates of Italian birth, actually did.56 See then the examples given us by the Roman and Attic wisdom; as far as in them lay, they made all husbands |222 panders of their wives. Yet Socrates outdid the rest, for he wrote books on the subject, and handed his shameful ideas down to posterity.57 So he had the more reason to glory in his teachings; as far as his principles were concerned, he made a brothel of the world. He is said to have been unjustly condemned by the judges. That is true, for it would have been better for the whole human race to condemn a man for preaching such doctrines. Without doubt it has condemned him. Since, indeed, as far as this theory goes all have repudiated his doctrines, all have condemned him not only by the authority of the sentence passed at his trial, but even more by their choice of a way of life, and rightly too.
Let us now compare with his statutes those of the men whom God has recently ordered to rule in Africa. Socrates decreed that no one should have a wife of his own, they that no one should have one not his own. He wished every woman to be subject to all men, they that no woman should know any man but her husband. He wished a mixed and promiscuous generation, they one purely born and regulated. He ordained that all houses should be of evil reputation, and they that there should be none such. He tried to build evil resorts in every dwelling, they removed them even from entire cities. He wished to prostitute all maidens, they made the prostitutes chaste.
Would that Socrates' error had been his alone, and not that of many, or even the majority of Romans! These follow Socrates' precepts in this matter even if they accept his teachings in nothing else, for many men have more than one wife apiece, and countless women have many husbands each. Are not all our cities full of dens of vice, and reeking with houses of ill fame? When I said all, I meant of course the noblest and loftiest, for such is the |223 prerogative of dignity and honor in our great cities that they excel others as much in indecency as they do in size.
What hope, I ask you, can there be for the Roman state when barbarians are more chaste and pure than the Romans? What I say is all too little: what hope of life or pardon, I ask, can we have in the sight of God when we see chastity in the barbarians and even so are not willing to be chaste ourselves? Should we not feel shame and confusion at this? Already among the Goths you will find none impure except the Romans, none unchaste among the Vandals except the Romans. So much has the desire for chastity accomplished for the barbarians, so much has the severity of their moral code gained, that not only are they themselves chaste, but ---- though it is so new and strange an event as to be almost incredible ---- they have even made some Romans chaste.
If my human frailty permitted, I should wish to shout beyond my strength, to make my voice ring through the whole world: Be ashamed, ye Roman people everywhere, be ashamed of the lives you lead. No cities are free of evil haunts, no cities anywhere are free from indecency, except those in which barbarians have begun to live. Do we then wonder that we are wretched who are so impure, that we are conquered by the enemy who are outdone by them in honor, that they possess our properties who abjure our wickedness? It is neither the natural strength of their bodies that makes them conquer nor the weakness of our nature that makes us subject to defeat. Let no one think or persuade himself otherwise ---- it is our vicious lives alone that have conquered us.58
[Footnotes moved to the end]
1. 1 Since this promise is not carried out, we have here a clear indication that Salvian's book either was not finished, or has since been mutilated. The manner of his projected proof of the point raised may be surmised from his description in Book I. 10 of the virtues of the early Romans.
2. 2 One of the best known of ancient proverbial expressions; cf. Isidore, Etymologiae XIV. 6. 40: "the herb recalled by many writers and poets, which, contracts men's jaws and kills them while they seem to laugh."
3. 3 Luke 6. 25.
4. 4 The inhabitants of Novem Populana, the southwestern province of Gaul, between Aquitania and Spain.
5. 5 Matthew 11. 28-30.
6. 6 See Paulinus of Nola Ep. 33. 3. The passage was identified by C. Weyman, "Salvianus und Paulinus von Nola," Historisches Jahrbuch XV (1894), 372-373. This is the only case in which Salvian gives a clue to the personal identity of the rare exceptions he makes to the general vice of prominent men; he could scarcely have chosen a more appropriate one.
7. 7 Jeremiah 5. 8.
8. 8 The chastity of the Germans had long been a Roman tradition; cf. Tacitus Germania 19.
9. 9 It was not until Gaiseric's capture and sack of Carthage and later of Rome that the Vandals took on in the eyes of the Romans the character that has since made their name proverbial.
10. 10 Ezekiel 39. 24.
11. 11 Deuteronomy 28. 49; Ezekiel 26. 11.
12. 12 Judges 4.
13. 13 Ibid. 9.53.
14. 14 1 Kings 20.
15. 15 Judges 7. 2.
16. 16 Luke 14. 11.
17. 17 Litorius had been put in command in Gaul by Aetius. Made overconfident by his success at Narbonne, he undertook in A.D. 439 to besiege Toulouse, then the Gothic capital, with the aid of Hunnish auxiliaries, but was defeated and captured.
18. 18 See Proverbs 16. 9; 20. 24.
19. 19 Psalms 107.40; 58. 7.
20. 20 Idatius (Chronicon A.D. 439) gives a different version: "He himself was wounded and captured, and after a few days was put to death." His notorious paganism and dependence on soothsayers made Litorius a particularly apt contrast to the piety of the barbarian king.
21. 21 Theodoric I, king of the Visigoths.
22. 22 In a.d. 432 when Boniface and Castinus were conducting the war in Spain against the Vandals with an army largely Gothic, the jealousy of the two leaders led to a disastrous defeat of the Romans in battle, when the Vandals had been almost at the point of surrender due to famine. The defeat ended the Roman rule in Spain.
23. 23 Jeremiah 2. 37.
24. 24 Jeremiah 9. 23-24.
25. 25 Ibid. 8.8; 7.4-7.
26. 26 II Samuel 3. 1.
27. 27 Psalms 119. 137.
28. 28 The Germany of this account was, of course, the Roman military district along the Rhine. The pauses in the course of the invasion are naturally explained by the custom of the Germanic tribes of ''following up with the plow their conquests by the sword.''
29. 29 Psalms 14. 3; 53. 3.
30. 30 Jeremiah 5. 3.
31. 31 Orosius' account of the Vandal conquest of Spain furnishes a parallel for Salvian's estimate of the barbarians (Historia adv. paganos VII. 40. 10): "After grave destruction of property and men, of which they themselves now repent, they drew lots and distributed the land and still live in possession of it."
32. 32 Isaiah 36. 10.
33. 33 That is, Nebuchadnezzar.
34. 34 Jeremiah 25. 8-9; 43. 11.
35. 35 Ezekiel 24. 6.
36. 36 Ibid. 22. 18-20.
37. 37 Ibid. 28.12-13.
38. 38 Ibid. 28. 4-5.
39. 39 Ibid. 28. 17.
40. 40 Ibid. 28. 18.
41. 41 Ibid. 28. 19.
42. 42 Ibid. 28. 19.
43. 43 Gaius and Seius appear frequently as the John Doe and Richard Roe of Latin authors. Gaius is most commonly used, perhaps because of the Ubi tu Gaius, ego Gaia, of the marriage ceremony. In Cod. Just. Titius is used instead of Seius. Tertullian uses Gaius Seius and Lucius Titius; cf. Ad nationes I. 4.
44. 44 Romans 1.27-28.
45. 45 Tertullian, himself a native of Africa, does not include Carthage in the list of apostolic churches (Liber de praescriptionibus 32), but in Salvian's time the orthodox church of Africa claimed an apostolic origin in their controversy with the Donatists, and it was natural that Salvian should accept their claim.
46. 46 See Tertullian De idololatria 16: "Finally I find no type of clothing censured by God, save the feminine when worn by a man."
47. 47 Matthew 6. 22-23.
48. 48 I Corinthians 5. 6.
49. 49 Ibid. 6.9-10.
50. 50 Exodus 13. 5.
51. 51 That Salvian spoke too soon is suggested by Procopius Be Bello Vandalico II. 6. His description of the habits of the Vandals ''since the time when they gained possession of Libya" includes all the luxuries and vices that Salvian thinks they rejected.
52. 52 I Corinthians 7. 2.
53. 53 Note the phrasing in Cod. Theod. IX. 7.1 (a.D. 326): "... those women, the vileness of whose lives has proved them unworthy of the protection of the law."
54. 54 With this chapter compare Lactantius hist. div. III. 21.
55. 55 The ultimate source of this passage is of course Plato Republic V. 457; it is not clear through what channel Salvian derived it. He does not appear to have read Greek, and the Latin of the paragraph does not suggest Cicero's De re publica as a direct source. It was, however, a well-known topic, and may have been the subject of rhetorical exercises in the schools.
56. 56 The locus classicus for this is Lucan Be bello civili II. 329-333, from which Augustine (Bon. coniug. 21) clearly drew his example of the Younger Cato, handing his wife Marcia to a friend "to fill another's house with sons." See Souter, Classical Review, XIV (1900), 164. This was a popular exemplum, especially among Christian writers, as is shown by H. Kohl, De scholasticarum declamationum argumentis ex historia petitis (Paderborn, 1915), p. 104.
57. 57 Salvian here confused Socrates with the "Socratic dialogues" of Plato.
58. 58 Compare Augustine Sermo de tempore barbarico (Migne, PL, XL, col. 703): "Neither by the enemy, nor by the barbarians, but by their own action are all men slain in their souls by seeing, consenting and not preventing. We have all abided in quiet, and as long as we do not wish the perverse peace of our state disturbed, we do not receive the true peace that we deserve. We scorn to preserve the peace of a good life, and so the peace of our times has come to an end."
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Salvian, On the Government of God (1930) pp.224-231. Book 8
Salvian, On the Government of God (1930) pp.224-231. Book 8
Book VIII.: That the sins of the Romans are alone responsible for their ruin
1. The responsibility for Rome's misfortunes.
2. The blasphemies of Africa.
3. Of their injury to God.
4. On persecution.
5. On the recompense due.
[Translated by Eva M. Sanford]
THE EIGHTH BOOK
1. I think, nay, I am certain, that the great length of my argument will arouse distaste in many, especially since it upbraids our vicious lives. For most men wish praise, and no one enjoys censure. Worse than this, however evil a man is, however profligate, he would rather be falsely praised than rightly reproved, and prefers to be deceived by the mockery of false praise than healed by the most salutary admonitions. Since this is true, what are we to do? Must we accede to the will of wicked men? Or if they wish even empty praise conferred on them, is it fitting to proffer silly and meaningless eulogies? Surely we must consider that, as men of honor should not mock even those who wish to make themselves ridiculous, so they should not laud in lying phrases those who yearn to be adorned by praise, however false.1 We must not take into account the preferences of individuals, but rather what is fitting for us to say, especially since the prophet said: "Woe unto them that put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter." 2
We must by every means hold fast to the truth, so that what a thing is in fact, it may also be in words, and those that contain sweetness be called sweet, and those that contain bitterness, bitter. This is the more obligatory in the present discussion of a sacred matter, when our iniquities are made by many a cause of wrath against God, and men try to avoid seeming themselves worthy of |225 accusation by first accusing him. When they blasphemously call him careless and neglectful of human affairs, and say that he does not govern according to justice, or even that he does not govern at all, what else are they doing but accusing God of laziness and abuse and injustice? Alas for the blindness of human folly! for the madness of insane audacity! It is God, O man, that you call careless and neglectful. If you injured any freeborn man with such slanders, you would be accused at law of malicious abuse; if you so attacked any illustrious or eminent man you would be sentenced in the courts. Such slanders are chiefly hurled at prodigal wards; it is the special byword for profligate youths, to call them wastrels and careless and negligent about their property. What sacrilegious words! what profane impudence! We use such terms of God as we would not employ of any men except those of the most abandoned sort. Yet this is not all the abuse given him: as I said before, men even brand him as unjust. If we claim that we do not deserve our sufferings and are unworthy to endure our present misfortunes, surely we are calling God, who bids us endure undeserved evils, unjust. You say, however, that he does not bid, but merely permits us to endure them. Suppose we grant this point, still I ask how far he is from ordering what he permits? For he who knows we endure such woes and can prevent our suffering them, proves beyond a doubt that we ought to endure whatever he permits. From this it is manifest that his acquiescence is part of his judgment, and that we are enduring a sentence from heaven. As all things, are subject to sacred authority and the will of God rules everything, whatever evils and whatever punishments we bear daily are the censure of his divine hand, which censure, indeed, we constantly arouse and kindle by our sins. We kindle the fire of the celestial wrath and arouse the flames by which we are burned, so that the words of the prophet may rightly be used against us as often as we endure such ills: "Make your way into the flames of the fire that you have |226 kindled.'' 3 From this we see that according to the sacred sentence each sinner is preparing for himself the suffering that he endures. None of our misfortunes can be imputed to God; we are the authors of our own misery. For God is gracious and merciful and, as the Scripture says, he wishes no one to perish or be injured. So whatever is done against us is done by our own actions; there is nothing more cruel to us than ourselves; we, I say, are torturing ourselves even against God's will.
But, forsooth, I seem to be contradicting myself; whereas I said before that we are punished by God on account of our sins, now I say that we are punishing ourselves. Both are true; we are indeed punished by God, but we ourselves force him to punish us. Inasmuch as we cause our own punishment, who can doubt that we are chastising ourselves by our crimes? For whoever gives cause for his punishment chastises himself, according to the saying: "Every one is bound by the chains of his sins." 4 If wicked men are bound by the chains of their sins, every sinner doubtless binds himself when he sins.
2. Since I have already spoken at length of the unchastity of Africa, let me now briefly discuss its blasphemies, for the paganism of the majority has had no interruption. They have indeed confined within their own walls their native crime, by which of course I mean that "Celestial" demon of the Africans,5 to which I suppose the pagans of old gave so fair-sounding a title in order that having no divinity it should at least have a name, and lacking any virtue derived from actual power should gain honor from its designation. Who among them has not been initiated into the worship of that idol? Who has not been dedicated to it by his very family and birth? I am not speaking now of men who are pagans as much by profession and name as in their way of life, and whose name |227 indicates their heathen error. Paganism is certainly more tolerable and less evil in men avowedly pagan; the more deadly peril lies in the fact that many who have made their vows to Christ continue to give their real devotion to idols. For did not those who were called Christians turn from the worship of Christ to that of the "Celestial deity," or ---- which is far worse ---- worship her even before they paid their devotions to him? Who among them did not cross the Lord's threshold redolent of the odor of demoniacal sacrifices and go up to the altar of Christ reeking with the foulness of very demons, so that it would be less monstrous not to come at all to the Lord's temple than to come in such a fashion? For a Christian who does not come to church is guilty of neglect, but one who comes in such a way is guilty of sacrilege. It is less difficult to atone for failure to honor God than for direct insult to him. So we see that any who have acted thus have not given honor to God, but have taken it away from him. They have even in a way given the attention due to the church of God to an idol, because that to which priority is accorded gains in honor from that which is relegated to second place. See then the faith of the Africans, and especially of the noblest among them! See what their religion and their Christianity have been! It was in scorn of Christ that men called them Christians. Though the apostle cries: "Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of devils; ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table and of the table of devils," 6 it was not enough for them to drink the cup of the Lord with the cup of devils, but they must take the latter first. It was not enough for them to match the table of devils with the Lord's table, unless they came to the temple of God fresh from the worship of infamous superstitions and breathed on the holy altars of Christ the foul miasma of the diabolical spirit itself.
3. But, you say, they do not all do these things ---- only the highest and most powerful are guilty of these wrongs. Suppose |228 I agree to this. Still, since the greater part of a city is made up of the richest and most powerful households, you see that the whole city was polluted by the sacrilegious superstition of a few great men. No one indeed can doubt that all the households are either like the masters who rule them, or worse, and usually worse! Therefore, since even good masters as a general rule have bad slaves, it is easy to decide what sort of households all of these were, in which servile minds, already disposed to evil, were made more vicious by the wickedness of their masters.
Suppose for the sake of the argument that what we said was true only of all the most powerful and noble. Were the vices that were common to noble and ignoble alike less serious? I mean the hatred and abuse of all holy men, for surely it is a sort of sacrilege to hate those who worship God. Just as the man who injures our slaves thereby harms us, and the man who flogs another's sons tortures the father's affection by his children's suffering, so anyone who injures a servant of God violates the divine majesty, as the Lord said to his apostle: "He that receiveth you, receiveth me, and he that despiseth you, despiseth me.'' 7 Our most gracious and loving Lord shared his honor and disgrace alike with his servants, to the end that no one who injured a servant of God should think that the man alone was hurt by his action, since injury to God would undoubtedly be mingled with the harm inflicted on his followers. Of this God gave us proof, according to his most indulgent love, in these words: "For he that toucheth you toucheth the pupil of my eye.'' 8 To express the tenderness of his love he used the most tender part of the body, that we might clearly understand that God is injured by a contempt of his saints as slight as the touch required to injure the eyesight. So the people of Africa injured and hated the servants of God and God himself in them.
4. But perhaps the question will be asked: "In what ways was |229 their hatred manifested?'' In the same manner, of course, in which also the Jews' hatred of Christ was declared when they said to him: ''Thou art a Samaritan and hast a devil,'' 9 when they mocked and cursed him, when they breathed into his face and gnashed their teeth over his head. Whence also the Savior himself says in the Psalms: "All they that saw me laughed me to scorn; they shot out their lips and shook their heads.'' 10 And elsewhere he says: "They have tempted me and laughed me to scorn, they gnashed upon me with their teeth." 11 So is the hatred of the Africans for the monks ---- that is, for the servants of God ---- proved, because they mocked at and cursed them, because they attacked and execrated them, because they did practically everything against them that the wickedness of the Jews contrived against our Savior before they actually shed his divine blood. But they, you say, did not kill the saints, while we read that the Jews did.
Whether they killed or not, I do not know; I make no claims of that, but yet how great a defence is it that the only element of pagan persecution lacking was the very end of persecution? Let us assume that the saints were not killed there; what then shall we make of the fact that they are not far from killing who hate with the desire to kill, especially as the Lord himself says: ''Whosoever hateth his brother without a cause is a murderer?" 12
Yet it was not without cause that they persecuted the servants of God. For who can say that it was without a cause, seeing that these men differed from them in all the characteristics of their life and habits, that in them they saw nothing that was theirs, since all was God's? The greatest cause of discord is diversity of interests, because it is nearly or quite impossible that a man should love in another that with which he himself is at variance. So it was |230 not without cause, as I said, that they hated those in whom they saw everything hostile and inimical to them. For they lived in constant wickedness, but the saints in constant innocence; they lived in lust, these in chastity; they in evil dens, these in monasteries; they almost constantly with the devil, and these incessantly with Christ. It was not without cause that within the cities of Africa, and especially within the walls of Carthage, a people as unhappy as they were unfaithful could scarcely look without reviling and curses at a man pale and in monkish garb, his flowing locks cut even to the shaved skin. And if ever any servant of God from the monasteries of Egypt or the sacred places of Jerusalem or the holy and venerable retreats of the desert came to that city in performance of his sacred mission, as soon as he appeared to the people, he met with contumely, sacrilege and curses. Nor was this all, he was flayed by the vile derision of dissolute men and hissing mockery of the coarsest sort; so that if any man uninformed of these things witnessed the scene, he would not think that a man was being mocked, but that some strange and unheard-of monster was being expelled from the city.
5. Consider the faith of the Africans and especially the people of Carthage. It was safer for the apostles of old to enter the cities of the pagans, and those wild and barbarous assemblies had less hatred of their arrival and presence. The holy vessel of election, Paul the apostle, spoke of the worship and majesty of one God, and the people of the Athenians, most superstitious though they were, heard him patiently.13 The Lycaonians also so marvelled at the apostles that, seeing their divine strength, they thought they were not men.14 But in Carthage the servants of God were scarcely allowed to appear in the streets and public squares without mockery and cursing. Certain men think that this was not persecution |231 because they were not actually killed. You know that brigands have a proverb that those they spare owe their lives to them.15 But in Carthage this benefit was due less to the men than to the laws, for the laws of the Twelve Tables forbade a man to be put to death without a trial. Hence we see that the power of the Lord's religion was indeed great in a place where his servants were only permitted to escape death at the hands of Christians because they were defended by pagan law. Yet we wonder that such Christians are now suffering at the hands of the barbarians, when they themselves inflicted barbarous treatment on the saints.
So God is just and his judgments are righteous, for, as the Scripture says: "What men have sowed, that shall they also reap." 16 God seems to have referred to the wickedness of the people of Africa, when he said: "Recompense her according to her work; according to all that she hath done do unto her; for she hath been proud against the Lord." 17 Let us 18 then be surprised and angry that they now endure some few trials at the hands of men! Their conduct toward God has been far worse than any treatment they have received, especially if one compares their sufferings and their misdeeds with due consideration of the distinction between the persons concerned.19 |232
[Footnotes moved to the end]
1. 1 Compare Sidonius Ep. VIII. 10: "If you had had any consideration for my modesty you would have kept in mind the saying of Symmachus: 'as true praise adorns, so false praise reproves.' " The saying is not found in Symmachus' writings, but Gregoire and Collombet cite it as used by Caesarius of Arles in his 25th homily to the monks of Lerins, which I have been unable to trace, and by Pope Pelagius I in a letter to Sapaudus, bishop of Aries, as the saying of a vir doctissimus.
2. 2 Isaiah 5. 20.
3. 3 Ibid.. 50.11.
4. 4 See Proverbs 5. 22.
5. 5 That is, the goddess Tanit, frequently called Dea Caelestis by Latin authors.
6. 6 1 Corinthians 10. 21.
7. 7 Matthew 10. 40; Luke 10. 16.
8. 8 Zechariah 2. 8.
9. 9 John 8. 48.
10. 10 Psalms 22. 7.
11. 11 Jeremiah 20. 7; Psalms 35. 16.
12. 12 1 John 3.15.
13. 13 Acts 17.16-34. One scarcely expects to find the Athenian Ecclesia cited as an example of a wild and barbarous assembly.
14. 14 Acts 14.
15. 15 See Cicero Or. Philippica II. 3. 5.
16. 16 Galatians 6. 7.
17. 17 Jeremiah 50. 29.
18. 18 Here Pauly inserted the negative minime, for which the MSS give no authority. I have omitted it as unnecessary; without it the sentence furnishes a characteristic example of Salvian's irony. See H. K. Messenger, op. cit., sec. 48.
19. 19 Here ends the text as it is preserved in the MSS. Whether the succeeding chapters have been lost, or the author left his work unfinished, cannot now be determined. In view, however, of the many years between the composition of the book and Salvian's death, the former alternative seems the more probable.
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Sidonius Apollinaris, Letters. Tr. O.M. Dalton (1915): Preface to the online edition
Sidonius Apollinaris, Letters. Tr. O.M. Dalton (1915): Preface to the online edition
Sidonius Apollinaris was a Roman aristocrat of the th century AD. Born around 431 AD, he held estates in Gaul. He pursued an official career under the emperors Avitus (a kinsman), Majorian, and Anthemius, rising to be Prefect of Rome. But all these emperors were murdered in turn by the sinister Ricimer, a barbarian general holding the highest office in the state, that of Patrician, or Prime Minister. Ricimer ostensibly governed in the Roman interest. In reality he pursued no interest but his own, and his murder of the capable Majorian ensured the collapse of the empire.
As Roman rule weakened, the barbarians occupied more and more of Gaul. Sidonius had returned to Gaul under Anthemius. Like so many other aristocrats, he had reluctantly become Bishop in his local town, Clermont in Arvernia. The advancing Visigoths under their king Euric moved into the region; Sidonius helped organise resistance,since none of the Roman forces paid for from the crushing taxation of the time were available to defend them. But after enduring a siege, he found to his appalled horror that the imperial government was plotting to betray the Arvernians, some of their strongest supporters. (His outraged letter to Bishop Graecus, one of the go-betweens, is included in this edition). And so it proved. Sidonius himself was imprisoned by Euric.
States prepared to sell their own allies to appease an advancing enemy have little prospect of survival. In less than a dozen years, Roman rule had ceased everywhere in the West; the consequence of its rulers placing themselves in the power of those whose loyalties were ultimately non-Roman. Sidonius lived long enough to outlive the last emperor, Julius Nepos. He died, sometime after 480, and is canonised as a saint.
Sidonius left two works; a set of 24 Carmina or Poems, and 9 books of Letters. This translation, in two volumes contains only the letters; both are available in the Loeb text. The Poems include verse panegyrics of all three emperors, and have considerable historical value.
Dalton included an introduction of almost 200 pages; nearly a third of the book. It seems permissable to wish that he had included the poems instead. This preface has been written so that the general reader may orient himself first.
Roger Pearse
24th January 2003
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Sidonius Apollinaris, Letters. Tr. O.M. Dalton (1915) pp. i- vii; Title page and preface
Sidonius Apollinaris, Letters. Tr. O.M. Dalton (1915) pp. i- vii; Title page and preface
THE
LETTERS OF SIDONIUS
TRANSLATED, WITH INTRODUCTION AND NOTES, BY
O. M. DALTON, MA.
IN TWO VOLUMES VOLUME I
OXFORD
AT THE CLARENDON PRESS
1915
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
LONDON EDINBURGH GLASGOW NEW YORK TORONTO MELBOURNE BOMBAY
HUMPHREY MILFORD M.A.
PUBLISHER TO THE UNIVERSITY
PREFACE
IT is somewhat remarkable that the complete letters of Sidonius have never been translated into English. Though their style is often tiresome, though many of them seem at first sight to add little of moment to the sum of existing knowledge, yet the nine books, regarded as a whole, are still in many ways the richest source of information on Roman provincial life during the last years of the Empire in the West. And as a whole they should be read. Even the best selection is liable to omit what is really necessary for a full comprehension of the author and his view of life; omissions which singly appear unimportant have a cumulative power in creating false ideas; they distort the perspective, confuse the values, and invert the relative significance of parts. Where a writer's work does not crush by bulk, or enervate by dullness, it is generally best to let the whole produce its due organic effect, unmarred by the subtractions of an editor. In the present case, the bulk is not excessive, for there are not much more than a hundred letters; and the dull places are easily escaped by every bonus arbiter et artifex lector 1, experienced in the process of winnowing grain from chaff. |iv
If the question of rendering the whole or part were the only trouble with which he had to contend, the translator of Sidonius might rid himself of all anxiety. But he must always be haunted by doubts as to his success in conveying in every case the sense of a confessedly difficult writer, often ambiguous in phrase, and sometimes recalling to the tired mind that creature of the sea which conceals itself at will in a cloud of its own ink. I cannot hope to have avoided error where scholars of eminence have admitted their uncertainties;2 and there are yet many passages the true sense of which lies beyond my divination.
It would have been possible indefinitely to expand the notes at the end of volume ii; but they have been purposely abridged, that Sidonius may speak for himself with as little interruption as possible. A general, knowledge in the reader of Roman history and mythology has been assumed; for instance, notes are not inserted to explain who Sulla or Julius Caesar were; Aganippe and Hippocrene are not defined; nor is the legend of Triptolemus related at length. Philological discussions have been omitted, and explanations confined to points essential to the comprehension of the text; it seemed more convenient that the Introduction should give in a consecutive form many facts which notes could only have given in isolation; and I have endeavoured in this part of the book to supply an abstract of the conditions obtaining in |v southern Gaul as they are revealed to us in the Letters. Biographical matter is also for the most part removed from the notes; an alphabetic list of correspondents, friends and contemporaries, whose names occur in the Letters, will be found on p. clx, with such cardinal facts in their history as have been ascertained. Names of places have been rendered, as a rule, by their modern equivalents, which seem to make the geography more immediately intelligible, especially to those acquainted with central and southern France. Where an ancient form is consecrated by general use, or seems demanded by the nature of the context, it has been purposely retained.
Like every other writer on Sidonius, I must express deep obligations to the earlier scholars who have edited the Letters, or described the period with which they are concerned, from Savaron and Sirmond, to Chaix, Fertig, and Mommsen, to Germain, Baret, Hodgkin, and Dill. To the learned Jesuit Sirmond, who edited Sidonius with an erudition worthy of the century of Ducange, and to the Abbé Chaix, whose long and careful study is indispensable to every student, the debt is greatest of all. The edition of Grégoire and Collombet has sometimes received adverse criticism; but though compelled to differ from many of their renderings, I have often found their volumes useful, and consulted them with advantage. For the literary and local history of Gaul in the fifth century, the monumental Histoire littéraire de la France of the Benedictines remains indispensable; the same may be said of Tillemont's sixteenth volume. Nor should |vi any writer occupied with the Gaul of Sidonius' day forget the work of Fauriel, of Amédée Thierry and Ampère. Sir W. Dill's sketch of Roman life in the fifth century has constantly rendered invaluable service. Though frequently consulting the text of Lütjohann in the great edition in Vol. VII of the Monumenta Germaniae Historica, I have mainly used that of Mohr in the Teubner Series; thanks are due to Messrs. B. G. Teubner & Co. for courteously permitting the use of their edition.
Something has been said in the Introduction on the style of Sidonius (p. cxxi), enough perhaps to indicate the problems which it presents to the interpreter. I have endeavoured to keep in mind the sane view ot Dryden, that the translator's first duty is to grasp the sense as thoroughly as possible, in order that it may flow naturally into a new expression, and escape 'tedious transfusion' by copying word for word. A literal transfusion of Sidonius at his worst would be tedious indeed; it would defeat its own end, since we read him for his meaning, and no longer for his Latinity. I have felt it necessary to render his antitheses, and reproduce his puns wherever translation is reasonably possible; but where there is no obvious English equivalent for a gratuitous and pointless contrast, I have often spared my readers, not going out of the way to accentuate what may be fairly called his curiosa infelicitas, his love of puerile dexterity. Fortunately, however, he does not always go on stilts, and many letters, especially those written later in life, move simply, from starting-point to goal. His 'style' is not always with him; |vii it is indeed somewhat of a theatrical costume, and separable from his real self. When a busy life compelled him to be direct, he wrote without pretence, and can be translated in the same unpretentious manner. To all admirers of his character, the use of this stylus rusticans is a real relief; were he always tricked out in his finery, he would inspire in the world of letters the same amused contempt which the elderly fop Germanicus aroused among his less affected neighbours at Chantelle (IV. xiii).
I am indebted to my colleague Mr. G. F. Hill for very kindly reading through the proofs.
British Museum,
1914.
[Footnotes have been renumbered and moved to the end]
1. 1 II. ii. 19.
2. 1 Ceterum non tam emendatoris indigere Sidonium quam interpretis in dies magis me perspexisse libere profiteor (Mohr, Praefatio, p. vii).
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Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
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Sidonius Apollinaris, Letters. Tr. O.M. Dalton (1915) pp. ix; Table of Contents
Sidonius Apollinaris, Letters. Tr. O.M. Dalton (1915) pp. ix; Table of Contents
CONTENTS
VOLUME I
INTRODUCTION...... xi
BIBLIOGRAPHY...... clvi
LIST OF CORRESPONDENTS.... clx
TRANSLATION, BOOKS I-III.... 1
VOLUME II
TRANSLATION, BOOKS IV-IX... 3
NOTES.......215
INDEX.......254
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Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
SOURCE SECTION: sidonius_letters_00_3_intro.htm
Sidonius Apollinaris, Letters. Tr. O.M. Dalton (1915) pp. xi-clv; Introduction
Sidonius Apollinaris, Letters. Tr. O.M. Dalton (1915) pp. xi-clv; Introduction
INTRODUCTION
(CAIUS) SOLLIUS APOLLINARIS (MODESTUS) SIDONIUS 1 was born at Lyons, about the year 431, and died at Clermont perhaps in A.D. 489, at the age of nearly sixty years.2 The exceptional interest of the period covered by his life is apparent from these dates; he saw the last sickness and the death of the Roman Empire in the West, and is our principal authority for some of the events which attended its extinction. He was a younger contemporary of Attila and Gaiseric. The campaigns of Aëtius took place in his boyhood; he was a youth of about twenty when the Huns were defeated on the Catalaunian plains, and for the first time in history the Roman and the Teuton fought side by side against a common |xii enemy. He was about twenty-four when the house of Theodosius became extinct with Valentinian III, and the Vandals plundered the city of the Caesars (A.D. 455). He was still alive when Romulus Augustulus laid down his diadem at the bidding of Odovakar. More than once his path crossed that of the last emperors who ruled in Italy; as the son-in-law of Avitus, and a high officer of state under Anthemius, he saw Rome in the final phases of her imperial existence. In his own country he met or corresponded with every person of importance. He had dined with Majorian, he had played backgammon with the Visigoth Theodoric II; he lived to become first the prisoner and then the subject of that monarch's fierce successor, Euric. He exchanged letters with Lupus, Remigius, Faustus, and all the leaders of the Church in Gaul. There was hardly a single distinguished name with which in some way or another his own was not associated. Like Cassiodorus, he enjoyed an outlook over two worlds, the old Roman civilization in its decay, and mediaeval society in its beginnings. To paraphrase a sentence of Sir Thomas Browne, he stands like Janus in the field of history.
Sidonius came of a senatorial family long settled in Gallia Lugdunensis, a family to which, as he himself says, the holding of high office seemed almost a hereditary right: both his father and his grandfather had been prefects in Gaul.3 His mother belonged to the gens |xiii of the Aviti, which was connected with other noble provincial families, the Ferreoli, the Ommatii, and the Agroecii; when therefore he married Papianilla, daughter of the Avitus who became emperor, he may only have added a new tie to an old alliance.4 He had a brother, who may not have lived to mature age, as no letter is addressed to him;5 he had aunts or sisters and a mother-in-law, mentioned as taking care of one of his children (V. xvi. 5). A nephew Secundus (III. xii), and a cousin Apollinaris complete the list of his own relations, with the possible addition of Simplicius, who is so often mentioned with Apollinaris that he may have been his brother. He had two brothers-in-law, Ecdicius and Agricola,6 of the latter of whom we hear little, of the former, much. For Ecdicius was the hero of his native country of Auvergne. He distinguished himself by great gallantry in the last struggle for independence (III. iii), and seems to have had in him much of the spirit of mediaeval chivalry.7 Nor |xiv was he deficient in other gifts; he must have possessed some talent for diplomacy, since he was instrumental in rallying the Burgundians to the cause of Auvergne at a very critical moment. Sidonius and Papianilla8 had one son, Apollinaris, and three daughters, Alcima, Roscia, and Severiana.9 The boy, whose early promise is mentioned in one of the most pleasing passages of the Letters (IV. xii. 1), was destined to disappoint his parents, first in his failure to maintain the intellectual promise of his youth, and later by more serious deficiencies, recorded by other hands than those of his own father.10 Of the girls, only Roscia and Severiana are |xv mentioned in the Letters, and both in an incidental manner; for Sidonius was not communicative on his family affairs. The name of Alcima does not occur at all: we learn more of her from other sources than Sidonius himself tells us of her sisters. She became noted for her devotion to the saints, and for her munificence to the Church,11 and is said to have joined her sister-in-law Placidina in a successful effort to obtain the see of Clermont for her brother some years after her father's death (see below, p. li, note 2).
Sidonius was educated in his native city, where the schools, if less famous than those of Bordeaux, were yet of high repute. He passed through the regular course of academic training, the essential parts of which consisted of grammar and rhetoric; and in both Letters and Poems preserves kindly memories of his teachers and fellow students.12 As might be expected from the fortunate circumstances of his birth, and his father's rank as prefect, his youth was probably a happy one, passed alternately between the city and the country estate, where he enjoyed games and all the pleasures of |xvi the chase.13 His love of eloquence began early; he refers to the delight with which, as a youth of eighteen, he listened to the speech of Nicetius when Astyrius assumed the consulship at Aries in 449 (VIII. vi. 5). After his marriage, which must have been an early one, he probably divided his time between Lyons and Auvergne; in the latter region was situated his father-in-law's estate of Avitacum, which was ultimately to come to him through Papianilla, and of which he has left a description (II. ii; Carm. xviii). It was probably during the first years of his married life that he frequented the Visigothic Court at Toulouse, from which he wrote home the very interesting letter descriptive of Theodoric II to his brother-in-law Agricola (I. ii).14 Avitus, to whose exertions the coalition of Roman and Visigoth against Attila had been largely due, had long favoured an understanding between the two peoples. He had been a familiar figure at the Court of Theodoric I, whose sons he had endeavoured to imbue with Roman civilization; 15 it was therefore natural that he should |xvii encourage the visits of his son-in-law to the more important of these pupils. He may not have clearly foreseen the part which he was destined personally to play in the near future; but it must have appeared a possible contingency that the Goths and their Gallo-Roman neighbours might once more be called upon to take decisive action together. With Tonantius Ferreolus and many others, he may well have shared the belief that the Roman understanding with the most civilized of the barbaric peoples might save an Empire which Italy was too enfeebled to lead. He had seen the Visigoths and the Burgundians in their homes, and learned to appreciate the rude virtues and the manly strength which redeemed the coarser elements in their nature. He dreamed perhaps of a Teutonic aristocracy more and more refined by Latin influences, which should impart to the Romans the qualities of a less sophisticated race and to their own countrymen a wider acceptance of Italian culture.16 He knew that for more than a century Gaul had been the most vigorous and enlightened portion of the Empire in the West, and as Italy became year by year more helpless, he may well have believed that the leadership of the decaying state might pass into the control of his own country. But throughout he probably gave Theodoric II credit for a greater disinterestedness than he possessed; for in all likelihood the Visigothic king intended to exploit the Roman connexion in the |xviii interest of himself and his own people. Be that as it may, when, in 455, the line of Theodosius became extinct with Valentinian III, the murderer of Aëtius, Avitus was sent as magister milltum to secure the recognition of Petronius Maximus in Gaul. But while he was at Toulouse, news came of that emperor's murder, whereupon Theodoric urged him to assume the diadem himself.17 After a meeting either of representative magnates or of the Council of the Seven Provinces 18 at Ugernum (Beaucaire), Avitus, then some sixty years of age, was formally invested with the purple.
The event was the first turning-point in the career of Sidonius: it opened before him the brightest prospects of advancement, and awakened in him that ardent desire of political distinction which was for many years to exert so strong an influence on his life. He accompanied his father-in-law to Rome, and there, following the precedent of a Claudian or an Ausonius, delivered the Panegyric of Avitus which earned him the honour of a statue in the. Forum of Trajan.19 But the hopes |xix which the young aspirant might legitimately base upon his relationship to the head of the state were soon dashed to the ground: Avitus did not fulfil the expectations of his friends. His personal courage availed him little in Rome. On the other hand, his character revealed unsuspected weakness,20 and his position as a provincial nobleman among the critical aristocracy of the capital became each day more difficult. His every action was watched with unfriendly eyes; his bodyguard of Visigoths aroused resentment; and when, to provide their payment, he was reduced to melting statues and stripping the bronze tiles from temple roofs, it needed but a pretext to ensure his speedy ruin. The immediate cause of his downfall lay in the hostility of Ricimer, now only at the beginning of his career as king-maker. The formidable Suëve had achieved a notable triumph over the Vandal fleet near Corsica (456), and, flushed with victory, determined to remove an emperor over whose election he had exerted no |xx control. The unfortunate Avitus, who found his position in Rome untenable, fled to Gaul with the object of obtaining military support, but returning with an insufficient force, was defeated by Ricimer at Placentia.21 The conqueror, establishing a precedent destined to be followed more than once in the immediate future, compelled him to exchange the diadem for the mitre, but the transformation did not long preserve the victim's life. Apprehensive that his fate was only postponed, Avitus seems to have sought safety in renewed flight; it is certain that he met his death within a few months of his deposition.22
The fall of Avitus was a crushing blow to Sidonius. He returned home, where he found many spirits troubled like his own, and a party among the nobility still indisposed to acquiesce in the rule of Ricimer, or to see Gaul robbed of the leadership which she had fairly assumed. Feeling ran so high that a regular conspiracy was formed with both Visigothic and Burgundian support, in the hope of placing upon the throne a second emperor approved by Gaul. The candidate is conjectured to have been the gallant Marcellinus; 23 but it seems unlikely that |xxi such a scheme can have had the consent of the person principally involved, for Marcellinus, actually commander in Dalmatia, had been the comrade of Majorian, now raised by Ricimer to the principate (April 457), and during the new reign played a part of conspicuous loyalty.24 Majorian had almost all the gifts which make a ruler----courage, prudence, tact, love of justice, and magnanimity. A puppet-emperor might have been defied, but not a man like this. As soon as events permitted, he entered Gaul, and in 458 and 459 reduced the rebels to submission,25 The focus of the rising was Lyons, which had actually received a Burgundian garrison.26 Whether these barbaric auxiliaries remained in the city, or whether they were persuaded to withdraw by Petrus, Majorian's Secretary of State, there could only be one end to the adventure; the city, after suffering great hardships, was compelled to unconditional surrender.27 The emperor felt it necessary to exercise severity; in addition |xxii to the ruin of its walls and buildings, Lyons was punished by severe taxation. In this rising and its consequent disasters Sidonius took a prominent part; he seems to imply that he and his friend Catullinus actually bore arms,28 and he was certainly one of those who had to smart under the lash of a 'tribute' described in one of his poems as triple-headed, like the monster Geryon.29 After the capture of Lyons, the movement collapsed: perhaps by the secret activity among the rebels of men like Paeonius, the upstart, who during the interregnum had usurped positions to which he had no claim, and who now sowed dissension in the hope of securing favour at the victor's hands.30 Theodoric, who had attacked Aries, abandoned open hostility, and renewed his previous relations to the empire; the Burgundians, returning to their old position as loyal foederati, were confirmed in possession of all Lugdunensis Prima except the capital itself.
From the embarrassment into which his active participation in rebellion had thrown him, Sidonius extricated himself, perhaps with the assistance of the literary Petrus, by the exercise of his poetic talents. His short appeal against the triple impost was successful; he made a |xxiii further bid for the emperor's favour by writing a pane-eyrie. It is difficult to exonerate our author from the charge of a certain moral pliancy in this matter. Not twenty months had elapsed since he had sung the praises of Avitus before the Senate at Rome, and now he stood forth in the town of his birth to laud the nominee of Avitus' murderer.31 This second panegyric is in some ways superior to the first; if the heart of the writer was less glad, his pen was no less ready; and the poem contains passages of no small brilliance and great descriptive power.32 Majorian loved letters, and had a generous nature; he accepted the tribute, and admitted the panegyrist to the circle of his friends. Sidonius received the title of count, and became a persona grata at the court; the extent of his influence became apparent during the second visit of Majorian to Gaul in the year 461.33 At that time there appeared an anonymous satire which created a great stir at Arles; the writer |xxiv severely lashed some of the personages most prominent under the new régime, among others the parvenu Paeonius, who was naturally consumed with the desire to unmask the hidden assailant. He thought he had succeeded in tracing the lampoon to Sidonius, whom he would have gladly humiliated. Instead of this, he was himself subjected to new and conspicuous discomfiture in the presence of the emperor, who at a banquet endorsed the conduct of his new friend by publicly resenting an unproved insinuation (X. xi).34 Once more the star of Sidonius seemed in the ascendant; for the second time it was eclipsed. Majorian's career, which promised so much for the empire, was suddenly arrested, and the last real emperor of Rome fell a victim to the jealousy of Ricimer (461). The king-maker availed himself of the disappointment caused by the failure of a new naval expedition against the Vandals to remove too popular a rival.35 During the |xxv next four years he kept upon the throne Severus, a feeble personage on whose nullity he could rely. Severus died in 465, whereupon Ricimer for two years controlled the destinies of Italy alone. In 467, however, a rapprochement with the court of Constantinople, alienated by the murder of Majorian, became the interest of Italy, and the Senate requested Leo I to nominate an emperor in the West.36 He complied, naming Anthemius, a great Byzantine noble, son-in-law of Marcian, and a soldier of high repute. Soon after the new ruler had landed in Italy, he endeavoured to conciliate Ricimer by giving him his daughter Alypia in marriage.37 For the first time since Majorian's death Italy indulged new hopes. Under a soldier supported by Byzantine influence she might make head against the barbarian without, while the union of Ricimer with the imperial princess promised internal peace.
When his prospects were for the second time overclouded by the untimely fate of Majorian, Sidonius passed six years of retirement at Lyons and upon his |xxvi favourite estate of Avitacum. The quietness of his life was relieved by more than one round of visits to friends at Bordeaux and Narbonne; a number of the letters, and these among the most entertaining, were probably written during the leisure which he now enjoyed.38 But for the ambitions awakened by experience of two courts and only latent during these years, this would perhaps have been the happiest period of his career. Reading or composing in his library, or instructing his young son; wandering in his grounds by the lake, and amusing himself upon occasion with games and with the chase, he found the hours pass not unpleasantly at home; abroad, the society of the cultured friends and relatives who vied with one another in their desire to show him hospitality, afforded him the most agreeable of distractions. But he had tasted publicity and imperial favour; he had fallen under the glamour of Rome; and amid all the ease and calm of his existence the thought of the prizes which had just slipped from his grasp was a source of secret discontent. He was still well under forty; he could not yet resign himself to the undistinguished life of a provincial noble.39 While Ricimer remained sole arbiter of Rome's destinies, Ricimer who had caused the death of both his patrons, there seemed no place for him on the greater stage of the world. On all sides the road |xxvii was barred against him; he must accept the fate of the disappointed man.
Into these shadows the election of Anthemius and the improved position of affairs in Italy brought a sudden light; hopes almost abandoned rose once more. Sidonius began to consider whether he might not attain at the new court the position which fortune had twice placed almost within his reach and twice withdrawn. The course now taken by events was exceptionally favourable to the attempt. Anthemius fully grasped the importance of strengthening his new dominions, and his attention was naturally directed to Gaul as the bulwark of empire in the West. The provincials on their side were anxious to explain their needs, and to enlist the sympathies of the new prince; they probably had grievances for redress, and schemes for a strong policy against barbaric encroachment. A deputation was appointed to visit Rome, and after offering congratulations to Anthemius, to lay before him the hopes and the necessities of the country. What more natural than that the eloquent son-in-law of Avitus, one used to courts and no stranger in the capital, should be selected to act as leader? Doubtless to his great satisfaction, Sidonius found himself once more preparing to cross the Alps, furnished with an Imperial letter which placed all public means of transport at his disposal. After a favourable journey down the Ticino and the Po to Ravenna, he learned that the emperor was at Rome, and followed him thither by the Flaminian Way, arriving on the eve of the nuptials of Ricimer and Alypia.
The first step was taken; Sidonius had now to see that on this, his third endeavour to rise, he reached an |xxviii altitude commensurate with his persistent effort and with the dignity of his family. It is probable that Anthemius met him more than half-way, and that the comedy of advancement in which Sidonius now engaged was in reality directed by the imperial advisers. It was very important for the emperor to conciliate Gaul. He was now perfecting a defensive scheme against the aggression of Euric,40 which involved the sanction of all Burgundian appropriations, and possibly a further cession,41 in order to secure the more willing cooperation of Gundioc. It was a matter of moment to win for his policy a man of such influence in Lyons and Auvergne as Sidonius, and it may therefore be fairly surmised that the way of ascent was made smooth for the aspirant's feet. The leader of the deputation took up his quarters with a cultured Roman noble, Paulus, by whose assistance he prepared to combine the prosecution of his mission with a legitimate advancement of his private fortunes. The two selected the most efficacious patron in the Senate, Basilius, who had the |xxix reputation of obtaining promotions for all his clients and not for his relatives alone. It was arranged that the emperor should be favourably impressed by a panegyric delivered on his assumption of the consulship for the second term on New Year's Day, 468 A.D.42 The story which must be read in Sidonius' own words (I. ix), recalls some episode from court-life in the eighteenth century; as Baret has said, the scene might almost be an entresol at Versailles. The panegyric was graciously received----had not Basilius guaranteed as much? And the poet was magnificently rewarded with the office of Prefect of Rome, carrying with it the presidency of the Senate. It can hardly be supposed that the appointment was nothing more than a distinction offered to Letters, like the consulship of Ausonius, or those nominations with which ministers of the eighteenth century recompensed their literary partisans. As already hinted, it is more probable that in part at least the affair was prearranged, and that the panegyric provided an ostensible motive for an act really dictated by considerations of imperial policy.
Sidonius now rode, as he would have said, at a safe anchor of glory,43 he had attained the highest grade but two in the imperial system of honours. There remained only the titles of Patrician and Consul; could he win these, he would have achieved the feat which he repeatedly declared to be every man's proper ambition; he would have risen to a higher rank than any of his ancestors. In the moment of his elation, he |xxx doubtless indulged golden dreams; but the unselfishness of his nature is shown by his evident desire that his friends in their turn should set their feet upon the official ladder, and by his promises to do all that he can to further their advancement.44 Yet he soon found that office has its troubles; almost from the first, the path of greatness was rough to his feet. Among his duties as prefect was the superintendence of the Corn Supply, the Praefectus Annonae being his subordinate officer.45 On one occasion supplies ran dangerously short, and he grew somewhat alarmed, fearing outbreaks in the amphitheatre on the part of the spoiled Roman populace; fortunately the arrival of ships at Ostia preserved him from the unpopularity which he dreaded (I. x. 2). A more serious event was the impeachment of Arvandus, Prefect of Gaul, and a personal acquaintance of his own, before a committee of the Senate on charges of peculation and high treason.46 |xxxi Sidonius was now placed in a most embarrassing position. On the one hand, he could not but sympathize with this effort of his native province to end by a signal example the insolence and corruption which were leading Roman provincial government to disaster; moreover, the principal accuser, Tonantius Ferreolus, was his connexion and intimate friend. On the other hand, to leave Arvandus to his fate without lifting a finger, appeared a dishonourable and cowardly course. He decided to do what he could for the impeached man who proved an intractable client, committing every possible blunder in the defence, and rendering the severest sentence unavoidable. The action of Sidonius has been commended by historians, among whom Gibbon is numbered.47 He necessarily incurred much odium (I. vii. i); for never had representative of law and order a more compromising client. The praise which thus falls to his lot is doubtless deserved, for it may well have been that Sidonius was unaware of Arvandus' treasonable correspondence with Euric, a matter which the prosecution may have kept as the trump-card to be played at Rome, and perhaps deliberately concealed from all friends of the accused, however nearly connected with themselves. Even when the treasonable letter was produced, Sidonius may have hoped against hope that it was not a genuine document, but had been supplied to the accusers by more unscrupulous enemies |xxxii of the fallen prefect.48 But though we may approve this loyalty to a fallen friend, we cannot but feel some astonishment that a man of Sidonius' high character should have permitted himself an intimacy with an unscrupulous and violent personage like Arvandus: he was wont to choose his intimates among men of a very different stamp, and to be fastidious in selection. The conceit and obstinacy of the ex-prefect frustrated all efforts to establish a plausible defence,49 and Sidonius absented himself from Rome before sentence was pronounced, probably to avoid the pain of witnessing a condemnation which he had been unable to avert. But he and those who acted with him did not relax their efforts on behalf of the condemned man; in all likelihood the commutation of the death-sentence to banishment with confiscation of property may be ascribed to their active intervention.
Events of such a nature must have rendered the term of his office an anxious time for the Prefect of Rome. There was another and yet graver cause of anxiety, |xxxiii less immediately conspicuous, but big with coming trouble. This was the increasing tension between Anthemius and his new son-in-law.50 To any one gifted with political foresight, an ultimate rupture became day by day more certain; and it may be that the retirement of Sidonius 51 was hastened by his desire to leave Rome before fresh disasters broke on the ill-fated empire. This explanation of his final departure is perhaps as likely as that which would attribute his second return from Italy to something in the nature of honourable dismissal. It is possible, however, that, like Mr. Secretary Addison in 1717, this earlier literary statesman proved unequal to the routine of administration, and that the title of Patrician which he now received, was intended to cover any mortification at the premature close of his career; but the capacity for affairs manifested in the stage of his life on which he was now to enter, is rather against the supposition of actual failure. Whatever the causes of his retirement, Sidonius now bade farewell to secular ambitions; restored to the peace of Avitacum, he may well have reflected upon their vanity, and tasted the last bitterness of disillusion. It is a |xxxiv probable conjecture that such reflections gave a more serious turn to a mind never irreligious, and that the evident change of his outlook on the world conditioned the event which was now to transform his life.52 On the death of the Bishop of Clermont, Sidonius was invited by general consent to occupy the vacant throne, and he accepted the invitation.53 Assuming him to have been born between 431 and 433, he was now about forty years of age.54 The Letters contain no allusion to the circumstances immediately preceding this, the crucial event of our author's life. Nowhere does Sidonius allude to the invitation itself, of the persons who made |xxxv it or to the arguments which they employed, though more than once he describes his new profession as having in a sense been forced upon him,55 as indeed it had been forced upon many other men of birth and wealth alike in Italy, and in his own country, among whom St. Ambrose himself is numbered. It is not difficult to supply the information which he omits to furnish. In those troubled times, the Church had special need of leaders familiar with the traditions of high office, trained to public life, and possessed of ample fortune (see below, p. lxxiii). Such men were better able than any others to stand between their flocks and the imperious barbarian princes who, with every year, closed in a narrowing circle round the dwindling territory of Rome. The careers of a Patiens and a Perpetuus proved the wisdom of those who elected them: the career of Sidonius was destined to justify it in an equal degree. He probably accepted the office not only from the changed view of life which led him to despise worldly ambition, but also because he believed that it opened to him a prospect of useful action for the benefit of his fellow countrymen. He well knew the anxieties and labours which it would involve; long before his own ordination, he had been acquainted with some of the best among the Gallic bishops, and the arduous manner of their life. There can be no question of vanity or ambition in his acceptance. As far as worldly honour went, the ex-Prefect and Patrician had nothing to gain |xxxvi by occupying a bishop's throne; and Clermont was not even a metropolitan see.56 Several letters written by Sidonius to other prelates soon after his election show that he was sincerely oppressed by the sense of his own unworthiness, and aware how little his previous life had prepared him for his new career; at the same time his health seems to have suffered, and a dangerous fever brought him almost to death's door (V. iii. 3). But he was cheered by the receipt of encouraging and kindly replies from several bishops of the Province; that of Lupus of Troyes57, which is preserved, must have caused him peculiar pleasure, for Lupus was the most venerable figure in Gaul, and regarded with respect in every diocese.
Events were now moving to a crisis which was to put the character of Sidonius to the severest test, alike as patriot and as ecclesiastic. The hold of the empire upon Gaul continually relaxed. It had rewarded the friendship of the Burgundians by permitting great annexations of territory;58 its enemies were never satisfied. Riothamus the 'King' of the Bretons, who had been entrusted with the defence of Berry with some twelve thousand men, had already been defeated by the Goths, whose ambition was an ever-present menace.59 Count Paul, for a while the Roman commander, had |xxxvii checked with Frankish support their advance north of the Loire, but they now added to their dominion the northern part of Aquitanica Prima, with the cities of Bourses and Tours. While Euric's lieutenant Victorius made steady conquests in Aquitanica Prima he himself overran the country beyond the Rhône, which he was unable to retain on account of Burgundian jealousy.60
The fulfilment of his ambitions involved the absorption of Auvergne, the most loyal district which remained to the empire, inhabited by a war-like race claiming Trojan descent, a people which had fought with Hannibal, and, in the person of Vercingetorix, sent against Julius Caesar a captain worthy of his military genius. Their principality had been the most formidable in Gaul, and they had long enjoyed the reputation |xxxviii of freemen and warriors.61 Such men, whose leaders still desired Roman rule, even with the traitorous Arvandus and Seronatus 62 as the official representatives of the empire, were not likely to accept Visigothic domination without a struggle. Their country was apparently exposed for several years to a series of raids and invasions culminating in sieges of the city of Clermont,63 whose people offered a most stubborn resistance, with Sidonius at their head. The bishop was no longer animated by the sentiments towards the Gothic monarchy which had inspired his eulogy of Theodoric II. Euric was a very different man from his murdered brother, more violent, less refined, less amenable to reason. He made no pretence of recognizing Roman supremacy; moreover his Arianism was of an aggressive type, and with Sidonius, whose Catholicism was orthodox and sincere, this was a factor which now weighed more than any other. The Arvernians, though at first they had conceived new hope from the accession of Nepos,64 now began to fear that they looked in vain |xxxix towards the Rome for which they prepared to make the utmost sacrifices. As the year 474 advanced it was seen that without imperial support their position was hopeless. Sidonius had attempted to postpone the evil day by diplomatic means; Avitus, whose family name was so well known to the Goths, had been sent to intercede with Euric;65 Ecdicius seems to have been dispatched to solicit aid from the Burgundians. But neither was able to prevent the horrors of continued siege. The defenders fought with tenacity; and though their walls were damaged, though fires destroyed whole quarters and they were reduced to extremities by hunger, they succeeded in holding the city. Their spirits were at one time raised by a heroic exploit of Ecdicius, 'the Hector of this Troy,'66 who with a little band of eighteen troopers broke through the enemy's lines, inflicting heavy loss upon seasoned warriors, perhaps |xl overcome by a momentary panic.67 The privations of the city had been so severe, that a party was apparently formed in favour of accepting Gothic rule, a party perhaps recruited by Gothic agents, who no doubt reminded the suffering citizens that the exactions of Visigothic counts were not likely to exceed those of Seronatus. This was a move of which Sidonius perceived the peril. The tension of war was followed each winter by inevitable reaction. The Goths had burned the crops; and though the generosity of Patiens and Ecdicius, now and later, did much to relieve distress,68 men stood among ruined homes and saw their families still suffering the pangs of hunger. The advocates of surrender had here a promising material to work upon, and Sidonius strained every nerve to counteract their efforts. He induced his friend Constantius of Lyons, a venerable priest whose name was held in honour in Auvergne, to visit Clermont.69 The appeal was not in vain; though the winter weather was severe, the old man braved every inconvenience of the way, and by his cheerful presence and calm advice composed |xli the differences and animated the courage of the people.70 The bishop also instituted the solemn processional prayers or Rogations already used in time of peril by Mamertus, bishop of Vienne.71 These also had a tranquillizing effect. But there was still a prospect that the siege might be again renewed, and all eyes were turned to Italy. Julius Nepos was alive to the danger that Euric might cross the Rhône; but weak as his resources were, he could only hope to secure peace by negotiation. The quaestor Licinianus, who had been sent into Gaul to investigate the condition of affairs upon the spot, had done little more than confer upon Ecdicius the title of Patrician, an honour which even at this anxious time highly gratified Sidonius, and filled Papianilla with delight; 72 he had now returned, and it was soon only too clear that hopes based on his |xlii intervention were not likely to be fulfilled. Rumours of negotiations were in the air. We find Sidonius writing for information to those presumably in a position to receive early intelligence.73 To this last period of suspense, if not earlier, may belong the visit to the Burgundian kingdom, when he was able to frustrate the machinations of the informers threatening Apollinaris.74 He began to fear that something was going on behind his back, and that the real danger to Auvergne came no longer from determined enemies but from pusillanimous friends.
His suspicions were only too well founded. On receipt of the quaestor's report, a Council was held to determine the policy of the empire towards the Visigothic king. Four Gaulish bishops were empowered to enter into negotiations----Leontius of Arles, Graecus of Marseilles, Faustus of Riez, and Basilius of Aix. It is not easy to say whether they failed because they refused to surrender Auvergne; nor can we precisely define the relation of their mission to that undertaken on behalf of the emperor by the venerated bishop of Pavia. Schmidt considers that the embassy of Epiphanius took place when the negotiations of the four bishops had broken down, and that the treaty of 475 was ratified by him.75 The empire did not feel strong enough to support Auvergne, and it was decided |xliii to cede the whole territory to Euric, apparently without condition, unless, indeed, the Visigoth undertook that Catholics should receive fairer treatment, and that the disabilities from which they had suffered should cease.76 If so, the contingent religious advantages of the treaty might ultimately have soothed Sidonius the Churchman, as the shame of surrender at first incensed Sidonius the patriot. But when the news of the decision reached him he gave way to an outburst of righteous indignation, and wrote to Graecus, his intimate friend, a letter in which the bitterness of reproach is no less remarkable than the exalted tone of patriotism.77 Sidonius loved Auvergne; among all the Gallo-Roman nobles none was more devoted to the imperial connexion than he; none attached more weight to the maintenance of Latin letters and Roman civilization. He was cut to the heart. All the valour of Auvergne had been thrown away: the treaty seemed an impossible, an |xliv incomprehensible betrayal; the thought of it filled him with mingled shame and sorrow. The year 475, in which he ceased to be a Roman citizen, was the darkest year of his life.78
In the organization of his new territory, which he seems to have annexed without further opposition, Euric showed the qualities of a statesman. He appointed Victorius, a Catholic and Gallo-Roman, as Count of Clermont, a man whose piety Sidonius praises, but whose character is painted in a different light by Gregory of Tours.79 He probably intended to act as fairly by his new Catholic subjects as violent prejudice would allow. But the conduct of Sidonius in encouraging so protracted a resistance at Clermont had incurred his sharp resentment. The bishop was imprisoned in the fortress of Livia, situated between Narbonne and Carcassonne.80 There may have been some pretence of entrusting him with a special duty,81 but probably the principal object of the victor was to keep him away from his people until the new government was fairly |xlv established. Sidonius seems to have remained for some time within the walls of Livia, but to have undergone no great physical hardships, since his chief complaint is that he suffered from the chattering of two repulsive Gothic hags outside his window (VIII. iii. 2). He had a powerful friend at court in the person of Leo, Euric's Secretary of State, who only waited a propitious time to intercede for his unfortunate countryman, and meanwhile recommended him to occupy his mind by literary work.82 It must have been due to the solicitations of Leo (VIII. iii) that the prisoner was at last removed, apparently on parole, to Bordeaux, where Euric was now holding his court; and here, among a crowd including members of numerous barbaric tribes, he was forced to wait the king's good pleasure.83 Sidonius was ill at ease about his property, perhaps his loved estate of Avitacum, all, or part, of which had been seized during the recent disturbances.84 He found it difficult to obtain justice; and in a letter to his friend Lampridius (VIII. ix), whose case was very different |xlvi from his own, bewails the hardness of his lot; but the verses which accompany the letter are practically a panegyric of the Visigothic ruler, whose power they exalt to the skies.85 As Lampridius was now a favoured personage in the king's entourage, the writer doubtless hoped that they would be brought to the royal notice, as indeed they probably were; the subsequent permission to return home, soon afterwards accorded to Sidonius, may well have been hastened by this timely resort to the arts of the court poet.86 Euric was perhaps of opinion that his prisoner had now suffered enough, and would cause him no further trouble.
The bishop returned to Clermont in a despondent mood. The Patrician and ex-Prefect was brought low; |xlvii the idol of his patriotism was shattered. He saw himself abandoned by the government for which he had willingly risked his life; he was the subject of a barbarian whose manners he despised and whose heresy he detested. There remained to him only his faith and his pastoral duty; and in time these were sufficient for him, leading him to those paths of sanctity which were to result in his canonization. But at first the new life was hard; Auvergne enslaved was no longer Auvergne to one whose youth was full of such memories as his. He threw himself with a high sense of duty into his episcopal work; several of his letters refer to events and meetings which occurred in the course of his diocesan visitations;87 those which were written to aid clerks, deacons, readers, and others in need of his assistance prove that he did not spare himself when an opportunity came to help his neighbours or dependants. But in spite of all these activities, there must have been long and melancholy hours, especially in winter; and his friends feared their effect on his mind. They therefore encouraged him to write; and to this encouragement we probably owe the nine books of the Letters. The first book was issued in response to a request from the aged priest Constantius who had rendered him such noble aid after the siege of Clermont. It probably appeared in 478.88 It was followed by Books II-VII, dedicated to the same venerable friend. Books VIII and IX |xlviii were supplemental, the first added to gratify Petronius,89 though still dedicated to Constantius; the second by desire of another friend, Firminus.90
There can be no two opinions as to the wisdom of his friends. It is clear from more than one passage that Sidonius enjoyed rummaging among his papers for any letters suited for publication, and that to transcribe, correct and polish the pages written at various periods of his life provided just the distraction which he required. To the gradual process of publication may in part be ascribed the lack of chronological order in the Letters, which makes them appear inconsequent to the modern reader, though it is not the sole reason (cf. below, p. cliv). But Sidonius was not only asked for collections of his letters. His talent as a poet was still in request. If a new church was erected, a metrical inscription for the walls must come from his hand; if a notable person died, he must provide an elegy.91 High ecclesiastic though he was, he was still expected by privileged persons to furnish occasional verses; and though he sometimes declined a request which he felt inappropriate, at others he could not find it in him to refuse.92 He was also urged to write the history of periods falling within his own remembrance, a task which he was unwilling to perform.93 But he occupied |xlix himself with Commentaries on the Scriptures, and composed, among other religious works, certain Contestatiunculae, which appear to have been prefaces to the Mass. The loss of his religious writings makes it impossible to estimate his position among the doctors; Gennadius placed him without hesitation among their number.94 His activities were not confined to composition; he also revised manuscripts. Thus we find him sending to Ruricius a Heptateuch collated by his own hand.95
Amid these manifold occupations, pastoral, literary, and scholastic, the later life of Sidonius wore away. In the words of his epitaph (see p. Hi), he lived tranquil amid the swelling seas of the world (mundi inter tumidas quietus undas). He continued to write to his friends and to receive letters from them; it is thought some examples may date from 484, or even later.96 |l This was an important year, for it marked the death of Euric, and the succession of a weaker ruler in the person of Alaric II. The disappearance of the great Arian may have relaxed in some measure the tension between the Catholic Gallo-Romans and their unorthodox rulers; but it prepared the way for the final subjection of Gaul under a single barbaric nation. The Franks soon afterwards commenced the advance which was only to end on the shores of the Mediterranean; in 486 Clovis ended the shadowy rule of Syagrius between the Loire and Somme, and prepared the way for a descent upon the Visigothic and Burgundian kingdoms;97 Sidonius may even have lived to hear of this event.98 The last years of his life are said to have been embittered by the persecution of two priests of Clermont, Honorius and Hermanchius, possibly representatives of the Arian heresy.99 The story runs that they proposed |li on a certain day to drive Sidonius from his church, but a horrible fate overcame one conspirator, and the other for the moment desisted from aggression. Thus Sidonius, when his time came, was suffered to die in peace. He is said to have fallen sick of a fever, and to have been carried into the church of St. Mary, where he took an affecting farewell of his flock, and indicated his desire that Aprunculus should succeed to his office.100 Little more is heard of his family after his death. His son Apollinaris is said to have been one of his successors in the see of Clermont.101 The year of Papianilla's death is unrecorded; of her daughters, we know only the meagre facts with regard to Alcima related by Gregory of Tours. By the end of the sixth century the house which had played so great a part in Gaul was no longer known to history.102 Sidonius was buried in the chapel |lii of St. Saturninus at Clermont, and an epitaph of eighteen hendecasyllables, composed not very long after his decease, is quoted by Savaron from an early manuscript formerly belonging to the Abbey of Cluny, but now at Madrid.103 At some time after the tenth century, the chapel having fallen into ruin, his remains were translated to the church of St. Genesius in the centre of the town, where they lay in a reliquary on the right-hand side of the principal altar. In 1794 the church was destroyed; it is not known whether the bones were actually burned within the Place de Jaude, or whether the reliquary was buried under the ruins of the demolished walls.
Such were the principal events in the career of Sidonius, Gallo-Roman noble, Prefect and Patrician, Visigothic subject, bishop and saint. His letters have been compared to a literary Herculaneum, preserving under the accumulated centuries the most varied evidences of late Roman provincial life.104 We may gather from them a multitude of facts bearing upon the |liii society, civil and ecclesiastical, of the time; and though the value of Sidonius as a chronicler is seriously affected by an upbringing which set more store on literature than on observation, the harvest is plentiful enough. He experienced life under such various aspects, and knew so many people, that he could not fail to present a picture of provincial society of the highest interest and importance. It was inevitable that he should see things in the light of his own times, and remain under the influence of his own environment. He does not say as much about common things and ordinary events as a modern historian would like to know; he is reticent, after the Roman manner, about his family. It was not an age which cared to talk much of private life, or to describe the usual scenes of city, farm and country-side; nor was it the age of confessions, confidences and apologies. Sidonius does not depict his inmost nature like Montaigne, though in many little touches, applied almost at random, he allows us to trace for ourselves a portrait which he would not himself elaborate. We must not therefore go to him either for the sociology of the fifth century, or for the more intimate aspects of life; his mind was absorbed in other things. But when all deductions are made, we shall still find in his pages much invaluable material even on the subjects which he disregards; while those on which he cared to be explicit receive from him more illumination than from any contemporary writer. This is especially true of the lives of the members of his own class, of the literary activities of fifth-century Gaul, and of ecclesiastical affairs. His hundred and forty-nine letters are addressed to a hundred and nine correspondents, including ex-prefects |liv and patricians, a minister and an 'admiral' of the Visigothic king, a Breton commander, and no less than twenty-eight bishops; while among the recipients of letters who did not hold ecclesiastical or secular office are to be found the student, the poet, the young noble, the country gentleman, the schoolmaster and the rhetor. So varied a list proves that the writer was a man whose wide acquaintance gives him a right to be heard as a representative of his time and country.
Many allusions in the Letters will be more intelligible if a few words are said in the present place on the general conditions obtaining in Gaul when Sidonius wrote, with especial reference to the classes from which his correspondents were drawn. And firstly in relation to his own class, the provincial nobles of senatorial houses.
Perhaps the point which first strikes us is that life on the great estates in the last half of the fifth century, at the very end of Roman power in Gaul, is just as Roman, and in some ways almost as secure, as in the times of Hadrian or Trajan. The noble has his town house and his country villa, the latter with its large establishment of slaves, its elaborate baths, and all the amenities of country existence as understood by Roman civilization.105 In his well-stocked library he reads his |lv favourite authors, writes himself in verse and prose, or maintains a continual correspondence with friends of equal wealth and leisure. For diversion, he hunts and fishes, or rides abroad to visit his neighbours; if interested in the development of his land, he goes round the estate, watches the work in progress, and is present at the harvest or the vintage.106 It is the life of the cultured landed proprietor in a country at profound peace, where soldiers seem to be neither seen nor thought of, and the only sense of insecurity arises from the presence of robbers on the lonelier roads; but for the apparent predominance of literary over sporting interests, we might be reading of the English shires in the days of the Georges, when the carriages of nobles were stopped by highwaymen on Bagshot Heath. Yet the Visigoths had been established half a century in Aquitaine; the Burgundians were on the Rhône; the Franks were pressing upon such territory in northern Gaul as still retained a shadow of Roman authority. The barbarians encompassed the diminished imperial possessions upon three sides; even before the time of Anthemius and Euric, the empire must have been aware that they were bent on a further advance.107 When we think of the apprehension caused in modern times |lvi by the threatened invasion of one nationality by another, of the military preparations and the manifold precautions on every hand, it all seems at first sight very strange. The explanation is to be sought in the fact that, for the majority of the population, the possibility of change had no exceeding terrors. The small landowners and townsmen had suffered to such an extent from maladministration in the past, that they regarded the future with indifference; their own lot was no whit better than that of their fellows who had already passed under Teutonic sway. The Visigoths and the Burgundians had the best reputation among the barbarian peoples; they kept order with a strong hand; they endeavoured to assimilate what was good in Roman law and practice. Even the great landowner had only to fear a partial confiscation of his estates; but in most cases the acreage was large enough to leave him still in comfort, and in difficulties he would probably still have an appeal to some administrator of Roman extraction, like Leo or Victorius.108 Under these circumstances |lvii the Gallo-Roman noble might view the change in his allegiance without despair; though his income and his acreage would be diminished, he would still have his villa, and cultivators to work on his land; he would still live his leisured life. Only in Auvergne, perhaps, did loyalty to a tottering empire go the length of resolute resistance; even there, it is probable that a part of the population was lukewarm, and that ardour had to be assiduously fanned by enthusiastic loyalists like Sidonius and Ecdicius. Thus the change from Roman to Visi-gothic citizenship implied, for the noble, a comparative loss, and for the lower classes a possibility of actual gain: a Euric was less likely than a remote and helpless emperor to tolerate a Seronatus in his service. The Letters afford interesting confirmation of a certain tacit confidence in barbaric rule. One year Sidonius paid a round of visits to Roman friends living near Bordeaux and Narbonne; these friends are displayed to us reading and writing in their comfortable libraries, maintaining their luxurious kitchens, entertaining each other, and living a large life at their ease. Yet at the time every one of them had ceased to have any political concern with the empire; every one of them was a Visigothic subject. The fact speaks for itself, and it makes the point from which we started less strange than it at first appeared. If life continued almost in the old fashion, |lviii even across the barbaric frontier, why should there be panic on the Roman side, or terror as to what would happen when the line was finally abolished? Existence would be much the same for most men after the great change was made. The higher nobility would lose the honours of imperial office, for there would be no more prefectorian or patrician rank; the rude barbarians would be unwelcome neighbours; but there were ways of avoiding them, and after all, they were a small minority. The Gallo-Roman nobles would continue to pay each other visits and write each other elaborate letters; they would hold closely together, and neither Visigoth nor Burgundian would care to intrude on their society. The prestige of Roman culture would remain; things would go on as before. Their day would begin at its usual early hour, opening in religious families with a service in the chapel attached to the house,109 followed by visits to particular friends. After nine o'clock, there would be outdoor and indoor games; if sport was pursued, the hawks or hounds would be taken out.110 The company would perhaps adjourn to the baths, after which would come the prandium or midday meal, about 11 a.m.111 |lix The hour of the siesta would be succeeded by a ride or other light exercise, and by the afternoon bath, preparatory to the coena, or supper, which would be enlivened by songs and music, or seasoned by cultured conversation. The barbarian might rule the land, but the laws of polite society would be administered as before.
The Letters enable us to follow in some detail the career of the Gallo-Roman noble from childhood to mature age. During his tender years he and his sisters were left to the care of the ladies of the family; at this period of their lives they remained in a seclusion almost resembling that of the Eastern gynaeceum.112 From this seclusion the girl never really issued into the full light; she learned, as she grew up, to superintend and share the work of the textrinum (II.ii. 9); if she was skilful, like Araneola, she executed ambitious pieces of embroidery with figure-subjects (Carm. xv. 147 ff.); in the library, |lx her place was where the religious books were kept (II. ix. 4), and sometimes, like Frontina, she attained at home a reputation of piety superior to that of nuns (IV. xxi. 4). The boy was permitted far more freedom; he played ball-games, and was initiated into the various forms of outdoor sport. As soon as he was old enough he attended the schools of his provincial capital, and learned to deliver 'declamations' before the rhetor, perhaps a man of distinction like Eusebius of Lyons, at whose feet Sidonius sat (IV. i). In his holidays, or on special occasions, the high official position held by his relatives might secure for him a good position at any spectacle or ceremony; we see the young Sidonius, when his father was prefect, pushing into the near neighbourhood of the consul Astyrius on the day of his inauguration (VIII. vi. 5). Released from the schools, he continued his sports, adding games of chance with dice, evidently very popular on all hands (II. ix. 4; V. xvii. 6, &c.). If a young man was rich and clever, or his family had influence, he went to Rome and entered the Palatine service, with the hope of rising to the high offices of the State. But his public life was usually over before middle age, and he retired to enjoy the honorary rank conferred by his late office. If he had no taste for further publicity he remained at home, read and wrote, followed his hounds, or acquired a taste for rural economics; kept up his classics and his ball-games; perhaps built additions to his villa. He might even grow too absorbed in rural interests to visit town even in the winter, like the Eutropius whom Sidonius rebuked, or the Maurusius whose company he so highly valued. Or he might advance a stage further, and think of |lxi nothing else, till he was lost to all ambition beyond crops and stock, and sank into rusticity. There were many such in Gaul, and in more than one letter Sidonius alludes to them with regret or indignation. 113 But the more intellectual among the country gentlemen did not lightly forget the culture of their younger years. Literature probably occupied the class as a whole more than it has ever done in modern Europe. The Gallo-Roman noble was always a potential author, and valued himself as a critic. Verses and epigrams were circulated from house to house,114 and the writers of these expected from every reader a letter of acknowledgement, which could be nothing less, under the circumstances, than eulogistic. The more earnest students would edit a classic, and keep copyists at work transcribing manuscripts for their shelves. In their houses the library was a very important room, and the scrolls and books were carefully arranged.115 We receive the impression that the proportion of well-to-do people really fond of literature was high in the second half of the fifth century; and though the devotion to the classics in many ways recalls that of the Chinese |lxii literate to whom the past is everything, the precedence given to literature over sport is a feature which commands our respect.
For all this, the more strenuous noble must often have found time hang heavy on his hands. He had few outlets for his energy; local politics were of the slightest interest to him; they were the affair of smaller men, and he had, as a rule, little notion of what we now call social service (see below, p. lxx). But his duties as father of a family were conscientiously performed; he sometimes himself took a part in his children's education.116 Then there was the regular and voluminous correspondence with his friends, comparable, in the care lavished on style and diction, to the leisurely exchange of letters by persons of culture in the eighteenth century. Visits to friends living at a distance were also serious undertakings; we find Sidonius making 'rounds' which range from Auvergne to Provence, from Bordeaux to Lyons.117 On long expeditions he took his servants, bedding, and all impedimenta; where there was no friend's house to offer hospitality, he camped (IV. viii), or, if driven to it, used an inn (II. ix. 7; VIII. xi. 3). Friends' houses stood open to each other, and liberal hospitality reigned. But though good cooking was evidently as general as in modern France, excess at table was rather the exception than the rule. Hospitality, |lxiii however, was sometimes insistent, then as now; and in one place Sidonius confesses that after the opulent suppers of Ferreolus and Apollinaris a week's thin living will do him good (II. ix. 10). If the noble was a Christian, as was now very generally the case,118 public religious duties played some part in his life. When a church was consecrated, or the feast of the patron saint came round, he made a point of attending the services, which sometimes began even before daybreak: at such festivals all classes came together, though they did not mingle, and the intervals between the services were occupied with games and conversation (V. xvii). Or he would prepare to set out with all his family on a pilgrimage to some important shrine, even when the state of the roads was dangerous (IV. vi). With these tranquil occupations his years passed by. But if he bore a high character and was popular with his neighbours, the quiet tenor of his life might be suddenly interrupted: he might wake one day to find himself elected bishop, and the most earnest nolo episcopari was not accepted as an excuse. If, on the other hand, the Church made no such claim upon him, he declined into a serene old age, and might have to listen in his own bed to those contradictory verdicts of the doctors whose quarrels in previous years disturbed his patience.119 |lxiv He died; but though veneration for the dead was a conspicuous virtue of his age, his family might forget for two generations to erect his monument, and when reminded by some accident of their duty, excuse each other by citing the irrelevant cases of an Achilles and an Alexander.120
Both in town and country, the nobles seem to have led a large and sumptuous existence, in no way inferior to that of their own class in Italy. The proud name of 'the lesser Rome of Gaul' which Ausonius applied to Arles,121 is justified by the letters alluding to the sojourn of Majorian in that town. In one an imperial banquet is described; in another a private feast, given by an acquaintance of Sidonius.122 In both cases the luxury is redeemed by an intellectual atmosphere, but the luxury is there, with all the genialis apparatus which contemporary extravagance required. There are the hangings of rich purple, the napery 'white as snow', the table-decoration of vine-tendrils and ivy; there are flowers in profusion. The guests recline, with balsam-perfumed hair, while frankincense smokes to the roof, and the very lamps are scented. The slaves bow beneath the burden of chased silver plate; choice wines flow in cups crowned with rose-wreaths. There is dancing, and music made on cithara and flute by Corinthian girls and other professional musicians. It |lxv all suggests an evening with Lucullus rather than a dinner-party in a provincial capital. These were special occasions; but the general standard of life was clearly high. There is a picture of one Trygetius, so comfortable at Bazas amid the selected delicacies of his storeroom123 that even the prospect of a gourmet's paradise at Bordeaux cannot drag him from home. A snail would outstrip this lazy personage, whom a comfortable boat awaits on the Garonne, with 'mounds of cushions', a grating to keep the feet dry, an awning to ward off the evening damp, dice and backgammon to pass the idle hours while, in frequent chants, the oarsmen sing his praise. Even the delicata pigritia of Trygetius, thinks Sidonius, must be tempted by this care for his comfort, all leading to a veritable tournament of epicures at the end. Who would imagine that when this invitation was sent, the homes of these Gallic Sybarites were in Visigothic territory, and that Theodoric was master of Bordeaux? Sidonius himself was comfortable enough at Avitacum, with his winter and summer dining-rooms, his elaborate baths, and his ball-ground down by the lake (see below, p. xcv); while the lordly villa of Consentius, the Octaviana, was probably more extensive still, with its porticoes and baths, its well-stocked library, its vineyards and olive-groves, where the visitor hardly knew which to praise most, the cultivation of the estate or that of the master's mind (VIII. iv).124
It is in many respects a singularly refined life, free, |lxvi as a rule, from coarse vice and brutality. But no one who reads either the letters of Sidonius, or any other work descriptive of the fourth and fifth centuries, can fail to be struck by a certain lack of broad aims or ardent interests. These men are less primitive than the barons of the Middle Ages, but in idealism and fervour the mediaeval knights leave them far behind. It has already been hinted that to find a parallel for some of these lives, absorbed in solemn literary trifling, we should have to look to the Far East, rather than to any European state. These members of the senatorial class125 were possessed of enormous wealth, but they seem to have had little encouragement to expend any part of it for the benefit of their country.126 They escaped the municipal taxation which they could well afford; 127 their chief use for surplus money was to lend |lxvii it at twelve per cent, and if possessed of business instinct, to foreclose their mortgages.128 Thus they had come to possess nearly the whole superficial area of a country which they were not even supposed to defend. If they wished to commit illegal acts, they could often set themselves above the law. Provincial governors were amenable to hospitality and open to social influence; a Seronatus could be persuaded to sanction courses which the distant emperor would not have tolerated. Judges were even more exposed to improper influence; the powerful noble had probably little difficulty in wresting a judgement, if he had the mind to do so. The base arts to which some members of the senatorial class descended to evade their share of taxation, or fill their pockets at the expense of a defrauded state, disclose a code of ethics for which too often public duty was a phrase without a meaning.129 The honourable men among them----a Tonantius Ferreolus, a Thaumastus----might discountenance such ignoble practices, and lead the province in an attempt to obtain the punishment of a bad governor. But they were in a minority, and the evil grew despite their efforts. It is difficult to understand how the nobles spent the princely incomes which, by fair or unfair means, were always increasing. |lxviii In modern times, with continual demands upon his purse for all kinds of public objects, with the competition for expensive works of art, with a thousand and one objects of use or luxury daily forced upon his notice, it may be supposed that the magnate can keep expenditure within range of income. But the Roman millionaire, at any rate in the provinces, had no great and steady drain on his resources unless he was a devout man and prepared to erect or restore churches as a practice. He might spend considerable sums on his houses and baths; but as labour was cheap, if not unpaid, and as there is a limit to construction, even building on a large scale would not seriously diminish an income equivalent to £50,000 a year. A few, like Magnus or Consentius, might buy pictures or other works of art, but the sums paid for them can hardly have been comparable with those given for old masters to-day, nor do we gather from the Letters that the love of art was really intense, or widely disseminated in Gaul. The chief intellectual interest was literary, and however enthusiastic it may have been, it can hardly have depleted a senatorial purse. There were manuscripts to buy, but, it may be conjectured, not at the prices of the modern sale-room; and the rarer illuminated books were not yet collected by the competitive methods of our day. If then there were no hospitals to endow, no large yachts to maintain, no subscription lists to head, on what did the provincial millionaire spend his money? He could only entertain on a very lavish scale when resident in a town like Arles. He gambled, but not, as far as we know, on the heroic scale. He patronized the chase, but hunting was then a cheap pursuit. The milliners' and jewellers' |lxix bills which he had to pay can hardly have caused him much embarrassment; the weaving, and probably the making, of his wife's clothes was done by the maids of the house; and it may be doubted whether, in an age when diamonds were practically unknown, the most expensive jewellers could send him an inconvenient account. His estate was self-supporting; those who tilled it largely worked for nothing or were recompensed in kind;130 all the food and all the fuel required for his household came from his own fields and woods. 'Clients' cannot have been ruinously expensive where food was cheap. He had only to feed and clothe his domestic servants, not to pay them wages.131 The |lxx answer to the question probably is that the rich provincial noble did not and could not spend his income; year by year he became richer and ever more uselessly rich.
That he did so was but one count in the indictment against the Roman system of provincial government, which threw such burdens on the middle class and the lower class of freemen, that the vigour of both was sapped, and the spirit of enterprise crushed out of existence. It is unnecessary in the present place to dwell upon the notorious evils of the Curial system,132 which gave the decurion all duties and no rights, and the senatorial class all rights and no duties. We need not linger over the folly which encouraged useless wealth and useless lives in a class which, reasonably handled, might have become a bulwark of the State. The noble had no useful work to do. His tenure of quaestorship, vicariate or prefecture once over, he had no further career. He could not serve in the army; he was not |lxxi supposed to found an industry. There was no scope for active brains except in literature, and literature was now of such a kind that its propagation was of doubtful advantage to the world. We can hardly wonder if men unmanned, as it were, by statute failed the empire in its need, or if the great proprietor made his estate his world, and cared little for events beyond his boundaries. He had become a fly upon the wheel of government, brilliant perhaps, but an insect still, and adding no momentum. Sidonius belonged to the best of his order; he and his relations loved their country, and were prepared to sacrifice everything for it. But custom held them bound; they had no chance to prove themselves until it was too late.
The Roman empire opened its own veins. But there was now within it an organism which drew to itself new blood, and amid the general enfeeblement of old institutions, grew daily in vitality. The Church succeeded to the neglected opportunities of the State. While the secular arm relaxed, the Church enlarged her power, and drew the people to the one rallying-point that remained to them amid the increasing disruption of society. 'In the civil world', said Guizot, many years ago, speaking of the fifth century, 'we find no real government; the imperial administration is fallen, the senatorial aristocracy fallen, the municipal aristocracy fallen as well. It is a tale of dissolution everywhere. Authority and freedom alike are attacked by the same sterility. In the religious world, on the other hand, we see an active government, an animated and interested people. Excuses for anarchy and tyranny may be numerous; but the liberty is real, |lxxii and so is the power. On all sides are the germs of an energetic popular activity and of a strong executive. This, in a word, is a society marching towards a future, a stormy future fraught with evil as well as good, but full of power and fecundity.'133 Here is the root of the matter: the Church had a future and a present; the State had only a past. While the imperial officials were too often regarded as instruments of tyranny, whose only relation to the mass of the people was external and oppressive, the leaders of the Church were in constant touch with national and individual life. Their homes were in the towns; their houses were open to all in trouble. Instead of being the common enemy, the bishop was every one's friend,134 he stood in a regular relation to the municipal body, and exercised certain judicial rights of his own.135 |lxxiii Moreover, he controlled the Church lands in his diocese, and had thus a power of the purse which necessarily increased his consideration at a time of general impoverishment. It is not astonishing that under such circumstances the prestige of the bishop steadily rose. In the time of Sidonius, the episcopate was already moving towards the emancipation attained in the sixth century; but as yet the occupants of the Gallic sees were men of such high character that there was little abuse of their expanding authority. The Letters bring no such charges of violent and unseemly conduct as those which are scattered through the pages of Gregory of Tours.136 The bishops of the expiring fifth century were powers in the land and powers for good, mitigating the hardships of a dangerous epoch, and standing forth in the public eyes as the true representatives of national life. They were indeed almost the only conspicuous figures who were visibly doing national work, and the fact was widely recognized. Good men of wealth and standing, condemned to inaction by the absence of any secular career, must have cast envious eyes upon this episcopal office which enabled its holders to serve their country so well; the hierarchy and the people, equally alive to the importance of strengthening the Church by the |lxxiv admission of such valuable recruits, did not discourage their aspirations.137 The Church was not so ill-advised as to imitate the State in debarring from a share in her activities the very men who could render the greatest service; she gave the nobles a ready welcome, not merely because they were rich, though riches were desirable, but because they were likely to possess, in a more eminent degree than others, the high culture and the great manner which the long habit of receiving deference conferred. The Church had room, as historians have observed, for two types of bishop. She needed, on the one hand, the learned pupil of the monasteries, the theologian, preacher, and disciplinarian. She needed, on the other, the man born to great place, imposing respect by personal distinction, and a commanding figure in any company. She appreciated a Faustus, pursuing as bishop the austerities which he had practised as a monk; she welcomed Remigius and Principius, sons of a count, and the wealthy Patiens, who could combine simplicity in his own life with a lordly openness of hand and the most gracious arts of hospitality (cf. VI. xii. 3). The aristocratic bishop could serve her best not only in her relations with imperial officials, whose day was almost gone, but also with the barbarian princes, whose favour grew more important with every year. As the empire was ever further dismembered, and the Church provided the one bond of union between the subjects of isolated kingdoms, the diplomatic bishop continually proved his |lxxv worth. The Visigoth and the Burgundian were impressed by his culture and his experience of the world; moreover, they were by tradition disposed to favour high birth. There was thus a general tendency to elect a certain number of aristocratic personages to vacant sees, and a corresponding readiness, on the part of the worthier noble, to look with favour on such election, seeing, as he could not fail to do, that the one way to be of use was to become a bishop. It was therefore no unprecedented event when upon the death of the Bishop of Clermont, Sidonius found himself called to succeed by the voice of his fellow countrymen in Auvergne. The call came perhaps too suddenly; it appeared rather a summons than an invitation; but the recipient of it was more ready for the change than he supposed himself to be. And in spite of the misgivings which crowded upon his mind, he must have seen ground for hope in more than one direction. In leaving the aimless existence of the provincial magnate for the living work of the Church, he joined an organization which now assumed a commanding influence over the whole moral and intellectual field; to throw himself with ardour into its work was to aid the one force in the land which made for regeneration. The Church appealed also to the scholar and man of letters. The only original philosophical speculation of the day was carried on by theologians like Faustus and Claudianus Mamertus, who had persuaded Philosophy into the service of Religion (IX. ix. 12).138 To rhetoric the Church offered the one chance of effective action; the orator in the pulpit could feel that he was not |lxxvi delivering a class-room declamation, but reaching the hearts of men. The preacher could treat the great subjects of life, not as themes for academic display, but with a purpose of practical reform; the eloquence of a Remigius carried away great congregations; the pulpit had succeeded the rostra, it alone spoke to an assembly of the people.139 Even the education of the young was beginning to pass into the control of the Church: in the monastery of Lerins a school was established by Faustus, at which a brother of Sidonius was trained (Carm. xvi. 1. 70).140 The old education was doomed to pass with the passing of the empire; it was a survival, unfitted for the coming age. The people at large had no interest in the exercises of rhetors and grammarians; they turned from them to other teachers. And among these the former pupil of Hoënius and Eusebius now took an honoured place.
We may briefly notice a few allusions in the Letters to those ecclesiastical matters with which the second part of Sidonius' life was so largely concerned. Great as the influence of the bishops had become, it is clear that it was still in some measure controlled both by the general voice of the laymen, and by that of the priesthood, now a body apart, and more definitely severed from the community than in early Christian times.141 We mark the survival of these two factors, |lxxvii the popular and the priestly, in the interesting accounts of the episcopal elections at Bourges and Châlon (VII. ix; IV. xxv). We there find the popular vote still regarded as an integral part of the proceedings, while some of the diocesan priests give vent to strong opinions of their own, not always coincident with the episcopal point of view. But in both cases the bishops, though recognizing the traditional popular claim, succeed in carrying their point. They hold a private meeting at which they agree upon their candidate and it is this candidate who is elected.142 The consecration of a new bishop at Châlon is carried out by Patiens and Euphronius in a masterful manner; at Bourges, Sidonius delivers a formal address calling upon the people to accept Simplicius. At Bourges,143 indeed, the electors seem to have recognized the necessary confusion where 'two benchfuls' of unscrupulous men were all urging their claims to a single throne (VII. ix. 2). When one aspirant based his hopes on his kitchen and his dinners, and another on a promise to divide Church property among his supporters, the evils of popular election became apparent to all responsible laymen: they abrogated their claims in favour of the bishops, whose selection they agreed to accept. Such cases |lxxviii probably illustrate as well as any examples could, the evil tendencies which necessitated a change of system.144 And the people were not alone in the responsibility for undesirable episodes on these occasions. At Bourges the priests openly favoured promotion by seniority rather than by merit, and Sidonius was obliged to administer a sharp rebuke. It is plain that in the late fifth century a tightening of the bonds of discipline was inevitable, and this could only be effected by the bishops.145 The intense and factious excitement aroused on the occasion of an episcopal vacancy affords yet another proof of the importance attaching to the bishop's position. A see was worth fighting for; so much so, that the prize attracted candidates whose motives were sometimes entirely base.146 Perhaps in the years preceding the disasters of A.D. 474 there had been a certain laxity in the religious life of Gaul. Sidonius alludes to public devotions in which the prayers were too much interrupted by refreshments (V. xiv. 2); 147 the dicing and other amusements interspersed between the services at the festival of St.. Just seem in rather |lxxix too close an alternation with the devotions of the day (V. xvii).148 There may have been in many places an excessive preoccupation with the material side of life, which affected even those whose office it was to inspire thoughts of the opposite kind. An Agrippinus in holy orders harassing his sister-in-law on money matters is not a pleasant figure (VI. ii). Nor can we approve the apparent toleration of money-lending in the case of priests (IV. xxiv). But against such examples may be set others of a very different kind, which show that there was a strong leaven of piety and devotion both among clerics and among laymen. In the monasteries there was severe self-discipline, and many of the distinguished monks or abbots who were taken from Lerins to fill the sees of Gaul, carried into their new spheres of activity all the monastic rigour to which they had been accustomed.149 The Syrian monk Abraham, who after being driven from his native country by |lxxx Sassanian persecution, had finally settled down at Clermont (see below, pp. lxxxiii, civ), afforded another example of renunciation,150 which produced its effect even upon Victorius, Euric's Count of Auvergne (VII. xvii. 1). Vectius, the noble who maintained his place in the world while secretly practising a devout life, is, as Dill has observed, a character which might be taken from Law's Serious Call (IV. ix). The ex-quaestor Domnulus, a friend of Sidonius, goes into retreat in the monasteries of the Jura (IV. xxv). Simplicius, while a young man, straitens his resources by building a church, Elaphius builds a baptistery in Rouergue (IV. xv).
It is natural that we should learn more from Sidonius of the contemporary bishops than of the lower ranks in the Church, since it was with them that he had chiefly to correspond. Many attractive figures pass before us, some already familiar, as having their recognized place in the history of their age. There is the aged Lupus of Troyes (S. Loup), the doyen of Gaulish bishops, who in spite of advanced years and many anxieties, received the news of Sidonius' election with fatherly satisfaction, and, for all his saintliness, was human enough to take umbrage at a supposed breach of literary etiquette (IX. xi). There is Remigius (S. Remi), the apostle of the Franks, to whose glowing eloquence |lxxxi Sidonius bears his testimony (IX. vii). There is Faustus, the daring theologian of the day, and leader of a semi-Pelagian school in the south of Gaul, whose work on Free Grace was condemned by Pope Gelasius, and whose anonymous treatise on the Materiality of the Soul elicited the De Statu Animae of Claudianus Mamertus.151 There is the learned Graecus of Marseilles, whose part in ratifying the treaty of surrender drew from Sidonius the bitter reproach of outraged patriotism, but did not ultimately affect the friendly relations between them. There are St. Euphronius of Autun, Leontius of Arles, Perpetuus of Tours, Basilius of Aix, and many others less known to posterity.152 Finally there is Patiens, for whom Sidonius is the sole authority, the saintly and generous bishop who relieved the distress even of those living far beyond the limits of his own diocese, and rebuilt on a magnificent scale the old church of the Maccabees at Lyons: for him, as bishop of his native town, Sidonius may well have felt an almost filial affection. Of the 'second order' in the Church, the priests, we hear comparatively little. The most distinguished |lxxxii among them is the above-mentioned Claudianus Mamertus, the religious philosopher of Gaul, who combined high speculation with orthodox belief, while at the same time aiding his brother Mamertus, Bishop of Vienne, in almost all the practical work of the diocese, from the receipt of the revenues to the training of the choir (IV. xi). Most other priests whose names are mentioned in these pages are names and nothing more; it is a matter for regret that there is no portrait of the parish priest and his activities, such as the most literary bishop of Gaul could so well have drawn for us on his return from one of his extended visitations. Of the inferior orders, one or two deacons ('Levites') are briefly introduced. Proculus, a pupil of Euphronius, is praised as reflecting in his manner something of the urbanity of his master Principius (IX. ii); a more unfortunate Lévite, who, driven from home by the barbarian incursion, has sown a crop on church-lands in the diocese of Auxerre, finds a ready advocate in Sidonius, who begs of Bishop Censorius the remission of the payments due (VI. vii). Two Readers (lectures) also find mention in these pages, one, the impudent Amantius, several times, and once at great length; the other, an unnamed person engaged in commerce, whom the influence of Graecus is to convert from a small trader into a 'splendid merchant' (splendidus mercator (VI. viii). Of the monks in Gaul Sidonius gives but scanty information. An Abbot Chariobaudus receives a gift of a cowl for winter use (VII. xvi); but though allusions are made to the great houses of Lerins and Grigny, and to the smaller houses of Condat and Lauconne in the Jura, the Letters give us |lxxxiii no details of monastic life.153 We only learn that on the death of the monk Abraham, the founder of St. Cirgues at Clermont, his successor had not the qualities which maintain order, and Sidonius asks his friend Volusianus to act as a kind of Superior without the walls (VII. xvii); perhaps in the founder's time these monks followed an oriental custom, and Volusianus was now to introduce the stricter rules of Lerins or Grigny. It was at St. Cirgues that some ill-conditioned person removed Sidonius' book when he was conducting a service, with the vain idea of causing him embarrassment (Gregory, Hist. Franc. II. xxii), a rather curious little episode, which, if really founded on fact, throws an interesting side-light on the maintenance of monastic discipline. The house ultimately became a priory and lasted till the close of the eighteenth century.154
Though as a young man Sidonius was familiar with the court of Theodoric II at Toulouse (I. ii), no small part of his experience among the barbarians was gained when he had become a bishop. We have seen that after his imprisonment in the fortress of Livia, he |lxxxiv seems to have been compelled to wait the king's pleasure at Bordeaux; and in the course of his efforts to recover his lost property, he must have been brought into contact with various members of the Visigothic administration. It was at Bordeaux that he saw those representatives of the different barbarian tribes whose personal characteristics he has described, some of them captives like himself, others rendering voluntary service to a dreaded master. At both periods of his life he must have been familiar with the Burgundians, whose territory even in his youth was at no great distance from his native town. But in their case also, the acquaintance which was so distasteful to his fastidious mind was renewed at a later time after they had entered on the possession of Lyons. His female relations continued to reside in that city; and he went there after his entry into the Church, to see not only his family, but also the Burgundian king who stood with Rome against the aggression of Euric.155 It must have been painful in the extreme for one to whom Roman culture meant so much, to hear the guttural voices of the barbarians in the streets where in his young days he had passed to and fro with his Latin classics; to see 'skin-clad' guards at the gate of the praetorium where Rome had displayed the symbols of her power, and, penetrating to the halls built for an imperial magistrate, to be welcomed by the gross good-humoured chieftain whom Patiens conciliated by excellent dinners (VI. xii. 3). Sidonius paid his court, as duty to his people compelled him to do; he took the opportunity of interceding for his |lxxxv kinsman Apollinaris, threatened by the malevolence of the informers who now infested the barbarian capitals; but, all the time, the iron must have entered into his soul. Like his brother-in-law Ecdicius, who in like manner had frequented these same halls, he must have suffered from a keen sense of humiliation. There was but one consolation, that however unrefined the Visigoth and the Burgundian might appear by comparison with the Roman standard, they were humane and civil compared with the pagan Frank and the fierce piratical Saxon of the north.156
It was indeed the peculiar good fortune of central and southern Gaul that the two peoples which here succeeded to the Roman inheritance were the best of all the conquering Teutons. The Visigoths belonged to a tribe which had now been in contact with imperial civilization for generations and had adopted much from Roman law and custom; the Burgundians, though outwardly less civilized, were the most genial and good-natured of all the German nations. The great drawback to both lay in their common profession of the Arian heresy, but for which the Gallo-Romans might have acquiesced far more readily in their dominion, and the ultimate triumph of the Frank would hardly have been |lxxxvi so rapid.157 Religious fanaticism apart, and this only flamed fiercely in the ten years of Euric's reign, the relations between provincial and barbarian were those of mutual tolerance.158 Neither Visigoth nor Burgundian was animated by any inveterate hostility to Rome. They had been confirmed in possession of their present territory by imperial sanction;159 it had been their earlier ambition to rank as foederati; the Burgundian king was even now proud to hold rank under the empire.160 It was impossible even for the most exclusive Roman citizen to forget that the fabric of the empire had been preserved by barbarian arms, and that the great Stilicho was a Vandal. Nor could personal charm be denied to those Teutonic leaders who had learned the arts of Roman life. In Italy itself there had been conspicuous examples; and though the portrait of Theodoric II in I. ii is perhaps overdrawn for a temporary political purpose, his manner of life was tolerably civilized. The Goths and Burgundians were prepared to treat the Gallo-Romans without violence; but they were determined ultimately to dominate the whole of central and southern Gaul. Before the time came for the full satisfaction of that ambition, they were as a rule inclined to live peaceably with their neighbours; |lxxxvii meanwhile they were subjected to a continual process of Romanization,161 their new relation to the land and their inferior knowledge of agriculture alone making them to a great extent dependent on Roman law.
On their side, the Gallo-Romans were used to the presence of the northerner in their midst. The individual Teutonic peasant or slave had been a familiar figure in their households or on their farms since the days when the military emperors had distributed thousands of prisoners over the land. It was recognized, not by the fiery Salvian162 alone, but by the average inhabitant, that the barbarians had their good qualities, and that in blunt honesty and the sense of justice the Teutonic chief might excel the Roman official. When the imperial system degenerated beyond redemption, when a Seronatus succeeded an Arvandus, and the extortions of the tax-gatherers were hardly to be borne, the perception became general that life might |lxxxviii be more tolerable in Septimania, or under Chilperic than under the jurisdiction of Rome. Except in Auvergne, where among a section of the inhabitants loyalty to Rome was a passion, the country was being gradually prepared for the inevitable transference of sovereignty. The poor man often longed for the change; the rich man resigned himself to unavoidable fate. The one felt that his lot could not be worse; the other saw that the civilized life of ease might be led almost as agreeably at Toulouse or Bordeaux, which had been Visigothic for half a century, as in the cities remaining to the empire (cf. above, p. lxv). It may be added that even as fighting men the barbarians did not inspire universal terror. The intruders were in a numerical inferiority which increased with each fresh annexation, and the Gallo-Roman could remember more than one occasion on which, man for man, Roman warriors had proved their equals.163 Moreover the barbarian tribes were not united against Rome. The Burgundian was jealous of the Visigoth, and even lent troops to Auvergne to assist in opposing his advance. Perhaps the worst feature in the situation was the general suspense; the uncertainty when the blow would fall paralysed such public life as remained. The administration continued to deteriorate; the officials were openly dishonest. The roads were insecure. |lxxxix Fugitives from unjust usage established themselves in fastnesses and seized on all property which could be carried off.164 They were joined by bankrupts, runaway agents or cultivators from the great estates, in short by every one to whom the lawless life appealed. Rome was ceasing to maintain order; she had to make way for a power which could.
Perhaps when the blow did fall, it proved, for a time at least, more serious than the sanguine had expected.165 Euric was an intolerant Arian; the passive or active resistance of the Catholic clergy provoked him to harsh treatment of individuals, while he prevented new appointments to sees left vacant by death or deprivation. Churches fell in ruin; bereft of their pastors, flocks were scattered.166 He was further incensed by the obstinate resistance of Auvergne; his troops burned the crops and devastated the country, thus causing the most widespread distress. But as soon as the treaty was concluded and Berry and Auvergne were his own, he in some measure justified the hope that the Goths would establish a reputable government. He already had at his right hand, as |xc prime-minister, the Catholic Gallo-Roman Leo;167 he now set over the conquered Auvergne another Gallo-Roman, Victorius; and we may perhaps assume that the episcopal negotiators of the treaty had secured from him better conditions for the Catholic population under his rule (see above, p. xlii). As a whole, the newly acquired territory settled down under Visigothic laws, in which, as we have seen, much Roman law was now incorporated.168 A sensible loss to the senatorial families was that of the 'consular', 'prefectorian', and other titles derived from their passage through the cursus honorum. As Sidonius says, the only distinction now was culture, so that the jealous maintenance of Roman literature and the purity of Latin speech became more than ever important.169 A few nobles followed the example of Leo and Victorius, and took high office under the new régime, as they did in like manner at the Burgundian courts.170 Evodius, for whose presentation-cup to Ragnahild Sidonius wrote his verses (IV. viii), may have succeeded in pushing his fortunes in this manner. Other conspicuous Gallo-Romans were perhaps content to ingratiate themselves |xci with their prince by the arts of flattery: such was Lampridius, the orator and poet of Bordeaux (VIII. ix).171 The baser sort found their advantage in becoming informers, and trading in the properties and lives of their fellow countrymen.172 Their machinations were in one case thwarted by the interventions of Chilperic's queen, whose support was of such worth to Patiens. The respect which the Teutonic princes and peoples showed to their women was a virtue which did much to make them respected by their Gallo-Roman subjects.
Probably Sidonius came into close personal relations with no barbarians other than the Visigoths and Bur-gundians; of the rest he had a glimpse during his sojourn at Euric's court (see below, p. cix), or only knew by hearsay.173 His experience was gained in the most favourable field; but it is clear that though in younger days he had followed his father-in-law's pro-Gothic policy, and though as a Visigothic subject he schooled himself to civility, the intensity of his Roman sympathies never suffered him to like even the best of the barbarians. In a confidential letter he makes the confession that he does not care for barbarians even when they are good (VII. xiv. 10). He despised them as lacking in the refinements of the one culture in which he believed. The personal habits of the Burgundians |xcii revolt him,174 he indulges in a subdued sneer at the culture of the Visigothic court: the quality of the silver of Ragnahild's cup, not that of the verses engraved on it, will alone be esteemed 'in such an Athenaeum' (cf. above, p. xlvi). The barbarians are always the skin-clad savages (pelliti), as compared with. the Romans in their civilized dress.2 In a time of strained relations, the Visigoths become the perfidious people (foedifraga gens), in whom no reliance can be placed (cf. p. lxxxvii, note175). This ingrained dislike on the part of Sidonius is an unfortunate circumstance for the historian of the barbaric nations. He was in a position which offered him priceless opportunities to observe not only the outward appearance of a few ypes casually seen at Bordeaux or Lyons, but the daily life of the community. He might have learned to converse with them, given us examples of their speech, told us their proverbial wisdom, their legends and their history. He did none of these things. The apostle of Latin idiom would not soil his lips with the detested German tongue. An Athenian, forced to learn Persian under a victorious Xerxes, would not have suffered more than this Patrician, if Visigothic had been made a compulsory language in vanquished Gaul. It is clear that he only half admires |xciii the cleverness of a Syagrius who became so proficient in the Burgundian dialect that old men were afraid of being detected by him in solecism (V. v. 3).
It is a great opportunity lost.176 But though he falls lamentably short of what he might so easily have accomplished, Sidonius has left several sketches of barbarian types which are not without their value to the student of history and ethnology, or even to the literary man. It was probably at Lyons that he saw the young Frankish (?) prince Sigismer in his rich apparel, walking amongst his guards to the house of his prospective father-in-law, the Burgundian Chilperic (IV. xx). The description is full of interest, and has attracted the attention of every historian of the fifth century; so circumstantial is it that though the nationality of Sigismer is not stated, it may be fairly inferred from his equipment and his arms.177 But, as already noted, it was during his enforced stay at Bordeaux that the Bishop of Clermont had occasion to observe the various representatives of the northern tribes who pressed upon one another at the court of the powerful Euric (VIII. ix). There he saw the swift Herulian with his glaucous countenance;178 the blue-eyed Saxon 'arch-pirate', terror of the coasts; 179 the grey-eyed Frank with his shaven face, yellow hair, and close-fitting tunic;180 the Sigambrian, shorn of his |xciv treasured back-hair.181 His knowledge of Mongolians probably dates from an earlier time, and is not displayed in the Letters; it may chiefly have been derived from Avitus, who knew the Asiatic nomads well from the days of Attila, Aëtius, and Litorius. What Sido-nius has to say of them is to be found in his Panegyric of Anthemius, where he praises the horsemanship of troopers who seem rather centaurs than men separable from their mounts.182 From hearsay also may have come the extremely interesting description of the Saxons, 'who regarded shipwreck as only so much practice.' Their maritime skill and enterprise are told in a few vigorous phrases, while their custom of offering a human sacrifice before setting sail on the homeward voyage is recorded as a fact of common knowledge.183 Taken as a whole, these contributions to our knowledge of the Teutonic tribes are well worth having, though, for the reasons given above, they at the same time disappoint us, knowing as we do the unique nature of his opportunities. After all, great allowance must be made for a writer who had championed a lost cause against these very peoples of the north. The representative of a high civilization who fears that all refinement is going down before the flood of barbarism cannot be expected to regard the barbarian with the same sympathetic interest as the conqueror or pioneer |xcv who carries the banner of the higher culture into the wilderness in the confident assurance of its triumph. Had Sidonius accompanied a victorious Roman army to the shores of the Baltic, he might have looked upon the Teuton with other eyes, and developed some of the observant qualities of a Tacitus or a Lafitau. And yet, when we remember his silence on his own countrymen of the lower classes, we may perhaps doubt whether, even under stimulating conditions, he would have made a good scientific observer. The whole education and training of the Roman school were such as to make the scientific attitude almost impossible to the finished product of the system.
Before turning to consider that system and its effect upon the literary talent of Sidonius, we may pause briefly to consider the information which he supplies on several external aspects of Gallo-Roman civilization in the last years of the imperial connexion.
We may take, in the first place, his description of his villa Avitacum, evidently modelled upon Pliny's accounts of his own favourite country seats. In some parts this description is hard to follow, and the relative position of the principal chambers not quite easy to understand. We imagine, however, an extensive structure designed with all the Roman regard for aspect; with a winter dining-room provided with an open hearth, and summer dining-room, half out of doors; with colonnade and loggia, weaving-room, women's quarters, and very extensive baths.184 The |xcvi baths were clearly a great feature of Avitacum. The house almost abutted upon an eminence, from which a stream flowed down, while the same hill provided timber for heating in such convenient fashion that the cut logs rolled down the steep slope, and almost delivered themselves at the furnace-door.185 The different chambers used by the bathers, some of which were adorned with frescoes, are described in some detail; one had a pyramidal roof; another a basin filled from pipeheads cast to resemble lion-masks, through which the water comes in such a tumult that the master of the house and his fellow bathers have to converse at the top of their voices to be heard. Sidonius clearly prided himself on his baths, saying that they need fear no comparison with public establishments.186 The house of |xcvii Avitacum must have been a charming place, situated on rising ground with a wide prospect over a lake, perhaps the Lake of Aydat (see note, 36. 2, p. 222); it is not wonderful that the owner should describe it with enthusiasm. But there are curious omissions in the description of its amenities. It is remarkable that so bookish a man should say nothing of his own books, though he could certainly have quoted Cicero's words about his library (Ep. VI. viii), and in another letter dwells at some length on that of a friend. Again, while there must have been extensive gardens round such a residence, not a word is said of them, though, here again, the gardens of a friend are praised in another place. How different Pliny, who dwells with delight upon his fountains and trim walks, his cypresses and roses! We are tempted to doubt whether Sidonius really loved flowers.187 Nothing, again, is said of stables; nor is there a word of domestic pets: we doubt Sidonius as |xcviii a lover of animals. Yet, for its freshness and solitude, Avitacum was evidently near to his heart; there he enjoyed the tunicata quies,188 which to the Roman was the equivalent of the ease in 'flannels' so delightful to the city dweller of to-day. We gather that the villa of Avitacum was as undefended as Roman country-houses usually were. But it is a sign of this unsettled period that some seats were already fortified, rather, perhaps, to resist sudden attack by brigands than assault by barbarian invaders.189 We learn nothing precise from the Letters of the architectural features of town dwellings. It would have been interesting to know the disposition of the houses in such a place as Lyons, and how those of the chief citizens resembled the larger residences in Italy on the one side and Britain on the other.190 |xcix
Of the interior furnishing of the house, little is said; apart from the description of baths, what details we have concern almost exclusively the dining-room. Here were the stibadium (horseshoe couch) and 'gleaming sideboard' (nitens abacus); here couches for the diners, decked perhaps, like those of Theodoric, with linen coverings on ordinary days, and silk on great occasions (I. ii). The best accounts of dining-room arrangements are given where Sidonius describes the banquets at Arles already mentioned (p. lxiv). In I. xi the arrangement of the company on the stibadium. in strict order of precedence is clearly noted, the host being at one 'horn', his principal guest at the other, followed by the remaining guests in order of their official rank, so that the junior (in this case, Sidonius himself) reclined next to the host.191 The poem of IX. xiii enters with some detail into the luxurious accessories of a Roman banquet in the capital of the province. The couches are draped with hangings of purple silk, or with figured silk textiles bearing representations of mounted huntsmen in Sassanian style,192 which proves the importation of oriental stuffs into the West as early as the mid-fifth century (see note, 203. I, pp. 251-2). There are flowers on the sideboards and even on the couches. Burning frankincense rolls its perfume to the roof; the |c lamps, knowing nothing of common oil (oleum nescientes), are fed with scented opobalsamum. When the feast begins the servants appear, bowed under the weight of the chased silver plate.193 Wine gleams in rose-wreathed cups and bowls of various form, and is spiced with nard. When the meal is done, some of the guests are stimulated to the imitation of Bacchantes, and dance among garlands that hang from the unguent-vases.194 But the chief entertainment comes with the introduction of Corinthian girls, who sing to the accompaniment of the cithara, and of other flute-players and singers. It is a scene of lavish extravagance. The midday meal of a senatorial family in every-day life is described as consisting of dishes few in number but varied in contents; the evening meals seem to have been more elaborate (II. ix. 6, 10). A high standard of comfort and a good cuisine were evidently the rule. Introducing to Simplicius a person unused to the manners of society (IV. vii), Sidonius pictures the man's astonishment when invited, as the acquaintance of so old a friend |ci as himself, to sit at the family table: 'it will abash this rustic to be entertained with an elegance which will make him think himself among the delicate guests of Apicius, and served by the "rhythmic carvers of Byzantium".'195 The one indispensable article of furniture, not necessarily placed in the dining-room, which receives special mention is the water-clock or clepsydra;196 even here, however, it is in one case brought in as having announced to the chef the hour for lunch. Of bedrooms nothing is said: one passage rather leads us to suppose that sleeping accommodation was less extensive than we should have expected (II. ix. 7).
Such artistic references as occur seem to show that Sidonius, though fond of all refinement, was not a connoisseur.197 It may perhaps be surmised that provincial art in Gaul in the second and third quarters of the |cii fifth century resembled the literature of the same period, and that its work was uninspired and imitative, coldly reproducing at second-hand traditional classical models. It probably did not share the great prestige accorded to literature; though Sidonius mentions a score of contemporary orators and poets, artists are to seek in his pages. The wealthy Gallo-Romans may have chiefly concentrated their enthusiasm upon Letters, and have regarded art as a secondary matter. Such comparative indifference could only have hastened the downfall of the academic Roman style before the invading oriental motives which now entered Gaul in increasing numbers, and were naturally more congenial to barbaric taste. Of sculpture we learn even less than painting. The author gives no description of his own statue erected at Rome after the delivery of his Panegyric of Avitus, nor does he allude to the sculptor. His mention of stereotyped attitudes when enumerating the |ciii principal philosophers of antiquity (IX. ix. 14) suggests that he had well-known sculptural types in his mind, but he does not himself assert it. On the subject of architecture Sidonius does not seem to write with understanding. The account of the villa of Avitacum is not that of an expert; and his descriptions of two churches, that erected by Patiens at Lyons (II. x) and that by Perpetuus at Tours (IV. xviii. 4) are rather slight: we do, however, gather that the first was an orientated basilica, preceded by an atrium, and with a coffered ceiling in the interior,198 though there is no clear statement as to the number of aisles or the form of the bema. The second, which replaced the older building erected by St. Brice over the shrine of St. Martin, seems to have presented most exceptional features; it may have introduced into Gaul a type of choir which was destined to influence the whole course of Romanesque and even Gothic building (see note, 33. 1, p. 231). Yet nothing that Sidonius says would lead us to infer that the church of Perpetuus was an epoch-making |civ structure; we infer it only from the later description by Gregory of Tours.199 In connexion with the churches mentioned by Sidonius, we must not forget the metrical inscriptions which he and his rival poets composed at the bishop's request to be engraved upon the walls. These are of such a length that they were probably cut in rather small characters upon panels or executed in mosaic. In the case of Patiens' church, the verses of Constantius and Secundinus were to be placed to right and left of the altar, those of Sidonius himself perhaps opposite on the west wall, though the words he uses are not clear (in extimis).200 Monastic buildings are not described by our author. Yet, as we have already seen, he had a personal knowledge of Lerins, and any details of its architectural features, plan, and internal arrangements would have been of the highest interest. He could have described to us, too, the process by which the simple cell of the Syrian monk Abraham near Clermont developed into the monastery of St. Cirgues, for at the time of Abraham's death the community was evidently of some size (VII. xvii. 3, 4).201 Altogether, we could wish that Sidonius shared the |cv architectural interest of one of his friends, who was fond of reading Vitruvius (VIII. vi. 10). Perhaps, however, he would only have reiterated his preference for the traditional in all things, and, like the accepted oracles of the eighteenth century, to whom Gothic architecture was all contemptible, have regarded all divergences from Vitruvian precept as wholly beneath his notice. His indifference to the really important features of Perpetuus' church lends some colour to the supposition. In relation to the art of music, our author again reveals no personal enthusiasm. His references to secular music usually concern the performances enlivening banquets, which then, as now, were intended rather to distract than to inspire. But we are told that Theodoric II only cared for serious strains at table, and that he dispensed alike with the hydraulic organs 202 and with vocalists---- the negative statement here suggesting that in other houses neither was disdained (cf. above, p. lxiv). Perhaps at no period of his life was Sidonius a patron of musicians.203 Church music receives just enough attention to tantalize the reader. Among the merits of the accomplished priest-philosopher Claudianus Mamertus, Sidonius records his zeal in training the choir for his brother the Bishop of Vienne;204 again, in connexion |cvi with the celebration of the festival of St. Just at Lyons, we hear of antiphonal singing (V. xvii. 3). There is no definite allusion to the use of musical instruments in churches.
In the matter of costume, we learn more of barbarian than of Roman dress, and more of the garb of laymen than of clerics. It may be taken for granted that the tunic remained the usual garment for the house among the Gallo-Romans; sometimes the girdle or belt which held it round the waist offered scope for ornament of a particular fashion (IV. ix. 2).205 Over the tunic were probably worn the mantles most commonly in use in late-Roman times----the pallium, of Greek origin,206 and the paenula (a kind of poncho) for bad weather. The toga was now a ceremonial garment, of which the most sumptuous form was the toga palmata, or embroidered robe worn by the Consul.207 Sandals or boots are only |cvii mentioned in relation to a symbolic figure of a Muse; the description of the method of lacing is not easy of comprehension (VIII. xi., 11. 12 ff. of the poem). It is just possible that there is an allusion to a professional dress in the letter which Sidonius sends to Domitius, the grammarian of Ameria, inviting him to the cool retreat of Avitacum in a very hot summer. Domitius is depicted as expounding Terence to his pupils wrapped in a thick cloak, while others were perspiring in thin linen or silk; it may be, however, that Domitius was extremely sensitive to draughts, for even under the thick cloak he is said to be swathed round and round, a fashion which would be no necessary accompaniment of a master's gown.208 Armour is mentioned in the letter which recounts the prowess of Ecdicius in breaking through the Gothic lines round Clermont. The hero is described as wearing greaves, a cuirass, and a helmet with cheek-pieces (III. iii. 5), the whole equipment following the Roman model. The most careful description of barbarian costume concerns not the Visigoths or Burgundians, with whom Sidonius was in frequent contact, but in all likelihood the Franks, with whom he had had probably no regular relations. It has been already noticed (p. xciii) that the weapons borne by the guards of the young Sigismer, whom Sidonius saw at Lyons, are characteristic of that nation (note, 35. 1, p. 233). The prince himself wears a flame-red mantle over a white silk tunic, and a wealth of |cviii gold ornaments.209 His companions wear high, close-fitting, short-sleeved, parti-coloured (?) tunics scarcely reaching to their bare knees, and low boots of hide with the hair adhering; their legs are left uncovered. Each has a green cloak (sagum) with a purple border, and apparently a skin mantle over all, brooched on the right shoulder to leave the sword-arm free. The sword is worn on a baldric; the other weapons are barbed lances and missile axes (lancet uncati, secures missiles). Circular shields enriched on the field with silver, and on the umbo with gold, complete the equipment of the brilliant train. In general it recalls the Frankish warrior as he is depicted in Carolingian illuminated manuscripts of the ninth and tenth centuries; though at this later date |cix the legs are commonly protected by tight bandages. The skin garment is the great characteristic of the barbarian in the Roman's eyes; the adjective pellitus is used almost as a synonym for barbarian.210
Especial importance was attached by the different tribes to the manner in which the hair was cut. Theo-doric's hair is withdrawn from the forehead and long over the ears (I. ii. 2).211 The Saxons have the whole fore-part of the skull shorn, a fashion which at a distance seems to increase the length of the face and reduce that of the head (VIII. ix, 11. 23-7 of the poem). The Sigambrian normally wears his hair long at the back; the old warrior of this tribe, whom Sidonius sees at Bordeaux, has had his long locks cut off, and will not feel a true man until they have grown again (ibid. 1. 28).
Of clerical vestments, unfortunately, nothing is said; at this early period, differentiation between clerical and lay garb may not have gone very far; but it had begun, and even a few words would have had their importance. Monks are described as wearing the palliolum, which |cx would seem to indicate that the monastic dress at first resembled that of the philosopher (IV. ix. 3). The cowl was apparently at this time an independent covering for the head, as Sidonius sends a thick one as a present to the abbot Chariobaudus (nocturnalem cucullum, VII. xvi. 2).212 The tonsure is described by the usual word corona, which is ultimately transferred to the tonsured: corona tua is used very much as we should say 'your reverence'.
The allusions to sport and games are fairly numerous. In the chase the bow is the principal weapon (I. ii), but for encountering the boar and other beasts the spear comes into play, the game being driven into nets (VIII. vi. 12). Namatius is bantered on the over-merciful temperament of the hounds with which he pursues the hares of Oleron (ibid.).213 The hawk is more than once mentioned as an essential possession of the young country gentleman with sporting tastes (III. iii. 2). In one place we hear of a fishing expedition to which Agricola, his brother-in-law, invites Sidonius (II. xii. i).214 Racing in small boats took |cxi place in former times on the lake below Avitacum, in recollection of Aeneas' regatta at Drepanum, the people of Auvergne claiming a Trojan descent (II. ii. 19). Large comfortable river-boats manned by rowers ply on the Garonne (VIII. xii. 5).215
References to games are of much interest, but unfortunately they are seldom precise, and where they seem to give detail, only confuse by uncoordinated facts. A board-game of some kind resembling backgammon, possibly that known as duodecim scripta,216 is indicated in the difficult passage in I. ii, where Theodoric is described at play. Dice-boxes are frequently mentioned, and one would assume that games of hazard were a little too popular with the aristocracy of Gaul.217 Outdoor games with balls were evidently pursued with ardour, |cxii and Sidonius, similar in this to Augustine, admits himself a devotee (V. xvii. 6). But here again it is difficult to form an idea of the rules. There is no mention of any apparatus beyond the ball itself, so that to translate by 'tennis' is misleading to a modern reader: the players seem simply to have required an open space in a courtyard or on the grass, with perhaps lines marked upon the ground. Sometimes two players were enough, as when Sidonius and Ecdicius play in the meadow by the lake (II. ii. 15)218; at others there are opposing pairs (II. ix. 4); in one place we read of whole 'sides', when at the festival at Lyons the elderly Filimatius is knocked down (V. xvii. 7). The reference to collisions shows that the game was fast.219 The great games of the Circus were still held in Gaul in the second half of the fifth century, but possibly not after Majorian's time.220
Turning to the apparatus of more serious pursuits, we find various references to writing materials. Letters and manuscripts were written upon parchment or paper; the words membrana, papyrus, and charta are all employed, the two latter being synonymous.221 But tablets (codicilli, pugillares) and a stylus were used for the first notes or |cxiii rough drafts (e. g. IV. xii. 4, and cf. Cicero, Ad fam. IX. xxvi). Literary people were sometimes accompanied by a secretary, who kept the tablets always ready for their use, or himself wrote from their dictation, as did the secretary of Filimatius on the famous occasion when Sidonius composed his epigram upon the towel (V. xvii. x).222 From IX. xvi it would appear that ink was allowed to dry, and that the process was not accelerated by the use of sand, or by any other substitute for blotting-paper. In the same passage there is a reference to ink freezing on the pens in very cold weather.223
A few miscellaneous facts may be noted which bear upon contemporary custom and observance. From I. v. 10 we gather that the old Thalassio still held its own in 468, the year of the wedding of Ricimer and Alypia, and that the crown was still worn by the bridegroom at the ceremony. For all that is said to the contrary, it might have been a pagan marriage of |cxiv Catullus' day, whereas both the contracting parties were Christians.
An interesting point is raised with regard to the disposal of the dead. The spade of the excavator seems to show that in the Roman provinces cremation went out of fashion about the year A. D. 250. We should infer the opposite from those passages in Sidonius, where the machinery of cremation is mentioned as if it were still in use, or had been so within living memory (III. iii. 13; III. xiii; Carm. xvi. 123). Perhaps we may hazard the conjecture that a few aristocratic families preserved an old custom after it had been abandoned by the mass of the people, just as, in more ancient times, they had maintained burial when incineration was first introduced. The evidence of Sidonius with regard to epitaphs also deserves notice. Those which he himself composed are of inordinate length, and imply monuments with abundance of plane surface.224 That they are not merely literary exercises, but really meant to be used, is shown by his desire that the work of the monumental mason who was to cut the epitaph on the tomb of the prefect Apollinaris should be |cxv carefully checked, for fear that any error committed might be imputed to the writer and not to the artisan. Altogether, the epitaphs are of most formidable length, eclipsing in this respect those of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, or the longer effusions of our country churchyards.
The imperial road system was still apparently maintained on a satisfactory footing in the year 467, when Sidonius travelled from Lyons to Rome, and, as bearer of an imperial summons, was entitled to the free use of post-horses. The mansiones, or rest-houses, and the veredarii, or mounted letter-carriers, are mentioned in different Letters (III. ii. 3; V. vii. 3).225 In more than one place Sidonius alludes to inns which were patronized by nobles when no better accommodation was to be had, but they seem to have been of indifferent quality.226
The above are but examples of a much larger number of points which the archaeologist may discover in the Letters. But even these will suffice to show that the study of Sidonius is not altogether unprofitable to archaeological research.
The preceding pages have sketched in outline the |cxvi life of Sidonius and the surroundings in which it was passed. But the conditions under which he grew to manhood will be imperfectly understood unless something is said of the system under which the young Gallo-Roman was prepared for his career. For the education which the boy Sidonius received, the typical education of his class and time, exerted a lasting influence upon the man. It coloured his whole outlook upon the world, not always to his advantage, since his very loyalty to academic ideals obscured those natural powers of observation which he certainly possessed. It controlled his literary prospects, determined his interests, and created the astonishing style which seemed to him worth so many vigils, but to us is like a faded finery, hampering the free movement of his thought. Some idea of the intellectual training which produced such strange results is thus essential to our purpose.
The education of the young Gallo-Roman in the fifth century differed but little from that which his father and grandfather had received.227 The whole training was rooted in traditions no longer vital; it was essentially bookish, uninterested in facts, almost exclusively absorbed in words. Before all other things it set Grammar and Rhetoric; in many schools these two subjects represented almost the whole curriculum. Law had of course to be learned by candidates for the bar; |cxvii philosophy was studied perhaps more as an accomplishment and a discipline of the mind, than for the problems with which it was properly concerned;228 there was some musical instruction, perhaps more of a theoretical than of a practical nature. But for most youths education meant a proficiency in the Latin classics, a knowledge of the structure of the Latin language, and of the art of speaking before an audience upon a given subject. The interest was directed not to the synthesis of life, but the antithesis of clauses. Science, as we understand the term, was practically unknown; the mathematics, the geography, the astronomy of the schools had as much relation to mythology as to fact. The interesting letter on the death of the rhetor Lampridius shows that even on the most brilliant products of the late Roman schools, astrologers 229 could still exert their baneful influence (VIII. xi. 9). Perhaps the decline in the study of Greek prejudicially affected the power and inclination to observe or think naturally. That language was still taught in Gaul; Sidonius noted the fluency of Lampridius in both Greek and |cxviii Latin;230 and at Narbonne there were men of culture who appreciated Greek poetry.231 But the Theodosian Code shows that the Latin grammarians received higher salaries than the Greek, enjoyed a higher position, and probably instructed larger classes.232 Their lectures consisted for the most part in commentaries on classical authors, chiefly the Roman poets. Style was analysed; the vocabulary of each writer examined; metaphors and expressions were carefully discussed. Points of etymology and antiquarian knowledge were raised, and pursued along the by-paths of erudition; it was a golden age for commentators. Not all, however, was learned trifling. Some of the criticism upon Virgil and Homer was acute and penetrating, as, for example, the fifth book of the Saturnalia of Macrobius.
The great text-book in the schools of the fourth and fifth century was Virgil. To Sidonius, as to Augustine, he is the prince of poets.233 Terence was evidently popular in Gaul; the Letters allude to his characters, and in the passage on the home-education of Apollinaris, Sidonius reads the Hecyra with his son, uncertain which delights him most, the fine style of the author, or the youthful grace and ardour of the boy. The influence of Horace is also evident in our author; he is second to Virgil among the poets.234 The opulent and elaborated |cxix style of Statius naturally commended him to such a society as that of fifth-century Gaul; he had been popular with Ausonius; and his influence on Sidonius as poet is undeniable.235 It is the same with Claudian; the Panegyrics which charmed the ears of an Avitus or an Anthemius owe him much, but the splendour of the original is gone. Among prose-writers, not Cicero,236 but the younger Pliny was the favourite. In the introductory Letter of the fifth book, Sidonius acknowledges him as his master; and in a later book again refers to this professed allegiance.237 Pliny, the agreeable letter-writer, was the inevitable model of a society in which correspondence with friends was a main interest of existence: no less inevitable was the reproduction of his mannerisms rather than his excellences by purely imitative writers. In his introductory epistle to Constantius, Sidonius quotes as a warning the nickname given to Julius Titianus for his sedulous efforts to reproduce the style of Cicero: he was called 'the ape of orators' (pratorum simia). Yet he and his own contemporaries fell into the same error; they were apes of the second great Roman letter-writer, caricaturing their master by accentuating all his faults. Features of Sallust's style were distorted by them in the same manner.238 |cxx
Grammatical criticism of the classics was followed by specialized study of the great orators, with a view to proficiency in public speaking: this was the course of Rhetoric. The rhetor was a more important person in society than the grammarian. But, as noted above, he professed an art which, except in the Church, had little prospect of great or serious audiences; it was divorced from real life; it was the accomplishment of the speech-room.239 The training was still, no doubt, a good one; rhythm, prosody, voice-production, division of the subject, were all thoroughly taught, and proved their value when there was a worthy occasion for their use. But most opportunities were hardly worth the taking; the speaker eulogized the great dead or the Epigoni of the present; he took part in academic displays or competitions before small circles, in which ancient or unreal issues were treated in the style of the class-room declamation.240 An unbounded respect for certain models, a good memory with an endless stock of figures, metaphors and mythological examples always at command----these, and not the power to read hearts and |cxxi sway them to a genuine emotion, were the essentials of oratorical success. These were the qualities which carried Ausonius, the rhetor of Bordeaux, to the highest office in the State.241 The enthusiasm for letters which such promotion implies is laudable in itself; but in the time of Roman decadence the reward fell to an artifice which sterilized instead of fertilizing the mind, and drove hearts capable of valiant action into channels of sentimental retrospect. The fine flower of all this education was the panegyric, and it was an artificial flower.
It has been already noted that the Church was beginning a new education of her own (p. lxxvi), and that in some cases boys were placed under a religious teacher, as Sidonius' own brother studied under Faustus at Lerins. But as a rule, sacred learning would seem to have been neglected in the schools attended by wealthy pupils.242 Some of the great families were probably still pagan: others appear to have shown little zeal for the religion which they nominally professed; the old mythology dominated literary culture. Perhaps Sidonius was never really grounded in the study of the Scriptures till after his consecration. Only after that event do his letters show a familiarity with |cxxii Holy Writ; examples and illustrations derived both from the Old and New Testament then accompany or displace the mythological figures dear to his earlier years. By the side of Triptolemus, we hear of Joseph.243 Moses, Aaron, and Solomon, Joshua, the Gibeonites, and the people of Nineveh are introduced in illustration.244 The Church is the spiritual Sara; 245 Philosophy is the fair woman captured from the enemy and espoused by the captor; 246 the story of Peter and Simon Magus points its obvious moral.247 St. Luke is quoted as a believer in the advantage of long descent.248
In no capacity did this scholastic education so harm Sidonius as in that which it was designed to advance---- his quality as man of letters. He was too good a pupil of his peculiar masters to be anything but a bad writer. The curse of the rhetorical tradition clung to him like a chronic disease; it destroyed the originality of a genius never too spontaneous. In an age when it was improper for a literary man to be himself, he thought too faithfully of the proprieties. His age was just to him: he had the reward of his obedience. The society whose conventions he defended saw in him the mirror of contemporary writers; 249 in his heart, he |cxxiii himself was sure that the vote of posterity was won.250 Though, soon after his death, a Ruricius might whisper a doubt, it was long before the general verdict turned against him. The Middle Ages approved; and even after Petrarch's misgivings, the voice of admiration continued to be heard. But the Renaissance grew critical, the eighteenth century dared to attack.251 If the value of Sidonius really lay in his style and diction, as he himself believed, then his credit would indeed be dead beyond resuscitation. Hardly any Latin author has received so short a shrift at the hands of modern criticism as this professed champion of the Roman tongue. When good Latinity was once more understood, our author's pedestal became a pillory; and the works of every writer upon style, from Horace to Boileau, provided missiles wherewith to pelt him. Gibbon, preferring his prose to his 'insipid verses', pays it a back-handed compliment after his manner. Even those who uphold particular merits are forced to draw upon the arsenal of epithets forged against the affected and the turgid writer. The most recent critics are the most severe of all. Hodgkin says that Sidonius has achieved nothing beyond a fifth-rate position as a post-classical author; Dill sees in him one of the most tasteless writers who ever lived. In the matter of depreciation the last word has been spoken; nothing fresh can now be said. The Latin style of Sidonius is condemned as finally as the French style of Voiture.252 |cxxiv
But the position of Sidonius no longer depends on his manner; his style is to-day brushed aside as a tiresome veil, obscuring what he has to say. He refused to write history; 253 he survives as the historian malgré lui. Though he missed one of the great opportunities in literature; though he failed to record much that was most worth recording in the world about him, and instead of the new drama of his times preferred to transmit for the hundredth time the vapid and worn-out stories of Greek mythology, he has yet preserved for us facts enough to constitute him a chief authority on the century in which he lived. His literary fate is indeed a paradox; he is one of those men whose parergon alone is valued, and who are esteemed for the very part of their work which they themselves deemed least important. By a careful sifting of the Letters and the Poems,254 modern writers have extracted much material which, classified and co-ordinated, has thrown useful |cxxv light on one of the darkest periods of history; on many points, Sidonius is the sole source of information. Nor is his mannerism always with him.255 The Letters which yield most with least trouble are precisely those in which an eager personal interest in his subject, or the pressure of a busy life, or some unexpected necessity for haste have forced the writer to abandon his preoccupation with style and tell his business in a natural way. At such times he speaks directly: tam nunc dicit tam nunc debentia dici. The most efficient cause of plainer writing |cxxvi was probably the stress of episcopal work; to this our debt is large. We are infinitely relieved when amid the familiar affectations we come upon the stilus rusticans or the sermo usualis for which he apologizes as a degradation of his pen.256 We almost lose sympathy with him in his personal troubles, as soon as it appears that it is misfortune which has simplified his diction.257 Appreciating to the full the honourable solicitude of Sidonius for the purity of Latin, and his ever-present fear of Celtic or Teutonic encroachments,258 we are willing to condone any intrusions from the vulgar tongue to be rid for a while of the alliterations, the inversions, the forced antitheses, and to see the meaning quickly in a simple dress. What we want of Sidonius is plain fact, and it is pleasant to admit that occasionally we get it without too much exasperation; sometimes the actor removes the mask and speaks in unaffected tones. Let it therefore be recorded to his credit that he does not always offend, and that not once or twice, but many times, he writes in a manner worthy of Roman literature at an earlier day. Let it also be remembered that his |cxxvii subject-matter is often well presented; when his narrative interests him, he can tell a story brightly and with effect. Nor should we overlook the fact that Sidonius has a gift for portraiture, which frequently lends animation to his pages. Sometimes a character is sketched in a few sentences, as in the case of Paeonius the parvenu, the malicious old Athenius,259 the lively veteran Filimatius who plays ball with the younger men (V. xvii), and Himerius the model priest (VII. xiii). At other times the description is at greater length, and details are drawn with a free hand. We have amusing pictures of the young fortune-hunter Amantius (VII. ii), and of Ger-manicus the juvenile sexagenarian (IV. xiii), who dresses in the fashion, who will hear nothing of age except the increased respect it brings, and grows more boyish every day (non iuvenescit solum sed quodammodo repuerascit). We have the interesting sketch of Vectius the country gentleman, whose girdles are of exquisite design, who hunts, hawks, and entertains his friends, but listens to the Psalms at meals, and is more priestly in spirit than many of those who wear priests' garments (IV. ix). We have the memoir of Claudianus Mamertus who does all the hard work for his brother St. Mamertus, to which allusion has been made above (p. lxxxi); we have the reminiscences of Lampridius, the quicktempered rhetor, murdered by his slaves (VIII. xi). In other cases classes of men are portrayed with the same precision; for instance, informers, or popularity-hunting candidates for municipal appointments (XV. xix). A writer possessing such penetration and such graphic |cxxviii powers as these deserves something more than an untempered ridicule.
Yet the counts in the indictment are sufficiently numerous. First and foremost there is the mania for antithesis, and plays on words which degenerate into the most lamentable of puns, for paronomasia, antonomasia, and all the other obliquities of language which sound like the infirmities which they are. A critical examination of Sidonius' work resembles literary pathology; his language is often diseased language, which could only regain a semblance of health by a free use of the knife. It calls aloud for amputation of the platitudes, pomposities, and verbal conceits which the euphuist himself would renounce as foolish. It is unnecessary to dwell long on a subject which has its pathetic side, yet concrete instances must be adduced in evidence.
First, we may take examples of the ruling passion for antithesis. The abuse of this is persistent, and sometimes verbal oppositions are cumulated with almost incredible pertinacity, as, for instance, in the description of Ravenna (I. viii). Sidonius pits against each other the words novus and vetus or antiquus, until the staleness of the trick infuriates. Thus novus clericus, peccator antiquus (IX. ii); novo exemplo amicitiarum vetera iura (VII. vi. l), in famillari vetusto novum ius potestatis (V. xviii). But no glaring contrast of word or sense, however elementary, comes amiss; for instance: pingues caedibus gladii, macri ieiuniis praeliatores (VII. vii. 3); confitetur repulsam qui profitetur offensam (VII. ix); pharetras sagittis vacuare, lacrimis oculos implere (V. xii); Cuius parva tuguria magnus hospes implesti (III. ii); Itinerum longitudinum, brevitatem dierum, &c. (III. ii. 3). |cxxix
And so on, and so on. The reader who desires more of this misplaced ingenuity will find instances on every other page. Plays upon words are no less common. Inferre calumnias, deferre personas, afferre minas, auferre substantias (V. vii); scientia fortis, fortior conscientia (IX. iv); at non remaneamus terrent quibus terra non remanet (IX. iii); iuste iusta solventes (III. iii. 8); indidit prosecutionibus, edidit tribunalibus, prodidit partibus, additit titulis, &c. (VIII. vi. 7); seu sic sentiente concordia, seu sic concordante sententia (IV. xxv. 5); inconsulte consultat. (VIII. ix. 13); praedae praedia (IV. xxv. 2); suspicere iudicium, suscipere consilium (IV. xxii. 1). The changes are continually rung upon such words as dicere and ducere, suspicere despicere, orare perorare, ambiendus ambitiosus, providere praevidere, &c. The list of such things is endless, but we are not yet at the worst; we have to endure puns from which a schoolboy would recoil. A proper name like Faustus, Perpetuus, or Rusticus is seldom allowed to escape: let two of them represent the series: Perpetua durent culmina Perpetui (IV. xviii----this to be carved on the wall of a church); rusticans multum quod nihil rusticus (VIII. xi. 6, cf. Rusticus). It is pardonable for a man once in a way, in intimate conversation, to indulge a weakness of this kind, but how can a bishop be forgiven who puns for publication, and in work carefully revised not only by himself but by his friends? From a long list we may cite the following specimens: non tam honorare censor quam censetor onerare (VIII. viii); honoris... oneris (IX. ii); ex more... ex amore (IX: iv. 1); classicum in classe cecinisse (VIII. vi. 13); Aptae fuistis, aptissime defuistis |cxxx (IX. ix)----perhaps the worst of all. It is time to draw the. veil over faults which it is impossible to condone; we may conclude with the following instances of paronomasia and antonomasia. Leges Theodosianas calcans, Theudoricianasque proponens (I. ii. 3); flumen in verbis, fulmen in clausulis (IX. vii); inter perfectos Domini quam inter praefectos Valentiniani (VII. xii. 4).
The reader may be spared illustration of the overloaded interminable sentences;. or of the strings of illustrative instances and persons, sometimes eight or ten where two would have sufficed, till the tail is out of all proportion to the kite; or of the mannerism which declares for silence on things which might be praised, and then enumerates them to the bitter end; or of the labouring of points till they are, so to speak, hammered blunt; or the tautologies recalling the 'which here thou viewest, beholdest, surveyest or seest' of Armado: to insist on these things is to waste time; there is no possible defence. We may pass to other features, not reprehensible in themselves, but made so by immoderate or tasteless use. The metaphors of Sidonius for the most part are familiar, and worn in service. The world is a threshing-floor, spiritual exhortation a harrow. Life is like a river; a literary career is a sea-voyage; the mind of man is a sea, suddenly disturbed by the squall of adverse tidings. Silence is a curb; evil tongues are like barbed hooks. Verse written in sorrow is like the song of swans, or the music of very tense strings (VIII. ix. 4). A king's favour is a flame, which illuminates afar, but in neighbourhood consumes (III. iii. 9). A friendship not maintained is like a |cxxxi sword that rusts if not frequently polished.260 The schools of Lyons resemble a mint, in which youthful natures are struck on a philosophical die (IV. i. 3). Where originality is attempted, the result is often either crude 261 or over-intricate. As an example of the latter fault we may take the passage comparing the scion of a clerical family to a rosebush, for if he be not holy he stands amid all the roses armoured in the thorns of his sin (IV. xiii. 4); or that comparing Lupus, the generous discoverer of hidden talent, to the sun, whose searching rays will detect and draw up a moisture hidden deep under ground (IX. xi. 9); again, that which likens an author who is always writing but never publishes, to a dog who only snarls but never barks out (VII. iii. 2). Sometimes we find similitudes extraordinary to our taste, like the mysticus adeps et spiritalis arvina, which recalls the startling similitudes of a Crashaw or a Donne (VI. vi. 2). It is not surprising to find that Sidonius will mix metaphors with any man. Salsi sermonis libra (III. ii. 1); lacrimis habenas anima parturients laxavi (IV. xi. 7); manum linguae porrigis (IV. i. 3); quibus...faece petulantiae lingua polluitur infrenis (III. xiii. 2), may suffice to show his quality. There are other defects or affectations, not immediately concerned with words, but equally due to the same imitative contentment with bad rhetorical tradition. There is the tiresome realism which insists upon elaboration of unessential details offensive to the finer sense----what Chaix has called la manie de tout |cxxxii peindre;262 there is the parade of erudition which, if less obtrusive than the determined pedantry of Cassiodorus, is yet a weariness to the reader; there are the hyperbole in flattery, the perverse preference of the inappropriate, the joy in 'combinations of confused magnificence'. We cannot more justly stigmatize the work of Sidonius at his worst263 than by continuing the criticism from which the last phrase was quoted, a criticism directed against certain English poets of the seventeenth century,264 but equally applicable to our author of the fifth. For his style too is marred 'by descriptions copied from descriptions, by imitations borrowed from imitations, by traditional imagery and hereditary similes'. The thing could not be better said.
The result of all these artifices, applied with an unshrinking hand, is that Sidonius is often hard to construe.265 Ruricius, his younger contemporary and |cxxxiii partial imitator, was the first to complain of his obscurity, Petrarch confessed that he often found him unintelligible; 266 and the most accomplished modern editors of his text admit that he presents some problems which they cannot be sure of having solved.267 While diffuseness is his besetting sin, some of his phrases are condensed to the point of impenetrability, and his constructions are rendered obscure by the imperfect development of his thought. Petrarch wondered at the audacity of his style; yet, as Baret has remarked, when it is examined, it is found that in prose he has fewer direct irregularities than Tacitus, and, in verse, than Virgil. It is rather a certain strange exotic character, instinctively felt, but not easily defined, which characterizes our author's work, compared not only with that of the golden age, but with that of a late writer like Symmachus. He is 'heteroclite' 268; his cadences have an unfamiliar ring; when they are read aloud, they strike us as differing not in degree, but in kind from those of the classical authors. Were it not that an early critic has given blunt utterance to the suspicion,269 |cxxxiv we should hardly dare to hint that some subtle Celtic influence had really affected his manner, and that, unknown to himself, the older Gaul was secretly revenged upon this son of hers who had only ears for an Italian idiom. Is it merely a fancy that indigenous turns of thought have been unconsciously adopted by this champion of the classics? Do we witness the first movement towards the changes which were to issue in the Romance language in the South of France? Various indications seem to point that way. The synthetic structure of the older Latin tends to pass into analysis: the conjunctions quia or quod replace the complementary infinitive; the abstract replaces the concrete term. Prepositions grow more indispensable to inflected cases; the genitive is used in a manner which is almost French. The reader of the Latin text will discover a number of words or turns of expression used in a mediaeval or modern way. In one place, if not in two, the word familia is employed in the French, in place of the old Latin sense (VI. vii). Vir litterarum is homme de lettres; |cxxxv nebula de pulvere is nuage de poussière. Baret records a number of these peculiarities, and gives a list of the archaisms and neologisms in the text.270 We may note a few favourite or peculiar words: e. g. tumultuarius, used of rapid or impromptu composition; lenocinari, to coax or flatter; fatigatio, chaff or banter; eventilare, to go over, or search through; humanitas, hospitality; piperatum, 'piquant' or caustic. To some words Sidonius appears to give a new sense; thus it is hard to avoid the conclusion that more than once he employs toreuma where toral is alone appropriate. In his complimentary formulae he is as a rule correct and Roman; though he is fond of abstract terms like celsitudo or Sanctitas tua as honorific appellations.271 His superscriptions give the name of his correspondent in the dative, with the addition of suo, if the person is a friend, or of the title domino papae if he is a bishop.272 Sidonius does not employ the affectionate modes of address adopted by Ruricius, e. g. domino pectoris sui Lupo; domino animae suae Pomerio; domino venerabili, admirabili, et sanctis omnibus aequiparando Sidonio. As a rule, the letter ends with a Vale; but when the correspondent is a bishop, the formula is: memor nostri esse dignare, domine Papa. In one instance he closes with an ora pro nobis (VII. xii----to Ferreolus).
So much for the more obvious characteristics which |cxxxvi mar the style of Sidonius; we have now briefly to estimate his merits as a letter-writer. It need hardly be said that he cannot be placed in the first rank; he is not, as his friends averred, a second Pliny, far less a second Cicero. But he touches so many sides of contemporary life; he lived through such momentous times; he is so exceptional in speaking with two voices, first as man of letters, nobleman and high official, then as a prominent Churchman, that in spite of his deterrent style, he has an interest somewhere for almost every reader.273 In most things but the cultivation of brevity, he is superior to his predecessor Symmachus, whose letters seldom touch either great or entertaining issues, but are written to discharge the obligations of a punctual correspondent, and are often brief as memoranda, and of an unsurpassed aridity.274 It will be more easy to understand the level on which Sidonius should be placed if we consider a few of the gifts which make the letter-writer, and then ask whether he possessed them. The master in this art must not be argumentative, or his letters become treatises; he must not always be serious, or they may insensibly change to sermons. He must know, as one of the greatest of the craft has said, how |cxxxvii to approach great matters by their small side----prendre les grandes choses par les petits cotes. If he confines himself chiefly to questions of public concern, he must be doubly careful to be individual, terse, and vivid; above all, he must have the light touch, and the latent gaiety, which never permit the tale to drag. He must be skilled in expression; things must be put, they will not put themselves. But the art must be so concealed that what he writes affects us like the prompt phrases of an unpremeditated conversation. He must be catholic in taste and subject. He must interest most men and not a few; the greatest letter-writers play upon an instrument of many strings. And, in the modern view, at any rate, his letters should be often intimate, revealing the writer's own mind, and telling something of his private life. We thus require of the perfect correspondent much that even the greatest of the ancient letter-writers cannot give. They are mostly Romans; and Roman manners entailed reticence on intimate things; hence a certain preoccupation with intellectual themes and public affairs, which tends to reduce the human interest of their letters. It is not that human interest is absent; there is evidence enough, especially in the case of Cicero, to prove the contrary. But it is often too much in the background, and a correspondence which is too objective is not letter-writing at its very best: it is one-sided; it lacks the perfect balance. For these reasons, even the first among the ancients will sometimes disappoint a modern reader familiar with the achievement of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, but approaching the classics for the first time. In many ways Cicero is almost modern; his lively |cxxxviii sympathies bring him nearer to natural unreserve than any letter-writer of antiquity; he stands in a class by himself. But if we are conscious of a something wanting when reading Cicero, with all his ardour, his mobility, his colour and conciseness of phrase, it is inevitable that the same deficiency in the less admirable Sidonius should cause a more conspicuous void. The studied care for form which makes the agreeable Pliny sometimes tire, is exaggerated in his last disciple until all spontaneity is lost. And while the manner is frequently repellent, the matter often wearies in its turn; there is too much laudation of obscure literary efforts, too little talk of home affairs, of country life, of details of travel, of the natural beauties of southern France. Nature is overlooked, or regarded, as it were, with the eyes of a duke or cardinal of the Renaissance, seated at a comfortable point of vantage and with quotations from Virgil nearer to his lips than true feeling to his heart.275 When Sidonius visited Rome in the time of Anthemius, his route followed the Flaminian Way from Rimini; and the latter part of it was the wonderful hundred and fifty miles beginning at Foligno, the stage which travellers from northern Europe used to cover before the days of railways. Goethe followed it when he first approached Rome; Shelley came down it in 1818, and felt the charm to the full. But of that charm the Gallo-Roman |cxxxix poet is silent, betraying no interest in these things, and assuming none in his correspondent. He has nothing to say of Spoleto, or the falls of the Velino; we should never guess that he had seen Soracte from Civita Castellana, or looked from Castelnuovo across the valley of the Tiber towards the distant Alban hills. And on his river journey down the Ticino and the Po, though the song of the birds in the bulrushes gives him pleasure, his thoughts are soon diverted to Tityrus and the metamorphosis of Phaethon's sisters. For these and other reasons Sidonius cannot be placed very high among the masters who have expressed themselves through the medium of letters. It is in vain to seek in his pages the unstudied brilliance of Mme de Sévigné, the wit and vivacity of Voltaire, the light irony of Horace Walpole, or the natural gaiety of Cowper. We feel that Sidonius would never christen a path or copse 'La Solitaire' or 'La Sainte Horreur';276 or stay alone in the woods all day for sheer love of verdure. His is not the art to throw off a likeness in half a dozen words, or to resume an affair of State in a pair of sentences; nor is it his to make a hearthside event like the escape of a pet hare an absorbing and complete adventure. In edification, he lacks the winning simplicity, the amiable grace of St. Francis of Sales. He cannot restrain his scholarship like Gray, or expand in confidences like Lamb. His humour often strikes us |cxl as forced;277 he has compliments like those of the Hôtel de Rambouillet, but less adroitly turned. In fine, he was the victim of an artificial training; he lived in times not of renaissance but of dissolution; his was an age more eager for epistolary honours than any other, but more obviously debarred by circumstance from their attainment.278
Though we are not primarily concerned with Sidonius as poet, the inclusion in the Letters of some dozen epigrams and short pieces compels us to ask whether Gibbon's contemptuous phrase is deserved. Were these verses all that remained to us, there could be but one answer; ' insipid ' is a temperate epithet for some among them. Of the two impromptu epigrams, one on the imputed satire (I. xi. 14), the other on Filimatius' towel (V. xvii. 10) we can only say that, like other couplets written against time, they should not |cxli have been exposed to time's revenge. The epitaphs, elegies, and church inscriptions have the mechanical correctness to be expected of one whose mind was continually exercised by questions of metre. But they are mostly written out of good nature, or out of kindness of heart, motives which in all ages have often left the imagination uninspired. In truth, some of them come near to deserving the title of naenia epltaphistarum which their author almost feared for them himself. The poet's reputation cannot, however, be judged by these secondary efforts; it rests upon the Carmina, the twenty-four poems issued in 468,279 and chiefly upon the three panegyrics in honour of Avitus, Majorian, and Anthemius. In these more ambitious works, which challenge, if unsuccessfully, a comparison with Claudian and Statius, we find the same faults so conspicuous in the writer's prose, with others added----the glittering antitheses, the far-fetched metaphors, the forced emphatic utterance, the unquestionable facility, the lack of emotional inspiration, the tiresome parade of knowledge, making whole parts read 'like versified chapters out of Livy'. But though over the greater part hangs the curse of an implacable memory that cannot forget the Schools, though Pegasus is ever reined to the manège, the whole achievement cannot fairly be dismissed as bad because the bad preponderates.280 It may be that here, as in the stilted periods |cxlii of the Letters, the ear is arrested by unfamiliar rhythms and strange sonorities; here, too, a breath of barbarism has passed. But where the author feels his conscious power, there is dexterity, opulence and movement, there is a pageantry of changing form and colour to which the name of poetry cannot be denied. There are narrative passages which seize and hold the interest; for example, the description of the Vandals, or of the Roman army crossing the Alps. Parts of the Panegyric of Majorian advance with an ardour worthy their theme, while here and there flash out gnomic phrases after the glittering style of Lucan.281 The declamatory manner of these hexameters, so far removed from the suave Virgilian grandeur, admits of frequent brilliance in description; the effect is that of historical painting on a large scale by a skilful but uninspired master. Some of the pieces on less ambitious subjects are not without occasional grace. The verses to Majorian, pleading for remission of the triple tax, strike a light vein with more success than the humour of the Letters would lead us to expect; but the Epithalamia would damage any reputation.282 Sidonius is at his best in the rhetorical vein; he is the rhetor through and through. In his never-failing fluency, his adroit use of mythology and proverbial wisdom, he is the natural successor of Ausonius, and takes his place after him among the poets of the Roman decadence.
The literary reputation of Sidonius long survived his death. Ruricius of Limoges, in some respects |cxliii a pupil, refers to him in eulogistic terms, though conscious, as we have seen, of a certain obscurity in his style;283 so does Avitus of Vienne, another late writer of letters.284 Gregory of Tours praises his eloquence and power of improvisation.285 Cassiodorus regards him as a master; Ennodius and Fortunatus are his frank admirers;286 Jornandes had clearly read his poems.287 Savaron has illustrated his popularity during the Middle Ages, when John of Salisbury, Abelard, and other scholars were familiar with his works, and mediaeval writers sought to imitate his manner.288 But in the fourteenth century, the growing familiarity with Classic models reacted unfavourably upon his reputation. We have already noted that Petrarch was critical; and the Renaissance more critical still. Politian was unimpressed by his style; Vives called his prose ridiculous (absurdissima); Casaubon is severe, though Scaliger can still find words of praise.289 The editions of Savaron and Sirmond revived an interest in his works; but with the eighteenth century he finally lost credit as a writer of Latin, while securing a permanent place as an authority for the history of his times. From Tillemont and Gibbon to Amédée Thierry, Guizot and more recent historians of his age, |cxliv all have rendered homage to his involuntary merit, while one man of letters at least, Chateaubriand, has borrowed material from his pages (p. xciii above). Despite his chastisement as stylist, Sidonius has not fared ill at the hands of the posterity to which he entrusted his fame. Though his periods will never be recited either for pleasure or instruction, neither his name nor his work is forgotten; and in our greater libraries, while men pursue research, the Letters and the Panegyrics will always hold their undisputed place.
Of Sidonius as a man it is almost unnecessary to speak; the Letters prove his noble qualities, and those written after his entry into the Church reflect the saintliness which won him the honour of canonization. His chief fault, a defect of his ambitious early life, was an over-readiness to flatter where flattery, if given at all, should not have come from him. There were times when he too conveniently forgot the antecedents of the great, or their connexion with men whom honour forbade him to conciliate. Majorian was the comrade and the nominee of that Ricimer who had murdered Avitus; Sidonius forgets the fact too soon. Theodoric II had murdered his own brother; Sidonius, perhaps for a political end, appears oblivious of all save the royal virtues. Such flexibility is unworthy of the man who was to write the stern letter of rebuke to Graecus; nor was it a true part of the nature which trials and disillusions proved to be really his. This is the worst charge which can be brought against him; his other failings are little weaknesses which make him real to us, and which he never seeks to conceal. Thus |cxlv he sometimes appears too lenient towards unworthy action: for instance, towards the deception of the young adventurer Amantius; but he confesses with a charming frankness that he does not like censorious rigour (VII. iv 3). His literary vanity is now and then accentuated by false modesty (VII. iii, IX. xiii); but as a rule his simple confidence disarms resentment. When he assured his friend Fortunatus that the appearance of his name on the superscription of one of the Letters would ensure its immortality, he was probably more serious than not; after all, he spoke the truth, for the name of Fortunatus is preserved (VIII. v). He probably had no objection to being called a second Pliny (IX. i), and was quietly convinced that his critics were in the wrong.290 But no doubt he discounted the eulogy which he received; much of it was complimentary verbiage, belonging to the etiquette of his day; and he himself was so profuse of it to others, that he can have been under no illusion as to its current value. The age allowed a great latitude in exaggeration; but it must be admitted that Sidonius availed himself of it upon occasion to an extent which is revolting to modern sentiment. His letter to Claudianus Mamertus reaches the limit of extravagance,291 and with all allowance for the influence of an eulogistic time, we cannot read it |cxlvi without continual irritation. When we are told that the subject of his praise can hold his own with the first names in every field, with Orpheus, Aesculapius, Archimedes, Vitruvius, Thaïes, Euclid, Chrysippus, and all the greatest Fathers of the Church as well, credulity is too obviously taxed, and we wish that Sidonius had remembered more often the gnomic saying which he ascribes to Symmachus: ut vera laus ornat, ita falsa castigat. Nevertheless it must be remembered that eulogies almost as absurd have been perpetrated in periods very near our own. Thus Prior, in his Carmen Saeculare so grossly flattered William III that, in Johnson's phrase, he exhausted all his powers of celebration.292 We may dismiss the present subject by once more applying to Sidonius the words of the same critic, and say of him that in these matters he 'retained as much veracity as can be properly exacted from a writer professedly encomiastic'.293 Again, Sidonius was quickly moved, and sometimes allowed his temper to impair his dignity. He 'blazes out'294 when views are expressed which controvert a pet opinion; and when more seriously offended, does not confine himself to words. The apparently innocent disturbers of his grandfather's grave feel the weight of his fists or the lash of his whip (III. xii); he explodes at the |cxlvii carelessness of a slave who lost some letters, and will not speak to him for days (IV. xii. 2).
But these are the small defects of great qualities. The most affected of writers is the most natural of men. Though uncommunicative about his home, he says enough to show that he was a good father of his family, affectionate to his wife, solicitous for the health and welfare of his children. There is real charm in the passage, already noted, in which he describes himself as sitting reading with his son, distracted between delight in the boy's ardour, and in the fine passages of the poets (IV. xii); there is real regret when in later years the enthusiasm of the young Apollinaris waned (V. xii).
He was a loyal friend. Mention has been made of his fidelity to Arvandus in the dangerous hour of disgrace (V. vii). Similar qualities are apparent in the letter on the death of Lampridius, another friend to whose faults he was by no means blind. At a time when his own anxieties were great, he exerts himself to the utmost at the Burgundian court to foil the informers who had brought Apollinaris into danger (V. vii). A large number of the Letters illustrate his anxiety for the health and prosperity of those for whom he felt regard, or his sympathy with them in their misfortunes.295 When he became bishop, this fellow feeling was extended to a wider circle, and Claudianus Mamertus bears the highest possible testimony to the unselfishness of his life, when he complains that Sidonius is so busy attending to those who have no real claim upon him, that he finds too little time to answer |cxlviii the letters of old associates. He, too, like this venerated friend, 'remembered through good and evil the necessities of the human lot.'296 He was generous alike in the distribution of gifts and in the sentiment which is always ready to recognize the qualities of others. Gregory of Tours relates, in a passage often quoted, how he gave away his silver plate to relieve distress, and how, when Papianilla insisted on the recovery of the silver, the poor were compensated in other ways.297 An example of his kindly thought for others is seen in VII. xvi, where he sends the winter cowl to Chariobaudus. He is ever ready to encourage the literary efforts of younger men (II. x, IX. xi), and even to lend them most precious volumes in his library, a supreme test of human kindness. He was capable of tolerance298 towards those whose religious views he most detested; the Letters concerning the two Jews Gozolas and Promotus exhibit him in a pleasing light, and his dictum that a man may be a Jew and yet be sound in judgement does credit to his breadth of vision. He was sociable and friendly,299 possessed of tact and patience, accommodating affairs to men in a manner which would have won the approval of his favourite Horace. Nor was he devoid of humour; though the examples of his wit which have come down to us are sometimes tiresome, he was probably |cxlix good company when in the mood. Throughout the Letters he appears as the kindly intermediary who endeavours to help others in the practical difficulties of life. As bishop, his benevolence is always active. We see him receiving a truant son and bringing about a reconciliation with the injured father (IV. xxiv); securing the remission of interest on an old debt for the advantage of an orphaned family (IV. xxiv); persuading a delinquent husband to return to his wife (VI. ix). But he never countenanced favouritism. He saw clearly that reward should only follow efficient service, and expressly opposed the plea that promotion should go by seniority (VII. ix; VIII. vii). He was a man of insight and common sense, upon whom people relied for good advice. Many reflections and maxims in the Letters attest his practical wisdom. He insists that the safeguard of enduring friendship lies in community of likes and dislikes (III. i); he sees that self-depreciation may be pushed to the verge of folly (IX. iii. 7); he knows that the most bitter family quarrels are those which arise over the division of estates (IV. i), and that at a Burgundian court, as at most others, proximity to kings is dangerous (III. ix).300
He was a patriot both as Roman and Arvernian. In the earlier part of his career we find him always urging the strenuous life for the credit of the Roman name. We have seen that more than once he rebukes the men of family who allow all interest to centre in their estates or pleasures, while the imagines of trabeated |cl ancestors look down on their degeneracy (I. vi); even philosophy is not accepted as an excuse for inactive contemplation (VI. vi). He did not despair of the empire even in the days of Julius Nepos; he thought that if only patriotism were fairly rewarded, as good men would appear to show it as in the great days of the past (III. viii). When Auvergne was attacked by Euric, his spirit was worthy of Roman tradition at its best. Both during the siege of Clermont and after it, he evinced a courage and a fortitude which proved him worthy of his ancestors. It is unnecessary to dwell upon this crisis of his life; his nature issued from it confirmed in strength and refined as by fire. He possessed to the full the moral strength which enables men to overcome old prejudice in the service of a changed ideal. The exclusive magnate who chose his acquaintances with such care became the friend of all men; the proud noble could beg for the Church (III. i; VIII. iv). He was consistent in his loyalty to his new profession, and resolutely maintained the dignity of the priesthood even against the high worldly rank which he never ceased to respect (IV. xiv; VIII. vii). He was sincerely humble in his sense of his own unworthiness to be the shepherd of others at a time when he felt the need of guidance for himself: in his Letters to Lupus and other bishops after his election to the see of Clermont, the language is emphatic but the contrition is sincere (V. iii; VI. i; VII. vi). The devotion which in earlier years had perhaps depended much on formality of observance was now the guiding principle of his life; the reputation for piety which he gained among |cli his contemporaries and immediate successors is sufficient proof of his sincerity. History records no career precisely comparable to this. Conspicuous alike for his rank and literary celebrity, Sidonius was in many ways the first personage in his native land, yet he fulfilled his arduous and unfamiliar duties in a spirit of abnegation equal to that of colleagues trained to the renunciations of monastic life. In the evil days which fell upon his country, he never abandoned his people; when his own fortunes were darkest, he rejoiced that others escaped affliction (IV. ii). If Sidonius failed of greatness as a writer, he surely attained it as a man.
There are extant more than sixty manuscripts containing the whole or the greater part of the works of Sidonius, and some twenty containing a small part of them.301 Out of this large number, Lütjohann, when editing the text for the Monumenta Germaniae Historica, selected six as of superior importance, some of these having affinities to a few other manuscripts, which for this reason were occasionally employed. The six manuscripts are:
1. Codex Laudianus, (Bodleian Library, MS. Lat. 104) 9th or 10th century. Known as L. Related to this book are Parisinus 1854 of the 10th century, known as N, and Vaticanus 1783, 10th century, known as V.
2. Marcianus. (Marcian Library, Venice, 554.) 10th century. Known as M. |clii
3. Laurentianus. (Laurentian Library, Florence, Plat. XLV. 23.) 11th-12th century. Known as T.
4. Matritensis. (Madrid.) 10th-11th century. Known as C. (Related to this is Vaticanus 3421, 10th century.)
5. Parisinus. (Bibl. Nat., Paris, 9551.) 12th-13th century. Known as F.
6. Parisinus. Bibl. Nat., Paris, 2781.) 10th-11th century. Known as P.
Of these, the first is the most valuable, with the two related, manuscripts in Paris and at the Vatican, and with M and T for use where it fails; the other three are of subsidiary importance. It may be noted that certain lacunae are common to all; this would seem to indicate that they had a single archetype, which in these places presented difficulties to the copyist or had perhaps been damaged by fire.
Printed editions of Sidonius begin with the last quarter of the fifteenth century, at which period one was issued from Utrecht and another from Milan, the latter being reprinted at Basel in 1542 and 1595. E. Vinet's edition appeared at Lyons in 1552, and Wouweren's in Paris in 1598. The same year saw Savaron's first edition; his second (the first of critical value) followed in 1609. J. Sirmond's valuable edition, with notes from which every one has something to learn, was issued in 1614; Elmenhorst's five years later. Complete translations have hitherto appeared only in French; the first, by R. Breyer, Canon of Troyes, was printed in 1706; that of |cliii E. Billarden de Sauvigny in 1787 and 1792; Grégoire and Collombet's version dates from 1836. The last-mentioned work has often been criticized for inaccuracy, but it is not for one who knows by experience the difficulties of their task to join in censure upon this point. Single Letters, or parts of Letters, are summarized or translated by many writers on Sidonius or his age.
The arrangement of the Letters in nine books is, as far as is known, that of Sidonius himself. Seven books were issued at different times at the request of Constantius, the first appearing in 478.302 The Poems had already seen the light, perhaps as early as 468 (see above, p. cxli). The eighth book was added at the request of Petronius the jurisconsult of Arles (VIII. i),303 and the ninth at that of Firminius (IX. i), perhaps about the year 484.304 It soon becomes apparent to any reader familiar with the history of the times, that the order of the Letters is not chronological; most books contain Letters from the earlier and later parts of Sidonius' life; and within the limits of the several books the arrangement often seems capricious, Letters logically and historically connected being separated by others unrelated to them in subject. This confusion is partly due to the fact that, to complete his tale of nine books,305 Sidonius had to ransack all his drawers |cliv and cases at Clermont for drafts of letters written long years before: this explains the inclusion in the two last books of Letters referring to his early manhood. But it is also true that in preparing for publication he was not primarily concerned with chronological sequence; he brought his letters together for other reasons, by associations of idea which to us are often obscure. One of them probably was to ensure to each book a wide variety of subject, that his readers might not accuse him of monotony.306 Again, he regarded it as an advantage of the collection of Letters as such that it is essentially discontinuous, and provides reading for odd moments: from this point of view, lack of logical order is not of prime importance. It has before now been suggested that the author's arrangement should be disregarded, and that an edition should be issued with every letter in its proper order. If it were possible to give a precise and certain date to the majority of the letters, the overriding of the order approved by Sidonius might be justified on utilitarian grounds. But although certain Letters date themselves by recounting known events, while the period of others can be inferred from personal or other allusions, there remains a large proportion to which nothing more than conjectural or approximate dates can be given. This being so, it is hardly justifiable to upset the sequence which received the author's sanction, and has been retained for fifteen hundred years. Moreover, the convenience gained in one direction would be lost in another; for the references to Sidonius in historical |clv and critical literature all follow the old system; and, were it changed, the reader, driven to consult a table of concordance at every turn, would soon wish the old order back. It has therefore seemed best to keep the nine books as they stand in the texts, placing at the head of each letter its certain or conjectural date wherever such can be reasonably assigned.
In many cases the year is exactly or approximately indicated by the contents. In others, a particular allusion, or the general tone, may enable us to infer the period: for instance, it is often possible to say with some confidence that a given letter must have been written before or after the entrance of Sidonius into the Church, or the abandonment of Auvergne by the empire. Again, there is a long interval of leisure in the author's career between A.D. 461 and 467, within which many letters descriptive of provincial life seem naturally to fall: a few of these might be transferred to the years between A.D. 456 and 459, though I have not actually suggested this. It will thus be seen that the date of the majority of letters can only be regarded as approximate.
[Footnotes have been renumbered and placed at the end]
1. 1 Sidonius is the principal name, and by it he is properly designated. He himself (Carm. ix) gives the order of his names as Sollius Apollinaris Sidonius. Caius is substituted for Apollinaris by Claudianus Mamertus in the dedication of the De Statu Animae. Modestus is derived from the MS. of the Abbey of Cluny, in which Savaron discovered the epitaph (see p. lii below); but our author himself does not mention it. The description 'Sidonius Apollinaris' dates from the thirteenth century, and became general through its adoption by Politian (Fertig, p. 5; Germain, pp. 178-80).
2. 2 Mommsen (Praefatio, p. xlvii) gives the year of his birth as between 430 and 433. Hodgkin (Italy and her Invaders, ii. 304) is in favour of about 430.
3. 1 His father, whose name may have been Apollinaris, was a secretary of state under Honorius, and prefect in Gaul under Valentinian III in 448-9 (V. ix. 2). His grandfather, the first member of his family to be converted to Christianity (III. xii), was prefect in the time of the usurper Constantine (the 'Tyrant'), A. D. 408.
4. 1 Among the connexions of Sidonius were Tonantius Ferreolus, Philagrius, Magnus and his sons Probus and Felix, Priscus, and Valerianus. For his pedigree, see Mommsen, Praefatio, p. xlvii.
5. 2 Carm. xvi. 70 ff., where Faustus is thanked for the care bestowed on his education.
6. 3 Agricola seems to have led a country life and taken no prominent part in affairs (II. xii).
7. 4 In this display of personal courage he was but following the example of his father Avitus, who once challenged a Hun trooper to single combat, and slew him in the sight of two armies (Carm. vii. 246). Several allusions in the Letters present Ecdicius in the light of a lover of outdoor sports and physical prowess. He had other moral qualities besides courage; he rivalled Bishop Patiens in the generosity with which he relieved the distress of Auvergne after the Visigothic invasion (see below, p. xl), and is thought by some to have ultimately become a bishop.
8. 1 Though a single letter is addressed to Papianilla, who is there praised as a good wife, she too remains a rather shadowy figure. The only actions attributed to her which at all suggest a personality are related by Gregory of Tours (see below, p. cxlviii).
9. 2 Unless, as Mommsen has suggested, the three names all belong to a single person.
10. 3 Apollinaris associated himself with Victorius whom Euric appointed governor of Auvergne, and accompanied him on his flight to Italy, where he almost shared his fate. From Milan he managed to effect his escape, and returned to Auvergne, where he was reconciled to his father, reformed his ways, and married Placidina (Ruricius, Ep. II. xxv; and cf. Chaix, ii. 289 ff.). Gregory of Tours in one place relates that in A. D. 507 he led the nobles of Auvergne at the battle of Vouglé or Vouillé near Poitiers, in which the forces of Alaric II were defeated by Clovis. In another place he mentions him as one of the successors of Sidonius in the see of Clermont, stating that he died four months after his election. The two passages are reconcilable, because Gregory never says, as some critics have assumed, that Apollinaris died at Vouillé, only that he was present at the battle (Gregory of Tours, De gloria martyrum, lxv; cf. Hist. Franc. II. xxxvii. Cf. also Chaix, ii. 379; L. Schmidt, Geschichte der deutschen Stämme, p. 276).
11. 1 Gregory of Tours, Hist. Franc. III. ii. 12; De gloria martyrum, c. 64.
12. 2 Among his teachers were Hoënius (Carm. ix. 313) and Eusebius (VI. i. 3); among the comrades of his youth, Probus, Avitus (III. i), Faustinus (III. iv), and Aquilus (V. ix).
13. 1 Sidonius describes himself as always a great devotee of all games (on which see pp. cxi, cxii). He also rode, hawked, and hunted (IV. iv). Cf. Chaix, i. 69 ff.
14. 2 The consistently eulogistic nature of the letter is sufficient indication that it was written with an ulterior purpose. We may compare Carm. xxiii. 70 ff.:
Martius ille rector atque
Magno patre prior, decus Getarum,
Romanae columen salusque gentis
Theudoricus...
15. 3 He is even said to have taught the younger Theodoric to appreciate Virgil (Carm. vii. 497; Jornandes, De reb. Get. xl, xli). Cf. Hodgkin, ii, p. 379.
16. 1 As noted above, Avitus' attitude towards the barbarians was shared by his son Ecdicius. It was also shared by other members of his house, for at the time of Euric's aggression, Sidonius appealed to a younger Avitus to dissuade the Visigothic king from his provocative policy (III. i. 5).
17. 1 In the Panegyric of Avitus, Sidonius describes the part taken by the Goths in the elevation of that prince (Carm. vii. 441 ff., 508 ft, 570 ff.).
18. 2 The Seven Provinces formed the Dioecesis Viennensis, the second of the two 'dioceses' into which Gaul was divided. They were: Viennensis, Narbonensis Prima and Secunda, Novempopulana, Aquitanica Prima and Secunda, Alpes Maritimae (Marquardt, Römische Staatsverwaltung, i. 261, 509). In 418 Honorius had issued a Constitution renewing the Council of Representatives of the Provinces, which under normal circumstances met at Arles (cf. L. Schmidt, Geschichte, as above, pp. 288-9, and p. xxx below.
19. 3 Cf. IX. xvi; Carm. viii. 8:
Ulpia quod rutilat porticus aere meo.
The statue, which was placed between the Greek and Latin Libraries, is now lost. As a work of art illustrative of the decadence, it would have possessed for us an interest almos equal to that of the Panegyric which has survived.
20. 1 For the career and character of Avitus see Gibbon, Decline and Fall, ch. xxxvi; Hodgkin, as above, pp. 374 ff.; L. Schmidt, Geschichte der deutschen Stämme, i, 1910, pp. 252 ff. Gibbon's accusations of immorality are not now regarded as justified (Hodgkin, p. 393; and Bury, Gibbon, vol. iv, p. 14, note). Avitus seems to have been a man of a simple nature, whose inaptitude for empire lay rather in lack of subtlety than want of virtue. His greatest claim to distinction was probably his action (already noticed) in bringing about the rapprochement between the Gallo-Romans and the Visigoths.
21. 1 L. Schmidt, as above,"p. 254; C. M. H. i. 421.
22. 2 John of Antioch (Fr. 202) says that he was either starved or strangled. Gregory of Tours (Hist. Franc, II. xi) relates that he attempted to escape from Italy and take sanctuary at the shrine of S. Julianus at Brioude (Brivas) in his native country of Auvergne, but that he died on the road, his remains being carried for burial to the church which he had attempted to reach alive.
23. 3 The, episode of the conspiracy is obscure, and the commentators are strangely silent. It should be observed that Sidonius alludes to it as coniuratio Marcelliana (I. xi, 6), the adjective (if this is the word he really wrote), pointing rather to a Marcellus than a Marcellinus. Marcelliniana is a possible emendation, or Marcellini, as suggested by Mommsen (cf. P. Allard, Revue des questions historiques, lxxxiii, 1908, pp. 438 ff.).
24. 1 Barker, in C. M. H. i. 425.
25. 2 Mommsen, Praefatio, p. xlviii, places this first visit of Majorian to Gaul in the autumn of 458. Cf. also Schmidt, C. M. H. i. 202.
26. 3 Carm. v. 572 ff.; Schmidt, Geschichte der deutschen Stämme, Part i, pp. 256, 373.
27. 4 The miseries of Lyons may have been in part due to internal feuds breaking out when the hopelessness of the rebellion became apparent.
28. 1 Carm. iv. n, 12, and v. 572 ff.:
Mihi diverso nuper sub Marte cadenti
Iussisti placido, Victor, ut essem animo.
29. 2 Carm. xiii.
30. 3 The failure of Gaul to establish a state based in the last resort upon Visigothic support, was perhaps a loss to civilization. Hodgkin has observed that had the effort resulted in a Visigothic power sufficiently strong to resist the Franks, the empire of Charlemagne might have been anticipated by a nobler nation.
31. 1 It must be remembered in this connexion that the eulogistic description of Theodoric II (I. ii) was written in full consciousness of the fact that the Visigothic king had succeeded to the throne by murdering his brother Thorismond (Thorismud).
32. 2 It is Carm. vii: an abstract of it is given by Hodgkin, ii. 410. The kind of flattery which was expected from an imperial panegyrist in the fifth century is illustrated by the words: Fuimus vestri quia causa triumphi, Ipsa ruina placet.
33. 3 This is the date accepted by Mommsen (Praefatio, p. xlviii), and by Clinton. The Circus games which were just over (I. xi. 10) are taken by the latter authority to be the Quinquennalia of Majorian. But Hodgkin considers that the emperor was probably in Spain and Italy during the season 460-1.
34. 1 This is one of the best of the descriptive letters. It is probable that the intimacy of Sidonius with Majorian had aroused the jealousy of others who, like Paeonius, were less successful in winning the emperor's good graces. These men were glad to use any opportunity to disgrace their brilliant rival, and used the episode of the lampoon to suit their own ends (cf. Chaix, i. 132). Hodgkin thinks that Sidonius may really have written the satire. It is true that he does not explicitly deny the charge brought against him; but the balance of probability seems against his authorship.
35. 2 Majorian was dethroned and put to death at Tortona in Piedmont in August 461. During the disturbances following his death Theodoric obtained possession of Narbonne (Schmidt, Geschichte, as above, p. 258). Before his murder in 466, this king had very probably seized Novempopulana and a great part of Narbonensis Prima (ibid. p. 263). The death of Majorian seems also to have been the signal for encroachment on the Burgundian side. Gundioc reoccupied Lyons, and by 468 his frontiers had been widely extended towards the south, more or less with Roman consent (ibid, p. 375).
36. 1 For the events attending this change of policy, see Hodgkin, ii. 440; C. M. H. i. 426.
37. 2 The name of the bride was unknown until the discovery of the (fragmentary) History of John of Antioch (cf. C. Müller, Fragt. Hist. Gr. IV, pp. 535 ff., Frag. 209; Bury's edition of Gibbon's Decline and Fall, vol. iv, appendix, p. 552). For the pedigree of Anthemius, see Hodgkin, p. 461. For Sidonius' description of Rome at the time of the wedding, see I. v. 10.
38. 1 These are dated 461-7 in the translation. Chaix would reduce the number by assigning a few to the period after 475. In a few cases 1 have followed his opinion in preference to that of Baret, whose dating I have generally accepted.
39. 2 He probably felt in his own person all the discontent with which, in the moment of his success, he endeavoured to inspire his friend Polemius (I. vi).
40. 1 Successor of Theodoric in 466. The imperial policy included an alliance with the Armoricans under Riothamus (cf. III. ix), whose part it would be to hold Berry against the Visigoths; and also an understanding with the Franks.
41. 2 The enlarged Burgundian territory was bounded, now or shortly afterwards, on the south by the Visigoths of Aquitanica Prima and by Narbonensis Secunda, on the north by the weak state of Aegidius and Syagrius in Belgica, soon destined to be absorbed by the Franks (Schmidt, Geschichte, pp. 375-7). It included the Viennensis, Maxima Sequanorum, Alpes Graiae et Poeninae, Lugdunensis Prima, including Nevers, and part of Narbonensis Secunda between the Rhône and the Durance.
42. 1 Anthemius had been consul for the first time thirteen years earlier, at Constantinople.
43. 2 Cf. I. i: sufficientis gloriae anchora sedet.
44. 1 The letters to Polemius and Gaudentius illustrate this (IV. xiv; I. iii, iv). In the case of both, the persuasion appears to have been effective. Gaudentius became a vicarius; Polemius was the last Roman prefect in Gaul.
45. 2 The duties of the Prefect of Rome are defined in the Notifia Dignitatum, c. iv; cf. also Cassiodorus, Var. vi. 4; Marquardt, Römische Staatsverwaltung, ii. 131; C. M. H. i. 50.
46. 3 The impeachment was decided upon by the Council ot the Seven Provinces, established by Honorius (Carette, Les assemblées provinciales de la Gaule romaine, 1895, p. 333; cf. also above, p. xviii). For the whole affair cf. Gibbon, ch. xxxvi ff.; Chaix, i. 299 ff. Arvandus seems to have completed a first tenure of office with credit; his disgrace began with the second. He was perhaps a man with certain good qualities, but a spendthrift, and incurably vain. During his second tenure he was embarrassed by debt, and this was the origin of his downfall. Äs we shall see, the advice which he gave to Euric was actually carried out by that king.
47. 1 Decline and Fall, ch. xxxvi.
48. 1 Cf. Chaix, i. 303. Yet the leanings of Arvandus towards the Goths can hardly have been altogether unknown to any of his acquaintances.
49. 2 It has been suggested by Martroye (Genséric, pp. 234-5) that Arvandus may not have been so stupid as he appeared, and that the correspondence with Euric may have been undertaken with the approval of Ricimer. The king-maker's privity to his treason would explain Arvandus' arrogant confidence on his arrival in Rome, as well as his sudden dejection, when he found himself left in the lurch by the powerful personage on whom he counted (cf. Prof. Bury's note in his edition of Gibbon's Decline and Fall, iv. 44, n. 108).
50. 1 When the breach soon afterwards occurred Ricimer alluded Anthemius as Graeculus, while the emperor deplored the necessity which had made him give his daughter in marriage to a 'skin-clad barbarian' (pellito Getae). In 470 a rupture was averted by the intercession of St. Epiphanius, Bishop of Pavia; but in 472 Ricimer proclaimed Olybrius, and marched on Rome. Anthemius was slain, but after little more than a month the victor himself died (Pauly-Wissowa, Real-Encyclopadie, s. v. Anthemius).
51. 2 It is generally assumed that he retired in 469. Fertig (i. 19) thinks he may have remained till 471.
52. 1 A similar conversion occurred in the case of Sidonius' friend Maximus, who also was called to the Church by the voice of his fellow citizens (IV. xxiv. i); cf. Fertig, ii. 6.
53. 2 He may have passed the lower ecclesiastical grades per saltum like Ambrose, who rose from baptism to the episcopate in a week (C. H. Turner, in C. M. H. i. 151).
54. 3 The length of the interval between the return of Sidonius from Rome and his entry into the Church depends upon the view adopted as to the date of his retirement from the prefecture. Mommsen reduces it to less than a year (Praefatio, p. xlviii). Schmidt seems to be of the same opinion (Geschichte, p. 264). Others, while accepting the date of departure from Rome as 469, consider that three years elapsed, and that the episcopate of Sidonius began in 472. They argue from the passage in VI. i, where Sidonius says that at this time Lupus had been a bishop for forty-five years; now Lupus was elected to the see of Troyes in 427 (cf. Chaix, i. 439; Dill, p. 179). Tillemont (Mémoires, p. 750), followed by Germain (p. 19), makes Sidonius' ecclesiastical career begin a few months earlier, at the close of 471, on the ground that when the letter was written he must already have been bishop some little time.
55. 1 V. viii. 3 Utpote cui indignissimo tantae professionis pondus impactum est. Cf. VII. ix; VI. vii. This language, as Germain remarks, recalls that of St. Ambrose, when raised in a similar manner to the episcopal throne of Milan.
56. 1 The see of the Metropolitan was at Bourges.
57. 2 Baret, pp. 32-3.
58. 3 Cf. note, p. xxviii above. About this time Gundioc was succeeded by his brother Chilperic I, who had no children. Gundioc left four sons, called on Chilperic's death the 'tetrarchs': Gundobad ruling at Lyons, Chilperic II at Vienne, Godgisel at Besançon, and Gundomar at Geneva.
59. 4 Riothamus, to whom one of the letters (III. ix) is addressed, foolishly provoked the attack of Euric and was crushed at Bourg-de-Déols on the Indre, not far from Châteauroux, whence he fled with the remnant of his force to the Burgundians. This may have been in 470, or perhaps in 469, for Euric's aggression was probably hastened by the failure of the Roman expedition against the Vandals in 468. Cf. Gregory, Hist. Franc. II. xviii; Jornandes, Getica, xlv; Dill, pp. 302, 316; Fauriel, v. 314; Schmidt, in C. M. H., p. 283.
60. 1 The Burgundians may even have driven him by force from this district (Schmidt, Geschichte, p. 377). It may be that Euric was to some degree influenced by a desire to avenge Arvandus and Seronatus, who had given him such practical advice. Except that he had not come to terms with the Burgundians, his present policy was that recommended by Arvandus in the famous letter which caused his condemnation (cf. p. xxxi above, and Fauriel, Hist. de la Gaule méridionale, i. 214).
61. 1 The claim of Trojan descent is more than once mentioned by Sidonius (cf. II. ii. 19; VII. vii. 2. Cf. also Pliny, Nat. Hist. IV. xxxi).
62. 2 Seronatus was perhaps governor of Aquitanica I (Schmidt, Gesch., Part I, p. 261), where he openly acted in the interests of the Goths (cf. VI. i. l; V. xiii. i, 4; VII. vii. 2). He also was brought to justice, and lacking Arvandus' useful friendships, underwent sentence of death (cf. Chaix, i. 377).
63. 3 Arverni is the general form for Clermont, though Jornandes uses Arverna. The earlier name was Augustonemetum. When autumn set in the Goths raised the siege, and drew off into winter quarters.
64. 4 Cf. VIII. vii, addressed to Audax, Prefect of Rome.
Nepos, nephew of Verina, consort of the Emperor Leo, was proclaimed in Constantinople in 473, and landed in Italy in the following year, Glycerius being consecrated bishop of Salona. He only reigned a year and two months; in 475 he was dethroned by Orestes, who invested his own son Romulus Augustus with the purple. Nepos, at the beginning of his reign, appears to have endeavoured to rejuvenate the Civil Service, and secure a more efficient administration. But the effort came too late.
65. 1 III. i. 5. The efforts of Avitus may have been made in concert with Licinianus (Schmidt, Geschichte, as above, p. 265). The memory of the Emperor Avitus, the friend of the first Theodoric and instructor of the second, must still have been fresh among the Visigoths. This younger Avitus may himself have had a personal influence among them; the degree of his kinship to the emperor is unknown.
66. 2 Fertig, i. 12.
67. 1 III. iii. The episode is also related by Gregory of Tours (Hist. Franc, II. xxiv), who allows Ecdicius only ten men. Ecdicius seems to have been successful, at some time during the operations, in bringing up Burgundian support (Chaix, ii. 176); he also engaged troops at his own expense (III. iii. 7).
68. 2 VI. xii. Cf. Gregory of Tours, loc. cit.
69. 3 This may have been done by letter. It is possible that the personal visit of Sidonius to Lyons and Vienne took place in some interlude between the sieges, though we may doubt whether he would have left the city at so critical a moment. Cf. below, p. xlii.
70. 1 III. ii. This is the same Constantius to whom the earlier books of the Letters are dedicated.
71. 2 V. xiv; VII. i.
72. 3 The dignity had been promised by Anthemius. Several writers have remarked that though the Roman dominion was on the point of disappearing, and though the titles which Rome conferred were about to become emptier names than ever, Sidonius and Papianilla regarded the augmentation of the family honours as a matter of serious importance. In spite of the threatening aspect of affairs, they could not even now persuade themselves that Auvergne was really to be abandoned by the empire. Perhaps it was this ineradicable confidence in Roman stability which enabled Sidonius to write several cheerful letters during this time of suspense, e.g. III. viii and VII. i. We may note as an example of a similar confidence manifested by others, that a friend whom he asks to attend the Rogations is taking the waters at a bathing resort (V. xiv. 1).
73. 1 IV. v.
74. 2 But cf. p. xl, note 3.
75. 3 Schmidt, Geschichte, as above, p. 265. But if the four bishops made a firm stand for Auvergne, why was Sidonius so indignant with Graecus? The account of Epiphanius' proceedings given by Ennodius is uninforming (Vita Epiph. §81).
76. 1 Sees had been left vacant; churches were allowed to fall in ruins; cattle grazed about the altars (VII. vi). Gregory of Tours (Hist. Franc, ii. 25) says that bishops and priests were actually put to death, but it is doubtful whether things were pushed to this extremity; cf. Chaix, ii. 182.
77. 2 VII. vii. Hodgkin compares the protest of betrayed Auvergne with that of the city of Nisibis, surrendered to Persia by Jovian against the will of the inhabitants. The reproach directed by Sidonius against Graecus, that he considered nothing but his own interest, seems hardly justified. It is probable that as a result of the treaty, to which the Burgundians appear to have been parties, the whole territory between the Loire, the Rhône, the Pyrenees, and the two seas passed to Euric, who now possessed Aquitanica I and II, Novempopulana, Narbonensis I, and part of Lugdunensis III (Schmidt, p. 265).
78. 1 The treaty still left Rome the country between the Mediterranean and the Durance, and from the Rhône to the Alps; but a part of this at least was taken by Euric in 476, when he renewed the war, and drove the Burgundians beyond the Durance (Schmidt, Geschichte, p. 377).
79. 2 Victorius may have degenerated (cf. Chaix, ii. 504). Gregory (Hist. Franc. II. xx) states that he was obliged to fly to Italy; the young Apollinaris followed him (cf. note 3, p. xiv, above).
80. 3 In the Peutinger chart it is called Liviana, and placed twelve miles from Carcassonne. Cf. the Index Locorum in Mommsen's Praefatio.
81. 4 In VIII. iii and IX. iii Sidonius speaks of officia which occupied a great part of his day during his captivity.
82. 1 The task which he suggested was an edition of Philostratus' work in honour of Apollonius of Tyana (VIII. iii. i; cf. Fertig, ii. 22). Sidonius had a far higher opinion of Apollonius than that entertained by the Catholic Church in later times (cf. note, 140. i, p. 245). It is questioned whether he undertook a regular translation from the Greek, or merely a transcription, as Sirmond thought.
83. 2 Chaix thinks that Sidonius returned to Clermont on his release from Livia; and that the visit to Bordeaux was undertaken later, with the express object of presenting a petition with regard to his confiscated property (ii. 227).
84. 3 VIII. ix. The Visigoths, in accordance with precedent, probably appropriated a fixed proportion of the conquered territory (cf. p. lvi below). But Sidonius' active share in the war may have led to the confiscation of his land.
85. 1 Sidonius may have been really impressed by the visible signs of Euric's power, and forced into a kind of enthusiasm, despite his private feelings. But the verses bear the signs of exaggeration, and historical evidence hardly confirms their claim that Euric was arbiter of the destinies of half the world.
86. 2 Another letter containing verses (IV. viii) addressed to Evodius was probably composed at Bordeaux. Evodius, who at a later time may have risen high in the Gothic service (Chaix, ii. 290), was presenting a silver cup to Ragnahild, Euric's consort, for which he desired a poetical inscription. Sidonius, who realized as fully as his friend the great influence wielded over their lords by the Teutonic queens, complied with a few couplets well calculated to attain their object. But in a tone of irony which betrays his real sentiment with regard to Teutons, he remarks at the end of the letter that the verses themselves hardly matter, since in the place where the cup is going there will be eyes only for the silver of which it is made.
87. 1 Cf. the visits to Vectius and Germanicus (IV. ix, xiii; cf. Chaix, ii. 239, 241). He paid other visits beyond his diocese, e.g. those to Elaphius and Maximus (IV. xv, xxiv; cf. Chaix, ii. 234, 236).
88. 2 See below, p. cliii.
89. 1 VIII. i. 1; xvi. 1.
90. 2 IX. i, xvi.
91. 3 He says himself that after his entrance into the Church, his prose style suffered, but he was ' more of a bad poet than ever ' (IV. Hi. 9).
92. 4 Cf. the convivial verses written at a late period for Tonantius, son of Tonantius Ferreolus (IX. xiii).
93. 5 The request came from Prosper, Bishop of Orleans (VIII. xv).
94. 1 De scriptoribus ecclesiasticis, xcii. The theological writings of Sidonius are not the only works of his which are lost to us. He mentions epigrams and satires from his pen----evidently composed in earlier life (cf. Chaix, ii. 310). In the verses included in the last of all his letters, he alludes to certain juvenile productions: unde pars maior utinam faceri | possit et abdi!
95. 2 V. xv; cf. Germain, p. 117.
96. 3 It is argued that he must have been writing after 480, because in a letter to Oresius (IX. xii) he says that he has given up secular poetry for three Olympiads, and the period of abandonment to which he alludes must be the year of his election as bishop. Mommsen, however, considers him to have died in 479 (Praefatio, p. xlix), in which Prof. Schmidt follows him (Geschichte der deutschen Stämme, p. 378). But his argument is chiefly based on a conjectural emendation of the vague date at the end of the epitaph (XII Kal. Sept. Zenone imperatore), and his conclusion appears to accord no better with facts than that of Tillemont (see next page).
97. 1 The Catholicism of the Franks was of great assistance to them in their final struggle with the Arian Teutonic tribes. There is no doubt that their orthodoxy led the Gallo-Roman population to favour their projects and to desire their supremacy, and that Alaric II regarded the Catholic bishops as formidable, if secret adversaries.
98. 2 Earlier authorities, the Benedictines (Histoire litt. de la France, ii. 557) and Tillemont (Mémoires, xvi. 274 and 755), were in favour of about 489 as the date of Sidonius' death. Gregory of Tours says that in Sidonius' lifetime the echo of Frankish arms resounded in Gaul, and that Arvernians desired their arrival in Auvergne: this seems to point to a period later than the battle of Soissons (cf. Germain, p. 181). It might also be contended that the references which Sidonius himself makes to advancing age seem difficult of explanation if he did not survive the year 479, when he would only have been about fifty (V. ix. 4; IX. xvi, line 45 of the poem. Cf. also Hodgkin, ii, p. 317).
99. 3 Gregory of Tours, Hist. Franc. II. xxiii.
100. 1 Gregory, as above. On Sidonius' decease, the infamous Hermanchius usurped the bishopric, but was struck dead at a banquet while he was celebrating his success. Aprunculus, formerly Bishop of Langres (cf. IX. x), only held the see for a short time, being succeeded by Euphrasius, whose tenure was also brief. Cf. Gregory of Tours, Hist. Franc. III. ix, xii, xviii.
101. 2 Cf. p. xiv above, and Gregory, III. c. ii; Chaix, ii. 379. Placidina, the wife, and Alcima, the sister, of Apollinaris, are said by Gregory to have visited the newly-elected bishop and persuaded him that he did not possess the qualities required for the efficient government of the see; it would be better, therefore, if he withdrew in favour of Apollinaris. He agreed with them, and effaced himself.
102. 3 Gregory tells us that the younger Apollinaris had a son, Arcadius, whose daughter was named, like her grandmother, Placidina, and is mentioned by Venantius Fortunatus (Carm. i. 15, 45). It has been supposed that the family of Polignac represents the line of Apollinaris, but this is disputed.
103. 1 Codex Matritensis, known as C; tenth to eleventh century (see p. clii below; and cf. E. Le Blant, Inscriptions chrétiennes de la Gaule, I, no. 562). It is quoted by Sirmond, and by later writers on Sidonius, e. g. Germain, p. 36 (cf. Baret, Introduction, p. 101). The placing of this long metrical epitaph over his remains would probably have accorded with his own wishes. Did he not compose one of similar length for his grandfather's tomb, with the comment that 'a learned shade does not reject a poetic tribute' (Anima perita musicas non refutat inferias. III. xi)?
104. 2 But, as observed below (p. cli), the Letters have never ceased to be accessible, if only to a limited number of readers.
105. 1 Sidonius' description of Avitacum, with its fine baths, winter and summer dining-rooms, women's quarters and weaving-chamber, imitates Pliny's accounts of his two chief country-homes, the Laurentinum near Ostia, and the larger Tusculanum at the foot of the Apennines in the upper Tiber valley (Ep. II. xvii; VI. vi). It is rather curious that he makes no mention of his garden, though such must surely have existed. Pliny, on the other hand, is very detailed in his description of the gardens of his villas. He speaks of walks bordered with box and rosemary, topiary-work, a 'wilderness', fountains and marble seats, summer-houses, &c. (cf. also Sir A. Geikie, The Love of Nature among the Romans, pp. 132ff.).
106. 1 Cf. II. xiv.
107. 2 Even Theodoric II had shown his desire of territorial aggrandizement in Gaul (Schmidt, in C. M. H. i. 283).
108. 1 It is generally held that when the Visigoths first settled in Aquitaine, they appropriated two-thirds of the tilled land, and one-half of the woodland, while such land as was not thus partitioned was divided equally between Goth and provincial. When the Goths annexed large new territories, the division probably became less ruinous to the Gallo-Roman, because the barbaric numbers had not increased in proportion to the fresh land seized (Schmidt, Geschichte, pp. 281,287). For the Burgundian division, see Dahn, Die Könige der Germanen, vi. 56; and for the partition of lands in Italy by the Ostrogoths, cf. Dumoulin, ibid. p. 447. The Visigothic Code issued by Euric in 475, of which only a part is preserved, was drawn up by Roman jurists. It borrowed much from the provisions of Roman law with regard to property; with regard to moral offences, it retained much of the old Teutonic severity. From the time of Theodoric I, Gothic law had already begun to be romanized, but the effect of long contact with Roman custom was now much more obvious (cf. C. Zeumer, Leges Visigothorum antiquiores, 1894; L.Schmidt, Geschichte, pp. 296ff.; F. Dahn, as above, vi. 226 ff.).
109. 1 e. g. at the house of Magnus at Narbonne ( Carm. xxiii).
110. 2 Theodoric II, the Visigoth, who evidently conformed in many ways to Roman usage, hunted before the midday meal; he too began the day very early with a religious service, and then transacted state-business, which must have been over before 10 A. M. (I. ii). Sport with hawk and hound is mentioned in connexion with the beautiful country-house of Gonsentius near Narbonne (VIII. iv), and with the estates of Namatius, Euric's admiral in Oleron (VIII. vi).
111. 3 II. ix; villas of Tonantius Ferreolus and Apollinaris. For the disposition of the wealthy Roman's day, little changed from early imperial times, cf. J. Marquardt, Privatleben der Römer, p. 258.
112. 1 It is hard to say from the writings of Sidonius whether or not the Roman matron was still the commanding figure of the earlier empire. She was much occupied with domestic concerns: thus the wife of the wealthy Leontius of Bordeaux spins Syrian wool, and works embroidery (Carm. xxii. 195). But there are examples of ladies with intellectual interests. Sidonius expects Eulalia, wife of his friend Probus, to read his poems; and the expectation implies in her more than a slight tincture of letters (Carm. xxiv. 95). He tells a friend about to marry, that wedlock need imply no break in his literary work, since his future wife may encourage and aid his studies. Probably the influence of the materfamilias was none the less effective for being exerted in an inconspicuous way.
113. 1 I. vi; II. xiv. For Eutropius, who bade fair to become a 'country bumpkin', Sidonius draws an admonitory picture of the future, when the man who has allowed all his opportunities to go by, will have to stand in his old age silent at the back of the hall, an inglorius rusticus, while younger men, without his advantages of birth, sit in the front places and express their judgement.
114. 2 Verses were often enclosed or incorporated in letters until, as in the correspondence of M. de Coulanges, they must have seemed 'as numerous as Sibylline leaves' (Mme de Sévigné, Letter 1177).
115. 3 II. ix. 4, 5.
116. 1 Cf. IV. xii. 1.
117. 2 His friends are mostly of his own rank, but he may make exception in favour of rhetors or grammarians, a class whose company was eagerly sought in a society devoted to parlour-rhetoric. Cf. the cordial invitation to Domitius, the Grammarian of Camerius (II. ii).
118. 1 But even as late as the end of the fifth century the Christianity of some among the nobles was probably more a matter of conformity than conviction, as it had been with Ansonius at an earlier date (cf. Ausonius, Ep. ii. 15; X. xvii).
119. 2 Cf. II. xiii, where Sidonius speaks of doctors who conscientiously kill off their patients, and quarrel across the invalid's bed.
120. 1 Cf. Sidonius' apologia for the long neglect to erect a monument over his grandfather's remains (III. xii. 6).
121. 2 Gallula Roma Arelas: Ordo urbium nobilium, X. 2.
122. 3 The banquet of Majorian (II. xi) and that of a sodalis quidam at Arles during the imperial sojourn in the town (IX. xiii).
123. 1 VIII. xii. copiosissima penus aggeratis opipare farta deliciis.
124. 2 Difficile discernitur, domini plusne sit cultum rus an ingenium (VIII. iv. i).
125. 1 The distinction of 'senatorial' rank had ceased to bear any direct relation to the Senate; the title implied the status conferred by the possession of a certain amount of landed property, or the previous tenure of some honorary office or dignity. After Constantine's time the class rapidly increased in the provinces (cf. J. S. Reid, C. M. H. i. 49).
126. 2 The Gallic estates were not so large as the Italian, but Ausonius had one, described as small, which exceeded a thousand acres; and the great nobles owned numerous properties. It may be assumed that Sidonius was a proprietor on rather a large scale. Symmachus is thought to have had about £60,000 a year of our money; if Sidonius had only a third of that amount, he would still be a wealthy man according to our ideas. The really opulent members of the senatorial class had anything between £100,000 and £200,000 a year (cf. Dill, p. 126).
127. 3 Though they paid a land-tax (follis senatorius), the aurum oblaticium, and other taxes imposed in the province where they resided (cf. J. S. Reid, C. M. H. i. 50).
128. 1 The mortgagor generally became dependent on the mortgagee. In this relation may be sought one of the beginnings of the feudal system (Dill, p. 218).
129. 2 Cf. Dill, pp. 224 ff. The less scrupulous among the senatorial class, indirectly engaged in commerce though trading was forbidden to them, patronized usurers and fraudulent creditors, winked at dishonest action on the part of their agents, and overbore the lesser officials of the state by their local prestige.
130. 1 A great part of the estate was tilled by slaves; and such part as was cultivated by coloni must have yielded the landowner a very handsome profit. Some labour was paid by wages, but not a high proportion (J. Marquardt, Privatleben, p. 139).
131. 2 Probably the relations of the average master to his servants were as a rule not unkindly: but there are exceptions, both good and bad. The admirable Vectius has a devoted household (IV. ix. 1); the violent Lampridius is murdered by his slaves (VIII. xi. 11). Sidonius was almost certainly a good master, though once at least he shows excitability (IV. xii. 2). An interesting Letter (V. xix) deals with the abduction of a freed woman by a man in the servile state. Sidonius, from whose house she had been taken, insists with Pudens, whose slave the abductor was, that the man should be also freed and so be promoted from the class of coloni to that of plebeian clients (mox cliens factus, e tributario plebeiam potius incipiat habere personam quam colonariam). The tenth Letter of Book IX is also of interest in this regard. Injuriosus, who may have been a clerk, left Sidonius for Aprunculus, bishop of Langres, without ceremony and without the proper litterae commendatoriae, Sidonius stipulates that if the offender should ever treat Aprunculus in a similar way, both of them should prosecute him as a fugitive servant.
132. 1 The reader will find references to the principal works on the subject in Dill, p. 208; cf. also C. M. H. i. 52; J. Marquardt, already quoted, Römische Staatsverwaltung, i. 92 ff. For the municipality,see Prof. J.S. Reid, The Municipalities of the Roman Empire, 1913. The decurions had not only to control municipal finance, but were responsible for the collection of imperial taxes. They had liabilities in connexion with enlistment for the army, and with the maintenance of the posting service on the great roads. During the fifth century the imperial government made worthy efforts to improve jurisdiction and administration, but over-centralization neutralized their effect in the provinces, where old abuses persisted and reforms were not easily applied (cf. C. M. H. i. 396).
133. 1 Hist. de la civilisation en France, ed. 1846, i. 91. For the organization of the Church, see C. H. Turner, in C. M. H. i. 145. For the Catholic Church in barbaric territory, see F. Dahn, Die Könige der Germanen, vi. 367 ff.; L. Schmidt, Gesch. der deutschen Stamme, Part I, p. 300 f. Of Arian organization, either in the Visigothic or the Burgundian State, practically nothing is known.
134. 2 We see from VIII. xi (line 8 in the poem) that visitors to the town who could not find accommodation with their friends sometimes expected the bishop to find room for them. Many letters show the bishop in a most pleasant light as mediator in family disagreements, or as patron of worthy aspirants.
135. 3 The Constitutions of 408 gave bishops civil jurisdiction in their dioceses (C. M. H. i. 396). Several passages of Letters in Book VI illustrate episcopal influence. As Baret remarks, Sidonius always seems to assume that the pondus of the bishop will settle the matter when it is placed in the scale.
136. 1 Cf. Hist. franc. IV. xii; V. xxi. Sidonius does not conceal his sentiments when he finds ground for disapproval of the clergy, as in the case of the dissentient priests at Bourges (VII. ix. 3). In IV. viii. 9 he implies that many who wore clerical garb 'imposed upon the world', and that he personally inclined to prefer the man 'who is priestly in morals to one who merely bears the priestly title'.
137. 1 It was the same in the case of men distinguished in the professions: Germain of Auxerre was once a soldier; Lupus of Troyes an advocate.
138. 1 Cf. IV. iii; and Chaix, i. 438.
139. 1 Cf. the effect produced by the address of Faustus at the consecration of Patiens' new church at Lyons (IX. iii. 5).
140. 2 For Church schools, see G. Kaufmann, Rhetorenschulen und Klosterschulen, &c., in Raumer's Historisches Taschenbuch, Ser. IV, vol. x, 1869, pp. 54 ff.
141. 3 For the growth of the influence of the Church as a body, cf. C. H. Turner in C. M. H., as above, pp. 145, 152, 155.
142. 1 If the bishops of the province could not attend, the canon provided that those of neighbouring provinces should be summoned. Thus at Bourges, Sidonius invites the cooperation of Agroecius of Sens. Cf. Chaix, ii. 2 2.
143. 2 Bourges had been in Gothic hands since about 470. Of the bishops present at the election, two came from territory which was still Roman, one from a diocese in Burgundian territory. The fact illustrates both the universal character of the Church, and the tolerance of the barbaric governments.
144. 1 For the gradual elimination of the popular element see C. H. Turner, as above, p. 152.
145. 2 Though the authority of Rome was unquestioned, throughout the Letters there is no mention of appeal to, or intervention by, the Pope.
146. 3 In the sixth century, though the Frankish kings exerted an influence over the elections, scandals continued to occur, if not quite in the same way as at Bourges and Châlon (Gregory of Tours, Hist. Franc. IV. xxxv; VI. vii, xxxviii).
147. 4 Erant quidem prius, quod salva fidei face sit dictum, vagae, tepentes, infrequentesque, utque sic dixerim, oscitabundae supplicationes, quae saepe interpellantum prandiorum obicibus hebetabantur.
148. 1 Sometimes festivals were protracted for many days. That which celebrated the consecration of Patiens' church lasted a whole week (IX. iii. 5, festis hebdomadalibus). Cf. the long festival at Gaza: G. F. Hill, The Life of Porphyry, Bishop of Gaza, by Mark the Deacon, 1913, ch. 92.
149. 2 Thus Lupus of Troyes transferred to his diocese prayers in use at Lerins (IX. iii). The austerities of Faustus have been already mentioned. For the development of monastic life in the West in the early Christian centuries, see Dom Butler in C. M. H. i. 531 ff. There was no ordered code or written rule, except the short rule of Caesarius of Arles, until the seventh century. Before that time the eremitical type of monachism practised in Egypt and Syria prevailed, sometimes with the extreme austerities habitual in the latter country. It is even doubtful whether Honoratus wrote a rule for Lerins.
150. 1 Cf. Gregory of Tours, Hist. Franc. II. xxi, and Vit. Patr. iii. In Bk. VI, ch. vi, of the former work, Gregory alludes to the miracles of the saintly recluse Hospicius of Nice, who in the second half of the sixth century made his usual diet of bread and dates, and in Lent subsisted on roots brought in merchant-ships from Egypt. In Gregory's time Auvergne still contained hermits practising extreme asceticism.
151. 1 IV. ii, iii. Tertullian, Jerome, and Cassian had given support to the doctrine thus proclaimed by Faustus, and Augustine had taken a prominent part on the other side. A chief argument used by Faustus was that to call the soul of man immaterial is to claim for it a quality belonging only to God (cf. Dill, p. 184). For the treatise of Faustus, see Gennadius, De Script. Eccles. 85. In Engelbrecht, Corpus Script. Eccles. Lat., the treatise and Claudianus Mamertus' reply are printed together.
152. 2 Among them Fonteius, Auspicius, Agroecius, Principius, and Aprunculus, the successor of Sidonius at Clermont.
153. 1 It has been already noticed that previous to their election to the sees of Troyes and Riez, Lupus and Faustus had both occupied the position of Abbot of Lerins. Hilary of Arles and Eucherius of Lyons had been members of the same community. A brief description of a visit paid by Sidonius to Lerins is given in Carm. xvi. 105 ff., and the visit is alluded to in IX. iii. For Lerins, cf. note, 80. 1, on p. 239. Cf. also VI. i; VII. xvii. 3; VIII. xiv. 2; IX. iii. 4. For the Jura monasteries, see note, 47- 2, p. 235.
154. 2 Chaix, ii. 224.
155. 1 V. vi, vii.
156. 1 But in their family relations both the Visigothic and Burgundian royal houses were guilty of murderous brutality. It has been noted that Theodoric II assassinated his brother Thorismond, and was in turn assassinated by Euric. Gundobad the Burgundian in like manner murdered two of his brothers, destroying at the same time the wife and children of Chilperic under circumstances of such cruelty that public opinion became indignant, and Sidonius' friend Secundinus, the poet of Lyons, wrote a satire against the king (V. viii).
157. 1 The hostility of the clergy was always a danger to Alaric II before the final conflict with Clovis (cf. L. Schmidt, Geschichte der deutschen Stämme, p. 302).
158. 2 Dill, Bk. IV, chs. i and ii.
159. 3 The Visigoths had been granted Aquitanica Secunda and Toulouse by Honorius. The Burgundians were established south of Lake Leman by Aëtius.
160. 4 Cf. V. vi. 2, where Chilperic is described as magister militum (V. vi; cf. VII. xvii).
161. 1 Cf. L. Schmidt, Geschichte, p. 271. Prof. Schmidt considers that the Visigoths treated the Gallo-Romans almost on a footing of equality before the law (ibid. p. 279), while the Burgundians certainly conceded equal rights (ibid. p. 403).
162. 2 Salvian, holding a brief for barbaric integrity against Roman corruption, may exaggerate the virtue of his clients; but his attribution of hospitality, chastity, and honesty to various tribes was probably founded on contemporary experience. He does not altogether close his eyes to their faults, styling the Goths perfidious, and the Franks untruthful. (For Salvian, see Hodgkin, i. 504.) Ammianus (XXII. vii) confirms Salvian on the national perfidy of the Goths (XXII. 7); and it is interesting to note that after the Frankish Conquest the Goths were regarded as poor fighting men, shunning close quarters, and relying on the bow (Gregory of Tours, Hist. Franc. ii. 27, 37).
163. 1 As already noted, Avitus' son Ecdicius showed, during the last struggle for Auvergne, that the race of heroes was not extinct (III. iii). Under Gothic rule, Gallo-Romans were probably exempt from military service (see note 64. 1, p. 238), but they served in the Burgundian ranks (Schmidt, Geschichte, p. 40).
164. 1 Cf. VI. iv. 1. The Vargi in many ways resembled the Bagaudae of an earlier time. Cf. Salvian, De Gub. Dei, v. 24, 25; Sirmond, Notes, p. 65; Dill, p. 315; Hodgkin, ii. 104.
165. 2 But at its worst how different from the fate which ultimately befell our own country (cf. Haverfield in C. M. H., pp. 378 ff.; C. W. C. Oman, England before the Norman Conquest, Bk. III, ch. xi).
166. 3 Sidonius says that Euric was not so much the prince as the chief-priest of his nation (VII. vi. 6 ut ambigas, ampliusne suae gentis an suae sectae teneat principatum).
167. 1 Leo probably combined in his own person the functions of the Quaestor Sacri Palati (the highest legal officer) and the magister officiorum or head of the Civil Service (cf. Schmidt, C. M. H. i. 290).
168. 2 For the Visigothic administration of justice, with its twofold system for Goth and Gallo-Roman respectively, see L. Schmidt, Geschichte, pp. 295-6; for the Burgundian, ibid. p. 423.
169. 3 Cf. II. x; IV. xvii.
170. 4 Syagrius, if not an official, was a persona grata at Lyons (V.v).
171. 1 Sidonius' rather fulsome poem on Euric reached the king's eyes through being written in a letter to Lampridius, who was intended to exhibit it (VIII. ix). Cf. above, p. xlvi.
172. 2 V. vi, vii. Sidonius' denunciation of these men, though written in his most artificial style, breathes a genuine and righteous indignation.
173. 3 So, perhaps, the Vandals, whose raiding habits he describes in the Panegyric of Majorian (11. 386 ff.).
174. 1 VII. xiv. In Carm. XII. vi he asks how he is to write verses in six feet, with seven-foot giants all about him. The Burgundians also greased their hair with rancid butter, had enormous appetites, and spoke in stentorian tones. The poem is translated by Fertig (Part ii, p. 17).
175. 2 We may recall Anthemius' complaint (cf. p. xxxiii above).
176. 1 Hodgkin has accentuated this point (ii, p. 372).
177. 2 See below, note 35. I, p. 233. Chateaubriand, in Le Martyrs, adapts Sidonius' description of the Franks.
178. 3 Cf. Carm. vii. 236. Cf. note 155. 2, p. 247.
179. 4 VIII. vi. 15, and cf. Carm. vii. 369.
180. 5 Carm. vii. 236: also Pan. Mai, 210 ff.
181. 1 VIII. ix, 11. 28 ff. of the poem. The term 'Sigambrian' is used generically for the tribes of the lower Rhine (W. Schul tze, Deutsche Gesch. ii. 38), and the present captives may have been taken during some expedition of Euric's troops against the Franks.
182. 2 Carm. ii. 243.
183. 3 In the letter to Namatius, VIII. vi.
184. 1 Perhaps there were sleeping-rooms for the daily siesta as well as for the nightly rest, as was the case at the villa of Caninius Rufus on the shores of Como, described in one of Pliny's letters (Ep. I. iii). The account of the open apartment at Avitacum looking out on the lake, where the guest might sit in contemplation at any hour, suggests a place adapted for the siesta.
185. 1 As excavations in more than one country sufficiently prove, the hypocaust was commonly used for other rooms beside the bath. Cf. Carm. xxii. 188, where the hiberna domus of Leontius is described; here the wood-fed furnace spargit lentatum per culmina tota vaporem----in fact, central heating.
186. 2 He mentions also the baths in the Octaviana of Consentius at Narbonne, and those in the Burgus of Leo near Bordeaux (Carm. xxii.).
Almost more interesting than Sidonius' description of these elaborate structures, is the account which he gives of the extemporized vapour-baths used by him at Vorocingus and Prusianum, where the baths of his hosts were for some reason unavailable. He there caused a pit to be dug and enclosed by an arched roof of wattling, upon which coverings of Cilician goat's-hair were laid. Red-hot stones were placed in the pit and upon these warm water was thrown, with the result that the improvised chamber was filled with vapour. In this the bather sat for some time, receiving when he came out a douche of cold water. The whole procedure recalls that employed in Russia, the East, and in primitive America (cf. note, 52. 2, p. 225). For the general arrangement of Roman baths, see Daremberg and Saglio, Dict. des ant. grecques et rom. i. 651; Marquardt, Privatleben, pp. 279 ff. It is interesting to contrast Sidonius' descriptions of Roman country-houses with what he has to say of the palace of Theodoric II at Toulouse (I. ii). There he describes a large hall of audience, a treasure-chamber, and a stable, but nothing is said of any baths.
187. 1 But cf. Carm. xxiv. 56 ff., where the garden of Apollinaris is mentioned.
188. 1 Leaving off the toga was one of the first delights of country life. Pliny (Ep. V. vi. 45) says of one of his haunts nulla necessitas togae (cf. Juvenal, Sat. iii. 171).
189. 2 The Burgus of Leontius was fortified. Dill (p. 310) notes the fact that in isolated cases such fortification seems to have begun at the time of the Visigothic settlement in Gaul. The remains of the castle built by Dardanus, Prefect from 409 to 413, were identified by an inscription found on the spot (C. I. L. xii. 1524). Cf. Fauriel, Hist, de la Gaule méridionale, i. 560. The foundation of these strongholds in difficult country heralded the approach of a feudal system.
190. 3 The absence of information about the towns themselves is also disappointing. Several allusions show that they were protected by walls: thus Vienne (VII. i. 2) and Clermont (III. ii. 1). The mention of the statues in the forum at Arles is interesting (I. xi. 7), and the allusion to the deer which took refuge in the forum at Vienne (VII. i. 3) seems to show that the forum of that place still stood in the late fifth century.
191. 1 For Roman dining arrangements, see Marquardt, Privatleben, pp. 302 ff.
192. 2 Or at any rate with subjects familiar on Sassanian textiles of the sixth to eighth centuries. Similar motives, however, were favoured in other places in the Near East, among others probably in Alexandria (O. von Falke, Kunstgeschichte der Seidentextilien; Berlin, 1913).
193. 1 Silver plate, as we should expect from a wealthy Roman writer, is often mentioned. Theodoric's was unostentatious (I. ii); but there were families who thought more of their old plate than of being useful in the world (VIII. vii. 1). A silver cup with fluted sides, like a shell, is considered an appropriate gift for Ragnahild, queen of Euric (IV. viii. 4, 5). Sidonius is silent as to his own plate; to Gregory of Tours we owe the story that in the time of greatest distress at Clermont the bishop disposed of his silver to relieve the poor (see p. cxlviii).
194. 2 Iuvat et vago rotatu | dare fracta membra ludo, | simulare vel trementes | pede veste voce Bacchas: lines 64-7 of the poem. It is here implied that even the costume of the Bacchante was assumed.
195. 1 The reference probably is to carvers who officiated with a studied style and flourish, as if they worked to music (see note, 15. 1, p. 230).
196. 2 II. ix. 6, xiii. 4. For the clepsydra, see note, 51. 2, p. 224.
197. 3 His visits to Rome inspire him with no desire to dwell upon the artistic treasures of the capital. He dismisses the frescoes in his baths with the remark that there was nothing in them to offend modesty. K. Purgold has shown that most of the descriptions in his poems which seem to suggest observations of works of art are really borrowed from Claudian and other Roman poets (Claudianus und Sidonius, 1878). Some of these are elaborate, but in no case does the poet speak with enthusiasm or evident personal comprehension. In Carm. xxii he enumerates frescoes and pictures in the house of Pontius Leontius rather in the style of an abstract inventory, and without any critical appreciation: the chief subjects were: Mithridates sacrificing his horses to Neptune; an episode from the siege of Cyzicus; the infant Hercules strangling the serpents; and (an interesting point) episodes from Jewish history. In the epithalamium of Polemius and Araneola (Carm. xv. 159ff.) a number of classical episodes are woven by Araneola on a toga palmata for her father, themes perhaps derived from familiar pictures.
Sidonius refers more than once to encaustic painting (VII. xiv. 5; and Panegyric of Majorian, 1. 590). The description of the mosaics in the church of Patiens is difficult (see notes, 54. I, 55. 1, pp. 225-6). But whatever the exact translation of the author's words may be, it seems certain that no figure-subjects were depicted, but only ornamental or conventional designs, in which the colours of blue and green preponderated. As Hodgkin has observed, their parallels may perhaps be sought in some of the purely decorative designs in the mosaics of churches at Ravenna.
198. 1 Sidonius says that the sunlight was reflected from the gilded roof, which, at a period when gold backgrounds were not yet employed in mosaic, certainly implies the ceiling of painted and gilded wood usual in early basilicas. It may be noted, however, that he speaks of mosaics covering the camera, a word which implies vaulting, but is probably here applied to the concha of the apse (cf. note, 54. 1, p. 226, below). Sir T. G. Jackson, Byzantine and Romanesque Architecture (Cambridge, 1913), ii. 31, also regards the church as ceiled. He draws attention once more, as Viollet-le-Duc in an earlier generation, to the poverty of our information on the churches built in Gaul before the tenth century. Neither Sidonius nor any other writer gives us a tithe of the facts which they might so easily have presented.
199. 1 Hist. Franc. II. xiv. In IV. xx Gregory mentions its destruction by fire. He himself restored it; and as he must have been familiar with its details, should be regarded as a competent witness.
200. 2 This was a position where inscriptions are known to have been placed (H. Holtzinger, Die altchristliche Architektur, &c., p. 184).
201. 3 The monastery must have been of the eremitic type, like those of St. Martin at Marmoutier and Tours, and based on oriental prototypes (cp. p. lxxix above). The church was completed by Abraham (Petits Bollandistes, vii. 59, 60).
202. 1 For these, cf. note, 6. i, p. 216.
203. 2 He liked the music of birds, to which he refers more than once. He also mentions without resentment the piping of the local 'Tityri', heard on the hills near Avitacum.
204. 3 IV. xi, lines 13-15 Psalmorum hic modulator et phonascus | Ante altaria fratre gratulante | Instructas docuit sonare classes. St. Amabilis of Auvergne was in early life cantor in the church of St. Mary at Clermont (Chaix, ii. 66).
205. 1 Summus nitor in vestibus, cultus in cingulis, splendor in phaleris. The lively sexagenarian Germanicus is said to have accentuated his youthful appearance by wearing 'tight clothes' (IV. xiii. 1). This may refer only to the tunic; but it is conceivable that the influence of Teutonic or Celtic fashions may have made itself felt, and that some garment for the leg may be indicated; or did he wear a buttoned garment? Cf. Fertig, i. 24.
206. 2 The pallium was first distinctive of philosophers, who continued to wear it after it came into general use, differentiating themselves from the unlearned by carrying a staff and wearing the hair and beard long. From IV. xi. I we infer that this costume was still affected by philosophers in Gaul in the middle of the fifth century.
207. 3 Cf. VIII. vi. 6; and Carm. xv. 145 ff., where Araneola embroidered a toga palmata for her father; for this garment, cf. Marquardt, Privatleben, p. 549. It has been noticed
above that, even in earlier times, the cumbrous toga was discarded as soon as possible.
208. 1 II. ii. 2 Endromidatus exterius, intrinsecus fasceatus.
209. 1 IV. xx. 1. The Teutonic princes and nobles became very fond of wearing silk in later times; but the mention of it here is interesting from the comparatively early date (perhaps A. D. 470) at which the letter was written. Cf. what has been said above of the silk textiles of oriental style used by contemporary Gallo-Romans. The excavation of Frankish graves has abundantly illustrated the fondness of the Franks for gold ornaments, a taste which was shared by all the Teutonic peoples, notably the Goths. The whole passage is so important for the student of early Teutonic archaeology that it is worth while to give the original words: pedes primi perone saetoso tales adusque vinciebantur; genua crura suraeque sine tegmine; praeter hoc vestis alia stricta versicolor, vix appropinquans poplitibus exertis; manicae sola brachiorum principia celantes; viridantia saga limbis marginata puniceis; penduli ex humero gladii balleis supercurrentibus strinxerant clausa bullatis latera rhenonibus.... For Visigothic and Burgundian weapons and personal ornaments, see Barrière Flavy, Les arts industriels des peuples barbares de la Gaule, vol. 1; Feuvrier et Févret, Les cimetières bourgondes de Chaussin et de Wriande, 1902.
210. 1 Cf. above, p. xxxiii, also I. ii. The Greeks had a similar notion that the use of furs was a barbaric habit.
211. 2 The Gothic princes do not seem to have allowed their hair to grow so long as to fall on their shoulders as the Merovingians did (Lindenschmit, Handbuch der deutschen Altertumskunde, i. 330). The Gallo-Roman Germanicus had his hair cut 'wheel-fashion', whatever that may mean (IV. xiii. I crinis in rotae specimen accisus): perhaps the effect was similar to that of the male coiffure on late Roman diptychs and on tombs of the fifteenth century, as exemplified by the monuments of English knights whose hair is cut across the forehead, as if a basin had been used by the barber.
212. 1 The hood is said by Cassian to have been adopted in imitation of children's dress, to suggest innocence and simplicity (Inst. Coen. I, ch. iii).
213. 2 The none too serious sportmanship of Namatius may perhaps be compared to that of the younger Pliny, who sat by the net armed, not with a boar-spear, but with his tablets, and recommended Tacitus to do the same, providing himself in addition with a luncheon-basket and a bottle of wine (Ep. I. vi).
214. 3 The peasants set night-lines in the lake at Avitacum, where fish were plentiful and of good quality (II. ii. 12); in other places Sidonius alludes to streams containing good fish. Beyond the fact that Euric had ships on the Atlantic to protect his shores from the attack of the swift myoparones of the Saxons (VIII. vi. 13), we learn nothing of naval matters: Sidonius enters into no particulars as to the style of the ships or the tactics pursued. His reference in the Poems to the Vandal raiders has been already noticed (p. xci above).
215. 1 On the Ticino and Po in Italy there was a service of 'packet' boats (cursoriae) (I. v. 3). Such services were kept up in Italy under Theodoric the Great. Cf. Cassiodorus, Varias, II. xxi, IV. xv, where the crews (dromonarii) are in question.
216. 2 In this there was a board (tabula) used both with dice and men, as appears to have been the case with Theo-doric's game (see note, 5.1, p. 216). A tabula, with 'men' of two colours, is again mentioned as one of the attractions on the river-boat in which the luxurious Trygetius is to travel (VIII. xii. 5).
217. 3 Pyrgi (V. xvi. 6); fritiili (II. ix. 4). But in the second of these passages tesserae are mentioned as well as the dice-boxes; and in the first there is also a tabula, so that perhaps in neither case have we to do with mere hazard. Cf. I; V. xvii.
218. 1 There were regular grounds, sphaeristeria, at all considerable villas. Pliny had them at both his principal country-houses (Ep. II. xvii; V. vi).
219. 2 It may have been the harpastum ( a(rpasto&n). See note 73- 2, p. 239.
220. 3 Majorian held them at Arles (I. xi. 10). Cf. Carm. xxiii. 268.
221. 4 Papyrus was the common material for letters; it was not adapted for use on both sides, as parchment was (cf. Marquardt, Privatleben, pp. 807 ff.).
222. 1 Possibly shorthand was used on such occasions. Shorthand was certainly employed by copyists of manuscripts; and in the episode of Sidonius' chase after the mysterious book by Lupus, which Riochatus had concealed from him, shorthand writers were used to make excerpts on the spot (IX. ix. 8 Tribuit et quoddam dictare celeranti scribarum sequacitas saltuosa compendium, qui comprehendebant signis quod litteris non tenebant): Exceptores were of great service in the Church, and Ennodius in his life of Epiphanius relates that the Bishop of Pavia in his youth was an expert in tachygraphy. For the class of civil servants named exceptores see Hodgkin, The Letters of Cassiodorus, p. 110.
223. 2 Mme de Sévigné records the same thing as occurring at Grignan in Provence during her visit to her daughter, the Comtesse de Grignan.
224. 1 It would seem from III. xii. 5 that the tomb of Apollinaris was to be a flat slab, and therefore unlike the large structural tombs erected by the earlier Romans, and perhaps exemplified in Lyons by the Conditorium of Syagrius, mentioned in V. xvii. 4. This Conditorium was perhaps one of the monuments lining the high road, which ran close to the church; but the grave of Sidonius' ancestor would appear to have been in a crowded cemetery. It is a rather curious fact that Sidonius and his father should have allowed the remains of the elder Apollinaris to lie unmarked until the traces of the mound above it were almost obliterated.
225. 1 From the phrase used in III. ii, angustiae mansionum, we may infer that the accommodation was not luxurious. In Italy, as we should expect from the continuance of the river service, the Cursus publicus was maintained under the Ostrogoths as the references in the Variae of Cassiodorus show (e.g. I. xxix; IV. xlvii).
226. 2 e.g. VIII. xi, lines 41 ff. of the poem: Ne, si destituor domo negata, Maerens ad madidas eam tabernas, Et claudens gemmas subinde nares Profiter fumificas gemam culinas, &c., &c.
227. 1 On education in the fifth century, see Dill, pp. 338 ff. The principal academic centres in Gaul were now Bordeaux, Toulouse, Narbonne, Arles, Lyons, Clermont (Arverni), and Vienne. The first had been the most important, prior to the Visigothic occupation.
228. 1 As already observed, the most original work in philosophy was done by ecclesiastics like Claudianus Mamertus and Faustus. Sidonius had perhaps more than a smattering of philosophy. Several passages indicate his general information, and one of his letters (VII. xiv) contains long passages in the sententious style of Seneca. In certain Gallic circles there was an interest in Platonism (Collegium Conplatonicorum, IV. xi. 1), and there were real enthusiasts for abstract thought, but the spirit which governed much philosophizing of the day was evidently that of Martianus Capella.
229. 2 Cf. Cassiodorus, Varias, IV. xxii, xxiii, where Theodoric orders the trial of two Romans of rank, Basilius and Praetextatus, for practising magical arts.
230. 1 IX. xiii. If Sidonius translated Philostratus, and did not merely transcribe him, he must himself have been an adequate Greek scholar.
231. 2 Carm. xxiii. 100 ff.
232. 3 Cf. IX. xxi, and Dill, p. 347.
233. 4 V. xiii.
234. 5 Horace, like Cicero, was 'caned into' Sidonius and his schoolmates at Lyons (IV. i; V. iv).
235. 1 R. Bitschofsky, De C. Sollii Apollinaris Sidonii studiis Statianis.
236. 2 Cicero seems to have been regarded as hopelessly beyond imitation. This appears to be the real sense of the remark in I. i, which irritated Petrarch (see note, I. i, p. 215).
237. 3 I. 1; IV. xxii. In IX. i. 1 Sidonius states that Firminus has called him a second Pliny.
238. 4 A list of the quotations from Latin authors in Sidonius, or obvious loans from them, is given by Mommsen, Monumenta Germaniae Historica (Auctores Antiquissimi], viii, pp. 352 ff.
239. 1 Cf. above, p. lxxvi. The address of Sidonius at Bourges (VII. ix. 5) shows what skilful rhetoric could still accomplish.
240. 2 The oration of the young Burgundio on Julius Caesar is a case in point (IX. xiv). Sidonius promises to attend with a claque of applauding supporters (IX. xiv). This at least was a sensible subject: those of 'school declamations' were often far-fetched or absurd (cf. Dill, p. 370). On the Declamatio, cf. Nettleship, Lectures and Essays, nd series, 112, 113.
241. 1 Ausonius taught Gratian rhetoric, and the emperor made splendid provision not only for him, but for all his relations. Gaul had a special reputation for rhetoric; the blending of the Latin and Celtic strains appears to have been favourable to the art.
242. 2 In the passage relating to education in the Panegyric on Anthemius (Carm. i. 156 ff.) there is no mention of the Bible or of Christian works.
243. 1 VI. xii.
244. 2 VI. i. 6; VII. i. 3; VIII. xiv. 3; IX. viii. 2, A single letter has allusions to Lazarus, Pharaoh, Babylon, and Assur. All this is in complete contrast with the old indulgence in mythological allusion; it is the language of another world.
245. 3 VIII. xiii. 4.
246. 4 IX. ix. 12.
247. 5 VII. ix.
248. 6 Ibid. St. Luke is also quoted in VI. i. 2.
249. 7 Claudianus Mamertus, Preface to the De Statu Animae; Gennadius, De Script. Eccl. c. 92.
250. 1 Yet he credits himself with facility rather than talent: Scribendi magis est facilitas quam facultas (III. vii).
251. 2 Casaubon said: Sidonius... in re Latinitatis improbus intestabilisque (cf. Germain, p. 114).
252. 3 Appreciations of Sidonius' style will be found in all writers who deal with his works. The substance of their criticisms is contained in the severe judgement of the Benedictines: Sa diction est dure, ses phrases obscures; en un mot, sa prose est insupportable (Hist. litt, de la France, ii, p. 570).
253. 1 He was asked by Prosper of Orleans to write on events in the war with Attila (VIII. xv), and by Leo on the later history of Gaul (IV. xxii); in each case he refused, either from disinclination, a sense of incapacity, or from worldly wisdom. In his reply to Leo he gives his reasons why a cleric should not turn historian. In this case Sidonius may have been doubly impressed by the need for caution, as Leo may have been the mouthpiece of Euric.
254. 2 The Poems, especially the Panegyrics, are as rich in historical fact and allusion as the Letters.
255. 1 Cf. Baret, pp. 68 ff. Sidonius is the sole authority for the tradition that Horace was saved after Philippi by the intervention of Maecenas (Pref. to the Panegyric of Majorian), and that Crispus was poisoned by Constantine (V. viii). He alone relates the attacks of Euric on Auvergne, the war waged by Leo I against the Huns (Panegyric of Anthemius, 1. 236), the victory of Aëtius and Majorian over Cloio (Panegyric of Majorian, 1. 212), and the campaign of Euric against Auvergne (Letters, passini). All that we know of the life of Bishop Patiens is derived from him; so is our knowledge of the priests Constantius and Claudianus Mamertus; Prosper of Orleans is only mentioned in his pages, and he has preserved the names of numerous Gallo-Roman philosophers and poets otherwise unrecorded or hardly known. The names of Ragnahild and Sigismer are given only by him. He has clone similar service in his literary allusions. We can infer from IV. xii. 1 that the Epitrepontes of Menander, of which we have now recovered a great part, was preserved intact in his time. Through him we learn of works now wholly lost, e. g. an account of Julius Caesar by Livy, a history of Caesar by Juventius Martialis, and the Ephemerides of Caesar's lieutenant, Balbus (all IX. xi). He also mentions works of Palaemon and Junius Gallio, brother of Seneca, which are no longer extant (V. x). An epigram attributed by him to Symmachus does not occur in the works of that author as we now possess them (VII. x. 1).
256. 1 VII. ii. 1; IV. x. Cf. VIII. xvi Nos opuscula sermone condidimus arido exili, certe maxima ex parte vulgato.
257. 2 IX. iii.
258. 3 Cf. VIII. ii; and III. iii, where he uses the phrase: Sermonis Celtici squama. The Latin language stood in a more impregnable position than the pessimists supposed. Not only was it the most efficient instrument of expression in law, theology, and the sciences, but it was indispensable as the language of diplomacy between the varions Teutonic courts. Probably most of the principal barbarians could speak it, at any rate among the Visigoths. Cf. Germain, p. 133.
259. 1 I. xi. 5 and 12.
260. 1 The rusty sword or rusty armour is used more than once in different comparisons (cf. VI. vi. i).
261. 2 Fortunae nauseantis vomitu exsputus (I. vii. 12).
262. 1 ii, p. 97. Cf. the description of the parasite (III. xiii).
263. 2 It need hardly be said that Sidonius is at his worst when he believed himself at his best. His calculated effects are almost all tedious in form and redolent, not (to use a phrase of his own) of the Muses, but of the rhetor's lamp. Among such show-pieces are (in addition to the description of the parasite): the reply to the complaint of Claudianus Mamertus (IV. iii), the letter on Claudianus Mamertus' death (IV. xi), that on the informers at Chilperic's court (V. vii), that with the disquisition on necessary affinity between the cultured (VII. xiv). Even the letters on Theodoric (I. ii) and Petronius Maximus (II. xiii) are not free from these defects.
264. 3 Johnson, Lives of the Poets: Life of Cowley.
265. 4 For instance, the translator will be confronted by sentences like the following: Nam cum viderem quae tibi pulchra sunt non te videre, ipsam eo tempore desiderii tui impatientiam desideravi (IV. xx. 3).
266. 1 Sidonii temeritatem admirari vix sufficio, nisi forte temerarius ipse sim, qui temerarium ilium dicam, dum sales eius, seu tarditatis meae, seu illius styli obice, seu fortassis (nam unumquodque possibile est) scripturae vitio, non satis intelligo (Preface to Epistulae ad fam.).
267. 2 See Preface, p. iv.
268. 3 The word is Baret's, p. 106.
269. 4 Giraldus of Ferrara (quoted by Baret), who says that both in prose and verse Sidonius strikes him as having something of the Gaul and the barbarian: in utroque dicendi genere, Gallianum nescio quid et barbarum redolere videtur. (De poet. hist. Dialog, v; in Opera, ii, p. 114.) Sidonius would himself have borne any reproach rather than this. For the lifelong guardian of pure Latin in Gaul, the contemner of the Celtica squama, to be told that his own style smacked of barbarism, would have been a blow too grievous for endurance. His zealous interest in Latinity and his uneasiness at the indifference of certain fellow nobles to correct diction, deserved a better reward (II. x; III. iii. 2; IV. xvii; VIII. ii). Discussing the influence of Celtic dialect, Fertig asks what kind of Latin the middle classes spoke, if even nobles were so careless? (Part iii, p. 24). It is perhaps significant that Sidonius himself insists on his preference for current words, and on his avoidance of archaisms or far-fetched terminology (VIII. xvi).
270. 1 p. 99; pp. 115 ff.
271. 2 But after Diocletian, such epithets as 'your sublimity', 'your magnificence', became the common mode of addressing great officials of State.
272. 3 The word papa is applied to bishops throughout.
273. 1 Sidonius tends to avoid the deeper subjects which occupy the thoughts of Jerome and Augustine. But in the ordinary field of life his range is very wide.
274. 2 Cf. Dill, Book ii, ch. 2. The successors of Sidonius as representatives of the art of letter-writing in Gaul, Ruricius of Limoges and Avitus of Vienne, both share his defects of over-elaboration and tumidity. Cassiodorus, the Italian, writing in the first half of the sixth century is no improvement; he has been described as 'concealing commonplaces within fold after fold of verbosity '.
275. 1 Though, as Sir A. Geikie has once more demonstrated (The Love of Nature among the Romans, 1913), several of the great writers had a true passion for natural beauty, yet, taking Latin literature as a whole, we find the spectacular aspect of nature rather too prominent; landscape and 'scenery' are the same thing.
276. 1 Though Pliny nicknamed his villas on Lake Como 'Tragedy' and 'Comedy', because one was on a high rock, the other on a low. Yet here again the Stage intrudes on Nature.
277. 1 Germain, in defence of Sidonius' humour, cites the letter to Graecus on Amantius (VI. viii), and the letter to Trygetius (VIII. xii). The former is probably the best which our author achieved in this field. In the second, as in that to Namatius, there is a certain straining after effect which tires the reader and defeats the humorist's end. We may add the remarks about doctors (II. xii) and incompetent sportsmen (VIII. vi). Cf. also IV. xviii; IX. vii.
278. 2 In many ways Sidonius recalls the Seigneur de Balzac (Jean-Louis de Guez, b. 1594, d. 1654), just as much as Voiture. The following passage from Balzac's letter to Corneille acknowledging a copy of 'Cinna' will illustrate the affinity: Votre Cinna guérit les malades; il fait qtie les paralytiques battent des mains; il rend la parole à un muet... S'il était vrai qu'en quelqu'une de ses parties vous eussiez senti quelque faiblesse, ce serait un secret entre vos Muses et vous, car je vous assure que Personne ne l'a reconnue.
279. 1 The poems were published at the request of Magnus Felix. The fact that the panegyric of Anthemius is placed first, out of its historical sequence, is in favour of the date mentioned above.
280. 2 Fertig, Part ii, p. 15.
281. 1 Cf. the often quoted lines: Has inter clades et funera mundi | Mors vixisse fuit.
282. 2 Carm. XI. xv.
283. 1 Baret, p. 102; Germain, pp. 112, 113.
284. 2 Ep. xxxviii.
285. 3 Hist. Franc. II. xxii.
286. 4 Ennodius, in his In Natali S. Epiphanii, adapts four lines from the Panegyric on Anthemius, v. 69 ff.
287. 5 The portrait of Attila (Get. c. 24, 25) is indebted to the Panegyric of Avitus.
288. 6 In the excerpts from mediaeval writers (Elogia Veterum) at the beginning of his edition.
289. 7 See Baret, p. 105.
290. 1 Sidonius had critics, and apparently sharp ones. Cf. I. i; III. xiv; IV. xxii; VIII. i; IX. iv. But his attitude to criticism is sane: namque aut minimum ex hisce metuendum est, aut per omnia omnino conticescendum,
291. 2 Unless it is excelled by the poem to Consentius (Carm. xxiii), of which Dill says that he is ashamed to transcribe the absurdities (p. 362). Cf. also IV. iii. 22; VIII. i, x, xi, xiii; IX. iii, vii.
292. 1 We may remember, too, that even Mme de Sévigné once compared her daughter's style to that of Tacitus.
293. 2 That such indiscriminate eulogy was really a convention, and not natural to Sidonius, is shown by his readiness at all times to speak a frank word in season (IV. iv, xiv; V. xix; VII. vii). His practice did not contradict his theory that outspokenness is generally best (VII. xviii).
294. 3 Incandui (VII. xiv. i).
295. 1 Cf. V. iii, vi, ix, xii.
296. 1 Condicionis humanae per omnia memor (IV. xi. 4).
297. 2 Hist. franc. II. xxii.
298. 3 In his judgements of Origen and Apollonius of Tyana (II. ix. 5; VIII. iii. 4) we mark a distinct freedom of judgement.
299. 4 In his earlier life he could enjoy good cheer, and evidently appreciated the refinements of luxury.
300. 1 Cf. his remarks on friendship (V. iii; IX. xiv), on happiness (VI. xii), and prudence (IV. vi).
301. 1 See the Summary by Dr. P. Mohr, Praefatio to the Teubner edition, pp. iii-vi; and Lutjohann and Löwe in Mon. Germ. Hist. VIII (Auct. Antiq.), pp. vi-xiv.
302. 1 Chaix, ii, p. 272.
303. 2 Petronius had the privilege of revising this book, but, like those which had preceded, it appeared under the auspices of Constantius.
304. 3 Chaix, ii, p. 306.
305. 4 The number was imposed upon him as a professed admirer and imitator of Pliny. Cf. note, 176. i, p. 250.
306. 1 Pliny seems to have acted on the same principle: his letters in like manner are not chronological.
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Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
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Sidonius Apollinaris, Letters. Tr. O.M. Dalton (1915) pp. clvi-clix; Bibliography
Sidonius Apollinaris, Letters. Tr. O.M. Dalton (1915) pp. clvi-clix; Bibliography
BIBLIOGRAPHY
A. WORKS SPECIALLY RELATING TO SIDONIUS.
Baret, M. E. C. S. Sidonii Apollinaris Opera: Œuvres de Sidoine Apollinaire. Paris, 1878.
Bitschofsky, R. De C. Sollii Apollinaris Studiis Statianis. 1881.
Brakman, C. Sidoniana et Boethiana. 1904.
[Breyer, R. Letters of St. Lupus of Troyes and St. Sidonius of Clermont, translated by R. B., Canon of Troyes. Troyes, 1706.]
Büdinger, M. Apollinaris Sidonius als Politiker, in Sitzungsberichte der Wiener Akad. xcvii. 1880.
Chaix, L. A. Saint Sidoine Apollinaire et son siècle. 1867.
Crégut, G. R. Avitacum, essai de critique sur remplacement de la villa de Sidoine Apollinaire. 1890 [in Mém. de l'Acad. des Sciences de Clermont-Ferrand, nd Series, fasc. 3.]
Dill, S. Roman Society in the Last Century of the Western Empire. 1898. [Especially pp. 157 ff. and 270 ff.]
Ellis, R. Glossae in Apollinarem Sidonium ex Codice Digbeiano 172: in Anecdota Oxoniensia i, pt. v. 1882.
Elmenhorst, G. C. S. A. Sidonii Opera, expostrema recogni-tione Io. Wovverii, &c., Geverhartus Elmenhorstius edidit ex vet. cod. textum emendavit et indicem copiosum adiecit. Hanoviae, 1617.
Eshevsky, S. V. C. S. Apoll. Sidonius: Episodes of the Literary and the Political History of Gaul in the Fifth Century. St. Petersburg, 1855 (in Russian).
Fertig, M. Caius Sollius Apollinaris Sidonius und seine Zeit, nach seinen Werken dargestellt. Würzburg, 1845-8 (unfinished: three parts issued). |clvii
Germain, A. C. Essai historique et littéraire sur Apollinaris Sidonius. Montpellier, 1840.
Grégoire, J. F., and Collombet, F. Z. Œuvres de C. Sollius Apollinaris Sidonius. Paris, 1836.
Grupe, E. Zur Sprache des Apollinaris Sidonius. 1892.
Gustaffson, F. V. De Apoll. Sidon. emendando. 1882.
Kaufmann, G. Die Werke des Apollinaris Sidonius als eine Quelle für die Geschichte seiner Zeit. Göttingen, 1864.
Péricaud, A. Notice historique sur Sidoine Apollinaire. Lyons, 1825. [Notices extracted from the Archives du Rhône, and used, with additions and alterations, by Grégoire and Collombet.]
Purgold, K. Archäologische Bemerkungen zu Claudian und Sidonius. Gotha, 1878.
Sauvigny, E. Billardon de. Lettres de Caius Sidonius Apollinaris. Paris, 1787.
Sauvigny, E. Billardon de. Œuvres de Caius Sidonius Apollinaris. 1792.
Savaron, J. C. Solli Apollinaris Opera, Jo. Savaronis studio et diligentia castigatius recognita. Paris, 1598. [Text, with Life.]
Savaron, J. C. S. Apollinaris opéra; Jo. Savaro Claromontensis multo quam antea castigatius recognovit et librum commentarium adiecit. Paris, 1609. [Another edition in 1614. Savaron's commentary is still of value.]
Sirmond, J. C. S. Apollinaris opera, Jac. Sirmundi Soc.Jesu. presb. cura et studio recognita notisque illustrata. Paris, 1614.
Sirmond, J. Opera, Jac. Sirmundi cura et studio recognita notisque illustrata. Editio Secunda. (Curante Ph. Labbeo.) Paris, 1652. [Sirmond's work, which passed through later editions, is an example of seventeenth-century scholarship at its best, and the notes are excellent]
Yver, G. Euric, roi des Wisigoths, in Études d'histoire du moyen âge dédiées à G. Monod. 1896. |clviii
TEXTS
The two important critical texts are the Teubner text, edited by Mohr, and that of Lütjohann, Löwe, and Mommsen: viz.:—
C. Sollius Apollinaris Sidonius, recensuit Paulus Mohr. Leipzig, 1895.
C. Sollii Apollinaris Sidonii Epistulae et Carmina, recensuit et emendavit C. Lütjohann. [Completed by F. Löwe and Th. Mommsen, who contribute the preface. The Praefatio of Mommsen, dealing with the life, &c., of Sidonius, is important.]
Among texts of less value not already noted in the bibliography may be mentioned that printed by J. P. Migne in his Patrologiae Cursus Completus, Latin Series, vol. xviii, 1844; Sidonius is included in J. M. Nisard's Collection des auteurs latins, 1850; in the Bibliotheca Veterum Patrum of A. Gallandius, vol. x, 1765; in P. Amati's Collectio Pisaurensis, &c., vol. vi, 1766. The Corpus omnium Poetarum Latinorum, 1627, and the Chorus Poetarum Classicorum duplex, &c., pt. I, 1616, include the Poems.
The sixteenth century produced the texts of J. de Wouweren, with notes by Wouweren and P. Colvius, Paris and Lyons, 1598; E. Vinetus, Lyons, 1552; G. P. Pio, Basel, 1542.
To the fifteenth century belong an imperfect text with Pio's commentary, produced at Milan in 1498; and an edition issued at Utrecht by N. Ketelaer and G. de Leempt in 1473 (?).
B. WORKS OF GENERAL REFERENCE.
Bury, J. B. History of the Later Roman Empire. 1889. The Cambridge Mediaeval History, vol. i. 1911. (Quoted as C.M.H.)
Dahn, F. Die Könige der Germanen. Pts. V and VI. 1870, 1871.
Duchesne, L. Fastes épiscopaux de l'ancienne Gaule. 1907. |clix
Fauriel. Histoire de la Gaule méridionale sous la domination des conquérants germains. 1836.
Freeman, E. A. Western Europe in the Fifth Century. 1904.
Gibbon, E. Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Ch. xxxvi. (Ed. J. B. Bury, 1909; vol. iv.)
Guizot, F. P. Histoire de la civilisation en France depuis la chute de l'Empire romain. 1846, vol. i.
Hodgkin, T. Italy and her Invaders. Vols, i and ii (second ed. 1892).
Histoire littéraire de la France... par les Religieux de S. Maur. 1738, &c. Vols, i-iii.
Lavisse, E. Histoire de France depuis les origines jusqu'à la Révolution. Vols. i. and ii, 1900.
Schmidt, L. Geschickte der deutschen Stämme. 1910.
Thierry, Amédée. Récits de r histoire romaine au cinquième siècle. 1860.
Tillemont, L. S., Le Nain de. Mémoires pour servir à l' histoire ecclésiastique des premiers siècles. 1701-12, vol. xvi.
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Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
SOURCE SECTION: sidonius_letters_00_5_people.htm
Sidonius Apollinaris, Letters. Tr. O.M. Dalton (1915) pp. clx-clxxxiii; List of Correspondents
Sidonius Apollinaris, Letters. Tr. O.M. Dalton (1915) pp. clx-clxxxiii; List of Correspondents
LIST OF CORRESPONDENTS
AND PERSONS MENTIONED IN THE LETTERS
IMPORTANT FOR THE CONTEMPORARY
HISTORY OF GAUL.
(Asterisks indicate correspondents and the letters addressed to them.)
Abraham. VII. xvii. Saint. Ascetic from Mesopotamia, who, flying from Persian persecution, settled in Gaul, at Clermont, where he founded the Community of St. Cirgues. Died in 477 (June I th). For a miracle attributed to him on the occasion of a visit made by Sidonius and Victorius, cf. Gregory of Tours, Vitae Patrum, c. iii; also Hist. Franc. II. xxi. The relics of St. Abraham were removed to the church of St. Eutropius in 1804 (Chaix, ii, p. 224).
Aëtius. VII. xii. 3. The famous general, who defeated Attila, and was murdered by Valentinian III. Also mentioned in Carm. v, vii, and ix.
*Agricola. *I. ii. *II. xii. Brother-in-law of Sidonius; son of the Emperor Avitus; brother of Ecdicius and Papianilla. Unknown except for mention in Sidonius.
Agrippinus. VI. ii. An unscrupulous priest.
*Agroecius. *VII. v. Cf. VIL ix. 6. Bishop of Sens. Hist. litt. de la France, ii, p. 564.
Albiso. IX. ii. 1. A priest; or possibly a bishop whose see is unknown. Cf. Chaix, ii, p. 75.
Alethius. II. vii. Party in a dispute with Paulus, which Sidonius refers for settlement to Explicius.
Amantius. VII. vii, x; IX. iv. Cf. also VI. viii; VII. ii. A young reader who served as letter-carrier between Sidonius and Graecus. A native of Clermont, he sought to better his fortunes at Marseilles, with the success related in VII. ii. Cf. Chaix, ii, p. 108 f. |clxi
*Ambrosius. *IX. vi. A bishop. Conjectured by Sirmond to be the same as a correspondent of Ruricius. Cf. Chaix, ii, p. 98.
Annianus. VIII. xv. Saint. Bishop of Orleans at the time of Attila's invasion. Cf. Gregory of Tours, Hist. Franc. II. vii.
Anthemius. I. iv, v, vii, ix; II. i; V. xvi. A Byzantine noble, son of Procopius. Had served on the Danube and elsewhere, and married Euphemia, daughter of the Emperor Marcian. Nominated Emperor of the East by Leo, in 467, after the death of Severus. On the occasion of his second consulship in 468 Sidonius addressed a panegyric to him (Carm. ii), which helped to secure for him the Prefecture of Rome. Anthemius was not a strong ruler, though Arvandus was brought to justice in his reign. He gave his daughter Alypia in marriage to Ricimer (I. v. 10), but ultimately quarrelled with his son-in-law, and died in the same year (472). Sidonius is the principal authority for many events in his life. Cf. Carm. i; ii, 197, 199, 205 ff. See Ricimer.
Antiolus, or Antiolius. VIII. xiv. A bishop whose see is unknown. Had lived with Lupus at Lerins, and practised monastic austerities. Also a friend of St. Remi.
*Aper. *IV. xxi; V. xiv. Friend. An Aeduan, possessing influence in Auvergne. See Fronto, Auspicia.
Apollinaris. III. xii; V. ix. Grandfather of Sidonius; Prefect of Gaul in 408 under the 'tyrant' Constantine. Disgusted with the instability of the usurper, he withdrew to his native city of Lyons, where he died. (Fauriel, Hist, de la Gaule méridionale, i, pp. 67, 99.)
*Apollinaris. *III. xiii; V. xi. 3; VIII. vi. 12; IX. i. 5. Son of Sidonius. Cf. Introduction, p. xiv.
*Apollinaris. *IV. vi; *V. iii, vi; II. ix. Cousin (?) of Sidonius, brother of Thaumastus, and apparently also of Simplicius, to whom, jointly with himself, *IV. iv, xii, are addressed. (Cf. also VII. iv. 4.) Endangered by informers at the court of Chilperic, whose machinations were thwarted by Sidonius.
Apollinaris. II. ix. i. Connexion. Host of Sidonius |clxii at the estate of Vorocingus (or Voroangus) in the valley ot the Gard not far from Nîmes. Cf. Carm. xxiv. 53.
*Aprunculus. *IX. x. Bishop of Langres. Suspected of intriguing with the Franks by the Burgundian king Gundobad, he took refuge at Clermont with Sidonius, whom he there succeeded. Cf. Gregory of Tours, Hist. Franc. II. xxiii; Duchesne, Fastes épiscopaux, ii, p. 185.
*Aquilinus. *V. ix. Schoolfellow and friend. Grandson of Rusticus, the friend of Sidonius' grandfather Apollinaris. His father was Vicarius of a province in Gaul under the father of Sidonius.
*Arbogast. *IV. xvii. Friend. Count, and Governor of Trêves. Descendant of an earlier Arbogast, created count by the younger Valentinian, and famous in the reign of Theodosius. Praised as a good Christian by St. Auspicius, Bishop of Toul. Possibly the same man who became Bishop of Chartres in 473 or 474. (Hist. litt. de la France, ii, pp. 478, 548; Tillemont, Mem. xvi, pp. 250, 475, &c.; Gallia Christiana, ii. 481.)
Arvandus. I. vii. Prefect of Gaul. The impeachment of this governor in the reign of Anthemius was one of the last acts of authority exercised by the Senate over Gaul. Cf. Introduction, p. xxx.
Asellus, Flavius. I. vii. 4. Comes Sacrarum largitionum in 469. Guard of Arvandus during his trial.
Astyrius (Asterius, Asturius), Turcius Rufius. VIII. vi. 5. Consul 449. Had commanded imperial troops with success in Spain. (Idatius. Ann. 450.)
Athenius. I. xi. Guest at the banquet of Majorian.
*Attalus. *V. xviii. Sirmond conjectures that he is the Count of Autun who was uncle of Gregory of Tours. In his youth he had been sent as hostage to Childebert near Trêves, from whom he escaped in an adventurous manner. (Gregory of Tours, Hist. Franc. iii. 15.)
Attila. VII. xii; VIII. xv. King of the Huns. Cf. Carm. vii. 327.
*Audax, Castalius Innocentais. *VIII. vii. Friend. Prefect of Rome under Julius Nepos (474).
Auspicia. IV. xxi. Grandmother of Aper (q. v.). |clxiii
*Auspicius. *VII. xi; IV. xvii. 3. Bishop of Toul. He enjoyed a high reputation for learning and piety. See Hist. litt, de la France, ii, p. 478; Chaix, ii, p. 86.
Auxanius. VII. xvii. Succeeded St. Abraham as abbot of the monastery of St. Cirgues, near Clermont.
Auxanius. I. vii. 6. A Roman who advised Arvandus on the occasion of his impeachment.
Avienus, Gennadius. I. ix. Of the family of the Corvini. An influential senator at Rome during the period ot Sidonius' visit in the reign of Anthemius. He had been chosen by the Senate in 452 to accompany Pope Leo when he went out to meet Attila. (Prosper of Aquitaine, Chron. An. 452.) Colleague of Valentinian in his seventh consulate in 450.
*Avitus. *III. i. Kinsman (cousin?) of Sidonius, and ot about his age. He possessed influence with the Visigoths, which he appears to have used with some effect at Sidonius' request in or about the year 474. Cf. Carm. xxiv. 75, where his estate of Cottion (Cottium) is mentioned, and Chaix, ii, p. 147.
Basilius, Caecina. I. ix. 2. Consul, 463. An influential senator at Rome, of the Decian family, who secured for Sidonius the audierce at which he recited his Panegyric to Anthemius, preparatory to his nomination as Prefect of the city. Basilius was at a later time treated with consideration by Odovakar, who summoned him to his Court. Cf, Chaix, ii, p. 333.
*Basilius. *VII. vi. Bishop of Aix. One of the four bishops who were nominated to treat with Euric (see Graecus, Faustus, Leontius). Cf. Gregory of Tours, Hist. Franc. II. xxv.
Bigerrus. I. xi. 3. Of Arles. Associated with Paeonius in the episode of the anonymous satire.
*Burgundio. *IX. xiv. A young man of senatorial family in Clermont, devoted to rhetoric and poetry.
Caelestius. IX.x. i. Friend. 'Fraternoster,' Probably a cleric.
*Calminius. *V. xii. Friend. Son of the senator Eucherius. Compelled by Euric to fight against Auvergne, his native country. Cf. Chaix, ii, pp. 292-3. |clxiv
Camillas. I. xi. Of Narbonne. Nephew of Magnus (q.v.). Cf. Carm. ix, 1. 8.
*Campanianus. *I. x. Friend.
*Candidianus. *I. viii. Friend. Native of Cesena, settled in Ravenna.
Catullinus. I. xi. 3, 4. Friend and comrade of Sidonius at the time of the Coniuratio Marcell[in]iana. Cf. Carm. xii.
*Censorius. *VI. x. Bishop of Auxerre. (Duchesne, Fastes épiscopaux, ii, p. 441.)
*Chariobaudus. *VII. xvi. An abbot.
Chilperic. V. vi. 2, vii. i. One of the four kings ('tetrarchs') of the Burgundians. Father of Clotilda, queen of Clovis. Bore the title of Magister militum.
Claudianus, see Mamertus, Claudianus.
Consentais. IX. xv. i (v. 22 of the poem). Distinguished citizen of Narbonne. Owner of the villa Octaviana between Narbonne and Béziers. A man of great intellectual gifts. Cf. Carm. xxiii. 33, 98, 169, 177.
*Consentius. *VIII. iv; IX. xv. 1 (v. 22 of the poem). Friend. Son of the preceding. Possessed a great reputation as poet in Greek and Latin (IX. xv). Succeeded to the Villa Octaviana. In earlier life entered the Imperial service, and was entrusted by Valentinian III with missions to Constantinople. Prefect of the Palace under Avitus. (Carm. xxiii, 2, 98, 176.) Hist. litt. de la France, ii, p. 653.
Constans. IV. xii. A lector, or anagnôstes.
Constantinus (III). V. ix. i. 'The tyrant' (407-411). A soldier, proclaimed emperor in Britain. Established his power in Gaul, and was recognized by Honorius. But Gerontius (q. v.), his general in Spain, revolted; and having slain his son Constans at Vienne, besieged the tyrant in Arles. The emperor, profiting by this disunion, sent against him his general Constantius, to whom, after a siege of four months, he surrendered. He was murdered near Mantua by order of Honorius, while being taken to Ravenna under a safe-conduct (411). Cf. Freeman, English Historical Review, i, 1886, pp. 53ff.
*Constantius. *I.i; *III.ii; *VII. xviii; *VIII. xvi; II. x,3; |clxv IX. xvi. 1. Priest. Of a noble family in Lyons; reputed for eloquence, judgement, and love of letters. The publication of Sidonius' Letters was suggested by him, and the first Letter dedicates the book to him. The eighth book, collected at the request of Petronius, was to be issued under his auspices. Constantius wrote little himself, his principal work being a Life of St. Germain of Auxerre, composed at the request of Patiens. His reputation as a poet led Patiens to ask of him a metrical inscription for his great church at Lyons (II. x). The character of Constantius was a noble one, and his influence wide. When the capital of Auvergne was laid desolate by the Visigothic siege, Sidonius sent for him, and his arrival had the most salutary effect upon the desperate population (III. ii). He is supposed to have died at an advanced age about 488. Cf. Hist. litt, de la France, ii; Chaix, ii, p. 206.
Crocus. VII. vi. 9. Bishop. Considered by Sirmond to have occupied the see of Nîmes; but the only recorded Crocus lived in the seventh century. (Duchesne, Fastes épiscopaux, i, p. 313.)
Dardanus. V. ix. i. Prefect of Gaul, temp. Honorius, 409-10. After his prefecture he appears to have embraced Christianity. Letters were addressed to him by Jerome and Augustine. For an inscription relating to him, cf. note, 60. 4, p. 237.
*Desideratus. *II. viii. Friend: perhaps an ancestor of St. Desideratus, Bishop of Clermont after St. Avitus. His poetical judgement was highly valued in Auvergne, and Severianus considered it an advantage to publish a treatise on rhetoric under his auspices. (Hist. litt. de la France, ii, p. 576.)
*Domitius. *II. ii. Friend. Perhaps born at Lyons, but teaching as a grammarian in the schools of Ameria. Mentioned in Carm. xxiv. 10-16 as a severe critic, and compared to the censorious person who had only laughed once in his life.
*Domnicius. *IV. xx; V. xvii. 6. Friend.
*Domnulus. *IV. xxv; IX. xiii. 4, xv. i. Friend; living at Arles. Served as Quaestor. Poet and philosopher, with an interest in theology, and a Churchman. One of the four poets whom Majorian invited during his sojourn in Gaul. |clxvi Probably still living, as an old man, in 483 or 484. Cf. Carm. xiv; Hist. litt, de la France, ii, p. 507.
*Donidius. *II. ix; III. v; VI. v. Friend. Vir spectabilis. Living on his ancestral estate at Eborolacum (Ebreuil, near Gannat), in the valley of the Sioule, part of which he lost during the disturbances of 474.
*Ecdicius. *II. i; *III. iii; II. ii. 15; V. xvi. 1. Son of the emperor Avitus; brother of Papianilla and brother-in-law of Sidonius. Patrician. An athlete and patriot, who became the champion of his countrymen during the last resistance of Auvergne to Euric's aggression. Ecdicius continued the policy of his father Avitus in conciliating the barbaric princes, and his diplomacy confirmed the Burgundians in their support of the Gallo-Romans against Euric; but he was also a defender of the purity of the Latin language against encroaching barbarism. During the misery which followed Euric's invasion, Ecdicius rivalled Patiens in the generosity with which he relieved the starving. Some consider that he is the Isicius who succeeded Mamertus as Bishop of Vienne (Chaix, ii, p. 209). It is also thought that he is the Decius whom Jornandes describes as leaving his country in disgust after its surrender to the Goths (Get. xlv).
*Elaphius. *IV. xv. Friend. Resident in Rodez, where he built a baptistery. Perhaps subsequently a bishop. (Ruricius, Ep. II. vii; Gallia Christiana, iii, p. 593; Tillemont, Mem. xvi, p. 260.)
*Eleutherius. *VI. xi. Bishop. (Tillemont, Mem. xvi, p. 232.)
Eminentius. IV. xvii. 1. Friend of Arbogast.
Epiphanius. V. xvii. 10. Scriba or Secretary, either of Filimatius or Sidonius.
*Eripbius. *V. xvii. Friend; of Lyons. Son-in-law of Filimatius.
Eucherius. IV. iii. 7. St. Eucherius, Bishop of Lyons, previously monk at Lerins, D. 449. Author of various treatises and homilies. Cf. Carm. xvi, 1. 115; Hist. litt. de la France, ii, p. 275; Duchesne, Fastes épiscopaux, ii, p. 163.
*Eucherius. *III. via; VII. ix. 18. Friend. Vir illustris. |clxvii A man of integrity, for whom the decaying Roman empire found no important post. Sirmond conjectures him to be the same Eucherius who, under Count Victorius, when Euric had seized Auvergne, was falsely accused, and put to death. (Gregory of Tours, Hist. Franc. II. xx; Tillemont, Mem. xvi, p. 303.)
*Euphronius. *VII. viii; *IX. ii; IV. xxv. 2. Bishop of Autun. His visit to Châlon with Patiens, described in IV. xxv, must have taken place about 470, when he was advanced in years. Of his writings, there remains only a letter written jointly with Lupus of Troyes to the Bishop of Angers on questions of ecclesiastical discipline. He died at a great age about 476. (Hist. litt. de la France, ii, p. 465; Chaix, ii, p. 74; Duchesne, Fastes épiscopaux, ii, p. 117.)
Euric (Eoricus, Evarix). VII. vi. 4; VIII. iii, ix. 5. Cf. I. vii. 5; II. i. 3; IV. viii. 1; VIII. ix. 1. King of the Visigoths. Murderer and successor of his brother Theodoric II. A bigoted Arian, conqueror, and energetic ruler, who extended his territory from Septimania, until by the conquest of Auvergne and Berry, and the cession by Odovakar of the last territory preserved to Rome in Provence, it embraced the whole of southern France outside the Burgundian dominions. Euric probably died in 484-5 in the nineteenth year of his reign (Jornandes, Getica, c. lvii), though Isidore of Seville and Gregory of Tours give different dates. Cf. Chaix, ii, p. 330.
Eusebius. IV. i. 3. Teacher of philosophy at Lyons, where he taught Sidonius and many of his friends.
Eustachius. VII. ii. 4, 9. Bishop of Marseilles.
Eutropia. VI. ii. i, 4. A pious widow; possibly the same celebrated in the Roman martyrology among sainted widows on September 15. (Tillemont, Mem. xvi, 227.)
*Eutropius. *VI. vi. Bishop of Orange. See Acta Sanctorum (May 27), p. 699; Hist. litt. de la France, ii, p. 473; Duchesne, Fastes épiscopaux, i, p. 265.
*Eutropius. *I. vi; *III. vi. Lifelong friend; member of a noble family, distinguished for its official honours. Became Prefect of Gaul. Cf. Chaix, ii, p. 19. |clxviii
Evanthius. V. xiii. i. An official of public works under Seronatus.
*Evodius. *IV. viii. Petitioner at the court of Euric, to whose queen, Ragnahild, he presented a silver cup.
*Explicius. *II. vii. A jurisconsult, to whom Sidonius refers a dispute which his own efforts had failed to settle.
Faustmus. IV. iv. I; vi. 1. Friend of Sidonius from his youth. Entered the Church, and perhaps became the successor of Hermentarius at Velay. (Hist. litt. de la France, ii. p. 551; cf. Chaix, ii, pp. 116, 118.)
Faustus. Born in Britain. Abbot of Lerins (433-4) for twenty-seven years, where he established a school. Subsequently Bishop of Riez (462). Preserved the ascetic habits of monastic life (IX. iii). Celebrated for his learning and eloquence. One of the four bishops nominated to treat with Euric (see Leontius, Graecus, Basilius). Preached at the dedication of Patiens' new church at Lyons (IX. iii). Published a famous letter maintaining the materiality of the soul (IV. iii; Guizot, Hist. de la Civ. en France, v. 165 f.), wrote against the Arians, for which he was exiled by Euric to the district of Limoges, where he enjoyed the intercourse of Ruricius; liberated in 484, and died at an advanced age (c. 490). His writings, which give evidence of a modified Pelagianism, were regarded as heretical after his death, but were not condemned in his lifetime. Cf. Carm. xvi. See Hist. litt. de la France, ii. 587; Mon. Germ. Historica, viii (Auctorum Antiquiss. pp. liv ff.); Chaix, i, pp. 248-9; ii, p. 294; Duchesne, Fastes épiscopaux, i, p. 284.
Felix, see Magnus Felix.
Ferreolus. VII. i. 7. Martyr: interred near Vienne.
Ferreolus, see Tonantius Ferreolus.
Filimatia (Philimatia). II. viii. Wife of Eriphius and daughter of Filimatius (?).
*Filimatius (Philimatius, Philomathius). *I. iii; V. xvii. 10. Friend; of Lyons. Father-in-law of Eriphius; father of Filimatia (?); member of the Prefect's council. A man of vivacious temperament and poetical tastes. Cf. Chaix, ii, pp. 169, 297. |clxix
*Firminus. *IX. i, xvi. Friend. A native of Arles. Incited Sidonius to publish the ninth book of the Letters. Ennodius of Pavia praises his learning and literary style (Ep. I. viii). He was of a generous character, and assisted St. Caesarius in a time of trouble. Cf. Hist. litt. de la France, ii, p. 684.
*Florentinus. *IV. xix. Friend.
*Fonteius. *VI. vii; *VII. iv. Bishop of Vaison from about A.D. 450. Sidonius praises his charming character. He seems to have exerted over the Burgundian princes an influence which enabled him to be of great service to the Gallo-Romans of his diocese. Cf. Chaix, ii, p. 106; Duchesne, Fastes épiscopaux, i, p. 262.
*Fortunalis. *VIII. v. Friend. Lived in Spain (Tarra-gona), and witnessed the conquest of Iberia by the Visigoths in 478-80.
Fronto. IV. xxi. Grandfather of Aper (q. v.). Possibly the Count twice sent as ambassador to the Suevi in Spain, first by Valentinian, then by Avitus.
Gallicinus. VIII. xi. 3 (v. 39 of the poem). Bishop.
Gallus. VI. ix. A man living in the diocese of Troyes, whom Sidonius persuaded to return to his. wife. Cf. Chaix, ii, p. 80.
*Gaudentius. *I. iv; I. iii. 2; III. xii. 4. Friend. Of tribunician rank. Became Vicarius of the Seven Provinces. Called venerabilis in III. xii. 4.
*Gelasius. *IX. xv; IX. xvi. i. Friend.
Germanicus. IV. xiii. i. Resident at or near Chanteile in the Bourbonnais, and a neighbour of Vectius. Described by Sidonius as a juvenile sexagenarian. Cf. Chaix, ii, p. 242.
Germanus. VIII. xv. 1. Bishop of Auxerre.
Gerontius. V. ix. I. Commander in Spain under the 'tyrant' Constantine (q. v.), but rose against Constans, the tyrant's son, whom he drove from Spain into Gaul, and slew at Vienne. He then besieged Constantine in Arles, but on the arrival of Honorius' general Constantius, was abandoned by his men, and flying to Spain, there perished (411). Cf. Gregory of Tours, Hist. Franc. II. ix.
Gozolas. III. iv. i; IV. v. i. A Jew. |clxx
*Graecus. *VI. viii; *VII. ii, vii, xi; *IX. iv; VII. vi. 10. Bishop of Marseilles. Charged by Julius Nepos to negotiate with Euric, together with Leontius of Arles, Basilius of Aix, and Faustus of Riez. Cf. Introduction, p. xlii.
Gratianensis. I. xi. 10,13. Vir illustris. Guest at the banquet of Majorian.
Heliodorus. IV. x. i. Mentioned as filius meus, but probably no relation of Sidonius.
*Herenius (Heronius). *I. v, ix. Friend; of Lyons. A cultivated man, interested in geographical and historical questions, and a poet. (Hist. litt. de la France, ii, p. 437.)
*Hesperius. *II. x; IV. xxii. 1. Friend. Man of letters; also intimate with Leo.
Himerius. VII. xiii. 1. A priest, or possibly bishop. Son of Sulpicius, and pupil of Lupus at Troyes. (Hist. litt. de la France, ii, p. 490.)
*Hypatius. *III. v. Friend. A person with influence in the neighbourhood of Ébreuil. Cf. Chaix, ii, p. 149.
*Industrius. *IV. ix. Friend.
Injuriosus. IX. x. i. A dependant (clerk?) who left Sidonius for Aprunculus, bishop of Langres.
Innocentius. VI. ix. 3. A vir spectabilis.
Johannes, II. v. i. A friend involved in legal difficulties; introduced by Sidonius to the jurisconsult Petronius.
Johannes. IV. xxv. 3. Bishop of Châlon, consecrated by Patiens and Euphronius. Cf. Duchesne, Fastes épiscopaux, ii, p. 192.
* Johannes. *VIII. ii. Friend. Grammarian, teaching in Aquitaine under Visigothic rule.
Jovinus. V. ix. 'Tyrant.' Assumed the purple while Constantine was being besieged by Constantius at Arles (411). Defeated and slain at Narbonne in 412 by Ataulf the Visigoth, acting on behalf of Honorius. Cf. Carm. XXIII. i. 173.
Julianus. IX. v. Bishop. Perhaps of some see in Gallia Narbonensis. Cf. Chaix, ii, p. 149.
Julius Nepos. V. xvi. Cf. V. vi. 2, vii. I; VIII. vii. 4. Emperor, A. D. 474-5, in whose reign Auvergne was lost to the empire. Cf. Introduction, p. xliii. |clxxi
*Justinus. *V. xxi. Friend. Brother of Sacerdos. Their brotherly affection was celebrated. Cf. Carm. xxiv. 26 ff.
Justus. V. xvii. 3. Saint. Bishop of Lyons, d. c. 390. The church erected by Patiens on the site of the old church of the Maccabees at Lyons was known by his name.
Justus. II. xii. 3. A doctor attending Severiana.
*Lampridius. *VIII. ix.; VIII. xi. 3; IX. xiii. 2, 4. Friend. Poet and orator of Bordeaux. A man of great versatility, whom Fertig calls 'the Goethe of his age'. He ingratiated himself with Euric, and was probably thus enabled to assist Sidonius in regaining his liberty. Murdered by his household slaves. Cf. Hist. litt. de la France, ii, p. 494.
*Leo. *IV. xxii; *VIII. iii; IX. xiii. 2, xv. i. Minister of Euric. A native of Narbonne and descendant of the orator Fronto, whose talent he inherited. He also bore a high reputation as poet (Rex Castalii Chori, IX. xiii), philosopher, orator, and jurist: Appius Claudius himself would be silent when Leo expounded the law of the Twelve Tables (Carm. xxiii. 446). Though a Catholic, he was selected by Euric as minister, in which capacity he doubtless made easier the lot of many of his co-religionists. While Sidonius was in banishment Leo encouraged him to occupy himself with the life of Apollonius of Tyana; and the intercession of the powerful minister must have contributed to his release. Leo was still living about 483. Cf. Carm. ix. 314, XIV. xxiii. 446 ff.; Hist. litt. de la France, ii, pp. 627 ff.
*Leontius. *VI. iii. Bishop of Arles, and friend of Pope Hilary, who confirmed the privileges of his see as the first in Gaul. Friend of Faustus, Felix, and Ruricius (cf. Ruricius, Ep. I. xv). Arranged terms of peace with Euric in company with Basilius, Graecus, and Faustus. Cf. Chaix, ii, p. 189.
Leontius, see Pontius Leontius.
Licinianus. III. vii. 2; V. xvi. i. Quaestor; envoy from Julius Nepos to Gaul at the time of Euric's invasion of Auvergne. |clxxii
Livia. VIII. xi. 3 (1. 34 of the poem). Mother of Pontius Leontius (q. v.).
*Lucontius (Lucentius). *IV. xviii. Friend.
*Lupus, St., d. 479. *VI. i, iv, ix; *VIII. xi; *IX. xi; IV. xvii. 3; VII. xiii. i; VIII. xiv. 2, xv. i. Saint. Born at Toul. Bishop of Troyes. In 451 he persuaded Attila to spare the city. After separating from his wife Pimeniola, sister of St. Hilarius, resided at Lerins first as a monk under Honoratus, subsequently as abbot. (Cf. Carm. xvi. 11.) Summoned to the see of Troyes in 426 or 427. Opponent of Pelagianism. On Sidonius' election to Clermont, Lupus wrote him a still extant letter of congratulation, the terms of which seem to imply a previous intimacy in spite of their disparity in age. Lupus was no less eminent for his learning than for the austerity of his life. (IV. xvii.) Bollandists, Acta Sanctorum, July 29; Chaix, i, p. 442: Hist. litt. de la France, ii, pp. 486 ff.; Duchesne, Fastes épiscopaux, ii, p. 449.
*Lupus. *VIII. xi. Friend. Rhetor, residing at Périgueux or Agen, the former being his native city. A man of literary taste with a predilection for science. Cf. Hist. litt. de la France, ii, p. 583.
Magnus. I. xi. 10. Senator of Narbonne. Consul in 460. Prefect of Gaul in 469. Father of Probus and Magnus Felix, both of whom were friends of Sidonius. Uncle of Camillus. A great personage in Gaul, where he was widely respected for his integrity and practical wisdom. Cf. Garni. XIV. xxiii. 455; xxiv. 90.
*Magnus Felix. *II. iii; *III. iv, vii; *IV. v, x. Friend. Son of Magnus and brother of Probus. 'Patrician.' Lived at Narbonne. Schoolfellow of Sidonius, to whom the latter dedicated his poems. Cf. Carm. ix. 330, xxiv. 91; Chaix, ii, p. 294.
Majorianus, Julius Valerius. I. xi. 2; IX. xiii. 4. Roman Emperor. Distinguished soldier and comrade of Aëtius and Ricimer. Raised to the throne by the latter in 457. Pardoned Sidonius for his share in the insurrection of Lyons after the deposition of Avitus, and during his visit to |clxxiii Gaul treated him with distinction. Majorian was a wise ruler, who sought to stem the progress of imperial decay; he defeated the Vandals in Italy, but his preparations for an attack upon them in Africa were thwarted by the burning of his fleet, and, having incurred the enmity of Ricimer, he was assassinated by his own troops at Tortona in 461. The Panegyric on Majorian is Carm. v. Cf. Introduction, p. xxi. Mamertus. *VII. i; IV. xi. 6; V. xiv. 2; Saint. Bishop of Vienne. Brother of Claudianus Mamertus. Introduced, at a time of public disaster, the Rogations, which were afterwards adopted by Sidonius at Clermont. Incurred the displeasure of Pope Hilary in connexion with the bishopric of Die. Cf. Chaix, ii, p. 112; Duchesne, Fastes épiscopaux, i, p. 205.
*Mamertus, Claudianus. *IV. iii; IV. xi. i; V. ii. i. Writer of IV. ii. Priest. Brother of St. Mamertus, bishop of Vienne. Learned in philosophy, and author of a well-known treatise, De Natura Animae, in three books, a reply to a letter of Faustus, Bishop of Riez (q. v. ), maintaining the material nature of the soul. Friend of Salvian, who dedicated to him his work on Ecclesiastes. Cf. Guizot, Hist. de la Civ. en France, i, pp. 166 ff.; Chaix, i, p. 361.
Marcellinus. II. xiii. i. A jurisconsult of Narbonne, described in Carm. xxiii, 1. 465, as of a frank outspoken character, but amiable and a man of many friends, among whom was Serranus (q. v.).
Marcellinus. I. xi. Distinguished soldier. Served under Aëtius, after whose death he withdrew to Dalmatia and established a practically independent state. On the death of Avitus the diadem was apparently offered him by a party in Gaul, to which Sidonius belonged, and which was subdued by Majorian. Cf. Introduction, p. xx.
*Maurusius. *II. xiv. Landed proprietor, and friend.
Maximus. VIII. xiv. 2. Abbot of Lerins, and afterwards Bishop of Riez. Cf. Carm. xvi, 11. 112, 128.
Maximus. IV. xxiv. Friend. Formerly in the Palatine service, subsequently a cleric, possibly bishop, living near Toulouse. Cf. Chaix, ii, p. 235. |clxxiv
*Megethius. *VII. iii. Bishop, possibly of Belley. (Sirmond.)
Megethius. VIII. xiv. 8. Cleric. Acting as messenger between Principius and Sidonius. Cf. IX. viii. i.
Menstruanus. II. vi. i. Friend of Sidonius and Pegasius.
Modaharius. VII. vi. 2. A Visigothic Arian confuted by Basilius.
*Montius. *I. xi. Friend.
Namatius. *VIII. vi. Friend. 'Admiral' of Euric on the West Coast. He had a villa at Saintes, and apparently an estate in Oléron. Studied architecture. (Hist. litt. de la France, ii, p. 576.)
Nicetius, Flavius. VIII. vi. 2. Cf. III. i. 3; VIII. vi. 8. Advocate of Lyons. Chosen by common consent to deliver a panegyric at the inauguration of the Consul Astyrius at Arles in 449. An admirer of Sidonius' writings. (Hist. litt. de la France, ii, p. 500.)
*Nunechius. *VIII. xiii. Bishop of Nantes. He was present at the Council of Vannes in 465.
*Nymphidius. *V. ii. Friend. Grandfather of Polemius. Cf. Carm. xv. 200.
Optantius. II. iv. 2, 3. Vir clarissimus. The deceased father of a girl demanded in marriage by Proiectus, to whom Sidonius gives a letter of introduction.
*Oresius. *IX. xii. Friend; living in Spain.
Paeonius. I. xi. A parvenu and ambitious demagogue. During the interregnum, after the death of Avitus, he usurped the position of Prefect of Gaul. In this capacity he made himself essential to the young nobles who participated in the 'conspiracy of Marcellinus'. After his term of office he was given senatorial rank, but did not succeed, like Sidonius, in conciliating the favour of Majorian; to this cause perhaps was due the enmity which he displayed in the affair of the anonymous satire. Cf. Introduction, p. xxii.
*Pannychius. *V. xiii; VII. ix. 18. Friend. Vir illustris. Living at Bourges,
* Papianilla. *V. xvi. Cf. II. ii. 3, xii. 2; V. xvi. 3; |clxxv Carm. xviii. 1. Wife. Daughter of Avitus and sister of Ecdicius (q. v.). Cf. Gregory of Tours, Hist. Franc. II. xxi, and Introduction, p. xiii.
*Pastor. *V. xx. Friend.
Pateminus. IV. xvi. r. Bearer of a letter from Ruricius.
*Patiens. *VI. xii.; II. x. 2; IV. xxv. i, 3, 5. Cf. III. xii. 3. Saint. Archbishop of Lyons from before 470. A man of great wealth, which he employed in the building and restoration of churches and in the relief of the needy in times of national distress. (Gregory of Tours, Hist. Franc. II. xxiv.) Sidonius is our chief authority for Patiens. Cf. Acta Sanctorum, September 11; Hist. litt. de la France, ii, p. 54; Chaix, ii, p. 304; Duchesne, Fastes épiscopaux, ii, p. 163.
Paulus. IV. xxv. i. Bishop of Châlon.
Paulus. I. ix. i. Of prefectorian rank. Host of Sidonius at Rome.
Paulus. II. vii. Party to a dispute with Alethius, which Sidonius refers for settlement to Explicius.
*Pegasius. *I. vi. Friend.
*Perpetuus. *VII. ix.; IV. xviii. 4, 5, &c. Bishop of Tours. Soon after his accession he convened a council at Tours to regulate ecclesiastical discipline and remedy abuse; four years later he summoned another at Vannes. His devotion to the memory of St. Martin led him to erect the basilica described by Sidonius in place of the earlier church. He was an intimate friend of Euphronius, whom he survived. Cf. Gregory of Tours, Hist. Franc. II. xiv; X. xxxi; Hist. litt. de la France, ii, pp. 619 ff.; Duchesne, Fastes épiscopaux, ii, p. 300.
*Petreius. *IV. xi. Friend. Nephew of Claudianus Mamertus.
*Petronius. *II. v; *V. i; *VIII. i; I. vii. 4; VIII. xvi. i. Eminent jurisconsult of Arles and lover of letters. Associated with Tonantius Ferreolus in the impeachment of Arvandus. Persuaded Sidonius to publish the eighth book of the Letters. Hist. litt. de la France, ii, pp. 581 ff. |clxxvi
Petrus. IX. xiii. 4; xv. i. Born in North Italy. Secretary (magister epistolarum) of Majorian. Sidonius, in the Prologue to the Panegyric in honour of that Emperor, describes Petrus as his Maecenas; and it was probably owing to the intercession of this friend that he made his peace after the rebellion at Lyons. (Carm. v. 569-71; ix. 305.) Petrus had also gifts of eloquence and style, and was no mean poet. After the assassination of Majorian he devoted himself to literary interests, and is said to have died in 473 or 474. (Hist. litt. de la France, ii, p. 439.)
Petrus. VIL xi. 2. Of tribunician rank.
*Philagrius (Filagrius). *VII. xiv. Cf. II. iii. 1. Known to Sidonius by reputation only as a man of culture and erudition. Connected with the families of Avitus and Magnus Felix. Cf. Carm. vii. 156, xxiv. 93; Hist. litt. de la France, ii, pp. 41, 576.
*Placidus. *III. xiv. Friend; of Grenoble. A man of literary tastes, who appreciated the writings of Sidonius.
*Polemius. *IV. xiv. Friend. Descendant of Tacitus. Prefect of Gaul. Of philosophical tastes, and a student of Plato. Cf. Carm. xiv (an epithalamium for the marriage of Polemius and Araneola). Cf. also Chaix, i, p. 347; ii. 254; Hist. litt. de la France, ii, pp. 514 ff.
Pontius Leontius. VIII. xi. 3; xii. 5. Of Bordeaux, in the neighbourhood of which was situated his fine villa, Burgus. A personage of great importance in Aquitaine (Facile primus Aquitanorum). Sidonius has celebrated the elegance and hospitality of Burgus in his twenty-second poem. Cf. Hist. litt. de la France, ii, p. 409.
Pontius Paulinus. VIII. xii. 5. Son of Pontius Leontius. Friend. Native of Aquitaine. A poet, chiefly devoting himself to religious subjects. Cf. Carm. ix. 304; Tillemont, Mémoires, xvi, p. 404; Hist. litt. de la France, ii, p. 470.
*Potentinus. *V. xi. Friend. Regarded by Sidonius as the model for his young son Apollinaris.
*Pragmatius. *VI. ii. Bishop. Probably not Pragmatius of Antun. Cf. Chaix, ii, p. 97. |clxxvii
Pragmatius. V. x. I, 2. A man of eloquence and personal charm, adopted as son-in-law by Priscus Valerianus. Cf. Hist. litt. de la France, ii, pp. 499, 580.
*Principius. *VIII. xiv; *IX. viii. Bishop of Soissons. Elder brother of St. Remi. Cf. Hist. litt. de la France, ii, p. 668.
*Probus. *IV. i. Friend from schooldays. Husband of Eulalia, cousin of Sidonius; elder brother of Magnus Felix (q. v.) and son of Magnus. A man of literary taste and precocious ability. Cf. Carm. ix. 329-34; xxiv. 95-8; Hist. litt. de la France, ii, p. 649.
*Proculus. *IV. xxiii; IX. xv. Friend. Of Ligurian origin; poet and man of letters, (Hist. litt. de la France, ii, p. 538.)
Proculus. IX. ii. 1. A deacon.
Proiectus. II. iv. 1. Vir clarissimus. Betrothed to the daughter of Optantius, and introduced by Sidonius to his friend Sagittarius (or Syagrius).
Promotus. VIII. xiii. 3. A Jew.
*Prosper. *VIII. xv. Bishop of Orleans. Only known from this letter and from his mention by Bede. Invited Sidonius, at the time of his exile, to write a history of Attila's attack on Orleans. Cf. Duchesne, Fastes épiscopaux, ii, p. 456.
Prudens. VI. iv. 2. Witness to the sale of a slave.
*Pudens. *V. xix. Friend.
Ragnahild. IV. viii. 5. Queen of Euric. Her name is only known through Sidonius.
*Remigius (Remi). *IX. vii. Cf. VIII. xiv. 'Apostle of the Franks.' Saint. Bishop of Reims. Born c. 458, in or near Laon; son of Count Emilius and Celinia, and brother of Principius. Elected at an early age to the see of Reims by popular compulsion (Raptus potius quam electus—Hincmar). Baptized Clovis in 496, using on this occasion the famous words bidding the King adore what he had burned and burn what he had adored. Author of Addresses (Declamationes), highly praised by Sidonius, but no longer extant. Cf. Hist. litt. de la France, iii, p. 156; Chaix, ii, p. 88.
Ricimer. I. v. 10; ix. i. The famous 'king-maker', |clxxviii who raised emperors to the throne (Majorian, Severus) or deposed them (Avitus), but never assumed the diadem himself. He was the son of a Suevic father and a Gothic mother (cf. Carm. ii. 361 ff.), and comrade of Majorian (Carm. v. 267). He married the daughter of Anthemius (I. v), but quarrelled with that Emperor, and a war ensuing, died shortly after his antagonist. Cf. Introduction, p. xix.
Riochatus. IX. ix. A priest (or bishop) and monk (antistes ac monachus), who visited Clermont, bearing with him works by Faustus of Riez.
*Riothamus. *III. ix. Commander of the Bretons engaged to join the Empire in resisting the advance of the Visigoths. He engaged Euric before Roman support could reach him and was defeated by that king at Bourg-de-Déols on the Indre, whereupon he took refuge with the Burgundians. Cf. Introduction, p. xxxvi.
Roscia. V. xvi. 5. Daughter of Sidonius and Papianilla. Cf. Introduction, p. xiv.
*Ruricius. *IV. xvi; *V. xv; *VIII. x. Friend. Member of a patrician family connected with the Gens Anicia. Married, before 470, Iberia, daughter of the Arvernian Ommatius, Sidonius writing their epithalamium (Carm. xi). After some years, he renounced the world for a life of piety. In 484 he became Bishop of Limoges. Author of two books of Letters, in which an imitation of Sidonius is sometimes apparent. These mostly date from the time previous to his episcopate, and though exemplary in their piety, and showing an admirable character, contain little of interest for the historian. Of them Bk. I. ix, xvi are addressed to Sidonius. (Hist. litt. de la France, iii, pp. 49-56.) See also Krusch, Mon. Germ. Historica, viii (Auctorum Antiquissimorum, pp. lxiiff.).
*Rusticus, Decimus. V. ix. 1. Succeeded his friend Apollinaris as Prefect of Gaul at the time of the tyrant Constantine (409). Captured and slain in Auvergne by the generals of Honorius a few years later. Grandfather of Aquilinus. Cf. Gregory of Tours, Hist. Franc. II. c. ix.
Rusticus. V. ix. 2. Son of the preceding. Tribune and |clxxix notary under Honorius, with the father of Sidonius, and subsequently a vicarius.
Rusticus. V. ix. 4. Son of Aquilinus (?).
*Rusticus (Rusticius). *II. xi; VIII. xi. 3 (v. 36 of the poem). Friend; living near Bordeaux. (Hist. litt. de la France, ii, p. 428.)
*Sacerdos. *V. xxi. Friend. Brother of Justinus (q.v). Cf. Carm. xxiv. 27.
*Sagittarius (?). *II. iv. Friend. The MS. C gives the name of the recipient of this letter as Syagrius.
*Salonius. * VII. xv. Friend; living at Vienne. Some have considered him to be the son of St. Eucherius of the same name, who was a bishop when Sidonius was quite young, but this view is not universally accepted. (Hist. litt. de la France, ii, p. 433; Tillemont, Mémoires, xvi, p. 207; Sirmond, note to VII. xv.)
*Sapaudus. *V. x. Friend. Rhetor of Vienne. For his studies he received the advice of Claudianus Mamertus, and sought to inspire himself from the earlier Roman writers. (Hist. litt. de la France, ii, p. 498.)
*Secundinus. *V. viii; II. x. 3; V. viii. i. Poet of Lyons. Associated with Constantius and Sidonius in writing metrical inscriptions for the church erected by Patiens. Wrote a satire exposing the merciless cruelty of Gundobad, one of the Burgundian 'tetrarchs', to his brothers and their families. (Hist. litt. de la France, ii, p. 502.)
*Secundus. *II. xii. Nephew of Sidonius, or grandson of one of his uncles (Mommsen, Praefatio, p. xlvii).
Seronatus. II. i. i; V. xiii. i, 4; VII. vii. 2. Perhaps Governor of Aquitanica Prima (cf. Introduction, p. xxxviii). He was guilty of more open treason and even worse oppression than his predecessor. The people of Auvergne brought him to justice, and he received the penalty of death. Cf. Tillemont, Hist, des Empereurs, vi, p. 352; Chaix, i, p. 377.
*Serranus. *II. xiii. Friend; living at Narbonne. Adherent of the Emperor Petronius Maximus. Friend of Marcellinus.
Severiana. II. xii. Daughter (?) of Sidonius. Cf. Introduction, p. xiv. |clxxx
Severianus. IX. xiii. 4; xv. i. A poet of repute in Gaul, considered to rank with Domnulus, Lampridius and Sidonius. In his prose work he is compared by the latter to Quintilian. Cf. Carm. ix. 312; Hist. litt. de la France, ii, p. 509.
Severinus. I. xi. 10, 16. Consul of the year 461. Guest at the banquet of Majorian.
Sigismer. IV. xx. A young Frankish (?) prince. Cf. Introduction, p. xciii.
Simplicius. VII. vi. 9. A bishop.
Simplicius. VII. viii. 2, 3; ix. 16, 25. Son of Eulogius and son-in-law of Palladius, both bishops of Bourges. Nominated by Sidonius to the same see. (Chaix, ii, p. 20.)
*Simplicius. *V. iv; III. xi; IV. iv, vii, xii; VII. iv. Perhaps brother of Apollinaris (q. v.).
*Sulpicius. *VII. xiii. Friend.
Syagrius, Flavius Afranius (I). I. vii. 4; V. xvii. 4. Cf. V. v. i; VIII. viii. 3. Of Lyons. General of Valentinian; subsequently Praefectus Praetorio in Gauland consul in 382. Buried at Lyons, where his monument is mentioned by Sidonius (as above). His daughter Papianilla was the mother of Tonantius Ferreolus (q.v.).
*Syagrius, *V. v; *VIII. viii. Great-grandson of the preceding. Man of letters. At one period living much at the Burgundian court; at another on his estate of Taionnacus near Autun. It seems best to follow the Benedictine Histoire littéraire de la France, ii, p. 651, in regarding this personage as distinct from Syagrius, son of Aegidius of Soissons, defeated by Clovis in 486. Sirmond and others, however, regard V. v. at least, if not both letters, as written to that Syagrius. The objection to this view is that the ruler of Soissons would hardly have been able to live among Burgundians or in a country-house so far away from his proper sphere of interest.
Symmachus Quintus Aurelius. I. i. i; II. x. 5; cf. VIII. x. i. Flourished in the second half of the fourth century. Consul 391. Famous as an orator, though most of his speeches are lost. His Letters survive in ten books, and are written in a style which compared with that of Sidonius is simple and |clxxxi direct. The best known is that relating to the proposed restoration of the altar of Victory in the Senate. Cf. Carm. ix. 304.
*Tetradius. *III. x. Friend. A jurisconsult of Arles. Cf. Carm. xxiv. 80-3; Hist. litt. de la France, ii, pp. 577-8.
*Thaumastus. *I. vii; I. vii. 4; V. vi. i. Friend. Brother of Apollinaris. Associated with Tonantius Ferreolus in the impeachment of Arvandus. Cf. Carm. xxiv. 85.
Theodoric II (Theudericus). I. ii. i; II. i. 3. King of the Visigoths (453-66). Son of the Theodoric who fell in the battle of Maurica. Succeeded in 453 after the assassination of his brother Thorismond. Supported the election of Avitus as emperor, having been acquainted with him in former years, and on his deposition and death opposed Majorian, by whom he was defeated before Arles. Afterwards once more reconciled to the Empire, but assassinated by his brother Euric in 466. Cf. Carm. vii. 262, &c.; and see Introduction, p. xvi.
Theodorus. III. x. i. Vir clarissimus. Introduced by Sidonius to the jurisconsult Tetradius.
*Theoplastus. *VI.v. Bishop of Geneva (?). (Duchesne, Fastes épiscopaiix, i, p. 227.)
Thorismond (Thorismodus). VII. xii. 3. King of the Visigoths. Son of Theodoric I, who died in the great battle of Maurica, and brother of Theodoric II, by whom he was assassinated in 453. Besieged Arles soon after the defeat of Attila, but was induced to withdraw through the practical diplomacy of Tonantius Ferreolus (q. v.).
*Tonantius Ferreolus. *VII. xii. i; I. vii. 4; II. ix. i. Grandson of the Consul Afranius Syagrius, and through his •mother, Papianilla, connected with the Aviti. An important Gallo-Roman noble, son of a Prefect of the Gauls, himself three times Prefect, and Patrician. With Avitus, he was instrumental in arranging the co-operation of the Visigoths with the Romans, which resulted in the defeat of Attila at Maurica by Aëtius. He was gifted with diplomatic powers which enabled him to save the town of Arles when besieged by the new Visigothic king Thorismond, at the trifling cost of a dinner (VII. xii), but his qualities as a strong and just |clxxxii administrator led to his selection, after his official career, as the principal accuser of Arvandus (I. vii). His tastes were cultivated; cf. the description which Sidonius gives of his country-house Prusianum (II. ix). Born about 420, he died about 485, and was thus a lifelong contemporary of his friend Sidonius. Cf. Carm. xxiv, 1. 36; Hist. Hit. de la France, iii, p. 540.
*Tonantius. *IX. xiii; IX. xv. Son of Tonantius Ferreolus. Cf. Carm. xxiv. 34.
*Trygetius. *VIII. xii. According to Sirmond, the same Trygetius sent on an embassy to Attila with St. Leo and Avienus. At the time of Sidonius' visit to his friends at Bordeaux, Trygetius was living at his house at Bazas. Cf. Chaix, ii, pp. 225-6.
*Turnus. *IV. xxiv. Friend. Son of Turpio.
Turpio. IV. xxiv. Friend; of tribunician rank. On his death-bed requested Sidonius to help his family in the matter of a debt to Maximus. See Turnus.
Valerianus, Priscus. V. x. 2. Prefect of Gaul, and relative of the Emperor Avitus. Father-in-law of Pragmatius. Consulted by Sidonius on the merits of his Panegyric of Avitus. Cf. Carm. viii. See also Hist. litt. de la France, ii, p. 360; Chaix, ii, p. 183.
*Vectius (Vettius). *IV. xiii; IV. ix. i. Friend. A noble living in the world, but practising austerities in secret. His home was near Chanteile in the Bourbonnais. (Chaix, ii, p. 239.)
Victorius. VII. xvii. i. Cf. IV. x. 2. Appointed Count of Auvergne by Euric, after he obtained possession of that country in 475. Probably the patronus of IV. x. 2. Gregory of Tours, who describes him as duke, gives him a much worse character than Sidonius (Hist. Franc. II. xx. and De gloria Confessorum, c. xxxiii).
Victorius. V. xxi. Uncle of Sacerdos and Justin. Sirmond thinks it probable that the person to whom this letter is addressed is Victorius of Aquitaine, who in 457 under the Consulate of Constantine and Rufus composed the Paschal Cycle, and had some repute as a poet (cf. V. x). His |clxxxiii home was among the hills of the Gabalitani, now the district of La Lozère. (Hist. litt. de la France, ii, pp. 419, 424.) The poet and the author of the Cycle are distinguished.
*Vincentius. *I. vii. Friend.
Vindicius. V. i. 2; VII. iv. i. Friend. A deacon of Auvergne, who assisted Sidonius in his literary work.
*Volusianus. *VII. xvii; IV. xviii. 2. Intimate friend. At Sidonius' request he assisted with advice and support Auxanius (q. v.), successor of St. Abraham, as abbot of the monastery of St. Cirgnes, near Clermont. On the death of Perpetuus he became bishop of Tours. (Chaix, ii, pp. 222, 224.)
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Sidonius Apollinaris, Letters. Tr. O.M. Dalton (1915) pp. 1- 33; Book I
Sidonius Apollinaris, Letters. Tr. O.M. Dalton (1915) pp. 1- 33; Book I
BOOK I
I.
To his friend Constantius
c. A.D. 477
1 WITH all the influence you derive from a genius for sound advice, you have long urged me to correct, revise, and bring together in one volume the more finished of those occasional letters which matters, men, and times have drawn from me: I am to set presumptuous foot where Symmachus of the ample manner, and Pliny of the perfected art have gone before. 2 Of Cicero as letter-writer I had best be dumb; not Julius Titianus himself, in his Letters of Famous Women, could worthily reproduce that model; 1 he tried to imitate a style which was not of his time," and Fronto's other pupils,2 in their jealousy, called him 'ape of orators' for his pains. I have always been horribly conscious how far I fall short of these great examples; I have consistently claimed for each the privilege of his own period and genius. 3 But I have done your will; here you have the letters, not merely to revise, for that is nothing, but to polish and, as the phrase goes, clear of lees. Do I not know you devoted not to studies only, but to the studious too? Which devotion now makes you launch me, despite my fears, upon this deep main of ambition. 4 I had been safer had I breathed no word about these |2 trifles, content with the reception of my poems,1 which good luck surely helped to recognition rather than skill of mine. Such fame as I have should be to me an anchor cast in the haven of safe repute. I ought to be content with it after the envious snarls of all the Scyllas which my ship has passed. But if the tooth of jealousy spares these extravagances of mine, volume shall follow upon volume, all full-brimming with my most copious flow of correspondence. Farewell.
II.
To [his brother-in-law] Agricola*
A.D. 454(?)
1 You have often begged a description of Theodoric the Gothic king, whose gentle breeding fame commends to every nation; you want him in his quantity and quality, in his person, and the manner of his existence. I gladly accede, as far as the limits of my page allow, and highly approve so fine and ingenuous a curiosity.
Well, he is a man worth knowing, even by those who cannot enjoy his close acquaintance, so happily have Providence and Nature joined to endow him with the perfect gifts of fortune; his way of life is such that not even the envy which lies in wait for kings can rob him of his proper praise. 2 And first as to his person. He is well set up, in height above the average man, but below the giant. His head is round, with curled hair retreating somewhat from brow to crown. His nervous |3 neck is free from disfiguring knots.1 The eyebrows are bushy and arched; when the lids droop, the lashes reach almost half-way down the cheeks. The upper ears are buried under overlying locks, after the fashion of his race. The nose is finely aquiline; the lips are thin and not enlarged by undue distension of the mouth. Every day the hair springing from his nostrils is cut back; that on the face springs thick from the hollow of the temples, but the razor has not yet come upon his cheek, and his barber is assiduous in eradicating the rich growth on the lower part of the face.2 3 Chin, throat, and neck are full, but not fat, and all of fair complexion; seen close, their colour is fresh as that of youth; they often flush, but from modesty, and not from anger. His shoulders are smooth, the upper- and forearms strong and hard; hands broad, breast prominent; waist receding. The spine dividing the broad expanse of back does not project, and you can see the springing of the ribs; the sides swell with salient muscle, the well-girt flanks are full of vigour. His thighs are like hard horn; the knee-joints firm and masculine; the knees themselves the comeliest and least wrinkled in the world. A full ankle supports the leg, and the foot is small to bear such mighty limbs.
4 Now for the routine of his public life. Before daybreak he goes with a very small suite to attend the service of his priests.3 He prays with assiduity, but, if I may speak in confidence, one may suspect more of habit than conviction in this piety. Administrative duties of the kingdom take up the rest of the morning. Armed nobles stand about the royal seat; the mass of guards in their garb of skins are admitted that they may |4 be within call, but kept at the threshold for quiet's sake; only a murmur of them comes in from their post at the doors, between the curtain and the outer barrier.1 And now the foreign envoys are introduced. The king hears them out, and says little; if a thing needs more discussion he puts it off, but accelerates matters ripe for dispatch. The second hour arrives; he rises from the throne to inspect his treasure-chamber or stable.
5 If the chase is the order of the day, he joins it, but never carries his bow at his side, considering this derogatory to royal state. When a bird or beast is marked for him, or happens to cross his path, he puts his hand behind his back and takes the bow from a page with the string all hanging loose; for as he deems it a boy's trick to bear it in a quiver, so he holds it effeminate to receive the weapon ready strung. When it is given him, he sometimes holds it in both hands and bends the extremities towards each other; at others he sets it, knot-end downward, against his lifted heel, and runs his finger up the slack and wavering string. After that, he takes his arrows, adjusts, and lets fly. He will ask you beforehand what you would like him to transfix; you choose, and he hits. If there is a miss through either's error, your vision will mostly be at fault, and not the archer's skill.
6 On ordinary days, his table resembles that of a private person. The board does not groan beneath a mass of dull and unpolished silver set on by panting servitors; the weight lies rather in the conversation than in the plate; there is either sensible talk or none. The hangings2 and draperies used on these occasions are sometimes of purple silk, sometimes only of linen; art, |5 not costliness, commends the fare, as spotlessness rather than bulk the silver. Toasts are few, and you will oftener see a thirsty guest impatient, than a full one refusing cup or bowl. In short, you will find elegance of Greece, good cheer of Gaul, Italian nimbleness, the state of public banquets with the attentive service of a private table, and everywhere the discipline of a king's house. What need for me to describe the pomp of his feast days? No man is so unknown as not to know of them. But to my theme again. 7 The siesta after dinner is always slight, and sometimes intermitted. When inclined for the board-game,1 he is quick to gather up the dice, examines them with care, shakes the box with expert hand, throws rapidly, humorously apostrophizes them, and patiently waits the issue. Silent at a good throw, he makes merry over a bad, annoyed by neither fortune, and always the philosopher. He is too proud to ask or to refuse a revenge; he disdains to avail himself of one if offered; and if it is opposed will quietly go on playing. You effect recovery of your men without obstruction on his side; he recovers his without collusion upon yours.2You see the strategist when he moves the pieces; his one thought is victory. 8 Yet at play he puts off a little of his kingly rigour, inciting all to good fellowship and the freedom of the game: I think he is afraid of being feared. Vexation in the man whom he beats delights him; he will never believe that his opponents have not let him win unless their annoyance proves him really victor. You would be surprised how often the pleasure born of these little happenings may favour the march of great affairs. Petitions that some wrecked influence |6 had left derelict come unexpectedly to port; I myself am gladly beaten by him when I have a favour to ask, since the loss of my game may mean the gaining of my cause. 9 About the ninth hour, the burden of government begins again. Back come the importunates, back the ushers to remove them; on all sides buzz the voices of petitioners, a sound which lasts till evening, and does not diminish till interrupted by the royal repast; even then they only disperse to attend their various patrons among the courtiers, and are astir till bedtime. Sometimes, though this is rare, supper is enlivened by sallies of mimes, but no guest is ever exposed to the wound of a biting tongue. Withal there is no noise of hydraulic organ,1 or choir with its conductor intoning a set piece; you will hear no players of lyre or flute, no master of the music, no girls with cithara or tabor; the king cares for no strains but those which no less charm the mind with virtue than the ear with melody. 10 When he rises to withdraw, the treasury watch begins its vigil; armed sentries stand on guard during the first hours of slumber. But I am wandering from my subject. I never promised a whole chapter on the kingdom, but a few words about the king. I must stay my pen; you asked for nothing more than one or two facts about the person and the tastes of Theodoric; and my own aim was to write a letter, not a history. Farewell. |7
* Translated by Hodgkin, Italy and her Invaders, ii. 352. The king here described is Theodoric II, successor of Thorismund, predecessor of Euric.
III.
To his friend Filimatius
A. D. 467
1 INDICT me now by the laws against intrigue,1 degrade me from the Senate for keeping patient eyes on the promotion to which, after all, birth gives me claim, since my own sire and my wife's, my grandsire and his sire too before him were urban and praetorian prefects, or held high rank in court and army.2 2 If it comes to that, consider our friend Gaudentius, who but now of tribune's rank, towers in the dignity of the Vicariate above the unenterprising sloth of our good citizens.3 Of course our young nobles grumble at his passing over their heads; as for him, his one sentiment is satisfaction. And they now respect a man scorned till yesterday; amazed at such a sudden rise, they look up to one as magistrate on whom as neighbour they looked down. He for his part sets his crier to stun the ears of his drowsy detractors; though envy goads them to hostility they always find a friendly bench reserved for them in court.4 3 You too had best make good the loss of your old office by the membership of the prefect's council now offered you; if you fail to do so, if you sit without the advantage which such a position confers, you will be set down as one only fit to represent a Vicarius. Farewell. |8
IV.
To his friend Gaudentius
A. D. 467
1 CONGRATULATIONS, most honoured friend; the rods of office are yours by merit. To win your dignities you did not parade your mother's income, or the largess of your ancestors, your wife's jewels, or your paternal inheritance. In place of all this, it was your obvious sincerity, your proven zeal, your admitted social charm which won you favour in the imperial household.1O thrice and four times happy man, whose rise means joy to friends, gall to enemies, and glory to your own posterity, to say nothing of the example given to the active and alert, and the spur applied to the listless and the slow. The man who tries to emulate you, be his spirit what it will, may haply owe the last success to his own exertions, but will certainly owe his start to your example. 2 I fancy I see among the envious, with all deference to better citizens be it said, the old miserable arrogance, the old scorn of service affected by men too slack to serve, men lost to all ambition, who crown their cups with sophistries about the charm of a free life out of office, their motive a base indolence, and not the love of the ideal which they pretend....
3 [Such a] taste the wisdom of our fathers rejected, for fear that boys might take advantage of it; they likened school orations to a textile fabric, and perfectly understood that, in the case of youthful eloquence, it is harder to spin out the terse than cut the exuberant short. So much for this subject; for the rest, remember that |9 if Providence approves my endeavours and brings me back safe and sound, I mean to repay your goodness with equal measure.
V.
To his friend Herenius *
A. D. 467
1 YOUR letter finds me at Rome. You are solicitous to know whether the affairs which have brought me so far go forward as we hoped, what route I took, and how I fared on it, what rivers celebrated in song I saw, what towns famed for their fair sites, what mountains reputed as the haunt of gods, what glorious battlefields; for it is your delight to check the descriptions you have read by the more accurate relation of the eye-witness. I am rejoiced that you inquire about my doings, because I know that your interest springs from the heart. Well then, though little accidents there were, I will begin, under kind Providence, with things of good event; it was the wont of our ancestors, as you know, to develop even a tale of mishap from fortunate beginnings. 2 As bearer of the imperial letter,1 I was able to avail myself of the public post on leaving our beloved Lyons +; my path lay amid the homes of kinsmen and acquaintances; and I lost less time from scarcity of horses than from multiplicity of friends, so closely did every one cling about me, shouting each against the other best wishes |10 for a happy journey and safe return. In this way I drew near the Alps, which I ascended easily and without delay; formidable precipices rose on either side, but the snow was hollowed into a track, and the way thus smoothed before me. 3 Such rivers, too, as could not be crossed in boats, had convenient fords or traversable bridges with covered arches, built by the art of old time from the foundations to the stoned road above. On the Ticino I boarded the packet known as the cursoria, which soon bore me to the Po; be sure I laughed over those convivial songs of ours about Phaethon's sisters1 and their unnatural tears of amber gum. 4 I passed the mouth of many a tributary from Ligurian or Euganean heights, sedgy Lambro, blue Adda, swift Adige, slow Mincio,2 borne upon their very eddies as I looked; their margins and high banks were clothed with groves of oak and maple. Everywhere sweetly resounded the harmony of birds, whose loose-piled nests swayed on the hollow canes, or amid the pointed rushes and smooth reed-grass luxuriantly flourishing in the moisture of this wet riverain soil. 5 The way led past Cremona,3 over whose proximity the Mantuan Tityrus so deeply sighed. We just touched at Brescello to take on Aemilian boatmen in place of our Venetian rowers, and, bearing to the right, soon reached Ravenna,4 where one would find it hard to say whether Caesar's road, passing between the two, separates or unites the old town and the new port. The Po divides above the city, part flowing through, part round the place. It is diverted from its main bed by the State dykes, and is thence led in diminished volume through derivative channels, the two |11 halves so disposed that one encompasses and moats the walls, the other penetrates them and brings them trade ----6 an admirable arrangement for commerce in general, and that of provisions in particular. But the drawback is that, with water all about us, we could not quench our thirst; there was neither pure-flowing aqueduct nor filterable cistern, nor trickling source, nor unclouded well. On the one side, the salt tides assail the gates; on the other, the movement of vessels stirs the filthy sediment in the canals, or the sluggish flow is fouled by the bargemen's poles, piercing the bottom slime. 7 From Ravenna we came to the Rubicon, which borrows its name from the red colour of its gravels, and formed the frontier between the old Italians and the Cisalpine Gauls, when the two peoples divided the Adriatic towns. Thence I journeyed to Rimini and Fano, the first famed for its association with Caesar's rebellion, the second tainted by the fate of Hasdrubal1; for hard by flows Metaurus, more durably renowned through the fortune of a single day than if it had never ceased to run red to this hour, and roll down the dead on blood-stained waters to the Dalmatian Sea. 8 After this I just traversed the other towns of the Flaminian Way----in at one gate, out at the other----leaving the Picenians on the left and the Umbrians on the right; and here my exhausted system succumbed either to Calabrian Atabulus2 or to air of the insalubrious Tuscan region, charged with poisonous exhalations, and blowing now hot, now cold. Fever and thirst ravaged the very marrow of my being; in vain I promised to their avidity draughts from pleasant fountain or hidden well, yes, and from every stream present or |12 to come, water of Velino clear as glass, of Clitunno ice-cold, cerulean of Teverone, sulphureous of Nera, pellucid of Farfa, muddy of Tiber;1 I was mad to drink, but prudence stayed the craving. 9 Meanwhile, Rome herself spread wide before my view, but I felt like draining down her aqueducts, or even the water of her naval spectacles. Before I reached the city limits I fell prostrate at the triumphal threshold of the Apostles, and in a flash I felt the languor vanish from my enfeebled limbs.2 After which proof of celestial protection, I alighted at the inn of which I have engaged a part, and there I am trying to get a little rest, writing as I lie upon my couch. 10 As yet I have not presented myself at the bustling gates of Emperor or Court official. For my arrival coincided with the marriage of the patrician Ricimer, to whom the hand of the Emperor's daughter was being accorded in the hope of securer times for the State.3 Not individuals alone, but whole classes and parties are given up to rejoicing; you have the best of it on your side of the Alps. While I was writing these lines, scarce a theatre, provision-market, praetorium, forum, temple, or gymnasium but echoed to the passage of the cry Thalassio! 4and even at this hour the schools are closed, no business is doing, the Courts are voiceless, missions are postponed; there is a truce to intrigue, and all the serious business of life seems merged in the buffooneries of the stage. 11 Though the bride has been given away, though the bridegroom has put off his wreath, the consular his palm-broidered robe, the brideswoman her wedding gown, the distinguished senator his toga, and the plain man his cloak, yet the noise of the great gathering has |13 not died away in the palace chambers, because the bride still delays to start for her husband's house. When this merrymaking has run out its course, you shall hear what remains to tell of my proceedings, if indeed these crowded hours of idleness to which the whole State seems now surrendered are ever to end, even when the festivities are over. Farewell.
* Paraphrased by Hodgkin, Italy and her Invaders, ii. 454; For the occasion of Sidonius' visit to Rome, see Introduction, p. xxvii.
+ Rhodanusiae nostrae.
VI.
To his friend Eutropius*
A. D. 467
1 I HAVE long wished to write, but feel the impulse more than ever now, when by the Christ's preventing grace, I am actually on the way to Rome. My sole motive, or at least my chief one, is to drag you from the slough of your domestic ease by an appeal to you to enter the imperial service.1...
2 Moreover, by the goodness of God, your age, your health of body and mind concur to fit you for the task; you have horses, arms, wardrobe, establishment, slaves in plenty; the one thing lacking, unless I greatly err, is the courage to begin. In your own home you are energetic enough; it is only at the idea of exile from it that a dull despondency intimidates you. How can it fairly be described as exile, for one with blood of senators in his veins and with the effigies of ancestors in the trabea daily forced upon his sight, to visit Rome once in his prime----Rome the abode of law, the |14 training-school of letters, the fount of honours, the head of the world, the motherland of freedom, the city unique upon earth, where none but the barbarian and the slave is foreign?1
3 Shame on you now if you bury yourself among cow-keeping rustics, or grunting swineherds, as if it were the height of your felicity to feel the plough-handle tremble above the cleft furrow, or, bowed over your scythe, to spoil the meadow of its flowery wealth, or hoe the luxuriant vines with a face bent earthwards. Have done! awake! sleek ease has unstrung the sinews of your mind; raise it to higher things. Is it a less duty in a man of your descent to cultivate himself than his estate? 4 In fine, what you are pleased to call a young man's exercise is really a relaxation only fit for broken soldiers, when their feeble hands exchange rusty sword for belated mattock. Suppose you achieve your end; suppose that vineyard upon vineyard foams with purple juice, while piled granaries collapse under endless mounds of grain; suppose plump neatherds drive the crowding cows with their swollen udders into the reeking yards to milk: what then? What use will it be to have enlarged your patrimony by sordid gains like these, to have lived recluse not only among such things, but, O deeper shame! for such things' sake? You will have only yourself to thank if one day you stand, you a nobleman born, obscure in your white hairs behind your juniors seated in debate, if you smart under the speech of some poor man risen to honour by office, and with anguish see yourself distanced by those in whom it would once have been presumption to follow in our train. 5 But why say more? 'Take my appeal |15 as it is meant, and you shall find me at your side ready to anticipate and share your every effort.1 But if you let yourself be caught in the insidious nets of pleasure; if you choose to yoke yourself, as the saying is, with the tenets of Epicurus, who frankly sacrifices virtue, and defines the chief good as physical delight, then, be our posterity my witness, I wash my hands of the disgrace. Farewell.
* Partly translated by Chaix; p. 264. For the effect of the letter on Eutropius, see III. vi.
VII.
To his friend Vincentius
A. D. 468
1 THE case of Arvandus2 distresses me, nor do I conceal my distress, for it is our emperor's crowning praise that a condemned prisoner may have friends who need not hide their friendship. I was more intimate with this man than it was safe to be with one so light and so unstable, witness the odium lately kindled against me on his account, the flame of which has scorched me for this lapse from prudence. 2 But since I had given my friendship, honour bound me fast, though he on his side has no steadfastness at all; I say this because it is the truth and not to strike him when he is down. For he despised friendly advice and made himself throughout the sport of fortune; the marvel to me is, not that he fell at last, but that he ever stood so long. How often he would boast of weathering adversity, when we, with a less superficial sense of things, deplored the sure disaster of his rashness, unable to call happy any man who only sometimes and |16 not always deserves the name. 3 But now for your question as to his government; I will tell you in few words, and with all the loyalty due to a friend however far brought low. During his first term as prefect his rule was very popular; the second was disastrous. Crushed by debt, and living in dread of creditors, he was jealous of the nobles from among whom his successor must needs be chosen. He would make fun of all his visitors, profess astonishment at advice, and spurn good offices; if people called on him too rarely, he showed suspicion; if too regularly, contempt. At last the general hate encompassed him like a rampart; before he was well divested of his authority, he was invested with guards, and a prisoner bound for Rome. Hardly had he set foot in the city when he was all exultation over his fair passage along the stormy Tuscan coast, as if convinced that the very elements were somehow at his bidding. 4 At the Capitol, the Count of the Imperial Largess,1 his friend Flavius Asellus, acted as his host and jailer, showing him deference for his prefectship, which seemed, as it were, yet warm, so newly was it stripped from him. Meanwhile, the three envoys from Gaul arrived upon his heels with the provincial decrees2 empowering them to impeach in the public name. They were Tonantius Ferreolus,3 the ex-prefect, and grandson, on the mother's side, of the Consul Afranius Syagrius, Thaumastus, and Petronius, all men practised in affairs and eloquent, all conspicuous ornaments of our country. 5 They brought, with other matters entrusted to them by the province, an intercepted letter, which Arvandus' secretary, now also under arrest, declared to have been |17 dictated by his master. It was evidently addressed to the King of the Goths,* whom it dissuaded from concluding peace with 'the Greek Emperor', + urging that instead he should attack the Bretons north of the Loire, and asserting that the law of nations called for a division of Gaul between Visigoth and Burgundian. There was more in the same mad vein, calculated to inflame a choleric king, or shame a quiet one into action. Of course the lawyers found here a flagrant case of treason. 6 These tactics did not escape the excellent Auxanius and myself; in whatever way we might have incurred the impeached man's friendship, we both felt that to evade the consequences at this crisis of his fate would be to brand us as traitors, barbarians, and poltroons. We at once exposed to the unsuspecting victim the whole scheme which a prosecution, no less astute than alert and ardent, intended to keep dark until the trial; their scheme was to noose in some unguarded reply an adversary rash enough to repudiate the advice of all his friends and rely wholly on his own unaided wits. We told him what to us and to more secret friends seemed the one safe course; we begged him not to give the slightest point away which they might try to extract from him on pretence of its insignificance; their dissimulation would be ruinous to him if it drew incautious admissions in answer to their questions. 7 When he grasped our point, he was beside himself; he suddenly broke out into abuse, and cried: 'Begone, you and your nonsensical fears, degenerate sons of prefectorian fathers; leave this part of the affair to |18 me; it is beyond an intelligence like yours. Arvandus trusts in a clear conscience; the employment of advocates to defend him on the charge of bribery shall be his one concession.' We came away in low spirits, disturbed less by the insult to ourselves than by a real concern; what right has the doctor to take offence when a man past cure gives way to passion? 8 Meanwhile, our defendant goes off to parade the Capitol square, and in white raiment too; he finds sustenance in the sly greetings which he receives; he listens with a gratified air as the bubbles of flattery burst about him. He casts curious eyes on the gems and silks and precious fabrics of the dealers, inspects, picks up, unrolls, beats down the prices as if he were a likely purchaser, moaning and groaning the whole time over the laws, the age, the senate, the emperor, and all because they would not right him then and there without investigation. 9 A few days passed, and, as I learned afterwards (I had left Rome in the interim), there was a full house in the senate-hall. Arvandus proceeded thither freshly groomed and barbered, while the accusers waited the decemvirs'1 summons unkempt and in half-mourning, snatching from him thus the defendant's usual right, and securing the advantage of suggestion which the suppliant garb confers. The parties were admitted and, as the custom is, took up positions opposite each other. Before the proceedings began, all of prefectorian rank were allowed to sit; instantly Arvandus, with that unhappy impudence of his, rushed forward and forced himself almost into the very bosoms of the judges, while the ex-prefect* gained subsequent credit |19 and respect by placing himself quietly and modestly amidst his colleagues at the lowest end of the benches, to show that his quality of envoy was his first thought, and not his rank as senator. 10 While this was going on, absent members of the house came in; the parties stood up and the envoys set forth their charge. They first produced their mandate from the province, then the already-mentioned letter; this was being read sentence by sentence, when Arvandus admitted the authorship without even waiting to be asked. The envoys rejoined, rather cruelly, that the fact of his dictation was obvious.1 And when the madman, blind to the depth of his fall, dealt himself a deadly blow by repeating the avowal not once, but twice, the accusers raised a shout, and the judges cried as one man that he stood convicted of treason out of his own mouth. Scores of legal precedents were on record to achieve his ruin. 11 Only at this point, and then not at once, is the wretched man said to have turned white in tardy repentance of his loquacity, recognizing all too late that it is possible to be convicted of high treason for other offences than aspiring to the purple. He was stripped on the spot of all the privileges pertaining to his prefecture, an office which by re-election he had held five years, and consigned to the common jail as one not now first degraded to plebeian rank, but restored to it as his own. Eye-witnesses report, as the most pathetic feature of all, that as a result of his intrusion upon his judges in all that bravery and smartness while his accusers dressed in black, his pitiable plight won him no pity when he was led off to prison a little later. How, indeed, could any one be much moved at his |20 fate, seeing him haled to the quarries or hard labour still all trimmed and pomaded like a fop? 12 Judgement was deferred a bare fortnight. He was then condemned to death, and flung into the island of the Serpent of Epidaurus.1 There, an object of compassion even to his enemies, his elegance gone, spewed, as it were, by Fortune out of the land of the living, he now drags out by benefit of Tiberius'2 law his respite of thirty days after sentence, shuddering through the long hours at the thought of hook and Gemonian stairs, and the noose of the brutal executioner. 13 We, of course, whether in Rome or out of it, are doing all we can; we make daily vows, we redouble prayers and supplications that the imperial clemency may suspend the stroke of the drawn sword, and rather visit a man already half dead with confiscation of property, and exile. But whether Arvandus has only to expect the worst, or must actually undergo it, he is surely the most miserable soul alive if, branded with such marks of shame, he has any other desire than to die. Farewell.
* Euric.
+ Anthemius.
* Tonantius Ferreolus.
VIII.
To his friend Candidianus*
A. D. 468
1 You congratulate me on my prolonged stay at Rome, though I note the touch of irony, and your wit at my expense. You say you are glad your old friend has at last seen the sun, since on the Saône his chances of |21 a good look at it are few and far between. You abuse my misty Lyons,1 and deplore the days so cloaked by morning fog that the full heat of noon can scarcely unveil them. 2 Now does this nonsense fitly come from a native of that oven of a town Cesena? You have shown your real opinion of your charming and convenient natal soil by leaving it. The midges of Po may pierce your ears; the city frogs may croak and swarm on every side, but you know very well that you are better off in exile at Ravenna than at home. In that marsh of yours the laws of everything are always the wrong way about; the waters stand and the walls fall, the towers float and the ships stick fast, the sick man walks and the doctor lies abed, the baths are chill and the houses blaze, the dead swim and the quick are dry, the powers are asleep and the thieves wide awake, the clergy live by usury and the Syrian chants the Psalms, business men turn soldiers and soldiers business men, old fellows play ball and young fellows hazard, eunuchs take to arms and rough allies to letters.2 3 And that is the kind of city you choose to settle in, a place that may boast a territory but little solid ground. Be kinder, therefore, to Transalpines who never provoked you; their climate wins too cheap a triumph if it shines only by comparison with such as yours. Farewell.
* Partly translated by Hodgkin, i. 860, and by Chaix, i. 273. Cf. Letter V.
IX.
To his friend Herenius
A. D. 468
1 THE patrician Ricimer well married, and the wealth of both empires blown to the winds in the process, the |22 community has at last resumed its sober senses and opened door and field again to business. Even before this happened I had already been made welcome to the home of the prefectorian Paul, and enjoyed the friendliest and most hospitable treatment in a house no less respectable for piety than learning. I do not know the man more eminent in every kind of accomplishment than my host. I am amazed when I think of the subtleties which he propounds, the figures of rhetoric adorning his judgements, the polish of his verses, the wonders which his fingers can perform. And over and above this encyclopaedic knowledge, he has a still better possession, a conscience superior even to all this science. Naturally, my first inquiries as to possible avenues to court-favour were addressed to him; with him I discuss the likeliest patrons for the advancement of our hopes. 2 There is, however, little need to hesitate; the number of those whose influence merits our consideration is so small. There are, indeed, many senators of wealth and birth, ripe in experience, helpful in counsel, all of the highest rank, and equal in real consideration. But without disparagement to others, we found two consulars, Gennadius Avienus and Caecina Basilius, in enjoyment of a peculiar eminence, and conspicuous above the rest; if you leave out of the account the great military officers, these two members of the exalted order easily come next to the emperor himself. We found them both deserving of the highest admiration; but their characters were very different; what resemblance there was rested rather on inborn than acquired qualities. Let me give you a short description of the pair. 3 Avienus reached the consulate |23 by luck, Basilius by merit. It was observed that the former attained his dignities with enviable rapidity, but that although the latter was slower, he won the greater number of distinctions in the end. If either chanced to leave his house, a whole populace of clients was afoot to escort him, and pressed about him like a human tide. But though the two were in so far on a level, the spirits and expectations of their friends were very far from equal. Avienus would do all that in him lay for the advancement of his sons, or sons-in-law, or brothers, but was so absorbed in family candidates that his energy in the interest of outside aspirants was proportionately impaired. 4 There was a further reason for preferring the Decian to the Corvinian family. What Avienus could only obtain for his own connexions while in office, Basilius obtained for strangers while he was in a private station. Avienus opened his mind freely, and at' once, but little came of it; Basilius rarely and not for some time, but to the petitioner's advantage. Neither of the two was inaccessible or costly of approach; but in the one case cultivation reaped mere affability, in the other, solid gain. 5 After long balancing of alternatives, we finally compromised in this sense; we would preserve all due respect for the older consular, whose house we were duly frequenting, but devote our real attention to the habitué's of Basilius' house. Now while, with the assistance of this right honourable friend, I was considering how best to advance the matter of our Arvernian petition,1the Kalends of January came round, on which day the emperor's name was to be enrolled in the Fasti as consul for a second year. 6 'The very thing,' cried my |24 patron. 'My dear Sollius, I well know that you are engaged in an exacting duty, but I do wish you would bring out your Muse again in honour of the new consul; let her sing something appropriate to the occasion, in whatever haste composed. I will obtain you an audience, be there to encourage you before you begin to recite, and guarantee you a good reception when you have done. I have some experience in these matters; trust me when I say that serious advantage may accrue from this little scheme.' I took the hint; he did not withdraw from the suggested plan, but gave me the support of an invincible ally in the act of homage imposed upon me, and managed so to influence my new consul, that I was incontinently named president of his senate. 7 But I expect you are tired to death of this prolix letter, and would much rather peruse my little work1 itself at your leisure. Indeed, I am sure you would, so the eloquent pages bear you the verses herewith, and must do duty for me until I come to speak for myself a few days hence. If my lines win the suffrage of your critical judgement, I shall be just as delighted as if a speech of mine in the assembly or from the rostra called forth the 'bravos' not of senators alone but of all the citizens. I warn you, nay, I insist with you, not to think of setting this slight piece of mine on the same plane as the hexameters of your own Muse, for by the side of yours my lines will suggest the triviality of epitaph-mongers rather than the grandeur of heroic verse. 8 Rejoice, all the same, with the panegyrist; he cannot claim the credit of a fine performance, but at least he has the reward of one. And so, if gay may enliven grave, I will imitate |25 the Pyrgopolinices of Plautus, and conclude in a robustious and Thrasonical vein.1 And since, by Christ's aid, I have got the prefecture by a lucky pen, I bid you treat me as my new state demands; pile up all conceivable felicitations and exalt to the stars my eloquence or my luck, according as I please, or fail to please, your judgement. I can imagine your smile when you see your friend carrying it off in this style with the braggart airs of the old stage-soldier. Farewell.
X.
To his friend Campanianus
A. D. 468
1 THE Intendant of Supplies 2 has personally presented the letter in which you commend him as your old friend to my new judgement. I am greatly indebted to him, but most of all to yourself for this evidence of your resolve to assume my friendship certain and proof against all suspicion. I welcome, I eagerly embrace this opportunity of acquaintance, and of intimacy, since my desire to oblige you cannot but draw closer the bonds which already unite us. 2 But please commend me in my turn to his vigilant care, commend, that is, my cause and my repute. For I rather fear that there may be an uproar in the theatres if the supplies of grain run short, and that the hunger of all the Romans will be laid to my account. I am on the point of dispatching him immediately to the harbour in person, because news is to hand that five ships from Brindisi have put in at Ostia laden with wheat and honey. |26 A stroke of energy on his part, and we should have these cargoes ready in no time for the expectant crowds; he would win my favour, I the people's, and he and I together yours. Farewell.
XI.
To his friend Montius
About A. D. 461-7
1 ON the eve of your departure to visit your people of Franche-Comté, most eloquent of friends, you ask me for a copy of a certain satire, assuming it really of my composition. I must say the request surprises me; it is not nice to jump to a false conclusion about a friend's conduct in this manner. It is so likely----is it not?----that at my then age and with my total lack of leisure, I should devote my energies to a kind of literature which it would have been presumptuous in a young man doing his service to compose, and assuredly perilous to publish. Why, a mere nodding acquaintance with a grammarian would suffice to recall the advice of the Calabrian:
'Against the libellous poet, is there not remedy of law and sentence?'1
2 To prevent any more credulity of this sort as regards your old friend, I will set forth at some length, and from the beginning, the events which brought on my head the sound and smoke of public odium. In the reign of Majorian, an anonymous but very mordant satire in verse was circulated at court; gross in its invective, it took advantage of unprotected names, |27 though it lashed vice, its attack was above all personal.1The inhabitants of Aries (that city was the scene of these events) were much excited; they wanted to know on which of our poets the weight of public indignation was to fall; at their head were the men whom the invisible author had most visibly branded. 3 It chanced that the illustrious Catullinus arrived at this juncture from Clermont; always a close friend of mine, he was then nearer to me than ever, as we had just served together; a common duty away from home brings (you know how) fellow citizens nearer. Well, Paeonius and Bigerrus set a trap for the unsuspecting visitor: they took him off his guard, and asked him, before numerous witnesses, whether he was familiar with the new poem. 'Let me hear some of it,' said Catullinus. But when they went on jestingly to quote various passages from the satire, he burst out laughing, and asseverated, rather inopportunely, perhaps, that such verses deserved to be immortalized, and set up in letters of gold on the rostra or the Capitol.2 4 At this Paeonius flamed out, for he was the man whom the fiery tooth of the satirist had most sharply bitten. 'Ha!' he cried to the crowd attracted to the spot, 'I have found out the author of this public outrage. Just look at Catullinus half dead with laughter there; obviously he knew all the points beforehand. How could he thus anticipate, and conclude from a mere part, unless he were already acquainted with the whole? We know that Sidonius is in Auvergne. It is easy to infer that he wrote the thing and that Catullinus was the first to hear it from his lips.' Now I was not only absent, but ignorant and innocent as a babe; that did not prevent a tempest of fury and |28 abuse against me; they cast to the winds loyalty, fair play, and fair inquiry; 5 such power had this popular favourite to draw the fickle crowd whither he would. As you know, Paeonius was a demagogue well versed in the tribune's art of troubling the waters of faction. But if you asked 'whence his descent and where his home?'1 'tis known he was nothing more than a plain citizen, whom the eminence of his stepfather more than any distinction of his own house first brought to public notice. He was bent on rising, and more than once let it be seen that he would stick at nothing to attain his end; though mean by nature he would spend freely for his own advancement. For example, when the engagement of his daughter (against whom I would not breathe a word) brought him the alliance of a family above his own, our Chremes,2 if rumour does not lie, announced to his Pamphilus a dower magnificently beyond the strict civic standard. 6 Again, when the Marcellian conspiracy 3 to seize the diadem was brewing, what did our friend do? A novus homo, and in his grey hairs, he must needs constitute himself the leader of the young nobility until in the fullness of time the efforts of a lucky audacity were rewarded, for the interregnum, like a rift in clouds, threw a flash of splendour on the obscurity of his birth. The throne was vacant, the State in confusion; but he, and only he, had the face, without waiting for credentials, to assume the fasces as prefect in Gaul, and for months together climb, in the sight of gods and men, the tribunal distinguished by so many illustrious magistrates. Like a public accountant or advocate promoted to honours at the close of a professional career, he |29 just managed to get recognition at the very end of his official term. 7 A prefect and senator in such wise that only my respect for the character of his son-in-law prevents me from exposing him as utterly as he deserves, behold him unashamed to fan the odium of good and bad alike against one still nominally his friend, as if I were the only man of my epoch competent to string a verse or two together. I came to Aries suspecting nothing ----how should I?----though my enemies were good enough to believe I dared not venture. The next day I paid my duty to the emperor, and went down to the forum, as I always do. As soon as I appeared, the conspiracy was at once confounded, being of the sort which, as Lucan says,1 dares put nothing to the touch. Some fell cringing at my knees, abasing themselves beyond propriety; others hid behind statues or columns to avoid the necessity of salutation; others, again, with looks of affected sorrow, walked closely at my sides. 8 I was wondering all the time what might be the meaning of this excess, first in insolence and now in abasement, but was determined not to ask, when one of the gang, put up, no doubt, to play the part, came forward to exchange greeting. We talked, and incidentally he remarked: 'You see these people?' 'I do indeed,' I answered, 'and I may say that their proceedings astonish me as much as they impress me little.' To which my kind interpreter rejoined: 'It is in your quality of satirist that they show this fear or detestation of you.' 'How so,' I cried, 'on what grounds? when did I give them the excuse? who detected the offence? who brought the charge and who the proof?' Then, with a smile, I continued thus: 'My dear sir, if you |30 don't mind, oblige me by asking these excited persons from me, whether it was a professed informer or spy who got up this imaginative story about my writing a satire. If they have to make the inevitable apology later, it will be better for them to give up this outrageous behaviour at once.' 9 No sooner had he conveyed the message, than they all came to offer their hands and salutations, not man by man, and with decorum, but the whole herd with a rush. Our Curio was left all alone to breathe imprecations on the base deserters, until at fall of evening he was hurried off home on the shoulders of bearers gloomier than mutes. 10 The next day the emperor commanded my presence at the banquet he was giving on the occasion of the Games. At the left end of the couch 1 was Severinus, the consul of the year, who managed to trim his sails to a wind of even favour throughout our vast dynastic changes and all the uneven fortunes of the State. Next him was the ex-prefect Magnus, who had just laid down the consul's office, and by virtue of these two dignities was no unworthy neighbour. Beyond Magnus was his nephew Camillus, who had also held two offices, and by his conduct of them added equal lustre to his father's proconsular rank and his uncle's consulship. Next to him was Paeonius, and then Athenius, a man versed in every turn of controversy and vicissitude of the times. After them came Gratianensis, a character not to be mentioned in the same breath with evil; and though lower in rank than Severinus, above him in the imperial estimation. I was last, upon the left side of the emperor, who lay at the right extremity of the table. 11 When the dinner was well advanced, the prince |31 addressed a few short remarks to the consul. He then turned to the ex-consul, with whom he talked several times, the subjects being literary. At an early opportunity he addressed himself to Camillus, with the remark: 'My dear Camillus, you have so admirable an uncle that I pride myself on having conferred a consulship on your family.' Camillus, who coveted a like promotion, saw his chance, and replied: 'A consulship, Sire! you surely mean a first?' Even the emperor's presence did not check the loud applause which greeted this rejoinder. 12 By accident, or of set purpose, I cannot say which, the prince now passed over Paeonius, and addressed some question or other to Athenius. Paeonius had the bad manners to take the oversight ill, and made matters worse by answering before the other had time to speak. The emperor only laughed; it was his way to be very genial in society so long as his own dignity was observed. To Athenius the laugh came as compensation for the slight he had suffered. That craftiest of all the elders had been boiling with suppressed resentment all the time because Paeonius had been placed above him, but he calmed himself enough to say: 'It no longer surprises me, Sire, that he should try to push himself into my place, when he has now pushed into your Majesty's conversation.' 13 The illustrious Gratianensis here remarked that the episode opened a wide field to a satirist. On this, the emperor turned round to me and said: 'It is news to me, Count Sidonius,1that you are a writer of satires.' 'Sire,' I answered, 'it is news to me too.' 'Anyhow,' he replied with a laugh, 'I beg you to be merciful to me.' 'I shall |32 spare myself also,' I rejoined, 'by refraining from illegality.' Thereupon the emperor said: 'What shall we do, then, to the people who have provoked you?' 'This, Sire,' I answered. ' Whoever my accuser be, let him come out into the open. If I am proved guilty, let me abide the penalty. But if, as will probably be the case, I rebut the charge, I ask of your clemency permission to write anything I choose about my assailant, provided I observe the law.' 14 The emperor looked at Paeonius, who was hesitating, and made a sign of inquiry whether he accepted the conditions. But he had not a word to answer, and the prince spared his embarrassment; at last, however, he managed to say: 'I agree to your conditions, if you can put them in verse on the spot.' 'Very well,' I said; and turning back, as if to call for water for my hands, I remained in that attitude the time occupied by a quick servant in going round the table. I then resumed my former position, and the emperor said: 'Your undertaking was to ask in an impromptu our sanction for writing satire.' I replied:
'O mightiest prince, I pray that this be thy decree: let him who calls me libeller or prove his charge, or fear.'
15 I do not want to seem conceited, but the applause which followed was equal to that which had greeted Camillus; though it was earned, of course, less by the merit of the verse than by the speed with which I had composed. Then the emperor cried: 'I call God and the common weal to witness that in future I give you licence to write what you please; the charge brought against you was not susceptible of proof. It would be most unjust if the imperial decision allowed such latitude to private quarrels that evident malice might imperil |33 by obscure charges nobles whom conscious innocence puts wholly off their guard.' At this pronouncement I modestly bent my head and thanked him; the face of my opponent, which had previously shown successive signs of rage and vexation, now grew pale. Indeed, it was almost frozen with terror, as if he had received the order to present his neck to the executioner's drawn sword. 16 Little more was said before we rose from the table. We had withdrawn a short distance from the imperial presence, and were in the act of putting on our mantles, when the consul fell upon my bosom, the ex-prefects seized my hands, and my guilty friend abased himself so often and so profoundly, that he aroused universal pity, and bade fair to place me in a more invidious position by his entreaties than he had ever done by his insinuations. Urged to speak by the throng of nobles round me, I closed the episode by telling him that he might set his mind at rest; I should write no satire on his base intrigue so long as he abstained henceforward from the misrepresentation of my actions. It should be punishment enough for him to know that his ascription of the lampoon to me had added to my credit and brought nothing but discredit on himself. 17 In fine, honoured lord, the man whom I thus confounded had not been loudest in calumny; he was a mere whisperer. But since, by his offence, I had the satisfaction of being so warmly greeted by so many men of the highest influence and position, I confess that it was almost worth while to have borne the scandal of the exordium for the sake of so triumphant a conclusion. Farewell.
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Sidonius Apollinaris, Letters. Tr. O.M. Dalton (1915) pp. 34-62; Book II
Sidonius Apollinaris, Letters. Tr. O.M. Dalton (1915) pp. 34-62; Book II
BOOK II
I.
To [his brother-in-law] Ecdicius*
c. A.D. 470
1 YOUR countrymen of Auvergne suffer equally from two evils. 'What are those?' you ask. Seronatus' presence, and your own absence. Seronatus----his very name first calls for notice; 1 I think that when he was so named, a prescient fortune must have played with contradictions, as our predecessors did, who by antiphrasis used the root of 'beautiful' in their word for war, the most hideous thing on earth; and, with no less perversity, the root of mercy in their name for Fate, because Fate never spares. This Catiline of our day is just returned from the region of the Adour to blend in whole confusion the fortune and the blood of unhappy victims which down there he had only pledged himself in part to shed. 2 You must know that his long-dissembled savagery comes daily further into the light. His spite affronts the day; his dissimulation was abject as his arrogance is servile. He commands like a despot; no tyrant more exacting than he, no judge more peremptory in sentence, no barbarian falser in false witness. The livelong day he goes armed from cowardice, and starving from pure meanness. Greed makes him |35 formidable, and vanity cruel; he continually commits himself the very thefts he punishes in others. To the universal amusement he will rant of war in a civilian company, and of literature among Goths. Though he barely knows the alphabet, he has the conceit to dictate letters in public and the impudence to revise them under the same conditions.
3 All property he covets he makes a show of buying; but he never thinks of paying, nor does he trouble to furnish himself with deeds, knowing it hopeless to prove a title.1 In the council-chamber he commands, but in counsel he is mute. He jests in church and preaches at table; snores on the bench, and breathes condemnation in his bedroom. His actions are filling the woods with dangerous fugitives from the estates, the churches with scoundrels, the prisons with holy men. He cries the Goths up and the Romans down; he prepares illusions for prefects and collusions with public accountants. He tramples under foot the Theodosian Code to set in its place the laws of a Theodoric,2 raking up old charges to justify new imposts. 4 Be quick, then, to unravel the tangle of affairs that makes you linger; cut short whatever causes your delay. Our people are at the last gasp; freedom is almost dead. Whether there is any hope, or whether all is to be despair, they want you in their midst to lead them. If the State is powerless to succour, if, as rumour says, the Emperor Anthemius is without resource, our nobility is determined to follow your lead, and give up their country or the hair of their heads.3Farewell. |36
* Partly translated by Fertig, Part i, p. 20.
II.
T0 his friend Domitius
A.D. 461-7(?)
1 You attack me for staying in the country; I might with greater reason complain of you for lingering in town. Spring already gives place to summer; the sun has travelled his full range to the Tropic of Cancer and now advances on his journey towards the pole. Why should I waste words upon the climate which we here enjoy? The Creator has so placed us that we are exposed to the afternoon heats. Enough said; the whole world glows; the snow is melting on the Alps; the earth is seamed with gaping heat-cracks. The fords are nothing but dry gravel, the banks hard mud, the plains dust; the running streams languish and hardly drag themselves along; as for the water, hot is not the word; it boils. 2 We are all perspiring in light silks or linens; but there you stay at Ameria all swathed up under your great gown, buried in a deep chair, and setting with many yawns 'My mother was a Samian' 1 to pupils paler from the heat than from any fear of you. As you love your health, get away at once from your suffocating alleys, join our household as the most welcome of all guests, and in this most temperate of retreats evade the intemperate dog-star.
3 You may like to know the kind of place to which you are invited. We are at the estate known as Avitacum,2 a name of sweeter sound in my ears than my own patrimony because it came to me with my |37 wife. Infer the harmony which established between me and mine; it is God's ordinance; but you might be pardoned for fearing it the work of some enchantment. On the west rises a big hill, pretty steep but not rocky, from which issue two lower spurs, like branches from a double trunk, extending over an area of about four jugera. But while the ground opens out enough to form a broad approach to the front door, the straight slopes on either side lead a valley right to the boundary of the villa, which faces north and south. 4 On the south-west are the baths,1 which so closely adjoin a wooded eminence that if timber is cut on the hill above, the piles of logs slide down almost by their own weight, and are brought up against the very mouth of the furnace. At this point is the hot bath, which corresponds in size with the adjoining unguentarium, except that it has an apse with a semicircular basin; here the hot water pressing through the sinuous lead pipes that pierce the wall issues with a sobbing sound. The chamber itself is well heated from beneath; it is full of day, and so overflowing with light that very modest bathers seem to themselves something more than naked. 5 Next come the spacious frigidarium, which may fairly challenge comparison with those in public baths. The roof is pyramidal, and the spaces between the converging ridges are covered with imbricated tiles; the architect has inserted two opposite windows about the junction of walls and dome, so that if you look up, you see the fine coffering displayed to the best advantage. The interior walls are unpretentiously covered with plain white stucco, and the apartment is designed by the nicest calculation of space |38 to contain the same number of persons as the semicircular bath holds bathers, while it yet allows the servants to move about without impeding one another. 6 No frescoed scene obtrudes its comely nudities, gracing the art to the disgrace of the artist. You will observe no painted actors in absurd masks, and costumes rivalling Philistio's gear with colours gaudy as the rainbow.1You will find no pugilists or wrestlers intertwining their oiled limbs in those grips which, in real bouts, the gymnasiarch's chaste wand unlocks the moment the enlaced limbs look indecent. 7 Enough you will see upon these walls none of those things which it is nicer not to look upon. A few verses there are, harmless lines enough, since no one either regrets perusal or cares to peruse again. If you want to know what marbles are employed, neither Paros nor Carystos, nor Proconnesos, nor Phrygia, nor Numidia, nor Sparta have contributed their diverse inlays. I had no use for stone that simulates a broken surface, with Ethiopic crags and purple precipices stained with genuine murex. Though enriched by no cold splendour of foreign marble, my poor huts and hovels do not lack the coolness to which a plain citizen may aspire. But now I had really better talk about the things I have, than the things I lack. 8 With this hall is connected on the eastern side an annexe, a piscina, or, if you prefer the Greek word, baptistery, with a capacity of about twenty thousand modii. Into this the bathers pass from the hot room by three arched entrances in the dividing wall. The supports are not piers but columns, which your experienced architect calls the glory of buildings. Into this piscina, then, a stream lured from the brow |39 of the hill is conducted in channels curving round the outside of the swimming basin; it issues through six pipes terminating in lions' heads which, to one entering rapidly, seem to present real fangs, authentic fury of eyes, indubitable manes. 9 When the master of the house stands here with his household or his guests about him, people have to shout in each other's ears, or the noise of falling water makes their words inaudible; the interference of this alien sound forces conversations which are quite public to assume an amusing air of secrecy. On leaving this chamber you see in front of you the withdrawing-room; adjoining it is the storeroom, separated only by a movable partition from the place where the maids do our weaving.
10 On the east side a portico commands the lake, supported by simple wooden pillars instead of pretentious monumental columns. On the side of the front entrance is a long covered space unbroken by interior divisions; it may be incorrect to call this a hypodrome, but I may fairly award it the name of cryptoporticus. At the end it is curtailed by a section cut off to form a delightfully cool bay, and here when we keep open festival, the whole chattering chorus of nurses and dependants sounds a halt when the family retires for the siesta.
11 The winter dining-room is entered from this cryptoporticus; a roaring fire on an arched hearth often fills this apartment with smoke and smuts. But that detail I may spare you; a glowing hearth is the last thing I am inviting you to enjoy just now. I pass instead to things which suit the season and your present need. From here one enters a smaller chamber or dining-room, |40 all open to the lake and with almost the whole expanse of lake in its view. This chamber is furnished with a dining-couch and gleaming sideboard upon a raised area or dais to which you mount gradually, and not by abrupt or narrow steps from the portico below. Reclining at this table you can give the idle moments between the courses to the enjoyment of the prospect. 12 If water of our famous springs is served and quickly poured into the cups, one sees snowy spots and clouded patches form outside them; the sudden chill dulls the fugitive reflections of the surface almost as if it had been greased. Such cups restrict one's draughts; the thirstiest soul on earth, to say nothing of Your Abstemiousness, would set lip to the freezing brims with caution. From table you may watch the fisherman row his boat out to mid-lake, and spread his seine with cork floats, or suspend his lines at marked intervals to lure the greedy trout on their nightly excursions through the lake with bait of their own flesh and blood: what phrase more proper, since fish is literally caught by fish? 13 The meal over, we pass into a withdrawing-room, which its coolness makes a perfect place in summer. Facing north, it receives all the daylight but no direct sun: a very small intervening chamber accommodates the drowsy servants, large enough to allow them forty winks but not a regular sleep. 14 It is delightful to sit here and listen to the shrill cicala at noon, the croak of frogs in the gloaming, the clangour of swans and geese in the earlier night or the crow of cocks in the dead of it, the ominous voice of rooks saluting the rosy face of Dawn in chorus, or, in the half-light, nightingales fluting in the bushes and |41 swallows twittering under the eaves. To this concert you may add the seven-stopped pipe of the pastoral Muse, on which the very wakeful Tityri of our hills will often vie one with another, while the herds about them low to the cow-bells as they graze along the pastures. All these tuneful songs and sounds will but charm you into deeper slumbers. 15 If you leave the colonnade and go down to the little lakeside harbour, you come to a greensward, and, hard by, to a grove of trees where every one is allowed to go. There stand two great limes, with roots and trunks apart, but the boughs interwoven in one continuous canopy. In their dense shade we play at ball1 when my Ecdicius honours me with his company; but the moment the shadow of the trees shrinks to the area covered by the branches we stop for want of ground, and repose our tired limbs at dice.
16 I have described the house; I now owe you a description of the lake. It extends in a devious course towards the east, and when violent winds lash it to fury, drenches the lower part of the house with spray. At its head the ground is marshy and full of bog-holes, impassable to the explorer; a slimy and saturated mud has formed there, and cold springs rise on all sides; the edges are fringed with weed. When the wind drops, small boats cleave its changeful surface in all directions. But if dirty weather comes up from the south the whole lake is swollen into monstrous waves and a rain of spray comes crashing over the tree-tops upon the banks. 17 By nautical measure, it is seventeen stadia in length. Where the river comes in, the broken water foams white against the rocky barriers; but the |42 stream soon wins clear of the overhanging crags, and is lost in the smooth expanse. Whether the river itself makes the lake, or is only an affluent, I know not; certain it is that it reaches the other end, and flows away through subterranean channels which only deprive it of its fish, and leave it intact in volume. The fish, driven into more sluggish waters, increase in size, red bodied and white under the belly. They cannot either return or escape; they fatten, and go self-contained as it were in portable jails of their own composition. 18 On the right, a wooded shore curves with an indented line; on the left, it opens to a level sweep of grass. On the southwest the shallows along the banks look green; overarching boughs lend the water their own hue, and the water transmits it to the pebbles at the bottom; on the east, a similar fringe of foliage produces a like tint. On the north, the water preserves its natural colour; on the west, the shore is covered with a tangle of common growths crushed in many places where boats have rowed over them; close by, tufts of smooth reeds bend to the wind, and pulpy flat leaves of aquatic plants float upon the surface; the sweet waters nourish the bitter sap of the grey-green willows growing near. 19 In the deep middle of the lake is an islet, at one end of which projects a turning post upon boulders naturally piled, worn by contact with oar-blades during our aquatic sports; at this point competitors often collide and come to cheerful grief. Our fathers used to hold boat-races here in imitation of the Trojan ceremonial games at Drepanum.1
It is not in my bond to describe the estate itself; suffice it to say that it has spreading woods and flowery |43 meadows, pastures rich in cattle and a wealth of hardy shepherds. 20 Here I must conclude. Were my pen to run on much further the autumn would overtake you before you reached the end. Accord me, then, the grace of coming quickly; your return shall be as slow as ever you choose. And forgive me if, in my fear of overlooking anything about our situation here, I have given you facts in excess and beyond the fair limits of a letter. As it is, there are points which I have left untouched for fear of being tedious. But a reader of your judgement and imagination will not exaggerate the size of the descriptive page, but rather that of the house so spaciously depicted. Farewell.
III.
To [his friend Magnus] Felix
c. A.D. 472
1 I REJOICE, honoured lord, to see you win the distinction of this most exalted title;1 and all the more because the news is announced to me by special messenger. For though you are now high among the powers, and after all these years the patrician dignity comes back to the Philagrian house by your felicity 2, you will discover, most loyal of friends, how much your honours grow by being shared, and how far so rare a modesty as yours exalts a lofty station. 2 It was for these qualities that the Roman people once preferred Quintus Fabius the Master of the Horse to Cursor with his dictatorial rigour and his Papirian pride;3 for these that Pompey surpassed all rivals in a popularity |44 which he was too wise to scorn. By these Germanicus won the whole world's favour and forced Tiberius to repress his envy. For these reasons I will not concede all the credit for your promotion to the imperial pleasure. It has only one advantage over ours; were we to oppose your claims, it has the power to override us. Your peculiar privilege, your unique advantage is this: you have neither actual rival nor visible successor. Farewell.
IV.
To his friend Sagittarius*
A.D. 461-7
1 THE honourable § Projectus is ardently bent upon your friendship; I trust that you will not repel his advances. He is of noble lineage; the reputation of his father and his uncle, and his grandfather's eminence in the Church unite to lend a lustre to his name; he has indeed all that conduces to distinction; family, wealth, probity, energetic youth; but not till he is assured of your good graces, will he consider himself to have attained the culminating point of his career. 2 Although he has already asked and obtained from the widow of the late honourable Optantius her daughter's hand----may God speed his hopes----he fears that little will have been gained by all his vows, unless his own solicitude, or my intercession gains him your support as well. For you have taken the place of the girl's dead father; you have succeeded to his share in the |45 responsibility for her upbringing; it is to you that she looks for a father's love, a patron's guidance, a guardian's bounden care. 3 And since it is but natural that your admirable government of your household should attract men of the right stamp even from distant places, reward the modesty of this suppliant wooer by a kindly response. In the usual course of events it would have fallen to you to obtain him the mother's consent; as it is, he saves you this trouble, and you have only to sanction a troth already approved. Your reputation gives you in effect a parental authority in regard to this match; the father himself, if he had lived, could not have claimed a greater. Farewell.
* Or to Syagrius, as C.
§ Clarissimus.
V.
To his friend Petronius
A.D. 461-7
1 JOHN, my friend, is caught inextricably in the labyrinth of a complex business, and is at a loss what to hope and what abandon until your experienced eye, or another as good (if such there be), has looked into his titles to determine their validity. The case is confusing in that it has more than one side, and he does not see whether his statement should maintain one line of action or impugn another. 2 I most earnestly beg you, therefore, to examine his documents and tell him what his rights are, what he ought to allege or refute, and what his procedure should be. Let but the stream of this affair flow from the springs of your advice, and I have no fear that the other side will manage to reduce its volume by any unfair diversion. Farewell. |46
VI.
To his friend Pegasius
A.D. 461-7
1 THERE is a proverb that delay is often best; I have just had proof that it is true. We have had your friend Menstruanus long enough among us, to find him worthy of a place among our dearest and most intimate friends. He is agreeable, and of refined manners, moderate, sensible, religious, and no spendthrift; his is a personality which confers as much as it obtains when admitted to the most approved of friendships. 2 I tell you this for my own satisfaction, and not to inform you of what you already know. As a result, content will now reign in three separate quarters. You will be pleased at this seal set on your judgement in the choice and adoption of your friends; the Arvenians will be pleased, since to my certain knowledge they liked him for the very qualities which, I am sure, commended him to you; lastly Menstruanus himself will be gratified at receiving the good opinion of honourable men. Farewell.
VII.
To his friend Explicius
A.D. 461-7
1 You have given so many proofs of your impartiality that you have won universal respect, and for that reason I am always more than eager to send all seekers after justice to your judgement-seat; by so doing I ease |47 the disputants from their burden, and myself from all necessity of argument. These ends I shall attain in the present case, unless your diffidence should prompt you to refuse the parties audience; but your very inaccessibility is the best proof of your impartiality. For almost every one else intrigues to be chosen as an arbitrator, expecting to gain something in influence or advantage. 2 Be indulgent, therefore, to men who press on each other's heels to enjoy the privilege of pleading before so fair a judge; your repute is such that the loser can never be so stupid as to impugn your verdict, or the winner so over-subtle as to deride it. Both sides respect the truth; those against whom the verdict goes respect you; those whom it favours show their gratitude. Therefore I implore your early decision on the matter in dispute between Alethius and Paulus. I believe your sound sense and healthy judgement can alone heal the malady of this interminable quarrel, and that they will be far more effective than any decrees of decemvirs or of pontiffs. Farewell.
VIII.
To his friend Desideratus
A.D. 461-7
1 I WRITE oppressed by a great sorrow. Three days ago Filimatia died, and all business was suspended out of respect to her memory. She was an obedient wife, a kindly mistress, a capable mother, a dutiful daughter, whether at home or abroad, earning the willing service of her inferiors, the affection of her equals, and the |48 consideration of the great. Left an only daughter at her mother's death, she so bewitched her father by her charming ways, that though he was still a young man, he never longed for a male heir. And now her sudden death pierces two hearts, leaving a husband desolate and a father childless. The mother of five children has been snatched away before her time, her very fertility her worst misfortune1; had she been left, and the invalid father taken, the little ones would seem less helpless than now. 2 The tributes of affection which we pay the dead are not vain; it was not the sinister train of bearers who buried her; all present were dissolved in tears, and the very strangers hung upon the bier as if they would hold it back. They imprinted kisses on it, until more like one in slumber than one dead, she was received by her relatives and the clergy, to be laid to rest in her long home. When the rites were done, the bereaved father begged me to write an elegy for her tombstone; I did it while my tears were still almost warm, choosing the hendecasyllabic in place of the elegiac measure. If you do not think the lines too bad, my bookseller shall include them in the volumes of my selected poems; if you do, the heavy verse shall be confined to the heavy stone.
3 Here is my epitaph:
'In this tomb a mourning country's hands have laid the matron Filimatia, whom with fierce stroke and swift, fate snatched from spouse, from sire, from five orphaned children. O pride of thy house, O glory of thy consort, O wise and pure and seemly, O strict and tender, and worthy to precede even the aged, by what art of thy gentle nature didst thou unite the |49 qualities which seem at discord with each other? For a grave ease and a modesty not too severe for gaiety were ever the companions of thy life. Therefore we mourn thee taken, thy sixth lustre hardly run, and the due rites paid in this undue season of thy prime.' 1
Whether you like the verses or not, hasten back to the city. You owe the bereaved homes of two fellow townsmen the duty of consolation. Pray God you so act that the manner of your action may never be your reproach hereafter. Farewell.
IX.
To his friend Donidius *
A.D. 461-7
1 To your question why, having got as far as Nimes, I still leave your hospitality expectant, I reply by giving the reason for my delayed return. I will even dilate upon the causes of my dilatoriness, for I know that what I enjoy is your enjoyment too. The fact is, I have passed the most delightful time in the most beautiful country in the company of Tonantius Ferreolus and Apollinaris, the most charming hosts in the world. Their estates march together; their houses are not far apart; and the extent of intervening ground is just too far for a walk and just too short to make the ride worth while.2 The hills above the houses are under vines and olives; they might be Nysa and Aracynthus, famed in song.3 The view from one villa is over a wide flat country, that from the other over |50 woodland; yet different though their situations are, the eye derives equal pleasure from both. 2 But enough of sites; I have now to unfold the order of my entertainment. Sharp scouts were posted to look out for our return; and not only were the roads patrolled by men from each estate, but even winding short-cuts and sheep-tracks were under observation, to make it quite impossible for us to elude the friendly ambush. Into this of course we fell, no unwilling prisoners; and our captors instantly made us swear to dismiss every idea of continuing our journey until a whole week had elapsed. 3 And so every morning began with a flattering rivalry between the two hosts, as to which of their kitchens should first smoke for the refreshment of their guest; nor, though I am personally related to one, and connected through my relatives with the other, could I manage by alternation to give them quite equal measure, since age and the dignity of prefectorian rank gave Ferreolus a prior right of invitation over and above his other claims. 4 From the first moment we were hurried from one pleasure to another. Hardly had we entered the vestibule of either house when we saw two opposed pairs of partners in the ball-game1 repeating each other's movements as they turned in wheeling circles; in another place one heard the rattle of dice boxes and the shouts of the contending players; in yet another, were books in abundance ready to your hand; you might have imagined yourself among the shelves of some grammarian, or the tiers of the Athenaeum, or a bookseller's towering cases.2 They were so arranged that the devotional works were near the ladies' seats; where the master sat were those |51 ennobled by the great style of Roman eloquence. The arrangement had this defect, that it separated certain books by certain authors in manner as near to each other as in matter they are far apart. Thus Augustine writes like Varro, and Horace like Prudentius; but you had to consult them on different sides of the room. 5 Turranius Rufinus' interpretation of Adamantius Origen1 was eagerly examined by the readers of theology among us; according to our several points of view, we had different reasons to give for the censure of this Father by certain of the clergy as too trenchant a controversialist and best avoided by the prudent; but the translation is so literal and yet renders the spirit of the work so well, that neither Apuleius' version of Plato's Phaedo, nor Cicero's of the Ctesiphon of Demosthenes is more admirably adapted to the use and rule of our Latin tongue. 6 While we were engaged in these discussions as fancy prompted each, appears an envoy from the cook to warn us that the moment of bodily refreshment is at hand. And in fact the fifth hour had just elapsed, proving that the man was punctual, had properly marked the advance of the hours upon the water-clock 2. The dinner was short, but abundant, served in the fashion affected in senatorial houses where inveterate usage prescribes numerous courses on very few dishes, though to afford variety, roast alternated with stew. Amusing and instructive anecdotes accompanied our potations; wit went with the one sort, and learning with the other. To be brief, we were entertained with decorum, refinement, and good cheer. 7 After dinner, if we were at Vorocingus 3 (the name of one estate) we walked over to our |52 quarters and our own belongings. If at Prusianum, as the other is called, [the young] Tonantius and his brothers turned out of their beds for us because we could not be always dragging our gear about: 1 they are surely the elect among the nobles of our own age. The siesta over, we took a short ride to sharpen our jaded appetites for supper. 8 Both of our hosts had baths in their houses, but in neither did they happen to be available; so I set my own servants to work in the rare sober interludes which the convivial bowl, too often filled, allowed their sodden brains. I made them dig a pit at their best speed either near a spring or by the river; into this a heap of red-hot stones was thrown, and the glowing cavity then covered over with an arched roof of wattled hazel. This still left interstices, and to exclude the light and keep in the steam given off when water was thrown on the hot stones, we laid coverings of Cilician goats' hair over all.2 9 In these vapour-baths we passed whole hours with lively talk and repartee; all the time the cloud of hissing steam enveloping us induced the healthiest perspiration.
When we had perspired enough, we were bathed in hot water; the treatment removed the feeling of repletion, but left us languid; we therefore finished off with a bracing douche from fountain, well or river. For the river Garden runs between the two properties; except in time of flood, when the stream is swollen and clouded with melted snow, it looks red through its tawny gravels, and flows still and pellucid over its pebbly bed, teeming none the less with the most delicate fish. 10 I could tell you of suppers fit for a king; it is not my sense of shame, but simply want of space which sets |53 a limit to my revelations. You would have a great story if I turned the page and continued on the other side; but I am always ashamed to disfigure the back of a letter with an inky pen. Besides, I am on the point of leaving here, and hope, by Christ's grace, that we shall meet very shortly; the story of our friends' banquets will be better told at my own table or yours----provided only that a good week's interval first elapses to restore me the healthy appetite I long for. There is nothing like thin living to give tone to a system disordered by excess. Farewell.
* Translated by Hodgkin, ii. 324 f.
X.
To his friend Hesperius
c. A. D. 470
1 WHAT I most love in you is your love of letters, and I strive to enhance the generous devotion by the highest praises I can give; your firstfruits please the better for it, and even my own work begins to rise in my esteem. For the richest reward of a man's labours is to see promising young men growing up in that discipline of letters for which he in his own day smarted under the cane. The numbers of the indifferent grow at such a rate that unless your little band can save the purity of the Latin tongue from the rust of sorry barbarisms we shall soon have to mourn its abolition and decease. All the fine flowers of diction will lose their splendour through the apathy of our people. 2 But of that another time. My present duty is to send you what you asked, namely, any verses I might have written since we saw each other last, to compensate |54 you for my absence. I now satisfy your desire; young though you are, your judgement is already so matured that even we seniors like to obey your wishes.
A church has recently been built at Lyons,1 and carried to a successful completion by the zeal of Bishop Patiens; you know his holy, strenuous, and ascetic life, how by his abounding liberality and hospitable love towards the poor he erects to an equal height the temple of a spotless reputation. 3 At his request I wrote a hurried inscription for the end of the church in triple trochaic, a metre by this time as familiar to you as it has long been to me. Hexameters by the illustrious poets Constantius and Secundinus adorn the walls by the altar; these mere shame forbids me to copy here for you. It is with diffidence that I let my verse appear at all; comparison of their accomplished work with the poor efforts of my leisure would be too overwhelming. Just as a too beautiful bridesmaid makes the worst escort for a bride, and a dark man looks his swarthiest in white, so does my scrannel pipe sound common and is drowned by the music of their nobler instruments. Holding the middle post in space and the last in merit, my composition stands condemned as a poor thing, no less for its faulty art than for the presumption which has set it where it is. Their inscriptions properly outshine mine, which is but a sketchy and fanciful production. But excuses are of little use: let the wretched reed warble the lines demanded of me:
4 'O thou * who here applaudest the labours of Patiens our pontiff and father, be it thine to receive of heaven |55 an answer to a prayer according with thy desire. High stands the church in splendour, extending neither to right nor left, but with towering front looking towards the equinoctial sunrise. Within is shining light, and the gilding of the coffered ceiling allures the sunbeams golden as itself. The whole basilica is bright with diverse marbles, floor vaulting and windows all adorned with figures of most various colour, and mosaic green as a blooming mead shows its design of sapphire cubes winding through the ground of verdant glass.1 The entrance is a triple portico proudly set on Aquitanian columns; a second portico of like design closes the atrium at the farther side, and the mid-space is flanked afar by columns numerous as forest stems. On the one side runs the noisy highway, on the other leaps the Saône; here turns the traveller who rides or goes afoot, here the driver of the creaking carriage; here the towers, bowed over the rope, raise their river-chant to Christ till the banks re-echo Alleluia. So raise the psalm, O wayfarer and boatman, for here is the goal of all mankind, hither runs for all the way of their salvation.'
5 You see I have done your bidding as if you were the older and I the younger man. But mind not to forget that I expect repayment with compound interest; and to make the payment easy and positively delightful, there is only one thing to do: read shamelessly; never stop longing for your books. The auspicious event, now so near, I mean the home-coming of your bride, must not distract you; keep steadily before your mind how many wives have held the lamp for studious or meditative lords----Marcia for Hortensius, Terentia for |56 Tullius, Calpurnia for Pliny, Pudentilla for Apuleius, Rusticana for Symmachus. 6 When you are inclined to complain that feminine companionship may deaden not only your eloquence but your poetic talent as well, and dull the fine edge which long study has set upon your diction, remember how often Corinna helped her Ovid to round off a verse, Lesbia her Catullus, Caesennia her Gaetulicus, Argentaria her Lucan, Cynthia her Propertius, or Delia her Tibullus. Why, it is as clear as day that, to the studious, marriage is opportunity, and only to the idle an excuse. Set to, then; do not permit a mob of the unlettered to discourage your zeal for letters. For it is Nature's law in all the arts that the rarer the accomplishment, the higher the value. Farewell.
* Translated by Hodgkin, ii. 328 ff., who uses a corresponding English metre; also by Fertig, ii. 37.
XI.
To his friend Rusticus
A. D. 461-7
1 IF only we lived nearer to each other, and the distance which sunders us were less vast, I should allow no remissness in correspondence to affect the duties of our established intimacy. I should not cease, the foundations of our mutual friendship once laid, to raise thereon a noble structure by all honourable attention. The distance of our homes from each other may hardly affect the union of hearts linked once for all, yet it interferes with the intercourse of minds. 2 The remoteness of our cities is really responsible for the rarity of our letters; but so close is our friendship that we keep accusing ourselves, though all the time the |57 obstacles are purely natural, and afford no real ground either for blame or for excuse. I opened my gates in a good hour, illustrious lord, to your messengers, in whom I marked the effect of your training and the influence of their master's unassuming manners. I heard with pleasure all they had to say, and finally dismissed them as the event required. Farewell.
XII.
To his brother-in-law Agricola
A. D. 461-7
1 WHAT a fast and well-built boat you have sent, roomy enough to hold a couch; and a present of fish too! In addition, a steersman who knows the whole river well, with sturdy and expert oarsmen who seem able to shoot up-stream just as fast as down. But you must hold me excused if I decline your invitation to join your fishing; stronger nets than yours detain me here, nets of anxiety for our invalids, a source of concern not merely to our own circle but to many beyond its limits. If the natural feelings of a brother awaken in you the moment you open this, you too will give up the expedition and return. 2 The cause of this general solicitude is our Severiana. At first she was troubled by a shattering intermittent cough; upon this an exhaustive fever supervened which has grown worse during successive nights. She longs to get away into the country; when your letter came, we were actually preparing to leave town for the villa. Whether you decide to stay where you are, or to come to us, join your prayers to ours that Nature with her vigorous |58 growth may bring back health to one pining for country air. Your sister and I have been living in suspense between hope and fear; we thought that to oppose the invalid's wish would only make her fret the more. So under Christ's guidance we are determined to fly the languor and heat of town with all our household, and incidentally escape the doctors also, who disagree across the bed, and by their ignorance and endless visits conscientiously kill off their patients. Only Justus shall be of our party, but in the quality of friend, not as physician; Justus, who, if this were a time for jesting, I could easily prove a Chiron rather than a Machaon.1Let us then with all the more diligence entreat and beseech the Lord that the cure which our efforts fail to effect may come down to our invalid from above. Farewell.
XIII.
To Senanus*
A. D. 461-7
1 THE advocate Marcellinus has brought your letter; I find him a man of experience; he is of the sort that makes friends. The consecrated words of greeting over, you give all the rest of your space, no trifling amount, to laudation of Petronius Maximus, your imperial patron. With more persistence (or shall I call it amiability?) than truth and justice, you style him 'the most fortunate', because, after holding all the most honourable offices of state, he at last attained the diadem. Personally, I shall always refuse to call |59 that man fortunate who is poised on the precipitous and slippery peak of office. 2 O the unspeakable miseries of that life, the life of your fortunates! And are they who usurp the title, as Sulla did, really to be so styled for trampling upon all law and justice, and believing power the only happiness? Does not their blindness to their own most harassing servitude alone prove them more wretched than other men? For as kings rule their subjects, so desire of domination dominates kings. 3 Were the fate of all princes before and after him left out of the account, this Maximus of yours would alone provide the maximum of warnings.1He had scaled with intrepidity the prefectorian, the patrician, the consular citadels; with an unsated appetite for office, he took for a second term posts which he had already held. But when the supreme effort brought him to the yawning gulf of the imperial dignity, his head swam beneath the diadem at sight of that enormous power, and the man who once could not bear to have a master could not now endure to be one. 4 Imagine how much was left in all this of the influence, the power, and the stability of the old life; then think of this two-months' principate, its beginning, its whirlwind course, its end. Is it not plain that his real happiness was over and done before this epithet of 'fortunate' was ever given him? The man who once was so great a figure, with his conspicuous way of life, his banquets, his lavish expense, his retinues, his literary pursuits, his official rank, his estates, his extensive patronage; who so jealously watched the flight of time that the clock 2 must set before his eyes the passage of every hour; this man, once made emperor, and prisoned |60 in the palace walls, was rueing his own success before the first evening fell. And when his mountainous cares forbade him to mete the hours in his former tranquil way, he had to make instant renunciation of the old regular life; he soon discovered that the business of empire and a senatorial ease are inconsistent with each other. 5 The future did not deceive his sad forebodings; it was no help to him to have traversed all other offices of the court in the fairest of fair weather; his rule of it was from the first tempestuous, with popular tumults, tumults of soldiery, tumults of allies. And the climax was unprecedentedly swift and cruel; Fortune, who had long cozened him, showed now all her faithlessness and made a bloody end; it was the last of her that stung him, as the tail of the scorpion stings. A prominent, noble man of high culture, whose talents raised him to quaestor's rank, a man of great influence among the nobility, I mean Fulgentius, used to say that whenever the thrice-loathed burden of a crown set Maximus longing for his ancient ease, he would often hear him exclaim: 'Happy thou, O Damocles, whose royal duresse did not outlast a single banquet!' 6 History tells us that Damocles was a Sicilian of Syracuse, and an acquaintance of the tyrant Dionysius. One day, when he was extolling to the skies the privileges of his patron's life without any comprehension of its drawbacks, Dionysius said to him: 'Would you like to see for yourself, at this very board, what the blessings and the curses of royalty are like?' 'I should think I would,' replied the other. Instantly the dazzled and delighted creature was stripped of his commoner's garb and made resplendent with robes of Tyrian and Tarentine dye; |61 they set him on a gold couch with coverings of silk, a figure glittering with gems and pearls. 7 But just as a Sardanapalian feast was about to begin, and bread of fine Leontine wheat was handed round; just as rare viands were brought in on plate of yet greater rarity; just as the Falernian foamed in great gem-like cups and unguents tempered the ice-cold crystal; just as the whole room breathed cinnamon and frankincense and exotic perfumes floated to every nostril; just as the garlands were drying on heads drenched with nard,----behold a bare sword, swinging from the ceiling right over his purple-mantled shoulders, as if every instant it must fall and pierce his throat. The menace of that heavy blade on that horsehair thread curbed his greed and made him reflect on Tantalus; the awful thought oppressed him that all he swallowed might be rendered through gaping wounds. 8 He wept, he prayed, he sighed in every key; and when at last he was let go, he was off like a flash, flying the wealth and the delights of kings as fast as most men follow after them. A horror of high estate brought him back with longing to the mean, nicely cautioned never again to think or call the mortal happy who lives ringed round with army and guards, or broods heavy over his spoils 1 while the steel presses no less heavily upon him than he himself upon his gold. If such a state be the goal of happiness I know not my lord brother; but that those who attain it are the most miserable of men is proved beyond dispute. Farewell. |62
* Partly translated by Hodgkin, ii. 200-3.
XIV.
To his friend Maurusius
A. D. 461-7
1 I HEAR that your vines have responded to your hard work and our general hopes with a more abundant harvest than a threatening and lean year promised. I expect that you will consequently stay longer at the village of Vialoscum; 1 was not the place formerly called Martialis, from the time when it formed Caesar's winter quarters? Of course you have a rich vineyard there, and a large farm besides worthy of its great proprietor, both of which will keep you and yours busy harvesting the various crops and always in fresh quarters. 2 When your granaries and stores are full, you may decide to pass the snowy months of Janus and Numa in rural ease 2 by your smoking hearth until swallow and stork reappear; if so, we too shall cut short engagements hardly promising enough to keep us in town, and while you enjoy your country life we shall enjoy your society. You know me well enough to be aware that even the sight of a fine estate with ample revenues could never give me half the satisfaction or the keen pleasure which I derive from intercourse with a neighbour of my own years and so worthy of my esteem. Farewell.
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Sidonius Apollinaris, Letters. Tr. O.M. Dalton (1915) pp. 63-86; Book III
Sidonius Apollinaris, Letters. Tr. O.M. Dalton (1915) pp. 63-86; Book III
BOOK III
I.
To his friend Avitus
c. A. D. 472
1 FROM our earliest boyhood and through our youth you and I have been linked by many bonds of mutual affection. To begin with, our mothers were very near relations. Then we were born about the same time and were contemporaries at school; we were together initiated into the study of the arts and employed our leisure in the same amusements; we were promoted by the same imperial favour; we were colleagues in the service of the state. Lastly, in personal likings and antipathies our judgement has always agreed----perhaps a stronger and more efficient factor this, in widening the scope of friendship than all the rest together. 2 The outward resemblance of our careers drew us together by the bond of similar occupation; inwardly we were less alike, for yours was by far the higher and more excellent nature. And now I gladly recognize that yours is the hand to crown the edifice of our long mutual regard by this most timely endowment of the church in our poor town of Clermont, whose unworthy bishop I am. In this estate of Cutiacum, lying almost at its gates, you have indeed made an important addition to its property; to the members of our sacred profession |64 whom your generosity has thus enriched, the convenience of access counts for almost as much as the revenue which the place yields. 3 Under your late sister's will, you were only a co-heir, but the example of your piety has already moved your surviving sister to emulate your good works. And heaven has already repaid you as you deserve for your own deed and its effect upon her; God has chosen you out to be exalted by unusual good fortune in inheritances. He did not long delay to reward your devotion a hundredfold, and it is our sure belief that these earthly gifts will be followed by heavenly gifts hereafter. I may tell you, if you are really unaware of it, that the Nicetian succession is heaven's repayment for Cutiacum surrendered. 4 We pray you in the future to extend to the city itself the interest you have already shown its church; henceforward it should be more than ever the object of your protection since you have inherited a property there. You may conclude from the attitude of the Goths how valuable the place might become if you would only make it frequent visits; they are always depreciating their own Septimania,1 and even talking of returning it to the empire, all because they covet this land of yours, which they would like to annex even if everything upon it were laid waste. 5 But by God's grace and your mediation a more tranquil outlook lies before us. For though the Goths have broken their old bounds, though their valour and the impetus of a vague greed have pushed their frontiers to the Rhône and Loire, yet the esteem in which you are held and the weight your opinion carries, should so influence both sides that we shall learn to refuse when we ought, and they to refrain |65 from further demands when met with a firm denial. Farewell.
II.
To his friend Constantius
A. D. 474
1 THE people of Clermont salute you, a great guest in their lowly homes,1 coming without ambitious retinue and simply environed by their love. Merciful God, what joy they felt amid their tribulation when you set your venerated foot within their half-ruined walls. How dense was the crowd of both sexes, and of every rank and age about you; how impartially you gave a cheering word to one and all; how kind the small boys found you, how considerate the young men, how helpful in advice the older among us. What tears you shed over our buildings ruined by the flames and our homes half burned to the ground, as if you had been the father of us all. What grief you showed at the sight of fields buried under the bones of the unburied dead. And afterwards what a power of encouragement you were, with what spirit you urged the people to repair their loss. 2 Over and above this, you found the city no less desolated by internal dissension than by the barbarian onslaught; but you conciliated all; you renewed their harmony; you gave the country back her sons. The walls are re-manned, the people restored to them at unity, all thanks to you; your counsel it was which brought them back into one mind as into one city. They all regard you as their father and themselves as your children; they perceive with an infallible eye |66 wherein lies your greatest title to praise. 3 For day by day it is borne in upon their minds what a magnificent thing this is that you have done at so advanced an age and in so delicate and infirm a state of health. Despite your noble birth and the veneration with which you are regarded, you broke down every barrier by sheer force of love; all the difficulties of the journey were nothing to you, long ways and short days, thick snows and thin fare, wide wastes and narrow lodging,1roads full of holes, now sodden with rain, now ribbed with frost, highways covered with rough stones, rivers slippery with ice; you had steep hills to climb, valleys choked with continual landslides to pass; through every discomfort you came triumphant with the love of a whole people for your reward because your own comfort was the last thing of which you thought. 4 And now we beseech the Lord that he may hear our prayer and set far the term of your life; that the friendship of all good men may be yours to have and hold; that our affection which you seem to be leaving behind may ever be about your path; and finally, that the fair structure of our concord which you began to restore, may be regarded from foundation to summit as your peculiar work. Farewell.
III.
To his brother-in-law Ecdicius
A. D. 474
1 THERE never was a time when my people of Clermont needed you so much as now; their affection for you is |67 a ruling passion for more than one reason. First, because a man's native soil may rightly claim the chief place in his affection; secondly, because you were not only your countrymen's joy at birth, but the desire of their hearts while yet unborn. Perhaps of no other man in this age can the same be said; but the proof of the statement is that as your mother's time advanced, the citizens with one accord fell to checking every day as it went by. 2 I will not dwell on those common things which yet so deeply stir a man's heart, as that here was the grass on which as an infant you crawled, or that here were the first fields you trod, the first rivers you swam, the first woods through which you broke your way in the chase. I will not remind you that here you first played ball and cast the dice, here you first knew sport with hawk and hound, with horse and bow. I will forget that your schooldays brought us a veritable confluence of learners and the learned from all quarters, and that if our nobles were imbued with the love of eloquence and poetry, if they resolved to forsake the barbarous Celtic dialect, it was to your personality that they owed all. 3 Nothing so kindled their universal regard for you as this, that you first made Romans of them and never allowed them to relapse again.1 And how should the vision of you ever fade from any patriot's memory as we saw you in your glory upon that famous day, when a crowd of both sexes and every rank and age lined our half-ruined walls to watch you cross the space between us and the enemy? At midday, and right across the middle of the plain, you brought your little company of eighteen 2 safe through some thousands of the Goths, a feat which |68 posterity will surely deem incredible. 4 At the sight of you, nay, at the very rumour of your name, those seasoned troops were smitten with stupefaction; their captains were so amazed that they never stopped to note how great their own numbers were and yours how small. They drew off their whole force to the brow of a steep hill; they had been besiegers before, but when you appeared they dared not even deploy for action. You cut down some of their bravest, whom gallantry alone had led to defend the rear. You never lost a man in that sharp engagement, and found yourself sole master of an absolutely exposed plain with no more soldiers to back you than you often have guests at your own table. 5 Imagination may better conceive than words describe the procession that streamed out to you as you made your leisurely way towards the city, the greetings, the shouts of applause, the tears of heartfelt joy. One saw you receiving in the press a veritable ovation on this glad return; the courts of your spacious house were crammed with people. Some kissed away the dust of battle from your person, some took from the horses the bridles slimed with foam and blood, some inverted and ranged the sweat-drenched saddles; others undid the flexible cheek-pieces of the helmet you longed to remove, others set about unlacing your greaves. One saw folk counting the notches in swords blunted by much slaughter, or measuring with trembling fingers the holes made in cuirasses by cut or thrust. 6 Crowds danced with joy and hung upon your comrades; but naturally the full brunt of popular delight was borne by you. You were among unarmed men at last; but not all your arms would have availed to extricate |69 you from them. There you stood, with a fine grace suffering the silliest congratulations; half torn to pieces by people madly rushing to salute you, but so loyally responsive to this popular devotion that those who took the greatest liberties seemed surest of your most generous acknowledgements. 7 And finally I shall say nothing of the service you performed in raising what was practically a public force from your private resources, and with little help from our magnates. I shall not tell of the chastisement you inflicted on the barbaric raiders, and the curb imposed upon an audacity which had begun to exceed all bounds; or of those surprise attacks which annihilated whole squadrons with the loss of only two or three men on your side. Such disasters did you inflict upon the enemy by these unexpected onsets, that they resorted to a most unworthy device to conceal their heavy losses. They decapitated all whom they could not bury in the short night-hours, and let the headless lie, forgetting in their desire to avoid the identification of their dead, that a trunk would betray their ruin just as well as a whole body. 8 When, with morning light, they saw their miserable artifice revealed in all its savagery, they turned at last to open obsequies; but their precipitation disguised the ruse no better than the ruse itself had concealed the slaughter. They did not even raise a temporary mound of earth over the remains; the dead were neither washed, shrouded, nor interred; but the imperfect rites they received befitted the manner of their death. Bodies were brought in from everywhere, piled on dripping wains; and since you never paused a moment in following up the rout, they had to be taken into houses which were then hurriedly set |70 alight, till the fragments of blazing roofs, falling in upon them, formed their funeral pyres. 9 But I run on beyond my proper limits; my aim in writing was not to reconstruct the whole story of your achievements, but to remind you of a few among them, to convince you how eagerly your friends here long to see you again; there is only one remedy, at once quick and efficacious, for such fevered expectancy as theirs, and that is your prompt return. If, then, the entreaties of our people can persuade you, sound the retreat and start homeward at once. The intimacy of kings is dangerous; 1 court it no more; the most distinguished of mankind have well compared it to a flame, which illuminates things at a short distance but consumes them if they come within its range. Farewell.
IV.
To his friend Magnus Felix
A.D. 473
1 THE bearer of this is Gozolas, a Jew, and a client of your excellency, a man I should like if I could only overcome my contempt for his sect. I write in great anxiety. Our town lives in terror of a sea of tribes which find in it an obstacle to their expansion and surge in arms all round it. We are exposed as a pitiful prey at the mercy of rival peoples, suspected by the Burgundians, almost in contact with the Goths; we have to face at once the fury of our assailants and the envy of our defenders.2 2 But of this more later. Only let me know that all goes well with you, and I shall be |71 content. For though we may be punished in the sight of all men for some obscure offence, we are still generous enough of heart to desire for others all prosperity. If a man cannot wish others well in evil times he is no better than a captive; the enemy that takes him is his own unworthy nature. Farewell.
V.
To his friend Hypatius
A.D. 473
1 THE excellent Donidius admires and respects your character; and had he no other aim than his own family advantage, he might safely confide in your acknowledged reputation, and feel no need of another's advocacy. But he thinks so well of me, that he would have me ask for him what he could certainly obtain alone. Consequently, you will acquire a crowning title of distinction in making both of us your debtors, though one alone will reap the material benefit. 2 He seeks to acquire the other moiety of the estate of Eborolacum,1abandoned even before the barbarian came, but now in possession of a patrician family; his rights are clear, but the added weight of your support would be very welcome. Respect for the memory of his ancestors, and no mere greed, inclines him to this purchase, for down to the recent death of his stepfather the whole property belonged to his family. He is of an economical turn of mind, but not the man to covet his neighbour's goods; the loss of a former possession in itself troubles him little; the point of honour decides him; it is not avarice which prompts his action, but the |72 shame of inactivity. 3 Deign therefore to consider what you owe to your own credit, to his honourable desire, to my friendly intercession; help to secure for him this chance of rounding off the estate. These paternal acres are not just casually known to him; he crawled upon them as an infant hardly weaned. He will make little profit by their recovery; but he feels that it would have been too contemptible not to make the effort. Whatever favour you may be able to accord to one whom I regard as a brother in years, a son by profession, a fellow citizen by origin, and a friend by loyalty, I shall be as much beholden as if the matter turned to my own particular advantage. Farewell.
VI.
To his friend Eutropius
A. D. 470 (?)
1 IF kind memories still remain to you of our old comradeship and of an intimacy ever and again renewed, you will readily understand that our soaring wishes will follow your ascent to each new height of office. We rejoice with you over your insignia, believing that thereby your house and our friendship are alike promoted. In proof whereof I remind you of my letter of exhortations 1, which I think had no small share in this result. 2 But what trouble I had in persuading you that a man might be a philosopher and a prefect at the same time! You were deep in the tenets of Plotinus, and the Platonic school had seduced you into a quietism unsuited to your age. I maintained that only a man without family |73 obligations was free to profess a philosophy of that nature. Most people ascribed your scorn for public service to simple indolence; malignant tongues added that our nobles fail to rise in the state less from disinclination than incapacity. 3 Now, therefore, as a Christian should, I begin by rendering unstinted thanks to Our Lord who has raised you to an official rank befitting your exalted birth; our hopes are also raised, so that we may fairly look for even better things to come. It is a common saying with provincials that a good year really depends less on ample crops than on a good administration;1 it must be yours, honoured lord, to crown all our expectations by such measures as the present occasion demands. Our nobles do not forget the stock from which you spring; they are sure that so long as the family of Sabinus controls their destinies, they have nothing to fear from the house of Sabinianus.2Farewell.
VII.
To his friend [Magnus] Felix
A.D. 474
1 You are very sparing in your correspondence. Each of us obeys his own temperament: I gossip, you hold your peace. And since in other obligations of friendship you are beyond reproach, I am driven to the conclusion that this indefatigable love of ease must itself be a kind of virtue. But, seriously, will no thought of old acquaintance ever lift you from the rut of this interminable silence? Or are you really unaware that it is nothing short of insult to refuse a talkative man an |74 answer? You bury yourself in the depths of a library or office and give no sign of life, yet all the while expect the attention of a line now and then from me; and this though you know quite well that mine is rather a ready than a gifted pen. 2 The apprehensions among which we live ought alone to furnish you with subject enough for letters; write then, and do not fail to entrust a good bulky missive to some one coming our way, to relieve your friends' anxieties and especially to let them know whether the new quaestor Licinianus 1 is likely to open a door of safety out of these mutual alarms. He is described as one who has more than fulfilled the expectations formed of him, proving greater on acquaintance than his great repute; in fine, a man conspicuously endowed with the best gifts of nature and good fortune. 3 A model of judgement, adorned with equal discretion and personal charm, this trusty envoy is worthy of the power which he represents. He is quite free from affectation or pretence; there is nothing feigned in the gravity which lends weight to his words. He does not follow the example of most envoys who seek a reputation as safe men, and are over-timid in diplomacy; on the other hand, he is not to be numbered among those ambassadors to barbarian courts, who sell their master's secrets, and work for their own advantage rather than that of their mission. 4 Such is the character of the man as favourable rumour carries it to us. But let us know at once if the description squares with fact. Then perhaps we may snatch some breathing-space from our unceasing vigils; at present neither a snowy day nor a cloudy moonless night will tempt our people from their watch upon the walls. Even were the barbarian |75 to draw off to winter quarters, their fears are too deep to be eradicated; at the most, they can only be deferred. Encourage us with hope of better times; you may regard our country as remote, but the cause we stand for is as near to your own heart as to ours. Farewell.
VIII.
To his friend Eucherius
(No indication of date)
1 I HAVE the highest respect for the men of antiquity, but mere priority in time shall never lead me to place the virtues and the merits of our contemporaries upon a lower plane of excellence. It may be true that the Roman state has sunk to such extreme misery that it has ceased to reward its loyal sons; but I will not therefore admit that a Brutus or a Torquatus is never born into our age. You ask the purport of this declaration? You yourself shall point my moral, most capable of men; the state owes you the rewards which history applauds when granted to the great men of the past. 2 Men ignorant of the facts had best refrain from carelessly conceived opinions; they had best abandon the obstinate habit of looking up to the men of old time and down on those of our own day. It is abundantly clear that the recognition which the state owes you is now long overdue. Yet what is there to wonder at in this, when a race of uncivilized allies directs the Roman power, yes, and bids fair to bring it crashing to the ground? We have men of rank and valour who excel anything we ourselves could hope, or our enemies believe. |76 Aye, and they do the old deeds; but the reward is not forthcoming. Farewell.
IX.
To his friend Riothamus
c. A. D. 472
1 I WILL write once more in my usual strain, mingling compliment with grievance. Not that I at all desire to follow up the first words of greeting with disagreeable subjects, but things seem to be always happening which a man of my order and in my position can neither mention without unpleasantness, nor pass over without neglect of duty. Yet I do my best to remember the burdensome and delicate sense of honour which makes you so ready to blush for others' faults. 2 The bearer of this is an obscure and humble person, so harmless, insignificant, and helpless that he seems to invite his own discomfiture; his grievance is that the Bretons are secretly enticing his slaves away. Whether his indictment is a true one, I cannot say; but if you can only confront the parties and decide the matter on its merits, I think the unfortunate man may be able to make good his charge, if indeed a stranger from the country unarmed, abject and impecunious to boot, has ever a chance of a fair or kindly hearing against adversaries with all the advantages he lacks, arms, astuteness, turbulences, and the aggressive spirit of men backed by numerous friends. Farewell. |77
X.
To his friend Tetradius
A. D. 461-7
1 IT is a most laudable trait in the character of younger men when they resort to more experienced heads in questions of perplexity; as the honourable Theodoras now does. He is a man of good family, but quite as much ennobled by his admirable modesty as by his high descent. My letter introduces him to the source of humane letters, I mean the pure fount of your erudition, to which he is setting out with the most commendable ardour, hoping to learn much himself and perhaps bring away as much to impart to others. 2 Should even an experience like yours fail to give him all the help he needs against such factious and powerful opponents, at all events your skill and advice will stand him in good stead. Unless you wish me to conclude that you regard our joint petition as troublesome and importunate, justify his hopes of you and this testimonial of mine by a favourable reply, so that the cause and wavering fortunes of this suppliant may be fortified by your salutary counsel. Farewell.
XI.
To his friend Simplicius
(No indication of date)
1 A KIND of fatality attends my hopes, and you still grudge us a sight of you. But, most excellent of |78 men, we need not therefore regard you as one whose memorable actions must necessarily escape our notice. For all our people, the notables included, hail you with one accord as the model of all that a father should be, even in the select and critical society in which you move. 2 The manner in which you have brought up your daughter, and chosen a husband for her, confirms the opinion of our friends; and the accomplishment of your desires in this union must have raised in your mind an agreeable uncertainty whether you have most excelled in the choice of the one or the education of the other. On that score, venerable parents, you may wholly set your minds at rest; you surpass every one because your children surpass even you. Please, therefore, excuse my earlier letter; it was negligent of me not to have sent it before I did, but the dispatch of it, I fear, betrayed the chatterer. My officiousness will lose its blemish of loquacity if you condone the impertinence of this greeting by sending me an answer. Farewell.
XII.
To his nephew Secundus
c. A. D. 467
1 I HAVE dreadful news. Yesterday profane hands all but desecrated the grave where my grandsire and your great-grandsire lies,1 but God's intervening arm stayed the accomplishment of an impious act. The cemetery had for years been overcrowded with burned and unburned burials,2 and interment there had long ceased. But snows and constant rains had caused the mounds |79 to settle; the raised earth had been dispersed, and the ground had resumed its former even surface. This explained how it was that some undertaker's men presumed to profane the spot with their grave-digging tools just as if it were unoccupied by human bodies. 2 Must I relate what happened? They had already unturfed the ground, so that the soil showed black, and were piling the fresh sods upon the old grave. By a mere chance I happened to be passing on my way to Clermont, and saw this public outrage from the top of a neighbouring hill. I gave my horse his head, and dashed at full speed over the intervening ground, flat or steep was all the same to me; I grudged even those brief moments, and sending a shout before me, stopped the infamy even before I myself reached the scene. The villains, caught in the act, were still hesitating whether to make off or hold their ground, when I was upon them. It was wrong, no doubt, but I could not allow them an instant's impunity; on the very grave of our beloved ancestor I gave them such a trouncing1 as should in future secure the dead from molestation, and safeguard the pious care of the survivors. 3 I did not reserve the case for the judgement of our good bishop,2 considering it best for the common advantage not to do so; I knew too well the strength of my own case, and his gentle nature; he was certain to judge me with too much severity, and these fellows with too great a lenience. To satisfy his right to be informed I did explain the whole affair after I had resumed my journey, and this upright and holy man gave me far more than the mere absolution I expected; he extolled my righteous indignation, declaring that in his opinion men who perpetrated |80 so audacious a deed deserved the death our forefathers would have inflicted. 4 The incident should help to prevent any similar mischance in future, and I beg you to see that the disturbed earth is at once raised to a mound again, and to have a smooth flat slab placed upon it at my expense. I have deposited a sum of money with the venerable Gaudentius to cover the cost of the stone and of the mason's labour. The verses which I enclose were composed the night of the occurrence; of course they are not finished to perfection; I was too busy with preparations for the road. 5 Such as they are, please have them carved on the tomb with the smallest possible delay, and be specially careful that the stonemason makes no errors either by negligence or with intention; for whatever the cause, the captious reader will put it all down to me. If you carry out this pious obligation I shall thank you no less heartily than if you were not certain to receive part of the praise and credit. For were I, your uncle, no longer with you, the whole responsibility of this duty would have devolved on you as the next descendant after myself.
'A grandson not all unworthy of such a grandsire, I dedicate to him, though all too late, this epitaph, my father and my paternal uncles being dead, that you, O passer by, may never tread on unmounded earth, unwitting of the reverence due to him who is buried in this grave. Here lies Apollinaris, who, having ruled all Gaul, was gathered to the bosom of a mourning country. He was learned in the law and helpful to his kind above all other men. He laboured for the land, and for the State, and in the cause of eloquence; and, example perilous to others, he dared be free |81 under the rule of tyrants. But this stands as his chief title to fame, that of all his race he was the first to purify his brow with the sign of the cross and his limbs with baptismal water; he first abandoned the old sacrilegious rites. This is the highest glory, this the transcendent virtue, if a man outstrip in hope those whom he equals in honours, and is placed by his desert above his fathers though on earth his titles were the same as theirs.'
6 I know well that this epitaph is unworthy of our accomplished ancestor; yet methinks the souls of the lettered do not refuse a poetic tribute. And neither of us need regard as too belated the pious duty which we have now fulfilled in our quality as heirs in the third and fourth degree. How many revolving years rolled by before Alexander celebrated funeral rites for Achilles' shade, or Julius Caesar for the shade of that Hector whom he treated as an ancestor of his own? Farewell.
XIII.
To [his son] Apollinaris
c. A. D. 469
1 THE love of purity which leads you to shun the company of the immodest has my whole approval; I rejoice at it and respect it, especially when the men you shun are those whose aptitude for scenting and retailing scandals leaves nothing privileged or sacred, wretches who think themselves enormously facetious when they violate the public sense of shame by shameless language. Hear now from my lips that the |82 standard-bearer of the vile troop is the very Gnatho of our country.1 2 Imagine an arch-stringer of tales, arch-fabricator of false charges, arch-retailer of insinuations. A fellow whose talk is at once without end and without point; a buffoon without charm in gaiety; a bully who dares not stand his ground. Inquisitive without insight, and three-times more the boor for his brazen affectation of fine manners. A creature of the present hour, with ever a carping word ready for the past and a sneer for the future. When he is after some advantage, no beggar so importunate as he; when refused, none so bitter in depreciation. Grant his request and he grumbles, using every artifice to get better terms; he moans and groans when called on to refund a debt, and if he pays, you never hear the end of it. But when any one wants a loan of him he lies about his means and pretends he has not the wherewithal; if he does lend, he makes capital out of the loan, and bruits the secret abroad; if debtors delay repayment he resorts to calumny; when they have absolved the debt he tries to deny receipt. 3 Abstinence is his abomination, he loves the table; but a man who lives well wins no praise from him unless he treats well too. Personally, he is avarice itself; the best of bread is not for his digestion unless it is also the bread of others. He only eats at home if he can pilfer his viands, and send them off amid a storm of buffets. He cannot indeed be wholly denied the virtue of frugality; he fasts when he cannot get himself invited. Yet with the light perversity of the parasite, he will often excuse himself when asked; on the other hand, if he sees that men avoid him, he will fish for invitations. 4 If left out he grows abusive; if admitted, unbearably |83 elate: no blow descends on him unexpected. If dinner is served late, he falls like a bandit upon the dishes; if appetite is stilled too soon, he falls to lamentation. Thirst unquenched makes him quarrelsome; drunkenness makes him sick. If he banters others, he grows scurrilous; if others banter him, ungovernable; take him for all in all, he is like the filth in sewers, the fouler the more you stir it. His life brings pleasure to few, love to none, contemptuous mockery to all. He is one to burst bladders or break canes upon,1 one whose thirst for drink is only excelled by his thirst for scandal; exhaling loathsomeness, frothing wine, uttering venom, he makes one doubt for what to hate him most, his unsavouriness, his drunken habits, or his villany. 5 'But', you may say, 'perhaps a fair complexion lends a colour to a vile nature; perhaps his charm of person redeems ineptitude of mind; the man may have elegance or exquisite taste; he may create a good impression on those who meet him.' In point of fact, his person is fouler and more unsightly than a corpse rolled half-burnt from the pyre when the brands have settled----such a thing as a very undertaker's slave 2 could not bring himself to put back. He hardly sees out of his; eyes, which, like the Stygian lake, roll waters down through darkness. 6 His ears are elephantine; an ulcered skin surrounds each aperture with indurated waste, either helix is bossed with suppurating tumours. His nose is broad at the nostril and narrow at the bridge, strait for his own olfactory ends, but for the spectator a cavernous vision of horror. He obtrudes a face with leaden lips and a bestial rictus, with purulent gums and brown teeth; a foul mephitic odour breathes from his |84 decayed and hollow teeth, enhanced by eructations from the feasts of yesterday and the bilge of his excesses at the board. 7 A forehead too he flaunts hideous with creases and distension of the brows. He grows a beard which age vainly whitens, since Sylla's malady 1 keeps it black. His whole face is as pale as if it were ever dolorous with infesting shades. I spare you the hulking residue, gout-ridden, fat and flabby. I spare you his weal-furrowed skull, covered with almost as many scars as hairs. I spare you the description of a nape so short that when his head is thrown back it seems to merge into his shoulder-blades. 8 The sunken carriage, the lost grace and vigour of his arms, the gouty hands bound cestus-like with greasy poultices; all these I spare you, so too the acrid hircine armpits that entrench his sides, and pollute the air for every nostril near him with a reek three times more pestilent than that from Ampsanctus' cave.2 And breasts collapsed with adiposity horrible on a man's body even in mere protuberance, but now hanging like a mother's. And the pendulous folds of the abdomen about genitals thrice shameful in their debility, a foul creased covering worse than what it hides. 9 Why should I tell of his back and spine? True, the ribs do sweep round from the vertebral joints and cover the chest, but the whole branching structure of bones is drowned under a billowing main of belly. I pass over the fat reins and buttocks which make even his paunch look insignificant in comparison. I pass the bent and withered thigh, the swollen knees, the slender hams, the horny shanks, the weak ankles, the small toes and enormous feet. As I have drawn him, he is horrible enough in his deformity, a monster |85 from whom his infinite noisomeness drains half the blood and life, who cannot sit a litter or walk a yard, however much they prop him. But his tongue is more detestable still than his other members. 10 He keeps it busy in the service of the vilest prurience; but it is most dangerous of all to patrons with anything to hide. For those in luck he belauds, but those who are unfortunate he betrays; let a tempting moment but urge to disclosure of a friend's secret, and instantly this Spartacus will break all bars and open every seal. He will mine with the unseen tunnels of his treachery the houses which the rams of open war have failed to breach. This is the fashion in which our Daedalus crowns the edifice of his friendships, sticking as close as Theseus in prosperity; but when adversity comes, more elusive than any Proteus. 11 The more you avoid even a first introduction to such company the better you will please me; especially to those so shameless that they talk like degraded players at the booths, and know neither bar nor bridle. For when a man exults in leaving all seemliness and decency behind, and fouls a loose tongue with the dirt of all lawless licence, be sure his heart is no less filthy than his language. You may find an evil liver with a serious tongue; the foul tongue and virtuous life are very rarely allied. Farewell.
XIV.
To his friend Placidus
After A. D. 477
1 THOUGH your loved Grenoble1 holds you far from me, I learn from a sure channel----your former hosts---- |86 that you are kind enough to prefer my trifles in prose or verse to all the other volumes on your shelves. It goes without saying that it gave me pleasure to hear how my writings occupy your leisure; but I understand well enough that it is really affection for the author and not the quality of his work which procures you this delight. My debt is all the greater; friendship wins me the honour which you could not honestly give the composition. 2 For the rest, I have not yet considered what definitive reply I shall make to the detractors of my work. The self-appointed critic absorbs a sound or unsound style with equal appetite; he cares no more that the world should exalt his favourite than that it should despise the object of his mockery. And so we see the fine construction, the comeliness and grandeur of our Latin tongue exposed to contemptuous criticism of idle quidnuncs; minds careless and so flippant as this want books only to carp at; their use for literature is a mere abuse. Farewell.
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Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
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Sidonius Apollinaris, Letters. Tr. O.M. Dalton (1915) vol. 2. pp. 3-47; Book IV
Sidonius Apollinaris, Letters. Tr. O.M. Dalton (1915) vol. 2. pp. 3-47; Book IV
BOOK IV
I.
To his friend Probus
A.D. 461-7
1 You married my cousin 1, whence the first and principal tie between us; the cousinly relationship often leads to a stronger, purer, and more unmixed affection than that between two brothers. For when brothers' quarrels over property are once appeased, their children have no longer cause for disagreement, and so it often happens that cousins are the more deeply attached; the enmities arising from the partition of estates are over, the tie of blood relationship remains. The second link between us is intellectual, and formed by a similarity of studies; our literary taste is identical; we praise and blame the same things; a style approved or disapproved by one produces the same impression on the other. 2 But I am presumptuous in venturing a comparison between my judgement and yours. It is common knowledge among young and old that you were my real master, though we were nominally both pupils of another. You were everybody's teacher in every branch of literature. All of us learned from you, except those who had not the brains, or could not do themselves proper justice: our epic poets derived from you their lofty vein, our comic poets their humour, our lyric poets their musical art; from |4 you the orator drew his rhetoric, the historian his respect for truth, the satirist his pictorial gift, the grammarian his fidelity to rule, the panegyrist his plausibility, the sophist his gravity of style, the writer of epigram his petulance and point, the commentator his lucid method, the lawyer his obscurity. Heavens! how proud our respective fathers used to be when they saw that Christ had given you grace to teach and me to learn, that you not only did what lay within your power but also enjoyed the doing of it, and so deserved a name for goodness no less than a learned reputation. 3 And indeed in your case Eusebius' house1 proved a veritable mint of the sciences and arts; you were there struck on a philosophical die, and to the delight of your own instructor were able to impart to the rest of us every phase of knowledge and of eloquent expression. Just as Plato the pupil was more expert than Socrates, so did you excel our good Eusebius. While he was maturing our tender, unformed and plastic youth with ruthless floggings, or trying to ground it on wholesome principles, there you were, a dialectician born, moving with Attic ease through all the categories of Aristotle.
4 Yet how admirable his principles were after all, how precious in possession! If only some migratory philosopher could export them to the Sigambri on their marshes, or the Alans of the Caucasus, or the mare-milking Geloni, the horny hearts of all these stark and brutal folks, yes and all their frozen fibres, were surely thawed and softened, while we should cease to sneer and scoff, and tremble by turns at their stolidity and their ferocious natures, which now brood in bestial |5 dullness, now burst into swift flame. 5 Since, then, our family connexion and our studies thus unite us, preserve the laws of friendship unshaken, wherever your abode may be; though my home is far from yours, let our hearts draw nearer by virtue of this affection, which I for my part will keep inviolate as long as breath remains in my body. Farewell.
II.
Claudianus [Mamertus1] to the Lord Bishop Sidonius
A. D. 472
1 IF I could only meet you now and again, my dear lord, were it only for a short time, I should not have to look about on all sides for any kind of messenger whose goodwill or necessities might help me pay the debt of correspondence owed you. Numerous causes, all sad ones, prevent me from seeing you again; even an opportunity of writing comes rarely or not at all. Whether all this excuses me or not, you yourself must judge.
2 But in often favouring with your letters persons who either do not expect them, or deserve to get them less than I, you on your side are guilty of an offence against the laws of friendship which may not be committed with impunity. Though I have said little, I confess that it has wounded me never to have received from you any acknowledgement of the book 2 which you have deigned to allow me to publish under the auspices of your illustrious name. But perhaps you cannot spare even |6 a few short moments for a friendship of such long standing as ours?
3 I wonder if you will ever involve yourself in any interest which does not turn to other folks' advantage. When you propitiate God by prayer, you entreat Him not only for your friends but for men you have never seen; when you search out the mysteries of Holy Writ, the more deeply your own mind is imbued with doctrine, the fuller the stream which you impart to others. When you lavish your goods upon the poor, there is a sense in which you may be said to serve yourself, but your aim is the service of others. Not a single action of yours is so barren as to yield abundant fruit to your sole self and not to a host of other people as well. 4 No possible pretext, then, can be alleged by any stretch of fancy on which an intimate friend like myself should be deprived of his own especial fruit, while strangers in scores are allowed to eat of it in plenty. I suppose you follow the precedent of the giver in the Gospel, and accord to the unworthy but importunate what you deny to a hungering friend. But if you allow yourself to grow hardened in this habit, I shall take measures to assure your repentance. For if your taciturnity exceeds all reason, my communications shall do the same. It is quite evident that you will have to be punished by my letters, as I myself am punished by your silence. Farewell. |7
III.
To Claudianus [Mamertus]
A.D. 472
1 You declare, most honoured master, that I have offended against the laws of friendship: you allege that though it is my turn to give you epistolary greeting, I have let my tablets and stylus lie, and no traveller's hand has been burdened with papyrus of mine inscribed with my assiduous wishes for your welfare. The suggestion is unfair; you cannot really suppose that any man on earth, with the least devotion to Latin letters, would lightly submit his compositions to the ordeal of being read to you; you, with whose accomplishments, but for the overwhelming privilege of antiquity, I should never rank either Fronto's gravity, or the fulminating force of Apuleius; for compared with you the Varros, both he of the Atax and he of Reate, and the Plinies, uncle and nephew, will always seem provincial. 2 In support of this opinion I have only to mention your new volume on the nature of the Soul, with all its wealth of evidence and mastery of diction. The dedication to me I regarded as an inestimable gift: the fame which my own books would never keep alive, would now be immortalized by yours. Great God! what a wonderful book it is, and of what authority! abstruse in subject, in exposition clear as day; in statement serried, expansive in discussion, and though barbed with many a point of syllogism, yet soft with vernal flowers of eloquence! 3 You have found ancient words which by their very age regain the charm of novelty; compared with these even a classic vocabulary |8 seems obsolete. And what is more, the style, so succinct in its short clauses, has yet an even flow; loaded with facts, concise in comment, these pages do not merely propound----they inform. It was once, and rightly, held the highest part of eloquence to condense much matter into a small space and aim at exhausting the subject before the paper. 4 And what a charming feature it is in your books, when you allow some relaxation in the sustained display of mastery and interpose most welcome graces amid the severities of argument; by this means the reader's attention, strained by following that exhaustive analysis of doctrine and philosophy, is suddenly relieved by the most delightful of digressions, comforting as harbours after open seas. O work of endless excellences! O worthy expression of a genius subtle without tenuity, which neither freshets of hyperbole swell, nor mean terms minish and abase! 5 And then the unrivalled, the unique learning conspicuous in so many fields, and used to hold its own with the great masters in the discussion of every art. It does not hesitate, if need be, to wield the plectrum with Orpheus himself, or the staff with Aesculapius, or the rule with Archimedes, the horoscope with Euphrates, the compasses with Perdix, the plummet with Vitruvius; it never ceases to explore the ages with Thales, or the stars with Atlas; to study weight with Zetus, number with Chrysippus, or measure with Euclid.1 6 I can only say that no man of our times produces his knowledge with more effect, in the stress of conflict with the adversary can point with more justice to his own share in maintaining the spirit and the letters of Greece and Rome. Here is a writer who has the perception of Pythagoras, the clear logic of |9 Socrates; he can unfold a theme with Plato or involve it with Aristotle; the charm of Aeschines is his, and the indignation of Demosthenes; he is as fresh and vivid as Hortensius; he storms like a Cethegus; he is impetuous as Curio, cautious as Fabius; in finesse the equal of Crassus, in reserve of Caesar, in suasion of Cato, in dissuasion of Appius, in persuasion of Tully himself. 7 Compare him now with the holy Fathers; you find him instructive as Jerome, destructive as Lactantius, constructive as Augustine; soaring in flight like Hilary, in humility meek as John; a Basil in rebuke, in consolation a Gregory. He is fluent as Orosius, terse as Rufinus; he has Eusebius' gift of narrative and Eucherius' power to stir, Paulinus' rousing voice, the perseverance of an Ambrose. 8 And now for my opinion on your hymn.1 I find it at once admirable in brevity and richness of content, at once tender and exalted, in poetic charm and truth to history superior to any lyrics or dithyrambs that I know. It is your peculiar merit that you observe each foot in the metre, each syllable in the foot, and each emphasis in the syllable; and in a restricted measure none too rich in opportunity, you contrive to include great opulence of words; the compressed, terse metre does not exclude long-drawn beauty of ornate diction. It seems mere play to you, with your tiny trochees and tinier pyrrhics, to surpass in effect not merely the Molossian and anapaestic ternary, but even the quaternary, the epitrite and Paeonian rhythms.
9 Your grand exordium overflows the customary strait limits, as a great gem is hardly confined in a poor setting; as the mettle of a strong steed flashes out, and he chafes on the bit if he is held in over rough and |10 broken ground; so it is with you; you are conscious of a speed to which a proper field is denied. What more shall I say? I will assert that neither Athens was ever so Attic, nor the Muses so musical as Claudian, if indeed a long period of inaction has not robbed me even of my critical capacity. For in deference to the profession which has been thrust upon me,1 I am endeavouring step by step to acquire a new style of writing, while I unlearn my old one by leaps and bounds; little remains now of a good speaker, except that I am more than ever the indifferent poet.2 I must therefore beg your indulgence if, remembering who and what I am, I seldom blend my thin and parching rivulet with your mighty river. The whole world shall honour the music of your silver trumpet, music thrice blessed in finding neither rival nor equal, though it has sounded all these years over the earth, charming the ears and lips of peoples, while I, too, strove to spread its fame. But all that your servant now dares in public speech is to raise his voice among town-councillors and teachers or even among market-quacks; these are the majority now, and (with all apologies to the best among them), even in their ambitious efforts, but illiterately lettered. But as for you, who can ring the changes on verse and prose and write in metre or without it exactly when you please, your emulators will be few, and those only whom Apollo loves.3 Farewell. |11
IV.
To [his kinsmen] Simplicius and Apollinaris
c. A.D. 472
1 AT last I send the promised Faustinus,1 for whom you have been waiting; he is the father of a family, a noble by birth, and a man to be accounted one of the chief ornaments of our common country. In years he is a brother to me, in community of sentiment a friend. How often have he and I together blended grave and gay! how often, in the far-off days of our youth, played ball and dice together, and vied in leaping, running, hunting, or swimming, always honourable rivals because firmest friends! He was my elder, but only by a little; the difference did not so much bind me to defer to him, as make it a delight to follow; he too was more deeply charmed not to be given deference, but simply affection. Only with advancing years, and with his entry into the Church, has my old love for him insensibly passed into veneration. 2 This is the man through whom I greet you, in the ardent desire that I may see you very soon, if God will, and the state of the country permit. Unless, then, my wish is irksome to you, inform me, by return of this good messenger, in what places you expect to be, and when. I am firmly determined to shake myself free from all obstacles and hindrances of personal affairs, and allow myself the privilege of long and intimate hours in your society, if only some major force does not upset my plans, as I am half afraid it may. 3 You too might find it worth while |12 to talk them over with Brother Faustinas in the light of probable events. I made him my envoy because I love him and know that he returns my feelings. If he justifies my good opinion, I shall be very thankful. All men set him high in their esteem; and perhaps he is none the worse for not being a perfect paragon. Farewell.
V.
To his friend [Magnus] Felix
A.D. 474
1 I SALUTE you a second time by the same messenger as before. Your Gozolas1 (may I soon call him mine too!) acts once more as the carrier of my letter. Spare us both, therefore, the indignity of an open slight; for if you persist in silence, every one will think that you look down on me and on the destined bearer of your reply. 2 As on the last occasion, I ask nothing as to the state of public affairs, fearing it may be painful to you to announce unfavourable events at a time when fortune fails us. It would not be like you to send false news; and as there is nothing pleasant to record, I would rather learn of disaster from any one but my friends. Farewell.
VI.
To [his kinsman] Apollinaris
A. D. 472
1 I SENT you a verbal warning lately by the priest Faustinus, my old comrade and new brother in the ministry, and glad I am that you have listened to it. It is the root-principle of practical wisdom to avoid |13 unnecessary risks; if a man takes them, and a rash course ends in trouble, it is futile to break out into lamentations and abuse Fate for the consequences of one's own bad management. 2 You ask the trend of these remarks. I confess I was much afraid that, at a time when all men felt anxiety, you might feel none; and that the house which stood solid as a rock through all these years might be shaken at last through a misplaced devotion. I feared that the solemnity to which the ladies of your family so looked forward might be spoiled for their gentle souls by these alarms, though I well know that true religion is so deeply implanted in their breasts that they would have rejoiced to suffer a sort of martyrdom in honour of the Martyr1 had anything untoward befallen upon the way. But I have less innocence, and therefore more distrust of events; amid such uncertainties I prefer the safer side; it takes little to make me join those who discover danger in the very heart of safety. 3 I therefore approve your action in putting off so perilous an expedition, and refusing to expose the fortunes of a family like yours to such a hazard. The journey, once undertaken, might possibly have prospered; but I for one will never vote for the reckless kind of measure which only luck can justify. Providence, I doubt not, will grant a happy issue to our prayers, and under new blessings of peace we shall look back upon these tenors as mere memories; but those who wish to enjoy security in future must learn caution from the present hour. 4 Meanwhile, I draw your attention to the bearer's complaint of some wrong done him by one of your people, by name Genesius. If you find that facts bear out the grievance, I beg of you to do the plaintiff justice and grant him |14 a quick return to his distant home. But if he has fanned up a flame of calumny out of culpable spite, the defendant can enjoy the foretaste of his discomfiture, when he thinks of his wanton accuser, wayworn and impoverished, bearing all for nothing the hard consequences of a rash accusation, and that at the very height of winter, when the ice is thick and the snow lies piled in drifts. The litigious are apt to find this a season when hearings are generally short, but there is plenty of time for suffering damage. Farewell.
VII.
To his kinsman Simplicius
(Date not indicated)
1 'You spur the willing,' 1 is the usual comment of the man who meant to do unasked the thing you ask of him. You ask how the quotation applies? The bearer of these lines insists on a letter of introduction from me, whereas, the moment I knew where he was going I should myself have begged the privilege of giving it before he opened his mouth, obliging him not so much from consideration for him as from my warm feeling towards yourself. For the rest, my messenger calculates that by doing me a service he will have deserved a good turn; he has obtained what he wanted, but without ever dreaming how close the bond is which unites you and me. 2 Miles away though I remain, I shall be able to picture his stupefaction on his arrival, when the mere fact that he comes from me secures him respectful welcome, and he finds no effectual use for a letter which it was really superfluous to solicit. I can see it all as if I were there; the novelty of everything to one whose |15 wits are not of the sharpest; his confusion as a stranger invited to make himself at home, or as a nervous guest drawn into conversation, or as a countrified fellow called on to take his part in polite gaiety, or as a poor man set down at a sumptuous board. It will be strange indeed to a man from these parts, where ill-cooked viands and too much onion afford the only fare, to find himself as nobly regaled as if he had eaten his fill all his days at Apician banquets, served by the rhythmic carvers of Byzantium.1 3. Anyhow, whatever his merit or importance, he could not have better helped me to pay my debt of friendship. Men of his type are often almost beneath our notice; at the same time friends who, like ourselves, are thrown back on letters for their intercourse would lose many a chance of writing were they too particular about the person of their messengers. Farewell.
VIII.
To his friend Evodius *
A.D. 467 (?)
1 I WAS just setting out for a remote country district when your messenger handed me your letter, and told his acquaintances in confidence that you were on the point of visiting Toulouse in obedience to a summons from the King. This gave me an excuse to shake off the embarrassing crowd which delayed my early start, and allowed me to give you such reply as a traveller booted and spurred could attempt. 2 My servants had gone ahead at dawn to pitch my tent eighteen miles away at a spot with many conveniences for camping, |16 a cold spring issuing from a wooded hill with a meadow of rich grass at the foot; a river in the foreground stocked with waterfowl and fish; and in addition to these advantages, almost on the bank, the new home of an old friend whose boundless hospitality is the same, whether you try to refuse it or not. 3 After stopping behind to do what you required, that I might send the messenger back at once from the end of the town, I found it was already more than four hours after dawn; the sun was well up, and his gathering heat had absorbed the heavy dews of night. The torrid air and our parched throats got worse and worse, and so cloudless was the sky that the only protection from the blazing heat was the dust we made ourselves. The long way was a weariness, stretching in full view for miles in front of us across the grassy plain; before it had time to tire us, it already terrified by its prospect; it meant that our lunch would be late. 4 All this introduction is to convince you, honoured lord and brother, that when I obeyed your behests I had small time to spare and little leisure of mind or body. I return now to the substance of your letter. After the usual salutations, you asked a poem of twelve verses suitable for engraving on a large two-handled cup, the sides of which from foot to rim were fluted with six channels. 5 The verses you design, I suppose, for the hollows of the flutings, or, better still, if that seems more suitable, for the ridges between, and, as I gather, you intend to assure yourself an invincible protection for all your plans, actual or prospective, by offering the cup, enriched with this embellishment, to Ragnahild, the queen.1I did your bidding then, not as I could have wished, |17 but as best circumstances allowed. You must blame yourself for giving the silversmith time but the poet none; though you know perfectly well that in the literary smithy the verses forged upon the metric anvil want polishing no less severely than any metal. But all this is beside the mark; here is your poem: * 'The shell which bears Cythera behind the fish-tailed Triton, compared with this must yield its pride of place. Bend thy queenly head, exalted patroness, to our prayer; accept this humble gift; graciously look down upon Evodius who seeks thy favour; make him great, and thine own glory shall grow greater. Thy sire and thy lord's sire were kings; royal too is thy lord, may thy son also reign a king, both by his father's side and after him. Happy water enclosed in this gleaming metal, reflecting a royal face yet brighter! For when the queen shall deign to touch it with her lips, the silver shall draw new splendour from her countenance.' If you love me well enough to make use of such idle stuff, conceal my authorship and properly rely for success on your own part of the offering. For in such a mart or such a school 1 as this barbaric court, your silver page will get all the notice, and not my poor inscription. Farewell.
* The first part translated by Hodgkin, ii. 330-2.
* Translated into German verse by Fertig, Part i, p. 32; and into prose by Chaix, i. 353.
IX.
To his friend Industrius +
c. A.D. 472
1 I RECENTLY visited the illustrious Vectius, and was able to study his way of life at close quarters as |18 leisurely as if I had nothing else to do. I found it well worth knowing, and therefore not unworthy of description. In the first place, and this may rightly be regarded as the highest praise of all, the whole household emulates the master's flawless purity of life. His servants are efficient, those in the country obliging, those at his town house friendly, obedient and contented with their lord. His table is open to the stranger no less than to his own clients; there reigns a large hospitality, and an even larger moderation. 2 It is of less moment that the man of whom we speak is without a rival in training a horse, judging a dog, or in bearing hawk afield; that his dress is always exquisite and his girdle to match, that all his accoutrements are splendid. The majesty of his gait accords with his gravity of mind, and as the first secures him consideration abroad, so the last maintains his dignity at home. His is an indulgence which does not spoil, a punishment without brutality, a tempered severity, stern but never dreadful. 3 With all this he is a regular reader of the Scriptures; even at meal times he enjoys this nutriment of the soul. He studies the Psalms, and yet more frequently chants them, setting a new precedent by living after this fashion in martial dress, the complete monk in all but the monastic habit.1Though he abstains from eating game, he indulges in the chase; to have the sport without the spoil accords with the secret delicacy of his religious feeling. 4 The comfort of his widower's life is his little daughter, sole pledge of his lost wife's love; he brings her up with the tenderness of a grandfather, a mother's sedulous care, a father's kindness. In addressing his servants he does not give way to violence, and he is not above |19 taking their advice upon occasion; in investigating an offence he is never inquisitorial, he rules those under him by reason and not mere authority: you might take him for the steward in his own house. 5 All this virtue and moderation seemed to me to deserve recording for the benefit of others; the outlines of it at least should be common knowledge. It would be well for our age if every member of our sacred profession were stirred to emulation by the story irrespective of a garb which in these days often deceives the world. For be it said without offence to my own order, if only the good men among us manifest their individual qualities, I shall prefer the layman of priestly instincts to the priest. Farewell.
+ Translated by Hodgkin, ii. 340-2.
X.
To his friend [Magnus] Felix
A.D. 477
1 IT is many years since I have written to you, my good lord, and this greeting breaks a long silence; I had not the heart to keep up the old frequent correspondence while I was living in banishment from my country, and my spirit was broken by the hard lot of an exile. You ought to have compassion on one who admits his delinquency as I do; for whosoever is brought low should go humbly and not attempt to preserve the same familiar footing as before with those towards whom affection may be less in place than reverence. That is why I have said nothing so long, and why, after the arrival of my son Heliodorus,1I could at least acquiesce in your silence, though I could hardly be expected to regard it with satisfaction. |20 2 You used to say, in jest, that you stood in positive awe of my eloquence. Even were it seriously meant, the ground for that excuse is gone; for as soon as I had finished my volume of Letters, which, though I say it, was a careful piece of work, I reverted to the every-day style in everything else. And indeed my fine style itself is much on the same level; for what is the use of giving finish to phrases which will never see the light? If, however, you are faithful to an old friendship and allow our correspondence once more to follow its former course, I too will return to the old track and be as communicative as ever. Nay more, if Christ will guide my steps and my patron 1 on his return will only sanction my departure, how eagerly will I fly to meet you wherever you may be, and revive by my presence a friendship which my negligent pen has left to languish. Farewell.
XI.
To his friend Petreius *
c. A.D. 473
1 I MOURN the loss of your great uncle Claudianus, snatched from us only the other day; it is the loss of our age; perhaps we shall never see his. like again. He was a man of wisdom, prudence and learning; eloquent, and of an active and ingenious mind above all his compatriots and contemporaries. He was a philosopher all his days without prejudice to his faith. It |21 was only by his faith, and by his adoption of ordinary dress, that he dissociated himself from his friends of the Platonic school; for he never let his hair and beard grow long and would make fun of the philosopher's mantle and staff, sometimes with much bitterness. 2 How delightful it used to be when a party of us would visit him just for the pleasure of hearing his opinion! With what freedom from diffidence or pretence would he at once open his whole mind for our common benefit, delighted if some insoluble and thorny point arose to prove the vast resources of his knowledge! If there were many of us, he expected us all, of course, to listen, but nominated a single spokesman, probably the one whom we ourselves should have chosen; then in his methodical way, now addressing one, now another, and giving each his turn, he would bring forth all the treasures of his learning, not without the accompaniment of trained and appropriate gesture. 3 When he had finished, we would put our adverse criticisms in syllogistic form; but nothing was admitted which was not well considered and susceptible of proof, for rash objections he would at once demolish. Most of all we respected him for his tolerance of some men's persistent dullness of apprehension. It amounted almost to an amiable weakness; we could admire his patience, but it was beyond our imitation. Who could shrink from consulting on any recondite point a man who would gladly suffer in argument the stupid questions of the ignorant and the simple?
4 So far as to his intellectual interests. It is beyond my power adequately to extol him in other relations of life. Mindful in all things of our weak mortal nature, he was always ready with consolation, helping the |22 clergy by his deeds, the people by his words, mourners with exhortation, the destitute with words of comfort. He gave the prisoner money; he fed the hungry, he clothed the naked. To enlarge upon these things were indeed vanity of repetition. He was poor in this world's goods, but the good deeds with which he richly endowed his soul he concealed from notice in the hope of a better reward hereafter.... 5 For his elder brother the bishop 1 he had the most affectionate regard; he reverenced him as a father, he loved him as a son. And the brother in his turn looked up to him with boundless admiration, knowing that he had in him a counsellor in every disputed question, a representative in his churches, an agent in business matters, a steward on his farms, a registrar of all ecclesiastical dues, an associate in his reading, an interpreter in difficulties of exposition, a travelling companion upon his visitations. They were the very exemplars of brotherly affection, with an absolute confidence in each other. 6 But why do I add fuel to the flame of a sorrow which it was my purpose to assuage? I meant to have begun by saying that I have written an elegy to this ungrateful shade----the phrase is Virgil's, as you know, and applied to the dead, who can render no man thanks. They are sad lines full of sorrow; the writing of them was no light task to one who has lost the habit of composing; but grief heavy with rising tears moved me from my natural indolence. This is the elegy:
'Beneath this sod lies Claudianus, at once the glory and grief of his brother Mamertus, the wonder and supreme pride of the bishops. In three fields of learning he was a master and a shining light, the |23 Roman, the Greek, and the Christian; all of them as a monk in his prime he made his own by secret discipline; he was orator, logician, poet, commentator, geometer, musician; skilled also to loose the bonds of disputation, and with the sword of the word dissect the sects1 that harass the Catholic faith. Well was he skilled to chant psalms and lead a choir; for his grateful brother he taught the trained groups of singers to chant before the altar. His was the choice that at the yearly conclave appointed the passages to be read in season. A priest of the second order,2 he eased his brother's shoulder of the bishop's burden; for while the other bore the insignia of pontifical rank, it was he who undertook the labour. But thou whoe'er tbou art that grievest, O kindly reader, over the thought that of such a man nothing now survives, wet not this marble with thy tears: the mind and its renown come not down into this grave.'
7 Such are the lines that I composed over the remains of this brother of my soul, as soon as I reached the spot. For when they buried him I was away, though absence did not wholly rob me of the longed opportunity for tears. For while I was pondering what to write, my heart swelled to overflowing; I gave it rein, and over my epitaph I wept as others had wept above the tomb. I write this to you for fear you should imagine that my devotion is only to living friends, and censure me as one who thinks less tenderly of those who are gone than of those who are yet alive. And indeed, in days when hardly a trace of loyalty remains among survivors, you might well be pardoned for counting as a small company those who are faithful to the departed. Farewell. |24
* Most of this letter is translated by Guizot, Histoire de la civilisation en France, ed. 1846, i. 167-8. See also Fertig, Part iii, p. 10.
XII.
To [his kinsmen] Simplicius and Apollinaris*
c. A.D. 472
1 THE excitable mind of man is like nothing so much as a wrecking sea; it is lashed to confusion by contrary tidings as if it bred its own rough weather. A few days ago, I and the son whom we both regard as ours were together enjoying the admirable Hecyra of Terence. Seated at his side as he studied, I forgot the cleric in the father; to increase his ardour and incite my docile scholar to a more perfect appreciation of the comic rhythms, I had in my own hands a play with a similar plot, the Epitrepontes 1 of Menander. 2 We were reading, and jesting, and applauding the fine passages ---- the play charmed him, and he me, we were both equally absorbed, ---- when all of a sudden a household slave appears, pulling a long face. 'I have just seen outside', he said, 'the reader Constans, back from his errand to the lords Simplicius and Apollinaris. He says that he delivered your letters, but has lost the answers given him to bring back.' 3 No sooner did I hear this, than a storm-cloud of annoyance rose upon the clear sky of my enjoyment; the mischance made me so angry that for several days I was inexorable and forbade the blockhead my presence; I meant to make him sorry for himself unless he restored me the letters all and sundry, to say nothing of yours, which as long as I am a reasonable being |25 I shall always want most because they come least often. 4 However, after a time my anger gradually abated; I sent for him and asked whether, besides the letters, he had been entrusted with a verbal message. He was all a-tremble and ready to grovel at my feet; he stammered in conscious guilt, and could not look me in the face, but he managed to answer: 'Nothing.' The message from which I was to have received so much instruction and delight, had been all consigned to the pages which had been lost. So there is nothing else for it; you must resort to your tablets once more, unfold your parchment, and write it all out anew. I shall bear with such philosophy as I may this unfortunate obstacle to my desires until the hour when these lines reach you, and you learn that yours have never yet reached me. Farewell.
* Translated by Hodgkin, ii. 340-2.
XIII.
To his friend Vectius
c. A.D. 472
1 NOT long ago I went to see the church of Chantelle1 at the request of the excellent Germanicus, who is clearly the personage of the place. Though he now has sixty years behind him, he cultivates such bravery of fashion that not content with growing younger, he gets more boyish every day. His clothes fit close, his boots are tight, his hair is cut wheel-fashion; the tweezers have searched the depths of all his wrinkles to get every single hair out of his face. 2 Heaven has given him strong and well-knit limbs, an unimpaired sight, an easy and rapid gait; his teeth are complete and his mouth |26 wholesome. He has a perfect digestion, an even circulation, a sound heart and lungs, his loins are free from stiffness, his liver from congestion. His hand is firm, his back straight, endowed with the health of youth, all he asks for age is its proper privilege of respect. 3 God has indeed shown him peculiar mercies. But on that very account I beg, nay, I enjoin you, as a neighbour and intimate friend, to give him a piece of that advice which a character like yours invests with such authority: tell him not to put his trust too much in such unstable things, or fancy himself immune from all decay; tell him it is high time for him to embrace religion, to gather strength from innocence reborn, and by good deeds to become a new man in his old age. 4 Tell him that few of us are free from secret faults, and it were well for him to pour forth full and open satisfaction for all the hidden offences which memory can recall. A man who is a priest's son and has a son of his own a bishop, must sanctify his own life, or he will be even as a rosebush. Of roses born, and bearing the same, he comes between the old bloom and the new; and the briery thorns about him may be likened to his wounding sins. Farewell.
XIV.
To his friend Polemius
A.D. 477
1 CORNELIUS TACITUS your ancestor, consular in the reigns of the Ulpians,1 in his history introduces a German Commander2 as saying, 'My acquaintance with Vespasian goes back to old days, and while he |27 was a private person we were called friends.' You ask the object of this preface. To remind you that your position as a public man ought not to involve neglect of private friendships. Almost two years ago, our old regard for you rather than our satisfaction at your new dignity, led us to rejoice over your elevation to the post of praetorian prefect in Gaul. But for the misfortunes of the Empire, nothing would satisfy us but the enrichment of everybody and every province by the various benefits of your administration. 2 And now that proper feeling prevents us from asking what it is beyond your power to grant, I should like to know what generosity you would have shown us in deed, when in word you have proved so obstinately avaricious. For if I compare you with your ancestors, I must consider you more than the equal of Tacitus in eloquence, and in poetry above Ausonius. If this new prefecture has turned a philosopher's head, remember the line:
We too have served for name and fame.1
3 But if you scorn the lowliness of our profession because we priests voluntarily lay bare before Christ, the Healer of human lives and fortunes, the ugly sores of the sick heart, which in us are at least unswollen by pride, however much they may have hitherto offended for want of proper tending, I would have you know this, that it is one thing for a man to stand before the magistrate in the forum, another thing for him to stand before the Judge of all the world. The offender who avows his crime to you is condemned; but among us the same confession made to God is absolved.2 It is therefore abundantly clear that you judges of this world are wrong |28 in fastening guilt on him who is amenable to another jurisdiction than yours. 4 You cannot therefore any longer ignore the force of my complaint; whether your prosperity makes you forget old friendship, or only neglect it, the result in either case is almost equally bitter to me. If, then, you have any serious thoughts of the future, write to me as to a priest; if of the present, as to a colleague. There is a virtue which never disdains an old friend for a new one; if it was born in you, develop it; if not, at once implant it in your heart. Otherwise you will appear to treat your friends as one does flowers, which are only cherished as long as they are fresh. Farewell.
XV.
To his friend Elaphius
After A.D. 472
1 MAKE ready a great feast, and couches to receive a great company. By numerous roads parties yet more numerous converge upon you, for since the date of your coming dedication is now universally known, all our good friends are bent upon invasion. Your letter tells us that the baptistery so long in the builder's hands is now ready for consecration. We must all keep festival in honour of the faith that we own, and some of us for other causes too; you to celebrate the accomplishment of your vow; I to do my part as bishop; and many others to show their recognition of your enterprise. For indeed you set a great precedent, erecting a new fabric in an epoch when other men have hardly courage to repair an old one.1 2 For the future |29 I pray that as your present vow is paid, you may make new vows to the glory of God to be redeemed in coming prosperous years; and that, too, not as the expression of a concealed faith, but of manifest conversion. I further pray that in happier times than these Christ may grant my own desire and the hope of the people of Rouergue, and that you who now offer an altar for your own soul's weal, may then offer the holy Sacrifice for theirs. 3 Though the days draw in with the late autumn, and leaves from every tree rustle in the anxious traveller's ear; though your castle of the mountain crags is hard to reach when winter is so near, yet with Christ to guide my steps I shall traverse your rugged mountain flanks; I shall not shrink from rocks beneath or overhanging snows; no, not even if the way winds in spirals up the long slopes and returns continually upon itself. For should there be no festivities after all, yet you are one of those for whom, to use the words of Tully,1 a man would even tramp to Thespiae. Farewell.
XVI.
To his friend Ruricius
(No indication of date)
1 PATERNINUS has given me your letter; I can hardly say whether it pleases most by wit or charm. It presents such eloquence, such fragrant flowers of diction, that your progress is clearly due to something more than an acknowledged study: you must be working in secret as well. The abstraction of a book of mine to copy, for which you so apologize, I regard |30 as an act redounding to your credit, and requiring no excuse. What can you do really wrong, when even your faults are laudable? 2 I am not the least vexed at being played this little trick in my absence; it is no loss at all, but really a signal privilege. The volume you appropriated to your use has not therefore ceased to be my property; your knowledge has not been increased at the cost of other people's. On the contrary, you shall have full credit for your action, and rightly; for your nature has the quality of flame, which communicates itself entirely and yet remains entire; it is proper that you should act like your own element. Be no more uneasy, then; that were to betray a little too much uncertainty of your friend, who would only deserve the wound of blame were he vulnerable by the dart of envy. Farewell.
XVII.
To his friend Arbogast
c. A.D. 477
1 YOUR friend Eminentius, honoured lord, has delivered a letter dictated by yourself, admirable in style, and bearing in every line the evidence of three shining virtues. The first is the friendliness which leads you to esteem the lowly talents of one so far away,1 and so anxious to avoid publicity. The second is the modesty which makes you over-sensitive to blame, but deservedly wins you praise. The third is the gentle humour which makes you in the wittiest way accuse yourself of writing wretched stuff, whereas you have drunk at the well-spring |31 of Roman eloquence, and no draughts from the Moselle can take the taste of Tiber from your mouth. You have your conversation among barbarians, yet you permit no barbarism to pass your lips; in eloquence and valour you equal those ancient generals whose hands could wield the stylus no less skilfully than the sword. 2 The Roman tongue is long banished from Belgium and the Rhine; but if its splendour has anywhere survived, it is surely with you; our jurisdiction is fallen into decay along the frontier, but while you live and preserve your eloquence, the Latin language stands unshaken. As I return your greeting, my heart is glad within me that our vanishing culture has left such traces with you; continue your assiduous studies, and you will feel more surely every day that the man of education is as much above the boor as the boor in his turn above the beast. 3 Were I to obey your wish and send you a commentary on some part of the Scriptures, it would be sorry verbiage; you would do far better to direct your request to the clergy of your own district. They are venerable in years, approved in faith, known by works; they are ready in speech and tenacious in memory, my superiors in all sublimer gifts. Even if we leave out of the account the bishop of your city, a character of supreme perfection, blessed in the possession and repute of all the virtues, you may far more appropriately consult on any kind of problem the celebrated fathers of the Church in Gaul; Lupus and Auspicius are both within your reach, and however inquisitive you may be, you will not get to the bottom of a learning such as theirs. In any case, you must pardon me for disobeying you in this matter, and that not only out of |32 kindliness, but from simple justice; for if it is fair that you should escape from incompetence, it is equally right that I should avoid conceit. Farewell.
XVIII.
To his friend Lucontius
c. A.D. 470
1 I FEAR you have a memory defective in the matter of others' requests but infallible in the matter of your own. It would be tedious to repeat all the promises of swift return which you and your family made to me and mine; not the smallest of them have you kept. Far from it, your flight was cunningly planned to make us think you were coming back for Easter; you took no heavy baggage out of town, neither carriage nor cart for luggage appeared in your train.
2 It is too late to complain of the trick you made the ladies play us, causing them to travel with only the lightest of effects, while you and our brother Volusianus were hardly escorted by a single client or attendant. By this device you cheated the friends who came to see you off with the delusive hope that they were soon to see you back. Certainly our good brother Volusianus deceived us by the pretence of a short trip, when in fact he was probably bound, not merely for his own estate at Baiocassium, but the whole second province of Lyons into the bargain.1 3 As for yourself, though you have broken faith by idling all this time away down there, you yet have the face to ask me for any poetical trifles I may have recently composed. I obey; but |33 simply because you deserve the rubbish you will get; the verses I am sending are so rustic and unfinished that no one would believe they came from town and not from the depths of the country. 4 You must know that Bishop Perpetuus,1 a worthy successor of his great predecessor, has just rebuilt on a greater scale than before the basilica of the saintly pontiff and confessor Martin. It is said to be a great and memorable work, and all that we should expect when one such man does honour to another. For the walls of this church he has demanded of me the inscription you are now to criticize, and sure as he is of his place in my affection, he takes no denial in matters of this kind. 5 Would I could think this offering of mine would prove no blot upon the magnificence of that pile and its wealth of gifts; but I fear it must be so, unless some happy chance should lend its very defects a charm where all is of such perfection, just as a dark spot on a fair body is mocked at first, and then compels approval. But why should I dilate upon all this? Put down your shepherd's pipe, and give a supporting hand to this hobbling elegy of mine:
*'Over the body of Martin, venerated in every land, the body in which renown survives the life departed, there rose a structure meet for poor men's worship, and unworthy of its famous Confessor. Always a sense of shame weighed heavy on the citizens when they thought of the saint's great glory, and the small attraction of his shrine. But Perpetuus the bishop, sixth in line after him,2 has now taken away the disgrace; he has removed the inner shrine from the modest chapel and |34 reared this great building over it. By the favour of so powerful a patron the founder's fame has risen together with the church, which is such as to rival the temple of Solomon, the seventh wonder of the world. That shone resplendent with gems and gold and silver; but this fane shines with a light of faith beyond the brilliance of all metals. Avaunt, Envy of the venomous tooth! be our forefathers absolved; may our posterity, however fond of its own voice, presume to add or alter nothing. And till the second coming of Christ to raise all people from the dead, may the fane of Perpetuus perpetually endure.'1
6 I send you, as you see, the most recent verses I can find. But if you persist in spinning vain delays, the concession will not stop me from shaking the stars with my complaints; nor, if the case requires it, shall I shrink from a resort to satire, and you will be very much mistaken if you imagine that I shall be as suave as in the verses you have had to-day. For it is a law of human nature that man is more telling, more fiery, and quicker on the mark in his censure than in his praise. Farewell.
* Translated by Fertig, Part ii, pp. 37-8; and by Chaix, i. 329.
XIX.
To his friend Florentinus
(No indication of date)
1 You blame me for my delay and my silence. I can purge myself of both charges, for I am not only on my way, but as you see, I write as well. Farewell. |35
XX.
To his friend Domnicius *
c. A. D. 470
1 You take such pleasure in the sight of arms and those who wear them, that I can imagine your delight if you could have seen the young prince Sigismer 1 on his way to the palace of his father-in-law in the guise of a bridegroom or suitor in all the pomp and bravery of the tribal fashion. His own steed with its caparisons, other steeds laden with flashing gems, paced before and after; but the conspicuous interest in the procession centred in the prince himself, as with a charming modesty he went afoot amid his bodyguard and footmen, in flame-red mantle, with much glint of ruddy gold, and gleam of snowy silken tunic, his fair hair, red cheeks and white skin according with the three hues of his equipment. 2 But the chiefs and allies who bore him company were dread of aspect, even thus on peace intent. Their feet were laced in boots of bristly hide reaching to the heels; ankles and legs were exposed. They wore high tight tunics of varied colour hardly descending to their bare knees, the sleeves covering only the upper arm. Green mantles they had with crimson borders; baldrics supported swords hung from their shoulders, and pressed on sides covered with cloaks of skin secured by brooches. 3 No small part of their adornment consisted of their arms; in their hands they grasped barbed spears and missile axes; their left sides were guarded by shields, which flashed with tawny |36 golden bosses and snowy silver borders, betraying at once their wealth and their good taste. Though the business in hand was wedlock, Mars was no whit less prominent in all this pomp than Venus. Why need I say more? Only your presence was wanting to the full enjoyment of so fine a spectacle. For when I saw that you had missed the things you love to see, I longed to have you with me in all the impatience of your longing soul. Farewell.
* Translated by Hodgkin, ii. 364.
XXI.
To his friend Aper
c. A.D. 472
1 IN every genealogy the father's line must take precedence, yet we owe not a little to our mothers. For it hardly befits us to accord a lesser honour to her who bore, than to him who begot us. I leave the biologist the care of defining what we are or how we came into the world, passing on to the subject introduced by these reflections. 2 Your father is an Aeduan,1 your mother comes from Auvergne. Aeduan, then, you are first and foremost, but yet not altogether. For remember the passage in Virgil2 to the effect that Pallas is Arcadian, but at the same time Samnite. He might have qualified, as a foreigner, to lead the Etruscans against Mezentius, save only for the fact that through his Samnite mother he traced his descent in part to her country of Etruria. Here you have evidence of great moment from the greatest of authorities (unless, indeed, you believe poets false to facts even when they deal with history), that |37 the mother's country must count no less than that of the father. 3 Now if the Arvernians in their turn rightly claim at any rate a half-share in you, pray give a patient hearing to the complaint of men who yearn for your presence, and now unburden the bosom-secret of a whole population through the lips of a single spokesman. Imagine them as standing before you and addressing you face to face. 'What is our offence, ungrateful fellow citizen, that all these years you shun the soil which nourished you as if it were an enemy's country? Here we tended your cradle, here we heard your infant cries and formed your tender limbs; it was our people who carried you in their arms. 4 This was the country of your grandsire Fronto, whose indulgence to you was equalled only by his own self-discipline, which our models of to-day might take as a model for themselves. This was the country of your grandmother Auspicia, who from a single heart after her daughter's death gave to the helpless orphan a devotion great enough for two. Your aunt was also of our land, and so was Frontina, the virgin holier than a nun, held by your mother in respect, by your father in veneration, and so ascetic and austere in her life, so perfect in God's faith and fear, that she inspired an awe in all men. It was here that our schools vied one with the other to perfect you in grammar and in rhetoric, when the time came for your initiation in the liberal arts, with such results that even by virtue of your education alone you cannot but think of Clermont with affection. 5 I shall not recall to you the unique charm of our land;1 the broad main of tillage, where the profitable waters flow harmless through the crops, bringing rich increase; where the more the |38 industrious man traffics, the less he need fear shipwreck; the land which is easy to the traveller, fertile to the cultivator, to the hunter a perpetual joy; where pastures crown the hill-tops and vineyards clothe the slopes, where villas rise on the lowlands and castles on the rocks, forests here and clearings there, valleys with springs, headlands washed by rivers; the land, in short, of which a single glimpse suffices to make many a stranger forget his own country. 6 Need I remind you of the town which was always so devoted to you that you ought to find no society more agreeable than that of its nobility? You were received with open arms, and all were so delighted to have you with them that no one could ever see enough of you. Need I speak of your own property? the more you visit it the better it will make good your outlay. For the very expenses of a proprietor cultivating his own land contribute to the increase of his income. I unburden myself thus in the name of all our citizens, and certainly of the best among them. Such is the affection which they show, so high the compliment implied in their desire, that you may imagine the greater joy which will be yours if you assent to their request. Farewell.
XXII.
To his friend Leo
A.D. 477
1 THE magnificent Hesperius, pearl of friends and glory of letters, informed me on his return from Toulouse not long ago that you wished me to begin writing history as soon as my volume of Letters is |39 completed. I need not tell you with what respect and gratitude I receive an opinion of such weight, and moreover so flattering to myself; for if you hold that I ought to abandon the work of smaller compass for the greater, it must be because you think me competent. But frankly, I find it easier to respect your judgement than to follow your advice. 2 The task indeed is one which is worthy of your recommendation, but it is no less worthy of your own practice. Tacitus long ago gave similar advice to Pliny and then anticipated his friend by following his own counsel. The precedent bears perfectly on your suggestion; for I am a mere disciple of Pliny,1whereas in the old historical style you excel Tacitus. Could he return to earth, could he witness your literary eminence and reputation, he would soon follow the hint conveyed by his own name. 3 You, therefore, are the man to shoulder the burden of your own proposal; you have an excellent gift of eloquence and to vast erudition you join unrivalled opportunities. For as adviser of a most potent sovereign, whose policy is concerned with all the world, you are admitted to the secrets of his business and his laws, his wars and treaties, you understand their local significance, their extent and their importance. Who, then, more fit to gird him for the task than he who is behind the great scene of public affairs, who knows the movements of the peoples, the embassies that pass between them, the generals' feats of arms, the treaties of the princes, who stands himself at such an altitude that he need neither suppress the truth nor broider the fabric of a lie?
4 How different is my own condition, afflicted with |40 the griefs of exile, deprived of the old facilities for study; a cleric, sworn to renounce ambition, and keep the middle path of his obscurity. My trust is no longer in the gifts of this present world, but in the hope of a world to come. My failing strength plays me false, and makes me delight in idleness; I care no more for the praise of my own generation, and as little for that of men who shall come after me. 5 History is the last field in which I should now pursue fame; we churchmen are ill-advised to publish our own affairs and rash to meddle with those of others; we record the past without advantage to ourselves, and the present from imperfect knowledge; we write what is untrue to our disgrace, and what is true at our peril. It is a work or subject in which the mention even of the virtuous wins a man scant credit, and of the great, unbounded enmity. Forthwith some hue and flavour of satire invades the historian's style, and this is wholly incongruous with our vows. Historical writing begins in spite, proceeds in weariness, and ends in ill repute. 6 Let a cleric once dabble in it, and all these woes will fall upon him; forthwith the viper's tooth of envy is into us; if our style be straightforward, we are called mad; if polished, we are presuming beyond our place.1 But you can enter upon this province with a light heart; your fame allows you to spring from strength to strength. You will tread the neck of the detractor or lightly leap above it. None will have written in a more exalted vein than you, none so near the antique manner, even though your theme be the story of our own times. For as you were trained long since in the art of letters, and now are no less versed in that of |41 affairs, you have left the venomed fang no hold whatever on you. Therefore it is that in years to come your works will be consulted with advantage, heard with delight, and read with assurance of their authority. Farewell.
XXIII.
To his friend Proculus
c. A.D. 472
1 YOUR son, whom I may almost call mine also, has taken refuge with me, full of sorrow for having left you, overwhelmed with shame and repentance of his desertion. When I heard what he had done, I rebuked him for this truancy with sharp words and threatening looks. The voice was mine, but I spoke in your place; I denounced him as one whose proper meed was disinheritance,1 the cross, the sack, and the other penalties of parricides. He flushed red in his confusion, but made no brazen excuses for his fault; and when I convicted him on every point, such floods of streaming tears accompanied his contrition that it was impossible to doubt his future amendment. 2 I entreat you, therefore, to show mercy on one who now shows none to himself; imitate Christ and do not condemn him who admits that he deserves to be condemned. You may prove inexorable; you may subject him to unheard-of punishments; but no torture you can inflict will hurt him like his own remorse. Free him from his despairing fears; justify my confidence in you; relieve yourself from the secret anguish you must feel (if I know aught of a father's feelings) at the spectacle of |42 a son crushed by undisguised affliction. I shall only have done him harm if you lift a finger against him, which I trust you will not do unless you mean to remain as hard as rock and rigid as impenetrable adamant. 3 If I am right in expecting something better from your known character and warm heart, be indulgent and forgive; I pledge myself that, once reconciled, he will henceforward be a loyal son. To absolve him promptly of his fault is to bind me by a new obligation. I earnestly beg you to do more, and grant him instant pardon; I want you, when he returns, not to open him your door alone, but your heart as well. Great God! what a bright day will dawn for you, what joyous news it will be to me, what gladness will fill his soul, when he casts himself at his father's feet and receives from those injured lips, those lips of terrible aspect, not reproaches but a kiss! Farewell.
XXIV.
To his friend Turnus *
A.D. 461-7
1 THE Mantuan's lines suit perfectly your name and your affair:
Turnus, what never God would dare
To promise to his suppliant's prayer,
Lo, here, the lapse of time has brought
E'en to your hands, unasked, unsought.1 |43
You remember that a long time ago your father Turpio (he was then of tribune's rank) sought and obtained a loan of Maximus, an official of the Palatine Service; he assigned nothing as security or guarantee, either in money or land; there is only a document ensuring the creditor his twelve per cent.1 This interest had been accumulating ten years, and had doubled the capital sum. 2 When your father was grievously ill and near his death, the public authority put serious pressure on him for the payment of the debt; the bailiffs too behaved in an intolerably brutal manner. I was then setting out for Toulouse, and the sick man, in despair, wrote entreating me to intercede with his creditor for at least a short delay. Of course I at once promised to do what I could, for Maximus and I are something more than acquaintances, and linked by old ties of hospitality. I therefore diverged from my route to pay him a visit, though his estate lies some miles distant from the highway.
3 On my arrival, he came out himself to meet me. But how changed his walk from the old erect and rapid gait; how changed the old frank regard and hearty voice! His dress, his walk, his humility, his pallor, his mode of speech----all declared the churchman. And then his hair was short and his beard long; he had simple tripod seats; coarse Cilician hangings covered his doors 2; the beds were featherless, the tables unadorned. His entertainment was as plain as it was kindly, with more vegetable than meat; if any richer dish appeared, it was brought not to him but to his guests. 4 When we rose from table, I asked my neighbours quietly to which of the three orders he belonged; |44 was he monk, clerk, or penitent? They told me he was so popular that his fellow citizens had thrust priestly office upon him against his inclination.1 When morning came, and the servants and clients were busy catching the animals, I begged a private interview, which he at once granted. I began by congratulations on his new dignity which he had not expected, but my petition followed close upon them. 5 I preferred the prayer of our common friend Turpio; I urged his straits and his extremity; I told how much harder it seemed to the sick man's afflicted friends that his soul should be released from a body still held in the bond of debt. I implored him to remember his new calling and our ancient fellowship; I entreated him at least to accord delay, and so to moderate the barbarous importunities of the collectors, who were barking like dogs about a death-bed; I asked that if Turpio died, the heirs should be granted the respite of the mourner's year, and that if, as I hoped, he recovered health, he should be left in peace during the time of convalescence from so exhausting a sickness. 6 I had got thus far with my petition when this charitable soul began to weep copious tears, not for the delay in recovering his debt but for the peril of the debtor, and restraining his sobs, cried: 'Far be it from me, a cleric, to demand from a sick man what as an official I should hardly have brought myself to ask from a sound one. But I am so attached to my friend's children also, that, even should he die, I shall require of them not a penny more than the law of our friendship sanctions. You shall write to them in their anxiety, enclosing a letter from me to confirm the authority of yours. Assure them |45 that whatever be the issue of our brother's illness, (and may it prove a happy one!) I give them a whole year's respite; I will also remit that half of the debt represented by the accumulated interest, and content myself with the simple return of the loan.' On this, I rendered thanks to God first, and then to my host, who so respected his good name and conscience; I assured this good friend that he laid up as a treasure in advance for himself what I was empowered to remit to you, and purchased a heavenly kingdom by refusing to drive a hard bargain here on earth. It now remains for you to use every effort for the repayment of the principal, and to return him heartfelt thanks in the name of your young brother and sister, who by reason of their tender age can know nothing of their own good fortune. There is no excuse for you to say, 'I am only a co-heir; the estate has not yet been divided; it is common knowledge that I have come off worse than the other two; my brother and sister are still minors; a husband has yet to be found for her, a guardian for him, and a surety for the guardian when appointed.' Such things are sometimes said with fairness to creditors, but only to the bad ones. You are fortunate in having to deal with a person ready to remit half your debt when he might exact the whole. Do not keep him waiting; he would be within his right if he demanded once more in his resentment all that his lenience had excused. Farewell. |46
* Translated by Hodgkin, ii. 345.
XXV.
To his friend Domnulus*
c. A.D. 470
1 I CANNOT delay an hour in letting you know of an event which must cause you the greatest pleasure, anxious as you were to learn what success attended the piety and firmness of our metropolitan and father in Christ, Patiens, upon the occasion of his visit to Châlon. He went to ordain a bishop for that town, where discipline had been imperilled after the retirement and subsequent death of the young bishop Paulus. Some of the provincial bishops formed his escort; others had preceded him. When the Episcopal Council met, it found that the opinion of the citizens was not unanimous,1 and that there existed private factions of the kind so ruinous to the public welfare. 2 The presence of three candidates aggravated these evils. The first had no moral qualification whatever, but only the privilege of ancient lineage, of which he made the most. The second was brought in on the applause of parasites,2 bribed to support him by the free run of a gourmand's table. The third had a tacit understanding with his supporters, that if he attained the object of his ambition, the plundering of the Church estates should be theirs. 3 Seeing this, the holy Patiens and the holy Euphronius determined that no |47 thought of odium or popularity should move them from the firmness and severity of the saner judgement. They communicated their intention to their fellow bishops1in secret conclave assembled, before they made it public. Then, with a complete disregard of the unruly crowd, they suddenly joined their hands upon the holy John, a man conspicuous for an honourable, humane and gentle life, and without the faintest suspicion of what they proposed, or the slightest desire for preferment. 4 This John was first a Reader, and had been a server at the altar from his tender years. In course of time and strenuous duty he became archdeacon, in which office or rank his efficiency kept him back; they would not give him promotion because they did not wish to relieve him of functions he performed so well. Such was the man, a member only of the second order, on whom they laid their hands, to the perplexity of the factions, which had no acclamations ready for one never even put forward for the office, but dared not at the same time say anything against a man whom his own career acclaimed. So, to the stupefaction of the intriguers, the rage of bad citizens, and the delight of good, without one dissentient voice, they two consecrated their new colleague. 5 And now, unless the monasteries of the Jura 2 keep you, where you love to ascend as if in foretaste of a celestial habitation, this letter ought to reach you, bringing the happy news, how these our fathers and protectors opined in accord, or accorded in opinion----whichever you will. Rejoice too in his name whom Euphronius and Patiens consecrated, the one by testimony, the other by laying on of hands, the two together by their concurring |48 judgement; in all which events Euphronius acted as beseemed his age and the long tenure of his high office, Patiens, for whom no praise could ever be too high, as befitted one who by his ecclesiastical dignity is the first person in our city, and by the priority of the city, the first citizen in all the province. Farewell.
* Partly translated by Guizot, Hist, de la civilisation en France, ed. 1846, i. 81-2.
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Sidonius Apollinaris, Letters. Tr. O.M. Dalton (1915) vol. 2. pp. 48-78; Book V
Sidonius Apollinaris, Letters. Tr. O.M. Dalton (1915) vol. 2. pp. 48-78; Book V
BOOK V
I.
To his friend Petronius
A.D. 478
1 THEY tell me you devote patient but not unpleasant hours to the perusal of my Letters; you who have achieved mastery in studies of widest scope, can yet notice the most insignificant writings of another. This is great, and well becomes the enthusiast for letters. But you are repaid for it by the most perfect kind of fame; for he who is generous enough to praise other men's talent will not fail to find his own conspicuously acknowledged. 2 I commend to you my friend Vindicius, a man of piety, and admirably suited for the dignity of deacon which he has recently attained. I had no time to copy what you wanted from my tablets, as it was incumbent on me to do, so I have entrusted him with these trifling lines just to have something to send; but such is your kindness that you accept any letter of mine as if it were an exceeding great reward. 3 Meanwhile I commend to your notice the affair of this same bearer who is taken to your neighbourhood by a troublesome business in which he finds himself involved. Two possibilities lie before him: he may either enter peacefully upon an inheritance, or he may be entangled in legal proceedings. |50 His paternal uncle has died a bachelor and intestate, and he is taking steps to inherit as next of kin; but factious opposition may bar his way. Against each and every difficulty which may be raised, you, after Christ, are the suppliant's best hope; I am confident that if he finds favour in your sight, his cause will prove victorious. Farewell.
II.
To his friend Nymphidius
c. A.D. 472
1 CLAUDIANUS MAMERTUS, the most accomplished of our Christian philosophers and the most learned man in the world, wrote not long ago a notable work in three volumes on the Nature of the Soul; in its embellishment and final elaboration he employed the method of the disposition and logical arrangement of profane philosophy, demonstrating that the nine Muses are not maidens at all, but Liberal Arts. The attentive reader discovers in his pages the real personified titles of the Nine, who of themselves and for themselves create their proper appellations. For in this book Grammar divides,1 and Rhetoric declaims; Arithmetic reckons, Geometry metes; Music balances, Logic disputes; Astrology predicts, Architecture constructs; Poetry attunes her measures. 2 Pleased with the novelty of a theory like this, and kindled to enthusiasm by so much ripe wisdom, you had hardly seen the book before you asked to have it for a short time to examine and copy it and to make extracts; you promised to return |51 it quickly, and your request was granted as soon as made. Now, it is far from fitting that I should be deceived in this little matter, and that you should be the deceiver. It is high time for you to send the book back; if you liked it, you must have had enough of it by now; if you dislike it, more than enough. Whichever it be, you have now to clear your reputation. If you mean to delay the return of a volume for which I have to ask you, I shall think that you care more for the parchment than for the work. Farewell.
III.
To [his kinsman] Apollinaris
A.D. 472
1 IT was perhaps only fair that you should retaliate on my loquacious habits by applying the curb of taciturnity. But since in the exchange of kind offices a perfect friendship should dwell less on what it pays than on what it may still be held to owe, I shall loosen the rein of scruple and render you the impudent homage of another letter: of course the impropriety of this is proved by the fact of your continued silence. Do I not deserve to be informed of a brother's fortunes in time of war? Are you really afraid of revealing your hopes or apprehensions to a friend who is anxious on your account?
2 Your motive in keeping your doings from me can only be that you are not quite sure of me, and fear that I might not rejoice as I ought at news of your good luck, or properly lament your adverse fortunes. May such disloyalty find no place in gentle hearts; may so miserable a suspicion be no longer a blot on |52 the candour of a true affection! For, as your Crispus says, ' to desire and reject the same things, that is the making of firm friends.'1
3 I shall be content if I can hear that you are in good case. My own mind has been depressed by the weight of a troubled conscience; a violent fever brought me almost to death's door. As you know, the cares of an august profession have been imposed on me, unworthy though I am of such an honour. And it has been misery to me to have to teach what I have never myself learned, and to preach goodness before practising it; like a barren tree, I bear no fruit of good works, but scatter idle words like leaves.
4 And now pray for me that my future life may prove it to have been worth while to come back almost from the underworld; for now a continuance in past errors would make this renewal of life the beginning of my soul's destruction. You see that I hide nothing from you, and I may fairly ask in return how things fare with you. I have done the part of friendship; it remains for you to act as you think right. But remember that by God's grace we recognize no end to a comradeship which we gave our hearts to begin; it must be like laws of Attica, graven eternally on brass. Farewell.
IV.
To [his kinsman] Simplicius
(No indication of date)
1 YOUR failure to answer my letter I impute to a friendship not beyond reproach, but in a greater |53 degree, to an uneasy conscience. For unless I do you an injustice, your answer is withheld less from perversity than from a sense of shame. But if you continue to close and bolt your door against my communications, I shall not be sorry to oblige you with the peace which you desire. At the same time I must tell you plainly that the instigators of the wrong thus done me are to be found among those nearest to you.
2 For it is no injustice to attribute all that is hateful in your silence to the spoiled humours of your sons, who, secure in your affection, submit with impatience to my assiduity.1 It is incumbent on you to admonish them by your parental authority to be more amiable henceforward in their behaviour, and so sweeten to me the bitterness of their past offence. Farewell.
V.
To his friend Syagrius
(No indication of date)
1 THOUGH you descend in the male line from an ancestor who was not only consul----that is immaterial----but also (and here is the real point) a poet, from one whose literary achievement would certainly have gained him the honour of a statue, had it not been secured for him already by his official honours,----witness the finished verse that he has left us; and though on this side of his activity his descendants have proved themselves no wise degenerate, yet here we find you picking up a knowledge of the German tongue with the greatest of ease; the feat fills me with indescribable amazement.
2 I can recall the thoroughness of your education |54 in liberal studies; I know with what a fervid eloquence you used to declaim before the rhetor. With such a training, how have you so quickly mastered the accent of a foreign speech, that after having your Virgil caned into you, and absorbing into your very system the opulent and flowing style of the varicose orator of Arpinum,1 you soar out like a young falcon from the ancient eyrie 2?
3 You can hardly conceive how amused we all are to hear that, when you are by, not a barbarian but fears to perpetrate a barbarism in his own language. Old Germans bowed with age are said to stand astounded when they see you interpreting their German letters; they actually choose you for arbiter and mediator in their disputes. You are a new Solon in the elucidation of Burgundian law; like a new Amphion you attune a new lyre, an instrument of but three strings. You are popular on all sides; you are sought after; your society gives universal pleasure. You are chosen as adviser and judge; as soon as you utter a decision it is received with respect. In body and mind alike these people are as stiff as stocks and very hard to form; yet they delight to find in you, and equally delight to learn, a Burgundian eloquence and a Roman spirit.
4 Let me end with a single caution to the cleverest of men. Do not allow these talents of yours to prevent you from devoting whatever time you can spare to reading. Let your critical taste determine you to preserve a balance between the two languages, holding fast to the one to prevent us making fun of you, and practising the other that you may have the laugh of us. Farewell. |55
VI.
To [his kinsman] Apollinaris
A.D. 474-5
1 As soon as summer began to yield to autumn and the fears of my Arvernians were in some degree moderated by the approach of winter, I was able to make a journey to Vienne. There I found, in great tribulation, your brother Thaumastus, who alike by virtue of his age and his descent inspires me with feelings of affection and respect. Afflicted already by the recent loss of his wife, he was no less troubled on your account, fearing that the gang of barbarians and officers about the court might trump up some malicious charge against you.1
2 According to his report, venomous tongues have been secretly at work, whispering in the ear of the ever-victorious Chilperic, our Master of the Soldiery,2that your machinations are chiefly responsible for the attempt to win the town of Vaison for the new Emperor.3 If you are exposed to any suspicion on this score, inform me at once by return, that we may not lose any possible advantage which might accrue from my presence or the exertion of my interest. If in your opinion a real danger exists, I shall make it my special business either by conciliating the royal favour, to ensure your safety, or by discovering the extent of the king's anger to make you see the need for greater caution in future. Farewell. |56
VII.
To his [kinsman] Thaumastus
A.D. 474-5
1 AT last we have discovered who the villains are who have accused your brother before our tetrarch for siding with the partisans of the new Emperor----unless, indeed, the stealthy steps of the informers have deceived the proved sagacity of our friends. They are the wretches, as you yourself have heard me say upon the spot, whom Gaul endures with groans these many years, and who make the barbarians themselves seem merciful by comparison. They are the scoundrels whom even the formidable fear. These are the men whose peculiar province it seems to be to calumniate, to denounce, to intimidate, and to plunder.
2 These are they who in quiet times make parade of their affairs, in peace of their ample spoils, in war of their evasions, over their cups of their victories. These are the creatures who will spin out a case if they are called in, and block its progress if they are kept out; who grow offensive if reminded of their duty, and if they once pocket your fee, forget their obligation. These are the fellows who buy themselves a lawsuit to sell their mediation; who control the appointment of arbitrators, dictate their sentence, and tear it up whenever it suits them to do so; who incite litigants to sue, and hold the hearing in suspense; who hale off the convicted, and force back into the court those who would fain escape by settlement. These are the men who, asked a favour opposed by none, will promise |57 with reluctance what shame forbids them to refuse, and moan if they have to keep their word.
3 These are they at whose appearance the world's great scoundrels would confess themselves surpassed, Narcissus, Asiaticus, Massa, Marcellus, Carus, Parthenius, Licinus, Pallas, and all their peers.1 These are they who grudge quiet folks their peace, the soldier his pay, the courier his fare, the merchant his market, the ambassador his gifts, the farmer of tolls his dues, the provincial his farm, the municipality its flamen's dignity, the controllers of revenue their weights, the receivers their measures, the registrars their salary, the accountants their fees, the bodyguards their presents,2 towns their truces, taxgatherers their taxes, the clergy the respect men pay them, the nobles their lineage, superiors their seats in council, equals equality, the official his jurisdiction, the ex-official his distinctions, scholars their schools, masters their stipends, and finished pupils their accomplishments.
4 These are the upstarts drunken with new wealth 4 (I spare you no sordid detail), who by their intemperate use betray their unfamiliarity with riches. They like to march under arms to a banquet, they will attend a funeral in white, and wear mourning at a marriage festival; they go to church in furs,3 and hear a litany in beaver. No race of men, no rank, no epoch is ever to their liking. In the market they behave like Scyths; in the chamber they are vipers, at feasts buffoons. While they are harpies in exaction, in conversation you might as well talk to statues, or address a question to brute beasts. In negotiation slow as snails, they are sharp as money-lenders at a contract. In comprehension |58 they are stones, in judgement stocks; swift as flame in anger, hard as iron in forgiveness, pards in friendship, bears in humour, foxes in deceit, overbearing as bulls, fierce as Minotaurs in destruction.
5 They believe in the unsettlement of affairs; the more troubled the time the firmer their faith in its advantage. Cowardice and a bad conscience destroy their nerves; they are lions in the palace and hares in camp; they dread treaties for fear of having to disgorge, and war for fear of having to fight. Let them but scent from afar a rusty purse, and you will see them fix on it the eyes of Argus, Briareus' hands, the Sphinx's claws; they will bring into play the perjuries of Laomedon, the subtleties of Ulysses, Sinon's wiles; they will stick to it with the staunchness of Polymestor and the loyalty of a Pygmalion.
6 Such are the morals with which they hope to crush a man both powerful and good. And what can one man do, encompassed on every side by slanderers whose venomous lips distort each word he says? What should he do when nature meant him for honest company, but fortune cast him among thieves whose evil communications would make Phalaris more bloodthirsty, Midas more covetous, Ancus vainer, Tarquin haughtier, Tiberius craftier, Gaius more dangerous, Claudius more slothful, Nero more corrupt, Galba more avaricious, Otho more reckless, Vitellius more prodigal, Domitian more ferocious?
7 But we have one consolation in our trouble; fair Tanaquil restrains our Lucumon:1 she waits her chance, and rids his ears by a few coaxing words of all the poison with which the whisperers have filled them. |59 You ought to know that we owe it to her interest if up till now the mind of our common patron has not been poisoned against our brothers by these younger Cibyrates1; God willing, it never will be, while the present power holds Lyons for the German race, and our present Agrippina exerts her moderating influence on her Germanicus2. Farewell.
VIII.
To his friend Secundinus
c. A.D. 477
1 WHAT a long time it is since we used to read your masterly hexameters with outspoken admiration! Your verse was equally full of life, whether you were celebrating a wedding, or the fall of great beasts before the prowess of kings. But even you yourself would admit that you have never done anything better than your last poem in triple trochaics constructed in hendecasyllabic metre. 2 What fine malice I found in it; what style, what pungent eloquence! it was impossible for me to keep my enthusiasm to myself. As for your subjects, you were fearless; only the necessity for respecting persons seemed to check somewhat the lightning of your genius and the free course of your irony. I think the Consul Ablabius3 never thrust more brilliantly at the family life of Constantine with a couplet, or gave more stinging point to the famous distich secretly appended to the palace gates:
'Who wants back Saturn and his golden age?
We have the diamond age----Neronian.' |60
You remember that, when this was written, Constantine had done to death his consort Fausta 1 in a hot bath and his son Crispus with cold poison. 3 I would not have you deterred by anything from your bold and vivid use of satire. You will find the flourishing vices of our tyrant-ridden citizens 2 a rich mine to exploit. For the folk whom we set down as fortunate according to the lights of our age or our locality comport themselves with such an arrogance that the future will not readily forget their names. The infamy of vice and the praise of virtue are both alike eternal. Farewell.
IX.
To his friend Aquilinus
c. A.D. 477
1 I FIND it certainly to my advantage, friend capable of every virtue, and I trust you will feel the same, that we should have as many ties to bind us as we have reasons for being united. Such ties are hereditary in our families; I do but recall the experience of the past. Let me summon as my witnesses our grandfathers Rusticus and Apollinaris,3 whom like fortunes and aversions united in a noble friendship. They had a similar taste in letters, their characters were alike; they had enjoyed similar dignities and undergone the same dangers. They were equally agreed in detesting the inconstancy of Constantine, the irresolution of Jovinus, the perfidy of Gerontius; both singling out the fault proper to each person, and both finding in Dardanus the sum of all existing vices.4 |61
2 If we come down to the years between their time and our own, we find our fathers brought up together from their tender youth until they came to manhood. In Honorius' reign,1 as tribunes and secretaries, they served abroad together in such close comradeship that among all the grounds of their agreement the fact that their own fathers had been friends appeared to be the least. Under Valentinian, one of the two ruled all Gaul, the other only a region of it; even so they managed to balance their dignities with a fraternal equilibrium; the one who held the lower rank had seniority in office. 3 And now the old tradition comes down to us grandsons, whose dearest care it should be to prevent the affection of our parents and our forefathers from suffering any diminution in our persons. But there are ties of all kinds, over and above that of this hereditary friendship, which needs must bring us close together; we are linked by equality of years no less than by identity of birthplace; we played and learned together, shared the same discipline and relaxation, and were trained by the same rule. 4 So then, for what remains of life now that our years touch upon the threshold of age, let us under the providence of God be two persons with but a single mind; and let us instil into our sons the same mutual regard: let us see that the objects which they desire and refuse, pursue or shun, are the same. It would indeed crown our vows if the boys who bear the honoured names of Rusticus and Apollinaris renewed within their breasts the hearts of those illustrious ancestors. Farewell. |62
X.
To his friend Sapaudus
(No indication of date)
1 AMONG all the virtues of the illustrious Pragmatius, I place this first, that his enthusiasm for letters inspires him with an ardent admiration for you. He finds in you the last traces of the antique industry and accomplishment; and it is only right that he should show you favour, since few men owe a greater debt to literature than he. 2 When he was a young man his persuasive eloquence won such applause in the schools of rhetoric, that Priscus Valerianus, himself reputed for his oratorical skill, made him his son-in-law, and adopted him into his patrician family. Besides his youth, his birth and means, Pragmatius had good looks, and an engaging modesty which enlisted people's sympathy. Even at that age he was of a serious disposition and felt the shame of making his way by a handsome face when he would have been better content to attract by his qualities of mind and character. And indeed a beautiful nature is the best key to men's hearts; bodily charm is transient; as years advance and life wanes, it falls away. When Priscus Valerianus was made Prefect of the Gauls, his opinion of his adopted son remained unaltered, indeed he clung to it with pertinacity. He associated him with himself in council-chamber and court, resolved that the accomplishments which had been admitted to share his family life should also share in the enhancement of his dignity. 3 Your own style is so admirable and lucid, that far from surpassing it, the great orators, with all their qualities, can |63 hardly attain its level----not the logical Palaemon, the austere Gallic, the opulent Delphidius, the methodical Agroecius, the virile Alcimus, the charming Adelphius, the rigid Magnus, the agreeable Victorius.1 It is far from my desire to cajole or flatter you with this hyperbolic list of rhetors, but in my opinion only Quintilian in his force and his intensity, or Palladius with his splendid manner, can fairly be compared with you; and even that comparison I should not urge----I should merely yield it acquiescence. 4 If after you there shall be any other adept of Roman eloquence, he will be deeply grateful to that friendship with Valerianus, and if he is half a man, will long to be admitted as a third to your society. Such a wish could never prove a source of annoyance to you, since there are now, alas! so few who have any respect for polite studies. And it is a defect rooted and fixed in human nature, to think little of the artist when you know nothing of the art. Farewell.
XI.
To his friend Potentinus
c. A. D. 467
1 I AM your devoted friend, and my devotion was born neither of caprice nor error. Before I linked myself to you in close friendship, I pondered well; it is my habit to choose first, and give my heart afterwards. 'But what on earth ', you will say, 'did you see to like in me?' 2 I will answer gladly and in two words: gladly, for you are my friend; briefly, because my space is small. What I respect in your career is this; you |64 do so many things that every reasonable man would like to imitate. You cultivate your estates as an expert; you build with the utmost method, you are an unerring hunter, your hospitality is perfection, your wit is of the first order, your judgements are absolutely fair; you are sincere in persuasion, very slow to wrath, very quickly appeased, very loyal after reconciliation. 3 I shall rejoice if when he grows up my young Apollinaris copies these several qualities; it shall not be for want of urging on my part if he fails. Let Christ but grant me success in my plans for his training and instruction, and it will not be my least satisfaction to have borrowed from your character the chief ensample of life which I set before him. Farewell.
XII.
To his friend Calminius
A. D. 474
1 It is no foolish pride of mine, but this alien dominance which makes my letters so few and far between; do not expect me to speak out; your own fears, similar to mine, explain the need for silence. One thing, however, I may freely lament, that sundered as we are by this whirlwind of warring forces, we have practically no chance of meeting one another. Alas! your harassed country never sees you except when the alien's formidable command bids you hide yourself in armour, while we on our side are covered by our ramparts. At such time you are led against your native land, an unwilling captive,1 to empty your quiver against |65 us while your eyes fill with tears. We bear you no ill will; we know that your prayers are otherwise directed than your missiles. 2 But as from time to time, without ratification of any treaty some semblance of a truce opens for us a casement on our darkness, bright with hope of liberation, I entreat you to let us hear from you as often as you can; for be sure that our besieged citizens preserve the kindliest thoughts of you and manage to forget the hateful part you play as their besieger. Farewell.
XIII.
To his friend Pannychius *
A. D. 469
1 HAVE you heard that Seronatus 1 is coming back from Toulouse? If you have not (and I hardly think you have), learn it from these presents. Evanthius is hurrying to Clausetia, making passable the parts of the road in the contractor's hands, and clearing it wherever it is choked with fallen leaves. When he finds any part of the surface full of holes, he rushes in a panic with spadefuls of soil and fills them with his own hands; his business is to conduct his monster from the valley of the Tarn, like the pilot-fish 2 that leads the bulky whale through shoals and rocky waters. 2 But lo! the monster, swift to wrath and slow to move by reason of his bulk, no sooner appears like a dragon uncoiling from his cave, than he makes immediate descent upon the pallid folk of Javols, whose cheeks are pale with fear. They had |66 scattered on all sides, abandoning their townships; and now he drains them dry by new and unparalleled imposts, or takes them in the mesh of calumny; even when they have paid their annual tribute more than once, he refuses to let these unhappy victims return to their homes. 3 The sure sign of his impending arrival in any district is the appearance of prisoners in troops, dragging their chains along. The anguish of these men is joy to him; their hunger is his food; and he finds his peculiar pleasure in subjecting them to ignominy before their sentence. He compels the men to grow long hair, and off cuts the hair of the women. If here and there a prisoner receives a pardon, it is through his vanity or his corruption, and never through his mercy. Not even the prince of orators or the prince of poets could describe so dire a creature: Marcus of Arpinum and Publius of Mantua would be impotent alike. This pest (whose treasons God confound!) is said to be now on his way; anticipate his onset by salutary precautions; if there is talk of suits, compound with the litigious enemy; provide yourself with guarantees against new imposts, and prevent this worst of men from compromising the affairs of worthy people by his favour or ruining them by his enmity. I will sum up in these words my opinion of Seronatus: others fear some crushing blow at the brigand's hands; to me his very benefits are suspicious. Farewell. |67
* Translated by Hodgkin, ii. 338; and Fertig, i. p. 20.
XIV.
To his friend Aper
A.D. 472-3
1 ARE you taking your ease in your sunny Baiae,1 where the sulphurous water rushes from hollows of the porous rock, and the baths are so beneficial to those who suffer either in the lungs or liver? Or are you 'camped among the mountain castles',2 looking for a place of refuge, and perhaps embarrassed by the number of strongholds you find to choose from? Whatever the cause of your delay, whether you are making holiday or going about your business, I feel sure that the thought of the forthcoming Rogations 3 will bring you back to town. 2 It was Mamertus our father in God and bishop who first designed, arranged, and introduced the ceremonial of these prayers, setting a precedent we should all revere, and making an experiment which has proved of the utmost value. We had public prayers of a sort before, but (be it said without offence to the faithful) they were lukewarm, irregular, perfunctory, and their fervour was destroyed by frequent interruption for refreshment; and as they were chiefly for rain or for fine weather, to say the least of it, the potter and the market-gardener could never decently attend together! 4 3 But in the Rogations which our holy father has instituted and conferred upon us, we fast, we pray with tears, we chant the psalms. To such a feast, where penitential sighs are heard from all the congregation, where heads are humbly bowed, and forms fall prostrate, I invite you; and if I rightly gauge your spirit, you will only |68 respond the quicker because you are called in place of banquets to a festival of tears. Farewell.
XV.
To his friend Ruricius
(No indication of date)
1 THE usual salutations over, I at once urge upon your notice the claims of our bookseller, because I have made discriminating and unbiased trial of the man, proving him to my complete satisfaction at once loyal in sentiment and alert in service to our common master----yourself. He brings in person the manuscript of the Heptateuch all written out by his own hand with the utmost neatness and rapidity, though I read it through myself, and made corrections. He also brings a volume of the Prophets; this was edited by him in my absence, and with his own hand purged of corrupt additions.1The scholar who had promised him assistance in reading out from another text, was only able to perform his task in part; I fancy illness prevented him from carrying out his undertaking. 2 It remains for you by encouragement or promise of your influence to show appropriate recognition of a servant who has done his best to satisfy, and deserves to succeed; and if this is in proportion to his arduous task, he will soon begin to look for his reward. All that I ask for the moment is your benevolence towards him; it is for you to decide what he deserves, though indeed I think the good opinion of his master is far nearer to his heart than any recompense. Farewell. |69
XVI.
To [his wife] Papianilla*
A. D. 474
1 THE moment the Quaestor Licinianus, coming from Ravenna, had crossed the Alps and set foot on Gaulish soil, he sent a message in advance to make it known that he was bearer of imperial letters patent conferring the title of Patrician on Ecdicius.1 I know that your brother's honours delight you no less than my own; considering his years, he has attained this one very early; considering his deserts, very late. For he earned the dignity he is now to receive long ago, by service in the field and not by purchase; and though only a private citizen, poured into the treasury no mere contribution, but sums like spoils of war. 2 Julius Nepos, true Emperor in character no less than prowess, has done nobly in keeping the pledged word of his predecessor Anthemius that the labours of your brother should be recognized; his action is all the more laudable for the promptitude with which he has fulfilled a promise reiterated so often by another. In future the best men in the State will feel able, nay, rather, will feel bound, to spend their strength with the utmost ardour for the commonweal, assured that even should the prince who promised die, the Empire itself will be responsible, and pay the debt due to their devotion and self-sacrifice. 3 Knowing your affectionate |70 nature, I am convinced that even in the very midst of our adversities this news will bring great consolation, and that not even the imminent dread of siege will divert your mind from the path of a joy common to us all. For I am sure you were never quite so gratified by any of my own honours, in which you legally shared; good wife as you have always been, you are the best sister that man ever had. That is why I have not lost an instant in sending my letter of congratulation on this enhancement of dignity which Christ has permitted to your family. I satisfy alike your solicitude and your brother's modesty. He will be sure to say nothing of this promotion; but even if you did not know his unassuming nature, you would not blame him for lack of brotherly feeling. 4 As far as I am concerned, I derive great satisfaction from these new distinctions which you have awaited with unconcealed impatience; but I derive a greater yet from the brotherly union which exists between Ecdicius and myself. It is my ardent wish that our children and his may live in equal harmony; and I pray in our common name that just as we of this generation were born into prefectorian families, and have been enabled by divine favour to elevate them to patrician rank, so they in their turn may exalt the patrician to the consular dignity. 5 Little Roscia, our joint care,1 sends you her love; she has the rare advantage of being brought up by her grandmother and her aunts, who temper their great indulgence with strictness, forming her character, yet not asking too much of her tender years. Farewell. |71
* Translated by Hodgkin, ii. 346-8.
XVII.
To his friend Eriphius *
A. D. 461-7
1 You are the same man still, my dear Eriphius; the pleasures of the chase, the amenities of town or country are never allowed to lure you so far that in your hour the charm of letters will not win you back. That devotion it is which bids you tolerate even me, whom you are good enough to describe as redolent of the Muses. If you were in a frivolous mood when you wrote so, you jest at my expense; if in sober earnest, your regard for me has blinded your eyes, for it needs no demonstration to prove your judgement at fault. Really, you go much too far when you use of me expressions hardly appropriate to a Homer or a Virgil. 2 I leave these kindly exaggerations, and pass to the proper subject of my letter. You bid me send you the verses which I was weak enough to compose at the request of your most distinguished father-in-law, who understands the art of so living with his fellows as to command or obey with equal ease. Blame yourself if words run away with me, and I relate an insignificant event at greater length than it deserves; you insist on a picture of the scene and all that occurred, since your illness prevented you from being with us. 3 We had assembled at the tomb of S. Justus 1; the annual procession before daylight was over, attended by a vast crowd of both sexes which even that great church |72 could not hold with all its cincture of galleries. After Vigils were ended, chanted alternately by the monks and clerics, the congregation separated; we could not go far off, as we had to be at hand for the next service at Tierce, when the priests were to celebrate the Mass. 4 We felt oppressed by the crowding in a confined space, and by the great number of lights which had been brought in. It was still almost summer, and the night was so sultry that it suffocated us, imprisoned as we were in that steaming atmosphere; only the first freshness of the autumn dawn brought some welcome relief. Groups of the different classes dispersed in various directions, the principal citizens assembling at the monument of Syagrius, which is hardly a bowshot from the church. Some of us sat down under an old vine, the stems of which were trained trellis-wise and covered with leaves and drooping fronds; others sat on the grass odorous with the scent of flowers. 5 The talk was enlivened with amusing jests and pleasantries; above all (and what a blessed thing it was!), there was not a word about officials or taxes, not an informer among us to betray, not a syllable worth betrayal. Every one was free to tell any story worth relating and of a proper tenor; it was a most appreciative audience; the vein of gaiety was not allowed to spoil the distinct relation of each tale. After a time, we felt a certain slackness through keeping still so long, and we voted for some more active amusement. 6 We soon split into two groups, according to our ages: one shouted for the ball, the other for the board-game, both of which were to be had. I was the leader of the ball-players; you know that book and ball are my twin companions. In the other |73 group, the chief figure was our brother Domnicius, that most engaging and attractive of men: there he was, rattling some dice which he had got hold of, as if he sounded a trumpet-call to play. The rest of us had a great game with a party of students, doing our best at the healthful exercise with limbs which sedentary occupations made much too stiff for running. 7 And now the illustrious Filimatius sturdily flung himself into the squadrons of the players, like Virgil's hero 'daring to set his hand to the task of youth' 1; he had been a splendid player himself in his younger years. But over and over again he was forced from his position among the stationary players by the shock of some runner from the middle, and driven into the midfield where the ball flew past him, or was thrown over his head; and he failed to intercept or parry it.2 More than once he fell prone, and had to pick himself up from such collapses as best he could; naturally he was the first to withdraw from the stress of the game in a state of internal inflammation, out of breath from exercise and suffering sharp pains in the side from the swollen fibres of his liver. 8 Thereupon I left off too. It was done from delicacy; if I stopped at the same time, my brother would be spared a feeling of mortification at being so soon exhausted. Well, while we were sitting down, he found himself in such a perspiration that he called for water to bathe his face. They brought it, with a shaggy towel which had been washed after yesterday's use, and had been swinging on a line worked by a pulley near the doors of the porter's lodge. 9 As Filimatius was leisurely drying his cheeks, he said: 'I wish you would dictate a pair |74 of couplets in honour of a cloth which has done me such a noble turn.' 'Very well,' I replied. 'But you must get my name in,' he rejoined. I said that there would be no difficulty in that. 'Dictate away, then.' I smiled; 'I would have you know', I said, 'that the Muses are upset if I frequent their company before witnesses.' At this he burst out in his explosive but delightful way (you know his ardent nature, and what an inexhaustible flow of wit he has): 'Beware, my lord Sollius! Apollo may be still more upset if you tempt his pupils to secret interviews all alone.' You can imagine the applause aroused by a retort as neat as it was instantaneous. 10 I wasted no more time, but called up his secretary, who was at hand with his tablets, and dictated the following epigram:
'At dawn, or when the seething bath invites, or when the hot chase beads the brow, may goodly Filimatius with this cloth cherish his face till all the perspiration flows into the thirsty fleece.'
Our good friend Epiphanius the secretary had hardly taken down the lines, when they came to tell us that our time was up, and that the bishop was leaving his retreat; we therefore rose to go. 11 You must not be too critical of verses written thus to order. It is another matter with the longer poem which some time ago you two asked me to write in a hyperbolical and figured style on the man who bore good fortune ill.1I shall send it off to-morrow for your private revision. If you both approve of it, you can then publish it under your auspices; if you condemn, you can tear it up and forgive me as best you can. Farewell. |75
* The greater part translated by Guizot, Hist, de la civilisation en France, ed. 1846, i. 95-7; and by Fertig, Part ii, pp. 39-40.
XVIII.
To his friend Attalus
(No indication of date)
1 I WAS delighted to hear that you have consented to preside over the destinies of Autun.1 I am glad for several reasons; first, you are my friend; second, you are a just man; third, you are not to be trifled with; fourth, you will be quite near us. You will now have not only the inclination to help our people and further their affairs, but the duty and the power of doing so. In my satisfaction at seeing an old acquaintance invested with new authority, I am already looking round for objects on which you may exercise your benevolence. For understand, I feel so sure of it, that if I fail to find anything to ask for, I shall expect you to make me a suggestion yourself. Farewell.
XIX.
To his friend Pudens
c. A. D. 472
1 THE son of your nurse has eloped with the daughter of mine. It is a shameful action, and one which would have destroyed our friendly relations, had I not learned at once that you knew nothing of the man's intention. But though you are thus acquitted in advance, you yet do not scruple to ask that this crying offence should be allowed to go unpunished. I can only agree on one condition: that you promote the ravisher from his original servile state, by changing your relation to him |76 from that of master to that of patron. 2 The woman is already free; but she will only be regarded as a lawful wife instead of a mere concubine if our criminal, whose cause you espouse, ceases to be your dependant and becomes your client, assuming the status of a freeman in place of that of a colonus.1 Nothing short of these terms or these amends will in the least condone the affront. I only yield to your request and your protestation of friendship on condition that, if as ravisher he is not to be bond to Justice, Liberty shall make him a free bridegroom. Farewell.
XX.
To his friend Pastor
A. D. 461-7
1 YOUR absence from yesterday's business of the Municipal Council 2 is thought by most to have been intentional; they suspect that you wished to avoid the burden of an embassy which might be laid upon your shoulders. I congratulate you on being so eligible a person as to live in constant fear of being elected. Your efficiency commands my applause, your prudence my admiration, your happy fortune my congratulations; 2 in fine, I wish no better lot than yours to every friend I love as well. Many men are possessed by a detestable thirst for popularity; you see them take the chief citizens by the hand, lead them aside from a meeting, and embrace them in a corner, promising good offices for which no one asked; you see them, in the hope of nomination as public envoys, refusing the usual |77 travelling-allowance,1 and insisting on going at their own charges; secretly canvassing every member in turn, so that when the council meets, they may be sure of a unanimous and public invitation. 3 The consequence is that though people are pleased enough to be served for nothing, they find it in the long run pleasanter to choose a more modest representative, even at the cost of paying all expenses; the self-assertion of the volunteer becomes too irksome, even though his tenure of office throws no burden on the town. Since, then, the intentions of our best citizens are now no secret to you, acquiesce, and meet their wishes; you have given proof enough of modesty; test the warm feelings of those who invite you. Your failure to appear was put down to your discretion; a repetition of such conduct would expose you to the charge of indifference. 4 Remember, too, that if you do go to Arles, you will be able to greet your venerable mother and your affectionate brothers on the way; you will greet the natal soil that returns love for love, and is doubly delightful when unexpectedly revisited. Then think how convenient it will be to see your agent, and to get even a passing glimpse of your own home, your vines, your olives, your cornfields, and the house itself. Though our envoy, you will yet be travelling for your own pleasure; altogether, this journey on city business should suit you admirably, and you will be able to thank the community for an excellent chance of getting a sight of your own people. Farewell. |78
XXI.
To his friends Sacerdos and Justinus
(No indication of date)
YOUR uncle Victorius, whose varied learning and eminence we so revered, always wrote with power, especially when he wrote verse. As you know, I too have been the servant of the Muses from my youth up. You are your uncle's heirs no less in merit than in law. But by right of poetry I am as much his kin as you by right of blood; we ought all of us, therefore, to share in the succession according to our several affinities. So keep the property for yourselves, but hand the poems over to me. Farewell.
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Sidonius Apollinaris, Letters. Tr. O.M. Dalton (1915) vol. 2. pp. 79-94; Book VI
Sidonius Apollinaris, Letters. Tr. O.M. Dalton (1915) vol. 2. pp. 79-94; Book VI
BOOK VI
I.
To the Lord Bishop Lupus*
A. D. 472
1 BLESSED be the Holy Spirit and Father of Almighty God that we have you, father of fathers, bishop of bishops and the second James of your age,1 to look down upon every member of the Church from the eminence of your charity, as it were from another Jerusalem exalted high as the first; you, the consoler of all the feeble, the counsellor of all men, whose trust you so well deserve. And what answer can I make to one thus venerated, I who am as vile dust foul with sin? 2 Suffering deep need of your salutary converse, yet standing in great awe, I am driven by the memory of my guilty life to cry to you, as once that great colleague of yours cried to the Lord: 'Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.' 2 But if my dread is not tempered by love, I fear that I may be abandoned like the Gerasenes, and that you may go forth from my borders. Rather, for my greater profit, will I seek to bind you with the conditional prayer of that other leper: 'If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean;' 3 in which words he both declared his need and published abroad his faith. 3 For though you are beyond |80 all doubt first of all bishops in the wide world; though even the throng of your colleagues submits to the prerogative which you enjoy, and trembles at your adverse judgement; though the hearts of the oldest among them are as the hearts of little children compared with yours; though your hard vigils in the spiritual warfare at Lerins,1and the nine lustres passed in your apostolic see have made you a veteran honoured in the camps of the Church, and the captain of our vanguard whom every soldier acclaims----yet you never hesitate to leave the first line awhile and those who fight before it; you do not despise camp-follower and servant, but to the meanest of the baggage-train, who for their ignorant simplicity still sit beside the loads of the flesh, you carry the standard of the cross which you have borne so long, and to their stricken souls extend the Word, as it were a hand of rescue. 4 They say, dear veteran leader, that you gather to you even the enemy's wounded, sounding the retreat from Sin to Christ after the manner of a consummate trumpeter, and like the Shepherd of the Gospel feel more joy over those who abandon the way of despair than over those who have never left the path of safety. O norm of all right conduct, column of all virtues, and (if a sinful man may dare to praise) fount of sweetness, truest because most holy, you did not shrink from touching with the finger of exhortation the sores of a most despicable worm; you did not grudge the food of admonition to a soul frail and fasting, or from the store-house of your deep love refuse me the measure of the humility I am now to pursue. 5 Pray for me, that I may know at length how vast the burden is that weighs upon my shoulders. Wretched man that I am, by the |81 continuance of my transgressions brought to such a pass, that I must now intercede for the sins of the people ---- I for whom their own supplications, more innocent than mine, should hardly obtain the divine mercy. How shall a sick man give others medicine? How shall one in a fever presume to feel a pulse that beats more strongly than his own? What deserter has the right to sing the praise of military science? What lover of high living is fit to read a lecture to the abstemious? Yet I, the unworthiest of men, must preach what I cannot practise. Condemned out of my own mouth when I do not fulfil my own injunctions, I must daily pronounce sentence upon myself. But if like a new Moses, not less, but of a later age, you intercede before Our Lord, with whom you are daily crucified, for all the multitude of my sins, I shall not living descend further into hell, nor longer, inflamed by the incentives of carnal sin, light alien flame on the altar of the Lord. For one guilty as I, there can be no glory to weigh down the scale; how abundantly shall I then rejoice if your prayers avail to restore my inward man, not indeed to perfect health and its reward, but to the healing of the heart's wounds, and pardon. Deign to keep me in remembrance, my Lord Bishop.
* Translated by Chaix, i. 449; and Germain, p. 103 f.
II.
To the Lord Bishop Pragmatius
A. D. 472
1 THE venerable matron Eutropia, known to me as a woman of the most exemplary merit, is in the greatest trouble. Frugality and charity dispute her days; her |82 fastings feed the poor; so watchful is she in Christ's service, that sin is all in her which she allows to slumber. But as if the sorrow of her widowhood were not enough, she now finds herself threatened with a lawsuit. Her first instinct in her two-fold affliction is to obtain the perfect remedy of your consolation; if you only see her, she will be equally grateful, whether you regard her coming as a short journey or as a lasting proof of her respect. 2 Now Eutropia is being harassed by the subtleties, to use no harsher word, of our venerable brother the presbyter Agrippinus. He is taking advantage of her woman's inexperience, and continually troubling the serene surface of her spiritual nature by windy gusts of worldliness. And all the while this poor woman is bleeding from two fresh wounds which time has added to the old deep wound of widowhood; for her son was first taken from her, and very soon afterwards her grandson also. 3 I did my best to compose this matter; a friendship of long standing gave me an old claim to be heard, and my sacred calling a new one; I let them know what I thought; I used persuasion where I could, and entreaty at every turn. You may be surprised to learn that throughout the woman and not the man was the first to accept suggestions for agreement. And though the father boasts that in his paternal quality he is in the best position to serve his daughter's interests, the daughter herself prefers her mother-in-law's most generous proposals.1 4 The dispute, only half appeased, is now to be carried before you. Pacify the adversaries by your episcopal authority, show their suspicious souls the truth, and bring about a reconciliation. You |83 may take my word for it that the holy Eutropia will count it almost victory if even at the cost of heavy sacrifices she can escape from litigation. Though two families are parties to the quarrel, I fancy you will soon decide which of them deserves the name of quarrelsome. Deign to hold me in remembrance, my Lord Bishop.
III.
To the Lord Bishop Leontius
A. D. 472
1 You have not yet seen fit to encourage my first steps in our sacred profession, or to pour the rain of heavenly doctrine on the drought of my worldly ignorance; but I do not so far forget myself as to expect an equipoise in the courtesies which we render to each other. I am of small account; you are easily above me in years, in seniority, in the precedence enjoyed by your see,1 in your wide learning, in the treasure of your righteousness; if I expected you to notice every letter, I should deserve no notice at all. 2 I therefore make no imputation against your silence; these lines merely introduce the bearer, and give me the excuse for sending them. If on this journey he can only have the assurance of your prompt favour, a broad harbour of safety will be open to his affairs. His business relates to a will. He does not know the importance of his own documents; the object of his expedition is to get the advice of skilled counsel. He will think it the next best thing to winning his case if it is proved to be lost on its merits; his one desire is to avoid the charge of negligence, and of not sufficiently |84 protecting family interests. My request on his behalf is simply this, that if the lawyers will not deign to give him proper advice, you should exert the authority of your sacred office1 to extract it from them without delay. Deign to keep me in remembrance, my Lord Bishop.
IV.
To the Lord Bishop Lupus
c. A. D. 472
1 I RENDER you the observance always due to the incomparable eminence of your apostolic life, still always due, however regularly paid. But I have a further object, to commend to your notice a long-standing trouble of the bearers, in whose case I have recently become interested. They have journeyed a great distance into Auvergne at this unfavourable season, and the journey has been undertaken in vain. A female relative of theirs was carried off during a raid of the Vargi,2 as the local bandits are styled. They received trustworthy information, and following an old but reliable clue, discovered that some years ago she had been brought here before being removed elsewhere. 2 As a matter of fact, the unfortunate woman had been sold in open market before their arrival, and is now actually under the roof and the control of my man of affairs. A certain Prudens, rumoured to be now resident in Troyes, had attested the contract for the vendors, whose names are unknown to us; his signature is to be seen on the deed of purchase as that of a suitable witness of the transaction. By the fortunate fact of your presence, you |85 will be able, if you think fit, to see the parties confronted, and use your personal influence to investigate the whole course of the outrage. I gather from what the bearers say, that the offence is aggravated by the death of a man upon the road as a sequel to the abduction. 3 But as the aggrieved parties who wish to bring this scandalous affair to light are anxious for the remedy of your judgement and for your neighbourly aid, it seems to me that it would no less become your character than your position to bring about an equitable arrangement, thus affording the one side some comfort in affliction, and saving the other from an impending danger. Such a qualified decision would be most beneficial to all concerned; it would diminish the misery of one party and the guilt of the other, while it would give both of them a greater feeling of security. Otherwise, in regions and times like these of ours, the last state of the dispute may well prove no better than the beginning. Deign to keep me in remembrance, my Lord Bishop.
V.
To the Lord Bishop Theoplastus
(No indication of date)
WHOEVER bears a letter of introduction from me to you unconsciously does my business; by conveying my dutiful regards at the proper moment, he renders me a service at least as great as that which he considers himself to receive. This is the case with the venerable Donidius, who is deservedly to be numbered among the |86 most admirable of mankind. I now recommend to you his client and servants, who have undertaken this journey for the benefit of their patron and master. Pray take the weary travellers under your protection; do all you can to help them by your support, your hospitality, and your intercession. And if our good friend, through inexperience and unfamiliarity with public affairs, should in any matter betray his inefficiency, consider the cause of an absent man, rather than the personality of his representative. Deign to hold me in remembrance, my Lord Bishop.
VI.
To the Lord Bishop Eutropius
A. D. 472
1 As soon as I learned that the treaty-breaking nation 1 had withdrawn within its borders, and that travellers were in no further danger of insidious attack, I held it a disgrace to delay the presentation of my respects, for fear your friendship might grow rusty from my neglect, like a sword which is not properly kept bright. My sole object in sending this letter is to satisfy my anxiety as to your health and the success of your affairs; it is my hope that neither the distance which divides us nor the long intervals between our meetings may ever diminish the friendship once accorded me; it is the homes of men which the Creator confines within narrow limits, not their mutual affections. 2 And now I hope your Beatitude will feed my starving ignorance with sharp |87 and salutary discourse; your exhortations have a way of causing mystic increase and spiritual growth in the emaciated inward man. Deign to hold me in your remembrance, my Lord Bishop.
VII.
To the Lord Bishop Fonteius
A. D. 472
1 IF a previous friendship between the older members of two families helps the younger in their turn to know each other better, then indeed by virtue of such preexisting ties I enjoy a great advantage in now seeking your Lordship's more intimate acquaintance. I well remember how powerful a patron in Christ you always were to my family, so that I regard myself less as making a new acquaintance, than as renewing an old one. I will add that the title of bishop imposed on my extreme unworthiness1 compels me to seek the covert of your intercession, that the gaping wounds of a seared conscience may at least be closed by your healing prayers. 2 While, therefore, I commend to you myself and those who are dear to me, at the same time apologizing for not writing sooner, I implore you to sustain my first steps as a novice in this office by those availing supplications for which you are so widely renowned. So shall I owe all to your mediation, if the immutable mercy of God deign but to change the wickedness of this heart of mine. Deign to hold me in remembrance, my Lord Bishop. |88
VIII.
To the Lord Bishop Graecus
c. A. D. 472
1 THE bearer of this is one who ekes out a bare living by commerce; he gains no profit or other advantage from any handicraft or employment, nor does he make anything from the cultivation of land. He has come to be favourably known as an agent and trader; but a good name is all he gets; the pecuniary advantage goes to others. Though his means are small, the general confidence in him is so great that if he wants to raise money for the purchase of a cargo, people are confiding enough to trust him on no greater security than their experience of his good faith. It is true that I only learned these facts while actually writing these lines, but that does not make me hesitate to assert them with some assurance, for the sources of the information are common acquaintances of his and mine. I recommend him to you, then, on the ground of his youth and the arduous life he has led. As his name is now entered in the roll as Reader, you will see that I have had to give him in addition to an ordinary introduction as citizen, a canonical letter1 as a clerk. I think I am right in looking forward to his brilliant success as a merchant if he is quick to take advantage of your patronage; but he must definitely prefer the fount of commerce to the icy springs of a municipal career.* Deign to hold me in remembrance, my Lord Bishop. |89
* The passage is corrupt.
IX.
To the Lord Bishop Lupus
c. A. D. 472
1 THE bearer Gallus, made an honest man by returning at once to his wife as he was bidden, conveys my greeting in this letter, and by doing so proves the efficacy of your own. For when I opened your missive in his presence, he was seized with instant compunction, and saw in it not so much a communication for me as a condemnation of himself. The result was that he immediately promised to go back, made his preparations at once, and was off without delay. At sight of so rapid a repentance, I could not confine myself altogether to rebuke; I gave him a few words of consolation, for so spontaneous an amendment is the next best thing to unbroken innocence. 2 A man with a perfect conscience could hardly have done more, always supposing him to keep within the range of your admonishment; for even such words of gentle censure as I read out to him are in themselves a most powerful incentive to reform. What, indeed, could be more valuable than a reprimand aiding the sick mind to discover within itself a remedy which the sharp reproach of others could never find? 3 It remains for me to ask a place in those frequent prayers by which you so mightily triumph over every kind of vice; that as the Wise Men of the Gospel returned to their own country by a different way, so by a new way of life you may lead me home to the land of the blessed. I had almost forgotten to mention the point which I |90 could least have afforded to omit. Convey my thanks to the respected Innocentius for so promptly obeying your injunctions. Deign to hold me in remembrance, my Lord Bishop.
X.
To the Lord Bishop Censorius*
A.D. 473
THE bearer is one privileged to hold the rank of deacon. Flying with his family from the whirlwind of the Gothic devastations, he was carried, as it were by the sheer momentum of his flight, into your territory. Immigrant and destitute as he was, he hurriedly sowed a half-tilled plot on Church lands in your holiness's diocese, and now begs permission to take the whole harvest for himself. The poor fellow is a stranger whose means are as narrow as his outlook; but if you treat him with the indulgence often granted to the humbler among the faithful, that is, if you remit him the glebe dues,1 he will think he has done as well as if he were yet at work upon his native soil. If only you show him the liberality usually accorded to the faithful, and abandon your strictly lawful claim on his most exiguous crop, he will be full of gratitude, and set off home royally furnished for the road. Should you take the opportunity of his return to send me one of your usual gracious letters, all the brethren, and I myself, will regard it almost as a letter fallen from heaven. Deign to hold me in remembrance, my Lord Bishop. |91
* Translated by Hodgkin, ii. 371.
XI.
To the Lord Bishop Eleutherius
c. A.D. 472
1 I HEREWITH commend a Jew 1 to you, not because I approve a sect pernicious to those involved in its toils, but because we ought to regard none of that creed as wholly lost so long as life remains to them. For while there is any possibility of converting them, there is always a hope of their redemption. 2 The nature of his business will be best explained by himself when admitted to your presence; for it would be imprudent to allow discursive talk to exceed the brevity proper to a letter. In the transactions and the disputes of this present world, a Jew has often as good a cause as any one; however much you may attack his heresy, you can fairly defend him as a man. Deign to hold us in remembrance, my Lord Bishop.
XII.
To the Lord Bishop Patiens*
A.D. 474
1 ONE man deems happiness to consist in one thing, a second in another;2 my own belief is that he lives most to his own advantage who lives for others, and does heaven's work on earth by pitying the poverty and misfortune of the faithful. You may wonder at what I aim in these remarks. At yourself, most blessed father, for my sentiments refer especially to you, |92 who are not content to succour only the distress which lies within your cognizance, but push your inquiries to the very frontiers of Gaul, and without respect of persons, consider each case of want upon its merits. 2 Does poverty or infirmity prevent a man from making his way to you in person? He loses nothing; your free hand anticipates the needs of those whose feet are unable to bring them to you. Your watchful eye ranges over other provinces than your own; the spreading tide of your benevolence bears consolation to the straitened, however far away. And so it happens that you often wipe tears from eyes which you have never seen, because the reserve of the absent touches you no less than the plaints of those near at hand. 3 I say nothing of your daily labour to relieve the need of your impoverished fellow countrymen, of your unceasing vigils, your prayers, your charity. I pass over the tact with which you combine the hospitable and the ascetic virtues, so that the king1 is never tired of praising your breakfasts and the queen your fasts. I omit your embellishment of the church committed to your care until the spectator hardly knows which to admire most, the new fabric which you erect, or the old which you restore. 4 I do not mention the churches that rise in so many districts under your auspices, or the rich additions to their ornaments. I dismiss the fact that under your administration the faithful are increased and multiplied, while heretics alone diminish. I shall not tell how your apostolic chase for souls involves the wild Photinians2 in the spiritual mesh of homily; or how barbarians once converted by your eloquence pursue your track until, like a thrice-fortunate fisher of men, you |93 draw them up at last out of the profound gulfs of error. 5 It may be true that some of these good deeds are not peculiar to you, and are shared by colleagues; but there is one which is yours, as lawyers say, as a first charge, and which even your modesty cannot deny; it is this, that when the Gothic ravages were over, and the crops were all destroyed by fire, you distributed corn to the destitute throughout all the ruined land of Gaul at your own expense, though it would have been relief enough to our starving peoples if the grain had come to them, not as a free gift, but by the usual paths of commerce. We saw the roads encumbered with your grain-carts. Along the Saône and Rhone we saw more than one granary which you had entirely filled. 6 The legends of the heathen are eclipsed; Triptolemus must yield his pride of place, whom his fatherland of Greece deified for his discovery of corn; Greece, famed for her architects, her sculptors and her artists, who consecrated temples, and fashioned statues, and painted effigies in his honour. A doubtful story fables that this son of Ceres came wandering among peoples savage and acorn-fed, and that from two ships, to which poetry later assigned the form of dragons, he distributed the unknown seed. But you brought supplies from either Mediterranean shore, and, if need were, you would have sought them among the cities of the Tyrrhenian sea; your granaries filled not two paltry ships, but the basins of two great rivers. 7 If you disapprove, as unsuited to your profession, a comparison drawn from the Achaean superstition of Eleusis, I will recall instead the historic prescience of the patriarch Joseph, who by his foresight provided a remedy for the famine which had to follow the seven lean years; I omit |94 for the moment his mystic and typical significance.1But I hold that man morally as great, who copes with a similar disaster without any warning in advance. 8 I cannot exactly tell the sum of gratitude which all the people owe you, inhabitants of Arles and Riez, Avignon, Orange, Viviers,2 Valence, and Trois Châteaux 3; it is beyond my power to count the total thanks of men who were fed without having to count out a penny. But for the city of Clermont I can speak, and in its name I give you endless thanks; all the more, that your help had no obvious inducement; we did not belong to your province; no convenient waterway led to us, we had no money to offer. 9 Measureless gratitude I give you on their behalf; they owe it to the abundant largess of your grain that they have now their own sufficiency once more. If now I have properly fulfilled the duty entrusted to me, I will cease to be the mouthpiece of others, and speak out of my own knowledge. I would have you know that your glory travels over all Aquitaine; all pray for your welfare, their hearts go out to you in love and praise, in longing and loyal devotion. In these evil times you have proved yourself a good priest, a good father, and as good as a good year to men who would have deemed it worth while to risk starvation if there had been no other means of discovering the measure of your generosity. Deign to hold me in remembrance, my Lord Bishop.
* Partly translated by Fertig, Part ii, p. 24.
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Sidonius Apollinaris, Letters. Tr. O.M. Dalton (1915) vol. 2. pp. 95-137; Book VII
Sidonius Apollinaris, Letters. Tr. O.M. Dalton (1915) vol. 2. pp. 95-137; Book VII
BOOK VII
I.
To the Lord Bishop Mamertus
A.D. 474
1 RUMOUR has it that the Goths have occupied Roman soil; our unhappy Auvergne is always their gateway on every such incursion. It is our fate to furnish fuel to the fire of a peculiar hatred, for, by Christ's aid, we are the sole obstacle to the fulfilment of their ambition to extend their frontiers to the Rhone, and so hold all the country between that river, the Atlantic, and the Loire. Their menacing power has long pressed us hard; it has already swallowed up whole tracts of territory round us, and threatens to swallow more. 2 We mean to resist with spirit, though we know our peril and the risks which we incur. But our trust is not in our poor walls impaired by fire, or in our rotting palisades, or in our ramparts worn by the breasts of the sentries, as they lean on them in continual watch. Our only present help we find in those Rogations1 which you introduced; and this is the reason why the people of Clermont refuse to recede, though terrors surge about them on every side. By inauguration and institution of these prayers we are already new initiates; and if so far we have effected less than you have, our hearts are affected equally with yours. 3 For it is not unknown to us by what portents and |96 alarms the city entrusted to you by God was laid desolate at the time when first you ordained this form of prayer. Now it was earthquake, shattering the outer palace walls with frequent shocks; now fire, piling mounds of glowing ash upon proud houses fallen in ruin; now, amazing spectacle! wild deer grown ominously tame, making their lairs in the very forum. You saw the city being emptied of its inhabitants, rich and poor taking to flight. But you resorted in our latter day to the example shown of old in Nineveh, that you at least might not discredit the divine warning by the spectacle of your despair. 4 And, indeed, you of all men had been least justified in distrusting the providence of God, after the proof of it vouchsafed to your own virtues. Once, in a sudden conflagration, your faith burned stronger than the flames. In full sight of the trembling crowd, you stood forth all alone to stay them, and lo! the fire leapt back before you, a sinuous beaten fugitive. It was miracle, a formidable thing, unseen before and unexampled; the element which naturally shrinks from nothing, retired in awe at your approach. 5 You therefore first enjoined a fast upon a few members of our sacred order, denouncing gross offences, announcing punishment, promising relief. You made it clear that if the penalty of sin was nigh, so also was the pardon; you proclaimed that by frequent prayer the menace of coming desolation might be removed. You taught that it was by water of tears rather than water of rivers that the obstinate and raging fire could best be extinguished, and by firm faith the threatening shock of earthquake stayed. 6 The multitude of the lowly forthwith followed your counsel, and this |97 influenced persons of higher rank, who had not scrupled to abandon the town, and now were not ashamed to return to it. By this devotion God was appeased, who sees into all hearts; your fervent prayers were counted to you for salvation; they became an ensample for your fellow citizens, and a defence about you all, for after those days there were neither portents to alarm, nor visitations to bring disaster.
We of Clermont know that all these ills befell your people of Vienne before the Rogations, and have not befallen them since; and therefore it is that we are eager to follow the lead of so holy a guide, beseeching your Beatitude from your own pious lips to give us the advocacy of those prayers now known to us by the examples which you have transmitted. 7 Since the Confessor Ambrose discovered the remains of Gervasius and Protasius, it has been granted to you alone in the West to translate the relics of two martyrs----all the holy body of Ferreolus, and the head of our martyr Julian,, which once the executioner's gory hand brought to the raging persecutor from the place of testimony.1 It is only fair, then, in compensation for the loss of this hallowed relic, that some part of your patronage should come to us from Vienne, since a part of our patronal saint has migrated thither. Deign to hold us in remembrance, my Lord Bishop. |98
II.
To the Lord Bishop Graecus*
c. A. D. 472
1 You overwhelm me, most consummate of all bishops, by the praises showered on any unpolished lines which I happen to write. Short though my first letter was, I wish I could acquit myself of blame for having told you a whole string of things irreconcilable with fact; the truth is that a crafty traveller imposed upon my innocence.1 Ostensibly a trader, he persuaded me to give him a canonical letter 2 as Reader; and this ought certainly to have contained some statement of his indebtedness to others. For it appeared, on subsequent inquiry, that by the generosity of the people of Marseilles, he set out better equipped than one so moderately favoured in birth and fortune had reason to expect. 2 It makes quite a good story, if I only wielded a pen able to do justice to its humours. But as you have asked me for a long and diverting letter, permit me to relate the manner in which this messenger of ours exploited the hospitality of your city. It shall be told in a light vein, but I shall be careful to say nothing to offend the severity of your ears. You will see that on this occasion I really do know the man whom I introduce to your notice for the second time. Usage permits a writer to find his subject-matter wherever he can; why, then, should I go far afield, when the man who is to bear my letter can himself provide the theme of it? |99
3 The bearer, then, is a native of Clermont, born of humble but free parents, people who made no pretence of social standing, but were above all fear of degradation to the servile state, and satisfied with means, moderate indeed, but unencumbered and amply sufficient for their needs; it was a family which had chiefly held offices under the Church, and had not entered the public service. The father was a most estimable man, but not free-handed with his children; he preferred to serve his son's advantage, instead of ensuring him pleasant times in his youth. The result was, that the prisoner escaped to you a little too lightly equipped; and this was no small impediment at the outset of his adventure, for a light purse is the heaviest encumbrance on a journey. 4 Nevertheless he made his first entry into your city under the most favourable auspices. Your predecessor St.Eustachius received him with a twofold blessing in word and deed. He wanted a lodging; one was forthcoming without difficulty on the prelate's commendation. He rented the rooms in due form, entering on his tenancy without delay, and at once set about making the acquaintance of his neighbours by saluting them as often as possible and being civilly greeted in return. He treated all as befitted their several ages; respectful to the old, he was always obliging those of his own years. 5 He was consistently temperate and moral, showing qualities as admirable as they are rare at his time of life. He was assiduous in paying court to your chief personages, and even to the Count of the city himself; alive to every chance, he began by receiving nods, went on to acquaintance, and ended in intimacy. By this systematic cultivation of important friendships, he |100 rapidly got on in the world; the best people competed for his company. Every one wished him well; there were plenty to offer him good advice. Private individuals made him presents, officials helped him by their influence. In short, his prospects and his resources rose by leaps and bounds. 6 It chanced that near the house where he lodged there resided a lady whose disposition and income were all that he could have desired; she had a daughter, not quite marriageable, but no longer a child. He began to attract the girl by pleasant greetings, and by giving her (as, at her age, he quite properly could) the various trifles and trinkets which delight a maiden's fancy; by such light links he succeeded in closely attaching her heart to his own. 7 Time passed; she reached the age of marriage. You already guess what happened. This young man, without visible relations or substance, a foreigner, a minor who had left home without his father's leave or knowledge, demands the hand of a girl equal to himself in birth, and superior in fortune. He demands, and, what is more, he obtains; he is recognized as suitor. For the bishop actively supported his Reader, and the Count encouraged his client; the future mother-in-law did not trouble to investigate his means; the bride approved his person. The marriage contract was executed, and some little suburban plot or other at Clermont was put into settlement and read out with much theatrical parade. 8 This legal trick and solemn swindle once over, the pauper lover carried off the wealthy bride. He promptly went into all his wife's father's affairs, and got together some nice little pickings for himself, aided all through the imposture by |101 the credulity of his easy-going and free-handed mother-in-law; then, and not till then, this incomparable charlatan sounds the retreat and vanishes into Auvergne. After he had gone, the mother thought of bringing an action against him for the absurd exaggerations in the contract. But it was rather late for her to begin lamenting the exiguity of his settlement, when she was already rejoicing at the prospect of a wealth of little grandchildren. It was with the object of appeasing her that our Hippolytus went to Marseilles when he brought you my first letter of introduction.
9 That is the story of this accomplished young man, as good in its way as any out of Attic Comedy or Milesian fable. Excuse the excessive length of my letter; I have dwelt upon every detail that you might be fully informed in regard to the person whom your generosity has made a citizen of your town; and besides, one naturally has a kindly feeling for those in whom one has taken active interest. You will prove yourself in everything the worthy successor of Eustachius if you expend upon his clients the personal interest he would like to have been able to bequeath them, as you have already paid his relations the legacies mentioned in his will.
10 And now I have obeyed your commands to the full, and talked to the limit of my obligation; remember that one who imposes on a man of small descriptive powers a subject calling for great detail, must not complain if the response betrays the gossip rather than the skilled narrator. Deign to hold me in remembrance, my Lord Bishop. |102
* The greater part translated by Hodgkin, ii. 328-30. Cf. VI, viii above,
III.
To the Lord Bishop Megethius
After A.D. 472
1 I HAVE considered long and carefully whether I ought to send you those short treatises of mine,1 for which you ask. It required thought, though my affectionate desire to please you strongly prompted me at once to comply; but at last I have decided in your favour, and forward what you want. Is not this a great proof of docility? great indeed; but of impudence a yet greater. It is almost as bad as bringing water to a river, or wood to a forest; as audacious as offering a pencil to Apelles, a chisel to Phidias, or a mallet to Polyclitus. 2 I beg you, therefore, venerable friend, you whose sanctity is only equalled by your eloquence, to pardon the presumption which submits to your critical judgement these products of an irrepressible pen. I am always writing, though I publish very little; much as a dog will keep on snarling, though he may never break into an open bark. Deign to keep me in remembrance, my Lord Bishop.
IV.
To the Lord Bishop Fonteius
After A.D. 472
1 I AM getting quite afraid of introducing people to you, for whereas I only give them words, you give them presents, as if it were not already the height of privilege for a man to leave my sinful company for a conversation |103 so holy as yours. I cite in evidence my friend Vindicius, who is so laden with your generous gifts that he has returned by slower stages than he went, proclaiming everywhere that high as your repute may be, supreme as your position, your true title to praise lies less in your high office than in the voluntary respect of men. 2 He dilates upon your piety, upon the sweetness and affable charm of a familiarity never too familiar; he declares that your episcopal dignity in no way suffers, and that in you the priestly character, like a tall tree, may bend but is never broken. After hearing all these eulogies I shall never be quite happy until God suffers me to clasp in my close presumptuous embrace a heart so wholly stayed upon Him. 3 For I will make you a small confession. I can admire a man of an austere nature, and because I am very conscious of my own weakness can even tolerate harsh treatment from him; but I feel that one only submits to people of such temperament, one cannot really like them. In my opinion, the ml a who is always stern to those about him had best be very sure that his conscience is good enough to justify his pride; and for myself, I prefer to take as my model one who knows how to attract the devotion even of those who live leagues away. 4 Great as your other good deeds have been, nothing that I have heard delights me more than the news that the stream of your episcopal favour flows, with your unceasing prayers, towards the true lords of my heart, Simplicius and Apollinaris. If this be true, I pray that your kind deeds may never have an end; if false, that they may have immediate beginning. I commend the bearer to your notice. A troublesome business has |104 arisen for him at Vaison,1 which the weight of your revered authority can doubtless bring to a favourable issue. Deign to hold me in remembrance, my Lord Bishop.
V.
To the Lord Bishop Agroeclus
A. D. 472
1 A PUBLIC resolution of the citizens has called me to Bourges. The reason for the summons is the tottering condition of the Church, which has just been widowed of her bishop; members of both orders have been intriguing for the vacant see, just as if some bugle had sounded for the fray. The people are excited, and divided into factions; while only a few are ready to propose others, there are many who do not so much propose as impose themselves. To a man determined, as far as in him lies, to obey God and keep fast the truth, everything here seems frivolous, unstable, and sophisticated; one might say that the only genuine thing left is impudence. 2 You may think these laments exaggerated; but I scarcely hesitate to affirm that there are many here who harbour thoughts so rash and ruinous that they are ready to offer ready money for this holy see and all its dignity; the sale might before now have been effected in open market if the greed of the would-be purchasers had found response in vendors equal in audacity. I entreat you, therefore, to crown my hopes by giving me the honour of your presence under the same roof, and lending my diffidence, my |105 embarrassment, and my inexperience the shelter of your high protection. 3 At a time of such perplexity, do not refuse your help in healing the dissensions of the people of Aquitaine; it is true that you are at the head of the Sénonais, but that is of small consequence; though we live in different provinces, we are bound by a single religious bond. Besides, Clermont is the last of all the cities in Aquitanica Prima 1 which the fortune of war has left to Rome; the number of provincial bishops is therefore inadequate to the election of a new prelate at Bourges, unless we have the support of the metropolitans. 4 Rest assured that I have in no way encroached on your prerogatives. As yet I have neither nominated, summoned, nor preferred a candidate; I have left the matter absolutely intact for your decision. All that I take upon myself is to invite you hither, to await your good pleasure, to acquiesce in your opinion, and when the throne is filled, to render the proper deference to your commands. 5. I do not for a moment suspect that any bad adviser will dissuade you from acceding to this request; but should that prove to be the case, you will hardly acquit yourself of blame, though it is easy to find reasonable excuses for not undertaking so long a journey. On the other hand, your coming will prove that though there may be limits to your diocese, your brotherly love is without bounds. Deign to hold me in remembrance, my Lord Bishop. |106
VI.
To the Lord Bishop Basilius
A.D. 472-3
1 GOD has permitted us to give this generation a new example of what old friendship means; ours indeed is an attachment of long duration, and equal strength upon both sides. But our respective positions are by no means equal: you are the patron and I the client; perhaps, indeed, I presume too far in saying even so much. For so great is my unworthiness, that even the proven efficacy of your intercession can hardly make good my backsliding. 2 Because you are doubly my lord and master, firstly as my protector, secondly as my friend; because I so well remember (was I not by?) the flow of your eloquence, springing from that fervent zeal of yours, when you pierced with the point of your spiritual testimonies Modaharius the Goth as he brandished the darts of Arian heresy against you; because of all this, I need fear no charge of disrespect towards other pontiffs when I pour into your ears my grief at the ravages of the great wolf of our times, who ranges about the ecclesiastical fold battening upon lost souls, and biting right and left by stealth and undetected. 3 For that old enemy begins by threatening the shepherds' throats, knowing it the best way to ensure his triumph over the bleating and abandoned sheep. I am not so far oblivious of my own career as to ignore that I am one whose conscience has yet to be washed clean by many tears; but by God's grace my foulness shall at last be cleared away |107 with the mystic rake of your intercession. But since consideration for the public safety must come before everything, even a man's sense of his own unworthiness, I shall not hesitate to proclaim the cause of truth, disregarding all insinuations about my vanity, or doubts as to the sincerity of my faith. 4 Neither a saint like you can fitly here discuss, nor a sinner like myself indict, the action of Euric 1 the Gothic king in breaking and bearing down an ancient treaty to defend, or rather extend by armed force the frontiers of his kingdom. It is the rule here below, for Dives to be clothed in purple and fine linen, and for Lazarus to bear the lash of sores and poverty. So long as we walk in this allegoric land of Egypt, it is the rule that Pharaoh shall go with a diadem on his head, and the Israelite with the carrier's basket. It is the rule that while we are burned in the furnace of this symbolic Babylon we must sigh and groan like Jeremiah for the spiritual Jerusalem, while Assur thunders in his royal pomp and treads the Holy of Holies beneath his feet. 5 Yet when I compare the transient joys of this world with those which are to come, I find it easier to endure calamities which no mortal may escape. For, firstly, when I consider my own demerits, all possible troubles seem lighter than those which I deserve; and then know well that the best of cures for the inward man is for the outward man to be threshed by the flails of suffering. 6 I must confess that formidable as the mighty Goth may be, I dread him less as the assailant of our walls than as the subverter of our Christian laws. They say that the mere mention of the name of Catholic so embitters his countenance and heart |108 that one might take him for the chief priest of his Arian sect rather than for the monarch of his nation. Omnipotent in arms, keen-witted, and in the full vigour of life, he yet makes this single mistake----he attributes his success in his designs and enterprises to the orthodoxy of his belief, whereas the real cause lies in mere earthly fortune. 7 For these reasons I would have you consider the secret malady of the Catholic Church that you may hasten to apply an open remedy. Bordeaux, Périgueux, Rodez, Limoges, Javols, Eauze, Bazas, Comminges, Auch, and many another city are all like bodies which have lost their heads through the death of their respective bishops. No successors have been appointed to fill their places, and maintain the ministry in the lower orders of the Church; the boundaries of spiritual desolation are extended far and wide. Every day the ruin spreads by the death of more fathers in God; so pitiful is her state, that the very heresiarchs of former times, to say nothing of contemporary heretics, might well have looked with pity on peoples orphaned of their pontiffs and oppressed by desperation at this catastrophe of their faith. 8 Diocese and parish lie waste without ministers. You may see the rotten roofs of churches fallen in, the doors unhinged and blocked by growing brambles.1 More grievous still, you may see the cattle not only lying in the half-ruined porticoes, but grazing beside altars green with weeds. And this desolation is not found in country parishes alone; even the congregations of urban churches begin to fall away. 9 What comfort remains to the faithful, when not only the teaching of the clergy perishes, but their very memory |109 is lost out of mind? When a priest departs this life, not merely the holder of the sacred office dies, but the office itself dies with him, unless with his failing breath he gives his blessing to a successor.1 What hope remains when the term of a man's life implies the end of religion in his parish? If you examine more closely the ills of the body spiritual, you will soon perceive that for every bishop snatched from our midst, the faith of a population is imperilled. I need not mention your colleagues Crocus and Simplicius, removed alike from their thrones and suffering a common exile, if different punishments. For one of them laments that he cannot see whither he is to return; the other that he sees only too clearly where he is to return no more. 10 You for your part have about you the most holy bishops Faustus, Leontius, and Graecus, environed by the city, your order and their fraternal love. To you these miserable treaties are submitted, the pacts and agreements of two kingdoms pass through your hands.2 Do your best, as far as the royal condescension suffers you, to obtain for our bishops the right of ordination in those parts of Gaul now included within the Gothic boundaries, that if we cannot keep them by treaty for the Roman State, we may at least hold them by religion for the Roman Church. Deign to bear me in remembrance, my Lord Bishop. |110
VII.
To the Lord Bishop Graecus*
A.D. 474-5
1 HERE is Amantius 1, the usual bearer of my trifles; off once more to his Marseilles, to bring home a little profit out of the city, if he is fortunate in his business at the port. I could use the opportunity of his journey to gossip gaily on, if a mind that bears a load of sorrow could at the same time think of cheerful things. For the state of our unhappy region is miserable indeed. Every one declares that things were better in war-time than they are now after peace has been concluded. 2 Our enslavement was made the price of security for a third party; the enslavement, ah! the shame of it! of those Arvernians who by old tradition claimed brotherhood with Latium and descent from the sons of Troy;2 who in our own time stood forth alone to stay the advance of the common enemy; who even when closely beset so little feared the Goth that they sallied out against his leaguer, and put the fear of their valour into his heart.3 These are the men whose common soldiers were as good as captains, but who never reaped the benefit of their victories: that was handed over for your consolation, while all the crushing burden of defeat they had to bear themselves. These are the patriots who did not fear to bring to justice the infamous Seronatus4, betrayer of imperial provinces to the barbarian, while the State for which they risked |111so much had hardly the courage on his conviction to carry out the capital sentence. 3 And this is to be our reward for braving destitution, fire, sword, and pestilence, for fleshing our swords in the enemy's blood and going ourselves starved into battle. This, then, is the famous peace1 we dreamed of, when we tore the grass from the crannies in the walls to eat; when in our ignorance we often by mistake ate poisonous weeds, indiscriminately plucking them with livid hands of starvation, hardly less green than they. For all these proofs of our devotion, it would seem that we are to be made a sacrifice. 4 If it be so, may you live to blush for a peace without either honour or advantage. For you are the channel through which negotiations are conducted. When the king is absent, you not only see the terms of peace, but new proposals are brought before you. I ask your pardon for telling you hard truths; my distress must take all colour of abuse from what I say. You think too little of the general good; when you meet in council, you are less concerned to relieve public perils than to advance private fortunes. By the long repetition of such acts you begin to be regarded as the last instead of the first among your fellow provincials.2 5 But how long are these feats of yours to last? Our ancestors will cease to glory in the name of Rome if they have no longer descendants to bear their memory. Oh, break this infamous peace at any cost; there are pretexts enough to your hand. We are ready, if needs must, to continue the struggle and to undergo more sieges and starvations. But if we are to be betrayed, we whom force failed to conquer, we shall know beyond |112 a doubt that a barbarous and cowardly transaction was inspired by you.
6 But it little avails to give the rein to passionate sorrow; you must make allowance for us in our affliction, nor too nicely weigh the language of despair. The other conquered regions have only servitude to expect; Auvergne must prepare for punishment. If you can hold out no help in our extremity, seek to obtain of Heaven by your unceasing prayers that though our liberty be doomed, our race at least may live. Provide land for the exile, prepare a ransom for the captive, make provision for the emigrant. If our own walls must offer an open breach to the enemy, let yours be never shut against your friends. Deign to hold me in remembrance, my Lord Bishop.
* Partly translated by Fertig, Part ii, p. 16.
VIII.
To the Lord Bishop Euphronius
A. D. 472
1 I AM now held in the bonds of my clerical duty, but I should regard my undistinguished position as a veritable blessing if only the walls of our cities were as near as the borders of their territories. If that might only be, I should consult your holiness 1 on all things small and great; my activities would flow like a placid and untroubled stream, could they but rise from your converse as from a life-giving spring. They should never know the froth of vain conceit, or the turbid course of pride, or the muddiness of a bad conscience, or the falls of headstrong youth; if defilement and corruption were found in them, they should |113 be washed clean by the clear vein of your counsel. 2 But alas! the distance that divides us prevents the fulfilment of these desires; I therefore beg you to send a representative to advise on a perplexing question which has arisen here. The inhabitants of Bourges demand the consecration of the admirable Simplicius as their bishop; I want your decision in the matter. Your consideration for me, and your authority over others, are such that you need never press your views; you have simply to indicate your will, which is sure to coincide with justice. 3 I must tell you that of Simplicius all good is spoken, and by the best men in the city. At first I was inclined to view this testimony with little favour; it seemed to me to suggest favouritism. But when I observed that his rivals could find nothing better to do than to hold their tongues, especially those of the Arian persuasion; when I saw that no irregularity could be alleged to his discredit, though he is only a candidate and not yet in orders, I came to the conclusion that a man against whom the bad citizen could say nothing and on whose behalf the good could never say enough must be regarded as almost a perfect character. 4 But how foolish I am to make these comments, as if I were giving advice in place of asking it! The clergy will act in accordance with the decision contained in your letter; the people will acclaim it in the same spirit. We are not altogether irrational; we should not have decided to secure, if possible, your present aid, or if not, your advice, unless we had made up our minds to follow your counsel in all things. Deign to hold me in remembrance, my Lord Bishop. |114
IX.
To the Lord Bishop Perpetuus*
A. D. 472
1 YOUR ardour for religious books has given you a most intimate acquaintance with everything written for the Catholic faith, whether by the Canonical authors or by the controversialists. You are even curious about productions unworthy the honour of your attention; for instance, you now wish me to send a copy of my public address delivered in the church at Bourges, an oration without the orthodox rhetorical divisions, or emphasis, or figures of speech to lend it a proper style and dignity. 2 It has none of the qualities of a finished eloquence; the weight of historical allusion, the enrichment of poetical quotation, the sparkling points of dialectic had all to be abandoned. I was distracted by the rancorous intrigues of the various factions; my mission occupied all my time; the abuses before my eyes were the one and only subject for my pen. So great was the company of the competitors, that two benches would not have held the candidates for the single vacant throne. And every one of these was as pleased with himself as he was critical of all his rivals. 3 If the people had not grown reasonable, and subordinated their judgement to that of the bishops, there would have been little chance of effecting anything. As it was, one saw small groups of priests whispering together in corners, though not a word was uttered |115 openly, most of them being just as afraid of their own order as of every other. The result was that every one was suspicious of his neighbour; all were induced to hear our proposals without too much difficulty, and afterwards to explain them in their turn to others.
4 Here, then, I append the address. It was written in two vigils of a single summer night, under no eyes but those of Christ; my haste is, I fear, too obvious from internal evidence for you to need my assurance that it existed.
ADDRESS.*
5 Secular history relates, beloved brethren, that a certain philosopher 1 used to teach new pupils the discipline of keeping silence before the art of speaking. They had to sit through five mute years listening to the disputations of their fellow students echoing all round them, and not even the quickest brains were allowed to anticipate the proper hour of recognition. When, after that long repression these pupils spoke at last, the audience could not repress applause; for until the mind is steeped with knowledge there is less credit in displaying what you know than in holding your peace on things of which you are ignorant. 6 Far other is the position of the indifferent orator who now addresses you. While he yet walked among lamentable pitfalls and wallowing-places of sin, the heavy charge of the sacred calling was laid upon him; and without ever having himself rendered a disciple's duty to a master of repute, he has himself to play the teacher of other men. That task is in itself impossible enough; it is made heavier by the diffidence |116 which I feel at having been selected by your decretal letter1 to choose you a bishop, while all the time I see before me a saintly prelate 2 worthy of the highest of pontifical thrones, one who stands at the head of his province, and is my superior in everything, in experience, in training, in eloquence, in prestige, in seniority, and in years. Speaking thus as a junior and provincial bishop, before one metropolitan on the election of another, I am doubly embarrassed by my lack of qualification, and by the odium of presumption which I may well incur. 7 The responsibility, however, rests on you, since you have been rash enough to impose upon one deficient in wisdom the task of finding you, with God's aid, a bishop wiser than himself, and combining in a single person a host of different virtues: you must be well aware that honourable though the task may be, it is yet more clearly onerous. I would have you in the first instance reflect to what a crushing burden of criticism you subject me, requiring a perfected judgement from a beginner, and right guidance from one who hitherto has shown you nothing but his fallibility. Since, however, this has been your will, I entreat your prayers, that I may really become all that you now suppose me to be, and that if I am to be exalted to the skies, it may be not by your plaudits but by your supplications.
8 But first you ought to know on what Scylla-rocks 3of slander, on what barking mouths (alas! that they should be human) I have been driven by the tempestuous fury of those who seek to bring you into discredit. Evil manners have this power: they allow the offences of the few to disfigure the innocence of the multitude, |117 whereas the good are too rare to communicate their virtues to the many, and so to palliate their crimes.
9 If I name a monk to you, were his austerities to rival those of a Paul, an Antony, a Hilarion, or a Macarius, my ears will at once be deafened by the confused outcries of ignoble pygmies who will object in these terms: 'The man you nominate is trained not for a bishop's but for an abbot's work, and better fitted to intercede for souls before the celestial Judge than for their bodies before the judges of this world.' Now who could keep his patience, hearing singleness of heart besmirched by such imputation of imaginary defects? 10 If we choose one distinguished for humility, he will be called an abject; if, on the other hand, we propose a man with self-respect, he will be set down as arrogant; if our choice be one of small learning, his ignorance will make him fair game; if he be erudite, he will be declared conceited. If he is austere, all will shrink from an inhuman creature; if indulgent, they will blame his lenience. If he is simple, he will be an oaf; if clever, a sly fellow. Is he diligent? he must be superstitious. Is he easy-going? he stands convicted of negligence. Does he love a quiet life? he is a coward. If our candidate is abstemious, he becomes a skinflint; if charitable with hospitality, a glutton; if with fasting, one vain of his austerities. 11 A free manner will argue vice; a modest one contemptible rusticity. They mislike the stern man for his severity, and depreciate the affable for making himself cheap. And so, whichever of two virtues may adorn his life, he will be caught on the two-barbed hook of the malicious tongues whose points pierce all good qualities. Besides |118 all this, the people in their perversity, and the clergy in their love of licence, are equally averse from the idea of monastic discipline.
12 If, instead of a monk, I take a member of the secular clergy, his juniors will be consumed with a jealousy which his seniors will openly express. For among the clergy there are not a few----I may say this without offence to the rest----in whose eyes seniority counts before merit; they would like us to consider age alone and disregard efficiency, as if mere length of life were the one qualification for the highest office in the priesthood, and the prerogative, the amenity and charm of personal accomplishments were to count for nothing. On this principle a few individuals strive to direct the Church, though they are so old that they will soon need direction themselves----persons remiss in ministration, prompt in obloquy, indolent in affairs, busy in faction, weak in charity, sturdy in intrigue, steady in feud, vacillating in judgement.
13 Enough: I will not stigmatize the many for the machinations of a few; I only add this, that I shall mention no names. Whoever looks aggrieved proclaims his own discomfiture. I may freely admit that the multitude surrounding me to-day includes many of episcopal ability. But then, all cannot be bishops. Every man of them may be satisfied with his own particular gifts, but none has gifts to satisfy us all.
14 Suppose I were to nominate one who had followed an administrative career, I can imagine the storm of disapproval: 'Sidonius was transferred to the Church out of the great world, and because of this is reluctant to accept a cleric as metropolitan; he looks down on |119 every one from the height of his distinguished birth and the great offices he has held; he despises Christ's poor.' 15 Now therefore, in fulfilment of the trust imposed upon me, not so much through the esteem of the well disposed as through the suspicions of the slanderous (Almighty God liveth, the Holy Spirit, who by the voice of Peter condemned Simon Magus 1 for thinking to buy for gold the glory of the blessing), I testify that in the man whom I have chosen as suited for your needs I have considered neither money nor influence; I have weighed to the last scruple every circumstance affecting his own person; the times in which we live, the respective needs of city and province, and I decide that the man most fitted for this office is he whose career I shall now briefly relate.
16 He is Simplicius, on whom a blessing already rests. Hitherto a member of your order, but henceforth of ours, if God approve him through your voices, he answers by conduct and profession, so well satisfying the claims of both, that the State will find in him one to admire and the Church one to love. 17 If birth is still to command respect, as the Evangelist teaches (for St. Luke, beginning his eulogy of St. John,2 considers it of the highest moment that he sprang from a line of priestly tradition, and exalts the importance of his family before celebrating the nobility of his life), I will recall the fact that his relatives have presided alike over the Church and the tribunal. His family has been distinguished in either career by many bishops and prefects; it had become almost their hereditary privilege to administer the divine and human laws. 18 If we scrutinize rather more narrowly his personal qualifications, we shall |120 find him conspicuous among the most respected. You may say that the illustrious Eucherius and Pannychius stand higher; they may have been so regarded, but on the present occasion they are excluded by the canon, because each of them has married again. Turning to his age, we find that he has at once the vigour of youth and the caution of maturity; comparing his talents with his acquirements, we see nature and learning rivalling each other. 19 If we ask whether he is given to hospitality, we find him generous to a fault, lavishing his substance on all men small and great, whether they are clerics, laymen, or strangers, and entertaining those most of all who are least likely to return his kindness. When an embassy had to be undertaken, more than once he has represented his city before barbaric kings in furs, or Roman emperors in purple. If you ask from what master he learned the rudiments of the faith, I will make the proverbial response: 'the source of knowledge flowed for him at home.'1 20 Lastly, let us not forget, beloved brethren, that this is he whom the barbarians held in darkness and duresse, and for whom God flung wide the prison gates with all their bolts and bars. This is the man whom, if report be true, you yourselves once with a single voice called to the priesthood before his father-in-law or father; but he returned home covered with glory because he preferred to be honoured in his parents' dignity rather than in his own. 21 I had almost overlooked a point which should under no circumstances have been omitted. In the days of old time, as the Psalmist tells,2 all Israel heaped offerings at the feet of Bezaleel in the desert for the erection of the Tabernacle of the Covenant. |121 Afterwards Solomon, to build his temple in Jerusalem, exhausted the whole strength of his people, though he had not merely the riches of Palestine and the tribute of surrounding kingdoms, but in addition the treasures of the Queen of Sheba at his command. But Simplicius built a church alone out of his own slender resources, when he was still a young official under paternal control, and already burdened with the expenses of a family. Neither consideration of his young children nor the steady opposition of his parents could divert him from the fulfilment of his vow; it was his way to do good works, and hold his peace about them. 22 For unless I misread his character, he is one to whom all popularity is abhorrent; he does not court every man's good opinion, only that of the worthiest; it is not his custom to make himself common by undiscriminating familiarity, but rather to enhance his value by according his friendship only after the most careful thought. His is a manly nature which would rather help than please a rival, comparable in this to that of the stern father, who thinks more of his children's real advantage than of their present comfort. He is a man constant in adversity, loyal in danger, unassuming in prosperity; of simple tastes in dress, affable in conversation, never putting himself forward among his friends, but in discussion easily the first. A friendship of which he knows the worth he will pursue with ardour, hold with constancy, and never abandon; on the other hand, a declared hostility he pursues with honourable frankness, not believing in it till the last moment, and laying it down at the earliest. Extremely accessible just because he seeks nothing for |122 himself, he desired not so much to assume the priest-hood as to prove himself worthy to hold it. 23 But some one will say: 'How did you learn so much about him in so short a time?' My answer is that I made acquaintance with men of Bourges long before I knew their city. I have travelled with some and served with others; many I have met in affairs of business or in debate; many when either they or I were away from our several countries. Moreover, a short cut to knowledge of a man is given by the general opinion about him, since nature does not confine our reputations within such narrow limits as our abodes. If, then, a city is to be judged less by the circumference of its walls than by the merit of its inhabitants, I could not fail to discover, before your town was known to me, not only what manner of men you are, but where you stand in the world as well.
24 The wife of Simplicius belongs to the Palladian family, which alike in the schools and in the Church has occupied the chief seats with the approbation of its own order. To speak of a woman's life demands both delicacy and reticence; I will only say here that this lady has shown herself worthy of the ecclesiastical dignity enjoyed by her two families, both that in which she was born, and that into which she married. She is associated with her husband in the education of their sons on sound and careful principles; so that the father, comparing them with himself, is all the happier for the discovery that he is already being surpassed.
25 You have sworn to abide by my humble advice in this election; the spoken binds no less fast than the written word. I pronounce, then, in the name of the |123 Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit that Simplicius is the man whom you are to choose as the head of the Church in your city, and as Metropolitan of our province. If you agree with this my new pronouncement, give it the applause which your old promise demands.
* Partly translated by Guizot, Histoire de la civilisation en France, ed. 1846, pp. 84 ff.
* Translated by Chaix, ii. 26 ff.
X. (XI)
To the Lord Bishop Graecus
A.D. 474
1 I ENVY the fortune of my habitual messenger who has the chance of seeing you so often. Nor do I confine my envy to Amantius; 1 I am jealous of the very letters opened by the hands, and perused by the eyes which I so much revere. Alas! penned as I am within the narrow enclosure of half-burned and ruinous walls, with the terror of war at the gates, I am never allowed to satisfy my longing to greet you again. Would that the state and prospects of Clermont were such as to make our excuses for not meeting less excusable! 2 It is the hardest stroke of all that the very punishment of our old lapses from justice should become our justification. My salutations rendered, I now earnestly beg you to release me from my duty of paying you a visit; I must discharge the debt as well as I can by letter. If peace ever makes the roads secure again, your only fear need be that I shall present myself so often as to become in future a mere nuisance. Deign to hold me in remembrance, my Lord Bishop. |124
XI. (X)
To the Lord Bishop Auspicius
A.D. 473
1 IF the state of our country and our times allowed me freedom, I should not keep up my friendships by the poor expedient of correspondence. But since the storms aroused by the shock of kingdoms confound all hopes of fraternal peace and quiet, let us retain in separation that constant exchange of letters so long ago devised for the solace of absent friends, and approved by the example of antiquity. You must forgive one who so reveres you the rarity of his visits; but the unbroken enjoyment of your sainted converse is denied him by the menace of formidable neighbours and by the delicacy of his relations with his own protectors.1 On these points I need say no more: I have already said too much. 2 This letter introduces to you the bearer Peter, a man of tribunician rank; he personally pressed for the introduction, and will be better able to explain his business orally. I beg that the sight of this page from me may secure him your support, in so far as may be consistent with justice; it is not my custom to urge even my friends' claims unfairly. Deign to hold me in remembrance, my Lord Bishop.
XII.
To his friend [Tonantius] Ferreolus
c. A.D. 479
1 IF, disregarding our friendship and relations, I had considered only your rank and position, your name |125 would have taken its proper place at the beginning of this small work, and the dedication would have been yours. My pen should have recounted the curule chairs of your ancestors and the infulae of their patrician dignity; it should not have omitted the twice repeated prefecture, or refused to herald with due praise your great Syagrius for three times changing the heralds of his office. It should have proceeded to celebrate your father and your uncles, whom it were impossible, indeed, to pass in silence; 2 and however worn by transcribing the long roll of your ancestral triumphs, it should not have been so spent by the unfolding of your genealogy as to grow too blunt for the record of your own achievements. Why even if the recital of your ancestral glories had dulled it, that of your great personal qualities would lend it a new point. In place of all this, it is determined to pay you here conspicuous homage and, leaving your past career to speak for itself, to consider rather what you are to-day. 3 It has passed over your administration of the Gauls when they were still at their greatest extent. It has been silent on the efficacy of your measures against Attila the enemy on the Rhine and Thorismond the guest of the Rhone, and on your support of Aetius the Liberator of the Loire. It has not related the dragging of your chariot by cheering provincials, whose fervent applause proclaimed their gratitude for the prudence and the foresight with which you handled the reins of power; since you ruled the Gauls with such wisdom that the exhausted proprietor was relieved from the unbearable yoke of taxes. It passed over the address with which you influenced the savage Gothic king |126 by a language blending grace with gravity and astuteness, a language unfamiliar in his ears, causing him to withdraw from the gates of Arles by a banquet, where Aetius could not have succeeded by force of arms. 4 All this it forbore to dwell upon because it was my hope that you might more fitly find a place among the bishops than the senators; I deemed it more appropriate that your name should be found among the perfect of the Lord than among the prefects of Valentinian. Malice need not misconstrue your insertion among the priests; only great ignorance can hold that a man could lose rank thereby. Just as at a public banquet the last guest at the first table takes precedence of the first guest at the second, so in the opinion of all reasonable men the least of the religious is beyond dispute above the holder of the highest office. I ask your prayers on my behalf.
XIII.
To his friend Sulpicius
c. A. D. 470
1 YOUR son Himerius the priest,1 of whom I had hitherto seen little but heard much, his reputation being wide, came to Lyons not long ago from Troyes, and there I had a hurried opportunity of forming an opinion of him. In character he reminds me of the sainted Lupus, the foremost of our Gallic bishops, master of his sacred profession, and author of his rank within it. 2 Just God! how charming is his way of enouncing his views, whether he is urging or debating any given course of action! With what point he speaks when |127 asked his advice, with what sweetness when he has resort to that of others! He is an enthusiast for letters, above all for sacred literature, in which he ever avoids the froth of verbiage and chooses the substantial marrow. The end of his every action is Christ's service; if he accelerates or delays, it is for that. It is a thing at once wonderful and admirable, that although he is always tranquil he does nothing idle. 3 Fasts are a joy to him, yet he does not abjure the social board; the way of the cross keeps him faithful to the first, love of his kind inclines him sometimes to the last. In either case he uses the utmost moderation; when he dines, he mortifies his appetite; when he fasts, it is without vainglory. On others he showers favours, but is reluctant to accept theirs; and when his turn to receive an equivalent comes, prefers that the debt should remain unpaid. 4 It is his way to give his inferiors precedence at table, or in council, or when travelling; this makes his superiors in rank delight to follow his example, and place themselves below him when they can. In intercourse with others he shows the utmost tact. The stranger is put at his ease; the feelings of a friend are never hurt. The over-credulous are not placed in false positions, nor are the curious rebuffed. Suspicion he meets without malice; he does not say hard things of knowledge, or treat ignorance with contempt. In the Church he has the simplicity of the dove, in the world the wisdom of the serpent. In his dealings with the good he has a name for prudence, with the bad for caution; but with neither does he resort to guile. 5 Enough: he seemed to me your second self, reproducing in the most charming manner all your moderation, your piety, your |128 frankness, your modesty, the supreme purity of a sensitive and delicate mind. So that in future you can enjoy your privacy, and retire from the world as much as ever you like, since my brother Himerius with his grandsire's name, his father's looks, and the sage qualities of both will always be at my disposal. Farewell.
XIV.
To his friend Philagrius
c. A. D. 470
1 A SHORT while since at a large gathering of the principal persons here, some one mentioned your name. All were unanimous in sounding your praises, though one esteemed you for one quality and a second for another. Then certain individuals took on themselves to claim a more intimate acquaintance, on the ground that they saw you frequently. That made me flare up; I could not for a moment allow it to be said that one distinguished in all kinds of letters is better known by his countrified neighbours than by men of culture living a great distance away. 2 The discussion was carried further; some present argued the point with obstinacy, for it is characteristic of stupid people that they are easily proved wrong, but very hard to silence. I stood my ground, and maintained that it might indeed be trying for such a man's cultured friends to be deprived of his society, but that all the same it was endurable; their brains and their pens gave them access to the remotest province where the need of Culture was felt, while the unlettered fellow citizen was always a stranger within the gates. It was matter |129 of frequent experience, I said, for men of education, separated by wide distances, to conceive for each other an esteem as great as any which can be produced by the most assiduous of personal relations. That being so, they had better leave off exaggerating the effect of unavoidable separations, for they only showed that they thought more of face than character. 3 People may argue, if they like, that matter, not mind, makes the man,1 but I am at a loss to find anything to wonder at in the human race, viewed corporeally, for its limits are so narrow, however wide its range of action; by the conditions of its birth, it is the most miserable and helpless of all that sees the light. The ox has his hairy coat, the boar his bristles, the bird its feathers; and in addition, these creatures have arms for offence and for defence in their horns and tusks and claws. But man's limbs are such poor things that they seem to have been flung at random into the world, not brought into it by intelligible laws. For other animals broad-bosomed Nature, like a true mother, provides all manner of protection; the human body she just casts forth, to give it thenceforward the stepmother's indifferent usage. 4 To me, who hold that your mind is greater than your body, the contrary supposition is untenable; it would be ridiculous, on that hypothesis, that man should be differentiated by possession of a reasoning mind from beasts unable to distinguish the true from the false. I should like to ask those who so absurdly judge friends by appearances instead of investigation, what remains when they have even in the slightest degree impaired the dignity of the human soul, what after that they find so eminent and admirable |130 in man? 5 Is it height? that, is often a quality more appropriate in a beam. Is it strength? that reigns more mightily in the lion's sinewy neck. Grace of feature? the clay of the statue and the wax of the portrait 1 hold its impress better. Is it speed? for that, dogs are more justly famed than we. Vigilance? for that prize the owl competes. Is it strength of voice? the ass's bray is loudest. Industry? therein, on its tiny scale, the ant fears no comparison. 6 Do they allege keenness of sight? how absurd! as if the eagle's vision were not far above that of man. Keenness of hearing? as if the coarse-skinned swine were not his rival. Keenness of scent? as if in that the vulture were not supreme. Discernment of taste? as if there we were not far behind the monkey. I need hardly trouble to speak of touch, our fifth sense; the philosopher shares it with the worm. Why speak of the carnal appetites? the man's lust is satisfied in the same way as that of the brute. 7 And this poor thing is the humanity, paraded and tricked out by fools who give themselves airs and flout me because they know you more or less by sight! But I have always before my eyes a Philagrius other than theirs, a Philagrius who would not be himself if I saw him and he did not speak. The whole argument recalls to me a certain well-known remark, made on a different kind of occasion, it is true, but nevertheless to our point: 'The son of Marcus Cicero was speaking, and Rome did not even know who he was.' 2For accomplishments of mind bring with them dignity, worth, and the pre-eminence recognized by universal consent, and by their means alone man gradually attains the heights of merit. 8 First you have the animal frame, |131 which by virtue of its form excels formless matter. Above that comes the body, possessing intelligence. And above the intelligence of beasts rises the mind of man. For as mere flesh is below life, so mere life is below reason, of which the Creator has made our substance alone capable, and not the substance of animals. Yet how variously conditioned is the human mind! There are souls which are rational indeed, but by reason of slowness and dull wits are spurned by others which see further and more clearly. In like manner, there are souls which, having only a natural understanding, accept the superiority of those more enlightened than themselves. 9 When I consider these gradations I always have before my mind's eye the Philagrius whom a similarity of tastes has made, potentially at least, my friend. However popular you may be, with the worthiest among us, no man has a clearer insight into your inner nature than he who strives outwardly to imitate you. And how closely I for my own part try to follow you in your inclinations, the rest of this letter shall reveal. 10 They say you like quiet people; I go further, and like the idle. You shun barbarians because of the bad name they bear; I avoid them even when they bear a good one.1 You are ardent in study; I do not suffer a natural indolence to hold me back. You act up to your religion; I only seem to do so. You do not covet your neighbour's goods; I hold it sufficient gain not to lose my own. 11 You love the society of the learned; to me the bigger the crowd of the unlettered, the vaster is the solitude. You are said to be of a cheerful countenance; I hold that every tear shed on earth except in prayer is vain. You are reported to |132 be given to hospitality; my poor table, like the cave of Polyphemus, rejects no possible guest. You are indulgent with your servants; it is no torture to me that mine are not tortured for each trivial fault committed. 12 Is it your view that a man should fast on alternate days? I am with you. That he should dine? I am not ashamed to anticipate you there. If Providence would grant me a sight of you, I should be as delighted as only he can be to whom even your smaller traits are familiar; with your greater qualities I am of course thoroughly acquainted. So that if I ever do manage to see you face to face, I shall hardly know you any better than I do now, though I may gain a new pleasure in existence. Farewell.
XV.
To his friend Salonius
c. A. D. 470
1 EVERY time I go to Vienne, I would give a great deal if you and your brother stayed more frequently in the town, for we three are all united not only by the ties of friendship but by those of a common literary interest.1 But your brother eludes my reproaches by pretending the visits he has constantly to make to his suburban property, so that he is never present to stand on his own defence; you in your turn find a similar excuse, as one possessed by a newly-acquired possession. 2 Be all this as it may, come this time, and I will let you go on condition that you both promise to come again, either in turn, or [together?] at some later time. You may live in the country and be model cultivators; |133 but not till you give more labour yet to the Church which you love, will you bring increase to the true land of your souls. Farewell.
XVI.
To Abbot Chariobaudus
A.D. 477
1 IN alleviating by a letter of condolence the trouble of an absent friend, O my one patron in Christ, you have acted like your benevolent self. May your thoughts ever turn to me thus; may this interminable chain of anxieties which your exhortations have worn down be finally broken by your prayers. 2 I think your freedmen have concluded the business on which you sent them, and are on their way home; they have done everything with such energy that they never required any assistance. I send you by them a cowl for nightwear, though I admit that the end of winter, with summer in sight, is not quite the right time to send you woollens. When you are exhausted by long fasting, it shall give you proper protection as you pass from your bed to Vigils and back again. Farewell.
XVII.
To his brother Volusianus
A.D. 477
1 You ask me, my lord brother, by the law of friendship which none may infringe, to set my long inactive fingers to the old forge. I am to write a sad funeral |134 dirge for the sainted Abraham,1 newly departed this life. I shall not fail to obey, moved alike by your authority, and even more by the devotion of the noble Count Victorius, my patron according to the world, my son according to the Church, whom I honour as a client, and love as a father. He gave abundant proof of his ardent solicitude for the servants of Christ, when by the sick priest's couch he humbled his dignity and bent his body low above the dying, his own face sympathetically paling with that already colourless by the approach of death; while his tears betrayed his deep feeling for the friend he was to lose. 2 He has insisted on taking the funeral almost entirely upon himself and defraying all the expenses required for the due obsequies of a priest; to complete the honour due to the memory of the departed, I can only contribute these few words, confining my pen to a plain testimony of a mutual affection.
*'Abraham, worthy to stand beside the celestial patrons whom I shall not fear to call thy colleagues, since they are gone before on the path which thou shalt follow; a share in the martyr's glory gives a share in the kingdom of heaven. Born by Euphrates, for Christ thou didst endure the prison, chains, and hunger for five long years. From the cruel King of Susa2 thou didst fly, escaping alone to the distant land of the West. Marvels born of his holiness followed the steps of the confessor; thyself a fugitive, thou didst put to flight the spirits of evil. Wherever thy footsteps passed, the throng of Lemures cried surrender; the exile's voice bade the demons go forth into banishment. All sought |135 thee, yet didst thou yield to no vain ambition; the honours acceptable in thy sight were those that brought the heaviest burdens. Thou didst shun the tumult of Rome and of Byzantium, and the walls of the city that warlike Titus breached.1 Not Alexandria held thee, not Antioch; thou spurnedst Byrsa, the famed home of Dido.2 Thou didst contemn the populous lands of Ravenna by the marshes, and the city named from the woolly swine.3 But this corner of earth was pleasing to thee, this poor retreat, this hut roofed with reeds. Here didst thou rear a sacred house to God, thou whose own frame was already itself His temple. Here ended thy wanderings, here thy life's course; now thy labours are rewarded by a twofold crown. Now dost thou stand in Paradise amid the thousands of the Saints, with Abraham for thy fellow wanderer. Now art thou entered into thine own land, from which Adam fell; now lies thy way clear to the sources of thy native stream.'4
3 With these lines I have paid, as you desired, the last observance due to him who is now laid to rest. But if it is the duty of those who yet live, of brothers, friends and comrades, to obey the commands of brotherly affection, I shall make you a request in my turn: I would beg you to use the principles with which you are so eminently endowed for the consolation of the dead man's followers, confirm by the discipline of Lerins or of Grigny5 the shaken rule of a brotherhood now cast adrift without a leader. If you find any insubordinate, see to it in person that they are punished; if any obedient, give them praise from your own lips. The holy Auxanius is presumed to be their head; but he, as |136 you well know, is too infirm of body and of too diffident a character, and more fitted to obey than to command. He himself insists that you should be called in, that in succeeding to the headship of the house, he may have the support of your overheadship; for if any of the younger monks should treat him with disrespect, as one lacking alike in courage and experience, thanks to you, a joint rule would not be slighted with impunity. I say no more. If you would have my wishes in a few words, they are these; I desire brother Auxanius to be abbot over the rest, and you yourself to be above the abbot. Farewell.
* The verses are translated by Fertig, Part ii, p. 45.
XVIII.
To his friend Constantius
c. A. D. 479
1 'WITH you my work began, with you it shall end.'1I send the volume for which you asked, but the choice of letters has been rather hurried. I could only find comparatively few; I had not preserved any number, never having contemplated their appearance in this form. Few and trivial as they are, I was soon done with them; though when I had once started, I found the love of scribbling by no means dead within me, and that I was keen to balance any deficiency in their number by an addition to their length.
2 At the same time, I thought that if it was to attract so fine a critic, the book would be handier and need less apology if you had a smaller weight of parchment to deal with, since in parts there was a certain |137 lightness of style and subject which might give you cause of offence. I therefore submit to your judgement these manifold emotions of my heart, well aware that a book as surely reflects a man's mind as a mirror his face. A few of the letters preach, a number congratulate; some offer advice, others consolation; not a few are humorous.
3 If here and there you find that I show unexpected heat, I would have you know that while Christ is my defender I will never suffer my judgement to be enslaved; I know as well as any one that with regard to this side of my character there are two opinions: the timid call me rash, the resolute a lover of freedom; I myself strongly feel that the man who has to hide his real opinions cuts a very abject figure. 4 To return to my original subject. If you ever allow yourself a rest from your unending studies in religious literature, these trivialities should afford you innocent distraction. There is here no interminable theme to weary you; each subject ends with its containing letter; you can see where you are at a glance, and have done before the inclination to read has died within you. Farewell.
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Sidonius Apollinaris, Letters. Tr. O.M. Dalton (1915) vol. 2. pp. 138-175; Book VIII
Sidonius Apollinaris, Letters. Tr. O.M. Dalton (1915) vol. 2. pp. 138-175; Book VIII
BOOK VIII
I.
To his friend Petronius
c. A. D. 480
1 A MAN who makes it a principle, whenever he can, to encourage his friends along the path of glory deserves the gratitude of all good men everywhere: the practice is your honourable distinction; be true to it always. To no other cause can I ascribe this new request that I should turn out my cases at Clermont in the search for further letters. I should have thought the examples already published would have satisfied you; but I must needs obey, though I shall merely append a few at the end to supplement the original series, and crown the completed volume, as it were, by a marginal addition. 2 I shall now have fresh reason to be on my guard against malignant critics, for adding in this way to a book which has already seen the light. How, indeed, could I hope to escape the edged tongues of the spiteful-born, when even a Demosthenes and a Cicero for all their masterly periods and their perfected eloquence were not permitted to go free? The first found his detractor in Demades, the second in Antonius, carpers both, whose malice was as clear as their diction was obscure, and who have come down to posterity simply through their hate of excellence. 3 But since the command has gone forth, I set my sail to the old winds; I have navigated oceans, and shall I not cross this quiet |139 water? I have always been convinced that a man should give of his best in anything he writes, and then tranquilly face all criticism. There is no middle course; one must either care no jot for what the malignant say, or else hold one's peace altogether. Farewell.
II.
To his friend Johannes
A. D. 478
1 I SHOULD hold myself guilty of something like a crime against polite learning, most accomplished of friends, were I for a moment to defer congratulation on your own success in deferring the decease of Literature. One might almost speak of her as dead and buried; it is your glory to have revived, supported and championed her, and in this tempest of war which has wrecked the Roman power, you are the sole master in Gaul who has brought the Latin tongue safely into port. 2 Our contemporaries and our successors should all with one accord and fervent gratitude dedicate statues or portraits to you, as to a new Demosthenes or Tully; by your example they were formed and educated, and they shall preserve in the very midst of an invincible but alien race this evidence of their ancient birthright. Since old grades of rank are now abolished which once distinguished the high from the low, in future culture must afford the sole criterion of nobility. None is more deeply indebted to your learning than I; for like all authors professed, who write for posterity, I shall owe to your school and your teaching the certainty of an understanding audience. Farewell. |140
III.
To his friend Leo
A. D. 478
1 I SEND you, at your request, the Life of Apollonius the Pythagorean,1 not in the transcription by Nicomachus the Elder, from Philostratus, but in that from Nicomachus himself by Tascius Victorianus.2 I was so eager to fulfil your wish, that the result is a makeshift of a copy, obscure and over-hurried, and rough as any version could be.3 Yet the work took me longer than I expected, and for this you must not blame me, for all the time I was a captive within the walls of Livia,4 release from which I owe, next to Christ, to you. My mind was sick with care and really unable to fulfil my task even in the most desultory manner; all kinds of hindrances prevented me----various obligations by day, my utter misery at night. 2 When the evening hour brought me at last to my quarters, ready to drop with fatigue, my heavy eyelids knew small repose; there were two old Gothic women established quite close to the window of my chamber, who at once began their chatter----quarrelsome, drunken, and disgusting creatures, whose like will not easily be seen again. As soon as my restoration to my own home gave me a little leisure, I dispatched the book with all its faults upon it, uncorrected, ill-digested, as you might say, an immature wine; in doing so, I thought more of your anxiety to have it, than of my own responsibilities. 3 Now that your wish is gratified, forsake awhile Apollo's bays and the fount of Hippocrene; forget the measures of which you alone |141 are absolute master, and which, in those who have only your learning without your eloquence, seem not so much to rise from a well-spring as to drip painfully from fevered brows. Stay the renowned stream of an eloquence peculiar to your race and line, which, flowing from your ancestor the great Fronto through successive generations, has now passed in due course into your breast. Lay aside awhile the universally applauded speeches composed for the royal lips, those famed deliverances with which the glorious monarch from his exalted place strikes terror into the hearts of tribes beyond the seas, or binds a treaty on the necks of barbarians trembling by the Waal,1 or throughout his newly extended realm curbs force itself by law as once he curbed his foes by force. 4 Shake off the burden of your endless cares and steal a little leisure from the affairs and agitations of the court. Not till you surrender yourself wholly to this book, and in imagination voyage with our Tyaneus to Caucasus and Ind, among the Gymnosophists of Ethiopia and the Brahmins of Hindostan, not till then shall you know the story you desired in its right hour and as it should be known. 5 Read, then, the life of a man who, but for his paganism, in many points resembled you, as one who did not pursue riches, but was pursued by the rich; who loved knowledge and did not covet money; who was abstemious among the feasters and went in coarse linen among princes robed in purple; who was grave amid luxurious follies; whose hair was matted, whose face was rough and hirsute among smooth, anointed peoples; who was conspicuous in the dignity of his squalor among satraps of crowned monarchs exquisite in person |142 and drenched with nard and myrrh; who abstained from animal flesh and would not clothe himself in wool,----for such abstinence, indeed, held more in honour than contempt in the Eastern kingdoms which he traversed. When royal treasures were placed at his disposal, he asked only the gifts he liked to offer others and would not keep himself. 6 Why pursue the subject further? Unless I am much at fault, it may be doubted whether our ancestors' days produced a biographer fit to write so great a life; but of this there is no doubt at all, that in your person our own times have produced a student worthy to peruse it. Farewell.
IV.
To his friend Consentius
c. A. D. 478
1 WILL Providence ever allow us to meet once more, honoured lord, on your estate of Octaviana----I call it yours, but it seems really to belong to your friends just as much as to you. Situated as it is near town and sea and river, it offers continual hospitality to all comers, and to yourself a regular succession of guests. How charming, too, is its first aspect, with its walls so cleverly designed in perfect architectural symmetry! how brilliant is the gleam of chapel colonnade and baths conspicuous near and far! Then there is the amenity of its fields and waters, its vines and olives, its approach, its beauty of hill and plain. Well stocked and furnished with abundance, it has also a large and copious library; |143 when the master is there, dividing his interests between pen and plough, one might be in doubt whether his mind or his estate enjoys the finer culture. 2 No wonder this was the chosen place (unless my memory deceives me) where you have produced the swift iambics, the pointed elegiacs, the rounded hendecasyllables, and all the other verses fragrant with thyme and flowers of poesy to be sung by every one at Béziers and Narbonne! These poems, no less remarkable for speed of composition than for charm of style, make you beloved of your contemporaries and must increase your fame among those who shall come after us. I have always been convinced of it myself every time a new poem of yours has been brought me, as it were hot from the composer's anvil, and though I may be an indifferent writer, I am no such despicable critic. 3 My earlier life might not improperly find time for such pursuits, and in fact it did so. But now I only read and write of serious things, for now it is high time to think rather of eternal life than of posthumous renown, and to remember that after death our good works, and not our literary work, will be weighed in the balance. 4 I am far from implying by this that you do not excel in both, or that the lively style which you still affect is inconsistent with gravity of judgement; but since by Christ's grace you are already a saint in secret, I would have you openly submit to His salutary yoke a head and heart alike devoted to His service, your tongue unwearying in prayer and praise, your mind filled with pious thoughts, your hand ever open in benefaction. Especially would I insist upon the open hand, for all that you cast abroad |144 among the churches is really gathered in for yourself. Let this reflection above all incite you to the exercise of generosity, that whatever be our opportunities in respect of the things which the foolish call this world's goods, all that we give in charity remains our own, all that we keep is really lost to us. Farewell.
V.
To his friend Fortunalis
c. A. D. 480
1 You too shall figure in my pages, dear Fortunalis, column of friendship, bright ornament of your Spanish country. Your own acquaintance with letters is not, after all, so slight as to deprive you of any immortality which they can confer. The glory of your name shall live; yes, it shall survive into after ages. 2 If my writings win any favour or respect, if they command any confidence among men, I will have posterity know that none were more stout of heart than you; that none were goodlier to see or more equitable in judgement, none more patient, none weightier in council, gayer in company, or more charming in conversation. Last, and not least, it shall learn that these praises have been enhanced by your misfortunes. For it is more likely to hold you great, as one proved in the hard day of adversity, than as one who lay hidden in the bosom of kind fortune. Farewell. |145
VI.
To his friend Namatius*
c. A. D. 480
1 CAIUS JULIUS CAESAR, reputed the greatest master of strategy who ever lived, was a great reader and a great writer also. Though he was the first man of his age, and the arts of war and rhetoric disputed his genius with equally glorious results, yet he never considered himself to have attained the summit in either branch of knowledge until your orator of Arpinum proclaimed him without a rival among men. 2 To compare small things with great1, it has been the same in my own case, however vast my inferiority. No one should know this better than yourself, concerned as you have always been for my success and for my modesty in bearing it. I learn that Flavius Nicetius, distinguished above all his countrymen by his birth, his rank, his merit, his prudence, his wise knowledge of the world, has accorded my small work unlimited praise. He has gone further and declared that while yet in the prime of life I have surpassed in the two fields of literature and war the great number of our young men and not a few of the older among us. 3 If I may say it without vanity, I derive real satisfaction from the approval of so eminent a judge. If he is right, his weight counts for much; if partial, I have a fresh proof of his friendship; though nowadays every man of us is but a sluggard in deed, and in word an infant in comparison with his |146 forefathers. To the men of earlier ages the ruler of all ages granted supreme excellence in these arts; but now the world waxes old, the quickening seed is exhausted, the marrow lost; and if in our time aught of admirable or memorable appears, it is manifest in exceeding few. 4 Nicetius may lead all learning and all letters, but I fear that our intimacy may have led him to exaggerate my merit through the bias natural to friendship. And were it so, I will not deny that in the past I used often to attend the delivery of his luminous speeches, and however fleeting or imperfect my memories, I may properly recall some of them in the present place, even at the risk of being thought to join a game of mutual admiration.
5 I heard him speak when I was growing to manhood and had just left boyhood behind me; at that time my father was praetorian prefect presiding over the tribunals of Gaul, and in his term of office Astyrius assumed the trabea and in a propitious hour inaugurated his consulship.1 On that day I hardly stirred from the curule chair; my age gave me no right to a seat, but my rank allowed me to keep in the foreground; so I stood next to the censor's men who in their official mantles stood nearest to the consul. As soon as the largess had been distributed (and that took little time though it was no little one), as soon as the diptychs had been bestowed, the representative advocates of the province who had come in from every district asked with one consent that the assumption of the consul's office might be celebrated in a panegyric. The ceremonies had anticipated the day, and there was yet some time before the late dawn, which otherwise would have been passed in |147 silence. 6 All eyes turned at once towards Nicetius, the first men present were the first to look his way; the assembly called upon him not by a voice here or there, but by general acclamation; he reddened, and cast down his eyes, giving us such an earnest of his modest nature as gained him hardly fewer bravos than the eloquence he subsequently displayed. He spoke with method, with gravity, with fire; if his ardour was great, his fluency was yet greater, and his science greatest of all; his coloured and golden language seemed to enhance the splendour of the consul's palm-embroidered robe, steeped though it was in Sarranian dyes and rich with applied strips that rustled at every movement of the wearer. 7 About that time (to speak like a decemvir) was promulgated the statute of limitations1 which decreed in summary terms that all cases protracted to thirty years should automatically lapse. It was our orator who first introduced this law, as yet unknown in Gaul; he advocated it at the tribunal; he expounded it to the various parties; and he finally saw it added to the statute-book, before a great audience whose members mostly kept their feet in their excitement and only interrupted by applause. 8 I had many other occasions of observing his intellectual capacity, myself unobserved, and therefore in the best of all positions to see the real man; for though my father governed the province, it was to Nicetius that he went for advice. It must suffice to say that I never heard of a single action of which I did not like to hear, and which I did not admire.
9 The union in his person of all these fine qualities naturally makes me proud to receive the suffrage of a critic so high in the public esteem. Whatever his |148 opinion, it must have great influence; if rumour is true, he is on my side, and I shall have just as good reason to be reassured as I should have had to feel uneasy had his vote gone the other way. In any case, I am determined, as soon as I know for certain what he thinks, either to give silence a loose rein, or curb my facility according to the verdict. For if he supports me I shall be inclined to go on talking like an Athenian; if he condemns, no citizen of Amyclae shall hold his tongue like me.1
10 But no more of myself or of my friend: how does the world go with you? I am every whit as eager to hear your news as to give you mine. Are you hunting, or building, or playing the country gentleman? Are you indulging one only of these pursuits or each in turn, or all together? As for Vitruvius and Columella,2 you do well to study either one or both, for you are competent to deal with either admirably, as one who is equally at home in agriculture and in building. 11 With sport the case is different, and I beg you not to plume yourself upon your prowess. It is useless to invite the boar to meet your spears, so long as you take the field alone with those exceedingly merciful hounds of yours; you just rouse the quarry, but not enough to make him run. It is excusable enough that your dogs should dread close quarters with such formidable beasts as boars; but what apology can you make when they hunt poor helpless kids and timid does, head high and spirits prone, stinting the pace but prodigal of music? 12 You will find it more profitable to net in the rough rocks and likely coverts, and cry the dogs on from a chosen post; if you have any self-respect left, you will give up galloping over the open country and lying in wait for the leverets of Oléron. |149 Indeed it is hardly worth while to worry them on rare occasions by unleashing the hounds in the open, unless our good Apollinaris comes to help you and your father, and gives you a better run.
13 But, joking apart, do let me know how things go with you and your household. Just as I was on the point of ending a letter which had rambled on long enough, lo and behold! a courier from Saintonges. I whiled away some time talking with him about you; and he was very positive that you had weighed anchor, and in fulfilment of those half military, half naval duties of yours were coasting the western shores on the look-out for curved ships; the ships of the Saxons,1 in whose every oarsman you think to detect an arch-pirate. Captains and crews alike, to a man they teach or learn the art of brigandage; therefore let me urgently caution you to be ever on the alert. 14 For the Saxon is the most ferocious of all foes. He comes on you without warning; when you expect his attack he makes away. Resistance only moves him to contempt; a rash opponent is soon down. If he pursues he overtakes; if he flies himself, he is never caught. Shipwrecks to him are no terror, but only so much training. His is no mere acquaintance with the perils of the sea; he knows them as he knows himself. A storm puts his enemies off their guard, preventing his preparations from being seen; the chance of taking the foe by surprise makes him gladly face every hazard of rough waters and broken rocks.
15 Moreover, when the Saxons are setting sail from the continent, and are about to drag their firm-holding anchors from an enemy's shore, it is their usage, |150 thus homeward bound, to abandon every tenth captive to the slow agony of a watery end, casting lots with perfect equity among the doomed crowd in execution of this iniquitous sentence of death. This custom is all the more deplorable in that it is prompted by honest superstition. These men are bound by vows which have to be paid in victims, they conceive it a religious act to perpetrate this horrible slaughter, and to take anguish from the prisoner in place of ransom; this polluting sacrilege is in their eyes an absolving sacrifice. 16 I am full of anxiety and apprehension about these dangers, though on the other hand there are factors which encourage me mightily. Firstly, the standards under which you sail are those of an ever-victorious nation. Secondly, men of prudence, among whose number you may fairly be included, are not in the habit of leaving anything to chance. Thirdly, very intimate friends who live far from each other are apt to feel alarm without due cause, because it is natural to be apprehensive of events at once incalculable and occurring very far away. 17 You will perhaps argue that the cause of my uneasiness need not be taken so seriously. That may be true; but it is also true that we are most timid in regard to those whom we love best. So take the first opportunity of relieving the fears which your situation has aroused by a good account of your fortunes. I am incorrigible on this head, and shall always fear the worst for friends abroad until they contradict it themselves, especially those harassed by the watchword or the signal for attack.
18 In accordance with your request, I send you the Libri Logistorici of Varro and the Chronology of Eusebius.1If these models reach you safely, and you find a little |151 leisure from the watches and the duties of the camp, you will be able, your arms once furbished, to apply another kind of polish to an eloquence which must be getting rusty. Farewell.
* The latter part translated by Hodgkin (ii. 366-8), who also refers to the episode of Nicetius' oration (ibid. 306-7).
VII.
To his friend Audax
A. D. 474
1 I WISH you would tell me into what corner of the world the folk are crept who used to be so proud of wealth amassed, and heaps of tarnished family plate.1Where, too, are the men who on mere grounds of seniority thought to overbear those whose one sin it was to be younger? Where are the people gone whose real affinities come out in nothing so clearly as in their capacity for hatred? 2 As soon as ever merit found recognition, as soon as ever weight of character, and not weight of coin, began to tell in the scales of imperial opinion, these worthies were left in the cold with their insolent claim to precedence by simple right of property. Brooding over their money-bags, and, I may add, their vices, they want to brand those who rise in the world as vain upstarts, while they would be shocked at the suggestion that they owe their own riches to greed. Athletes in this arena of defamation, they rub in the poisonous juice of spite in place of oil, and so reduce their weight. 3 But all hail to you, whose way is the opposite of theirs. You have now the honour of prefectorian rank, and though the prestige of high descent was always yours, you have if anything laboured rather the more on that account to shed a new |152 lustre upon your posterity. To an enlightened mind, none seems nobler than he who steadily devotes all his power, his intellect, and his resources to the single end of excelling his forefathers. 4 Well, it shall be my prayer that your sons may equal you, or even (a better prayer still) leave you behind; and that if there is any envious soul who cannot bear to see you advanced above him, he may just endure the seething torment of his own spite, and never having had the chance of patronizing you, have now the fullest reason for his jealousy. It is only justice that under a just prince he should come at the bottom who is personally nothing and only important in personalty; a starveling spirit, and counting only for his money. Farewell.
VIII.
To his friend Syagrius
A. D. 474 (?)
1 TELL me, fine flower of our Gallic youth, how much longer your ardour for country labours will bid you scorn the town? How long shall rustic implements unrightfully usurp the hands only worn before by throwing dice? How much longer is your estate of Taionnacus to weary your patrician limbs with a peasant's toil? How much longer, O cavalier turned ploughman, will you go on burying in the winter fallows the spoil of the waving meadows? how much longer ply your blunt and heavy hoe along the interminable vine-rows? 2 Why, professed rival of Serranus and Camillus,1 do you guide the plough, yet renounce the embroidered toga? |153 Give up this rustic folly; cease to disgrace your birth. Who cultivates in moderation is lord of his land, who does too much is slave of it. Return to your fatherland, return to your father, return to all the loyal friends who can justly claim a place in your affections. Or, if the life of Cincinnatus the Dictator attracts you so, first wed a Racilia 1 to yoke your oxen for you. 3 I don't suggest that a man of sense should neglect his domestic affairs; but he should use moderation and think not merely of what he ought to have but what he ought to be. If you renounce all higher interests, if your one motive in life is the increase of your property, then, what can it avail you to descend from a line of consuls and see every day their ivory curule chairs with applied ornament of gold and their calendars enriched with purple? Your plodding and obscure career will bring you rather burdens from the revenue officials than honour from the censor. Farewell.
IX.
To his friend Lampridius *
A. D. 478
1 ON my arrival at Bordeaux, your messenger brought me a letter from you full of nectar, rich with blooms and pearls. You arraign my silence, and ask me for some of my poems, in a few of those verses of yours which your cadenced voice so often sends echoing from your melodious palate, like music poured from |154 a flute of many stops. In this you take mean advantage of your royal munificence; you have sent your gift; you feel impregnable. Perhaps you have forgotten one satirist's remark about another:
'When Horace says "Evohe", he has plenteously dined.'1
2 Enough! You are right to send a command from your place of ease, bidding me sing because you are in the mood to dance. In any case I must obey; and far from acknowledging compulsion, I yield of my own free will; but spare me, if you can, the criticism of your proud Catonian brow. You know well enough what manner of thing a poet's gladness is; his spirit is entangled in grief as the fish in nets; if sorrow or affliction comes, his sensitive soul does not so lightly work free from the bonds of anguish: I am still unsuccessful in obtaining a decision about my mother-in-law's estate, even provisionally, though I have offered a third part of it as ransom.2 3 You must see whether the theme of my verses is such as to please you; but my cares forbid me to live in one mood and write in another. It would be unfair to me were you to institute a comparison between our two poems. I am harassed; you are happy. I am in exile; 3 you enjoy your rights of citizenship. I cannot attain your level; I want of you verse like my own, but receive something infinitely better. 4 But if by any chance these trifles composed in the midst of much mental tribulation obtain indulgence at your hands, I will let you persuade me that they are like the swan's notes, whose song is more harmonious just before his death; or that they are like lyre-strings tensely drawn, which make the |155 sweeter music the tighter they are strained. But if verses without suggestion of gaiety or ease can never really please, you will find nothing satisfactory in the enclosed. 5 Do not forget, moreover, a second point which tells against me, namely that a piece which you only read and cannot hear recited is robbed of all the advantage which delivery by the author lends it. His manuscript once dispatched, the most musical of poets has no further resource; distance does not allow him to do for himself what mimics do by their accompaniment----make bad verse acceptable by dint of fine delivery.
* 'Lampridius, glory of our Thalia, why urge me now to sing of Cirrha,1 or the Boeotian Muses, or Helicon's poetic stream called by neighing Pegasus to life at a stroke of his hoof? Why would you make me write as if I had received the Delphic insignia from your Delian god, and, myself a new Apollo, possessed the hangings, and the tripods, the lyre, the quivers, the bows, and gryphons, or tossed from my brow the laurel and the ivy? You, O happy Tityrus, have won your lands again; you may wander through the groves of plane and myrtle, and strike a lyre with which your voice makes perfect harmony. Wondrous is the music of string and tone and measure.
Twice has the moon risen upon me prisoned here; 2and but once have I been received into the presence. For scant leisure has the King even for himself, since all the subjugated earth awaits his nod. We see in his courts the blue-eyed Saxon, lord of the seas, but |156 a timid landsman here. The razor's keen blade, content no more to hold its usual course round the head's extremity, with clean strokes shearing to the skin, drives the margin of the hair back from his brow, till the head looks smaller and the visage longer. We see thee, aged Sygambrian warrior, the back of thy head shaven in sign of thy defeat; but now thou guidest the new-grown locks to the old neck again. Here strolls the Herulian with his glaucous cheeks, inhabitant of Ocean's furthest shore, and of one complexion with its weedy deeps. Here the Burgundian bends his seven feet of stature on suppliant knee, imploring peace. Here the Ostrogoth finds a powerful patron, and crushing the Hun beyond his border, triumphs at home only through his homage to this mighty patron. And here, O Roman, thou also seekest thy protection; if the Great Bear menaces commotion, and the Scythian hordes advance, the strong arm of Euric is invoked, that Garonne, drawing power from the Mars who loves his banks, may bring defence to the dwindled stream of Tiber. Here the Parthian Arsacid 1 himself asks grace to hold, a tributary, his high hall of Susa. He perceives in the regions of the Bosphorus dread war arise with all its enginery, nor hopes that Persia, dismayed at the mere sound of conflict, shall avail to guard alone Euphrates' bank. He who boasts himself kin with stars and near allied to Phoebus, even he becomes a simple mortal, and descends to lowly supplication.
At such a court my days go by in vain. But do you, O Tityrus, refrain, nor invite me more to song. I envy thee no longer; I can but marvel at thy fortune. |157 For myself, I effect nothing; I utter fruitless prayers, and so become another Meliboeus.'1
6 There is the poem. Read it at your leisure, and like a charioteer already crowned, look down from the balcony to the arena where I struggle still in the sweat and dust of contest. Do not expect me to do the like again, whatever pleasure you derive from this present effort, until the happy day arrives when I can turn my mind once more from dark vaticinations to the service of the Muse. Farewell.
* The poem partly translated by A. Thierry, Lettres sur l'histoire de France, p. 103.
* Translated into verse by Fertig, Part ii, p. 23; and into prose by Chaix, ii. 229.
X.
To his friend Ruricius
A.D. 479
1 I AM indeed delighted that you derive from letters at once a benefit and a pleasure. But I should be freer to extol the fire and fluency of your style, were it not that while assiduously praising me yourself you forbid me to return the compliment with interest. Your letter had all the sweetness of affection, all the grace of natural eloquence, all the mastery of style; it failed only in one respect----the choice of subject, and even there you have the credit of good intention, an error of judgement forms its only fault. You cover me with immense laudation. But you should have spared my blushes, and recalled betimes the saying of Symmachus: 'True praise adorns, false praise lashes.'2 2 But unless I misjudge your genius you have not only shown sincere affection, but also remarkable dexterity. The really eloquent love to |158 show the stuff they are made of by choosing a subject full of difficulty; they drive the accomplished pen as if it were the plough of fertile speech through matter sterile as dry and barren soil. Life abounds with examples of skill similarly applied. The hopeless case proves the great doctor, the tempest proves the steersman; for both, the perils traversed enhance reputation; their talent wastes unseen until it finds a proper scope. 3 In the same manner the great orator proves his ample genius most effectively in strait places. Thus Marcus Tullius, who always surpassed his rivals, in his speech for Aulus Cluentius surpassed even himself. Marcus Fronto stood head and shoulders above others in all his pleadings, but in that against Pelops he rose above his own high level. Gaius Plinius won greater fame for his defence of Attia Viriola from the centumvirs' tribune than for the panegyric which almost matched the matchless Trajan.1 4 You have followed these great examples; confident in your powers, you have not feared to take so miserable a subject as myself. But let me rather have the succour of your prayers in my depression; do not lure me with a cozening eloquence, or crush my frail and ailing soul by the weight of an illusory renown. Your diction indeed is fine, but your life finer; and I think you will serve me better by your orisons than by your perorations. Farewell. |159
XI.
To his friend Lupus*
c. A. D. 480
1 TELL me about your folk of Périgueux and Agen,1 whose competing claims upon you are ever a source of pious emulation? You are bound to the people of the one place by your own property, to those of the other by your wife's family connexions; your birth tells in favour of the first, your marriage speaks for the second; and the best of it is that each place has good ground for its contention. God has verily marked you for happiness, when the privilege of securing you and keeping you longest becomes an object of ambition to two rival communities. 2 You grant the favour of your presence to each in regular alternation, restoring to one its Drepanius, to the other its Anthedius; if rhetoric be the object of their desire, neither need regret a Paulinus and an Alcimus as long as you are with them.2All this makes me marvel more that you should care to ask for any old poems of mine when any day you like you have the rummaging of so representative a library as your own. I cannot refuse you, though this is a time of mourning, and the revival of the old jests is somewhat out of place.
3 It is but recently that the news reached me of Lampridius the rhetor's murder. He was my very dear friend; and even if no violent death had snatched him from our midst, his end would have smitten me with profound affliction. In the days that are gone, |160 we had our jokes together, as intimates will; I was Phoebus, he the Odrysian bard.1 So much it was necessary to premise, or the use of these fanciful epithets would have obscured the sense of the following poem. You must know that once upon a time, when about to visit Bordeaux, I wrote him a letter of inquiry as to quarters, sent with the Muse in advance. Sad though the present occasion is, I feel less constraint in sending these verses, than if I had forwarded some mournful composition on our loss; anything of that sort I should have written ill, while the subject would have been no less painful to yourself.
'Orders of Phoebus to his own beloved Thalia. Dear pupil, lay aside the lyre awhile; bind up your flowing hair with a verdant wreath, and let a zone of ivy gird the up-bound folds of your full-bosomed robe. See you put no soccus on, plunge not the foot deep, as your custom is, in the loose cothurnus; but bind on such sandals as did Harpalyce,2 or she who felled her wooers with victorious sword. You shall go the swifter, you shall leap and fly along, if your toes are left uncovered to guide your sandalled feet with quick firm steps, and if the chain of laces, with their converging loops, is brought up through a great loop to the leg.3 So equipped for speed, see that you find my Orpheus, who daily by his sweet and tuneful art softens rocks and trees, aye, and the hardest hearts; my Orpheus, whose style the sonorous tongue of the Arpinate enriches, and the pen of Maro, or thine, Horace, which gladdens the heart of Latium. As lyric bard he excels the great Alcaeus; he is skilled to indite the high strain of tragedy, or the humours of the comic |161 Muse; he can flame out in satire, and arraign the raging tyrant with resounding voice. To this Orpheus say: "Phoebus comes; he has left the road, his oars now smite the bosom of Garonne, white with sails. He bids you meet him, but first be swift to prepare him hospitable welcome." And to Leontius whom Livia bare, she of the old Senatorial line, say this: "He is almost here." Then go to Rusticus, whose wit belies his name. But if they say they have no room, and that their houses are full, go next to the bishop's gate; kiss the holy Gallicinus' hand, and ask the freedom of his lowly dwelling lest, rejected on all sides, I am driven to turn sadly to some sodden tavern, where I should soon need to hold my nose and inveigh against the reeking kitchen with its ruddy sausages which hang in two rows, exhaling odours from thymy pots, while jars and hissing plates send up clouds of steam together. Even there, when the feast-day rouses the hoarse song, and the parasite in the ecstasy of his grumbling makes the air resound, yes, even there and even then, my voice incited by the muse of a thirsty host, I, worse barbarian than all, shall whisper verses more worthy of your praise.'
4 Alas for the abject necessity of being born, alas for the miserable necessity of living, alas for the hard compulsion of death! to these things we are borne round on the voluble wheel of human life. I liked the dead man well; he had his failings, which were venial enough, blending with his virtues qualities of less worth. The slightest cause would excite him, but his wrath was also slight; I always tried to persuade his other friends that these were defects of temperament, |162 and nowise due to malice; I suggested other points in his favour, as that his passion was a physical tyranny, dominating his nature; I tried to clear him of the blot of cruelty by lending it the colour of mere severity. Though before his mind was made up he was weak, he was most resolute when once convinced. Like all credulous men, he was reckless; like all those who mean no harm, he suspected none in others. He hated no one enough to abuse him, and liked no one enough to resist the pleasure of sometimes breaking out against him. Though a very conspicuous figure, he was not ready of access; he had to be borne with, but he was bearable.
5 If one were to attempt an estimate of him as orator, one would say that he was at once terse and copious, concise and ample; if as poet, that he had feeling, that he was a master of measure, and a consummate literary craftsman. He had the gift of writing verse of extreme finish, and wonderfully varied alike in metre and in metaphor. His hendecasyllables were easy and fluent, his hexameters stately and sonorous; in elegiacs he could handle the 'echoing' or the 'recurrent' line, and could link end with beginning by ingenious repetitions.1 6 He could adapt his style to person, place or occasion as the subject required, and that too, not with commonplaces, but by chosen terms replete with dignity and beauty. In controversy he was a power, and wielded a strong arm; in satire alert and mordant. If his subject was tragic, he could command terror and pathos; if comic, he was polished and infinite in resource. In Fescennines his diction was of a vernal freshness and ardent in vows; his bucolics were terse, alert, and |163 musical. In georgics he could strike the perfect rustic note, though he had no touch of rusticity about him. 7 In epigram he shunned diffuseness and aimed at point; he would always write at least two lines, but never exceeded four; there was often a sting in the words, more often still some graceful turn, and, without exception, wit. Horace was his model in lyrics; his iambics went with a swing, his choriambics with a fine gravity; his Alcaics had a supple grace, and his Sapphics were inspired. In short, his work was so fine, so accomplished, so happy in expression, that one might fairly think of him as a bird of glorious wing, following next after the Horatian and Pindaric swans.
8 His interest in different amusements was very unequal. Hazard was a weariness, the ball game a delight. He liked to chaff his friends; and it was a nice feature in him that he liked being chaffed himself still better. He wrote a great deal, but was always longing to write more. He read the ancients with perseverance and reverent admiration, the moderns without jealousy; he would give ungrudging praise to talent, perhaps the most difficult form of generosity on earth. 9 Unfortunately he had the indefensible, I might say the fatal, fault of superstition. He was curious as to the manner of his death, and consulted those African astrologers whose nature is as fiery as their native clime. They considered the position of the stars when he was born, and told him his climacteric year, month, and day----I use the astrological terms----as men to whom the scheme of his nativity was revealed in all its sinister conditions. It seemed that in the year of his birth, all the planets which rose favourably in the zodiac sank |164 with blood-red fires; whether it was that Mercury made them baleful, asyndetic upon the diameter, or Saturn retrograde upon the tetragon, or Mars returning to his old position upon the centre.1 10 Beliefs like these, whatever their precise form, are false, and cannot but delude; if we are to discuss them openly, and at length, we must wait until we meet, for you too are deep in the science of numbers, and with your wonted diligence study Vertacus, Thrasybulus, and Saturninus from end to end: yours is a mind always intent on things lofty and arcane. It must be admitted that in the present case there was neither appearance of mere conjecture nor deliberate ambiguity: death enmeshed our reckless inquirer into the future exactly when and how it had been foretold; all his shifts to evade it were in vain. 11 He was strangled by his own slaves in his own house; choked and throttled he died the death of Scipio of Numantia, if not quite that of Lentulus, Jugurtha, and Sejanus. The one relieving feature in the cruel business was the discovery of crime and criminal as soon as the day broke. The first sight of the body was enough to show a fool or a blind man that death had come by violence. 12 The livid hue, the protruding eyes, the distorted features with their look of mingled fury and anguish, all were so many proofs of what had happened. The floor was wet about his lips, because the scoundrels had turned him with his face to the ground when the deed was done, as if to suggest that life had left him with a sudden haemorrhage. The source, inciter, and ringleader of the conspiracy was first captured; next his accomplices were seized and separately confined till the terror of torture drew the |165 truth from their unwilling breasts. 13 Would we could say that our friend had not deserved his end by his rash and ill-advised resort to vain advisers. But I fear that he who presumes to probe forbidden secrets sets himself beyond the pale of the Catholic faith; he deserves the lot of all who put unlawful questions and receive replies that point to doom. His death was avenged, it is true, but only the survivors gain by that, for the execution of a murderer cannot mend the mischief; it only affords a certain satisfaction of revenge.
14 My attachment to the dead man has led me to write at too great length; such a grief I could not vent in silence. I will end by begging you to give me any news you can, if only a line or two, to relieve the burden of my melancholy. For the relation of this sad story with all its horror has naturally troubled me, and filled my mind with mournful thoughts; indeed, for the time being I can neither think, speak, nor write on any other subject. Farewell.
* An abridged translation is given by Hodgkin, ii. 331 ff.
XII.
To his friend Trygetius
A. D. 461-7
1 HAS Bazas, built on dust in place of good green earth, such charms, have lands sandy as Syrtes, and moving soil and dunes bandied by retorting winds such hold upon you, that neither earnest prayers of invitation, nor force of friendships, nor even the most succulent oysters of our pools, suffice to bring you this trifling distance in to Bordeaux, where we have been |166 expecting you all these days? Is it that the hardships of a winter journey deter you? those wild winds of Bigorre will often obliterate the soft tracks, and perhaps you dread a kind of shipwreck upon land? 2 If so, your memory is short; how long ago was it that Gibraltar was conquered by your bold foot? or that your camp was pitched on the uttermost shores of Cadiz? or the last goal of great wanderings reached, common to Hercules and to my Trygetius? Are you grown such a traitor to your proper nature as to abandon yourself wholly to sloth, you who once ranged the lands of mystery and fable, you whose limbs might fail, but never your indefatigable purpose? 3 Yet with such a record, you come down to Langon harbour 1 crawling with no less reluctance than one bound for the Danube to resist the all-invading Massagetae, or for the dull flood of Nile with all its awful crocodiles. If a bare twelve miles can so delay you, what would you have done had you been with Marcus Cato on his marches through the deserts of Leptis? 2
4 You shiver, it seems, at the mere name of the winter months; but I can assure you we enjoy the gentlest, mildest, and clearest skies, where the lightest breezes serve as winds; so nominal a winter season should less deter than the temperate reality attract. But if my letter of invitation leaves you still obdurate, you shall not resist the verses which in two days' time shall go forth to the attack, more insidious in persuasion, yet I trust none the less strenuous agents of my wishes. 5 My friend Leontius, first of all our Aquitanians, with Paulinus, worthy son of worthy sire, are to meet you with the falling tide on the Garonne at the appointed |167 place; so that not only the boats, but the very river itself shall come out with them to greet you. The oarsmen at the thwarts, the steersmen on the poops, shall tune their chants to sing your praises. They shall pile high for you a couch of cushions, there shall be a board set with men of two colours1; the dice shall await you, ready to be thrown and thrown again from the ivory steps of the boxes. A pine-wood grating shall be fixed across the bottom of the boat so that the bilge flowing to and fro shall never wet your dangling foot; a wicker screen above shall protect you from the treacherous winter sun. 6 What more could the most pampered of the indolent expect than to find himself at his destination before he seemed well under weigh? A truce to your objections and delays; I could swear that the snail with his house on his back would easily outstrip you. And to think that there is a store-room at your command crammed with piles of the most exquisite delicacies and only wanting an enterprise to do it justice! 7 Come, then, to be entertained or to entertain; or, best of all, to do both; come with all your armoury of Mediterranean fare to crush and subjugate the finely equipped gourmets of Médoc.2 On our battle-ground let us see the fish of Adour triumph over the mullets of Garonne, and our coarse crew of crabs fall back before the lobster-armies of Bayonne. Join battle after this wise with the rest of us; but if you value my opinion, take a veteran's advice as a wise man should, and leave my senatorial host out of the contest; if you once come beneath his hospitable roof, you will feast as if you enjoyed continual feasts or the banquets of a Cleopatra. His |168 own and his country's honour will be involved in the competition; and it is generally agreed that he surpasses all his rivals just as far as his city leaves all other cities behind. Farewell.
XIII.
To the Lord Bishop Nunechius
A.D. 472-4
1 No one, most blessed father, rejoices more than I over the number and variety of virtues with which you are so richly endowed by Heaven. You are described as a man of birth who is never arrogant, a man of influence who makes a blameless use of power, a man of piety untouched by superstition. You are praised as one who is learned without airs and serious without fatuity; one whose wit is never rehearsed, who is courteous, but knows his mind, and sociable without any love of popularity.
2 And not content with allowing you these qualities, Fame crowns them with another of yet higher degree, the supreme gift of charity----Fame who, however she may sing your praises, must leave the greater part unsung. For though she can explain to distant friends the aim of your good deeds, their number is beyond the powers of her relation. The tale of them fires me now to make you a first advance, as a conscious inferior should. I therefore proceed to pay my homage; hitherto I might so justly have been accused of backwardness, that I have no apprehension now of being considered forward.
3 I commend to your kindness the bearer Promotus, |169 whom you already know, and whom your prayers have now made my fellow penitent. Though by birth a Jew, he has preferred to be numbered with those chosen by faith rather than blood; he has sought the franchise of the heavenly city; by grace of the Spirit which makes alive he has rejected the letter that kills. Considering, on the one hand, the rewards laid up for the just, on the other the punishment, endless as eternity, awaiting him who dares not desert the Circumcision for the camp of Christ, he has made up his mind to be accounted no longer a citizen of the Solyma on earth, but a son of the Holy Jerusalem which is above. 4 Which thing perceiving, let now the spiritual Sara take to her maternal arms the truer son of Abram; for he ceased to belong to the handmaid Hagar when he exchanged the servitude of conformity according to law for the freedom which comes of grace. The special reason for his journey you will more conveniently learn from his own lips. To me he will always be very dear for the cause above related; I have dwelled upon it because the most effective introduction of all is that which simply sets forth a man's indisputable claim to be well received. Deign to hold us in remembrance, my Lord Bishop.
XIV.
To the Lord Bishop Principius
A. D. 472-4
1 THOUGH I have never seen your face, venerable father, for a long time I have seen the effect of your activities. The praise of such saintliness as yours is widely spread; |170 it overleaps mere bounds of space; and just as the influence of a great character knows no bound, so no term is set to the range of a noble reputation. 2 You will put this all down as my exaggeration unless I adduce in support of my statement some competent witness. I therefore cite a revered member of the famous brotherhood at Lerins,1 a contemporary there with Maximus and Lupus, one who went such lengths in renunciation that he might claim to rival the archimandrites2 of Memphis or the Holy Land. I mean Bishop Antiolus, who was the first to tell me about your father and brothers, and the high example which both of you set in the exercise of your exalted functions in the Church; his account of you first kindled in me the desire to know a story, familiarity with which has ever since been my delight. 3 One might almost compare your father to Aaron the High Priest of old, whom his brother, the Lawgiver, first anointed with the oil of sanctification in the midst of the people in the wilderness, calling next his sons to the same sacred office. But Aaron's happiness in Ithamar and Eleazar was marred when Nadab and Abihu were destroyed by lightning; they were cut off and punished in the flesh, but we may believe that in the spirit they had absolution. 4 I never heard that you offer strange fire when you come to lay your hands upon the altar; rather with the censer of the heart you burn a glowing incense, offering the sacrifices of chastity and love. As often as with the cords of exhortation you bind the yoke of the law upon the necks of the proud, so often in spirit do you sacrifice bulls to the Lord. As often as with the goad of your rebuke you drive sinners polluted by the rankness of |171 sensual indulgence to the sweet savour of a modest life, so often do you offer rank goats in the sight of Christ. 5 As often as your rebuke leads the soul to sigh in penance and compunction over the committed fault, who shall doubt that you present in mystic sacrifice the pair of turtle-doves and the two young pigeons which by their number and their plaints symbolize the twofold nature of man? As often as your warning voice moves the glutton to parch by fire of frequent fastings his gross body and heaving swollen stomach, who shall doubt that you consecrate, as it were, the finest flour in the pan of continence? 6 Every time that you persuade a sinner to renounce the vanities of misbelief, to profess right doctrine, to hold the faith, to keep the way, or to hope for eternal life, who doubts that in the making of a convert triply freed from heresy, hypocrisy, and schism, you dedicate the purest shewbread with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth? 7 Who, in fine, is not aware that the corporeal sacrifice slain as type under the Law is more than replaced by the spiritual sacrifice which you offer under grace? That is why I give abundant thanks to God for your letter, from which I perceive that although the aforesaid prelate told me great things of you, there were greater things which he left unsaid. I am persuaded that you who seem so admirable in other men's description, and more admirable yet in your own letter, will prove best of all seen face to face.
8 The clerk, Megethius, who brought your message, has satisfactorily concluded his affairs, and carries back my respects. I fear I may be of little practical use to him, but if good wishes avail, he has mine. Through |172 him I urgently entreat your brother and yourself frequently to quench my thirst with a stream of your most literary letters, and you must write the oftener of the two. If the difficulties of the road and the distance between us prove an obstacle to my desires, at least pray sometimes for those who ask your prayers. Honoured though I should be by your regular correspondence, your occasional prayers promise me something more than honours, they promise me salvation. Deign to hold me in remembrance, my Lord Bishop.
XV.
To the Lord Bishop Prosper
A. D.478 (?)
1 You wished me to celebrate the glory of the holy Annianus, the greatest and most perfect of prelates, equal to Lupus, and no unworthy rival of Germanus; you would fain see graven on the hearts of all the faithful the memory of a character so fine, so eminent, so richly endowed with so many virtues and so many merits, to which I myself should like to add this, that he made way for such a successor as yourself. You exacted a promise from me at the same time that I would hand down for the benefit of those who come after us the history of the war with Attila, with the whole tale of the siege and assault of Orleans when the city was attacked and breached, but never laid in ruins, and the bishop's celebrated prophecy was divinely answered from above.1 2 I actually set to work upon the book; but when I grasped the extent of my undertaking I repented of |173 having ever begun; I therefore suffered no one else to hear a work which my own judgement already condemned. But to the first part of your request I can return a different answer: your wishes, and the merit of that great bishop make it my duty to enhance his fame without delay by every means within my power. I only ask you, as a fair creditor, to treat with laudable indulgence this promise of your reckless debtor, and in that other matter to refrain from asking what I must refrain from attempting to do. Deign to hold me in remembrance, my Lord Bishop.
XVI.
To his friend Constantius
c. A. D. 478
1 I PROMISED the illustrious Petronius to conclude this little book in a few letters; but in endeavouring to spare you, I have been very hard on him. He was to have the drudgery of revision, you the honour of the issue; the responsibility of conveying the volume to you was to be his, the pleasure of paying the homage mine. I have carried out my intention; if you will cast your practised eye over the numerous superscriptions I think you will be struck by the manner in which the pages are filled. I have reached the very margins near the umbilicus; as the Satirist says, it is time to finish my Orestes 1, even if I have to write on the other side of the parchment.
2 In this work I have not been classical, or enlisted in my service a fabulous Terpsichore, nor have I led |174 my pen by dewy banks and mossy rocks to the well-spring of Aganippe. I only hope that what I have written may not prove rambling pointless stuff, and full of trivial commonplaces. For an accomplished reader like yourself can take no pleasure in an invertebrate, soft and enervated style; what he requires is something nervous and masculine in the antique manner. Those qualities must be left to a greater talent than mine; enough for me, if you forgive me for keeping you waiting so long.
3 It is fortunate that our illustrious friend requested no further additions; that would have involved me in long delays, for not a single cabinet or case contains anything more worth production. This will show you that although my time of silence is still to come, I have certainly begun to think of it, and that for two reasons. If I win approval, I shall give my readers pleasure at the smallest cost to themselves; if, on the other hand, I am disapproved, their weariness will soon be over. For my style has no polished graces; it is of a positively heathen bluntness. 4 What use should I have, indeed, for an austere archaic manner, or for far-fetched terms of Salii or Sibyls, or the old Sabine Cures?1 Such things the masters for the most part avoid; they are for some flamen to expound, or some antiquated reader of the law's conundrums. My diction is dry and jejune; mine is a vocabulary of common words in too general use to claim distinction, too ready to every one's hand to find acceptance with the critical. 5 If my writing lacks eloquence and force, I can confidently say that it contains nothing which is not genuine and absolutely true to fact. Why should I insist upon the point? |175 If my style pleases my friends, it is good enough for me. I am content with either kind of verdict: they may either be critical and tell me the truth, or partial and deceive themselves. All I shall ask of Providence in future is that posterity may judge or be deceived in the same manner. Farewell.
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Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
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Sidonius Apollinaris, Letters. Tr. O.M. Dalton (1915) vol. 2. pp. 176-214; Book IX
Sidonius Apollinaris, Letters. Tr. O.M. Dalton (1915) vol. 2. pp. 176-214; Book IX
BOOK IX
I.
To his friend Firminus
After A. D. 480
1 You insist, my honoured Son, that I should exceed the existing limit of my collected letters; that I should adventure further, and refuse to content myself with the present total. Your reason in favour of adding a ninth volume is that Pliny, in whose steps you deem me to follow in this work, assigns the same term to his own collection.1 2 I may yield to your desire; but all the same, this friendly invitation raises difficulties, and is far from promising advantage to such poor reputation as I already possess. In the first place, it is very late in the day to append this new addition to the volume already issued. Secondly, I do not know the umpire who would not hold it indecent in an author to give a single work three supplements. 3 Nor, having definitely announced the work done, should I know what excuse to make for not curbing my incorrigible loquacity, unless indeed it were this, that one cannot constrain one's friendships as one can limit one's page. For these reasons, I think you ought to stand on guard before my reputation, and make my motives clear to the inquisitive; I should like you to send me regular intelligence of the views expressed by those whose opinions I should value. 4 If |177 after forcing me to chatter on, you yourself persevere in silence, you will have no fair ground for complaint if I pay you out in your own coin. It is incumbent on you above all others to be lenient in judging my endeavour to fulfil the task and obligation imposed upon me. Meanwhile, I will at once insert in the margin of the eighth book any fresh letter which comes into my hands.
5 Apollinaris, all ardour in most pursuits, is utterly remiss in one; study has but a faint attraction for him, whether he reads by his own choice or by compulsion. At least, that is how it appears to me, since I count myself one of those fathers who are so eager, so ambitious, and so apprehensive about the progress of their sons that they hardly ever find anything to commend, or if they do, are hardly ever satisfied. Farewell.
II.
To the Lord Bishop Euphronius
c. A. D. 472
1 THE missive with your saintly greeting has been delivered by the priest Albiso and the Levite1 Proculus, whom I may accept as my masters in conduct, since they have proved themselves your worthy pupils. The letter does me a great honour, but it imposes a yet greater burden. Although your benediction delights me, the accompanying injunction fills me with dismay. Indeed, I am so perturbed that I cannot think even of a partial obedience. You bid me attempt too intricate a task, and much too far beyond my capacity. At a time when my powers wane towards their end, I am to essay |178 a work which I should be mad to begin and could never hope to finish. 2 If I know your loyal heart aright, your real aim was rather to give me proof of your affection than to see my completed labours. But I shall take good care that while from Jerome, the master of exegesis, Augustine, the master of dialectic, and Origen, the master of allegory, you reap full ears of spiritual emotion and a harvest of saving doctrine, that no dry stubble shall rustle in your ears from this parched tongue of mine. As well blend the hoarse cry of the goose with the swan's music, or the sparrow's impudent chirp with the tuneful plaint of nightingales. 3 Should I not show a certain effrontery and want of proper feeling were I to approach so formidable a task----I, a novice in the Church, but a veteran, alas! in transgression----I, light in learning, but weighed down by a heavy conscience? If I were to send what I had written to be seen by other eyes, I should become the laughing-stock even of critics who never set eyes on me.
I entreat you, therefore, my Lord Bishop, not to insist on spoiling a modesty which would fain avoid publicity, or tempt me into so rash an adventure. Such is the envy of the backbiters, that a mere beginning is more sure of their censure than a successful conclusion of their applause. Deign to hold me in remembrance, my Lord Bishop. |179
III.
To the Lord Bishop Faustus
c. A.D. 477
1 YOUR old loyalty to a friend, and your old mastery of diction are both unchanged; I admire equally the heartiness of your letters, and the perfect manner of their expression. But I think, and I am sure that you will concur with me, that at the present juncture, when the roads are no longer secure owing to the movements of the peoples, the only prudent and safe course is to abandon for the present any regular exchange of messages; we must be less assiduous correspondents; we must learn the art of keeping silence. This is a bitter deprivation, and hard to bear when a friendship is as close as ours; it is imposed upon us not by casual circumstance, but by causes at once definite, inevitable, and diverse in their origin.
2 First among them 1 must set the examination of all letter-carriers upon the highways. Messengers may run small personal risk, since nothing can be alleged against them; but they have to put up with endless annoyance, while some vigilant official subjects them to an inquisitorial search. At the first sign of faltering in reply to questions, they are suspected of carrying in their heads instructions which cannot be found upon their persons. The sender of a letter is thus placed in an awkward position, and the bearer is liable to rough usage, especially at a time like this, when fresh disputes between rival nationalities have destroyed a treaty of long duration. 3 In the second place I set the soreness of |180 my heart over my own private troubles, for I was taken from home with a show of great consideration, but really removed by compulsion to this distant spot, where I am broken by every kind of mental anguish, enduring all the hardships of an exile and the losses of a proscript. It is therefore by no means the right moment to ask me for finished letters, and were I to attempt them, it would be impertinence, for the exchange of a lively or elaborate correspondence should be confined to happy people; to me it seems little less than a barbarism for a man to write gaily when his spirit is vexed within him. 4 How much better it would be for you to give the benefit of your unremitting orisons to a soul conscious of its guilt and trembling as often as it recalls the debts of a sinful career! For you are versed in the prayers of the Island brotherhood, which you transferred from the wrestling-place of the hermit congregation, and from the assembly of the monks of Lerins,1 to the city over whose church you preside, for all your episcopal rank, an abbot still in spirit, and refusing to make your new dignity a pretext for any relaxation in the rigour of the ancient discipline. Obtain for me, then, by your most potent intercession that my portion may be in the Lord; that enrolled from henceforth among the companies of my tribesmen the Levites, I may cease to be of the earth earthly, I to whom not a yard of earth remains;2and that I may begin to estrange myself from the guilt of this world, as I am already estranged from its riches.
5 In the third place, and perhaps this after all is the chief reason why I have given up writing to you, I have a boundless admiration for your tropical figurative style, and for that consummately varied and perfected diction |181 of which your last letter affords such ample evidence. Many years ago I sat a hoarse demonstrative listener when you preached either extempore, or, if occasion demanded, after careful preparation. I especially remember the week's festival of the dedication of the church at Lyons, when you were called upon by the general desire of your venerable colleagues to deliver an oration. On that occasion you proved yourself a master both of forensic and religious eloquence, and held the balance between them with such perfection that we hung upon your words with ears strained and roused emotions; you cared less to indulge our simple predilections because you knew that you had wholly satisfied our reason.
6 There you have the cause of my present and my future silence; I could not refuse a few words without disobedience, but henceforward I shall hold my peace and learn in silence. In future the word lies with you, my Lord Bishop. It is yours to devote yourself to the teaching of sound and perfect doctrine in works destined to live; for not a man hears you in argument or exposition who does not learn to deserve the praise of others in deed no less than word. Forgive my simple letter,1 which has at least the virtue of conforming to your desires; I have myself to admit that, by comparison with yours, my style is inarticulate as a child's. 7 But there is little point in all this heavy repetition; the most foolish thing in the world is to be always deprecating one's own follies. Judgement rests with you, and if you put things to a thorough test, you will find much to laugh at, and even more to censure. I shall welcome it if your notorious kindness of heart allows you for once to abandon your dislike of |182 being critical, and condemn such points as need correction. Only if you strike out passages here and there, shall I have the satisfaction of feeling that you approve what you leave intact. Deign to hold me in remembrance, my Lord Bishop.
IV.
To the Lord Bishop Graecus
A. D. 473 (?)
1 OUR traveller and bearer of mutual salutations treads a path of which he knows every yard from having to traverse over and over again the roads and tracts between our several cities. We ourselves must keep to the ideal set before us; we ought, indeed, to be more intent on it than ever, and redouble our zeal now that so many messengers are constantly upon the way, and above all, Amantius. If we fail in this, it will look as if we corresponded just because he regularly calls for letters, and not because we really wish to write them. You must think more often of the friends among whose number I venture to count myself; all of us feel no less elated by your good, than depressed by your adverse fortune. 2 Were we not moved to sympathetic tears by the mournful story of your anguish at the fate of certain brethren? Flower of the priesthood, jewel among pontiffs, mighty in learning, in righteousness mightier yet, spurn from you the threatening waves of earthly storms, for we have often heard from your own lips that the way to the promised feasts of patriarchs and the celestial nectar lies through the bitter cups of earthly |183 sorrows. Whether he will or no, each follower of the Mediator who endured the world's contempt must follow his Lord's example. Whatever draughts of trouble the affliction of this present life sets to our lips, we shall perceive how small our burden is if we will but remember what He who calls us to His heaven once drank upon the tree. Deign to hold me in remembrance, my Lord Bishop.
V.
To the Lord Bishop Julianus
c. A.D. 477
1 THOUGH we dwell further apart than either of us could wish, the distance dividing us has had less to do with the interruption of our intercourse than the fact that we live under different laws; national disagreements born of opposing interests have hindered our frequent correspondence. But now that a peace has been concluded,1 and the two peoples are to become trusty allies, our letters will be able to pass in greater numbers since they will arouse no more suspicion. 2 Unite your prayers, then, with those of your reverend brothers, that Christ may deign to prosper our handiwork, restraining the quarrels of our princes, making their wars to cease, granting to them the gift of good intention, to us peace, and to all security. Deign to hold us in remembrance, my Lord Bishop. |184
VI.
To the Lord Bishop Ambrose
After A. D. 472
1 YOUR holiness has interceded before Christ with effect on behalf of our well-beloved friend (I will not mention his name----you will know whom I mean), the laxity of whose youth you used sometimes to lament before a few chosen witnesses of your sorrow, sometimes to bemoan in silence and alone. For he has suddenly broken off his relations with the shameless slave-girl to whose low fascination he had utterly abandoned his life; by this prompt reformation he has taken a great step in the interests of his estate, of his descendants, and of himself. 2 He dissipated his inheritance until his coffers were empty; but when he once began to consider his position, and understood how much of his patrimony the extravagance of his domestic Charybdis had swallowed up, not a moment too soon he took the bit in his teeth, shook his head, and stopping his ears, as one might say, with Ulysses' wax, he was deaf to the voice of evil, and escaped the shipwreck that follows meretricious lures. He has led to the altar a maid of high birth and ample fortune, and for that we must give him credit. 3 It would of course have been a greater glory to have abandoned the voluptuous life without taking to himself a wife; but few of, those who forsake error at the call of virtue can begin upon the highest level, and after indulging themselves in everything, cut off all indulgence at one stroke. 4 It is now your part by assiduous prayer to obtain for |185 the newly married couple good hope of issue; and then, when they have one or two children (perhaps even in that we concede too much), to see to it that this stealer of unlawful joys shall abstain thereafter even from lawful pleasures. At present the conduct of this bride and bridegroom is so seemly that to see them once together is enough to reveal the gulf between the honourable love of a wife and the feigned endearments of the concubine. Deign to hold me in remembrance, my Lord Bishop.
VII.
To the Lord Bishop Remigius
A.D. 472-4(?)
1 ONE of our citizens of Clermont (I know the man, but forget his business, which is immaterial) went recently on a journey to Belgic Gaul, and while at Rheims so won your copyist or your bookseller by the charms of his manner or of his purse that he wormed out of him, without your consent, a complete set of your Declamations. After his triumphant return with such a splendid spoil of volumes, he insisted on presenting the whole series to us as his fellow townsmen, though we were quite ready to purchase them----a rather graceful act. All of us here who are devoted to literature were properly desirous of reading the books, and we at once began to transcribe the whole, committing to memory as much as we were able. 2 It was the universal opinion that there were few men living who could write as you do. There are few or none who before even beginning to write could arrange their subjects so well, so calculate the position of syllables, or the |186 juxtaposition of consonant and vowel; and besides, there is none whose illustrations are so apposite, whose statements are so trustworthy, whose epithets are so appropriate, whose allusions so full of charm, whose arguments are so sound, whose sentiments carry such weight, whose diction has such a flow, whose periods come to so fulminant a conclusion. 3 The framework is always stout and firm, bound with many a delightful transition, and close caesura, but withal quite easy and smooth, and rounded to perfection; it helps the reader's tongue to pass without obstacle, so as never to be troubled by rough divisions, or roll in stammering accents on the palate. All is fluent and ductile; it is as when the finger glides lightly over a surface of polished crystal or onyx, where there is not the slightest crack or fissure to stay its passage. 4 I have said enough. There is no orator alive whom your masterful skill would not enable you easily to surpass and leave far behind. I almost dare to suspect (forgive my audacity) that a flow of eloquence so copious and so far beyond my powers of description must sometimes make you vain. But do not think that because you shine with the twofold brilliance of your holy life and your consummate style you can therefore disregard our opinion; remember that though our authorship may be worth little, our criticism may count for much. 5 In future, then, cease to evade our judgement, from which you have nothing either mordant or aggressive to fear. For I must warn you that if you leave our barrenness unenriched by the stream of your eloquence, we shall take our revenge by engaging the services of burglars, whose clever hands will soon despoil your roll-cases |187 with our connivance and support. If you are imperturbable before a friendly request to-day, you will soon learn what perturbation means to-morrow, when the thieves have cleared your shelves. Deign to keep me in remembrance, my Lord Bishop.
VIII.
To the Lord Bishop Principius
A.D. 472-474
1 I WAS longing for a line from you when quite unexpectedly our old messenger brought me your answer; his efficiency in the present case proves him a fit and proper person to be entrusted with our further correspondence. Your second letter is a gift, or rather blessing, which I repay with my further greetings: the account is now numerically but far from qualitatively equal. 2 And since we live in spiritual communion, while our homes are remote, so that we are debarred by our situation from the pleasure of meeting, pray for me, that I may be released from the burden and travail of this present life by a holy death such as my heart desires, and that when the day of Judgement dawns and the dead are raised, I may join your throng a servitor, were it even on the terms of the Gibeonites 1. For in accordance with the divine promise, the sons of God shall come together from every nation, and if pardon be given to my grievous sin, however diverse my deserts, I shall not be separated far from the place where glory awaits you among the saints. Deign to hold me in remembrance, my Lord Bishop. |188
IX.
To the Lord Bishop Faustus
After A. D. 475
1 You have lamented our long silence, venerable father, but while I recognize and applaud your desire that it should at last be broken, I cannot admit that any blame attaches to me. When you bade me some time back give you my news, I wrote before receiving your last communication, and my letter actually reached Riez; but though you were at Apt, you aptly escaped its perusal.1 I was most anxious, both to receive my due credit for having written, and to escape too severe a criticism when you read the missive. 2 But on this point I need say no more at present, especially as you again ask me for a letter, and one as voluminous as I can make it. I long to satisfy you; the goodwill is there, but unfortunately I have no subject for my pen. Greetings should take up little space, unless they introduce some matter of real interest; to spin them out with mere verbiage, is to deflect from the path defined by Sallust when he said that Catiline had words enough but little wisdom.2 So my vale will have to follow my ave at an exceedingly short interval. I beseech your prayers for me.
3 What a stroke of luck! Just as I was on the point of folding up my letter, something has occurred for me to write about, and if either the pleasure or the annoyance of the event delays my protest a single moment, I will own myself deserving of the indignity to which I have been exposed. You have fallen into my hands, Great Master, |189 I do more than triumph; I have you at my mercy, and in my captive I find one of no less stature than the anticipations of years had led me to expect. I cannot say whether you are caught against your will, but it looks like it. For if you did not mean your books to pass me without my knowledge, you certainly did nothing to prevent the passage. It aggravates the offence that in traversing Auvergne they not merely went close under my walls but almost grazed my person. 4 Were you afraid that I should be jealous? Thank God, I am less open to the charge of envy than any other; and were it otherwise, were I as guilty of this as of other defects, the hopelessness of a successful rivalry would be enough to purge me of emulation. Did you fear the frown of so severe and difficult a critic as your servant? What critic so swollen or so opinionated as not to kindle at your least ardent passages! 5 Was it your low estimate of a junior that led you to ignore and to disdain me? I hardly think it. Was it that you thought me ignorant? I could put up with that if you mean ignorant of the art of writing, not ignorant in appreciation. I must remind you that only those who have taken part in the games presume to pass judgement on the racing chariots. Was there any casual disagreement between us, leading you to suppose that I might decry your work? Thanks be to God, my worst enemies cannot make me out a lukewarm friend. Why waste these words? you ask. 6 Well, I will now let you have the whole story of this secretiveness which so incensed me, and of the discovery which has put me in such high spirits again. I had read those works of yours which Riochatus the priest and monk,1 and |190 thus twice a stranger and pilgrim in this world, was taking back for you to your Bretons; for you, who may well be called Faustus to-day, since you cannot grow old, since you will always live in the mouths of men, and after your bodily death, attain immortality by your works. The venerable man made some stay in our city, waiting till the agitated main of peoples should calm down, for at that time the vast whirlwind of wars rose dreadful against us on this side and on that. All your other good gifts he freely produced; but managed to keep back, always with the most exquisite courtesy, the chief treasure he conveyed, unwilling perhaps to let me feel the contrast between your roses and my brambles. 7 After rather more than two months, he hurriedly left us, a rumour having got abroad that he and his company had with them mysterious things of great price, carefully wrapped up from view. I went after him with horses swift enough easily to cancel the day's start he had gained; I came up with my felon, I leapt at his throat with a kiss, laughing like a man but pouncing like a wild beast; I resembled a robbed tigress that with winged feet springs like a flash upon the neck of the Parthian hunter to dash her stolen cub from his grasp.1 8 To cut the story short, I embraced the knees of my captive friend; I stopped the horses, tied the bridles, opened his baggage, discovered the volume I sought,2 dragged it forth in triumph, and began reading away and dismembering it by making lengthy excerpts from the important chapters. I dictated as fast as I could, and the skill of my secretaries yet further abbreviated my task, for they were able to skip letters wholesale, using a system of substituted signs. The story of our parting would be |191 an overlong tale, and after all of no great interest; our cheeks were wet with tears; we embraced and embraced again, hardly able to tear ourselves away. My exultation was justified by my safe return, laden with the spoils of loving-kindness and master of great riches for the soul.
9 And now for my opinion of this booty. I should rather like to hold it back, in order to keep you in suspense; judgement withheld were vengeance more complete. But I despair of taking down your pride; for you are conscious of so masterly an eloquence that sheer delight in what they read wrings eulogy from your readers, whether they wish to withstand the charm or not. Listen, then, to the sentence which an injured friend now passes on your book. 10 It is a work of the most fruitful labour, varied, ardent, sublime, excellent in classification, rich in apt examples, well balanced by its form as dialogue, and by the fourfold division of its subject. There is much that is inspiring, much that is grand; here I find simplicity without clumsiness, there point not too far-fetched; grave matters are handled with ripe judgement, deep matters with proper caution; on debatable ground you take firm stand; in controversy your argument is always ready. Now persuasive, now severe, always intent to edify, you write with eloquence, with force, and with exquisite discrimination.
11 Following you over the whole wide field traversed in so many manners, I find you easily superior to all other writers alike in conception and in execution. You must appreciate my sincerity in this the more, when you remember that I pronounce my opinion under the smart |192 of your affront. I think your work could only be improved by one thing----your presence in person to read it, when something might yet be added by the author's own voice, his gesture, his restrained art of physical expression. 12 Endowed thus with all these intellectual and literary gifts, you have united yourself with a fair woman according to the precept of Deuteronomy.1 You saw her among the hostile squadrons; and then and there you loved her as she stood in the forefront of the adversary's battle; through all the resistance of the foe, you bore her off in the strong arm of passion. Her name is Philosophy, she it is whom you snatched by force from among the impious arts; and having shorn the locks betokening a false faith, with the eyebrows arched with pride of earthly learning, and cut away the folds of her ancient vesture, which are the folds of sad dialectic, veiling perverse and unlawful conversation, you purified her and joined her to you in a close and mystical embrace. 13 She has been your faithful follower from your early years; she was ever at your side, whether you practised your skill in the arena of the crowded city, or subdued the flesh in remote solitudes; in the Athenaeum she was with you, and in the monastery; with you she abjured the wisdom of the world, with you proclaims that which is from above. Whoever provokes you as her lawful spouse shall soon perceive the noble range of your philosophy, and find himself confronted by the Platonic Academy of the Church of Christ. 14 He shall hear you first declare the ineffable omniscience of God and the eternity of the Holy Spirit. He shall not see you grow long hair or flaunt the pallium or staff as insignia |193 of the philosophic state. He shall not see you pride yourself in nice apparel, indulging the exquisite's pretension, or making squalor your boast. He shall not see you betray your envy when in the gymnasia, or the Schools of the Areopagus; Speusippus is pictured for admiring eyes with bowed head, Aratus with open countenance; Zeno with contracted brows, Epicurus with unwrinkled skin, Diogenes with hirsute beard, Socrates with failing hair, Aristotle with arm freed from the mantle, Xenocrates with his contracted leg, Heraclitus with his eyes closed by tears, Democritus with lips parted in a laugh, Chrysippus counting with clenched fingers, Euclid measuring with open hands, Cleanthes biting his nails over problems both of space and number.1 15 Far from all this, whoever challenges you shall see the Stoic, the Cynic, the Peripatetic, the Heresiarch all beaten with their own weapons and crushed by their own devices. Their followers who dare resist Christian faith and dogma to venture a bout with you shall soon be bound hand and foot and fall headlong into the toils of their own nets. The barbed syllogisms of your logic shall hook these voluble tongues even while they seek escape; you shall noose their slippery problems in categoric coils after the fashion of the clever doctor, who, if need be, will prepare his antidote for poison from the very venom of the serpent. 16 I have said enough for the moment on your spiritual insight and on the soundness of your learning. For no one can follow in your footsteps with an equal stride, since to no other is it given to speak better than the masters who taught him, and to make his actions better than his words. Not without reason shall you be called by those qualified to judge, |194 most blessed above all in our generation, as one who in deed and word enjoys a great and twofold glory; who after numbering years to be counted on the right hand,1after being the model of this century and the desire of every other, shall die honoured for his excellence in every field, leaving his possessions to his own folk, and himself to the nations of the world. Deign to hold me in remembrance, my Lord Bishop.
X.
To the Lord Bishop Aprunculus
After A.D. 475 (?)
1 MY letter was delivered to you by a messenger who ought to have brought me back a reply; for our brother Celestius, on his return recently from Béziers, extracted from me a document of surrender relating to my [clerk] Injuriosus. I wrote it urged by the compelling force of your modesty rather than by any inclination of my own; the least that I could do, confronted with such an attitude was to meet you halfway upon the swift feet of my respect. 2 Regard him, then, as yours by my deliberate act, but use him with generosity; indeed, I am sure you proposed nothing but the solace of your kindness. I have no further resentment against him, and write this rather as an introduction to you than as a formal dimissal for him. But I should like it to be a condition that he is to render you obedient service and assistance, and that if he stays with you he shall be regarded as neither yours nor mine; but that if he leaves you, it shall be open to both of us to treat him as a fugitive.2Deign to hold me in remembrance, my Lord Bishop. |195
XI.
To the Lord Bishop Lupus
A.D. 478 (?)
1 THAT unfortunate book which you regard as sent not so much to you as through you, has inspired a letter which I in my turn regard as written not so much to me as against me.1 I cannot reply to your reproaches with an eloquence equal to yours; I rely only on the justice of my cause; how indeed am I to plead 'not guilty' when you imply the opposite? At the very outset, therefore, I frankly ask your pardon for my offence, such as it is; but I confess only to an error born of diffidence and by no means of improper pride. 2 The strictness of your judgement is no less formidable to me in literary than in moral questions, but I must admit that when I opened the volume it was the thought of the friendship you profess for me which oppressed me most. And that I think is natural; for it is human nature for a friend who suspects an injury to be severer than any one else. 3 It is true enough, as you point out, that my book is a medley packed and piled with multifarious subjects, episodes and personal facts; it would have been outrageous had I been so infatuated with my work as to imagine that no part of it would displease you. Whatever your judgement might prove to be, it was evident that I should derogate from my loyalty, if I failed to give you at least the first sight of the volume, even though I might not formally present it. If I were lucky enough to meet with your approval, you could not accuse me of having arrogantly neglected you; if on the |196 other hand I were less fortunate, you could not say that I had forced my work upon your notice. 4 Nor did I expect to find it very difficult to excuse the motive which saved me from possibly having to blush for myself. I imagined you to be as well aware as I myself that modesty becomes the writer of a new book better than assurance, and that timidity is far more likely to win the vote of the severe critic than a provocative spirit. On the other hand, if a man boldly announces a volume on a fresh subject, however much he may really have done to satisfy the legitimate expectation of the public, he will soon find that he will be expected to do more. Whatever strictures you may pass on the tenor of this reply, I prefer to make a clean breast of it rather than resort to disingenuous evasions. 5 Any one but myself would probably have argued somewhat after this wise: 'I never gave any one the advantage over you; no one else had received a special letter from me. The man whom you believed to be preferred before you had to be content with one letter to his credit, and that, too, having no relation to the present matter. You on the other hand, for all your complaints at being overlooked, must have been simply exhausted by the three garrulous sheets you received; you must have been sickened by so long an immersion in empty and dull verbiage. Moreover you may not have observed that, even so, your position and your high deserts have received ample consideration; your name appears in the first superscription of the book, as befits that of the primate among our bishops. His name, on the contrary, only occurs once in a letter addressed to himself; yours is so mentioned more than once, and you are cited |197 besides in letters addressed to other persons. 6 Remember, too, that where there is a subject likely to please you, I have encouraged you to read it, whereas the person in question can only do so by your kindness; he is probably so embarrassed by your attitude to my little gift that I should be surprised if even now he has had a real chance of perusal, while you long ago reached the stage of transcribing. I expect he will hardly regard as my holograph a copy over which you have glanced; for to an example revised by you he can never impute either excess of barbarisms or defects in punctuation. In fine, it might appear that all rights in the book had been handed over to you, seeing that you have the use of it while you please, and can dispose of it for so long that you may be said to keep it rather in your memory than in your bookcase.' 7 Such arguments, with more of the same kind, might readily be adduced. I, however, shall waive them all, and prefer frankly to seek your pardon instead of making excuses for a problematical offence. I make even less excuse for the carelessness of the present letter, first, because I have no longer the art of fine writing, even if I attempt it; second, because, when one has got a book off one's mind, one is longing for a holiday and cannot bring oneself to elaborate what one does not care to make public. 8 But as I rightly make a point of giving way to you in everything-----for where, indeed, is your equal to be found?----and as for ten whole lustres,1 as often as a comparison has been instituted, you have been preferred to all priests that have ever been, whether in our own time or before it, I would have you understand, that though your lamentations may shake the |198 stars, though you call the glowing ashes of your fathers to witness my outrage to the laws of friendship, yet if there is to be any contest in mutual affection, my foot shall stand firm against yours, were it for no other reason than that to be beaten in anything is bad, but to be vanquished in loyalty an abomination. Whether you approve or no, I have right on my side in replying by this open declaration to reproaches, which for all their bitterness, are yet more to me than all the honeyed flatteries of others.
9 I have given you as communicative a letter as you could desire. But all my correspondence with you is that; no letters of any writer-could be more so. For you have the gift of encouraging men to write with confidence. I say no more of myself; but there is not a literate, however retiring, whom you do not know how to draw out, just as the sun's rays by their absorbent power extract the moisture hidden in the bowels of the earth. So sharp are those rays, that they can penetrate not the fine sand or surface soil alone, but if there be a concealed spring deep under some massive mountain, there too the ardent nature of the mysterious powers of heaven reveals the secret of the liquid element. In like manner, venerated father, your lucid eloquence knows admirably how to influence and draw into the light, by its subtle address, all the studious who from love of quiet, or from modesty, lie in the obscurity of dark corners, their fame yet unawakened. 10 Enough: I come back to the point; I have talked endlessly and at large, but since I have surrendered and confessed my fault, I entreat you to be placable and give me the benefit of your clemency and forgiveness. Such are your holy cheerfulness and love of others that |199 you will derive a greater pleasure from this my written apology than you would from any positive act of reparation. Deign to hold me in remembrance, my Lord Bishop.
XII.
To his friend Oresius
c. A. D. 484
1 I HAVE just received your letter, which I may compare to the salt mined in the hills of Tarragona. The reader finds it sharp and lucid, yet none the less of a bland savour. The phraseology is charming, but the matter is also full of point. Taking small account of my present state of life, it asks me for a new poem, and this demand brings me no less trouble of mind than the admirable diction delight. At the very outset of my religious career, the art of versifying was the first thing that I renounced; gravity of deed was now my business, and if I occupied myself with such frivolous things as verses, I might well be accused of levity. 2 Besides, it is a matter of universal experience that a pursuit which has been intermitted for any time is only resumed with difficulty. Every one knows that both art and artist achieve their highest by constant practice; if the usual exercise be forgone, arm and intellect alike will grow inert. The later or the more seldom the bow is used, the more refractory it is under the hand; it is the same with the ox under his yoke and the horse with his bridle. Moreover, disinclination is not my only motive; it is accompanied by a certain timidity. After three whole Olympiads of silence,1 to |200 begin rhyming again would be no less embarrassing than irksome. 3 But it seems almost a crime to refuse you even the most difficult things; your warm heart is quite unused to be denied, and it would be a shame to deceive you of your confident hope. I shall therefore choose a middle path: I will compose nothing new; but if I can find any of my former letters containing poems, written before the pressure of my present duties, you shall have them. I shall merely ask you not to be unfair, and set me down as an incurable poetaster. I shall pride myself just as much on your good opinion if you deign to think of me rather as a modest than as an accomplished man. Farewell.
XIII.
To his friend Tonantius
c. A. D. 481
1 I MUST admit that your judgement on my verses has long been too flattering and appreciative: I must admit that you rank me among the elect of poets and even above many of their number. I might be inclined to listen, were not your critical acumen influenced by your friendship. Praises born of partiality, though uttered in perfect good faith, are really based on error. 2 You ask me now to send you some Asclepiads forged on the Horatian anvil, that you may keep yourself in practice by declaiming them at table. I do so, though never in my life have I been so busily engaged in writing prose.
'Long time, with hand well worn by the pen, have I written smooth hendecasyllables which you might |201 sing more easily than choriambics, dancing on lighter foot to freer measure. But you will that our way should henceforth run by the Calabrian road, where, with reins of mighty music, Flaccus guided his lyric steeds to the melody of Pindar, while the strings were struck to the Glyconian rhythm, to the Alcaic also and the Pherecratian,1 the Lesbian and the anapaestic; in the freshness of his varied song he went, with words like violets of diverse hue about him. Hard was it for bards of old, hard for me to-day to see that the tongue, essaying the various music of verse, trips not by reason of too many written letters, and their male style which forbids luxuriant graces. Hardly may Leo himself attempt it, king of the Castalian choir; hardly he who most nearly follows him, Lampridius, though he professes prose and verse alike before his students of Bordeaux. Yet this it is which I must try for you: spare me, then, your jests. Suffer your poet to keep to the close his pledge of modesty; for nothing is less excellent than this, to end with laxity where the beginning was with rigour.'
3 I should personally much prefer that when you divert yourself at the banquet you should confine yourself to pious histories; recite them often among your friends, and let an eager audience encourage their repetition. And if (for you are yet young) these salutary distractions but faintly appeal to you, then borrow from the Platonist of Madaura2 his formulae of festal questions; and to master them more fully, practise answering them when others propound, or yourself propound them for solution; make this your study |202 even in leisure. 4 But as festive occasions have been mentioned, and you insist upon a poem, even one composed on another theme and for another person, I cannot hesitate to produce one longer. Take, therefore, with what grace you may, one written in Majorian's reign, when a number of us were invited to a banquet by a common acquaintance, and I had to produce something extempore on a book by Petrus, the emperor's secretary,1 which was just out, the master of the feast delaying the first course awhile for the occasion. My friends Domnulus, Severianus, and Lampridius, summoned from their several homes to a single city,2 had also been invited, and had to write as I did. That sounds presumptuous; they wrote, of course, far better. 5 We were only granted just time for the allotting of the metres; for we had agreed, as honourable members of the poetical fraternity, that though the subject should be the same for all, the verses of each should be in a different measure, so that the unsuccessful competitors might be spared immediate mortification and subsequent jealousy of the victor. For if all is composed in the same metre, inequality of talent is much more easily detected. I recommend the enclosed to your approval, preferably at some hour of perfect relaxation. It would hardly be fair to subject it to a severe criticism when your friend was never able to give his whole mind to the composition.
* 'Come, flower of youth, called happily together. The place, the hour, the festal board, the theme, bid you extol to the skies the book which you now hear |203 recited, now yourselves recite. It is the book of Petrus, master alike of prose and verse. Brothers, let us celebrate the pious festival of letters. Let all things ministering to delight usher out the day which now moves to its close, fair cheer, and wine and the dance.
Bring out hangings of fine linen ruddy of hue; bring purple steeped with Meliboean dye in brazen vessels to enrich the fleece with purest stain. Let the fabric from a far land display the heights of Ctesiphon and of Niphates,1 and the wild beasts racing over the field, driven to madness by wounds skilfully feigned in red, from which a blood which is no blood seems to issue, as though a real dart had pierced their sides. There the Parthian fierce of mien and adroit in the backward gaze vanishes on swift steed and turns again to launch a second dart, now flying, now putting in turn to flight the wild beasts' counterfeited forms.
Let the round table be spread with linen purer than snow, and covered with laurel, with ivy and the green growths of the vine. Pile great baskets high with cytisus and crocus, starwort and cassia, privet and marigold; let sideboard and couch be gay with garlands of sweet scent. Let some hand perfumed with balsam smooth your disordered hair; let frankincense of Araby smoke to the lofty roof. Come the dark, let many a light be hung from the glittering ceiling, high in the chamber's upper space; innocent of oil and clammy grease, let each lamp's bowl yield flame from Eastern balms alone.
Let servitors bear in on laden shoulders viands fit for kings, their necks bowed under silver richly chased. |204 In patera and bowl and cauldron let nard mingle with Falernian wine; let wreaths of roses crown tripod and cup. For we shall tread where garlands sway from many an unguent-vase; in mazy rounds our languid limbs shall know disport; by step, by garb, by voice, each shall play the quivering Maenad. From her seat between two seas let Corinth send her players of the cithara trained in the best of schools 1 to mimetic dance and song; let their tuneful lingers accompany their melodious voices, the plectrum cast aside, and deftly ply the wires that leap to life beneath their touch.
Give us, too, the bronze pipe loved of the nude Satyr; give us deep-sounding flute-players for our chorus, who from cavernous mouth and full-blown cheek shall chant the loud wind into the tubes.
Give us songs for the tragic buskin, for the comic soccus songs; give us eloquence of rhetors and melody of poets, of each in his several part, the best.
Give us all these, yet Petrus shall surpass them all. In our hands is his book woven of prose and verse, faring swift over roughest paths and labyrinthine ways. In every kind he makes essay, in every kind approved; from this side and from that he bears the palm; even learned lips must celebrate his praise. Away with the well of Hippocrene, away with Aganippe's fount; avaunt! Apollo, maker of sweet song, with all thy train of Muses; avaunt! Minerva, arbitress of melody. Away with all the names of legend; one God alone has dowered him with these gifts.
When this man raised his voice, all sat dumb----emperor and senator, warrior, knight, and all the folk |205 of Romulus. And still their acclamations roll through forum, temple, camp, and country, while Po and Liguria's loyal cities add their loud plaudits to the chorus. Like greetings echo through the towns of Rhone, even the wild Iberian shall imitate the Gaul. Nor shall the sound die in this region of earth; it shall press onward to the lands where Eurus reigns; Zephyr, Aquilo, and Auster shall bear it on their wings.'
6 Seeking a song for your lips, I have found one of my own. These trifles I drag into the light from the bottom of my desk, where for well-nigh twenty years they have lain for the rats and mice to gnaw: such verses as Ulysses might have found when he came home from Troy. I pray you give me gracious pardon for this distraction of an idle hour; it is surely neither false modesty nor impudence which begs you to bow before the force of precedent, and judge my small performance in the spirit with which I judged the whole book of my friend. Farewell.
* The poem is translated into German rhymed decasyllabics by Fertig, i, p. 13.
XIV.
To his friend Burgundio
(No indication of date)
1 IT doubles my own pain to learn that you too are driven to keep your bed. No fate is so hard to bear as the separation of friends through sickness, when they are quite close to each other. Unless they share one room, they cannot exchange a word of mutual comfort or offer a prayer together. Each has burden of anxiety |206 enough on his own account, but a greater for his friend. However ill a man may be, his fears for himself vanish before the knowledge of his friend's danger. 2 But God, most affectionate son, has relieved me of my worst disquietude, since you begin to regain strength. They say you even want to get up, and what I long even more to hear, that you are strong enough to do so. I really think you must be, or you would not have begun to ask my advice again, and set me literary problems with the ardour of one perfectly recovered. Though you are only a convalescent, you seem far more inclined for some ethical discourse of Socrates, than any physical treatise of Hippocrates. Verily you deserve, if ever man did, the encouragement of Rome's applauding hands, the thunder of the Athenaeum hailing you master, till the seats shake with the clamour through every tier. 3 And were but peace ours, and the roads free, these triumphs you would attain, given the opportunity of forming yourself in the society of our senatorial youth. Of such fame and such distinction I judge you capable from the becoming speech you recently made; you delivered extempore the matter of a written discourse, with the result that the kindly acclaimed you, the supercilious marvelled, the most accomplished had no fault to find. But I ought not to embarrass your modesty by impertinent excess of praise; my eulogies are better made to third persons than to yourself. I will proceed to the real subject of my letter.
4 The inquiry which your messenger brings is: what do I mean by recurrent verses? you want an immediate answer, with a concrete illustration. A recurrent verse is one which reads the same backwards and forwards |207 without changing the position of a single letter, or making any alteration in the metre.1 Here is the classic example:
Roma tibi subito motibus ibit amor.
[Here is another:
Sole medere pede, ede perede melos.]
5 There is another kind in which, though the metre is unchanged, only the words are read backwards, not the several letters. A distich of my own shall illustrate the point, though I am sure I have met with many others in the course of my reading. I amused myself by composing it about a brook which had been filled by sudden rain storms, crossing the highway with a noisy rush of waters, and overflowing all the tilled lands below.
6 It was merely a passing flood, swollen with transient rains, and not sustained by any perennial flow from spring above. I happened to arrive by the road, and while I waited for the banks to reappear, for the moment giving up the ford, I amused myself by writing the following two verses, on the feet of which, if not on my own, I crossed the foaming torrent.
'Praecipiti modo quod decurrit tramite flumen,
Tempore consumptum iam cito deficiet.'
You see that, inverting the order, you get the following:
'Deficiet cito iam consumptum tempore flumen,
Tramite decurrit quod modo praecipiti.' |208
Of course the merit all lies in the arrangement of the words; elegance you must not expect, for there is none. The example sufficiently explains, I think, what you wanted to know. 7 It now falls to you to oblige me in a similar way by following my lead, and sending me something which I in my turn request. An ideal chance is yours in the near future of speaking in public on the most notable of subjects, the glory of that Julius Caesar in praise of whom you have already written. The theme is so great that even the most exuberant of orators might doubt his power of rising to the occasion. Even if we leave out of the account all that the historian of Padua1 has written on the fame of the invincible dictator, who could hope to challenge with the living word the work of Suetonius, or Juventius Martialis,2or the Ephemerides of Balbus? Be the enterprise reserved for your hand. 8 My friendly care it shall rather be to see that the benches are well filled with auditors, and to prepare men's ears for the coming bursts of applause.3While you exalt the virtues of another, it shall be my part to celebrate yours. Have no fear that I shall bring an audience of ignorant or spiteful Catos, ready to cloak either defect under a pretence of critical severity. One can make allowance for honest lack of culture, but people sly enough to detect good work, and at the same time grudge it credit, are detected and discredited themselves by every man of honour.
9 Do not, then, be apprehensive on this account; every one will lend a favouring ear and a fostering support; we shall all enjoy together the refreshing pleasure which your recitation will give us. Some will extol your fluency, more your talent, all of us your freedom from conceit. |209 For it is laudable indeed, when a young man, I might almost say a boy, can stand forth in the open arena and be adjudged the prize on the double ground of character and talent. Farewell.
XV.
To his friend Gelasius
c. A. D. 481
1 You prove my offence against you, and I do not defend myself on the charge. In so far as no letter in this collection bears your name, I have indeed offended. But you write that you will regard the fault as venial, provided I send you something for recital at table, like the letter in prose and verse which I sent not long ago to my friend Tonantius for a similar purpose. You conclude by deploring that when I drop into poetry I never write anything but hendecasyllables, preferring that in the present case I should substitute for this trochaic facility something composed in verses of six feet. I acquiesce, only hoping that the enclosed will please you, whether you style it ode or eclogue. The composition was hard work, for when one is out of practice in a given metre, to write in it is far from easy. 'You wish, dear friend, the fierce iambic to echo through my pages with impetuous rhythm, as hitherto the trochee; the spondee with its two slow feet and its time of four, to hold the flighty dactyl in check awhile; you wish that other swiftest of all feet to resound with these, named fitly from the Pyrrhic dance, and always to be placed at the conclusion; you wish next the anapaest to bound the beginning or the end of the verse, |210 which only in strictness deserves its name when a third long syllable follows upon two short.
An ordinary poet----for such, you know, your Sollius is----has not the skill to manage all these measures. My note is uncertain, my wandering tongue has no art to unroll from echoing mouth the long-drawn epic. That skill is rather Leo's, or his who in Latin song follows in Leo's steps, and in the Greek stands first, who descends from the Sire of the Consentii; who with lyre and tone and measure has sung, men say, by the ford of Pegasus in every form we know, and in the Greek tongue has held the high stars by Pindar's side, and ranged victorious the twin-peaked hill, second to none among the caves of Delphi. But if either bard forsake the Doric speech, and sing to the poet's lyre a Latian strain, then, Flaccus, all too feebly shalt thou wield the plectrum of Venusia, and thou, O vanquished swan of Aufidus, shalt bow thy white and tuneful neck, moaning to hear the music of the swans of Atax.
Nor these alone are skilled, albeit than the common skilled more skilful. For the rhetor Severianus had sung with a more transcending voice, and Domnulus, the subtle bard of Africa, with more elegance, and the learned Petrus with more harmonious strength, whose love of writing letters would never have stayed him from composing marvellous verse. And ever more masterly had been the melodious music of Proculus, him of Ligurian home and race, so finishing his graceful poems as to make his country rival in men's love Mantua of the Venetian land, and himself arise the peer of Homer in his glory, or drive abreast with Maro's car. |211
But I, whose thought and style merit contempt, how should I raise my babbling voice among these, even for your pleasure, without proof of babbling unashamed and achievement falling ever short of my ambition? Yet if even this shame suffice not to deter me, how shall I deny you? Love knows not fear: 'tis therefore I obey.'
2 Do not, now, be critical with one who picks up a lost thread; all I ask is some indulgence for an art I rarely practise. If in future you make more such demands, you will have to smooth the path of my obedience, by giving me either a subject for my Muse, or a dance to put me in the comic vein. Farewell.
XVI.
To his friend Firminus
c. A. D. 484
1 You may remember, honoured Son, asking me to add a ninth book, specially composed for you, to the eight already issued: those addressed to Constantius, whose great qualities are known to you, his eminent capacity, his sanity in counsel, his pre-eminent gift of eloquence, by which, in the discussion of public affairs, he eclipses all other speakers on his own or on the opposite side. Herewith I fulfil my promise with punctuality, if not strictly as proposed. 2 For on my return after my diocesan visitation,1 I began going through all my mouldering old papers for any chance drafts of letters that might be among them; I worked as fast and as hard as I could, and then had them out and transcribed them with |212 all speed. I did not allow the wintry season to interfere with my resolve of fulfilling your desire, though the copyist was hindered by the cold which prevented the ink drying on the page; the drops froze harder than the pen,1 and as the hand pressed the point on the page, they seemed to break from it rather than to flow. I have done my best to acquit my obligation before the mild Favonian breeze brings his natal showers to fertilize our twelfth month, which you call the month of Numa. 3 I must now ask you not to require of me the two incompatible virtues of perfection and rapidity; for when a book is written, as it were, to order, the author may perhaps expect credit for punctual delivery but hardly for the quality of his work.
As you profess delight with the iambics I recently sent to our very genial friend Gelasius, you too shall have your present in the shape of these little slaves of Mytilene.2
* 'Now has my bark steered its bold course on the twin seas of prose and verse, nor have I feared to ply the tiller on their sundered tides. I have lowered the yards, furled the great sails, and laid down the oar; my thwarts have run alongside, I have leapt ashore to kiss the dear-loved sands.
The jealous chorus of my foes makes muttering; they snarl like furious dogs; but openly they dare say nothing; they fear the public approval which is mine. Hissings of evil tongues beat upon the poop, and shake the keel, and toss the curved sides of my boat; they fly about the mast. |213
For I, having recked nought of the heaving storms, with the steersman's guardian art have held my prow straight and come safe to port, winner of a twofold crown. One the Roman people granted, and the purple-robed senate assigned, and with a single voice the company of the lettered, what time Nerva Trajan's forum saw arise a lasting statue to my honour, set up between the founders of the two Libraries.1 The other was mine wellnigh two lustres after, when I received the honour of that high office which now alone maintains the rights of people and of senate.2
Heroic verse I have written, and much have I woven in lighter vein; elegiacs in six feet I have turned with twin caesura.
Now, trained to ride my course in lines of eleven syllables I have gloried in a swift way; singing many a time in Sapphic metre, rarely in the impetuous iambic.
Nor can I now call to mind all that once I wrote in the ardour of past youth; would that the mass of it might be buried away and withdrawn into silence!
For as we come to our last years, and the goal of old age draws nearer, the deeper grows our shame, remembering the levities of our callow youth.
In the dread of that remembrance, I transferred all my care to the epistolary style, that though guilty of foolishness in song I might be innocent in deed; nor be esteemed one all dissolved in pretty phrases, filling my page with tropes and idle trappings, by which the poet's empty fame might stain the austerity of the priest.
Henceforth I plunge no more into any kind of verse; be the measure light or grave, I shall not readily be drawn to produce a song again; |214
Unless it be to sing the trials of men persecuted for the faith, and martyrs worthy of heaven, who have bought by death the reward of eternal life.
First my chant should celebrate the prelate who held the throne of Toulouse,1 whom they flung headlong down from the highest steps of the Capitol.
Who denied Jove and Minerva, and confessed the blessing of Christ's cross, and therefore was bound by a raging mob to the wild bull's back.
That when the beast was driven to full speed over the height, his rent body was flung to earth, and the rock reddened with the pulp of his reeking brain.
And after Saturninus my lyre should sing all those other guardian saints who through many tribulations have proved my helpers at need.
Their several names my pious song may not rehearse; but though they sound not from the strings, they shall ever find echo in my heart.'
4 Let me at the end drop verse for prose, and so conform to the scheme originally proposed for my book. If I closed an unmetrical work with rhyme, I should break the rule of Horace,2 and turn out as common pot what began as amphora. Farewell.
* Translated into German verse by Fertig, Part iii, pp. 23-4.
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Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
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Sidonius Apollinaris, Letters. Tr. O.M. Dalton (1915) vol. 2. pp. 215-253; Notes
Sidonius Apollinaris, Letters. Tr. O.M. Dalton (1915) vol. 2. pp. 215-253; Notes
NOTES
The large reference figures are to the page numbers, the smaller to the numbers inserted in the text. [i.e. 5.1 means note 1 on page 5]
The abbreviation C. M. H. stands for the Cambridge Mediaeval History: see p. clviii.
VOLUME I
1. 1. Both Petrarch (Letters: preface) and Politian (Letters, I. i.) imagined that in this passage Sidonius was depreciating Cicero; but modern commentators take the more natural view that the greatest of Roman letter-writers is placed among authors of supreme excellence, and regarded as beyond imitation. Cf. Sirmond, Notes, p. 7; Germain, i, p. 81; Baret, pp. 76, 105.
The Symmachus mentioned in the text is Q. Aurelius Symmachus, who flourished at the close of the fourth century and has left ten books of Letters. An orator as well as a writer and a prominent Senator, and one of the last distinguished defenders of paganism, he is remembered for his effort to secure the restoration of the altar of Victory to the Senate House.
Julius Titianus, an orator, lived in the time of Maximin I, who chose him as tutor in rhetoric for his son; during the latter part of his life he presided over the Schools of Lyons and Besancon. He was the author of geographical agricultural works, and of a book of fables. The 'Letters of Famous Women' were placed in the mouths of heroines, after the manner of the Heroides of Ovid. Cf. Histoire litteraire de la France, i, pp. 401-4.
2. M. Cornelius Fronto, orator, the distinguished master of Marcus Aurelius, who bestowed the consulship on him in 161. |216
2. 1. The poems of Sidonius were probably published in 468, several years before this first book of the Letters. This date is probable because the Panegyric of Anthemius begins the book, out of its chronological order, a fact which points to publication during the reign of that emperor.
3. 1. A corrupt passage. The text reads: Cervix non [sedet nodis] sed nervis.
2. Reading: genis ut adhuc vesticipibus. Another reading is: genas ad usque forcipibus, which would recall the use of the tweezers so frequently found in Teutonic cemeteries.
3. This allusion to Theodoric's Arian clergy, and his mechanical outward conformity, is probably intended to reconcile the orthodox Gallo-Romans to a possible extension of the Visigothic king's influence. See Introduction, p. xvi.
4. 1. The doorway of the hall was screened by curtains outside which was a barrier; the guards were posted between the two. Sirmond quotes Corippus (III. ch. vi) on the audience hall of Justin, where a similar arrangement prevailed. Cf. also Cassiodorus (Variae, XL vii).
2. Sidonius uses the word toreuma here, as in II. xiii and IX. xiii, for toral or forale, the covering of a couch. In this he follows Prudentius and Salvian (Sirmond, Notes, p. 9).
5. 1. Tabula. The use of this word implies that the game was played with a board, while the mention of calculi a few lines below shows that 'men' were probably used in addition to the dice. Various suggestions as to the game here intended have been made; the game of Duodecim scripta, in which both 'men' and dice were used, seems probable. Cf. Marquardt, Privatleben, p. 857.
2. The words are: Sine motu evaditur, sine colludio evadit. The verb may refer merely to the breaking up of the party; but the allusion may be, as Hodgkin thought, to the process of getting the men out of one's opponent's 'table'.
6. 1. Organa hydraulica. Cf. Vitruvius, ix. 9 and x. 1,13. Hydraulic organs are said to have been invented by Ctesibius of Alexandria in the time of Ptolemy Euergetes (247-222 B.C.). Hero of Alexandria (Pneumatica, ch. lxvi) describes |217 one; another description is given by Vitruvius. Athenaeus, Tertullian, and Claudian all allude to such organs, which were evidently very popular in the Roman empire from the third century. An example is represented in a terra-cotta found at Carthage (Daremberg and Saglio, Dictionnaire des antiquites grecques et romaines, iii, p. 312, and fig. 3919).
7. 1. The Calpurnian law permanently excluded from the Senate, and punished by a fine, those convicted of political intrigue. The Julian law excluded for five years only. The emperors, when they nominated to magistracies, attached penalties to this offence. Sidonius speaks retrospectively, without particular regard for the circumstances of his own day.
2. For the Palatine Service see Cassiodorus (Variae, vi. 6 ff.). It is sometimes described as militia Palatina, the former word bearing no necessary relation to military service. Cf. VI. i below.
3. Gaudentius, as tribune of the praetorium, had occupied a lower rank than the Vicarii, who represented the prefect in the several dioceses. Filimatius is urged to accept membership of the Prefect's Council, because it conferred important privileges, and a status above those who had only served Vicarii in the same manner. For the advisory bodies of high officials in the provinces, see Reid in C. M. H. i, p. 48.
4. The text is: Scamnis tamen amicalibus deputabuntur. The general sense appears to be that Gaudentius was of a generous nature and caused the officials of his court to assign good places to his detractors. P'or the position of the Vicarius, cf. Reid in C. M. H. i, p. 32.
8. 1. There is here a lacuna in the text, after which there appears to be a change of subject.
9. 1. A private person could only avail himself of the cursus publicus or imperial post service, by land or water, if he had received an imperial summons and was furnished with an imperial letter. (Cf. Theodoret, ii, 11; Symmachus, Ep. ii, 63.) Cassiodorus mentions the state galleys maintained on the Po in Theodoric's time (Variae, II. xxxi). Cf. also Marquardt, Romische Staatsverwaltung, i, pp. 558 ff. |218
10. 1. For the story of Phaethon's sisters, who, upon his death, mourned so bitterly that they were changed into poplars, and their tears into amber-coloured gum, see Ovid, Metamorphoses, ii.
2. Many of the epithets applied by Sidonius to these rivers are those used by Virgil and Claudian.
3. Virgil, Eclogue ix, 28:
Mantua vae miserae nimium vicina Cremonae.
4. For the frogs, and the scarcity of drinking-water in Ravenna, cf. Martial, Epigrams, iii, 5 r, 56. Ravenna proper, Classis its port, and the suburb which grew up along the road connecting the two, really formed a single city.
11. 1. Ariminum was the first city to pass under Caesar's power when he had crossed the Rubicon, after his 'rebellion' against the Senate. Fanum received its name from the temple to Fortune erected there in memory of the victory of 207 B. c., when Hasdrubal was slain on the Metaurus.
2. Cf. Horace, Sat. i. 5. The Atabulus, or Sirocco, derived its name from the Greek words a!th and ba&llw; as we might say, 'death-dealing.'
12. 1. These epithets are again employed by earlier authors. Cf. note 10. 2 above.
2. Apostolorum liminibiis affusus. The basilica of St. Peter was not included in the pomoerium until the time of Leo IV, the builder of the 'Leonine City'; that of St. Paul has always been without the walls. To reach either, Sidonius would have to make a detour, as the Flaminian Way entered Rome at the north, where the Piazza del Popolo now stands at the top of the Corso.
3. For Ricimer, see pp. xix ff. The marriage with Anthemius' daughter, Alypia, was a purely political union; see Introduction, pp. xxv, xxxiii.
4. Shouts of 'Thalassio' were raised at Roman weddings when the bride was conducted to the bridegroom's house. The traditional explanation is that the word signifies the name of a Roman senator of the time of Romulus. During the rape of the Sabine women, a maid of exceptional beauty was carried off for him, the bearer shouting 'for Thalassius' in order to protect himself from interference. |219 (Cf. Marquardt, Privatleben, p. 54.) Fescennine verses, of an outspoken character, were sung at marriage feasts. The present passage seems to show that the Christian wedding still admitted many pagan features in the year 467, though Sidonius may be writing 'classically' with an eye rather to literary effect than to reality. The early Christians disapproved of the usage of the garland at weddings (cf. Tertullian, De Corona, xiii); but the custom was afterwards restored. For the corona in Christian times, see J. Schrijnen, La Couronne nuptiale dans l'antiquite chretienne, in Melanges d'archeologie et d'histoire, xxxi, p. 309.
13. 1. Militiae Palatinae. Cf. note 7. 2 above.
14. 1. In qua unica totius orbis emitate soli barbari et servi peregrinantur. The allusion is to the extension of Roman citizenship by Caracalla to the whole empire, after which all but aliens and slaves were 'at home' within the walls. With the preceding eulogy of the city, cf. Cassiodorus, Var. i. 49; II. i; x. 7.
15. 1. Conatuum tuorum socius adjutor praevius particeps ero. Cf. Pliny, Ep. vi. 9.
2. Casus Arvandi. See Introduction, p. xxx.
16. 1. Comite sacrarum largitionum. The functions of the 'Count of the Sacred (Imperial) Largesses' expanded with the lapse of time, and included multifarious duties. But he was essentially the great imperial Minister of Finance. Cf. Cassiodorus, Var. vi. 7, &c.; Symmachus, Ep. x. 33. See also Mommsen, Libri Theodosiani XVI, vol. i, p. 45; Hodgkin, Italy and her Invaders, i, pp. 216, 217, and Letters of Cassiodorus, p. 88; Reid in C.M.H. i, pp. 43, 47.
2. The gesta decretalia embodied the provincial decree and formed the credentials of the envoys, without which they could not be heard. (Codex Theod. De legatis.) Cf. Pagina decretalis, in VII. ix. 6.
3. For Tonantius Ferreolus, Petronius, and Thaumastus, see List of Correspondents. L. Afranius Syagrius was consul in the reign of Gratian.
18. 1. The manuscripts have the word decemviris. An accused senator was usually judged by the Prefect of the City, |220 assisted by a committee of five senators chosen by lot. If decemviris is not a mistake for quinqueviris, we must suppose that the usage admitted of exceptions. Cf. Cod. Theod. xiii: De accusationibus, and Cassiodorus, Var. iv. 22, 23.
19. 1. Respondere legati, quanquam valde nequiter, constaret, quod ipse dictasset. A difficult passage. Mohr (Praefafio, p. xiii) takes constaret as = iterum affirmaret, i.e. 'let him repeat the admission that he himself dictated the letter'.
20. 1. The island in the Tiber where a temple of Aesculapius stood. The great temple of Aesculapius was at Epidaurus, and the serpent was his attribute as Healer.
2. The law of Tiberius only granted ten days' reprieve; Theodosius extended the term to thirty.
21. 1. The Rhone mists are still proverbial in the Lyons of modern times.
2. The clergy were forbidden to trade or to lend money at unfair usury. 'Readers', however, traded (cf.VI. viii), and clergy occasionally had money out at interest, a practice which Sidonius himself seems to sanction, provided the rate was fair (cf. IV. xxiv). The Syrians, described by Jerome as avarissimi mortalium, were the ubiquitous traders of the early Christian centuries in the West.
23. 1. Sidonius had come to Rome as a member of a mission from Auvergne. Cf. Introduction, p. xxvii.
24. 1. The opusculum is the Panegyric of Anthemius, which is counted as Carmen ii in the poems of Sidonius.
25. 1. Thraso is the bombastic soldier in the Eunuchus of Terence; Pyrgopolinices, the Miles gloriosus of Plautus.
2. For the functions of the Praefectus annonae in these late centuries, cf. Cassiodorus, Var. IV. lxviii; Symmachus, Ep. X. xlviii. As in Tacitus' day, the theatre was always the principal scene of discontent if the corn supplies ran short. The Vandal command of the Mediterranean was the reason for Sidonius' anxiety.
26. 1. The quotation is from Horace, Sat. II. i. 82 ff., and the allusion to the law of the Twelve Tables against libel. 27.1. The events here described occurred during Majorian's |221 visit to Arles in 461, after his pacification of Auvergne. See Introduction, p. xxiii, and cf. Chaix, i, pp. 132 ff.
2. The especial reference is to the setting up of Nero's verses in gold letters on the Capitol, as related by Suetonius.
28. 1. Qui genus? unde domo? Virgil, Aeneid, viii. 114.
2. Chremes was the avaricious father of comedy.
3. Coniuratio Marcelliana. The word in its existing form can hardly be correct (Mohr, Praefatio, p. xv) if Marcellinus was the hero of the rebellion. See Introduction, p. xx.
29. 1. Pharsalia, v. 322.
30. 1. The couch was the stibadium, often called sigma, from its resemblance to the C-shaped form of that Greek letter: we might call it a 'horse-shoe' couch. The places of honour were at the end of the right and left 'horns'; in the present case the emperor was at the right, the consul at the left extremity.
31. 1. Sidonius had probably been given the rank of count by Majorian. Constantine used this older title as an honorific designation for various officers, and four of the highest members of the imperial service bore it. In course of time it was divorced from the Court, and those whom it designated were divided into grades, the honour in some cases (as perhaps in that of Sidonius) being purely honorary. (Reid, in C. M. H. i, pp. 46, 47.)
34. 1. The name Seronatus is the opposite of Citonatus, 'quick born', and intended to signify an easy delivery. Sidonius gives it a meaning of his own, and then cites it as an example of antiphrasis (as Euxine for an inhospitable sea, Parcaefor the implacable Fates, &c.).
35. 1. Nec dat pretia contemnens, nec accipit instrumenta desperans. Gregory of Tours (Hist. Franc. IV. xii) quotes this phrase, applying it to the avaricious bishop Cautinus. The sense in that place seems to preclude the idea that the bishop neglected to furnish himself with deeds, because in the sequel he insists upon having them. The point here seems to be that Seronatus mistrusted deeds, as possible sources of evidence against him. Cf. Chaix, i, p. 377.
2. Leges Theudosianas calcans Theudoricianasque proponens. Paronomasia is used to give effect to the charge that |222 Seronatus was barbarophile for treasonable purposes of his own. His contemporary, Euric, the successor of Theodoric II, issued a new code about 476, improving upon those of his predecessors, Theodoric I and II. All incorporated much from the Roman (Theodosian) Code, for which see Mommsen, as tinder note 16. I. Seronatus, who, though nominally a Roman official, was openly acting in the Gothic interest, is depicted as giving barbaric law an unfair preference. See Introduction.
3. i. e. by the tonsure: they would enter the Church.
36. 1. Samia mihi mater fuit. Terence, Eunuchus, I. ii. 27 (107).
2. Avitaci sumus. The villa of Avitacum, named from Avitus, is the estate which Sidonius received with his wife Papianilla. Fauchet considered that it was situated by the lake of Sorlieu, then called Abitac, and now, perhaps, Obier (Antiquites francaises, i, p. 53). But the position is uncertain; another opinion favours the lake of Aydat, in Puy-de-Dome. In any case, Avitacum was not far from Clermont. The description is modelled on Pliny's pictures of his country-houses (Ep. II. xvii; V. vi). Cf. Chaix, i, pp. 148 ff.
37. 1. Balneum. For the arrangement of the Roman bath, see Daremberg and Saglio, Dict. des antiquites grecques et romaines, s. v. Balnea, and Marquardt, Privatleben, pp. 279 ff. Cf. also the two letters of Pliny mentioned in the preceding note. The principal rooms were the tepidarium, or hot-air chamber; caldarium, or warm bath, frigidarium, or cold bath. The destrictarium or unctorium, near the tepidarium, was for rubbing-down and anointing; the apodyterium for undressing. The piscina, cisterna, or baptisterium, was in the frigidarium. The exedra was a conversation-room. The verses on the walls of Sidonius' baths, 'which people might read once and would not wish to read again,' are probably those preserved to us in Carm. xviii and xix.
38. 1. Philistio was a mimeograph of the Augustan age.
41. 1. Cf. II. ix; III. iii; IV. iv; V. xvii.
42. 1. Agonem Drepitanum Troianae superstitionis. The Arvernians claimed a Trojan descent (cf. VII. vii and p. 243, |223 note 110. 2). The allusion is to the games instituted at Drepanum by Aeneas in honour of Anchises (Virgil, Aen. v). 43. 1. The title was probably that of Patrician. Magnus Felix was never consul.
2. Tua felicitate. Such punning plays upon personal names have a peculiar attraction for Sidonius. Cf. II. xiii, Tuus Maximus maxima... documento; IV. xxii, (Gaudentius) gaudeat; IX. ix, play on the name Faustus, &c. Cf. Introduction, p. cxxix.
3. The reference is to the rash action of Lucius Papirius Cursor in giving battle in the absence of Fabius from the army. Cf. Livy, viii. 29-35. Sidonius says the same thing to Claudianus Mamertus. See IV. iii.
48. 1. Infortunatam fecunditatem. An echo of the phrase of Tacitus: Infelici fecunditate fortunae totiens obnoxia (Ann. ii. 75).
49. 1. Injuste tibi justa persoluta. Cf. III. iv, xii; VII. xvii; and Ovid, Met. ii. 627.
2. The situation of the villa of Prusianum is thought to coincide with Bresis on the Garden, lying on the main road between Nimes and Clermont. Cf. below, note 51. 3.
3. Aracynthus, a mountain in Aetolia or Acarnania; it is uncertain what Mt. Nysa is here intended.
50. 1. Sphaeristarum contrastantiumparia. Cf. note 41. 1.
2. This passage is interesting as a description of the library in a Roman villa, but is tantalizing by its incompleteness, like the allusions of Cicero to the rooms where he kept his books (Ep. IV. v; VI. viii).
We gather that there were high cases (armaria) round the walls as in the small library discovered at Herculaneum, with shelves on which rolls were laid horizontally, with the umbilicus outwards; the armaria must also have had higher shelves for the books or codices, which were now in common use. Boethius in his Consolation of Philosophy indicates that in his time armaria were glazed and ornamented with ivory; in addition to the book cases there are desks (plutei), on which books in use were laid. For the library of Consentius in the villa Octaviana near Narbonne, cf. VIII. iv. See also Justus |224 Lipsius, De Bibliothecis, Synt. ix; Marquardt, Privatleben, p. 115. The Athenaeum, at Rome, where authors read or recited their compositions, was founded by Hadrian; but the provincial capital had also its Athenaeum, as, for instance, Lyons (IV. viii; IX. ix). In earlier times authors gave their readings in the houses of wealthy men, who kindly lent a large apartment for the purpose; the custom, which was a necessary part of 'publication', is frequently mentioned by Pliny and other authors.
51. 1. Turranius Rufinus, born in the mid-fourth century and baptized about 372. He remained in the East for twenty-six years, and shared the admiration which Jerome at one time felt for Origen. On his return to Italy, he translated into Latin Pamphilus' Apology for Origen, and the latter's books
Peri\ a)rxw~n. He died in Sicily, c. 410. Adamantius was a person in the Dialogue
Peri\ th~j ei0j Qeo_n o)rqh~j pi/stewj, held by Rufinus to be a work of Origen, but no longer so regarded. Cf. the edition by Van de Sande Bakhuyzen in the series: Die christlichen Schriftsteller der ersten dreijahrhwtderte, Leipzig, 1901.
2. Clepsydrae. The water-clocks mentioned by Sidonius appear to belong to the class strictly described as 'hydraulic horologia'. In the simpler forms of these instruments, the water rose from one level to another, and from mark to mark on the sides of the receptacle into which it poured. In more elaborate types lines were engraved on a cylinder or column, to which an indicator, actuated by rising water, pointed. Clepsydrae of this kind only became common in the early Christian centuries. See Daremberg and Saglio, Dict. des antiquites grecques et romaines, iii, p. 261 f. Cf. also Marquardt, Privatleben, p. 256.
3. Vorocingum,.. Prusianum. The first is the villa of Apollinaris, cousin of Sidonius, the second that of Ferreolus. The Abbe Tessier has placed the latter near Bresis at the foot of the hill of St. Germain on the right bank of the Garden, and in the territory of Alais; the first he sets on the other side of the river at Beringueri, under the hill of Couillere. See also Hist. litt. de la France, iv, p. 46; Gregoire and Collombet, i, pp. 220 ff. |225
52. 1. This passage is curious as seeming to show that the country-houses of magnates like Tonantius Ferreolus and Apollinaris contained no spare accommodation, even for a siesta.
2. The extemporized vapour-bath here described recalls the customs of eastern Europe, Asia, and primitive America. Gregory of Tours relates the death of the daughter of the great Theodoric in a vapour-bath. (Hist. Franc. iii, p. 31.) The Cilician hangings were made of goats' hair. Cf. IV. xxiv, and Marquardt, Privatleben, p. 135.
54. 1. This description of the church of Patiens at Lyons presents several features of interest. It was built close to the junction of the Rhone and Saone, near the road from Lyons to Narbonne, and replaced the earlier church of the Maccabees (the first martyrs of Lyons were so called), built by Zachariah, successor of Irenaeus. After it received the relics of St. Justus, it was called by his name, and under this appellation was probably known to Sidonius (V. xvii); it was destroyed by the Huguenots in 1562 (Fertig, ii, p. 37). Its dedication was celebrated by a festival which lasted a whole week, and was signalized by an address from Faustus, Bishop of Riez (IX. ii), at which Sidonius was present. The church seems to have been a basilica, orientated, and with an atrium of the usual type. (Cf. H. Holtzinger, Die altchristliche Architektur in systematischer Darstellung, 1889, pp. 53, 70, 179; Chaix, i, p. 322.) Most commentators take lines 16-21 of the poem as referring to the wealth of columns in the interior of the building; but it would seem that Sir Thomas Jackson is right in making the words apply to the atrium. (Byzantine and Romanesque Architecture, ii, p. 31.) They run:
Huic est porticus applicata triplex
fulmentis Aquitanicis superba,
ad cujus specimen remotiora
claudunt atria porticus secundae,
et campum medium procul locatas
vestit saxea silva per columnas.
Mosaics covered the floor, as well as the walls, soffits of the |226 windows (?) and half-dome of the apse (camera, on which cf. Holtzinger, as above, p. 72). For mosaics in other churches in Gaul, cf. the church built by Namatius in the same century, where the walls were ornamented with marble and mosaic, and that erected by Bishop Agricola at Chalon (Gregory of Tours, Hist. Franc. V. xlvi).
55. 1. This is a very difficult passage. It seems to refer throughout to glass wall mosaics, and not, as is generally supposed, to windows, in the form of pierced transennae with small inset panes. Cf. Sir T. G. Jackson, as above, ii, p. 31; Holtzinger, as above.
58. 1. Chironica magis institutum arte quam Machaonica. The joke depends on the double use of the word 'Chiron', as the name of a physician, and as the comparative of
kako&j ( xei/rwn = worse). Cf. Sirmond, Notes, p. 35.
59. 1. For Sidonius' delight in this kind of pun, see Introduction, p. cxxix; note 43. 2, &c.
2. The clock is the clepsydra, on which see above, note 51. 2.
61. 1. Raptis incubans opibus. Cf. VIII. vii. A reminiscence of Virgil, Georg. ii. 507.
62. 1. In pago Vialoscensi. Savaron and Sirmond consider this place to have been south-west of Riom, near Volvic. 2. Tunicata quiete. In the country the Romans dispensed with the toga. Cf. Juvenal, iii. 179; Martial, Epigr. x. 51.
64. 1. The name 'Septimania' first occurs in this passage. It means the coast line from the Pyrenees to the Rhone. Cf. Mommsen, Index Locorum, s. v., and Bury, Appendix to Gibbon's Decline and Fall, iii, p. 532.
65. 1. Reminiscent of Pliny, Ep. vii. 25.
66. 1. Angustias mansionum. Mansiones were rest-houses for the night, on the high roads, in some degree corresponding to the 'public bungalows' of India and the East. Cf. Marquardt, Romische Staatsverwaltung, p. 561.
67. 1. For the influence of the Celtic dialect even among the educated in Gaul, cf. Introduction, pp. cxxxiii-cxxxiv. 2. Gregory of Tours, who also mentions this feat of |227 Ecdicius, puts the number of his men at ten. (Hist. Franc. ii. 24.)
70. 1. Ecdicius was probably at the court of one of the Burgundian kings; not always a safe place of residence. Cf. V. vii.
2. Propugnantum, i.e. the Burgundians, who, partly from jealousy of the Visigoths, partly owing to the diplomacy of Ecdicius, assisted the provincials at the time of Euric's final advance. Cf. Introduction, pp. xxxix, xl.
71. 1. Eborolacensis. Ebreuil, now a small town on the Sioule, an affluent of the Allier, and close to Gannat. (Chaix, i, p. 27.)
72. 1. Tractatus, i.e., the letter, I. vi above.
73. 1. Annum bonum, &c. Cf. VI. xii. 9.
2. Sabini, Sabiniani. The exact point is obscure.
74. 1. Quaestor Licinianus. See Introduction, p. xli. His office was Quaestor Sacri Palati, which, after the time of Constantine, was the highest legal dignity in the empire. (Reid, in C. M.H. i, p. 37.)
78. 1. Avi. The prefect Apollinaris, on whom see p. clxi. 2. Tam bustualibus favillis quam cadaveribus. This passage, with others in the Letters, seems to imply that cremation was still practised in Gaul in Sidonius' time. See Introduction, p. cxiv. The cemetery here mentioned was just outside the church of St. Just at Lyons (see note 54. 1 above), which itself lay on the edge of the town.
79. 1. The words are: torsi latrones. Ampere (Hist. litt. de la France meridionale, ii, p. 233) considered that Sidonius had the men subjected to torture at the grave-side; in this he is followed by Germain. But the simpler meaning seems preferable, though the law certainly prescribed torture (Mommsen, Theodosiani Libri XVI, vol. I, pt. ii, pp. 463 ff.; II, p. 114).
2. The reference is probably to Patiens, Bishop of Lyons, for whom see p. clxxv.
Chaix suggests that as the grave-diggers were under the control of Church authorities, Sidonius felt bound, on second thoughts, to inform the bishop, (i. 173.) |228
82. 1. Gnatho is the parasite of the Eunuchus, whom Terence has made a classical example of the species. The present Letter is one of those on which Sidonius evidently expended great pains; but the realism of his description will probably seem to most readers excessive. Cf. Chaix, i, p. 337.
83. 1. Vesicarum ruptor fractorque ferularum. The close association of these two epithets seems to justify Savaron's view that vested should be taken literally, and not metaphorically, in the sense of 'bombast'. His reference to Seneca, Nat. Quaest. ii. 27, is to the point. Aliud genus est acre, quod crepitum magis dixerim quam sonum, qualem audire solemus, cum super caput alicuius dirupta vesica est.
2. Pollinctor. The pollinctores were assistants of the libitinarii, whose duty it was to anoint and perfume the bodies of the dead: they also took casts of the faces of the dead, for the imagines preserved by survivors. The words cadavere rogali, immediately preceding, suggest, though they cannot alone be taken to prove, the persistence of cremation in the fifth century. Cf. note 78. 2 above. For Roman funeral usage, see Marquardt, Privatleben, 352, 384; and Daremberg and Saglio, Dict. des antiq. grecques et romaines, i, pp. 386 ff.
84. 1. Morbo Syllano, i.e. phthiriasis.
2. Ampsancti. Ampsanctus, now Le Mofete, was a valley in the territory of the Hirpini between Campania and Apulia and in the middle of the peninsula. It is described by Virgil (Aen. vii. 563-71), who alludes to the pestiferous fumes of its cave.
85. 1. Grenoble: Gratianopolis.
VOLUME II
3. 1. Soror is here used for 'cousin'. (Cf. VII. iii-v.) Probus had married Eulalia, cousin of Sidonius. (Carm. ix. 329-34; xxiv. 95-98.)
4. 1. Eusebianos lares. Eusebius was professor of philosophy at Lyons.
5. 1. Claudianus. See p. clxxiii. This Letter is the only one in the collection which is not written by Sidonius |229 himself. It is inserted in order to make our author's reply in the next letter more intelligible; though Sidonius probably had in mind Pliny's inclusion of a letter of Tacitus among his own. 2. The work by Claudianus Mamertus, De statu animae, controverting the opinions of Faustus as to the materiality of the soul. Cf. Introduction, p. lxxxi.
8. 1. Most of the names in this list are too familiar to require comment. Euphrates was a Stoic philosopher, a friend of the younger Pliny and Hadrian. Perdix, whose name is variously given, is the mythical nephew of Daedalus. The Eucherius mentioned a little lower down is St. Eucher.
9. 1. According to Gennadius, the hymn referred to is that which begins: Pange Zingud gloriosi, &c. Cf. Sirmond, Notes, p. 43.
10. 1. This is one of the passages attesting the half-compulsory nature of Sidonius' election as bishop.
2. After his entry into the Church, Sidonius was in great request as a writer of elegies and Church inscriptions. Nor did he altogether renounce the composition of secular verse. (Cf. IX. xiii. to Tonantius.)
3. Pauci quos aequus amavit. Virgil, Aen. vi. 129.
11. 1. Below, and in the sixth Letter of this book, Faustinus is described as antistes, which should mean 'bishop' (but cf. note 23. 2). The word 'frater', as applied to him, is not to be taken literally. Sidonius uses it of various persons with whom he was on a footing of intimacy, or of those whom he regarded as his sons in Christ.
12. 1. Gozolas, a Jew. Cf. III. iv. Under the Franks, Jews were expelled or baptized by force. (Gregory, Hist. Franc. V. xi, VI. xvii; cf. Gregory the Great, Ep. i. 45.) It is interesting to note that Chilperic had a Jewish furnisher of objects of art and luxury, who resisted conversion by Gregory of Tours (Hist. Franc, VI. v). For the relations of the Ostrogoths with Jews, cf. Cassiodorus, Variae, IV. xliii, V. xxxvii. The present Letter perhaps alludes to the mission of the quaestor Licinianus, sent from Rome to treat with the Goths on the subject of Auvergne. Cf. III. vii.
13. 1. This Letter probably refers to a pilgrimage to the |230 shrine of the Arvernian martyr St. Julian at Brioude (Brivas). Cf. Chaix, ii, p. 117.
14. 1. Currentem mones. Cf. Pliny, Ep. I. viii, III. vii; and Symmachus, Ep. I. lvi; IX. xxxvi.
15. i. Apicios epulones et Byzantinos chironomontas. There were three Apicii, all notorious as gourmets, and living respectively in the times of Sulla, Augustus, and Trajan. 'Byzantine' here is probably used to express the extreme of luxury. On the esquire-carvers of wealthy nobles, and their regulated gestures, cf. Petronius, Sat. xxxvi; Seneca, Ep. xlvii; Juvenal, Sat. v. 120 ff.: Chironomonta volanti cultetto, &c. The word chironomon is also used of a dancer by Juvenal, Sat. vi. 63.
16. 1. Ragnahild. Queen of Euric, whose name we learn from Sidonius alone.
17. 1. 'Such a school': literally, Athenaeum, on which cf. p. 223, note 50. 2, above.
18. 1. Monachum complet, non sub palliolo sed sub paludamento. Monks, like philosophers, wore the pallium, a Greek mantle. (Cassian, De habitu monachi, I. vii.) An extra cowl or hood might be used in cold weather. (VII. xvi.)
19. 1. The word 'son' is again used in the sense of 'son in Christ'. Cf. p. 229, note 11. 1.
20. 1. Patronus. Sirmond conjectures that this applies to Victorius, Count of Auvergne, under Euric. Cf. VII. xvii.
22. 1. St. Mamertus, Bishop of Vienne.
23. 1. Et verbi gladio secare sectas. Even in an elegy, Sidonius uses a play upon words.
2. Antistes fuit ordine in secundo. Antistes is usually employed for bishops only, though the rule does not seem to be invariable. Cf. Riochatus antistes (IX. ix. 6). If it stands for 'bishop' here, we should follow Sirmond and understand that though only a presbyter in rank, Claudianus performed so many duties for his brother, that he seemed a bishop himself.
24. 1. Until recently, only a few lines of the Epitrepontes were known, but within the last ten years a great part of the play has been discovered in Egypt (A. Korte, Menandrea ex papyris et membranis vetustissimis, Teubner, 1912, |231 pp. 9-43; G. Lefebvre, Fragments d'un ms. de Menandre, Cairo, 1907; Grenfell and Hunt, Oxyrhyncus Papyri, Pt. x, no. 1236).
25. 1. Cantiliae (Chantelle) is mentioned in the Peutinger Table.
For a similar portrait of a 'young old man' cf. St. Jerome, Ep.x.
26. 1. Gaius Tacitus, The passage here quoted is derived from the History, v. 26: Erga Vespasianum vetus mihi observantia; et cum privatus esset, amici vocabamur. The words are put into the mouth of Claudius Civilis, the Batavian prince.
2. Ulpius was one of the names of Trajan.
27. 1. Virgil, Aen. ii. 89.
As Ex-prefect of Rome, and Patrician, Sidonius could fairly regard himself as the equal in official rank of Polemius, the last Prefect of a dismembered Gaul.
2. The passage seems to indicate the practice of confession. Cf. Ruricius of Limoges, Ep. I. viii. It may be noted that something like a public confession is suggested in the case of Germanicus (IV. xiii).
28. 1. Auvergne was perhaps at this time already under the dominion of Euric, whose hostility to Catholicism had proved disastrous to the Catholic churches, because he kept sees and parishes vacant, so that the fabrics fell into disrepair and new buildings were not erected.
29. 1. It was a proverb that people only went to Thespiae to admire the Eros of Praxiteles. (Cicero, In Verrem, iv. 3; Pliny, Nat. Hist, xxxvi.)
30. 1. Sidonius was perhaps still detained in exile by Euric. See Introduction, p. xlv.
32. 1. The capital of the second Lugdunensis was Rouen (Rotomagus).
33. 1. Perpetuus, Bishop of Tours, rebuilt in 470 the old church erected by St. Brice over the remains of St. Martin. The new church was not as durable as Sidonius hoped, and had to be rebuilt by Gregory of Tours. (Hist. Franc. II. xiv; IV. xx; X. xxxi.) It had been set on fire by Wiliachair |232 and his wife, and the inscription of Sidonius perished in the flames. (Hist. Franc. IV. xx.) Gregory describes the church as 160 feet long by 60 feet broad, the height 'to the vault' being 45 feet. It had 32 windows in the nave, and 20 in the presbytery. The whole building had thus 52 windows. It had 120 columns, of which 41 were in the choir, and 8 doors, of which 5 were in the same part of the building. This description by Gregory long ago made it clear to archaeologists that the church of Perpetuus was a vaulted building, part of which was of the 'central' type, and allied to the memorial churches of the Christian East (H. Hübsch, Die altchristlichen Kirchen nach den Baudenkmalen, 1862, p. 108 and plate xlviii, figs. 6-9; J. Quicherat, Revue archeologique, 1869-70, and Melanges d'arch. et d'histoire, 1886; G. Dehio and G. von Bezold, Die kirchliche Baukunst des Abendlandes, i, p. 267): in these peculiarities the church built by Namatius, described by Gregory in the same chapter, must have shared. The excavations carried out on the site of the old church of St. Martin during a series of years ending in 1887, confirmed these anticipations in a striking manner, revealing a round-ended choir with five projecting chapels (hemicycles), concentric with an interior columned space which must have enclosed the shrine (plan in G. Dehio's article in Jahrbuch der Königlich Preussischen Kunstsammlungen, x; 1889, pp. 13ff.). The dimensions were found to agree closely with those given by Gregory; and it became certain that the plan was inspired by such memorial churches as those erected by Constantine in the Holy Land, the combination of a basilican nave with a choir on the 'central' system, especially recalling the arrangement of the Anastasis, or church of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem. The choir of St. Martin's was, in fact, as Dehio observed, half a ' Central-Bau'. This analogy with the Anastasis and other Eastern memorial types, together with the correspondence of the remains with Gregory's dimensions, makes the presumption very strong that whether the actual fabric of the choir discovered is of Perpetuus' time, or a reconstruction of some centuries later (as R. de Lasteyrie, Mem. de l'Acad. des Inscriptions, |233 xxxiv, pp. I ff., and L'architecture religieuse en France a l'epoque romane, 1912, p. 38), the lines of the original building were very closely followed. The salient points of interest are: (a) that Perpetuus in A.D. 470, having to build a church to contain a shrine visited by great numbers of pilgrims, adopted a style of architecture approved elsewhere as most suited for this particular purpose, but hitherto unknown in Gaul; and (b) that the type of choir thus introduced was the point of departure from which the 'chevet' of French Romanesque and Gothic architecture developed (Dehio, as above, pp. 21 ff.). The erection of Perpetuus' church was, therefore, no ordinary occurrence, but an epoch-making event in the history of Western architecture, and, as already remarked in the Introduction, p. ciii, it is curious that Sidonius seems to have seen nothing very remarkable in it beyond its splendour. It was vaulted throughout, probably with barrel-vaults (Dehio, p. 26, note 3); but Hubsch's conjecture that it had a central dome with numerous colonnettes, would appear to be somewhat problematical. In any case, with the church built by Namatius, it must have formed a complete contrast to the plain basilican type with wooden roof, such as the church of Patiens at Lyons. (Note 54. 1.) 2. Gregory of Tours (Hist. XI. xxxi) describes Perpetuus as sixth, not after St. Martin, but after St. Gatien; in Hist. II. xiv he mentions him as fifth after St. Martin.
34. I. Perpetuo... Perpetui. (Cf. p. 223, note 43. 2, above.) The pun is of the usual kind.
35. 1. The arms and equipments which follow, suggest that this young prince was a Frank rather than a Burgundian. The skin garments of his suite may be the rhenones, so called because worn by peoples of the Rhine: securis missilis may be the francisca, and lanceus uncatus the angon. Cf. Introduction, p. xciii. The description, which has attracted the notice of all historians of the fifth century, gives a vivid picture of the wealth of the barbaric princes and the splendour of their attire. Prince Sigismer was to wed a Burgundian princess, perhaps the daughter of Chilperic (Schmidt, Geschichte, p. 380). |234
36. 1. The Aeduans were the people of Autun, Chalon, Macon, and Nevers.
2. Aen. viii. 510. The point is that the Etruscans required a foreign leader against Mezentius; Pallas was not eligible, because on the mother's side he was of Italic stock, and therefore not foreign.
37. 1. Cf. the eulogy of Auvergne in the Panegyric on Avitus, 139ff.
39. 1. Cf. I. i; and Introduction, p. cxxxvi.
40. 1. Cf. Introduction, p. cxxiv.
41. 1. Abdication was the renunciation of patria potestas by a father who wished to 'cut off' an undutiful son. The cross, considered the most degrading of all punishments, was appointed for parricides, who might also be sewn in the culeus, or leather bag, in company with a cock, a serpent, and a monkey, and then thrown into the sea. The other punishments were burning, and exposure to wild beasts.
42. 1. Virgil, Aen. ix. f. The translation given in the text is Conington's.
43. 1. Cauta centesima est foeneratori. This Letter seems to prove that it was not regarded as improper for a cleric to have money out at the ordinary rate of 12 per cent., provided that the borrower was well-to-do, and capable of repaying the loan. Maximus lent the money when a layman, but as cleric he still considers himself entitled to both principal and interest, only remitting the latter when he hears that the borrower is mortally ill and in difficulties. The tenor of the Letter shows that Sidonius considers his friend perfectly justified in his claims, and that he regards any remission as an act of grace.
2. Cilicum vela. Cf. II. ix. 8, and p. 225, note 52. 2, above. These were made of goat's hair.
44. 1. Maximus appears to have been elected in much the same way as Sidonius himself. Cf. Introduction, p. xxxv.
46. 1. For the election of bishops at this period, cf. Introduction, p. lxxvii.
2. Literally, Apicianis plausibus. Cf. p. 230 above, note 15. 1. In the next two lines Sidonius makes two plays |235 upon words close upon each other, apice and Apicianis, praedae and praedia.
47. 1. We may compare the case of the election at Bourges. (VII. ix.)
2. On these, see F. Z. Collombet, Vies des Saints du diocese de Lyon, p. 180 f. Condat was founded in the fifth century. (Butler in C. M. H. i, p. 534.)
50. 1. Grammatica dividit. See Claudianus Mamertus' dedication of his book to Sidonius.
52. 1. Idem velle atque idem nolle ea demum firma amicitia est. Sallust, Bell. Cat. c. xx. 4. The sentiment is frequently repeated by later writers.
53. 1. Hodgkin supposes that Sidonius was acting as tutor to the sons of Simplicius.
54. 1. Varicosi Arpinatis. Sidonius refers to Cicero more than once as 'the Arpinate'; he is fond of describing an author as of the city of his birth or residence. Varicosus is presumably applied to Cicero, because as an orator he was continually standing and therefore subject to varicose veins.
2. Quasi de harilao vetere novus falco prorumpas. For harilao, some manuscripts read hilario; in either case the word must mean 'nest' or eyrie.
55. 1. Cf. Introduction, p. xlii, and the contents of Letter vii.
2. Magistro militum Chilperico. Schmidt considers that the Chilperic in question can only be Chilperici I, sole king of the Burgundians, for he alone would be qualified to bear this imperial title: the word tetrarcha in the next Letter he regards as a mere literary epithet, after Sidonius' manner. Chilperic II, nephew of Chilperic I, was more strictly a 'tetrarch', for he shared sovereignty with three brothers, of whom Gundobad, as the eldest, reigned at Lyons, Chilperic himself holding his court at Vienne. (Schmidt, Geschichte, pp. 376, 380.) For the office of magister militum, cf. Reid in C. M. H. i, p. 46.
3. The 'new prince' is the Emperor Julius Nepos, whom Chilperic, as representative of Glycerius, refused to recognize. |236
57. 1. Licinus was freedman of the Emperor Augustus; Narcissus and Pallas were freedmen of Claudius; Massa, Marcellus, and Carus, of Nero; Asiaticus stood in the same relation to Vitellius, and Parthenius to Domitian.
2. This passage makes mention of several minor offices; civil or municipal, which in Gaul as in Italy, the barbaric administration had to retain. The municipium elected to the office of flamen from the ranks of the decuriones, and this, priesthood was regarded as conferring dignity upon electors and elected (Marquardt, Romische Staatsverwaltung, pp. 173, 326). The phrase munuscula legatis is perhaps explained by Cassiodorus, Variae, VII. xxxiii, where the present (humanitas) given to an ambassador is mentioned as a customary gift. On minor offices in the imperial and municipal service, see Marquardt, as above, i, pp. 92, 558 ff.; ii, 298 ff.; T. Hodgkin, The Letters of Cassiodorus, p. 108.
3. Pelliti ad ecclesias, castorinati ad litanias. Cf. Ambrose, De dign. sacerdot, chap. iv. Castorinas quaerimus et sericas vestes, et ille se inter episcopos credit altiorem qui vestem induerit clariorem. For pellitus see Introduction, p. xcii.
58. 1. Sidonius alludes to Chilperic and his queen as Tarquin the Elder and his consort Tanaquil, who is said to have commanded in his household. (Cf. Juvenal, Sat. iii. 566.) Tarquin was originally styled Lucumo; he was the son of Demaratus of Tarquinii in Etruria.
59. 1. The Cibyrates here mentioned are the two brothers Tlepolemus and Hiero, who assisted Verres to plunder Sicily.
2. Germanicus... Agrippina. The allusion is again to Chilperic and his consort.
3. Ablabius or Ablavius, whose authorship of the verses is only mentioned by Sidonius, was Praefectus praetorio A.D. 326-37. He was a favourite of Constantine, who at one time gave him charge of his son Constantius. The new emperor, however, stripped Ablavius of his dignities, exiled him to Bithynia, and countenanced his assassination. The blood-guiltiness here implied would seem at first sight to apply with less force to Chilperic I than to his nephew |237 Gundobad, who, exiled by his brothers Chilperic II and Godomar, finally repossessed himself of Lyons, killing Chilperic and murdering his queen and children. But if the preceding Letter refers to the first Chilperic, it seems probable that this does also. Cf. note 55. 2 above.
60. 1. Fausta, wife of Constantine, accused Crispus, son of that emperor by Minervina, of a guilty passion. The emperor sentenced Crispus to death; but on the discovery of his innocence, Fausta was herself put to death by suffocation in the vapour of a hot bath. Sidonius is the earliest authority for the statement that Crispus died by poison. It may be noted that he does not take the more favourable view of Constantine's character. Cf. Introduction, p. cxxv.
2. If the two preceding Letters are concerned with the times of Chilperic I, it seems probable that this too is of his period, and not that of his nephews. Cf. notes 55. 2, 59. 3.
3. Apollinaris (cf. III. xii), grandfather of Sidonius, was Prefect of the Gauls. (See Introduction, pp. xii and clxi.) (Decimus) Rusticus, grandfather of Aquilinus, held the same office in 410-11 trader the tyrant Constantine (III). Captured by the generals of Honorius, Rusticus was rudely handled. Cf. Gregory of Tours, Hist. Franc. II. ix.
4. Jovinus assumed the purple in Gaul while the tyrant Constantine was still alive, but was killed at Narbonne in 412. Dardanus was Prefect in Gaul under Honorius in 409-10; a more favourable view of his character than that of Sidonius is taken by Jerome and Augustine. For the inscription commemorating the opening by Dardanus of a mountain road near Sisteron, cf. C. I. L. xii. 1524,
Gerontius, general of the tyrant Constantine in Spain, raised Maximus to the purple and besieged Constantine in Arles; on the appearance of Constantius before that city, and the desertion of his own troops, he fled into Spain, where he died.
61. 1. The offices of tribune and notarius were in like manner both borne by the grandfather of Cassiodorus in the reign of Valentinian III. The first was military, corresponding to our 'colonel', the second was secretarial, involving |238 confidential duties near the person of the emperor. Cf. Cassiodorus, Variae, I. iv, VI. xvi; and Hodgkin, The Letters of Cassiodorus, p. 3.
63. 1. Eusebius (Chron. year 135) mentions Palaemon as living in Hadrian's time; Seneca (Preface to Nat. Quaest. iv) alludes to his brother Gallio. Ausonius (Carm. v and xv) refers to Delphidius, Tiro, and Agroecius. Jerome speaks of Magnus as an orator of repute.
64. 1. The enforced service of Calminius was probably exceptional; for though Gallo-Romans served in the Burgundian army, it was not the habit of the Visigoths to admit them to their ranks. (L. Schmidt, Geschichte, p. 294.)
65. 1. Seronatus is here described as returning from one of his treasonable visits to Toulouse. (Cf. Introduction, p. xxxviii.) Javols (Gabales) is in the modern department of Lozere.
2. Cf. Pliny, Nat. Hist. ix. 88; Aelian, Hist. Anim. ii. 13; Claudian, In Eutrop. ii. 425; Oppian, Halieut. v. 71, &c.
67. 1. Calentes Baiae. Sirmond and Savaron identify these baths with Chaudesaigues, on the borders of Auvergne and Rouergue; another conjecture places them at Mont d'Or. Cf. Gregoire and Collombet, ii, p. 87.
2. Virgil, Aen. v. 440.
3. Rogationum. Cf. p. 241, note 95. 1, and Introduction, p. xli.
4. This is an unusual joke for a bishop, as more than one commentator has remarked.
68. 1. Eruderatum. The use of this word seems to show that the text of the Prophets had been corrupted. (Tillemont, Memoires, xvi, p. 236.)
69. 1. Cf. III. vii. 2; Introduction, p. xli.
70. 1. Roscia, one of Sidonius' daughters. Cf. Introduction, p. xiv.
71. 1. The church erected by Patiens at Lyons. Cf. II. x. 2.
Guizot and others here consider that Sidonius was already a bishop when this letter was written; Tillemont held with |239 more probability (Mem. xvi, p. 199) that he was a comparatively young man. Cf. Chaix, ii, p. 29.
73. 1. Cf. Virgil, Aen. v. 499.
2. The description of the ball-play in this Letter would be more interesting if we could form an idea of the rules of the game. From the fact that a number of players are engaged, and that violent collisions occur, w,e may hazard a guess that it is the Harpastum (a(rpasto&n), in which one player throws the ball high in the air, and the others run forward to seize it before he can catch it again. Cf. Marquardt, Privatleben, p. 846.
74. 1. Dies bonos male ferentem. Perhaps a person spoiled by good fortune.
75. 1. Literally, 'the Aeduan city' (Haeduae civitati).
76. 1. This Letter is interesting in relation to the status of coloni. Sidonius demands that the ravisher shall be raised from the state of a colonus, or dependent cultivator, to that of a free plebeian (plebeiam potius habere personam quam colonariam) in order that he may legally marry a woman already free.
2. In Concilia. This probably refers to the Curia of Lyons; the curial system continued under Visigothic and Burgundian dominion. Cf. Schmidt, Geschichte, p. 292.
77. 1. Evectionem refundunt. Evectio was the right to the free use of the cursus publicus, or post system. Here it seems to correspond to our phrase ' travelling expenses'.
79. 1. Episcopus Episcoporum. St. Clement uses this phrase at the beginning of his first letter to St. James of Jerusalem. The present is an answer to the kindly letter of congratulation sent by Lupus to Sidonius on his assumption of his episcopal office, and still preserved. (See Fertig, ii, pp. 7-8).
2. Luke v. 8.
3. Luke v. 12.
80. 1. Militiae Lerinensis. Cf. VIII. xiv; Carm. xvi. 105-16. For the monastery of Lerins, founded by Hilary, see the publications of H. Moris on the cartulary, archives, monuments, &c., issued in 1883, 1893, and 1909. Cf. also Alliez, Histoire du monastere de Lerins, 1862; Hist. litteraire |240 de la France, ii, pp. 37, 159; Chaix, i, p. 419; and the recent work by Dr. Cooper Marsdin, The History of the Islands of the Lerins, 1913.
82. 1. The daughter of Agrippinus had married the son of Eutropia, on whose death she refused to return to her father's house, preferring to remain with her mother-in-law, whose generous treatment she preferred.
83. 1. Leontius, as bishop of the capital (Arles), took precedence of all the Gallican bishops.
84. 1. Lit. auctoritas coronae tuae. The clerical 'crown' is the tonsure, and the word corona is used to designate a priest, as purpura to signify an emperor. Cf. VII. viii. Also Ennodius, Ep, IV. xxii; Augustine, Ep. xxxiii; Gregory of Tours, Vitae Patrum, xvii; and Gregoire and Collombet's note on this passage.
2. Vargus, as we gather from the Ripuarian and Salic laws of the Franks (cf. Lex Salica, xiv, add. 5, and lv. 2), literally meant, in the Teutonic dialect, one 'outlawed', or exiled from his country. (Cf. Sirmond, Notes, p. 65.) The episode to which this letter relates is rather difficult to follow. Most commentators have assumed that the woman was carried off from Clermont to Troyes. But Sidonius commonly uses iste for 'this', and istic for 'here' (cf. VIII. ix. 15, line 17 of the poem: nos istic positos, i.e. here, at Bordeaux); it seems probable, therefore, that when he says isto deductam... isticque distractam, he is referring to Clermont. The victim may have been abducted from some other place in or near Auvergne, and taken to the market at Clermont to be sold, afterwards passing into the control of Sidonius' man of affairs (negotiator noster) or of some man of business with whom he was acquainted ('our friend the banker'----Hodgkin). The necessity for a visit by the parties to Troyes would, on this theory, arise simply from the fact that Prudens, whose evidence was essential, had returned to his home in that city. The Vargi in many respects resembled the Bagaudae of a rather earlier time.
86. 1. The Visigoths,
87. 1. Cf. Introduction, p. xxxvi. |241
88. 1. Epistulam formatam. The 'formal' or canonical letter was an attestation given by the bishop to priests and clerks of his diocese when they travelled abroad; without it they were not admitted to the sacrament or to ecclesiastical functions in the districts which they visited. The bishop himself had to obtain a similar letter from the metropolitan or primate when he travelled. Such letters were a safeguard against deception at a time when privilege of clergy made imposture profitable, and they were drawn up with great care. The letters authorizing temporary absence were called Commendatitiae (ei0rhnikai/, sustatikai/); those accorded when the applicant did not intend to return were styled dimissoriae (a)polutikai/). See Sirmond, Notes, p. 66; Gregoire and Collombet, ii. 146-7, with the references there given; and Fertig, ii, p. 36.
90. 1. Debitum glebae canonem ---- the Emphyteutic canon: Canonem proprie dixit pensionem quae debetur ex praedio emphyteutico (Sirmond, Notes, p. 68).
91. 1. Cf. III. iv. i; IV. v. i; VIII. xiii. 3. 2. Cf. Pliny, Ep. IX. iii.
92. 1. Chilperic the Burgundian, now ruling over Lyons.
2. Photinianorum. The Photinians were heretics of the fourth century, who maintained the tenets of Photius, Bishop of Sirmium in Hungary. They were in substantial agreement with the Arians.
94. 1. Joseph was a type of Christ.
2. Viviers = Albensis (urbs). Alba Helviorum was its ancient name.
3. Tricastina urbs.
95. 1. For the Rogations first instituted by Mamertus of Vienne, see Gregory of Tours, Hist. Franc, II. xxxiv; Caesarius of Arles, Homilies, xxx, and First Council of Orleans, Canon, 27. For the Rogations instituted by St. Gall at a time of pestilence, cf. Greg. Hist. Franc. IV. v. Cf. also V. xiv, VII. i, and Fertig, ii, p. 15.
97. 1. St. Ambrose had discovered the bodies of two saints, Gervasius and Protasius. (Ambrose, Ep. xv; Sermon, xci; Augustine, Conf. ix. 7; De Civ. Det, xxii. 8; |242 Gregory of Tours, De gloria Martyrum, I. xlvii; Acta Sanctorum, June 19).
98. 1. The crafty traveller (callidus viator) is Amantius, who frequently carried letters for Sidonius. An analogous episode to that which forms the subject of this Letter is recorded by Gregory of Tours (Hist. Franc. III. xv). 2. Cf. note 88. 1.
102. 1. Contestatiunculas. Contestatio signified a preface to the Mass (Mabillon, De Liturgia Gallic. i. 3; Tillemont, Memoires, xvi, p. 277). Gregoire and Collombet suggest that the Contestatiunculae here mentioned may be the Masses composed by Sidonius, and published as a book, with an added preface by Gregory of Tours. Cf. Hist. Franc. II. xxii.
104. 1. Vaison was the capital of the Vocontii, whose alliance Hannibal sought against Rome. It was now in Burgundian territory.
105. 1. Aquitanicae primae. The provinces were subdivided by different emperors, sub-divisions receiving the name of prima, secunda, &c., but the epithet prima was given to that which contained the former metropolis of the undivided province; e. g. Lugdunensis Prima was the division containing Lyons. Bourges was the capital of Aquitanica Prima, Bordeaux of Aquitanica Secunda.
107. 1. Here in the form Evarix. For Euric's campaigns resulting in the cession of Auvergne in 475, see Introduction, p. xxxvi. Gregory of Tours makes special reference to this Letter (Hist. Franc. II. xxv.).
108. 1. It might be supposed from the account given by Gregory of Tours (Hist. Franc. II. xxv) that Euric only barricaded the doors of the churches with brambles to prevent the entrance of worshippers; but this is surely not what Sidonius means.
109. 1. Si benedictione succidua non accipiat dignitatis heredem. This seems to imply that the dying wish of a parish priest influenced the choice of his successor.
2. This refers to the commission of the four bishops appointed to negotiate terms of peace between the empire and Euric. Cf. Introduction, p. xlii. |243
110. 1. Cf. VI. viii. 1; VII. ii. 1, x. 1; IX. iv. 1.
2. Audebant se quondam fratres Latio dicere. Cf. p. 222, note 42. I, and Lucan, Phars. i. 427: Arvernique ausi Latio se fingere fratres Sanguine ab Iliaco populi.
3. The people of Auvergne had successfully sustained a siege of the Visigoths, who drew off into winter quarters.
4. See p. 221, note 34. 1.
111. 1. The phrase is bitterly ironical. Cf. Introduction, p. xliii.
2. It seems best to take this in a general sense. For other explanations with a more specific reference, cf. Gregoire and Collombet, ii, pp. 257 ff.; Sirmond, Notes, p. 75. One objection to these is that they assume the loss of Marseilles to Rome at this period, a fact of which there seems to be no sufficient evidence.
112. 1. Corona tua. Cf. note 84. I.
115. 1. i.e. Pythagoras.
116. 1. Paginae decretalis. Cf. I. vii: gestis decretalibus. Credentials, or authority from a public body.
2. Agroecius of Sens. Cf. Letter VII. v. above.
3. Cf. I. i. 4.
119. 1. Acts viii. 18. 2. Luke i. 5.
120. 1. Domi habuit unde disceret. Terence, Adelphi, III. iii. 59 (453).
2. Exodus xxxvi. i ff.
123. 1. See note 110. i above.
124. 1. The 'neighbours' are the Visigoths, the 'protectors 'the Burgundians. Cf. Introduction, p. xxxvi.
128. 1. Antistes. This word usually signifies a bishop; but the terms of the present letter hardly suggest that dignity for Himerius. Claudianus Mamertus, a simple priest, is elsewhere described as antistes ordine in secundo (IV. xi); it seems probable that the word should also be understood 'of the second order' in the present place, and that Himerins had not attained episcopal rank. (See Gregoire and Collombet, ii. 269-70.) In this case the words dignitatis auctorem would imply that he was ordained by Lupus. |244 Cf. IX. ix. 6, where the word antistes is used of Riochatus, and xvii of the present book, where it is applied to Abraham, an abbot.
129. 1. The point of the Letter is that Sidonius, who has never seen his correspondent, claims, on the ground of a common culture, a greater intimacy with Philagrius than any mere neighbours in whom such culture was lacking. He reinforces his opinion, which he seems to hold with unnecessary emphasis, with some parade of scientific argument. The philosophical ideas here developed are derived from Platonism (cf. Chaix, i, p. 355 f.), but the manner is reminiscent of Seneca.
130. 1. The allusion is to encaustic painting in which the colour is mixed with wax, applied in a molten state with a spatula. This method, very popular in late Roman times, is most familiar to us from the mummy-portraits of the Fayum, but was popular in Early Byzantine art. For references see Dalton, Byzantine Art and Archaeology, p. 316.
2. Filium Marci Ciceronis populus Romanus non agnoscebat loquentem: because he had not his father's eloquence, and this, not any physical quality, was the only thing to ensure his general recognition. The source of the quotation appears to be unknown.
131. 1. Sidonius is here very frank in his expression of dislike for the barbarian. Cf. Introduction, p. xcii.
132. 1. The word used is professio. Either the ecclesiastical profession must be meant, or the common pursuit of poetry. If at the time of writing Sidonius was already bishop, he would not have occasion to make frequent visits to Vienne. Nor is anything said to prove that Salonius was a cleric.
134. 1. The poem sufficiently relates the chief events in Abraham's life. He represents the type of the oriental ascetic settled in the West. Cf. Introduction, p. lxxix.
2. The Sassanian Yezdegerd, whose great persecution began in 420 and lasted thirty years. Gregory of Tours says that Abraham was liberated by an angel. (De vitis Patrum, iii.) |245
135. 1. i. e. Jerusalem captured by Titus.
2. Carthage.
3. Et quae lanigero de sue nomen habent, i. e. Milan. Vocatum Mediolanum ab eo quod ibi sus in media lanea perhibetur inventa. Isidore, Orig. XV. i.
Ad moenia Gallis
Condita, lanigeri suis ostentantia pellem.
Claudian, x. 183.
4. The Euphrates, by which Abraham was born, was also one of the rivers of Paradise.
5. Lirinensium sive Grinincensium. For Lerins, see note 80. 1. The Grinincenses were a community dwelling at Grigny, on the Rhone, not far from Vienne. (Tillemont, Memoires, xvi, p. 259.) The community founded by Abraham at Clermont became the monastery of St. Cirgues.
136. 1. A te principium, tibi desinet. Virgil, Ecl. viii. ii. Cf. I. i.
140. 1. Apollonius of Tyana, if not often openly attacked, was as a rule viewed with disfavour by the Church, and regarded as something of a charlatan. Cf. J. S. Phillimore, Philostratus in honour of Apollonius of Tyana, Oxford, 1912, Introduction, pp. xciv. ff.
2. Nicomachus and Tascius Victorianus were two scholars who corrected and revised current editions of ancient authors, just as Sidonius himself corrected the Heptateuch for Ruricius (V. xv).
3. Translatio. Sirmond, arguing from other occurrences of this word in Sidonius (e.g. IX. xi, xvi), considers that it here means transcription. It may, however, as Fertig thinks (Part ii, p. 22), bear its proper sense; if so, the translation has not survived.
4. The fortress or castle of Livia, where Sidonius was confined by Euric, was between Carcassonne and Narbonne. Cf. Introduction, p. xliv.
141. 1. The peoples beyond the sea and on the Waal are the Vandals of Africa, and the Franks respectively.
145. 1. Virg. Georg. iv. 176; Ecl. i. 23. |246
146. 1. Turcius Rufius Astyrius, or Asterius (as his name is usually written), consul with Protogenes in 449. Some of his 'consular diptychs' are preserved, and the words datique fasti may refer, as Sirmond suggests, to the distribution of such diptychs. The sportula might take the form of silver baskets. Cf. Symmachus, Ep. ii. 81; ix. 109.
147. 1. This was a law of Theodosius promulgated in Constantinople twenty-five years before the consulship of Asterius, but not in force in Gaul until the latter date. Cf. Sirmond, Notes, p. 85; Th. Mommsen, Theodosiani Libri XVI, vol. I, pt. ii, p. 194.
148. 1. Amyclae, situated on the coast of Italy between Gaeta and Terracina (?), was a colony of Sparta, and may be held to have inherited a reputation for Laconism. Virgil (Aen. x. 564) calls it tacitae, and Servius, in his Commentary, gives more than one conjectural reason for the epithet, in addition to that mentioned above. (Cf. Gregoire and Collombet, ii. 365.) But the Laconian Amyclae may be intended. 2. Vitruvius... Columella. Well-known writers, the first on architecture, the second on agriculture. Vitruvius lived in the time of Julius Caesar and Augustus, Columella in that of Claudius.
149. 1. The statement that the Saxons returned to their homes 'de continenti' rather suggests that they came from islands which might either be situated off the coast of Schleswig or even be themselves the British Isles. For the evidence as to Saxon settlement in England before the middle of the fifth century, see Beck in C. M. H. pp. 382 ff.
Namatius was 'admiral' for Euric on the Atlantic seaboard, with the duty of beating off piratical attacks.
150. 1. M. Terentius Varro (116-28 B.C.), a voluminous writer who produced nearly 500 books on historical, scientific, and antiquarian subjects. His Logistorics were probably dialogues like those of Cicero. Eusebius of Caesarea, the chronographer (A.D. 265-338), sought to confirm the data of the Bible. His work is divided into two parts, the Chronographia containing the material for the synthetic treatment of the second part or Canones, which gives the rulers of |247 the world in parallel columns, with notes, while a separate column gives the years of the world's age. The Canons were translated by Jerome. Cf. J. B. Bury, Gibbon's Decline and Fall, II, Appendix i; Stewart in C. M. H. i, p. 582.
151. 1. The Emperor Julius Nepos began his reign by an attempt to render the civil and military services more efficient.
152. 1. Serranus and Camillus are quoted as examples of illustrious Romans of the Republican period devoted to rural life. Serranus was an agnomen of Regulus, who was actually engaged in sowing when his elevation to the consulship was announced to him in 257 B.C.
153. 1. Racilia was the wife of Cincinnatus.
154. 1. Satur est cum dicit Horatius Evohe. Juvenal, Sat. vii. 62. The poet suggests that a well-nourished system is essential to the production of good poetry, and that when Horace wrote Od. ii. 19 he had dined well.
2. Necdum enim quidquam de hereditate socruali vel in usum tertiae sub pretio medietatis. One of the most difficult passages in the Letters. Mommsen (Praefatio, p. xlvii) supposes Sidonius to have the usufruct of a third of the property, on condition that he is to buy half of the estate from the heirs, of whom he is not one----a supposition which presents various difficulties. Equal difficulties attend the effort to represent the third part as the tertia exacted from Roman landowners by their Teutonic conquerors. In the translation, I have adopted a suggestion kindly made by Prof. J. S. Reid, who, however, thinks it rather daring for definite adoption, because there is no authority for medietas as anything but a half-share. I have taken the risk of another rendering, because Sidonius employs several Latin words in an irregular and unclassical way, and it seems quite possible that he may here use medietas in the general sense of 'portion', as 'moiety' is sometimes used in English.
3. Sidonius was now detained by Euric at Bordeaux. See Introduction, p. xlv.
155. 1. A town in Phocis, sacred to Apollo. For the Boeotian Muses (Hyantiae Camenae), cf. Carm. ix. 285.
2. Istic positos, i.e. at Bordeaux. The following lines, |248 with their ethnographical details, are perhaps the best known in Sidonius. (Cf. Introduction, p. xciii.) The 'glaucous' cheeks of the Herulians were perhaps painted rather than tattooed. The tribe was settled on the Lower Rhine (cf. Cassiodorus, Variae, III. iii), and their representatives were probably at Bordeaux, because Euric was regarded as their protector against Frankish aggression. (Schmidt, Geschichte, pp. 268-9, note 5). Italy's prayer for aid in expelling the barbarian may refer to the Roman desire for the expulsion of Odovakar (ibid.).
156. 1. Arsaces is here used for a monarch of the later Sassanian dynasty----Peroz, or Firoze, at this time engaged in hostilities with the White Huns, who were encouraged by the East Roman Empire. (Procopius, De Bella Persico, I. iv; Tabari, Geschichte der Perser and Araber, Noldeke's ed., p. 119.)
157. 1. Meliboeus esse coepi. The reference is to Virgil's Eclogue, where Meliboeus is the countryman dispossessed of his lands.
2. This maxim does not occur in the writings of Symmachus which have come down to us.
158. 1. Cf. Pliny, Ep. i, 20, and vi. 33. The most famous speech of each orator is quoted.
159. 1. Vesunnici and Nitiobroges.
2. Drepanius, author of a panegyric on Theodosius. Anthedius, a poet mentioned elsewhere by Sidonius. Paulinus, perhaps a rhetor of Perigueux, though there is more than one person of the name who might be intended here. Alcimus, orator and poet, whose real name was Alethius. On these personages see Hist. Litt. de la France, i, p. 419; ii, pp. 136-8, 469, 537.
160. 1. Orpheus.
2. A Thracian huntress-goddess, 'Or she', &c. The reference is to Atalanta.
3. The text is:
Si vestigia fasceata nudi
per summum digiti regant citatis
firmi ingressibus atque vinculorum |249
concurrentibus ansulis reflexa
ad crus per cameram catena surgat.
Possibly the compagus may be the kind of shoe described. Cf. Marquardt, Privatleben, p. 589.
162. 1. Echoicos. Sirmond quotes the following lines of Pentadius, to illustrate the meaning of versus echoici: Per cava saxa sonat pecudum mugitibus Echo Voxque repulsa iugis per cava saxa sonat. For the versus recurrens, or palindrome, see note 207. 1.
'By repetitions' (per anadiplosin). Repetition is a poetical artifice commonly employed by Virgil, e.g.:
Sequitur pulcherrimus Astur,
Astur equo fidens, &c.
164. 1. For a concise statement of the elements of astrological belief in Roman times, see Daremberg and Saglio, article Divinatio, p. 302. Also A. Maury, La magie et l'astrologie dans l'antiquite, 1862; F. Lenormant, La divination et la science des presages chez les Chaldeens, 1875; A. Habler, Astrologie im Alterthum, 1879. Of the persons mentioned in the next paragraph, Vertacus, Thrasybulus, and Saturninus, the first and third are named as mathematicians in the letter to Leontius preceding Carm. xxii.
166. 1. Langon (Alingo) is on the left bank of the Garonne, south-east of Bordeaux.
2. Catonis in Syrte. Cato with ten thousand men crossed the desert of Leptis in thirty days. The exploit, which became almost legendary, is recorded by Strabo and Lucan.
167. 1. Tabula calculis strata bicoloribus. This mention of a board, with men of two colours, seems to confirm the belief that the game played by Theodoric was something akin to backgammon. Cf. p. 216, note 5. 1.
2. Medulicae supellectilis epulones. The oysters of Medoc were famous even in Rome. Cf. Ausonius, Ep. vii and ix.
170. 1. Cf. p. 239, note 80. 1.
2. Archimandritas. An archimandrite, in the Orthodox Eastern Church, approximately corresponds to an abbot in the West. |250
172. 1. The prophecy of St. Annianus (Aignan) is recorded by Gregory of Tours (Hist. Franc. ii. 7). Orleans was hard pressed by Attila, and the bishop promised succour from Aetius. That general arrived at the very moment when the walls of the town were breached, and prevented the Huns from entering the city. The story is not accepted by modern historical criticism.
173. 1. Juvenal, Sat. i. 5-6.
174. 1. Cf. Symmachus, Ep. iii. to Siburius, quoted by Sirmond: Si tibi vetustatis tantus est amor, pari studio in verba prisca redeamus, quibus Salii canunt, &c.
176. 1. The tenth book of the younger Pliny's letters contains only the correspondence between himself and Trajan, and Sidonius does not count it as one of the collection.
177. 1. For Levites or Levita, signifying 'deacon', cf. C. H. Turner in C. M. H. i, p. 157.
180. 1. Cf. p. 239, note 80. i.
2. An allusion to the loss of Sidonius' estate. Sirmond considers this letter to have been written when Sidonius was in exile at Bordeaux. Cf. VIII. ix.
181. 1. Paginam rusticantem. Cf. Introduction, p. cxxvi. 183. 1. The treaty of peace between Julius Nepos and Euric.
187. 1. Joshua ix. The Gibeonites were made hewers of wood and drawers of water for endeavouring to avoid servitude by pretending that their city was far off, when it was really near.
188. 1. Aptae fuistis, aptissime defuistis. One of the worst examples of Sidonius' delight in puns and verbal jugglery. 2. Satis eloquentiae, sapientiae parum. Cf. Sallust, Cat. v. 4.
189. 1. Riochatus antistes ac monachus, atque istius mundi bis peregrinus. It seems uncertain whether Riochatas had been made a bishop in Brittany, or whether he was a priest 'of the second order'. Cf. note 126. 1.
190. 1. On Sassanian textiles and embossed silver dishes the hunter is sometimes depicted holding a cub in each hand. Cf. note 203. 1.
2. The book was probably one of those in which Faustus established the divinity of the Son and the Holy Ghost against the Arians, and not, as Ampère suggested |251 (Hist. litt. de la France, ii, p. 250), his work on Grace. (Chaix, ii, p. 143.)
192. 1. Deut. xxi. 11-13.
193. 1. The list of philosophers is interesting in connexion with artistic (sculptural?) types, upon which the several descriptions appear to be based.
194. 1. Units were counted on the left hand, hundreds on the right. (Pliny, xxxiv. 7; Juvenal, Sat. x. 249.) Probably, as Sirmond suggests, Sidonius exaggerates the age of Faustus.
2. This letter is of interest for the status of a defaulting clerk. Injuriosus ought to have brought Aprunculus a dimissorial letter from Sidonius. Without this his position was irregular, and he exposed himself to possible retributive action on Sidonius' part. Cf. note 88. 1, and Chaix, ii, p. 102.
195. 1. This difficult Letter perhaps refers to an episode in connexion with the issue of the second instalment of the Letters. Sidonius seems to have sent his manuscript to Lupus, but with the request that the bishop, after looking it through, should pass it on to some other person unnamed. This request appears to have offended Lupus, who wrote to Sidonius to air his grievance. Cf. Chaix, ii, p. 283.
197. 1. If Lupus was elected bishop in 427, the date of the present Letter is 477. Cf. Duchesne, Fastes episcopaux, ii, p. 449.
199. 1. This passage again suggests a date. Assuming Sidonius to have been elected bishop in 472, the year when he presumably abandoned secular poetry, the present Letter, as Baronius pointed out, would have been written in 484.
201. 1. The passage testifies to the lively interest of Sidonius in metrical questions. Form, with him, was of no less importance than matter.
2. i.e. Apuleius, of Madaura in Africa.
202. 1. Magistri Epistularum. Petrus was secretary of Majorian. See p. clxxvi.
2. i.e. Arles. Sidonius was there with Majorian in 461. See Introduction, p. xxiii.
203. 1. Sirmond quotes Ammianus Marcellinus (Bk. xxiv) for the Babylonian hangings used at the time of Julian's sojourn in Ctesiphon, all representing royal hunting scenes. |252 The present passage also recalls the well-known Sassanian silk textiles. (Cf. note 190. 1 above.) Niphates, a mountain in Armenia, here represents that country.
204. 1. Tepidas ad officinas. The translation given is based on the suggestion of Fertig (i, p. 31), who compares Carm. xxiii. 131: Smyrnaeae incude doctas officinae. The allusion would be to the heat of a busy forge, metaphorically representing a thorough and efficient school of music, dance, and song. Thymele is the platform on which the choregus stood in the middle of the orchestra; pale (lit. 'a place for wrestling') might then be the stage on which mimes appeared. (Cf. Carm. xxiii. 301, 302.) Lepidas has been suggested as an alternative to tepidas.
207. 1. Versus recurrentes. Cf. note 162. 1. The second of the two palindrome verses in the text is of unknown origin, and yields no obvious sense (Forcellini, Lexicon, s. v. peredo). Of the first, as given here in isolation, the same might almost be said; but at some time it was attached to a hexameter, so as to form a recurrent couplet, and placed in the mouth of Satan, to enliven the description of a pilgrimage to Rome by a personage variously given as St. Martin, a canon of Combremer, &c. The holy man changes the Devil into a beast of burden, and rides him towards his destination, his impatience arousing the following protest:
'Signa te, signa; temere me tangis et angis;
Roma tibi subito motibus ibit amor.'
'Cross, aye, cross thyself; 'tis all for nought that thou strikest and plaguest me, since my paces will soon bring before thee Rome, the goal of thy desire.' Whatever may be the date of the first line, the second is shown by the terms of Sidonius' allusion (illud antiquum) to have been well known in the second half of the fifth century. The invention of recurrent verses was commonly attributed to Sotades, a poet of the third century B.C. The best example in Greek is the NIΨON ANOMHMA MH MONAN OΨIN, inscribed on many mediaeval fonts (in England, those of Sandbach, Harlow, Melton Mowbray, Hadley, and others), and traced to the time of the |253 Byzantine Emperor Leo VI (Leo Allatius, Excerpta varia Graecorum Sophistarum, &c., p, 398, 1641; Anthol. Graec. Epigrammatum VI, xiii, p. 563. Ed. H. Steph. Frankfort, 1600).
208. 1. i.e. Livy. The part of his history dealing with the career of Julius Caesar is no longer extant, but it still survived in the time of Sidonius, and Symmachus was acquainted with it (Ep. IV. xvii).
2. Some read: Viventius Martialis. Sirmond conjectures that the person intended may be Gargilius Martialis, author of a life of Caesar, cited by Vopiscus and Lampridius. L. Cornelius Balbus, with Oppius, represented Caesar's interests at Rome during the Civil War. No diary of his is now known.
3. The custom of bringing a claque to applaud the public reading of a friend was very common during the Roman empire. It is mentioned by Pliny, Juvenal, and other writers.
211. 1. Peragratis dioecesibus. Dioecesis is used here in the sense of 'parish'. Cf. Sirmond, Notes, p. 101.
212. 1. Mme de Sevigne, writing from Grignan in 1695, complained that the inkstands were frozen in the bitter cold of early February.
2. Mytilenaei oppidi vernulas = Sapphics, Sappho being a native of Mytilene.
213. 1. Cum meis poni statuam... Nerva Trajanus titulis videret. The allusion is to the statue erected in the reign of Avitus, after Sidonius had delivered the panegyric of that emperor. See Introduction, p. xviii. The two libraries are those dedicated respectively to Greek and Latin literature. 2. 1. e. the office of Prefect of Rome, carrying with it the presidency of the Senate, conferred on Sidonius by Anthemius in 468. Cf. Introduction, p. xxix.
214. 1. St. Saturninus, first bishop of Toulouse, martyred in the second half of the third century. (Cf. Gregory of Tours, Hist. Franc. I. xxviii, and see Acta Sanctorum, Nov. 29.) The 'Capitol' from which he was flung is that of Toulouse.
2. The regula Flacci is contained in the third and fourth verses of Epistle ii:
Amphora coepit
Institui, currente rota cur urceus exit?
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Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
SOURCE SECTION: severinus_01_intro.htm
Eugippius, The Life of St. Severinus (1914) pp. 1-11. Title page and introduction.
Eugippius, The Life of St. Severinus (1914) pp. 1-11. Title page and introduction.
THE LIFE OF SAINT SEVERINUS
BY
EUGIPPIUS
TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH FOR THE FIRST TIME
WITH NOTES
BY
GEORGE W. ROBINSON
SECRETARY OF THE HARVARD GRADUATE SCHOOL OF
ARTS AND SCIENCES
'Severin: eine Persönlichkeit, zu der es keine Parallele giebt."
Hauck, Kirchengeschichte Deutschlands, vol.i, p. 330.
CAMBRIDGE
HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS
LONDON: HUMPHREY MILFORD
OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS
1914
COPYRIGHT, 1914
HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESS
MANIBUS
GUILIELMI WATSON GOODWIN
ADAMS SHERMAN HILL
JACOBI BRADSTREET GREENOUGH
CLEMENTIS LAURENTII SMITH
ΤΩΝ MAKAΡITΩN SACRUM
PREFACE
It has been said of the French, and might with equal truth be said of the Germans, that they make all excellent pieces of antiquity their own. That we are yet far from being in a position to make the same boast in behalf of our noble English tongue; that our deficiency is particularly great as respects the last centuries of ancient civilization, which have so immediate a relation to the mediaeval and modern worlds; and that in those centuries it would be difficult to find a writing more worthy of introduction to English readers than the work which Teuffel terms "the incomparable biography of Saint Severinus": these facts, I trust, may be considered in some measure to justify the present publication.
This translation of the Life of Severinus, the first, so far as appears, in our language,1 is from the recension of the text by Theodor Mommsen, published at Berlin, in 1898, in the series of Scriptores Rerum |8 Germanicarum. In an Appendix, pp. 117-121 below, I have given a list of editions and translations. Mommsen's preface contains an account of the manuscripts of the Life, of the chronology of the time, so far as it casts direct light upon the careers of Severinus and Eugippius, and of the references to Eugippius and Severinus in later ecclesiastical writers.2 One who desires a more general view of the period may obtain it by reading the pertinent chapters of Hodgkin, Dahn, or Gibbon, or Julius von Pflugk-Harttung's The Great Migrations, which, translated from the Allgemeine Weltgeschichte, forms the sixth volume in Wright's History of All Nations. Passages referring specifically to Severinus may be found in Pflugk-Harttung's volume, in the English translation, on pages 250 f., 269, and 296. Julius Jung, in his Römer und Romanen in den Donauländern (Innsbruck, 1877),3 pages 133-141, 150-156, etc., discusses the Life with particular reference to the light which it sheds upon the ethnography and local history of Noricum and the adjacent provinces. I will also mention the paragraphs on |9 Eugippius in Teuffel and Schwabe's History of Roman Literature (Warr's translation, London, 1900), section 494, and in Adolf Ebert's Geschichte der Christlichlateinischen Literatur bis zum Zeitalter Karls des Grossen (Leipsic, 1874), pp. 431 ff., and the somewhat longer passage in Albert Hauck's Kirchengeschichte Deutschlands, vol. i (Leipsic, 1887), pp. 328-331.
André Baudrillart's Saint Séverin (1908), in the series Les Saints, and Die Lebensbeschreibung Severins als kulturgeschichtliche Quelle (1903), by Theo Sommerlad, require no more than passing notice.
Matthaeus Rader's Bavaria Sancta contains spirited engravings by Raphael Sadeler, one of which represents the night scene where Severinus recalls the priest Silvinus from the dead.
Mention may be made of two popular accounts of Severinus for English readers: Alban Butler's in The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and other Principal Saints (London, 1812-13), vol. i, pp. 113ff; and Charles Kingsley's in The Hermits (London, 1869), pp. 224-239, with a translation of Chapter VIII. Sabine Baring-Gould, after excising all passages of Kingsley's essay that could offend the most credulous, reprints the remainder in The Lives of the Saints (London, 1872-77), vol. i, pp. 101-112. |10
The most recent German translations of the Life are by Karl Rodenberg (Leipsic, 1878, second edition, 1884), in Geschichtschreiber der deutschen Vorzeit, and by Sebastian Brunner (Vienna, 1879).
I thank heartily for courteous assistance Dr. Gennaro Aspreno Galante of Naples, who has given me invaluable help, particularly as respects the recent history of the remains of Severinus; Professor James Hardy Ropes of Harvard University; Professor Cesare Barone, First Archivist of the Royal Neapolitan State Archives; and Librarian Professor Ferdinand Ludwig Schmidt, Dr. Edward D. Snyder, and Mr. Julius Klein, who have kindly examined for me in the Royal Public Library at Dresden, the British Museum, and the Bibliothèque Nationale at Paris several editions and translations not accessible in Cambridge.
GEORGE W. ROBINSON.
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS,
July, 1914.
CONTENTS
LETTER OF EUGIPPIUS TO PASCHASIUS 15
TABLE OF CHAPTERS 21
THE LIFE OF SAINT SEVERINUS 29
LETTER OF PASCHASIUS TO EUGIPPIUS 111
APPENDIX:
I. A List of Editions and Translations of the Life 117
II. A Latin Hymn in Praise of Saint Severinus 121
III. Chronological Table 125
INDEX OF AUTHORS CITED IN THE NOTES 129
GENERAL INDEX 133
[Footnotes renumbered and moved to the end]
1. 1 Professor Carlton H. Hayes translates Chapters I, II, VII, XX, and XL, and parts of V, VIII, and XI, in An Introduction to the Sources relating to the Germanic Invasions (New York, 1909), pp. 128-133. His translation seems to be made, not from the Latin text, but from the German version of Rodenberg.
2. 1 Mommsen does not mention the passage in the biography of Willibald, the Saxon pilgrim, who visited Naples in 729. "Et ibi est prope castella [sic] ubi requiescit sanctus Severinus." Vita Willibaldi, 4, in Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Scriptores, xv, 1 (1887).
3. 2 In the second edition (Innsbruck, 1887) much of the material relative to the Life is omitted.
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Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
SOURCE SECTION: severinus_02_text.htm
Eugippius, The Life of St. Severinus (1914) pp. 13- 113. English translation.
Eugippius, The Life of St. Severinus (1914) pp. 13- 113. English translation.
Letter of Eugippius to Paschasius
Table of Chapters
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Chapter 41
Chapter 42
Chapter 43
Chapter 44
Chapter 45
Chapter 46
Letter of Paschasius to Eugippius
THE LIFE OF SAINT SEVERINUS
LETTER OF EUGIPPIUS TO PASCHASIUS
To the holy and venerable Deacon Paschasius, Eugippius sends his salutation in Christ.
About two years ago, in the consulship of Importunus,1 a letter of a noble layman, directed to a priest, was offered me to read. It contained the life of Bassus a monk, who formerly dwelt in the monastery of the mountain called Titas, above Ariminum, and later died in the district of Lucania: a man very well known to me and to many others. When I learned that some were making copies of this letter, I began to reflect, and also to declare to the clergy, that the great miracles which the divine power had wrought through Saint Severinus ought not to be hidden.
When the author of the letter knew of this, he eagerly requested me to send him some memoranda in regard to Saint Severinus, that he might write a short account of the saint's life for the benefit of later generations. In response to this offer, I prepared a memoir, filled full with testimonies from the daily narrations of the elder brethren, with which I was perfectly familiar. Yet I did this with great regret; for I deemed it unreasonable, that, while thou wert alive, I should ask a layman to write a life of Severinus. It |16 seemed rash to impose upon a lay writer the arrangement and composition of the work. Cultivated in profane literature alone, he would be likely to compose the biography in a style difficult for many to understand; so that the remarkable events, which had too long remained hidden in silence and night, might fail through the obscurity of his eloquence to shine brightly forth for us, untrained as we are in polite letters.
But I shall search no more for the feeble light of that lamp now that thy sun-like radiance is here. Only veil not the rays of thy knowledge by a cloud of excuse, accusing thine own ignorance. Lash me not, I beseech thee, with harsh terms; say not, Why expect water from the flint? Indeed I do not expect water from the flint of this world's highway, but from thee, who, comparing spiritual things with spiritual,2 shalt refresh us from the living rock by that honey of speech with which thou overflowest; and already from that honey thou sendest a nectar-taste of sweetest promise, while thou biddest me transmit a memoir or notes upon the life of Saint Severinus.
Until these memoranda win admission to a book of thy construction, let them not offend the mind of the critic. For he who seeks an architect to build a house, carefully prepares the necessary materials; but if the architect delays, and he puts together in the likeness of walls unfashioned heaps from the rough stones, ought one to speak of his work as a building, |17 when no master has constructed, and no proper foundation has been laid? So I, who have with difficulty prepared and most miserably put together the precious material for thy genius, ought I to be thought to have composed what I desire, when a liberal education has not fashioned the work, nor literary training lent it elevation and elegance? My work has, indeed, the sure foundation of faith alone; that foundation upon which, as thou knowest, rose the saint's admirable, resplendent virtues; and now I commit the materials to the architect, whose hands shall be thy eloquence; and when the capstone is placed upon thy work, I shall return due thanks to Christ.
I beg that thou have the goodness to mention also those miraculous cures, which, either on the journey or here, were wrought by divine virtue unto the memory of the blessed father Severinus. Since the trusty bearer, thy son Deogratias, best knows these, I have entrusted to him to communicate them to thee by word of mouth. And I hope that I may speedily be able yet again to call him bearer on the completion of thy work; that so this most faithful servant of God, rich in such great virtues, while he is carried to the glory of the saints by his merits vouchsafed through Christ's grace may by thy pen be immortalized to human memory.
It may perhaps be asked, and with justice, from what country Severinus sprang; since with this particular it is the custom to begin the story of any life. I |18 confess I have no clear evidence. For many priests and clerics, and lords temporal and spiritual, natives of the country or drawn together to him from afar, often debated the nationality of this man of such great and resplendent virtue. And they were at a loss, but no one ventured to question him directly. There was, however, a certain Primenius, a noble priest of Italy, and a man of the highest standing, who had fled to him for refuge at the time when the patrician Orestes 3 was unjustly slain. This man, it was said, had been like a father to Orestes, and therefore feared his murderers. He, then, having won the saint's friendship, and enjoyed it for many days, served as spokesman for the rest, and burst out with the question. "Reverend master," he said, "from what province hath the great light come,4 which God hath seen fit to bestow upon these lands? " The man of God first answered him with a cheerful jest, "If thou thinkest me a fugitive slave,5 prepare a ransom which thou canst offer for me when I am claimed." Presently he added, more seriously, "What profiteth it the servant of God to name his country or race, when by keeping |19 them silent he can more easily avoid vainglory? 6 For vainglory is like the left hand, without whose knowledge 7 he desireth through the gift of Christ to accomplish every good work; that so he may deserve to be among those on Christ's right hand,8 and to be enrolled as a citizen of the celestial country. And if thou knowest that I, though unworthy, truly desire that celestial country, what need that thou learn the earthly country of which thou askest? But know that the same God who called thee to the priesthood, commanded me also to minister unto these perilled folk." The answer silenced Primenius, nor did any one before or after presume to question the saint upon this matter.
Yet his speech revealed a man of purest Latin stock; and it is understood that he first departed into some desert place of the East because of his fervid desire for a more perfect life, and that thence, constrained by divine revelation, he later came to the towns of Riverside Noricum, near Upper Pannonia, which were harassed by frequent incursions of the barbarians. So he himself was wont to hint, in obscure language as if speaking of another, naming some cities of the East, and indicating that he had passed by miracle through the dangers of an immense journey.9 |20
Even in the lifetime of Saint Severinus, I never heard other particulars in regard to his native place than those I have related. The testimonies concerning his marvellous life accompany this letter, arranged as a memoir, with a table of chapters prefixed. Grant my request, and let them gain greater fame through thy editorial care.10 It remains to ask that thou cease not to associate thy prayers with his for the pardon of my sins. |21
TABLE OF CHAPTERS
I. How in the beginning Saint Severinus won fame in the town which is called Asturis,11 by wholesome exhortation to good works and by most veracious prophecy.
II. Of the town Comagenis, which he miraculously freed from the enemy.
III. How through his prayer God came to the aid of the inhabitants of the little city Favianis, who had long suffered from famine.
IV. Of the barbarian robbers, who lost their booty which they had taken without the walls of Favianis, and all their weapons too; or, Of his mode of life and surpassing humility.
V. In how great reverence he was held by the king of the Rugii, Flaccitheus; or, How Flaccitheus was delivered from the ambushes of the foe by the oracle.
VI. Of the Rugian widow's only son, who suffered tortures of pain for twelve years, and was healed through the prayer of the man of God.
VII. How the youth Odoacer, clad in wretched hides, was told by him of his kingship that was to come. |22
VIII. That Feletheus, sometimes called Feva, king of the Rugii, son of Flaccitheus, mentioned above, for fear of Saint Severinus forbade his wicked wife to rebaptize Catholics; or, What danger she ran of losing her little son Fredericus one day when she had spurned the saint's intercession for certain persons.
IX. Of the bearer of the remains of Saint Gervasius and Saint Protasius the martyrs, made known by the marvellous revelation of the man of God; or, With what reply he refused the honorable office of bishop when he was asked to accept it.
X. Of a janitor who was one day forbidden to go out anywhere, then was taken by the barbarians, and humbly restored by them.
XI. Of the miracle which was wrought in the castle of Cucullis, where the tapers were lighted by divine power, and the sacrilegious, who had at first concealed themselves, were manifested and amended.
XII. How the locusts were expelled from the territory of the castle of Cucullis, after God had been propitiated by fasting and prayer and almsgivings; while the patch of corn of a certain poor man, an unbelieving scorner, was swept bare.
XIII. How the taper was lighted in the hand of the man of God as he prayed, when the fire required by custom for the evening service of praise was not found.
XIV. Of the wondrous healing of the woman whose life was despaired of; who, after a terrible and long continued sickness, was so fully restored to health |23 by the prayer of the man of God that on the third day she sturdily betook herself to labor in the fields.
XV. How upon the posts sustaining the river side of the church, which the water at flood often more than covered, the servant of God, praying, cut with an axe the sign of the cross; and how thereafter the water never rose above the cross.
XVI. Of Silvinus the priest who died; and how, after they had watched through the night at his bier, the corpse, being addressed, immediately opened his eyes, and asked the servant of God, at whose voice he had come to life, that he be not further deprived of the rest which he had tasted.
XVII. How he ministered unto the poor with anxious care; or, That the Norici also were wont to send tithes to him for distribution; and that when these were brought to him according to custom, he foretold that danger threatened those who had delayed to send.
XVIII. How the rust, which had appeared and was about to ruin the harvests, was driven away by the man of God through fasting and prayer.
XIX. That Gibuldus, king of the Alamanni, was smitten with great trembling in the presence of the servant of God, and restored a multitude of captives.
XX. How the murder of the soldiers was revealed to him, and how he sent his people, who did not know of it, to the river to bury the bodies.
XXI. As the priest Paulinus, who had come to him some time before, was returning to his own country, |24 he foretold that he was to be ordained bishop of Noricum.
XXII. That when relics were being sought for a new church, he foretold of his own accord that he should bring to the church the blessing of Saint John the Baptist, and that in that town while he was away there was to be a massacre; in which massacre the gabbling priest was killed in the baptistery.
XXIII. How he received the relics of Saint John the Baptist.
XXIV. Of the inhabitants of another town, who scorned his prophetic commands and directly were slain by the Heruli, because though forewarned they would not leave the place.
XXV. How he sent letters to Noricum and fortified the castles with fastings and almsgivings; and how the incursion of the enemy which he foretold was not able to harm the castles.
XXVI. Of the cleansed leper, who begged not to be sent back home, lest he might fall into the leprosy of sin.
XXVII. Of the victory which the Romans won at Batavis over the Alamanni through the prayer of Saint Severinus; and how after the triumph those who scorned to follow his warning prophecy were slain.
XXVIII. How as the servant of God was ministering unto the poor, the oil appeared to increase.
XXIX. Of the men of Noricum who carried on their shoulders loads of clothing to be given to the |25 poor; how in midwinter the bear guided them through the snows of the desert to human habitations; and how the man of God, with his wonted gift of revelation, knew what had led them.
XXX. How he divined that the foe would come the next night against the city of Lauriacum, and with difficulty persuaded the citizens, who dwelt in false security, to keep watch; and how in the morning they declared that he had done well, and thanked him, and asked pardon for their unbelief.
XXXI. How he met Feva, king of the Rugii, who was coming up against Lauriacum with his army, and received the peoples in his guardian care, to conduct them to the lower towns, i. e, those nearer the Rugii.
XXXII. How King Odoacer requested that he should ask him some favor, and at the word of the servant of God recalled one Ambrosius from exile; and how the servant of God foretold to the king's flatterers how many years he was to reign.
XXXIII. Of the son of one of the nobles of the king of the Rugii, who in the town Comagenis was made whole by the prayer of the man of God.
XXXIV. How a leper, Tejo by name, was cleansed.
XXXV. Of Bonosus the monk, who, when he complained of weak eyes, was told by the saint, "Pray rather that thou may see more with the heart": and thereupon he earned a wonderful power of endurance in prayer.
XXXVI. Of the three proud monks, whom he delivered to Satan, that their spirits might be saved. |26 As to this matter he rendered a most faithful account in its own place, quoting the examples of two of the Fathers.
XXXVII. How he signified the hour of tribulation of Marcianus and Renatus, his monks, which they underwent while in another province; and enjoined prayer upon the other brothers, who were with him.
XXXVIII. Of the dangers of the deadly pustule, which by revelation he foretold forty days in advance was to come to Ursus the monk, and which he healed by prayer.
XXXIX. Of the saint's habitation, his bed also and diet, a few things are briefly mentioned.
XL. How, when through the revelation of God he perceived that his departure was near, he spoke to King Feva and the wicked queen, and ceased not to forewarn his own followers of his death: foretelling that a general removal of the people was at hand, and commanding that his body should be carried away at the same time.
XLI. How he expressly announced even the day of his death to Saint Lucillus the priest.
XLII. How he adjured Ferderuchus, brother of King Feva; and advised his own followers.
XLIII. Of his death; or, What advice he gave his followers in his long final exhortation.
XLIV. What Ferderuchus wrought against the monastery after his decease; how Ferderuchus was punished; how the saint's oracle was fulfilled by the |27 prosperous migration of the people; how his body was disinterred and removed in a wagon.
XLV. Of the healing at that time of many infirm persons. A recital of individual cases is omitted; only the story of one dumb man is told, who was made whole by praying under the wagon, while the body yet remained on it.
XLVI. Of the faith of Barbaria, a lady of rank, who built a mausoleum for the body; and of the reception by the people of Naples. Although many were then healed of divers diseases, the particulars are related in three instances only. |28
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|29
THE LIFE OF SAINT SEVERINUS
CHAPTER I.
At the time of the death of Attila, king of the Huns,12 confusion reigned in the two Pannonias and the other borderlands of the Danube. Then Severinus, most holy servant of God, came from the parts of the East to the marches of Riverside Noricum 13 and the Pannonias, and tarried in a little town which is called Asturis.14 There he lived in accordance with the evangelical and apostolic doctrine, in all piety and chastity, in the confession of the Catholic faith, and fulfilled his reverend purpose by holy works. By such exercises strengthened, he innocently sought the crown of the celestial calling; and one day, as was his wont, went forth to the church. Then the priests, the clergy, and the citizens were fetched, and he began in all humility of mind to prophesy, how they ought to |30 ward off the threatening snares of the enemy by prayers, and by fastings, and by the fruits of compassion. But their stubborn hearts, defiled by fleshly lusts, proved the oracles of the prophet by the decision of their unbelief. Yet the servant of God returned to the lodging where the sacristan 15 of the church had received him, and made known the day and hour of imminent destruction. "I go in haste," he said, "from a stubborn town that shall swiftly perish."
Then he went away to the next town, which is called Comagenis.16 This was very strictly guarded by the barbarians established within, who had entered into a league 17 with the Romans, and it was not easy for any one to secure permission to go in or to leave. Yet, though they knew him not, they neither questioned the servant of God, nor turned him back. So anon he went into the church; and when he found all in despair |31 of their safety, he exhorted them to be armed with fasting and prayers and almsgivings, and set forth examples of salvation from of old, in which the protection of God had freed his people in unforeseen and wondrous ways. And when they hesitated to believe one who at the very crisis of peril promised the safety of all, the old man came who at Asturis had long been the host of Severinus (how great a guest!). When the guards at the gates anxiously questioned the old man, his deportment and words revealed the destruction of his town. He added that it was destroyed on the same day that a certain man of God had foretold. When they heard this, they eagerly replied, "Thinkest thou he is the same, who in our despair promises us the assistance of God?" Then straightway the old man recognized the servant of God within the church, and cast himself at his feet, saying that through his kindness he had been spared the destruction which had overtaken his townsmen.
CHAPTER II.
When they had heard these things, the inhabitants of Comagenis begged forgiveness for their unbelief, and obeyed with holy works the admonitions of the man of God. They made a fast, and assembled in the church for the space of three days, reproaching their past sins with groans and lamentations. But on the third day, during the celebration of the evening sacrifice, there |32 was a sudden earthquake;18 and the barbarians who dwelt within the city were so terrorsmitten that they compelled the Romans to open the gates for them in haste. Then they rushed out tumultuously, and scattered, supposing themselves besieged and surrounded by near foes; and their terror was augmented by divine influence, so that, in the wanderings and confusion of the night, they slew one another with the sword. Thus utter destruction consumed the enemy; and the people, saved by the divine aid, learned through the saint to fight with heavenly arms. |33
CHAPTER III.
At the same time a cruel famine had prostrated a city named Favianis,19 and the inhabitants believed that their only remedy would be by devout prayers to invite the man of God from the town of Comagenis. He foreknew that they would come to him, and was moved by the Lord to go with them. When he had come thither, he began to exhort the people of the city, saying, "By the fruits of repentance ye shall be able to be freed from so great a calamity of hunger." While they were profiting by such instructions, most blessed Severinus learned by divine revelation that a certain widow, Procula by name, had concealed much produce of the fields. He called her before the people, and vehemently rebuked her. "Daughter of most noble parents," he said, "why dost thou make thyself the handmaid of avarice and stand forth the slave of covetousness, which is, as the apostle teaches, idolatry?20 Lo, the Lord in his compassion hath regard for his servants; and thou shalt not have any use for thine ill-gotten wealth, except to cast into the stream of the Danube the corn too long withheld, and so to exhibit to fishes the humanity which thou hast |34 denied to men! Wherefore aid thyself rather than the poor from those things which thou yet thinkest to keep, while Christ hungers." 21 When she heard these sayings, the woman was filled with great fear and trembling; and began willingly to expend her hoards for the poor.
Not long after, there unexpectedly appeared at the bank of the Danube a vast number of boats from the Raetias, laden with great quantities of merchandise, which had been hindered for many days by the thick ice of the river Aenus.22 When at last God's command had loosed the ice, they brought down an abundance of food to the famine-stricken. Then all began to praise God with uninterrupted devotion, as the bestower of unhoped relief; for they had expected to perish, wasted by the long famine, and they acknowledged that manifestly the boats had come out of due season, loosed from the ice and frost by the prayers of the servant of God.23 |35
CHAPTER IV.
At the same time barbarian robbers made an unexpected plundering incursion, and led away captive all the men and cattle they found without the walls. Then many of the citizens flocked weeping to the man of God, recounted to him the destructive calamity that had come upon them, and showed him evidences of the recent rapine.
But he straitly questioned Mamertinus, then a tribune, who afterwards was ordained bishop, whether he had with him any armed men with whom to institute an energetic pursuit of the robbers. Mamertinus replied, "I have soldiers, a very few. But I dare not contend with such a host of enemies. However, if thou commandest it, venerable father, though we lack the aid of weapons yet we believe that through thy prayers we shall be victorious." And the servant of God said, " Even if thy soldiers are unarmed, they shall now be armed from the enemy. For neither numbers nor fleshly courage is required, when everything proves that God is our champion. Only in the name of the Lord advance swiftly, advance confidently. For when God in his compassion goes before, the weakest shall seem the bravest. The Lord shall fight for you,24 and ye shall be silent. Then make haste; and this one thing observe above everything, to conduct unharmed into my presence those of the barbarians whom thou shalt take." |36
Then they went forth. At the second milestone, by a brook which is called Tiguntia, they came upon the foe. Some of the robbers escaped by hasty flight, abandoning their weapons. The soldiers bound the rest and brought them captive to the servant of God, as he had commanded. He freed them from chains, refreshed them with food and drink, and briefly addressed them. "Go," he said, "and command your confederates not to dare to approach this place again in their lust for booty. For the judgment and retribution of heaven shall straightway punish them, since God rights for his servants, whom his supernal power is wont so to protect that hostile missiles do not inflict wounds upon them, but rather furnish them with arms." Then the barbarians were sent away; and he rejoiced over the miracles of Christ, and promised that through Christ's compassion Favianis should have no further experience of hostile pillage; only let neither prosperity nor adversity withdraw the citizens from the work of God.
Then Saint Severinus withdrew into a more remote spot, which was called Ad Vineas, where a small cell contented him.25 But he was compelled by a divine revelation to return to Favianis;26 so that, though the |37 quiet of his cell was dear to him, he yet obeyed the commands of God and built a monastery not far from the city.27 There he began to instruct great numbers in the sacred way of life, training the souls of his hearers rather by deeds than by words.28 He often |38 withdrew, indeed, to a solitary habitation, called by the neighbors Burgum, a mile from Favianis, that he might avoid the throngs of men that kept coming to him, and cleave to God in uninterrupted prayer. But the more he desired to inhabit solitude, the more was he warned by frequent revelations not to deny his presence to the afflicted peoples.
And so day by day his merit grew, and the fame of his virtues increased, and this spread far and wide, and was extended by the marks of celestial favor conferred upon him. For good things cannot be concealed, since, according to the words of the Saviour, neither can a candle be concealed under a bushel, nor a city that is set on a hill be hid.29
Among the other great gifts which the Saviour had bestowed upon him stood out the gift of abstinence. He subdued his flesh by innumerable fasts, teaching that the body, if nourished with too abundant food, will straightway bring destruction upon the soul. He wore no shoes whatever. So at midwinter, which in those regions is a time of cruel, numbing cold, he gave a remarkable proof of endurance by being always willing to walk barefoot. A well-known proof of the terrible cold is afforded by the Danube, which is often so solidly frozen by the fierce frost that it affords a secure crossing even for carts.30 Yet he whom the |39 grace of God had elevated by such virtues was wont to make acknowledgment with utmost humility, and to say, "Think not that what ye see is of my merit. It is rather an example for your salvation. Let the foolhardiness of man cease. Let the pride of exaltation be restrained. That we can do anything good, we are chosen; as the apostle 31 saith, 'He hath chosen us before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him.'32 Pray rather in my behalf that the gifts of the Saviour to me may serve not for greater condemnation, but for increase of |40 justification." This and the like he was wont to declare, weeping. Thus he taught men humility by his wondrous example. Standing on the secure foundation of this virtue, he shone with so great a splendor of the divine gift that even the very enemies of the church, the heretics, honored him with most reverent courtesy.
CHAPTER V.
The king of the Rugii, Flaccitheus,33 began to feel himself unsteady on the throne at the very commencement of his reign. The Goths in Lower Pannonia were violently hostile to him, and he was alarmed by their innumerable multitude. Therefore in his perils he asked counsel of most blessed Severinus as of a heavenly oracle. Once he came to him in exceeding confusion, and declared with tears that he had asked of the princes of the Goths a passage to Italy, and |41 that, as they had denied this request, he did not doubt that they would put him to death. Then Flaccitheus received this reply from the man of God: "If the one Catholic faith united us, thou oughtest rather to consult me concerning eternal life;34 but since thou art |42 anxious only over present safety, which is of common concern to us both, hear my instruction. Be not troubled by the multitude of the Goths or by their enmity. They shall soon depart and leave thee secure, and thou shalt reign in the prosperity which thou hast desired. Only do not neglect the warnings of my humility. Let it not irk thee to seek peace even with the least; never lean upon thine own strength. 'Cursed be the man,' saith the Scripture, 'that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord.'35 Learn therefore to beware of snares, not to lay them: and thou shalt die in thy bed 36 with a peaceful end." |43
As Flaccitheus, encouraged by this oracle, was joyfully departing, a message was brought to him that a band of plundering barbarians had taken captive some of the Rugii. Straightway he sent to the man of God to ask his counsel. Severinus, by revelation of the Lord, forewarned Flaccitheus with holy exhortations not to follow the robbers. "If thou follow them," he said, "thou wilt be slain. Take heed; cross not the stream; be not taken unawares and overcome by the triple ambush which has been prepared for thee! For speedily a trusty messenger will come, who shall inform thee concerning all these matters." Then two of the captives, fleeing from the camp of the enemy, related in order those things which the most blessed man had foretold by revelation of Christ. So the hostile ambush came to naught, and Flaccitheus was prospered more and more, and ended his days in peace and tranquillity.
CHAPTER VI.
Now after this one of the Rugii suffered incredible pain from gout for twelve years, and lost all use of his limbs. His intolerable torments were so long continued that they became well known to the neighbors on every side. So at last, when divers remedies availed nothing, his mother, a widow, put her son in a cart, and having brought him to the saint, laid him down in his desperate sickness at the door of the |44 monastery, and prayed with many tears that her only son might be restored to her whole.
But the man of God, perceiving that great things were demanded of him, and moved by her weeping, said: "Why am I oppressed by a deceitful fancy? Why am I thought to be able to do what I cannot? I have no power to accomplish such great things. Yet I give my judgment as one that hath obtained mercy of God." 37 Then he charged the woman that she should bestow something upon the poor, according to her power. Without delay she quickly took off the clothing which she wore, and was hastening to divide it among the needy. When the man of God heard this, he marvelled at her ardor, and again charged her that she should clothe herself with her garments. "When thy son," he said, "has been healed by the Lord and goes with thee, then shalt thou fulfill thy vows."
So he set a fast of a few days, as was his wont, and poured forth prayers to God; and straightway healed the sick man, and sent him home whole, walking without aid.
Afterwards, when the man was present at the crowded weekly market, he exhibited the miracle, and astounded all who saw him. For some said, "Look, it is he, whose whole body was dissolved in corruption"; while as others absolutely denied that it was he, a friendly contention arose. |45
Now from that time when health was restored to the man who had been thought incurable, the whole nation of the Rugii resorted to the servant of God, and began to render grateful obedience, and to ask help for their diseases. Likewise many of other races, to which the fame of so great a miracle had come, desired to see the soldier of Christ.38 With the same reverence, even before this event, some barbarians, on their way to Italy, turned aside with a view to gaining his benediction.
CHAPTER VII.
Among such visitants was Odoacer, later king of Italy, then a tall youth, meanly clad. While he stood, stooping that his head might not touch the roof of the lowly cell, he learned from the man of God that he was to win renown. For as the young man bade him |46 farewell, "Go forth!" said Severinus, "Go forth to Italy! Now clad in wretched hides, thou shalt soon distribute rich gifts to many."
CHAPTER VIII.
King Feletheus, sometimes called Feva, son of Flaccitheus, mentioned above, imitated his father's diligence, and before the commencement of his reign began to make frequent visits to the saint. His wife, Giso by name, a dangerous and wicked woman,39 always drew him back from the healing works of mercy. Among the other pollutions of her iniquity, she even attempted to rebaptize certain Catholics.40 But when her husband, out of his reverence for Saint Severinus, did not consent, she incontinently abandoned her sacrilegious purpose. Yet she oppressed the Romans with a heavy hand, and even ordered some to be removed beyond the Danube. For one day she came to a village near Favianis, and commanded that certain ones should be brought to her across the Danube to be condemned to the most degrading offices of slavery. The man of God sent to her and asked that she let them go. But she, her woman's anger kindled to a white heat, replied with a message of the greatest |47 rudeness. "Pray for thyself," she said, "servant of God, lurking in thy cell! Leave me to issue concerning my servants such orders as I please."
When the man of God received this answer, he said, "I put my trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. She shall be compelled by necessity to do that which her perverse inclination has despised."
Even so the swift stroke followed which cast down her haughty spirit. For there were certain goldsmiths, barbarians, shut up and straitly guarded that they might fashion ornaments for the king and queen. On the same day on which the queen had spurned the servant of God, the little son of King Feletheus, Fredericus by name, moved by childish curiosity, went in among them. Then the goldsmiths put a sword at the child's breast, saying that if any one should attempt to approach them without the safeguard of an oath, they would first run through the little prince, and afterwards slay themselves; since, worn out by toil and confinement, they were utterly desperate. When this came to the ears of the cruel and ungodly queen, she rent her garments for grief, and cried aloud, "O Severinus, servant of the Lord, thus are the insults I have offered avenged by thy God! With profuse prayers thou hast called down vengeance upon my scorn, that thou might be avenged in my offspring!" So, running to and fro, with manifold contrition and pitiable lamentation, she acknowledged that she was smitten by this blow in recompense for the crime of scorn which she had committed |48 against the servant of God. And she instantly dispatched horsemen to seek his pardon; and sent back the Romans whom that very day she had removed, and interceding for whom Severinus had been visited with her scorn. The goldsmiths received the surety of an oath, released the child, and were at the same time themselves released.
When he heard these things, the most reverent servant of Christ returned unbounded thanks to the Creator: who doth sometimes postpone answering prayer, in order that with the increase of faith, hope, and love he may grant greater blessings than are asked. For the omnipotence of the Saviour brought it to pass that when the cruel woman subjected the free to slavery, she was compelled to restore the slaves to liberty.
When these wonders had been accomplished, the queen forthwith hastened with her husband to the servant of God, and showed him her son, who, she acknowledged, had been rescued by his prayers from the brink of death. And she promised that she would never again resist his commands.
CHAPTER IX.
Not only was the servant of God endowed with the gift of prophecy, but also his diligence in redeeming captives was great. For he applied himself with eagerness to the task of restoring to their native liberty those oppressed by the sway of the barbarians. |49
Meanwhile he instructed a certain man, whom with wife and children he had redeemed, to cross the Danube, and seek out an unknown man at the weekly market of the barbarians. Divine revelation had shown him the man so clearly that he told even his stature and the color of his hair, his features, and the fashion of his clothing, and showed in what part of the market the messenger was to find him. He added that whatever the person, when found, should say to the messenger, the latter, returning in all haste, should report to him.
So the messenger departed, and to his astonishment found everything even as the man of God had foretold. He was amazed to find the man Severinus had described; who then questioned him, saying, "Thinkest thou that I can find someone to conduct me to the man of God, whose fame is everywhere spread abroad? I will pay what price he wishes. For long have I importuned the holy martyrs, whose relics I bear, that sometime my unworthiness may be freed from this service, which hitherto I have maintained not out of rash presumption but by pious necessity." Then the messenger of the man of God made himself known to him. Severinus received with due honor the relics of Saint Gervasius and Saint Protasius the martyrs,41 placed them in the church which he had built within the monastery, and committed them to |50 the care of the priests. In that place he assembled the relics of vast numbers of martyrs; but he always acquired them on the strength of a previous revelation, for he knew that the adversary often creeps in 42 under the guise of sanctity.43
He was asked to accept the honorable office of bishop. But he closed the matter with a determined refusal. It was enough for him, he said, that, withdrawn from his beloved solitude, he had come by divine direction to that province to live among the pressing, crowding throngs. Nevertheless he wished to give a pattern to the monks, and urged them to follow earnestly in the steps of the sainted fathers, and thence to gain instruction in holy conduct. They must strive, he admonished them, that he who hath forsaken parents and the world look not back and desire the allurements of worldly display which he had sought to escape. On this point he referred to the |51 terrible example of Lot's wife.44 He admonished likewise that the incentives to lusts must be mortified in the fear of the Lord; and declared that the fires of sensual delights cannot be conquered, except through the grace of God they be quenched in the fountain of tears.
CHAPTER X.
There was a janitor45 at the monastery church, Maurus by name, whom Saint Severinus had redeemed from the hands of the barbarians. One day the man of God warned him, saying, "Take heed to-day not to go away anywhere: otherwise thou shalt be in imminent peril." But the janitor, contrary to the warning of the great father, and persuaded by a |52 layman, went out at midday to gather fruit 46 at the second milestone from Favianis. Presently he and the layman were made captives by barbarians and carried across the Danube. In that hour the man of God, reading in his cell, suddenly closed the book, and said, "Seek Maurus speedily!" When the janitor was nowhere found, Severinus crossed the streams of the Danube in all haste, and hurried after the robbers, whom the people called Scamarae.47 Stricken with awe by his reverend presence, they humbly restored the captives whom they had taken.
CHAPTER XI.
While the upper towns of Riverside Noricum yet stood, and hardly a castle48 escaped the attacks of the barbarians, the fame and reputation of Saint Severinus shone so brightly that the castles vied with each other |53 in inviting his company and protection; believing that no misfortune would happen to them in his presence. This came to pass not without the aid of divine grace, that all might stand in awe of his commands, as of heavenly oracles, and be armed for good works through his example.
Moreover the holy man, summoned by the prayers of the vicinage, came to a castle named Cucullis,49 and there a mighty miracle was wrought, which I cannot pass by in silence. We heard the amazing story from Marcianus, a citizen of the same town, later our priest. A part of the populace of Cucullis continued to practise abominable sacrifices at a certain spot.50 When he learned of this sacrilege, the |54 man of God addressed the people in many discourses. He persuaded the priests of the place to enjoin a three' days' fast; and he instructed that waxen tapers should be brought from each house, and that everyone should fasten his taper with his own hand to the wall of the church. Then, when the customary psalm-singing was completed, and the hour of the sacrifice arrived, the man of God exhorted the priests and deacons that with all alacrity of heart they should join him in prayer to their common Lord; that the Lord might show the light of his knowledge to distinguish those guilty of sacrilege. So while he was praying with them at great length, weeping much, and on his knees, the greater part of the tapers, those namely which the faithful had brought, were suddenly kindled by divine agency. The rest remained unlighled, being the tapers of those who had been polluted by the aforesaid sacrilege, but, wishing to remain hidden, had denied it. Thus those who had placed them were revealed by the divine test; and straightway they cried out, and by their behavior sufficiently betrayed the secrets of their hearts. Convicted by the witness of their tapers, and by open confession, they bore witness to their own sacrilegious acts.
O merciful power of the Creator, enkindling tapers and souls! The fire was lighted in the tapers, and shone with reflected light in the emotions! The visible light melted into flames the substance of the wax, but the invisible light dissolved the hearts of the |55 penitents into tears! Who would believe, that afterward those whom the error of sacrilege had ensnared were more distinguished for good works than those whose tapers had been divinely lighted?
CHAPTER XII.
At another time, in the territory of the same castle, swarms of locusts had settled, consuming the crops, and destroying everything with their noxious bite.51 Therefore, being smitten by this pest, the priests and the other inhabitants promptly betook themselves with urgent prayers to Saint Severinus, saying: "That this great and horrible plague may be removed, we ask the tried suffrage of thy prayers, which by the recent great miracle of the tapers lighted from heaven we have seen to avail much before the Lord." He answered them with great piety. "Have ye not read," he said, "what the divine authority commanded a sinful people through the prophet: 'Turn ye to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping,' 52 and a little after, 'sanctify a fast,' he saith, |56 'call a solemn assembly, gather the congregation,' 53 and the rest which follows? Therefore fulfill by meet works what ye teach, that ye may readily escape the evil of the present time. Let no one go out to his field, as if concerned to oppose the locusts by human effort; lest the divine wrath be yet more provoked." Without delay all gathered together in the church, and each in order sang psalms as was their custom. Every age and sex, even such as could not form the words, offered prayer to God in tears, alms were continually given, whatever good works the present necessity demanded were fulfilled, as the servant of God had instructed.
While all were occupied with exertions of this sort, a certain very poor man forsook the work of God that was begun, to look after his own field of standing corn, a little plot which stood among the sowings of the others. And having gone out, and all day anxiously and diligently driven away, so far as he could, the threatening cloud of locusts, he then went to the church to partake of the holy communion. But his little patch of corn, surrounded by his neighbors' many crops, was devoured by the dense swarm of locusts.
The locusts were that night by divine command removed from those territories: a proof of the great power of faithful prayer. So when at dawn the violator and scorner of the holy work again went forth |57 anxiously to his field, he found it swept perfectly bare by the baleful work of the locusts, while all the sowings round about were untouched. Utterly amazed, he returned with doleful outcries to the castle. When he had published what had happened, all went out to see the miracle; where the ravages of the locusts had marked out as if by a ruled line the corn plot of this contumacious fellow. Then he cast himself at their feet and with lamentations begged for the pardon of his sin by the aid of their intercession. Wherefore the man of God took occasion to give a warning, and taught all that they should learn to obey the Lord omnipotent, whose commands even the locusts observe.
But the poor man, weeping, declared that, for the rest, he could obey the commands, if but a hope of wherewithal he might live had been left him. Then the man of God addressed the others. "It is just," he said, " that he who through his own punishment hath given you an example of humility and obedience should of your liberality receive sustenance for the present year." So the poor man, both rebuked and enriched by a collection from the faithful, learned what loss unbelief inflicts, and what benefit God's bounty bestows upon his worshippers. |58
CHAPTER XIII.
Near a town called Juvao,54 they went into the church one summer day to celebrate the evening service, but found no fire for lighting the lamps. Unable to elicit a blaze in the usual way, by striking stones together, they were so long delayed in striking iron and stone 55 that the time of the evening service was passing. But the man of God kneeled on the ground and prayed earnestly; and soon, in full view of three clerics who were present at the time, the taper which Saint Severinus held in his hand was lighted.56 By its light the sacrifice of eventide was completed in the customary manner, and they returned thanks to God in all things. Although he wished those who were present at this miracle to keep the fact secret, as in the case of |59 many mighty works which were performed through him by God's doing, yet the splendor of so great virtue could not be hid, but surpassingly kindled others to a great faith.
CHAPTER XIV.
It happened that a certain woman of Juvao was vexed by long continued sickness and lay half-dead, and the burial was already prepared. Her relatives, in mournful silence, repressed funereal lamentations at the voice of faith, and laid the sick woman's now almost lifeless body at the door of the saint's cell. When the man of God saw the entrance closed by the bed set against it, he said to them, "Why have ye done this? " They answered, "That by thy prayer the dead may be restored to life." Then he said, bursting into tears, "Why do ye demand the great from the little? I know myself utterly unworthy. O that I may deserve to find pardon for my sins! " They said, "We believe that if thou pray, she will live again." Then Saint Severinus straightway wept, and cast himself down in prayer; and when the woman forthwith arose, he addressed them: "Do not attribute to my works any of these things; for the vehemence of your faith hath merited this grace, and this cometh to pass in many places and nations, that it may be known that there is one God, who doeth wonders in heaven and on earth, calling forth the lost unto salvation, and bringing back the dead to life.'' The woman, her |60 health restored, on the third day began to labor with her own hands in the fields, after the custom of the province.
CHAPTER XV.
Quintanis 57 was a municipality of Raetia Secunda,58 situated on the bank of the Danube. Near by on the other side ran a small river named Businca. Often the Businca, when swollen in time of flood by the overflow of the Danube, covered some spaces of the castle, because the latter stood on the plain. Moreover the inhabitants of this place had built outside the walls a wooden church which overhung the water, and was supported by posts driven into the riverbed and by forked props. In place of a flooring it had a slippery platform of boards, which were covered by the overflowing water whenever it rose above the banks. |61 Now through the faith of the people of Quintanis Saint Severinus had been invited thither. Coming at a time of drought, he asked why the boards were seen bare and uncovered. The neighbors answered that the frequent inundations of the river always washed away anything that was spread on the boards. But he said, "In Christ's name, let a pavement be now laid upon the boards; from henceforth ye shall see the river restrained by the command of heaven." So when the pavement was finished, he went down into a boat, took an axe, and, after offering prayer, struck the posts; and, having cut the sign of the venerable cross, said to the water of the river, "My Lord Jesus Christ doth not permit thee to overpass this sign of the cross." From that time, therefore, when the river after its wont rose mountain high in floods and encompassed the neighboring country as of yore, it was lower than the site of the church, in such wise that it never actually overpassed the sign of the holy cross which the man of God had marked.
CHAPTER XVI.
Moreover it happened that there died a highly venerable priest of Quintanis, Silvinus by name. The bier was placed in the church, and, according to the custom, they passed the night watching and singing psalms. When the dawn was already breaking, the man of God asked all the weary priests and deacons |62 to go away for a little while, that after the toil of watching they might refresh themselves somewhat by sleep. When they had gone out, the man of God asked the doorkeeper, Maternus by name, whether all had departed as he had bidden. When Maternus answered that all had gone out, "Not so," he said, "but there is a woman hiding here." Then the janitor of the church explored the walls a second time, and assured him that no one remained within them. But the soldier of Christ, the Lord revealing it to him, said, "Some one is lurking here." So the doorkeeper searched more diligently for the third time, and found that a certain consecrated virgin had concealed herself in a very obscure place. Therefore the doorkeeper reproved her: "Why didst thou think that thy presence could be hid when the servant of God was here?" She answered, "Love of piety persuaded me to do it: for when I saw all driven out, I thought within myself that the servant of Christ would invoke the divine majesty, and raise up this dead man." Then the virgin departed, and the man of God, bowing in prayer together with a priest, a deacon, and two janitors, prayed with many tears that the supernal power might reveal a work of its wonted majesty. Then, as the priest ended the prayer, the saint thus addressed the corpse: "In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, holy priest Silvinus, speak with thy brothers!" But when the dead man opened his eyes, the man of God with difficulty persuaded those present to restrain their joy and keep silent. And again he |63 speaketh unto him, "Shall we ask the Lord that he deign to grant thee still in this life to us, his servants?" But he saith, "By the Lord I adjure thee, let me not be held here longer, and cheated of the everlasting rest in the possession of which I have seen myself." And immediately, when he had spoken, the dead man was at rest.59
Now this event was so concealed at the earnest request of Saint Severinus, that no one knew of it until after his death. Yet I learned what I have reported from the account of Marcus the subdeacon and Maternus the janitor. For the priest and the deacon, witnesses of this great miracle, are known to have died before the saint, to whom they had sworn to reveal to no one that which they had seen.
CHAPTER XVII.
Not only did the grace of Christ make Saint Severinus rich in such gifts, but also from his innate goodness he took so great care of captives and the needy that almost all the poor through all the towns and castles |64 were fed by his activity. To these he ministered with such cheerful concern, that he believed himself to be filled or to abound in all good things only when he saw that the needy had their bodily wants supplied.
Though he himself was not in the least enfeebled by repeated week-long fasts, yet he felt himself afflicted by the hunger of the unfortunate. When they saw his pious largess to the poor, great numbers, although they were straitened with hunger under the harsh sway of the barbarians, faithfully gave the poor the tithes of their crops. Though this commandment is familiar to all from the law,60 yet these observed it with |65 grateful devotion, as though they were hearing it given by the lips of an angel present among them. The cold, too, was felt by the man of God only in the nakedness of the poor. Indeed, he had received from God the special gift of remaining vigorous and active, hardened by his wonderful abstinence, in a land of bitter cold.
We spoke of tithes for the support of the poor. He was wont to send letters, urging the communities of Noricum 61 also to give them. This became their custom, and once, when they had sent to him a quantity of clothing to be distributed, he asked the attendants whether the town of Tiburnia62 was sending a like contribution. They answered that men from that place also would soon arrive. But the man of God signified that they should not come, and foretold that the offering which they had delayed must be made to the barbarians. Accordingly, not long after the citizens of Tiburnia were beleaguered by the Goths, and fought them with varying fortune; and under the |66 terms of peace, which they obtained with difficulty, they presented to the enemy, among other things, the largess, already collected, which they had delayed to send to the servant of God.63
CHAPTER XVIII.
Likewise the citizens of the town of Lauriacum,64 in spite of many warning exhortations from Saint Severinus, had delayed offering to the poor the tithes of their crops. They were pinched with hunger, and the yellow of the ripening harvest showed that relief was at hand. But when a destructive rust unexpectedly appeared, and was on the point of damaging the crops, they immediately came and cast themselves down before Saint Severinus, and acknowledged the punishment of their stubbornness. But the soldier of |67 Christ comforted the feeble ones with spiritual words, saying, "Had ye offered tithes for the poor, not only would ye enjoy an everlasting reward, but ye would also be able to abound in present comforts. But since ye rebuke your sin by your own confession, I promise you, by the goodness of the Lord, that this mighty rust shall cause no damage whatever; only let not your faith waver any more." This promise rendered the citizens from that time on more ready to pay the tithes. Then, as was his wont, he urged that a fast be proclaimed. When this had ended, a gentle rain relieved from danger the harvest of which they had despaired.65
CHAPTER XIX.
Batavis 66 is a town lying between two rivers, the Aenus and the Danube. There Saint Severinus had established after his wonted fashion a cell for a few monks, because he himself not infrequently came thither at the request of the citizens; particularly on |68 account of the constant incursions of the Alamanni, whose king, Gibuldus, greatly honored and loved him.
Now on a certain occasion Gibuldus came eagerly to see him. That the king might not encumber Ba-tavis by his visit, the saint went out to meet him, and addressed the king with so great firmness, that Gibuldus began to tremble violently before him, and declared to his armies, as he withdrew, that never, in war or in any peril, had he been smitten with such trembling. And when he gave to the servant of God his choice, to give what command he would, the most pious teacher asked that the king should pay attention rather to his own best interests, restrain his nation from laying waste the Roman territory, and set free without ransom the captives his followers had made.
Then the king appointed that Severinus should direct some one from his own followers to bring this work more speedily to completion. Forthwith Deacon Amantius was dispatched, and followed in the king's path; but, though he watched before his gates many days, he could not secure an audience. As he was turning back, very sorrowful because his appointed task had not been accomplished, a man appeared in the form of Saint Severinus, who accosted him menacingly, and, as he stood in utter terror, bade him follow. As he followed in fear and excitement, he came to the king's door; and immediately the guide that had gone before him vanished from his wondering eyes. But the king's messenger asked the deacon whence he came and what he wished. He told his |69 errand briefly, gave letters to the king, and received others from him, and returned home. He conveyed back about seventy captives, and moreover brought the pleasing promise of the king, that when he had diligently searched through the province, he would send back all the captives that were to be found there. Later Saint Lucillus the priest was selected to attend to this matter, and recovered from captivity a great number of unfortunates.
CHAPTER XX.
So long as the Roman dominion lasted, soldiers were maintained in many towns at the public expense to guard the boundary wall.67 When this custom ceased, the squadrons of soldiers and the boundary wall were blotted out together. The troop at Batavis, however, held out.68 Some soldiers of this troop had gone to Italy to fetch the final pay to their comrades, and no one knew that the barbarians had slain them on the way. One day, as Saint Severinus was reading in his cell, he suddenly closed the book and began to sigh greatly and to weep. He ordered the bystanders to |70 run out with haste to the river, which he declared was in that hour besprinkled with human blood; and straightway word was brought that the bodies of the soldiers mentioned above had been brought to land by the current of the river.
CHAPTER XXI.
One Paulinus, a priest, had come to Saint Severinus, whose fame was extending.69 He tarried some days in the company of the saint. When he wished to return home, Severinus said to him, "Hasten, venerable priest; for, beloved, the episcopal dignity shall speedily adorn thee, even if, as we believe, thou opposest the desire of the peoples." And presently, when he returned to his own country, the word of the prophet was fulfilled unto him. For the citizens of Tiburnia, which is the metropolis of Noricum, compelled him to assume the preeminence of the highest priesthood. |71
CHAPTER XXII.
For a church beyond the walls of Batavis, in a place named Bojotro,70 across the Aenus, where Severinus had built a cell for a few monks, relics of martyrs were sought. When the priests were accordingly pushing themselves forward that they might be sent to fetch relics,71 Saint Severinus uttered this warning: "Though all wrought by mortals' toil passeth away, yet most swiftly must these buildings above others be abandoned." And he said that they ought to make no effort for relics of the saints, because the blessing of Saint John would be brought to them without their asking.
Meantime the citizens of Batavis approached the saint, and besought him to go to Feba, prince of the Rugii, to ask permission for them to trade. He said to them, "The time of this town is at hand, that it remain deserted like the rest of the upper castles and uninhabited. Why, then, is it necessary to provide merchandise for places where in future no merchant can appear?" They replied that he ought not to |72 mock them, but to aid them with his wonted direction. A certain priest, filled with the spirit of Satan, added, "Go, saint, I beg, go quickly, that for a little space thy departure may give us rest from fastings and vigils." At this saying the man of God was oppressed with great weeping, because a priest, in public, had burst forth in ridiculous gabbling. For open scurrility is a witness of hidden sins. When the saint was asked by the brethren why he was weeping thus, "I see," he said, "a heavy blow that in my absence shall straightway befall this place; and, with groaning I must say it, the shrine of Christ shall so overflow with human blood, that even this place must be desecrated." For he was speaking in the baptistery. Therefore he went down the Danube by ship a hundred miles and more to his old monastery, larger than the others, near the walls of Favianis. As he was going down the river, Hunimund,72 accompanied by a |73 few barbarians, attacked the town of Batavis, as the saint had foretold, and, while almost all the inhabitants were occupied in the harvest, put to death forty men of the town who had remained for a guard. The priest who had spoken sacrilegious words in the baptistery against the servant of Christ fled for refuge to the same place, and was slain by the pursuing barbarians. For in vain did the offender against God and enemy of truth seek protection in the place where he had so impudently transgressed.
CHAPTER XXIII.
Once while Saint Severinus was reading the Gospel in the monastery at Favianis, after offering prayer he arose, ordered a skiff to be instantly prepared for him, and said to the astonished bystanders, "Blessed be the name of the Lord; we must go to meet the relics of the sainted martyrs." They crossed the Danube without delay, and found a man sitting on the farther bank of the river, who besought them with many prayers to conduct him to the servant of God, whose fame was widespread, and to whom he had long wished to come. The servant of Christ was pointed out to |74 him; and immediately and as a suppliant he offered him the relics of Saint John the Baptist, which he had kept by him for a long time. The servant of God received the relics with the veneration they deserved; and so the blessing of Saint John was bestowed unasked upon the church, as he had foretold, and Severinus consecrated the relics by the hands of the priests.
CHAPTER XXIV.
There was a town called Joviaco,73 twenty miles and more distant from Batavis. Thither the man of God, impressed as usual by a revelation, sent a singer of the church, Moderatus by name; admonishing that all the inhabitants should quit that place without delay. For imminent destruction threatened them if they despised his commands.74 Some were in doubt over so great a presage, while others did not believe it at all. Therefore yet again he sent one unto them, a certain |75 man of Quintanis, to whom he said, weeping, "Make haste! Declare unto them that if they stay there this night, they shall without delay be made captives!" He bade that Saint Maximianus too, a priest of spiritual life, should be urgently warned; that he at least, leaving the scorners behind, through the compassion of heaven might escape. The servant of God said that he was in great sorrow over him, lest haply he might postpone obedience to the saving command, and so be exposed to the threatening destruction. Accordingly the messenger of the man of God went and fulfilled his orders; and when the others in their unbelief hesitated, he did not tarry a moment, though the priest strove to keep him and wished to extend to him the courtesy of his hospitality. That night the Heruli made a sudden, unexpected onslaught, sacked the town, and led most of the people into captivity. They hanged the priest Maximianus on a cross. When the news came, the servant of God grieved sorely that his warnings had been disregarded.
CHAPTER XXV.
Later a man from Noricum, Maximus by name, came to visit the servant of God, as was his frequent custom. Pursuant to their established friendship, he tarried some days in the monastery of the saint. Then Severinus informed him by his oracles that his country was about to experience a sudden and heavy disaster. Maximus took a letter addressed to Saint |76 Paulinus the bishop, and in all haste returned home. Accordingly Paulinus, prepared by the contents of the letter, wrote to all the castles of his diocese, and strongly admonished them to meet the coming mischief and disaster by a three days' fast, as the letter of the man of God had indicated. They obeyed these commands, and the fast was ended, when lo, a vast multitude of the Alamanni, minions of Death, laid everything waste. But the castles felt no danger. The trusty cuirass of fasting, and praiseworthy humility of heart, with the aid of the prophet, had armed them boldly against the fierceness of the enemy.
CHAPTER XXVI.
Later, a leper from the territory of Milan came to Saint Severinus, attracted by his fame. When he prayed and begged to be made whole, Severinus decreed a fast, and commended the leper to his monks; and through the work of God's grace he was forthwith cleansed. When he had been made whole and was advised to return to his country, he threw himself at the feet of the saint, imploring that he be not compelled to go home again; desiring that he might escape from the leprosy of sin as he had from that of the flesh, and might close his life in the same place with a praiseworthy end. The man of God greatly admired his pious purpose, and with fatherly command instructed a few monks to practise frequent |77 fasts with him and to continue in uninterrupted prayer, in order that the Lord might grant to him those things which were meet. Fortified by so great remedies, within the space of two months the man was freed from the fetters of mortal life.
CHAPTER XXVII.
At the same time the inhabitants of the town of Quintanis, exhausted by the incessant incursions of the Alamanni, left their own abodes and removed to the town of Batavis. But their place of refuge did not remain hidden from the Alamanni: wherefore the barbarians were the more inflamed, believing that they might pillage the peoples of two towns in one attack. But Saint Severinus applied himself vigorously to prayer, and encouraged the Romans in manifold ways by examples of salvation. He foretold that the present foes should indeed by God's aid be overcome; but that after the victory those who despised his admonitions should perish. Therefore the Romans in a body, strengthened by the prediction of the saint, and in the hope of the promised victory, drew up against the Alamanni in order of battle, fortified less with material arms than by the prayers of the saint. The Alamanni were overthrown in the conflict and fled. The man of God addressed the victors as follows. "Children, do not attribute the glory of the |78 present conflict to your own strength.75 Know that ye are now set free through the protection of God to the end that ye may depart hence within a little space of time, granted you as a kind of armistice. So gather together and go down with me to the town of Lauriacum." The man of God impressed these things upon them from the fullness of his piety. But when the people of Batavis hesitated to leave their native soil, he added, "Although that town also, whither we go, must be abandoned as speedily as possible before the inrushing barbarism, yet let us now in like manner depart from this place."
As he impressed such things upon their minds, most of the people followed him. A few indeed proved stubborn, nor did the scorners escape the hostile sword. For that same week the Thuringi stormed the town; and of those who notwithstanding the prohibition of the man of God remained there, a part were butchered, the rest led off into captivity and made to pay the penalty for their scorn.76 |79
CHAPTER XXVIII.
After the destruction of the towns on the upper course of the Danube, all the people who had obeyed the warnings of Saint Severinus removed into the town of Lauriacum. He warned them with incessant exhortations not to put trust in their own strength, but to apply themselves to prayers and fastings and almsgivings, and to be defended rather by the weapons of the spirit.
Moreover one day the man of God appointed that all the poor be gathered together in one church, that he might, as custom demanded, dispense oil to them: a commodity which in those places was brought to market only after a most difficult transport by traders. Accordingly a great throng of the needy assembled, as if for the sake of receiving the benediction. No doubt the presence of this fluid, a costly food, swelled |80 the throng and the number of applicants. When the saint had finished the prayer, and made the sign of the cross, he uttered as usual, while all listened, the word of Holy Writ, "Blessed be the name of the Lord." Then he began with his own hand to fill the measures of oil for the attendants who conveyed it, copying as a faithful servant his Lord, who came not to be ministered unto, but to minister.77 And, following in the way of the Saviour, he rejoiced that the substance was increased, which he poured out with his right hand, his left hand knowing not.78 When the oil-vessels of the poor were filled, the oil in the hands of the attendants was not diminished. Now while the bystanders silently wondered at so great a blessing of God, one of them, whose name was Pientissimus, in amazement and great fear cried out, "My Lord! This pot of oil increases, and overflows like a fountain!" So, its miraculous powers having been betrayed, the welcome fluid was withdrawn. Straightway the servant of Christ cried out and said, "Brother, what hast thou done? Thou hast hindered the advantage of many: may the Lord Jesus Christ pardon thee!" So once the widow woman burdened with debts was bidden by Elisha the prophet from the small quantity of oil which she had to fill vessels not a few. After she had done this, and asked for yet more vessels from her sons, when she heard that there was not a vessel more, straightway the oil stayed.79 |81
CHAPTER XXIX.
At the same time Maximus of Noricum, of whom we have made mention above, kindled by the warmth of his faith, at midwinter, when the roads of that region are closed by the numbing cold, hastened to come to Saint Severinus. It was an enterprise of rash temerity, or rather, as was afterwards manifest, of fearless devotion. He had hired many companions, to carry on their backs, for the benefit of the captives and the poor, a collection of clothing which the people of Noricum had piously given.80 So they set out, and attained the highest peaks of the Alps, where all night long the snow fell so thickly that it shut them in beneath the protecting shelter of a great tree, as a huge pit would inclose those who had fallen into it. And when they despaired utterly of their lives, since no aid (as they thought) was at hand, the leader of the companions saw in his sleep a vision of the man of God standing and saying unto him, "Fear not; complete your journey." They were instantly heartened by this revelation, and resumed their course, trusting in God rather than in the strength of their limbs; when suddenly by divine command a bear of monstrous size appeared at their side to show the way:81 though in |82 the winter time he usually hid in caves. He immediately disclosed the desired road, and for about two hundred miles, turning aside neither to the left nor to the right, showed a passable way. For he went just far enough ahead of them so that his fresh track broke out a path. So, leading through the desert wilderness, the beast did not forsake the men who were bringing relief to the needy, but with the utmost possible friendliness conducted them as far as human habitations. Then, having fulfilled his duty, he turned aside and departed: showing by the great service of his guidance what men ought to do for men, and how much love they ought to display, since here a savage beast showed the road to the despairing.
When the arrivals were announced to the servant of God, he said, "Blessed be the name of the Lord! Let them enter, to whom a bear hath opened a way for their coming." When they heard this they marvelled with exceeding great amazement that the man of God should tell that which had happened in his absence.
CHAPTER XXX.
The citizens of the town of Lauriacum and the fugitives from the upper castles appointed scouts to explore the suspected places, and guarded against the enemy, so far as by human care they could. The servant of God, instructed by divine inspiration, arranged beforehand with prophetic mind that they should bring inside the city wall all their meagre property, in order |83 that the foemen in their deadly foray, meeting with no human life, might be promptly forced by hunger to abandon their frightful and cruel designs. This he earnestly entreated for four days. When the fourth day already verged toward evening, he sent a monk, Valens by name, to Saint Constantius, bishop of the town,82 and said to the others who remained, "Set the customary guards at the walls tonight, and keep a stricter watch; and beware of a sudden and treacherous assault by the foe." They declared to him that the scouts saw absolutely nothing of the enemy. But the servant of Christ did not cease to forewarn the hesitant, and cried out with a loud voice, affirming that they would be taken captive that same night unless they faithfully obeyed his commands. He often repeated the words, "If I shall be proved a liar, stone me." So at last they were compelled to guard the walls.
At the beginning of the night they sang psalms, as they were wont, and afterwards the men gathered in great numbers and commenced their watch. Then a nearby haystack, accidentally fired by a porter's torch, illuminated, but did not burn the city. When this happened, every one howled and shouted, and the enemy concealed in the woods and forests were |84 terrified by the sudden brightness and the shouting, and, thinking themselves detected, remained quiet. Next morning they surrounded the city, and ran to and fro everywhere; but when they found no food, they seized the herd of cattle of a certain man who in the face of the prophecies of the servant of God had stubbornly scorned to secure his possessions, and withdrew.
Now when they were gone the citizens sallied forth from the gates, and found ladders lying not far from the walls. These the barbarians had made ready for the destruction of the city, and had thrown away when they were disturbed in the night by the shouting. Therefore the citizens of Lauriacum humbly besought pardon from the servant of Christ, confessing that their hearts were harder than stones. They recognized from these events that the loveliness of prophecy bloomed in the saint. Assuredly the disobedient populace would all have gone into captivity, had not the accustomed prayer of the man of God kept them free; for as James the apostle bears witness, "The continual prayer of a righteous man availeth much." 83
CHAPTER XXXI.
Feletheus, sometimes called Feva, king of the Rugii, hearing that from all the towns by the advice of the servant of God the remnants that had escaped the barbarian sword had gathered at Lauriacum, took an |85 army and came, purposing to bring them quickly into his own power and to lead them away and settle them in the towns, of which Favianis was one, that were tributary to him and near him, and were separated from the Rugii only by the Danube. Wherefore all were deeply disturbed, and with prayers went to Saint Severinus, that he might go forth to meet the king and moderate his purpose. All night Severinus hastened, and in the morning met him at the twentieth milestone from the city. The king, much alarmed by his arrival, averred that he was vastly distressed by the saint's fatiguing journey, and inquired the causes of his sudden visit. To whom thus answered the servant of God: "Peace be unto thee, most excellent king. I come to thee as ambassador of Christ, to beg compassion for the conquered. Reflect upon the grace, recall to mind the divine favors, of whose repeated aid thy father was sensible. Throughout the whole time of his reign he never ventured to take any step without my advice. He did not withstand my salutary admonitions; and from frequent successes he learned to recognize the great value of an obedient mind, and how greatly it profiteth victors not to be puffed up by their triumphs." And the king saith, "I will not suffer this people, for whom thou comest as a friendly intercessor, to be ruined by the cruel plundering of the Alamanni and Thuringi, or slaughtered by the sword, or reduced to slavery, when I have neighboring and tributary towns in which they ought to be established." The servant of Christ firmly answered him |86 as follows: "Was it thy bow or sword that delivered these men from the continual ravages of robbers? Were they not rather reserved by the favor of God, that they might be able for a short while to obey thee? Therefore, most excellent king, do not now reject my counsel. Commit these subjects to my guardian care, lest by the constraint of so great an army they be ruined rather than removed. For I trust in my Lord, that he, who hath made me a witness of their calamities, shall make me a suitable leader to conduct them to safety."
The king was appeased by these moderate representations, and forthwith went back with his army. Therefore the Romans whom Saint Severinus had received in his guardian care left Lauriacum, were amicably established in the towns, and lived in friendly alliance with the Rugii.84 But Severinus dwelt at Favianis in his old monastery, and ceased not to admonish the peoples and to foretell the future, declaring that all were to remove into a Roman province without any loss of liberty.
CHAPTER XXXII.
At about the same time King Odoacer addressed a friendly letter to Saint Severinus, and, mindful of that prophecy, by which of yore he had foretold that |87 he should become king, entreated him to choose whatsoever gift he might desire. In response to this august invitation, the saint asked that one Ambrose, who was living in exile, be pardoned. Odoacer joyfully obeyed his command.
Also, once when in the saint's presence many nobles were praising Odoacer with the adulation usual among men, Severinus asked on what king they were conferring such great commendations. They replied, "Odoacer." "Odoacer," he said, "safe between thirteen and fourteen"; meaning of course the years of his unchallenged sovereignty: and he added that they should live to see the speedy fulfillment of his prophecy.
CHAPTER XXXIII.
At the entreaty of the townspeople, among whom he had first won fame, Saint Severinus came to Comagenis. One of the nobles of King Feletheus had a son, a youth, who was wasted away by inveterate sickness and for whose burial preparations were already in progress. When the nobleman learned that Severinus was at Comagenis, he crossed the Danube and cast himself at his feet. Weeping, he said, "I believe, man of God, that thy entreaty can procure from heaven a swift recovery for my son." Then Severinus offered prayer. The boy, who had been brought to him half-dead, straightway arose whole, to the amazement of his father, and forthwith returned home in perfect health. |88
CHAPTER XXXIV.
Likewise a certain leper, Tejo by name, attracted by the virtues of Saint Severinus, came from a far country, asking to be cleansed through his prayer. So he was given the customary command, and bidden ceaselessly and with tears to implore God, the giver of all grace. Why say more? Through the prayers of the saint the leper was cleansed by the divine aid; as he altered his character for the better, he gained a change of color also; and he, and many others who knew of him, proclaimed far and wide the mighty works of the Eternal King.
CHAPTER XXXV.
Bonosus, by birth a barbarian, was a monk of Saint Severinus, and hung upon his words. He was much afflicted by weakness of the eyes, and desired that cure be afforded him through the prayers of the saint. He bore it ill that strangers and foreigners experienced the aid of healing grace, while no cure or help was tendered to him. The servant of God said unto him, "Son, it is not expedient for thee to have clear sight in the bodily eyes, and to prefer distinct vision by the eye of the flesh. Pray rather that thy inner sight may be quickened." Bonosus was instructed by these admonitions, and was eager to see with the heart rather than with the flesh. He gained a wonderful power of unwavering continuance in prayer. After |89 he had remained steadfastly for about forty years in the service of the monastery, he passed away in the same ardent faith in which he was converted.
CHAPTER XXXVI. 85
In Bojotro, a place mentioned above, the humble teacher perceived that three monks of his monastery were stained with horrid pride. When he had ascertained that each of them upon being visited with reproach was hardened in his sin, he prayed that the Lord should receive them into the adoption of sons, and deign to reprove them with the paternal lash. Before he had ended his tearful prayer, the three monks were in one and the same instant seized violently by the devil and tormented, and with cries confessed the stubbornness of their hearts.
Let it not seem to any one cruel or wrong, that men of this sort are delivered "unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh," as the blessed apostle teacheth, "that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus." 86 For Saint Ambrose, bishop of Milan, said that the slave of Stilicho, who was found to be the |90 author of forged letters, ought to be delivered unto Satan, that he might not dare to commit such crimes in the future; and at the same moment, while the word was yet in the bishop's mouth, the unclean spirit seized the slave and began to rend him.87 Sulpicius Severus, too, relates,88 on the authority of Postumianus, that a certain man, admirable for his great virtues and miracles, aiming to drive out from his heart the vanity of ostentation into which he had fallen, procured by entreaty "that power over him might be given the devil for five months, and he be made like those whom he himself had healed." And Sulpicius says, a little further on, that accordingly "he was seized by the devil, held in chains, and endured everything which those possessed by devils are wont to suffer; until, finally, in the fifth month he was cured, not merely from the devil, but (what he needed and desired more) from the fault."
So the man of God turned over the three monks to the brethren, and subjected them for forty days to the bitter remedy of fasting. When the days were fulfilled, he spake a prayer over them, and plucked them forth from the power of the devil, and bestowed upon them soundness not only of body but of mind. As a result of this event, the saint was held in enhanced awe and terror, and a greater fear of discipline possessed the rest.89 |91
CHAPTER XXXVII.
Marcianus the monk, who was afterward priest, and who preceded me in the headship of the monastery, was sent by Severinus to Noricum in company with Brother Renatus. As the third day was passing, the saint said to the brethren, "Pray, dearly beloved, for at this hour grievous tribulation is upon Marcianus and Renatus, from which nevertheless they shall be freed by Christ's aid." Then the monks straightway wrote down what he had said; and when many months later Marcianus and Renatus returned, and made known the day and hour of their peril, at which they had escaped the barbarians, these were found to be just as had been written down. |92
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
Also most blessed Severinus suddenly commanded one of the brethren, by name Ursus, to meet in advance a coming calamity by a strict fast of forty days, with abstinence from food, and lamentations, saying, "A bodily peril threatens thee, which through God's protection thou shalt avert by the remedy of a scanty diet of bread and water." So on the fortieth day a deadly pustule appeared on the arm of the fasting man, which he immediately showed to Severinus, approaching him as a suppliant. The holy servant of God said unto him, "Do not fear the crisis which was foretold thee forty days ago"; and straightway with his own hand made the sign of the cross over it; whereupon the fatal pustule vanished, to the amazement of the bystanders.
Let it suffice to have told of this one of his cures in his own household, that Ï may avoid the tediousness of a lengthy task. For often through the revelation of Christ he foretold the illnesses of his monks, and healed them through the same gifts by which he foresaw them.
CHAPTER XXXIX.
The spiritual teacher, continuing instant in prayer and fasting, dwelt not far from the cell of his disciples. With them he regularly completed the morning prayers, and the proper psalm-singing in the evening. |93 The remaining times of prayer he fulfilled in the little oratory in which he lived. In his seasons of prayer he was often strengthened by celestial oracles, and through the grace of God foretold many things that were to come. He knew the secrets of many things, and, when there was need, made them known, and provided remedies for each patient, according as the kind of sickness demanded. His bed was a single mohair rug on the floor of the oratory.90 Always, even while he slept, he wore the same garment.91 He never broke his fast before sunset except on an appointed festival.92 In Lent he was satisfied with one meal a |94 week, yet his countenance shone with the same cheerfulness. He wept over the sins of others as if they were his own, and helped to overcome them by such aid as he could give.
CHAPTER XL.
At last, after many struggles and long contests, Saint Severinus, through the revelation of God, perceived that he was about to pass from this world. He bade Feva, king of the Rugii, mentioned above, to come to him with his cruel wife Giso. He exhorted Feva, with salutary words, that in dealing with his subjects he should constantly bear in mind that he must render account to the Lord for the condition of his kingdom; and fearlessly added other admonitions. Then he stretched forth his hand, pointing to the king's breast, and reproachfully asked the queen, "Giso, which lovest thou the more, this soul, or gold and silver?" And when she answered that she prized her husband above all riches, the man of God in his wisdom continued, "Therefore cease to oppress the innocent, lest their affliction result in the |95 destruction of your power. For thou often bringest to naught the clemency of the king." But she answered, "Why dost thou receive us so, servant of God?" He replied, "I adjure you, I the lowly, who shall shortly stand in the presence of God, that ye restrain yourselves from unjust deeds, and apply yourselves to works of piety. Hitherto by God's help your kingdom hath been prospered. Henceforth look to it." The king and queen, much instructed by these admonitions, bade him farewell, and went away.93
Then the saint ceased not to address his people in the sweetness of love concerning the nearness of his departure. Indeed, he had done so ceaselessly before. "Know ye, brethren," he said, "that as the children of Israel were delivered out of the land of Egypt, so all the peoples of this land are destined to be freed from the unrighteous sway of the barbarians. For all shall depart from these towns with their possessions, |96 and shall reach the Roman province without any loss by capture. But remember the command of the holy patriarch Joseph, in the words of whose testimony I, though unworthy and most lowly, make my request to you: 'God will surely visit you; and ye shall carry up my bones from hence.' 94 This shall profit, not me, but you. For these places, now thronged with inhabitants, shall be rendered a solitude so utterly waste that the enemy, thinking to find gold, shall dig up even the graves of the dead." The present issue in fact has proved the truth of his prophecy. But the most holy father, with pious forethought, ordered his body to be removed as a token; in order that when the general transmigration of the people should take place, the company of brethren which he had gathered might depart undivided, and, held together by the common bond of his memory, might endure as one holy society.
CHAPTER XLI.
Moreover most blessed Severinus revealed two years or more in advance the day on which he was to pass from the body.95 This he did in the following manner. |97 On the day of Epiphany, when Saint Lucillus the priest had announced in agitation that on the morrow he was to perform the annual rites of commemoration for the burial day of his abbot, Saint Valentine,96 formerly bishop of the Raetias, the servant of God replied, "If Saint Valentine hath committed these rites to thee to be performed, I too, being about to depart from the body, bequeath to thee the care of my funeral festival, which shall be observed upon the same day." Lucillus, an old and broken man, was greatly shaken at this saying, and rather commended himself earnestly to the protection of Severinus, on the ground that he was likely to pass away first. But Severinus answered, "Holy priest, this thing which thou hast heard shall come to pass, nor shall the Lord's ordinance be brought to naught by the will of man." |98
CHAPTER XLII.
Feva, king of the Rugii, had given Favianis, one of the few towns which remained on the bank of the Danube, to his brother Ferderuchus. Near this town, as I have related, Saint Severinus dwelt. When Ferderuchus came, as was his wont, to pay his respects to Severinus, the soldier of Christ began to tell him eagerly of his approaching journey, and adjured him, saying: "Know that I am to depart quickly to the Lord. Therefore be warned, and beware of attempting, when I am gone, to lay hands on any of these things which have been committed to me. Seize not the substance of the poor and the captives. If thou art guilty of such foolhardiness, which may Heaven forfend, thou shalt feel the wrath of God! "Ferderuchus, perturbed by the unexpected admonition, said, "Why dost thou adjure me and confound me? I do not wish to be deprived of thy mighty protection. Indeed, it is seemly that I should add something to thy sacred bounty, which all men know, not take away from it; that I may deserve to be protected by thy wonted prayer, as was our father Flaccitheus. He learned by experience that he was ever aided by the merits of thy holiness." And Severinus said, "On the very first opportunity thou wilt wish to violate my cell. Then straightway thou shalt learn the truth of my words, and be punished in a manner which I do not desire." Then Ferderuchus promised that |99 he would observe the admonitions of the servant of Christ, and returned to his home.
But the kindly teacher did not cease to speak continually to his disciples, saying, "I trust in the grace of my Lord Jesus Christ that if ye persevere in his work, and in memory of me remain united in friendly association, he will give you the riches of eternal life, nor in this world will he deny you his consolation."
CHAPTER XLIII.
On the fifth of January he began to be slightly disquieted by a pain in the side.97 When this persisted for three days, at midnight he commanded the brethren to be with him. He gave them instructions as to the disposal of his body, strengthened them with fatherly counsel, and bestowed upon them the following earnest and admirable discourse.
"Most beloved sons in Christ," he said, "ye know that blessed Jacob, when he was about to leave the world, and the time drew nigh that he must die, called unto his sons, and said, 'Gather yourselves together'; that he might tell them that which should befall them in the last days, and bless them every one according to his blessing.98 But I am lowly and of lukewarm faith. I am inferior to such piety. I dare not assume the burden of this privilege. Yet there is one thing which is accordant with my humility, and which |100 I will say. I will refer you to the examples of the elders, whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation.99 For Abraham, when called of the Lord, obeyed in faith. He went forth into a place which he was to receive into his possession; and he went forth not knowing whither he was to go. Therefore imitate the faith of this blessed patriarch, copy after his holiness, despise the things of earth, seek ever the heavenly home. Moreover I trust in the Lord, that eternal gain shall come to me from you. For I perceive that ye have enlarged my joy by the fervor of your spirit, that ye love justice, that ye cherish the bonds of brotherly love, that ye neglect not chastity, that ye guard the rule of humility. These things, so far as the eye of man hath power to see, I confidently praise and approve. But pray that those things which to human view are worthy, may be confirmed by the test of the eternal judgment; for God seeth not as man seeth. Indeed, as the divine word declareth, he searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts.100 Therefore constantly hope and pray for this, that God may enlighten the eyes of your understanding,101 and open them, as blessed Elisha prayed, that ye may see 102 what hosts of saints surround and support you, what mighty aids are prepared for the faithful. For our God draws nigh to them that are without guile. Let the soldiers of God fail |101 not to pray without ceasing. Let him not be reluctant to repent, who was not ashamed to sin. Sinners, hesitate not to lament, if but by the overflowing of your tears the wrath of God may be appeased; for he hath seen fit to call a contrite spirit his sacrifice.103 Therefore let us be humble in heart, tranquil in mind; guarding against all sins and ever mindful of the divine commands; knowing that meanness of garb, the name monk, the word religion, the outward form of piety, profiteth us not, if touching the observance of God's commands we be found degenerate and false. Therefore let your characters, my most beloved sons, accord with the vow which ye have assumed. It is a great crime to lead a sinful life, even for a man of this world;104 how much more then for monks, who have fled from the enticements of the world as from a hideous wild beast, and have preferred Christ to all desires; whose gait and garb are held to be evidence of virtue? But why, dearest sons, delay you further with a long address? It remains to bestow upon you the last prayer of the blessed apostle, who saith, 'And now I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, who is able to preserve you, and to give you an |102 inheritance among all them which are sanctified.' 105 To him be the glory for ever and ever."
After this edifying address, he bade all in succession approach for his kiss. He received the sacrament of the communion; and altogether forbade that they should weep for him. Having stretched out his hand, and made the sign of the cross over his whole body, he commanded that they should sing a psalm. When the grief that overspread them kept them silent, he himself started the psalm, "Praise ye the Lord in his sanctuary; let everything that hath breath praise the Lord."106 And so, on the eighth of January, repeating this verse, while we could hardly make the responses, he fell asleep in the Lord.
When he was buried, our elders, implicitly believing that, like his many other prophecies, what he had foretold in regard to our removal could not fail to come to pass, prepared a wooden casket;107 that when the predicted migration of the people should take place, the commands of the prophet might be fulfilled. |103
CHAPTER XLIV.
Ferderuchus was poor and ungodly, a greedy barbarian, and more greedy than the barbarians. When he learned of the death of Saint Severinus, he determined to carry off the clothing allotted to the poor, and some other things. Joining sacrilege to this crime, he ordered that the silver goblet and the rest of the altar service be carried off. Since the service was on the holy altars, the bailiff who was sent dared not stretch out his hands to such a villainy, but compelled a certain soldier, Avitianus by name, to commit the robbery. Although Avitianus executed the order unwillingly, he was from that moment plagued by an incessant trembling in all his limbs, and furthermore was possessed by a devil. Therefore he quickly set right his sins by adopting a better purpose. For he assumed the vow of the sacred profession, exchanged the weapons of earth for those of heaven, and withdrew to a lonely isle.108 |104
Ferderuchus, unmindful of the adjuration and prophecy of the holy man, seized all the possessions of the monastery, and left only the walls, which he could not carry across the Danube. But presently the threatened vengeance came upon him. For within the space of a month he was slain by Fredericus, his brother's son, and lost booty and life together.
Therefore King Odoacer waged war upon the Rugii. They were defeated, Fredericus was compelled to flee. His father Feva was taken prisoner, and removed to Italy with his wicked wife.109
Later, Odoacer heard that Fredericus had returned to his home. At once he dispatched a great army, under his brother Onoulfus; before whom Fredericus fled again, and went to King Theodoric, who was then at Novae,110 a city of the province of Moesia.
Onoulfus, however, at his brother's command ordered all the Romans to migrate to Italy. Then all the inhabitants, led forth from the daily depredations of |105 the barbarians as from the house of Egyptian bondage, recognized the oracles of Saint Severinus.111
When Count Pierius compelled all to depart, the venerable Lucillus, then our priest, was not unmindful of the command of Severinus. After he had ended singing with the monks the vesper psalms, he bade the place of burial to be opened. When it was uncovered, a fragrance of such sweetness surrounded us who stood by, that we fell on the earth for joy and wonder. Then whereas we reckoned in all human expectation to find the bones of his corpse disjoined, for the sixth year of his burial had already passed, we found the bodily structure intact. For this miracle we returned unmeasured thanks to the Author of all, because the corpse of the saint, on which were no spices, which no embalmer's hand had touched, had staid unharmed, with beard and hair, even to that time. Accordingly the linen cloths were changed; the corpse was inclosed in the casket that had been prepared for it long before, placed in a wagon drawn by horses, and presently carried forth. All the provincials made the journey in our company. They abandoned the towns on the banks of the Danube and were allotted the various |106 abodes of their exile through the different districts of Italy. So the body of the saint passed through many lands and was borne to a castle named Mount Feleter.112
CHAPTER XLV.
During this time many that were attacked by divers diseases, and some who were oppressed by unclean spirits, experienced the instant healing of divine grace. A certain dumb man also was brought to this castle through the compassion of his kinsmen. He eagerly entered the oratory, where the body of the holy man still lay upon the wagon, and when he offered supplication behind the closed door of his mouth, in the chamber of his heart, immediately his tongue was loosed in prayer, and he spoke praise unto the Most High. And when he returned to the inn where he was wont to lodge, and was questioned as usual by nod and sign, he answered in a clear voice, that he had prayed and had offered praise to God. When he spoke, they who knew him were terrified and ran shouting to the oratory and told Saint Lucillus the priest, and us, who were with him and knew nothing of the event. Then we all rejoiced exceedingly, and returned thanks to the divine mercy. |107
CHAPTER XLVI.
Barbaria, a lady of rank,113 venerated Saint Severinus with pious devotion. She and her late husband had known him well by reputation and through correspondence. When, after the death of the saint, she heard that his body had with great labor been brought into Italy, and up to that time had not been committed to earth, she invited by frequent letters our venerable priest Marcianus, and also the whole brotherhood. Then with the authorization of Saint Gelasius, pontiff of the Roman see, and received by the people of Naples with reverent obsequies, the body was laid to rest by the hands of Saint Victor the bishop in the Lucullan castle,114 in a mausoleum which Barbaria had built.115 |108
At this solemnity many afflicted by divers diseases, whom it would be tedious to enumerate, were instantly healed. Among them was a venerable handmaid of |109 God, Processa by name, a citizen of Naples, who suffered from a severe and troublesome sickness. Invited by the virtues of the holy corpse, she hastened to meet it on the way; and when she approached the vehicle in which the venerable body was borne, immediately she was free from sickness in all her members.
Also at that time a blind man, Laudicius, was startled when he heard the unexpected clamor of the people singing psalms, and anxiously asked his household what it was. When they replied that the body of a certain Saint Severinus was passing, he was moved by the spirit, and asked that he be led to the window; from which one possessed of sight could behold afar |110 off the multitude singing psalms and the carriage bearing the sacred body. And when he leaned forth from the window and prayed, straightway he saw, and pointed out his acquaintances and neighbors one by one. Thereupon all who heard him wept for joy and returned thanks to God.
Marinus too, precentor of the holy church at Naples, could not recover his health after a terrible sickness, and suffered from a constant headache. In faith he leaned his head against the carriage, and immediately lifted it up free from pain. In memory of this benefit, he always came on the anniversary of the saint's burial and rendered to God thanks and the sacrifice of a vow.
I have related three of the numberless miracles which were wrought on the arrival of the saint through his mediation and virtues. Let it suffice; though many know of more.
A monastery, built at the same place to the memory of the blessed man, still endures. By his merits many possessed with devils have received and do receive healing through the effective grace of God; to whom is honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Illustrious minister of Christ, thou hast the memoir. From it make by thy editorial care a profitable work. |111
LETTER OF PASCHASIUS TO EUGIPPIUS
Paschasius the deacon to the holy and ever most beloved priest Eugippius.
Dearest brother in Christ, thou measurest me by the measure of thy skill, eloquence, and happy leisure, and disdainest to consider my vexatious employments and manifold imperfections. Yet through the contemplation of thy love I sustain the injury to my modesty.116
Thou hast sent me a memoir to which the eloquence of the trained writer can add nothing, and in a short compendium hast produced a work which the whole church can read. The life and character of Saint Severinus, who dwelt in the provinces bordering on the Pannonias, thou hast portrayed with much faithfulness; and thou hast handed down to the memory of future generations, to remain through long ages, the miracles which divine virtue hath wrought through him. The deeds of the good cannot perish with time. All persons to whom thy narrative shall bring Saint Severinus shall have him before them, and shall perceive that in a certain sense he dwells with them. And |112 so as thou hast told very simply, and explained very clearly, these particulars which thou didst ask me to narrate, I have thought it best not to try to make any addition to thy work. Indeed, it is one thing to relate what we have been told, quite another thing, to draw from the stores of our own experience. The virtues of teachers are particularly visible in their daily life, and consequently are more easily depicted by their pupils. By God's gift inspired, thou understandest the value of the deeds of the saints for the improvement of the minds of the good: their profitableness, the fervor they impart, their cleansing power. On this point we have the authority of the well-known words of the apostle, "being ensamples to the flock;" 117 and Saint Paul commanded Timothy, "be thou an example of the believers." 118 For this reason Saint Paul compiles a concise catalogue of the just, and, beginning from Abel, recounts the virtues of distinguished men.119 So also that most faithful Mattathias, as the days drew near that he should die a glorious death, distributed to his sons as an inheritance the examples of the saints;120 that fired with sacred zeal by the wonderful battles of the saints, they might hold their lives as naught in the defense of the eternal laws. Nor did the sons find the father's teaching false. For so greatly did the deeds of the elders profit them, that with most manifest faith they terrified armed princes, overcame the camps of the wicked, overthrew far and |113 wide the worship and altars of demons,121 and decorated with perennial garlands they provided a civic crown for their glorious country.
For this reason also I rejoice that through a brother's service something is provided for the ornaments of the bride of Christ;122 not that at any time, as I believe, have there been lacking illustrious examples of the elders, but because it is fitting that the palace of the Great King should have the standards of many victories. For true virtue is not obscured by the multitude of virtues, but yearns for their increase, and is enlarged thereby.123 |114
[Footnotes moved to the end and renumbered]
1. 1 A.D. 509.
2. 1 I Corinthians, ii, 13.
3. 1 Orestes was by birth a Roman provincial of Pannonia. Priscus (Bonnae, 1829), pp. 146, 185; Jordanes, De Rebus Geticis, 45; Anonymus Valesianus, 38.
4. 2 J. H. von Falckenstein neatly expands the metaphor in his appreciation of Severinus. Geschichten des grossen Herzogthums und ehemaligen Königreichs Bayern (Munich, etc., 1763), i, p. 78.
5. 3 Fugitivus. For the Roman law in regard to fugitive slaves and their recovery, one may consult W. W. Buckland, The Roman Law of Slavery (Cambridge, England, 1908), pp. 267-274, and the Codex Theodosianus, x, 12, Si vagum petatur mancipium.
6. 1 "Quo ipso non obscure indicabat, magno se ortu, et cujus indicium jactantiae serviret." Marcus Mansitz, Germania Sacra (Augustae Vindelicorum, etc., 1727-55), i, p. 80.
7. 2 Matthew, vi, 3.
8. 3 Matthew, xxv, 33.
9. 4 The detailed account of the early life of Severinus, given in Theo Sommerlad's Die Lebensbeschreibung Severins als kulturgeschichtliche Quelle, pp. 62-68, needs mention only by way of caution. Sommerlad carries ingenuity to a great excess.
10. 1 "It is exceedingly doubtful whether the request was seriously meant. Similar expressions are very common, which are no more than polite phrases." Wilhelm Wattenbach, Deutschlands Geschichtsquellen im Mittelalter ( th ed., Berlin, 1893-94), i, p. 49.
11. 1 The place names in the ablative form, Asturis, Comagenis, Favianis, etc., mark the tendency of the provincial Latin to develop into Romance dialects.
12. 1 In 453.
13. 2 Noricum Ripense. Rodenberg renders by the German equivalent, Ufernoricum. In the translation of Professor Hayes, Ufernoricum, both here and in Chapter XI, becomes ' Upper Noricum,' which is not a happy guess.
14. 3 Probably on the site of the present Klosterneuburg, a little above Vienna.
15. 1 Custos. The office is not to be confounded with that of janitor or doorkeeper (ostiarius) mentioned in Chapters X and XVI, below. Isidorus Hispalensis, De Ecclesiasticis Officiis, ii, 9, says: "Custodes sacrarii, Levitae sunt. Ipsis enim jussum est custodire tabernaculum, et omnia vasa templi... praeferentes speciem gravitatis." In his Regula Monachorum, 20, he describes somewhat more fully the duties of the position in a monastery church: " Ad custodem sacrarii pertinet cura vel custodia templi, signum quoque dandi in vespertinis nocturnisque officiis; vela, vestesque sacrae, ac vasa sacrorum, codices quoque instrumentaque cuncta, oleum in usum sanctuarii, cera et luminaria."
16. 2 Near Tulln.
17. 3 A euphemism. Marcus Velserus justly remarks, " Quam misera et deplorata illis temporibus harum provinciarum fuerit conditio, ex uno isto foedere satis superque colligi poterat, nisi reliqua omnis in id argumentum conspiraret." Opera (Norimbergae, 1682), p. 667.
18. 1 I think it probable that this is the earthquake mentioned in Anonymus Cuspiniani, Chronicon (in Thomas Roncallius, Vetustiora Chronica, Patavii, 1787, ii, col. 124) under the year 455: "eversa est Sabaria a Terraemotu VII. idus septemb. die Veneris "; and in the same words, and under the same year, in the Excerptum Sangallense (in Karl Frick, Chronka Minora, vol. 1, 1892, p. 422). Sabaria was in Upper Pannonia, about seventy miles southeast of Comagenis in a straight line, or ninety-two Roman miles by road. Antonini Augusti Itinerarium, pp. 233 f. Wesseling.
The date of this earthquake as given in the chronicles clearly cannot be correct. The Friday before the Ides fell, in September 455, on the 9th, not on the th. I suggest accordingly that, following C. F. Roesler (Chronica Medii Aevi, Tubingae, 1798, i, p. 341), we make the obvious emendation, and read "V. idus Septembres die Veneris." Theodor Mommsen (Chronica Minora, Berlin, 1892-98, i, p. 304; in Monumenta Germaniae Historica) suggests the reading "IV.," "nisi in anno erratum est"; but he cannot be right. One might, it is true, reach his result by using inadvertently a table like that in Sir Harris Nicolas's The, Chronology of History (London, 1835), p. 49, which contains the dominical letters for 4000 years after the Christian era, according to the New Style. The New Style, however, does not apply to the fifth century.
19. 1 On the Danube between Tulln and Lorch; perhaps near the site of the present town of Mautern.
20. 2 Colossians, iii, 5; Ephesians, v, 5. Of these passages the former is of course the one to which direct reference is made. Bolland, Sauppe, Rodenberg, Knoell, and Mommsen, all have followed Surius in giving only the reference to Ephesians, which is purely secondary.
21. 1 Matthew, xxv, 35-42; Salvian, Adversus Avaritiam, iv, 4: "Christus... cum esurientibus esurit... quid ais, o homo, qui Christianum te esse dicis,... Christus esurit, et tu delitias affluentibus paras? "
22. 2 The Inn.
23. 3 "Calidis Severini precibus solutae." Andreas Erunner, Annalium Boicorum Partes III (ed. nova, Francofurti ad Moenum, 1710), col. 118.
24. 1 Exodus, xiv, 14.
25. 1 Georg Kaufmann says, "Seine Wohnung war eine Zelle, oft auch eine Höhle." Deutsche Geschichte bis auf Karl den Grossen (Leipsic, 1880-81), ii, p. 25. I find this cavern only in Kaufmann's work.
26. 2 Favianis was long identified with Vienna by an erroneous tradition. Joannes Cuspinianus, the great sixteenth century scholar, believed that his estate in the suburbs of Vienna comprised Ad Vineas and the cell of Severinus. Austria (Francofurti, 1601), pp. 55, 69:
"Villam enim S. Severini, ubi cellam habuit pius pater S. Severinus, jam ego possideo, ubi nobilissima crescunt vineta, arboribus illic desectis ac purgatis.... a sancto Severino patria lingua Severin appellatur."
Cuspinianus calls Severinus "second apostle of Austria" (secundarius Austriae apostolus, alter Australium apostolus), the first being Quirinus, and reckons him among the six patron saints of that country: the martyrs Quirinus, Maximilian, Florian; Severinus; Colman the Irish pilgrim; Margrave Leopold III the Pious. On p. 70 of his Austria is printed a poem by Joannes Stabius, "In Sanctos Austriae Patronos Precatio," in forty-six hexameter verses. The poem contains, however, nothing which seems to have individual reference to Severinus, unless it be in vv. 32-38:
"Praesidio semper secura sit Austria vestro.
Morborum omne genus, quae corpora nostra fatigant,
Infandumque malum, crudelem avertite pestem.
Sit flavae Cereris, laeti sit copia Bacchi:
Tartareo sonitu reboent nec classica Martern,
Sed Pax alma ferens ramum felicis olivae
Illustret terras, soror et Concordia mitis."
27. 1 It will be noted that the monasteries founded by Saint Severinus were in the immediate neighborhood of cities. F. W. Rettberg calls attention to this fact, and to its accordance with the monastic rule of Saint Basil the Great: with which, he suggests, Severinus may have become familiar during his wanderings in the Orient. Kirchengeschichte Deutschlands (Göttingen, 1846-48), i, p. 231. Compare E. C. Butler's article "Basilian Monks," in the Encyclopaedia Britannica (11th ed.).
28. 3 Wolfgang Lazius, using a singular figure, says that "from this monastery, as if from the Trojan horse, went forth almost all the bishops of Noricum." Vienna Austriae. (Basileae, 1546), p. 54. Lazius gives a list of these bishops, which Marcus Hansitz handles very roughly. Germania Sacra, i, pp. 74, 85 ff. [Note to online edition: there is no note 2 on the page in the printed text].
29. 1 Matthew, v, 14, 15.
30. 2 Jordanes (De Rebus Geticis, 55) says that the Danube " freezes so hard that it will support like a solid rock an army of infantry, and carts and sleds, or whatsoever vehicles there may be."
It is probable that modern regulation of the current of the Danube by engineering works has had a tendency to prevent the formation of extensive ice fields. Yet even now the stream is frozen annually in Lower Hungary throughout several long stretches, which at the height of the frost can occasionally be crossed with carts or sleds. In Bavaria, Austria, and Rumania, field ice docs not form every winter. Yet it sometimes happens even at Vienna ---- most recently in January, 1901 ---- that the ice is strong enough to allow foot travellers a safe passage across the river.
I am indebted to the Imperial-Royal Central Bureau of Hydrography at Vienna for the information contained in the above paragraph. One may consult also Anton Swarowsky's essay Die Eisver-hältnisse der Donau in Bayern und Osterreich von 1850-90, in Geographische Abhandlungen, edited by Albrecht Penck, Band v, Heft 1 (Vienna and Olmülz, 1801); and, for notices of the great frosts of 821 and 1076-77, Fritz Curschmann's Hungersnöte im Mittelalter (Leipsic, 1900), pp. 94, 121.
31. 1 It may be noted that in Eugippius the expression 'the apostle' always refers to Saint Paul. Eugippius never bestows upon Severinus the appellation 'apostle of Noricum' (apostolus Norici or apostolus Noricorum), later so common.
32. 2 Ephesians, i, 4.
33. 1 A genealogical table of the Rugian royal house may be of service. Numerals in parentheses refer to the chapters in which the individuals are mentioned.
Flaccitheus (5, 8, 42). | ------------------------------------- | | Feletheus, or Feva (8, 22?, 31, Ferderuchus (42, 44) 33, 40, 42, 44) married Giso (8, 40, 44) | Fredericus (8, 44) Feba, named in Chapter XXII, is probably the same as Feletheus, or Feva.
34. 1 A comparison of this passage with the reference, in Chapter VIII, to Queen Giso's attempt "to rebaptize certain Catholics," makes it evident that the Rugii, or at least their sovereigns, were, like most of the converted Germans of the fifth century and even later, Christians of the Arian sect. The fact that the Rugii were Arians while the provincials were Catholics cooperated with the difference of race to produce a lack of complete sympathy and understanding between them. On the other hand, it was entirely natural that the Rugii, as Christians, should assume the position towards the provincials that we find them occupying more and more, of protectors against the depredations of the German tribes that remained heathen: Alamanni and Thuringi (Chapter XXXI, below, etc.); Heruli (Chapter XXIV); no doubt also the Franks and Saxons, whom Ennodius (De Vita Beati Antoni, 12-14) names in connection with the Heruli as devastators of the Pannonias during the ninth decade of the fifth century ---- cruel as wild beasts; turning a populous land into a desert; worshipping gods who, they believed, could be propitiated only by human victims; slaughtering clerics by preference, as the sacrifices most acceptable to their divinities.
Dr. Julius von Pflugk-Harttung's vividly worded description of life in Noricum in the time of Severinus (Allgemeine Weltgeschickte, iv, p. 231) is somewhat confusing, because of his failure to point out clearly this distinctive position of the Rugii. He says, " They and their neighbor-tribes, Thuringi, Heruli, Alamanni, and Goths, came from beyond the Danube in uninterrupted forays." There is no mention in the Life of 'forays' on the part of the Rugii, except in the strictly technical sectarian sense of the confiscation of the monastery plate and furniture (Chapter XLIV); on the contrary, they themselves suffered from plundering raids, as the next paragraph shows. Dr. Pflugk-Harttung's reference to the Goths (Ostrogoths) is also not to the point. They lived, not beyond the Danube but in Pannonia, on the Roman side of the river (Jordanes, De Rebus Geticis, 50). Further, they were Christians, partially civilized, and usually in alliance with the Romans against their barbarian enemies. After the death of Attila there appears to have been only one period, comprising a few months of the year 473, in which the Ostrogoths were hostile to the Western Empire (ibid., 56). It is to that time that we may very reasonably assign their attack upon Tiburnia in Noricum Mediterraneum (Chapter XVII).
It is regrettable that The Cambridge Medieval History, i (1911) repeats the false view of the position of the Rugii. Mr. Ernest Barker, the writer of chapter xiv therein, "Italy and the West, 410-476," says (p. 420) " The Rugii... appear in the history of the time... as vexing with their inroads the parts of Noricum which lay immediately south of the river. The Life of Saint Severinus... describes their depredations "; and again (p. 425), " Parallel in some ways to the position of Marcellinus and Aegidius is the beneficent theocracy which Saint Severinus established about the same time in Noricum, a masterless province unprotected by Rome, and harassed by the raids of the Rugii from the north of the river."
35. 1 Jeremiah, xvii, 5.
36. 2 In lectulo tuo. Rodenberg renders auf deinem Lager: Professor Hayes has "in thine own camp."
37. 1 I Corinthians, vii, 25.
38. 1 Adolf Harnack discusses the early conceptions of the Christian religion as a warfare, and of the Church as a military organization, in the first part of his essay Militia Christi (Tübingen, 1905). An illustration of the length to which these conceptions might be carried is afforded by the biography of a disciple of Severinus, Ennodius's De Vita Beati Antoni. Antonius, 'warrior of Christ,' decides to forsake his Alpine hermitage and to join the 'regiment of the isle Lerina' (see note to Chapter XLIV, below) of 'the army of the saints.' "That veteran battle-line is ever watchful, and repulses the enemy, after transfixing him with many blows. They number their triumphs by the wars which the devil wages against them. They are not afraid, when the shrill battle-trumpet announces Satan's onset, and urges to the fight. Daily combat ever makes soldiers skilled and brave, while a long peace relaxes them."
39. 1 Max Büdinger offers some excellent remarks on Giso's strongly marked character. Oesterreichische Geschichte (Leipsic, 1858), i, p. 49.
40. 2 "Ausa etiam Catholico ritu ablutos, sacrilego Arianorum fonte denuo lustrare." Johann Adlzreitter, Annalium Boicae Gentis Partes III (ed. nova, Francofurti ad Moenum, 1710), col. 120.
41. 1 There is an account of Gervasius and Protasius, the martyrs of Milan, in Tillemont's Ecclesiastical Memoirs (English translation by Thomas Deacon, London, 1731-35, ii, pp. 61-67).
42. 1 Adopting Velserus's reading subrepere.
43. 2 Severinus was not the first to adopt this laudable attitude of caution in dealing with supposed relics. Sulpicius Severus, De Beati Martini Vita, II, tells that Saint Martin, finding no clear evidence as to the contents of a tomb supposed to be hallowed by the remains of martyrs, prayed for a divine revelation. " Then he turned to the left, and saw close at hand a foul and savage ghost. He commanded the spectre to tell his name and desert. The spectre made known his name, he confessed his crime; he had been a robber, put to death for his wicked deeds, honored by the blunder of the mob; he had nothing in common with martyrs; they were in glory, he was in torment. The bystanders heard the spectre's voice, but did not see his form. Then Martin related what he had seen, and ordered that the altar which was there should be removed from the place. So he set free the people from the error of that superstition."
44. 1 Genesis, xix, 26; Luke, xvii, 32.
45. 2 That this is here the meaning of aedituus is shown by the Table of Chapters, where it is represented by ostiarius. The office of aedituus in the pagan temple, however, corresponds rather to that of custos in the Christian church (see Chapter I, above), being a position of some dignity. Ausonius, Commemoratio Professorum Burdigalensium, x, 22-30, speaks of Phoebicius, a professor who had been Beleni aedituus. DuCange gives the definition "Aedituus, Ostiarius, gradus ecclesiasticus; cui aedis sacrae custodia incumbit, custos ": an impossible one, since ostiarius and custos are quite different officials. The word never really became naturalized in Christian literature. Paulinus of Nola uses it, it is true (Epistolae, i, 10; in Migne's Patrologia Latina, vol. lxi, col. 158); but he was a friend and correspondent of Ausonius.
Theo Sommerlad, Die Lebensbeschreibung Severins als kulturgeschichtliche Quelle (Leipsic, 1903), p. 33, fails to notice that Eugippius uses aedituus and ostiarius interchangeably both at this place and in Chapter XVI, below, and accordingly wrongly considers aedituus equivalent to the ecclesiae custos of Chapter I.
46. 1 The country along the Danube was probably then, as now, rich in orchards. Exposilio totius Mundi et Gentium, 57; A. A. Muchar, Das römische Norikum (Grätz, 1825-26), ii, p. 186.
47. 2 These organized bands of robbers appear again early in the sixth century, beyond the Danube (Jordanes, De Rebus Geticis, 58; Amédée Thierry, Histoire d'Attila et de ses Successeurs, Paris, 1856, i, pp. 288 f.); and, about 570, in Pannonia, under the name of Skama&reij (Menander Protector, Bonnae, 1829, p. 313).
48. 3 Castellum. Knoell considers that the word is equivalent to 'town' (oppidum). But in Chapter XVII Eugippius contrasts the terms, saying 'towns or castles' (oppida vel castella).
Not forgetting that in the Vulgate castellum is the regular rendering for the Greek kw&mh, 'village', I am inclined to think that the proper meaning in the Life is 'fortified town', or perhaps one might say 'fort' in the frontier sense of a fortified settlement. See Du Cange, Glossarium Mediae el Infimae Latinitatis, s. v.; and compare Salvian, De Gubernatione Dei, v, 44.
49. 1 Now Kuchel.
50. 2 Amédée Thierry interprets these as " sacrifices humains, pour apaiser la destinée." Récits de l'Histoire Romaine au Ve Siècle (Paris, i860), p. 148. It is doubtful if we are justified in pushing specification so far. Any heathen rites would have appeared 'abominable' both to Severinus and to Eugippius. A Christian writer who wishes to accuse pagans of human sacrifices is likely to make the charge in so many words. Ennodius does so (De Vita Beati Antoni, 13) in speaking of the heathen barbarian tribes ---- Franks, Heruli, Saxons ---- who were ravaging the Pannonias at this time or a little later.
Mention was made above (Chapter V, note) of this passage in the Life of Antonius. Though Ennodius speaks of 'the Pannonias,' the connection makes it clear that his account is intended to apply also to Noricum, particularly the territory about Lauriacum. Antonius was nephew of Constantius, bishop of Lauriacum, who is named below (Chapter XXX), and after the death of Severinus remained at Lauriacum under the protection of his uncle until the latter's decease.
51. 1 According to Marcellinus Comes, Chronicon, "numberless battalions of locusts wasted the harvest of Phrygia " in 456. Accounts of the devastations of these insects in 873 (throughout Europe) and in 1195 and 1242 (in the Austrian lands) may be found in Curschmann's Hungersnöte im Mittelalter, pp. 100 f., 157, 175. In 1242, if we may believe the chronicler, " Locusts of huge size invaded Austria in such numbers, that they consumed most of the vineyards and orchards, and moreover gnawed to pieces horses and cattle feeding in the fields."
52. 2 Joel, ii, 12.
53. 1 Joel, ii, 15, 16.
54. 1 Juvao or Juvavum, now Salzburg.
55. 2 " Rarissimus praeter exspectationem hic usus erat, si scriptorum auctoritas in hac re omnino quidquam valet." M. H. Morgan, "De Ignis eliciendi Modi's apud Antiquos," in Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, i (1890), p. 38.
56. 3 A similar miracle is related of Alveus, or Alneus, a Gallic saint of the sixth century. " One night he arose for the early morning vigils, and entered the church with the rest of the brethren. They found that the lights which usually burned there were out. Saint Alveus kneeled in prayer. The disciples searched for a light; but they could find no fire. The hour was already late, and the disciples reminded the saint of the lateness of the hour. Presently he rose from prayer, and made the sign of the cross above the waxen taper. The taper was kindled instantly through the excellence of God and the merits of the saint, and gave a splendid light for all who were in the building." Acta Sanctorum, September, iii (1750), p. 808.
57. 1 In the Notitia Dignitatum Quintanis appears as a garrison town, commanded by the praefectus alae primae Flavii Raetorum. It is now represented by Osterhofen.
58. 2 Eugippius, whose earlier years were spent in the Danubian lands, tells of conditions there as he remembers them many years before the close of the fifth century. Raetia Secunda then included, nominally at least, the plain country between the Alps, the Inn, and the Danube; Raetia Prima, the whole central Alpine region. It seems clear that at the time of his writing (511) Raetia Secunda lay entirely in the Alps, and comprised the eastern part of the old Raetia Prima; while from the level country to the north, subject though it might be to the more or less shadowy overlordship of Theodoric the Ostrogoth as successor of Old Rome, all vestiges of the provincial name and administration had vanished. E. A. Quitzmann. Die älteste Geschichte der Baiern (Brunswick, 1873), p.123.
59. 1 The gratitude of the catechumen recalled to life by Saint Martin was greater in proportion as his reception in the other world had been different. Sulpicius Severus, De Beati Martini Vita, vii, 4-6.
An engraving which represents this scene is mentioned in the Preface. There is another in J. H. von Falckenstein's Antiquitates et Memorabilia Nordgaviae Veteris (Schwabach, 1734-43), i, tab. vii, opposite p. 202. The latter is of especial interest in that it portrays the two doorkeepers or janitors in military costume one of them leaning upon a huge battle-axe.
60. 1 Paul Viard, Histoire de la Dîme Ecclésiastique (Dijon, 1909), gives an excellent account of the origin of tithing in the early church, and also (pp. 44 f., 49) discusses this passage at length. Some of his conclusions may be briefly stated as follows. The only references to tithes in the Gospels (Matthew, xxiii, 23; Luke, xi, 42; xviii, 12) are in rebuke of the hypocrisy of the Pharisees. The Christians of the first four centuries did not recognize the Jewish tithe. They did in some instances acknowledge the tax of the first fruits. Insistence upon the tithe begins to appear about the end of the fourth century. In the East, its champion was Saint John Chrysostom (In Matthaeum Homilia lxiv (lxv), in Migne's Patrologia Graeca, lviii, col. 615). In the West, it was advocated in two forms. Jerome (Explanatio in Malackiam, iii, 7, in Migne's Patrologia Latina, xxv, coll. 1568-1571; and Epistola ad Nepotianum de Vita Clericorum et Sacerdotum, in Migne, xxii, col. 531) considers that the ancient law is still in force, and that the proceeds of the tithe should be for the support of the clergy. Augustine likewise (Sermones, lxxxv, 4, in Migne, xxxviii, col. 522) holds to the obligation of the tithe, at least upon the conscience, using the text Matthew, v, 20, " except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees "; but he directs it to the support of the poor. The later development of church polity, finally crystallized into definite enactments at the second council of Mâcon in 585, was a compromise between these two views. Severinus, on the other hand, follows Saint Augustine. "Probably," says M. Viard, "he did not speak of the tithe in the exact sense of the word; he wished merely to call forth the charitable gifts of the communities that he evangelized. It is very probable that the saint thought, in doing this, to revive the ancient tithe, modifying it, however, according to the needs of the moment and his personal disinterestedness. The biographer has exaggerated this thought of his hero in order to make it appear an actuality."
61. 1 Here, as elsewhere when he uses the word without a modifier, Eugippius means Noricum Mediterraneum, the interior or southern province, of which Tiburnia was the chief town.
62. 2 Teurnia in inscriptions. Now Sanct Peter im Holz, near Spital.
63. 1 The siege of Tiburnia may well be assigned to the year 473. See Chapter V, note. It is then probable that the surrender of the collection of clothing was an important, though hardly a decisive factor in restoring peace between the citizens and the ragged Goths; who, according to Jordanes (De Rebus Geticis, 56), entered upon the campaign because food and clothing were beginning to fail them. "Minuentibus se deinde hinc inde vicinarum gentium spoliis, coepit et Gothis victus vestitusque deesse: et hominibus, quibus dudum bella alimoniam praestitissent, pax coepit esse contraria; omnesque cum clamore magno ad regem Theodemir accedentes Gothi orant, quacumque parte vellet ductaret exercitum."
64. 2 The chief town of Riverside Noricum. Now Ens, or the small place Lorch, near Ens; authorities differ. At the time of the Notitia Dignitatum Lauriacum was defended by a strong garrison of soldiers, under the praefectus legionis secundae, and by a squadron of the Danube flotilla.
65. 1 Caesar Baronius supposes that this chapter and passages in Sidonius Apollinaris (Epistolae, vi, 12) and Gregory of Tours (Historia Francorum, ii, 24) relate to a general famine, which, he believes, afflicted the northern provinces in 475. "Quae Gallias vexa vit dira fames, aeque afflixit Raetios, Noricos, et alios Boreales populos his finitimos." Annales Ecclesiastici, a. 475, sects. 30-35. There seems, however, no sufficient reason for linking the dearth at Lauriacum with that in Gaul, in the winter of 474-75, of which Sidonius and Gregory speak. The latter was caused, not by the fault of the season, but by the depredations of the Visigoths.
66. 2 Now Passau.
67. 1 Saint Augustine (De Civitate Dei, xviii, 18) tells of the corn, called Retica annona, sent from Italy for the supply of the soldiers in Raetia: "dicebat... narrasse quae passus est, caballum se scilicet factum annonam inter alia jumenta bajulasse militibus, quae dicitur Retica, quoniam ad Retias deportatur."
68. 2 The cohors nova Batavorum, according to the Notitia Dignitatum. The town, that is, was a military station, and took its name from the garrison.
69. 1 It would indeed be an evidence of an extensive fame, were we able to accept Mr. Hodgkin's ingenious conjecture as to the source of the penultimate name of the celebrated philosopher and poet Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius, who was born at Rome probably during the eighth decade of the fifth century. Italy and her Invaders, iii (1885), p. 523 (or d ed., 1896, p. 471): " Severinus was no doubt given to him in honour of one of the holiest names of the fifth century, the saintly hermit of Noricum."
70. 1 Now Innstadt.
71. 2 Sanctuaria. Reliquiae is also used with the same meaning; as, for example, three lines above. The relics need not be of any great extent. Gregory the Great gave orders on at least three occasions that sanctuaria or reliquiae of Severinus himself should be furnished for the consecration of churches or oratories. Epistolae, iii, 19; ix, 181; xi, 19. This was a hundred years after the saint had been securely buried.
72. 1 Probably Hunimund, king of the Suevi, whose raid into Dalmatia and hostilities with the Ostrogoths are described by Jordanes, De Rebus Geticis, 53-55. Eduard von Wietersheim, indeed, in his Geschichte der Völkerwanderung ( d ed., Leipsic, 1880-81), ii, p. 324, expresses the belief that the coincidence in name is purely accidental. But if the Hunimund of Eugippius was not Hunimund the Suevian king, who was he? Eugippius through his whole work is perfectly definite in his identification of persons. He names in all some fifty characters, aside from those mentioned in the Bible or in the church fathers. Each is carefully labelled with the appropriate word or phrase, except two, Stilicho (Chapter XXXVI) and Hunimund. It is a fair inference that Eugippius left these names unqualified ----just as, for example, one would now in similar references that of Napoleon or of Blücher ---- because no label seemed needed, either for Stilicho, the great general of the Western Empire, or for Hunimund, king of the Suevi, a principal leader in a war, not yet remote in time, that had devastated Central Europe for years.
We may infer from the smallness of the force under the command of Hunimund that the attack on Bojotro was made after the destructive overthrows of the Suevi by the Ostrogoths; perhaps in 474 or 475. The sequence of Eugippius's narrative points to the same date.
73. 1 Schlügen.
74. 2 F. W. Rettberg believes that Severinus may have owed his foreknowledge of barbarian raids to secret information received from his friends among the Germans. Kirchengeschichte Deutschlands, i, pp. 232 f. This view is held also by Felix Dahn. Gelehrte Anzeigen (Munich), 21 Sept. 1859, coll. 270 f. Reinhold Pallmann declines to accept it. Die Geschichte der Völkerwanderung (Gotha, etc., 1863-64), ii, p. 400, n. 1.
George Thomas Stokes remarks that Severinus "seems to have been gifted with some kind of second-sight, similar to that which Adamnan's Life of St. Columba claims for the Celtic saint of the following century." Smith and Wace's Dictionary of Christian Biography, iv (London, 1887), p. 627.
75. 1 With the view of Severinus may be contrasted that of Saint Ambrose, Epistolae, xviii, 30: " deam esse victoriam crediderunt [pagani], quae utique munus est, non potestas: donatur, non dominatur, legionum gratia, non religionum potentia "; "they have believed Victory to be a goddess, which is in truth a gift, not a power; is bestowed, and does not rule; comes by the aid of legions, not by the power of religion."
76. 2 There is some measure of justice in the comment which Pallmann makes upon the conduct of Severinus in this instance. "With his words of discouragement Severinus divided the strength of the citizens. Through his disheartening view of things, he brought a part of them to despair, without helping in the least the others who did not join him; rather, weakening them. So was the strength of the brave citizens of Passau paralyzed." Die Geschichte der Völkerwanderung, ii, p. 307. It would not, however, be fair to make this citation from Pallmann without quoting also the passage (ibid., pp. 400 f.) in which he sums up his opinion of the saint and his public activities. "It is a strange, noble, powerful figure, this monk.... A political head would certainly have acted wholly otherwise than Severinus. We do not know whether he would have had better success. Yet it was a piece of good fortune, that in the disastrous time after the death of Aëtius, when on every side the dissolution of the Empire, like the death of a human body, was beginning at the extremities, and the provinces one by one were renouncing their connection with Italy; when we see Gaul independent under Aegidius, Dalmatia under Marcellinus, that in Noricum, if no general arose, yet at least a pure and lofty spirit sought to do the works of righteousness."
77. 1 Mark, x, 45.
78. 2 Matthew, vi, 5.
79. 3 II Kings, iv, 2-7.
80. 1 At an earlier date Noricum was celebrated for its export trade in clothing. Expositio totius Mundi et Gentium, 57.
81. 2 The friendliness to the righteous of beasts usually wild and savage is a common feature in early Christian narratives. See the index to Heribert Rosweyde's Vitae Patrum ( d ed., Antverpiae, 1628). There are instances of lions serving as guides in Rosweyde, pp. 231 a, 816 a; and of a wild ass in the same capacity, p. 229 a.
82. 1 The best life of Constantius is by Marcus Hansitz (Germania Sacra, i, pp. 82-87). Hansitz believes that much of the success of Severinus in his work must have been due to the cooperation of Constantius.
The 'archbishopric of Lauriacum' is a mediaeval forgery, long since wholly discredited.
83. 1 James, v, 16.
84. 1 That this exodus was a partial one only, is indicated both by the laws of probability and by Ennodius's Life of Antonius, 10-14. Antonius remained under the protection of his uncle, Constantius, bishop of Lauriacum, for some time after the death of Severinus.
85. 1 This chapter is apparently out of the regular chronological sequence. Chapter XXVIII presupposes the abandonment or destruction of all the towns on the Danube above Lauriacum, including Bojotro. It is, however, the opinion of Fallmann (Geschichte der Völkerwanderung, ii, pp. 393 f.) and of Julius Jung (Römer und Romanen in den Donauländern, Innsbruck, 1877, p. 214) that there really was no break of the sort indicated by Eugippius in the continuity of occupation.
86. 2 I Corinthians, v, 5.
87. 1 Faulinus Mediolanensis, Vita Ambrosii, 43.
88. 2 Dialogi, i, 20, 7.
89. 3 We shall not be far astray if we suppose that the 'horrid pride' of which the three monks were guilty was some form of insubordination. The relation between humility and obedience in the monk is discussed by H. B. Workman in his essay, The Evolution of the Monastic Ideal (London, 1913), pp. 68-74. "The third fundamental idea of Monasticism," he says, "first specifically introduced by Pachomius, was the renunciation of the will. This is sometimes called obedience, sometimes humility; in reality, from the Monastic standpoint the two tend to become one. The two are related as cause and effect; they are different aspects of that complete self-renunciation which is higher than any mere outer surrender. The man who has nailed his inner self to the cross cannot be otherwise than humble; while the humble man will show his humility by a perfect obedience."
90. 1 The couch of Saint Anthony, the great Egyptian monk, was likewise a mohair rug; to which, in his case, a rush mat was added. Athanasius, Vita Beati Antonii Abbatis (Evagrius's translation), p. 38 a Rosweyde.
91. 2 Palladius (Heraclidis Paradisus, 35) tells a like story in praise of the Egyptian monk Paphnutius Cephala: "De quo tale refertur praeconium, quod per octoginta annos numquam habuerit duas simul tunicas."
92. 3 Eusebius (Ecclesiastica Historia, ii, 17; Crusé's translation, London, 1851, pp. 56 f., corrected) quotes Philo Judaeus, De Vita Contemplativa, in regard to the asceticism of the Therapeutae of Egypt. " None of them " (he says) " takes food or drink before the setting of the sun, since they judge that the search for wisdom should be prosecuted in the light, while it is appropriate that the necessities of the body should be attended to in the dark. Whence they assign to the one the day, and to the other a small portion of the night. But some of them do not remember their food for three days, when influenced by an uncommon desire for knowledge. And some are so delighted, and feast so luxuriously on the doctrines so richly and profusely furnished by wisdom, that they forbear even twice this time, and are scarcely induced to take necessary food even for six days." Eusebius considers that under the name of Therapeutae Philo describes the early Christians. Valesius (notes to Eusebii Ecclesiastica Historia, edition of 1672, p. 34) believes the contrary. The matter is yet under discussion. H. B. Workman, The Evolution of the Monastic Ideal, p. 90, especially note 1.
The association of eating by night with asceticism appears to have survived, in a singularly altered form, in the religious body organized by George Rapp in Wurtemberg on the model of the primitive church, and later established at Harmony, Pennsylvania. See The Atlantic Monthly, May, 1866, p. 535.
93. 1 The learned Bavarian historian, Johann Adlzreitter, floridly enlarges this conversation to three times its length in Eugippius, and makes it the most prominent feature in his long and curious summary of the Life. Annalium Boicae Gentis Partes III (1710), coll. 124 f.
The comment of A. F. Ozanam upon this interview, though quoted with approval by Montalembert (Les Moines d'Occident, i, p. 261) and Charles Kingsley (The Hermits, p. 238), is more rhetorically effective than just. "The history of invasions has many a pathetic scene: but I know none more instructive than the dying agony of that old Roman expiring between two barbarians, and less touched with the ruin of the empire than with the peril of their souls." La Civilisation Chrétienne chez les Francs ( d ed., Paris, 1861), pp. 41 f. It requires a certain amount of naïveté not to see that the saint's prime concern in his warnings is rather the tranquillity of the provincials than the souls' welfare of the royal couple.
94. 1 Genesis, 1, 25.
95. 2 Instances where saints are said to have predicted the day or even the hour of their decease are not rare in the mediaeval narratives; but, as compared with the present account, they are usually vague and perfunctory. A casual examination of a volume of the Acta Sanctorum taken at random ---- September, iii ---- reveals three cases, on pages 58, 293, and 806.
96. 1 There is a life of Valentine in Matthaeus Rader's Bavaria Sancta (Monad, 1615-27), i, ff. 24b, 25, 26a, with a fine engraving representing the saint in his arboreal retreat.
" Rura Valentinum tutantur, et oppida pellunt.
Fas regnat ruri, regnat in urbe nefas."
Valentine is also mentioned by Venantius Fortunatus (Vita Sancti Martini, iv, 644-648):
" Si vacat ire viam neque te Bajovarius obstat,
Qua vicina sedent Breonum loca, perge per Alpem,
Ingrediens rapido qua gurgite volvitur Aenus.
Inde Valentini benedicti templa require,
Norica rura petens, ubi Byrrus vertitur undis."
97. 1 Pleurisy.
98. 2 Genesis, xlix, 1-33.
99. 1 Hebrews, xiii, 7.
100. 2 I Chronicles, xxviii, 9; Romans, viii, 27.
101. 3 Ephesians, i, 18.
102. 4 II Kings, vi, 17.
103. 1 Psalms, li, 17.
104. 2 Homo saecularis. The same contrast of saecularis and monachus is made by Saint Jerome, Epistola ad Paulinum de Institutione Monachi: "Saecularium, et maxime potentium consortia devita. Quid tibi necesse est ea videre crebrius, quorum contemtu Monachus esse coepisti? " Opera (Paris, 1693-1706), iv, 2, col. 566. Homo saecularis cannot here be rendered 'layman'; the monks themselves were reckoned laymen (laici) until the seventh century.
105. 1 Acts, xx, 32.
106. 2 Psalms, cl, 1, 6.
107. 3 Locellum: in the next chapter, loculum. André Baudrillart, in his biography, Saint Severin, Apôtre du Norique (Paris, 1908), p. 192, speaks of this coffin as "une sorte de chapelle portative ou d'oratoire," and represents the monks, throughout the removal to Italy, as 'praying and singing in it day and night.' This monstrous misconception may serve as a sufficient sample of the insouciance with which M. Baudrillart has performed his task.
108. 1 Islands play an exceedingly large part in the history of monasticism in the Occident. The islands of the Mediterranean, the isles of Dalmatia and of the Tyrrhenian Sea, swarmed with monks: not to mention other well-known examples. Lucas Holstenius, Codex Regularum Monasticarum (Augustae Vindelicorum, 1759), i, p. ix; Sulpicius Severus, De Beati Martini Vita, vi, 5; Rutilius Namatianus, De Reditu suo, i, 439-452 (Capraria: "Squalet lucifugis insula plena viris "); Hilarius Arelatensis, De Vita Sancti Honorati, iii, 16, 17, in Migne's Patrologia Latina, vol. 1, coll. 1257 f. (Lerina).
The encircling watery barrier answered a threefold purpose. It served as protection alike against the enticements of the world, the sword of the barbarian, and (according to the popular belief) the assaults of demons.
109. 1 A long and entertaining account of a triumph celebrated by Odoacer at Rome after his victory, given by A. Thierry in his Récits de l'Histoire Romaine au V° Siècle, iii (Paris, i860), pp. 352 ff., is purely a product of Thierry's luxuriant imagination. His invention is, however, unsuspectingly accepted as historical fact by Leopold von Ranke (Weltgeschichte, iv, 1, Leipsic, 1883, p. 377) and J. B. Bury (The Later Roman Empire from Arcadius to Irene, London, 1889, i, p. 289).
Paulus Diaconus (De Gestis Langobardorum, i, 19) says that Odoacer put Feletheus to death. As to Giso's fate we know nothing beyond what is declared by Eugippius. Thierry's statement (Récits, p. 352) followed by Bury (Later Roman Empire, i, p. 289), that she was "thrown into a dungeon," rests on no authority.
110. 2 Perhaps now Sistova, in Bulgaria.
111. 1 Julius Jung (Römer und Romaner in den Donaidandern, p. 205) believes that the exodus was less general than the words of Eugippius would seem to imply. Whatever may have been the case with respect to the Roman population of Riverside Noricum, it is obvious that there was no general withdrawal from Noricum Mediterrancum, where the provincial organization was still in operation in the time of Theodoric. Cassiodorus, Variae, iii, 50; Quitzmann, Die älteste Geschichte der Baiern, p. 123.
112. 1 Probably the present Macerata di Monte Feltre, south of San Marino.
113. 1 Thomas Hodgkin (Italy and her Invaders, in, Oxford, 1885, pp. 190 f.; or d ed., 1896, pp. 172 f.) seeks to identify Barbaria with the widow of Orestes and mother of Romulus Augustulus. On this point see Jung's Römer und Romaner in den Donauländer, p. 134; and Max Büdinger's Eugipius, eine Untersuchung, in Sitzungsberichte der kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften (Vienna), philosophisch-historische Classe, xci, 1 (1878), pp. 802 f.
114. 2 Now Pizzofalcone.
115. 3 Two more translations still awaited the body. October 14, 903, the Lucullan castle was abandoned through fear of the marauding Saracens. The remains of the saint were borne in solemn procession to the great Benedictine monastery of Saint Severinus, within the walls of Naples. Joannes Diaconus Neapolitanus, Martyrium Sancti Procopii, in Octavius Cajetanus's Vitae Sanctorum Siculorum (Panormi, 1657), ii, p. 62, reprinted in L. A. Muratori's Rerum Italicarum Scriptores (Mediolani, 1723-51), i, 2, pp. 271 f.; and the same, printed from another manuscript, under the title of Translatio Sancti Severini or Historia Translationis, in Acta Sanctorum, January, i (1643), pp. 1100-1103, and reprinted thence in Monumenta Germaniae Historica: Scriptores Rerum Langobardicarum et Italicarum Saec. VI-IX (Hannoverae, 1878), pp. 452-459. ----It should be noted, however, that Luigi Parascandolo, in his Memorie Storiche-Critiche-Diplomatiche della Chiesa di Napoli (Naples, 1847-51), ii, pp. 253 f., doubts the authenticity of this narrative, which, he thinks, owes at least its present form to the labor of some Benedictine monk living in the monastery of Saint Severinus at the time of the revival of learning.---- Descriptions of the monastery, now for the most part secularized and occupied by the Royal Neapolitan State Archives, and of the church of Saints Severinus and Sosius connected with it, may be found in Napoli e i Luoghi Celebri delle sue Vicinanze (Naples, 1845), i, pp. 233-243, and in the current guidebooks.
Here the remains of Severinus reposed for many centuries, not in the large church, but beneath the great altar of the smaller primitive church, or chapel, connected with it. The inscription on the great altar is given in Acta Sanctorum, January, i, p. 499:
"Hic duo sancta simul divinaque corpora Patres Sosius unanimes et Severinus habent."
According to Sebastian Brunner (Leben des St. Severin, Vienna, 1879, p. 170), the following inscription was found in the crypt when it was opened in 1807: "Divis Severino Noricorum in Oriente Apostolo et Sosio Levitae B. Januarii Episcopi in Passione socio Templum ubi eorum SS. Corpora sub Altare majori requiescunt et Apostolico indultu cum oblatione sacra purgantes animae liberantur."
The fourth removal was on May 30, 1807, after the dissolution of the monastery under the French domination, to the town of Fratta Maggiore, a few miles north of Naples. Stanislao d'Aloe, in Napoli e i Luoghi Celebri dette sue Vicinanze, i, p. 240 (d'Aloe errs as to the date); G. A. Galante, Memorie dell' Antico Cenobio Lucullano di S. Severino Abate (Naples, 1869), p. 41; Brunner, St. Severin, pp. 167-172. There was, it would appear from Brunner's account, some ecclesiastical as well as civil authority for the removal of the remains. Nevertheless Dr. Galante considers that they were " fraudolentemente rapitoci " (p. 41), and in his dissertation (pp. 41 f.) strongly urges their return to Naples. "Cives Fractenses," he writes me under date of March 20, 1914, " non S. Severini, sed S. Sosii corpus repetebant, et occasionem nacti expulsionis Monachorum e coenobio et templo Severinianio, prope Archivium Magnum, corpora utriusque simul quiescentia rapuerunt, et ad oppidum suum transtulerunt, ubi nunc in majori templo Fractensi quiescunt. Quamvis Monachi postea redierint, haud curae fuit, sacra lipsana repetere. Superioribus annis ego null uni non movi lapidem ut corpus S. Severini Neapoli restitueretur, sed frustra; praecordia tantum sanguine intincta, et quatuor ossa restituta sunt, quae nunc in templo S. Severini asservantur."
From 1807 to 1874 the bodies of Severinus and Sosius lay in a small chapel near the parish church of Fratta Maggiore. They were then removed into the church, to a new chapel, where the coffins, placed on either side the altar, were covered with red velvet, and distinguished by the gilt letters S. S. M. (Sanctus Sosius Martyr) and S. S. A. (Sanctus Severinus Abbas). Brunner, St. Severin, pp. 179 f.
116. 1 Paschasius here imitates Sulpicius Severus, De Beati Martini Vita, Praef., i: "Quid enim esset, quod non amori tuo vel cum detrimento mei pudoris inpenderem?"
117. 1 I Peter, v, 3.
118. 2 I Timothy, iv, 12.
119. 3 Hebrews, xi.
120. 4 I Maccabees, ii, 49 seq.
121. 1 I Maccabees, iii, 8; v, 44, 68; x, 83 f.
122. 2 Revelation, xxi, 2, 9.
123. 3 "As one lamp lights another nor grows less, So nobleness enkindles nobleness."
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Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
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Eugippius, The Life of St. Severinus (1914) pp.115-126. Appendix
Eugippius, The Life of St. Severinus (1914) pp.115-126. Appendix
APPENDIX
APPENDIX
I. A List of Editions and Translations of the Life
(a) Editions
Laurentius Surius, in De Probatis Sanctorum Historiis, vol. i (Coloniae Agrippinae, 1570), pp. 153-161. Printed from a greatly abridged manuscript, now lost. Lacks the letters and the table of chapters; chapters 6, 13, 14, 16, 18-31, 39, 42; and parts of chapters 4, 9, 11, 12, 17, and 43.1 Repeated in the editions of 1576 (ibid.), i, pp. 159-167, and 1581 (Venetiis), i, ff. 49-52. The third Cologne edition of Surius, published under the title Vitae Sanctorum (1617) repeats (i, pp. 111-121) Velserus's text of 1595, with the addition of the letter of Eugippius to Paschasius.
The latest edition of Surius (Augustae Taurinorum, 1875-80) reproduces the mutilated text of the earliest editions. Tom. i, pp. 137-150.
Caesar Baronius, Annales Ecclesiastici, tom. vi (Romae, 1595), first printed the letter of Paschasius to Eugippius (a. 496) and that part of the letter of Eugippius to Paschasius which relates to the native country of Severinus (a. 454); also chapters 18,19, and 42. Baronius |118 had the Life complete in manuscript, and printed nearly a third of it in the Annals under the years 454, 473, 475, 482, 488, 493, 496.2 These portions are repeated in the subsequent editions of his work, of which there are ten or more.
Marcus Velserus. Historia ab Eugippio ante Annos circiter MC. scripta, qua Tempora, quae Attilae mortem consequuta sunt, occasione vitae S. Severini illustrantur. Ex Bibliotheca S. Emmerani Reginoburg. nunc primum edita, cum scholiis. Augustae Vindelicorum, 1595. Without the letter of Eugippius and the table of chapters. The first separate edition. Repeated in Velserus's Opera (ibid., 1682), pp. 629-676.
Henricus Canisius, Antiqua Lectio, tom. vi (Ingolstadii, 1604), first printed entire the letter of Eugippius to Paschasius. This is found in the second edition of Canisius, by Jacques Basnage (Thesaurus Monumentorum, etc., Amstelaedami, 1725), in vol. i, pp. 411 f.
Joannes Bolland, in Acta Sanctorum, Januarius, tom. i (Antverpiae, 1643), pp. 483-499; editio novissima, tom. i (Parisiis, etc., 1863), pp. 483-499. |119
Hieronymus Pez, in Scriptores Rerum Austriacarum, tom. i (Lipsiae, 1721), coll. 64-93.
Berthold Rizel, in Sancta et Beata Austria (Augustae Vindelicorum, 1750), pp. 71-124. Repeated from Pez.
Joseph Resch, in Annales Ecclesiae Sabionensis nunc Brixinensis atque Conterminarum (Augustae Vindelicorum, 1760), tom. i, pp. 296-322. A number of chapters toward the end are abbreviated.
Johann Heinrich von Falckenstein, in Geschichten des grossen Herzogthums und ehemaligen Königreichs Bayern, part i (Munich, etc.,1763), pp. 79-120.
Anton Albert Muchar, in Das römische Norikum, vol. ii (Grätz, 1826), pp. 152-239. Repeated from Pez.
Jacques Paul Migne, in Patrologiae Cursus Completus, vol. lxii (Parisiis, 1848), coll. 1167-1200. Repeated from Acta Sanctorum. The letter of Paschasius is in the same volume, coll. 39 f.
Anton Kerschbaumer. Vita S. Severini, auctore Eugippio, secundum Codicem anliquissimum, qui Romae asservatur. Cum tabula specimen codicis Lateranensis continente. Scaphusiae, 1862. The first edition to contain the table of chapters.
Johann Friedrich, in Kirchengeschichte Deutschlands, vol. i (Bamberg, 1867), pp. 431-489.
Hermann Sauppe. Eugippii Vita Sancti Severini. Berolini, 1877. In Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Auctores Antiquissimi, tom. i, pars ii.
PiusKnoell. Eugippii Vita Sancti Severini. Vindobonae, 1886. In Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum, vol. viii, pars ii.
Theodor Mommsen. Eugippii Vita Severini. Berolini, 1898. In Scriptores Rerum Germanicarum in usum Scholarum ex Monumentis Germaniae Hisioricis recusi. |120
(b) German Translations
Johannes a Via. Das Leben des H. Severini Nortgowischen Apostels, durch Eugippium beschriben. In his Historien der Lieben Heiligen Gottes, aus dem Latein [of Surius] verteutschet (Munich, 1574-80), vol. i, ff. xciv-xcix.
Mathias Fuhrmann. Leben und Wunderthaten des Heiligen Nordgauer, oder Oesterreicher Apostels Severin. Vienna, 1746.
Johann Heinrich von Falckenstein, 1763, in columns parallel to his text.
Leben des heil. Severin, aus dem Latein. Passau, 1817.
P. Durach. Das Leben des h. Severin. Passau, 1847.
Carl Ritter. Das Leben des heiligen Mönches und Apostels der Noriker Severin, beschrieben von Eugippius. Linz, 1853.
Jakob Leitner, in Leben und Wirken des Hl. Severin und der heiligen Bischöfe Maximilian und Valentin ( d edition, Passau, 1868), pp. 112-174.
Karl Rodenberg. Leben des heiligen Severin, von Eugippius. Leipsic, 1878; d edition, 1884. In Geschicht-Schreiber der deutschen Vorzeit.
Sebastian Brunner. Das Leben des Noriker-Apostels St. Severin, von seinem Schüler Eugippius. Die wichtigste Urkunde aus der Zeit der Völkerwanderung. Aus dem Lateinischen. Mit Einleitung, Erklärungen, möglichst vollständiger Literatur und einem Bericht über die Grabestätten St. Severins bis auf die neueste Zeit. Mit einer Abbildung der neuen St. Severinuskirche in Wien. Vienna, 1879. |121
(c) French Translation 3
In Jean Baptiste Carnandet's Les Actes des Saints, Janvier, iii (Lyons, 1867), pp. 481-509.
II. A Latin Hymn in Praise of Saint Severinus 4
Canticum laudis domino canentes
Hunc diem festum celebremus omnes,
Quo Severinus penetravit almus
Celsa polorum.
Quis stilo dives modulansque plectro
Cuncta signorum replicare possit,
Quae potens Christus studiis opimis
Contulit ejus? |122
Inclitus vates nimiumque felix,
Saepius cui deus intimabat (11,39,
Tunc ad oppressi populi salutem 40)
Multa futura,
Voce praesaga laqueos latronum (10)
Atque praedonum machinas retexens (4, 5)
Valde tutabat monitis supernis (11, 25, 30)
Oppida fessa.
Dulce solamen miseris ministrans Horridam pestem famis amputavit, (3, 18)
Barbara plures feritate victos (8, 9, 10, 19)
Solvit ab hoste.
Magne confessor, humilis magister, (36)
Tu quidem normam monachis dedisti, (4, 9, 39)
Calle demonstrans sobrio sequaces
Scandere celum. |123
In tuis sacris manibus refulsit (13)
Celitus lumen, refluensque crevit
Ad tuos haustus olei liquamen (28)
Fontis ad instar.
Condolens cunctos inopes fovebat, (17)
Languidos sanans relevabat aegros: (6, 14,
Omnis accedens salubrem medelam 33, 34, 38,
Sumpsit ab illo. 39)
Tuque Sylvinum loculo jacentem, (16)
Fratribus coram precibus peractis,
Morte devicta redire fecisti ad
Gaudia vitae.
Cereos flamma fidei cremante (11)
Arguit sanctus pater infideles:
Nosque flammescunt deitatis igne
Algida corda.
Cujus ad funus veniens sacratum
Mutus accepit modulos loquelae, (45)
Caecus exultat procul ambulantes (46)
Cernere notos.
Neapolis, gaude redimita festa,
Plaude caelestem retinens patronum,
Quem tibi summus decus et juvamen
Praestitit auctor. Hujus o clemens meritis creator
Gloriam nobis veniamque confer,
Quo tui cultus super astra semper
Luce fruamur.
Gloriam patri resonemus omnes,
Gloriam Christo supplices canamus,
Cum quibus sanctus simul et creator
Spiritus regnat. |124
Translation
Singing a song of praise unto the Lord, let us all celebrate this festal day, on which kind Severinus entered the heights of heaven.
What eloquent pen, what tuneful lyre can repeat all the miracles which mighty Christ bestowed upon his excellent zeal?
Seer of renown and exceeding good omen, to whom, for the salvation of the people then prostrate, God often made known many things that were to come.
With prophetic word he unravelled the snares of robbers and the tricks of plunderers, and by supernal warnings strongly defended the exhausted towns.
Giving sweet relief to the unfortunate, he banished the horrid curse of famine, and set free from the foe many who had been conquered by the fierce barbarians.
Great confessor, meek master, thou didst indeed give a pattern to the monks, showing them how to mount to heaven, following in the narrow path of temperance.
In thy sacred hands glittered the light from heaven; and the oil at thy drawing overflowed and increased like a fountain.
He sympathized with all the destitute, and cherished them; he healed the sick, he relieved the suffering: every one who approached received healing remedy.
And in the presence of the brethren thou didst pray over Silvinus as he lay in the coffin, and, conquering death, bring him back to the joys of life.
By the flame that burned the waxen tapers of the faithful the holy father convicted the unbelievers; and our cold hearts flame with the fire of God. |125
Coming to his sacred burial, the dumb received speech, the blind exulteth to recognize those that walk afar.
Naples, rejoice in thy festal crown! Clap thy hands, keeping the heavenly patron whom the sovereign Author hath bestowed upon thee as thy honor and help.
For his merits, O merciful Creator, grant us glory and pardon, that above the stars we may ever enjoy the light of thy worship.
Let us all resound glory to the Father, let us in suppliance sing glory unto Christ; with whom reigneth the Holy Spirit and Creator.
III. Chronological Table
(Numerals in parentheses refer to chapters of the Life.)
453. Death of Attila. At about this time Severinus comes "from the parts of the East to the marches of Riverside Noricum and the Pannonias" (i).
455,9 Sept. Sabaria is destroyed by an earthquake (2?).
476, 23 Aug. Odoacer is proclaimed ruler of Italy.
28 Aug. The patrician Orestes is "unjustly slain." (Letter to Paschasius).
Autumn or winter? Primenius takes refuge with Severinus (ibid.).
c. 482, 8 Jan. Death of Severinus at his monastery near Favianis (43).
487. Odoacer wages war on the Rugii. Fredericus flees. Feletheus and Giso are removed to Italy (44).
488? Fredericus returns. He is again put to flight, this time by an army which Odoacer sends under his brother Onoülfus. Onoülfus and Count Pierius |126 order the Roman provincials of Riverside Noricum to withdraw to Italy. The body of Severinus is disinterred, and is accompanied by the monks to Mount Feleter, in Italy. The provincials are assigned abodes "through the different districts of Italy" (44).
Fredericus goes to Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths, at Novae in Moesia (44).
489. Theodoric, with the authorization of the Emperor Zeno, invades Italy, and defeats Odoacer at the Isonzo (28 Aug.) and at Verona (30 Sept.). Fulfillment of the prophecy of Severinus (32).
492-96. Gelasius is pope. Sometime during his pontificate, the body of Severinus is removed to the Lucullan castle, near Naples, and there placed by Saint Victor, bishop of Naples, in a mausoleum built for it by Barbaria (46).
493, 27 Feb. Peace between Theodoric and Odoacer. 15 Mar. Odoacer is assassinated by Theodoric, who becomes sole ruler of Italy.
511. Eugippius, second abbot of the monastery of Saint Severinus at the Lucullan castle, sends the Life of Severinus to Deacon Paschasius.
526, 30 Aug. Death of Theodoric.
[Footnotes moved to the end and renumbered]
1. 1 There is a very curious bias displayed in some of the omissions. These include the descriptions of the habits and daily life of Severinus (4, 39); the rehabilitation of the repentant husbandman (12); and the exhortation to the monks to lead lives of practical godliness (4,3).
2. 1 A table of the chapters of the Life printed by Baronius may be of service. The first column gives the year of the Annals; the second, the sections, which are found in several of the editions; the third, page references to tom. viii (1751) of the best edition, that of Lucca; the fourth, the chapters of the Life.
454
25-31
168 ff.
1,2; part of the letter of Eugippius.
33,34
170 f.
3
473
3-9
318 ff.
5, 8, 11 ( d paragraph).
475
4
331
7
35
338
18
482
53-63
414-417
19, 40, 42, 43 (omitting the address), 44 (2 para-
graphs).
488
9-15
504 f.
44 (completion), 45
493
3
554
32 (the prophecy only).
496
49-52
606 f.
46; the letter of Paschasius,
3. 1 Tillemont, whose accuracy is commonly unimpeachable, says of the Life (Mémoires pour servir a l'Histoire Ecclesiastique des six Premiers Siècles, Paris, 1701-12, xvi, p. 180) " Elle est traduite en françois dans les Saints illustres de Mr. d'Andilli." A careful search, however, has so far failed to reveal such a translation. The reference to it in Remy Ceillier's Histoire Générale, des Auteurs Sacrés et Ecclésiastiques (Paris, 1729-63), xvi, p. 158, may be borrowed from Tillemont.
4. 2 A remarkable Neapolitan hymnary, apparently that of the monastery of Saint Severinus, is preserved in two closely related manuscripts of about the end of the tenth century, Codex Vaticanus 7172 and MS. 1092 of the Bibliothèque Nationale at Paris. Guido Maria Dreves has printed it from these, under the title of Hymnarius Severi-nianus, as volume xiv a of Analecta Hymnica Medii Aevi (Leipsic, 1893). In it are two hymns (34 and 35, in Dreves's edition) in praise of Saint Severinus. The second dates from the tenth century, as is shown by its reference to the signs and wonders that accompanied the translation of the relics of the saint from the Lucullan castle to Naples. It contains nothing of biographical interest. The other was first published by Antoine Frédéric Ozanam, in his Documents Inédits pour servir a l'Histoire Littéraire de l'Italie (Paris, 1850), pp. 241 ff., from the Vatican manuscript. It is Ozanam's opinion that it was composed shortly after the preparation of the Life. The classical purity of form and the unblurred outline of the story strongly support this view. After Ozanam, Migne, Sauppe, Knoell, and Mommsen, in their editions of the Life, and Dreves (as above) have printed the hymn. Dreves alone has used the Paris manuscript. He has also supplied, from another hymn with a similar ending, the last three lines of the final stanza, the Doxology, which is incomplete in the manuscripts. His text is, however, carelessly printed. André Baudrillart gives a French translation as an appendix to his Saint Séverin (1908). Sebastian Brunner in his translation of the Life (1879), pp. 181 f., gives in German a very free metrical paraphrase, "so arranged," he says, "that it might be sung as a church hymn on the festival of the saint." Its suitability for this purpose is lessened by the fact that Brunner has inadvertently substituted 'Silenus' for 'Silvinus' in his rendering of the ninth stanza.
The text which is here presented follows that of Mommsen, with some correction of punctuation, and with the completing verses of the Doxology from Dreves. The marginal numerals in parentheses refer to chapters of the Life.
This text was transcribed by Roger Pearse, 2004. All material on this page is in the public domain - copy freely.
Greek text is rendered using the Scholars Press SPIonic font, free from here.
Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
SOURCE SECTION: severinus_04_indices.htm
Eugippius, The Life of St. Severinus (1914). Indices
Eugippius, The Life of St. Severinus (1914). Indices
INDICES
INDEX OF AUTHORS CITED IN THE NOTES
Acta Sanctorum, 58, 96, 108. See Bolland.
Adlzreitter, Johann, 46, 95.
Allgemeine Weltgeschichte, 41.
Aloe, Stanislao d', 108.
Ambrose, Saint, 78.
Andilli, see Arnauld d'Andilly.
Anonymus Cuspiniani, 32.
Anonymus Valesianus, 18.
Antonini Augusti Itinerarium, 32.
Arnauld d'Andilly, Robert, 121.
Athanasius, 93.
Atlantic Monthly, The, 94.
Augustine, Saint, 64, 69.
Ausonius, 51.
Barker, Ernest, 42.
Baronius, Caesar, 67, 118.
Baudrillart, André, 102, 122.
Bible, The:
Acts, 102.
I Chronicles, 100.
Colossians, 33.
I Corinthians, 16, 44, 89.
Ephesians, 33, 39, 100.
Exodus, 35.
Genesis, 51, 96, 99.
Hebrews, 100, 112.
James, 84.
Jeremiah, 42.
Joel, 55, 56.
II Kings, 80, 100.
Luke, 51, 64.
I Maccabees, 112, 113.
Mark, 80.
Matthew, 19, 34, 38, 64, 80.
I Peter, 112.
Psalms, 101, 112.
Revelation, 113.
Romans, 100.
I Timothy, 112.
Bolland, Joannes, 33.
Brunner, Andreas, 34.
Brunner, Sebastian, 108, 109,122.
Buckland, W. W., 18.
Budinger, Max, 46, 107.
Bury, J. B., 104.
Butler, E. C, 37.
Cajetanus, Octavius, 107.
Cambridge Medieval History,The, 42.
Cassiodorus, 105.
Ceillier, Remy, 121.
Codex Theodosianus, 18.
Crusé, C. F., 93.
Curschmann, Fritz, 39, 55.
Cuspinianus, Joannes, 36.
Dahn, Felix, 74.
Deacon, Thomas, 49.
Dictionary of Christian Biography, 74.
Dreves, G. M., 121, 122.
Du Cange, 51, 53.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 37.
Ennodius, 41, 45, 53, 86.
Eusebius, 93.
Evagrius, 93.
Excerptum Sangattense, 32.
Expositio totius Mundi et Gentium, 52, 81.
Falckenstein, J. H. von, 18, 63.
Frick, Karl, 32.
Galante, G. A., 108, 109.
Gelehrte Anzeigen der königlich bayerischen Akademie der Wissenschaften (Munich), 74.
Gregory of Tours, 67.
Gregory the Great, 71.
Hansitz, Marcus, 19, 38, 83.
Harnack, Adolf, 45.
Harvard Studies in Classical Philology, 58.
Hayes, C. H., 7, 29, 42.
Hilarius Arelatensis, 103.
Historia Translationis, 108.
Hodgkin, Thomas, 70, 107.
Holstenius, Lucas, 103. Hymnarius Severinianus, 121.
Isidorus Hispalensis, 30.
Jerome, Saint, 64, 101.
Joannes Diaconus Neapolitanus, 107.
John Chrysostom, Saint, 64.
Jordanes, 18, 38, 41, 52, 66, 72.
Jung, Julius, 89, 105, 107.
Kaufmann, Georg, 36.
Kingsley, Charles, 95.
Knoell, Pius, 33, 52, 122.
Lazius, Wolfgang, 37.
Le Nain de Tillemont, Sebastian, 49, 121.
Marcellinus Comes, 55.
Menander Protector, 52.
Migne, J. P., 51, 64, 103, 122.
Mommsen, Theodor, 32, 33, 122.
Montalembert, Comte de, 95.
Monumenta Germaniae Historica, 8, 32, 108.
Morgan, M. H., 58.
Muchar, A. A., 52.
Muratori, L. A., 107.
Napoli e i Luoghi Celebri dette sue Vicinanze, 108.
Nicolas, Sir Harris, 32.
Notitia Dignitatum, 60, 66, g.
Ozanam, A. F., 95, 121, 122.
Palladius, 93.
Pallmann, Reinhold, 74, 78, 89.
Parascandolo, Luigi, 108.
Paulinus Mediolanensis, 90.
Paulinus of Nola, 51.
Paulus Diaconus, 104.
Penck, Albrecht, 39.
Pflugk-Harttung, Julius von, 41.
Philo Judaeus, 93.
Priscus, 18.
Quitzmann, E. A., 60, 105.
Rader, Matthaeus, 97.
Ranke, Leopold von, 104.
Rettberg, F. W., 37, 74.
Rodenberg, Karl, 7, 29, 33, 42.
Roesler, C. F., 32.
Roncallius, Thomas, 32.
Rosweyde, Heribert, 81.
Rutilius Namatianus, 103.
Salvian, 34, 53.
Sauppe, Hermann, 33, 122.
Sidonius Apollinaris, 67.
Sitzungsberichte der kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften (Vienna), 107.
Smith, William, 74.
Sommerlad, Theo, 19, 51.
Stabius, Joannes, 37.
Stokes, G. T., 74.
Sulpicius Severus, 50, 63, 90,103, 111.
Surius, Laurentius, 33.
Swarowsky, Anton, 39.
Thierry, Amédée, 52, 53, 104.
Tillemont, see Le Nain de Tillemont.
Translatio Sancti Severini, 108.
Valesius, 93.
Valois, Henri de, see Valesius.
Velserus, Marcus, 30, 50.
Venantius Fortunatus, 97.
Viard, Paul, 64.
Vita Willibaldi, 8.
Wace, Henry, 74.
Watteribach, Wilhelm, 20.
Wietersheim, Eduard von, 72.
Workman, H. B., 91, 94.
GENERAL INDEX
Abel, 112.
Abraham, patriarch, 100.
Adamnan, abbot of Iona, 74, n. 2.
Ad Vineas, cell of Severinus at, 36.
Aedituus, 51, n. 2.
Aegidius, ruler in Gaul, 41, n. 1, 78, n. 2.
Aenus (Inn), river, 34, 67, 71, 97, n. 1.
Aëtius, Roman general, 78, n. 2.
Alamanni, German tribe, 23, 41, n. 1, 85.
lay waste Noricum Mediterraneum, 24, 76.
overthrown by the Romans at Batavis, 24, 77 f.
Almsgivings, enjoined by Severinus, 22, 24, 30, 31, 34, 44, 56, 57, 63-67.
Alps, the, 60, n. 2, 81, 97, n. 1.
Alveus (or Alneus), Gallic saint, 58, n. 3.
Amantius, deacon, 68 f.
Ambrose, Saint, bishop of Milan, 89 f.
Ambrosius, exile, 25, 87.
Anthony, Saint, Egyptian monk, 93, n. 1.
Antonius, disciple of Severinus, 45, n. 1, 53, n. 2.
Arians, Christian sect, 41, n. 1, 46, n. 2.
Ariminum, city in Italy, 15.
Asturis, town near the Danube, 21, 29, 31.
Attila, king of the Huns, 29, 41, n. 1, 125.
Austria, 36, n. 2, 38, n. 2.
Avitianus, soldier, 103.
Bajovarius, 97, n. 1.
Barbaria, lady of rank, 27, 107, 126.
Basil the Great, Saint, monastic rule of, 37, n. 1.
Bassus, monk, 15.
Batavis (Passau), town on the Danube, 67, 68, 69, 71 f.,74.
attacked by Hunimund, 72 f.
the Alamanni defeated at, 24, 77 f.
stormed by the Thuringi, 24, 78.
Bavaria, 38, n. 2.
Bear, miracle of the, 25, 81 f.
Belenus, Celtic deity, 51, n. 2.
Benedictine monastery of Saint Severinus, at Naples, 107, n. 3.
Boethius, 70, n. 1.
Bojotro (Innstadt), church at, 71.
Bojotro, monastery of Severinus at, 71, 89.
Bonosus, monk, 25, 88 f.
Boundary wall, the, 69.
Breones, Alpine tribe, 97, n. 1.
Brunner, Sebastian, 10.
Bulgaria, 104, n. 2.
Burgum, near Favianis, 38.
Businca, affluent of the Danube, 60 f.
Byrrus, river in Noricum, 97, n. 1.
Capraria, island, 103, n. 1.
Castellum, 52, n. 3.
Catholic faith, the, 29, 41.
Catholics, 41, n. 1, 46.
Christ, 15, 17, 19, 34, 36, 43, 45, 47, 48, 61, 62, 63, 66 f., 72, 73, 80,83, 84,85,91, 92, 98, 99, 101, 110, 111, 113, 121, 123, 124, 125.
Christian literature, 51, n. 2.
Christian narratives, early, 81, n. 2.
Colman, Irish pilgrim, 36, n. 2.
Columba, Saint, biography of, by Adamnan, 74, n. 2.
Comagenis, town in Riverside Noricum, 21, 25, 30, 33, 87.
earthquake at, 31 f.
Constantius, bishop of Lauriacum, 53, n. 2, 83.
Cucullis (Kuchel), town of Riverside Noricum, 53 n. 1.
abominable sacrifices at, 53.
miracle of the tapers of the faithful at, 22, 53 ff., 123, 124.
miracle of the locusts at, 22, 55 ff.
Custos ecclesiae, 30, n. 1, 51, n. 2.
Dalmatia, 72, n. 1, 78, n. 2, 103, n. 1.
Danube, the, 29, 33, 34, 38, 41, n. 1, 46, 49, 52, 60, 67, 72, 73, 79, 98, 104, 105.
Danube flotilla, the, 66, n. 2.
Deogratias, bearer of letters, 17.
Dumb man, miracle of the, 27, 106, 123, 125.
Earthquake, at Comagenis, 31 f.
date of, 32, n. 1, 125.
East, the, 19, 29, 125.
Egypt, 93, n. 3, 95.
Egyptian bondage, house of,105.
Elisha the prophet, 80, 100.
Empire, dissolution of the, 78, n. 2.
Ens, 66, n. 2.
Epiphany, 97.
Eugippius, priest, sends the Life of Severinus to Deacon Paschasius, 15-20, 111-113, 126.
Famine, at Favianis, 21, 33 f.
at Lauriacum, relieved by Severinus, 23, 66 f., 122, 124.
in Gaul, 67, n. 1.
Fasts, 31.
practised by Severinus, 38,64, 93 f.
enjoined by him, 24, 30, 31, 44, 54, 55 f., 76, 77, 79, 90, 92.
denounced by the gabbling priest, 72.
practised by the Therapeutae, 93, n. 3.
Favianis, city in Riverside Noricum, 21, 33, 36, 46, 52, 72, 85, 98.
famine at, 33 f.
defeat of the raiders near, 35 f.
wrongly identified with Vienna, 36, n. 2.
monastery of Severinus at, see Monastery.
Feba, prince of the Rugii, probably the same as Feletheus, or Feva, 40, n. 1, 71.
Feletheus, or Feva, king of the Rugii, son of Flaccitheus, 22, 26,47,48, 87.
his friendship with Severinus, 46.
removes the provincials from Lauriacum, 25, 84 ff.
his final interview with Severinus, 26, 94 f.
gives Favianis to Ferderuchus, 98.
taken prisoner and removed to Italy, 104, 125.
said to have been put to death by Odoacer, 104, n. 1. See Feba.
Ferderuchus, brother of King Feva, 40, n. 1.
lord of Favianis, 98.
adjured by Severinus, 26, 98 f., 104.
characterized, 103.
seizes the possessions of the monastery, 26, 103 f.
slain by Fredericus, 26, 104.
Feva, see Feletheus.
Flaccitheus, king of the Rugii, 21, 22, 46, 98.
interview of, with Severinus, 40-43.
Florian, martyr, 36, n. 2.
Franks, German tribe, 41, n. 1, 53, n. 2.
Fratta Maggiore, town near Naples, 107, n. 3.
Fredericus, prince of the Rugii, 40, n. 1.
seized by the goldsmiths, 22, 47 f.
slays Ferderuchus, 104.
flees before Odoacer, 104, 125.
returns home, 104, 125.
again put to flight, 104, 125.
goes to Theodoric, 104, 126.
Fugitivus, 18, n. 3.
Gaul, 67, n. 1, 78, n. 2.
Gelasius, Saint, pope (492-496), 107, 126.
Gervasius, Saint, martyr of Milan, 49, n. 1.
relics of, 22, 49 f.
Gibuldus, king of the Alamanni, 23, 67 ff. 136
Giso, queen of King Feletheus, 22, 40, n. 1.
troubles of, because of her opposition to Severinus, 46 ff.
strongly marked character of, 46, n. 1.
her final interview with Severinus, 94 f.
removed to Italy, 104, 125.
her fate unknown, 104, n. 1.
Goths (Ostrogoths), the, 41, n. 1, 42.
hostile to Flaccitheus, 40.
destitution of, 66, n. 1.
beleaguer Tiburnia, 41, n. 1, 65f.
at war with the Suevi, 72, n. 1.
Harmony, Pennsylvania, 93, n. 3.
Heruli, German tribe, 24, 41, n. 1, 53, n. 2, 75.
Homo saecularis, 101, n. 2.
Hunimund, 72 f.
Huns, the, 29.
Ice, formation of, on the Danube, 38.
melting of, on the Aenus, 34.
Importunus, Roman consul (509), 15.
Inn, the, 60, n. 2. See Aenus.
Innstadt, see Bojotro.
Islands, part of, in the history of monasticism in the Occident, 103, n. 1.
Isonzo, battle of the (489), 126.
Israel, children of, 95.
Italy, 18, 40, 45, 46, 69, 78, n. 2, 102, n. 3, 104, 106, 107, 125,126.
Jacob, patriarch, 99.
James the apostle, 84.
Januarius, martyr, 107, n. 3.
Jesus, 47, 61, 62, 80, 89, 99. See Christ.
John the Baptist, Saint, blessing of, 24, 71, 74.
relics of, 24, 73 f.
Joseph, patriarch, 96.
Joviaco (Schlügen), town of Riverside Noricum, 74.
sacked by the Heruli, 24, 75.
Juvao (Salzburg), town of Riverside Noricum, 58, n. 1.
miracle of the saint's taper at, 22, 58 f., 123, 124.
miracle of the sick woman at, 22 f., 59 f.
Klosterneuburg, 29, n. 3.
Kuchel, see Cucullis.
Laici, 101, n. 2.
Laudicius, blind man, miracle of, 109 f., 123, 125.
Lauriacum, chief town of Riverside Noricum, 53, n. 2, 66, n. 2, 89, n. 1.
miracle of the rust at, 23, 66 f.
people of Batavis remove to, 78.
Lauriacum, miracle of the oil at, 24,79 f., 123, 124.
preserved by Severinus, 25, 82 ff.
abandoned at the behest of Feva, 25, 84 ff.
Lent, 93.
Leopold III the Pious, margrave of Austria (1096-1136), 36, n. 2.
Leper from the territory of Milan, miracle of the, 24, 76 f.
Leper named Tejo, miracle of the, 25, 88.
Lerina, isle in the Mediterranean, 45, n. 1, 103, n. 1.
Locellum, 102, n. 3.
Loculum, 102, n. 3.
Locusts, ravages of, 22, 55 ff.
Lorch, 66, n. 2.
Lot's wife, 51.
Lower Hungary, 38, n. 2.
Lower Pannonia, 40.
Lucania, district in Italy, 15.
Lucillus, Saint, priest, 26, 69, 97, 105, 106.
Lucullan castle, the, near Naples, 107, 121, n. 2, 126.
Macerata di Monte Feltre, town in Italy, 106, n. 1.
Mâcon, second council of (585), 64, n. 1.
Mamertinus, tribune, 35.
pursues the robbers, 35.
victorious at the brook Tiguntia, 36.
ordained bishop, 35.
Marcellinus, ruler in Dalmatia, 41, n. 1, 78, n. 2.
Marcianus, monk, 26, 91.
a citizen of Cucullis, 53.
priest of the monastery of Saint Severinus, 53, 107.
Marcus, subdeacon, 62, 63.
Marinus, precentor of the church at Naples, 110.
Martin, Saint, of Tours, 50, n. 2, 63, n. 1.
Maternus, doorkeeper, 62, 63.
Mattathias, Jewish leader, 112.
Maurus, janitor, 22, 51 f.
Maximianus, Saint, priest, 75.
Maximilian, martyr, 36, n. 2.
Maximus, man of Noricum, 75 f.
leads a party across the Alps, 81.
saved by the bear, 81 f.
Mediterranean, the, 103, n. 1.
Milan, 76, 89.
Moderatus, singer, 74.
Moesia, province, 104, 126.
Monachus, 101, n. 2.
Monastery of Severinus near Favianis, 26, 36 f., 43 f., 49 f., 51, 72,73,75,86,89, 92 f., 98, 103, 104, 125.
at Batavis, 67.
at Bojotro, 71, 89 f.
Mount Feleter, castle in Italy, 106, 126.
Naples, 8, n. 1, 27, 107, 109, 110, 121, n. 2, 126.
Norica rura, 97, n. 1.
Norici, 23, 65, 67, n. 1.
Noricum, district in Central Europe, 8, 41, n. 1, 53, n. 2, 78, n. 2.
use of the word, 65, n. 1.
Riverside Noricum, 19, 29, 52, 66, n. 2, 105, n. 1, 125, 126.
Noricum Mediterraneum (Noricum), 24, 65, 70, 75, 81, 105, n. 1.
Novae, city of Moesia, 104, 126.
Occident, the, island monasteries of, 103, n. 1.
Odoacer, visits cell of Severinus, 45.
Severinus foretells his greatness, 21, 45 f.
and his downfall, 25, 87, 126.
proclaimed ruler of Italy, 125.
friendly relations with Severinus, 25, 86 f.
wages war against the Rugii, 104, 125 f.
commands the removal of the provincials, 104.
overthrown and slain by Theodoric, 126.
Oil, miracle of the, 24, 79 f., 123, 124.
Onoülfus, brother of Odoacer, 104, 125 f.
Orestes, patrician, 18, 107, n. 1, 125.
Orient, the, 37, n. 1.
Osterhofen, see Quintanis.
Ostiarius, 30, n. 1, 51, n. 2.
Pachomius, Egyptian monk, 90, n. 3.
Pannonia, 18, n. 1, 41, n. 1, 52, n. 2.
Pannonias, the, 29, 41, n. 1, 53, n. 2, 111, 125.
Pannonias, the two, 29.
Paphnutius Cephala, Egyptian monk, 93, n. 2.
Paschasius, Roman deacon, 126. addressed by Eugippius, 15-20.
replies, 111-113.
Passau, see Batavis.
Paul, Saint, 39, n. 1, 112.
Paulinus, priest of Noricum Mediterraneum, 23, 70.
elected bishop of Tiburnia in accordance with the prophecy of Severinus, 24, 70.
warned by Severinus of the incursion of the Alamanni, 24, 75 f.
Pennsylvania, 93, n. 3.
Phoebicius, professor at Burdigala, 51, n. 2.
Pientissimus, bystander, 80.
Pierius, Count, official of Odoacer, 105, 125 f.
Pizzofalcone, near Naples, 107, n. 2.
Poor man's corn, miracle of the, 22, 56 f., 117, n. 1.
Postumianus, 90.
Primenius, Italian priest, 18, 19, 125.
Processa, woman of Naples, 108 f.
Procula, wealthy widow, 33 f.
Protasius, Saint, martyr of Milan, 49, n. 1.
relics of, 22, 49 f.
Quintanis (Osterhofen), municipality of Raetia Secunda, 60, n. 1, 75.
miracle of the church by the river at, 23, 60 f.
the inhabitants remove to Batavis, 77.
Quirinus, martyr, 36, n. 2.
Raetia, 69, n. 1.
Raetia Prima, 60, n. 2.
Raetia Secunda, 60.
Raetias, the, 34, 69, n. 1, 97.
Raetii, 60, n. 1, 67, n. 1.
Rapp, George, 93, n. 3.
Reliquiae, 71, n. 2.
Renatus, monk, 26, 91.
Retica annona, 69, n. 1.
Roman dominion, 69.
Roman province, the, 96.
Roman territory, 68.
Romans, 30,32,41, n. 1,46,48, 77, 104.
Rome (city), 70, n. 1, 104, n. 1.
Rome (empire), 41,n. 1,60, n. 2.
Romulus Augustulus, last emperor of the West (475-476), 107, n. 1.
Royal Neapolitan State Archives, the, 107, n. 3.
Rugian royal house, genealogical table of the, 40, n. 1.
Rugian widow's only son, miracle of the, 21, 43-45. 139
Rugii, German tribe on the Danube, 21, 22, 25, 40, 43, 45, i, 84, 85, 86, 94, 98.
distinctive position of, 41, n. 1.
attacked by Odoacer, 104, 125.
Rumania, 38, n. 2.
Sabaria, town in Pannonia,
destroyed by earthquake, 32, n. 1, 125.
Salzburg, see Juvao.
Sanct Peter im Holz, town, 65, n. 2.
Sanctuaria, 71, n. 2.
San Marino, 106, n. 1.
Saracens, 107, n. 3.
Satan, 25, 45, n. 1, 72, 89, 90.
Saviour, the, 38, 39, 48, 80. See Christ.
Saxons, German tribe, 41, n. 1, 53, n. 2.
Scamarae, robbers, 52.
Schlögen, see Joviaco. Severin, village, 36, n. 2.
Severinus, Saint, 15, 16, 19 f.
life of, 21-110.
founds a monastery near Favianis, 36 f.
trains the monks, 37, 50 f., 92 f., 122, 124.
mode of life of, 38 ff., 92 ff.
redeems captives, 23, 48, 67 ff.
collects relics of martyrs, 22, 24, 49 f., 71, 73 f
Severinus, declines the office of bishop, 22, 50.
fame of, 38, 52, 70.
cares for captives and the needy, 23, 63 ff., 122, 123, 124.
establishes tithes, 64-67.
reviled by the gabbling priest, 24, 72.
disciplines the three proud monks, 25 f., 89 f.
his final address to his followers, 26, 99-102, 117, n. 1.
death of, 26, 102.
burial of, 102.
first translation of the body, to Mount Feleter, 27, 105 f.
second translation, to the Lucullan castle, 27, 107-110, 123, 125.
third translation, to the Benedictine monastery of Saint Severinus in Naples, 107, n. 3.
fourth translation, to Fratta Maggiore (1807), 107, n.3.
patron saint of Austria, 36, n. 2.
called apostle of Noricum, 39, n. 2.
called second apostle of Austria, 36, n. 2.
Silenus, 121, n. 2.
Silvinus, priest of Quintanis, recalled from the dead by Severinus, 23, 61 ff., 121,n. 2, 123, 124.
engravings representing the scene, 9, 63, n. 1.
Sistova, town in Bulgaria, 104, n. 2.
Soldiers, at Favianis under Mamertinus, 35 f.
at Batavis, 69 f.
Sosius, martyr, 107, n. 3.
Spital, 65, n. 2.
Stilicho, 72, n. 1, 89.
Suevi, German tribe, 72, n. 1.
Sulpicius Severus, 90.
Taper of the saint, miracle of the, 22, 58 f., 123, 124.
Tapers of the faithful, miracle of the, 22, 53 ff., 123, 124.
Tejo, leper, miraculously healed, 25, 88.
Theodemir, king of the Ostrogoths, 66, n. 1.
Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths, 60, n. 2, 104, 105, n. 1, 126.
Therapeutae, Egyptian ascetics, 93, n. 3.
Three proud monks, miracle of the, 25 f., 89 f.
Thuringi, German tribe, 41, n. 1, 85.
storm Batavis, 78.
Tiburnia, metropolis of Noricum Mediterraneum, 41, n. 1, 65 f., 70.
Tiguntia, brook, battle at the, 36.
Timothy, Saint, 112.
Titas, mountain near Ariminum, 15.
Tithes, 23, 64-67.
Tulln, 30, n. 2.
Tyrrhenian Sea, the, 103, n. 1.
Upper Pannonia, 19, 32, n. 1.
Ursus, monk, 26, 92.
Valentine, Saint, bishop of the Raetias, 97.
Verona, battle of (489), 126.
Victor, Saint, bishop of Naples, 107, 126.
Victory, goddess, 78, n. 1.
Vienna, 29, n.3,36, n. 2,38,n. 2.
church of Saint Severinus at, 120.
Visigoths, the, 67, n. 1.
Vulgate, the, 52, n. 3.
Western Empire, the, 41, n. 1, 72, n. 1.
Willibald, Saxon pilgrim, 8, n. 1.
Wurtemberg, 93, n. 3.
Zeno, Byzantine emperor (474 -491), 126.
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Dionysius the Areopagite, Works (1897). Preface to the online edition
Dionysius the Areopagite, Works (1897). Preface to the online edition
John Parker's translation of the complete works attributed to Dionysius the Areopagite requires some introduction, as he held views which were uncommon in his own day, and do not seem to be held today. I find in the standard handbooks, such as Quasten's Patrology, a consensus of opinion that the works were written in the late th or early th century. Among other reasons, they allude to theological ideas otherwise unknown before late antiquity. The reader is referred to these handbooks for a discussion of this point. Likewise the Liturgy which he attributes to the same author is in fact an independent production. This was not unknown in Parker's day, which makes his hostility to these ideas rather awkward for a 21st century reader.
It is unfortunate that Parker attempts to reinforce his eccentric views by means of two arguments, neither without merit in the right place, but both misapplied. These approaches are not uncommon among the unwary, and it may be useful to highlight the limits of them.
Firstly he invokes the authority of the Christian church, and suggests that faith in Christ Jesus requires us to accept that these works are genuine. No doubt he was sincere, although the idea is a little hard to understand when plainly stated. Perhaps some idea was present in his mind which does not reach us. But no statement is found in the scriptures that these works are by Dionysius the Areopagite -- how could there be? --, nor do the fathers make a dogmatic issue of the matter. It is hard to imagine what other possible source for authority on this matter there might be.
The church has no special revelation on the question of the authenticity of these works; that they were considered authentic by many in the pre-modern era reflects only the lack of facilities to determine authenticity in that period. The unknown author of these works attempted to attribute them to Dionysius the Areopagite -- why, it is hard for us now to imagine, although he must have had a reason which seemed valid to him. But their value comes from their spiritual insight, not their author. At all events, to use the name of God to prop up a theory is to violate the second commandment, that we must not misuse the name of God. Misuse of the name of God makes people less willing to listen when it is legitimately invoked.
Secondly he attacks the integrity of the scholars -- German scholars -- who stated that the text could not be first century.
Now it is certainly true that many scholars of that period practised what the French today call "l'hypercritisme" -- a wasteful, destructive process which ultimately placed the purely subjective as the central authority. It is likewise true that some of these same scholars, unwittingly or not, attempted to create a climate in which faithful belief in the scriptures was in fact impossible. In other areas of scholarship, it has been shown that some of those Parker attacks were not ashamed to create a consensus that rubbished the works of Lucian of Samosata for reasons which have been shown to be taken verbatim from non-scholarly anti-semitic publications.1 Such prostitutions of scholarship in the service of racial or religious malice are disgraceful. Scholars should never act in such a way as to poison the well of learning and so force the honest outsider to choose between either a deceitful learning or honest ignorance; still less jeer at their victims, as some have done, for being uneducated.
But on matters of politics and religion, the consensus of scholarship is never more than a reflection of what Dr. Johnson called 'the clamour of the times,' and allowances must be made, then and now. If scholars feel obliged to follow the consensus of their time, it does not mean that they are dishonest when they do. It is not right to throw the baby out with the bath-water and risk a lapse into obscurantism. The failings of the scholars, however severe, do not mean that every conclusion of scholarship in a period of history can be dismissed whenever it is unwelcome. The 19th century was a time of real scholarly progress, even though tainted by unacknowledged bias and revisionism. What Parker should have done was to evaluate the discussion, and to discuss the raw data himself, and weigh it, for and against in an objective manner. Had he done this, even if his conclusions were wrong, his notes would still have had value. Any detail of primary evidence is always of value. But instead he resorted to excuses, which sadly means that his notes were not and are not useful. They have been transcribed, but the reader will need to look elsewhere for real information.
However, it would be unkind to leave matters there. John Parker did the world a considerable service in making all these works available in English. Perhaps he would never have done this but for his conviction that they were apostolic.
Roger Pearse
31st January 2004
Revised 21st January 2005
1 Niklas Holzberg, Lucian and the Germans, Warburg Institute Surveys and Texts XVI (1988): The Uses of Greek and Latin, (ed. Dionisotti, A.C.; Grafton A and Kraye, Jill), pp.199-209.
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Dionysius the Areopagite, Works (1897) pp.i-viii. Introduction.
Dionysius the Areopagite, Works (1897) pp.i-viii. Introduction.
THE WORKS
OF
DIONYSIUS THE AREOPAGITE,
NOW FIRST TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH,
FROM THE ORIGINAL GREEK,
BY THE
REV. JOHN PARKER, M.A.,
Author of
"Christianity Chronologically Confirmed."
"Why am I a Christian?" "Dionysius the Areopagite. "
"How charming is Divine Philosophy!
Not harsh and crabbed, as dull fools suppose,
But musical as is Apollo's lute."
James Parker and Co,
6 SOUTHAMPTON-STREET, STRAND, LONDON;
AND 27 BROAD-STREET, OXFORD.
1897.
My thanks are due to Miss M. C. Dawes, M. A., for careful
revision of the translation.
DEDICATED
TO
L'ABBÉ J. FABRE D'ENVIEU,
HON. CANON OF ST. DENIS,
IN THANKFUL RECOGNITION
OF THE
CONFIRMATION GIVEN TO THE FAITH, BY HIS
"LIVRE DU PROPHÈTE DANIEL."
Felix es Gallia! quae, tantos et tales meruisti suscipere
sacerdotes.
PRINCIPAL WORKS ON DIONYSIUS THE AREOPAGITE.
Editions.
Venice. Antwerp. Migne (Paris).
Translations.
Syriac.
Sergius of Ras'ain, A.D. 530. B. Mus. Add. 12151-2, 22370.
Latin.
Johannes Scotus.
Johannes Sarracinus.
Ambrosius Camaldulensis.
Balthasar Corderius.
Ficinnus.
Fabure Stapulensis.
Paraphrase.
Cel. and Ecc. Hier., Dean Colet
French.
Frère Jean de St. François.
Monseigneur Darboy.
L'Abbé Dulac.
German.
Dr. Ceslaus Maria Schneider.
English.
Dean Colet by Rev. J. H. Lupton.
Rev. J. Parker.
Commentaries.
John of Scythopolis, 490.
Joseph Huzaja.
Phocas, bar. Sergius of Edessa.
John, Bishop of Dara.
Theodore, bar. Zarudi of Edessa.
Hugo of St. Victor.
John of Salisbury.
Robert of Lincoln.
St. Thomas Aquinas.
Albertus Magnus.
Dionysius Carthusianus.
Scholia.
Dionysius, Bishop of Alexandria, A.D. 250.
Sergius of Ras'ain.
Maximus.
Pachymera.
BOOKS TO BE READ
Vindiciae Areopagaticae, 1702.
Hilduinus Areopagatica, 9th Century, Galenus, 1563.
L'Abbé Barras, St. Denis, premier evêque de Paris, 1863. Vives. Paris.
J, Baltenweck, La question de l'authenticité des écrits Rixheim, J. Sutter.
Vidieu, St. Denis l'Areopagite, 1889. Firmin Didot.
Canon Bernard, St. Trophime d'Arles, 1888.
Schneider, "Areopagitica," Regensburg, 1884.
Manz. Jahn, "Dionysiaca," 1889.
Altona. Millet, "Responsio ad De duobus Dionysiis," 1642.
Pearson, "Ignatii vindiciae," with two letters of "Vossius." Cambridge.
Erasmus, "Ratio verae, religionis," and "Institutio."
Hippolytus, " Refutation of all heresies," 1859. Göttingen.
Dexter's Chronicon, Migne, Tom. 31.
Myrothecum sacrorum Elaeochrismaton, 1625-7.
The Conversion of India, George Smith, C.I.E., John Murray, 1893.
WORKS AGAINST GENUINENESS.
Launoy, 1660.
Daillé, 1666.
Montet, 1848.
Hipler, 1861.
Nirschl, 1888, Histpolit Blatter, p. 172-184, and p. 257-270 1. |vii
In British Museum there are about 30 Editions, and 40 Treatises, and the Book of Hierotheus (Add. Rich. 7189), translation of which is promised by Professor A. L. Frothingham. Leyden, E. J. Brill.
In Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, 12 Editions. Avignon, 16 Editions, between 1498 and 1600. Leyden, superb MSS. with marginal scholia, 15th century.
In Rome there are many editions. Unfortunately the Codex produced at the Greek and Latin Council, in the Lateran, A.D. 660, is not in the Vatican, the whole Library in the tower of Santa Francisca having been destroyed in 1219. There is, in the Vatican, a letter in Latin from Dionysius to St. Paul, in which he speaks of the beauty of the blessed Virgin, no doubt as seen in death. There is another pathetic letter to Timothy describing the martyrdom of St. Paul, and his own desolation. In the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, there is an autobiography in Syriac, in which it is stated that when St. Paul described the Crucifixion in his speech at Athens, Dionysius sent to fetch his notes, made in Egypt, which were publicly read and found to agree with St. Paul, both as to day and hour. It says, St. Paul's visit to Athens was fourteen years after the darkness in Egypt, which would place the conversion of Dionysius A.D. 44.
CONTENTS
PRINCIPAL WORKS ON DIONYSIUS THE AREOPAGITE
PAGE V
BOOKS TO BE READ
vi
WORKS AGAINST GENUINENESS
ib.
Preface to the "Divine Names"
ix
DIVINE NAMES
1
Note ---- Ignatius
128
Preface to Mystic Theology
129
MYSTIC THEOLOGY
130
Preface to the Letters of Dionysius the Areopagite
139
LETTERS OF DIONYSIUS THE AREOPAGITE
141
Preface to Liturgy
185
LITURGY OF ST DIONYSIUS, BISHOP OF THE ATHENIANS
187
OBJECTIONS TO GENUINENESS
202
[Footnote moved to the end and renumbered]
1. a See Science de Dieu, Schneider II. vol. p. 229. Manz, 1886.
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Dionysius the Areopagite, Works (1897) pp.ix-xvi. Preface to the Divine Names.
Dionysius the Areopagite, Works (1897) pp.ix-xvi. Preface to the Divine Names.
PREFACE TO THE "DIVINE NAMES."
THE Treatise on "Divine Names" was written by Dionysius, at the request of Timothy, and at the instigation of Hierotheus, to express, in a form more easily understood, the more abstract Treatise of Hierotheus, who was his chief instructor after St. Paul. Its purpose is to explain the epithets in Holy Scripture applied alike to the whole Godhead----Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. It does not pretend to describe the unrevealed God, Who is beyond expression and conception, and can only be known through that union with God, "by which we know, even as we are known." Holy Scripture is the sole authority, beyond which we must neither think nor speak of Almighty God. The Treatise, being written by one of the most learned Greeks, the phraseology is, naturally, that of Plato and Aristotle; but Plato and Aristotle are not authorities here. When Plato treated his Hebrew instructor with such reverence, and was so versed in the Pentateuch, we need not be sensitive as to the admission of Plato's authority. But, as a matter of fact, on the question of Exemplars 1 and some other points, the opinions of Plato are expressly refuted. The phrase of Luther, "Platonising, rather than Christianising," proves only a very |x meagre acquaintance with Dionysius. The Greek language is moulded in a marvellous manner to express the newly revealed Christian Faith in its most exalted form, in a style which Daillé confesses to be always of the same "colour;" and Pearson, "always like itself." Jahn has followed Dionysius step by step in order to trace the connection between the language of Plato and Dionysius, for the purpose of exploding the puerile supposition that such complex writings as these could have been evolved from the elementary treatises of Proclus and Plotinus. Most probably, some of the lost writings of Dionysius are in part preserved in those writers and in Clement of Alexandria; but Dionysius is the Master, not Pupil! The works are very distinct and precise upon the Divinity of Christ, and the Hypostatic Union. Like St. Paul, Dionysius affirms that He, Who made all things, is God; and further that Jesus is God, by some startling phraseology. He speaks of James, "the Lord's brother 2," as "brother of God."David, from whom was born Christ after the flesh, is called "father of God 3." When speaking of the entombment of the Blessed Virgin, he speaks of her body as the "Life-springing" and "God-receptive body;" thus testifying that Jesus, born of a pure Virgin, is Life and God. He describes the miracles of Jesus as being, as it were, the new and God-incarnate energy of God become Man. The newly -coined words |xi indicate an original thinker moulding the Greek language to a newly acquired faith. There are two words, "Agnosia" and "Divine Gloom,"which illustrate a principle running through these writings,----that the negative of abstraction denotes the superlative positive. "Divine Gloom" is the darkness from excessive light; "Agnosia" is neither ignorance nor knowledge intensified: but a supra-knowledge of Him, Who is above all things known. It is "the most Divine knowledge of Almighty God, within the union beyond mind, when the mind, having stood apart from all existing things, and then, having dismissed itself, has been united to the superluminous rays----thence and there, being illuminated by the unsearchable wisdom." In the Mystic Theology, Dionysius exhorts Timothy thus,----"But, thou, O dear Timothy, leave behind both sensible perception, and intellectual efforts, and all objects of sense and intelligence; and all things being and not being, and be raised aloft as far as attainable, a)gnw&stwj----unknowingly4,----to the union with Him above every essence and knowledge. For by the resistless and absolute ecstacy from thyself, in all purity, thou wilt be carried high to the super-essential ray of the Divine darkness, when thou hast cast away all, and become liberated from all." Thus, we must pass beyond all things known, and all things being, and lie passive under the illuminating ray of God, if we would attain the highest conception of Him, |xii "Who passeth all understanding."God "unknown" is still the God of Dionysius, and He is still to be worshipped unknowingly. There is a tradition that Dionysius erected the altar in Athens "to God unknown," as author of the inexplicable darkness, which he observed in Egypt, and found afterwards from St. Paul to have been contemporaneous with the Crucifixion. Did St. Paul adapt his discourse at Athens to the conversion of Dionysius?
The only heresiarch, whom Dionysius mentions by name, is Elymas, the Sorcerer, Simon Magus, a man of great intellectual attainments and a considerable author. Flavius Clemens and Eugenius, Bishop of Toledo, were disciples of Simon before their conversion to Christ. The tenets of Elymas are described by Hippolytus. He formed an eclectic system from the Old Testament and the Christian Faith, and with Cerinthus and Carpocrates originated many heresies to which the apostolic epistles allude, and which in later times became prominent in the Church. In refuting these heresies, by manifestation of the truth, Dionysius anticipated many errors----ancient and modern.
Jerome informs us (Scr. Ecc. 46) that Pantaenus 5, one of the most celebrated Christian philosophers of Alexandria, was sent, A.D. 193, by Demetrius, Bishop of that city, to India, at the request of a |xiii delegation from India for that purpose. Pantaenus discovered, on his arrival, that St. Bartholomew (one of the twelve) had preached the coming of Jesus Christ, in that country. Pantaenus found a copy of the Hebrew Gospel of St. Matthew in India. Now, by the extract, contained in the Scholia of Maximus, from the Scholia of Dionysius of Alexandria (250) upon the Divine Names, and also by the extract from a letter of the same Dionysius, recently discovered in the British Museum 6 (Nos. 12151-2), we know that the writings of Dionysius the Areopagite were known and treasured in Alexandria a few years after the death of Pantaenus. Can we reasonably doubt that Pantaenus took the writings of Dionysius, and the more abstract works of Hierotheus, to India? Have we not here an explanation of the remarkable similarity between the Hindu philosophy, as expressed by Sankara 7 in the eighth, and Râmânuja in the thirteenth century, and the "Divine Names?" Sankara treats of the Supreme as "absolutely One;" Râmânuja as "non-dual, with qualification."Both these truths are combined and expressed in Dionysius.
I cannot but believe that many of the beautiful expressions about Vishnu, the Redeemer, in the Râmâyana of Tulsidâs are Christian Truths under a Hindu dress 8. Many learned Hindus affirm that it is |xiv needless for them to become Christian, because they have a more exalted conception of the Supreme God than Christians themselves. I submit that the "Divine Names" will be instrumental in bringing India to the Christian Faith, in the best and only effectual way----by communities and not by individuals----through the most learned and devout, and not through the most ignorant.
Dionysius was first converted, and then, through him, those who naturally and properly followed his lead.
LUCIUS FLAVIUS DEXTER.
Dexter was a friend of Jerome. Jerome even addresses him as "filius amicus," and describes him as "clarus apud saeculum et Christi fidei deditus."
Dexter became Prefect of the Pretorian Oriental Guards, and was one of the most illustrious statesmen of his time. He resided two years in Toledo. From the archives of the Church of Toledo and other cities he compiled a chronicle from A.D. 1 to A.D. 430, giving a brief summary of the Church events in Spain. That chronicle he dedicated to Jerome, who, enrolled both Chronicle and Author amongst his "illustrious men."It was at the request of Dexter that Jerome wrote his book on Ecclesiastical Writers. Among the earliest Bishops of Toledo, Dexter describes a remarkable man,----Marcellus,----surnamed Eugenius, on account of his noble birth. |xv
Bivarius says he was of the house and family of Ceesar, being uncle to the Emperor Hadrian. Mar-cellus was consecrated Bishop by Dionysius the Areo-pagite at Aries, and sent to Toledo. Respecting him, Dexter records that Dionysius dedicated the books of the Divine Names to him, u.c. 851, A.D. 98. Dexter further records that Dionysius surnamed Marcellus, Timothy, on account of his excellent disposition. Polycrates, Bishop of Ephesus, relates that Timothy, Bishop of Ephesus, to whom the works of Dionysius were originally dedicated, was martyred during the reign of Nerva, A.D. 96-97. Upon the return of Dionysius to Gaul, after his visit to St. John, released from Patmos, we find him calling his friend Marcellus, Timothy, and presenting the books of the "Divine Names "to him, A.D. 98; in order that he might still have a Timothy on earth,---- "in vivis"----although his first Timothy, "migravit ad Christum," A.D. 97.
This touch of nature, preserved in a chronicle, written more than 1400 years ago, by an illustrious statesman, who was son of a Bishop celebrated for learning and sanctity, may fairly be deemed, by an unprejudiced mind, reasonable proof that the "Divine Names" were written previous to A.D. 98.
N.B. As the result of some research I affirm that our Saviour's last commission is the Key to Church history in the first century. As He commanded the Apostles to preach the Gospel throughout the world, so the Gospel was preached when St. Paul wrote his |xvi Epistle to the Colossians, Chap. I. v. 23 (tou~ khruxqe/ntoj e0n pa&sh| kti/sei), and with such success amongst the most learned and noble, that, but for the cruel massacre of Flavius 9 Clemens and his family for the Christian Faith, there would have been a Christian Emperor in the first century. As Jesus said, "Ye shall be witnesses of Me unto the uttermost parts of the earth "(Acts Chap. 1. v. 8), so the Apostles planted the Church of Christ in Gaul, Spain and Britain, with its threefold ministry; and by the end of the second century there was an organised Church throughout each of those territories 10.
Dr. Schneider informs me "that in Germany they now admit that the external proofs are in favour of genuineness of Dionysius, but they confine themselves to the internal proofs. They pretend that the doctrine is too clear and precise to have been written in the apostolic age."
How could the chief Areopagite, the convert and companion of St. Paul, and the familiar friend of St. John, Theologus, have understood theology!! |xvii
[Footnotes renumbered and moved to the end]
1. a C. V. §2.
2. b 'Adelfo&qeoj.
3. c Qeopa&tor.
4. d As beyond knowledge.
5. e Conversion of India, p. 12. Pressensé, The Earlier Years of Christianity, Vol. II. p. 271. The History of Mathurâ (Muttra), by F. S. Growse, on the glorification of the Divine Name.
6. f Vidieu, p. 73.
7. g Sankara's doctrine, Sir Monier Williams, "Brahmanism,"p. 55. Râmânuja's explained, "Brahmanism,"p. 119, &c. J. Murray.
8. h At Council of Nicea in 325, Johannes, the Metropolitan of Persia, signed also as "of the great India." Merv was an Episcopal See, A.D. 334. Con. of India, pp. 15----31.
9. i Burton, Ecc. Hist., Vol. I. p. 367.
10. k Mansi I. 698, Jaffi. Regesta Rom. Pon. nd Ed., p. 10, by Ewald.
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Dionysius the Areopagite, Works (1897) pp.1-127. The Divine Names.
Dionysius the Areopagite, Works (1897) pp.1-127. The Divine Names.
Chapter 1: What is the purpose of the discourse, and what the tradition concerning Divine Names.
Chapter 2
Chapter 3: What is the power of prayer, and concerning the blessed Hierotheus, and concerning reverence and covenant in the Word of God.
Chapter 4: Concerning Good, Light, Beauty, Love, Ecstasy, Jealousy, and that the Evil is neither existent, nor from existent, nor in things being.
Chapter 5: Concerning Being----in which also concerning Exemplars.
Chapter 6: Concerning Life.
Chapter 7: Concerning Wisdom, Mind, Reason, Truth, faith.
Chapter 8: Concerning power, justice, preservation, redemption, in which also concerning inequality.
Chapter 9: Concerning great, small, same, different, similar, dissimilar, standing, movement, equality.
Chapter 10: Concerning Sovereign Lord, "Ancient of days" in which also, concerning Age and Time
Chapter 11: Concerning Peace, and what is meant by the self-existent Being; what is the self-existent Life, and what the self-existent Power, and such like expressions.
Chapter 12: Concerning Holy of Holies, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, God of Gods.
Chapter 13: Concerning Perfect and One.
DIONYSIUS THE AREOPAGITE,
ON DIVINE NAMES.
CAPUT I.
TO MY FELLOW PRESBYTER, TIMOTHY,
DIONYSIUS THE PRESBYTER.
What is the purpose of the discourse, and what the tradition concerning Divine Names.
SECTION I.
Now then, O Blessed One, after the Theological Outlines 1, I will pass to the interpretation of the Divine Names, as best I can.
But, let the rule of the Oracles be here also prescribed for us, viz., that we shall establish the truth of the things spoken concerning God, not in the persuasive words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit-moved power of the Theologians, by aid of which we are brought into contact with things unutterable and unknown, in a manner unutterable and unknown, in proportion to the superior union of the reasoning and intuitive faculty and operation within us. By no means then is it permitted to speak, or even to think, anything, concerning the superessential and hidden Deity, beyond those things divinely revealed to us in the sacred Oracles 2. For Agnosia, |2 (supra-knowledge) of its superessentiality above reason and mind and essence----to, it must we attribute the super-essential science, so far aspiring to the Highest, as the ray of the supremely Divine Oracles imparts itself, whilst we restrain ourselves in our approach to the higher glories by prudence and piety as regards things Divine. For, if we must place any confidence in the All Wise and most trustworthy Theology, things Divine are revealed and contemplated in proportion to the capacity of each of the minds, since the supremely Divine Goodness distributes Divinely its immeasurableness (as that which cannot be contained) with a justice which preserves those whose capacity is limited. For, as things intelligible cannot be comprehended and contemplated by things of sense, and things uncompounded and unformed by things compounded and formed; and the intangible and unshaped formlessness of things without body, by those formed according to the shapes of bodies; in accordance with the self-same analogy of the truth, the superessential Illimitability is placed above things essential, and the Unity above mind above the Minds; and the One above conception is inconceivable to all conceptions; and the Good above word is unutterable by word----Unit making one every unit, and superessential essence and mind inconceivable, and Word unutterable, speechlessness3 and inconception4, and namelessness----being after the manner of no existing being, and Cause of being to all, but Itself not being, |3 as beyond every essence, and as It may manifest Itself properly and scientifically concerning Itself.
SECTION II.
Concerning this then, as has been said, the super-essential and hidden Deity, it is not permitted to speak or even to think beyond the things divinely revealed to us in the sacred Oracles. For even as Itself has taught (as becomes Its goodness) in the Oracles, the science and contemplation of Itself in Its essential Nature is beyond the reach of all created things, as towering superessentially above all. And you will find many of the Theologians, who have celebrated It, not only as invisible and incomprehensible, but also as inscrutable and un-traceable, since there is no trace of those who have penetrated to Its hidden infinitude. The Good indeed is not entirely uncommunicated to any single created being, but benignly sheds forth its super-essential ray, persistently fixed in Itself, by illuminations analagous to each several being, and elevates to Its permitted contemplation and communion and likeness, those holy minds, who, as far as is lawful and reverent, strive after It, and who are neither impotently boastful towards that which is higher than the harmoniously imparted Divine manifestation, nor, in regard to a lower level, lapse downward through their inclining to the worse, but who elevate themselves determinately and unwaveringly to the ray shining upon them; and, by their proportioned love |4 of permitted illuminations, are elevated with a holy reverence, prudently and piously, as on new wings.
SECTION III.
Following then, these, the supremely Divine standards, which also govern the whole holy ranks of the supercelestial orders,----whilst honouring the unre-vealed of the Godhead which is beyond mind and matter, with inscrutable and holy reverence of mind, and things unutterable, with a prudent silence, we elevate ourselves to the glories which illuminate us in the sacred Oracles, and are led by their light to the supremely Divine Hymns, by which we are supermundanely enlightened and moulded to the sacred Songs of Praise, so as both to see the supremely Divine illuminations given to us by them, according to our capacities, and to praise the good-giving Source of every holy manifestation of light, as Itself has taught concerning Itself in the sacred Oracles. For instance, that It is cause and origin and essence and life of all things; and even of those who fall away from It, both recalling and resurrection; and of those who have lapsed to the perversion of the Divine likeness, renewal and reformation; of those who are tossed about in a sort of irreligious unsteadiness, a religious stability; of those who have continued to stand, steadfastness; of those who are being conducted to It, a protecting Conductor; of those being illuminated, illumination; of those being perfected, source of perfection; of those being deified, source of deification; of those being |5 simplified, simplification; of those being unified, unity; of every origin superessentially super-original origin; and of the Hidden, as far as is right, beneficent communication; and, in one word, the life of the living, and essence of things that be; of all life and essence, origin and cause; because Its goodness produces and sustains things that be, in their being.
SECTION IV.
These things we have learned from the Divine Oracles, and you will find all the sacred Hymnology, so to speak, of the Theologians arranging the Names, of God with a view to make known and praise the beneficent progressions of the Godhead. Hence, we see in almost every theological treatise the Godhead religiously celebrated, both as Monad and unity, on account of the simplicity and oneness of Its supernatural indivisibility from which, as an unifying power, we are unified, and when our divided diversities have been folded together, in a manner supermundane, we are collected into a godlike unit and divinely-imitated union; but, also as Triad, on account of the tri-personal manifestation of the superessential productiveness, from which all paternity in heaven and on earth is, and is named; also, as cause of things existing, since all things were brought into being on account of Its creative goodness, both wise and good, because all things, whilst preserving the properties of their own nature |6 unimpaired, are filled with every inspired harmony and holy comeliness, but pre-eminently, as loving towards man, because It truly and wholly shared, in one of Its Persons (subsistencies), in things belonging to us, recalling to Itself and replacing the human extremity, out of which, in a manner unutterable, the simplex Jesus was composed, and the Everlasting took a temporal duration, and He, Who is superessentially exalted above every rank throughout all nature, became within our nature, whilst retaining the unchangeable and unconfused steadfastness of His own properties. And whatever other divinely-wrought illuminations, conformable to the Oracles, the secret tradition of our inspired leaders bequeathed to us for our enlightenment, in these also we have been initiated; now indeed, according to our capacity, through the sacred veils of the loving-kindness towards man, made known in the Oracles and hierarchical traditions, which envelop things intellectual in things sensible, and things superessential in things that are; and place forms and shapes around the formless and shapeless, and multiply and fashion the supernatural and formless simplicity in the variedness of the divided symbols; but, then, when we have become incorruptible and immortal, and have reached the Christlike and most blessed repose, according to the Divine saying, we shall be "ever with the Lord," fulfilled, through all-pure contemplations, with the visible manifestation of God covering us with glory, in most brilliant splendours, as the disciples in the |7 most Divine Transfiguration, and participating in His gift of spiritual light, with unimpassioned and immaterial mind; and, even in the union beyond conception, through the agnostic and most blessed efforts after rays of surpassing brilliancy, in a more Divine imitation of the supereelestial minds. For we shall be equal to the angels, as the truth of the Oracles affirms, and sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. But now, to the best of our ability, we use symbols appropriate to things Divine, and from these again we elevate ourselves, according to our degree, to the simple and unified truth of the spiritual visions; and after our every conception of things godlike, laying aside our mental energies, we cast ourselves, to the best of our ability, towards the superessential ray, in which all the terms of every kind of knowledge pre-existed in a manner beyond expression, which it is neither possible to conceive nor express, nor entirely in any way to contemplate, on account of Its being pre-eminently above all things, and super-unknown, and Its having previously contained within Itself, superessentially, the whole perfections of all kinds of essential knowledge and power, and Its being firmly fixed by Its absolute power, above all, even the supereelestial minds. For, if all kinds of knowledge are of things existing, and are limited to things existing, that, beyond all essence, is also elevated above all knowledge.
SECTION V.
And yet, if It is superior to every expression and every knowledge, and is altogether placed above |8 mind and essence,----being such as embraces and unites and comprehends and anticipates all things, but Itself is altogether incomprehensible to all, and of It, there is neither perception nor imagination, nor surmise, nor name, nor expression, nor contact, nor science;----in what way can our treatise thoroughly investigate the meaning of the Divine Names, when the superessential Deity is shewn to be without Name, and above Name?
But, as we said when we put forth the Theological Outlines, it is not possible either to express or to conceive what the One, the Unknown, the Super-essential self-existing Good is,----I mean the threefold Unity, the alike God, and the alike Good. But even the unions, such as befit angels, of the holy Powers, whether we must call them efforts after, or receptions from, the super-Unknown and surpassing Goodness, are both unutterable and unknown, and exist in those angels alone who, above angelic knowledge, are deemed worthy of them. The godlike minds (men) made one by these unions, through imitation of angels as far as attainable (since it is during cessation of every mental energy that such an union as this of the deified minds towards the super-divine light takes place) celebrate It most appropriately through the abstraction of all created things----enlightened in this matter, truly and super-naturally from the most blessed union towards It----that It is Cause Indeed of all things existing, but Itself none of them, as being superessentially elevated above all. To none, indeed, who are lovers of the Truth above all Truth, is it permitted to celebrate |9 the supremely-Divine Essentiality----that which is the super-subsistence of the super-goodness,----neither as word or power, neither as mind or life or essence, but as pre-eminently separated from every condition, movement, life, imagination, surmise, name, word, thought, conception, essence, position, stability, union, boundary, infinitude, all things whatever. But since, as sustaining source of goodness, by the very fact of Its being, It is cause of all things that be, from all created things must we celebrate the benevolent Providence of the Godhead; for all things are both around It and for It, and It is before all things, and all things in It consist, and by Its being is the production and sustenance of the whole, and all things aspire to It----the intellectual and rational, by means of knowledge----things inferior to these, through the senses, and other things by living movement, or substantial and habitual aptitude.
SECTION VI.
The theologians, having knowledge of this, celebrate It, both without Name and from every Name. Without name, as when they say that the Godhead Itself, in one of those mystical apparitions of the symbolical Divine manifestation, rebuked him who said, "What is thy name?" and as leading him away from all knowledge of the Divine Name, said this, "and why dost thou ask my Name? "and this (Name) "is wonderful,"
And is not this in reality the wonderful Name, |10 that which is above every Name----the Nameless----that fixed above every name which is named, whether in this age or in that which is to come? Also, as "many named," as when they again introduce It as saying, "I am He, Who is----the Life----the Light----the God----the Truth." And when the wise of God themselves celebrate Him, as Author of all things, under many Names, from all created things----as Good----as Beautiful----as Wise----as Beloved----as God of gods----as Lord of lords----as Holy of Holies----as Eternal----as Being----as Author of Ages----as Provider of Life----as Wisdom----as Mind----as Word----as Knowing----as preeminently possessing all the treasures of all knowledge----as Power----as Powerful----as King of kings----as Ancient of days----as never growing old----and Unchangeable----as Preservation-----as Righteousness----as Sanctification ---- as Redemption----as surpassing all things in greatness----and as in a gentle breeze.----Yea, they also say that He is in minds, and in souls, and in bodies, and in heaven and in earth, and at once, the same in the same----in the world----around the world----above the world----supercelestial, superessential, sun, star----fire----water----spirit----dew----cloud----self-hewn stone and rock----all things existing----and not one of things existing.
SECTION VII.
Thus, then, the "Nameless "befits the cause of all, which is also above all, as do all the names of things existing, in order that there may be strictly a kingly rule over the whole; and that all things |11 may be around It and dependent upon It, as cause, as beginning, as end. And Itself, according to the Divine saying, may be the "all in all," and truly sung as of all, producing, directing and perfecting and sustaining guard, and shrine, and turning towards Itself, and that uniformly, irresistibly and pre-eminently. For It is not only cause of sustenance, or life, or perfection,----so that from this or that forethought alone the Goodness above Name should be named, but It previously embraced in Itself all things existing, absolutely and without limit, by the complete benefactions of His one and all-creating forethought, and by all created things in joint accord It is celebrated and named.
SECTION VIII.
Further also, the Theologians do not honour alone the Names of God which are given from universal or particular Providences, or objects of His forethought; but also from certain occasional Divine Visions, in the sacred temples or elsewhere, which enlightened the initiated or the Prophets, they name the surpassing bright Goodness which is above Name, after one or other causes and powers, and clothe It in forms and shapes of man, or fire, or electron, and celebrate Its eyes and ears, and locks of hair, and countenance, and hands, and back, and wings, and arms, and hinder parts and feet. Also they assign to It crowns 5 and seats, and drinking vessels and bowls, and certain other things mystical, concerning which, in our Symbolic Theology, we will speak as best we can. But |12 now, collecting from the Oracles so much as serves the purpose of our present treatise, and using the things aforesaid, as a kind of Canon, and keeping our eyes upon them, let us advance to the unfolding of the Names of God, which fall within the range of our understanding, and, what the hierarchical rule always teaches us throughout every phase of theology, let us become initiated (to speak authoritatively) in the godlike contemplations with a god-enlightened conception. And let us bring religious ears to the unfoldings of the Holy Names of God, implanting the Holy in the Holy, according to the Divine tradition, and removing it from the laughter and jeers of the uninitiated; yea, rather, if certain men really are such, purifying them from their fighting against God in this matter. Be it thine, then, to guard these things, O excellent Timothy, according to the most holy leading, and to make the things Divine neither spoken nor known to the uninitiated. For myself, may Almighty God give me to celebrate, in a manner worthy of God, the numerous beneficent Names of the uncalled and unnamed Deity; and may He not take away a word of truth from my mouth.
CAPUT II.
SECTION I. Concerning common and distinctive theology, and what is the Divine Union and distinction.
LET then the self-existent Goodness be sung from the Oracles as defining and manifesting the whole |13 supremely-Divine-Subsistence in its essential nature. For, what else is there to learn from the sacred theology, when it affirms that the Godhead Itself, leading the way, says, "Why dost thou ask me concerning the Good?----None is Good except God alone." Now, this, we have thoroughly demonstrated elsewhere, that always, all the God-becoming Names of God, are celebrated by the Oracles, not partitively, but as applied to the whole and entire and complete and full Godhead, and that all of them are referred impartitively, absolutely, unreservedly, entirely, to all the Entirety of the entirely complete and every Deity. And verily as we have mentioned in the Theological Outlines, if any one should say that this is not spoken concerning the whole Deity, he blasphemes, and dares, without right, to cleave asunder the super-unified Unity.
We must affirm, then, that this is to be received respecting the whole Deity. For even the essentially Good Word Himself said, "I am Good 6." And a certain one of the God-rapt Prophets celebrates the Spirit as "the Good 7." And again this, "I am He, Who is 8." If they shall say that this is said, not of the whole Deity, but should violently limit it to one part, how will they understand this? "These things, saith He, Who is, Who was, Who is to come, the Almighty 9," and "Thou art the same 10," and this, "Spirit of truth, which is, which proceedeth from the Father 11." And if they say that the supremely Divine Life is not coextensive with the |14 whole, how is the sacred Word true which said, "As the Father raiseth the dead and maketh alive, so also the Son maketh alive whom He will 12," and that "the Spirit is He, Who maketh alive 13?" But, that the whole Deity holds the Lordship over the whole, one can scarcely say, as I think how many times, in reference to the Paternal Deity, or the Filial, the word "Lord "is repeated in the Word of God, as applied to Father and Son 14. But the Spirit also is Lord 15. And "the beautiful and the wise" are also sung respecting the whole Deity. And the light, and the deifying, and the cause, and whatever pertains to the whole Godhead, the Oracles introduce into all the supremely Divine hymnody----collectively, when they say "all things are from Almighty God; "but, specifically, as when they say, "all things were made through Him and to Him," and "all things in Him consist," and "Thou shalt send forth Thy Spirit, and they shall be made." And, that one may speak summarily, the supremely Divine Word Himself said, "I and the Father are One," and "all that the Father hath are Mine," and, "All Mine are Thine, and Thine, Mine." And again, whatever pertains to the Father and Himself, He attributes. to the supremely Divine Spirit, collectively and in common----the works of God----the homage, the fontal and ceaseless cause and the distribution of the goodly gifts. And I think, none of those, who have been nourished in the Divine Oracles with unprejudiced conceptions, |15 will oppose this, that all things befitting God belong to the whole Godhead, according to the divinely perfect Word. Since, then, we have demonstrated and defined these things from the Oracles,----here indeed partially, but elsewhere sufficiently----we will undertake to unfold every Divine Name whatsoever, which is to be received as referring to the whole Deity.
SECTION II.
But if any one should say that we introduce in so doing a confusion, in disparagement of the distinction which befits God, we do not think that such a statement as this is itself sufficient to convince that it is true. For, if there is any one who has placed himself entirely in opposition to the Oracles, he will be also entirely apart from our. philosophy; and, if he has no care for the divine Wisdom of the Oracles, how shall we care for his guidance to the theological science? But, if he regards the truth of the Oracles, we also, using this canon and illumination, will advance unwaveringly to the answer, as best we can, by affirming that theology transmits some things as common, but others as distinctive; and neither is it meet to divide the common, nor to confuse the distinctive; but that following It according to our ability, we ought to rise to the Divine splendours; for, by taking thence the Divine revelations, as a most excellent canon of truth, we strive to guard the things lying there, in their native simplicity and integrity and identity----being ourselves guarded in our guard of |16 the Oracles, and from these receiving strength to guard those who guard them.
SECTION III.
The (Names) then, common to the whole Deity, as we have demonstrated from the Oracles, by many instances in the Theological Outlines, are the Super-Good, the Super-God, the Superessential, the Super-Living, the Super-Wise, and whatever else belongs to the superlative abstraction; with which also, all those denoting Cause, the Good, the Beautiful, the Being, the Life-producing, the Wise, and whatever Names are given to the Cause of all Good, from His goodly gifts. But the distinctive Names are the superessential name and property of Father, and Son and Spirit, since no interchange or community in these is in any way introduced. But there is a further distinction, viz., the complete and unaltered existence of Jesus amongst us, and all the mysteries of love towards man actually existing within it.
SECTION IV.
But it is rather necessary, I suppose, to resume and to set forth the complete fashion of the Divine union and distinction, in order that the whole discourse may be seen at a glance to reject everything ambiguous and indistinct, and to define critically and distinctly the proper Names, as far as possible. For, as I said elsewhere, the sacred instructors of our theological tradition call the "Divine Unions" the hidden and unrevealed sublimities of the |17 super-unutterable and super-unknown Isolation; but the "distinctions," the goodly progressions and manifestations of the Godhead; and, following the sacred Oracles, they mention also properties of the aforesaid "Union; "and again of the distinction, that there are certain specific unions and distinctions. For example, with regard to the Divine Union, that is, the Superessentiality, there is kindred and common to the One-springing Triad, the superessential sustaining Source, the super-Divine Deity, the super-good Goodness, the supreme identity of the whole supreme Idiosyncrasy, the Oneness above source of one; the Unspeakable; the Much-speaking, the Agnosia, the Comprehended by all, the Placing of all, the Abstraction of all, that which is above all affirmation and abstraction, the abiding and steadfastness in each other, if I may so speak, wholly super-united and in no part commingled of the One-springing Persons, just as lights of lamps (to use sensible illustrations familiar to our capacity), when in one house, are both wholly distinct in each other throughout, and keep the distinction from each other specifically and perfectly maintained, being one in distinction and distinct in union; and then, indeed, we may see in a house, in which are many lamps, the lights of all united to form one certain light and lighting up one combined radiance; and, as I suppose, no one would be able to distinguish in the air containing all the lights the light of one or other lamp from the rest, |18 and to see one without the other, since whole in whole are mixed together without being mingled. But, if any one were to take out from the chamber one particular burner, the whole light belonging to it will depart with it; no particle of the other lights being drawn along with it, nor any of its own light left with the other. For there was, as I said, the complete union of all with all, unmingled throughout, and in no part confused, and this actually in a body, the air, the light even itself being dependent on the material fire. Whence we affirm that the superessential Union is fixed above not only the unions in bodies, but also above those in souls themselves, and in minds themselves, which, in a manner unmingled and supermundane, the Godlike and super-celestial Illuminations, whole through whole, possess, as beseems a participation analagous to those who participate in the Union elevated above all.
SECTION V.
But there is a distinction in the superessential nomenclature of God, not only that which I have mentioned, namely, that each of the One-springing Persons is fixed in the union itself, unmingled and unconfused; but also that the properties of the superessential Divine Production are not convertible in regard to one another. The Father is sole Fountain of the superessential Deity, since the Father is not Son, nor the Son, Father; since the hymns reverently guard their own characteristics for each of the supremely Divine Persons. These then |19 are the unions and distinctions within the unutterable Union and sustaining Source. But, if the goodly progression of the Divine Union, multiplying itself super-uniquely through Goodness, and taking to itself many forms, is also a Divine distinction, yet, common within the Divine distinction, are the resistless distributions, the substance-giving, the life-giving, the wise-making, and the other gifts of the Goodness, Cause of all, after which from the participations and those participating are celebrated the things imparticipatively participated. And this is kindred and common, and one, to the whole Divinity, that it is all entire, participated by each of the Participants, and by none partially. Just as a point in a circle's centre participates in all the circumjacent 16 straight lines in the circle, and as many impressions of a seal participate in the archetypal seal, and in each of the impressions the seal is whole and the same, and in none partial in any respect. But superior to these is the im-partibility of the Deity----Cause of all----from the fact that there is no contact with it. Nor has it any commingled communion with the things participating.
SECTION VI.
And yet some one might say the seal is not whole and the same in the images throughout. But of this the seal is not the cause, for it imparts itself all and the same to each; but the difference of the recipients makes the figures dissimilar, since the |20 archetype is one and complete and the same. For instance, if the wax were soft and impressionable, and smooth and unstamped, and neither unimpressionable and hard, nor running and dissolving, it will have the figure clear and sharp and fixed. But if it should lack any of the aforesaid aptitudes, this will be the cause of the non-participative and un-figured and indistinct, and whatever else arises from inaptitude for reception. Further, there is a distinction from the goodly work of God towards us, in that the superessential Word was invested with being amongst us----from us----wholly and truly, and did and suffered whatever things are choice and pre-eminent in His human work of God. For in these, the Father and the Spirit in no respect communicated, except perhaps, one might say, as regards the benign and philanthropic purpose, and as regards all the pre-eminent and unutterable work of God which the unchangeable, qua God and Word of God, did when He had been born amongst us. Thus we, too, strive to unite and distinguish in the Word the things Divine, as the things Divine themselves, are united and distinguished.
SECTION VII.
Now we have set forth in the Theological Outlines whatever Divine Causes we have found in the Oracles, of these unions, and distinctions, by treating each separately, according to our ability; by explaining some things, by the infallible Word, and |21 unfolding them; and by conducting the religious and unpolluted mind to the bright visions of the Oracles; but others, as being full of mystery, by approaching them according to the Divine tradition, which is superior to mental energy. For all the Divine properties, even those revealed to us, are known by the participations alone; and themselves, such as they are in their own source and abode, are above mind and all essence and knowledge. For instance, if we have named the superessential Hid-denness, God, or Life, or Essence, or Light, or Word (lo&goj), we have no other thought than that the powers brought to us from It are deifying, or essentiating, or life-bearing, or wisdom-imparting; but to Itself we approach during the cessation of all the intellectual energies, seeing no deification, or life, or essence whatever, such as is strictly like the Cause pre-eminently elevated above all. Again, that the Father is fontal Deity, but the Lord Jesus and the Spirit are, if one may so speak, God-planted shoots, and as it were Flowers and superessential Lights of the God-bearing Deity, we have received from the holy Oracles; but how these things are, it is neither possible to say, nor to conceive.
SECTION VIII.
But. up to this point, our utmost power of mental energy carries us, namely, that all divine paternity and sonship have been bequeathed from the Source of paternity and Source of sonship----pre-eminent above all----both to us and to the supercelestial |22 powers, from which the godlike become both gods, and sons of gods, and fathers of gods, and are named Minds, such a paternity and sonship being of course accomplished spiritually, i.e. incorporeally, immaterially, intellectually,---- since the supremely Divine Spirit is seated above all intellectual immateriality, and déification, and the Father and the Son are pre-eminently elevated above all divine paternity and sonship. For there is no strict likeness, between the caused and the causes. The caused indeed possess the accepted likenesses of the causes, but the causes themselves are elevated and established above the caused, according to the ratio of their proper origin. And, to use illustrations suitable to ourselves, pleasures and pains are said to be productive of pleasure and pain, but these themselves feel neither pleasure nor pain. And fire, whilst heating and burning, is not said to be burnt and heated. And, if any one should say that the self-existent Life lives, or that the self-existent Light is enlightened, in my view he will not speak correctly, unless, perhaps, he should say this after another fashion, that the properties of the caused are abundantly and essentially pre-existent in the causes.
SECTION IX.
Further also, the most conspicuous fact of all theology----the God-formation of Jesus amongst us----is both unutterable by every expression and unknown to every mind, even to the very foremost of the most reverend angels. The fact indeed that. He took |23 substance as man, we have received as a mystery, but we do not know in what manner, from virginal bloods, by a different law, beyond nature, He was formed, and how, with dry feet, having a bodily bulk and weight of matter, He marched upon the liquid and unstable substance 17; and so, with regard to all the other features of the super-physical physiology of Jesus. Now, we have elsewhere sufficiently spoken of these things, and they have been celebrated by our illustrious leader, in his Theological Elements, in a manner far beyond natural ability----things which that illustrious man acquired, either from the sacred theologians, or comprehended from the scientific, search of the Oracles, from manifold struggles and investigations respecting the same, or was instructed from a sort of more Divine Inspiration, not only having learnt, but having felt the pangs of things Divine, and from his sympathy with them, if I may so speak, having been perfected to their untaught and mystic union and acceptance. And that we may display, in fewest words, the many and blessed visions of his most excellent intelligence, the following are the things he says, concerning the Lord Jesus, in the Theological Elements compiled by him.
SECTION X. From the Theological Elements of the most holy Hierotheus.
Deity of the Lord Jesus,---- the Cause and Completing of all, which preserves the parts concordant |24 with the whole, and is neither part nor whole, and whole and part, as embracing in Itself everything both part and whole, and being above and before----is perfect indeed in the imperfect, as source of perfection, but imperfect in the perfect, as superperfect, and pre-perfect----Form producing form, in things without form, as Source of form----formless in the forms, as above form,----Essence, penetrating without stain the essences throughout, and superessential, exalted above every essence----setting bounds to the whole principalities and orders, and established above every principality and order. It is measure also of things existing, and age, and above age, and before age----full, in things that need, superfull in things full, unutterable, unspeakable, above mind, above life, above essence. It has the supernatural, supernaturally,----the superessential, superessentially. Hence, since through love towards man, He has come even to nature, and really became substantial, and the Super-God lived as Man 18 (may He be merciful with regard to the things we are celebrating, which are beyond mind and expression), and in these He has the supernatural and super-substantial, not only in so far as He communicated with us without alteration and without confusion, suffering no loss as regards His superfulness, from His unutterable emptying of Himself----but also, because the newest of all new things, He was in our physical condition super-physical----in things substantial, super-substantial, excelling all the things----of us----from us----above us. |25
SECTION XI.
This then is sufficient on these matters, let us now advance to the purpose of the discourse by unfolding, to the best of our ability, the kindred and common Names of the Divine distinction. And, in order that we may first distinctly define everything, in order, we call Divine distinction, as we have said, the goodly progressions of the Godhead. For, by being given to all things existing, and pouring forth the whole imparted goods in abundance, It is distinguished uniformly, and multiplied uniquely, and is moulded into many from the One, whilst being self-centred. For example, since Almighty God is superessentially Being, but the Being is bequeathed to things being, and produces the whole Essences; that One Being is said to be fashioned in many forms, by the production from Itself of the many beings, whilst It remains undiminished, and One in the multiplicity, and Unified during the progression, and complete in the distinction, both by being superessentially exalted above all beings, and by the unique production of the whole; and by the un-lessened stream of His undiminished distributions. Further, being One, and having distributed the One, both to every part and whole, both to one and to multitude, He is One, as it were, superessentially, being neither a part of the multitude, nor whole from parts; and thus is neither one, nor partakes of one, nor has the one. But, beyond these, He is One, above the one, to things existing----One, and multitude indivisible, unfilled superfulness, producing |26 and perfecting and sustaining every one thing and multitude. Again, by the Deification from Itself, by the Divine likeness of many who become gods, according to their several capacity, there seems, and is said to be, a distinction and multiplication of the One God, but. He is none the less the Supreme God, and super-God, superessentially One God,----undivided in things divided, unified in Himself, both unmingled and unmultiplied in the many. And when the common conductor of ourselves, and of our leader to the Divine gift of light,----he, who is great in Divine mysteries----the light of the world----had thought out this in a manner above natural ability,----he speaks as follows, from the inspiration of God, in his sacred writings----"For, even if there are who are called gods, whether in heaven or upon earth, as there are gods many and lords many; but to us there is One God, the Father, from Whom are all things, and we unto Him,----and One Lord Jesus Christ, through Whom are all things, and we, through Him 19." For, with regard to things Divine, the unions overrule the distinctions, and precede them, and are none the less unified, even after the self-centred and unified distinction. These, the mutual and common distinctions, or rather the goodly progressions of the whole Deity, we will endeavour to the best of our ability to celebrate from the Names of God, which make them known in the Oracles;----first, having laid down, as we have said, that every beneficent Name of God, to whichever of the supremely |27 Divine Persons it may be applied, is to be understood with reference to the whole Supremely Divine wholeness unreservedly.
CAPUT III.
What is the power of prayer, and concerning the blessed Hierotheus, and concerning reverence and covenant in the Word of God.
SECTION I.
FIRST, with your permission, let us examine the all-perfect Name of Goodness, which is indicative of the whole progressions of Almighty God, having invoked the supremely good, and super-good Triad----the Name which indicates Its whole best Providences. For, we must first be raised up to It, as Source of good, by our prayers; and by a nearer approach to It, be initiated as to the all good gifts which are established around It. For It is indeed present to all, but all are not present to It. But then, when we have invoked It, by all pure prayers and unpolluted mind, and by our aptitude towards Divine Union, we also are present to It. For, It is not in a place, so that It should be absent from a particular place, or should pass from one to another. But even the statement that It is in all existing beings, falls short of Its infinitude (which is) above all, and embracing all. Let us then elevate our very selves by our prayers to the higher ascent of the Divine and good rays,----as if a luminous chain being suspended from the celestial heights, |28 and reaching down hither, we, by ever clutching this upwards, first with one hand, and then with the other, seem indeed to draw it down, but in reality we do not draw it down, it being both above and below, but ourselves are carried upwards to the higher splendours of the luminous rays. Or, as if, after we have embarked on a ship, and are holding on to the cables reaching from some rock, such as are given out, as it were, for us to seize, we do not draw the rock to us, but ourselves, in fact, and the ship, to the rock. Or to take another example, if any one standing on the ship pushes away the rock by the sea shore, he will do nothing to the stationary and unmoved rock, but he separates himself from it, and in proportion as he pushes that away, he is so far hurled from it. Wherefore, before everything, and especially theology, we must begin with prayer, not as though we ourselves were drawing the power, which is everywhere and nowhere present, but as, by our godly reminiscences and invocations, conducting ourselves to, and making ourselves one with, it.
SECTION II.
Perhaps also, this is worthy of apology, that whilst our illustrious leader, Hierotheus, is compiling his Theological Elements, in a manner above natural capacity, we, as if those were not sufficient, have composed others, and this present theological treatise. And yet, if that man had deigned to treat systematically all the theological treatises, and had gone |29 through the sum of all theology, by detailed expositions, we should not have gone to such a height of folly, or stupidity, as to have attempted alone theological questions, either more lucidly or divinely than he, or to indulge in vain talk by saying superfluously the same things twice over, and in addition to do injustice to one, both teacher and friend, and that we, who have been instructed from his discourses, after Paul the Divine, should filch for our own glorification his most illustrious contemplation and elucidation. But, since in fact, he, whilst teaching things divine, in a manner suitable to presbyters, set forth comprehensive definitions, and such as embraced many things in one, as were suitable to us, and to as many as with us were teachers of the newly-initiated souls, commanding us to unfold and disentangle, by language commensurate with our ability, the comprehensive and uniform compositions of the most intellectual capacity of that illustrious man; and you, yourself, have oftentimes urged us to this, and sent back the very book, as being of transcendent value; for this reason, then, we too distinguish him as a teacher of perfect and presbyterial conceptions for those who are above the common people, even as certain second Oracles, and next to the Anointed of God. But for people, such as we are, we will transmit things Divine, according to our capacity. For, if strong meat belongs to the perfect, how great perfection is required that the same should feed others. Correctly, then, we have affirmed this, that |30 the self-perceptive vision of the intelligible Oracles, and their comprehensive teaching, needs presbyterial power; but the science and the thorough teaching of the reasons which lead to this, fittingly belong to those purified and hallowed persons placed in a subordinate position. And yet, we have insisted upon this with the utmost care, that, as regards the things that have been thoroughly investigated by him, our divine leader, with an accurate elucidation, we should not, in any way, handle the same tautologically, for the same elucidation of the Divine text expounded by him. For, amongst our inspired hierarchs (when both we, as you know, and yourself, and many of our holy brethren, were gathered together to the depositing of the Life-springing and God-receptive body, and when there were present also James, the brother of God, and Peter, the foremost and most honoured pinnacle of the Theologians, when it was determined after the depositing, that every one of the hierarchs should celebrate, as each was capable, the Omnipotent Goodness of the supremely Divine Weakness), he, after the Theologians, surpassed, as you know, all the other divine instructors, being wholly entranced, wholly raised from himself, and experiencing the pain of his fellowship with the things celebrated, and was regarded as an inspired and divine Psalmist by all, by whom he was heard and seen and known, and not known. And why should I say anything to thee concerning the things there divinely spoken? For, |31 if I do not forget myself, many a time do I remember to have heard from thee certain portions of those inspired songs of praise; such was thy zeal, not cursorily, to pursue things Divine.
SECTION III.
But to pass over the mystical things there, both as forbidden to the multitude and as known to thee, when it was necessary to communicate to the multitude, and to bring as many as possible to the sacred knowledge amongst ourselves, he so excelled the majority of sacred teachers, both by use of time and purity of mind, and accuracy of demonstrations, and by his other sacred discourses, that we should scarcely have dared to look so great a sun straight in the face. For we are thus far conscious in ourselves, and know, that we may neither advance to understand sufficiently the intelligible of Divine things, nor to express and declare the things spoken of the divine knowledge. For, being far removed from the skill of those divine men, as regards theological truth, we are so inferior that we should have, through excessive reverence, entirely come to this----neither to hear nor to speak anything respecting divine philosophy, unless we had grasped in our mind, that we must not neglect the knowledge of things divine received by us. And to this we were persuaded, not only by the innate aspirations of the minds which always lovingly cling to the permitted contemplation of the supernatural, but also by the most excellent order itself of the Divine institutions, |32 which prohibits us, on the one hand, from much inquisition into things above us, as above our degree, and as unattainable; yet, on the other hand, persistently urges us to graciously impart to others also whatever is permitted and given to us to learn. Yielding then to these considerations, and neither shirking nor flinching from the attainable discovery of things Divine, but also not bearing to leave unassisted those who are unable to contemplate things too high for us, we have brought ourselves to composition, not daring indeed to introduce anything new, but by more easy and more detailed expositions to disentangle and elucidate the things spoken by the Hierotheus indeed.
CAPUT IV.
Concerning Good, Light, Beauty, Love, Ecstasy, Jealousy, and that the Evil is neither existent, nor from existent, nor in things being.
SECTION I.
BE it so then. Let us come to the appellation "Good," already mentioned in our discourse, which the Theologians ascribe pre-eminently and exclusively to the super-Divine Deity, as I conjecture, by calling the supremely Divine Subsistence, Goodness; and because the Good, as essential Good, by Its being, extends Its Goodness to all things that be.
For, even as our sun----not as calculating or choosing, but by its very being, enlightens all things able |33 to partake of its light in their own degree----so too the Good----as superior to a sun, as the archetype par excellence, is above an obscure image----by Its very existence sends to all things that be, the rays of Its whole goodness, according to their capacity. By reason of these (rays) subsisted all the intelligible and intelligent essences and powers and energies. By reason of these they are, and have their life, continuous and undiminished, purified from all corruption and death and matter, and generation; and separated from the unstable and fluctuating and vacillating mutability, and are conceived of as incorporeal and immaterial, and as minds they think in a manner supermundane, and are illuminated as to the reasons of things, in a manner peculiar to themselves; and they again convey to their kindred spirits things appropriate to them; and they have their abiding from Goodness; and thence comes to them stability and consistence and protection, and sanctuary of good things; and whilst aspiring to It, they have both being and good being; and being conformed to It, as is attainable, they are both patterns of good, and impart to those after them, as the Divine Law directs, the gifts which have passed through to themselves from the Good.
SECTION II.
Thence come to them the supermundane orders, the unions amongst themselves, the mutual penetrations, the unconfused distinctions, the powers elevating the inferior to the superior, the providences |34 of the more exalted for those below them; the guard-ings of things pertaining to each power; and unbroken convolutions around themselves; the identities and sublimities around the aspiration after the Good; and whatever is said in our Treatise concerning the angelic properties and orders. Further also, whatever things belong to the heavenly Hierarchy, the purifications befitting angels, the supermundane illuminations, and the things perfecting the whole angelic perfection, are from the all-creative and fontal Goodness; from which was given to them the form of Goodness, and the revealing in themselves the hidden Goodness, and that angels are, as it were, heralds of the Divine silence, and project, as it were, luminous lights revealing Him Who is in secret. Further, after these----the sacred and holy minds----the souls, and whatever is good in souls is by reason of the super-good Goodness----the fact that they are intellectual----that they have essential life----indestructible----the very being itself----and that they are able, whilst elevated themselves to the angelic lives, to be conducted by them as good guides to the good Origin of all good things, and to become partakers of the illuminations, thence bubbling forth, according to the capacity of each, and to participate in the goodlike gift, as they are able, and whatever else we have enumerated in our Treatise concerning the soul. But also, if one may be permitted to speak of the irrational souls, or living creatures, such as cleave the air, and such as walk on earth, and such as creep along earth, and those whose life is in waters, |35 or amphibious, and such as live concealed under earth, and burrow within it, and in one word, such as have the sensible soul or life, even all these have their soul and life, by reason of the Good. Moreover, all plants have their growing and moving life from the Good; and even soulless and lifeless substance is by reason of the Good, and by reason of It, has inherited its substantial condition.
SECTION III.
But, if the Good is above all things being, as indeed it is, and formulates the formless, even in Itself alone, both the non-essential is a pre-eminence of essence, and the non-living is a superior life, and the mindless a superior wisdom, and whatever is in the Good is of a superlative formation of the formless, and if one may venture to say so, even the nonexistent itself aspires to the Good above all things existing, and struggles somehow to be even itself in the Good,----the really Superessential----to the exclusion of all things.
SECTION IV.
But what slipped from our view in the midst of our discourse, the Good is Cause of the celestial movements in their commencements and terminations, of their not increasing, not diminishing, and completely changeless, course 20, and of the noiseless movements, if one may so speak, of the vast celestial transit, and of the astral orders, and the beauties and |36 lights, and stabilities, and the progressive swift motion of certain stars, and of the periodical return of the two luminaries, which the Oracles call "great," from the same to the same quarter, after which our days and nights being marked, and months and years being measured, mark and number and arrange and comprehend the circular movements of time and things temporal. But, what would any one say of the very ray of the sun? For the light is from the Good, and an image of the Goodness, wherefore also the Good is celebrated under the name of Light; as in a portrait the original is manifested. For, as the goodness of the Deity, beyond all, permeates from the highest and most honoured substances even to the lowest, and yet is above all, neither the foremost outstripping its superiority, nor the things below eluding its grasp, but it both enlightens all that are capable, and forms and enlivens, and grasps, and perfects, and is measure of things existing, and age, and number, and order, and grasp, and cause, and end; so, too, the brilliant likeness of the Divine Goodness, this our great sun, wholly bright and ever luminous, as a most distant echo of the Good, both enlightens whatever is capable of participating in it, and possesses the light in the highest degree of purity, unfolding to the visible universe, above and beneath, the splendours of its own rays, and if anything does not participate in them, this is not owing to the inertness or deficiency of its distribution of light, but is owing to the inaptitude for light-reception of the things which do not unfold |37 themselves for the participation of light. No doubt the ray passing over many things in such condition, enlightens the things after them, and there is no visible thing which it does not reach, with the surpassing greatness of its own splendour. Further also, it contributes to the generation of sensible bodies, and moves them to life, and nourishes, and increases, and perfects, and purifies and renews; and the light is both measure and number of hours, days, and all our time. For it is the light itself, even though it was then without form, which the divine Moses declared to have fixed that first Triad 21 of our days. And, just as Goodness turns all things to Itself, and is chief collector of things scattered, as One-springing and One-making Deity, and all things aspire to It, as Source and Bond and End, and it is the Good, as the Oracles say, from Which all things subsisted, and are being brought into being by an all-perfect Cause; and in Which all things consisted, as guarded and governed in an all-controlling route; and to Which all things are turned, as to their own proper end; and to Which all aspire ----the intellectual and rational indeed, through knowledge, and the sensible through the senses, and those bereft of sensible perception by the innate movement of the aspiration after life, and those without life, and merely being, by their aptitude for mere substantial participation; after the same method of its illustrious original, the light also collects and turns to itself all things existing----things with sight |38 ----things with motion----things enlightened----things heated----things wholly held together by its brilliant splendours----whence also, Helios, because it makes all things altogether (a)ollh~), and collects things scattered. And all creatures, endowed with sensible perceptions, aspire to it, as aspiring either to see, or to be moved and enlightened, and heated, and to be wholly held together by the light. By no means do I affirm, after the statement of antiquity, that as being God and Creator of the universe, the sun, by itself, governs the luminous world, but that the invisible things of God are clearly seen from the foundation of the world, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Deity.
SECTION V.
But we have spoken of these things in our Symbolical Theology. Let us now then celebrate the spiritual Name of Light, under Which we contemplate the Good, and declare that He, the Good, is called spiritual 22 Light, on the ground that He fills every supercelestial mind with spiritual light, and expels all ignorance a.nd error from all souls in which they may be, and imparts to them all sacred light, and cleanses their mental vision from the mist which envelops them, from ignorance, and stirs up and unfolds those enclosed by the great weight of darkness, and imparts, at first, a measured radiance; then, whilst they taste, as it were, the light, and |39 desire it more, more fully gives Itself, and more abundantly enlightens them, because "they have loved much," and ever elevates them to things in advance, as befits the analogy of each for aspiration.
SECTION VI.
The Good then above every light is called spiritual Light, as fontal ray, and stream of light welling over, shining upon every mind, above, around 23, and in the world, from its fulness, and renewing their whole mental powers, and embracing them all by its over-shadowing; and being above all by its exaltation; and in one word, by embracing and having previously and pre-eminently the whole sovereignty of the light-dispensing faculty, as being source of light and above all light, and by comprehending in itself all things intellectual, and all things rational, and making them one altogether. For as ignorance puts asunder those who have gone astray, so the presence of the spiritual light is collective and unifying of those being enlightened, both perfecting and further turning them towards the true Being, by turning them from the many notions and collecting the various views, or, to speak more correctly, fancies, into one true, pure and uniform knowledge, and by filling them with light, one and unifying.
SECTION VII.
This Good is celebrated by the sacred theologians, both as beautiful and as Beauty, and as Love, and as |40 Beloved; and all the other Divine Names which beseem the beautifying and highly-favoured comeliness. But the beautiful and Beauty are not to be divided, as regards the Cause which has embraced the whole in one. For, with regard to all created things, by dividing them into participations and participants, we call beautiful that which participates in Beauty; but beauty, the participation of the beautifying Cause of all the beautiful things. But, the superessential Beautiful is called Beauty, on account of the beauty communicated from Itself to all beautiful things, in a manner appropriate to each, and as Cause of the good harmony and brightness of all things which flashes like light to all the beautifying distributions of its fontal ray, and as calling (kalou~n) all things to Itself (whence also it is called Beauty) (ka&lloj), and as collecting all in all to Itself. (And it is called) Beautiful, as (being) at once beautiful and super-beautiful, and always being under the same conditions and in the same manner beautiful, and neither coming into being nor perishing, neither waxing nor waning; neither in this beautiful, nor in that ugly, nor at one time beautiful, and at another not; nor in relation to one thing beautiful, and in relation to another ugly, nor here, and not there, as being beautiful to some, and not beautiful to others; but as Itself, in Itself, with Itself, uniform, always being beautiful, and as having beforehand in Itself pre-eminently the fontal beauty of everything beautiful. For, by the simplex and supernatural nature of all beautiful things, all beauty, and everything |41 beautiful, pre-existed uniquely as to Cause. From this Beautiful (comes) being to all existing things,----that each is beautiful in its own proper order; and by reason of the Beautiful are the adaptations of all things, and friendships, and inter-communions, and by the Beautiful all things are made one, and the Beautiful is origin of all things, as a creating Cause, both by moving the whole and holding it together by the love of its own peculiar Beauty; and end of all things, and beloved, as final Cause (for all things exist for the sake of the Beautiful) and exemplary (Cause), because all things are determined according to It. Wherefore, also, the Beautiful is identical with the Good, because all things aspire to the Beautiful and Good, on every account, and there is no existing thing which does not participate in the Beautiful and the Good. Yea, reason will dare to say even this, that even the non-existing participates in the Beautiful and Good. For then even it is beautiful and good, when in God it is celebrated superessentially to the exclusion of all. This, the one Good and Beautiful, is uniquely Cause of all the many things beautiful and good. From this are all the substantial beginnings of things existing, the unions, the distinctions, the identities, the diversities, the similarities, the dissimilarities, the communions of the contraries, the commingling of things unified, the providences of the superior, the mutual cohesions of those of the same rank; the attentions of the more needy, the protecting and immoveable abidings and stabilities of their whole selves and, on the other hand, the |42 communions of all things among all, in a manner peculiar to each, and adaptations and unmingled friendships and harmonies of the whole, the blendings in the whole, and the undissolved connections of existing things, the never-failing successions of the generations, all rests and movements, of the minds, of the souls, of the bodies. For, that which is established above every rest, and every movement, and moves each thing in the law of its own being to its proper movement, is a rest and movement to all.
SECTION VIII.
Now, the divine minds 24 are said to be moved circularly indeed, by being united to the illuminations of the Beautiful and Good, without beginning and without end; but in a direct line, whenever they advance to the succour of a subordinate, by accomplishing all things directly; but spirally, because even in providing for the more indigent, they remain fixedly, in identity, around the good and beautiful Cause of their identity, ceaselessly dancing around.
SECTION IX.
Further, there is a movement of soul, circular indeed,----the entrance into itself from things without, and the unified convolution of its intellectual powers, bequeathing to it inerrancy, as it were, in a sort of circle, and turning and collecting itself, from the many things without, first to itself, then, as having become single, uniting with the uniquely unified powers, and thus conducting to the Beautiful and |43 Good, which is above all things being, and One and the Same, and without beginning and without end. But a soul is moved spirally, in so far as it is illuminated, as to the divine kinds of knowledge, in a manner proper to itself, not intuitively and at once, but logically and discursively; and, as it were, by mingled and relative operations; but in a straight line, when, not entering into itself, and being moved by unique intuition (for this, as I said, is the circular), but advancing to things around itself, and from things without, it is, as it were, conducted from certain symbols, varied and multiplied, to the simple and unified contemplations.
SECTION X.
Of these three motions then in everything perceptible here below, and much more of the abidings and repose and fixity of each, the Beautiful and Good, which is above all repose and movement, is Cause and Bond and End; by reason of which, and from which, and in which, and towards which, and for sake of which, is every repose and movement. For, both from It and through It is both Essence and every life, and both of mind and soul and every nature, the minutiae, the equalities, the magnitudes, all the standards and the analogies of beings, and harmonies and compositions; the entireties, the parts, every one thing, and multitude, the connections of parts, the unions of every multitude, the perfections of the entireties, the quality, the weight, the size, the infinitude, the compounds, |44 the distinctions, every infinitude, every term, all the bounds, the orders, the pre-eminences, the elements, the forms, every essence, every power, every energy, every condition, every sensible perception, every reason, every conception, every contact, every science, every union, and in one word, all things existing are from the Beautiful and Good, and in the Beautiful and Good, and turn themselves to the Beautiful and Good.
Moreover, all things whatever, which are and come to being, are and come to being by reason of the Beautiful and Good; and to It all things look, and by It are moved and held together, and for the sake of It, and by reason of It, and in It, is every source exemplary, final, creative, formative, elemental, and in one word, every beginning, every bond, every term, or to speak summarily, all things existing are from the Beautiful and Good; and all things non-existing are superessentially in the Beautiful and Good; and it is of all, beginning and term, above beginning and above term, because from It, and through It, and in It, and to It, are all things, as says the Sacred Word.
By all things, then, the Beautiful and Good is desired and beloved and cherished; and, by reason of It, and for the sake of It, the less love the greater suppliantly; and those of the same rank, their fellows brotherly; and the greater, the less considerately; and these severally love the things of themselves continuously; and all things by aspiring to the Beautiful and Good, do and wish all things whatever |45 they do and wish. Further, it may be boldly said with truth, that even the very Author of all things, by reason of overflowing Goodness, loves all, makes all, perfects all, sustains all, attracts all; and even the Divine Love is Good of Good, by reason of the Good. For Love itself, the benefactor of things that be, pre-existing overflowingly in the Good, did not permit itself to remain unproductive in itself, but moved itself to creation 25, as befits the overflow which is generative of all.
SECTION XI.
And let no one fancy that we honour the Name of Love beyond the Oracles, for it is, in my opinion, irrational and stupid not to cling to the force of the meaning, but to the mere words; and this is not the characteristic of those who have wished to comprehend things Divine, but of those who receive empty sounds and keep the same just at the ears from passing through from outside, and are not willing to know what such a word signifies, and in what way one ought to distinctly represent it, through other words of the same force and more explanatory, but who specially affect sounds and signs without meaning, and syllables, and words unknown, which do not pass through to the mental part of their soul, but buzz without, around their lips and ears, as though it were not permitted to signify the number four, by twice two, or straight lines by direct lines, or motherland by fatherland, or any other, which signify the self-same thing, by many parts of speech. |46
We ought to know, according to the correct account, that we use sounds, and syllables, and phrases, and descriptions, and words, on account of the sensible perceptions; since when our soul is moved by the intellectual energies to the things contemplated, the sensible perceptions by aid of sensible objects are superfluous; just as also the intellectual powers, when the soul, having become godlike, throws itself, through a union beyond knowledge, against the rays of the unapproachable light, by sightless efforts. But, when the mind strives to be moved upwards, through objects of sense, to contemplative conceptions, the clearer interpretations are altogether preferable to the sensible perceptions, and the more definite descriptions are things more distinct than things seen; since when objects near are not made clear to the sensible perceptions, neither will these perceptions be well able to present the things perceived to the mind. But that we may not seem, in speaking thus, to be pushing aside the Divine Oracles, let those who libel the Name of Love ( Erwtoj) hear them. "Be in love with It," they say, "and It will keep thee----Rejoice over It, and It will exalt thee----Honour It, in order that It may encompass thee,"----and whatever else is sung respecting Love, in the Word of God.
SECTION XII.
And yet it seemed to some of our sacred expounders that the Name of Love is more Divine than that of loving-kindness (a)ga&phj). But even the |47 Divine Ignatius 26 writes, "my own Love ( erwj) is crucified;" and in the introductions to the Oracles you will find a certain One saying of the Divine Wisdom, "1 became enamoured of her Beauty." So that we, certainly, need not be afraid of this Name of Love, nor let any alarming statement about it terrify us. For the theologians seem to me to treat as equivalent the name of Loving-kindness, and that of Love; and on this ground, to attribute, by preference, the veritable Love, to things Divine, because of the misplaced prejudice of such men as these. For, since the veritable Love is sung of in a sense befitting God, not by us only, but also by the Oracles themselves, the multitude, not having comprehended the Oneness of the Divine Name of Love, fell away, as might be expected of them, to the divided and corporeal and sundered, seeing it is not a real love, but a shadow, or rather a falling from the veritable Love. For the Oneness of the Divine and one Love is incomprehensible to the multitude, wherefore also, as seeming a very hard name to the multitude, it is assigned to the Divine Wisdom, for the purpose of leading back and restoring them to the knowledge of the veritable Love; and for their liberation from the difficulty respecting it. And again, as regards ourselves, where it happened often that men of an earthly character imagined something out of place, (there is used) what appears more euphonius. A certain one says, "Thy |48 affection fell upon me, as the affection of the women." For those who have rightly listened to things Divine, the name of Loving-kindness and of Love is placed by the holy theologians in the same category throughout the Divine revelations, and this is of a power unifying, and binding together, and mingling pre-eminently in the Beautiful and Good; pre-existing by reason of the beautiful and good, and imparted from the beautiful and good, by reason of the Beautiful and Good; and sustaining things of the same rank, within their mutual coherence, but moving the first to forethought for the inferior, and attaching the inferior to the superior by respect.
SECTION XIII.
But Divine Love is extatic, not permitting (any) to be lovers of themselves, but of those beloved. They shew this too, the superior by becoming mindful of the inferior; and the equals by their mutual coherence; and the inferior, by a more divine respect towards things superior. Wherefore also, Paul the Great, when possessed by the Divine Love, and participating in its extatic power, says with inspired lips, "I live no longer, but Christ lives in me." As a true lover, and beside himself, as he says, to Almighty God, and not living the life of himself, but the life of the Beloved, as a life excessively esteemed. One might make bold to say even this, on behalf of truth, that the very Author of all things, by the beautiful and good love of everything, through an overflow of His loving goodness, becomes out of Himself, by His providences for all existing things, |49 and is, as it were, cozened by goodness and affection and love, and is led down from the Eminence above all, and surpassing all, to being in all, as befits an extatic superessential power centred in Himself. Wherefore, those skilled in Divine things call Him even Jealous, as (being) that vast good Love towards all beings, and as rousing His loving inclination to jealousy,----and as proclaiming Himself Jealous----to Whom the things desired are objects of jealousy, and as though the objects of His providential care were objects of jealousy for Him. And, in short, the lovable is of the Beautiful and Good, and Love preexisted both in the Beautiful and Good, and on account of the Beautiful and Good, is and takes Being.
SECTION XIV.
But what do the theologians mean when at one time they call Him Love, and Loving-kindness, and at another, Loved and Esteemed? For, of the one, He is Author and, as it were, Producer and Father; but the other, He Himself is; and by one He is moved, but by the other He moves; or (when they say), that He Himself is Procurer and Mover of Himself and by Himself. In this sense, they call Him esteemed and loved, as Beautiful and Good: but again Love and Loving-kindness, as being at once moving and conducting Power to Himself;----the alone----self Beautiful and Good, by reason of Itself, and, being, as it were, a manifestation of Itself through Itself, and a good Progression of the |50 surpassing union, and a loving Movement, simplex, self-moved, self-operating, pre-existing in the Good, and from the Good bubbling forth to things existing, and again returning to the Good, in which also the Divine Love indicates distinctly Its own unending and unbeginning, as it were a sort of everlasting circle whirling round in unerring combination, by reason of the Good, from the Good, and in the Good, and to the Good, and ever advancing and remaining and returning in the same and throughout the same. And these things our illustrious initiator divinely set forth throughout His Hymns of Love, of which we may appropriately make mention, and, as it were, place as a certain sacred chapter to our treatise concerning Love.
SECTION XV. Extract from the "Hymns of Love" by the most holy Hierotheus:----
Love, whether we speak of Divine, or Angelic, or intelligent, or psychical, or physical, let us regard as a certain unifying and combining power, moving the superior to forethought for the inferior, and the equals to a mutual fellowship, and lastly, the inferior to respect towards the higher and superior.
SECTION XVI. Of the same, from the same Erotic Hymns.
Since we have arranged the many loves from the one, by telling, in due order, what are the |51 kinds of knowledge and powers of the mundane and super-mundane loves; over which, according to the defined purpose of the discourse, the orders and ranks of the mental and intelligible loves preside; next after 27 which are placed the self-existent intelligible and divine, over the really beautiful loves there which have been appropriately celebrated by us; now, on the other hand, by restoring all back to the One and enfolded Love, and Father of them all, let us collect and gather them together from the many, by contracting It into two Powers entirely lovable, over which rules and precedes altogether the Cause, resistless from Its universal Love beyond all, and to which is elevated, according to the nature of each severally, the whole love from all existing things.
SECTION XVII. Of the same, from the same Hymns of Love.
Come then, whilst collecting these again into one, let us say, that it is a certain simplex power, which of itself moves to a sort of unifying combination from the Good, to the lowest of things existing, and from that again in due order, circling round again, through all to the Good from Itself, and through Itself and by Itself, and rolling back to Itself always in the same way.
SECTION XVIII.
And yet, any one might say, "if the Beautiful and Good is beloved and desired, and esteemed |52 by all (for even that which is non-existing desires It, as we have said, and struggles how to be in It; and Itself is the form-giving, even of things without form, and by It alone, even the non-existing is said to be, and is superessentially)----"How is it that the host of demons do not desire the Beautiful and Good, but, through their earthly proclivities, having fallen away from the angelic identity, as regards the desire of the Good, have become cause of all evils both to themselves and to all the others who are said to be corrupted? and why, in short, when the tribes of demons have been brought into being from the Good, are they not like the Good? or how, after being a good production from the Good, were they changed? and what is that which depraved them, and in short, what is evil? and from what source did it spring? and in which of things existing is it? and how did He, Who is Good, will to bring it into being? and how, when He willed it, was He able? And if evil is from another cause, what other cause is there for things existing, beside the Good? Further, how, when there is a Providence, is there evil, either coming into existence at all, or not destroyed? And how does any existing thing desire it, in comparison with the Good?
SECTION XIX.28
Such a statement as this might be alleged by way of objection. We, however, on our part, will |53 pray the objector to look to the truth of the facts, and will make bold to say this first. The Evil is not from the Good, and if it is from the Good, it is not the Evil. For, it is not the nature of fire to make cold, nor of good to bring into being things not good; and if all things that be are from the Good (for to produce and to preserve is natural to the Good, but to destroy and to dissolve, to the Evil), there is no existing thing from the Evil, nor will the Evil itself be, if it should be evil even to itself. And, if it be not so, the Evil is not altogether evil, but has some portion of the Good, in consequence of which it wholly is. Now, if the things existing desire the Beautiful and Good, and whatever they do, they do for the sake of that which seems good, and every purpose of things existing has the Good for its beginning and end (for nothing looking to the Evil qua evil, does what it does), how shall the Evil be in things existing; or, wholly being, how has it been seduced from such a good yearning? Also if all the things existing are from the Good, and the Good is above all things existing, then there is existing in the Good even the non-existing; but the Evil is not existing; and, if this be not the case, it is not altogether evil, nor non-existing, for the absolutely non-existing will be nothing, unless it should be spoken of as in the Good superessentially. The Good, then, will be fixed far above both the absolutely existing and the non-existing; but the Evil is neither in things existing, nor in things non-existing, but, being further distant from the Good than |54 the non-existing itself, it is alien and more unsubstantial. Where then is the Evil? some one may perchance say. For if the Evil is not,----virtue and vice are the same, both universally and particularly. Or, not even that which opposes itself to virtue will be evil, and yet sobriety and license, and righteousness and unrighteousness, are contraries. And I, by no means, speak in reference to the just and unjust man, and the temperate and intemperate man; but also, long before the difference between the just man and his opposite is made manifest externally, in the very soul itself the vices stand altogether apart from the virtues, and the passions rebel against the reason; and from this we must grant some evil contrary to the Good. For the Good is not contrary to Itself, but as the product from one Source and one Cause, It rejoices in fellowship and unity and friendship. Nor yet is the lesser good opposed to the greater, for neither is the less heat or cold opposed to the greater. The Evil 29 then is in things existing, and is existing, and is opposed, and is in opposition to, the Good; and if it is the destruction of things existing, this does not expel the Evil from existence; but it will be, both itself existing, and generator of things existing. Does not frequently the destruction of one become birth of another? and the Evil will be contributing to the completion of the whole, and supplying through itself non-imperfection to the whole. |55
SECTION XX.
Now to all this true reason will answer, that the Evil qua evil makes no single essence or birth, but only, as far as it can, pollutes and destroys the subsistence of things existing. But, if any one says, that it is productive of being, and that by destruction of one it gives birth to another, we must truly answer, that not qua destruction it gives birth, but qua destruction and evil, it destroys and pollutes only, but it becomes birth and essence, by reason of the Good; and the Evil will be destruction indeed, by reason of itself; but producer of birth by reason of the Good; and qua evil, it is neither existing, nor productive of things existing; but, by reason of the Good, it is both existing and good-existing, and productive of things good. Yea, rather (for neither will the same by itself be both good and evil, nor the self-same power be of itself destruction and birth----neither as self-acting power, nor as self-acting destruction), the absolutely Evil is neither existing nor good, nor generative, nor productive of things being and good; but the Good in whatever things it may be perfectly engendered, makes them perfect and pure, and thoroughly good,----but the things which partake of it in a less degree are both imperfectly good, and impure, by reason of the lack of the Good. And (thus) the Evil altogether, is not, nor is good, nor good producing; but that which approaches more or less near the Good will be proportionately good; since the All-perfect Goodness, in passing through all, not only passes to the |56 All-good beings around Itself, but extends Itself to the most remote, by being present to some thoroughly, to others subordinately, but to the rest, in the most remote degree, as each existing thing is able to participate in It. And some things, indeed, participate in the Good entirely, whilst others are deprived of It, in a more or less degree, but others possess a more obscure participation in the Good; and to the rest, the Good is present as a most distant echo. For if the Good were not present according to the capacity of each, the most Divine and honoured would occupy the rank of the lowest. And how were it possible that all should participate in the Good uniformly, when not all are in the same way adapted to its whole participation?
Now, this is the exceeding greatness of the power of the Good, that It empowers, both things deprived, and the deprivation of Itself, with a view to the entire participation of itself. And, if one must make bold to speak the truth, even the things fighting against It, both are, and are able to fight, by Its power. Yea rather, in order that I may speak summarily, all things which are, in so far as they are, both are good, and from the Good; but, in so far as they are deprived of the Good, are neither good, nor do they exist. For, even with regard to the other conditions, such as heat or cold, there are things which have been heated, and when the heat has departed from them, many of them are deprived both of life and intelligence (now Almighty God is outside essence, and is, superessentially), and, in |57 one word, with regard to the rest, even when the condition has departed, or has not become completely developed, things exist, and are able to subsist; but that which is every way deprived of the Good, in no way or manner ever was, or is, or will be, nor is able to be. For example, the licentious man, even if he have been deprived of the Good, as regards his irrational lust, in this respect he neither is, nor desires realities, but nevertheless he participates in the Good, in his very obscure echo of union and friendship. And, even Anger participates in the Good, by the very movement and desire to direct and turn the seeming evils to the seeming good. And the very man, who desires the very worst life, as wholly desirous of life and that which seems best to him, by the very fact of desiring, and desiring life, and looking to a best life, participates in the Good. And, if you should entirely take away the Good, there will be neither essence, nor life, nor yearning, nor movement, nor anything else. So that the fact, that birth is born from destruction, is not a power of evil, but a presence of a lesser good, even as disease is a defect of order, not total----for, if this should be, not even the disease itself will continue to exist, but the disease remains and is, by having the lowest possible order of essence, and in this continues to exist as a parasite. For that which is altogether deprived of the Good, is neither existing, nor in things existing; but the compound, by reason of the Good in things existing, and in consequence of this in things |58 existing, is also existing in so far as it participates in the Good. Yea rather, all things existing will so far be, more or less, as they participate in the Good; for, even as respects the self-existing Being, that which in no ways is at all, will not be at all; but that which partially is, but partially is not, in so far as it has fallen from the ever Being, is not; but so far as it has participated in the Being, so far it is, and its whole being, and its non-being, is sustained and preserved. And the Evil,----that which has altogether fallen from the Good----will be good, neither in the more nor in the less; but the partially good, and partially not good, fight no doubt against a certain good, but not against the whole Good, and, even it is sustained by the participation of the Good, and the Good gives essence even to the privation of Itself, wholly by the participation of Itself; for, when the Good has entirely departed, there will be neither anything altogether good, nor compound, nor absolute evil. For, if the Evil is an imperfect good, (then) by the entire absence of the Good, both the imperfect and the perfect Good will be absent; and then only will be, and be seen, the Evil, when on the one hand, it is an evil to those things to which it was opposed, and, on the other, is expelled from other things on account of their goodness. For, it is impossible that the same things, under the same conditions in every respect, should fight against each other. The Evil then is not an actual thing. |59
SECTION XXI.
But neither is the Evil in things existing. For, if all things existing are from the Good, and the Good is in all things existing, and embraces all, either the Evil will not be in things existing, or it will be in the Good; and certainly it will not be in the Good, for neither is cold in fire, nor to do evil in Him, Who turns even the evil to good. But, if it shall be, how will the Evil be in the Good? If forsooth, from Itself, it is absurd and impossible. For it is not possible, as the infallibility of the Oracles affirms, that a "good tree should bring forth evil fruits," nor certainly, vice versa. But, if not from Itself, it is evident that it will be from another source and cause. For, either the Evil will be from the Good, or the Good from the Evil; or, if this be not possible, both the Good and the Evil will be from another source and cause, for no dual is source, but a Unit will be source of every dual. Further, it is absurd that two entirely contraries should proceed and be from one and the same, and that the self-same source should be, not simplex and unique, but divided and double, and contrary to itself, and be changed; and certainly it is not possible that there should be two contrary sources of things existing, and that these should be contending in each other, and in the whole. For, if this were granted, even Almighty God will not be in repose, nor free from disquietude, if there were indeed something bringing disturbance even to Him. Then, |60 everything will be in disorder, and always fighting; and yet the Good distributes friendship to all existing things, and is celebrated by the holy theologians, both as very Peace, and Giver of Peace. Wherefore, things good are both friendly and harmonious, every one, and products of one life, and marshalled to one good; and kind, and similar, and affable to each other. So that the Evil is not in God, and the Evil is not inspired by God. But neither is the Evil from God, for, either He is not good, or He does good, and produces good things; and, not once in a way, and some; and at another time not, and not all; for this would argue transition and change, even as regards the very Divinest thing of all, the Cause. But, if in God, the Good is sustaining essence, God, when changing from the Good, will be sometimes Being, and sometimes not Being. But, if He has the Good by participation, He will then have it from another; and sometimes He will have it, and sometimes not. The Evil, then, is not from God, nor in God, neither absolutely nor occasionally.
SECTION XXII.
But neither is the Evil in Angels; for if the good-like angel proclaims the goodness of God, being by participation in a secondary degree that which the Announced is in the first degree as Cause, the Angel is a likeness of Almighty God----a manifestation of the unmanifested light----a mirror untarnished----most transparent----without flaw----pure----without spot---- |61 receiving, if I may so speak, the full beauty of the Good-stamped likeness of God----and without stain, shedding forth undefiledly in itself, so far as is possible, the goodness of the Silence, which dwells in innermost shrines. The Evil, then, is not even in Angels. But by punishing sinners are they evil? By this rule, then, the punishers of transgressors are evil, and those of the priests who shut out the profane from the Divine Mysteries. And yet, the being punished is not an evil, but the becoming worthy of punishment; nor the being deservedly expelled from Holy things, but the becoming accursed of God, and unholy and unfit for things un-defiled.
SECTION XXIII.
But, neither are the demons evil by nature; for, if they are evil by nature, neither are they from the Good, nor amongst things existing; nor, in fact, did they change from good, being by nature, and always, evil. Then, are they evil to themselves or to others? If to themselves, they also destroy themselves; but if to others, how destroying, or what destroying?----Essence, or power, or energy? If indeed Essence, in the first place, it is not contrary to nature; for they do not destroy things indestructible by nature, but things receptive of destruction. Then, neither is this an evil for every one, and in every case; but, not even any existing thing is destroyed, in so far as it is essence and nature, but by the defect of nature's order, the |62 principle of harmony and proportion lacks the power to remain as it was. But the lack of strength is not complete, for the complete lack of power takes away even the disease and the subject; and such a disease will be even a destruction of itself; so that, such a thing is not an evil, but a defective good, for that which has no part of the Good will not be amongst things which exist. And with regard to the destruction of power and energy the principle is the same. Then, how are the demons, seeing they come into being from God, evil? For the Good brings forth and sustains good things. Yet they are called evil, some one may say. But not as they are (for they are from the Good, and obtained a good being), but, as they are not, by not having had strength, as the Oracles affirm, "to keep their first estate." For in what, tell me, do we affirm that the demons become evil, except in the ceasing in the habit and energy for good things Divine? Otherwise, if the demons are evil by nature, they are always evil; yet evil is unstable. Therefore, if they are always in the same condition, they are not evil; for to be ever the same is a characteristic of the Good. But, if they are not always evil, they are not evil by nature, but by wavering from the angelic good qualities. And they are not altogether without part in the good, in so far as they both are, and live and think, and in one word----as there is a sort of movement of aspiration in them. But they are said to be 'evil, by reason of their weakness as regards their action according to nature. The evil then, in them, is |63 a turning aside and a stepping out of things befitting themselves, and a missing of aim, and imperfection and impotence, and a weakness and departure, and falling away from the power which preserves their integrity in them. Otherwise, what is evil in demons? An irrational anger----a senseless desire----a headlong fancy.----But these, even if they are in demons, are not altogether, nor in every respect, nor in themselves alone, evils. For even with regard to other living creatures, not the possession of these, but the loss, is both destruction to the creature, and an evil. But the possession saves, and makes to be, the nature of the living creature which possesses them. The tribe of demons then is not evil, so far as it is according to nature, but so far as it is not; and the whole good which was given to them was not changed, but themselves fell from the whole good given. And the angelic gifts which were given to them, we by no means affirm that they were changed, but they exist, and are complete, and all luminous, although the demons themselves do not see, through having blunted their powers of seeing good. So far as they are, they are both from the Good, and are good, and aspire to the Beautiful and the Good, by aspiring to the realities, Being, and Life, and Thought; and by the privation and departure and declension from the good things befitting them, they are called evil, and are evil as regards what they are not: and by aspiring to the non-existent, they aspire to the Evil. |64
SECTION XXIV.
But does some one say that souls are evil? If it be that they meet with evil things providentially, and with a view to their preservation, this is not an evil, but a good, and from the Good, Who makes even the evil good. But, if we say that souls become evil, in what respect do they become evil, except in the failure of their good habits and energies; and, by reason of their own lack of strength, missing their aim and tripping? For we also say, that the air around us becomes dark by failure and absence of light, and yet the light itself is always light, that which enlightens even the darkness. The Evil, then, is neither in demons nor in us, as an existent evil, but as a failure and dearth of the perfection of our own proper goods.
SECTION XXV.
But neither is the Evil in irrational creatures, for if you should take away anger and lust, and the other things which we speak of, and which are not absolutely evil in their own nature, the lion having lost his boldness and fierceness will not be a lion; and the dog, when he has become gentle to every body, will not be a dog, since to keep guard is a dog's duty, and to admit those of the household, but to drive away the stranger. So the fact that nature is not destroyed is not an evil, but a destruction of nature, weakness, and failure of the natural habitudes and energies and powers. And, if all |65 things through generation in time have their perfection, the imperfect is not altogether contrary to universal nature.
SECTION XXVI.
But neither is the Evil in nature throughout, for if all the methods of nature are from universal nature, there is nothing contrary to it. But in each individual (nature) one thing will be according to nature, and another not according to nature. For one thing is contrary to nature in one, and another in another, and that which is according to nature to one, is to the other, contrary to nature. But malady of nature, that which is the contrary to nature, is the deprivation of things of nature. So that there is not an evil nature; but this is evil to nature, the inability to accomplish the things of one's proper nature.
SECTION XXVII.
But, neither is the Evil in bodies. For deformity and disease are a defect of form, and a deprivation of order. And this is not altogether an evil, but a less good; for if a dissolution of beauty and form and order become complete, the body itself will be gone. But that the body is not cause of baseness to the soul is evident, from the fact that baseness continues to coexist even without a body, as in demons. For this is evil to minds and souls and bodies, (viz.) the weakness and declension from the habitude of their own proper goods. |66
SECTION XXVIII.
But neither (a thing which they say over and over again) is the evil in matter, so far as it is matter. For even it participates in ornament and beauty and form. But if matter, being without these, by itself is without quality and without form, how does matter produce anything----matter, which, by itself, is impassive? Besides how is matter an evil? for, if it does not exist in any way whatever, it is neither good nor evil but if it is any how existing, and all things existing are from the Good, even it would be from the Good; and either the Good is productive of the Evil, or the Evil, as being from the Good, is good; or the Evil is capable of producing the Good; or even the Good, as from the Evil, is evil; or further, there are two first principles, and these suspended from another one head. And, if they say that matter is necessary, for a completion of the whole Cosmos, how is matter an evil? For the Evil is one thing, and the necessary 30 is another. But, how does He, Who is Good, bring anything to birth from the Evil? or, how is that, which needs the Good, evil? For the Evil shuns the nature of the Good. And how does matter, being evil, generate and nourish nature? For the Evil, quâ evil, neither generates, nor nourishes, nor solely produces, nor preserves anything.
But, if they should say, that it does not make baseness in souls, but that they are dragged to it, how will this be true? for many of them look towards the |67 good; and yet how did this take place, when matter was dragging them entirely to the Evil? So that the Evil in souls is not from matter, but from a disordered and discordant movement. But, if they say this further, that they invariably follow matter, and unstable matter is necessary for those who are unable to stand firmly by themselves, how is the Evil necessary, or the necessary an evil?
SECTION XXIX.
But neither is it this which we affirm----the "privation fights against the Good by its own power 31 "; for the complete privation is altogether powerless, and the partial has the power, not in respect of privation, but in so far as it is not a complete privation. For, whilst privation of good is partial, it is not, as yet, an evil, and when, it has become an accomplished fact, the nature of the evil has departed also.
SECTION XXX.
But, to speak briefly, the Good is from the one and the whole Cause, but the Evil is from many and partial defects. Almighty God knows the Evil qua good; and, with Him, the causes of the evils are powers producing good 32. But, if the Evil is eternal, and creates, and has power, and is, and does, whence do these come to it? Is it either from the Good, or by the Good from the Evil, or by both from another cause? Everything that is according to nature comes into being from a |68 defined cause. And if the Evil is without cause, and undefined, it is not according to nature. For there is not in nature what is contrary to nature; nor is there any raison d'etre for want of art in art. Is then the soul cause of things evil, as fire of burning, and does it fill everything that it happens to touch with baseness? Or, is the nature of the soul then good, but, by its energies, exists sometimes in one condition, and sometimes in another? If indeed by nature, even its existence is an evil, and whence then does it derive its existence? Or, is it from the good Cause creative of the whole universe? But, if from this, how is it essentially evil? For good are all things born of this. But if by energies, neither is this invariable, and if not, whence are the virtues? Since it (the soul) comes into being without even seeming good. It remains then that the Evil is a weakness and a falling short of the Good.
SECTION XXXI.
The Cause of things good is One. If the Evil is contrary to the Good, the many causes of the Evil, certainly those productive of things evil, are not principles and powers, but want of power, and want of strength, and a mixing of things dissimilar without proportion. Neither are things evil unmoved, and always in the same condition, but endless and undefined, and borne along in different things, and those endless. The Good will be beginning and end of all, even things evil, for, for the sake of the Good, are all things, both those that are good, and |69 those that are contrary. For we do even these as desiring the Good (for no one does what he does with a view to the Evil), wherefore the Evil has not a subsistence, but a parasitical subsistence, coming into being for the sake of the Good, and not of itself.
SECTION XXXII.
It is to be laid down that being belongs to the Evil as an accident and by reason of something else, and not from its own origin, and thus that that which comes into being appears to be right, because it comes into being for the sake of the Good, but that in reality it is not right for the reason that we think that which is not good to be good. The desired is shewn to be one thing, and that which comes to pass is another. The Evil, then, is beside the path, and beside the mark, and beside nature, and beside cause, and beside beginning, and beside end, and beside limit, and beside intention, and beside purpose. The Evil then is privation and failure, and want of strength, and want of proportion, and want of attainment, and want of purpose; and without beauty, and without life, and without mind, and without reason, and without completeness, and without stability, and without cause, and without limit, and without production; and inactive, and without result, and disordered, and dissimilar, and limitless, and dark, and unessential, and being itself nothing in any manner of way whatever. How, in short, can evil do anything by its mixture with the Good? For that which is altogether without participation |70 in the Good, neither is anything, nor is capable of anything. For, if the Good is both an actual thing and an object of desire, and powerful and effective, how will the contrary to the Good,----that which has been deprived of essence, and intention, and power, and energy,----be capable of anything? Not all things are evil to all, nor the same things evil in every respect. To a demon, evil is to be contrary to the good-like mind----to a soul, to be contrary to reason----to a body, to be contrary to nature.
SECTION XXXIII.
How, in short, are there evils when there is a Providence? The Evil, qua evil, is not, neither as an actual thing nor as in things existing. And no single thing is without a Providence. For neither is the Evil an actual thing existing unmixed with the Good. And, if no single thing is without participation in the Good, but the lack of the Good is an evil, and no existing thing is deprived absolutely of the Good, the Divine Providence is in all existing things, and no single thing is without Providence. But Providence, as befits Its goodness, uses even evils which happen for the benefit, either individual or general, of themselves or others, and suitably provides for each being. Wherefore we will not admit the vain statement of the multitude, who say that Providence ought to lead us to virtue, even against our will. For to destroy nature is not a function of Providence. Hence, as Providence is conservative of the nature of each, it provides for |71 the free, as free; and for the whole, and individuals, according to the wants of all and each, as far as the nature of those provided for admits the providential benefits of its universal and manifold Providence, distributed 'proportionably to each.
SECTION XXXIV.
The Evil, then, is not an actual thing, nor is the Evil in things existing. For the Evil, qua evil, is nowhere, and the fact that evil comes into being is not in consequence of power, but by reason of weakness. And, as for the demons, what they are is both from the Good, and good. But their evil is from the declension from their own proper goods, and a change----the weakness, as regards their identity and condition, of the angelic perfection befitting them. And they aspire to the Good, in so far as they aspire to be and to live and to think. And in so far as they do not aspire to the Good, they aspire to the non-existent; and this is not aspiration, but a missing of the true aspiration.
SECTION XXXV.
Now the Oracles call conscious transgressors those who are thoroughly weak as regards the ever memorable knowledge or the practise of the Good, and who, knowing the will, do not perform it,----those who are hearers indeed, but are weak concerning the faith, or the energy of the Good. And for some, it is against their will to understand to do good, by reason of the deviation or weakness of the will. |72 And in short, the Evil (as we have often said) is want of strength and want of power, and defect, either of the knowledge, or the never to be forgotten knowledge, or of the faith, or of the aspiration, or of the energy of the Good. Yet, some one may say, the weakness is not punishable, but on the contrary is pardonable. Now, if the power were not granted, the statement might hold good; but, if power comes from the Good, Who giveth, according to the Oracles, the things suitable to all absolutely, the failure and deviation, and departure and declension of the possession from the Good of our own proper goods is not praiseworthy. But let these things suffice to have been sufficiently said according to our ability in our writings "Concerning just and Divine chastisement" throughout which sacred treatise the infallibility of the Oracles has cast aside those sophistical statements as senseless words, speaking injustice and falsehood against Almighty God. But now, according to our ability, the Good has been sufficiently praised, as really lovable,----as beginning and end of all----as embracing things existing----as giving form to things not existing----as Cause of all good things----as guiltless of things evil----as Providence and Goodness complete----and soaring above things that are and things that are not----and turning to good things evil, and the privation of Itself----as by all desired, and loved, and esteemed, and whatever else, the true statement, as I deem, has demonstrated in the preceding. |73
CAPUT V.
Concerning Being----in which also concerning Exemplars.
SECTION I.
LET us now then pass to the name "Being"----given in the Oracles as veritably that of Him, Who veritably is. But we will recall to your remembrance this much, that the purpose of our treatise is not to make known the superessential Essence----qua superessential----(for this is inexpressible, and unknowable, and altogether unrevealed, and surpassing the union itself), but to celebrate the progression of the supremely Divine Source of Essence, which gives essence to all things being. For the Divine Name of the Good, as making known the whole progressions of the Cause of all, is extended, both to things being, and things not being, and is above things being, and things not being. But the Name of Being is extended to all things being, and is above things being;----and the Name of Life is extended to all things living, and is above things living; and the Name of Wisdom is extended to all the intellectual and rational and sensible, and is above all these.
SECTION II.
The treatise, then, seeks to celebrate these, the Names of God, which set forth His Providence. For it does not profess to express the very super-essential Goodness, and Essence, and Life, and |74 Wisdom, of the very superessential Deity, Which is seated above all Goodness, and Deity, and Essence, and Wisdom, and Life,----in secret places, as the Oracles affirm. But it celebrates the beneficial Providence, which has been set forth as preeminently Goodness and Cause of all good things, and as Being, and Life, and Wisdom,----the Cause essentiating and vivifying, and wise-making, of those who partake of essence, and life, and mind, and reason, and sense. But it does not affirm that the Good is one thing, and the Being another; and that Life is other than Wisdom; nor that the Causes are many, and that some deities produce one thing and others another, as superior and inferior; but that the whole good progressions and the Names of God, celebrated by us, are of one God; and that the one epithet makes known the complete Providence of the one God, but that the others are indicative of His more general and more particular providences.
SECTION III.
Yet, some one might say, for what reason do we affirm that Life is superior to Being, and Wisdom to Life? Things with life no doubt are above things that merely exist----things sensible above those which merely live,----and things rational above these,----and the Minds 33 above the rational, and are around God, and are more near to Him. Yet, things which partake of greater gifts from God, must needs be |75 better and superior to the rest. But if any one assumed the intellectual to be without being, and without life, the statement might hold good. But if the Divine Minds are both above all the rest of beings, and live above the other living beings, and think and know, above sensible perception and reason, and, beyond all the other existing beings, aspire to, and participate in, the Beautiful and Good, they are more around the Good, participating in It more abundantly, and having received larger and greater gifts from It. As also, the rational creatures excel those of sensible perception, by their superiority in the abundance of reason, and these, by their sensible perception, and others, by their life. And this, as I think, is true, that the things which participate more in the One and boundless-giving God, are more near to Him, and more divine, than those who come behind them (in gifts).
SECTION IV.
Now, since we are speaking of these things, come then, and let us praise the Good, as veritably Being, and giving essence to all things that be. He, Who is, is superessential, sustaining Cause of the whole potential Being, and Creator of being, existence, subsistence, essence, nature; Source and Measure of ages, and Framer of times, and Age of things that be, Time of things coming into being, Being of things howsoever being, Birth of things howsoever born. From Him, Who is, is age, and essence, and being, and time, and birth, and thing born; the realities |76 in things that be, and things howsoever existing and subsisting. For Almighty God is not relatively a Being, but absolutely and unboundedly, having comprehended and anticipated the whole Being in Himself. Wherefore, He is also called King of the ages, since the whole being both is, and is sustained, in Him and around Him. And He neither was, nor will be, nor became, nor becomes, nor will become----yea rather, neither is. But He is the Being to things that be, and not things that be only, but the very being of things that be, absolutely from before the ages. For He is the Age of ages----the Existing before the ages.
SECTION V.
Summing up, then, let us say, that the being to all beings and to the ages, is from the Preexisting. And every age and time is from Him. And of every age and time, and of everything, howsoever existing, the Pre-existing is Source and Cause. And all things participate in Him, and from no single existing thing does He stand aloof. And He is before all things, and all things in Him consist. And absolutely, if anything is, in any way whatsoever, it both is, and is contemplated, and is preserved in the Pre-existing. And, before all the other participations in Him, the being is pre-supposed. And self-existent Being has precedence of the being self-existent Life; and the being self-existent Wisdom; and the being self-existent Divine Likeness; and the other beings, in whatever gifts |77 participating, before all these participate in being; yea, rather, all self-existent things, of which existing things participate, participate in the self-existent Being. And there is nothing existent, of which the self-existent Being is not essence and age. Naturally, then, more chiefly than all the rest, Almighty God is celebrated as Being, from the prior of His other gifts; for pre-possessing even pre-existence, and super-existence, and super-possessing being, He pre-established all being, I mean self-existent being; and subjected everything, howsoever existing, to Being Itself. And then, all the sources of beings, as participating in being, both are, and are sources, and first are, and then are sources. And, if you wish to say, that the self-existent Life is source of living things, as living; and the self-existent Similitude, of things similar as similar; and the self-existent Union, of things united, as united; and the self-existent Order, of things ordered, as ordered and of the rest, as many as, by participating in this or that, or both, or many, are this or that, or both, or many, you will find the self-existent participations themselves, first participating in being, and by their being, first remaining;----then being sources of this or that, and by their participating in being, both being, and being participated. But, if these are by their participation of being, much more the things participating in them.
SECTION VI.
The self-existent Super-goodness then, as projecting the first gift of self-existent being, is |78 celebrated by the elder and first of the participations; and being itself is from It, and in It; as also the sources of things being, and all the things that be, and the things howsoever sustained by being, and that irresistibly, and comprehensively and uniformly. For even in a monad, every number preexists in the form of a unit, and the monad holds every number in itself singly. And every number is united in the monad, but so far as it advances from the monad, so far it is distributed and multiplied. And in a centre, all the lines 34 of the circle coexist within one union, and the point holds all the straight lines in itself, uniformly united, both to each other, and to the one source from which they proceeded, and in the centre itself they are completely united; but standing slightly distant from it, they are slightly separated; but when more apart, more so. And in one word, the nearer they are to the centre, the more they are united to it and to each other? and the more they stand apart from it, the more they stand apart from each other.
SECTION VII.
But all the proportions of nature individually are comprehended in the whole nature of the whole, within one unconfused union; and in the soul, the powers of each several part are provident of the whole body in a uniform fashion. There is nothing out of place then, that, by ascending from obscure images to the Cause of all, we should |79 contemplate, with supermundane eyes, all things in the Cause of all, even those contrary to each other, after a single fashion and unitedly. For It is Source of things existing, from which are both being itself, and all things however being; every source, every term, every life, every immortality, every wisdom, every order, every harmony, every power, every protection, every stability, every endurance, every conception, every word, every sensible perception, every habit, every standing, every movement, every union, every mingling, every friendship, every agreement, every difference, every limit, and whatever other things existing by being, characterize all things being.
SECTION VIII.
And from the same Cause of all, are the higher and lower intellectual 35 essences of the godlike angels; and those of the souls; and the natures of the whole Cosmos; all things whatsoever said to be either in others, or by reflection. Yea, even the all holy and most honoured Powers veritably being, and established, as it were, in the vestibule of the superessential Triad, are from It, and in It; and have the being and the godlike being; and after them, as regards Angels, the subordinate, sub-ordinately, and the remotest, most remotely, but as regards ourselves, supermundanely. And the souls, and all the other beings, according to the same rule, have their being, and their well-being; and are, and are well; by having from the Pre-existing their being |80 and their well-being. And in It are both being and well-being; and from It, beginning; and in It, guarded; and to It, terminated. And the prerogatives of being he distributes to the superior beings, which the Oracles call even eternal. But being itself never at any time fails all existing beings. And even self-existent being is from the Pre-existent, and of Him is being, and He is not of being;----and in Him is being, and He is not in being; and being possesses Him, and not He possesses being; and He is both age and beginning, and measure of being; being essentiating Source, and Middle and End, of pre-essence, and being and age and all things. And for this reason, by the Oracles, the veritably Pre-existing is represented under many forms, according to every conception of beings, and the "Was" and the "Is," and the "Will be," and the "Became," and the "Becomes," and the "Will become," are properly sung respecting Him. For all these, to those who think worthily of God, signify by every conception His being superessenlially, and Cause in every way of things existing. For He is not this, but not that; nor is He in some way, but not in some other; but He is all things, as Cause of all, and containing and pre-holding in Himself all governments, all controls, of all existing things. And He is above all, as superessentially super-being before all. Wherefore, also, all things are predicated of Him and together, and He is none of them all; of every shape, of every kind, without form, without beauty, anticipating in Himself, beginnings and middles, |81 and ends of things existing, irresistibly and preeminently; and shedding forth without flaw, (the light of) being to all, as beseems a One and super-united Cause. For, if our sun, at the same time that he is one and sheds a uniform light, renews the essences and qualities of sensible creatures, although they are many and various, and nourishes and guards, and perfects and distinguishes, and unites, and fosters, and makes to be productive, and increases, and transforms, and establishes, and makes to grow, and awakens, and gives life to all; and each of the whole, in a manner appropriate to itself, participates in the same and one sun; and the one sun anticipated in himself, uniformly, the causes of the many participants; much more with regard to the Cause of it and of all things, ought we to concede that It first presides over, as beseems One superessential Oneness, all the exemplars, of things existing; since He produces even essences, as beseems the egression from essence. But, we affirm that the exemplars are the methods in God, giving essence to things that be, and pre-existing uniformly, which theology calls predeterminations, and Divine and good wills, which define and produce things existing; according to which (predeterminations) the Superessential both predetermined and brought into existence everything that exists.
SECTION IX.
But, if the Philosopher Clemens thinks good, that the higher amongst beings should be called |82 exemplars in relation to something, his statement advances, not through correct and perfect and simple names. But, when we have conceded even this, to be correctly said, we must call to mind the Word of God, which says, "I have not shewn thee these things for the purpose of going after them, but that through the proportionate knowledge of these we may be led up to the Cause of all, as we are capable."
We must attribute, then, all existing things to It, as beseems One Union pre-eminent above all, since by starting from Being, the essentiating Progression and Goodness, both penetrating all, and filling all things with Its own being, and rejoicing over all things being, pre-holds all things in Itself, rejecting all duplicity by an one superfluity of simplicity. But It grasps all things in the same way, as beseems its super-simplified Infinity, and is participated in by all uniquely, even as a voice, whilst being one and the same, is participated in by many ears as one.
SECTION X.
The Pre-existing then is beginning and end of existing things; beginning indeed as Cause, and end as for whom; and term of all, and infinitude of all infinitude; and term, especially, of things that are, as it were, opposed. For in One, as we have often said, He both pre-holds and sustains all existing things, being present to all, and everywhere, both as regards the one, and the same, and as the every same, and issuing forth to all, and abiding in Himself; and standing and moving, and neither standing nor |83 moving; neither having beginning, or middle, or end; neither in any of the existing things, nor being any of the existing things. And neither does any of the things eternally existing, or those temporarily subsisting, entirely come up to Him, but He towers above time and eternity, and all things eternal and temporal. Wherefore also, He is Eternity itself, and things existing, and the measures of things existing, and things measured through Him and from Him. But let us speak of these things more opportunely on another occasion.
CAPUT VI.
Concerning Life.
SECTION I.
Now let us sing the Eternal Life, from which comes the self-existing Life, and every life; and from which, to all things however partaking of life, is distributed the power to live appropriately to each. Certainly the life; and the immortality of the immortal Angels, and the very indestructibility of the angelic perpetual motion, both is, and is sustained from It, and by reason of It. Wherefore, they are also called living always and immortal; and again, not immortal, because not from themselves have they their immortality and eternal life; but from the vivifying Cause forming and sustaining all life; and as we said of Him, Who is, that He is Age even of the self-existing Being, so also here again (we say) that the Divine Life, which is above life, is |84 life-giving and sustaining even of the self-existing Life; and every life and life-giving movement is from the Life which is above every life, and all source of all life. From It, even the souls have their indestructibility, and all living creatures, and plants in their most remote echo of life, have their power to live. And when It is "taken away," according to the Divine saying, all life fails, and to It even things that have failed, through their inability to participate in It, when again returning, again become living creatures.
SECTION II.
And It gives chiefly to the self-existing Life to be a life, and to every life, and to the individual life, that each should be conformable to that which nature intended it to be. And to the supercelestial lives It gives the immaterial and godlike, and unchangeable immortality; and the unswerving and undeviating perpetual movement; whilst extending Itself through excess of goodness, even to the life of demons 36. For, neither has this its being from another cause, but from It life has both its being and its continuance. Further, It bequeaths even to men the angelic life, so far as is possible to compound being, and through an overflowing love towards man turns, and calls us back to Itself, even when we are departing from It; and, what is still more Divine, promises to transfer even our whole selves (I mean souls, and bodies their yoke-fellows), to a perfect life |85 and immortality;----a fact which perhaps seems to Antiquity contrary to nature, but to me, and to thee, and to the truth, both Divine and above nature. But, by "above nature," I understand our visible nature, not the all-powerful nature of the Divine Life. For, to this, as being nature of all the living creatures, and especially the more Divine, no life is against nature, or above nature. So that the con- tradictory statements of Simon's folly on this matter, let them be far repelled from a Divine assembly, and from thy reverent soul. For this escaped him, as I imagine, whilst thinking to be wise, that the right-thinking man ought not to use the visible reason of the sensible perception, as an ally against the invisible Cause of all; and this must be our reply to him, that his statement is against nature, for to It nothing is contrary.
SECTION III.
From It, both all living creatures and plants draw their life and nourishment; and whether you speak of intellectual, or rational, or sensible, or nourishing, or growing, or whatever, life, or source of life, or essence of life, from It, which is above every life, it both lives and thrives; and in It, as Cause, uniformly pre-existed. For the super-living, and life-springing Life is Cause both of all life, and is generative, and completive, and dividing of life, and is to be celebrated from every life, in consequence of its numerous generation of all lives, as Manifold, and contemplated, and sung by every life; and as |86 without need, yea, rather, superfull of life, the Self-living, and above every life, causing to live and super-living, or in whatever way one might extol the life which is unutterable by human speech.
CAPUT VII.
Concerning Wisdom, Mind, Reason, Truth, faith.
SECTION I.
COME then, if you please, let us sing the good and eternal Life, both as wise, and as wisdom's self; yea, rather, as sustaining all wisdom, and being superior to all wisdom and understanding. For, not only is Almighty God superfull of wisdom, and of His understanding there is no number, but He is fixed above all reason and mind and wisdom. And, when the truly divine man, the common sun of us, and of our leader, had thought this out, in a sense above nature, he says, "the foolishness of God is wiser than men," (meaning) not only that all human intelligence is a sort of error, when tried by the stability and durability of the Divine and most perfect conceptions, but that it is even usual with the theologians to deny, with respect to God, things of privation, in an opposite sense. Thus, the Oracles declare, the All-luminous Light, invisible, and Him, Who is often sung, and of many names, to be unutterable and without name, and Him, Who is present to all, and is found of all, to be incomprehensible and past finding out. In this very way, even now, the |87 Divine Apostle is said to have celebrated as "foolishness of God," that which appears unexpected and absurd in it, (but) which leads to the truth which is unutterable and before all reason. But, as I elsewhere said, by taking the things above us, in a sense familiar to ourselves, and by being entangled by what is congenial to sensible perceptions, and by comparing things Divine with our own conditions, we are led astray through following the Divine and mystical reason after a mere appearance. We ought to know that our mind has the power for thought, through which it views things intellectual, but that the union through which it is brought into contact with things beyond itself surpasses the nature of the mind. We must then contemplate things Divine, after this Union, not after ourselves, but by our whole selves, standing out of our whole selves, and becoming wholly of God. For it is better to be of God, and not of ourselves. For thus things Divine will, be given to those who become dear to God. Celebrating then, in a superlative sense, this, the irrational and mindless and foolish Wisdom, we affirm that It is Cause of all mind and reason, and all wisdom and understanding; and of It is every counsel, and from It every knowledge and understanding; and in It all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden. For, agreeably to the things already spoken, the super-wise, and all-wise Cause is a mainstay 37 even of the self-existing Wisdom, both the universal and the individual. |88
SECTION II.
From It the contemplated and contemplating powers of the angelic Minds have their simple and blessed conceptions; collecting their divine knowledge, not in portions, or from portions, or sensible perceptions, or detailed reasonings, or arguing from something common to these things, but purified from everything material and multitudinous, they contemplate the conceptions of Divine things intuitively, immaterially and uniformly, and they have their intellectual power and energy re-splendent with the unmixed and undefiled purity, and see at a glance the Divine conceptions indi-visibly and immaterially, and are by the Godlike One moulded, as attainable by reason of the Divine Wisdom, to the Divine and Super-wise Mind and Reason. And souls have their reasoning power, investigating the truth of things by detailed steps and rotation, and through their divided and manifold variety falling short of the single minds, but, by the collection of many towards the One, deemed worthy, even of conceptions equal to the angels, so far as is proper and attainable to souls. But, even as regards the sensible perceptions themselves, one would not miss the mark, if one called them an echo of wisdom. Yet, even the mind of demons, qua mind, is from It; but so far as a mind is irrational, not knowing, and not wishing to attain what it aspires to, we must call it more properly a declension from wisdom. But, since the Divine Wisdom is called source, and cause, and mainstay, |89 and completion and guard, and term of wisdom itself, and of every kind, and of every mind and reason, and every sensible perception, how then is Almighty God Himself, the super-wise, celebrated as Mind and Reason and Knowledge? For, how will He conceive any of the objects of intelligence, seeing He has not intellectual operations? or how will He know the objects of sense, seeing He is fixed above all sensible perception? Yet the Oracles affirm that He knoweth all things, and that nothing escapes the Divine Knowledge. But, as I have been accustomed to say many times before, we must contemplate things Divine, in a manner becoming God. For the mindless, and the insensible, we must attribute to God, by excess----not by defect, just as we attribute the irrational to Him Who is above reason; and imperfection, to the Super-perfect, and Pre-perfect; and the impalpable, and invisible gloom, to the light which is inaccessible on account of excess of the visible light. So the Divine Mind comprehends all things, by His knowledge surpassing all, having anticipated within Himself the knowledge of all, as beseems the Cause of all; before angels came to being, knowing and producing angels; and knowing all the rest from within; and, so to speak, from the Source Itself, and by bringing into being. And, this, I think, the sacred text teaches, when it says, "He, knowing all things, before their birth." For, not as learning existing things from existing things, does the Divine Mind know, but from Itself, and in Itself, as Cause, it pre-holds and pre-comprehends |90 the notion and knowledge, and essence of all things; not approaching each several thing according to its kind, but knowing and containing all things, within one grasp of the Cause; just as the light, as cause, presupposes in itself the notion of darkness, not knowing the darkness otherwise than from the light. The Divine Wisdom then, by knowing Itself, will know all things; things material, immaterially, and things divisible, indivisibly, and things many, uniformly; both knowing and producing all. things by Itself, the One. For even, if as becomes one Cause, Almighty God distributes being to all things that be, as beseems the self-same, unique Cause, He will know all things, as being from Himself, and pre-established in Himself, and not from things that be will He receive the knowledge of them; but even to each of them, He will be provider of the knowledge of themselves, and of the mutual knowledge of each other. Almighty God, then, has not one knowledge, that of Himself, peculiar to Himself, and another, which embraces in common all things existing; for the very Cause of all things, by knowing Itself, will hardly, I presume, be ignorant of the things from Itself, and of which It is Cause. In this way then, Almighty God knows existing things, not by a knowledge of things existing, but by that of Himself. For the Oracles affirm, that the angels also know things on the earth, not as knowing them by sensible perceptions, although objects of sensible perception, but by a proper power and nature of the Godlike Mind. |91
SECTION III.
In addition to these things, we must examine how we know God, Who is neither an object of intellectual nor of sensible perception, nor is absolutely anything of things existing. Never, then, is it true to say, that we know God; not from His own nature (for that is unknown, and surpasses all reason and mind), but, from the ordering of all existing things, as projected from Himself, and containing a sort of images and similitudes of His Divine exemplars, we ascend, as far as we have power, to that which is beyond all, by method and order in the abstraction and pre-eminence of all, and in the Cause of all. Wherefore, Almighty God is known even in all, and apart from all. And through knowledge, Almighty God is known, and through agnosia. And there is, of Him, both conception, and expression, and science, and contact, and sensible perception, and opinion, and imagination, and name, and all the rest. And He is neither conceived, nor expressed, nor named. And He is not any of existing things, nor is He known in any one of existing things. And He is all in all, and nothing in none. And He is known to all, from all, and to none from none. For, we both say these things correctly concerning God, and He is celebrated from all existing things, according to the analogy of all things, of which He is Cause. And there is, further, the most Divine Knowledge of Almighty God, which is known, through not knowing (agnosia) during the union above mind; when the mind, having stood apart from all existing |92 things, then having dismissed also itself, has been made one with the super-luminous rays, thence and there being illuminated by the unsearchable depth of wisdom. Yet, even from all things, as I said, we may know It, for It is, according to the sacred text, the Cause formative of all, and ever harmonizing all, and (Cause) of the indissoluble adaptation and order of all, and ever uniting 38 the ends of the former to the beginnings of those that follow, and beautifying the one symphony and harmony of the whole.
SECTION IV.
But Almighty God is celebrated in the holy Oracles as "Logos"; not only because He is provider of reason and mind and wisdom, but because He anticipated the causes of all, solitarily in Himself, and because He passes through all, as the Oracles say, even to the end of all things; and even more than these, because the Divine Word surpasses every simplicity, and is set free from all, as the Superessential. This "Logos "is the simple and really existing truth, around which, as a pure and unerring knowledge of the whole, the Divine Faith is----the enduring foundation of the believers----which establishes them in the truth, and the truth in them, by an unchangeable identity, they having the pure knowledge of the truth of the things believed. For, if knowledge unites the knowing and the known, but ignorance is ever a cause to the ignorant person of |93 change, and of separation from himself, nothing will move one who has believed in the truth, according to the sacred Logos, from true Faith's Sanctuary upon which he will have the steadfastness of his unmoved, unchangeable identity. For, well does he know, who has been united to the Truth, that it is well with him although the multitude may admonish him as "wandering." For it probably escapes them, that he is wandering from error to the truth, through the veritable faith. But, he truly knows himself, not, as they say, mad, but as liberated from the unstable and variable course around the manifold variety of error, through the simple, and ever the same, and similar truth. Thus then the early leaders 39 of our Divine Theosophy are dying every day, on behalf of truth, testifying as is natural, both by every word and deed, to the one knowledge of the truth of the Christians, that it is of all, both more simple and more Divine, yea rather, that it is the sole true and one and simple knowledge of God.
CAPUT VIII.
Concerning power, justice, preservation, redemption, in which also concerning inequality.
SECTION I.
BUT since the theologians sing the Divine truth fulness and super-wise wisdom, both as power and |94 as justice, and designate It preservation and redemption, come then, let us unfold these Divine Names also, as best we can. Now, that the Godhead is pre-eminent above, and surpasses every power, howsoever being and conceived, I do not suppose any of those nourished in the Divine Oracles does not know. For on many occasions the Word of God attributes the Lordship to It, even when distinguishing It from the supercelestial powers themselves. How then do the theologians sing it also as a Power, which is pre-eminent above every power? or how ought we to understand the name of power as applied to It?
SECTION II.
We say, then, that Almighty God is Power, as pre-having, and super-having, every power in Himself, and as Author of every power, and producing everything as beseems a Power inflexible and unencom-passed, and as being Author of the very existence of power, either the universal or particular, and as boundless in power, not only by the production of all power, but by being above all, even the self. existent Power, and by His superior power, and by His bringing into existence, ad infinitum, endless powers other than the existing powers; and by the fact that the endless powers, even when brought into existence without end, are not able to blunt the super-endless production of His power-making power; and by the unutterable and unknown, and inconceivable nature of His all-surpassing power, which, |95 through abundance of the powerful, gives power even to weakness, and holds together and preserves the remotest of its echoes; as also we may see even with regard to the powerful insensible perception, that the super-brilliant lights reach even to obscure visions, and they say, that the loud sounds enter even into ears which are not very well adapted to the reception of sounds. For that which does not hear at all is not hearing; and that which does not see at all is not sight.
SECTION III.
The distribution, then, of boundless power, from Almighty God, passes to all beings, and there is no single being which is utterly deprived of the possession of some power; but it has either intellectual, or rational, or sensible, or vital, or essential power; yea even, if one may say so, self-existent being has power to be from the superessential Power.
SECTION IV.
From It, are the godlike powers of the angelic ranks; from It, they have their immutability, and all their intellectual and immortal perpetual movements; and their equilibrium itself, and their undiminishable aspiration after good, they have received from the Power boundless in goodness; since It commits to them the power to be, and to be such, and to aspire always to be, and the power itself to aspire to have the power always. |96
SECTION V.
But the gifts of the unfailing Power pass on, both to men and living creatures, and plants, and the entire nature of the universe; and It empowers things united for their mutual friendship and communion, and things divided for their being each within their own sphere and limit, without confusion, and without mingling; and preserves the order and good relations of the whole, for their own proper good, and guards the undying lives of the individual angels inviolate; and the heavenly and the life-giving and astral bodies 40 and orders without change: and makes the period of time possible to be; and disperses the revolutions of time by their progressions, and collects them together by their returns; and makes the powers of fire unquenchable, and the rills of water unfailing; and sets bounds to the aerial current, and establishes the earth upon nothing; and guards its life-giving throes from perishing; and preserves the mutual harmony and mingling of the elements without confusion, and without division; and holds together the bond of soul and body; and arouses the nourishing and growing powers of plants; and sustains the essential powers of the whole; and secures the continuance of the universe without dissolution, and bequeaths the deification Itself, by furnishing a power for this to those who are being deified. And in a word, there is absolutely no single thing which is deprived of |97 the overruling surety and embrace of the Divine Power. For that which absolutely has no power, neither is, nor is anything, nor is there any sort of position of it whatever.
SECTION VI.
Yet Elymas, the Magician, says, "if Almighty God is All-powerful, how is He said by your theologian, not to be able to do some thing "? But he calumniates the Divine Paul, who said, "that Almighty God is not able to deny Himself." Now in advancing this, I very much fear lest I should incur ridicule for folly, as undertaking to pull down frail houses, built upon the sand by little boys at play; and as being eager to aim at the theological intelligence of this, as if it were some inaccessible mark. For, the denial of Himself, is a falling from truth, but the truth is an existent, and the falling from the truth is a falling from the existent. If, then, the truth is an existent, and the denial of the truth a falling from the existent, Almighty God cannot fall from the existent, and non-existence is not; as any one might say, the powerless is not powerful; and ignorance, by privation, does not know. The wise man, not having understood this, imitates those inexperienced wrestlers, who, very often, by assuming that their adversaries are weak, according to their own opinion, and manfully making a show of fight with them, when absent, and courageously beating the air with empty blows, think that they have overcome their antagonists, and proclaim themselves |98 victors (though) not yet having experienced their rivals' strength. But we, conjecturing the meaning of the Theologian to the best of our ability, celebrate the Super-powerful God, as Omnipotent, as blessed, and only Lord; as reigning in the kingdom of Eter-. nity itself; as in no respect fallen from things existing;----but rather, as both super-having and pre-having all existing things, as beseems Power superessential; and as having bequeathed to all things being, the power to be, and this their being in an ungrudging stream, as beseems abundance of surpassing power.
SECTION VII.
But further, Almighty God is celebrated as justice, as distributing things suitable to all, both due measure, and beauty, and good order, and arrangement, and marking out all distributions and orders for each, according to that which truly is the most just limit, and as being Cause for all of the free action of each. For the Divine Justice arranges and disposes all things, and preserving all things unmingled and unconfused, from all, gives to all existing beings things convenient for each, according to the due falling to each existing thing. And, if we speak correctly, all those who abuse the Divine Justice, unconsciously convict themselves of a manifest injustice. For they say, that immortality ought to be in mortals, and perfection in the imperfect, and imposed necessity in the free, and |99 identity in the variable, and perfect power in the weak, and the temporal should be eternal, and things moveable by nature, unchangeable, and that temporary pleasures should be eternal; and in one word, they assign the properties of one thing to another. They ought to know that the Divine Justice in this respect is really a true justice, because it distributes to all the things proper to themselves, according to the fitness of each existing thing, and preserves the nature of each in its own order and capacity.
SECTION VIII.
But some one may say, it is not the mark of justice to leave pious men without assistance, when they are ground down by evil men. To which we must reply, that, if those whom you call pious do indeed love things on earth, which are zealously sought after by the earthly, they have altogether fallen from the Divine Love. And I do not know how they could be called pious, when they unjustly treat things truly loveable and divine, which do not at once surpass in influence in their estimation things undesirable and unloveable. But, if they love the realities, they who desire certain things ought to rejoice when they attain the things desired. Are they not then nearer the angelic virtues, when, as far as possible, by aspiration after things Divine, they withdraw from the affection for earthly things, by being exercised very manfully to this, in their perils, on behalf of the beautiful? So that, it is true |100 to say, that this is rather a property of the Divine Justice----not to pamper and destroy the bravery of the best, by the gifts of earthly things, nor, if any one should attempt to do this, to leave them without assistance, but to establish them in the excellent and harsh condition, and to dispense to them, as being such, things meet for them.
SECTION IX.
This Divine Justice, then, is celebrated also even as preservation of the whole, as preserving and guarding the essence and order of each, distinct and pure from the rest; and as being genuine cause of each minding its own business in the whole. But, if any one should also celebrate this preservation, as rescuing savingly the whole from the worse, we will entirely accept this as the cantique of the manifold preservation, and we will deem him worthy to define this even as the principal preservation of the whole, which preserves all things in themselves, without change, undisturbed and unswaying to the worse; and guards all things without strife and without war, each being regulated by their own methods; and excludes all inequality and minding others' business, from the whole; and maintains the relations of each from falling to things contrary, and from migrating. And since, without missing the mark of the sacred theology, one might celebrate this preservation as redeeming all things existing, by the goodness which is preservative of all, from falling away from their own proper goods, so far |101 as the nature of each of those who are being preserved admits; wherefore also the Theologians name it redemption, both so far as it does not permit things really being to fall away to non-existence, and so far as, if anything should have been led astray to discord and disorder, and should suffer any diminution of the perfection of its own proper goods, even this it redeems from passion and listlessness and loss; supplying what is deficient, and paternally overlooking the slackness, and raising up from evil; yea, rather, establishing in the good, and filling -up the leaking good, and arranging and adorning its disorder and deformity, and making it complete, and liberating it from all its blemishes. But let this suffice concerning these matters, and concerning Justice, in accordance with which the equality of all is measured and defined, and every inequality, which arises from deprivation of the equality, in each thing severally, is excluded. For, if any one should interpret inequality as distinctions in the whole, of the whole, in relation to the whole, Justice guards even this, not permitting the whole, when they have become mingled throughout, to be thrown into confusion, but keeping all existing things within each particular kind, in which each was intended by nature, to be. |102
CAPUT IX.
Concerning great, small, same, different, similar, dissimilar, standing, movement, equality.
SECTION I.
BUT since even the great and the small are attributed to the Cause of all, arid the same, and the different, and the similar, and the dissimilar, and the standing, and the movement. Come! and let us gaze upon these images of the Divine Names, such as have been manifested to us. Almighty God, then, is celebrated in the Oracles as great, both in greatness and in a gentle breeze, which manifests the Divine littleness; and as the same, when the Oracles declare "thou art the same"; and as different, when He is depicted, by the same Oracles, as of many shapes and many forms; and as similar, as mainstay of things similar and similitude; and as dissimilar to all, as the like of whom there is not; and as standing, and unmoved, and seated for ever; and as moving, as going forth to all; and whatever other Divine Names, of the same force with these, are celebrated by the Oracles.
SECTION II.
Almighty God, then, is named great in reference -to His own peculiar greatness, which imparts itself to all things great; and overflows, and extends itself outside of all greatness; embracing every place, surpassing every number, going through every infinitude, both in reference to its super-fulness, and |103 mighty operation, and its fontal gifts, in so far as these, being participated by all in a stream of boundless gifts, are altogether undiminished, and have the same superfulness, and are not lessened by the impartations, but are even still more bubbling over. This Greatness then is infinite, and without measure and without number. And this is the preeminence as regards the absolute and surpassing flood of the incomprehensible greatness.
SECTION III.
But little, i.e. fine, is affirmed respecting Him,----that which leaves behind every mass and distance, and penetrates through all, without hindrance. Yet the little is Elemental 41 Cause of all, for nowhere will you find the idea of the little unparticipated. Thus then the little must be received as regards God as penetrating to all, and through all, without impediment; and operating, and piercing through, to "a dividing of soul and spirit, and joints and marrow"; and "discerning thoughts and intents of heart," yea rather----all things that be. For there is not a creature unmanifest in His sight. This littleness is without quality and without quantity, without restraint, without limit, without bound, comprehending all things, but itself incomprehensible.
SECTION IV.
But the same is superessentially everlasting, inconvertible, abiding in itself, always being in the same |104 condition and manner; present to all in the same manner, and itself by itself, upon itself, firmly and purely fixed in the most beautiful limits of the super-essential sameness, without changing, without falling, without swerving, unalterable, unmingled, immaterial, most simplex, self-sufficient, without increase, without diminution, unoriginated, not as not yet come into being, or unperfected, or not having become from this, or that, nor as being in no manner of way whatever, but as all unoriginated, and absolutely unoriginated, and ever being; and being self-complete, and being the same by itself, and differentiated by itself in one sole and same form; and shedding sameness from itself to all things adapted to participate in It; and assigning things different to those different; abundance and cause of identity, preholding identically in itself even things contrary, as beseems the One and unique Cause, surpassing the whole identity.
SECTION V.
But the different, since Almighty God is present to all providentially, and becomes all in all, for the sake of the preservation of all, resting upon Himself, and His own identity within Himself, standing, as beseems an energy, one and ceaseless, and imparting Himself with an unbending power, for deification of those turned to Him. And we must suppose that the difference of the manifold shapes of Almighty God, during the multiform visions, signifies that certain things are different from the phenomena |105 under which they appear. For, as when language depicts the soul itself, under a bodily form, and fashions bodily members around the memberless, we think differently of the members attributed to it, as befits the soul's memberless condition; and we call the mind head, and opinion neck,----as intermediate between rational and irrational----and anger, breast; and lust, belly; and the constitution, legs and feet; using the names of the members as symbols of the powers. Much more then, as respects Him, Who is beyond all, is it necessary to make clear the difference of forms and shapes by reverent and God-becoming, and mystic explanations. And if you wish to apply the threefold shapes of bodies to the impalpable and shapeless God, you must say, that the Progression of Almighty God, which spreads out to all things, is a Diyine extension; and length, the power extending itself over the whole; and depth, the hiddenness and imperceptiond incomprehensible to all creatures. But, that we may not forget ourselves, in our explanation, of the different shapes and forms, by confounding the incorporeal Divine Names with those giyen through symbols of objects of sense, we have for this reason spoken concerning these things in the Symbolic Theology. But now, let us suppose the Divine difference, as really not a sort of change from the superimmovable identity, but as the single multiplication of itself, and the uniform progressions of its fecundity to all. |106
SECTION VI.
But similar, if any one might speak of Almighty God as the same, as being wholly throughout, similar to Himself----abidingly and indivisibly; we must not despise the Divine Name of the Similar; but the Theologians affirm that the God above all, in His essential nature, is similar to none; but that He bequeaths a Divine similarity to those who turn to Him, Who is above every limit and expression, by imitation according to their capacity. And there is the power of the Divine similitude, which turns all created things to the Cause. These things, then, must be said to be similar to Almighty God, both after a Divine likeness and similitude. For, neither must we say that Almighty God is similar to them, because neither is a man like his own image. For, with regard to those of the same rank, it is possible that these should be similar to each other, and that the similarity corresponds to each, and that both are similar to each other, after a preceding appearance of like. But, with respect to the Cause and the things caused, we do not accept the correspondence. For, the being similar is bequeathed, not to these, or those, alone, but to all those who participate in similarity. Almighty God becomes Cause of their being similar, and is mainstay of the self-existing Similarity itself; and the similar in all is similar to a soft of footprint of the Divine Similarity and completes their Oneness. |107
SECTION VII.
And what must we say concerning this? For the Word of God Itself extols the fact that He is dissimilar, and of the same rank with none; as "different "even from everything, and, what is more paradoxical, says there is nothing that is similar to Him. Yet the expression is not contrary to the similarity towards Him, for the same things are both similar to God, and dissimilar----the former as regards the received imitation 42 of the inimitable, the latter as regards the dependence of the things caused upon the cause, and their being inferior in degrees, endless and incalculable.
SECTION VIII.
But what also do we say concerning the Divine standing, i.e. seat? What other than that Almighty God remains Himself, in Himself, and is abidingly fixed in unmoved identity, and is firmly established on high; and thâ't He acts according to the same conditions, and in reference to the same object, and in the same way; and that He exists altogether, as beseems the immutability from Himself; and as beseems the immovability Itself, entirely immovable, and that superessentially. For He is Cause of the standing and sitting of all, Who is above all sitting and standing, and in Him all things consist, being kept from falling out of the state of their own proper goods. |108
SECTION IX.
But what again, when the Theologians say, that the unmoved goes forth to all, and is moved? Must we not understand thjs in a sense befitting God? For we must reverently suppose that He is moved, not as beseems carriage, or change, or alteration, or turning, or local movement, or the straight, or the circular, or that from both (curvative), or the intellectual, or the spiritual, or the physical, but that Almighty God brings into being and sustains everything, and provides in every way for everything; and is present, to all, by the irresistible embrace of all, and by His providential progressions and operations to all existing things. But we must concede to our discourse, to celebrate in a sense becoming God, even movements of God, the immovable. And the straight must be considered (to be) the unswerving and the undeviating progression of the operation, and the production from Himself of the whole; and the curvative----r-the steady progression and the productive condition; and the circular the same, and the holding together the middle and extremities, which encompass and are encompassed,----and the turning to Him' of the things which proceeded from Him.
SECTION X.
But, if any one should take the Divine Name in the Oracles, of "the same," or that of "justice," in the sense of "the equal," we must say, that Almighty God is equal, not only as indivisible and unswerving, but also as going forth to all, and through all, |109 equally; and as foundation of the self-existent Equality, in conformity with which, He equally effects the same passage, through all things mutually, and the participation of those who receive equally, according to the aptitude of each; and the equal gift distributed to all, according to due; and according as He has anticipated pre-eminently and uniquely in Himself, every equality, intelligible, intelligent, rational, sensible, essential, physical, voluntary, as beseems the Power over all, which is productive of every equality.
CAPUT X,
Concerning Sovereign Lord, "Ancient of days" in which also, concerning Age and Time 43.
SECTION I.
THE time, then, is come for our discourse, to sing the God of many Names, as "Sovereign Lord," and as "Ancient of days." For He is called the former, by reason that He is an all-controlling basis, binding and embracing the whole, and establishing and supporting, and tightening, and completing the whole. Continuous in itself, and from itself, producing the whole, as it were from a Sovereign root, and turning to itself the whole, as to a sovereign parent stock, and holding them together as an all-embracing basis of all, securing all the things embraced, within one grasp superior to all, and not permitting them, when |110 fallen from itself to be destroyed, as moved from an all-perfect sanctuary. But the Godhead is called Sovereign, both as controlling and governing the members of His household, purely, and as being desired and beloved by all, and as placing upon all the voluntary yokes, and the sweet pangs of the Divine and Sovereign, and in dissolvable love of the Goodness itself,
SECTION II.
But Almighty God is celebrated as "Ancient of days" because He is of all things both Age and Time,----and before Days, and before Age and Time. And yet we must affirm that He is Time and Day, and appointed Time, and Age, in a sense befitting God, as being throughout every movement unchangeable and unmoved, and in His ever moving remaining in Himself, and as being Author of Age and Time and Days. Wherefore, in the sacred Divine manifestations of the mystic visions, He is represented as both old and young; the former indeed signifying the "Ancient" and being from the beginning, and the latter His never growing old; or both teaching that He advances through all things from beginning to end,----or as our Divine initiator says, "since each manifests the priority of God, the Elder having the first place in Time, but the Younger the priority in number; because the unit, and things near the unit, are nearer the beginning than numbers further advanced. |111
SECTION III.
But we must, as I think, see from the Oracles the nature of Time and Eternity, for they do not always (merely) call all the things absolutely unoriginated and really everlasting, eternal, but also things imperishable and immortal and unchangeable, ' and things which are in like fashion, as when they say, "be ye opened, eternal doors," and the like. And often they characterize the things the most ancient by the name of Eternity; and again they call the whole duration of our time Eternity, in so far as the ancient and unchangeable, and the measurement of existence throughout, is a characteristic of Eternity. But they call time that concerned in generation and decay and change, and sometimes the one, and sometimes the other. Wherefore also, the Word of God says that even we, who are bounded here by time, shall partake of Eternity, when we have reached the Eternity which is imperishable and ever the same. But sometimes eternity is celebrated in the Oracles, even as temporal, and time as eternal. But if we know them better and more accurately, things spiritual 44 are spoken of and denoted by Eternity, and things subject to generation by time. It is necessary then to suppose that things called eternal are not absolutely co-eternal with God, Who is before Eternity, but that following unswervingly the most august Oracles, we should understand things eternal and temporal according to the hopes recognized by |112 them, hut whatever participates partly in eternity and partly in time, as things midway between things spiritual and things being born. But Almighty God we ought to celebrate, both as eternity and time, as Author of every time an'd eternity, and "Ancient of days," as before time, and above time; and as changing appointed seasons and times; and again as being before âges, in so far as He is both before eternity and above eternity and His kingdom, a kingdom of all the Ages. Amen.
CAPUT XI.
Concerning Peace, and what is meant by the self-existent Being; what is the self-existent Life, and what the self-existent Power, and such like expressions.
SECTION I.
COME, then, let us extol the Peace Divine, and Source of conciliation, by hymns of peace! For this it is which unifies all, and engenders, and effects the agreement and fellowship of all. Wherefore, even all things aspire to it, which turns their divided multiplicity into the thorough Oneness, and unifies the tribal war of the whole into a homogeneous dwelling together, by the participation of the divine Peace. With regard, then, to the more reverend of the conciliating powers, these indeed are united to themselves and to each other, and to the one Source of Peace of the whole; and the things (that are) under them, these they unite also to themselves and |113 to each other, and to the One and all-perfect Source and Cause of the Peace of all, which, passing in-divisibly to the whole, limits and terminates and secures everything, as if by a kind of bolts, which bind together things that are separated; and do not permit them, when separated, to rush to infinity and the boundless, and to become without order, and without stability, and destitute of God, and to depart from the union amongst themselves, and to become intermingled m each other, in every sort of confusion. Concerning then, this, the Divine Peace and Repose, which the holy Justus calls unutterableness, and, as compared with every known progression, immobility, how it rests and is at ease, and how it is in itself, and within itself, and entire, and to itself entire is super-united, and when entering into itself, and multiplying itself, neither loses its own Union, but even proceeds to all, whilst remaining entire within, by reason of excess of its Union surpassing all, it is neither permitted, nor attainable to any existing being, either to express or to understand. But, having premised this, as unutterable and unknowable, as being beyond all, let us examine its conceived and uttered participations, and this, as possible to men, and to us, as inferior to many good men.
SECTION II.
First then, this must be said, that It is mainstay of the self-existent Peace, both the general and the particular; and that It mingles all things with each other within their unconfused union, as beseems |114 which, united indivisibly, and at the same time they severally continuously unmingled stand, as regards their own proper kind, not muddled through their mingling with the opposite, nor blunting any of their unifying distinctness and purity. Let us then contemplate a certain One and simple nature of the peaceful Union, unifying all things to Itself, and to themselves, and to each other; and preserving all things in an unconfused grasp of all, both unmingled and mingled together; by reason of which the divine Minds, being united,, are united to their own conceptions, and to the things conceived; and again they ascend to the unknowable contact of things fixed above mind; by reason of which, souls, by uniting their manifold reasonings, and collecting them together to an One intellectual Purity, advance in a manner proper to themselves, by method and order, through the immaterial and indivisible conception, to the union above conception; by reason of which, the one and indissoluble connection of all is established, within its Divine Harmony, and is harmonized by complete concord and agreement and fellowship, being united without confusion, and held together without division. For the fulness of the perfect Peace passes through to all existing things, as beseems the most simple, and unmingled presence of Its unifying power, making all One. and binding the extremes through the intermediate to the extremes, which are yoked together in an one connatural friendship; and bestowing the enjoyment of Itself, even to the furthest extremities of the whole, |115 and making all things of one family, by the unities, the identities, the unions, the conjunctions of the Divine Peace, standing of course indivisibly, and showing all in one, and passing through all, and not stepping out of Its own identity. For It advances to all, and imparts Itself to all, in a manner appropriate to them, and there overflows an abundance of peaceful fertility; and It remains, through excess of union, super-united, entire, to and throughout Its whole self.
SECTION III.
But how, some one may say, do all things aspire to peace, for many things rejoice in diversity and division, and would not, at any time, of their own accord, be willingly in repose. Now, if in saying this, he affirms, that the identity of each existing thing is diversity and division, and that there is no existent thing whatever, which at any time is willing to destroy this (identity), neither would we in any way contradict this, but would delare even this an aspiration after peace. For all things love to dwell at peace, and to be united amongst themselves, and to be unmoved and unfallen from themselves, and the things of themselves. And the perfect Peace seeks to guard the idiosyncrasy of each unmoved and unconfused, by its peace-giving forethought, preserving everything unmoved and unconfused, both as regards themselves and each other, and establishes all things by a stable and |116 unswerving power, towards their own peace and immobility.
SECTION IV.
And if all things in motion desire, not repose, but ever to make known their own proper movement, even this is an aspiration after the Divine Peace of the whole, which preserves all things from falling away of their own accord, and guards the idiosyncrasy and moving life of all moving things unmoved and free from falling, so that the things moved, being at peace amongst themselves, and always in the same condition, perform their own proper functions.
SECTION V.
But if, in affirming the diversity as a falling from peace, he insists that peace is not beloved by all, verily there is no existing being which has entirely fallen from every kind of union; for, the altogether unstable and infinite, and unestablished, and without limit, is neither an actual thing, nor in things actual. But if he says, that those are inimical to peace, and good things of peace, who rejoice in strife and anger and changes and disturbances, even these are controlled by obscure images of a peaceful aspiration; being vexed by tumultuous passions, and ignorantly aspiring to calm them, they imagine that they will pacify themselves by the gratification of things which ever elude them, and they are disturbed by the non-attainment of the pleasures which overpowered them. What would any one say of the peaceful stream of |117 love towards man in Christ, according to which we have learned no longer to wage war, either with ourselves, or each other, or with angels, but that with them, according to our power, we should also be fellow-workers in Divine things, after the purpose of Jesus, Who worketh all in all, and forms a peace unutterable and pre-determined from Eternity, and reconciles us to Himself, in Spirit, and through Himself and in Himself to the Father; concerning which supernatural gifts it is sufficiently spoken in the Theological Outlines, whilst the Oracles of the sacred inspiration furnish us with additional testimony.
SECTION VI.
But, since you once asked me by letter, what in the world I consider the self-existent Being, the self-existent Life, the self-existent Wisdom, and said that you debated with yourself how, at one time, I call Almighty God, self-existent Life, and at another, Mainstay of the self-existent Life, I thought it necessary, O holy man of God, to also free you from this difficulty, so far as lay in my power. And first then, in order that we may now resume that which I have said a thousand times already, there is no contradiction in saying that Almighty God is self-existent Power, or self-existent Life, and that He is Mainstay of the self-existent Life or Peace or Power. For the latter, He is named from things existing, and specially from the first existing, as Cause of all existing things; and the former, as being above all, even the first existing of beings, being |118 above superessentially. But you say, what in the world do we call the self-existent Being, or the self-existent Life, or whatever we lay down to be absolutely and originally and to have stood forth primarily from God? And we reply, this is not crooked but straight, and has a simple explanation. For we do not say that the self-existent Being, as Cause of the being of all things, is a sort of Divine or angelic essence (for the Super-essential alone is Source and Essence and Cause of the existence of all things, and of the self-existent Being), nor that another Deity, besides the Super-divine, produces Life for all that live, and is a Life Causative of the self-existent Life; nor to speak summarily, that essences and personalities originate and make existing things, so that superficial people have named them both gods, and creators of existing things,----whom, to speak truly and properly, neither they themselves knew (for they are non-existent), nor their fathers,----but we call self-existent Being, and self-existent Life, and self-existent Deity, as regards at least Source, and Deity, and Cause, the One Superior and Super-essential Source and Cause; but as regards Impartation, the providential Powers, that issue forth from God the unparticipating, (these we call) the self-existent essentiation, self-existent living, self-existent deification, by participating in which according to their own capacity, things existing, both are, and are said to be, existing, and living, and full of God----and the rest in the same way. Wherefore also, He is called the good Mainstay of the first of these, then |119 of the whole of them, then of the portions of them, then of those who participate in them entirely, then of those who participate in them in part. And why must we speak of these things, since some of our divine instructors in holy things, affirm that the Super-good and Super-divine self-existent Goodness and Deity, is Mainstay even of the self-existent Goodness and Deity; affirming that the good-making and deifying gift issued forth from God; and that the self-existent beautifying stream, is self-existent beauty, and whole beauty, and partial beauty, and things absolutely beautiful, and things partially beautiful, and whatever other things are said and shall be said after the same fashion, which declare that providences and goodnesses issuing forth from God the unparticipating, in an ungrudging stream, are participated by existing things, and bubble over in order that distinctly the Cause of all may be beyond all, and the Superessential and Supernatural may, in every respect, be above things of any sort of essence and nature whatever.
CAPUT XII.
Concerning Holy of Holies, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, God of Gods.
SECTION I.
BUT since whatever we have to say on these matters has reached, in my opinion, a fitting conclusion, we must sing Him of endless names, both |120 as Holy of Holies and King of Kings; and as ruling eternity and for ever and beyond, and as Lord of Lords, and God of Gods. And first we must say, what we think Holiness Itself is; and what Kingdom, and what Lordship, and what Divinity, and what the Oracles wish to denote by the duplication of the names.
SECTION II.
Holiness then is (so far as we can say) the purity free from every pollution, and all perfect, and altogether unstained; Kingdom is the assignment of every limit and order, and ordinance and rank; and Lordship is not only the superiority over the worse, but also the perfect possession, in. every respect, of the Beautiful and Good; and a true and unswerving stability. Wherefore Lordship is parallel to to_ Ku~roj kai\ ku&rion, kai\ to_ kuristo~n 45; and Deity is the Providence watching over all, and with perfect goodness both circumscribing and grasping all, and filling with Itself, and surpassing all things which enjoy Its forethought.
SECTION III.
These things, then, must be sung absolutely, respecting the Cause surpassing all, and we must add that It surpasses Holiness, and Lordship, and Kingdom, and most simplex 46 Deity. For, from It, |121 individually and collectively, were born and distributed every untarnished distinctness of every spotless purity, the whole arrangement and regulation of things existing, whilst It excludes want of harmony and want of equality, and want of symmetry, and rejoices over the well-ordered identity and rectitude, and leads round things, deemed worthy to participate in Itself. From It is all the perfect and complete possession of all. good things, every good forethought, watching and sustaining the objects of Its forethought, imparting Itself, as befits Its goodness, for deification of those who are turned to It.
SECTION IV.
But since the Cause of all is super-full of all, as beseems the One superfluity which surpasses all, He is sung as Holy of Holies and the rest, as beseems an overflowing Cause, and a towering Pre-eminence. As one might say, so far as the things which are,----holy or divine, or lordly, or kingly,----surpass the things which are not, and the self-existent participations, their participants; to such an extent is seated above all things that be, He Who is above all things that be, and the unparticipating Cause of all the participants and the participations. But Holy and Kings and Lords and Gods, the Oracles call the higher orders in each, through whom the inferior in participating the gifts from God, multiply the simplicity of their distribution around their own diversities, the variety of which, the superior |122 orders carefully and divinely collect to their own Oneness.
CAPUT XIII.
Concerning Perfect and One.
SECTION I.
So much then on these matters; but let us now at last, with your good pleasure, approach the most difficult subject in the whole discourse. For the Word of God predicates everything, singly and collectively, respecting the Cause of all, and extols Him both as Perfect and as One 47. He is then perfect not only as self-perfect, and solitarily separated within Himself, by Himself, and throughout most perfect, but also as super-perfect, as beseems His pre-eminence over all, and limiting every infinitude, and surpassing every term, and by none contained or comprehended; but even extending at once to all, and above all, by His unfailing gratuities and endless energies. But, on the other hand, He is called perfect, both as without increase, and always perfect, and as undiminished, as pre-holding all things in Himself, and overflowing as beseems one, inexhaustible, and same, and super-full, and undiminished, abundance, in accordance with which He perfects all perfect things, and fills them with His own perfection. |123
SECTION II.
But One, because He is uniquely all, as beseems an excess of unique Oneness, and is Cause of all without departing from the One. For there is no single existing being, which does not participate in the one, but as every number participates in an unit, and one dual and one decade is spoken of, and one half, and one third and tenth, so everything, and part of everything participates in the one, and by the fact that the One is, all existing things are. And the Cause of all is not One, as one of many, but before every one and multitude, and determinative of every one and multitude. For there is no multitude which does not partake in some way or other of the one. Yea, that which is many by parts, is one in the whole; and the many by the accidents, is one by the subject; and the many by the number or the powers, is one by the species, and the many by the species, is one by the genus; and the many by the progressions, is one by the source. And there is no single thing which does not participate in some way in the one, which uniformly pre-held in the uniqueness throughout all, all and whole, all, even the things opposed. And indeed, without the one there will not be a multitude, but without the multitude there will be the one, even as the unit previous to every multiplied number; and, if any one should suppose, that all things are united to all, the All will be one in the whole. |124
SECTION III.
Especially must this be known, that according to the pre-conceived species of each one, things united are said to be made one, and the one is elemental of all; and if you should take away the one, there will be neither totality nor part, nor any other single existing thing. For the one, uniformly, pre-held and comprehended all things in itself. For this reason, then, the Word of God celebrates the whole Godhead, as Cause of all, by the epithet of the One, both one God the Father, and one Lord Jesus Christ, and one and the same Spirit, by reason of the surpassing indivisibility of the whole Divine Oneness, in which all things are uniquely collected, and are super-unified, and are with It SLiperessentially. Wherefore also, all things are justly referred and attributed to It, by Which and from Which, and through Which, and in Which, and to Which, all things are, and are co-ordinated, and abide, and are held together, and are filled, and are turned towards It. And you would not find any existing thing, which is not what it is, and perfected and preserved, by the One, after which the whole Deity is superessentially named. And it is necessary also, that we being turned from the many to the One, by the power of the Divine Oneness, should celebrate as One the whole and one Deity----the one Cause of all----which is before every one and multitude, and part and whole, and limit and illimitability, and term and infinity, which bounds all things that be, even the Being Itself, and is |125 uniquely Cause of all, individually and collectively, and at the same time before all, and above all, and above the One existing Itself, and bounding the One existing Itself; since the One existing----that in things being----is numbered, and number participates in essence; but the superessential One bounds both the One existing, and every number, and Itself is, of both one and number, and every being, Source and Cause, and Number and. Order. Wherefore also, whilst celebrated as Unit and Triad, the Deity above all is neither Unit nor Triad, as understood by us or by any other sort of being, but, in order that we may celebrate truly. Its super-oneness, and Divine generation, by the threefold and single name of God, we name the Deity, Which is inexpressible to things that be, the Superessential. But no Unit nor Triad, nor number nor unity, nor productiveness, nor any other existing thing, or thing known to any existing thing, brings forth the hiddenness, above every expression and every mind, of the Super-Deity Which is above all superessentially. Nor has It a Name, or expression, but is elevated above in the inaccessible. And neither do we apply the very Name of Goodness, as making it adequate to It, but through a desire of understanding and saying something concerning that inexpressible nature, we consecrate the most august of Names to It, in the first degree, and although we should be in accord in this matter with the theologians, yet we shall fall short of the truth of the facts. Wherefore, even they have given the preference to the ascent through |126 negations, as lifting the soul out of things kindred to itself, and conducting it through all the Divine conceptions, above which towers that which is above every name, and every expression and knowledge, and at the furthest extremity attaching it to Him, as far indeed as is possible for us to be attached to that Being.
SECTION IV.
We then, having collected these intelligible Divine Names, have unfolded them to the best of our ability, falling short not only of the precision which belongs to them, (for this truly, even Angels might say) nor only of their praises as sung by Angels (and the chief of our Theologians come behind the lowest of them), nor indeed of the Theologians themselves, nor of their followers or companions, but even of those who are of the same rank as ourselves, last and subordinate to them; so that, if the things spoken should be correct, and, if we, as far as in us lies, have really reached the perception of the unfolding of the Divine Names, let the fact be ascribed to the Author of all good things, Who, Himself, bestows first the power to speak, then to speak well. And if any one of the Names of the same force has been passed over, that also you must understand according to the same methods. But, if these things are either incorrect or imperfect, and we have wandered from the truth, either wholly or partially, may it be of thy brotherly kindness to correct him, who unwillingly is ignorant, and to impart a word to him, who wishes to learn, |127 and to vouchsafe assistance to him, who has not power in himself; and to heal him, who, not willingly, is sick; and having found out some things from thyself, and others from others, and receiving all from the good to transfer them also to us. By no means grow weary in doing good to a man thy friend, for thou perceivest, that we also have kept to ourselves none of the hierarchical communications transmitted to us, but have transmitted them without flaw, both to you and to other holy men, yea, and will continue to transmit them, as we may be sufficient to speak, and those to whom we speak, ta hear, doing injury in no respect to the tradition, if at least we do not fail in the conception and expression thereof. But, let these things be held and spoken in such way, as is well pleasing to Almighty God; and let this indeed be our conclusion to the intelligible Divine Names. But I will now pass to the Symbolic Theology 48, with God for my Guide.
27 October, 1896.
[Selected footnotes renumbered and moved to the end]
1. a Cap. 3. Mystic Theology.
2. b Ib. c. I. s. 3.
3. c alogia.
4. d a0nohsi/a.
5. h Letter to Titus.
6. i Matt. xx. 15.
7. j Neh. ix. 20.
8. k Ex. iii. 14.
9. l Rev. i. 8.
10. m Heb. i. 12.
11. n John xv. 26.
12. o John v. 21.
13. p Ib. vi. 63.
14. q i Cor. i. 30.
15. r 2 Cor. iii. 17.
16. t The radii.
17. x Letter IV.
18. y. Letter IV.
19. z I Cor. viii. 5, 6.
20. b euroi/aj.
21. c See Dulac, Theology anticipates Science.
22. d The Greek word is nohto_n, which in connection with fw~j is rendered here "spiritual light."
23. e See Book of Hierotheus, c. 2.
24. f Angels.
25. g Creation through Goodness not necessity.
26. h See note, p. 128.
27. k i.e. in ascending order.
28. l Plato, Theaet.
29. m Theaet., 1763.
30. o Jahn, p. 66.
31. p Jahn, p, 67.
32. q Out of evil forth producing good.
33. r Angels.
34. s i.e. the radii.
35. t Maximus, Scholia, cap. 4, sec. i.
36. u Rom. xi. 29, "For the gifts of God are without repentance."
37. k See Caput XI., Section VI.
38. y True theory of evolution.
39. z First persecution of Nero.
40. a ou)si/aj
41. c Atomic theory.
42. e Letter 2,
43. f Dulac, p. 226.
44. g ta_ o!nta----actual.
45. h The rendering of which may be, the lordly, and the lordlier, and the lordliest.
46. i Letter 2.
47. k [Greek]. It should be noted that where He, Him and His are used in this Section, the Neuter is used in the Greek.
48. 1 See letter to Titus.
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Dionysius the Areopagite, Works (1897) p.128. Note: Ignatius
Dionysius the Areopagite, Works (1897) p.128. Note: Ignatius
NOTE.
IGNATIUS.
" MY love is crucified."
Upon this passage I differ from all the commentators that I know. I believe the passage to have been written and inserted in the text by Dionysius when writing this letter, which must have been before A.D. 98. I do not think it a quotation from the letter of Ignatius written just previous to his martyrdom. I think Dionysius quoted some previous writing of Ignatius, in which he spoke of our Saviour as "My Love, Which is mine." That is the sense in this passage, to shew the exalted use of Love. In the letter of Ignatius to the Romans, he seems to use "love" in the sense of human passion or fire, and says that that is crucified in him. In any case, there is no chronological difficulty. Ignatius was martyred A.D. 107, Dionysius, A.D. 119.
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Dionysius the Areopagite, Works (1897) p.129. Preface to the Mystical Theology
Dionysius the Areopagite, Works (1897) p.129. Preface to the Mystical Theology
PREFACE TO MYSTIC THEOLOGY.
MYSTIC THEOLOGY is like that ladder set up on the earth whose top reached to Heaven on which the angels of God were ascending and descending, and above which stood Almighty God. The Angel ascending is the "negative" which distinguishes Almighty God from all created things. God is not matter----soul, mind, spirit, any being, nor even being itself, but above and beyond all these. The Angel descending is the "Affirmative." God is good, wise, powerful, the Being, until we come to Symbolic Theology, which denotes Him under material forms and conditions: Theology prefers the negative because Almighty God is more appropriately presented by distinction than by comparison.
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Dionysius the Areopagite, Works (1897) p.130-137. The Mystical Theology
Dionysius the Areopagite, Works (1897) p.130-137. The Mystical Theology
Chapter 1: What is the Divine Gloom?
Chapter 2: How we ought both to be united and render praise to the Cause of all and above all.
Chapter 3: What are the affirmative expressions respecting God, and what the negative.
Chapter 4: That the pre-eminent Cause of every object of sensible perception is none of the objects of sensible perception.
Chapter 5: That the pre-eminent Cause of every object of intelligible perception is none of the objects of intelligible perception.
MYSTIC THEOLOGY.
CAPUT I.
What is the Divine Gloom?
SECTION I.
TRIAD supernal, both super-God and super-good, Guardian of the Theosophy of Christian men, direct us aright to the super-unknown and super-brilliant and highest summit of the mystic Oracles, where the simple and absolute a!nd changeless mysteries of theology lie hidden within the super-luminous gloom of the silence, revealing hidden things, which in its deepest darkness shines above the most super-brilliant, and in the altogether impalpable and invisible, fills to overflowing the eyeless minds with glories of surpassing beauty. This then be my prayer; but thou, O dear Timothy, by thy persistent commerce with the mystic visions, leave behind both sensible perceptions and intellectual efforts, and all objects of sense and intelligence, and all things not being and being, and be raised aloft unknowingly to the union, as far' as attainable, with Him Who is above every essence and knowledge. For by the resistless and absolute ecstasy in all purity, from thyself and all, thou wilt be carried on high, to the superessential ray of the Divine darkness, when thou hast cast away all, and become free from all. |131
SECTION II.
But see that none of the uninitiated listen to these things----those I mean who are entangled in things being, and fancy there is nothing superessentially above things being, but imagine that they know, by their own knowledge, Him, Who has placed darkness as His hiding-place. But, if the Divine initiations are above such, what would any one say respecting those still more uninitiated, such as both portray the Cause exalted above all, from the lowest of things created, and say that It in no wise excels the no-gods fashioned by themselves and of manifold shapes, it being our duty both to attribute and affirm all the attributes of things existing to It, as Cause of all, and more properly to deny them all to It, as being above all, and not to consider the negations to be in opposition to the affirmations, but far rather that It, which is above every abstraction and definition, is above the privations.
SECTION III.
Thus, then, the divine Bartholomew says that Theology is much and least, and the Gospel broad and great, and on the other hand concise. He seems to me to have comprehended this supernaturally, that the good Cause of all is both of much utterance, and at the same time of briefest utterance and without utterance; as having neither utterance nor conception, because It is superessentially exalted above all, and manifested without veil and in truth, to those alone who pass through both all things consecrated |132 and pure, and ascend above every ascent of all holy summits, and leave behind all divine lights and sounds, and heavenly words, and enter into the gloom, where really is, as the Oracles say, He Who is beyond all. For even the divine Moses is himself strictly bidden to be first purified, and then to be separated from those who are not so, and after entire cleansing hears the many-voiced trumpets, and sees many lights, shedding pure and streaming rays; then he is separated from the multitude, and with the chosen priests goes first to the summit of the divine ascents, although even then he does not meet with Almighty God Himself, but views not Him (for He is viewless) but the place where He is. Now this I think signifies that the most Divine and Highest of the things seen and contemplated are a sort of suggestive expression, 'of the things subject to Him Who is above all, through which Hjs wholly inconceivable Presence is shown, reaching to the highest spiritual summits of His most holy places; and then he (Moses) is freed from them who are both seen and seeing, and enters into the gloom of the Agnosia; a gloom veritably mystic, within which he closes all perceptions of knowledge and enters into the altogether impalpable and unseen, being wholly of Him Who is beyond all, and of none, neither himself nor other; and by inactivity of all knowledge, united in his better part to. the altogether Unknown, and by knowing nothing, knowing above mind. |133
CAPUT II.
How we ought both to be united and render praise to the Cause of all and above all.
SECTION I.
WE pray to enter within the super-bright gloom, and through not seeing and not knowing, to see and to know that the not to see nor to know is itself the above sight and knowledge. For this is veritably to see and to know and to celebrate super-essentially the Superessential, through the abstraction of all existing things, just as those who make a lifelike statue, by extracting all the encumbrances which have been placed upon the clear view of the concealed, and by bringing to light, by the mere cutting away 1, the genuine beauty concealed in it. And, it is necessary, as I think, to celebrate the abstractions in an opposite way to the definitions. For, we used to place these latter by beginning from the foremost and descending through the middle to the lowest, but, in this case, by making the ascents from the lowest to the highest, we abstract everything, in order that, without veil, we may know that Agnosia, which is enshrouded under all the known, in all things that be, and may see that superessential gloom, which is hidden by all the light in existing things. |134
CAPUT III.
What are the affirmative expressions respecting God, and what the negative.
SECTION I.
IN the Theological Outlines, then, we celebrated the principal affirmative expressions respecting God----how the Divine and good Nature is spoken of as One----how as Threefold----what is that within it which is spoken of as Paternity and Sonship----what the Divine name of "the Spirit "is meant to signify,----how from the immaterial and indivisible Good the Lights dwelling in the heart of Goodness sprang forth, and remained, in their branching forth, without departing from the coeternal abiding in Himself and in Themselves and in each other,----how the super-essential Jesus takes substance in veritable human nature----and whatever other things, made known by the Oracles, are celebrated throughout the Theological Outlines; and in the treatise concerning Divine Names, how He is named Good----how Being----how Life and Wisdom and Power----and whatever else belongs to the nomenclature of God. Further, in the Symbolical Theology, what are the Names transferred from objects of sense to things Divine?----what are the Divine forms?----what the Divine appearances, and parts and organs?----what the Divine places and ornaments?----what the angers?----what the griefs?----and the Divine wrath?----what the carousals, and the ensuing sicknesses?----what the oaths,----and what the |135 curses?----what the sleepings, and what the awak-ings?----and all the other Divinely formed representations, which belong to the description of God, through symbols. And I imagine that you have comprehended, how the lowest are expressed in somewhat more words than the first. For, it was necessary that the Theological Outlines, and the unfolding of the Divine Names should be expressed in fewer words than the Symbolic Theology; since, in proportion as we ascend to the higher, in such a degree the expressions are circumscribed by the contemplations of the things intelligible. As even now, when entering into the gloom which is above mind, we shall find, not a little speaking, but a complete absence of speech, and absence of conception. In the other case, the discourse, in descending from the above to the lowest, is widened according to the descent, to a proportionate extent; but now, in ascending from below to that which is above, in proportion to the ascent, it is contracted, and after a complete ascent, it will become wholly voiceless, and will be wholly united to the unutterable. But, for what reason in short, you say, having attributed the Divine attributes from the foremost, do we begin the Divine abstraction from things lowest? Because it is necessary that they who place attributes on that which is above every attribute, should place the attributive affirmation from that which is more cognate to it; but that they who abstract, with regard to that which is above every abstraction, should make the abstraction from things which are further removed from it. Are not |136 life and goodness more (cognate) than air and stone? and He is not given to debauch and to wrath, more (removed) than He is not expressed nor conceived.
CAPUT IV.
That the pre-eminent Cause of every object of sensible perception is none of the objects of sensible perception.
SECTION I.
WE say then- that the Cause of all, which is above all, is neither without being, nor without life----nor with- out reason, nor without mind, nor is a body----nor has shape----nor form----nor quality, or quantity, or bulk----nor is in a place----nor is seen----nor has sensible contact----nor perceives, nor is perceived, by the senses----nor has disorder and confusion, as being vexed by earthly passions,----nor is powerless, as being subject to casualties of sense,----nor is in need of light;----neither is It, nor has It, change, or decay, or division, or deprivation, or flux,----or any other of the objects of sense.
CAPUT V.
That the pre-eminent Cause of every object of intelligible perception is none of the objects of intelligible perception.
ON the other hand, ascending, we say, that It is neither soul, nor mind, nor has imagination, or opinion, or reason, or conception; neither is |137 expressed, nor conceived; neither is number, nor order, nor greatness, nor littleness; nor equality, nor inequality; nor similarity, nor dissimilarity; neither is standing, nor moving; nor at rest; neither has power, nor is power, nor light; neither lives, nor is life; neither is essence nor eternity, nor time; neither is Its touch intelligible, neither is It science, nor truth; nor kingdom, nor wisdom; neither one, nor oneness; neither Deity, nor Goodness; nor is It Spirit according to our understanding; nor Sonship, nor Paternity; nor any other thing of those known to us, or to any other existing being; neither is It any of non-existing nor of existing things, nor do things existing know It, as It is; nor does It know existing things, qua existing; neither is there expression of It, nor name, nor knowledge; neither is It darkness, nor light; nor error, nor truth; neither is there any definition at all of It, nor any abstraction. But when making the predications and abstractions of things after It, we neither predicate, nor abstract from It; since the all-perfect and uniform Cause of all is both above every definition and the pre-eminence of Him, Who is absolutely freed from all, and beyond the whole, is also above every abstraction.
[Selected footnote renumbered and moved to the end]
1. a i.e. the abstraction.
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Dionysius the Areopagite, Works (1897) p.139-140. Preface to the Letters
Dionysius the Areopagite, Works (1897) p.139-140. Preface to the Letters
PREFACE TO THE LETTERS
OF DIONYSIUS THE
AREOPAGITE.
THESE Letters attest the existence of the writings, and the wisdom spoken among the perfect, in the Apostolic Age.----To Gaius, who is commemorated by St. John and St. Paul, we owe the explanation of Agnosia, and valued teaching on the Personality of our Lord; to Dorotheus we are indebted for a fuller explanation of the Divine Gloom; to Sosi-pater, twice mentioned in the Acts and Romans, we owe the wisest letter ever penned for the instruction of the Christian Apologist and Missionary. The Letter to Polycarp touches on those mysterious signs in the heavens, by which Almighty God shewed His universal power. Dionysius shews his reverence for God's holy word, by never seeking to explain away, or to substitute what seems a less miracle for a greater. The trifold Mithra commemorated amongst the Babylonians shews that Hezekiah's sign was not merely visible and observed in Judea. The King, as High Priest of his people, was already robed for evening prayer, when he observed the sun gone back; and one day became almost three, i.e. thirty-two hours instead of thirty-six. Dionysius describes the darkness at the time of the Crucifixion, as it |140 appeared in Egypt, and is recorded by Phlegon. We do not explain and interpret the facts recorded in the Gospel, by denying them, or by treating the same testimony outside the Gospel as superstitious.
To Demophilus, we owe a knowledge of Church-law and order, which teaches the Christian duty of being "sent," and which should teach clergy to obey their Bishop, and not merely the Act of uni-formity. To Titus, we owe the preservation of the sum of the Symbolic Theology. From the letter to St. John in Patmos, we learn the love between St. John arid Dionysius, and that St. John was then Called the "Sun of the Gospel." From the letter to Apollophanes, we know that the prayers of Dionysius for the conversion of his friend did not fall to the ground. Apollophanes was tutot to Polemon, who again was tutor to Aristides, who presented his "Apology "to the Emperor Hadrian. The conversion of Statonice, the wife of Apollophanes, was the cause of St. Paul's being cast into chains at Philippi, where the messengers from Corinth found him, through whom he sent the Epistle recently brought to light a.
CANNES,
Circumcision, 1897.
a See "Correspondence of St, Paul," Carrière et Berger, p. 20. Fishbacher, Paris.
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Dionysius the Areopagite, Works (1897) p.141-185. The Letters
Dionysius the Areopagite, Works (1897) p.141-185. The Letters
Letter 1: To Gaius Therapeutes.
Letter 2: To the same Gaius Therapeutes.
Letter 3: To the same Gaius
Letter 4: To the same Gaius Therapeutes.
Letter 5: To Dorotheus, Leitourgos.
Letter 6: To Sopatros ----- Priest.
Letter 7: To Polycarp----Hierarch
Letter 8: To Demophilus, Therapeutes. About minding ones own business, and kindness.
Letter 9: To Titus, Hierarch, asking by letter what is the house of wisdom, what the bowl, and what are its meats and drinks?
Letter 10: To John, Theo logos, Apostle and Evangelist, imprisoned in the Isle of Patmos.
Letter 11: Dionysius to Apollophanes, Philosopher.
LETTERS OF DIONYSIUS THE AREOPAGITE.
LETTER I. To Gaius Therapeutes.
DARKNESS becomes invisible by light, and specially by much light. Varied knowledge (ai0 gnw&seij), and especially much varied knowledge, makes the Agnosia 1 to vanish. Take this in a superlative, but not in a defective sense, and reply with superlative truth, that the Agnosia, respecting God, escapes those who possess existing light, and knowledge of things being; and His pre-eminent darkness is both concealed by every light, and is hidden from every knowledge. And, if any one, having seen God, understood what he saw, he did not see Him, but some of His creatures that are existing and known. But He Himself, highly established above mind, and above essence, by the very fact of His being wholly unknown, and not being, both is super-essentially, and is known above mind. And the all-perfect Agnosia, in its superior sense, is a knowledge of Him, Who is above all known things.
LETTER II. To the same Gaius Therapeutes.
How is He, Who is beyond all 2, both above source of Divinity and above source of Good? Provided you |142 understand Deity and Goodness, as the very Actuality of the Good-making and God-making gift, and the inimitable imitation of the super-divine and super-good (gift), by aid of which we are deified and made good. For, moreover, if this becomes source of the deification and making good of those who are being deified and made good, He,----Who is super-source of every source, even of the so-called Deity and Goodness, seeing He is beyond source of Divinity and source of Goodness, in so far as He is inimitable, and not to be retained----excels the imitations and retentions, and the things which are imitated and those participating.
LETTER III. To the same Gaius.
"Sudden "is that which, contrary to expectation, and out of the, as yet, unmanifest, is brought into the manifest. But with regard to Christ's love of man, I think that the Word of God suggests even this, that the Superessential proceeded forth out of the hidden, into the manifestation amongst us, by having taken substance as man. But, He is hidden, even after the manifestation, or to speak more divinely, even in the manifestation, for in truth this of Jesus has been kept hidden, and the mystery with respect to Him has been reached by no word nor mind, but even when spoken, remains unsaid, and when conceived unknown. |143
LETTER IV.3 To the same Gaius Therapeutes.
How, you ask, is Jesus, Who is beyond all, ranked essentially with all men? For, not as Author of men is He here called man, but as being in absolute whole essence truly man. But we do not define the Lord Jesus, humanly, for He is not man only, (neither superessential nor man only), but truly man, He Who is pre-eminently a lover of man, the Super-essential, taking substance, above men and after men, from the substance of men. And it is nothing less, the ever Superessential, super-full of super-essentiality, disregards the excess 4 of this, and having come truly into substance, took substance above substance, and above man works things of man. And a virgin supernaturally conceiving, and unstable water, holding up weight of material and earthly feet, and not giving way, but, by a supernatural power standing together so as not to be divided, demonstrate this. Why should any one go through the rest, which are very many? Through which, he who looks with a divine vision, will know beyond mind, even the things affirmed respecting the love towards man, of (the Lord) Jesus,----things which possess a force of superlative negation. For, even, to speak summarily, He was not man, not as not being man, but as being from men was beyond men, and was above man, having truly been born man, and for the rest, not having done things Divine |144 as God, nor things human as man, but exercising for us a certain new God-incarnate energy of God having become man.
LETTER V. To Dorotheus, Leitourgos.
The Divine gloom is the unapproachable light in which God is said to dwell 5. And in this gloom, invisible 6 indeed, on account of the surpassing brightness, and unapproachable on account of the excess of the superessential stream of light, enters every one deemed worthy to know and to see God, by the very fact of neither seeing nor knowing, really entering in Him, Who is above vision and knowledge, knowing this very thing, that He is after all the object of sensible and intelligent perception, and saying in the words of the Prophet, "Thy knowledge was regarded as wonderful by me; It was confirmed; I can by no means attain unto it 7;" even as the Divine Paul is said to have known Almighty God, by having known Him as being above all conception and knowledge. Wherefore also, he says, "His ways are past finding out 8 and His Judgements inscrutable," and His gifts "indescribable 9," and that His peace surpasses every mind 10, as having found Him Who is above all, and having known this which is above conception, that, by being Cause of all, He is beyond all. |145
LETTER VI. To Sopatros 11-----Priest.
Do not imagine this a victory, holy Sopatros, to have denounced 12 a devotion, or an opinion, which apparently is not good. For neither----even if you should have convicted it accurately----are the (teachings) of Sopatros consequently good. For it is possible, both that you and others, whilst occupied in many things that are false and apparent, should overlook the true, which is One and hidden. For neither, if anything is not red, is it therefore white, nor if something is not a horse, is it necessarily a man. But thus will you do, if you follow my advice, you will cease indeed to speak against others, but will so speak on behalf of truth, that every thing said is altogether unquestionable.
LETTER VII.
SECTION I. To Polycarp----Hierarch.
I, at any rate, am not conscious, when speaking in reply to Greeks or others, of fancying to assist good men, in case they should be able to know and speak the very truth, as it really is in itself. For, when this is correctly demonstrated in its essential nature, according to a law of truth, and has been established without flaw, every thing which is otherwise, and simulates the truth, will be convicted of being other |146 than the reality, and dissimilar, and that which is seeming rather than real. It is superfluous then, that the expounder of truth should contend with these or those 13. For each affirms himself to have the royal coin, and perchance has some deceptive image of a certain portion of the true. And, if you refute this, first the one, and then the other, will contend concerning the same. But, when the true statement itself has been correctly laid down, and has remained unrefuted by all the rest, every thing which is not so in every respect is cast down of itself, by the impregnable stability of the really true. Having then as I think well understood this, I have not been over zealous to speak in reply to Greeks or to others; but it is sufficient for me (and may God grant this), first to know about truth, then, having known, to speak as it is fitting to speak.
SECTION II.
But you say, the Sophist Apollophanes rails at me, and calls me parricide, as using, not piously, the writings of Greeks against the Greeks. Yet, in reply to him, it were more true for us to say, that Greeks use, not piously, things Divine against things Divine, attempting through the wisdom of Almighty God to eject the Divine Worship. And I am not speaking of the opinion of the multitude, who cling tenaciously to the writings of the poets, with earthly and impassioned proclivities, and Worship the creature 14 rather than the Creator; but even Apollophanes |147 himself uses not piously things Divine against things Divine; for by the knowledge of things created, well called Philosophy by him, and by the divine Paul named Wisdom of God, the true philosophers ought to have been elevated to the Cause of things created and of the knowledge of them. And in order that he may not improperly impute to me the opinion of others, or that of himself, Apollophanes, being a wise man, ought to recognise that nothing could otherwise be removed from its heavenly course and movement, if it had not the Sustainer and Cause of its being moving it thereto, who forms all things, and "transforms them 15 "according to the sacred text. How then does he not worship Him, known to us even from this, and verily being God of the whole, admiring Him for His all causative and super-inexpressible power, when sun 16 and moon, together with the universe, by a power and stability most supernatural, were fixed by them to entire immobility, and, for a measure of a whole day, all the constellations stood in the same places; or (which is greater than even this), if when the whole and the greater and embracing were thus carried along, those embraced did not follow in their course; and when a certain other day 17 was almost tripled in duration, even in twenty whole hours, either the universe retraced contrary routes for so long a time, and (was) |148 turned back by the thus very most supernatural backward revolutions; or the sun, in its own course, having contracted its five-fold motion in ten hours, retrogressively again retraced it in the other ten hours, by traversing a sort of new route. This thing indeed naturally astounded even Babylonians 18, and, without battle, brought them into subjection to Hezekiah, as though he were a somebody equal to God, and superior to ordinary men. And, by no means do I allege the great works in Egypt 19, or certain other Divine portents, which took place elsewhere, but the well-known and celestial ones, which were renowned in every place and by all persons. But Apollophanes is ever saying that these things are not true. At any rate then, this is reported by the Persian sacerdotal legends, and to this day, Magi celebrate the memorials of the threefold Mithrus 20. But let him disbelieve these things, by reason of his ignorance or his inexperience. Say to him, however, "What do you affirm concerning the eclipse, which took place at the time of the saving Cross 21?" For both of us at that time, at Heliopolis, being present, and standing together, saw the moon approaching the sun, to our surprise (for it was not appointed time for conjunction); and again, from the ninth hour to the evening, supernaturally placed back again into a line opposite |149 the sun. And remind him also of something further. For he knows that we saw, to our surprise, the contact itself beginning from the east, and going towards the edge of the sun's disc, then receding back, and again, both the contact and the re-clearing 22, not taking place from the same point, but from that diametrically opposite. So great are the supernatural things of that appointed time, and possible to Christ alone, the Cause of all, Who worketh great things and marvellous, of which there is not number.
SECTION III.
These things say, if occasion serves, and if possible, O Apollophanes, refute them, and to me, who was then both present with thee, and saw and judged and wondered with thee at them all. And in truth Apollophanes begins prophesying at that time, I know not whence, and to me he said, as if conjecturing the things taking place, "these things, O excellent Dionysius, are requitals of Divine deeds." Let so much be said by us by letter; but you are capable, both to supply the deficiency, and to bring eventually to God that distinguished man, who is wise in many things, and who perhaps will not disdain to meekly learn the truth, which is above wisdom, of our religion. |150
LETTER VIII. To Demophilus, Therapeutes. About minding ones own business, and kindness.
SECTION I.
The histories of the Hebrews say, O noble Demophilus, that, even that holy, distinguished Moses was deemed worthy of the Divine manifestation on account of his great meekness 23. And, if at any time they describe him as being excluded from the vision 24 of God, they do not cast him out from God for his meekness. But they say that when speaking very rashly, and opposing the Divine Counsels, Jehovah was angry with him with wrath. But when they make him proclaimed by his God-discerned deserts, he is proclaimed, from his pre-eminent imitation of the Good. For he was very meek, and on this account is called "Servant of God," and deemed more fit for vision of God than all Prophets. Now, when certain envious 25 people were contending with him and Aaron, about the High Priesthood and government of the tribes, he was superior to all love of honour, and love of rule, and referred the presidency over the people to the Divine judgment. And, when they even rose up against him, and reproaching him concerning the precedency, were threatening him, and were already almost upon him, the meek man invoked the Good for preservation, but very suitably asserted that |151 he would be guiltless of all evils to the governed. For he knew that it is necessary, that the familiar with God the Good should be moulded, as far as is attainable, to that which is specially most like the Good, and should be conscious within himself of the performance of deeds of good friendship. And what made David 26, the father of God, a friend of God? Even for being good and generous towards enemies 27. The Super-Good, and the Friend of Good says----" I have found a man after mine own heart." Further also, a generous injunction was given, to care for even one's enemy's beasts of burden 28. And Job 29 was pronounced just, as being free from injury. And Joseph 30 did not take revenge upon the brethren who had plotted against him; and Abel, at once, and without suspicion, accompanied the fratricide. And the Word of God proclaims all the good as not devising evil things 31, not doing them 32, but neither being changed from the good, by the baseness of others 33, but, on the contrary, after the example of God 34, as doing good to, and throwing their shield over the evil; and generously calling them to their own abundant goodness, and to their own similitude. But let us ascend higher, not proclaiming the gentleness of holy men, nor kindness of philanthropic angels, who take compassion upon nations, and invoke good 35 on their behalf, and punish the |152 destructive and devastating mobs, and, whilst being grieved over calamities, yet rejoice over the safety of those who are being called back to things good 36; nor whatever else the Word of God teaches concerning the beneficent angels 37; but, whilst in silence welcoming the beneficent rays of the really good and super-good Christ, by them let us be lighted on our path, to His Divine works of Goodness. For assuredly is it not of a Goodness inexpressible and beyond conception, that He makes all things existing to be, and brought all things themselves to being, and wishes all things ever to become near to Himself, and participants of Himself, according to the aptitude of each? And why? Because He clings lovingly to those who even depart from Him, and strives 38 and beseeches not to be disowned by those beloved who are themselves coy; and He bears with those who heedlessly reproach Him 39, and Himself makes excuse for them, and further promises to serve them, and runs towards and meets 40 even those who hold themselves aloof, immediately that they approach; and when His entire self has embraced their entire selves, He kisses them, and does not reproach them for former things, but rejoices over the present, and holds a feast, and calls together the friends, that is to say, the good, in order that the household may be altogether rejoicing. (But, Demophilus, of all persons in the world, is at enmity |153 with, and very justly rebukes, and teaches beautiful things to, good men, and rejoices.) "For how," He says, "ought not the good to rejoice over safety of the lost, and over life of those who are dead." And, as a matter of course, He raises upon His shoulders that which with difficulty has been turned from error, and summons the good angels to rejoicing, and is generous to the unthankful, and makes His sun to rise upon evil and good, and presents His very soul 41 as an offering on behalf of those who are fleeing from Him.
But thou, as thy letters testify, I do not know how, being in thy senses, hast spurned one fallen down before the priest, who, as thou sayest, was unholy and a sinner. Then this one entreated and confessed that he has come for healing of evil deeds, but thou didst not shiver, but even insolently didst cover with abuse the good priest, for shewing compassion to a penitent, and justifying the unholy. And at last, thou saidst to the priest, "Go out with thy like"; and didst burst, contrary to permission, into the sanctuary, and defiledst the Holy of holies, and writest to us, that "I have providentially preserved the things sacred, which were about to be profaned, and am still keeping them undefiled."
Now, then, hear our view. It is not lawful that a priest should be corrected by the Leitourgoi, who are above thee, or by the Therapeutae, who are of the same rank with thee; even though he should seem to |154 act irreverently towards things Divine, and though he should be convicted of having done some other thing forbidden. For, if want of order, and want of regulation, is a departure from the most Divine institutions and decrees, it is not reasonable that the divinely transmitted order should be changed on God's behalf. For Almighty God is not divided against Himself, for, "how then shall His kingdom stand 42?" And if the judgment is of God, as the Oracles affirm 43, and the priests are angels and interpreters, after the hierarchs, of the Divine judgments, learn from them through whom thou wast deemed worthy to be a Therapeutes, through the intermediate Leitourgoi, when opportunity serves, the things Divine suitable for thyself 44. And do not the Divine Symbols proclaim this, for is not the Holy of holies altogether simply separated from all, and the order of the consecrators is in closer proximity to it than the rank of the priests, and following these, that of the Leitourgoi. But the gates of the sanctuary are bounded by the appointed Therapeutae, within which they are both ordained, and around which they stand, not to guard them, but for order, and teaching of themselves that they are nearer the people than the priesthood. Whence the holy regulation of the priests orders them to participate in things Divine, enjoining the impartation of these to others, that is to say, the more inward. For even those who always stand |155 around the Divine Altar, for a symbolical purpose, see and hear things Divine revealed to themselves in all clearness; and advancing generously to things outside the Divine Veils, they shew, to the subject Therapeutae, and to the holy people, and to the orders under purification, according to their meetness, things holy which had been beautifully guarded without pollution, until thou didst tyrannically burst into them, and compelledst the Holy of holies, against its will, to be strutted over by thee, and thou sayest, that thou holdest and guardest the sacred things, although thou neither hast known, nor heard, nor possessest any of the things belonging to the priests; as neither hast thou known the truth of the Oracles, whilst cavilling about them each day to subversion of the hearers. And even if same civil Governor undertook what was not commanded him by a King, justly would any one of the subordinates standing by be punished who dared to criticise the Governor, when justifying, or condemning any one; (for I do not go so far as to say to vituperate), and at the same time thought to cast him from his government; but thou, man, art thus rash in what concerns the affairs of the meek and good, and his hierarchical jurisdiction. We are bound to say these things, when any one undertakes what is above his rank, and at the same time thinks that he acts properly. For this is not within the powers of any one. For what was Ozias 45 doing out of place, when offering incense to Almighty God? and what Saul 46 in sacrificing? |156
Yea, further, what were those domineering demons 47, who were truly proclaiming the Lord Jesus God? But every one who meddles with other people's business, is outlawed by the Word of God; and each one shall be in the rank of his own service, and alone the High Priest 48 shall enter into the Holy of holies, and once only throughout the year 49, and this in the full legal hierarchical purification 50. And the priests 51 encompass the holy things, and the Levites must not touch the holy things, lest they die. And Jehovah was angry with wrath at the rashness of Ozias, and Mariam 52 becomes leprous, because she had presumed to lay down laws for the lawgiver. And the demons fastened on the sons of Sceva, and He says, "I did not send them, yet they ran, and I spake not to them yt they prophesied 53." "And the profane 54 who sacrifices to me a calf, (is) as he who slays a dog," and to speak briefly, the all-perfect justice of Almighty God does not tolerate the dis-regarders of law, but whilst they are saying "in Thy 55 Name, we ourselves did many wonderful works," He retorts, "And I know you not; go from Me all ye workers of lawlessness." So that it is not permissible, as the holy Oracles say, even to pursue things that are just, when not according to order 56, but each must keep to himself 57, and not meditate things too high and too deep for him 58, but |157 contemplate alone things prescribed for him according to order.
SECTION II.
"What then," thou sayest, "is it not necessary to correct the priests who are acting irreverently, or convicted of something else out of place, but to those only, who glory in law, shall it be permitted to dishonour Almighty God 59, through the transgression of the Law? "And how are the priests interpreters 60 of Almighty God? For, how do they announce to the people the Divine virtues, who do not know the power of them? or how do they, who are in darkness 61, communicate light? Further, how do they impart the Divine Spirit, who, by habit and truth do not believe whether there is a Holy Spirit 62? Now I will give thee an answer to these things. For truly my Demophilus is not an enemy, nor will I tolerate that thou shouldst be overreached by Satan.
For each rank of those about God, is more godlike than that which stands further away. And those which are somewhat nearer to the true light, are at once more luminous, and more illuminating; and do not understand the nearness topically, but according to God-receptive aptitude. If, then, the order of the priests is the illuminating, entirely has he fallen from the priestly rank and power, who does not illuminate, or perhaps rather (he becomes) the unilluminated. |158 And he seems, to me at least, rash who, being such, undertakes the priestly functions, and has no fear, and does not blush, when performing things Divine, contrary to propriety, and fancying that God does not know the very things of which he is conscious in himself, and thinks to mislead Him Who is falsely called by him Father, and presumes to repeat his cursed blasphemies (for I would not say prayers) over the Divine symbols, after the example of Christ. This one is not a priest,----No!----but devilish----crafty ----a deceiver of himself----and a wolf to the people of God, clothed in sheep's clothing.
SECTION III.
But, it is not to Demophilus that it is permitted to put these things straight. For, if the Word of God commands to pursue just things justly 63 (but to pursue just things is, when any one wishes to distribute to each one things that are meet), this must be pursued by all justly, not beyond their own meetness or rank 64; since even to angels it is just that things meet be assigned and apportioned, but not from us, O Demophilus, but through them to us, of God, and to them through the angels who are still more pre-eminent. And to speak shortly, amongst all existing things their due is assigned through the first to the second, by the well-ordered and most just forethought of all. Let those, then, who have been ordered by God to superintend others, |159 distribute after themselves their due to their inferiors. But, let Demophilus apportion their due to reason and anger and passion; and let him not maltreat the regulation of himself, but let the superior reason bear rule over things inferior. For, if one were to see, in the market-place, a servant abusing a master, and a younger man, an elder; or also a son, a father; and in addition attacking and inflicting wounds, we should seem even to fail in reverence if we did not run and succour the superior, even though perhaps they were first guilty of injustice; how then shall we not blush, when we see reason maltreated by anger and passion, and cast out of the sovereignty given by God; and when we raise in our own selves an irreverent and unjust disorder, and insurrection and confusion? Naturally, our blessed Law-giver from God does not deem right that one should preside over the Church of God, who has not already well presided over his own house 65. For, he who has governed himself will also govern another; and who, another, will also govern a house; and who, a house, also a city; and who, a city, also a nation. And to speak briefly as the Oracles affirm, "he who is faithful in little, is faithful also in much," and "he who is unfaithful in little, is unfaithful also in much."
SECTION IV.
Thyself, then, assign their due limit to passion and anger and reason. And to thyself, let the divine |160 Leitourgoi assign the due limit, and to these, the priests, and to the priests, hierarchs, and to the hierarchs, the Apostles and the successors of the Apostles. And if, perchance, any, even among these, should have failed in what is becoming, he shall be put right by the holy men of the same rank; and rank shall not be turned against rank, but each shall be in his own rank, and in his own service. So much for thee, from us, on behalf of knowing and doing one's own business. But, concerning the inhuman treatment towards that man, whom thou callest "irreverent and sinner," I know not how I shall bewail the scandal of my beloved. For, of whom dost thou suppose thou wast ordained Therapeutes by us? For if it were not of the Good, it is necessary that thou shouldst be altogether alien from Him and from us, and from our whole religion, and it is time for thee both to seek a God, and other priests, and amongst them to become brutal rather than perfected, and to be a cruel minister of thine own fierceness. For, have we ourselves, forsooth, been perfected to the altogether Good, and have no need of the divine compassion for ourselves 66, or do we commit the double sin 67, as the Oracles say, after the example of the unholy, not knowing in what we offend, but even justifying ourselves and supposing we see, whilst really not seeing 68? Heaven was startled at this, and I shivered, and I distrust myself. And |161 unless I had met with thy letters (as know well I would I had not), they would not have persuaded me if indeed any other had thought good to persuade me concerning thee, that Demophilus supposes, that Almighty God, Who is good to all, is not also compassionate towards men, and that he himself has no need of the Merciful or the Saviour; yea further, he deposes those priests who are deemed worthy, through clemency, to bear the ignorances of the people, and who well know, that they also are compassed with infirmity. But, the supremely Divine Priest pursued a different (course), and that as the Oracles say, from being separate of sinners, and makes the most gentle tending of the sheep a proof of the love towards Himself; and He stigmatizes as wicked, him who did not forgive his fellow-servant the debt, nor impart a portion of that manifold goodness, graciously given to himself; and He condemns him to enjoy his own deserts, which both myself and Demophilus must take care to avoid. For, even for those who were treating Him impiously, at the very time of His suffering, He invokes remission from the Father; and He rebukes even the disciples, because without mercy they thought it right to convict of impiety the Samaritans who drove Him away. This, indeed, is the thousand times repeated theme of thy impudent letter (for thou repeatest the same from beginning to end), that thou hast avenged, |162 not thyself, but Almighty God. Tell me (dost thou avenge) the Good by means of evil?
SECTION V.
Avaunt! We have not a High Priest, "Who cannot be touched with our infirmities, but is both without sin and merciful." "He shall not strive nor cry, and is Himself meek, and Himself propitiatory for our sins; so that we will not approve your unenviable attacks, not if you should allege a thousand times your Phineas and your Elias. For, when the Lord Jesus heard these things, He was displeased with the disciples, who at that time lacked the meek and good spirit. For, even our most divine preceptor teaches in meekness those who opposed themselves to the teaching of Almighty God. For, we must teach, not avenge ourselves upon, the ignorant, as we do not punish the blind, but rather lead them by the hand. But thou, after striking him on the cheek, rustiest upon that man, who is beginning to rise to the truth, and when he is approaching with much modesty, thou insolently kickest him away (certainly, this is enough to make one shudder), whom the Lord Christ, as being good, seeks, when wandering upon the mountains, and calls to Him, when fleeing from Him, and when, with difficulty, found, places upon His shoulders. Do not, I pray, do not let us thus injuriously counsel for ourselves, nor drive the sword against ourselves. For they, who undertake to injure any one, or on |163 the contrary to do them good, do not always effect what they wish, but for themselves, when they have brought into their house vice or virtue, will be filled either with Divine virtues, or ungovernable passions. And these indeed, as followers and companions of good angels, both here and there, with all peace and freedom from all evil, will inherit the most blessed inheritances for the ever-continuing age, and will be ever with God, the greatest of all blessings; but, the other will fall both from the divine and their own peace, and here, and after death, will be companions with cruel demons. For which reason, we have an earnest desire to become companions of God, the Good, and to be ever with the Lord, and not to be separated, along with the evil, from the most Just One, whilst undergoing that which is due from ourselves, which I fear most of all, and pray to have no share in anything evil. And, with your permission, I will mention a divine vision of a certain holy man, and do not laugh, for I am speaking true.
SECTION VI.
When I was once in Crete, the holy Carpus 69 entertained me,----a man, of all others, most fitted, on account of great purity of mind, for Divine Vision. Now, he never undertook the holy celebrations of the Mysteries, unless a propitious vision were first manifested to him during his preparatory devout |164 prayers. He said then, when some one of the unbelievers had at one time grieved him (and his grief was, that he had led astray to ungodliness a certain member of the Church, whilst the days of rejoicing were still being celebrated for him); that he ought compassionately to have prayed on behalf of both, and taking God, the Saviour, as his fellow-helper, to convert the one, and to overcome the other by goodness 70, and not to have ceased warning them so long as he lived until this day; and thus to lead them to the knowledge of God, so that the things disputed by them might be clearly determined, and those, who were irrationally bold, might be compelled to be wiser by a judgment according to law. Now, as he had never before experienced this, I do not know how he then went to bed with such a surfeit of ill-will and bitterness. In this evil condition he went to sleep, for it was evening, and at midnight (for he was accustomed at that appointed hour to rise, of his own accord, for the Divine melodies) he arose, not having enjoyed, undisturbed, his slumbers, which were many and continually broken; and, when he stood collected for the, Divine Converse, he was guiltily vexed and displeased, saying, that it was not just that godless men, who pervert the straight ways of the Lord, should live. And, whilst saying this, he besought Almighty God, by some stroke of lightning, suddenly, without mercy, to cut short the lives of them both. But, whilst saying this, he declared, |165 that he seemed to see suddenly the house in which he stood, first torn asunder, and from the roof divided into two in the midst, and a sort of gleaming fire before his eyes (for the place seemed now under the open sky) borne down from the heavenly region close to him; and, the heaven itself giving way, and upon the back of the heaven, Jesus, with innumerable angels, in the form of men, standing around Him. This indeed, he saw, above, and himself marvelled; but below, when Carpus had bent down, he affirmed that he saw the very foundation ripped in two, to a sort of yawning and dark chasm, and those very men, upon whom he had invoked a curse, standing before his eyes, within the mouth of the chasm, trembling, pitiful, only just not yet carried down by the mere slipping of their feet; and from below the chasm, serpents, creeping up and gliding from underneath, around their feet, now contriving to drag them away, and weighing them down, and lifting them up, and again inflaming or irritating with their teeth or their tails, and all the time endeavouring to pull them down into the yawning gulf; and that certain men also were in the midst, co-operating with the serpents against these men, at once tearing and pushing and beating them down. And they seemed to be on the point of falling, partly against their will, partly by their will; almost overcome by the calamity, and at the same time resigned. And Carpus said, that he himself was glad, whilst looking below, and that he was forgetful of the things |166 above; further, that he was vexed and made light of it, because they had not already fallen, and that he often attempted to accomplish the fact, and that, when he did not succeed, he was both irritated and cursed. And, when with difficulty he raised himself, he saw the heaven again, as he saw it before, and Jesus, moved with pity at what was taking place, standing up from His super-celestial throne, and descending to them, and stretching a helping hand, and the angels, co-operating with Him, taking hold of the two men, one from one place and another from, another, and the Lord Jesus said to Carpus, whilst His hand was yet extended, "Strike against Me in future, for I am ready, even again, to suffer for the salvation of men; and this is pleasing to Me, provided that other men do not commit sin. But see, whether it is well for thee to exchange the dwelling in the chasm, and with serpents, for that with God, and the good and philanthropic angels." These are the things which I heard myself, and believe to be true.
TITUS.
ZENAS, one of the seventy-two disciples, who was versed in the science of law, wrote a life of Titus, and says that he was descended from the family of Minos, King of Crete. Titus gave himself to the study of Homer and Philosophy till his twentieth year, when he heard a voice from heaven, which told him to quit this place and save his soul. He |167 waited one year, to test the truth of the voice, and then had a revelation which bade him read the Hebrew Scriptures. Opening Isaiah, his eye fell on chapter xli. vv. 1-5. He was then sent to Jerusalem by the pro-consul of Crete to report upon the reality of the miracles said to be performed by Jesus Christ. He saw our Saviour, and His miracles, and believed; and became one of the seventy-two. He witnessed the Passion and Ascension; the Apostles consecrated him, and sent him with Paul, whom he attended to Antioch, to Seleucia and to Crete, where Rutilus, pro-consul, was baptized, and Titus appointed Bishop. In A.D. 64, St. Paul addressed his Epistle to Titus, and about the same time Dionysius also, this letter. Dexter records that Titus visited Spain, and that Pliny, the younger, was converted to the Faith by Titus. He consecrated the second Bishop of Alexandria, and died at the age of 94.
LETTER IX. To Titus, Hierarch, asking by letter what is the house of wisdom, what the bowl, and what are its meats and drinks?
SECTION I.
I do not know, O excellent Titus, whether the holy Timothy departed, deaf to some of the theological symbols which were explained by me. But, in the Symbolic Theology, we have thoroughly investigated for him all the expressions of the Oracles concerning God, which appear to the multitude to be monstrous. |168 For they give a colour of incongruity dreadful to the uninitiated souls, when the Fathers of the unutterable wisdom explain the Divine and Mystical Truth, unapproachable by the profane, through certain, certainly hidden and daring enigmas. Wherefore also, the many discredit the expressions concerning the Divine Mysteries. For, we contemplate them only through the sensible symbols that have grown upon them. We must then strip them, and view them by themselves in their naked purity. For, thus contemplating them, we should reverence a fountain of Life flowing into Itself----viewing It even standing by Itself, and as a kind of single power, simple, self-moved, and self-worked, not abandoning Itself, but a knowledge surpassing every kind of knowledge, and always contemplating Itself, through Itself. We thought it necessary then, both for him and for others, that we should, as far as possible, unfold the varied forms of the Divine" representations of God in symbols. For, with what incredible and simulated monstrosities are its external, forms filled? For instance, with regard to the superessential Divine generation, representing a body of God corporally generating God; and describing a word flowing out into air from a man's heart, which eructates it, and a breath, breathed forth from a mouth; and celebrating God-bearing bosoms embracing a son of God, bodily; or representing these things after the manner of |169 plants, and producing certain trees, and branches, and flowers and roots, as examples; or fountains of waters y, bubbling forth; or seductive light productions of reflected splendours; or certain other sacred representations which explain superessential descriptions of God; but with regard to the intelligible providences of Almighty God, either gifts, manifestations, or powers, or properties, or repose, or abidings, or progressions, or distinctions, or unions, clothing Almighty God in human form, and in the varied shape of wild beasts and other living creatures,
and plants, and stones; and attributing to Him ornaments of women, or weapons of savages; and assigning working in clay, and in a furnace, as it were to a sort of artisan; and placing under Him, horses and chariots and thrones; and spreading before Him certain dainty meats delicately cooked; and representing Him as drinking, and drunken, and sleeping, and suffering from excess. What would any one say concerning the angers, the griefs, the various oaths, the repentances, the curses, the revenges, the manifold and dubious excuses for the failure of promises, the battle of giants in Genesis, during which He is said to scheme against those |170 powerful and great men, and this when they were contriving the building, not with a view to injustice towards other people, but on behalf of their own safety? And that counsel devised in heaven to deceive and mislead Achab 71; and those mundane and meritricious passions of the Canticles; and all the other sacred compositions which appear in the description of God, which stick at nothing, as projections, and multiplications of hidden things, and divisions of things one and undivided, and formative and manifold forms of the shapeless and unformed; of which, if any one were able to see their inner hidden beauty, he will find every one of them mystical and Godlike, and filled with abundant theological light. For let us not think, that the appearances of the compositions have been formed for their own sake, but that they shield the science unutterable and invisible to the multitude, since things all-holy are not within the reach of the profane, but are manifested to those only who are genuine lovers of piety, who reject all childish fancy respecting the holy symbols, and are capable to pass with simplicity of mind, and aptitude of contemplative faculty, to the simple and supernatural and elevated truth of the symbols. Besides, we must also consider this, that the teaching, handed down by the Theologians is two-fold----one, secret and mystical----the other, open and better known----one, symbolical and initiative----the other, |171 philosophic and demonstrative;----and the unspoken is intertwined with the spoken. The one persuades, and desiderates the truth of the things expressed, the other acts and implants in Almighty God, by instructions in mysteries not learnt by teaching. And certainly, neither our holy instructors, nor those of the law, abstain from the God-befitting symbols, throughout the celebrations of the most holy mysteries. Yea, we see even the most holy Angels, mystically advancing things Divine through enigmas; and Jesus Himself, speaking the word of God in parables, and transmitting the divinely wrought mysteries, through a typical spreading of a table. For, it was seemly, not only that the Holy of holies should be preserved undefiled by the multitude, but also that the Divine knowledge should illuminate the human life, which is at once indivisible and divisible, in a manner suitable to itself; and to limit the passionless part of the soul to the simple, and most inward visions of the most godlike images; but that its impassioned part should wait upon, and, at the same time, strive after, the most Divine coverings, through the pre-arranged representations of the typical symbols, as such (coverings) are, by nature, congenial to it. And all those who are hearers of a distinct theology without symbols, weave in themselves a sort of type, which conducts them to the conception of the aforesaid theology. |172
SECTION II.
But also the very order of the visible universe sets forth the invisible things of Almighty God, as says both Paul and the infallible Word. Wherefore, also, the Theologians view some things politically and legally, but other things, purely and without flaw; and some things humanly, and mediately, but other things supermundanely and perfectly; at one time indeed, from the laws which are manifest, and at another, from the institutions which are unmanifest, as befits the holy writings and minds and souls under consideration. For the whole statement lying before them, and all its details, does not contain a bare history, but a vivifying perfection. We must then, in opposition to the vulgar conception concerning them, reverently enter within the sacred symbols, and not dishonour them, being as they are, products and moulds of the Divine characteristics, and manifest images of the unutterable and supernatural visions. For, not only are the superessential lights, and things intelligible, and, in one word, things Divine, represented in various forms through the typical symbols, as the superessential God, spoken of as fire, and the intelligible Oracles of Almighty God, as flames of fire; but further, even the godlike orders of the angels, both contemplated and |173 contemplating, are described under varied forms, and manifold likenesses, and empyrean shapes. And differently must we take the same likeness of fire, when spoken with regard to the inconceivable God; and differently with regard to His intelligible providences or words; and differently respecting the Angels. The, one as causal, but the other as originated, and the third as participative, and different things differently, as their contemplation, and scientific arrangements suggest.
And never must we confuse the sacred symbols hap-hazard, but we must unfold them suitably to the causes, or the origins, or the powers, or the orders, or the dignities of which they are explanatory tokens. And, in order that I may not extend my letter beyond the bounds of propriety, let us come at once to the very question propounded by you; and we affirm that every nourishment is perfective of those nourished, filling up their imperfection and their lack, and tending the weak, and guarding their lives, making to sprout, and renewing and bequeathing to them a vivifying wellbeing; and in one word, urging the slackening and imperfect, and contributing towards their comfort and perfection.
SECTION III.
Beautifully then, the super-wise and Good Wisdom is celebrated by the Oracles, as placing a mystical bowl, and pouring forth its sacred drink, but first |174 setting forth the solid meats, and with a loud voice Itself benignly soliciting those who seek It. The Divine Wisdom, then, sets forth the two-fold food; one indeed, solid and fixed, but the other liquid and flowing forth; and in a bowl furnishes Its own providential generosities. Now the bowl, being spherical and open, let it be a symbol of the Providence over the whole, which at once expands Itself and encircles all, without beginning and without end. But since, even while going forth to all, It remains in Itself, and stands fixed in unmoved sameness; and never departing from Itself, the bowl also itself stands fixedly and unmovably. But Wisdom is also said to build a house for itself, and in it to set forth the solid meats and drinks, and the bowl, so that it may be evident to those who understand things Divine in a manner becoming God, that the Author of the being, and of the well being, of all things, is both an all-perfect providence, and advances to all, and comes into being in everything, and embraces them all; and on the other hand, He, the same, in the same, par excellence, is nothing in anything at all, but overtops the whole, Himself being in Himself, identically and always; and standing, and remaining, and resting, and ever being in the same condition and in the same way, and never becoming outside Himself, nor falling from His own session, and unmoved abiding, and shrine,----yea even, in it, benevolently |175 exercising His complete and all-perfect providences, and whilst going forth to all, remaining by Himself alone, and standing always, and moving Himself; and neither standing, nor moving Himself, but, as one might say, both connaturally and supernaturally, having His providential energies, in His steadfastness, and His steadiness in His Providence.
SECTION IV.
But what is the solid food and what the liquid? For the Good Wisdom is celebrated as at once bestowing and providing these. I suppose then, that the solid food is suggestive of the intellectual and abiding perfection and sameness, within which, things Divine are participated as a stable, and strong, and unifying, and indivisible knowledge, by those contemplating organs of sense, by which the most Divine Paul, after partaking of wisdom, imparts his really solid nourishment; but that the liquid is suggestive of the stream, at once flowing through and to all; eager to advance, and further conducting those who are properly nourished as to goodness, through things variegated and many and divided, to the simple and invariable knowledge of God. Wherefore the divine and spiritually perceived Oracles are likened to dew, and water, and to milk, and wine, and honey; on account of their life-producing power, as in water; and growth-giving, as in milk; and reviving, as in wine; and both purifying and preserving, as in honey. For these things, the Divine Wisdom gives to those approaching it, and furnishes |176 and fills to overflowing, a stream of ungrudging and unfailing good cheer. This, then, is the veritable good cheer; and, on this account, it is celebrated, as at once life-giving and nourishing and perfecting.
SECTION V.
According to this sacred explanation of good cheer, even Almighty God, Himself the Author of all good things, is said to be inebriated, by reason of the super-full, and beyond conception, and ineffable, immeasurableness, of the good cheer, or to speak more properly, good condition of Almighty God. For, as regards us, in the worst sense, drunkenness is both an immoderate repletion, and being out of mind and wits; so, in the best sense, respecting God, we ought not to imagine drunkenness as anything else beyond the super-full immeasurableness of all good things pre-existing in Him as Cause. But, even in respect to being out of wits, which follows upon drunkenness, we must consider the pre-eminence of Almighty God, which is above conception, in which He overtops our conception, as being above conception and above being conceived, and above being itself; and in short, Almighty God is inebriated with, and outside of, all good things whatever, as being at once a super-full hyperbole of every immeasurableness of them all; and again, as dwelling outside and beyond the whole. Starting then from these, we will take in the same fashion even the feasting of the pious, in the Kingdom of Almighty God. For He says, the King Himself |177 will come and make them recline, and will Himself minister to them. Now these things manifest a common and concordant communion of the holy,
upon the good things of God, and a church of the first born, whose names are written in heavens; and spirits of just men made perfect by all good things, and replete with all good things; and the reclining, we imagine, a cessation from their many labours, and a life without pain; and a godly citizenship in light and place of living souls, replete with every holy bliss, and an ungrudging provision of every sort of blessed goods; within which they are filled with every delight; whilst Jesus both makes them recline, and ministers to them, and furnishes this delight; and Himself bequeaths their everlasting rest; and at once distributes and pours forth the fulness of good things.
SECTION VI.
But, I well know you will further ask that the propitious sleep of Almighty God, and His awakening, should be explained. And, when we have said, that the superiority of Almighty God, and His incommunicability with the objects of His Providence is a Divine sleep, and that the attention to His Providential cares of those who need His discipline, or His preservation, is an awakening, you will pass to other symbols of the Word of God. Wherefore, thinking it superfluous that by running |178 through the same things to the same. persons, we should seem to say different things, and, at the same time, conscious that you assent to things that are good, we finish this letter at what we have said, having set forth, as I think, more than the things solicited in your letters. Further, we send the whole of our Symbolical Theology, within which you will find, together with the house of wisdom, also the seven pillars investigated, and its solid food divided into sacrifices and breads. And what is the mingling of the wine; and again, What is the sickness arising from the inebriety of Almighty God? and in fact, the things now spoken of are explained in it more explicitly. And it is, in my judgment, a correct enquiry into all the symbols of the Word of God, and agreeable to the sacred traditions and truths of the Oracles.
LETTER X. To John, Theologos, Apostle and Evangelist, imprisoned in the Isle of Patmos.
I salute thee, the holy soul! O beloved one! and this for me is more appropriate than for most. Hail! O truly beloved! And to the truly Loveable and Desired, very beloved! Why should it be a marvel, if Christ speaks truly, and the unjust banish His disciples from their cities 72, themselves bringing upon themselves their due, and the accursed severing themselves, and departing from the holy. Truly |179 things seen are manifest images of things unseen. For, neither in the ages which are approaching, will Almighty God be Cause of the just separations from Himself, but they by having separated themselves entirely from Almighty God; even as we observe the others, becoming here already with Almighty God, since being lovers of truth, they depart from the proclivities of things material, and love peace in a complete freedom from all things evil, and a Divine love of all things good; and start their purification, even from the present life, by living, in the midst of mankind, the life which is to come, in a manner suitable to angels, with complete cessation of passion, and deification and goodness, and the other good attributes. As for you then, I would never be so crazy as to imagine that you feel any suffering; but I am persuaded that you ate sensible of the bodily sufferings merely to appraise them. But, as for those who are unjustly treating you, and fancying to imprison, not correctly, the sun of the Gospel, whilst fairly blaming them, I pray that by separating themselves from those things which they are bringing upon themselves they may be turned to the good, and may draw you to themselves, and may participate in the light. But for ourselves, the contrary will not deprive us of the all-luminous ray of John, who are even now about to read the record, and the renewal of this, thy true theology: but shortly after (for I will say |180 it, even though it be rash), about to be united to you yourself. For, I am altogether trustworthy, from having learned, and reading the things made foreknown to you by God, that you will both be liberated from your imprisonment in Patmos, and will return to the Asiatic coast, and will perform there imitations of the good God, and will transmit them to those after you.
LETTER XI. Dionysius to Apollophanes, Philosopher.
At length I send a word to thee, O Love of my heart, and recall to thy memory the many anxieties and solicitudes, which I have formerly undergone on thy account." For thou rememberest with what a mild and benevolent disposition I have been accustomed to rebuke thy obstinacy in error, although with scant reason, in order that I might uproot those vain opinions with which thou wast deceived. But now, adoring the supreme toleration of the Divine long-suffering towards thee, I offer thee my congratulations, O part of my soul, now that you are turning your eyes to your soul's health. For, even the very things which formerly you delighted to spurn, you now delight to affirm; and the things that you used to reject with scorn, you now delight to enforce. For, often have I set before you, and that with great precision, what even Moses committed to writing, that man was first made by God, from mud, and the sins of the world were punished |181 by the. flood, and in process of time, that the same Moses, united in friendship with God, - performed many wonders, both in Egypt and the exodus from Egypt, by the power and action of the same God. Nor Moses only, but other divine prophets subsequently, published similar things, not infrequently, who long before foretold that God should take the nature of man from a Virgin. To which statement of mine, not once, but often, you replied, that you did not know whether these things were true, and that you were entirely ignorant, even who that Moses was, and whether he was white or black. Further, that you rejected with scorn the Gospel of Jesus Christ, Who is God of all Majesty----which you used to call mine. Further, that Paul, the globe trotter, and a scatterer of words, who was calling people from things terrestrial to things celestial, you were unwilling to receive. Lastly, you reproach me, as a turncoat, who had left the customs of my country's religion, and was leading people to iniquitous sacrilege, and urged me to unlearn the things in which I was placing my trust; or, at least, that I should put away other people's things, and deem it sufficient to keep what was my own, lest I should be found to detract from the honour due to divine deities, and the institutions of my fathers. But, after the supernal light of the paternal glory of His own will sent the rays of His own splendour upon the darkness of your mind, at once He put into my inmost heart, that I should recall to your mind the whole counsel of God. How, for instance, |182 when we were staying in Heliopolis (I was then about twenty-five, and your age was nearly the same as mine), on a certain sixth day, and about the sixth hour, the sun, to our great surprise, became obscured, through the moon passing over it, not because it is a god, but because a creature of God, when its very true light was setting, could not bear to shine. Then I earnestly asked thee, what thou, O man most wise, thought of it. Thou, then, gave such an answer as remained fixed in my mind, and that no oblivion, not even that of the image of death, ever allowed to escape. For, when the whole orb had been throughout darkened, by a black mist of darkness, and the sun's disk had begun again to be purged and to shine anew, then taking the table of Philip Aridaeus, and contemplating the orbs of heaven, we learned, what was otherwise well known, that an eclipse of the sun could not, at that time, occur. Next, we observed that the moon approached the sun from the east, and intercepted its rays, until it covered the whole; whereas, at other times, it used to approach from the west. Further also, we noted that when it had reached the extreme edge of the sun, and had covered the whole orb, that it then went back towards the east, although that was a time which called neither for the presence of the moon, nor for the conjunction of the sun. I therefore, O treasury of manifold learning, since I was incapable of understanding so great a mystery, thus addressed thee----"What thinkest thou of this thing, O Apollophanes, mirror of |183 learning?" "Of what mysteries do these unaccustomed portents appear to you to be indications?" Thou then, with inspired lips, rather than with speech of human voice, "These are, O excellent Dionysius," thou saidst, "changes of things divine." At last, when I had taken note of the day and year, and had perceived that, that time, by its testifying signs, agreed with that which Paul announced to me, once when I was hanging upon his lips, then I gave my hand to the truth, and extricated my feet from the meshes of error. Which truth, henceforth, I, with admiration, both preach and urge upon thee----which is life and way, and true light,----which lighteth every man coming into this world,----to which even thou at last, as truly wise, hast yielded. For thou yieldedst to life when thou renounced death. And surely thou hast, at length, acted in the best possible manner, if thou shalt adhere henceforth to the same truth, so as to associate with us more closely. For those lips will henceforth be on our side, by the splendour of whose words, as blunting the edge of my mind, thou hast been accustomed by pretexts brought from various quarters, and by a gorgeous glow of eloquence, to vex the innermost recesses of our breast;----yea, even sometimes to probe us sharply by occasional stings of malice. Wherefore as formerly, as thou thyself used to say, the knowledge of Christian doctrine, although savoury, was not savoury to thee, but when you had brought yourself to it, merely to taste, it shrank from your mental palate, and as it were, disdained to find |184 a resting-place in your stomach; so now, after you have acquired a heart, intelligent and provident, elevate thyself to things supernal, and do not surrender, for things that are not, things which really are. Therefore in future, be so much more obstinate against those who have urged you to the false, as you showed yourself perverse towards us, when we invited you, with all our force, to the truth. For thus, I, in the Lord Jesus, Whose Presence is my being and my life, will henceforth die joyful, since thou also livest in Him.
---------
End of Dionysius the Areopagite. May his prayer be with us!
NOTE, p. 147.
The "twenty hours" which made one day almost equal to three are reckoned thus. A degree represents an hour. The Sun went down ten degrees = ten hours. The Sun had then run already a course of ten hours, from 6 A.M. to 4 P.M. In returning there were ten hours more, and in retracing the route ten hours more, which together make thirty hours. The two hours, to complete the day of twelve hours, make thirty-two hours. The thirty-two hours are four hours less than thirty-six, the time of three days of twelve hours each. One day was thus nearly equal to three. Whatever we may think the facts, the Babylonians commemorated the threefold Mythra ----the Sun----in consequence. See Dulac.
[Selected footnotes moved to the end and numbered]
1. a C. I. § 1.
2. b C. II. § 6.
3. c C. II. § 6.
4. d th~| tau&thj periousi/a|.
5. e I Tim. vi. 6.
6. f Ib. i. 17.
7. g Ps. cxxxix. 6.
8. h Rom. xi. 33.
9. i 2 Cor. ix. 15.
10. j Phil. iv. 7.
11. k Acts xx. 4; Rom. xvi. 21.
12. l Tit. iii. 9.
13. m Greeks or others.
14. n i Cor. ii. 7.
15. 0 Dan. ii. 21. See note, p. 184.
16. p Joshua x. 12-14; Eccl. xlvi. 4; Isaiah xxviii. 21.
17. q Of twelve hours: 2 Kings xx. 9-11; Isaiah xxxviii. 8.
18. r Isaiah xxxix. 1; 2 Kings xx. 12; 2 Chron. xxxii. 31.
19. s Ex. vii. 14.
20. t See Dulac.
21. u Mark xv. 33; Luke xxiii. 44.
22. v The contact or adumbration refers to the moon, the re-clearing to the sun. See notes on this letter in Ant. Ed. and Schema, p. 258, vol. 2.
23. w Num. xii. 3-8.
24. x Ex. iv. 14.
25. y Num. xvi. 1-11.
26. z Matt. i. 1-16.
27. a I Sam. xxiv. 7, xiii. 14.
28. b Ex. xxiii. 4.
29. c Job i. 8.
30. d Gen. 1. 21.
31. e i Cor. xiii. 5.
32. f Ps. xv. 3.
33. g Rom. xii. 21.
34. h Matt. v. 45.
35. i Zech. i. 12.
36. k Luke xv. 7.
37. l Ps. xci. 11.
38. m Matt. vi. 19.
39. n Luke xxiii. 34.
40. o Ib. xv. 20.
41. p 1 John 10, ii.
42. q Matt. xii. 26.
43. r Is. xxx. 18.
44. s Ec. Hier. c. 6. part 2.
45. t 2 Chron. xxvi. 16-19.
46. u I Sam. xiii. 19.
47. x Mark iii. 11.
48. y Lev. xvi. 2.
49. z Ex. xxx. 10.
50. a Ib. xix. 21.
51. b Num. iv. 15.
52. c Ib. xii. 10.
53. d Jer. xxiii. 21.
54. e Is. xlvi. 3.
55. f Matt. vii. 23.
56. g Deut. xvi. 20.
57. h 1 Tim. iv. 16.
58. i Rom. xii. 3-6.
59. k Rom. ii. 23.
60. l Mal. ii. 7.
61. m Eph. iv. 18.
62. n Acts xix. 2.
63. 0 Deut. xvi. 20.
64. p 2 Cor. xiii. 10.
65. q I Tim. iii. 5.
66. r Luke xvi. 10.
67. s Jer. ii. 13-35.
68. t Rom. i. 27.
69. m 2 Tim. iv. 13.
70. n Rom. xi. 21.
71. a I Kings xxii. 20.
72. u Matt. xxiii. 34.
This text was transcribed by Roger Pearse, 2004. All material on this page is in the public domain - copy freely.
Greek text is rendered using the Scholars Press SPIonic font, free from here.
Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
SOURCE SECTION: areopagite_09_preface.htm
Dionysius the Areopagite, Works (1897) p.185-186. Preface to the Liturgy
Dionysius the Areopagite, Works (1897) p.185-186. Preface to the Liturgy
PREFACE TO LITURGY.
THIS Liturgy gives the doctrine of Dionysius in a liturgical form. The Greek original might be restored from the writings of Dionysius. No one could reasonably doubt that the Author of the Writings and the Liturgy was the same. This Liturgy should be compared with the Coptic Liturgy of Dionysius, Bishop of Athens, disciple of Paul, and with the Liturgy of St. Basil, adapted from this, as used by the Uniat Copts, translated by the Marquess of Bute. In my opinion, this Liturgy was written for the Therapeutae near Alexandria, described by Philo in his "contemplative life," who were Christians; who occupied themselves with the contemplation of the Divine Names, and the heavenly Hierarchy. It was written not earlier than the death of James, Apostle and Martyr, A.D. 42, and probably not later than A.D. 67; when Dionysius, at the request of St. Paul, left Athens to meet the Apostle at Rome, for the purpose of being sent by him to Gaul. A note of primitive antiquity is found in the description of the Church, as "from one end of the earth to the other." There is no "one, only, holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Orthodox Church," as in the later Liturgy of St. Basil. Some expressions are obscure, from the Latin |186 Version, and it would be rash, without profound study, to venture to suggest the Greek text. In consequence of this, and other Liturgies, and his excellent writings, Dionysius was frequently commemorated in the diptychs as one of the Doctors of the Church.
This text was transcribed by Roger Pearse, 2004. All material on this page is in the public domain - copy freely.
Greek text is rendered using the Scholars Press SPIonic font, free from here.
Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
SOURCE SECTION: areopagite_10_liturgy.htm
Dionysius the Areopagite, Works (1897) p.187-201. The Liturgy
Dionysius the Areopagite, Works (1897) p.187-201. The Liturgy
LITURGY OF ST. DIONYSIUS, BISHOP OF THE ATHENIANS 1.
st. The Prayer before the Pax 2.
Pr.3 "O Lord God, Who art simplex, not compound, and hidden in essence sublime! God the Father, from Whom all paternity which is in heaven and earth is named 4, Source of Divinity, of those who participate in the Divine Nature, and Perfector of those who attain perfection; Good above all good, and Beautiful above all beautiful; Peaceful repose, Peace, Concord and Union of all souls; compose the dissensions which divide us from one another, and lead them back to an union with charity, which has a kind of similitude to Thy sublime essence: and as Thou art One above all, and we, one, through the unanimity of a good mind; that we may be found before Thee simplex and not divided, whilst celebrating this mystery; and that through the embraces of Charity and bonds of Love, we may be spiritually one, both with ourselves and with one another, through that Thy Peace pacifying all; through the Grace and Compassion and Love towards man of Thine Only-begotten Son; through |188 Whom, and with Whom is due to Thee, glory, honour and dominion, with Thy most holy Spirit." P. "Amen." Pr. "Pax" (to all). P. "And with thy spirit." D. "Let each one give the Peace." P. "All." D. "Post." P. "Before Thee, O Lord." Pr. "Giver of Holiness, and distributor of every good, O Lord, Who sanctifiest every rational creature with sanctification, which is from Thee; sanctify, through Thy Holy Spirit, us Thy servants, who bow before Thee; free us from all servile passions of sin, from envy, treachery, deceit, hatred, enmities, and from him, who works the same, that we may be worthy, holily to complete the ministry of these life-giving Sacraments, through the heavenly Pontiff, Jesus Christ, Thine Only-begotten Son, through Whom, and with Whom, is due to Thee, glory and honour." P. "Amen." Pr. "Essentially existing, and from all ages; Whose nature is incomprehensible, Who art near and present to all, without any change of Thy sublimity; Whose goodness every existing thing longs for and desires; the intelligible indeed, and creatures endowed with intelligence, through intelligence; those endowed with sense, through their senses; Who, although Thou art One essentially, nevertheless art present with us, and amongst us, in this hour, in which Thou hast called and led us to these Thy holy mysteries; and hast made us worthy to stand before the sublime throne of Thy majesty, and to handle the sacred vessels of Thy ministry with our impure hands: take away from us, O Lord, the cloke of iniquity in which |189 we are enfolded, as from Jesus, the son of Josedec the High Priest, Thou didst take away the filthy garments, and adorn us with piety and justice, as Thou didst adorn him with a vestment of glory; that clothed with Thee alone, as it were with a garment, and being like temples crowned with glory, we may see Thee unveiled with a mind divinely illuminated, and may feast, whilst we, by communicating therein, enjoy this sacrifice set before us; and render to Thee glory and praise." P. "Amen." D. "Let us stand becomingly." P. "The Mercies of God." Pr. "Charity." P. "And with thy spirit." Pr. "Lift up your hearts." P. "We lift them to the Lord." Pr. "Let us give thanks to the Lord." P. "It is meet and right." Priest (bending low), "For truly the celebration of Thy benefits, O Lord, surpasses, the powers of mind, of speech, and of thought; neither is sufficient every mouth, mind and tongue, to glorify Thee worthily. For, by Thy word the heavens were made, and by the breath of Thy mouth all the celestial powers; all the lights in the firmament, sun and moon, sea and dry land, and whatever is in them. The voiceless, by their silence, the vocal, by their voices, words and hymns, perpetually bless Thee; because Thou art essentially good and beyond all praise, existing in Thy essence incomprehensibly. This visible and sensible creature praises Thee, and also that intellectual, placed above sensible perception. Heaven and earth glorify Thee. Sea and air proclaim Thee. The sun, in his course, praises Thee; |190 the Moon, in her changes, venerates Thee. Troops of Archangels, and hosts of Angels; those virtues, more sublime than the world and mental faculty, send benedictions to Thine abode. Rays of light, eminent and hidden, send their sanctus to Thy glory. Principalities and Orders praise Thee, with their Jubilate. Powers and dominions venerate Thee. Virtues, Thrones and Seats inaccessible exalt Thee. Splendours of light eternal----mirrors without flaw----holy essences----recipients of wisdom sublime----beyond all, investigators of the will hidden from all, in clearest modulations of inimitable tones, and by voices becoming a rational creature; many eyed Cherubim of most subtle movement, bless Thee. Séraphin, furnished with six wings intertwined, cry Sanctus unto Thee. Those very ones, who veil their faces with their wings, and cover their feet with wings, and flying on every side, and clapping with their wings, (that they may not be devoured by Thy devouring fire) sing one to another with equal harmony of all, sweet chants, pure from every thing material, rendering to Thee, eternal glory; crying with one hymn, worthy of God, and saying," P. "Holy, holy, holy." Priest (bending)----"Holy art Thou, O God the Father, Omnipotent, Maker and Creator of every creature----Invisible and visible, and sensible; Holy art Thou, O God, the Only-begotten Son, Power and Wisdom of the Father, Lord and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Holy art Thou, O God, the Holy Spirit, Perfector and Sanctifier of Saints. Triad, Holy and undivided:----co-essential and of |191 equal glory, Whose compassion towards our race is most effusive. Thou art holy, and making all things holy. Who didst not leave that, our very race, in exile from Paradise, although in the meantime involved in every kind of sin, but wast manifested to it by the Word, Who, in the presence of the" world, suffered extreme poverty; it in very truth, He, the Word, took, being made like to it in all things, sin excepted, that it might make Him prepared beforehand unto holiness, and disposed for this life-giving feast. (Raising his voice) Who being conceived, formed and configured by the Holy Spirit, and from virgin blood of the Virgin Mary, holy genitrix of God, was born indeed Man, and from the pure and most holy body of the same, and receiving Deity in Flesh, whilst the law and properties of nature were preserved, but in a manner beyond nature, and was acknowledged God in the Spirit, and Man in the flesh; and inasmuch as the Word existed before the ages, from Thee, as was worthy of God, was born, and by power and miracles, such as became the Maker of all, was testified that He was such, from the very fact that He has freely imparted a complete healing and a perfect salvation to the whole human race. Likewise, in the end and consummation of His dispensation on our behalf, and before His saving Cross, He took bread into His pure and holy hands, and looked to Thee, O God the Father; giving thanks, He blessed, sanctified, brake and gave to His disciples, the holy Apostles, saying, "Take and eat from it and |192 believe that it is my body, that same, which for you and for many is broken and given, for the expiation of faults, the remission of sins, and eternal life." P. "Amen." Pr. "Likewise, in the same manner, over the cup also, which He mingled with wine and water, He gave thanks, blessed, sanctified, and gave to the same disciples and holy apostles, saying, ' Take, drink from it, all of you, and believe that this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed and given for you and for many, for the expiation of faults, remission of sins, and eternal life.' "P. "Amen."
Pr. "Himself also, through the same holy Apostles, gave a precept to the whole company and congregation of the faithful, saying, 'This do to the memory of Me, and as oft as ye shall eat this bread and drink the commixture which is in this cup, and shall celebrate this feast, ye shall perform a commemoration of My death until I come.'" P. "Of Thy death, O Lord, we perform a memorial." Pr. "Obeying, then, Thy sovereign precept, and celebrating a commemoration of Thy death and resurrection, through this sacrifice in perpetual mystery, we await also Thy second coming, the renovation of our race, and the vivification of our mortality. For, not simply, but with glory worthy of God, in Spirit ineffable, Thou wilt terribly come, and seated upon the lofty throne of Thy majesty, Thou wilt exact the acknowledgment of Thy royal power, from all things created and made: and justly, Thou wilt take vengeance for Thy image upon those who |193 have corrupted it through evil passions. This sacrifice, here celebrated, we commemorate to Thee, O Lord, and the sufferings which Thou didst endure on the Cross for us. Be propitious, O Good, and Lover of men, in that hour full, of fear and trembling, to this congregation of those adoring Thee, and to all sons of the holy Church, bought by Thy precious blood. May coals of fire be kept from those who are tinged with Thy blood, and sealed by Thy sacraments in Thy holy Name, as formerly the Babylonian flame from the youths of the house of Hanania; for neither do we know others beside Thee, O God, nor in other have we hope of attaining salvation, since indeed Thou art the Helper and Saviour of our race; and on this account, our wise Church, through all our lips and tongues, implores Thee, and through Thee, and with Thee, Thy Father, saying"----
P. "Have mercy." Pr. "We also." D. "How tremendous is this hour." (The Priest bending, says the prayer of the invocation of the Holy Spirit.) Pr. "I invoke Thee, O God the Father, have mercy upon us, and wash away, through Thy grace, the uncleanness of my evil deeds; destroy, through Thy mercy, what I have done, worthy of wrath; for I do not extend my hands to Thee with presumption, for I am not able even to look to heaven on account of the multitude of my iniquities and the filth of my wickedness. But, strengthening my mind, in Thy loving-kindness, grace and long-suffering, I crave Thy holy Spirit, that Thou wouldst send |194 Him upon me, and upon these oblations, here set forth, and upon Thy faithful people." Pr. "Hear me, O Lord." P. "Kyrie eleison," three times. Pr. "Through His alighting upon them, and His overshadowing, may He make this bread indeed, living body, and procuring life to our souls; body salutary----body celestial----body saving our souls and bodies----body of our Lord God and Saviour, Jesus Christ----for remission of sins, and eternal life, for those receiving it." P. "Amen." Pr. "And the commixture, which is in this cup, may He make living blood, and procuring life to all our souls; blood salutary----blood celestial----blood saving our souls and bodies----blood of our Lord God and Saviour Jesus Christ, for remission of sins to those receiving them." P. "Amen." Pr. "Further, according to the tradition, and Divine recommendation of those, who were eye witnesses of Thy mysteries, and interpreters of Thy wonderful acts, we offer this Eucharist before Thee, O Lord, and through it we commemorate Thy charity towards us,- and the universal dispensation of Thine Only-begotten One, in this world, that Thou wouldst also be reminded through it of Thy mercy, cognate and natural to Thee, which, at all hours, is shed upon Thy creatures, and wouldst snatch us from the wrath, reserved for the wicked; and from the punishments of those who work iniquity; and from the cruel attack of demons, who attack our souls, when we shall go hence; and wouldst make us worthy of Thy kingdom, and the habitations of those who have kept Thy precepts; |195 and we will render to Thee, glory and the giving of thanks, &c." P. "Amen." Pr. (bending) "By Thy words, that cannot lie, and by Thy most true teachings, Thou hast said, O Lord, that great is the joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth. Rejoice then now, O Lord, in the conversion of Thy servants, who stand here before Thee; add also, exultation over us, to the souls of the pious and just Fathers ---- Patriarchs ---- Prophets ---- Apostles ----Preachers ---- Evangelists ---- Martyrs ---- Confessors ----Zealots" of Divine Worship----Benefactors----Givers of Alms----of those who minister to the necessities of the poor----and from all, may there be one act of praise to-day,, before Thee, at this holy Altar, and in the heavenly Jerusalem." (Elevating his voice) "And on account of these, and other things of the same kind, may Thy holy Church, which is from one end of the earth to the other, be established, and preserved in tranquillity and peace, in doctrines evangelical and apostolical, by Divine Hierarchs, rightly dispensing the word of truth, and instructing, by the dogmas of true religion: through holy Priests, who embrace the word of life, and carry themselves illustriously in dispensing Thy celestial mysteries: through Deacons, who are modest, and perform the pure and royal ministry without flaw, through true, faithful ones, who occupy themselves in words and acts worthy of a Christian; through choirs of virgins of each sex, bearing about in their members the life-giving mortification of Thy Only-begotten Son. And from hence, in one troop, may we all be sent to that |196 Church, the Jerusalem of the firstborn, whose names are written in the heavens, and there let us spiritually glorify Thee, O God the Father, and Thine Only-begotten Son, and Thy Holy Spirit." P. "Amen." Pr. "Assist also, O Lord, all those who assist Thy Holy Church, by offerings----by tenths----by ministry----and by oblations; and those also, who ask the prayers of our littleness, give to them the object of those their prayers, O Lord, Lover of men." (Raising his voice) "Send also perfect attention and full health to all those who have the charge of the poor, who provide food for orphans and widows, and visit the infirm and afflicted. Restore to them, here indeed abundance and goods, there also delights incorruptible, because thou art Lord of each age, and distributor of immense reward. And to Thee beseems beneficence, both here and there, and to Thine Only-begotten Son." P. "Amen." Pr. (bending) "Restrain, O King of Kings, the wrath of kings, mitigate the fury of soldiers, take away wars and seditions, cast down the pride of heretics, and the sentences pronounced against us by Justice, may Thy love for mankind overcome, and turn into the gentleness of benignity"; (raising his voice) "Tranquillity and Peace from Thee, concede to the earth and all its inhabitants, visit it with Thy benefits and the care of Thy mercy, with a good and temperate condition of atmosphere, copiousness of fruits, and abundance of crops, and variety of flowers; preserve it from all pests of fury, and all unjust attacks of enemies, both spiritual and sensible, that |197 without any injury of passion, we may sing perpetual hymns of praise, to Thee and to Thine Only-begotten Son." P. "Amen." Pr. (bending} "At this altar, and at that more exalted one in heaven, may there be a good remembrance of all those, who, out of the world, have pleased Thee----chiefly indeed of the Holy genitrix of God, of John the Messenger, Baptist and Forerunner, of Peter and Paul, and of the holy company of the Apostles, of Stephen also, and of the whole multitude of Martyrs, and of all those, who, before them, with them and after them, have pleased, and do please Thee." (Raising his voice) "And since indeed Thou art Omnipotent, to the company of those beloved ones and to Thy family, join our weakness, O Lord, to that blessed congregation, to this Divine part, that, through them may be received our oblations and prayers, before the lofty throne of Thy Majesty, inasmuch as we are weak and infirm, and wanting in confidence before Thee. Forsooth, our sin and our righteousness are as nothing in comparison with the ocean, broad and immense, of Thy mercy. Looking then, into the hearts of each, send to each one good returns for their petitions, that in all and in each may be adored and praised, Thy Majesty, and that of Thine Only-begotten Son." P. "Amen." Pr. (bending) "Remember, O Lord, all Bishops, Doctors and Prelates of Thy holy Church, those, who from James, Apostle, Bishop and Martyr, to this present day, have pleased, and do please Thee." (Raising his voice) "Engraft in us, O Lord, their true faith, |198 and their zeal for the true religion; their sincere chanty without defect; their morals without stain; in order that, adhering to their footsteps, we may be partakers of their reward, and of the crowns of victory which are prepared for them in Thy heavenly kingdom, and there, together with them, we may sing to Thee, Glory unceasing, and to Thy Only-begotten Son." P. "Amen." Pr. (bending) "Remember, O Lord, all those who are fallen asleep, who have laid themselves down in Thy hope, in the true faith. More especially, and by name, our Fathers, Brothers and Masters, and those, on behalf of whom, and by favour of whom, this holy oblation is offered," (raising his voice) "join, O Lord, their names, with the names of Thy Saints in the blessed habitation of those, who feast and rejoice in Thee; not recalling against them the memory of their sins, nor bringing to their memory the things which they have foolishly done. For no one is tied to the flesh, and at the same time, innocent in Thy sight. For One alone has been seen on earth without sin, Jesus Christ, Thine Only-begotten Son; Simplex 5, who came to composition, through whom we also have hope of obtaining mercy." P. "Keep quiet." Pr. (bending) "Remitting our and their voluntary sins, knowingly or ignorantly committed. Be propitious, O Lord, Lover of men." (Raising his voice) "And grant to us a peaceful end, departure with mercy, that we may stand without fault on the right hand; and, |199 with open face, and confidence, run to meet the arising of Thine Only-begotten Son, and His second and glorious manifestation from heaven; and may hear from Him, that blessed voice, which He shall pronounce at the last day to the Blessed." "Blessed of my Father receive the inheritance of the heavenly kingdom," "that in this, as in all, may be glorified and praised, Thy most venerated Name." P. "That, &c." Pr. "Peace." P. "And with thy spirit." The Priest breaks the Host, and says the prayer, before "Our Father." Pr, "Father of all, and Beginning, Which is above all things-----Light eternal, and Fountain of Light, Which illuminates all natures endowed with reason; Who callest the poor from the dust, and raisest the beggar from the dunghill; and hast called us, lost, rejected, and infirm, to the liberty and household dignity of Thy sons, through Thy beloved Son, grant to us, that we may appear in Thy sight, holy sons, and not unworthy of the name; and may also perform all our ministry after a blameless manner; and with purity of soul, and cleanness of intellect, and with a godly mind, whenever we invoke Thee, God the Father Omnipotent, holy and heavenly, we pray and say, Our Father, which art in heaven." P. "Hallowed be Thy Name, &c." Pr. "Free us, Thy servants and sons, from all temptations, most difficult, and surpassing our forces; and from all griefs, which can bring loss to our body or soul. Guard us, at the same time from the evil one, and from his universal power, and from his most pernicious devices. For |200 Thou art King of all, and to Thee we render glory." P. "Amen." Pr. "Peace," P. "And with thy spirit." D. "Before" (Ante). P. "Before Thee, O Lord." (Coram.) Pr. "Look, O Lord, upon Thy faithful people, who bend before Thee, and await Thy gift, and contemplate the deposit of the Sacraments of Thy Only-begotten, O God the Father. Take not away Thy grace from us, and cast us not away from Thy ministry, and from participation in Thy sacraments, but prepare us, that we may be pure and without flaw, and worthy of this feast; and that, with a conscience unblamable, we may ever enjoy His precious body and blood; and in a life, glorious and endless, may recline in a spiritual habitation, and may feast at the table of Thy kingdom, and may render to Thee glory and praise." P. "Amen." Pr. "Peace." P. "And with thy spirit." D. "With fear." Pr. "Holy things to holy persons." P. "One holy Father." D. "Let us stand becomingly." P. "Before Thee." Pr. "We give thanks to Thee, O Lord, and with grateful mind we acknowledge Thy loving-kindness; because, from nothing, Thou hast led us forth to that which we are, and hast made us members of Thy household, and sons of Thy sacraments; and hast entrusted this religious ministry to us, and hast made us worthy of this spiritual table. Preserve in us, O Lord, the deposit of Thy Divine Mysteries, that we may frame and complete our life in Thy sight, after the fashion of the angels; that we may be secured and |201 inseparable through the reception of Thy holy (mysteries); performing Thy great and perfect will, and may be found ready for that last consummation, and to stand before Thy Majesty, and may be made worthy of the pleasure of Thy kingdom, through the grace, mercy and love towards man, of Thy Only-begotten Son, through Whom, and with Whom, is due to Thee, glory, honour, &c." P. "Amen." Pr. "Peace." P. "And with thy spirit." D. "After" (Post), P. "Before Thee, O Lord." Pr. "O Christ, the King of Glory, and Father of the Age to come; Holy Sacrifice; heavenly Hierarch; Lamb of God, Who takest away the sin of the world, spare the sins of Thy people, and dismiss the foolishness of Thy flock. Preserve us, through, the communication of Thy Sacraments, from every sin, whether it be committed by word, or thought, or deed; and from whatever makes us far from the familiarity of Thy household, that our bodies may be guarded by Thy body, and our souls renewed through Thy sacraments. And may Thy benediction, O Lord, be in our whole man, within and without; and may Thou be glorified in us, and by us, and may Thy right hand rest upon us, and that of Thy blessed Father, and of Thy most holy Spirit." P. "Amen." D. "Bless, O Lord."
CANNES,
Christmas, 1896.
[Footnotes moved to end and numbered]
1. a Liturgiarum Orien. Collectio E. Renaudoti. Par. 1847. T, ii. p. 201.
2. b D. N., C. 1. §4; C. II. § 11.
3. c Pr. = Priest. D. = Deacon. P. = Populus.
4. d C. II. § 5.
5. e D. N., C. I. § 4.
This text was transcribed by Roger Pearse, 2004. All material on this page is in the public domain - copy freely.
Greek text is rendered using the Scholars Press SPIonic font, free from here.
Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
SOURCE SECTION: areopagite_11_objections.htm
Dionysius the Areopagite, Works (1897) p.202-208. Objections to genuineness
Dionysius the Areopagite, Works (1897) p.202-208. Objections to genuineness
OBJECTIONS TO GENUINENESS.
THE most plausible objection to the genuineness of these writings is thus expressed by Dupin: "Eusebius and Jerome wrote an accurate catalogue of each author known to them----with a few obscure exceptions,----and yet never mention the writings of the Areopagite." Great is the rejoicing in the House of the Anti-Areopagites over this PROOF;----'but what are the facts? Eusebius acknowledges that innumerable works have not come to him----Jerome disclaims either to know or to give an accurate catalogue either of authors or works. The Library of Caesarea contained three hundred thousand volumes, according to the modest computation of Doublet, according to Schneider, many more----Jerome says there are some writings, so illustrious in themselves, that they will not suffer from not being mentioned by him; Jerome fallows Dionysius on the Heavenly Hierarchy; Jerome's Catalogue of Illustrious Men contains one hundred and thirty-five names.
Josephus is mentioned for his testimony to Christ ----Seneca, for his correspondence with St, Paul----Philo, for his description of the Therapeutse of Alexandria. Yet Dupin would have the unwary infer that Jerome gives a full catalogue of each Author known to him, with a few obscure exceptions.
The "Ecclesiastical History "of Eusebius treats of |203 the nature of Christ, the companions of the Apostles, the Martyrdoms----the succession of Bishops----the persecutions----the folk-lore of the Church to the fourth Century. The Book would fill about 125 pages, yet Dupin would have us believe that he gives a complete catalogue; He does not give the writings of Hymenseus and Narcissus, of Athenagoras, and Pantaenus, nor a complete list of Clement, Origen, and Dionysius of Alexandria. His silence, in my opinion, is owing to "odium theologicum." According to Eusebius, Jesus is ditto&j; according to Dionysius, Jesus is a(plou~j; both true when properly understood, but when misunderstood----"Hinc lachrymae illae"----Dupin formed his premise for his conclusion, not from facts 1.
FALLACY OF NAMES.
Pearson, Daillé, Blundellum, Erasmus, Valla, Westcott, Lupton, pronounce against the genuineness. Who are you? But Pearson demolishes Daillé; Vossius pulverises Blundellum; Erasmus repudiates Valla. Dr. Westcott, following Dupin, assumes the non-genuineness, but his literary instinct places his Article on Dionysius before that on Origen. Dean Colet bumps the scale against Mr. Lupton.
Pearson, in the xth Chapter of Ignatii Vindiciae, gives the shortest and best summary in favour of the genuineness. Speaking of the scholars of his own day, he says, "No one is so ignorant as not to know that these writings were recognised as genuine by the |204 best judges in the sixth, fifth, fourth, and third centuries." Unhappily, he also said, Every "erudite "person regarded them in his day as written in the fourth century, and he assumed the date of Eusebius' death, as the date of the works, to account for his silence. Hence every inerudite person, who wished to pass for erudite, maintained that opinion for his own reputation. But when Pearson had re-surveyed the evidence, he confessed, with shame, that though he had given, what seemed to him a true opinion, he left the decision of the whole matter to the judgment of a more learned person.
Erasmus, in his "Institutio "of a Christian Prince, writes thus:----"Divus ille Dionysius qui fecit tres Hierarchias." In his prime work, "ratio verae religionis," Erasmus not only enumerates the "Divine Names," the "Mystic and Symbolic Theology," but calls them, not Stoic, not Platonic, not Aristotelian, but "celestial" philosophy. He so moulds Dionysius into his book, that it becomes Dionysius writing elegant Latin. The only reason which outweighed with him all external testimony, was, that Erasmus could not imagine that any man, living in apostolic times, and so far removed from the age of Erasmus, could possibly have penned such a mirror of apostolic doctrine. How could the Areopagite, though disciple of Paul, and familiar friend of John Theologus, possibly be so learned as the author of these writings? Such is the testimony of the two Theologians who have been permitted to be doubtful of the genuineness. |205
GREGORY OF TOURS 2.
Gregory is the great authority of those who think that the St. Denis of France is not identical with Dionysius the Areopagite. The authority is worthy of their critical acumen. Gregory collects the more obscure martyrdoms, in Gaul, under Nero, and subsequent Emperors. He gives several martyrdoms under Nero, and thus proves the Apostolic Evangelisation of Gaul. Gregory quotes, and misquotes, and misunderstands the ancient document 3, "Concerning 4 seven men sent by St. Peter into Gaul,----in Gallias----to preach." "Under Claudius ----sub CLDIO----Peter the Apostle sent certain disciples into Gaul to preach,----they were, Trophimus, Paulus, Martial, Austremonius, Gatianus, Saturninus, Valerius, and many companions."----These men were sent A.D. 42 ----43. Gregory omits Valerius, and inserts Dionysius ----who was not converted to the Christian Faith till A.D. 44 or 49. Then Gregory misreads "Claudio "for "consulibus Decio," and adds, "Grato" as the fellow-consul. Thus a disciple of the Apostles, sent by Clement, successor of Peter, arrives in Gaul A.D. 250, and the identical names of his companions recur miraculously in the third century. At the very time that Trophimus 5 is thus supposed to have arrived at Aries, we have a letter from Cyprian, A.D. 254, urging Pope Stephen to depose Marcion, 15th or |206 18th Bishop of Aries from Trophimus. Such is the basis upon which our critical friends build their house upon the sand.
THE PÈRES BOLANDISTES.
The Pères Bolandistes are a wonder in Christendom. They are critical, and yet follow the gross blunder of Gregory of Tours. They belong to the papal obedience, and yet prefer Gregory of Tours when wrong, to Gregory XIII., when right. They pronounce the solemn declaration of Pope John XIXth, "that Martial of Limoges was an apostolic man 6," as of no historic value. They think that St. John Damascene did not possess the same critical apparatus for proving the authenticity of the writings of Dionysius, that we possess in the xixth Century. Their "actes authentiques 7" of Dionysius acknowledge that he was sent to Gaul by Clement, successor of Peter; and yet they affirm that he arrived in Gaul, A.D, 250. After Clement I., who succeeded Peter and Paul, there was not another Clement, Bishop of Rome, for a thousand years 8. Happily, Les petits Bolandistes are more rational and critical than their Pères.
GENERAL OBJECTION.
"The style, the theological learning, the language and allusions, prove the writings written after the apostolic age." |207
Is the Epistolary style the proof? St. Paul, St. John, St. Peter, St. Luke, and nearly the whole of the New Testament is written under the form of Epistles. The Epistle of St. James,----the first written in the Canon of the New Testament,----will bear comparison with the book of Job for ornate diction. Consult the marginal references to the Epistle of St. Peter, to see the scriptural knowledge of the Apostles. Men use the testimony of the High Priests, that the Apostles were unlearned and ignorant men, but omit their testimony that they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus; and the further testimony, that Jesus opened their understanding, that they should understand the testimony of the Scriptures, respecting Himself; and further, that the Holy Spirit should recall to them whatever He had said to them. Those who would rather assume twenty miracles, than acknowledge one natural fact, surmise, that a Syrian, in the ivth century, may have written Greek permeated with technical expressions of Plato and Aristotle. There is not a single allusion to persons or events after the first century, unless it be supposed that the Epistle of Ignatius, A.D. 108, is quoted. The works abound in names recorded in the New Testament. The Apostolic Epistles allude to the leaven of heresy already working. The Antwerp edition gives about five hundred references to Holy Scripture in the Writings of Dionysius. He quotes every book in the Bible, except the two last particular Epistles of St. John, or John Presbyter. Dionysius writes |208 four letters to Gaius, to whom St. John wrote his third Epistle. We have, therefore, in the writings of this Apostolic man, a proof that the Canonical Scriptures were quoted as the Oracles of God, in the first century, and a triumphant testimony that
Faith is more trustworthy than criticism.
Thanks be to God!
-----------------
Other Works by same Author.
HOLY SCRIPTURES IN CHURCH OF ROME.
APOSTOLIC TRADITIONS ACCORDING TO THE COUNCIL OF TRENT.
THE CELESTIAL AND ECCLESIASTICAL HIERARCHY.
Printed by James Parker and Co., Crown Yard, Oxford.
[Footnotes moved to the end and numbered]
1. a Vidieu, page 107.
2. b L'Abbé Darras. St. Denys 1'Areopagite, p. 34.
3. c Ibid., p. 51.
4. d See Monuments inédits de M. Faillon, t. ii. p. 375.
5. e Darras, p. 14.
6. f See Surius.
7. g Darras, 293-300.
8. h Clement I., A.D. 67, Cl. II. 1046.
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Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
SOURCE SECTION: areopagite_12_introduction.htm
Dionysius the Areopagite, Works (1899) vol. 2. p.i-xx. Introduction.
Dionysius the Areopagite, Works (1899) vol. 2. p.i-xx. Introduction.
THE WORKS OF
DIONYSIUS THE AREOPAGITE.
PART II.
THE HEAVENLY HIERARCHY,
AND
THE ECCLESIASTICAL HIERARCHY
NOW FIRST TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH,
FROM THE ORIGINAL GREEK,
by the
REV. JOHN PARKER, M.A.
Author of "Christianity Chronologically Confirmed" &c.
James Parker and Co.
6 SOUTHAMPTON-STREET, STRAND, LONDON;
AND 27 BROAD-STREET, OXFORD.
1899.
CONTENTS.
Dionysius the Areopagite and the Alexandrine School v
On the Heavenly Hierarchy 1
On the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy 67
Appendix:----
Lists of Bishops 163
Apostolic Traditions generally in abeyance 167
Index 168
TO
THE MEMORY OF
EDWARD BOUVERIE PUSEY,
THEOLOGIAN
OF THE
CHURCH OF BRITAIN.
BOOKS TO BE READ.
st. "The doctrine of the Lord, through the Twelve Apostles, to the Gentiles." Spence, Nisbet.
nd. "The Apostolic Constitutions." Lagarde. Williams and Norgate, 1862.
rd. "Coptic Constitutions." Lagarde. Tattam, 1845,
th. Justin Martyr----for Liturgy.
th. Hippolitus, "Refutation of all heresies." Duncker. Göttingen, 1859.
th. Hierocles on "Golden Verses" of Pythagoras. Roger Daniel. London, 1654.
th. "Ecclesiastical History (in Greek) from establishment of the Church to our own time." By Professor Kyriakos. Athens, 1898.
th. "St. Denys, l'Areopagite, premier Evèque de Paris." Darras, 1863. Vives, Paris.
9th. Gale's "Court of the Gentiles." Hall, Oxon, 1672.
10th. Dexter's Chronicle. Migne, T. 31.
11th. Monuments inédits. Faillon.
DIONYSIUS THE AREOPAGITE
AND
THE ALEXANDRINE SCHOOL.
ALEXANDRIA became the home of Christian Philosophy, but Athens was its birthplace. Pantaenus and Ammonius-Saccus were chief founders of the Alexandrine School. They were both Christian. They both drew their teaching from the Word of God, " the Fountain of Wisdom," and from the writings of Hierotheus, and Dionysius the Areopagite----Bishops of Athens. For several centuries there had been a Greek preparation for the Alexandrine School. As the Old Testament was a Schoolmaster, leading to Christ, so the Septuagint, Pythagoras, Plato, Aristobulus, Philo, and Apollos were heralds who prepared the minds of men for that fulness of light and truth in Jesus Christ, which, in Alexandria, clothed itself in the bright robes of Divine Philosophy.
Pantaenus was born in Athens, a.d. 120, and died in Alexandria, a.d. 213. He was Greek by nationality, and Presbyter of the Church in, Alexandria by vocation. First, Stoic, then Pythagorean, he became Christian some time before a.d. 186, at which date he was appointed chief instructor in the Didaskeleion, |vi by Demetrius, Bishop of Alexandria. Pantaenus recognised the preparation for the Christian Faith in the Greek Philosophy. Anastasius-Sinaita describes him as "one of the early expositors who agreed with each other in treating the first six days of Creation as prophetic of Christ and the whole Church."
Eusebius says, that "Pantaenus expounded the treasures of the Divine dogmas preserved direct, as from father to son, from St. Paul and other Apostles. Phptius records that Pantaenus was pupil of those who had seen the Apostles, but that he certainly had not listened to any of them themselves. Now, if Pantaenus was pupil of those who had seen the Apostles, and yet had, not listened to their oral teaching, it is natural to infer that he was pupil through their writings. I am a pupil of Dr. Pusey, but I never listened to his oral teaching; I am pupil through his writings. Now, there exist, to this day, the writings of two Presbyters who had seen the Apostles----both, converts to the faith through St. Paul,-----whose writings contain the treasures of the Divine dogmas, received from St. Paul and the other Apostles. Those two Presbyters are Hierotheus and Dionysius the Areopagite, both ordained Bishop of Athens by St. Paul. Dionysius the Areopagite expressly calls, St. Paul his "chief initiator," and as such, gives his teaching on the holy Angels, in the sixth chapter of the Heavenly Hierarchy; and frequently describes St. Paul as his "chief instructor."
If, then, we can prove that the writings of |vii Dionysius' existed before and were known in Alexandria, when Pantaenus delivered his lectures in that city, we may fairly infer that Pantaenus would know, and knowing, would use, the writings penned by the Chief of his own Areopagus, and Bishop' of his own Athens.
Historical criticism does not permit us to reject probabilities, merely because they confirm the Christian Faith.
Dexter, in his Chronicle, collected from the Archives of Toledo and other churches in Spain, gives this testimony:----
" U.C. 851 (a.d. 98). Dionysius Areopagita dicat Eugenio Marcello, dicto, propter ingenii excellentiam, Timotheo, libros de Divinis Nominibus."
Dionysius of Alexandria, writing to Tope Sixtus II., c. 250, respecting the writings of Dionysius the Areopagite, affirms "that no one can intelligently dispute their paternity----that no one penetrated more profoundly than Dionysius into the mysterious depths of Holy Scripture----that Dionysius was disciple of St. Paul, and piously governed the Church of Athens." If, then, the Bishops of Alexandria and Rome exchanged letters only a few years after the death of Pantaenus, and only seven years after the death of Ammonius, and in those letters affirmed the writings to be undoubtedly written by Dionysius the Areopagite, it would be the height of absurdity to affirm that such writings were unknown to Pantaenus and Ammonius.
But we do not need to base our proof on mere |viii supposition. Routh gives two fragments of Pantaenus. The second is a distinct echo of Dionysius. In Divine Names (c. 7), Dionysius discusses how Almighty God knows existing things, and explains the text; "He, knowing all things before their birth" as proving that "not as learning existing things from existing things, but from Himself, and in Himself, as Cause, the Divine Being pre-holds and pre-comprehends the notions and essence of all things, not approaching each several thing according to its kind, but knowing and containing all things within one grasp of the cause. Thus Almighty God knows existing things, not by a knowledge of existing things, but by that of Himself." Dionysius, c. V. s. 8, speaking of creation, declares that the Divine and good volitions of Almighty God define and produce existing things.
Pantaenus teaches the same: "Neither does He know things sensible sensibly (ai0sqhtw~j), nor things intelligible intellectually. For it is not possible that He, Who is above all things, should comprehend things being, after things being (kata_ ta o!nta), but we affirm that He knows things being" as His own volitions... yea, as His own volitions, Almighty God knows things being, since by willing (qe/lwn), He made all things being."
In Mystic Theology, c. V., Dionysius says, "Almighty God does not know existing things, qua existing." The teaching of Ammonius-Saccus is the same; Ammonius uses the word
bou&lhma, Dionysius and Pantaenus, qelh&mata, of God, as Source of Creation. |ix
But, though the known fragments of Pantaenus are few, we possess abundant writings of two pupils, Clement of Alexandria and Origen, from which we may gather the teaching of their master. Clement speaks of Pantaenus as his "great instructor and collaborator." Such is the similarity between the writings of Clement and Dionysius, that some have hazarded the conjecture thatClement the Philosopher, mentioned by Dionysius, was Clement of Alexandria! I give only one familiar illustration. Clement writes: "As then, those riding at anchor at sea, drag the anchor, but do not drag it to themselves, but themselves to the anchor, thus those who are drawn to God in the gnostic life, find themselves unconsciously led to God." Dionysius, D. N., c. III. s. 1, says, "or, as if after we have embarked on ship, and are holding on to the cable, attached to some rock, we do not draw the rock to us, but ourselves, and the ship, to the rock. Wherefore, before everything, and especially theology, we must begin with prayer; not as though we ourselves were drawing the power, which is everywhere, and nowhere present, but as, by our godly reminiscences and invocations, conducting ourselves to, and making ourselves one with It."
Origen confessed that Pantaenus was his superior in the philosophy of the schools, and that he moulded his teaching upon the model of Pantaenus. Do the writings of Origen bear the stamp of Dionysius and Hierotheus? Origen, on the resurrection of the body, says,. "For how does it not seem absurd |x that this body which has endured scars for Christ, and, equally with the soul, has borne the savage torments of persecutions, and has also endured the suffering of chains, and rods, and has been tortured with fire, beaten with the sword, and has further suffered the cruel teeth of wild beasts, the gallows of the cross, and divers kinds of punishments,----that this should be deprived of the prizes of such contests. If forsooth, the soul alone, which not alone contended, should receive the crown, and its companion the body, which served it with much labour, should attain no recompense, for its agony and victory,----how does it not seem contrary to all reason, that the flesh, resisting for Christ its natural vices, and its innate lust, and guarding its virginity with immense labour,----that one, when the time for rewards has come, should be rejected as unworthy and the other should receive its crown? Such a fact would undoubtedly argue on the part of God, either a lack of justice or a lack of power." Dionysius (E. H., c. VII.) says, "Now the pure bodies of the holy souls, enrolled together as yoke-fellows, and fellow travellers, which together strove during the divine contests, throughout the Divine Life, in the unmoved steadfastness of the souls, will together receive their own resurrection. For, having been made one with the holy souls, to which they were united during this present life, by having become members of Christ, they will receive in return the godlike and incorruptible immortality and blessed inheritance." Dionysius (D. N., c. VI. s. 2) says, "what is still more |xi divine, It promises to "transfer our whole selves (I mean souls and bodies, their yoke-fellows), to a perfect life and immortality. Others again do this injustice to bodies, that, after having toiled with the holy souls, they unjustly deprive them of the holy retributions, when they have come to the goal of their most divine course." "For if the man have passed a life dear to God in soul and body, the body which has contended throughout the Divine struggles will be honoured together with the devout soul."
To shew that Origen knew the works of Hierotheus, we give an extract from his ietter to Gregory: "Would that you might both participate in and continually augment this part, so that you may not only say, 'we are partakers of Christ,' but also partakers of God." Papias 1, Bishop of Hierapolis (fragment V.) says, "the Presbyters, the disciples of the Apostles, say that this is the gradation and method of those who are saved, and that they advance through steps of this nature, and that, moreover, they ascend through the Spirit to the Son, and through the Son to the Father; and that, in due time, the Son will yield up His work to the Father." Who the Presbyters, the disciples of the Apostles were, we may gather from the three last chapters of the "Book of Hierotheus 2," in which the very same doctrine is taught. Is it not, then, a legitimate inference, that when Photius says " that |xii Pantaenus was a pupil of the Presbyters who had seen the Apostles," he designated Hierotheus and Dionysius the Areopagite, generally known under that title?
Ammonius Saccus was born of Christian parents in Alexandria, and died in that city, a.d. 242.
Anastasius Sinaita calls him "the Wise," and Hierocles, "the taught of God." Besides being famous for his expositions of Holy Scripture, he wrote the "Diatesseron," or "Harmony of the Gospels," contained in the Bib. Patrum. In a.d. 236, he wrote the agreement between Moses and Jesus. He was the great conciliator, who sought the good in every system, and to make all one in Christ. Pressensé beautifully describes him as a man who wished to believe and to know----to adore and to comprehend----to conciliate the Greek Philosophy with the Mysteries of the East. He wrote a commentary on the golden verses of Pythagoras, which Hierocles published, as well as reproduced his other works. The titles of his books, mentioned by Photius, such as "Providence" and "Free Will," recall those of the lost books of Dionysius, of which we have only a summary in his known works. (Cod. 251-214.)
Ammonius was surnamed Saccus from having been a corn carrier. Virgil, Shakespere, Milton, were great geniuses in themselves, but when we know the sources from which they drew, we can better understand their achievements.
Dionysius was indebted to Hierotheus----Ammonius |xiii drew from Dionysius. This we shall shew, not as we might, by his works as described by Photius, but from Plotinus, his disciple, in order that we may have the prevailing proof, to some minds, of testimony not necessarily Christian.
Plotinus was born in Lycopolis, a.d. 205, and died in Campagna, a.d. 270. At the age of 29, he began to search for truth, in the schools of Alexandria. He wandered from teacher to teacher, but could find no rest until he was persuaded to go and hear Ammonius-Saccus. After listening to him, he exclaimed, "This is what I sought."
Plotinus remained under him eleven years, until the death of Ammonius, a.d. 242. In a.d. 244, Plotinus began to teach in Rome. Plotinus was not a refined scholar. Porphyry, therefore, committed his teaching to writing. Porphyry was regarded as the greatest enemy to the Christian Faith in the early centuries. Persecutors burned the bodies of Christians, but Porphyry sought to undermine their faith in the Holy Scriptures, by quibbles of unbelief, which have been revived to-day as "New Criticism." Porphyry wrote against the Holy Scriptures with a bitterness engendered by a conviction of their truth. Now, it is a startling fact, that though the teaching of Plotinus comes to us through Porphyry, there is not a word in the Enneades, in which the teaching of Plotinus is given, against the Christian Faith. It is true that Eutochius published another version of the teaching of Plotinus, on the ground that his teaching was coloured by Porphyry, but we |xiv prefer to rest our proof on Porphyry, as not being prejudiced in favour of the truth.
Let us then first see what Plotinus teaches respecting the Holy Trinity. He says, "We need not go beyond the three Hypostaseis " (Persons). It is true that Plotinus presents that Trinity as "One," "Mind," and "Soul," whereas Dionysius gives the formula "Father, Son, and Spirit." Occasionally Plotinus uses "Logos" instead of "Mind." But even this substitution of "One " for "Father" may be traced to Dionysius, who speaks of the Triad, e0narxikh_ and even e0narxikw~n u(posta_sewn, "One springing." The "One" represents the Father. Plotinus says, "We may represent the first principle, 'One,' as source, which has no other origin than Itself, and which pours Itself in a multitude of streams without being diminished by what it gives." Dionysius speaks of the "Father" as sole source of Godhead, and says that "the Godhead is undiminished by the gifts imparted." In Chap. XII. of Divine Names, Dionysius treats of "One" and "Perfect" as applied to Almighty God.
Let Us now hear Plotinus on the "Beautiful" Enneades (I. 6-7). Plotinus says, "The soul advances in its ascent towards God, until being raised above everything alien, it sees face to face, in His simplicity, and in all His purity, Him upon Whom all hangs, to Whom all aspire; from Whom all hold existence, life and thought. What transport of love must not he feel who sees Him! with what ardour ought he not to desire to be united to Him! He, |xv who has not seen Him, desires Him as the Good; he who has seen Him, admires Him as the sovereign Beauty; and struck at once with astonishment and pleasure, disdains the things which heretofore he called by the name of Beauty. This is what happens to those to whom have appeared the forms of gods and demons;-----they no longer care For the beauty of other bodies. What think you, then, should he experience who has seen the Beautiful Himself,----the Beautiful surpassing earth and heaven! The miserable is not he, Who has neither fresh colour nor comely form, nor power, nor royalty; it is alone he, Who sees himself excluded from the possession of Beauty----a possession in comparison with which:he ought to disdain royalty, rule of the whole earth, of the sea, and heaven itself, if he should be able, by abandoning, by despising all these, to rise to the contemplation of the Beautiful, face to face." Plotinus also recognised, "that the eye soiled with impurity could never bear the sight, or attain to the vision of that Beauty. We must render the organs of vision analogous and like to the object that they would contemplate. Every man ought to begin by rendering himself beautiful and divine to obtain a Vision of the Beautiful and the Deity." Well might St. Augustine say, that "with the change of a few words, Plotinus became concordant with Christ's religion." No wonder that Gregory and Basil quoted so largely from Plotinus. Let us now hear what Dionysius says of the "Good and Beautiful":---- |xvi "Goodness turns all things to Itself; all things aspire to It, as source and bond and end. From this Beautiful comes being to all existing things. All things aspire to the Beautiful and Good,----and there is no existing thing which does not participate in the Beautiful and Good." Read the Fourth Chapter of the Divine Names.
Porphyry records that Plotinus attained to that vision of the Beautiful three times during his life. How that vision of the Beautiful is to be attained, Dionysius describes in the "Mystic Theology: "----"But thou, O dear Timothy, by thy persistent commerce with the mystic visions, leave behind both sensible perceptions and intellectual efforts, and all objects of sense and intelligence, and all things not being and being, and be raised aloft agnostically to the union, as attainable, with Him Who is above every essence and knowledge. For by unchecked and absolute extasy, in all purity, from thyself, and all, thou wilt be carried on high to the superessential Ray of the Divine Darkness, when thou hast cast away all and become free from all." Ammonius had such extasy during his lectures, in which he seemed to have Divine visions.
Plotinus differs from Dionysius in regarding creation as an act of necessity, whereas Dionysius regards it as an act of love. Plotinus treats evil as "an elongation from God." Dionysius speaks of Almighty God as immanent in matter the most elongated from spirit. Plotinus traces evil to matter; Dionysius to the fallacious choice of a free agent. |xvii May it not be that the pagan colouring of Porphyry in these respects led Eutochius to give a more faithful and consistent account of the teaching of Plotinus.
But the crowning proof that Dionysius was the source from which the Alexandrine School drew much of its wisdom, is Proclus (450-485). Suidas affirmed long ago that Proclus cribbed whole passages from Dionysius. Professor Stiglmayr fills seven pages with parallel passages.
Vachérot describes certain chapters of the "Divine Names" as extracts from Proclus, word for word, and says the whole doctrine of Dionysius seems to be a commentary upon the Theology of Alexandria. Barthélémy St. Hilaire says that Dionysius and Scotus Erigena, almost entirely implanted, in the middle age, the doctrine of Neo-Platonism. Matter is more profound; Professor Langen finds in Dionysius the "characteristics of Neo-Platonic speculation." The similarity of doctrine is denied by none. Which writings.appeared first? that is the question.
Dexter commemorates the "Divine Names" a.d. 98 3.
Polycarp quotes Dionysius verbatim as "a certain one." Jerome quotes him as "quidam Graecorum." Dionysius of Alexandria (a.d. 250), writing to Sixtus II., declares that no one can intelligently doubt that the writings are those of Dionysius, the convert of St. Paul, Bishop of Athens. |xviii Tertullian, expresses the Agnosia "nihil scire omnia scire," Origen quotes him by name. Theodore (a.d. 420) answers objections,----whom Photius approved. Gregory calls Dionysius "an ancient and venerable Father." The Second Council of Nicea quotes the very words, contained in the "Ecclesiastical Hierarchy," c. I. s. 4, as those of the great Dionysius. Bishop Pearson proves that the best judges in the sixth, fifth, fourth and third centuries regarded the writings as written: by Dionysius the Areopagite. German scholars to-day admit that the external testimony is in favour of their genuineness.
Yet eccentric critics, on account of the precise theology, cannot believe that the works were written; by a learned Greek,----Chief of the Areopagus----who forsook all to follow Christ,----the convert and disciple of St.. Paul,----the familiar friend of St. John and other Apostles, to whom our Saviour revealed the mysteries of the Father; but those critics can believe that an unknown man, whose century no one can fix, and possibly a Syrian, may have gleaned from writers of the first four centuries these theological pearls expressed in Greek in a style unique and always like itself. They can, believe that the Author of these Divine writings, would incorporate, fictitious allusions to persons and events of the apostolic, age, to add lustre to incomparable works, and to impute them to another. They can believe that writings, so composed, were foisted upon a credulous Christendom, so that Dionysius of Alexandria, Maximus, St. John Damascene, and the |xix Council of Nicea, accepted them as the genuine works of Dipnysius. I do not belong to that school. Only unbelief could believe anything so incredible. Rational men will not hazard the surmise that works known in the first century were gleaned from writings composed four hundred years afterwards.
The tone of the Alexandrine School may be further illustrated from Amelius and Dionysius the Sublime. Amelius attended Plotinus twenty-four years as companion and pupil. Eusebius gives an extract from his writings, in which Amelius says, "This plainly was the Word, by Whom, being Eternal, things becoming became, as Heraclitus would say." It was probably he who said, "the Prologue of St. John's Gospel ought to be written in gold, and placed in the most conspicuous place in every church." De Civ. Dei, LX. c. 29. Dionysius, the famous secretary of Zenobia, attended the lectures of Ammonius-Saccus. He was the "arbiter" of all literary questions. He expresses his admiration, De sub. L. 9, of the diction of Moses in the description of the six days' creation, and numbers St. Paul amongst the most brilliant Greek orators, as a man who propounded a "dogma beyond demonstration."
We claim that the testimony of these illustrious men, and the extracts from Pantaenus, Ammonius, and their disciples, justify the conclusion that the Alexandrine School was Biblical, Christian, and Philosophical, that its Philosophy was a Divine |xx Philosophy of the Faith, not a pagan philosophy against the Faith, and that the main sources of its Divine Philosophy were the writings of Hierotheus and Dionysius, Bishops of Athens.
JOHN PARKER.
Cannes,
Epiphany, 1899.
For sketch of Life, Internal Evidence of date, and External Testimony to genuineness during first nine centuries, see " Celestial and Ecclesiastical Hierarchy." (Skeffington, s. d.)
[Footnotes moved to end and numbered]
1. a c. 140.
2. b Br. Mus. (Ad. Rich. 7189).
3. c From Tabularia of Toledo, a.d. 98.
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Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
SOURCE SECTION: areopagite_13_heavenly_hierarchy.htm
Dionysius the Areopagite, Works (1899) vol. 2. p.1-66. The Celestial Hierarchy
Dionysius the Areopagite, Works (1899) vol. 2. p.1-66. The Celestial Hierarchy
Chapter 1: That every divine illumination, whilst going forth lovingly to the objects of its forethought under various forms, remains simplex. Nor is this all. It also unifies the things illuminated.
Chapter 2: That Divine and Heavenly things are appropriately revealed, even through dissimilar symbols.
Chapter 3: What is Hierarchy? and what the use of Hierarchy?
Chapter 4: What is meant by the appellation "Angels?"
Chapter 5: For what reason all the Heavenly Beings are called, in common, Angels.
Chapter 6: Which is the first Order of the Heavenly Beings? which the middle? and which the last?
Chapter 7: Concerning the Seraphim and Cherubim and Thrones, and concerning their first Hierarchy.
Chapter 8: Concerning Lordships and Powers and Authorities, and concerning their middle Hierarchy.
Chapter 9: Concerning the Principalities, Archangels, and Angels, and concerning their last Hierarchy.
Chapter 10: A Repetition and Summary of the Angelic discipline.
Chapter 11: For what reason all the Heavenly Beings, in common, are called Heavenly Powers.
Chapter 12: Why the Hierarchs amongst men are called Angels.
Chapter 13: For what reason the Prophet Isaiah is said to have been purified by the Seraphim.
Chapter 14: What the traditional number of the Angels signifies.
Chapter 15: What are the morphic likenesses of the Angelic Powers? what the fiery? what the anthromorphic? what are the eyes? what the nostrils? what the ears? what the mouths? what the touch? what the eyelids? what the eyebrows? what the prime? what the teeth? what the shoulders? what the elbows and the hands? what the heart? what the breasts? what the back? what the feet? what the wings? what the nakedness? what the robe? what the shining raiment? what the sacerdotal? what the girdles? what the rods? what the spears? what the battle - axes? what the measuring lines? what the winds? what the clouds? what the brass? what the electron? what the choirs? what the clapping of hands? what the colours of different stones? what the appearance of the lion? what the appearance of the ox? what the appearance of the eagle? what the horses? what the varieties of coloured horses? what the rivers? what the chariots? what the wheels? what the so-called joy of the Angels?
DIONYSIUS THE AREOPAGITE
ON THE
HEAVENLY HIERARCHY.
CAPUT I.
To my Fellow Presbyter Timothy.1 Dionysius the Presbyter.
That every divine illumination, whilst going forth lovingly to the objects of its forethought under various forms, remains simplex. Nor is this all. It also unifies the things illuminated.
Section I.
"Every good gift2 and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of Lights."
Further also, every procession of illuminating light, proceeding from the Father, whilst visiting us as a gift of goodness, restores us again gradually as an unifying power, and turns us to the oneness of our conducting Father, and to a deifying simplicity. For 3 all things are from Him, and to Him, as said the Sacred Word.
Section II.
Invoking then Jesus, the Paternal Light, the Real, the True, "which lighteth4 every man coming into |2 the world," "through 5 Whom we have access to the Father," Source of Light, let us aspire, as far as is attainable, to the illuminations handed down by our fathers in the most sacred Oracles, and let us gaze, as we may, upon the Hierarchies of the Heavenly Minds manifested by them symbolically for our instruction. And when we have received, with immaterial and unflinching mental 6 eyes, the gift of Light, primal and super-primal, of the supremely Divine Father, which manifests to us the most blessed Hierarchies of the Angels in types and symbols, let us then, from it, be elevated to its simple splendour 7. For it never loses its own unique inwardness, but multiplied and going forth, as becomes its goodness, for an elevating and unifying blending of the objects of its care, remains firmly and solitarily centred within itself in its unmoved sameness; and raises, according to their capacity, those who lawfully aspire to it, and makes them one, after the example of its own unifying Oneness. For it is not possible that the supremely Divine Ray should otherwise illuminate us, except so far as it is enveloped, for the purpose of instruction, in variegated sacred veils, and arranged naturally and appropriately, for such as we are, by paternal forethought.
Section III.
Wherefore, the Divine Institution of sacred Rites, having deemed it worthy of the supermundane |3 imitation of the Heavenly Hierarchies, and having depicted the aforesaid immaterial Hierarchies in material figures and bodily compositions, in order that we might be borne, as far as our capacity permits, from the most sacred pictures to the instructions and similitudes without symbol and without type, transmitted to us our most Holy Hierarchy. For it is not possible for our mind to be raised to that immaterial representation and contemplation of the Heavenly Hierarchies, without using the material guidance suitable to itself, accounting the visible 8 beauties as reflections of the invisible comeliness; and the sweet 9 odours of the senses as emblems of the spiritual distribution; and the material 10 lights as a likeness of the gift of the immaterial enlightenment; and the detailed sacred instructions 11, of the feast of contemplation within the mind; and the ranks 12 of the orders here, of the harmonious and regulated habit, with regard to Divine things; and the reception of the most Divine Eucharist, of the partaking 13 of Jesus, and whatever other things were transmitted to Heavenly Beings supermundanely, but to us symbolically.
For the sake, then, of this our proportioned deification, the philanthropic Source of sacred mysteries, by manifesting the Heavenly Hierarchies to us, and constituting our Hierarchy as fellow-ministers with them, through our imitation of their Godlike |4 priestliness 14, so far as in us lies, described under sensible likeness the supercelestial Minds, in the inspired compositions of the Oracles, in order that It might lead us through the sensible to the intelligible 15, and from inspired symbols to the simple sublimities of the Heavenly Hierarchies.
CAPUT II.
That Divine and Heavenly things are appropriately revealed, even through dissimilar symbols.
Section I.
It is necessary then, as I think, first to set forth what we think is the purpose of every Hierarchy, and what benefit each one confers upon its followers; and next to celebrate the Heavenly Hierarchies according to their revelation in the Oracles; then following these Oracles, to say in what sacred forms the holy writings of the Oracles depict the celestial orders, and to what sort of simplicity we must be carried through the representations; in order that we also may not, like the vulgar, irreverently think that the heavenly and Godlike minds are certain many-footed 16 and many-faced 17 creatures, or moulded to the brutishness of oxen 18, or the savage form of lions 19, and fashioned like the hooked beaks of eagles 20, or the feathery down of birds 21, and should imagine that there are certain wheels 22 of fire above the heaven, |5 or material thrones23 upon which the Godhead may recline, or certain many-coloured 24 horses, and spear-bearing leaders of the host 25, and whatever else was transmitted by the Oracles to us under multifarious symbols of sacred imagery.
And indeed, the Word of God 26 artlessly makes use of poetic representations of sacred things, respecting the shapeless minds, out of regard to our intelligence, so to speak, consulting a mode of education proper and natural to it, and moulding the inspired writings for it.
Section II.
But if any one think well to accept the sacred compositions as of things simple and unknown in their own nature, and beyond our contemplation, but thinks the imagery of the holy minds in the Oracles is incongruous, and that all this is, so to speak, a rude scenic representation of the angelic names; and further says that the theologians ought, when they have come to the bodily representation of creatures altogether without body, to represent and display them by appropriate and, as far as possible, cognate figures, taken, at any rate, from our most honoured and immaterial and exalted beings, and ought not to clothe the heavenly and Godlike simple essences with the many forms of the lowest creatures to be found on the earth (for the one would perhaps be more adapted to our instruction, and would not |6 degrade the celestial explanations to incongruous dissimilitudes; but the other both does violence without authority to the Divine powers, and likewise leads astray our minds, through dwelling upon these irreverent descriptions); and perhaps he will also think that the super-heavenly places are filled with certain herds of lions, and troops of horses, and bellowing songs of praise, and flocks of birds, and other living creatures, and material and less honourable things, and whatever else the similitudes of the Oracles, in every respect dissimilar, describe, for a so-called explanation, but which verge towards the absurd, and pernicious, and impassioned; now, in my opinion, the investigation of the truth demonstrates the most sacred wisdom of the Oracles, in the descriptions of the Heavenly Minds, taking forethought, as that wisdom does, wholly for each, so as neither, as one may say, to do violence to the Divine Powers, nor at the same time to enthral us in the grovelling passions of the debased imagery. For any one might say that the cause why forms are naturally attributed to the formless, and shapes to the shapeless, is not alone our capacity which is unable immediately to elevate itself to the intelligible contemplations, and that it needs appropriate and cognate instructions which present images, suitable to us, of the formless and supernatural objects of contemplation; but further, that it is most agreeable to the revealing Oracles to conceal, through mystical and sacred enigmas, and to keep the holy and secret truth respecting the supermundane minds inaccessible to the multitude. |7 For it is not every one that is holy, nor, as the Oracles affirm, does knowledge belong to all 27.
Section III.
But if any one should blame the descriptions as being incongruous, by saying that it is shameful to attribute shapes so repugnant to the Godlike and most holy Orders, it is enough to reply that the method of Divine revelation is twofold; one, indeed, as is natural, proceeding through likenesses that are similar, and of a sacred character, but the other, through dissimilar forms, fashioning them into entire unlikeness and incongruity. No doubt, the mystical traditions of the revealing Oracles sometimes extol the august Blessedness of the super-essential Godhead, as Word 28, and Mind 29, and Essence 30, manifesting its God-becoming expression and wisdom, both as really being Origin, and true Cause of the origin of things being, and they describe It as light 31, and call it life. While such sacred descriptions are more reverent, and seem in a certain way to be superior to the material images, they yet, even thus, in reality fall short of the supremely Divine similitude. For It is above every essence and life. No light, indeed, expresses its character, and every description and mind incomparably fall short of Its similitude.
But at other times its praises are supermundanely sung, by the Oracles themselves, through dissimilar revelations, when they affirm that it is invisible 32, and |8 infinite 33, and incomprehensible 34; and when there is signified, not what it is, but what it is not. For this, as I think, is more appropriate to It, since, as the secret and sacerdotal tradition taught, we rightly describe its non-relationship to things created, but we do not know its superessential, and inconceivable, and unutterable indefinability. If, then, the negations respecting things Divine are true, but the affirmations are inharmonious, the revelation as regards things invisible, through dissimilar representations, is more appropriate to the hiddenness of things unutterable. Thus the sacred descriptions of the Oracles honour, and do not expose to shame, the Heavenly Orders, when they make them known by dissimilar pictorial forms, and demonstrate through these their supermundane superiority over all. material things. And I do not suppose that any sensible man will gainsay that the incongruous elevate our mind more than the similitudes; for there is a likelihood, with regard to the more sublime representations of heavenly things, that we should be led astray, so as to think that the Heavenly Beings are certain creatures with the appearance of gold, and certain men with the appearance of light 35, and glittering like lightning 36, handsome 37, clothed in bright shining raiment, shedding forth innocuous flame, and so with regard to all the other shapes and appropriate forms, with which the Word of God has depicted the Heavenly Minds. In order that men might not suffer from this, by |9 thinking they are nothing more exalted than their beau tiful appearance, the elevating wisdom of the pious theologians reverently conducts to the incongruous dissimilarities, not permitting our earthly part to rest fixed in the base images, but urging the upward tendency of the soul, and goading it by the unseemliness of the phrases (to see) that it belongs neither to lawful nor seeming truth, even for the most earthly conceptions, that the most heavenly and Divine visions are actually like things so base. Further also this must particularly be borne in mind, that not even one of the things existing is altogether deprived of participation in the beautiful, since, as is evident and the truth of the Oracles affirms, all things are very beautiful 38.
Section IV.
It is, then, possible to frame in one's mind good contemplations from everything, and to depict, from things material, the aforesaid dissimilar similitudes, both for the intelligible and the intelligent; since the intelligent hold in a different fashion things which are attributed to things sensible differently. For instance, appetite, in the irrational creatures, takes its rise in the passions, and their movement, which takes the form of appetite, is full of all kinds of unreasonableness. But with regard to the intelligent, we must think of the appetite in another fashion, as denoting, according to my judgment, their manly style, and their determined persistence |10 in their Godlike and unchangeable steadfastness. In like manner we say, with regard to the irrational creatures, that lust is a certain uncircumspect and earthly passionate attachment, arising incontinently from an innate movement, or intimacy in things subject to change, and the irrational supremacy of the bodily desire, which drives the whole organism towards the object of sensual inclination. But when we attribute "lust" to spiritual beings, by clothing them with dissimilar similitudes, we must think that it is a Divine love of the immaterial, above expression and thought, and the inflexible and determined longing for the supernally pure and passionless contemplation, and for the really perpetual and intelligible fellowship in that pure and most exalted splendour, and in the abiding and beautifying comeliness. And 'incontinence' we may take for the persistent and inflexible, which nothing can repulse, on account of the pure and changeless love for the Divine beauty, and the whole tendency towards the really desired. But with regard to the irrational living beings, or soulless matter, we appropriately call their irrationality and want of sensible perception a deprivation of reason and sensible perception. And with regard to the immaterial and intelligent beings, we reverently acknowledge their superiority, as supermundane beings, over our discursive and bodily reason, and the material perception of the senses which is alien to the incorporeal Minds. It is, then, permissible to depict forms, which are not discordant, to the celestial beings, even from |11 portions of matter which are the least honourable, since even it, having had its beginning from the Essentially Beautiful, has throughout the whole range of matter some echoes of the intellectual comeliness; and it is possible through these to be led to the immaterial archetypes----things most similar being taken, as has been said, dissimilarly, and the identities being denned, not in the same way, but harmoniously, and appropriately, as regards the intellectual and sensible beings.
Section V.
We shall find the Mystic Theologians enfolding these things not only around the illustrations of the Heavenly Orders, but also, sometimes, around the supremely Divine Revelations Themselves. At one time, indeed, they extol It under exalted imagery as Sun 39 of Righteousness, as Morning 40 Star rising divinely in the mind, and as Light 41 illuming without veil and for contemplation; and at other times, through things in our midst, as Fire 42, shedding its innocuous light; as Water 43, furnishing a fulness of life, and, to speak symbolically, flowing into a belly, and bubbling forth rivers flowing irresistibly; and at other times, from things most remote, as sweet-smelling ointment 44, as Head Corner-stone 45. But they also clothe It in forms of wild beasts, and attach to It identity with a Lion 46, and Panther 47, and say that it shall be a Leopard 48, and a rushing Bear 49. But, |12 I will also add, that which seems to be more dishonourable than all, and the most incongruous, viz. that distinguished theologians have shewn it to us as representing Itself under the form of a worm 50. Thus do all the godly-wise, and interpreters of the secret inspiration, separate the holy of holies 51 from the uninitiated and the unholy, to keep them undefined, and prefer the dissimilar description of holy things, so that Divine things should neither be easily reached by the profane, nor those who diligently contemplate the Divine imagery rest in the types as though they were true; and so Divine things should be honoured by the true negations, and by comparisons with the lowest things, which are diverse from their proper resemblance. There is then nothing absurd if they depict even the Heavenly Beings under incongruous dissimilar similitudes, for causes aforesaid. For probably not even we should have come to an investigation, from not seeing our way,----not to say to mystic meaning through an accurate enquiry into Divine things,----unless the deformity of the descriptions representing the Angels had shocked us, not permitting our mind to linger in the discordant representations, but rousing us utterly to reject the earthly proclivities, and accustoming us to elevate ourselves through things that are seen, to their supermundane mystical meanings. Let these things suffice to have been said on account of the material and incongruous descriptions of the holy Angels in the Holy Oracles. And next, it is |13 necessary to define what we think the Hierarchy is in itself, and what benefit those who possess a Hierarchy derive; from the same. But let Christ lead the discourse----if it be lawful to me to say----He Who is mine,----the Inspiration of all Hierarchical revelation. And thou, my son, after the pious rule of our Hierarchical tradition, do thou religiously listen to things religiously uttered, becoming inspired through instruction in inspired things; and when thou hast enfolded the Divine things in the secret recesses of thy mind, guard them closely from the profane multitude as being uniform, for it is not lawful, as the Oracles say, to cast to swine the unsullied and bright and beautifying comeliness of the intelligible pearls.
CAPUT III.
What is Hierarchy? and what the use of Hierarchy?
Section I.
Hierarchy is, in my judgment, a sacred order and science and operation, assimilated, as far as attainable, to the likeness of God, and conducted to the illuminations granted to it from God, according to capacity, with a view to the Divine imitation. Now the God-becoming Beauty, as simple, as good, as source of initiation, is altogether free from any dissimilarity, and imparts its own proper light to each according to their fitness, and perfects in most Divine initiation, as becomes the undeviating moulding of those who are being initiated harmoniously to itself. |14
Section II.
The purpose, then, of Hierarchy is the assimilation and union, as far as attainable, with God, having Him Leader of all religious science and operation, by looking unflinchingly to His most Divine comeliness, and copying, as far as possible, and by perfecting its own followers as Divine images, mirrors most luminous and without flaw, receptive of the primal light and the supremely Divine ray, and devoutly filled with the entrusted radiance, and again, spreading this radiance ungrudgingly to those after it, in accordance with the supremely Divine regulations. For it is not lawful for the Mystic Rites of sacred things, or for things religiously done, to practise anything whatever beyond the sacred regulations of their own proper function. Nor even must they attempt otherwise, if they desire to attain its deifying splendour, and look to it religiously, and are moulded after the example of each of the holy minds. He, then, who mentions Hierarchy, denotes a certain altogether Holy Order, an image of the supremely Divine freshness, ministering the mysteries of its own illumination in hierarchical ranks, and sciences, and assimilated to its own proper Head as far as lawful.
For each of those who have been called into the Hierarchy, find their perfection in being carried to the Divine imitation 52 in their own proper degree; and, what is more Divine than all, in becoming a |15 fellow-worker 53 with God, as the Oracles say, and in shewing the Divine energy in himself manifested as far as possible. For it is an Hierarchical regu-lation that some are purified and that others purify 54; that some are enlightened and others enlighten 55; that some are perfected and others perfect; the Divine imitation will fit each one in this fashion. The Divine blessedness, to speak after the manner of men, is indeed unstained by any dissimilarity 56, and is full of invisible light 57----perfect 58, and needing no perfection; cleansing, illuminating, and perfecting, yea, rather a holy purification, and illumination, and perfection----above purification, above light, preeminently perfect, self-perfect source and cause of every Hierarchy, and elevated pre-eminently above every holy thing.
Section III.
It is necessary then, as I think, that those who are being purified should be entirely perfected, without stain, and be freed from all dissimilar confusion; that those who are being illuminated should be filled with the Divine Light, conducted to the habit and faculty of contemplation in all purity of mind; that those who are being initiated should be separated from the imperfect, and become recipients of that perfecting science of the sacred things contemplated. Further, that those who purify should impart, from their own abundance of purity, their own proper holiness; that those who illuminate, as being more |16 luminous intelligences, whose function it is to- receive and to impart light, and who are joyfully filled with holy gladness, that these should overflow, in proportion to their own overflowing light, towards those who are worthy of enlightenment; and that those who make perfect, as being skilled in the impartation of perfection, should perfect those being perfected, through the holy instruction, in the science of the holy things contemplated. Thus each rank of the Hierarchical Order is led, in its own degree, to the Divine co-operation, by performing, through grace and God-given power, those things which are naturally and supernaturally in the Godhead, and accomplished by It superessentially, and manifested hierarchically, for the attainable imitation of the God-loving Minds 59.
CAPUT IV.
What is meant by the appellation "Angels?"
Section I.
Now that the Hierarchy itself has been, in mv judgment, sufficiently defined, we must next extol the Angelic Hierarchy, and we must contemplate, with supermundane eyes, its sacred formations, depicted in the Oracles, in order that we may be borne aloft to their Divinely resplendent simplicity, through the mystic representations, and may extol the source of all Hierarchical science with God-becoming reverence and with thanksgivings. First of all, however, |17 let this truth be spoken ----that it was through goodness that the superessential Godhead, having fixed all the essences of things being, brought them into being. For this is the peculiar characteristic of the Cause of all things, and of goodness surpassing all, to call things being to participation of Itself, as each order of things being was determined from its own analogy. For all things being share in a Providence, which bubbles forth from the superessential Deity, Cause of all things. For they would not be, unless they had participated in the Essence and Origin of things being. All things then, without life, participate in It by their being. For the being of all things is the Deity, above being; things living participate in its life-giving power, above all life; things rational and intellectual participate in its self-perfect and preeminently perfect wisdom, above all reason and mind. It is evident, then, that all those Beings are around It, which have participated in It, in many forms.
Section II.
The holy orders, then, of the Heavenly Beings share in the supremely Divine participation, in a higher degree than things which merely exist, or which lead an irrational life, or which are rational like ourselves. For by moulding themselves intelligibly to the Divine imitation, and looking supermundanely to the supremely Divine likeness, and striving to mould their intellectual appearance, they naturally have more ungrudging communications with It, being near and ever moving upwards, as far as |18 lawful, elevating themselves with the intensity of the Divine unswerving love, and receiving the primal illuminations without earthly stain, and ranging themselves to these, and having their whole life intellectual. These, then, are they who, at first hand, and under many forms, participate in the Divine, and, at first hand, and under many forms, make known the supremely Divine Hiddenness. Wherefore, beyond all, they are deemed pre-eminently worthy of the appellation Angelic, on the ground that the supremely Divine illumination comes to them at first hand, and, through them, there pass to us manifestations above us. Thus, then, the Law, as the Word of God affirms, was given to us through the ministration of Angels 60; and Angels led our illustrious fathers 61 before the Law, and after the Law, to the Divine Being, either by leading 62 them to what was to be done, and by converting them from error, and an unholy life, to the straight way of truth 63, or by making known to them sacred ordinances 64, or hidden visions, or supermundane mysteries 65, or certain Divine predictions through the Prophets 66.
Section III.
But if any one should say that Divine manifestations were made directly and immediately to some holy men 67, let him learn, and that distinctly, from the most Holy Oracles, that no one hath seen, nor |19 ever shall see, the "hidden" to_ kru&fion of Almighty God as it is in itself 68. Now Divine manifestations were made to the pious as befits revelations of God, that is to say, through certain holy visions analogous to those who see them. Now the all-wise Word of God (Theologia) naturally calls Theophany that particular vision which manifests the Divine similitude depicted in itself as in a shaping of the shapeless, from the elevation of the beholders to the Divine Being, since through it a divine illumination comes to the beholders, and the divine persons themselves are religiously initiated into some mystery. But our illustrious fathers were initiated into these Divine visions, through the mediation of the Heavenly Powers. Does not the tradition of the Oracles describe the holy legislation of the Law, given to Moses, as coming straight from God, in order that it may teach us this truth, that it is an outline of a Divine and holy legislation? But the Word of God, in its Wisdom, teaches this also----that it came to us through Angels, as though the Divine regulation were laying down this rule, that, through the first, the second are brought to the Divine Being. For not only with regard to the superior and inferior minds, but even for those of the same rank, this Law has been established by the superessential supreme ordinance, that, within each Hierarchy, there are first, and middle, and last ranks and powers, and that the more divine are instructors |20 and conductors of the less, to the Divine access, and illumination, and participation.
Section IV.
But I observe that Angels first were initiated in the Divine mystery of the love of Jesus towards man, then, through them, the gift of its knowledge passed to us. Thus, for example, the most divine Gabriel instructed Zachariah, the Hierarch, that the son who was to be born to him, beyond hope, by Divine grace, should be a prophet of the God-incarnate work of the Lord Jesus, to be manifested to the world for its salvation, as becomes the Divine goodness; and he revealed to Mary, how, in her, should be born the supremely Divine mystery of the unutterable God-formation. Yet another Angel instructed Joseph, how, in very truth, should be fulfilled the things Divinely promised to his ancestor David. Another declared glad tidings to the shepherds, as being purified by their separation from the multitude, and their quiet life, and, with him, a multitude of the Heavenly Host announced to those on earth that often-sung doxology. Let us then ascend to the highest manifestations of light contained in the Oracles, for I perceive that even Jesus Himself, the superessential Cause of the super-heavenly Beings, when He had come to our condition, without change, did not overstep the good order which becomes |21 mankind, which Himself arranged and took, but readily subjected Himself to the dispositions of the Father and God, through Angels; and, through their mediation, was announced to Joseph the departure of the Son to Egypt, which had been arranged by the Father, and again the return to Judaea from Egypt. And through Angels we see Him subjecting Himself to the Father's decrees. For I forbear to speak, as addressing one who knows the teaching of our hierarchical tradition, both concerning the Angel who strengthened the Lord Jesus, or that even Jesus Himself, when He had come to manifest the good work of our beneficent salvation, was called Angel of Great Counsel. For, as He Himself says, after the manner of an Angel, "Whatsoever He heard from the Father, He announced to us."
CAPUT V.
For what reason all the Heavenly Beings are called, in common, Angels.
This, then, in our judgment, is the reason for the appellation Angelic in the Oracles. We must now, I suppose, enquire for what reason the theologians call all the Heavenly Beings together "Angels;" but when they come to a more accurate |22 description of the supermundane orders, they name exclusively, "angelic rank," that which completes the full tale of the Divine and Heavenly Hosts. Before this, however, they range pre-eminently, the Orders of Archangels, and the Principalities, the Authorities, and Powers, and as many Beings as the revealing traditions of the Oracles recognize as superior to them. Now, we affirm that throughout every sacred ordinance the superior ranks possess the illuminations and powers of their subordinates, but the lowest have not the same powers as those who are above them. The theologians also call the most holy ranks of the highest Beings "Angels," for they "also make known the supremely Divine illumination. But there is no reason to call the lowest rank of the celestial Minds, Principalities, or Thrones, or Seraphim. For it does not possess the highest powers, but, as it conducts our inspired Hierarchs to the splendours of the Godhead known to it; so also, the saintly powers of the Beings above it are conductors, towards the Divine Being, of that Order which completes the Angelic Hierarchies. Except perhaps some one might say this also, that all the angelic appellations are common, as regards the subordinate and superior communication of all the celestial powers towards the Divine likeness, and the gift of light from God. But, in order that the question may be better investigated, let us reverently examine the saintly characteristics set forth respecting each celestial Order in the Oracles. |23
CAPUT VI.
Which is the first Order of the Heavenly Beings? which the middle? and which the last?
How many, and of what sort, are the Orders of the supercelestial Beings, and how the Hierarchies are classified amongst themselves, I affirm, the deifying Author of their consecration alone distinctly knows; and further, that they know their own proper powers and illuminations, and their sacred and supermundane regularity. For it is impossible that we should know the mysteries of the supercelestial Minds and their most holy perfections, except, some one might say, so far as the Godhead has revealed to us, through them, as knowing perfectly their own condition. We, then, will utter nothing as from ourselves, but whatever angelic visions have been gazed upon by the holy Prophets of God, we, as initiated in these, will set forth as best we can. The Word of God has designated the whole Heavenly Beings as nine, by appellations, which shew their functions. These our Divine Initiator divides into three threefold Orders. He also says that that which is always around God is first and is declared by tradition to be united closely and immediately, to Him, before all the rest. For he says that the teaching of the Holy Oracles declares, that the most Holy Thrones, and the many-eyed and many-winged hosts, named in the Hebrew tongue Cherubim and Seraphim, are established immediately |24 around God, with a nearness superior to all. This threefold order, then, our illustrious Guide spoke of as one, and of equal rank, and really first Hierarchy, than which there is not another more Godlike or immediately nearer to the earliest illuminations of the Godhead. But he says, that which is composed of the Authorities, and Lordships, and Powers is second; and, as respects the lowest of the Heavenly Hierarchies, the Order of the Angels and Archangels and Principalities is third.
CAPUT VII.
Concerning the Seraphim and Cherubim and Thrones, and concerning their first Hierarchy.
Section I.
We, whilst admitting this as the arrangement of the holy Hierarchies, affirm, that every appellation of the celestial Minds denotes the Godlike characteristic of each; and those who know Hebrew affirm, that the holy designation of the Seraphim denotes either that they are kindling or burning; and that of Cherubim, a fulness of knowledge or stream of wisdom. Naturally, then, the first (order) of the Heavenly Hierarchies is ministered by the most exalted Beings, holding, as it does, a rank which is higher than all, from the fact, that it is established immediately around God, and that the first-wrought Divine manifestations and perfections pass earlier to |25 it, as being nearest. They are called, then, "Burning," and Thrones, and Stream of Wisdom----by a name which sets forth their Godlike conditions. The appellation of Seraphim plainly teaches their ever moving around things Divine, and constancy, and warmth, and keenness, and the seething of that persistent, indomitable, and inflexible perpetual motion, and the vigorous assimilation and elevation of the subordinate, as giving new life and rekindling them to the same heat; and purifying through fire and burnt-offering, and the light-like and light-shedding characteristic which can never be concealed or consumed, and remains always the same, which destroys and dispels every kind of obscure darkness. But the appellation of the Cherubim denotes their knowledge and their vision of God, and their readiness to receive the highest gift of light, and their power of contemplating the super-Divine comeliness in its first revealed power, and their being filled anew with the impartation which maketh wise, and their ungrudging communication to those next to them, by the stream of the given wisdom. The appellation of the most exalted and pre-eminent Thrones denotes their manifest exaltation above every grovelling inferiority, and their supermundane tendency towards higher things; and their unswerving separation from all remoteness; and their invariable and firmly-fixed settlement around the veritable Highest, with the whole force of their powers; and their receptivity of the supremely Divine approach, in the absence of all passion and earthly |26 tendency, and their bearing God; and the ardent expansion of themselves for the Divine receptions.
Section II.
This, then, is the revelation of their names, so far as we can give it; and we ought to say what we think their Hierarchy is. For I suppose we have sufficiently shewn above, that the purpose of every Hierarchy is an unswerving devotion to the divine imitation of the Divine Likeness, and that every Hierarchical function is set apart for the sacred reception and distribution of an undefiled purification, and Divine Light, and perfecting science.
And now I pray that I may speak worthily of the most exalted Minds----how the Hierarchy amongst them is exhibited through the Oracles.
One must consider, then, that the Hierarchy is akin, and in every respect like, to the first Beings, who are established after the Godhead, who gave them Being, and who are marshalled, as it were, in Its very vestibule, who surpass every unseen and seen created power. We must then regard them as pure, not as though they had been freed from unholy stains and blemishes, nor yet as though they were unreceptive of earthly fancies, but as far exalted above every stain of remissness and every inferior holiness, as befits the highest degree of purity----established above the most Godlike powers, and clinging unflinchingly to their own self-moved and same-moved rank in their invariable love of God, conscious in no respect whatever of any declivity to a worse |27 condition, but having the unsullied fixity of their own Godlike identity----never liable to fall, and always unmoved; and again, as "contemplative," not contemplators of intellectual symbols as sensible, nor as being led to the Divine Being by the varied texture of holy representations written for meditation, but as being filled with all kinds of immaterial knowledge of higher light, and satiated, as permissible, with the beautifying and original beauty of super-essential and thrice manifested contemplation, and thus, being deemed worthy of the Communion with Jesus, they do not stamp pictorially the deifying similitude in divinely-formed images, but, as being really near to Him, in first participation of the knowledge of His deifying illuminations; nay more, that the imitation of God is given to them in the highest possible degree, and they participate, so far as is allowable to them, in His deifying and philanthropic virtues, in the power of a first manifestation; and, likewise as "perfected," not as being illuminated with an analytic science of sacred variety, but as being filled with a first and pre-eminent deification, as beseems the most exalted science of the works of God, possible in Angels. For, not through other holy Beings, but being ministered from the very Godhead, by the immediate elevation to It, by their power, and rank, surpassing all, they are both established near the All-Holy without any shadow of turning, and are conducted for contemplation to the immaterial and intelligible comeliness, as far as permissible, and are initiated into the scientific |28 methods of the works of God, as being first and around God, being ministered, in the highest degree, from the very source of consecration.
Section III.
This, then, the theologians distinctly shew (viz.) that the subordinate Orders of the Heavenly Beings are taught by the superior, in due order, the deifying sciences; and that those who are higher than all are illuminated from Godhead itself, as far as permissible, in revelations of the Divine mysteries. For they introduce some of them as being religiously instructed, by those of a higher rank, that He, Who was raised to Heaven as Man, is Lord of the Heavenly Powers and King of Glory; and others, as questioning Jesus Himself, as desiring to be instructed in the science of His Divine work on our behalf, and Jesus Himself teaching them immediately, and shewing to them, at first hand, His beneficent work out of love to man. For "I," He says, "am speaking of righteousness and judgment of Salvation." Now I am astonished that even the first of the Beings in Heaven, and so far above all, should reverently strive after the supremely Divine illuminations, as intermediate Beings. For they do not ask directly, "Wherefore are Thy garments red? " but they first raise the question among themselves, shewing that they desire to learn, and crave the deifying knowledge, and not anticipating the illumination given after a Divine procedure. |29
The first Hierarchy, then, of the Heavenly Minds is purified, and enlightened, and perfected, by being ministered from the very Author of initiation, through its elevation to It immediately, being filled, according to its degree, with the altogether most holy purification of the unproachable Light of the pre-perfect source of initiation, unstained indeed by any remissness, and full of primal Light, and perfected by its participation in first-given knowledge and science. But to sum up, I may say this, not inappropriately, that the reception of the supremely Divine Science is, both purification, and enlightenment, and perfecting,----purifying, as it were, from ignorance, by the knowledge of the more perfect revelations imparted to it according to fitness, and enlightening by the self-same Divine knowledge, through which it also purifies, that which did not before contemplate the things which are now made manifest through the higher illumination; and perfecting further, by the self-same Light, through the abiding science of the mysteries made clearly manifest.
Section IV.
This, then, according to my science, is the first rank of the Heavenly Beings which encircle and stand immediately around God; and without symbol, and without interruption, dances round His eternal knowledge in the most exalted ever-moving stability as in Angels; viewing purely many and blessed contemplations, and illuminated with simple |30 and immediate splendours, and filled with Divine nourishment,----many indeed by the first-given profusion, but one by the unvariegated and unifying oneness of the supremely Divine banquet, deemed worthy indeed of much participation and co-operation with God, by their assimilation to Him, as far as attainable, of their excellent habits and energies, and knowing many Divine things pre-eminently, and participating in supremely Divine science and knowledge, as is lawful. Wherefore the Word of God has transmitted its hymns to those on earth, in which are Divinely shewn the excellency of its most exalted illumination. For some of its members, to speak after sensible perception, proclaim as a "voice of many waters," "Blessed is the glory of the Lord from His place" and others cry aloud that frequent and most august hymn of God, " Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord of Sabaoth, the whole earth is full of His glory." These most excellent hymnologies of the supercelestial Minds we have already unfolded to the best of our ability in the "Treatise concerning the Divine Hymns," and have spoken sufficiently concerning them in that Treatise, from which, by way of remembrance, it is enough to produce so much as is necessary to the present occasion, namely, "That the first Order, having been illuminated, from this the supremely Divine goodness, as permissible, in theological science, as a Hierarchy reflecting that Goodness transmitted to those next after it," teaching briefly this, "That it is just and right that the |31 august Godhead ---- Itself both above praise, and all-praiseworthy----should be known and extolled by the God-receptive minds, as is attainable; for they as images of God are, as the Oracles say, the Divine places of the supremely Divine repose; and further, that It is Monad and Unit tri-subsistent, sending forth His most kindly forethought to all things being, from the super-heavenly Minds to the lowest of the earth; as super-original Origin and Cause of every essence, and grasping all things super-essentially in a resistless embrace.
CAPUT VIII.
Concerning Lordships and Powers and Authorities, and concerning their middle Hierarchy.
Section I.
Let us now pass to the middle Order of the Heavenly Minds, gazing, as far as we may, with supermundane eyes upon those Lordships, and the truly terrible visions of the Divine Authorities and Powers. For each appellation of the Beings above us manifests their God-imitating characteristics of the Divine Likeness. I think, then, that the explanatory name of the Holy Lordships denotes a certain unslavish elevation, free from all grovelling subserviency, as becomes the free, not submitting itself in any way whatever to one of the tyrannical dissimilarities, as a cruel Lordship; superior to every kind of cringing slavery, indomitable to every subserviency, and elevated above every dissimilarity, ever aspiring to |32 the true Lordship, and source of Lordship; and moulding, as an image of goodness, itself, and those after it, to its Lordly bearing, as attainable, turning itself wholly to none of the things that vainly seem, but to the Lordly Being, and ever sharing in the Lordly Likeness of God, to its utmost ability; and the appellation of the Holy Powers denotes a certain courageous and unflinching virility, for all those Godlike energies within them----not feebly weak for the reception of any of the Divine illuminations vouchsafed to it----vigorously conducted to the Divine imitation, not forsaking the Godlike movement through its own unmanliness, but unflinchingly looking to the superessential and powerful-making power, and becoming a powerlike image of this, as far as is attainable, and powerfully turned to this, as Source of Power, and issuing forth to those next in degree, in gift of Power, and in likeness to God; and that the appellation of the Holy Authorities, of the same rank as the Divine Lordships and Powers, (denotes) the beautiful and unconfused good order, with regard to the Divine receptions, and the discipline of the supermundane and intellectual authority, not using the authoritative powers imperiously for base purposes, but conducted indomitably, with good order, towards Divine things, and conducting those after it benignly, and assimilated, as far as permissible, to the Authoritative Source of authority, and making this visible, as is possible to Angels, in the well-ordered ranks of the authoritative power within it. The middle Order of the Heavenly Minds having these Godlike characteristics, is purified and illuminated |33 and perfected in the manner described, by the Divine illuminations vouchsafed to it at second hand, through the first Hierarchical Order, and passing through this middle as a secondary manifestation.
Section II.
No doubt, as regards that message, which is said to pass through one angel to another, we may take it as a symbol of a perfecting completed from afar, and obscured by reason of its passage to the second rank. For, as men skilled in our sacred initiations say, the fulness of Divine things manifested directly to ourselves is more perfecting than the Divine contemplations imparted through others. Thus, I think, the immediate participation of the Angelic ranks elevated in first degree to God, is more clear than those perfected through the instrumentality of others. Wherefore by our sacerdotal tradition, the first Minds are named perfecting, and illuminating, and purifying Powers of the subordinate, who are conducted, through them, to the superessential Origin of all things, and participate, as far as is permissible to them, in the consecrating purifications, and illuminations, and perfections. For, this is divinely fixed absolutely by the Divine source of order that, through the first, the second partake of the supremely Divine illuminations. This you will find declared by the theologians in many ways. For, when the Divine and Paternal Love towards man whilst chastening, in a startling manner, His people Israel, for their religious preservation, after delivering them |34 to terrible and savage nations for correction, by various leadings of His guided people to better things, both liberated them from their misery, and mildly led them back, through His compassion, to their former state of comfort; one of the theologians, Zechariah, sees one of the first Angels, as I think, and near God, (for the Angelic appellation is common, as I said, to them all), learning from God Himself the comforting words, as they are called, concerning this matter; and another Angel, of inferior rank, advancing to meet the first, as for reception and participation of enlightenment: then, by him instructed in the Divine purpose as from a Hierarch, and charged to reveal to the theologian that Jeru-salem should be abundantly occupied by a multitude of people. And another theologian, Ezekiel, says that this was righteously ordained by the glorious Deity Itself, seated above the Cherubim. For Paternal Love towards man, conducting Israel as we have said through chastisement to better things, by a righteousness worthy of God, deemed right to separate the guilty from the guiltless. This is first revealed to one after the Cherubim; him who was bound about the loins with a sapphire, and wore displayed the robe coming down to the feet, as a Hierarchical symbol. But the Divine Government enjoins the other Angels, who bore the battle-axes, to be instructed from the former, as to the Divine judgment in this matter. For, to one, He said that he should |35 go through the midst of Jerusalem, and place the sign upon the forehead of the innocent men, but to the others; "Go into the city after him and strike, and draw not back your eyes, but to every one upon whom is the sign draw not near."
What would any one say concerning the Angel, who said to Daniel, "The word has gone forth?" or concerning him the first, who took the fire from the midst of the Cherubim, or what is more remarkable than this for shewing the ' good order amongst the Angels, that the Cherubim casts the fire into the hands of him who wears the sacred vestment; or concerning Him Who called the most divine Gabriel, and said to him, "Make this man understand the vision"," or whatever else is recorded by the holy theologians concerning the Godlike order of the Heavenly Hierarchies; by being assimilated to which, as far as possible, the discipline of our Hierarchy will have the Angelic comeliness, as it were, in reflection, moulded through it, and conducted to the superessential Source of order in every Hierarchy.
CAPUT IX.
Concerning the Principalities, Archangels, and Angels, and concerning their last Hierarchy.
Section I.
There remains for our reverent contemplation a Division which completes the Angelic Hierarchies, |36 that divided into the Godlike Principalities, Archangels, and Angels. And I think it necessary, to declare first the meaning of their sacred appellations to the best of my ability. For that of the Heavenly Principalities manifests their princely and leading function, after the Divine example, with order religious and most befitting the Princely, and their being wholly turned to the super-princely Prince, and leading others in princely fashion, and being moulded, as far as possible, to that prince-making Princedom Itself, and to manifest its superessential princely order, by the regularity of the princely powers.
Section II.
The (Order) of the Holy Archangels is of the same rank with the heavenly Principalities. For there is one Hierarchy and Division, as I said, of them and the Angels. But since there is not a Hierarchy which does not possess first and middle and last powers, the holy order of Archangels occupies the middle position in the Hierarchy between the extremes, for it belongs alike to the most holy Principalities and to the holy Angels; to the Principalities because it is turned in a princely fashion to the superessential Princedom, and is moulded to It as far as attainable, and unites the Angels after the fashion of its own well-regulated and marshalled and invisible leadings; and it belongs to the Angels, because it is of the messenger Order, receiving hierarchically the Divine illuminations from |37 the first powers, and announcing the same to the Angels in a godly manner, and, through Angels, manifesting to us, in proportion to the religious aptitude of each of the godly persons illuminated. For the Angels, as we have already said, complete the whole series of Heavenly Minds, as being the last Order of the Heavenly Beings who possess the Angelic characteristic; yea, rather, they are more properly named Angels by us than those of higher degree, because their Hierarchy is occupied with the more manifest, and is more particularly concerned with the things of the world. For the very highest Order, as being placed in the first rank near the Hidden One, we must consider as directing in spiritual things the second, hiddenly; and that the second, which is composed of the holy Lordships and Powers and Authorities, leads the Hierarchy of the Principalities and Archangels and Angels, more clearly indeed than the first Hierarchy, but more hiddenly than the Order after it, and the revealing order of the Principalities, Archangels, and Angels, presides, through each other, over the Hierarchies amongst men, in order that the elevation, and conversion, and communion, and union with God may be in due order; and, further, also that the procession from God vouchsafed benignly to all the Hierarchies, and passing to all in common, may be also with most sacred regularity. Hence, the Word of God has assigned our Hierarchy to Angels, by naming Michael as Ruler of the Jewish people, and others over other nations. For the |38 Most High established borders of nations according to number of Angels of God.
Section III.
But if any one should say, "How then were the people of the Hebrews alone conducted to the supremely Divine illuminations?" we must answer, that we ought not to throw the blame of the other nations wandering after those which are no gods upon the direct guidance of the Angels, but that they themselves, by their own declension, fell away from the direct leading towards the Divine Being, through self-conceit and self-will, and through their irrational veneration for things which appeared to them worthy of God. Even the Hebrew people are said to have suffered the same thing; for He says, "Thou I hast cast away knowledge of God, and hast gone after thine own heart." For neither have we a life governed by necessity, nor on account of the free will of those who are objects of providential care, are the Divine rays of the providential illumination blunted; but the inaptitude of the mental visions makes the overflowing light-gift of the paternal goodness, either altogether unparticipated or inpenetrable to their resistance, or makes the participations of the one fontal ray, diverse, small, or great, obscure, or brilliant, although that ray is one and simple, and always the same and ever overflowing; for even if, over the other nations (from |39 whom we also have emerged to that boundless and bounteous sea of Divine Light, which is readily-expanded for the ready reception of all), certain not-alien gods were wont to preside; yet there is one Head of all, and to this, the Angels, who religiously direct each nation, conduct those who follow them. Let us consider Melchizedek as being a Hierarch, most dear to God; (not of gods which are not, but of the truly most high God); for the godly-wise did not call Melchizedek simply dear to God, but also Priest, in order that they may clearly shew to the wise, that not only was he himself turned to the true God, but further that he was guide to others, as Hierarch of the elevation to the true and only Godhead.
Section IV.
Let me also recall this to your Hierarchical judgment----that both to Pharaoh, from the Angel who presided over the Egyptians, and to the Babylonian Prince, from his own Angel, the watchful and ruling care of the Providence and Lordship over all, was interpreted in visions; and for those nations, the worshippers of the true God were appointed leaders, for the interpretation of things shaped by Angelic visions revealed from God through Angels to holy men akin to the Angels, Daniel and Joseph. For there is one Prince and Providence over all. And never must we think that the Godhead is leader of Jews by lot, and that Angels, |40 independently, or as of equal rank, or in opposition, or that certain other gods, preside over the other nations. But that particular phrase of the Divine Word must be accepted according to the following sacred intention; not as though God had divided government amongst men, with other gods, or Angels, and had been elected by lot to the government and leadership of Israel, but in this sense----whilst the one Providence of Highest over all, assigned all mankind, savingly, to the directing conduct of their own Angels, yet Israel, almost alone in comparison with all, turned himself to the Light-gift, and recognition of the true Lord-Hence the Word of God, as shewing that Israel elected himself for the worship of the true God, says this, "He became Lord's portion;" and as indicating that he was assigned equally with the other nations, to one of the holy Angels, for the recognition, through him, of the Head of all, said "That Michael became leader of the (Jewish) people," demonstrating distinctly that there is one Providence of the whole, superessentially established above all the powers, unseen and seen, and that all the Angels who preside over each nation, elevate, as far as possible, those who follow them with a willing mind, to It as their proper Head. |41
CAPUT X.
A Repetition and Summary of the Angelic discipline.
Section I.
We have concluded, then, that the most reverend Order of the Minds around God, ministered by the perfecting illumination through its immediate elevation to it, is purified, and illuminated, and perfected by a gift of light from the Godhead, more hidden and more manifest----more hidden, indeed, as being more intelligible, and more simplifying-, and more unifying; more manifest, as being a first gift and a first manifestation, and more complete, and more affused to it as transparent. And from this (Order) again, in due degree, the second, and from the second, the third, and from the third, our Hierarchy, is reverently conducted to the super-original Origin and End of all good order, according to the self-same law of well-ordered regularity, in Divine harmony and proportion.
Section II.
Now all Angels are interpreters of those above them, the most reverend, indeed, of God, Who moves them, and the rest, in due degree, of those who have been moved by God. For, to such an extent has the superessential harmony of all things provided for the religious order and the regulated conduct of each of the rational and intellectual beings, that each rank of the Hierarchies, has been placed in sacred order, and we observe |42 every Hierarchy distributed into first, and middle, and last Powers. But to speak accurately, He distinguished each Division itself, by the same Divine harmonies; wherefore the theologians say that the most Divine Seraphim cry one to another, indicating distinctly, as I think by this, that the first impart their knowledge of divine things to the second.
Section III.
I might add this not inappropriately, that each heavenly and human mind has within itself its own special first, and middle, and last ranks, and powers, manifested severally in due degree, for the aforesaid particular mystical meanings of the Hierarchical illuminations, according to which, each one participates-, so far as is lawful and attainable to him, in the most spotless purification, the most copious light, the pre-eminent perfection. For there is nothing that is self-perfect, or absolutely without need of perfecting, except the really Self-perfect and preeminently Perfect.
CAPUT XI.
For what reason all the Heavenly Beings, in common, are called Heavenly Powers.
Section I.
Now that we have defined these things, it is worthy of consideration for what reason we are accustomed to call all the Angelic Beings together, |43 Heavenly Powers. For it is not possible to say, as we may of the Angels, that the Order of the holy Powers is last of all. The Orders of the superior Beings share in the saintly illumination. of the last; but the last in no wise of the first; and on this account all the Divine Minds are called Heavenly Powers, but never Seraphim and Thrones and Lordships. For the last do not enjoy the whole characteristics of the highest. For the Angels, and those above the Angels----Archangels, and Principalities, and Authorities,----placed by the Word of God after the Powers, are often in common called by us, in conjunction with the other holy Beings, Heavenly Powers.
Section II.
But we affirm that, whilst often using the appellation, Heavenly Powers, for all in common, we do not introduce a sort of. confusion of the characteristics of each Order. But, inasmuch as all the Divine Minds, by the supermundane description given of them, are distributed into three,----into essence, and power, and energy,----when we speak of them all, or some of them, indiscriminately, as Heavenly Beings or Heavenly Powers, we must consider that we manifest those about whom we speak in a general way, from their essence or power severally. For we must not apply the superior characteristic of those holy Powers, whom we have already sufficiently distinguished, to the Beings which are entirely inferior to them, so as to overthrow the unconfused order of the Angelic ranks. For |44 according to the correct account which we have already frequently given, the superior Orders possess abundantly the sacred characteristics of the inferior, but the lowest do not possess the superior completeness of the more reverend, since the first-manifested illuminations are revealed to them, through the first Order, in proportion to their capacity.
CAPUT XII.
Why the Hierarchs amongst men are called Angels.
Section I.
But this is sometimes also asked by diligent contemplators of the intelligible Oracles; Inasmuch as the lowest Orders do not possess the completeness of the superior, for what reason is our Hierarch named by the Oracles, "Angel of the Sovereign Lord?"
Section II.
Now the statement, as I think, is not contrary to what has been before defined; for we say that the last lack the complete and pre-eminent Power of the more reverend Divisions; for they participate in the partial and analogous, according to the one harmonious and binding fellowship of all things. For example, the rank of the holy Cherubim participates in higher wisdom and knowledge, but the Divisions of the Beings beneath them, participate, they also, in wisdom and knowledge, but nevertheless partially, as compared with them, and |45 in a lower degree. For the participation of wisdom and knowledge throughout is common to all the minds which bear the image of God; but the being near and first, or second and inferior, is not common, but, as has been determined for each in its own degree. This also one might safely define respecting all the Divine Minds; for, as the first possess abundantly the saintly characteristics of the inferior, so the last possess those of the superior, not indeed in the same degree, but subordinately. There is, then, as I think, nothing absurd, if the Word of God calls our Hierarch, Angel, since he participates, according to his own capacity, in the messenger characteristic of the Angels, and elevates himself, as far as attainable to men, to the likeness of their revealing office.
Section III.
But you will find that the Word of God calls gods, both the Heavenly Beings above us, and the most beloved of God, and holy men amongst us, although the Divine Hiddenness is transcendently elevated and established above all, and no created Being can. properly and wholly be said to be like unto It, except those intellectual and rational Beings who are entirely and wholly turned to Its Oneness as far as possible, and who elevate themselves incessantly to Its Divine illuminations, as far as attainable, by their imitation of God, if I may so speak, according to their power, and are deemed worthy of the same divine name. |46
CAPUT XIII.
For what reason the Prophet Isaiah is said to have been purified by the Seraphim.
Section I.
Come, then, let us examine this as best we can, why the Seraphim is said to be sent to one of the Theologians; for some one may object, that not one of the inferior Angels, but he, the enrolled amongst the most reverend Beings, cleanses the Prophet.
Section II.
Some, then, affirm that, according to the definition already given of the mutual relation of all the Minds, the Logion does not name one of the highest around God, as having come for the cleansing of the Theologian, but that some one of the Angels, placed over us as a sacred Minister of the Prophet's cleansing, is called by the same name. as the Seraphim, on the ground that the removal of the faults spoken of, and the restoration of him who was cleansed for the Divine mission, was through fire; and they say that the Logion speaks simply of one of the Seraphim, not one of those who are established around God, but one of the Powers set over us for the purpose of cleansing.
Section III.
Now another man brought forward to me a by no means foolish defence of the present position. |47 For he said that that great one, whoever he was,----the Angel who formed this vision for the purpose of teaching the theologian Divine things,----referred his own cleansing function to God, and after God, to the first working Hierarchy. And was not this statement certainly true? For he who said this, affirmed that the supremely Divine Power in visiting all, advances and penetrates all irresistibly, and yet is invisible to all, not only as being superessentially elevated above all, but as secretly transmitting its providential energies to all; yea, rather, it is manifested to all the intellectual Beings in due degree, and by conducting Its own gift of Light to the most reverend Beings, through them, as first, It distributes in due order to the subordinate, according to the power of each Division to bear the vision of God; or to speak more strictly, and through familiar illustrations (for if they fall short of the Glory of God, Who is exalted above all, yet they are more illustrating for us), the distribution of the sun's ray passes with easy distribution to first matter, as being more transparent than all, and, through it with greater clearness, lights up its own splendours; but when it strikes more dense materials, its distributed brilliancy becomes more obscure, from the inaptitude of the materials illuminated for transmission of the gift of Light, and from this it is naturally contracted, so as to almost entirely exclude the passage of Light. Again, the heat of fire transmits itself chiefly to things that are more receptive, and yielding, and conductive |48 to assimilation to itself; but, as regards repellent opposing substances, either it leaves none, or a very light, trace of its fiery energy; and further, when through substances favourable to its proper action, it comes in contact with things not congenial, ---- first, it perchance makes things easily changed to heating hot, and through them heats proportionately either water or something else which is not easily heated. After the same rule, then, of Nature's well-ordered method, the regulation of all good order, both visible and invisible, manifests supernaturally the brightness of its own gift of Light, in first manifestation to the most exalted Beings, in abundant streams, and through these, the Beings after them partake of the Divine ray. For these, as knowing God first, and striving preeminently after Divine virtue, and to become first-workers, are deemed worthy of the power and energy for the imitation of God, as attainable, and these benevolently elevate the beings after them to an equality, as far as possible, by imparting ungrudgingly to them the splendour which rests upon themselves, and these again to the subordinate, and throughout each Order, the first rank imparts its gift to that after it, and the Divine Light thus rests upon all, in due proportion, with providential forethought. There is, then, for all those who are illuminated, a Source of illumination, viz., God, by nature, and really, and properly, as Essence of Light, and Cause of Being, and Vision itself; but, by ordinance, and for Divine imitation, the relatively |49 superior (is source) for each after it, by the fact, that the Divine rays are poured through it to that. All the remaining Angelic Beings, then, naturally regard the highest Order of the Heavenly Minds as source, after God, of every God-knowledge and God-imitation, since, through them, the supremely Divine illumination is distributed to all, and to us. Wherefore, they refer every holy energy of Divine imitation to God indeed as Cause, but to the first Godlike Minds, as first agents and teachers of things Divine.
The first Order, then, of the holy Angels possesses, more than all, the characteristic of fire, and the streaming distribution of supremely Divine wisdom, and the faculty of knowing the highest science of the Divine illuminations, and the characteristic of Thrones, exhibiting their expansion for the reception of God; and the ranks of the subordinate Beings possess indeed the empyrean, the wise, the knowing, the God-receptive, faculty, but subordinately, and by looking to the first, and through them, as being deemed worthy of the Divine imitation in first operation, are conducted to the attainable likeness of God. The aforesaid holy characteristics, then, which the Beings after them possess, through the first, they attribute to those Beings themselves, after God, as Hierarchs.
Section IV.
He who said this, used to affirm, that this vision was shewn to the Theologian, through one of the |50 holy and blessed Angels set over us, and that from his illuminating direction, he was elevated to that intellectual contemplation in which he saw the most exalted Beings seated (to speak symbolically) under God, and with God, and around 69 God, and the super-princely 70 Eminence elevated unspeakably above them and all, seated on high in the midst of the superior Powers. The Theologian then learned, from the things seen, that, as compared with every super-essential pre-eminence, the Divine Being was seated incomparably above every visible and invisible power, yea, even that It is exalted above all, as the Reality of all things, as Absolute----not even like to the first of created Beings;----further also, that It is source and essentiating Cause, and unalterable Fixity of the undissolved continuance of all things, from, Which is both the being and the well-being of the most exalted Powers themselves. Then he revealed that the Godlike powers of the most holy Seraphim, themselves, whose sacred appellation signifies the Fiery, concerning which we shall shortly speak as best we can, conducted the elevations of the empyrean power to the Divine likeness. And, the holy Theologian, by viewing the description of free and most exalted elevation of the sixfold wings to the Divine Being in first, middle, and last conceptions, and further, their endless feet and many faces, and their extended wings----one under their feet, and the other over their faces, as seen in vision, and the perpetual movement of their middle wings----was |51 brought to the intelligible knowledge of the things seen, since there was manifested to him the power of the most exalted minds for deep penetration and contemplation, and the sacred reverence which they have, supermundanely, for the bold and courageous and unattainable scrutiny into higher and deeper mysteries; and of the incessant and high-flying perpetual movement of their Godlike energies in due proportion. But he was also taught the hidden mysteries of that supremely Divine and much esteemed Hymn of Praise----whilst the Angel who formed the vision imparts, as far as possible, his own sacred knowledge to the Theologian. He also taught him this, that the participation, as far as attainable, in the supremely Divine and radiant purity, is a purification to the pure however pure; and it being accomplished from the very Godhead by most exalted causes, for all the sacred Minds by a superessential hiddenness, is in a manner more clear, and exhibits and distributes itself, in a higher degree, to the highest powers around It; but with regard to the second, or us, the lowest mental powers, as each is distant from, as regards the Divine likeness, so It contracts its brilliant illumination to the single unknowable of its own hiddenness. And it illuminates the second, severally, through the first; and, if one must speak briefly, it is firstly brought from hiddenness to manifestation through the first powers. This, then, the Theologian was taught by the Angel who was leading him to Light----that purification, and all the supremely Divine operations, |52 illuminating through the first Beings, are distributed to all the rest, according to the relation of each for the deifying participations. Wherefore he reasonably attributed to the Seraphim, after God, the characteristic of purification by fire. There is nothing, then, absurd, if the Seraphim is said to purify the Prophet. For, as God purifies all, by being cause of every purification, yea, rather (for I use a familiar illustration) just as our Hierarch, when purifying or enlightening through his Leitourgoi or Priests, is said himself to purify and enlighten, since the Orders consecrated through him attribute to him their own proper sacred operations; so also the Angel who effected the purification of the Theologian attributes his own purifying science and power to God, indeed, as Cause, but to the Seraphim as first-operating Hierarch; as any one might say with Angelic reverence, whilst teaching one who was being purified by him, "There is a preeminent Source, and Essence, and Worker, and Cause of the cleansing wrought upon you from me, He Who brings both the first Beings into Being, and holds them together by their fixity around Himself, and keeps them without change and without fall, moving them to the first participations of His own Providential energies (for this, He Who taught me these things used to say, shews the mission of the Seraphim), but as Hierarch and Leader after God, the Marshal of the most exalted Beings, from whom I was taught to purify after the example of God ---- this is he, who cleanses thee through me, through whom the Cause and Creator |53 of all cleansing brought forth His own provident energies from the Hidden even to us." These things, then, he taught me, and I impart them to thee. Let it be a part of thy intellectual and discriminating skill, either, to acquit each of the causes assigned from objection, and to honour this before the other as having likelihood and good reason, and perhaps, the truth; or, to find out from yourself something more allied to the real truth, or to learn from another; (God, of course, giving expression, and Angels supplying it;) and to reveal to us, the friends of Angels, a view more luminous if it should be so, and to me specially welcome.
CAPUT XIV.
What the traditional number of the Angels signifies.
This also is worthy, in my opinion, of intellectual attention, that the tradition of the Oracles concerning the Angels affirms that they are thousand thousands, and myriad myriads, accumulating and multiplying, to themselves, the supreme limits of our numbers, and, through these, shewing clearly, that the ranks of the Heavenly Beings cannot be numbered by us. For many are the blessed hosts of the supermundane minds, surpassing the weak and contracted measurement of our material number, and being definitely known by their own supermundane and heavenly intelligence and science alone, which is given to them in profusion by the supremely Divine and Omniscient Framer of Wisdom, and essentiating |54 Cause and connecting Force, and encompassing Term of all created things together.
CAPUT XV.
What are the morphic likenesses of the Angelic Powers? what the fiery? what the anthromorphic? what are the eyes? what the nostrils? what the ears? what the mouths? what the touch? what the eyelids? what the eyebrows? what the prime? what the teeth? what the shoulders? what the elbows and the hands? what the heart? what the breasts? what the back? what the feet? what the wings? what the nakedness? what the robe? what the shining raiment? what the sacerdotal? what the girdles? what the rods? what the spears? what the battle - axes? what the measuring lines? what the winds? what the clouds? what the brass? what the electron? what the choirs? what the clapping of hands? what the colours of different stones? what the appearance of the lion? what the appearance of the ox? what the appearance of the eagle? what the horses? what the varieties of coloured horses? what the rivers? what the chariots? what the wheels? what the so-called joy of the Angels?
Section I.
Come, then, let us at last, if you please, rest our mental vision from the strain of lofty contemplation, befitting Angels, and descend to the divided and manifold breadth of the many-shaped variety of the Angelic forms, and then return analytically from the |55 same, as from images, to the simplicity of the Heavenly Minds. But let this first be made plain to you, that the explanations of the sacredly depicted likenesses represent the same ranks of the Heavenly Beings as sometimes ruling, and, at other times, as being ruled; and the last, ruling, and the first, being ruled; and the same, as has been said, having first, and middle, and last powers ----without introducing anything absurd into the description, according to the following method of explanation. For if indeed we were to say that some are ruled by those above them, and then that they rule the same, and that those above, whilst ruling those below, are ruled by those same who are being ruled, the thing would manifestly be absurd, and mixed with all sorts of confusion. But if we say that the same rule and are ruled, but no longer the self-same, or from the self-same, but that each same is ruled by those before, and rules those below, one might say appropriately that the Divinely pictured presentations in the Oracles may sometimes attribute, properly and truly, the very same, both to first, and middle, and last powers. Now the straining elevation to things above, and their being drawn unswervingly around each other, as being guardians of their own proper powers, and that they participate in the providential faculty to provide for those below them by mutual communication, befit truly all the Heavenly Beings, although some, pre-eminently and wholly, as we have often said, and others partially and subordinately. |56
Section II.
But we must keep our discourse within bounds, and must search, in our first explanation of the types, for what reason the Word of God prefers the sacred description of fire, in preference to almost every other. You will find it, then, representing not only wheels of fire, but also living creatures of fire, and men, flashing, as it were, like lightning, and placing around the Heavenly Beings themselves heaps of coals of fire, and rivers of flame flowing with irresistible force; and also it says that the thrones are of fire; and that the most exalted Seraphim glow with fire, it shews from their appellation, and it attributes the characteristic and energy of fire to them, and throughout, above and below, it prefers pre-eminently the representation by the image of fire. I think, then, the similitude of fire 71 denotes the likeness of the Heavenly Minds to God in the highest degree; for the holy theologians frequently describe the superessential and formless essence by fire, as having many likenesses, if I may be permitted to say so, of the supremely Divine property, as in things visible. For the sensible fire is, so to speak, in everything, and passes through everything unmingled, and springs from all, and whilst all-luminous, is, as it were, hidden, unknown, in its essential nature, when there is no |57 material lying near it upon which it may shew its proper energy. It is both uncontrollable and invisible, self-subduing all things, and bringing under its own energy anything in which it may happen to be; varying, imparting itself to all things near it, whatever they may be; renewing by its rousing heat, and giving light by its uncovered illuminations; invincible, unmingled, separating, unchangeable, elevating, penetrating, lofty; subject to no grovelling inferiority, ever moving, self-moving, moving other things, comprehending, incomprehended, needing no other, imperceptibly increasing itself, displaying its own majesty to the materials receiving it; energetic, powerful, present to all invisibly, unobserved, seeming not to be, and manifesting itself suddenly according to its own proper nature by friction, as it were by a sort of seeking, and again flying away im-palpably, undiminished in all the joyful distributions of itself. And one might find many characteristics of fire, appropriate to display the supremely Divine Energy, as in sensible images. The Godly-wise, then, knowing this, depict the celestial Beings from fire, shewing their Godlikeness, and imitation of God, as far as attainable.
Section III.
But they also depict them under the likeness of men72, on account of the intellectual faculty, and their having powers of looking upwards, and |58 their straight and erect form, and their innate faculty of ruling and guiding, and whilst being least, in physical strength as compared with the other powers of irrational creatures, yet ruling over all by their superior power of mind, and by their dominion in consequence of rational science, and their innate unslavishness and indomitableness of soul. It is possible, then, I think, to find within each of the many parts of our body harmonious images of the Heavenly Powers, by affirming that the powers of vision denote the most transparent elevation towards the Divine lights, and again, the tender, and liquid, and not repellent, but sensitive, and pure, and unfolded, reception, free from all passion, of the supremely Divine illuminations.
Now the discriminating powers of the nostrils denote the being able to receive, as far as attainable, the sweet-smelling largess beyond conception, and to distinguish accurately things which are not such, and to entirely reject.
The powers of the ears denote the participation and conscious reception of the supremely Divine inspiration.
The powers of taste denote the fulness of the intelligible nourishments, and the reception of the Divine and nourishing streams.
The powers of touch denote the skilful discrimination of that which is suitable or injurious. |59
The eyelids and eyebrows denote the guarding of the conceptions which see God.
The figures of manhood and youth denote the perpetual bloom and vigour of life.
The teeth denote the dividing of the nourishing perfection given to us; for each intellectual Being divides and multiplies, by a provident faculty, the unified conception given to it by the more Divine for the proportionate elevation of the inferior.
The shoulders and elbows, and further, the hands, denote the power of making, and operating, and accomplishing.
The heart again is a symbol of the Godlike life, dispersing its own life-giving power to the objects of its forethought, as beseems the good.
The chest again denotes the invincible and protective faculty of the life-giving distribution, as being placed above the heart.
The back, the holding together the whole productive powers of life.
The feet denote the moving and quickness, and skilfulness of the perpetual movement advancing towards Divine things. Wherefore also the Word of God arranged the feet of the holy Minds under their wings; for the wing displays the elevating quickness and the heavenly progress towards higher things, and the superiority to every grovelling thing by reason of the ascending, and the lightness of the wings denotes their being in no respect earthly, |60 but undefiledly and lightly raised to the sublime; and the naked and unshod denotes the unfettered, agile, and unrestrained, and free from all external superfluity, and assimilation to the Divine simplicity, as far as attainable.
Section IV.
But since again the simple and variegated wisdom both clothes the naked, and distributes certain implements to them to carry, come, let us unfold, according to our power, the sacred garments and implements of the celestial Minds. The shining and glowing raiment, I think, signifies the Divine likeness after the image of fire, and their enlightening, in consequence of their repose in Heaven, where is the Light, and their complete illuminating intelligibly, and their being illuminated intellectually 73; and the sacerdotal robe denotes their conducting to Divine and mystical visions, and the consecration of their whole life. And the girdles signify the guard over their productive powers, and the collected habit of being turned uniformly to It, and being drawn around Itself by an unbroken identity, in a well-ordered circle.
Section V.
The rods signify the kingly and directing faculty, making all things straight. The spears and the battle-axes denote the dividing of things unlike, |61 and the sharp and energetic and drastic operation of the discriminating powers. The geometrical1and technical articles denote the founding, and building, and completing, and whatever else belongs to the elevating and guiding forethought for the subordinate Orders. But sometimes the implements assigned to the holy Angels are the symbols of God's judgments to ourselves; some, representing His correcting instruction or avenging righteousness, others, freedom from peril, or end of education, or resumption of former well-being, or addition of other gifts, small or great, sensible or intelligible. Nor would a discriminating mind, in any case whatever, have any difficulty in properly adapting things visible to things invisible.
Section VI.
But the fact that they are named winds denotes their rapid action, passing almost instantaneously to all things, and their transporting movement in passing from above to below, and again from below to above, their elevating the second to the height above, and moving the first to a common and provident advance of the inferior Orders. But perhaps some one would say that the appellation of wind, to the aerial spirit, also denotes the Divine likeness of the Heavenly Minds; for this also bears a likeness and type of the supremely Divine energy (as |62 we have demonstrated more fully in the symbolic theology, in our explanation of the four elements) in accordance with the moving and life-producing, and the rapid and resistless development of Nature, and the Hiddenness of the moving sources and terminations to us unknown and invisible. For He says, "Thou knowest not whence it cometh nor whither it goeth." But also the Word of God attributes to them the appearance of a cloud, signifying, through this, that the holy minds are filled super-mundanely with the hidden Light, receiving the first manifestation without boasting over it as such, which they distribute ungrudgingly to the second, as a secondary manifestation, and in proportion to capacity; yea, further, that the productive, and life-producing, and increasing, and perfecting power is enshrined in them, after the fashion of the intelligible production of showers, which summons the receptive womb of the earth, by fruitful rains, to the life-giving pangs of birth.
Section VII.
Also, the Word of God attributes to the Heavenly Beings a likeness to Brass, Electron, and many-coloured stones. Electron, as being partly like gold, partly like silver, denotes the incorruptible, as in gold, and unexpended, and undiminished, and spotless brilliancy, and the brightness, as in silver, and a luminous and heavenly radiance. But to the |63 Brass, according to the reasons assigned, must be attributed either the likeness of fire or that of gold.
We must consider that the many-coloured appearances of stones denote either as white, the luminous; or as red, the fiery; or as yellow, the golden; or as green, the youthful and the full grown; and within each likeness you will find an explanation which teaches the inner meaning of the typical images.
But since, I think, according to our power, this has been sufficiently said, let us pass to the sacred explanation of the Divine representations of the Heavenly Minds through wild beasts 74. We must consider that the shape of a Lion 75 signifies the leading, and robust, and indomitable, and the assimilation, as far as possible, to the unutterable Godhead, by the concealment of the intellectual footprints 76, and by the mystically modest covering of the path, leading to It, during Divine illumination.
Section VIII.
The Image of the Ox 77 denotes the strong and the mature, turning up the intellectual furrows for the reception of the heavenly and productive showers; and the Horns, the guarding and indomitable.
The representation of the Eagle 78 denotes the kingly, and soaring, and swift in flight, and quickness in search of the nourishment which makes |64 strong, and wanness, and agility, and cleverness; and the unimpeded, straight, and unflinching gaze towards the bounteous and brilliant splendour of the Divine rays of the sun, with the robust extension of the visual powers.
That of Horses represents obedience and docility, and of those who are white, brilliancy, and as especially congenial to the Divine Light; but of those who are dark blue, the Hidden; and of those red, the fiery and vigorous; and of the piebald, the uniting of the extremes by the power passing through them, and joining the first to the second, and the second to the first, reciprocally and considerately.
Now if we did not consult the proportion of our discourse, we might, not inappropriately, adapt the particular characteristics of the aforesaid living creatures, and all their bodily representations to the Heavenly Powers, upon the principle of dissimilar similitudes; for instance, their appearance of anger, to intellectual manliness, of which anger is the remotest echo, and their desire, to the Divine love; and to speak summarily, referring all the sensible perceptions, and many parts of irrational beings, to the immaterial conceptions and unified Powers of the Heavenly Beings. Now not only is this sufficient for the wise, but even an explanation of one of the dissimilar representations would be sufficient for the accurate description of similar things, after the same fashion. |65
Section IX.
But we must examine the fact that rivers are spoken of, and Wheels and Chariots attached to the Heavenly Beings. The rivers of fire signify the supremely Divine streams furnishing to them an ungrudging and incessant flow, and nourishing the productive powers of life; the chariots, the conjoined communion of those of the same rank; the wheels being winged, and advancing without turning and without deviation, the power of their advancing energy within a straight and direct path, towards the same unflinching and straight swoop of their every intellectual track, supermundanely straight and direct way. Also it is possible to explain, after another mystical meaning, the sacred description of the intellectual wheels; for the name Gel, Gel, is given to them, as the theologian says. This shews, according to the Hebrew tongue, revolutions and revelations. For the Empyrean and Godlike wheels have revolutions, indeed, by their perpetual movement around the Good Itself; but revelations, by the manifestation of things hidden, and by the elevation of things at our feet, and by the descending procession of the sublime illuminations to things below. There remains for accurate explanation, the statement respecting the rejoicing of the Heavenly Orders; for they are utterly incapable of our impassioned pleasure. Now they are said to |66 rejoice with God over the discovery of what was lost, as befits their Divine good nature, and that Godlike and ungrudging rejoicing over the care and salvation of those who are turned to God; and that joy, beyond description, of which also holy men often partake, whilst the deifying illuminations of the Deity rest upon them. Let it suffice, then, to have said this much concerning the Divine representations, which, no doubt, falls short of their accurate explanation, but which will prevent us, I think, from being servilely entangled in the resemblance of the types. But if you should say that we have not mentioned in order the whole Angelic Powers, or operations, or likenesses, depicted in the Oracles, we answer in truth, that we do not possess the supermundane science of some; and further, in regard to them, we have need of another to conduct to light and to reveal. Other things, however, as being parallel to the things said, we have omitted, out of regard to the symmetry of the discourse; and the hiddenness, beyond our capacity, we have honoured by silence.
St. Michael and All Angels, 1898.
[Selected footnotes moved to the end and numbered. Most are biblical references, which have been given for the first few pages only.]
1. a I Pet. v. 1.
2. b James i. 17.
3. c Rom. xi. 36.
4. d John i. 9
5. e Rom. v. 2.
6. f Syr. Doc. p. 61, Clark.
7. g Plato Rep. 6, 7-11, 121-126. Read Allegory of Cave.
8. h Ps. xix.
9. i Num. xv. 3.
10. k Luke 11. 9.
11. l John vii. 14.
12. m Rom. xiii. 1, 2.
13. n 1 Cor. x. 16.
14. o I Pet ii. 9.
15. p no&hta.
16. q Ezek. i. 7.
17. r Ibid. i. 6.
18. s Ibid. i. 10.
19. t Ibid.
20. u Ibid.
21. x Ibid. i. 6-8.
22. y Dan. vii. 9.
23. z Dan. vii. 9.
24. a Zech. i. 8.
25. b Joshua v. 13, 14; 2 Macc. iii. 25.
26. c Qeologi/a.
27. d 1 Cor. viii. 7.
28. e John i. 1.
29. f Ps. cxxxvi. 5.
30. g Exod. iii. 14.
31. h John i. 4.
32. i i Tim. vi. 16.
33. k Ps. cxlv. 13.
34. l Rom. xi. 33; Jer. li. 15.
35. m Acts i. 10.
36. n Matt. xxviii. 3.
37. o Acts vi. 15.
38. p Gen. i. 31.
39. q Mal. iv. 2.
40. r Num. xxiv. 17; 2 Pet. i. 19.
41. s John i. 5.
42. t Exod.iii. 2.
43. u John vii. 38.
44. x Cant. i. 2.
45. y Eph. ii. 20.
46. z Hos. xiii. 8.
47. a Ibid. 7.
48. b Ibid. 8.
49. c ibid.
50. d Ps. xxii. 6.
51. e a#gia tw~n a#giwn.
52. f Eph. v. 1.
53. g I Cor. iii. 9.
54. h Ps. li. 9.
55. i Ibid. cxix. 18.
56. k Deut. vi. 4.
57. l John xii. 46.
58. m Matt. v. 48.
59. n The Holy Angels.
60. ° Gal. iii. 18.
61. p Acts vii. 53.
62. q Gen. xxii. 12.
63. r Acts x. 3.
64. s Dan. vii. 16.
65. t Ibid. 10.
66. u 2 Cor. xii. 2.
67. x Matt. ii. 13.
68. y John i. 18; 1 John iv. 12; 1 Tim. vi. 16.
69. h John 1. 1.
70. i Or super-original.
71. r Le Cratyle de Platon, i. 302.
72. s Gen. xxxii. 24.
73. h See Maximus D.N. c. 4. s. 1.
74. y Ezek. i. 10.
75. z Ibid.
76. a The Lion was said to erase his footsteps by his tail.
77. b Ezek. i. 10.
78. c Ibid.
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Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
SOURCE SECTION: areopagite_14_ecclesiastical_hierarchy.htm
Dionysius the Areopagite, Works (1899) vol. 2. p.67-162. The Ecclesiastical Hierarchy
Dionysius the Areopagite, Works (1899) vol. 2. p.67-162. The Ecclesiastical Hierarchy
Chapter 1: What is the traditional view of the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy and what is its purpose?
Chapter 2.
I. Concerning things done in Illumination.
II. Mysterion of Illumination.
III. Contemplation.
Chapter 3.
I. Concerning things accomplished in the Synaxis.
II. Mysterion of Synaxis, that is, Communion.
III. Contemplation.
Chapter 4.
I. Concerning things performed in the Muron, and concerning things perfected in it.
II. Mysterion of Initiation of Muron.
III. Contemplation.
Chapter 5.
I. Concerning sacerdotal Consecrations.
II. Mysterion of Sacerdotal Consecrations.
III. Contemplation.
Chapter 6.
I. Concerning the Ranks of the Initiated.
II. Mysterion on Monastic Consecration.
III. Contemplation.
Chapter 7.
I. Concerning things performed over those fallen asleep.
II. Mysterion over those who have religiously fallen asleep.
III. Contemplation.
ECCLESIASTICAL HIERARCHY.
CAPUT I.
To my Fellow Presbyter Timothy. Dionysius the Presbyter.
What is the traditional view of the Ecclesiastical Hierarchy and what is its purpose?
Section I.
We must, then, most pious of pious sons, demonstrate from the supermundane and most sacred Oracles and traditions, that ours is a Hierarchy of the inspired and Divine and Deifying science, and of operation, and of consecration, for those who have been initiated with the initiation of the sacred revelation derived from the hierarchical mysteries. See, however, that you do not put to scorn things most holy (Holy of Holies); but rather treat them reverently, and you will honour the things of the hidden God by intellectual and obscure researches, carefully guarding them from the participation and defilement of the uninitiated, and reverently sharing holy things with the holy alone, by a holy enlightenment. For thus, as the Word of God has taught us who feast at His Banquet, even Jesus Himself----the most supremely Divine |68 Mind and superessential, the Source and Essence, and most supremely Divine Power of every Hierarchy and Sanctification and Divine operation----illuminates the blessed Beings who are superior to us, in a manner more clear, and at the same time more intellectual, and assimilates them to His own Light, as far as possible; and by our love of things beautiful elevated to Him, and which elevates us, folds together our many diversities, and after perfecting into a uniform and Divine life and habit and operation, holily bequeaths the power of the Divine Priesthood; from which by approaching to the holy exercise of the priestly office, we ourselves become nearer to the Beings above us, by assimilation, according to our power, to their abiding and: unchangeable holy steadfastness; and thus by looking upwards to the blessed and supremely Divine self of Jesus, and reverently gazing upon whatever. we are permitted to see, and illuminated with the knowledge of the visions, we shall be able to become, as regards the science of Divine mysteries, purified and purifiers; images of Light, and workers, with God, perfected and perfecting.
Section II.
Then what is the Hierarchy of the Angels1 and Archangels, and of supermundane Principalities and Authorities, Powers and Lordships, and Divine Thrones, or of the Beings of the same ranks as the Thrones----which the Word of God declares to |69 be near, and always about God, and with2 God, naming them in the Hebrew tongue Cherubim and Seraphim----by pondering the sacred ranks and divisions of their Orders and Hierarchies, you will find in the books we have written----not as befits their dignity but to the best of our ability----and as the Theology of the most holy Scriptures guided, when they extolled their Hierarchy. Nevertheless, it is necessary to say this, that both that, and every Hierarchy extolled now by us, has one and the same power, throughout the whole Hierarchical transaction; and that the Hierarch himself, according to his essence, and analogy, and rank, is initiated in Divine things, and is deified and imparts to the subordinates, according to the meetness of each for the sacred deification which comes to him from' God; also that the subordinates follow the superior, and elevate the inferior towards things in advance; and that some go before, and, as far as possible, give the lead to others; and that each, as far as may be, participates in the truly Beautiful, and Wise, and Good, through this the inspired and sacerdotal harmony.
But the Beings and ranks above us, of whom we have already made a reverent mention, are both incorporeal, and their Hierarchy is both intelligible and supermundane; but let us view our Hierarchy, comformably to ourselves, abounding in the variety of the sensible symbols, by which, in proportion to our capacity, we are conducted, hierarchically |70 according to our measure, to the uniform deification ----God and Divine virtue. They indeed, as minds, think, according to laws laid down for themselves; but we are led by sensible figures to the Divine contemplations, as is possible to us. And, to speak truly, there is One, to Whom all the Godlike aspire, but they do not partake uniformly of this One and the Same, but as the Divine balance distributes to each the meet inheritance. Now these things have been treated more systematically in the Treatise concerning "Intelligible and Sensible 3." But now I will attempt to describe our Hierarchy, both its source and essence, as best I can; invoking Jesus, the source and Perfecting of all Hierarchies.
Section III.
Every Hierarchy, then, is, according to our august tradition, the whole account of the sacred things falling under it, a most complete summary of the sacred rites of this or that Hierarchy, as the case may be. Our Hierarchy, then, is called, and is, the comprehensive system of the whole sacred rites included within it, according to which the divine Hierarch, being initiated, will have the communication of all the most sacred things within himself, as chief of Hierarchy. For as he who speaks of Hierarchy speaks of the order of the whole sacred rites collectively, so he, who mentions Hierarch, denotes the inspired and godly man----the skilled in all sacred knowledge----in whom the whole |71 Hierarchy is clearly completed and recognized within himself.
Head of this Hierarchy is the Fountain of Life, the Essence of Goodness, the one Triad, Cause of things that be, from Which both being and well-being come to things that be, by reason of goodness4. Of this most supremely Divine blessedness ----exalted beyond all, the threefold Monad, the really Being,----the Will, inscrutable to us, but known to Itself, is the rational preservation of beings amongst us and above us; but that (preservation) cannot otherwise take place, except those who are, being saved are being deified. Now the assimilation to, and union with, God, as far as attainable, is deification. And this is the common goal of every Hierarchy,----the clinging love towards God and Divine things divinely and uniformly ministered; and previous to this, the complete and unswerving removal of things contrary, the knowledge of things as they are in themselves; the vision and science of sacred truth; the inspired communication of the uniform perfection of the One Itself, as far as attainable; the banquet of contemplation, nourishing intelligibly, and deifying every man elevated towards it.
Section IV.
Let us affirm, then, that the supremely Divine Blessedness, the essential Deity, the Source of |72 deification, from Which comes the deification of those deified, bequeathed, by Divine Goodness, the Hierarchy, for preservation, and deification of all rational and intellectual Beings. And to the supermundane and blessed inheritances there is bequeathed something more immaterial and intellectual (for Almighty God does not move them to things divine, from without, but intelligibly, since they are illuminated as to the most Divine will from within, with brilliancy pure and immaterial), but to us----that which has been bequeathed to them, uniformly, and enveloped, is bequeathed from the Divinely transmitted Oracles, in a variety and multitude of divisible symbols, as we are able to receive it. For the Divinely transmitted Oracles are essence of our Hierarchy. And we affirm that these Oracles----all such as were given from our godly initiators in inspired Letters of the Word of God ----are most august; and further, whatever our leaders have revealed to us from the same holy men, by a less material initiation, and already akin, as it were, to the Heavenly Hierarchy, from mind to mind, through the medium of speech, corporeal, indeed, but nevertheless more immaterial, without writing. Nor did the inspired Hierarchs transmit these things, in conceptions clear to the commonalty of worshippers, but in sacred symbols. For it is not every one that is hallowed; nor, as the Oracles affirm, does knowledge belong to all. |73
Section V.
Necessarily, then, the first leaders of our Hierarchy, after having been filled themselves with the sacred gift, from the superessential Godhead, and sent, by the supremely Divine Goodness, to extend the same gift successively, and, as godly, earnestly desiring themselves the elevation and deification of those after them, presented to us----by their written and unwritten revelations----in accordance with their sacred injunctions, things supercelestial, by sensible images, the enfolded, by variety and multitude, and things Divine, by things human, and things immaterial, by things material, and the superessential, by things belonging to us. Nor did they do this merely on account of the unhallowed, to whom it is not permitted even to touch the symbols, but because our Hierarchy is, as I said, a kind of symbol adapted to our condition, which needs things sensible, for our more Divine elevation from these to things intelligible. Nevertheless the reasons of the symbols have been revealed to the Divine initiators, which it is not permitted to explain to those who are yet being initiated, knowing that the Lawgivers of things divinely transmitted deliberately arranged the Hierarchy in well-established and unconfused ranks, and in proportionate and sacred distributions of that which was convenient to each, according to fitness. Wherefore trusting in thy sacred promises (for it is a pious duty to recall them to thy recollection) ---- that, since every Hierarchical sacred word is of binding |74 force, thou wilt not communicate to any other but those Godlike initiators of the same rank with thyself, and wilt persuade them to promise, according to hierarchical regulation, to touch pure things purely, and to communicate the mysteries of God to the godly alone, and things perfect to those capable of perfection, and things altogether most holy to the holy, I have entrusted this Divine gift to thee, in addition to many other Hierarchical gifts.
CAPUT II.
I. Concerning things done in Illumination.
We have, then, reverently affirmed that this is the purpose of our Hierarchy, viz., our assimilation and union with God, as far as attainable. And, as the Divine Oracles teach, we shall attain this only by the love and the religious performance of the most worshipful Commandments. For He says: "He 5 that loveth Me will keep My Word, and My Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and will make Our abode with him." What, then, is source of the religious performance of the most august commandments? Our preparation for the restitution of the supercelestial rest, which forms the habits of our souls into an aptitude for the reception of the other sacred sayings and doings 6, the transmission of our holy and most divine regeneration 7. For, as our illustrious Leader used |75 to say, the very first movement of the mind towards Divine things is the willing reception of Almighty God, but the very earliest step of the religious reception towards the religious performance of the Divine commandments is the unutterable operation of our being from God. For if our 8 being from God is the Divine engendering, never would he know, and certainly never perform, any of the Divine instructions, who had not had his beginning to be in God. To speak after the manner of men, must we not first begin to be, and then to do, our affairs? Since he, who does not exist at all, has neither movement nor even beginning; since he, who in some way exists, alone does, or suffers, those things suitable to his own nature. This, then, as I think, is clear. Let us next contemplate the Divine symbols of the birth in God. And I pray, let no uninitiated person approach the sight 9; for neither is it without danger to gaze upon the glorious rays of the sun with weak eyes, nor is it without peril to put our hand to things above us. For right was the priesthood of the Law, when rejecting Osias, because he put his hand to sacred things; and Korah, because to things sacred above his capacity; and Nadab and Abihu, because they treated things, within their own province, unholily. |76
II. Mysterion of Illumination.
Section I.
The Hierarch, then, wishing that all men whatsoever should be saved by their assimilation towards God, and come to recognition of truth, proclaims to all the veritable Good News, that God being compassionate towards those upon earth, out of His own proper and innate goodness, deigned Himself to come to us with outstretched arms, by reason of loving-kindness towards men; and, by the union with Him, to assimilate, like as by fire, things that have been made one, in proportion to their aptitude for deification. "For as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become children of God----to those who believe on His Name, who were begotten, not of bloods, nor of will of flesh, but of God 10."
Section II.
He, who has felt a religious longing to participate in these truly supermundane gifts, comes to some one of the initiated, and persuades him to act as his conductor to the Hierarch. He then professes wholly to follow the teaching that shall be given to him, and prays him to undertake the superintendence of his introduction, and of all his after life. Now he, though religiously longing for his salvation, when he measures human infirmity against the loftiness of the undertaking, is suddenly seized |77 with a shivering and sense of incapacity, nevertheless, at last, he agrees, with a good grace, to do what is requested, and takes and leads him to the chief Hierarch.
Section III.
He, then, when with joy he has received, as the sheep upon his shoulders, the two men, and has first worshipped, glorifies with a mental thanksgiving and bodily prostration the One beneficent Source, from Which, those who are being called, are called, and those who are being saved, are saved.
Section IV.
Then collecting a full religious assembly into the sacred place, for co-operation, and common rejoicing over the man's salvation, and for thanksgiving for the Divine Goodness, he first chants a certain hymn, found in the Oracles, accompanied by the whole body of the Church; and after this, when he has kissed the holy table, he advances to the man before him, and demands of him, what has brought him here?
Section V.
When the man, out of love to God, has confessed, according to the instruction of his sponsor, his ungodliness, his ignorance of the really beautiful, his insufficiency for the life in God, and prays, through his holy mediation, to attain to God and Divine things, he (the Hierarch) testifies to him, that his approach ought to be entire, as to God Who is All Perfect, and without |78 blemish; and when he has expounded to him fully the godly course of life, and has demanded of him, if he would thus live,----after his promise he places his right hand upon his head, and when he has sealed him, commands the priests to register the man and his sponsor.
Section VI.
When these have enrolled the names, he makes a holy prayer, and when the whole Church have completed this with him, he looses his sandals, and removes his clothing, through the Leitourgoi. Then, when he has placed him facing the west and beating his hands, averted towards the same quarter, he commands him thrice to breathe scorn upon Satan, and further, to profess the words of the renunciation. When he has witnessed his threefold renunciation, he turns him back to the east, after he has professed this thrice; and when he has looked up to heaven, and extended his hands thitherward, he commands him to be enrolled under Christ, and all the Divinely transmitted Oracles of God. When the man has done this, he attests again for him his threefold profession, and again, when he has thrice professed, after prayer, he gives thanks, and lays his hand upon him.
Section VII.
When the Deacons have entirely unclothed him, the Priests bring the holy oil of the anointing. Then he begins the anointing, through the threefold sealing, and for the rest assigns the man to the Priests, for the anointing of his whole body, while himself |79 advances to the mother of filial adoption, and when he has purified the water within it by the holy invocations, and perfected it by three cruciform effusions of the altogether most pure Muron 11, and by the same number of injections of the all holy Muron, and has invoked the sacred melody of the inspiration of the God-rapt Prophets, he orders the man to be brought forward; and when one of the Priests, from the register, has announced him12 and his surety, he is conducted by the Priests near the water to the hand of the Hierarch, being led by the hand to him. Then the Hierarch, standing above, when the Priests have again called aloud near the Hierarch within the water the name of the initiated, the Hierarch dips him three times, invoking the threefold Subsistence of the Divine Blessedness, at the three immersions and emersions of the initiated. The Priests then take him, and entrust him to the Sponsor and guide of his introduction; and when they, in conjunction with him, have cast over the initiated appropriate clothing, they lead him again to the Hierarch, who, when he has sealed the man with the most Divinely operating Muron, pronounces him to be henceforward partaker of the most Divinely initiating Eucharist. |80
Section VIII.
When he has finished these things, he elevates himself from his progression to things secondary, to the contemplation of things 13 first, as one, who, at no time or manner, turns himself to any other thing whatever than those which are peculiarly his own, but from things Divine to Divine,----is persistently and always ranging himself under the banner of the supremely Divine Spirit.
III. Contemplation.
Section I.
This initiation, then, of the holy birth in God, as in symbols, has nothing unbecoming or irreverent, nor anything of the sensible images, but (contains) enigmas of a contemplation worthy of God, likened to physical and human images. For how should it appear misleading? Even when the very divine meaning of the things done is passed over in silence, 14 the divine Instruction might convince, religiously pursuing as it does the good life of the candidate, enjoining upon him the purification from every kind of evil, through a virtuous and Divine life, by the physical cleansing through the agency of water in a bodily form. This symbolic teaching then of the things done, even if it had nothing more divine, would not be without religious value, as I think, introducing a discipline of a well-regulated life, and. suggesting mysteriously, through the total bodily |81 purification by water, the complete purification from the evil life.
Section II.
Let this, then, be, for the uninitiated, a conducting guidance of the soul, which separates, as is meet things sacred and uniform from multiplicity, and apportions the harmonious elevation to the Orders severally in turn. But we, who have ascended by sacred gradations to the sources of the things performed, and have been religiously taught these (sources), shall recognize of what moulds they are the reliefs, and of what invisible things they are the likenesses. For, as is distinctly shewn in the Treatise concerning "Intelligible and Sensible," sacred things in sensible forms are copies of things intelligible, to which they lead and shew the way; and things intelligible are source and science of things hierarchical cognizable by the senses.
Section III.
Let us affirm, then, that the goodness of the Divine Blessedness is always in the same condition and manner, unfolding the beneficent rays of its own light upon all the intellectual visions without grudging. Should, then, the self-choosing self-sufficiency of the contemplators either turn away from the light contemplated, by closing, through love of evil, the faculties for enlightenment naturally implanted within it, it would be separated from the light present to |82 it, not turned away, but shining upon it when shortsighted and turning its face from light generously running to it; or should it overstep the bounds of the visible given to it in due proportion, and rashly undertake to gaze upon the rays superior to its vision, the light indeed will do nothing beyond its proper functions, but it, by imperfectly approaching thing's perfect, would not attain to things unsuitable, and, by stupidly disregarding the due proportion, would fail through its own fault.
But, as I said, the Divine Light is always unfolded beneficently to the intellectual visions, and it is possible for them to seize it when present, and always being most ready for the distribution of things appropriate, in a manner becoming God. To this imitation the divine Hierarch is fashioned, unfolding to all, without grudging, the luminous rays of his inspired teaching, and, after the Divine example, being most ready to enlighten the proselyte, neither using a grudging nor an unholy wrath for former back-slidings or excess, but, after the example of God, always enlightening by his conducting light those who approach him, as becomes a Hierarch, in fitness, and order, and in proportion to the aptitude of each for holy things.
Section IV.
But, inasmuch as the Divine Being is source of sacred order, within which the holy Minds regulate themselves, he, who recurs to the proper view of |83 Nature, will see his proper self in what he was originally, and will acquire this, as the first holy gift, from his recovery to the light. Now he, who has well looked upon his own proper condition with unbiassed eyes, will depart from the gloomy recesses of ignorance, but being imperfect he will not, of his own accord, at once desire the most perfect union and participation of God, but little by little will be carried orderly and reverently through things present to things more forward, and through these to things foremost, and when perfected, to the supremely Divine summit. An illustration of this decorous and sacred order is the modesty of the proselyte, and his prudence in his own affairs in having the sponsor as leader of the way to the Hierarch. The Divine Blessedness receives the man, thus conducted, into communion with Itself, and imparts to him the proper light as a kind of sign, making him godly and sharer of the inheritance of the godly, and sacred ordering; of which things the Hierarch's seal, given to the proselyte, and the saving enrolment of the priests are a sacred symbol, registering him amongst those who are being saved, and placing in the sacred memorials, beside himself also his sponsor,----the one indeed, as a true lover of the life-giving way to truth and a companion of a godly guide, and the other, as an unerring conductor of his follower by the Divinely-taught directions. |84
Section V.
Yet it is not possible to hold, conjointly, qualities thoroughly opposed, nor that a man who has had a certain fellowship with the One should have divided lives, if he clings to the firm participation in the One; but he must be resistless and resolute, as regards all separations from the uniform. This it is which the teaching of the symbols reverently and enigmatically intimates, by stripping the proselyte, as it were, of his former life, and discarding to the very utmost the habits within that life, makes him stand naked and barefoot, looking away towards the west, whilst he spurns, by the aversion of his hands, the participations in the gloomy baseness, and breathes out, as it were, the habit of dissimilarity which he had acquired, and professes the entire renunciation of everything contrary to the Divine likeness. When the man has thus become invincible and separate from evil, it turns him towards the east, declaring clearly that his position and recovery will be purely in the Divine Light, in the complete separation from baseness; and receiving his sacred promises of entire consort with the One, since he has become uniform through love of the truth. Yet it is pretty evident, as I think, to those versed in Hierarchical matters, that things intellectual acquire the unchangeableness of the Godlike habit, by continuous and persistent struggles towards one, and by the entire destruction and annihilation of |85 things contrary. For it is necessary that a man should not only depart from every kind of baseness, but he must be also bravely obdurate and ever fearless against the baneful submission to it. Nor must he, at any time, become remiss in his sacred love of the truth, but with all his power persistently and perpetually be elevated towards it, always religiously pursuing his upward course, to the more perfect mysteries of the Godhead.
Section VI.
Now you may see the distinct illustrations of these things in the religious rites performed by the Hier-arch. For the Godlike Hierarch starts with the holy anointing, and the Priests under him complete the Divine service of the Chrism, summoning in type the man initiated to the holy contests, within which he is placed under Christ as Umpire: since, as God, He is Institutor of the awards of contest, and as wise, He placed its laws, and as generous, the prizes suitable to the victors. And this is yet more Divine, since as good, He devotedly entered the lists with them, contending, on behalf of their freedom and victory, for their power over death and destruction, he who is being initiated will enter the contests, as those of God, rejoicing, and abides by the regulations of the Wise, and contends according to them, without transgression holding |86 fast the hope of the beautiful rewards, as being enrolled under a good Lord and Leader of the awards: and when after following in the Divine footsteps of the first of athletes, through goodness, he has overthrown, in his struggles after the Divine example, the energies and impulses opposed to his deification, he dies with Christ----to speak mystically ----to sin, in Baptism.
Section VII.
And consider attentively, I pray, with what appropriateness the holy symbols are presented. For since death is with us not an annihilation of being, as others surmise, but the separating of things united, leading to that which is invisible to us, the soul indeed becoming invisible through deprivation of the body, and the body, through being buried in earth in consequence of one of its bodily changes, becoming invisible to human ken, appropriately, the whole covering by water would be taken as an image of death, and the invisible tomb. The symbolical teaching, then, reveals in mystery that the man baptized according to religious rites, imitates, so far as Divine imitation is attainable to men, by the three immersions in the water, the supremely Divine death of the Life-giving Jesus, Who spent three days and three nights in the tomb, in Whom, according to the mystical and secret teaching of the sacred text, the Prince of the world found nothing. |87
Section VIII.
Next, they throw garments, white as light, over the man initiated. For by his manly and Godlike insensibility to contrary passions, and by his persistent inclination towards the One, the unadorned is adorned, and the shapeless takes shape, being made brilliant by his luminous life.
But the perfecting unction of the Muron makes the man initiated of good odour, for the holy perfecting of the Divine birth unites those who have been perfected to the supremely Divine Spirit. Now the overshadowing which makes intelligibly of a good savour, and perfect, as being most unutterable, I leave to the mental consciousness of those who are deemed worthy of the sacred and deifying participation of the Holy Spirit within their mind.
At the conclusion of all, the Hierarch calls the man initiated to the most Holy Eucharist, and imparts to him the communion of the perfecting mysteries.
CAPUT III.
I. Concerning things accomplished in the Synaxis.
Courage, then, since we have made mention of this (Eucharist) which we may not pass over to celebrate any other Hierarchical function in preference to it. For according to our illustrious |88 Leader, it is "initiation of initiations," and one must first lay down the Divine description of it, before the rest, from the inspired and hierarchical science of the Oracles, and then be borne by the supremely Divine Spirit to its sacred contemplation. First, let us reverently consider this; for what reason that, which is common also to the other Hierarchical initiations, is pre-eminently attributed to it, beyond the rest; and it is uniquely called, "Communion and Synaxis," when each consecrating function both collects our divided lives into uniform deification, and gives communion and union with the One, by the Godlike folding together of our diversities. Now we affirm that the Perfecting by the communications of the other Hierarchical symbols springs from the supremely Divine and perfecting gifts of it. For it scarcely ever happens, that any Hierarchical initiation is completed without the most Divine Eucharist, as head of the things done in each, ministering the collecting of the person initiated to the One, and completing his communion with God, by the Divinely transmitted gift of the perfecting mysteries. If, then, each of the Hierarchical initiations, being indeed incomplete, will not make perfect our communion and our gathering to the One, even its being initiation is precluded on account of the lack of completeness. Now since the imparting of the supremely Divine mysteries to the man initiated is the head and tail of every initiation, naturally then the |89 Hierarchical judgment hit upon an appellation propel to it, from the truth of the facts. Thus, for instance, with regard to the holy initiation of the Divine birth; since it imparts first-Light, and is head of all the Divine illuminations, we celebrate the true appellation from the enlightening effected. For, though it be common to all Hierarchical functions to impart the gift of sacred light to those initiated, yet it 15 gave to me the power to see first, and through its first light I am enlightened to gaze upon the other religious rites. Having said this, let us minutely investigate and examine hierarchically the accurate administration and contemplation of the most pure initiation, in every particular.
II. Mysterion 16 of Synaxis, that is, Communion.
The Hierarch, having completed a reverent prayer, near the Divine Altar, starts with the incensing, and proceeds to every part of the enclosure of the sacred place; he then returns to the Divine Altar, and begins the sacred chanting of the Psalms, the whole ecclesiastical assembly chanting, with him, the sacred language of the Psalter. Next follows the reading of the Holy Scriptures by the Leitourgoi. After these readings the catechumens quit the sacred enclosure, as well as the "possessed," and the |90 penitents. But those who are deemed worthy of the sight and participation of the Divine Mysteries remain. Of the Leitourgoi, some stand near the closed gates of the sanctuary, whilst others perform some other duty of their own rank. But chosen members of the ministering Order with the Priests lay the holy Bread and the Cup of Blessing upon the Divine Altar, whilst the universal Song 17 of Praise is being professed beforehand by the whole body of the Church. Added to these, the Divine Hierarch makes a sacred prayer, and proclaims the holy Peace to all. When all have kissed each other, the mystical proclamation of the holy tablets is performed. When the Hierarch and the Priests have washed their hands in water, the Hierarch stands in the midst of the Divine Altar, and the chosen Deacons alone, with the Priests, stand around. The Hierarch, when he has sung the sacred works of God, ministers things most divine, and brings to view the things sung, through the symbols reverently exposed 18, and when he has shewn the gifts of the works of God 19, he first proceeds to the sacred participation of the same, and turns and exhorts the others. When he has received and distributed the supremely Divine Communion, he terminates with a holy thanksgiving; whilst the multitude have merely glanced at the Divine symbols alone, he is ever conducted by the Divine Spirit, as becomes |91 a Hierarch, in the purity of a Godlike condition, to the holy sources of the things performed, in blessed and intelligible visions.
III. Contemplation.
Section I.
Here then, too, O excellent son, after the images, I come in due order and reverence to the Godlike reality of the archetypes, saying here to those yet being initiated, for the harmonious guidance of their souls, that the varied and sacred composition of the symbols is not without spiritual contemplation for them, as merely presented superficially. For the most sacred chants and readings of the Oracles teach them a discipline of a virtuous life, and previous to this, the, complete purification from destructive evil; and the most Divine, and common, and peaceful distribution of one and the same, both Bread and Cup, enjoins upon them a godly fellowship in character, as having a fellowship in food, and recalls to their memory the most Divine Supper, and arch-symbol of the rites performed, agreeably with which the Founder of the symbols Himself excludes, most justly, him who had supped with Him on the holy things, not piously20 and in a manner suitable to his character; teaching at once, clearly |92 and Divinely, that the approach to Divine mysteries with a sincere mind confers, on those who draw nigh, the participation in a gift according to their own character.
Section II.
Let us, then, as I said, leave behind these things, beautifully depicted upon the entrance of the. innermost shrine, as being sufficient for those, who are yet incomplete for contemplation, and let us proceed from the effects to the causes; and then, Jesus lighting the way, we shall view our holy Synaxis, and the comely contemplation of things intelligible, which makes radiantly manifest the blessed beauty of the archetypes. But, oh, most Divine and holy initiation, uncovering the folds of the dark mysteries enveloping thee in symbols, be manifest to us in thy bright glory, and fill our intellectual visions with single and unconcealed light.
Section III.
We must, then, in my opinion, pass within the All Holy Mysteries, after we have laid bare the intelligible of the first of the votive gifts, to gaze upon its Godlike beauty, and view the Hierarch, divinely going with sweet fragrance from the Divine Altar to the furthermost bounds of the holy place, and again returning to it to complete the function. For the Blessedness, supremely Divine above all, even if, through Divine goodness, It goes forth to the communion of the holy who participate in It, yet |93 It never goes outside its essential unmoved position and steadfastness; and illuminates all the Godlike in due degree, being always self-centred, and in nowise moved from its own proper identity; so, too, the Divine initiation (sacrament) of the Synaxis, although it has a unique, and simple, and enfolded Source, is multiplied, out of love towards man, into the holy variety of the symbols, and travels through the whole range of the supremely Divine description; yet uniformly it is again collected from these, into its own proper Monady, and unifies those who are being reverently conducted towards it. In the same Godlike manner, the Divine Hierarch, if he benignly lowers to his subordinates his own unique Hierarchical science, by using the multiplicities of the holy enigmas, yet again, as absolute, and not to be held in check by smaller things, he is restored to his proper headship without diminution, and, when he has made the intellectual entry of himself to the One, he sees clearly the uniform raisons d'être of the things done, as he makes the goal of his philanthropic progress to things secondary the more Divine 21 return to things primary.
Section IV.
The chanting of the Psalms, being co-essential with almost all the Hierarchical mysteries, was not likely to be separated from the most Hierarchical of all. For every holy and inspired Scripture sets forth |94 for those meet for deification, either the originated beginning and ordering of things from God; or the Hierarchy and polity of the Law; or the distributions and possessions of the inheritances of the people of God; or the understanding of sacred judges, or of wise kings, or of inspired Priests: or philosophy of men of old time, unshaken in endurances of the things let loose in variety and multitude; or the treasures of wisdom for the conduct of life; or songs and inspired pictures of Divine Loves; or the declaratory predictions of things to come; or the Theandric works of Jesus; or the God-transmitted and God - imitating polities and holy teachings of His Disciples, or the hidden and mystic gaze of the beloved and divinely sweet of the disciples, or the supermundane theology of Jesus; and implanted them in the holy and Godlike instructions of the mystic rites. Now the sacred description of the Divine Odes, whose purpose is to sing the words and works of God throughout, and to praise the holy words and works of godly men, forms an universal Ode and narrative of things Divine, and makes, in those who inspiredly recite it, a habit suitable for the reception and distribution of every Hierarchical mystery. |95
Section V.
When, then, the comprehensive melody of the holy Hymns has harmonized the habits of our souls to the things which are presently to be ministered, and, by the unison of the Divine Odes, as one and concordant chorus of holy men, has established an accord with things Divine, and themselves 22, and one another, the things, more strained and obscure in the intellectual language of the mystic Psalms, are expanded by the most holy lections of the inspired writings, through more full and distinct images and narratives. He, who devoutly contemplates these, will perceive the uniform and one conspiration, as being moved by One, the supremely Divine Spirit. Hence, naturally, in the history of the world, after the more ancient 23 tradition, the new Covenant is proclaimed; the inspired and Hierarchical order teaching this, as I think, that the one affirmed the Divine works of Jesus, as to come; but the other accomplished; and as that described the truth in figures, this shewed it present. For the accomplishment, within this, of the predictions of that, established the truth, and the work of God is a consummation of the Word of God.
Section VI.
Those who absolutely have no ear for these sacred initiations do not even recognize the images,----|96 unblushingly rejecting the saving revelation of the Divine Birth, and in opposition to the Oracles reply to their destruction, "Thy ways I do not wish to knowz
Now the regulation of the holy Hierarchy permits the catechumens, and the possessed, and the penitents, to hear the sacred chanting of the Psalms, and the inspired reading of the all-Holy Scriptures; but it does not invite them to the next religious services and contemplations, but only the eyes of the initiated. For the Godlike Hierarchy is full of reverent justice, and distributes savingly to each, according to their due, bequeathing savingly the harmonious communication of each of the things Divine, in measure, and proportion, and due time. The lowest rank, then, is assigned to the catechumens, for they are without participation and instruction in every Hierarchical initiation, not even having the being in God by Divine Birth, but are yet being brought to 24 Birth by the Paternal Oracles, and moulded, by life-giving formations, towards the blessed introduction to their first life and first light from Birth in God. As, then, children after the flesh, if, whilst immature and unformed, they should anticipate their proper delivery, as untimely born and abortions, will fall to earth without life and without light; and no one, in his senses, would say from what he saw, that they, released from the darkness of the womb, were brought to the light (for the |97 medical authority, which is learned in the functions of the body, would say that light operates on things receptive of light); so also the all-wise science of religious rites brings these first to delivery, by the preparatory nourishment of the formative and life-giving Oracles; and when it has made their person ripe for Divine Birth, gives to them savingly, in due order, the participation in things luminous and perfecting; but, at present, it separates things perfect from them as imperfect, consulting the good order of sacred things, and the delivery and life of the catechumens, in a Godlike order of the Hierarchical rites.
Section VII.
Now the multitude of the possessed indeed is unholy, but it is next above the catechumens, which is lowest. Nor is that which has received a certain participation in the most holy offices, but is yet entangled by contrary qualities, whether enchantments or terrors, on a par, as I think, with the altogether uninitiated and entirely uncommunicated in the Divine initiations; but, even for them, the view and participation in the holy mysteries is contracted, and very properly. For, if it be true that the altogether godly man, the worthy partaker of the Divine mysteries, the one carried to the very summit of the Divine likeness, to the best of his powers, in complete and most perfect deifications, does not even perform the things of the flesh, beyond the most necessary requirements of nature, and then as |98 a parergon, but will be, at the same time, a temple, and a follower, according to his ability, of the supremely Divine Spirit, in the highest deification, implanting like in like;----such an one as this would never be possessed by opposing phantoms or fears, but will laugh them to scorn, and when they approach, will cast them down and put them to flight, and will act rather than comply, and in addition to the passionless and indomitableness of his own character, will be seen also a physician to others, for such "possessions" as these; (and I think further, yea, rather, I know certainly that the most impartial discrimination of Hierarchical persons knows more than they 25, that such as are possessed with a most detestable possession, by departing from the Godlike life, become of one mind and one condition with destructive demons, by turning themselves from things that really are, and undying possessions, and everlasting pleasures, for the sake of the most base and impassioned folly destructive to themselves; and by desiring and pursuing the earthly variableness, and the perishable and corrupting pleasures, and the unstable comfort in things foreign to their nature, not real but seeming;) these then, first, and more properly than those, were shut out by the discriminating authority of the Deacon; for it is not permitted to them to have part in any other holy function than the teaching of the Oracles, which is likely to turn them to better things. For, if the |99 super-mundane Service of the Divine Mysteries excludes those under penitence, and those who have already attained it, not permitting anything to come near which is not completely perfect, and proclaims, and this in all sincerity, that "I am unseen and uncom-municated by those who are in any respect imperfectly weak as regards the summit of the Divine Likeness" (for that altogether most pure voice scares away even those who cannot be associated with the worthy partakers of the most Divine mysteries).; how much more, then, will the multitude of those who are under the sway of their passions be unhallowed and alien from every sight and participation in the holy mysteries. When, then, the uninitiated in the mysteries, and the imperfect, and with them the apostates from the religious life, and after them, those who through unmanliness are prone to the fears and fancies of contrary influences, as not reaching through the persistent and indomitable inclination towards godliness, the stability and activity of a Godlike condition; then, in addition to these, those who have separated indeed from the contrary life, but have not yet been cleansed from its imaginations by a godly and pure habit and love, and next, those who are not altogether uniform, and to use an expression of the Law, "entirely without spot and blemish," when these have been excluded from the divine temple and the service which is too high for them, the all-holy ministers and loving contemplators of things all-holy, gazing reverently upon the most pure rite, |100 sing in an universal Hymn of Praise 26 the Author and Giver of all good, from Whom the saving mystic Rites were exhibited to us, which divinely work the sacred deification of those being initiated. Now this Hymn some indeed call a Hymn of Praise, others, the symbol of worship, but others, as I think, more divinely, a Hierarchical thanksgiving, as giving a summary of the holy gifts which come to us from God. For, it seems to me the record 27 of all the works of God related to have been done for us in song, which, after it had benevolently fixed our being and life, and moulded the Divine likeness in ourselves to beautiful archetypes, and placed us in participation of a more Divine condition and elevation; but when it beheld the dearth of Divine gifts, which came upon us by our heedlessness, is declared to have called us back to our first condition, by goods restored, and by the complete assumption 28 of what was ours, to have made good the most perfect impartation of His own, and thus tp have given to us a participation in God and Divine things.
Section VIII.
When the supremely Divine love towards Man has thus been religiously celebrated, the Divine Bread is presented, veiled, and likewise the Cup of Blessing, and the most Divine greeting is |101 devoutly performed, and the mystic and supermundane recital of the holy-written tablets. For it is not possible to be collected to the One, and to partake of the peaceful union with the One, when people are divided amongst themselves. For if, being illuminated by the contemplation and knowledge of the One, we would be united to an uniform and Divine agreement, we must not permit ourselves to descend to divided lusts, from which are formed earthly enmities, envious and passionate, against that which is according to nature. This-unified and undivided life is, in my opinion, established by the holy service of the "peace," which establishes like in like, and separates the Divine and unified visions from things divided. The recital of the holy tablets after the "peace" proclaims those who have passed through life holily, and have reached the term of a virtuous life without faltering, urging and conducting us to their blessed' condition and Divine repose, through similarity to them, and, announcing them as living, and, as the Word of God says, "not dead, but as having passed from death to a most divine life 29."
Section IX.
But observe that they are enrolled in the holy memorials, not as though the Divine memory were represented under the figure of a memorial, after the manner of men; but as one might say, with |102 reverence towards God, as beseems the august and unfailing knowledge in God of those who have been perfected in the likeness of God. For "He knoweth," say the Oracles, "them that are His," and "precious, in the sight of the Lord, is the death of His saints, "death of saints," being said, instead of the perfection in holiness. And bear this religiously in mind, that when the worshipful symbols have been placed on the Divine Altar, through which (symbols) the Christ is signified and partaken, there is inseparably present the reading of the register of the holy persons, signifying the indivisible conjunction of their supermundane and sacred union with Him. When these things have been ministered, according to the regulations described, the Hierarch, standing before the most holy symbols, washes his hands with water, together with the reverend order of the Priests. Because, as the Oracles testify, when a man has been washed, he needs no other washing, except that of his extremities, i.e his lowest; through which extreme cleansing he will be resistless and free, as altogether uniform, in a sanctified habit of the Divine Likeness, and advancing in a goodly manner to things secondary, and being turned again uniquely to the One, he will make his return, without spot and blemish, as preserving the fulness and completeness of the Divine Likeness. |103
Section X.
There was indeed the sacred laver, as we have said, in the Hierarchy of the Law 30; and the present cleansing of the hands of the Hierarch and the Priests suggests it. For it behoves those who approach the most hallowed service to be purified even to the remotest imaginations of the soul, through likeness to it, and, as far as possible, to draw nigh; for thus they will shed around more visibly the Divine manifestations, since the supermundane flashes permit their own splendour to pass more thoroughly and brilliantly into the brightness of mirrors like themselves. Further, the cleansing of the Hierarch and the Priests to their extremities, i.e. lowest, takes place before the most holy symbols, as in the presence of Christ, Who surveys all our most secret thoughts, and since the utmost purification is established under His all-surveying scrutiny, and most just and unflinching judgment, the Hierarch thus becomes one with the things Divine, and, when he has extolled the holy works of God, he ministers things most Divine, and brings to view the things being sung 31.
Section XI.
We will now explain, in detail, to the best of our ability, certain works of God, of which we spoke. For I am not competent to sing all, much less to know accurately, and to reveal their mysteries to |104 others. Now whatever things have been sung and ministered by the inspired Hierarchs, agreeably to the Oracles, these we will declare, as far as attainable to us, invoking the Hierarchical inspiration to our aid. When, in the beginning, our human nature had thoughtlessly fallen from the good things of God, it received, by inheritance, the life subject to many passions, and the goal of the destructive death 32. For, as a natural consequence, the pernicious falling away from genuine goodness and the transgression of the sacred Law in Paradise delivered the man fretted with the life-giving yoke, to his own downward inclinations and the enticing and hostile wiles of the adversary----the contraries of the divine goods; thence it pitiably exchanged for the eternal, the mortal, and, having had its own origin in deadly generations, the goal naturally corresponded with the beginning; but having willingly fallen from the Divine and elevating life, it was carried to the contrary extremity,----the variableness of many passions, and lead astray, and turned aside from the strait way leading to the true God,----and subjected to destructive and evil-working multitudes----naturally forgot that it was worshipping, not gods, or friends, but enemies. Now when these had treated it harshly, according to their own cruelty, it fell pitiably into danger of annihilation and destruction; but the boundless Loving-kindness of the supremely Divine goodness towards man did not, in Its benevolence, withdraw from us Its spontaneous forethought, but |105 having truly participated sinlessly in all things belonging to us, and having been made one with our lowliness in connection with the unconfused and flawless possession of Its own properties in full perfection, It bequeathed to us, as henceforth members of the same family, the communion with Itself, and proclaimed us partakers of Its own beautiful things; having, as the secret teaching holds, loosed the power of the rebellious multiplicity, which was against us; not by force, as having the upper hand, but, according to the Logion, mystically transmitted to us, "in judgment and righteousness."
The things within us, then, It benevolently changed to the entire contrary. For the lightless within Our mind It filled with blessed and most Divine Light, and adorned the formless with Godlike beauties; the tabernacle 33 of our soul It liberated from most damnable passions and destructive stains by a perfected deliverance of our being which was all but prostrate, by shewing to us a supermundane elevation, and an inspired polity in our religious assimilation to Itself, as far as is possible.
Section XII.
But how could the Divine imitation otherwise become ours, unless the remembrance of the most holy works of God were perpetually being renewed by the mystical teachings and ministrations of the Hierarchy? This, then, we do, as the Oracles say, |106 "for Its remembrance." Wherefore the Divine Hierarch, standing before the Divine Altar, extols the aforesaid holy works of God, which proceed from the most divine forethought of Jesus on our behalf, which He accomplished for preservation of our race, by the good pleasure of the most Holy Father in the Holy Spirit, according to the Logion. When he has extolled their majesty, and gazed, with intellectual eyes, upon their intelligible contemplation, he proceeds to their symbolical ministration,----and this,----as transmitted from God. Whence after the holy hymns of the works of God, he piously and, as becomes a hierarch, deprecates his own unworthiness for a service above his merits, first, reverently crying aloud to Him, "Thou hast said, This do for My remembrance." Then, 34 having asked to become meet for this the God-imitating of service, and to consecrate things Divine by the assimilation to Christ Himself, and to distribute them altogether purely, and that those who shall partake of things holy may receive them holily, he consecrates things most Divine, and brings to view through the symbols reverently exposed the things whose praises are being sung. For when he has unveiled the veiled and undivided Bread, and divided it into many, and has divided the Oneness of the Cup to all, he symbolically multiplies and distributes the unity, completing in these an altogether most holy ministration. For the "one," and "simple," and |107 "hidden," of Jesus, the most supremely Divine Word, by His incarnation amongst us, came forth, out of goodness and love towards man, to the compound and visible, and benevolently devised the unifying, communion, having united, to the utmost, our lowliness to the most Divine of Himself; if indeed we have been fitted to Him, as members to a body, after the identity of a blameless and Divine life, and have not, by being killed through destructive passions, become inharmonious, and unfastened, and unyoked, to the godly and most healthy members. For, if we aspire to communion with Him, we must keep our eye fixed upon His most godly Life in the flesh, and we must retrace our path to the Godlike and blameless habit of Its holy sinlessness by assimilation to It; for thus He will communicate harmoniously to us the communion with the similar.
Section XIII.
The Hierarch makes known these things to those who are living religiously, by bringing the veiled gifts to view, by dividing their oneness into many, and by making the recipients partakers of them, by the utmost union of the things distributed with those who receive them. For he delineates in these things under sensible forms our intelligible life in figures, by bringing to view the Christ Jesus from the Hidden within the Divine Being, out of love to man, made like unto us by the all-perfect and unconfused |108 incarnation in our race, from us, and advancing to the divided condition of ourselves, without change from the essential One, and calling the human race, through this beneficent love of man, into participation with Himself and His own good things, provided we are united to His most Divine Life by our assimilation to it, as far as possible; and by this, in very truth, we shall have been perfected, as partakers of God and of Divine things.
Section XIV.
Having received and distributed the supremely Divine Communion, he terminates with a holy thanksgiving, in which the whole body of the Church take part. For the Communion precedes the imparting, and the reception of the mysteries, the mystic distribution. For this is the universal regulation and order of the Divine Mysteries, that the reverend Leader should first partake, and be filled with the gifts, to be imparted, through him, from God to others, and so impart to others also. Wherefore, those who rashly content themselves with the inspired instructions, in preference to a life and condition agreeable to the same, are profane, and entirely alien from the sacred regulation established. For, as in the case of the bright shining of the sun, the more delicate and luminous substances, being first filled with the brilliancy flowing into them, brightly impart their overflowing light to things after them; so it is not tolerable that one, who has not |109 become altogether Godlike in his whole character, and proved to be in harmony with the Divine influence and judgment, should become Leader to others, in the altogether divine.
Section XV.
Meanwhile, the whole order of the Priests having been collected together in hierarchical order, and communicated in the most Divine mysteries, finishes with a holy thanksgiving, after having recognized and sung the favours of the works of God, according to their degree. So that those, who have not partaken and are ignorant of things Divine, would not attain to thanksgiving, although the most Divine gifts are, in their essential nature, worthy of thanksgiving. But, as I said, not having wished even to look at the Divine gifts, from their inclination to things inferior, they have remained throughout ungracious towards the boundless graces of the works of God. "Taste and see," say the Oracles, for, by the sacred initiation of things Divine, the initiated recognize their munificent graces, and, by gazing with utmost reverence upon their most Divine height and breadth in the participation, they will sing the super-celestial beneficent works of the Godhead with gracious thanksgiving. |110
CAPUT IV.
I. Concerning things performed in the Muron, and concerning things perfected in it.
So great and so beautiful are the intelligible visions of the most holy Synaxis, which minister hierarchically, as we have often said, our participation in, and collection towards, the One. But there is another perfecting Service of the same rank, which our Leaders name "Initiation of Muron," by contemplating whose parts in due order, in accordance with the sacred images, we shall thus be borne, by hierarchical contemplations, to its Oneness through its parts.
II. Mysterion of Initiation of Muron 35.
In the same way as in the Synaxis, the orders of the imperfect are dismissed, that is, after the hierarchical procession has made the whole circuit of the temple, attended with fragrant incense; and the chanting of the Psalms, and.the reading of the most Divine Oracles. Then the Hierarch takes the Muron and places it, veiled under twelve sacred wings, upon the Divine Altar, whilst all cry aloud, with most devout voice, the sacred melody of the inspiration of the God-rapt Prophets, and when he has finished the prayer offered over it, he uses it, |111 in the most holy mystic Rites of things being hallowed, for almost every Hierarchical consecration.
III. Contemplation.
Section I.
The elementary teaching, then, of this the perfecting service, through the things done over the Divine Muron, shews this, in my judgment, that, that which is holy and of sweet savour in the minds of devout men is covered, as with a veil, since it Divinely enjoins upon holy men to have their beautiful and well-savoured assimilations in virtue to the hidden God not seen for vain glory. For the hidden comeliness of God is unsullied, and is sweet beyond conception, and manifested for spiritual contemplation to the intellectual alone, through a desire to have the unsullied images of virtue in souls of the same pattern. For by looking away from the undistorted and well imitated image of the Godlike virtue to that contemplated and fragrant beauty, he thus moulds and fashions it to the most beautiful imitation. And, as in the case of sensible images, if the artist look without distraction upon the archetypal form, not distracted by sight of anything else, or in any way divided in attention, he will duplicate, if I may so speak, the very person that is being sketched, whoever he may be, and will shew the reality in the likeness, and the archetype in the image, and each in each, save the difference of substance; thus, to copyists who love the beautiful |112 in mind, the persistent and unflinching contemplation of the sweet-savoured and hidden beauty will confer the unerring and most Godlike appearance 36. Naturally, then, the divine copyists, who unflinchingly mould their own intellectual contemplation to the superessentially sweet and contemplated comeliness, do. none of their divinely imitated virtues "to be seen of men 37, as the Divine text expresses it; but reverently gaze upon the most holy things of the Church, veiled in the Divine Muron as in a figure. Wherefore, these also, by religiously concealing that which is holy and most Divine in virtue within their Godlike and God-engraved mind, look away to the archetypal conception alone; for not only are they blind to things dissimilar, but neither are they drawn down to gaze upon them. Wherefore, as becomes their character, they do neither love things, merely seeming good and just, but those really being such; nor do they look to opinion, upon which the multitude irrationally congratulate themselves, but, after the Divine example, by distinguishing the good or evil as it is in itself, they are Divine images of the most supremely Divine sweetness, which, having the truly sweet within itself, is not turned to the anomalously seeming of the multitude, moulding Its genuineness to the true images of Itself.
Section II.
Come, then, since we have viewed the exterior comeliness of the entirely beautiful ministration, let |113 us now look away to its more godly beauty (whilst itself, by itself, has uncovered the veils), gazing upon its blessed radiance, shedding its bright beams openly around, and filling us with the fragrance unveiled to the contemplators. For the visible consecration of the Muron is neither uncommunicated in, or unseen by those who surround the Hierarch, but, on the contrary, by passing through to them, and fixing the contemplation above the many, is reverently covered by them, and by Hierarchical direction kept from the multitude.
For the splendour of things all holy, by shedding its light clearly and without symbol to men inspired, as being congenial to the thing contemplated, and perfuming their contemplating perceptions without; concealment, advances not yet in the same way to the inferior, but by them as deep contemplators of the thing contemplated is concealed under the enigmas of the wings, without ostentation, so that it may not be defiled by the dissimilar; through which sacred enigmas the well-ordered Ranks of the subordinate are conducted to the degree of holiness compatible with their powers.
Section III.
The holy consecration, then, which we are now extolling, is, as I said, of the perfecting rank and capacity of the Hierarchical functions. Wherefore our Divine Leaders arranged the same, as being of the same rank and effect as the holy perfecting of the Synaxis, with the same figures, for the most |114 part, and with mystical regulations and lections. And you may see in like manner the Hierarch bearing forward the sweet perfume from the more holy place into the sacred precincts beyond, and teaching, by the return to the same, that the participation in things Divine comes to all holy persons, according to fitness, and is undiminished and altogether unmoved and stands unchangeably in its identity, as beseems Divine fixity. In the same way the Psalms and readings of the Oracles nurse the imperfect to a life-bringing adoption of sons, and form a religious inclination in those who are possessed with accursed spirits, and dispel the opposing fear and effeminacy from those possessed by a spirit of unmanliness; shewing to them, according to their capacity, the highest pinnacle of the Godlike habit and power, by aid of which they will, the rather, scare away the opposing forces, and will take the lead in healing others; and, following the example of God, they will, whilst unmoved from their own proper gifts, not only be active against those opposing fears, but will themselves give activity to others; and they also impart a religious habit to those who have changed from the worse to a religious mind, so that they should not be again enslaved by evil, and purify completely those who need to become altogether pure; and they lead the holy to the Divine likenesses, and contemplations and communions belonging to themselves, and so establish those who are entirely holy, in blessed and intelligible visions, |115 fulfilling their uniform likeness of the One, and making them one.
Section IV.
What, then, shall I say further? Is it not those Ranks already mentioned, which are not entirely pure, that the present consecrating service excludes without distinction, in the same way as the Synaxis, so that it is viewed by the holy alone, in figures, and is contemplated and ministered, by the perfectly holy alone, immediately, through hierarchical directions? Now it is superfluous, as I think, to run over, by the same statements, these things already so often mentioned, and not to pass to the next, viewing the Hierarch, devoutly holding the Divine Muron veiled under twelve wings, and ministering the altogether holy consecration upon it. Let us then affirm that the composition of the Muron is a composition of sweet-smelling materials, which has in itself abundantly fragrant qualities, of which (composition) those who partake become perfumed in proportion to the degree to which they partake of its sweet savour. Now we are persuaded that the most supremely Divine Jesus is superessentially of good savour, filling the contemplative part of ourselves by bequests of Divine sweetness for contemplation. For if the reception of the sensible odours make to feel joyous, and nourishes, with much sweetness, the sensitive organs of our nostrils, ----if at least they be sound and well apportioned to the sweet savour----in the same way any one might |116 say that our contemplative faculties, being soundly disposed as regards the subjection to the worse, in the strength of the distinguishing faculty implanted in us by nature, receive the supremely Divine fragrance, and are filled with a holy comfort and most Divine nourishment, in accordance with Divinely fixed proportions, and the correlative turning of the mind towards the Divine Being. Wherefore, the symbolical composition of the Muron, as expressing in form things that are formless, depicts to us Jesus Himself, as a well-spring of the wealth of the Divine sweet receptions, distributing, in degrees supremely Divine, for the most Godlike of the contemplators, the most Divine perfumes; upon which the Minds, joyfully refreshed, and filled with the holy receptions, indulge in a feast of spiritual contemplation, by the entrance of the sweet bequests into their contemplative part, as beseems a Divine participation.
Section V.
Now it is evident, as I think, that the distribution of the fontal perfume to the Beings above ourselves, who are more Divine, is, as it were, nearer, and manifests and distributes itself more to the transparent and wholesome mental condition of their receptive faculty, overflowing ungrudgingly and entering in many fashions; but as regards the subordinate contemplators, which are not so receptive, piously concealing the highest vision and |117 participation, it is distributed in a supremely Divine proportion, in fragrance corresponding to the recipients. Amongst the holy Beings, then, who are above us, the superior order of the Seraphim is represented under the figure of the twelve wings, established and fixed around Jesus, casting itself upon the most blessed contemplations of Him, as far as permissible, and filled reverently with the contemplated truth distributed in most pure receptions, and, to speak after the manner of men, crying aloud, with never silent lips, the frequent Hymn of Praise; for the sacred knowledge of the supermundane minds is both untiring, and possesses the Divine love without intermission, and is at the same time superior to all baseness and forgetfulness. Hence, as I think, that phrase, "unceasing cry," suggests their perpetual and persistent science and conception of things Divine, with full concord and thanksgiving.
Section VI.
Now we have, as I think, sufficiently contemplated, in the description of the super-heavenly Hierarchy, the incorporeal properties of the Seraphim, Divinely described in the Scriptures under sensible figures explanatory of the contemplated Beings, and we have made them evident to thy contemplating eyes. Nevertheless, since now also they who stand reverently around the Hierarch, |118 reflect the highest Order, on a small scale, we will now view with most immaterial visions their most Godlike splendour.
Section VII.
Their numberless faces then, and many feet, manifest, as I think, their property of viewing the most Divine illuminations from many sides, and their conception of the good things of God as ever active and abundantly receptive; and the sixfold arrangement of the wings, of which the Scripture speaks, does not, I think, denote, as seems to some, a sacred number, but that of the highest Essence and Order around God; the first and middle and last of its contemplative and Godlike powers are altogether elevating, free, and supermundane. Hence the most holy wisdom of the Oracles, when reverently describing the formation of the wings, places the wings around their heads 38, and middle, and feet; suggesting their complete covering with wings, and their manifold faculty of leading to the Really Being.
Section VIII.
Now if they cover their faces and their feet, and fly by their middle wings only, bear this reverently in mind, that the Order, so far exalted above the highest beings, is circumspect respecting the more lofty and deep of its conceptions, and raises itself, |119 in due proportion, by its middle wings, to the vision of God, by placing its own proper life under the Divine yokes, and by these is reverently directed to the judgment of itself.
Section IX.
And, as regards the statement of Holy Scripture, that "one cried out to the other," that shews, I think, that they impart to each other ungrudgingly their own visions of God. And this we should deem worthy of religious recollection, that the Hebrew word in the Holy Scriptures names the most holy Beings of the Seraphim by an explanatory epithet, from their glowing and seething in a Divine and ever-moving life.
Section X.
Since, then, as those who understand Hebrew say, the most Divine Seraphim were named by the Word of God, "Kindling" and "Heating," by a name expressive of their essential condition, they possess, according to the symbolical imagery of the Divine Muron, most elevating powers, which call it to manifestation and distribution of most exhilarating perfumes. For the Being, sweet beyond conception, loves to be moved by the glowing and most pure minds into manifestation, and imparts Its most Divine inspirations, in cheerful distributions, to those who thus supermundanely call It forth. Thus the most Divine Order of supercelestial Beings did |120 not fail to recognize the most supremely Divine Jesus, when He descended for the purpose of being sanctified; but recognizes, reverently, Him lowering Himself in our belongings, through Divine and inexpressible goodness; and when viewing Him sanctified, in a manner befitting man, by the Father and Himself and the Holy Spirit, recognized its own supreme Head as being essentially unchanged, in whatever He may do as supreme God. Hence the tradition of the sacred symbols places the Seraphim near the Divine Muron, when it is being consecrated, recognizing and describing the Christ as unchanged, in our complete manhood in very truth. And what is still more divine is, that it uses the Divine Muron for the consecration of every thing sacred, distinctly shewing, according to the Logion, the Sanctified Sanctifying, as always being the same with Himself throughout the whole supremely Divine sanctification. Wherefore also the consecrating gift and grace of the Divine Birth in God is completed in the most Divine perfectings of the Muron. Whence, as I think, the Hierarch pouring the Muron upon the purifying font in cruciform injections, brings to view, for contemplative eyes, the Lord Jesus descending even to death itself through the cross, for our Birth in God, benevolently drawing up, from the old gulping of the destructive death, by the same Divine and resistless descent, those, who, according to the |121 mysterious saying, "are baptized into His death," and renewing them to a godly and eternal existence.
Section XI.
But further, the perfecting unction of the Muron gives to him who has been initiated in the most sacred initiation of the Birth in God, the abiding of the supremely Divine Spirit; the sacred imagery of the symbols, portraying, as I think, the most Divine Spirit abundantly supplied by Him, Who, for our sakes, has been sanctified as man by the supremely Divine Spirit, in an unaltered condition of His essential Godhead.
Section XII.
And bear this also hierarchically in mind, that the Law of the most pure initiation completes the sacred consecration of the Divine Altar, by the all pure effusions of the most holy Muron. And the super-celestial and superessential contemplation is source and essence, and perfecting power, of all our deifying holiness. For if our most Divine Altar is Jesus----the supremely Divine sanctifying of the Godly Minds ----in Whom, according to the Logion, "being sanctified and mystically offered as a whole burnt-offering, we have the access," let us gaze with supermundane eyes upon the most Divine Altar itself (in which things being perfected, are perfected and sanctified), being perfected from the most Divine Muron itself; for |122 the altogether most holy Jesus sanctifies Himself on our behalf, and fills us full of every sanctification, since the things consecrated upon them pass fraternally afterwards in their beneficent effects to us, as children of God. Hence, as I think, the Divine Leaders of our Hierarchy, in conformity with a Hierarchical conception divinely transmitted, name this altogether august ministration "consecration of Muron," from "being consecrated thoroughly," as one might say, "consecration of God," extolling its divine consecrating work in each sense. For both the being sanctified for our sakes, as becomes Man, and the consecrating all things as supreme God, and the sanctifying things being consecrated, is "consecration of Him." As for the sacred song of the inspiration of the God-rapt Prophets, it is called by those who know Hebrew, the "Praise of God," or "Praise ye the Lord," for since every divine manifestation and work of God is reverently portrayed in the varied composition of the Hierarchical symbols, it is not unfitting to mention the Divinely moved song of the Prophets; for it teaches at once, distinctly and reverently, that the beneficent works of the Divine Goodness are worthy of devout praise. |123
CAPUT V.
I. Concerning sacerdotal Consecrations.
Section I.
Such, then, is the most Divine perfecting work of the Muroa But it may be opportune, after these Divine ministrations, to set forth the sacerdotal Orders and elections themselves, and their powers, and operations, and consecrations, and the triad of the superior ranks under them; in order that the arrangement of our Hierarchy may be demonstrated, as entirely rejecting and excluding the disordered, the unregulated, and the confused; and, at the same time, choosing and manifesting the regulated and ordered, and well-established, in the gradations of the sacred Ranks within it. Now we have well shewn, as I think, in the Hierarchies already extolled by us, the threefold division of every Hierarchy, when we affirmed that our sacred tradition holds, that every Hierarchical transaction is divided into the most Divine Mystic Rites, and the inspired experts and teachers of them, and those who are being religiously initiated by them.
Section II.
Thus the most holy Hierarchy of the supercelestial Beings has, for its initiation, its own possible and most immaterial conception of God and things Divine, and the complete likeness to God, and a persistent |124 habit of imitating God, as far as permissible. And its illuminators, and leaders to this sacred consecration, are the very first Beings around God. For these generously and proportionately transmit to the subordinate sacred Ranks the ever deifying notions given to them, by the self-perfect Godhead and the wise-making Divine Minds. Now the Ranks, who are subordinate to the first Beings, are, and are truly called, the initiated Orders, as being religiously conducted, through those, to the deifying illumination of the Godhead. And after this,----the heavenly and supermundane Hierarchy,----the Godhead gave the Hierarchy under the Law, imparting its most holy gifts, for the benefit of our race, to them (as being children according to the Logion), by faint images of the true, and copies far from the Archetypes, and enigmas hard to understand, and types having the contemplation enveloped within, as an analogous light not easily discerned, so as not to wound weak, eyes by the light shed upon them. Now to this Hierarchy under the Law, the elevation to spiritual worship is an initiation. Now the men religiously instructed for that holy tabernacle by Moses,----the first initiated and leader of the Hierarchs under the Law,----were conductors; in reference to which holy tabernacle,----when describing for purposes of instruction the Hierarchy under the Law,----he called all the sacred services of the Law an image of the type shewn |125 to him in Mount Sinai. But "initiated" are those who are being conducted to a more perfect revelation of the symbols of the Law, in proportion to their capacity. Now the Word of God calls our Hierarchy the more perfect revelation, naming it a fulfilment of that, and a holy inheritance. It is both heavenly and legal, like the mean between extremes, common to the one, by intellectual contemplations, and to the other, because it is variegated by sensible signs; and, through these, reverently conduces to the Divine Being. And it has likewise a threefold division of the Hierarchy, which is divided into the most holy ministrations of the Mystic Rites, and into the Godlike ministers of holy things, and those who are being conducted by them, according to their capacity, to things holy.
And each of the three divisions of our Hierarchy, comformably to that of the Law, and the Hierarchy, more divine than ours, is arranged as first and middle and last in power; consulting both reverent proportion, and well-ordered and concordant fellowship of all things in harmonious rank.
Section III.
The most holy ministration, then, of the Mystic Rites has, as first Godlike power, the holy cleansing of the uninitiated; and as middle, the enlightening instruction of the purified; and as last, and summary of the former, the perfecting of those instructed in |126 science of their proper instructions; and the order of the Ministers, in the first power, cleanses the uninitiated through the Mystic Rites; and in the second, conducts to light the purified; and in the last and highest of the Ministering Powers, makes perfect those who have participated in the Divine light, by the scientific completions of the illuminations contemplated. And of the Initiated, the first power is that being purified; and the middle is that being enlightened, after the cleansing, and which contemplates certain holy things; and the last and more divine than the others, is that enlightened in the perfecting science of the holy enlightenment of which it has become a contemplator. Let, then, the threefold power of the holy service of the Mystic Rites be extolled, since the Birth in God is exhibited in the Oracles as a purification and enlightening illumination, and the Rite of the Synaxis and the Muron, as a perfecting knowledge and science of the works of God, through which the unifying elevation to the Godhead and most blessed communion is reverently perfected. And now let us explain next the sacerdotal Order, which is divided into a purifying and illuminating and perfecting discipline.
Section IV.
This, then, is the all-sacred Law of the Godhead, that, through the first, the second are conducted to Its most Divine splendour. Do we not see the material substances of the elements, first approaching, by preference, things which are more congenial |127 to them, and, through these, diffusing their own energy to other things? Naturally, then, the Head and Foundation of all good order, invisible and visible, causes the deifying rays to approach the more Godlike first, and through them, as being more transparent Minds, and more properly adapted for reception and transmission of Light, transmits light and manifestations to the subordinate, in proportions suitable to them.
It is, then, the function of these, the first contem-plators of God, to exhibit ungrudgingly to those second, in proportion to their capacity, the Divine visions reverently gazed upon by themselves, and to reveal the things relating to the Hierarchy (since they have been abundantly instructed with a perfecting science in all matters relating to their own Hierarchy, and have received the effectual power of instruction), and to impart sacred gifts according to fitness, since they scientifically and wholly participate in sacerdotal perfection.
Section V.
The Divine Rank of the Hierarchs, then, is the first of the God-contemplative Ranks; and it is, at the same time, highest and lowest; inasmuch as every Order of our Hierarchy is summed up and fulfilled in it. For, as we see every Hierarchy terminated in the Lord Jesus, so we see each terminated in its own inspired Hierarch. Now the power of the Hierarchical Rank permeates the whole |128 sacred body, and through every one of the sacred Ranks performs the mysteries of its proper Hierarchy. But, pre-eminently, to it, rather than to the other Ranks, the Divine institution assigned the more Divine ministrations. For these are the perfecting images of the supremely Divine Power, completing all the most Divine symbols and all the sacred orderings. For though some of the worshipful symbols are consecrated by the Priests, yet never will the Priest effect the holy Birth in God without the most Divine Muron; nor will he consecrate the mysteries of the Divine Communion, unless the communicating symbols have been placed upon the most Divine Altar; and neither will he be Priest himself, unless he has been elected to this by the Hierarchical consecrations. Hence the Divine Institution uniquely assigned the dedication of the Hierarchical Ranks, and the consecration of the Divine Muron and the sacred completion of the Altar, to the perfecting powers of the inspired Hierarchs.
Section VI.
It is, then, the Hierarchical Rank which, full of the perfecting power, pre-eminently completes the perfecting functions of the Hierarchy, and reveals lucidly the sciences of the holy mysteries, and teaches their proportionate and sacred conditions and powers. But the illuminating Rank of the Priests conducts those, who are being initiated under the Rank of, the inspired Hierarchs, to the |129 Divine visions of the Mystic Rites, and in co-operation with it, ministers its proper ministrations. Whatever then this Rank may do, by shewing the works of God, through the most holy symbols, and perfecting those who draw nigh in the Divine contemplations, and communion of the holy rites, it yet refers those, who crave the science of the religious services contemplated, to the Hierarch. And the Rank of the Leitourgoi (which is purifying and separates the unfit, previous to the approach to the ministrations of the Priests), thoroughly purifies those who are drawing nigh, by making them entirely pure from opposing passions, and suitable for the sanctifying vision and communion. Hence, during the service of the Birth in God, the Leitourgoi strip him who draws nigh of his old clothing, yea further, even take off his sandals, and make him stand towards the west for renunciation; and again, they lead him back to the east (for they are of the purifying rank and power), enjoining on those who approach to entirely cast away the surroundings of their former life, and shewing the darkness of their former conduct, and teaching those, who have said farewell to the lightless, to transfer their allegiance to the luminous. The Leitourgical Order, then, is purifying, by leading those who have been purified to the bright ministrations of the Priests, both by thoroughly purifying the uninitiated and by bringing to birth, by the purifying illuminations and teachings of the Oracles, and further, by sending |130 away from the Priests the unholy, without respect of persons. Wherefore also the Hierarchical institution places it at the holy gates, suggesting that the approach of those who draw nigh to holy things should be in altogether complete purification, and entrusting the approach to their reverent vision and communion to the purifying powers, and admitting them, through these, without spot.
Section VII.
We have shewn, then, that the Rank of the Hier-archs is consecrating and perfecting, that of the Priests, illuminating and conducting to the light; and that of the Leitourgoi purifying and discriminating; that is to say, the Hierarchical Rank is appointed not only to perfect, but also at the same time,to enlighten and to purify, and has within itself the purifying sciences of the power of the Priests together with the illuminating. For the inferior Ranks cannot cross to the superior functions, and, besides this, it is not permitted to them to take in hand such quackery as that. Now the more Divine Orders know also, together with their own, the sacred sciences subordinate to their own perfection. Nevertheless, since the sacerdotal orderings of the well-arranged and unconfused order of the Divine operations are images of Divine operations, they were arranged in Hierarchical distinctions, shewing in themselves the illuminations marshalled into the first, and middle, and last, sacred operations and Ranks; manifesting, as I said, in themselves the well-ordered and |131 unconfused character of the Divine operations. For since the Godhead first cleanses the minds which He may enter, then enlightens, and, when enlightened, perfects them to a Godlike perfection; naturally the Hierarchical of the Divine images divides itself into well-defined Ranks and powers, shewing clearly the supremely Divine operation firmly established, without confusion, in most hallowed and unmixed Ranks. But, since we have spoken, as attainable to us, of the sacerdotal Ranks and elections, and their powers and operations, let us now contemplate their most holy consecrations as well as we can.
II. Mysterion of Sacerdotal Consecrations.
The Hierarch, then, being led to the Hierarchical consecration, after he has bent both his knees before the Altar, has upon his head 39 the God-transmitted oracles, and the Hierarchical hand, and in this manner is consecrated by the Hierarch, who ordains him by the altogether most holy invocations. And the Priest, after he has bent both his knees before the Divine Altar, has the Hierarchical right hand upon his head, and in this manner is dedicated by the Hierarch, who ordains him with hallowing invocations. And the Leitourgos, after he has bent one of two knees before the Divine Altar, has upon his head the right hand of the Hierarch who ordains him, being completed by him |132 with the initiating invocations of the Leitourgoi. Upon each of them the cruciform seal is impressed, by the ordaining Hierarch, and, in each case, a sacred proclamation of name takes place, and a perfecting salutation, since every sacerdotal person present, and the Hierarch who ordained, salute him who has been enrolled to any of the aforenamed sacerdotal Ranks.
III. Contemplation.
Section I.
These things, then, are common both to the Hier-archs, and Priests, and Leitourgoi, in their sacerdotal consecrations,----the conducting to the Divine Altar and kneeling,----the imposition of the Hierarchical hand,----the cruciform seal,----the announcement of name,----the completing salutation.
And special and select for the Hierarchs is the imposition of the Oracles upon the head, since the subordinate Ranks have not this; and for the Priests the bending of both knees, since the consecration of the Leitourgoi has not this; for the Leitourgoi, as has been said, bend the one of two knees only.
Section II.
The conducting then to the Divine Altar, and kneeling, suggests to all those who are being sacer-dotally ordained, that their own life is entirely placed under God, as source of consecration, and that their |133 whole intellectual self, all pure and hallowed, approaches to Him, and that it is of one likeness, and, as far as possible, meet for the supremely Divine and altogether most holy, both Victim 40 and Altar, which purifies, sacerdotally, the Godlike Minds.
Section III.
And the imposition of the Hierarchical hand signifies at once the consecrating protection, by which, as holy children, they are paternally tended, which bequeaths to them a sacerdotal condition and power, and drives away their adverse powers, and teaches, at the same time also, to perform the sacerdotal operations, as those who, having been consecrated, are acting under God, and have Him as Leader of their own operations in every respect.
Section IV.
And the cruciform seal manifests the inaction of all the impulses of the flesh, and the God-imitated life looking away unflinchingly to the manly most Divine life of Jesus, Who came even to Cross and death with a supremely Divine sinlessness, and stamped those who so live with the cruciform image of His own sinlessness as of the same likeness.
Section V.
And the Hierarch calls aloud the name of the consecrations and of those consecrated, the mystery denoting that the God-beloved consecrator is |134 manifestor of the supremely Divine choice,----not of his own accord or by his own favour leading those who are ordained to the sacerdotal consecration, but being moved by God to all the Hierarchical dedications. Thus Moses, the consecrator under the Law, does not lead even Aaron, his brother, to sacerdotal consecration, though thinking him both beloved of God and fit for the priesthood, until moved by God to this, he in submission to God, Head of consecration, completed by Hierarchical rites the sacerdotal consecration. But even our supremely Divine and first Consecrator (for the most philanthropic Jesus, for our sake, became even this), did "not glorify Himself," as the Logia say, but He Who said to Him, "Thou art Priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek." Wherefore also whilst Himself leading the disciples to sacerdotal consecration, although being as God chief Consecrator, nevertheless He refers the Hierarchical completion of the work of consecration to His altogether most Holy Father, and the supremely Divine Spirit, by admonishing the disciples, as the Oracles say, not to depart from Jerusalem, but to "await the promise of the Father, which ye heard of Me, that ye shall be baptized in Holy Ghost." And indeed, the Coryphaeus of the disciples himself, with the ten, of the same rank and Hierarchy with himself, when he proceeded to the sacerdotal consecration of the twelfth of the disciples, piously left the selection to |135 the Godhead, saying, "Shew 41 whom Thou hast chosen," and received him, who was divinely designated by the Divine lot, into the Hierarchical number of the sacred twelve. Now concerning the Divine lot, which fell as a Divine intimation upon Matthias, others have expressed another view, not clearly, as I think, but I will express my own sentiment. For it seems to me that the Oracles name "lot " a certain supremely Divine gift, pointing out to that Hierarchical Choir him who was designated by the Divine election; more particularly, because the Divine Hierarch must not perform the sacerdotal acts of his own motion, but, under God, moving him to do them as prescribed by the Hierarchy and Heaven.
Section VI.
Now the salutation, for the completion of the sacerdotal consecration, has a religious significance. For all the members of the sacerdotal Ranks present, as well as the Hierarch himself who has consecrated them, salute the ordained. For when, by sacerdotal habits and powers, and by Divine call and dedication, a religious mind has attained to sacerdotal completion, he is dearly loved by the most holy Orders of the same rank, being conducted to a most Godlike comeliness, loving the minds similar to himself, and religiously loved by them in return. Hence it is that the mutual sacerdotal salutation is religiously performed, proclaiming the religious |136 communion of minds of like character, and their loveable benignity towards each other, as keeping, throughout, by sacerdotal training, their most Godlike comeliness.
Section VII
These things, as I said, are common to the whole sacerdotal consecration. The Hierarch, however, as a distinctive mark, has the Oracles most reverently placed upon his head. For since the perfecting power and science of the whole Priesthood is bequeathed to the inspired Hierarchs, by the supremely Divine and perfecting goodness, naturally are placed upon the heads of the Hierarchs the Divinely transmitted Oracles, which set forth comprehensively and scientifically every teaching of God, work of God, manifestation of God, sacred word, sacred work, in one word, all the Divine and sacred works and words bequeathed to our Hierarchy by the beneficent Godhead; since the Godlike Hierarch, having participated entirely in the whole Hierarchical power, will not only be illuminated, in the true and God-transmitted science of all the sacred words and works committed to the Hierarchy, but will also transmit them to others in Hierarchical proportions, and will perfect Hierarchically in most Divine kinds of knowledge and the highest mystical, instructions, all the most perfecting functions of the whole Hierarchy. And the distinctive feature of the ordination of Priests, as contrasted with the ordering |137 of the Leitourgoi, is the bending of the two knees, as that bends only the one, and is ordained in this Hierarchical fashion.
Section VIII.
The bending then denotes the subordinate introduction of the conductor, who places under God that which is reverently introduced. And since, as we have often said, the three Orders of the consecrators, through the three most holy Mystic Rites and powers, preside over the three ranks of those initiated, and minister their saving introduction under the Divine yokes, naturally the order of Leitourgoi as only purifying, ministers the one introduction of those who are being purified, by placing it under the Divine Altar, since in it the minds being purified, are supermundanely hallowed. And the Priests bend both their knees, since those who are religiously brought nigh by them have not only been purified, but have been ministerially perfected into a contemplative habit and power of a life thoroughly cleansed by their most luminous, ministrations through instruction. And the Hierarchy bending both his knees, has upon his head the God-transmitted Oracles, leading, through his office of Hierarch, those who have been purified by the Leitourgic power, and enlightened by the ministerial, to the science of the holy things contemplated by them in proportion to their capacities, and through this science perfecting those who are brought nigh, into the most complete holiness of which they are capable. |138
CAPUT VI.
I. Concerning the Ranks of the Initiated.
Section I.
These, then, are the sacerdotal Ranks and elections, their powers, and operations, and consecrations. We must next explain the triad of the Ranks being initiated under them. We affirm then that the multitudes, of whom we have already made mention, who are dismissed from the ministrations and consecrations, are Ranks under purification; since one is being yet moulded and fashioned by the Leitourgoi through the obstetric Oracles to a living birth; and another is yet to be called back to the holy life, from which it had departed, by the hortatory teaching of the good Oracles; and another, as being yet terrorized, through want of manliness, by opposing fears, and being fortified by the strengthening Oracles; and another, as being yet led back from the worse to holy efforts; and another as having been led back, indeed, but not yet having a chaste fixedness in more Godlike and tranquil habits. For these are the Orders under purification, by the nursing and purifying power of the Leitourgoi. These, the Leitourgoi perfect, by their sacred powers, for the purpose of their being brought, after their complete cleansing, to the enlightening contemplation and participation in the most luminous ministrations. |139
Section II.
And a middle rank is the contemplative, which participates in certain Divine Offices in all purity, according to its capacity, which is assigned to the Priests for its enlightenment.
For it is evident, in my opinion, that, that having been cleansed from all unholy impurity, and having acquired the pure and unmoved steadfastness of its own mind, is led back, ministerially, to the contemplative habit and power, and communicates the most Divine symbols, according to its capability, filled with every holy joy in their contemplations and communions, mounting gradually to the Divine love of their science, through their elevating powers. This, I affirm, is the rank of the holy people, as having passed through complete purification, and deemed worthy, as far as is lawful, both of the reverent vision, and participation of the most luminous Mystic Rites.
Section III.
Now the rank, higher than all the initiated, is the sacred Order of the Monks, which, by reason of an entirely purified purification, through complete power and perfect chastity of its own operations, has attained to intellectual contemplation and communion in every ministration which it is lawful for it to contemplate, and is conducted by the most perfecting powers of the Hierarchs, and taught by their inspired illuminations and hierarchical traditions the ministrations of the Mystic Rites, contemplated, |140 according to its capacity, and elevated by their sacred science, to the most perfecting perfection of which it is capable. Hence our Divine leaders have deemed them worthy of sacred appellations, some, indeed, calling them "Therapeutae," and others "Monks," from the pure service and fervid devotion to the true God, and from the undivided and single life, as it were unifying them, in the sacred enfoldings of things- divided, into a God-like Monad, and God-loving perfection. Wherefore the Divine institution accorded them a consecrating grace, and deemed them worthy of a certain hallowing invocation----not hierarchical----for that is confined to the sacerdotal orders alone, but ministrative, as being ministered, by the pious Priests, by the hierarchial consecration in the second degree.
II. Mysterion on Monastic Consecration.
The Priest then stands before the Divine Altar, religiously pronouncing the invocation for Monks. The ordinand stands behind the Priest, neither bending both knees, nor one of them, nor having upon his head the Divinely-transmitted Oracles, but only standing near the Priest, who pronounces over him the mystical invocation. When the Priest has finished this, he approaches the ordinand, and asks him first, if he bids farewell to all the distracted----not lives only, but also imaginations. Then he sets before him the most perfect life, testifying that it is his bounden duty to surpass the ordinary life. When |141 the ordinand has promised steadfastly all these things, the Priest, after he has sealed him with the sign of the Cross, crops his hair, after an invocation to the threefold Subsistence of the Divine Beatitude, and when he has stripped off all his clothing, he covers him with different, and when, with all the holy men present, he has saluted him, he finishes by making him partaker of the supremely Divine Mysteries.
III. Contemplation.
Section I.
The fact that he bends neither knee, nor has upon his head the Divinely-transmitted Oracles, but stands by the Priest, who pronounces the invocation, signifies, that the monastic Rank is not for leading others, but stands by itself, in a monastic and holy state, following the sacerdotal Ranks, and readily conducted by them, as a follower, to the Divine science of sacred things, according to its capacity.
Section II.
And the renunciation of the divided, not only lives, but even imaginations, shews the most perfect love of wisdom in the Monks, which exercises itself in science of the unifying commandments. For it is, as I said, not of the middle Rank of the initiated, but of the higher than all.
Section III.
Therefore many of the things, which are done without reproach by the middle Rank, are forbidden |142 in every way to the single Monks,----inasmuch as they are under obligation to be unified to the One, and to be collected to a sacred Monad, and to be transformed to the sacerdotal life, as far as lawful, as possessing an affinity to it in many things, and as being nearer to it than the other Ranks of the initiated. Now the sealing with the sign of the Cross, as we have already said, denotes the inaction of almost all the desires of the flesh. And the cropping of the hair shews the pure and unpretentious life, which does not beautify the darkness within the mind, by overlarding it with smeared pretence, but that it by itself is being led, not by human attractions but by single and monastic, to the highest likeness of God.
Section IV.
The casting aside of the former clothing, and the taking a different, is intended to shew the transition from a middle religious life to the more perfect; just as, during the holy Birth from God, the exchange of the clothing denoted the elevation of a thoroughly purified life, to a contemplative and enlightened condition. And even if now also the Priest, and all the religious present, salute the man ordained, understand from this the holy fellowship of the Godlike, who lovingly congratulate each other in a Divine rejoicing.
Section V.
Last of all, the Priest calls the ordained to the supremely Divine Communion, shewing religiously |143 that the ordained, if he would really attain to the monastic and single elevation, will not merely contemplate the sacred mysteries within them, nor come to the communion of the most holy symbols, after the fashion of the middle Rank, but, with a Divine knowledge of the holy things received by him, will come to the reception of the supremely Divine Communion, in a manner different from that of the holy people. Wherefore, the Communion of the most holy Eucharist is also given to the sacerdotal Orders, in their consecrating dedications, by the Hierarch who consecrated them, at the end of their most holy sanctifications, not only because the reception of the supremely Divine Mysteries is the consummation of each Hierarchical reception, but because all the sacred Orders, according to their capacity, partake of the self-same common and most godly gifts, for their own elevation and perfection in deification. We conclude, then, that the holy Mystic Rites are, purification, and illumination, and consecration. The Leitourgoi are a purifying rank, the Priests an illuminating, and the Godlike Hierarchs a consecrating. But the holy people is a contemplative Order. That which does not participate in the sacred contemplation and communion, is a Rank being purified, as still under course of purification. The holy people is a contemplative Rank, and that of the single Monks is a perfected Rank. For thus our Hierarchy, reverently arranged in Ranks fixed by God, is like the Heavenly Hierarchies, preserving, so far as man can do, its God-imitated and Godlike characteristics. |144
Section VI.
But thou wilt say that the Ranks undergoing purification utterly fall short of the Heavenly Hierarchies (for it is neither permitted nor true to say that any heavenly Ordering is defiled), yea, I would altogether affirm myself, that they are entirely without blemish, and possess a perfect purity above this world, unless I had completely fallen away from a religious mind. For if any of them should have become captive to evil, and have fallen from the heavenly and undefiled harmony of the divine Minds, he would be brought to the gloomy fall of the rebellious multitudes. But one may reverently say with regard to the Heavenly Hierarchy, that the illuminating from God in things hitherto unknown is a purification to the subordinate Beings, leading them to a more perfect science of the supremely Divine kinds of knowledge, and purifying them as far as possible from the ignorance of those things of which they had not hitherto the science, conducted, as they are, by the first and more Divine Beings to the higher and more luminous splendours of the visions of God: and so there are Ranks being illuminated and perfected, and purifying and illuminating and perfecting, after the example of the Heavenly Hierarchy; since the highest and more Divine Beings purify the subordinate, holy, and reverent Orders, from all ignorance (in ranks and proportions of the Heavenly Hierarchies), and filling them with the most Divine illuminatings, and perfecting in the most pure science of the supremely Divine conceptions. For we have already said, and |145 the Oracles divinely demonstrate, that all the heavenly Orders are not the same, in all the sacred sciences of the God-contemplating visions; but the first, from G.od immediately, and, through these, again from God, the subordinate are illuminated, in proportion to their powers, with the most luminous glories of the supremely Divine ray.
CAPUT VII.
I. Concerning things performed over those fallen asleep.
Section I.
These things having been defined, I think it necessary also to describe the things religiously performed by us over those who have fallen asleep. For neither is this also the same between the holy and the unholy; but, as the form of life of each is different, so also, when approaching death, those who have led a religious life, by looking steadfastly to the unfailing promises of the Godhead (inasmuch as they have observed their proof, in the resurrection proclaimed by it), come to the goal of death, with firm and unfailing hope, in godly rejoicing, knowing that at the end of holy contests their condition will be altogether in a perfect and endless life and safety, through their future entire resurrection 42. For the holy souls, which may possibly fall |146 during this present life to a change for the worse, in the regeneration, will have the most Godlike transition to an unchangeable condition. Now, the pure bodies which are enrolled together as yoke-fellows and companions of the holy souls, and have fought together within their Divine struggles in the unchanged steadfastness of their souls throughout the divine life, will jointly receive their own resurrection; for, having been united with the holy souls to which they were united in this present life, by having become members of Christ, they will receive in return the Godlike and imperishable immortality, and blessed repose. In this respect then the sleep of the holy is in comfort and unshaken hopes, as it attains the goal of the Divine contests.
Section II.
Now, amongst the profane, some 43 illogically think to go to a non-existence; others 44 that the bodily blending with their proper souls will be severed once for all, as unsuitable to them in a Divine life and blessed lots, not considering nor being sufficiently instructed in Divine science, that our most Godlike life in Christ has already begun45. But others 46 assign to souls union with other bodies, committing 47, as I think, this injustice to them, that, after (bodies) have laboured together with the godly |147 souls, and have reached the goal of their most Divine course, they relentlessly deprive them of their righteous retributions. And others 48 (I do not know how they have strayed to conceptions of such earthly tendency) say, that the most holy and blessed repose promised to the devout is similar to our life in this world, and unlawfully reject, for those who are equal to the Angels, nourishments appropriate to another kind of life. None of the most religious men, however, will ever fall into such errors as these; but, knowing that their whole selves will receive the Christ-like inheritance, when they have come to the goal of this present life, they see more clearly their road to incorruption already become nearer, and extol the gifts of the Godhead, and are filled with a Divine satisfaction, no longer fearing the fall to a worse condition, but knowing well that they will hold firmly and everlastingly the good things already acquired. Those, however, who are full of blemishes, and unholy stains, even though they have attained to some initiation, yet, of their own accord, have, to their own destruction, rejected this from their mind, and have rashly followed their destructive lusts, to them when they have come to the end of their life here, the Divine regulation of the Oracles will no longer appear as before, a subject of scorn 49, but, when they have looked with different eyes upon the pleasures of their passions destroyed, and when they have pronounced |148 blessed the holy life from which they thoughtlessly fell away, they are, piteously and against their will, separated from this present life, conducted to no holy hope, by reason of their shameful life 50.
Section III.
Now, whilst none of these attain the repose of the holy men, he himself, when coming to the end of his own struggles, is filled with a holy consolation, and with much satisfaction enters the path of the holy regeneration. The familiar friends, however, of him who has fallen asleep, as befits their divine familiarity and fellowship, pronounce him blessed, whoever he is, as having reached the desired end crowned with victory, and they send up odes of thanksgiving to the Author of victory, praying also that they may reach the same inheritance. Then they take him and bring him to the Hierarch, as to a bequest of holy crowns; and he right gladly receives him, and performs the things fixed by reverend men, to be performed over those who have piously fallen asleep.
II. Mysterion over those who have religiously fallen asleep.
The Divine Hierarch collects the reverend Choir, and if the person who has fallen asleep were of the sacerdotal rank, he lays him down before the Divine Altar, and begins with the prayer and thanksgiving |149 to God; but if he belonged to the rank of the chaste Monks, or the holy people, he lays him down near the hallowed sanctuary, before the sacerdotal entrance. Then the Hierarch finishes the prayer of thanksgiving to God; and next, the Leitourgoi, after reading the unfailing promises concerning our holy resurrection, contained in the Divine Oracles, reverently chant the odes of the same teaching and power, from the Oracles of the Psalter 51. Then the first Leitourgos dismisses the catechumens, and calls aloud the names of the holy people, who have already fallen asleep; amongst whom he deems the man, who has just terminated his life, worthy of mention in the same rank, and urges all to seek the blessed consummation in Christ; then the Divine Hierarch advances, and offers a most holy prayer over him, and after the prayer both the Hierarch himself salutes the defunct, and after him, all who are present. When all have saluted, the Hierarch pours the oil upon the fallen asleep, and when he has offered the holy prayer for all, he places the body in a worthy chamber, with other holy bodies of the same rank.
III. Contemplation.
Section I.
Now, if the profane should see or hear that these things are done by us, they will, I suppose, split with laughter, and commiserate us on our, folly. But |150 there is no need to wonder at this. For, as the Oracles say, "If they will not believe, neither shall they understand 52." And as for us, who have contemplated the spiritual meaning of the things done, whilst Jesus leads us to the light, let us say, that, not without reason, does the Hierarch conduct to, and place the man fallen asleep, in the place of the same rank; for it shews reverently, that, in the regeneration, all will be in those chosen inheritances, for which they have chosen their own life here 53. For example, if any one led a Godlike and most holy life here, so far as the imitation of God is attainable by man, he will be, in the age to come, in divine and blessed inheritances; but if he led a life inferior to the divine likeness in the highest degree, but, nevertheless, a holy life, even this man will receive the holy and similar retributions. The Hierarch, having given thanks for this Divine righteousness, offers a sacred prayer, and extols the worshipful Godhead, as subjugating the unjust and tyrannical power against us all, and conducting us back to our own most just possessions (or judgments).
Section II.
Now, the Chants and Readings of the supremely Divine promises are explanatory of the most blessed inheritances, to which those, who have attained a Divine perfection, shall be eternally appointed, and |151 descriptive of him who has religiously fallen asleep, and stimulative of those, who are still living, to the same perfection.
Section III.
Observe, however, that not all the ranks under purification are customarily dismissed, but only the catechumens are expelled from the holy places, for this class is entirely uninitiated in every holy Rite, and is not permitted to view any of the religious celebrations, great or small, inasmuch as it has not participated in the faculty of contemplating the holy mysteries, through the Birth from God, which is Source and gift of light. The rest, however, of the ranks under purification, have already been under instruction in sacred tradition; but, as they have foolishly returned to an evil course it is incumbent to complete their proper elevation in advance, and they are reasonably dismissed from the supremely Divine contemplations and communions, as in holy symbols; for they will be injured, by partaking of them unholily, and will come to a greater contempt of the Divine Mysteries and themselves.
Section IV.
Naturally, however, they are present at the things now done, being clearly taught by seeing both the fearlessness of death amongst us, and the last honour of the saints extolled from the unfailing Oracles, and that the sufferings threatened to the unholy |152 like themselves will be endless; for it will perhaps be profitable for them to have seen him, who has religiously finished his course, reverently proclaimed by the public proclamation of the Leitourgoi, as being certainly companion of the Saints for ever. And, perchance, even they will come to the like aspiration, and will be taught from the science of the Liturgy, that the consummation in Christ is blessed indeed.
Section V.
Then the Divine Hierarch, advancing, offers a holy prayer over the man fallen asleep. After the prayer, both the Hierarch himself salutes him, and next all who are present. Now the prayer beseeches the supremely Divine Goodness to remit to the man fallen asleep all the failings committed by reason of human infirmity, and to transfer him in light and land of living, into the bosom of Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob: in a place where grief and sorrow and sighing are no more. It is evident, then, as I think, that these, the rewards of the pious, are most blessed. For what can be equal to an immortality entirely without grief and luminous with light. Especially if all the promises which pass man's understanding, and which are signified to us by signs adapted to our capacity, fall short, in their description, of their actual truth. For we must |153 remember that the Logion is true, that "Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath entered into the heart of man to conceive, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him." "Bosoms" of the blessed Patriarchs, and of all the other pious men, are, in my judgment, the most divine and blessed inheritances, which await all godly men, in that consummation which grows not old, and is full of blessedness.
Section VI.
But thou mayst, perhaps, say that these things are correctly affirmed by us, indeed, but want to know for what reason the Hierarch beseeches the supremely Divine Goodness, for the remission of the faults committed by the man fallen asleep, and his most glorious inheritance, amongst godly men of the same rank. For, if every one shall receive, by the Divine justice, equivalents for what he has done in the present life, whether it be good or different, and the man fallen asleep has finished his own activities in this present life, from what prayer offered by the Hierarch will he be transferred to another inheritance, than that due to and equivalent for his life here? Now, well do I know, following the Oracles, that each one will have the inheritance equivalent; for the Lord says, he has closed respecting him, and each one shall receive the things done in his body according to that he hath done, whether it |154 be good, or whether it be bad." Yea, the sure traditions of the Oracles teach us that the prayers, even of the just, avail only for those who are worthy of pious prayers during this present life, let alone (by no means) after death. What forsooth did Saul gain from Samuel? and what did the intercession of the Prophet profit the people of the Hebrews? For, as if any one, when the sun is shedding its own splendour upon unblemished eyes, seeks to enjoy the solar splendour by obliterating his own powers of vision; so does he cling to impossible and extravagant expectations, who beseeches the intercessions of holy men, and, by driving away the holy efforts natural to the same, plays truant from the most luminous and beneficent commandments, through heedlessness of the Divine gifts.
Nevertheless, according to the Oracles, I affirm that the intercessions of the pious are, in every respect, profitable in this present life, after the following fashion. If any one, longing for holy gifts, and having a religious disposition for their reception, as recognizing his own insufficiency, approaches some pious man, and should prevail upon him to become his fellow-helper, and fellow-suppliant, he will be benefitted in every respect, thereby, with a benefit superior to all; for he will attain the most Divine gifts he prays for, since the supremely Divine Goodness assists him, as well as his pious |155 judgment of himself, and his reverence for devout men, and his praiseworthy craving for the religious requests requested, and his brotherly and Godlike disposition. For this has been firmly fixed by the supremely Divine decrees, that the Divine gifts are given, in an order most befitting God, to those who are meet to receive them, through those who are meet to distribute them.
If any one, then, should despise this sacred regulation, and betaking himself to a wretched self-conceit, should deem himself sufficient for the supremely Divine Converse, and look down upon pious men, and if he should further request requests, unworthy of God, and not holy, and if he should have his aspiration for things divine not sustained, and correlative to himself, he will fail in his ignorant request, through his own fault. Now, with reference to the prayer mentioned, which the Hierarch prays over the man fallen asleep, we think it necessary to mention the tradition which has come to us from our inspired leaders. The Divine Hierarch, as the Oracles say, is interpreter of the supremely Divine awards; for he is messenger of the Lord God Omnipotent. He has learned then, from the God-transmitted Oracles, that to those who have passed their life piously, the most bright and divine life is given in return, according to their due, by the most just balances, the Divine Love towards man overlooking, through its goodness, the stains which have come to them through human |156 infirmity, since no one, as the Oracles say, is pure from blemish.
Section VII.
Now, the Hierarch knew these things to have been promised by the infallible Oracles; and he asks, that these things may come to pass, and that the right-teous returns be given to those who have lived piously, whilst being moulded beneficently to the Divine imitation, he beseeches gifts for others, as favours to himself; and, whilst knowing that the promises will be unfailing, he makes known clearly to those present, that the things asked by him, according to a holy law, will be entirely realized for those who have been perfected in a Divine life. For the Hierarch, the expounder of the supremely Divine Justice, would never seek things, which were not most pleasing to the Almighty God, and divinely promised to be given by Him 54. Wherefore, he does not offer these prayers over the unholy fallen asleep, not only because in this he would deviate from his office of expounder, and would presumptuously arrogate, on his own authority, a function of the Hierarchy, without being moved by the Supreme Legislator, but because he would both fail to obtain his abominable prayer, and he, not unnaturally, would hear from the just Oracle, "Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss." Therefore, the Divine Hierarch beseeches things divinely promised, and |157 dear to God, and which will, in every respect, be given, demonstrating both his own likeness to the good loving God, and declaring explicitly the gifts which will be received by the devout. Thus, the Hierarchs have discriminating powers, as interpreters of the Divine Awards, not as though the All-Wise Deity, to put it mildly, were slavishly following their irrational impulses, but, as though they, as expounders of God, were separating, by the motion of the Divine Spirit, those who have already been judged by God, according to due. For "receive," he says, "the Holy Spirit, whose faults ye may have remitted, they are remitted; whose ye may have retained, they are retained." And to him who was illuminated with the Divine revelations of the most Holy Father, the Oracles say, "Whatsoever thou shalt have bound upon the earth, shall be bound in the heavens; and whatsoever thou shalt have loosed on earth, shall be loosed in the heavens," inasmuch as he, and every Hierarch like him, according to the revelations of the Father's awards through him, receives those dear to God, and rejects those without God, as announcing and interpreting the Divine Will. Further, as the Oracles affirm, he uttered that sacred and divine confession, npt as self-moved, nor as though flesh and blood had revealed it, but moved by God Who revealed to him the spiritual meaning of Divine things. The inspired Hierarchs then must so exercise their separations and all their Hierarchical |158 powers as the Godhead, the Supreme Initiator, may move them; and the others must so cling to the Hierarchs as moved by God, in what they may do hierarchically, "For he who despiseth you," He says, "despiseth Me 55."
Section VIII.
Let us now proceed to that, which follows the prayer mentioned. When the Hierarch has finished it, he first salutes the fallen asleep, and next, all who are present; for dear and honoured by all Godlike men is he who has been perfected in a Divine life. After the salutation, the Hierarch pours the oil upon the man fallen asleep. And remember, that during the sacred Birth from God, before the most Divine Baptism, a first participation of a holy symbol is given to the man initiated----the oil of Chrism----after the entire removal of the former clothing; and now, at the conclusion of all, the Oil is poured upon the man fallen asleep. Then indeed the anointing with the Oil summoned the initiated to the holy contests; and now the Oil poured upon him shews the fallen asleep to have struggled, and to have been made perfect, throughout those same contests.
Section IX.
When the Hierarch has finished these things, he places the body in an honourable chamber, with |159 other holy bodies of the same rank. For if, in soul and body, the man fallen asleep passed a life dear to God, there will be honoured, with the devout soul, the body also, which contended with it throughout the devout struggles. Hence the Divine justice gives to it, together with its own body, the retributive inheritances, as companion and participator in the devout, or the contrary, life. Wherefore, the Divine institution of sacred rites bequeaths the supremely Divine participations to them both----to the soul, indeed, in pure contemplation and in science of the things being done, and to the body, by sanctifying the whole man, as in a figure with the most Divine Muron, and the most holy symbols of the supremely Divine Communion, sanctifying the whole man, and announcing, by purifications of the whole man, that his resurrection will be most complete.
Section X.
Now, as regards the consecrating" invocations, it is not permitted to explain them in writing, nor may we bring their mysterious meaning, or the powers from God working in them, from secrecy to publicity; but, as our sacred tradition holds, by learning these, through quiet instructions, and being perfected to a more Godlike condition and elevation, through Divine love and religious exercises, thou wilt be borne by the consecrating enlightenment to their highest science. |160
Section XI.
Now the fact that even children, not yet able to understand the things Divine, become recipients of the holy Birth in God, and of the most holy symbols of the supremely Divine Communion, seems, as you say, to the profane, a fit subject for reasonable laughter, if the Hierarchs teach things Divine to those not able to hear, and vainly transmit the sacred traditions to those who do not understand. And this is still more laughable----that others, on their behalf, repeat the abjurations and the sacred compacts. But thy Hierarchical judgment must not be too hard upon those who are led astray, but, persuasively, and for the purpose of leading them to the light, reply affectionately to the objections alleged by them, bringing forward this fact, in accordance with sacred rule, that not all things Divine are comprehended in our knowledge, but many of the things, unknown by us, have causes beseeming God, unknown to us indeed, but well known to the Ranks above us. Many things also escape even the most exalted Beings, and are known distinctly by the All-Wise and Wise-making Godhead alone. Further, also, concerning this, we affirm the same things which our Godlike initiators conveyed to us, after initiations from the early 56 tradition. For they say, what is also a fact, that |161 infants, being brought up according to a Divine institution, will attain a religious disposition, exempt from every error, and inexperienced in an unholy-life. When our Divine leaders came to this conclusion, it was determined to admit infants upon the following conditions, viz.: that the natural parents of the child presented, should transfer the child to some one of the initiated,----a good teacher of children in Divine things,----and that the child should lead the rest of his life under him, as under a godfather and sponsor, for his religious safe-keeping. The Hierarch then requires him, when he has promised to bring up the child according to the religious life, to pronounce the renunciations and the religious professions, not, as they would jokingly say, by instructing one instead of another in Divine things; for he does not say this, "that on behalf of this child I make, myself, the renunciations and the sacred professions," but, that the child is set apart and enlisted; i.e. I promise to persuade the child, when he has come to a religious mind, through my godly instructions, to bid adieu wholly to things contrary, and to profess and perform the Divine professions. There is here, then, nothing absurd, in my judgment, provided the child is brought up as beseems a godlike training, in having a guide and religious surety, who implants in him a disposition for Divine things, and keeps him inexperienced in things contrary.
The Hierarch imparts to the child the sacred, symbols, in order that he may be nourished by |162 them, and may not have any other life but that which always contemplates Divine things; and in religious progress become partaker of them and have a religious disposition in these matters, and be devoutly brought up by his Godlike surety. So great, my son, and so beautiful, are the uniform visions of our Hierarchy, which have been presented to my view; and from others, perhaps, more contemplative minds, these things have been viewed, not only more clearly, but also more divinely. And to thee, as I fancy, more brilliant and more divine beauties will shine forth, by using the foregoing stepping-stones to a higher ray. Impart then, my friend, thyself also, to me, more perfect enlightenment, and shew to mine eyes the more comely and uniform beauties that thou mayst have been able to see, for I am confident that, by what has been said, I shall strike the sparks 57 of the Divine Fire stored up in thee.
Thanks be to God.
JOHN PARKER.
All Saints' Day,
1898.
[Footnotes moved to end and numbered]
1.d See Epistle to Trallians.
2.e John i. 1.
3.f Ap. C. viii. 16.
4.h Creation through goodness----not necessity.
5.n John xiv. 23.
6.o Ibid. i. 13.
7.p Ibid. iii. 5.
8.r See Baptismal Offices.
9.s C. 2. s. 62.
10.a Coptic Con. II. 40; Ap. C. lib. viii. c. 38.
11.d mu&pov is the unguent prepared from myrrh, mupoqeggh_j is shining with such unguent, and murostagh_j (mupov and stazw) dripping with ditto. Ap. Con. lib. ii. c. 14.
12.e Syr. Doc. p. 60. Clark.
13.g From outward signs to inward grace.
14.h Catechism.
15.y Baptism, Ap. C. lib. 3, c. 16.
16.z See Traicté de la Liturgie ou S. Messe selon l'usage et la forme des apostres, et de leur disciple Sainct Denys, Apostre des François, par. Gilb. Genebrard, archevesque d'Aix.
17.a Ap. C. lib. 8, s. 12, Lit. of Dionysius, p. 189.
18.b As in Denmark.
19.c qeourgi/wn---- Divine Mysteries?
20.d John xiii. 11. St. Cyprian thought Judas was excluded; St. Augustine not. See Cornelius a Lapide on John xiii. 11 Ap. C. S, s. 14.
21.g Hieracles, p. 41.
22.x Republic, lib. iv. ad finem. Dulac, p. 426-7.
23.y The Law and the Prophets.
24.a See Plato, Thet. i. 114, 115. Dulac, 429.
25.c The energoumenoi.
26.d... The whole Psalter is said in Liturgy of St. James before celebration..
27.e Liturgy of Dionysius, p. 191.
28.f Incarnation.
29.g I John iii. 14.
30.k Deut. xxi. 6.
31.l As is the use in Denmark.
32.m The Fall.
33.q Plato, Crat. i. 295.
34.u Prayer of humble access.
35.y Ap. C. iii. s. 17; viii. s. 28. See note, p. 68. The Greeks have two kinds of sacred oil or Unguent, one specially blessed or consecrated by the Bishop, and another not necessarily so.
36.z Plato, Rep. i. 6, ii. 116.
37.a Matt. xxiii. 5.
38.f Isa. vi. 2.
39.h Ap. C. iv. s. 20; iv. s. 17; viii. s. 4.
40.n Christ.
41.r Acts i. 24. Ap. C. p. 168.
42.t Soul first----body afterwards.
43.b Plato, Phaed. i. 54.
44.c Ibid. i. 62-3.
45.d Col. iii. 3, 4.
46.e Phaed. i. 64.
47.f Ap. C. v. s. 5-7.
48.g Matt. xxii. 28.
49.h Republic, lib. i. p. 9. Cousin, Paris, 1833.
50.i Ps. cxii. 10.
51.k See Burial Office.
52.l Wisdom iii. 9.
53.m a)peklh&rwsan. See Papias, fragment 5.
54.g Ap. C. viii. 43.
55.m Luke x. 16.
56.n a!rxai/aj. See Acts xv. 7, 21, 16; and Archbishop Trench. Yet even Dupin ignorantly alleged that word as proof Post-Apostolic. Nov. Bib. p. 100; C. ii. 41.
57.o Bacon, Advancement in Learning, p. 2.
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Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
SOURCE SECTION: areopagite_15_appendix.htm
Dionysius the Areopagite, Works (1899) vol. 2. p.163-168. Appendix
Dionysius the Areopagite, Works (1899) vol. 2. p.163-168. Appendix
List of Bishops
Apostolic Traditions generally in abeyance
Index
APPENDIX.
LIST OF BISHOPS.
Athens. a.d.
Hierotheus 52
Dionysius the Areopagite 58
Narcissus 67
Publius 118-124
Quadratus, who presented Apology to Hadrian 126
Toledo.
1. Eugenius 69-121
2. Melantius
3. Pelagius
4. Patrummus
5. Eusebius
6. Quintus
7. Vincentius Eugenius Marcellus was consecrated at Arles by Dionysius the Areopagite 68-69
The list at Toledo is as complete as the list at Milan.
Paris. a.d.
Dionysius the Areopagite 70-119
Mallo
Martianus
Victor
Maurianus
Martinus
Arles.
St. Trophimus c. 46
Dionysius the Areopagite 68----70
St. Regulus
St. Felix 140
Gratius 160
Ambrosius
Anastinus
Ingenuus
Augustinus
Hieronymus
Savitius
Martianus a
St. Marin 314
Milan.
1. Anotolone, G. 51----64
2. Cajo, R.b 64----85
3. Castrinziano, M. 97----137
4. Calivero, G. 138----190
5. St. Mona, M. 192----250
6. St. Materno, M. 252----304
7. St. Mirocle, M. 304----325
136 Bishops to 1898. St. Ambrose, 11th Bishop, 374----397.
a A.d. 254 Cyprian wrote to Pope Stephen urging him to depose Marcion, 15th or 18th Bishop from St. Trophimus. See "Monuments inédits " de M. Faillon, t. II. p. 375, and Darras, p. 14.
b Gaius Oppius was the Centurion of the Crucifixion, and father of Agothoppius, mentioned by Ignatius. |164
Metropolitans of London, from King Lucius to Pagan expulsion, 586, from list of Jocelyn, 12th century, to be found in Stow, Ussher, Godwin, and Fasti of Le Neve.
1. Theonus, in time of King Lucius (186----193 A.D.). He built the church of St. Peter, Cornhill.
2. Elvanus, messenger from Lucius to Eleutherus, Bishop of Rome, by whom he was consecrated.
3. Cadwr, or Cadoc. Name occurs at Caerleon.
4. Obinus. See Ussher, Antiq., p. 67. No date.
5. Conan. No date.
6. Palladius. "Bishop of Britain."
7. Stephanus. No date.
8. Iltutus, Abbot of the School of Llandaff.
9. Theodwin, or Dedwin. No date.
10. Theodred. No date.
11. Hilarius.
12. Restitutus, who attended Council of Arles, A.D. 314.
13. Guitelinus. Mentioned by Geoffrey of Monmouth, Hist.VI. cc. 2----6.
14. Vodinus. Put to death, 453.
15. Theonus nd. Translated from Gloucester, 542; fled to Wales, 586. To these may be added
16. Fastidius, Bishop of Britain, A.D. 431.
Metropolitans of York, from Godwin, Bishop of Llandaff, 1601.
1. Sampson, appointed by King Lucius.
2. Taurinus, Bishop of Evreux, "Ebroicensis."
3. Eborius, at Arles, A.D. 314.
4. Sampson, or Saxo, expelled by Saxons, and transferred his pall to Dol in Brittany; consecrated, 490. Geoffrey, Hist. VIII. 12, IX. 8.
5. Pirah, appointed by King Arthur, A.D. 522, in place of Sampson, A.D. 522. Ibid. IX. 8.
6. Thadiacus fled to Wales, A.D. 586. Geoff. Hist. XI. 10. |165
There was also Faganus, a messenger to Eleutherus from King Lucius. Perhaps it was he who founded the See of Congresbury, not far from what is now Wells, which lasted till 721.
Isle of Man.
Amphibalus was Bishop of Man before a.d. 447, in which year St. Patrick consecrated Germanus to Man.
Whithern.
St. Ninian, Bishop of Whithern (subsequently in the Province of York), was consecrated by Pope Siricius, a.d. 394; retired to Ireland, 420; died, 432.
Province of Caerleon,
1. Dyfan (Missionaries of Eleutherus.
2. Ffagan (
3. Elldyrn.
4. Edyfield. Adelfius at Aries in 314. He is claimed also by Colchester and Lincoln.
5. Cadwr.
6. Cynan.
7. Ilan.
8. Llewyr.
9. Cyhelyn.
10. Guitelin.
11. Tremorinus, died about 490, and was succeeded by Dubritius of Llandaff, after which the Primacy seems to have wavered between Llandaff and Menevia. Geoff. Hist. VIII. 10.
Dubritius consecrated in 449 (Benedict of Gloster); in 490 (Geoffrey), Bishop of Llandaff, and became Metropolitan on the death of Tremorinus, as stated' above, but his seat remained at Llandaff. |166
St. David, st Bishop of Menevia, was consecrated at Jerusalem, with two companions c, a.d. 519, and succeeded as Metropolitan on the death of Dubritius, but his seat remained at St. David's.
After him came Teilo, consecrated at the same time as St. David, at Jerusalem, A.D. 519, to Llandaff. He succeeded to the Metropolitan's office on St. David's death, retaining Llandaff, and consecrating Ismael to St. David's as a Suffragan Bishop.
Simon the Cananite, afterwards Bishop of Jerusalem, having preached the Gospel in Britain ("Apostolic Constitutions," Lagarde, p. 284); as also Aristobulus, ordained by St. Paul "Bishop for Britain (Migne, ser. Graeca, tome III.); there must have been many Bishops in Britain before King Lucius was able to supersede the Druid by the Christian organisation. "Within ten years after the arrival of Joseph of Arimathea, the first-fruit of Britain was sent to Rome, for instruction and consecration. He founded a Church in Beatenberg, Switzerland.
For Bishops in France, see Gallia Christiana.
For Bishops in Britain, see Archbishop Parker, Alford, "St. Paul in Britain," Wakeman.
For lists given, my thanks are due to the Archbishops of Athens and York, Canon Bernard, and the Rev. Bainbridge Smith, author of " English Orders, whence obtained."
c These two were Teilo, consecrated to Llandaff, and Patern, consecrated to Llanbadarn.
JOHN PARKER. |167
APOSTOLIC TRADITIONS
GENERALLY IN ABEYANCE.
1. Washing of feet. St. John xiii. 4-14.
2. Anointing of sick with prayer for healing. St. James v. 14, 15.
3. Anointing with Oil and Muron in Baptism.
4. Anointing with Muron for Consecration.
5. Trine immersion in Baptism.
6. Incense offered to God's Holy Name. Malachi ii. 11. |168
INDEX.
D. = Vol. I.; H. = Vol. II.
Agnosia, D. i, 21-9, 130-3, 141, 144
Angels, St. Paul's teaching, H. 23
Anomia (Lawlessness), D. 156-8
Apostles and Successors, D. 160
Archetypes, D. 36-7; H. 11, 81, 91, 92, 112
Baptism, H. 75, 86, 89, 158
Burial, H. 145----159
Consecration, H. 90, 106
Contemplation, H. 51, 70, 80, 91, 111, 124, 132, 141, 149
Dedication of Monk, 139----41
Deification, D. 26----96, 104, 117; H. 3, 77, 80,88, 97
Diptychs; H. 90----102
Evil, D. 52----72.
God-Parents; H. 160
Hierarch, D. 160; H. 44, 69, 72, 79, 89, no, 131, 136, 148, 157
Holy Communion, H. 87----109, 90, 97, 106, 108
Incense, H. 89, 92, no, 113
Jesus, D. 16, 21, 22, 23, 117, 124, 142, 143, 149,156, 162, 165; H. 20, 27, 67, 70, 92, 94, 95, 104, 106, 107, 115, 120, 122, 127, 133, 134
Monad, D. 5, no, 123, 124; H. 31
Muron, H. 110----122
Mystic, D. 21, 31, 167
Nature, of God, D. 91, 124, 134; of life, D. 84, 79; causes of life, D. 7; corruption of life, D. 64, 65
Oracles, Mystic, H. 7; Intelligible, H. 44; given by God, H. 131; Canon of truth, D. 15; Source of Theology, D. 12; Essence of Hierarchy, H. 72, 96, 13.8
Ordination, Bishop, Priest, and Deacon, H. 131-7
Paradeigma, D. 81; H. r,
Prayer, D. 27, 28; H. 153----158; for ungodly, 154
Providence, D. 9, n, 27, 32, 34, 44, 48, 70, 73, 104, 115, 117, 120, 158; H. 17,39
Symbolic Theology, D. 167 Symbols, D. 172; H. 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 11, 26, 105
Tradition, D. 6, 16, 21, 170 Triad, D. 17, 27, 37, 79, 125
Unction, H. 78, 80, 158
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Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
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Joshua the Stylite, Chronicle composed in Syriac in AD 507 (1882). Preface to the online edition
Joshua the Stylite, Chronicle composed in Syriac in AD 507 (1882). Preface to the online edition
Wright's classic edition and translation of the Chronicle of Joshua the Stylite needs little introduction. Often reprinted, it is a classic of Oriental scholarship.
As Wright tells us in his introduction, the text survived embedded in the surviving Chronicle of Dionysius of Tell-Mahre (or pseudo-Dionysius of Tell-Mahre as we must now call him). Joshua's work forms part I of that text. The single manuscript of this work is preserved in the Vatican library, shelfmark Vat. Syr. 162. It contains 173 folios, and was brought there in 1715 by J. S. Assemani. He obtained it from the monastery of Deir al-Suryani (St. Mary Deipara) in the Nitrian desert in Egypt, together with other manuscripts which form the core of the Vatican collection. The remainder of that library -- or nearly so -- was bought by Archdeacon Henry Tattam a century later and forms the core of the rich collection in the British Library, which the management of that institution keeps determinedly offline and for microfilms of which it charges such unaffordable sums. Among these manuscripts are the missing folios of Vat. Syr. 162, which are today British Library Ms. Add. 14665, folios 1-7. Most of the manuscript is a palimpsest, 123 of the Vatican and all the London folios being from a Greek manuscript of the Old Testament written in the th- th century.
The Syriac text of our Chronicle was written in the 9th century, possibly early in the century, in Zuqnin, as the colophon on f.66v given by Wright makes clear. It was taken to Egypt in 926-932 by the Archimandrite Moses of Nisibis who collected 250 manuscripts from Syria and Mesopotamia and transported them to Egypt. A copy of fol.44-152 of the Vatican ms. was made in 1867 by Paulin Martin, the first editor, which is now in the Bibliotheque Nationale (ms. Syr. 284, 285). This is valuable because the Vatican manuscript has deteriorated since then, and is now illegible in passages copied by Martin.
Part III of the Chronicle of Pseudo-Dionysius of Tell-Mahre (also known as the Chronicle of Zuqnin) has been translated into English by Witold Witakowski, and published by Liverpool University Press in 1996 as Translated Texts for Historians volume 22 (ISBN 0-85323-760-3, available from Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk for $25). The notes on the manuscript given above have been abbreviated from this. He also lists translations in other modern languages that exist for parts I, II and IV of Ps.Dionysius.
I have found it necessary to make a few changes in making this text available online. All the Syriac text has been omitted, the index, and most of the footnotes as these are mainly concerned with details of the Syriac. The Syriac text is in the West Syriac script (Serto) and unfortunately I lack the ability to transcribe even a letter of this. I have also omitted any inline Greek or other unnecessary reference to the original language. So for instance the word 'general' when referring to the Persians is usually followed by '(marzeban)': this I have omitted.
Because I was obliged to interfere so much with the text, I have felt able to interfere a little more, and make two further changes. Wright translated the Syriac word for 'Romans' as 'Greeks'. While this might be reasonable five or six centuries later, in 500 AD the word certainly means 'Romans'. I have therefore replaced the word 'Greeks' with 'Romans' wherever it appears.
The other change is a first for this site: I have modernised the translation. This has involved removing the thee's and thou's, and minor changes of that kind.
The text is very useful for the war between the Romans and Persians in the time of Anastasius I, written in the region of Edessa. A more modern translation does exist, but I hope that making this one available online will encourage more interest in this period, and indeed in what Syriac sources have to tell us.
Roger PEARSE
9th September 2006
Bibliography
The Chronicle of Joshua the Stylite: Composed in Syriac A. D. 507 (Hardcover) by William Wright. Reprinted by Gorgias Press, 2003. Amazon.com / Amazon.co.uk. The full text of this book, for $65.
Chronicle of Pseudo-Joshua the Stylite (Liverpool University Press - Translated Texts for Historians) (Paperback) by Frank R. Trombley (Translator), John W. Watt (Translator). 2001. Amazon.com / Amazon.co.uk. $25.
Amir Harrak, The Chronicle of Zuqnin, Parts III and IV, A.D. 488-775 (Mediaeval Sources in Translation 36; Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, Toronto: 1999). Richard Burgess in LT-ANTIQ adds: "Parts three and four have also been translated [into English]... [the volume] contains notes as well as a complete collation of Chabot's edition with the two surviving manuscripts in the Vatican and the BL. This collation provides not only corrections to Chabot's text but also provides additional material that would normally appear in an apparatus criticus but was missed by Chabot." Amazon.com / Amazon.co.uk. Out of print there, but still available from Brepols.
This text was transcribed by Roger Pearse, 2006. All material on this page is in the public domain - copy freely.
Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
SOURCE SECTION: joshua_the_stylite_01_intro.htm
Joshua the Stylite, Chronicle composed in Syriac in AD 507 (1882) pp.i-x
Joshua the Stylite, Chronicle composed in Syriac in AD 507 (1882) pp.i-x
THE CHRONICLE OF JOSHUA THE STYLITE.
London: C. J. CLAY AND SON,
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS WAREHOUSE,
17, PATERNOSTER ROW.
Cambridge: DEIGHTON, BELL, AND CO.
Leipzig: F. A. BROCKHAUS.
THE CHRONICLE
OF
JOSHUA THE STYLITE,
COMPOSED IN SYRIAC
A.D. 507,
WITH A TRANSLATION INTO ENGLISH AND NOTES
BY
W. WRIGHT, LL.D.,
PROFESSOR OF ARABIC IN THE UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE.
EDITED FOR THE SYNDICS OF THE UNIVERSITY PRESS.
CAMBRIDGE:
AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS.
1882
Cambridge:
PRINTED BY C. J. CLAY, M.A. & SON,
AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS.
PREFACE.
I. The Chronicle of Joshua (Yeshua or Jesus) the Stylite has been long known to historians in the abridged Latin translation of Joseph Simon Assemani, which occupies pp. 262-283 of the first volume of his Bibliotheca Orientalis; and it is generally acknowledged to be one of the most valuable authorities for the period with which it deals 1. The first complete edition of the Syriac text did not, however, appear till 1876, when it was edited for the German Oriental Society, with a French translation and many useful notes 2, by the well known orientalist the Abbe P. Martin, to whose industry scholars are indebted for various important Syriac publications.
That this editio princeps should be faulty in many respects was unavoidable, partly from the fact that the editor had only a single not very clearly written manuscript for the basis of his text, and partly because circumstances prevented him from re-collating his copy with the original before putting it to press. It was reviewed by Professor Noeldeke of Strassburg in the Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenlandischen Gesellschaft, Bd xxx, pp. 351-8, where he proposed many excellent emendations. Having read the book through several times with pupils, I sent |vi to Professor Noeldeke a further list of corrections, shortly before the publication of his Syriac Grammar in 1880, and we exchanged several letters on the subject. Since then another friend, Professor Ignazio Guidi of Rome, has most kindly supplied me with a fresh collation of the entire work; and I am thus enabled to lay a tolerably correct text before the reader, without having much recourse to conjectural emendation. If I have not described certain readings of my text as corrections made by this or that scholar, it is because I have ascertained, thanks to Guidi's unwearying kindness, that they are the actual readings of the original manuscript.... I have never altered the actual readings of the manuscript, so far as I am aware, without giving due warning thereof in the notes. I have, however, taken the liberty, with the view of facilitating the task of the reader, of adding a considerable number of diacritical points, especially in the verbal forms. From the interpunction of the manuscript, on the other hand, I have but rarely deviated, and then only when it seemed to me to be absolutely necessary.
In my translation I have striven to be as literal as the difference between the two idioms will allow. My method is first to translate as closely as I can, and then to try if I can improve the form of expression in any way without the sacrifice of truthfulness to the original. I also endeavour to preserve a somewhat antiquated and Biblical style, as being peculiarly adapted to the rendering into English of Oriental works, whether poetical or historical. The Old Testament and the Kor'an, |vii which are, of course, in many ways strikingly similar in their diction, can both be easily made ridiculous by turning them into our modern vernacular, particularly if we vulgarize with malice prepense.
In my version I have sometimes expressed the sense of a conjectural emendation rather than of the manuscript reading. The comparison of the Syriac text and the critical notes will readily show the attentive reader when this is the case. Words which I have found it necessary to add for the sake of the English form of expression, or of greater clearness, I have commonly put within parentheses ( ); but where an actual lacuna in the text is supplied by conjecture, I have employed brackets [ ].
Of the notes I think it necessary to say no more than that they are intended chiefly for non-orientalists and for those who are beginning their oriental studies. It seemed to me to be quite superfluous to repeat the historical information contained in the copious annotations of Assemani and of the Abbe Martin. In matters relating to the topography of Edessa and its district I have had recourse to my friend Professor G. Hoffmann of Kiel, who is probably the best acquainted of living orientalists with the geography of Mesopotamia and the adjacent countries. A comprehensive work on the subject from his hand would be a boon to all scholars. The plan of Edessa is taken from Carsten Niebuhr's Voyage en Arabie, et en d'autres Pays circonvoisins, traduit de l'Allemand, 1780, t. ii, p. 330, with additions and alterations suggested by Professor Hoffmann. As for the rough map of the seat of war, it is only reproduced from an ordinary atlas.
I have endeavoured, for the convenience of readers, to conform my edition in externals, as far as possible, to that of the Abbe Martin; and I would therefore have gladly adopted his numeration of the chapters, but found it to be impossible. In the first place, I had to strike out his seventh chapter, which |viii is merely the final note of a scribe of much later date. This reduces the number of chapters by one from VIII (now VII) to XCI (now XC). But, in the second place, I had to unite his chapters XCI and XCII, the lacuna on p. 75 of his edition being imaginary. Consequently the number of chapters from here to the end is reduced by two, and Martin's ch. XCIII is in my edition XCI.
II. We owe the preservation of the short Chronicle of Joshua the Stylite to the care of a later historian, Dionysius of Tell-Mahre 3, patriarch of the Jacobites (ob. A. Gr. 1156, A.D. 845) 4, who incorporated it with his own larger work, which deserves to be made accessible to students of history without further delay 5. The solitary manuscript of this work which has come down to our times is preserved in the Vatican Library 6. It is in great part palimpsest, the underlying text being Coptic. According to Assemani, Bibl. Orient, t. ii, pp. 98, 99, it was written in the Nitrian desert when Moses of Nisibis was abbot of the convent of S. Mary Deipara, that is to say, between A.D. 907 and 944 (see my Catalogue of Syriac MSS. in the British Museum, General Index, p. 1310); but in his Catal. Codd. Manuscriptorum Biblioth. Apostol. Vaticanae, t. iii, p. 328, no. CLXII, he asserts that it was one of those volumes which Moses of Nisibis brought back with him to the Nitrian Convent in 932, after his visit to Baghdad and his journey through Mesopotamia 7. |ix
Of Joshua we know little more than what he has himself thought fit to tell us. He wrote his Chronicle at the request of one Sergius, the abbot of a convent in the district of Edessa (ch. I), to whom he repeatedly addresses himself in the course of it. The last date which occurs in it is 28th November A.D. 506 (ch. C); and considering the tone of the final chapter, I have thought myself justified in assigning the composition of the work to that winter and the earlier part of the following year, which is also Noeldeke's opinion (Zeitschrift d. D. M. G., Bd xxx, p. 352) 8. A more recent copyist, who supplied a lacuna in the manuscript of Dionysius 9, adds some details regarding Joshua as follows (see Martin's edition, p. 8).
"Pray for the wretched Elisha, from the convent of Zuknin (near Amid), who wrote this leaf, that he may find grace like the thief on the right hand. Amen and Amen. May the |x mercy of the great God and our Redeemer Jesus Christ be upon the priest Mar Yeshua (Joshua) the stylite, from the convent of Zuknin, who wrote this Chronicle of the evil times that are past, and of the calamities and troubles which the (Persian) tyrant wrought among men."
W. WRIGHT.
Queens' College, Cambridge.
23 April, 1882.
[These are the majority of the footnotes, minus any Arabic and Syriac]
1. * See, for example, the numerous references to it in Lebeau, Histoire du Bas-Empire, ed. Saint-Martin, t. vii, especially in book xxxviii.
2. + See Abhandlungen fur die Kunde des Morgenlandes herausgegeben von der Deutschen Morgenldndischen Gesellschaft. VI. Band. No. I. Chronique de Josue le Stylite ecrite vers Van 515, texte et traduction par M. l'abbe Paulin Martin.
3. * a small town on the river Balikh, between ar-Bakkah and Hisn Maslamah, according to Yakut in the Mu'jam al-Buldan.
4. + See Assemani, Bibl. Orient., t. ii, p. 98 sqq., and pp. 344-8.
5. ++ The Swedish orientalist Professor Tullberg of Upsala began an edition of it in 1850, which will, I hope, be completed by Professor Ign. Guidi.
6. § Dionysius has placed the Chronicle of Joshua immediately after the Henotikon of Zeno, without any prefatory remarks.
7. || If so, the note to that effect has disappeared from the manuscript. It must be remarked, however, that the volume is much damaged, and that some of the worst pages have been covered at a recent period with "carta vegetale". The result is that the writing is no longer legible or barely so.
8. * The first sentence of the last chapter is no doubt an addition by a later writer, perhaps Dionysius of Tell-Mahre himself.
9. + The preface from p. 1 to p. 6, l. 10, is in the same hand as the bulk of the manuscript. From that point to p. 8,1. 11, is in the handwriting of Elisha of Zuknin. The next leaf of the manuscript begins with the words,... There is also a modern copy of the preface and introduction, on European paper, as far as p. 11, 1. 14.
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Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
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Joshua the Stylite, Chronicle composed in Syriac in AD 507 (1882) pp.1-76
Joshua the Stylite, Chronicle composed in Syriac in AD 507 (1882) pp.1-76
A HISTORY OF THE TIME OF AFFLICTION AT EDESSA AND AMIDA AND THROUGHOUT ALL MESOPOTAMIA.
[Translated by William Wright]
I. I have received the letter of your God-loving holiness, O most excellent of men, Sergius, priest and abbot, in which you have bidden me write for you, by way of record, (concerning the time) when the locusts came, and when the sun was darkened, and when there was earthquake and famine and pestilence, and (about) the war between the Romans and the Persians. But |2 besides these things, there were found in it great encomiums of myself, which made me much ashamed even when alone with my own soul, because not one of them pertains to me in reality. Now I would like to write the things that are in you, but the eye of my understanding is unable to examine and see, such as it actually is, the marvellous robe which your energetic will has woven for you and clothed you therewith; for it is clearly manifest that you burn with the love that fulfils the law, since you care not only for the brethren that are under your authority at this time, but also for all the lovers of learning that may hereafter enter your blessed monastery; and in your diligence you wish to leave in writing memorials of the chastisements which have been wrought in our times because of our sins, so that, when they read and see the things that have happened to us, they may take warning by our sins and be delivered from our punishments. One must wonder at the fulness of your love, which is poured out upon all men, that it is not exhausted nor fails. Indeed I am unable to speak of it as it is, because I have not been nigh unto its working; nor do I know how to tell about it from a single interview which I have had with you.
II. Like Jonathan, the true friend, you have bound yourself to me in love. But that the soul of Jonathan was drawn to the soul of David, after he saw that the giant was slain by his hands and the camp delivered, is not so marvellous as this, because he loved him for his good deeds; whereas you have loved me more than yourself, without having seen anything that was good in me. Nor is Jonathan's delivering of David from death at the hands of Saul deserving of wonder in comparison with this (doing) of yours, because he still requited unto him something that was due to him; for he first delivered him from death, and gave life unto him and all his father's house, that they should not die by the hands of the Philistine. And though nothing like this has been done by me unto you, you are at all times praying unto God for me, that I may be delivered from Satan, and that he may not slay me through sins. But this I must say, that you love me as David did Saul; for you are intoxicated by the greatness of your affection to such a degree that, because of the fervency of your love, you know not what my limit is, but imagine regarding me |3 things which are far beyond me. For in the time preceding this, you supplied my deficiencies by the teaching contained in your letters; and you took such care for me as parents do, who, though they have not profited aught by their children, yet care for everything that they need. And today in your discretion you have humbled yourself, and have begged me to write for you things that are too hard for me, that hereby you might be especially exalted; and though you know them better than I do, you wish to learn them from me. So neither do I grudge you this, nor do I decline to do what you have commanded.
III. Know then that I too, when I saw these signs that were wrought and the chastisements that came after them, was thinking that they were worthy of being written down and preserved in some record, and not let fall into oblivion. But whereas I considered the weakness of my mind and my own utter ignorance, I declined to do this. Now however that you have bidden me do this very thing, I am in such fear as a man who, not knowing how to swim well, is ordered to go down into deep waters. But because I rely on your prayers to draw me out, which are constantly sent up by you unto God on my behalf, I believe that I shall be providentially saved from drowning and drawn forth from the sea into which you have cast me; since I shall swim as best I can in its shallows, because its depths cannot be explored. For who is able to tell fittingly concerning those things which God has wrought in His wisdom to wipe out sins and to chastise offences? For the exact nature of God's government is hidden even from the angels, as you may learn from the parable of the tares in the Gospel. For when his servants said unto the master of the house, "Do you want us to go and gather them up?" he that knew the things as they were said unto them, "No, in case while you gather up the tares, you root up also the wheat with them." This then we say according to our knowledge, that because of the multitude of our sins our chastisements were abundant; and had not the protection of God embraced the whole world so that it should not be dissolved, the lives of all mankind would probably have perished. For at |4 what times did afflictions like these happen with such violence, save in these (times) in which we live? And because the cause of them has not been removed, they have not even yet ceased. In addition to that which we saw with our own eyes and heard with our own ears, and amid which we lived, there terrified us also rumours from far and near, and calamities that happened in various places; terrible earthquakes, overturnings of cities, famines and pestilences, wars and tumults, captivity and deportation of whole districts, razings and burning of churches. And whereas these things have amazed you by their frequency, you have sent unto me to write them down with words of grief and sorrow, which shall astonish both readers and hearers; and I know that you have said this through your zeal for good things, that there may be contrition also in those who hear them, and that they may draw nigh unto repentance.
IV. But know that it is one thing for a man to write sadly, and another (to write) truly; for any man who is endowed with natural eloquence can, if he chooses, write sad and melancholy tales. But I am a plain man in speech, and I record in this book those things which all men that are in our country can testify to be true; and it is for them who read and hear, when they have examined them, if they please, to draw nigh unto repentance. But perchance one may say, "What profit have those who read from these things, if admonition be not mingled with the recital?" I for my part, as one who is not able to do this, say that these chastisements which have come upon us are sufficient to rebuke us and our posterity, and to teach us by the memory and reading of them that they were sent upon us for our sins. If they did not teach us this, they would be quite useless to us. But this cannot be said, because chastisements supply to us the place of teaching; and that they are sent upon us for our sins all believers under heaven testify, in accordance with the words of S. Paul, who says, "When we are chastened, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world." For the whole object of men being chastened in this world is that they may be restrained from their sins, and that the judgement of the world to come may be made light for |5 them. As for those who are chastised because of sinners, whilst they themselves have not sinned, a double reward shall be added unto them. But there is mercy at all times even for those who are unworthy, because of the kindness and grace and longsuffering of God, who wills that this world should last until the time that is decreed in His knowledge, and doesn't forget. And that these things are so is clear both from the evidences of holy Scripture and from the things that have taken place among us, which we purpose to write down.
V. For behold, there leaned heavily upon us the calamities of hunger and of pestilence in the time of the locusts, so that we were well nigh going to destruction; but God had mercy upon us, though we were unworthy, and gave us a little respite from the calamities that pressed upon us. And this, as I have said, was because of His goodness. But He changed our torments, after we had had some respite, and smote us by the hands of the Assyrian, who is called the rod of anger. Now I do not wish to deny the free will of the Persians, when I say that God smote us by their hands; nor do I, after God, bring forward any blame of their wickedness; but reflecting that, because of our sins, He has not inflicted any punishment on them, I have set it down that He smote us by their hands. Now the pleasure of this wicked people is abundantly made evident by this, that they have not shown mercy unto those who were delivered up unto them; for they have been accustomed to show their pleasure and to rejoice in evil done to the children of men, wherewith the Prophet too taunts them and says, prophesying regarding the desolation of Babylon as it were by the mouth of the Lord: "I was wroth with my people, who defiled mine inheritance; and I delivered them into your hands, and you showed them no mercy." Unto us too, therefore, they have similarly wrought harm in their pitiless pleasure, according to their wont. For though the rod of their chastisement did not reach our bodies, and they were unable to make themselves masters of our city, (because it is not possible for the promise of Christ to be made void, who promised the believing king Abgar, saying, "Thy city shall be blessed, and no enemy |6 shall ever make himself master of it1";) yet, because of the believers who were spoiled and led away captive and slain and destroyed in the other cities which were captured, and who were like mud in the streets, all those have tasted no small degree of suffering who have learned to sympathise with them that suffer. And those too who were far away from this (sight) have been tortured with fear for their own lives by their lack of faith, for they thought that the enemy would make himself master of Edessa too, as he had done of other cities. About which things we are going to write unto you.
VI. Since then, according to the saying of the wise Solomon, "War is brought about by provocation"; and you wish to learn this very thing, namely by what causes it was provoked; it is my intention to inform you whence these causes took their rise, even at the risk of its being thought that I speak of things the time of which is long past. And then, after a little, I will make known to you too how these causes acquired strength. For although this war was stirred up against us because of our sins, yet it took its origin in certain obvious facts, which I am going to relate to you, that you may be clearly acquainted with the whole subject, and not be led, along with some foolish persons, to blame the all-ruling and believing emperor Anastasius. For he was not the exciting cause of the war, but it was provoked from a much earlier time, as you may understand from the things that I am going to write unto you.
VII. In the year 609 (A.D. 297-8) 2 the Romans got possession of the city of Nisibis, and it remained under their |7 sway for sixty-five years. After the death of Julian in Persia, which took place in the year 674 (A.D. 362-3), Jovinian 3, who reigned over the Romans after him, preferred peace above everything; and for the sake of this he allowed the Persians to take possession of Nisibis for one hundred and twenty years, after which they were to restore it to its (former) masters. These years came to an end in the time of the Roman emperor Zeno; but the Persians were unwilling to restore the city, and this thing stirred up strife.
VIII. Further, there was a treaty between the Romans and the Persians, that, if they had need of one another when carrying on war with any nation, they should help one another, by giving three hundred able-bodied men, with their arms and horses, or three hundred staters in lieu of each man, according to the wish of the party that had need. Now the Romans, by the help of God, the Lord of all, had never any need of assistance from the Persians; for believing emperors have always reigned from that time until the present day, and by the help of Heaven their power has been strengthened. But the kings of the Persians have been sending ambassadors and receiving money for their needs; but it was not in the way of tribute that they took it, as many thought.
IX. Even in our days Peroz, the king of the Persians, because of the wars that he had with the Kushanaye or Huns, very often received money from the Romans, not however demanding it as tribute, but exciting their religious zeal, as if he was carrying on his contests on their behalf, "that," said he, "they may not pass over into your territory." What made these words of his find credence was the devastation and depopulation which the Huns wrought in the Roman territory |8 in the year 707 (A.D. 395-6), in the days of the emperors Honorius and Arcadius, the sons of Theodosius the Great, when all Syria was delivered into their hands by the treachery of the prefect Rufinus and the supineness of the general Addai.
X. By the help of the money which he received from the Romans, Peroz subdued the Huns, and took many places from their land and added them to his own kingdom; but at last he was taken prisoner by them. When Zeno, the emperor of the Romans, heard this, he sent money of his own and freed him, and reconciled him with them. Peroz made a treaty with the Huns that he would not again cross the boundary of their territory to make war with them; but he went back from and broke his covenant, like Zedekiah, and went to war, and like him he was delivered into the hands of his enemies, and all his army was destroyed and dispersed, and he himself was taken alive. He promised in his pride that he would give for the safety of his life thirty mules laden with silver coin; and he sent to his country over which he ruled, but he could hardly collect twenty loads, for by his former wars he had completely emptied the treasury of the king who preceded him. Instead therefore of the other ten loads, he placed with them as a pledge and hostage his son Kawad, until he should send them, and he made an agreement with them for the second time that he would not again go to war.
XI. When he returned to his kingdom, he imposed a poll-tax on his whole country, and sent the ten loads of silver coin, and delivered his son. But he again collected an army and went to war; and the word of the Prophet was in very reality fulfilled regarding him, who says, " I saw the wicked uplifted like the trees of the forest, but when I passed by he was not, and I sought him but did not find him." For when a battle |9 took place, and the two hosts were mingled together in confusion, his whole force was destroyed, and he himself was sought but not found; nor to the present day is it known what became of him, whether he was buried under the bodies of the slain, or threw himself into the sea, or hid himself in a cave under ground and perished of hunger, or concealed himself in a wood and was devoured by wild beasts.
XII. In the days of Peroz the Roman empire too was in disorder; for the officials of the palace hated the emperor Zeno because he was an Isaurian by race, and Basiliscus rebelled against him and became emperor in his stead. Afterwards, however, Zeno strengthened himself and was reestablished on the throne. And because he had had experience of the hatred of many towards him, he prepared for himself an impregnable fortress in his own country; so that, if any harm should happen to him, it might be a place of refuge for him. His confidant in this was the military governor of Antioch, by name Illus, who was likewise an Isaurian; for he bestowed posts of honour and authority upon all his countrymen, and for this reason he was much hated by the Romans.
XIII. When the fortress was fully equipped with everything necessary for it, and a countless sum of money had been deposited there by Illus, he came to the capital (Constantinople) to inform Zeno that he had executed his will. But Zeno, because he knew that he was a traitor and was aiming at the throne, ordered one of the soldiers to kill him. After the person to whom this commission had been given was for many days seeking an opportunity of executing it secretly, but found none, he accidentally met Illus inside the palace, and drew his sword and raised it to smite him. Instantly, however, one of the soldiers who formed the retinue of Illus struck him |10 with a knife on the arm, and the sword fell from his hand and merely cut off Illus's ear. Zeno, in order that his treachery towards Illus might not be disclosed, at once gave orders that that soldier's head should be cut off, without any inquiry. But this very circumstance only made Illus think the more that Zeno had ordered him; and he arose and departed thence and went down to Antioch, having made up his mind that, whenever an opportunity offered, he would take measures to requite him.
XIV. Zeno, being afraid of Illus, because he knew his evil design, despatched to him at Antioch certain men of standing, and sent him word to come up to him (to Constantinople), as if he wished to make excuses to him, pretending that that treachery was not committed at his instigation, but that he did not wish to kill him. However he could not soften the hard heart of Illus; for he despised him, and did not choose to obey his command and go to him. At last Zeno sent to him another general, whose name was Leontius, with the troops under his orders, and bade him bring Illus up to him by force, and if he offered any resistance even to kill him. When this man arrived at Antioch, he was corrupted by the gold of Illus, and disclosed to him the order which had been given to him to put him to death. And when Illus saw that he had hidden nothing from him, he too showed him a large quantity of gold that he had in his hands, for the sake of which Zeno was wishing to kill him; and he persuaded Leontius to conspire with him and to rebel along with him, pointing out to him also the hatred of the Romans towards Zeno. After he had consented, Illus was able to disclose his design, for alone he could not rebel nor make himself emperor, because the Romans hated him too on account of his race and of his hardness of heart.
XV. Leontius then became emperor at Antioch in name, whilst Illus was in fact the administrator of affairs. As some say, he was even scheming to kill Leontius, in case they should overcome Zeno. But there was in their following a certain rascally conjuror, by name Pamprepius, who confounded and upset all their plans by his perfidy. In order that their throne |11 might be firmly established, they sent ambassadors to Persia, with a large sum of money, to conclude a treaty of friendship,.........4 or, if they required an army to help them, they should send it to them. When Zeno heard of what had happened at Antioch, he sent thither one of his generals, whose name was John 5, with a large army.
XVI. When Illus and Leontius heard of the great force that was coming against them, their hearts trembled; and the people of Antioch too were afraid that they might not be able to stand a siege, and called on them tumultuously to quit the city, and, if they were able, to meet [John in] battle. This caused Illus and Leontius much anxiety, and they formed plans for quitting Antioch, and crossing the river Euphrates eastwards. And they sent one of their partisans, whose name was Matronianus, with five hundred horsemen, to establish their authority in Edessa as a seat of government. The Edessenes, however, rose up against him, and closed the gates of the city, and guarded the wall after the fashion of war, and did not let him enter.
XVII. When Illus and Leontius heard this, they were forced to meet John in battle; but they were not strong enough for this, because John fell upon them manfully, and destroyed the greater part of the troops that were with them, while the rest were scattered every man to his city. They themselves, being unable to bear his onslaught, took those that were left with them, and made their escape to the fortress of which I have said above that it was impregnable and well provided with stores of every kind (ch. xii). John pursued after them, but did not overtake them, and encamped around the fortress and kept watching it. They, because they relied upon the impregnability of the fortress, let the troops that were with them go |12 down, retaining with them only chosen men and valiant. John appeased his fury upon those who came down from the fortress, but was unable to harm Illus and Leontius in any way. Now because of the difficulty of the natural position of the fortress, it was also rendered wonderfully impregnable by the work of men's hands, and there was no path leading up to it save one, by which, because of its narrowness, not even two persons could ascend at once. However, after a considerable time, when all John's stratagems were exhausted, Illus and Leontius were betrayed by those who were with them, and were taken captive in their sleep. By the order of Zeno both of them were put to death, as well as those who betrayed them, and the hands of all who were with them were cut off. Such were the troubles of the Roman empire in the days of Peroz.
XVIII. After the sudden disappearance of Peroz, which I have mentioned above (ch. xi), his brother Balash reigned over the Persians in his place. This was a humble man and fond of peace. He found nothing in the Persian treasury, and his land was laid waste and depopulated by the Huns, (for you in your wisdom dost not forget what expense and outlay kings incur in wars, even when they are victorious, and how much more when they are defeated,) and from the Romans he had no help of any kind such as his brother had. For he sent ambassadors to Zeno, asking him to send him money; but because he was occupied with the war against Illus and Leontius, and because he also remembered the money that had been sent by them at the commencement of their rebellion, which still remained there in Persia, he did not choose to send him anything, save this verbal message: "The taxes of Nisibis which you receive are enough for you, which for many years past have been due to the Romans."
XIX. Balash then, because he had no money to maintain his troops, was despised in their eyes. The priesthood too hated him, because he was trying to abolish their laws, and wishing to build baths in the cities for bathing; |13 and when they saw that he was not counted aught in the eyes of his troops, they took him and blinded him, and set up in his stead Kawad, the son of his brother Peroz, whose name we have mentioned above (ch. x), who was left as a hostage among the Huns, and who it was that stirred up the war with the Romans, because they did not give him money. For he sent ambassadors, and a large elephant as a present to the emperor, that he might send him money. But before the ambassadors reached Antioch in Syria, Zen n died, and Anastasius became emperor after him. When the Persian ambassador informed his master Kawad of this change in the Roman government, he sent him word to go up with diligence and to demand the customary money, or else to say to the emperor, "Take war."
XX. And so, instead of speaking words of peace and salutation, as he ought to have done, and of rejoicing with him on the commencement of the soverainty which had been newly granted him by God, he irritated the mind of the believing emperor Anastasius with threatening words. But when he heard his boastful language, and learned about his evil conduct, and that he had reestablished the abominable sect of the magi which is called that of the Zaradushtakan 6, (which teaches that women should be in common, and that every one could sleep with whom he pleases,) and that he had wrought harm to the Armenians who were under his sway, because they would not worship fire, he despised him, and did not send him the money, but sent him word, saying, "As Zeno, who reigned before me, did not send it, so neither will I send it, until you restore Nisibis to me; for the wars are not trifling which I have to carry on with the barbarians who are called the Germans, and with those who are called the Blemyes 7, and with |14 many others: and I will not neglect the Roman troops and feed yours."
XXI. When the Armenians who were under the rule of Kawad heard that he had not received a peaceful answer from the Romans, they took courage and strengthened themselves, and destroyed the fire-temples that had been built by the Persians in their land, and massacred the magi who were among them. Kawad sent against them a general 8 with an army to chastise them and make them return to the worship of fire; but they fought with him, and destroyed both him and his army, and sent ambassadors to our emperor, offering to become his subjects. He however was unwilling to receive them, that he might not be thought to be stirring up war with the Persians. Let those therefore who blame him because he did not give the money, rather blame him who demanded what was not his as if by force; for had he asked for it peaceably and by persuasion, it would have been sent to him; but he hardened his heart like Pharaoh, and used threats of war. But we place our trust in the justice of God, that He will bring upon him a greater punishment than that of the other because of his filthy laws, for be wished to violate the law of nature and to destroy the path of the fear of God.
XXII. Next the whole of the Kadishaye 9 who were under his sway rebelled against him, and wanted to enter Nisibis, and to set up in it a king of their own; and they fought against it for a considerable time. The Tamuraye too, who dwell in the land of the Persians, when they saw that nothing was given to them by him, rebelled against him. These placed their trust in the lofty mountains amid which they dwelt, and used to come down and spoil and plunder the villages around them, and (rob) the merchants, both foreigners and natives of the place, and then go up again. The nobles too of his kingdom hated him, because he had allowed their wives to commit adultery. The |15 Arabs 10 also who were under his sway, when they saw the confusion of his kingdom, likewise made predatory raids, as far as their strength permitted, throughout the whole Persian territory.
XXIII. There arose at this time another trouble in the Roman territory also; for the Isaurians, after the death of Zeno, rebelled against the emperor Anastasius, and were wishing to set up an emperor who was pleasing to themselves. When Kawad heard this, he thought that he had found his opportunity, and sent ambassadors to the Roman territory, thinking that they would be afraid and would send him money, since the Isaurians had rebelled against them. But the emperor Anastasius sent him word, saying, "If you ask it as a loan, I will send it to you; but if as a matter of custom, I will not neglect the Roman armies, which are sore put to it in the war with the Isaurians, and become a helper of the Persians." By these words the spirit of Kawad was humbled, because his plan had not succeeded. The Isaurians were overcome and destroyed and slaughtered, and all their cities were razed and burned. The Persian grandees plotted in secret to slay Kawad, on account of his impure morals and perverse laws; and when this became known to him, he abandoned his kingdom, and fled to the territory of the Huns, to the king at whose court he had been brought up when he was a hostage.
XXIV. His brother Zamashp reigned in his stead over the Persians. Kawad himself took to wife among the Huns his sister's daughter. His sister had been led captive thither in the war in which his father was slain; and because she was a king's daughter, she became the wife of the king of the Huns, and he had a daughter by her. When Kawad fled thither, she gave him this daughter to wife. Being emboldened by having become the king's son-in-law, he used to weep before him every |16 day, imploring him to give him the aid of an army, that he might go and kill the grandees and establish himself on his throne. His father-in-law gave him a by no means small army, according to his request. When he reached the land of the Persians, his brother heard of it, and fled before him, and he accomplished his wish and slew the grandees. He also sent a message to the Tamuraye, threatening them that, if they did not submit to him of their own accord, they would be conquered in war; but, if they would join his army, that they should enter with him the Roman territory, and out of the spoil of that country he would distribute to them all that had been wrongly withheld from them (see ch. xxii). They were afraid of the Hunnish army, and yielded to him. The Kadishaye, who were encamped against Nisibis (ch. xxii), when they heard this, submitted likewise. And the Arabs, when they learned that he was going to make war with the Romans, crowded to him with great alacrity. The Armenians, on the other hand, who were afraid lest he should take vengeance on them because of those fire-temples which they had razed in time past, were unwilling to obey him. But he collected an army and went to war with them; and though he was too strong for them, he did not destroy them, but promised them that he would not even compel them to worship fire, if they would be his auxiliaries in the war with the Romans. They consented most unwillingly, because they were afraid. What things Kawad did after he entered the Roman borders, I will tell you hereafter in their proper time; but just now, as you have bidden me to write unto you also about the signs and chastisements which took place, in their due order, and about the locusts and the pestilence and the dearth, and these are antecedent in point of time, I will turn my discourse unto them. And that the narrative may not be confused, I will set down the years separately, one by one, and under each of them, by and for itself, I will state what happened in it, God being my helper by the aid of the prayers of you His elect. |17
XXV. The year of Alexander 806 (A.D. 494-5). Concerning then the cause of the war, and how it was provoked, I have, as I think, sufficiently informed you, O our father, though I have written down these narratives in brief terms, because I was anxious to avoid prolixity. Some of them I found in old books; others I learned from meeting with men who had acted as ambassadors to both monarchs; and others from those who were present at these occurrences. But now I am going to inform you of the things that happened with us, because with this year commenced the violent chastisements and the signs that have taken place in our own days.
XXVI. At this time our bodies were perfectly sound all over, but the pains and diseases of our souls were many. But God, who finds pleasure in sinners when they repent of their sins and live, made our bodies as it were a mirror for us, and filled our whole bodies with sores, that by means of our exterior He might show us what our interior was like unto, and that, by means of the scars of our bodies, we might learn how hideous were the scars of our souls. And as all the people had sinned, all of them were smitten with this plague. For there were swellings and tumours upon all the people of our city, and the faces of many gathered and became full of matter, and they presented a horrid sight. There were some whose whole bodies were full of boils or pustules, down even to the palms of their hands and the soles of their feet; whilst others had large holes in their several limbs. However, by the goodness of God which protected them, the pain did not last long with any one, nor did any defect or injury result in the body; but, though the scars of the sores were quite plain after healing, the limbs were preserved in such a state as to fulfil their functions in the body. At this time thirty modii of wheat were sold at Edessa for a dinar, and fifty of barley 11.
XXVII. The year 807 (A.D. 495-6). On the 17th of Iyar (May) in this year, when blessings were sent down |18 abundantly from heaven upon all men, and the crops by the blessing (of God) were abundant, and, rain was falling, and the fruits of the earth were growing in their season, the greater part of the citizens (of Edessa) cut off all hope of safety for their lives by sinning openly. Being plunged in all sorts of luxurious pleasures, they did not even send up thanks for the gifts of God, but were neglectful of [this duty], and corrupted by the diseases of sins. And as if the secret and open sins in which they were indulging were not enough for them, they were present on the day above specified, that is to say, on the night between the Friday and Saturday, [at the place] where the dancer who was named Trimerius was dancing. They kindled lamps without number in honour of this festival, a custom which was previously unknown in this city. These were arranged by them on the ground along the river 12 from the gate of the Theatre 13 as far as the gate of the Arches 14. They placed on its bank lighted lamps, and hung them in the porticoes, in the town-hall, in the upper streets 15, |19 and in many (other) places. Because of this wickedness a marvellous sign was wrought by God to reprove them. For the symbol of the Cross, which the statue of the blessed emperor Constantine held in its hand, receded from the hand of the statue about one cubit, and remained thus during the Friday and Saturday until evening. On the Sunday the symbol came of its own accord and drew nigh to its place, and the statue took it in its hand, as it had held it before. By means of this sign the discreet understood that the thing that had been done was very far removed from what was pleasing unto God.
XXVIII. The year 808 (A.D. 496-7). This sign from above was not sufficient for us to restrain us from our sins; on the contrary, we became more audacious, and gave ourselves up easily to sins. The small slandered their neighbours, and the great were full of respect of persons. Envy and treachery prevailed among all of us; and adultery and fornication abounded. The plague of boils became more prevalent among the people, and the eyes of many were destroyed both in the city and the (surrounding) villages. Mar Cyrus 16 the bishop displayed a seemly zeal, and exhorted the citizens to make a small litter of silver in honour of the eucharistic vessels, that they might be placed in it when they were going to minister with them at the commemoration of one of the martyrs. Every one gave according to his means, but Eutychianus, the husband of Aurelia, was the first to show right good will, giving a hundred dinars of his own property.
XXIX. Anastasius the governor was dismissed, and Alexander came in his place at the end of this year. He cleared the streets of the city of filth, and swept away the |20 booths which had been built by the artisans in the porticoes and streets. He also placed a box in front of his palace, and made a hole in the lid of it, and wrote thereon, that, if any one wished to make known anything, and it was not easy for him to do so openly, he should write it down and throw it into it without fear. By reason of this he learned many things which many people wrote down and threw into it. He used to sit regularly every Friday in the church of S. John the Baptist and S. Addai the Apostle, and to settle legal causes without any expense. And the wronged took courage against their wrongers, and the plundered against their plunderers, and brought their causes before him, and he decided them. Some causes which were more than fifty years old, and had never been inquired into, were brought before him and settled. He constructed the covered walk, which was beside the gate of the Arches. He began also to build the public bath, which had been planned years before to be built beside the granary of corn. He gave orders that the artisans should hang over their shops on the eve of Sunday crosses with five lighted lamps attached to them.
XXX. The year 809 (a. d. 497-8). Whilst these things were taking place, there came round again the time of that festival at which the heathen tales were sung; and the citizens (of Edessa) took even more pains about it than usual. For seven days previously they were going up in crowds to the |21 theatre at eventide, clad in linen garments, and wearing turbans, with their loins ungirt. Lamps were lighted before them, and they were burning incense, and holding vigils the whole night, walking about the city and praising the dancer until morning, with singing and shouting and lewd behaviour. For these reasons they neglected also to go to prayer, and not one of them gave a thought to his duty, but in their pride they mocked at the modesty of their fathers, who, they said, "did not know how to do these things as we do"; and they kept saying that the inhabitants of the city in the olden times were simpletons and fools. In this way they became daring in their impiety, and there was none to warn or rebuke or admonish. For although Xenaias, the bishop of Mabbog 17, was at the time in Edessa,----of whom beyond all others it was thought that he had taken upon him to labour in teaching,----yet he did not speak with them on this subject more than one day. But God in His mercy showed them clearly the care which He had for them, that they might be restrained from their iniquity. For the two colonnades and the tepidarium (or lukewarm-bathroom) of the summer bathhouse fell down; but by God's goodness nobody was hurt there, although many people were at work in it both inside and outside, and no one perished of them except two men, who were crushed, as they were fleeing from the noise of the fall, at the door of the coldwater-bathroom. |22 Whilst they were laying hold of it from opposite sides, to make it revolve, they were delayed by this struggle as to which of them should get out first, and the stones fell upon them and they died. All sensible men gave thanks to God that He had preserved the city from having to mourn for many; for this bath was to have been opened in a few days. So complete was its downfall that even the lowest ranges of stone, which were laid on the surface of the ground, were uprooted from their places.
XXXI. In this same year was issued an edict of the emperor Anastasius that the money should be remitted which the artisans used to pay once in four years, and that they should be freed from the impost. This edict was issued, not only in Edessa, but in all the cities of the Roman empire. The Edessenes used to pay once in four years one hundred and forty pounds of gold. The whole city rejoiced, and they all put on white garments, both small and great, and carried lighted tapers and censers full of burning incense, and went forth with psalms and hymns, giving thanks to God and praising the emperor, to the church of S. Sergius and S. Simeon, where they celebrated the eucharist. They then reentered the city, and kept a glad and merry festival during the whole week, and enacted that they should celebrate this festival every year. All the artisans were reclining and enjoying themselves, bathing, and feasting in the court of the (great) Church 18 and in all the porticoes of the city. |23
XXXII. In this year, on the th of the month of Khaziran (June), Mar Cyrus the bishop departed this life, and Peter succeeded him. He added to the festivals of the year that of Palm Sunday. He also established the custom of consecrating the water on the night immediately preceding the feast of the Epiphany; and he prayed over the oil of unction on the Thursday (in Passion Week) before the whole people; besides regulating the other feasts. Alexander the governor was dismissed, and Demosthenes succeeded him. By his order all the porticoes of the city were whitewashed, whereat persons of experience were much annoyed, for they said that it was a warning sign of approaching evils that were to happen to their home.
XXXIII. The year 810 (A.D. 498-9). A proof of God's justice was manifested towards us at this time, for the correction of our evil conduct; for in the month of Iyar (May) of this year, when the day arrived for the celebration of that wicked heathen festival, there came a vast quantity of locusts into our country from the south. They did not, however, destroy or harm anything in this year, but merely laid their eggs in our country in no small quantity. After their eggs were deposited in the ground, there were terrible earthquakes in the land; and it is clear that they took place to awaken the people out of the sin in which they were plunged, that they might not be (further) chastised by famine and pestilence.
XXXIV. In the month of Ab (August) of this year there came an edict from the emperor Anastasius that the fights of wild beasts in the amphitheatre should be suppressed in all the cities of the Roman empire. In the month of Ilul (September) there was a violent earthquake, and a great sound was heard from heaven over the land, so that the earth trembled from its foundations at the sound; and all the villages and towns heard that sound and felt the earthquake. |24 Alarming rumours and evil reports came to us from all quarters; and, as some said, a marvellous sign was seen in the river Euphrates and at the hot-spring of Abarne, in that the water which flowed from their fountains was dried up this day. It does not appear to me that this is false, because, whenever the earth is rent by earthquakes, it happens that the running waters in those places that are cleft are restrained from flowing, and are at times even turned into another direction; as the blessed David too, when telling in the eighteenth psalm of the punishments that came from God upon His enemies, by means of the shaking of the earth and the cleaving of the mountains, and the like, lets us know that this also took place. For he says: "The fountains of the waters were laid bare, and the foundations of the world were seen, at Thy rebuke, O Lord." There came too in the course of this month a letter, which was read in church before the whole congregation, stating that Nicopolis 19 had fallen to the ground of a sudden at midnight and overwhelmed all its inhabitants. Some strangers too who were there, and certain brethren from our schools who were travelling there and happened to be on the spot, were buried (in the ruins). Their companions who came (back from thence) told us (this). The whole wall of the city all round, and everything that was within it, was overturned in that night, and not one person of them remained alive, save the bishop of the town and two other men, who were sleeping behind the apse of the altar of the church. When the ceiling of the room in which they were sleeping fell, one end of its beams was propped up by the wall of the altar, and so it did |25 not bury them. A certain brother, whose veracity can be depended upon, has told me as follows. "At nightfall on the night when Nicopolis fell, we were lying down inside the town, I and a companion of mine. He was very restless, and said to me, 'Get up, and let us go and pass the night outside of the town in yonder cave, as is our custom, for I cannot get rest here, because the air is so sultry and sleep will not come to me.' So we got up, I and he, and went out of the town, and passed the night in the cave, as was our custom. When the time of dawn drew nigh, I awakened the brother who was with me, and said to him, 'Get up, for it is daybreak, and let us go into the town, and attend to our business.' So we got up, I and he, and came into the town, and found all its houses overturned, and the people and the cattle, the oxen and the camels, buried therein; and the sound of their groaning was coming up from under the ground. Those who came together to the spot took out the bishop from beneath the beams (of the roof) by which he was sheltered. He asked for bread and wine, wherewith to celebrate the eucharist, [but could get none,] because the whole town was overturned and nothing in it left standing. Presently, however, there arrived a wayfarer, a good man, who gave him some small pieces of bread and a little wine, and he celebrated the eucharist and prayed, and made those who were there participate in the mystery of life. He resembled at this time, as it seems to me, the just Lot when he made his escape from Sodom." Thus much is sufficient to tell.
XXXV. Again, in the north there was a church called that of Arsamosata, which was very strongly built and beautifully decorated. On a fixed day in each year, namely on the day of the commemoration of the martyrs who were deposited in it, many used to gather together thither from all quarters, partly for prayer and partly for traffic; for great provision was made for the people who were assembled on that occasion. When there was a great crowd collected of men and women and children, of |26 every age and class, there were terrible flashes of lightning and violent peals of thunder and frightful noises; and all the people fled to the church, to seek refuge with the bones of the saints. And while they were in great fear, and were engaged in prayer and service at midnight, the church fell in and crushed beneath it the greater part of the people who were in it. This happened on the same day on which Nicopolis fell.
XXXVI. The year 811 (A.D. 499-500). By all these earthquakes and calamities, however, not a man of us was restrained from his evil ways, so that our country and our city remained without excuse. Because we had been preserved from the chastisement inflicted on others, and rumours from afar had not alarmed us, we were (presently) smitten with a stroke for which there was no healing. Let us recognise therefore the justice of God and say, "Righteous is the Lord, and very upright are His judgments;" for lo, in His longsuffering He was yet willing by means of signs and wonders to restrain us from our evil doings. In the month of the first Teshrin (October) of this year, on the 23d, which was a Saturday, at the rising of the sun, his brightness was taken away from him, and his sphere of light appeared like silver. He had no perceptible rays, and our eyes could easily gaze upon him without hindrance, for he had neither rays nor beams to hinder them from looking upon him. Just as it is easy for us to look upon the moon, so we could look upon him. He continued thus till towards the eighth hour. The ground over which shone the little light that there was, seemed as if ashes or sulphur had been sprinkled upon it. On this day another dreadful and terrible sign took place on the wall of the city. This city, which, because of the faith of its king and the righteousness of its inhabitants in days of old, was deemed worthy to receive a blessing from our Lord (see ch. v), was well nigh overwhelming its inhabitants at the present day, because of the multitude of their sins. For there was a breach in the wall from the south to the Great Gate 20; and some of the |27 stones at this spot were scattered to no inconsiderable distance from it. By the order of our father the bishop Mar Peter, public prayers were offered, and every one besought mercy from God. He took all his clergy and all the members of religious orders, both men and women, and all the lay members of the holy Church, both rich and poor, men women and children, and they traversed all the streets of the city, carrying crosses, with psalms and hymns, clad in black garments of humiliation. All the convents too in our district kept up continual services with great diligence; and so, by the prayers of all the holy ones, the light of the sun was restored to its place, and we were a little cheered.
XXXVII. In the latter Teshri (November) we saw three signs in the sky at midday. One of them was in the midst of the heavens in the south. It resembled in its colour the bow that is in the clouds, and with its concave surface it looked upwards; that is to say, its convex surface was downwards and its extremities were upwards. And there was one on the east, and another also on the west. Again, in the latter Kanun (January), we saw another sign in the exact southwest corner (of the heavens), which resembled a spear. Some people said of it that it was the besom of destruction, and others said that it was the spear of war.
XXXVIII. Till now we were chastised (only) with rumours and signs; but for the future who is able to tell of the affliction that surrounded our land on all sides? In the month of Adar (March) of this year the locusts came upon us out of the ground, so that, because of their number, we imagined that not only had the eggs that were in the ground been hatched to our harm, but that the very air was vomiting them against us, and that they were descending from the sky upon us. When they were only able to crawl, they devoured and consumed all the Arab territory and all that of Ras-'ain and Tella and Edessa. |28 But after they were able to fly, the stretch of their radii was from the border of Assyria to the Western Sea (the Mediterranean), and they went northwards as far as the boundary of the Ortaye. They ate up and desolated these districts and utterly consumed everything that was in them, so that, even before the war broke out, we could see with our own eyes what was said of the Babylonian, "The land is as the garden of Eden before him, and behind him a desolate wilderness." Had not the providence of God restrained them, they would have devoured human beings and cattle, as we have heard that they actually did in a certain village, where some people had put down a little baby in a field, while they were working; and before they got from one end of the field to the other, the locusts leaped upon it and deprived it of life. Presently after, in the month of Nisan (April), there began to be a dearth of corn and of everything else, and four modii of wheat were sold for a dinar. In the months of Khaziran (June) and Tammuz (July) the inhabitants of these districts were reduced to all sorts of shifts to live. They sowed millet for their own use, but it was not enough for them, because it did not thrive. Before the year came to an end, misery from hunger had reduced the people to beggary, so that they sold their property for half its worth, horses and oxen and sheep and pigs. And because the locusts had devoured all the crop, and left neither pasture nor food for man or beast, many forsook their native places and removed to other districts of the north and west. And the sick who were in the villages, as well as the old men and boys and women and infants, and those who were tortured by hunger, being unable to walk far and go to distant places, entered into the cities to get a livelihood by begging; and thus many villages and hamlets were left destitute of inhabitants. They did not, however, escape punishment, not |29 even those who went to far off places; but, as it is written concerning the Children of Israel, "Whithersoever they went out, the hand of the Lord was against them for evil," so also it fared with them; for the pestilence came upon them in the places to which they went, and even overtook those who entered into Edessa; about which I shall tell (you) presently to the best of my ability, though no one, as I think, is able to describe it as it really was.
XXXIX. Now, however, I am going to write to you about the dearth, as you asked me. I did not, it is true, wish to set down anything regarding this, but I have constrained myself to do so, so that you don't think that I treated your order slightingly. Wheat was sold at this time at the rate of four modii for a dinar, and barley six modii. Chickpeas were five hundred numia a kab; beans, four hundred numia a kab; and lentils, three hundred and sixty numia a kab; but meat was not as yet dear. As time went on, however, the dearth became greater, and the pain of hunger afflicted the people more and more. Everything that was not edible was cheap, such as clothes and household utensils and furniture, for these things were sold for a half or a third of their value, and did not suffice for the maintenance of their owners, because of the great dearth of bread. At this time our father Mar Peter set out to visit the emperor (at Constantinople), in order to beg him to remit the tax. The governor, however, laid hold of the landed proprietors, and |30 used great violence to them and extorted it from them, so that, before the bishop could persuade the emperor, the governor had sent the money to the capital. When the emperor saw that the money had arrived, he did not like to remit it; but, in order not to send our father away empty, he remitted two folles to the villagers, and the price which they were paying 21, whilst he freed the citizens from the obligation of drawing water for the Roman soldiery.
XL. The governor himself too set out to visit the emperor, girt with his sword 22, and left Eusebius to hold his post and govern the city. When this Eusebius saw that the bakers were not sufficient to make bread for the market, because of the multitude of country people, of whom the city was full, and because of the poor who had no bread in their houses, he gave an order that every one who chose might make bread and sell it in the market. And there came Jewish women, to whom he gave wheat from the public granary, and they made bread for the market. But even so the poor were in straits, because they had not money wherewith to buy bread; and they wandered about the streets and porticoes and courtyards to beg a morsel of bread, but there was no one in whose house bread was in superfluity. And when one of them had begged (a few) pence, but was unable to buy bread therewith, he used to purchase therewith a turnip or a cabbage or a mallow, and eat it raw. And for this reason there was a scarcity of vegetables, and a lack of everything in the city and villages, so that people actually dared to enter the holy places and for sheer hunger to eat the consecrated bread as if it had been common bread. Others cut pieces off dead carcases, that ought not to be eaten, and cooked and ate them; to which things you in your truthfulness canst bear testimony. |31
XLI. The year 812 (a. d. 500-1). In this year, after the vintage, wine was sold at the rate of six measures for a dinar, and a kab of raisins for three hundred numia. The famine was sore in the villages and in the city; for those who were left in the villages were eating bitter-vetches, and others Were frying the withered fallen grapes and eating them, though even of them there was not enough to satisfy them. And those who were in the city were wandering about the streets, picking up the stalks and leaves of vegetables, all filthy with mud, and eating them. They were sleeping in the porticoes and streets, and wailing by night and day from the pangs of hunger; and their bodies wasted away, and they were in a sad plight, and became like jackals because of the leanness of their bodies. The whole city was full of them, and they began to die in the porticoes and in the streets.
XLII. After the governor Demosthenes had gone up to the emperor, he informed him of this calamity; and the emperor gave him no small sum of money to distribute among the poor. And when he came back from his presence to Edessa, he sealed many of them on their necks with leaden seals, and gave each of them a pound of bread a day. Still, however, they were not able to live, because they were tortured by the pangs of hunger, which wasted them away. The pestilence became worse about this time, namely the month of the latter Teshri (November); and still more in the month of the first Kanun (December), when there began to be frost and ice, because they were passing the nights in the porticoes and streets, and the sleep of death came upon them during their natural sleep. Children and babes were crying in every street. |32 Of some the mothers were dead; others their mothers had left, and had run away from them, when they asked for something to eat, because they had nothing to give them. Dead bodies were lying exposed in every street, and the citizens were not able to bury them, because, whilst they were carrying out the first that had died, the moment that they returned, they found others. By the care of Mar Nonnus, the ξενοδόχος, the brethren used afterwards to go about the city, and to collect these dead bodies. And all the people of the city used to assemble at the gate of the ξενοδοχεῖον and go forth and bury them, from morning to morning. The stewards of the (Great) Church, the priest Mar Tewath-il and Mar Stratonicus (who some time afterwards was deemed worthy of the office of bishop in the city of Harran), established an infirmary among the buildings attached to the (Great) Church of Edessa. Those who were very ill used to go in and lie down there; and many dead bodies were found in the infirmary, which they buried along with those at the ξενοδοχεῖον.
XLIII. The governor blocked up the gates of the colonnades attached to the winter bath, and laid down in it straw and mats, and they used to sleep there, but it was not sufficient for them. When the grandees of the city saw this, they too established infirmaries, and many went in and found shelter in them. The Roman soldiers too set up places in which the sick slept, and charged themselves with their expenses. They died by a painful and melancholy death; and though many of them were buried every day, the number still went on increasing. For a report had gone forth |33 throughout the province of Edessa, that the Edessenes took good care of those who were in want; and for this reason a countless multitude of people entered the city. The bath too that was under the Church of the Apostles, beside the Great Gate, was full of sick, and many dead bodies were carried forth from it every day. All the inhabitants of the city were careful to attend in a body the funeral of those who were carried forth from the ξενοδοχεῖον with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs that were full of the hope of the resurrection. The women too (were there) with bitter weeping and loud cries. And at their head went the diligent shepherd Mar Peter; and with them too was the governor, and all the nobles. When these were buried, then every one came back, and accompanied the funeral of those who had died in his own neighbourhood. And when the graves of the ξενοδοχεῖον and the Church were full, the governor went forth and opened the old graves that were beside the church of Mar Kona, which had been constructed by the ancients with great pains, and they filled them. Then they opened others, and they were not sufficient for them; and at last they opened any old grave, no matter what, and filled it. For more than a hundred bodies were carried out every day from the ξενοδοχεῖον, and many a day a hundred and twenty, and up to a hundred and thirty, from the beginning of the latter Teshri (November) till the end of Adar (March). During that time nothing could be heard in all the streets of the city but either weeping over the dead or the lamentable cries of those in pain. Many too were dying in the courts of the (Great) Church, and in the courts of the city and in the inns: and they were dying also on the roads, as they were coming to enter the city. In the month of Shebat (February) too the dearth was very great, and the pestilence |34 increased. Wheat was sold at the rate of thirteen kabs for a dinar, and barley eighteen kabs. A pound of meat was a hundred numia, and a pound of fowl three hundred numia, and an egg forty numia. In short there was a dearth of everything edible.
XLIV. There were public prayers in the month of Adar (March) on account of the pestilence, that it might be restrained from the strangers; and the people of the city, while interceding on their behalf, resembled the blessed David when he was saying to the Angel who destroyed his people, "If I have sinned and have done perversely, wherein have these innocent sheep sinned? Let your hand be against me and against my father's house." In the month of Msan (April) the pestilence began among the people of the city, and many biers were carried out in one day, but no one could tell their number. And not only in Edessa was this sword of the pestilence, but also from Antioch as far as Nisibis the people were destroyed and tortured in the same way by famine and pestilence. Many of the rich died, who were not starved; and many of the grandees too died in this year. In the months of Khaziran (June) and Tammuz (July), after the harvest, we thought that we might now be relieved from dearth. However our expectations were not fulfilled as we thought, but the wheat of the new harvest was sold so dear as five modii for a dinar.
XLV. The year 813 (A.D. 501-2). After these afflictions of locusts and famine and pestilence, about which I have written to you, a little respite was granted us by the mercy of God, that we might be able to endure what was to come, as we learned from the actual facts. There was an abundant vintage, and wine from the press was sold at the rate of twenty-five measures for a dinar; and the poor were amply supplied from the vineyards by means of the crop of dried grapes. For the husbandmen and farmers said that the crop of dried grapes was more abundant than that of wheat, because there was a hot wind when the grapes began to ripen, and the greater part of them dried up. By the discreet it was said that this took place by the good providence of God, the Lord of all, and that this thing was a mingling of mercy with chastisement, that the |35 villagers might be supported by this supply of dried grapes, and not die of hunger as in the past year; because at this time wheat was sold at the rate of only four modii for a dinar, and barley six modii. During the two Teshris (October and November) there was the following sign of mercy. The whole winter of this year was excessively rainy; and the seed that was sown shot up here and there to more than the height of a man, before the month of Nisan (April) was come. Even barren spots of land produced nearly as much as those that were sown. The very roofs of the houses produced much grass, which some people reaped and sold like the dog's grass of the fields; and because it had spikes and was of the full height, the buyers did not perceive (the difference). We were expecting and hoping this year too that corn would be very cheap, as in the years of old; but our hopes came to nothing, for in the month of Iyar (May) there blew a hot wind for three days, and all the corn of our land was dried up save in a few places.
XLVI. In this month, when the day came on which the wicked festival of the tales of the (ancient) Romans was held, of which we have spoken above, there came an edict from the emperor Anastasius that the dancers should not dance any more, not even in a single city throughout his empire. Any one, therefore, who looks to the issue of things, will not blame us because of our having said that, by reason of the wickedness which the people of the city perpetrated at this festival, the chastisements of hunger and pestilence came upon us in succession. For, behold, within thirty days after it was abolished, wheat, which had been sold at the rate of four modii for a dinar, was sold at the rate of twelve; and barley, which had been sold at the rate of six, was sold at the rate of twenty-two. And it was clearly made known to every one, that the will of God is able to bless a small crop, and to give abundance to those who repent of their sins; for although the whole crop of grain was dried up, as I have said, yet from the little remnant that was left came all this relief within thirty days. Perhaps, |36 however, even now some one may say that I have not reasoned well, for this repentance was in no way a voluntary one, that mercy should be shown for it, seeing that it was the emperor who abolished the festival by force, in that he ordered that the dancers should not dance at all. We, on the contrary, say that God, because of the multitude of His goodness, was seeking an occasion to show mercy even unto those who were not worthy. Of this we have a proof from the fact that He had mercy upon Ahab, when he was put to shame by the rebuke of Elijah, and did not bring in his days the evil which had been before decreed against his house. I do not, however, by any means assert that this was the only sin which was perpetrated in our city, for many were the sins that were wrought secretly and openly; but because the rulers too participated in them, I do not choose to specify these sins distinctly, that I may not give occasion to those who like it of finding fault and of saying of me that I speak against the chiefs. That I may not, however, leave the matter in complete obscurity,----because I promised above to make known to you how this war was stirred up against us,----and that I may not moreover say anything against the offenders, I will (merely) set down the words of the Prophet, from which you may understand (my meaning), who, when he saw his fellow-citizens committing acts like these which are this day committed in our city, especially where you live, and throughout the whole province, said to them as if from the mouth of the Lord: "Woe to him that says to a father, What are you fathering? and to the woman, What are you giving birth to?" About other matters it is better to be silent, for it is fitting to hearken to the passage of Scripture which says: "Let him that is prudent keep silence in that time, because it is a time of evil." But if our Lord grants that we see you in health, we will speak with you of these things according as we are able.
XLVII. Now then listen to the calamities that happened in this year, and to the sign that appeared on the day when they happened, for this too you have required at my hands. On the 22d of Ab (August) in this year, on the night preceding |37 Friday 23, a great fire appeared to us blazing in the northern quarter the whole night, and we thought that the whole earth was going to be destroyed that night by a deluge of fire; but the mercy of our Lord preserved us without harm. We received, however, a letter from some acquaintances of ours, who were travelling to Jerusalem, in which it was stated that, on the same night in which that great blazing fire appeared, the city of Ptolemais or 'Akko was overturned, and nothing in it left standing. Again, a few days after, there came unto us some Tyrians and Sidonians, and told us that, on the very same day on which the fire appeared and Ptolemais was overturned, the half of their cities fell, namely of Tyre and Sidon. In Berytus (Beirut) only the synagogue of the Jews fell down on the day when 'Akko was overturned. The people of Nicomedia (in Bithynia) were delivered over to Satan to be chastised, and many of them were tormented by demons, until they remembered the words of our Lord, and persevered in fasting and prayer, and received healing.
XLVIII. On the very same day on which that fire was seen, Kawad, the son of Peroz, the king of the Persians, collected the whole Persian army, and went up against the north. He entered the Roman territory with the force of Huns that he had with him, and encamped against Theodosiupolis of Armenia, and took it in a few days; for the governor of the place, whose name was Constantine, rebelled against the Romans, and surrendered it, because of some enmity that he had against the emperor. Kawad consequently plundered the city, and destroyed and burned it; and he laid waste all the villages in the region of the north, and the fugitives that were left he carried off captive. Constantine he made one of his generals, and left a garrison in Theodosiupolis, and marched thence. |38
XLIX. The year 814 (A.D. 502-3). On the region of Mesopotamia also, in which we dwell, great calamities weighed heavily in this year, so that the things which Christ our Lord decreed in His Gospel against Jerusalem, and actually brought to pass, and the things too which have been spoken regarding the end of this world, would be well fitting to those which happened us at this time. For after there had been earthquakes in various places, as I have written unto you, and famines and pestilences, and alarms and terrors, and after great signs had been shown from heaven, nation arose against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and we fell by the edge of the sword, and were led away captive into every region, and our land was trampled under foot by strange nations; so that, had it not been for the words of our Lord, who has said, "When you hear of wars and tumults, do not be afraid, for these things must needs first come to pass, but the end is not yet come," we would have dared to say that the end of the world was come, because many thought and said thus. But we ourselves reflected that this war did not extend over the whole world; and besides we remembered too the words of S. Paul, wherewith he warned the Thessalonians concerning the coming of our Lord, saying that they should not be astonished either by word, or by spirit, or by beguiling epistle, as if it were from him, declaring the day of the Lord to be now come; and (how) he showed that it is not possible that the end should be until the false Christ is revealed. From these words then of our Lord and of His Apostle we understood that these things did not happen to us because it was the latter time, but that they took place for our chastisement, because our sins were great.
L. Kawad, the king of the Persians, came from the north on the fifth of the first Teshrt (October), on a Saturday, and encamped against the city of Amid, which is beside us in Mesopotamia, he and his whole army. When Anastasius, the Roman emperor, heard that Kawad had collected his forces, he was unwilling to meet him in battle, that blood might not be shed on both sides; but he sent him money by the hand of Rufinus, to whom he gave orders that, if Kawad was on the frontier and had not yet crossed over into the Roman territory, |39 he should give him the money and send him away. But when Rufinus came to Caesarea of Cappadocia, and heard that Kawad had laid waste Agel and Suph and Armenia and the Arabs, he left the money at Caesarea, and went to him, and told him that he should recross the border and take the money. He however would not, but seized Rufinus and ordered him to be kept under guard. He fought against Amid, he and his whole army, with every manner of warfare, by night and by day, and built against it (the mound called) a mule; but the people of Amid built and added to the height of the wall. When the mule was raised high, the Persians applied the battering-ram; and after they had struck the wall violently, the part newly built became loosened, because it had not yet settled, and fell. But the Amidenes dug a hole in the wall under the mule, and secretly drew away inside the city the earth which was heaped up to form it, propping it up with beams as they worked; and so the mule collapsed and fell.
LI. When Kawad found that he was not a match for the city, he sent Na'man, the king of the Arabs (of al-Hirah), with his whole force, to go southwards to the district of Harran 24. Some of the Persian troops advanced as far as the city of |40 Constantina or Tella, and were plundering and harrying and laying waste the whole country. On the 19th of the latter Teshri (November) Olympius, the dux of Tella, and Eugenius, the dux of Melitene (who had come down at that time), went forth, they and their troops, and destroyed the Persians whom they found in the villages around Tella. And when they had turned to go back to the city, some one told them that there were five hundred men in a ravine not very far from them. They were ready to go against them, but the Roman troops that were with them had dispersed themselves to strip the slain; and because it was night, Olympius gave orders to light a fire on the top of an eminence and to blow trumpets, that those who were scattered might rejoin them. But the Persian generals, who were encamped at the village of Tell Beshmai, when they saw the light of the fire and heard the sound of the trumpets, armed all their force and came against them. When the Roman cavalry saw that the Persians were too many for them, they turned (their backs); but the infantry were unable to escape and were constrained to fight. So they came together and drew up in battle array, forming what is called the χελώνη or tortoise, and fought for a long time. But as the army of the Persians was too many for them, and there were added to these the Huns and Arabs, their ranks were broken, and they were thrown into disorder, and mixed up among the cavalry, and trampled and crushed under the hoofs of the horses of the Arabs. So many of the Romans were killed, and the rest were made prisoners.
LII. On the 26th of this month Na'man came from the south and entered the territory of the Harranites, and laid waste and plundered and took captive the people and cattle |41 and property of the whole territory of Harran. He came also as far as Edessa, harrying and plundering and taking captive all the villages. The number of persons whom he led away into captivity was 18,500, besides those who were killed, and besides the cattle and property and spoil of all kinds. The reason that all these people were found in the villages was its being the time of the vintage, for not only did the villagers go out to the vintage, but also many of the Harranites and Edessenes went out, and were taken prisoners. Because of these things Edessa was closed and guarded, and ditches were dug, and the wall was repaired; and the gates of the city were stopped up with blocks of stone, because they were decayed. They were going to put new ones, and to make bars for the sluices of the river, lest any one should enter thereby 25; but they could not find iron enough for the work, and an order was issued that every house in Edessa should furnish ten pounds of iron. When this was done, the work was finished. When Eugenius saw that he could not meet all the Persians (in battle), he took what troops were left him, and went against the garrison which they had at Theodosiupolis, and destroyed those who were in it, and retook the town.
LIII. Kawad was still fighting against Amid, and striving and labouring to set up again the mule that had fallen in. He ordered the Persians to fill it up with stones and beams, and to bring cloths of hair and wool and linen, and make them into bags or sacks, and fill them with earth, and pile them up on the mule which they had made, so that it might be raised quickly against the wall. Then the Amidenes constructed |42 a machine which the Persians named "the Crusher", because it thwarted all their labour and destroyed themselves. For the Amidenes cast with this engine huge stones, each of which weighed more than three hundred pounds; and so the cotton awning under which the Persians concealed themselves was rent in pieces, and those who were standing beneath it were crushed. The battering ram too was broken by the constant shower of stones which were cast without cessation; for the Amidenes were not able to damage the Persians so much in any other way as by means of large stones, because of the cotton awning which was folded many times over (the mule). Upon this the Persians used to pour water, and it could neither be damaged by arrows on account of its thickness, nor by fire because it was damp. But these large stones that were hurled from "the Crusher" destroyed both awning and men and weapons. In this way the Persians were discomfited, and gave up working at the mule, and took counsel to return to their own country, because, during the three months that they had sat before it, 50,000 of them had perished in the battles that were fought daily both by night and day. But the Amidenes became overconfident in their victory, and fell into careless ways, and did not guard the wall with the same diligence as before. On the 10th of the month of the latter Kanun (January) the guardians of the wall drank a great deal of wine because of the cold, and when it was night, they fell asleep and were sunk in a heavy slumber; and some of them quitted their posts, because it was raining, and went down to seek shelter in their houses. Whether then through this remissness, as we think, or by an act of treachery, as people said, or as a chastisement from God, the Persians got possession of the walls of Amid by means of a ladder, without the gates being opened or the wall breached. They laid waste the city, and sacked all the property in it, and trampled the eucharist under foot, and mocked at its service, and stripped bare its churches, and led its inhabitants into |43 captivity, except the old and the maimed and those who hid themselves. They left there a garrison of three thousand men, and all (the rest) of them went down to the mountains of Shigar. That the Persians who remained might not be annoyed by the smell of the dead bodies of the Amidenes, they carried them out and piled them up in two heaps outside of the north gate. The number of those who were carried out by the north gate was more than 80,000; besides those whom they led forth alive and stoned outside of the city, and those whom they stabbed on the top of the mule that they had constructed, and those who were thrown into the Tigris (Deklath), and those who died by all sorts of deaths, regarding which we are unable to speak.
LIV. Then Kawad let Rufinus go, that he might go and tell the emperor what had been done; and he was speaking of these atrocities everywhere, and by these reports the cities to the east of the Euphrates were alarmed, and (their inhabitants) made ready to flee to the west. The honoured Jacob 26, the periodeutes, who has composed many homilies on passages of the Scriptures, and written various poems and hymns regarding the time of the locusts, was not neglectful at this time too of his duty, but wrote letters of admonition to all the cities, bidding them trust in the Divine deliverance, and exhorting them not to flee. The emperor Anastasius too, when he heard this, sent a large army of Roman soldiers to winter in the cities and garrison them. All the booty that he had taken, and the captives that he had carried off, were" not, however, enough for Kawad, nor was he sated with the great quantity of blood that he had shed; but he (again) sent ambassadors to the emperor, saying, |44 "Send me the money or accept war." This was in the month of Nisan (April). The emperor, however, did not send the money, but made preparations to avenge himself and to exact satisfaction for those who had perished. In the month of Iyar (May) he sent against him three generals, Areobindus, Patricius, and Hypatius, and many officers with them. Areobindus went down and encamped on the border by Dara and 'Ammudin, towards the city of Nisibis; he had with him 12,000 men. Patricius and Hypatius beseiged Amid, to drive out the Persian garrison there; they had with them 40,000 men. There came down too at this time the hyparch Appion, and dwelt at Edessa, to look after the provisioning of the Roman troops that were with them. As the bakers were not able to make bread enough, he ordered that wheat should be supplied to all the houses of Edessa and that they should make soldiers' bread at their own cost. The Edessenes turned out at the first baking 630,000 modii.
LV. When Kawad saw that those who were with Areobindus were few in number, he sent against them the troops that he had with him in Shigar, (namely) 20,000 Persians; but Areobindus routed them once and again, until they were driven to the gate of Nisibis, and many of the fugitives were suffocated at the gate as they were pressing to get in. In the month of Tammuz (July) the Huns and Arabs joined the Persians to come against him, with Constantine (see ch. xlviii) at their head. When he learned this from spies, he sent Calliopius the Aleppine to Patricius and Hypatius, saying, "Come to me and help me, because a large army is about to come against me." They, however, did not listen to him, but stayed where they were beside Amid. When the Persians came against the army of Areobindus, he could not contend with them, but left his camp, and made his escape to Tella and Edessa; and all their baggage was plundered and carried off. |45
LVI. The troops of Patricius and Hypatius were (meanwhile) constructing three towers of wood, wherewith to scale the walls of Amid. But when they had finished building the towers at a great expense, and they were girded with iron so as not to be harmed by anything, then they found out what had happened on the frontier, and they burned the towers, and departed thence, and went after the Persians but did not overtake them. One of the officers, whose name was Pharazman, and another named Theodore, sent by stratagem a flock of sheep to pass by Amid, while they and their troops lay in ambush. When the Persians saw the sheep from within Amid, about four hundred chosen men of them sallied forth to carry them off; but the Romans who were lying in ambush arose and destroyed them, and took their leader alive. He promised them that he would give up Amid to them, and for this reason Patricius and Hypatius returned thither; but when that general was unable to fulfil his promise, because those in the city would not be persuaded by him, the generals ordered him to be impaled.
LVII. The Arabs of the Persian territory advanced as far as the Khabur, and Timostratus the dux of Callinicus, went out against them and routed them. The Arabs of the Roman territory also, who are called the Tha'labites 27, went to Hirta 28 |46 (the capital) of Na'man, and found a caravan which was going up to him, and camels that were carrying up to him......29 They fell upon them and destroyed them and took the camels, but they did not make any stay at al-Hirah, because its inhabitants had withdrawn into the inner desert. Again, in the month of Ab (August), the whole Persian army assembled, along with the Huns and the Kadishaye and the Armenians, and came against Opadna. Patricius and his troops heard of this, and arose to go against them; but while the Romans were yet on the march, and not drawn up for battle, the Persians met the vanguard and smote them. When these who were beaten fell back, the rest of the Roman army saw that the vanguard was smitten, and fear fell upon them, and they did not wait to fight, but Patricius himself was the first to turn, and all his army after him. They crossed the Euphrates, and made their escape to the city of Shemishat. In this battle Na'man too, the king of the Persian Arabs, was wounded. One of the Roman officers, whose name was Peter, fled to the castle of Ashparin; and when the Persians surrounded the castle, the inhabitants were afraid of them, and gave him up to them, and the Persians took him away prisoner. They slew the Roman soldiers who were with him, but the people of the castle they did not harm in any way.
LVIII. Kawad, the king of the Persians, was thinking of going against Areobindus to Edessa; for Na'man, the king of |47 the Arabs, kept urging him on because of what had happened to his caravan (see ch. lvii). But a shaikh from Hirta of Na'man, who was a Christian, answered and said: "Let not your majesty take the trouble of going to war against Edessa, because there is the infallible word of Christ, whom we worship, regarding it, that no enemy shall ever make himself master of it" (see ch. v). When Na'man heard this, he threatened that he would do at Edessa worse things than had been done at Amid, and uttered blasphemous words. And Christ showed a manifest sign in him, for at the very time when he blasphemed, the wound which he had received on his head swelled, and his whole head became swollen, and he arose and went to his tent, and lingered in this pain for two days and died 30. Not even this sign, however, restrained the wicked mind of Kawad from his evil purpose; but he set up a king in place of Na'man, and arose and went to battle. When he came to Tella, he encamped against it; and the Jews who were there plotted to surrender the city to him. They dug a hole in the tower of their synagogue, which had been committed to them to guard, and sent word to the Persians regarding it that they might dig into it (from the outside) and enter by it. This was found out by the count Peter, who was in captivity (see ch. lvii), and he persuaded those who were guarding him to let him come near the wall, saying that there were clothes and articles of his of different kinds which he had left in the city, and he wished to ask the Tellenes to give them to him. The guards granted his request and let him go near. He said to the soldiers who were standing on the wall to call the count Leontius, who at that time had charge of the city, and they called him and the officers. Peter spoke with them in Roman, and disclosed to them the treachery of the Jews. In order that the matter might not become known to the Persians, he asked them to give him a pair of trousers. They at first made a pretence of being angry with him; but afterwards they threw |48 down to him from the wall a pair of trousers, because in reality he had need of clothes to wear. Then they went down from the wall, and as if they had learned nothing about the treachery of the Jews and did not know which was the place, they went round and examined the foundations of the whole wall, as if they wished to see whether it required strengthening. This they did for the sake of Peter, lest the Persians might become aware that he had disclosed the thing and might treat him much worse. At last they came to the place which the Jews were guarding, and found that it was mined, and that they had made ready in the centre of the tower a great hole, as they had been told. When the Romans saw what was there, they sallied out against them with great fury, and went round the whole city, and killed all the Jews whom they could find, men and women, old men and children. This they did for (several) days, and they would scarcely cease from killing them at the order of the count Leontius and the entreaty of the blessed Bar-hadad the bishop. They guarded the city carefully by night and by day, and the holy Bar-hadad himself used to go round and visit them and pray for them and bless them, commending their care and encouraging them, and sprinkling holy water on them and on the wall of the city. He also carried with him on his rounds the eucharist, in order to let them receive the mystery at their stations, lest for this reason any one of them should quit his post and come down from the wall. He also went out boldly to the king of the Persians and spoke with him and appeased him. When Kawad saw the dignified bearing of the man, and perceived too the vigilance of the Romans, it seemed to him of no use to remain idle before Tella, with all that host which he had with him; firstly, because sustenance could not be found for it in a district that had already been ravaged; and secondly, because he was afraid lest the Roman generals might join one another and come against him in a body. For these reasons he moved off quickly towards Edessa, and encamped by the river |49 Gallab, otherwise called (the river) of the Medes, for about twenty days.
LIX. Some of the more daring men in his army traversed the district and laid it waste. On the th of Ilul (September) the Edessenes pulled down all the convents and inns that were close to the wall, and burned the village of Kephar Selem, also called Negbath. They cut down all the hedges of the gardens and parks that were around, and felled the trees which were in them. They brought in the bones of all the martyrs (from the churches) which were around the city; and set up engines on the wall, and tied coverings of haircloth over the battlements. On the 9th of this month Kawad sent a message to Areobindus, that he should either receive into the city his general, or come out to him into the plain, as he wished to conclude a treaty of peace with him. He gave secret orders however to his troops that, if Areobindus allowed them to enter the city, they should turn and seize the gate and entrance, until he could come and enter after them; and that, if he came forth to them, they should lie in ambush for him and carry him off alive and bring him to him. But Areobindus, because he was afraid to allow them to enter the city, went forth to them outside, without going very far from the city, but (only) as far as the |50 church of S. Sergius. There came to him Bawi, who was the astabid, which is, being interpreted, the magister (militum) of the Persians, and said to Areobindus, "If you wishest to make peace, give us 10,000 pounds of gold, and make an agreement with us that we shall receive every year the customary sum of money." Areobindus promised to give as much as 7,000 pounds, but they would not accept it, and kept wrangling with him from morning until the ninth hour. And since they found no opportunity for their treachery, on account of the Roman soldiers who were guarding him, and because they were afraid to make war again with Edessa in consequence of what had happened to Na'man, they left Areobindus at Edessa, and went to fight against Harran, whilst they sent all the Arabs to Serug. But the Rifite who was in (command of) Harran sallied forth secretly from the city, and fell upon them, and slew of them sixty men, and took alive the chief of the Huns. As this was a man of mark, and in great honour with the king of the Persians, he promised the Harranites that he would not make war upon them, if they would give him up alive; and they were afraid to fight and gave up that Hun, sending along with him as a present to him fifteen hundred rams and other things. |51
LX. The Persian Arabs, who had been sent to Serug, went as far as the Euphrates, laying waste and taking captive and plundering all that they could. Patriciolus 31, one of the Roman officers, with his son Vitalianus, came at this time from the west to go down to the war; and he was confident and fearless, because he had not as yet been in the neighbourhood of the things that had previously happened. When he crossed the River 32, he met one of the Persian officers and fought with him and destroyed all the Persians that were with him. Then he set his face to go to Edessa; but he heard from the fugitives that Kawad had surrounded the city, so he recrossed the river and stopped at Shemishat (Samosata). On the 17th of this month, which was Wednesday, we saw the words of Christ and His promises to Abgar (see ch. v) really fulfilled. For Kawad collected his whole force, and marched from the river Euphrates, and came and encamped against Edessa. His camp extended from the church of SS. Cosmas and Damianus, past all the gardens and the church of S. Sergius and the village of Bekin|, as far as the church of the Confessors; and its breadth was as far as the steep descent of Serrin. This whole host |52 without number surrounded Edessa in one day, besides the pickets which it had left on the hills and rising grounds (to the west of the city). In fact the whole plain (to the E. and S.) was full of them. The gates of the city were all standing open, but the Persians were unable to enter it because of the blessing of Christ. On the contrary, fear fell upon them, and they remained at their posts, no one fighting with them, from morning till towards the ninth hour. Then some went forth from the city and fought with them; and they slew many Persians, but of them there fell but one man. Women too were bearing water, and carrying it outside of the wall, that those who were fighting might drink; and little boys were throwing stones with slings. So then a few people who had gone out of the city drove them away and repulsed them far from the wall, for they were not farther off from it than about a bowshot; and they went and encamped beside the village of Kubbe.
LXI. Next day Areobindus too went forth outside of the Great Gate; and while he was standing opposite the Persian army, he sent word to Kawad, saying, "Now you see by experience that the city is not yours, nor Anastasius', but it is the city of Christ, who blessed it, and has withstood your hosts, so that they cannot become masters of it." Kawad sent word to him, saying, "Give me hostages so that you will not come out after me when I have struck my camp to depart; and send me those men whom you took yesterday, and the gold which you promised, and I will go far away from the city." Areobindus gave him the count Basil, and the men whom they had taken from him, who were fourteen in number, and made an agreement with him to give him 2000 pounds of gold at [the end] of twelve days. Kawad struck his camp, and went and pitched at |53 Dahbana. He did not, however, wait till the appointed time, but sent the very next day one of his men, named Hormizd, and ordered him to fetch three hundred pounds of gold. Areobindus summoned to him the grandees of the city, that they might consider how this money could be collected. When they saw that Hormizd had come in haste, they strengthened themselves in reliance on Christ, and took heart and said to Areobindus: "We will not send the money to this false man, because, just as he has gone back from his word, and has not waited till the day came which you appointed for him, so will he go back and deceive when he has got the money. We believe that, if he fights with us, he will be again put to shame, because Christ stands in front of our city." Then Areobindus too took courage and sent to Kawad, saying: "Now we know that you are no king; for he is not a king who says a word and goes back (from it) and deceives. And if he deceives, he is no king. Therefore, as falsehood is manifest in you, send me back the count Basil, and do your worst."
LXII. Then Kawad became furious, and armed the elephants which were with him, and set out, he and all his host, and came again to fight with Edessa, on the 24th of the month of Ilul (September), a Wednesday. He surrounded the city on all sides, more than on the former occasion, all its gates being open. Areobindus ordered the Roman soldiers not to fight with him, that no falsehood might appear on his part; but some few of the villagers who were in the city went out against him with slings, and smote many of his mail-clad warriors, whilst of themselves not one fell. His legions were daring enough to try to enter the city; but when they came near its gates, like an upraised mound of earth 33, they were humbled and repressed and turned back. Because, however, of the |54 swiftness of the charge of their cavalry, the slingers became mixed up among them; and though the Persians were shooting arrows, and the Huns were brandishing maces, and the Arabs were levelling spears at them, they were unable to harm a single one of them; but like those Philistines who went up against Samson, 'who, though they were many and armed, were unable to slay him, whilst he, though destitute of weapons, slew a thousand of them with the jaw-bone of an ass, so also the Persians and Huns and Arabs, though they and their horses were falling by the stones which the slingers were throwing, were unable to slay even a single one of them. After they saw that they were able neither to enter the city nor to harm the unarmed men who were mixed up with them, they set fire to the church of S. Sergius and the church of the Confessors and to all the convents that had been left (standing), and to the church of (the village of) Negbath, which the people of the city had spared.
LXIII. When the general Areobindus saw the zeal of the villagers, and that they were not put to shame, but that (the Divine) help went with them, he summoned all the villagers that were in Edessa next day to the (Great) Church, and gave them three hundred dinars as a present. Kawad departed from Edessa, and went and pitched on the river Euphrates; and thence he sent ambassadors to the emperor to inform him of his coming. The Arabs that were with him crossed the river westwards, and plundered and laid waste and took captive and burned everything in their way. Some few of the Persian cavalry went to Batnan (Batnae), and because its wall was broken down, they could not resist them, but admitted them without fighting and surrendered the town to them.
LXIV. The year 815 (A.D. 503-4). When the Roman emperor learned what had happened, he sent his magister Celer with a large army. When Kawad heard this, he |55 directed his marches along the river Euphrates that he might go and stay in that province of his which is called Beth Armaye. When he came nigh Callinicus (ar-Rakkah), he sent thither a general to fight with them. The dux Timostratus came out against him, and destroyed his whole army and took him alive. When Kawad arrived at the city, he drew up his whole force against it, threatening to rase it and to put all its inhabitants to the sword or carry them off as captives, if they did not give him up to him. The dux was afraid of the vast host of the Persians, and gave him up.
LXV. When the magister Celerius arrived at Mabbog, which is on the river Euphrates 34, and saw that Kawad had moved away his camp before him, and moreover that the winter season was come, and that he could not go after him, he called the Roman generals, and rebuked them because they had not hearkened one to another, and assigned them cities in which to winter till the time for campaigning came again.
LXVI. On the 25th of the first Kanun (December) there came an edict from the emperor that the tax should be remitted to all Mesopotamia. The Persians who were in Amid, when they saw that the Roman army had gone far away from them, opened the gates of the city of Amid, and went forth and entered where they pleased, and sold to the merchants copper and iron and lead and old clothes and whatever was to be had in it, and established in it a public magazine. When Patricius heard this, he set out from Melitene (Malatia), where he was wintering, and came and pitched against Amid. All the merchants whom he found carrying down thither grain and oil, and those too who were buying things from thence, he slew. He found also the Persians who were sent by Kawad to convey thither arms and grain and cattle, and destroyed them, and took all that was with them. When Kawad learned this, he sent against him a |56 general to take vengeance on him. When they came near one another to fight, the Romans, because of the fear inspired by their former defeat, counselled Patricius to flee, and he hearkened to this. In their haste, not knowing whither they were going, they came upon the river Kallath; and because it was winter and there was a great flood in it, they were not able to cross it, but every one of them who hastened to cross was drowned in the river with his horse. When Patricius saw this, he exhorted the Romans, saying: "O men of Rome, let us not put to shame our race and our profession, and flee from our enemies, but let us turn against them, and perhaps we may be a match for them. And if they be too strong for us, it is better to die by the edge of the sword with a good name for valour than to perish like cowards by drowning." Then the Romans listened to his advice, being constrained by the river; and they turned against the Persians with fury and destroyed them, and took their generals alive. Thereafter they again encamped against Amid, and Patricius sent and collected unto him artisans from other cities and many of the villagers, and bade them dig in the ground and make a mine beneath the wall, that it might be weakened and fall.
LXVII. In the month of Adar (March), when the rest of the Romans were assembling to go down with the magister, a certain sign was given them from God, that they might be encouraged and be confident of victory. We were informed of this in writing by the people of the church of Zeugma. That it may not be thought that I say anything on my own authority, or that I have hearkened to and believed a false rumour, I quote the very words of the letter that came to us, which are as follows. |57
LXVIII. "Listen now to a marvel and a glorious sight, such as has never been, because this concerns us and you and all the Romans. For it is a wondrous thing, which it is hard for the understanding of men to believe. But we have seen it with our eyes, and touched it (with our hands), and read it with our lips. You should therefore believe it without any scruple. On the 19th of Adar (March), a Friday, which is the day that our Saviour was slain, a goose laid an egg in the village of 'Agar in the district of Zeugma, and thereon were written Roman letters, fair and legible, which formed as it were the body of the egg and were raised to the sight and touch, like the letters which monks trace on the eucharistic cups, so that even the blind could feel their shape. They were thus. A cross was traced on the side of the egg, and going completely round the egg, from it until it came to it again, was written THE ROMANS. And again there was traced another cross, and [going round the egg,] from it until it came to it again, was written SHALL CONQUER. The crosses were traced one above the other, and the words were written one above the other. There was none that saw this marvel, Christian or Jew, who restrained his mouth from uttering praise. But as for the letters which the right hand of God traced in the ovary (of the bird), we do not dare to imitate them, for they are very beautiful. Whosoever therefore hears it, let him believe it without hesitation." These are the words of the letter of the Zeugmatites. As for the egg, those in whose village it was laid gave it to Areobindus.
LXIX. The Romans collected a large army, and went down and encamped beside the city of Ras-'ain. By Kawad too |58 about 10,000 men were sent to go against Patricius. They took up their quarters in Nislbis, that they might rest there, and they sent their cattle to pasture in the hills of Shigar. When the Magister heard this, he sent Timostratus, the dux of Callinicus, with 6000 cavalry, and he went and fell upon those who were tending the horses and destroyed them, and carried off the horses and sheep and much booty, and returned to the Roman army at Ras-'ain. Then they all set out in a body, and went and encamped against the city of Amid beside Patricius.
LXX. In the month of Iyar (May) Calliopius the Aleppine became hyparch. He came and settled at Edessa, and gave the Edessenes wheat to make bread for the soldiers at their own expense. They baked at this time 850,000 modii of wheat. Appion went to Alexandria, that he might make soldiers' bread there also and send a supply.
LXXI. As soon as Patricius had got under the wall of Amid by means of the mine which he had dug, he propped it up with beams and set fire to them, whereby the outer face of the wall was loosened and fell down, but the inner part remained standing. He then thought of digging on by that mine and entering the city. When they had carried the excavation through, and the Romans had begun to ascend, a woman of Amid saw them and cried out suddenly for joy, "The Romans are entering the city!" The Persians heard her, and ran at the first who came up and stabbed him. After him there came up a Goth, whose name was Ald 35, who had been made tribune at Harran, and he stabbed three of those Persians. Not another one of the Romans came up after him, because the Persians had perceived them. When Ald saw that no one was coming up, he became afraid and turned back; but he thought that he would take down with him the dead body of the Roman |59 who had fallen, that the Persians might not insult it. As he was dragging away the dead body and going down into the mouth of the mine, the Persians smote him too and wounded him; and they directed thither the water from a large well that was near to it, and drowned four of the mail-clad Romans who were about to come up. The rest fled and escaped thence. The Persians collected stones from within the city and blocked up the mine, and piled up a great quantity of earth over it, and all of them kept watch carefully round it, lest it should be excavated at some other spot. They dug ditches within along the whole wall all round, and filled them with water, so that, if the Romans should make another mine, the water might trickle into it, and it so become known. When Patricius heard this from a deserter who had come down to him, he gave up constructing mines.
LXXII. One day, when the whole Roman army was still and quiet, fighting was stirred up in this way. A boy was feeding the camels and asses; and an ass, as it grazed, walked gradually close up to the wall. The boy was afraid to go in and fetch it; and one of the Persians, when he saw it, descended by a rope from the wall, and was going to cut it in pieces and carry it up to be food for them, for there was no meat at all inside the city. But one of the Roman soldiers, a Galilaean by race, drew his sword, and took his shield in his left hand, and ran at the Persian to kill him. As he had come close up to the wall, those who were standing on the wall threw down a large stone and crushed the Galilaean; and the Persian began to ascend to his place by the rope. When he had got halfway up the wall, one of the Roman officers drew nigh, with two shield-bearers walking before him, and shot an arrow from between them, and struck the Persian, and laid him beside the Galilaean. A shout went up from both sides, and because of this they became excited and rose up to fight, All the Roman troops surrounded the city in a dense mass, and there fell of them forty men, while one hundred and fifty were wounded. Of the Persians who were on the wall only nine were seen to be killed, and a few were wounded; for it was difficult to fight with them, the more so as they were on the top of the wall, because they had made for |60 themselves small houses all along the wall, and they were standing within them and fighting, and could not be seen by those who were without.
LXXIII. The Magister and the generals then thought that it was not fitting for them to fight with them, because victory did not depend for the Romans upon the slaying of these, seeing that they had to carry on war against the whole of the Persians; and if Kawad were to be defeated, these would have to surrender or to perish in their prison. Therefore they gave orders that no one should fight with them, lest by reason of those who were slain or wounded among the Romans, a great part of the army should disperse out of fear.
LXXIV. In the month of Khaziran (June), Constantine, who had gone over to the Persians (see ch. xlviii), after he saw that their cause did not prosper, fled from them, he and two women of rank from Amid, who had been given to him (as wives) by the Persian king. For fourteen days he travelled night and day through the uninhabited desert with a few followers; and when he reached an inhabited spot, he made himself known to the Roman Arabs, and they took him and brought him to the fort 36 which is called Shura 37, and thence they sent him to Edessa. When the emperor heard of his arrival (there), he sent for him (to Constantinople); and when he had come up to him, he ordered one of the bishops to ordain him priest, and bade him go and dwell in the city of Nicaea, and not come into his presence nor meddle with affairs (of state).
LXXV. As Kawad, when he took Amid, had gone into its public bath and experienced the benefit of bathing, |61 he gave orders, as soon as he went down to his own country, that baths should be built in all the towns of the Persian territory. 'Adid the Arab, who was under the rule of the Persians, surrendered with all his troops and became subject to the Romans. Again, in the month of Tammuz (July), the Romans fought with the Persians who were in Amid, and Gainas, the dux of Arabia 38, smote many of them with arrows. When the day became hot, his armour got too warm for him, and he loosened the belt of his mail a little; whereupon they shot from Amid arrows from the ballistae, and smote him, and he died. When the Magister saw that he suffered harm by sitting before Amid, he took his army and went down to the Persian territory, leaving Patricius at Amid. Areobindus too took his army and entered Persian Armenia; and they destroyed of the Armenians and Persians 10,000 men, and took captive 30,000 women and children, and plundered and burned many villages. When they came back to return to Amid, they brought 120,000 sheep and oxen and horses. As they were passing by Nisibis, the Romans lay in ambush, and the few whose charge it was drove them past the city. When a certain general who was there saw that they were few in number, he armed his troops and sallied forth to take them from them. They pretended to flee, and the Persians took courage and pursued them. When they had gone a long way from their supports, the Romans arose from the ambush and destroyed them, and not one of them escaped. They were about 7000 men. Mushlek (Mushegh) the Armenian, who was under the Persians, surrendered with his whole force and became subject to the Romans.
LXXVI. The year 816 (A.D. 504-5). The fugitives and those who had escaped the sword, that were left in Amid of its inhabitants, were in sore trouble and distress from famine. The Persians were afraid of them lest they should give up the |62 city to the Romans; and they bound all the men that were there, and threw them into the amphitheatre, and there they perished of hunger and of endless bonds. But to the women they gave part of their food, because they used them to satisfy their lust, and because they had need of them to grind and bake for them. When, however, food became scarce, they neglected them, and left them without sustenance. For none of them received more than one handful of barley daily during this year; whilst of meat, or wine, or any other article of food, they had absolutely none at all. And because they were very much afraid of the Romans, they never stirred from their posts, but made for themselves small furnaces upon the wall, and brought up hand-mills, and ground that handful of barley where they were, and baked and ate it. They also brought up large kneading-troughs, and placed them between the battlements, and filled them with earth, and sowed in them vegetables, and whatever grew in them they ate.
LXXVII. In narrating what the women of the place did, I may perhaps not be believed by those who come after us, (but) at the present day there is no one of those who care to learn things that has not heard all that was done, even though he be at a great distance from us. Many women then met and conspired together, and used to go forth by stealth into the streets of the city in the evening or morning; and whomsoever they met, woman or child or man, for whom they were a match, they used to carry him by force into a house and kill and eat him, either boiled or roasted. When this was betrayed by the smell of the roasting, and the thing became known to the general who was there (in command), he made an example of many of them and put them to death, and told the rest with threats that they should not do this again nor kill any one. He gave them leave however to eat those that were dead, and this they did openly, eating the flesh of dead men; and the rest of them were picking up shoes and old soles and other nasty things from the streets and courtyards, and eating them. To the Roman troops however nothing was lacking, but everything was supplied to them in its season, and came down with great care by the order of the emperor. Indeed the things that were sold in their camps were more abundant than in the cities, |63 whether meat or drink or shoes or clothing. All the cities were baking soldiers' bread by their bakers, and sending it to them, especially the Edessenes; for the citizens baked in their houses this year too. by order of Calliopius the hyparch, 630,000 modii, besides what the villagers baked throughout the whole district, and the bakers, both strangers and natives.
LXXVIII. This year Mar Peter the bishop went up again to the emperor to ask him to remit the tax. The emperor answered him harshly, and rebuked him for having neglected the charge of the poor at a time like this and having come up to him (at Constantinople); for he said that God himself would have put it into his heart, if it had been right, without any one persuading him, to do a favour to the blessed city (of Edessa). Whilst the bishop was still there, however, the emperor sent the remission for all Mesopotamia by the hands of another, without his being aware of it. To the district of Mabbog also he remitted one-third of the tax.
LXXIX. The Roman generals who were encamped by Amid were going down on forays into the Persian territory, plundering and taking captive and destroying, and the Persians migrated before them, and crossed the Tigris. They found there the Persian cavalry, who were gathered together to come against the Romans, and so they took heart against them, and halted on the farther bank of the Tigris. The Romans crossed after them, and destroyed all the Persian cavalry, who were about 10,000 men, and plundered the property of all the fugitives. They burned many villages, and killed every male that was in them from twelve years old and upwards, but the women and children they took prisoners. For the Magister had thus commanded all the generals, that if any one of the Romans was found saving a male from twelve years old and upwards, he should be put to death in his stead; and whatsoever village they entered, that they should not leave a single house standing in it. For this reason he set apart some stalwart men of the Romans, and many villagers that accompanied them as they went down; and after the roofs were burned and the fire was gone out, they used to pull down the walls too. They also cut down and destroyed the vines and olives and all the trees. |64 The Roman Arabs too crossed the Tigris in front of them, and plundered and took captive and destroyed all that they found in the Persian territory. As I know you study everything with great care, your holiness must be well aware of this, that to the Arabs on both sides this war was a source of much profit, and they wrought their will upon both kingdoms.
LXXX. When Kawad saw that the Romans were ravaging the country, and that there was no one to oppose them, he wished to go and meet them. For this reason he sent an Astabid to the Magister to speak of peace, having with him an army of about 20,000 men. He sent all the men of note whom he had led captive from Amid, and Peter, whom he had brought from Ashparin (see ch. lvii), and Basil, whom he had taken from Edessa as a hostage (see ch. lxi). He sent also the dead body of the dux Olympius (see ch. li), who had gone down to him on an embassy and died, sealed up in a coffin, to show that he had not died by any other than a natural death, whereof his servants and those who came down with him were witnesses. The Magister received them, and sent them to Edessa, with the exception of the governor of Amid and the count Peter; for he was very angry and provoked, and wanted to put them to death, saying that by their remissness the places which they guarded had been betrayed, and the Persians themselves testified that the wall of Amid was impregnable. The Astabid was begging and imploring of him to give him the Persians who were shut up in Amid in place of those whom he had brought to him; because, though they were holding out from fear, yet they were in great distress through hunger. But the Magister said, "Do not mention the subject of these to me, because they are shut up in our city, and they are our slaves." The Astabid says to him, "Well then, allow me to send them food, for it is unseemly for you that your slaves should die of hunger; for whenever you pleasest, it is easy for you to kill them." He says to him, "Send it." The Astabid says, "Do you swear unto me, and all your generals and officers that are with you, that no one shall kill those whom I send." They all |65 took the oath, save the dux Nonnosus, who was not with them by preconcerted arrangement, for the Magister had left him behind on purpose, so that, if there should be any oath taken, he might not be bound by it. The Astabid therefore sent three hundred camels laden with sacks of bread, in the middle of which were placed arrows. Nonnosus fell upon them and took them from them, and slew those who were with them. When the Astabid complained of this, and asked the Magister to punish the man who had done it, the Magister said to him, "I cannot find out who has done this, because of the great size of the army that is with me; but if you know who it is, and have strength to take vengeance on him, I will not hinder you." The Astabid however was afraid to do this, and kept asking for peace.
LXXXI. When many days had passed after his asking (for peace), great cold set in, with much snow and ice, and the Romans left their camps, one by one. Each man carried off what booty he had got, and set out to convey it to his own place. Those who remained and did not go to their homes, went into Tella and Ras-'ain and Edessa, to shelter themselves from the cold. When the Astabid saw that the Romans had become remiss and could not withstand the cold, he sent word to the Magister, saying, "Either make peace, and let the Persians go forth from Amid, or accept war." The Magister commanded the count Justin to reassemble the army, but he was unable. When he saw that the greater part of the Romans were dispersed and had left him, he made peace and let the Persians come out from Amid on these terms, that, if the peace which they had concluded pleased the two soverains (Anastasius and Kawad), and they set their seal to what they had done, (it should stand); but if not, the war should go on between them. When the Roman emperor learned these things, he gave orders that a public magazine should be established in every city, but especially at Amid, with the view of putting an |66 end to hostility and drawing closer the bonds of peace, he also sent gifts and presents to Kawad by the hand of a man named Leon, and a service for his table, all the pieces of which were of gold.
LXXXII. How much the Edessenes suffered, who conveyed corn down to Amid, no man knows but those who were actually engaged in the work; for the greater part of them died by the way, themselves and their cattle.
LXXXIII. The excellent John, bishop of Amid, went to his rest before the Persians laid siege to it; and its clergy went up to the holy and God-loving, the adorned with all divine beauties, the strenuous and illustrious Mar Flavian 39, patriarch of Antioch, to ask him to appoint a bishop for them. He treated them with great honour during the whole time that they stayed there. Afterwards, when the excellent Nonnus, priest and steward of the church of Amid, escaped from captivity, the clergy asked the patriarch and he made him their bishop. When the excellent Nonnus had been ordained bishop, he sent his suffragan Thomas to Constantinople, to fetch the Amidenes who were there and to ask a donation from the emperor. Those who were there conspired with him, and asked the emperor that Thomas himself might be their bishop. The emperor granted their prayer, and sent word to the patriarch not to constrain them. The emperor also gave them the governor whom they asked for. The emperor and the patriarch gave presents to the church of Amid, and a large sum of money to be distributed among the poor. For this reason there flocked thither all those who were wandering about in other places, and they were carrying forth the corpses of the dead every day out of Amid, and were then receiving what was appointed for them.
LXXXIV. Urbicius, the emperor's minister, who had bestowed large gifts in the district of Jerusalem and in other places, went down thither also, and gave there a dinar a piece (to the inhabitants). He returned thence to Edessa, where he gave to every woman who chose to take it a |67 trimesion 40, and to every child a dirham. Nearly all the women took it, both those that were needy and those that were not.
LXXXV. In this same year, after the fighting had ceased, the wild beasts became very ferocious against us. In consequence of the great number of dead bodies of those who had fallen in these battles, they had acquired a taste for eating human flesh; and when the bodies of the slain rotted and disappeared, the wild beasts entered the villages and carried off children and devoured them. They also fell upon single men on the roads and killed them. At last they became so afraid that, at the time of threshing, not a man in the whole district would pass the night in his threshing-floor without a hut (to shelter him), for fear of the beasts of prey. But by the help of our Lord, who is always careful for us and delivers us from all trials by His mercy, some of them fell by the hands of the villagers, who stabbed them, and sent their dead carcases to Edessa; and others were caught by huntsmen, who bound them and brought them (thither) alive, so that every one saw them and praised God, who has said, "The fear of you and the dread of you I will put upon every beast of the earth." For although, because of our sins, war and famine and pestilence and captivity and noxious beasts and other chastisements, written and unwritten, were sent upon us, yet by His grace we have been delivered from them all.
LXXXVI. Me too, a feeble man, He has strengthened because of His mercy, through your prayers, that I should write to the best of my ability some of the things that have happened, as a reminder to those who endured them, and for the instruction of those who shall come after us, that, if they please, they may be enabled to become wise through these few things which I have written. For the things that I have omitted are far more than those which I have recorded; and indeed I said from the beginning that I was not able to recount them all; because the sufferings which each individual alone endured, if they were written down, would form long narratives, for which a big book would not suffice. And you must know from what |68 others have written, that those too who came to our aid under the name of deliverers, both when going down and when coming up, plundered us almost as much as enemies 41. Many poor people they turned out of their beds and slept in them, whilst their owners lay on the ground in cold weather. Others they drove out of their own houses, and went in and dwelt in them. The cattle of some they carried off by force as if it were spoil of war; the clothes of others they stripped off their persons and took away. Some they beat violently for a mere trifle; with others they quarrelled in the streets and reviled them for a small cause. They openly plundered every one's little stock of provisions, and the stores that some had laid up in the villages and cities. Many they fell upon in the highways. Because the houses and inns of the city (of Edessa) were not sufficient for them, they lodged with the artisans in their shops. Before the eyes of every one they ill-used the women in the streets and houses. From old women, widows and poor, they took oil, wood, salt, and other things, for their own expenses; and they kept them from their own work to wait upon them. In short, they harassed every one, both great and small, and there was not a person left who did not suffer some harm from them. Even the nobles of the land, who were set to keep them in order and to give them their billets, stretched out their hands for bribes; and as they took them from every one, they spared nobody, but after a few days sent other soldiers to those upon whom they had quartered them in the first instance. They were billeted even upon the priests and deacons, though these had a letter from the emperor exempting them from this. But why need I weary myself in setting forth many things, which even those who are greater than I are unable to recount?
LXXXVII. After he had recrossed the river Euphrates westwards, the Magister went to the emperor (at Constantinople); and Areobindus went to Antioch, Patricius to Melitene (Malatia), Pharazman to Apameia (Famiyah), Theodore to Darmesuk (Damascus), and Calliopius to Mabbog (Menbij). So there was a little breathing-space at Edessa, and the few |69 people that remained in it were glad. Eulogius the governor was busying himself in rebuilding the town; and the emperor [gave him] two hundred pounds (of gold) for the expenses of the building. He rebuilt and restored the [whole] outer wall that goes round the city. He also restored and repaired the two aqueducts that come in from the village of Tell-Zema and from Maudad 42; and rebuilt and finished the public bath that fell down (see ch. xxx). He likewise repaired his own palace, and built a great deal throughout the whole city. The emperor too gave the bishop twenty pounds (of gold) for the expenses of repairing the wall; and the minister Urbicius gave him ten pounds to build a church to the blessed Mary. But the oil which had been supplied to the churches and convents from the public oil-store, amounting to 6800 keste 43 (per annum), the governor took away from them, and ordered it to be used for burning in the porticoes of the city. The vergers besought him much regarding it, but he would not listen to them. That he might not be thought, however, to despise the churches built for God, he gave of his own property to every church two hundred keste. Up to this year wheat had been sold at the rate of four modii for a dinar, and barley six modii, and wine two measures; but after the new harvest wheat was sold at the rate of six modii for a dinar, and barley ten modii.
LXXXVIII. The Persian Arabs were never at peace or rest, but they crossed over into the Roman territory, without the Persians, and took captive (the people of) two villages. When the general of the Persians, who was at Nisibis, learned this, he took their shaikhs and put them to |70 death. The Roman Arabs too crossed over without orders into the Persian territory, and took captive (the people of) a hamlet. When the Magister heard this, for he had gone down at the end of this year to Apameia, he sent (orders) to Timostratus, the dux of Callinicus, and he seized five of their shaikhs, two of whom he slew with the sword and impaled the other three. Pharazman set out from Apameia after the Magister had gone down thither, and came and stayed at Edessa, and he received authority from the emperor to become general in place of Hypatius.
LXXXIX. The wall of Batnan-kastra, in Serug, which was all out of repair and breached, was rebuilt and renovated by the care of Eulogius, the governor of Edessa. The excellent priest Aedesius plated with copper the doors of the men's aisle in the (Great) Church of Edessa.
XC. The year 817 (A.D. 505-6). The generals of the Roman army informed the emperor that the troops suffered great harm from their not having any (fortified) town situated on the border. For whenever the Romans went forth from Tella or Amid to go about on expeditions among the Arabs, they were in constant fear, whenever they halted, of the treachery of enemies; and if it happened that they fell in with a larger force than their own, and thought of turning back, they had to endure great fatigue, because there was no town near them in which they could find shelter. For this reason the emperor gave orders that a wall should be built for the village of Dara, which is situated on the frontier. They selected workmen from all Syria (for this task), and they went down thither and were building it; and the Persians were sallying forth from Nisibis and forcing them to stop. On this account Pharazman set out from Edessa, and went down and dwelt at Amid, whence he used to go forth to those who were building and to give them aid. He also used to make great hunts after the wild beasts, especially the wild boars, which had become numerous there after the country was laid waste. He used to catch more than forty of these in one day; and as a proof of his skill he even sent some of them to Edessa, both alive and dead. |71
XCI. The excellent Sergius, bishop of Birta-kastraf, which is situated beside us on the river Euphrates, began likewise to build a wall to his town; and the emperor gave him no small sum of money for his expenses. The Magister also gave orders that a wall should be built to Europus, which is situated to the west of the River in the prefecture of Mabbog; and the people of the place worked at it as best they could.
XCII. After Pharazman went down to Amid, the dux Romanus came in his place, and settled at Edessa with his troops, and bestowed large alms upon the poor. The emperor added in this year to all his former good deeds, and sent a remission of the tax to the whole of Mesopotamia, whereat all the landed proprietors rejoiced and praised the emperor.
XCIII. But the common people were murmuring, and crying out and saying, "The Goths ought not to be billeted upon us, but upon the landed proprietors, because they have been benefited by this remission." The prefect gave orders that their request should be granted. When this began to be done, all the grandees of the city assembled unto the dux Romanus and asked of him, saying, "Let your highness give orders what each of these Goths should receive by the month, lest, when they enter the houses of wealthy people, they plunder them as they have plundered the common people." He granted their request, and ordered that they should receive an espada of oil per month, and two hundred pounds of wood, and a bed and bedding between each two of them. |72
XCIV. When the Goths heard this order, they ran to attack the dux Romanus in the house of the family of Barsa 44 and to kill him. As they were ascending the stairs of his lodging, he heard the sound of their tumult and uproar, and perceived what they wanted to do. He quickly put on his armour, and took up his weapons, and drew his sword, and stood at the upper door of the house in which he lodged. He did not however kill any one of the Goths, but (merely) kept brandishing his sword and hindering the first that came up from forcing their way in upon him. Those who were below were in their anger compelling those who were above them to ascend and force their way in upon him. Thus a great many people occupied the stairs of the house, as your holiness well knows. When therefore the first who had gone up were unable to get in, because of their fear of the sword, and those behind were pressing upon them, many men occupied the stairs; and because of the weight they broke and fell upon them. A few of them were killed, but many had their limbs broken and were maimed, so that they could not be cured again. When Romanus had found an opportunity because of this accident, he fled upon the roof from one house to another and made his escape; but he said nothing more to them, and for this reason they remained where they were billeted, behaving exactly as they pleased, for there was none to check them or restrain or admonish them.
XCV. Our bishop Mar Peter was very dangerously ill all this year. In the month of Nisan (April) the distress became again much greater in our city; for the Magister collected his whole army, and arose to go down to the Persian territory to make and renew with them a treaty of peace. When he entered Edessa, ambassadors from the Persians came to him and informed him that the Astabid who had come to meet him and conclude a peace with him was dead; and they begged of him and said that, if he came down for peace, he |73 ought not to go beyond Edessa until another Astabid should be sent by the Persian king. He granted their request and stayed at Edessa for five months. And because the city was not sufficient for the Goths who were with him, they were quartered also in the villages, and likewise in all the convents, large and small, that were around the city. Not even those who lived in solitude were allowed to dwell in the quiet which they loved, because upon them too they were quartered in their convents.
XCVI. Because they did not live at their own expense from the very first day they came, they became so gluttonous in their eating and drinking, that some of them, who had regaled themselves on the tops of the houses, went forth by night, quite stupefied with too much wine, and stepped out into empty space, and fell headlong down, and so departed this life by an evil end. Others, as they were sitting and drinking, sank into slumber, and fell from the housetops, and died on the spot. Others again suffered agonies on their beds from eating too much. Some poured boiling water into the ears of those who waited upon them for trifling faults. Others went into a garden to take vegetables, and when the gardener arose to prevent them from taking them, they slew him with an arrow, and his blood was not avenged. Others still, as their wickedness increased and there was no one to check them, since those on whom they were quartered behaved with great discretion and did everything exactly as they wished, because they gave them no opportunity for doing them harm, were overcome by their own rage and slew one another. That there were among them others who lived decently is not concealed from your knowledge; for it is impossible that in a large army like this there should not be some such persons found. The wickedness of the bad, however, went so far in evildoing that those too who were ill-disposed among the Edessenes dared to do something unseemly; for they wrote down on sheets of paper complaints against the Magister, and fastened them up secretly in the customary places of the city (for public notices). When he heard this, he was not angered, as he well might have been, neither did he make any search after those who had done this, nor think of doing any harm to the city, because of his good nature; but he used all the diligence possible to quit Edessa with haste and speed. |74
XCVII. The year 818 (A.D. 506-7) 45. The Magister therefore took his whole army, and went down to the border. And there came to him a Persian ambassador to the town of Dara, bringing with him hostages, who had been sent by the Astabid; and they also asked him, saying that, if he wished to make peace, he too ought to send hostages in place of those whom he had received, and afterwards both parties would draw nigh to one another in friendship, and they would meet one another with five hundred horsemen apiece unarmed, and then they would sit in council, and would do what was fitting. He agreed to do what they asked, and sent hostages, and went unarmed to meet the Astabid on the day appointed. But because he was afraid lest the Persians should commit some treachery against him, he drew up the whole Roman army opposite them under arms, and gave them a sign, and ordered them, if they saw that sign, to come to him quickly. When the Astabid too was come to meet him, and the Romans and all the generals who were with them had seated themselves in council, one of the Roman soldiers gave good heed and perceived that all those who had come with the Astabid wore armour under their clothes. He made this known to the general Pharazman and the dux Timostratus, and they displayed that signal to the troops, whereupon they at once set up a shout and came to them, and took prisoners the Astabid and those who were with him among them. The troops that were in the Persian camp, when they learned that the Astabid and his companions were taken prisoners, fled for fear of them, and entered Nisibis. The Romans wished to take the Astabid and to kill those who were with him; but the Magister begged them not to give an occasion for war and to drive away (all hopes of) peace. With difficulty did they consent, but at last they hearkened to him, and let the Astabid and his companions depart from among them, without having done them any hurt; for even when victorious, the Roman generals were gentle. When the Astabid went to his camp, and saw that the Persians had retired into Nisibis, he was afraid to remain alone, and went in also to join them. He tried to force them to go out of the city with him, but they were unwilling to go out for fear. |75 In order that their fear might not become evident to the Romans, the Astabid sent and fetched his daughter to Nisibis, and according to Persian custom took her to wife. When the Magister sent him a message to say, "No man will harm you, even if you come forth alone ", he returned for answer, "It is not out of fear that I do not go forth, but in order that the days of the wedding-feast may be fulfilled." Although the Magister knew the whole thing quite well, he passed it over just as if he did not.
XCVIII. And some days after, when the Astabid came out to him, he gave up, for love of peace, all the things which he had determined to require of the Persians, and made a covenant with them, and concluded peace. They drew up documents between them, and appointed a fixed time, during which they were not to make war with one another; and all the armies were glad and rejoiced in the peace that was made.
XCIX. While they were still there on the frontier, Celerius the magister and Calliopius received a letter from the emperor Anastasius, which was full of care and compassion for the whole region of Mesopotamia; and thus he wrote to them, that, if they thought that the tax ought to be remitted, they had full power to remit it without delay. They decided that the whole tax should be remitted to the district of Amid, and the half of it to that of Edessa, and they sent and made this known in Edessa. And after a little while they sent another letter with the news of the peace.
C. On the 28th of the month of the latter Teshri (November A.D. 506), he took his whole army and came up from the border. When he arrived at Edessa, the Magister had a mind not to enter it, because of their murmuring against him (see ch. xcvi). But the blessed Bar-hadad, bishop of Tella, begged him not to allow resentment to get the better of him, nor to leave behind the feeling of vexation or annoyance in any one's mind. He readily acceded to his request; and all the Edessenes too came forth with much alacrity to meet him, carrying wax tapers, both young and old. All the clergy likewise, and the members of religious orders, and the monks, came out with them; and they entered the city with great rejoicing. He sent on all his troops the very same day to |76 continue their march; but he himself remained for three days, and gave the governor two hundred dinars to distribute in presents. And the people of the city, rejoicing in the peace that was made, and exulting in the immunity which they would henceforth enjoy from the distress in which they now were, and dancing for joy at the hope of the good things which they expected to arrive, and lauding God, who in His goodness and mercy had cast peace over the two kingdoms, escorted him as he set forth with songs of praise that befitted him and him who had sent him 46.
46. CI. If this emperor appears in a different aspect towards the end of his life, let no one be offended at his praises, but let him remember the things that Solomon did at the close of his life.47 These few things out of many I have written to the best of my ability unto your charity, unwillingly and yet willingly. Unwillingly, on the one hand, in order that I might not weary the wise friend who knows these things better than I do. Willingly, on the other hand, for the sake of obeying your command. Now therefore I beg of you that you too would fulfil the promise contained in your letter (see ch. i) to offer up prayer constantly on behalf of me a sinner. For now that I have learned your wish, it shall be my greatest care, and whatever happens in the times that are coming and is worthy of record, I will write it down and send it to you my father, if I remain alive. Let us therefore pray from this place, and you my father from yonder, and all the children of men everywhere, that history may speak of the great change that is going to take place in the world; and just as we have been unable to describe the wants of these evil times as they really were, because of the abundance of their afflictions, so also may we be unable to tell of those that are coming, because of the multitude of their blessings. And may our words be too feeble to speak of the happy life of our fellow-citizens, and of the calm and peace that shall reign throughout the world, and of the great plenty that there shall be, and of the superabundance of the harvest of the blessing of God, who has said, "The former troubles shall be forgotten and shall be hidden from before us." To Him be glory for ever and ever, Amen.
[Extracts from the copious footnotes follow]
1. * On the promise of our Lord to king Abgar that Edessa should never be captured by an enemy, see Cureton, Ancient Syriac Documents, p. 10 and p. 152; Phillips, The Doctrine of Addai, p.D and p. 5.
2. § The era of Alexander, or of the Romans, begins with October 312 B.C.
3. * That is, Jovian.
4. * The first alternative in their proposal seems to have been accidentally omitted by the scribe.
5. + John the Scythian.
6. + The followers of Mazdak, the son of Bamdadh, who was the disciple of Zaradusht, the son of Khoragan.
7. ++ Blemmyes, an Ethiopian or negro race who used to harry Upper Egypt.
8. * The word in the original is marzebana or marzban, which signifies in Persian "warden of the marches," or what the Germans call "Markgraf." It ia nearly equivalent to the older term of "satrap." See Noeldeke, Gesch. d. Perser u. s. w., p. 102, note 2, and p. 446.
9. + They dwelt in the neighbourhood of Sinjar and Dara.
10. * In the text Taiyaye, which originally designated the Arabs of the tribe of Taiyi, one of the most powerful in northern Arabia.
11. + By dinar (the Latin denarius), is here meant the Byzantine aureus.
12. ++ The Daisan, or Kara Koyun, which now flows round the northern part of the city, but in ancient times ran right through it from N.W. to S.E., parallel to, or perhaps coinciding with, the modern 'Ain al-Khalil or 'Ain Ibrahim.
13. § This was apparently on the eastern side of the city, at the exit of the Daisan.
14. || My friend Professor G. Hoffmann, of Kiel, reads "to the gate of the Grottoes" or "Tombs," meaning thereby the grottoes or tombs cut out in the range of heights to the west of the city. At any rate, this gate lay on the west side of the city, at or near the entrance of the Daisan.
15. ** If this conjecture is right, the "upper streets" are those in the S.W. corner of the city, where there is a hill, on which lay the old town of king Abgar with its buildings and fortifications. See the account of the great flood, A. Gr. 513, a. d. 201, in Assemani, Bibl. Orient, t. i, pp. 390-3. The reading of the MS. is, however, very uncertain.
16. * Mar, shortened from Mari, means "my lord."
17. ++ Mabbog or Mabug, Hierapolis, now Membij. Xenaias or Philoxenus was the friend of Severus, patriarch of Antioch.
18. || By "the Church" par excellence we are, I suppose, to understand "the great Church of S. Thomas the Apostle" (see Assemani, Bibl. Orient., t. i, p. 399). It is uncertain, however, whether the actual reading of the manuscript is not "in the courts of the churches."
19. § Another name for Emmaus, in Palestine, about halfway between Jaffa and Jerusalem.
20. § The Great Gate lay at the S.E. corner of the town, leading out to Harran.
21. + There is evidently some error or omission here in the text.
22. § To show that he was still in office, and had not been deposed.
23. * We would say, "on Thursday night." This display of the aurora borealis must have been unusually magnificent.
24. ** Carrae still retains its ancient name of Harran.
25. ++ At this time the Daisan ran through the city, not round it.
26. + Jacob, at present periodeutes or visitor, afterwards bishop of Batnan (Batnae) in Serug, one of the most prolific of Syriac writers. He died A. Gr. 833 (A.D. 521). BL Add. 14587 contains several of the letters referred to in the text.
27. || The Benu Tha'labah, the leading branch of the great tribe of Bekr ibn Wail. (Wustenfeld, Tabellen, te Abth., b,c), who, in alliance with the southern tribe of Kindah (ibid., ste Abth., 4), occupied a large portion of the Syrian desert, between the kingdom of al-Hirah on the east and that of the Ghassanides on the west. They were ruled over by the kings of Kindah, of the house of Akil al-morar, and the reigning king at this time was al-Harith ibn 'Amr. See Lebeau, op. cit., t. vii, p. 250; Caussin de Perceval, Essai sur l'histoire des Arabes, t. ii, p. 69; Reiske, Primae Lineae, p. 98; and above all the sketch by my lamented friend Dr. O. Loth, at p. 10 of the pamphlet entitled " Otto Loth. Ein Gedenkblatt fur seine Freunde. 1881."
28. ¶ al-Hirah, the chief town of the petty kingdom of the Lakhmite Arabs. See Caussin de Perceval, Essai sur l'histoire des Arabes, t. ii, p. 1 sqq.; Reiske, Primae Lineae, p. 25 sqq. It lay within a few miles of the more modern town of al-Kufah.
29. * The word in the Syriac text, if correctly written, is wholly unknown to me; but is evidently the name of some valuable commodity.
30. * Of erysipelas, the natural result of his wound and of exposure or excitement.
31. * Patricius, the son of Aspar, a Goth.
32. + The Euphrates,
33. + The comparison seems to be that of the compact mass of shield-bearing warriors in their charge to a moving mound of earth.
34. + This is not strictly correct.
35. + I am not at all sure that I have called the Gothic warrior by his right name. The Syriac letters give us only Ald, Eld or Ild, which might be Aldo, Haldo (Forstemann, Altdeutsches Namenbuch, Bd i, col. 45); or Helido, Allido (ibid., col. 597); or Hildi, Hildo (ibid., col. 665). The well known name of Alatheus, Alotheus, or Allothus (ibid., col. 41), would probably have been spelled by our author with a soft t.
36. * The Latin word castrum remained appended to many Syrian names in the form of..., (whence the Arabic...), like caster, cester, Chester, in our own country.
37. + When we last heard of this traitor, he was at Nisibis (ch. lv). He probably fled thence, and crossed the desert in a southwesterly direction till he approached the Euphrates near Suriyeh, above ar-Kakkah. There seems to be no reason for believing him to have been shut up in Amid, as Lebeau thinks (op. cit., t. vii, p. 872), following Assemani (Bibl. Orient., t. i, p. 279, col. 1).
38. ++ Meaning the district around Damascus.
39. + Flavian II.
40. *...the third of an aureus.
41. * The description of the Gothic mercenaries in this and the following chapters is not without its peculiar interest and value.
42. * Both these villages evidently lay to the N. of Edessa. The Germish-Chai rises, two or three hours' journey from the city, near a place called Burac or Berik, a little south of which are the remains of the arches of an ancient aqueduct, which entered Edessa on the north side, somewhere near the Gate of Beth-Shemesh. In the neighbourhood of Burac, therefore, Professor G. Hoffmann places Maudad (Modad) and Tell-Zema; though for the latter another locality may, he thinks, be possibly found. In the valley of the Ras-al-'ain Chai, near a place called Jurban, Julban, or Julman, the ruins of another ancient aqueduct have been seen, and in this neighbourhood, a little way south of Dagouly or Tagula, Pococke mentions a place named Zoumey, which may perhaps be identical with Tell-Zema.
43. + Say quarts.
44. * There was a bishop of Edessa of this name. See Assemani, Bibl. Orient., t. i, pp. 396 and 398.
45. * In the MS. there is a marginal note, no longer distinctly legible: "In this year died the holy Mar Shila (Silas) of the village of B......."
47. * That befitted Celer and his master the emperor.
48. + This sentence is no doubt a later addition, probably from the pen of Dionysius of Tell-Mahre.
This text was transcribed by Roger Pearse, 2006. All material on this page is in the public domain - copy freely.
Greek text is rendered using unicode.
Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
SOURCE SECTION: dionysius_exiguus_easter_00.htm
Dionysius Exiguus, On Easter, or, the Paschal Cycle (2003) - Preface to the online edition
Dionysius Exiguus, On Easter, or, the Paschal Cycle (2003) - Preface to the online edition
This preface was written in 2024, eighteen years after the translation was placed online. An email through my contact form enquired about the translation. Remembering nothing of it, I searched my old emails, and recalled its origins.
The story begins with a man named Rodolphe Audette, who was at the University of Laval in Canada. At some period of time prior to August 2000, he created a website of material relating to the origins of the Gregorian calendar. This has long since vanished, but the Internet Archive holds
a copy made on 23 August 2000, archived here. As part of this work he placed online a number of primary texts, many with his own French translation,
listed in the archive here. Modestly he explained: "J'en ai traduit quelques-uns, poussé par je ne sais trop quelle maladie"; "I have translated some of them, under the influence of I don't know what madness."
One of the texts that he placed online was the Latin text of something that he called the "Liber de Paschate" of Dionysius Exiguus.
His electronic text may be found archived here, but I have today placed a copy here.
The next stage of the story is in 2006, when I discovered on a now-vanished Russian site (archived here) an English translation of the tables in this text. The translation had been made from Audette's text by a mathematician named Michael Deckers.
How the Deckers text came to be in Russia I do not know. But I found an email address for Dr Deckers, and obtained his permission to reproduce his work here. He told me that it was merely a draft; but I don't know of any subsequent version.
Deckers also advised me that 'Argumenta 1 and 15 were translated in [Gustav Teres: "Time computations and Dionysius Exiguus", Journal for the History of Astronomy vol 15 p 178..181. 1984] (neither of which I used for my translation). The JHA paper may even be online.'
The Russian site linked to Audette's Latin text. This was the text that Deckers had translated from, which he believed to be the text printed by Migne in the
Patrologia Graeca 67, col. 483 ff. He was uncertain whether Audette had edited the text in some way, but I have not seen anything suggesting that it is anything but a faithful transcription.
The Migne text of Dionysius Exiguus' work, which was transcribed completely by Audette, contained four linked texts:
His praefatio, dedicated to a bishop Petronius.
His tables of a 19-year cycle of Easter calculations (Cyclus Decemnovennalis Dionysii). The first two are CPL 2284, Libellus de cyclo magno Paschae.
Sixteen argumenta discussing the details. This is CPL 2285, Argumenta paschalia.
The letter of Proterius, Bishop of Alexandria, to Pope Leo. This is letter 133 of the collection of the letters of Leo I (CPL 1656).
Deckers translated the tables, and also the argumenta, which he interleaved with the tables.
On seeing this, I attempted a translation of the preface. Unfortunately my Latin was not equal to the task, but I uploaded whatever I could understand. A much better version may be found in the Teres paper in the JHA.
Roger Pearse
Ipswich
September 2024
This text was transcribed by Roger Pearse, 2013. This file and all material on this page is in the public domain - copy freely.
Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
SOURCE SECTION: dionysius_exiguus_easter_01.htm
Dionysius Exiguus, On Easter, or, the Paschal Cycle (2003)
Dionysius Exiguus, On Easter, or, the Paschal Cycle (2003)
Preface (translated by Roger Pearse; incomplete)
Paschal Cycle (translated by Michael Deckers)
Preface
Dionysius Exiguus to the most blessed and very dear father, Petronius, bishop. The reasoning of the feast of Easter, which many have frequently and urgently asked us, with the help of your prayers, we have now proceeded to set forth. Following in all things the venerable 318 pontiffs, who came together at Nicaea, a city of Bithynia, against the madness of Arius, and besides [gave] a perfect and true opinion on this matter; who having observed 14 months of Easter through 19 years always returning in a cycle to the same position, fixed it stable and immoveable, which in all ages is repeated in the same way, as a beginning, without going off into an excursion of various things. However they sanctioned this rule of the aforementioned cycle, not so much from secular knowledge as by the illumination of the Holy Spirit, and as if determined to have assigned a firm and stable anchor to this reasoning of the lunar calculation. As after a while some, whether despising from arrogance or crossing over from ignorance, were influenced by Jewish fables, they handed down a different and contrary form of the only festival. And because without solidity of foundation no structure can stand, for a long time they were inclined to work out differently the Lord's Easter and the computation of the moon, ordaining unordained cycles; which not only has no stability, indeed also they prefer a notable direction in error. But at the city of Alexandria the archbishop, blessed Athanasius, who also was involved in the Nicene Council, at that time as deacon of the holy pontiff Alexander and [his] helper in all things, and then the venerable Theophilus and Cyril, departed very little from the worshipful decision of the synod. Indeed rather sollicitously retaining the same 19-year cycle, which in a Greek word is called enneacaidecaeteris, they are shown to have not interpolated the paschal cycle with any changes. Then Pope Theophilus, dedicating the 100th course of the years to the emperor Theodosius the Elder, and St. Cyril, compiling a cycle of time of 95 years, preserved through everything this tradition of the holy council of the importance of observing 14 paschal months. And because -- the students also having been seeking to know what is true -- we must hold fast to the rule of his cycle more firmly, we believe that we must give it after our preface. Therefore we hurried to set out this cycle of 95 years, in which study we have succeeded, preferring in our work this [cycle], the last one of the same blessed Cyril, that is the th cycle, because 6 years of it remain; and thereafter we profess that we laid out 5 others according to the pattern of the same pontiff, or rather of the often mentioned Nicene Council. But because St. Cyril began his first cycle from the 153rd year of Diocletian, and besides ended in the 247th, we, starting from the 248th [year] of the same tyrant -- a better [word] than prince -- do not wish to bind to our circles the memory of this impious man and persecutor, but choose rather to count the time of the years from the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ, so that the beginning of our hope will appear better known to us, and the cause of the restoration of mankind, i.e. the passion of our Redeemer, may shine forth more clearly. In addition we think that this reader should be reminded that that cycle of 95 years, which we make, when, its time being up, begins to repeat, not through everything may he support firmness. For it is allowed... the years of our Lord Jesus Christ... his/its order... for the continued series.... that they may preserve..., and they might run through the accustomed indictions through 15 years, also the epacts, as the Greeks call them, i.e the additions... 11 annual months... which 30 of days up to in itself they return,.......however they are unable to protect a similar movement of constancy concurrent days of the week, and the day(s) of the Lord's Pasch and the month of the dominical day itself. However the reason of the concurrency of the week, which comes from the course of the sun, it is concluded in a continual circuit of seven years. In which you will take care to enumerate through the years each one; only in that year in which it will have been a leap year, you will add two. Which cause also makes that not through the whole 95 years does that circle seem to harmonize with its recursion. For when in other years it does not deviate, in this alone, in which the leap year is inserted, the Pasch of the churches with its month occurs in various ways of reason (rationis).....
... (To be completed)
End of the preface
NINETEEN YEAR CYCLE OF DIONYSIUS (CYCLUS DECEMNOVENNALIS DIONYSII)
[Translated by Michael Deckers]
The following translation is as literal as I could do it in order to reflect the style and diction of the original. Subsequent comments contain a translation of the calendrical content into modern algebraic notation.
The Latin text has been transcribed and edited by Rodolphe Audette ("http://hermes.ulaval.ca/~sitrau/calgreg/denys.html").
I have profited from the learned comments and helpful suggestions by Joe Kress, A R Tom Peters, and Robert H van Gent. Any typos in the Latin text and errors in the translation and the comments are mine. [http://the-light.com/cal/DionysiusArgumenta.txt]
CYCLUS DECEMNOVENNALIS DIONYSII
NINETEEN YEAR CYCLE OF DIONYSIUS
Incipit cyclus decemnovennalis, quem Graeci Enneacaidecaeterida vocant, constitutus a sanctis Patribus, in quo quartas decimas paschales omni tempore sine ulla reperies falsitate; tantum memineris annis singulis, qui cyclus lunae et qui decemnovennalis existat. In praesenti namque tertia indictio est, consulatu Probi junioris, tertius decimus circulus decemnovennalis, decimus lunaris est.
The nineteen year cycle begins, which the Greek call Enneakaidekaeterida (nineteen yearly), established by the holy [Church] Fathers, in which you shall find fourteen paschal[ moon]s each time without error; you shall just bear in mind, in each of the years, which cycle of the moon and which nineteen year [cycle] prevails. In the present [year], in the consulship of Probus Junior, it is the thirteenth of the nineteen year cycle, and the tenth lunar one.
ANNI
DIOCLE
TIANI
quae sint
indictiones
epactae, id
est adjectiones
lunae
concurrentes
dies
quotus sit
lunae circsulus
quae sit luna XIIII paschalis
dies Dominicae festivitatis
quota sit luna ipsius diei
dominici
YARS OF
DIOCLETIAN
What are the
indictions
epacts, ie increments of the
moon
concurrent days
which is the circle of the moon
date of day 14 of the paschal moon
day of the Sunday festival
which is the day of the moon on this Sunday
CCXXVIIII
229 (513)
vi
nulla
i
xvii
non.Apr.
Apr 05
vii id.Apr.
Apr 07
xvi
CCXXX
230 (514)
vii
xi
ii
xviii
viii k.Apr.
Mar 25
iii k.Apr.
Mar 30
xviiii
CCXXXI
231 (515)
viii
xxii
iii
xviiii
id. Apr.
Apr 13
xiii k.Maii
Apr 19
xx
CCXXXII
232 (516)
viiii
iii
v
i
non.Apr.
Apr 02
iii non.Apr.
Apr 03
xv
CCXXXIII
233 (517)
x
xiiii
vi
ii
xi k.Apr.
Mar 22
vii k.Apr.
Mar 26
xviii
CCXXXIIII
234 (518)
xi
xxv
vi
iii
iiii id.Apr.
Apr 10
xvii k.Maii
Apr 15
xviiii
CCXXXV
235 (519)
xii
vi
i
iiii
iii k.Apr.
Mar 30
ii k.Apr.
Mar 31
xv
*
CCXXXVI
236 (520)
xiii
xvii
iii
v
xiiii k.Maii
Apr 18*
xiii k.Maii
Apr 19
xv ogd.
*
CCXXXVII
237 (521)
xiiii
xxviii
iiii
vi
vii id.Apr.
Apr 07
iii id.Apr.
Apr 11
xviii
CCXXXVIII
238 (522)
xv
viiii
v
vii
vi k.Apr.
Mar 27
iii non.Apr.
Apr 03
xxi
*
CCXXXVIIII
239 (523)
i
xx
vi
viii
xvii k.Maii
Apr 15
xvi k.Maii
Apr 16
xv
*
CCXL
240 (524)
ii
i
i
viiii
ii non.Apr.
Apr 04
vii id.Apr.
Apr 07
xvii
CCXLI
241 (525)
iii
xii
ii
x
viiii k.Apr.
Mar 24
iii k.Apr.
Mar 30
xx
CCXLII
242 (526)
iiii
xxiii
iii
xi
ii id.Apr.
Apr 12
xiii k.Maii
Apr 19
xxi
*
CCXLIII
243 (527)
v
iiii
iiii
xii
k.Apr.
Apr 01
ii non.Apr.
Apr 04
xvii
CCXLIIII
244 (528)
vi
xv
vi
xiii
xii k.Apr.
Mar 21*
vii k.Apr.
Mar 26
xviiii
CCXLV
245 (529)
vii
xxvi
vii
xiiii
v id.Apr.
Apr 09
xvii k.Maii
Apr 15
xx
CCXLVI
246 (530)
viii
vii
i
xv
iiii k.Apr.
Mar 29
ii k.Apr.
Mar 31
xvi
CCXLVII
247 (531)
viiii
xviii
ii
xvi
xv k.Maii
Apr 17
xii k.Maii
Apr 20
xvii hend.
ANNI DOMINI
NOSTRI JESU
CHRISTI
quae sint
indictiones
epactae, id
est adjectiones
lunae
concurrentes
dies
quotus sit
lunae circsulus
quae sit luna XIIII paschalis
dies Dominicae festivitatis
quota sit luna ipsius diei
dominici
YARS OF OUR LORD
JESUS CHRIST
What are the
indictions
epacts, ie increments of the
moon
concurrent days
which is the circle of the moon
date of day 14 of the paschal moon
day of the Sunday festival
which is the day of the moon on this Sunday
B DXXXII
0532
x
nulla
iiii
xvii
non.Apr.
Apr 05
iii id.Apr.
Apr 11
xx
DXXXIII
0533
xi
xi
v
xviii
viii k.Apr.
Mar 25
vi k.Apr.
Mar 27
xvi
DXXXIIII
0534
xii
xxii
vi
xviiii
id.Apr.
Apr 13
xvi k.Maii
Apr 16
xvii
DXXXV
0535
xiii
iii
vii
i
iiii non.Apr.
Apr 02
vi id.Apr.
Apr 08
xx
B DXXXVI
0536
xiiii
xiiii
ii
ii
xi k.Apr.
Mar 22
x k.Apr.
Mar 23
xv
*
DXXXVII
0537
xv
xxv
iii
iii
iiii id.Apr.
Apr 10
ii id.Apr.
Apr 12
xvi
DXXXVIII
0538
i
vi
iiii
iiii
iii k.Apr.
Mar 30
ii non.Apr.
Apr 04
xviiii
DXXXVIIII
0539
ii
xvii
v
v
xiiii k.Maii
Apr 18*
viii k.Maii
Apr 24
xx ogd.
B DXL
0540
iii
xxviii
vii
vi
vii id.Apr.
Apr 07
vi id.Apr.
Apr 08
xv
*
DXLI
0541
iiii
viiii
i
vii
vi k.Apr.
Mar 27
ii k.Apr.
Mar 31
xviii
DXLII
0542
v
xx
ii
viii
xvii k.Maii
Apr 15
xii k.Maii
Apr 20
xviiii
DXLIII
0543
vi
i
iii
viiii
ii non.Apr.
Apr 04
non.Apr.
Apr 05
xv
*
B DXLIIII
0544
vii
xii
v
x
viiii k.Apr.
Mar 24
vi k.Apr.
Mar 27
xvii
DXLV
0545
viii
xxiii
vi
xi
ii id.Apr.
Apr 12
xvi k.Maii
Apr 16
xviii
DXLVI
0546
viiii
iiii
vii
xii
k.Apr.
Apr 01
vi id.Apr.
Apr 08
xxi
*
DXLVII
0547
x
xv
i
xiii
xii k.Apr.
Mar 21*
viiii k.Apr.
Mar 24
xvii
B DXLVIII
0548
xi
xxvi
iii
xiiii
v id.Apr.
Apr 09
ii id.Apr.
Apr 12
xvii
DXLVIIII
0549
xii
vii
iiii
xv
iiii k.Apr.
Mar 29
ii non.Apr.
Apr 04
xx
DL
0550
xiii
xviii
v
xvi
xv k.Maii
Apr 17
viii k.Maii
Apr 24
xxi hend.
*
DLI
0551
xiiii
nulla
vi
xvii
non.Apr.
Apr 05
v id.Apr.
Apr 09
xviii
B DLII
0552
xv
xi
i
xviii
viii k.Apr.
Mar 25
ii k.Apr.
Mar 31
xx
DLIII
0553
i
xxii
ii
xviiii
id.Apr.
Apr 13
xii k.Maii
Apr 20
xxi
*
DLIIII
0554
ii
iii
iii
i
iiii non.Apr.
Apr 02
non.Apr.
Apr 05
xvii
DLV
0555
iii
xiiii
iiii
ii
xi k.Apr.
Mar 22
v k.Apr.
Mar 28
xx
B DLVI
0556
iiii
xxv
vi
iii
iiii id.Apr.
Apr 10
xvi k.Maii
Apr 16
xx
DLVII
0557
v
vi
vii
iiii
iii k.Apr.
Mar 30
k.Apr.
Apr 01
xvi
DLVIII
0558
vi
xvii
i
v
xiiii k.Maii
Apr 18*
xi k.Maii
Apr 21
xvii ogd.
DLVIIII
0559
vii
xxviii
ii
vi
vii id.Apr.
Apr 07
id.Apr.
Apr 13
xx
B DLX
0560
viii
viiii
iiii
vii
vi k.Apr.
Mar 27
v k.Apr.
Mar 28
xv
*
DLXI
0561
viiii
xx
v
viii
xvii k.Maii
Apr 15
xv k.Maii
Apr 17
xvi
DLXII
0562
x
i
vi
viiii
ii non.Apr.
Apr 04
v id.Apr.
Apr 09
xviiii
DLXIII
0563
xi
xii
vii
x
viiii k.Apr.
Mar 24
viii k.Apr.
Mar 25
xv
*
B DLXIIII
0564
xii
xxiii
ii
xi
ii id.Apr.
Apr 12
id.Apr.
Apr 13
xv
*
DLXV
0565
xiii
iiii
iii
xii
k.Apr.
Apr 01
non.Apr.
Apr 05
xviii
DLXVI
0566
xiiii
xv
iiii
xiii
xii k.Apr.
Mar 21*
v k.Apr.
Mar 28
xxi
*
DLXVII
0567
xv
xxvi
v
xiiii
v id.Apr.
Apr 09
iiii id.Apr.
Apr 10
xv
*
B DLXVIII
0568
i
vii
vii
xv
iiii k.Apr.
Mar 29
k.Apr.
Apr 01
xii
DLXVIIII
0569
ii
xviii
i
xvi
xv k.Maii
Apr 17
xi k.Maii
Apr 21
xviii hend.
DLXX
0570
iii
nulla
ii
xvii
non.Apr.
Apr 05
viii id.Apr.
Apr 06
xv
*
DLXXI
0571
iiii
xi
iii
xviii
viii k.Apr.
Mar 25
iiii k.Apr.
Mar 29
xviii
B DLXXII
0572
v
xxii
v
xviiii
id.Apr.
Apr 13
xv k.Maii
Apr 17
xviii
DLXXIII
0573
vi
iii
vi
i
iiii non.Apr.
Apr 02
v id.Apr.
Apr 09
xxi
*
DLXXIIII
0574
vii
xiiii
vii
ii
xi k.Apr.
Mar 22
viii k.Apr.
Mar 25
xvii
DLXXV
0575
viii
xxv
i
iii
iiii id.Apr.
Apr 10
xviii k.Maii
Apr 14
xviii
B DLXXVI
0576
viiii
vi
iii
iiii
iii k.Apr.
Mar 30
non.Apr.
Apr 05
xx
DLXXVII
0577
x
xvii
iiii
v
xiiii k.Maii
Apr 18*
vii k.Maii
Apr 25*
xxi ogd.
*
DLXXVIII
0578
xi
xxviii
v
vi
vii id.Apr.
Apr 07
iiii id.Apr
Apr 10
xvii
DLXXVIIII
0579
xii
viiii
vi
vii
vi k.Apr.
Mar 27
iiii non.Apr.
Apr 02
xx
B DLXXX
0580
xiii
xx
i
viii
xvii k.Maii
Apr 15
xi k.Maii
Apr 21
xx
DLXXXI
0581
xiiii
i
ii
viiii
ii non.Apr.
Apr 04
viii id.Apr.
Apr 06
xvi
DLXXXII
0582
xv
xii
iii
x
viiii k.Apr.
Mar 24
iiii k.Apr.
Mar 29
xviiii
DLXXXIII
0583
i
xxiii
iiii
xi
ii id.Apr.
Apr 12
xiiii k.Maii
Apr 18
xx
B DLXXXIIII
0584
ii
iiii
vi
xii
k.Apr.
Apr 01
iiii non.Apr.
Apr 02
xv
*
DLXXXV
0585
iii
xv
vii
xiii
xii k.Apr.
Mar 21*
viii k.Apr.
Mar 25
xviii
DLXXXVI
0586
iiii
xxvi
i
xiiii
v id.Apr.
Apr 09
xviii k.Maii
Apr 14
xviiii
DLXXXVII
0587
v
vii
ii
xv
iiii k.Apr.
Mar 29
iii k.Apr.
Mar 30
xv
*
B DLXXXVIII
0588
vi
xviii
iiii
xvi
xv k.Maii
Apr 17
xiiii k.Maii
Apr 18
xv hend.
*
DLXXXVIIII
0589
vii
nulla
v
xvii
non.Apr.
Apr 05
iiii id.Apr.
Apr 10
xviiii
DXC
0590
viii
xi
vi
xviii
viii k.Apr.
Mar 25
vii k.Apr.
Mar 26
xv
*
DXCI
0591
viiii
xxii
vii
xviiii
id.Apr.
Apr 13
xvii k.Maii
Apr 15
xvi
B DXCII
0592
x
iii
ii
i
iiii non.Apr.
Apr 02
viii id.Apr.
Apr 06
xviii
DXCIII
0593
xi
xiiii
iii
ii
xi k.Apr.
Mar 22
iiii k.Apr.
Mar 29
xxi
*
DXCIIII
0594
xii
xxv
iiii
iii
iiii id.Apr.
Apr 10
iii id.Apr.
Apr 11
xv
*
DXCV
0595
xiii
vi
v
iiii
iii k.Apr.
Mar 30
iii non.Apr.
Apr 03
xviii
B DXCVI
0596
xiiii
xvii
vii
v
xiiii k.Maii
Apr 18*
x k.Maii
Apr 22
xviii ogd.
DXCVII
0597
xv
xxviii
i
vi
vii id.Apr.
Apr 07
xviii k.Maii
Apr 14
xxi
*
DXCVIII
0598
i
viiii
ii
vii
vi k.Apr.
Mar 27
iii k.Apr.
Mar 30
xvii
DXCVIIII
0599
ii
xx
iii
viii
xvii k.Maii
Apr 15
xiii k.Maii
Apr 19
xviii
B DC
0600
iii
i
v
viiii
ii non.Apr.
Apr 04
iiii id.Apr.
Apr 10
xx
DCI
0601
iiii
xii
vi
x
viiii k.Apr.
Mar 24
vii k.Apr.
Mar 26
xvi
DCII
0602
v
xxiii
vii
xi
ii id.Apr.
Apr 12
xvii k.Maii
Apr 15
xvii
DCIII
0603
vi
iiii
i
xii
k.Apr.
Apr 01
vii id.Apr.
Apr 07
xx
B DCIIII
0604
vii
xv
iii
xiii
xii k.Apr.
Mar 21*
xi k.Apr.
Mar 22*
xv
*
DCV
0605
viii
xxvi
iiii
xiiii
v id.Apr.
Apr 09
iii id.Apr.
Apr 11
xvi
DCVI
0606
viiii
vii
v
xv
iiii k.Apr.
Mar 29
iii non.Apr.
Apr 03
xviiii
DCVII
0607
x
xviii
vi
xvi
xv k.Maii
Apr 17
viiii k.Maii
Apr 23
xx hend.
B DCVIII
0608
xi
nulla
i
xvii
non.Apr.
Apr 05
vii id.Apr.
Apr 07
xvi
DCVIIII
0609
xii
xi
ii
xviii
viii k.Apr.
Mar 25
iii k.Apr.
Mar 30
xviiii
DCX
0610
xiii
xxii
iii
xviiii
id.Apr.
Apr 13
xiii k.Maii
Apr 19
xx
DCXI
0611
xiiii
iii
iiii
i
iiii non.Apr.
Apr 02
ii non.Apr.
Apr 04
xvi
B DCXII
0612
xv
xiiii
vi
ii
xi k.Apr.
Mar 22
vii k.Apr.
Mar 26
xviii
DCXIII
0613
i
xxv
vii
iii
iiii id.Apr.
Apr 10
xvii k.Maii
Apr 15
xviiii
DCXIIII
0614
ii
vi
i
iiii
iii k.Apr.
Mar 30
ii k.Apr.
Mar 31
xv
*
DCXV
0615
iii
xvii
ii
v
xiiii k.Maii
Apr 18*
xii k.Maii
Apr 20
xvi ogd.
B DCXVI
0616
iiii
xxviii
iiii
vi
vii id.Apr.
Apr 07
iii id.Apr.
Apr 11
xviii
DCXVII
0617
v
viiii
v
vii
vi k.Apr.
Mar 27
iii non.Apr.
Apr 03
xxi
*
DCXVIII
0618
vi
xx
vi
viii
xvii k.Maii
Apr 15
xvi k.Maii
Apr 16
xv
*
DCXVIIII
0619
vii
i
vii
viiii
ii non.Apr.
Apr 04
vi id.Apr.
Apr 08
xviii
B DCXX
0620
viii
xii
ii
x
viiii k.Apr.
Mar 24
iii k.Apr.
Mar 30
xx
DCXXI
0621
viiii
xxiii
iii
xi
ii id.Apr.
Apr 12
xiii k.Maii
Apr 19
xxi
*
DCXXII
0622
x
iiii
iiii
xii
k.Apr.
Apr 01
ii non.Apr.
Apr 04
xvii
DCXXIII
0623
xi
xv
v
xiii
xii k.Apr.
Mar 21*
vi k.Apr.
Mar 27
xx
B DCXXIIII
0624
xii
xxvi
vii
xiiii
v id.Apr.
Apr 09
xvii k.Maii
Apr 15
xx
DCXXV
0625
xiii
vii
i
xv
iiii k.Apr.
Mar 29
ii k.Apr.
Mar 31
xvi
DCXXVI
0626
xiiii
xviii
ii
xvi
xv k.Maii
Apr 17
xii k.Maii
Apr 20
xvii hend.
The leftmost column in this table gives a year number pertaining to the feast of Easter described in each line, and to the indiction:
column 1 =(in the second part of the table:) the year number Y of the incarnation =(in the first part of the table:) the Diocletian year number D = Y - 284 Column 1 has the prefix "B" (for bissextum) if Y mod 4 = D mod 4 = 0. The other columns are all related to Y, as follows:
column 2 = 1 + (2 + Y)mod 15 (see [Argumentum 2]) column 3 = ((Y mod 19)*11) mod 30 (see [Argumentum 3]) column 4 = 1 + (3 + floor( Y*5/4 ))mod 7 (see [Argumentum 4]) column 5 = 1 + (Y - 3)mod 19 (see [Argumentum 6]) column 6 = March 21 + (15 - 11*( Y mod 19))mod 30 d (see [Argumentum 14]) Column 8 has the postfix "ogd." (for ogdoadas) if Y mod 19 = 8 - 1 and the postfix "hend." (for hendeka) if Y mod 19 = 11 + 8 - 1. We have indicated extreme values in columns 6, 7, 8 with asterisks.
ARGUMENTA PASCHALIA
Incipiunt argumenta de titulis paschalibus ¦gyptiorum investigata solertia ut praesentes indicent.
This begins the argumenta on the determination of Easter by the Egyptians, carefully investigated as shown in the following.
Argumentum primum. De annis Christi.
Si nosse vis quotus sit annus ab incarnatione Domini nostri Jesu Christi, computa quindecies XXXIV, fiunt DX; iis semper adde XII regulares, fiunt DXXII; adde etiam indictionem anni cujus volueris, ut puta, tertiam, consulatu Probi junioris, fiunt simul anni DXXV. Isti sunt anni ab incarnatione Domini.
First Argumentum. On the years of Christ.
If you want to find out which year it is since the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ, compute fifteen times 34, yielding 510; to these always add the correction 12, yielding 522; also add the indiction of the year you want, say, in the consulship of Probus Junior, the third, yielding 525 years altogether. These are the years since the incarnation of the Lord.
That the year numbers Y employed here agree with the usual Julian year numbers J is shown by the formulae for the indiction in [Argumentum 2] (using Y mod 15), for the epacts in [Argumenta 3 and 11] (using Y mod 19), and for the day of the week in [Argumentum 4] (using Y mod 28). It is not clear from the text, however, when the years of the incarnation are supposed to begin. The formulae imply that Y and J agree on January 01 ([Argumentum 12]), on the leap day ([Argumentum 8]), and around Easter; and [Argumentum 2] suggests that Y and J agree until September 01. The year 0001 of the era of Diocletianus, which Dionysius wants to replace with era domini, is usually taken to start at the sunset epoch Julian date( 0284, August, 28.75 ). Some of the assertions on the birthday of Jesus in [Argumentum 15] below would render "anni ab incarnatione Domini" a misnomer.
Argumentum II. De indictione.
Si vis scire quota est indictio, ut puta, consulatu Probi junioris, sume annos ab incarnatione Domini nostri Jesu Christi DXXV. His semper adjice III, fiunt DXXVIII. Hos partire per XV, remanent III. Tertia est indictio. Si vero nihil remanserit, decima quinta indictio est.
Argumentum 2.
On the indiction. If you want to know which indiction it is, say in the consulship of Probus Junior, then add the years since the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ, 525. To this always add 3, yielding 528. Divide these by 15, 3 are left over. It is the third indiction. But if nothing would be left over then it is the fifteenth indiction.
For year number Y this gives indiction( Y ) = 1 + (2 + Y)mod 15 as is confirmed by the second column in the table above. This is in fact the cycle of indiction number for Julian year Y from January 01 until that number changes later in the year (on September 01 or some time later).
Argumentum III. De epactis.
Si vis cognoscere quot sint epactae, id est adjectiones lunares, sume annos ab incarnatione Domini nostri Jesu Christi, quot fuerint DXXV. Hos partire per XIX, remanent XII. Per XI multiplica, fiunt CXXXII. Hos item partire per XXX, remanent XII. Duodecim sunt adjectiones lunares.
Argumentum 3. On the epacts.
If you want to learn the number of epacts, that is, of the lunar increments, then add the years since the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ, of which 525 have passed. Divide those by 19, 12 are left over. Multiply by 11, yielding 132. And then divide those by 30, 12 are left over. Twelve is the lunar increment.
For year number Y this is meant to describe the formula epacts( Y ) = ((Y mod 19)*11) mod 30 (where both modulo operations can yield zero) as is confirmed by the third column in the table above. Since Y is integral, this is the same as epacts( Y ) = floor( Y*(235/19)*30 ) mod 30 which shows that the formula uses the Metonic value of (calendar year)/(synodic month) ~= 235/19 ~= (365.25 d)/(29.530 85 d). This estimate of the synodic month exceeds modern estimates by only 1 d in about 300 years. The formula for the epacts does in fact extend the epacts given for the Diocletian year numbers D = Y - 284 in the table above. Note that ( Y - D ) mod 19 = 18, which makes the formula for Y somewhat simpler to express verbally than that for D (because no "regulares" are needed): epacts for Diocletian year number( D ) = ((D - 1)mod 19)*11) mod 30. The formula for the epacts remains the same if the year number Y is replaced by the year number S = Y + 38 since the Spanish era (this count may have been known to Dionysius).
Argumentum IV. De concurrentibus.
Si vis scire adjectiones solis, id est concurrentes septimanae dies, sume annos ab incarnatione Domini quot fuerint, ut puta DXXV; per indictionem tertiam et annorum qui fuerint quartam partem semper adjice, id est, nunc CXXXI, qui simul fiunt DCLVI. His adde IV, fiunt DCLX. Hos partire per VII, remanent II. Duae sunt epactae solis, id est concurrentes septimanae dies, per suprascriptam indictionem, consulatu Probi junioris.
Argumentum 4. On the concurrents.
If you want to know the solar increments, that is the concurrent days of the week, add the years since the incarnation of the Lord that have passed, say 525; for the third indiction and the years that have passed until then always add the fourth part, which is now 131, these yield 656 altogether. To these add 4, yielding 660. Divide those by 7, 2 are left over. Two are the epacts of the sun, that is, the concurrent days of the week, for the indiction described above, in the consulship of Probus Junior.
For year number Y, this is intended to give concurrentes( Y ) = 1 + (3 + Y + floor(Y / 4)) mod 7 as is confirmed by column four of the table above. With the numbering of [Argumentum 12] for the days of the week (but with 7 instead of 0 for Saturday), this amounts to concurrentes( Y ) = day of the week(Julian date( Y, March, 24 )) which agrees with the concurrents for year number Y as defined by Bede about 200 years later.
Argumentum V. De cyclo decemnovennali.
Si vis scire quotus sit annus circuli X et IX annorum, sume annos Domini, ut puta, DXXV, et unum semper adjice, fiunt DXXVI. Hos partire per X et IX, remanent XIII. Tertius decimus est annus cycli decemnovennalis. Quod si nihil remanserit, IX decima est.
Argumentum 5. On the cycle of nineteen years.
If you want to know which year it is in the circle of 10 plus 9 years, add the years of the Lord, say 525, and always add one, yielding 526. Divide those by 10 plus 9, 13 are left over. The year is the thirteenth in the nineteen year cycle. If nothing would be left over, it is the 9teenth.
Thus, for year number Y, cycle of nineteen years( Y ) = 1 + ( Y mod 19 ), which is also known as the Numerus Aureus of the year. It is used only in [Argumentum 14].
Argumentum VI. De cyclo lunari.
Si vis scire quotus cyclus lunae est, qui decemnovennali circulo continetur, sume annos Domini, ut puta, DXXV, et subtrahe semper II, et remanent DXXIII. Hos partire per X et IX, remanent X. Decimus cyclus lunae est decemnovennalis circuli. Quoties autem nihil remanet, nonus decimus est.
Argumentum 6. On the lunar cycle.
If you want to know which cycle of the moon it is, that is contained in the nineteen year circle, add the years of the Lord, say 525, and always subtract 2, and 523 are left over. Divide those by 10 plus 9, 10 are left over. It is the tenth lunar cycle in the nineteen year circle. And whenever nothing is left over, it is the nineteenth.
Thus, for year number Y, lunar cycle( Y ) = 1 + (Y - 3)mod 19, which is also known as the Jewish lunar cycle number machzor. Besides (Y mod 19) as used in [Argumentum 3] and the "cycle of nineteen years" of [Argumentum 5], it is the third function essentially equivalent to (Y mod 19). It is used only in [Argumentum 13] to compute a kind of Alexandrian epacts.
Argumentum VII. De luna decima quarta in mense Martio.
Si vis nosse quibus annis decemnovennalis circuli Martio mense, XIV luna paschalis incurrat: anno II, V, VII, X, XIII, XVI, XVIII, hos suprascriptos VII annos in Martio mense reperies; residuos vero XII, secundum regulam subter annexam, Aprili mense indubitanter calculabis.
Argumentum 7. On the fourteenth moon in the month of March.
If you want to find out in which years of the nineteen year circle the 14th paschal moon occurs in the month of March: in the year 2, 5, 7, 10, 13, 16, 18, in these 7 years above you shall see it in the month of March; but in the remaining 12 you will calculate it without doubt in the month of April, according to the rule appended below.
These are in fact all the numbers Y of years in which the age of the moon computed with the rule in [Argumentum 9] is 14 on some day from March 21 to March 31 (with (Y + 9)mod 19 mod 8 mod 3 = 0). The referenced rule probably is the one in [Argumentum 9] for April.
Argumentum VIII. De bissexto.
Si vis scire quando bissextus dies sit, sume annos Domini, ut puta DXXV. Partire hos per IV. Si nihil remanserit, bissextus est. Si I aut II, vel III, remanent, bissextus non est.
Argumentum 8. On the leap day.
If you want to know when the leap day is, add the years of the Lord, say 525. Divide those by 4. If nothing should be left over, there is a leap day. If 1 or 2 or 3 are left over, there is no leap day.
This says that Y is the number of a leap year iff Y mod 4 = 0.
Ne tibi forsitan aliqua caligo erroris occurrat, per omnem computum per quem ducis, si nihil superfuerit, eumdem computum esse per quem ducis agnosce, ut puta, si per X et IX ducis, et nihil superfuerit, XIX esse; si per XV, quindecimum, et, si per VII, septimum.
So that any unclarity does not possibly lead you into error, for all divisions you do, if nothing is left over, you should consider this computation to yield that by which you divide, thus for instance, if you divide by 10 plus 9, and nothing would remain, you should consider it to be 19; if by 15, then fifteen, and if by 7, then seven.
This rule says that the remainder of( A )upon division by( B ) = 1 + (A - 1)mod B rather than just A mod B. This rule, however, is not always applied: (a) The remainder operations by 19 and by 30 in [Argumentum 3] and [Argumentum 11] must yield 0, so that, for Y mod 19 = 0, the epact is 0 (as asserted in [Argumentum 14] and the table above) and not 29; (b) in [Argumentum 12], the remainder upon division by 7 can be "nihil".
Argumentum IX. De luna paschali mense Martio.
Si vis cognoscere quota luna festi paschalis occurrat; si Martio mense Pascha celebratur, computa menses a Septembri usque ad Februarium, fiunt VI. His semper adjice regulares II, fiunt VIII; adde epactas, id est adjectiones lunares cujus volueris anni, ut puta, indictionis tertiae XII, fiunt XX; et diem mensis qua Pascha celebratur, id est Martii XXX, fiunt simul L. Deduc XXX, remanent XX; vicesima est in die resurrectionis Domini.
Argumentum 9. On the Easter moon in the month of March.
If you want to learn which moon it is on which the feast of Easter occurs; if Easter is celebrated in the month of March, compute the months from September to February, yielding 6. To this always add the correction 2, yielding 8; add the epacts, that is, the lunar increments of the year you want, say 12 for the third indiction, yielding 20; and the day of the month on which Easter is celebrated, that is March 30, yielding together 50. Deduct 30, 20 are left over; the twentieth [moon] is on the day of the resurrection of the Lord.
This amounts to age of the moon on( Julian date(Y, March, D) ) = ( (Y mod 19)*11 + 6 + 2 + D )mod 30 = ( age of the moon on(Julian date(Y, March, 22)) - 22 + D )mod 30 if Easter is Julian date(Y, March, D). But of course it works for any day number D between 22 and 31, and for all year numbers Y, not just those of [Argumentum 7]. The year number for the example could be 0525. In this calculation and the following one for dates in April, Dionysius suggests that the epacts for year Y not only give the age of the moon at March 22, as stated in [Argumentum 11], but also at some day around September of year (Y - 1). Only late August and late September would work: Julian date(Y, March, 22) ~= 7 synodic month + Julian date( Y - 1, August, 27.29 or 28.29 ) ~= 6 synodic month + Julian date( Y - 1, September, 25.82 or 26.82 ) (where the second day numbers are to be taken iff Y is divisible by 4).
Mense Aprili. -
Si vero mense Aprili Pascha celebramus, computa menses a Septembri usque ad Martium, fiunt VII. His semper adjice II, fiunt IX. Adde epactas lunae anni cujus volueris, ut puta, indictionis IV, XXIII, qui fiunt XXXII, et diem mensis quo Pascha celebramus, id est Aprilis XIX, qui simul fiunt LI; deduc XXX, remanent XXI. Luna XXI est in die resurrectionis Domini.
In the month of April. - If however we celebrate Easter in the month of April, compute the months from September to March, yielding 7. To this always add 2, yielding 9. Add the lunar epacts of the year you want, say 23 for indiction 4, yielding 32, and the day of the month in which we celebrate Easter, that is April 19, which together yield 51; deduct 30, 21 are left over. The age of the moon is 21 on the day of the resurrection of the Lord.
This amounts to the same formula as above for the remaining year numbers: age of the moon on( Julian date(Y, April, D) ) = ( age of the moon on( Julian date(Y, March, 22) ) + 9 + D )mod 30 Thus, the age of the moon is supposed to increase by 1 for each day throughout the 35 day interval from March 21 until April 25 in which these formulae are applicable; this agrees with columns 6 and 8 in the table above. The year number for the example could be 0526.
Si requiras a Septembri usque ad Decembrem, tres semper in his IV mensibus regulares adjicias: in bissexto autem solummodo anno duos regulares suprascriptis mensibus adnumerabis, et pro XXXI die, XXXII annis singulis Decembri mense assumes in fine.
If you need it from September to December, you should always add the correction three in these 4 months: only in a leap year you also shall add the correction two for these months described above, and finally in non-leap years, for day 31 in the month of December you should assume 32.
This is probably meant as a recipe similar to the two above for the age of the moon on( Julian date(Y, January, D) ) = ( (Y mod 19)*11 + 4 + 3 + (1 or 2) + D )mod 30 where the "4" acts as the number of months from September to December, "3" is the the correction in every year, and the "(1 or 2)" comes either from the correction 2 for leap years, or, for non-leap years, it is an interpretation of the effect of assuming 32 days in December. The interpretation above is consistent with [Argumentum 11] since: Julian date( Y, January, 00 ) ~= Julian date( Y, March, 22 ) - 3 synodic month + (7.6 or 8.6) d (with 8.6 instead of 7.6 for leap year numbers Y).
Argumentum X. De die septimanae sanctae feria paschali.
Si vis cognoscere quotus dies septimanae est, sume dies a Januario usque ad mensem quem volueris, ut puta, ad XXX diem mensis Martii, fiunt LXXXIX. His adjicies semper unum, fiunt XC; et semper adde epactas solis, id est concurrentes septimanae dies cujus volueris anni, ut puta II, indictionis III, fiunt simul XCII. Hos partire per VII, remanet una: ipsa est dominica paschalis festi. Sic quamlibet diem a calendis Januarii usque ad XXXI diem mensis Decembris, quota feria fuerit, invenies computando, ut regularem unum et concurrentes, quae a Januario mense semper incipiunt, pariter assumas.
Argumentum 10. On the day of the holy week of the feast of Easter.
If you want to learn which day of the week it is, add the days since January until the month you want, say until March 30, there are 89. To this always add one, yielding 90; and always add the solar epacts, that is, the concurrents of the seven day week for the year you want, say 2 for the indiction 3, yielding 92 altogether. Divide those by 7, one is left over: this is the Sunday of the feast of Easter. In this way, if you venture to compute which day of the week it is for any day from the first of January until the 31st of the month of December, you should equally assume the correction one and the concurrents which always begin in the month of January.
The example date could be Julian date( 0525, March, 30 ), as can be seen from the table above. The example shows that the number of days from January to( Julian date( Y, January, 01 ) + D d) is meant to be D + 1 rather than D ("Roman inclusive counting"). With the solar epacts of [Argumentum 4], the formula given amounts to day of the week number( Julian date( Y, January, 01) + D d ) = ( D + 1 + 1 + 4 + Y + floor(Y / 4) )mod 7 = ( D + (Y - 1) + floor(Y / 4) )mod 7 which agrees with the correct formula of [Argumentum 12] only if Y is not divisible by 4, and otherwise is one day ahead.
Argumentum XI. De luna citimi paschalis.
Si vis scire quota luna sit in XI calendas Aprilis, sume annos incarnationis Domini nostri Jesu Christi, ut puta, DCLXXV. Hos partire per [XIX, remanent X; et multiplica decem per] XI, fiunt CX. Partire tricesima, remanent XX: vicesima luna est in XI calendas Aprilis. Si autem VII, septima; si asse, prima.
Argumentum 11. On the moon closest to Easter. If you want to know which moon it is on March 22, add the years since the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ, say 675. Divide those by [19, 10 are left over; and multiply ten by] 11, yielding 110. Divide by 30, 20 are left over: it is the twentieth day of the moon on March 22. And if 7 [is left over], then the seventh, if one, the first.
Only with the suggested correction (and allowing for remainders of zero) this yields age of the moon in year( Y )on March 22 = ((Y mod 19)*11) mod 30 which are the epacts of [Argumentum 3]. Thus, Dionysius Exiguus uses Julian date( Y, March, 22 ) as "sedes epactorum" (seating of the epacts). Besides these so-called Dionysian epacts, several other epacts have been used in computs for the same or a different Easter date, such as the Alexandrian epacts (8 + (Y mod 19)*11) mod 30, which, according to [Argumentum 13], would give the nominal age of the moon on the day preceding January 01.
Argumentum XII.
Si vis nosse diem calendarum Januarii, per singulos annos, quota sit feria, sume annos incarnationis Domini nostri Jesu Christi, ut puta, annos DCLXXV. Deduc assem, remanent DCLXXIV. Hos per quartam partem partiris, et quartam partem, quam partitus es, adjicies super DCLXXIV, fiunt simul DCCCXLII. Hos partiris per VII, remanent II. Secunda est dies calendarum Januarii. Si V, quinta feria; si asse, dominica; si nihil, sabbatum.
Argumentum 12.
If you want to find out which day of the week it is on the first day of January, for non-leap years, then add the years since the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ, say 675 years. Subtract one, 674 are left over. Divide those into the fourth part, and add the fourth part obtained by the division to 674, yielding 842 altogether. Divide those by 7, 2 are left over. It is Monday on the first of January. If 5 [are left over] then [it is] Thursday, if one, then Sunday; if nothing, Saturday.
This amounts to day of the week number of year (Y) on January 01 = ( (Y - 1) + floor( (Y - 1)/4 ) )mod 7 with 0 for Saturday, which is in fact the number for day of the week (Julian date(Y, January, 01)). This is true for leap year numbers Y as well.
Argumentum XIII. De luna calendarum Januarii.
Si vis scire quota luna sit calendis Januarii, scito quotus lunaris cyclus sit, verbi gratia cyclus XV. Tene tibi unum, id est ipsas calendas Januarii, et duces quinquies quinquies decies: faciunt LXXV; quos adjicies super unum, et fiunt LXXVI. Item duces sexies decies quinquies, faciunt XC; quos adjicies super LXXVI, et sic summa numerorum CLXVI; in quibus partiris tricesima, remanent XVI. Sexta decima luna est calendis Januarii, et puncti XVI. Isto modo per XIX cyclos lunares computabis semper, et calendis Januarii, quota sit luna, absque errore reperies.
Argumentum 13. On the age of the moon on the first of January.
If you want to know which moon it is on January 01, knowing which lunar cycle it is, for instance cycle 15. Retain one, which is for the same January 01, and take five fifteen times: yielding 75; to which you always add one, thus yielding 76. Now take six fifteen times, making 90, which you add to 76, thus the sum of the numbers is 166; divide these into the thirtieth [part], 16 are left over. It is the sixteenth moon on January 01, and 16 puncti. In this way you can always compute for the 19 cycles of the moon, and you will obtain without error the age of the moon on January 01.
For year numbers Y, and with the lunar cycle L = 1 + (-3 + Y)mod 19 from [Argumentum 6], this computation yields age of the moon on( Julian date( Y, January, 01 ) ) = ( L*5 + 1 + L*6 )mod 30 = (12 + ((-3 + Y)mod 19)*11 )mod 30 =(for Y mod 19 >= 3:) (9 + (Y mod 19)*11)mod 30 up to to the puncti (to be discussed below). Unless Y is divisible by 4, this agrees with the formula suggested at the end of [Argumentum 9].
Dum autem veneris ad XVII cycli lunaris, et duxeris quinquies decies septies, super calendas Januarii, qui faciunt LXXXV, si partiris sexagesima, et adjicies ipsum assem, fiunt LXXXVI. Deinde ducis sexies decies septies, fiunt CII. Eos adjicies super LXXXVI, et fiunt CLXXXVIII. [Adiicies unum, fiunt CLXXXVIIII.] Partire ibi tricesima, remanent IX. Nona luna est calendis Januarii, et puncti XXVI. Sic et in XVIII et XIX cyclo facies. A primo vero cyclo lunari, usque in sextum decimum, non partiris sexagesimam, ne in errorem incidas.
As soon as you shall come to lunar cycle 17, then take five times seventeen, after January 01, which makes 85, if you divide into the sixtieth [part], and add the resulting one to it, this yields 86. Meanwhile take six times seventeen, yielding 102. Those add to 86, and it yields 188. [Add one, yielding 189]. Divide this by thirty, 9 are left over. It is the ninth moon on January 01, and 26 puncti. In this way you also compute in cycles 18 and 19. From the first lunar cycle until the sixteenth you do not divide by 60 so as not to make an error.
For the Julian year number Y, this computation is said to apply if L = 1 + (-3 + Y)mod 19 is 17, 18, or 19, that is, if L = Y mod 19 + 17. With the addition of 1 as amended above in brackets, it yields age of the moon on( Julian date( Y, January, 01 ) ) = ( L*5 + floor(L/12) + L*6 + 1) mod 30 =(for Y mod 19 Apparently, a separate formula is given for 17 The separate multiplication by 5 in both computations above is very likely due to a formula of the type fractional age of the moon on( Julian date( Y, January, 01 ) ) = ( A + (Y - B)*30*235/19 )mod 30 = ( A + ((Y - B) mod 19)*(5*(1 + 1/95) + 6) ) mod 30 derived directly from the Metonic value for the synodic month. For integral B and suitable A it gives values for the age of the moon that are integral multiples of 1/95. The number 1/95 is close to a 1/96 = (1 punctus)/(1 d) (see [Argumentum 16]) which would explain the appearance of puncti in the age of the moon. Unfortunately, the text is not explicit about the computation of the puncti, and the two examples leave many possibilities open, such as: age of the moon on( Julian date( Y, January, 01 ) )in days and puncti = ( 11 + 42/96 + ((Y - 3) mod 19)*(5*(1 + 1/96) + 6) ) mod 30 or = ( 37/96 + ((Y - 2) mod 19)*(5*(1 + 1/96) + 6) ) mod 30 or = ( 19 + 32/96 + ((Y - 1) mod 19)*(5*(1 + 1/96) + 6) ) mod 30 And if we assume that the second example is meant to yield an age of the moon of 8 (rather than 9) plus 16 puncti, then we could have age of the moon on( Julian date( Y, January, 01 ) )in days and puncti = ( 8 + 27/96 + (Y mod 19)*(5*(1 + 1/96) + 6) ) mod 30 In all these formulae, the age of the moon increases by 11 + 5/96 per year except for the "saltus" of 11 + 6/96 once every 19 years. Thus, this Argumentum incompletely describes a kind of Alexandrian epacts that apparently already had been described more fully elsewhere; I do not know such a source, however.
Argumentum XIV. Quota feria luna XIV incidat cycli decemnovennalis anno primo.
Incipit calculatio quomodo reperiri possit quota feria singularis anni decima quarta luna paschalis, id est primi circuli decemnovennalis.
Argumentum 14. On which day of the week the fourteenth moon falls in the first year of the nineteen year cycle.
The calculation begins whereby one can find out on which day of the week the fourteenth paschal moon falls in a single year, this one being for the first circle of nineteen.
Anno primo, quia non habet epactas lunares, pro eo quod cum noni decimi inferioris anni XVIII, et suis XI epactis, addito etiam ab ¦gyptiis die una, fiunt XXX, id est luna mensis unius integra, et nihil remanet de epactis, et quod in Aprili mense incidit eo anno luna paschalis XIV, tene regulares in eo semper XXXV, subtrahe XXX, id est ipsa luna integra, et remanent V. Quinto die a calendis, hoc est nonis Aprilis, occurrit luna paschalis XIV. Tene suprascriptos V, adde et concurrentes ejusdem anni IV, fiunt IX. Adde et regulares in eodem semper mense Aprili VII, fiunt XVI. Hos partire per VII, id est bis septeni XIV, remanent II. Secunda feria occurrit luna paschalis XIV, et dominicus festi paschalis dies luna XX.
In the first year, which does not have lunar epacts, because to those 18 from the previous nineteenth year, and its 11 epacts, one day is added by the Egyptians, yielding 30, that is one full lunar month, so that nothing remains from the epacts, and so that in this year the 14th paschal moon falls in the month of April, in this year always take the correction 35, subtract 30, that is this full month, and 5 remains. The 14th paschal moon occurs five days from the Kalends, which is April 05. Take the 5 from above, and add the concurrents 4 of this year, yielding 9. And always add to this the correction 7 in the month of April, yielding 16. Divide those by 7, that is, two times seven is 14, 2 are left over. On Monday occurs the 14th paschal moon, and the Sunday of the Easter holiday on the day of the 20th moon.
For Julian year number Y, the rule first given is meant to be day of the 14th paschal moon in year( Y ) = April 35 - ( 16 + (-16 + (Y mod 19)*11 )mod 30 ) d for the special case Y mod 19 = 0. For all integral Y, this is equal to March 21 + ( 15 - (Y mod 19)*11 )mod 30 d which is in fact the first date >= Julian date( Y, March, 21 ) whose age of the moon is 14 according to [Argumentum 11], and using an increase in the age of the moon of 1 mod 30 per day. With the numbering of the days of the week as in [Argumentum 12], the second rule is: ( 35 - 16 - (-16 + (Y mod 19)*11 )mod 30 + day of the week( Julian date( Y, March, 24 ) + 7)mod 7 = ( day of the week( Julian date( Y, March, 24 ) - 3 + ( 15 - (Y mod 19)*11 )mod 30 )mod 7 = day of the week( day of the 14th paschal moon in year( Y ) ) The addition of 7 in this rule is of course unnecessary; it just ensures that X mod 7 is never evaluated with X The first sentence describes the "saltus lunae" when the epacts increase by 12 rather than 11 from year (Y - 1) to year Y with Y mod 19 = 0.
Anno secundo.
Item praefati circuli annus secundus, a quo sumunt exordium epactae XI. Incidit in eo anno luna paschalis XIV mense Martii. Tene XXXVI regulares in eo semper, subtrahe semper epactas XI, remanent XXV. Vicesimo quinto die a calendis Martii, quod est VIII calendas Aprilis, occurrit luna paschalis XIV. Tene suprascriptos XXV, adde concurrentes ejusdem anni V, fiunt XXX. Adde semper in fine hujus mensis regulares IV, hos partire per VII, id est septies quaterni XXVIII, remanent VI. Sexta feria occurrit luna XIV paschalis, et dominicus festi paschalis dies luna XVI.
In the second year. Now to the second year of the above mentioned circle, for which the epacts add up to 11 to begin with. In this year, the 14th paschal moon occurs in the month of March. In this [month], always take the correction 36, always subtract the epacts 11, 25 are left over. The 14th paschal moon occurs twenty five days from the beginning of March, that is, on March 25. Take the 25 from above, add the concurrents 5 for this year, yielding 30. Finally always add the correction 4 for this month, divide those by 7, that is four times seven or 28, 6 remain. The 14th paschal moon occurs on Friday, and the Sunday of the feast of Easter is the day of the 16th moon.
For Julian year number Y, the rule given first is day of the 14th paschal moon in year( Y ) = March 36 - ( (Y mod 19)*11 )mod 30 d and if the 14th mooon is in March, then this is again equal to March 21 + ( 15 - (Y mod 19)*11 )mod 30 d because ( (Y mod 19)*11 )mod 30
Anno tertio. -
Item mense Aprili saepe dicti circuli primi anno tertio. Tene semper in eo mense imprimis regulares XXXV. Subtrahe epactas ejusdem anni XXII, remanent XIII. Tertio decimo die mensis, id est idibus Aprilis, occurrit luna paschalis XIV. Tene hos XIII, adde concurrentes VI, fiunt XIX. Adde in Aprili semper inferius regulares VII, fiunt XXVI. Hos partire per VII ter septeni, XXI, remanent quinque. Quinta feria erit decima quarta luna paschalis, et dominicus dies paschalis festi luna XVII.
In the third year. In the third year of said first cycle, [the 14th moon occurs] also always in the month of April. For this month, always take first the correction 35. Subtract the epacts 22 of this year, 13 are left over. The 14th paschal moon occurs on the thirteenth day of the month, that is on April 13. Take those 13, add the concurrents 6, yielding 19. Then always add in April the correction 7, yielding 26. Divide those by 7, three times 7 [are] 21, five are left over. On Thursday was the fourteenth paschal moon, and the Sunday of the feast of Easter on the 17th moon.
These are the same rules as for the first year.
Ita singulis annis a primo usque ad nonagesimum quintum annum calculabis. Si quando mense Martio XIV luna paschalis incurrit, XXXVI regulares imprimis teneas, ex quibus epactas cujus volueris anni deducas, et concurrentes adjicias, et in fine: semper IV regulares augmentes. Aprili vero mense semper XXXV in capite tene, ex quibus, ut supradictas epactas, et adjectos ejusdem anni concurrentibus suis regulares in fine VII augmenta. Facilius namque et brevius omnia argumenta paschalia calculabis. Hoc tamen praeterea lectori sit cognitum, quoties in utrosque menses suprascriptos in prima regula contigerit, ut deductas epactas, amplius a XXX remaneant, dimitte XXX. Quod si unus aut duo, vel amplius superfuerint, tot dies ipsius mensis a calendis Januarii [? Aprilis] sit luna paschalis XIV. Quando autem (post) deductas epactas infra XXX [? XXI] ut puta XX, seu amplius minusve remanserit, quod semel in XIX annis accidere manifestum est, XXX die Aprilis erit luna paschalis XIV.
In this way you calculate for each year from the first to the nineteenth year. When the 14th moon occurs in the month of March, then you first take the correction 36, from which you deduct the epacts of the year you want, and add the concurrents, and finally you always add the correction 4. But in April you keep 35 in mind, from which [you take] the epacts mentioned above, and finally add the correction 7 increased by the concurrents of the same year. Thus you will calculate all the argumenta for Easter more easily and faster. Above all, let the reader know that, whenever it happens that more than 30 are left over when the epacts are deducted for any of the months described above to which the first rule applies, then dismiss 30. When one or two or more are left over, then so many days from January 01 [? April 01] is the 14th paschal moon. And if less than 30 [? 21] should be left over (after) the epacts have been deducted, say 20, or more or less, which is bound to happen once in 19 years then the 14th paschal moon will be on the 30th day of April.
The first part repeats the rules which have already been applied in the preceding paragraphs to the cases where Y mod 19 is
The last portion of the text contains several errors and seems to deal with the case when the "first" formula March 36 - ( (Y mod 19)*11 )mod 30 d is applied when the 14th paschal moon is in April, in which case it yields a date after March 31 or (a wrong one) before March 21. Thus, if 36 - ( (Y mod 19)*11 )mod 30 is > 30 then it is also > 31 and the 14th paschal moon is on April 00 + (5 - ( (Y mod 19)*11 )mod 30) d rather than on April 00 + (6 - ( (Y mod 19)*11 )mod 30) d as asserted in the text. And if 36 - ( (Y mod 19)*11 )mod 30 is
Argumentum XV. De die aequinoctii et solstitii.
Qua die natus est Dominus Jesus Christus secundum carnem ex Maria Virgine in Bethlehem, in qua incipit crescere dies. Aequinoctium primum est in VIII calendas Aprilis, in qua aequatur dies cum nocte. Eodem die Gabriel nuntiat sanctae Mariae, dicens: Spiritus sanctus superveniet in te, et virtus altissimi obumbrabit te. Propterea quod ex te nascetur, vocabitur Filius Dei. In qua etiam passus est Christus secundum carnem. Solstitium secundum est VIII calendas Julii, quando etiam natus est sanctus Joannes Baptista ex quo incipit decrescere dies. Aequinoctium secundum est VIII calendas Octobris, in qua die conceptus est Joannes Baptista. Et hinc jam minor efficitur dies nocte, usque ad natalem Domini Salvatoris. Ex VIII calendas Aprilis et in VIII calendas Januarii, dies numerantur CCLXXI. Unde secundum numerum dierum conceptus est Christus Dominus noster in die dominica VIII calendas Aprilis, et natus est in III feria XIII calendas Januarii Christus Dominus noster. In die qua passus est, fiunt anni CXXXIII [? XXXIII] et menses III, qui sunt dies XII CCCCXIIII. Unde secundum numerum dierum ejus stat cum III feria natum, et passum VI feria: natum VIII calendas Januarii, passum VIII calendas Aprilis. Ex quo baptizatus est Jesus Christus Dominus noster, fiunt anni II, et dies numerantur XC, qui fiunt DCCCXX, cum bissextis diebus suis, ac sic baptizatur VIII idus Januarii die, V feria, et passus est, ut superius dixi, VIII calendas Aprilis, VI feria. Cum bissextis diebus suis fiunt simul dies XII CCCCXV, et (ab) VIII idus Januarii in VIII calendas Aprilis dies XC.
Argumentum 15. On the day of the equinox and the solstice.
The day on which the Lord Jesus Christ was born into flesh from the Virgin Mary in Bethlehem is the one on which the day begins to increase. The first equinox is on March 25, when day is equal with night. On this very day Gabriel annunciates to Holy Mary, saying: The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee. Therefore also that which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. [Luke 1.35, courtesy King James] Also on this day Christ has suffered in the flesh. The second solstice is on June 24, from which the day starts to decrease, and also when Saint John the Baptist was born. The second equinox is on September 24, on which day John the Baptist was conceived. And right from then on until the birth of the Lord and Saviour, the day becomes shorter than the night. From March 25 and until December 25, the days number 271. And that number of days after our Lord Christ was conceived on Sunday March 25, our Lord Christ was born on Tuesday December 20. On the day on which he has suffered death, 133 [? 33] years and 3 months have elapsed, which are 12 [thousand] 414 days. And that number of days after his birth took place on a Tuesday, he suffered death on a Friday: he was born on December 25 and suffered death on March 25. From when our Lord Jesus Christ was baptized, there were 2 years and the days numbered 90, yielding 820, with its leap days, and so he was baptized on the day January 06, a Thursday, and suffered death, as I said above, on March 25, a Friday. With its leap days this yields 12 [thousand] 415 days altogheter, and 90 days (from) January 06 to March 25.
This Argumentum does not concern the determination of Easter but certain ecclesiastical dates connected with the life of Jesus. Moreover, the numbers and dates in the text of this Argumentum are not consistent with the rest of the liber. They are even inconsistent among themselves, and there is no obvious reading that would make them consistent. In fact, the inconsistencies are so easy to spot that we may assume that the author of this Argumentum was not even concerned with chronological correctness nor consistency with the preceding Argumenta. The rest of this comment indicates some of the inconsistencies. The date of birth of Jesus is given as December 25 several times, and once as December 20; there is also a reference to January 06 which is another popular date for nativity. The number of 271 days from conception to birth, as given in the text, would fit one of these, using "Roman inclusive counting": December 20 - preceding March 25 = 270 d = 38*7 d + 4 d but it does not fit December 25. On the other hand, if conception is on March 25 and on a Sunday, and birth is on a Tuesday, then birth has to be on December 25. The next time interval mentioned is given as 12 414 d and as 12 415 d. One has 12 414 d = 1773*7 d + 3 d = 34*365.25 d - 4.5 d = Julian date( Y + 34, March, 21) - Julian date( Y, March, 25) or = Julian date( Y + 34, March, 20) - Julian date( Y, March, 25) depending on whether floor( Y/2 ) is even or odd. This could be a miswritten value (some 4 d too small) for the time interval from conception to death, but it certainly is not any integral number of years plus 3 months as pretended. Assuming a different scribal error, it could also be meant as the time interval from birth to death: 11 414 d = 1630*7 d + 4 d = 31*365.25 d + 91.25 d = Julian date( Y + 32, March, 25) - Julian date( Y, December, 25) or = Julian date( Y + 32, March, 25) - Julian date( Y, December, 24) depending on whether Y is divisible by 4 or not. This can be said to be 32 years (but not 33 years) plus 3 months. If 11 413 d were actually meant ("Roman inclusive counting"), this would even be compatible with the days of the week Friday and Tuesday for death and birth (the other reading would not). However, these days of the week are inconsistent with the numbering of years since the incarnation: the year numbers closest to 0 yielding a Sunday for March 25 are Julian date( -0003, March, 25 ) and Julian date( 0003, March, 25 ) as can be seen easily from the table above and also from [Argumentum 4]. (We use the astronomical numbering of years.., -0001, 0000, +0001,.. for which the formula of [Argumentum 4] is always valid). The next time interval mentioned is 820 d = 117*7 d + 1 d = 2*365.25 d + 89.5 d = Julian date( Y + 3, March, 25) - Julian date( Y, December, 25) or = Julian date( Y + 3, March, 25) - Julian date( Y, December, 26) depending on whether or not Y is divisible by 4. While this could be considered as 2 years and 90 days "with its leap days", it is not consistent with the date January 06 for the baptism. 810 days would be consistent with that date but not with the day of the week Thursday for the baptism. The last time interval mentioned is Julian date( Y, March, 25) - Julian date( Y, January, 06) = 79 d or = 78 d = 11*7 d + 1 d depending on whether Y is divisible by 4 or not; only in the latter case can the two dates be a Friday and a Thursday. This is incorrectly given as 90 d = 12*7 d + 6 d, which happens to be Julian date( Y, March, 25) - Julian date( Y - 1, December, 25) unless Y is divisible by 4. Using the Easter dates of the table above for year numbers around 0562 it is also easy to see that March 25 never was a Good Friday in the years with numbers around 0030; Julian date( 0034, March, 26 ) is the closest.
Argumentum XVI. De ratione bissexti.
Bissextum non ob illum diem fieri, ut quidam putant, quo Josua oravit solem stare, credendum est: quia dies ille et fuit, et praeteriit. Sed ab hoc dicitur bissextus, quod in unumquemque mensem punctus unus accrescit. Punctus vero unus quarta pars horae est. IV vero puncti unam horam faciunt; XII vero puncti III horas explicant. Ergo in VI annis ternae horae, quae sunt XII, diem faciunt I, qui addatur Februario, cum VI calendas Martii habuerit, ut in crastino sic habeat. Verbi causa, si hodie VI calendas Martii additur ille dies in IV anno expleto; nihilominus et crastino VI calendas Martii habeatur. Et ideo bissextus dicitur, quia bis VI calendas Martii habet Februarius.
Argumentum 16. On the rationale of the leap day.
One must not believe what some people maintain, that the leap day has arisen from that day on which Joshua commanded the sun to stand still: that day has been and is long gone. But it is called leap day because it gains one punctus in each month. The punctus is indeed the fourth part of an hour. And 4 puncti make one hour; and 12 puncti explain 3 hours. Hence in 4 years three hours each, which are 12, making 1 day which is added to February, so that when it is February 24, it is the same the next day. For instance, if today is February 24 and that day is added if 4 years are complete; then it will nevertheless be February 24 tomorrow. And it is called bisextile because February has two times the th of the calends of March.
In this "explanation", a leap day accumulates from 1/48 d per month. Because 1 d is taken to be 12 h, the 1/48 d per month is taken to be 1 punctus = 1/4 h = 1/96 d = 1/48*12 h per month.
Sex diebus fecit Deus mundum, septimo requievit. Ut ergo plenius intelligatur, computa quot horas habeat unus dies [? annus], et divides illas in VII partes, et quantus remanet, exinde sit bissextus. Primum computa dies CCC, quomodo horas habent, decies tricenteni sunt tria millia. Iterum facis: bis tricenteni, sexcenteni: fiunt in tricentis diebus horae III DC. Iterum facis: decies sexageni DC, et bis sexageni CXX. Fiunt ergo in sexagenis diebus horae DCXX [DCCXX]. Iterum facis: decies quini L, et bis quini X. Ecce habes in quinque diebus horas LX. Fiunt simul integro anno in diebus CCCLXV horae IIII CCCLXXX, et alias tantas in nocte, fiunt simul dierum et noctium totius anni VIII DCCLX horae. Divide in illas VII partes. Primum facis: septies milleni VII, remanent I DCCLX. Item facis: septies ducenti, fiunt I CCCC, remanent CCCLX. Item facis: septies quinquageni, fiunt CCCL, remanent X. Item facis: septies as VII, remanent III. Istae tres horae faciunt in IV annis diem.
In six days God created the world, on the seventh he rested. So that this can be more fully understood, compute the number of hours one day [? year] has, and divide those into 7 parts, and the leap day shall come from what is left over. First compute how many hours 300 days have, ten times three hundred are three thousand. Then do: two times three hundred, six hundred: yielding 3600 hours in three hundred days. Then do: ten times six [is] 60, and two times sixty [is] 120. Thus, this yields 620 720 hours in sixty days. Then do: ten five times [is] 50, and two times five [is] 10. Thus you have 60 hours in five days. Together, a whole year in 365 days yields 4 [thousand] 380 hours, and as many also in the night, yielding with day and night together 8760 hours. Divide those into 7 parts. First do: seven times thousand [is] 7000, 1 [thousand] 760 are left over. Then do: seven times two hundred yield 1400, 360 are left over. Then do: seven times fifty yield 350, 10 are left over. Then do: seven times one [is] 7, 3 are left over. These three hours make a day in 4 years.
Here, a leap day accumulates from 1/4 d per year. And 1/4 d per year is "explained" with numerology: 1/4 d is taken to be 3 h (assuming that 1 d is 12 h) and explained as (365 d) mod (7 h) = (8760 h) mod (7 h) = 3 h which is correct only if we assume that 1 d is 24 h.
This text was translated by Michael Deckers, 2006, who has kindly placed it in the public domain. This file and all material on this page is in the public domain - copy freely. Updated 2024.
Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
SOURCE SECTION: dionysius_exiguus_easter_02_liber_de_paschate.htm
Dionysius Exiguus, On Easter, or, the Paschal Cycle (2003) - Latin text. Transcribed by Rodolphe Audette.
Dionysius Exiguus, On Easter, or, the Paschal Cycle (2003) - Latin text. Transcribed by Rodolphe Audette.
LIBER DE PASCHATE
PRAEFATIO
Domino beatissimo et nimium desideratissimo patri, Petronio, episcopo, Dionysius Exiguus.
Paschalis festi rationem, quam multorum diu frequenter a nobis exposcit instantia, nunc, adjuti precibus vestris, explicare curavimus. Sequentes per omnia venerabilium trecentorum et octodecim pontificum, qui apud Nicaeam, civitatem Bithyniae, contra vesaniam Arii convenerunt, et jam rei hujus absolutam veramque sententiam; qui quartas decimas lunas paschalis observantiae, per novemdecim annorum redeuntem semper in se circulum, stabiles immotasque fixerunt, quae cunctis saeculis, eodem quo repetuntur, exordio, sine varietatis labuntur excursu. Hanc autem regulam praefati circuli, non tam peritia saeculari quam Sancti Spiritus illustratione sanxerunt, et velut anchoram firmam ac stabilem huic rationi lunaris dimensionis apposuisse cernuntur. Quam postmodum nonnulli vel arrogantia despicientes, vel transgredientes inscitia, Judaicis inducti fabulis, diversam atque contrariam formam festivitatis unicae tradiderunt. Et quia sine fundamenti soliditate non potest structura ulla consistere, longe aliter in quibusdam annis dominicum Pascha et lunae computum praefigere maluerunt, inordinatos circulos ordinantes; qui non solum nullam recursus stabilitatem, verum etiam cursum praeferunt errore notabilem.
Sed Alexandrinae urbis archiepiscopus beatus Athanasius, qui etiam ipse Nicaeno concilio, tunc sancti Alexandri pontificis diaconus, et in omnibus adjutor, interfuit, et deinceps venerabilis Theophilus et Cyrillus ab hac synodi veneranda constitutione minime discesserunt. Imo potius eumdem decemnovennalem cyclum, qui enneacaidecaeteris Graeco vocabulo nuncupatur, sollicite retinentes, paschalem cursum nullis diversitatibus interpolasse monstrantur. Papa denique Theophilus, centum annorum cursum Theodosio seniori principi dedicans, et sanctus Cyrillus, cyclum temporum nonaginta et quinque annorum componens, hanc sancti concilii traditionem, ad observandas quartas decimas lunas paschales, per omnia servaverunt. Et quia studiosis et quaerentibus scire quod verum est debet ejusdem circuli regula fixius inhaerere, hanc post praefationem nostram credidimus ascribendam.
Nonaginta quinque igitur annorum hunc cyclum, studio quo valuimus expedire contendimus, ultimum ejusdem beati Cyrilli, id est, quintum cyclum, quia sex adhuc ex eo anni supererant, in nostro hoc opere praeferentes; ac deinceps quinque alios juxta normam ejusdem pontificis, imo potius saepe dicti Nicaeni concilii, nos ordinasse, profiteremur. Quia vero sanctus Cyrillus primum cyclum ab anno Diocletiani centesimo quinquagesimo tertio coepit et ultimum in ducentesimo quadragesimo septimo terminavit, nos a ducentesimo quadragesimo octavo anno ejusdem tyranni potius quam principis, inchoantes, noluimus circulis nostris memoriam impii et persecutoris innectere, sed magis elegimus ab incarnatione Domini nostri Jesu Christi annorum tempora praenotare, quatenus exordium spei nostrae notius nobis existeret, et causa reparationis humanae, id est, passio Redemptoris nostri, evidentius eluceret.
Hoc praeterea lectorem putavimus admonendum, quod circulus iste nonaginta et quinque annorum, quem fecimus, cum, finito tempore, in id ipsum reverti coeperit, non per omnia propositam teneat firmitatem. Nam licet anni Domini nostri Jesu Christi ordinem suum continuata serie custodiant, et indictiones per annos quindecim solita revolutione decurrant, epactas etiam, quas Graeci vocant, id est, adjectiones annuas lunares undecim quae triginta dierum fine in se redeunt, fixis regulis invenias adnotatas, decemnovalem quoque recursum, et paschales quartas decimas lunas, easdem omnium aevorum revolutione reperias; tamen tenorem similem constantiae nequeunt custodire concurrentes dies hebdomadum, et dies Paschae Domini, lunaque ipsius diei dominici. Concurrentium autem hebdomadum ratio, quae de solis cursu provenit, septeno annorum jugi circuitu terminatur. In quo per annos singulos unum numerare curabis; in eo tantummodo anno in quo bissextus fuerit, duos adjicies. Quae causa etiam facit ut non per omnia circulus iste nonaginta quinque annorum suo recursui concordari videatur. Nam cum in caeteris annis non dissentiat, in illis solis, in quibus se bissextus interserit, Pascha dominicum cum sua luna vario modo rationis occurrit. Sed hi qui ordine fixo per omnia decurrunt tempora, mobilium casum sua stabili circuitione sine ulla possunt difficultate dirigere. Et ideo post expletionem XCV annorum, cum harum rerum diligens ad exordium redire voluerit, non ad quintum cyclum sancti Cyrilli, quem nobis necessario proposuimus, sed ad nostrum primum vigilanter excurrat; et ordine quo diximus per eos qui firmum cursum retinent, eorum progressum, qui videntur titubare, sustentet.
Illud quoque non minori cura notandum esse censuimus, ne in primi mensis agnitione fallamur. Hinc enim pene cunctus error discrepantiae paschalis exoritur, dum temporis initium ignoratur. Nam cum Dominus omnipotens hanc sacratissimam solemnitatem celebrandam filiis Israel, qui ex aegyptia servitute liberabantur, indiceret, ait in libro Exodi ad Moysen et Aaron in terra aegypti: Mensis iste principium mensium, primus erit in mensibus anni. Itemque ibidem: Primo, inquit, mense, decimo quarto die mensis, ad vesperam comedetis azyma, usque ad vigesimum primum ejusdem ad vesperam. In Deuteronomio quoque idem legislator Moyses ita populum de hac re commonet, dicens: Observa mensem novarum frugum, et verni primum temporis, ut facias pascha Domino Deo tuo, quoniam in isto mense eduxit te Dominus Deus tuus de aegypto noctu. Tanta hac auctoritate divina claruit, primo mense, decimo quarto die, ad vesperam, usque ad vegesimum primum, festivitatem paschalem debere celebrari. Sed quia mensis hic unde sumat exordium vel ubi terminetur, evidenter ibi non legitur, praefati venerabiles trecenti et octodecim pontifices antiqui moris observantiam exinde a sancto Moyse traditam, sicut in septimo libro Ecclesiasticae refertur Historiae, solertius investigantes, ab octavo idus Martii usque in diem nonarum Aprilis natam lunam facere dixerunt primi mensis exordium; et a duodecimo die calendarum Aprilis usque in decimum quartum calendas Maii lunam decimam quartam solertius inquirendam; quae quia cum solis cursu non aequaliter volvitur, tantorum dierum spatiis, occursum vernalis aequinoctii consequatur, qui a duodecima calendarum Aprilium die, cunctorum Orientalium sententiis, et maxime aegyptiorum, qui calculationis prae omnibus gnari sunt, specialiter adnotatur. In quo etiamsi luna decima quarta sabbato contigerit, quod semel in nonaginta quinque annis accidere manifestum est, sequenti die dominico, id est undecimo calendas Aprilis luna decima quinta, celebrandum Pascha eadem sancta synodus sine ambiguitate firmavit, hoc modis omnibus admonens, ut ante duodecimum calendarum Aprilium lunam decimam quartam paschalis festi nullus inquireret; quam non primi mensis, sed ultimi, esse constaret.
Sed nec hoc praetereundum esse putavimus, quod nimis errant qui lunam peragere cursum sui circuli triginta dierum spatiis aestimantes, duodecim lunares menses, in trecentis sexaginta diebus numerant, quibus etiam quinque dies adjiciunt, quos intercalares appellavit antiquitas, ut solarem annum adimplere videantur; cum diligens inquisitio veritatis ostenderit, in duobus lunae circulis non sexaginta dies, sed quinquaginta novem debere numerari. Ac per hoc in duodecim lunaribus mensibus trecentorum quinquaginta quatuor dierum summam colligi, cui epactas aegyptii annuas, id est undecim dies accommodant; ut ita demum lunaris emensio rationi solis adaequetur. Quod verissimum esse atque certissimum, supra scriptorum Patrum sententia comprobatur, qui juxta hanc aegyptiorum calculationem, quartas decimas lunas paschalis observantiae tradiderunt. Sed nonnulli tantae subtilitatis, sive potius sanctionis ignari, dum alia supputationis argumenta perquirunt, a veritatis tramite recedunt. Unde plerumque contingit ut quam saepe dicti Patres decimam quartam lunam ponunt, eam isti decimam quintam suspicentur; et quae vigesima prima est, vigesimam secundam esse pronuntient. Sed nobis, quibus amor et cura est Christianae religionis, a tantorum pontificum constitutione nulla prorsus oportet ratione discedere; sed praefixam ab his paschalem regulam sincerissima convenit devotione servare.
Quanta vero in Ecclesiis toto terrarum orbe diffusis horum Patrum nitamur auctoritate, non labor est ostendere, cum sanctum concilium apud Antiochiam post tempora non ita longe conveniens, eorum primitus definitionem quam de paschali ratione protulerunt nullo modo violandam esse censuerit. Denique in sanctis canonibus sub titulo septuagesimo nono, qui est primus ipsius Antiocheni concilii, his verbis invenitur expressum: Omnes qui ausi fuerint dissolvere definitionem sancti et magni concilii quod apud Nicaeam congregatum est, sub praesentia piissimi et venerandi principis Constantini, de salutifera solemnitate paschali, excommunicandos et de Ecclesia pellendos esse censemus, si tamen contentiosius adversus ea quae bene sunt decreta perstiterint. Et haec quidem de laicis dicta sint. Si quis autem eorum qui praesunt Ecclesiae, aut episcopus, aut presbyter, aut diaconus, post hanc definitionem tentaverit, ad subversionem populorum et Ecclesiarum perturbationem, seorsim colligere, et cum Judaeis Pascha celebrare, sancta synodus hunc alienum jam hinc ab Ecclesia judicavit: quod non solum sibi, sed plurimis causa corruptionis ac perturbationis exstiterit. Nec solum a ministerio tales removet, sed etiam illi qui post damnationem huiusmodi communicare tentaverint, damnati sunt, omni quoque extrinsecus honore privati, quem sancta regula et sacerdotium Dei promeruit. His non dissimilia venerabilis papa Leo sedis apostolicae praesul, pronuntiat, dicens: Contra statuta canonum paternorum, quae ante longissimae aetatis annos in urbe Nicaea spiritalibus sunt fundata decretis, nihil cuiquam audere conceditur; ita ut si quis diversum aliquid velit decernere, se potius minuat quam illa corrumpat. Quae si, ut oportet, a cunctis pontificibus intemerata serventur, per universas Ecclesias tranquilla erit pax et firma concordia. Et iterum: In omnibus, inquit, ecclesiasticis causis, his legibus obsequimur, quas ad pacificam observantiam omnium sacerdotum, per trecentos octodecim episcopos Spiritus sanctus instituit; ita ut etiamsi multo plures aliud quam illi statuere decernant, in nulla reverentia sit habendum quidquid fuerit a praedictorum constitutione diversum.
Sufficienter, ut putamus, cunctis indicitur ne deinceps aliter quam a sanctis constitutum est Patribus sacratissimum Pascha celebretur. Quod si testimonia tantorum sacerdotum forsitan quis obstinata mente despexerit, etiam in historia ecclesiastica paria breviter intimata reperiet; multorumque relatione pontificum, et maxime beati Athanasii, cujus supra meminimus, haec eadem vulgata cognoscet. Id ipsum vero Epistola sancti Proterii, Alexandrinae urbis episcopi, ad eumdem papam Leonem, pro hac eadem paschali quaestione directa, testatur. Quam ante hos annos transferentes e Graeco, huic operi adnectendam esse prospeximus. Nec non et argumenta aegyptiorum sagacitate quaesita subdidimus, quibus, si forsitan ignorentur, paschales tituli possint facile reperiri; id est, quotus sit annus ab incarnatione Domini, et quota sit indictio, quotus etiam lunaris circulus, sive decemnovennalis existat, caeterique simili supputationis compendio requirantur. Orantem pro nobis beatitudinem vestram divina gratia custodire dignetur.
Explicit praefatio.
CYCLUS DECEMNOVENNALIS DIONYSII
Incipit cyclus decemnovennalis, quem Graeci Enneacaidecaeterida vocant, constitutus a sanctis Patribus, in quo quartas decimas paschales omni tempore sine ulla reperies falsitate; tantum memineris annis singulis, qui cyclus lunae et qui decemnovennalis existat. In praesenti namque tertia indictio est, consulatu Probi junioris, tertius decimus circulus decemnovennalis, decimus lunaris est.
ANNI quae epac- concur- quotus quae sit dies Domi- quota sit DIOCLETIANI sint tae, rentes sit luna XIIII nicae luna indic- id est dies lunae paschalis festivitatis ipsius tiones adjec- circu- diei tiones lus dominici lunae
CCXXVIIII vi nulla i xvii non.Apr. vii id.Apr. xvi CCXXX vii xi ii xviii viii k.Apr. iii k.Apr. xviiii CCXXXI viii xxii iii xviiii id. Apr. xiii k.Maii xx CCXXXII viiii iii v i iiii non.Apr. iii non.Apr. xv CCXXXIII x xiiii vi ii xi k.Apr. vii k.Apr. xviii CCXXXIIII xi xxv vii iii iiii id.Apr. xvii k.Maii xviiii CCXXXV xii vi i iiii iii k.Apr. ii k.Apr. xv CCXXXVI xiii xvii iii v xiiii k.Maii xiii k.Maii xv ogd. CCXXXVII xiiii xxviii iiii vi vii id.Apr. iii id.Apr. xviii CCXXXVIII xv viiii v vii vi k.Apr. iii non.Apr. xxi CCXXXVIIII i xx vi viii xvii k.Maii xvi k.Maii xv CCXL ii i i viiii ii non.Apr. vii id.Apr. xvii CCXLI iii xii ii x viiii k.Apr. iii k.Apr. xx CCXLII iiii xxiii iii xi ii id.Apr. xiii k.Maii xxi CCXLIII v iiii iiii xii k.Apr. ii non.Apr. xvii CCXLIIII vi xv vi xiii xii k.Apr. vii k.Apr. xviiii CCXLV vii xxvi vii xiiii v id.Apr. xvii k.Maii xx CCXLVI viii vii i xv iiii k.Apr. ii k.Apr. xvi CCXLVII viiii xviii ii xvi xv k.Maii xii k.Maii xvii hend.
ANNI quae epac- concur- quotus quae sit dies Domi- quota sit DOMINI sint tae, rentes sit luna XIIII nicae luna NOSTRI indic- id est dies lunae paschalis festivitatis ipsius JESU tiones adjec- circu- diei CHRISTI tiones lus dominici lunae
B DXXXII x nulla iiii xvii non.Apr. iii id.Apr. xx DXXXIII xi xi v xviii viii k.Apr. vi k.Apr. xvi DXXXIIII xii xxii vi xviiii id.Apr. xvi k.Maii xvii DXXXV xiii iii vii i iiii non.Apr. vi id.Apr. xx B DXXXVI xiiii xiiii ii ii xi k.Apr. x k.Apr. xv DXXXVII xv xxv iii iii iiii id.Apr. ii id.Apr. xvi DXXXVIII i vi iiii iiii iii k.Apr. ii non.Apr. xviiii DXXXVIIII ii xvii v v xiiii k.Maii viii k.Maii xx ogd. B DXL iii xxviii vii vi vii id.Apr. vi id.Apr. xv DXLI iiii viiii i vii vi k.Apr. ii k.Apr. xviii DXLII v xx ii viii xvii k.Maii xii k.Maii xviiii DXLIII vi i iii viiii ii non.Apr. non.Apr. xv B DXLIIII vii xii v x viiii k.Apr. vi k.Apr. xvii DXLV viii xxiii vi xi ii id.Apr. xvi k.Maii xviii DXLVI viiii iiii vii xii k.Apr. vi id.Apr. xxi DXLVII x xv i xiii xii k.Apr. viiii k.Apr. xvii B DXLVIII xi xxvi iii xiiii v id.Apr. ii id.Apr. xvii DXLVIIII xii vii iiii xv iiii k.Apr. ii non.Apr. xx DL xiii xviii v xvi xv k.Maii viii k.Maii xxi hend.
DLI xiiii nulla vi xvii non.Apr. v id.Apr. xviii B DLII xv xi i xviii viii k.Apr. ii k.Apr. xx DLIII i xxii ii xviiii id.Apr. xii k.Maii xxi DLIIII ii iii iii i iiii non.Apr. non.Apr. xvii DLV iii xiiii iiii ii xi k.Apr. v k.Apr. xx B DLVI iiii xxv vi iii iiii id.Apr. xvi k.Maii xx DLVII v vi vii iiii iii k.Apr. k.Apr. xvi DLVIII vi xvii i v xiiii k.Maii xi k.Maii xvii ogd. DLVIIII vii xxviii ii vi vii id.Apr. id.Apr. xx B DLX viii viiii iiii vii vi k.Apr. v k.Apr. xv DLXI viiii xx v viii xvii k.Maii xv k.Maii xvi DLXII x i vi viiii ii non.Apr. v id.Apr. xviiii DLXIII xi xii vii x viiii k.Apr. viii k.Apr. xv B DLXIIII xii xxiii ii xi ii id.Apr. id.Apr. xv DLXV xiii iiii iii xii k.Apr. non.Apr. xviii DLXVI xiiii xv iiii xiii xii k.Apr. v k.Apr. xxi DLXVII xv xxvi v xiiii v id.Apr. iiii id.Apr. xv B DLXVIII i vii vii xv iiii k.Apr. k.Apr. xvii DLXVIIII ii xviii i xvi xv k.Maii xi k.Maii xviii hend.
DLXX iii nulla ii xvii non.Apr. viii id.Apr. xv DLXXI iiii xi iii xviii viii k.Apr. iiii k.Apr. xviii B DLXXII v xxii v xviiii id.Apr. xv k.Maii xviii DLXXIII vi iii vi i iiii non.Apr. v id.Apr. xxi DLXXIIII vii xiiii vii ii xi k.Apr. viii k.Apr. xvii DLXXV viii xxv i iii iiii id.Apr. xviii k.Maii xviii B DLXXVI viiii vi iii iiii iii k.Apr. non.Apr. xx DLXXVII x xvii iiii v xiiii k.Maii vii k.Maii xxi ogd. DLXXVIII xi xxviii v vi vii id.Apr. iiii id.Apr xvii DLXXVIIII xii viiii vi vii vi k.Apr. iiii non.Apr. xx B DLXXX xiii xx i viii xvii k.Maii xi k.Maii xx DLXXXI xiiii i ii viiii ii non.Apr. viii id.Apr. xvi DLXXXII xv xii iii x viiii k.Apr. iiii k.Apr. xviiii DLXXXIII i xxiii iiii xi ii id.Apr. xiiii k.Maii xx B DLXXXIIII ii iiii vi xii k.Apr. iiii non.Apr. xv DLXXXV iii xv vii xiii xii k.Apr. viii k.Apr. xviii DLXXXVI iiii xxvi i xiiii v id.Apr. xviii k.Maii xviiii DLXXXVII v vii ii xv iiii k.Apr. iii k.Apr. xv B DLXXXVIII vi xviii iiii xvi xv k.Maii xiiii k.Maii xv hend.
DLXXXVIIII vii nulla v xvii non.Apr. iiii id.Apr. xviiii DXC viii xi vi xviii viii k.Apr. vii k.Apr. xv DXCI viiii xxii vii xviiii id.Apr. xvii k.Maii xvi B DXCII x iii ii i iiii non.Apr. viii id.Apr. xviii DXCIII xi xiiii iii ii xi k.Apr. iiii k.Apr. xxi DXCIIII xii xxv iiii iii iiii id.Apr. iii id.Apr. xv DXCV xiii vi v iiii iii k.Apr. iii non.Apr. xviii B DXCVI xiiii xvii vii v xiiii k.Maii x k.Maii xviii ogd. DXCVII xv xxviii i vi vii id.Apr. xviii k.Maii xxi DXCVIII i viiii ii vii vi k.Apr. iii k.Apr. xvii DXCVIIII ii xx iii viii xvii k.Maii xiii k.Maii xviii B DC iii i v viiii ii non.Apr. iiii id.Apr. xx DCI iiii xii vi x viiii k.Apr. vii k.Apr. xvi DCII v xxiii vii xi ii id.Apr. xvii k.Maii xvii DCIII vi iiii i xii k.Apr. vii id.Apr. xx B DCIIII vii xv iii xiii xii k.Apr. xi k.Apr. xv DCV viii xxvi iiii xiiii v id.Apr. iii id.Apr. xvi DCVI viiii vii v xv iiii k.Apr. iii non.Apr. xviiii DCVII x xviii vi xvi xv k.Maii viiii k.Maii xx hend.
B DCVIII xi nulla i xvii non.Apr. vii id.Apr. xvi DCVIIII xii xi ii xviii viii k.Apr. iii k.Apr. xviiii DCX xiii xxii iii xviiii id.Apr. xiii k.Maii xx DCXI xiiii iii iiii i iiii non.Apr. ii non.Apr. xvi B DCXII xv xiiii vi ii xi k.Apr. vii k.Apr. xviii DCXIII i xxv vii iii iiii id.Apr. xvii k.Maii xviiii DCXIIII ii vi i iiii iii k.Apr. ii k.Apr. xv DCXV iii xvii ii v xiiii k.Maii xii k.Maii xvi ogd. B DCXVI iiii xxviii iiii vi vii id.Apr. iii id.Apr. xviii DCXVII v viiii v vii vi k.Apr. iii non.Apr. xxi DCXVIII vi xx vi viii xvii k.Maii xvi k.Maii xv DCXVIIII vii i vii viiii ii non.Apr. vi id.Apr. xviii B DCXX viii xii ii x viiii k.Apr. iii k.Apr. xx DCXXI viiii xxiii iii xi ii id.Apr. xiii k.Maii xxi DCXXII x iiii iiii xii k.Apr. ii non.Apr. xvii DCXXIII xi xv v xiii xii k.Apr. vi k.Apr. xx B DCXXIIII xii xxvi vii xiiii v id.Apr. xvii k.Maii xx DCXXV xiii vii i xv iiii k.Apr. ii k.Apr. xvi DCXXVI xiiii xviii ii xvi xv k.Maii xii k.Maii xvii hend.
ARGUMENTA PASCHALIA
Incipiunt argumenta de titulis paschalibus aegyptiorum investigata solertia ut praesentes indicent.
Argumentum primum. De annis Christi.
Si nosse vis quotus sit annus ab incarnatione Domini nostri Jesu Christi, computa quindecies XXXIV, fiunt DX; iis semper adde XII regulares, fiunt DXXII; adde etiam indictionem anni cujus volueris, ut puta, tertiam, consulatu Probi junioris, fiunt simul anni DXXV. Isti sunt anni ab incarnatione Domini.
Argumentum II. De indictione.
Si vis scire quota est indictio, ut puta, consulatu Probi junioris, sume annos ab incarnatione Domini nostri Jesu Christi DXXV. His semper adjice III, fiunt DXXVIII. Hos partire per XV, remanent III. Tertia est indictio. Si vero nihil remanserit, decima quinta indictio est.
Argumentum III. De epactis.
Si vis cognoscere quot sint epactae, id est adjectiones lunares, sume annos ab incarnatione Domini nostri Jesu Christi, quot fuerint DXXV. Hos partire per XIX, remanent XII. Per XI multiplica, fiunt CXXXII. Hos item partire per XXX, remanent XII. Duodecim sunt adjectiones lunares.
Argumentum IV. De concurrentibus.
Si vis scire adjectiones solis, id est concurrentes septimanae dies, sume annos ab incarnatione Domini quot fuerint, ut puta DXXV; per indictionem tertiam et annorum qui fuerint quartam partem semper adjice, id est, nunc CXXXI, qui simul fiunt DCLVI. His adde IV, fiunt DCLX. Hos partire per VII, remanent II. Duae sunt epactae solis, id est concurrentes septimanae dies, per suprascriptam indictionem, consulatu Probi junioris.
Argumentum V. De cyclo decemnovennali.
Si vis scire quotus sit annus circuli X et IX annorum, sume annos Domini, ut puta, DXXV, et unum semper adjice, fiunt DXXVI. Hos partire per X et IX, remanent XIII. Tertius decimus est annus cycli decemnovennalis. Quod si nihil remanserit, IX decima est.
Argumentum VI. De cyclo lunari.
Si vis scire quotus cyclus lunae est, qui decemnovennali circulo continetur, sume annos Domini, ut puta, DXXV, et subtrahe semper II, et remanent DXXIII. Hos partire per X et IX, remanent X. Decimus cyclus lunae est decemnovennalis circuli. Quoties autem nihil remanet, nonus decimus est.
Argumentum VII. De luna decima quarta in mense Martio.
Si vis nosse quibus annis decemnovennalis circuli Martio mense, XIV luna paschalis incurrat: anno II, V, VII, X, XIII, XVI, XVIII, hos suprascriptos VII annos in Martio mense reperies; residuos vero XII, secundum regulam subter annexam, Aprili mense indubitanter calculabis.
Argumentum VIII. De bissexto.
Si vis scire quando bissextus dies sit, sume annos Domini, ut puta DXXV. Partire hos per IV. Si nihil remanserit, bissextus est. Si I aut II, vel III, remanent, bissextus non est. Ne tibi forsitan aliqua caligo erroris occurrat, per omnem computum per quem ducis, si nihil superfuerit, eumdem computum esse per quem ducis agnosce, ut puta, si per X et IX ducis, et nihil superfuerit, XIX esse; si per XV, quindecimum, et, si per VII, septimum.
Argumentum IX. De luna paschali mense Martio.
Si vis cognoscere quota luna festi paschalis occurrat; si Martio mense Pascha celebratur, computa menses a Septembri usque ad Februarium, fiunt VI. His semper adjice regulares II, fiunt VIII; adde epactas, id est adjectiones lunares cujus volueris anni, ut puta, indictionis tertiae XII, fiunt XX; et diem mensis qua Pascha celebratur, id est Martii XXX, fiunt simul L. Deduc XXX, remanent XX; vicesima est in die resurrectionis Domini.
Mense Aprili. - Si vero mense Aprili Pascha celebramus, computa menses a Septembri usque ad Martium, fiunt VII. His semper adjice II, fiunt IX. Adde epactas lunae anni cujus volueris, ut puta, indictionis IV, XXIII, qui fiunt XXXII, et diem mensis quo Pascha celebramus, id est Aprilis XIX, qui simul fiunt LI; deduc XXX, remanent XXI. Luna XXI est in die resurrectionis Domini.
Si requiras a Septembri usque ad Decembrem, tres semper in his IV mensibus regulares adjicias: in bissexto autem solummodo anno duos regulares suprascriptis mensibus adnumerabis, et pro XXXI die, XXXII annis singulis Decembri mense assumes in fine.
Argumentum X. De die septimanae sanctae feria paschali.
Si vis cognoscere quotus dies septimanae est, sume dies a Januario usque ad mensem quem volueris, ut puta, ad XXX diem mensis Martii, fiunt LXXXIX. His adjicies semper unum, fiunt XC; et semper adde epactas solis, id est concurrentes septimanae dies cujus volueris anni, ut puta II, indictionis III, fiunt simul XCII. Hos partire per VII, remanet una: ipsa est dominica paschalis festi. Sic quamlibet diem a calendis Januarii usque ad XXXI diem mensis Decembris, quota feria fuerit, invenies computando, ut regularem unum et concurrentes, quae a Januario mense semper incipiunt, pariter assumas.
Argumentum XI. De luna citimi paschalis.
Si vis scire quota luna sit in XI calendas Aprilis, sume annos incarnationis Domini nostri Jesu Christi, ut puta, DCLXXV. Hos partire per XI, fiunt CX. Partire tricesima, remanent XX: vicesima luna est in XI calendas Aprilis. Si autem VII, septima; si asse, prima.
Argumentum XII.
Si vis nosse diem calendarum Januarii, per singulos annos, quota sit feria, sume annos incarnationis Domini nostri Jesu Christi, ut puta, annos DCLXXV. Deduc assem, remanent DCLXXIV. Hos per quartam partem partiris, et quartam partem, quam partitus es, adjicies super DCLXXIV, fiunt simul DCCCXLII. Hos partiris per VII, remanent II. Secunda est dies calendarum Januarii. Si V, quinta feria; si asse, dominica; si nihil, sabbatum.
Argumentum XIII. De luna calendarum Januarii.
Si vis scire quota luna sit calendis Januarii, scito quotus lunaris cyclus sit, verbi gratia cyclus XV. Tene tibi unum, id est ipsas calendas Januarii, et duces quinquies quinquies decies: faciunt LXXV; quos adjicies super unum, et fiunt LXXVI. Item duces sexies decies quinquies, faciunt XC; quos adjicies super LXXVI, et sic summa numerorum CLXVI; in quibus partiris tricesima, remanent XVI. Sexta decima luna est calendis Januarii, et puncti XVI. Isto modo per XIX cyclos lunares computabis semper, et calendis Januarii, quota sit luna, absque errore reperies.
Dum autem veneris ad XVII cycli lunaris, et duxeris quinquies decies septies, super calendas Januarii, qui faciunt LXXXV, si partiris sexagesima, et adjicies ipsum assem, fiunt LXXXVI. Deinde ducis sexies decies septies, fiunt CII. Eos adjicies super LXXXVI, et fiunt CLXXXVIII. Partire ibi tricesima, remanent IX. Nona luna est calendis Januarii, et puncti XXVI. Sic et in XVIII et XIX cyclo facies. A primo vero cyclo lunari, usque in sextum decimum, non partiris sexagesimam, ne in errorem incidas.
Argumentum XIV. Quota feria luna XIV incidat cycli decemnovennalis anno primo.
Incipit calculatio quomodo reperiri possit quota feria singularis anni decima quarta luna paschalis, id est primi circuli decemnovennalis. Anno primo, quia non habet epactas lunares, pro eo quod cum noni decimi inferioris anni XVIII, et suis XI epactis, addito etiam ab aegyptiis die una, fiunt XXX, id est luna mensis unius integra, et nihil remanet de epactis, et quod in Aprili mense incidit eo anno luna paschalis XIV, tene regulares in eo semper XXXV, subtrahe XXX, id est ipsa luna integra, et remanent V. Quinto die a calendis, hoc est nonis Aprilis, occurrit luna paschalis XIV. Tene suprascriptos V, adde et concurrentes ejusdem anni IV, fiunt IX. Adde et regulares in eodem semper mense Aprili VII, fiunt XVI. Hos partire per VII, id est bis septeni XIV, remanent II. Secunda feria occurrit luna paschalis XIV, et dominicus festi paschalis dies luna XX.
Anno secundo. Item praefati circuli annus secundus, a quo sumunt exordium epactae XI. Incidit in eo anno luna paschalis XIV mense Martii. Tene XXXVI regulares in eo semper, subtrahe semper epactas XI, remanent XXV. Vicesimo quinto die a calendis Martii, quod est VIII calendas Aprilis, occurrit luna paschalis XIV. Tene suprascriptos XXV, adde concurrentes ejusdem anni V, fiunt XXX. Adde semper in fine hujus mensis regulares IV, hos partire per VII, id est septies quaterni XXVIII, remanent VI. Sexta feria occurrit luna XIV paschalis, et dominicus festi paschalis dies luna XVI.
Anno tertio. - Item mense Aprili saepe dicti circuli primi anno tertio. Tene semper in eo mense imprimis regulares XXXV. Subtrahe epactas ejusdem anni XXII, remanent XIII. Tertio decimo die mensis, id est idibus Aprilis, occurrit luna paschalis XIV. Tene hos XIII, adde concurrentes VI, fiunt XIX. Adde in Aprili semper inferius regulares VII, fiunt XXVI. Hos partire per VII ter septeni, XXI, remanent quinque. Quinta feria erit decima quarta luna paschalis, et dominicus dies paschalis festi luna XVII. Ita singulis annis a primo usque ad nonagesimum quintum annum calculabis.
Si quando mense Martio XIV luna paschalis incurrit, XXXVI regulares imprimis teneas, ex quibus epactas cujus volueris anni deducas, et concurrentes adjicias, et in fine: semper IV regulares augmentes. Aprili vero mense semper XXXV in capite tene, ex quibus, ut supradictas epactas, et adjectos ejusdem anni concurrentibus suis regulares in fine VII augmenta. Facilius namque et brevius omnia argumenta paschalia calculabis. Hoc tamen praeterea lectori sit cognitum, quoties in utrosque menses suprascriptos in prima regula contigerit, ut deductas epactas, amplius a XXX remaneant, dimitte XXX. Quod si unus aut duo, vel amplius superfuerint, tot dies ipsius mensis a calendis Januarii sit luna paschalis XIV. Quando autem (post) deductas epactas infra XXX, ut puta XX, seu amplius minusve remanserit, quod semel in XIX annis accidere manifestum est, XXX die Aprilis erit luna paschalis XIV.
Argumentum XV. De die aequinoctii et solstitii.
Qua die natus est Dominus Jesus Christus secundum carnem ex Maria Virgine in Bethlehem, in qua incipit crescere dies. aequinoctium primum est in VIII calendas Aprilis, in qua aequatur dies cum nocte. Eodem die Gabriel nuntiat sanctae Mariae, dicens: Spiritus sanctus superveniet in te, et virtus altissimi obumbrabit te. Propterea quod ex te nascetur, vocabitur Filius Dei. In qua etiam passus est Christus secundum carnem. Solstitium secundum est VIII calendas Julii, quando etiam natus est sanctus Joannes Baptista ex quo incipit decrescere dies. aequinoctium secundum est VIII calendas Octobris, in qua die conceptus est Joannes Baptista. Et hinc jam minor efficitur dies nocte, usque ad natalem Domini Salvatoris. Ex VIII calendas Aprilis et in VIII calendas Januarii, dies numerantur CCLXXI. Unde secundum numerum dierum conceptus est Christus Dominus noster in die dominica VIII calendas Aprilis, et natus est in III feria XIII calendas Januarii Christus Dominus noster. In die qua passus est, fiunt anni CXXXIII et menses III, qui sunt dies XII CCCCXIIII. Unde secundum numerum dierum ejus stat cum III feria natum, et passum VI feria: natum VIII calendas Januarii, passum VIII calendas Aprilis. Ex quo baptizatus est Jesus Christus Dominus noster, fiunt anni II, et dies numerantur XC, qui fiunt DCCCXX, cum bissextis diebus suis, ac sic baptizatur VIII idus Januarii die, V feria, et passus est, ut superius dixi, VIII calendas Aprilis, VI feria. Cum bissextis diebus suis fiunt simul dies XII CCCCXV, et (ab) VIII idus Januarii in VIII calendas Aprilis dies XC.
Argumentum XVI. De ratione bissexti.
Bissextum non ob illum diem fieri, ut quidam putant, quo Josua oravit solem stare, credendum est: quia dies ille et fuit, et praeteriit. Sed ab hoc dicitur bissextus, quod in unumquemque mensem punctus unus accrescit. Punctus vero unus quarta pars horae est. IV vero puncti unam horam faciunt; XII vero puncti III horas explicant. Ergo in VI annis ternae horae, quae sunt XII, diem faciunt I, qui addatur Februario, cum VI calendas Martii habuerit, ut in crastino sic habeat. Verbi causa, si hodie VI calendas Martii additur ille dies in IV anno expleto; nihilominus et crastino VI calendas Martii habeatur. Et ideo bissextus dicitur, quia bis VI calendas Martii habet Februarius.
Sex diebus fecit Deus mundum, septimo requievit. Ut ergo plenius intelligatur, computa quot horas habeat unus dies, et divides illas in VII partes, et quantus remanet, exinde sit bissextus. Primum computa dies CCC, quomodo horas habent, decies tricenteni sunt tria millia. Iterum facis: bis tricenteni, sexcenteni: fiunt in tricentis diebus horae III DC. Iterum facis: decies sexageni DC, et bis sexageni CXX. Fiunt ergo in sexagenis diebus horae DCXX. Iterum facis: decies quini L, et bis quini X. Ecce habes in quinque diebus horas LX. Fiunt simul integro anno in diebus CCCLXV horae IIII CCCLXXX, et alias tantas in nocte, fiunt simul dierum et noctium totius anni VIII DCCLX horae. Divide in illas VII partes. Primum facis: septies milleni VII, remanent I DCCLX. Item facis: septies ducenti, fiunt I CCCC, remanent CCCLX. Item facis: septies quinquageni, fiunt CCCL, remanent X. Item facis: septies as VII, remanent III. Istae tres horae faciunt in IV annis diem.
PROTERII, EPISCOPI ALEXANDRINI, EPISTOLA AD LEONEM PAPAM.
Domino meo dilectissimo fratri et consacerdoti Leoni, Proterius in Domino salutem
Piissimus et fidelissimus imperator noster Marcianus litteris nuper ad nos venerabilibus usus est, quibus asseruit aestimare quosdam non diligenter ascriptam diem festi paschalis, quae per octavam indictionem futuram, Domino praestante, celebranda est. Verumtamen non velut a se commotus hoc indicavit, sed quia scripta tuae sanctitatis acceperit. Et praecipiebat oportere nos causam diligenter inquirere, adhibita nimis tenuissima scrutatione, quae multum sollicitudinis ac studii contineret. Quapropter negligendum non fuit, quominus statim negotium ventilarem; quando ex illo jam tempore quo commonitorium tuae venerationis accepi, plurimam curam rei hujus habuerim; nunc legales libros inspiciens, nunc antiquorum doctorum instituta contingens; ex quibus possibile est hujusmodi computum investigare solertius. Sumens etiam et centenalem cursum Paschae, descriptum a beatissimo Patre et coepiscopo nostro Theophilo, omnemque decurrens, ita reperi diligenter integreque compositum, ut, quicunque ille sit, auctoritatem scripturae hujus quolibet modo reprehendere ac vituperare non possit. Erat enim inconsequens virum ita vigilantem Deoque charissimum, divinarum etiam ditatum scientia Scripturarum, in negotio tam magno ac necessario, praetermisso diligentiae labore, potuisse delinquere. Sed forte, sicut tua sanctitas scribit, mendosi codicis, aut librarii error est; et propterea nos oporteret diem sanctae illius festivitatis transferre, quod absit. Celebretur autem ita potius, ut centenarius annorum cursus ejusdem beatissimi Patris nostri et coepiscopi Theophili continet; qui antiquorum paginis omnino concordat, id est, die mensis Pharmothi, juxta aegyptios, qui est VIII calendas Maii. Et nos enim, et tota aegyptia regio, atque Oriens universus, sic ipsum diem celebraturi sumus, Deo praestante.
Ut autem non arbitremur absolute, quae nobis videntur, scribere seu velle firmare, inseruimus etiam causas huic epistolae, quibus tua sanctitas forte aestimet, non se debere reprehendere aegyptiorum Ecclesiae veritatem, quae mater hujusmodi laboris exstitit, diligenterque conscripsit. Olim quidem Dominus per Moysen tempus paschale significavit, dicens: Custodi mensem novorum, primum hunc esse pronuntians; sicut iterum dicit: Mensis iste vobis initium mensium primus erit in mensibus anni; et facies pascha Domino Deo tuo XIV die mensis primi. Sed qui haec per Moysen locutus est Dominus, plenitudo legis existens, quando dignatus est homo fieri, quinta sabbatorum, decima quarta luna mensis primi, in coenaculo cum discipulis pascha manducans, paulo post a Juda traditur: et sequenti die, XV luna crucifigitur, id est sexta feria; et ad inferos descendens, ad dispensationes salutis nostrae perficiens, vespere sabbati, lucescente dominico, resurrexit a mortuis; in quo die lunam primi mensis juxta Hebraeos, exstitisse manifestum est. Nos ergo Christiani, non solum XIV lunam in Pascha requirimus (hoc enim Judaei facientes, sine festivitate sunt); sed etiam resurrectionis diem Redemptoris nostri, qui est XVII luna praefati primi mensis novorum, sollicitius observamus. Quod si eodem modo plenilunium semper occurreret, quinta sabbatorum, quando Salvator pascha cum discipulis manducavit, omne tolleretur ambiguum. Quia vero lunae circulus ad solis cursum inaequalis est, et XIV luna paschalis in die dominico saepe contingit, non est autem possibile tunc festum celebrare; sed nec pridie, sabbato, luna XIII jejunium solvere; in septimanam sequentem differendum est; maxime cum habeamus intra eam XV lunam, quando, sicut scripsit Apostolus, pascha nostrum immolatus est Christus. Decima quarta namque luna primi mensis juxta Hebraeos, ut superius dictum est, Jesus pascha typicum manducavit; sequenti vero sexta feria, XV luna, ut ovis occisionis cruci pro nobis affixus est; et vespere sabbati, lucescente dominico, XVII luna, resurrexit a mortuis.
Quia ergo in solemnitate futura paschali, per VIII indictionem, XXII die Pharmothi mensis novorum, qui est XV calendas Maii, occurrit XIV luna die dominico, in septimanam differre convenit subsequentem. Habentes enim intra eam triduanum mysterium, hoc est XV lunam, quando crucifixus est Christus, quartaedecimae cohaerentem; nec non et XVI et sequentem decimam septimam; vigesimo quidem octavo die mensis Pharmothi, qui est IX calendas Maii, jejunia solvemus vespere sabbatorum. Sequenti vero lucescente dominico, XXIX die mensis ipsius Pharmothi, qui est VIII calendas Maii, festivitatem sincerissime celebrabimus.
Nam et priscis temporibus, si quando die dominico, decima quarta luna reperta est, in sequentem septimanam est dilata festivitas. Sicut in octogesimo nono et nonagesimo tertio anno a Diocletiani probatur imperio. Sic enim et tunc beatissimi Patres nostri fecisse declarantur (anno Christi 373). In octogesimo nono quidem anno ab imperio Diocletiani, superstite beatae memoriae Patre nostro episcopo Athanasio, cum XIV luna paschalis XXVIII die mensis Phamenoth, id est, nono calendas Aprilium die, provenisset, die dominico; in subsequentem translatum est hebdomadem; ita ut quinta die mensis Pharmothi, hoc est, pridie calendarum Aprilium, celebraretur Pascha dominicum. In nonagesimo autem tertio anno ab imperio ejusdem Diocletiani, cum XIV luna paschalis XIV die mensis Pharmothi, qui est V idus Aprilis, die dominico contigisset, in sequentem item septimanam dilatio facta est: ita ut dominicum pascha XXI die mensis Pharmothi, qui est XVI calendas Maii, solemniter ageretur. In centesimo quoque tertio anno ab imperio praefati Diocletiani (anno Christi 387), cum luna paschalis decima quarta Pharmothi XXIII die, qui est XIV calendas Maii, esset die dominico superventura; iterum septimana quaesita est, et dominicum pascha die mensis ipsius Pharmothi, qui est VII calendas Maii, constat esse celebratum, propter angustiam temporis imminentem. Item cum in centesimo sexagesimo anno (anno Christi 444) a Diocletiani imperio, XIV luna paschalis Pharmothi XXIII die, qui est XIV calendas Maii, occurrerit, tertia feria septimanae, et dominicum Pascha XXVIII die mensis ipsius Pharmothi, qui est nono calendas Maii, nos celebrasse meminimus.
Necesse est igitur, in CCLV anno a Diocletiani imperio, in futuro paschali festo indictionis octavae, vigesimo secundo die Pharmothi, qui est XV calendas Maii luna decima quarta, occurrente die dominico, in proximam septimanam, juxta praecedentem formam, convenienter extendi, ut XXIX die mensis Pharmothi, qui est VIII calendas Maii, dominicum celebremus Pascha, propter apprehendentem rursus angustiam; sicut Patres nostri fecerunt, decimas quartas lunas occurrentes die dominico, differentes. Nam si XXII die mensis Pharmothi, qui est XV calendas Maii, luna XIV, sicut dixi, saepius occurrente dominico die, Pascha celebremus, inveniemus pridie, id est sabbato, XXI die mensis ejusdem, qui est XVI calendas Maii, XIII luna tunc existente, non rite jejunia solvere. Nec enim in decima tertia luna comeditur pascha. Unde quia XXII die mensis Pharmothi, qui est decimo quinto calendas Maii, dominico die, decima quarta luna contingit; non autem convenit die dominico jejunare, quia hoc Manichaeorum est proprium: consequens est in proximam tendere septimanam, intra quam, ut diximus, habemus et XV lunam, quando crucifixus est Dominus, et XVI lunam, simul et XVII lunam, quando resurrexit a mortuis. Ita ut XXVIII die mensis Pharmothi, qui est IX calendas Maii, vespere sabbati jejunia pro more solvamus, et sequenti dominico, XXIX die mensis ipsius, qui est VIII calendas Maii, festum paschale celebremus.
Illud etiam necessario vobis innotescimus, quod in futuro anno CCLXV ab imperio Diocletiani, XIV luna rursus occurrente, XVIII die mensis Pharmothi, qui est XIV calendas Maii, dominicum Pascha XXVIII die mensis ipsius, qui est VII calendas Maii, Deo praestante, celebrabitur.
Sed nonnulli subtilitatem paschalis computi forsitan ignorantes, Judaicis seducti fabulis, aestimabunt nos in secundum mensem recedere, si festivitatem eatenus exigamus, nescio prorsus unde hoc asserentes. Nam XIV luna ipsius mensis occurrente XXII die mensis Pharmothi, qui est XV calendas Maii, quomodo querelam sustinebimus, quod in secundo mense Pascha celebremus? Judaei namque ignorantes Dominum, tempus quoque Paschae ignorant. Unde saepius a primo mense recedunt, et in XII mense Pascha celebrare se aliquatenus arbitrantur. Sed beatissimi patres nostri cyclum decemnovennalem certius affigentes, quem violari impossibile est, velut crepidinem ac fundamentum, et regulam, hunc decemnovennalem computum statuerunt: non juxta Judaeorum nunc indoctas atque ineptas actiones; neque secundum exterorum putativam fictamque prudentiam, sed secundum gratiam Spiritus Sancti instituti, in revolutione saepe memorati decemnovennalis circuli decimas quartas paschales lunas diligentius adnotarunt.
His itaque confectis, illud etiam oportet attendere, quod errent nimium qui primi mensis initium lunaris cursus a XXV die mensis Phamenoth, qui est XII calendas Aprilis, omnino esse constituunt: eo quod tunc initium verni temporis, ab his qui hoc invenire valuerunt cum omni diligentia praefixum esse videatur, et manifeste quidem secundum cursum solis, XXV die mensis Phamenoth, qui est XII calendas Aprilis, aequinoctium esse cognoscitur. Sed non oportet ab hoc aequinoctio primi mensis exordium, juxta cursum lunae, prorsus affigere. Alioquin per omnia solis circulo lunae discursus concordare debuerat. Verum quia cunctis habentibus intellectum certum est quod velocissimum lunae motum cursus solis minime consequatur, age jam nunc breviter, Deo praestante, dubios instruamus, quod in secundum mensem nullo modo possimus excedere. Si enim in aequinoctio, id est XXV die mensis Phamenoth, qui est XII calendas Aprilis, juxta cursum lunae, mensis constitueretur initium, rationis esset opinari nonnullos, in secundum mensem nos posse recedere. Nunc autem, quia XIV luna primi mensis per octavam indictionem, quae ventura est XXII die mensis Pharmothi, qui est XV calendas Maii, invenitur, certum est quod initium ejusdem mensis primi juxta lunae cursum nono die Pharmothi, qui est pridie nonas Aprilis occurrat. Cum ergo decima quarta luna, XXII die mensis Pharmothi inveniatur, qui est XV calendas Maii, dominicum pascha XXIX die mensis ipsius Pharmothi, qui est VIII calendas Maii, celebrantes, in secundum mensem minime recedimus, cum lunam tunc XXI indubitate habeamus. Quomodo igitur excurremus in mensem secundum, quandoquidem initium primi mensis juxta lunae cursum, sicut paulo ante dictum est, IX die mensis Pharmothi, qui est pridie nonas Aprilis, existat, et XIV luna, XXII die mensis ipsius, id est XV calendas Maii proveniat? Hoc autem ita declarato, certum est quod in secundum mensem nullatenus excurramus, XXIX die mensis Pharmothi, qui est VIII calendas Maii, dominicum pascha celebrantes.
Cognoscant itaque per tuam sanctitatem, qui in illis partibus ambigunt, quod legitime per octavam indictionem Pascha peragimus. Propterea enim scripsi, Patrum et in hoc ecclesiasticas formulas subsequens, et exinde occasiones rei hujus assumens. Sic namque et praecessores nostri, si quando dubietas orta est, praedicere festinabant, ut ubique consonanter ageretur sancta festivitas. Quod etiam nunc juxta priscam consuetudinem credimus in Domino praedicari in ecclesiis unam fidem, unum baptisma, et unam solemnitatem sacratissimam paschalem ab omnibus Christianis ubique celebrari in Christo Jesu Domino nostro; quia in ipso vivimus, et movemur, et sumus.
Transferre vero hanc epistolam in Latinae vocis eloquium, non satis certum esse putavimus; ne forte graecissantes potius apud nos, nec jam valentes haec diligenter exprimere, laederent veritatem, propter informem sermonem atque incongruum, et qui forte non ita possit ardenter scienterque transferri, sicut causa poscebat. Saluta eam, quae tecum est, fraternitatem. Te, quae nobiscum est, salutat in Domino.
EPISTOLA DIONYSII DE RATIONE PASCHAE.
Dominis a me plurimum venerandis, Bonifacio primicerio notariorum, et Bono secundicerio, Dionysius Exiguus salutem.
Observantiae paschalis regulam, diu sancto ac venerabili Petronio episcopo commonente, tandem stylo commendare compulsus, omnem deinceps ambiguitatem diversitatis, oppugnantiamque sublatam fore credideram: maxime quod sanctorum trecentorum octodecim antistitum qui apud Nicaeam convenerant auctoritatem totis nisibus insinuare curaveram, qui in illo concilio venerando decemnovennalem cyclum regulariter affigentes, quartas decimas lunas paschalis observantiae per omnia tempora lege suae revolutionis immobiles adnotaverunt. Sed quoniam sanctitas vestra, orta rei hujus quaestione, de archivo Romanae Ecclesiae, Paschasini, venerabilis episcopi, scripta, quem constat, pro persona beatissimi papae Leonis, sancto Chalcedonensi praesedisse concilio, ad eumdem papam per idem tempus directa nunc protulit, quae sanctis Patribus evidenti ratione consentiunt, haec praesenti indidimus operi: ut hujus etiam viri testimonio niteremur, qui manifesto miraculo venerabilium pontificum paschalia decreta confirmat. Quia vero in scriptis ipsius communium annorum et embolismorum mentio facta est, et a nonnullis haec ratio, quae ex Hebraeorum, ut fertur, traditione descendit, magnopere quaeritur, scire volentibus utrum huic paterna regula consonare videatur, necessarium duximus et hanc notitiam, ne probetur in aliquo dissidere, coacta brevitate digerere.
Noverimus itaque quia idem decemnovennalis cyclus per ogdoadem et hendecadem semper in se revolvitur. Octo namque et undecim ipse numerus explicatur. Ogdoas ergo, quae incipit a primo decemnovennali cyclo, qui est lunaris decimus septimus, hac ratione peragitur: ut annos primum et secundum communes, id est minores habeat; tertium embolismum, id est majorem; annum quartum et quintum item communes, sextum embolismum, septimum communem, octavum embolismum. Ac per hoc ogdoadis communes anni quinque et tres embolismi jugiter ascribuntur. Communis autem annus duodecim lunares menses colligit, qui dies trecentos quinquaginta quatuor efficiunt. Embolismus autem annus et lunas tredecim, et dies trecentos octoginta quatuor habere monstratur. Item hendecas hac lege decurrit. Incipit a nono cyclo decemnovennali, qui est lunaris sextus; cujus primus et secundus annus communis est, tertius embolismus, quartus et quintus communis, sectus embolismus, septimus et octavus communes, nonus embolismus, decimus communis, undecimus embolismus: sicque hendecas communibus annis septem, embolismis quatuor terminatur. Embolismorum autem ista ratio probatur existere, quia annorum communium videtur damna supplere, quatenus ad solare tempus lunaris exaequetur excursio. Quamvis enim anni solaris circulum per singulos menses luna circumeat, tamen ejus perfectionem duodecim suis mensibus implere non valet. Denique in annis communibus ad rationem solaris anni undecim dies lunae deesse cernuntur. In embolismis vero novemdecim diebus eumdem annum videtur solarem luna transcendere. Quapropter ogdoadis et hendecadis annos, juxta praefati circuli ordinem, in medium proferamus, et liquido probabimus per octo annos et undecim lunae cursum cum sole contendere, quando tot dies illa colligat quot ille cucurrerit.
In ogdoade diximus quinque annos esse communes, tres embolismos. Quinquies ergo trecenteni quinquageni quaterni, fiunt mille septingenti septuaginta; et ter trecenteni octogeni quaterni, mille centum quinquaginta duo, ac per hoc simul fiunt bis mille nongenti viginti duo. Similiter octo anni solares, si in summam redigantur, id est octies trecenti sexageni quini, et quadrans, faciunt simul bis mille nongentos viginti duos. Simili modo et hendecadis annos, qui sunt communes septem et quatuor embolismi, si in summam ea qua diximus supputatione congesseris, tantumdem pene reperies, quantum undecim solares anni conficiunt, hoc est quater mille quatuordecim. Haec est ergo embolismorum, sicut praediximus, ratio, ut incrementis suis communium annorum detrimenta compensent.
Sed jam pulcherrimam vobis atque praeclaram collectionem ipsius cycli decemnovennalis ostendam, per quam omnem deinceps ambiguitatem, si qua mota fuerit, auferatis: nec sit ita quis nimio stupore perculsus, qui demonstrata sibi veritatis luce non gaudeat, et ignorantiae relictis tenebris, tantae rationi protinus non acquiescat. A decima quinta luna paschalis festi, anni, verbi gratia, praecedentis, usque ad decimam quartam sequentis Paschae, si communis annus est, trecentos quinquaginta quatuor dies habebit; si embolismus, trecentos octoginta quatuor. Quod si dies unus plus minusve contigerit, evidens error est. Excepto videlicet anno primo saepe dicti decemnovennalis cycli, quem a decima quarta luna Paschae ultimi, id est nonidecimi anni, usque ad decimam quartam ejusdem primi numerare curamus. Propter quod idem ultimus epactas, id est adjectiones lunares, octodenas tunc retinens, primo anno, non undecim, ut in caeteris annis fieri solet, sed duodecim dies accommodat. Et quia triginta dierum fine volvuntur, nulla epacta in principio ipsius cycli ponitur, secundus autem annus epactas undecim suspicit: et ideo, sicut diximus, a decima quinta luna Paschae primi cycli, usque ad finem ejus, in communibus et embolismis annis praefixos dies nos invenire non dubium est. Quod si aliter aliquando calculantium imperitia fuerit fortassis expositum, hac observantia ratiocinationis eorum falsitas arguetur.
Atque ut hoc manifestius possit intelligi, praesentis anni exemplo monstremus. Indictio quippe quarta est, et lunaris circulus undecimus; decemnovennalis cyclus decimus quartus. Et quoniam hendecadis sextus annus est, cum embolismum esse necesse est. A decima quinta itaque luna praeteriti festi usque ad decimam quartam praesentis, quot sunt dies diligentius inquiramus, et inveniemus procul dubio quando Pascha celebrare debeamus. Transacto anno per indictionem tertiam (in Pascha) lunam decimam quartam nono calendarum Aprilium die, is est vigesimo quarto mensis Martii fuisse, quis dubitet, qui curam hujus rei habere quantulumcunque cognoscitur? Et ideo ab octavo calendarum Aprilium die numerandi sumamus exordium: habemus Martii dies septem, Aprilis triginta, Maii triginta et unum, Junii triginta, Julii triginta et unum, Augusti triginta et unum, Septembris triginta, Octobris triginta et unum, Novembris triginta, Decembris triginta et unum, Januarii triginta et unum, Februarii viginti octo, Martii triginta et unum, Aprilis duodecim dies, quod est pridie idus Aprilis. Fiunt simul trecenti octoginta quatuor. Quod si, juxta eorum definitionem qui lunam aliter quam se veritas habet computant, decimam quartam, non pridie iduum Aprilium, sed tertio iduum demus occurrere, trecenti octoginta tres dies imminuto numero colligentur; quod nullo fieri pacto conceditur. Et ita semper quoties dubitatio talis occurrerit, a decima quinta luna transactae festivitatis, usque in decimam quartam Paschae, quod quaerimus, dies sollicite computemus. Et si communis annus est, trecentos quinquaginta quatuor dies; si embolismus est, trecentos octoginta quatuor inveniemus: nec inaequalitas prorsus eveniet, quia regula cycli hujus hac ratione subsistit, cujus enucleatam formulam subjecta descriptione pandemus.
Anno decemnovennali circuli primo, lunaris decimo septimo, a decimo quinto calendas Maii usque in nonas Aprilis, quia communis annus est, fiunt dies trecenti quinquaginta quatuor.
Anno decemnovennalis circuli secundo, lunaris decimo octavo, ab octavo idus Aprilis usque in octavum calendas Aprilis, quia communis annus est, fiunt dies trecenti quinquaginta quatuor.
Anno decemnovennalis circuli tertio, lunaris decimo nono, a septimo calendas Aprilis usqye in idus Aprilis, quia embolismus est, fiunt dies trecenti octoginta quatuor.
Anno decemnovennalis circuli quarto, lunaris primo, a decimo octavo calendas Maii usque in quartum nonas Aprilis, quia communis est, fiunt dies trecenti quinquaginta quatuor.
Anno decemnovennalis circuli quinto, lunaris secundo, a tertio nonas Aprilis usque in undecimum calendas Aprilis, quia communis est, fiunt dies trecenti quinquaginta quatuor.
Anno decemnovennalis circuli sexto, lunaris tertio, a decimo calendas Aprilis usque in quartum idus Aprilis, quia embolismus est, fiunt dies trecenti octoginta quatuor.
Anno decemnovennalis circuli septimo, lunaris quarto, a tertio idus Aprilis usque in tertium calendas Aprilis, quia communis est, fiunt dies trecenti quinquaginta quatuor.
Anno decemnovennalis circuli octavo, lunaris quinto, a pridie calendas Aprilis usque in decimum quartum calendas Maii, quia embolismus est, fiunt dies trecenti octoginta quatuor.
Anno decemnovennalis circuli nono, lunaris sexto, a decimo tertio calendas Maii usque in septimum idus Aprilis, quia communis est, fiunt dies trecenti quinquaginta quatuor.
Anno decemnovennalis circuli decimo, lunaris septimo, a sexto idus Aprilis usque in sextum calendas Aprilis, quia communis est, fiunt dies trecenti quinquaginta quatuor.
Anno decemnovennalis circuli undecimo, lunaris octavo, a quinto calendas Aprilis usque in decimum septimum calendas Maii, quia embolismus est, fiunt dies trecenti octoginta quatuor.
Anno decemnovannalis circuli duodecimo, lunaris nono, a decimo sexto calendas Maii, usque in pridie nonas Aprilis, quia communis est, fiunt dies trecenti quinquaginta quatuor.
Anno decemnovennalis circuli decimo tertio, lunaris decimo, a nonis Aprilis usque in nonum calendas Aprilis, quia communis est, fiunt dies trecenti quinquaginta quatuor.
Anno decemnovennalis circuli decimo quarto, lunaris undecimo, ab octavo calendas Aprilis usque in secundum idus Aprilis, quia embolismus est, fiunt dies trecenti octoginta quatuor.
Anno decemnovennalis circuli decimo quinto, lunaris duodecimo, ab idibus Aprilis usque in calendas Aprilis, quia communis est, fiunt dies trecenti quinquaginta quatuor.
Anno decemnovennalis circuli decimo sexto, lunaris decimo tertio, a quarto nonas Aprilis usque in duodecimum calendas Aprilis, quia communis est, fiunt dies trecenti quinquaginta quatuor.
Anno decemnovennalis circuli decimo septimo, lunaris decimo quarto, ab undecimo calendas Aprilis usque in quintum idus Aprilis, quia embolismus est, fiunt dies trecenti octoginta quatuor.
Anno decemnovennalis circuli decimo octavo, lunaris decimo quinto, a quarto idus Aprilis, usque in quartum calendas Aprilis, quia communis est, fiunt dies trecenti quinquaginta quatuor.
Anno decemnovennalis circuli decimo nono, lunaris decimo sexto, a tertio calendas Aprilis usque in decimum quintum calendas Maii, quia embolismus est, fiunt dies trecenti octoginta quatuor.
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Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
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Jacob of Serugh, Homily extracts, tr. by R.H.Connolly. The Downside Review 27 (1908) pp.278-287
Jacob of Serugh, Homily extracts, tr. by R.H.Connolly. The Downside Review 27 (1908) pp.278-287
|278
A HOMILY of MAR JACOB of SERÛGH ON THE RECEPTION OF THE HOLY MYSTERIES
By DOM HUGH CONNOLLY, O.S.B.
JACOB, the "gentle and studious" Bishop of Batnan, chief city of Serûgh, a district which lay a little to the east of the river Euphrates, and south-west of Edessa, was born at the village of Kurtam on the Euphrates in the year 451 a.d. He was for many years periodeutes, or visitor, of his district, and was made bishop only late in life (A.D. 519). He died on November 29, 521 1. Jacob was a Monophysite; but he seldom alludes to the great controversy of his day. So little are his writings tainted with the heresy of Eutyches that, like those of his Nestorian contemporary Narsai, many of them are at the present day published without retouching for the use of the Catholic Syrians. Of the remains of his numerous metrical Homilies, all written in the twelve-syllable verse, 145 have recently been published in four volumes by Father Paul Bedjan, to whose accurate scholarship and unflagging energy in editing valuable Syriac texts the world owes so much. The following discourse, which has not before been translated into English----or, so far as I am aware, into any other language----is to be found in vol. in (published 1907) pp. 646ff. It needs no further introduction than the remark that a few passages, which seemed to add nothing to the interest of the poem, have been omitted for the sake of economizing space. A short passage from another Homily is quoted at the end as illustrating the writer's views on the doctrine of the Real Presence of our Lord in the Holy Eucharist. |279
----
Come, ye discerning, let us delight to-day in the teaching the taste whereof is sweeter than honey and the honeycomb.
(p. 648) The Church in the world is a great harbour, full of peace; whoso toileth, let him come in and rest at her table, (p. 649) Her doors are open, and her eye is good, and her heart is wide. Her table is full, and sweet is her mingled (cup) to them that are worthy. Ye lovers of the world, come in from wandering in the evil world, and rest in the inn that is full of comfort to him that enters it. Thou weary labourer, that strivest to enrich thyself by vexatious toilings, why runnest thou after riches that cannot be held fast. O thou rich, that goest astray with thy riches, possess God, and hate the wealth that after a little while shall not be thine. O thou unquiet soul, that cleavest after gold, woe to thee for that which spendeth thee with thy toiling after it! O thou that art greedy of mammon, incline thine ear hither, and cast from thee that grievous load which profiteth thee not.
(p. 650) Come to prayer, and bring with thee thy whole self. Let not thy mind remain in the market about thy business. If thou art here, let also thine inner man (p. 651) be here within the doors of the crowned (bride).2 Why is thy thought gone forth and distracted after affairs, so that when thou art here thou art not here, but there? Without amid the markets thy mind is wandering, (taken up) with reckonings and profits; fetch it, that it may come in and ask for its Life. Stand not with one half of thee within and one half without, lest when thou art divided thy prayer lose itself betwixt the two parts. Stand at prayer a united and complete and true man, and all whatsoever thou askest thou canst obtain from God. Why art thou impatient to be off when He has not given to thee? Stay long and knock at the Physician, and beseech Him, and bring the tears of repentance and besprinkle His doorstep; entreat much; and if for love He give not to thee, yet to importunity He will not be able to deny all her requests. Be insistent at the Physician's door, and give not over; for if thou be backward He will not bind thee up. Why standest thou still? Importunity knows how to obtain mercy of Him; and unless He give to her she will not suffer Him to depart.
O thou penitent, be insistent; and whatever thou dost ask, thou shalt receive it from the Giver of all things good. Why art thou impatient to be gone about thy business? (p. 652) Why art thou disquieted to depart and go about thine affairs? Why runnest thou after the world which may not be kept fast? Why hast thou spent thy days in vanity? Why are the hours of the Church esteemed by thee as |280 idleness? Why is not the service accounted by thee as a banquet? Why art thou diligent when thou doest thine own work, but here remiss and cold and slack in asking?
Mercy hath brought thee in to this house that is full of profit; think it not loss if thou remain long herein. Be patient and listen to the sound of the Psalms which the finger of prophecy played (lit., "smote") to the words of David. Hearken to the Hymns (Madhrâshê) sung by chaste women with voices of praise, which the wisdom of the Highest has given to the congregations. Hear the Prophets who, as it were through pipes of choice gold, pour forth from their mouths life into the ears of men. (p. 653) Hearken to the Apostles who, like the channels of rivers, arc opened and water the King's garden with lofty streams.3 Bend thine ear to the pulpit (bêmâ) of the Godhead, and receive from it precious pearls. Learn and give assent to the (two) Testaments, rivers both which hold for thee life unending. Hear the New, and hearken to the Old; and see that in both one truth is spoken unto thee. Lo, thou hearest from the Old of the four rivers which flowed from the blessed source of Eden; and again in the New (thou hast) the Apostles like four rivers, who went forth into the four corners (of the world) and watered them.
Life flows from the service of the house of God; (p. 654) ye lovers of life, refuse not the profit that comes thereof. The soul of man is receptive of impressions (lit., "operations"), and in whatsoever she meditates, she is dyed withal and becomes (the colour) of the same. When she hears the dirges of the wailing women, she overflows with grief and pours out tears over the departed; and when again she hears the songs and jests of the actors she waxes wanton, that with a loud voice she may pour forth laughter. When she hears evil reports, dread comes upon her; but if she hears good tidings, she is glad. And every wind that blows towards her moves her; and in whatsoever direction it be, each time she turns. When, then, she hears the sound of the service of God's house, spiritually she is moved with love towards God; and as it were she despises the evil world and its affairs, and comes in and mingles with these godly meditations; and she cleaves to and loves that spiritual conversation. She contemns the world and its affairs and its doings; and she is steeped in these voices of holiness,4 and all carnal thoughts depart from her. And the soul contemns the love of the world and its pleasures, and thoughts of wantonness and remissness. And when she hears these voices that are sung to her, (p. 655) she is chaste and lowly and full of hope and moderation. Wherefore it is |281 right that he who enters in to give himself to prayer should be long in God's house.
The Church in the world is like a scribe to men; and she teaches and makes them wise, and binds up the sores of all who come to her. And from her teaching the soul draws light, that she may overcome the darkness of death when it meets her. Come, enter, ye foolish, that were stained with lusts, and furbish your lives with the doctrine of the daughter of lights. Be not impatient to be gone from the supper which the bride of the whole world has made, that we should delight therein. Go not forth as soon as the consecration is (begun) 5 in the sanctuary; for thou art a son of the household, not a stranger, that thou shouldst depart. When thou hearest: "Whoso has not received the sign (rushmâ), let him depart"; do not thou depart, who art signed, yea, and brought near. Be thou one of the household at the hour of these Mysteries; do not thou get up and go forth and become as one of the externs. Thou art signed with the sign, thou art stamped with the stamp, among the brethren thou art written: why shouldst thou go forth with the unsigned, as one that cometh short? "Him who is not baptised " the priest drives out when he is about to consecrate, not thee does he drive out, who art one baptized in (lit., "of") the Divinity.6 Baptism, daughter of lights, is the King's sign, (p. 656) and thou hast put on the great sign: why shouldst thou go forth? With the oil they have signed thee, with the cross of light thy face is signed: it is to " him that is not signed " as thou art signed that they say, "Let him go forth." The sign of life has made thee a brother of the Only-begotten and a son of His Father; and thou art in the household: thou shouldst not go forth. Remain within the door, and cry, "Abba, our Father"; for thou, being a son, it is permitted to thee to cry, "Our Father." "Whoso is not baptized"----for this reason do they drive him out when the consecration is (begun), that it is not permitted to him to call the Heavenly One " our Father." And " whoso is not baptized," his number is not set among the sons; and if he should call the Father " our Father " it is a lie. And for this cause they say, " Whoso has not received the sign, let him depart," that a lie may not be uttered among them that are true. Forth they drive him if he is not born with the second birth, lest he should dare to cry, "Our Father," with the many, and make use of a word that is full of lying in the pure congregation, which daily sings those things that are true. Wherefore, when they drive out that unbaptized one, do thou enter in, for it is easy for thee to cry, "Our Father." Thou art |282 born with the second, the spiritual birth: it is fitting for thee to cry, "Our Father": stay and cry it.
The Bridegroom is coming down to see the bride betrothed to Him; (p. 657) abide, O soul, in the midst of the bride-chamber, that He may see thee here. Go not forth from the chamber of the Bridegroom, the King, who is coming down to see thee, bearing riches from the house of His Father. The priest, whom thou hast sent, has called Him: wait for Him; for if He come and see thee not, He will be angry. Together with the priest the whole people beseeches the Father that He will send His Son, that he may come down (and dwell upon the oblation. And the Holy Spirit, His Power, lights down 7 in the bread and wine, and sanctifies (or "consecrates") it, yea, makes it the Body and the Blood.8 And every one who is in the house bestirs himself, that he may cry,"Our Father"; and the new sons sanctify and bless Him. And by His brooding He mingles them holily, and they become one with Him, as it is written, mystically. But he who goes forth with the hearers 9, what will he do when they petition Him 10 in in the house, and he is not (there) to cry, "Our Father." He has cut Himself off; none (else) has cut him off from the brooding. What then has he found in the market-places whither he is roaming? Despise business, and despise profits which cannot be held fast, and at the hour of the Mysteries abide in the house of God. Your enemy is watching, and is athirst for your blood, and so far as he is able he will cut you off from things profitable. (p. 658) When these Mysteries full of life are administered, he fabricates apprehensions of all sorts of losses, and with all manner of devices he, by his subtlety, drives thee forth, that thou mayest be removed from that congregation which is crying "Holy."
Satan is distressed by these voices of holiness 11; and if he could he would drive the whole world forth.. There would not remain one man |283 in the holy place 12 to cry, "Our Father."... In that hour when the bride cries out, "Forgive me my 13 debts" he knows that the Bridegroom, the King, is full of mercy, and that He hears her (the bride), and He forgives her who died for her. Wherefore Satan is concerned and uses much pains to drive men out of the holy place at the time of the Mysteries, lest when the whole congregation cries out, "Forgive me my debts," the sinner also present himself and be justified. For when the Gift comes forth from God, He gives it to him who is worthy and to him who is unworthy. His grace (or "favour"), when He pours it forth, is like to the sun and the rain, and He has mercy for sinners and for the righteous. And when the congregation asks mercy of God (p. 659) the sinners also who are therein are enriched from His Gift. When the whole congregation asks grace of God, He withholds it not even from the bad who are found therein. But the Evil One strives to steal away men at the time of the Mysteries, that he may cut them off from the Gift of God's house; and he darkens the soul with restless and cowardly thoughts, and with worldly notions he chokes the mind. It may be he reminds thee of some business thou hadst forgotten, and chokes the soul with anxety concerning that matter, and with some weak thought stirs thee up to depart from the holy place about the unprofitable business. And that thought from Satan drags thee and pulls thee and brings thee forth and makes thee void of profit.
But (perchance) thou sayest: "I will go and be about business until the consecration (is begun), and in the hour when they open the doors I will go in and receive.14" O thou who art wise, drive away and put forth these notions from thee, and suffer thy soul to have a care for her wounds and bind them up. Say to thy soul: " O thou soul, full of sores, now is the time for thee to receive a medicine for thy wounds. Now is the time for thee to pour out tears before Him who binds up, and He will apply mercy to thy disease which vexes thee. (p. 660.) Now is the time when the door of the Great Physician is opened, and He will bind up for naught; bring in thy sore that He may find a remedy for it. Now is the hour for thee to lift up thy voice in supplication; for now the gates on high are opened to prayers. Now is the hour when thou mayest entreat thy Creditor to come forth and cancel the note of hand that is terrifying thee. Now is the hour when the Son of God is sacrificed and set forth upon the table for sinners, |284 to pardon them. Now is the hour when the doors and curtains give way, that the sacrifice may come in and mercy go forth for sinners. Whither, whither wouldst thou go forth, O soul, in this hour when every man enters to gather mercy from the Merciful. O thou soul, the ewe that fell among robbers, be quiet in the fold, full of healing for the broken. Without the door the wolf is hiding and waiting for th.ee; anoint thy lips with the Blood of the Shepherd, and then go forth and despise him. For the Bridegroom has come down and given thee His Body and sealed thee with His Blood: never shouldst thou go forth from the bride-chamber to them that are without. The way of the world is full of snares and obstacles; the devils are standing on guard at the cross-roads (or "fords") of the earth; and they threaten the soul with rage to destroy it, (p. 661) and they thirst for her blood because of the virtues which are held within her. And with all manner of pretexts and devices they lay snares for her to corrupt her from that virtue which belongs to her. But thou, O soul, hast an armour and a wall, yea, and a Saviour who will not fail thee in the contest. He keeps thee from the pitfalls of the enemy; and he will shew thee a way of life to walk therein. He brings thee in before His Father, that thou mayest see His place; and He shews thee that He is a sacrifice on behalf of sinners. Make thy petition in the name of the Son: offer it to His Father; and He will receive it for the sake of the sign of His Only-begotten.
"When the Body of the Son of God is set upon His table, bring in before Him all thy petitions earnestly. Reveal thy plagues, O thou sick soul, and show thy diseases, and pour out tears before the table of the Godhead. In that hour when the priest sacrifices the Son before His Father, gird thyself, enter, O soul, and ask for pardon with a loud voice. Say to the Father, "Behold Thy Son, a sacrifice to reconcile Thee: pardon me in Him who died for me and was buried. Behold Thine Oblation: accept from my hands Him who is from Thee."
(p. 662) With these affections stand, O sinner, at the time of the Mysteries; and beg mercy and receive forgiveness, and then go forth. At the hour of the sacrifice, when it is being offered for thee, do not leave him who is offering and depart. When they drive out "him who has not received the sign," do thou enter; keep thyself within and hearken to the whisperings 15 of the priest, and hear how he begs mercy for sinners and pardons them; (p. 663) and if thou art in need of pardon, why then dost thou go out? Another bows down and asks mercy for thee; why art thou in haste to wander among the markets |285 in that hour? When those who have not received the sign of the Bridegroom enter her, the Church drives them out and shuts the doors until He comes. She fears lest He should find in her a stranger when He appears in her, and she removes and expels all externs. The bride shuts the doors and eats the Bridegroom who has espoused her; and no stranger may taste of Him, for (this) she does not permit to him.
Who ever saw a bridegroom sacrificed at the marriage supper, or brides eating their betrothed? The Son of God has done a new thing in the world, which no man ever did but He alone. His Body and His Blood He has set forth at the feast before them that sit at table, that they may eat of Him, and live with Him without end. Meat and drink is our Lord at His marriage supper: blessed is He who has given us His Body and Blood, that in Him we may delight. [End of the Homily.]
The following passage gives us some idea of the doctrine and sentiments touching the Holy Eucharist which were prevalent among some of the early Monophysite Syrians. It is taken from one of a scries of discourses on Holy Week which are to be found in vol. ii of Jacob of Serûgh's printed Homilies. The passage begins on p. 484. The writer has just come to the subject of the Last Supper.
The bread and wine our Lord made Body and Blood; which (thing) Melchizedek also thus depicted mystically. The high priest who was more excellent than Abraham sacrificed bread and wine to God, and nothing besides; and he taught the earth that the bread and wine is the Body and Blood which the Son of God gave to the world to be pardoned withal; and on the eve of the passion the Mystery shone forth from 16 our Saviour, who broke His Body and gave to His Apostles, as we have said.
Here let the soul of him who is to speak clothe itself in awe-; for save with awe the Son of God may not be spoken of. Let our mind glow with the fire of love that eats up stumblings and doubts, and then let it look upon the Son of God. With Faith, that leaps over pits and gulfs, our discourse shall run, and thus it shall not have fallen among the disputers.
His Body with His hands our Lord divided upon the table; and who is he that will dare to say now that it was not the Body? He said "This is My Body"; and who will not affirm it? For if he affirm it |286 not he is no disciple of the apostleship. The Apostles assented to Him; and while He was alive and reclining with them they ate Him; and dead whilst living they knew Him (to be), without doubting. If He were not dead, then His bread was not His Body; (p. 485) and if He were not alive He would not have broken His Body and given to His Apostles.
He brake the bread, and made it the Body, and gave to His Apostles; and the taste of the Body, wherein was life, was in their mouths. From when He took it and called it Body it was not bread 17, but 18 His Body, and it (or "Him") they were eating whilst they marvelled. They eat His Body, and He is reclining with them at the table; and they drink His Blood, and they hear the voice of His teaching. They affirm that He is slain, whilst they look upon Him alive and speaking; and He is mingled with them whilst they eat Him, without doubt. And faith is bright and stands manfully, and doubts not either that He is alive or that He is slain. And He reclines slain at the table, and is not investigated; and they drink His Blood and affirm that it is Blood, while He is alive. And there are not there, neither pryers nor disputers, (p. 486) nor investigators, nor yet scribes of wise (opinions). They were not questioning, when there was place to ask: "Dost Thou indeed call it Body, Lord, when lo, it is bread? " Faith stoops not to questionings: she knows to affirm; to investigate she has never learned. The Apostles were anxious to assent to the Son, not to investigate or question as daring (men).19 The bread that He brake and called His Body, Body they knew it (to be); and thus they thought, that yea, in truth His Blood was dropping 20 (there). Who would have been able to sacrifice the Son before His Sire, unless He had sacrificed Himself by His own hands before He suffered? He, our Lord, is the High Priest of the perfect Sacrifice; and therefore He sacrificed Himself before His Father. He is the Dead who when dead was alive, and was not investigated, Priest and Burnt Offering, whom to examine is too high for the disputers. He brake and divided His Body with His hands to His twelve, who, if they had not seen how He brake, would not have broken. He stood as Priest and performed the priest's function upon Himself among His disciples, that He might depict a type to the priesthood for it to |287 imitate. He taught them how to break His holy Body and distribute it to the sons of the household of the faith, (p. 487) He made known to them how they should drink the cup of His Blood, and give the nations and worlds and regions to drink of it. With His Blood He sealed the new Covenant, which He made that it might be for remission of debts for ever. Simon He taught, and to John He gave an example, that as He did they should be doing when He was taken up.
[Footnotes moved to the end and numbered]
1. * Wright, Syriac Literature, p. 68.
2. * i.e. The Church.
3. * The writer is doubtless referring to a system of artificial irrigation by means of fountains or hose pipes.
4. + This is an allusion to the Sanctus.
5. * Lit., "when it is being consecrated." The context shows that this refers to the commencement of the Mass proper, or "Missa fidelium." The faithful are not to take advantage of the opening of the doors, when the catechumens are dismissed, to make their escape from the Church.
6. + The allusion is to the Three Holy Names pronounced in baptism.
7. * The Syriac verb, of which this is a rather inadequate rendering, connotes the idea of casting an influence. It is employed in the Syriac New Testament at Lk. i, 3 5, and Jn.. i, 14., to translate the two Greek verbs which we render "overshadow" and "dwell."
8. + Compare the following passage from another Homily (Vol. iv, p. 597): "Not to the priest is given authority that he should sacrifice the Only-begotten, and bring Him in before His Father as a sacrifice for sinners; but the Holy Spirit comes forth from the Father, and descends and lights down and dwells in the bread and makes it the Body.... He gives permission to the priest to break, and then he breaks and carries forth and scatters it upon sinners, to justify them. The Spirit within, He holds It forth to the priest who is without, even as the Cherub held out (the coals) to the man of the line linen " (the reference is to Ezek. x, 2, 3).
9. ++ A class of the catechumens.
10. § Or, perhaps, "when they ask for him," i.e. for the delinquent Christian.
11. || I.e. "this crying of 'Holy.'"
12. * Beth Qudhshâ usually means "the sanctuary," but here it denotes the Church as a whole.
13. + The use of the first person singular here and below is curious, as it is in no way conditioned by the metre.
14. ++ This would seem not to refer to sanctuary doors, but to the doors of the Church. The writer has dealt with the case of those who go out when the catechumens are dismissed; he now turns to those who choose this point for coming in. After this the Church doors were locked.
15. * The word here employed is also used in the sense of a whispered incantation. Here, as the worshipper is to listen to what is said, the word would seem to denote merely a solemn ritual prayer.
16. * I.e. "the type was fulfilled by," etc.
17. * The translation of this sentence is strictly literal.
18. + The text prefixes the letter wau, "and," to this word, which gives it the meaning "and unless," or "and if not;" but with this the sentence cannot be construed, and the additional letter must be omitted as either a misprint or a scribe's error.
19. ++ The word implies the daring of rashness and impiety; it often has the meaning "rebellious," and this is, no doubt, the sense here.
20. § Or, "distilling in drops."
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Gildas, The Ruin of Britain &c. (1899). Preface to the online edition.
Gildas, The Ruin of Britain &c. (1899). Preface to the online edition.
The patristic period in Britain ends with the collapse of Roman power, at the end of the th century AD. The circumstances under which this occurred are difficult to make out, and what followed is likewise obscure to us. The sub-Romano-Britons fought against the invaders whom the legions had kept in check, at first with little success, then with greater force leading to the victory at Mount Badon, some time in the late th century. A generation of peace followed; the barbarian attacks resumed, and the British defence crumbled. The Britons were expelled into the west, there to become the early Welsh or Cornish, and the invaders created the primitive kingdoms of early Anglo-Saxon England in their place.
One of the casualties of the onset of the Dark Ages was the loss of literacy, and so little of the literature of the time has been preserved for us. In the chances of the years, the tract or sermon of the monk Gildas, "On the Ruin of Britain", has survived, together with fragments of his letters and a penitential and lorica which may owe something to him. While Gildas is a medieval figure, rather than a patristic writer, his inclusion in this collection may be justified for the light he throws on the end of the patristic period in Britain.
The first part of his tract outlines recent history, before lambasting the five weak and morally corrupt leaders upon whom the Britons had to depend, and who had so signally failed to carry out their duty to anyone but themselves. While it was never his purpose to write a history, the destruction of almost all other evidence has left his work of considerable historical importance, albeit his failure to be clear is frustrating. No doubt his audience knew in great detail the events now mysterious to us; and like the defeated everywhere, did not desire to reminded in detail of the things they strove to forget.
The translations given here are from the Hugh Williams translation of 1899. This is in two weighty volumes, with massive annotation, all interesting but much of very doubtful relevance. Most of the notes have been omitted. In addition I have omitted the medieval Lives of Gildas, as mainly hagiography and of no relevance to this collection. I understand that a further volume entirely composed of notes exists, but this I have not seen. A large chunk of notes deals with the type of biblical text used by Gildas; the Vulgate, when he quoted at length, but reverting to the Old Latin when he quoted snippets from memory. Interesting as these are, again they have been omitted. The Latin text of Mommsen has been excluded also.
Roger PEARSE,
2003.
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Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
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Gildas, The Ruin of Britain &c. (1899) Introduction.
Gildas, The Ruin of Britain &c. (1899) Introduction.
Cymmrodorion Record Series,
No. 3.
GILDAS.
PART I.
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GILDAE
DE EXCIDIO BRITANNIAE,
FRAGMENTA, LIBER DE PAENITENTIA,
ACCEDIT ET
LORICA GILDAE.
GILDAS:
THE RUIN OF BRITAIN, FRAGMENTS FROM LOST LETTERS, THE PENITENTIAL,
TOGETHER WITH
THE LORICA OF GILDAS.
Edited for the Hon. Society of Cymmrodorion.
BY
HUGH WILLIAMS, M. A.,
PROFESSOR OF CHURCH HISTORY AT THE THEOLOGICAL COLLEGE, BALA.
LONDON:
PUBLISHED FOR THE HONOURABLE SOCIETY OF CYMMRODORION,
BY
DAVID NUTT.
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1899.
LONDON:
PRINTED AT THE BEDFORD PRESS, 20 AND 21, BEDFORDBURY, W.C.
PRELIMINARY NOTE.
IN the present edition, it is intended to publish in a collected form the works ascribed to Gildas for which, roughly speaking, a date is assigned during the twenty years that elapsed between A.D. 540 and 560. The earliest references to Gildas that have come down to us are the two made by Columbanus in his letter to St. Gregory the Great, which must have been written between thirty and forty years after the death of the British writer (i.e., A.D. 595-600). In the first passage, he is mentioned as Gildas auctor who has written against simony in bishops; in the second, as having been engaged in correspondence, respecting the monks who were leaving their convents to become hermits, with Vennianus, probably Finian, the abbot of Clonard in Meath, to whom Gildas sent "an exceedingly noble answer" (et eligantissime illi rescripsit). Gildas is thus widely known, not very long after his death, as a writer on ecclesiastical abuses, and as a correspondent whose opinion on new and doubtful movements was highly valued in Ireland.
In a general INTRODUCTION I hope to deal with the questions appertaining to the time and life of Gildas, the condition of Britain, its people and its Church, at that time, and the authorship of the several works named below. A map is also in preparation based on that in Spruner's Histor. Atlas, and Maps 15 (Roman Britain) and 16 (England and Wales before the Roman Conquest), in Parts I and XVI of The Histor. Atlas of Modern Europe. Oxford, 1896, 1898.
The works brought together in the volume, of which the present is Part I, are the following:----
I. The DE EXCIDIO BRITANNIAE. This work has been mistakenly read as history; it is, really, in no way a history, nor written with any object a historian may have. It may be regarded as a kind of "Tract for the Times" of the sixth century. Ebert (Gesch. der Literatur des Mittelaltcrs) correctly terms the "De Excidio" a Tendenzschrift; it is a message or a sermon addressed to rulers and ecclesiastics by a fervent monk, containing historical portions which are of undoubted value, because we possess no other for a part of the period to which they refer, but which in the whole setting of their narration are coloured by the author's main |vi purport as a Christian moralist. We may regard it as extremely probable that this is the very work to which Columbanus refers, when writing shortly after A.D. 595.
2. A series of FRAGMENTS. These Fragments appear in a collection of rules or canons for church order, belonging to the early Irish Church. The whole consists of LXVII books, divided into chapters which give extracts from many ecclesiastical writers; e.g. Origenes, Hieronimus, Augustinus, Gregorius, Isidorus, also Sinodus Hibernensis, &c. Among these appear extracts made probably from letters, now lost, of Gildas, such as that mentioned by Columbanus as written to Finian. These will be printed from the text of Wasserschleben's Irische Kanonensammlung, nd edition (Leipzig, 1885).
3. An early Penitential, or DE PAENITENTIA. This will be printed from the text of Wasserschleben's Bussordnungen (Halle, 1851), and Haddan and Stubbs, Councils, vol. i, p. 113 (1869). Penitentials, especially as found in the Celtic remains, show the gradual extension of disciplinary rules over the life, chiefly of monks, but also of those living outside the cloisters, in that age.
4. The LORICA GILDAE. After much deliberation, it has been thought better to include this poem as a probably genuine production of Gildas. The text will be that printed in THE IRISH LIBER HYMNORUM, published by the Henry Bradshaw Society, 1897 (vol. i, p. 206), compared with that of Zimmer in Nennius Vindicatus: " Die Lorica des Gildas," s. 337.
The necessary documentary research by examination of the few codices remaining, and of probable evidence as to lost ones, in the first editions professedly based upon them, has been already accomplished for us by the edition of Gildas which has appeared in the MONUMENTA GERMANIAE HlSTORICA, forming vol. iii of the "Chronica Minora Saec. iv, v, vi, vii, edidit Theodorus Mommsen" (1894-1898). It may well be presumed that no fresh research could have provided us with a text of Gildas accompanied with the same guarantee of thoroughness as this edition by Dr. Mommsen. To profit by it is, however, rendered difficult for many readers by the fact that all introductory matter and critical notes are in Latin, while all questions appertaining to the contents of the work, as the learned editor several times intimates, are remitted to others. His task is mainly the production of the best possible text of Gildas' De Excidio. With deep respect and gratitude, Dr. Mommsen's text has been adopted for the present edition, excepting some changes of punctuation and words and phrases in particular portions of the work. The particular portions referred to are those places in which Gildas quotes from certain books of the Old Testament. As explained in the notes, the Latin text of these quotations is found to be a rude and excessively literal |vii rendering of the Greek of the Septuagint; so far is this the case that the Greek version itself, for the quotations made from Job, Ezekiel, the Minor Prophets, and some other books, becomes a no unimportant part of the documentary evidence for the determination of readings. It has been so employed in this edition.
The FRAGMENTS seem to throw a distinct and pleasing light upon the man's character, and the PENITENTIAL will illustrate the beginnings of a peculiar mode of church discipline. Every one of the pieces named, after the De Excidio, has been made the subject of searching critical examination, as regards the text, by Dr. Wasserschleben or the late Mr. Henry Bradshaw, by Dr. Heinrich Zimmer and the editors of The Irish Liber Hymnorum. The Introductions and Notes in this edition will endeavour to deal with the subject-matter of each.
An unprejudiced student of Gildas comes back to his writings with the feeling that something of value may, and ought to, be got out of them; my own frequent reading of these has led me to a higher appreciation of the man and his work. To my mind, it is a grave mistake to call Gildas a "historian": neither Columbanus, writing about forty years after his death, nor Alcuin, in the last quarter of the eighth century, regard him in this light. The fashion began with the Venerable Beda; for him, in the early parts of his Historia Ecclesiastica, and, for the writers of the Saxon Chronicle also apparently, Gildas was the sole "historian" (historicus eorum). Mediaeval writers, who invariably term him historiographss, helped to make the idea a fixed one. But Gildas would never have regarded himself as a "historian": he is a preacher, a revivalist, who will "attempt to state a few facts" (pauca dicere conamur), by way of illustrating his message, that divine anger must visit with punishment a sinning people and priesthood.
I could not but feel interested, in reading "The Letters of Cassiodorus," by Mr. Hodgkin, to notice what he says of "the inflated and tawdry style" of that strenuous and successful administrator, and exceptionally far-sighted Roman statesman. In the volume mentioned, which contains a resumé of letters in the Variorum Libri XII, Mr. Hodgkin gives an amusing specimen of how Cassiodorus, as prime minister, could write in the name of Theodoric to Faustus, the Praetorian prefect, who was dawdling over an order to ship corn from Calabria and Apuleia to Rome. Reprimanding the lazy official, Theodoric, by his minister, is made to say: "Why is there such delay in sending your swift ships to traverse the tranquil sea? Though the south wind blows and the rowers are bending to their oars, has the sucking-fish fixed its teeth into the hulls through the liquid waves, or have the shells of the Indian sea, whose quiet touch is said to hold so firmly that the angry billows cannot loosen it, with like power fixed their lips |viii into your keels?" Now Cassiodorus, who died A.D. 570, was a contemporary of Gildas, and we ought, in the case of Gildas as well as in his, to be able to conquer the aversion roused within us by an inflated style, because it is partly the fault of the age. Perhaps, in the case of Gildas, something should also be attributed to the emotional intensity that was, and is, characteristic of the Celtic race. Notwithstanding all such blemishes, a substantial net profit remains for the student of history and literature.
HUGH WILLIAMS.
Bala, September 29th, 1899.
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Gildas, The Ruin of Britain &c. (1899). pp. 4-252. The Ruin of Britain.
Gildas, The Ruin of Britain &c. (1899). pp. 4-252. The Ruin of Britain.
De Excidio Britanniae.
OR
The Ruin of Britain.
PREFACE.
Motives for writing stated.
1. WHATEVER my attempt shall be in this epistle, made more in tears than in denunciation, in poor style, I allow, but with good intent, let no man regard me as if about to speak under the influence of contempt for men in general, or with an idea of superiority to all, because I weep the general decay of good, and the heaping up of evils, with tearful complaint. On the contrary, let him think of me as a man that will speak out of a feeling of condolence with my country's losses and its miseries, and sharing in the joy of remedies. It is not so much my purpose to narrate the dangers of savage warfare incurred by brave soldiers, as to tell of the dangers caused by indolent men. I have kept silence, I confess, with infinite sorrow of heart, as the Lord, the searcher of the reins, is my witness, for the past ten years or even longer; I was prevented by a sense of inexperience, a feeling I have even now, as well as of mean merit from writing a small admonitory work of any kind.
I used to read, nevertheless, of the wonderful legislator, that he did not enter the desired land because of hesitation in a single word; that the priest's sons, through bringing strange fire to the altar, perished in sudden death; that the people who transgressed the words of God, 600,000 of them, two faithful ones exceptcd, although beloved of God, because unto them the way was made plain over the bed of the Red Sea, heavenly bread was given as food, new drink from the rock followed them, their army was made invincible by the mere lifting up of hands----that this people fell in different places by wild beasts, sword and fire throughout the desert parts of Arabia. After their entrance by an unknown gate, the Jordan, so to say, and the overthrow of the hostile walls of the city at the mere sound of trumpets by God's command, I read that a small mantle and a little gold appropriated of the devoted thing laid many prostrate; that the covenant with the Gibeonites, when broken (though won by guile), brought destruction upon some: that because of the sins |5 of men we have the complaining voices of holy prophets, and especially of Jeremiah, who bewails the ruin of his city in four alphabetic songs.
I saw that in our time even, as he wept: The widowed city sat solitary, heretofore filled with people, ruler of the Gentiles, princess of provinces, and had become tributary. By this is meant the Church. The gold hath become dim, its best colour changed; which means the excellence of God's word. The sons of Zion, that is, of the holy mother the Church, famous and clothed with best gold have embraced ordure. What to him, a man of eminence, grew unbearable, has been so to me also, mean as I am, whenever it grew to be the height of grief, whilst he wailed over the same distinguished men living in prosperity so far as to say: her Nazarenes were whiter than snow, ruddier than old coral, fairer than sapphire. These passages and many others I regarded as, in a way, a mirror of our life, in the Scriptures of the Old Testament, and then I turned to the Scriptures of the New; there I read things that previously had perhaps been dark to me, in clearer light, because the shadow passed away, and the truth shone more steadily.
I read, that is to say, of the Lord saying: I am not come but unto the lost sheep of the House of Israel. And on the other side: But the sons of this Kingdom shall be cast into outer darknesses, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Again: It is not good to take the children's bread and cast it to the dogs. Also: Woe unto you Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites. I heard: Many shall come from east and west and recline with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven; and on the other hand: And then shall I say unto them: depart from me ye workers of iniquity. I read: Blessed are the barren and the breasts that have not given suck; and on the contrary: Those who were ready, entered with him to the marriage feast, then came also the other virgins saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; to whom the answer was made, I know you not. I heard certainly: He who believeth and is baptised, shall be saved, he, however, who believeth not shall be condemned.
I read in the apostle's word that a branch of the wild olive had been grafted into the good olive tree, but that it must be broken off from partaking in the root of fatness of the same, if it did not fear, but should be highminded. I knew the mercy of the Lord, |7 but feared his judgment also; I praised his grace, but dreaded the rendering unto each one according to his works.
As I beheld sheep of one fold unlike one another, I called Peter, with good reason, most blessed on account of his sound confession of Christ, but Judas most unhappy because of his love of covetousness; Stephen I called glorious, because of the martyr's palm; Nicolas, on the contrary, miserable, owing to the mark of unclean heresy.
I read, indeed: They had all things in common, but I read also: Why did ye agree to tempt the Spirit of God? I saw, on the contrary, what great indifference had grown upon the men of our age, as if there were no cause for fear.
These things, and many others which I have decided to omit for the sake of brevity, I pondered over with compunction of heart and astonishment of mind. I pondered----if the Lord did not spare a people, peculiar out of all the nations, the royal seed and holy nation, to whom he had said: Israel is my first born ----if he spared not its priests, prophets, kings for so many centuries, if he spared not the apostle his minister, and the members of that primitive church, when they swerved from the right path, what will he do to such blackness as we have in this age? An age this to which has been added, besides those impious and monstrous sins which it commits in common with all the iniquitous ones of the world, that thing which is as if inborn with it, an irremovable and inextricable weight of unwisdom and fickleness.
What say I? Do I say to myself, wretched one, is such a charge entrusted to thee (as if thou wert a teacher of distinction and eminence), namely to withstand the rush of so violent a torrent, and against this array of growing crimes extending over so many years and so widely, keep the deposit committed to thec, and be silent? Otherwise this means, to say to the foot, watch, and to the hand, speak.
Britain has rulers, it has watchers. Why with thy nonsense art thou inclined to mumble? Yea, it has these; it has, if not too many, not too few. But, because they are bent clown under the pressure of so great a weight, they have no time to breathe. My feelings, therefore, as if fellow debtors with myself, were alternately engrossed by such objections, and by such as had much sharper teeth than these. These feelings wrestled, as I said, for |9 no short time, when I read: 'There is a time to speak and a time to keep silence, and wrestled in the straight gate of fear, so to speak. At length the creditor prevailed and conquered. He said: If thou hast not the boldness to feel no fear of being branded with the mark that befits golden liberty among truth-telling creatures of a rational origin second to the angels, at least shrink not from imitating that intelligent ass, inspired, though mute, by the Spirit of God. Unwilling it was to be the carrier of the crowned magician about to curse the people of God; it bruised his feeble foot in the narrow path near the wall of the vineyards, though it had on that account to feel his blows like those of an enemy. She pointed out to him the angel from heaven, as if with the finger, holding his naked sword and opposing them (whom he in the blindness of cruel stupidity had not observed), though the magician, ungrateful and furious, was unrighteously beating her innocent sides.
In my zeal, therefore, for the holy law of the Lord's house, constrained by the reasons of my own meditation or overcome by the pious entreaties of brethren, I am now paying the debt 1 exacted long ago. The work is, in fact, poor, but, I believe, faithful and friendly to all noble soldiers of Christ;2 but severe and hard to bear to foolish apostates. The former of these, if I am not mistaken, will, peradventure, receive it with the tears that flow from the love of God; the others, also, with sorrow, but the sorrow which is wrenched from the anger and timidity of an awakened conscience.
2. Before, however, fulfilling my promise, let me attempt to say a little, God willing, concerning the geographical situation, the stubbornness, the subjection and rebellion of our country; also of its second subjection and hard service; of religion, persecution, and holy martyrs, of diverse heresies; of tyrants, of the two nations which wasted it; of defence and of consequent devastation; of the second revenge and third devastation, of famine; of the letter to Agitius; of victory, of crimes; of enemies suddenly |11 announced; of the great well-known plague; of counsel; of enemies far more fierce than the first; of the ruin of cities, of the men who survived; of the final victory won by the mother country, which is the gift granted by the will of God in our own times.3 |15
PART I.
Preliminary (cc. 3-26).- Description of Britain, Character of its People; Introductory narrative of events, extending from the First Parthian Peace and the Roman expedition into Britain which followed it, to the writer's own time (A.D. 117-c. 540). Reference to the rise of Christianity under Tiberius, and its progress in Britain inserted (cc. 7-12).
Description of Britain. De situ.
3. THE island of Britain is situated in almost the furthest limit of the world, towards the north-west and west, poised in the so-called divine balance which holds the whole earth. It lies somewhat in the direction of the north pole from the south-west. It is 800 miles long, 200 broad,4 not counting the longer tracts of sundry promontories which are encompassed by the curved bays of the sea. It is protected by the wide, and if I may so say, impassable circle of the sea on all sides, with the exception of the straits on the south coast where ships sail to Belgic Gaul. It has the advantage of the estuaries of two noble rivers, the Thames and the Severn, arms, as it were, along which, of old, foreign luxuries were wont to be carried by ships, and of other smaller streams; it is beautified by 28 cities,5 and some strongholds, and by great works built in an unexceptionable manner, walls, serrated towers, gates, houses, the roofs of which, stretching aloft with threatening height, were firmly fixed in strong structure.6 It is adorned by widespread plains, hills |17 in pleasant situations adapted for superior cultivation, mountains in the greatest convenience for changing pasture of cattle. The flowers of divers colours on these, trodden by human footsteps, gave them the appearance of a fine picture, like a chosen bride adorned with various jewels. It is irrigated by many clear springs, with their full waters moving snow-white gravel, and by shining rivers flowing with gentle murmur, extending to those who recline on their banks a pledge of sweet slumber, and by lakes overflowing with a cool stream of living water.
Character of people. De contumacia.
4. This island, of proud neck and mind, since it was first inhabited, is ungratefully rebelling, now against God, at other times against fellow citizens,7 sometimes even against the kings over the sea and their subjects. For what deeper baseness, what greater unrighteousness, can be or be introduced by the recklessness of men, than to deny to God fear, to worthy fellow citizens love, to those placed in higher position the honour due to them, without detriment to the faith----than to break faith with divine and human sentiment, and having cast away fear of heaven and earth, to be governed by one's own inventions and lusts?
I, therefore, omit 8 those ancient errors, common to all nations, by which before the coming of Christ in the flesh the whole human race was being held in bondage; nor do I enumerate the truly diabolical monstrosities 9 of my native country, almost surpassing those of Egypt in number, of which we behold some, of ugly features, to this day within or without their deserted walls, stiff with fierce visage as was the custom. Neither do I, by name, inveigh against the mountains, valleys or rivers, once destructive, but now suitable for the use of man, upon which divine honour was then heaped by the people in their blindness. I keep silence also as to the long years of savage tyrants, who are spoken of in other far distant countries, so that Porphyry, the rabid eastern dog 10 in hostility |19 to the Church, added this remark also in the fashion of his madness and vanity; Britain, he says, is a province fertile in tyrants. Those evils only will I attempt to make public which the island has both suffered and inflicted upon other and distant citizens, in the times of the Roman Emperors. I shall do it, however, to the best of my ability, not so much by the aid of native writings or records of authors, inasmuch as these (if they ever existed) have been burnt by the fires of enemies, or carried far away in the ships which exiled my countrymen, and so are not at hand, but shall follow the account of foreign writers, which, because broken by many gaps, is far from clear.
Subjection by Rome. De subjectione.
5. The Emperors of Rome acquired the empire of the world, and, by the subjugation of all neighbouring countries and islands towards the east, secured through the might of their superior fame their first peace with the Parthians 11 on the borders of India. When this peace was accomplished, wars ceased at that time in almost every land. The keenness of this flame, however, in its persistent career towards the west, could not be checked or extinguished by the blue tide of the sea; crossing the channel it carried to the island laws for obedience without opposition; it subjugated an unwarlike but faithless people (not so much as in the case of other nations by sword, fire, and engines, as by mere threats or menaces of judgments) who gave to the edicts merely a skin-deep obedience, with resentment sunk deep into their hearts.
Insurrection against Rome. De rebellione.
6. Immediately on their return to Rome, owing to deficiency, as they said, of necessaries provided by the land, and with no suspicion |21 of rebellion, the treacherous lioness 12 killed the rulers who had been left behind by them to declare more fully, and to strengthen, the enterprises of Roman rule. After this, when news of such deeds was carried to the senate, and it was hastening with speedy army to take vengeance on the crafty foxes, as they named them, there was no preparation of a fighting fleet on sea to make a brave struggle for country, nor a marshalled army or right wing, nor any other warlike equipment on land. They present their backs, instead of their shields, to the pursuers, their necks to the sword, while a chilling terror ran through their bones: they hold forth their hands to be bound like women; so that it was spread far and wide as a proverb and a derision: the Britons are neither brave in war nor in peace faithful.13
Second subjection and servitude. Item de subiectione ac diro famulatu.
7. The Romans therefore, having slain many of the faithless ones, reserving some for slavery, lest the land should be reduced to destitution----return to Italy leaving behind them a land stripped of wine and oil. They leave behind governors as scourges for the backs of the natives, as a yoke for their necks, so that they should cause the epithet of Roman slavery to cling to the soil, should vex the crafty race not so much with military force as with whips, and if necessary, apply the unsheathed sword, as the saying is, to their sides. In this way the island would be regarded not as Britannia but as Romania, and whatever it might have of copper, silver, or gold would be stamped with the image of Caesar.
Rise of Christianity. De religione.
8. Meanwhile, to the island stiff with frost and cold, and in a far distant corner of the earth, remote from the visible sun, He, the true sun, even Christ, first yields His rays, I mean His precepts. He spread, not only from the temporal firmament, but from the highest arc of heaven beyond all times, his bright gleam to the whole world in the latest days, as we know, of Tiberius Caesar. At |23that time the religion of Christ 14 was propagated without any hindrance, because the emperor, contrary to the will of the senate, threatened with death informers against the soldiers of that same religion.
Evangelization of Britain. The Diocletian persecution. De persecutione.
9. Though these precepts had a lukewarm reception from the inhabitants,15 nevertheless they continued unimpaired with some, with others less so, until the nine years' persecution of the tyrant Diocletian.16 In this persecution churches were ruined throughout the whole world, all copies of the Holy Scriptures that could be found were burnt in the open streets, and the chosen priests of the Lord's flock butchered with the innocent sheep, so that if it could be brought to pass, not even a trace of the Christian religion would be visible in some of the provinces. What flights there were then, what slaughter, what punishments by different modes of death, what ruins of apostates, what glorious crowns of martyrs, what mad fury on the part of persecutors, and, on the contrary, what |25 patience of the saints, the history of the church narrates.17 In consequence the whole church, in close array, emulously leaving behind it the darkness of this world, was hastening to the pleasant realms of heaven as to its own proper abode.
Holy Martyrs. De sanctis martyribus.
10. God, therefore, as willing that all men should be saved, magnified his mercy unto us, and called sinners no less than those who regard themselves righteous. He of His own free gift, in the above mentioned time of persecution, as we conclude,18 lest Britain should be completely enveloped in the thick darkness of black night, |27 kindled for us bright lamps of holy martyrs. The graves where their bodies lie, and the places of their suffering, had they not, very many of them, been taken from us the citizens on account of our numerous crimes, through the disastrous division caused by the barbarians, would at the present time inspire the minds of those who gazed at them with a far from feeble glow of divine love. I speak of Saint Alban of Verulam, Aaron and Iulius,19 citizens of Caerlleon, and the rest of both sexes in different places, who stood firm with lofty nobleness of mind in Christ's battle.
11. The former of these, through love, hid a confessor when pursued by his persecutors, and on the point of being seized, imitating in this Christ laying down his life for the sheep. He first concealed him in his house, and afterwards exchanging garments with him, willingly exposed himself to the danger of being pursued in the |29 clothes of the brother mentioned. Being in this way well pleasing to God, during the time between his holy confession and cruel death, in the presence of the impious men, who carried the Roman standard with hateful haughtiness, he was wonderfully adorned with miraculous signs, so that by fervent prayer he opened an unknown way through the bed of the noble river Thames, similar to that dry little-trodden way of the Israelites, when the ark of the covenant stood long on the gravel in the middle of Jordan; accompanied by a thousand men, he walked through with dry foot, the rushing waters on either side hanging like abrupt precipices, and converted first his executioner, as he saw such wonders, from a wolf into a lamb, and caused him together with himself to thirst more deeply for the triumphant palm of martyrdom, and more bravely to seize it. Others, however, were so tortured with diverse torments, and mangled with unheard of tearing of limbs, that without delay they raised trophies of their glorious martyrdom, as if at the beautiful gates of Jerusalem. Those who survived hid themselves in woods, deserts, and secret caves, expecting from God, the righteous ruler of all, to their persecutors, sometime, stern judgment, to themselves protection of life.
12 Thus when ten years of the violence referred to had scarcely passed, and when the abominable edicts were disappearing through the death of their authors, all the soldiers of Christ, with gladsome eyes, as if after a wintry and long night, take in the calm and the serene light of the celestial region. They repair the churches, |31 ruined to the ground; they found, construct, and complete basilicae in honour of the holy martyrs, and set them forth in many places as emblems of victory; they celebrate feast days; the sacred offices they perform with clean heart and lip; all exult as children cherished in the bosom of their mother, the church.
Heresies. De diversis haeresibus.
For this sweet harmony between Christ the head and the members continued, until the Arian unbelief, fierce as a snake vomiting forth upon us its foreign poison, caused deadly separation between brethren dwelling together. In this way, as if a path were made across the sea, all manner of wild beasts began to inject with horrid mouth the fatal poison of every form of heresy, and to inflict the lethal wounds of their teeth upon a country always wishful to hear something new and, at all events, desiring nothing steadfastly.
The tyranni, particularly Maxi mus. De tyrannis.
13 At length also, as thickets of tyrants were growing up and bursting forth soon into an immense forest, the island retained the Roman name, but not the morals and law; nay rather, casting forth a shoot of its own planting, it sends out Maximus 20 to the two Gauls, accompanied by a great crowd of followers, with an emperor's ensigns in addition, which he never worthily bore nor legitimately, but as one elected after the manner of a tyrant and amid a turbulent soldiery. This man, through cunning art rather than by valour, first attaches to his guilty rule certain neighbouring countries or provinces against the Roman power, by nets of perjury and falsehood. He then extends one wing to Spain, the other to Italy, fixing the throne of his iniquitous empire at Trier, and raged with such madness against his lords that he drove two legitimate emperors, the one from Rome, the other from a most pious life. Though |33 fortified by hazardous deeds of so dangerous a character, it was not long ere he lost his accursed head at Aquileia: he who had in a way cut off the crowned heads of the empire of the whole world.
Picts and Scots. De duabus gentibus vastatricibus.
14 After this, Britain is robbed of all her armed soldiery, of her military supplies, of her rulers, cruel though they were, and of her vigorous youth who followed the footsteps of the above-mentioned tyrant and never returned. Completely ignorant of the practice of war, she is, for the first time, open to be trampled upon by two foreign tribes of extreme cruelty, the Scots from the north-west, the Picts from the north; and for many years continues stunned and groaning. 21
Defence made against them. De defen sione.
15. Owing to the inroads of these tribes and the consequent dreadful prostration, Britain sends an embassy with letters to Rome, entreating in tearful appeals an armed force to avenge her, and vowing submission on her part to the Roman power, uninterrupted and with all strength of heart, if the enemy were driven away. A legion 22 is forthwith prepared, with no remembrance of past evil, and fully equipped. Having crossed over the sea in ships to Britain, it came into close engagement with the oppressive enemies; it killed a great number of them and drove all over the borders, and freed the humiliated inhabitants from so fierce a violence and threatening bondage. The inhabitants were commanded to build a wall across the island, between the two seas, so that, when strongly manned, it might be a terror to repel the enemies and a protection to the citizens. The wall being made not |35 of stone but of turf,23 proved of no advantage to the rabble in their folly, and destitute of a leader.
Repeated devastation. Itemque vastatione.
16. The legion returned home in great triumph and joy when their old enemies, like rapacious wolves, fierce with excessive hunger, jump with greedy maw into the fold, because there was no shepherd in sight. They rush across the boundaries, carried over by wings of oars, by arms of rowers, and by sails with fair wind. They slay everything, and whatever they meet with they cut it down like a ripe crop, trample under foot and walk through.
Second revenge (by Roman aid). De secunda ultione.
17. Again suppliant messengers are sent with rent clothes, as is said, and heads covered with dust.
Crouching like timid fowls under the trusty wings of the parent birds, they ask help of the Romans, lest the country in its wretchedness be completely swept away, and the name of Romans, which to their ears was the echo of a mere word, should even grow vile as a thing gnawed at, in the reproach of alien nations. They, 24 moved, as far as was possible for human nature, by the tale of such a tragedy, make speed, like the flight of eagles, unexpected in quick movements of |37 cavalry on land and of sailors by sea; before long they plunge their terrible swords in the necks of the enemies; the massacre they inflict is to be compared to the fall of leaves at the fixed time, just like a mountain torrent, swollen by numerous streams after storms, sweeps over its bed in its noisy course; with furrowed back and fierce look, its waters, as the saying goes, surging up to the clouds (by which our eyes, though often refreshed by the movements of the eyelids, are obscured by the quick meeting of lines in its broken eddies), foams surprisingly, and with one rush overcomes obstacles set in its way.25 Then did the illustrious helpers quickly put to flight the hordes of the enemy beyond the sea, if indeed escape was at all possible for them: for it was beyond the seas that they, with no one to resist, heaped up the plunder greedily acquired by them year by year.
18. The Romans, therefore, declare to our country that they could not be troubled too frequently by arduous expeditions of that kind, nor could the marks of Roman power,26 that is an army of such size and character, be harassed by land and sea on account of un-warlike, roving, thieving fellows. They urge the Britons, rather, to accustom themselves to arms, and fight bravely, so as to save with all their might their land, property, wives, children, and, what is greater than these, their liberty and life: they should not, they urge, in any way hold forth their hands armourless to be bound by nations in no way stronger than themselves, unless they became' effeminate through indolence and listlessness; but have them provided with bucklers, swords and spears, and ready for striking. Because they were also of opinion that it would bring a considerable advantage to the people they were leaving, they construct a wall, different from the other,27 by public and private contributions, |39 joining the wretched inhabitants to themselves: they build the wall in their accustomed mode of structure, in a straight line, across from sea to sea, between cities, which perhaps had been located there through fear of enemies; they give bold counsel to the people in their fear, and leave behind them patterns for the manufacture of arms. On the sea coast also, towards the south, where their ships were wont to anchor, because from that quarter also wild barbarian hordes were feared, they place towers at stated intervals, affording a prospect of the sea. They then bid them farewell, as men who never intended to return.28[Additional Note] |45
Third devastation by Picts and Scots. Tertiaque vastatione.
19. As they were returning home, the terrible hordes of Scots and Picts eagerly come forth out of the tiny craft (cwrwgs)29 in which they sailed across the sea-valley, as on Ocean's deep, just as, when the sun is high and the heat increasing, dark swarms of worms emerge from the narrow crevices of their holes. Differing partly in their habits, yet alike in one and the same thirst for bloodshed ----in a preference also for covering their villainous faces with hair rather than their nakedness of body with decent clothing----these nations, on learning the departure of our helpers and their refusal to return, became more audacious than ever, and seized the whole northern part of the land as far as the wall, to the exclusion of the inhabitants.
The famine. De fame.
To oppose their attacks, there was stationed on the height of the stronghold, an army, slow to fight, unwieldy for flight, incompetent by reason of its cowardice of heart, which languished day and night in its foolish watch. In the meantime the barbed |47weapons of the naked enemies are not idle: by them the wretched citizens are dragged from the walls and dashed to the ground. This punishment of untimely death was an advantage, forsooth, to them that were cut off by such an end, in so far as it saved them, by its suddenness, from the wretched torments which threatened their brethren and relatives.
Why should I tell more? They abandon their cities and lofty wall: there ensues a repetition of flight on the part of the citizens; again there are scatterings with less hope than ever, pursuit again by the enemy, and again still more cruel massacres. As lambs by butchers, so the unhappy citizens are torn in pieces by the enemy, insomuch that their life might be compared to that of wild animals. For they even began to restrain one another by the thieving of the small means of sustenance for scanty living, to tide over a short time, which the wretched citizens possessed. Calamities from without were aggravated by tumults at home, because the whole country by pillagings, so frequent of this kind, was being stripped of every kind of food supply, with the exception of the relief that came from their skill in hunting.
Letter to Agitius (Aetius). A.D. 446. De epistolis ad Agitium.
20. The miserable remnant therefore send a letter to Agitius, a man holding high office at Rome;30 they speak as follows:----To Agitius, in his third consulship, come the groans of the Britons; a little further in their request: the barbarians drive us to the sea, the sea drives us upon the barbarians; by one or other of these two modes of death we are either killed or drowned; and for these they have no aid. In the meantime, the severe and well-known famine presses the wandering and vacillating people, which compels many of them without delay to yield themselves as conquered to the bloodthirsty robbers, in order to have a morsel of food for the renewal of life. Others were never so compelled: rather issuing from the very mountains, from caves and defiles and from dense thickets, they carried on the war unceasingly.
The victory over Picts and Scots. De victoria.
Then for the first time, they inflicted upon the enemy, which for many years was pillaging in the land, a severe slaughter: their trust was not in man but in God, as |49 that saying of Philo goes: we must have recourse to divine aid where human fails.31 The boldness of the enemy quieted for a time, but not the wickedness of our people; the enemy withdrew from our countrymen, but our countrymen withdrew not from their sins.
21. It was the invariable habit of the race, as it is also now, to be weak in repelling the missiles of enemies, though strong to bear civil strifes and the burdens of sins; weak, I say, to follow ensigns of peace and truth, yet strong for crimes and falsehood. The shameless Irish assassins, therefore, went back to their homes, to return again before long. It was then, for the first time, in the furthermost part of the island, that the Picts commenced their successive settlements, with frequent pillaging and devastation.
Growth of crimes among the Britons. De sceleribus.
During such truces, consequently, the ugly scar is healed for the deserted people. While another more poisonous hunger was silently growing on the other hand, and the devastation quieting down, the island was becoming rich with so many resources of affluence that no age remembered the possession of such afterwards: along with these resources of every kind, luxury also grew.32 It grew, in fact, with strong root, so that it might fitly be said at that same time: such fornication is actually reported as is not even among the gentiles. But it was not this vice alone that grew, but also all to which human nature is generally liable: especially the vice which to-day also overthrows the place that appertains to all good in the island, that is to say, hatred of truth together with those who defend it, love of falsehood together with its fabricators, undertaking evil for good, respect for wickedness rather than for kindness, desire of darkness in preference to the sun, the welcoming of Satan as an angel of light. Kings were anointed, not in the |51 name of God, but such as surpassed others in cruelty, and shortly afterwards were put to death by the men who anointed them, without any enquiry as to truth, because others more cruel had been elected. If, however, any one among them appeared to be of a milder disposition, and to some extent more attached to truth, against him were turned without respect the hatred and darts of all, as if he were the subverter of Britain; all things, those which were displeasing to God and those which pleased him, had at least equal weight in the balance, if, indeed, the things displeasing to him were not the more acceptable. In this way that saying of the prophet which was uttered against that ancient people might be applied with justice to our country: Ye lawless sons, he says, have forsaken God and provoked the Holy One of Israel to anger. Why will ye be stricken any more when ye add iniquity? Every head is weak and every heart grieving; from the sole of the foot to the crown there is no soundness in it.
The coming of the enemy suddenly made known. De nuntiatis subito hostibus.
In this way they did all things that were contrary to salvation, as if there were no remedy to be supplied for the world by the true Healer of all men. It was not only men of the world who did this, but the Lord's flock itself also and its pastors, who ought to have been an example to the whole people; they, in great numbers, as if soaked in wine through drunkenness, became stupified and enervated, and by the swelling of animosities, by the jar of strifes, by the grasping talons of envy, by confused judgement of good and evil, were so enfeebled that it was plainly seen, as in the present case, that contempt was being poured out upon princes, and that they were led astray by their vanities and error in a trackless place, and not on the way.
22. Meanwhile, when God was desirous to cleanse his family, and, though defiled by such a strain of evil things, to better it by their hearing only of distress, there came like the winged flight of a rumour not unfamiliar to them, into the listening ears of all----that their old enemies had already arrived, bent upon thorough destruction, and upon dwelling in the country, as had become their wont, from one end to the other. Nevertheless they in no way profited by this news; rather like foolish beasts, with clenched teeth, as the saying is, they bite the bit of reason, and began to run along the broad way of many sins, which leads down to death, quitting |53 the narrow way though it was the path of salvation.
The noted plague. De famosa peste.
Whilst then, according to the words of Solomon, The stubborn servant is not corrected by words, the foolish nation is scourged and feels it not: for a deadly pestilence came upon the unwise people which, in a short time, without any sword, brought down such a number of them that the living were unable to bury the dead.
But they were not corrected even by this pestilence, so that the word of Isaiah the prophet was fulfilled in them: And God has called to lamentation and to baldness and the girdle of sack-cloth: behold they kill calves, and slay rams, behold they eat and drink and say, 'Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow let us die'
Deliberation how to oppose the Picts and Scots. The Saxons invited to aid in their repulsion. De consilio.
In this way the time was drawing nigh when the iniquities of the country, as those of the Amorites of old, would be fulfilled. A council is held, to deliberate what means ought to be determined upon, as the best and safest to repel such fatal and frequent irruptions and plunderings by the nations mentioned above.
23. At that time all members of the assembly, along with the proud tyrant,33 are blinded; such is the protection they find for their |55 country (it was, in fact, its destruction) that those wild Saxons, of accursed name, hated by God and men, should be admitted into the island, like wolves into folds, in order to repel the northern nations. Nothing more hurtful, certainly, nothing more bitter, happened to the island than this. What utter depth of darkness of soul! What hopeless and cruel dulness of mind! The men whom, when absent, they feared more than death, were invited by them of their own accord, so to say, under the cover of one roof: Foolish princes of Zoan, as is said, giving unwise counsel to Pharaoh.
The Saxons prove far more cruel than the former enemies. De saeviore multo primis hoste.
Then there breaks forth a brood of whelps from the lair of the savage lioness, in three cyulae (keels), as it is expressed in their language, but in ours, in ships of war under full sail, with omens and divinations. In these it was foretold, there being a prophecy firmly relied upon among them, that they should occupy the country to which the bows of their ships were turned, for three hundred years; for one hundred and fifty----that is for half the time----they should make frequent devastations. They sailed out, and at the directions of the unlucky tyrant, first fixed their dreadful talons in the eastern part of the island, as men intending to fight for the country, but more truly to assail it. To these the mother of the brood, finding that success had attended the first contingent, sends out also a larger raft-full of accomplices and curs, which sails over and joins itself to their bastard comrades. From that source, the seed of iniquity, the root of bitterness, grows as a poisonous plant, worthy of our deserts, in our own soil, furnished with rugged branches and leaves. Thus the barbarians, admitted into the island, succeed in having provisions supplied them, as if they were soldiers and about to encounter, as they falsely averred, great hardships for their kind entertainers. These provisions, acquired for a length of time, closed, as the saying is, the dog's maw. They complain, again, that their monthly supplies were not copiously contributed to them, intentionally colouring their opportunities, and declare that, if larger munificence were not piled upon them, they would break the treaty and lay waste the whole of the island. They made no delay to follow up their threats with deeds. |57
24. For the fire of righteous vengeance, caused by former crimes, blazed from sea to sea, heaped up by the eastern band of impious men; and as it devastated all the neighbouring cities and lands, did not cease after it had been kindled, until it burnt nearly the whole surface of the island, and licked the western ocean with its red and savage tongue. In this assault, which might be compared to the Assyrian attack upon Iudaea of old, there is fulfilled in us also, according to the account, that which the prophet in his lament says:----
They have burnt with fire thy sanctuary in the land,
They have defiled the tabernacle of thy name;
and again,
O God, the gentiles have come into thine inheritance,
They have defiled thy holy temple, 34
and so forth. In this way were all the settlements brought low with the frequent shocks of the battering rams; the inhabitants, along with the bishops of the church, both priests and people, whilst swords gleamed on every side and flames crackled, were together mown down to the ground, and, sad sight! there were seen in the midst of streets, the bottom stones of towers with tall beam 35 cast down, and of high walls, sacred altars, fragments of bodies covered with clots, as if coagulated, of red blood, in confusion as in a kind of horrible wine press: there was no sepulture of any kind save the ruins of houses, or the entrails of wild beasts and birds in the open, I say it with reverence to their holy souls (if in fact there were many to be found holy), that would be carried by holy angels to the heights of heaven. For the vineyard, at one time good, had then so far degenerated to bitter fruit, that rarely could be seen, according to the prophet, any cluster of grapes or ear of corn, as it were, behind the back of the vintagers or reapers.
25. Some 36 of the wretched remnant were consequently captured on |59 the mountains and killed in heaps. Others, overcome by hunger, came and yielded themselves to the enemies, to be their slaves for ever, if they were not instantly slain, which was equivalent to the highest service. Others repaired to parts beyond the sea,37 with strong lamentation, as if, instead of the oarsman's call, singing thus beneath the swelling sails:
Thou hast given us like sheep appointed for eating,
And among the gentiles hast thou scattered us.
Others, trusting their lives, always with apprehension of mind, to high hills, overhanging, precipitous, and fortified, and to dense |61 forests and rocks of the sea, remained in their native land, though with fear.
After a certain length of time the cruel robbers returned to their home.38 A remnant, to whom wretched citizens flock from different places on every side, as eagerly as a hive of bees when a storm is threatening, praying at the same time unto Him with their whole heart, and, as is said,
Burdening the air with unnumbered prayers,39
that they should not be utterly destroyed, take up arms and challenge their victors to battle under Ambrosius Aurelianus.40 He was a man of unassuming character, who, alone of the Roman race chanced to survive in the shock of such a storm (as his parents, people undoubtedly clad in the purple, had been killed in it), whose offspring in our days have greatly degenerated from their ancestral nobleness. To these men, by the Lord's favour, there came victory.
The final victory over the Saxons. Siege of Mons Badonicus. De postrema patriae victoria quae temporibus nostris Dei nutu donata est.
26. From that time, the citizens were sometimes victorious, sometimes the enemy, in order that the Lord, according to His wont, might try in this nation the Israel of to-day, whether it loves Him or not. This continued up to the year of the siege of Badon Hill,41 and |63 of almost the last great slaughter inflicted upon the rascally crew. And this commences, a fact I know, as the forty-fourth year,42 with one month now elapsed; it is also the year of my birth. But not even at the present day are the cities of our country inhabited as formerly; deserted and dismantled, they lie neglected43 until now, because, although wars with foreigners have ceased, domestic wars continue. The recollection of so hopeless a ruin of the island, and of the unlooked-for help, has been fixed in the memory of those who have survived as witnesses of both marvels. Owing to this (aid) kings, magistrates, private persons, priests, ecclesiastics, severally preserved their own rank. As they died away, when an age had succeeded ignorant of that storm, and having experience only of the present quiet, all the controlling influences of truth and justice were so shaken and overturned that, not to speak of traces, not even the remembrance of them is to be found among the ranks named |65 above. I make exception of a few 44----a very few----who owing to the loss of the vast multitude that rushes daily to hell, are counted at so small a number that our revered mother45, the church, in a manner does not observe them as they rest in her bosom. They are the only real children she has. Let no man think that I am slandering the noble life of these men, admired by all and beloved of God, by whom my weakness is supported so as not to fall into entire ruin, by holy prayers, as by columns and serviceable supports. Let no one think so, if in a somewhat excessively free-spoken, yea, doleful manner, driven by a crowd of evils, I shall not so much treat of, as weep concerning those who serve not only their belly, but the devil rather than Christ, who is God blessed for ever. For why will fellow-citizens hide what the nations around already not only know, but reproach us with? |67
PART II.
General Denunciation of Princes and Judges.
27. KINGS Britain has, but they are as her tyrants: she has judges, but they are ungodly men: engaged in frequent plunder and disturbance, but of harmless men: avenging and defending, yea for the benefit of criminals and robbers. They have numerous wives, though harlots and adulterous women: they swear but by way of forswearing, making vows yet almost immediately use falsehood. They make wars, but the wars they undertake are civil and unjust ones. They certainly pursue thieves industriously throughout the country, whilst those thieves who sit with them at table, they not only esteem but even remunerate. Alms they give profusely, but over against this they heap up a huge mountain of crimes. They take their seat to pronounce sentence, yet seldom seek the rule of right judgment. Despising the innocent and lowly, they to their utmost extol to the stars the bloody-minded, the proud, the murderous men, their own companions and the adulterous enemies of God, if chance so offers, who ought, together with their very name, to be assiduously destroyed. Many have they bound in their prisons, whom they ill-use with weight of chains, more by their own fraud than by reason of desert: they linger among the altars in the oaths they make, and shortly afterwards look with disdain on these same altars as if they were dirty stones. |69
Denunciation of the Five Princes.
Constantius of Damnonia.
28. Of this so execrable a wickedness Constantine, the tyrannical whelp of the unclean lioness of Damnonia 46, is not ignorant. In this year, after a dreadful form of oath, by which he bound himself that he would use no deceit against his subjects, making his oath first to God, and secondly to the choirs of saints and those who follow them, in reliance upon the mother (the church), he nevertheless, in the garb of a holy abbot, cruelly tore the tender sides of two royal children, while in the bosoms of two revered mothers ----viz., the church and the mother after the flesh----together with their two guardians. And their arms, stretched forth, in no way to armour, which no man was in the habit of using more bravely than they at this time, but towards God and His altar, will hang in the day of judgment at thy gates, Oh Christ, as revered trophies of their patience and faith. He did this among the holy altars, as I said, with accursed sword and spear instead of teeth, so that the cloaks, red as if with clotted blood, touched the place of the heavenly sacrifice.
This deed he committed, after no meritorious acts worthy of praise; for, many years previously he was overcome by frequent successive deeds of adultery, having put away his legitimate wife, contrary to the prohibition of Christ and the Teacher of the gentiles, who say: What God hath joined let man not separate, and: Husbands love your wives. For he planted, of the bitter vine of Sodom in the soil of his heart, unfruitful for good seed, a shoot of unbelief and unwisdom, which, watered by public and domestic impieties as if by poisonous showers, and springing forth more quickly to the displeasure of God, brought forth the guilt of murder and sacrilege. But as one |71 not yet free from the nets of prior sins he heaps new crimes upon old ones.
29. Come now! (I reprove, as if present, one whom I know to be yet surviving). Why art thou confounded, thou murderer of thine own soul? Why kindlest thou, of thine own accord, the ceaseless flames of hell against thyself? Why, taking the place of thine enemies, piercest thou thyself, under no compulsion, with thine own sword and spear? Were not those very cups, poisonous with crimes, able to satisfy thy heart? Look back, I beseech thee, and come to Christ, since thou labourest and art bent down with thy huge burden, and He, as He has said, will give thee rest. Come to Him who willeth not the death of a sinner, but that he should be converted and live: break, according to the prophet, the chains of thy neck, thou son of Sion. Return, I pray, though from the far-off secret haunts of sins, to the tender father who----for the son that despises the unclean food of swine, and fears the death of hard famine, and returns to himself-----has been accustomed in gladness to kill the fatted calf and to bring forward the first garment and royal ring for the erring one, and with a foretaste of heavenly hope thou shalt feel how the Lord is kind. For if thou despisest these admonitions, know that thou shalt even soon be whirled round and burnt in hell's indescribable dark floods of fire.
30. Thou also, lion whelp, as the prophet says, what doest thou, Aurelius Caninus?47 Art thou not swallowed up in the same, if not more destructive, filth, as the man previously mentioned, the filth of murders, fornications, adulteries, like sea-waves rushing fatally upon thee? Hast thou not by thy hatred of thy country's peace, as if it were a deadly serpent, or by thy iniquitous thirst for civil wars and repeated spoils, closed the doors of heavenly peace and repose for thy soul? Left alone now, like a dry tree in the midst of a field, remember, I pray thee, the pride of thy fathers and brothers, with their early and untimely death. Wilt thou, because of pious deserts, an exception to almost all thy family, survive for a hundred years, or be of the years of Methuselah? No. But unless, as the Psalmist says, thou be very speedily converted to the Lord, that King will soon brandish his sword against thee; who says by the prophet: I will kill and I will make alive: I shall wound and I shall heal, and there is none that can deliver out of my |73 hand. Wherefore shake thyself from thy filthy dust, and turn unto Him with thy whole heart, unto Him who created thee, so that when His anger quickly kindles, thou mayest be blest, hoping in Him. But if not so, eternal pains await thee, who shalt be always tormented, without being consumed, in the dread jaws of hell.
Vortiporius, prince of the Demetae (Dyfed).
31. Why also art thou, Vortipor, tyrant of the Demetae, foolishly stubborn?48 Like the pard art thou, in manners and wickedness of various colour, though thy head is now becoming grey, upon a throne full of guile, and from top to bottom defiled by various murders and adulteries, thou worthless son of a good king, as Manasseh of Hezekiah. What! do not such wide whirlpools of sins, which thou suckest in like good wine, nay, art thyself swallowed by them, though the end of life is gradually drawing near----do these not satisfy thee? Why, to crown all thy sins, dost thou, when thine own wife had been removed and her death had been virtuous, by the violation of a shameless daughter, burden thy soul as with a weight impossible to remove?
Spend not, I beseech thee, the remainder of thy days in offending God, because now is the acceptable time and the day of salvation shines upon the faces of the penitent, during which thou canst well bring to pass that thy flight be not in winter or on the Sabbath. Turn (according to the Psalmist) away from evil and do good, seek good peace and follow it; because the eyes of the. Lord will be upon thee when thou doest good, and his ears unto thy prayers, and he will not destroy thy memory from the land of the living. Thou shalt cry and he will hear thee, and save thee from all thy tribulations. For Christ never despises the heart that is contrite and humbled by the fear of Him. Otherwise the worm of thy agony shall not die, and the fire of thy burning shall not be quenched.
Cuneglasus.
32. Why dost thou, also, wallow in the old filth of thy wickedness, from the years of thy youth, thou bear, rider of many, and driver of a chariot belonging to a bear's den, despiser of God and contemner of His decree, thou Cuneglas 49 (meaning in the Roman |75 tongue, thou tawny butcher)? Why dost thou maintain such strife against both men and God? Against men, thine own countrymen, to wit, by arms special to thyself; against God, by crimes without number? Why, in addition to innumerable lapses, dost thou, having driven away thy wife, cast thine eyes upon her dastardly sister, who is under a vow to God of the perpetual chastity of widowhood, that is as the poet says, of the highest tenderness of heavenly nymphs, with the full reverence, or rather bluntness, of her mind, against the apostle's prohibition when he says that adulterers cannot be citizens of the kingdom of heaven? Why dost thou provoke, by thy repeated injuries, the groans and sighs of saints, who on thy account are living in the body, as if they were the teeth of a huge lioness that shall some day break thy bones? Cease, I pray, from anger, as the prophet says, and forsake the deadly wrath that shall torment thyself, which thou brcathest against heaven and earth, that is, against God and His flock. Rather change thy life and cause them to pray for thee, to whom is given the power to bind above the world, when they have bound guilty men in the world, and to loose, when they have absolved the penitent.50 Be not, as the apostle says, high-minded, nor have thy hope set on the uncertainty of riches, but in God who giveth thee many things richly, that by an amendment of life, thou mayest lay in store for thyself a good foundation against the time to come, and mayest have the true life; that is, of course, the eternal life, not that which passeth away. Otherwise thou shalt know and see, even in this world, how evil and bitter it is to have abandoned the Lord thy God, and that His fear is not with thee, and that in the world to come thou shalt be burnt in the hideous mass of eternal fires, without, however, in any |77 way dying. For the souls of sinners are as immortal for never-ending fire as those of the saints are for joy.
Maglocunus insularis draco. Maelgwn of Anglesey (?)
33. And thou, the island dragon, who hast driven many of the tyrants mentioned previously, as well from life as from kingdom, thou last in my writing, first in wickedness, exceeding many in power and at the same time in malice, more liberal in giving, more excessive in sin, strong in arms, but stronger in what destroys thy soul----thou Maclocunus,51 why dost thou obtusely wallow in such an old black pool of crimes, as if sodden with the wine that is pressed from the vine of Sodom? Why dost thou tie to thy royal neck (of thine own accord, as I may say), such heaps, impossible to remove, of crimes, as of high mountains? Why showest thou thyself to Him, the King of all kings, who made thee superior to almost all the kings of Britain, both in kingdom and in the form of thy stature, not better than the rest in morality, but on the contrary worse? Give a patient hearing for awhile to an undoubted record of those charges which, passing by domestic and lighter offences----if, indeed, any are light----shall testify only the things which have been proclaimed far and wide, in broad daylight, as admitted crimes. In the first years of thy youth, accompanied by soldiers of the bravest, whose countenance in battle appeared not very unlike that of young lions, didst thou not most bitterly crush thy uncle the king with sword, and spear, and fire? Not regarding the prophet's word when it says: Men of blood and deceit shall not live out half their days. What wouldst thou expect of retribution for this deed alone from the righteous judge, even if such consequences as have followed were not to occur, when He likewise |79 says by the prophet: Woe unto thee that spoilest; shalt thou not be spoiled? and thou that killest, shalt not thou thyself be killed? and when thou hast made an end of thy spoiling, then shalt thou fall.
34 When the dream of thy oppressive reign turned out according to thy wish, didst thou not, drawn by the desire to return unto the right way, with the consciousness of thy sins probably biting days and nights during that period, first, largely meditating with thyself on the godly walk and the rules of monks, then, bringing them forward to the knowledge of open publicity, didst thou not vow thyself for ever a monk? Without any thought of unfaithfulness was it done, according to thy declaration, in the sight of God Almighty, before the face of angels and men. Thou hadst broken, as was thought, those big nets, by which fat bulls of thy class are wont to be entangled headlong, that is, thou hadst broken the nets of every kind of royalty, of gold and of silver, and what is mightier than these, of thine own imperious will. And thyself didst thou profitably snatch like a dove, from the raven, strongly cleaving the thin air in rustling flight, escaping the cruel claws of the speedy hawk with sinuous windings, to the caves of the saints, sure retreats for thee, and places of refreshment. What gladness would there be for thy mother, the church, if the enemy of all mankind had not disastrously dragged thee off, in a way, from her bosom! What plentiful touchwood for heavenly hope would blaze in the hearts of men without hope, if thou didst persevere in good! What and how many rewards of the kingdom of Christ would wait thy soul in the day of judgment, if that crafty wolf, when from a wolf thou hadst become a lamb, had not snatched thee from the Lord's fold (not greatly against thy will), to make thee a wolf from a lamb, like unto himself! What joy thy salvation, if secured, had furnished to the gracious Father and God of all saints, had not the wretched father of all the lost, like an eagle of mighty wings and claws----the devil, I mean----against every right, snatched thee away to the unhappy troop of his children!
Not to be tedious----thy conversion unto good fruit brought as much joy and pleasantness, both to heaven and earth, as now thy accursed reversion to thy fearful vomit like a sick dog, has caused |81 of sorrow and lamentation. When this reversion had come to pass thy members are presented as weapons of unrighteousness unto sin and the devil, which ought to have been eagerly presented, with proper regard to good sense, as weapons of righteousness unto God. When the attention of thy ears has been caught, it is not the praises of God, in the tuneful voice of Christ's followers, with its sweet rhythm, and the song of church melody, that are heard, but thine own praises (which are nothing); the voice of the rascally crew yelling forth, like Bacchanalian revellers, full of lies and foaming phlegm, so as to besmear everyone near them. In this way the vessel, once prepared for the service of God, is changed into an instrument of Satan, and that which was deemed worthy of heavenly honour is, according to its desert, cast into the abyss of hell.
35 Yet not by such stumbling-blocks of evils, as if by a kind of barrier, is thy mind, dulled through a load of unwisdom, retarded; but impetuous like a young colt, which, imagining every pleasant place as not traversed, rushes along, with unbridled fury, over wide fields of crimes, heaping new sins upon old. For contempt is thrown upon thy first marriage, though after thy violated vow as a monk it was illicit, yet was to be assumed as the marriage of thine own proper wife; another marriage is sought after, not with anybody's widow, but with the beloved wife of a living man; and he not a stranger, but thy brother's son. On this account, that stiff neck, already weighted with many burdens of sins (to wit, a double daring murder, the killing of the husband above named, and the wife that was for a time regarded by thee as thine), is bent down through the extreme excess of thy sacrilegious deed, from lowest crimes to still lower. Afterwards thou didst wed her, by whose collusion and intimation, the huge mass of the crimes grew suddenly so big, |83 in public, and (as the false tongues of thy flatterers assert, at the top of their voice, though not from the depth of their heart), in a legitimate marriage, regarding her as a widow; but our tongues say, in desecrated wedlock.
What saint is there whose bowels, moved by such a tale, do not at once break forth into weeping and sobbing? What priest, whose righteous heart is open before God, on hearing of these things, would not, with great wailing, instantly say that word of the prophet: Who will give water unto my head, and a fountain of tears unto my eyes? A nd I shall weep day and night the slain of my people. Alas! little didst thou, with thy ears, listen to the prophet's reproof when it thus speaks: Woe unto you, ye impious men, who have abandoned the law of the Most High God: and if ye be born, ye shall be born for a curse; and if ye die, your portion shall be for a curse. All things that are of the earth shall go to the earth, so shall the wicked from curse unto perdition. It is understood if they return not unto the Lord, at least, when such an admonition, as the following, has been heard: My son thou hast sinned; add no more thereto but rather pray to be relieved of thy old sins. And again: Be not slow to be converted unto the Lord, nor defer it from day to day, for His anger shall come suddenly; because, as the Scripture says: When the king hearkens to an unrighteous word, all that are under him are wicked. Surely, as the prophet has said: A just king elevates the land. 36 But warnings are certainly not wanting to thee, since thou hast had as instructor the refined teacher of almost the whole of Britain.52 Beware, therefore, lest what is noted by Solomon happens unto thee: As one who rouses a sleeper from deep sleep, is he who speaks wisdom to a fool; for in the end of his speaking he will say, 'What saidst thou first?' Wash thine heart, O Jerusalem, as is said, from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved.
Despise not, I pray thee, the unspeakable mercy of God, when, through the prophet, he calls the wicked from their sins, as follows: Instantly shall I speak to the nation and to the kingdom, so that I may pluck up, and scatter, and destroy, and ruin. He |85 earnestly exhorts the sinner to repentance in this passage: And if that nation repent of its sin, I also shall repent respecting the evil which I spake to do unto it. Again: Who will give them such a heart that they may hear me, and keep my precepts, and it may be well unto them all the days of their life. Again, in the song of Deuteronomy, he says: They are a people void of counsel and understanding. O that they were wise, that they understood and foresaw their last end! how one shall chase a thousand and two put ten thousand to flight. Again, in the gospel, the Lord says: Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I shall cause you to rest.53 Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; because I am meek and lowly of heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
For if thou hear these things with deaf ears, thou contemnest the prophets, thou despisest Christ, and me, though a man of the lowest estate I grant, thou regardest as of no weight, though at any rate I keep that word of the prophet with sincere godliness of mind: I shall surely fill my strength with the spirit and power of the Lord, so as to make known unto the house of Jacob their sins, and to the house of Israel their offences, lest I be as dumb dogs that cannot bark. Also that word of Solomon, who says thus: He that saith that the wicked is just, shall be accursed of the people, and hated of the nations: for they who convict him shall hope better thing's. Again: Thou shalt not respect thy neighbour to his own ruin, nor hold back word in the time of salvation. Also: Pluck out those that are drawn unto death, and redeem those that are slain, spare not, because, as the same prophet says, riches shall not profit in the day of wrath; righteousness delivereth from death. If the righteous scarcely be saved where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? That dark flood of hell 54 shall roll round thee with its deadly whirl and fierce |87 waves; it shall always torture and never consume thee, to whom, at that time too late and profitless, shall be the real knowledge of pain and repentance for sin, from which the conversion to the righteous way of life, is delayed by thee.
Reasons for Introducing Words of the Holy Prophets (sancti vates).
37. Here indeed, or even before, was to be concluded this tearful and complaining story55 of the evils of this age, so that my mouth should no further relate the deeds of men. But let them not suppose that I am timid or wearied, so as not to be carefully on my guard against that saying of Isaiah: Woe unto him who calleth evil good, and good evil, putting darkness for light, and light for darkness, bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter. Who seeing do not see, and hearing do not hear, whose heart is covered with a thick cloud of vices. Rather, I wish succinctly to relate what threatenings, and how great, the oracles of the prophets exclaim against the above-named lascivious and mad five horses of the retinue of Pharaoh, by whom his army is actively incited to its ruin in the Red sea, and those like unto them. By these oracles, as if by a noble roof, the undertaking of my little work is safely covered, so that it may not stand open to the rain-storms of envious men, which shall rush upon it, vieing with one another.
Let, therefore, the holy prophets speak for me now, as they did formerly----they who stood forth as the mouth, so to speak, of God, the instrument of the Holy Spirit with prohibition of sins unto men, befriending the good----against the stubborn and proud princes of this age, lest they say, that out of my own invention and mere wordy rashness, I am hurling against them such threatenings, and |89 terrors of such magnitude. For to no wise man is it doubtful how much more grievous are the sins of this time, than those of the primitive time, when the apostle says: He that transgresses the law, is put to death on the word of two or three witnesses; of how much sorer punishments, think ye, is he worthy who hath trodden under foot the Son of God. |99
PART III
Quotations from Scripture, made consecutively in the order of books, denouncing wicked Princes.
38. The first to meet us is Samuel, who by the command of God founded a legitimate kingdom, a man dedicated to God before his birth, a true prophet to all the people of Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba, known by indubitably wonderful signs. From his mouth the Holy Spirit thundered to all the powers of the world, when denouncing Saul, the first king of the Hebrews, for the simple reason that he had not fulfilled certain commands of the Lord. His words are: Thou hast done foolishly, nor hast thou kept the commandments of the Lord thy God, which He commanded thee. If thou hadst not done this thing, God would now prepare thy kingdom over Israel for ever; but thy kingdom shall arise no further. What then is there like to the crimes of this time? Did. he commit adultery or murder? Not at all. He, however, made a partial change of the command, because, as one of ourselves has well said, "the question is not respecting the kind of sin, but respecting the transgression of a command." And when he was attempting to |101 disprove the charges, as he thought, and weaving apologies, as is the custom with men, after the following plausible manner: Verily I have hearkened to the voice of the Lord, and walked in the way by which He sent me; the prophet punished him with such a censure; as the following: Doth the Lord, he says, desire burnt offerings or victims, and not rather to obey the voice of the Lord? For obedience is better than victims, and to hearken is more than to offer the fat of rams, since resistance is as the sin of witchcraft, and as the crime of idolatry is the refusal to obey. Therefore, because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, He hath also rejected thee from being king. And a little after: God hath rent, he says, the kingdom of Israel from thee to-day, and hath given it to thy neighbour, better than thou. Truly the Victor in Israel will not spare, and by penitence will He not be bent; for He is not man, that He should repent, that is to say, because of the hard hearts of the wicked.
We must, therefore, observe that he says, the refusal to obey God is the crime of idolatry.56 Let not those wicked ones applaud themselves, when they do not publicly sacrifice to the gods of the Gentiles, since by treading under foot, like swine, the costliest pearls of Christ, they are idolaters.
39. But although this one example, with its impregnable confirmation, should be fully sufficient to amend the wicked, nevertheless, in order that in the mouth of many witnesses the whole wickedness of Britain may be established, let us pass on to the rest.
What happened to David when he numbered the people, the prophet Gad saying unto him: Thus saith the Lord: The choice of three things is given thee; choose the one thou wilt, that I may do it unto thee; either famine shall befall thee seven years, or thou shalt flee from thine enemies three months and they pursue thee, or there shall be a pestilence in thy land three days? Being hard pressed by such a condition, and willing rather to fall into the hands of God, the merciful, than into the hands of men, he is humbled by the slaughter of 70,000 of his people. Had he not, |103 moved by apostolic love, chosen to die for his countrymen, so that the plague should not touch them, as he said: It is I that have sinned, I the shepherd have done unrighteously; those that are sheep, what sin have they committed f let thy hand, I pray, be turned against me and against my father's house: had he not done this, he would have made expiation for his heedless pride of heart by his own death.
For what says the Scripture in a later part respecting his son? Solomon, it tells us, did that which was not pleasing in the sight of the Lord, and did not fully follow the Lord as his father..... The Lord said unto him, forasmuch as thou hast had this with thee, and hast not kept my covenant and my precepts which I have given thee, I will break asunder and divide thy kingdom and give it to thy servant.
40. What befell two sacrilegious kings of Israel, just like those of ours, Jeroboam and Baasha, hear. The judgment of the Lord against these men is conveyed through the prophet, saying: Forasmuch as I have magnified thee to be prince over Israel, because they have provoked me by their vanities, behold I stir up after Baasha and after his house, and I shall render his house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat. Him that dieth of his in the city, shall the dogs eat, and his dead body in the field shall the fowls of heaven consume. What also against that wicked king of Israel (fellow of those) by whose collusion, and by the guile of his wife, innocent Naboth was put to death, for the sake of his vineyard, inherited from his fathers? What is threatened by the holy mouth of that Elijah, by the mouth taught in the fiery message of the Lord? Thus he says: Thou hast even killed and taken possession; and thou shalt add this, saith the Lord: in this place, in which the dogs have licked the blood of Naboth, they will also lick thy blood. That the event did come to pass in this way is known to us by certain proof. But lest, as in the case of the aforementioned Ahab, a lying spirit, speaking vain things in the mouth of your prophets, seduce you from hearkening to the words of the prophet Micah, behold God hath allowed a lying spirit to be in the mouth of all thy prophets that are here, and the |105 Lord hath spoken evil against thee. For even now, it is certain, there are some teachers filled with an opposing spirit, declaring for depraved lust rather than for truth, whose words are made softer than oil and yet are very javelins, who say, "peace, peace," and there shall not be peace for those who persist in sins, as the prophet elsewhere says: "there is no joy for the wicked, saith the Lord."
41. Azarias, also the son of Obed, spoke unto Asa, when he was returning from the slaughter of ten hundred thousand of the Ethiopian army, saying: The Lord is with you, whilst ye are with Him; and if ye seek Him, He will be found of you; and if ye leave Him, He will leave you. For if Jehoshaphat, while aiding an unjust king, is thus reproved by the prophet Jehu, son of Annanias, saying: If' thou helpest a sinner or lovest him whom the Lord hateth, the anger of God on that account is upon thee, what shall be unto them who are bound in the fetters of their own crimes? The sins of these men, if we wish to fight in the Lord's battle, we must hate, not their souls, as the Psalmist says: Ye who love the Lord, hate evil.
What did the afore-named Elijah, the chariot of Israel and horseman thereof, utter unto the son of Jehoshaphat, even Jehoram the murderer, who butchered his noble brothers, that he, a bastard, might reign in their stead. Thus saith the Lord God of thy father David: Because thou hast not walked in the way of Jehoshaphat thy father, and in the ways of Asa, King of Judah, and hast adulterously walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, as did the house of Ahab, and hast killed thy brothers, the sons of Jehoshaphat, better than thou, behold the Lord shall strike thee and thy sons with a great plague. A little later: And thou shalt have great sickness by weakness of thy bowels, until thy bowels fall out with very infirmity, from day to day. And hear ye also how Zecharias, the son of Jehoiadah, the prophet, menaced Joash, King of Israel, when he abandoned the Lord, as ye do. He rose and said unto the people: Thus saith the Lord: Why |107 do ye transgress the precepts of the Lord, and prosper not? Because ye have left the Lord, He will also leave you.
42. What shall I say of Isaiah, the first of the prophets? He began his prophecy or his vision by saying: Hear ye heavens, and understand with your ears, O! earth, since the Lord hath spoken; I have nourished and brought up children, but they have despised me. The ox knoweth its owner, and the ass its master's crib: but Israel knoweth me not, and my people hath not understood. A little further, adding fit threatenings for such a folly, he says: The daughter of Sion shall be left like a tent in a vineyard, and as a booth in a garden of cucumbers, like a city that is racked. And when he particularly summons the princes, he says: Hear the word of the Lord, ye princes of Sodom; know the law of the Lord, ye people of Gomorrah. It is certainly worthy of observation that unjust kings are called princes of Sodom. For, by way of forbidding the offering of sacrifices and gifts to him by such men (whilst we greedily accept 57 things that from every nation are displeasing to God, and to our own destruction prevent the distribution of those same things to the needy and penniless), so does the Lord speak unto men burdened with immense riches, and yet having the mean purposes of sinners. Bring no more a sacrifice in vain; incense is an abomination unto me. Again he declares: And when ye stretch forth your hand, I will turn away from you; and when ye multiply prayer, I will not hear. Why He does this is set forth: Your hands are full of blood.
Showing at the same time how he might be appeased, he says: Wash ye, be ye clean; put away, the evil of your thoughts from before mine eyes; cease from perverse doing; learn to do good; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless. As if assuming in addition the part of reconciler, he says: If your sins be as scarlet, they shall be made white as snow; and if they be red like a worm, they shall be white as wool. If ye be willing and hear me, ye shall eat the good of the land. Because if ye refuse and provoke me to anger, the sword shall devour you. |109
43. Receive one who truly and publicly assents to these words, when he declares the recompense of your good and evil, with no disguise of flattery; not as the mouths of your flatterers whisper respectable poisonous things into your ears.
Also, directing his judgment against rapacious judges, he speaks thus: Thy princes are unfaithful companions of thieves; they all love gifts and follow after rewards; they judge not the fatherless, and the cause of the widow cometh not iinto them. Therefore saith the Lord of hosts, the Mighty One of Israel: Ah! I shall be cheered with respect to my enemies, and be avenged of my adversaries; and the heinous transgressors and the sinners shall be crushed together and destroyed, and all who have abandoned the Lord shall be consumed. Also below: The eyes of the lofty man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down. Again: Woe unto the wicked for evil, for the reward of his hands shall be unto him. A little after: Woe unto you that rise up early to follow after drunkenness, and to drink until the evening, until ye are inflamed with wine. The harp, the lyre, the tabret, the pipe and wine are in your feasts; and the work of the Lord ye regard not, and the work of His hands ye consider not. Therefore my people have been led captive, because they have not had knowledge; and their honourable men have perished with famine, and their multitude have parched with thirst. Therefore hell hath enlarged her soul, and opened her mouth without measure: and their strong ones and their multitude, their lofty and renowned ones, shall descend unto it. And below: Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle drunkenness; who justify the ivicked for rewards, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him. Because of this, as the fire devoureth stubble, and the heat of the flame burneth wood, so shall their root be as embers, and their blossom shall go iip as dust. For they have cast away the law of the Lord of hosts, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel. In all this the anger of the Lord is not turned away, but His hand is stretched out still.
44. And after some further words, treating of the day of judgment and the unspeakable fear of sinners, he says: Howl ye, because the day of the Lord is at hand----if it was then near, what shall be thought now?----because destruction shall come from God. Therefore shall all hands be unloosed, and every heart of man shall melt and be crushed: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman in travail. Each one shall be amazed at his neighbour; their countenance shall be as faces burnt. Behold the day of the Lord shall come cruel, and full of indignation |111 and wrath and anger, to place the land a desolation, and its sinners crushed out thereof; since the stars of heaven and their splendour shall not spread their light; the sun shall be darkened in its rising, and the moon not shine in her time. And I shall visit the evils of the world, and, against the impious, their iniquity; and shall cause the pride of the unfaithful to become quiet, and the haughtiness of the strong will I lay low. Again: Behold the Lord shall waste the earth, and make it empty, and afflict its face, and scatter abroad the inhabitants thereof, and it shall be, as the people, so the priest; and as the servant so his master; as the maid, so her mistress; as the buyer, so he who sells; as the lender, so he who borrows; as he who claims a debt, so he who is in debt. The land shall be utterly dispersed, and shall be despoiled with pillaging. For the Lord hath spoken this word: The earth hath mourned and hath faded away; the world hath faded away; the loftiness of the people of the earth hath been weakened, and the earth hath been brought to nought by its inhabitants, because they have transgressed the laws, have changed the right, and have broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore shall a curse devour the earth.
45. And below: They that are merry in heart shall sigh, the joy of tabrets shall cease, the noise of them that rejoice shall rest, the delight of the harp with its song shall be silent, they shall not drink wine, bitter shall be their drink to them that drink it, The city of vanity is wasted; closed is every house, because no man entereth therein. There shall be crying in the streets over the wine, all joy is failed, all gladness of the land is carried away, desolation is left in the city, and adversity shall bear down the gates; for these things shall be in the midst of the land, and in the midst of the people. After a few words: The treacherous dealers have dealt treacherously, and with the treachery of transgressors have they dealt treacherously. Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, who art an inhabitant of the earth. And it shall come to pass, he who fleeth from the voice of fear shall fall into the pit; and he that is freed from the pit shall be taken in the snare, because the floodgates from above will be opened, and the foundations of the earth will be shaken. The earth shall be utterly broken; it shall be moved exceedingly; it shall be clean staggered like a drunken man, and shall be carried away like a tent pitched for a night; its transgressions shall be heavy upon it; it shall fall, and shall make no effort to rise. It shall come to pass, in that day shall the Lord visit the host of heaven on high, and the kings of the earth that are upon the earth, and they shall be gathered together as a host of one bundle into |113 the pit, they shall be shut in prison there, and after many days shall they be visited. The moon shall blush, and the sun be confounded, when the Lord of hosts shall reign in mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and shall be glorified in the presence of his elders.
46. After a while, giving a reason why such things should be threatened, he says thus: Behold the Lords hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither His ear become heavy, that it hear not. But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid His face from you, that He should not hear. For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity: your lips have spoken falsehood, and your tongue uttereth wickedness. There is none that calleth for justice, nor is there that judgeth truly, but they confide in nothingness; they speak vanities, they have conceived sorrow and have brought forth iniquity. And below: Their works are unprofitable, and the work of inquity is in their hands. Their feet run into evil, and they make haste to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are unprofitable thoughts; desolation and destruction are in their ways; and the way of peace they have not known; and there is no judgment in their steps. Their paths have been made crooked by them; everyone who walketh therein knoweth not peace. Therefore is judgment made far from you, and righteousness hath not got hold of you. After a few words: And judgment is turned back, and righteousness hath stood afar: because truth is fallen in the street, and uprightness could not enter. Truth hath become in oblivion; and he who hath departed from evil, hath become open to prey. And the Lord saw it, and it was not pleasing in His eyes that there is no judgment.
47. So far, let it suffice to have said a few, out of many, of the words of Isaiah the Prophet.
Now with equal attention listen to him who, before he was formed in the womb, was foreknown, was sanctified and appointed a prophet among all nations also, before he parted with his mother----listen, I say, to Jeremiah, what he has pronounced concerning a foolish people and stiff-necked kings. He begins his utterances gently in this manner. And the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, and say.... Hear ye the word of the Lord, ye house of Jacob, and all kindred of the house of Israel: thus saith the Lord, What unrighteousness have your fathers found in me, that they are far |115 removed from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain, and have not said, Where is He who caused us to come up out of the land of Egypt? After a few words: From of old hast thou broken my yoke, thou hast burst my chains; thou saidst, I will not serve. I planted thee a chosen vine, all a true seed. How then art thou turned into evil things as a strange vine? If thou wash thee with nitre, and multiply unto thee the plant borith, thou art marked by thine iniquity before me, saith the Lord. And below: Wherefore will ye plead with me in judgment, ye have all abandoned me, saith the Lord. In vain have I smitten your children; they have not received discipline. Hear the word of the Lord. Have I become a wilderness unto Israel, or a late bearing land? Wherefore, then, hath my people said: We have gone away, we will no more come unto thee? Doth a maid forget her ornament, or a bride the fillet of her bosom? Yet my people have forgotten me days without number. Because my people is foolish, they know me not: unwise children are they, and without understanding; they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge. 48 Then the prophet speaks in his own person, saying: O Lord thine eyes behold faithfulness. Thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved: Thou hast ground them, and they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock, and have refused to return. The Lord also: Declare ye this to the house of Jacob and make it heard in Judah, saying: Hear, ye foolish people, who have no heart, who, having eyes, see not; and ears, and do not hear. Will ye then not fear me, saith the Lord, and will ye not grieve at my presence? I who have placed the sand for a bound to the sea as a perpetual decree, which it will not pass by. Its waves shall be moved, and they cannot prevail; they shall swell, and shall not pass over it. But to this people there hath come an unbelieving and exasperating heart: they have retreated and departed, and have not said in their heart: Let us fear the Lord our God. And again: Because among my people have been found wicked men, lying in wait as fowlers, setting gins and snares to catch men; as a trap is full of birds, so their houses are full of guile. Therefore they are become great and waxen rich, they are waxen stout and fat, and they have most wickedly passed by my words: the cause of the fatherless they have not pleaded, and the judgment of the poor they have not judged. Shall I not visit for these things? saith the Lord, or shall not My soul be avenged on such a nation as this? |117
49. But God forbid that what follows should befall you: Thou shalt, speak all these words unto them, and they shall not hear thee; and thou shalt call them, and they will not answer thee; and thou shalt say unto them: This is a nation which hath not heard the voice of the Lord its God, nor received correction; faithfulness is perished, and is taken away from their mouth. After a while: Will he who falls not rise again, and he who is turned away not return? Why then is this people in Jerusalem turned away with obstinate backsliding? They have seized falsehood, and have refused to return, I watched and hearkened, no orte speaketh that which is good. There is none who repenteth of his sin, saying: What have I done? All have turned to their own course, as a horse rushing headlong into battle. The kite in the heaven knoweth her time, the turtle and swallow and stork have kept the time of their coming; My people knoweth not the judgment of God. And the prophet----terrified at so great a blindness of the irreligious and the unspeakable drunkenness, weeping also for those who do not weep for themselves (just as miserable tyrants behave now)----desires that an increase of tears be given him by the Lord, speaking as follows: For the grief of the daughter of my people am I worn out; astonishment hath taken hold of me. Is there no balm in Gilead, or is there no physician there? Why, then, is the wound of the daughter of my people not closed? Who will give, wafer unto my head, and unto mine eyes a fountain of tears? A nd I shall weep day and night for the slain of my people. Who will give me in the wilderness a lodging-place of wayfaring men? A nd I shall leave my people and go away from them, since they are all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men. They have stretched their tongue like a bow of falsehood and not of truth. They have become strong in the land, because they have proceeded from evil to evil, and have not known Me, saith the Lord. Again: And the Lord said: Because they have forsaken My law, which I gave unto them, and have not hearkened unto My voice nor walked therein, and have gone after the wickedness of their heart; on that account, thus saith the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, behold I shall feed this people with wormwood and give them water of gall to drink. And a little after, speaking in the person of God, a way which the prophet very frequently assumes: Therefore pray thou not for this people, and raise not up for them praise and prayer, because I will not hear them in the time of their crying unto Me and their trouble.
50. What then shall unhappy leaders do now? Those few who |119 have abandoned the broad way and are finding the narrow, are forbidden by God to pour out prayers for you, who persist in evil and tempt Him so greatly: upon whom, on the contrary, if you return with your heart unto God, they could not bring ven-geance, because God is unwilling that the soul of man should perish, but calls it back, lest he who is cast away should utterly perish. Because, not even Jonas the prophet, and that when he greatly desired it, could bring vengeance on the Ninevites. But putting aside, meanwhile, our own words, let us rather hear what sound the prophetic trumpet gives: And if thou say this in thy heart, wherefore are these evils come? They come for the greatness of thy iniquity. If the Ethiop can change his skin, or the leopard his spots, ye also can do good, who have learnt to do evil. Here it is understood, "ye are not willing." And below: Thus saith the Lord to this people that hath loved to move its feet, and hath not rested, and hath not been pleasing unto the Lord; now will He remember their iniquities and visit their sins. And the Lord said unto me, Pray not for that people for their good. When they fast, I shall not hear their cries; and if they offer burnt-offerings and victims, I will not accept them. Again: And the Lord said unto me: If Moses and Samuel stood before Me, My mind is not toward that people; cast them out of My sight, and let them go forth. And after a few words: Who shall have pity upon thee, O Jerusalem? or who shall bemoan thee? or who shall go to pray for thy peace? Thou hast abandoned Me, saith the Lord, thou art gone backward, and I shall stretch forth My hand over thee, and kill thee. And after a while? Thus saith the Lord, behold I frame a device against you; let every one return from his evil way, and make straight your ways and pursuits. And they said: We despair, after our own devices will we walk, and we will everyone do the wickedness of his own evil heart. Therefore, thus saith the Lord, ask ye the nations, who hath heard such horrible things as the virgin Israel hath done beyond measure? Shall the snow of Lebanon fail from the rock of the field? or can the bursting waters flowing cool be drawn away? Because My people have forgotten Me. After a while, having placed a choice before them, he speaks, saying: Thus saith the Lord: Execute ye judgment and righteousness, and deliver him that is oppressed by violence from the hand of the oppressor, and afflict not the stranger, the orphan, and the widow; neither oppress iniquitously, nor shed innocent blood. For if ye thoroughly do this word, there shall enter in by the gates of this house kings of the race of David, sitting upon his throne: because if ye hear not these words, I have sworn unto Myself, saith the Lord, |121 that this house shall be a desert. Again, for he was speaking of a wicked king: As I live, saith the Lord, if Jechoniah were the ring on my right hand, I will pluck him hence, and give him in the hands of those that seek his life.
51. Holy Habakkuk also crieth out, saying: Woe to him that buildeth. a city in blood, and prepareth a city by iniquities, saying: Are these things not from the Lord Almighty? and many peoples have perished by fire, and nations many have been diminished. He thus begins his prophecy with a complaint: How long shall I cry, and thou wilt not hear? I shall cry unto Thee, why hast thou given unto me hardships and griefs, to see misery and ungodliness? To the contrary hath both a judgment been made and the judge accepted it. Wherefore the law is demolished and judgment is not brought to an end, because the ungodly by might trampleth down the righteous. Therefore judgment goeth forth perverted.
52. Listen also to what the blessed prophet Hosea says of princes: For that they have transgressed my covenant, and have borne themselves against my law; and were crying out, we know thee that thou art against Israel. They have persecuted the good, as if unrighteous; they have reigned for themselves, and not by me; they have held the chief place, nor have they recognised me.
53. Hear also the holy prophet Amos threatening as follows: For three transgressions of the sons of Judah, and for four, I will not turn them aside; because they have rejected the law of the Lord, and have not kept His precepts, and their vanities have led them astray. And I will send a fire upon Judah, and it shall devour the foundations of Jerusalem. Thus saith the Lord, For three iniquities of Israel and for four I will not turn them aside, because they have betrayed the |123 righteous for money and the needy for shoes, which tread upon the dust of the earth, and with cuffs have they struck the heads of the poor, and have shunned the way of the humble. After a few words: Seek the Lord and ye shall live, so that the house of Ioseph shall not blaze like fire and devour it, and there shall not be to quench it. The house of Israel have hated him that reproveth in the gates, and have abhorred the righteous word. And this Amos, when being forbidden to prophesy in Israel, without the mildness of flattery says in answer: I was not a prophet nor a prophet's son, but was a goat herd plucking the fruit of sycamores; and the Lord took me from the sheep, and the Lord said unto me, Go and prophesy unto my people Israel; and now hear thou the word of the Lord. For he was addressing the king. Thou sayest Prophesy not unto Israel and gather not crowds against the house of Jacob. Therefore thus saith the Lord. Thy wife shall be an harlot in the city, and thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword, and thy lands shall be measured by line, and thou shalt die in an unclean land; and Israel shall be led away captive out of his land. And below: Hear therefore these things, ye that fiercely afflict the needy and employ tyranny against the poor in the land; who say, When shall the month be gone that we may get, and the sabbath that we may open our treasure. After a few words: The Lord sweareth against the pride of Jacob. Shall. He forget your works in scorn, and in these things shall not the land tremble? and every one that dwelleth thereon shall mourn, and its consummation shall rise like a flood. A nd I will turn your feast days into mourning, and shall cast haircloth upon every loin, and baldness upon every head, and I will render it as a mourning for a beloved one, and those that are with him, as a day of sorrow. And again: All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, who say, Evils shall not overtake nor come upon us.
54. But listen also what the holy prophet Micah has said: Hear thou, O! tribe; what shall adorn a city? Not fire? Not the house of the unjust treasuring unjust treasures? Not unrighteousness with injury?58 Shall the unjust be justified in his balance, or deceitful |125 weights in the bag, out of which they filled up their riches in ungodliness?
55. But hear also what threats the distinguished prophet Zephaniah heaps up: The great day of the Lord is near, near and hastening greatly. The voice of the day of the Lord hath been appointed bitter and mighty, that day is a day of wrath, a day of tribulation and distress, a day of cloud and mist, a day of trumpet and cry, a day of misery and desolation, a day of darkness and thick gloom, over strong cities and high corner towers. A nd I will distress men, and they shall go as blind, because they have sinned against the Lord; and I will pour out their blood as dust, and their flesh as the dung of oxen; and their silver and gold cannot deliver them in the day of the Lord's anger. And by the fire of his jealousy shall the whole land be consumed, when the Lord shall bring an end and a loneliness over all that dwell in the land. Come together, and gather yourselves together, nation without discipline; before ye be made as a flower that passeth away, before the anger of the Lord come upon you.
56. Listen also what Haggai, the holy prophet, says: Thus saith the Lord: Once shall I move heaven and earth and sea and dry land, and will turn away the kingdom and banish the strength of the kings of the nations, and turn away the chariots and those (them) that mount thereon.
57. Now again, observe what Zachariah, son of Adda, the chosen prophet, has said, beginning his prophecy in this manner: Return unto me and I will return unto you, saith the Lord, and be not such as your fathers, whom the former prophets charged, saying, Thus saith the Lord Almighty: Return ye from your ways: and they did not observe so as to hearken unto me. Below also: And the angel said unto me, What seest thou? and I said, I see a flying scythe of |127 twenty cubits in length. It is the curse which goeth forth over the face of the whole earth; since every thief shall from it be punished unto death, and I shall cast him forth saith the Lord Almighty; and it shall enter into the thief's house, and into the house of swearing. falsely in my name.
58. Holy Malachy the prophet also says: Behold the day of the Lord shall come, burning as a furnace; and all the proud and all who work wickedness shall be as stubble, and the coming day shall set them on fire, saith the Lord of hosts, which shall not leave of them root or shoot.
59. But hear what holy Job also has taught respecting the beginning and end of the wicked, saying: Wherefore do the wicked live? A nd they have become old dishonourably, and their seed is according to their desire, and their sons before their face; and their houses are fruitful, and never is the fear or the scourge of the Lord upon them. Their cow hath not been abortive, and their animal, big with young, hath brought forth and hath not gone astray; but it abideth as an eternal flock, and their children rejoice, taking up both psaltery and harp. They finished their life in good things, and stept into the rest of the grave. God, then, does not regard the deeds of the wicked? No, not so, I conclude. But the candle of the wicked shall be extinguished, and calamity shall come upon them, and pain as of one in childbirth shall hold them through anger. And they shall be like chaff before wind, and as dust, which the whirlwind carrieth away. May his goods fail to his children. Let his eyes see his own destruction, and may he not be redeemed by the Lord. After a while, of the same: Those who have carried away the flock with the shepherd, he says, and have taken away the beast of the orphans, and |129 have pledged the widow's ox, and have shunned the weak in the way of need, they have reaped a field, not their own, before its time; the poor have worked the vineyards of the strong, without pay and without hire; they have caused many to sleep naked without clothing; the covering of their life have they taken away. After a few words, when he knew their deeds, he delivered them over to darkness: Cursed therefore be his portion from the earth, and may his plantations appear as parched ones. Let there be, therefore, retribution to him as he hath done; let every wicked man be destroyed as a tree without health. For he riseth in anger, and overturns the weak. Therefore he shall not have confidence of his life, when he shall begin to grow weak; he shall not hope for health, but shall fall into weariness. For his pride hath wounded many, and he hath become withered as the mallow in heat, as the ear of corn when it falleth from its stem. Below also: Although his children be many, they shall be for destruction. Though he gather silver like earth, and prepare gold like unto clay, all these do the just obtain. |139
60. Listen besides to what the blessed prophet Esdras, that volume of the law, has threatened, treating in this manner:59 Thus says |141 my Lord, my right hand shall not spare sinners, neither shall the sword cease over them that shed innocent blood upon the earth. The fire shall go forth from my anger, and shall devour the foundations of the earth, and sinners like kindled straw. Woe unto them who sin and keep not my commandments, saith the Lord, I will not spare them. Depart ye apostate children, and defile not my holiness. God knoweth those that sin against Him, therefore He will deliver them unto death and unto destruction. For now have evils many come upon the whole earth. A sword of fire is sent upon you, and who shall turn back those evils? Will anyone turn back a hungry lion in the wood? Or what shall quench fire, when the straw is kindled? The Lord God will send evils and who will turn them back? And fire shall go forth from His wrath, and who is he that shall quench it? He shall send lightning, and who shall not fear? He shall thunder, and who shall not dread it? God shall threaten, and who shall not be terrified before His face? The earth shall quake and the foundations of the sea move like waves from the deep.
61. Listen also to what Ezekiel the famous prophet, the wonderful seer of the four beasts of the gospels, has said of the wicked. To |143 him first, as he piteously weeps the scourge of Israel, the Lord says: The iniquity of the house of Israel and of Judah hath grown exceeding great, because the land is full of many peoples and the city is full of iniquity and uncleanness. Behold it is I. Mine eye shall not spare, neither will I have pity. And below. Because the land is full of peoples, and the city is full of iniquity, I will also turn away the force of their prowess, and their holy places shall be polluted. Supplication shall come, and they shall seek peace, and it shall not be. And after a while. The word of the Lord, he says, came unto me saying, Son of man, the land which shall sin against me to commit a trespass, I will stretch out my hand and break her foundation of bread, and send famine upon it, and take away from it man and beast. Although those three men be in the midst of it, Noah, Daniel, and Job, they shall not deliver it, but shall be themselves saved by their righteousness, saith the Lord. Because if I bring noisome beasts upon the land, and punish it, and it shall be a banishment, and there shall not be to walk from the face of the beasts, and if those three men be in the midst of it, as I live saith the Lord, its sons and daughters shall not be delivered, yet they themselves alone shall be saved, but the land shall be a desolation. And again. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, nor shall the father bear the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself. And the unjust man if he turn from all the iniquities which he hath done, and keep all my commandments, and do righteousness and plenteous mercy, he shall surely live and not die. All his transgressions which he hath committed, shall not be: in the righteousness which he hath done, he shall surely live. Do I, indeed, desire the death of the unrighteous, saith the Lord, rather than that he turn from his own evil way and live? But when the righteous shall turn away from his righteousness and commit iniquity, according to all the unrighteousnesses which the sinner hath committed, |145 all the righteousnesses which he hath done, shall not be in remembrance. In his own trespass, by which he hath fallen, and in the sins by which he hath sinned, shall he die. And after a while. And all the nations shall know that it was on account of their sins the house of Israel were carried away captive, because they forsook me. And I have turned my face away from them, and delivered them into the hands of their enemies, and all have fallen by the sword. According to their uncleanness, and according to their transgressions, have I done unto them and have turned my face away from them.
62. Let this be sufficient to say respecting the threats of the holy prophets. I have, however, thought it necessary to insert in this little work a few things from The Wisdom of Solomon, so as to declare exhortation or intimation to kings no less than threats, lest it should be said of me, that I wish to place burdens of words, heavy and grievous to be borne, upon the shoulders of men, but am unwilling to move them with my finger, that is, by a word of consolation. Let us hear, therefore, what the prophet hath said. Love righteousness, he says, ye that judge the earth. This one testimony, if it were kept with the whole heart, would abundantly suffice to set right the rulers of the land. For if they had loved righteousness, they would also certainly love the fountain, as it were, and source of all righteousness, even God. Serve the Lord in goodness, and in singleness of heart seek ye him. Alas! "who shall be alive," as someone before us says, "when those things are done by our citizens," if haply they can be done anywhere, Because he is found of them that tempt him not, but appeareth unto them who have faith in him. For those men tempt God without respect, whose precepts they despise with stubborn contumacy; nor do they keep faith towards him unto whose oracles, pleasant or partly severe, they turn their back and not their face. For froward thoughts separate from God. This is that which is chiefly observed in the tyrants of our time. But why is my insignificant self brought in where |147 the meaning is so manifest? For let him speak on my behalf, as I have said, who alone is true, that is to say, the Holy Spirit, of whom it is now said: For a holy spirit of discipline will flee deceit. Again: Because the spirit of God hath filled the world. And below, showing with clear judgment the end of evil and good, he says. For the hope of the ungodly man is as the down of plants, that is carried away by the wind; and as the smoke that is dispersed by wind, and as the thin foam that is driven away by the storm, and as the remembrance of a guest that tarrieth but a day; but the righteous shall live for ever, and with God is their reward, and the care for them is with the Most High. Therefore shall they receive the kingdom of dignity, and the crown of beauty, from the Lord's hand: because with His right hand He shall cover them, and with His holy arm shall He protect them. For unlike in quality are they; they are righteous and ungodly; there is no doubt of this, as the Lord has said, I shall honour them 63 who honour me, and they that despise me shall be unknown. But let us pass on to the other things. Hear, he says, all ye kings and under-stand, learn ye judges of the ends of the earth. Give ear, ye that hold dominion over multitudes, and pride yourselves in crowds of nations. Because power was given, you of God, and your strength from the Most High, who shall inquire into your works, and search out your counsels. Because, though ye were ministers of this kingdom, ye have not judged aright, nor kept the law of righteousness, nor walked according to His will; awfully and speedily shall He appear unto you, because a stern judgment shall be unto them that rule. For mercy is granted to the mean, but mighty men shall mightily suffer torments. For He who is Ruler of all will not thrust aside men's persons, nor will He reverence any man's greatness, because it is He |149 that hath made the mean and the great, and He hath care for all alike. But a very sore trial is at hand unto the mighty. Unto you, therefore, O kings, are these words of mine, that ye may learn wisdom, and fall not away. For they that have kept righteous things shall be justified, and they that have learnt holy things shall be made holy.|157
PART IV
The writer's feelings with respect to the princes so severely censured in the preceding part. Motives as to intending attack upon the clergy.
64. So far, I have argued with the kings of my country no less by oracles of prophets than by my own words, desiring that they should know what the prophet had said: Flee from sins, he says, as from the face of a serpent; if thou draw nigh unto them, the teeth of a lion shall catch thee, their teeth that slay the souls of men. And again: How great is the mercy of the Lord, and His reconciliation unto them that turn unto Him. If I have not in me that apostolic word,60 that I should say, I could wish to be an anathema from Christ for my brethren, I could, nevertheless, say that word of the prophet with my whole heart: Alas! a soul perisheth. Again: Let us search and try our ways, and return unto the Lord; let us lift up our hearts with our hands unto God in heaven; but also that apostolic saying, We desire every one of you to be in the bowels of Christ.
65. How gladly, in this place, as one tossed by the waves of the sea, and carried into the desired haven by the oars, would I, under the prompting of modesty, take my rest, did I not see mountains so great, and of such a kind, of the evil committed by bishops or the other priests, or by clergy of my own order also, raised up against God. These must I first, according to the law, as the witnesses |159 did, with rough stones of words, and then the people, if they cling to the decrees, stone with all our might, not that they may be killed in the body, but, by being dead unto sins, they may live unto God. This |161 I do lest I be accused of making an exception of persons. Yet, as I have already said in the former part, I crave pardon from those whose life I not only praise, but even prefer to all the wealth of the |163 world, of which, if it be possible, sometime before the day of my death, I desire and thirst to be a partaker. While my sides are now made invincible by a rampart of two shields of saints, with my back steadfast against the walls of truth, while my head is most surely covered by the Lord's help for a helmet, let the stones of my censures fly in a thick flight of truthful words.
1. Charges against wicked and reprobate priests, cc. 66-68.
66. Priests Britain has, but foolish ones; a great number of ministers, but shameless; clergy, but crafty plunderers; pastors, so to say, but wolves ready for the slaughter of souls, certainly not providing what is of benefit for the people, but seeking the filling of their own belly. They have church edifices, but enter them for the sake of filthy lucre; they teach the people, but by furnishing the worst examples, teach vice and evil morals; they seldom sacrifice, and never stand among the altars with pure heart; they |165 do not reprove the people on account of their sins, nay, in fact, they commit the same; they despise the commandments of Christ, and are careful to satisfy their own lusts with all their prayers: they get possession of the seat of the apostle Peter61 with unclean feet, but, by the desert of cupidity,62 fall into the unwholesome chair of the traitor Judas. Truth they hate as an enemy, and favour lies as if they were their dearest brothers: the righteous poor they eye like huge serpents, with fierce countenances, and respect the rich impious, with no touch of shame, like angels from heaven. They preach that alms should be given to the needy, with all the power of their lips, but they themselves contribute not a penny. Silent as to abominable sins of the people, they magnify their own injuries as if inflicted upon Christ. They drive out of house a religious mother, may be, or sisters,63 and unbecomingly make light of strange women, as if for a more hidden service, or rather, to speak the truth, though it be of improper things----not so much for me as for the men who do such things----they demean them. |167 After these things, they are more ready to seek ecclesiastical positions than the kingdom of heaven; and these, when received by an illegal rite,64 they defend without even adorning them by legitimate usages. Towards the precepts of the saints, if indeed they have at any time heard these things, which ought to be very frequently heard by them, they are listless and dull; while for public games and the scandalous tales of men of the world, they are active and attentive; as if the things which open the way of death were the way of life.65 They are hoarse, by reason of fat, like bulls; and are unhappily ready even for things unlawful; proudly holding their faces aloft, and their feelings plunged down to the lowest, even to hell, though with the remorse of conscience; grieving at the loss of a single penny, glad also at the gain of one. In apostolic decrees, because of ignorance or the weight of sins, while they stop the mouths of even the knowing, they are sluggish and dumb, yet in the false windings of worldly affairs, they are |169 exceedingly well versed.66 Many of these men, after a wicked life, rather force their way into the priesthood, or buy it at almost any price,67 than be drawn into the same; and in the same old and accursed mire of unbearable crimes, after gaining the priestly chair of episcopate or presbyterate (men who never sat thereon), meanly wallow like swine. They have violently seized the mere name of priest, without receiving its true meaning or apostolic worthiness, but as men, who in respect of sound faith and by repentance for sins, are not yet fit. How do they arrive at and acquire any ecclesiastical rank, to say nothing of the highest?68 because it is a rank which none save the holy and perfect, and those who imitate the apostles, and, to speak in the words of the teacher of the gentiles, those without reproach, undertake in a legitimate way and without the great sin of sacrilege.
67. For what is so impious and so wicked as, after the pattern of Simon Magus, though meanwhile no indiscriminate sins intervene, that any one should wish to purchase the office of bishop or presbyter for an earthly price, an office that is more becomingly obtained by holiness and upright character? But the error of those men lies the more grave and desperate in the fact that they buy counterfeit and unprofitable priesthood, not from apostles or the successors of apostles, but from tyrants and from their father the devil. Nay, furthermore, they place upon the edifice of an infamous life a kind of roof and covering for all sins, in order that admitted desires, old or new, of covetousness and gluttony should not be easily placed to their charge by any one, seeing that, having oversight of many, they carry on their pillage with greater ease. For if truly such a stipulation of purchase had been |171 presented by those shameless men, let me not say to the apostle Peter, but to any holy priest and pious king, they would have received the same answer as the originator of the same, the magician Simon, received from the apostle when Peter said: Thy money perish with thee. But perhaps, alas! they who ordain those candidates, nay, rather, who abase them and give them a curse for a blessing, because out of sinners they make, not penitents, which would be more befitting, but sacrilegious and irremediable offenders, and in a way appoint Judas, the betrayer of the Lord, to the chair of Peter, and Nicolaus, the founder of a foul heresy, in place of Stephen the martyr----perhaps they were summoned to the priesthood after the same manner. For this reason, in the case of their sons, they do not greatly detest (they rather approve), that it is a matter of utmost certainty that things should come to pass afterwards as with the fathers. Since, if they could not find this kind |173 of pearl, because fellow-labourers resisted them in a diocese, and sternly refused them so profitable a business, they are not so much grieved as delighted to send messengers before them, to cross seas and travel over broad countries, so that in any way such display and incomparable dignity, or to speak more truly, such diabolical mockery, be acquired, even by the sale of all their substance. Afterwards, with great state and magnificent show, or rather foolery, they return to their own country, and show their haughty gait more haughty. While hitherto their gaze was at the tops of mountains, they now direct their half-sleepy eyes straight to heaven, or to the light fleecy clouds, and obtrude themselves upon their country as creatures of a new mould; nay, rather as instruments of the devil, just as aforetime Novatus69 at Rome, the tormentor of the Lord's jewel, the black hog, their purpose is to stretch forth their hands violently upon the holy sacrifices of Christ, hands worthy not so much of the venerable altars as of the avenging flames of hell, because they are men placed in a position of this kind.
68. What wilt thou, unhappy people, expect from such belly beasts, as the apostle says? Shalt thou be amended by these men who not only do not call themselves to what is good, but, in the |175 words of the prophet, weary themselves to commit iniquity? Shalt thou be illuminated by such eyes which greedily scan only those things which lead downwards to wickedness, that is, to the gates of hell? Or, surely, according to the Saviour's saying, if ye do not; speedily escape from those ravenous Arabian wolves, just as Lot escaped to the mountain, fleeing the fiery shower of Sodoma, blind led by the blind, ye shall fall equally into the ditch of hell.
2. Defects of those acknowledged to be blameless in their lives when compared (a) with Old Testament examples, cc. 69-72; (b) with examples found in the New, c. 73; (c) with those furnished by Church history, cc. 74-75.
69 Perhaps, however, some one may say: All bishops or presbyters are not so wicked as they have been described in the former part; because they are not defiled by the infamy of schism or of pride or of uncleanness. Neither do I also strongly deny this.
(a) Comparison with Old Testament examples.
But while I know them to be chaste and good, I shall, nevertheless, make a brief answer. What did it avail Eli the priest, that he himself did not violate the precepts of the Lord by seizing with flesh-hooks, before the fat was offered to the Lord, flesh out of the |177 pots, whilst he was punished by the same anger leading to death as his sons were? Who, I ask, of those men was killed, as Abel, owing to envy of a better sacrifice, and one carried by celestial fire into heaven? They are men who even reject the reproof of a lowly word----who hath hated the counsel of the malicious and hath not sat with the ungodly, so that of him it might be truly said as of Enoch: Enoch walked with God and was not found, that is to say, was not found to have abandoned God, and to limp readily after idols at that time, amid the vanity of the whole world in its unwisdom. Who of them has refused to admit into the ark of salvation, that is, now, the Church, any adversary of God, as Noah in the time of the deluge, so that it may be made clearly manifest that only the innocent, or those pre-eminently penitent, ought to be in the Lord's house? Who, like Melchisedek, offered, sacrificed, and blessed the victors only when, three hundred in number (which implies the mystery of the Trinity), after delivering the just man, they vanquish the dangerous armies of the five kings and |179 of their victorious troops, and have no desire for the goods of others? Who, like Abraham, at the command of God, has voluntarily offered his own son to be slain on the altar, so that he should fulfil a command similar to that given by Christ when he says that the offending right eye must be plucked out, and should guard against the prophet's warning, that cursed is he who keepeth back the sword and blood? Who, like Joseph, has rooted out of his heart the memory of an injury? Who, to speak in figure, like Moses, has spoken with the Lord on the mountain and then, without being terrified by the sounding trumpets, has brought to the people, as Moses did, the two tables and a covered face impossible (unbearable) to look at and awful to unbelievers? Which of them, praying for the sins of the people, has cried out from the depths of his heart, as he, saying: Lord this people hath sinned a great sin, which if thou forgive them forgive, otherwise blot me out of thy book?
70. Who, burning with an extraordinary zeal for God, has risen strongly to the immediate punishment of adultery, applying the medicine of penance for the healing of filthy lust; lest anger |181 should burn against the people, as Phineas the priest did, so that for ever it might be counted unto him as righteousness? Which of them has imitated Joshua, son of Nun, in moral understanding, either to root out unto their utter destruction from the Land of Promise the seven nations, or to establish in their stead a spiritual Israel? Which of them has shown to the people of God their farthest boundaries beyond Jordan, so that they might know what is suitable for each tribe, just as the above-named Phineas and Joshua made a wise division of the country? Who, in order to overthrow the innumerable throngs of the Gentiles, the enemies of God's people, has, as Jephtha, offered up his only daughter----by which is understood his own will, in this imitating the apostle when he says: Not seeking mine own profit but the profit of many, that they maybe saved----offered her as a sacrifice of vow and propitiation when she was coming to meet the victors with timbrel and dance, that is, the carnal desires? Which of them, in order to disturb, put to flight and overthrow the camp of the proud Gentiles, went forth with undoubting faith as Gideon? Went forth, showing the mystery of the Trinity as was said above, with men holding in their hands the extraordinary pitchers and sounding trumpets----by which is meant the thoughts of prophets and apostles, as the Lord said to the prophet, Lift up thy voice like a trumpet; and the Psalmist said of the apostles, Their sound is gone forth to all the earth----waving also the pitchers in the night with brightest light of fire, which are understood of the bodies of the saints joined to good works and glowing with the fire of the Holy Spirit, Having, as the apostle says, this treasure in earthen vessels? went forth, after cutting down the wood in the grove of idolatry, which, in its moral interpretation, means thick and dark desire, and after the clear signs of the Jewish fleece without the moisture from heaven, and of the Gentile fleece made wet by the. dew of the Holy Spirit? |183
71. Which of them, desiring to die to the world and live unto Christ, has made prostrate such innumerable luxurious banqueters (that is, the senses), praising their gods, exalting riches (in the words of the apostle, and covetousness which is idolatry), as Samson did, when he, by the strength of his arms, clashed the two columns, which mean the vain pleasures of soul and flesh, by which the house of every human wickedness is, in a manner, fixed and established? Which of them, as Samuel, driving away fear of the Philistines by prayers and the offering of a sucking lamb as a whole burnt-offering, brought on sudden thunder and rain from the clouds, and appointing a king without flattery, casting away the same when not pleasing unto God, after anointing a better man for the throne, stood to bid adieu to the people, speaking as follows: Here I am: speak before the Lord and His anointed: have I taken anyone's ox or ass? have I made false accusation against any one? have 1 oppressed any one? have I taken a reward from any man's hand? To him answer was made by the people: Thou hast not made false accusation against us, nor oppressed us, nor hast thou taken anything from the hand of any man.
Which of them, burning a hundred proud ones by fire from heaven, while preserving fifty humble ones, and without the deceit of flattery, announcing to the unrighteous king his impending death, when he was taking counsel, not of God by his prophet, but of the idol Accharon, which----like Elias, the illustrious prophet----has overthrown with a gleaming sword, that is, the word of God, all the prophets of the idol Baal, who, when interpreted, are understood to be the human emotions (as we have already said), ever intent upon envy and covetousness? Who, as he, moved by zeal for God, depriving the land of the unrighteous of rain from heaven, as if it were shut up in the stronghold of want for three years and six months, was about to die of famine and thirst in the wilderness, and made his lament, saying, Lord, they have slain thy prophets and have thrown down thine altars, and I am left alone, and they seek my life?
72. Which of them, as Elisaeus, punished a beloved disciple, when burdened beyond his wont by the weight of earthly things which had previously been despised by himself, though earnestly entreated to accept them, not by perpetual leprosy, it is true, yet by dismissal? Which of them, as he, has opened the eyes of the soul for a servant, when, in despair of life, he was excited and trembling at the sudden warlike preparations of the enemies, besieging the city in which they were? Who among us, as he, has done this with |185 fervent prayer offered unto God, so that he could see the mountain full of the heavenly army of allies, and of armed chariots or horsemen flashing with fiery countenances, and that he might believe that God was stronger to save than the enemies to fight? Which of them also by contact with his body, when dead to the world, yet living unto God, shall profit, as the above-named did, another lying in a different death, that is, dead unto God, but living unto sins, so that he should forthwith leap forth and give thanks to Christ for a healing despaired of in the conversation of almost all men? Of which of them, with live coal carried from off the altar in the tongs of the cherubs, so that his sins should be blotted out, were the lips purified, as those of Isaiah, by humble confession? Was it not by those lips, with the help of the efficacious prayer of the pious king Hezekiah, that 185,000 of the Assyrian army, like the men mentioned above, were thoroughly overthrown, with no trace of wound, by the hand of the angel? Which of them, like blessed Jeremiah, because of the commands of God and his public utterance of threats given from heaven, and the truth even to men who heard not, experienced the squalor and filth of prisons, equivalent to death for a time? To be brief, who of them, as the teacher of the gentiles has said, suffered the wandering on mountains, in caves and holes of the earth, the stoning, the cutting asunder, the trial by every kind of death for the Lord's name, like the holy prophets?
(b) Compared with New Testament examples.
73. Why do we delay in ancient examples as if there were not any in the New Testament? Let those men, therefore, who think that without any hardship they can enter this narrow way of the Christian religion merely by claiming the name of priest, listen to me as I cull a few flowers, the chiefest in a way, from the extensive and pleasant meadow of the holy soldiery of the New Testament.
Which of you, who loll listlessly rather than sit in a legitimate way in the priestly chair, was cast out from the council of the wicked, and, like the holy apostles, gave thanks with full heart to the Trinity, after blows from diverse rods, that he was held worthy to suffer contumely for Christ, the true God?
Who, through bearing true testimony to God, had his brains |187 dashed out with a fuller's club, and suffered bodily death, like James, though the first bishop in the New Testament? Who among you was beheaded, by an unjust prince as James the brother of John? Who, like the first deacon and martyr of the gospel, with no crime but this that he saw God, whom the unbelieving could not have seen, has been stoned by impious hands? Who, fixed to the cross-bar with feet up because of his reverence for Christ, whom he intended to honour no less by death than by life, breathed his last breath, like that fit keeper of the keys of the kingdom of heaven? Who of you, as the chosen vessel and elect teacher of the gentiles, was beheaded by a stroke of the sword, for the confession of the Christ that spoke the truth, after prison chains, shipwrecks at seas, blows with rods; after continuous perils of rivers, of robbers, of Gentiles, of Jews, of false apostles, after sufferings of famine, fasting, watchings, after constant anxiety for all the churches, after burning for them that cause stumbling, after weakness for the weak, after wonderful compassing of the world, almost, to preach the gospel of Christ?
(c) Compared with examples furnished by Church History.
74. Who of you, like the holy martyr Ignatius, bishop of the city of Antioch, after wonderful deeds in Christ, was torn to pieces at |189 Rome by the teeth of lions, because of his testimony? When you hear his words as he was being led to his passion, if ever you have----with blushing----felt confusion of face, you will not only not consider yourselves priests in comparison with him, but will barely regard yourselves as middling Christians. In the epistle which he sent to the Roman Church he says: From Syria unto Rome I fight with wild beasts, by land and sea, day and night, being bound and tied to ten leopards, I mean the soldiers appointed as guards, who wax more cruel by our kindnesses. Howbeit by their wickednesses I grow more instructed, yet am I not hereby justified. O! the beasts of salvation, that are being prepared for me, when will they come? When shall they be let out? When will it be free for them to enjoy my flesh? These I wish to be made more prompt, and I will entice them to devour me, and pray that they will not, as they have done in the case of some, fear to touch my body. Yea, even if they delay, I will force them to it; I shall rush upon them. Bear with me; I know what is expedient for me. Now am I beginning to be a disciple of Christ. Let the envy, whether of human feeling or spiritual wickedness, cease, that I may be worthy to attain unto Jesus Christ; may fires, crosses, beasts, wrenchings of bones, hacking of limbs, and pains in my whole body, and all tortures devised by the art of the devil be fulfilled in me alone, provided I be worthy to attain unto Jesus. Christ.
Why do you look at these things with the sleepy eyes of your soul? Why listen to such with the dull ears of your senses? Disperse, I pray, the dark black mist of your heart's slothfulness, so that ye may be able to see the beaming light of truth and humility. A no common Christian but a perfect one, a no mean but most excellent priest, a martyr not sluggish but distinguished, says: Now am I beginning to be a disciple of Christ. And you, just like that Lucifer, cast down from heaven, are puffed up with words, not power, and ruminate under your teeth, and allege by gestures the things which your advocate had formerly pictured, saying: I will ascend unto heaven, and will be like to the Most High; and again: I have digged and drunk water, and with the print of my |191 feet have dried up all the rivers of the banks. Far more rightly ought ye to imitate and hear him who is the victorious example of goodness and humility when he says by the prophet: But I am a worm and no man, a reproach of men and rejected of the people. O! something wonderful for Him to say that He was the reproach of men, when He blotted out the reproaches of the whole world. Again, in the gospel: I can of myself do nothing, when He Himself, coeternal with the Father and the Holy Spirit, of common and the same substance, made heaven and earth with all their priceless ornamentation, not by the might of another, but by His own. And wonderful that you should arrogantly have held high words, though the prophet says: Why is earth and ashes proud?
75. But let me return to my theme. Who of you, I say, like noble Polycarp, the pastor of the church at Smyrna, witness of Christ, placed a table with kindliness to guests that were violently dragging him to the fire, and when exposed to the flames for his love of Christ said: He who gave me to bear the torture of fire will give me to endure the flames unshaken without any fastening by nails? One more, swiftly flying in my words past the thick forest of the saints, will I put forth by way of example. I mean Basil, the bishop of Caesarea,70 who, when threats were pressed by an unjust prince to the effect that unless, by the morrow, he would, like the rest, defile himself with the Arian filth, he should die without fail, is said to have answered: I in sooth shall to-morrow be the man I am to-day: as for thee, mayest thou not change. Again, he |193 said: Would that I had some worthy reward to offer him who would free Basil from the bond of this frame. Who of you, amid the distraction of tyrants, has inviolably kept the rule given in the apostolic word? I mean the rule which has been observed always by all the holy priests, in all times that have been, rejecting the intimation of men which hurried them headlong to vanity, speaking after this manner: We ought to obey God rather than men.
3. Quotations of incriminatory passages directed against "lazy and unworthy priests'" (a) from the Old Testament, cc. 76-91; (b) from the New, cc. 92-105; (c) from the selections of Scriptural Lessons found in the British Ordinal, or Service-book used in ordinations, cc. 106-107.
(a) Old Testament passages.
76. Let us therefore make our flight to the Lord's mercy and the words of His holy prophets, so that they for us may poise the javelins of their oracles against imperfect pastors, as heretofore against tyrants, in order that through compunction they may be healed. Let us see what threats the Lord utters by the prophets against slothful and unseemly priests, and such as did not teach the people well by example and words. Eli, that priest in Shiloh, because he had not with a zeal worthy of God punished his sons when they held God in contempt, but mildly and gently admonished them, certainly with the feelings of a father, is condemned in such a censure as the following. The prophet says to him: Thus saith the Lord,----Plainly did I show myself to the house of thy father when they were in Egypt, slaves in the house of Pharaoh. A nd I chose the house of thy father out of all the tribes of Israel for |195 me in the priesthood. After a few words: Why didst thou look upon my incense and my sacrifice with an evil eye, and didst honour thy sons more than me, so as to bless them from the beginning in all the sacrifices before me? And now thus saith the Lord: Because them that honour me will I honour, and they that despise me shall be brought to nought, behold the days shall come that I shall destroy thy name and the seed of thy father s house. And let this be a sign unto thee, which shall come upon thy two sons Hophni and Phineas: in one day shall they both die by the sword of men. I f therefore they who merely correct those subject to them by words, and not by deserved punishment, suffer these things, what shall be to those who incite and draw men to wicked deeds by sinning?
77 What happened also to that true prophet, after the fulfilment of the sign foretold by himself and the restoration of the withered hand to the impious king, when he was sent to prophesy in Bethel, and was forbidden to take any food there, but was deceived by another prophet, as he was called, to take a little bread and water, is evident. His host says to him: Thus saith the Lord God, Forasmuch as thou wert disobedient to the mouth of the Lord and hast not kept the commandment which the Lord thy God commanded, and earnest back and hast eaten bread and drunk water in this place in which I had commanded thee not to eat bread nor to drink water, thy body shall not be placed in the sepulchre of thy fathers. And it came to pass, it is said, after he had eaten bread and had drunk water, that he saddled his ass for him and he departed. And a lion found him in the way and slew him.
78. Hear also the holy prophet Isaiah, speaking of the priests in the following manner: Woe unto the wicked for evil! for the reward of his hands shall be unto him. Their overseers have spoiled my people and women have ruled over them. O! my people, they who call thee blessed, themselves deceive thee and destroy the way of thy paths. The Lord standeth to judge and standeth to judge the peoples. The Lord will come to judgment with the elders of his people and the princes thereof. Ye have eaten up my vineyard, the spoil of the poor is in your house: Why crush ye my people and grind the face of the poor? saith the Lord of hosts. Again: Woe unto them that decree unrighteous laws and as writers have written unrighteousness, to oppress the needy in judgment and make violence to the cause of the poor of my people, that widoiws may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless. What will ye do in the day of visitation and of the calamity that cometh from afar? Below also: But these have also been ignorant through wine, and have erred through drunkenness; priests have been ignorant by |197 reason of drunkenness; they are swallowed up of wine, they have erred in drunkenness; they have not known Him that seeth, they have been ignorant of judgment. For all tables were filled with the vomit of their filthiness, so that there was no more room.
79. Wherefore hear the word of the Lord, ye scoffing men, that rule over my people which is in Jerusalem. For ye have said, We have made a covenant with death and with hell we are in agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come upon us, for we have made falsehood our hope, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves. A little further: And the hail shall upset the hope of falsehood, and the waters shall overflow the hiding-place, and your covenant with death shall be disannulled and your agreement with hell shall not stand: when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, ye shall be trodden down. Whenever it shall pass through, it shall sweep you away. Again: And the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth and glorify me with their lips, but their heart is far from me, therefore, behold, I will proceed to cause a wondering in this people by a great and amazing marvel. For wisdom shall perish from its wise men, and the understanding of its prudent-men shall be hid. Woe unto you who are deep of heart to hide your counsel from the Lord, whose works are in the dark and they say, Who seeth us? and, Who knoweth us? persevere in this your thought. Somewhat further: Thus saith the Lord, Heaven is my throne and the earth my footstool: which is the house that ye will build unto me? and which is the place of my rest? All these things hath mine hand made, all those things came to pass, saith the Lord. To whom will I look except to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and that trembleth at my words? He that sacrificeth an ox is as he that slayeth a man; he that killeth a sheep is as he that beateth out the brains of a dog; he that offereth an oblation is as he that offereth swine's blood; he that remembereth frankincense is as he that blesseth an idol. These things have they chosen in their own ways, and in their abominations their soul delighteth.
80. Jeremiah also, celibate and prophet, listen what he says to foolish pastors: Thus saith the Lord, What unrighteousness have your fathers found in me that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity and have become vain? A little further: When ye entered, ye defiled my land and placed mine heritage an abomination. The priests said not, Where is the Lord? And they that handle the law knew me not, and the pastors transgressed against me. Wherefore I will hereafter plead with you in judgment, saith |199 the Lord, and with your children will I dispute. Also, after somewhat more: An amazement and wonderful things have been committed in the land; the prophets prophesied falsehood and the priests applauded with their hands, and my people have loved such things. What therefore shall be done in the end thereof? To whom shall I speak and testify that he may hear? behold their ears are uncircumcised and they cannot hearken; behold the word of the Lord is become unto them a reproach and they receive it not. For I will stretch out my hand upon the inhabitants of the land, saith the Lord. For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them, every one is given to covetousness, and from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely. They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people meanly, saying, Peace, peace; and there will be no peace. They were put to shame, they who have committed an abomination. Nay, they were not at all ashamed and could not blush. Therefore they shall fall among them that fall; at the time of their visitation they shall be cast down, saith the Lord. Again: They all are princes of men that turn aside; they walk fraudulently; brass and iron are they; they have been all together corrupted; the bellows have failed in the fire; in vain hath the founder melted, but their wickednesses have not been consumed: call them refuse silver because the Lord hath rejected them. A short space after: I am, I am, I have seen, saith the Lord. Go ye unto my place in Shiloh where my name dwelt from the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel. And now, because ye have done all these works, saith the Lord, and I spake unto you, rising up early and speaking, but ye heard not, and I called you but ye answered not, I shall do unto this house in which my name was invoked, and in which ye trust, and unto the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, as I have done unto Shiloh, and I will cast you out of my sight.
81. Again: My children are gone forth from me, and they are not; there is none to stretch forth my tent any more, and to set up my curtains, for the pastors have done foolishly, and have not sought the Lord, therefore they have not understood, and their flock is scattered.
Somewhat further: Why is it that my beloved hath in mine house committed many crimes? Will the holy flesh take away from thce thy sins in which thou hast gloried? A rich olive tree, fair, fruitful, goodly hath the Lord called thy name; to the sound of speech a great fire hath burnt in her and her groves are consumed. Again: Come, assemble all ye beasts of the earth, hasten to devour. Many pastors have destroyed my vineyard, they have trodden my portion under foot, they have rendered my desirable portion a wilderness of solitude. He |201 also speaks: Thus saith the Lord unto this people, that loved to move its feet, and hath not rested, and hath not pleased the Lord. Now will we remember its iniquities and visit its sins. The prophets say unto them, Ye shall not see the sword, and famine shall not be among you, but the Lord will give you true peace in that place. And the Lord said unto me, The prophets prophesy falsely in my name: I sent them not, and have not commanded them: they prophesy unto a lying vision, and divination and fraud, and the deceit of their own heart. Therefore, thus saith the Lord, By sword and famine shall those prophets be consumed, and the people to whom they have prophesied shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword, and there shall be none to bury them.
82. Again: Woe unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture, saith the Lord. Therefore, thus saith the Lord God of Israel to the pastors that feed my people, Ye have scattered my flock and driven them away, and have not visited them; behold I will visit upon you the evil of your inclinations, saith the Lord. For prophet and priest are polluted, and in my house have I found their wickedness, saith the Lord. Wherefore their way shall be as a slippery place in darkness, for they shall be driven on and fall therein, for I will bring evils upon them, even the year of their visitation, saith the Lord. And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria, they both prophesied by Baal and deceived my people Israel. In the' prophets of Jerusalem also 1 have seen a similar thing, adultery and the way of falsehood, and they have strengthened the hands of evildoers so that no one returned from his wickedness; they are all become unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah. Therefore, thus saith the Lord unto the prophets, Behold I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink water of gall. For from the prophets of Jerusalem is pollution gone forth over all the land. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you and deceive you; they speak a vision of their own heart, not from the mouth of the Lord. For they say unto them that blaspheme me, The Lord hath said, Peace shall be unto you, and unto every one that walketh in the depravity of his own heart, they have said, No evil shall come upon you. For who hath been in the council of the Lord and hath seen and heard his word? Who hath marked his word and heard it? Behold the whirlwind of the Lord's fury goeth forth, and a tempest bursting upon the head of the wicked shall come. The anger of the Lord shall not return until he have done, and until he have completed the intent of his heart. In the last days ye shall understand his counsel. |203
83. Little 71 do you think or do what the holy prophet Joel also has said in admonition of lazy priests, and lamenting the people's loss through their iniquities: Awake ye that are drunk through your wine, and weep and lament all who drink wine unto drunkenness, because joy and gladness is taken away from your mouth. Mourn, ye priests, that serve the altar, because the fields have become wretched. Let the earth mourn because the corn is become wretched and the vine dried up, the oil is diminished, the husbandmen have become languish. Mourn, ye estates, for the wheat and barley, because the vine harvest is perished from the field, the vine is dried up, the fig-trees have become fewer: the pomegranates, palms, apple-tree, and all trees of the field are withered, because the sons of men have thrown joy into confusion. All these words must be understood by you in a spiritual sense, lest your souls be withered by so destructive a famine for the Word of God.
Again: Weep ye priests that serve the Lord, saying, Spare, Lord, thy people; give not thine inheritance to reproach, and let not the Gentiles rule over them, lest the Gentiles say, Where is their God? Yet ye in no wise hear these things, but permit all things by which the indignation of the divine anger is kindled.
84. Give express heed to what the holy prophet Hosea also says to priests of your small stature: Hear this, ye priests and hearken, thou house of Israel, and thou, house of the king, fasten them in your ears, since judgment is toward you, because ye have been made, a snare unto watchfulness, and like a net spread upon Tabor, which they who have set the hunt have fixed.
85. To you also there is signified an alienation of this kind from the Lord by the prophet Amos, when he says: I have hated and thrust away your feast-days, and I will not accept a sweet savour in your solemn assemblies, because, though ye offer your burnt offerings |205 and sacrifices, I will not accept them. And I will not regard the salvation proclaimed by you. Take away from me the sound of thy songs, and the (psalm) melody of thy instruments I will not hear, because famine of Gospel food, the very fare which eats away the bowels of your soul, is raging among you, as the prophet named above has foretold. Behold, he says, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will send a famine in the land----not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the word of the Lord, and the waters shall be moved from sea to sea, and from the north unto the east; they shall run to and fro, seeking the word of the Lord and shall not find it.
86. Understand also with your ears the holy Micah as he, like a heavenly trumpet, sounds forth very concisely against the crafty princes of the people. Hear now, he says, ye princes of the house of Jacob. Is it not for you to know judgment, though ye hate the good and seek the evil, plucking their skin from off them, and their flesh from off their bones? How have they eaten the flesh of my people and flayed their skins from off them, have broken their bones and chopped them as flesh in the cauldron? They shall cry unto God and he will not hear them, and he will hide his face from them at that time, because they have behaved themselves ill in their imaginings. Thus saith the Lord concerning the prophets that make my people to err, that bite with their teeth and cry unto them, Peace, though it (peace) is not put into their mouth; I have stirred up war against them (i.e., people). Therefore night shall be unto you in consequence of your vision and darkness shall be unto you in consequence of divining, and the sun shall go down upon the prophets and the day shall be dark over them, then shall the seers of dreams be confounded and the diviners mocked, and they themselves shall decry against all because there shall not be that heareth them. I shall surely fill my strength with the Spirit of the Lord, and with judgment and might, to declare unto the house of Jacob its impieties and to Israel his sins. Hear this therefore ye leaders of the house of Jacob and the residue of the house of Israel, that abhor judgment and pervert equity, that build up Zion with blood and Jerusalem with |207 iniquities. The leaders thereof judge for rewards and the priests thereof gave answer for hire, and the prophets thereof were divining for money, yet did they rest in the Lord, saying: Is not the Lord in the midst of us; evils shall not come upon us. Therefore shall Zion for your sake be plowed as a field, and Jerusalem shall be like the watch-tower of an orchard, and the mountain of the house as a place of forest. After a while: Woe is me because I have become as one that gathereth stubble in harvest, and as a bunch of grapes in the vintage, when there is not a cluster to eat of its first fruits; woe is my soul! it perisheth in works of earth, always doth reverence for sinners rise reverently from the earth, and he that amendeth among men is not. All contend in judgment for blood, and everyone hath greatly troubled his neighbour, he prepareth his hands for evil.
87. Hearken again to what Zephaniah, distinguished prophet, has treated of respecting your fellows of old. He spoke of Jerusalem, which, spiritually, is understood to be the church or the soul: O! the city that was splendid and set free, the trusting dove, she heard not the voice nor learnt correction, she trusted not in the Lord, and to her God she drew not near. He shows the reason why: Her princes are like a roaring lion; her judges, like the wolves of Arabia, left not until the morning, her prophets carry the spirit of a scornful man, her priests pollute the sanctuary, and have dealt impiously in the law. But the righteous Lord is in the midst of her and will not do unrighteousness. Morning by morning will he give his judgment.
88. But hear also the blessed, prophet Zechariah admonishing you by the word of God. For thus saith the Lord Almighty: Execute righteous judgment, and do mercy and compassion every man to his brother; and injure not the widow, the orphan, the stranger and the poor, and let none remember malice against his brother in his heart. But they were stubborn to heed, and turned their foolish back, and made their ears heavy that they should not hear. Their heart they have set up impossible to persuade, lest they should hear my law and the words which the Lord Almighty hath sent by his Spirit at the hands of the former prophets, and a great wrath hath come from the Lord Almighty. Again: Because they that spoke, spoke vexation, and |209 the diviners spoke false visions and false dreams, and gave vain comfort, therefore, they have become parched like sheep, and were troubled because there was no health. Mine anger is kindled against the shepherds and I will visit the lambs. After a few words: There is a voice of the lamentations of the shepherds because their greatness has become wretched; a voice of roaring lions, because the course of Jordan has become wretched. Thus saith the Lord Almighty: They who possessed slew and did not repent, and they that sold them said: Blessed be the Lord for we have been made rich, and their shepherds have not been spared among them; wherefore I will no more have pity upon the inhabitants of the land, saith the Lord.
89. Hear, moreover, what proclamation the holy prophet Malachi has made against you. You priests who despise my name, and have said: Wherein have we despised thy name? By offering polluted loaves upon mine altar, and ye have said: Wherein have we polluted them? in that ye say: The table of the Lord is as nothing, and what was spread upon it ye have despised; because, if ye bring the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? If ye bring forth the lame or weak, is it not evil? Offer it now to thy chief; Will he receive it? Will he accept thy person? saith the Lord Almighty. And now intreat ye the face of your God and beseech him: these things were done by your hand, will I accept your persons among you? Again: And ye have brought of your plunder the lame and weak, and have brought it as a gift. Shall I accept that of your hand? saith the Lord. Cursed be the deceiver which hath in his flock a male, and in fulfilling a vow sacrificeth the weak unto the Lord; for I am a great king, saith the Lord of hosts, and my name is terrible among the gentiles. A nd now this commandment is for you, O ye priests. If ye will not hear and put it to heart, to give glory unto my name, saith the Lord of hosts, I will send poverty unto you, and will curse your blessings, because ye have not laid it to heart. Behold I will stretch forth my arm against you and will spread over your face the dung of your solemn feasts.
But meanwhile that you may the more eagerly prepare the instruments of evil for good, listen to what he says of the holy priest, if there remains ever so little of the inner hearing in you. My covenant was with him----he spoke of Levi or Moses in |211 point of history----of life and peace; I gave him. fear and he feared me, and stood in awe before my name. The law of truth was in his mouth and iniquity was not found in his lips; in peace and equity walked he with me, and did turn many from iniquity. For the priest's lips shall keep knowledge, and they shall seek the law at his mouth, because he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. Now he changes his meaning, and ceases not to rebuke the evil ones, saying: Ye have departed out of the way; ye have caused many to stumble in the law, and ye have made the covenant with Levi of no effect, saith the Lord of hosts. Wherefore I have also made you contemptible and base before all the people, according as ye have not kept my ways, and have had respect of person in the law. Have we not all one father? Hath not one God created us? Why doth every one despise his brother? Again: Behold the Lord of hosts will come, and who can think of the day of his coming? And who shall stand to see him? For he himself shall come forth like burning fire, and as the washers soap, and he shall sit refining and purifying silver, and he shall purge the sons of Levi, and shall cleanse them like gold and like silver. After a while: Your words have become strong against me, saith the Lord, and ye said: Vain is he that serveth God, and what profit is it that we have kept his precepts, and that we have walked mournfully before the Lord of hosts? Therefore, now we will call the proud blessed, because they that work wickedness are built up; they have tempted God and have been delivered.
90. Listen, however, to what the prophet Ezekiel said: Woe shall come upon woe, and messenger upon messenger, and the vision shall be sought from the prophet, and the law shall perish from the priest and counsel from the elders. Again: Thus saith the Lord: Because your words are falsehoods, and your divinations vain, on this account behold I am against you, saith the Lord. I will stretch forth my hand |213 against the prophets that see lies, and those who speak vain things. They shall not be in the discipline of my people, and shall not be written in the writing of the house of Israel, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel, and ye shall know that I am the Lord. Wherefore they have led astray my people, saying: The Peace of the Lord, and there is no Peace of the Lord. This man buildeth a wall, and they daub it, and it shall fall. After some more words: Woe unto those that sew pillows beneath every elbow, and fashion veils upon every head of every age, to subvert souls. Subverted are the souls of my people, they took possession of their souls, and profaned me to my people for a handful of barley and a piece of bread to slay the souls that should not die, and to free the souls that should not live, while ye speak to the people as they listen to vain speeches. Below also: Son of man say: Thou art the land that is not watered, nor hath rain come upon thee in the day of wrath, the land in which the princes are like raging lions in the midst of her, ravening the prey, devouring souls by their might and taking rewards; thy widows have been made many in the midst of thee, and her priests have despised my law and were polluting mine holy things. They distinguished not between the holy and the profane, and discerned not between the unclean and clean, and veiled their eyes from my sabbaths, and I was profaned in the midst of them.
91. Again also: And I sought for a man from among them that walked uprightly, and stood before my face wholly for the times of the land, that I should not in the end destroy it, and have not found. A nd I have poured out against it my soul in the fire of my anger to consume them. Their ways have I brought upon their head, saith the Lord. After a while: And the word of the Lord came unto me saying, Son of man, speak to the children of my people, and say unto them: The land into which I bring a sword, and the people of the land take a man from among themselves, and place him for them as a watchman, if he see the sword coming over the land, and blow the trumpet and signify unto the people, and he that heareth hear the voice of the trumpet and not observe, and the sword come and seize him, his blood shall be upon his own head. Because, when he heard the voice of the trumpet, he did not observe, his blood shall be upon himself. And this man who watched over his own soul hath delivered it. And the watchman, if he see the sword coming, and signify not by the trumpet so that the people observe not, and the sword coming take a soul from among them, and that soul is taken away on account of its own iniquity, yet its blood will I require at the watchman's hand. And thou, son of man, a watchman have I |215 set thee for the house of Israel, and thou shalt hear the word from my mouth; when I say to the sinner: Thou shalt surely die, if thou speak not so that the wicked may turn aside from his way, the wicked himself shall die in his wickedness, but his blood will I require at thy hand. However, if thou warn the wicked of his way that he may turn aside from it, and he turn not from his way, this man shall die in his iniquity, and thou hast delivered thy soul.
92. But let these few testimonies from the many of the prophets be sufficient By them is the pride or sloth of stubborn priests restrained, that they may not think I make such denunciations against them by my own imaginings rather than by the authority of the law and the saints. Let us therefore see what the gospel trumpet, while sounding forth to the world, says to irregular priests (unordained priests). For as I have already said, my speech is not of those who obtain the apostolic throne in a lawful way, and who are well able to dispense spiritual food to their fellow servants in due season (if, in fact, there are many at the present day), but of the unskilled pastors who abandon the sheep, and give vain things as food, and have not the words of the skilled pastor. The evidence, therefore, is clear, that he is not a legitimate pastor; nay, not even an ordinary Christian man, who rejects and disowns these words, not so much words of mine, who am very insignificant, as decrees of the Old and New Testament. One of our own people says well: We desire much that the enemies of the church be ours also and enemies without treaty, and that her friends and defenders be |217 regarded ours, not only as allies but as fathers and lords. For let each one meet his own conscience in true examination, and in this they shall discern whether they sit in the priestly chair according to right reason. Let us see, I say, what the Saviour and Creator of the world says: Ye are, he avers, the salt of the earth; because if the salt have vanished, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing but to be cast out and trodden by men. 93 This single testimony might fully suffice to confute all those that are without shame. But in order that by still more manifest attestations, that is by the words of Christ, it may be proved by what unbearable burdens of crimes these false priests weight themselves, some words must be annexed. For there follows: Ye are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid, nor do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but on the stand, that it may shine unto all that are in the house. Who, then, of the priests of this time, thus possessed by the blindness of ignorance, as the light of a clear lamp, will shine in any house to all those sitting by night with the torch of both learning and good works? Who is regarded such a safe, public, and conspicuous refuge for all the sons of the church, that he is what a strong city placed upon the summit of a high hill is for its citizens. But as to that which follows: So let your light shine before men that they may see your good works and magnify your Father which is in Heaven: Which of them can fulfil it even for a single day? Nay rather a certain thick mist and black night of their offences sit upon the whole island, so that it draws away almost everyone from the right path, and causes them to err by impassable and obstructed paths of crimes; by these men's works |219 the heavenly Father is so far from being praised that he is unbearably blasphemed. I could indeed wish that these testimonies of Holy Scripture inserted in this epistle, or to be inserted, as far as my mean power would be able, should all be interpreted in a historical or moral sense.
94. But in order not to extend this little work to too great a length for those men who despise, scorn and turn aside, not so much my words as God's, the passages have been, or will be, put together without any paraphrase. A little further on: For whosoever shall break one of these least commandments and shall teach men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven. Again: Judge not that ye be not judged, for with what judgement ye judge it shall be judged to you. Who of you, I ask, will have regard to that which follows: But why beholdest thou the mote in thy brother s eye, and considerest not the beam in thine own eye? Or how sayest thou to thy brother: Let me cast the mote out of thine eye; and lo! the beam is in thine own eye. Or what follows: Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast your pearls before swine, lest haply they trample them under their feet and turn and rend you. This very frequently happens to you. Admonishing the people lest they be seduced by crafty teachers, such as you are, he said: Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheets clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves. By their fruits ye shall know them. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or jigs of thistles? Even so every good tree beareth good fruit, and a corrupt tree corrupt fruit. And below: Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same shall enter into the kingdom of heaven.
95. What indeed shall become of you who, as the prophet says, cling to God with your lips only, not with your heart? But how do you fulfil what follows: Behold I send you as sheep in the midst of wolves, you who, on the contrary, go as wolves in a flock of sheep? Or that which is said by him: Be ye therefore wise as serpents |221 and simple as doves? Wise, of course, you are to bite anyone with deadly mouth, not to defend your head, which is Christ, by any exposure of your body, whom by all the endeavours of evil deeds you tread under foot (trample upon). Neither have you the simplicity of doves, nay rather being like the black crow, once out of the ark, that is the Church, you fly away, and having found the carrion of carnal pleasures you never fly back to it with a pure heart. But let us see other words also: Be not afraid of those which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul; but fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Which of these have you done?----consider. Which of you would not the following testimony, spoken by the Lord to the apostles of depraved bishops, wound in the deep secrecy of his heart? Let them alone, they are blind guides of the blind. But if the blind guide the blind, both shall fall into a pit.
96. The people, certainly, whom you guide, or rather whom you deceive, have need of hearing. Listen to the words of the Lord when he speaks to the apostles and the multitudes, words which, as I hear, you are not ashamed to put forth publicly and frequently. The Scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat; all things, therefore, whatsoever they say unto you, observe and do; but after their works do not, for they say and do not themselves. The teaching that is darkened with evil deeds is certainly full of peril, and useless for priests. Woe unto you, hypocrites, who shut the kingdom of heaven before men, but enter not in, neither suffer ye them that are entering in to enter. For you shall have penal suffering inflicted upon you, not only on account of such huge crimes of sins as you bear for future time, but also because of those who daily perish by your example. The blood of these men in the day of judgment shall be required at your hands. Observe what evil is set forth in the parable of the servant who said in his heart: My Lord tarrieth. Before this probably he had begun to beat his fellow servants, eating and drinking with the drunken. The Lord of that servant, it is said, shall come in a day when he expecteth not, and in an hour when he knoweth not, and shall separate him----that is to say, from the holy priests----and place his portion with the hypocrites (with those, no doubt, who beneath a veil of priesthood conceal much wickedness); there, says he, shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, unto men to whom it does frequently come in this life, because of the daily loss of sons brought upon the |223 mother church, or because of defections from the kingdom of heaven.
97. But let us see what a true disciple of Christ, Paul the teacher of the gentiles, utters in such a matter when he says in his first epistle----Paul, who should be imitated by every ecclesiastical teacher as he himself exhorts: Be ye imitators of me as I also am of Christ; because, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God nor gave thanks, but became vain in their reasonings, and their senseless heart was blinded, saying that they were wise, they became fools. Although this appears to be said to the gentiles, observe it nevertheless, as it will apply fully to the priest together with the people (Christians) of this age. After a few words we read: Who exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed for ever; for this cause God gave them up unto passions of vileness. Again: And even as they did not approve to have God in their knowledge, God gave them up to a reprobate mind to do those things which are not fitting; being fitted with all unrighteousness, wickedness, unchaste-ness, fornication, covctousness, maliciousness; being full of envy, murder----that is of the souls of the people----strife, deceit, malignity, whisperers, backbiters, hateful unto God, insolent, haughty, boastful, |225 inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents; without understanding, covenant-breakers, without mercy, without natural affection: who knowing the justice of God did not understand that those who do such things are worthy of death.
98. Who of the men referred to above has in truth been without these all? For if there were he would be possibly included in the idea subjoined, where he says: Not only they that do them, but also consent with them that do, as undoubtedly not one of them is free from this evil. Below also: But thou after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up for thyself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to every man according to his works. And further: For there is no respect of persons with God. For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law; for not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified.
99. What severity therefore awaits those who not only do not do what ought to be fulfilled, and turn not away from things prohibited, but even fly away from the very reading of God's words, even when slightly uttered in their ears, as if it were a serpent of the fiercest kind?
But let us pass on to the following words: What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid. We who died unto sin, how shall we any longer live therein? And after awhile: Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation? Shall anguish? Shall persecution? Shall famine? Shall nakedness? Shall peril? Shall sword? Who of you, may I ask, has been touched by such a feeling in the depth of your heart? You who, far from labouring to further godliness, do even suffer much in order to act unjustly and offend Christ. Or by what follows: The night is far spent, but the day is at hand; let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light; let us walk honourably as in the day; not in revellings and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonnesses, not in strife and jealousy, but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and have no care for the flesh in concupiscence.
100. Again, in the First Epistle to the Corinthians he says: As a wise master-builder I laid a foundation, another buildeth thereon. But let each man take heed how he buildeth thereon. For other foundation can no man lay than that which exists, even Christ Jesus. But if any man buildeth on this gold and silver, costly stones, wood, hay, stubble, every work shall be made manifest; for the day of |227 the Lord shall declare it, because it shall be revealed in fire; and each man's work of what sort it is the fire shall prove. If any man's work shall abide, which he built thereon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss. Know ye not that ye are a temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? But if any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy. Again: If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. And after awhile: Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? Purge out therefore the old leaven that ye may be new dough. How shall the old leaven, that is sin, be purged out which increases from day to day by every endeavour? Again: I have written to you by epistle to have no company with fornicators; not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous and extortioners, or with idolaters; otherwise must ye needs go out of the world. But now I write unto you not to keep company if any man is named a brother and is a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such a man no, not to take food. But a thief does not condemn another thief for theft or highway robbery: has rather a liking for him, defends and loves him as a partner of his crime.
101. In the Second Epistle to the Corinthians also he says: Therefore seeing, we have this ministry, even as we have obtained mercy, let us not faint, but let us renounce the hidden things of shame, not walking in craftiness, nor adulterating the word of God, that is by evil example, and by flattery. In later passages he speaks thus of evil teachers: For such false apostles are deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. It is no great thing, therefore, if his ministers also are transformed as angels of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.
102. Listen also to what he says to the Ephesians. Are you ignorant that you are held guilty of something in this particular? This I say and testify in the Lord, that ye no longer walk as the Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their mind, having their understanding darkened, alienated from the way of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their hearts, who being without hope gave themselves up to lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness and covetousness. Which of you has willingly done what follows: Wherefore be not foolish, but understanding what is the will of God, and be not drunken with wine in which is riot, but be filled with the Holy Spirit. |229
103 But listen also to that which he says to the Thessalonians: For neither were we at any time among you with word of flattery, as ye know, nor in occasion of covetousness; nor seeking glory of men, neither from you nor from others, when we might be a burden as other apostles of Christ. But we became like little ones, babes among you, or as when a nurse cherisheth her little ones, being affectionately desirous of you, we were well pleased to impart unto you, not the Gospel only, but also our souls. If you preserve this feeling of the apostle, in all things, you know also how legitimately to sit in his chair. Or even what follows: For ye know what: precepts I gave unto you. This is the will of God, even your sancti-fication, that ye abstain from fornication, and each one of you know how to possess his own vessel in honour and sanctification, not in the passion of lust, even as the Gentiles who know not God; and let no man over-reach or wrong his brother in the matter, because the Lord is avenger in all these things. For God called us not unto unclean-ness but unto sanctification. Therefore he who despiseth these things, despiseth not man, but God. Who also of you has circumspectly and carefully kept that which follows: Mortify therefore youri members which are upon earth; fornication, uncleanness, lust, evil desire, on account of which cometh the wrath of God upon the sons of unbelief. For you see on account of what sins the wrath of God mostly rises.
104. Hear therefore what the same holy apostle predicted by the spirit of prophecy, respecting you and men like you, when plainly writing to Timothy. For know this, that in the last days dangerous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of self, covetous, boastful, haughty railers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, criminal, without affection, without self-control, fierce, without goodness, traitors, headstrong, puffed up, lovers of pleasures more than God; holding indeed a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof. From these also turn away, as the prophet says: I have hated the congregation of evil. doers, and will not sit with the wicked. After a while, mentioning |231 what we see on the increase in our time, he says: Ever learning, and never coming to the knowledge of the truth. For as Iamnes and Mambres withstood Moses, so do these also withstand the truth; men corrupted in mind, reprobate concerning the faith; but they shall proceed no further. For their folly shall be evident unto all men, as theirs also was.
105. He indicates plainly how priests should show themselves in their office, when writing as follows to Titus: Present thyself an example of good works, in doctrine, in incorruptness, in gravity, holding a sound word that cannot be condemned; that he that is of the contrary part may fear, having no evil to say of us. Again, to Timothy: Suffer hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man warring for God entangleth himself in the affairs of the world, that he may please him to whom he hath approved himself. For also the man who contendeth in the game is not crowned unless he hath contended lawfully. These words are an exhortation to the good. But what the epistle likewise comprises is denunciation of bad men, such as you appear to all men of understanding. If any man teacheth differently and consenteth not to the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and that doctrine which is according to godliness, he is haughty, knowing nothing, but weak about questions and disputes of words, whereof come envyings, strifes, railings, evil surmisings, wranglings of men corrupted in mind, who are bereft of the truth, supposing that godliness is gain. |239
Quotations from the Ordinal or Service Book used in the consecration of priests or ministers (deacons?).
106. But why will I use at considerable length the testimonies of opinion, though expressed by various persons and scattered here and there? Why will I be tossed on the waves in the despicable craft of my own intellect. I have thought it necessary to recur finally to those lessons which have been extracted from almost every befitting text of the Holy Scriptures, not only to be repeated for this present object, but also to be a confirmation of the rite by which the hands of priests or ministers are consecrated, and to |241 teach them continually not to abandon the commandments that are faithfully contained therein by falling off from the dignity of priest. It will also become more evident to all that eternal punishments await them, and the men who do not, according to their powers, fulfil the teaching and commandments of those lessons, are not priests or ministers of God.
Let us therefore hear what Peter, the prince of the apostles, has pointed out, respecting such a matter: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who by his great mercy begat us again unto hope of life eternal by the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead, unto an inheritance incorruptible, that fadeth not away, undefiled, reserved in heaven for you, who are guarded by the power of God. Why indeed is such an inheritance foolishly defiled by you, which does not fall away like an earthly one, but is an inheritance that fades not away, and eternal.
After a while: Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, hope perfectly for that grace which is brought unto you in the revelation of Jesus Christ. Examine the depths of your heart, whether you are sober, and maintain perfectly the priestly grace that is to be searched in the revelation of the Lord. Again he says: As children of blessing, not fashioning yourselves to those former lusts of your ignorance, but according to him who hath called you to be holy, be ye holy in all manner of life. Because it is written, Be ye holy for I am holy. Who of you, I ask, has so followed holiness with all ardour of soul, that he hastened to fulfil this command to the utmost of his power? But let us see what is contained in the second lesson from the same apostle. Beloved, |243 he says, purify your souls unto obedience of faith, by the Spirit in love, in love of the brethren, loving one another from a true heart fervently, as born again not of corruptible seed but of incorruptible, by the word of God who liveth and abideth for ever. |245
107. These, without doubt, are things commanded by the apostle, and were read on the day of your ordination that you might keep them inviolably, but in no wise have they been kept by you with judgment, nay, hardly have they been thought of or understood. Below, he says: Putting away therefore all wickedness and all guile and hypocrisy and envy and evil speakings, as new born babes, reasonable and without guile, desire milk that ye may grow thereby unto salvation, because the Lard is kind. Consider also whether these words be trodden under foot because heard by you too frequently with deaf ears. Again: But ye are an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for adoption, that ye may shew the excellencies of Him who hath called you out of darkness into that very wonderful light of His, Not only are the excellencies of God not shown through you, but even, by most corrupt examples, despised among all unbelievers. You heard, no doubt, on the same day, what was read in the lesson from the Acts of the Apostles. Peter, rising in the midst of the disciples, said: Men and brethren, it is needful that the Scripture should be fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost foretold by the mouth of David concerning Judas. And shortly after: This man obtained a field with the reward of iniquity. This you heard heedlessly, or rather with obtuse heart, as if it had not been read of you. Who of you, I ask, does not seek a field with the reward of iniquity? For Judas was wont to thieve coffers; you waste the church gifts and the souls of her sons. He went to the Jews to sell God; you to tyrants and your father the devil, to despise Christ. He held the Saviour of all as one to be sold for thirty pieces of silver; you for even a single penny. |247
4. Conclusion.
108. Why ply more words? You find brought before you the example of Matthias for your confusion, the example also of the holy apostles. The lot fell upon him by the election or judgment of Christ, not by his own will, to which fact you have become blind, and do not see how far apart you are from his merits, while of your own accord you sink to the desire and disposition of Judas the traitor. It is plain, therefore, that the man who consciously from his heart calls you priest, is not an excellent Christian. I shall certainly speak out my feelings. My rebuke might certainly be milder, but what benefit is it merely to stroke softly with the hand, or besmear with ointment a wound which by now, horrible in its foulness, has need of cautery and the public remedy of fire? If, indeed, it could be healed in any manner, as the patient does not seek cure, and the doctor is withdrawing further and further from him. O ye enemies and not priests of God, veterans in wickednesses and not bishops, traitors not successors of the holy apostles and not ministers of Christ, you have certainly listened to the sound of the apostle Paul's words contained in the second lesson, but in no wise have you observed their admonitions and strength. After the fashion of idols, which see not, neither do they hear, you stood the same day at the altar, while then and always he was thundering at you. Brethren, he says, faithful is the word and worthy of all acceptation. He spoke of it as faithful and worthy; you have scorned it as not faithful and unworthy. If a man desireth the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work. You seek the office of bishop chiefly because of covetousness, without the pretence of spiritual profit, and by no means regard good work as suitable thereto. Such a man must therefore be without reproach. Here there is, of a truth, more need of tears than of words, as if the apostle had said that he ought to be, beyond all men, without reproach: The husband of one wife. This saying is also so far despised with us, as if he were not heard to say the same, and were heard to say: the husband of wives. Temperate, sober-minded. Which of you has ever even wished this to dwell in him? Given to hospitality. If that has ever by accident come to pass, done rather for the sake of a breeze of popularity |249 than because it is commanded, it profits not, as our Lord the Saviour says thus: Verily I say unto you, they have received their reward. A man equipped, not drunk with wine, no striker, but gentle, not contentious, not covetous. O fatal change! O awful treading under foot of the precepts of heaven! Do you not indefatigably seize your armour of deeds and words to assault, or rather to destroy, these precepts, for the preservation and strengthening of which, were it necessary, one ought to undergo suffering, and lay down one's life?
109. But let us also see the following words: Ruling his own house well, having his children in subjection with all chastity. The chastity of the fathers is therefore imperfect, if that of the children is not added to it. But what shall be where neither father nor son (depraved by the example of a wicked parent) is found to be chaste? But if a man knoweth not how to rule his own house, how shall he show care of the church of God? Here are words that are proved by effects that admit of no doubt. Deacons in like manner must be chaste, not double-tongued, not given to much wine, not following after filthy lucre, holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience. But let these first be proved, and thus let them serve if they are without reproach. With a shudder, indeed, at having to linger long at these things, I can with truth make one statement, that is, all these are changed into the contrary deeds, so that the clergy are (a confession I make not without sorrow of heart) unchaste, double-tongued, drunk, greedy of filthy lucre, having the faith, and, to speak with more truth, the want of faith, in an impure conscience, ministering not as men proved good in work, but as known beforehand in evil work, and, though with innumerable charges of crime, admitted to the sacred ministry. You heard also on that day, when it was far worthier and far more right for you to be led to prison or the scaffold for punishment than to the priesthood, that as the Lord asked whom the disciples thought him to be, Peter answered, Thou art the Christ, Son of the living God; and that the Lord for such a confession said! Blessed art thou, Simon Bar Jona, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. Thus Peter, taught by God the Father, rightly confesses Christ; but you, instructed by your father the devil, iniquitously deny the Saviour by evil deeds. To the true priest it is said: Thou art Peter, and upon this rock will I build my church. You, however, are likened unto a foolish man who built his house upon the sand. But we must observe that the Lord does not join in work with the foolish, in building a |251 house upon the changing inconstancy of sand, according to that saying: They have made unto themselves kings and not by me. Similarly, what follows gives the same note when it says: And the gates of hell shall not prevail, whereby sins are understood. Of your doomed building, what is announced? The floods came and the winds blew and beat upon that house, and it fell, and great was the fall thereof. To Peter and his successors the Lord says: And unto thee will I give the keys of the kingdom of heaven; but to you: I know you not, depart from me, ye workers of iniquity, so that, separated with the goats of the left hand, ye go to everlasting fire. To every holy priest it is also promised: And whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth, shall be loosed also in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth, shall be bound also in heaven. But how do you loose anything so that it shall be loosed in heaven also, when, because of crimes, you are severed from heaven and fettered by bands of monstrous sins, as Solomon also says: Each one is holden with the cords of his own sins? With what reason shall you bind on earth anything that maybe, in any extraordinary degree, bound, besides your own selves, who, bound to iniquities, are so held in this world, that in no wise do you ascend to heaven, but, unless turned to the Lord in this life, are descending to the unhappy prison of hell?
110. And let no one of the priests flatter himself solely on his consciousness of a pure body, because the souls of those over whom he rules, if any one of them perish through his ignorance, or slothfulness, or flattery, shall be asked at the hands of the same in the day of judgment, as their murderer. Because the death which is inflicted by a good man is not milder than that caused by a wicked man. Otherwise the Apostle would not have said, in leaving a kind of paternal legacy to his successors: I am clean from the blood of all men. For I shrank not from declaring unto you the whole mystery of God. Seeing that you are intoxicated by the habit and dense mass of your sins, and incessantly overwhelmed as if by waves of crimes heaped on crimes rushing upon you, seek with all effort of soul the one plank of penance, as if after shipwreck, on which you may escape to the land of the living. In this way the wrath of the Lord may be averted from you, inasmuch as He mercifully says: I wish not the death of the sinner, but that he may be converted and live.
May the almighty God of all consolation and mercy Himself preserve His very few good pastors from all evil, and make them citizens of His city, the heavenly Jerusalem (the common |252 enemy being subdued), that is, of the assembly of all saints----Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, to whom be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
[Selected footnotes renumbered and placed at the end]
1. 2 Gildas regards his work as a "debt" contracted long ago in answer to the pious entreaties of his friends: it is also a "promise" made ten years back. Such a statement would warrant us in regarding the strictures of the book as sentiments entertained by a large circle of British men in the sixth century; the numerous suggestions also found in the work as to the ideas held by the writer respecting the due performance of duties by ministers of the church, and his estimate of those found wanting, were in no way peculiar to himself. He represents feelings and ideas common to him and many of his contemporaries.
2. 3 Tironibus. The word tirones does not seem in Gildas to carry the meaning of "young." Though ordinarily denoting a young soldier, a recruit, or in any profession " non aetate sed usu forensi atque exercitatione tironem," yet Jerome in his monastic writings seems to have given it the meaning of anyone who has become a follower of Christ. In his Vita Hilarion., 5, he mentions tirunculos Christi apparently in this meaning. Neither Forcellini nor Du Cange renders any help here, unless it be where the latter gives instances of a castellanus or a castri vassallus being called tyro. In c. 73 the word is applied to the writers of the New Testament or to the apostles and martyrs mentioned in the New Testament: in c. 12, omnes Christi tirones is certainly equivalent to "all Christians." Tiro also = catechumenus.
3. 1 The list of subjects of which Gildas intends to give a brief account, introductory to his more serious task, may be classified under four heads:----
(1) Britain itself; the weak unfaithfulness of its inhabitants towards the Romans leading to subjection and punishment; i.e., a geographical description of Britain; an account of the stubbornness of its people, their subjection, the rebellion, the second subjection and hard service. Here we have the relation of Britain to Rome only, Rome being God's avenger.
(2) An account of the rise of the Christian religion; persecution (in the world at large and in Britain), martyrs, heresies.
(3) Tyrants, whose abandonment of the island left it open to the attack of the "two nations"; defence (with the aid of a Roman legion); devastation, second revenge (this time again successful by Roman aid); third devastation, famine, letter to Aetius, victory, crimes. Gildas begins his account of "the two nations," Scots and Picts, not at the point when their ravages began, but at a juncture which makes the story a telling one for his purpose: that is, when, owing to the action of the tyrannus Maximus, the country was left defenceless against these barbarians. On Aetius, see c. 20.
(4) The same enemies suddenly announced, the plague, the counsel entertained by the Britons to invite the Saxons, etc. This last part of the narrative relates the struggles of the Britons with the Saxons, beginning again not with the earliest attacks of these barbarians, but with a significant policy which changed the whole attitude of affairs. The narrative ends with victory and peace. (See Introduction).
It would be well to keep in mind that (1) is a period of revolt, (3) of inroad. (See Additional Note at end of c. 18).
4. 1 Gildas is frequently said to have derived his geographical details from Orosius (Hist., i, 2, 77), but what the Spanish presbyter wrote may have been a common-place in Gaul and Britain by the time of Gildas, and even from other sources. Pliny gives the same length and breadth: insula habet in longo milia passuum DCCC, in lato milia CC. The words of Orosius run thus: Britannia oceani insula per longum in boream extenditur; a meridie Gallias habet.... haec insula habet in longo milio passuum DCCC, in lato CC; the measurements, we see, are stated word for word the same as by Pliny. Orosius says, "towards the north" as to the position of the island, in which he is followed by Gildas, though in poetic language; but Gildas has the further detail that with respect to the continent Britain lies towards the west-north-west and the west (circium occidentemque versus). The two writers may well be independent of one another. In the remainder of this description, Gildas draws upon his own personal acquaintance with his native island, lingering over each detail, though in faulty style. On the geography of Britain and Ireland in ancient writers, see Bunbury, History of Ancient Geography, vol. i, p. 584, etc.
5. 2 Twenty-eight cities. Suetonius, in Vesp. 4, mentions that there were twenty cities in Britain. It is difficult to define the special character of the towns and town population that had grown up in Britain under Roman rule. From the material supplied in H bner's Corpus Inscr. Lat., vol. vii, and a few other sources, it may be concluded that besides the great military posts the civil development of Britain was somewhat insignificant. Gildas informs us that the wall (of Hadrian) ran "between cities" (inter urbes, quae ibidem forte ob metum hostium collocatae fuerant). There were no doubt garrison towns where the auxiliary cohorts were stationed: there were also, Eburacum, where the Vlth legion was fixed; Deva, with the XXth; and Isca, with the IInd Augusta. Besides these military stations, though Gildas speaks of cunctae coloniae and coloni in c. 24, not more than four are known that were, strictly speaking, coloniae, viz., Eburacum, Camulodunum, Glevum, Lindum. Many small towns are named, especially towards the south and south-east; but Wales, in H bner's map of places yielding inscriptions, is almost a blank. The single municipium known, Verulamium, is accidentally mentioned by Gildas, as well as Caerlleon (i.e., Caer legion = Legionum urbs). The Historia Britonum gives a list of these twenty-eight, which Zimmer argues must have been drawn up some time before A.D. 796 (Nennius, Vindicatus, pp. 108-110). He notices the intervocalic "g" in Cair Legion, Cair Segeint, Cair Guorthigirn.
6. a We find a free rendering into Welsh of several portions of Gildas in Ystorya Brenhined y Brytanycit, by Geoffrey of Monmouth (+ A.D. 1154). The Welsh quotations are from the edition of The Bruts, by Mr. Gwenogfryn Evans; the very slight variations made will explain themselves as simply intended to render the passages easier to read. [omitted]
7. 1 Civibus. The term cives, citizens of the Roman Empire, is throughout employed by Gildas to designate his countrymen. By this character they are, in his eyes, to be distinguished from the "barbarians."
8. 2 Gildas, in his narrative, intends to omit all reference to four subjects, (1) He will not treat of the pre-Christian beliefs which the Britons had in common with the whole human race; he naturally calls them "errors." (2) The forms of old idolatry, remains of which still survived "inside and outside the deserted walls" of temples, will not be recounted. (3) Superstitious honours paid to mountains, valleys and rivers, he will not exclaim against. (4) He will be silent respecting the old years of tyrants, evidently having his eye particularly on Maximus, A.D. 383-388.
His attempt will be to narrate the evils which Britain suffered herself and those which she inflicted on others "during the times of the Roman emperors." These limitations are instructive, inasmuch as they show how the narrative itself is ruled by the spirit of the whole "Epistle."
9. 3 Portenta. Vol. vii of H bner's Corpus Inscr. Lat. bears ample evidence that the worship, e.g., of Mithra, had spread in Britain, the monuments of which were mainly erected by Roman officers. Gildas in the word portenta seems to refer to such remains of oriental cults. Cf. Jerome, Ep., 107, 2: nonne specum Mithrae et omnia portentosa simulacra quibus Corax, Nymphus, Miles, Leo, Perses, Helios, Dromo, Pater initiantur.
10. 4 Porphyrius rabidus orientalis adversus ecclesiam canis. Porphyry (233-304) is called orientalis as a Greek writer; besides other (philosophical) works he wrote also a work in xv Books "Against the Christians." [...] He is several times named by Jerome, always with Celsus and Julian, as an opponent of Christianity, e.g., Ep. 57; but in the Preface to the De Viris Illustribus, we find the very appellation "rabid dog" applied in the plural to Celsus, Porphyry and Julian. Discant igitur Celsus, Porphyrius, Iulianus rabidi adversus Christum canes.
In Ep. 133, Jerome, while answering the Definitiones et Syllogismi of Coelestius (the Irish companion of Pelagius), says: "Lastly (an objection which your friend Porphyry is wont to make against us), what reason is there that the compassionate and merciful God has suffered whole nations, from Adam to Moses and from Moses until the advent of Christ, to perish through ignorance of the Law and His Commandments? For neither Britain, a province fertile in tyrants, nor the people of Ireland.... knew Moses and the prophets (Neque enim Britannia fertilis provincia tyrannum et Scoticae gentes.,..)." Jerome probably intends a thrust at the Briton (?) Pelagius, and Coelestius the Irishman; but Gildas has evidently fallen into the error of ascribing the words of Jerome himself to Porphyry. The Benedictine editors seem also to take this view, that Porphyry is only credited with the character of the objection. The quotation as it is, together with the words which introduce it, allows us to conclude that Gildas was conversant with the writings of Jerome, and in particular with such as treat of the doctrines of Pelagius, though the latter is not mentioned by him. We cannot, therefore, argue from his silence that he "knew nothing" of the Pelagian heresy.
11. 1 The first Parthian peace. There appears to be some confusion in the mind of Gildas here: the passage will bear a good meaning, if understood of the peace made shortly after the death of Trajan, A.D. 117; therefore the expedition to Britain mentioned by Gildas here is that under Hadrian, who in A.D. 122 built the great wall called after him. Why does Gildas select this particular time? The answer may be found in the word "unfaithful;" after the great advances and improvements made under Agricola (78-85), which, no doubt, ceased not with his abrupt departure, the Britons soon show themselves restless under Roman rule. This, to the mind of Gildas, proved them to be an "unfaithful people," and the record of their swift subjection under such a character serves well the special purpose of his work. See Additional Note, c. 18.
12. 1 Leaena dolosa. These words have been frequently understood as referring to Boudicca's revolt against Suetonius Paulinus, when the latter was in Anglesey, A.D. 62, but the date of the "First Parthian Peace" makes this impossible. Zimmer is of opinion that the words imply a reminiscence of that vassal queen. This, again, is not very probable, because Gildas shows a fondness elsewhere for the term "lioness," as applied to a country: in c. 23 leaena barbara stands for the home of the Saxon hordes, and in c. 27 for the kingdom of Damnonia. It is difficult to fix the date of this second expedition of the Romans against Britain. Was it that of Antoninus Pius, who in 143 built the second wall----the vallum of turf----between Clyde and Forth, or the expedition of Septimius Severus in 193? Gildas' account is extremely vague; yet, as he mentions no other visit of Roman forces until the end of the fourth century, and implies extensive provisions for the consolidation of the Roman power in the island, it is not improbable that he has the successful work of Severus in his mind.
A difficulty arises with the last sentence of c. 7. Mr. Rhys (Celtic Britain, p. 19) concludes that British coinage came to an end about the time of Claudius (died A.D. 54), or soon after 69; and in the Monumenta Hist. Brit., p. clii, we read: "After the expedition of Claudius and his establishment of the Roman power in Britain, the Britons discontinued the art of coining." Reference is made there, in a note, to the present passage of Gildas as " confirming this opinion." Such confirmation is not possible if the view taken here be correct, i.e., that Gildas has selected the expedition of Hadrian as his starting-point, unless Gildas is erroneously ascribing to the time of Severus what had already taken place in the time of Claudius. The work of Severus in Britain was, however, far more effective than anything that could be accomplished with the limited occupation secured under Claudius. Moreover, while it was quite natural that Roman coins should be current in Britain from an early period, the policy of forbidding British coinage was barely possible until the time of Severus, and it is something of this kind that is implied in the words of Gildas. It is curious that the name of no emperor later than Constans (A.D. 337-350) is found on inscriptions in Britain.
13. Vergilius, Aen. ii, 120.
14. 1 If we read this section with care we find that Gildas is not referring to the introduction of Christianity into Britain; his meaning seems to be that the sun rose for Britain as for the whole world by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He is evidently taking his information (ut scimus) from the Latin version of Eusebius' Chronicon. This reads: "When Pilate sent information to Tiberius of the doctrine of the Christians, Tiberius referred it to the Senate, so that it should be received among the other sacred records. But when it was decided by the city fathers that the Christians should be expelled from Rome, Tiberius in an edict threatened the accusers of the Christians with death. Tertullian writes so in his Apologeticus" (Pilato de Christianorum dogmate ad Tiberium referente Tiberius retulit ad senatum, ut inter cetera sacra reciperetur. Verum cum ex consulto patrum Christianos eliminari Urbe placuisset, Tiberius per edictum accusatoribus Christianorum comminatus est mortem. Scribit Tertullianus in Apologetico. An. Abr. 2053.) Eus. Chron., Sch ne, ii, p. 151. Tert., Apol. 5.
15. 2 Quae, licet ab incolis tepide suscepta sunt. This is all that Gildas says respecting the evangelisation of Britain. Whether he knew more as to the first preachers of Christianity it is impossible to tell, but his words imply that its spread among the native population (incolae) of the island was exceedingly slow: they received it "coldly." Among Roman officials and foreign immigrants it may have spread early, so that the few remains which now attest an early Christian church in Britain belong to them, and are found in the parts most thoroughly Romanised. According to the evidence furnished by H bner's seventh volume of Latin inscriptions, we gather that heathenism of various types continued long, even among these provincials. Mithra and Cybele, Tyrian Hercules and Phoenician Astarte, had their worshippers: at York there was a temple to Serapis, and at Caerlleon, in South Wales, the Roman Legate, Postumius Varus, restores a temple of Diana late in the third century, that is, not very long before that Council of Aries (314) which we know so well. Christian inscriptions are more numerous in Wales than in any other part of Britain, yet neither there nor in the other parts do they indicate a date earlier than the middle of the fifth century. Of Britain, as well as of Gaul, the words of M. le Blanc are true, that the legendary stories of a conversion "by explosion" have no evidence whatever in their favour. "L'ecole historique n'admet point chez nous un Christianisme fait, comme on 1'a dit, par explosion" (Preface, xli, Insc. Chretiennes de la Gaule). A solid historic truth lies in that curt tepide of Gildas.
16. 3 Novennem, the nine years' persecution. The meaning to be attached to this expression may be gained from c. 12, "when ten years had not yet been com-pleted." Eusebius speaks of the persecution as having lasted ten years (... H. E., viii, 15), yet both numbers admit of ready explanation. The first Edict of Diocletian, of which Gildas gives the first and second provisions, was issued in February 303, and the Edict of Milan, terminating state persecution of Christianity, appeared towards the end of 312. The period was in this way a good deal more than nine years, though not quite ten. Gildas seems to be simply copying or enumerating, in order, the provisions of Diocletian's Edicts as stated in Rufinus' version of the Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius. By the first provision of Edict I, the churches were to be levelled to the ground; by the second, the Scriptures were to be burnt; another provision, involving degradation, finds no mention in this narrative of Gildas. Edict II published not long after, commanded all church officers to be imprisoned without even the option of recantation. Edict III (or so-called Edict) again soon followed, leading to the application of torture, which too often resulted in death, though death hitherto had not been enjoined as a punishment. With Edict IV, in 304, the persecution reached its fiercest point by reproducing the former measures of Decius: commanding all men to offer sacrifice and libations to heathen deities, it brought in its train the atrocities described by Eusebius, and chronicled in so many Acta Martyrum. An African writer of the fourth century describes the persecution in words that remind us of Gildas here: "It made some martyrs, others confessors; some it demeaned in a calamitous death; it spared only those who succeeded in hiding themselves" (Optatus, De Schism. Donat., i, 13).
17. 1 Ecclesiastica historia narrat. Under this term we are to understand the Latin version of Eusebius' Historia Ecclesiastica, by Rufinus. But the mention of "ecclesiastical history" suggests the very question that has been asked by several. Scholl was probably the first to suggest that Gildas is here adopting the description he found in Eusebius of the Diocletian persecution, and applying the same to Britain. But this chapter is in fact not a description of persecution in Britain; it rather describes what took place "over the whole world" (per totum mundum) and as such is a resume of Book VIII in Eusebius' History. The actual course of events is followed by Gildas, just as the edicts succeeded each other, and as described by Eusebius in the second chapter of the book named----the ruin of churches, burning of Scriptures, slaughter of Christians. Further, when the final step was taken by the emperors in the issue of the fourth Edict, the real object had become (as here stated by Gildas) the extermination of Christianity. It is hardly just to say: "Gildas' general statement respecting this persecution rests (as usual with him) upon an unauthorised transference to the particular case of Britain of the language of Eusebius (H. E., viii, 2) relating to the persecution in general, and is conclusively contradicted by Eusebius himself and by Sozomen and Lactantius" (Haddan and Stubbs, Councils, i, p. 6, n.). The last italics are mine: but this is what Gildas does not do in this part; he is simply summarising what "Ecclesiastica Historia" narrates respecting the church in general. His definite references to Britain are moderate. (Vide next note.)
Besides the places named in Eusebius, one might consult the De Morte Persecutorum of Lactantius; and, in addition to the notes of Heinichen (pp. 381, 405) on the former, Mason on The Persecution of Diocletian, chs. v and vi, and the notes in McGiffert's translation of Eusebius, pp. 325, 397.
18. 2 Ut conicimus. These words imply that Gildas had no definite information respecting the exact time of the martyrdoms mentioned in this section. The reading of Codex X, ut cognoscimus, is evidently a gloss, echoing the fixed tradition of the copyist's own time. That the martyrdom of St. Alban took place during the Diocletian persecution is, therefore, a guess on the part of Gildas. He evidently found the narrative given here in some lost Acta or Passio, and we find that Beda has added other details from some second Acta
also lost. Now, many of these acts of martyrdom are found void of all details as to time and place, as, for instance, those condemned by the famous Decretum of Pope Gelasius in 496 (Hefele, ii, 618); if such a one had come into the hands of Gildas, it was natural that he should conjecture the events there narrated to have taken place in the last great persecution. One is tempted also to notice a difference of reading found here in some codices, as possibly recording a different, if not the original, tradition; these are, uellonnensis E, uellamien-scm C, uellomiensem D. Nevertheless, it is, perhaps, safest to conclude that Gildas found Verulamium fixed in tradition as the place of suffering of a martyr bearing the name Albanus, though it is not named in the account given by the author of the Life of Germanus of a visit paid by the Gallic bishops Germanus and Lupus (A.D. 429) to the tomb of Alban: "The priests," we read, "sought the blessed martyr Albanus in order to render thanks, by his mediation, to God; where Germanus, having with him relics of all the apostles and of different martyrs, offered prayer, and commanded the grave to be opened in order to place there the precious gifts." (V. Germ., i, 25.) We can thus say that Albanus was known and revered as a martyr c. 429, while the place of his martyrdom appears for the first time in this chapter of Gildas' work. In the edition of Jerome's Martyrology, lately prepared by De Rossi and Duchesne (for Aa. Ss., Nov.,Tom. ii) one codex, the Cod. Bern. (c. A.D. 770), records "in Britain was Albinus martyr, along with others, 889 in number, placed in the list of those whose names are written in the book of life." We are informed in the Prolegomena of several indications, that the exemplar from which this MS. was copied had been in the possession of, or written by, someone connected with Ireland. If so, we find in this 889 about the earliest example of the amplification which the words of Gildas underwent at the hands of later writers. Its exaggeration raises the question whether persecution was possible in Britain, inasmuch as it belonged to the part of the Empire assigned to Constantius, as Caesar of the West or Gaul. It has been held that Gildas is contradicted by Eusebius and Lactantius, who are understood as asserting that Constantius had no part in the persecution (Eus., H. E., viii, 13, 13: Vita Const., I, 3. 17: Lact. De Morte Pers., xv: Letter of Donatist bishops to Constantine in Optat. De Schism. Don., i, 22). In his anxiety to exonerate the father of Constantine the Great, Eusebius maybe regarded as having gone too far when he said that he destroyed none of the church buildings,.... Lactantius expressly states that the churches, as mere walls which could be restored, were pulled down by him, but that he kept intact and safe the true temple of God, that is, the human body. Nam Constantius, ne dissentire a maiorum praeceptis videratur, conventicula, id est parietes qui restitui poterant, dirui passus est; verum autem dei templum, quod est in hominibus, incolume servavit. It must be remembered that Constantius was only Caesar of the "parts beyond the Alps," and that he did not visit Britain until A.D. 306, the year of his death at York. The Caesar's power was limited, which would render the name of Maximian as a rabid persecutor, especially after the fourth Edict of 304, the more potent name with many governors and magistrates. Constantius was bound to conform to the policy of the Augusti in carrying out edicts which bore his own name as well as theirs. When, therefore, it is known that many martyrdoms did take place in Spain, though that country belonged to Constantius, it is not unreasonable to suppose that Britain had witness of the same sufferings, especially before 306, when he himself arrived in the island. Some confirmation of this view is afforded by the numerous place-names beginning with Merthir, or Merthyr, found in parts of Glamorgan, and more sparsely in Monmouth and Brecknock. Vide Additional Note after c. 26.
19. 1 Aaron et Iulium Legionum urbis cives. Of these two martyrs nothing more is known than is told us here by Gildas. Mason, in The Persecution of Diocletian, p. 146, calls them "two clergymen of Caerleon," an epithet the justice of which can neither be proved nor disproved. Dr. Plummer (vol. ii, p. 20) in his Notes on Beda, says that "the story of Aaron and Julius must be considered extremely doubtful," and refers us to Haddan and Stubbs, i, 6, for confirmation. One finds it difficult to understand why this story must be doubted. There must have been a tradition to this effect at Caerlleon in the sixth century, and in the Book of Llandav we find evidence of the very local tradition that has been said to be wanting. The Index of that book mentions about eighteen place-names beginning with Merthir (modern Welsh, Merthyr), one of which is Merthir lun (Iulli) et Aaron. A merthyr means, as its Latin original martyrium denotes, "place of martyr or martyrs," that is, a church built in memory of a martyr, and generally over his grave. The word is found in Jerome's Chronicon: Cuius industria in Hierosol. martyrium extructum est; it is used also by Adamnan in his De Locis Sacris: inter illam quoque Golgotham basilicam et martyrium, i, 8. Du Cange quotes Isidore, xv, 9: Martyrium, locus martyrum, Graeca derivatione, eo quod in memoriam martyris sit construction, vel quod sepulcra sanctorum ibi sunt martyrum (Greek, to_ martu&rion). We can hardly doubt that such a name as Merthyr, from martyrium, is as old as llan, or cil, or disert, if not indeed older. This at once carries it beyond the sixth century. Now the boundary of this particular merthir is: "The head of the dyke on the Usk; along the dyke to the breast of the hill, along the dyke to the source of Nant Merthyr, that is Amir" (pp. 225, 226, 377). Here we have a merthyr of Julius and Aaron in the neighbourhood of Caerlleon. A grave objection may meet us here; many of the persons whose merthyr survives as a place-name belong to the mythical progeny of Brychan, killed, it is said, by the "pagan Saxons." These shadowy beings cannot disturb the main argument.
20. 2 There is a striking resemblance between Gildas' way of describing the double crime of Maximus and the language of Sulpicius Severus in his Vita Martini. It seems impossible that it could be accidental. St. Martin had been approached by Maximus with great respect; "though repeatedly invited to his table he absented himself, saying that he could not partake of his table qui imperatores unum regno, alterum vita expulisset (V. M., 20, 2). Orosius also describes the double atrocity, but in words that show no close similarity to those of Gildas: " Ubi Gratianum Augustum subita incursione perterritum... dolis circumventum interfecit, fratremque eius Valentinianum Augustum Italia expulisset" (Hist., vii, 34, 10).
21. 1 The Scoti came from the North West (a circione). This would fit well with the explanation that at this time they had made no fixed settlements in the land subsequently called after them Scotland. Until the tenth century, Scoti or Scotti, and Scotia or Scottia, in Latin writers, mean respectively Irishmen and Ireland: in c. 21 Gildas calls them grassatores Hiberni. After the Dalriad migration of Irish settlers in Cantyre and the island of Islay, about A.D. 502, there were Scoti "qui Britanniam inhabitant," as Beda could write in Book I of his History; but at the time to which Gildas refers any occupation that might have taken place was merely migratory. The first mention of Picts, by the Panegyricus of A.D. 292, refers also to Hiberni. We find an irruption of Scots and Picts (Scottorum Pictorumque gentium ferarum excursus) first mentioned by Ammianus Marcellinus, Book xx, i, I, while writing of Julian's activity in Gaul (A.D. 360). Four years later, he relates, the Picti, Saxones, Scotti, and Atacotti, were harassing the country (xxvi, 4, 5). It is not strange, therefore, when contingents from over the seas had been, thus so long, abetting the northern barbarians, that Gildas should speak of transmarinae gentes, though the Picts did not come under that designation. Beda, in copying Gildas, gives an explanation of the term: "we say transmarinae gentes, not because they were outside Britain, but because they were remote with respect to the Britons, and two bays intervened" (H. E., i, 12). Plummer pronounces this to be a very forced gloss (vol. ii, p. 23); cf. also the words of c. 17, which tell us that they were driven over seas by the Roman troops: trans maria fugaverunt. The adverb, primtim, has been understood as implying that this rush of Scots and Picts, about A.D. 383, was their first inroad into Britain. Gildas is not guilty of such an error, because primum must be taken as qualifying calcabilis. Previous to the departure of Maximus, carrying the Roman army with him to the continent, the barbarians had always found a Roman force to contend with: now, "for the first time" the country is open (calcabilis) to their attack.
22. 2 Legio. Maximus crossed over to Gaul in 383, and after the murder of Gratian was unwillingly acknowledged Emperor by Theodosius and Valentinian. When Valentinian fled, the usurper approached Italy, being at Aquileia in September or October 387, and at Rome early in 388. His death took place in the summer of that year, so that it was impossible for any Roman armament to help the Britons in repelling the barbarian marauders before 388 or 389.. The "many years" (multos stupet gemitque annos) of suffering, to which Gildas alludes in the previous section, are explained by this fact. We know also that the xxth legion, stationed at Chester, was withdrawn by Stilicho in 402 or 403; and from Claudian's De Bella Getico (vv. 416-418), that it had previously served against the Picts and Scots. This legion may, therefore, have been part of the force employed in the attack now mentioned.
23. 1 Cespitibus. Two walls are mentioned by Gildas, one of turf and another of stone. Hadrian (cf. c. 17), whose policy seems everywhere to have been a policy of caution, built a wall in A.D. 122, along the more southern line from the Tyne to the Solway. It was, then or afterwards (by Severus?), made of stone, and formed the practical frontier of the province. In 143 the turf wall (murus cespiticius) of Antoninus Pius was constructed from Clyde to Forth. Now the Welsh "Brut" of Geoffrey of Monmouth understands the construction of the stone wall mentioned in c. 17 as the rebuilding of Hadrian's wall, or, as it is called there the wall of Severus. The earthen wall, which Gildas in this section describes as being built, may, therefore, naturally be regarded as the murus cespiticius of Antoninus Pius repaired or rebuilt. The Romans now drive the barbarians to the more northern line, commanding the Britons to reconstruct the no-doubt ruinous rampart: at a later period (c. 17), they are satisfied with the safer boundary between Tyne and Solway.
24. 3 This second expedition of the Romans against the Scots and Picts must have taken place before A.D. 407, in which year the tyrannus or usurper, Constantine, left Britain for Gaul. We are able to fix the possible time for the two expeditions. No forces could be spared during the five years' reign of Maximus (383-388), nor during the struggles of Constantine (407-411): we are thus limited to a period of about eighteen years, 389-407. The arrangements for defence described in the next section may have been Constantine's plans and efforts to make Britain secure in his rear. His departure proved to be the final abandonment of Britain by the Empire.
25. 1 Gurgite moles, cf. Verg. Aen., ii, 427: Oppositasque evicit gurgite moles.
26. 2 Romano stigmata: a stigma (sti/gma) was a brand impressed upon slaves and artisans, as a mark of ownership, or for identification. Stigmata, hoc est nota publica, fabricensium brachiis, ad invitationem tironum, infligatur, ut hoc modo saltem possint latitantes agnosci. Cod. Theod. x, 22, 4. In the present passage the marks or emblems of Roman power would be the disasters inflicted upon the barbarians, and these again were visible in the Roman army and navy, as the means of effecting them. It is, however, possible that Gildas is using the word, in a sense not found elsewhere, for the Roman standards. Scholl includes stigma in his list of words found only in Gildas, or found very rarely.
27. 3 Murum non ut alterum. The wall of Hadrian rebuilt of stone. Vide note, p. 34. Gildas speaks of two walls being built, one of turf, the other of stone: in fact, the two walls had been so constructed from the first, the stone wall in A.D. 122, the turf in A.D. 143, so that his words can imply no more than the repairing of them, though the repairs needed, after so many years of neglect and ruin, must have been extensive in the extreme.
28.
ADDITIONAL NOTE TO CC. 5-7, 13-18.
Gildas in these chapters refers to Roman interference as exercised on four different occasions. Unless we condemn the whole narrative as confused and undeserving of credit, it may be well to endeavour to find some points in which the account given of Roman visits touches well ascertained facts of history. Such an enquiry will, I believe, yield some results not devoid of interest.
1. Remembering that the leading purpose of this work was to bring about a reformation of morals in Church and State, that it is in fact a Sermon, or a "Tract for the Times," we must recognise that the writer is in no way bound to present his facts in due order of occurrence. Even more may be said: he is not bound to narrate events which, because of their high importance in fashioning subsequent events, have a special claim upon a historian. He is free, and in a way would be wise, to choose those that have a special bearing upon the message he brings to the notice of his readers. This is exactly what Gildas seems to me to have done: in no way does he call this part "a history;" his intention is simply to say "a few things" respecting the points named by him, before fulfilling his solemn promise (ante promisum Deo volente pauca.... dicere conamur).
The first visit or expedition of the Romans to Britain is placed by him "after the first peace with the Parthians." The empire of the world had been won, and an almost universal peace had come to pass (c. 5). Gildas may have read the Third Book of Orosius' Historiae, where we find similar mention of a Parthian peace (post Parthicam pacem), followed by a general cessation of war, and obedience to Roman law. This was in B.C. 20 under Augustus, after the advance of Tiberius Nero into Armenia. (A full account is given in Merivale's Rome under the Emperors, vol. iv, p. 173.) Orosius relates these events in order to show that the light of Christianity came into the world at the same time (quodsi etiam, cum imperante Caesare ista proucnerint, in ipso imperioCaesaris inluxisse ortum in hoc mundo Domini nostri Jesu Christi liquidissima probatione manifestum est.----Hist., iii, 5, 8). Gildas also introduces the rise of Christianity, but after relating the events of two Roman expeditions to Britain.
Now, by many writers, both these have been understood as the expeditions of Julius Caesar (B.C. 55, 54). The Preface, for instance, to the Mon. Hist. Britannica, speaking of the narrative of Gildas, says: " It may be divided into two periods; the former extends from the first invasion of Britain by the Romans to the revolt of Maximus at the close of the fourth century, and the latter from the revolt of Maxirnus to the author's own time." I find it very difficult to accept this view. In any way some confusion in the mind of Gildas may be assumed, who, we again remind ourselves is writing not with a historian's interest in facts as such, but with a reformer's bent to find a moral purpose in them. He is, however, definite in certain limits he sets to himself. " Those evils only will I attempt to make public which the island has both suffered and inflicted upon other and distant citizens, in the times of the Roman Emperors" (c. 4). The Parthian peace of which Orosius speaks was secured under Augustus, many years after the death of Julius Caesar, therefore the first expedition described by Gildas, if after this Parthian truce and the subsequent universal peace, cannot be the attempted, though barely successful, conquest of Britain by Caesar. The expedition, according to Gildas, is due to the stubbornness (contumacia) of an unfaithful people (infidelem populum), that is, it was an expedition to punish not to conquer. Such a one could only take place " under the Roman Emperors" after the ten years' work of conquest and settlement during the reign of Claudius (A.D. 43-53). The vigorous measures under Vespasian's generals," particularly Agricola, were intended to advance the Roman occupation, though Agricola, it is well khown, succeeded in attaining larger and more permanent results. These, also, must precede the events narrated by Gildas.
We, therefore, look out for " a peace with the Parthians," followed by a punitive expedition to Britain, and find the former in the peace made by Hadrian, shortly after the death of Trajan, A.D. 117, the latter in the expedition of Hadrian. Hadrian's policy of caution aimed at the maintenance of peace by restricting warlike operations " Adeptus imperium... tenendae per orbem terrarum paci operam intendit." This is said by Aelius Spartianus, who in mentioning the difficulties adds further: " Britanni teneri sub Romana ditione non poterant." It was then that the great wall from Tyne to Solway was built (A.D. 122). " Under Hadrian," we read in Mommsen's work: " A severe disaster occurred here, to all appearance a sudden attack on the camp of Eburacum, and the annihilation of the legion stationed there, the same gth legion which had fought so unsuccessfully in the war with Boudicca. Probably this was occasioned, not by a hostile inroad, but by a revolt of the Northern tribes that passed as subjects of the empire, especially of the Brigantes. With this we have to connect the fact that the wall of Hadrian presents a front towards the south as well as towards the north; evidently it was destined also for the purpose of keeping in check the superficially subdued North of England (The Provinces, i, iSS)." It may not be wrong to conclude that Gildas, with some confusion in that word "first Parthian peace," has selected this instance, first of all, to point his moral of "evils suffered" for "evils inflicted" by an "unfaithful people" (A.D. 122-124).
2. At what time must we place the second expedition? Unfortunately it is only described in high-flowing language, almost turgid, void of all details: no name or date is supplied us. The first impression is that it occurred not long after troops had been withdrawn owing to the heavy burden of maintaining them. If so, then we may regard this second visit of the Romans as that which was made under Pius Antoninus to punish renewed conflicts on the part of the Brigantes. At that time, the Roman boundary was extended further north and fixed, though only for a time, by the turf wall built between Clyde and Forth (A.D. 143). But there seem to have been serious disturbances in Roman Britain, as well as renewed attacks by the Caledonians and Maeatae, so that Severus found himself led to interfere by an expedition in 209, during the operations of which he died at York in 211. Either of these two visits of Roman forces would fit the description given by Gildas, while the fact that no further troubles of any kind are mentioned until the end of the fourth century, may incline us to decide in favour of the expedition of Severus.
3. There is a long interval from 122 or 209 to 383, of which not a word is said by Gildas. He then introduces Maximus, the " tyrannus" or usurper, and makes his first mention of the marauding incursions of the Picts and Scots. However, I believe a good reason for this silence is not far to seek. It has struck many as strange that this historiographus, as he is called by the mediaeval writers, should not have said a word about Constantius Chlorus and his son Constantine embarking together from Boulogne in 306, on purpose to drive back the Picts and Scots, nor of the splendid deeds of Constantine in the war against them. There was a more terrible incursion of these barbarians, aided by the Attacotti, about 368, when the Franks and Saxons also harassed the opposite Gallic coast, plundering and burning and murdering prisoners.* Yet Gildas makes no mention of this, or of the successful attack made upon them by Theodosius, father of Theodosius the Great, nor is anything said respecting the rebuilding of ruined cities and military posts, effected by him in that year (Amm. Marcell., xxviii, 3).
Gildas, had he been writing as a historian, would be rightly censured for such grave omissions as these, but his motive and plan is different. On that account we cannot wonder that he passes by events, however important, which do not show the Britons to be a guilty people, suffering because of their evil ways. In 306 and 368, the Britons were faithful Roman subjects, who could in no way have contributed to the calamities of the empire. It was otherwise in 383. Was it not Britain herself that sent forth the usurper Maximus? Such is the view that Gildas takes, and, moreover, his action in denuding Britain of Roman troops, for the first time after Agricola's settlement, laid the island bare to the plundering expeditions of the barbarian tribes. For these reasons, a more detailed account is given both of Maximus himself and of the fresh inroad which followed his abandonment of the island, than of the two early expeditions against British revolt. That the usurpation of Maximus could be laid to the charge of Britain herself, as Gildas represents the matter, finds no insignificant support in some ancient writers. Orosius describes the tyrannus as a man of strong character and probity, worthy to be Augustus, but created emperor against his will (in Britannia invitus propemodum ab exercitu imperator creatus, Hist., vii, 34.) Zosimus dwells upon the unpopularity of Gratian at the time among the soldiery, owing to the favour shown by him to the barbarian Alani (..., Hist. Nova, iv, 35). " It is possible that he (Maximus) was rather the instrument than the author of the mutiny" (Hodgkin's Italy and Her Invaders, i, 401). Now this is exactly the implication of Gildas' language: non legitime, sed ritu tyrannico et tumtdtu ante initiatum milite, Maximum mittit (Britannia).
Maximus crossed over into Gaul, taking with him the greater part of three legions: with these and the forces which joined him on the continent, he was able soon to make himself master of almost the whole of Europe west of Italy.
The further words of Gildas, which describe this progress, show that he was writing this part also of his narrative with a firm grasp of the real facts of the time.
He gives prominence to cunning artfulness (callida ars), to perjury and falsehood, on the part of Maximus, which unamiable features of his character are amply attested by writers of the fourth and fifth centuries. Socrates describes the guile by which the young emperor Gratian was captured and murdered (... H. E., v, 11); Sozomen speaks of the specious pretext he advanced that he would " allow no innovation to be introduced with respect to the national faith and church order." Mr. Hodgkin, in narrating the meeting of the two armies, that of Maximus and Merobaudes, Gratian's counsellor and general, adds: " For five days there were slight and indecisive skirmishes, but during all this time Maximus and his right-hand man, Andragathius, the commander of his cavalry, were tampering with the fidelity of Gratian's troops." At a later time, when Theodosius was making his preparations to suppress him, aided by the Gothic focdorati, the man of whom Gildas speaks with such sincere reprobation is thus described by the same historian: " Indeed, Maximus, whose one idea of strategy seems to have been to bribe the soldiers of his opponent, had actually entered into negotiations with some of the barbarians, offering them large sums of money if they would betray their master" (Italy and Her Invaders, i, 403, 465). Gildas fixes our attention upon Maximus because through him, the second stage of " the evils suffered " by Britain, begins in a highly aggravated form. But he may have felt also that this usurper, in whose usurpation Britain had a guilty share, had been a prominent figtlre in history. Ambrose of Milan gives an account of two embassies to him, in which the wily Maximus found the great bishop too astute for him; he is spoken of in the writings of Zosimus, of the ecclesiastical historians Socrates and Sozomen, of Jerome, Augustine, Orosius and Sulpicius Severus, probably others, besides several Chronica and Annales. After reaching Italy in 387, and Rome itself early in 388, the energy of Theodosius the Great brings his career to an end; he was captured and put to death "at the third milestone from Aquileia:' on August 28th (Prosper Tiro, Chron., and Socrates, H. E., v, 14).
It is only now that Gildas, for the first time, mentions the Picts and Scots, old enemies though they had been, because Britain was guilty of the old sin of unfaithfulness, and secondly, because not until then had the barbarians found the civilised parts of the island empty of proper garrisons to obstruct their path. It was the best opportunity for robber-inroads.
4. Two Roman expeditions are mentioned by Gildas as taking place after Maximus had carried the forces needed for defence over to Gaul. The brief account given above will aid us in finding the terminus a quo for the time during which these took place. The position of Maximus, though strong, made it impossible for him to spare any of the old garrisons, much less any other forces, to take the field in Britain against the Scots and Picts.+ It may be concluded, therefore, that no expedition could come until Theodosius had afresh reorganised the empire. This brings us to the year 389. It is possible also to fix a terminus ad quem.
In the last days of December, 406, the Vandals and Alani crossed the Rhine for a furious attack upon the rich provinces of Gaul ( Wandali et Halani Gallias trajecto Rheno ingressi II k. Jan. Prosper Tiro, M. G. H., ix, p. 465). In consequence, great dissatisfaction arose in Britain, where many Gallic detachments were then serving, and moved by fear of a general collapse of the empire, they proceeded to set up a new emperor. After making trial of several, they eventually fix on one bearing the noble name of Constantine,..., Sozom., H. E., ix, II; vide also Oros., vii, 40. "Having perpetrated extensive murder, they----i.e., the Vandals, Alani and Suabians----became objects of fear even to the armies serving in Britain, and drove them, through fear of an attack against themselves, to proceed to the election of tyrants such as Marcus and Gratian, and after these Constantine" (Zosimus, vi, 3, i). On this act, Mr. Hodgkin, in the first volume of Italy and Her Invaders, p. 740, remarks: "Where the liegemen of a constitutional king change a ministry, the subjects of an elected emperor upset a dynasty." The discontented army of Britain was led over to Gaul in the year 407 by Constantine, the third tyrannus, of whose deeds a full account by Dr. Freeman will be found in the English Historical Review, 1886, in his article on " Tyrants of Britain, Gaul and Spain," or in the above-named work of Mr. Hodgkin. At no time, therefore, in the year 407, or subsequently, could any detachment of Roman forces be sent over to Britain, because this usurpation of Constantine, with his four years of power over the Prefecture of the Gauls, was the beginning of the final abandonment. " It was not Britain that gave up Rome, but Rome that gave up Britain." By A.D. 446, we know from Gildas, there were hardly any of the old Roman families left in the island.
Between 383 and 389, as has been said, no succour by the empire could have been despatched to Britain; from 388-9 onwards order and authority were being restored in the West by Theodosius the Great, and continued until 406 or 407. This is, therefore, the interval during which the two expeditions mentioned by Gildas must have taken place, that is, a period of about eighteen years (A.D. 389-407). It would be natural that Theodosius, while reorganising Italy and the Prefecture of the Gauls, after the defeat and execution of Maximus, should not delay in sending succour to Britain. It is certainly difficult to find definite evidence of such assistance. Socrates mentions Chrysanthus, a Novatian bishop at Constantinople, who was drawn into the episcopate against his will. His work as bishop began in 407, but before that he had filled several public offices about the palace, and after being raised to consular rank in Italy, was appointed by Theodosius the Great, Vicar of Britain. In the tasks of this office he acquitted himself well (H. E., vii, 12). It is just possible that in him we have one of the men employed by Theodosius in undoing the havoc caused by Maximus in Britain, which would mean repelling the barbarians.
Theodosius died in 395, and from that time until his death in 408, Stilicho was actual, though not nominal, ruler of the West. Claudian's verse has preserved many particulars respecting this brave soldier and strong minister of Honorius, and as the poems do not extend beyond the year 404, the frequent mention of Britain found in them must refer to events anterior to that date. These may be read in the Man. Hist. Brit., xcvii, xcviii, therefore I shall only quote the following from the poem on the Gothic war (De Bella Getico, A.D. 402 or 403):----
" Venit et extremis legio praetenta Britannis
Quae Scoto dat frena truci, ferroque notatas
Pertegit exsangues Picto moriente figuras."
We have, therefore, clear evidence that measures were taken to repress the barbarians of the North after the death of Maximus, and before 402. I am further tempted to add the following quaint translation given by Speed in his Great Britaine, from the poem " On the First Consulship of Stilicho," of the year 400. Britain is made to say of Stilicho----
" When Seas did foame with strokes of Oares,
That beat the billowes backe,
His force effecting with his cares,
Prevented still my wracke:
He bade me fear no forraine powers,
That Picts or Scots could make,
Nor of the Saxons that on Seas,
Uncertaine courses take."
The reference to Picts and Scots by Claudian may be pushed back some years earlier even than 400.++ It is, however, unimportant to make any endeavour by way of fixing any precise year. We find it proved for us that help was actually sent to Britain by the Empire during the very time it was possible so to send it. Gildas is in this way vindicated as to the genuineness of his facts, though his mode of describing them may certainly be still open to suspicion. He has been accused of confusion, because historians have sought in his narrative what it could not have entered his thought to narrate. For instance, it was supposed that in c. 17 he was describing the successes of Theodosius (Senior), which took place in 368; but because Gildas places the events of that chapter subsequent to the usurpation of Maximus (383-388), his work was thrown aside with some amount of contempt.
5. The third appeal to Rome was made, according to him, at the time when Aetius was consul, in 446, but was of necessity fruitless. The Empire was sinking. If, however, the views advanced in this note be correct, or approximately correct, they will help us further to understand his elation that, at last, victory over the old enemies came to the Britons " for the first time after many years: primum per multos annos? These " many years," as we have seen, would date at latest from Constantine's elevation in 407. The last help rendered by Rome was the empty letter of Honorius, sent about 410 to the Britons, " that the cities must take care of themselves."... (Zosimus, vi, 10, 2).
The next and final disaster came by the deliberate admission of the Saxons into the island.
[Footnotes to the additional note]
* The words of Ammianus Marc., xxvii, 5, 8, have been usually understood as if the Franks and Saxons were ravaging Britain itself along with the northern nations. But must we not understand Gallicanos vero tractus Franci et Saxones isdem confines.... violabant, in the sense taken above?
+ St. Ambrose reminds Maximus, in the second embassy, of the latter's project to enter Italy "followed by barbarian battalions" (barbarorum stipatus agminibus, Ep. 24).
++ It is interesting to remember, once more, that the xxth legion, Valeria Victrix, established hitherto at Chester, was recalled to the continent by Stilicho about 402; but Claudian's poem, De Bello Getico, proves that it had, before its withdrawal, done service against the Picts and Scots, as formerly, under Hadrian and Pius, as well as in the expeditions of Severus, it had taken part in the same work (see Mommsen's Das Romische Heer in Britannien, s. 27).
29. 1 Curucus, or curuca. Irish, curach; Welsh, corwc; Modern Welsh, corwg, corwgl, cwrwgl, whence English coracle. In Adamnan's Life of Columba, we read that timber for building was to be conveyed over sea in boats (scaphis) and cwrwgs (curucis). The term, though originally denoting, as now in Wales, a skiff made of osier twigs covered with ox-hide, must be taken as denoting also the rude Celtic ship. The Martyr. Dungall. Aa. Ss. Mart., iii, p. 268 B, says: "in those parts there was at that time (sixth century) a mode of navigating by the use of osier twigs covered with ox-hide, which was called in the Irish tongue (Scotica lingua) currach." But the curaci, used by Columba and his friends, were provided with sail-yards (antennae), sails (vela), and rigging (rudentes). Adamnan's Vita Columbae, ii, 45, Reeves' ed., pp. 176, 177.
30. 1 Agitius. Gildas seems to have had access to a copy of the actual letter sent, but either he or the Britons made a mistake in the Consul's name. This is generally regarded as Aetius; and some continental editions of Gildas, e.g., the Bibl. P.P. Paris, read Aetium, and Aetio here. Aetius was Consul for the third time, along with Symmachus, in A.D. 466; his other consulships fell in 432 and 437. From 433 to 450, he exercised supreme control over the affairs of the Western Empire, under Placidia and Valentinian. The abject tone of the letter to him is in keeping with the times: its florid wording is not strange.
31. 2 Dr. Wendland, the co-editor with Dr. Leopold Cohn of the edition of Philo that is now being published in Berlin, regards the following as the
nearest approach to Gildas' quotation from Philo, but adds that no Latin version is known of the Vita Mosis (Letter to Dr. Mommsen. See his edition, p. 6). Philo vita Mosis I, 31, p. 108;...
32. 2 It is impossible to tell what amount of definite fact there may be in this description of prosperity and moral decay. Though the style makes us suspicious, yet as the years of plenty were subsequent to 446, the old men of Gildas' childhood and youth must have moved in the living tradition of them.
33. 1 Superbo tyranno. The native king is called tyrannus, because the sole legitimate authority, that of Rome, was absent. Procopius, who was a younger contemporary of Gildas, relates that after the death of the tyrant Constantine (A.D. 411), "the Romans were no longer able to save Britain, but it remained from his time continuously under tyrants" (... ). Codex A reads tyranno Uortigerno, and X tyranno Gurthigerno Britannorum duce (giving thus its later form to the name, in the same way as Guenedotia takes the place of Venedotia), and the words of course appear in Gale's edition based on the latter MS. The name may have slipped into MSS. of Gildas from the Historia Britonum of Nennius, or perhaps from Beda (H. E., i, 14), who writes, placuitque omnibus cum rege suo Uortigerno, and in the Chronicle, Vertigerno. Nearly all the MSS. of Nennius have the late form, Guorthigernus, which in Welsh becomes Gwrtheyrn. That Gildas is not ignorant of the former predatory visits of the Saxons (as attested by Ammianus Marcellinus, and by the early title "Count of the Saxon shore"), is evident from the words, "whom in their absence they feared more than death." Men are not feared in their absence except through previous unhappy acquaintance, so that the Britons must have had experience of the hated Saxons at times anterior to this compact struck with them. The same conclusion may also be drawn from the closing sentence of c. 18: "They build towers on the south coast where ships were usually anchored because from that quarter also wild beasts of barbarians were to be feared." These could be no other than the Saxons. Zimmer appears to me entirely wrong in concluding that British tradition, c. 540, knew nothing of a previous presence of the Saxons in Britain: "von einer fruheren anwesenheit derselben in Brittanien weiss sie absolut nichts" (Nennius Vindic., 190).
There is nothing direct in the narrative of Gildas to fix the date of this coming of the Saxons at the invitation of the Britons. It cannot, however, be very long after the time clearly furnished by the third consulship of Aetius (Agitio ter consult, c. 20). This being in A.D. 446, the approximate dates given by Beda seem to be derived from it, though he connects the time of the settlement of the Saxons with certain imperial events. A full note by the Editor of M. H. B., p. 120, collects the different dates assigned by Becla. They are, 452 in the Chronica, 449 in the Historia (5, 15; v. 24), 447 implied in i, 23, and v. 23; other parts suggest 448. The Chronicle, however, does not fix the date to any given year, and the adverb circiter is added in the other places. We learn from Gildas all that Beda knew. About 446 the Britons gain the victory which causes the grassatores Hiberni to flee homewards, but only to return at no long interval (post non longuin temporis reversuri); to meet that return the Saxons are invited to come, and we may be well satisfied that no nearer date can be found than c. 447. The Gallic Chronicle of the year 511 (printed in M. Germania: Hist., vol. ix, p. 660), opposite A.D. 441-442, gives: Brittaniae usque ad hoc tempus variis cladibus eventibusque latae in dicionem Saxonum rediguntur. (Mommsen conjectures late vexatae). It is difficult to reconcile this difference of five years, unless a Saxon invasion of that time be regarded as one (perhaps the worst) of those which had made the Britons fear the Saxons "more than death."
The Historia Britonum follows a different tradition: it is to the effect that the three ships which brought Horsa and Hengist came as the Ships of exiles (expulsae in exilio).
Cyulis or ciulis, as the word is in X, must be the same as the English keel. Geoffrey of Monmouth changes it into tres celoces, quas longas naues dicimus; in the Welsh, deir llog hirion.
Prolixiorem catastam, cf. c. 109: rectius erat ut ad career em vel catastam poenalem quam ad sacerdotium traheremini, where catasta must mean a scaffold as used for the punishment of criminals. In this passage the word classis, i.e., fleet, is substituted for it by Beda: mittitur confestim classis prolixior. One instance from an unpublished MS, treatise on military tactics is furnished by Du Cange, where the word is used fora heap of felled wood: Facial lignaria incidere de quibus fiant in diversis locis foci in die snae discessionis, et accensis catastis lignorum statim discedat cum suo exercitu. Such a meaning would easily give the signification of a raft, in which sense Gildas employs the word here as a contemptuous expression with ratibus. Dr. Davies, in his Latin-Welsh Dictionary, gives the Welsh carchardy = prison-house, for catasta. The only other meaning given by Du Cange is that of an instrument of torture, a wooden rack, made in the shape of a horse, equuleus, or a " bed of iron" on which martyrs were placed, fire being kindled beneath. Scala, vel gemis poenae equideo similis is quoted from a gloss in Mai, Tom. vii, p. 554, and from A ug. in Psalm 96: Habebant gaudia in catasta, qui Christum praedicabant inter tormenta. Several Acta furnish examples: for instance, Acta Perpetuae et Felicitatis: Ascendimus in catasta = scaffold.
34. 2 Jerome's first revision of the Old Latin Psalter, made A.D. 383, and called Psalterium Romanum, reads, as Gildas here, coinquinarunt (... in LXX). But the second, the Psalterium Gallicum of A.D. 392, preserved in the Vulgate, has polluerunt, which is the rendering of... in the previous quotation. In chapters 30, 104, we have further indications that Gildas used an old Psalter, probably older than either revision of the old Latin made by Jerome.
35. 5 Or, with lofty door.
36. 4 Nonnulli.... alii.... alii... alii. Gildas describes the fate of his countrymen in this struggle, (1) Many were killed outright; (2) others were reduced to life-long slavery; (3) others took refuge in parts beyond sea; (4) others betook themselves to hilly districts and the rugged sea-coasts. These last are the reliquiae, the remnant, who before Gildas' own time had, with the assistance of their British fellow-countrymen (cives) succeeded in wresting back several cities and districts from the terrible enemy. Two remarkable successes came at a time when a considerable part of the Saxons had returned to their own settlement. The first occurred under the leadership of Ambrosius Aurelianus; the second came by the siege of Badon Hill; both exceeded all expectation or hope on the part of the British. At the time when Gildas wrote, there were many alive who had been eye-witnesses of the two events, who could not, he remarks, refrain from frequent mentioning of them. He himself was born in the very year of the later victory, forty-three years and one month from his time of writing; but the success to which the generalship of Ambrosius Aurelianus led was acquired at no considerable time before that, as it must fall within the memory of one life. If we take the year of Gildas' birth as c. A.D. 500, then the battle of Badon Hill took place c. 456-7, and the successes of Ambrosius Aurelius may be put not far from A.D. 450.
37. 1 Transmarinas petebant regiones. Gildas in these words certainly implies that there was an emigration of a considerable part of the Britons of this island to the continent. He has already intimated the same in c. 4, where he tells us that his information is derived not from native sources but from continental ones. What might have existed of the former had, he says, either been burnt by the enemy, or carried far away by that fleet which conveyed his countrymen into exile. This was the beginning of Britanny, or Armorica, but the emigration continued far on into the seventh century. Another view, maintained by many, maybe stated in the words of Dr. Freeman: "Here the ante-Roman population still kept its Celtic language, and it was further strengthened by colonies from Britain, from which the land took its later name of the Lesser Britain, or Britany" (Hist. Geogr. of Europe, p. 93). French writers, especially French Celtic scholars, hold a very different opinion. M. Loth, for instance, in his exhaustive History of the British Emigration in Armorica. thus sums up the conclusions of M. de Courson: " In every place where the insular Britons are not established, the names of places are Gallo-Roman; men's names are Latin or German. The territory of Rennes and that of Nantes.... are of this kind. The old Vannetais, even, towards the end of the fifth century, presents the same character. The tyrant of Vannes, in the Life of St. Melanius, is named Eusebius, his daughter Aspasia, and the " villa " in which he resides Prima Villa. Everywhere, on the contrary, where the Britons are established, the names of men and of places present a Celtic character. Men's names are the same as in Wales and Cornwall; the names of places are generally preceded by a British prefix, as in the island; tref (hamlet), ploi, plou, pleu, plo (plebs = Welsh plwyf, meaning at first a congregation, then the district inhabited by the congregation of any given church); caer (a fortified place, and, simply, a village); llan (a monastery, generally, then a church), etc. The terminations are equally distinct. The Britons do not derive names of places in -acum (-ac) from names of persons, a formation very frequent in a Gallo-Roman country. In a word, throughout the zone occupied by the immigrants, all is transformed, all is Celtic (Brito-Celtic): we are in Britannia; at Rennes and at Nantes we are in Romania" (p. 84). This account of the fact that a Brito-Celtic people are found settled on the peninsula which forms the extremity of the "tractus Armoricanus," about the middle of the sixth century, is amplified by M. Loth. He notices at length the special characteristics of different Celtic languages, which make it impossible for us to regard the people of Britanny as a portion of the old Celtic inhabitants of Gaul surviving there: reference is made to the use of Britannia, etc., by Gregory of Tours in the Historia Francorum, to ancient Lives of Saints, which describe their crossing over from Britain to Lesser Britain (Britannia Minor) with crowds of companions, and to a large bulk of historic matter in ancient annalists and poetry. Taking all things together, a host of lines converge upon one fact: that from about A.D. 500 to 590 there was a strong stream of emigration to the continent. It had, probably, begun earlier, and it continued later, but during the whole lifetime of Gildas there were periods of emigration. Two of his old fellow-disciples, Samson and Paul Aurelian, left their native land and settled in Britany. (Vide L'Emigration bretonne en Armorique, par J. Loth. 1883.)
38. 1 Domum: this can only mean the place assigned to them by treaty in Britain, not their original home on the Continent. The sentence, therefore, implies an ebb in the flood of Saxon conquest.
39. Verg. Aen. ix. 24.
40. 2 Ambrosio Aureliano. Ambrosius Aurelian has become known in Welsh literature as Emrys Wledig, or, as the Historia Britonum gives the name, Embreis Guletic. According to Gildas, he is (1) a Romanus, a member of one of the few old aristocratic families then remaining in Britain; (2) his ancestors had worn the imperial purple: he may have been a descendant of some tyrannus that had assumed the title of Augustus in Britain; (3) he was a vir modestus, which implies kindness of disposition with unassuming manners: the mention of this quality goes far to prove that the information had come to Gildas from some one personally acquainted with the victorious leader; (4) his descendants, grandchildren probably, were intimately known to Gildas. Ussher (Antiquities, vol. v, c. xiii, p. 513) has drawn attention to the false reading indutus for indutis, which the first edition of Polydore Vergil introduced. In this way Ambrosius Aurelian himself assumed imperial power "for the struggle" (collisioni for collisione) against the Saxons. But, though one codex, A, reads indutus, the way in which Beda paraphrases Gildas shows plainly that he must have read indutis: occisis in eadem parentibus regium nomen et insigne ferentibus. H. E., i, 16. With Beda agrees the Historia Britonum of Nennius, which makes Ambrosius say that his father was of consular rank (c. 42). The Irish version of Nennius adds an interpretation of Guletic, in Latin, as meaning king of the Britons (rex Britonum). Maximus is also styled Maxim Guletic (Archiv fur Celt. Lexicogr., i., s. 206), but, in the case of both, its implication appears to be that of a commander. Geoffrey of Monmouth absurdly makes him the son of the tyrannus Constantine, whom he represents as king of Britain, along with Constans the monk and Uthur ben dragon: "Ac or wreic honno y bu idaw tri meib. Sef oed y rei hynny, Constans ac Emrys Wledic ac Uthur ben dragon" (Brut., p. 126). We seem to have here a reminiscence of both Gildas and Orosius. In Gildas, Geoffrey found that the family of Ambrosius had worn, the purple, which may well mean that he was descended from one of the many tyranni who had assumed the title of Augustus in Britain. Orosius, on the other hand, furnishes the romancist with a father for Ambrosius in the person of the tyrannus Constantine. He had a son Constans, that from a monk became a Caesar, but this son was killed in Spain in A.D. 412, and Constantine himself in the previous year. [Adversus hos Constantinus Constant em filium suum----pro dolor!----ex monacho Caesarem factum----in Hispanias misit----Oros. Hist., vii, 40, 7.] Yet according to Geoffrey's story, Emrys and Uthur must have been men in years long before Constans left his monastery, that is, long before 411, nevertheless, the former lived to conquer the Saxons about the year 450! This is still worse if we fall into the mistake of taking Geoffrey's Constantine, as he himself suggests, to be Constantine the Great.
41. 4 Ad annum obsessionis Badonici montis. Since the publication of Dr. Guest's papers (" Origines Celticae," 1883), the conclusions at which he arrives respecting the location of Badonicus mons have been very generally accepted. Treating of "The early English Settlements in South Britain," he maintains that Mount Badon or Badon Hill is not Bath, but Badbury, in Dorset. "Its elevated site, its great strength and evident importance, and its name, all alike favour the hypothesis " (vol. ii, p. 189). His hypothesis was accepted by Freeman and Green. But it is one extremely difficult to fall in with, and must, one feels, be put aside for the older view. There was no need of a very elevated site to build a fortress, while the neighbourhood of Bath would supply hills for such a purpose. Moreover, the very similarity of sound in Bad-bury and Bad-on-icus is itself something to rouse suspicion rather than to suggest Dr. Guest's inference. The name Mons Badonis is found in Nennius's Historia Britonum as the place where the "twelfth battle" was fought under Arthur. The Annales Cambriae place Bellum Badonis opposite a doubtful date (A.D. 516); a fragment published in the Brut of Llyfr Coch o Hergest speaks of the " battle of Badwn " (giveith Badwn) p. 404, while other parts of the Brut mention Kaer Vadon, and once there is mention of esgob Bad. In all these places there can be no doubt that the meaning is Bath, as in " capitulum LXVIII " of the Historia Britonum (p. 130 Mommsen's edn.); De stagno calido, in quo balnea sunt Badonis (baths of Badon) secundum uniuscuiusque voti desiderium. Cf. Camden's Britannia, Somersetshire, p. 70 (edn. of 1645).
42. 1 Quique quadragesimus quartus.....There has been much controversy as to the meaning of these words. Beda took them to mean, forty-four years after the coming of the Saxons to Britain: quadragesimo circiter et quarto anno adventus eorum in Britanniam. M. de la Borderie, in an article in Revue Celtique, vi, 1-13, holds that Beda's rendering is the true one, and in this way arrives at the conclusion that the date assigned to the siege of Badon Hill by the Annales Cambriae is incorrect. Certainly A.D. 516 cannot be the date of that battle for several reasons; the entry in the Annales Cambriae has all the appearance of an erroneous borrowing from Nennius, c. 56, of matter not found in the Irish translation, and extremely legendary in character. Dismissing the date 516, M. de la Borderie arrives at 493 as the date of the battle, which, he holds, Beda deduced from Gildas, rightly understanding his words to convey the meaning of forty-four years after the settlement of the Saxons. But the French scholar inserts the words adventus eorum in Britanniam before ut novi. In the note on Ambrosius Aurelian we have had an instance of the way in which Beda mixes literal quotations from Gildas with his own words, interpreting the latter's meaning in better words or phrases. As no MS. authority exists for this insertion of M. de la Borderie's, it seems far better to regard the words adventus eorum in Britanniam as Beda's own interpretation of Gildas. Ussher (vol. v, p. 544) holds that Beda has misunderstood Gildas's words, and gives himself the following paraphrase of the passage: "perinde ac si dixisset, a clade Badonica quadragesimum quartum tunc (tempore quo scripta ab eo ista sunt) numerari cepisse annum; unico quippe anni illius mense adhuc elapso; idque ex sua ipsius aetate se novisse." " As if he had said that from the loss inflicted at Badon, the forty-fourth year-had then (at the time he wrote) begun to be counted; one month in fact of that year was gone, and this he knew from his own age." Mommsen feels that the passage can hardly give a good meaning, and, though reluctantly, proposes-an emendation of it. The difficulty, he feels, lies in the strange ut novi, but if the sentence be read: quique quadragesimus quartus [est ab eo qui] orditur annus mense iam uno emenso, qui et meae nativitatis est, then the meaning is perfectly clear. (Man. Germ. Hist., iii, p. 8.) When we think of the many involved scraggy sentences which Gildas writes elsewhere, we do not wonder at the ut novi, which the recollection of his own age forced to an undue prominence before his mind: by inserting it in brackets the sentence is tolerably easier, and can only give the meaning deduced by Ussher, and favoured by Mommsen.
43. 2 The description given here of the atrocities perpetrated in this invasion is so definite in details that it must have come to Gildas from eye-witnesses. He himself saw the ruined cities, desertae dirutaeque hactenus squalent (chapter 26).
44. 1 This passage mentions two generations. First, there were the men who had witnessed the disasters suffered from the Saxons and had survived them to enjoy a time of quiet in lives void of reproach. Secondly, after they had passed away, there came a generation of men who, like Gildas himself, had experience only of the period of non-molestation by outside enemies. It is the deterioration of these that he laments in the present work. But there are also the few select ones, so few that even the venerable mother, the church, hardly knows them as her only real sons. Who are they? To answer this question fully we must consult cc. 65, 69, 92; yet in the main it would be right to say that he has the monks in his thoughts. We find a reference to this passage in c. 65, and therein also, it may be mentioned in passing, strong evidence that this work of Gildas never really consisted of two different parts----Historia and Epistola----much less that they were written at different times. " I ask pardon of these men, as I have said in a previous part," so writes Gildas in the chapter named, " whose life I not only praise, but also esteem above all the wealth of the world, and of which, if possible, I long for a share, sometime, before I die." For Gildas, and, apparently, for his contemporaries also, in both the Irish and British churches, the original idea of monasticism had undergone a great change. It had ceased to be a purely contemplative life, or one of secluded discipline of the individual soul unto holiness, as Eucher's beautiful De Contemptu Mundi describes it. Gildas, though a monk, is mixing in the battle of public life, and the present work is part of the task which he fearlessly carried out. "There was a prophet of the people in the time of the Britons called Gildas. He wrote about their misdeeds: how they so angered God, that at last He caused the army of the English to conquer their land, and utterly destroy the strength of the Britons. And that came about through the irregularity of the clergy, and the lawlessness of the laity" (Wulfstan, Anglo-Saxon Homilies). Notwithstanding the position in which Gildas finds himself, the place of honour in his mind belongs to those who lived in the cloisters: they are the saints, the only real sons of mother church: sancti Dei, id est, monachi, as said by Salvian. would express his idea also. The Welsh language itself still bears evidence how such words as sanctus (sant), religiosi (crefyddwyr), took a special meaning, at first no doubt a fuller meaning than hitherto, when men regarded their adoption of the cloistered life as their " conversion." But it is very significant that Gildas nowhere presses this life upon anyone, cleric or layman, as a cure for the excesses which he denounces. Wherefore we find him, in this, to be out of the fashion of his age, though we may see in it also the keen moderation that is so evident in the " Fragments," and which the correspondence of such men as Finnan, a sanctorum Hiberniac magister, shows to have been valued in distant places (Columb., Kp. I, in M. Germ. H., iii, 159). His words, however, imply----strange though it seems----that monasticism had not spread largely in Britain by c. 540. See Introduction.
45. 2 Mater ecclesia is of constant occurrence in ecclesiastical Latin as early as Cyprian; matris sinus also in the same connection.
46. 1 Damnonia in the sixth century would correspond roughly to the present county of Devon. Aldhelm, between 675 and 705, addresses his letter of admonition to " Geruntius King and the priests (i.e.. bishops) of Damnonia." A poem addressed to Aldhelm about the same date reads----
" quando profectus fueram
Usque diram Domnoniam per carentem Cornubiam."
Cornubia (Cornwall) seems to have been a separate kingdom.
47. 1 Aurelius Caninus: We have no place mentioned as forming the kingdom of this prince. It seems natural, with Zimmer (Nenn. Fznd.,p. 307), to regard it as lying between Damnonia and the next named Demetia. His kingdom might well include parts of the present counties of Somerset, Gloucester, Monmouth, Glamorgan, and Caermarthen, perhaps, with Caerlleon (Legionum urbs) as capital. Geoffrey of Monmouth reads Conane. Dr. Guest is inclined to conclude that Constantine and Aurelius Conan were the degenerated descendants of Ambrosius Aurelianus, mentioned in c. 25. This is not a conclusion that one can well rest in.
48. 1 Vortipori. Vortiporius is King of Demetia (Dyfed), which roughly corresponded to the present county of Pembroke. The Welsh form of the name appears as Guortepir map Aircol map Triphun in the Genealogies from Harleian MSS., edited by Mr. E. Phillimore in Y Cymmrodor, vol. ix, p. 171. " Aircol must be the Welsh reduction of the Latin Agricola" Rhys' Celtic Britain, p. 253.
49. 4 Cuneglase. This name and the whole passage, present many difficulties. Gune-glasus may have had an older form, Cuno-glasus, found in many names, e.g., Cuno-maglus ( = Cynfael), Cuno-valus (Cynwal), Cuno-belinus (Cynfelyn), etc. The first element of the compound is connected either with cuno- in the sense of high or noble, as cun, a top, or summit, cynnu, to raise, or with cu, gen. cunos, a. dog. Maglo-cunus may have the same root, with the meaning of "great lord." (See Holder, Alt-Celtisches Sprachschatz, Rhys' Celtic Britain, p. 286, The Academy, October 12th and 19th, 1895). The meaning dog would connect itself better with butcher, but glas is an odd addition in the sense of fulvus ---- deep reddish-yellow, or tawny; the green grass, the blue sea, the gray mare, are each termedglas in modern Welsh, but we find it impossible to connect the adjective with a colour that comprises red and yellow. It has been proposed to take cunus as fulvus, i.e., honey-coloured, and glas as lanio: this hardly removes the difficulty, while the order is decidedly unfavourable to it. I feel that Gildas must have fallen into a mistake, in the heat of his desire to fasten an ugly nickname upon Cuneglasus.
Later, the name took the form Cun-glas or Conglas; in the Genealogies it appears as Cinglas, and may perhaps be found in Cynlas (Y Cymmrodor, ix, 172). Cinglas map Eugein dant gwin, map Enniaun girt, map Cuneda," may be compared with " Mailcun map Catgolan lauhir, map Ennian girt, map Cuneda;" so that we find Cinlas and Mailcun (Maglocunus of next section) to be both descended from Cunedda, and both grandsons of Enniaun. With this suggestion it seems fair to conclude that the kingdoms of the two were contiguous. Zimmer places that of Cinglas in the district between the Teifi and the Dee, where descendants of Cunnedda are known to have ruled.
I have ventured to print urse and ursi, instead of Urse, Ursi, as other editions do. The word appears to me to be employed by Gildas as an epithet, parallel with the animal names----catulus for the king of Damnonia, catulus leoninus for Aurelius Caninus, pardo for Vortiporius, and draco for Maglocunus. An attempt has been made to connect Ursus with arth in the Welsh name Arthur, which is Welsh for Arturius (Arcturius). (Academy, October 12th, 1895.)
Were we to adopt the reading cesor of A, we should find a meaning closely allied with lanio, i.e., hewer of many, one who mangles or tears in pieces. Auriga currus receptaculi ursi describes, probably, well-known habits of this prince; he drives a chariot, but in the eyes of Gildas, that chariot is but the mean appanage of a bear's ugly den, his place of retreat: hence the singular term, receptaculum.
50. 1 The "authority to bind and loose" is, we see, a settled, part of British ideas respecting Church discipline and life in the sixth century. According to c. 109, it is given to " Peter and his successors," i.e., the bishops, but Gildas draws a definite distinction; the priest must be a holy priest: the promise is made omni sancto sacerdoti. Such men as he is writing against, though ordained bishops, have by their unholy lives, he adds (c. 109), forfeited this authority. They are barely Christians (c. 92).
51. 1 Maglocune. Maglocunus is the Mailcun of the previous note, great-grandson of Cunedda Wledig. The name appears as Maelgwn in modern Welsh, generally Maelgwn Gwynedd, designating him as king of that portion of North Wales which was called Venedotia, and later Gwenedotia. The ancient Gwynedd extended from the river Clwyd (according to some, from the river Conway) westward, and to the south as far as the Mawddach or Dyfi. Maelgwn had as teacher the celebrated Illtud, and may or may not have been at his monastery at the same time as Gildas himself. The vow to take upon himself the secluded discipline of a monk came after having a taste of the stormy life of a king: the monastery, however, was abandoned, and Maelgwn seems----partly through his own brilliant qualities, partly as a family right----to have attained a position of pre-eminence over the other princes, or, as Gildas puts it, "te cunctis paene Britanniae ducibus tam regno fecit (Deus) quam status liniamento editiorem......" On the legend, which gives at least an echo of this fact, see Welsh Laws (1841), ii, 49-51. According to the Annales Cambriae, he died of the great plague in the year 547: " An. 547 mortalitas magna in qua pausat Mailcun rex Guenedotiae." The date, 547, can only be an approximate one. Petrie, in the first edition, which appeared in the Monum. Hist. Brit., supplied 444 as the year of the Christian reckoning corresponding to ANNUS I of the Annalist, though, as he confesses, there is no certainty with respect to the era adopted by him (De aera vero, unde in annalibus condendis exorsus sit chronographus, minime constat). Some well-known dates of events are a few years wrong; others, especially the later ones, correct, as given in the Annales. Dr. Stokes does not add the corresponding years for the Irish Annals of Tigernach, which he edits in the Revue Critique (1896), but gives in brackets those of other Annals. Now the Tigernachian Annals say: K. vn. Mortalitas magna, which means that it occurred during a year in which the Kalends, or st of January, was a Saturday. The Annals of Ulster place it in 551, those of Inisfallen in 541 (Rev. Celt., p. 140). Not one of the three Irish documents agrees quite with the Welsh, but the errors cannot be important in any. We therefore adopt 547 as the approximate date of Maelgwivs death. But, as he was alive when Gildas wrote, it has been rightly concluded that the De Excidio must have been written before 547. On the whole question of date, see Introduction.
Insularis draco is explained in Celtic Britain- as implying that "island" is Britain itself, not Mona. When we reflect that "dragon" is the last of the opprobrious epithets----cur, whelp, leopard, bear, dragon----applied to the five kings, one is drawn to the belief that even the insularis is also intended to wound. If so, the reference must be to Maelgwn in his island home, Mona.
52. 1 This teacher is generally regarded to be Illtud, who is not named owing to his pre-eminence, and from a feeling of reverence on the part of the writer (see Introduction).
53. 1 Gildas, when quoting elsewhere consecutively from the Gospels, has a text almost identical with that of the Vulgate; but here, quoting probably from memory, his text is the same as the partially revised Old Latin Codex Brixianus (f),...
54. 3 Although Gildas mingles his denunciatory message to the five princes with affectionate appeals for reform, yet he ends each message with lavish threatening of the torments of hell. The appellations used by him for the place of torment are inferno, or infernum and tartarus. The Latin versions had made the former word familiar everywhere as the name for "the grave," or Hades, the abode of the dead. In this sense it is the equivalent of the plural inferi, as exaudivit me de venire inferni (Jonah, ii, 3), in the Latin version of Irenaeus: descendant.... in infernum (...) Gen. xxxvii, 35. Its Welsh derivative, uffern, is employed with the same meaning in most places of the authorised Old and New Testament. But it was used also as a name for a place of punishment (locus supplicioriini atque cruciatorum, Jerome in Is. xiv, 7-11), and Jerome understood the words of the creed, descendit ad inferna, in this sense. Cyprian seems to have used inferi only, while inferus appears a few times in the Latin Bible, e.g., Rev. vi, 8, et inferus (...) sequebatur eum, where the Welsh version has uffern, the English hell. Tartarus, though not so frequently found, is employed for " hell " as early as Tertullian, and in the letter of Roman presbyters to Cyprian: parauit caelum sed parauit et tartarum,Ep., xxx, 7. It is evident that neither inferi nor tartarus were in common use, because infcrnus has given enfer to the French language and uffern, or yffern, to Welsh. Cornish and Armorican have allied forms, ifarn, yffarn; iffern, iverus.
55. 1 This "tearful narrative of complaint" (flebilis querulaque historia) includes the part beginning, in c. 26, where the older men die and are succeeded by an age ignorant of the earlier struggles with the Saxons, with experience only of the present time of quiet. The story ends with c. 36. Bede's well-known words about Gildas, that he wrote " with tears in his language" (flebili sermone, i, 22), may have been borrowed from this passage, as also the name liber querulus, so frequently applied to this work. The phrase querula historia means a narrative setting forth definite charges or complaints. In Col. iv, 13, we have probably the Latin querela reproduced by the Authorised Versions, Welsh and English, in the (now) archaic cweryl and quarrel. "If any man have a quarrel (= complaint) against any."
56. 1 Idolatria, idolatrae. "Omnino in libris scriptis frequentissimum, pallatim et sermo vulgaris recepit et propagavit in linguas recentiores." Tisch. These forms, distinct from the more correct idololatria, idololatra, are found in the writings of Cyprian, and the Pseudo-Cyprian De Aleatoribus. Idolatria occurs twice in Salvian's Ad Eccles., i and 60. As a form of common Latin it passed, in English and French, into idolatry, idolatrie.
57. 2 Nos inhiantes suscipimus: we with cupidity receive. It is difficult to decide who is meant by this we. The reference may be to the clergy, of whom Gildas himself was one, in their love of gifts, which, by being selfishly withheld from the needy, will bring about the deserved reprobation and ruin. The use of the words sacrificia et dona in the previous sentence supports such a view: et may, in this way, take the meaning although.
58. 3 Iniustitia. I have changed the punctuation of other editions by removing the note of interrogation usually placed after ignis, retaining only the note at the end of the sentence. It seems to me rendered necessary by the text of the LXX, and reads well. I have ventured even to omit the m of the accu sative iniustitiam, though the MS. authority seems altogether to favour its retention; but it is well known that in nothing do MSS. show so much uncertainty as in the omission or insertion of this letter. Taking the LXX as one's guide, and observing that such a phrase as " to treasure unrighteousness" is not in keeping with Old Testament ideas, every hesitation as to the substitution of the nominative case is almost entirely removed....
59. 4 Esdras xv, 22-27.
60. 2 Et si non habemus... This sentence is a good instance of the vein of real modesty which runs through this work; it does not in any way impress us as the empty mannerism of conventional self-depreciation. Gildas halts with modest self-fear at the saying: "I could wish that I were anathema from Christ for my brethren's sake;" but with a full heart (toto corde) he can use other words, such as those of the prophet Micah: "Alas! a soul is perishing." There is earnest grief in these touching words of that prophet whose mission it was to rebuke the moral condition of both people and princes. The reality of modest affectionate sorrow, on the part of Gildas, for those addressed by him is clear, and it leads us to look at other words of his which will all the more be felt to have the same ring of sincerity. "Constrained by my own reasonings or by the pious entreaties of brethren, I now pay the debt long ago exacted. The work is indeed poor; but, as I think, it is faithful and friendly to every disciple of Christ, though weighty and hard to bear, for foolish apostates" (c. 1). We call to mind also his anxiety to help men to carry the burden he brings, by words of encouragement and consolation (consolatorio affatu) (c. 62). "Me, poor though I am, thou holdest of no moment, and yet I observe the prophet's word with earnest affectionateness of soul" (c. 36). "Surely I shall put forth what I feel: the denunciation might, no doubt, be softer, but what boots it merely to touch the wound with the hand and smear it with ointment, when there is need of the branding iron, and the open treatment of fire." I feel we have not read Gildas in the right way, if we do not perceive and appreciate his earnest moderation, as well as that something else, the fashion and temper of his time, which leads us to speak of him only as rhetorical or declamatory.
61. 1 Sedem Petri apostoli. We seem to have in this phrase, as in Petri cathedra, the survival of a belief that had died out elsewhere. It means that every bishop is regarded as a successor of Peter, just as every bishop's chair is a sedes apostolica (c. 92): such appears to have been the faith of the Church in Britain when Gildas wrote. If we look up the writings of Tertullian and Cyprian, comparing them with the Tractate De Aleatoribus (supposed now to have been written at Rome itself), we find a living conviction that every bishop is a successor of Peter; that his position is marked by the cathedra Petri to which he has been called. Tertullian states, in Scorp. 10, that "the Lord had given the keys of the kingdom of heaven to Peter, and by him to the Church (per eum ecclesiae reliquisse)." In the De Pudicitia, 21, he is indignant that the bishop of Rome (Callistus) should appropriate to himself the power of binding and loosing which really appertains " to every church belonging to Peter" (ad omnem ecclesiam Petri propinquairi). It is true that these last passages are strongly marked by the Montanist leanings of Tertullian, but the same idea is very prominent in Cyprian. To him the bishop of Rome was the successor of Peter, nevertheless he has the whole episcopate in mind; it was, " in ordering the office of the bishop and the course of his Church in the Gospel, that he says to Peter" (quoting Matth. xvi, 18, etc.), Ep. 33, i: "There is one God, one Christ, one Church, and one chair, founded on Peter by the word of the Lord (una ecclesia et cathedra una super Petrum Domini voce fundata), Ep. 43, 5. The question itself is not to be touched upon here, but the historical survival of phrases that once had a peculiar meaning is of interest. One might refer as to these views in the African and other Churches during the early third century, to Sohm's Kirchenrecht, 251-256; Harnack, Texte und Unters., v, i, 73-76. There is certainly a temptation to draw, as regards Britain, a conclusion which is evident in the case of Tertullian and Cyprian. In their case, many such sayings as those quoted are reminiscent of the fact, that the Church of Africa had received its teaching from Rome; such a conclusion would hardly be contested. But may we not find in this use of the phrase " chair of Peter," for the whole episcopate, an indication of very early Roman influence upon the ideas prevailing among the Christian communities in Britain also?
62. 2 Merito cupiditatis. We find merito here used as a preposition =propter with accus. Instances may be found in ecclesiastical Latin, such as Cyprian, 711, 4 (Hartel). Cum tamen merito benedictionis: Sulp. Sev., Chron., i, 12, 7; Artaxersi merito obsequiorum carissimus, id., ii, n, I. One early instance I have met with (in a review of Hoppe, De Sermone Tertulliano, in Wolfflin's Archiv.), Domitiamim saevitiae merito poenas luisse: Suetonius, Vesp., 1.
63. 3 Religiosam forte matrem sen sorores domo pellentes. Gildas has in mind the rule established by the well-known Canon 3 of Nicaea: "The great Synod wholly refuses to bishop, or presbyter, or deacon, or in short anyone in the ranks of the clergy, the right to have a strange woman (in their homes), only a mother, or sister, or aunt, or solely such persons as incur no suspicion," Such a woman is termed..., subintrodncta, in this and in numerous canons repeatedly passed down into the eighth century. The habit condemned, may-have included constant cases where there was no real ground of suspicion, clerics and chaste women living under the same roof in strict purity. Yet gross indecencies arose; under cover of a specious plea of spiritual intercourse, came the secretius ministerium of which Gildas mockingly speaks. A "complaint of like nature is made against two British presbyters in Armorica, by Licinius, Metropolitan of Tours (509-521), before this work of Gildas had been written. The women in his letter are termed conhospitae. The article on Subintroductae, in the Diet, of Chr. Ant., gives a full account of the many canons that, time after time, sternly condemned a habit which, we see from this passage, had taken deep root in Britain. But in other countries we hear the same invective, so that Britain was by no means alone in this immoral custom. " Pudet dicere proh nefas; triste sed verum est: Unde in ecclesias agapetarum pestis introiit? Unde sine nuptiis aliud nomen uxorum? I mo unde novum concubinarum genus?" So wrote an earlier monk than Gildas----Jerome----in 384. (See p. 155.)
64. 1 Tyrannico ritu. The next chapter not only enlarges upon the simony practised by the clergy, but explains also how their ordination is irregular and violent: the bishops and presbyters "steal the title of priest" (rapto sacerdotali nomine), because when thwarted in the church (parochia) for which they seek ordination, and there refused, they sail across seas, to Gaul, perhaps, or Ireland, and secure their object by bribes. It is self-seeking men (ambitores) that ordain them, against the will of those to whom it legitimately belonged. We may surmise that, except where such base influences as are here described operate and break through ecclesiastical usages, a bishop would be elected by the whole community, so that " the episcopate should," in the words of Cyprian, "be conferred upon him de universae fraternitatis suffragio" (Ep. 67, 5). The great Leo, writing to the bishops of the province of Vienne in Gaul, just a hundred years before Gildas, insists that the " consent of clergy and people" (ordinis consensus et plebis) should be duly observed; adding that, "he who is to preside over all must be elected by all" (Ep. 10, 6). Any bishop ordained otherwise is ordained by a tyrannicus ritus.
65. 2 Praecepta sanctorum.......ineptas saecularium hominum fabulas.
In this contrast we have implied the great change that found its completion during the sixth century. With the fall of the Empire fell also the schools of the rhetoricians, which had kept alive the taste for the classic literature of antiquity. They were replaced by Christian schools connected with the great churches, or with monasteries; and in these, reading was confined to the works of Christian writers, and chiefly those writings which inculcated asceticism and monastic retirement. The celebrated dream of Jerome, of which he gives a graphic account in his letter to Eustochium (Ep. 22, 30), shows how the feeling of aversion to Pagan literature was, at the end of the fourth century, beginning to carry even men of the highest equipment away from the great writers of Greece and Rome. "What has Horace to do with the Psalter? What has Maro in common with the Gospels? What has Cicero with the Epistles?" (cf. the th chapter in Ep. 53; Taceo, de mei similibus.....). In his dream he found himself standing before the judgment-seat of Christ. He had been reading Cicero and Plautus with delight, but felt a shudder at the uncouth language of the prophets; when asked about his condition, his answer was: " I am a Christian;" whereupon He who sat upon the throne said; " Thou liest: thou art a Ciceronian, not a Christian." After the severe flogging inflicted upon him by the Judge, he vows that he will never again read " secular books " (codices seculares). His antagonist Rufinus could well reproach him that the vow was badly kept. There was an uneasy feeling in such men as Jerome, Augustine, Paulinus of Nola, with respect to the reading of heathen writings; but such anxiety of mind before long disappeared; then came likewise the abandonment of Homer, Virgil and Cicero. Another kind of reading spread widely, with a taste newly formed, which eagerly scanned the praecepta sanctorum. Under this term we may include the works of the ecclesiastical writers, but more especially such writings as those of John Cassian and the popular Lives of Saints, a species of literature introduced by Jerome.
Eucher, about a hundred years before Gildas penned these words, wrote a letter of advice to a relative (Epistola paraenetica ad Valerianum cognatum) in which he exhorts him to abandon the works of secular writers, and devote himself to the study of Christian doctrine, to the studies and writings of our men (ad studia te nostrorum et scripta converte), and especially to approach as a searcher "ad fontes ipsos sacri eloquii." Can. v of Statuta Ecclesiae Antiqua, c. A.D. 450-500, commonly observed in Gaul, directs "That a bishop shall not read heathen books (gentilium libros), but those of heretics, as demanded by the necessity of the times." The spirit of such admonitions spread more and more, though several writers besides Boetius and Cassiodorus continued in a feeble, declining way, to show that the old taste was still alive. The story told by John of Salesbury, that Gregory the Great caused the valuable Palatine Library to be burnt, lest the study of Scripture might be prejudiced by the perusal of its books, is at least a true picture of the sentiments entertained by men of the monastery during the fifth and sixth centuries. Gildas may be understood as presenting here the view held by a fervent monk, of the men in Britain who still continued to read the ancient literature.
66. 1 In flexibus mundialium negotiorum mendacibus doctissimos. The last word implies that the clergy in Britain, or some of them, were engaged in some trade or other for their maintenance. We need not refer to the frequent legislation upon this subject, such as the exemption from trade dues granted by imperial edict in 343 and 353, but afterwards limited; and the prohibition issued by Valentinian III, in 452, which forbade clerics to pursue any trade: ut nihil prorsus negotiationis exerceant (Cod. Theod., xvi, 2, 36). But Britain had long been outside the range of any edict. The Statuta Ecclesiae Antiqua, the basis for Church law and custom in Gaul in the second half of the fifth century----it might well have been so in Britain----in two canons reads as follows: " Clericus quantumlibet verbo Dei eruditus artificio victum quaeret" (can. 51). " Clericus victum et vestimentum sibi artificiolo vel agricultura absque officii sui detrimento quaeret" (can. 52). A cleric's sustenance and clothing was to come to him by some trade or by agriculture, provided it did not prejudice his own proper work.
67. 2 Pecunia redimentes. Now begin the charges, frequently repeated, of simony, in addition to the assumption of sacred office by violence, that is, against the will of the community (rapto sacerdotali nomine). The office of bishop or presbyter was bought for an "earthly price"; priesthoods are bought from "tyrants;" which means that princes----whom Gildas, a thoroug imperialist as a civis Romanus, will only name as tyranni----were able to influence appointments.
68. 3 Summum... gradum: the simple episcopate only, would be tbe highest gradus. There probably were never any metropolitans or archbishops in the British Church.
69. 4 Novatus Romae. The confusion of Novatus for Novatianus in so late a writer as Gildas is curious. The Roman presbyter who led the opposition against the bishop Cornelius, and caused a separation from the Church in the name of stricter discipline, was Novatian: from Africa there came to Rome the Carthaginian presbyter Novatus, who joined Novatian, and probably instigated him to his schismatic partition of the Church. (See Langen, Gesch. der Rom. Kirche, i, 293.) This may be the implication of Prosper's words: Novatus presbyter Cypriani Romam veniens Novatianum et ceteros confessores s'ibi' sociat, eo quod Cornelius paenitentes apostatas recepisset. (Chron. M. Germ,. H., s. 439.) Now Latin writers name Novatian as the leader of this separation, and call the schism by his name, but Eusebius and other Greek writers ascribe the movement to "the Roman presbyter Novatus." Rufinus, in his Latin version of Eusebius (H. E., vi, 43), repeats the mistake of the original: Novatus Romanae ecclesiae presbyter. We have good reason to infer that Gildas was acquainted with Jerome's works, the De viris illustribus in particular (which work gives: Novatianus Romanae urbispresbyter); his present agreement with Rufinus, therefore, leads us to infer that he is here borrowing from that writer's Latin version of Eusebius.
70. 3 Basilium Caesariensem episcopum. The two previous examples are those of early martyrs, whose bold and steadfast spirit Gildas would fain find in the respectable clergy of his time. Now he brings forward a different case: a man who by his firm dignified bearing (A.D. 371), bewildered a cruel praefect----Modestus----and struck awe into the soul of Valens, the persecuting emperor. Valens, as is said, had made an oath to convert all his Christian subjects to Arianism. He is the iniquus princeps mentioned above; but the fearless bishop, who knew how to speak with princes, filled him with admiration and terror, and was almost able to save the province of Cappadocia. The two sayings of Basil, and probably the bulk of what is narrated, Gildas owes to Rufinus, xi, 9, where he continues the History of Eusebius; but there are some details found here which indicate a wider knowledge than could be procured from Rufinus. The account of the persecution of Basil at the hands of Valens is found in Theodoret, iv, 19; Socrates, iv, 26; Sozomen, vi, 16; as well as in the work of Rufinus. The facts are more fully given by Theodoret than by the others, and he appears to have had Gregory of Nazianz' Oratio in laudem Basilii Magni as an independent source; the Orationes of Gregory were also translated into Latin by Rufinus, as he himself states in the very chapter from which Gildas quotes. Is it not possible that Gildas was acquainted with the incidents of the persecution from either Theodoret or Gregory, as well as from Rufinus? There is no mention in Rufinus of what is implied in the words Arriano caeno; whereas, Theodoret expressly says that the emperor had commanded the Praefect Modestus either to persuade Basil to communicate with Eudoxius (the Arian bishop of Constantinople), or in case he refused, to exile him.
71. 1 At this point, where Gildas makes lengthened extracts from the Minor Prophets, the Vulgate version is abandoned, his codices being Old Latin. On this curious and interesting fact, see Additional Notes, pp. 94,95. The order of the prophetic books is, as indicated on p. 97, Joel (Habakkuk), Hosea, Amos, Micah, Zephaniah (Haggai), Zechariah, Malachi, Ezekiel (Daniel). The books placed in brackets are not quoted, but, judging from the order of Gildas' previous quotations, and from lists of scriptural books, we are probably correct in assigning them the position indicated (see p. 137). As in cc. 38-62, the peculiarities of words and constructions found here, cc. 83-91, belong not to Gildas himself, but to the awkward, unwieldy literalness of the Old Latin version, with its frequent Graecisms and provincialisms. We are, in fact, reading a production of the second century. A. reads: quid quoque sanctus Johel propheta.
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Greek text is rendered using the Scholars Press SPIonic font, free from here.
Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
SOURCE SECTION: gildas_03_intro.htm
Gildas, Letters. (1899). pp. 255-257. Introduction to the Letters.
Gildas, Letters. (1899). pp. 255-257. Introduction to the Letters.
Appendices.
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APPENDIX A.----EXTRACTS FROM LETTERS (AND PROBABLY SHORT SERMONS) OF GILDAS.
APPENDIX B.----A BRITISH PENITENTIAL BEARING THE NAME OF GILDAS.
APPENDIX C.----THE "LORICA" OF GILDAS.
APPENDICES.
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AN attempt is made in the Introduction to give an account of the pieces printed in the three following appendices.----This contains (a) the history of the Fragments, which are here printed from the text found in Haddan and Stubbs' Councils, i, 108, and Wasserschleben's Irische Kanonensammlung, nd edition, 1885; (b) a survey of the place occupied by Penitentials, as to origin and purpose, in the life of the Western Church, and their probable rise among the Churches of Britain and Ireland; (c) a comparison of other ancient Loricae with the one that has been preserved bearing the name of Gildas, together with a statement of grounds upon which its authority has been favourably maintained.
APPENDIX A.
THE text printed here is that found in Haddan and Stubbs' Councils, i, 108, which is based upon a MS. preserved at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, written in the ninth or tenth century. The second part of the MS. (pp. 11-109) contains a collection of Canons, consisting chiefly of extracts from the writings of the leading ancient church writers, but among them extracts from writings of Patricius and Gildas. These latter are introduced by the simple praefatory note, dicit Gildas or Gildas ait. But the same words of Gildas, though in briefer compass, are also found in a collection of Irish Canons, made at the end of the seventh or beginning of the eighth century, consisting of sixty-two Books with capitula or sub-sections, which Wasserschleben has twice edited. I use the second edition (1885). We shall call the Cambridge and the Irish collections C. and H. respectively. Now it may be gathered that the compiler of these Irish Canons, about A.D. 700, and the writer of the Cambridge MS., about A.D. 900, had both used an older collection first made in Ireland. At that time certain writings of Gildas, besides the De Excidio, were well known among the Irish, and, presumably, among his own countrymen. From H. we have the title affixed to three, Gildas in his letters respecting the last days, that is, his own days: Gildas was writing of |256 what to him were modern times, when startling developments were taking place, with the usual accompaniment of anxiety and sober joy.
There were thus extant Letters of Gildas that held a high place in the estimation of the Churches of Britain and Ireland early in the seventh century. Of this we have confirmatory evidence in a letter of Columbanus, written about A.D. 595-600, to Pope Gregory the Great. (See the letter in full before Vita I.) In that letter, while requesting the opinion of Gregory on three points, he mentions the interesting fact that Gildas, or Giltas as he calls him, had written of those bishops that were irregularly ordained, because guilty of Simony. These words may be regarded as describing the second main part of Gildas' De Excidio (cc. 62-110). But Columbanus further mentions a correspondence between Vennianus and Gildas, respecting the monks who were abandoning their monasteries for the better seclusion of desert places. Seebass, in Zeitschrift f. Kirchengeschichte, xiv, 437, concludes that Vennianus must be, not Finnian, the founder of Clonard, who died about 549, but Finnian of Maghbile (Moville), whose death is placed by some in 588, by others in 610. The question is an exceedingly difficult one, as the evidence seems conflicting and confused; yet one is certainly safe in the assertion that a considerable time must have intervened between the writing of the De Excidio and the penning of letters that would supply such |257 extracts as these. The whole perspective is changed. Further, if Finnian, the founder of Clonard, died about 549, then it is natural that we should find Gildas' correspondent in the later Finnian of Moville. One is almost tempted to seek the sources of some of these extracts in writings of a different kind: there were published at Louvain, in 1667, a collection of the writings of Columbanus made some five years previously by Fleming, and these contain short sermons or addresses to monks, called Instructions. They have been lately edited separately by Seebass, in the Zeitschrift fur Kirchengeschichte, xiv, 76-92. We know how faithfully Columbanus clung in Gaul to the usages of his native Ireland; so that in these very Instructiones, we may discern a usage which originally came from Wales, whence the newer monastic institutions of Ireland had been, directly or indirectly, inspired. Such addresses by Gildas, if preserved might furnish matter for quotation to a writer who was drawing up a collection of Canons.
One is particularly impressed by two features in these extracts. In the first place, there breathes through all a strong spirit of moderation that is quite unlike the character in which Gildas has been clothed by the imagination of many writers; in the second place, they show that Monasticism and the Church, in its regular organization, are drawing closer together than could have been the case at the time when Gildas wrote his indignant appeal to bishops, and to clergy generally, in the De Excidio.
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Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
SOURCE SECTION: gildas_04_letters.htm
Gildas, Letters. (1899). pp. 257-271.
Gildas, Letters. (1899). pp. 257-271.
FRAGMENTS FROM LOST LETTERS OF GILDAS.
I. OF EXCOMMUNICATION GILDAS SAYS: Noah did not wish to exclude his son Ham, the teacher of the magic art, from the ark or the communion of his table. Abraham did not shrink back from Aner and Eschol in the fight with the five kings. Lot cursed not the banquets of the Sodomites. Isaac did not refuse to share his table with Abimelech, and Acarath, and Phicol, the captain of the soldiers; but, after eating and drinking, they sware to one another. Jacob had no fear to hold communion with his sons, whom he knew to worship idols. Joseph did not refuse to share the table and cup of Pharaoh. Aaron did not cast away the table of the priest of the idols of Midian. Moses also entered into |259 hospitality and peaceful entertainment with Jethro. Our Lord Jesus Christ did not avoid the feasts of publicans, so that he might save all sinners and harlots.
II. RESPECTING ABSTINENCE FROM FOODS GILDAS SAYS: Abstinence from fleshly foods without love is profitless. Better therefore are those who fast without great display, and do not beyond measure abstain from what God has created, but anxiously preserve a clean heart within (from which they know is the issue of life), than those who refuse to eat flesh or delight themselves in worldly foods, who ride not in vehicles and on horseback, and because of these things regard themselves as superior to others. To these men death enters by the windows of pride.
III. RESPECTING THE LAST DAYS GILDAS SAYS IN HIS EPISTLES: Excessively evil times shall come, and men shall be lovers of self, covetous, boastful, haughty, railers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, impure, without natural affection, without peace, slanderers, without self-control, fierce, holding the good in hate, traitors, headstrong, puffed up, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding the form of godliness, but denying the power thereof. Many shall perish doing evil, as the Apostle says having a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge, being ignorant |261 of God's righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they do not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. They find fault with all brethren who have not, along with them, carried out their inventions and presumptions. These, whilst they eat bread by measure, glory on that account beyond measure: whilst they use water, they drink at the same time of the cup of hatred: they take their enjoyment simultaneously of dry dishes and back-biting; as they lengthen their vigils, they nevertheless brand certain men while soundly sleeping, saying as if to the feet and other members: "If thou be not head, as I am, I shall count thee as nothing." This assurance is given, not so much out of love as of contempt, at the time when they are musing on their leading principles; they prefer servants to lords, the common herd to kings, lead to gold, iron to silver, the prop (to the vine). In this way they give preference to fasting over love, to vigils over righteousness, to their own imagination over harmony; they prefer the cell to the church, severity to humility, in fine, man to God. They are bent not on what the Gospel, but on what their own will commands; not what the Apostle, but what pride teaches; without observing that the position of stars in heaven is unequal, and that the offices of angels are unequal. These are men that fast, which, unless they follow after other virtues, profits nothing. The others, taught of God, with full purpose follow after love, which is the highest fulness of the law, since the harps of the Holy Spirit say All our righteousnesses are as a polluted garment. But these bellows of the devil say, perhaps to better men whose angels see the face of the Father, Hold aloof from us, for ye are unclean. To this the Lord makes answer, These will be smoke in my wrath and fire burning continually. Not those that despise brethren: the Lord calls the poor blessed, not the haughty poor but the meek; neither the envious, but those that weep for either their own or others' sins; those who hunger and thirst, not for water with scorn of other men, but for righteousness; nor those who hold others in contempt, but the merciful; those not of a proud but of a pure heart; not those severe to others, but the peace-makers; not those who bring wars, but those who suffer persecution for righteousness' sake, are certainly the men who possess the kingdom of heaven. |263
IV. OF MONKS, GILDAS SAYS: Those who come from a meaner monastery1 to a more perfect----from one whose abbot has so far degenerated from God's work that he deserves not to be received to the table of saints, but to be accused of the crime of fornication, not as a matter of suspicion but of patent evil----such monks receive to you, without scruple, as men fleeing from the flame of hell, holding no consultation whatever with their abbot. Those, however, whose abbot we do not exclude from the table of the saints because of evil report, we ought not to receive against his will. How much more 2 ought we not to receive those coming from abbots that are holy, and in no other way suspect except that they possess cattle and carriages, either because of the custom of their country or their own weakness, things which do less injury to their owners, if it be with humility and patience, than to those who hold ploughs and fix mattocks in earth with prejudice and pride.
ITEM.----When the ship is wrecked, who can swim, let him swim.
But whatever superabundance there be of worldly things to a monk, must be referred to luxury and wealth; and what he is driven to possess by necessity, not by choice, so that he shall not fall into want, will not be counted to him for evil. For the principal ornaments of the body, belonging to the head, ought not to scorn the inferior ones, and it is not right for the constant utilities of the. hands to be haughty towards the higher things. Is it not the case, |265 that neither these nor those (the head), can say to each other, We have no need of you, being things which appertain to the common benefit of the same body? I have said these things, so that bishops may know, that, just as the inferior clergy ought not to despise them, so also ought not they to despise the clergy, as the head ought not the other members.
V. GILDAS SAYS: An abbot of the stricter rule 3 should not admit a monk of another abbot somewhat more lax. Also, the more lax should not detain his monk when inclined to stricter ways.
Priests and bishops have in truth an awful judge, to whom, not to us, it appertains to judge of them in both worlds.
VI. GILDAS.----Cursed is he that moves boundaries, certainly those of his neighbour. Let each 4 abide wherein he was called with God, so that neither be the chief changed, except by the will of those subject to him, nor the one that is subject obtain the place of a superior, except with the advice of an older. What things are honourable with us, we surround these with fuller honour. It is therefore salutary for bishops and abbots to judge those subject to them, whose blood, if they rule them not well, the Lord will ask at their hands: let those that are disobedient to fathers be as the gentiles and the publicans; and to all men, both good and bad, besides those subject to them, that word of the apostle applies, counting all men, etc. |267 That judgment about the uncertain issue of life has come to pass when we read in scripture of an apostle lost by covetousness, and a thief, by confession, carried to heaven.
VII. ITEM.----It is better for co-bishops and co-abbots, as well as fellow-subjects, not to judge. As to men of evil odour in anything bad, let men, however, in no way make fully clear that they think of them by report, but gently rebuke them with patience. These men, as far as they can conscientiously do it, they ought to avoid as men suspected (but without excommunicating them as really guilty and excluding them from their table, or from church communion) when some cause, arising from necessity, or agreement, or public speaking, demands it. Let them reprove those men that they do not act rightly, because we cannot pass condemnation upon them for this. While they communicate unworthily, it may be that we, by our evil thoughts, arc communicating with demons. But those whom we know without any doubt to be fornicators, unless they do penance in the regular way, we exclude from communion and table, to whatever order they have belonged by rule. As that saying is, If any man is named a brother and is a fornicator, etc. It is on account of well-proved cases of great sins,5 for no other reason, that we ought to exclude brethren from the communion of the altar and of our table, when the time demands it. |269
VIII. GILDAS.----To the wise man truth shines from whatsoever mouth it has issued forth.
IX. GILDAS.----Miriam is condemned with leprosy, because she agreed with Aaron in blaming Moses on account of his Ethiopian wife. This we should fear who disparage good princes because of indifferent faults.6
DOUBTFUL FRAGMENTS.
X. GILDAS SAYS: The Britons are contrary to the whole world [enemies to Roman usages not only in the mass, but also in tonsure, because, along with the Jews, they serve the shadows of things to come rather than the truth].7 |271
XI. THE ROMANS SAY:8 The tradition is that the tonsure of the British took its origin from Simon Magus, whose tonsure reached only from ear to ear, following the very excellence of the tonsure of sorcerers, by which only the fore part of the forehead was wont to be covered. But that the first originator of this tonsure in Ireland was a swine-herd9 of King Loegaire mac Neill, is made evident by the word of Patrick. From him nearly all the Irish assumed this tonsure. |273
[Selected footnotes renumbered and placed at the end]
1. 2 Loco viliore. The word locus by itself stands not rarely for " monastery," as in Columbanus' letter, primae conversionis loca reliquunt, where also conversio means the assumption of the monastic life. The Welsh compound, mynach-log, shows the same word (monachi locus).
We gather from this passage that the monastic communities in Biitainhad no regular order of intercommunion with one another, every monastery being independent of every other; whereby, in cases of degeneracy on the part of an abbot, the monks were encouraged to abandon him by the ready reception offered in another monastery. This might be a locus perfectior, and the desertion was carried out without any communication with the abbot, when the un-cleanness of his life was evident to all. The Hibernensis, xxix, 12, directs that a monk is bound to leave a wicked abbot (debet monachus. abbatem valde malum deserere). But if the abbot of an " inferior" monastery were in church communion, monks that left him were not to be received except with his assent, even though they were in search of a more perfect discipline. As between monasteries, there evidently existed no higher authority to command uniform rules of life: it was that early time of their history when the character of individual cloisters was determined and known by the character of the abbot himself, who was generally the founder. A new and extensive development of monasticism was taking place, the result of that revived religious life which, first in Wales and afterwards in Ireland, was inspired by Gildas and by the friends who urged him to write the De Excidio; in Ireland it began with Finnian, a disciple of Gildas, at Clonfert; never theless the time was naturally productive also of great diversity and gradation of reputed " perfection," and the fervour which caused it stamped out the indolent bad abbot, by countenancing desertion on the part of his monks.
2. 1 Quanta magis. One seems to find here a wise moderation on the part of Gildas, wherein he does not yield to the excessive growing strictness that may have prevailed in some quarters. There existed suspicion of some abbots, because they performed their journeys riding, or in carriages, instead of barefooted, with the simple staff. But Gildas is willing to make concessions upon the ground of habit or weakness, so that monks who deserted abbots upon such pleas as these were not to be received into the better (perfectior) monastery.
ITEM, ETC. Only found in Hibernensis; there it immediately follows superbia.
3. 1 The growing difference between monasteries meets us again here, but now differentiated by the Rule, the Regula, of each, though personified as well in the character of the abbot. One rule is more lax, remissior, the other more severe, districtior; the victory, however, at this period was for the latter. The present direction, while favouring the growing tendency, by instructing the less strict abbot in no way to curb the ardour of a monk who aims at a severer life, is intended to soften an inevitable change; this it does by recommending that the monastery of the stricter rule should not open its doors too readily to monks who may abandon the less strict community.
4. 2 Hibernensis, xxxviii, 31, from Unusquisque to obtineat, with the heading: " Respecting remaining in every vocation." Episcopis abbatibusque: the bishop and the abbot seem to be placed on a par in this extract, and therefore one might be led to infer that we have here an indication of a tendency in the direction of that cloistral pre-eminence which is regarded as so marked a feature of Celtic ecclesiastical life. How indefinite the idea regulating the relation of monasteries to the more ancient episcopal organisation of the Church were in the West, even after the middle of the fifth century, is shown by the long dispute between Faustus,'abbot of Lerins, and Theodore, bishop of Frejus. The monastery, as such, was the home of a community of laymen; the abbot at its head might be a layman; any cleric who entered it was a layman in relation to his abbot, and to the other members of the fraternity. But the cleric was also bound by the usages of the episcopal organisation, which had had its own growth in the Church previous to the rise of monasticism. A presbyter owed obedience to his bishop; a bishop had a high and definite authority in the Church as to worship, and discipline----perhaps all the higher, where, as in Gaul, the metropolitan system was but imperfectly developed, or in Britain, where it had never existed. How, then, were these older powers and relations to be kept intact, face to face with the absolute authority of an abbot? In Gaul the position of the bishop became secure in general acceptance, as superior to the abbot and his monastery with certain fixed limitations, but in Britain and Ireland the position of the abbot seems to have acquired an increasingly more independent character.* The obedience due to him is regarded by Gildas here as parallel to that of the clergy to their bishop.
* For Gaul in the fifth and sixth centuries we may refer to the canons of the third Council of Aries, A.D. 455; Thomassinus, Vetus et Nova Disciplina, I, Lib. iii, c. 26. Hefele, Conciliengesch., ii, 583. The sense of an earlier time is, in a very interesting way, as usual, shown by Jerome in his Ep. 14, 8, ad Heliod., e.g., Sed alia, ut ante perstrinxi, monachorum est causa, alia clericorum. Monachus si ceciderit, rogabit pro eo sacerdos; pro sacerdotis lapsu quis rogaturus esset? also Ep. 52, ad Nepotianum.
5. 6 Principalium vitiorum. The fourth of the Instntctiones of Columbanus treats of "The eight leading vices" (De octo vitiis principalibus). Octo sunt vitia principalia, quae mergunt hominem in interitum; gula, fornicatio, cupiditas, ira, tristitia, accedia (a)khdi=a, in old English accidie), vana gloria, superbia; that is, gluttony, fornication, covetousness, anger, dejection, bitterness, vain glory, pride. The list is first met with in Cassian's Institutes, bk. v, i, and Collat., v, 2, which formed the basis for all similar lists current in the Celtic Churches. We have the same also in the Regula of Columbanus, c, 8.
6. 1 These words do not appear in the Cambridge MS.; they are taken from Hibern., xxxvii, 5, under the heading, " Princes are not to be censured upon a trivial charge."
7. 2 This extract from Hibern., lii, 6, seems exceedingly doubtful as assigned to Gildas: the first four words may be his, but the remainder will be best regarded as a gloss added by the compiler of the Irish collection, at a time when the Church of Ireland had adopted Roman customs, while the British churches still held aloof.
In the first four words of X. we hear an echo of the opening chapters of the De Excidio; the remainder repeats assertions made during the Conference at Whitby, when North Britain was won over by the influence of Wilfrid to the adoption of Roman usages; it repeats also the main argument advanced by Aldhelm of Malmesbury, in the letter which he wrote to the king and bishops of Damnonia, by the direction of the Council of Hatfield. Wilfrid, in that Conference of 664, maintains that Picts and Britons " fight with foolish toil against the whole world;" that they derive their custom (in this case their observance of Easter) from a time " when the Church was judaizing in many things " (Beda, H. E., iii, 25; Aldhelm's letter, Man. Germaniae Hist., Epp., iii, 231-235).
Although the extract cannot be regarded as conveying to us any words of Gildas, it has, nevertheless, a real interest as a summary of points in which the Church of Britain was " contrary to the whole world." From Beda's History and Aldhelm's letter we gather that the Britons were particularly regarded as stiff-necked, because of their unwillingness to change in three or four usages. These were, the time of the celebration of Easter, the tonsure, and their mode of administering the rites of baptism; a fourth is introduced in this Extract which may well have been included in the " alia plurima unitati ecclesiasticae contraria," mentioned by Beda (H. E., ii, 2). This is the British Liturgy, or Missa. Compliance with Roman customs brings to the Irish Church this new conviction, that the Churches of Britain were schismatic; "the precepts of your bishops," Aldhelm is bold to say to them, " are not in accord with the Catholic faith." The Roman system represented a newer, better development of church life: British (and Irish) opposition, on the other hand, was in reality mainly a reluctance to break with the past, by a people tenacious in their adherence to everything old: however, after a long and bitter strife, the Irish, the North British, the Picts, and eventually the Welsh, consented to the changes required of them. Yet the conformity was but partial, as we learn from the fragments remaining to us, and particularly as to Ireland, from the Life of St. Malachias, who became Bishop of Armagh in the year 1126. If we note the chief points' in which the British were regarded in church life as " hostile to Roman customs (moribus Romanis)," they seem to be the four following:----
1. The British liturgy: it was in no way strange that in Britain there should be a liturgy, or missa, different from the Roman; several extant Gallic forms show that great diversity prevailed in Gaul and Germany until the time of Charles the Great. There is a Prankish capitulary of the year 742, which even ordains that every priest was to draw up for his own use a book of the altar-service, subject to the approval of the bishop. A similar diversity must have prevailed in Ireland and Britain during the sixth century; in the anonymous Catalogue of Irish Saints, the Second Order (c. A.D. 599-665) is described as having diversae missae, and also as having " received a missa from the Britons David bishop, Gillas (Gildas) and Docus" (Haddan and Stubbs, Councils, ii, pp. 492-493). Unfortunately, no documents of this peculiarly Celtic liturgy have survived; the Stowe Missal, of which Todd and MacCarthy place the authorship about seventy years after the death of Gildas, and Warren brings down to the ninth century, shows a predominant Roman character, though with numerous traces of old Celtic features; these again plainly indicate a close relationship with Gallican liturgical forms.
2. Tonsure: this second point of difference played an important part in the schism between the British and English, that is the Roman, Churches. The British tonsure, here described as being frontal from ear to ear, and not coronal like the Roman, is also, in similar words, twice described in the Catalogue of Irish Saints, ab aure usque ad aurem. A full account of the beliefs held respecting these two, the Roman derived from St. Peter, and a symbol of the one Church, the British from Simon Magus, and a symbol of schism, will be found in the letter of Aldhelm referred to above, and in the interesting letter of Abbot Ceolfrid to Naibron, King of the Picts, reproduced at length in Beda's History, v, 41 (p. 342 in Plummer's edition).
3. Celebration of Easter: the third point of difference, though not actually mentioned here, may, notwithstanding, be the real implication of the reference to Jews (cum ludaeis). When the fourteenth day of the vernal moon fell upon a Sunday, the Roman and Eastern Churches celebrated Easter upon the following Sunday, in order to avoid holding the feast on the same day as the Jews: the Celts, however, following a more ancient usage, observed their Easter even on the fourteenth moon, provided it were the Sunday, and so appeared to act "with the Jews" (Beda, H.E., ii, 2; v, 21). One inconvenient result, in practical life, of this difference, is pointed out by Beda; that is to say, two neighbouring churches might be engaged at the same time, the one in the glad joyous services of Eastertide, the other in the severe exercise of Lenten fasts.
4. Mode of " completing" baptism: this fourth point we find advanced by Augustine in his conference with the British bishops: one of his three final demands was, that they should complete the ministry of baptism according to the usage of the Holy Roman and Apostolic Church (ut ministerium baptizandi juxta morem sanctae Romanae et apostolicae ecclesiae compleatis). On the meaning of this compleatis one may adduce the following facts among others. In the Life of St. Brigid we read of a vision where two priests anoint the head of a girl, "completing the order of baptism in the usual way" (ordinem baptismi complentes consueto more); the Stowe Missal prescribes the anointing on the forehead (in cerebrum in fronte) with chrism, to be performed by a presbyter: St. Bernard, in his Life of St. Malachi, mentions the (to his mind) absence of the rite of confirmation in Ireland, and (as understood by him) its restoration through St. Malachi as one of the consnctudines sanctae Romanae ecclesiae (Opp., tom. i, 1473). Irish and British thus seem to have preserved an older custom, called Eastern, because it has to this day continued in Eastern Churches, wherein chrism was administered by a presbyter; that is, to revert to Augustine's word, wherein baptism was " completed" in a non-Roman fashion.
8. 1 This Fragment may be found printed and quoted as part of Fragment X, but the introductory words, Romani dicunt, seem to demand a separate place. They, and the whole, are certainly impossible as words of Gildas; in the second edition of Wasserschleben's Kanonensammlung they appear as Hibern.^ lii, 6, and are printed "Romani dicunt," with " Gildas ait" preceding, under the general title: De tonsura Brittonum et solemnitate et missa. By " Romans" must be understood those who, in the English Church, represented the Roman contention that the native Celtic Church was deviating from "the unity of the Catholic Church," by its persistent attachment to the frontal tonsure. While the British regarded their peculiar tonsure as derived from St. John, calling it tonsura S. Johannis, or even from St. James (tonsura S. Jacobi) the English gave it a schismatic character and origin by tracing it to Simon Magus.; in Ireland, those of the same way of thinking, found a heathen origin, by tracing it to the swine-herd of King Loegaire mac Neill (A.D. 428-463). The one fiction can be no more credible than the other, as the universality of the custom proves; traces of it were to be found even on the Continent during the sixth and seventh centuries (Vide Tripartite Life of St. Patrick, p. 509).
9. 2 Subulcum: this word is regarded by some as a proper name, whereby the originator of the Irish tonsure is made to be Subulcus, a son of King Loegaire, instead of his swine-herd. Filii, however, stands here for mac=Welsh map. According to the Book of Armagh (c. 9), this heathen king, who remained a heathen, notwithstanding his formal conversion, reigned at Tara, when St. Patrick visited him and performed many wonders in his presence. In the Analecta Bollandiana (i, 555), the name is printed Loiguire nomine filius Neill.
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Gildas, Penitential. (1899). pp. 272-275. Introduction.
Gildas, Penitential. (1899). pp. 272-275. Introduction.
APPENDIX B.
THE PENITENTIAL OF GILDAS. DE POENITENTIA.
IT may be well here to remind the reader of a few points that are treated of at greater length in the Introduction. The Church, for purposes of discipline, had developed various modes of correction in the case of lapses into sin, as well as of reconciliation by absolution. As we approach the sixth century, we find a long development of very varying procedures along independent lines, and ending in the very reverse of agreement throughout the Churches of different countries. In one point, however, there seems to have been universal agreement, viz., that acts of contrition and confession, together with the reconciliation which followed, were purely ecclesiastical. While, for the most part, such acts of penance were, in the West, not public but private, they certainly were subject to the judgment of the bishop; he, or the presbyter representing him, was always the ministrant. Yet in Britain and Ireland there had grown up a different system; the disciplinary measures were conducted from the cloister. Different sins began to be catalogued after the manner of penal enactments, with the corresponding penance to be undergone before reconciliation. In the opening words of the Penitential of Columbanus, "there must be a mensura paenitentiae" calculated according to the magnitude of the sins committed. What this missionary did not quite find in Gaul, according to the words of his biographer Jonas, viz., poenitentiae medicamenta et mortificationis amor, he brought to that country from his Irish home. People from all parts soon flocked to his monastery at Luxeuil to partake of the benefit of the "medicine of penance" (Vita Col., 2). Books containing such rules, by which sins and the appointed penances were thus arranged in order, were called PENITENTIALS (Libri Poenitentiales). They seem to have had their origin in Britain and Ireland, but, after the seventh century, they are found both in the English Church, and in Churches far and wide over the Continent. Some who read the present Penitential, assigned to Gildas, for the first time, may be surprised, if not shocked, at some of the rules contained in it; but let them reflect that what they read here might be |273 found almost anywhere in the seventh century, under the direction of men of singularly pure and saintly lives. The student of history will look upon them as phases of a life that is gone for ever; he is not called upon to censure what is embodied in Penitential Books, nor to set up a defence of them. It is simply necessary that he should take a right position to view their strange and elaborate directions. These must be looked upon as means through which men of deep moral earnestness, such as Dewi Sant and Gildas in Wales, Finnian, Comgall and Columbanus in Ireland and France, sought to take away the curse of uncleanness out of the lives of man. In their method, they mention things to which we hardly ever allude, but so does St. Augustine in his " Enquiries of Pope Gregory," and so before him did St. Jerome, in his celebrated letter to a young lady of the highest family connections at Rome. We feel that no pastor would now even think of what is detailed in Interrogatio Augustini VIII, as given by Beda (1,27); that Epistola 22 of Jerome "handles, without the slightest reserve, sins and temptations of the flesh to which we now hardly allude. It is absolutely inconceivable that any moralist or preacher of our times, however earnest or fanatical, should address a woman in such a style." The writer from whom I quote these words adds: "The difference of tone between the ancients and ourselves should never be forgotten in studying the character of a distant past. By keeping it in mind we may be saved alike from pharisaism, and from an ungenerous judgment of times which have made a self-revelation of which we should be incapable." 1
To me, these Penitentials are reminders of the fierce conflict waged against the wild immorality of olden times: a conflict which, with many failures, proved that the clumsy method of these rules turned out to be for good. Haupt, in his Kirchengeschichte Deutsch-lands, describes the results of the method in the hands of Columbanus in Gaul as "blissful" (segensreich). Yet it was doomed to die; in no way could it continue, however useful for a time.
References will be made in the Notes to several Penitentials, such as the Penitentials of Finnian, of Columbanus and others; on that account it may be of advantage to place here the following brief resume of facts.
The monasteries of which we read such fabulous accounts as to |274 the number of monks congregated in them, belong to the end of Gildas' time; belong, as may be conjectured, to the revival begun by him and his friends. Such a one was Bangor is y Coed, in Flintshire, which, according to Beda's description, had no less than 2,100 monks within its walls: such were Clonard, Clonfert, Clon-macnoise, and Bangor, in Ireland.2 The founder of Clonard was Finnian, who is also regarded as the father of the new monastic revival which led to the foundation of so vast a number of monasteries in Ireland. But he is also said to have come, as a boy of thirteen years, to Kilmuine (Cil-mynyw) in Wales, where he became a disciple of "the three holy men, David, Cathmael, and Gildas.". This is the Finnian whose Penitential is extant, which seems to form a further link in his connection with Gildas.
Bennchor, or Bangor (in county Down), was founded by Com-gall, who in his early training had come in contact with the same Welshmen and Welsh traditions as Finnian. When, therefore, we remember that Columbanus was a monk of Bangor, as he with twelve companions left his native island for France, pro Deo peregrinantes, we are led to connect him also with that band of Welshmen. For the use of his monastery at Luxeuil he drew up a Rule that was notably Irish in its strictness; but besides this Regula, there goes under his name a Penitential, which, with |275 characteristic modifications and enlargements, is based upon that of Finnian. I do not now touch upon the question of the non-genuineness of certain parts of the Penitential in the form preserved to us, but refer to the fact that we have certainly, in a large section of it, a code of rules closely connected with the Irish Penitential of Finnian, and the Welsh Penitential of Gildas.
In the same line with these we find a fourth, which bears the name of Cummean, or Commean, or Kumin. This Penitentiale Cummeani contains materials that have a British, Irish, English and Frankish origin; for instance, the first four rules of the British Penitential printed below, appear there, and in the same order (Cumm. Penit., ii, 23-26); but what impresses one still more is, that rule 14 below (which is shown to be probably a quotation from some early source, by its use of tamen), is found also in the middle of the Preface attached to the Penitential of Cummean (vide Notes).
Who this Cummean was, is not known, though the influence of his collection appears to have spread over a very large area. Of many so-called, the best known is one that was Abbot of Iona from 657 to 665, who is also the author of the oldest Life of Columba. Another of the name, styled bishop, is found at Bobbio (an Irish monastery at the foot of the Apennines, founded by Columbanus in 612), about the first half of the eighth century, during the reign of the Longobard King Luitprand. Wasserschleben is inclined to regard the latter as the author of the Penitential that was so very extensively used on the continent.3
In the English Church a collection of rules, that is a Penitential, is attributed to Archbishop Theodore, and called the Penitential of Theodore. The influence of this book seems to have been very wide, but it contains many traces of the three first named. Another Penitential is ascribed to the historian Beda, while a third bears the name of Egbert, Archbishop of York. Theodore died A.D. 690, Beda 735, Egbert 767. While the question of authorship, or of the genuineness of certain portions need not be discussed here, there can be no doubt as to the extensive use of these books in the English and other Churches. One of doubtful authenticity has not been named; it is found with the title The Book of David (Liber Davidis), and is ascribed to David of Menevia, or, as better known, Dewi Sant: others have, as well, been left unmentioned. |276
[All footnotes renumbered and placed at the end]
1. 1 S. Dill, Roman Society in the Last Century of the Western Empire (1899), p. 127.
2. 1 It is not in any way improbable that the accounts found of these wonderfully numerous communities are echoes of the reports which circulated, through such writings as those of Jerome and Cassian, of the teeming multitudes that flocked to the monasteries of Egypt. Grutzmacher, in his book on Pachomius und das alteste Klosterleben (1896), shows how like representations are found even in the Coptic and other Lives, lately translated into French by Amilineau. Tabennisi, the original cloister of Pachomius, grew to number 2500 monks within its walls (s. 99); Cassian mentions a monastery in the Thebaid, in which there were " over 5000 brethren under one abbot" (De Coen. Instit., iv, i); Jerome, in like manner, speaks of a community numbering 5000 (Ep., 22, 33), and of single monasteries as containing from thirty to forty houses, in each of which dwelt forty monks (Prologus ad Reg. S. Pack.).
Since Egypt formed the ideal of monasticism for British and Irish monks, it is not to be wondered at that a period of prosperity should be described by them in terms borrowed from the marvellous stories of that land. Beda's statement respecting Bangor is only what report had brought to him (fertur), " when the community was divided into seven portions, no portion contained fewer than 300 men" (H. E., ii, 2). Clonard was, the same way, said to have 3000 monks. Its famous founder is described as follows:----
Trium virorum millium
Sorte fit doctor humilis,
Verbi his fudit fluvium
Ut fons emanans rivulis.
3. 1 Die Bussordnungen, ss. 64, 65. The Acta SS. of Colgan Jun., p. 244, as quoted on s. 64, speaks of him as Cumianus episcopus. Mone regards Columba himself as the author, Cummean or Kumin having written the Preface.
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SOURCE SECTION: gildas_06_penitential.htm
Gildas, Penitential. (1899). pp. 276-285.
Gildas, Penitential. (1899). pp. 276-285.
GILDAS ON PENANCE.
The present text is that found in Wasserschleben's "Bussordnungen" 1851. It has been reprinted in Haddan and Stubbs, "Councils, etc." i, 113.
Beginning of Gildas' preface respecting penance.1
(A.)
1. A presbyter or deacon committing natural or sodomite fornication, if he have taken a monk's vow previously, shall do penance 2 for three years, shall pray for forgiveness every hour, shall do superpositio 3 every week with the exception of the fifty days after Passio,4 shall have bread without measure and food fattened slightly with butter on the Lord's day; but on other days, if he be a workman, a measure of biscuit and broth slightly thickened, cabbages, a few eggs and British cheese, a Roman half-pint of milk because of weakness of flesh at that time; but a Roman pint of whey or butter-milk to quench his thirst, and the same quantity of water. He is not to have his bed furnished with much straw; let him make some addition by three quadragesimae,5 as far as his strength will admit. Let him from his deepest heart weep for his fault;6 let him above all things follow after |279 obedience; after one year and a half he may take the Eucharist and come to communion; let him sing the Psalms with his brethren, lest his soul be lost completely, by so long a time of the heavenly discipline.
2. If a monk placed in a lower grade 7 commit the same sin, he is to do penance for three years, but let the measure of his bread be heavier. If a workman, let him take a Roman pint of milk and another of whey, and as much water as suffices to quench his thirst.
3. But if a presbyter or deacon, without a monk's vow, sin, let his penance be similar to that of a monk without orders. 8
4. If a monk intend 9 to commit a sin, his penance shall be for one year and a half. The Abbot, however, has authority to moderate in this matter, if the monk's obedience be pleasing to God and to his Abbot.
5. The ancient fathers10 have fixed twelve years of penance for a presbyter, seven for a deacon. |281
6. A monk that has stolen a garment or any article shall do penance for two years in the way described above, if he be a junior; if a senior for one whole year. If he is not a monk, let him do the same for one year and, at most, three quadragesimae.
7. If a monk owing to a disordered stomach shall vomit the sacrifice during the day, he is not to take his dinner, and if it be not on account of weakness, he shall atone for his offence by seven superpositiones; if through weakness and not gluttony, by four.
8. If he has not vomited the sacrifice, let him be punished by superpositio of a day and frequent rebuke.
9. If any one in negligence lose any of the sacrifice, he shall do penance for three quadragesimae, leaving it to be consumed by wild beasts and birds.
10. If any one because of drunkenness is unable to sing the Psalms, being stupefied and without speech, he is deprived of dinner.
11. A man that sins with an animal will do penance for one year: if by himself alone, let him atone for his offence by three quadragesimae.
12. He that shall hold communion with a man excommunicated by his Abbot shall do penance forty days.
13. A man eating carrion unknowingly (shall do penance), forty days.
14. It must, however, be known that as long as a man delays in sins, penance must be proportionately increased to him. |283
(B.)
15. If a certain work is imposed upon any man, and he, in contempt, omits to do that work, let him go without his dinner; if from real forgetfulness, he will have half his daily share of food.
16. But if he undertake the work of another, let him make that known to the Abbot with modesty, in the hearing of no one except the Abbot, and let him perform it if commanded.
17. For he who retains anger in his heart a long time, is in death. But if he confess his sin, let him fast forty days, and if he persist further in his sin, two quadragesimae, and if he commit the same sin, let him be cut off from the body as a decayed member, because anger nourishes homicide.
18. If a man is offended by anyone, he ought to make this known to the Abbot, not with the feeling of an accuser, but of one desiring to heal, and let the Abbot decide.
19. Who does not meet at the finishing [of the second Psalm], let him sing eight Psalms in order; if, when roused, he comes in |285 after the reading is finished, let him repeat whatever the brethren have sung, in due order. But if he come to the second reading, let him go without his dinner.
20. If any one by mistake change anything of the sacred words where "danger" is marked, let him observe a three days' fast or three superpositiones.
21. If through neglect the consecrated element fall to the ground, let him go without dinner.
22. He that has of his own will defiled himself in his sleep, if the monastery have plenty of beer and meat, shall keep vigil for three hours of the night standing, provided he is really a man of strength. If, however, the food be poor, let him, standing as a suppliant, recite twenty-eight or thirty Psalms, or make recompense by extraordinary work.
23. For good kings we ought to make the sacred offering, for the bad not.
24. Presbyters are not prohibited from offering for their bishops.
25. He that is proved guilty of any offence and is checked as one inconsiderate, let him go without dinner.
26. He that breaks a hoe that had previously no fracture, should make restitution for it by extraordinary work, or should. observe a superpositio.
27. Whoever shall see one of the brethren breaking the commands of the Abbot, ought not to hide it from the Abbot; but let him previously admonish the sinner to confess, himself, to the Abbot his evil deed; let him be found not so much an informer, as a man who carries out the rule of truth.
So far Gildas.
[Selected footnotes numbered and placed at the end]
1. 1 In the book of Columbanus we have a similar beginning, Incipit de poenitentia: the title POENITENTIALE VINNIAI precedes that of Vinnian (or Finnian). The first rule refers to monks who have been ordained as presbyters or deacons; it is strange that we have no provision for bishops.
2. 2 Peniteat. Penance, as understood in these rules, consists in exclusion from church communion for a specified period; it involved severe fasting, or a reduced regimen of food and drink for a given period of time, sometimes also the recitation of a number of Psalms, as prescribed in 22.
3. 3 Superpositionem. Superpositio, or more fully svperpositio zeiunit, means the prolongation of a fast, whether on the same day or by the addition of another day. The term was specially applied to the prolongation of the Friday fast to Saturday; by Tertullian this usage is called continuare ieiunium (De ieiun., 14), and the usage was observed at Rome above all places. The well-known saying of Ambrose to Augustine's mother, quoted by her son in the letter to Camulanus, had reference to this observance of Saturday as an added fast: "When I am here (at Milan), I do not fast; when I am at Rome, I fast, on Saturday" (Ep. xxxvi). The Spanish Synod of Elvira (A.D. 306) seems to limit the observance of such superpositio at the end of the week, to a monthly observance, as we see from Canon xxni; by so doing, and by another Canon (xxvi), it seems to have abrogated the weekly superpositio.
"Ieiunii superpositiones per singulos menses placuit celebrari, exceptis diebus duorum mensium, Julii et August!, propter quorundam infirmitatem."----Can. xxiii.
" Errorem placuit corrigi, ut omni sabbati die superpositiones celebremus." ----Can. xxvi.
The fact is deserving of notice, as it has wider bearings, that at Milan, in Spain, and Britain, the observance of a Saturday fast (utomni sabbato ieiunetur) did not exist. The non-observance in Britain we know from this rule, which was intended for penitents only. On the whole subject one might read, Dale, The Synod of Elvira, pp. 192, 193, Note B, p. 216; Duchesne, Origenes du Culte Chretien, p. 221.
4. 4 Exceptis L diebus postpassionem. The times of relaxation of penance are given more fully in other later Penitentials, as in that of Cummean; they were Sunday, Christmas Day, Epiphany, Easter, Ascension Day, Pentecost, the feasts of St. John the Baptist, of St. Mary and the Twelve Apostles, together with that of the local saint (Wasserschleben, Bussordn., p. 165: Hi sunt dies, qui non computantur in poenitentia, etc.). These fifty days after the Passion, beginning with Easter Sunday, were regarded as a time of joy for all.
5. 5 Tres quadragesimas. Most, if not all, of the Penitentials use the Latin quadragesima of any forty days' fast, not exclusively those of Lent. Du Cange gives several instances of quadragesimae imposed by way of penance, the earliest of which belongs to the year 821: " singulas sex quadragesimas cum sequentibus annis poeniteat"; other instances impose twelve quadragesimae " sine subditis annis". Morinus is quoted by him as suggesting that this kind of quadragesimae, that is, in way of penance for sins committed, as distinguished from those observed by all Christians, was introduced by Archbishop Theodore. But we find the usage in the Celtic Penitentials of Britain and Ireland, as in this one, at a period anterior to Theodore. The Latin Church observed three quadragesimae, viz., quadragesima maior, corresponding to English Lent; another before Christmas, and called quadr. S. Martini; a third, before the Feast of St. John the Baptist. The second was called grawys gauaf in the Welsh Church. The Greek Church observed four " forty days."
6. 1 Semper ex intimo corde defleat culpam suam. The moral character and motive of the time, and of the discipline of penance, is revealed in these words: it is made still more prominent in the Penitentials of Finnian and Columbanus. The latter begins with the following words, which have a peculiar force in their very simplicity: "True penitence is not to yield to things that one must be penitent for, but if we have yielded, to weep for them. Yet, because the weakness of many, one may almost say of all, disturbs this penitence, we must recognise measures of penance (poenitentiae). And of these the following order is sanctioned by our holy fathers, in such a way that the length of penances should be in accordance with the magnitude of sins (culparum)."
As its time advanced, the severity of the penance was modified by a milder treatment, as the next words imply; post annum et dimedium, the penitent, though still remaining a penitent, is to partake of the Eucharist and return to church communion, ad pacem veniat.
7. 2 Inferiore gradu. The first rule refers, as was said, to monks who are presbyters or deacons; the present one to two other classes. The first of these is a monk who is not, strictly speaking, a cleric, but belongs to the so-called minor orders (ordines minores). In a monastery the most common lower grade, especially for young boys, was that of Reader (lector); there were besides the exorcist, acolyte, ostiarius (vide Hinschius, Kirchenrecht, iv, 492). The second class is a layman engaged in manual labour, operarius.
8. 3 The third rule gives evidence of the estimation in which the monastic life was held, because a monk, though a layman as to ecclesiastical consideration, is equivalent in spiritual rank to a presbyter or deacon.
9. 4 Voluerit. Here, probably, stress is laid on the intention when sin is not actually committed. Quaerens et non invenerit is the wording of a correspond ing rule in the Penitential of Egbert (v, 12). That of Cummean (ii, 25) reads, post tale peccatum voluerit monachus fieri, i.e., if the sinner elect to become a monk.
10. 5 Antiqui patres. The " Fathers of old" in this rule cannot mean the "Fathers" of the Church as implying a decree by bishops or by a SynodJ apparently the only meaning is that which limits patres to the Church of Britain itself. Therefore, when these rules were drawn up, the custom of. fixing varying periods of penance, according to the ecclesiastical grade of the delinquent, had been in use for a length of time. That time had been long enough to establish a tradition; but the tradition also witnessed to the fact that the "fathers" upheld a far severer code of discipline: instead of the three years of the present rule, they ordained for a presbyter twelve years of penance and seven for a deacon. The " Book of David" prescribes, as well, twenty-three years for a bishop, being itself, perhaps, a reminiscence of the old order. Antiqui decrevere sancti, ut episcopus pro capitalibiis peccalis xxiii annis peniteat, presbiter xii, diaconus vii (c. 10). See p. 286.
The whole tone of ecclesiastical procedure, in the fourth and fifth centuries, against offending clerics, bishops, presbyters and deacons, as may be seen by a perusal of Thomassinus, Vetus et Nova Ecclesiae Disciplinae, Part II, Lib. i, cc. 56-58, or Hinschius, Kirchenrecht, iv, § 247, is different from what is implied in the present rule of a specified time of penance. When, therefore, we find that.in the writings of Columbanus, the frequent reference to patres and magistri nostri, leads us solely to think of eminent Irish (and Welsh) abbots, such as Finnian, Comgall, and Gildas, we naturally conclude that a similar implication is to be deduced from the words of this rule. Then we are carried further, that is, to suspect that some parts of this Penitential belong to a date subsequent to Gildas. In his time there were no venerable patres to sustain a judgment; he himself became one of them for the next generation, who lived about A.D. 600-650.
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Gildas, Lorica. (1899). pp. 289-293. Introduction.
Gildas, Lorica. (1899). pp. 289-293. Introduction.
APPENDIX C.
GILDAE LORICA. THE LORICA OF GILDAS.
THE name Lorica is applied to this Hymn and to a number of others of like character, as implying a prayer of invocation for supernatural protection against the evils of life, but more particularly against pestilence and other dangers of death. The idea underlying the name is probably derived from Ephes. vi, 14, where the Apostle bids his readers stand, "having put on the breast-plate of righteousness," which words in the Latin version read induti lorica iustitiae. With these words in mind, the writer of the Hymn makes use of lorica twice in the course of his prayer; so that, as the idea grew that the recitation of the prayer, or similar ones, did provide protection against the dangers of pestilence or sickness, the Hymn itself acquired this appellation. It is called a Lorica; it is called the "Lorica of Gillas" in the Preface which precedes it in the Irish MS. called the Leabhar Breac (in Welsh, Y Llyfr Brych, or Speckled Book), now in the library of the Royal Irish Academy at Dublin. Now Gillas, or Gillus, is a common form for Gildas, especially in Irish documents, as, for instance,
" The ite of Cluain Credail Gillasque,"
in the Annals of Tigernach, or "Gillas obiit," in the Annals of Ulster; the Bern MS. of Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, xii, 6, reads, " cum Gillas historicus testatur." We may, therefore, take the evidence of the writer of this Preface, so far as it goes, that there was an early tradition in Ireland which connected the Lorica printed in this volume with Gildas, the author of the De Excidio. The colophon in the MS. from which Mone first of all printed the Hymn attributes it to " Lathacan the Irishman " (Explicit hymnus quem Lathacan Scotigena fecit), and the same, we can hardly doubt, is the meaning of Lodgen.... constitute, in the. Preface of another MS. If we look at the first-mentioned Preface, as printed below, we see that it involves the chronological error of making Gildas and Laidcenn contemporaries, whereas a whole century intervened between them. Zimmer suggests a way of |290 avoiding this by a very plausible conjectural emendation, but such errors are by no means uncommon. If we accept another solution, which is, in fact, suggested in the punctuation adopted by the editors of The Irish Liber Hymnorum, by supplying eam from hanc orationem of the previous sentence as object to transtulit et portavit, we have a couple of probable facts set before us. This means, in the first place, that the Hymn, or part of it, was composed by Gildas sometime during the years 540-550, because of the plague which ravaged Britain and Ireland about that time; then, secondly, that the Hymn was brought over from Britain (venit ab eo) to Ireland by Laedcenn, son of Baeth the Victorious, and placed upon the altar of St. Patrick for public or liturgic use. The words salvos nos facere (to give us deliverance) appear to imply such a purpose.
It will be convenient to mention here the previous printed editions of this Lorica.
1. It was first published by Mone, with the title Hymnus luricae, from a MS. preserved then at Darmstadt, in his Hymni Latini Medii Aevi, Friburgi, vol. i, 367 (1853). In his notes he refers to it as an interesting example of Irish hymnology of the seventh century. The MS. he dates of the eighth century.
2. In 1855 Antonius Schmid helped Daniel to decipher a Vienna MS. of the sixteenth century, from which the hymn was printed, with the title Hymnum Lyricae, in vol. iv, 364, of the Thesaurus Hymnologicus. On p. 111 Daniel has also printed Mone's transcript with notes.
3. Dr. Stokes published the text of the hymn found in the Leabhar Breac, which belongs to " the latter part of the fourteenth century." This MS. has numerous Irish glosses written between the lines and on the margin; these also Dr. Stokes has printed in full, with translations and notes. Irish Glosses, Dublin, 1860.
4. In 1864 Mr. Cockayne published Leechdoms, Wortcunning, and Starcraft of Early England, Rolls Series; vol. i, p. lxviii, contains this Lorica from the Book of Cerne, a MS. preserved in the University of Cambridge, belonging originally to the Abbey of Cerne in Dorsetshire.
5. For the Hampshire Record Society, the Book of Nunitaminster was edited, in 1889, by Mr. de Gray Birch; this hymn appears on p. 91.
6. In 1893, Dr. Zimmer published the hymn from Mone's MS., (which is now at Cologne), after a fresh collation, at the end of his Anhang to Nenitius Vindicates (1893).
7. The hymn is published in The Irish Liber Hymnorum (Henry Bradshaw Society), 1898, from the text of the Leabhar Breac, which the |291 editors call B, after a fresh collation of the same, as well as of the Book of Cerne and the Book of Nunnaminster.
The present edition is a transcript from No. 7.
We find the name Lorica applied to several hymns, or prayers in verse, for protection in dangers of any kind----"Schutzgebete," as they are called by Bellesheim. But it seems natural to infer that the name at first arose from this very Hymn that is ascribed to Gildas. In the MS. from which Mone printed it, in his Hymni Latini Medii Aevi, and Zimmer in Nennius Vindicatus (1893), as well as Daniel's MS. for his edition of it, in Thesaurus Hymn. iv, 364, there appears the short suggestive title, " Hymn of the Lorica" (Hymnum Loricae). The reason is evident from vv. 57, 61; God, in the former, is asked to be, for him that prays, a breast-plate, or cuirass, or corslet, and the words " with the strong lorica," of the latter verse, are understood in every petition of the fifteen succeeding couplets beginning with " cover" (tege). At that time, therefore, the Hymn itself is not called a Lorica. The preface to the Lorica of St. Patrick, as it is called on p. 381 of the Tripartite Life? is thus translated: "Patrick made this Hymn. In the time of Loegaire MacNeill it was made. |292
And the cause of its composition was to protect himself, with his monks, against the deadly enemies that lay in ambush for the clerics. And this is a lorica of faith for the protection of body and soul against demons and human beings and vices. When any person shall recite it daily with pious meditation on God, demons shall not dare to face him; it shall be a safeguard to him against all poison and envy; it shall be a guard to him against sudden death; it shall be a Lorica for his soul after his decease.... And ' Deer's Cry ' is its name." The account of the deer incident, which is the foundation for this explanation of the name Faed Fiada, is found on p. 48; but another interpretation is also proposed, based on the fact that the MSS. read not faed but faeth, and that "feth fiada was a spell peculiar to druids and poets, who by pronouncing certain verses made themselves invisible"; the Irish title of this noted Lorica, in this way, arose from the use of the Hymn " as a charm or incantation to secure invisibility." Here again, though the hymn of prayer for protection is said to be a cuirass or corslet, a lorica (lurech, cf. Welsh llurig), yet the latter word is no name for it; nevertheless, at the time when the earlier Prefaces to Gildas' Hymn printed below were written, it had become the ordinary appellation for it and for similar prayers, almost, it may be added, with the constant implication of a charm or incantation.
Other specimens of this kind of Hymns, called Loricae, are given in the Irish Liber Hymnorum, such as the Hymn Sen De of St. Colman mac Ui Cluasaig, written, as is supposed, at the beginning of the "Yellow Plague," which spread over Ireland during the later years of the seventh century. Others also are mentioned by Mone; some are unpublished; a translation of a portion of one such, by Mr. E. J. Gwynn, is given on p. 210 of the Liber Hymnorum, which will certainly be helpful for comparison with our Lorica:
" God be with me against every sorrow, even the One noble Three,
The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit!
................
The Trinity be my protection against swarms of plagues,
Against sudden death, against terror, against treacheries of marauders!
May high Jesus keep me against the Red Plague!
Against demons of all times, the Son of God is my shield,
10 Against disease, against hurts, against thunder, against fire.
................
20 Every chaste disciple who was tortured for Christ,
Every meek, every gentle, every candid, every pure person,
Every confessor, every soldier, who happens to live under the sun, |293
................
31 May they protect me henceforth from the demons of the mist,
................
36 May I be under the hand of God in every danger."
But a fragment, without any title whatever, has come to light lately, which, in,some respects, bears a far closer resemblance to the Lorica of Gildas than any known before. It was published, with valuable comments, by Dr. V. H. Friedel in the Zeitschrift fur Celtische Philologie, Band ii, I s., 64 ff. (1898), from a Leyden MS., under the title La Lorica de Leyde. This valuable piece of Celtic Latinity has, certainly, remarkable points of similarity when compared with our Lorica, chiefly in the detailed enumeration of parts of the human body expressed in very rude Latin terms, of the origin of which, and the meaning, in fact, it is extremely difficult to give account. Several of these are common to the two Hymns, and, as we shall note presently, to other fragments and writings acknowledged to be of Celtic origin and character. In addition to this, the style of invocation has a partial resemblance to that of Gildas. with a notable difference: there are the same invocations addressed to angelic hosts, patriarchs, confessors, apostles and martyrs, but the invocation of the Trinity, found in Gildas' Lorica and found in other Loricae, is wanting. I am strongly inclined to believe that the Leyden piece is not a Lorica in the true sense, that is as a prayer for protection; it repeats two petitions only, first, that the body in all its members be searched; secondly, that heavenly powers and saints cleanse the heart of him (or her, n.b. illam) who makes use of the prayer. There is here no idea that we connect with a Lorica. The direction, however, given in the first line for the recitation or reading of Psalm 101 (102 of the English or Welsh version) may imply that the Psalm itself is the Lorica, while the fragment is the prayer of a penitent....
[The remainder of the introduction was not available to place online owing to the absence of pp.294-5 from the photocopy used for the online edition.]
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Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
SOURCE SECTION: gildas_08_lorica.htm
Gildas, Lorica. (1899). pp. 305-313.
Gildas, Lorica. (1899). pp. 305-313.
THE LORICA OF GILDAS.
GILDAS composed this lorica to drive away those demons which attacked him. To him an angel came, and the angel said to him: If any man repeats that lorica often, there shall be added a seven years' portion to his life, and the third part of his sins shall be blotted out. Whatever day he recites this prayer... men or demons, and enemies can do him no injury; death on that day touches him not. Laidcend, son of Buith the Victorious, came from him to the island of Ireland; he brought over and carried it to be placed on the altar of St. Patrick, bishop, to make us safe. Amen. The metre is of eleven syllables, which is also called bracicatalecticon, because it consists of eleven syllables; the scansion is so.
Help unity of trinity,
have pity trinity of unity;
Help me, I pray, thus placed
as in the peril of a great sea,
So that the plague of this year
draw me not with it, nor the vanity of the world.
And this very petition I make unto the high
powers of the heavenly warfare,
that they leave me not to be harried by enemies,
but defend me with their strong armour;
that, before me in the battle, go
those armies of the heavenly warfare,
Cherubim and Seraphim with their thousands,
Gabriel and Michael with like ones. |307
May thrones, powers, archangels,
principalities, dominions, angels,
defend me with their thick array,
and be strong to overthrow my enemies.
Then also the other arbiters of the strife----
patriarchs four, prophets four,
Apostles, watchmen of the ship of Christ,
And the athlete martyrs all----I ask,
And adjure also all virgins,
faithful widows, and confessors,
that safety compass me by them,
and every evil perish from me.
May Christ make with me a strong covenant,
He whose terror scares away the foul throngs.
[The end of the First Prologue, of grades of angels and patriarchs, apostles and martyrs with Christ.
Beginning of the Second Prologue, respecting all parts of the body down to the knees.]
God the unconquerable guardian,
defend me on every side by thy power.
Free Thou all limbs of mine,
with Thy safe shield protecting each, |309
so that the fell demons brandish not
against my sides, as is their wont, their darts.
Skull, head, hair and eyes,
forehead, tongue, teeth and their covering,
neck, breast, side, bowels,
waist, buttocks and both hands.
For the crown of my head with its hair,
be Thou the helmet of salvation on the head;
For forehead, eyes, triform brain,
nose, lip, face, temple,
For chin, beard, eye-brows, ears,
cheeks, lower cheeks, internasal, nostrils,
For the pupils, irides, eyelashes, eyelids,
chin, breathing, cheeks, jaws,
For teeth, tongue, mouth, throat,
uvula, windpipe, bottom of tongue, nape,
For the middle of the head, for cartilage,
neck----Thou kind One, be near for defence. |311
[I pray Thee, Lord Jesus Christ, by the Nine Orders of holy angels,]
Lord be Thou safest lorica,
for my limbs, for my entrails,
that thou mayest thrust back from me the invisible
nails of stakes, which enemies fashion.
Cover, therefore, O God, with strong corslet,
along with shoulder blades, shoulders and arms.
Cover elbows with elbow-joints and hands,
fists, palms, fingers with their nails.
Cover back-bone and ribs with their joints,
hind-parts, back, nerves and bones.
Cover surface, blood and kidneys,
haunches, buttocks with the thighs.
Cover hams, calves, thighs,
knee-caps, houghs and knees.
Cover ankles, shins and heels,
legs, feet with the rests of the soles.
Cover the branches that grow ten together,
with the toes with the nails ten.
Cover chest, its join, the little breast,
paps, stomach, navel.
Cover belly, reins, genitals,
and paunch, and vital parts also of the heart.
Cover the triangular liver and fat,
spleen, armpits with covering (?). |313
Cover stomach, chest with the lungs,
veins, sinews, gall-bladder with......
Cover flesh, groin with the inner parts,
spleen with the winding intestines.
Cover bladder, fat and all
the numberless orders of joints.
Cover hairs, and the rest of my limbs,
whose names, may be, I have passed by.
Cover me all in all with my five senses,
and with the ten doors formed (for me),
so that, from my soles to the top of the head,
in no member, without within, may I be sick;
that, from my body, life be not cast out
by plague, fever, weakness, suffering,
Until, with the gift of old age from God,
I blot out my sins with good works;
And, in departing from the flesh, be free from stain,
and be able to fly to the heights,
and, by the mercy of God, be borne in joy
to the heavenly cool retreats of His kingdom. |315
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Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
SOURCE SECTION: leontius_byzantinus_adversus_fraudes_apollinistarum_01_intro.htm
Leontius of Byzantium: Against the forgeries of the Apollinarists (2013). Introduction
Leontius of Byzantium: Against the forgeries of the Apollinarists (2013). Introduction
Leontius of Byzantium
Against the forgeries of the Apollinarists
(CPG 6817)
Introduction
Leontius Byzantinus was a th century Chalcedonian theologian, known to us as the author of a small collection of four christological treatises (CPG 6813-7).1 He composed Contra Nestorianos et Eutychianos lib. III, issued separately and then collected with a prologue by the author. These excited opposition from Severian Monophysite writers, to whom he responded with the Epilysis, and with the Triginta Capita contra Severum.
Only a little is known about his life. He is mentioned in the Vita Sabae by Cyril of Scythopolis. Leontius was a monk of the New Laura, and head of the Palestinian Origenists. Leontius accompanied Sabas on his journey to Constantinople in 531, where he proved effective in defending the definition of Chalcedon against the Monophysites. He seems to have made known his Origenism, which led Sabas to condemn him. But he perhaps stayed in the capital for a number of years, and a Leontius is mentioned in the Acts as taking part in the anti-Monophysite synod of 536, although this may be Leontius of Jerusalem. Returning to Palestine between 537-540, he tried to advance the views of the Origenist party, but was forced to return to Constantinople where he died, soon after the anti-Origenist edict of 543 was issued.
He also seems to be the author of the work translated here Adversus fraudes Apollinistarum, a florilegium of passages from the works of the condemned heretic Apollinarius / Apollinaris of Laodicea and his disciples. The works of the latter could not circulate under their own name, but passages from them were being brought forward for controversial purposes by monophysite writers, under the impression that they were in fact by such luminaries as Pope Julius I and Gregory Nazianzen. The purpose of the collection was to permit identification of these spurious items.
This text has reached us in a single 10th century manuscript, Vaticanus graecus 2195, where it appears on folios 165-184. The manuscript also contains copies of other works by Leontius (which exist in several other copies) and other works.
The work was first printed in a Latin translation in 1603 by Henricus Canisius S.J., in volume 4 of his Lectiones Antiquae, f.106 f. Canisius states, however, that the translation was actually made by Turrianus, or Francesco Torres S.J. ( 1584).
The Greek text was first printed by Angelo Mai in Spicilegium Romanum volume 10, part 2, p.128-151, from the Vatican ms., which he states had once belonged to Cardinal Salvati, and then to the Colonna family, before being purchased by the Vatican when he was in charge of the library there.
Mai's Greek text, accompanied by the Latin translation of Turrianus, were reprinted in the Patrologia Graeca series, vol. 86, cols.1948-1976. This translation has been made from the Greek text in that edition. The column numbers from this edition are given inline as [M.----].
After the translation was completed, we became aware of an unpublished critical edition of the works of Leontius Byzantinus, produced in 1978 by Brian Daley as a DPhil. thesis.2 An edition and translation of all the works of Leontius Byzantinus by Brian Daley is forthcoming from Oxford University Press.3
Roger Pearse
July 2013
1More details of his life and works may be found in Angelo Di Berardino, Patrology: The Eastern Fathers from the Council of Chalcedon (451) toJohn of Damascus (d.750), tr. A. Walford, James Clarke & co (2006), p.285-288. A critical edition and translation of all the works of Leontius of Byzantium has been made by Brian Daley and is forthcoming from Oxford University Press.
2 B. E. Daley, Leontius of Byzantium: A Critical Edition of his Works, with Prolegomena (Diss. Oxford, 1978). Unfortunately this has not been accessible.
3Private email from Brian Daley.
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Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
SOURCE SECTION: leontius_byzantinus_adversus_fraudes_apollinistarum_02_text.htm
Leontius of Byzantium: Against the forgeries of the Apollinarists (2013). Translation.
Leontius of Byzantium: Against the forgeries of the Apollinarists (2013). Translation.
Leontius of Byzantium.
Against the forgeries of the Apollinarists4
[Translated by Bryson Sewell]
Some of those who suffer from the illness of the [ideas] of Apollinarius,5 or those of Eutyches, or those from Dioscorus, in a desire to strengthen their own heresy, ascribed6 some of Apollinarius' books7 to Gregory the wonder-worker8or Athanasius or Julius,9 desiring to deceive the more simple, which they have achieved. For, they have been able to win over10 many of those who belonged to the catholic11 church because of the credibility of the individuals;12 and, among many who belong to the true faith, you would find The Faith of Apollinarius, in Part,ascribed to Gregory, and some of his own letters ascribed to Julius, and some other works of his concerning the incarnation or publications13 ascribed to Athanasius, such as the appended exposition which is in accord with the creed14 of the 318.15 Not only are there these works, but also others of this sort. But [the facts] will become clear to you, and to everyone who loves the truth, from the works of Apollinarius himself, which will be given in quotation, and from [those of] his disciples, among them Valentinus, who [writes] as follows:16
A chapter of the defense of Valentinus the Apollinarian.
"Against17 those who say that we affirm that the body is of the same substance as God."18
From the master Apollinarius' letter to Serapion.
"I received your affectionate letter,19 master, and, with regard to the matter about which the letter-bearer was inquiring, we have assisted him as much as we were able.
We eagerly received back my master's20 letter which had been sent to Corinth21 and condemned the great folly of those who said22 that the flesh is of the same substance as God."
And again from the same letter.
"For, the flesh is divine,23 not by nature, but by its union with the Word,24 so that it remains in the union, just as He himself25 says, "It is the Spirit that gives life to the flesh;"26 for, of course, a body can not become incorporeal, as others foolishly say."
[M. 1950]
From the letter to Dionysius, the beginning of which is, "To me, etc."
"To me, piety is [the] foundation of friendship,27 and [there is] no excuse for enmity between those who guard piety. Let no one seek anything novel from me now, nor let him demand that truth be silenced, as if thereby he was creating peace. It is clear from what we have always written that no one can accuse28 us of those things which are said against some [people], since we do not say either that the flesh of our savior is from heaven, or that his29 flesh is of the same substance as God, inasmuch as it is flesh and not divine, and that it is divine inasmuch as it is united to the divine in one person.30"
And from another letter to him, the beginning of which is, "I am astounded."
"I am astounded at learning about some who confess, on the one hand, that the Lord is God in flesh but who, on the other hand, fall into the division31 that was wickedly introduced by the followers of Paul.32"
And again from the same letter.
"It is agreed that the body is from the virgin, the divine nature33 from heaven. Τhe body was formed in [the] womb, the divine nature is uncreated, eternal, [and] remains one in its constitution; the body is body, the divinity, divinity. If it is the custom in Scripture to acknowledge [Him] as completely divine, and as completely human,34 let us, too, follow the divine words, and not divide what is indivisible."
And from the letter to Terentius.
"And John, on the one hand, accuses the one who divides35 Jesus, but these men outright divide [him] by confessing the union with the body; for nothing is joined to itself, nor is [that which is of] the same same-substance [joined] to the same-substance, as these men did not shrink from saying. For this is neither a composition nor a union. For nothing is joined to itself, but that which is joined together is one thing joined to another. And, on the other hand, if the Word is of the same substance as36 the body, and, on the other hand, the body is of the same substance37 as the Word, then each of these, of course, is invisible, according to this verse: 'No one saw God, neither is he able to see [God].38' For he was not made known in this way, nor was he touched, since he is invisible. Nor is John truthful when he says, 'We have seen and our hands touched [him].39'"
And again from the same letter.
"If someone says either that the Son is two persons,40 or that the flesh is of the same substance as God and as our flesh, or that it has descended out of heaven, and that it wasn't assumed by the One who [came down] out of heaven,41 saying that the divinity is liable to change,42 let this person be anathema."
From '[the] Syllogisms'.
"If the Word is of the same substance as the body, nothing was joined with itself by itself, but it was joined with the body and [is] not, therefore, of the same substance as it. If the body is of the same substance as the Word, then it was not seen and touched: for both of these are invisible and intangible, if indeed they are of the same substance. For John says, 'We saw and we touched.43' The spirit of the Lord and the body are not, therefore, of the same substance. But the invisible and [the] intangible were joined to the visible and the tangible to form a [M. 1952]unity, and so in this way it has become visible and tangible. He who says that the body is of the same substance as God blasphemes, [since he says that the] incorporeal has a body; for the Son, being of the same substance as the Father, has his own distinctive character44 even45 when He is united to the flesh. And it is not because he is of the same substance as God that he was separated46 from his own body, but in order that the body should not be thought to be of the same substance [as the Son]."
And again [from] the same [work].
"I, Apollinarius, and those who are with me think as follows concerning the divine incarnation.
"The living Word of God took on flesh from Mary, of the same substance as our own flesh, in a union with the divinity, from the first conception in the virgin, and thus became man.47 For man, according to the Apostle, is both flesh and spirit, and this is [what is meant by] 'the Word became flesh,48' the [act of] being united with flesh as a human spirit.49 A human like us is called 'flesh.' The Lord, as a human, is above us;50 and therefore [he is] heavenly because of his own spirit, which is heavenly [and] to which the will of the flesh was not opposed. And thus, in Christ, sin was being destroyed, and death caused by sin51 was destroyed, and we, as sharers in this triumph, are saved by faith, and we, though we are of an earthly father, become [heavenly] by assimilation52 to the heavenly [one]. Therefore, let him be anathema who denies that the flesh is from Mary, and who says that it is from the uncreated53 nature, and that it is of the same substance as God. And [let him also be anathema] who says that the divinity is liable to change, and that from it [there are] carnal emotions.54
"And I, Jobius the bishop.
"I confess that the Lord Jesus Christ, from eternity, the divine Word, without flesh, yet at the end of the ages55 having joined to himself flesh from [the] holy virgin, is God and human, one and the same, composed of one substance, one undifferentiated56 person,57 mediating between God and humans, joining separated creatures to the one who made [them], of the same substance as God according to the divinity he has from his Father's being,58 and of the same substance as humans according to the flesh, of human nature, that was joined to him, worshiped and glorified with his own flesh, for through it he has become our deliverance59 from death, and our connection to the immortal. For the flesh was perfectly joined with the Word, never separated from it. It does not belong to60 a human, or to a slave, or to a created person, but to the divine Word itself, the Creator, of the same substance as God, but not of the same substance as the incorporeal being61 of the ineffable Father. But those who, contrary to the teaching that we learned from the beginning, say or teach that the flesh, perfectly joined with the Word, and never separated from it, is of the same substance as God, that is, as his incorporeal being,62 — in accordance with the apostolic command, we shun these people as causing dissensions and scandals in [the] churches, and we consider them [to be] outsiders, on account of their being opposed to the ancient tradition and to the ecclesiastical peace." [M. 1953]
Valentinus the Christian wrote the following against the [doctrines] wickedly and impiously taught by Timothy and those with him, and by their teacher, the most impious Polemius.
"Since Timothy, who became Polemius' chief63 disciple, after raising himself against the Church of Christ from a great madness, teaches, contrary to the truth, the impiety of his teacher Polemius, foolishly instructing his pupil Cataphronius, as he himself writes to his like-minded fellows Paregorius, Uranius, Diodorus, Jobius, saying thus:64that the flesh of the Lord is acknowledged as divine in the union with the divine Word, and is confessed [as being] of the same substance as God, [but] in its nature it remains human, and of the same substance as us.65 And again, quoting66 Cataphronius, who was instructed by him, he says the following: that it is necessary that in the union [the flesh]67 be acknowledged as the same thing68 as the Word of God, and that it should be thought to be of the same substance as God, just like the Word.69 And still [you do something] even more impious than this, Timothy,70 since you make the flesh, which the Lord Jesus Christ wore from the holy virgin, invisible, just as if, as you say, the flesh, through which we attained our salvation, is of the same substance as [God], just as [the] Word of God is of the same substance as [God]. And we believe that the flesh of the Lord — which he took up from [the] virgin, [and] through which (always being directed by the life-giving divine Word) mediation on our behalf71 is always preserved72— is worshiped together with the Word of God, and is also acknowledged as divine and is glorified. For in the union with the divine Word, the flesh is acknowledged as divine, but not of its own nature,73with the result that it remains in the union, just as the Lord himself says, "It is the Spirit that gives life to the flesh.74" For the body is not in any way able to be of the same substance as the incorporeal God; [yet it is] this very thing which the followers of Timothy and Polemius, and those with them, foolishly and impiously say, employing [their] cunning of every sort75 in their desire to attach honor to the body, [that is], incorporeity, which is impossible.76 But it is possible and fitting for the divine-nature77 that wears it78 to be glorified with the glory of the incorporeal God, and in this way it79 is worshiped by all creation as the Creator and the true, flesh-bearing son of God, and not as a God-bearing man.
What, then, is this great ignorance, or rather this faithlessness of yours, Ο Timothy, both your own and of those with you, and of your80 teacher Polemius, since you say that the body is of the same substance, [but that it is also] of a different substance than the divine-nature81 on account of the union, and since you say that it82 is unchangeable,83 yet that is has changed?84 If indeed, as you85 say, that, as the Word of God, the flesh is of the same substance, you both oppose yourselves and anathematize yourselves. Just as an intoxicated and drunk person doesn't know what he is doing or what he is saying, so also you don't know what you are saying or what you are affirming,86 since this impious teaching, which you have very often taught, confutes you. Learn, therefore, you faithless men, that a union is not [composed] of the same substance.87If indeed it is of the same substance, it is88not a union. For nothing is united or attached to itself,[M. 1956] but one thing [is united] with another,89 i.e.,90 [the] Word of God having attached itself to flesh. And this is what is said by the divine evangelist,91 'The Word became flesh, and dwelled among us,'92 the [act of] the Word being united with living93 flesh.
"And so do you not know this, O faithless men, that nature94 and substance95 are the same thing in God,96 [who is] both inexpressible and incorporeal, and of the eternal divinity97 of the revered98 trinity?99 The body which the Lord wore became neither eternal nor incorporeal from the union;100 on account of this, it is not of the same substance as [his] inexpressible and incorporeal being.101 The Lord is eternal, and, before [taking on flesh] flesh,102 he was of the same substance as the Father, and with flesh, the Lord103 was [still] of the same substance as the Father. The flesh was not of the same substance, for it was a garment and a covering, and he assumed it [as a] covering104 for the hidden mystery, and he offered [it] on behalf of man,105 and through it he appeared to man.106 For in no other way were we able to become spectators of God, except through [the] body. For again, the Lord is of the same substance as us according to the flesh, but not according to the divine-nature.107 For the divine-nature is not from a woman — by no means! And the flesh is neither from above nor eternal. Since you108 say these things faithlessly and impiously against the truth, teaching your own impiety with so great a subtlety of words,109 being convicted by the truth as evil-doers and deceivers, consider it worthwhile to know that the union glorified the [fleshly] nature.110 For it did not cause the body [to be] of the same substance as God, as you dare to say in your delusion,111 you who have fallen from the truth, and who insult the incarnation112of the Word, [which occurred] because of God's love for mankind,113 [the] union with the body, which took place for our salvation, since you say114 that on account of the union [it] is of the same substance as the impassible115 divine-nature.116 This is beyond all impiety, even if you wish to make yourselves wise ten thousand times over, by misinterpreting and slighting the divine Scriptures, and the books of our thrice-blessed Father, and our teacher Apollinarius, since your own documents, which you composed, refute you, [written] to deceive and to snare simpler souls, to your own injury,117 since you were opposed to the truth. And you know that 'it is hard for you to kick against the goads,'118and you used a very roundabout [argument].119 And just as the Jews committed a transgression, so also you take offence because of the flesh of [our] Savior. And even if you are many, you shall be reckoned as nothing because of your impiety.
If you would remove your meddlesomeness and faithlessness from your soul, you would understand that God appeared in a body, [M. 1957]giving [the] body the opportunity to participate120 in the divine-nature.121 For the body that was taken up from the holy virgin does not itself by itself give salvation, but [salvation comes] from its association122 with the Spirit, not in order that the body might be disparaged, but that the Spirit might be supremely praised. Do not, then, to the deception of simpler souls, be willing to write into your own blasphemous juxtaposition123 the juxtapositions of our thrice-blessed father and teacher Apollinarius.124 For the latter125 were presented126 correctly and piously by the holy and God-bearing127 man, for they128 are concerned with [the] condition129 and honor [of each element], but do not denote [their respective] nature.130 These things which make clear 'the being of the same substance'131 are the very things which you faithlessly and impiously juxtaposed.132 For nature133 and substance134 are the same thing, as I said before, and all who are confessors of the true faith recognize this.
But you, moved by strife and jealousy and diabolical envy from the very beginning against the holy bishops, and having contended in a most wicked contest against the truth, causing schisms in the Church of Christ - you have turned to such impiety when you say that the body that is subject to change135 is of the same substance as the impassible136 divine-nature on account of the union (which is impossible and impious), a body that is of the same substance as man, even saying that it is of the same substance as God. And how "will they look to the one whom they have pierced?"137 For if the visible body is of the same substance as the invisible divine-nature, as you say, each would, of course, then be invisible, according to what is written, "No one has ever seen God, nor is he able to see [Him]."138 Our Lord Jesus Christ is invisible according to the divine-nature that He has had eternally from the Father, but is visible according to the flesh which He wore from the virgin. Let both of these be placed together on one person139 and the truth will not be broken. And so, Christ is neither two persons, nor is His flesh of the same substance as God, but it is ruled by the Word of God.
However many of us, then, are confessors of this unadulterated and true and apostolic faith, let us not receive the profane, foolish blabberings of those around Timothy and Polemius and of those with them, in accord with the Apostle's command.140 And we keep in mind what was again spoken by him: "After one or two admonitions, avoid the factious man, knowing that such a man is perverted, and he sins as one who is self-condemned."141 And those around Timothy and Polemius have not only appeared as factious men, but also as sycophants. For our thrice-blessed teacher Apollinarius called those who say that the body of our Lord is of the same substance as the divine-nature blasphemous and crazy. And blessed Athanasius, our most holy bishop, was wont to say that those who dared to say that the body from Mary was of the same substance as the divine-nature were from Hades. Timothy and his teacher Polemius and those with them, were quite unaware that, because the divine Word was one person, and because the flesh came into existence by means [M. 1960] of the divine Word, adoration142 is [directed] toward God incarnated, but the adoration is not [directed] toward the flesh. For the Word is not worshipped because of the flesh, but the flesh is worshipped together with the Word, as a robe and covering, as I said before. However many, then, are not in agreement with this rule [of faith],143 and with this true, apostolic, unadulterated faith, let them be anathema. "Behold, therefore, the dogs, behold the evil workers, behold the mutilation. For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God in Christ Jesus, and who do not put their faith in [the] flesh."144
From Timothy an Apollinarian, bishop of Berytus, to Homonius, the bishop and himself an Apollinarian, in which there are testimonies of Apollinarius.
"After our brother Agapius came to us andheard this from [a work] of mine that was composed among us concerning the divine incarnation of the Word, from various books of our thrice-blessed teacher, the bishop Apollinarius, he encouraged us to take a passage from it and to privately expound it to him with our own signature,145 for your assurance. And so we did this, excerpting the following [passages] from his letter written to Sarapion.You yourself, then, also correctly say, 'We and Christ are not equal.' To say that His flesh is not of the same substance as us, since it is the flesh of God, needs a little further distinction. For it is better to say that, on the one hand, He took on flesh that was of the same substance as us in nature, but that, on the other hand, He rendered it divine in the union. And you also say this, namely, that in this regard, [His flesh] is not of the same substance as us, since it is the flesh of God, but making a further distinction, one might say that, on the one hand, in nature His flesh is of the same substance as us, but that, on the other hand, in the union it is divine, and through the union it remains distinct. After our aforementioned brother received these things, he went to you and made them known to you. You, our master Homonius, saw these very things and, after writing [a message], you gave him a writing tablet containing the following: 'I, Homonius the bishop, confess that the Word of God received flesh from Mary of the same substance as us. But if anyone should say that the flesh that was united to the Lord is, by any means of reasoning,146 of the same substance as God, we anathematize [him].'
Although, then, you correctly confessed, on the one hand, the nature of the flesh, saying that it is of the same substance as us, but that, on the other hand, you anathematized its complete union with the incarnate Word, since you wrote that, in no way is it147 inherently connected with the divine-nature, but you only professed the union, such a union as a holy man might possess with God — not a man who is bound to one life and one hypostasis,148 but [a man] who is seen in the separation from the divine—nature. And yet, since our blessed bishop [and] teacher Apollinarius said in various books that the flesh of the Lord shares in both the names149 and distinctive features150 of the Word, though the flesh remains in the union, neither undergoing any change nor ceasing from its own nature — and that the Word shares in both the names151 and distinctive features152 of the flesh, though it also remains Word and God in the incarnation, neither changing nor having fallen into the nature of the body — consider it worthy to make it clear to us whether [you wrote your message] ignorant of the things[M. 1961]that have been written about the holy and saving incarnation of the Word from our Christ-bearing Father. You anathematized these things, either, on the one hand, understanding [them], and you rejected them as if they were not correctly spoken, and you slandered us in this department153 as having accepted a heresy; and you anathematized the herald of piety together with piety itself. For he said, in the work whose beginning is 'Holy:' 'From the beginning Christ is correctly confessed in regard to His body in this way, and it is not possible separately to say that the body is a created thing, wholly inseparable from him whose body it is, but it shares in the name154 of the uncreated and in the name155 of God, because it has been joined in a union with God.'"
And after other [things].
"In this way, too, He is of the same substance as God with regard to the invisible Spirit, since the flesh also takes part in the name,156 since it has been joined to God, who is of the same substance."
And again.
"He is of the same substance as us since the divine-nature157 is also included in the body, because Ηe was united with that which is of the same substance as us. The nature158 of the body is not changed in the union with God, [a union] of the same substance, nor in the fellowship159 of the name160 that is of the same substance. In this same way, the nature161 of the divine-nature162 has not been changed in the fellowship163 with the human body and in the designation164 of the flesh that is of the same substance as us."
And again in another work whose beginning is, "Flesh and the one person165 that governs the flesh," he says the following:
"Therefore, the Lord Jesus Christ is, as God, without sin, and with flesh, the Creator from before time, of the same substance as the only God. The flesh, since it is the flesh of God, is divine, since it is of the same substance as God, a part united with Him, of the same substance as God [and] not separated, for it neither moves separately or independently, just as a human is a self-motivated166 animal.167 For, on the one hand, in the fellowship168 with the flesh, God, who is not, by Himself, human, is human. On the other hand, in the fellowship169 with God, the flesh, which is not, by itself, divine, is divine. And, in union with flesh God possesses all the things that are in accord with the flesh and, in the union with God, the flesh receives the characteristics of God."170
Again in another work titled, "Eulogy of Mary, and on the incarnation," he says the following:
"[He]171 sees the body as greater on account of who was united[to it], greater, I say, not only than his own body, but also than the angelic fires, for God was joined to none of them. For none, none of those bodies gives life to the world.172 None of the angels is made equal to God, as the One who was composed173 of body and divinity. He makes himself equal to God when he says, "Just as the Father has life in himself, thus did he also grant it to the Son to have life in himself."174
And after other [things] again.
"And although, on the one hand, you know that the Spirit is working a work175 in you [M. 1964] as could also be separated [from you], do you consider yourself divine, with the result that your robe, even after it is removed from your body, has the power to heal maladies? That which was inseparably attached to God, [and which] became the same thing asHim because of the real176 union, for "The Word," he says, "became flesh" — do you suppose that this177 is neither divine nor God?"178
Again in another work, whose beginning is, "God does not have the pleasure of eating flesh,"he says the following:
"It is not the case that both [elements] are from heaven, but [one] is united with the heavenly [element], and there is one person179 with [it] that became heavenly accordingly to the union, and Ηe is adored with the adoration of the heavenly God, and as heavenly He saves by the power of the heavenly One."
And from the letter to Dionysius, whose beginning is, "To me, piety is [the] foundation of friendship," after a few other things he says the following:180
"It is clear from what we have always written that no one can accuse181 us of those things which are said against some [people], since we do not say either that the flesh of our savior is from heaven, or that His182 flesh is of the same substance as God, inasmuch as it is flesh and not divine, and that it is divine inasmuch as it is united to the divine183 in one person.184"
Again in another work whose beginning is, "We rightly glorify our Lord Jesus Christ," he says the following near the end:
"*When185 Christ was living, His body was permeated by God's spirit,* and [the] spirit in [the] flesh was divine, [that it, it was] heavenly mind, of which we pray to partake, according to the verse, 'We have the mind of Christ.'186 [The] holy flesh is of like nature187 to the divine-nature, establishing divinity188 in189 those who partake of it, [the] foundation of eternal life, the originator of immortality for men,190 Creator of an eternal creation, Father of the age to come."
Again in another syllogistic work, composed for John the Evangelist,191whose beginning is, "All things came into being through the Word," according to the Evangelist, he says the following:
"How is He not the true God, who says, 'I am with you for so much time, and have you not recognized me, Philip?'192 [thereby] making known His time spent as a man with men in so much time,193 and showing the man [to be] divine.194 And so we must not be ashamed to say that such a man is of the same substance as God, who is revealed by the paternal form195 of [his] divinity, just like the material for the body."196
Again in the next place he says the following.
"The fact of being in equality with God, an equality that is both efficient197 and renewing, does not make the divine human198 with respect to the body, [for] it is impossible that, in the equality with God, there be another nature of Christ, [that is], the human [nature], to be subject to the limitations of humanity,199 as if [the] body were of a human and not of God."
And again in another syllogistic work, whose beginning is, "That which possesses a different life [possesses] a different action," he says the following.
"His flesh gives us life because of the divinity200 that is united with it, for that which gives life is divine. [M. 1965]Therefore, the flesh is divine because it was united with God. And, on the one hand, this saves, and we, on the other hand, are saved by partaking of it as if it were food. That which causes growth,201 since it is active in what is being nourished, is of the same substance and is not nourished. Similarly, if that which gives life is not made alive in a manner similar to that which is made alive, it is not of the same substance as it. For otherwise it would be a body susceptible to death202 like our own, in need of being made alive. But it is not a body susceptible to death, but Christ's body [is a body] of life. The divine,203 consequently, is not of the same substance as [that which is] human."
And in the work to Flavius, whose beginning is, "And still even now Christ is being struck by vile men," after many other things he says:
"So much more do the specific natures of the elements that were united204 remain in the mixing of the body with body.205 For the body is indeed body, and the incorporeal, incorporeal. God is said to have become corporeal in the perfect union, and the body [is said] to have been deified.206 And to what extent God, on the one hand, who has become corporeal, is human, -- Ηe is both. And to what extent the body, which has been deified,207 [is divine,] -- again it is both."
And then, a little later, he says the following:
"Already the body has ceased from being formed and from being in the form of a slave. But it is glorified in the natural union with that which is unformed, and in accord with the birth itself from the virgin.And in this regard it has not changed from being formed into that which is uncreated, but it has been united with that which is uncreated. And, being divine208 according to the union with God, it is uncreated insofar as it is divine.209 And since [the] body could not arise from the Father210 (for the Father is not made corporeal), in this regard, it would never be called unbegotten,211 nor unbegotten in its own nature,212 as a son or offspring, in the natural union with the begotten son from the beginning."
And in the work against Diodorus, in the first [book] after the treatise on the Trinity, in chapter 14 he says the following:
"It was a remarkable and wondrous event and happened once, and not a second time: the union of God with flesh. And this your own soul never accepts, nor [the souls] of those who lead you into this impiety andinfidelity of [the] anti-Christ. And you mock the perfect union, and you say, 'The distinctive properties213 of God, and the distinctive properties214 of the flesh no longer remain, if there is a union, but that the perfect union of David is broken,if we confess the perfect union according to the flesh from David.'"215
And in the 27th chapter he says:
"You are, at any rate, vexed by the fact that, by the grace of God, we do not admit that that which is of David's seed took on immortality. And if we are asked for the reason, we say, 'Because of the perfect union.'"
Again in the 61st chapter.
"It is not shameful to say, on the one hand, that the nature216 is the same, but that, on the other hand, the origin217 is different. For it is vain and superfluous to introduce the virgin birth, if that which was born should not be worthy of the birth, but [be] the same as those who are born from a man and a woman. You are mocking the perfect union as if it were perfect impiety, which the divine Scriptures clearly [M. 1968]introduce, neither making the human part of God destructive218 [of the divine], nor overthrowing the human part by the divine."
And in the second book against the same Diodorus, in chapter 22, he says:
"And since you exhort us to answer how that which is from the divine substance219 is the seed of David, listen: in regard to the incarnation, how is that which is created uncreated? By being united with the uncreated. How is the fruit of David's loins the Creator of [the] Creator? By having been united with the Creator. How is that which is from Abraham before Abraham? By having been united with what was before Abraham."
And in the 36th chapter of the same work.
"But let him who spouts this nonsense say how that which has been joined to God in union with [His] person220 is not divine221 with Him? How is that which was united with the uncreated in a living union not uncreated with Him? For if the name222 was not shared, there would in no way be such a mixing. But it would be the most illogical thing of all if, on the one hand, we named that which is incorporeal by the [properties] of the body, saying 'the Word became flesh.'223 And on the other hand, let us not call the body by the [properties] of the incorporeal, but rather according to the union with it. And if someone wonders how the created is united with the name224 of the uncreated, another will justly wonder still yet more how the uncreated has been united with the name225 of the created flesh."
And in the epilogue of the same work he says:
"If the Word is called flesh on account of the union, then the flesh [must] be called Word on account of the union. As the Word is [uncreated], so [the flesh], too, is uncreated, not because it wasn't created, but because it appeared as Word from the union."
Again in the following [place] he says thus:
"As humans are of the same substance as irrational animals in regard to the irrational body, yet are of a different substance226 insomuch as they are rational, so too the Lord is of the same substance as humans with respect to the flesh, but is of a different substance inasmuch as He is Word and divine.227"
And in a syllogistic work, whose beginning is, "Whatever two things are joined, they remain as two either in form or concord," he says the following.
"A tool,228 and that which causes movement,229 by nature complete one operation. What has one operation also has one substance.230 Accordingly, there is one substance of the Word and of the tool."
Again in a dialogue, whose beginning is, "You say that Christ is God or man," after the first few things, when his opponent has asked how the body is God and Creator and Master, he answers by saying:
"Because the body of God and [the] Creator and [the] Master possesses a unity, which we have not discovered to be of man with God."
[M. 1969] Again in a work whose beginning is, "Let us guard the goodness of [the] faith," he says the following near the end.
[A quotation should appear here, but it appears to be missing from Mai's printed text. The text immediately following the heading seems to be Leontius' comment upon that missing quotation].
O you truly wretched and low-souled men, who consider the very holy and great worship,231 shared by all the world, [to be] small! For those who are not wholly ignorant even these things are enough [to demonstrate] that the letters that are published under the name of Julius, except those which Athanasius and the historians mention from among his letters, are the letters of Apollinarius. For Apollinarius' own disciples are older than all who made use of these [letters], non only [older than] the schismatics of Julian (as is reasonable), but also [older than] the orthodox, some of whom, mislead by the title232 of these [letters], maintained in equal measure both in thinking and saying that these letters were orthodox233 because of the credibility of the author. And especially, more than all the orthodox, it is reasonable that these men should know the works of their own teacher. But in order that we may recognize his234 work works (even if some falsely ascribe them to Julius and to Athanasius), not only from his own disciples, but also from the consistency of the works, and from their character, bring forth passages of his works in addition to what his own disciples brought forward, and let us compare his works whole and compete, for the complete assurance of those who, loving truth, read the agreement between235 both these works and those which bear false headings.
From an old copy of [a work of] Apollinarius that was discovered in the library of Andrew, the bishop, beloved by God,236 of the Church of the Sidonians.
"To the highly honored masters, [the] bishops in Diocaesarea, greetings in [the] Lord.
After we had sent our letter of honor, we were expecting that we would likewise obtain [letters] from Your Charity, O most honored masters, such as [we] always [received] from the blessed bishop Athanasius, who knew us to be in agreement with his teachings and obedient in every regard. But since you didn't write back (reasoning that the length of the letter didn't render our opinion clear to you), behold, we are writing what is manifestly in accord with both our and your shared teacher — I am saying these things concerning the divine incarnation, since, on account of these things, a great tumult was set into motion, not by us, but by others whom I shall pass over in silence. We confess that the Word of God did not come upon a holy man,237 [an event which occurred] among the prophets,238 but that the Word itself became flesh, without having taken on a human mind, which is fickle and made prisoner by foul thoughts, but a divine mind, steadfast and heavenly. And for this reason, our savior didn't possess a body that was lifeless, devoid of feeling, and unintelligent, for neither was His body able to be unintelligent when the Lord became human on our account. Since He was truly [the] Son of God, He also became Son of man. And, since he was the only begotten Son of God, He also became the firstborn among many brothers. And so, the Son of God who was before Abraham was not one, and the [Son] after Abraham another, but [He is the] one, perfect, only begotten of God. And He is perfect by divine perfection, and not by a human [perfection]. We confess that we have fellowship with those who are thusly minded [M. 1972], but with those who think and write otherwise we have no fellowship."
From the same [work], from the Faith, in part.
"Since some have greatly troubled us by attempting to overturn our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ by representing Him as God incarnate, a man united with God, for this reason we are making a confession concerning the aforementioned faith, rejecting the faithless confession, and its specious appearance, where it says that God took on a complete man, since a complete man is not, according to the Scriptures, free from sin in the present life, because he is unable to bring his own operations239 in line with the divine operations, and, for this reason, he is not free from death. But God, united with human flesh, possesses His own operation pure, since his mind is unconquered by spiritual and carnal passions, and since he leads His flesh and His carnal movements240 divinely and without sin. And not only is He unsubdued by death, but He also destroys death. And there is One with a true and divine perfection. Two persons,241 and two natures,242 are not perfect by themselves; for it is not right to say that there are two Sons, or to worship four (God, [the] Son of God, [the] Son of man, and the Holy Spirit), nor to glorify man before the Holy Spirit. And so we, too, anathematize as impious those who place man in the divine doxology together with God and with the Son before the Spirit. We say that each one of us is a complete man being received by God for salvation, each one of us who are being sanctified and are receiving the likeness of the heavenly man, and who are being made divine in the likeness of Him who is truly God by nature, according to [the] flesh of [the] man, our Lord Jesus Christ."
And in the preceding chapter.
"We confess [the] one true God as sole ruler, and that [the] one true Son is from the true God, by nature possessing the paternal divinity, that is, being of the same substance as God. And we confess on Holy Spirit, in nature and in truth, which sanctifies and deifies all, being of the substance243 of God through the Son. And those who say that either the Son or the Holy Spirit is a creation, we anathematize, as well as those who assert that the Son or the Spirit never existed. We confess all created things as subject and created by God through [the] Son, and sanctified by the Holy Spirit. [And] still we confess that the Son of God became [the] Son of man, not in name but in truth taking up flesh from the virgin Mary, and that He is one [and] perfect, not two perfect [elements] united together, himself [the] Son of God and [the] Son of man, one hypostasis,244 and one person,245 and [we confess] that the worship of the Word and the flesh is one. And we anathematize those who say that there are two, and who perform different [types of] adorations [M. 1973], one divine and one human, and those who worship the man from Mary as if he were another in addition to the God from God. We confess the suffering of Christ in the flesh, His resurrection by the power of His divinity, His ascent into Heaven, His coming glorious advent for [the] judgment of the living and the dead, and for [the] eternal life of the sanctified."
From the same Apollinarius, from the work, "For the tradition of renunciation and faith," whose beginning is, "The Devil, after deceiving him, possessed the man who fell from God."
"If the same man is completely human and divine, the pious mind, since, on the one hand, it does not worship the man, but does, on the other hand, worship God, will be found to be both worshiping and not worshiping the same person,246 which is impossible. For while the man will not consider himself worthy of worship, because he won't want to act impiously, God, on the other hand, knows that He is worthy of worship. And it is impossible that the same person knows that he is and is not worthy of worship. Accordingly, then, it is impossible that the same one be both entirely divine and human, but [it is possible] in the unity of the mixed divine and incarnate nature.247 And so the worshipers look to God inseparable from the flesh, and they do not look to one who, on the one hand, is not worthy of worship, and to another who, in contrast, is worthy of worship. Nor is it in Him248 that the one doesn't endure [himself] to be worshipped, while the other accepts the worship which leads to [the] salvation of the worshippers. But in reality there is One in accordance with one substance,249 and in no way are there two in two persons250 who exist according to their own measures and their own merits."
I think that the person who has not determined entirely to be contentious no longer thinks that he can contradict these things with good reason, but that, straight away, (so as to speak freely251) he is obedient to the truth, and he agrees with all the decrees, that some of the letters, which are falsely ascribed to Julius, Gregorius, and Athanasius, belong to Apollinarius, or indeed concerning works on the incarnation. We need not wonder, if even [from among] the associates of Valentius, and those of Timothy, who are disciples of Apollinarius, some of them confess the 'same substance,'252 while others deny it, and [if] both groups from the teacher contend against one another. For indeed even Gregory the theologian253expounds some even more impious blasphemies of his254 in the letter to Nectarius, as if they were from his255 works. "For," he says, "he affirms that the flesh that was taken up by the only begotten Son in accordance with the dispensation256 is not required for the transformation of our own nature,257 but that that fleshly nature258 was in the Son from the beginning." And after saying a few more things, he adds: "And this is not yet terrible, but the most difficult thing of all, that he makes the only begotten God himself, the judge of all, the originator of life [and] the destroyer of death, mortal, and that he received His suffering with His own divinity, and in that death of his body, which lasted for three days, His divinity was killed with the body, and in this way He arose again from the Father's side from death. It would take a long time to go through everything else he adds to such eccentricities."259
It is no wonder, therefore, if by means of his lesser impiety, saying that the body became of the same substance as the divine-nature,260 [M. 1976] he advanced to greater impieties, adding ignorance to ignorance and impiety to impiety. And Timothy appears rather to be a member with those who boldly speak the forbidden impiety and wickedness.261 For through this he was able to receive his commendatory letters from the great Athanasius to the Westerners, as if he were zealous against the impiety of Arius, and from them [he received] a letter to carry to the bishop. Yet his fabrication did not go unnoticed forever. For a second time after Athanasius' death, after he had again been sent to Rome, he received262 both his own destruction, and that of the one who sent him, Apollinarius.
[End]
4 Adversus fraudes Apollinaristarum, the title by which it is generally known. The title given in Migne is Adversus eos qui nobis proferunt quaedam Apollinarii, falso inscripta nomine sanctorum patrum: "Against those who are bringing forward certain things by Apollinarius, falsely inscribed with the name of the holy fathers."
5 Literally, "the things of/pertaining to Apollinarius." Note: all names are given in their Latinized form.
6 Possibly, "appended."
7 Possibly, "sermons," or "words." The Greek is λόγους.
8 The Latin transliteration of the Greek for "wonder-worker," "Thaumaturgus," is sometimes used, i.e. Gregory Thaumaturgus.
9 Probably Pope Julius I.
10 Possibly, "seize" or even "destroy."
11 i.e. the universal Church teaching correct doctrines.
12 i.e., you can trust what is written because of the reliability associated with these particular individuals, the problem then being that false works are being attributed to these individuals whereby others are being lead astray, assuming the works to be genuine.
13 ἔκθεσις.
14 ἔκθεσις.
15 A reference to the traditional number of bishops in attendance at the council of Nicaea in 325 A.D.
16 i.e. clear which works are falsely ascribed to credible figures, etc. A more literal translation would be: "But, from the works of Apollinarius himself, which will be quoted, and from his disciples, to whom, among others, also belongs Valentinus, who is [here] appended, it will become clear to you and to everyone who loves the truth."
17 Possibly, "to."
18 Migne adds the note, "Here we have omitted two passages from St. Athanasius' letter to Epictetus."
19 Literally, "letter of love/affection."
20 "my master's" seems to be an indirect way of saying "your."
21 Possibly, "we received back my master's letter which eagerly had been sent to Corinth...," though with respect to the normal Greek adverbial syntax, the first translation is to be preferred.
22 Possibly, "say," but the Greek uses the aorist participle.
23 Possibly, "is made divine," or "becomes divine." The Greek has no verb.
24 Λόγος.
25 I understand this to refer to the Word, considering the immediate context.
26 John 6:63.
27 Possibly, "affection."
28 Literally, "bring against us."
29 Possibly, "the."
30 πρόσωπον.
31 διαίρεσις. The Latin translator in the Migne text renders this word by error, a sense not found in LSJ nor G.W.Lampe, A Patristic Greek Lexicon, (1969), which do not suggest either "error" or "sect" as a meaning. But perhaps 'error' ought to still be considered.
32 Paul of Samosata, Bishop of Antioch ( rd century). Paul was understood to advance the idea that Jesus was only a man until his baptism, thereby denying the Trinity; hence the confusion of Apollinarius.
33 θεότης.
34 The meaning is not entirely clear. One might also render this by "acknowledge as completely God, and completely human." The Greek is τὸ ὅλον θεολογεῖν and ἀνθρωπολογεῖν τὸ ὅλον. The idea seems to be that one cannot divide the 'elements' of Jesus, but must acknowledge both the divine and the human as complete.
35 Or, "dissolves," "breaks," maybe even "destroys." The biblical reference is to 1 John 4:3.
36 ὁμοούσιος.
37 ὁμοούσιος.
38 John 1:18.
39 1 John 1:1. The Apollinarian is here arguing from the fact that God is invisible. If the flesh of Jesus is of the same substance as his Godhood, he argues, then it too must be invisible. But since Jesus was actually visible, touched and handled, then clearly his flesh was of a different substance (ousia) to his Godhood / divine nature / divinity.
40 πρόσωπα (pl.).
41 Or, "by the one from heaven."
42 παθητήν. This could also be rendered by "liable to suffering and death."
43 1 John 1:1.
44 τὸ ἴδιον ἔχει.
45 Or, "also."
46 Or, "divided."
47 ἄνθρωπος.
48 John 1:14.
49 Τὸ ἑνωθῆναι πρὸς σάρκα ὡς τὸ ἀνθρώπειον πνεῦμα.
50 Or, "over us." The meaning is not entirely clear. It does not, however, seem to mean, "on our behalf," which would require the genitive with ὑπέρ rather than the accusative. The accusative here might signify a gradation of quality. I.e. "better than us, higher in nature".
51 ὁ ἐκ τῆς ἁμαρτίας θάνατος.
52 Or, "likeness."
53 i.e. divine.
54 i.e. emotions and desires that created humans experience and suffer.
55 This doesn't refer to the actual end of the world, but refers to the stage of the world now that Christ has entered into it as a human.
56 Or, "undivided," "indivisible."
57 Or possibly, "nature." The Greek is πρόσωπον.
58 oὐσία.
59 Or, "deliverance."
60 Literally, "it is not of a human, not of a slave, not of a created person, but of the divine Word itself."
61 ἀσώματος οὐσία.
62 ἀσώματος οὐσία.
63 Literally, "first."
64 The sentence is an awkward fragment in the Greek; the same fragmented structure is retained in the English.
65 It is unclear whether these units of text are to be taken as direct quotes, in which case quotation marks would be appropriate, or as paraphrases.
66 Πρόσωπον. The phrase ἐκ προσώπου + a name to introduce a quotation or paraphrase, i.e, 'from the person of," to mean, "quoting so-and-so," is a non-classical idiom but is common in later Greek. It is used both of man and of God.
67 The text is difficult. The issue was also recognized by Turrianus, who composed the Latin translation printed in Migne. Turrianus dealt with it in the same way as here. The problem is that there is a word, ταυτὸν [the same] whose antecedent is unclear, because of the difference in gender. σάρξ [flesh] must be understood to be the antecedent, yet σάρξ is a feminine word, which should have generated τὴν αὐτὴν, which is how both Turrianus and myself think that the text must be understood.
68 ταυτὸν.
69 i.e. is thought to be of the same substance as God.
70 Leontius is directly addressing Timothy as if he were responding to him in person, not just to his text.
71 Μεσιτεία ἡμῖν. This could also be rendered as, "our mediation," but this seems to obscure the meaning.
72 The meaning seems to be Christ's (i.e. the Word in flesh) petitioning the Father on behalf of his followers.
73 Literally, "but not in its nature," i.e. the flesh is not divine by itself, but becomes divine only by union with the Word.
74 John 6:63.
75 Πολυτροπώτατα φιλοτεχνοῦντες.
76 Τὴν ἀδύνατον ἀσωματίαν. The phrase needs expanding to make sense in English. One could render it more literally, "to attach honor to the body, the impossible incorporeity," but this is a little awkward. The meaning is that incorporeity, i.e. bodilessness, cannot be attached to a body, which is by its very nature corporeal.
77 Θεότης.
78 i.e. the body.
79 Or maybe, "He."
80 Plural.
81 Θεότης
82 Neuter, presumably referring back to the 'body,' as the only other neuter noun in this passage.
83 ἀμετάβλητον.
84 αὐτὸ μεταβληθὲν λέγοντες.
85 Plural.
86 Literally, "about what things you are giving your affirmation."
87 i.e. that any union is necessarily composed of different parts; there must be two distinguishable elements being united. Otherwise, if there is only one element, even if it is joined to itself, there is no union.
88 Or possibly, [there is no].
89 ἕτερον ἑτέρῳ.
90 Literally, "which is [the Word] of God having..." taking the Greek ὅ ἐστι as introducing a concrete example of the abstract concept just expressed, hence my translation "i.e."
91 Literally, "the thing said, the [thing] of the divine evangelist." The Latin translator has understood the text in the same way.
92 John 1:14.
93 Or, "animated." The Greek is ἔμψυχος.
94 φύσις.
95 οὐσία, possibly also rendered by 'being.'
96 ἐπὶ θεοῦ.
97 θεότης.
98 σεβάσμιος.
99 τρίας.
100 i.e. being joined to the divine-nature (θεότης) does not render the body's nature divine.
101 οὐσία.
102 i.e. before assuming flesh in human form.
103 Literally, "the same was...."
104 Or, "veil." προκάλλυμα.
105 προσήνεγκεν ὑπὲρ ἀνθρώπου
106 ἀνθρώποις.
107 θεότης.
108 Plural.
109 Μετὰ τοσαύτης τεχνολογίας.
110 τὴν φύσιν.
111 φανταζόμενοι.
112 Literally, "you who insult the descent of the Word," ἐνυβρίζοντες τὴν...συγκατάβασιν τοῦ Λόγου.
113 Τὴν ἐκ φιλανθρωπίας θεοῦ συγκατάβασιν τοῦ Λόγου.
114 Literally, "saying," λέγοντες.
115 i.e. not subject to suffering.
116 θεότης.
117 Literally, "against your own head."
118 Acts 9:5; 24:16.
119 περιδρομή.
120 Μετάληψις. Literally, "giving the participation of the body to the participation of the divine-nature."
121 Θεότης.
122 Συνουσία.
123 Παράθεσις.
124 This seems to mean, "Your own ideas and works are blasphemous, but you are including among them some of Apollinarius, hence tampering with Apollinarius' ideas and presenting them in a corrupt fashion," or, "You are taking the framework Apollinarius uses to discuss the relationship of Christ's body and divinity, but turn it blasphemous by the introduction of ideas and changes not from Apollinarius, since his own juxtapositions deal in the realm of 'condition and honor,' but your juxtapositions make claims about 'nature.'
125 i.e. the statements on the relationship between the human and divine elements in Christ, as specified by Apollinarius.
126 Παρετέθησαν.
127 Θεοφόρος.
128 Referring again to Apollinarius' ideas and works, as in footnote 6.
129 Σχέσις.
130 Φύσις.
131 Τὸ ὁμοούσιον.
132 Παρεθήκατε.
133 Φύσις.
134 Ούσία.
135 Παθητόν.
136 ἀπαθής.
137 John 19:37.
138 1 Timothy 6:16.
139 Πρόσωπον.
140 2 Tim 2:16.
141 Titus 3:10.
142 Προσκύνησις.
143 Κανών.
144 Philippians 3:2.
145 Or, "signed statement."
146 Καθ᾽οἷον δήποτε λόγον.
147 The flesh.
148 ὑπόστασις, i.e. "one substantive reality".
149 ὀνόματα.
150 ἰδιώματα.
151 ὀνόματα.
152 ἰδιώματα.
153 Κατὰ τόπον.
154 ἐπωνυμία.
155 Κλῆσις.
156 ὄνομα.
157 Θεότης.
158 Φύσις.
159 Κοινωνία.
160 ὄνομα.
161 Φύσις.
162 Θεότης.
163 Κοινωνία.
164 ὀνομασία. Possibly, "naming."
165 Πρόσωπον.
166 Αὐτενέργητον.
167 Possibly, "a self-motivated animal like a human."
168 Κοινωνία.
169 Κοινωνία.
170 Τὰ θεοῦ ἴδια.
171 No subject is stated in the text. The Latin introduces 'Mary' as the subject, but this seems rather unlikely to be correct. First of all, why would Mary see 'the body' greater than herself? Christ's body? But this makes little sense. Secondly, there is a masculine/neuter reflexive possessive pronoun, "greater, I say, not only than HIS/ITS [ἑαυτου] body, but also than angelic fires...." This particular reflexive pronoun reflects the gender of the antecedent, and cannot be feminine, which would require ἑαυτῆς if 'Mary' were the subject. So, the antecedent (the subject of the first verb, "[ ] sees,") must be either masculine or neuter, and the neuter here makes little sense. It seems best, then, to supply "He" for the first subject, only capitalized because it stands first in the sentence, and "his," not capitalized, for the possessive pronoun.
172 This is a difficult sentence. The Greek is οὐδὲν ζωοποιὸν κόσμου, τῶν σωμάτων ἐκείνων οὐδέν. My translation takes κόσμου as the object of ζωοποιὸν, on the model of a related word that clearly take a genitive object as, for example, ὁ θεὸς ἔχει δύναμιν ζωοποιητικὸν τῶν νεκρῶν, "God has the power to give life to the dead. (See entry in Lampe, p. 598).
173 ὡς ὁ κεκραμένος....
174 John 5:26.
175 ἐνέργεια.
176 Οὐσιώδης.
177 This 'this' probably refers to the body.
178 i.e. (1) "In contrast to you, who rely on the work of the Spirit, Jesus is inseparably joined with God. (2) Jesus became flesh while still being inseparably joined to God, hence retaining His divinity while in the flesh. And the flesh was really a part of Him, so it must, too, be divine, and hence His body, being flesh, is also divine."
179 Πρόσωπον.
180 This is the second instance of this passage in this work. See column 1949, A.
181 Literally, "bring against us."
182 Possibly, "the."
183 Θεότης.
184 πρόσωπον.
185 The grammar and meaning is difficult.One might also render this by "Christ was living with a body permeated by God's spirit." The Greek is: ζῶν δὲ Χριστὸς σῶμα θεόπνουν...."
186 1 Corinthians 2:16.
187 Θεότητι συμφυής. See Lampe, p. 1292, sections b and c.
188θεότης.
189 Possibly, "for those...."
190 The dative here is translated as a dative of advantage. It could also be a dative ofpossession, which would render, "of man's immortality."
191 This should probably be understood as "in praise of...."
192 John 14:9.
193 Τὴν ὡς ἀνθρώπου συνδιατριβὴν μετὰ ἀνθρώπων.
194 Or possibly, "God."
195 Εἶδος.
196 The Greek is rendered as accurately as possible, but the meaning is obscure.
197 Ποιητική.
198 Possibly, "the human divine."
199 Literally, "to be limited with the limitation of a human."
200 Θεότης.
201 Or, "is nourishing."
202 Literally, 'a body of death.'
203 Τὸ θεῖον.
204 Τὸ τῆς φύσεως τῶν ἑνωθέντων.
205 "The body with the body," according to the Greek text. But note that the Latin has "the incorporeal with the corporeal."
206 Τεθεωμένον.
207 Τεθεωμένον.
208 Θεός.
209 Θεός.
210 ἐπειδὴ τοῦ Πατρὸς οὐκ ἂν γένοιτο σῶμα....
211 ἀγέννητον.
212 Φύσις.
213 Τὰ ἴδια τοῦ θεοῦ.
214 Τὰ ἴδια τῆς σαρκός.
215 i.e. that no such union can be perfect by definition.
216 Φύσις.
217 Γένεσις.
218 ἀναιρετικόν.
219 Οὐσία.
220 Πρόσωπον.
221 Possibly, "God."
222 ἐπωνυμία.
223 John 1:14.
224 Προσηγορία..
225 Προσηγορία.
226 ἑτεροούσιοι.
227 Possibly, "God."
228 ὄργανον.
229 Τὸ κινοῦν.
230 Οὐσία.
231 Σέβασμα.
232 ἐπιγραφή.
233 ὀρθῶς
234 Apollinarius.
235 Literally, "read the unity in...."
236 Or, "who loves God."
237 Οὐκ εἰς ἄνθρωπον ἅγιον επιδεδημηκέναι. This might also be rendered, "did not dwell in a holy man."
238 Literally, "which thing was among/in the prophets."
239 ἐνέργεια.
240 Κινήσεις.
241 Πρόσωπα.
242 φύσεις.
243 Οὐσία.
244 ὑπόστασις. i.e. "One substantive reality."
245 Πρόσωπον.
246 Τὸν αὐτόν.
247 Φύσις.
248 Or, "it."
249 Οὐσία.
250 Πρόσωπα.
251 Literally, "so as to speak without constraint."
252 Τὸ ὁμοούσιον.
253 Gregory Nazianzen.
254 Apollinarius.
255 Apollinarius.
256κατὰ οἰκονομίαν, Lampe p.941, right column, c
257 Φύσις.
258 Φύσις.
259 Quoted from Gregory Nazianzen, ep. CCII, to Nectarius,
260 Θεότης.
261 Literally, "the forbidden things of impiety and wickedness."
262 Lit, "he receives."
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Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
SOURCE SECTION: philoxenus_discourse00_1_preface.htm
Philoxenus, Ascetic Discourses (1894) pp.i-xvi. Title Page, Preface, Contents
Philoxenus, Ascetic Discourses (1894) pp.i-xvi. Title Page, Preface, Contents
THE
DISCOURSES OF PHILOXENUS
BISHOP OF MABBÔGH, A.D. 485-519.
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THE
DISCOURSES OF PHILOXENUS
BISHOP OF MABBOGH, A. D.485-519.
EDITED
FROM SYRIAC MANUSCRIPTS OF THE SIXTH AND SEVENTH
CENTURIES IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM,
WITH AN ENGLISH TRANSLATION
BY
E. A. WALLIS BUDGE, LITT. D., F. S. A.,
FORMERLY SCHOLAR OF CHRIST'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE, AND TYRWHITT SCHOLAR,
KEEPER OF THE EGYPTIAN AND ASSYRIAN
ANTIQUITIES, BRITISH MUSEUM.
PUBLISHED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY
OF LITERATURE OF THE UNITED KINGDOM.
VOL. II. INTRODUCTION, TRANSLATION, ETC.
LONDON:
ASHER & Co., PUBLISHERS
13 BEDFORD STREET, COVENT GARDEN
1894.
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WITH HEARTFELT GRATITUDE
I DEDICATE THESE VOLUMES
TO MY MANY COLLEAGUES AND FRIENDS
WHO DID NOT FAIL ME IN THE HOUR OF TRIAL AND DISTRESS.
[Blank page]
PREFACE.
The present volume contains an English translation of the complete Syriac text of the Discourses of Philoxenus upon Christian Life and Character which was published early this year as Volume I of this work.
Among the Nitrian collection of Syriac MSS. in the British Museum, there are preserved some nineteen volumes which contain the Discourses or extracts from them, and they range in date from the early part of the VIth to the XIIIth century. Nine of these volumes have no critical value for the text, as they contain short passages only. Of the remaining ten one (the MS. C) belongs to the VIth century; two (the MSS. D and E) belong to the VIth or VIIth century; one (the MS. A) belongs to the VIIth or VIIIth century; one to the VIIIth or IXth century; three (the MSS. B, G and H) belong to the IXth century; and two to the Xth century; from eight of these the published text has been taken. When I first copied the Discourses in 1883-4 I selected the text in A as a base, because, though written by two hands, it contained the whole |viii of the thirteen Discourses complete; with this MS. B agrees closely. In a conversation which I had with the late Prof. Wright in 1888 on the matter, he advised that the older MSS. C and D should be taken as first authorities, and in deference to his mature opinion I in many cases substituted readings from them in the place of those which I found in A and B. It became apparent, however, when I came to print the work that the more correct readings were often found in A and B. Indeed each of the MSS. frequently made the same mistake, although in different places. Some of the readings of B and C I again relegated to the notes, and finally decided to print the text as it stood in my original copy. As a result of these changes it will be seen that, in some cases, the better readings are given in the notes and the less good in the text. To the English reader this will offer no difficulty, for throughout my translation I have followed what I believe to be the correct reading. The Syriac scholar on his part will, of course, choose his own text. I have in no way attempted to emend the text which in places I believe to have suffered through the unintentional mistakes of weary scribes, but have, to the best of my power, reproduced it as I found it in the various MSS. With a view of shewing how little change the text has undergone in passing from copyist to copyist |ix during the course of nearly four centuries I have added the variant readings from the MSS. E, H, G, and F. of the VIth, VIIth, IXth and Xth centuries respectively. A list of the Errata, almost unavoidable in a printed text of such a length, is given on p. clxxxviii f. Some of these I owe to the kindness of Prof. Rubens Duval of Paris, and I beg the reader to make the necessary corrections before he uses the book.
The translation has been made as literal as possible, and all words added have been indicated by brackets. A list of the passages in the Bible either quoted or referred to in the Discourses has been given on p. clxvii ff. A comparison of the quotations with existing Syriac versions of the Bible seems to shew that Philoxenus was perfectly acquainted with the Syriac text, but that he, in many cases, quoted from memory. The version used by him was the Peshîttâ, which he quoted loosely, or with such modifications as his argument required or his fancy dictated. Books like the Psalms which we know were learned by heart in Syrian schools and colleges he generally quotes accurately, but at times his ostensible quotations (introduced by mL) are scarcely recognizable, at others he confuses two or more distinct passages, at others he gives the general sense, and at others a mere paraphrase. Every one of his quotations which differs from extant versions is of |x interest, and that the reader may be able easily to judge of the variations from the Pëshîttâ I have drawn up a list of the more important typical quotations and given them above their equivalents in that text on pp. cxxxviii-clxvi. From about the year 481 to 519 the name of Philoxenus was, according to his theological opponents, in the dioceses of Western Asia synonymous with turmoil and strife. The Bishops and Patriarchs who leaned secretly towards Nestorian doctrines regarded him with terror and feared him as one of the ablest, most energetic and eloquent opponents of those who maintained two natures in our Lord's Person. For a period of nearly forty years he waged unflinching war against this doctrine, and amidst persecutions in Antioch, Apamea, and Constantinople maintained his views both by word of mouth and in writing, and produced a series of works, the like of which exist not in the Syriac literature of the Monophysite Church. His expulsion from the diocese by Calandio and the threats of the greatest ecclesiastics of the time neither silenced him nor stayed his hand; and at length he proved the sincerity of the conviction of the truth of his doctrine by suffering martyrdom in the second year of Jovian, A.D. 519. Hitherto his doctrine has been represented chiefly by the accounts thereof written by his theological opponents, but in the Introduction to this volume are |xi given for the first time, I believe, in the language in which he wrote them his professions of faith and a brief list of the points on which he differed from the Nestorians and his other adversaries. I had hoped to have supplemented these by a number of extracts from his great work on the Incarnation and how "One Person "of the Trinity became man and suffered for us", but as the space at my disposal was insufficient it has been found necessary to omit them.
Until the early part of this year the writings of Philoxenus were only known by the extracts from them given by Assemânî in the second volume of his splendid Bibliotheca Orientalis, by the letter to Abu Nafîr of al-Hîrah, published by the Abbé Martin, by the letter to the monks of Tell-'Addâ, published by Professor Guidi, by the letter to the priests Abraham and Orestes of Edessa regarding Stephen bar Sûdh-ailê, published by Mr. Frothingham, and by the necessarily very brief quotations given by Dean Payne Smith in his Thesuurus Syriacus; so recently as 1887 Professor Wright was compelled to say concerning Philoxenus, "Unfortunately scarcely any of his numerous works have as yet been printed".1 The estimation in which his works were held in the Monophysite Church will be seen from the quotations from |xii the works of its famous scholars given on pp. xxv-xxvii, and among the opinions of occidental scholars on his writings may be mentioned those of Assemânî and Wright, the former of whom said,2 "scripsit Syriace, si quis alius, elegantissime, atque adeo inter optimos hujusce linguae scriptores a Jacobo Edesseno collocari meruit", and the latter, "he was a scholar and an elegant writer".3 Since the publication of the Discourses upon Christian Life and Character these opinions have been confirmed by Nöldeke, who thinks that "Der Ruf des Philoxenus als eines Meisters des syrischen Stils wird durch dieses Buch noch in weit höherem Grade gerechtfertigt als selbst durch den von Guidi herausgegebenen Brief an die Mönche von Tel'edâ. Er beherrscht die Sprache mit vollkommener Freiheit. Liebenswürdiger ist Aphraates, aber zur Grundlage für eine syrische Syntax eignet sich sein Werk mindestens so gut wie die Homilien dieses Mannes".4 In a private communication 5 Professor Guidi of Rome writes, "Lei confesso che non sarei alieno dal riconoscere nei Discorsi di Filosseno da lei publicati, la piu bella prosa siriaca, nella quale all' eleganza finissima della lingua è unita l'energia e la forza dello stile. La sua publicazione è di grande utilità ed importanza anche al |xiii semplice punto di vista filologica, per lo studio della lingua e della sintassi siriaca, nel periodo classico". In a recent notice Prof. Rubens Duval says, "Philoxène appartient à l'époque la plus brillante de la littérature syriaque. Son style est élégant sans recherche, ses périodes courtes mais harmonieuses. Jacques d'Édesse le tenait pour un écrivain de premier ordre. Assémani, qui déteste les doctrines hérétiques de Philoxène, partage l'admiration de l'évêque d'Édesse pour son talent littéraire".6
It is now my pleasing duty to thank the Council of the Royal Society of Literature of the United Kingdom for undertaking the publication of this work, which they have issued in a form worthy of their high reputation; their munificence has brought into the light the greatest work of one of the greatest Syrian writers, and lays all Syriac scholars under an obligation. A word of thanks too is due to Mr. Drugulin and to Dr. Chamizer his manager for the care which they have taken in the typographical portion of the work.
E. A. WALLIS BUDGE.
LONDON, November 1, 1894.
[Blank page]
CONTENTS OF VOLUME II.
PREFACE vii
INTRODUCTION:---
THE LIFE OF PHILOXENUS xvii
THE CREED OF PHILOXENUS xxvii
THE WORKS OF PHILOXENUS xliv
THE MSS. OF THE DISCOURSES OF PHILOXENUS lxvi
THE DISCOURSES OF PHILOXENUS----ARGUMENT lxxiii
TABLE OF THE MSS. OF THE DISCOURSES xciv,xcv
A MAN'S REPLY CONCERNING HIS BELIEF xcvi
A CONFESSION OF FAITH xcviii
AGAINST THOSE WHO DIVIDE OUR LORD c
AGAINST THOSE WHO MAINTAIN TWO NATURES civ
AGAINST EVERY NESTORIAN cxx
AGAINST NESTORIUS cxxiii
ON THE HERESIES OF MANI, NESTORIUS, AND OTHERS cxxxvi
A COMPARISON OF SCRIPTURAL QUOTATIONS IN THE DISCOURSES WITH THE PESHÎTTÂ AND OTHER VERSIONS cxxxviii
A LIST OF THE BIBLE PASSAGES QUOTED OR REFERRED TO IN THE DISCOURSES clxvii
APHRAATES ON FAITH clxxv
ERRATA clxxxviii
THE DISCOURSES:----
THE PROLOGUE 1 |xvi
ON FAITH 24
ON FAITH 49
ON FAITH AND SIMPLICITY 70
ON SIMPLICITY 115
ON THE FEAR OF GOD 153
ON THE FEAR OF GOD 184
ON POVERTY 214
ON POVERTY 247
ON THE LUST OF THE BELLY 337
ON ABSTINENCE 403
ON FORNICATION 472
ON FORNICATION 524
[Footnotes renumbered and placed at the end]
1. 1 Encyclopaedia Britannica (art. Syriac Literature), vol. xxii, pp. 824-856.
2. 1 B. O., ii. 20.
3. 2 Op. cit., p. 832.
4. 3 Literarisches Centralblatt, No. 19, 1894, p. 678.
5. 4 Dated Frascati, August 10th 1894.
6. 1 Revue Critique, Nos. 37-38, Sept. 10-17, 1894, p. 123.
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Philoxenus, Ascetic Discourses (1894) pp.xviii-xxxi. The Life of Philoxenus
Philoxenus, Ascetic Discourses (1894) pp.xviii-xxxi. The Life of Philoxenus
INTRODUCTION.
----
THE LIFE OF PHILOXENUS.
Akhsénâyâ, later named Philoxenus, was born in the third quarter of the Vth century at a village called Tahal1, which was situated in Beth Garmai, probably on the confines of Persia2; of his parents and their rank and condition we know nothing, but as he was baptized it may be assumed that they were Christians or, at any rate, that they had leanings towards Christianity. His brother Addai is mentioned together with him by Simon of Bêth Arshâm3, who says that they opposed Ibas 4 at Edessa. Making his way westwards Philoxenus came to Edessa, probably in his early manhood, where he studied 5 at the time when Ibas was engaged in translating the works of those who held |xviii the Nestorian doctrines into Syriac 6. Of the history of his life at this period we know nothing, but it seems to have been imprudent to send a young man of his ardent and religious temperament into a city which, though the chief seat of ecclesiastical learning in that part of the country, was at the same time a source of the religious polemics of the time, for there is little doubt that at a comparatively early age Philoxenus was already known as a willing and zealous teacher and disputant. Such a man was no doubt of great value to the Monophysite Church when the doctrines of Nestorius, which were gaining ground on all sides, were to be fought against, but his ability soon brought him into unenviable notoriety, and between the years 481 and 485 he was expelled from the diocese of Antioch by Calandio 7 the Patriarch as a preacher of the views of Cyril of Alexandria and an advocate of the Henoticon of Zeno. The views of Philoxenus were, however, identical with those of Peter the Fuller 8, by whom immediately after the banishment of Calandio in 485, he was ordained Bishop of Mabbôgh 9 or Hierapolis 10. In an anonymous life of Philoxenus from which Assemânî gives extracts in his Bibliotheca Orientalis (ii. p. 13), it is said that "Philoxenus, being abundantly learned in all the doctrine of the Syrians, |xix and having received the doctrine of the Holy Spirit, became Bishop of Mabbôgh in the year [of the Greeks] 800, in the time of Zeno, that is to say 488 years after the coming of our Lord."
The writer of this statement has made a mistake, for several circumstances show that Philoxenus was recalled from exile by Peter the Fuller in 485, and that he was ordained bishop in the same year, and it is said that his name was then changed from Akhsënâyâ to Philoxenus 11.
Soon after Philoxenus had become Bishop of Mabbôgh some Persian bishops visited his city, and in the new bishop they are said to have recognized a slave who had fled from his master, and a man who had never been baptized; this statement is made both by Theodore the Reader 12 and by Theophanes 13, and most writers upon the much-abused Philoxenus have gravely repeated |xx it 14. The narrative of the scandal goes on to say that the Persian bishops made representations as to the impropriety of a man with such antecedents being Bishop of Mabbôgh to Peter the Fuller, who answered that the service of ordination was sufficient to take the place of baptism 15, and he took no further steps in the matter. Whether Philoxenus was actually a slave, or only the son of a family who paid tribute to the Persian nobility or landed proprietors, is a matter of no consequence, but it can be proved from his own writings that he was baptized, and that he regarded baptism as a thing of no small importance. Thus in his treatise on the Incarnation of Christ he says: ---- "Now we will keep and preserve always the sign of belief and the seal of baptism and we will not destroy either by any manner of means," [Syriac] 16. And in his letter to Zeno he says: ---- "The only begotten Son was One of the Trinity, even as His words to His disciples testify, Go ye forth and convert all nations and baptize them in the name of the Father, |xxi and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. For I was baptized in the name of Him that died, and I confess that He in Whose name I was baptized died for me, and I believe that I have put on in baptism Him in Whose name and in Whose death I was baptized": [Syriac]. The report that Philoxenus was unbaptized is thus shown to be without foundation.
Of the period of the life of Philoxenus which immediately followed his ordination we know nothing, but we may be certain that he ceased not to preach and to teach the doctrines which were approved by Peter the Fuller, and it is possible that during the first thirteen years of his episcopate he wrote parts or all of many of the works which have made his name so famous among Monophysite writers. In the year of the Greeks 809 (A. D. 497-8) we learn from Joshua the Stylite that Philoxenus was present at Edessa during the celebration of some heathen festival. For seven clays before the appointed day arrived the people of Edessa went up to the theatre each evening in crowds; they were dressed in gorgeous apparel, and they burned incense, and danced through the whole of each night. In consequence of these things no man went to prayer, and the people became bolder and wickeder, for there was none in the city to rebuke them, and Joshua complains that, "although Xenaias, the Bishop of Mabbôgh, was in Edessa at the time, ---- of whom beyond all |xxii others it was thought that he had taken upon him to labour in teaching,----yet he did not speak with them on this subject more than one day." 17
In the year 498 Flavian II. ascended the episcopal throne of Antioch, and by suddenly declaring himself to be in favour of the decisions arrived at by the Council of Chalcedon----now hitherto he had denounced them----he made Philoxenus a bitter and implacable enemy who gave him no rest until he succeeded in effecting his deposition in 512. The first step taken by Philoxenus was to denounce Flavian II. for secretly holding Nestorian doctrines, and when Flavian anathematized Nestorius and all his works, Philoxenus turned his attention to Dioscorus and Theodore, Theo-doret, Ibas, Cyrus, Eleutherius, and John, some of whom held the views of Nestorius, but the others having been accused of favouring him secretly had anathematized him, and he next insisted that unless Flavian anathematized all these he would hold him to be a Nestorian, notwithstanding his denial and anathema of Nestorius. He also tried to make the friends of Dioscorus and Eutyches unite with him against Flavian, and being joined by Eleusinus, a bishop of Cappadocia Secunda, and by Nicias of Laodicea in Syria, he succeeded in making him anathematize in writing Dioscorus and all who held views similar to his; this document Philoxenus sent at once to the Emperor Anastasius, whom he had been able to imbue with a belief in the Nestorianising tendencies of Flavian. This took place A. D. 507, and as a result Philoxenus was summoned to Constantinople by the Emperor, and the |xxiii Church in that city was much disturbed at his arrival 18. In response to the wish of Anastasius Flavian modified his views, and with the help of some of his clergy, attempted to set them forth in a writing, which he sent to the Emperor. With this, however, Philoxenus was still dissatisfied, and he further insisted that Flavian should anathematize both the Council of Chalcedon and those who maintained two natures in our Lord's Person; but this Flavian declined to do, and was, in consequence, denounced afresh to the Emperor as a Nestorian. Shortly afterwards Flavian admitted publicly that although he approved of the Council of Chalcedon for deposing Nestorius and Eutyches, he did not consider its definitions of faith satisfactory. In answer to this statement Philoxenus, having persuaded the Bishops of Isauria to join him, drew up a creed in which they anathematized all who maintained two natures in our Lord's Person, and submitted it for signature to Flavian and to Macedonius of Constantinople; these prelates refused to sign the document and were in consequence excommunicated. In 512 a Council of eighty bishops met at Sidon by the Emperor's command to define the true faith; the presidents were Philoxenus and Soterichus of Caesarea, both of whom yearned for the downfall of Flavian and of his friend and ally Elias, Bishop of |xxiv Jerusalem. The behaviour of the two parties was such that Anastasius dismissed the Council without recording his decision on the matters under dispute, and for a breathing space the opponents of Philoxenus had the advantage; but since it subsequently transpired that both Flavian and Elias had acted with duplicity the imperial protection was finally withdrawn from the former prelate and he was at once deposed and banished to Petra, and the famous Monophysite teacher Severus was appointed Patriarch of Antioch in his stead. Before this took place, however, the monks of the district of Cynegica in Syria, and those of the whole of Syria Prima had been stirred up or bribed by Philoxenus, and they rushed into the city of Antioch in a body, with great noise and tumult, and endeavoured to make Flavian anathematize the Council of Chalcedon and the document of Leo; but the people of the city rose in arms against them, and slew many of them, and cast their bodies into the Orontes 19. Evagrius' description of the behaviour of Philoxenus on this occasion does not place him in a favourable light, but though admitting that zeal for his opinions would, no doubt, lead him to overstep all bounds to secure their acceptance in the Church, it is probable that we must make some allowance for the hostility of those to whose lot it has fallen to describe his life 20.
Flavian being removed from his seat Philoxenus |xxv seems to have rested content and to have devoted himself to writing his works and letters, the main object of which was to promote the Monophysite doctrines, until the year 518, when the orthodox Emperor Justin ascended the throne; soon after this event the decrees of the Council of Chalcedon were ratified by imperial command, and all the bishops who had been banished by Anastasius were restored to their sees. In the following year some fifty-four bishops who refused to accept the decrees of Chalcedon were banished, and among them were Severus of Antioch, Peter of Apamea, John of Telia and Philoxenus of Mabbôgh 21. The Edessene Chronicle 22 says: ---- "In the second year of the reign of Justin, that is the eight hundred and thirtieth year [of the Greeks,=A. D. 518-519] he expelled Severus from Antioch, and Akhsénâyâ from Mabbôgh, and all those who would not accept the four Synods" [Syriac].
From a letter which Philoxenus wrote 23 to the monks of the monastery of Senun near Edessa in 522 we learn that his first place of banishment was Philippopolis in Thrace; in the following year he was "sent into exile in Gangra [in Paphlagonia], and they shut him up in a room over the kitchen of a public inn, |xxvi and there he was suffocated by smoke": [Syriac] 24.
In a life of Philoxenus quoted by Assemânî the account of the manner in which he was murdered is more fully detailed, and the writer says: ---- "And having filled the Church with divine doctrines, and expounded the Scriptures, and laid open to disgrace the faith of the Nestorians by means of his writings against them, they cast him forth into exile in the city of Gangra, and they suffocated him with smoke. Now they shut him up in an upper chamber, and made smoke in the room below it, and they shut the doors: in this way was he crowned, and he was suffocated by them in the true faith":25 [Syriac]. Thus ended the life of this remarkable man.
It is evident from the few facts known concerning the life of Philoxenus that he was "energetic and fiery" 26 in disposition, and a merciless and relentless opponent of all such as differed from him in their opinions on the natures of Christ; but the hatred of him as a man and the misrepresentation of his views which are found reflected in the writings of his biographers ---- who are generally his enemies ---- show that a final decision as to his behaviour and character cannot be arrived at |xxvii until the case is stated from the point of view of Philoxenus. Theophanes describes him as an unbaptized and runaway slave who pretended to be a cleric 27, and in another place he calls him the "impious Xenaias" 28; and both Theophanes and Cedrenus speak of him as the "servant of Satan" 29, and accuse him of holding the opinions of Manes 30. Evagrius, punning on the name Xenaias, says that he was "truly a stranger to God" 31; the just Tillemont accuses him of "corrupting the faith" 32; and Assemânî says that "he would have wasted the Church of God like a wild boar" 33. But if he made his opponents suffer he did not escape tribulation himself, and this we learn from a letter of his to the monks of the monastery of Sënûn wherein he says:----"What things I suffered from Flavian and Macedonius, who were archbishops in Antioch and Constantinople, and before them from Calandion, are known and spoken of in every place. But I keep silence concerning the things which were prepared to injure me in the time of the Persian war by the nobles through the care of him that is called Flavian the heretic, and also concerning the things which happened to me in Edessa, and in the country of the Apameans, and in that of the people of Antioch when I was in the monastery of Mar Bassus, and also |xxviii in Antioch itself. And when I went up to Constantinople on two occasions the like things were done unto me by the Nestorian heretics": [Syriac] 34. Before we pass from the subject of the accusation brought against him by his theological opponents, it must be mentioned that he was charged with being the author of the heresy of the breakers of the images of saints and angels, and it is asserted that as he would not venture to destroy those of Christ he hid them 35. Whatever may be the faults of Philoxenus all the known facts of his life, and the whole series of his writings from first to last testify to a tenacity of will, and a steadfastness of purpose, and a fixity of belief, and an energy in word and deed which were exceedingly rare in the troubled times in which he lived. And when we consider the multitudinous affairs in which he was engaged, and the unflinching strife which he urged against |xxix Flavian between the years 498 and 512, and the labour of his first journey to Constantinople in 507, it seems little short of marvellous that he should have been able to find time to make a new translation of the four Gbspels from Greek into Syriac; this work, however, he effected, and his translation appeared at Mabbôgh in the year 508 36.
When we turn from the accounts of Theophanes, Cedrenus, Theodore Lector and others to the doctors of his own creed, we find that Philoxenus was esteemed by them a very learned man, and that his works were held in veneration by the greatest authors of the Monophysite Church. If we examine some ten 37 MSS. in the British Museum only we see from the statements of the authors of the works contained in them that the authority of Philoxenus, on matters of doctrine, is considered equal to that of Severus of Antioch, Isaac of Antioch, Cyril of Alexandria, Chrysostom, Ephraim the Syrian, etc., and Brit. Mus. MS. Rich, No. 7183, fol. 124, mentions the name of Philoxenus together with the names of Ephraim the Syrian, Jacob of Edessa, and Isaac [of Antioch] as writers from whose works it was necessary to cull Syriac words and expressions. The famous Dionysius bar-Salîbhî 38, whom Wright calls the star among the Jacobites of the Xllth century 39, |xxx and who was himself a famous writer, says in the title to one of his commentaries that he gives in his work the opinions of the "true and orthodox doctors and "holy fathers like Severus the Great, and Hippolytus "of Rome, and Epiphanius of Cyprus, and Philoxenus "of Mabbôgh, and Melitus, and Evagrius, and Moses "bar-Kêphâ, and Jacob of Edessa, and John of Con-"stantinople, and John of Dârâ, and Mar Ephraim" 40. But the final seal of approval is set upon the works of Philoxenus by Abu'l-Faraj Gregory, better known as Bar-Hebraeus, "one of the most learned and versatile "men that Syria ever produced" 41, who thus speaks: "And Peter [the Fuller] appointed Saint Philoxenus to "Mabbôgh, a most eloquent man, and a marvellous "teacher, who mightily routed those who maintained "two natures [in Christ]; and he set forth healthy "doctrines concerning the holy path of the monastic "life. And he composed some discourses on the holy "festivals, and works of admonition of all kinds" 42. The same writer mentions the Mabbôgh translation of the Bible, which Philoxenus finished in 508, and the |xxxi revision of parts thereof by Thomas of Harkel, and with this tacit admission of the value of perhaps the greatest of all his works by the greatest doctor of his Church we take leave of Philoxenus 43.
[Footnotes renumbered and placed at the end]
1. 1 The position of this village is unknown; see Hoffmann, Auszüge, p. 277.
2. 2 [Syriac]. See Assemânî, B. O., ii. p. 10, col. 2.
3. 3 A village near Ctesiphon or al-Madâïn, [Arabic]
4. 4 [Syriac] see Assemânî, B. 0., i. pp. 352, 353.
5. 5See B. O., i. p. 353.
6. 1 See Duval, Histoire politique, religieuse et littéraire d'Édesse, Paris, 1892, p. 174.
7. 2 He became Bishop of Antioch A. D. 481, and was banished in 485.
8. 3 Patriarch of Antioch A.D. 471-488.
9. 4 The Manbij, [Arabic] of Arabic writers; see Yakut, ed. Wüstenfeld, tom. iv. p. [Arabic], where derivations of the name are given, together with a history of the city.
10. 5 Bar-Hebraeus, Chron. Eccles, (ed. Abbeloos), i. col. 183.
11. 1 [Greek]. Theophanes. p. 207. For modern writers on this period of Church History see Neander (J. C. L.), Allgemeine Geschichte der christlichen Religion und Kirche, Hamburg 1825 ---- 1852, Bd. ii. pp. 1128, 1129, 1168, 1179, 1182; Gieseler, Lehrbuch der Kirchengeschichte, Bonn, 1831, Bd. i. p. 384; and Alzog, Handbuch der allgemeinen Kirchengeschichte, Mainz, 1822, ed. Niebuhr, Bonn, 1839 p.207.
12. 2 See the fragments of his work in the edition of the H. E. of Evagrius, ed. Valesius, Paris, 1673, fol. p. 569; and Migne, Patrologia Gracca, tom. lxxxvi. col. 157ff.
13. 3 [Greek] Theophanes, ed. Niebuhr, p. 207.
14. 1 C'est le célèbre Xenaiä, qui estoit Perse de nation, et esclave de naissance. Ayant quitté son maistre et son pays, il s'en vint en Syrie, où se prétendant estre Clerc, quoiqu'il ne fust pas seulement battizé, il commença deslors à brouiller dans quelques villages, et à corrompre la foy de l'Eglise par ses innovations; de sorte que Calandion, Evesque d'Antioche fut obligé de la chasser du pays. Tillemont, Mémoires, Paris, 1712, tom. xvi. pp. 319, 705.
15. 2 [Greek]. Theodore the Reader. [Greek]. Theophanes.
16. 3 B.O. ii. p. 11.
17. 1 Wright, Chronicle of Joshua the Stylite, p. 21.
18. 1 [Greek]. Theophanes, ed. Niebuhr, p. 230. The removal of Philoxenus is also mentioned by Victor, Bishop of Tunis, who died about A.D. 567; see Migne, Pat.Lat., tom. lxviii. col. 911 ff.
19. 1 See Evagrius, H. E., iii. 31,32.
20. 2 Theodore Lector, Excerpta ex Ecclesiastica Historia (ed. Migne, Ser. Graec., tom. 86. coll. 165 ff.); Theophanes (ed. Niebuhr, pp. 207, 232, etc.) Cedrenus (ed. Niebuhr, pp. 620, 637); Tillemont (Mémoires, tom. xvi. p. 705 ff.); Assemânî (B.O., ii. pp. II, 12, 18); etc.
21. 1 [Greek]. Theophanes, p. 255.
22. 2 Ed. Rallier, Untersuchungen über die Edessenische Chronik, Leipzig, 1892, pp. 125, 154.
23. 3 See B. 0., ii. p. 20; and Wright, Syriac Literature, p. 832.
24. 1 Bar-Hebraeus, Chron. Eccles., I. col. 197.
25. 2 B. O., ii. p. 15.
26. 3 Wright, Syriac Literature, p. 832, col. 2.
27. 1 [Greek]. Theophanes, p. 207.
28. 2 [Greek]. Theophanes, p. 232.
29. 3 [Greek]. Theophanes, p. 207; Cedrenus, p. 620.
30. 4 [Greek]. Theophanes, p. 230, Cedrenus, p. 637.
31. 5 [Greek]. H, E., iii. 31.
32. 6 Mémoires, tom. xvi, p. 705.
33. 7 "ecclesiam Dei tanquam ferus aper devastaverit", B. O., ii. p.. 18; Wright, Syr. Lit., p. 832.
34. 1 See B. O., ii. p. 15.
35. 2 See Tillemont, Mémoires, tom. xvi, p. 705, where the authorities are given. The words of Theophanes (ed. Niebuhr, p. 207) are: ---- [Greek]
36. 1 See infra, p. xliv.
37. 2 Add. 14,681, fol. 116a; Add. 12,178, fol. 165a; Add. 14,629, fol. 17a, 19a; Add. 12,144, fol. 125a; Add. 14,529, fol. 16a; Add. 12,155, fol. 41a; Add. 12,155, fol. 78a, 12ob, 161b, 262a; Add. 14,532, fol. a, 53a, 178a; Add. 14,533, fol.70a, 92a, 168a, 184a; and Add. 12,154, fol. 49b.
38. 3 Bishop of Mar'ash and Mabbôgh, and afterwards of Amid; he died in 1171.
39. 4 See Wright, Syr. Lit., p. 851.
40. 1 [Syriac] See Brit. Mus. MS. Rich, No. 7183, fol. 1.
41. 2 Wright, Syr. Lit., p. 853.
42. 3 [Syriac] Bar-Hebraeus, Chron. Eccles., i. col. 183 (ed. Abbeloos).
43. 1 Bar-Hebraeus, Chron. Eccles., i. col. 268.
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Greek text is rendered using the Scholars Press SPIonic font, free from here.
Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
SOURCE SECTION: philoxenus_discourse00_3_creed.htm
Philoxenus, Ascetic Discourses (1894) pp.xxxi-xlviii. Various Creeds by Philoxenus, Against Nestorius, Mani, Marcion, etc.
Philoxenus, Ascetic Discourses (1894) pp.xxxi-xlviii. Various Creeds by Philoxenus, Against Nestorius, Mani, Marcion, etc.
Note to the online text: This portion of the introduction has required some formatting changes. Budge has for some reason embedded the translations in his introduction, without headings, and placed the Syriac text elsewhere in the volume. He has not translated 'Twelve Chapters against those who maintain two natures in Christ, and one person' (Brit. Mus. Ms. Add. 14,597, fol. 91a ff). I have placed the headings of the Syriac section over each document by Philoxenus, as best I could (the reference footnotes are clearly in error in some places) and Budge's text in italics.
REPLY TO BE MADE BY A MAN WHEN QUESTIONED AS TO HIS BELIEF
A CONFESSION OF FAITH
AGAINST THOSE WHO DIVIDE OUR LORD
AGAINST EVERY NESTORIAN
AGAINST NESTORIUS
ON THE HERESIES OF MANI, NESTORIUS, &c
THE CREED OF PHILOXENUS.
Apart from the evidence which may be derived from the great work of Philoxenus upon the subject of how "one Person of the Holy Trinity became incarnate and suffered for us"----a work which supplies us with the reasons for the faith which he held, we are able to form a tolerably exact opinion of what he believed in respect of the Trinity from two short but remarkable tracts of which copies have come down to us; in the first he states definitely what reply a man is to make when questioned concerning his belief 1, and in the second he anathematizes the Council of Chalcedon and the creed promulgated thereby 2.
The first document reads: ----
REPLY TO BE MADE BY A MAN WHEN QUESTIONED AS TO HIS BELIEF (Brit. Mus. MS. Add. 14,529, fol. 69b)
I believe in a Trinity, a Trinity which can neither be reduced nor diminished to Two [Persons], nor added unto so that it becometh Four [Persons]. Nothing from the fulness thereof can be diminished, neither can it receive any other person from without. Everything which is outside this Trinity hath been created, but whatsoever is contained therein hath been from everlasting. And it is adorable; nothing outside of it is to be worshipped, and within it there is nothing which |xxxii worshippeth. Outside of it there is no other God at all, neither inside of it is there a man that hath been made. It diminisheth not in its Person, neither doth it add thereunto. In it, which hath existed for ever, there never began [to exist] a Person, and there doth not pass away therefrom a Person who hath come to an end.
Now therefore, one of the Persons of this Trinity came down by the mystery of depletion, and of the Holy Virgin became man. Inasmuch as He was God, His nature was not changed in its being, and no addition to His Person took place, but He remained the Only-begotten, even after He had taken upon himself a body. For the act of coming into being did not introduce into the Only-begotten another first-born, but shewed that the firstborn of the Virgin was the Only-begotten of the Father; for He, Who was the Only-begotten through His birth from the Eternal, Himself became the firstborn by His birth of the Virgin, And since God the Word, Who is of the Virgin, is the Only-begotten, and since because He became man of the Virgin He is the firstborn, the Only-begotten is the firstborn, and the firstborn is the Only-begotten. And being Himself God, He is Son of God [and] Son of man; and Son of man [and Son of] God; Son of the Eternal [and] Son of the Virgin; Son of the Virgin [and] Son of the Eternal; the concealed revealed, and the revealed concealed; a spiritual corporeal Being, and a corporeal spiritual Being; a finite infinity; Who was upon the throne and was in the womb; Who was in the womb and was upon the throne; Son of God Son of man; Son of man Son of God; the visible invisible; the concealed |xxxiii and invisible visible; the passible impassible; the impassible passible; the dead living, and the living dead; Who being in heaven was in Sheol, and Who being in Sheol was in heaven. The Only-begotten is One Who hath no number among those who belong to heaven or among those who belong to earth, for the attributes of the Only-begotten belong to the Only-begotten, and not unto various others, as those who are in error say. For do not exalted things belong to the exalted? and lowly things to the humble? and divine qualities to God? and human attributes to man? But to the exalted one who hath been abased belong lowly things; and of the God Who became man we must believe human things; of the hidden One who became revealed must we believe all contemptible things; and to the infinite God Who of His own will became mortal man, and Who yet remained immortal God in His nature, belong suffering and death. One of the Trinity became the Only-begotten of the Father, the Word God became the Son of man by the Virgin by taking upon Himself the body of our Nature, the nature of the Word remaining unchanged, and He Himself, One God, Who was of God, suffered and died for us. And because He became the Son of Man, and remained [so] in His life and also in His death even as He continued in His unchanging and eternal Being, He was also man in His Being.
The second document reads:----
A CONFESSION OF FAITH (Brit. Mus. MS. Add. 14,529, fol. 68a)
I. We anathematize the Council of Chalcedon 3 |xxxiv because it anathematized the true Council 4 of three hundred and eighteen holy Fathers.
II. We anathematize the Council of Chalcedon because it hath acted hypocritically, and because it hath exceeded all men in wickedness----the ancients, those who come next, and those who have been in these last days; the ancients with Cyril 5 in Ephesus, those who come next with Dioscorus 6 in Ephesus,7 and those who have been in these last days in Chalcedon.
III. And we anathematize it also because it testified concerning itself and said that the canon of the Fathers commanded that anathema should be laid upon everyone who composed another faith.
IV. And we anathematize the Council of Chalcedon also because it anathematized Nestorius, although agreeing with him and with his doctrine.
V. And we anathematize the Council of Chalcedon also because it received Leo 8 the wicked, of Rome, and because it anathematized Dioscorus the confessor of the orthodox faith, who had anathematized Leo the wicked,9 and would not agree with him. |xxxv
VI. And we anathematize the Council of Chalcedon also because it received Ibas 10 and Theodoret 11 as orthodox.
VII. And we anathematize the Council of Chalcedon also because it renewed the wicked tract and called it the true belief.
VIII. And we anathematize the Council of Chalcedon also because it distinguisheth in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only-begotten Son of God, natures, and attributes, and functions, and celestial and terrestrial qualities, and Divine and human |xxxvi properties. And it considereth Him [to be] Two, and it introduceth an idea of Four, and it worshippeth an ordinary man, and in every particular it findeth Him to be a creature, even as do the Jews and heathen, and it agreeth with the wicked Nestorius who is accursed and doomed to perdition. For all these and for many other similar reasons we have anathematized and we will [always] anathematize the Council of Chalcedon.
IX. And it shall be anathematized, and heaven, and earth, and all the Church which hath been redeemed by the Blood and Resurrection of God shall say X. that there shall be a curse upon the Council of Chalcedon, and upon every one who hath agreed or agreeth therewith----except he hath already repented, or shall repent----for ever, Amen. Now the wicked Council of Chalcedon met in the days of the heathen Emperor Marcian, in the year seven hundred and sixty-three (A. D. 451).
To those who "divide our Lord" Philoxenus propounded the ten following questions 12:----
AGAINST THOSE WHO DIVIDE OUR LORD (Brit. Mus. Ms. Add. 14,597, fol. 105b).
I. If it be a demonstrable thing that Christ hath two natures, to which of them did the Virgin give birth?
II. If the Son Who was born of the Virgin was called 'Emmanuel', which of the two natures carried off that name?
III. If two natures be defined in Christ, which of the two did the Magi worship? |xxxvii
IV. When, the Holy Spirit descended upon Christ in the Jordan which nature received Him?
V. Saint Paul said, 'The weakness of God is stronger than men', and if Christ hath two natures what, weakness did God acquire?
VI. If the Cross of our Redeemer be the cleansing of our sins, and our redemption from death----that is, if we ascribe these things to the human nature of Christ----how can Isaiah be right in saying, 'Not a messenger, and not an angel, but the Lord Himself hath redeemed us'?
VII. When God said, 'This is My beloved Son', which nature did He indicate as being that upon which it is right for us to call?
VIII. When Christ took Peter, and James, and John up into a mountain and was transfigured before their eyes, which nature appeared in this glory?
IX. When the only son of the widow died and was taken to burial, which nature of Christ raised him to life again?
X. If He Who was crucified in the days of Pontius Pilate is to be worshipped rightly, not only by us, but also by the celestial hosts, doth He not receive this worship as God?
And of his uncompromising opposition to Nestorius and his followers the following brief extracts from a short tract of Philoxenus supply evidence.13
AGAINST EVERY NESTORIAN (Brit. Mus. Ms. Add. 14, 529, fol. 66b)
I. We should anathematize Nestorius, and his doctrine, and his books, and everything which hath been composed by him, and every person who hath been or is of his opinions. |xxxviii
II. We should anathematize the book of the heretics his children, and those who hold the same opinion as Nestorius and Diodorus 14 who became Bishop of Tarsus. Now Diodorus was originally a Macedonian,15 but when he had embraced the true faith and had come into the orthodox Church, he fell into the heresy of Paul of Samosata16.
III. And we should anathematize Diodorus who became a disciple of this man, and also Theodoret who became Bishop of Cyrrhus.
IV. We should accept the Henoticon which expelled all the additions and novelties which arose against the faith of the three hundred and eighteen and of the one hundred and fifty Fathers 17.
V. We should accept the Twelve Chapters which Cyril, Bishop of Alexandria, wrote against all the blasphemies of Nestorius, and which are also |xxxix written in the Henoticon; and we should anathematize every one who agreeth with them, and also every solution of them [written by] the heretics.
VI. We should anathematize every one who would divide One Christ into two natures.
VII. We should not mingle with heretics by any manner of means, by communion, or by the desire for salutation, or by the gifts which the churches are wont to make to each other, until we have truly anathematized by the Book all their doctrine, and all the works which have been made by man thereupon 18.
In another tract 19, which is divided into twenty short chapters, Philoxenus summarizes his objections to the Nestorian doctrines, the following being the chief points of dispute:----
AGAINST NESTORIUS (Brit. Mus. MS. Add. 14, 597, fol. 98b ff).
I. If God the Word be One, and His Nature [One], and no other God and no other Nature exist, why when thou comest to the word 'God' dost thou say, 'One God Who hath put on a body'? and when thou comest to the word 'natures' dost |xl not say, 'One Nature Who hath put on a body' instead of 'two natures'?
II. If God Who hath put on a body be One, His Person Who hath put on the body is also One; and if the Person of the Word Who hath put on a body be One, the Nature of the Word Who hath put on a body must also be One. Now if the Nature of the Word Who hath put on the body be One, the Word then is not two Natures, but One Nature Who hath put on a body. If He is not One Nature Who hath put on a body, neither is He One Person Who hath put on a body; and if He is not One Person of the Word Who hath put on a body, neither is He God the Word Who hath put on a body.
III. If God the Word became man in His own Person, He also became man in His Nature; and His Nature Who became man is One.
IV. If His own flesh, [that is] the Word, is not like unto all [other] created things, but it existeth in its own Person, then it must exist in its own Nature; and if in its own Nature, no other natural thing can be reckoned [with] His flesh, but the Nature of the Word which is incarnate is One.
V. If two natures of Christ exist, a Divine Nature, and a human nature, there should not be one worship for both. For if the human nature be accounted to be outside the Divine Nature, when thou worshippest the Divine Nature thou dost not worship the human nature, and if thou dost not worship it, it must be another thing, and if it be another thing it must be a created thing.
VI. If Christ be two natures then both must be |xli composite. And if composite, then simple; and if simple, then incarnate; and if incarnate, then one is in-carnate, and the other simple. What then are they?
VII. If the Word, having become incarnate, be two Natures, the Word having become incarnate must also be two Persons; but if the Person of the incarnate Word be One, the Nature of the incarnate Word must also be One, because the Person of the Word is not inferior to His Nature, for as the Nature of the Word is Godhead, even so also is the Person of the Word Godhead.
VIII. If there be a Nature Who hath individual attributes, which the Person thereof hath not, or if there be a Person Who hath individual attributes, which His Nature hath not, then the attributes of the Nature belong to His Person, and the attributes of the Person belong to His Nature. If a Person existed Whose attributes did not belong to His nature, then His Nature could not exist; and again if a Nature existed Whose attributes did not belong to His Person, then His Person could not exist. If the attributes of the Person belong to the Nature, and the attributes of the Nature belong to the Person thereof, how canst thou say that Christ is two natures?
IX. If thou sayest that Christ is two natures, a Divine Nature, and a human Nature, and One Person, and thou attributest to the Divine Person the attributes of the Divine Nature and the attributes of the human nature, how canst thou attribute terrestrial and celestial qualities to the Divine Person and yet put them away from the Divine Nature? Is the Divine Person inferior to its Divine |xlii Nature? And what His Person is is not that also His Nature?
X. And how canst thou expect me to accept that which thou sayest, 'One Person', since thou speakest also of 'two natures which run with their individual qualities and attributes and operations'; for if there be two natures how can there be One Person? Tell me: He must be either Divine or human, or the two make One Person. The Natures must be perfect or imperfect, and they have either Persons or they have not. Which nature of the two is without Person? the Divine or the human? Either one half of the Person worketh each Nature or they have two Persons like two Natures.
XI. There is not a nature without a Person, neither is there a Person without a nature. For if there are two natures, then there must also be two Persons and two Sons; for if the Person is One, then the nature is One, even as the Person is One.
XII. Tell me now: If thou dost attribute to God the Word after His Incarnation a Divine nature and a human nature, which one is the Person of flesh, and which of Godhead?
XIII. Tell me: Dost thou say that the Word of God, the Son of God, was perfect before the Incarnation of nature and Person, or not?
XIV. In the Person which hath two natures, which redeemed, and which was redeemed? Which suffered and which did not suffer? Which died and which did not die?
XV. Tell me: How canst thou say that the Word after His Incarnation is two natures and One Person? Is it a Divine Person or a human Person? Or |xliii is it a Divine and human Person? If the Person be human how is it that the nature of the Word is without a Person? And if the Person be One, Divine and human, how is that He is not One Nature, even as He is One Person?
XVI. When thou confessest two natures and One Person, how can confusion be avoided? Tell me now: Is this One Person composed of two Natures or of One? If of two, then each nature constitutes one half of the Person, and if of one then it is either a Divine nature without a Person or a human Nature. If He be Divine and human, it is One Person, and therefore Divine and human are One nature. If He be not One nature, then He is not One Person, and if He be not One Person the matter is answered.
XVII. Can a nature exist which hath attributes which attributes do not belong to His Person? or can a Person exist which hath attributes that do not belong to His nature? Either the attributes of the Person belong to His Nature, or the attributes of His Nature belong to His Person.
XVIII. If the Virgin was the God-bearer then He that was born is God. Who then is He that was born of the Virgin, Jesus Christ? If Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin and the Virgin was the God-bearer, then Jesus Christ is God, and not a man in whom God dwelt.
XIX. Since thou confessest that the Holy Virgin is the God-bearer, and that God was born of the Virgin, why dost thou seek to show that Jesus Christ is not God? For if Jesus Christ is not God then the Virgin is not the God-bearer, and |xliv how canst thou deny and at the same time say that the Virgin is the God-bearer whilst thou sayest that He that is born of her is man and not God?
XX. If she who gave birth be the God-bearer, how can He that was born be a man? But if He that was born be a man, how can she that gave birth be the God-bearer? If He that was born be another, then the mother must have served unto another, and this is ridiculous.
The writings of Philoxenus against the Nestorian creed do not, however, indicate in any way the utter abomination with which he regarded the beliefs of many other sects and their leaders who lived about his own time, and although a thorough supporter of the Monophysite doctrine would have no difficulty in scenting heresy, however carefully concealed, and wherever found, there were certainly many weak-kneed brethren who could be easily led out of the path which the zealous Philoxenus would have them tread. For the guidance of these and of newly made converts, he found it necessary to draw up a short statement of the principal tenets of the most famous heretics, and by good fortune a copy of this most interesting document has been preserved unto our times. As in the case of many other tracts of Philoxenus which are extant in a single MS. only, and which were copied a century or two after their author's death, the text, in all places, does not appear to be free from corruptions; but as to the general meaning of the composition there is no doubt whatever.
The translation is as follows:----20 |xlv
ON THE HERESIES OF MANI, NESTORIUS, &c (Brit. Mus. MS. Add. 14,529, fol. 65b).
Mânî 21, and Marcion 22, and Eutyches 23 deny the Incarnation of the Word God of the holy Virgin Mary, and they consider the mysteries of Divine dispensation to be vain imaginations and idle fancies, and they say that the Word passed through the Virgin as through a tube taking nothing at all from her. Lantînôs 24(?) and Bar-daisân 25 say that the Word brought down a body from heaven, and that the Incarnation of the Word did not take place of Mary. Apollinaris 26 considered the Incarnation of God the Word in an ignorant manner, and Ennomius 27 said, 'The Word received the body |xlvi only from Mary, and not the soul', but said he, 'divinity took the place of a soul.'
Now Diodorus 28, and Theodorus 29, and Theodoret 30, and Nestorius 31, and Irenaeus 32, and Eutherius 33, and Alexander 34, and Andrew 35, and Ibas 36, and Pût 37 (Photius?), and Cyr 38, and John 39, and Acacius 40, and Barsaumâ 414 say, 'Christ is an ordinary man, and One Who shone by reason of His good works; and God loved Him, and delivered by Him the children of men.' And they say, 'He died, and He Who dwelt in Him raised Him up again.' And they divide Him into two sons, and two natures, and two persons----one of God the Creator, |xlvii and one of man, one made and the other the Maker. Arius 42 said, 'The Son of God is a created thing', and Paul of Samosata 43 said, 'Christ is an ordinary man, like one of the Prophets and [other] righteous men.' And that addition, which took place at Chalcedon, proclaimeth a fourth Person in the Trinity, and it bringeth in Christ after the Trinity. Now the Jews say, 'This Christ Who came, and Whom the Christians worship, was a deceiver and a liar, and being a man He made Himself out to be God, that is to say, the true Christ; and while looking for the lying Christ, that is Antichrist, they will say that He is about to come.
Orthodox Christians, the children of the Holy Church, confess One Nature of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And they believe that one of the Persons of this Trinity----the second Person of the Trinity----Himself came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary, and He took from her a body, but the incarnation made no addition to His Person, for as it was a Trinity, so it remained, even after one of the Trinity, God the Word, had become incarnate. And He in very truth was born and was made manifest in the world, and He ate, and drank, and was aweary, and rested, and tasted sufferings in truth, and He was crucified, and was buried, and rose on the third day, as it is written. And by the Will of His Father, and by the Will of the Holy Spirit, He sitteth upon the everlasting throne at the right hand of His Father, and He will come |xlviii to judge the dead and the living, to Whom, and to His Holy Spirit be glory, always and for ever and ever, Amen.
[Footnotes renumbered and moved to the end]
1. 2 See Brit Mus. MS. Add. No. 14,529, fol. 69b. See page xcvi.
2. 3 See Brit. Mus. MS. Add. No. 14,529, fol. 68a. See page xcviii.
3. 1 Met A. D. 451, in the reign of the Emperor Marcian.
4. 1 I. e., the first Council of Nicaea, in Bithynia, which met A. D. 325.
5. 2 St. Cyril took an active part in the third Council of Ephesus, which met A. D. 431.
6. 3 Patriarch of Alexandria; he succeeded Cyril A. D. 444, and died at Gangra in Paphlagonia A. D. 454.
7. 4 Two Councils met at Ephesus under Dioscorus, one A. D. 447, and the other A. D. 449.
8. 5 Born about A. D. 400, became Pope A. D. 440, and died A. D. 461.
9. 6 See Mansi, Concilia, vi. 1009, 1148; and vii. 104.
10. 1 Bishop of Edessa, A. D. 435----457. When still a young man he began to translate the works of Theodore of Mop-suestia and of Diodorus into Syriac; compare [Syriac] (Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 644, col. 1 e), and [Syriac] (Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 107, col. 2, no. 3), and see B. O., i. p. 85. Because of this and of his famous letter to Mârî the Persian he was accused of supporting the views of Nestorius; the Councils of Tyre and Bêrût acquitted him, but the second Council of Ephesus, which met in 449, condemned him, and being deposed Nonnus was chosen bishop in his stead. Two years later, however, the Council of Chalcedon reinstated him, and he sat until 457, when he died. Ibas was the author of a commentary on the Book of Proverbs, certain metrical homilies, and a disputation with a heretic, all of which seem to be no longer extant. See Wright, Syriac Literature, p. 829, col. 2; Duval, Histoire d'Édesse, Paris, 1892, pp. 174, 175; and Assemânî, B. O., iii. i. 86. For translation of the Syriac version of the sessions of the Council of Ephesus see Hoffmann, Verhandhingen der Kirchenversammlung zu Ephesus, 1873; Martin, Actes dit Brigandage d'Éphèse, 1874; and Perry, The Second Synod of Ephesus, 1881.
11. 2 Bishop of Cyrrhus; he was born towards the close of the IVth century, and died about A. D. 457.
12. 1 For the text see pp. civ-cxx [note to the online text: seems in fact to be c-civ]. Many minute objections against those who maintain two natures in Christ are urged with great skill by Philoxenus in the short but very important tract the text of which is given on p. cxxi ff.
13. 1 For the text see p. cxxff.
14. 1 He flourished in the second half of the IVth century.
15. 2 I. e., he was a follower of Macedonius, Bishop of Constantinople, who flourished about the middle of the fourth century; on his heresy concerning the Holy Ghost see Socrates, Hist. Eccles. ii. 45.
16. 3 Patriarch of Antioch A. D. 260-270.
17. 4 He goes on to explain that the Henoticon ( e(nwtikon ), "that is to say 'Unifier', is so called because it brought unity "to the holy churches in every place. And it made the Egyptians also, who had been separated from the rest of the "churches from very ancient times, children of their communion". The Henoticon was the work of Acacius, Patriarch of Constantinople, and was promulgated by the Emperor Zeno in 482. The Greek text of this composition is given by Evagrius, Hist. Eccles., iii. 14; for discussions upon it see Gibbon, Decline und Fall, Chap. XLVII; and Milman, Latin Christianity, Vol. i. p. 390.
18. 1 Philoxenus adds, "Now if any man who maketh use of the art or crafty skill of heretics shall say, It is not right that those who have died whilst holding the office of bishop should be anathematized, I reply concerning those who are called Diodorus, Theodorus, and Theodoret, If the memorials of these men be not in their churches, and if their names have been removed from the divine tablets whereon are inscribed the names of Prophets, and Apostles, and Martyrs, and the orthodox Bishops, and at the head of them all is the holy Virgin Mary, the God-bearer, why should they not be anathematized by us?".
19. 2 For the text see p. cxxi ff.
20. 1 For the text see p. cxxxvi.
21. 1 I. e., Manes or Manixai=oj, who died probably in the last quarter of the IIIrd century, aged about forty years. He proclaimed himself to be the Paraclete and the Holy Ghost.
22. 2 He was born about A. D. 100, and preached the existence of two Gods.
23. 3 He was born in the second half of the IVth century.
24. 4 It is possible that Leontius the Arian, Bishop of Antioch, A. D. 348----357 is here referred to.
25. 5 Born at Edessa A. D. 154, died A. D. 222. He is famous as the author of a History of Armenia, Hypomnemata Indica, and of a number of hymns which were thought highly of in ancient days; the work [Syriac], "The Book of the Laws of Countries", which has commonly been attributed to him, was written by his disciple Philip. On his works and teachings see Merx, Bardesanes von Edessa, 1863, Hilgenfeld, Bardesanes, der letzte Gnostiker, 1864; Bar-Hebraeus, Chron. Eccles., (ed. Abbeloos) i. col. 47; the Edessene Chronicle, ed. Hallier (in Harnack's Untersuchungen), p. 90; Wright, Syriac Literature, p. 827; Duval, Histoire d'Édesse, Paris, 1892, p. 114; and Hahn, Bardesanes gnosticus Syrorum, primus hymnologus, 1819.
26. 6 Bishop of Laodicea: he was born about the middle of the IVth century, and died A. D. 392.
27. 7 Bishop of Cyzicus A. D. 360-364; he died about 392.
28. 1 Bishop of Tarsus about A. D. 379.
29. 2 Bishop of Mopsuestia, commonly called the "Expositor" [Syriac]; he was born at Antioch about the middle of the IVth century, and died about 428.
30. 3 See above, p. xxxi.
31. 4 Patriarch of Constantinople A. D. 428-431; he died in great misery about 440.
32. 5 Bishop of Tyre in the first half of the Vth century; he was a friend of Nestorius and Theodoret.
33. 6 Bishop of Tyana in the fifth century.
34. 7 Bishop of Hierapolis in the fifth century.
35. 8 I. e., Andrew, Bishop of Samosata; he died at the end of the first half of the fifth century.
36. 9 See above, p. xxxi.
37. 10 Bishop of Tyre about A. D. 448, and the friend and successor of Irenaeus.
38. 11 I. e., Cyrus, Bishop of Tyre, who flourished in the second quarter of the Vth century.
39. 12 Bishop of Antioch in the second quarter of the Vth century, and friend of Nestorius.
40. 13 Probably the Bishop of Beroea A. D. 380-436 is here referred to.
41. 14 Probably Bar-saumâ the Eutychian, who died about A. D.458.
42. 1 He was born about A. D. 250 and died about 335.
43. 2 Patriarch of Antioch A. D. 260-270.
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Philoxenus, Ascetic Discourses (1894) pp.xlviii-lxvi. List of works of Philoxenus
Philoxenus, Ascetic Discourses (1894) pp.xlviii-lxvi. List of works of Philoxenus
THE WORKS OF PHILOXENUS.
The following is a list of the works of Philoxenus preserved in London, Paris, Rome, and Oxford.
I. A literal translation of the Old and New Testaments which was completed about A.D. 508 1. This great work was completed with the assistance of the chorepiscopus, Polycarp 2, and was well received by the Jacobite church. Moses of Aggêl 3, |xlix who flourished about the middle of the VIth century refers to Philoxenus' version of the New Testament and of the Psalms as the standard work of the day 4. The British Museum MS. Add. 17,106 (foll. 74-87)5 contains portions of Isaiah (ch. xxviii. 3-17, xlii. 17-xlix. 18, and lxvi. 11-23)6, and a manuscript of the XIth or XIIth century at Rome contains the text of the Gospels; Dr. Wright was inclined to think that the Beyrût MS. described by the Rev. Isaac Hall also contained the Gospels in this version7.
II. A Commentary on the New Testament. Fragments of the Commentary on Saint Matthew are preserved in Add. 17, 126 8; Add. 14,646, fol. 202b (IXth century)9; Add. 14,613, fol. 162a (IXth or Xth century)10; Add. 17,193, fol. 97a (dated A.Gr. 1185 =A.D. 874)11; Add. 12,154, fol. 64a (VIIIth or IXth century)12; fragments of the Commentary on Saint Luke are preserved in Add. 17,126, fol. 3 8; Add. 17,267, fol. 20a (XIIIth century)13; Add. 14,727, fol. 120a |l (XIIIth century) 14; fragments of the Commentary on Saint John are preserved in Add 14,534, fol. 16a ff. (early Vlth century) 15, and in Add. 14,538, fol. 23b (Xth century) 16; and a fragment of the Commentary on 1 John v. 6 is extant in Add. 17,193, fol. 94b (dated A. Gr. 1185=A. D. 874) 17).
III. An Order of Holy Baptism, [Syriac] 18.
IV. A lesser Order of the Consecration of Water for Baptism, to be used in the case of a child who will certainly die, and cometh to be baptized, [Syriac] Add. 14,499, fol. 25a (Xth or XIth century) 19.
V. Eucharistic prayers:
(a) "When a man wisheth to draw nigh to the Holy Mysteries let him pray thus: To Thee, O Christ, the Lamb of God, I pray at this time in fear." [Syriac]
(b) "Another prayer [to be said] when a man taketh the living Body in his hands: Thee, O living God, Who hast become embodied in bread, do I bear [in my hands] 20." |li
VI. Anaphoras.
(a) Anaphora beginning: [Syriac] Add. 14,690, fol. 133a (dated A. Gr. 1493=A. D. 1182) 21.
(b) Anaphora beginning: [Syriac] Add. 17,229, fol. b (dated A. Gr. 1529 = A. D. 1218) 22; Add. 14,694, fol. 87a (XIIIth century) 23.
(c) Anaphora beginning: Add. 17,229, fol. 56a (XIIIth century) 24.
VII. An exposition on the parable of the ten talents 25.
VIII. A treatise showing that one Person of the Holy Trinity became incarnate and suffered for us. The title runs: ---- 26 [Syriac] |lii This is followed in the MS. by extracts from the treatise of an anonymous writer against Philoxenus, which caused the latter to write the above discourse: [Syriac] and after this comes a copy of the letter to the monks against which the anonymous writer composed his treatise, and a collection of extracts from the works of the Fathers which support the views of Philoxenus 27.
IX. Three Discourses on the Trinity and on the Incarnation: [Syriac]. 28
X. Thirteen Discourses on the Christian life and character: ----[Syriac].29 |liii
XI. A tract on various heresies (Manes, Marcion, Eutyches, Diodorus, Theodore of Mopsuestia, Theodoret, Nestorius, etc.), and a profession of faith: [Syriac] Add. 14, 529, fol. 65b (VIIth or VIIIth century) 30.
XII. Twelve Chapters against those who maintain two natures in Christ and one Person: [Syriac]. Add. 14,597, fol. 91a (dated A. Gr. 880=A.D. 569) 31.
XIII. Twenty Chapters against the Nestorians: [Syriac] Add. 14,597, fol. 98b.
XIV. Seven Chapters against Nestorius, Diodorus of Tarsus, Theodore of Mopsuestia, and those who hold the doctrine of two natures, and accepting the Henoticon and the twelve Chapters of Cyril: [Syriac] Add. 14,529, fol. 66b (VIIth or VIII century) 32
XV. Five Chapters against the Nestorians: [Syriac] |liv Add. 14,604, foll. 67a - 68a, and foll. 111b - 113a (VIIth century) 33.
XVI. A Discourse against the Nestorians and Eutychians: [Syriac]
XVII. A Disputation with a Nestorian scribe concerning Jesus Christ: [Syriac] 34
XVIII. Ten chapters against those who divide our Lord after His indivisible union: [Syriac] 35 Add. fol. 14,597, fol. 105b (dated A. Gr.880= A.D. 569) 36.
XIX. Seven chapters against those who say that what is bad in the doctrine of heretics should be cursed, but not the heretics themselves and their whole doctrine: [Syriac] |lv Add. 14,604, fol. 113a (VIIth century) 37.
XX. Three additional Chapters against heresies: [Syriac] Add. 14,529, fol. oa (VIIth or VIIIth century) 38.
XXI. On the Union of the two Natures; Add. 14,670, fol. 22a (VIth or VIIth century) 39.
XXII. A confession of Faith: [Syriac] Add. 17,201, fol. a (VIth or VIIth century) 40.
XXIII. A confession of Faith: [Syriac] Add. 17,216, foll. 32,33 (XIIIth century) 41.
XXIV. The Faith of Philoxenus: [Syriac] 14,621, fol.172b(datedA.Gr.1113=A.D.802) 42.
XXV. A Confession of Faith, in ten sections, directed against the Council of Chalcedon: [Syriac] Add. |lvi Add. 14,529, fol. 68a (VIIth or VIIIth century) 43.
XXVI. A Confession of Faith, beginning [Syriac] 44
XXVII. A Definition of Faith: [Syriac] 45
XXVIII. A Discourse on Faith: [Syriac] 46
XXIX. A Reply to be made by anyone, when questioned as to his belief: [Syriac] Add. 14,529, fol. 69b 47.
XXX. A Declaration of the One Nature in Christ [Syriac] 48
XXXI. On the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin: [Syriac] Add. 14,727, fol. 26a (XIIIth century) 49.
XXXII. A Discourse addressed to one who asked him, whether the Holy Ghost departs from |lvii a man when he sins, or returns to him when he repents: [Syriac] Add. 17,193, fol. 18a (dated A. Gr. 1185 = A. D. 874) 50.
XXXIII. A paraenetic discourse: [Syriac] Add. 17,206, fol. 54a (XIth or XIIth century) 51.
XXXIV. A Funeral Sermon: [Syriac] Add. 14,520, fol. 123b (VIIIth or IXth century) 52.
XXXV. A Prayer to be used when a man riseth from his couch: [Syriac] Add. 14,499, fol. 430 (Xth or XIth century) 53.
XXXVI. A penitential Prayer: [Syriac] Add. 14,621, fol.160b (dated A. Gr. 1113 = A.D. 802) 54.
XXXVII. A Prayer to be said whenever a man pleaseth: [Syriac] Add. 17,262, fol. 71b (XIIth century) 55.
XXXVIII. A Prayer: [Syriac] beginning [Syriac] Add. 14,583, fol. 178a (XIth century) 56. |lviii
XXXIX. A Prayer of Supplication 57.
XL. Prayers for the seven canonical Hours [Syriac] 58
XLI. Morning Prayer: [Syriac] 59
XLII. Terce: [Syriac] Add. 14,723, fol. 78b 60, and Add. 17,221, fol. 52b 61.
XLIII. Compline: 62 [Syriac].
XLIV. Letter to the Monks of Sënûn, concerning the Incarnation and Faith, etc., written during his second exile at Philippopolis: [Syriac] Add.14,597, fol.35b (dated A.Gr. 880 = A.D.569) 63.
XLV. Two Letters to the Monks of Teleda 64: [Syriac] |lix
XLVI. Letter to Patricius, the Edessene monk, on purity of the soul and how it may be acquired, etc.: [Syriac ]Add. 12,167, fol. 144b (dated A. Gr. 1187 = A. D. 876) 65. Other copies of this letter are extant in Add. 14,649, fol. 180a 66; Add. 14,621, fol. 39a 67; Add. 14,623, fol. 70b 68; Add. 14,580, fol. 89b 69; Add. 17,185, fol. 33a 70.
XLVII. Letter to the Monks of Amid on zeal:71 [Syriac]
XLVIII. Letter to Abraham and Orestes, Priests of Edessa, concerning Stephen bar Sudh-ailê: [Syriac] 72 |lx
XLIX. Letter to Abu Nafîr of al-Hîra on Nestorius, Theodore of Mopsuestia, Eutyches, and others: [Syriac] Add. 14,529, fol. 61a (VIIth or VIIIth century) 73.
L. Letter to the Emperor Zeno on the Incarnation of God the Word: [Syriac] 74
LI. Letter to John II. of Alexandria: [Syriac] Add. 14,670, fol. 21a (VIth or VIIth century) 75.
LII. Two Letters to the Monks of Bêth Gôgal: [Syriac]
LIII. Letter to a monk who had recently become converted: [Syriac] Add. 14,649, fol. 200b (IXth century) 76.
LIV. Letter to a disciple, on the forsaking of the world |lxi and on the monastic life: [Syriac] Add. 14,728, fol. 76b 77, and Add. 14,729, fol. 131a 78.
LV. Letter to the Christians at Arzôn 79.
LVI. Letter to a convert from Judaism: [Syriac] Add. 14,726, fol. 10a (Xth century) 80.
LVII. Letter to Maron the lector, of Anazarba: [Syriac] Add. 14,726, fol. 19b (Xth century) 81.
LVIII. Letter to one of his disciples: [Syriac] [Syriac] Add. 12,167, fol. 179b (dated A. Gr. 1187 = A.D. 876) 82, and Add 18,817, fol. 147a (XIIth century) 83.
LIX. Letter to the Recluses: [Syriac] Add. 14,577, fol.101b (IXth century) 84.
LX. Letter on the duties of the ascetic life: [Syriac] |lxii Add. 17,262, fol. 420 (XIIth century) 85.
LXI. Letter to a lawyer who had become a monk: [Syriac] Add. 12,167, fol. 278a (dated A.Gr. 1187 = A.D. 876) 86.
LXII. Letter against Habib: [Syriac].87
LXIII. Letter to Simon, the Archimandrite of Teleda ---- a fragment: [Syriac] Add. 14,533, fol. 48b (VIIIth or IXth century) 88.
LXIV. Letter to the orthodox monks in the East: [Syriac] Add. 14,533, fol. 50a 88.
LXV. Tract on Chastity ---- a fragment 89.
LXVI. The Book of Sentences ---- an extract from the fifth Chapter: [Syriac] Add. 17,191, fol.64b (IXth or Xth century) 90, and Add. 17,214, fol. 88a (VIIth century) 91.
LXVII. On the tranquillity of the convent life: [Syriac] |lxiii Add. 17,181, fol. 24b (VIth century) 92; Add. 17,173, fol. 80a (VIIth century) 93; Add. 14,604, fol. 95b (VIIth century) 94; Add. 14,617, fol. 49b (VIth or VIIth century) 95; and Add. 14,726, fol. 11b (Xth century) 96.
LXVIII. Rules for the Monastic Life: [Syriac] Add. 17,262, fol. 72a (XIIth century) 97.
LXIX. On the Fear of God----an extract: [Syriac] Add. 14,577, fol. 130a (IXth century) 98.
LXX. On Humility----an extract: [Syriac] Add. 14,582, fol. 179a 99.
LXXI. On Repentance----an extract: [Syriac] Add. 14,582, fol. 179b 99.
LXXII. On Prayer: [Syriac] Add. 14,582, foll. 181a, 182a 100; Add. 18,817, fol. 71b 101.
LXXIII. On Prayer: Add. 12,167, foll. 182b, 183a 102. |lxiv
LXXIV. On Prayer ---- two extracts Add. 14,611, fol. b 103; Add. 14,522, fol. 39a 104; Add. 14,614, fol. 70b 105; Add. 14,728, fol. 187a and b 106.
LXXV. Against passions in the soul: [Syriac] Add. 17,153, fol. 127b (VIIth century) 107.
LXXVI. On the tonsure: [Syriac]. Add. 14,613, fol. 141b 108; and Add. 17,193, fol. 83b 109.
LXXVII. On Virginity: [Syriac] Add. 17,215, fol. 43a 110.
LXXVIII. On the Quotations in the Epistles of Saint Paul: [Syriac] Add. 17,193, fol. b 111.
LXXIX. On the man who wilfully transgresseth the prohibition of the priests: [Syriac] 112.
LXXX. A hymn on the Nativity: [Syriac] 113
Extracts from the writings of Philoxenus are also found in Add. 17,173, fol. 80a; Add. 14,522, fol. 38b; |lxv Add. 14,614, fol. 70a; Add. 17,180, fol. 21a; Add. 17,178, foll. 72a, 90a; and Add. 14,538, fol. 80a 114.
TRANSLATIONS.
(a) Arabic.
I. The Discourses on Christian Life and Character 115.
II. Daily Prayers: [Syriac] 116
(b) Ethiopic.
I. A Hymn, beginning [Ethiopic] Brit Mus. MS. Orient. No. 539, fol. 218a 117.
II. A Hymn, beginning, [Ethiopic] Brit. Mus. MS. Orient. No. 594, fol. 193a 118.
III. Prayers in seven sections: [Ethiopic] Add. 19,658, fol. 41a 119.
IV. A Prayer which Christians may pray for the saving of their souls: [Ethiopic] |lxvi Brit. Mus. MS. Orient. No. 578, fol. 223a 120.
V. The first part of a Series of questions and answers on the History of the Egyptian Monks [Ethiopic] attributed to Philoxenus [Ethiopic] Brit. Mus. MSS. Orient. Nos. 759, fol. 81a, 760, fol. 40, 761, fol. a 121.
VI. Commentary on the Gospels 122.
[Footnotes renumbered and placed at the end]
1. * Compare the following from Brit. Mus. MS. Add. 7,163, fol. 35b:---- [Syriac]
2. 1 See Assemânî, B. O., ii, 23.
3. 2 The translator of the writings of Cyril of Alexandria into Syriac; he wrote after the death of Philoxenus and the chorepiscopus Polycarp, and Wright places him from about A. D. 550-570. See Wright, Syriac Literature, p. 836.
4. 1 See B. O., ii. 83; and Guidi, Rendiconti della R. Accademia dei Lincei, May and June 1886, p. 404.
5. 2 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 28.
6. 3 Edited by Ceriani, Monumenta Sacra et Profana, v. i. pp. 1-40; and see Wright, Syriac Literature, p. 825.
7. 4 Wright, Syr. Lit., p. 825.
8. 5 This MS. is dated A.Gr. 822=A. D. 511, and was therefore written before the author's death; see Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 526. col. 1; and B. O., ii. p. 19.
9. 6 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 533.
10. 7 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 813. col. 1.
11. 8 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 1001. col. 1.
12. 9 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 981. col. 2.
13. 10. See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 884. col. 2.
14. 1 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 887. col. 1.
15. 2 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 526. col. 2.
16. 3 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 1005. col. 2.
17. 4 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 989. col. 1.
18. 5 See Assemânî, B. O., ii. p. 24. col. 2.
19. 6 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 229. col. 2.
20. 7 Both these prayers are in Add. 17,125. fol. 78a (IXth or Xth century); see Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 124. col. 2.
21. 1 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 205. col. 2. Other copies exist in the Vatican (see Assemânî, B. O., ii. p. 24. col. 2), and in the Louvre (see Zotenberg, Cat. MSS. Syr., p. 48. col. 2); for a translation see Renaudot, Liturg. Orient., ii. p. 310.
22. 2 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 209. col. 2, and p. 210. col. 2. Another copy is in the Vatican (see Assemânî, B. O., ii. p. 24. col. 2).
23. 3 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 207. col. 2. Other copies are preserved in the Louvre (see Zotenberg, Cat. MSS. Syr., p. 41. col. 1, p. 42. col. 2), and for a translation see Renaudot, Liturg. Orient., ii. p. 310.
24. 4 See Wright, Cat.MSS.Syr., p. 209. col. 1.----For fragments of other anaphoras see Add. 14,736, fol. 33 (Wright, p. 210. col. 1); Add. 14,738, fol. 16a, 17a (Wright, p. 212, col. 2); Payne Smith, Cat. Codd. MSS.Bibl.Bodl., Oxford, 1864, col. 230; and see Zotenberg, Cat. MSS. Syr., p. 51. col. 1, p. 52. col. 1.
25. 5 See Payne Smith, Cat. Codd. MSS., Bibl. Bodl., col. 469.
26. 1 A copy of this most important work is preserved in the Vatican (see B. O., ii. p. 27), and the title runs [Syriac] This MS. is dated 564.
27. 2 All the above are found in Add. 12,164, foll, b-135a (VIth century); see Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 527. col. 1. Extracts from the Discourses of Philoxenus on the Incarnation of our Lord are preserved in Add. 14,663, fol. 9a f. (VIth or VIIth century); see Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 692. col. 1.
28. 3 See B. O., ii. p. 25. col. 1.
29. 4 See Zotenberg, Cat. MSS. Syr., pp. 149, 150. Nineteen MSS. in the British Museum contain these Discourses, in whole or in part; a list of them is given and their contents are tabulated on pp. xciv, xcv. An Arabic translation of the Discourses was made by one Moses, which seems to be extant in one MS. only: see Zotenberg, Cat. MSS. Syr., p. 194. col. 2, p. 195. col. 1.
30. 1 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 920. See also Zotenberg, Cat. MSS. Syr., p. 75. col. 1.
31. 2 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 649. col. 1. An extract from this work is preserved in Add. 17,201. fol. 14a (VIth or VIIth century); see Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 690. col. 2.
32. 3 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 920. col. 1.
33. 1 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS.} p. 724. col. 2.
34. 2 See B. O., ii. p. 45. col. 2. Portions of this treatise are also found in Add. 14,628, foll. 9-20 (VIth or VIIth century); see Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 533, col. 1, where it is described as a dialogue between the Church and a Nestorian.
35. 3 See B. O., ii. p. 45. col. 2. No. 16.
36. 4 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 648.
37. 1 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 726. col. 1.
38. 2 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 920. col. 2.
39. 3 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 691. col. 1.
40. 4 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 690. col. 1.
41. 5 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 533. col. 2.
42. 6 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 759. col. 2. Compare the [Syriac] described by Payne Smith, Cat. Codd. MSS., col. 463.
43. 1 See Wright, Cat. MSS. Syr., p. 920. col. 1. For another Confession of Faith see B. O., ii. p. 33. col. 2.
44. 2 See Zotenberg, Cat. MSS. Syr., p. 75. col 1.
45. 3 See Zotenberg, Cat. MSS. Syr., p. 117. col. 2.
46. 4 See Assemânî, B. O., ii. p. 45. col. 2.
47. 5 See Wright, Cat. MSS. Syr., p. 920. col. 2. For extract from a tract upon Faith by Philoxenus, see Add. 17,206, fol. 30 b (Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 859. col. 2).
48. 6 See Zotenberg, Cat. MSS. Syr., p. 75. col. 1.
49. 7 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 887. col. 1.
50. 1 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 993. col. 1.
51. 2 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 860. col. 1.
52. 3 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 364. col. 2.
53. 4 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 229. col. 2.
54. 5 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 758. col. 1.
55. 6 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 868. col. 2.
56. 7 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 1078. col. 1.
57. 1 See Zotenberg, Cat. MSS. Syr., p. 125. col. 1.
58. 2 See Zotenberg, Cat. MSS. Syr., p. 69. col. 2. Compare also [Syriac] Zotenberg, Cat. MSS. Syr., p. 123. col. 2; and [Syriac] in Zotenberg, Cat. MSS. Syr., p. 6. col. 2.
59. 3 See Zotenberg, Cat. MSS. Syr., p. 124. col. 2.
60. 4 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 144. col. 2.
61. 5 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 145. col. 2; and Zotenberg, Cat. MSS. Syr., p. 124. col. 2.
62. 6 See Payne Smith, Cat. Codd. MSS. Bibl. Bodl., col. 65.
63. 7 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 649. col. 1; and Assemânî, B. O., ii. p. 38.
64. 8 See B. O., ii. p. 37. col. 2. An extract of one of these letters is extant in Add. 14,663, fol. 10b; see Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 692. col. 1, and the whole letter has been edited by Guidi, La Letter a di Filosseno ai Monad di Tell 'Adda, R. Accademia del Lincei, 1884-85, Rome, 1886.
65. 1 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 769. col. 2. In B. 0., ii. p. 46. col. i. the heading runs: [Syriac]
66. 2 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 533. col. 1.
67. 3 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., fol. 39a.
68. 4 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 765. col. 2.
69. 5 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 768. col. 1.
70. 6 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 838. col. 2.
71. 7 See B. O., ii. p. 37. col. 1; Cat. Bibl. Vat., iii. p. 176. No. 25; and Zotenberg, Cat. MSS. Syr., p. 26. col. 1. An extract from this letter is found in Add. 17,193, fol. 69b; see Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 997. col. 1.
72. 1 See B. O., ii. p. 30. col. 2; and Frothingham, Stephen bar Sudaili.
73. 2 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 920. col. 1; extracts from this letter are preserved in Add. 17,193, fol. 83 a, and Add. 17,134, fol. b (See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., pp. 338, 998). This letter has been published by Martin, Grammatica Chrestomathia, p. 71.
74. 3 See B. O., ii. p. 34. col. 2.
75. 4 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 691. col. 1. 5 See B. O., ii. p. 35. col. 2.
76. 6 See B. O., ii. p. 46, 1.; Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 533. col. 2; p. 741. col. 1; p. 787. col. 2.
77. 1 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 876. col. 1.
78. 2 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 874. col. 2.
79. 3 See B. O., ii. p. 46. 1.
80. 4 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 828. col. 2. #
81. 5 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 829 col. 1.
82. 6 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 771, col. 2.
83. 7 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 806. col. 1.
84. 8 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 787. col. 1. For extracts see Add. 14,601, fol. a, Add. 14,613, fol. 140b (Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., pp. 789, 812).
85. 1 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 868. col. 1.
86. 2 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 773. col. 2.
87. 3 See B. O., ii. p. 45. col. 2. No. 18.
88. 4 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 969. col. 1.
89. 5 See B. O., ii. p. 46. col. 1. No. 22.
90. 6 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 1014. col. 2.
91. 7 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 917. col. 2.
92. 1 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., 9.665. col. 1.
93. 2 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 726. col. 1.
94. 3 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 725. col. 1.
95. 4 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 741. col. 1.
96. 5 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 829. col. 1.
97. 6 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 868. col. 2.
98. 7 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 788. col. 2.
99. 8 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 694. col. 2; Add. 18,817, fol. 70a (Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 804. col. 2); Add. 14,522, fol. 37a (Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 831. col. 2); Add. 14,614, fol. 69a (Wright, Cat. Syr, MSS., p. 832. col. 2); Add. 17,180, foll. 20a, 21 a (Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 852. col. 2); Add. 14,728, fol. 185a (Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 884. col. 1).
100. 9 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 694. col. 2.
101. 10 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 804. col. 2; and p. 852. col. 2.
102. 11 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., pp. 771, 772.
103. 1 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 824. col. 1.
104. 2 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 831. col. 2.
105. 3 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 833. col. 1.
106. 4 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 884. col. 1.
107. 5 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 728. col. 1.
108. 6 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 812. col. 2.
109. 7 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 999. col. 2.
110. 8 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 840. col. 1.
111. 9 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 990. col. 1.
112. 10 See B. O., ii. p. 46. col. 1. No, 23.
113. 11 See Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., pp. 727, 831, 832, 852, 855, 856, and 1007.
114. 1 See B. O., ii. p. 46. col. 1. No. 24. This hymn is also attributed to John bar-Aphthôn---- [Syriac]
115. 2 Seven of these, translated by one Moses, are preserved in a manuscript in the Bibliothèque Nationale; see Zotenberg, Cat. MSS. Syr., pp. 194, 195.
116. 3 See Zotenberg, Cat. MSS. Syr., pp. 125. col. i, 126. col. 2. An Arabic version of the prayers of the seven canonical hours is preserved in the Vatican (B. O., ii. p. 24. col. 2), and in the Bodleian we have [Arabic] (Payne Smith, Cat. Codd. MSS. Bibl. Bodl., col. 479).
117. 4 See Wright, Cat. Ethiopic MSS., p. 78. col. 2.
118. 5 See Wright, Cat. Ethiopic MSS., p. 109. col. 1.
119. 6 See Wright, Cat. Ethiopic MSS., p. 110a.
120. 1 See Wright, Cat. Ethiopic MSS., p. 122. col. 1; see also the index to Zotenberg, Cat. MSS. Éthiopiens, s. v. Philoxène.
121. 2 See Wright, Cat. Ethiopic MSS., pp. 177, 178.
122. 3 This is quoted in Orient. No. 736, foll. 36b, 41 b, and 54a (see Wright, Cat. Ethiopic MSS., p. 202. col. I; and see Dillmann, Cat. Codd. MSS. Orient, qui in Museo Britannica asservantur, London, 1847 p. 11. col. 2).
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Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
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Philoxenus, Ascetic Discourses (1894) pp.lxvi-lxxiii. The Manuscripts of the Discourses of Philoxenus
Philoxenus, Ascetic Discourses (1894) pp.lxvi-lxxiii. The Manuscripts of the Discourses of Philoxenus
THE MANUSCRIPTS OF THE DISCOURSES OF PHILOXENUS.
The text of the Discourses of Philoxenus on Christian Life and Character as contained in Volume 1 is edited from eight MSS. preserved in the British Museum; they are indicated by the letters A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H respectively. The MS. A, numbered Add. 14,598 (see Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., 731. col. 1 f) contains the whole thirteen Discourses of Philoxenus. It is made up of parts of two manuscripts. The first part consists of 152 vellum leaves measuring 97| x 61|2 in., and the second of 196 leaves; the first part is written in a good |lxvii hand of the VIIth century, and the second in a clear, bold hand of the IXth century. In each part there are two columns to a page, but in the former there are 31 lines in the column, and in the latter 36. The leaves of the first part were numbered with roughly written Coptic letters some centuries after they were written; in many places throughout the MS. the leather is becoming gelatinized. The headings and colophons of the discourses are written in red. From many of the leaves the ink on one side is rubbed off, and nothing but the scratch of the pen remains to shew where the writing has been. Quotations are indicated by marks on the margin which serve the purpose of inverted commas in modern books, and the source, or author, or subject of the quotation is often noted on the side of the column wherein it occurs; e. g., nwYlGNw) (fol. b), [Syriac] (fol. 18b), [Syriac] (fol. 21b), [Syriac] (fol. 22a), (fol. 35a),[Syriac] (fol. 35b),[Syriac] (fol. 35b), [Syriac] (fol. 41b), [Syriac] (fol. 43a), [Syriac] (fol.43b), [Syriac] (fol. 44a), [Syriac] (fol. 50b), [Syriac] (fol. 55b), [Syriac] (fol. 40a), [Syriac] (fol. 88b), [Syriac] (fol. 90b), [Syriac] (fol. 32b). In several places (e. g., foll. 103b, 106b, 107b, 110b, 118b) throughout the MS. the word LKtS) is written. On fol. 13a is written: [Syriac] and on fol. 190; we find the words [Syriac], and on fol. 105a [Syriac]. In many places portions of sentences and remarks by readers are written, e. g., [Syriac] (fol. 51a); [Syriac] (fol. 67a); [Syriac] (fol. 77b); |lxviii [Syriac] (fol. 81b); [Syriac] (fol. 96a) [Syriac] (fol. 96b). On fol. 227b there is a small design in outline, and on fol. 321a, a drawing of a man in black and red. In the first portion of the MS. the running title of the Discourses is [Syriac] and in the second either this or [Syriac] (fol. 205a).
On fol. 239b is a note by David of Mar'ash, who informs us that he has read the book, and who prays that Christ may forgive the sins of anyone who shall pray for him [Syriac] and on fol. 250a is added [Syriac] "May God shew compassion on every one who readeth".
On fol. 183a, written between the end of the Xth Discourse of Philoxenus and the beginning of the XIth, is the [Syriac] or "Revelation" of Gregory Thaumaturgus,1 which reads: ---- [Syriac] |lxix "[There is] one God, the Father of the Living Word, and of the Wisdom which subsisteth, and of His Power and of His Image, Perfect One, the begetter of a Perfect One, and Father of the only-begotten Son. And [there is] One Lord, One Who [sprang] from One, God of God, the Image and Form of Godhead; the Living Word, the Wisdom which is the sustainer of all, and the Power and Creator of all Creation; true Son of the true One, Invisible of Invisible, Incorruptible of Incorruptible, Immortal of Immortal, and Eternal of Eternal. And [there is] one Holy Spirit, Who is of God, and Who is revealed, that is, to mankind, through the Son, perfect Image of the Son, perfect Life which is the Cause of life, the holy One, the Giver of holiness, through Whom is made known God the Father, Who is over all and in all; and God the Son, Who is through all. A perfect Trinity undivided and not alien in glory, or eternity, or royalty. There is then nothing which hath been created or which hath been made subject in the Trinity; and likewise there is nothing which hath been added newly thereunto, which as if not having existed formerly |lxx was added afterwards. Never at any time was the Father without the Son, nor the Son without the Spirit, but the Trinity existeth everlastingly unchangeable and unalterable".
The Discourses of Philoxenus end on fol. 273a, col. 1.2
The MS. B, numbered Add. 14,595 (see Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 530, col. 1) contains the last six of the Discourses. It consists of 184 vellum leaves measuring 101|2 X 6 1|2 in., and each page is divided into two columns of from 30 - 37 lines. The MS. is written in a good hand of the VIth century. The last words of the last Discourse are written incompletely, in a late hand, at the foot of fol. 184b.
The MS. C, numbered Add. 12,163 (see Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 529, col. 1) contains the first nine of the Discourses. It consists of 126 vellum leaves measuring 97|8 x 61|4 in., and each page is divided into two columns of from 36 - 38 lines. The MS. is written in a good hand of the VIth century. The colophon reads: [Syriac]
The MS. D, numbered Add. 17,153 (see Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 531, col. 1) contains the first nine of the Discourses. It consists of 99 vellum leaves measuring 10 1/2 x 61|2 in., and each page is divided into two columns of from 34 - 41 lines. The greater part of the MS. is written in a good, bold hand of the VIth century, upon the fine skin which is characteristic of the period, but two quires (foll. 1 - 9, and 40 - 49) are written on thin, poor skin in a hand of the IXth |lxxi century. Here and there passages have been retouched, probably by the same hand. The titles are in red, and quotations are indicated by marks on the margin. The running title is [Syriac] When complete the MS. probably contained the whole thirteen Discourses.
The MS. E, numbered Add. 14,596 (see Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 531, col. 2) contains the th, th, th, 9th, 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th Discourses; all are imperfect. It consists of 103 vellum leaves measuring 10 x 61|2 in., and each page is divided into two columns of from 40 - 45 lines. The MS. was written by two scribes, the work of the first being foll. 1 - 43, and that of the second foil. 44 ---- 103. The running title is [Syriac], at the foot on fol. 59b is a rectangular, interlaced design coloured red and green. The MS. is written in a good hand of the VIth or VIIth century, and when complete contained the whole thirteen Discourses.
The MS. F, numbered Add. 14,625 (see Wright, Cat: Syr. MSS., p. 532, col. 1) contains the th, th, 10th and 11th Discourses complete, and parts of the nd, th, th, th, 9th, 12th and 13th Discourses. It consists of 144 vellum leaves measuring 115|8 x 9 in., and each page is divided into two columns of from 30 - 34 lines; the MS. is written in a good hand of the Xth or XIth century. The titles of the Discourses are enclosed in rectangular coloured borders of interlaced work, and the first and last leaf of each quire are ornamented with coloured designs somewhat similar to those found in Coptic MSS. of the Xth century. The MS. was, no doubt, written in Egypt, and the original from which the scribe copied must have been a very good MS. |lxxii
The MS. G, numbered Add. 14,601 (see Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 790, col. 2), contains the 12th Discourse (fol. 105b), and is written in a good hand of the IXth century. It consists of 182 vellum leaves measuring 123|4 x 91|2 in., and each page is divided into two columns of from 38-50 lines.
The MS. H, numbered Add. 14,621 (see Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 756, col. 2), contains the 9th and 11 th Discourses, both of which are, however, imperfect at the beginning. It consists of 172 vellum leaves measuring 11 x 7 1|2 in., and each page is divided into two columns of from 32-38 lines; the name of the scribe was George, and he finished his work A. Gr. 1113 = A. D. 802 (see fol. 171b).
A copy of the th Discourse is found in Add. 14,611 (see Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 826, col. 1), which we may attribute to the Xth century, and an imperfect. VIIIth century copy of the 13th Discourse exists in Add. 12,170 (see Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 747, col. 1).
An extract from the th Discourse is found in Add. 14,612 (VIth or VIIth century, see Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 699, col. 1); an extract from the th Discourse is found in Add. 12,170 (VIIIth or IXth century, see Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 747, col. i); extracts from the 9th Discourse are found in Add. 14,577 (IXth century, see Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 785, col. 1) and in Add. 17,185 (Xth or XIth century, see Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 838, col. 1); an extract from the 11th Discourse is found in Add. 17,185 (see Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 838, col. 1); an extract from the 12th Discourse is found in Add. 14,582 (dated A. Gr. 1127 = A.D. 816, see Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 694, col. 2); and extracts from the 13th Discourse are found in Add. 17,185 |lxxiii (Xth or XIth century, see Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 838, col. 1), Add. 14,522 (Xth century, see Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 831, col. 2), Add. 14,614 (XIth century, see Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 832, col. 2), and Add. 14,728 (XIIIth century, see Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 884, col. 1).
[Footnotes renumbered and placed at the end]
1. 1 Born at Neocaesarea about A. D. 210.
2. 1 For the other contents of the MS. A. see Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS., p. 732.
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Philoxenus, Ascetic Discourses (1894) pp.lxxiii-xciii. Summary of the Discourses of Philoxenus
Philoxenus, Ascetic Discourses (1894) pp.lxxiii-xciii. Summary of the Discourses of Philoxenus
THE DISCOURSES OF PHILOXENUS.
Of the period in the life of Philoxenus when the Discourses were written we know nothing, but if we may judge from the fact that all the quotations are taken from the Péshîttâ it must have been before he published his translation of the Bible at Mabbogh in 508. And if we take into consideration the large amount of time which even a rapid worker like Philoxenus would take to perform this difficult task, and add to it the fact that complete copies of the Discourses existed in the monasteries of the Natron Valley in Egypt already in the early part of the sixth century, wherein he is described as Bishop of Mabbogh, it is pretty certain that they were written some years after 485, the year in which he was ordained bishop, and before the close of the Vth century. Without doubt the thirteen Discourses form a whole and connected work, but it seems that they were frequently divided into two volumes; the first volume contained the first nine, and the second volume the last four of the Discourses. It is nowhere said or even hinted by Philoxenus, but it seems very probable that he intended |lxxiv his Discourses to be a supplement to the twenty-two Homilies which Aphrahat or Farhâd [?some script?] (in Greek 'Afraa&thj) composed between the years 337-345.1 Aphrahat or Aphraates wrote Homilies on Faith, Love, Fasting, Prayer, Humility, Wars, the Children of the Covenant, Circumcision, Virginity and Holiness, and upon the subjects which vexed the souls of believers in his day, such as the Resurrection of the Dead, the Sabbath, Easter, and the like, but they, in many places, consist of long strings of Bible quotations, of which about 1135 occur in the work, which is less in length by about one quarter than the Discourses of Philoxenus, and the polemical nature of certain sections is evident. Much of the ground covered by Aphraates is gone over by Philoxenus, and though he never scruples to declare his belief openly, it is stated with a gentleness which, if we only had the accounts of his. theological opponents whereon to rely, we should believe to be quite foreign to his nature. The thought of Aphraates is clear and his language simple, but Philoxenus was a clearer and deeper thinker and, in addition, a closer reasoner than Aphraates, and we see in the Discourses how easily his marvellous command over the Syriac language enabled him to express shades of thought and meaning for which we may look in vain in the writings of Aphraates. The description of motives and the part which they play in the Christian life is given by Philoxenus with a minute fulness not found in Aphraates, but this is partly due to the fact |lxxv that Philoxenus addressed himself chiefly to ascetics. That the reader may be able to judge for himself of the manner in which each of these distinguished Syrian writers treated the same subject, the one, Philoxenus, writing about one hundred and fifty years after the other, a translation of the first homily of Aphraates, that on Faith, has been given at the end of this Introduction, p. clxxvff.; the following brief summary will show the plan of the argument in the Discourses of Philoxenus.
THE PROLOGUE.
The man who would lead the Christian life rightly must lay a good and firm foundation so that the edifice of his character may not be moved; he must hear the Word and obey it, for if he heareth the Word and obeyeth it not he is like unto a dead man. The disciple must have the remembrance of his Master fixed in his soul, and he must meditate upon it day and night, and "Jesus Christ our God" must be the foundation upon which the foundation of his building of spiritual life must be laid. Farmers know when to sow and plant, and when to reap and gather in fruit, even so must the spiritual farmer know where to begin in his labours and where to end; and a man must learn before he can teach. The lusts which fight against man in every period of his life are well known and easily recognized, but he must learn what to do to overcome in the war of the passions of the soul which ariseth after the conquest of the lusts of the body, and which forces itself into his inmost thoughts. He must |lxxvi learn to feel each sensation of victory and defeat, and to recognize the cause and origin of the lusts which come upon him in public and in solitude. He must learn what is poverty, what commandments to keep, what power is derived from the virtues, how to fast, how to quench passions, how to pray, how to avoid heretics and worldly converse, and how to recognize what constituteth the fasting and the contemplation which belong to the body, soul, and spirit. If a man would put on Christ he must put off the world absolutely, and he must do this when he is young and before the world hath exhausted his soul's power, for new wine must be put into new bottles, and both will be preserved. We must be physicians to ourselves and to each other, and the word of God must be our medicine; for every passion of sin this containeth an antidote (see p. 19-21). When a man hath subdued all passions and lusts he can say, "Yet I live; and yet no longer I, but Christ liveth in me."
THE SECOND AND THIRD DISCOURSES----ON FAITH.
A man must first lay hold on the faith which maketh certain that God is, and which enquireth not, and which requireth neither proofs nor testimonies. The pot cannot chide the potter that made it, and a man hath no power to chide God, Who is too great to be investigated by the thoughts; His Nature is inscrutable, as also are His deeds and actions. The man who would draw nigh to God must first believe that He is, and if he do so he must draw nigh like a child to |lxxvii his father; that we might come as children we were born a second time in baptism. Christ proclaimed His kingdom, seek not to search out the manner thereof: thou art called upon only to inherit it, and not to make or to build it. The disciple's duty is to keep the law of the kingdom. God is from everlasting and world without end, He existeth of Himself, and is self-derived; He is not One Person but a self-existent Nature which is believed and confessed in Three Persons. Christ the begotten cannot be separated from Him that begot, but the Father with the Son is everlastingly and eternally of like nature with the Holy Spirit. That these exist is all the disciple needs to know; all else is accepted by faith, without which the natural hearing could not bear the hearing of the things which are spoken about the Three Persons. Faith maketh us to believe in spiritual natures and orders of celestial beings, and to harmonize the different statements about them; our instruction is established by faith, and the whole world of the spirit existeth to us by faith. Without faith the Eternal God would not exist, and faith maketh things which are not to come into being for us. Christ gave us faith first that we might perceive Him, and faith is the tongue of God, and the command of the Creator; it will move mountains and do all things, and it was the source of the power of the Prophets of old. Christ made faith the foundation of His Church to teach all men to make it the foundation of their spiritual life. Fasting, benevolence, the life of the Nazarite and ascetic, humility and everything else are nothing but mere shadows without faith; faith is everything, for faith is sufficient to be everything. Wisdom was with God when He made the heavens and the earth, but |lxxviii in His new creation of baptism faith was His helpmeet; without faith baptism is water only and the Mysteries are wine and bread only. Knowledge cannot occupy the place of faith which cannot be described by the tongue. The Mysteries looked upon with faith become the Body, and Blood, and Spirit of the Only One, and the power of Christ By faith the bodies of the dead saints become living men, and through the revelation of itself to the dead body it hopeth to receive from the Giver what it lacketh. Without faith everything written in the Scriptures becometh a He; it needeth not sight, nor feeling, nor signs, nor wonders, nor arguments, nor testimonies, but the Word of God only. Without faith no righteous man ever pleased God; faith gave us birth and faith is our mother. Faith glorifieth our poverty, it magnifieth the services of the Church, and by it we see the treasures which are laid up in heaven whilst yet we are here upon earth. Faith must be the cause of our forsaking the world, and let faith be to the soul what the eye is to the body; we must cast away the garment of error of the things of this world by faith, but let us take heed that we change not our faith.
THE FOURTH AND FIFTH DISCOURSES----ON SIMPLICITY.
To us hath God given the true faith in His Gospel, but we must be obedient thereunto with simplicity, like the saints of old. Man cannot understand everything and a child hath not the power to receive the deep |lxxix things of the world; so likewise only by faith and simplicity can we understand the Mysteries. Abraham, the Apostles, and Zacchaeus are examples to us of simple belief, and these good men must we emulate; God Himself is called simple, and let us deserve that name. Saint Paul was a fool to the wisdom of the world, but by his knowledge he possessed the wisdom which is above the world. Simplicity is older than faith because faith is the daughter thereof. John the Baptist and all those who lived in the desert were simple folk, hence God led the children of Israel in the wilderness for forty years; those who were destroyed by the pestilence in the wilderness were the people of the former generation which had been corrupted in Egypt, and not those who had grown up in the wilderness. Moses, Joshua, David, Eli, Abel, and Paul are types of simple believers, and the Pharisees and Sadducees represent the cunning and crafty men of this world. Therefore to faith add simplicity from which is born the abundance of the spiritual mind, for without it no virtue can be cultivated; simplicity is the riches of Christ, and craftiness is the possession of the Calumniator. The man who would gratify his passions must become cunning, for only with the knowledge which ariseth therefrom can he find means to cover his wickedness. The life of Jesus is the type of simplicity, and if simplicity were removed therefrom, that life would be destroyed. Craftiness is to the disciple even as the converse with a harlot, and in it are deceit, falsehood, calumny, error, and prevarication; destruction is its friend, adultery and fornication are its friends, and it is the mother of deceit and lies; it is the strong tower of sin wherein all the wicked hide. Let the |lxxx disciple, then, rejoice in the names "simple" and "child", for they proclaim his innocency and freedom from guile. Simplicity lis the field which bringeth forth all virtues, but craftiness is the ground cumbered with brambles and briars. Christ rejected the crafty and chose the ignorant and innocent; the Apostles were a band of simple men, and the opposites in every way of men like Caiaphas and Annas. Without innocency and simplicity no man can enter the kingdom of Christ, Who loved the innocency of children; Jesus Himself was hated because of His simplicity. Faith honoureth simplicity, and even the nobles of this world love it. Take heed to the prophet Isaiah who likened Christ to a simple lamb, and observe how He endured all things silently and did not forsake simplicity; David feigned himself mad to save his life, how much more then must a man sacrifice everything to preserve his spiritual life? The simple mind must not meddle in worldly affairs which it cannot understand without craft and guile; grieve not because thou understandest not the crafts of the world, for the knowledge of the things of the Spirit is our handicraft. The man ignorant of a worldly trade loseth worldly advantage, but the disciple ignorant of Christ's teaching loseth the kingdom of God. Rejoice in simplicity which is pleasing to God and to man, for simplicity of nature is the beginning of the path of the doctrine of Christ, and purity of spirit is the end of the path of righteousness. The simple man influenceth those who are near him, and his dwelling is a peaceful place of rest. We must endeavour to be like unto the disciples through whose simplicity Jesus triumphed. |lxxxi
THE SIXTH AND SEVENTH DISCOURSES----ON THE FEAR OF GOD.
When a man hath laid hold upon faith, which is born of simplicity of nature, the fear of God is stirred up in him, and this fear protecteth him from all evil things, and is as a wall round about him. If a man hath faith he will have fear also, and faith is like an eye which seeth what evil things exist and warneth the soul to be afraid. The remembrance of God is the life of the soul, and the fear of God is a shield against all wickedness, for if man hath it not he cannot remember God. Whosoever is conscious of sin must increase his fear of God, and he must meditate upon it always. When the eyes of the body are opened light entereth through the eyes, and when the fear of God shineth into the mind it rouseth in him consciousness of sin. The man who liveth in the remembrance of God is filled with fear whenever a common movement of lust passeth over his soul. The fear and shame of men preserve the body from lusts, but only the fear and shame of God can preserve the soul from evil things; therefore a man should hedge himself about with a wall of the fear of God. Be ashamed before God inwardly and thy soul shall be pure, have the fear of Him always before thee and thou shalt be kept from sin; until thou forgettest God thou canst not sin. A naked man is ashamed when looked upon by anyone, even so is the sinful soul ashamed when looked upon by God. Whoso keepeth God's commandments through fear of Him is a true servant, but the labours which are visible are not sufficient to prove a man to be a true fearer of God. Tribulations may train the body, but they cannot cleanse |lxxxii the understanding from sinful motions, and they do not of themselves make the soul to fear God, and the labours of the body are not justified without the service of the soul. Servants fear their earthly masters, then how much more should the disciple fear the Everlasting King? Let thy outer man and thy inner man fear God wholly, for God observeth thee always, and His eyes are ten thousand times brighter than the Sun, and. the walls and roof of thy house cannot screen thee from Him. It is easier to sin in thought than in deed, and to guard against this facility for sin, a man must possess the fear of God which must be swifter than the motion of his thoughts. The fear of God may be called the "guard-house of virtues", for it giveth alms, it quencheth lust, it purifieth the thoughts, it driveth what is hateful from the mind, and it is a shield against all abominable things. Fear is also a schoolmaster to remind a man of what he hath received, and the prophet Jeremiah rebuked those who had cast off the yoke of fear. By fear let us make fear of none effect, and by death let us vanquish death; for the man who is always mindful of the hour of death will not run into sin readily.
The path of the Christian life hath been trodden smooth by the example of the holy men of old, and their foot-marks are, like the sign-posts and mile-stones of a natural road, set to mark out the way for us. The spiritual life is like the ladder which was prefigured by God to Jacob, and we must ascend it step by step, in fitting order; the first step is faith, the second simplicity, and the third the fear of God. But fear is of two kinds; the fear of a slave and the fear of a friend. The Prophets feared as friends of God and the Jews |lxxxiii as slaves. God must be feared, and we ought to fear Him either because we have sinned, or that we may not sin; and who can contemplate our great God suitably? and who would not be afraid to grieve Him? Whoso feareth God loveth Him, and whoso standeth in perfect love standeth in God. The fear of God is the beginning of the path of the spiritual life, and love is the end thereof. From the Prophets of old it is clear that God demands fear from man, and all His revelations in olden time were of fear; nature feareth Him, and man must likewise. When a man feareth not God he feareth everything else, but if the fear of God be in him, there is no room for the fear of other things to enter therein, for a vessel cannot be full of two different things at the same time.
THE EIGHTH AND NINTH DISCOURSES-ON POVERTY.
Those who live in the world may become justified, but they cannot become perfect, and Christ set grades and steps in His commandments and doctrine for the benefit of those who would follow His footsteps according to their power. The end of the path of righteousness is absolute poverty, for so long as a man possesseth human wealth he cannot follow the heavenly path; he cannot serve God and Mammon. A rich man may be justified, but he cannot become perfect or care wholly for God so long as he keepeth his riches. The rich man is poor spiritually, and the poor man is rich. The proof of this is the absolute poverty of Christ and of His disciples, for He made them to forsake |lxxxiv everything for His sake, and He sent them out to preach His Gospel in absolute poverty; the very fact of being called to be a Christian indicates self-denial and poverty. The disciple is known by his works; if thou art destitute then art thou like unto thy God Christ. The righteous stand on a lower level than the perfect; the former fear sin for some reason, but the latter fear it for its own sake. Christ fulfilled all that the law demanded, but He did not give up His own power as God; when He was baptized He had attained unto the limit of the righteousness of the law, but from that time to the Crucifixion He was spiritually perfect. The righteousness of the law is to labour in good works, but spiritual perfection is that which Christ taught between the times of His baptism and Crucifixion. Christ going forth to the wilderness is an excellent example of the doctrine of poverty; let us go forth from the world with nothing but our spiritual armour. When a man embraceth absolute poverty he goeth forth from the world; and by baptism he putteth on the new man, and casteth off the bondage of sin. Poverty is a light thing to those who possess it, and when our Lord lifted riches from the backs of His disciples He lifted from off them a heavy yoke. A man cannot bear the yoke of Christ and the yoke of the world, and all the saints of old who have followed in His steps have abandoned the world utterly. When Christ went forth to the desert He gained freedom, and a man in putting off the world gaineth freedom. The disciple hath two baptisms, one of water, and one of his own freewill; when he hath gone forth from the world devils will be gathered together against him, but he shall overcome them all and make his way through them, even as the Israelites |lxxxv passed through the sea, for the Lord shall fight for him. The disciple will find help in the contemplation of the life of John the Baptist who received the Spirit before he was born, and was an example of absolute poverty. The disciple must also take heed that his discipleship be not for vainglory or for pleasure, and he should not begin to walk in the path of spiritual life unless he is determined to finish in it; whoso hath not made a promise is free, but whoso hath promised is bound. Christ had no home, no shelter and no possessions, and like Him must the disciple be; he must leave everything and follow Him. Moreover the spiritual life will not mingle with the wealth of the world, for if new wine be put into old bottles, the skins burst and the wine is wasted; turn not behind thee, and remember the fate of Lot's wife. Go forth, then, like the Apostles, renew thy spiritual life daily, and let the words, "We have left everything, and have followed Thee", be the motto of thy life. The promise that we shall be heirs of Christ, that our body of humility shall be changed into a spiritual body, and that we shall be glorified with Christ should wake up even a dead body. Ask not what manner of riches thou wilt receive in heaven in exchange for thy poverty here, for no words can describe them. Six things must a man do to arrive at the perfection of Christ: he must depart from evil and not do evil things, he must obey the law, he must do good deeds, he must set out on the path of the spiritual life, he must bear labours and endure sufferings, and he must carry his cross upon his shoulders. A man is born three times; his first birth is from the womb into creation, his second from bondage into freedom, and his third from the carnal into the spiritual |lxxxvi life. The living motions of the spiritually perfect cannot be described by mortal tongue, and their state is the end of the spiritual life.
THE TENTH DISCOURSE----ON THE LUST OF THE BELLY.
Of all evil passions the lust of the belly is that which Divine knowledge most abominateth, for it maketh men like beasts, it darkeneth their minds, and it is the door through which all wickedness entereth into them; the lust of the belly is an obstacle unto everything. The soul is fettered by the weight of meat, but it becometh refined by meagre food. This lust is a stupid thing, for if the belly were large enough to contain all the things after which the glutton lusteth all creation would not satisfy it. The glutton is worse than the beast, for it knoweth when it hath had enough, but the glutton doth not; the lust of the belly is the most disgusting of all the passions, the mother of which it is, and it bringeth a man down to Sheol. The fear of God is the beginning of the path of spiritual life, and this lust is the beginning of the path of all wickedness; if the latter vanquish the former then all spiritual life is destroyed at a blow. The glutton can only eat and blaspheme, and he sayeth and doeth anything to secure the means to lead his debauched life which maketh his soul more degraded and debased than the beasts. The glutton becometh sick through his excesses, and contrary to the words of the physicians he persisteth in his gluttonous habits; the sicknesses which |lxxxvii arise from over-eating belong to the rich and not to the poor. The glutton is a self-destroyer. Christ died for him, and yet he makes himself a grave of meats. The soul of a glutton is like unto the dog which sleeps through all noises, and which only stirreth at the sound of the platter; the glutton walloweth like a pig in the mire of lusts and he must be called a pig. His friends are in reality the friends of his belly, and he loveth only such as minister unto his lusts. He feigneth sickness to avoid the house of prayer, prayer and vigil terrify and torture him, his own prayer is short and his time of eating long, and all things belonging to God are done by him negligently. From such things must the disciple flee, and he must practise self-denial and abstinence. We know that we cannot serve two masters----God and mammon----hovf then can we serve three or more? If we open the door of the lust of the belly all evil passions crowd into our soul through it, and fornication, which destroyeth both body and soul. Meat and drink are the fuel of the fire of lust, and as smoke will darken the pure and clean air, even so will the stink of meat pollute the purity of the mind. But the disciple must avoid the over-eating of common as well as a superabundance of rich foods, for those who occupy themselves with meats will never be benefited thereby; when Israel had an abundance of food he waxed fat and kicked, and from gluttony he fell into lust, and his lust wrought his destruction. If we cannot serve God and mammon we cannot serve the belly and God. The lust of the belly led Adam to ruin, for it brought on sin which ended in death. Let us vanquish the first lust that we may overcome all the others. |lxxxviii
THE ELEVENTH DISCOURSE----ON ABSTINENCE.
The first rule of the spiritual life is to cultivate fasting and abstinence. The disciple must fight against the lusts of the body and cultivate virtues, because for man alone is life reserved in the next world. Hunger is of several kinds, and not all meats satisfy want; the real hunger of nature is not the want of food in the stomach, but the want of the power of the food in the members. Man must not eat whenever he is hungry like the beasts, but he must forbear in order to shew the soul's power. Need too is of different kinds, and when we satisfy a want we must take, care that it is necessary for our life, and that it doth not arise from lust, or health, or strength. The disciple must eat like a free man and not as a slave. If the lust of food overcome thee, O disciple, all other lusts will do the same; but if when are all gathered together against thee thou dost vanquish them one by one, they will be powerless to harm thee. In fighting think of the joys which are to come, and remember that by thy garb thou art dedicated to the spiritual life. When the lust of the belly joineth itself unto hunger against thee, stand up in prayer and despise it, even as mighty warriors scoff at those who are weaker; the lust of the belly be-longeth to childhood, therefore fight it like a man, and defeat it. But abstinence is the refraining from poor and common meats as much as from costly ones; from whatever thou lustest for thou must abstain. Eat not abundantly even of garden herbs lest thou be moved to fornication; the food is not to be blamed, except when lust eateth it. Whosoever eateth |lxxxix with lust rejecteth the Lord Who is in him. There is a great difference between the manner in which Esau and Elijah ate, and let us imitate Elijah and David, and the angels who ate with Abraham; the habit of abstinence bringeth freedom. Eat not to sin, drink not to error, and fast, that thy prayer may be pure. The lust of the belly ruined Cain, and brought blame upon Noah, Esau, the Sodomites, the children of Seth, the people of Israel, and upon Eli and Solomon. If the righteous men of the world need fasting and abstinence, how much more do those who have gone forth from the world to follow the spiritual life? Let us remember too that a full belly cannot produce a refined mind, and let us take away from the body that we may give to the soul. Spiritually minded men only need simple and sparing food, as is proved by the case of the children who were brought up at Babylon, who chose vegetable diet and not the dainty food of meats; their abstinence procured for them the wisdom of the Most High. To the disciple the table, which is a place of pleasure for others, must be a field of battle whereon he must overcome and slay the lust of the belly and those which spring from it; Christ began with fasting, let him do likewise, and the Apostles only received their greatest gifts after they had fasted and prayed. If we suffer with Christ we shall reign with Him. |xc
THE TWELFTH AND THIRTEENTH DISCOURSES----ON FORNICATION.
The lust for carnal intercourse hath been placed in our bodies by the Creator for the continuation of the world, but it must be to the disciple a reason for fighting and a cause of receiving crowns of victory. This lust is hotter and sweeter than any other lust, therefore must the fight against it be fierce, for though an excellent thing when coupled with marriage, yet is it a disgrace to those who have adopted the spiritual life. Adam and Eve were spiritual until lust moved in their members, and this shewed that the lust of the spirit precedeth the lust of the body in us. Fornication was the first thorn which sprang from the lust of the belly, and it is as a thorn in the spiritual eye; it destroyeth the sight of those who have not seen what is spiritual, and of those who have. Only when the beauty of the Eternal is destroyed in the soul can it subject itself to bodily beauty. The lust of the belly and the lust of fornication can only overcome a man when they are helped by him, and the disciple can conquer them if he will abstain from the food which is the fuel of the lust. Eat bread by weight, drink water by measure, avoid carnal pleasures, load thyself with afflictions and labours which will safeguard thee, torture thyself by hunger and thirst, vex thy body with watching, let it crave for sleep, but let it not sleep; gratify it in nothing, for pleasures beget lust. Listen not to stories of lust, keep away from thee the sight of the person which hath led thee captive, and uproot the remembrance of its beauty from thy mind. |xci
Mention not the word fornication, eat not food and drink not wine overmuch, look not upon beauty, flee the converse of women, and arm thyself against lust with wrath. Direct all thine energies to save thy soul from lust, show not a glad face to it, but turn against it with a malignant eye, for lust is like the whore in the market-place who fleeth before a severe gaze. When the chaste.mind putteth on lust it is as if a chaste and dignified man of the city were to carry a whore upon his shoulders through the market-place and through the streets and open places of the city. The fornication of the body is the act of adultery, but the fornication of the soul is when the thoughts thereof have intercourse secretly with the lust of fornication, and the fornication of the spirit is when the soul hath intercourse with devils. When the body hath intercourse with the soul, and the soul with the spirit, and through the spirit with the Trinity, in very truth the words, "The Lord is over all, and in us all", are accomplished. Let, however, lust move in thy body, not that thou mayest be defeated, but that thou mayest overcome it, for what training is so good as that which a man receiveth when he findeth victory over his passions? No lust is so unprofitable as that of fornication, and none is so absolutely weak; it hath no advantages, its season of enjoyment is short, and repentance, and fear, and shame, and terror, and loss, and evil name, and mockery all accompany this hot and fierce passion. We must be chaste outwardly before men, and inwardly before God, and our Lord, wishing to remove the cause and origin of lust from His disciples, said, "Whosoever looketh upon a woman to lust after her |xcii hath already committed adultery with her in his heart", for He looked into our thoughts. Many men fornicate continually in their souls, and this kind of fornication must be especially avoided; the pain of lust maketh thee to suffer pain, therefore learn the cause thereof, and cut it off. A man must overcome his lusts in his youth; while there is still heat in thy body and natural lust liveth in thy members, be zealous to kindle in thee the heat of the spirit. Sow virtues in thy youth that thou mayest reap therefrom in thine old age; pluck things of excellence from the noontide of thy manhood, and lay them up for thy winter store. In fornication is all wickedness, and it is the helpmeet of all sin, and the disciple is bound to overcome the passion thereof in deed and in thought; if it be driven out of the thoughts it cannot live in the body. The Israelites who fought under Gideon must be examples unto us, for they drank water sparingly, and the blasts of their horns are types of the holy words which were uttered against the passion of fornication, and the breaking of the pitchers symbolizes the destruction of the passion of fornication. God warned the Israelites against the lust of the thoughts more than against the act of adultery, for He did not say, "Thou shalt not commit adultery with thy neighbour's wife", but, "Thou shalt not lust after thy neighbour's wife". Let us make examples to ourselves of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Samuel, Elijah and Elisha, and if with these in view, we fall, we are feeble folk. Finally let us shut out sights and converse which are the entrances of lust, let us seal the fountain of our bodies, and let us cleanse our thoughts. If we can do this we |xciii shall be at peace, and the course of our ship will be into the haven of peace, and we shall become a counterpart of the heavenly hosts. Though living in the body we shall be in the spirit, and shall live the life of the world to come, and we shall learn the cause of the coming of Christ into the world, which those who live in the body can never know.
[Footnotes moved to the end and renumbered]
1. 1 The Syriac text was published by Wright, The Homilies of Aphraates, London, 1869. A complete German translation by Bert appeared in Harnack's Untersuchungen, Leipzig, 1888.
This text was transcribed by Roger Pearse, 2003. All material on this page is in the public domain - copy freely.
Greek text is rendered using the Scholars Press SPIonic font, free from here.
Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
SOURCE SECTION: philoxenus_discourse00_7_tableofmss.htm
Philoxenus, Ascetic Discourses (1894) pp.xciv-clxxiv. Table of manuscripts; List of material omitted from the online text
Philoxenus, Ascetic Discourses (1894) pp.xciv-clxxiv. Table of manuscripts; List of material omitted from the online text
pp.xciv-xcv:
TABLE OF SYRIAC MANUSCRIPTS IN THE BRITISH MUSEUM CONTAINING THE DISCOURSES OF PHILOXENUS
Discourse
Add. 14,598
Add. 17,153
Add. 12,163
Add. 14,595
Add. 14,596
Add. 14,625
Add. 14,601
Add. 14,621
Add. 14,611
Add. 12,170
Add. 14,612
Add. 12,170
Add. 14,577
Add. 17,185
Add. 14,582
Add. 14,522
Add. 14,614
Add. 14,728
Add. 14,577
1. Introduction
Fol. b
Fol. a
Fol. b
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
2. On Faith
13a
9a
9a
-
-
Fol.1
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
3. On Faith
24a
18a
18a
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
4. On Faith and Simplicity
34a
25b
26a
-
-
Fol. a
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
5. On Simplicity
54a
41b
43a
-
Fol. a
b
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
6. On the Fear of God
71a
56a
57b
-
b
21a
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
7. On the Fear of God
85a
67b
69a
-
-
32a
-
-
-
-
F.91a*
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
8. On Poverty
98b
78a
80a
Fol. b
Fol.9a
43a
-
-
F.68a
-
-
Fol. 136a*
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
9. On Poverty
113a
89a
92b
16b
15b
54b
-
-
-
-
-
-
Fol. 59a*
F. b*
-
-
-
-
-
10. On the Lust of the Belly
153a
-
-
61b
47b
75b
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
11. On Abstinence
183a
-
-
93b
61a
98a
-
F.16a
-
-
-
-
-
Fol. 14b*
-
-
-
-
Fol. 109b*
12. On Fornication
215b
-
-
126b
80a
122b
F.105b
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Fol. 181a*
Fol. 38b*
Fol. 70a*
Fol. 186b*
Fol. 117a*
13. On Fornication
239a
-
-
150b
96a
135a
-
-
-
F.147b
-
-
-
Fol. 25a
-
-
-
-
-
A B C D E F G H
th or 9th Century
9th Century
th Century
th or th Century
th or th Century
10th Century
9th Century
A.D. 802
10th Century
th or 9th Century
th or th Century
th or 9th Century
9th Century
10th or 11th Century
A.D. 816
10th Century
10th Century
13th Century
9th Century
[The material on pp. xcvi-cxxxvii is entirely in Syriac and contains the following texts, which are thus omitted:]
REPLY TO BE MADE BY A MAN WHEN QUESTIONED AS TO HIS BELIEF. (Brit. Mus. MS. Add. 14,529, fol. 69b).
A CONFESSION OF FAITH. (Brit. Mus. MS. Add. 14,529, fol. 68a).
AGAINST THOSE WHO DIVIDE OUR LORD. (Brit. Mus. Ms. Add. 14,597, fol. 105b.)
TWELVE CHAPTERS AGAINST THOSE WHO MAINTAIN TWO NATURES IN CHRIST, AND ONE PERSON. (Brit. Mus. MS. Add. 14,597, fol. 91aff.)
AGAINST EVERY NESTORIAN. (Brit. Mus. MS. Add. 14,529, fol. 66b).
AGAINST NESTORIUS. (Brit. Mus. MS. Add. 14,597, fol. 98b ff.).
ON THE HERESIES OF MÂNÎ, NESTORIUS, &c. (Brit. Mus. MS. Add. 14,529, fol. 65b.)
[This is followed by the following sections, also omitted. The quotations is mainly in Syriac; the list of biblical passages duplicates the footnotes:]
SCRIPTURAL QUOTATIONS IN THE DISCOURSES OF PHILOXENUS COMPARED WITH THE PÉSHÎTTA AND OTHER VERSIONS. [pp.cxxxviii-clxvi]
BIBLE PASSAGES QUOTED OR REFERRED TO BY PHILOXENUS IN THE DISCOURSES. [pp.clxvii-clxxiv]
This text was transcribed by Roger Pearse, 2003. All material on this page is in the public domain - copy freely.
Greek text is rendered using the Scholars Press SPIonic font, free from here.
Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
SOURCE SECTION: aphraates_on_faith.htm
Philoxenus, Ascetic Discourses (1894) pp.clxxv-clxxxvi. Aphraates: On Faith
Philoxenus, Ascetic Discourses (1894) pp.clxxv-clxxxvi. Aphraates: On Faith
APHRAATES ON FAITH.1
Hear then, my beloved, and open unto me the internal eyes of thy heart and the spiritual perceptions of thy understanding to that which I will say unto thee. Now faith is built up of many things, and is crowned with many colours; it is like unto a building which is built up of many materials, and its fabric mounteth to the top. But know, O my beloved, that stones must be laid in the foundations thereof, and then the whole edifice goeth upwards until it is finished. And thus also must it be with our whole building; its foundation must be the true Rock, which is Jesus Christ 2 our Lord, and upon [this] Rock is faith founded, and upon faith the whole building riseth until it is finished. [This] foundation is the beginning of the whole building, for when a man draweth nigh to faith, he is founded upon the Rock which is our Lord Jesus Christ.3 And his building will not be washed away by the waves, and it will not be injured by the winds, and it will not fall through storms, because his building riseth upon the rock of the true Rock.4 And in calling Christ the "Rock" I have not spoken according to my opinion, but the Prophets of old called Him "Rock", and [this] I will prove to thee.
But for the present listen concerning the faith which is founded upon the Rock, and concerning the building which riseth upon the Rock. First of all a man must believe, and when he hath believed he will love, and when he loveth he will hope, and when he hopeth he will be justified, and when |clxxvi he is justified he will be perfect, and when he is perfect he will be completed; and when his whole building hath risen up, and hath been finished and perfected then will he become a temple for the dwelling-place of Christ, even as the prophet Jeremiah said, "The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, ye are the temple of the Lord if ye make fair your ways and your deeds."5 And again it saith in the prophet, "I will dwell in you, and I will walk in you".6 And again the blessed Apostle spake thus, "Ye are the temple of God, and the spirit of Christ dwelleth in you".7 And our Lord also thus spake to His disciples, "Ye are in Me, and I am in you".8 And when a man hath become a house and a dwelling-place then he beginneth to take care for what is required by him that dwelleth in the building, just as if a king, or some honourable man who was called by the name of king were to tarry in a house; for then all the appurtenances of royalty would be required for the king, and all the ministration which is necessary for the honour thereof. For in a house which lacketh all good things a king will neither tarry nor dwell, nay, a king requireth all the furniture in a house with nothing whatsoever lacking; and if anything is lacking in the house in which the king abideth, the keeper of the house is delivered over unto death, because he did not make ready for the service of the king. Thus also let the man who becometh a house and a dwelling-place for Christ see what appertaineth unto the service [of the house] in which Christ dwelleth, and with these things let him make it fair. First of all let him build his building upon the Rock which is Christ, and upon the Rock let faith be founded, and upon faith all the building shall rise up. And for making the house habitable pure fasting which is stablished by faith is necessary; and he requireth the pure prayer which is accepted by faith; and to him is useful the love which is compounded with faith; and he needeth the alms which are given in faith; and he must ask for the humility which is ornamented with faith; and virginity which is beloved of faith must be chosen |clxxvii by him; and he must bring nigh unto him the holiness which is planted by faith; and he must meditate upon the wisdom which is discovered by faith; and he must seek after the hospitality which is increased by faith; and the simplicity which is mingled with faith is necessary for him; and he must seek after the patience which is perfected in faith; and his mind must abide in the long-suffering patience which is acquired by faith; and he must love the life of an anchorite which appeareth by faith; and he must seek after the purity which is preserved by faith; all these things the faith which is founded upon the true Rock, which is Christ, asketh, and these things are required by the King Christ Who dwelleth in the children of men who have been builded with these works.
And if thou sayest, "Since Christ hath been laid in the foundation, how can Christ dwell in the building when it is finished?" [I answer], the blessed Apostle said these two things: "I, like a wise architect, have laid the foundation",9 and he distinguished there also concerning the foundation, and showed [what it was], and spake, saying, "Other foundation besides this which is laid, which is Jesus Christ, can no man lay".10 And moreover, that Christ dwelleth in the building is said in the words which have been written above, for Jeremiah calleth the children of men "temples", [and saith] that God dwelleth in them.11 And the Apostle saith, "The spirit of Christ dwelleth in you",12 and our Lord spake, "I and My Father are one";13 therefore the words, "Christ dwelleth in the men who believe in Him", and "He is the foundation upon which the whole building riseth" agree.
And now I come to the first words which I spake, that Christ was called "Rock" in the Prophets. First of all David saith concerning Him, "The rock which the builders rejected hath become the head of the building".14 And as the builders rejected this Rock, which is Christ, even so also did they reject it before the face of Pilate, saying, "This [man] shall not be king over us", 15 and again in that parable which our Lord |clxxviii spake of a certain great nobleman who went to receive a kingdom and to return to rule over the people thereof, but they sent messengers after him, saying, "This man shall not be king over us".16 Thus did they reject the Rock, which is Christ. And how hath it become the head of the building except that it hath risen up over the building of the nations? and upon it hath risen up all their building. And who are the builders except the priests and Pharisees who build not a true building, but who throw down what He hath built, even as it is written in Ezekiel the Prophet, "He built a wall, but they beat upon it that it might fall".17 And again it is written, "I sought for a man among them, that should make up the fence and stand in the gap for the earth, that I might not destroy it, but I found [him] not".18 And again Isaiah of old prophesied concerning this Rock, for he said, "Thus said the Lord, Behold I lay in Zion a chosen Rock, in the honourable corner, the head of the wall of the foundation".19 And again he said there, "Whosoever believeth on it shall not fear, and whosoever falleth on that Rock shall be broken, and on whomsoever it shall fall, it shall grind him to powder". 20 The people of the house of Israel fell upon it, and their breaking was for ever; and it fell upon the image and shattered it to pieces;21 and the nations believe therein and are not afraid.
And he proved concerning the Rock that it is laid as the head of the wall and [as] the foundation; now if this Rock hath been laid as the foundation, how can it also be the head of the wall? Only [in this wise]. When our Lord came He set faith in the earth like a foundation, and He went up above all the heavens like the head of a wall, and the whole building, above and below, was completed. And as concerning what I spake of faith, He hath set this faith in the earth, this did David proclaim of old concerning Christ, for he said, "Faith shall spring up out of the earth";22 and [showing] that He is above, he saith, "Righteousness looked forth from heaven".23 And again, |clxxix Daniel also spake concerning this Rock which is Christ, for he said, "A Rock was hewn out of the mountain, not with hands, and it smote the image, and the whole earth was filled therewith";24 this foreshewed concerning Christ that the whole earth should be filled with Him, for with the faith of Christ behold all the ends of the earth are filled, even as David spake, "In all the earth hath gone forth the word of the Gospel of Christ".25 And again when He sent forth His disciples, He spake to them thus, "Go forth, and teach all nations to believe on Me".26 And Zechariah the prophet also spake concerning this Rock, which is Christ, for he said, "I have seen a choice stone of beauty and mercy".27 That [this Rock is called] choice" [means] that He is with His Father, and that he speaks of "mercy" is because when He came to the world He spake to His disciples thus, "This is My commandment, that ye love one another."28 And again He said, "I have called you friends".29 And the blessed Apostle speaks thus: "God hath mercy upon us in the love of His Son; 30 in very truth Christ hath loved us, and hath given Himself for us".31
And he explained and made manifest concerning this Rock, [saying], "Behold I will open upon this Rock seven eyes".32 And what then are the seven eyes which have been opened upon [this] Rock except the Spirit of God, which abideth on Christ in seven things, even as the Prophet Isaiah saith, "The Spirit of God shall rest and dwell in Him, the spirit of wisdom, of understanding, of counsel, of strength, of knowledge, and of the fear of the Lord".33 These are the seven eyes which have been opened upon the Rock, and these are the seven eyes of the Lord which "look upon the whole earth". And this also is said concerning Christ, for he spake, saying, "Light hath been given unto all nations", even as saith Isaiah the prophet, I have set thee to be a light unto all nations, that My redemption may be to the ends of the earth".34 And David also |clxxx spake, "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light to my paths".35 And moreover the word and speech of the Lord is Christ, as it is written in the beginning of the Gospel of our Lifegiver, "In the beginning was the Word";36 and concerning the light there also he testifieth, "The light shone in the darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not". 37 And what have the words, "The light shone in the darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not", reference to except Christ Who made His light to shine upon the people of the house of Israel, but the people of the house of Israel comprehended not the light of Christ because they believed not upon Him, even as it is written, "He came unto His own, and His own received Him not"? 38 And our Lord Himself also called them "darkness", for He said to His disciples, "That which I say unto you in the darkness, say ye in the light; among the nations shall your light shine",39 because they have received the light of Christ Who is the light of the nations. And He spake also to His disciples, "Ye are the light of the world".40 And again He said unto them, "Let your light shine before the children of men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven".41 And again He shewed concerning Himself that He was the light, for He said to His disciples, "Walk while the light is yet with you, before the darkness overtaketh you".42 And again He spake to them, "Believe in the light, that ye may become the children of the light." 43 And again He said, "I am the light of the world".44 And again He said, "No man lighteth a lamp and placeth it under a bushel or under a bed, or placeth it in a hidden place, but he setteth it on a candlestick that every man may see the light thereof".45 And a shining lamp is Christ, even as saith David, "Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path".46 And moreover, Hosea the prophet also said, "Kindle ye a light and seek the Lord";47 and our Lord Jesus Christ said, "What |clxxxi woman, having ten zuze and losing one of them, will not light a lamp and search round the house looking for the zûzà which she hath lost"? 48 And who is this woman except the congregation of the house of Israel unto whom the ten commandments have been given, and which hath lost the first of them with which God admonished it, saying, "I am the Lord thy God Who brought thee up out of the land of Egypt"?49 And when the congregation had lost the first commandment it was unable to keep the remaining nine, because the nine depend upon the first, for it was an impossible thing when they were worshipping Baal to keep the nine commandments; thus they lost the first commandment like the woman who lost one zûzà out of ten. And the prophet cried to them, "Light ye a lamp and seek the Lord".50 And moreover, the prophet Isaiah also said, "Seek ye the Lord, and when ye have found Him, call upon Him. And when He hath drawn nigh, let the sinner forsake his way, and the man of iniquity his evil thoughts".51 For He lighted a lamp, but they sought not thereby the Lord their God; and His light lightened the darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not. And the lamp went up upon a candlestick, but those who were in the house saw not the light thereof. Now what do the words "the lamp went up upon a "candlestick" mean except His going up upon the Cross? whereby all the house became dark upon [its inhabitants]. Now when they crucified Him the light became dark to them, but it shone upon the Gentiles. For from the sixth hour when they crucified Him until the ninth hour darkness came upon all the land of Israel, and the sun set at noonday, and the earth became dark during broad daylight, even as it is written in the prophet Zachariah,52 "And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord, that I will make the sun to set at noon, and I will make the earth dark during broad daylight".
And now I come to my first statement concerning faith upon which all the fair deeds of the building ascend. And, moreover, that which I have spoken concerning the building I |clxxxii have not spoken in a strange manner, but the blessed Apostle wrote in the first Epistle to the Corinthians, and said,53 "I have laid the foundation like a wise architect, and every man buildeth thereupon. Some build with silver, and gold, and precious stones, and some build with reeds, and hay, and stubble, but at the last day the building will be tried by fire". The gold, and silver, and precious stones will be preserved by the fire, because they are the true building; but over the hay, and the reeds, and the stubble will the fire gain the mastery, and they will burn away. Now what are the gold, and silver, and precious stones upon which the building riseth except the good deeds of faith which are preserved in the fire? In that true building Christ dwelleth, and it is He that will preserve it from the fire. Now let us see and understand from the similitude which God also gave us in this world in order that the promises of that world might be sure unto us; and let us also understand from those three righteous men who fell in the fire, and were not consumed, ----Ananias, Azarias, and Misael----upon whom the fire gained not dominion54, because they built a sure building, and rejected the command of Nebuchadnezzar the king, and did not worship the image which he made. But upon those who transgressed the commandment of God the fire gained dominion straightway, and it set them on fire and they were burned mercilessly. And the Sodomites were burned like hay, and reeds, and stubble; and Nadab and Abihu who transgressed the commandment of God were also burnt; and two hundred and fifty men who were offering [strange] incense were also burnt; and the two captains, together with a hundred men who were with them, who had drawn nigh to the mountain upon which sat Elijah, who went up to heaven in a chariot of fire, were also burnt; and the calumniators also were burnt who dug pits for righteous men. On this account, my beloved, the righteous are tried in the fire like gold, and silver, and precious stones, and the wicked are consumed by fire like hay, and reeds, and stubble, over which the fire gaineth dominion, even as saith the prophet Isaiah, "The Lord judgeth by fire, and therewith He trieth all flesh".55 And |clxxxiii again he saith, "Ye shall go forth and see the dead bodies of the men who have wrought iniquity against Me, whose worm dieth not and whose fire is not quenched; and they shall be a wonder unto all flesh".56 And, moreover, the Apostle hath explained unto us concerning this building, and concerning this foundation, for he saith thus: "Foundation other than this which is laid can no man lay, which is Jesus Christ".57 And again the Apostle speaketh concerning the faith which is mingled with hope and love, for he spake thus: "Now these three abide, faith, hope, and charity",58 and he shewed concerning faith that it is founded as a sure foundation first of all.
Now the sacrifice of Abel was accepted because of his faith. And because Enoch pleased [God] by his faith he was removed from death. And because Noah believed he was saved from the Flood. And because Abraham had faith he was blessed, and it was reckoned unto him for righteousness. And because Isaac believed he was loved. And Jacob was preserved because of his faith. And because of his faith Joseph was tried in the waters of contention, and he was delivered from temptation, and the Lord set a testimony upon him, even as David spake, "He set a testimony on Joseph".59 Moses too by faith wrought many marvellous and mighty deeds, and by faith he made an end of the Egyptians with ten plagues. And again by faith he divided the sea, and led his people over, and drowned the Egyptians in it. By faith he cast a stick in the bitter waters, and they became sweet; by faith he brought down the manna, and satisfied his people; by faith he spread out his hands, and overcame Amalek, even as it is written, "His hands were [stretched out] in faith until the sun set".60 By faith also he went up to Mount Sinai, having twice fasted forty days; and by faith he overcame Sihon and Og, kings of the Amorites.
Now this is a wonderful and great marvel which Moses wrought in the Sea of Reeds, for the waters were divided by faith, and they stood up like high mountains, and mighty rocks, and they were restrained, and stood up by the command, and |clxxxiv were confined as in leather bottles, and they were shut in above as well as below; and their mobility did not pass over the boundary [set for them], and they changed the nature in which they had been created, and though insensible creatures they became obedient. And the waves stood upright awaiting the reward when the people should have passed over, and the billows marvelled and waited, and were looking towards the commandment and the reward. The foundations of everlastingness were revealed, and that which had been wet from the beginning suddenly became dry. And the doors lifted up their heads, and the everlasting gates were lifted up.61 And a pillar of light went in and illumined all the camp, and the people passed over in faith, and a righteous judgment came upon the Pharaoh, and his host, and his chariots. Thus also did Joshua the son of Nun by his faith divide the Jordan, and the children of Israel passed over as in the days of Moses.
Now know, O my beloved, that that passage of the Jordan was divided three times: first of all by Joshua, the son of Nun, secondly by Elijah, and thirdly by Elisha. Now the word of the Book maketh known that Elijah was taken up to heaven opposite that place of crossing by Jericho. For when Elisha returned from following him, and divided the Jordan and passed over, the sons of prophets of Jericho went out to meet Elisha, and said, "The spirit of Elijah dwelleth in Elisha".62 And of the people when they crossed over in the days of Joshua, the son of Nun, it is written, "The people passed over opposite Jericho" 63. And Joshua, the son of Nun, by faith overthrew the walls of Jericho, and they fell without labour. And again by his faith he destroyed thirty-one kings, and made the children of Israel to inherit the land. And again by his faith he spread out his hands to heaven, and held back the sun in Gibeon, and the moon in the valley of Ajalon, and they were restrained and stood still in their courses. Finally, all the righteous fathers have by faith triumphed in everything which they have done, even as the blessed Apostle testifieth concerning them all, saying, "By faith they became prosperous".64 And again Solomon saith, |clxxxv "Many men are called merciful, but who can find a faithful man"? 65 And again Job saith, "Remove not my integrity from me, and I will continue in my righteousness".66
And our Lifegiver spake unto every one that drew nigh unto Him to be healed thus: "According to thy faith shall it be unto thee".67 When the blind man came to Him, he said to him, "Dost thou believe that I am able to heal thee?" and he said unto Him, "Yea, Lord, I do believe";68 and his faith opened his eyes. And to him whose son was sick He said, "Believe, and thy son shall live". He saith unto Him, "Lord, I believe, help Thou my little faith";69 and by his faith his son was made whole. And by faith was healed the son of the royal servant who came to Him, and said to our Lord, "Speak the word, and my child shall be healed";70 and our Lord wondered at his faith, and according to his faith so was it unto him. And when the chief of the congregation asked Him concerning his daughter, He spake thus to him, "Believe only, and thy daughter shall live";71 and he believed, and his daughter lived and stood up. And when Lazarus died, our Lord said to Martha, "If thou believest thy brother shall rise up". Martha saith to Him, "Yea, Lord, I do believe";72 and He raised him up after four days. And Simon, who was surnamed 'Rock', because of his faith was called "the true Rock". And when our Lord gave the mystery of baptism unto His disciples, He spake unto them thus: "Whosoever believeth and is baptized shall live; but whosoever believeth not shall be condemned".73 And again He said unto His disciples, "If ye believe, and doubt not, there is nothing which ye shall not be able to do".74 For when our Lord walked on the waves of the sea, Simon also, by his faith, walked with Him, but when his faith wavered and he began to sink, our Lord called him "little of faith".75 And when His Apostles asked our Lord, they begged for nothing from Him, but they said to Him, "Increase our faith".76 He |clxxxvi saith unto them, "If ye have in you faith, even a mountain shall depart from before you".77 And He said to them, "Be not doubtful, and be not sunk in the world", like Simon who as soon as he doubted began to sink in the sea. And again He spake thus: "This shall be a sign unto those who believe: They shall speak with new tongues, and devils shall be driven out, and [when] their hands shall be laid upon the sick they shall be healed".78
Let us then, my beloved one, draw nigh unto the faith whose mighty deeds are so many. For faith lifted up to heaven; it overcame the Flood; it made barrenness to give birth to children; it enriched the poor; it unloosed the prisoners; it saved the persecuted; it extinguished the fire; it divided the sea; it cleaved the rock and made the thirsty to drink; it satisfied the hungry; it vivified the dead; it brought up out of Sheol; it calmed the waves; it healed the sick; it vanquished hosts; it swept away walls; it closed the mouths of lions; it extinguished the flame of fire; it humbled the boastful; and brought the humble to honour. All these mighty deeds were wrought by faith.
Now this is faith. A man must believe in God the Lord of all, Who created the heaven and the earth, and the seas and all that therein is, Who made Adam in His image, Who gave the Law to Moses, Who sent His Spirit into the Prophets, Who also sent His Christ into the world; and a man should believe in the vivification of the dead, and also in the mystery of baptism. This is the faith of the Church of God. And a man must be free from the keeping of hours, and weeks, and months, and seasons, and incantations, and enchantments, and the magic of the Chaldeans, and sorcery, and from harlotry, and singing and dancing, and vain doctrines, and the vessels of the Evil one, and the blandishments of sweet words, and blasphemy, and adultery; and a man must not bear false witness, neither must he speak with a double tongue. These are works of the faith which is set upon the sure Rock, which is Christ, upon Whom riseth the whole building. |clxxxvii
And, moreover, O my beloved, in the Holy Scriptures are many things concerning the matter of faith, but these few out of many have I written to remind thy love that thou mayest know, and make known, and mayest believe and make thyself a believer. And when thou hast read and learned the works of faith thou shalt be like unto that tilled land upon which the good seed fell, and which brought forth fruit, some a hundredfold, some sixtyfold, and some thirtyfold;79 and when thou shalt depart to thy Lord, He shall call thee "good, and excellent, and faithful servant", who on account of his exceedingly great faith shall enter into "the kingdom of his Lord".80
[Footnotes renumbered and moved to the end]
1. 1 The Syriac text is printed in Wright, Homilies of Aphraates, London, 1869, pp. 6-23. For a German translation of this Homily see Bert, Aphrahat's des Persischen Weisen Homilien, Leipzig, l S , p. 3 ff.
2. 2 Cf. 1 Corinthians iii. 11.
3. 3 Cf. 1 Corinthians x. 4.
4. 4 Cf. St. Matthew vii. 24, 25.
5. 1 Jeremiah vii, 4. 5.
6. 2 2 Corinthians vi. 16.
7. 3 1 Corinthians iii. 16.
8. 4 St. John xiv. 20.
9. 1 1 Corinthians iii. 10.
10. 2 1 Corinthians iii. 11.
11. 3 Jeremiah vii. 4.
12. 4 1 Corinthians iii. 16.
13. 5 St. John x. 30.
14. 6 Psalm cxviii. 22.
15. 7 St. John xix. 15.
16. 1 St. Luke xix. 14.
17. 2 Ezekiel xiii. 10, 11.
18. 3 Ezekiel xxii. 30.
19. 4 Isaiah xxviii. 16.
20. 5 Isaiah xxviii. 16.
21. 6 Daniel ii. 34.
22. 7 Psalm lxxxv. 11.
23. 8 Psalm lxxxv. 11.
24. 1 Daniel ii. 34. 35.
25. 2 Psalm xix. 4.
26. 3 St. Matthew xxviii. 19.
27. 4 Zechariah iv. 7.
28. 5 St. John xv. 12.
29. 6 St. John xv. 15.
30. 7 Romans v. 8, 10.
31. 8 Ephesians v. 2.
32. 9 Zechariah iii. 9.
33. 10 Isaiah xi. 2.
34. 11 Isaiah xlix. 6.
35. 1 Psalm cxix. 105.
36. 2 St. John i. 1.
37. 3 St. John i. 5.
38. 4 St. John i. 11.
39. 5 St. Matthew x. 27.
40. 6 St. Matthew v. 14.
41. 7 St. Matthew v. 16.
42. 8 St. John xii. 35.
43. 9 St. John xii. 36.
44. 10 St. John viii. 12.
45. 11 St. Matthew v. 15; St Mark iv. 21; St. Luke viii. 16; xi. 33.
46. 12 Psalm cxix. 105.
47. 13 Hosea x. 12.
48. 1 St. Luke xv. 8.
49. 2 Exodus xx. 2.
50. 3 Hosea x. 12.
51. 4 Isaiah lv. 6, 7.
52. 5 Not Zechariah, but Amos, chap. viii. 9.
53. 1 1 Corinthians iii. 10-12.
54. 2 Daniel iii. 23, 27.
55. 3 Isaiah lxvi. 16.
56. 1 Isaiah lxvi. 24.
57. 2 1 Corinthians iii. 11.
58. 3 1 Corinthians xiii. 13.
59. 4 Psalm lxxxi. 5.
60. 5 Exodus xvii. 12.
61. 1 Psalm xxiv 7. 9.
62. 2 2 Kings ii. 15.
63. 3 Joshua iii. 16.
64. 4 Hebrews xi.
65. 1 Proverbs xx. 6.
66. 2 Job xxvii. 5. 6.
67. 3 St. Matthew ix. 29.
68. 4 St. Matthew ix. 28.
69. 5 St. Mark ix. 23, 24.
70. 6 St. Matthew viii. 8; St. Luke.vii. 7.
71. 7 St. Mark v. 36; St. Luke viii. 50.
72. 8 St. John xi. 23, 27.
73. 9 St. Mark xvi. 16.
74. 10 St. Matthew xxi. 22; St. Mark xi. 23.
75. 11 St. Matthew xiv. 31.
76. 12 St. Luke xvii. 5.
77. 1 St. Matthew xvii. 20.
78. 2 St. Mark xvi. 17. 18.
79. 1 St. Matthew xiii. 8.
80. 2 St. Matthew xxv. 21. 23.
This text was transcribed by Roger Pearse, 2003. All material on this page is in the public domain - copy freely.
Greek text is rendered using the Scholars Press SPIonic font, free from here.
Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
SOURCE SECTION: philoxenus_discourse00_9_errata.htm
Philoxenus, Ascetic Discourses (1894) pp.clxxxvii-clxxxviii. Errata
Philoxenus, Ascetic Discourses (1894) pp.clxxxvii-clxxxviii. Errata
ERRATA.
VOLUME I.
[Omitted]
VOLUME II.
Page 43. 1. 14, read, He called His "brethren".
" 61. 1. 7, " which go up on the spiritual altar are.
" 104. 1. 9, " wickedness was.
" 115. 1. 4, " excellences.
" 125. 1. 4, " he who.
" 133. l. 30, " children of men.
" 145. 1. 18, " unto.
" 146. 1. 20, " wise men.
" 159. 1. 10, " which is within it.
" 171. 1. 25, " There are many.
" 256. 1. 15, " hastening that the.
" 307. 1. 13, " he hath served.
" 369. 1. 15, " right.
Page 386. 1. 21, read, all wickedness.
" 446. 1. 14, " ever so little.
" 447. 1. 14, " if it is thought.
" 481. 1. 13, " loathsome.
" 514. 1. 14, " conquereth.
" 518. 1. 15, " vengeance to come which is.
" 523. 1. 15, " purity of our souls.
" 527. 1. 9, " delete the words, "not only".
This text was transcribed by Roger Pearse, 2003. All material on this page is in the public domain - copy freely.
Greek text is rendered using the Scholars Press SPIonic font, free from here.
Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
SOURCE SECTION: philoxenus_discourse01.htm
Philoxenus, Ascetic Discourse (1894) pp.1-22. Discourse 1 (Prologue)
Philoxenus, Ascetic Discourses (1894) pp.1-22. Discourse 1 (Prologue)
TRANSLATION.
----
[Page 3], THE DISCOURSES UPON DISCIPLINE OF LIFE AND CHARACTER WHICH WERE DELIVERED BY THE BLESSED MAR PHILOXENUS, BISHOP OF MABBOGH, IN WHICH IS SET FORTH THE WHOLE ORDER OF INSTRUCTION ---- HOW A MAN SHOULD BEGIN THE DISCIPLESHIP OF CHRIST, AND IN WHAT LAWS AND MANNER OF LIFE HE SHOULD WALK UNTIL HE ARRIVETH AT SPIRITUAL LOVE, FROM WHICH IS BORN PERFECTION, AND IN WHICH WE BECOME CHILDREN OF THE LIKENESS OF CHRIST, EVEN AS SPAKE PAUL THE APOSTLE.1 NOW THE FIRST DISCOURSE IS BY THE GRACE OF OUR LORD THE PROLOGUE TO ALL THIS VOLUME.
Our Lord and our Redeemer Jesus Christ in His living Gospel invited us to draw nigh in wisdom to the work of keeping His commandments, and to lay within ourselves the foundation of His discipline rightly, in order that the edifice of our life and character might mount up straightly. For he who knoweth not how to begin wisely the building of this tower which goeth up to heaven is not able to complete [it] or to bring it to the finish which is of wisdom. For knowledge and wisdom should order, and arrange, and [p. 4] work the beginning and end and founding2 [of the edifice], |2 and whosoever beginneth thus is called a wise man by the word of our Redeemer, "Whosoever heareth these My words, and doeth them, is like unto a wise man who hath dug, and made deep, and set his building upon the rock: and the rain descended, and the rivers came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not; for its foundations were laid upon the rock. But whosoever heareth and doeth not, is like unto a foolish man who set his building upon the sand, and even if feeble things beat upon his building they will sweep it away".3 We are therefore bound by the word of our Teacher not to be constant listeners only to the Word of God but also constant doers.4 For the man who, though listening not, doeth, is better than the man who is constant in listening and empty of works, even as the word of the apostle Paul teacheth us, "For not the hearers of the law are righteous before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified: for if the Gentiles which have no law do by their own nature [the things] of the law, these, having no law, are a law unto themselves; and they show the work of the law written upon their hearts, and their conscience testifieth concerning them".5 The hearing of the law is good, for it bringeth to the works thereof, [p. 5] and reading and meditation in the Scriptures, which purify our secret understanding from thoughts of evil things, are good, but if a man is constant in reading, and in hearing, and in the meditation of the word of |3 God, and yet perfecteth not by his reading the labour of works, against this man hath the Spirit of God spoken by the hand of the blessed David, rebuking and reproving his wickedness, and restraining him from taking even the Holy Book into his polluted hands, saying, "For to the sinner speaketh God, What "hast thou [to do] with the books of My commandments, that thou hast taken My covenant in thy mouth? Thou hast hated My instruction, and thou hast cast My words behind thee,"6 together with the other things which are written after these. Now as for the man who is constant in reading and remote from deeds, his reading is his own condemnation, and he is the more deserving of judgment, in that while he listeneth every day, he mocketh and is contemptuous every day, and he is thenceforth like a dead man and a corpse which hath no feeling, for if ten thousand trumpets and horns were to blow in the ear of a dead man he would not hear [them]; even thus is the soul which is dead in sins. And the understanding, from which the remembrance of God hath perished in the death-dealing error of the thoughts [of evil things], will not hear the sound of the cries of the divine voices, nor will the trumpet of the word of the Spirit move it, but it is sunk into the sleep of death which is pleasant to it; and although dying, it perceiveth not its death that it might turn and seek life for itself. And as the man who hath died according to nature is not sensible of his death, even so the dead man who dieth by his own will to the knowledge of God feeleth not his death, [p. 6] nor perceiveth his destruction, that he might find |4 a way and seek out an invention of life for himself. For also when God saw the dying condition of the Jews who of their own will stopped their ears, and blinded their eyes, and made thick their hearts against the remembrance of the knowledge of God, He stirred up Isaiah to rouse them up, and cried to him to cry into their ears, saying, "Cry with thy throat, and spare not, and lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew My people their iniquity, and the house of Jacob their sins".7 And again in another place8 the same prophet saith, "He said to me, Cry. And I said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the glory thereof is like the grass of the field". Yea, "like the grass" and like the herb which drieth up before the sun, which when once its natural juiciness and moisture have dried up neither the rain nor all the watering of the fountains can make grow green again, even so became the nation which was dead to all the vivification of the Spirit, and like grass and straw it became dry and withered by reason of the noonday heat of error, and by the hotness of evil things. The soul dieth without the remembrance of God, and when it dieth all its discretion dieth therewith, and all its emotions of thought of heavenly things are annihilated therefrom. While the soul liveth in its natural state it is dying by its own desire; and while it is found in uprightness it is lost in respect of its freedom.
The disciple of God, then, should seek to have the remembrance of his Master Jesus Christ fixed in his soul and to meditate upon it day and night, [p. 7] And it is right for him to know where he should begin, and |5 how and where he must raise the structure of his building, and how he should begin and finish it, that he be not laughed at by all those who pass along the road, even as our Lord spake concerning that man who began to build a tower and was not able to finish it, that he became a laughing-stock and a mockery to all who saw him.9 And who is this man who began the building of the tower of whom our Redeemer spake, if it be not the man who setteth out on the path of the Gospel of Christ? Now the beginning of the building of this disciple who hath agreed to go forth from the world and to keep the commandments is his promise and his covenant with God; and he should begin, and run his course, and finish it, collecting and bringing together from all places fine stones of a noble life and character for the building of the tower which reacheth up to heaven. Now the foundation is set and laid, and is, according to the word of Paul,10 "Jesus Christ our God," and every man, howsoever he pleaseth, buildeth upon that foundation. For by His love the foundation hath been laid down once and for all to receive everything which might be set upon it, until the coming of the day of the revelation in which the work of every man will be tested and proved; and He who hath been the foundation stone in the corner of the building will go up and become the Judge and Head in the top of the building. And according to what Paul himself spake, "If any man buildeth on this foundation gold, [p. 8] or silver, or stones of price, or wood, or hay, or stubble, each man's work shall be revealed, for that day shall reveal it, inasmuch as |6 it shall be revealed by fire, and the fire shall prove each man's work of what sort it is."11 Now Paul likeneth the conduct of Christian life and character and the beauties of righteousness to gold and silver and precious stones, and among these faith is as gold, and the restraining of the passions and desires, and fasting, and self-denial and the other works of righteousness are as silver; and he likeneth to precious stones love, and peace, and hope, and pure thoughts, and holy meditations, and a mind which is wholly afraid in the Spirit, and which at all times reserveth in all its emotions wonder at God and admiration for the majesty of His Being, and an understanding which keepeth silence in trembling before the inexplicable and inexpressible mysteries of God. Now these heavenly thoughts, and emotions, and anxious fears, and life of the Spirit Paul calleth "precious stones;" and error and wickedness and the ministry of all the lusts he calleth wood, and hay, and stubble. And since the building itself is fixed in the ground every man can build and raise upon it whatsoever he pleaseth, until the day which shall decide is revealed, and He shall come of Whom it is said, "He holdeth His fan in His hand and He will purify His threshing-floors; and He will gather His wheat into the garner, but the straw He will burn up with unquenchable fire."12 And the Husbandman who planted in the world the tree of our mankind will shew Himself [to be] the Judge, and He will hold in His hand the axe for cutting down [p. 9], and every tree which beareth not good fruit He will cut down and cast into the fire. When that Fisherman |7 who hath cast His net into the sea of the world, and hath filled it with fish, both great and small, which are the races and families of mankind, and the nations and tribes of the children of flesh, of divers tongues and innumerable kinds, shall appear He will strike and bring up His net to the sea shore, even as He Himself hath said, and He will gather together the fine fish and cast them into His baskets,13 which are the living treasuries of His kingdom, and the poor ones He will cast forth into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. These things are laid up to take place through Him at that time when the Prince of the shepherds shall be revealed in the glory of His kingdom. The time of trial is one, the time of teaching is another, the time of reading is another, and the time of proving is another; and as in this season of teaching there is no [time of] trial, even so in that season of trial there will be no [time of] teaching.
Let us therefore, my beloved, hearken unto the living voice of God Who hath called us to give us life everlasting. His voices are filled with life, and they give life unto him that will hearken unto them. With life are those living voices filled, and by the living voices is life given unto those who with a living hearing incline their ears unto their words.
But inasmuch as it is meet for us to speak separately concerning each matter in its place, and to make known in our discourse which cometh first and which cometh last, and how these good things, one after the other, should be kept and perfected, [p. 10] we have composed this introduction to be an encouragement to the |8 reader [to proceed] to the wealth of the things which follow after. For it is meet for the man who would begin in the way of the Commandments, of Christ to know where he should begin, and what stone should properly be the first in the edifice of his instruction, and what stone should be second, and what stone should be third, lest being ignorant of the art of building, and not having learned where to begin, he know not also where and how to finish, and lest, by reason of his lack of knowledge of instruction, he make the last things first and the first last, and place some of them in the middle. Now if the farmers and husbandmen of [this] world know that there are certain seasons for sowing grain and planting trees, and others for harvest and the ingathering of fruit, and they preserve the order of the seasons that their affairs suffer not injury and become not confused, how much more is it meet for the spiritual farmer and husbandman and for the true disciple to know what things befit his first beginning in instruction, and where it is proper for him to begin? so that having laid the first stone in its place in the foundation of his teaching, he may build up the whole of the building according to the law. And in this manner both builders and architects work, for having begun to lay the foundation of their building with fine, large stones, and great strong doorposts and sockets,14 even though they set in the building itself those which are inferior, the solid foundation is able to receive and to carry substances which are less strong. But if in the foundations which |9 are beneath they were to lay [p. 11] small or bad stones, and upon them massive and fine stones, all their building would be overturned and would fall down. And again, let us take an example also from the learned who transmit instruction to the young, and who teach them knowledge according to rule. They do not pass over [certain of the] canons of instruction and disturb the order thereof and the consecutiveness of human learning, but they know which to give first and which should follow after, until the learner arriveth at the limit of his capacity for learning. And so also according to law is this instruction in proper order known among all the handicrafts of the world. For those things which are given to apprentices to do when they first of all begin to learn their craft, are, according to their feeble capacity, the unimportant things in the handicraft, and their masters shew them how to do them, so that if it should happen that there be a loss the loss is a little one. Even so is it with those who learn the art of the strife of the Christian life, for it is laid down for them with what forms of contests they must begin with first of all, and with what grades they must mount up and ascend in the art of the strife of the Christian life. First of all they must learn to exhibit towards each other the readiness of standing in position, and after this they must throw their hands each upon each, and thus they are stimulated, and draw nigh to the perfect contest.
And again also those who are chosen for the military service of [this] world learn the art of war on this system, [p. 12] and their instruction is neither confounded nor confused, but each of the things which they learn they learn in its proper place and order. And so with every |10 thing else in [this] world, of which the beginning and middle and end are known. Now therefore, [judging] from the examples of the demonstrations which we have brought, this systematic order of things is especially useful to us, and the knowledge of the first rule of conduct of the Christian life and of that which followeth is very necessary for us; for it is in this world that the art of spiritual strife is to be learned, and we have been chosen for the service of those who are in heaven. And just as those who are chosen to perform service before the kings of [this] world learn the king's laws and customs from those who have served before them, and those who come last learn from those who have been before them how to walk, and how to dress and how to talk, and how far they may properly speak in his presence, and those who have been newly chosen [learn] from those who have been before them, even so also in this case it is necessary for the man who hath been chosen, whether by his own decision or by the promise of his parents that he should serve Christ, that he should learn this service from those who have [served] before him, or from the Holy Scriptures, or from men of the spirit who have walked in this path according to the law, and who began with works, and have finished in the spirit and have been made perfect in love.
Now those lusts which fight against us in the beginning [p. 13] of our youth are well known, and also those which war against us in the middle of youth, and at the end of the period of youth. And those which fight against us in the beginning, and middle, and end of [our] manhood, and those [which fight against us] in the stage which is after manhood in the |11 self-same manner, even from the beginning until the end of this period, are well known; and also those passions, which in the time of old age war against us until our going forth from the world, and also what are those which come into being from us in infancy and childhood in emotions and natural movements, before the discernment of freewill hath been moved in it, and before we arrive at the knowledge which distinguisheth virtues from vices. And moreover, it is meet that we should know at the time when we are leading the Christian life and doing the works thereof which passion fighteth with which, and which lust contendeth with which, and at the end of that good work what evil thing can be stirred up against us, and how in [our] overcoming one lust another gaineth the victory, and how when we have subdued the lusts of the body there is stirred up against us the war of the passions of the soul, and how when we have cast out the evil thing from us it returneth to array itself with our innermost thoughts, and when we have slain it in our bodily members it cometh to life in the living motions of the soul, and when we have cut it off and cast it out from us it entereth and lieth in ambush [p. 14] that it may be within us. And [we should know] what feeling is born to the soul by the fasting of the body, and what feeling by self-denial, and what feeling by singing psalms and hymns with the voice, and what feeling by prayer in silence, and what feeling by the lack of possessions, and what feeling by poverty of dress. And [we should know] what feeling is born in us by general loving-kindness to all mankind, and what feeling is stirred up in us when our conduct of life is more excellent than that of our brother, and what feelings arise from the knowledge |12 of the mind, and what feelings arise from words of instruction, and what feelings arise from the words which are handed on to us in books. And [we should know] into what feeling we shall fall when we have conquered the lust of the belly in everything, and what feeling is stirred up against us at the end of the triumph of the war against fornication, and what feeling is born in us by obedience to those in authority, and by obedience to every man, and what are the feelings which arise in us when we resist obedience, and by what doctrine the opinion which will not be persuaded by its teachers may be abated, and by what consideration we may root up from ourselves the doubt [which cometh] from knowledge which ariseth in us against our soul. And [we should know] what feelings can be conquered by other feelings, and what lusts can be abated by others, and of what [nature] is the war against things of the body, and of what [nature] is that which is against the things of the soul and against things of the spirit, and [we should know] what it is meet that corporeal beings should do when they wish to overcome the lusts of the body, and what beings endowed with souls [should do] [p. 15] to overcome the passions of the soul, and what spiritual beings [should do] to be delivered from the failings15 which befall spiritual beings in the country of the spirit. And [we should know] how far the fight can be extended in each one of these series, and how we may know when the emotion of lust springeth from ourselves, and how and when it befalleth us externally at the instigation of the Enemy, and by what things the lust which is born of ourselves |13 and that lust which the Adversary stirreth up against us may be overcome, and whether by any means that same lust can be overcome at all times, or whether in order to overcome at other times other means are necessary to us. And [we should know] how, and by what [means], we may perceive when, either by the power of our endurance or by the grace of God, our lusts have been vanquished by us, and what manner of strife may be stirred up against us when we are among men, and also what manner of strife may be raised up against us when we are in solitude, and how the soul may be especially purified and cleansed, and what place is an assistance to the labour of the body. And [we should know] with what things it is meet that we should begin when we have drawn nigh to the discipleship of Christ, and what feeling will be aroused in us at the praise which may be bestowed upon us by people in authority, whether by reason of our knowledge or on account of our rule of life, and what feeling will be aroused in us when we are applauded by the greater number of the assembly in church. And [we should know] with what thoughts we should observe the onset of passions, and how we may guard ourselves from being disturbed by them when they attack us, and what [p. 16] opinions we may take unto ourselves when we overcome their struggling. And [we should know] how we may obtain the possession of humility, and with what thoughts we may abate in us the pride which is the opposite of humility, and with what minds we may hold fast patience within ourselves. And [we should know] what is the poverty of the body, and what is the renunciation of [the things of this] world, and what is the poverty of the soul, and how when we |14 have made ourselves beggars in respect of the riches of the things which are seen we may possess the wealth of the gifts of Christ. And [we should know] what commandments are meet for us to observe at the beginning of our instruction, and how we should listen to our teachers, who give us counsel and teach us good things, without observing their shortcomings. And [we should know] what power our soul obtaineth from each, one of the virtues which are exercised by us, and how it is meet for us to bear ourselves in a correct manner in the dwellings of our brethren. And [we should know] to what extent it is right for us to fast, and how at all times likewise [we may know] how to add unto or to diminish our bodily food, and how and in what way it is meet for us to endure patiently when the war of lust attacketh us. And [we should know] what to do when we desire to quench the passions of the soul in ourselves, and with what meditation of the mind we may root out enmity from us. And [we should know] how and whence pure prayer is born in us, and what intuitions strike us by the admiration of God, and how we should move within ourselves at all times a passion for God, and how many are the feelings and aspects which belong to this passion for God, and how when we come [p. 17] into a life of contemplation we may preserve our thoughts from wandering outside ourselves. And [we should know] what loss will arise to a man from communion with heretics, and how by human conversations and meetings our heart is made thick, and how the remembrance and the thought of God are darkened. And it is meet that we should know what is fasting of the body, and what is fasting of the soul, and what is fasting of the spirit; and what is purity of the body, and |15 purity of the soul, and purity of the spirit; and what is poverty of the body, and poverty of the soul, and poverty of the spirit. And [we should know] what are the distinguishing characteristics of contemplation of the body, and of the soul, and of the spirit; and how the soul may be taught to fast from evil things, even also in like manner as the body is taught to fast from meats.
These and many other things like unto them the disciple of Christ is bound to learn and to know in order to walk confidently on the path of his service, and to do the will of the heavenly King Whom he serveth. For if those who learn the handicrafts of [this] world learn carefully all the secrets of their trades, and are incited to know all the [different] kinds of work which are in each of them, how much more is it meet for him that hath been chosen for this spiritual trade----if we are right in calling it a trade----to know all the ways, and paths, and signs, and marks of the mysteries of this Divine manner of life? And he should know that, although he is a man according to the body, he is chosen to work spiritual things, and that, by the grace of God, he hath been held worthy of the life of heavenly things, [p. 18] and that, although he existeth in the flesh in [this] world, he should walk in the path which is superior to his nature.
We are bound then, if we be disciples, to ask and to learn all those things whereby we may obtain our living like disciples; and as disciples learn their crafts from their masters, even, so let us learn and receive [instruction] from our spiritual masters. Now no man is able to become a master except he be first of all a disciple, and he cannot help and profit others unless he gathereth useful things from others, and subdueth |16 himself to receive [instruction] and to learn from every man, and esteemeth every man greater and more excellent than himself. For our nature hath been created, and when as yet we were not we existed in the will of the Creator, and we have [but] recently been able to possess the doctrine of good things. And as we came into existence from a condition of non-existence, even so from [being] sinners have we become righteous. When once a man hath cast off the world wholly he can then put on himself completely the manner of the life of Christ, for until he hath cast off from himself the polluted garment, and hath cleansed himself by means of tears of repentance from the blemishes of evil things, he cannot array himself in the purple of the knowledge of Christ. The man who is befouled either with thoughts or deeds of iniquity is first of all bound to heal his sores, and to rub away the blemishes of his soul and body, and then he may come to the feast chamber of divine mysteries, arrayed in the spiritual garments of the feast. And for this reason it is especially meet that every one who becometh a disciple of Christ should, from his earliest age, lay the foundation of his instruction in such a way that all his [p. 19] subsequent growth may receive goodly habits, and that the world may not exhaust the power of his soul and body, after which he may draw nigh to this service like an old and worn out vessel; but, according to what is said by our Lord,16 "Let us put new wine into new bottles, and both will be preserved". And thus in the beginning of our youth, when as yet our foundation is new, and while our strength is yet in us, and our |17 freshness hath not been made old by sin, let us put within ourselves the new wine of the doctrine of Christ, that we may be able to endure the fervour of the love of the doctrine of Christ, so that while we preserve it we may ourselves be preserved through it from all evil things, more especially when the power of our soul hath not been violated and carried off by the work of the service of profane things.
Whosoever then would begin this course of life in his youth, it is meet for him to be under the care of masters and to be obedient to their words without judging their shortcomings. And those teachers also should put themselves in the position of foster-parents to whom the bringing up of the children of the heavenly king, whose father is a king, and whose brother is a king, and whose mother is a queen, hath been delivered, And as those who educate the children of a king of [this] world shew endless care for their growth and progress, and watchfulness and zealousness to please their parents in them and the children also when they arrive at the honour of royalty, even so also should the master of disciples consider that he is educating the children of a king, and he should be watchful and take heed to their custody and to their growth and progress.
[p. 20] It is meet also that we should be like unto physicians towards ourselves and towards each other. For there is no physician who, being smitten with pain in his own body, will not exercise care concerning it before [he attendeth] to the healing of the sicknesses of others; if however, other people fall sick, the law of the art of healing requireth him to run to heal them. And like physicians it is meet that we should |18 know first of all what are the causes of the pains and then should apply medicines, so that we may not be unto the sick man a medicine which increaseth the sickness. For we have received soul and body by the grace of God in the construction of our created form, and it is required from us that we should take care of both. Now as concerning sicknesses and bodily sufferings, that same bodily nature maketh demands from us concerning meat, and drink, and clothing, for those natural needs compel us to take thought for the body, and we are not able to neglect it, even if we wish to do so, for the force of its feelings draweth us to heal it, and the demands [made] by its needs [draw us] to supply the things which it requireth. And concerning the healing of our soul, the command of the word of God urgeth us to heal its sicknesses, and to cure its sufferings, and to satisfy its hunger with the food of doctrine, and to give it to drink of the knowledge of God, and to clothe it with the dress of belief, and to shoe it with the preparation of hope, and to rear it in goodly habits, and in the perfection of all good things, and in the obedience which is ready [p. 21] for the work of the commandments of God, so that, our secret parts being holy and our visible parts being pure, we may become vessels prepared for the Spirit of God, so that He may dwell in us purely and holily, we having cured the diseases which smite us by knowledge and wisdom, and having healed in our souls the wounds of sin.
Now there is no single sickness of the lusts for which healing medicine is not given to us by the word of God. For like as medicines are mixed and prepared by the physicians for bodily sicknesses, even so |19 are medicines made ready and prepared by the Spirit of God for the sufferings of sin, so that whosoever perceiveth his sickness may find medicine by his side, and may at once bring help nigh to himself; and every disease, as it appeareth in most cases, can be healed by something which is opposite [in nature], in order that the contrariety of the medicine may combat the injurious effect of the disease. The sicknesses which arise through cold are healed by roots (or drugs) having astringent properties, and those which arise through heat are helped to decrease by things of a cooling nature. Thus also is it with those which arise from dampness, for dryness cureth [them], and to heal those which arise from moisture medicines which dry up are given.
From this similitude then, take an example, O understanding man, who desirest to heal the sicknesses of the soul, and do to thy soul what the art of healing doeth to thy body; for this work of things which are manifest is set before our eyes that it may be a demonstration of doctrine for the things which are hidden. And in the same way in which the body is healed let us heal the soul [p. 22] from the sicknesses of evil things, and let us make ready the medicine which is the antidote against every passion of sin» Against doubt, faith; against error, truth; against suspicion, certain assurance; against lying, integrity; against craft, simplicity; against cunning, uprightness; against wiliness, sincerity; against hardness, gentleness; against asperity, graciousness; against the lust of the body, the lust of the Spirit; against enjoyment, suffering; against joy of this world, joy of Christ; against profane songs, psalms of the Spirit; against lewdness, groanings and tears; against |20 prodigality in eating and drinking, fasting; against drinking unto drunkenness, the parching thirst of prudence; against the rest of pleasure, labour; against enjoyment, tribulation; against fleshly pleasure, pleasure of the thoughts which rejoice in the Spirit; against speech, silent meditation; against external conversations, silence; against slackness, strenuousness; against inactivity, activity; against negligence of the thoughts, keenness of understanding; against weariness, endurance; against cruelty, loving-kindness; against wickedness of the mind, piety of the soul; against haughtiness, humility; against boasting, contempt; against the love of honour, subjection; against praise, contumely; [p. 23] against riches, poverty; against possession, want; against enmity, peace; against hatred, love; against anger, conciliation; against wrath, propitiation; against envy, love; against evil jealousy, the love of mankind; against cursing, blessing; against smiting upon the cheek, the turning of the other cheek to him that smiteth us; against trouble, joy; against suspicion of ourselves, confident hope towards God; against the passions of the body, the passions of the spirit; against the sight of the body, the sight of the spirit; against ornament in dress, the want of attire; against luxury, asceticism; against fatness, emaciation; against the mind which meditateth upon meats, the mind which contemplateth heavenly things; against the sight of everything which is visible, the remembrance of everything which is invisible; against the world which is present, the quest of the world which is to come; against the love of parents of the body, the love of parents of the spirit; against the bond of relationship which is in the human race, the bond of our understanding in our heavenly kinship; against a city and a |21 house on earth, the dwelling of Jerusalem which is above.
All these things then, and others which are like unto them, are healed by what is opposite in nature to them, and are made whole by [their] antidotes; and it is meet that whosoever lusteth after spiritual things should deny [himself] corporeal things. For until one lust is dead in us another cannot live within us, that is, until the lust of the body is dead the lust of the spirit cannot live in our thoughts; for the death of one of them is that which maketh its fellow come to life. When the body [p. 24] with all its lusts liveth in us the soul with all its lusts is dead, but when the soul is associated with the life which is in the spirit, all its members----which are its thoughts----live with it. Then riseth man from the dead, and liveth in the new life of the new world. Until we have cast off from us the old man we cannot put on the new man of the spirit; and even though, by grace, we may put him on yet we do not perceive him.
Now all these sicknesses which we have enumerated can be healed by these medicines, and it belongeth therefore to the man that is sick to know his sickness, and to be a physician unto himself, and for each of these sicknesses which we have enumerated let him apply the medicine which is its antidote. For behold, by the side of the sickness a drug for healing is laid, and near the blain is the medicine which will cure it. If thou wouldst seek to heal thy sicknesses, behold the medicines for their cure are by their side; but [first] understand thy diseases and acquire the knowledge of the drugs which have the power to heal them. And from the slight indication which I have described for thee |22 thou must understand that [all] the rest belongeth to thine own care; for instruction doth not teach thee everything lest thou become sleepy and useless. Now if these things which have been or which are about to be written are thought by thee to be more difficult than thy strength [is able to bear], cry unto God for help, and from Him thou shalt obtain grace which will assist thee in the war in which thou standest.
We will then draw nigh, by the help of God, and in few [p. 25] words we will write concerning each of these passions so far as power [lieth] in us----that is according as grace shall sustain [us]----for our own benefit and for the profit of others. And we will set these matters in order, one after the other, and we will show where it is meet that the disciple should begin, and how he should advance and ascend all the grades of the Christian life and conduct, until he arriveth at the topmost step of love, from whence he shall ascend to the grade of perfection. Then will the spiritual land of the joy of Christ receive him, and when he hath stood upon it he will be free from passions, and will be delivered from lusts, and he will have subdued all his enemies under his feet, and that man will speak with boldness the word of the Apostle, saying, "Yet I live; [and yet] no longer I, but Christ liveth in me":17 to Whom be glory for ever. Amen.
Here endeth the First Discourse which is the Prologue of the volume. |23
[Footnotes renumbered and placed at the end. Page numbers in square brackets refer to the pages of volume.1, the Syriac text: page numbers in the translation are highlighted in red as normal]
1. 1 Compare 2 Corinthians iii. 18; Philippians iii. 21.
2. 2 )tbcwY
3. 1 St. Matthew vii. 24-27.
4. 2 "But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deluding your own selves". St. James i. 22.
5. 3 Romans ii. 13-15.
6. 1 Psalm 1. 16, 17.
7. 1 Isaiah lviii. 1.
8. 2 Isaiah xl. 6.
9. 1 St. Luke xiv. 29.
10. 2 i Corinthians iii. 11.
11. 1 i Corinthians iii. 13.
12. 2 St. Matthew iii. 12; St. Luke iii. 17.
13. 1 Literally "vessels."
14. 1 Syr. [Syriac]. There is no example of the use of this word in Payne Smith's Thesaurus.
15. 1 )t(rw$ = to_ para&ptwma, Romans v. 15.
16. 1 St. Matthew ix. 17.
17. 1 Galatians ii. 20.
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Greek text is rendered using the Scholars Press SPIonic font, Syriac using SPEdessa font, free from here.
Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
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Philoxenus, Ascetic Discourse (1894) pp.23-48. Discourse 2 -- On Faith
Philoxenus, Ascetic Discourse (1894) pp.23-48. Discourse 2 -- On Faith
[P. 26] THE SECOND DISCOURSE: WHICH TEACHETH WHICH IS THE FIRST COMMANDMENT THAT THE MAN WHO DRAWETH NIGH TO THE DISCIPLESHIP OF CHRIST SHOULD LAY HOLD UPON.
Whosoever wisheth to draw nigh in systematic order to the life and conduct of the discipleship of Christ before all things it is meet that he should within himself lay hold upon sure faith, which maketh certain that God is, and enquireth not; which holdeth His words to be sure; and seeketh not to investigate His nature; which hearkeneth to His words, and judgeth not His deeds and actions. For faith maketh [man] believe God in everything that He speaketh without requiring testimonies and proofs of the certainty of His word, the certain proof that it is God Who speaketh being sufficient for him. Signs and testimonies and proofs are demanded when it is man who doeth or sayeth anything, but when it is God Himself who speaketh, and the Lord of the universe Who sayeth that He will perform [it], it is necessary for us to believe, it being sufficient for the persuading of our faith that it is God Himself Who speaketh and will perform. And man hath not the power to judge His will; for how can [p. 27] man who hath been made judge the will of Him that created him? For as the vessel cannot chide the handicraftsman and [ask] why he hath thus formed it, |24 or judge any of his works, so also is it with man who is a rational vessel, and he hath no power to chide with the Workman Who made him. And although man possesseth the speech of knowledge it was not given to him to judge the will of Him that made him, but that he might be a panegyrist of the knowledge which formed him; for the rational man is farther removed from the power of scrutinizing His Creator, than is the speechless vessel from the power of criticising him that made it. For the giving of thanks have we received speech from God our Creator, and in order that we may admire His created things hath He placed in us thoughts of knowledge. That we may perceive Him He hath made us to possess a sense of wisdom, and that we may receive a foretaste of His gracious acts hath He placed within our soul the sense of discernment. That we may see Him in His works He hath given to us the eye of faith which can see deeply into His secret things. God is too great to be investigated by the thoughts, and His dispensation surpasseth the seeking out of speech. And with His nature go also His works: for as His nature is inscrutable so also the deeds and actions of His nature cannot be sought out. And His will and wish cannot be judged, either for what reason hath He willed thus, or for what reason hath He done thus; for as He cannot be judged by us as to why He hath made us in this form, and why He hath formed us, and placed us in the world in this order of constitution, so also none of His wishes can be found fault with by us, either as to why He willed thus, [p. 28] or why He performed.
"He that would draw nigh to God is bound to believe that He is, and [that] to those who seek Him He |25 will be a rewarder;" 1 this law hath Paul committed to the man who wisheth to draw nigh to God, and this obligation of rewarding [him] is laid upon God. He must believe only that God is, and whosoever believeth that He is, from what time and in what manner [He existeth] he will not enquire. So also is it with His will, if he heareth [it], and His word, and His doctrine; that it is the will of God Himself he will be sure, and the voice and commandment of God he will hearken unto and believe. That he should judge why, and in what form, and for what reason [He is] thus is the insolent investigation of the soul which hath not perceived God.
It is meet for every man that would draw nigh to God that he should possess the mind of a child; and as a child is towards his father and mother, so should he be towards God and towards His dispensation. And as the child receiveth instruction from his master without searching into his words or examining his doctrine, and without judging in his thoughts that which he teacheth him—for he hath not sufficient ability in his own thoughts to be a judge of what he heareth—so also is it meet for the man to be towards God, neither enquiring into Him with his words, nor judging His deeds and actions in secret thoughts; for he is a child, and like a child he should incline his ear unto His instruction, and receive it with faith. And it was also for this reason that God gave birth to us a second time, that He might teach us that we were children [p. 29] and infants of the world born unto faith, for the womb which gave us birth — that is, |26 baptism in which the Spirit is mingled—has been made the means. Now we have been born in faith, and as the natural child who is born from the womb existeth wholly in natural simplicity and knoweth nothing of the world, and seeketh not to know, and enquireth not, and thinketh not, and speaketh not, except that he moveth only with the living motions of nature, being remote from all power of the mind, so also this child, of the Spirit, who hath been brought forth by the womb of baptism instead of by the natural womb, is not bound to enquire concerning Him that begot him while he listeneth to His words with sincerity, and he should become like a child to His doctrine, accepting [His] commands and drawing not nigh to enquire into them. And as that natural child learneth the names of the things of the world without understanding their power, so also let [the child of the Spirit] accept the names and words, and God shall give him the secret of understanding them. For in respect of that knowledge we are children and infants compared to the unspeakable wisdom of God, and thus also are we called by the word of our Redeemer, [Who said], "Suffer little children to come unto Me, and restrain them not, for of those who are like these is the kingdom of God".2 And again in another place He said, "Whosoever will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child shall not enter into it."3
For as is the faith of little children in respect of the things of [this] world, so is it meet [p. 30] that our faith should be towards the words which are spoken to us by God, because thus is also the child |27 towards the word which he heareth from his father, and everything which is promised to him by him he believeth without doubt that he will give him and that he will not fail in his word, and he doth not question him; he doth not first make investigations concerning it, and test its power, and attack its trustworthiness, and then accept it. And if the thing which hath been promised unto him be too great for the power of his father [to perform] he knoweth not how to distinguish it, but everything which he saith to him he accepteth from him directly and doubteth not. And if he seeth purple raiment upon a king's son, or the crown which is placed upon his head, he asketh his father to give them to him, and he believeth in the sincerity of his mind that he will give them to him, for concerning him he thinketh that he is able to do everything. And if he seeth a snake or a scorpion he doth not hesitate to stretch out his hand towards them in his simplicity, and he biddeth his father or his mother to give them to him, and he also maketh known the desire of his simplicity by his weeping [if they give them not to him]; and his constant importunity concerning them, and his cries, and his tears, testify that he asketh [for them] with all the power of his nature, believing that the power of his father is able to resist the injuries of the harmful reptile, and he hath no doubt whatever in his soul that that which he desireth can be given to him. Therefore after this type of children did our Lord command that all those who would receive His kingdom should become, believing and holding to be sure the promises of God unto them like children. For our Lord proclaimed and revealed His kingdom to corporeal beings, and said, [p. 31] "Repent ye, for the |28 kingdom of heaven hath drawn nigh."4 Thou hast heard the voice of him that proclaimed concerning His kingdom, believe it then undoubtingly, especially since thou hast learned that it is the voice of God. Meditate not in thy soul how this kingdom can be, and try not to search out these spiritual countries in thy imagination; take not upon thyself the customary habit of the thoughts of the body when thou hearest of incorporeal, countries, and fashion not imaginary forms out of thy heart concerning these glorious mansions which the Ascension of the Son hath prepared [for thee]; and think not to order in thy knowledge that which the knowledge of God hath fashioned aforetime. Thou wast not called to search out the kingdom, neither its preparation nor construction, but only to be an heir and a guest, that thou mightest enjoy thyself out of the overflowing abundance of its spiritual delights. Thou hast heard the word concerning the kingdom which Jesus speaketh to thee, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven hath drawn nigh;" to thee He hath said, "Repent," and not that thou shouldst be one who should try to examine into the kingdom, for that is near unto thee if thou wilt draw nigh unto it. Now the drawing nigh unto the kingdom cannot be arrived at by the questionings of these words which enquire, "How, and in what manner, and what the kingdom is like;" but let each of us keep the laws of the kingdom, and perform the commandments which have been committed unto us by the Ruler of the kingdom.
All these things by faith thou hast heard concerning God, that He is from everlasting [p. 32] and world |29 without end, and that He existeth in His own being, and that He hath not come into being from any other substance; and that He is not One Person, but a Nature, existing of Itself, which is believed and confessed in Three Persons. And moreover, the word of faith teacheth thee to be certain concerning the Persons, that He Who begot cannot be divided, and that He Who was born cannot be separated,5 but the Father together with His Son is everlastingly and eternally of like nature with the Holy Spirit. That they exist is all that thou [needest] to confess. How, and from what time, or in what manner, and to what limit, and with what form and order, and what is their likeness, and how they can be Three not being divided from each other, and how it is that since they are in each other they are called Three, and how the Son can have been born since He hath not been separated from the Father, and how the Father begot him since He hath not gone forth from Him, and how it is that having been in existence from everlasting and world without end they are not described as Three Beings— these things and others which are like unto them are accepted by faith, and without faith man is not able to hear them [and believe them]. Even the ordinary hearing is not able to bear them unless faith be found to precede them and to accept them.
And thus also is it in respect of the spiritual natures and orders of celestial beings, and it is faith which maketh it possible to receive every word which is spoken concerning them; [p. 33] for otherwise there must necessarily be unbelief, since the Book calleth them |30 "absolute spiritual beings" [in one place], and in another it speaketh of them as "compacted bodies," to which it attributeth forms which are different from each other. Concerning the Seraphim 6 we are told by the word of the Book [that they have] wings and faces, and concerning the Cherubim 7 [we are told that they have] other forms which are different from each other; which of these statements are we to accept as true? for according to the outward hearing of the word each contradicts the other. The statement that they are spirits we believe, the statement that they are compacted bodies we hold to be true, the statement that their construction consisteth of forms of different kinds we accept; and we receive them all by faith, because it hath been said by God that their [four] sides were "living animals" [which] were "full of eyes as they turned round." 8 And by this word He hath taught us that the whole of the spiritual nature can see, and that all of it can hear, and that all of it can perceive, and that all of it can think, and that all of it can put things to the test,9 and that all of it can understand, and that all of it can desire with the desire of its nature; and it doth not hear with one member and not with another, or see with one and not with another, but the whole of it is hearing, and the whole of it is seeing, and everything which it is that it is wholly. And its hearing is not disturbed by its vision when with the member with which it heareth it [also] seeth, or when with that with which it thinketh it also tasteth; and we believe them to be undisturbed and undestroyed by each other. |31
Now in respect of compacted bodily natures which have been discovered to be the opposites of these spiritual beings, in that they hear with one [member], and see with another, and taste with another, and smell with another, and feel with another, and think with another, contrary to the constitution of their members the movement of their passions maketh division; [p. 34] but above, with these spiritual natures, each one of them is wholly and entirely one thing in all his motions, and his members—head, and feet, and hands, and face, and back, and front, and length, and breadth, and colour, and forms which are different from each other—are not separated. For in these natures there is not the composition of these members, and it happeneth not that because there is no eye there is no vision of the eye, or that because there is no ear there is no hearing of the ear, or that because there is no bodily palate they have no [power of] tasting spiritual things, or that because they have no wings they cannot fly, or that because they have no legs they cannot move about, or that because they have none of the members of the heart they cannot think; but they possess all the service of the members, although they have no compacted members. And how the operation of the members is established without the members themselves we have no power in our own knowledge to understand; but by this [power) which is given to us by God, I mean faith, we understand these things, and although they do not at all fall under the investigation of the human thoughts they are accepted by us without any doubt. For from faith we learn this [fact] that they exist, and not they only, but also the Being Who existeth of Himself, their Creator, by faith we accept that He is. |32
The stablishing of all our instruction (or doctrine) is in faith, for although the appearance and march of things teacheth and maketh understanding men wise concerning [p. 35] their Creator, yet faith should precede even this, for behold, because there was no faith this became a lie unto many. And to speak briefly, everything which is of the spirit, and the whole world of spiritual beings, faith seeth and faith perceiveth. If we do not take faith within our soul we shall understand nothing outside of that which can be seen. To [understand] these things which are seen faith is unnecessary because the vision of the eye seeth them, for they are corporeal in their nature, and man looketh at them corporeally; but the whole world of the spirit is perceived by faith, and it seems as if that world could not exist if there were no faith.
Observe then how great is the power of faith, for all the spiritual things which are would, without it, be as if they existed not; and not only living works or spiritual countries, but that Being which is, would be, if we had no faith, as if He existed not For this reason Paul looked upon the mystery of our doctrine, and said, "He that would draw nigh to God is bound to believe that He 10 is;" he commanded the disciple [first] to take faith upon himself, and then to draw nigh to the discipleship of Christ. For Paul knew that the spiritual nature could not fall under the bodily senses, and that it could not be known, for not even one of the bodily senses [p. 36] could subjugate it, and for this reason he commanded us in his doctrine to believe only that He is. Now the Creator divided the whole |33 of the corporeal nature into five kinds; one may be seen, another may be heard, another may be smelled, another may be perceived, and another may be touched; and He gave to man five senses with which he might be sensible of the world in its multitudinous varieties. Therefore, outside these five senses which I have enumerated a man can neither perceive anything of the corporeal world, nor doth the world exist to him outside these senses. And the remainder of everything which is spiritual, whether it be that which existeth of itself or whether it be things which are created, cannot be subjected to one of these five forms, neither can it be experienced by [any] one of these five senses. And for this reason also when our Lord gave us this blessing of perceiving Him, He delivered unto us first of all faith, with which we might perceive Him, and then He revealed to us concerning Himself, and for this reason the blessed Paul said 11 that "Faith [cometh] from the hearing of the ear, and the hearing of the ear from the word of God." By the hearing of the word of God Paul taught us to receive faith, and although faith hath been implanted in our construction by God our Creator, yet hath it been corrupted and changed from faith to error, and after the manner of that natural wisdom which hath also been given to us in our construction we have changed it, and instead of the wisdom of God we have gathered together the wisdom of [this] world with it. And something else which is external to God through the wisdom of God have we changed, [p. 37] even as Paul saith, "Through the wisdom of God the world knew not the wisdom of God." 12 |34
And thus also hath the natural faith which is in us been turned into error, and these things which have been given to us by the Creator for [our] advantage have been found by us to be a loss, for we have changed their profitable orderings, and we have made use of them in a manner other than that for which they were designed. Our faith hath believed in what is unseemly, and our wisdom hath made acquaintance, with what is not befitting; for where faith was unnecessary there have we made use of faith. For what the eye of the body saw, and what all the bodily senses perceived, that thing was understood to be something else by our faith, and we expected one thing in the place of another. And because of all this the ordering of the faith which was implanted in us by the Creator hath been destroyed, the word of God hath been implanted in us a second time, and the power which is in us hath been stirred up by the doctrine of Christ; for this reason He urgeth with all His words, high and low, that faith should be in us, saying, "Verily I say unto you if there be in you faith like a grain of mustard seed ye shall say to this mountain, Remove hence; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be too difficult for you."13
He taught us by faith that nothing should be too difficult for us, and according to this everything can be overcome by the power of faith, according to the command (or decision) of the word of Christ. For by faith signs took place, and wonderful deeds were wrought, and mighty works were completed, [p. 38] and things worthy of admiration were accomplished. |35 Everything which is above nature faith alone performeth, whether it be the raising of the dead, or the healing of the sick, or the curing of those who are smitten with disease, or the cleansing of lepers, or the opening of the eyes of the blind, or the making the lame to walk, or the making sound and stablishing of all the other members of the body, or the making to speak those having impediments, or the making the deaf to hear, or the driving away of devils: all these faith perfecteth. By faith a mountain removeth from its place, by faith the sea and rivers have been crossed on foot, and by the power of faith all natural things have been obedient to the voice of man. And to speak briefly, faith giveth the power of God to man, for when he hath once believed, everything that he wisheth he doeth by the power of faith. Faith changeth feebleness of the body into its own mightiness, and the despicable order of man it maketh into the audible command of God. Faith looketh upon something which existeth not as if it were something which doth exist, and that which existeth it accounteth as if it existed not. And this also is an example of the power of God, concerning Whom Paul spake, "He calleth the things that are not as though they were." 14 And the Prophet said, "He rebuketh the sea, and maketh it dry, and drieth up all the rivers;" 15 and again, "He looketh on the earth and it trembleth; He rebuketh the mountains, and they smoke." 16 And again the prophet Isaiah saith, [p. 39] "All the nations are accounted as nothing by Him." 17 Now these things the Spirit of God spake |36 concerning the power of God, that those things which were not He called to come into existence, and that what did exist He called and changed into nothing. To this power also He compareth faith, not only in that matter of [the working] of signs and wonderful things, in that the things which are not it worketh after the manner of God, and those which are it bringeth to an end and finisheth by the power of God, but also in that those things which, because of their being hidden, were accounted as if they existed not, were perceived by it as if they were manifest, and those which are, and in which we labour, and by which we are ministered unto, are accounted as if they existed not, for [faith] saw aforetime their dissolution. And although their nature was not to pass away, it made them pass away; and although they existed, it dissolved them; and although they were visible, they were to it invisible; and although their delights could be experienced, they were as nothing to it; and although all created things were to run, to faith they would be at rest. When it seeth death it maketh not sure that it is death, and riches are accounted poverty by it, and everything which is in the world or is even of the nature of the world it looketh upon as if it existed not, because its course is about to be annulled, and its affairs to cease. The things which are remote and afar off, it bringeth and placeth near in front of it, and it looketh upon them face to face; and without a covering (or vail) it looketh upon all secret things and regardeth all things that are hidden. To the sight [p. 40] of the body the kingdom of heaven is afar off, yet the eye of faith regardeth it; these mansions in the house of the Father, which are remote according to the body, hath |37 faith already dwelt in. That spiritual light shineth in its country gloriously, and faith hath already walked therein and gazed upon it. The apparel of our glory is in heaven, but faith hath already put it on. Our spiritual riches and possessions are there, and our faith receiveth therefrom and giveth away. Our true city is in heaven, and faith henceforth dwelleth therein. Our race, and family, and parents are in that country, and faith speaketh with them, and is in conversation with them always. The table of our happiness is there set, and faith rejoiceth thereat continually. The spring of life from which we drink there floweth, and faith at all times drinketh therefrom. The powers of life and ranks of light are in the country of life, and faith glorieth with them.
And why should I speak concerning things which, although they be glorious, are externals, and although they be mighty and worthy of wonder, have been newly constituted? If they are remote from us now by reason of their hiddenness, yet are we about to draw nigh unto them when we have become [beings] of the spirit according to the ordering of their country. And what shall we say concerning these things? Wherever is the self-existent Nature of God, Who is remote and afar off from everything, He is near to faith; and however remote He may be He is not remote from it; and however far off He may be He is not far off from it; and although He be away beyond everything [p. 41] yet is He near to faith; and although He be within all rational things and inarticulate things, and in things which have life and in things which feel not, wherever He may be, there is faith with Him. For this is the nature of the vision of faith; |38 what cannot be seen it seeth; what cannot be known it kopweth; what cannot be perceived it perceiveth; and what is illimitably afar off it seeth and becometh nigh thereunto. And however minute, and concealed, and hidden, and spiritual, and exalted, and unutterable be that natural thing which faith seeketh to see, the more triumphant is its vision of it. Now on those things which are very great faith is wont to seize and, show her [power] of investigation, for it is accounted by her a disgrace to remain with small things, and to be held back to created things, and therefore she passeth through everything and is detained by nothing, except by the Creator. The capacity of creatures is not able to bear and to grasp the power of faith, for not one of them can believe therein, and if it believeth therein [it thinketh] that faith is a created thing, and not that it is self-existent; now the trial thereof can only be made in God; for it casteth everything away and setteth all natural things upon one side, and doth itself draw nigh to the Creator. For faith mak-eth to pass away the things which now exist, and it bringeth on those which are about to come into existence. Faith is the tongue of God, and faith is the command of the Creator. Faith commandeth, and like God it is obeyed in every thing; [p. 42] it beckoneth, and all creation respondeth to it. And the power of God is the power of faith, because the power of faith is derived from God. Faith is the mistress of created things, and as a mistress who giveth orders to her handmaids and is obeyed by them, even so faith commandeth all creation, and it obeyeth her. And it is a marvellous thing that not only are created things obedient unto faith, but even the Creator Himself resisteth |39 not her will; whatsoever she seeketh she receiveth, and whatsoever she asketh from Him He giveth to her, and [when] she calleth to Him He answereth her.
The door of the Giver is opened to the petitions of faith, even as He said, "Whatsoever ye shall ask, not being doubtful, ye shall receive." 18 In the house of God faith giveth her commands like a mistress of wealth and a ruler of possessions. The mystery of faith is a wonderful and exalted thing, and no man is able to fathom its mystery; and it is so great that it is a place of habitation for God. Faith is that which is not a name only, nor is it even voice or speech; but it is that which sheweth itself by the true examination of the soul, and by the sure and certain stability of the thoughts, and it denieth not itself, but in this respect also it is to be compared with God, concerning Whom Paul saith, "He cannot deny Himself." 19 Thus also is it with the faith which denieth not itself, which bringeth not doubt upon itself, upon which no suspicion falleth, and whose power fear reacheth not. Everything that it wisheth, it doeth, and whatsoever it seeketh is given unto it.
[p. 43] The man who would draw nigh unto God is bound to lay hold upon faith in his soul, for faith hath no thoughts which dissolve one the other, neither hath it opinions which annul each other. Faith retracteth not what it doeth and sayeth, and it blameth not itself when once it hath spoken and asked for what it desireth. And as in God there can be no repentance concerning anything which He doeth and speaketh, even so there ariseth no repentance in faith concerning |40 whatsoever it doeth, so that in this respect it is to be likened unto God. Faith is a command, and its command ruleth; it prayeth with confidence, and according to its confidence its prayer is straightway perfected into works. There are instances in which faith doth not even offer up prayer and then give a command concerning something; but it speaketh with authority like unto God. And as there is nothing which is able to resist the command of God, so also can nothing resist the command of faith. There are instances in which faith prayeth and in which it revealeth itself in its prayer; and there are instances in which while it prayeth not it giveth the command authoritatively, and it is answered. Elijah did not pray before Ahab and then was heard, but the faith which was in him gave the command authoritatively, and what he commanded immediately stood firm. And his word had more power over all natures and created things than the command of a king concerning the provinces of his dominion. "As the Lord, the mighty One, liveth, before Whom I stand this day, there shall not be rain or dew these three years until I speak." 20 It is not written that he prayed [first], and then spake, but immediately creation heard his word it bowed itself under the nod of his command. [p. 44] All things hearkened unto the command of a mortal man as if it had been the word of God. The clouds were obedient unto him, he called the earth and it answered him, he commanded the air, and it did not appear in its variable forms. All creation became a submissive handmaid before the word of Elijah's faith, and, although disturbed by the |41 command which her mistress had spoken to her, [nevertheless] ministered thereunto.
And in another place, concerning the captains of the hosts who went up to bring him down with the others who were with them, it is written that he commanded and spake with Godlike authority, and the fire of God came down from heaven and burnt them all up. "If I be a prophet, as thou sayest, let fire come down from heaven and consume thee and the fifty who are with thee," 21 and straightway and without delay, the fire descended from heaven upon the unclean, and it burnt into them as it came down, and to the word of the prophet there was actual fulfilment.
Now in other places it is written that faith prayed and was afterwards heard, according to that which is written, "And he bowed himself, and put his face between his knees, and he sent his disciple to look by the way of the sea".22 And again when he raised the widow's son, he prayed, and prostrated himself,23 and then raised him. And in this prayer also faith made its appearance. For if he had not believed that he could raise him, he would not have taken the boy from his mother, and have carried him up [to his chamber] and have cast him upon the bed. And again also he commanded his disciple [p. 45] with authority, saying, "Ask whatsoever thou wishest, and I will give it to thee before I am taken from thee;" 24 and according to what the disciple asked and the master commanded, the Spirit ministered in very deed, and bestowed the gift upon Elisha.
Now when he was offering up sacrifices on Mount |42 Carmel in the sight of Ahab and of all Israel, "Answer me, Lord, answer me, Lord," he cried out, "that all this people may know that thou art the Lord, and that I am Thy servant, and that I have done everything by Thy command;" 25 and until he had prayed he was not answered and no fire came down. And the reason why in one case they prayed, and in another gave commands with authority is manifest; in the one their feebleness was apparent, and in the other the power of God towards them was revealed. For while they were praying and making entreaty they appeared like the feeble children of men; but while they were giving commands and being obeyed without prayer, it was recognized that it was the power of God which was with their command. In the one place they spoke like children of men, and in the other like the servants of God, that is to say like gods of flesh, for the faith which was in them made them heavenly gods. And in this respect also they are to be compared to Christ God, who in some cases wrought things like a Being of power, and in others He [first] entreated and afterwards worked. He did not raise Lazarus until He had prayed;26 He did not bless the bread and distribute it to the multitudes until He had looked up to heaven;27 and He did not give the command for the ears of the deaf man to be opened until He had spit, and laid His fingers upon his ears, [p. 46] and looked up to heaven.28 Others, however, He healed by a command of power, without either looking up to heaven or asking His Father. For by a command of power He raised |43 up the young man, the son of the widow;29 with a word He called to the daughter of the chief of the congregation and straightway she stood up;30 He commanded the sea31 and it was silent, and the wind and it was stilled; He spake 32 only, "Fill the water pots with water and draw out and bear to the governor of the feast," and created matter delayed not [to do] His will. "I say unto thee," He spake to the dumb spirit,33 and immediately it departed from the man. "I will, be thou clean," He spake to the leper,34 and as He willed, straightway the leprosy fled from his body.
For in this manner Jesus also wrought marvellous things, so that He might also bring Himself down to those whom, by His grace, He called, His "brethren"; and that it might not be grievous unto them that they were not answered until they had prayed He humbled Himself and prayed, and was afterwards answered. For the Lord took upon Himself equality with His servants in order that that which is written might be fulfilled, "In everything it was meet that He should be like unto His brethren."35 He gave unto them dominion that they might speak with authority, and be answered, so that by this they might be known to be the servants of God; and He gave boldness to faith that it might do everything that it wished. Thus also with power did Joshua, the son of Nun, command the sun and the moon, and they were restrained, [p. 47] and each of them stood still in its course. Joshua stretched out his hand and |44 spake 36 with the power of faith, saying, "Thou sun, tarry in Gibeon, and thou moon, in the valley of Ajalon;" and the sun was restrained, and the moon stood until the people had taken vengeance upon its enemies.
And why should I speak concerning the prophets [only] in the case of a nation in the whole of which—together with women and children—faith showed forth such mighty triumphs as these? For faith, as it had-been commanded, cried out, and the walls 37 [of Jericho] were not able to stand against its voice. In every place faith manifested such triumphs as these, and it worked marvellous things in all the Holy Books. He that hath perceived the power of faith, and hath had experience thereof in very deed, knoweth that it wrought these things, and he believeth also that it doeth [still] such things as these.
Therefore, O thou who wishest to become a disciple of God, do thou also get faith, the mistress of all possessions. Let this thing be to thee the beginning of thy instruction, and lay it as the foundation of the building of thy tower, in such a way that if it were to seize the height of heaven it would not fall, for the edifice of faith is its foundation, which cannot be shaken by waves and winds. And Jesus also set this faith [as] a foundation by the hand of Simon,38 and as our Lord made it the beginning, so also is it meet that the disciple, who would draw nigh to discipleship in systematic order, should first of all begin with it. Faith Jesus made the foundation of the whole Church, do thou also lay the foundation for thine own rule and manner of life therewith. He built thereupon excellent rules |45 of life and conduct for the whole world, and do thou [p. 48] build upon it thine own triumphs and order of life. He laid it out as a foundation for all the generations of the world after His coming, and do thou make it the beginning of thy life which is in God. See then how great faith is, in that it is sufficient to bear all children of men!
And Jesus also made faith the foundation of the edifice of the Church because He saw aforetime its invincible might, its unconquerable assurance, its never-diminishing strength, its irreproachable triumph, its power which cannot be overthrown, its unenfeebled strength, its irresistible command, its decree of judgment which never turneth back, its never-failing word, and its dominion which can never fall into contempt. This faith, the mistress of triumphant deeds, did Jesus make the foundation of the Church, and the beginning of the building of His holy Body, that He might teach all men to begin therewith, and that the disciple might make it the foundation of all his rule and conduct of life. It was not set by Him to be the foundation of the Church to show its power only, but also to teach every man who might wish to begin to build the new edifice of his discipleship to make it the beginning [thereof], and in all other parts of the building it will support and raise up the mansions of the virtues. For not one fine stone can go up to the building of this tower, unless faith carrieth it up, and there is no life in any of the limbs of good deeds [p. 49] unless the life of faith be in them. And as, without the life of the soul, all the members of the body are dead, so without the life of faith all the deeds and acts of righteousness are dead. And as the members live through the soul so do works live through faith. And as |46 although the members of the body may be healthy and sound, yet so long as the soul is not m them they are useless, and their beauty and healthiness profit them nothing, so although a man may be sound in the running [of the race] of righteousness, and work strenuously in his rule and conduct of life, as long as faith be not in the members of his works, his service is in vain. And as all the members receive feeling from the life of the soul, for through the life thereof each one of them moveth in the ordering of its nature, and in the service which appertaineth thereto—the eye to see, the ear to hear, the palate to taste, the nostrils to draw breath, the hand to touch, the feet to walk—and the whole body moveth and worketh, and trembleth with the movements of life in every form through the service of all its members, so also in this manner are the members of the works of righteousness, and as long as the life of faith be not in them they are dead and useless.
For fasting is not fasting if faith be not therewith, and alms are accounted nothing if they be not given in faith; [p. 50] neither is loving-kindness anything if faith be not therewith. The life of the Nazarite and ascetic is nothing unless faith be mingled therewith, and humility and subjection are nothing unless faith supporteth them, and painful seclusion is nothing if faith be not therewith; for the blessing of faith is not mingled therein, neither is it accounted a blessing, and the name of righteousness which is not mingled with faith perisheth, and its labours are in vain. For as the shadow of the body is not called the body, and as the shadow of the hand or foot is not called by the name of one of the members, so also the body of |47 righteousness in which there existeth not the life of faith cannot be called the body, nor can fasting be called fasting, or self-denial and asceticism be called by the names of true members. Without faith they all are a shadow and a dead body; and they cannot be spoken of as a true body, for they stand in suspicion, and they toil in a strange vineyard. And faith is the hedge [which protecteth] the plants of the commandments of Christ, and every plant which is found inside this hedge belongeth to Christ, and is planted in His vineyard, and those plants which are outside this hedge are called wild plants, which either bear no fruit at all, or if they bear any, the wild beast trampleth down and the birds of the air destroy it; and if it come to pass that they remain they are parched, and the sweetness of food is not in them.
This is the vineyard [p. 51] for which the master of the house hired labourers, and every one whom he saw standing outside he accounted idle, and persuaded him to work in his vineyard. By faith the good things which have been discovered may be preserved, and by faith those things which are not [in us] may be acquired. For faith gathereth treasure together, and preserveth riches; it layeth up wealth and, preserveth it. Faith is the foundation and the architect, and faith is laid out under the structure of the building, and it mounteth up therewith. Faith formeth the members, and faith maketh them to live. Faith planteth the plants of the spirit, and faith tilleth the plants of the spirit. Faith is the hedge [round about] the plants, and faith is the fountain which watereth them. Faith giveth birth, and faith is the nurse. Faith is the body, and faith is the soul which is in the body. Faith |48 scattereth seed, and faith reapeth and gathereth in the crops. Faith planteth the trees, and faith plucketh and carrieth in the fruit thereof. Faith is everything, for faith is sufficient to be everything.
Therefore, O disciple, lay hold upon this faith, and in this sure thing be strong and slacken not; and whatsoever thou believest, ask and thou shalt receive [it] from Christ Who hath promised to give it, to Whom, and to His Father, and to the Holy Ghost, be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Here endeth the Second Discourse, which is on Faith.
[Footnotes renumbered and moved to the end. Page numbers in square brackets refer to the pages of volume 1, the Syriac text.]
1. 1 Hebrews xi. 6.
2. 1 St. Matthew xix. 14.
3. 2 St. Mark x. 15.
4. 1 St. Matthew iii. 2.
5. 1 Literally "cut."
6. 1 Isaiah vi. 2; Ezekiel i. 7.
7. 2 Ezekiel x. 1-22.
8. 3 Ezekiel i. 18.
9. 4 Literally "taste."
10. 1 Hebrews xi. 6.
11. 1 Romans x. 17.
12. 2 i Corinthians i. 21.
13. 1 St. Matthew xvii. 20.
14. 1 Romans iv. 17.
15. 2 Nahum i. 4.
16. 3 Psalm civ. 32.
17. 4 Isaiah xl. 17.
18. 1 St. Matthew xxi. 22.
19. 2 2 Timothy ii. 13.
20. 1 1 Kings xvii. 1.
21. 1 2 Kings i. 10.
22. 2 1 Kings xviii. 42.
23. 3 1 Kings xvii. 17 ff.
24. 4 2 Kings ii. 9.
25. 1 1 Kings xviii. 36, 37.
26. 2 St. John xi. 41.
27. 3 St. Matthew xiv. 19.
28. 4 St. Mark vii. 33, 34.
29. 1 St. Luke vii. 14.
30. 2 St. Mark v. 41, 42.
31. 3 St. Matthew viii. 26.
32. 4 St. John ii. 7.
33. 5 St. Mark ix. 25.
34. 6 St. Matthew viii. 3.
35. 7 Hebrews ii. 17.
36. 1 Joshua x. 12.
37. 2 Joshua vi. 20.
38. 3 Compare St. Matthew xvi. 18.
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Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
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Philoxenus, Ascetic Discourse (1894) pp.49-69. Discourse 3 -- On Faith
Philoxenus, Ascetic Discourse (1894) pp.49-69. Discourse 3 -- On Faith
[P. 52] THE THIRD DISCOURSE----ON FAITH.
And again come, O disciple, and hearken unto the triumphs of faith which are much to be desired. Come and incline thine ear to the voice of thy mother who giveth thee life by the sweet music of her voice. Come and suck the sweet milk of doctrine from the living breast of the mother who bore thee. Come and stand by the fountain which watereth nations and tribes, for whosoever drinketh not from her his thirst is not quenched, Come and sit at the table which is full of the food of life, for whosoever feedeth not therefrom hath no life in his life. Come and incline thine ear and hear; come, open thine eyes and see the wonderful things which have been manifested by faith. Come, hew out for thyself new eyes; come, establish for thyself secret ears; to hear secret things thou art invited, therefore secret ears are necessary for thee; and to see spiritual things thou art called, therefore eyes of the spirit are useful for thee. Come, look upon thyself [as] something which thou art not, and renew thyself before thou shalt be made new. The Creator hath made thee a new creation, and faith hath helped in the making of thee; thou hast become a change of wonder and a construction of heaven, and faith was with Him when He established thee. [p. 53] For in the beginning when He created the world and |50 all that therein is, and when He was establishing things, wisdom worked with Him, even as Solomon saith, "The Lord by His wisdom laid the foundations of the earth, and He constructed the heavens by His undertanding; and by His knowledge were the depths broken up, and the clouds distilled water." And again wisdom saith, "When He constructed the heaven I was with Him, and when He made a circle upon the face of the deep, and when He made firm the clouds from above, and when the fountains of the depths became strong".1 Now wisdom was with God in His primaeval works, but in this second creation faith is with Him; and in this second giving of birth He hath taken to Himself faith as a helpmeet. In everything faith cleaveth to God, and without it to-day He worketh no new things. It were an easy thing for Him to give thee birth from water and spirit without it, but until it is satisfied He doth not give thee new birth. He is able to make thee a new creature, and from being old to make thee new, but until He receiveth from thee faith [as] a pledge He neither changeth thee nor maketh thee a new creature.
From him that is baptized faith is required, and then he receiveth treasure from the water; but without faith everything is common. When faith hath come the most contemptible things appear glorious. Without faith baptism is water [only], and without faith the life-giving Mysteries are bread and wine [only]; and the old man appeareth as he is if it be not the eye of faith that seeth him. The Mysteries are common things, and marvellous things are to be despised [p. 54] |51 if it be not the eye of faith which seeth them. The power of faith cannot be experienced by the test of words, but it must be felt in and from itself. Faith cannot be perfected by the hearing of the ear, but it must be made certain from within by the power of the soul. The ear only receiveth the report of faith, but the substance of faith is born from the mind. The pure understanding is a fountain which floweth with faith and a simple mind in which there is nothing else. For the mind of faith is single, and there is nothing therein which maketh contest against its neighbour. Faith regardeth secretly, and peereth, and looketh fixedly beyond unto the power which is buried in things.
Now faith is more deeply seated within than knowledge, for that which knowledge seeth not by the faith which is therein is made manifest. Knowledge is not able to perform the work of faith, and when knowledge hath gone forth faith entereth in her place. For in respect of created things knowledge is external, but faith is within the thing itself. Knowledge investigateth the wisdom which is hidden deeply in creation, and faith looketh steadfastly at the hidden things of the Mysteries. Knowledge looketh through and through into the force which [is in] edible things and fruit, and in all the food which is given to the body, but faith looketh through and through into the power which is hidden in the life-giving Mysteries, which are the food of the soul. However refined knowledge may make itself it burroweth among corporeal things, and in the visible world it goeth round about and wandereth; but faith [p. 55] goeth not about among created things, and the power of created things is unable to receive it to dwell in them.
The tongue cannot taste the power of faith, |52 and speech is unable either to declare its beauties or to describe and depict its similitudes. Its might cannot be experienced by the voice, neither can it be known by the speech, nor by the portion of the mind which turneth to the body; but within the place of the hidden and spiritual holy of holies of the understanding are the mysteries of faith made manifest, and secret things revealed. For that part which is within us and is more glorious than all [the other] parts of man, that part alone is able to perceive faith; now the works of faith are visible from without, and its words may be heard with the ears. And its power must be experienced in the understanding, for even if thou seest the dead rise, or the eyes of the blind opened, or the devils going forth [from a man], still thou hast not yet seen the power of faith. For how canst thou see the power of faith in a body which riseth, for behold it also maketh the soul alive from the dead? And how canst thou experience its power in the healing of the eyes of the body, for behold it also createth eyes for spiritual natures? And how canst thou see its power in the devils going forth, for behold it also driveth out of the soul natural thoughts? To those who are without the power of faith faith appeareth in external things, but man himself must experience it by the power of the soul. To the understanding faith giveth the experience of itself by nothing that is alien, but without the intervention of any alien thing faith lighteth upon it, and maketh it to experience [p. 56] its power. To the soul within signs from without can never become means for the experiencing of faith, but faith itself dwelleth therein and maketh it glad, and enlighteneth and maketh its thoughts to rejoice; it maketh the light of its nature to rise within |53 it, and the soul admireth the new light which is shed upon it. For until faith maketh to turn and concentrateth the sight of the soul from every place it showeth not the soul the beauty of its nature, because the soul is unable to see it while its vision is distracted by other things. The natural vision of the soul becometh enfeebled when it is divided, and it looketh outside itself, and it becometh incapable of looking fixedly at the clear light of faith.
Now to the soul which becometh unto it a pure dwelling-place faith giveth such power that it doth not look upon things as they are, but as it wisheth to see them. For behold thou bearest upon thy hands the live coal of the Mysteries, which in their nature are common bread, but faith seeth therein the body of the Only One. The eye of faith seeth not as the eye of the body, but faith compelled! the vision of the body to see what is invisible to it. For the body seeth bread, and wine, and oil, and water, but faith compelleth it to see with its vision spiritually that which corporeally cannot be seen, that is to say, instead of bread we eat the Body, and instead of wine we drink the Blood, and instead of water we see the baptism of the Spirit, and instead of oil the power of Christ. [p. 57] And faith possesseth the power of God, and the will and dominion of God are in it, and it gathereth together excellent things wheresoever it wisheth. Faith draweth nigh to the bones of the saints, and instead of dead men it looketh at them as living men, and speaketh with them as with the living, and entreateth them concerning its needs. For faith revealeth itself to the dead body in order that what it lacketh it may receive from the Giver of requests, and faith is persuaded that through |54 this dead body it will receive this gift, without considering that the dead body is without life, and silent, without speech, and still without voice, and. incapable of movement, and a stranger to all the movements of nature. And faith doth not entreat the dead body to be a mediator by these things, for it knoweth that as concerns the things of its nature the dead body is insufficient in death, even as it was in life, to be a mediator for it with the Creator for this creation. But inasmuch as the dead body is superior to nature, and some of the power of Christ hath been mingled in the saints, and they also possess it, even though they are laid in the tomb, upon this faith looketh, and it entreateth the dead as if they were living, and speaketh unto those who are silent as unto those who have the power of speech.
And the eye of faith putteth off the sight of all things that are visible, and putteth on the hidden sight of all spiritual things, and in every thing which is within the body it moveth. For man standeth in one place but looketh steadfastly at another; he sojourneth in the lower world of the body but dwelleth by faith in the world above. Faith heareth concerning the resurrection of the dead, and concerning the renewing of human bodies, [p. 58] and it considereth that they have already risen and have been made new creatures. Faith hath received the promise concerning the world of life, and of the kingdom of light and of the countries of glory, and of spiritual delights, and of the food of the blessed, and of the interpretation of the Mysteries, and of becoming in the form of the angels, and having heard of these things they are accounted sure by it. And faith is an intermediary between the things which are |55 past and the things which are to come, for of all those things which took place before us, and those which are about to take place after us, we receive their teaching by faith, according to what is said by Paul, "By faith we understand that the worlds have been constructed by the word of God, and that out of the things which are unseen these things which are seen have come into being." 2
If man possesseth not faith he is able to make all these things which are written in the Holy Books a lie, and he is able to say of all hidden things which most truly exist, that they exist not; and inasmuch as they are invisible there is not rebuke near at hand for [his] doubt; but faith needeth not a testimony whereby it may be certain of what it heareth. To knowledge proofs and testimonies are necessary, and to him that desireth first of all to see and to feel and then to be certain; but faith ariseth not from wonderful things. As God hath no need to receive persuasion by mighty deeds and wonders concerning the things which are about to come into existence from Him, to Whose knowledge aforetime everything is manifest and revealed, so neither [p. 59] doth faith need wonders; for how can it be in need of that thing which it doeth? For behold, mighty deeds, and signs, and wonders and all such like things come into existence by faith; how then doth it need the testimony of that thing which it itself doeth to be certain of hidden things? As God needeth not the [testimony of] His works, in the same manner faith needeth not the [testimony of] the wonderful things which are |56 wrought by it. For faith needeth nothing, neither sight, nor feeling, nor signs and wonders, nor arguments and testimonies, but only the hearing of the word of God, and when it knoweth that it is God Who speaketh, straightway it receiveth it and doubteth not.
And none of the righteous pleased God without faith, even as the teaching of Paul testifieth, who, beginning with Abel,3 repeated all [their names] one after the other coming down unto the manifestation of Christ, and he showed that they all pleased God by faith. And setting a definite limit for all disciples he said, "Without faith man cannot please God;"4 and again he said, "In faith all these died, and did not "receive their promises," 5 for God considered aforetime help for us that they might not be perfected without us. And for their whole lives, according to the word of Christ, and until their departure [from this world] faith clave to them; by it they did mighty deeds while they were in the world, and by it they hoped and expected [p. 60] to receive the promises which were about to be, and to receive what had been promised to them for [the sake of] which they went forth after His word. Faith is the ground which receiveth the seed of the word of God, and as the seed of the husbandman is empty of produce if it hath no field [in which to be sown], so also is the word of God, as far as we are concerned, barren of spiritual advantages if the ground of faith receive it not. And as the eye of the body [receiveth] the sun, even so doth the sight of faith receive the spiritual light of the commandments of Christ. And as by the light of the sun, which maketh |57 everything manifest, nothing can be seen unless the eye receiveth it, so also the commandment of God, Who is the Maker of everything, is not made certain to us without faith. The sun is a luminous body by nature, and the word of God is mighty when it giveth the command; but as the light of the sun's nature is diminished in power in respect of blind eyes, and maketh nothing visible, so also in the soul in which there is no faith is the commandment of God esteemed a feeble thing.
Faith is the eye of discernment which looketh at everything, and it regardeth [a thing] as it is; and because the things which are visible are too small for its vision, it forsaketh them and looketh at those which are invisible, and it regardeth those things which are above nature, and beyond feeling, and is made known unto them. By faith also a name was established for us, because it gave us birth from error to the knowledge of God, [p. 61] and for this reason every one, who would draw nigh to Christ and would become a disciple of His Gospel, taketh his name from faith, and is called Faithful one; for faith gave us birth and is our mother, and it is good that we should receive our name from her who gave us birth. And it is a wonderful thing unto what limit hath arrived the majesty of faith. For as the children of men also are called by the name of God and of His Christ, so also are we called godly men after the name of God, and Christians after the name of Christ, and we are named faithful after the name of Faith. This is the name which hath separated us from all false beliefs, and hath made us strangers to all doctrines of error. For no man is called faithful except him that |58 hath been born of true faith, and she is his mother and nurse, because our whole doctrine looketh at the hope of those things which are to come, and desireth the expectation of invisible things; and the things of which we have become disciples are neither manifest nor known unto these corporeal feelings. For these reasons it is good that we have been "faithful," for the hope of all our good things standeth in faith, and if faith be removed from the way not one of these things which we have is to be believed.
For behold, whether it be Mysteries which are in this world, or the good things beyond which are promised to us, it is faith which graspeth them and preserveth them. Now if a man were to look with the eye of the body and without faith upon all the mysteries of the service of the Church, he would consider them common and contemptible, while those which took their origin in [this] world would appear to be mightier [p. 62] and more magnificent than our own. For behold with us is poverty, but with the world there are riches; with us there is disgrace, but with it glory; with us there is humility, but with it pride; with us there is inferiority, but with it dominion; with us there is indigence, but with it possessions; with us there is hunger, but with it satiety; with us there is want, but with it abundance; with us there are afflictions, but with it pleasures; with us there is subjection, but with it command; with us there is the "narrow way," but with it the broad path; with us is the single garment which is limited by command, but with it are various kinds of fine raiment and apparel; with us is the order which restraineth us from our daily food, but with it are the treasures which are |59 collected for generations and years; with us is the obligation to appear in neglect and contempt, but with it the appearance of pride and honour.
All these things, and those which are like unto them, appear glorious to the world, and better in every respect than those which we have; but if we remove from the midst faith which is our true riches, even as our teacher Paul also testified concerning this in his word, "If in this life [only] we have hope in Christ, "of all men we are the most miserable." 6 And again in another place 7 he saith, "We are fools for Christ's sake, and sick, and despised, and dishonoured, and we have nothing." And while in this world in which we live we possess nothing, we hold everything in that which is ours, also according to the words of the Apostle,8 "As having nothing, yet possessing all things;" and to speak briefly, no one thing of ours [p. 63] can be seen in this life without the eye of faith which alone can see it. For in this world our riches are not seen, nor our power, nor the various grades of our labour, nor our honours, nor our enjoyments, nor our kingdom, nor the mansions of pleasures, nor the sealed and hidden happiness which is laid up for us, nor the city of our habitation [which is] heaven, nor Zion the country of life which thirsteth and desireth to receive her children, nor our stored up treasures, nor the riches of our heavenly possessions, nor our freedom which is above all subjection, nor the fulness of all the good things which we are about to receive. For all these things of ours are hidden in this life, and they cannot be seen by |60 corporeal beings. Believing men by faith only can perceive them, and they look upon everything which is not seen, and they hear those voices which are not audible to the ear of the body, and they feel that which cannot be felt with the hand of the body, and they taste those things which cannot be tasted by the palate of the mouth, because inside, beyond all bodily senses, the perception of the spiritual good things which are, promised to us is placed. And if we have no spiritual senses faith perceiveth with them even though they be not. Now if thou sayest, "Behold the mysteries which are here are glorious," yet see, for without faith their glory cannot be perceived. And everything which we have received from [this] world and of which we make use according to the tradition which hath come down to us, if we look at it with the eye of the world, it is of the world; but if we perceive it by the eye of faith, [p. 64] it is above the world. The temples of our houses of prayer are of the world because the buildings thereof are derived from the world and constructed [therein]; but they are spiritual things above the world, because they are types of that Church of the firstborn, whose [names] are inscribed in heaven, which is Jerusalem the free, the mother of us all.9 And all the altars and all the other vessels of the service of the Mysteries, and everything with which we perform the Mysteries which have been delivered to us, according to natural origin are of the world; but by reason of the greatness of those things which are administered in them they are exalted and most high, and are esteemed by us as being above nature, for they |61 are the likeness of the living and spiritual powers which are in heaven, in which the service of the hidden Mysteries of God and of His will are perfected. And again those holy Mysteries which are performed by us for the redemption of our life are taken first of all from the world, for the bread and the wine which goeth up on the spiritual altar is of the world; but when the altar receiveth them, as the womb received the Word, it maketh them to be above the world, and to be the Body and living Blood of God Who is above the world. And thus also is it with the water which is [mixed] with the oil, with which the mystery of our baptism is performed, for both are taken from this world; but when the time hath arrived that those who are called to Grace should be born by and from them, the baptism of common oil and water becometh the womb and power which give birth to spiritual beings. For the dead sinner who hath gone down to baptism cometh up alive, [p. 65] even as Christ [rose] from the grave on the third day; but instead of becoming alive on the third day like our Lord, the sinner is renewed by three baptisms in three names.
And as our Lord after His resurrection departed to a spiritual life from the corporeal life which [He led] before His crucifixion, so also the man, who hath been quickened into life by baptism as from the grave, walketh in a new life according to the doctrine of Paul.10 Now we bury our dead after the manner of all other men, and the external appearance of our method of sepulture and burial is in no way different from that of the heathen and the Jews; but we, in the |62 hope of faith and in the expectation of the vivification of the dead, commit our dead to life and not to death, and according to our faith they are sent by us to heaven and not to hell. And the dead of those who err because the hope of faith is not found in them are sent to death and destruction.
The mysteries of believing men are great and exalted, if one will draw nigh unto them with the mind of faith. And because the eye of the body was too small for the sight of our mysteries, another eye, that of faith, was given to us, which is sufficient to look at them and to see them as they shall be, and not as they are; and the things which are remote and which have been promised to us it seeth as if they were near, and they are not accounted afar off by it.
Therefore must thou understand, O thou who wishest to become a disciple of Christ, that all our affairs are established by faith, and without faith neither can we be seen, nor the things which we have, nor those which come from us, nor those which are promised to be given, and they are as if they existed not. So then in the beginning [p. 66] of thy discipleship take to thyself faith, and go forth after God, for thou wilt not hear Him to keep His commandments unless thou dost first believe in Him. Now faith hath been planted and set in thee by the Creator, that thou mightest believe in Him by the faith which He placed in us. Turn not back then the power of faith, and by its means believe those things which are not; and instead of believing in these things which are fixed and abide for ever thou must believe in what is not fixed and in what remaineth not. For all the things which exist here in appearance pass away and are dissolved, according to the teaching of |63 the Book;11 and all things which are promised and are about to come into being for the true believers, abide for ever, and they neither pass away nor are destroyed. Believe not then with that faith which is in thee in what passeth away, and deem it not an abiding thing, but thou shalt make use of faith in its fitting order, and shalt believe by it in spiritual things. For behold those who worship idols, and who consider stones, and blocks of wood, and all the natural substances of creation to be gods, also have faith within them, but they have changed its fair order, and instead of believing by it in God have believed in made idols, and have called them gods erringly, since they are not [gods]. For as long as faith believeth certainly in the things which are fitting thereunto it is faith; but if it believeth other things which are contrary, and thinketh them to be what they are not, it is thenceforth not faith [p. 67] but error. And it was for this reason that God set faith in thy nature, that thou mightest believe only on Him, and through Him upon what He wisheth thee to believe and nothing else. For in that manner in which the recognition of God is placed within us naturally, even as the blessed Paul said, "The notion of God is manifest in them, for God hath revealed it in them," 12 is faith also naturally implanted in all our thoughts. But as the notion of God was fixed in them, although they worshipped not His nature, and honoured not His Being, yet they worshipped His name, and paid honour [to it] in all creation, because of natural faith, so we with the faith which is placed in us believe everything, and whithersoever our desire wisheth thither it |64 turneth our faith, and it directeth the natural movements which are in us so that we may see them.
If our desire seeketh in faith to believe, it believeth in God, and if it wisheth in faith, it believeth certainly in idols and devils; and if it seeketh the world of life it believeth that it will abide for ever, and for it it lusteth and seeketh eagerly; but if it desireth this world which shall be dissolved it believeth like a true believer, and it loveth it and runneth after it. For desire is the governor of faith, as it is also of all the other natural movements which are in us, and it is the director of everything, whether of external feelings or internal thoughts. [p. 68] And as eyes are given to us to see the beauties of creation, and ears to hear the divine commandments, and hands that they may be stretched out to good things, and feet to run to the trysting-places of excellent things----now it is the will which changeth them to the opposite, and which maketh the limbs and senses do wicked and hateful things instead of the good deeds for which they were created----so also the faith which is placed in our nature, by which we believe in God and make sure of His spiritual promises, hath reversed the power of the will, and instead of God it believeth in devils therewith, and instead of spiritual things it maketh sure of corporeal things, and instead of the things which are invisible the things here which are visible, and instead of the things which do not pass away the things here which shall be dissolved.
Do thou then, O disciple, make use of faith in its fair order, and turn it not into error; and believe by it in God and in His promises, and believe not in the world and in its delights therewith. Everything which |65 is seen is temporal, and everything which is unseen is eternal, even as Paul also taught;13 believe then in God, and hope that everlasting blessing will be given to thee by Him, and let faith be the beginning of the way of thy instruction. If thou believest not in these things which are invisible thou canst not forsake the things which are visible; and if thou believest not that the promise of Christ is sure and also in the blessings which were promised by Him to all those who should go forth after His Gospel, thou wilt not forsake that of which thou hast possession, and wilt not run after the good things which He promised to thee. [p. 69] "Unless a man deny his father, and his mother, and his brothers, and his sisters, and the whole world, and also himself, he cannot be My disciple;" 14 hear this voice, O disciple, and go forth from the world, and this Gospel which promiseth spiritual blessings alone can lead thee away from the life and conduct and habits of [this] world. Thou hast heard this voice, believe it then, and of it be a disciple and of nothing else, and let nothing else be the cause of thy going forth from the world, otherwise thy going forth will not prosper. For as is the first cause, so also happeneth it with the rest of the matters which follow after it. Now many have, for sundry and divers reasons, forsaken the life of the world, and have drawn nigh to the discipleship of Christ, but not by reason of the one true cause, and in consequence their discipleship hath not prospered. And they have become like sick members in the healthy body of the discipleship of Christ, and they also prevent healthy members from the |66 performance of the service of the spirit and from the doing of all the commands of our Lord; it would have been better had they remained in the world and not made an exhibition of slackness in the land of spiritual beings. The whole life and conduct of the world is sick and infirm in respect of spiritual things, but the body of the discipleship of Christ is sound and healthy. And whosoever would cut off his own members from that sick body, and come to be absorbed in this living body, [p. 70] it is the love of the Christian life and rule alone which can bring him into union with [this] body. And it is not meet that there should be [any] other cause for his drawing nigh thereto, as it is in the case of many men, for by compulsion, and from obligation, and from the forcing of parents, and by the irritation of a woman, and from many other unsound reasons, many men are driven perforce to come and be disciples to Christ. And when they have come they are only [His disciples] in name, while in truth they belong to the world; to the Christian life [they belong] falsely and according to the sight of the eye only, and to the world in thought and deed; to the Christian life for custom's sake only, and to the world for their will's sake; to the Christian life by forcible consent, and to the world by the intelligence of their own freewill. And to speak briefly, in the Christian life is their shadow, and in the world is their body; in the Christian life they exist in form and appearance only, and in the world in [their] true person, being made the cause of stumbling to themselves and also to their brethren. And they eat the bread of Christ by theft, and not by right; and although they are hired by Him they labour for another, and |67 are not ashamed. When He calleth them, they obey another who is His opponent, and when any man taketh and bringeth them as his own property, they abuse His goodness, and despise His commandments. And they are made a stumbling-block in the place of the building, and a vision of detriment in the region of excellent things, and an occasion of falling in the land of truth, and a form of iniquity among helpful appearances. And for those who are thus, it would have been better, according to the word of Christ [p. 71] if they had never been born,15 or if they were born that they had remained in the infirm country of the life of [this] world in which they were, and had not come to make others sick with themselves, or to make living limbs die, being themselves dead before God. Do thou then, O disciple of God, flee from such things as these, and let faith itself alone be the cause of thy going forth from the world, that as thou hast laid the foundation, so also the whole building of thy works may ascend. For when thy works have received strength from thy faith which is [laid down] first, and which hath brought thee forth from the world, all things will be completed and preserved by faith in sound condition, and they will abide in integrity, and they will advance towards the secret eye of God, and will be completed and perfected by the exhortation of faith itself. Now so long as faith looketh upwards it travelleth over the path of Christian life and character readily, and it runneth the way of works with swiftness. It is that eye of faith which, from the beginning, hath opened itself, and hath seen from afar the |68 promises of Christ; take heed then that ye blind it not by any cause which lighteth upon thee when thou hast begun [to walk] in the path of thy journey, lest a stumbling-block come in thy way suddenly, and thou fall down in the path along which thou art walking. But as those who begin [to walk] in a material path walk along it to the end thereof with the gaze of those who begin, taking care that they shut not their eyes in the course of their journey and so obstruct the sight which guideth them, so also do thou, O disciple, who hast begun to travel upon the heavenly road, keep with thee until the end that sight [p. 72] which thou hast had from the beginning. So long as the eye of thy faith regardeth the things which are to come, so long will the labours of thy life and conduct be light upon thee, and thou wilt delight thyself in the afflictions of thy fair deeds, And as the foot is guarded from stumbling-blocks so long as thine eye is open to see, so will thy soul be remote and free from slothfulness so long as the sight of faith is whole, and it looketh upon and regardeth heavenly things. The soul from which the sight of faith is removed is either asleep or dead. That soul which driveth away faith from it entirely is dead, and that soul which hath preserved to itself the name of faith, but whose eye is not at all times open to look upon spiritual things, is asleep, and it is sunk in the sleep of slothfulness. And although it worketh, it perceiveth not; and although it is justified, it knoweth not; and although it runneth, it is not conscious thereof. And as he that is asleep is not conscious of those things which exist by his side, so also the man whose eye of faith is shut cannot perceive the good things which are wrought by it; but |69 like as a blind man is led by another, so also is he driven by the force of custom, or because he is unable to change the forms of the labours upon which he hath laid hold, he goeth on in the place in which he is. Now it befitteth not the disciple of Christ that his virtues should be established by the laws of the children of men, lest when the laws are abrogated, or [p. 73] those who have made them seek to change them, his blessings be also dispersed and scattered. He that hath laid down the conditions of the strife for us is not a man, and therefore it is not meet for us to keep the laws of the children of men in the contest of this strife, but only the will of Christ Who hath laid down the conditions of the strife.
This then is the beginning of thy going forth from the world, O thou that wouldst begin the journey of the way of heaven! And thou must cast away from thee by faith the garment of error of the mind which is bound to the things of [this] world, and which erreth and considereth that which is not as if it were. Take heed then that thou becomest not changed in thy faith, remembering at all times the word of Paul, by which thou wilt increase thy faith, and cleanse thy thoughts from the filth of error, even as he said, "He that would draw nigh unto God is bound to believe that God is;" 16 to Whom be glory for ever, Amen.
Here endeth the Third Discourse, which is upon Faith.
[Footnotes renumbered and moved to the end. Page numbers in brackets refer to the Syriac text in vol. 1 of the printed edition.]
1. 1 Proverbs iii. 19. 20; viii. 27-29.
2. 1 Hebrews xi. 3.
3. 1 Hebrews xi. 4.
4. 2 Hebrews xi. 6.
5. 3 Hebrews xi. 13.
6. 1 1 Corinthians xv. 19.
7. 2 1 Corinthians iv. 10.
8. 3 2 Corinthians vi. 10.
9. 1 Galatians iv. 26.
10. 1 Romans vi. 4.
11. 1 2 Peter iii. 10, 11.
12. 2 Romans i. 19.
13. 1 2 Corinthians iv. 18.
14. 2 St. Luke xiv. 26.
15. 1 St. Matthew xxvi. 24.
16. 1 Hebrews xi. 6.
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Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
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Philoxenus, Ascetic Discourse (1894) pp.70-114. Discourse 4 -- On Faith. The first discourse on simplicity
Philoxenus, Ascetic Discourse (1894) pp.70-114. Discourse 4 -- On Faith. The first discourse on simplicity
[P. 74] THE FOURTH DISCOURSE: ON FAITH, AND HOW BY SIMPLICITY A MAN MAY RECEIVE THE COMMANDMENTS OF CHRIST.
Our Lord hath given unto us in His Gospel an easy and simple beginning, [that is,] the true and certain faith which is stirred up naturally in the simple mind, so that by this faith we may be obedient unto Him, and keep His commandments, even as all the righteous men of early times who were called by God hearkened unto His word with simplicity, and by faith they made certain of His promises. Now by simplicity is not to be understood the simplicity of the world, I mean stupidity, but the singleness of one thought (or mind) which is simple to hear and judgeth not, and which accepteth and enquireth not, after the manner of a child receiving the words from his nurse, and like a child also who receiveth the instruction of books from his master without criticising, or asking questions [concerning] those things which are said to him. For as the capacity of the child is too little to investigate human learning, so also is the measure of our mind too little to be able to understand the. explanation of divine Mysteries. And therefore by faith and simplicity only can a man hear and receive, even as Abraham, who was called, went forth after [p. 75] God, and he was not a judge of the voice which [came] to him, and he was not held back by race and kinsfolk, |71 nor by country and friends, nor by any of the many other human ties. Immediately he heard the voice and knew that it was of God, he despised everything and went forth to Him, and hearkened unto Him with simplicity. And he held Him to be certain and sure [in his mind] by faith, and by the natural simplicity which acteth not cunningly with evil things; and as a boy after his father did he run towards the voice of God, everything being despised in his eyes immediately he heard the word of God.
And there was in him also the knowledge and discretion of nature, but he shewed his discernment in that he [found it] right to hearken unto God, Who had called him, as a servant to his lord, and as a slave to his Creator. And also to that knowledge in which he was [placed] he did not give power to investigate and to enquire why and for what reason he had been called by God, "Go forth from thy country, and from thy kinsfolk, and come to the land which I will show thee." 1 And God did not reveal to him what the country was, in order that his faith might be the more victorious, and his simplicity appear; and while he thought that He was carrying him to the land of Canaan, God promised to shew him another land of life which is in heaven, even as Paul also testifieth, "He waited for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God." 2 And again he said, "It is evident that they desired a country better than the land [p. 76] of Canaan, which is heaven." 3 And for this reason God teacheth us clearly that it was not that material land of promise which God promised to |72 shew to Abraham. After He had brought him out of Ur of the Chaldees He made him dwell in Harran, and He did not carry him to the land of Canaan immediately after his coming forth. And again, that Abraham might not think that he heard the report of a reward, and therefore go forth after the voice of God, He did not make known to him at the beginning the name of the country to which He would bring him.
Look then, O disciple, upon this coming forth, and let thy coming forth be like unto it, and be not backward in following the living voice of Christ, Who hath called thee. For as in that case it called to Abraham only, so in this He calleth every one He pleaseth by His Gospel, and inviteth [them] to go forth after Him. For in that He said, "Whosoever wisheth to come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me," 4 He shewed a universal calling to all the children of men. And instead of choosing one person, Abraham, as He did at that time, He now inviteth every man to be like unto Abraham. And again in the case of the holy Apostles, He renewed that [call] of Abraham; and observe their faith also, that it was like unto the faith of Abraham; for as Abraham heard immediately he was called, so also immediately He called the Apostles, they heard and went forth after Him. "He saw them casting nets into the sea, and He called them, and straightway they forsook their nets [p. 77] and their father, and went after Him;" 5 and before they had heard from Him [the words], "If a man forsake not his father and mother, and everything that he hath, and cometh after me, he cannot |73 be My disciple," 6 they forsook everything and went after Jesus. For He did not propound for the disciples lengthy doctrine, but only the hearing of the word of faith; and because the faith which was in them was living, immediately it received the living word it became obedient unto life, and they ran thereafter straightway, and delayed not. Now in this they show themselves to have been disciples before they were called. For the custom of faith which is mingled with simplicity is that it receiveth not doctrine (or instruction) by much persuasion, but as the sound and healthy eye receiveth not the ray which is sent therein by contrivances and cunning inventions----but immediately that it is opened it looketh with strength upon the light, because its natural sight is sound----so also the eye of faith, which is set in the pupil of simplicity, immediately it heareth the voice of God recogniseth it, and there riseth in it the light of His Word. And joyfully it draweth towards Him and receiveth Him, even as our Lord said in His Gospel, "My sheep hear My voice and come after Me." 7
Wherever natural faith is preserved in its original state, [that man], with whom this faith is preserved, is a sheep of the Shepherd. For thus is it written concerning Matthew, "Our Lord saw him [p. 78] sitting at the place of toll,8 and He called him, and straightway he forsook his merchandise and all his possession, and went after Him." And concerning Philip also it is written that He said, "Come after Me,"9 and straightway he went after Him. In this sincerity and |74 simplicity then the Apostles went after the word of Christ, and the world was not able to impede them, nor human customs to hold them back, nor was any of those things which are esteemed of any value in [this] world able to impede those souls which had perceived God. Now there is nothing stronger in the world to the man who hath in him the life of faith than the word of God. He in whom the word is feeble because of the deadness of his soul, in him is the mighty word without power, and in him is the healthy doctrine of God diseased; for in whatsoever condition a man liveth, to that turneth every action of his life. Whosoever liveth to the world, to the world is directed all the service of his thoughts and senses, and whosoever liveth to God, to His mighty commandments turn his soul and all his motions; for the burden of the love of earthly things no longer hangeth upon those who have been called, when once they are obedient to the voice which hath called them. For the fetters of the world are a weight upon the understanding and the thoughts, and whosoever is fettered therewith and is bound by them heareth the voice of the call of God with difficulty. Now the Apostles were not thus, nor were the righteous men and the Fathers of this type, but they hearkened like [p. 79] living men, and went forth like swift ones who were unfettered by anything. And who is able to fetter and impede that soul which perceiveth God? For it is open and ready that whensoever the light of the divine word cometh thereunto, it may find it prepared to receive it.
Our Lord also called Zacchaeus from the fig tree,10 |75 and he came down immediately, and received Him into his house, for he was waiting to see Him, and to be His disciple, even before He called him. And it is a marvellous thing that though our Lord had neither spoken to him nor seen him in the flesh, yet he had believed in Him through the words of others; now the faith which was in him was preserved by the life and soundness of its nature. In that Zacchaeus heard the rumour concerning Him and believed, he shewed faith, and in that he promised to give half of his goods to the poor, and to restore fourfold that which he had exacted he shewed that the simplicity of faith had dawned in him. For if at that time the mind of Zacchaeus had not been filled with the simplicity which befitted faith, he would never have made this free and full promise to Jesus to spend and distribute in a short time what had taken him years to collect in [this] world; for what cunning hath gathered together simplicity maketh to flow away, and the things which have been collected by the schemes of artifice sincerity scattereth. And whatsoever fraud hath been able to acquire faith repudiateth, and crieth out that it existeth not, for God Himself only is the possession of faith, and it cannot be persuaded to possess [p. 80] anything else with Him. To faith all possessions are little, except that One everlasting Possession, which is God. And, moreover, for this reason faith is implanted in us, that it may find and possess God only, and that everything which is beyond may [be accounted] a loss.
Now the Holy Scriptures have shown us that with this mind a man should draw nigh to God in faith and simplicity. And for this reason Adam and Eve, so long as they lived in simplicity, and so long as the faith which was |76 in them had not been made gross through corporeal passions, immediately they heard the command of God they received it, and kept it. For God said to Adam, "Thou shalt not eat; and if thou eatest, thou shalt die; but if thou keepest the command I will give thee everlasting life." 11 And by faith Adam received [the command], and kept [it], and [in] his simplicity he did not judge the command, [saying], "Why hath He withheld from us one tree, and given us power over all the others? And He hath promised to give me life if I keep the command;" these things because of his simplicity he neither judged nor sought to inquire into. Now when the counsel of the Enemy came and found simplicity, it taught craft and cunning, and sowed in that one simple thought, another thought which was its opposite, in order that he who was one man, and was wholly and entirely sincere in his simplicity, might be divided into two thoughts----the willing and the unwilling, the judging and the being judged, and the being in doubt whether he would do [the command] or not [p. 81]----and the counsel which the Enemy brought to that childlike and simple man made him to be a judge of God's command to him. Now Adam did not prosper in his judgment because it had destroyed his simplicity, for he stupidly thought it meet to listen to an enemy rather than to a friend, and to one who killed rather than to one who could make alive, and to one who taught wickednesses rather than to one who had been to them a teacher of good things. So long as they existed in their simplicity they hearkened unto the voice of God, but as soon as they wished to act cunningly they became receptacles |77 of the counsel of the Calumniator; for cunning is at the side of Satan, and simplicity is with those who belong to Christ. The man who wisheth to be cunning and crafty cannot become a disciple of Christ, as His doctrine requireth. The mind which is full of cunning is at all times destroying and building up thoughts which are opposite [to one another]; it bindeth up and looseth, it believeth and denieth, at one time it deemeth a thing good, but at another it rejecteth it and chooseth another. The mind which is trained in cunning is a channel for confused opinions, and it remained not [long enough] in any one [of them] to believe it and to support itself thereupon; but simplicity is the opposite of cunning in every thing, even as its very name testifieth, for there are in it no thoughts which abrogate the others.
Simplicity hath received the name of being befitting to God, for we also call God "Simple" in the words of our confession of Him, because there are in Him neither structures nor parts of limbs, and thus also in our ordinary speech a man who is not cunning in wickedness is called by us "simple", because he hath not [p. 82] in his mind the anxious trepidation of evil things. And he knoweth not how to look at and to bring to an issue the things which happen to him from the world; and he contriveth no means whereby he may do harm to his enemies, or to make an end of the things which are spoken against him, and he weaveth no crafty things, and he layeth not snares, and he behaveth not artfully to do harm to others. These and such like things simplicity knoweth not how to do, and for this reason the mysteries of God have at all times been entrusted to it, and it hath shown itself worthy of divine revelations, even as also were the Apostles when they |78 were chosen. It is well known that the Apostles were the simplest of men, and it was for this reason Jesus chose them, that by their simplicity He might mock at the wisdom of the world, and that by their ignorance He might make manifest the emptiness of the learning of the wise and learned, even as Paul saith, "God chose the fools of [this] world to put its wise men to shame," 12 And again he said, "Because, by the wisdom of God, the world knew not the wisdom of God, God willed that by the simplicity of preaching, He might make to live those that believed." 13 And again he said to certain men of his disciples who were boasting in the knowledge of the world, "Observe also your calling, my brethren, for there are not many among you [who are] wise according to the flesh." 14
And I have not spoken these things wishing to show that there is no wisdom in the doctrine of Christ, but that that wisdom which is above the world is the wisdom of Christ, for the wisdom of the world, [p. 83] is its opposite in all things, even as darkness is the opposite of light, and bitterness of sweetness, and sickness of health. For the wisdom of God flourisheth not by these things, [that is] the study and care of earthly thoughts, but all its meditation is upon spiritual things, and its motions and thoughts are above the world, even as the Apostle himself testified 15 concerning himself, "I am a fool to the wisdom of the world, but by my knowledge I possess the wisdom which is above the world." And in teaching that not every man is able to be a hearer and a receiver of that wisdom |79 which he had, he crieth out, saying,16 "We speak wisdom among the perfect: not the wisdom of this world nor that of the rulers of this world, which are brought to nought: but we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, which none of the wise men of the world hath been able to hear." The wisdom of [this] world is not sufficient for a foundation, nor is it able to receive the building of the wisdom of God, and for this reason our Lord placed simplicity in us for a foundation.
Who is there that knoweth not how simple was that first union of the first ones of the race of the children of men, and how simple they were in respect of all the life and conduct of [this] world, for they had had no experience and they had never been occupied in any of its affairs, because the conversation of the things of the world had not as yet been revealed to them; but they were near unto divine sights, [p. 84] and God spake unto them continually face to face, and He was at all times found in close converse with them, carrying, and bringing, and leading them from that place from which they sprang and in which they had been framed, and placing them in Paradise. And in the form of a man He was shewing them everything as a near friend, and they never took thought in their mind as to where was the dwelling of Him that shewed them [these things]; or from what time He was; or if He had been made, and if He had been made, who made Him; and why hath He created us; and for what reason hath He set us in this Paradise and delivered unto us this law. These things were remote from, their minds because simplicity thinketh not of such, but it is wholly and entirely |80 drawn to listening unto that which it heareth, and its whole thought is mingled with the word of him that speaketh with it, even as is [that of] the child with the speech of whosoever talketh with him.
Behold then, in the early heads of our race God placed simplicity, and it became the receptacle of the commandment; for simplicity is anterior to faith because faith is the daughter of simplicity, but faith giveth not birth to cunning. He that is crafty and cunning doth not readily give credence unto what he heareth, but the simple man listeneth unto all voices and believeth. Now if simplicity is the sincerity of nature it receiveth only the things which are spoken by God. For as the earth was, in its natural construction [p. 85] intended by its Creator to receive the seeds and plants which are needful for the wants of mankind----that it bringeth forth thorns and briars is not of its own nature, for it received this from its Creator afterwards as a penalty----so also hath simplicity been placed in our nature by the Creator. But cunning and craftiness we receive afterwards by reason of the disputes which come upon us, even as the whole family of the children of men testifieth, for in all that are born is simplicity stirred up before craftiness. As long as they are infants and children they are filled with innocence and sincerity, but when they have lived in the world, through a gradual and progressive growth and the matters which befall them, they learn craftiness and cunning. It is as if a man were to take away a child one year old, and were to go forth and bring him up in the desert, where there is neither conversation of the children of men nor the exercise of the affairs of the world, and where he would never see anything at all |81 of the habits and customs of men; it would then be found that he was in a state of natural simplicity, and moreover, when he had arrived at manhood's estate this man would be able to receive very much more easily divine visions and spiritual thoughts, and he would readily become a vessel to receive the Divine wisdom. In this manner I think the matter standeth. And also it was because the marvellous preacher, John the Baptist, according to the testimony of the Book,17 lived in the wilderness until the day of his showing himself to the children of Israel, that he was able to receive and to teach Divine mysteries, [p. 86] and to receive the power of the baptism of the Spirit. And of the things which none of the early prophets had perceived, he, through the natural simplicity in which he had been brought up, became a receptacle in the wilderness----and especially of those things which were before the abrogation of the curse and the death of sin, and before the wall of enmity which was set in the midst had been broken through,18 of which it is written that it was broken through by the Cross of Christ----and he became aforetime a receiver of the things which were after the Cross; and for this reason Grace led him forth to the wilderness that he might remain in the simplicity of nature, and be able to receive the knowledge of the mysteries which were above nature.
And in like manner when God redeemed the people out of Egypt, He led them out into the desolate wilderness where simplicity could be obtained, and I believe that He brought them forth into the desert that, being freed |82 from the customs and habits of mankind, and from the cunning and wisdom of the world which they had received in the land of Egypt, they might become accustomed to the simplicity of nature, and receive divine instruction with sincerity. And although there are many other reasons why He brought them out into the wilderness, this seems to be the primary reason to him that knoweth how to look at the mysteries of Divine dispensation. And because those who went forth from Egypt did not wish to cast off from them the wickedness and cunning which they had learned in Egypt, but were in every thing opponents of the promise of God towards them, He kept them in the wilderness for forty years, that evil, and those who ministered thereunto might disappear; [p. 87] that cunning might perish, together with those who had received it from Egypt; and that that generation which should be born and grown up in the wilderness----for all their bringing up was in simplicity, according to the law of the place----might go in and inherit the land of promise; because it is seemly for those who were brought up in the wilderness to be simple, and it belongeth to simplicity to hearken unto the commandments of God, and to be persuaded by them. And if any man thinketh that they believed because they saw the signs and wonders in the wilderness, or because they feared the penalty which came upon those who were before them, it will be found that those who went forth from Egypt saw greater wonders than they. For with all the other mighty deeds which were wrought in Egypt they saw also the dividing of the sea, and that fearful passage; and [they saw] that the sea returned, and grew together and covered up all the Egyptians who had entered |83 therein;19 and that marvellous thing which took place at Marah, how by means of a piece of wood the waters were made sweet and became drink for them;20 and to speak briefly, those who went forth from Egypt were spectators of all the wonderful things which took place in Egypt, and in the desert, and of those things which happened meanwhile. But the young generation which was born in the desert saw nothing except those wonders which were continually with them, the pillar [of fire], the cloud,21 the rock which poured out water,22 and the quails which came up from the sea;23 and although the miracles which they saw were lesser than those which the people who went forth from Egypt saw, yet they, through their simplicity, remained in the fear of God better than the men who had seen many and great signs. [p. 88] And that thou mayest know that all the mighty deeds which took place, and all the wonderful things which were wrought, were not able to uproot and to abrogate in them the evil things which they had learned from Egypt, and that that generation which had been born in the desert was entirely remote from them by reason of its simplicity, understand from this [fact]. After they had arrived at an inhabited land at the end of the forty years, and were encamped opposite Midian wishing to go into the countries of the heathen, by reason of the sight of the women whom the Midianites had arrayed in fine apparel and set before them, whoredom broke out among the remnant of the people who had come forth from Egypt, and they waxed wanton, even as the Holy Book maketh known, "The people saw the |84 daughters of Midian and committed whoredom [with them], and they were united with Baal-Peor, and worhipped idols;" 24 now those who did this were, according to what the Book saith, those who remained of the people who had gone forth from Egypt. "And the plague had dominion over them, and four and twenty thousand of them died;" 25 now the Book saith that the number of those who went forth from Egypt amounted to six hundred thousand,26 and God said, "They shall not go in to see the land of promise," 27 and by the fact that they alone of all the people died we may understand also they only committed whoredom. "And Moses and all Israel were sitting before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle, and Zimri, the son of Salu, the chief of the tribe [p. 89] of Simeon, went into the cell to Cozbi, a daughter of the chiefs of Midian, in the sight of Moses and in the sight of all Israel; and there rose up Phinehas, and shewed forth the triumph of zeal." 28 Now from the fact that the pestilence had dominion only over that remnant which remained of the people who had come forth from Egypt, it is right that we should know that it was they only who drew nigh to that work of wickedness, and that all the rest of the people who had been born in the wilderness, and who had been reared in the purity and simplicity of the fear of God were sitting at the door of God, and were entreating mercy by repentance with Moses. And from what took place at the casting of the calf 29 I also believe this, for at that time also when Moses came down from |85 the mountain, and saw the confusion of the people, and knew that this incitement [to sin] belonged only to certain of them, he ground the calf with a grinder, and scattered its dust upon the waters. And when the people had drunk thereof, it became a test of their thoughts, and those men in whose imaginations the calf had been first depicted became the men who urged the doing of this wickedness; and it is written that in them and in those who were slain by the swords of the Lévites the sign of the calf appeared. And from the ending of their deaths we may also understand that the beginning of error was in them. Because they urged on [others] and were the leaders in error, [p. 90] the penalty which the word of Moses had decreed also overtook them through the sign of the calf which appeared in their persons. And so also here from the fact that twenty-four thousand [men] only fell through that sudden pestilence----now the Book saith30 that with them was brought to an end the number of those who went forth from Egypt----it is right that we should know that they only were joined unto whoredom. From their penalty let us learn [concerning] their whoredom; and from their violent death let us recognize that their whoredom belonged wholly to them, and that, remembering the worship of idols in Egypt, when they saw it in Midian they were straightway joined thereunto. And the simplicity of the upright who had been born in the desert preserved them for the Lord, and they sat at the door of the tabernacle in the purity of their hearts, and with souls remote from cunning, and with thoughts free from the craft of wickedness, they entreated mercy |86 of the Lord. And for this reason also the promises to Abraham of material things were fulfilled in them, and simplicity went in and inherited the land of promise, and innocence took possession of the border of the inheritance which had been promised to the chief of their race, and integrity, which they had [received] from the Lord, made them victorious in their wars with the Amorites. For when they had passed over the Jordan 31 Joshua commanded them to go round Jericho seven days, each day once, and on the seventh day to go round seven times, and he and the priests were to go before them carrying horns and the ark [p. 91] of the Lord; and the whole people followed after Joshua and after the ark in simplicity, like children following their fathers. And what shall I say concerning all the rest of the people? Concerning Joshua the Book pointeth out 32 that in him especially were found simplicity and innocence; "But the young man Joshua departed not from the tent, but was there continually in the service of Moses;" and he that was free from going out and coming in among the multitude was especially nigh unto simplicity. If cunning and wickedness are gathered together from conversation with the multitude, it is evident that simplicity and integrity can be acquired from being brought up to lead a life of silent contemplation, and the more a man increaseth his life of contemplation, the more his possession of simplicity groweth. And concerning this the customary life of the world itself testifieth to us that all those who were reared in the contemplative life, and who never went forth in the ways, or contended and conversed with the multitude, were found to be |87 especially upright and simple, and that the integrity which is born from righteousness was found in them, even as also the blessed David joineth integrity unto innocency in his words, "The innocent and upright have cleaved unto me because I waited for Thee." 33 And again that same prophet testifieth concerning the simplicity of his soul, and how he was with God, [saying], "I was innocent and ignorant, and I was like a beast before Thee;" 34 and he was brought down to such ignorance [p. 92] like the beast with man, which by reason of its irrational and indiscriminating nature is unable to judge one of his deeds or actions; even thus was the knowledge of David in respect of God. For as the beast is governed by man, so also did David place himself to be led by the will of God, that he might not judge His will in any form, even as the verse following maketh known, in which he saith, "Because I am like a beast before Thee in all innocence, comfort me with Thy counsel, and lead me after Thy glory."35 And again he saith, "I have not enquired what is in heaven with Thee, or what is Thy will upon earth."36 For I have never understood the distinguishing attributes of Thy government, because while 1 sought to know why Thou didst desire one thing, Thy will willed something else; and because I was confounded by the varieties of Thy deeds I ran and took refuge in simplicity. And I became before Thee a beast which knoweth not anything, that Thy will alone might govern me, and Thy knowledge lead me in the path of life, and that Thou mightest give |88 me Thy wise care in everything which was necessary for spiritual and bodily life.
And moreover, David sheweth in a psalm that the grace of God aboundeth specially with the pure in heart, [saying], "God is good to Israel, [even] to the pure in heart;" 37 now he uniteth purity of heart with the sight of God, for [the name] Israel is interpreted "He hath seen God". And whosoever is simple and pure in heart is able to see God, even as [p. 93] our Lord spake in His Gospel, "Blessed are the pure in heart, "for they shall see God." 38 And moreover David the prophet sheweth that the mind which is remote from the cunning of human teachings is particularly able to comprehend the righteousness of God, and to possess courage of spirit and the confidence which will contend with all things, [saying], "Because I know not the art of writing, I will go in in the strength of the Lord, and I will remember Thy righteousness only." 39 And teaching those who are simple and innocent, and those who are wise and understanding, he saith, "[Thou art] my doctrine from my youth up, that I might shew Thy wonderful works." 40 And again when he sheweth concerning the purity of his thoughts he likeneth them unto hands, and their freedom from iniquity he com-pareth unto the washing of the hands, [saying], "I have washed my hands in innocency," 41 that is to say, I have cleansed and purified my thoughts, and I have remembered Thy altar, O Lord. And again he saith, "I have walked in my house in the innocency of my heart, |89 when wilt Thou come unto me?" 42 And again he saith, "Whosoever worketh deceit shall not dwell within my house," 43 and it is well known that cunning is built up of deceit. And again he saith, "Examine me, O Lord, and try me, prove my reins and my heart." 44 And again he saith, "I by myself have purified my heart, and washed my hands in innocency." 45
And besides these David's election testineth that he was chosen from a station which taught simplicity, for he was chosen from following the sheep, even as he himself confesseth and calleth to mind his election in one of his psalms, [saying], "He chose [p. 94] David His servant, and took him from [following] a flock of sheep, and from after the ewes that gave suck." 46 And teaching that his kingdom also was governed by simplicity he saith, "He pastured them in the integrity of his heart," 47 and it is manifest that integrity is simplicity. And the book of his history also sheweth us [his] innocency, for on account of his simplicity in the direction of the affairs of [this] world he had one to give him counsel concerning human business with him continually; for the Book maketh known to us 48 that Ahithophel was David's counsellor. And from other things it is easy for us to see the simplicity of the blessed David, who himself also maketh it known when he spake with Jonathan, saying, "There is no wickedness in my heart, and [yet] thy father hunteth my life to take it." 49 And this [is] also [shewn] by that which |90 was said by Jonathan to his father, "He hath put himself in thy hands; and he made war and slew the Philistines by the simplicity of David the king." 50 And again when the men who were with him counselled 51 him to slay Saul, through his simple mind he refrained. That they should counsel him to slay his enemy arose from the cunning and craft of [this] world, for it is the custom of those who are filled with the cunning of [this]. world to act craftily to remove obstacles from their path; but David in his simplicity and mercy refrained. And we might find many things in the Holy Books which make manifest the simplicity and uprightness of heart [p. 95] of this man of God, and that also which was said by the Lord unto Samuel,52 "I have found a man according to My heart," testified unto the purity of David's heart, and it is well known that simplicity is born of purity of heart. And again David himself asked in prayer, "Create in me a clean heart, O God." 53
And besides these we may also see that all the other just and righteous men pleased God through simplicity. Concerning those early disciples who became apostles after the Ascension of our Lord into heaven it is thus written, "They all dwelt together, and they were of one mind and of one soul, and they were breaking bread in [one] house, and were receiving food in rejoicing, and they were praising God in the innocency of their heart, and no man said of the possessions which he had, They are mine, for they had everything in common." 54 Now it is manifest that |91 such innocency as this is born of simplicity, and that their praise ascended unto God from the purity of their heart; and that they took their food together with rejoicing, the man who brought much not considering that he should eat more than the other who cast nothing into the common fund, arose from innocency of character.
And again the Word sheweth that the blessed Joshua was the most innocent of all the people because he grew up 55 being always in the tabernacle, and this man who was the most simple and innocent of all the people, [p. 96] for he had been brought up in quietness, was chosen to that famous government after Moses the Great. And that simplicity is nigher unto those who are brought up in the tabernacle or in the house than unto others who are exercised in going in and coming out, the history of Jacob and Esau testifieth. "Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of the field, and Jacob was a simple man, dwelling in a tent," 56 and from their works we are able to understand the difference of their characters. In all places the Scriptures call Esau cunning and crafty, and one who layeth up anger, and keepeth wrath, [as it is said], "He keepeth his anger for ever, and he layeth up his wrath for ever and ever." 57 And again [the Book] speaketh concerning his anger towards the seed of Jacob, "His fiery anger burned for ever, and he was furious at them," 58 and again that he went forth armed to meet his brother with four hundred men 59 |92 also sheweth that his anger was of long standing; for he had sought to take vengeance upon his brother for the [stealing] of the birthright for twenty years after Jacob had turned towards Haran, and had it not been for the humility of Jacob and for the hidden dispensation of God which changed his anger into pleasantness, he would have performed that to do which he went forth. But Jacob appeareth as the opposite of this in everything, whether as regardeth his parents, or the house of Laban, for by his deeds he is shewn to us to be a simple and obedient man. And for [p. 97] this reason the Holy Book sheweth us all his simplicity in one word: "Jacob was a simple man dwelling in a tent." 60 And, moreover, by reason of his simplicity he would never have meditated the stealing of the birthright unless his mother Rebecca had taught him; but when he heard of the matter which would help [him] he was persuaded in the simplicity of his mind and was not stubborn. And that no man may imagine that his simplicity was natural foolishness, see how attentive he was to the curses of his father, and how he returned answer concerning the things which were set forth by knowledge, "Behold, Esau my brother is a hairy man, and I am a smooth man. Peradventure my father will feel me, and I shall be in his eyes as a mocker, and curses shall come upon me and not blessings." 61 But his mother in faith, being certain of those early promises which were revealed to her, and of those things which were spoken to her when she went to enquire of the Lord, and it had been told her, "The elder shall be a servant to the |93 younger," 62 made answer unto him, saying, "Upon me be thy curses, my son, only hear my voice, and do what I command thee;" and straightway he was obedient to his mother like a child. And she prepared and gave to Isaac the food which he loved, and she covered Jacob's hands and neck, in the places which are near to the touch, with skins of animals; and he in his simplicity judged not what would happen to him, but like a child that is set before his nurse, who doeth unto him what she wisheth, was that full-grown [p. 98] man before his mother by reason of his simplicity. And again, when he took in the food to his father, that which Rebecca had put into his mouth he repeated like a child, adding nothing and taking away nothing. And again when the time for his marriage had come, he did not venture to draw nigh thereto of his own freewill, but in his simpleness he had regard unto his father's commands. Now Esau, like a man crafty for wickedness, because he wished to vex and grieve his father and mother in return for their having dealt deceitfully with him, went and took wives 63 from the daughters of Canaan, who were continually embittering the spirit of Isaac and Rebecca. And when he perceived that the hatred of his parents towards him increased because of the perpetual strivings of his wives, and seeing that he could not be deprived of [his] material inheritance----now he considered this also with craftiness----he went and took [another] wife, Basemath, the daughter of Ishmael, as one might say, |94 with the wound he took a plaster. And he did not do this like an understanding son who was penitent for the things which he had wrought previously, but only because he was afraid lest Isaac would not proclaim him [heir] to that inheritance of riches and possessions which he loved, even as he was also vexed by reason of [the loss of] the birthright and the blessings, not because he had lost the spiritual promises which were therein, but because he had been deprived of the larger part of the riches which the firstborn are wont to receive, and because he saw that his father's love, through which he expected to receive the larger part [p. 99] of his riches as an inheritance, was changed. Now all these acts of Esau teach whosoever knoweth how to regard them [aright] concerning his craftiness and wickedness; but with these things we are also able to discover in this place the simplicity of Isaac their father. For although his whole love was turned to Esau, and he loved him as his firstborn, immediately he perceived the dispensation of God which is above nature, and Rebecca had gone in to him and revealed what had been spoken to her when she went to enquire of the Lord, immediately [I say,] was his love changed from Esau, and he directed it towards Jacob who was worthy thereof.
And let us also observe the obedience of Jacob, who was persuaded by his parents in everything like a child. "If Jacob also thus shall take wives of the daughters of Canaan," said Rebecca,64 "what good shall my life do me? And Isaac called to Jacob and commanded him, saying, Thou shalt not take unto thyself a wife from the daughters of the Canaanites. But |95 go unto Laban, the son of Bethuel, thy mother's brother, and take thee a wife from thence;" and he was obedient and went forth readily, and became suddenly a stranger to all the good things of his father's house. And like an alien who possessed nothing he began [to travel] the path of his journey, and he asked from them for his need nothing, neither beast for burden, nor servants for ministration, nor costly apparel in which to appear, nor other things which are a vain show, to which many hold fast to-day, but he went forth from them with his staff, [p. 100] being provided for the journey, and bearing blessings and promises of good things instead of these things of mankind. And his words also make [this] known unto us, for in giving thanks unto God for the things which he had, and entreating to be delivered from his brother, [he saith], "With my staff [only] I passed over this Jordan, and now I have become two companies; deliver me from the hands of Esau, my brother, for I am afraid of him." 65 Let us listen also unto the words which he spake in that country in which God was revealed unto him, for from them we may especially see his simplicity: "Verily there is the Lord in this place, and I knew it not." 66 Didst thou think, O simple Jacob, that God was limited only to the country in which thy parents lived, and that He did not reveal Himself or make Himself manifest in every place to those who are worthy of His revelation? And let us consider also how many times his wages were changed while he lived with Laban, even as at the end his words rebuked that crafty man: "Thou hast changed my hire |96 ten times, but the Lord hath not suffered thee to harm me." 67 And again when he served him for his younger daughter, Laban took the other in her stead and brought her in to him, and led him astray in his simplicity, and he perceived [it] not; and when he asked by word or mouth why this deception had been perpetrated upon him, immediately a plausible excuse was offered to him----even though it was a lying one ----his simplicity listened thereto and accepted it. And how many times did Laban in his wickedness seek to oppress Jacob, and how many times did he through his cruelty and cunning change his acts towards him with manifold schemes [p. 101] and tricks! But Jacob's innocency was not disturbed, and his simplicity was not agitated, and his integrity was not made crafty; and so long as he himself was watchful concerning the things which related to himself, so long also was God mindful of the things which concerned him. This is the proof of enlightened doctrine to every one who wisheth to serve the Lord: his thoughts must not cease from meditation upon God, or occupy themselves with artful schemes and inventions wherewith he may do harm to his enemies. Do thou, O disciple, abide in the sincerity of thy mind, for it belongeth to the Lord to know how He will direct thy life, and the things which are beneficial for thee those will He perform for thee. Though thou hear of some who are ready to act wickedly towards thee, and of others who dwell in ambush to take away thy life, and of others who are become workers to overthrow thy building, and of others who blacken thy fair fame and vilify thy manner of life, and of others |97 who dig deep that they may cast thee down from the height upon which thou standest, and of others who make signs of detraction at thee, and of others who speak against thee with scorn and who pour out against thee blasphemies with mockery, and of others by whom thou art made a proverb and a byword, and of others whose whole conversation is curses of thee; in spite of all these things do thou abide in thy simplicity. And turn not backwards from that country to which thy gaze is directed, and cease not from thy hidden converse with God, and let not the power of the things which are without thee overcome the power of the hidden anchor upon which hangeth thy life, but keep fast hold upon the hope that Christ cannot lie, according to Paul's counsel 68 [p. 102] to us, "To lay hold of the hope which is promised to us; which we have as an anchor fixed in our soul that it may not be moved." For as the anchor which is cast down [into the sea] by its weight holdeth fast and restraineth the ship in the waves that it may not wander and drift away out of its proper course, so also is the hope which is promised to us in heaven, and which is the hidden anchor which is set above us, and is sunk and hidden from us in the heaven of heavens; let us make fast our minds to it, and let us fasten the ship of our soul thereto that it may not shift about and be disturbed by the storms and waves of the world which beat upon it, and drift out of its proper course. In spite of the things which thou hearest abide thou in thy simplicity, and let not those who speak against thee change thee and make thee to become like unto them. |98 For the Adversary gathereth together all these things for this reason and setteth them in array against thee to turn thy mind from its state of happiness, and to disturb and trouble thy innocency, to make crafty thy simplicity, to make thee like unto those who fight against thee, to fill thee with anger like unto them, to make thee a vessel of wrath like unto them, and to clothe thee with the dress of wickedness. And when thy mind hath descended from that state of simplicity which looketh at one [thing] alone, and thou directest thy gaze upon many, and thou hearest the things which are spoken against thee, through these the Adversary will find thee as he desireth, and thou wilt become easy of access to him, and a ready and easy prey; but do thou persist in thy simplicity which is a vessel of righteousness. For as a material vessel [p. 103] becometh a receptacle of what we put therein, so also is simplicity a pure and honourable vessel which receiveth the various forms of righteousness.
Now therefore let Jacob the simple man, whose history I have depicted for thee, be a type of the things of which I have spoken to thee, and when words of strife are stirred up to disturb thy simplicity, and thou art sensible of the snares of the Enemy which would trip thee up, think upon this blessed man, and consider all his history from the beginning to the end----for for this reason these things and others like unto them were written in the Scriptures----and let them be a support to thy soul which is tottering to a fall, and a consolation to [thy] thoughts which are filled with sadness by reason of the indignation of him that stirreth up anger. Observe how much Esau and Laban plotted to do harm unto Jacob, but the Lord followed after |99 him in all his actions; and while Jacob remained quiet and took no pains to meet the schemes of his enemies, God turned their crafty devices backwards, and instead of a changing series of losses He brought gain upon him. For Jacob was occupied in his integrity, and God sought out good things for him; Jacob busied himself wholly in every work like a child in his simplicity, and the Lord in His wisdom made his paths to prosper. Laban plotted schemes whereby he might cause him loss, and Jacob perceived it not, that simple man felt it not, and that innocent man knew it not; but in his stead God saw and knew everything, and what [p. 104] Laban had bound, the Lord loosed. Laban contrived a scheme of loss against Jacob and the Highest scattered [it]: he made an invention which would increase his own possession and diminish that of Jacob, and God made another invention against it. While Jacob remained at peace the Judge became his advocate, and while he journeyed on in his works innocently God in His wisdom directed his paths. These things [concerning] Jacob were written for thee, and they belong to thee if thou wilt abide in the simplicity of the mind of Jacob, and in the sincerity of soul of that simple man; for the simple belong unto the Lord. Be not ashamed of simplicity, for the cunning and the crafty are vessels of the Adversary; desire not and lust not after cunning, for cunning is the ground which produceth wickedness, and simplicity is the field which maketh righteousness to bring forth fruit. For this reason, in all places, the Lord speaketh with simplicity, and in it His Will abideth, and it becometh a dwelling-place and a receptacle of His revelations.
For Eli was sleeping with his sons inside the temple, |100 and when the Lord desired to speak with the children of men, He forsook the old age which was trained in wisdom and exercised in the affairs of the world, and lusty manhood which had received the cunning of evil things, and came to simplicity and spake with it, and chose converse with it. "The Lord called to Samuel, "Samuel, Samuel," twice;69 and simplicity rose up and ran to old age, and the child knew not who it was that called him; and he ran to give an answer to Eli instead of to God, [p. 105] and he did this three times, because he had not yet had experience of divine revelations. Now when Eli understood that it was the Lord Who had called him, he commanded him to make answer as unto the Lord, and not to run towards him; for "Eli understood that the Lord had called the boy."70 And old age sent youth to the Lord to learn His will, and cunning had need of simplicity that by means of it it might learn the Divine Will; for Eli entreated Samuel and begged him to reveal to him everything which he had heard from the Lord, and not to hide anything from him. And because he perceived that he himself was unworthy to speak with the Lord, he offered entreaty to the child to reveal to him the Divine mystery; and between Divinity and knowledge simplicity became an interpreter, and childhood received and made answer, and to a child only a few years old, who was unacquainted with the arrangement of the affairs of men, was the knowledge of God revealed. For the Lord dwelleth in the upright, and with the simple ones He speaketh; and He chooseth the sincere, who having learnt the word do |101 not consider that it is their own, but they recognize Him that spake it, and to Him they return gratitude. And the word of God doth not become to them the material for pride and vain boasting, and they are not exalted by the things of God as if they were their own, and they say not, The word of wisdom which we have is our own. Now these simple and upright ones never consider [that it is their own], but in their simplicity they confess that what they have belongeth to the Lord; [p. 106] and for this reason we have found in all places that God rejected cunning and chose simplicity. For because the man wise in the spirit, that is, the man who hath by the experience of his soul obtained the taste of the knowledge of life, is not easily found, his simplicity of nature is acceptable unto God; for this is His own gift and the first thing formed in our nature, for when God created us in the beginning He placed simplicity within us. So therefore simplicity is placed in [our] midst, and one riseth therefrom to the doctrine of spiritual things and becometh a wise man of the spirit, and another cometh down therefrom to the doctrine and training of the things of this world, and such an one is called crafty and cunning. For if men should be called according to the exact name of things, those who are exercised and whose whole training is in corporeal things would not be called wise, and those whose simplicity hath been trained in spiritual things would not be called crafty and cunning; but those who have collected their knowledge from the world would be called crafty and cunning, while those who have been exercised in spiritual things would be called wise and understanding men, for wisdom belongeth to God alone and to the man whose quest is God. |102
The knowledge of the world is not worthy to be called wisdom, rightly speaking, nor can the wisdom of God be said to be cunning and craftiness by the understanding of discretion, for in this wisdom there is no scheming, and it is not stablished by the composition of various opinions. It passeth the power of speech [to say] why [p. 107] God delighteth in simplicity, and why He chooseth it rather than the wisdom of the world, for behold the wisdom of the world is the gift of God, even as the apostle said, "By the wisdom of God the world knew "not the wisdom of God." 71 And for this reason it is well known that if wisdom were not in us from the time when we were framed and made----and wisdom is not implanted in everything that hath been made----we should not be able to gather together wisdom from the world. Behold then also the wisdom of the world is the gift of God, and why then hath He rejected it and chosen simplicity? It is well known that the reason is because our own labour is therein, and because it is collected from those who possess it, whose vision is directed to the world and not to God, and who run thereafter that they may be thought to be wise men in the opinion [of men]. And to speak finally, the human passions weary themselves when they gather themselves together and seek this wisdom among things which have been made, and in that they have united labours to their quest, and the trouble and afflictions of their persons to the discovery of this knowledge, they imagine that it belongeth to them when they consider how they have laboured for its sake. For this reason the Lord rejected the wise men of the world and chose the simple ones |103 in their stead. And moreover, inasmuch as the wisdom of the world is the opposite of the Divine wisdom in every respect, and there is no means whereby they may be mingled with one another, even as light cannot be mingled with darkness, so also if a man wish to obtain from the wise men of the world [p. 108] knowledge of the things of the Spirit he must first of all cast off from him the thoughts of that wisdom, and the whole expectation of his previous knowledge, and he must stand at the beginning of the path of the first step which is simplicity, and childlike disposition, and the faith which heareth and receiveth with simpleness. And then he may begin the journey of the path of the wisdom of Christ and set out on his course, and if he be zealous to march on wisdom itself will shew him the way.
Simplicity then is the gift of nature, and it belongeth to the Creator, and nothing belonging to us is mingled therein, that is to say, nothing of our will and nothing of our work. Therefore its gift dwelleth in His gift, and His wisdom abideth in the place which He hath constructed, even as it also stooped [to dwell] with Samuel; it forsook subtlety and spake with him, and the chief priesthood and came to him. And behold the Holy Book doth not blame Eli for much wickedness, but only because he was remiss, and because he chid not his sons. Now Eli himself was not a participator in their iniquity, and if any man should say that he acted in his youth as they did [we must remember] that the Book doth not accuse him of this, neither doth it say, "Thou didst do wickedly in this manner in thy youth, and now thy sons do like unto thee;" but the Lord said to Samuel, "Behold, I will do a thing in Israel, at which both the ears of everyone that |104 heareth it shall tingle," 72 because Eli had heard of the iniquity which his sons were doing in the tabernacle, and had rebuked them not. Now. the whole accusation of Eli arose because of his negligence, [p. 109] and because his rebuke was not commensurate with the wickedness of his sons: for it is written that he rebuked them,73 but the rebuke was feeble and ineffectual, and not one which the serious nature of the iniquity demanded. His negligence alone and not his own wickedness, was the sole object of the condemnation of Eli the priest, and although the matter was thus yet God chose youth rather than him, and He made His conversation with childhood and simplicity. For as the Book maketh known,74 Samuel was brought up in the temple of the Lord, as were Joshua 75 the son of Nun and Jacob,76 for these also were reared in the tent, even as our discourse hath shewed above.77 And it is a thing to wonder at how the Lord called what He had formed from these two places, whether it be those who were accustomed to the wilderness, or those who were brought up in the tent, for in both these places simplicity was to be acquired. For behold God set apart from the wilderness David, and Moses, and many others for His dispensation, but Samuel, and Joshua, and Jacob He chose from the bringing up in the tabernacle (i. e., tent). Behold then, from this also we may know that simplicity is beloved of God, and that it was the beginning of the way of those who drew nigh unto God. And moreover, we may also see simplicity in Abel, |105 and the Holy Book sheweth us that he was more simple than Cain; for they both brought offerings to the Lord,78 and the offering of simplicity was accepted, but the offering of wickedness was rejected. And Cain was angry with the Lord and with Abel; [p. no] with Abel because he envied him, and with the Lord because He had rejected his offering. If he had been of a simple disposition he would not have been envious, and if he had been sincere he would not have been angry with the Lord. And moreover we may see the cunning of Cain from the outlet which he found for his wickedness, for when he meditated slaying Abel his brother, and was not able to do it because he was near unto his parents, he said "Let us go down into the plain;"79 and Abel, in his innocency, heard and was persuaded like a child. And his simplicity imagined not wickedness, and he did not consider in his heart why Cain called him to the plain, neither did he perceive Cain's hatred towards him, because simplicity knoweth not how to be a spectator of these things; but in the innocency of his heart and in brotherly love towards him he turned, and whithersoever he called him he [went] readily and obediently. And observe here also the works of simplicity, and have regard unto the injurious effects of cunning and wickedness, and be strenuous to be on the side of the simple, who have at all times pleased God; and reject cunning as something which is unfit for thee, and which is not meet for the discipleship in which thou standest. For as the apparel which befitteth thy rank in life is well known, and if thou puttest on that which is contrary hereto thou wilt become a |106 laughing-stock, so also the apparel of simplicity is meet for thee, and if thou puttest on that of cunning thou wilt be condemned by the wise and understanding, and the feast will not receive thee [arrayed] in this apparel.
[p. 111] And with these men let us also consider Joseph the chaste, whose honour towards his father and whose love towards his brethren were born of simplicity; for his brethren were envious of him and he perceived it not, they devised murder against him and he knew it not, and [when] his father told him to go and visit his brethren, he obeyed him readily. He saw dreams which made known his own greatness and their subjection, and in his simplicity he drew nigh and revealed unto them their subjection; the simple man did not perceive that cunning would add to its wickedness, nor that hatred [of him] would be increased in his brethren by the hearing of these things. And when the old man Jacob saw the simplicity of his son Joseph, he rebuked him [and told him] not to reveal [it], not because he was not certain of what would happen, for the Book saith 80 that he kept all these things because he believed that they were about to take place; but he rebuked the simplicity of Joseph in order that he might not increase the hatred of his brethren by the revealing of his dreams. He bore and was carrying food to them, and he passed from place to place asking for them; and he did not know that in running to his brethren he was running to murderers. He saw them, and in his simplicity he was filled with joy, but they when they saw him [were filled] with gloom and anger. |107 And while simplicity was meditating good things, and increasing love at the sight of the brethren, the envy which cunning brought forth grew the more strong, and increased, and meditated murder; and they plotted wickedness and they wrought wickedness. But see the end of the two [sides], and observe with which [p. 112] God was well pleased. While that simplicity which did not know how to hide its dreams was mounted upon a chariot of honour, craftiness was cast down upon the ground before it, and simplicity gave the command, and craftiness was obedient thereto. Simplicity was increased by the wisdom of God, and craftiness added wickedness to itself. "I have seen that there is none who is so wise and understanding as thyself," said the king of Egypt 81 to that simple man. For simplicity is nigh unto wisdom, and the understanding of God is akin to integrity, and simplicity is the vessel which receiveth the divine revelations. Now the blessed Paul also wisely rejected cunning, saying, "We walk not in craftiness, and we handle not the word of God deceitfully; but by the manifestation of the truth we shew ourselves before all the consciences of the children of men." 82 And behold, Paul also hath taught thee that deceit is closely joined to cunning and that it is the vessel of all wickednesses, and for this reason he also fled therefrom. And who is the disciple who will not reject it if the apostle rejected it and cast it forth, and made it a thing alien to the pure doctrine of Christ, which befitted him not? For as wickedness is the opposite of good, so also is cunning the opposite of simplicity. And in another place Paul writeth to his disciples, |108 "Peradventure like a crafty man I have carried you off with guile;" 83 and here also he closely uniteth guile with cunning, [p. 113] And again in another speech he condemneth the heretics and sheweth that all their doctrine standeth in cunning. "Let us not be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of the deceitful doctrines of the children of men, who in their cunning act craftily to lead astray; but let us be firm in our love that we may make to grow up everything of ours in Christ" 84 And moreover our Lord also maketh known that heretics are cunning and crafty, for He said, "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves;" 85 and [He maketh known] also, that when a man appeareth to be one thing and is another, he is a worker of cunning. To appear in sheep's clothing, being actually wolves, was taught unto them by cunning; for cunning ministereth unto two things, it maketh wickedness to grow, and it maketh wickedness to increase, and moreover, it schemeth how it may teach itself to others. Where it is meet to hide, it hideth, and where it knoweth that it is meet to reveal, it revealeth; for wickedness is blind, but cunning hath eyes. And again in another place our Lord taught His disciples to beware of the cunning of the Pharisees and Sadducees, saying, "Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees, and of the leaven of Herod;" 86 and thou mayest know that He here calleth cunning and wickedness by the name of leaven, [p. 114] |109 because in another place when the Pharisees said "Herod desireth to kill thee," 87 he called Herod a fox because of his cunning, saying, "Go ye and say to this fox"----for because he hath no power to do what he desireth by authority, behold he contriveth artful schemes and plots in order that cunning may take the place of power, even as cunning taketh the place of strength in the fox----"by My own freewill will I go, but thy cunning which is outside My freewill, is not able to make Me go forth. To-day and to-morrow I work miracles, and the third day I am perfected." 88 Behold then our Lord warned His disciples against the cunning of Herod and the wickedness of the Pharisees, because while they were doing one thing they taught another. Our Lord did not bid them beware of the doctrine of Moses which the Pharisees taught, but of their traditions which they invented in their cunning that they might be material for the merchandise of iniquity; and of their feigning to be righteous before the children of men; and of their being careful of the honour of God while in their secret works they belittled Him; and of their making long their prayers in order to devour widow's houses; and of their disfiguring their countenances that they might appear to be men who fasted; and of their washing the outside of the cup and platter----that is to say, they beautified and made fair the parts of them which were manifest----being filled within with iniquity and all impurity; and of their adorning their persons outside with a reverent and venerable demeanour to be observed with the eye, being secretly filled with rapine, and deceit, and |110 wantonness, and the desire for all [p. 115] objects of lust.89 Of all this doctrine then of the Pharisees our Lord commanded His disciples to beware.
All these things which arise from deceit, and which are wrought under a false disguise are born of cunning. Why then instead of these things did our Lord command His disciples to be harmless as doves in respect of good things, and cunning as serpents,90 in respect of evil things? towards faith [that they should offer] simplicity, and against error that they should oppose craftiness? It was in order that the upright might save their life, and that the crafty might not destroy it. For for the acquiring of virtues simplicity must be employed by us; but that we may not perish craft is necessary for us; towards God sincerity of mind (or conscience), and towards the children of men, who plot to take away from us the things of God, craftiness of thought. So then well did our Lord command us to be harmless as doves2 towards each other and towards Him, and crafty as serpents towards those who scheme to deprive us of spiritual things. For even the craftiness of the serpent is [directed] against the man, and not against itself, and it delivereth its body to blows by the craftiness of its nature, but it guardeth its head from injury, for from it death is transmitted throughout its entire length.
And again to the disciples who asked craftily which should be greatest in the kingdom of heaven, and who lusted with crafty mind to rise a step above the others, He taught the simplicity of children, in whom there is no desire for dominion and rule, and whose |111 thought hath never experienced the love of the honour of the world. "Verily I say [p, 116] unto you, that except ye be converted and become childlike and simple as children ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." 91 And again, "Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God like a child"----with uprightness of heart and simplicity----"shall not enter therein." 92 And again Paul also taught concerning this simplicity that we should not only make use of it towards God, and towards each other, but he also commandeth the servants of this world to honour their masters in simplicity, without deceit and without cunning. "Servants, be obedient to your masters in all things, not with eye-service as those who please the children of men, but with fear and trembling, and with the simpleness of heart as unto Christ." 93 And again he also commanded the Jews that simplicity should be found with them in their gifts. "He that giveth [let him do it] with simplicity; and he that standeth at the head, [let him rule] with diligence." 94 For if cunning be found among those who give they become spies of the affairs of those who receive, and for this cause the gift which simplicity would give without thought is kept back. Now it is the custom of simplicity not to think and then to give, but to all men it divideth and giveth abundantly. And again, our Lord taught this simplicity when He said, "Give unto every one that asketh of thee;" 95 and again Paul himself prayed for those who give that the fruits of their righteousness might be increased, |112 and that they might distribute gifts to the needy with simplicity, [p. 117] "May that God Who giveth seed to the sowers, and bread for food, multiply your 'seed, and increase the fruits of your righteousness; that ye may be enriched in everything in all simplicity, which perfecteth by our hand thanksgiving to God." 96 And behold here also in simplicity Paul prayeth for his disciples that they may be enriched, and that therefrom, he saith, thanksgiving towards God may increase and wax strong. And again he saith, "Ye have become obedient to the confession of the Gospel of Christ,97 and ye have become subject with them and with every man in your simplicity." And again he saith, "I fear lest, as the serpent led Eve astray in its guile, your mind should be corrupted from the simplicity that is towards Christ;" 98 and here again he teacheth us that whosoever believeth in Christ, it is meet for him to abide in His doctrine. And he sheweth us also by [his] words that until Eve had forsaken simplicity towards the commandment of God she did not receive the guile of the cunning of the Tempter. And moreover, that [kiss of] peace which at the end of all his Epistles Paul commandeth his disciples to give one another, is born of simplicity, and sincerity of mind giveth it. "We live by the Spirit, and by the Spirit let us come to an end. Let us not be vainglorious, provoking one another, and envying one another." 99 And that a man should live by the Spirit and come to an end by the Spirit cometh to a man by simplicity and innocency of mind. |113
Now therefore it is good that the disciples of Christ should follow after simplicity, and that they should have regard unto innocency of mind; [p. 118] and let us not be envious of those who are cunning in respect of wickedness, and who are crafty to obtain the honours and pleasures of the world. For behold we may learn from all the books of the Old and New Testaments that in simplicity man draweth nigh unto God, and that simplicity becometh the dwelling-place of God; and together with the doctrine of the books the actual experience of affairs sheweth that righteousness is nearer unto simplicity than unto cunning. For although the cunning and the crafty may do works, and appear to lead the life of righteousness, yet are they held fast by other passions, and for this reason they persevere in labours that they may nourish the evil passions which are stirred up in their souls, whether it be honour or glory or power which they scheme to pursue by their life of labours. Now simplicity hath not such ideas in the service of its labours, for it is led by the beautiful law wherewith it is held fast, or by the fear which it putteth not away, or by love towards God which guardeth it in its afflictions, if it happen that it hath come to this, for as far as is the capacity of love fear guardeth and supporteth simplicity.
Therefore be not ashamed, O disciple, of this good gift, but lay hold upon it from the beginning of thy discipleship unto the end thereof, and in all good things let it be found with thee; for by simplicity and faith thou hast hearkened unto God, and hast gone forth from the world, and thou hast not judged and examined therewith into the things which He spake to thee. For if thou hadst been cunning thou wouldst not have listened unto Him, and if thou hadst inclined thine ear unto |114 His word with thoughts of craftiness thou wouldst not have gone forth after God who called thee, neither [p. 119] would any of those who have been called and who have been obedient unto God have hearkened unto His word and gone forth after His command when He called them to go forth after Him, nor would they have been ministers of His dispensation in any form towards the children of men. For from natural simplicity is born the abundance of the spiritual mind. And observe that the simple mind is able to receive the learning of this world also, for a very young and simple child accepteth the learning of the world and feareth [his] masters, but in proportion as he increaseth in stature and becometh crafty in the things of the children of men, he despiseth [his] masters, and esteemeth learning lightly. And thus also doth simplicity receive spiritual learning, being filled with fear of the Teacher, and being watchful not to forget [His] instruction. And if any man wisheth to draw nigh to craftiness and therefrom to things which are to be desired, he immediately despiseth instruction, and holdeth God in contempt. Let us then lay hold upon and be watchful of this good gift, and let the whole course of our life and conduct be in sincerity of heart. Let us reject craftiness and be remote from cunning; let us rebuke wickedness and be watchful against guile; let us be remote from artifice, and let us flee from the Calumniator; and let us cast away from us the tongue which smiteth in secret. And with a simple understanding and innocent mind let us give praises unto the Holy Trinity of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, for ever, Amen.
Here endeth the First Discourse which is on Simplicity.
[Footnotes renumbered and moved to the end. Page numbers in brackets refer to the Syriac text in vol. 1 of the printed edition.]
1. 1 Genesis xii. 1.
2. 2 Hebrews xi. 10.
3. 3 Hebrews xi. 16.
4. 1 St. Matthew xvi. 24.
5. 2 St. Matthew iv. 18.
6. 1 St. Luke xiv. 26.
7. 2 St. John x. 27.
8. 3 St. Matthew ix. 9.
9. 4 St. John i. 43.
10. 1 St. Luke xix. 4.
11. 1 Genesis ii. 17.
12. 1 1 Corinthians i. 27.
13. 2 1 Corinthians i. 26.
14. 3 1 Corinthians i. 21.
15. 4 Compare 2 Corinthians xi. 6.
16. 1 1 Corinthians ii. 6, 7.
17. 1 St. Luke i. 80.
18. 2 Ephesians ii. 14, 16.
19. 1 Exodus xiv. 28.
20. 2 Exodus xv. 25.
21. 3 Exodus xiii. 21.
22. 4 Exodus xvii. 6.
23. 5 Exodus xvi. 13.
24. 1 Numbers xxv.
25. 2 Numbers xxv. 9.
26. 3 Exodus xii. 37.
27. 4 Numbers xiv. 23.
28. 5 Numbers xxv. 6, 7, 8.
29. 6 Exodus xxxii. 20.
30. 1 Numbers xxxii. 13; xxvi. 64, 65.
31. 1 Joshua vi. 3, 4.
32. 2 Exodus xxxiii. 11.
33. 1 Psalm xxv. 21.
34. 2 Psalm lxxiii. 22.
35. 3 Psalm lxxiii. 24.
36. 4 Psalm lxxiii 25.
37. 1 Psalm lxxiii. i.
38. 2 St. Matthew v. 8.
39. 3 Psalm lxxi. 15, 16.
40. 4 Psalm lxxi. 17.
41. 5 Psalm lxxiii. 13.
42. 1 Psalm ci. 2.
43. 2 Psalm ci. 7.
44. 3 Psalm xxvi. 2.
45. 4 Psalm lxxiii. 13.
46. 5 Psalm lxxviii. 70.
47. 6 Psalm lxxviii. 72.
48. 7 2 Samuel xv. 12.
49. 8 I Samuel xx. 1; xxiv.11.
50. 1 1 Samuel xix. 5.
51. 2 1 Samuel xxiv. 4-10.
52. 3 1 Samuel xiii. 14; Acts xiii. 22.
53. 4 Psalm li. 10.
54. 5 Acts ii. 44-47; iv. 32.
55. 1 Exodus xxxiii. 11.
56. 2 Genesis xxv. 27.
57. 3 Amos i. 11.
58. 4 Ezekiel xxv. 12; and see Amos i. 11; Obadiah 10.
59. 5 Genesis xxxiii. 1.
60. 1 Genesis xxv. 27.
61. 2 Genesis xxvii. 11-13.
62. 1 Genesis xxv. 23.
63. 2 Judith, Bashemath and Mahalath; see Gen. xxvi. 34; xxviii. 9; xxxvi. 3.
64. 1 Genesis xxvii. 46; xxviii. 1, 2.
65. 1 Genesis xxxii. 10.
66. 2 Genesis xxviii. 16.
67. 1 Genesis xxxi. 7.
68. 1 Hebrews vi. 19.
69. 1 1 Samuel iii. 4-10.
70. 2 1 Samuel iii. 8.
71. 1 1 Corinthians i. 21.
72. 1 1 Samuel iii. 11.
73. 2 1 Samuel ii. 23-25.
74. 3 1 Samuel i. 28.
75. 4 Exodus xxxiii. 11.
76. 5 Genesis xxv. 27.
77. 6 See pp. 86, 91.
78. 1 Genesis iv. 4.
79. 2 Genesis iv.8.
80. 1 Genesis xxxvii. 11.
81. 1 Genesis xli. 39.
82. 2 2 Corinthians iv. 2.
83. 1 2 Corinthians xii. 16.
84. 2 Ephesians iv. 14, 15.
85. 3 St. Matthew vii. 15.
86. 4 St. Matthew xvi. 6; St. Mark viii. 15; xii. 13; St. Luke xii. 1.
87. 1 St. Luke xiii. 31, 32.
88. 2 St. Luke xiii. 32.
89. 1 St. Matthew xxiii.
90. 2 St. Matthew x. 16.
91. 1 St. Matthew xviii. 3.
92. 2 St. Mark x. 15.
93. 3 Ephesians vi. 5, 6.
94. 4 Romans xii. 8.
95. 5 St. Matthew v. 42.
96. 1 2 Corinthians ix. 10, 11.
97. 2 2 Corinthians ix. 13.
98. 3 2 Corinthians xi. 3.
99. 4 Galatians v. 25, 26.
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Greek text is rendered using the Scholars Press SPIonic font, free from here.
Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
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Philoxenus, Ascetic Discourse (1894) pp.115-152. Discourse 5 -- The second discourse on simplicity
Philoxenus, Ascetic Discourse (1894) pp.115-152. Discourse 5 -- The second discourse on simplicity
[P. 120] THE SECOND DISCOURSE WHICH IS ON SIMPLICITY.
At all times it is meet for us to direct our discourse to spiritual excellencies in this place----which is the market-place of virtues----for I see that ye yourselves desire to hear a profitable discourse, and not one which is to give pleasure only and to be the cause of cries of approbation. For the words which are composed to give pleasure to the sense of hearing or to stir up cries of the applause of those who listen to them, are absolutely unnecessary in this chaste land, and it is meet that as is the place, so also should be that which is spoken therein. For the country wherein we are gathered together is one of spiritual excellences and help: in it then we will speak with simple words, which bear profit alike to him that speaketh and to them that listen, for it is written, "Let him that heareth the word communicate it to him that listeneth to him in all good things." 1
The discourse which cometh before this was upon simplicity and innocency, and in this also I desire to speak again concerning this excellent matter----for it is a thing which befitteth us, and simplicity belongeth to us----and that we could live without it in the service of the virtues [p. 121] is by no means possible. For as the members cannot see without the eye, so neither can virtues be cultivated without simplicity; and as when |116 the eye is blind all the members are in darkness, so also when simplicity is done away with all good qualities are impeded. Now simplicity especially befitteth the life of the solitary and ascetic, and innocence of mind greatly befitteth those who have forsaken the world, and who have become strangers thereto; for where there are none of the forms of the world, the craftiness of the world is unnecessary. For here with us we have no buying or selling, and we have not with us vain talk concerning good things which pass away. Here there is none who would be greater than his brethren, or who would wish to appear in greater power than his neighbour. Here there is none who oppresseth or is oppressed, for we have not with us the causes for oppression. Here there are no fields and vineyards to be divided, nor estates which have to be separated by boundary marks. Here there is no one who wisheth to be richer than his brother, nor any one who wisheth his worldly wealth to be more abundant than that of his companion. Here there is no one who wisheth to appear in rich garments, for we all have one kind of apparel, that of weeping and humility. Here there is no one who doeth work for his belly, and who wisheth to find preparations of rich foods, for we are all fed from one common table. Here there is no one who wisheth to pluck honour from his brother, for we are all commanded to honour each the other. Here there is no one who speaketh judgment with his [p. 122] fellow, for we all speak judgment each for the other. Here no one wisheth to build [a house], nor doth another lust to found castles, for to us all there is the one narrow dwelling of the ascetic life. Here there is no one who wisheth to enlarge his dwelling and to construct |117 gilded couches for himself, for we all with narrow measure limit our place of sleeping upon the ground with humility. Where these things are wholly made strange things, it is not meet that the craftiness of the world should be found; for where the worldly rule and conduct of life is expelled and cast out, there also it is right that the craftiness thereof should be rejected. For where the corporeal things of the body are esteemed lightly, there also should be despised the cunning which doeth battle on their behalf. Where the old man is crucified together with his affections, there is it meet that the guile which is the advocate of the old man should also be crucified. Where falsehood is rejected, there is it right that craftiness, the mother of falsehood, should also be rejected. From the place where deceit hath been expelled and cast forth, thence is it meet that its parents and begetters should also go forth. For in the assembly of deceit there is nothing, and falsehood cannot be made of use in it; and it is right that cunning and craftiness, the parents of these things, should be despised. Wherever the humble garb of hair existeth, there is it meet that the simplicity which befitteth it should be honoured; for garments made of linen befit not our rank, and ornamented and embroidered apparel is not good for our order. Similarly, but even much less than these, cunning befitteth not our discipleship, nor doth craftiness [p. 123] become our garb. The ornamentation of the head, which belongeth to the wanton and dissolute, befitteth us not, neither doth deceit, which is the first invention of the Enemy. For craftiness is the possession of the Calumniator and of all his ministers, and simplicity is the riches of Christ and of all His disciples. Craftiness is alone useful in the conversation |118 of the world, and to those who have set themselves to spoil and plunder others, and for the oppression and defrauding of those akin to them; to them [alone] is apostasy necessary. "Wisdom dwelleth not in the soul which worketh deceitfully in wickedness", saith Solomon the wise man 2, and knowledge of the Spirit sojourneth not in the body which is conquered of sin; for the soul which worketh deceitfully in wickedness is full of cunning, because cunning itself is the inventor of wickedness. Whosoever desireth to serve [his] lusts runneth to become a disciple of cunning, so that with the learning which ariseth therefrom, and with the deceits of iniquity which it sheweth to him he may find means whereby to cover his wickedness, and to make an excuse for the hateful things which are wrought by him. For from where lusts are rejected and human passions cast out, from thence it is meet that the root thereof should be torn out, and cut off, and cast away, even that which increaseth them. In Gabriel and in Michael there is no cunning in name, and there is no craftiness of wickedness. There is neither apostasy nor the deceit of abominable things in the countries of the Spirit. There is no darkness of deceit [p. 124] in that Jerusalem of light, the city of life. There there is no one who schemeth to overcome by falsehood, for in that country falsehood cannot be made of use. There there is no one who hath learned to hide his abominable practices, and none who by cunning is able to hide his wickednesses. And as these things exist not in that land of spiritual beings, so also in our land which is the type of that country it is meet that they should not be found. The |119 rule and conduct of the life here is the similitude of that of spiritual beings, and the dwelling here is a type of that of heavenly beings. The conversation of you who are clothed with the body is a copy of that of those celestial and incorporeal beings. It is seemly for you to say that which Paul proclaimed, "Although we live in the flesh, we do not war according to that which is in the flesh".3 Being corporeal beings ye may be seen with the eyes, but your warfare is wholly spiritual; O corporeal beings, ye are angels, and spiritual beings clothed with flesh. Pure, undenled, innocent, and holy is your dwelling, and the likeness of the celestial habitation of spiritual beings is stamped thereupon. The whole rule and conduct of life of the disciples of Jesus standeth in simplicity, and if thou didst take simplicity therefrom thou wouldst destroy that life. Simplicity is our boast, and whosoever acquireth it is a wise man. And as in [this] world whosoever is simple is called a fool by fools, so also in this spiritual country is it meet that the cunning man should be called fool by the wise and understanding, for he possesseth in [that] country a possession which is not suitable thereunto, and he findeth therein an invention which belongeth not thereto. No man seeketh to find trees, and seeds, and plants among the waves [p. 125] of the sea, and again no man demandeth to see waves and billows on dry land; but each is to be sought for in its proper place, and there will it be found. And thus it is is not seemly that cunning should be found in the pure country of spiritual beings, because the land of cunning is a world which is full of wickedness. And |120 as songs are unseemly amid the noise of those that weep, and weeping is out of place at a feast, so also is it unseemly that the craftiness of wickedness should be found in the country of simplicity; for within the country of spiritual advantages the invention of cunning is a loss to spiritual beings. Thou wilt not speak with thy brother cunningly, how then can craftiness be necessary unto thee? Thou wilt not lie in ambush in the monastery to slay the righteous man in secret, of what use then will craftiness and deceit be to thee? Why then art thou proud, O fool, of that which will be thy condemnation? Why dost thou boast thyself in that which will put thee to shame? Why dost thou magnify thyself in that which is thy reproach? Why art thou proud of a possession which belongeth not to thee? Thou hast taken craftiness from the world, and through it thou wilt be condemned, in that all the wickednesses of the world are to be found with thee. The fruits of a tree cling closely thereto, and craftiness is a tree the roots of which are wickednesses; and wherever it is found with it also are found all evil things, and if they are not made manifest by outward deeds, they nevertheless exist in the innermost thoughts. For craftiness is a disease of the soul, just as simplicity is its certain cure. Where [p. 126] didst thou ever see a sick man boasting of his sickness, or a diseased man who boasted of his pains?
It is meet that the monk who is crafty should be ashamed, because he is found in that which is not seemly for him. For as converse with a harlot is a shame to him, even so it is right that he should be ashamed if craftiness, which is the similitude of a harlot, be found with him. Craftiness in the soul is like a harlot in the street; for as the harlot speaketh with all men and putteth |121 on all persons (or characters) so that she may appear to be like unto every man, even so doth craftiness appear in every variety of opinion, and it prepareth the [various kinds] of ornamented forms which are required [of it], that it may show itself to be like unto every man by them. And that which was written by the Apostle in integrity, "I have become all things "unto all men, that I might profit all men",4 is wrought in the opposite manner by craftiness, which becometh all things unto all men that it may destroy all men, and that it may mock and laugh at all men. And if these things are the works of craftiness how doth it itself befit the disciple of Christ? And how is it right that it should be found among simple solitaries? Look then with the eye of knowledge and understand that all wickednesses spring from craftiness. Deceit is in it, falsehood is found therein, calumny is akin thereto, the mocker is its friend, what is whispered it possesseth, the destruction of the Evil One is its mansion, error and prevarication [p. 127] are its doctrine, it is an associate of theft, it is an advocate of adultery, for fornication it maketh an excuse, hypocrisy is to it a garment of which to be proud, by it ambushes are fabricated, it is ready to bear false witness, and of the empty prating of lying it is the mother. And to speak finally, craftiness hath made itself an advocate of all wickednesses, that it may pronounce right that which concerns them: some of them it covereth up, for some of them it maketh excuse, of some of them it prateth that they exist not, and it multiplieth words intended to convince, and feigneth excuses, to some wickednesses it giveth other |122 aspects, and sayeth that they did not take place for this reason, and that they were not wrought with this design. Unto it is gathered together all lying speech, it cleaveth to judges when they wish to steal, of it governors make use when they wish to take bribes, and it cleaveth to those who work wickedness when they are judged. The woman who wisheth to trangress the path of law against her husband taketh it into her company, and then she goeth forth to the error of depravity; when it hath been learned by children they begin to lie to their masters. The advocates who plead before judges compose their speeches of its riches, and their perverse things are forged in its furnace. It spreadeth the nets of iniquity, and layeth out the toils upon the paths of the wayfarers, it hideth the snares of deceit, it diggeth the pits of destruction, it is a follower that hath been paid and that demandeth a second time. Until lying draweth nigh to it, [p. 128] it knoweth not how to make excuse for itself; lying is ready to utter falsehood, and how it is do so craftiness teacheth. Falsehood maketh ill will ready, but of how it is to be wrought in deed craftiness is the counsellor. [Falsehood] beginneth to walk in lying, in the path which is contrary to the truth, and it crieth to craftiness, "Come in my train", and then it goeth forth. Craftiness is the teacher of all wickednesses, and it is the ready advocate of all abominable things; it hath respect unto every person, and it speaketh right of every thing, and maketh excuse therefor. And it seemeth as if this had been said by craftiness to wickedness, "O thou wickedness, do evil as long as thou wishest, and let all thy members enjoy the pleasures of lust. Let the body of thy senses be delicately nurtured on the things which it loveth, |123 let all thy fruits collect in them their natural taste, and let them grow large and become ripe. So long as thou lustest enjoy thyself and spare not, live delicately and afflict not thine eye. Do evil so long as thou pleasest, and work wickedness, and fornicate as long as thou wishest. Take thy fill of iniquity and fear not; perfect thyself in all abominable things and be not moved thereat. Let not the fair fame of laws disturb thee, and let not the threatening of the judge move thee. Be not terrified at the voice of governors, and let not the cry of lords make thee afraid. Against all [these] I am armed on thy behalf, and I will make an excuse for thee to all who blame thee. It is easy for me to turn to thy glory the blame which is laid upon thee and those things which [p. 129] others imagine will condemn thee, and I will bind a crown of victory upon thy head. All my care is for thee, and in thoughts on thy behalf I am steeped by day and by night, so that whenever I am required to do so I can make an excuse for thee; at all times am I careful [for thee]. Do thou then, O wickedness, enjoy thyself in pleasures, and I will learn the instruction which will make thee innocent. Be not anxious how or what thou shalt speak before the judges, for I will make speech for thee. I will silence those who bring accusations against thee, and I will vanquish justice which shall declare against thee, and I will silence the equitable arguments of the judges [who condemn] thee of crime. I am thy tongue, O wickedness, and I have made myself ready to be for thee a mouth which speaketh; against every tongue which wisheth to pronounce judgment against thee I will stand up, and I will condemn it".
Now these encouragements are offered to wickedness |124 by craftiness, and with such speech as this it corrupteth it to stir it up to pass on to iniquity. Therefore cunning is the wicked principle of wickedness, it is the power of sin, and it is the life of the body of abominable things; and if craftiness existed not, in very surety wickedness would remain quiescent through fear of being found guilty and through terror of the judgment which is prepared for it by justice; so therefore, craftiness is the most evil of all wickednesses. Craftiness is the strong tower of sin, for when sin hath come down on the paths, and hath plundered every man, it fleeth to craftiness for refuge that it may make an excuse for it to those who bring accusations against it, and it hideth itself in it as in a strong tower from [p. 130] the leaders of justice, who have gone forth to track out its footsteps. Behold with what wickedness is thy boasting, O disciple of woe! and of what wilt thou be proud, O wolf who art clothed in a lamb's skin? If craftiness is in thee all iniquity is with thee, and if cunning is in thy soul all sin dwelleth in thee. If thy life consisted! of the guile of apostasy, all wickedness dwelleth in thee; and thy hateful things are not seen outwardly, for craftiness itself covereth them over, for thus is it promised by it to whomsoever will become its disciple, that it will be a veil for his sin. This thing which is the mother of all wickednesses is not seemly for thee, neither doth the wickedness which hath become a nest of all wickednesses befit thee. Do thou then, O upright disciple, rejoice in thy simplicity with which thou hast run the path of righteousness, and be not ashamed because thou art called "child", for this name befitteth thee, and this appellation is worthy of thee, for thereby thy freedom from iniquity is made known; for the name |125 "child" is one which indicateth his innocence, and it is the byname of the simple one, and it proclaimeth that there is no guile in him. For as every handicraftsman in [this] world (or him who serveth in the army of the sovereignty of man) hath a name whereby his position (or rank) is known, and whereby his handicraft is distinguished, so also is it with the disciple, and his name shall be called "simple". Would that thou wert called by the name by which God is called! for the word "simple" indicateth something which is single. For in the simple man there is no deceit, [p. 131] and snares are not devised in his presence, and falsehood prospereth not in him, and deceitfulness is not to be found in him, and in him calumny dwelleth not, and he smiteth not his companion in secret, and he seeketh not to do evil, and he schemeth not to do injury, and he hath no deceit towards his neighbour in him, and he meditateth not wickedness against his brother who dwelleth with him in peace; but he is a pure and clear vessel, and the neighbourhood of him is the neighbourhood of light. And as in the natural child none of these wickednesses ariseth, so also in him whose mind is simple not one of these things hath motion; for the child by reason of his childishness meditateth not wickednesses, nor doth the simple one by reason of his simplicity think upon abominable things. For in the word simplicity are gathered together all good things, just as in the name craftiness are borne all wickednesses. Simplicity is a cultivated field which receiveth the seed and plants of all excellent things, and craftiness is a piece of ground which is filled with brambles and briars, that is to say, with divided and empty thoughts. And as the growth of good seed is retarded in the field which is full of brambles and briars, |126 so also is the simple growth of faith retarded by the divided thoughts of craftiness. And as the growth of good seed in ground which is free from the sprouts of thorns is healthy, so also doth the growth of the word of truth spring up healthily within the simple understanding. For simplicity judgeth not the words of faith, and it seeketh not to find out for what reason [p. 132] God hath commanded in such a manner, and it [urgeth] no objection against what it hath been told to do; but it heareth uprightly, and it receiveth innocently, and it keepeth [the command] simply. For simplicity is without toil in all its actions, and it is not oppressed by the opinions which bind and loose others, for the service of righteousness is easy to simplicity, and it travelleth along the path of labours without delay. For this reason our Lord also taught His disciples the innocency of children, that He might make them to acquire simplicity; He rejected the cunning and chose the simple, He cast out the crafty men and the scribes, and He brought to Himself the ignorant and innocent. Annas 5 was a crafty man, Caiaphas 6 was a cunning man, the Pharisees were subtle, and the scribes were deceitful, but the choice of our Redeemer rejected all these; and instead of Caiaphas He chose Simon, and instead of Annas, John, and instead of the scribes, Andrew, and instead of the Pharisees, Matthew, and instead of the men of knowledge, Philip, and instead of the crafty, Bartholomew, and instead of the cunning, James----a band of simple men instead of a company of crafty men----and He chose those who knew nothing instead of those who thought that they knew themselves everything. |127
At all times truth prevaileth by simplicity, and faith shineth forth in innocency. And moreover, after our Lord had rejected the companies of the wise, and the bands of cunning and crafty men, and had chosen those fishermen who were innocent and without instruction, He moreover taught them also to increase their simplicity, and not to abide in that first grade of their childlikeness only. [p. 133] And He took a child and set him in the midst of them, and looking at them all, He said, ''Except ye be converted, and become like this child, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven".7 And this our Lord did because He saw that they sought to depart from the mind of their simplicity through a question of position of honour and to receive one a grade above the other. A question such as this the simple never seek to enquire into, but this question was born of a mind which desired to examine into matters with craftiness. And our Lord rebuked this outcome of a troublesome question, and said to His disciples, chiding and reproving them, "If ye are Mine ye must be simple men, and if ye desire the kingdom of heaven, ye must be like unto this child; as ye desire to receive the life which is to come abide in sincerity. If ye wish to become wise in the word of life abide in your ignorance, for from being simple I do not desire that ye become cunning, but from being simple become ye wise. For he that runneth to become cunning from being simple goeth downwards, but he that runneth to become simple from being cunning goeth upwards. The cunning man receiveth not My doctrine, and for the reason that ye are simple |128 children I have chosen you. Ye have rejected cunning in others, beware lest it be in you and I reject you because of it. Let this child be a proof to you that as he desireth nothing of the world, and asketh for nothing of the children of men, neither [p. 134] rank nor honour, neither riches nor power, but only the mere food and clothing of which his childhood hath need, so also do ye become children like unto him, and upright and simple like unto him, that ye may be to Me chosen disciples, and that ye may be found by Me [to be] even as I have chosen you". Behold then, by this command also did Jesus our Lord incite us to simplicity, and He warned us to become innocent and upright. For it is not right that we should be ashamed of simplicity, and should seek to be excused therefrom as from a thing of [this] world which is useless to us, nor that the simple should be despised in our eyes, nor that we should consider them to be good for nothing; for [although] they are unnecessary for [this] world, they are useful and necessary to the kingdom of God. For that which is rejected by the children of men is a choice thing with God, even as also the Apostles were rejected by all the world, and our Redeemer Jesus also was hated and rejected by all the Jews. So then also whosoever rejecteth the simple, and despiseth and contemneth them because of their simplicity, the portion of this audacious man shall be placed with that of the Jews, and scribes, and Pharisees, who rejected Christ and His disciples. And observe what penalty the word of Christ hath decreed against that man who shall make one of them to stumble; beware then lest ye make them to stumble. Now although the saying, "Whoso shall cause one of these little ones to stumble, it were better for him that the millstone |129 [turned by] [p. 135] an ass should be hanged about his neck, and that he should be sunk in the depths of the sea",8 admitteth of other significations, yet it is particularly applicable to the simple, that no man may dare to scoff at the simplicity of the upright. For when thou hast laughed at and hast mocked and made scorn of his simplicity, and hast blamed his pacific nature and hast despised his integrity, and he is accounted by thee fit for nothing and useless, the indignation of thy blasphemies against him will drive him to strip off and to cast away his innocency and to deny his simplicity, as if it were the cause why he should be mocked, and to flee from that childlikeness by reason of which he was deemed by the audacious to be a fool, and instead of what he was, to become what he was not, and through thy indignation and thy blasphemies against him thou wilt make him to stumble in his first rule and conduct, and to forsake it, and instead thereof to lay hold upon other things which are the opposite of his innocency. And although he be leading a life of silent meditation he will reject this, and will honour and choose speech rather than silent meditation, and craftiness rather than his early simplicity, and subtlety rather than his ignorance, and from being a sweet-tempered and peaceful man thou wilt make him a furious and wrathful man. Now therefore when thou thus hast caused him to stumble, and he hath been driven by thy indignation to change his good qualities into bad ones, it were better for thee that the millstone [turned by] an ass should be hanged about thy neck, and that thou shouldst be cast into the depths of the sea, rather than that thou |130 shouldst cause one of these little ones who believe on the Son to stumble.
Observe thou also that our Lord Himself called them "little ones", because they make themselves smaller than all men, and He did so to teach thee not to despise them because they followed after littleness, but rather that they might be magnified in thy sight, [p. 136] For the appearance of the simple is common, and their garb is rude and bad; and whosoever wisheth to despise them obtaineth a cause whereby he may mock at them from their appearance, because they have not the skill which knoweth how to arrange their outward appearance before the children of men, and to make them appear outwardly before the world as distinguished and famous men. Do thou, however, take a reason from this fact, and magnify them especially, and let their lowly condition be to thee the cause for honouring them, and let their despised state be the object of their being glorified. For where faith hath been preserved in its integrity, and hath not been corrupted with thoughts of craftiness, it honoureth and magnifieth simplicity, and it loveth and supporteth it, even though it happen that its appearance is contemptible. And from the experience of facts thou mayest understand how greatly simple men are loved by believers, and for Christ's sake how dear are the ignorant and simple to the whole body of Christ's disciples. And, moreover, thou mayest understand that the crafty men of [this] world run towards the ignorant men of faith, and that cunning men and rulers bow down before the simplicity of Christ. For look and observe the great ones of the world how lovingly they embrace simplicity and [how] they worship and love ignorance, and how in proportion as a man appeareth in |131 the excellent part of simplicity, the more especially is he great and honourable in their eyes. For the children of the world do not go forth to the spiritual folds which are outside the world to see crafty and cunning man.
Lift up thine eyes, O disciple, and look upon these who come to thee, and who run to thy door in love, for they run to see the children of the spirit, and not those who are trained and experienced [p. 137] in the deeds and affairs of the world. For when those who are exercised and skilled in the wisdom of the world wish to see crafty and cunning men they go into towns and cities; but when they go forth from the world they wish to see simple men and children of Christ. Let not Him come and find thee a serpent instead of a dove, and a hawk instead of a simple bird, and with thy discourse [directed] to evil thing's instead of being wise to good things. Let Him come, O disciple, and find thee as He wisheth to see thee, for He Himself hath cast off His craftiness, and hath put on humility, in which He hath drawn nigh to thee. And wouldst thou follow to put on that which He hath cast off, and wouldst thou desire to possess that which He hath rejected? He did not carry and bring with Him thoughts of cunning, but the simplicity of faith; when He cometh into thy dwelling, let Him not come and find that which He left in the world in the country of spiritual things.
And hearken unto the prophet who also proclaimed our Lord with his simple teaching, and who likened Him unto a lamb and a sheep, the most innocent of all animals: ---- "Like a lamb was He led to the slaughter, "and like a sheep before the shearer He was silent".9 |132 The lion and the wolf and bear are crafty, together with the other wild beasts, because craftiness was mingled with their evil nature when they were made; but sheep and lambs and ewes are simple and innocent in their ways and movements, and to them was our Lord likened, and by their name are believers called. Our Lord did not liken Himself unto a lion, which bringeth suffering and death, and He did not call His flocks by the names, of [wild] animals, which by the nature in which they were created are cunning in respect of evil things, [p. 138] but He was called "lamb" and "sheep", and being meek like unto them He was led to suffering and to death, for "like a sheep before his shearer He was silent", and thus He in His humility opened not His mouth. And we may be sure that the word of the prophecy is true in fact, for when they took Him, He was quiet; and when they judged Him, He was silent; and when they smote Him, He complained not; and when they condemned Him, He disputed not their judgment; and when they bound Him, He moved not; and when they smote Him on His cheeks, He murmured not; and when He was stripped of His garments as a sheep at its shearing, He cried not out; and when they gave Him gall and vinegar, He cursed them not; and when they fastened Him to the wood, He raged not at them; and when Simon wished to throw off the simpleness of the sheep, and took a sword to avenge the insult of his Master, He rebuked him, [and commanded him] to carry [it] in its sheath, saying, "Put back thy sword into its place",10 for I have no need of thy help. The doctor and teacher of all wisdom |133 stood before the judge, and He refrained and answered not a word. He kept the command of simplicity that He might confirm the prophecy, "He was led as a lamb "to the slaughter". They led Him as One who was speechless, and they took Him round about from one place to another, and they drove Him from place to place, and they dragged Him from one judge to another. He stood before Annas and was silent, and until he adjured Him He spake not; He was questioned by Pilate and was silent, and until He heard from him the words, "Art thou the king of the Jews?" which made known [to Him] that he suspected Him of being a rebel against [p. 139] Caesar, He answered them not a word. They carried Him to Herod, who [wishing] to see and hear from Him great things asked Him questions temptingly; and there also He stood silent and spake not, and He returned no answer to His questioner. He was esteemed a contemptible man who knew nothing, and a fool who had no answer [to give]. The Jews and priests thought [this] because they wished [it]; but He forsook not the simpleness of a lamb, and the law of simplicity He left not. The Apostle Paul considered Him as one "of no reputation",11 and the crucifiers considered Him to lack understanding, and [His] enemies accounted Him to be without knowledge and intelligence, and concerning Jesus Paul spake against them, "The foolishness of God is wiser than the "children of men".12
For in order that it may not weigh heavily upon thee to be thought contemptible in thy simplicity by the children men, God Himself hath shewn Himself to be of "no |134 reputation, "in that He stood before His questioners without answering a word; and He was thought by them to be an ignorant man because He returned them not an answer. Wherefore do thou also persist in the power of thy soul, and transgress not the law of simplicity, even though thou be considered to be a fool by every man, and art esteemed to be without knowledge and instruction. For whosoever is angry if he be considered by man to be simple and ignorant, his mind is fettered by the passion of the love of the vain knowledge of the world, and if he is thought to be the opposite, trouble and sorrow rule his life. For in order that thou mayest finish thy course it is meet that thou shouldst endure everything, and thou must fashion thy journey for the end of the path.
[p. 140]For behold David the prophet also in [his] scheme for delivering his life from death feigned himself to the Philistines to be a madman and without sense, and let his spittle fall down upon his beard after the manner of a man who lacked understanding, that he might save his life from death.13 And if David feigned himself to be mad, and to be without understanding and discretion that he might not destroy [his] life in this world, how much more is it meet for thee to abide in thy simplicity, and not to be overcome by the indignation of the scoffers, and not to depart from the goal which is laid down for thee, for the sake of life everlasting? And our Lord also called the faithful ones of His pastures by names in which simplicity is indicated: "If thou lovest Me", He said to Simon, the chief of His disciples, "feed My sheep, and My lambs, and My ewes".14 |135 And as He was called symbolically by the word of the prophecy, "lamb", and "sheep", and John also called Him, "The Lamb of God",15 even so did He call the disciples of His word by the names which indicate simpleness. And He did this that when all believers heard what names were given to them by the Shepherd they might, like sheep, and lambs, and ewes, be incited to abide in all simpleness, and might not go forth from the law of simplicity, and that like these innocent animals, which are led to death, and are brought to slaughter, and are bound for shearing, and are hunted by [wild] beasts, they might neither cry out nor complain, but [p. 141] remain in quietness and in the innocency of their nature. And thus also is it meet for the disciple of the Lord, that before all trials of words or deeds, of afflictions and evil speakings, of fetterings and violence, of oppression and prison, of indignation against calumnies, and of lying accusations, he should abide in the simpleness of his heart, and should not forsake the law of his contemplative life, and should not cast away his innocency, and should not forsake his simplicity and become crafty to do harm to his enemies; for the deceit of wickedness, and the crafty things of the iniquitous men are the work which belongeth to them, and their life is at all times at leisure to do their work. But to thee there belongeth the work which is hidden from their knowledge, and the sincerity of thy mind is able to perfect it; thou wilt delight thyself therein, but they are not able to feel this enjoyment, for they are not accounted worthy of the pleasures of thy own delights. For simplicity hath |136 no anxious care, and for this reason joy is at all seasons continually with it. For as the joy of children is continual, and laughter is abundant with them by reason of their simplicity, for the anxious cares of the world cannot smite the joy which moveth with simpleness in their minds----so also is joy continual at all seasons in the simple heart, because there are no means for trouble to fill it when it goeth not forth to labour. Whosoever wisheth to do evil to his enemy, and is not able to do it, or whosoever deviseth plans to become rich, and becometh not rich, or whosoever runneth [p. 142] to overtake, and overtaketh not, by reason of these things sorrow and grief rule his life, and all the joy which is born of simplicity is taken away from him. The simple man is, according to what is imagined, of no use to the world; and if thou, O disciple, art esteemed to be of no use to the world, let not this be grievous unto thee, for it is the glory of the Christian when he is not trained in the things of the world, and when he is worthless absolutely for the life and conduct of the body. For if a man were to say to thee, "Thou knowest not the carpenter's craft", or, "Thou knowest not how to labour in the tanner's craft", or, "Thou knowest not any of the contemptible trades of the world", this would not be a reason for laughing at thee, because not even a king would be disgraced for not knowing how to labour in any of the crafts of the world, but rather would this fact be to thy glory, for inasmuch as the king's rule is exalted above these things and he cannot condescend to know them, the ignorance of them will be found to be creditable to him, for the knowledge thereof would cause him to be blamed. And as we see also many men, who occupy some |137 position of worldly honour, and who have knowledge of certain crafts and trades, and are acquainted with affairs which are beneath their position, deny and say that they know them not----and this ignorance is held to be creditable to them, and as if it were an honour to them they run and take refuge therein and say that they do not understand crafts and trades----in like manner therefore to the disciple of Christ [p. 143] is the ignorance of the affairs of the world a cause of glorification. And that he knoweth not how to act craftily and cunningly redoundeth to his praise, and it is a fair reputation to him. that he is unacquainted with the deceits of wickedness; and the knowledge of these things is before him accounted to be a disgrace which is greater than that which would accrue to a king of this world if he knew the handicrafts and trades of the world. And that the. disciple who is written down for the celestial kingdom should know the things which are alien to his profession, and which are remote from the life and rule of his instruction, would be a matter for blame. For his life is not free from conversation with God to turn to the doctrine of these contemptible things; and to meditate upon the things which belong to the flesh; and to scheme how he may do harm unto, and injure his enemies, and how he may become rich and acquire possessions, and how he may speak, and hear things against those who oppress him, and how he may find profit, and with what reasons he may find it. For the conversation of the simple who are with God doth not allow the disciple to turn towards these things and to meditate in them, neither doth it make him to descend from die height of the knowledge of the kingdom of Christ to the schemes and plans and anxious cares |138 belonging to infirm passions, which are at all times sick, and which move to and fro in their minds.
Now it befitteth not the mind, in the simplicity of which the faith of Christ moveth, to turn and take anxious care concerning the deceits of the flesh, and concerning the craftinesses of destruction. Let it not then be accounted to thee a disgrace that thou art not acquainted with the craftinesses of the world, but let it be to thee an exceeding great honour, that thou, in the likeness of spiritual beings, art exalted and raised above the things which are of the flesh, for neither have the spiritual beings inventions and crafty schemes concerning the affairs of the world. For if their rule and conduct of life [p. 144] is superior to all carnalmindedness, it is evident that their mind also must be superior to passions; and all their conversation must be upon divine meditations alone, having been brought up in the knowledge of the spirit in the things which are above their knowledge. And they go not down to see what is beneath them, because they desire not to descend from their grades; but they earnestly desire to go up, and to become participators at all times with what is before them in the mysteries of the Self-existent One. Now therefore in the similitude of these powers are the minds which are not disturbed by material things, and they form a grade of spiritual beings who learn only the things which are above the world, and whose thoughts descend not to the quest and doctrine of the things which are alien to their kind. For as the learning of one handicraft is separate and distinct from another, and whosoever becometh an apprentice to one handicraft is strenuous to learn it and not another, in the place of instruction, in like manner let the whole |139 meditation and conversation of the disciple be upon the learning of his handicraft, and let him not destroy the anxious care of his thoughts by anything else. For our handicraft is the doctrine of spiritual things, and our trade is that our thoughts and our deeds should be above the world, and that we should participate at all times in what is before us in the things which are of the Spirit. The apprentice who maketh not progress in learning his handicraft in the workshop is blamed by his masters, and he is mocked at, and made a laughing-stock by his companions; and the disciple of this spiritual handicraft who is like unto him deserveth to be blamed more than he, [p. 145] for he should increase [in knowledge] day by day, and he should progress in the work of the body and in the thoughts of the spirit, for the loss which shall betide each of them is manifest and well known. For the man who receiveth not the instruction of a handicraft of the world loseth the benefits which are to be found in the handicraft; but whosoever receiveth not the teaching of Christ and groweth not in virtues, his loss is the kingdom of heaven, and the happiness and delight which are sealed and preserved for the chosen of God, and that which the eye hath not seen, nor the ear heard, and which hath not gone up in the heart of man, and that intercourse which the perfect will have with Christ, and for the sake of which Christ Himself even came down from heaven to earth, and in the end this man's loss is his own person, together with the good things which are above nature.
For the mind which is able to receive these things is sincere and simple. And as the mind of the child is more sincere and receiveth instruction in everything more easily than the full-grown man, so also is |140 the mind of the simple man of better disposition in the learning of spiritual things than crafty and cunning thoughts. For simplicity is a piece of good ground which receiveth readily the seeds and plants of this doctrine. And as there are qualities which make certain pieces of ground in the natural world to receive trees and plants and which make them to bear fruit more quickly than those in other fields, so also is it in respect of the fields of the thoughts of the simple; for they receive the plants of this spiritual doctrine with simplicity, and [the ground] speedily layeth hold [p. 146] of them, and maketh [them] to bear fruit. On the other hand the ground of craftiness is oppressive to this doctrine, and it either receiveth it not at all, or if it layeth hold of the doctrine, and it is accepted by it, the growth which is therein is strangled by the brambles and thorns of doubts and thoughts which are always throwing down and building up those who are the adversaries of faith and of simplicity.
Rejoice then in simplicity, O disciple, for not only will it make thee beloved before God, but also will it make thee dear in the sight of men; and thou mayest observe and see, if thou wilt from the experience of facts, that the simple are more beloved in the sight of the children of men than the cunning and crafty. Every man loveth simplicity, even also as childlikeness is dear unto every man; for both the simple and the childlike are alike beloved. But cunning and wickedness are hated by every man, and every man is on his guard against them; for they are full of deceits and ambushes, and their habit is to overturn the integrity of everything. Simplicity, however, in addition to being beloved, is a place of confidence, and no man is on his guard against |141 the simple man in whatsoever he doeth, for he is acquainted with his sincerity, and he knoweth that he deviseth not wickedness. And as no man is on his guard against a child who wisheth to go secretly into a house, for his childhood hath not power to make him become a spectator of that which will cause him loss, so also no man is on his guard against the simple man in the things which he wisheth to do, for he beareth the similitude of a child in his thoughts.
Who then would not earnestly desire to be beloved by God, and to be accounted dear by man? [p. 147] and both these things are possible through simplicity. Why therefore, O disciple, shouldst thou flee from becoming beloved by God and dear unto man, seeing that thou canst obtain love from the Creator and from His creation for nothing? But perhaps thou sayest, "They mock at me, and consider me a fool and a simple man, and without understanding, and without discretion", but what good thing is there that hath not its drawback, O disciple? If thou art afraid of the things which are drawbacks to those that are good, no good thing can ever spring from thee, for to all things drawbacks are to be found, and in the working of them all toil is mingled, in addition to the envy and jealousy which are stirred up in the children of men against the other virtues. Now this virtue of simplicity is more free from evil consequences than all vices, because envy and jealousy are not continually opposed to it, nor do hatred and enmity contend with it. And if simplicity bringeth with it this slight contempt and scorn, love is nevertheless also found therewith. And the men who scorn the simple man love him, and he is not despised in their sight because of hatred, but either because of their [want of] |142 confidence [in him] or because he is not useful unto them for what they seek, they consider him a fool in respect of the things of the world, and a simple man as concerning the conversation of man, and without knowledge in respect of cunning and wickedness. Therefore in the things in which thou rejoicest it is meet that thou shouldst be considered that which thou art, and that thou shouldst be called that [p. 148] which it is right for thee to be. If a man now were to say unto thee, "Thou knowest not how to lie, or to commit adultery, or to steal", would it be a disgrace unto thee? Or [if he were to say], "Thou knowest not how to stand in a chariot, or to become a charioteer", or, "Thou art not acquainted with the craft of the athlete", or, "Thou knowest not how to sing nor the art of the dancers", or, "Thou art not able to jest and laugh, and thou canst not play the part and act like the actors"; would the ignorance, I say, of these things be considered a disgrace to thee? I trow not. And no man would blame thee because thou wast a stranger to the knowledge of these professions. And so also let it not be considered a disgrace by thee that thou art lacking the craft of wickedness and the deceit of abominable things, for also the blessed David said that the upright and men of integrity clave unto him,16 and it is well known that integrity is born of simplicity. Now my speech here referreth to the purity of spirit which ariseth in the soul after the flight of all wickedness; for the order of natural simplicity is one thing, and the order of purity of the spirit is another. The simplicity of nature is the beginning of the path of the doctrine of Christ, but purity of spirit is the end of |143 the path of righteousness. And whosoever beginneth in simplicity endeth in purity, even also as the blessed Apostles, when they were chosen, at the beginning were simple men; but at the end of the dispensation after they had received the Holy Ghost, they were shewn to be pure men. Now purity is this: a man should by toil, and weariness, and striving against all hateful motions separate [p. 149] from him the filth of wickedness, and cast it away from him, and the purity and undefiledness of pure thoughts and of the thoughts which are moved by the Spirit, and are above all doubt, should abide in him. And simplicity is that which is not stirred up naturally in these thoughts; and that which simplicity distinguisheth not when it entereth, it must overcome in contest, and in wisdom must reject, and expel, and cast forth from the place of its purity. These things purity doeth.
Now simplicity is the beginning of the path, and a field cleansed from thorns to receive good seed. That a man should root up thorns, and hoe up weeds, and clean the ground and make it ready and prepare it to receive good seed and beautiful plants is one thing, but the field which is sown, and planted, and beareth fruit, and which looketh for whomsoever will gather the crops, and how the produce which it beareth shall be carried and laid up in the barns, is another. Now the condition of purity is that of a field which is full of grain and plants, and which beareth fruit of the kinds which have grown to their fullest extent, and have become ripe; and simplicity is a tilled field from which the weeds have been hoed up, and which is ready and fit to receive whatsoever may be placed therein. Cunning and craftiness are a field which is full of weeds, |144 and thorny growths, and tares, into which even if good seed fell, it would choke its sprout, and smite its growth. O disciple, be thou a tilled and prepared field for Jesus, [p. 150] and let Him cast in thee the good seed of His word, and let Him plant in thee the new plant of His doctrine. And if thou hast simplicity in thy nature, rejoice therein, and be strenuous to add unto it; but if thou possessest it not as from a natural seed, follow diligently after it with eager desire and possess it. For it is an invention which will do benefit unto thy life which is in God, and it will enable thee to live thy life without fear and in confidence in the dwelling in which thou art. The simple man is not esteemed an evil by men, and he is not afraid of the wickedness of others; so long as he himself schemeth not to do evil, he thinketh that others will not do harm unto him. For simplicity imagineth that every man is like unto itself, and as a man is towards himself, and according to what he is towards himself he thinketh that he and every [other] are like unto it. Simplicity is its own mirror, and is the appearance of its own self, and as it looketh upon itself so it looketh upon every man; and as it itself is without guile, even so it thinketh concerning others; and although those who look upon themselves are doubtful about the distinctions of their wickedness in respect of themselves, yet to simplicity they are all one. And for this reason it abideth at all times without storms, and waves and breakers are not stirred up within it to disturb its simple state; because the wind of craftiness by which are stirred all the waves of expectation never bloweth thereupon, [p. 151] For as in the natural sea storms are stirred up through the agency of the wind which bloweth over its surface, so |145 also through the blowing of the wind of craftiness which bloweth through it are the confused thoughts of cunning produced, and the meditation of abominable things stirred up from within it. Now the mind of the simple man is a place of tranquillity in which there are no storms, and as the sea is smooth and without waves when there is no wind, so also is the simple mind at peace in [its] freedom from all the things which can terrify it, and which beat upon it like waves. For simplicity is a haven which hideth within it the ships which flee before the storms of craftiness, and everything which entereth therein it maketh to abide in peace, and it turneth all disturbance into the condition of peace.
Not only is the simple man himself simple, but that which cometh into him he turneth to his own condition. For to simplicity is also closely joined obedience, and besides that it judgeth not the things which are spoken into it, it doth not dispute against the things which [men] command it to do. The dwelling of the simple man is restful to those who are near thereto, and all those who know it rejoice therein. Round about it there is no contention, and in its neighbourhood there is no strife, and in its company there is no quarrelling, and in its obedience there is no compulsion, and it contradicteth not that which is said unto it. Every man seizeth it, yea by choice, and in the doubtfulness of affairs it is chosen by many, for it is considered the better part by whosoever cometh thereto, [p. 152] For he knoweth not that he will not be heard, and he knoweth not that he will dispute with any man; for all his knowledge [tendeth] towards good things, and not towards bad, and he deviseth means whereby he may please those who give him commands and not how he may |146 resist their will. Simplicity then befitteth the life and conduct of solitaries, and integrity is meet for the life of the anchorite, and sincerity becometh the monastic life, and gladness is meet for self-denial, and simpleness belongeth unto poverty.
The chief priests of the Jews marvelled at the Apostles, because being simple and unlettered men they were making answers like wise men to questions concerning the life which is to come, and they became advocates of Christ through their simplicity. For Christ took foolish advocates to speak for Him, that through them He might the more proclaim the triumph of His wisdom, and that it might be known unto all men that it was not they who were speaking but He Who spoke in them; "They perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men; and they remembered that they had gone hither and thither with Jesus",17 and they marvelled at them. So then that simplicity should keep the commandments was also a marvellous thing, and that ignorant men should do what wise man could not was a thing to be wondered at. For if the priests had been acquainted with the Apostles before the time when they became wise men, and they had not spoken wisely, they would not have been greatly astonished at them, for they would have heard from them that which befitted their instruction; but they marvelled especially at them because they heard from them what they expected not, [p. 153] and they answered them with speech which was above the measure of all wise men, and through their simplicity Jesus triumphed, and His wisdom was proclaimed before all men. And for |147 this reason also our Lord chose the simple, and rejected the wise and learned, that He might teach every one who should become His disciple to lay hold upon this beginning, and to walk therein unto Him, and that we should not follow after cunning because it is thought to be wisdom by the world, or seek to be excused from possessing simplicity because it is held in contempt among the children of men. For behold our Lord shewed unto us two things by His choice; He chose fishermen, and He chose tax-gatherers, that is to say, He chose the simple and the wicked, the fools and the knaves, the opposite of knowledge, and the opposite of righteousness----for such are fishermen and tax-gatherers, and the fisherman hath no knowledge, and the tax-gatherer hath no righteousness----that when these two classes of men had acquired the two things to which they were strangers, Jesus might be revealed to all men. as the One Who maketh wise and the One Who maketh just. Matthew and Zacchaeus, those who clave to Christ, had acquired the training of the world, but when they had been chosen they were found [to be] simple men, and their obedience testifieth to their simplicity; for until they had become above the training of the world, and had become strangers to the human craftiness which they had acquired, and until they stood in the measure of the simplicity of fishermen, Christ did not bring them near to become the receivers of His doctrine, and He did not give them power over the treasures of His knowledge, but forthwith, in addition to that which He in all places commanded concerning simplicity, [p. 154] He counselled them to become like simple children, and He spake for the sake of those disciples so that He might also restrain others from the doctrine |148 of craftiness. He taught the simple to abide in their simplicity, and He admonished those who had been reared in the doctrine of craftiness to cast away from them this denied garment, that both classes might come into uniformity, and might, as it were, begin to run the path of virtue upon each other's legs. Now there are some who, without training, become the children of simplicity, like Simon, and Andrew, and James, and John, and there are others who by being brought up in the world are held fast in the womb of cunning, like Matthew, and Zacchaeus, and Philip, and many others; and to those which were not brought forth He gave birth from craftiness to the state of simpleness. And He swathed them all in the swaddling band of simplicity, and then He began to rear them in the stature of His doctrine, and to bring them to the measure of the strength of the Spirit. And if in respect of the Apostles simplicity appeared to be far beyond everything here in value, how much more especially is it right that it should be found with us, and it should be beloved in the congregation of the solitaries where our service also demandeth this, and those who come to us expect that they may see us thus. The crafty disciple prospereth not, and he is envious of evil things for all his fellow disciples. He is a teacher of evil things and not of good, and an example of loss, and not of gain. He is a teacher of disobedience, and one who sheweth forth stubbornness; [p. 155] he wandereth among empty things and speaketh those which are useless, being shut up he would be a wanderer, he is bound by necessity, he is led by force to what he desireth not, he is a labourer full of grumbling, and a lazy hireling, for that which his mouth eateth he worketh not; he is a destroyer |149 of the field of the prosperous man, for he shutteth up his own farm, and it remaineth without tillage by him; he is a stone of stumbling to those who run, and a guide of strange paths; he bringeth forth deceit to those who travel uprightly, and he perverteth the path before those who run in integrity; he looketh gladly at that which is ruined; he eagerly desireth rulers, and is a lover of rich men; he is an associate of noble and famous men, and a companion of those who live delicately; he fasteth by necessity, and is [only] weaned from meats by the force of the law; he laboureth without advantage; he is a disciple in appearance and not in thought; he nourisheth deceit, and is a soul which desireth evil things; he is a scoffing tongue, and a proud and empty man; he is an abject in which there is nothing; he is a drawback to all right dealing; he is built up by various forms of stumblings; he is a body framed of limbs of falsehood; he throweth blame upon every thing, and he abuseth everything which is done; he taketh vengeance upon those who look not upon him: he is slow to good things, but runneth quickly after evil things; he is a child of slumber, a son of slothfulness, an enemy of watching and a hater of prayer; he is a companion of the table which is always laid, he awaitetli dainty foods, and looketh out for delicacies; he is the right hand of the Calumniator, and the secret arm of the Enemy. These and such-like things are found in the cunning disciple, but the things which we have spoken [above] are [only] the kernel of his deformities; and it is meet that whosoever is thus should be despised by all men, [p. 156] in order that his wickedness may be smitten through contempt of him.
And the prophet of God abuseth those who are |150 foolish in respect of good things, and wise in respect of evil things. "Ephraim is like a silly dove, without understanding; he cometh to Egypt and he goeth to Assyria, and in the way of repentance towards Me he walketh not".18 Now the prophet maketh an accusation against such silliness, because it is not simplicity, but folly. And this also is the wickedness of those who are silly in respect of good things. Instead of one Redeemer, they have chosen unto themselves many helpers, and they have forsaken the path which leadeth to God, and have run after the Egyptians and Assyrians that they might come to their help. And although they have experienced many times that they were not able to redeem them from the evils in which they stood, they never became wise enough through the experience of facts to run to God's place of refuge. And the prophet likened them unto doves whose fruit others carried off, and the children of whose bowels were made servants unto others; and he considered them to be without understanding, because they possessed not the discretion through which they would have drawn nigh to God. And again in his speech Solomon also reprehendeth him that is led after his lust like a foolish person, and who lacketh the knowledge which should fight against his passions. "He goeth after her like a simple man, and as an ox that goeth to the slaughterer, and as a dog to the fetters, and as a stag into whose liver an arrow hath pierced".19 And this foolishness is worthy of blame, because it ministereth not unto good but unto evil things, and it is not right, properly speaking, that it should be called simpleness----although the Book calleth it |151 so because it is contrary [p. 157] to the mark which is laid down by it----but folly, and madness, and senselessness, and the destruction of what is seemly. And this our discourse doth not urge this kind of simplicity upon a man, nor that he should ignorantly submit to every voice, and be persuaded by the deceit of every doctrine, for the Apostle of God also biddeth us to beware of this, saying, "Be ye not children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of the deceitful doctrines of the children of men." 20 For behold the frame of mind which is led by every voice and doctrine, and which changeth its construction into abominable conduct, and deeds, and a hateful life, hath been called madness by the word of the Apostle, but the word of our discourse urgeth a man to that simplicity which meditateth at all times upon good things. Look then upon the simplicity of all the believing men, and see the innocence of mind of the disciples of Christ, who, although they were not acquainted with the guile of the crafts of heresies, and although they knew not the abomination of their evil doctrine, yet nevertheless took heed not to become associated therewith, but held the truth without change through their wise simplicity, and because the fear of God was closely united to their simplicity. And although they knew not the consciousness of [other] doctrines, yet were they acquainted with reasons of their own doctrine. And as a child who knoweth one master only, by the fear of whom he is ruled, and at whose command he trembleth, and of whose rod alone he is afraid, and who knoweth not even of the existence of other masters, so also [p. 158] with the child in faith |152 doth the fear of the mastership of Christ alone rule his life, and other teachers of doctrines are accounted nothing by him. And he is not persuaded to perceive another learned man, and he is not obedient save to one master, and he neither trembleth nor is terrified by fear, save of those of whose authority he is sensible, but like the natural child his fear taketh heed to one teacher and to one master only. And if any other teacher wisheth to give him another doctrine besides that which he holdeth he receiveth it not; for his simpleness is the sincerity of nature, and not the destructive error of [other] opinions.
Let us then, like disciples of Christ, run in the path which He hath shewn us, and let us walk in the way which He hath trodden for us, and let the invention of simplicity be precious in our sight, and let us be simple children to receive the doctrine which is good. And let us be wise as serpents against the Enemy who schemeth to do us harm, and let us remember at all times that which was spoken by Christ our Lord to all the disciples in His word, "Whosoever receiveth not the kingdom of God like a little child shall not enter therein";21 may we by His grace be held worthy of this kingdom, and may we inherit it together with all the saints, through the mercy of Christ God, to Whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Here endeth the Second Discourse on Simplicity.
[Footnotes renumbered and moved to the end. Page numbers in brackets refer to the Syriac text in vol. 1 of the printed edition.]
1. 1 Galatians vi. 6.
2. 1 The Wisdom of Solomon i. 4.
3. 1 2 Corinthians x. 3.
4. 1 1 Corinthians ix. 22.
5. 1 St. Luke iii. 2; Acts iv. 6.
6. 2 2 St. Luke iii. 2.
7. 1 St. Matthew xviii. 2, 3.
8. 1 St. Matthew xviii. 6.
9. 1 Isaiah liii. 7; Jeremiah xi. 19.
10. 1 St. Matthew xxvi. 52.
11. 1 Philippians ii. 7.
12. 2 1 Corinthians i. 25.
13. 1 1 Samuel xxi. 13.
14. 2 St. John xxi. 15-17.
15. 1 St. John i. 29, 36.
16. 1 Psalm xxv. 21.
17. 1 Acts iv. 13.
18. 1 Hosea vii. 11.
19. 2 Proverbs vii. 22.
20. 1 Ephesians iv. 14; St. James i. 6.
21. 1 St. Mark x. 15; St. Matthew xviii. 3.
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Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
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Philoxenus, Ascetic Discourse (1894) pp.153-183. Discourse 6 -- The First Discourse on the Fear of God
Philoxenus, Ascetic Discourse (1894) pp.153-183. Discourse 6 -- The First Discourse on the Fear of God
[P. 159] THE SIXTH DISCOURSE: WHICH MAKETH KNOWN THEREIN THAT, AFTER THAT FAITH WHICH IS BORN OF THE SIMPLICITY OF NATURE, THE FEAR OF GOD IS STIRRED UP IN MAN, AND HOW IT IS PRODUCED, AND BY WHAT THINGS FAITH IS ESTABLISHED AND CONFIRMED WITHIN US.
Let us now with a mind fearing God again draw nigh to the doctrine of the word of the fear of God, and according to our power, and as we are able, that is to say, according as the grace of God shall grant, let us make use of [our] speech for our own help, and for the advantage of others. For we do not write in order that we may appear to be learned, but because we love to speak of our own benefits for [the good of] others. And we do not remain silent and speak not because many [others] have spoken and written, for those who were before us have written and spoken like teachers; but we, like their disciples, repeat after them their doctrine, even as a child who giveth utterance to and repeateth at all times the doctrine which he receiveth from his master that he may not forget it; and thus also do we repeat the things which have been heard by us, so that by repetition we may remember them, and so that our thoughts may be kept from wandering after empty things which benefit not. |154 For as long as the mind is not held fast [p. 160] by beneficial thoughts it wandereth outside itself, and goeth hither and thither in a place which is outside the help of God. And as when it meditateth upon virtues it dwelleth in the light of the remembrance of God, so also when it constructeth and meditateth upon useless and empty thoughts, its whole conversation is in the darkness. Whosoever standeth in darkness, seeth not, and is unseen; and he discerneth not, and is not discerned; and he knoweth not, and is not known; but he is deprived of the beauty of the appearance of created things, and all who themselves see are removed from his sight; and he discerneth not the path and understandeth not the way; and he seeth not the passage of those who go by. Now that this may not happen to us, let us be at all times occupied in the word of God, not merely bringing it up in repetition upon the tongue, but with the understanding meditating and thinking thereupon with the mind, so that at all times our mouth may speak through the superabundance of our heart. For what the mind meditateth upon in secret, that will the tongue speak openly, however careful a man may be; and if the tongue remaineth quiet through craftiness from that which it would speak, the secrets of the heart are made manifest to beholders by other means and motions of the senses, and the face by its various expressions giveth indications concerning the secret mind which hideth in the soul. Whosoever drinketh continually of the doctrine of God, the tree of his own person yieldeth divine fruit at all times, if it be not that he heareth the word of doctrine from mere habit, and that he listeneth not unto the helpful |155 word of God for pleasure's sake, and that he receiveth it not that he may increase in him human knowledge thereby, [p. 161] and that he listeneth not to learn it so that it may be for him the material of the handicraft of vain-glory. For the doctrine which is spoken in knowledge, and is heard with discernment, manifesteth spiritual fruit in two places, in the tongue of him that soweth it, and in the ear of him that receiveth it, because both the man who teacheth and the man who learneth hear his word gladly if he be an exact teacher, and if he be not a mere passage for the doctrine of others.
Now continuous labour at a handicraft addeth unto the knowledge thereof, and a man traineth all [his] faculties in working at it. And thus also meditation at all times in the word of doctrine moveth the thoughts to knowledge, and sharpeneth the tongue for speech, and bindeth the understanding in the contemplation of God. And whosoever meditateth upon God at all times, having this remembrance constant within his soul secretly, in him also is increased the fear of God, which becometh unto him a wall which protecteth from all evil things. For as the wall of a city protecteth its inhabitants from the harmful attacks of [their] enemies, so also doth the fear of God protect a man from enemies, and from those who would spoil our souls, and it keepeth back the body from the working of the lusts [thereof], and it protecteth the soul from abominable thoughts. Whosoever hath learned in very truth to fear God not only preserveth his body from the lusts [thereof], but also his heart from abominable motions. Now what the manner of the fear of God is, and in what grade standeth the |156 man who feareth God, [p. 162] and how this fear is to be acquired, and by what things it is increased, it is meet for us to shew, forth, according to what we have learned from those who were before us spectators of knowledge, and ministers of the word of teaching. Now according to what they have taught me, the true fear of God is produced from true faith, and whosoever believeth truly will himself also fear Him in Whom he believeth. And as his faith existeth not by means of plans and devices, so also his fear consisteth not of skill and knowledge; for as soon as a man believeth that God is, he beginneth to receive the doctrine of His commandments. For faith itself is born of the simplicity of nature, and it is established and protected entirely by simplicity. Now those commandments which faith heareth and accepteth, doth the fear of God keep; for in the manner in which simplicity preserveth faith, doth also the fear of God keep His commandments. Now by "fear" I do not mean the fear which a man meaneth when he sayeth by word of mouth, "I fear God," nor that fear which existeth in many who are habitually thought to be fearers of God; but I mean the fear which is excited in the soul naturally, and when the soul which is within trembleth and tottereth, it moveth together with itself all the members of the body. For the body is afraid of that which can injure it, and the soul also [p. 163] is moved at that which hath power to destroy it. For as is the fear of the body of external things which can injure it, of wild beasts, or of fire, or of swords and of scrapers, or of drowning in the water, or of falling from lofty rocks, or of the rumour of thieves, or of the sight of judges, or of painful |157 lashes, or of fetterings and imprisonment, so also is the soul naturally afraid of the hidden Judge Who is able to punish it with spiritual afflictions, according to its nature, together with the body. And as the body is naturally afraid of all these things which we have enumerated, even so is the soul naturally afraid of the remembrance of the judgment of God, and of the punishments which are laid up for those who provoke to wrath, and of the Gehenna which is threatened for those who work wickedness, and of the report of the outer darkness, and of the rumour of the fire which is not quenched, and of the worm which dieth not. For when the body seeth the things which can injure it, it is afraid of them, and when the soul looketh upon the things which can torment it, it is affrighted at them. The body is not excited by the machinations which exist to do it harm, but immediately it seeth them, or it meditateth upon the remembrance of them, it becometh excited and is afraid of them naturally. And thus also is it with the soul, for when, with the eye of faith, it looketh at the things which are threatened in the future, and it seeth inwardly the fearful things which the word of the Judge hath revealed, it is straightway filled with fear, and all its thoughts----which are its spiritual members----tremble, and by reason of its trembling, the body also trembleth, and through the fear of its thoughts the members of its body are also afraid. And as the soul itself participateth in the fear of the body, [p. 164] so also is the body mingled in the fear of the soul; for although the nature of the soul cannot be injured by the things which do harm to the body, yet, inasmuch as it is mingled therewith, it feareth therewith. And although the afflictions and |158 punishments which are about to come are not visible to the eyes of the body, yet because the soul seeth them inwardly it trembleth and is affrighted at them; and the body is also moved with it, and fear and terror take up their abode in all its members. For according to the experience of facts it is thus, and those who have had experience thereof, and have received the test thereof in their own persons know that immediately the soul remembereth the judgment of God, it shaketh at the remembrance thereof, and together with itself it maketh all the members of the body shake with one accord. When the soul and body of a man are not purified from sin, immediately he remembereth God he is forthwith wholly and entirely filled with fear, and all his members tremble, in the manner in which his body trembleth when it seeth suddenly that which can destroy and do it harm. And if a man hath not experienced this in his own person ----for not every man hath arrived at the measure of natural fear of God----from the fact that the body being moved, it moveth the soul also with it----which is manifest and well known unto every man----we may also understand that the soul is capable of fear and that it poureth out its fear upon the body, which only the few have experienced, that is to say, those whose souls are not dead in the death of sin, because the sin which happeneth carnally outside the remembrance of God, is the complete death of the soul, even as [p. 165] the Holy Book calleth the sinner dead which repenteth not. For repentance ariseth from the remembrance of God by a man, so then whosoever sinneth, and in whom the remembrance of the judgment of God is not moved, either when he sinneth, or after his |159 committing sin, this man is dead in his own soul, although in the body he appeareth to be alive. By the constant remembrance of God then may the soul which liveth be known; and if it sinneth and repenteth it is a sick thing, but if it sinneth carnally without repentance and without the remembrance of God, from this it is made manifest that it hath been slain by sin. For the knowledge of God is itself the spiritual life of the soul, even as the life of the body consisteth of the abiding of the soul which is therein within it; and its life is known by its perceiving everything which draweth nigh to it, or which it itself approacheth. And thus also the life of the soul is the knowledge of God, and it is known that it liveth from the fact that it is sensible of God.
For the body which is dead cannot feel any harm, neither can the soul which is slain feel the remembrance of the judgment of God, And whatever pains and tortures thou mayest bring upon the dead body it feeleth them not, and if thou wert to make the soul which is once dead to God a participator in all wickedness it would feel it not. If the dead body be struck it perceiveth it not, and if it be hacked and hewn in pieces it feeleth it not, and thus is it with the soul which is dead to God. It sinneth, and perceiveth it not; it doeth wickedness, and knoweth it not; it sinneth, and is unmindful of it; it is condemned, and its conscience pricketh it not; it doeth evil, and feeleth it not; and as its conscience pricketh it not to discretion [p. 166] when it fulfilleth naturally the things which are its natural need, even so the soul which is destroyed by sin, and is once dead to God, is not condemned by its conscience for the things which are wrought by it.
So then the remembrance of God is the life of the |160 soul. And as all the motions of the body are constant, and it moveth and is moved throughout by all its nerves and members so long as it participateth in life, even so the soul which hath therein the knowledge of God, moveth and is moved at all times by the remembrance of God, and so long as it remembereth God, it sinneth not. And if it happeneth that for a brief space the light of its knowledge becometh obscured through the smoke of lust, the remembrance of God is straightway stirred up in it, and the fear which ariseth therefrom driveth it to repentance. For the fear of God worketh two things in the soul: it keepeth a man that he sin not, or if he sinneth, it urgeth him to heal his sin in repentance; for it is the habit of all those with whom the fear of God or the fear of man is found, that they either offend not, or when they have offended they rectify their wrongdoing.
The fear of God then is a shield against all wickedness; it guardeth the man who is behind it from being harmed, and it is a wall of protection against all abominable things; now there are times when it becometh the healer of wickedness, even as both qualities [p. 167]----that of healer and that of protector----may be seen in this fear. For it is a protecting wall against evils that they come not, and it is a wise healer of the wickedness which is wrought by negligence. One man is terrified at the very sight of the judge, and another trembleth at the mere mention of him. The man who taketh heed that he sin not is restrained from wickedness by the sight of the judge; but the man who, after he hath sinned, turneth to repentance is terrified at the rumour of him, and he is affrighted |161 at the mere sound of his judgment. In the act of committing his sin he is unable to see him, for sin is the blindness of the soul; and when sin is wrought and ministered unto in the person of a man, the sight of the soul is obscured by the vapour of the work of lust as by much smoke, and it is unable to see the Judge. It heareth, however, the voice of His threatenings from the mouth of others----that is to say from the Holy Books----and it trembleth at the report thereof, and is afraid when it heareth them; now this happeneth while the soul is not entirely dead to the knowledge and perception of God. And the man also who is blind in his natural body is not terrified by the sight of dangers, neither is he afraid of them, except by the report which he heareth from others. For the lion which would come to crush him cannot be seen by him, nor the serpent which hisseth to sting him; but if he heareth the report of them from another man, he is frightened. And again, the rock or the pit which is in front of his footsteps he seeth not; but if another reveal to him [p. 168] the danger which is before him, fear preventeth him, and he straightway checketh himself, and turneth back; but whosoever hath sound sight naturally hath no need to learn concerning these things from others, for his sight teacheth him concerning the harm of his body. After this manner let us also consider the one who taketh heed unto himself and sinneth not, and the other who having sinned repenteth of his evil; for the soul is not afraid of the dangers of the body, although it must be imagined that it feareth because it is mingled therewith. And when the soul feareth the things which are here, its fear is outside its own nature, that is to say, the vapour of |162 bodily fear goeth up upon it, and darkeneth its power of discernment, and together with the body it is afraid of those things which cannot harm it. But if the soul is afraid of God its fear is natural, for the natural fear of the soul is that it should fear God alone; for the body is not naturally afraid of God, nor doth the soul naturally fear wild animals or any other harmful things. And behold, beasts, and wild animals, and birds, because they are body only, and participate not in a living soul, have not in their nature any fear of God; they only fear death by each other, or by other things which are opposed to them. And similarly the body also feareth only the dangers which belong to itself; now if thou liftest up the soul to participate in its thoughts, the body feeleth with it the fear of God, [p. 169] even as the soul feeleth with the body in its fear of wild animals. For the Judge Who can torment the soul is God Himself only, because He Who is more subtle of nature than the soul is alone able to be the Judge thereof; but the children of men may be judges of the body, and they are able even to kill it, although in their judgment they have no power over the soul, even according to the testimony of the word of Christ which saith, "Fear not those which kill the body, but who are not able to kill the soul;" 1 for the dominion of judges extendeth over the body only, and it can they judge, and torment, and slay. But as for the soul, its nature is exalted above the injury of those who can slay [it], and it cannot burn in their fire, and their stripes cannot fall upon its spiritual nature, and it cannot be cut in pieces by their swords, and its person cannot be lacerated |163 by their tools of torture; for he that judgeth is of the body, and the sentence which he passeth on evil doers he uttereth with the tongue of the body, although the soul moveth inwardly the deliberation of the penalty. And all the members which are ready [to receive] the sufferings are of the body, and through bodily sufferings the body alone receiveth injury; but the nature of the soul, because of its spirituality, is exalted and raised above these things. And however deeply the sufferings may penetrate, they sink into the body only, and however far in and deep they may pierce, the soul is situated more deeply within, and the death of these members hath no power over its life. Now judges are not able to kill the soul, and therefore it is not meet for men to be afraid of their judgment; "but fear Him that is able to destroy both the body and the soul [p, 170] in Gehenna."2 The Lord Himself alone is the Judge of the soul, and He that made it a living thing is Himself able to bring death upon its life, and to torment its spiritual nature by a spiritual sentence of judgment; and because the soul perceiveth that the Lord alone is its Judge it is afraid of Him naturally. And as with those who are alive in the body and are dead in their souls the remembrance of the judgment of [the] world restraineth them from their evil actions, so also doth the remembrance of the judgment of God check the man who is alive in his soul from his wickedness, and as long as he remembereth His judgment he keepeth himself from sin. The judgment which is near is not depicted before the eyes of the wise man, but upon that which is afar off he looketh intently, |164 and he trembleth and is affrighted thereat. For as the things which are manifest are revealed to the eye of the body, so also are the things which are hidden revealed to the eye of faith. And as the body which is alive perceiveth all the material things of this world, so also doth the soul which is alive feel all the spiritual things of the world which is to come, and it beholdeth them spiritually.
So therefore the remembrance of God is the light which sheweth the things which are to come, and where there is sin the making mention of His name causeth terror; but unless the conscience of a man in sin prick him, the fear of the future Judge will not prick him, for as is every man towards himself, even so is he towards the remembrance of God. If he standeth in the grade of sinners, [p. 171] God appeareth to him as a Judge; but if he hath gone up into the other grade of penitents, He sheweth Himself to him as one Who forgiveth. And again, if he standeth in the state of loving-kindness, he looketh at the riches of God's loving-kindness; if he be clothed with humility and meekness, the favour of God is apparent before him; if he hath acquired an understanding mind, he looketh at the unsurpassable wisdom of God; if he cease from anger and be free from wrath, and peace and quietness be moved in him at all times, he is lifted up to see the untroubled sincerity of God; and if the motions of faith are constantly rising within his soul, he at all times observeth the incomprehensibility of the works of God, and those things also which are thought to be simple he maketh sure that they are beyond [his] knowledge.
Now if a man standeth in the exalted state of |165 spiritual love, according to the state in which he is doth God appear to him, that is, He is wholly and entirely love. And this is a thing to be wondered at; although God is single in His nature, and He hath neither parts nor members, He appeareth unto every man in many [different] forms, and to whomsoever seeketh He appeareth on every side that He wisheth. And as in respect of Himself He is One, and hath no similitudes, He appeareth to minds in similitudes, according to the feelings which are nigh unto the soul. Whosoever wisheth to see that God is good, let him himself be good, and behold, He will appear to him to be good. Imagine not that thou wilt see God as a good. Being whilst thou standest in a place of wickedness, for this sight would work sluggishness in thee, [p. 172] and thou wouldst see God as He wisheth not to be seen by thee, that is to say, thou wouldst not see Him at all, because thou wishest to see Him outside His will; for until thou hast become like unto Him in every one of the virtues which He hath commanded thee to keep, He appeareth to thee as He is; and if thou thinkest that thou seest [Him], thou seest Him only in thy imagination, and not His true appearance. Now therefore everyone who standeth in a place of sin, and who feeleth that there are evil passions within him, and whose conscience pricketh him because of his wrong-doing, must look upon God as the Judge Who condemneth; and he must not dare to regard Him differently, lest thereby he may increase in himself the fear which will remove evil things from him. If now thou wishest to see God as One Who for-giveth, put away thy wickedness, and draw nigh to repentance, and put away also the sin which others |166 have sinned against thee; then shalt thou lift up the eye of thy understanding, and thou shalt see the One Who forgiveth. The man who sinneth continually, and worketh folly, and who thinketh that God is One Who forgiveth, heapeth up wickedness upon wickedness. Put not your trust in remission of sins, lest thou heap up sin upon sin; for many sin continually, and without repentance, relying upon pardon, never having felt pardon, and having heard only of the report of pardon. The man who forgiveth others is himself able to feel the pardon of God, and after this manner also is every good thing of God; until we have become the doers of good we cannot perceive that it is in God. For from hearing hath every man learned that God is good, but from knowledge of the soul [p. 173] alone it is that those who are good perceive His goodness; and from the rumour which is uttered every man confesseth that He is merciful, and long-suffering, and of great kindness, and that He is wholly and entirely filled with love. Those who have kept these things in their own persons through the perception of their soul experience them in God. Now therefore so long as thou standest in the place of sin, thou art bound to be mindful of the judgment of God, that by the remembrance of His judgment thou mayest drive away thy wickedness, and thou must not dare to think of Him in any other manner, so long as thou standest in the place of sin. For the place of fear is one, and the place of joy is another. The place of fear belongeth to penitents, and to those who feel their sins, and to the men who are not as yet free from [their] passions; but the place of joy is above love. After the victory over lusts a man is deemed worthy to arrive at joy, and when he |167 hath brought all his passions under the power of his thoughts, he then goeth into the country of joy, where there is neither terror nor fear, to live gloriously. Now fear is the opposite of joy, and where there is fear joy is not born, and where there is joy fear cometh not; because fear is an accessory of wickedness, and joy of goodness; and as goodness is the opposite of wickedness, so also is joy the opposite of fear. The man who [liveth] in wickedness perceiveth not the joy of the spirit when it is born of goodness, and the man who [liveth] in joy feeleth not the fear which is closely united to wickedness. That a man should wish to [live] in joy while [p. 174] he yet standeth in the region of fear, is like unto the man who imagineth himself to be good while he is evil, and while he fulfilleth all abominable things, or unto the man who imagineth himself to be rich while he is actually the poorest of men.
Everyone then who is conscious of his own follies and evil doings is bound to increase within himself at all times the fear of God, and he must meditate upon it in his going out and coming in, and he must deliberate upon it when he sitteth down, and when he riseth up, and during all his acts and deeds must his thoughts be filled with the fear of God. And one certain time must not be set apart for this fear, but all times must be to him times for the fear of God. When this fear springeth not up in a man, contempt for the commandments of God is found in him, and his thoughts are sunk in the sleep of error; and like a vessel without sense he meditateth wickedness, and doeth abominable things, and he sinneth, but knoweth not that he sinneth. But if he knoweth, it is the |168 knowledge of hearing and not of the truth, because the certain knowledge of wickedness straightway formeth fear in a man. And as when the eyes are opened the light shineth in through the pupils, so also is it with the remembrance of God; for immediately the fear of God shineth into the mind, it rouseth a man and it maketh him to rise up as out of the depth of slumber. And it is as if the light should shine upon a man who is plucked away into the depth of slumber, and although he be ready to get up forthwith, it should find him upon his bed; and when he openeth [p. 175] his eyes, and seeth it, he is straightway roused and greatly moved, and his sudden fright speedily driveth away from him all the heaviness of the sleep in which he was plunged. And so if a man be careless, and the wakefulness of the remembrance of God be taken away from him, and he remain in the sleep of contempt and the abyss of carelessness, if it happen that either for one reason or another, or by his own will, the light of the remembrance of God shineth in his soul, he is straightway roused and he casteth away his former contempt, and he is filled with fear, and the terror at the remembrance of the righteousness of the Judge groweth strong in him; and when contempt hath gone out from him, repentance therefor entereth into him straightway, and he is filled with trembling, either on account of the things which have been done by him, or on account of the wasted seasons which he hath enjoyed without the remembrance of God. For behold, the man who liveth in this remembrance is filled at all times with fear immediately an ordinary motion of lust flieth over his soul, and he is greatly moved and is roused by reason of the lustful thought |169 which hath come to him; and this thought of wickedness straightway fleeth, and is destroyed before the fear of the soul, even as a bird which riseth up unexpectedly before a man, who is thereby suddenly startled out of his composure.
Now fear and shame of the children of men preserve the body from lusts, but the fear and shame which man hath of God preserve the motions of the soul from thoughts of evil things; and because man seeth that at all times God seeth him, he becometh perpetually an observer [p. 176] of himself that he sin not, and he preserveth his inner man from the secret blemishes upon which the hidden eye of God looketh. Hedge thyself round then with a fence of the fear of God, O man of understanding, and evil things will not dare to enter into the city of thy soul. Be thou ashamed before God inwardly, and behold thy soul shall be preserved in its purity; excite within thee at all times the fear of Him, and behold thou shalt be kept from sins of the thoughts. Let the continual remembrance of Him abide in thee, and the remembrance of wickedness cannot sojourn with thee. For so long as thou art mindful of God it is not possible for thee to remember evil things; because light and darkness cannot dwell in the eye together, neither can the remembrance of God and the remembrance of wickedness abide together within the soul. Until thou forgettest God thou canst not be mindful of wickedness, and until thou forgettest wickedness, the remembrance of God riseth not in thee; for the error of the one is the remembrance of the other, and the going in of one is the going out of the other. And the remembrance of wickedness is error, and the remembrance of God |170 is true knowledge; and error is darkness, but knowledge is light. And as modesty is near unto the man who standeth in the light, so also is the soul, into which the remembrance of God shineth, always constant in shamefacedness at the nakedness of wickedness. And as the sight of men frighteneth a man to cover his nakedness, so also when the remembrance of God looketh [p. 177] into the soul, it dazeth it, and maketh it quickly to be ashamed, and it suddenly spreadeth over itself the garment of modesty. And if it hath any member of darkness which is manifest, it covereth it; and if it containeth any thing which is not seemly thereto, it is straightway terrified and casteth it away. And if it be confused, it setteth itself in order; and if it be in turmoil, it composeth itself; and if it sinneth, it maketh itself just; and if it be spotted, it maketh itself white; and if it be foul, it purifieth itself; and if it be unclean, it sanctifieth itself; and if it be polluted, it is made clean; and if it be impure it is made chaste; and if it be wanton, it becometh modest; and if it be foolish, it is made wise; and if it be poured out, it is gathered together; and if it wander outside itself, it returneth to itself; and if it be poverty-stricken, it gaineth wealth; and if it hath lost its life, it runneth and seeketh it; and if it be sick, it is healed; and if it be feeble, it is made strong; and if it be infirm, it is healed; and if it hath in it a breaking [of bones], it bindeth them up; and if it be filled with gaping wounds it presseth them together; and if it happen that it hath grown old, and hath become worn out in sin, straightway the remembrance of God, together with the fear of Him, maketh it new.
Therefore the experience of the fear of God |171 belongeth to the soul, and man himself is alone able to know by it whether he feareth God or not. Each one of us is bound to take this good thing within himself. If thou art mindful of God, and if thou art moved when thou rememberest him, and art straightway filled with fear, and thy thoughts and thy members tremble, and thy soul and body are moved, and thy knowledge boweth down its head, and thy understanding is ashamed before God inwardly, if these things happen unto thee thou mayest know [p. 178] that thou hast the fear of God in thee, and that the remembrance of the Lord is in very truth near unto thee. For it is not the man who saith, "I fear God," who feareth God, but the man who experienceth within himself the things which I have said is he who is truly a fearer of God. The good deeds which are seen outwardly do not prove that the doer of them is in truth a fearer of God, because the causes which work good deeds among the children of men are many, and there are various ways of keeping the commandments. The man who keepeth God's commandments through fear of him, is a true servant, and a divine labourer who feareth Him that laid down the law, and he fulfilleth His law; and moreover the divine law cannot be kept wholly unless it be kept by the body and by the soul. There many who bear the weight of spiritual labours outwardly, but who inwardly minister unto all wickedness; and there are others who have bound their limbs with the fetters of afflictions, but who have sent away and dismissed their thoughts to wander after abominable things; and there are others who are outwardly clothed in chastity, but who are clothed with wantonness within; and there are others who to outward appearance fast, but who |172 inwardly are prodigals and gluttons; and there are others who outwardly appear to be righteous, but who secretly work all wickedness. One man keeping a fast, eateth; and another professing poverty, is a lover of money; and another, professing outwardly to be long-suffering, is a man of wrath, for his patient endurance appeareth outwardly, but anger secretly dwelleth within him. One man excuseth himself from pleasures outwardly, but he seeketh for them secretly; and another cannot be constrained to hear the word of blasphemy, but inwardly he blasphemeth actually at all times, [p. 179] One man prayeth openly, and another prayeth in secret; one man singeth Psalms with his tongue, and another singeth them with his understanding. One man crucifieth his body only, and another crucifieth his soul together with his body. One man keepeth himself from sin that he may not be reproached by man, and another restraineth himself from it because of the love of righteousness. One man standeth in awe at the face of God, and another is ashamed before the face of the children of men. One man hateth to sin because he knoweth that sin is hateful to God; and another taketh heed not to commit iniquity because he seeth that wickedness is disgraceful in the sight of men. One man sinneth not through fear of the judgment which is beyond [this world], and another committeth not offences through fear of the judgment which is nigh. One through the remembrance of the fire which is near cooleth the lust of his members, and maketh its motions to be at rest; and another through the remembrance of the Gehenna which is afar off allayeth his lust and destroyeth it.
So therefore the labours which are visible are not |173 alone sufficient to prove a man to be a fearer of God; do thou then, O man of understanding, examine thyself, and let thy testimony be from and in thyself, if the fear of God be in thy soul. For by the righteousness which dwelleth within is the fear of God made, but that fear which dwelleth without, and the course of the actions of which is external, the sight of man inciteth thereto, and its agency is external, and not internal, and it is only seen by the eyes of men, and it is not wrought for the sight of God inwardly.
The afflictions which can be seen are good because they compel [p. 180] the limbs to become obedient to the thoughts, and they subdue the stony nature of the body, and make it to become subservient to the soul, but they do not cleanse the understanding from the motions of sins, and they do not make the soul to fear God, unless the soul hath learned inwardly to fear God; for the hidden service belongeth to the soul, and the labour which is manifest belongeth to the body. The labour of the body cannot be justified without the service of the soul, but the service of the soul can be justified even without the labours of the body, if it be that a man doth not excuse himself from labours through contempt, and he doth not flee from afflictions like a man who loveth pleasures. For the sight of men doth not protect the outward and inner man from sins, but the sight of the fear of God doth restrain the body and soul from sins; and as the man who standeth before the judge to be questioned concerning his wrong-doing hath no means wherewith to act corruptly before the judge, but is anxious to hide also his former offences, so also the man before whose sight the fear of God the Judge is set, and the |174 fear of Whom striketh his thoughts at all times, cannot sin, but by day, and by night, and at all times he putteth on chastity and modesty over his inner man, and every motion of sin which riseth up in him he driveth away from him in the fear of God. The fear which is of God maketh beautiful the inner man, but the fear which is of men adorneth with virtues the outer man; [p. 181] He Who is the Judge of thy works shall also be the One Who shall approve of thy contest, and the fear of Him must be set before thine eyes continually.
For if the fear of masters is set before the sight of their servants, and the dread of kings, and of judges, and of generals clotheth always those who have been subdued by them, and those who are subject unto them----and moreover the fear of teachers and masters preserveth and guardeth continually the innocency of childhood----how much more binding is it upon that man who hath become a disciple of God, and who is naturally a servant of the Heavenly Lord, and a soldier of the Everlasting King, and a subject of the Judge of the truth of the law, that the fear of Him should rule continually over his whole course of life, and over his thoughts in secret, and over his members outwardly? The fear of God is a bridle which holdeth back the violent impulses of a man from the error of wickedness, and it driveth him back from the pursuit of abominable lusts, not in his outer man only, but more especially in his inner man. The spiritual soldier should not fear God only as servants fear their masters, or as people who have been conquered fear kings and judges, for the fear of them decks itself in outward forms, and it appeareth externally on the members of |175 the body only; for although it may happen that they hate them inwardly, and despise them in their thoughts, yet outwardly they manifest to them the guise of fear. Let then thy fear of God be not like unto this, but from the place on which He looketh, from there let it shew fear, and where He seeth [p. 182] secretly the motions of thy soul, there let the power of His fear lay hold upon thee. And let thy whole being----both thy inner man, and thy outer man----entirely fear God, Who is the Judge of thy secret things, and of those which are manifest. Let thy soul be ashamed before Him, and sin not, and let thy thought be shamefaced, and commit no wickedness. For if the shame of the children of men driveth us from sin, how much more should the shame of God restrain us from wickedness?
Remember thou then at all times that God looketh at thee, and do thou thyself also look at Him inwardly, even as He seeth thee inwardly, and sin shall not abide in thy thoughts. For as in the place whereupon the sun looketh darkness abideth not, even so in the soul upon which God looketh, and which itself also feeleth that He is regarding it, the darkness of wickedness remaineth not. "The eyes of the Lord are ten thousand times brighter than the Sun," saith the Holy Book, "and He seeth all the works of the children of men."3 And in another place it saith, "All the deeds of men shine as the sun before Him, and He examineth and knoweth their ways."4 Now the prophet of God also rebuketh by his speech the wickedness of that man who is without the fear of God, and who upon the cushion of his couch acteth abominably, |176 and rebuking his stupid thought that God could not see him, for God doth see him, he brought forward this proof saying, "The eyes of the Lord are ten thousand times brighter than the sun," in order that he might teach every man that God seeth our secret things, and that we should take heed with all diligence against the sins which are wrought in secret. For thou shalt not sin in thy thought, [p. 183] neither shalt thou do wickedly in thy house in secret, because God seeth thee especially in these secret things. Immediately the sight of the children of men is turned away from thee, the sight of God receiveth thee; and when the children of men no longer look at thee as thou art, the Lord of what hath been formed observeth thee the more, for He knoweth that as long as man looketh upon thee that thou wilt be watchful against [doing] before them the deeds of shame, and that fear and shamefacedness of them will drive thee from the deeds of sin. So then when thou art alone, and the walls and the roof of thy house hide thee on all sides, the armour of the fear of God is necessary for thee, for in the darkness sin is readily committed; and then art thou bound to rouse up thyself to the remembrance of God, and thou must strengthen thy members that they be not conquered before lust, and thou must stand up like a man against the sin which warreth against thee to overcome thee, and against the secret Enemy who with the motions of thy lust fighteth with thy life.
The thoughts of the soul hide within the members of the body, and as the body hideth within the house, even so do the thoughts of the soul hide themselves under the covering of the body. And because the man who is within cannot easily be seen corporeally, he |177 sinneth quickly, and every time he wisheth, he doeth wickedly. The sin of the thoughts is more easy and light than the sin of the members, because the members are restrained and impeded by many things; but immediately the thought wisheth to sin, it fulfilleth m itself the act of sin. [p. 184] And neither time, nor place, nor material, is necessary for sin, for as is the swiftness of the movement, so also is the swiftness of its sin, and against this swiftness which the thought hath is the persistence of the remembrance of God necessary, and the perpetual fear of the Judge of secret things must abide therein. And, if we may say so, the motion of the fear of God must be swifter in him than the motion of his thought, so that when the thought of sin hath been moved the remembrance of God may smite it at once. The soul upon which this bridle hath been cast is silently dumb to the motions of hateful thoughts, and if it happen that it be seized suddenly, this remembrance checketh it, and turneth it back that it may look upon its own person.
Now therefore there is none of the virtues which is not preserved by the fear of God, and if a man were to call the fear of God "a guard-house of virtues," he would not do wrong. For faith is confirmed thereby, it preserveth fasting, through the remembrance of it prayers are made constant with us, it urgeth [us] to give alms, it quieteth the abominable motions which are in the soul, it quencheth the lust which burneth in the members, it purifieth filthy thoughts, it uprooteth the meditation of abominable things from the soul, it maketh it empty of thoughts, and anger and enmity, it driveth the mind of every man from daring to lust for that which is not his own, it stablisheth laws that they be |178 not trodden under foot, it counselleth men that the divine commandments be not transgressed; and it is a boundary against [p. 185] all wickedness, and like a shield it standeth against all abominable things. It standeth against the left hand, and inciteth to the right with noble deeds; it doeth away with wickedness, and stirreth up to the service of the virtues. The fear of God also preventeth wickedness from being wrought. It keepeth a man back from the path of iniquity, and it ministereth unto good in two ways, for it keepeth a man from the way of wickedness, and maketh him watchful to travel in the path of virtue, and it inciteth him. to gather together noble things, and it turneth and guardeth what hath been gathered together by him; for if there was no fear [of God], corruption would [rule over everything. It followeth judges, and for this reason their commandments are established firmly; it surroundeth kings, and therefore their laws are not transgressed; it cleaveth to governors, and therefore their rule is formidable to those who are subject unto them; and it keepeth all men in the faith of God. Now although the fear [of God] is born of faith, yet it itself is also the preserver of faith. Whosoever feareth God taketh heed not to transgress the boundary of the faith of God, and whosoever believeth in God himself draweth nigh to the fear of God, and the man, in whose soul the fear of God dwelleth, himself becometh a watchful guardian of all the commandments. Adam believed in God, and he was not afraid of God; he believed that He was, and he received from Him the law which He delivered into him. And because he cast out the fear of God from his mind, he forsook the faith, and trod the law under foot. |179 For He that ordained the law [p.186] involved the commandment with fear: "In the day that thou eatest of the tree, thou shalt die the death."5 And because Adam had cast out from him that fear, he believed the crafty one instead of God, and trod under foot the law which had been ordained by the Judge. And not only Adam did God surround with fear that it might be a fence for the keeping of His commandments, but in all generations, to all the commandments which He ordained did He unite fear. Over Cain, who did not fear God of his own freewill, did fear rule of necessity, and he became a vagabond and a wanderer in the earth; for because he did not fear the One Who was worthy to be feared, he was filled with fears at everything which appeared unto him. And by reason of the torture of fear he entreated God and besought Him that whosoever found him might kill him, so that he might flee from a life filled with fear and dread. And God also gave the law by the hand of Moses, which was filled with many and divers commandments, and to all the commandments He linked fear, for without fear the commandments would not be kept. "Thou shalt do no murder", and "whosoever slayeth shall be slain;" 6 for the sickness He ordained the medicine of fear, that it might not increase and grow strong in iniquity. "Thou shalt not commit adultery", and "whosoever committed adultery shall be slain;" 7 and fear keepeth [this] commandment from being held in contempt. |180 For by fear He checked them from doing wickedness to one another, and because He saw that they loved wickedness, He restrained them from their [evil] deed by the fear of the judgment. Where there is no love, [p. 187] it is fear that keepeth the commandments. There are three things through which all commandments are kept; by fear, or by reward, or by love. Of all these the first is fear, and the second is the possessions which are promised, and the third is true love; the first belongeth to servants, and the second belongeth to hirelings, and the third belongeth to spiritual beings and friends. Now the beginning of the way of the conduct and life of Christ is accompanied by fear, for unto every one who beginneth to learn this doctrine cleaveth the mind of a child, and fear is seemly unto childhood, and it urgeth it to receive instruction. For childhood is unable to taste the sweets of knowledge, and on this account it is meet that fear should accompany it; for when it has tasted the knowledge of Christ, and a man hath felt the power of His commandments, the pleasantness itself of what he tasteth leadeth him to the keeping of the commandments. But so long as a man hath not arrived at this state, it is necessary for fear to be his nurse, and a teacher, and a reminder of all the commandments. And as the children of nature receive instruction from teachers, and the schoolmaster receiveth them that he may be unto them at all times a reminder of what they have heard, so also doth a man receive the doctrine of the commandments from God, Who is the true Teacher and Doctor.
So then fear must straightway be used, that, like the schoolmaster, it may remind a man of what he hath |181 received; and that if he forgetteth, it may remind him; and if he be negligent, it may stir him up; and if [p. 188] he sleep, it may awake him; and if he love foolish talk, it may rebuke him; and if he wander forth towards deceit, it may turn him back into the path; and if he act contemptuously, it may remind him of authority; and if he act scornfully, it may remind him of the instructor; for these things a life of fear accompanieth not, for it wandereth among all wickedness.
For every one who hath need to learn fear is necessary to remind him of his instruction, for without fear instruction is not perfected, or if it be perfected without it, it is not acceptable, and if it be accepted without it, it is not preserved. And the prophet of God reproacheth 8 severely those who have broken the yoke, and cut the bands of the fear of God, and again, in another place,9 he heapeth contumely upon Israel who had slipped his shoulder from [under] the yoke of the divine commandments: "As an ox which hath escaped from the yoke, so have the children of Israel escaped, they and their kings and their nobles". Now Israel became rebels because there was no fear [in them]; and they trod under foot the commandments because they were not mindful of what was threatened; and they despised the law because they remembered not the penalty of Him that ordained it. For He Who ordained the law because He knew to whom He was giving the law, against [the breaking of] His commandments multiplied His threats in His wisdom, so that although freewill might hold the law in contempt, |182 the fear which followed thereafter might incite [Israel] to the keeping thereof. And because he that received the law became a rebellious slave, He made him to labour in bondage in the fear of tribulation. Before his face He displayed all the various forms of punishment, so that as long [p. 189] as he looked thereupon he might take heed to the commandments, and keep the law.
Let us then study to fix the fear of God in our mind, and let us meditate thereupon by day and by night. If the fire of lust kindleth in us, let us set in opposition thereto the fire of Gehenna.10 If greediness of the belly seize upon us, let us remember the worm which dieth not.11 If the beauty of the face excite us, let us remember the outer darkness.12 If the love of mammon fight against us, let us call to mind our own unworthiness. If human benefits stir us, let us be afraid lest we lose the kingdom which abideth for ever. If wrath attacketh us with its violent onset, let us look at the threat of God against those who provoke to wrath. If vainglory raise a tumult within us, let us bring up in our minds the disgrace and contempt [which we shall feel] before our Judge. By fear let us make fear of none effect, and by death let us vanquish death.
And together with these things, whosoever wisheth to keep his life with all diligence from sin hath need of the perpetual remembrance of death; for whosoever is continually mindful of the day of his |183 departure, and who at all seasons meditateth upon the hour of his death doth not easily march on to iniquity, and doth not dare to draw nigh unto the work of sin. The remembrance of death drieth up all lusts, and the sight of the remembrance of death scattereth all the wickedness which is gathered together against the soul, and all the lusts which are drawn up against the body. Let the death which is near be unto us a teacher against the death of Gehenna, and let us keep [p. 190] our life on all sides with watchfulness, let us remember God and fear His judgment, and let us keep His commandments, that being pure from all vices, and our persons being adorned with all virtues, we may be worthy to enjoy the heavenly delights with all the saints, and that, together with them, we may praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost for ever, Amen.
Here endeth the First Discourse upon the Fear of God.
[Footnotes renumbered and moved to the end. Page numbers in brackets refer to the Syriac text in vol. 1 of the printed edition.]
1. 1 St. Matthew x. 28; St. Luke xli. 4.
2. 1 St. Matthew x. 28; St. Luke xii. 4.
3. 1 Ecclesiasticus xxiii. 19.
4. 2 Ecclesiasticus xvii. 19.
5. 1 Genesis ii. 17.
6. 2 Exodus xx. 13; and compare Exodus xxi. 12; Leviticus xxiv. 17; Numbers xxxv. 16-21, 30, 31.
7. 3 Exodus xx. 14; Leviticus xx. 10; Deuteronomy xxii. 22.
8. 1 Jeremiah v. 5; and compare Jeremiah ii. 22.
9. 2 Compare Jeremiah xxxii. 32.
10. 1 Compare St. Mark ix. 43.
11. 2 Compare Isaiah Ixvi. 24; St. Mark ix. 46.
12. 3 Compare St. Matthew viii. 12.
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Philoxenus, Ascetic Discourses (1894) pp.184-213. Discourse 7 -- The Second Discourse on the Fear of God
Philoxenus, Ascetic Discourses (1894) pp.184-213. Discourse 7 -- The Second Discourse on the Fear of God
[P. 191] THE SEVENTH DISCOURSE: WHICH SHEWETH THAT ALL THE RIGHTEOUS MEN OF OLD FULFILLED THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD IN THE FEAR OF GOD.
The way of the rule and conduct of the Christian life hath been trodden and made smooth by the example of the righteous men of old for whomsoever wisheth to travel rightly therein, and the marks of the footsteps of those who have before gone thereupon are before us, that we ourselves may go forward therein with ease. And like the sign-posts and mile-stones which are set by the side of a natural road that they may define the place wherein the passers-by are to travel, so also do the examples and types of the men of old, and the divine commandment and law encompass the way in which we are to travel, and they limit the passage of our footsteps within them, so that no man may venture to stray to the right hand or to the left. For like as we are obliged not to stray on either side of the plain path of truth, that we may not wander in deceit, and be tripped up in our faith, so also let us not go forth, either to one side or the other, from the lawful way of the divine course of life which hath been delivered unto us, but as in the way of faith, [p. 192] let us travel rightly along this fair path. And let us know the beginning, and the end, and the middle, and let us look closely at the many steps, so that we, |185 one step after another, in fitting order, may mount this ladder which leadeth up to heaven. Now the Dweller in heaven shewed this ladder aforetime, as in a mystery, to the elect of the Fathers, the blessed Jacob;1 and also that those who went up and those who came down upon it were angels. And that that ladder belongeth not to heavenly angels alone, the word of the Book indicateth to us, because the angels of God were going up and coming down thereupon; for every man who draweth nigh to enquire thereat, and who beginneth to mount it, laboureth after the order of angels, and is numbered among the elect of spiritual beings, and he hath inscribed his name as a heavenly soldier. And as the children of men who receive human positions, and who labour in some one of the grades of the world, change the name of "rustics", by which they were formerly called, to "servants" (or soldiers), so also the man who of his own freewill enrolleth himself in the company which Christ hath formed, and who serveth in the army of spiritual beings, the word of the Book nameth him "angel", and not "man", and rightly so, because he hath begun the service of angels, and he is bound to receive their name. And he is called "angel" instead of "man" because of his service and manner of life, and not because of his nature. And moreover upon the ladder, Jacob the upright saw angels ascending and descending; those who were ascending were men, [p. 193] because it belongeth unto men to ascend from earth to heaven, and those who were descending were angels, because their country is heaven, and they descend from their country, the heights above, to the |186 earth. Now therefore angels and the children of men were mingled upon that ladder that the Holy Book might teach us that a fair life is common both to spiritual and corporeal beings, and that the keeping of the commandments is obligatory to both of them. And the children of men keep the commandments when they are exalted from the depth to the height by the steps of the commandments, and the angels minister unto the wishes of [the Divine] Majesty when they are sent below from above. For those who are to inherit life, that is to say, those who are of the body in their nature and are inferior beings, the service of the commandments maketh celestial and spiritual beings; and the command of the Creator urgeth those who are celestial and spiritual by creation to go down to the country of terrestrial beings, and to abide continually with corporeal beings, so that from races which are different from each other, one Church may be gathered together in the bond of love, which will sing the services of God's will, and which will be wholly and entirely moved by one living and spiritual motion, even as the natural body is moved entirely by the life of the soul.
Now therefore it appeareth to us from the word of the Book, that this ladder which goeth up to heaven is made of many steps, and that it must be ascended by these steps one after another, in proper order, even as those who have ascended this ladder before us have delivered unto us. [p. 194] For we ourselves have shewn that the first step is faith, and the second simplicity, which is the pure motion of nature, and which although faith be produced therefrom, also protecteth faith. For as craftiness is the destroyer of faith, even so are simplicity and innocence the things which establish |187 faith, from the simplicity of which the fear of God also is produced; because fear is closely united to simplicity naturally. Now the simple are afraid, but the crafty despise us; the simple quake at the sound of correction, but the crafty prepare a place to which they may flee. And as fear followeth in the train of natural simplicity, and it inciteth it concerning all doctrine, and it stirreth it up to receive learning and instruction, even so is the fear of God closely united to the simplicity of the soul, and it inciteth it to keep the commandments and to fulfil the laws, and not to despise and to hold in contempt the things which have been delivered unto us by the word of God. And fear leadeth man until [he hath acquired] discretion, and until the righteousness of the Judge is revealed to him, and it teacheth him that he is bound to keep the commandments; trembling and terror of Him that ordained the law, hold fast for the disciple so that he may keep vigilantly the laws which have been given to him. And when the righteousness which is in Him hath been revealed, and this virtue which hath been placed naturally within his soul hath risen upon it, it demandeth from him [p. 195] that like a man who is in debt, he should pay his debt, which consisteth in the keeping of the commandments. For as do the creditors of [this] world towards those who are in debt----now they press and compel them to pay what they owe----even so doth the justice which is in our soul compel us to pay to God the debt of His commandments, for the fear which followeth in the train of simplicity bringeth us to this state, and by this fear all the men of old pleased [God].
It is necessary that whosoever occupieth the position of a servant should fear, for fear should follow |188 after service in every form; but there is in the love which is not perfect, fear, for the Holy Book saith, "In perfect love there is no fear".2 So then after the man who, beginneth. with love and is not yet perfect, fear followeth. One man feareth lest he be struck, and this is the fear of slaves; another man feareth lest he suffer loss, and this is the fear of hirelings; another man feareth lest he cause distress, and this is the fear of friends; and another man feareth lest his name be not handed down to posterity, and this is the fear [of lack] of children. Now although the name of fear is one, yet many different kinds [of fear] are found therein. There is the fear of God which the holy Prophets had, [and there is the fear] which the nation of the Jews had from time to time, but the forms of that fear were different; the Prophets, like friends, feared [p. 196] to cause distress to God, Whom they loved, but, the Jews, like slaves, were afraid of the rod of His chastisement. And that He might increase in them this fear, immediately, by the mouth of offence, the rod of His chastisement was revealed, and after the offence the Chastiser gave them no respite, because their servitude was not worthy of His longsuffering. Above their head the rod of justice hung continually, and immediately they committed sin they were chastened, and at the time of their offence they were beaten, and at the entrance of the path of their sins they forthwith received rebuke; for longsuffering teacheth the foolish servant contempt, and in order that that stupid nation, which in the manner of an evil-doing servant, sat in the house of God, might not [learn] contempt, the |189 Chastiser took away longsuffering, especially when they went forth from Egypt. And we must also understand the object of that swift punishment in another way, and that there was not longsuffering as regardeth the correction of their sins; for God the Teacher took the people, like a child, from Egypt their nurse, that He might deliver unto them the doctrine of His knowledge, and might teach them the instruction of His wisdom. But the people, in their ignorance, when instruction had been delivered unto them, forgot it, and they never kept in remembrance the meditation of the. commandments of God, and they were frequently punished with seventy, so that, if it were only through fear of chastisement, they might lay hold upon the remembrance of [p. 197] instruction. The man who gathered sticks on the Sabbath day was stoned by all the congregation;3 and the earth opened and swallowed up others who were called by Moses, and who scorned him and came not 4; and fire went forth suddenly, and burnt up the bodies of others who thought lightly of his priestly office, and who sought honour for themselves 5; and others, who in the guise of paying honour, brought strange fire out of season, were burnt up by a tongue of fire which went forth from the tabernacle, and they perished 6; and others, because they asked for flesh and rejected the bread of angels, were tortured by the indigestion which came upon them 7; and others who went astray as concerning the calf, were pierced through by the swords of the Levites;8 and others, who were the cause of |190 the revolt at the waters of trial were set apart for destruction 9; and others who murmured against the Lord perished by fiendish snakes 10; and likewise they all, because they strove against going into the land of promise, came to an end and were destroyed in the wilderness. To these offences, then, these punishments were united, and together with each act of wickedness a punishment straightway sprang up by its side, so that evil deeds might be suppressed by stripes, and sins by vengeance, and so that the people might be like a child who feareth the teacher who giveth him instruction, and that it might tremble before the Judge who would beat them like a wrongdoing slave.
And for this reason Moses also, the schoolmaster of the people, in all places commanded the people to fear God, saying, Do such and such things, keep the commandments, fulfil the laws, love thy companion, [p. 198] visit the poor who are with thee, thou shalt not treat thy brother with violence, thou shalt covet nothing which belongeth to thy neighbour, honour thy father and thy mother, thou shalt not swear falsely in the name of the Lord. thou shalt not go through the boundary of thy neighbour, thou shalt neither spoil nor oppress, thou shalt not act with violence towards him that is more feeble than thou; and at the end of each of the commandments he reminded them, saying, "Fear thy God". And Moses the teacher bade them take heed that the fear of God might be in them, because he knew that the commandments could [only] be kept by fear, and that the fear of God [only] could drive the people from iniquity. |191 That the people should love God was the greatest of the commandments, and therefore Moses urged them to fear Him. The commandment, "[Thou shalt] love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind",11 belonged to those who were righteous among them; but those who were like slaves, and who like slaves were committing offences at all times, he commanded to fear God, for fear repulseth vices, and love perfecteth virtues. Fear cutteth off the path of iniquitous men, and love urgeth on the way of the virtues. "Fear God", and "Love the Lord thy God"; these two commands were ordained in the law which was given to the people, so that whosoever became exalted above the command of fear might find before him the command of love, which is perfected therefrom. For this reason Paul also, when he was shewing the difference between us and them, said concerning the discipleship of Christ, "For ye have not received the spirit [p. 199] of servitude again unto fear" 12----that is to say, ye have not been called to be slaves, that fear might be born to you out of servitude----"but ye have been invited to adoption", which is perfected in love in all good things.
Well therefore doth fear accompany simplicity, and this is rightly required for the beginning of discipleship; for as long as fear abideth with the learner continually it remindeth him not to forget his instruction. And as Moses gave commandments concerning fear to those who had newly set out in the way of the discipleship |192 of God, so also now it is meet that fear should accompany every disciple who setteth out in the way of righteousness. Whosoever feareth despiseth not, and is not negligent, and is not contemptuous, for fear stirreth him up to keep the commandments; and if it happen that he cometh to contempt, the remembrance of fear suddenly maketh him stupid. For immediately a man remembereth God, if it be that the remembrance of Him hath been accurately depicted in his soul, he is greatly moved and troubled, and he is filled with fear and trembling, and stupefaction rusheth upon him suddenly because of his former contempt; even as saith the holy Prophet who knew how to fear God, and who had felt what things the fear of God worketh in the soul, "I remembered God, and I was troubled".13 And behold the remembrance of God should not be one of trouble; O holy Prophet, and why wast thou troubled at the remembrance of Him? And why did the beloved remembrance of Him clothe thee with trembling? [p. 200] "Because I have sinned against Him, and I remembered mine offences,14 and I became mindful of the Judge, and I was filled with fear; I considered my sins and His vengeance, and the remembrance of Him troubled me. Whosoever fixeth his heart, trusteth in God, and he maketh his heart firm and feareth not" 15. The heart which is fixed in virtues the remembrance of God maketh to be glad, and whosoever hath obtained healing of spirit in his inner man, the remembrance of God maketh to rejoice. Wheresoever the conscience is pricked by sin, there doth fear, the remembrance of |193 the Judge, dwell; for the offender who remembereth the Judge is troubled, and the evildoer is filled with trembling at the remembrance of punishment. It was for this reason that the Prophet said, "At the remembrance of God I am troubled. I meditate and my spirit is overwhelmed. Giddiness hath seized my eyes; I am silent and I speak not. I have considered the days of old, and I have remembered the years which are past. I have meditated in the night season, and I have communed with my heart, and examined my spirit, and said, Hath the Lord forgotten me for ever? Will He be favourable unto me no more?" 16 With such thoughts as these did the prophet of God keep watch, and he prayed upon the cushions of his bed as in the church of the saints, being mindful of the things which he was bound to pay back to God. And he considered the days and the generations which had gone by, and he considered how each of the righteous men [of old] had in his time pleased God, and how and with what manner of life he had been victorious before Him. And these things which the Prophet called to remembrance were [intended] to make all those who were to come after him to remember, and to teach every man to fear God in this same manner, and [p. 201] [to teach] that a man himself should reckon with himself, and should consider also other men who were before him, and how they led their lives in all watchfulness.
Now the Prophet, moreover, said that he had done two things: "I have considered the days of old, and I have called to mind the years which are past in which the men of old pleased God", and through the |194 remembrance of these two things "I am filled with fear at the way in which the righteous men pleased God, and at the way in which I have provoked [Him] to wrath. I have given my seasons to reckoning, and my hours to counting, I have meditated upon the days which have passed, and upon the years which I have lived in the world. I have considered with what I have provoked Him, and what sins I have committed, the things in which I have sinned in act, and the things [in which I have sinned] in thought, and the things [in which I have sinned] with [my] hearing and with [my] tongue. And when I meditated upon these things I said, Enter not into judgment with Thy servant, for in Thy sight can no man living be justified".17 To such resemblance doth the word of the Prophet call us, and he delivered unto us this type of instruction. We must reckon the hours and the seasons, and in what we have provoked [Him], and the things upon which we have meditated; for if those who practise the trafficking of [this] world reckon up their income and expenses each day, and what they gain and what they lose, how much more is the spiritual merchant who goeth forth in quest of heavenly riches bound to do this? And the reckoning of these things benefiteth a man in two ways; firstly, he collecteth his mind to reckon, and secondly, he is zealous in collecting his money. It is therefore a terrible thing for a man to provoke God, especially when he considereth carefully His Majesty, and His immeasurable love and what good things He hath poured out in abundance upon our race, [p. 202]and what His grace hath given unto us, which |195 by our own works we were not worthy to receive. And when a man considereth within himself, who he is, and how the things which are with him have come, and Who is the giver of them, it is right that he should remember God, and be troubled, even as the Prophet taught him. For it is fitting that we should fear God for two reasons, either because we have sinned, or that we may not sin; for whosoever remembereth the offences which have already been committed [by him], and considereth his former sins, must fear the vengeance due to his evil deeds, and whosoever thinketh that he is pure, and that he hath no offences [committed] in days gone by which he may reckon, and at the memory of which he may be troubled, let him be afraid lest he grieve God in the things which are to come. And thus also did the righteous men [of old] guard their lives from sin, and they healed the wounds which had come [to them], and against those which had not yet come they were watchful; for the first blow which a man receiveth teacheth him to avoid being struck again, and the pain of a first sickness urgeth him to be watchful against the suffering of a second.
What man can contemplate God with vigilant thought, and look upon His majesty, and consider His hidden nature, and can with the eye of his understanding look upon that pure and holy Nature, Which hath need of nothing; Whose country and dwellingplace are exalted; in Whom all riches, and good things and treasures are gathered together; Who is wholly and entirely light, and life, and pleasure; Who is forgiving, and merciful, and good; Who is gracious, and compassionate, and full of love; [p. 203] Who is beautiful, and lovely, and to be desired; Who beggeth, and entreateth, and urgeth every |196 man to live; Who is afflicted for the sake of our life, and seeketh to find us, and is more pleased at our happiness than we ourselves; Who continually entreateth us to take from His riches and to carry off wealth from His storehouse, that we may be rich through His treasures, and not poverty-stricken; Who rejoiceth not in His life as in ours; Who because our poverty was not able to ascend to His riches, brought His riches down to our poverty; Who because He saw that we desired not to become rich, made Himself a beggar that He might make us rich; Whose name is beloved, and Whose appellation is much desired, and Whose remembrance is sweet; Who maketh the soul which perceiveth Him to taste of the sweetness of the spirit; Who liveth in splendour in the rich wealth of His Being, Whom no man hath seen, neither is he able to see Him; Whose nature is unspeakable, and Whose riches cannot be explained; Whose gifts also are like unto Himself, and, like Him, are beyond the limit of knowledge; Who is as good as we are bad, and Whose grace is more abundant than our wickedness; Whose nature only is the measure of His grace, and by it only can His love be measured; Whose grace is extended, Whose justice is contracted; Whose love is large, Whose vengeance is small; Who is ready to forgive, and slow to rebuke; Whose punishments are few, and Whose gifts are many; Who, although He correcteth us, beareth remission of sins for us, and Who, because He loveth to.gain us, for that reason chastiseth us; Him in Whom there is no loss, except only that we have become lost, and Whom affliction striketh not except [p. 204] for our sake; Who put on our passions that He might cast away our passions from us, and Who clothed |197 Himself in our sickness that He might bring our diseases to nought; Who was afflicted to make us rejoice, and Who suffered grief that He might fill us with rejoicing; Who made Himself to be in need of everything that we might lack nothing; Who, knowing that we should become provokers to wrath, created our nature like that of beloved children who had need of Him; Who, knowing that we should enroll ourselves as servants of devils, inscribed us heirs of both His worlds; Who, considering aforetime our likeness, and that the image of the will of Satan was sculptured upon it, carved and depicted us in His desirable likeness; Who, perceiving that we kept not the things of ancient time, made ready aforetime for us others which were greater; He the rich Giver Whose only loss was that we would take nothing from Him; Who while He was giving gifts unto us, grace was receiving us ourselves, and while we were taking from His treasure, we were laid up in His treasury as if we were treasure; Who loveth mankind, and is at all times the Good Being, and the Doer of good; Who being pure and untroubled worketh in us by His doctrine that He may make us pure like unto Himself; Who, being rich and Who being incapable of being brought to poverty, planneth devices whereby He may flatter us to take of His riches, and become rich; Who, having gotten wealth, feigneth Himself to be poor, and when we have gotten wealth, He feigneth that He hath become rich through us; Who, without us, desireth to possess nothing, and if He acquireth anything without us, He is as one Who rejoiceth not therein; [p. 205] Who considereth our joy His, and our affliction His, and Who accounteth all our losses His own; Who hath given unto us all good things, and is not satisfied, and |198 Who hath poured out upon us all riches, and was not satisfied until He, in His love, gave Himself for us?
Who then would not be afraid to grieve this rich and good Being, Who is lavish in giving, sweet and gracious, providing and sustaining, indulgent and forgiving, merciful and full of love, rich, and making rich, good, and doing good, longsuffering and peaceful, loving our race, and accounting our nature beloved, our Physician and Teacher, our Father by His grace, and our foster-parent in His graciousness? And who would not tremble to provoke Him to wrath? And what man, who should consider all these good things which have been given to us, and who should look at the majesty of their Giver, would not be troubled in his mind whenever he remembered Him? And what soul having received all these gifts would not be shamefaced before the Giver thereof? For it is a fearful thing that man should not be afraid of God, and that mortal beings should not be put to shame by all this love, and that those who receive all this wealth of good things should not feel shame; for these things, and others like unto them, the Prophet [David] remembered, and was therefore troubled. And every one, who posses-seth the watchfulness of that holy soul, will at the remembrance of this God also be troubled like the Prophet, and in his going in, and coming out, and in all his actions, will be greatly moved at the remembrance of Him.
[p. 206] Whosoever feareth sleepeth not, and if he sleepeth, he seeth in his dream the cause of his fear; he eateth not, and he drinketh not, and if the force of natural craving compel him, fear is mingled with his meat and drink. Everything which attacketh the man who is filled with the fear of God abideth outside |199 him, for fear keepeth fast hold upon the place of his understanding, and upon all the places of ingoing and outgoing of the city of his soul. Like the watchmen who stand by the gates of the city, even so doth fear keep fast hold upon the places of ingoing and outgoing of the soul, and it permitteth no act or thought to enter in or to go forth which it examineth not; for it neither permitteth any internal thought whatsoever to go forth, nor any external act that is not seemly to go in. And moreover this Prophet maketh known in other places the fear of God; "My flesh contracteth through fear of Thee, and I am afraid of Thy judgments".18 And again he saith, I am like a wine skin in ice, but I have not forgotten Thy commandments".19 And again he saith, "Sorrow is in my heart all the day long. How long, O Lord, wilt thou turn Thy face from me? How long wilt Thou forget me, for ever? How long wilt Thou set trouble in my soul?"20 And again he saith, "Heal me, O Lord, for my bones tremble, and my soul is greatly moved. I am weary with my groaning; [p. 207] every night make I my bed to swim; and I water my couch with my tears. Mine eye hath become sick because of Thine anger";21 now it is evident that all these things arose from [his] fear of God. And again he saith, "I roared by reason of the groaning of my heart";22 and again he saith, "Lead me, O Lord, in Thy fear and righteousness";23 and again he saith, "There is no soundness in my flesh before the fear of Thee, and there is no health in my bones in the presence of my sins. For my iniquities |200 have gone over my head; and [they are] as a heavy burden heavy upon me. My wounds stink and are corrupt, and in the presence of my iniquities I tremble greatly. All the day long I walk in sadness. For my ankles are filled with trembling. I am much moved, and I am brought to great misery".24 And again he saith, "My heart is turned back, and my strength hath forsaken me; and the light of my eyes is no longer with me".25 And again he saith, "I kept silent, and I was sorrowful, and I was afflicted even from good; and my sickness was stirred. My heart became hot within me; and in my body the fire kindled".26 And again he saith, "I was dumb, and I opened not my mouth; because Thou didst it. I have come to an end because of [Thy] rebuke of my sins".27 And again, in another place, he ascribeth blessedness to the man who feareth God, and he maketh known what good things the fear of God worketh in him that feareth [Him], saying, "Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord",28 and here the fearer of God is accounted blessed. And although our Lord ordained blessings for other things, the prophet David accounted blessed the fearer of the Lord. [p. 208) "Blessed is the man who hath not walked in the way of the wicked",29 and it is well known that he walketh not in the way of the wicked because he feareth God. And again he saith, "Blessed is the man whom Thou shalt correct, O Lord, and whom Thou shalt teach Thy law",30 and it is manifest that the fear of God teacheth |201 the laws, and that the man who feareth confesseth his correction. And again he said, "Blessed are those who are without blemish in the way, and who walk in the law of the Lord",31 and here again the fear of the Lord preserveth [a man] from blemishes, and urgeth him to walk in the way of the law. And again he saith, "Blessed is the man whose iniquity is forgiven, and whose sins are covered",32 and it is well known that here also the fear of God bringeth to repentance, through which the forgiveness of sins is given, and through the suffering and tears which are produced by the fear of God the form of a man's sins is covered before his eyes. And again he saith, "Blessed is every one "that feareth the Lord, and who walketh in His ways" 33, and here again the prophet David sheweth that a man walketh in the way of the commandments through the fear of God. And in another place he saith concerning him that feareth the Lord, "He taketh heed to the commandments which are given by the Lord".34 And again this Prophet counselleth every man to draw nigh unto God in fear, and he entreated all creation to fear the Lord Who made it, saying, "Let all the earth fear the Lord, [p. 209] and let all the inhabitants of the world tremble before Him" 35. For the word of the prophecy casteth fear and trembling upon all the inhabitants of the world, and it teacheth all created beings to come to God by this way.
Whosoever feeleth his state of bondage is bound to fear the power which hath subdued him, and hence |202 it is right for every created being who hath in him discernment to perceive his Creator, to draw nigh to Him in fear and trembling; for that we should fear God is seemly for our nature, but that we should love Him is given unto us by His grace. For man is not worthy to love God, but God Himself came down that He might be loved by man. Now creation is bound to fear God naturally, but if it be exalted to the grade of love it is not its nature which is able to lift it up there, but Grace goeth down in search of it, and bringeth it up and stablisheth it in the height of divine love, that it may, by Grace, love God, Whom justly it is obliged to fear. And behold, moreover, to the kings and princes of [this] world not every man hath power either to shew love, or to reveal to them the most ardent and faithful emotions of affection; but all ranks and orders who are under their subjection must shew fear and service before them, and not the confidence of affection and love. For according to the custom of exalted rank which is found with the governors of [this] world, to be loved by inferiors (or the poor) is considered by them a disgrace, and therefore, they demand fear from every man, in their capacity of lords, [p. 210] and not love like parents. Now God, having in His Grace ordained Himself our Father, gave unto us also power to love Him, and it is not right that we should of our own freewill exalt ourselves insolently, but we should remain the whole time of our life in the subjection of His fear, and when He Himself wisheth His Grace will exalt us to the grade of His love. To our mind the capacity of loving God belongeth not, but the capacity with which we were created is to fear God, and therefore the Holy Books |203 everywhere demand from the children of men fear rather than love, inasmuch as circumspection accompanieth fear and confidence love. And, moreover, love is the cause of fear, for until a man plougheth, and toileth, and soweth the seed in fear, he cannot arrive at the reaping of love. For as the crops of the husbandmen of [this] world are in the hands of God, while the ploughing and the sowing belong to our own will, even so are the labours and the service of fear placed in our will, but that we should arrive at the capacity for love, and gather in the produce thereof belongeth to the will of God. For until the manifestation of Christ----Who brought love to the world----fear ministered in the world to all the children of men, and until Christ was revealed to man in his own place, it was right that all his life should be passed in the perpetual service of fear; and although our Creator hath, in His Grace, called us "sons" to make us proud and to magnify us, yet is it more seemly for us to abide in the fear of servants. [p. 211] And that we were called "sons" belongeth not to ourselves, but to the Grace of Him that called us, and it belongeth not to us to ask for wages boldly, but to us it belongeth to serve in fear; but that one should give the wages of love belongeth to God. And no man will offend if he calleth love the wages of fear, for as a man receiveth [his] wages after his toil, even so after the service of fear doth Jesus make us taste the sweetness of His love, from which joy ariseth for us, and we stand in the confidence of sons, and our hidden man findeth freedom of speech with God, and our understanding stablisheth joy of spirit at all seasons, and our mind delighteth inwardly in the sight of heavenly light, and contempt for everything which is visible is |204 born in the soul, and our dwelling is as if it were already in the kingdom which is prepared for the saints.
Now these and such like things hath the soul that hath tasted divine love, for the man who standeth in perfect love is in God, and what happiness compareth with this, or what pleasure or delight is equal to that of a man being in God? for the position which is in perfect love is purity from all wickedness, and the perfection of all virtues. And also Jesus was not persuaded to give this wealth of love except to the man whom He know to be worthy of it, for from love is born confidence, and to confidence contempt is closely united, and there is no virtue which hath not near it a breach through which it can be ravished. But in fear there is no [p. 212] contempt, only watchfulness and circumspection, and a perpetual guard which preserveth the good things from the ravisher; for the fear which is of God urgeth a man to gather together the things which are profitable, and when they have been gathered together fear also increaseth and multiplieth to him that gathereth them, for it turneth and addeth to his fear, and he taketh good heed to his virtues that they be not spoiled. He crieth out because he is afraid, and he is watchful oi his possessions because he feareth lest they be ravished, and in every respect it is necessary and advantageous to life in [this] world that a man should fear God. The country of fear is the country of the life which is mortal, and the country of love is the other world of the life which is immortal. Let us consider then our country, and let us increase in us fear, and let us look at the dwelling in which we live, and let us increase in us trembling at God, and at the remembrance of the report of Him; and let us rouse ourselves as from |205 the depth of deep slumber, and let us wake up wholly to keep all His commandments. For the nature of the fear of God is that it urgeth us [to do] one thing, and one thing only, for it stirreth us up to do all the commandments, and for this reason the Spirit of God desired to teach us the fear of God by the hand of all the Prophets. And the Prophet David himself said, "All those who pass over the earth shall fear the Lord, and all those who go down into the dust shall kneel [before Him]".36 And again he saith, "Lead me, O Lord, in Thy fear and righteousness",37 and because he knew what the profit of the fear of God was, he asked it as a gift from God. [p. 213] For all the conversation of the soul which the fear of God leadeth standeth in righteousness. And again, when he entreated God not to remember the sins of his youth 38 against him, he was moved to make this request by His fear of God; and again he said, "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom".39
Now the end of the path of good works is spiritual love, therefore from love divine wisdom is produced, and the blessed David well taught us that the beginning of this way of wisdom is the fear of God. For as to every matter in [this] world there is a beginning and an end. and as the paths which are trodden down naturally by the passage of footsteps have also a beginning and an end, even so hath the path of virtue a beginning and an end; its beginning is the fear of God, and its end is the wisdom which is born of love. And it is right that every man who wisheth to begin the Christian life should begin |206 it with the fear of God, even according to the teaching of the blessed David; and again another Prophet said, "The fear of the Lord shall open [my] ears for me"; and concerning Jonah it is also written, "He feared before the Lord and fled to Joppa".40 For although his fear was born of simplicity, yet like a man who feared God he fled in order that he might not draw nigh to the work which he thought was too hard for his strength. And again when he was asked by the sailors whence he came, and what [p. 214] God he served, he said, "I fear the Lord, the God of heaven".41 And also when those who were with him in the ship saw the marvellous things which took place through God in the sea----for the sea rose up, like a being having intelligence, to demand from them the fugitive servant, and when he had been given unto it, it sank to rest and its billows were quieted----and saw through the things which took place the fear of God, it is written concerning them that "the men feared the Lord, and they offered up sacrifices unto the Lord, and vowed vows."42
And again God demanded from the Jews the fear of Himself by the hand of Jeremiah, and reproached them by the testimony of the dumb things in nature, which, though silent, trembled at the fear of Him, while the Jews despised His commandments. "Fear ye not Me? saith the Lord: will ye not tremble at My presence? For I have placed the sand for the bound of the sea, [by] an everlasting law, and it shall not pass over it".43 And here again the Creator demanded fear and trembling from created things, and because they forsook His |207 fear they were reproached through the dumb things of nature, which feared and trembled at the Majesty of the Creator, while His commandments were despised by the children of men. And God in all places shewed the majesty of His nature by the hand of the Prophet, that He might cast the fear thereof into those who listened. For to those who would have despised His meekness----if it had been shewn unto them----He revealed the majesty of His nature that they might tremble thereat; and to others He shewed His gentleness and meekness, [p. 215] which at the report of His humiliation would increase [their] love [for Him]. Now the fool is wont to despise whosoever is humble before him, but the wise man loveth him more because of his humility. For the fool hath no eye to see love in humility, and for this reason greatness is made manifest to him, and indignation is written down for him, and seventy and terror are inscribed before him, that by reason of these he may fear the more Him Who maketh such things manifest. And the Will of God hath, according to the following testimony, revealed why He maketh use of these words to the children of men. "The sea is obedient unto Me, and restraineth the fury of its waves within the despicable bound of sand. And its waves lift themselves up, and pass not over the contemptible fence which hedgeth them in; but ye of your own freewill despise this terrible God".44 And again in another place He maketh known that He employeth every kind of benefit and help towards them, and that He took and brought nigh unto them every cause for fear and love, but that they would neither fear nor love Him. "If I be Lord, where are those |208 who fear Me? And if I be Father, why do ye not honour Me?" 45 therefore they should either have feared [Him] as Lord, or have honoured [Him] as Father. And for this reason also God in a certain place1repeateth before him the benefits which He had wrought for the people---- the terrible Exodus from Egypt, the abundant gifts in the wilderness, the entrance into the land of promise, [p. 216] the subjugation of foreign nations, the benefits which were poured out abundantly upon their lives every day----so that He might rouse them up to love the Giver. And in another place 46 He repeated the great things which He had done, and the works which He had established by the nod of His Will, and how all created things hang upon the power of His word, and the natural things keep their bounds, and the creation is yoked beneath the dispensation of His Will; before Whom the mountains are placed in scales, and the hills in a balance, Who hath meted out heaven with His span, and hath comprehended the dust of the earth in His palm, and before Whom the nations and peoples of the world are accounted as nothing. These things He spake by the hand of the Prophet, that through them He might make His majesty known, and that by the report of His majesty he might work fear in those who listened unto him. For when God spake unto those who were in the condition of servants, He rehearsed before them the great and terrible things of His nature, but when [He spake] to those who were accounted by Him worthy of the grade of love, He set forth the doctrine of humility, and of love, and of meekness, and He humbled Himself and spake to them |209 because they did not despise Him in His lowly estate, but rather loved Him the more because of it. For where God cannot confide in the children of men because of their immature understanding and childish knowledge, He speaketh terrible and fearful things, and He granteth not unto them boldness to draw nigh unto the confidence of His love, lest, when they have perceived His knowledge and forgiveness, and above all things that love and grace are to be found with Him, for this very reason they despise [p. 217] His graciousness, and they cast themselves after the manner of the flesh to the working of all vices. And this is manifest alone to those who have obtained the inheritance of the name of sons, together with that of grace also, through the labour of their works, for in proportion as they feel love, they love the more; and in proportion as they perceive the goodness of the nature of God, they become better men; and in proportion as His condescension and graciousness become revealed unto them, they are themselves urged to become like unto their Father in things which are like unto these.
And for this reason all the revelations of God in olden time belonged to fear, but this latter [revelation] is of friendship and love; for in times of old He revealed Himself to teach us that He was our God, but in this last time He hath appeared and shewn us that He is our Father. In times of old He drew nigh to the children of men who were in the condition of slaves, but to-day He calleth them to the inheritance of "sons". And when He revealed Himself to gather together slaves unto Himself, He bore stripes and fetters, blows and chastisements, punishments and penalties, fear and trembling, indignation and cruelty, |210 swift vengeance, the rod which was always stretched out over the head of sinners, the open judgment hall, and the judge who was ready; but in times of old was reared up the wood that the blasphemer might be crucified upon it, of old the stones were collected for stoning, of old the fire was kindled for the burning, of old the stripes were made ready for crimes, of old the instruments were prepared to take tooth for tooth, of old were the eyes bored out, of old the branding irons were ready to avenge, of old [p. 218] blows were struck, of old sentences 47 of judgment upon crimes were passed. To those who were slaves belonged such stripes. And that the wicked slave might not raise his head, and lift up himself insolently against the Giver of the law, He broke his legs that he might not kick, He cut off his hands that he might not strike a blow, He drew out his teeth that he might not bite, He put out his eyes that he might not see and desire the things which belonged not to him, He inflicted injury upon him that he might not injure others, and by the fear of punishments He drove back the vices of that nation because it would not be persuaded to be restrained from its abominable practices through fear of Him. For where there is the fear of God, man hath no need of the fear of these and such like things, because the fear of the unseen Judge sufficeth to draw him from all his vices. Lay fast hold then, O disciple, upon this fear in thy soul, and fear nought else, for the fear which is of God feareth not the world, and the fear which is of the world feareth not God. Let us then be afraid |211 at all times lest we provoke God to wrath, because the portion of fear is placed in thee that thou mayest fear God therewith. In [this] world there is nothing which belongeth to fear for the soul that perceiveth the fear of God, and the trembling of afflictions is accounted nothing to the man who hath in him the trembling of the fear of the righteousness of God. Our Lord abrogated one fear, and established another; He lifted from us the fear of the death which belongeth to time, and He laid upon us [p. 219] the fear of the death which is for eternity. "Fear ye not the death [which is of time]", but fear the death [which is for eternity]. "Let not those who kill the body terrify you, but fear ye Him Who can destroy the soul and the body".48 Those who kill [the body] are not to be feared, for Another quickeneth, but He is to be feared Who is able to put to death so that there is none who can quicken, and when He hath killed, there is none who can bring to life. For that which is transitory the fear thereof also is transitory, but the fear of Him Who neither passeth away nor changeth cometh not to an end. "He looketh upon the earth, and it trembleth, He rebuketh the mountains, and they smoke".49 And again [the Book] saith, "At Thy rebuke they flee, and at the voice of Thy thunders they are afraid".50
And behold, according to the word of the Prophet, the fear of the Creator also resteth upon the natures which are speechless, because each of them is bound naturally to be afraid of Him; and if dumb things fear Him, how much more should intelligent beings fear |212 Him? The fire which belongeth to time is greatly feared by the children of men, yet how remote from the mind is the remembrance of the fire which [burneth] for eternity! The sight of the tortures which can be seen is terrible and appalling, yet how very far removed from the vision of the soul are the punishments which are to come! The death which is here is full of terror, and yet the image of everlasting death is not set before our eyes. Immediately the remembrance of the things which are written entereth in, it annulleth from the heart the remembrance of the things which are here; and so long as our minds.are not moved by the constant fear of God, every fear which cometh upon us terrifieth us. [p. 220] For so long as the king is absent the judge is held in fear, but when the king appeareth in his power the fear of judges is annulled, and not is this so only, but the judge himself, together with all the grades [of men] beneath him, is subject unto the fear of the royal power, and those who are feared themselves become people who fear. For all fears gathered together are smitten by one fear, and all princes and governors, from whom fear descendeth upon the grades [of men] beneath them, are obedient and subject unto one fear which is the mistress of all others. Of One only let us be afraid, and through the fear of Him the power of all [other] fears shall be dissolved, and let the trembling which is produced by all [other] powers be brought to nought, and let every governor bow his head before one Royal Governor Who ruleth over all. Thus likewise when the fear of God is remote from the soul, it is afraid of everything, of powers, of judges, of governors, of men of rank, of captains of hosts, of rich men, of those in authority, of despised and common folk, |213 and of men of low and contemptible condition; and together with these it feareth also affliction, and injuries, and punishments, and torments, and pains, and sicknesses, and loss, and poverty, and remoteness from kinsfolk, and removal from family, and deprivation of friends, and departure from [its] native country. All these and other similar things are [objects of] fear to the man who feareth not God, but if the fear of God enter in and dwell [p. 221] within the country of the soul, and lay hold upon ail the members of its thoughts, it is henceforth impossible for the soul to receive [any] other fear; and when any fear which goeth to dwell therein seeth that the fear of God abideth in the soul, it will leave [it] and depart, because its house is not capable of receiving another inhabitant. For as a vessel which is full of one substance cannot receive any other which may be put therein, unless it be emptied of that which first filled it, even so the soul which is filled with the fear of God cannot receive the fear of the world, or the fear of anything which is in the world, for it is wholly occupied by that one true fear of God. Let us all then strive to possess this fear, and let us despise [all] else, and let us be empty of everything, that we may be sufficient for the one work only of the fear of God; and in the remembrance of His terrible and venerable Name let us keep our lives with all diligence, and let us make glory to ascend to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit for ever. Amen.
Here endeth the Seventh Discourse: which is on the fear of God which was in the righteous men of old.
[Footnotes renumbered and moved to the end. Page numbers in brackets refer to the Syriac text in vol. 1 of the printed edition.]
1. 1 Genesis xxviii. 12.
2. 1 1 St. John iv. 18.
3. 1 Numbers xv. 32-36.
4. 2 Numbers xvi. 12, 32.
5. 3 Numbers xvi. 3, 35.
6. 4 Leviticus x. 1, 2.
7. 5 Numbers xi. 33.
8. 6 Exodus xxxii. 19-28.
9. 1 Numbers xx. 12, 13.
10. 2 Numbers xxi. 5, 6.
11. 1 Deuteronomy vi. 5; St. Matthew xxii. 37; St. Mark xii. 30; St. Luke x. 27.
12. 2 Romans viii. 15.
13. 1 Psalm lxxvii. 3.
14. 2 Compare Psalm xli. 4.
15. 3 Psalm cxii. 7, 8.
16. 1 Psalm lxxvii. 3-7.
17. 1 Psalm cxliii. 2.
18. 1 Psalm cxix. 120.
19. 2 Psalm cxix. 83.
20. 3 Psalm xiii. 1, 2.
21. 4 Psalm vi. 3, 6, 7.
22. 5 Psalm xxxviii. 8.
23. 6 Psalm v. 8.
24. 1 Psalm xxxviii. 3-9.
25. 2 Psalm xxxviii. 10.
26. 3 Psalm xxxix. 2. 3.
27. 4 Psalm xxxix. 9.
28. 5 Psalm cxii. 1; Psalm cxxviii. 1.
29. 6 Psalm 1. 1.
30. 7 Psalm xciv. 12.
31. 1 Psalm cxix. 1.
32. 2 Psalm xxxii. 1.
33. 3 Psalm cxxviii. 1.
34. 4 Compare Psalm cxii. 1.
35. 5 Psalm xxxiii. 8.
36. 1 Psalm xxii. 29.
37. 2 Psalm v. 8; Psalm xxv. 5.
38. 3 Psalm xxv. 7.
39. 4 Psalm cxi. 10.
40. 1 Jonah i. 3.
41. 2 Jonah i. 9.
42. 3 Jonah i. 16.
43. 4 Jeremiah v. 22.
44. 1 Malachi i. 6.
45. 1 Compare Psalms lxxviii, cv., cvi.
46. 2 Isaiah xl. 12, 15.
47. 1 There seems to be no example of the use of this word given in Payne Smith's Thesaurus (see. col. 3573).
48. 1 St. Matthew x. 28.
49. 2 Psalm civ. 32.
50. 3 Psalm civ. 7.
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Greek text is rendered using the Scholars Press SPIonic font, free from here.
Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
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Philoxenus, Ascetic Discourses (1894) pp.214-246. Discourse 8 -- First Discourse on Poverty
Philoxenus, Ascetic Discourses (1894) pp.214-246. Discourse 8 -- First Discourse on Poverty
[P. 222] THE EIGHTH DISCOURSE: WHICH TEACHETH THAT A MAN CANNOT BECOME A PERFECT DISCIPLE OF CHRIST, UNLESS HE FIRST OF ALL MAKE HIMSELF DESTITUTE OF ALL HUMAN POSSESSIONS, AND GO FORTH FROM THE WORLD OPENLY WITH HIS INNER MAN AND WITH HIS OUTER MAN.
The man who wisheth to travel along the open way of perfection hath need to make the beginning of his journey in the fair order which is becoming to that way, and he should not begin his discipleship in the law which seemeth good unto him, but in that defined law which was delivered by the word of Christ our God unto His disciples, even as He walked in this way of perfection. And He in His own Person became a law unto us, and He gave us a fair example that we might journey after His footsteps; for Jesus was not a teacher unto us in words only, but also in the works of perfection which He fulfilled in Himself, and therefore [p. 223] He is truly the good Teacher Who taught, and practised, for His teaching was practice, and His practice was teaching. And thus also our Lord Himself depicted and shewed us in His own ministration, for after He had performed all the righteousness which justice required, and had kept the law of the commandments which are to be perfected in the world. He then left the world, and went forth therefrom that |215 He might teach perfection. For I do not say also that those who are in the world cannot be justified, but that it is not possible for them to arrive at perfection, for the world itself is an obstacle to perfection, that is to say, of righteousness also, and of the uprightness which is worked therein. And a man is not able to bear two labours and to be perfect in two virtues while he is in the world, and for this reason the commandments were defined and set apart for those who journey in the world in order that they might possess their lives through them, and the other path of perfection, which is above the world, was opened. For the Will of Christ ordained the law, that is, He required that all the children of men should journey along the path of angels, and that no man should turn aside from that mark which He placed in the midst, but because not every man was able to do this----now He wished that every man should live----He gave divers commandments to every man that he might live thereby. And He made measures and steps in His doctrine, not because these things exist in it, but because of those who were to receive it, and because they were in need [of them], and without them they were not able to live. [p. 224] To the path of the world the life of righteousness is united, and to the path which is outside the world is attached perfection, and the end of the path of righteousness and justice is absolute destitution of all possessions. For so long as a man possesseth human wealth, whether it be little, or whether it be much, he is unable to walk in the path of perfection, for in respect of every possession which existed, according to the measure thereof doth it become a fetter to the mind, and a chain to the light wings |216 of the understanding so that they cannot fly along the heavenly path. Whosoever hath riches must perforce meditate thereupon, and whosoever meditateth upon riches cannot meditate upon God, and if on an occasion the remembrance of God rise up in him, it is not lasting; for it is not possible that he should remember God when he is meditating upon [his] possessions, or if he imagine that he doth remember Him, the remembrance is borrowed and is not true, for it is not possible that these two remembrances should dwell together at one time in the soul, and if they dwell therein one of them must necessarily be borrowed, and the other be true. And if a man think truly that he meditateth upon God while he hath in his mind the anxious care of riches, [he doeth it] not with all the might of his soul, which it is seemly to us to give wholly to God; for we are obliged to serve God not with one of our members, and the world with another, and to meditate upon Him at one time, and upon mammon at another, but it is right that we should give all our might [p. 225] to the service of the commandments, and that always the seasons may be helpful to us to remember Him, that we may become temples to Him alone, having poured out from us every meditation of the mind which is outside Him. And that man is not able to serve God worthily while he is in the world, and while he is a possessor of riches, and the owner of wealth, the word of our Redeemer Himself testifieth, "Ye cannot serve God and mammon;" 1 and forthwith the hearer thought that henceforth the door of righteousness was shut in the |217 face of all the children of men, for they cannot be wholly free from the care of riches, and according to the decision of the word of Christ, whosoever careth for it cannot care for God. And it is necessary for us to understand the word as it was spoken, for according to the rule of those who are perfect, the man who careth for riches cannot care for God; but a man, being a possessor of wealth, is able to be justified by that other measure of righteousness which is worked in the world, if it be that he is not a servant who worshippeth his riches, but a master of the things which he possesseth. Some men are slaves of their possessions, and some are masters of their wealth, and one man is worshipped by his possessions, and another man worshippeth them. Now the word of our Lord was spoken concerning the man who is a slave of his possessions, and who is not able to be a servant of God; "For ye cannot serve two masters." 2 Thou seest [p. 226] that He shewed two masters in His discourse, and that in explaining who these were, He said, "Ye cannot serve God and mammon."
Behold then, whosoever hath made mammon his master cannot serve God, but he serveth that master whom he hath chosen of his own freewill, his service being especially dear unto him, and his dominion over him being beloved by him, because he hath become subject unto, him of his own freewill. For the children of men are wont to love exceedingly that which they have chosen of their own freewill, and they love it much more than Him Who perforce and naturally is Master over them. And behold, if there were a few men who have |218 pleased, or who please God, it is because they were and are masters of their wealth, and they sent it forth to [do] everything like a slave and subject, sometimes to feed the hungry, sometimes to clothe the naked, sometimes to redeem the captive, sometimes [to pay] vows and offerings unto God, and sometimes to free those who were in the bondage of debts; and wheresoever the will desired to rule over it, there it sent it like a servant, even as did Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and Job, and Joseph, and David, and Hezekiah. And of these men some were rich, and some were princes, and some were kings, and collectively they all were owners of great possessions and wealth; but they were masters of their riches, and their riches were not [p. 227] masters of them, their riches worked for them in all the good things which they wished [to do], and they did not serve them in all the wickedness which mammon demanded.
Now there are distinctions between the commandments, and it must be understood to whom each was spoken. For this commandment, "Ye cannot serve two masters----God and mammon," must, according to the meaning of the passage, have been spoken to those who wished to be righteous while they were [still] in the world, and He advised and admonished them that because they had ceased from the path of perfection they should not become wholly and entirely servants of mammon, and forsake the dominion of God which was naturally set over their lives. "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where the moth and the rust corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where the moth and the rust do |219 not corrupt, and where thieves break not through nor steal." 3 And it is evident that this commandment is not applicable to solitaries and to those who are perfect, for how could "Lay not up for thyself treasure upon earth" be said to him to whom it was commanded, "Take no thought for the morrow?" 4 And how could the words, "Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven of your alms," apply to the man to whom it was said, "Thou shalt not possess two coats, nor wallet, nor cloak, nor money in the wallet." 5 And what hath the thief who stealeth, or the moth which destroyeth to do with him to whom it is commanded that, save himself, he should possess nothing? So therefore the words, [p. 228] "Ye cannot serve God and mammon," are a command to those who have possessions, for because the Teacher saw that they could not. rise up to the grade of perfection, He brought Himself down in His speech to their level, and He ordained for them a law which was suitable to the position in which they stood, and said, "Since it is impossible for thee to be destitute, thou shalt not become a slave to thy wealth, and serve it like one subject thereto, but thou shalt be unto it a master in the ministration of all good things. For when it is thy master, whithersoever it wisheth it sendeth thee, at one time to plunder, at another to thieve, and at another to bear false witness, at another to oppress and to despoil, at another to swear false oaths, and sometimes [it sendeth thee] even to commit murder, and also to the participation with devils, and it omitteth no one of these wicked |220 things which it will command thee to do so long, as it is thy lord, and thou art its servant. And as, if thou be its master, it sendeth thee [to do] all good things, so also if it be thy master it sendeth thee [to do] all wickedness." For it is the law that a master should give the command, and that the servant should be commanded, and so long as a man is the master he giveth the command, and so long as he is a servant he is commanded. And where there are those who give commands those who are commanded will be found, and things will be done according to the will of those who give the commands. And Jesus the Teacher did not lay a heavy command upon those who had possessions when He commanded them to be masters of their riches, but only that [p. 229] which they themselves should have desired, and because they did not know how to obtain it, He taught them in this manner. And it is like a man who eagerly desireth to become wise, but who knoweth not how to gather together knowledge, and another man is found who becometh his teacher and [sheweth him] how to collect it and to obtain possession thereof; or another man who loveth wealth, but who knoweth not how it is gathered together; or another man who loveth edifices which are richly furnished, but he knoweth not how they are to be built, or how they are to be furnished. In this manner the children of men desire to be masters of [their] riches, but unconsciously it is found that their wealth hath become their master; and the Teacher, having pity upon those who had possessions, taught them, [saying], "Be ye masters of your riches, according to your desire;" and together with this He shewed them in what way they should be masters. The desire |221 [to obtain] things is one thing, and the knowledge of [how to obtain] them is another. One man desireth, but knoweth not how to obtain that which he desireth; and another knoweth how to find and to obtain [things], but he desireth [them] not. Now to those who desired to become masters of riches, and who had obtained them and they had turned and become their master, Jesus taught the knowledge of that thing which they desired; these then, Jesus commanded to be masters of [their] riches, and not to be servants thereof, while those who were perfect He commanded to be not even masters, [p. 230] and He counselled them not to humble themselves to be masters of dumb possessions. Those, however, who had possessions He freed from the bondage of senseless stuff, lest while they served it they should become servers of idols, concerning which it is written, "They have no breath in their mouth, and although they have eyes, and ears, and hands, they see not, and hear not, and work not." 6 And for this reason the Apostle Paul called the love of mammon "idolatry," 7 for as the heathen worship things which have no feeling, and in which there is neither life nor perception, even so do those who love riches worship the gold which is silent, and the silver which is dumb, together with all [their] possessions which have neither feeling nor knowledge. One man Jesus commanded, [saying], "Be not a servant of riches," and to another He ordained the law, "Be not even a master of wealth;" to one He said, "It is a disgrace to thy freedom that thou shouldst be subject unto gold," and to the other He said, "It is a contemptible |222 thing for thy mastership to rule over natural things, for thou art humbled to the possessions which are the shells of natural things." For to him who had forsaken mastership over everything, and had been caught fast by the desire of little wealth, He said, "Possess, only when thou hast become possessor of thy possession, let it not happen that thy possession possess thee;" but the other whom He saw had been exalted from being a servant to wealth, He raised up to a higher grade than this, and said, "Be not a master unto it." For as [p. 231] it is a disgrace to him that wisheth to be master of his possessions to become a servant thereto, even so is it a disgrace also to him that hath been freed from the bondage of wealth, that there should be found with him the mastership of wealth.
The poor man possesseth the things of poverty, and the rich man the great and glorious things of wealth; now therefore since those which have possessions are poor, they possess poverty, [which is] riches and temporal possessions, but the destitute are rich, and it would be a disgrace to that excellent name if it became the possessor of the things of poverty, gold, and silver, and raiment, and if it exchanged the riches of eternity for the poverty of time, and heavenly possessions for human mammon. And that thou mightest not serve mammon our Lord said unto him that loved mammon, "Be thou its master, and let it be to thee a slave." It appeareth therefore that Jesus gave this commandment to those who were rich, but to all the others who wished to walk in the lofty path of perfection He said, "Possess not gold, nor silver, nor money in your wallets, nor two coats, nor shoes, nor |223 staff, for the labourer is worthy of his food," 8 that is to say, "Such freedom befitteth such labour." So then Jesus sent them from all the world, and then [p. 232] He brought them out of the world, saying, "Go forth, and leave everything in its place in the world, and take not out with you to the country of life things which are mortal. Ye have been called to put on purple, cast off first the filthy rags of the world, and then put on royal purple. For who that wisheth to put on the glory which is for eternity would not first cast off the garments which are worn out, and then put on that glory which never becometh old? And whosoever wisheth to be enrolled in Jerusalem above will not have a dwelling in the earth, but he will dwell in that city. Whosoever wisheth not to be received in that world by Grace shall be received in this world graciously by every man; and whosoever wisheth to be a dweller in the marriage chamber, let him not possess in this world either a wallet or a cloak; and whosoever seeketh to obtain God, let him not possess money in his wallet; for it is an endless disgrace that together with God a man should be possessed of money. For he who possesseth the things of time, together with those of eternity, is not sensible of the greatness of his possession, and therefore he runneth to obtain poverty together with riches. And neither is it possible that these two treasures can be contained in one vessel, for no man ever put scourings together with gold in one vessel, nor did any one ever account straw and wood of equal value with precious stones." This commandment then was given by the Master to |224 His disciples when He sent them to be fishers of men unto life; [p.233] He cut off first from them all the fetters of the world, and He loosed from them all human ties, and then He sent them to loose others, for the man that is fettered cannot loose him that is in bondage. The possession of the things of the world is a fetter to all the members, and a curb of all the senses, and the whole man is bound and fettered in his inward and outward things thereby. And well did our Lord first loose the fetters of the world from His disciples, and then send them to loose the bonds of others, that those who were in bonds might see that those whose bonds were loosed bore the mark of freedom, and the sign of the Kingdom, and that He that loosed them might be believed in by them, especially when they saw that those from whom they had cut off the bonds of the world were free.
This similitude then did our Lord set in the place of these commandments which He delivered to the Apostles when He commanded them to possess nothing; He made them destitute of everything, and then He sent them to be ministers of His will in the conversion of others, so that therefrom we might learn, that everyone who wisheth to be a minister unto God must deny himself all worldly possessions, and must be destitute of everything after the manner of the Apostles, and then he shall go forth and become a minister of the perfect will of God. For as long as the Apostles were with Jesus, and were going about with Him from place to place, they stood not in the position of perfection, [p. 234] and for this reason our Lord was silent about the [other] commandments, so long as they were Apostles with Him; and He allowed them to do the |225 other things which followed closely upon their continuance with Him, and which were useful also to those who drew nigh to Him, either going about among the multitudes who were sitting down in the wilderness, or when they were sent by Him [to do] things which were of use for some visible purpose, even as when He sent Simon to the sea to catch a fish and to pay the poll tax,9 and as when they were also invited with Him in the body to the feast chamber.10 And they wandered from city to city and went round about with Him, and they paid Him honour visibly before the crowds, and they kept back from Him the press of the multitudes that not every man might forcibly make his way to Him, even as it is written, "And certain people sought to bring little children to Him that He might bless them, and His disciples restrained them;" 11 and everywhere, according to the measure of their knowledge at that time they paid Him honour like unto this. And He humbled Himself and accepted these things from them from time to time, because He knew that they were only able to offer unto Him visible ministration. And although their ministration was feeble, still it was according to the measure of their knowledge; for He considered the willingness, and likewise accepted the ministration thereof. And it is the wont of Jesus, whether it be then or now, to demand service according to the power of the will, and He desireth not that the work should be above [p. 235] the will of him that doeth it, for if it be apparent that he doeth for Him a work which is above his intelligence, or above the law, |226 either perfunctorily or slothfully, this Jesus wisheth not, nor to receive service from a rational man as if he were a dumb vessel. For while He was humbling Himself to receive from all the measures of their intelligence, and the services which they offered to Him, He magnified them in His teaching, that they might be exalted to the ministration of those who are perfect from their former state, so that the first service might be a path for that which followed after it, and that the first virtue might become training and exercise for the other virtue which should be perfected therefrom. And together with the work the Teacher set forth doctrine, not only in deed but also by His word, even as He did to Mary and Martha, who both offered service unto Him, but the service of Mary was more perfect than that of Martha, and both ministered unto Him, the one only according to the body, and the other according to the spirit, and our Lord received both services, and pronounced blessed the service which was superior to its fellow, [saying], "Mary hath chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her." 12 As if a man should say, "Do thou also, O Martha, forsake that [service] which is imperfect, and be exalted in thy service to the more excellent grade." And Jesus did not reject the ministration of Martha, for according to the measure of her knowledge and of her love was [p. 236] the measure of her ministration; but He wished that she would offer great instead of little things, and instead of the service of the body the service of the spirit. And the service of Mary and of Martha was like exactly unto the service of |227 the holy Apostles of the old and of the latter times, for that bodily service which they also offered unto Him in one place after another was like unto that of Martha; but that other service which He taught them to offer unto Him in the commandment, "Ye shall possess nothing," was the counterpart of the service of the blessed Mary. For there are many who, like Martha and Zacchaeus, and those women who clave to Him, and who ministered unto Him from their possessions, are justified, and there are some whose service like that of Mary and the Apostles is wholly of the spirit; and Jesus wished and desired this service, so that all the children of men might arrive at perfection. And His coming into the world took place that He might deliver to the children of men the life and rule of spiritual beings, even as also the holy Apostle taught that it was meet that the man of God should be in all perfection, [saying], "The man of God shall be perfect [to do] every good and perfect thing." 13
Now this perfection Jesus delivered unto His disciples by those commandments concerning absolute poverty which He gave to them, when He denied to them the whole world, and everything that is therein, and not them only, but also, in them and with them, every man [p. 237] who followeth after perfection. For when He ordained the law for the persons of the Apostles, He delivered doctrine unto the multitude, and unto the whole race of the children of men, and He urged every one who wished to be obedient unto Him to [follow] this fair thing. And moreover, at the beginning of their election when He called them to go |228 after Him, it is written of them that, "Immediately He called them they forsook everything and went after Him." They were casting nets' into the sea and He saw and called them, "and they left their nets and their ship, and went after Him." 14 And He saw also James and John in a ship with Zebedee their father, and He called them also, and straightway they left the net with Zebedee their father, and went after Him.
Behold the law of the going forth after God! And behold the straight rule which hath been marked for us in the Holy Books! Therefore it is right that every man who desireth to go forth after God should emulate the going forth of the Apostles, and that he should despise and reject everything which is visible, and deny the whole world, for Christ hath said that the man who desireth to be a perfect disciple of Him must also deny himself.15 If a man denieth his life according to the word of our Redeemer, then will he be a disciple, but without this there is no means of a man arriving at perfection. [p. 238] And how can a man who denieth not himself the possessions of the world, and who despiseth not all the riches which are seen, and bodily pleasures, arrive at that perfection which Jesus delivered? And I do not speak these things of myself, but I follow after the desire of the Holy Books, and I take my stand upon the law which hath been ordained by the King.
The disciples are the beginning of the discipleship of Christians, and their calling was such----as it is written concerning them----that immediately they were called |229 they forsook everything, and went forth after Him. And whosoever wisheth to become a disciple let him consider this example, and let him look at this mark with all his mind and understanding, in order that inwardly and outwardly he may make himself destitute of everything, and then let him begin to journey along this heavenly path; for he will never be filled unless he first of all empty himself, and he will never lay his hand upon the riches of heaven unless he first let go the poverty which he holdeth. It is impossible for him to lay hold upon the one, unless he let go the other, especially as they are opposed to each other, and each of them when it draweth nigh destroyeth the other. And behold when we have made ourselves destitute of everything, if we have only emptied ourselves to the extent of keeping His commandments, our ministration is not yet worthy of God, inasmuch as the strength of our soul is divided and split asunder, and some thereof is occupied with the love of the things of the world, and it is not able to offer unto God the service [p. 239] of love. For this command is grievous unto whomsoever is fettered with the love of riches, and although it be freedom from the world, yet to those who are held fast in the subjection of the world----those who are fettered, and whose fetters are pleasant unto them; and those who are fast bound, and their bonds are sweet unto them; those who have thrown the chains of anxious care upon all their members, and have taken upon them to become subject unto the world, and not servants of Christ----it is hard and difficult. For Jesus proclaimeth freedom unto thee, but the world hath prepared slavery for thee, and if the bondage of the world is sweet to thee, it is not |230 because its nature is to be so, but because thy own desire hath been corrupted, and it hath lusted evilly. When a man longeth for something belonging to the world, his desire is not healthy, but he desireth, like a sick man, that which will not benefit him, and [his] desire is altogether to his own injury; for it is the custom with many sick persons to desire [things] for their own injury rather than for their good, and [to choose] that which will prevent their recovery rather than that which will heal their sickness. For the healing which is in them is turned to illness, and the power of the natural appetite which is in them is also changed from its natural condition, for the strength of the appetite is preserved by the uniformity of admixture and by the healthy condition of the body, and when the admixture of the body is disturbed the bodily appetites are also confounded. [p. 240] The man who is being consumed with fever desireth a draught of cold water, and although it would do him harm to drink he asketh to drink, and is furious with those who will not give him [water]; but the wise physician answereth him not, because he knoweth that it is the blind craving that is in him which asketh for that which would prevent his recovery. Similarly the riches of the world are sweet, and the possessions thereof are much desired by those who are diseased in their souls, and who are lacking the healing of divine knowledge, and they ask for everything which will do them harm; but our heavenly Physician by His health-giving provisions warneth us against harm, and He commandeth us to do, not that which is sweet to us and in which we find satisfaction, but that which will be of benefit to us, even though we may not find satisfaction in the doing thereof, for the wise physician |231 followeth not the desire of the sick, and he doth not submit himself to their appetites which will retard and injure their recovery, but he treateth them according to the beneficial law of healing, and teacheth them to fight against their desire that they may be healed.
Let us then receive the yoke of poverty according as our Redeemer commanded, even though it be heavy upon us, for it will not be heavy to the will which agreeth with the commandments of Christ. For there is no man who doth not desire to be a free man, and to be free from the yoke of bondage, and moreover, unto every man the name of "free" is more beloved than that of "slave." And our Lord, in that He commanded us to be aliens to the world, [p. 241] gave us true freedom, in which He Himself lived and moved while He was in the world, for although by nature inasmuch as He was God, He was free, yet in that He took the form of a slave He lived and moved in freedom, and He was above all the care of [this] world. For it is written that Jesus "took the form of a servant, and He became the likeness of the children of men, and He was found to be in form like unto a man," 16 and He was truly as we are. But in one thing, which is outside of us, He did not participate, that is to say, He did not possess on [this] earth riches, and possessions, or mammon, or wealth, or buildings, or estates, or vineyards, for Jesus possessed none of these things in order that He might teach His own [disciples] that they should not possess them; and that Being Who was free took no care for them, that He might free us also from care for them. And He was not bowed |232 beneath the yoke of bondage to the world, that He might also take from off us the heavy yoke of the bondage of the world; and He was not fettered by human affairs that He might loose from off us the fetters thereof; and carking care did not chain Him, that He might raise His disciples above the care and anxiety concerning all the things which are visible. The free Man dwelt in creation in freedom in order that He might teach us in very deed also to live therein in freedom. Whosoever then wisheth to become a disciple to that Master let him regard the sojourn of His Master in the world, and as He was, even so let him himself be in creation. The Lord of the world was a stranger and an alien in the world, and as was the Lord, even so it is meet [p. 242] that the servants should be. And observe how destitute of human things was He in Whom all fulness was gathered together, for in all creation He had neither a nest nor a den which have even the beast and bird! "The foxes have holes, and the bird of heaven hath a covert, but the Son of Man hath not even where to lay His head". 17
Behold, O disciple, thy course of life and action are marked out by the words of thy Master: that which He had not, thou shalt not have, and that which He possessed not, thou shalt not possess. Disciples are not known by [their] outward appearance, but by the similarity and agreement of works, and by their treading in the footsteps of their Master, and by their walking in the way which He trod for them; for if the path had not been trodden, and if the footsteps of our God were not visible therein, there would then have |233 been an excuse for the slothful, those to whom the bonds of the world are dear, but behold the path is open, and the way is known, and the tracks therein can be seen by every man with the light of truth. But if a man seeth them not, although he setteth his footsteps upon them, it is manifest that it must be because he lacketh the light of faith which sheweth [them], and although he thinketh that he is journeying along the way, he is travelling away from it into error. And the words which Jesus spake to thee, [when He said] that He had not a place wherein to lay His head, were to teach thee that thou also shouldst not have a place wherein to lay thy head, for He said, "The foxes have holes, and the bird of heaven hath a covert"; therefore if thou possessest a house thou art like unto these, [p. 243] and if thou hast a dwelling-place in the world, thou art to be compared with the beasts and birds, for this is what the literal interpretation of the words teacheth. But if thou art destitute of everything which is in the world, and thou hast not upon earth a place wherein to rest thy head, thou art like unto God, for that which the Master wished the disciples to be, He depicted and showed to them in His own Person, and He confirmed His doctrine unto us by His deeds, even as it is written concerning Him, "From [the time of] His baptism by John He began to work and to teach",18 even until that day in which He was taken up [into heaven]. These were the fair deeds and the excellent manner of life which He shewed forth in His own Person. And although the raising of the dead, and the cleansing of the lepers, and the opening of the |234 eyes of the blind, and the making the lame to walk, and the straightening of the crooked limbed, and the making upright of those bent double, and the driving away of devils, and the walking upon the waves, and the stilling of the winds, were also works, because they were signs and wonders, yet the writer calleth the spiritual life and conduct which appeared in the Person of Christ, the work which was closely united to teaching. For if He came only for the sake of [doing] good deeds, and not to work wonders, His teaching also was for spiritual life and conduct, and to this He also united work, in order that He might show us in Himself the type of all perfection. And He forsook the world and all the conversation among the children of men immediately after the baptism of John, [p. 244] and went forth to the wilderness, for until [the time of] His baptism He was fulfilling another rule of life, and He kept everything of the old law, that He might pay that debt on account of which all our race had become subject unto the bondage of sin, and of the law, and of death. And Jesus in His own Person kept everything which it was meet for those who lived righteously in the world to do, for it is written concerning Him 19 that He went up into the Temple, and offered up offerings, and that He was subject unto the priests, and that He fulfilled everything which was written in the law. And this [He did] for two reasons: firstly, that He might pay that which was due, and secondly that He might teach everyone in the world that the righteousness of the law should be a care to |235 him, and that he should minister to the service of God by the observance of the law. And He omitted not to keep the smallest jot or tittle of the law, in order that He might teach him that was still in the world to keep everything which he was commanded like one subject thereunto, for everyone who still leadeth the life of the world, and who is still fettered by the taking and giving of the cares of the children of men is still under the law; but whosoever hath made himself poor and goeth forth from the world is above the world, and he is of necessity also above the law, because the law hath not power to bring into subjection those who are above the law. For whosoever standeth in the country of bondage is perforce governed by the law, but whosoever standeth in the country [p. 245] of freedom, his whole life is like that of a free man, and of his own freewill, like a freeman, he doeth good deeds with power, and not like one who is bowed under the yoke of the law. And to speak briefly, wherever wickedness is wrought there also hath the law power to turn it back and to restrain it, according to the testimony of the teacher Paul, who saith, "The law was not laid down for the righteous, but for the wicked and unruly, and for the unclean, and for those who smite their fathers and mothers, and for murderers, and adulterers, and whoremongers";20 over such as these hath the law power. Now therefore, although our discourse was wishing to shew that the perfect who are led by the spirit are alone above the law, it is found that Paul teacheth that the righteous also, who are on a lower level than the perfect, are free from the law, for they do not do the |236 good things of the law as if they were fearers thereof, but as those who are at peace with the law. For the man who killeth not, that he may die not, since murder is ready in his mind, is a murderer; and he who committeth not adultery, although he wisheth to do so, through fear of being condemned by the judge, and delivered over to the law, is an adulterer; and every one who deviseth harm, but who by reason of the fear of the punishments which are commanded by the law is held back, and doeth it not, is nevertheless, according to his own will, the worker of all wickedness. Now as for the righteous who are kept back from doing wickedness, it is not because they are afraid lest wickedness should happen through them, but because they may not provoke God to anger by a deed which is unpleasing to Him. [p. 246] Therefore there are some who are held back from wickedness, because they are afraid of wickedness itself, and there are some who are held back therefrom because they would [rather] do the things which are good, for unless a man bringeth wickedness to nought, he is not able to do good things.
Up to [the time of] baptism our Lord delivered the rule and life of righteousness to the children of men that they might do the good things which are written in the law, and offer up offerings of their possessions to God, and vow vows and pay [them], and be constant in the Temple of God, and receive blessings in faith from the priests, that children might be subject unto parents and minister unto them, that they might also seek the word of life, and ask and learn from the teachers everything which is necessary for instruction in virtues, and that they might hear and be subject unto the prophets; these |237 then, and things like unto them, and all the righteousness which befitteth believing men, did our Lord deliver in the life and conduct of His Gospel, from the beginning up to the time of of [His] baptism, to those who had possessions, that they might gather together their possessions while they were in the world, and He Himself did everything that He might teach us to do likewise. He was purified according to the command of the law, that He might teach the faithful to be purified from iniquity; He was circumcised that they also might circumcise and cast away from them the foreskin of the heart, and that they might cut off from themselves the ministration unto every lust; He went up to the Temple laden with offerings that He might tread for them the path in which they should run to the house of God bearing their vows and offerings, [p. 247] He drew nigh to the priest that he might bless Him and pray over Him, and although He was the Priest of the Spirit, he spake with Him other great things, that He might shew the faithful also to ask for the prayer of the priests, and to bow the heads of themselves and of their children to their blessing. He went up each year to the Temple, as it is written of Him,21 that He might teach the faithful to go to the Temple, of God always. He made feasts according to their proper times and ceremonies that He might stir thee up to keep the festivals of the Church with discretion, and that thou mightest fulfil in them all thy obligations. He sat among the teachers, and listened unto them, and asked them questions,22 and He bowed His ear, and received instruction, |238 that thou also mightest hear and ask questions, and incline thine ear continually to the hearing of the divine commandments, and that thou mightest ask questions and learn those things which are beneficial to thy life, even from those who are inferior to thee in knowledge, even as our Lord Himself asked questions of those who were inferior to Him in knowledge, and He received doctrine from those who had gathered together doctrine from the law which He Himself had given. And moreover, finally, when He saw all the sinners who were running to the baptism of John, the prophet of God, He also went with them, and He bowed His head under the hand of the Herald, and He received baptism from him as one who was in need thereof----from him who needed to be baptized of Him; and He forsook the habitation of man, and went forth to the wilderness to John with all the multitudes.23 [p. 248] And why [did He do] these things unless it were to teach those who were masters of wealth, and those who dwelt in the world, to go forth to the saints, and to run to the solitary dwellers, and to honour the prophets and righteous men, and to be obedient to the admonition of their words by the discretion of their faith?
Now therefore this righteousness did our Redeemer deliver, and this rule and conduct did He shew to the faithful - in the time which preceded [His] baptism, and He admonished those who had possessions to possess these virtues, for He did not give this rule and conduct of life to the solitary dwellers, neither did He deliver it to those who were perfect. What temple |239 hath the spiritual man to go to, seeing that he himself is the temple of God? And what dwelling hath he from which to go to the house of God, seeing that He hath not even a shelter in the world wherein to dwell? And with what shall he offer offerings and pay vows, seeing that in [all] creation he possesseth nothing? And with what shall he clothe the naked and receive strangers, seeing that he himself is both a stranger and naked? And what wickedness can the man who is perfect, and complete in all virtues, cut off and cast from him? And of whom shall the man who hath no conversation with the children of men ask, and from whom shall he learn? if he hath need to learn, the Spirit of God instead of a man will teach him.
Now therefore this doctrine until [the time of His] baptism was delivered unto righteous believers, [p. 249] and it was given unto righteous owners of possessions, and to those who had not entirely gone forth from the world, in order that those who were suitable for the condition in which they lived might not be deprived of good works. And Christ Himself Who is everything, in Whom is everything, in Whose hand is everything, and because of Whom everything is, manifested this rule and conduct of life in His own Person, and although it fell short of perfection, yet He nevertheless fulfilled it, in order that He might give unto every man his measure of instruction, and that according to his grade and position he might draw nigh to a fair life, for without virtues it is not possible for a man to live. Now these virtues are different from one another, and moreover the commandments which are given concerning them, are like the virtues, different each from each. For behold, it is written that before His |240 baptism He was subject unto His parents; "He went back with them to Nazareth, and was subject unto them".24 But observe that, after the baptism, when He was delivering a rule of life which was more perfect than this to the children of men, He was not persuaded to acknowledge parents after the body. "Who is My mother, and who are My brethren?" 25 He said to him that spake of them to Him. And although He was obedient and subject unto His parents before baptism, in the time which followed, when He was delivering the rule and course of life of spiritual beings, He said, "I know them not"; and they called Him to go forth to them, but He would not be persuaded. [p. 250] And His mother spake to Him, and He listened not unto her then because He was perfecting the will of the Father Who sent Him, and was not fulfilling the humble commandments. Now if our Lord had done this before baptism when He was keeping the law, that is, if He had been called by His mother, and He had not obeyed, He would have transgressed the law; but in this case, He did not [transgress] except to shew that He was more obedient to the Father of nature than to the parents of grace, and that He might also teach those who are perfect to be more obedient unto the Father of grace than unto natural parents. "I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him that sent Me. And I did not come down from heaven to do My own will, but the will of Him that sent Me".26 These things were spoken when He was fulfilling within Himself perfection, in order that spiritual beings who are outside the world might understand that not only to natural |241 parents should they not be obedient and keep in subjection unto them, but also that they should not be persuaded by their own will, neither by their own wants and pleasures in any thing, but that they should deny themselves, even as it was said by the Redeemer, "Whosoever denieth not himself cannot be My disciple".27 Now therefore it is written that three days after our Lord had returned from the wilderness, He was bidden to a feast, He, and His mother, and His brethren, and, His disciples.28 [p. 251] And when wine was lacking for the guests, His mother said to Jesus, "They have no wine", and she began on this occasion also to speak to Him with authority, even as a mother doth from early habit; but Jesus restrained that freedom of speech, teaching that the obligation of parental reverence had been paid by Him, and that henceforth He would not be subject unto His parents as He had been of yore. And observe what a severe rebuke He brought against that early authority thereby! "What have I to do with thee, woman?" The words are full of rebuke, and the whole speech is full of indignation, and rightly so, because by this speech He was giving an example to those who are perfect of not being governed by the law of natural parents when they have come out from the world in which [their] parents still live. For Mary stood in one rule of life, and Jesus stood in another, that is to say, she lived the life of the law, and He lived the life of the Spirit; and it was not well that He Who lived the life of the Spirit should be commanded by one who was still governed by the law. |242 Mary gave the command like a woman in authority, and Jesus answered her like a free man; "They have no wine", said Mary, and these are words of authority, and like a mother she spake with a command. "What have I to do with thee, O woman?" He replied like one who was not subject [unto her], and He spake as unto a strange woman who was not His mother. For He did not say, "What hast thou to do with me, My mother?", but, "What hast thou to do with Me, O woman? By grace thou hast become my mother, [p. 252] and through Divine dispensation I have been born of thee; and I have been subject unto thee, and I have been obedient, but not because I am bound [to be so] to thee naturally. My beginning was not from thee, that I should receive grace from thee, for it was for thy sake that I came into being. Thou didst not become with child with suffering, neither didst thou bring me forth with the pangs of birth; thou didst not rear Me as one who was in need of rearing that I should give unto thee the reward of the fulfilling of My wants. Everything which thou didst give to Me I have given to thee. And if thou didst carry Me in thy womb, and didst grow great with Me, and didst bring Me forth, and didst care for Me, and didst bring Me up, these things took place by the power which came from Me. And that I have been obedient and subject unto thee was not a debt which I was bound to pay thee on My own behalf, but I paid the debt and I fulfilled the law on behalf of all the children who rebel against [their] parents. And now that the debt hath been paid, and dispensation of the law hath been fulfilled, what have I to do with thee, O woman?" Now this speech is like unto the words, "Who is My mother?" and unto that |243 which He said to John, "Behold thy mother!" and again He said to Mary, "Behold thy son!" 29 And it is moreover like unto another speech which Jesus spake unto them when they sought to take Him with them to the feast as they were going up to Jerusalem, to that feast, according to [His] former wont before baptism, when He separated Himself from them, [saying], "Go ye up to the feast, but I will not go up to the feast",30 and after [p. 253] He had dismissed them, and had not gone up with them, He turned back, and went up in the midst of the feast. And His going up is not contrary to that which He said, "I will not go up", for He said, "I will not go up as one who is subject [unto the law]", because they were going up as men who were subject to the law, that they might do the works of the law; but Jesus went up as one having authority, to gather together unto Him those who were bidden to the new feast. And in that He said, "I will not go up", He shewed two things; that He was subject neither unto parents, nor unto the law. For he that is subject unto parents doeth whatsoever they command him, and he also who is under the law must, together with the commandments, observe all its works. He was from the beginning of the feast bound to go up, because at this feast all the Jews also were going up to the Temple, and, moreover, they went up thither a few days before [the feast], to purify themselves, that when they came to the first day of the feast they might be pure. But Jesus did none of these things, for He went not up with them in order that He might shew them that He was not subject unto them, and He did not [go up] |244 at the beginning of the feast that He might teach them that He did not go up to keep the feast; but He went up in the middle thereof, going up of His own freewill. And His going up after He had told His parents that He was not going up was like unto that which He did at the feast of Cana, for after He had said to Mary, "What hast thou to do with me, O woman"----a speech which seemed to indicate that He would not be obedient unto what she had said----He turned and did [p. 254] that thing which she had said, not because she had commanded Him, but because of His power, and because the time had come for Him to begin to work miracles, that thereby it might be seen Who He was, and that He might make His glory known and gather together unto Him disciples, and also that He might shew that henceforth He would do everything with authority like One that was free, and not according to the feebleness of human nature, and not according to the subjection of parents, and not according to the law's command.
Now we have shewn the power of these things which we have spoken from the Holy Book, and it is right, moreover, for him that readeth, that while he readeth our discourse, he should examine the Holy Book, and see that these matters are, in their several places, known to be thus; and in order that this meaning should be marked out for us the passages are distinct, each from the other, and one course of life and action is different from the other. This mystery, then, Jesus delivered unto us by the life which He led until [His] baptism, and from [His] baptism to the cross, because all righteousness is defined by these two courses: a man should work either in himself, or he should work with that which |245 belongeth to him; the service which is of himself is the righteousness which is outside him, and the service which is in him is his own perfection. For the righteousness of the law is one thing, and the righteousness which Christ gave was another; the righteousness of the law [lasted] until [His] baptism, but that which was of Him was from baptism unto the Cross, and thenceforward it is the delight and life which is above the world. Therefore at the end of [His] baptism Jesus had attained [p. 255] unto the limit of the righteousness of the law, but from that time until the Cross He stood at the limit of the spiritual perfection in the perfect goodness which He Himself had brought unto creation. Henceforth then it is meet for us to understand that all the children of men who, being still in the world, work good things, are even as the righteous men of old, that is to say, like Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, and all the other just men and Prophets of old. And the righteousness of the law may be thus described: a man should labour while he is in the world, whether to clothe the naked, or relieve the afflicted, or receive strangers into his house, or visit the sick, or hasten to the help of the saints, and solitary dwellers, and monks, or whether he set apart for himself seasons of prayer, or whether he be constant in the temple of God, or whether he lend money without diminution of the amount and without exacting interest, or whether he covet not that which is his neighbour's, or whether he be subject unto his parents, or whether he be obedient unto, and honoureth the priests and teachers, or whether he do good deeds unto every man, that is to say, if as he would that men should do unto him, so he doeth unto them. |246
This is the righteousness which the old law taught, and Jesus fulfilled it until [His] baptism, and all believing men, who have not yet made themselves destitute of their riches, are bound to perform [it]; [p. 256] but the spiritual rule and conduct of life, and perfection, Jesus delivered unto us from [His] baptism unto the cross. May we all, through His grace, be accounted worthy by Him, to Whom be glory for ever. Amen.
Here endeth the Eighth Discourse, which is on Poverty, and which was composed by the blessed Mâr Philoxenus, Bishop of Mabbôgh.
[Footnotes renumbered and moved to the end. Page numbers in brackets refer to the Syriac text in vol. 1 of the printed edition.]
1. 1 St. Matthew vi. 24.
2. 1 St. Matthew vi. 24; St. Luke xvi. 13.
3. 1 St. Matthew vi. 19, 20.
4. 2 St. Matthew vi. 34.
5. 3 St. Matthew x. 9,10; and compare St. Mark vi. 8; St.Luke ix.3.
6. 1 Psalm cxv. 5-7.
7. 2 Colossians iii. 5. Ephesians v. 5.
8. 1 St. Matthew x. 9, 10; St. Luke x. 4, 7.
9. 1 St. Matthew xvii. 27.
10. 2 St. John ii. 2.
11. 3 St. Matthew xix. 13.
12. 1 St. Luke x. 42.
13. 1 2 Timothy iii. 17.
14. 1 Compare St. Matthew iv. 20, 22; St. Mark i. 16-19: St. Luke v. 10.
15. 2 St. Matthew xvi. 24.
16. 1 Philippians ii. 7.
17. 1 St. Matthew viii. 20.
18. 1 St. Matthew iv. 17.
19. 1 Compare St. Matthew xxi. 12; St. Mark xi. 11; St. Luke xix. 45; St. John ii. 15.
20. 1 1 Timothy i. 9.
21. 1 St. John ii. 13, 14; v. 1; vii. 10; x. 22, 23; xii. 12.
22. 2 St. Luke ii. 46.
23. 1 St. Matthew iii. 1, 13.
24. 1 St. Luke ii. 51.
25. 2 St. Matthew xii. 48.
26. 3 St. John v. 30.
27. 1 Compare St. Matthew xvi. 24; St. Mark viii. 34; and St. Luke ix. 23.
28. 2 St. John ii. 1-4.
29. 1 St. John xix. 26, 27.
30. 2 St. John vii. 8.
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Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
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Philoxenus, Ascetic Discourses (1894) pp.247-336. Discourse 9 -- Second Discourse on Poverty
Philoxenus, Ascetic Discourses (1894) pp.247-336. Discourse 9 -- Second Discourse on Poverty
[P. 257] THE NINTH DISCOURSE: WHICH IS UPON THE SUBJECT OF THE PREVIOUS DISCOURSE, POVERTY, AND IS TAKEN FROM THE TESTIMONIES OF THE HOLY BOOKS, AND FROM THE EXAMPLE OF THE EARLY DISCIPLES, AND WHICH TEACHETH THAT, EXCEPT A MAN CASTETH AWAY THE WORLD ENTIRELY, HE IS NEITHER ABLE TO BECOME A PERFECT DISCIPLE OF CHRIST, NOR TO PARTICIPATE IN THE MYSTERY OF DIVINE KNOWLEDGE.
Let the going forth of Christ our Lord into the wilderness be an excellent example to us of the doctrine of poverty, and in that same manner in which He departed from dwelling with the children of men to the conflict with the power which was opposed to Him, let us also go forth from the world in the war which is against Satan. Let us take out with us from the world nothing, except our spiritual armour, which is not of the world. Now Jesus went forth immediately after baptism, and He left the world and all that is therein, and the dwelling [p. 258] with mankind, and everything that is therein, and went forth by Himself in His own strength to do battle with the Calumniator. It is written that He also had in Him the Holy Spirit, which brought Him out to the wilderness, but it was not because He, the counterpart of the Spirit, Who had given the Spirit unto others to conquer therewith, needed the |248 power of the Spirit, but it was for the emulation of those who go forth from the world after perfection, that they might learn beforehand that the strengthening power of the Spirit accompanieth their going forth, and that He aideth them in their contest, and crowneth with victory the battle in which they are engaged. For the support of the Spirit straightway cleaveth to the disciples who forsake the company of the world; and when they have despised human helps, they find heavenly helps; and when they reject the strength of the body, there straightway cleaveth unto them the power of the Spirit. In baptism then our Lord fulfilled the way of the righteousness of the law, and from the Jordan He made the beginning of the way of His own rule of life; for until the Jordan it was bondage, that is to say, He was subject unto the law as a servant, but from the Jordan and henceforth His life and conduct were in the freedom which He delivered, and not in the commandments of the law. For Jesus was born again by baptism, and from the womb of the law the spiritual country received Him, even as He Himself said, "Except a man be born again, he cannot [p. 259] see the kingdom of God;" 1 and therefore, after His baptism, He began to preach the kingdom of heaven. And in this manner also, everyone who wisheth to become a perfect disciple of Christ, when he hath left the world and hath come outside himself, is born again out of the world of the body into the world of the Spirit, and from riches into poverty, and from pleasures into afflictions, and from the possession of family into the lack of kith and kin, |249 and from an abundance of friends into the life of a Solitary, and from happiness into trouble, from the life of the body into the life of the Spirit, from converse with men unto converse with God, and from one kind of knowledge unto another, and from one course unto another; and to speak briefly, a man is born from nothing into something when he departeth from worldly life to the discipleship of Christ, and from the state of being master of riches to that poverty which God commandeth. And as when a man is in the world the manner of life in which he standeth requireth him to do everything according to the manner of the world, so also when a man hath departed from the world and hath gone forth after Jesus, he is required to do everything which belongeth to a spiritual life, according to the rule of the country to which he hath come. It is one thing for a man to cast off the world, and to cast off the old man is another; to cast off the thoughts of the soul is one thing, and to cast off error is another, and to cast off ignorance is another.
It is said that a man casteth off the world when he maketh himself remote from everything that therein is, and when he divideth [p. 260] his riches and possessions wholly among the needy, and forsaketh the world, and goeth forth naked in his person, even as he came forth from the womb; for the dwelling in this world is to a man even as the natural womb is to the child which is conceived therein. And as while he is still in the womb he is in darkness, and in a dark and moist place, and he perceiveth not any of the things of this world, and the things which are in creation and in the country of the world which is outside the womb enter not into his mind, even so is the |250 man who is held fast in the bodily life of the world as in a womb, and his intelligence is covered by the darkness of its anxieties, and his understanding is obscured by the night of human care; he is unable to perceive the good things and the riches which exist in the Christian life, and spiritual things are not seen by him so long as his intelligence is obscured by the darkness of bodily things. And as the natural child, unless he be born from the womb,.goeth not unto creation, even so is it in this matter; for unless a man departeth wholly from the world, he cometh not to the life and conversation of the spirit, and as in the one case he leaveth the womb, and cometh into existence outside thereof, so also in this it is meet for him to leave the world and to go forth therefrom. For the world is like the womb, and as the child casteth off the womb, so should a man cast off the world. And as the child when he is born is perfect and complete in his natural frame, and hath all his senses and members, and yet cannot make use of them in their natural service because they have not yet [p. 261] received growth and become strong, but when he hath been born into the world, his body, and the senses and members which are therein receive growth. And as he groweth and progresseth, he acquireth perception in his members and senses, and gaineth experience of everything which is in the world, and all his senses are employed healthily for their natural service, the eye to see, the ear to hear, the palate to taste, the nostrils to breathe, the tongue for speech, the hands for labour, the feet for walking, the whole body for touching, the heart for discernment, the liver for wrath, the gallbladder for enlightenment, the reins for intelligence, |251 the spleen for fear, the brain for knowledge and understanding, and all the other members which are in the world by gradual growth arrive at the measure of their perfect stature, and are perfected in the power of their service in everything; and a son of man is perfected according to the body in the world to which he was born from the womb, and he receiveth and is made perfect in all the knowledge thereof; in like manner is it also wrought for the spiritual man who beginneth with unformed substance, and little by little he is completed, and he becometh a perfect man in the measure of the stature of the completion of Christ, even as it is written that at first the beginning of His conception took place like [that of] a natural child, for as the natural child is formed of seed and blood in the womb, even so was He formed of fire and of. spirit by baptism, And as [p. 262] the natural child is born from non-existence into existence, even so is the child of the Spirit born from the state of not being a son, into that of being a son of God, and a spiritual being. And as the natural child is designed when as yet he existeth not, and is formed little by little, and all his members grow and increase according to the measure which is ordained that they should grow in the womb, even so also the child of man, who is born through baptism the son of God out of the state of being a slave and a creature of the body, beginneth to increase little by little in the world, as in the womb, in all the virtues which befit the believing men who are in the world. And when he hath increased and hath grown to the full, according to the measure of his unformed substance in the world, as in the womb, he becometh born again from the world, outside the |252 world, in the same manner as the child is born from the womb into the world. And when he hath been born, and he hath taken his stand in the country of the life and conduct of Christ as in another world, thenceforth he beginneth to receive other growth and to become full-grown, not with the body of righteousness the growth of which he received in the world, but in the person of the spirit with which he arriveth at the perfection of the completeness of Christ. Now therefore baptism fashioneth even like the womb, and whosoever hath been therein is [made] a son unto God, from the condition of not being a son, even as the natural child, from being uncreate, [is made] to exist. And that baptism giveth birth to a child [p. 263] of the spirit, who from being of the body, hath been made of the spirit, [is like unto the fact] that the [natural] child is made a body from seed and blood, and he receiveth the creation of all his members [therefrom]; in the same manner, in this case, is this child also born of baptism, all his members and senses being created and made of the Spirit. And as the natural child, after he hath been created and formed, groweth little by little in all his members and senses until he hath completed the measure of his unformed substance which hath been defined for his being in the womb, and then cometh to the birth from the womb, even so here also the child of the Spirit groweth in the world after that he hath been born of baptism until he arriveth at that measure which is defined for spiritual children. And as the child who is in the womb cannot receive increase beyond the capacity of the womb, and cannot become a full-grown man in the womb----which is given him to do in the world after he hath been born----even so a man cannot |253 become complete in the perfection of the Spirit, and stand in the stature of a full-grown man, so long as he dwelleth in the world as in the womb; but he must first of all be born, and must cast off the world entirely, as the child casteth off the womb, and then he shall begin to receive fresh increase which will bring [him] unto spirituality and perfection.
Now therefore all the righteousness of a man which is wrought by him m the world, and all the members of fair things which come into existence in him, are like the unformed substance of a child in the womb, and however much he may grow [p. 264] and become strong in this righteousness while he is in the world, he still existeth as unformed substance, because he is shut up in the world like a child in the womb. And as a child is not able to become a man in the womb, even so a man cannot be perfect in the world; and as however much the child may grow in the womb, the measure of his growth is limited there by the capacity of the womb, even so is it in the womb of our nature, for however much a man may be justified in the world, the measure of his righteousness is limited by the capacity of the womb of the world in which he liveth. And as he that is conceived in the natural womb is called "child," and "conceived," so long as he is therein, but when he hath been born from the womb beginneth to receive other names [like] "infant," and "child," and "youth," and "young "man," and "full-grown man," even after this manner the child of the Spirit also, so long as he is in the world, and all the members of righteousness increase in him----however much he may wax strong, and be firmly knit together, and be made solid, and grow----will be called by the names of "righteous," and "just," and |254 "merciful," and "giver," and all those other names which befit a good life in the world. But when he hath been born from the world, after his lineaments have received completion in the former members which we have enumerated, and he hath gone forth to the other country of the rule and conduct of Christ, like the child that is born from the womb, these appellations are bestowed upon him and he is called by the other names which befit that country [p. 265] to which he hath gone forth, and so he is called:----"empty of possessions," "free-man," "ascetic," "labourer," "the carrier of a burden," "crucified to the world," "patient," "longsuffering," "spiritual," "the companion of Christ," "the perfect man," "the man of God," "beloved son," "heir of the possession of his Father," "the associate of Jesus," "the bearer of the cross upon his shoulder," "dead to the world," "living unto God," "the man who hath put on Christ" "the man of the spirit," "the angel of flesh," "the knower of the mysteries of Christ," "the divinely wise;" with these and other similar names it befitteth the man who hath been born from the world to be called that he may grow up in the country of the knowledge of Christ. And as with the natural child, when he hath been born from the womb, although he hath cast off the womb, the covering with which he hath been clothed in the womb cleaveth, and goeth forth with him----now when he hath been born this is cut off and cast away from him, together with the other superfluities which cleave unto him, and he appeareth in the person of a man by himself, being free from everything which is not of himself, and he is of and for himself, so also is it with a man when he goeth forth from the world, for although he casteth off the world like the womb, |255 yet is he clothed with his own passions, and with the appetites of his body, and he goeth forth like a child with the after-birth. For as the after-birth cannot be taken from a child while he is in the womb, even so a man cannot cast away the old passions with which he is clothed [p. 266] as with the after-birth, while he is in the womb of the world. And as in the one case [they wait] until the child is born, and then cast away from him his after-birth, even so is it in the other, for when a man hath been born from the life and conduct which are after the body in the world, and he hath come into existence in the other world of the spirit, outside the world, he is able to throw away and to cast off from him the hateful passions of the old man like the after-birth. And as the child is not able to receive the increase of manhood so long as he is rolled up in his afterbirth, yet when it hath been peeled off him, and he can appear in his own person without impediment, he can then begin to grow into his natural stature: so likewise the man who is still clothed with hateful passions is not able to increase in the stature of the spirit, but when he hath thrown them away and hath cast them from him, and hath cut off all the members of the body of sin, which are the hateful passions, his stature beginneth to receive increase, and other new members of the new man of the Spirit [begin] to spring up in him, in the place of the old members which have been cut off from him; for in the place of the former limbs which have been cut off, other new and spiritual members spring up. And in proportion as the old man cometh to an end, and is destroyed, so is the new man discovered and revealed unto the light. For although in baptism we cast off the old man, according to |256 the teaching of Paul, and put on the new man in his place, yet we do not perceive either when we cast [him] off or when we put [him] on, because Grace worketh both things, and it casteth off [p. 267] from us the old man, and putteth upon us the new man, and we receive the working of the mystery only at that time in the name of faith.
Now when we desire to cast off the old man, by our own labour and weariness we perceive that we are casting him off, not by the hearing of faith only, but also by the experience of works, and by the sufferings, and tears, and the love of God, and by pure prayers, and by constant entreaties, and by admiration of the greatness of the glory of God, and by constant admiration of Him, and by the urgent hastening of the inner man may be with God; with these and such like things, while we labour earnestly, we put on the new man, not by the hearing of the ear, but by the perception of our soul, and by the true experience of the knowledge of the Spirit. Therefore in this country a man beginneth to grow in the knowledge which is above the world, where there is room for the stature to grow, and where he may attain unto the limit of the height of growth. For so long as abominable passions envelop a man like an after-birth, and fetter the limbs of the new man, his growth is impeded, and the man is not able to arrive at that measure of stature which is given by Christ, and concerning which Paul said, "We all grow and become one thing in the knowledge of the Son of God, and one perfect man, in the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ."2 Now unless |257 a man hath gone forth from the world he is not able [p. 268] to arrive at this measure, and unless he hath first cast off all the conversation of the body he is not able to arrive at the knowledge by which he will perceive the greatness of these things which are given in a mystery by Christ.
And the forms under which we cast off [the old man], and put on [the new man] are these:----in baptism we cast off the old man, and put on the new man; and [we cast off] bondage, and put on freedom; and [we cast off] corporeality, and put on spirituality; and [we cast off] sin, and put on righteousness; and so forth, but [we do them] all by the hearing of faith. And although they may all be with us in very truth at the birth by baptism, yet are they all strangers to our perception; but when we come to the measure of the stature of the body which is able to distinguish virtues from vices, by the good will and earnestness of our soul we begin to cast off vices and to put on virtues, and [to cast off] iniquity, and to put on righteousness, and [to cast off] oppression, and to become givers, and [to cast off] cruelty, and to become loving, and [to cast off] hardness, and to become gracious, and [to cast off] rapacity, and to become merciful. And all these things, and many others like unto them arise from the will which feareth God; and which fighteth against the world, that little by little the man may grow through these things, until he casteth away the whole world entirely, and maketh himself destitute of everything that is therein, and standeth without impediment in his own person, and appeareth in the other world of the conversation of Christ like the natural child who casteth off the womb, and cometh into being outside |258 thereof. And when a man hath cast off [p. 269] the world in the manner in which I have said, and hath become entirely destitute of everything which is visible, he beginneth to cast off the evil passions which are in him----the love of adultery, of whoredom, gluttony, prodigality, greediness, drunkenness----which are the lusts which destroy spiritual excellence; and when he hath indeed cast all these off from the bodily members, he also beginneth to cast [them] off from the motions of the thoughts, and as these [vices] are alien to the body, to cut them off also from the motions of the soul, so that they shall neither be ministered unto nor stirred up in the external members, nor in the hidden thoughts of the soul. And after he hath cast out from the soul the passions of hateful thoughts also, he beginneth henceforth to cast off ignorance, and error, and suspicion, things which are born of the service of the lusts, that is to say after the heart hath become gross through luxurious and dainty living. For when a man casteth off the lusts of the body with a pure design towards God, he hasteth to diminish his bodily needs also, because the heart is not made gross by the ministration unto the lusts only, but even when the body taketh only that which it needeth in abundance, grossness of heart ariseth [therefrom], and the understanding is neither cleansed nor purified from carnality.
Now the need which is measured keepeth the mean place, and so long as the body standeth in the mean measure of health, it is not [p. 270] made subject wholly to the desires of the soul. And the middle sheweth the equality of that which is on both sides, like the pointer which is placed in the middle of the balance, and which sheweth the equality of the weight of |259 both pans of the scales; and thus when the body standeth in the mean of health, it is of equal weight with the soul, and so long as the body standeth with it in equality of measure, it is not made subject unto the superfluity of its desires. Now therefore it is necessary for a man to break the strength of the body by diminishing the food, in order that it may become subject and obedient unto the soul thereby----but I refrain from the subject of diminution of food because I have planned to speak thereupon in the short Discourse which fol-loweth this----and here it is meet that we should understand that unless a man casteth off, he cannot put on. And let us all earnestly strive to cast off from us the conversation of the body, that we may put on the conversation of the spirit, and let us cast off the world, and all the care thereof, that we may travel along the way of perfection without impediment.
Now poverty is a light thing to those who possess it, and if a man were to call the poverty which is for the sake of God "riches," he would call it rightly, and even as it is. Therefore our Lord also lifted a heavy yoke from His disciples in that He made them destitute of the riches of the world, saying, "Come "unto Me, all ye that are weary and are laden with heavy "burdens, [p. 271] and I will give you rest." 3 And who are these, unless it be those who are wearied by the superfluities of riches, and who bear the heavy yoke of the cares and anxieties of the world? And what weariness is so oppressive as this? for when thou hast come to enjoy thyself, thou art the more tired. The care for human riches is a path which hath no ending in [this] life, for |260 however far a man may travel along it, it lengthened! out before his footsteps, and there is nothing which breaketh it except death. And when a man hath gathered together riches and mammon that he may enjoy himself, and live daintily and luxuriously, his enjoyment is weariness, and if the enjoyment of the world be weariness, what shall. weariness itself be called? And if the enjoyments and luxuries are heavy labours, what shall labour itself be called? For the world is heavy in all its conversation, but because of the love thereof they who carry its burdens perceive them not, and they stumble therein like blind men, but discern it not, and though they carry heavy burdens, they are light unto them, and they weary and exert themselves painfully after the merchandise of loss, but know not [that it is loss]. And because our Lord saw them in this empty labour, He cried unto them, saying, "Come unto Me, and I will give you rest, for in your weariness there is no rest. But your weariness begetteth weariness, and your labour bringeth forth labour, and your riches gather together poverty, and your rest is tribulation, and your enjoyment is affliction, and your refreshing is toil; for the path of the desire of riches which ye have trodden of your own freewill hath no end; [p. 272] but if ye will come to Me by My road it will come to an end. And as ye have tasted the weariness of the world, taste ye together therewith also My weariness, and [see] if its freedom is not enjoyable to you. Ye have carried the heavy burdens of the world, and ye have felt how weighty they are; be persuaded then and take My yoke upon you, and learn by experience how pleasant and easy [it is]. I do not make you rich men that ye may feel the need of many things, but I make you indeed |261 rich men who have need of nothing. For it is not the man that hath acquired many possessions who is rich, but he that hath need of nothing. For in the world, however much ye acquire, ye become needy; but with Me, when ye are destitute of everything ye become rich. When a first want is satisfied, the place is prepared for a second want, and when the invention which a man seeketh to find hath been acquired, that very invention also searcheth out the invention of another possession. When the first craving of lust hath been satisfied, a wide void is thereby made for another lust which is greater than the first, because the satiety of the lusts maketh hunger, and however much lust devoureth it hungereth continually. And however wealthy the rich man becometh, he is poor; and how-ever much mammon may be gathered together [by him] he seeketh its fellow; and however much a man may increase his possessions, and become possessed of abundance, he coveteth yet another possession; and if it were possible for a man to possess the half of the world, his lust would not be satisfied therewith, but he would also lust after the possession of it all----if it were possible to have it. And again, when he had acquired the whole of it----which is not [p. 273] possible ----his lust would not be restrained by the possession of the whole world, but he would likewise lust after the possession of another world----which doth not exist, and he would begin to be tortured by the quest of that which hath not yet been made. Who then would not not weep, that is to say, who would not laugh at the man who was fettered by the longing for the quest of the things which do not exist? Come then unto Me, all ye that are wearied with riches, and take your rest in |262 poverty. Come, all ye masters of goods and possessions, and take enjoyment in destitution. Come, all ye that love this temporary world, and receive a taste of the world which is everlasting. Ye have experienced your own world, come and partake also of that of Mine. Ye have received a proof of your riches, come and test also My poverty. Your own riches are riches, but My poverty is riches. That riches should be called riches is not a very great thing, but it is a great and marvellous thing when poverty is riches, for the very opposite is pronounced a great thing. But when ye have experienced the things which are Mine, [and have seen] if they are not pleasanter and lighter than your own, turn ye and carry your former burdens." And behold also, our Lord shewed us by this testimony that unless a man casteth away the burden of the world, he cannot bear the yoke of Christ, for the two yokes are opposed each to the other; for righteousness may be acquired even in wealth, but perfection is [only] to be found in being destitute of possessions. And all those who have earnestly followed after perfection, whether in the New or whether in the Old Testament, have [first] made themselves destitute, [p. 274] and have then begun to walk in the path of perfection; and when the Apostles were called by our Lord, they stripped themselves of all the world, and then went forth after Him Who called them. And our Lord Himself also in His own Person depicted and shewed unto us the end of the path and the beginning thereof, and in the Jordan He laid down the boundary of them both; for He ended that path, which was after the law, in which He was journeying because He kept the law, and from it He began the path of |263 perfection, which He shewed in His own Person, as it were for the teaching of those who love perfection. And after He had overcome the world, and had despised and rejected everything which was therein, He then went forth to fight against the god of the world, that as He had captured the castle of the Enemy, he might also conquer the Enemy himself. And the Jordan became for Him a place of crossing from one world to the other, from the carnal world to the spiritual world, and from the conversation of the law to the conversation of the New Covenant. For what the sea was to the Hebrews, through which they ended the subjection to Egypt, and through which the fear of the Egyptians was removed from them, and through which they went forth to the land of freedom, where the rule of another might not have dominion over them, and where they would not perform the will of others, except of God alone, even so in the Jordan did Jesus accomplish the subjection of the law, and thence He began freedom of conversation. And as the desert received the Jews from the sea, even so did the wilderness receive Him from the Jordan----not henceforth having to fulfil the feeble will of the law, but the complete [p. 275] and perfect will of His Father----that He might give His healthful commandments, and shew forth the perfect and spiritual conversation which was His will. And know that when Jesus went forth to the wilderness, He went forth by Himself, without followers, without helpers, without friends in His train, without beloved friends, without riches, without possessions, without apparel, and without things. And it is written that He went forth, having nothing belonging to the world with Him, entirely by Himself, being accompanied by the Holy Spirit, |264 that from the going forth of thy Lord thou mightest take example for thine own going forth from the world, and that thou mightest also go forth like unto Him, having upon thee nothing belonging to the world, that the Holy Spirit might thereby accompany thee.
And observe also the freedom in which Jesus went forth, and do thou thyself also go forth like Him. Observe also unto what point human conversation came with Him, and at what point He forsook it, and do thou thyself also forsake the conversation of the world where thy Lord forsook the conversation of the law, and go forth with Him to war against the powers of error, that is to say, to the fight against the world. For when thou hast gone forth from the world, inasmuch as it is its custom to pursue after those who forsake it and depart from it, turn thee to fight against it, and be thou crucified to it, remembering that which Paul spake, "I am crucified to the world, and the world is crucified to me".4 Lighten therefore from off thee the weight of the world, that the war which thou art preparing against it may be easy to thee, and instead of the Jordan, go down into the waters of knowledge, and after thy submersion cleave unto the rule of the Spirit. And observe also that [p. 276] that which happened to the Jews is a type of the things which are performed unto thee, for as all the wickedness of the Egyptians towards the Hebrews came to an end, even so here also all the wickedness of the world shall perish and be destroyed from thee, together with its superfluities, and its weight, and its cares, and anxieties. For until [the time of] the sea, the Hebrews were serving the Egyptians, |265 but from the sea and henceforth they were set apart for the service of God by the word of God. The bondage of the Jews in Egypt is a type of the bondage of the world, and the freedom which they obtained in the wilderness is a similitude also of the freedom which thou shalt receive after thou hast come forth from the world. With mud, and bricks, and fatigue, and severe labour Egypt made the Hebrews work, and with anxieties, and cares, and afflictions, and groans, doth the world also make thee work; and the mud of Egypt was washed off the Jews when they had crossed the sea. And thou hast thyself also two baptisms: one is the baptism of grace which ariseth from the water, and the other is the baptism of thine own freewill, for when thou hast been baptized from the world in the love of God, thou hast gone out therefrom. And as after the Hebrews had gone forth from the sea they received another rule, and were accounted worthy of other food, and new waters were made to gush forth to supply them with drink, and other commandments and laws were delivered unto them to keep, and they received heavenly revelations, and were accounted worthy of spiritual visions, and they heard the voice of God [p. 277] close at hand speaking with them, and angels also were mingled with them, and they arrived at connection with and participation in spiritual powers, and the tabernacle was pitched among them, and they were shewn the meaning of the service therein, and the serpent on a pole was lifted up for them in the wilderness for the healing and cure of the bites of poisonous serpents; and as their habitation was already in another world which was free from all the habits of this, so likewise must thou also, when thou hast gone out from this world, |266 as from Egypt, cross over the sea of afflictions, and be in fear and suffering, because they also were filled with fear and trembling at the Egyptians [while they were] by and in the sea, and the terror of the sea tortured them, and until they had gone down into the sea, and had turned and gone up therefrom, and had seen the dead bodies of their enemies floating among the waves, they were not filled with gladness. And thus is it with the disciple, for when he hath gone forth from the world, wishing to be free from the subjection thereof, he doth not immediately receive joy nor is he accounted worthy of the taste of spiritual enjoyments----even as the Hebrews did not receive joy immediately they had gone forth from Egypt, nor were accounted worthy of spiritual enjoyment. On the other hand, there shall meet thee, O disciple, after thy departure [p. 278] from the world, the fear of afflictions, and the oppression of the thoughts, and repentance because thou hast come forth from the world, and because thou hast scattered that which thou hadst, or because thou hast forsaken thine inheritance and hast departed from the dwelling of thy fathers. And devils shall gather themselves together secretly against thee like the Egyptians, with Satan their master like Pharaoh, and as these thoughts move within thee they shall bury thee in the anxieties of care which are wont to make the soul dark, and they shall deprive thee of the sight of the light of the knowledge of Christ. And similarly there shall begin to move in thy mind thoughts as to why thou hast forsaken the world in which it was easy for thee to be justified, and why thou hast scattered thy riches by which, whilst thou hadst them with thee, thou didst appear to be especially benevolent, and moreover, inasmuch as thou didst divide them hastily, perchance they may |267 be given unto those who are not worthy of them. If thou hadst kept them in thine own hands they would have been dispensed by thee wisely, for thou wouldst have relieved the afflicted therewith; and thou wouldst have received strangers therewith; and thou wouldst have clothed the naked therewith; and the solitary dwellers and coenobites would have been visited by thy gifts; and thou wouldst have supported the widows and orphans; and thy dwelling would have been a haven of all fair things; and as long as thy riches were with thee thou wouldst have been longsuffering; and thou wouldst have given both pleasure to thyself and gratification unto many others therewith; and thy righteousness would have been like unto that of Abraham, and Job, [p. 279] and the other believing men who have been justified like unto them. And perhaps thou wouldst have wished that thy righteousness should be greater than theirs, and also that, according to the word of thy Lord, thou shouldst become like even unto God by thy loving kindness; and thou wouldst also have obtained a good name among the children of men, and thou wouldst have been called by every man the "father of the orphans;" and every one who saw or heard of thee would have ascribed blessing to thee because of thy good works. And as thy righteousness triumphed before God, even so would it have become manifest in the sight of the children of men; and moreover thou wouldst have been a pattern of good unto others that they might emulate thee. For when the owners of possessions, like unto thyself, saw thee distributing thy wealth unto the needy, they also would be urged to become like unto thee, and they also would become givers; and thereby thou wouldst have acquired a twofold |268 righteousness; firstly because of thine own gifts, and secondly because thou wast the cause of charity in others, who also became givers like unto thyself. And if thou hadst wished to become one who fasted, it would have been easy for thee to do so whilst thou wast in thé world, even as it is for all the other men who fast whom thbu seest in the world, and the triumph of thy fasting would have been the more increased because that while meats were nigh unto thee, and the foods which the belly eagerly desireth were laid out in thy sight, thou didst conquer them all by the might of thy temperance. And in this thing thou wouldst have excelled more than the solitary dwellers, for the victory of the man, who overcometh [p. 280] the things which he findeth near at hand, of which he may make use if he please, is greater than that of him that is abstemious because he hath nothing, for even if he sought to. take pleasure and to enjoy himself, the materials for his pleasure are not forthcoming. And if thou wert a lover of prayer it would also have been easy for thee to pray secretly in thy house, and to go at all times to the temple of God, and to carry others with thee, and there is not one good thing which it would not have been especially easy for thee to do whilst thou wast in the world if thou hadst wished. For what man rejecteth pleasures with royalty, or who excuseth himself from taking pleasure if he be certain that the pleasure which is about to come be ready for him? And this pleasure would have been found to be thine because of thy loving kindness and alms to the poor.
And also after these things others will gather together and hem in thy soul, and they are the evil devils, together with Satan their master, who depict |269 before thine eyes the labours of the ascetic life, and the cruel pains which befall those who fast, and the grievous sicknesses which are produced from meagreness of food, and which are neither easy of cure, nor will it be easy for thee to heal them because thou mayest not make use of the things which cure and heal them; and if thou submittest to bring human aids to them by reason of the pain [p. 281] of thy sufferings, thou wilt become a cause of stumbling to others who see thee. And moreover, the path of this rule of life is long, and it cannot be brought to an end except by death. And if thou wishest to make an end thereof whilst thou art in this life, and thou ceasest from thy labours, behold thou wilt be made a laughingstock and a mockery by all thine acquaintances: and because thou mayest not cease, behold thou must bear the burden of the afflictions, and thy sufferings will be increased by many things----by the weight of thy labours, and by their length, and by the pains and sicknesses which are produced therefrom, and because it is not easy for thee to bring nigh things which would alleviate thy pains, and because if thou wouldst lighten thine afflictions by means of aids which thou couldst bring unto them, thou wouldst become a laughingstock to those who behold thee, and because thou hast become an alien to thy race and friends, and because the law of thy order of life doth not allow thee to draw nigh to speech and intercourse with them, and because thou, who wast formerly a giver of charity to others, hast become in need of receiving charity from others, and if thou submittest thyself to accept it, behold flattery of those from whom thou acceptest it is demanded of thee, and because thou acceptest it not, behold thou art tortured by the necessity of want. |270
These and such like things will the devils gather together and bring against the mind of the disciple immediately he hath gone forth from the world, and they cast him into a state of fear and trembling, and they disturb the balance of his thoughts, and drive him to smite his hands together, for what to do he knoweth not; [p. 282] and they sink his soul in sorrow and they set him between the things which are in the middle, and those which are at the end, in order that he may remember the things which he hath left behind, and may keep in mind those which are about to come, and he considereth their promises in his mind, as if they carried convincing proof [with them], and especially of those thoughts which move in thee at the beginning, not of wantonness, and of depravity, and of an evil rule of life, but of lovingkindness, and of the love of giving alms, and of all the other good deeds which a man hath power to do while he is in the world. And these things do not rise up in thy soul as the friends of good deeds, but in order that they may bring thee down from the lofty grade of righteousness unto one which is more humble. And when thou hast hearkened unto them, and thou hast gone down with them, they will also bring thee down from that grade to another which is lower, and little by little they will carry and lead thee down until they sweep thee into, and drown thee in the abyss of wickedness. And they are cunning in their promises, for where they see that thou keepest fast hold, there do they multiply thy sufferings. They do not straightway take and bring unto thee that which thou hatest in their promises, but that which is dear to thee, and next they persuade thee to desist only a little from the strictness of thy rule, and |271 next by reason of all these things misery of thought groweth strong in thee, and sadness and outcrying are renewed in thy mind; and joy dwelleth apart from thee away in the distance, [p. 283] both the joy of the world, because thou hast forsaken it, and the joy of Christ, because thou hast not yet arrived thereat. And thy soul remaineth in the middle of these storms, like a ship the steersman of which is asleep, and it is buffeted hither and thither, and it drifteth and is knocked about on all sides, and it is dashed upon every rock, and doubts of all kinds beat upon it, and the course of the way of thy understanding is perturbed, and the sign-posts of the paths for thy footsteps are destroyed, and heaviness crowdeth upon thee, and drowsiness layeth hold upon thy body and upon thy soul, and thou becomest sunk in the heavy sleep of negligence as in the night. And as fear increaseth in the night season in those who are therein, even so in thee fear increaseth, because thou hast thyself darkened thy soul from the light of knowledge; for knowledge in the soul, from which also joy is produced, takes the place of light in the world. And as at the departure of light darkness is produced in creation, even so when the knowledge of the spirit is lacking, the darkness of tribulation is spread abroad in the region of the soul, together with the black night of sorrow. And from this black night fear concerning what is passed and concerning what shall come beginneth to arise in the soul, and tribulation and trembling, and terror and feebleness, and cowardice, and misery of mind, and the perpetual affliction [p. 284] which ariseth thereby and therefrom are renewed therein at all times. And it happeneth that it is afflicted when there is no need for fear of affliction, and its understanding is perturbed, though it |272 knoweth not what is the cause of its perturbation, and no one of its motions is wholly and entirely pleasant unto it.
In this country then, O disciple who goest forth from the world, there is a place whereto thou mayest pass, for, like the people from Egypt, thou also art called to go forth after God. And as the sea stood like a hedge before the Hebrews, and the Egyptians followed after them, even so is placed before thee the fearful abyss of afflictions, and sufferings, and labours, and tribulations, and punishments, and want, and poverty, and pains, and sicknesses, and deprivation from friends, and remoteness from fellow-creatures, and removal from parents, and silence, and contemplation, and close confinement, and a humble garb, and meagre food, and self-abnegation, and asceticism, and reproaches and insults if thou art slack and remiss, and labours and fatigue if thou art strenuous, and vigils which emaciate, and torturing thirst, and protracted bending in double; all these things, and others which are like unto them, stand up like a hedge against thy coming forth, while the devils, like the Egyptians, pursue thee from behind. But fear thou not, neither be thou afraid, for instead of Moses, Jesus is with thee, for like as Moses clave to the congregation, even so also doth Christ cleave to thy soul, [p. 285] and He saith unto thy tortured and afflicted mind that which was said by Moses to the Jews, "The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace." 5 Therefore thou shalt not be in fear as were the people, but thou shalt rouse up, and watch like Moses, and cry out to the Lord even as he cried out; for it is thus written, "Moses |273 prayed the whole night with much crying out and suffering, and at the morning watch the Lord said to him, Why criest thou before Me? Incline thy hand over the sea, and divide it, and the Hebrews shall pass over it, but the Egyptians shall be drowned therein;" 6 now all the things which happened at that time are a type of those which shall be done unto thee. And enemies, that is, evil devils, shall gather together and crowd against thy soul, even as the Egyptians who pursued after the Jews were gathered together and crowded upon them; but as Moses forsook the fear of the Egyptians and turned himself unto prayer and unto crying out to God, do thou also forsake the anxieties and thoughts which devilish enemies make to rise up in thee. And stand thou up in earnest prayer, and cry out with deep feeling from the heart, and from the depth of the thoughts of the soul let the voice of thy cry rise up, and straightway that answer which was returned unto Moses shall also be spoken unto thee, "Why dost thou cry out before Me? Incline thy hand over the sea, and divide it;" and straightway [thy] afflictions will give way, and the covering which was set before thy face will be rolled up, [p. 286] and the terrible depths of affliction will give way, and the things which thou didst think could not be crossed over with the foot, thou shalt tread upon, and thou shalt pass over the depth thereof. And difficult things shall become easy for thee, and that wall, which is built in such a manner that thou didst think it could not be broken through, shall be immediately swept away from before thee, and thy prayer shall rend and pass over the |274 abyss of all the wickedness which is gathered together and laid before thee. And as the pillar stood in olden time behind the Hebrews, and afterwards came in front of them, and there was darkness between them and the Egyptians, so also here shineth before thee the' light of the Redemption, and darkness is placed between thee and trie devils who are thy enemies. And in that country through which thou art passing, they will be drowned, and the afflictions from which thou hast been freed will turn and fall upon the devils who are thy enemies, and sorrow and tribulation will turn upon them; and the joy which they had when they thought that they were fighting with thee and would overcome thee, like the pillar is taken from before them, and set before thee, like the pillar of light which was taken from the Egyptians, and which came in front of the Hebrews. And as Pharaoh and the Egyptians were drowned in the sea, so also shall Satan and all his devils be drowned in the depths of the tribulation in which thou wast sinking. Therefore do thou in thy thoughts repeat the words of Moses, "The Lord shall fight [p. 287] for you, and ye shall hold your peace;" 7 and as the Hebrews passed over with Moses, even so shall all thy triumphs pass over with thee.
Now in the night-season fear ruled over the Hebrews that it might be an example unto thee of the fear which is with thee when thy life is, as it were, in the night, and far away from the sight of the morning; and as when the night passeth away fear is removed, even so is it with thee, for immediately the light of the Redemption dawneth upon thee, at the end of thy prayer thy |275 tribulations are blotted out, and thy thoughts become light,-like the members of the body in the morning. And the gloomy cloud is scattered, and a bright and glorious sky shineth in thy soul, and the sea of thy afflictions is passed over on foot, and the wall of grief which was built before thee is broken through, and thou walkest in confidence through a terrible country, and thou passest over a depth which was never [before] crossed by thee, and thou treadest with the foot a country which the old nature never trod, and thou art delivered from the yoke of subjection, and thou goest into the land of freedom, and thou forsakest Egypt with all its fatigue, and a desert which is full of heavenly blessings receiveth thee. And thou art conceived and brought forth again into the new world of the conversation of the Spirit, and in the country which conceived and gave thee birth are tied the wheels of thine enemies, and the violence of their onset is broken, and the progress of their advance is slackened, and the uproar of their voices sinketh down and dieth away, and afflictions return upon them like waves, and those who wished to overwhelm thee are themselves overwhelmed in the bottommost part of the abyss.
Do thou, then, when thou standest upon the shore of the sea of afflictions and tribulations after [p. 288] [thy] glorious passage, turn, and thou shalt see thine enemies smitten down therein, and thy passions, together with devils, drowned therein, and all the life of the old man sinking down into it. And when thou seest [this], let thy soul be gratified at the destruction of those who hate thee, and when thou hast also obtained confidence through the death of thine enemies, turn thyself and look upon the holy mountain of God, and begin to |276 walk in a country through which thou hast not passed, and thy journey shall be through the spiritual world of a spiritual rule and conduct of life, through which thou shalt be held worthy to see the things which are above the world. And thou shalt eat spiritual manna which thy fathers ate not, and thou shalt drink the sweet and pleasant waters which flow down to thee from the rock of Christ, and thou shalt sit in a cloud of light, and the pillar of the Spirit shall shine upon thee, and thou shalt see things which thou didst never see before, and shalt hear voices which thou didst never hear before, and in thy journeying day by day thou shalt draw nigh unto Zion the heavenly mountain, where the Shekhinah of the hidden Being dwelleth. And thou shalt be an associate of the knowledge of angels, and thou shalt feel spiritual things which are above the world, and thy clothing and thy sandals shall grow with thy stature ----that is to say with thy new manhood----every day. And the ornaments of thy clothing----which is Christ----shall be revealed unto thee, and thy sandals----which are the preparation of the Gospel of peace----shall grow with thee. And thou shalt enter into the mysteries of the Spirit, [p. 289] and thou shalt participate in the fulness of the knowledge of Christ, moving at all times m the motions of life, and admiration of the unspeakable majesty of God will carry thee away, thou being dead unto all the visible world. And thy habitation shall be completely in the world of the spirit, and thou shalt appear unto those who behold thee as a mere form of the outward appearance of the body, the whole motion of thy inner man dwelling in the heaven of heavens, and thou shalt live gloriously in the countries which have neither bounds nor limits, where there |277 is neither carnal form, nor constitution of body, and where there is no change of natures, and no passing away of elements, and where there is only quietness and tranquillity, and where all the dwellers in the land of spiritual beings cry out with incorporeal voices, "Holy, Holy, Holy", to the adorable Being, and where thou shalt taste what thou hast never tasted with the palate of the body----now thou shalt feel that which never cometh to the senses of the body, and thou shalt know only that thou dost experience happiness, but what thy happiness is thou shalt not be able to explain----and where instead of the converse with man, thy converse will be spiritually with Jesus Christ. And thou shalt bear labours and not perceive the affliction thereof, for the perception of Christ will not allow thee to feel thine own afflictions, and. the plucking away of thy mind towards God will deprive thee of all the feeling which beings in the body have. [And thy habitation shall be] where thou shalt see, and hear, and taste, and breathe, and with all the senses [p. 290] of thy inner man thou shalt receive the taste of the world of God, and according to the nature of [that] world, thy senses shall also spiritually taste it; and where, face to face, as unto Moses, they will give unto thee divine revelations, and within the Holy of Holies, which God, and not man, hath established, visions and wonders will receive thee, and the hiddenness of the glory of God which will live in thy thoughts. And thy life shall be among spiritual powers in the understanding of the spirit, where the ark of spiritual wonders and of divine knowledge is set, not as in a mystery but in the truth of knowledge, which cometh upon thy knowledge without the mediation of any [other] thing. |278 [And thy habitation shall be] not where an altar of gold is established wherefrom there goeth up the incense which can be perceived by the body, but where is another altar of the spirit which receiveth the pure incense of all holy and rational thoughts; and where a chest of manna, wherein the food which was given by angels is preserved, is not placed as a type, but [where] is established a table of life, which is Christ Himself, from Whom all His spiritual members receive the food of the spirit, as do the members of the material body from the body. [And thy habitation shall be] not where the rod, which was the sign of the election of Aaron, is laid up for a memorial, but where Jesus Christ Himself, the Prince of priests, performeth the office of priest before His Father, [and before] living and rational beings. [And thy habitation shall be] where thou art wholly and entirely dead unto the feeling of the things which are visible, and where thou shalt hear nothing of the things which are spoken and perceived at the same time; [p. 291] and all the members of the old man shall die within thee, and thou shalt be clothed with the new man which is renewed in knowledge after the manner of his Creator.
In this conversation shall thy habitation be, O disciple, after thou hast departed from the conversation of the world which is after the flesh, if when thou hast entered into this country according to the law, thou labourest as the law of the country requireth, and thou clost not take with thee into the country of life dead members of the world which is dead; because a man goeth forth from the world in outward appearance he doth not [necessarily] go forth from the world, but he must cast off the world and all its rule and manner of |279 life, inwardly as well as outwardly, and he must make himself a stranger unto all the remembrance thereof, and as he hath cut off and cast from him the life which is carnal, so also must he cut off and cast from him the dead thoughts which meditate upon dead things. Now as is the nature of the body in which the understanding is bound, so also must of necessity be the understanding in its thoughts, for when it meditateth upon the things of the world, its whole motion is dead, but when its objects of thought are the things of the spirit, it is moved with living and spiritual things as [with] life. And apply the example from the similitude of thy body also to the spiritual understanding in which thy thoughts move. For as the body so long as it dwelleth in the carnal world is carnal, together with all its manner of life and deeds, but when the time for it to be removed to the world of the spirit hath come it is made new and becometh spiritual, and then [p. 292] entereth into the world of spiritual beings, even so also so long as the mind dwelleth in the world, and its thought and meditation are fixed thereupon, is it carnal, and is itself like unto the nature of the world in which it liveth. But if its habitation be in that world of the spirit, and it be moved in all its meditations according to that which is in that country, its thought henceforth becometh spiritual according to the ordering of that country in which its motions perform [their] actions.
Now therefore it is seemly that every disciple who goeth forth from the world should follow after this part, for this is our inheritance, and in this country is our conversation also, according to the teaching of Paul, who said, "Our conversation is in heaven; from whence we wait for our Vivifier, our Lord Jesus Christ: Who |280 shall change the body of our humility, [and] Who shall make it a counterpart of His glorious body, according to His great power by which everything hath been made subject unto Him." 8 But as I have said, so long as a man is shut up in the womb of the world he per-ceiveth not this conversation, neither is he able to perceive it if he goeth forth from the world in the things which are manifest, and doeth it not in the things which are hidden; for this conversation cannot be experienced in the body, but the spiritual understanding tasteth it when it hath been purified from the thoughts and from the cares of the body. Now, as I have said, the beginning of this path is the end of the path of the world, for until a man hath ended that path which is carnal he cannot travel in this spiritual path; but the end of the path of the world is absolute poverty of everything which is in this world [p. 293], and it is not being destitute of one thing and not of another, and letting go one thing and clinging fast unto another, but a man must set free and deliver his own members from all the carnal things of the world which lay hold upon a man. One man is held fast by the world in all his members, and another by two thirds of them, and another hath one half a slave, and the other half free. Another hath one third of himself free, and the other two thirds in bondage; and another hath only a small portion of him subjugated, while all his other members are free and unrestrained; and another hath one only of his members held fast and bound, and although all his members can move, his body remaineth in the same place. But whosoever is fettered in one of his members his whole person belongeth unto |281 the world, even as the whole body of the bird, which is held fast in the snare by one foot only, is also held fast in the snare by its foot; and although its other foot and its wings are unfettered, and it setteth them in motion to fly, yet the shackle and fetter which are upon one foot allow it not to mount up into the pure air, but it falleth down again upon the place where it was, and it quivereth spasmodically in death upon the ground, and bedraggleth its wings and whole body with the weight of the dust. And thus also is the man whose every member is unfettered by the shackles of the world save one, for that one member in which he is fettered [p. 294] fettereth his whole body, and although he is bound but a little strong chains are cast over his whole person completely.
Now therefore it is meet for those who desire to be freed from the fetters of the world to release themselves completely, and to put off and to cast away their old clothes and to put on new, which is the rule and conduct of Christ. And this apparel is the apparel of the kingdom, and it is meet that all the ornaments of an excellent rule and conduct of life should be found therein. It is meet that whosoever wisheth to change his apparel should put off wholly [the old], and put on completely [the new], and these similitudes are placed for thee as an example concerning that about which I am giving thee counsel, and from things which relate to the body thou must gain understanding concerning those of the spirit For behold, whosoever wisheth to pour anything into a vessel, until he hath emptied it of what there is already in it cannot pour therein that which he wisheth to pour; now if that which is emptied from the vessel, and that which is poured |282 therein [in its place] be not similar, although the vessel be washed and scoured, the sweetness of the taste of that which is newly poured therein [is not able] to change the former smell and taste. And again, when the husbandman wisheth to cast into his ground good seed, and he seeth that there are therein brambles and briars, he uprooteth and hoeth them up first of all, and then he casteth the good seed into his field. [p. 295] And again, whosoever wisheth to put on a new garment first of all casteth away the old one which is upon his body, and then he putteth on the new one. And thus also doth the physician, for he deviseth means and removeth skilfully the putrefaction which is upon the boil by means of acid and astringent medicines, and then he layeth on the bandage which buildeth up the new flesh. And like unto these many things are performed in nature, for except the old things be cut off and cast away, men cannot bring those which are new, especially if they are the opposites of each other, and thus, in this case also, the disciple of Christ----if he wisheth to draw nigh to the perfect rule of the life of Christ----is bound to cut off and to cast from him all the life and conduct of the old world, and then he must draw near to the new life, and cast off ignorance, and put on the knowledge of the spirit; for the fettering which is in the things which abide not ariseth from ignorance, and the unloosing of them cometh from knowledge. Whosoever casteth off the world, casteth off ignorance, and whoso putteth on the world putteth on folly, for true knowledge is that which forgetteth not that which is not and which thinketh of it as if it existed; and ignorance is known by being fettered, and it thinketh that which abideth not is something which |283 is true and enduring. So therefore those who put on [p. 296] the world put it on as something which endureth, and it is justly said of those who are ignorant, "They have mistaken the shadow for the substance", and rightly have been called "wise" those who have made themselves strangers to the world, and have cast off early the old rag before it hath cast them off. Whosoever the world casteth off hath no happiness therewith, for the world hath fled from him, and hath rejected him, and thrown him away as something which is superfluous; but those are worthy of blessing and praise who of their own good freewill make themselves strangers to the world, and who go out from it that it may not be an impediment to their course. For as is a covering before the sight, even so is the care of the world before the Divine vision, and as our sight is not able to pierce and to pass through any dense body which may be before it, whether it be a mountain, or a building, or some other such like thing, and until a man cometh to the top of the mountain, or walketh over it, he is unable to see the things which are thereupon, even so our thought is unable to consider the things which are outside the world so long as the wall of the world is built before our vision, and its heavy shadows and the mountains and hills of its cares and anxieties hem us in on every side. If then a man wisheth to see the spiritual rule which is outside the world, and to look closely at the heavenly things which are above it, let him go outside [p. 297] the world, or ascend above it, and behold two things will appear to him:----the spiritual rule of life which is established by the motion of living thoughts, and the kingdom of heaven which is above the world; for when |284 a man is freed from the passions of the world, his habitation is, as it were, in the kingdom of heaven. And what is the happiness of the kingdom of heaven? Is it not the abrogation of afflictions, and the ministration of all things new, and is it not that misery and troubles shall be dissolved and flee away even as it is written, "We shall rejoice in the varieties of spiritual beings, and in the glorious life, and in the pleasures of the happiness which is sealed and laid up [for us], and we shall have neither expectation of grief, nor fear and terror of calamities which are to come, for that world consisteth wholly of new things; for the inhabitants thereof rejoice always in things which are new, and these are the joy which is laid up, and the happiness which is perpetual, and in these also is life found by the soul which is freed from passions, and which hath destroyed from itself the glooms of suspicion." And well hath one of the spiritual teachers said, "The kingdom of heaven is the soul which is without passions, and which hath the knowledge of the things which exist in very truth, that is to say, words and motions which are not of. the body. For when the soul is freed from the passions of wickedness from which are produced fear, and trouble, and care, and want of confidence, it is immediately filled with the opposites of these things, that is hope, and courage, [p. 298] and gladness, and happiness of thought. For what is there that can trouble, or of whom shall be afraid the man who hath cut off and cast from him all the causes of trouble and of fear? For trouble ariseth by reason [of fear] lest he be deprived of the world, and of its pleasures, and of its delights, and fear ariseth [from the fear] lest he become a stranger to the life in the body |285 which belongeth to time. And when a man by the philosophy of Christ casteth off these two things, that is, the love of the world and the love of life, he is freed from trouble and fear, in the front of which are the Gehenna of the future, and the judgment which is prepared; these things are the Gehenna which giveth torment." And if freedom from passions be the kingdom of heaven, according to the word of that spiritually wise man, then the bondage of the passions must also be the Gehenna which giveth torture, and the outer darkness and the worm which gnaweth into the heart and the thoughts. For the taste of both things is given therefrom because the kingdom of the thoughts is a sign of that kingdom which is to come, and the Gehenna of the torture of fear and tribulation is a pledge of the Gehenna which is for ever, because that pledge also which is given for [both these] things hath an affinity with that thing for which it is given, as in this world everything which is given in advance as a pledge for something hath an affinity with that for which it is given as a pledge. And so also the spiritual mysteries, which [p. 299] here in this world have been delivered unto us in the place of a pledge, have a great affinity with that true incarnation of Christ, for here in this world we receive the Body and Blood of Christ that they may be unto us a pledge of that of which we shall eat spiritually in the next world from the Person of Christ, and from them, like the members from the body, we receive strength and sustenance, and this pledge, through spiritual interchange, hath an affinity with the Person; and thus also the Body and Blood are called [the affinity] of the Person.
And again we receive the Holy Spirit by baptism, |286 that it may be unto us the first-fruits of the perfect intercourse which is about to come unto us in the Mysteries of the Spirit, and how great is the affinity of the pledge with that which maketh it perfect the very name itself testifieth; for two spirits are mentioned by the word of the Book. And again, concerning Christ it is written, "He was to us the first-fruits of the good things "which are to come",9 and Christ the first-fruits hath an affinity with us, and with the good things which are to come unto us, for He became man, and with the good things which are about to be unto us, which by the fore-knowledge of the Father were prepared aforetime for us, for He was God, and He Himself together with God, by His will, which nothing preceded, prepared aforetime these good things for us. So likewise the joy of this world which is born of the freedom from passions hath an affinity with that joy which is about to be given unto those who are worthy [p. 300] thereof, and again the Gehenna of tribulation and sorrow which is born in this world of the ministration of the evil passions is akin unto that Gehenna which is to come. Let us then be earnest to put off the world, and to put off therewith also the passions which spring up in us therefrom, and let us put off also the evil passions, and let us clothe ourselves after them with the living motions of joy and love. And if thou wishest to know, O disciple, that without the going forth from the world thou art not able to draw nigh unto the rule and life of perfection, thou mayest learn it from the things which are written in the Holy Books, and thou mayest be mindful also of the lives of the spiritual men which |287 are written in the Holy Books. And who of all the ancients, who were accounted worthy of the sublime and wonderful gift, was like unto John the Baptist? According to the testimony, which Christ spake concerning him, "He was the greatest of all the Prophets"; and again He said, "Verily I say unto you, among those born of women there is none greater than John the Baptist." 10 Now let us understand and [see how and what was the rule and conduct of life of this marvellous man who arrived at such greatness as this, and why he was accounted worthy of all this gift, and with what increase and with how great labours, and after what asceticism, and for how long a time he lived a solitary life away from human intercourse; and when we have seen and have understood these matters of his life, let us consider the greatness [p. 301] of the things which, were unto him, and let us understand first of all the things which concern the will, and afterwards the things which concern grace, for until the will shewed its fruits the Spirit gave not its gift.
Observe then the life of this marvellous man, who from the time of his childhood was set apart from dwelling in the world, and from intercourse with the children of men; and he was not first of all denied and polluted, and afterwards cleansed and purified, but his youth passed in purity before it arrived at the motions of nature which distinguish between good and evil things. And he was brought up in the wilderness, and he had not in him any worldly care whatsoever; and he did not taste by experience the wickedness of the children of men, and then cast it away, neither |288 was he first moved by lusts and by passions, and afterwards came to peace of the thoughts by the labours of his freewill. Now that a man, who would stand in this rule of life, should depart from his own wickedness before he receiveth the taste of the wickedness of the world helpeth the purity of the soul of those who are worthy thereof in no slight degree, even as Adam remained for a very short time in purity of soul before he transgressed the commandment. And John, because he was about to be set apart for the ministration of Divine mysteries, and because a gift which had not been [hitherto] given to the children of men was about to come unto him, separated himself from his childhood and went forth into the desert, that being untempted by evil things, and his mind receiving not the impress of the likeness of the remembrances of the body, and being neither disturbed nor troubled by the cares and anxieties of the world, he might receive spiritual revelations and the doctrines of Divine mysteries in purity of spirit, and might feel that to which the whole race of mortal beings arriveth not; [p. 302] and for this reason he received also the Holy Spirit while he was in his mother's womb, in order that the thoughts of his soul, by the instigation of the Spirit, might be stirred up in a spiritual manner. That he should be born without the union of his parents was not right, for this belonged to Jesus God alone, but because he was about to receive visions and revelations which were above the old nature, he received the Spirit while he was in the womb, after he had been conceived by the union of his parents. That it would have been easy for God to have created him newly, like Adam and Eve, there can be no doubt, but by this [act] He |289 would have made him a stranger to the old creation, and the Creator did not desire to do this, lest it might be thought that He was rejecting the former creation. And it hath been said that it befitted Christ only to be conceived out of the old nature without carnal union, and that being brought up moreover in the world, and receiving experience of the wickedness thereof, He might be suddenly worthy of the grace which is above the world, by election after the manner of the Apostles, which was to be given after the Crucifixion, when the old nature was dead, and sin also and all the evil passions had died therewith.
Now because John was to be worthy of the knowledge of the Apostles before the dissolution of the curse, and the abrogation of sin, and the matter of the Cross, he rightly received the Spirit in the womb, and he had the growth which was outside the world in order that by these means [p. 303] he might attain unto the natural innocency which the first man possessed before he transgressed the commandment, and that by this innocency of soul he might receive the knowledge of Divine mysteries; for where through grace these marvellous things took place, by these marks and means sufferings took place. And when in the unspeakable depth of the love of God the Redemption was completed, the Person of God Himself stood in the midst like a freeman with power, and with His own hand He annulled the things which were old, and inaugurated those which were new, and the old man died upon the Cross, according to that which is written by Paul, "Our old man "was crucified with Him",11 and the new man was revealed, |290 and made known, and became visible, and not only that which was worthy of the dwelling of Paradise, after the manner of the first Adam, but that which was worthy to dwell also in heaven, and to go round about among spiritual beings, and to be like unto them in every thing. And therefore after this those who are experienced in all wicknessess, and tax-gatherers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and thieves, and worshippers of creatures, Grace seizeth suddenly, and without either plans or preparations maketh them worthy of the wealth of its mysteries, as in a new nature, it work-eth in whomsoever it pleaseth, because the old man hath been crucified, and is dead, according to the word of Paul.12 And again that Apostle saith from the whole person of his human nature, "O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from this body of death"? 13 And after he has asked questioningly who is able to deliver him, [p. 304] he revealeth, and confesseth and teacheth by his word Who He is that shall deliver him from the old and mortal nature, saying, "I thank God through our Lord Jesus Christ Who hath delivered me from this body of death".
And after these things then in which it hath been made known unto us that there are the death, and dissolution, and abrogation, and destruction of the old man, and the vivification, and the renewal, and the appearance, and the revelation of the new man, Divine Grace worketh mightily all things which are efficacious, and all powers, and all knowledge, and all mysteries and revelations, and all the dispensation of the spirit, and the work which is above nature, in whomsoever it pleaseth. |291 These things which have been spoken by us briefly are [intended] to shew the cause of the going forth of John as a preacher in the wilderness, and why he received the Spirit from the womb, and why he was brought up in the desert from his childhood. Do thou then, O disciple, at the hearing of these things be strenuous to cast off the world, and draw nigh unto the freedom of a pure rule and conduct of life; and love perpetual converse with God, and flee earnestly from all human speech, and take heed unto the good things of this rule of life through that which happened unto John the Baptist. For if some time before the Crucifixion He, through Whom old things were dissolved and abrogated, and new things were made to appear, and [Who] discovered the solitary life, and the freedom and alienation from the world, gave unto John the Baptist the knowledge of the Apostles, through which things he possessed the wisdom which is above human nature, how much more now can this [p. 365] spiritual life stablish thee in the knowledge of the mysteries of Christ, and render thee unspeakably happy in the feeling of spiritual revelations! Accept thou as a proof [of this] the life of this righteous man, and learn also therefrom that a man cannot become a perfect disciple of Christ unless he make himself a stranger to the whole world after the manner of this righteous man, even as the word of Christ also hath taught us openly, "Except a man renounce the whole world, and his brethren, and his kinsfolk, and his family, and his father, and his mother, and everything that he hath, and that which is greater than them all, even his own life, he cannot be My disciple".14 And again in another |292 place He restrained that man who wished to perform two things in one, that is, honour to [his] parents and discipleship to Himself, and told him that it was impossible that two things which were the opposites of each other could happen at the same time: "Teacher, suffer me to go and bury my father and my mother, and I will come after Thee",15 that is to say, "I will keep the first commandment which God commanded me, Honour thy parents and be obedient unto them, and then I will come after Thee and minister unto Thee". And what answer did Jesus return to this? "Leave the dead to bury their own dead; and go thou and preach the kingdom of God.16 It is not necessary [p. 306] for thee to keep the law, for it hath been kept and is dissolved, neither hast thou any need to minister unto natural parents, because I have been obedient unto parents according to the body, and I have ministered unto them on behalf of everyone. The yoke of the law and nature is henceforth lifted from off thee, and thou art left a free man unto thyself, there being no worldly power that can subdue thee, for thou art dead unto the world, and thou art dead unto it. Dead bodies have not service paid unto them, they are only wrapped in shrouds and buried; leave the dead then to bury their dead, and do thou go and preach the kingdom of God".
Behold also we learn from this testimony that the man who becometh a disciple of Jesus hath not even power to minister unto [his] natural parents, because he hath a true Father, Who by His grace hath enrolled him for Himself [as] a son, and Who hath set |293 him apart for the ministration of His will. Hear also again another proof, which like the preceding will bring instruction nigh unto thee, and the example of the testimony of which will urge thee to deny thyself everything, and to go forth after Jesus. "And one of His disciples drew nigh and said unto Jesus, Suffer me to bid farewell to them that are at my house, and I will come after Thee".17 Hear also in this case what the Master answered the disciple, and receive it as if it had been spoken unto thee by that disciple: "No man, having put his hand upon the ploughshare, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God",18 [that is to say]," Whosoever fulfilleth this work in nature, and who guideth the plough with oxen according to the custom [p. 307] of man, and who suffereth himself to look behind him instead of in front----now in this manner the work would never be completed----is not able to advance, nor are his furrows cut straight, and the oxen also do not travel forwards; and although this work be visible, and one which can be seen, and it taketh place in the very earth itself, yet if the ploughman look behind him, his labour is spoiled. Now as concerning My own discipleship, one labour differeth from another, even as world differeth from world, and life from life, and immortal from mortal beings, and God from the children of men; if then thou takest the yoke of My discipleship upon thy soul and body, thou must perform the service of My commandments, and thou must turn thyself back to the world, and it must not be a care to thee to make peace with thy kinsfolk, and thou must not be anxious to pay unto them the |294 obligation of honour according to the body, and to fulfil unto them the law of the fulness of the world, and then to come after Me. For if thou wouldest pay the obligations of the world, those which are due unto Me cannot be paid; and if thou art anxious not to offend the world in anything, why then shouldst thou set thyself to provoke Me? Let there be no peace between thee and the world, in order that thou thyself mayest have peace with Me; thou hast neither house nor household, why then shouldst thou hasten to bid them farewell? For enmity is set between thee and them, why then shouldst thou be anxious to be a friend unto them? I have not come to cast peace upon the earth,19 [p. 308] why then dost thou hasten to have peace with the children of the earth? I cry War, and yet thou hastenest to peace; I preach Division, and thou hastenest to strengthen concord. I have come to set a man against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the bridegroom against the bride, and thou hastenest to salute the children of thy house, and to sew together with thy folly the rent which I have made in the world. I have rent this garment of concord because it was woven wholly of error, and in its place I have woven another garment of heavenly peace; do thou also weave this garment, and hasten not to sew an old garment. I have put an end to the world which was wont to increase wickedness in every man, and I have scattered that brotherhood which was assembled for the gathering together of sins; hasten thou not to become a companion of those who work iniquity". [The disciple said], "I will go and bid |295 farewell to the children of my house," but Christ said unto him, "Thou hast no peace with them", [for] "Ye shall salute no man by the way";20 and the meaning of this speech is that Christ thereby denied His disciples also that salutation of the peace of the world. These things were said in the person of one disciple unto every man, that is to say, unto [all] those who have dedicated themselves unto discipleship, for it is better that a man should not be a disciple unto God in name, being in truth a disciple of the world, and that he should not hire himself unto One, and serve the other.
It is not necessary that the world should arrive at perfection, because its habit [p. 309] and its life are not dedicated unto perfection; but the disciple by the very mark of his garb preacheth perfection concerning himself, and in the things according to which he appeareth openly unto the children of men he hath given the promise concerning himself to appear also inwardly unto God. The marks of discipleship which are inscribed upon thee outwardly urge that all virtues should be written for thee upon thy soul, and in the manner in which thou appearest unto the children of men outwardly is it necessary for thee to appear also unto God inwardly. Thou hast put off the care for the apparel of the world, put off also the love of adornment inwardly from thy soul. Thou art remote from the marriage which is manifest, make thyself to be remote also from the secret lust of the thoughts. Thou abstainest from the eating of flesh, and from the pleasures and rewards which are visible, abstain thou also in thy soul from the wish that would desire meats. Thou |296 hast removed the hair of the secular life of the world from off thy head, and this is a proof that thou shalt neither be fettered by the cares thereof, nor bound in its anxieties, and that thou shalt not be held fast by any of its passions, which are many and without number. Thou hast gone out from the world, and thou hast made thyself a stranger unto it by [thy] outward garb, go forth then from it, and be unto it a stranger also in thy innermost thoughts. Thou hast in outward appearance made thyself destitute of riches, be thou also destitute of the love of riches in thy innermost mind. Thou hast rejected the sounds of song and the pleasures of the world, delight thyself then diligently, and with all [p. 310] thy soul in the sounds of the psalms of the Spirit of God. Let thy discipleship be known more from within than without, and as the children of men discern that thou art a disciple of Christ by thy outward appearance, even so let Christ know thee to be His disciple from thy inward appearance.
Take heed that thy discipleship be not be unto thee for trafficking and for buying and selling, and do not place upon thyself the noble garb of discipleship, neither for vainglory, nor for the pleasures which pass away. Thou shalt not sell spiritual for carnal things, and thou shalt not exchange heavenly things for the corruptible treasures which are laid up on earth; to Him only to Whom thou wast promised [by] thy covenant be thou a disciple. For God taught thee of old, and He removed from before thy sight this deceitful expectation, [say ing], "A servant cannot serve two masters",21 and again by another testimony He warned thee if thou couldst |297 not become a perfect disciple to remain in the life of the world, and it is better for thee, lest when thou hast begin to build, thou art not able to finish, and thou becomest a mockery unto every man. "What man beginneth to build a tower, and doth not first sit down and count the cost, whether he have [wherewith] to finish it? Lest haply, having begun to build, and being unable to finish, every man who passeth by and seeth him shall laugh and mock at him, saying, This man began [to build], but was not able to finish. Or what king who goeth to war to fight [p. 311] with a fellow king, [doth not sit down first and take counsel whether] he can meet with ten thousand [men] him that cometh against him with twenty thousand, or who doth not send ambassadors and seek for peace if he be unable to meet in war the multitude of his forces?" 22
And behold, by these things He Who called thee to be His disciple hath taught thee that thou shouldst not begin in this path unless thou art determined to finish in it, and that thou shouldst not lay the foundations to build a tower, if thou hast it not in thy mind to finish it, and that thou shouldst not go forth to war against Satan, unless the hosts of mighty thoughts be gathered together about thee, lest having gone forth to war the Enemy overcome thee, and [thy] discipleship be blasphemed. Whosoever hath not made a promise is not required by the word of rectitude to do the things which he hath not promised [to do]; for until the promise [hath been made, the matter] is voluntary, but from [the time of] the promise and onwards [the matter] becometh a law. So long as the yoke of |298 promise hath not been laid upon the freewill of thy soul, thy service is voluntary, but if thou takest the sign of discipleship, and the promise of the. covenant of Christ, thy life is no longer according to thine own will, but it must be according as the law demandeth, which of thine own freewill thou hast laid upon thyself. Now if whilst thou wast in the world thou didst the things which belong unto a disciple, this is a matter for praise in thee, but if [being] in discipleship thou doest the things which befit it, thou only payest [thy] obligation, and thou only fulfillest that which is incumbent upon thee. And observe unto what height the tower shall rise, and of what stones and slabs [p. 312] its building shall be composed when thou layest the foundation. Thou shalt not begin a building which will make thee the laughingstock of those who see thee, and thou shalt not construct for thyself a mark of contempt and of mockery in the sight of many, and thou shalt not give a cause for those who pass by to speak against thee, if thou hast determined to become a disciple according to what the will of thy Lord demandeth; and if not, remain in the world. Seek not to be honoured by a name of which thou art not worthy, and lay not hold upon the pure pearl with unclean hands; and put not on the purple of discipleship so long as thou possessest not the knowledge which will keep it [unspotted]. Consider in thy soul what things discipleship requireth thee to do, and then lay the yoke thereof upon thyself. Many become disciples that they may be honoured by the name of Christ, and not that they may honour Him. and that they may enjoy carnal pleasures they hire themselves unto Him, and not that they may bear the afflictions of His commandments. And others [have |299 become disciples] because of their lust for mammon, and they have drawn nigh unto this life which demandeth poverty, in order that that which they have not been able to acquire from the world, they may go forth and acquire outside the world. And by the hand of that one feeble disciple, [concerning whom] it is written in the Gospel of our Redeemer, Jesus hath rebuked this wicked thought in all [His] foot-soldiers. "And one came and drew nigh and said unto Him, Master, I will follow Thee whithersoever thou goest. Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of heaven have nests, but the Son of man hath not where to lay His head.23 Depart thou from me, O disciple of iniquity, for I have not that to give [p. 313] unto thee which thou desirest, and that which I can give thee thou dost not wish to receive. I know that which thy desire asketh, and that which thou seekest, but I will not give [them unto thee], for through the love of the thought of riches thou hast been pleased to come after Me, and [being] in the light thou hast come forth to seek darkness, and having the true possession [to seek] poverty, and having life [to seek] death. That which I command every man, to forsake [the world] and to cleave unto Me, I desire that thou shouldst possess in thy coming unto Me. By the door through which I desire to bring thee out, by that same door thou pressest to come in unto Me, and therefore I will not receive thee. For in My outward appearance I am poor, and for this reason I have not things which are manifest to give in the world into which I have come. I am in appearance |300 a stranger, for I have neither house nor roof, and whosoever seeketh to be My disciple must inherit poverty from Me. Why dost thou wish to inherit from Me that of the possession of which I have made thee destitute?"
Now therefore, many go forth after Jesus with thoughts of the love of mammon, and they put on the honourable garb of His discipleship like a profession. And He hath exposed of old this deceitful thought in His word, and by the hand of that one hath rebuked all the disciples of falsehood, and prevented them from being His disciples by His saying, "I possess nothing, but I will give unto you that which ye desire," and "I have not even [p. 314] a house or a roof." And those who were slack, and slothful, and feeble, either through the love of pleasure, or through the labour of the building, He kept back by saying, "If thou hast money sufficient for [building] the tower, [build it], but if not, it is better that thou shouldst not begin, than that thou shouldst begin and not finish."
And the perfection which Jesus demandeth He shewed us here by all the disciples who went forth after Him, because this tower which mounteth up to heaven is completed by perfection, and it is finished by the gathering together [into it] of all virtues. And Jesus Himself said, "If thou canst finish it, begin [to build], and if not, do not begin," which is as if a man were to say, "If thou canst be a perfect disciple, and complete in all triumphs, [well]; but if not, remain in the world, and work that other righteousness of justice which is inferior to spirituality."
Now each of those who did not seek [Him] with noble purpose He kept back by an answer which |301 befitted them. To the man who had compunction about grieving his folk, and who, wishing to pay unto them human love, asked Him that he might go and bid farewell unto his household, and [then] follow Him, He said, "No man, putting his hand upon the ploughshare, and looking back is fit for the kingdom of God." 24 And unto the man who sought to honour his parents according to the body, so long as they were alive, and after their death to become His disciple, He said, "Let the dead bury their dead." 25 And unto another, who by the perfection of the doctrine of Christ wished to satisfy his lust for oppression [p. 315], He answered, "Who hath made Me a judge and a ruler over you?" 26 And unto another who, in His name, wished to gather together riches, and who was scheming that by the mighty deeds, and the signs, and the wonders, which he wrought by His power, he might become the owner of possessions, He said, "I am poor, and I have not where to lay my head." And unto another, who sought to draw nigh to this service with the skin of outward appearance only, He said, "Do not begin the tower if thou hast not the money to finish it." And unto yet another who was weak and feeble, who, though he had not yet gained purity of thoughts and innocency of soul, wished to fight against the powers which opposed him, He said, "No king goeth forth to war against a fellow king unless he hath gathered together hosts which will be sufficient to meet the enemy which opposeth him."
Now therefore by these Jesus rebuked all diseased |302 thoughts, and He made the disciple to lay hold upon the true healing of discipleship, and upon the body of the spiritual life. And as in worldly matters, if a man cannot perform properly the piece of work which he wisheth to do without setting himself free from all other work, and occupying himself with that alone, how much less can a man finish this spiritual labour [p. 316] unless he set himself free from the service of everything which is visible? even as the blessed Paul also saith, "Every man who maketh a contest, keepeth his mind from everything;" 27 and of what contest did he speak except the exercising of the body in the world? And if to a contest in which the body is engaged the service of carnal things is a hindrance, how much more will it be so to a spiritual contest? For in the one case, as regards the contest of the world, the contest, and the struggling therein, and the conquest therein, and also the things which retard the conquest therein, are one in nature, and they are all the children of one country, and although all these things are related to each other, the world with its cares and anxieties becometh an obstacle unto those who maintain, the strife, How can a man fulfil the life here, then, which is a spiritual contest, and a service, and a life which is above the world, if he be tied unto and held fast by the things of the world? And again Paul himself saith, "No soldier on service who entangleth himself in the affairs of the world is able to please Him Who elected him. And if he contendeth, he is not crowned, except he have contended lawfully." 28 What then? If the soldiers of the kingdom of the world empty |303 themselves of everything that they may learn the arts of their service, and may thereby please the king who elected them, what disciple who hath been elected to the [p. 317] spiritual service, is able to become captain if he be bound by the things of the world?
And, moreover, let us also see from the speech of Simon to our Lord, and let us also learn from the first disciple how it is meet for us to become disciples. "Behold we have left everything, and have come after thee." 29 What then shall we have? Thou hast heard what this disciple said, and how he hath revealed unto thee the truth of his absolute poverty, and that they (i.e., the disciples) possessed nothing besides Jesus. "We have left everything, and have come after thee." Behold the definite law of discipleship. They did not have one thing and not the other, and they did not renounce one thing and hold fast to the other; but they left everything, and followed Jesus. Do thou then forsake everything and go forth after Him, and observe, immediately the might of the Apostles clotheth thee, that thou wilt feel and know in very deed that the Word is not a lie; for thou canst not ask Him to make thee worthy of the sight of His hidden and spiritual riches whilst thou hast not made thyself destitute of everything which is visible. So long as thou boldest fast that which is thine own, He will not shew thee the things which are His. Give everything that thou hast for the love of Him only, being in thy gift watchful against the thought that seeketh human praise, and go forth and travel along the road a little, bearing afflictions and labours with purity of the thoughts; and observe, |304 immediately His glory riseth in thy soul, and He mingleth the spirit in thee, how thy whole being will be smitten with the love of Him, and thou wilt also forget the weight of thy afflictions, and He will suddenly change thee from one being into another, that is to say, from the old into the new. And if [p. 318] [thou wilt] not [do this], what dost thou desire? Thy purse being full perhaps it may happen that thou demandest also discount and interest, and thou wouldst spare that which is thine own, and wouldst eat of His bounty. Or perhaps thou wishest to become a disciple unto Him that He may place thee in authority over the treasures of His wealth; far be it from Him to cast the knowledge of His revelations into the soul which is not worthy thereof! What then? Since those who are held fast by the trafficking and cares of human riches are retarded in many things by the knowledge of the world, wouldst thou desire to possess the knowledge of the spirit, together with the cares of riches in the worn out vessel of thyself which is pierced with passions and lusts? Wouldst thou desire to pour in the new wine of the wisdom of His mysteries, and wouldst thou not pour upon the ground this knowledge if it had come into thee? I mean, thy old vessel is unable to receive it.
Now this our Redeemer Himself shewed aforetime in His luminous teaching, saying, "No man poureth new wine into old bottles, lest the wine burst the skins, and the wine be poured out, and the skins be destroyed; but they pour new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved." 30 So long as sin liveth or is wrought in thee by deed or in thought, or a carnal |305 wish belonging to the world ariseth in thee, thou art still an old vessel, and thou art not able to receive the new wine of the wisdom of Christ. Make new thyself then by the dismissal of thy passions, and thou shalt be able to take within thee immediately the new wine of the doctrine of Christ. Forsake everything, even as the Apostles forsook everything, [p. 319] and then thou mayest seek boldly to be set to rule over the treasures of the spirit. Turn not thy face backwards, and behold the furrows shall be straight before thee, and let thy hand be put upon the ploughshare of the service of difficult and laborious commandments. Turn not thy face backwards to the sight of pleasures, [and] if thou hast [once] denied a thing, do not again confess that which thou hast denied. And again, do not look before thee at one time, and behind thee at another, but let there be unto thee one straight look before thee; for the man who looketh behind and in front of him is like unto a man who steppeth forwards and backwards, and he returneth to the same place, and departeth not from the place upon which he standeth; and no man can say concerning this man either that he travelleth along the road, or that he completeth his journey by his steps. And thus also is the disciple who at one time looketh in front of him, and at another turneth his face backwards; who is at one time filled with suffering, and at another with laughter; who at one time cleanseth his thoughts, and at another fouleth them with the cares of iniquity; who at one time beareth the weight of affliction, and at another enjoyeth pleasures; who at one time fasteth much, and at another eateth immoderately; who at one time occupieth himself with the conversation ot prayer, and at another |306 with the speech which breaketh forth in empty things; who at one time hath in him the remembrance of God, and at another hath his soul dead unto the memorial of Him; who at one time desireth to put off his life and to be with Christ, and at another is clothed with carnal delights, and they are pleasant unto him; whose whole mind at one time is moved by the Spirit, and at another he quaketh with empty cares; who at one time is filled with admiration of God, [p. 320] and at another maketh dark his mind with carnal meditation; who at one time purifieth his thoughts from the motion of lust, and at another lusteth for the act of adultery; who at one time fasteth without measure, and at another eateth immoderately; who at one time scattereth his possessions in the love of God, and at another is held fast by grief because he hath scattered them; who at one time is filled with the love of man, and at another burneth because he is not able to take vengeance upon his enemies; in whom at one time the light of knowledge dawneth, and at another his thoughts are dark through the error of the world; who at one time travelleth onwards uprightly: and at another walketh backwards; who at one time is mingled wholly and entirely with the spirit, and at another wholly and entirely with the body. Now therefore if a man in this manner goeth, and then cometh; and travelleth on, and then turneth back; and marcheth forward, and then cometh back; and goeth up, and then cometh down; and groweth meagre, and then becometh gross; and becometh clean, and then defileth himself; and purifieth himself, and then becometh polluted; and washeth himself white, and then becometh covered with dust and ashes; and maketh himself chaste, and then becometh wanton; and maketh |307 himself destitute, and then waxeth greedy; and denieth, and then confesseth; and embraceth abstinence, and then lusteth; through these and such like things the path of discipleship is not perfected; but whosoever liveth in these things remaineth in his place and he advanceth not from the spot on which he standeth, and by reason of this also he doth not attain unto that after which he hasteneth, for how can he attain unto it since he runneth not? And even though this man who set out to go forward may travel on and march forward, and may have spent the half of his life, so to say, in the rule and conduct of discipleship, since he served hath two things he is not [p. 321] able to lay hold upon one; and how can the man who hath not wholly and entirely sought after good, except in name, find it? and how can the man who hath not experienced, even for a short time, the love of Christ, obtain the mastery over the limit of love? If then the man who walketh as a living man is found to be dead, what shall become of the man who is absolutely dead?
Thou hast gone forth after Jesus, follow Him then and turn not back, and remember Lot's wife,31 who, because the love of her kinsfolk and the outcries of her beloved ones constrained her, turned and looked back behind her, and became a pillar of salt, even as is written concerning her;32 and because her soul had not been salted with the fear of the Highest she became a destructible salted thing. Remember then this woman who was in doubt, and who perished, and be thou not in doubt like unto her, and turn not thyself backwards, lest thou remain in the place where thou art, |308 and thou wilt arrive at this condition, although not in thy body, yet in thy soul. For the soul that turneth and looketh backward after it hath gone forth on the journey in this path becometh a senseless pillar, and as in the case above, the wife of Lot ceased from bodily feeling, and thereby became a pillar of salt, even so also here the mind, which looketh behind it always at corruptible things, ceaseth to feel, and becometh stupefied at spiritual things; because the remembrance of the world maketh us to possess dulness of heart, and it defileth the purity and innocency of the soul, and this carnal mind blackeneth and [p. 322] darkeneth that pure sight which worked for the understanding by the constant vision of God. And if the thought which is [set] upon carnal things removeth us from the sight of spiritual things, how much more will the possession of them absolutely remove us? And if, in looking upon them whilst they are in the hands of others, they bind us to them, how much more shall we be bound so long as they are found in our hands?
Go forth then from the world, O disciple, in the manner in which the Apostles went forth, in deed, and not in word; in thought, and not in borrowed guise; in will, and not in form (or garb); with desire, and not delay; with discretion, and not through tradition; in freedom, and not in the law. Renew in thee from day to day the desire of this spiritual life, and taste life, all deadness being dead unto thee. Be of good courage and pass over this terrible country which is set in the midst, for it is fearful and deep, and it is a ravine which is filled with evil beasts, and noxious and murderous reptiles. And if thou hast determined in thy mind to pass over this terrible country, and thy desire be wholly |309 ready, straightway grace will receive thee, and will accompany thee. Thou must not consider that the soul and body are linked together, and that the one is mingled with the other by nature, [p. 323] for there is much room between them, and it is a terrible depth which not every man is able to search out and to pass over; but if thou wilt constrain the body with its lusts, and suffering, and prayer, and lovingkindness accompany thee, thou wilt be able to pass over this terrible country. But since our discourse is upon the going forth from the world, and not upon the going forth from indwelling passions, we will not speak upon this subject. "We have left everything, and have followed Thee;" 33 behold the words which are the instruction common unto all disciples! Take them perpetually into the remembrance of thy soul, and at the beginning of thy discipleship let them be the subject of thy meditation, and in remembrance of their exhortation go forth from the world; and when thou travellest along the path of the going forth, they shall accompany thee. And meditate upon them at all times, and if anything of riches entice thee to let it abide with thee, or the love of friends and family bind thee thereunto, remember the word of Simon, who forsook everything, and do thou also like him forsake everything; for Jesus is as near to thee as to Simon, and nearer to thee than to him when He spake the word, because they had not as yet received the power to be mingled spiritually with the love of Jesus, but in the simplicity of their faith they went forth after the sight of His works, and after the sweetness of His speech. And while He linked them unto Himself by word, they clung |310 fast unto Him in very deed, for [His] words were, [p. 324] "Follow Me," and immediately they heard the word they began to do so in very deed. Now thy own union with Jesus to-day is in deed, because He hath mingled thee in the life of the spirit by baptism; and while He brought the Apostles unto Him at that time by word, He hath to-day mingled thee with Himself in deed, because He hath made thee a spiritual limb through baptism. And however much thou wouldst cleave unto Him in thy works, He hath already cleaved unto thee; and if thou wouldst hasten unto Him, He hath already been dwelling in thee; and if thou wouldst go unto Him in thy prudence, He first cometh unto thee. And however earnestly thou rnayest work, and run, and although thy love and service should surpass the love and service of the Apostles----which is not possible----thou wouldst fall behind them in many things, and thou couldst not attain unto the measure of the mingling of their love with Jesus; but although thine own works cannot attain thereunto, He by His grace will make thee to attain unto it. The love of the Apostles was a wonderful thing, for while as yet the Holy Spirit was not mingled in their nature, they accompanied Jesus in all fervour, and without His stimulating or flattering them---- as He to-day flattereth thee with all manner of entreaties----but He spake unto them haughtily, and from outward signs it might be thought that He was driving them away from Him. "If ye wish to go away, depart", He once said unto them, and by reason of the hardness of His word many left him and departed. Simon saith unto Him, "Unto whom shall we go?" 34 We have once and for all gone forth after |311 Thee, [p. 325] and we have no place to go away from following Thee. "For Thou hast the words of eternal life," 35 that is to say, "Thy words are life, and how shall we forsake life and go after death? For we have forsaken everything and come after Thee, because we believe and know that Thou art the Son of the Living God." Therefore then, O disciple, if thou believest as Simon believed, go thou also forth even as Simon went forth; forsake everything and follow after thy rich Lord. He Himself lacketh nothing, therefore thou needest not provisions from the riches of a strange country, and His riches are not by measure that thou shouldst support Him by the superfluities of thy wealth lest He should want; for this reason be thou strenuous to leave everything. For it belongeth unto Him to give thee everything, even as He promised thee by the hand of Simon. What then? Perhaps Simon became a disciple to one Lord, and thou to another, that thou dost not go forth after thy Lord as he went forth? If now thou dost not go forth like him, it is evident that thou hast become a disciple to another Lord, although thou imaginest concerning thyself that thou art a disciple unto Jesus. And behold both the manner of thy going forth, and the wages thereof are inscribed in one place; and as to how thou shouldst go forth, thou mayest learn from the words, "We have left everything, and come after Thee." And what the wages of this going forth are the word of our Lord sheweth thee, saying, "Verily I say unto you, that in the new world, when the Son of Man sitteth upon the throne of His glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, [p. 326] and judge the twelve tribes of Israel." 36 Behold the wages of going forth is participation with |312 Jesus in sublime honour! For He will set the thrones for the disciples opposite to His own throne; and that which with nature is impossible He shewed by His word that it cometh to pass. For He did not promise those disciples who loved His word to honour them like servants and like men who were in subjection, but to make them worthy of the majesty of thrones like unto friends and like unto those who were similar unto Him in His glory. And this which is written concerning the angels also is a marvel of unspeakable love: "A thousand thousand stand before Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand minister unto Him;" 37 now this concerneth the Seraphim who stand above Him, having their wings spread out to fly, and this one crieth to this, saying, "Holy, Holy, Holy."38 And concerning the Cherubim it is written that they were yoked unto a chariot, and while their faces looked downwards, the motions of their spiritual natures were directed whither was the Most High, and they likewise were crying out, "Blessed be the honour of the Lord from His country."39 And spiritual beings stand in this service, and the hosts and ranks of heaven are obedient unto the word of Jesus, even as Paul said, "They are ministering spirits, who are sent to minister unto those who are about to inherit life."40
And concerning the Apostles it is written, "They shall sit upon thrones", and this indicateth to us the greatness of their honour, [p. 327] and [their] equality with Him in inheritance, even as Paul saith, "If we suffer with Him, we shall also be glorified with |313 Him."41 And again he saith, "Heirs of God, and children of the inheritance of Jesus Christ."42 And again he saith, "If we endure with Him, we shall reign with Him." 43 And again he saith, "He shall change the body of our humility, and shall make it like unto His glorious body, according to His great power through which all things are subject unto Him."44 Now therefore unto this greatness will the disciple attain if he travelleth completely in his Master's footsteps, but in order that thou mayest not think that this portion of honour came only to the Apostles, Paul said, "If we suffer with Him, we shall also be glorified with Him, and if we endure we shall also reign with Him." And our Lord Himself said unto the Apostles, "Not ye only, but every man who leaveth houses, or family, or brethren, or sisters, or children, for My sake, and for My Gospel's sake, shall receive an hundred-fold in this world, and in the world to come life everlasting."45
What sleeper would not wake up at the sound of these promises? What dead man would not come to life at this breath of spiritual life? And what sluggard would not be quickened at the pointing out of this path which goeth up to heaven? And who would not wish to despise himself and to make himself of no account at the hearing of His incomparable promise? Who would not deny the whole world----[p. 328] even if it happened that he possessed it----to become a consort of God upon the throne? And who would not be willing to exchange the things of time for those of eternity? For |314 even if the things which we leave were equal in value unto those which shall be given unto us, since it is God who commandeth, it is right that we should leave them. Leave then the things which should be rejected and despised, and though we renounce them not through the word of Christ, it is for us to make ourselves strangers by nature unto them, and to be beyond them, and to exchange the things which are useless for that which is of value. Who would not hasten to the fair at which this exchange is to be made? For behold rags are exchanged for purple, and worthless pebbles for pearls, and common stones for beryls, and unending poverty for immeasurable riches, and the dross which is rejected for fine gold, and darkness for light, and death for life, and bitter for sweet, and sickness for health, and the place of the despised one for power, and a lowly condition for dominion, and the things which are corruptible for those which are beyond corruption, and that which is transitory for that which passeth not away, and shadows for the substance, and hunger for fulness, and error for knowledge, and the life of beasts for the life of angels, and the things of the body for the things of the spirit, and unending misery for happiness without measure. And moreover, if we had the words wherewith to describe these things as they deserve, [p. 329] who would not exchange the things which are here for those which are there, and who would not give all the neediness of this world for that kingdom? For the word of the Spirit, even when it speaketh in a simple way, is exalted above all the wisdom of the world, and Paul revealed unto us the greatness of this exchange in one little word, and shewed us how inferior are the things which |315 we have, and how great are those of God in one short verse, saying. "The things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are unseen are eternal."46 Who then would not exchange the things of time for those of eternity, except ourselves, and fools like unto us?
Do not thou then, O thou who hast denied the things which are seen, ask what kind of riches thou wilt receive in exchange for thy poverty, but be thou in earnest only to forsake thy poverty, and to hasten to possess them. Now what these riches are, and unto what they are like, Paul explaineth not unto thee, nor of what kind they are, for there is nothing which can be compared with them, nor how much they are, because they cannot be measured. ''That which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, and what hath not gone up in the heart of man, [is] what God hath prepared for them that love Him;"47 and the greatness of the reward is made manifest by these and such like words.
Do thou then, O disciple, hearken unto the divine voices which exhort thee to go forth after Jesus, and to become [p. 330] absolutely destitute, and then thou wilt become a perfect disciple: "Whosoever denieth not everything that he hath cannot be My disciple."48 After this what hast thou to say or to answer? for behold with one word all thy doubts and all thy obscure ideas are destroyed; and the word of truth is a sublime path for thee in which to tread. And again in another place He said, "Whosoever doth not forsake |316 everything that he hath, and doth not take up his cross and follow Me, cannot be My disciple." 49 And again, teaching [us] that we should not only forsake our possessions for the sake of His glory, and deny the world for the sake of confessing Him, but also our transitory life, He said, "Except a man deny himself he cannot be My disciple." 50 And again He saith, "Whosoever wisheth to save his soul shall destroy it; and whosoever [wisheth] to destroy his soul for My sake shall make it to live."51 And again He saith, "Whosoever destroyeth his soul shall preserve it unto everlasting life; and whosoever ministereth unto Me the Father shall honour."52 And again He said unto His disciples, "Arise, let us go hence,"53 and by this [speech] He shewed that this world was not the country either of Himself or of His disciples. Whither shall we go, O Lord? "Where I am there also shall My servant be."54 If Jesus crieth unto us, "Arise, let us go hence," what fool would be persuaded to dwell with corpses in [p. 331] the graves, or to become a sojourner with the dead? Whensoever, therefore, the world wisheth to hold thee fast, or family, or kinsfolk, or friends, remember the word of Christ which said, "Arise, let us go hence," for this voice is sufficient to rouse thee up if thou art alive. Whensoever, therefore, thou wishest to sit down to rest thyself, or to delight thyself in the love of the country in which thou art, remember this word of exhortation, and say unto thyself, "Arise, let us go hence;" thou must go at all cost, only go as |317 Jesus went. Go because He hath told thee [to go], and not because it is nature which carrieth thee, whether thou wilt or no, being thyself unwilling. Thou standest on the path of travellers, set out on the way then because of thy Lord's word, and not by the force of necessity. "Arise, let us go hence," is a voice which will wake those buried in slumber; it is a horn the winding of which will drive away the sleep of slothfulness; it is a power and not a word; and whosoever perceiveth it, suddenly it clotheth him with new power, and with the swiftness of the twinkling of the eye it plucketh him away from thing to thing, and these words of God, "Arise, let us go hence," make the disciple to leap up, and he is not stupefied at the pleasure of the place wherein he dwelleth. And behold He also goeth with thee to prevent thee from being stupefied, for He did not say unto thee, "Arise, go thou," but, "Arise, let us go, thou and I together;" God calleth unto thee to go in company with Him, and who would not burn within himself, [p. 332] and be troubled lest he should be dazed at the company of his God Who called him? And in the way there is no fright, and no fear, neither injuries nor losses, nor plunderers, nor thieves, and if those who would restrain thee stand therein, so long as the Lord accompanieth thee they shall all flee before thee. For what robber will dare to shew himself in the garb of a robber in the way along which the king passeth? but when the workers of wickedness hear the rumour of him they either flee or hide themselves. And behold from this also thou mayest learn concerning the departure from the life of the world if thou wilt understand, and wilt attend with discretion unto the power of the word. |318
And to another, a teacher, who wished to follow Jesus, having the desire of a perfect rule of life and conduct in the manner of which He was worthy, He shewed this path of perfection, "And one drew nigh unto Him while He was teaching in the temple, and said unto Him, Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit life?" Now what did Jesus say unto this man? "Why callest thou me 'Good'? There is none Good save One, [even] God. Thou knowest the commandments, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness. Behold I have taught thee restraint from wickedness, and to remove thy desire from the paths of sin; but if after this thou wishest to go forward, and also in addition to [the command] not to do [p. 333] wickedness thou wouldst come to the doing of good, and wouldst keep the commandments of the law, honour thy father and thy mother, and thou shalt keep all those which appertain unto this. But if also above the power of the law thou wishest to be in the dominion of thy righteousness, and of thy freewill to be led into fair deeds above the fear of the judgment, then love the Lord thy God with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind, and that which is hateful unto thee, do not unto thy neighbour. This is the rule of conduct of the righteous, which is above the power of the law, and Moses and the Prophets taught this righteousness. Whosoever observeth this [rule], the law by [its] threat hath no power over his righteousness. Go and keep these things which are written, and lift thyself up above them also unto the love of God, and unto the love of thy neighbour, which is above the fear of the law, |319 because it is of love. When thou hast kept these things, thou shalt inherit eternal life." 55
These things Jesus taught that proud doctor to do, although he did not wish to be held in restraint by them, for with a boastful mind he sought things which were greater than these, but things which Jesus did not teach him. Now for us disciples it is right that we should possess true doctrine, and that we should know from the Word how we must depart from wickedness, and how, little by little, we must march on and grow in the service of the things which are good. The commandments which Jesus spake unto him, "Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not [p. 334] steal, and Thou shalt not bear false witness", agree with the words of David, who said, "Depart from evil, and do good;" 56 and with those which Paul spake, "Let not wickedness overcome you."57 And the commandments, "Honour thy father and thy mother", and, "That which is hateful unto thee, do not unto thy neighbour," agree with, "Do ye good,"58 and, "Overcome evil with good;" 59 and that commandment, "Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and thy neighbour as thyself,"60 is like unto the words, "The law is not ordained for the righteous," 61 because these commandments are above the fear of the law.
Now therefore Jesus laid down in these commandments the restrictions for conduct in life: firstly, a man must depart from evil, and restrain himself from |320 the service of all abominable things; and secondly, he must do the things which are laid down under the fear of the law; and thirdly, the service of good things, which is above the fear of the law; and fourthly, he must set out on the path of the discipleship of Christ, which is the perfect going forth from the world; and fifthly, he must bear labours and sufferings, with which we may make the old man sick; and sixthly, we must bear the cross upon our shoulders, and we shall arrive at the fulness of the perfection of Christ. Now in these, two rules of life have been distinguished for us, and we learn therefrom two kinds of righteousness, each of which con-sisteth of three degrees. We must restrain ourselves from [p. 335] wickedness, that we may obey and fear the law, and work the things which are good, in order that we may be above the law in the voluntary service of what is good, concerning which Paul taught us, saying, "The law is not ordained for the righteous," 62 and for this reason he exalted the doers thereof above the power of the law. Now the three degrees of righteousness are wrought in the world, and those who perform them are just and righteous, and are neither spiritual beings nor perfect; two degrees are set above the fear of the law, but the third is above both the power and the fear of the law, because it is fulfilled within the heart and inner mind, where the law can neither look nor see; for the eye of the law seeth matters which are external, and not the thoughts which are internal. Whosoever, then, loveth God with all his heart, and mind, and soul, his love is internal. He said particularly, "Love thy God"----which is above |321 the law----and not, "Thou shalt fear God," for the law hath dominion over fear, and not over love. Love is above the commandment of the law, and over those who are ruled thereby the law hath no power. Now the third degree [of righteousness], which is superior to the law, and inferior to the rule of Christ, occupieth a middle place, and thou must see from this how perfect is the doctrine of our Life-giver, for that [p. 336] which is above the law is the end of His teaching.
And our Lord taught the righteous children of men who are in the world to do these three things, in which are gathered together all the fair things which are wrought by lovingkindness, and which are done unto the needy by those who have possessions by means of their wealth, and in them is laid the whole force of that commandment. "That which is hateful unto thee thou shalt not do unto thy neighbour; this," even as the Teacher Himself explained, "is the law and the prophets." Now His own righteousness is that which is above the law, [and concerning it] He said, "Enter in at the narrow gate." 63 In the one case, with the law, sometimes thou art afflicted, and sometimes thou hast ease, sometimes thou labourest, and sometimes thou restest, and by these and such like things all thy life of righteousness is woven; but as concerning the rule of Christ it is written, "Enter in at the narrow gate." For well did our Lord go step by step, and like a wise and good Teacher did He bring things from the Old Testament and things from the New Testament unto His disciples, that He might shew, firstly, that He was the Giver of that which was at the beginning and of that which was at the end, and secondly, that He might |322 make His disciples go step by step from lesser unto greater things, and from the command, "Thou shalt love [thy God] as thyself," unto the command, "Thou shalt love [Him] more than thyself;" and from the command, "Give of what thou hast," unto the command, "Give away everything that thou hast;" and from the command, "[Give] a little of thy possessions," unto the command, "Give away all thy possessions."
Now the easiest commandment of all, that a man should not do evil, He made the first, for to him [p. 337] that is not kept back from the service of evil things merely by the penalties of the law it is easy to draw nigh unto the service of fair deeds which the law commandeth because of the fear of the law itself; and whosoever restraineth his outward man and doeth that which is good, he also draweth nigh unto loving God and his neighbour with all his heart, not for appearance's sake, and not to boast thereof, and not through fear, but because it is seemly for a man to love God and his fellow man. And after He had laid down these limitations for us, and had explained unto us the various grades in the righteousness of the just, Jesus continued in His speech to teach us perfection, and said unto that learned man who asked Him, that is to say, in teaching him He taught all His disciples, "If thou wishest to be perfect, go, sell all thy possessions, and give [them] to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven." 64 And here even we have not as yet begun to walk in the path of righteousness, for that a man should take up his cross and go forth after Jesus is one rule of life----for as the dwelling in the womb is one thing, and the going forth of the child from the belly is another, and |323 the existence of a man in the world, after being born from the womb, is another, even so is it another thing for a man in the womb to gain form, and members and body, with all his senses and limbs, and it is another [p. 338] for him to be born, and it is another for him to exist in the world, for the righteousness which is in the world is like unto the substance of the child within the womb, and the commandment, "Go and sell all thy possessions, and give to the poor, and there shall be treasure for thee in heaven 65," is the belly from which is born out of the old womb the new creation, and it is that door through which he goeth forth from one world to the other----but that commandment, "Take up thy cross and come after Me," belongs to the perfect rule and conduct, and it is the path of spiritual life.
Now it may be thought that it is a great thing for a man to sell everything that he hath, and to give it to the poor, and to go forth from the world like an apostle, and yet it is natural, and it is that creation into which we enter at our first birth, and the first man also was thus created. And for this reason Job also, when everything that he had was taken away from him, and he was stripped of possessions and heirs----now it was thought that something new, and which was above nature, had happened unto him----mitigated the violence of his suffering by his speech, saying, "Naked came I forth from my mother's womb, and naked will I return.66 What hath come upon me except that condition in which I came forth from the womb?" For that a man should deny himself of everything that he hath, |324 and should appear in the world in his own person only, is still a natural thing, but it is exalted above nature if it come to pass through good will for God's sake, just as when we die in the ordinary way it is [a matter] of nature, but if we die for God's sake it is martyrdom. So likewise [p. 339] also is it a natural thing that a man should appear by himself in the world and possess nothing, because Adam was thus created, and Eve was thus formed, and they were not only destitute of the riches of the world, but also of the clothing and raiment of the world, and they were like unto the child who goeth forth naked from the womb into creation, even as Job said, "Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked will I return;" and as Paul also spake, "We brought nothing into the world, and it is evident that we are not able to take anything out from it." 67 And as the after-birth in the womb envelopeth the child after he hath been fashioned and hath taken form to keep him alive, and when he is born from the womb it is cut off and cast away from him, because it belongeth not unto his person, nor is reckoned with the man, so also do riches, and possessions, and all other human things cling unto a man after he hath been born like the after-birth, but when he cometh to be born from this world into the next by the hand of death, his possessions are cut off and cast away from him like the after-birth which is cut off from the body, and as the child appeareth in his own person without the after-birth, even so also man goeth forth from life, having cast off all his possessions. And as a man when he is born is wrapped round in his after-birth, and the |325 casting it off from him when he entereth the world, [p. 340] is natural, even so is it natural that a man should go forth naked from the world, and that he should become a stranger unto his possessions while he is in the world; and a man gaineth grace when he strippeth himself early of his riches, and before nature casteth them off, and when he forestalleth the time of his departure from this world by his own freewill.
What difficulty then existeth in the commandment that a man should renounce all his possessions? for behold it is a natural commandment. For let a man consider his beginning and his end, and let the time which is between these be taken [into consideration], that as he came in naked, and must go forth naked, even so let him strip himself of his riches the whole of the time of his sojourning in the world, and let him praise Him who decreed that that which was natural should be a matter of freewill. So, therefore, our Lord wisely did not make the renunciation of riches the beginning of the way of His discipleship, because it is a matter of nature, and His rule is above nature, even as our human death is not the beginning of the world which is to come, but the end of [our] path in [this] world, and our resurrection from the dead is the beginning of the path of the kingdom of heaven. And thus also being destitute of riches and of the possessions which are visible is the end of the path of the world, and likewise the casting away of the strange apparel which we put on in the world after we had entered therein. And if it be thought that [this] is difficult, it is not because it is above nature, for behold it is easy unto those [p. 341] who stand in the freewill of nature, but it is difficult unto those who are in subjection unto |326 passions, and who labour in bondage unto the lusts. And those who serve mammon as a lord are afraid to deny it, because of their own freewill they have already made it their god, and the children of men who have become subject unto this passion are not only afraid of it, but every passion under the power of which freewill is subdued is its master, and the strength of fear is cast over it and it is not able easily to cast it off. And from this thou mayest receive testimony that the passions do not of necessity bring us into subjection, but our freedom is brought into subjection under the passions, and they become masters thereof, for behold those, who stand in their own freedom and who cast off the garment of the care for wealth, if a man constrained them to be subject unto riches, would be more afraid of becoming its masters, than those who have possessions would be afraid to leave them. And if the being destitute of riches were a thing to be afraid of, or difficult, every man would fear it, and its power would naturally rule over everything, but behold the children of freedom are above its subjection, and it is esteemed by their dominant freedom to be bitter bondage.
Now therefore all. the commandments of righteousness and lovingkindness, which a man doeth while he is in the world, are still on this side of the border of nature, and therefore the whole old law and the commandments thereof are laid under nature, [p. 342] because it is imposible that the law should be above nature. And our Lord, when He was asked by Nicodemus, a man learned in the law, "What is thy doctrine?" 68 said, "I preach a new birth unto the children |327 of men." And although by those words He referred to that birth which is of baptism, yet they shew mightily that a man is born by the power of the grace of God, and also by the power of his will, from one world into the other, and that absolute poverty of everything which the eye can see becometh the womb which giveth him birth.
Now therefore it appeareth that the man of God is born three times; the first is the birth from the womb into creation, the second is from bondage into freedom, and from the condition of being a man into that of becoming a son unto God----now this taketh place through grace by baptism---- and the third is that a man himself is born of his own will from the carnal into the spiritual life; and utter poverty of everything becometh the womb which giveth him birth. And moreover, after this birth of poverty, a man is born by other births when he hath gone forth from the world, as, for example, from carnal mindedness into spiritual mindedness, and from suffering into impassibility, and from the going forth wholly and entirely from all the tremblings of the motion of the old man into the living motions of the man of the spirit; for these grades, and measures, and births exist in this rule of life. And however far a man may desire to walk on in front of him, [p. 343] there is room for his footsteps, for the country of spiritual mindedness is a wide country and without limit. What then? Now if in this world, which is carnal, however far a man may walk there is still room for him to walk, for if a man travelleth the whole period of his life's duration he will not be able to walk over the whole world, even so in that world of the spirit we cannot journey too much because our journey |328 therein is without end, and however much a man may penetrate therein, and ascend therein and enter therein, place after place, and step after step receive him, because it is a world which hath no limit. Now this world, however great it may be, is set within limits and boundaries, but that world is above a boundary, and beyond a limit, and blessed is he who is accounted worthy thereof, and hath entered therein by the change from the old man into the new, all carnal movement being dead in him, and the new living and spiritual motions welling up within him. And well did [our Lord] say, "Except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God," 69 for except a man becometh destitute of everything which is in the world, and casteth off from him the carnal rule both outwardly and inwardly----after the manner that a child casteth off the natural womb, and is born into this world----he cannot see the kingdom of God, that is to say, he must feel the living motions of the spirit which are in the power of the body to perceive. [p. 344] And let this be an example unto thee: as the child is shut up in the womb's belly, even so the man who is in the world is shut in by the carnal rule of the world, with all its heaviness, and darkness, and density, and cares, and anxieties. And as the child is born from the womb by the door of the belly into the light of creation, and when he is born into the light, which he findeth before him, he seeth all things, the beauty of the world, and all the variety of created objects, and the diversity of natural things in this composite creation, and he receiveth this sight, and he feeleth the experiences thereof by the |329 gradual growth of his bodily stature, even so he that is born again from the rule of the world, and who goeth forth to the other world of the spirit by the door of poverty, immediately he is born receiveth that world, and the light of knowledge beginneth to appear unto him; and as the things of this world are seen by the light of nature, and each object is distinguished from its fellow thereby, even so also by that knowledge of the spirit which a man beginneth to receive, he seeth all spiritual things, and boundaries, and countries, and grades, and orders, and everything which is above the perception of the body, for as the body perceiveth the things of nature, because the perception of its senses is too weak for the things of the world, even so [p. 345] also by the mediation of the spirit doth the soul perceive all the things which are akin unto its nature, and which are above the world. This, then, is the new birth, which cometh from the baptism of which our Lord spake to Nicodemus.
Let us now consider the answer of our Lord unto that young man who drew nigh unto Him, and who asked Him to teach [him] the doctrine of perfection, from which he might also receive perfect knowledge, and be born from one rule of life into another. Now when in order to learn he asked, "What shall I do that I may inherit eternal life," Jesus said unto him, "Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness"----which things constitute remoteness from wickedness; and [He taught] after these the working of good by the word which He spake, saying, "Honour thy father and thy mother, and that which is hateful unto thee, thou shalt not do unto thy neighbour," and He said, "If a man keep these things, he |330 shall inherit life everlasting." 70 Now the inheritance of everlasting life was unto all the righteous, and just, and merciful, and doers of good works while they were in [this] world, and these are they who were also called "blessed" by the living word of our Lord, in the words which He spake unto them, "Come, ye blessed of my Father, and inherit the kingdom which hath been prepared for you from before the foundations of the world. I was an hungered, and ye gave me to eat; I was athirst, and ye gave me to drink," 71 together with the rest of the things which were spoken unto them by our Lord, for they all are applicable unto the righteous men of olden time, and unto the just who [p. 346] were also owners of possessions. And it is well known that clothing the naked, and receiving strangers, and setting a table for the hungry, and providing the needy with all things for their bodily wants, belong unto the owner of possessions, for without riches these things cannot be; the men who have embraced poverty have not riches wherewith they may do good works, how much less then have spiritual and perfect men [wherewith to do them].
Now therefore this promise which is here given by our Lord befitteth not only those who are spiritual and perfect, but also those who have embraced poverty, because with them also the riches wherewith they might do these good things are not found; and however exalted above the righteous may be the grade of those who have embraced poverty it is well known from the admission of every man, that the man who hath absolutely nothing at all, and who hath |331 entirely stripped himself of his riches for the love of God, is superior unto him that keepeth them and doeth good works with them. And, moreover, spiritually minded men are exalted above those who embrace poverty, and those who are perfect above those who are spiritually minded, for spiritual mindedness is an example in respect of spiritual powers, but perfection is a type of the fulness of Christ by which are perfected, in the spirit, all things which arrive at the stature of the knowledge of the fulness of Christ, even as Paul saith 72; and how superior is the grade of perfect and spiritual men to that of the righteous and the merciful who are in the world the words of our Redeemer, which were spoken unto the lords of wealth in this world, are sufficient [to shew]: "Be strenuous to make unto yourselves friends of the mammon of iniquity, that when it hath come to an end, they may receive you into their everlasting habitations." 73 [p. 347]
Behold, therefore, the perfect, like the lords of the country and citizens, receive the righteous strangers who go into their world, because they are sons of the inheritance of Christ, and heirs of the Father Who is in heaven, even as Paul said concerning them, "Heirs of God, and joint heirs of Jesus Christ;"74 and making known why those who bore the cross of Christ have arrived at this measure, he saith, "If we suffer with Him, we shall also be glorified with Him."75 And the participation in the sufferings of Christ [consisteth] not in a man giving alms, and in shewing his lovingkindness unto those who are needy, but in his dying wholly and |332 entirely to the world, and to the body, and to the lusts, and to the passions, and in a man crucifying his old man with all the lusts thereof, even as Paul also spake concerning himself, "I am crucified unto the world." 76 And the whole feeling of the world was annulled in him, after the manner in which it is annulled in those who are dead in nature, for as the dead body feeleth not any one thing which is brought high unto it, even so in that man, who hath been crucified with Christ, and who hath put to death in himself all the old man, is there no perception of anything which is in the world; and for this reason also Paul calleth "dead" those who stand in this rule of perfection. For the righteous man who dwelleth in the world, and who hath a wife, and children, and riches, and possessions, [p. 348] cannot be called dead, because all his life is like unto that of a living man; for the dead man is not married, and he begetteth not, while the righteous are united unto their wives, and beget children, and [do] other things which follow in their train. "Ye are dead," crieth Paul unto the perfect, "and your lives are hid with Christ in God." 77 And again he said, "Ye are dead unto the world, but alive unto God, in our Lord Jesus Christ." 78 And again he said, "If ye died with Christ from the elements of the world, why, as if ye were living in the world, do ye receive the commandments?" 79 Now a man arriveth at this rule of life after he hath stripped himself of his possessions, and beginneth to work good deeds in the members of his person, for so long as he hath riches, he justifieth |333 himself by riches, and he emptieth not himself from the cares of riches which he serveth in himself. And if it be imagined that he will also do these things while he liveth in riches, [he will not,] for his service will be confounded, that is to say, he advanceth, and turneth backwards, and in addition thereunto, although this man may labour in the world of the body, yet it is impossible for him to stand in the purity of the soul, from which a man entereth into spiritual love, from which is born knowledge, the mirror of everything, and from which [p. 349] the understanding riseth step by step unto divine conversation.
Now therefore for this reason those who desire perfection strip themselves of their riches, in order that they may be able to do their own labours, and that, being free from everything in the world, they may wage war with the lusts of the body; and a man should labour in his inner man, and not in his outer man, and when he hath rooted up the lusts of the body, and the passions of the soul, he should begin to sow in his own person the seed of living knowledge. Therefore whosoever wisheth to draw nigh unto this rule of life must be destitute of riches, and having been born again, he may enter therein, and the man who is not thus cannot enter therein, according to the testimony of Christ: "If thou wishest to be perfect, go and sell thy possessions, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven, and take up thy cross, and follow Me." 80 Observe, then, how perfect is the doctrine of Christ, for not even when a man hath stripped himself of everything that he hath, hath he yet begun to |334 walk in the way of His doctrine, for poverty is the end of the path of the righteousness which can be wrought in this world; but the words, "Take thy cross, and "follow Me," are the beginning of the path of the spiritual life. Now the reward hath Jesus set in the midst between the righteous and the perfect, "Go, sell thy possessions, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven;" 81 behold the reward for righteousness! And He calleth this reward "treasure," because the men who hasten after the righteousness of the world [p. 350] do good works on the condition that there is a reward, and well did Jesus in His words place the treasure at the end of the way of the righteousness which is in the world, that their wages being set before them they may run direct to where they are, even as do those who contend in a game, and before whom is set the crown which will make them to gain the victory. Into the land of the perfect our Lord did not make a reward to enter, because it would be a disgrace unto the perfect to labour in the rule of the spirit for wages; for behold the spiritual mindedness in which the perfect stand is the wages of the just and righteous, because they have wrought good things in the world on the condition that they should be changed and become spiritual beings, and be freed from all the carnal mindedness, and the passions, and the subjection of the world. This is the life of the perfect, for they are moved by the spirit, and they labour in the spirit, and they became changed from carnal mindedness unto spiritual mindedness already while they were in the world which is seen. How then can they expect to receive |335 wages, the thing for which they toiled when they lived in the world? For as an angel doth not expect the spirituality of his nature to be his wages, or that he is sent to perform the will of Him that existeth, because he also existeth therein and doeth it naturally, even so also the perfect man doth not look for wages in the change of the spirit, because he standeth in that spiritual change, and all his motion is like that of the powers of heaven. [p. 351] And all his life is like unto theirs, and like unto them he crieth "Holy" in the spirit, and he singeth in the spirit, and he serveth God in spirit and in truth, even as it hath been said by the word of God concerning the perfect, "A Spirit is God, and those who serve Him in spirit and in truth serve Him;" 82 "A Spirit is God, and the service of the perfect is of the Spirit." Behold, then, they serve in a divine manner, and they are also exalted by the degree of spiritual beings, that, in the likeness of God, they also may serve in power and in the freedom which is not made subject, and which is above laws and commandments even as is God. And to recount with our speech the service of the living motions of the perfect is impossible for us, because if a man were to arrive at the measure of them, he would be unable to speak concerning the perfection of their service. And, moreover, if they themselves wished to speak, and their living motions, and their divine service were sufficient therefor----for this service is not of the body----how could it be described by the tongue of the body? for they feel it only, and they serve in a divine manner with their inner man; and their service cometh not unto speech, nor their motions, |336 nor their feeling, nor their constant admiration, nor the visions and revelations which they have. This is the end of the path to Christ, O disciple, and on this vision resteth thy journeying if thou wilt run therein, [p. 352] and this is the rule which was delivered unto us by Christ. Go forth then from the world, and make thyself destitute of everything which is therein, both in thy body and in thy soul, that thou mayest find the things which are above speech, and that thou mayest have pleasure thyself therein together with all the hosts of light, in the world of truth, in Jesus Christ, to Whom be glory from all generations of the world for ever and ever, Amen.
Here endeth the Second Discourse on Poverty and on the service of the spiritual commandments.83
[Footnotes renumbered and moved to the end. Page numbers in brackets refer to the Syriac text in vol. 1 of the printed edition.]
1. 1 St John iii. 3.
2. 1 Ephesians iv. 13.
3. 1 St. Matthew xi. 28.
4. 1 Galatians vi. 14.
5. 1 Exodus xiv. 14.
6. 1 Exodus xiv. 15.
7. 1 Exodus xiv. 14.
8. 1 Philippians iii. 20.
9. 1 Compare Hebrews ix. 11.
10. 1 St. Matthew xi. ii; St. Luke vii. 28.
11. 1 Romans vi. 6.
12. 1 Romans vi. 6.
13. 2 Romans vii. 24.
14. 1 Compare St. Matthew xvi. 24; St. Luke xiv. 26.
15. 1 St. Luke ix. 59.
16. 2 St. Luke ix. 60.
17. 1 St. Luke ix. 61.
18. 2 St. Luke ix. 62.
19. 1 St. Matthew x. 34.
20. 1 St. Luke x. 4.
21. 1 St. Matthew vi. 24.
22. 1 St. Luke xiv. 28 ff.
23. 1 St. Luke ix. 58.
24. 1 St. Luke ix. 62.
25. 2 St. Matthew viii. 22.
26. 3 St. Luke xii. 14.
27. 1 1 Corinthians ix. 25.
28. 2 2 Timothy ii. 4.
29. 1 St. Matthew xix. 27.
30. 1 St. Matthew ix. 17; St. Mark ii. 22; St. Luke v. 37.
31. 1 St. Luke xvii. 32.
32. 2 Genesis xix. 26; and compare Ezekiel xvi. 4.
33. 1 St. Matthew xix. 27.
34. 1 St. John vi. 67.
35. 1 St. John vi. 68.
36. 2 St. Matthew xix. 28.
37. 1 Daniel vii. 10; Revelation v. 11.
38. 2 Isaiah vi. 3.
39. 3 Ezekiel x. 18; iii, 12.
40. 4 Hebrews i. 14.
41. 1 Romans viii. 17.
42. 2 Romans viii. 17.
43. 3 2 Timothy ii. 12.
44. 4 Philippians iii. 21.
45. 5 St. Matthew xix. 29.
46. 1 2 Corinthians iv. 18.
47. 2 Isaiah lxiv. 4; 1 Corinthians ii. 9.
48. 3 St. Luke xiv. 33.
49. 1 Compare St. Matthew x. 38; xvi. 24; St. Mark xiii. 34; St. Luke ix. 23; xiv. 33.
50. 2 St. Luke ix. 23.
51. 3 St. Luke xvii. 33; St. Matthew xvi. 25.
52. 4 St. John xii. 25, 26.
53. 5 St. John xiv. 31.
54. 6 St. John xii. 26.
55. 1 St. Mark x. 17 ff.
56. 2 Psalm xxxiv. 14; I St. Peter iii, 11.
57. 3 Romans xii. 21.
58. 4 Romans xiii. 3.
59. 5 Romans xii. 21.
60. 6 St. Mark xii. 30, 31.
61. 7 1 Timothy i. 9.
62. 1 1 Timothy i. 9.
63. 1 St. Matthew vii. 13.
64. 1 St. Matthew xix. 21.
65. 1 St. Matthew xix. 21.
66. 2 Job i. 21.
67. 1 1 Timothy vi. 7.
68. 1 St. John iii. 1-7.
69. 1 St. John iii. 3.
70. 1 St. Matthew xix. 16.
71. 2 St. Matthew xxv. 34, 35.
72. 1 Ephesians iv. 13.
73. 2 St. Luke xvi. 9.
74. 3 Romans viii. 17.
75. 4 Romans viii. 17.
76. 1 Galatians vi. 14.
77. 2 Colossians iii. 3.
78. 3 Romans vi. 11.
79. 4 Colossians ii. 20.
80. 1 St. Matthew xix. 21.
81. 1 St. Matthew xix. 21.
82. 1 St. John iv. 24.
83. 1 A reads----"of the commandments of the holy Mar Philoxenus," and C adds, "Here endeth the writing of this volume, "[and] the nine Discourses upon the Christian life and character, "which were said by the blessed Mar Philoxenus, Bishop of "Mabbôgh. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to "the Holy Ghost, now, and always, and for ever and ever; "yea, Amen, Amen."
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Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
SOURCE SECTION: philoxenus_discourse10.htm
Philoxenus, Ascetic Discourses (1894) pp.337-402. Discourse 10 -- On Gluttony
Philoxenus, Ascetic Discourses (1894) pp.337-402. Discourse 10 -- On Gluttony
[p. 353] THE TENTH DISCOURSE: WHICH IS AGAINST THE LUST OF THE BELLY, AND WHICH BRINGETH AN ACCUSATION AGAINST GREEDINESS, AND WHICH REVEALETH AND SHEWETH ALL ITS FORMS, AND WHICH ALSO BLAMETH THOSE WHO MAKE THEIR LIVES SUBJECT UNTO THIS PASSION, AND WHICH MAKETH KNOWN THAT IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR THOSE WHO LABOUR IN BONDAGE UNTO THEIR LUSTS TO DRAW NIGH UNTO THE KNOWLEDGE AND WORKING OF ANY OF THE TRIUMPHS OF VIRTUE.
Now although all the evil passions and the service of the lusts are abominated and detested by the word of Divine knowledge, the filthy passion of the lust of the belly, which is wont to make those men who are subject thereto like unto beasts, is more abominated and detested than they all, because it taketh away from them the motions of knowledge which are seemly unto rational beings, and it sinketh and darkeneth their mind under the weight of meats; for this stinking and filthy passion is the door of all wickedness, and wherever it hath power, like a great, wide door, is it open for the entrance [p. 354] of all abominable things. It is the destroyer of all excellence, it impedeth all righteousness, and it is the obstacle to all divine works in every shape |338 and form. The man who is bent double beneath this abominable lust is not able to take up the yoke of the discipleship of Christ, because when the belly hath become the mistress of the body, it commandeth and subdueth it unto all its wishes, and instead of the way which ascendeth unto heaven, it sheweth unto him that other path which goeth down into Sheol. And it hangeth upon him the weight of meats, and superfluities of foods, and it soaketh him, and maketh him heavy with the superabundance of drink, for when he carrieth the weight of meats, his lightness is weighed downwards, and when another body of lust is piled upon his own body, he goeth down easily, and descendeth the path the descent of which leadeth down into Sheol. For the passion of the lust of the belly is the filthiest of all the passions, and whosoever hath once become a slave thereunto, and hath borne upon his shoulder its heavy yoke, it never again giveth unto him rest from its service, but by day and by night it worketh in him, and it sendeth him, like a tired servant, whithersoever it pleaseth, not by smooth ways, but by paths which are filled with stumblingblocks, and into a country in which [only] harm can be found; and the lover of lusts hath no eyes to see the light, for although paths exist, yet are they darkened by the weight of meats. Broad daylight is night unto him, and by night a second death sinketh his understanding in the heaviness of sleep. His thoughts are scattered abroad by the wandering of the moisture [p. 355] of the body; the fire of nature is also cold within him because the inordinate moisture in him extinguisheth it; his thoughts are eclipsed from knowledge because the eye of his soul, which should look earnestly after knowledge, is sealed up; and a heavy |339 weight is hung upon him at all times, because he hath joined another body of meats unto his own body like a twin. Now therefore the lust of the belly is an obstacle unto everything; it is the enemy of all contests of fortitude, it is the destroyer of fair renown, and it impedeth all triumphs, not only the triumphs of the spirit, but also those of the body. And, moreover, the lust of the belly is an obstacle also unto those who live in the world by bravery and strength, because manly endurance is of use to every thing which belongeth to name and fame, and health is necessary thereunto, and it hath need of lightness of limb, and of healthy strength; but to all these the lust of greediness is an obstacle. For when the strength diminisheth by reason of the abundance of meats, and the power of the members hath left them, they are no longer ready for work, nor are they active for the labours of righteousness, and, as I have said,----if a man will only look carefully with the eye of knowledge----the weight of meats is an obstacle unto everything, unto the power of the body, and unto the knowledge of the soul, and unto the works of righteousness, and unto the works of loving-kindness, and unto the gifts of alms. Whosoever is subject unto his belly is a beast, and is without discretion, and all his doings are like unto those of the animals, and since his whole stability is moved by carnal passions, [p. 356] he is utterly unprofitable in those of the soul. And thou mayest understand from things themselves that the lust of the belly is an obstacle unto all the virtuous deeds of which I have spoken; to instruction, to knowledge, to the brave endurance of the world, to the labours of righteousness, to loving-kindness unto the children of men, to love, and to the knowledge of |340 God. That it is an obstacle unto instruction the world also testifieth by the tradition which cometh down thereunto, for children who are set apart to receive instruction are kept by their parents from a superfluity of food, because gluttony is a fence against instruction, for when the the members bear the weight of food they are not able to carry the lightness of instruction, for lightness is the opposite of heaviness. So then the children who receive instruction take food by measure, that their mind may be [keen], and their thoughts are ready, and their memory clear both to receive and to retain, for superfluity of food preventeth both. And not only are children who are receiving the learning of instruction prevented from taking a superfluity of food, [but other men also who are learning some handicraft of the world, for their masters watch them carefully, and schoolmasters take good heed unto them, and each is a watcher and a guardian against too much food and inordinate drink, for they eat and drink by measure; and thus also is it with those who learn the empty professions of the world, dancers, or charioteers, or athletes; or those who learn the art of war, or others who receive the learning of books. And if these arts which are wrought by the body, and the knowledge which is received from the world need moderation in food----which if it be taken in superabundance becometh an obstacle unto them----how much more doth superfluity of food become an obstacle unto the things which are fulfilled in the spirit?] 1 And so also is it with those who receive [p. 357] instruction, and who exercise themselves in the endurance of the things |341 of the world; and others also who possess the knowledge of the world have themselves need of endurance. There is no man who hath drawn nigh unto learning, or unto the writing of books, or unto oratory, who is not sure that superfluity of food is an obstacle thereunto. For the thick smoke of food, when it increaseth and is not purified away, covereth the heart with gloom, and blackeneth the understanding, and confuseth the intelligence, and shutteth the door in the face of the production of fluency of speech, and it is like a covering spread over all the intellectual senses, and it pre-venteth and destroyeth the power of their working. The man who is endowed with the gift of speech cannot speak if he be heavy with food, neither can the man of knowledge know, nor the man of understanding understand; and so to say, all the inner man becometh dark through the smoke of the dulness which ariseth from food. And since a light and spiritual nature are mingled in us, the body should seek spirituality and lightness, and in proportion as the body becometh attenuated through abstinence, it gaineth association with the spirituality thereof; and so long as a too great weight [of food] be not laid thereupon, it acquireth the lightness wherewith it participateth in the lightness of the soul. Now therefore by a wise dispensation a portion of the spirit was placed in a portion of the body, [p. 358] and as the body becometh heavy with meats, it draweth and bringeth down the soul thereto, and it hangeth its own weight upon it, and it tieth and fettereth the wings of the thoughts of the soul; but if the life of the body be maintained constantly by a sparing use of food, it becometh light, and purified, and refined, and the heaviness of its nature dwindleth away and it maketh |342 bright the soul which is in it, and maketh it glad, and is, moreover, itself obedient readily unto its will. And because it is light and refined the soul leadeth it to whatsoever it desireth, and the body resisteth not the soul, and its heaviness doth not prevent the soul from stablishing it in the country which it seeketh. For each of these, whether it be the body, or the soul, draweth the other unto its own will, because they are contrary to each other in their natures, and also in their wills, according to the word of the Apostle, who said, "The body lusteth for that which injureth the spirit, and the spirit lusteth for that which injureth the body; and the two are contrary each to each." 2 Now if, according to the word of the wise Apostle, all the lusts of the body are contrary to the soul, the lust of the belly must be more [contrary] than they all, because it is the door of all lusts, and among them all there is none so heavy as it is. For as a weight which is light and volatile by nature, if suspended, inclineth downwards, even so is this lust of the belly, for it is composed of moisture and weight, and although the body naturally possesseth weight----for its nature is so to do----yet by a superabundance of food, other weight is added thereunto, and when weight is added unto weight, [p. 359] and body is doubled upon body, that is to say, the body of food upon the body of nature, the weight upon the soul increaseth, and the mistress becometh a handmaid in subjection; for the soul cannot henceforth rule over the body like a free thing, but it beareth the weight thereof like a slave.
And the lust of the belly is also contrary to |343 loving-kindness, because everything which is distributed by the gift thereof it turneth towards itself, and maketh it its own; and if it should happen that it would perform an act of loving-kindness----which is impossible----the thought of benevolence never moveth in it except it be already filled itself, and it is as if the greedy man were to give gifts, for it would appear that his gift is bestowed only when his own belly is full. And this is not loving-kindness, but is like unto the habit of a beast and wild animal, for even the beast, when it hath filled its belly, will leave its manger, and lie down; and thus also is it with the glutton, for until he hath filled his belly at the table of his lusts he will not permit himself to look upon any other man with the eye of compassion. And he will not give to him that is needy of what is set before him, because he is in such subjection unto his lust that he thinketh that no one is as needy as himself, and in very truth there is no one in such need as the man who is in subjection unto his own lust. For however much a man may give unto the cravings of lust, it still abideth in its needy condition, and it is never satisfied even with a collection of meats, but in proportion as it eateth meats it raveneth for others, and in proportion as it drinketh it lusteth eagerly for draughts of clear and sparkling wine. [p. 360] In proportion as it hath food it hungereth and is not satisfied, and in proportion as it drinketh it thirsteth, and its thirst is not quenched; for however much the glutton eateth he still hungereth, and however much he drinketh, he still thirsteth. Unto the lust of the belly there is no end, for when it hath been filled by its first [supply of] food, inasmuch as it is not for its need's sake that it is determined to fill [itself], but for |344 its lust's sake, it seeketh other food which is more dainty than the first. And again when it hath taken of this sufficient to please lust, it looketh out for other food which is more agreeable and more tasty, and thus its gluttony rangeth over all meats one by one, and it is not filled by them all. And if he thinketh that he is satisfied, and he stayeth his hand from the food, his lust is not satisfied, even though his belly be filled, and it can hold no more; but he wisheth that his belly were as capacious as his lust, and that his stomach were even as his eye, in order that he might be able to gather together whatsoever he lusted after and to put it in his perforated storehouse. The lover of possessions is a greedy fool, for he gathereth together and layeth up the treasures of his lusts in a house with a rent therein which keepeth nothing that is placed therein, and the Creator also, in order to rebuke the lust of gluttons, made a fixed limit to the capacity of the belly, so that of sheer necessity, even though it were against their will, their lusts might be restrained. Now when the desire would load itself with much [food] although the cavity of the belly cannot receive it, behold desire is not kept back by force from its lust's quest; but though its desire lusteth, the small cavity of the belly, which is not able to hold [much], restraineth it. For if [p. 361] the belly were large enough to receive all things which gluttons lust after, the sea, and land, and air, and sun, and all the other natural bodies would not be sufficient to satisfy their lusts. And behold if, now that a vessel of small capacity hath been given unto their vast desire, sea and land are not sufficient for them, and they gather together all kinds [of food], and are not filled, and |345 everything which they lust after, and are not satisfied, and they ask for and seek after all the meats which are remote from them, if they had a belly as large as their desire what would they not do?
Now therefore the glutton is worse than any wild animal, for the beast, when it hath filled its belly, leaveth what remains of its food in the manger, and it knoweth not how to keep it for another time or for another day; but with the glutton it is not so, for, because his lust is not satisfied when his belly is filled, when he hath filled that measure which is in him, and which is ordained by nature to receive food, his lust taketh what remaineth, and keepeth it for another day, that is to say for days and months. The glutton sitteth at the table of his need, and meditateth upon the times which are about to come; he taketh not only care to feed when food is at hand, but he thinketh upon what he shall eat to-morrow. His hand is upon the bread-basket which is near, and his mind is fixed upon the table which is far off; he beareth food in his right hand and in his left, but both of them are insufficient to bring fuel to the fire which is in him. All his members minister unto the cruel mistress which he hath voluntarily set over himself, [p. 362] and they are not by any means whatsoever able to satisfy her by their service; his eyes, and hands, and feet are made slaves unto her, and they suffice not. He thinketh concerning her with his inner man, and with his outer man he followeth her about earnestly; but like a mistress who is to be ministered unto, she is not satisfied; and like Sheol she received stinkingness, and is not filled; and like the fire she receiveth fuel of meats, and she sayeth not, "Enough"; and like the earth she |346 drinketh, and is not satisfied; and like the eye, she lusteth for everything, but is not filled with anything; and the glutton wisheth that he had other members which would be sufficient to minister unto the iniquitous mistress which he hath gotten. The gaze of the eye of the glutton is also fixed upon him that sitteth with him at the table, and he looketh upon him with a malignant eye lest he eat too much, and forthwith he either counteth his pieces of food in his mind, or [feareth] that peradventure the portion which is set before him is greater than his own; for his belly receiveth meats, but his mind meditateth upon his neighbour which sitteth with him. Now the evilness of the lust of the belly is spread out upon everything, and if its eye be evil upon him that is near him, how can it help being evil upon him that is his companion at table? What then? Though lust lay up [food] for days and months, yet is it envious of others who are remote therefrom; and it asketh about every man what food he eateth, and what preparations of food are made and set out on his table, and what is the measure of his food; and when it hath made enquiries, and hath measured its own dainties and delicacies with that which it heareth concerning his, if its things are more [p. 363] than his it rejoiceth, and if his are more than its own, it is immediately filled with grief, and with the grief there is also envy, and with the envy there is wrath of mind because a man existeth who hath more meats than he hath. What then? And although the greedy glutton is envious of those who are afar off, his eye looketh not away from him that is at the table with him, and although he may not say openly unto him, "Thou shalt not eat" ----now shame prevent eth him from saying this----yet |347 his mind desireth this eagerly, saying, "How I wish that he would stay his hand", in order that that which is upon the table may be sufficient for his own gluttony. Now therefore the lust of the belly is more loathsome and disgusting than all the other lusts, and it hath not similitude among the other passions; but it is the mother and nurse of them all. For as a root of a tree beareth the branches and everything else which is on them, even so also is the gluttony of the belly the root of all wickednesses; and as the twigs and boughs spring from the roots, even so do all the passions of the lusts spring therefrom. Gluttony giveth birth [to them], and reareth [them], and feedeth [them], and worketh [them], and all wickedness is perfected therefrom; with it a man beginneth the path of the left hand, and it becometh the first step which a man taketh outside the path of that which is right. For, as abstinence, that is to say the fasting from all meats, is the beginning [p. 364] of the way of the strife of righteousness, even so also is the lust of the belly the beginning of works of shame. And if thou wilt look with the eye of knowledge, O disciple, thou wilt see that all vices, one after the other, follow thereafter. For first of all it darkeneth the understanding from the meditation of God, and it obscureth the mind from the remembrance of Christ, and when the memorial of God hath been removed from the soul there can be no doubt that a man deviseth and doeth every kind of wickedness. For as the remembrance of the beginning of everything which is done in the world ariseth from us, and until we have received in our minds the remembrance of things we do not draw nigh to the doing thereof, even so also is the remembrance |348 of God the beginning of all virtues; therefore when a mart hath God in remembrance he draweth nigh unto the service of things which are fair. And if a man doeth that which is good, and is not mindful of God when he doeth it, his good deed is not of God, but of that which his memory brought into his mind when he did it.
Behold then, to this virtue which is the beginning of all virtues----I speak now of the remembrance of God----the lust of the belly is contrary, in addition also to its being the beginning of all wickedness, For as the remembrance of God standeth at the beginning of the path of virtues, even so also doth the lust of the belly stand at the beginning of the path of all wickedness; and when the two beginnings are contrary to each other, and one of them hath overcome the other, together with the first which is vanquished [p. 365] are vanquished also all those things which follow thereafter. For as it is impossible for a house to be built without foundations, even so also it is impossible for virtues to exist without the remembrance of God, And as a building which is not set upon a firm foundation is certainly nigh to fall, even so also a change which is nigh necessarily cleaveth unto the virtues which are not built upon the remembrance of God, and they abide not in the firmness of their fabric, because there is no sure foundation to sustain them.
Now gluttony and the filling of the belly first of all remove the remembrance of God from the soul, and when the foundation hath been uprooted, all the virtues are uprooted therewith. And gluttony is also the contrary of fasting, it is the destroyer of prayer, it is that which polluteth the purity of the thoughts, it |349 obscureth the understanding, and darkeneth the mind, and defileth the intelligence, and abrogateth instruction, and killeth knowledge. It is the bane of wisdom, and leadeth astray the memory, it depicteth phantoms, and is the mother of things which are imagined, it is the drunkenness of the soul, and it abaseth the mind, it produceth slumber, and multiplieth disturbing dreams, it giveth birth unto fornication, and polluteth the body, it causeth an unnatural flow of seed, it is the fire of lust, it is the director of adultery, and it committeth whoredom even without members. It is the eye which lusteth after everything, it is the kinswoman of sloth, and thé mother of indifference, and the cause of the love of mammon; it is the enemy of the wise, [p. 366] and it hateth teachers. It is the means of passage of all abominable things, it is the nurse of envy, the sickness of health, the feebleness of strength, the cowardice of the body, the grub [which destroyeth] the limbs, the worm [that eateth] the body, the diminution of the power of the senses, the wandering among empty cares, the kinswoman of animals, the associate of beasts, the foe of bold athletes, the envier of the prosperous, the overthrower of labours, the stumbling-block of the life of virtue, the lover of empty conversations, the seeker of pleasure always, the silencer of holy song. It lacketh all virtues, and is abundant in all vices, it is a noxious form, a stone set in the way to trip up many, a dangerous example which causeth slackness in all who behold it, the counsellor of vices, the fugitive from afflictions, the lover of pleasures, the seeker after feasts and banquets, the sickness alike of the body and of the soul, the vessel of stinkingness, the odour of filth, the fountain of the excrement of the body, the lover of darkness, |350 the kinswoman of blackness, it eateth alone. It is the enemy of those who do not give thereto, a filthy shape, a loathsome form which cannot be depicted, the enemy of God, the uprooting of belief, the beginning of the path of error, the door which leadeth into all abominable things, the exactor of tribute from all, the oppressor of all, the nurse of fear, the destroyer of courage, the cause of sorrow and sickness, the food of hardness of heart, and the consortof the gluttonous dog which returneth to its vomit. It is abounding in diseases, it is the possessor of sicknesses, the withholder [p. 367] of the produce of labours, the first cause of straying away from God, and the worshipper of idols. And if a man were to collect ten thousand times ten thousand of such names as these, and were to apply them unto the lust of the belly, they would be too few [to describe] it, and it would not have been called by the names which it deserveth; for it is a mistress who is opposed unto God. And as all great and glorious names, if applied to God, would still be too few [to describe] Him, and they would be insufficient to shew forth the fairness and the beauty of His nature, even so if the lust of the belly were to be called by every name possible, those names would not suffice to shew forth its loathsomeness, and its hideous appearance. For of what fair thing is not this vice the destroyer? and naturally man calleth it the wickedness of all wickedness, the iniquity of the iniquitous, and the sin of sinners. Now therefore the glutton is not able to do any thing else except only to eat. For all matters are accounted empty by him except this, and he thinketh that a man was made for nothing else except to satisfy his lusts; for the conversation of the glutton is fixed wholly |351 upon his belly, and the whole aim of his discourse is directed towards this. Whatever subject thou dost bring up before him, he avoideth, and bringeth thee to the discourse concerning the belly; for before the food [cometh] the remembrance thereof is sweet unto him, and although he is not yet at the table, his whole thought is set thereupon, and although he is not [p. 368] actually eating, in his thought and speech he is wholly [intent] upon food. The beginning and end of his speech are derived from his belly, with it he begins, and with it he ends, and it is the reason of all his speaking. If thou repeatest doctrine before him, it is accounted a vain thing by him, and if thou speakest, or if thou proclaimest spiritual things before him, he thinketh that he seeth a dream; and if he heareth of the noble deeds of holy men, and of the labours and life of virtue, and the strenuousness of righteous men, he doth not believe that they are true. The explanations of the Holy Books are accounted idle and superfluous stones by him, for the word of interpretation sendeth him to sleep, and the discourse of admonition draweth sleep upon him; for the things which they cry and teach are not accounted work by him, because he thinketh that there is no work which is better than his own. The search after truth he nameth "debate", and conversation upon faith he calleth "seeking for proofs", and the man who hath his meditation fixed upon the Scriptures, he considereth audacious and curious. And if he seeth a man constant in reading he saith unto him, "Thou hast no work [to do]," and if he seeth another hastening, and asking questions, and seeking to gather and store up within himself the knowledge of Christ, his life is considered by him one |352 of emptiness. He applieth the name "vices" to the virtues, so that in blaspheming them he may free himself from blame, and that he may not be blamed for not being constant in doing the things which are excellent. He holdeth virtues to be weaknesses, in order that his own loathsomeness may not be accused by those who see him; he maketh hateful by his speech the comeliness of good things, and he blasphemeth deeds which are subjects for glorifying, together with [p. 369] those who do them. He holdeth divine doctrine and those who learn it to be objects of rebuke, and he maketh an accusation against the wisdom of Christ and against those who seek it. He repeateth evil things against knowledge and the disciples thereof, but because it is not easy for him to speak openly against wisdom and knowledge, reading and doctrine, faith and the quest of the truth, constant meditation upon the words of the Spirit, spiritual converse with the Holy Books, and secret communing with the mysteries of God, and the word of God, which is the sustenance of the soul, because it is not easy for him to blaspheme these things outwardly I say, he blasphemeth those who do them, and he thereby poureth contempt upon glorious things.
And he doth also blaspheme them openly, for he called the discoursing upon faith "prying", and the quest of truth "debate", and the doctrine of the Holy Books "superfluous seeking after proofs"; for behold, he is not aware that he calleth virtues vices, and that he nameth as abominations things which are comely. Zeal for God's sake is set down as contention by him, and the man who contendeth for the truth he considereth to be a disturber of the peace; and that a |353 man receiveth not the persons of men for God's sake is called audacity by him. If a man counselleth him, saying, "Stand up, and shew zeal for God's sake," he crieth out to him, "I am not intended for this, and I do not subject myself to such like things; for these are vain things to me, and I do not devote my attention to vain things." And if he be asked by a man, "What dost thou desire?" he returneth [p. 370] answer shamelessly, "To eat what God hath provided for us, and to lead a quiet life," that is to say, to minister unto our bellies, and to forsake faith----for this is the meaning of the words----although we may dress them in a humbler garb than this. And he is not ashamed to seek for the bread of God, and to deny the truth of His existence and to look upon His grace, and to despise faith in Him. He feigneth to be as one who loveth a quiet life, and feigneth to flee from contention and trouble, even when things are not troubled; but in truth he is afraid to trouble that mistress of wickedness whom he serveth in anything, and to be deprived from any cause of the carnal pleasures which he hath once taken to himself. To cease from instruction is accounted wisdom unto him, and that a man should cease from [seeking] to know what faith is, is thought by him to be faith, and he saith, "It is not necessary for us to learn anything else, for it is sufficient for us to believe and to be silent"; and being an unbeliever, he taketh refuge in faith, not because he loveth it, but because he is fond of his belly, and loveth himself. He quieteth the course of faith, that the quest of his lusts may go forward; outwardly his speech is for truth's sake, but inwardly he speaketh against the truth, and his contention is on |354 behalf of himself. Where he is called to shew forth earnestness, he bringeth forward the life of contemplation into the midst [as an excuse], and where zeal and courage for faith's sake are demanded, he teacheth and exhorteth every man to lead a quiet life unto himself. If a healthy word is let fall he goeth to sleep, but if baleful converse ariseth he waketh himself up; if [p. 371] discourses concerning the interpretations of Scripture enter in, he slumbereth, but if riddles, and idle stories, and foolish parables of the world, and the foolish babbling of old women are mooted, behold he is ready and is the first to repeat them, and he is prepared and hath the habit to be the first to say them; for one knoweth not anything which will keep his lust in subjection, except it be boastful talk, because his soul lacketh fruit, and it is filled with a collection of leaves of senseless stories. He hasteth and taketh refuge in feigned ignorance when he heareth the truth spoken of, and being crafty for wickedness, and artful unto wrath, a man's ignorance of the truth he nameth simplicity, and his delivering his faith unto those who err is accounted faith by him. He commandeth every man to be silent from spiritual things in order that he may have the opportunity of repeating the vain things which he loveth; and to high and to low the story which he tells is of the lusts of his belly, and of the pleasures of his body, for he neither knoweth nor perceiveth that there existeth anything else except the service of his belly.
Now therefore the glutton beareth a resemblance unto wild beasts in all his ways and manners, but his soul is, moreover, even more degraded and debased than |355 theirs. For the beasts were created by their Maker to do two things: that sustaining their lives by their food, they should do work and service for the human race; but the glutton eateth and worketh not, and although he is diligent at the table, he is useless for every kind of work of excellence. The soul which ministereth unto the belly feeleth not God, because it is asleep unto [p. 372] all thoughts of knowledge, and unto the meditation of God, for the knowledge of the soul springeth from the lightness of the senses and of members of the body, and the lightness of the body ariseth from the sparing use of food; but it is well known that the glutton is bowed down beneath two things, the thick darkness of the thoughts and the heaviness of the body. For narratives of the labours of the strenuous [lie] heavy upon him, because they are contrary to his manner of life. And if by chance he heareth that a certain man of abstinence by reason of love for his brother hath broken his rule of self-abnegation, either like a free man through the force of sickness, or through the necessity of weakness, to prop up his labour-bearing body, and hath passed a short time in living a less strict life, he layeth hold of this, and repeateth it at all times, saying, "Such and such an one eateth [meat]," and he uttereth this before everyone in order that it may be an excuse for his own lax way of living, and that he may thereby hide his abominable lusts. Now, O glutton, it is not thus, as thou thinkest, and the prosperous servants of Christ do not eat with the aim with which thou eatest, neither do they satisfy their lusts by their food; for they have not made themselves slaves of their belly, like unto thee, but they take food for their bare wants only. |356 And thou must not deprive them even of the food which they abase themselves to eat for want's sake, but consider also their abstinence, and look closely into the protracted period of their self-denial, for they eat not to fulfil lust, but for need's sake. That a man eateth for lust's sake is one thing, and that he eateth for need's sake is another. Whosoever eateth for his need's sake eateth unto his soul, and not unto his body, because [p. 373] he nourisheth his body that it may be found ready and prepared at all times for the soul which hath need thereof; but whosoever eateth for lust's sake, his eating is unto his body, and not unto his soul. For it never entereth into his mind that he hath in him a spiritual nature, but only, as from afar off, doth he hear by the word of others that he hath a soul in him; and the soul of the glutton is dead, and even while it is in him, it is as if it existed not. For when by reason of some cause of its own, it neither moveth, nor worketh, nor acteth, it is dead unto all the motions of knowledge, and all its acts and life are only of the body; for behold, since it existeth, it cannot be as if it existed not, and dwelling in the body, it cannot be thought to be not in the body. For the body is known by two things, by its appearance, and by its works, but the soul can only be known by its works, because its nature is beyond the sight Hence it followeth that the soul, being in the glutton by the act of the Creator, is not in him according to his own will, because the works by which it is known that the soul existeth in him are not found with him, and therefore the soul of the glutton maketh accusation against him and murmureth against him, even though he perceiveth not its murmurings, because he is dead thereunto. For as a living body may cleave |357 unto a dead body perceiving it not, even so the soul of the glutton cleaveth unto his body while he per-ceiveth it not, and whoso liveth unto his lusts only, and not unto the soul, is a corpse which is borne and carried out to be buried.
And although the passions, as I have already said, deserve blame by the word of righteousness, [p. 374] yet this unseemly passion deserveth blame most of all, not only because it is contrary unto knowledge, but because it is also the enemy of God. The man, who hath sunk into the useless life of the lust of the belly, is accounted as nothing, both by the world, and by God, and neither the one nor the other will receive him; because the world demandeth diligent exertion, and God also asketh for labour, and afflictions, and purity of soul, from the children of men, and if a man hath them not God will not receive him. Now gluttony is contrary unto these things, and it fleeth before labours and afflictions, and a man who would jest in speech at the vice of the lust of the belly cannot, I think, be found, especially one who has not had experience of the passions thereof; for fasting is its foe, and the report of abstinence and self-denial terrifieth and stupefieth it.
The glutton liveth for nothing except only to lead a life like unto that of the beasts, and although he is a beast in very deed, if a man calleth him by this name, he is wrathful, and the fool doth not understand that that which another man sayeth of him in words, is found to exist in him in very deed; it is not another who abuseth him, but he himself is the abuser, for when opprobrious words are removed from him, he himself is the root of his own disgrace. Whom can this wretched man blame? and how shall he chide those who speak |358 against him? For behold, he hath set [p. 375] himself in the midst of the community to be the subject of the discourse of others, for every man meditateth upon him, and every man speaketh about him; one shooteth out the lip, and another winketh with his eye, and another pointeth [at him] with his finger, and others whisper and repeat stories of his lax life. Now the soul of the glutton is made to endure [more] than any other sufferer, and although all these things happen unto him, he endureth them, and rejoiceth, having made the pleasure of his belly his sole consolation. And the fool doth not understand that henceforth toil and trouble will come upon him from all sides, even though he would take upon himself to bear the labours of the ascetic life, rather than the reproaches of the lust of the belly. So then, whether from laxity or whether from abstinence, from all sides weariness will come upon the man; but it is better to bear labours with praise for the sake of abstinence, than weariness with reproaches and disgrace for the sake of gluttony. Now the glutton [endureth] more than the ascetic, not in subduing his lusts, but in ministering thereunto; not in acquiring endurance, but in serving the bondage of his belly; not in bearing the afflictions which befit the life of brave exertion, but in serving, with weariness and fatigue, the lusts of his dissolute life, or in gathering together and in bringing to himself the materials of his lusts----like fuel which is gathered together [and brought] to the fire----or in carrying the weight of meats after he hath eaten them. For the meats are heavier to the belly which hath eaten [overmuch] than is a load of lead to the shoulder, and immediately a man hath eaten inordinately, the weight presseth upon his whole body, and all [p. 376] his members |359 become sluggish, and the power of his senses dwindleth away, and the sight of his eye becometh darkened by the abundance of the flow of its moisture, and the hearing of the ear becometh heavy, and the speech of his tongue becometh halting, and the mind, which is the fountain of words, becometh clouded, and the understanding, which is the helms man of wisdom, becometh stupefied, and the flow of his words is involved and entangled, his bones shake away from their places, and the knees totter and the hands tremble; and the vessel of the person of the glutton breaketh up and becometh old before its time, by reason of the superfluous weights which he maketh it to carry.
Now the sicknesses which are born from an overabundance of food are many, and cannot be counted, but asceticism doth not make in the body any sickness like unto that which gluttony produceth. And gluttons "that they may not fall sick," as they say, devote themselves unto meats, and the fools do not perceive that that from which they flee will come upon them; for in the place whither they hasten to receive healing there shall they find sickness before them, and where they seek to flee from pains there shall be gathered together for them diseases. And who knoweth not that sparing food and meagre nourishment give health to the body? especially when to them moderate labour is united. And concerning this matter the learning of physicians also testifieth, and they, that is to say their learning, or art, which hath been discovered for the stablishing of the body, know better than all other arts, that the health and sickness of the body arise from the food, [p. 377] and if they be asked, they will always advise sparingness in the use of meat, and in |360 addition to this also they will advise that the food of a man should be meagre, and that he should guard against drinking wine freely. And if they allow a man to drink wine for need's sake they break the strength thereof with much water, and then give it to him to drink. And they command a man very fully to beware of idleness, and to love fatigue, and to seek work, and with exercises of all kinds which are akin to work they preserve the health of the bodies of the children of men. And these they advise "That the ducts of the body may not be filled with the living liquid which ariseth from the over-eating of meat, and that they may not be blocked up and prevent the passage through them of the living power of the food, which is the strengthener of the body." And this [passage] also is written in their works: "Meat is the cause of all the diseases of the body, and though by chance they may be produced from other causes, if thou increasest [the use of] meat it becometh a nurse unto them, and preventeth wholly the benefits of the art of the physician."
And in addition to the words of the physicians, it is right for us, like wise men, to understand from experience, that the cause of all wickedness, and of the pains and sicknesses of the body, ariseth from superfluity of food. And if thou wishest, consider carefully the rich, and the poor, and those who lead a quiet life, and those who are vexed, and those who are weighted with care, and those who labour, and see which of these preserveth [p. 378] his body in a healthy condition, and which of them has many and frequent sicknesses; and in proportion to their frequency is the difficulty of healing them. Is it not the rich? is it not those who have rent their bellies by |361 overeating? is it not those who, before they have digested and emptied themselves of the food which they have just eaten, hasten after more for gluttony's sake?
And theirs are sore and difficult sicknesses, and these are the wages which their gluttony giveth unto them, and they deserve to receive this reward from that mistress of iniquity whom they serve. They have pains in the hands, and pains in the legs; they have the sores and ulcers which arise from superfluity of food; they have trembling of the limbs, and dizziness in the head; they have sickness of the bowels, together with all the other afflictions which spring up for them out of this thorny land. They sink into sleep at all times; they slumber continually at all hours; they feel heaviness all over the body, and have sneezings and violent vomitings; and it is evident that even the speech of the glutton is sent forth from heavy limbs, and that it is produced from a mind which is buried in flesh. All these things happen unto gluttons, even though others may bring nigh helps for their bodies continually, purgatives, and cleansing draughts, and other means for relieving the body, and blood-letting, and medicines which open the bowels, and violent washing with water at all hours; but over-eating overcometh all these beneficial means, and createth for them in their bodies severe pains, [p. 379] and sore sicknesses, which it is difficult even for wise physicians to heal.
Now the poor man, who passeth his life in labour and weariness, possesseth health of body, and his body is light and ready for any piece of work, and there hangeth not therein the weight of superabundance. And if by chance, in ignorance he eateth immoderately of his meagre fare, the toil of his labour receiveth the |362 weight of his food immediately, and his labour becometh unto him a constant physician, wherefrom, without the intervention of medicines, he receiveth healing. And what physician knoweth so well how to heal the body as the toil of labour? and besides this labour, without expenses and without medicines----not like a physician----removeth medicines from him, and bringeth nigh things which are beneficial. And labour is the physician and the medicine, and the bandager and the bandage, and the healer and the medicine which healeth, and from it cometh that which is beneficial, and in it is the healing of all the members.
Now in this labour, from which fleeth sluggishness by reason of the love of luxuries, poverty findeth healing. Now I do not say that pains never come unto the poor, nor that sicknesses never come [in the train of] labours and fatigues, but I do say that the pains of the rich are many and are difficult to heal, because they are idle all their lives, and because they have made themselves slaves unto their pampered bodies, either in ministering unto their lusts, or in reducing the superfluity thereof or in healing the sicknesses which are born of satiety; for in idleness these men pass all their lives, and besides [their bodies] they perceive not that anything else existeth. Now the illness of the poor man [p. 380] is quick in being cured, and the superfluity of his body is little and meagre, and he receiveth healing quickly from the medicines which are brought unto him, because the causes which increase the superfluities in the body are cut off therefrom. And since these things are so, who would not reduce it by the sparing use of food, which is the mother of healing? But I am convinced that these words will be accounted unnecessary by the glutton, because his ear |363 is closed by his lust, and he is unable to hear healthy doctrine, and it is as if his food were made curtains in front of his senses, and it prevented them from their natural service. And who would not weep over this man who wasteth by his dishonourable indulgence the beautiful work of God? And rightly he meriteth punishment, not only because he ministereth unto his lusts, and provoketh God to wrath by his lust, but also because he, by his gluttony, destroyeth the healthy members which are established in a fair form by the Creator. Whosoever by reason of his gluttony destroyeth the members of his body is an associate of the murderer, and he is the consort of a destroying thief, and that which is written in the Law, "Everyone who slayeth shall be slain, and whosoever cutteth off a member of his neighbour, one of his members shall be cut off,"3 applieth unto him. Now the glutton destroyeth his own members, and little by little he maketh to perish and consumeth the power of his body and of his members, and whosoever ruineth the fair creation of God, and throweth down the building of his body which the will of the Architect builded aforetime, bringeth together for every reason punishments [p. 381] upon himself, according to the word of righteousness, which was uttered before he had transgressed the command of God, Who had commanded man not to become a servant unto his lusts. And again, he is impeded [in doing] fair things, and in the service of all virtues, which the Holy Books exhort us continually to do; and again, he of his own freewill driveth out of himself the remembrance of spiritual things; and again, he rejecteth lovingkindness to the poor; and his |364 gluttony stirreth him up to go forth therefrom unto oppression; and again, together with these things, he with his own hands ruineth the fair building, and lusts destroy the members of the creation of God which He created in His grace for the service of His will.
See then, O glutton, the cause of thy being framed, and tremble before God, and waste not thyself; for there is another hope which is not seen, and why is thy hope bound up in thy belly? There is another spiritual food, then why dost thou depart after vain meats? There is a table of Christ which is promised unto His friends, then why doth thy expectation hang back and consider the season of the table [which is here]? There is another world with its heavenly blessings, then why hast thou bound the hope of thy life unto a world which is seen, and why have the excellent things which are therein been accounted loss by thee? The Maker did not create thee that thou mightest eat like the beasts, but that thou mightest eat like a rational being, and mightest glorify Him like a living being. He did not make thee live [only] to eat, but He gave thee the power to eat in moderation that thou mightest live thereby. O wretched man, thy life was framed not for meats, [p. 382] but that it might be established by food in moderation. Separate thy life from the life of the beasts, and be not a servant unto thy belly to make it draw nigh unto the service of lusts which destroy. Thou art a wise man, let not thy soul be voluntarily bowed beneath the yoke of animals. Thou art the fair image of thy Creator, why shouldst thou carve upon thyself the form of animals? The word of Him that created thee hath bidden thee unto equality with spiritual beings, then why dost thou wallow with the pigs in the mire of lusts, |365 and make thyself filthy? Thou art a consecrated being ordained to be with the Seraphim, then why dost thou make thy life like unto that of the dumb animal in thy degraded conduct? Thou art the lord of creation by the will of thy Creator, then why hast thou made thyself a servant to thy belly of thine own freewill? The will of the Creator subdued for thee all creation, and yet a little belly leadeth thee in subjection! All things in nature are bowed beneath the yoke of thy subjection, and yet the yoke of a destroying mistress is set upon thy shoulder! All nations and works are obedient unto thy word, and yet thou hast made thyself a degraded servant unto a filthy lust! Thou hast been made a god by the God of truth, and yet thou hast made thy belly a god unto thee! Thou art a glorious ruler by His work, and yet thou in thy debased estate hast through thy lust brought thyself to be a man of no account. He created everything for thy glory, and thou hast changed His glory into thy belly. God calleth thee to converse with Him, but thy meditation is bound unto the table. Thou wast made a rational vessel of holy and glorious things, but thou hast worn thyself out, and hast in thy degraded estate cut the strings of thy harp. Thy Lord loved thee so much that He gave thee all this, and also that thou shouldst eat, yet thou for love of Him wilt not make thyself to abstain from contemptible meats!
[p. 383] The Living One died, and was buried, that He might make thee to live, yet thou hast made thyself a grave for meats! He had no pity upon His own life, but gave it unto death for thy life, yet thou wilt not cause thyself to acquire a little forbearance for love of Him! O degraded one, consider the life which hath |366 been promised to thee, and see what manner of life thou hast lived in the world, and be ashamed, even from thy very soul. Henceforth thou shalt not be a grave unto thyself whilst thou art alive, and thou shalt not destroy the person which is in thee before it be destroyed by the natural grave. Behold, thy soul is buried in thy body, like a body in the grave. The body was framed by the Creator to be a glorious vessel for the soul, and an associate in all virtues, why then hast thou made it a grave for the soul, which being therein is accounted to be in a place of corruption? The body of the glutton is destroyed by what he devoureth before natural death destroyeth it, and it groweth old and falleth away, little by little, before the habitation of Sheol weareth it out. The pains of the glutton are voluntary and not natural, for although they spring from his bodily nature, yet his will is the cause of them, and they are born of his own freedom through the superfluity of meats. The man who loveth the things which are lusted after leadeth a life of stumbling, and not only doth he sin within himself, but also unto others is he a cause of loss. He himself is a disease which is set in the midst, and every one who passeth thereover stumbleth over it----the sluggish and the active, the wanton and the chaste, the pampered and the ascetic, the glutton and the abstemious man----and some are tripped up and fall, and some add unto their dissolute habit of life. [p. 384] The glutton looketh at his consort, and again addeth unto his laxity, the dissolute man looketh upon him, and again clotheth himself with his laxity, like a garment above a garment, and he that is fast held by the lust of his belly looketh upon him, and tarrieth the more with the object of his love. |367 Now those who are athletes and ascetics lose thereby, because they are made to stumble, and his affair leadeth them to the discourse which they love not. For on all sides he stirreth up war against them, either because they will not degrade themselves at the sight of his laxity and become like unto him, or because at the repetition of his laxity they will not cease from the converse which is with God, or because they cannot be exalted within themselves at their strenuousness when they compare their upright lives with his laxity. In the manner in which the strenuous and the prosperous benefit both themselves and their companions do the slothful and the lovers of lusts injure both themselves and those who behold them; and their lives, which they live in the world, are found in every way to be the cause of loss unto the children of men. For the childhood of the glutton is a hateful thing, and his manhood is a thing to be laughed at, and his old age is a thing to be mocked at. His childhood is slothful, his manhood is wanton, and his old age is pampered; in his childhood he hath much sport and pleasure, in his manhood adultery and fornication, and in his old age the devouring of food and empty conversations. He not only hateth the doing of good works, but even hearing it repeated, and not only is the doing of them heavy upon him, but also speech concerning them if he heareth it. Therefore if a man repeateth to him the triumph of the saints, [p. 385] immediately sleepiness and gaping lay hold upon him, and his whole body beareth the weight of listlessness, and he sheweth forth the signs of the deadness of his soul in the stretching of the limbs and in the turning about of his body; and if he is able to do so he goeth and he leaveth [the |368 narrator] and departeth, and if not, he immediately goeth to sleep where he is.
And the soul of the glutton is like unto a dog, and rightly should he be called by the name thereof; for as a dog sleepeth through all things, and the converse and speech of men are alien things in his hearing, and only the sound of the platter and the sight of the food wake him up, even so also like him is the glutton sunk in the sleep of listless inattention, and every profitable discourse is accounted a superfluity unto him, and divine words flow upon his ear like water upon a rock. But let only a man mention before him one word of the belly, or say anything about meats, and immediately his soul rouseth up itself, and his thoughts are roused, and his body becometh straightway active, and he leapeth to the speech which he loveth, like a dog to the beckoning [of his master].
Now therefore by such names as these is it right that the glutton should be called, that he may hear his names and be ashamed of his lust; for since he walloweth like a pig in the mire of lusts it is fitting for him to be called by its name. And because, like a dog which rouseth, itself at the sound of the platter, discourses concerning the belly stir him up, he is fittingly also called "dog"; and because, like a beast to the manger, he runneth swiftly to the table, rightly is he called "beast"; and because, like a wild beast, he is wanting in all the conversations of wisdom [p. 386] and knowledge, and liveth unto his body only, he is rightly called by that name which is applicable to him by reason of his works. And if there existed other names which were more disgraceful and loathsome than these, they would be suitably applied unto him, without |369 causing any disgrace to the word which calleth him such like names, because his disgrace ariseth from himself. For as the names which are derived from certain things are applied unto the men who are called by the names which are derived from them, even so are the names of the glutton rightly derived from him, and he is properly called by the names which are characteristic of him. For the man who disgraceth himself, who shall honour? And the man who runneth after that which is despicable, who shall praise? And the man who gathereth together upon himself mockery and abominable speech, unto whom more than himself should his fair name be a care?
Now therefore, even though I have spoken these things, it is right for me to speak further and make manifest the behaviour of gluttons that they may be recognized by all men of discretion, and be properly held in contempt, and be despised by all those who see them; and these are the manners and customs of him that is subject unto his belly. For man he hath no true love, and if by chance he doth love any one, it is the man who hath made himself a servant and a minister unto his lust that he loveth, and then only in proportion as he supplieth his pleasures. And if for any reason whatever it happeneth that this man changeth, and becometh inattentive, and diminisheth slightly his homage and service, straightway the glutton changeth also from his love, and his [former] praises of his friend turn [p. 387] into blame, because his love is bound up in his belly. Every one who ministereth thereto is his friend, and whosoever payeth no heed thereto appeareth to him to be an enemy; and moreover, he seeketh and searcheth out the friends who will be of use unto him, |370 and who will be able to minister unto his lust. The upright he loveth not, for the chaste he hath no affection, those who are burdened with labours are accounted stupid by him, the righteous he counteth as fools, and those who are constant in prayer are said by him to be without work. If he seeth a stranger he passeth by him as something alien, but he listeneth unto the mere report of any one of those who, he thinketh, can act as stewards unto his lust. He maketh himself ill by running after the desire of his lust, he beareth his belly upon his legs, and he goeth round about in every place. He maketh himself a friend unto the rich, and a slave and a servant unto nobles; conversation with them he considereth a matter of which to boast, and speech with them a thing of which to be proud. The report of the Gospel is not so dear unto him as the conversation of him who, he hopeth, hath laden himself, and hath brought that which will satisfy his lust. In very truth the feet of Abraham, laden with love, when he ran to the herd to bring a calf for the angels, were not as swift as those of the glutton when he runneth to meet him that hath brought him food; for his whole longing is to receive, and if it happen that he giveth, it is in order that more may be given back to him.
And moreover he knoweth not how to gain a friend without the belly, for he would that that which he loveth should be loved also by others. If indignation rise up against him he thinketh that it may be quieted by a gift of the belly, and if he have provoked a man to wrath by his folly and envy, he hasteneth to appease him by a gift of food; [p. 388] upon it he resteth his hope, and through it he thinketh that the |371 violence of his deeds my be dissolved. The madman thinketh that every man is, like himself, bowed in subjection unto the god which he himself serveth, and that, like himself, his belly is his god. He waiteth anxiously to see a friend, but if, when he hath come, he hath brought nothing, the expectation of his soul and the appearance of his face are changed. The hand of the glutton is spread out to receive, but is tightly clenched against [giving] gifts, and if by chance he giveth, it is that he may provide material for himself and be abundantly rewarded. Where he knoweth that custom directeth the gift, and that according thereunto a gift will be given unto him, he hath no care to give largess, for he knoweth that although he may not pay it back, custom and habit will direct the gift [to be made]. But he maketh a gift where [he knoweth] that it will be returned, and he layeth the foundation of love where it hath not been laid before. And moreover he repeateth before new friends stories of the old ones, and he calleth to mind also the gifts which were given by them unto him, saying "Such an one sent me such and such a thing, and such an one urged me, and although I did not wish it he forced me with [his] gifts, and I accepted," as if a man were to say, "Hearken, and learn, and do thou likewise." He teacheth unto his new friends the doings of his old ones, and he maketh them disciples of the customs of the friends of olden time. He putteth aside all the discourses of others and bringeth his own to the front, and if it happen that some [other] matter be spoken of, or some matter of work, or of divine instruction, he skilfully bringeth it to an end and expelleth it, in order that he may bring into the midst the subject of the belly; for he liveth for nothing else, |372 neither in his conversation, [p. 389] nor in his speech, nor in his behaviour, nor in his works, nor in his meditations, nor in his thoughts.
The glutton considereth the lust of the belly the greatest of all happiness, and all his questions are moved thereupon. He knoweth also the varieties of meats, and he is acquainted with the luxuries of different places, what garden produceth beautiful fruits, and what river hath fish of fine flavour, and who [best] knoweth how to cook and to prepare dainty foods; for these are his questions and his explanations, and [his] two testicles are more dear unto him than the Old and New Testaments. The mention of fast and vigil terrifieth him, and a long prayer is torture unto him; if he kneeleth down he murmureth, and if prayer be prolonged he roareth. He turneth the gaze of his eye at all times towards the windows, he considereth the course of the sun, he reckoneth the period thereof, and counteth the hours, and one day is accounted two in his sight. His period of prayer is short, but his time for eating is long, and he will undertake nothing, except only to satisfy the lusts of his belly. Everything is accounted superfluous by htm, reading, instruction, fasting, abstinence, prayer, the singing of the Psalms, the [daily] service, and the "Blessings"; and if by chance or by the law of custom he performeth them. it is through shamefacedness, and they are done by him listlessly and with the uttering of complaints. And what cause is not sufficient to make him cease from prayer? He will seek converse with men or any other matter which may happen, that he may be prevented from the service and the singing of the Psalms. The things of God are done by him negligently, but those which belong to his lust are done with all [p. 390] |373 diligence and love. If he hath a small sore in his body he holdeth it to be a malignant ulcer, and if he be slightly disordered he accounteth it a severe and difficult illness. Everything which is profitable he layeth hold upon as a reason only to cease from [the service of] the Cause of his life, and he is earnest in everything except the serving of God.
And also when the glutton hath no sickness, he planneth to appear to be sick, so that when he hath ceased from service and prayer he may not be greatly blamed. For he repeateth his illnesses before every man, and although the cause of his sickness is small and contemptible, he increaseth and magnifieth it, and he calleth God to witness, so that by this he may persuade those who listen to him that he is forcing himself to draw nigh unto the service of the monastery. The glutton acteth craftily concerning the health of his body, and although the cause which would seal up the fountain of his sicknesses is with him, that is, if he would curb his gluttony a little, he wandereth about and seeketh help outside him. If thou wert to advise him, saying, "Diminish thy food a little, and keep thyself from oil and wine," he would look upon thee as one who hated his life, and would say unto thee, "Sicknesses are better unto me than the restraint of the belly in anything; and I will take long illnesses upon me if only I may satisfy my lusts. If one wisheth me [to take] medicine to heal me [I will take it] with my food, but if not, it is better for me to eat than to become well." The glutton hath many carnal friends, whereby the needs of his lust may be gathered together unto him from all sides; he is crafty and skilful in his planning, and he knoweth whom to chose and of whom to make [p. 391] |374 friends. And, moreover, he is not persuaded accidentally to make unto himself friends among blessed men, or among those who are poor, or of those who endure labours, or of those who love excellence, or of any one of those who possess the knowledge of Christ, neither can he be entreated to become loving unto them either in fact (?) or in name; and not only is he thus, but he is their secret enemy, for by their appearance, and speech, and works, they rebuke his gluttony, and for this reason he hateth and abominateth them.
And if thou seest the glutton doing honour unto one of the wise, or unto one of the righteous, he doeth this only in form, that he may not be blamed by the believing men who love the things that are good, and also that he may quiet the murmuring of the many against him, and turn away from him the force of the zeal of those who honour what is good. If he seeth one of those who are young in their discipleship clothed in the discretion of the zeal of faith, like an indulgent man he would make him to cease therefrom, and he counselleth him as one who loveth him, saying, "Be quiet, and do not disgrace thy kin, and forsake not thy life of tranquillity. Be thou silent, and behold, thou wilt be beloved. Occupy thyself in fasting and prayer only, and draw not nigh unto that which is not suitable unto thee." And he giveth the disciple this counsel that he may quiet his zeal, and not because he delighteth in the service of that which is good. And when he hath brought him down from the virtue of a man standing up to fight for God's sake, he beginneth also to overthrow the good habits which follow upon this, that is to say, the severity of labours and afflictions [p. 392] for God's sake, and the fastings of the ascetic, and |375 protracted prayers, saying, "These are unnecessary; a man should cleanse his soul and possess a good conscience;" For he layeth hold upon a reason [to set before] the things of the inner man that he may destroy its outward acts, and he would justify himself by the belief that such things are unnecessary, because his laxity rebuketh his outward works. Where it is not easy for the children of men to see, he maketh himself a righteous man, and where afflictions and labours are seen, he maketh plans to hide them, and giveth concerning them other explanations. "Our God doth not require from us," he is wont to say, "that a man should kill himself, and afflict his body beyond measure, but only that we should be righteous in our souls, and that our thoughts may be cleansed from wickedness;" and while the life of the wretched man is upon a lower grade than that of the beasts, like a perfect man he speaketh of spiritual things. His discoursings about his manner of life are long, and if he heareth a word from a book which may be of use to him, he layeth hold upon it with all diligence, in order that he may make use thereof in the season of strife, when he wageth war with his speech against those who rebuke his gluttony. When he wisheth to eat everything, and not to restrain himself by forbearance from any meat, he beginneth to repeat that which was written by our Lord, "It is not that which goeth into a man which defileth him;" 4 for his ear is only pierced to hear such things as can be thought to support his lust, and in the face of the hearing of other things he shutteth the door of his attention. For he is not willing to hearken unto the |376 other verse which saith, "Whosoever wisheth to be My disciple, [p. 393] let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me;" 5 nor unto the other which saith, "Whosoever wisheth to make his life to live shall destroy it," 6 nor that which He spake unto His disciples, saying, "In the world ye shall have tribulations;" 7 nor the words, "When the Bridegroom shall be taken from the children of the bridechamber, then shall ye fast." 8 And therefore [he would remember the passage concerning] the eating of our Lord, where it is written of Him that, "He made the festival, and ate the passover;"9 or where it is said that, "They set before Him a piece of broiled fish and [a piece] of honeycomb;"10 or where again it is written, "They had fishes and bread."11 And these and such like things doth the glutton bring forward as proofs when he wisheth to eat everything freely, and the rule of the freedom of Christ, Who like God was above laws and commandments, doth he set forth to be a stumbling-block to his life, and he understandeth not the reason of that rule and conduct, and he perceiveth not that other types were inscribed therein. And again, when the Apostle Paul is read, and he heareth from him, "Everything which was created by God is holy, and nothing is to be rejected if it be received with thanksgiving; for it is sanctified through the word of God and prayer;"12 or another verse, "The belly for meats, and meats for the belly;"13 or that also which he spake, |377 "Let not him that eateth not judge him that eateth." 14 And in the other things like unto these which are written in the doctrine of Paul, [p. 394] the fool rejoiceth, and receiveth them gladly, without understanding the reason of the words.
And the glutton is not pleased to hear the other things which have been written by Paul upon fortitude and asceticism, either when he recounteth his numerous fastings, or when he crieth out to his disciples, saying, "Ye are dead unto the world," 15 or when he writeth, "It is good for [a man] not to eat flesh, and not to drink wine," 16 or his exhortation, "Through many tribulations it is meet for a man to enter into the kingdom of God," 17 or his saying, "God shall bring both the belly and the food to nought;" 18 19 and the reading of these and such like passages the glutton considereth unnecessary, and he is not pleased even to hear them.
Now therefore in this manner standeth the life of him that loveth lusts, and as the remembrance of God is high unto the perfect, even so also is nigh unto him at all times the care for his belly. He singeth songs thereto, and meditateth upon it in his prayer and praise, his memory is burdened [therewith] at all seasons, and upon it he thinketh continually, because outside it he hath no other life; the memory thereof maketh his prayers light, and his constant thinking thereupon bringeth to nought in him all right and proper things. The glutton hath no seasons set apart for eating, but he eateth by day and by night, and when he eateth not he still eateth. |378 For thou must not consider that the times when he eateth are once or twice, but mark carefully that it is his care [to eat] at all seasons throughout the night and day, [p. 395] and when his body eateth not his thought eateth. And he hath not even, like the beasts, times set apart for eating, for although the beast eateth at all seasons, and hath no limit to its eating throughout the night and day, yet it doth not meditate upon its meat at all seasons; but the glutton eateth at all seasons because he thinketh about his belly always, and therefore, even when he sleepeth it appeareth to him in his dreams that he is eating. Shamefacedness is removed from before the eyes of the glutton, because he hath endowed his face with impudence so that he may not be ashamed. He heareth the mockery of himself and is silent, and he heareth disgraceful words spoken of him, but he taketh them not to heart; for the love of his belly overcometh him, and in spite of all the blows which beat upon him he is empty of spiritual virtues, that is to say, he knoweth not even that they exist. He chooseth things which inflame him mightily, he seeketh purified wines, and he asketh for tasty meats. He hath no work in the world save this, and however much we were to describe him he would not cease from his lax habits; but in the things which we have spoken we have given a little example of his lax ways, wherefrom those who see him may recognize him.
Do thou then, O brave disciple, flee from such an example as this, and become not lax in thy strenuous rule of life through the sight of him. Thou thyself must know unto what thou hast become a disciple, and thy discipleship itself must be unto thee the cause of thy |379 course; be not like unto that contemptible man, but emulate with success the brave. Let not the man who is a counterpart of the beasts be an example unto thee, and thou shalt not consider it good for a man to eat, and to drink, and to satisfy his lusts, but shalt consider it an evil which is worse than all other evils. Hear also the words [p. 396] of the prophecy, and the "Woe" which was proclaimed for gluttons, "Woe unto those who rise up early in the morning and pursue strong drink, and who tarry long [over it] in the evening while wine inflameth them. With harps, and stringed instruments, and drums, and tabrets, they drink wine, and the works of God they understand not." 20 And behold, the Spirit also hath taught thee that the man who ministereth unto his lusts is unable to understand the works of God. For as in our sleep we are not able to speak and to act as living beings who are awake, even so the man who is sunk in the sleep of lusts cannot understand the living works of God, neither doth he know how to contemplate His government, nor to wonder at the various forms of His dispensation; and he knoweth not admiration of the majesty of God, nor is he awake unto the knowledge of Him, nor is he ready to respond unto His wisdom. For whosoever is sunk in the slumber of lust perceiveth not these things, because the remembrance of these things belongeth unto those who are awake and living. And blessedness is ascribed unto the man who understandeth these things. For if unto those who eat, and drink, and who do not understand the works of God "Woe" be given, contrariwise "Blessing" is ascribed unto those |380 who are abstinent and self-denying, and who at all times meditate upon the works of God.
Do thou then, O disciple, so run that thou mayest be worthy of blessing, and flee from the woe which is promised unto gluttons. And let those who are strenuous be unto thee an example for good, and not those who are fallen low, and those who fast instead of those who devour food, and those who lead ascetic lives instead of gluttons, and those who deny themselves instead of those who gorge, and those who serve God instead of those who serve their belly, and those who have fortitude instead of those who are slack, and the good instead of the bad; for [p. 397] good men are not wanting in the world to be an example unto thee of that which is good, and let us be like unto them and not unto the wicked. Thou shalt not examine closely those who stand beneath thee, but lift up thine eyes, and look at those who are greater than thou, and go up unto them; for as it is with matters of this world, every man choosing things which are great, even so is it with these divine things, and let us choose for ourselves that which is great and sublime. Now there is no man in the world who loveth poverty more than riches, but every man seeketh to be excused therefrom, and he followeth after riches, and he fleeth from pains, and he runneth after the health of the body. So likewise let us pursue the things of the spirit, and let us love the riches of fortitude, and not the poverty of gluttony, and let us love the healing of our soul and of our thoughts more than the sicknesses of the lusts; for the soul which ministereth unto lusts is always a diseased thing, and it hath no power over its spiritual strength and healing. For as whosoever is sick in his body hath not power over his |381 health to eat whatever he pleaseth, and he hath not power to do that which he wisheth, even so also the man whose soul is sick through gluttony neither hath power over the strength and healing of his soul, nor can he occupy himself in his actions with anything that he wisheth or seeketh to do. As the members of a sick man do not respond to him when he wisheth to move them for some purpose, so also the thoughts of a glutton do not respond to him when he wisheth to work with them something that is good; for all [p. 398] beautiful things are difficult unto the man who is subject unto his belly, because he is the slave of all lusts. If the passion of eating be moved in him he is not easily able to overcome it, because he himself is one in subjection, and if the lust of fornication stir in his members, or wrath, or anger, or envy, or wickedness, or any abominable passion, it is not easy for him to overcome it, because he is a slave and is in subjection unto them all, and they are to be subdued with difficulty, especially when they are many. And if, when one passion hath obtained power over our life, and it hath made us subject unto the labour of its bondage for a long time, it is difficult for us to overcome it, how much more shall we be overcome by many masters? For, as I have said, with gluttony all the other passions enter in, because it is the means of entrance for all lusts.
"Now our Redeemer said in His Gospel, "Ye cannot serve God and mammon,21" and if in our subjection unto one lord----that is to say, unto mammon only----we are not able to serve also God therewith, how, when |382 the masters who have brought us into subjection are many, and each one of them leadeth us forcibly after his own will, can we serve God, Who will not accept from man the service of any other thing together with His own service? What then? And if each one of all these sins, which collectwely are contrary to the righteousness of God, is a drawback to its fellow in the service of Him, [p. 399] how can the service of them collectively avoid being a hindrance to the keeping of the commandments of God? For they are different from one another in their actions, and the Will of God is contrary unto them all, and especially unto this lust of greediness, through which all other lusts are brought in and enter in.
Now therefore, when a man hath been led into subjection to minister unto the service of his belly, he must give himself over to much toil that he may gather together [material] from all sides and bring it to [supply] its needs, for it not only seeketh to eat, but it also seeketh in what way it may eat; for if it rested only upon the satisfying of its need, the need of the belly could be satisfied with very little, and with common and ordinary things of low price. How many times have many men satisfied their wants with roots and herbs because they sought things for their need, and not for the satisfying of their lusts? And although God, like a rich Creator, gave in abundance everything for our need, yet it is right for us to consider His will, and to be guided accordingly, and therefore He multiplied in the world many kinds of dainty meats that they might be a furnace wherewith to test lust, and that the mind of the children of men might be tried as to what they lust for, and after what do they haste. For |383 where there is nothing to be lusted after the trial of lust existeth not; but it is right for the disciple to know himself, and he must not be subjected unto the lust of his body, [p. 400] and he must not open the door to bring in upon himself beasts which destroy.
For as when a strong door is closed fast, and evil beasts and noxious reptiles are kept outside of it, if by chance it be opened for any cause whatsoever, they are all found to come inside to injure the inhabitants of the place, even so also when the door of the lust of the belly is shut, all the murderous passions of lusts which destroy the soul are shut out, and they cannot enter in to bite and destroy the spiritual nature of the soul; but if through our slackness this door be opened before them, and our will doeth for the belly that which it desireth, immediately all wickednesses are gathered together and go in against our soul, and destroy therein all thoughts of excellence. For immediately thou openest this door, at once there entereth in the destroying beast of fornication, which devoureth and destroyeth body and soul together; and after it the lust of the belly, for which two things are necessary, the love of the belly and fornication, which is also born of lusts. And from the love of money is born trouble, either because we do not possess it, or because by chance we have lost that which we had collected, either in whole or in part; and from this is born in us also the passion of wrath, and we are provoked to anger and filled with wrath against those who do not give [unto us] that which, according to our opinion, they have wrested from us, or against those who do not obey and satisfy us with the service of our lives. And sometimes against slaves, and sometimes against |384 hirelings, and sometimes against those whom we hold [p. 401] in contempt and think lightly of, are we filled with anger and wrath through various causes which come upon us. And again we are filled with envy against those who are greater and richer than we are, and also with the love of plunder and defrauding, and how many times are we led even unto murder through this cause? And through riches arrogance also layeth hold upon us, and through the spectre of riches we lust for vain glory from the children of men, and therefrom we learn to receive calumnies from those who are inferior to ourselves, and we also calumniate those who are greater than ourselves. And from this we go forth unto falsehoods and oaths continually, and to blasphemy against God, and when the remembrance of the Judgment hath perished entirely from the soul, it henceforth doeth without fear all manner of wickedness. Now of these things and of those like unto them the primary cause is gluttony. For who is there that doth not know that the lust of fornication burneth in the body which eateth, and drinketh, and fareth luxuriously? And although it may not be ministered unto openly, and may not be apparent in deed unto the children of men, yet it inflameth the thoughts continually, and a man maketh plans and seeketh an exit for the fire which is in him; he lusteth after everything that is beautiful and he is tripped up by every form which is beautiful in appearance. For so long as the fire of lust is in his members his thoughts fly unto every face, and he committeth fornication secretly with every appearance. And although he fornicateth not outwardly, he fornicateth constantly inwardly, and although he is not an adulterer |385 in his body, he committeth adultery within himself at all seasons and at every hour.
[p. 402] Now therefore meat and drink are the fuel of the fire of lust, and whosoever wisheth to quench in his members this fire which is hidden in them, must withhold this fuel from himself, and behold, it will be extinguished; for fasting, and abstinence, and self-denial are the water which quencheth the fire of lust. For what oil is to the fire wine is to lust, and as manure stimulateth the earth to bring forth fruit, even so doth the stinkingness of meats excite the members with abominable lusts. A superabundance of food is a covering of the understanding, and food, of and by itself, maketh dark the mind unto the thoughts of fornication, and concerning how much the troubling of lust disturbeth a pure mind there is no doubt whatever, but those know it especially who have experienced it. But before this lust, is the lust of the belly which submergeth the understanding, and it is the covering of the mind which seeth, and it is the thick darkness of the thoughts which possess the light of truth, for the stink of meats is the night of the enlightened mind. And as blacknesses and smoke darken pure and clean air, even so doth the stink of meat disturb the purity of the mind.
Now therefore it is right for the disciple of Christ not only to excuse himself from dainty and costly meats, but also to eat sparingly of the commonest foods, for it is not because the meat is costly that it disturbeth the understanding and darkeneth the mind, but because of the abundance [that thou eatest], [p. 403] and this defect is found in respect of the commonest foods as well as of those that are costly. And well do the Holy Books |386 admonish the children of men against the overfeeding of the belly in every place, for according to the teaching of Paul, "Those who occupied themselves with meats were not benefited by them,22" and not only were they deprived of any benefits, but they gathered together for their own persons loss and injury, but [he saith], "Gluttons and drunkards shall not inherit the kingdom of God;" 23 and read the passage, O disciple, and see unto what vices the Apostle compareth this wickedness----with soothsayers and destroyers, and other things like thereunto. And although the lust of the belly is not these, yet it leadeth unto them, for when the heart hath become gross through meats, straightway it driveth out from itself the remembrance of God, and when the memory of God hath departed from a man, what wickedness will he not do? and what iniquity will he be not moved to do? Even as also the prophet Moses hath taught us that through this cause the people forgot their God, and that through the lust of the belly they went forth unto idolatry, and from eating meat they were led into blasphemies, and from dainty foods they arrived at all wickedness, [saying,] "He made him [i. e. Israel] to dwell upon the strength of the earth, and He made him to eat of the produce of the field. He made him to suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the rock of flint: butter of kine, and milk of sheep, with the fat of [p. 404] stalled beasts, rams, the offspring of ibexes, and kids, with the fat and fatty parts of wheat, and He made him to drink wine of the blood of grapes. And Israel waxed fat and kicked, he grew fat, and |387 became thick, and acquired riches.24" And what happened unto him because of these things? and to what pass did he come by reason of these desirable things? and what country did he possess through these dainties with which he delighted himself? and into what sick-nessess did the overfeeding of the belly, and the superfluity of meats cast him? Now Moses himself hath explained and made known unto us what the people obtained from these possessions: "He forgot the God Who made him, and he blasphemed the Might which redeemed him. He moved Him to jealousy with strange things, and provoked Him to wrath with idols. They sacrificed unto devils which were not gods, and unto gods which they had not known." 25 These are the things which the people obtained from dainty foods, and this is the inheritance of the worship of devils which they inherited from the overabundance of the body. And from the table which was rich in meats they were drawn unto the unclean tables of idols, and from dainty foods they went forth to cast stinking things before graven images, and through the lust which taketh away the strength from nature they came to unclean thoughts which are alien unto nature.
Behold then, O disciple, and see how that people went from one thing to another, and uproot from thee patiently the root which putteth forth as a sprout the worship of idols, a root which having begun [to spring] from the belly cometh to an end in the worship of devils. The prophet doth not say unto thee simply that the people worshipped idols, but he first of all maketh thee to know the reason why they worshipped |388 [them]; and he doth not relate unto thee concerning the severe and difficult sickness until he hath informed thee of the cause of the sickness, and whence it came. "He ate, [p. 405] and drank, and fared luxuriously," hence he forgot God who made him; and because error entered in, it gave birth to abuse and blasphemies, hence "he blasphemed the mighty One who redeemed him." And this was not sufficient for him, but he also made unto himself gods in opposition to God, and instead of One, he forged for himself many. "He provoked Him to jealousy with strange gods, and he moved Him to wrath 'with idols." And together with the testimony of the Word we may also see from the fact itself how they came to offer praises before the calf in the wilderness, "The people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play;" 26 until food had entered in blasphemies did not go forth, and until wine had been poured into them they were not clothed with the fornication which is against God.
These then are the injurious things which meat hath wrought, and who will not flee from the overabundance thereof? Whosoever hath determined to become corrupt will become a devourer, for the glutton taketh within himself thoughts of corruptness, and then he draweth nigh unto dainty meats. A man is led to become a servant unto his belly through the lust of the body, and it is manifest that the man who loveth lust is an enemy of the praise of Christ, for the lust of the body is opposed unto the lust of the spirit, and so long as the one liveth it is impossible for the other to live. From the time when the lust of |389 the body liveth in him, the lust of the spirit is dead in him, and as the body is deprived of all [p. 406] the things for which it lusteth when it becometh an alien unto its own life, even so the soul becometh an alien unto all good when the lust of the spirit is removed from it: for the lust of the spirit is the beginning of the ascent unto all excellent things, but the lust of the body is the entrance of all wickedness. For even if the lust of the belly did not impede us in any fair thing, it would be right and seemly for us to excuse ourselves therefrom, both for its own sake and because it might not make us like unto the beasts; but since it is the entrance of all vices, and the field which is wont to put forth as fruit brambles and briars, how much more should we do this? And if those who perform noble acts and deeds of the world, and those who wish to become famous in bodily skill sustain their lives with little food, how much more especially have spiritual athletes need thereof, in order that they may possess fortitude, and run the course of their labours. Now if the body itself the natural life of which which is sustained by food, layeth hold upon the habit of abstinence and self-denial when it wisheth to be famous in some feat of bodily skill, how much more especially hath that soul, which is wont to diminish from the weight of the body, and which maketh it active and obedient unto the soul which dwelleth therein, need of abstinence and self-denial? So long as the body is heavy with the abundance of flesh, is it difficult for the soul to turn itself about, but when it becometh lighter and diminisheth through abstinence, the soul easily performeth therein [p. 407] all its desires, and it refineth it by its lightness; for so |390 long as the body is heavy and gross it is contrary unto the soul, because the soul is a refined and rational thing. And in proportion as it loveth the celestial country which is suitable unto its spiritual nature, so also doth the body love the grossness of earth and the heaviness of the dust, and while the soul leapeth to mount upwards, the body through its weight inclineth to go downwards, and also to crawl about upon the ground of lusts like a reptile.
The body which eateth overmuch maketh the soul an irrational thing, and it spoileth and carrieth away therefrom all the motions of wisdom, for the heart is the vessel of the discretion and intelligence of the soul, and when it hath become gross through the overabundance of meats, all the thoughts of the soul which are moved thereby become gross therewith. And because the fire which is mingled therein naturally becometh dead and cold, the heat of the knowledge of the soul also diminisheth, and the active movement of its thoughts ceaseth, because although the gift of rationality beginneth from the soul, yet its operation is made visible by the intervention of the members of the body, and all parts of its nature have need of all parts of the members of the body. And behold we see that when the soul wisheth to observe the world it looketh thereat through the eyes of the body, and when it wisheth to hear the voice of the body it receiveth it through the medium of the ears, or again if it seeketh to send without a word of its nature, it maketh it pass over to us by the tongue, the bridge of words; [p. 408] and [to speak] briefly, whenever it wisheth to perceive anything of this world, by means of the senses of the body it goeth out or cometh in. But when it wisheth |391 to see the country of spiritual beings, or to hear the living words of their spirituality, or when it seeketh to look with the vision which is above nature, it hath no need whatever of the senses, nay it even sendeth them away, and alone, and with its own members, it moveth with the living motions which are above nature. Therefore as we have learnt that the soul hath need of the external senses, so also [is it] concerning the members which are within, by which it is moved in all its parts, whether to wisdom, or to intelligence, or to enlightenment, or to thoughts, or to discretion, or to understanding and knowledge, or to the fear of God; of all these, then, by means of the members, doth the soul make use, and in proportion as these are active, and the weight of meats is not laid upon them, and they are not troubled by the excessive smell of food, the soul worketh actively through them. And as a light which is mingled with another light, for by the admixture therewith the light shineth the more brightly, so also is the luminous soul mingled in the luminous members when they are active and free from the filth of meat; but if they are dense and heavy, they become like a dense body, and like a gross covering in front of its light, and instead of receiving help from them, they injure and impede the activity of its working. And those who scrutinize subtilly the knowledge of nature [p. 409] recognize these things and also others which are like unto them.
Now therefore if thou, even thou, O disciple, desirest to be a participator in this natural knowledge, and to ascend from it unto the knowledge of the spirit, keep thyself from the weight of meats, and let the natural grossness of thy body be sufficient for thee, and do not make it more gross and heavy |392 with overmuch meat, even though for the sake of thy health thou wouldst eat a quantity----now the man who thinketh thus erreth greatly ---- for an overabundance of food doth not give health but produceth pains and sicknesses in the body, and it only maketh healthy the body of lust. And as all the members become sick, and soft, and useless, even so be-cometh strong and sound the lust for phantasms in the body and soul, and together with the lust folly also groweth strong, for the lust of the belly increaseth this abominable passion of folly more than all other lusts, for folly is the thick darkness of the soul, even also as knowledge is the light of nature. And as a lamp is extinguished in winds or storms, or becometh dim and sheddeth its light dimly in a house wherein the air is damp and heavy, so also doth the light of the knowledge of the soul become dark in the heart which is black through the weight and moisture of meats. And behold also the rays of the sun, the light of which is established in its own nature, and not by absorption from other substances like a lamp, become dark in an atmosphere which is troubled and disturbed, [p. 410] and although in the constitution of its sphere it is light with the riches of its fulness, yet to the body of [this] world it is black and dark. And thus also must thou think concerning the soul, in which is gathered together the light of knowledge in the manner in which the natural light [is gathered together] in the sphere of the sun. and when the heart becomes dull (or, cloudy) like the atmosphere, then all the members which are therein are disturbed by the smoke of meat, and the rays of the knowledge of the soul are prevented from shedding their light fully unto all the parts of the body, and all |393 the motions of a man, whether of the external senses, or whether of the internal members, move stupidly and confusedly.
Now the knowledge of the soul is the hidden rudder of the whole body, which keepeth the eye in chasteness, [that is to say,] in orderliness, and the ear in vigilance, and the hand in watchfulness, and the tongue in correct balance, and the feet in a prudent gait; and as the charioteer [holdeth] the bridles of his steeds, even so doth the soul hold the reins of knowledge, and it guideth all the senses, and as the charioteer directeth his steeds so also doth the soul order the senses, and rule the inner members, and this good thing which is the light of the body, and the order of all the members, perisheth through gluttony in the man who is not vigilant and heedful. Let the disciple of Christ then flee from this foolish passion, and let him not be a slave unto his belly. For if we are not able to serve at one time both God and mammon, [p. 411] according to the word of Christ, it is evident that we cannot [serve] both the belly and God, for it also was called "god" after the manner of mammon, and as Jesus called mammon "master", even so also did His Apostle call the belly god [in the words,] "Whose god is their belly, and whose glory their shame." 27 And the word of God mocketh those who lay fast hold upon their art, who have hired themselves unto Christ for their belly's sake and not because of love for Him, even as there are also today many who are clothed with the precious garb of discipleship, and who feign to be teachers and good servants of God, not for love's sake, nor through |394 discretion and fear, but only that they may minister unto their belly, which they have made a god unto themselves, and unto which they minister.
Now the Apostle of God teacheth us plainly that the heaviness of the belly boweth down the gaze of the soul from heaven to earth, saying, "Their whole mind is [set] upon earth." 28 And he set forth first the words, "Whose god is their belly, and whose glory their shame," and afterwards he said, "Their whole mind is [set] upon earth," in order that he might make known that the reason why they were fettered unto earth, and why their mind was contaminated with the dust, was because they possessed the lust of the belly; and as the lust thereof chained them to the earth, even so also will it bind whosoever ministereth thereunto. For in what particular is the man who is befouled with the lusts of the belly different from the worms which crawl about in filth, or from the swine which wallow [p. 412] in the mire? For in this case also the service of this loathsome lust must needs be called loathsomeness, and filth, and mire, and shame, and if Paul called it so, how can we help calling it so likewise?
Now therefore we can see that the lust of the belly is the beginning of all wickedness, and that it leadeth us unto the ruin which [befell] Adam. For through it he transgressed the commandment of God, and through it he despised and cast away the law which [He had set] for him, and the Calumniator took it that it might be a helpmeet unto him, because he saw that it was the most powerful of all lusts, and that thereby he would be able to enter into him with all other wickedness. And the Enemy |395 did not contend against the heads of our race with fornication, or with avarice, or with vain-glory, or with the adornment of apparel, or with envy and pride, or with any of the other passions, but only with the lust of the belly, because he saw that it was capable of becoming a leader of all the lusts; for the Tempter was crafty, and he saw which passion was the strongest and foremost in us, and he drew nigh thereunto, and stimulated it, and after that he sowed the seeds of laxity, and after that the seeds of lust, and then fornication also entered in, for immediately "they had eaten, the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked." 29 And it is evident that it was because the lust for connexion moved in the members of union, that they also perceived [that they were naked], and were ashamed at the sight of each other, for until food had gone into them [p. 413] lust was not stirred up, and until lust had been stirred up shame and fear did not rule [over them].
Behold, then, the beginning of shame is the lust of the belly, and well hath the blessed Apostle also called it thus, saying, "The woman saw that the tree was fair, and that it was a thing for which the eyes lusted, and that it was desirable to look upon; and she took of its fruit, and she ate and gave also to her husband with her, and he did eat." 30 Thus thou mayest see that the lust of the belly was the beginning of their common sin, and of the first transgression of the commandment, and that thereby all sins and all punishments were brought in and came upon us; for as envy was the beginning of wickedness with Satan, so also was the belly the beginning of the |396 transgression of the commandment with the house of Adam. And through it sins came in, and through it all penalties followed; it was the beginning of pains and sicknesses, through it the pains of childbirth entered in, through it was the earth cursed, and it brought forth briars and brambles, it hath made us aliens from the pleasures of Paradise, it hath cast us out as it were into exile in a cursed land, through it we have become slaves unto devils, through its dominion over us we serve in the bondage of Satan, through it evil spirits sport with us and laugh at us, it hath brought in death which dissolveth and scattereth our frames, through it this fair and beautiful image hath been made hideous and loathsome, it hath fed us with the bread of pain, and it hath collected for us food by the sweat of our face. Now the lust of the belly is a senseless and blind thing. It sought to eat, and yet was deprived of food; it lusted after pleasures, and destroyed the gratification and delight [p. 414] of Paradise, for though lusting to eat, it knew not how to eat; it possessed not patience, for the nature of this lust is to be hasty and impatient, and it made haste and plucked one fruit, and was henceforth deprived of the table which was full of all the luxuries of Paradise.
Now therefore let that lust which came unto Adam be a type of that which cometh to us, for as they, by of the eating of one fruit, were deprived of the food of the whole garden, even so also will one loaded table deprive us of the table of the kingdom of heaven. For as long as the belly is full, and is weighted with an abundance of meats, the soul is useless for the remembrance of the blessings which are about to come, and so long as the eye is fixed intently |397 upon these meats, and it lusteth for them, the eye of the mind turneth away from the sight of spiritual delights. What then? If Adam, because he lusted for one fruit, lost the whole of Paradise, how can the man who is laden with the lust of many meats help being deprived of the table of the kingdom? For, because of his having eaten, Adam lost Paradise, and inherited death with all its curses. Esau, because of his meat, cast away the birthright together with the blessings,31 and he became a slave unto sin, and one who was subject under the hand of his brother. The people [of Israel], because of their meat, forgot God, and instead of God, worshipped the similitude of a dumb animal; and again, because of their meat, the wrath of God [p. 415] went up against them;32 and again, because of their meat, they were led into the fornication with the Midianites, through which the pestilence had dominion over them suddenly, for it is written, "While the flesh was yet between their teeth the anger of God went up against them." 33 And again, through meat and luxuries the Sodomites also were polluted with an unclean matter, and pleasures and the love of the belly brought them unto that limitless wickedness, even as the prophet of God maketh known concerning them, "This was the iniquity of thy luxurious sister Sodom, who was satisfied with bread, and dwelt at ease;" 34 for by reason of being filled with bread, and delicacies they polluted themselves with unnatural lust. Let these things and others which are like unto them be in thy remembrance, O thou that wishest to |398 travel in the path of heaven, and cut off and cast away from thee the fettering weight of the belly, which sinketh the soul into the depths of wickedness like a millstone in the sea. And do not imagine that [the lust for] dainty meats only is accounted gluttony, for behold, the gluttony of Esau was made manifest through a mess of pottage, and [it consisteth not] in flesh overmuch, nor in wine overmuch, nor in any other preparation of meats; for it was only because [Esau] desired greedily a mess of pottage, that the word of God rejected him, and cast him away. In the meat which thou hast nigh unto thee shew thy forbearance, and contend with that which is near thee, and let there be war with thee against the contemptible and despicable things which are set before thee, lest thou make use of them for the filling of thy belly [only]; for no man [p. 416] leaveth the obstacles which are near and fighteth with those which are afar off, and no man leaveth the sickness which is at hand and which causeth him pain, and bringeth healing unto that which hath not yet appeared. And since the dainty meats, of which the rich and noble men of the world make use, are not nigh unto thee, forbear from the inferior kinds which are set before thee, and if thou canst conquer [the lust] for meats which are common thou mayest believe that thou wilt also be the conqueror over the lust for those which are more dainty, and that thou wilt gain the victory over those which are of great price.
The full belly produceth not pure prayer, and the stomach which is inflated with too much food giveth not forth wakeful melody. Now if its own loss only were found in overfilling the belly, even though it would be blameworthy, it would not perchance be |399 over-wicked to palliate it, but because of the other wickednesses which spring therefrom, it is right for the disciple that he should take heed thereunto. The sleep of the over-eater is much, his dreams are disturbed, his visions are confused, the flow of his lust is copious, and his sleep is deep but not healthy. If he standeth up to sing a psalm, thou mayest consider that he standeth not up, for as he sinketh down upon his bed, even so doth he sink down in his standing up; he throweth himself against the walls, he layeth hold of the things which hang clown, he supporteth himself upon sticks that they may bear with him his heavy body, that is to say, that they may carry with him the weight of the meats which he beareth. And if it happen that he beginneth and endeth his service, he perceiveth not where he is, for although many voices cry in his ears he overcometh them by the depth of his sleep; [p. 417] his ear is closed by the weight of meats, his eye turneth away through sleepiness, and his whole body is weaned and exhausted, because he doth not eat in moderation. The living stand by his side, and look upon him as dead, and those who are awake see him, and they laugh and mock after his own manner. He knoweth not which psalm is being sung, he is wrathful against the man who waketh him up, and he is filled with anger and threatenings against whomsoever rouseth him from his deep slumber. It happeneth too that he falleth down while he standeth, and through the noise of his fall he disturbeth the service, and in the hour of quietness he maketh tumult, and at the season when God is hymned by the living and by the Watchers, he standeth before Him like a soulless corpse. And if one should say, "Is he not ashamed, and is he not brought to the blush?" [I say,] how |400 can the man, who doth not even know where he is, be ashamed? He despiseth God in his standing up, he casteth [looks of] hatred upon those who behold him, he heapeth reproaches also upon those who wake him up, he maketh himself a cause of falling and stumbling unto those who stand by his side, who leave off singing to speak about him, and who are irritated at the sight of the depth of sleep into which he hath fallen; for if the glutton sleepeth, he is drowned in sleep, and if he be awakened he sleepeth, and if he singeth he is dumb, and if he standeth up, he falleth prone.
Observe then these defects, O thou that lovest spiritual excellence, and excuse thyself from this wickedness, that thou mayest not forget God and thine own self thereby, and thy discernment be darkened against all that is seemly; and with these remember also that which was spoken by the prophet Moses to the Jews, saying, "Take heed when [p. 418] thou eatest, and art satisfied, lest thou forget the Lord thy God who brought thee forth out of the land of Egypt." 35 And behold the Spirit of God hath taught thee openly that error is born of fulness of food, and that, when a man hath forgotten God, he marcheth fearlessly into all wickedness, and associateth himself with all evils. For as the sight of a stern master is to riotous slaves, even so is the remembrance of God [unto the soul]; for it maketh the tumultuousness of the thoughts shamefaced, and immediately the thought of Him falleth into the mind all the perturbed thoughts hasten to put themselves in the order of fear, and the soul becometh suddenly a peaceful house, an ordered |401 temple, a pure dwelling, and a holy mansion of the Trinity. Whosoever then wisheth to travel along the path of heaven should unfasten the shackles of lusts from his feet, and should remove every weight from the wings of his mind, in order that his person may travel easily towards greatness, and may hear the promise of the holy man Paul, who taught and admonished us, saying, "Take ye heed lest there be among you any man who is wanton or slack like Esau, who for one [mess of] meat sold his birthright; for also when he afterwards desired to inherit the blessings, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought it with tears."36
Let then these remembrances be unto thee, [O disciple,] and let such testimonies as these be written in thy heart. Let us be active, that we may become spiritual beings; let us shut the door of the lust of the belly, that all wickedness may be shut outside; let us put to death in us the lust of the body, that the lust of the spirit may live in our soul; let us diminish by patience [p. 419] also the wants of our life, that we may be worthy by Grace of the life of glory; let us deny the foolish mistress, that we may confess fully the Holy and Eternal One; let us free our members from weight, that we may make our members light by pure prayer; let us cast out the smoke of lust, that the eye of our soul may be clear for the sight of knowledge; let us not lust after the loaded table and abundance of meats, that the table of the kingdom may receive us like famished folk; let us despise and reject the health of the body, that we may be able to obtain the health |402 of the hidden man; let not the fear of sickness through [lack of] food fight against us lest wounds increase in our soul thereby; let us give thanks unto the Provider for little food, that it may be seen that we are His sons and not slaves in the hire of the belly; let us overcome patiently the first lust, that we may thereby gain strength to vanquish all [other] lusts; let us say unto each other that which hath been said unto us by the Apostle, "The belly for meats, and meats for the belly, but God will bring them both to nought."37 The body then is not for fornication, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body, to Whom be glory from us all for ever. Amen.
Here endeth the First Discourse on the lust of the belly by the holy man Philoxenus, Bishop of Mabbôgh.
[Footnotes renumbered and moved to the end. Page numbers in brackets refer to the Syriac text in vol. 1 of the printed edition.]
1. 1 The passage within [ ] is found in E und F only.
2. 1 Galatians v. 17.
3. 1 Leviticus xxiv. 17; Numbers xxxv. 30,
4. 1 St. Matthew xv. 11.
5. 1 Compare St. Matthew xvi. 24.
6. 2 St. Matthew xvi. 25.
7. 3 St. John xvi. 33.
8. 4 St. Matthew ix. 15.
9. 5 Compare St. Matthew xxvi. 17-21.
10. 6 St. Luke xxiv. 42.
11. 7 Compare St. John vi. 9.
12. 8 1 Timothy iv. 4.
13. 9 1 Corinthians vi. 13.
14. 1 Romans xiv. 3.
15. 2 Compare Colossians iii. 3.
16. 3 Romans xiv. 21.
17. 4 Acts xiv. 22.
18. 5 Acts xiv. 22. [Note to the online edition: this footnote appears redundant]
19. 6 1 Corinthians vi. 13. [Note to the online edition: the position of the footnote in the body of the text is not given in the printed edition. I have inserted it as best I could]
20. 1 Isaiah v. 11.
21. 1 St. Matthew vi. 24.
22. 1 Hebrews xiii. 9.
23. 2 1 Corinthians vi. 10; and compare Galatians v. 21; Ephesians v. 5.
24. 1 Deuteronomy xxxii. 13ff.
25. 2 Deuteronomy xxxii. 15-17.
26. 1 Exodus xxxii. 6.
27. 1 Philippians iii. 19.
28. 1 Philippians iii. 19.
29. 1 Genesis iii. 7.
30. 2 Genesis iii. 6.
31. 1 Compare Genesis xxv. 33.
32. 2 Compare Exodus xxxii. 10.
33. 3 Numbers xi. 33.
34. 4 Ezekiel xvi. 49.
35. 1 Deuteronomy vi. 11, 12.
36. 1 Hebrews xii. 16.
37. 1 1 Corinthians vi. 13.
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Greek text is rendered using the Scholars Press SPIonic font, free from here.
Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
SOURCE SECTION: philoxenus_discourse11.htm
Philoxenus, Ascetic Discourses (1894) pp.403-471. Discourse 11 -- On Abstinence
Philoxenus, Ascetic Discourses (1894) pp.403-471. Discourse 11 -- On Abstinence
[P. 420] THE ELEVENTH DISCOURSE: ON ABSTINENCE AND THE SUBJECTION OF THE BODY, WHICH SHEWETH THAT A MAN IS, THROUGH TRIBULATIONS, ABLE TO ENTER INTO THE SPIRITUAL COUNTRY OF THE ENJOYMENTS OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST.
"Enter ye in at the strait gate," 1 proclaimeth the word of the Redeemer unto all true disciples of His word, for without this gate a man cannot enter into the kingdom of God. For a man is not wholly worthy of the experience of the rule and life of Christ until he hath put to an end in him all feeling for the meats of the world, and he is not able to cut off and to cast away from him this affection, except through the power of patience he cut off [from himself] pleasure in all things which are lusted after. For when a man hath cut off and cast away wickedness from his soul, all good and fair things spring up within him in its place, that is to say, in the place from which evil hath been cut off good straightway springeth up therein, and blossometh. And as all the power of the soul [p. 421] turneth to water and to make to grow that plant, even so is the power of all the thoughts wholly directed to make to grow the tree of goodness, which is planted |404 in the soul after wickedness hath been uprooted therefrom; for if vices be not rooted up virtues cannot blossom, and except evil habits be cut off and cast away from us, the tradition of a good life layeth not hold upon us, and unless we have forsaken slackness we cannot lay hold upon fortitude, and except gluttony hath died, abstinence cannot live in us. For death and life are ministered unto in us in two things: the death of the old man, which is abominable lusts, and the life of the new man, which is a correct rule of life. Now the death which is man's penalty did the commandment bring, but the death which ariseth from the.lusts He calleth the will of each one of us, because also from the beginning the death which is of sin entered in by [man's] will, and afterwards came the death which arose from the penalty by the will of God. And so also is it in this case: for before the dissolution of the nature of the body which dissolveth the penalty, the will of each one of us is able to scatter the composition of the old man of lusts, and when this death hath been dissolved not even then is that nature firm.
Now the death which is of sin brought in the death which is of nature, and with the dissolution of the one, the other was brought to nought, and those who did not die aforetime died in very truth, but those, who of their own freewill put to death in them the man of lusts in this death, dissolved the death of the natural man; [p. 422] therefore it is well that we should die before our death, that we may also live before our life. For where the death of the will goeth first, the death which is of nature is dissolved, and where the death which is of nature is dissolved aforetime by the dominion of freewill before we come into life, the man who dieth |405 is alive; and because these cessations and renewings happen unto us aforetime in all ways, it is seemly for us first of all to uproot wickedness, and then to lay in ourselves the foundation of the edifice of virtues, in order that the rock may receive our foundation, as it is written,2 and that on a sure stone may be our building, even as it is said. And in this respect we should be like unto the physicians of [our] nature who, until they have removed and cleansed the matter from the sore, do not lay [upon it] the plaster which buildeth up and maketh to grow the living flesh; and so must it be with us also when we have uprooted the matter of the lust of the belly, and have made accusations against its filthy and loathsome forms.
And now let us shew in our discourse the benefit of abstinence, and let us exhort disciples with profitable doctrine to lay hold in their souls upon this endurance which, although it is imagined to be laden with labours, is nevertheless the birth-pang which giveth us birth into the experience of the blessings of Christ. And as the child is born into the world through the pains of her that giveth him birth, even so also through the pains of sufferings and the patient endurance of labours is a man born into the world of the knowledge of Christ. And if a man were to call abstinence the cleansing of the lusts of the body he would not err, for as [p. 423] the body is purified by washing from the things which pollute it, and which conceal its natural appearance and colour, even so also through abstinence are the blemishes of the old man healed, and made clean, and the beauty of the new man, |406 cleansed and pure, is revealed, and when he hath been revealed and re-standeth in the appearance of his nature, then is it easy for him to see and be seen in the beauty of his soul from whence he receiveth the clothing of knowledge.
Now the beginning of abstinence is bitter and severe, but the end thereof is pleasant and sweet. Its burden is heavy unto those who do not feel how light it is, and its load is difficult unto those who do not look into the spiritual riches which are therein, for it is the strait gate which leadeth into the broad country of spiritual beings; and as poverty of possessions is the end of the way of the world, even so is abstinence the beginning of the path of the rule and life of the Gospel. And it is good for us also that, after the discourse upon poverty, we should enter upon the doctrine which concerneth abstinence, because in proportion as a man possesseth that which is outside of him will he work therein, and therefrom will he gather in the produce. And though of his own will he distributeth goodness and lovingkindness, yet he taketh from outside of him the seed, and casteth it in the fields of the afflicted, or as one might say, he taketh from the world, and giveth thereunto, even though the fruits of this righteousness be gathered together unto the person of the man himself; but labours are outside the person. For what labour and tribulation will arise in the body of him, the righteousness of whose alms are stablished by riches which are outside him, [p. 424] besides this only, that he constraineth the thought of the lust of the belly, and bringeth it into subjection beneath the will of lovingkindness? But when a man hath emptied himself of everything, and he standeth free in the world in his |407 own person, he becometh a. field of which he himself is the cultivator, and he tilleth it, and soweth seed therein, and from it tribulations begin, and in it they come to an end, and henceforth he doth not sow strange lands with the seed of alms, but the rational field of himself, and in it he beginneth the service of the labours of righteousness.
Now the first rule of this field is the cultivation of fasting and abstinence, for without these all the virtues of the person can be but feebly cultivated, and it is as if the power [to perform] them were weak and wanting in us; for our prayer cannot be pure, nor our singing wakeful, nor our thoughts sanctified, nor our knowledge increased, nor our understanding made bright, nor our mind active, nor will our hidden man be renewed in wondering admiration at the greatness of the glory of God, without the cultivation of fasting and the ministration of abstinence. For from these things we go on to others, and we are lifted up from this step unto others which are higher, and by reason of resisting meats we arrive at the similitude of angels; for inasmuch as the angels exist wholly and entirely without meat, we must of our own freewill make ourselves alien unto the meat which is lusted after, and diminish a few of the wants of the body. And by this [p. 425 ] also we shew that we have in us the longing to be like unto spiritual beings. For this reason our Lord Who came for our redemption was able in His own power immediately He was revealed to make us in the likeness of angels----which He is about to make us finally according to the riches of His grace----yet He did not do this, but He taught us how a man might become like unto the angels, and He left it to our freewill to |408 hasten after their similitude. Let us then, of our own freewill cast off from us the old carnal mindedness, and put on the renewing of the likeness of the angels, and let us exchange meat for meat, and lust for lust, and table for table, and food for food, and one kind of nourishment for another. For we have a [carnal] belly and a [spiritual] belly which receive different kinds of meats, and when a man hath shut the door in the face of one, he then openeth the other that it may receive the meats of the spirit, and enjoy and live daintily upon the various kinds of spiritual food which are above nature; and because our nature was too feeble of itself to cut off and to cast out these things from it, the gift of the Spirit came to our support, in order that that which nature was not able to do of itself it might complete by Grace.
Therefore, O disciple, contend against the lusts of the body with all thy soul, and cultivate virtues in the field of thyself which remaineth to thee from the world, for thou thyself alone of every thing which is in the world art reserved [p. 426] for life, and for thee the wedding chamber is opened, and the kingdom prepared, and the place for reclining spread, and the mansions are in order, and the table of dainties is made ready in that living feast in which God hath made Himself the minister, even as He Himself hath proclaimed unto thee in His sure word, "Verily I say unto you that He shall make His chosen ones sit down, and He shall gird up His loins and shall go in and minister unto them." 3 Be thou then [O disciple,] at all times mindful of this table, that from the remembrance thereof thou mayest receive strength, and mayest be able to despise the |409 natural table; for there is no man who would exchange the dainty table of the kingdom for the coarse and common table of the bread of wheat, and more than this the table of meats of the body is smaller and inferior in comparison to that spiritual table.
Be thou wakeful, then, and watch thyself when this lust beginneth to fight against thee, and gather together all the host of thy thoughts, having as the general thereof a wakeful understanding, which is like the chief of a band of thieves, who are the passion of the lust of the belly. For this lust knoweth that it is too feeble to fight against the mind which can endure, and it taketh with it hunger that it may be a help thereunto, and that it may shew thee that thy blame will not be very great if thou art constrained by thy hunger [and thou eatest]. And it offereth unto thee such entreaties as these: "Need of food was implanted in thee by the 'Creator," and "Hunger naturally ruleth over thy body," and "The support of thy human life consisteth of food, and without it thou canst not abide in the [p. 427] world, and if thou wishest to live without these things thou resistest the will of the Creator, Who desired that thy bodily life should be supported in the world in this manner; and the meat which is [eaten] by measure, and the drink which is taken in moderation are blameless." And when this lust hath led thee away by these blandishments, and hath brought thee from the consideration of, Thou shalt not eat, unto that of, Thou shalt eat, it draweth thee on further from, Thou shalt eat, unto how thou shalt eat, and what thou shalt eat; for it doth not counsel thee from the beginning that thy eating shall be from lust, but it persuadeth thee that thou shalt eat for need's sake, and afterwards |410 it leadeth thee on from need unto lust. By the power of patient endurance a man standeth when he contendeth to overcome the hunger of nature, and if at the season of his power weakness gaineth dominion over him, he is easily conquered [and is made] to come to utter defeat when once a small portion of that feebleness hath gained the mastery over him.
Observe then, O thou [disciple], very carefully and with discerning knowledge, that not all hunger is the hunger of nature, and that not all meat is the meat which satisfieth want, and observe the different kinds of hunger, and distinguish and select with knowledge thine own hunger from among them. One kind of hunger belongeth to youth, and another ariseth from weakness, and another from excessive emptiness, and another from habit, and another from idleness of the thoughts which have nothing wherewith to occupy themselves, and another from the feebleness of the thoughts, and another from the daily cutting off which happeneth unto the body, and another from the coldness of the body which seeketh to be made warm [p. 428] by meat, and another which excessive labour produceth; these and such like things are the causes of hunger, besides there being some men also whose hunger is not a healthy hunger. Therefore many men are able to bear hunger from the beginning of the day, and some are an hungered at the second hour, and others at the fourth, and others at the sixth, and others at the ninth, and others in the evening, and others can endure the hunger of the close of the day until the vigil of the night, and others continue to fast until the third hour; and when they have arrived at the number of a double vigil their natural hunger hath entirely ceased in them, because the natural heat which |411 is stirred up in the body taketh the place of meat to them. And when from these things thou dost understand the varieties of hunger which are born in thee, thou must distinguish and select from them all the hunger which cometh of thy need, but thou must from time to time restrain even this, in order that the endurance of thy affliction may be the more made manifest, by which thy love unto God is made known. Take heed then that the hunger of lust lead thee not astray and thou imagine it to be the hunger of nature. Now the real hunger of nature is not the want of food in the stomach, but the want of the power of the food in all the members, for when the members have put off the power of food, and have put on in its stead weakness, and although thou callest unto them they respond not with whatever service thou wishest, this is natural hunger; and thou must [p. 429] therefore take carefully such food as will restore the power to the members, being watchful of thy thought that it be not mingled with the body in the meat, and thou must make the lust which is in thee to sleep, lest it be roused up and the lust for food be excited by thee instead of by want; and if this happeneth thy meal is one to be blamed, even though thou takest food because of hunger, and eatest sparingly.
Let thy thoughts then observe at all seasons all thy affairs, whether it be those which are in the world, or those which are in thy body, or all the others which are wrought in the soul. For a man is not an animal that he should feed whenever he is hungry, but he is bound, like a rational being, whenever the body sheweth, its natural hunger, to make the soul shew the forbearance which becometh it, and it shall make use |412 of that which is its own, even as doth the body also of the things which belong to its nature, and the hunger of the body shall be a reminder of its own hunger, and it shall take its need as the testimony of the need of its spiritual life. For the soul is not bound to bring itself mightily into subjection unto the feminine passions of the body, but it must rouse itself up in war against them, and must subdue, and fetter, and be master of, and overcome them; and it must produce in itself arrangements and preparations against these lusts which rise up from below, and which abase its greatness, and défile its fair beauty. When the body at any time whatsoever maketh war against thee with its needs, or with the hunger of its lusts, thou must conquer in the war at that season by patient endurance, and by producing in thee as an antidote against that hunger another hunger, and thou must turn thy mind [p. 430] from the thought of the hunger of the body unto meditation upon, and converse with God, for in this way wilt thou be able to overcome the importunity of the passion of its hunger. For if natural hunger were to obtain dominion over each one of us very little, or ever so little, we should all be hungry together, but because hunger is also produced from the feeling of desire we become hungry at different seasons. For who doth not know that that hunger which cometh at the beginning of the day, or at the third hour, or even at the sixth hour, is not natural hunger? because, as I have said, natural hunger is the want of the strength of meat in the members of the body, and that the passion can be vanquished by the power of patient endurance sheweth particularly that it is not natural hunger; and, moreover, even if it were natural, in this case |413 also would it be right that it should be mastered, because our rule and life are superior to nature, and our strife is against nature. For behold the human life which is in us is not the feelings of nature, but they are nature, and although it be thus, because of the truth we fight also against human life, for the limits are marked out and laid down; for unto the limit of death for the sake of righteousness we must fight against these lusts, but the war which is for faith's sake is against natural life. And we are not commanded by our Redeemer to slay ourselves of our own freewill by patient endurance for the sake of the labours of righteousness, but for the truth's sake we are commanded to die; so then it is right that we should contend by rule and conduct on the side of [p. 431] faith against all the needs of nature, but for the truth we must contend against the natural life.
Repress then, [O disciple,] thy passion of hunger when this lust is stirred up in thee, and set in battle array against it all the powers of thy thoughts, that if it be not vanquished by one, it may be overcome by many. For how can that lust, which is wont to be overcome by one living motion for God's sake, avoid being vanquished by the might of many thoughts, if this motion be in us in a healthy manner as if it arose from a living and healthy nature? For as is the power of the hand, so also is [the force] of the stone which is cast therefrom, and according to the might of the. arm is the power of the arrow which is shot forth by it, and as are the strength and healthy condition of the soul, so also is the healthy motion which is sent forth by it to the war against lust, and lust (even though it happen that it hath held us fast |414 habitually for a long time past), that is to say need, is not able to abide before it.
And observe that a distinction also existeth between one kind of need and another, for there is the need which ariseth from lust, and that which ariseth from a healthy state, and that which ariseth from strength, and that which ariseth from life; let us then forsake the former kinds of need, and make use of the last, so that when we are constrained to satisfy a want, it may not be that which ariseth from lust, or health, or from strength, but only that which ariseth [p. 432] from life itself, even as we learn also from the testimony of the righteous men of old, who did not satisfy the want of any one of these three, and of whom some persisted and endured patiently a fast for forty days, and some for three weeks. And it is not known that they satisfied [their] needs for the sake of [their] life only, and the limit of our Redeemer's fast sheweth this to us, and His answer to the Calumniator also teacheth us this openly, for it is written, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word which goeth forth from the mouth of God." 4 Now He said "shall live," and not, "shall be sound," nor, "shall be strong," nor, "shall be filled its lust's need;" and although this word is of little importance in its utterance, yet a great distinction is apparent therein. For He taught us clearly by that word that not by bread alone should man live, but that he should eat only to live, and not for the sake of lust, or strength, or healthy condition; for according to these things is life stablished also in sickness, and in weakness a man liveth unto them in |415 the world. And as whosoever hath a severe disease m his body, that is to say, in those members which are the receptacles of meat, the food which he receiveth nourisheth his disease and not his strength, even so also whosoever feedeth the lust which is in him, his meat nourisheth his lust and not his human life; and it is manifest that whosoever nourisheth his lust [p. 433] giveth birth to [other] lusts, for as is the nature of the ground, so is also the taste of the [fruit of] trees which grow up therefrom.
Thou shalt not then, [O disciple,] devour like a slave, but eat like a free man, and let not thy food be unto others but unto thyself, for instead of ministering unto the bondage of lust thou must be a minister unto thyself. And who is there that understanding all this will diminish [the food of] his own mouth and put [it] into the mouth of others, even though it be that of a helpful friend? how much less then [into that] of an enemy, that is, the contrary of thy true life? For there is no power in lust to lead thy life into subjection, but it taketh might from thine own might to subjugate thee; thou shalt not, then, take thy power and give it unto lust that it may fight against thee therewith, and thou shalt not clothe thine enemy in armour that thou mayest contend against him therein. Thou shalt not be in doubt concerning thyself, that is to say, thou shalt not be wholly on the side of thine enemy and turn and wage war against thyself, for this lust, if thou wilt, is a feeble thing, and how can it help being a feeble thing if without thee it cannot even exist? If now thou dost create it, thou must also give it strength; and if it beginneth to exist from thee, from thee must it obtain strength to gain power over thee; for as God |416 is over created things so art thou god over thy lusts, and as by the will of the Creator created things exist, and if He willeth not they exist not, so also according to thy will are thy lusts, and at thy will they become nothing. "God calleth [p. 434] the things which are not as if they were," 5 even so also doth thy will create the lusts which are not, that they may come into existence; now God looketh upon all things, and they become nothing, so also doth thy will [look] upon all the passions, and straightway they are destroyed and become nothing. If thou wishest, they are thy passions; and if thou wishest, they do not exist. From thee springeth up the cause of thy lust, and from thee is born the destruction thereof; if thou makest it to live, thou canst make it to die, and if thou makest lust to live in thee, thou makest thy life which is in God to die. A man cannot by any means live with God and with lust at the same time, even as he cannot live with the Calumniator and with Christ also; for the lust of the body is a goad unto the man of the spirit, in the same manner that the Calumniator is the contrary of thy whole self. All the fair passions spring up from the soul in thee by the help of Grace, but the origin of abominable lusts is from the body, and the Enemy doth urge them on; therefore vanquish that which it is meet should be overcome, that He to Whom the victory belongeth may overcome by thee, and fight and conquer the first lust, that thereby and henceforth the conquest of them all may be easy. For if one lust can overcome thee, how very much more easily can many overcome thee! And moreover, when all lusts are gathered together [against thee], |417 yet are they powerless, and how very much more easily are they made impotent when thou dost vanquish them one by one by the persistence of patient endurance!
And, moreover, it is right for thee to make a distinction between them, in order that victory over them may be easy for thee. [p. 435] For when the lusts desire to make an attack upon thy patient endurance in a body, thou shalt not give unto them that which they seek, but thou shalt engage in war with them all, only thou must cut off and separate them one from another, and fight against each one of them singly, and gain the victory; and thou shalt not allow them to perfect their will in thee, not only by not allowing them to overcome thee, but also by preventing their coming [upon thee] in a body. Now by their coming in a body in this manner, their weakness is displayed, and if, when gathered together, their infirmity is revealed unto thee, how very much more will their utter powerlessness be apparent when each one of them cometh against thee singly? Watch then diligently that portion of the desire for truth which is in thee, and which longeth for life, and panteth for that which is good, and which lusteth with a healthy, and not with a destructive lust. For the lust of destruction is laid beneath destruction, and it speedily destroyeth whomsoever wisheth to possess the power of patient endurance; but the lust which destroyeth not, even when its enemies think that they have overcome it, is not loosed from the sure fixity of its nature, and although it be thought that it is conquered, it is by no means overcome, but it removeth itself from the thought which is unworthy of it, even when it is held thereby, and it fighteth against abominable lust.
Now therefore it is good that we should overcome all |418 lusts, but especially [p. 436] the first lust by which, if we overcome it, we receive the strength of victory against other lusts; for when this evil lust shall be vanquished in us, together therewith shall be conquered the others which follow in its train. And as we see that our work hath multiplied, in that we have in vanquishing one overcome many, so let us devote ourselves more diligently to the work, because if we are dilatory, not only shall we incur defeat in this, but in all other contests which will enter in thereafter. And as, if we conquer in the first victory, it is the victory in all other contests, so also if we be defeated, it is the defeat in all other battles; therefore it is right that we should be victors at all times, because it is the victory of our nature, and because it is outside our nature to be overcome, both because of our own will and because of the blandishments of our enemies. Let us then voluntarily fulfil the will of God our Creator, Who hath set us in the strife that we may be victors, and let not that king Who chose us be ashamed of us, and be reproached because He hath chosen and mingled sluggish soldiers in His camp; for our defeat would show the ignorance of Him Who chose us, and therefore let us be victors, that the Wise Being may not be thought to be foolish through us.
Observe then by the experience of thy contest with what thoughts this lust of the belly, when it troubleth thee, may be overcome, and by this habit, whenever it setteth itself in battle array against thee, do thou array in order of battle these thoughts against it, and after the victory thou wilt receive the sweets of conquest. For so long as thou art disturbed by the prickings [p. 437] of lust, thou wilt never taste the pleasure of victory: |419 but after a little, when thou art clothed with the armour of patient endurance, thou shalt go forth from the strife of the battle with victory, and the pleasure of victory shall meet thee. And it is impossible that pleasure should light upon thee in the world, for pleasure is born of labour, and it is impossible for the harvest to be produced in thy grasp whilst thou holdest the seed in thy hand, for crops are gathered from the seed after it hath been sown. And, moreover, whilst thou art still standing in the thick of the battle, and it is not apparent to which side victory will incline, it is impossible for thy triumph to be proclaimed in the cities; but after the war is ended, and victory hath appeared, then shall the triumph of the warrior be proclaimed in the cities. According to these examples, then, take thou this spiritual war in which thou art engaged. And if thou art disturbed when thou fightest, know that this befitteth thee, and if thy fighting be laboured and thou sweatest, this also cleaveth unto thy work; for if there be a battle, there must be labour therein, and if there be a contest, in weariness and sweat must run those who enter in to it.
Do thou, then, not consider the things which are near, but look beforehand at the pleasures which [come] after the tribulations, and let not thy mind be fettered unto thy body, but let it hasten to see the things which are about to come, that thou mayest strengthen with the remembrance of victory the members which stand in battle. Thou art a spiritual being and must wage war against the lust of the body, and the spiritual being who is overcome by the body is a laughingstock; and it is a disgrace [p. 438] unto him that is invited to heaven, that the belly should contend with him and |420 overcome him. For if thou art ordained by Grace to fight and conquer spiritual principalities and powers, that is to say, the hosts and the companies which are opposed to thee, how very much more is it meet for thee to vanquish the belly? And behold thy garb hath been dedicated unto this, and the appearance of thy rule of life proclaimeth for thee victory over the hosts which are opposed [to thee]. And who would not laugh, at the man who hath prepared himself for these things if he should see his belly overcoming him? especially when it is not the necessary of life which urgeth thee to this, but the lust which is born of the feebleness of thy will, and that that which is born of thee, not being a man of might but as yet a child and youth, which it would have been easy for thee to have set under thy heel, hath stood up in battle against thee, and hath laid thee low.
And see then also how the Spirit counselleth thee, saying, "Dash the children of Babylon upon the stones while they are young.6" And well hath the word of prophecy called these passions "children", that it might show thee their powerlessness, and might encourage thee to victory; and it did not say "thy children," that it might not cause thee disgrace, as if such children appeared from thee, but it named them "children of Babylon," that is to say, children who were born of slavery and not of freedom, because the mother which giveth birth to lusts is the slavery which the word of prophecy hath symbolized by Babylon which hath been wasted, and which carrieth off rapaciously like spoil the [p. 439] power of the spiritual man, and plundereth his riches.
Now therefore when lust hath joined itself unto hunger |421 to wage war against thee, do thou unite thy thought unto Grace, and stand up in prayer, and as if thou didst despise lust, do not even turn thy thoughts thereunto ----now I mean that lust which is great----for even when thou fightest and dost overcome, thy victory will still be subject unto defects, for thou hast had need of fighting, and then thou didst conquer the belly----for it is right that thou shouldst despise it, and that it should be of no account in thy sight, and that thy thought should not cleave thereunto----but thou must despise it as a mighty man despiseth a feeble one, and as a man of strength and power despiseth one that is contemptible and wretched. And it is also the custom of brave warriors when they see feeble men coming against them to fight to despise them, and to have them in contempt, and to laugh at their advance, even as it is written concerning that blasphemous giant whose boast lay in the strength of his body, who, "when he saw David despised him." 7 And if all the contempt which he had in him for David arose from his confidence in his flesh, why shouldst not thou, by the power of the spirit which is in thee, despise and hold in contempt the lust of the belly? For whom doth it usually conquer except infants and young children? For immediately the lust of the belly afflicteth them with its need they begin to cry and to importune their parents, and to ask them for what they want, and they do this because they have not yet attained unto the age in which the power of patient endurance is born of [p. 440] the soul. But thou hast attained, like a giant, unto this age, and the power of thy soul hath been revealed unto thee, if thou desirest to make use |422 thereof; and why shouldst thou be vanquished by the belly like a child, and become a thing to mock at, that the passion of childhood may make a laughingstock of thee? For in the age in which being overcome by the belly is akin unto the nature of the stature of a child, in that same age [I say], victory over it is to thee also akin, and as his childhood is subject unto defeat, even so doth victory cleave unto thine own full-grown stature.
Understand then from this also the feebleness of the lust of the belly, for its fighting belongeth unto the condition of children, for we see that all the other lusts renew themselves against our life in the various states of [our] growth which follow after [childhood], but this lust of the belly is stirred up in childhood; and thou must know that it is because it is feeble that it fighteth against the child, but when it wageth war against thee it cometh only [to make] a trial, and not [to obtain] the victory. Overcome then with thy persistence that, the defeat of which, even when thou hast conquered it, is not a great thing, because it is a war of childhood, but the benefit which is produced therefrom is not a feeble thing----for being small and contemptible, when thou hast overcome it, its defeat is not a thing to wonder at; but it openeth unto us the door of triumphs over all the passions, and when the other lusts which follow in its train see this, they become so enfeebled that they cannot come to fight, [p. 441] or if they draw nigh to fight, they do so with fear and terror, and because of this they fight with half their strength and not with [their] full force, for fear is wont to diminish and to dissipate their power.
Fight then, O disciple, and overcome like a man, |423 that thou mayest be crowned gloriously like a warrior. Thou shalt not be conquered, for thou wast not set apart for this; thou shalt not fall because thou wert not chosen for this; thou shalt not surrender, because the mighty Hand is with thee; for the Hand of Christ will be with thee in the wars which thou shalt wage against all these things, if only thou wilt perceive the right Hand which graspeth thy right hand, and the mighty Arm which holdeth thy feeble hand.
And now, since it is fitting that I should teach thee the first kinds of this victory listen, and I will tell thee. Do not, then, attribute unto thyself victory when thou conquerest the lust for rare and costly meats only, but when thou conquerest [thy lust] for poor and common food, thou mayest consider this a genuine victory; for the disciple is bound to excuse himself not only from the eating of flesh and the drinking of wine, but also from everything for which he lusteth; do not then fight against meat, but against lust. If it be that thou makest war against the kind of meat, when thou hast vanquished in the war against one kind, another will fight against thee, but if thou overcomest lust in only one thing out of many, with this thou wilt also overcome another, for there are certain meats of which if a solitary or a [p. 442] coenobite make use, the reproach on their account is evident; now in this war shame of the multitude will help thee, and many times wilt thou be prevented from eating by reason of the shame before those who behold thee; and since it happeneth that thou hast help in this war from outside, the conquest therein is small. But do thou, like one wise unto advantages, and cunning unto benefits, fight against those things which are permitted to be eaten, and against the lust thereof |424 do thou wage war; and briefly, I will give thee an indication [of what they are]. Everything which is laid upon the table for thy food, and which thine eye looketh upon and lusteth after, thou shalt not think of, but say quietly unto thy belly, "Because thou hast lusted therefor thou shalt not taste it;" and when it hath received from thee this law, it will occupy itself with its need, and the eye of its lust will not be extended and diffused over the meats. And I also say that which, because it will be thought new, not every man will forthwith accept, but the few and the small in number will understand it, and these will suffice: it is better for thee to eat flesh without lust, than lentiles with it, for by the eating of the flesh passion will not be produced, but in respect of that which is inferior (i. e., the lentiles) lust goeth before the eating thereof, and an accusation is brought against the food because of a man's lust therefor, and not because of its nature. Hast thou forgotten that which Paul crieth, saying, "Everything which hath been created by God is holy, and nothing is to be rejected if it be received with thanksgiving?" 8 But [p. 443] take good heed unto me, in this case also, that thou receive not this word as free permission to eat flesh, and that thou make not use thereof, for the sake of ministering unto thy lusts, for unto the free it is written. If thou hast been tempted in thy soul which standeth upon the height of the freedom of Christ, and hast subdued by the power of thy patient endurance the bondage which is in thee, thou mayest make use of these words, if when thou eatest thou dost not eat with thy senses, and when thou drinkest thou dost not |425 drink longingly that which thou drinkest. If thou canst eat like a dead man, eat, but if thou eatest like a living man, take heed that thou dost not taste thy food with pleasure; for the perception of the taste of that which thou eatest testifieth against thee that thou art still alive unto lust, and that thou eatest in order that thou mayest eat, and not that thou mayest live. And Saint Paul, standing upon the height of this freedom, said, "Let not him that eateth not judge him that eateth," 9 neither let him that eateth because of his freedom despise him that eateth not because of the bondage of the law, because he whom the law leadeth is yet a servant, and hath not yet arrived at the perfect freedom of Christ. See then therefore, and think not that thou standest in the freedom of Christ whilst thou still servest in bondage, and dost eat everything without being permitted so to do. For the blessed Apostle also warns thee against lusting with thoughts of freedom, whilst thou art still a slave, saying, "Ye have been called unto freedom, my brethren;" 10 but let not your freedom be for the eating of flesh, and if thou art still a slave, let not only [p. 444] the laws which are external direct thee, but also the laws of thy discretion. For the external laws are kept for many reasons, for appearance, for fear, for praise, for the love of honour, for imagination, for the growth of other passions, that a man may humble his enemies, and that he may shew unto others who are slack the comparison of his wickedness, and similarly there are many other reasons [for the keeping] of the external law; but let the law of thy discretion be unto thee, so that if thou lustest after anything thou must restrain thyself from making use thereof. And moreover, in respect of |426 that for which thou lustest, thou must know that as yet thou art a slave, and when thou hast in this manner perceived thy slavery, thou must know that the law requireth thee to conquer henceforth, and to encircle with the law all the motions of thy thoughts, and every thought which moveth in thee with the lust for something restrain by the fear of the law, examining very carefully both the motions of nature and the motions of lust, and if the motion be of nature, suppress it, but if it be of lust, root it up. Now thou hast power to uproot the motions of lust, but the motions of nature thou canst only suppress and quiet, because lust itself receiveth its motion from nature, for it inclineth and looketh unto nature to be moved; and when it seeth that it is moved, it taketh the motion and maketh it its own, and it bringeth it out, and giveth it unto thy will to perform in very deed. Thou must then, like one who seeth thy passions, understand when any feeling of lust is mingled in the [p. 445] motion, I mean the motion which receiveth [something] from nature, because it receiveth what it needeth, and returneth; now I distinguish between that motion and the motion of lust, that I may not eat and be overcome.
Overcome therefore the lust for garden herbs, that thou mayest thereby overcome the lust of fornication, and let not common food stir thee up, in order that what hath a fair guise may not excite thee. Despise thou poor and contemptible things, lest they gather together against thee the lusts of those which are mighty, for lust doth not wage war against thee but against that which is akin unto thy rule of life. Because thou art remote from the meats of the world, and from preparations of cooked foods, and from the eating of flesh, and the drinking |427 of strained wines, lust is slow in bringing these things nigh unto thee, for it knoweth that they are remote from thee, and that they have no connexion with thy promises that thou shouldst make use of them, and that they are cut off from thee by custom, and by law, and by thy dwelling, and by thy rule ot life. And where lust seeth that there is something which will fight on its account it ceaseth from making war against such things, and pricketh thee with others, that is with ordinary meats, with the lust of dried vegetables, with the lust of garden herbs, and with the lust for cold water instead of strained wine, which things will be thought by thee not [worthy] of great blame, for their commonness is an excuse for them, and it adviseth thee, saying, "Eat, and thou shalt not be blamed, and drink and thou shalt not be reproached, for these are necessaries, and it is not meet that thou shouldst restrain thyself therefrom, especially [p. 446] at eventide, or thou mayest draw nigh to taste them once in two days. Eat everything which is set before thee, and eat until thou art satisfied, in order that thy body may be strengthened, and [be able] to bear labours;" for slackness in the guise of righteousness giveth thee counsel, because it seeth how many times thou hatest the advice of slackness which is evident. But do not thou be flattered by the person of these things, and despise not the commonness of things, and do not imagine that food is naturally reprehensible, for it is only so when a man shall eat it with lust; whether a man eat flesh or herbs with lust the eating of both is the same thing, and they are reprehensible because lust hath eaten them. It was not the fruit which Eve ate that brought forth death, but it was the lust thereof which brought forth |428 death; for if she had kept the law, and had not eaten with lust at that time, how many times could she have eaten of it afterwards, and not been blamed, provided that she took it unto herself in the ordinary way like [that of] other trees? And she drew nigh unto it, for it is written that she lusted, and then ate,11 and for this reason she was condemned. And what then was the nature of this fruit which was able to produce death, together with all [other] wickedness? Now, behold, according to what many say, and according also to the slight indication which the Book itself giveth unto us, the fruit which Eve ate was of the fig-tree, and it is manifest that the nature of the fig-tree is not to produce death; therefore it was lust which gave birth unto death, which it hath in all generations produced for man. For the root of death is [p. 447] lust, and the root of lust is carnal union, and for this reason all those who are born of carnal union are moved by lust, and are subject unto death, except One who was not born of carnal union; for this reason He was free from the motion of lust, and therefore He appeared superior to natural death, which, although He took it upon Himself, was voluntary and not natural. So then the nature of food is not reprehensible, although it is blameworthy when lust eateth it. And the reason for setting apart and prohibiting to the Jews the meats which are severally mentioned in the law was to teach them to overcome their lust for certain things, for if the law had prohibited every kind of meat the command would have been heavy upon them, and they would not have received it, and because the commandment |429 did not prevent them from [eating] even one [of them], they were moved within themselves, like animals without discretion, unto all lusts; and as they had not wherewith to learn that it was good for a rational being to overcome his lust, He allowed them to eat by reason of [their] weakness, and He prohibited them from eating many of them that the distinction of their rational nature might appear, and that they might learn to contend against lusts; and because they would not undertake with good will the war against lusts, He made meats unclean to them, that because they were unclean they might be restrained from making use of them. Now with thee He hath not done thus, but [p. 448] He hath purified and sanctified everything, as it is written, "Everything is sanctified by the word of God and by prayer," 12 that henceforth the patient endurance of thy discretion might appear, and that thou mightest not eat, not because they were impure, but because it hath been said that it is good that thou shouldst not eat flesh nor drink wine, nor anything by which our brother may stumble,13 and also that thou mightest overcome lust by thine own will, and not by the restriction of the uncleanness of meats.
Now against the things which are unclean naturally lust doth not rise up, and therefore everything is holy before thee; therefore when on all sides the materials which provoke thy lust shall appear, thou shalt suppress and overcome them by the love of God, and moreover, because of this, it is seemly for thee to appear temperate. Unto thee, then, let the meats which are set apart, that is to say, everything for which thou lustest, |430 be unclean unto thee, for that which thou bringest nigh unto thyself for its need's sake without lust thou art allowed to eat without reprehension, the law which restraineth thee permitting [thee so to do]; the law is not written outside thee, as in the case of some, but it is that which is written upon thy heart, and thy conscience testifieth concerning it, and only by thyself is it read, and others who are outside thee see it not, and thy freedom, as by the law, is not prohibited from eating, that it may not transgress the law if it eateth.
For freedom is above the law, [p. 449] and therefore it is the same to thee whether thou eatest, or whether thou eatest not, even as Paul spake concerning this freedom of the spirit, saying, "He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord, and he that regardeth it not, regardeth it not unto the Lord; and he that eateth not eateth not unto God; and he that eateth, eateth unto God, and giveth thanks unto the Lord;"14 so then it belongeth unto us by this freedom to eat, or not to eat. And for this reason He did not make a difference between meats severally mentioned by the law, that they might not be distinguished before us by lust or by the absence of lust, and that we should not excuse ourselves from eating that for which we lust as if through uncleanness, whether it be rare or whether it be common, or whether it be permitted to be eaten according to custom or not; so then that from the eating of which lust ariseth not in us we may eat as of that which is clean, without our conscience pricking us during the eating thereof.
The prick of the conscience is the transgression of the |431 law, as hath been said also by the Apostle,15 for if a man be in doubt, and he eateth, he is condemned. The Jews ate flesh in the wilderness, and it is written concerning them that, ''While the flesh was yet between their teeth the anger of God had dominion over them,"16 not because they had eaten flesh, but because with lust they had asked to eat it, for if the eating of flesh commonly brought anger whenever they ate it, they would have received this penalty, and, moreover, the priests who continually ate [p. 450] flesh in the temple would have deserved also the very same condemnation; but it is not written anywhere that anger had dominion over them because of the eating of flesh except in this place. That they sought flesh lustfully, and asked for it with lust, David testifieth, saying, "They lusted with lust in the wilderness, and they tempted God in the waterless desert, And He gave them their requests, and sent fulness into their souls".17 And in the place where they required flesh it is written that, "The people said to Moses, It was better for us when we were in Egypt, for we sat by the flesh pots, and did eat, and were filled [with] everything that our soul lusted for."18 And again when Moses saw that they lusted, and were made unclean by their lust, he said to them, "Sanctify yourselves [against] to-morrow that ye may eat flesh,"19 as if a man were to say, Because your persons have been made unclean by your lusts, and the gift of God draweth not nigh unto the unclean, sanctify yourselves from the lust that ye may be worthy to eat |432 the gift of flesh, for "Ye shall not eat it one day, nor ten days, nor twenty days, but a whole month, until it come out from your nostrils, and it become indigestion unto you; because that ye have rejected the Lord Who is among you, and have said, Who will give us flesh to eat?"
Behold then, according to the word of Moses unto the Jews, every one that eateth in lust, [p. 451] rejecteth the Lord Who is in him, and he resteth upon his lust's desire. Well then was indigestion made the limit of the meat which lust required, for need observeth a limit, but lust hath neither limit nor end. Understand then [the matter] from another side also. It was because they lusted that they were condemned and not because they ate flesh, for behold Elijah did not ask for [food] with lust, but the ravens fed him with bread and flesh, evening and morning, and he drank water from the brook;20 and when flesh was sent unto the prophet by the Giver, he by the power of his freedom received it like a meal of garden herbs. And thou must in another way understand that it is lust which is reprehensible, for every day, morning after morning, the people gathered the manna which came down, and so long as they gathered it according to the command they were not reprehended or condemned; but when they lusted to gather it in too great a quantity, it swarmed with worms and stank,21 to the shame of the lust which gathered it. And moreover when they ate it formerly, its taste was changed into that of all [kinds of] meats in their mouth, and it is well known that it also took the place of flesh unto |433 them, for it is written, "It was like honey comb, and its taste was as if it had been kneaded in oil." 22 And although it was changed into all these varieties of food the eaters thereof were not condemned thereby, for [p. 452] it was a gift of Grace, and not that which their lust had demanded.
Now that thou mayest understand that it is everything that is eaten with lust, even though it be common, that is reprehensible, set before thine eyes these two examples, the eating of Esau, and the eating of Elijah. Esau, because he ate lentiles, was condemned, and therefore Paul calleth him "dissolute", and "fornicator", because "for one mess of meat he sold his own birthright;" 23 and Elijah, though eating meat, was pure and holy, and a spiritual being, and like a spiritual being was removed unto the place of spiritual beings. Behold then, and understand from the two examples of Elijah and Esau, that it is lust which causeth condemnation and not meat. Seek then to eat everything and not to be condemned, and be above lust in everything, and eat everything; but if thou canst not be superior to lust, everything that thou eatest will be a condemnation unto thee, even though it be a common thing, as Eve was condemned for eating the fruit, and as the Jews were censured for gathering the manna, and as Esau was condemned for eating the lentiles, and as the people also who perished, because they ate and drank with lust before the calf.
And that even the drinking of cold water with lust is reprehensible David, the wise man of God, shall prove unto thee, for when he lusted to drink water |434 from the great cistern which was in Bethlehem, and those who did hear [him] obeyed and brought [it] to him,24 he suppressed his lust, and poured it out before the Lord, as if [p. 453] by means, thereof he was pouring out [his] lust; now the nature of water is not such as to cause sin even if he had partaken thereof, for it is cool and pleasant, but he perceived within himself that he had asked for it with lust and he conquered his lust, and did not grant its request. And he did this also that he might vex those who had been ministers unto his lust, by turning back their kindness upon themselves, that he might teach every man not to be in subjection unto his lust, and that we should not make our faces joyful towards those who minister unto our lust. And God permitted Noah also to eat every thing like green herbs, and though Adam was censured because he had eaten the fruit, yet to Noah power was given, as by a covenant of gift, over all meats----now where it was partaken of with lust, there was it reprehended, for having received through the taste of lust the pleasure of wine, he drank thereof inordinately and immoderately, and was in this case laid under sin----for God permitted him to eat every kind of flesh after which his soul lusted. Now although this meat is a burden unto the wise and prudent, yet was it given by promise unto Noah,25 and it was sent unto Elijah in a gift,26 and Abraham received God and His angels thereby,27 and Isaac was pleased to pour out blessings upon Jacob thereby,28 and Samuel offered this gift beforehand to Saul as to a king,29 and David and all the righteous |435 kings made use of such meat, and it was employed by all the righteous; [p. 454] and they were not blamed therefor, because they were superior to lust. And they did not eat like slaves with lust, but they made use of every thing with authority like free men, and they in their eating of rare meats were praised, while those who fed themselves upon ordinary and common foods were rejected and reprobated. Now Paul crieth unto us, "Let not your hearts be made heavy through the eating of flesh and the drinking of wine",30 that he may teach us that meat maketh heavy the heart, but they ate and did not become heavy, and they ate, moreover, that they might show that their lightness was more powerful than the heaviness of meat, and that by that thing which maketh dense the heart their mind became the brighter, and that by that which maketh heavy the body, and darkeneth the mind, the lightness of their understanding became more luminous. For being abstinent, that they should be clean, and pure, and holy, was not accounted by them so great a thing as that they should be purified in the matter of the things which make gross the heart, that is to say, that they should be purified in the matter of the things which are the contrary of purity, that they might overcome like mighty men that which was opposed to them, and that, like men of power and freemen, they might be uninjured by the things which cause injury.
But thou hast not arrived at this point, and to this grade thou hast not yet ascended, therefore it is necessary for thee to abstain from every thing, and to eat in moderation that thou mayest be pure, and |436 to eat and to drink by weight and measure that thou mayest be clean, because according to thy promise thou must run after purity [p. 455] of soul, and thou must seek diligently to arrive at the likeness of the angels. But thou wilt not be able to stand in the freedom of spiritual beings until thou hast cast away entirely the bondage of carnal beings, for when thou hast cast away this bondage like a spiritual being and freeman thou mayest eat of every thing blamelessly, without making thy heart gross by the eating of flesh, and the drinking of wine will not cloud thy thoughts, even as it is written concerning the angels, that "They ate flesh and drank wine with Abraham";31 and their spiritualness was not weighed down by this food; moreover, like unto them also are all the righteous whose [names] are written in the Scriptures, who ate, and [whose hearts] neither became heavy nor gross, because they did not eat with a longing desire. Be thou without desire, and eat as did the angels with Abraham, and like all the righteous men who [are mentioned] in the Old Testament, and thou shall not be blamed, that is to say, thou must hold thyself bound to preserve the chastity of thy rule of life because this befitteth thy promise, and because of the benefit [which it will be] unto others, for freedom and power to draw nigh unto everything are not permitted unto us, and although freedom hath power over every thing, yet it may not be exercised in everything lest it destroy its own freedom. That a free man is not fettered by a lust for anything he sheweth by his freedom, and in that he hath the power and doth not make use thereof, he doubleth readily the freedom thereof, and he preserveth it from being dissipated. |437 even as Paul writeth concerning [p. 456] this freedom, saying, "I have power [to do] everything, but not everything edifieth" 32. And that thou mayest learn that [it is thus] with all other things, and especially in the matter of eating and not eating, he maketh known the power of his freedom and saith immediately after these words, "Meats of the belly, and the belly of meats, but God will bring both of them to nought." 33
Preserve then, O disciple, the habit of abstinence, that thou mayest also arrive at the power of freedom, and wean thyself, and eat not, that thou mayest draw nigh unto the state of eating without perceiving [it]; abstain from food by the power of thy soul, in order that the lusts which are mingled in thy members may be destroyed. Thou shalt not eat, that thou mayest sin not; thou shalt not drink, that thou mayest not err; be constant in fasting, through which thou mayest become worthy of the purity of prayer; diminish thy food at the time of thy eating, that the wing of thy understanding may be light to soar unto God; reckon with thy body even unto the most minute things, that thy soul may gain the mastery over the abundant riches of Divine knowledge thereby, and that He, who hath revealed unto thee the treasures of His wisdom and of His knowledge, may not make a reckoning with thee; wink thine eyes but little at lusts, and behold thou shalt pass over a difficult place, for the time wherein thou canst make use of them is little and short, but the time of immunity from them is without end. Be not then conquered in the time of victory, and grasp the battle against lust like a discovery, in order that |438 work may be found for thy soul; for so long as lusts perfect their work [p. 457] in thee, thy soul hath no work in thee, and being in thee, it is as though it were not in thee, because it is empty of, and lacketh the works of its nature. When the body hath begun to make its lusts move in thee, leap up, and tarry [not], and abhor the sight of thy lust like a thing of destruction which has found work for itself. And thou shalt say unto thy soul, "Why art thou troubled, O my soul, and why art thou sad because thou art deprived of gain? Behold, work hath fallen into thy hands, do it prosperously. Behold, lust is sent that it may shew itself against thee for the fight, shew forth then the skill of thy athletic art and the might of thy arms. Behold the material for gain, for thou lovest gain! Behold, thine enemies have gathered themselves together in the field of war, cry out against them with thy mighty voice, and rebuke and scatter the hosts of lusts which prosper not in this country, [for] they traffic in losses. Do thou then zealously collect [thy] gains, for thy victory will be the more proclaimed, if where others are conquered thou obtainest the victory. To the sluggish lust is the cause of defeat, but to thee, being diligent, it shall be the cause of triumph, for like the warrior who is confident in his strength, and who relieth upon his skill, and rejoiceth at the sight of [his] enemies, even so also do thou rejoice in the advance of lusts, for without them thy triumph would be empty, and thou wouldst have no material for the fight from which victory is produced." Let these things, then, be said unto thy soul by thee, whenever it happeneth [p. 458] that lusts are stirred up against thee, but especially against this stupid lust of the belly, which is wont to spring from |439 childhood; for it entereth in as a destroyer alone, because it loveth to be seen by itself, and it layeth the foundation of slackness from the beginning of the growth of the stature of the body, so that beginning therefrom it may be found a helpmeet unto all lusts which spring up in every age of life.
Now this is the first lust which conquered the world, and because of it the first transgression of the law took place; and next Cain also, in turning unto this, meditated the killing of his brother that he might inherit the earth by himself.34 It laid a blemish upon the righteous man Noah;35 it dismissed from Esau his birthright and his blessings;36 it brought the Sodomites unto the work of impurity;37 and in its train the children of Seth also came to fornication,38 so that they were rejected from the household of God thereby; it destroyed the people in the wilderness by penalties of all kinds;39 from the table of lust they rose up and worshipped a dead calf;40 incited thereby they were ungrateful for all the acts of grace which [had been shewn] unto them, for Israel had waxed fat and kicked through this lust, and it is written of him, that "He forgot God Who made him." 41 And because the priests lusted and drank [wine], and were confused in the place of propitiation, the fire consumed their bodies;42 through it also the Prophet reproached the people, [p. 459] when he proclaimed, "Woe unto those who rise up early in the morning, and follow quickly thereafter;" 43 and through |440 this lust another Prophet brought accusation against the people, saying, ''They ate fatlings of the flocks, and calves from the herds;"44 through it the scribes and Pharisees received "Woe" from our Redeemer, because it had taught them to keep festival, and Sabbath, and [to pay tithe of] cummin;45 it demanded tribute from the priests, who, without right, were taking it away from those who made offerings;46 it dismissed the sons of Eli from their priesthood;47 and by its exceeding dainties Solomon also was led into the error of idols.48 And even to-day it corrupteth every thing, for because of it the world is exhausted, and for its pleasure creation runneth its course; for its sake all the children of men work slavery, and it seemeth as if the door could be shut in the face of all wickedness if it did not exist. Consider too, and observe understandingly the course of every man, and the labour, and fatigue, and the sweat of all those who enter the world, for it is only because of it, and for its sake and need only, that merchants travel on the roads, and sailors go down into terrible seas, and ploughmen and farmers endure labour and fatigue, and workmen toil in the cities, and hirelings run in the market-place, and slaves serve their masters, and masters also sell and buy their slaves; because of it precious things are gathered together and treasure is laid up for years, and gold, and silver, and produce of all kinds are for its sake collected and heaped up. Ascend [p. 460] then, and stand upon the height of knowledge, and look upon all the world from |441 that place, and watch the course, and the activity and the commotion, and the promises made by the inhabitants thereof on all sides. And observe how some ascend, and others descend; how some depart and others come; how one crieth out and another disputeth; how one contendeth, and another fighteth; how one carrieth off that which belongeth not to him, and another spoileth his fellow; how one stealeth like a thief, and how another, like a robber, plundereth on the highways; how battles are set in array in the marches; how kingdoms are divided against themselves; how captains of hosts rebel against kings, and how kings fight that their dominions be not taken away from them; how judges take bribes, and how advocates sell the success of cases iniquitously; and how for lust learners learn, and learned men teach. And when thou hast observed all these things and many others like unto them, and the various kinds of confusion and tumult which fill the world, turn thee and seek the cause of all these, and thou wilt find that it is the lust of the belly; and if it were overcome, everything would become peaceful and quiet, and thou wouldst see nothing in the world which would rebel against the will of God, or lead us to transgress the command, and to tread the law under foot, except this only.
Now if any man shall say there are other causes for all the things which are ministered unto in the world, [p. 461] let him that sayeth this know that the lust of the belly is also the primary cause of the other evils. And although passions are many and diverse, and they move themselves in various ways in the children of men, whereby the world is disturbed and creation troubled, yet the great fountain, from which these troubled streams |442 flow down on all sides, is the lust of the belly. And if a man stoppeth up this spring by the might of his patient endurance, he will straightway see that all the streams of wickedness, which are poured out therefrom, will dry up, and there will be quietness over everything, and peace will rule over all flesh, and there shall be abundant rest in troubled places, and all minds will be filled with happiness and joy, and so to say, if lust were not in the midst thou wouldst not see one vice in the world; for all wickednesses gather together thereunto, and all labours and wearying works hasten thereafter. That man should eat bread by the sweat of his face hath been born of lust, and it hath made brambles and briars to spring up, and through the ruin thereof the penalty of death ruleth over all; for it is the captain of the host of the left side, and to it are fettered all the hosts of sin, and as captains of hosts go forth to war at the head of their companies against the enemy, even so also doth it, as the captain of the host of all wickedness, go forth to war against that which is good. And thoughts and deeds of iniquity accompany it, and the motions and acts of sin, and all the deliberations of evil march at its perverse heel, [p. 462] and all the works of sin become unto it as members, and from it they receive their power, and they obtain their nourishment therefrom. As the senses are bound up with the head, even so in the lust of the belly are bound up error, and idolatry, and division, and suspicion, and falsehood; and as all the members of the body receive power and sustenance from the head, even so also are strengthened by the lust of the belly all wickednesses, which are:----fornication, and adultery, and other corrupt passions; the adornment of the person with fine apparel; the empty pleasures |443 of the lust of the belly; and grief, and vain-glory, and pride; and wrath and despair, and bitterness; and wicked intent, and hatred, and enmity; and unrelenting anger, and burning wrath, and indignation; and violent rage, and envy, and bitterness; and sedition, and a deceitful face; and rule and dominion, and calumny, and whispering, and the tongue which continually smiteth in secret; and mocking, and scoffing, and fraud; and oppression, and murder, and soothsaying; and drunkenness, and blows; together with all other such like abominable passions, all of which are bound up with the lust of the belly. And I permit myself to say that of labours, and afflictions, and diseases, and sicknesses, and all such like things which afflict us in the body, lust is the cause.
And whosoever fighteth by the power of forbearance, and conquereth this first evil, is able thereby to conquer all sin, and well [p. 463] have divine men also handed down to us the tradition, that whosoever wisheth to be perfect in the way of Christ must first of all fight against this passion; therefore also if those who go forth from the world seeking perfection do not first of all begin by abstinence, they will not begin in the way of the commandments according to the law, and consequently they cannot finish [therein] because the lust of the belly carrieth them off like a thief. And although it may happen that at the beginning they make use thereof in a fitting manner, yet will it bring them to longings and desires of the thoughts, and to fantasies of the mind, and to that covering which standeth in front of the understanding, and darkeneth it to the sight of God, and maketh it especially dense, and until it be rent asunder from before |444 the face of the mind, a man will not be able to look at the Holy of Holies of the knowledge of Christ, even though he bear afflictions and labours. For if the covering of grossness of heart be not rent asunder, the heavenly light cannot be seen by him, and he is not able to serve the rule of Christ with his soul's perception; but when this hath been rent asunder, a man then beginneth to perceive the renewing of his soul, and to know by the knowledge of his mind that he is something else besides that which can be seen and touched, and he receiveth also the perception of the things which are above the world, and wonderings and living motions concerning God, in order that he may be moved in a living manner like unto God Himself, and not in the manner of a dead man according to the nature of his body, [p. 464] and briefly, after the victory over this lust, a man is worthy of every spiritual vision.
Now if those who are in the world and who work righteousness have need of fasting and abstinence, how much more do those need them who have gone forth therefrom for the practice of a spiritual rule and conduct? For the limit of abstinence is that we should fight against all the meats which are made use of by the body, not with the forbearance of the members only, but also with the endurance of the thoughts; and if a man be constrained by his needs, let him eat the things which are of no account or value, and are common, and are both cheap and easily obtained. And let us be also watchful against the fulness of the belly, for as hath been said by one of the spiritual teachers, "A fat belly cannot produce a refined mind." For the overfulness of the stomach without doubt darkeneth the |445 mind; therefore none of those who have had experience of knowledge can have any doubt about it, and if fools do doubt, they doubt because they have not experienced it, or if they do know it, because it is hard for them to depart from their lusts. Now therefore, what I now say shall shew thee a complete testimony. As the body is nourished, so the soul becometh enfeebled, and as the body becometh gross, and addeth body unto body by the food [which it taketh], the soul dwindleth and disappeareth, and although the soul existeth, it might be thought that it existed not in the body; and as the body addeth unto the strength and vigour of its stature, the stature of the soul boweth down, [p. 465] and its members----which are the thoughts----pine away, and its knowledge dwindleth, and the light of instruction is withheld from it; and so long as the body is found, the soul is lost, and so long as the body enjoyeth health, the soul is sick.
Whosoever, then, seeketh to find his soul, must deliver his body unto the destruction of all afflictions, and behold, he will find his soul in the destruction of his body, and the health of the man of the spirit in the sickness of the carnal man, even as Paul also testifieth, saying, "When I am sick, it is then that I am strong." 49
Now when two opposing parties are engaged in battle with each other, so long as their hosts are equal in number and are equally skilled in the art of war, there will be fighting between them continually, for they will always be conquered and conquering, and taking and giving the victory to each other, and plucking triumphs each from each, and giving them back each |446 to each, and by reason of their equality constant war will be produced between them. In this manner then are also the soul and body towards each other, and as their natures are contrary to each other, even so also are their wills, and concerning this hath Paul also said, "The body lusteth after that which will harm the spirit, and the spirit lusteth after that which will harm the body, and both are contrary, each to each." 50 And so long as they stand in this measure of equality, they will be at constant and unceasing war, and at one time the body will conquer the soul, and at another the soul will overcome the body; and [p. 466] whosoever fighteth thus must stand in his place, for although he step forward even so little towards that which belongeth to the soul, the body hangeth on to him and turneth him back, and, moreover, it will even thrust him from his position, and drag him down into the abyss of sin And during these ascents and descents, and goings and comings, a man must not depart from his place, or he will not be able to grow in the stature which hath been given unto him by God that he may increase unto spiritual life thereby.
Now therefore if these, the motions of whose lives stand in equality of soul and body, are not able to grasp the victory and to go forth unto the end of the journey of their life and conduct, how can those who live in the body, and who feed it continually, and give it the fulness of its wants, and feed it as it were to transgress, and give it as much drink as it desireth, and make it to sink under the weight of sleep, be able to grasp the victory against the passions, and to arrive |447 at the end of the Christian path along which they travel? For those who thus feed themselves, and who take care for their bodies in this manner, are not only unable to conquer sin, but their soul dieth and perisheth wholly and entirely, and their bodies become graves unto their souls, and their souls are buried within them like bodies in a grave, and they perceive not at all the life which is in them, [p. 467] and if there be in them the movement of life it is all on the behalf of the body. Now when the soul killeth the body, the work belongeth unto the soul in every particular, but if the body kill the soul, it thinketh, and acteth, and speaketh like a living being, and the soul dwelleth within it like a dead thing which perceiveth not at all; and if it thought that it liveth----because the nature of the soul is immortal----it liveth to the body and not to itself.
Take away then from the body, and give to the soul, but take not away from the soul that thou mayest give to the body, and according to that which was promised should happen unto thee by thy Creator, so do thou thyself unto thyself. For this hope, that thy body should be exalted unto the grade of thy soul by the resurrection, was given unto thee, and not the expectation that the soul should be brought down to the deadness of the body and the corruption thereof, for it hath been said unto thee, "One half of thee shall live with the other half," and not "The portion which is superior in thee shall not perish with that which is inferior." So then lift thou up the power of thy body upon thy soul, and change and mingle the life thereof with the life of the soul, that its mortal life may be preserved with its immortal life, and its feeble power may be mingled with the might of its spiritual power. And instead of |448 allowing the grave to bring thy body to an end, and to dissolve and scatter the constitution of thy members, take thou the portions of its members through the common labours of all the members, and lay them upon the soul, and when it goeth forth from thee through the dissolution of death, it shall not [p. 468] depart by itself, but shall bear upon itself all that belongeth unto the body, the strength of the body in its strength, the life of the body in its life, the carnalness of the body in its spirituality, and the members and senses of the body, together with all the labour of their ministration, in all the spiritual members of the soul.
Now this strife is of use unto us----especially to conquer therewith----from the beginning of our youth. for from the beginning of the foundation of the childhood of the children of men this passion cleaveth unto their lives, and maketh to shoot up in all stages of their growth the passions which are peculiar unto them. In children, and in gray-haired men, in youths and in old men this passion begetteth wrath, and indignation, and constant annoyance, and rage; but in the other periods which fall between [youth and age], of young manhood, and the prime of life, it begetteth fornication, and empty pleasures, and the lust for money, and the lust for power, and other such like things, and according to the order of the periods [of life] it is meet that the forms of fighting should be changed. In the period of childhood, since it is below the knowledge of the prudent, it is meet that children should be restrained from the service of this lust by the power of the law, and they should be instructed by teachers and masters to perform the practice of abstinence----even though it be heavy upon them, and they be not |449 pleased therewith----and they should be constrained to perfect it that they may acquire a good habit, and be trained to endure patiently from [p. 469] their youth up; and when they have arrived at the age which begetteth knowledge, they will feel the experience of their patient endurance, and will taste the sweetness of this victory. And the childhood which hath from the beginning been accustomed to learn that which is good, and hath been exercised in the training of patient endurance, is like a field which hath been cultivated and sown from its earliest times, that at the fitting season it may yield the fruits of knowledge.
And what shall I say in respect of children? Unto those of all ages, and even also unto perfect and fullgrown men, the knowledge of contests appeareth not at the times when their thoughts are disturbed by fighting in the contests, but when they have ceased to war then they perceive [their] knowledge; if then the knowledge be found with them at the time when they are fighting, how they shall fight belongeth unto their knowledge, that is to say, the knowledge of the delivery of the law, which is established by hearing, and by tradition, and by doctrine, and by word, and not that knowledge of the spirit which shineth naturally upon the soul, and bringeth forth words without the remembrance of the tradition. And as the eye by its activity receiveth the vision of the clearness of light, even so also doth the sight of the soul receive, after the conquest of the carnal passions, the purity and simplicity of the knowledge of the spirit; and as the simple sun shineth upon things in nature, and upon diverse bodies, and he seemeth to them [p. 470] divisible and separate, although he is of one single nature, and there is no division in him, |450 even so also is it with the knowledge of the spirit when it shineth upon the rule, and conduct, and labours of life, for it seemeth to them separate and divisible, although in itself it is simple. Now the soul is not worthy to receive the brilliance of this light, except a man be first of all born from carnality to spirituality, the birth itself being perfected by labours and afflictions, for, "Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven," 51 the blessed Paul teacheth us, or as a man might say, "So long as the motions of a man are established by flesh and blood he is unable to inherit the spiritual knowledge of Christ," which, as in a parable, he calleth the kingdom of heaven; and although this verse hath other meanings in respect of other passions, yet as regardeth the matter which is under discussion we may suitably apply it with this meaning. For the true kingdom is the knowledge which erreth not, and doubteth not, but seeth everything in its proper place distinctly, as well as things which are above nature, according to the capacity which is given unto created beings; and he whose life is established by means of motions of flesh and blood is unable to become the heir of this knowledge, and if it happen that he receive it by the tradition of words, he heareth the words from others, and it is not that [p. 471] knowledge which itself hath revealed itself in his soul, for this knowledge is beyond words, and beyond appellations and names, as the demonstration of the Holy Children who were reared in Babylon testifieth unto us. Now those children, although they acquired human learning by the word of instruction, yet longed earnestly to |451 receive the divine knowledge, which was above oral tradition, and which revealed itself unto them at the fitting season, and that which human learning could not know this knowledge taught unto those children, and it was shewn unto them because they travelled towards it in the way of this knowledge according to the law. For although their food was allowed them from the royal table, and they were ordered to take the meat which befitted those who received royal instruction, they rejected it because they perceived that it gave increase unto worldly knowledge, and that clean and pure meats were necessary for those who received human instruction, that their bodily senses might be pure and active according to the purity of their food. Now spiritual knowledge hath no need of these things, because it holdeth nothing of the perspicacity of carnal senses in the soul, but when all parts of the soul have been purified and cleansed from evil passions, then this knowledge riseth therein.
Now pure meats are helpful and beneficial in no slight degree to the activity of the senses of those who receive the knowledge of the soul, but spiritual beings [p. 472] have no need of anything thereof, and that thou mayest know that this is so, accept the testimony of these pure children, who instead of the royal, pure, and clean meats which give to the body solid and substantial nourishment, chose pulse and the drinking of water, for the might of the former food is a hindrance unto those who receive human learning. And because they were not refined in their bodies, but in their souls, they chose vegetable food that their bodies might become meagre, and the strength and the natural power of their members might be reduced, and |452 that after these things the living parts of the soul might be revealed unto the perception and sight of divine knowledge. And this actually took place, for after they had eaten pulse and drunk water for three years this knowledge was revealed unto them, not that which is born of words, but that which is born of deeds, for they were doing the works which gave birth unto the knowledge of the spirit, while they were learning the words which gave birth unto human knowledge; but because their expectation was directed unto the revelation of that knowledge which ariseth from works and not unto that which ariseth from words, where they looked they saw, and where they expected they received, and they became a medium for words, and receptive vessels of the knowledge of the spirit. And thou must understand from this matter that not merely did they eat pulse and drink water only, but they took this abstemious food after prolonged fasting, for whosoever eateth pulse is constant [p. 473] in fasting also, and whosoever drinketh water is clean for pure prayer at all seasons, if the object of his abstinence be therefor. And thou must understand from the passage that when the time arrived in which that knowledge was to shew itself in them, they clave to abstinence, and fasting, and prayer, and then the revelations for which they asked were shewn unto them, for Daniel told his companions to entreat the God of heaven to reveal this mystery unto them in order that he and his brethren might not perish, together with all the other wise men of Babylon; and then unto Daniel, in a vision of the night, was the mystery revealed.52 This then is the gift which abstinence gave unto the Children, and this |453 is the harvest which they gathered in from the fields which had been sown with pulse and which had drunk in water. Run thy course then, O disciple, as did they, that like them thou mayest be able to restrain thyself and to go forth into a wide place; make thyself little that thou mayest be able to go through the narrow gate; drink water that thou mayest drink knowledge; feed upon pulse that thou mayest become wise in mysteries; eat by measure that thou mayest overcome without measure; fast that thou mayest see; this is the meat which belongeth to thee, because it is also thy dis-cipleship, for according to this [hast thou] promised. For dainty meats and fulness of the belly belong not to thee, but unto those who live in wickedness in the world, and who at all seasons produce the brambles and thorns of sin, for the person who is sown with dainties and who drinketh wine is accustomed to yield fruit like unto these things; but of the eating of pulse and of the drinking [p. 474] of water the harvest is heavenly visions and revelations, and the knowledge of the spirit, and divine wisdom, and the interpretation of hidden things, and that which human knowledge perceiveth not, but the soul which laboureth in such like things perceiveth it. And moreover from thy youth up abide in the rule of labours, and say not, "I am a child," because thou wilt be taken as an example of what children [can do]. And besides, according to the indication of the history of the Book those beloved ones were only children of a few years of age when they began this divine service, and they found it out without being taught,----do thou, since thou hast teachers, practise this [habit]----for their teachers were persuading them to do the contrary, that is to say, to eat and to drink----now the |454 divine doctrine counselled! thee, on the contrary, to love the rule of abstinence, and to lay hold upon patient endurance----and those children, without being obliged or required to do so, by their own discernment chose these things. And thou, if thou wilt do as they did, wilt pay what is due from thee, and thou wilt fulfil thy promise by the word of God which thou hast.
Rouse thyself then, and observe these children of the Old Testament, who being born of one mother sucked the milk of another, for while the Old Testament brought them forth to the belief of God, they fulfilled the rule of life of the New Testament, and the milk of their mother was not sweet unto them, but they longed earnestly to suck from the breasts which suckle thee, [p. 475] and they lusted for the meat of thy table. And thou, when thou doest these things, wilt do that which belongeth unto thee to do, and where thou wast produced there wilt thou be reared, and the laws which thou art bound to keep thou wilt keep----for thy choice itself proclaimeth labours, and afflictions, and abstinence, and the subjugation of the body----and after these things there will come upon thee the pleasures which are born therefrom, happiness, and joy, and confidence, and all these are above the world, and before the coming of the kingdom thou wilt inherit the kingdom. For whosoever purifieth and cleanseth his body by affliction and severe labours, and also his soul from wickedness, shall inherit the kingdom before the time of the kingdom, and before the coming of the glorious and universal revelation the glory thereof will be revealed unto him by his soul, and he himself will become the fountain of his knowledge, because he is about to be held worthy in heaven of the kingdom, and because he will find in |455 himself the kingdom. For behold, "The kingdom of God is within you,53" and in another place [the Book] saith, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,54" and two things are certain: the kingdom of heaven which the righteous shall inherit at the end of the world, above the heavens, and the kingdom which is in you, which is the knowledge of the spirit which is revealed unto spiritual beings, and as it were, we have already been in the kingdom of heaven in unspeakable happiness. Now neither of these can be found without afflictions and labours of the body, for those who bear labours in the body are heirs of the kingdom of heaven, [p. 476] and those who, together with labours, possess innocency of soul also, become the discoverers of the kingdom which is in them, and in its blessings they fare luxuriously and revel in continual joy, over which sorrow ruleth not, because at all times they rejoice in the gladness which is born of them, even as Paul also said, "Rejoice at all times," 55 and in another place he also said, "Rejoice in your hope, and endure patiently your tribulations; for from the patient endurance of tribulations the hope concerning the things which are to come increaseth in us," even as he said in another place, "Tribulation perfecteth patience in us; and patience, probation, and probation, hope; and patience putteth not to shame."56
Whosoever beareth not tribulations by his own constancy, in him it is evident that the remembrance of hope is not, for if he had hope, he would also be in tribulation because of his hope, even as all the |456 righteous who have come into the world were in tribulation with all kinds of labours, and in many afflictions they trod this path which leadeth to the kingdom of God; and because they trod it in hope the experience of the afflictions was pleasant unto them. Now the beginning of the way of tribulations unto them all was abstinence, even as the greed of the belly is the beginning of all wickedness, for from this very place two paths begin; from the love of the belly the path [which goeth to] the left, and from the hatred of the belly [p. 477] the path [which goeth to] the right. And whosoever wisheth to begin the path of discipleship in good order, must start herefrom, afflicting and buffeting his body, and reducing its meat and drink, and loading it with the toils of vigil, and with the tribulations of fasting; and when its lusts are cut off it will become light and active for the business of the soul. Now the work of afflictions is not so hard as report saith, for a report from afar usually terrifieth every man, but when he hath tried and hath had experience of the matters in very deed, they become easy unto those who do them.
To thee then, O thou who hast cast off the world, belong the things which will help thee greatly, and which will give thee power [to lead] the good life, for the fact of being removed from the affairs of the world, and from the sight and hearing thereof, keepeth thy life holy in no small degree. The beloved Children 57, the example of whom I have brought before thee, although the royal table was set before their sight, rejected its pleasures, and chose tribulations instead of delights. |457 And herefrom consider the power of their patient endurance, for having no teacher to admonish, and none to help or encourage, nor the pattern of others who were before them, nor the fear of the law upon them, nor want and need, nor fear and terror which restrained them, nor being removed from the sight of meats----which also is helpful to patient endurance----having [p. 478] none of these [reasons, I say], they filled themselves with the power of their patient endurance. Do thou then, even though all these things help thee, persevere in the patience which befitteth thy discipleship, and conquer the wicked mistress of all iniquity, and subdue thy body and afflict thy members, even as Paul also said, "I subdue my body, and bring it into subjection, lest peradventure I, who have preached to others, am myself rejected 58." And if Paul, although he, by the power of Grace, gained the victory over the passions, still had need to subdue his body, how much more have those, in whom there still live the lusts of the flesh, need to subdue their bodies by fasting and abstinence, and to fight and to overcome!
Unto thee then, O disciple, if thou wishest thy discipleship to be good, let the table, which unto others is a place of pleasure, be a place of fighting, and set in array thereupon the battle against all meats, whether they be great or little, or rare or common, and despise not lust, because it is laid hold upon by small matters, and think [not] that it is not worthy of blame, for thou wilt be especially blameworthy if it happen that thou art overcome by small things, even more so than if thou wert conquered by great things, for if lust can |458 vanquish thee by little things, how much more shall it defeat thee by great? [p. 479] And if it conquereth thee by garden herbs, how much more shall it overcome thee by the meat of flesh? Whosoever will commit iniquity in a small thing will also commit iniquity in a great thing. Now with that with which lust doeth battle with thee must thou overcome it: if it be with the meat of flesh, and the various preparations of meat and dainty foods, fight therewith and vanquish the lust of the belly, and if it be with pulse, and garden herbs, and valueless and common fruits, with that very thing with which lust fighteth do thou oppose victory. And say not, "To conquer these things is no victory at all," but consider that if thou be vanquished by these things the defeat will be great. What then? And if it be that that lust which is wont at all times to lust after great things, abaseth itself and lusteth after small things in order that it may subdue thee, do not thou abase thyself with it, but conquer it wherever it seeketh to conquer thee. For wherever it calleth there art thou bound to follow after it, and against that thing which it lusteth after, do thou set in array the battle against the incentives thereto, being in this respect like unto Christ thy Lord, Who, wherever the Tempter sought to tempt Him, was found present with him, and wherever he wished to enter into battle with Him, there did He respond unto him. And He began first of all the war which was against the greediness of the belly, and He overcame this lust by the patient endurance of fasting, that He might give unto us also an example, and lay down for us the law, so that we, if we desired to enter upon a spiritual rule of life and conduct [p. 480] might begin with fasting, and after |459 that, little by little, we might advance unto all triumphs. For also our Lord first of all vanquished the lust of the belly, and after it the love of money, and the empty boasting of the world, and dominion and power ----which things are born therefrom----and after these He conquered vain-glory----an abominable passion which is born of fine things----and by these three He overcame and brought to nought all the passions which cleave unto them, and then He began to preach the kingdom of His Father with power, and to deliver the doctrine of perfection unto the children of men.
Now as Christ our Lord, when He had finished the service of the Law and had begun the rule of the spirit, began with fasting, even so also like Him art thou bound to make the beginning of thy discipleship, which is above the world therewith. For what abstinence could be as perfect as that of Jesus? Who not only made himself a stranger unto the taste of meats, but also unto the smell and sight thereof, in that He forsook the peaceful state in which these are found, and went forth into the wilderness, and deprived Himself of everything, in order that He might cut off and cast out from all the senses this abominable lust; for except a man go forth from the world he cannot tread the path of perfection. And consider also that our Redeemer protracted His fast unto the last limit to which our nature could attain! Now Moses and Elijah did also tread [that path], and attain to this number [of days], and if our nature had been able to go beyond it, our Redeemer would have fasted more, and also if [p. 481] its strength had been insufficient to arrive at this number [of days], He would have diminished the number of the days which He fasted, |460 and would have limited Himself to the time up to which human nature could endure. For our Lord did not fast according to His strength, but according to our strength, for if He had fasted according to His own strength He would never have hungered at all, for the nature of His spirituality was not to hunger; but He fasted according to the body according to the capacity of the power of carnal beings, and He brought Himself down to us, and revealed unto us the limits of His natural endurance.
Now the power of endurance hath become weak in us by reason of a multitude of dainties, and we think that without these our nature cannot live, and that if we diminish these dainties and supports of meat it will perish. Our Lord fasted forty days, and hath [thus] taught us that the power of our natural endurance can be prolonged unto this point, if the barriers of lust be not placed in the way to cut off the way of endurance; but our Redeemer broke through and passed over all the barriers of lusts and the endurance of sicknesses and diseases, and arrived at the end of the forty days, therefore unto this point have very many arrived, but beyond the limit which our Redeemer fixed hath no man passed, because it is the natural one. If then it hath been heard or said that a man hath passed this limit, it is beyond the power of human nature to do so, and it hath been performed solely by Grace, [p. 482] because of many reasons, some of which are hidden from us, and some of which are manifest unto us.
Now therefore it is meet that the disciple should place this example before his eyes, if he wisheth to be prosperous in the spiritual life, and as our Lord |461 overcame the other passions, even so also for thee after abstinence will it be easy to vanquish the other lusts. And as after all lusts had been overcome Jesus began the teaching of authority, and the life of freedom, to eat with all men, to be invited by all men, and to mix with, and to talk with all [kinds of] people, which things are a sign of absolute freedom, even so also shalt thou stand in the freedom of Christ, when thou hast mastered the lust of the belly, and the other passions which follow in its train thereby, and shalt mingle with and talk to every one with authority, and thou shalt eat and drink with tax-gatherers and whores, and thou shalt converse fearlessly with women, thy freedom making no distinction between male and female, because thou hast cast off that thought which by reason of the passions seeth the difference between them; for when the mind is not goaded by passion it distinguished not between the person of a man or woman, nor between a beautiful face and an ugly one, but without passion it meeteth all and regardeth all alike. And without fear thou shalt enter into every [house], and thou shalt salute every man, and thou shalt be all things unto all men, being thyself without change, for the benefit of all. Now the patterns of these things [p. 483] have been seen in Christ and in His disciples. And thou must observe that unto these and such like things our Redeemer arrived through abstinence, and not only Himself, but also the holy Apostles, and the divine Prophets, and also John the Baptist who came between the two Covenants. And remember how the Holy Book recounteth unto thee concerning his abstinent rule of life, which was new and different from that of all the other children of men, for his clothing was of |462 camel's hair,59 and skin girded his loins, like the prophets, and his food was locusts and wild honey, and his dwelling-place was the desert wilderness which was destitute of peace, and he lived among the beasts of the wilderness. And from his youth up he fulfilled all this stern life of abstinence, and after these things he was held to be worthy of the revelation, and to become a herald of the advent of the Highest, and before the Crucifixion to be equal unto those who were after the Crucifixion; and although as yet human nature was not born unto spirituality he alone was born thereto before the birth of all other men. And of this sight which is above speech, and the change which is to be wondered at and admired, together with the power of that Grace unto which everything is easy, he was held to be worthy by reason of his strict abstinence; for it is the nature of this rule of life that when purity of the soul is nigh thereunto, it giveth birth unto man that he may be in the world of the spirit, and a counterpart of the angels, although he still sojourneth in the world of the body.
And besides this, then, thou must understand that the blessed Apostles, even though they had been chosen by divine Grace, [p. 484] were not worthy of the gift of the Spirit until there had appeared in them first of all the life of abstinence, and behold, although they were going about with Jesus in the world, it is not written concerning them that they themselves observed the rules of abstinence, for through the abundance of Divine grace they led the life of the freedom of Christ, to which our Redeemer Himself came |463 after His temptation in the wilderness; and although in their course they had not as yet arrived at this point by temptation, Christ made them participators in His perfection. Now the Pharisees and the disciples of John, not having understood the power of this freedom, reproached Christ boldly, saying, "Why do we fast so much, and thy disciples fast not?" 60 But Jesus made answer unto them in words the meaning of which was above the power of their understanding, saying, "The children of the bride-chamber cannot fast so long as the bridegroom is with them, for as at a feast it is not only the bridegroom who is clothed in white, and who is occupied with pleasure, but also those who have been bidden to the feast, and similarly, it is not only I, Who, after the conquest and the payment of the debt of all sufferings having arrived at this freedom of the feast, rejoice and am glad, but also My disciples, who have been invited unto the kingdom, and them do I make to participate with Me; but the days shall come when I shall be taken from them, and then shall they fast in those days, [p. 485] that is to say, when the full light of the power of free-will hath been gathered unto Me, then shall they also kindle the lamps of their endurance;" and that there shall be a place for the spirit instead of the light [of which] Jesus [speaks] He himself will shine in their hidden places----which actually came to pass after His going up into heaven.
Now although they lived beforehand the life of freedom, as a pledge, yet they did not receive this freedom in themselves until they had first of all laboured |464 in the life of abstinence, for it is written concerning them that immediately our Redeemer was taken up they returned to that upper chamber in which they were abiding,61 and that they lived there with much fasting, and in close confinement, and with sincere prayers, and bitter weeping, and that afterwards they were held to be worthy to receive the Paraclete. And if from the ascension of Christ into heaven, unto the descent of the Spirit the days of their abstinence were few, we must learn that they also tarried in this service of fasting and abstinence after they had received the Spirit, and in every place is it written concerning them that they fasted and prayed. "And while they were fasting and praying, the Holy Spirit said to them, Separate ye unto Me Paul and Barnabas for the work whereunto I have called them." 62 And again the Apostles said when they wished to choose seven deacons, "We will continue steadfastly in prayer, [p. 486] and in the ministry of the word;" 63 and again when Simon was bound in prison, it is written that the whole church prayed;64 and again it is written concerning Paul, that before he was baptized, and received the Holy Spirit, he neither ate nor drank for three days,65 nor rose up from his place, because he was lying upon his face praying, and thus he received the Holy Ghost. And he was occupied in fasting and prayer during the whole of the remaining period of his life after his election, even as he himself testifieth everywhere concerning his fasting, and his prayer, and his many |465 tribulations which he bore for the sake of the Gospel, and with all his other labours and afflictions he reckoned frequent fasting, saying, "In fasting often, in watching often, in hunger often, in cold and in nakedness;" 66 and again he saith, "I am trained in everything, both in fulness, and in hunger, in abundance, and in want." 67 And to how much in want and poverty he was testify the fact that once until he had sold his clothing they were not able to buy food for him and for those who were with him, and the constant labour which he did with his hands at nights, in order that he might be a burden upon no man.68
And concerning Simon, moreover, it is written that "he went up to the roof to pray at the time of the ninth hour, and he was an hungered, and wished to eat," and he told [them] to make ready for him.69 And by this [example the Book] teacheth thee that, in addition to constant instruction, [p. 487] and prayers at every hour, he prayed continually also at the stated seasons which [are those of] the common service, and that together with prayer was his fasting continual. That he was hungry and wished to eat at the ninth hour [sheweth] that his hunger arose from Divine dispensation and not from habit, and that he had not a rule for eating at that season, and it is evident from what he saith that when he went up to the roof to pray hunger suddenly fell upon him, and that he left his prayers and told them to prepare food for him. And if it had been the season when he was accustomed to eat, those who received him would have made ready for him according to [their] wont, but from the fact that he |466 commanded them to prepare for him, it is evident that he became hungry through Divine dispensation, that by the passion of his hunger he might receive the teaching of the things which were spoken unto him, his fasting being continual.
And consider, the Apostles fasted not----now their rule of life is not suitable to come to testify unto thee, for when they had received the Spirit Paraclete they were perfect----and as our Lord did not fast after His temptation, so also was it not fitting for them to fast, according to the rule of freedom in which they stood, and the perfection in which they were. But although their spiritual rule of life was above labours, yet they descended to labours and afflictions, for one reason, that they might give us a good example, so that we might be like unto them, and for another, because they gratified their pleasure with tribulations and labours. Now of what did the food [p. 488] of these great ones who arrived at perfection consist? When they had any did it not consist of bread, and garden herbs, and olives only? And if the Apostles had need of the rule of abstinence, and in the time of perfection lived like those who were in danger, who would not tremble and excuse himself from slackness, and run and lay hold of the rule of patient endurance?
And thou must also understand from the testimony of the Prophets, that they too, whenever they were held worthy to receive a vision of God or of the angels, led a life of much fasting, and then were they worthy to receive the vision of revelations, even as it is written of that beloved man Daniel, that after his fast of three weeks he was wholly worthy of the sight |467 of angels.70 And if for that man who was looking for the advent of an angel all this fasting was necessary, and he was only then worthy to receive spiritual revelations, how much more for thee who awaitest the spiritual sight of Christ, and hopest to receive within thy soul the perception which is above nature, are much fasting, and abstinence, and the subduing of the body necessary, if thou wouldst arrive at things which are greater than those of Daniel?
And so also Elijah, after his fast of forty days and forty nights,71 received the sight of God in Mount Horeb, and he was alone in the wilderness, and in addition to the protracted fast he bore also the labour of the journey of the way; and besides these he was shut off from the children of men, and [lived in] silent contemplation, and he was [p. 489] in pure prayer, and after these things he heard the voice of God speaking with him. And like this holy man the blessed Moses also was twice72 deemed worthy to go unto the thick darkness and to receive the law upon the tablets; and he was made pure by fasting like unto this, and then he was deemed worthy of the terrible sight. And the prophet Ezekiel73 also, when he was about to receive the revelation of the prophecy of the uprooting of the city and the overthrowing of the temple, did the word of God bring into severe tribulations to eat bread by weight, and to drink water by measure, and to sleep upon his side in affliction----and then he arrived at the vision of prophecy. And thus also thou canst [shew] that all the righteous men and Prophets, either by |468 their own will, or by God's command unto them, endured always tribulations and labours, even as the blessed David maketh known that from the severity of his fasting the very limbs of his body had become enfeebled, saying, "My knees have become sick through fasting, and my flesh faileth of fatness;" 74 and again he saith, "For I have forgotten to eat my bread, and by reason of the voice of my groanings my flesh cleaveth unto my bones." 75 It was not sufficient for him, through his remembrance of God to turn away from [his] natural food, but he forgot entirely this corruptible food because his mind was meditating upon that which belonged to the spirit; and by reason of the severity of his labours and tribulations, and through the pain and grief of his groanings his flesh clave to his bones.
And again, he teacheth thee also concerning [p. 490] that which he took as a preparation for his meat, saying, "For I have eaten ashes like bread:" 76 these were the condiments and dainties which were laid upon the table of this righteous king when he ate his food. Listen also concerning the strained wine which he drank: "I have mingled my drink with tears." 77 Behold the meat and drink of the righteous king! He fed himself upon ashes, and his drink was tears of suffering. What disciple on hearing these things will not break his heart in sorrow for his slothful life, if indeed he be a disciple? And again David saith, "I have humbled my soul in fasting, and I have become unto them a reproach. I have made sackcloth my clothing, and I have become unto them a byword":78 and by this |469 he teacheth us that he not only endured the labour of good deeds, but that he also heard reproaches and indignant words because thereof, and endured them patiently; from which thou also mayest learn that if thy labours are despised by the slothful, and thy tribulations are repeated mockingly by those who love pleasure, thou must remember these words and be comforted, and let them be a support for thy soul when irritation at the wicked cometh upon thee. And again, in another place, he telleth unto what severity of labours he had arrived in the patient endurance of his tribulations, saying, "I have become like a skin bottle in the ice, but I have not forgotten Thy commandments;" 79 and by this he teacheth thee [p. 491] that through excessive meagreness and dryness even the moisture of his body had dried up and come to an end. And again listen unto him, for he teacheth thee in another place that before a man hath gone through tribulations and hath been tried in the furnace of enduring labours patiently, he cannot go forth into the wide place of spiritual happiness, saying, "Thou hast brought me through fire and water, and hast brought me out into a wide place;" 80 now he likeneth unto fire and water the afflictions, and wickedness, and labours which surround him on all sides, whether the afflictions arose from his own will, or from the chastisement of God which took place to try him, or from the wicked men who envied him his good works.
And besides this righteous king, listen also unto the words of the spiritual athlete Job, whom the healing of the spirit taught what manner of thing he should set |470 upon his table before his food, "For my sighing entereth in before I eat, and my roarings are poured out like water;" 81 these are the fruits which he took before [his food]----groanings and weeping----and then he drew nigh [to eat] his natural food, for he ate first of all suffering, and drank the tears of his groanings, and then he took his carnal food, from which also [we may learn] that that which he ate was consecrated and not ordinary food. Hear also from him what tribulations he bore and yet did not depart from the love of God: "Why have I taken my flesh in my teeth, and [why] is my soul laid in my hands? Even if He slay me, it is for Him only that I will wait",82 [p. 492] as if a man were to say, Even though He love me not, yet will I not depart from His love. God punished him like an enemy, yet he cried out, "I am smitten by a friend," and he denied not the love of Him that punished him. And everywhere, if thou seekest, O disciple, thou wilt find that none of the righteous pleased God in the world without tribulations and labours, for this is the road of the royal city which is above, and that "strait and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life." 83
Let us travel then, in the narrow path which God hath trodden for us, and let us walk in the way of the tribulations which He hath shewn us. Let us restrict ourselves here, that we may live in freedom there; let us hunger here, that we may be filled there; let us diminish our food and drink [here], that we may have spiritual food in abundance there; let us take ourselves into the furnace of tribulations, that we may be given unto |471 the kingdom as pure gold in which there is no blemish; let us not spare the destruction of our body, that our inner man may be renewed day by day. Let us not think anxiously about the pains and sicknesses which will befall [us], but let us think that if things be not thus the wounds of the soul cannot be healed; let us be filled with joy in running our course, because it is known that we hasten after hope. Let us labour like sons of grace for the Father of truth, that we may be worthy of that inheritance which is filled with blessings, and is promised unto sons, and let us always remember the word of the Apostle, "By tribulation it is meet that we should enter the kingdom of God",84 and with the Apostle let us say each to each, "If we suffer with Christ, [p. 493] we shall be glorified with Christ,85 and if we endure [with Him], we shall also reign with Him;"86 to Whom be glory from us all, for ever and ever, Amen.
Here endeth the Eleventh Discourse, which is on Abstinence.
[Footnotes renumbered and moved to the end. Page numbers in brackets refer to the Syriac text in vol. 1 of the printed edition.]
1. 1 St. Matthew vii. 13.
2. 1 Isaiah xxviii. 16; 1 St. Peter ii. 6.
3. 1 St. Luke xii. 37.
4. 1 Deuteronomy viii. 3; St. Matthew iv. 4; St. Luke iv. 4.
5. 1 Romans iv. 17.
6. 1 Compare Psalm cxxxvii. 9.
7. 1 1 Samuel xvii. 42.
8. 1 1 Timothy iv. 4.
9. 1 Romans xiv. 3.
10. 2 Galatians v. 13.
11. 1 Genesis iii. 6.
12. 1 1 Timothy iv. 5.
13. 2 Romans xiv. 21.
14. 1 Romans xiv. 6.
15. 1 Compare 1 St. John iii. 4; Romans iv. 15.
16. 2 Numbers xi. 33.
17. 3 Psalm cvi. 14.
18. 4 Exodus xvi. 3.
19. 5 Numbers xi. 18.
20. 1 1 Kings xvii. 6.
21. 2 Exodus xvi. 20.
22. 1 Exodus xvi. 31; Numbers xi. 7.
23. 2 Hebrews xii. 16.
24. 1 2 Samuel xxiii. 16.
25. 2 Genesis viii. 20.
26. 3 1 Kings xvii. 4.
27. 4 Genesis xviii. 7.
28. 5 Genesis xxvii. 25.
29. 6 1 Samuel ix. 24.
30. 1 Compare Ephesians v. 18, and St. Luke xxi. 44.
31. 1 Genesis xviii. 8.
32. 1 1 Corinthians vi. 12; x. 23.
33. 2 1 Corinthians vi. 13.
34. 1 Genesis iii. 6; Genesis iv. 8.
35. 2 Genesis ix. 21.
36. 3 Genesis xxvii. 36.
37. 4 Genesis xix. 8.
38. 5 Genesis vi. 2.
39. 6 Numbers chaps, xi. xiv. xvi. xx. xxi.
40. 7 Exodus xxxii. 4.
41. 8 Deuteronomy xxxii. 15.
42. 9 Numbers xvi. 18, 35.
43. 10 Isaiah v. 11.
44. 1 Deuteronomy xxxii. 14.
45. 2 St. Matthew xxiii. 23.
46. 3 1 Samuel ii. 13-15.
47. 4 1 Samuel iv. 11.
48. 5 1 Kings xi. 5.
49. 1 2 Corinthians xii. 10.
50. 1 Galatians v. 17.
51. 1 1 Corinthians xv. 50.
52. 1 Daniel ii. 18, 19.
53. 1 St. Luke xvii. 21.
54. 2 St. Matthew iii. 2.
55. 3 1 Thessalonians v. 16.
56. 4 Romans v. 3.
57. 1 See above p. 452.
58. 1 1 Corinthians ix. 27.
59. 1 St. Matthew iii. 4.
60. 1 St. Mark ii. 18.
61. 1 Acts i. 13 ff.
62. 2 Acts xiii. 2.
63. 3 Acts vi. 3, 4.
64. 4 Acts xii. 5.
65. 5 Acts ix. 9.
66. 1 2 Corinthians xi. 27.
67. 2 Philippians iv. 12.
68. 3 1 Thessalonians ii. 9.
69. 4 Acts x. 9.
70. 1 Daniel x. 2, 7.
71. 2 1 Kings xix. 8.
72. 3 Exodus xxiv. 18; xxxiv. 28.
73. 4 Ezekiel iv.
74. 1 Psalm cix. 24.
75. 2 Psalm cii. 5.
76. 3 Psalm cii. 9.
77. 4 Psalm cii. 9.
78. 5 Psalm lxix. 10, 11.
79. 1 Psalm cxix. 83.
80. 2 Psalm lxvi. 12.
81. 1 Job iii. 24.
82. 2 Job xiii. 14, 15.
83. 3 St. Matthew vii. 14.
84. 1 Acts xiv. 22.
85. 2 Romans viii. 17.
86. 3 Timothy ii. 12.
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Philoxenus, Ascetic Discourses (1894) pp.472-523. Discourse 12 -- First Discourse on Fornication
Philoxenus, Ascetic Discourses (1894) pp.472-523. Discourse 12 -- First Discourse on Fornication
[P. 494] THE TWELFTH DISCOURSE: WHICH IS AGAINST THE PASSIONS OF FORNICATION, AND WHICH SHEWETH THAT NOT ONLY THE ACT OF LUST IS ACCOUNTED FORNICATION WHEN IT IS PERFORMED IN THE BODY, BUT ALSO WHEN IT LINGERETH IN THE MIND AND MAKETH THE SOUL TO COMMIT FORNICATION WITH SOME DISTANT PERSON.
Wise physicians, who desire to draw nigh with knowledge unto the healing of the diseases which happen in the bodies of the children of men, first of all learn the causes of these diseases, and having withdrawn them, bring healing unto their sicknesses without trouble. For when the cause from which the diseases and sicknesses arise is removed, the sicknesses to which it hath given birth are rooted out together with the cause thereof, for when the root [of the tree] is taken up out of the ground it is impossible for its branches or fruit to remain, [p. 495] and if it happen that plants and young trees [live] for a short time afterwards by reason of their natural moisture, yet they will soon dry up when once their roots are shaken free of the earth and are taken up. And thus also is it with the sicknesses am? diseases which happen unto the children of men, for when the physicians first of all remove the causes |473 from which the diseases are produced, little by little the disease dwindleth and cometh to an end as soon as that cause which hath produced it is cut off from the body. And it is meet that we should act in this way also with the passions of sins, which are produced either by the body, or by the soul, for we should first of all remove the causes which give birth unto these passions, that our life may be preserved in immunity from wickedness, and that our own rule and conduct may be free from iniquity. For the man who wisheth to be a free man in God must first of all be freed from the lusts which arise from him, and then let him draw nigh unto the life of freedom of Christ, because also the country of the children of the free will not allow him to enter therein so long as the foul mark of bondage is apparent in his person. Therefore considering closely what we are, and what we shall be, and from what condition unto what condition we have been called, and for what life we shall exchange this life, let us be mindful of ourselves at all seasons, and let us take upon ourselves the knowledge of our rule and conduct continually, and let us learn first of all the causes of the passions of sins [p. 496] which molest our life perpetually by their goadings, for without labour we shall not find the healing of our souls. And let the natural healing which maketh whole human bodies be unto us an example of the healing of our souls, and like the physicians, let us first of all consider the causes by which the goadings of sins against our life are produced, that we may be able to arrive at spiritual healing. Now inasmuch as in the previous Discourse we have chidden the lust of the love of the belly, it is now meet that our speech should proceed |474 systematically against this wicked passion of fornication, which is the origin, and begetter, and nurse of the lust of the belly, and it is easily overcome when a man conquereth the first cause thereof. For through eating and drinking doth the passion of fornication grow strong and blaze in our members, and besides these things it ariseth through loose conversations and human discourse, and through the remembrance of faces of beautiful appearance which are depicted in our souls, and through the repetitions of stories of lust, when they are pleasantly told and listened to, and through the constant sight of faces by which the souls of the weak are straightway caught and held fast by the appearance of passion which is in them, for when once the lust of the body hath made to increase the fire of fornication in the body, corrupt conversations come and stir it into a blaze.
Now this lust hath been placed by the Creator in the members of our bodies by nature for the sake of the fruit of carnal intercourse and the continuation of the world, but by disciples [p. 497] it is to be kept not for this purpose, but that it may be unto them the cause of spiritual crowns, and the material for heavenly battles, that having fought and conquered we may be numbered [among] the victors, and be inscribed as triumphant warriors in the heavenly Jerusalem through the noble deeds which are gained from the place of strife which is opposed thereto. And this lust for carnal intercourse doth not remain in disciples that they may minister thereunto, but that through the heat of natural lust they may put to the test the power of the heat of the lust of the spirit, and that when the fire of the transgression of the law blazeth in their members, they may try with |475 it the hot fire of Jesus which is mingled in our souls; that with the pleasure which is beyond nature they may taste the sweetness of the true nature, and that with the motion which was delivered unto them at the beginning thereof they may receive the taste of the sweetness of the living motion, which has begun to lust after the fair sight of the beauty of Christ, Who abideth without ending in the soul wherein He be-ginneth [to dwell], if it be that it be purified so as to be His dwelling-place.
Now the fire of this natural lust is hotter than that of all other lusts, and together with its heat is mingled also its corrupt sweetness, wherefrom two things may be learned, the pleasantness of the love of Christ, and the near end of the corrupt lust. The fire of the spirit which is mingled in us would have been able to put an end to and destroy this fire of natural lust, if the desire had been without fruit and the freedom which is in us without labours of fortitude; well then [p. 498] was the enemy set to do battle against freedom, that when he was overcome by patient endurance that freedom might become apparent, and the strength thereof might be known, and its power tried. Therefore let us not be slack in respect of this lust which is preserved in us as the cause of profit, and so let it become unto us the cause of loss, for he that from trafficking for gain doeth it for loss is an ignorant fool, and whosoever maketh to be the object of wickedness that which was given unto us as the material for that which is good, is a wicked man and the opponent of good.
Let us then be strong in the war against this evil lust which although it be a good thing when coupled with marriage in the world, is accounted a vice if it |476 be wrought by disciples; for not every thing is good for every man, even though it be very fair and good in its nature, for riches in the nature of their creation by their Maker are good, but if solitaries, who are commanded not to have two tunics,1 and not to take care for the morrow,2 acquire them, the possession thereof to them is a vice. And the eating of flesh and the drinking of wine is pure unto those who devote themselves unto the life of the world, but for those who of their own will have given themselves unto the maintenance of the election of the discipleship of Christ, it is not right to make use of things, except for necessity's sake. And, moreover, good [p. 499] and fair also are the powers and dominions of this world, for it is written, "There is no dominion which is not from God",3 but for those who have separated themselves from human habitation, and have promised to do great and sublime things, to desire human grades of honour is [a subject] for rebuke and reproach. And dwelling in cities and villages, and the habitation in the world, and life and intercourse among the children of men are not blameworthy, but for those who have become destitute for the love of God, and who have once cast off the world of their own free-will, and have gone forth to become solitaries and ascetics outside it, the dwelling among and intercourse with the children of men are unto them subjects for reprehension and blame; and there are many things like these, the doing of which is blameless unto those who have not already bound themselves by a covenant against them, but if they be done by those who have promised to abstain from them they are blameworthy. |477
In this manner, then, is also the lust for carnal intercourse. And well was it implanted in [our] nature, for it stab-lisheth the world, and is the root and fruit of human nature, and it bringeth back and giveth unto the race of the children of men that of which the death of the penalty despoiled them and took away. But consider well, O disciple, that although it hath been implanted in our nature, yet was it stirred up by the transgression of the commandment, [p. 500] and by the eating of the fruit did its motion appear, that, as in a parable, it might be known beforehand that it had power only over carnal beings, being absolutely useless unto the world of spiritual beings. For the types of two kinds of life appeared in the heads of our race, the spiritual and the carnal, the world of the spirit and the world of the body, the first Adam and the last Adam. Before they ate the food of the transgression of the law wherefrom was moved also the lust which was hidden in the members, their whole rule and conduct of life were spiritual, and in everything were they moved spiritually, in holy thoughts, and pure minds, in the knowledge which was worthy of God, in the understanding which was clean and pure from the abominable motions of lust, and after the manner of the spiritual hosts was their dwelling in Paradise----for they only appeared in the form of the body, because by the knowlege of the spirit they were secretly dwelling in heaven. And the Creator made Adam first of all to experience spiritual things, because He wished him to be the heir thereof, but the freedom of Adam lusted after the things of the world, although they came into existence and were established by the word of the Creator, and his will desired them, and he went |478 forth after them; now this is evident from the eating of the fruit which took place by the transgression of the command. For the eating of that fruit was the beginning of all lusts, according to the word of our teacher the Apostle, who said, "I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not lust, and in this [p. 501] commandment I found an occasion of sin, and every lust was perfected in me".4
So then the lust of the spirit precedeth the lust of the body in us, as the history of the head of our race sheweth, for Adam came down from a high to a low estate, and from the lust of the spirit he went forth to the lust of the body, and from the life of heavenly beings he abased himself unto that of earthly beings, and from the sight of the beauty of God with which he could never be sated, he turned to look upon the form of the beauty of his wife. For until Adam had turned himself unto that which was outside, the things which were outside did not appear unto him. and until he had turned himself unto the world, the lusts of the world were not set in array before his vision, of all of which the eating of the fruit became the cause and origin; and as in the one case all lusts are produced by the belly, even so also in the other from it all vices take their rise.
Now fornication was the first thorn which sprang from the field of the lust of the belly, and immediately it grew up it became like a thorn to the eye in the sight of the understanding, and prevented it from looking at God. For this lust doth not make dark the sight of those only who have never seen, but also of |479 those who have many times been spectators of divine beauties; and if it happen that they are held fast by this passion, their motions are blinded, and it standeth before them like a covering, and preventeth them from seeing the much-to-be-desired beauty of Christ, [p. 502] and they are distracted by the trouble to find that which they have lost, and [only] by heavy labours do they find it. Now there are some who are quite blind, like those who are born blind from their mother's womb, and there are some who have become blind after they have been born and have seen the light, and through some injury which hath happened to them subsequently the bright vision of their thoughts hath been blinded, and for these was the remembrance of the heavenly light preserved, even at the time when they received the injury; and as he who hath become blind remembereth the natural light which he saw before his blindness, even so also doth he who hath become blinded by passions remember the spiritual light which he saw before [it took place]. Now whosoever is worthy of the sight of this light doth not receive it as by report, but as one who remembereth his former enlightenment, and when he maketh a comparison between it and his present blindness, he sigheth heavily because he hath been abased from the one condition to the other, and because he hath exchanged one condition of desire for another. So therefore watchfulness is more necessary for those who have seen and felt than for those who have never seen and perceived this spiritual light, even as the watchfulness of the rich man, on account of his riches, is greater than that of the poor man who possesseth nothing, and thus also constant wakefulness is necessary for him that hath |480 discovered by his own purity the beauty of the divine vision, lest he lose that which he hath found. And as when a man turneth away [p. 503] his eye from before him and looketh behind him, or as when he looketh at the darkness after having looked at the sun, even so is it with the mind which from contemplating God turneth itself away from Him, and looketh upon abominable lust. For until the soul hath destroyed the beauty of the Eternal Being, it cannot subject itself to lust for the corrupt beauty of the body; for without beauty, it lusteth after beauty, and without sight, it looketh for sight. And because the desirable and fair beauteousness of Christ is not depicted before it, it is fettered by the sight of the beauty of the body; and because wakefulness is not aroused in it, sleepiness is awakened therein; and because the fire of spiritual love is cold in it, carnal love breaketh into flame therein. For until a man perceiveth the beauty of himself, he beginneth not to perceive the beauty of Christ with which he can never be sated, the nature of which is that it fettereth naturally with love for Him every soul that feeleth it and perceiveth it. And as in those who lust after the beauty of the body the love thereof is moved in their members naturally, even so also whosoever arriveth at the beauty of the desire of Christ is moved perforce naturally unto love for Him, and nothing is able to sever from him that fetter of love.
And if the man, who is held in chains by the lust of the body and by the beautiful appearance of the corrupt body----causes of the dissolution of which surround it on every side----and by its impurity [p. 504] and corruptibility, despiseth every thing, and treateth |481 with contempt the censure and reproof of everyone, and the carnal love which is in him conquereth the force of all the fear with which he fighteth on all sides, how very much more is it seemly unto the soul which loveth Christ, and which longeth for the sight of His beauty, to be loosed from all the yoke of fear, and to cut through and pass over the power of all laws, and for all beautiful things to be held to be abominable in its sight when it compareth them with the vision of Him that it loveth? For it is as if a man, being led captive by natural lust, through the absence of a beautiful person near at hand were to love a blind woman, whose form was loathsame, and whose face was hideous; now if it were to happen that he should see a pretty face, and should look upon the desirable beauty of another person, when he should compare the beauty which he had newly found with the hateful thing with love for which he was first of all fettered, he would despise and reject the former lust, and would chide himself because of that whereto he had linked his love, and henceforth the passion for the beauty of the new face would rule supreme over all his motions, and he would be led captive and his whole self be smitten with lust for that object, especially when he compared it with that odious thing which he had loved at first.
And thus also doth it happen unto the mind when, through the want of beauty, it is held fast by carnal beauty, that is to say, when through the absence of the sight of the beauty of Christ [p. 505] it is snared by the sight of carnal beauty, and it lusteth after that which is unworthy of lust, and it is set in a blaze with the fire of corrupt natural love, which ought not to be called love at all, but a foul and loathsome passion. |482 Now if it happen that to this man, either by his own love, or by the indication of others, or by the act of Grace, the desirable beauty of that uncreated and self-existent Being be shewn, and he perceiveth this incorruptible beauty he will straightway forget the natural beauty, and it will be turned round to him before his sight in all its hideousness, and he will chide himself because he was fettered by such a thing, and because he was led into subjection by such a power, and because such a weak thing was able to overcome his strength, and he will rebuke his life because through laxity it was made subject unto the corrupt love of the body. For everything is changed for that which is its counterpart, pleasure for pleasure, honour for honour, riches for riches, glory for glory, happiness for happiness, lust for lust, and beauty for beauty; and when all these things are compared with one another ---- these which are above with those which are below ---- those who perceive sublime things will reject the choice of all those which are inferior, and will long earnestly for those which are above, those which are glorious, those which are beautiful, those which are exalted, and those which are fair. For it is the nature of the lust of the soul to lust after the things which are above it, [p. 506] and when it lusteth in this manner, it lusteth according to nature, but when it lusteth after those which are inferior unto it, its lust is outside nature, that is to say, its power of discernment is covered over by participation in that which is opposed thereunto, and then it lusteth after that thing which is its contrary, or if it desireth it, it is without lust. For no man among those who have seen the sun would forsake it, and long earnestly for the darkness, except the deeds which are worthy |483 of darkness be stirring in him; and when the gloom of sin becometh associated with natural darkness, he lusteth in darkness for darkness, for it is well known that lust itself is a blind thing and without sight, for he lusteth for one thing after the other and discerneth not the difference.
Now that men should be held fast by the sight of the lust of the body [sheweth] cowardice, especially if those passions from which they have been loosed return and make them subject unto them, and if after they have been worthy of the sight of spiritual beauty they are held fast in the love of carnal beauty; and justly they deserve to be abominated because they have exchanged one thing for another, and instead of the beauty of the King's daughter, the fairest of all, they have lusted after a wretched blind thing, which is the most hideous of all women. What then? And if he who is worthy to feel the beauty of the soul be not filled therewith, how very much more will he remain unsatisfied with the beauty of Christ, Who is naturally the much desired [p. 507] and beloved beauty, and there is no beauty which can be compared with His, and no appearance which is like unto His, and no fairness which is so beloved as His, no image which is so dearly beloved as His, and no features which are so much to be desired as His, because He is wholly and entirely to be longed for. For there is not in Him one member that is beautiful, and another that is on the contrary odious and hideous, even as it doth happen in the corrupt body which, having one beautiful member in it, hath another which by its hideousness taketh away from its beauty. Sometimes a beautiful form hath ugly feet, and it happeneth that beautiful eyes are accompanied by other members |484 which are of a lower grade, and of less value and inferior, and a beautifully constructed arrangement of members is usually found to possess some defect in stature; and finally, carnal beauty is never found to be wholly perfect, and remote, and free from blemishes, it being ordained in wisdom by the Creator that carnal beauty should never be perfect in its beauty, that whosoever should be held fast by the lust thereof might soon be free therefrom. For when a hideous member is placed by the side of one that is fair, and one that is deformed by one that is beautiful, whosoever is held fast by lust for that which is fair is driven away by the sight of the odious member to which it is united, and by it and through it the lust of this beauty is dissipated; and there springeth up by its side a reproof unto whomsoever is held fast by the lust thereof, and together with the sickness is mingled [p. 508] also the medicine, and by the side of the disease there is found healing also, and within the beauty thou canst perceive that which is odious.
Now these things were thus constituted because that Universal Cause, that Beauty of all beauties, did not desire that the beauty of our soul should lust after the beauty which is alien unto Him, and that if it happened that by reason of a sleepy mind hideousness appeared unto us in the place of beauty, and that we were snared in corrupt lust through the sight of beautiful members, this lust might be dissipated by two causes, that is to say, by the odiousness of deformed members, and by the fair beauty of the celestial appearance, so that that which is odious being remote from us below, and the contemplation of a sight to be desired receiving us above, we might be mingled with and smitten |485 by this beauty with which we can never be sated, that it might be poured out wholly in us, that we might be mingled therewith, and that its spiritual form might become embodied in our soul.
Let us then not err and lust after things which are not worthy of lust and [so] destroy the spiritual lust which is mingled in our soul. For Adam lusted after the beauty of the fruit, and was led therefrom to the sight of the beauty of Eve, and the lust of the belly entered in and roused up the lust of the body, and with the lust for carnal intercourse there spring up in us also other lusts. Now this lust was implanted in us for the continuance of the human race, but it is right for those who are not ordained for the continuance of the world to overcome the motion of this lust, for the vow [p. 509] of disciples hath put them outside the world, and they have become superfluities and aliens thereunto in everything by their covenant, that is to say, they have become above the world, and as they stand on the height of righteousness----according to the promise of our Redeemer unto them----it is right that those who have once gone forth from the world should become also outside the lust which is the stablisher of the world.
Now the actions of these two lusts which cleave to each other----I mean the lust of the belly and the lust for carnal intercourse----appear unto us in different ways; one support-eth the life of our person, and the other preserveth the natural life, for the lust of the belly supporteth the life of our person, but the lust for carnal intercourse preserveth nature in the succession of generations. If it had been possible that our life could be supported in the world without carnal wants, the commandment of our Vivifier would have prohibited |486 us from eating and drinking, but because it was impossible that a limit for the continuance of our life should be laid down, He prohibited us from carnal intercourse, for He did not place us in the world to continue it, but only for it to be a place of contest so that by spiritual fighting we might obtain from him the crown of triumph. And because unto him that fighteth an adversary is necessary----for without one no fighting can take place----He left this lust in our members, that it might be unto us as an adversary, by the fighting against and overcoming of whom the victory of the athlete might appear, [p. 510] but if it happened that he were vanquished, his weakness might be accused, saying, "He was conquered by his weakness, and not by the strength of the adversary." For it is not because lust is stronger than we that it overcometh us, but because of our own feebleness and want of strength, for if it were in the nature of lust to conquer, it would conquer every man, and would conquer always, but it is not so, for at one time it conquereth, and at another it is conquered, at one time it is defeated and at another it defeateth; in that it is overcome the might of our will appeareth, and in that it vanquisheth and conquereth us the weakness of our freedom appeareth, as well as the contempt and sloth which are in us concerning our own persons.
Now until lust taketh strength from thee it is unable to conquer thee, that is to say, it doth not even dare to stand up against thee in war until thy will permitteth it so to do; and take the experience of this in thine own person: so long as thou wishest, it sleepeth, and when thou wouldst, thou rousest it up. If it happen that the natural motions rouse it up beyond thy will, |487 it is easy for thee to extinguish its fire with a small breath of wind----if thou hast [any] strength in thy soul to send such a breath of wind against it----but it will not be extinguished by a breath of wind of the power of that body in which when [lust] hath been stirred up it leadeth into subjection unto its will all its senses, for that body, which hath been conquered thereby, is not able to blow, and if it blow it extinguisheth not [the fire]. But when the soul standeth [p. 511] in the power of its nature, and it hath gained the mastery over the discretion of its thoughts, and hath gathered together unto itself all its motions that they may be moved by itself and not by the body, then, whenever it pleaseth, with exceeding great power can it send forth the wind of rebuke against lust, and quickly, as it were in the twinkling of an eye, it extinguisheth that natural fire which creepeth in its members. For when the body is directed by the soul, all its rule and life are sound and healthy, and, as is seemly unto a man, he is led by the uprightness which befitteth rational beings; but when the wishes of the body direct the soul a man is led by the rule of the beasts, and the motions of his lusts being ministered unto by him without [his] perceiving [it], he is in consequence deprived of that repentance which cleaveth unto discretion. So long as the soul is mingled with the body in its thoughts it cannot direct the body, and it can neither see its own self, nor do the lusts of the body see it, and its own passions are not received thereby, but like a blind man it is deprived of the sight of itself, and of the sight of everything; and thus also is the soul when it is blinded by the passions of sin, for it neither seeth its own self, nor that which is outside it. |488
So therefore it is necessary for us to set the distinction between the soul and the body before that which existeth between the body and the soul, because it is a natural mingling which was implanted in us by the Creator, and it belongeth not unto us to make the distinction; but if a man wisheth to die unto divine life, that is to say, unto the power of distinguishing the thoughts of the soul from [p. 512] those of the body, it is placed in the power of our own freedom [so to do], and whenever we please it is easy for us to separate the thoughts of our soul from those of our body. And we have learned this distinction from the Holy Books, and from them we have received the power to make the soul to dwell by itself in the house of the body, and therefore, as in a parable, the Spirit of God made this known, saying, "He maketh the solitary one to dwell in a house." 5 Now here He calleth properly the good mind, "solitary one," for although it be domiciled in the body, it participateth not in the passions thereof, and it linketh not the indication of love unto those who are not worthy of its love, but being moved solely in and with wonder at the majesty of the glory of God, it dwelleth in the house of silence, and He linketh unto such a holy thought the name "solitary one." For as the man, who hath made himself an alien unto the world, and who becometh extraneous unto the giving, and taking, and unto its riches and pleasures, and unto everything that is therein, is called "solitary", even so is called "solitary" that thought which, although it dwelleth in the body, is an alien unto and is remote from all the lusts thereof, and to |489 the ministrations unto its pleasures, and which liveth alone unto itself, and meditateth upon itself; and through this constant meditation there are revealed thereunto the beauty of its soul, and the fair splendour of its person. And well did the prophet demonstrate the similarity of the solitary nature of this good mind unto that solitariness which God possesseth in respect of everything, [p. 513] for as God, though mingled in everything, is remote and distant from everything by the solitariness of His nature, even so also is the solitary mind, although it is mingled with the body, remote therefrom, saying, "God is in His holy habitation," 6 and then he (i. e., the Psalmist) adds afterwards, "God maketh the solitary one to dwell in a house." 7 Now why was it necessary to place the latter words side by side with the former, except that God might give testimony concerning the solitary nature of [this good] mind? For as God is in His holy habitation, that is to say, He Himself is in it, and everything is separated and remote from Him, although He is nigh unto everything, even so also is the solitary mind, though near into everything, remote therefrom.
And moreover, it is seemly that the mind by the power of its own nature should draw nigh unto everything, and should be a spectator and discoverer of the knowledge which is sown in everything, and should not allow anything to draw nigh unto itself, because God in His infinite nature is nigh unto everything, while everything is remote from Him, because it is finite. And thus also is it right for the mind which hath the power to do: being near unto everything by |490 reason of its freedom, all things must be remote from it, because it is not compatible therewith, that is to say, the things which are carnal, for unless the mind standeth in its solitary nature it cannot gather unto itself the power of its nature, for so long as it is mingled with the body its power is filched away and dissipated on the members of the body, and it is impoverished and deserted by its own power, and it becometh subject unto lusts, and becometh a being who is under orders and not one who giveth them. For when [p. 514] the soul hath connexion with the body, and is subjected to the goadings of its desires, it becometh subservient unto the lust thereof and not unto itself, that is to say, with the body it lusteth after the things after which the body lusteth, arid becometh a stranger unto the healthy lust of its own nature. Now the healthy lust of the soul is to become unto us a means of trial whether the soul be moved by the lust of its own nature [or not]. Whenever we lust after the things which are good, and beautiful motions rise in our soul, the soul is moved by the lust of its own nature, and therefore it lusteth after the things which are profitable, and after the things which are spiritual in the service of noble deeds; for the lust of the body is not mighty enough to subdue the lust of the spirit except this lust receive power from the soul to fight therewith, for lust by itself is a weak thing, and therefore it taketh to help itself other things in order that that which it was not able to do by its own strength, it may be able to do with the help of that of others.
Now the things which aid this lust are:----the lust of the belly, pleasures, sport, goodly raiment, human converse, talk which is based upon lusts, the repetition |491 of the [various] kinds of fornication, the beauty of the face, the sight of the beauty of the body, the wandering of the mind, and the remembrance of business affairs; these and such like things doth lust invoke to its aid, and then it beginneth to fight against the soul, and to set in array the battle [p. 515] of its goadings, and these make known concerning the weakness of lust, for if it had been able to overcome by itself, it would have had no need of these things.
What then dost thou need, O disciple? If thou wishest to overcome this lust which fighteth against thee, thou must first of all clip its wings, and destroy the hosts which it hath called unto its-aid, and cut off its members, and uncover, and dig up, and lift up its roots, and when it remaineth by itself thou canst overcome it without trouble. Now when lust beginneth to fight against thee, do not bring unto it that fuel with which it is set in a blaze, but gather together at a distance therefrom everything which can feed it, and when it hath blazed its appointed time within itself, it will die down and become extinguished on the place where it is.
Take therefore from it first of all meat and drink, eat bread by weight, drink water by measure, keep thyself from carnal pleasures, load thyself with the afflictions of prudence, yoke thy body beneath the weight of labours, let it be tortured by hunger and afflicted by thirst, let it be vexed with watching, let it crave for sleep and let it not sleep. If it wisheth to snatch slumber, drive it away therefrom, if its want constraineth it to eat, [first] reckon with it and then shalt thou give it food, and briefly, thou shalt not give it gratification in anything, for without doubt, pleasures are the begetters of lust, and moreover, besides these, |492 thou must cut off the primary causes of which [p. 516] I have spoken to thee. Thou shalt not give thine ear unto the talk of the conversation of lust; the stories of its various forms shall not be pleasant unto thee when they are repeated before thee; the sight of the person with a passion for whom thou art held fast shall not be perpetually with thee; take the debasing form of the beauty thereof from within thy mind; and uproot wholly from thy soul the remembrance of the beauty which hath led thee captive; for so long as thou standest in the remembrance thereof it will inflame thee. For as fire setteth light unto fuel when it is near thereunto, even so also doth lust set light unto and blaze in the members through the sight of and conversation on these matters, and when it hath taken fire it is not every man who can extinguish it; fight then, and overcome little things that great things may not overcome thee.
Now therefore if thou wilt make thyself a stranger unto the conversation concerning the things of which I have spoken, and thou wilt beat off from thee the matters which are the leaders of lust, thou wilt shut the door in the face of lust, and it will not enter in to have dominion over thee; but if thou art lax before the things which are feeble, and thou art overcome by them, how much more shalt thou be defeated by lust and thrown down to the ground! But in order that labour may not increase for thee and thou fall in the war, from which thou shalt or shalt not go forth, make remote from thee the things which sweep thee into the midst of the war, and be thou alien thereunto, that thou mayest be an alien unto lust; tread under foot the daughters that thou mayest tread under foot also the mother, cut off the members that thou mayest cut off |493 also the head, [p. 517] clip the wings that the body may remain in the depth of defeat. Thou shalt not uttter the word of fornication, lest thou comest to the deed of fornication. Thou shalt not receive the remembrance of lust into thy soul, lest through lust thou perform the act thereof. Thou shalt not make thy stomach heavy by overmuch food, lest the fire of lust kindle in thy members. Thou shalt not drench thy members with a superabundance of wine, lest a superfluity of the irritation of lust be poured into thy whole body. Dainty meats shall not be delightful unto thee, lest the sweetness of lust be pleasant unto thee. Remove thine eye from a vision of beauty that thy soul may be empty of motions. Shut the door of thy hearing to the speech of lust, lest thy soul become a constant dwelling thereof. Let not the fair appearance of thy body be beautiful in thy sight, and look not upon the beauty of the appearance of others. Make not to stumble, and thou shalt not be made to stumble; trip not up, and thou shalt not be tripped up; defile not, and thou shalt not be defiled; have no intercourse with women, and thou shalt not be united unto them; flee, that they may flee from thee; put on wrath against lust, and drive it out from the house of thy soul like an enemy; in the season of lust make use of wrath and not of love, because love is wont to become a path unto lust. For many have been snared to change from spiritual love unto carnal love, and although the beginning of their love was fair, the end thereof was hideous and loathsome.
Let thy passions fight with those of thy passions which thou feelest to be the opponents [p. 518] of each other; but when thou feelest that one of thy evil passions afflicteth thee, set thou in opposition thereunto that |494 passion which is the enemy thereof; and especially art thou bound to fight against this foul passion of lust with the passions which are its opposites. The passion of wrath is evil, but in the season of lust it is very necessary; hard too is the seizure of anger, but in the hour of war it is very useful to thee; and, moreover, besides these things, seek not to excuse thyself from hatred moving in thee, because at the season when carnal love pricketh it is very helpful. By all means then set this passion before thy face at the season when lust is stirred up, that thou mayest deliver thy life from death and thy soul from complete destruction, and thou wilt carry the example of thy warning at that season unto those who are fighting unto death for their carnal lives.
For there are many who through fear of death fight unto death, either with wild beasts, or thieves, or adversaries, or noxious reptiles, and they stand up in this war in no ordinary manner, but they direct all their strength to the salvation of their lives; and every faculty which produceth might in body and in soul is stirred up in them at that season. [p. 519] And they put on threatening, and anger, and wrath, and noise, and battle, and they utter cries which are full of terror, and they throw themselves into a fierce rage, and turn the peaceful aspect of their faces into the menace of anger, and with hands, and feet, and mind, and members----that is to say, with their whole body and soul----doth their fighting take place; and because they are afraid lest they shall die, they draw nigh unto the border of death because of the fear thereof, and all these things take place that their mortal life may be delivered from death. |495
And similarly, [O disciple,] do thou also strive earnestly for the sake of thy soul's life, and be thou menacing, and filled with wrath, and cruel, and angry at the season of lust, and say not, "These things are not seemly for me," for at that season many things menace thee, and war, without anger, never taketh place, and strife, without rage, is never brought to a close. If thou standest up in war it is right that thou shouldst put on wrath, that through thy appearance the enemy who fighteth with thee may be terrified, and flee; whosoever sheweth a glad face unto his adversary hateth himself. Thou shalt not, then, shew a glad face unto lust, lest thou make it lie down beside thee, but look upon it with a malignant eye, and it will straightway flee from thee, like a whore in the marketplace----for lust is like a whore 8-----for when it [p. 520] moveth itself in the members, if the mind shew a glad face thereunto, it straightway layeth hold upon it, and forceth it to be united thereunto, and it lifteth up and layeth upon it the corrupt yoke of itself, that it may be a slave and in subjection unto it, and not one who giveth it its commands. But if the thought of his soul shall recollect itself, and become clothed with the garb of gravity, and shall put on the dress of modesty, and against the wantoness of lust shall appear unto lust with a severe and fearful face, straightway will lust leave it and depart, not only from it, but also from the place in which it hath been stirred up----that is to say, from all the members of the body----and as from a house which |496 is not its own it fleeth and goeth forth; but because the hideousness of this thing is not apparent unto every man, namely, of the chaste mind becoming subject unto corrupt lust, and becoming that upon which the feet thereof may trample, I will give a little example in order that the disciple may see and understand.
Now it is as if it should happen that one of the men who are renowned for modest and chaste behaviour, or for a grave, and dignified, and serious life, were to carry a whore upon his shoulder through the market-places of the city, and with this mark of wantonness should walk about through the streets and open places of the city. For trembling would come upon all those who saw [it], and sorrow of heart would lay hold upon every man because of what was done, and the story thereof would become a saying and a by-word wherever it was heard; in this plain manner must we look upon the hidden mind when its chastity is made subject unto wanton lust, and it giveth itself to be a seat and dwelling-place [p. 521] wherein it may abide. Now this sight is much more hideous and loathsome than that which would have been wrought in the market-place? of the city, for there body carrieth body, and flesh joineth unto its fellow flesh, but here it is not so, because the spiritual mind is contaminated by union with the lust of the flesh, and intercourse which is outside the law ariseth, and connexion which is not wrought according to nature.
For when the mind whoreth with lust, this is fornication which is outside the law. Now there is a distinction even in fornication: there is the fornication of the body, and the fornication of the soul, and the fornication of the spirit, and there is the intercourse of the body, |497 and intercourse of the soul, and intercourse of the spirit. The fornication of the body is the adulterous act which taketh place outside the law with a strange woman; and the fornication of the soul is when the thoughts thereof have intercourse secretly with the lust of fornication, even though the deed be not performed outwardly; but the fornication of the spirit is when the soul hath intercourse with devils, or when it receiveth agreement with strange doctrines. And again the intercourse of the body is that which it hath with a lawful wife; and the intercourse of the soul is when it receiveth and mingleth in itself the knowledge of the nature of affairs, and the understanding of the dispensation of everything which moveth beneath this life; and the intercourse of the spirit is when there is mingled therein divine doctrine and all spiritual things. Let us then have a care to be free [p. 522] first of all from the fornication of the thoughts, which is itself the fornication of the soul, and we shall also be free from the fornication of the body. It is not good that the mind should have intercourse with the body, but it is good that the body should be an associate with the soul in fortitude. Lift up thy soul from connexion with the body unto the height of its nature, that being exalted unto the height of a sincere life and conduct, it may also raise therewith the body out of the depth of lusts. The soul is ordained to be queen over the body, and like a skilful ruler and charioteer to hold the reins of all its senses. It is not seemly that thy soul should do that which thy body loveth, but it is seemly that thy body should be in subjection unto the works which the soul loveth, which are: a will which accepteth God, and turneth the body from all its heaviness unto the lightness of a chaste |498 life, and maketh it to live delightfully in the pure air of His holiness; and it changeth its laxity into its fortitude, and its heaviness into its lightness, and its love into its love, and its lust into its lust, and its needs into its needs, and its grossness into its refinedness, and its carnalness into its spiritualness, and its hunger into satiety; and finally, all things which belong unto it by knowledge it changeth into all things which belong unto the spirit, by which they are moved.
For when the soul hath intercourse with the body, this intercourse is adultery and fornication; but if the body be united unto the soul in one agreement, and be raised above from below in a right union, [p. 523] it is the intercourse which is according unto the law, which is implanted naturally in the person of each one of us by the Creator. For behold the connection which men have with women according to nature was ordained by the command of the Creator at the beginning, and when it taketh place according to the will of the Creator, it is called lawful connection; but if it be performed in any other way it is called adultery and fornication, and as in a mystery this parable is depicted in reference unto the soul and body. For if the soul hath intercourse with the body it is fornication, but if the body hath intercourse with the soul, it is an union according to the law, and towards this meaning also inclineth the words of the Book which saith, "A man shall leave his father and his mother, and cleave unto his wife."9 Now it doth not say concerning the woman that she shall leave her parents, and cleave unto the man, although according to the custom of the world women do actually leave their |499 natural parents, and cleave unto their husbands, and it appeareth that, according to custom, the opposite of the words of the Book are done in nature; so therefore that which is said of the man is a parable which is based on the body, which shall leave everything in which it hath gratification, and shall be united unto the soul. For if the Book had said, "A woman shall leave her parents, and cleave unto a man," it would have taught that the soul should have intercourse with the body, but now that it hath spoken concerning the man, "He shall leave his parents and be united [p. 524] unto his wife," the words indicate to us a mystery of doctrine, and exhort the body to deny itself its pleasures, and to hate its lusts, and to have connection with the soul in all good things.
Now when the body hath intercourse with the soul, and the soul with the spirit, and through the spirit with the Trinity, in very deed are accomplished the words, "The Lord is over all, and in us all",10 and, "Ye are the temple of the Lord, and the Spirit of God dwelleth in you".11 But Paul also frighteneth that soul which alloweth the body to become a minister unto fornication, saying, "Whosoever destroyeth the temple of God, God will destroy".12 And hereby he teacheth the soul not to allow the body to be corrupted by the union of fornication, because from this injury accrueth unto it, for together with the destruction of the body by its natural lusts, will the soul be condemned by the judgment which is for ever. And well did God ordain this retribution for the soul, though it is decreed for both the soul and the body by Him, |500 because the soul in allowing the body to be debased unto the lusts of its nature will destroy it, and being able to restrain it, restraineth it not, and having the power to make it taste the sweetness of the lust for itself, the sweetness of its own corrupt lust, that is, the motions, and passions, and forms of which belong to shame, was pleasant unto it. For when lust moveth the whole instrument of the body, and boweth down and bringeth low the fortitude of a man beneath the work [p. 525] of sin, it destroyeth his knowledge, and ob-scureth his understanding, and maketh dark his power of observation, for until the soul fulfilleth its will to be subject unto the pleasure of lust, it is impossible for lust to conquer it, and to darken in it the light of its power of discernment. And, moreover, lust and the adversary that is its helper, shew great solicitude in extinguishing the light of knowledge from the house of the soul, that lust may easily, as in the dark, perform the works of shame, for as that which is good panteth for the light, even so also doth lust rejoice in the coming of darkness, and for this reason it emitteth its smoke and bloweth it into the light of the soul, and extinguisheth it; and when its whole person remaineth in darkness, it doeth everything, the things which are manifest, and the things which are hidden, as in the darkness.
Now in the same manner in which the eye of the body is ashamed of the light, the which having extinguished it draweth nigh unto the works of sin, even so also is the vision of the soul ashamed of the hidden sight of God which is therein, and for this reason lust extinguisheth this light with which the soul is accustomed to look at God, and then it leadeth the soul unto the intercourse of its own work. And the soul is |501 ashamed to draw nigh unto the works of sin so long as the light of the sight of God shineth thereupon, even as also the body is ashamed of its partner, and the vision is ashamed of the sight so long as the sight of the light of nature is before it. And as sin is wrought absolutely without shame in the darkness, even so also doth the soul commit fornication with the body boldly and without shame when the light of the remembrance [p. 526] of God is extinguished in it; for in order that this sin may be pleasant to the soul, it extinguished the light, for so long as it remembereth God, it sinneth not, and if it happen that through slumber it becometh debased unto the work of sin, the lust thereof is not pleasant unto it, because the fear of God seizeth and carrieth off the pleasure of the working thereof.
Now this light of the remembrance of God worketh two things in the soul: it either beateth it back that it sin not, or if it lusteth and sinneth, it performeth the works of sin in fear, and trembling, and terror. For as in committing sin the body is in terror when it knoweth that the arrival of spectators is near, even so also the soul is terrified and feareth the advent of the sight of God; and since it is this light only which is able to drive away the soul from this noxious thing, it is right that at all seasons it should hold it fast near it, and that it should be near it continually. And the soul should not allow the remembrance of God to depart from it, and should be held firmly by the pleasure of conversation therewith; for so long as it is linked in converse therewith, it is not reduced to converse with lust, and so long as the light of the vision of God is kindled therein darkness cannot enter into its |502 enlightened boundaries with authority, andso long as the lust of the soul is mingled with the lust of the spirit, it mingleth not its thoughts with the lust of the body.
The soul which leaveth lusting after that which belongeth unto itself, and descendeth to lust after that which belongeth not unto itself is worthy to be laughed at, for to the wise soul the lust of the body becometh a proof that [p. 527] the lust which itself belongeth to the soul should move therein. What then? If the body lusteth after that which belongeth to itself, the soul lusteth not after the things which belong to itself; and if the body liveth in its natural motions, the soul liveth not in its living motions. If the lust of the body be restrained by many things, it overcometh them all, and moveth thereby, that is to say it maketh it to move within itself; but the soul which is free from all contrary things cannot be moved by the beautiful lust of its nature.
Now, therefore, it is right that the disciple should not depart from the motion of the lust of the body, though he should not receive the knowledge thereof, but when he seeth that it hath been stirred up he must watch with knowledge that he may be a spectator thereof; and if he be one who hath obtained the mastery over his freedom, and hath acquired the power of the nature of the soul, not even when it hath become stirred up in his members is he disturbed and afraid. But he standeth on the height, and he is a spectator, and he observeth how it hath been stirred up, and by what causes, and how it began, and how it hath grown up, and he alloweth the heat thereof to obtain dominion over the members of his body, |503 and to shed itself throughout him wholly. And in proportion as it groweth in the members, he also increas-eth in the soul the thoughts of fortitude, and as it becometh hot, he also kindleth the lust of the soul as an antidote, and he placeth it as in a place of strife, and he sitteth down and becometh a spectator on the height of knowledge. And lust throweth out its hands and layeth hold upon all the members of the body, and wrestleth therewith like an athlete with his opponent, while the understanding [p. 528] sitteth down, and becometh a spectator on the height of knowledge, and from the strife it gathereth instruction, and it learneth the victory of both sides, and the defeat which is found with both; and being free from the strife, it becometh possessed of the knowledge of the contest; for the understanding doth not allow itself to enter in and be fettered by the lust which fighteth with the body, for if it were not able to become a spectator of the fight, it would not be able to gather together and to acquire instruction therefrom. For as the body is unable to become a spectator of the fight so long as it standeth in the strife of the battle, and lust cannot see itself so long as battle is set in array against the body, even so also the mind cannot be a spectator of this fight if it alloweth itself to be mingled with the passion of lust, because the passion of lust is blind, and whosoever is laid hold of thereby it maketh blind also, and lust blindeth the eye of the mind, lest if it became a spectator it would loose itself from the yoke thereof. If, therefore, thou hast confidence in the might of thy mind, be not afraid if lust move in thy members, for it will become the cause of many virtues unto thee, if thou possessest the knowledge which can make profit |504 out of trafficking in losses. For first of all thou must have material wherewith to fight, for if thou hast no adversary, there can be no battle, and if [p. 529] there be no battle, victory cannot be known, and if at the end of the strife no victory be revealed, the crown of triumph and glory cannot be awarded. Take heart then in thy battle, and be not conquered by the lust which riseth in thee, but take heed that there are no exits thereunto through strange emissions, and, moreover, let not the mind have pleasure therein secretly, and commit incorporeal fornication with a form which hath no person. For the habit of lust is that, when it hath not near at hand an actual body, it committeth fornication with a shadow of a form, and with the form of a person instead of a person, and he that committeth fornication [thus] embraceth that which is not nigh unto him, and instead of a body, it hath union with the form in his soul, and instead of with members, it committeth adultery in its thoughts, and instead of a body, it polluteth itself. For when the passion of fornication hath laid hold upon the thoughts and blazeth therein, by reason of its superfluity, even without material, it poureth out its fulness, and having no incitement from without, lust through the torrent thereof presseth to go forth, and it seeketh means, and findeth ways, ant! kindleth in the body the fire of the goading which destroyeth.
Now in the manner in which divine lust seeketh means whereby it may minister unto its desires and may please God, doth also the lust of fornication seek for itself the ways whereby it may minister unto its pleasures, and provoke God to wrath, but in thy war, [p. 530] O understanding mind, set [the one] lust against |505 the other, and thou wilt see soon that the lust of the discerning body is overcome by that of the soul. For spiritual things are in every respect stronger than carnal things, and whilst thou holdest the reins of lust and of the body which strive one with the other, and art, from the height upon which thou sittest in knowledge, a spectator of their fight, thou shalt carry off the crown from between them both, that is to say, the body which hath intercourse with the soul, for whom incorruptible life is laid up by its intercourse therewith, will take the crown.
For the body naturally mingleth with the soul, but lust entereth therein from without through the transgression of the command, and because we are unable to separate the body from the soul, we can, if we wish, cut off and eject lust from the body. Now the body was not created to be a house for evil lust in the manner that it was constructed to be a dwelling-place for the soul, for if the body had been made by the Creator to be a dwelling-place for lust the divine commandments would not everywhere have driven lust therefrom and have cried out with various threatening voices on all sides, on one side judgment, on another threats, on another torture, on another Gehenna, on another vengeance,,on another gnashing of teeth, on another unending stripes, on another everlasting punishment. And besides these things the body shall be chastised with pains near at hand, and it shall be smitten with sicknesses [p. 531] which shall come, and also Death, the robber, shall suddenly remove it from life, and fear shall accompany it, and trembling surround it, and injuries and losses come upon it; at the beginning lust hath no effect upon |506 the body because of [its] childhood and youth, and at the end it is extinguished by reason of old age.
These and such like means hath Divine wisdom constructed to bring evil lust to nought in the body, so that when it seeth the tribulations by its side, and the perpetual punishments which cleave unto its life, it may extinguish the goading lust from its members, that, is to say, it may make cold and extinguish in it the fire which burneth in all its members, like the flame which hath got a hold upon stubble, and the fire which sheweth its blaze in much fuel. For as is stubble before the fire, even so are the members before lust, and as when fire hath gained the mastery over fuel it destroyeth it, in like manner also doth lust destroy the members of the body when it hath gained the mastery over them; the end of a burning fire is ashes, and the end of lust in the members is destruction. Do not then bury fire in wood, nor lust in the members, for as naphtha and oil increase the blaze of the fire, even so also do foods and drink strengthen the blaze of lust; and as fire is extinguished by water, even so also is lust extinguished by abstinence. If thou throwest much water upon the fire it will extinguish it, but if thou pourest upon it [p. 532] naphtha or oil it will make it to blaze furiously, and thus if, for the nourishment of lust, thou throwest on the eating of meats and the drinking of wine, thou wilt add fire to fire, and thou wilt lay blaze upon blaze; but if thou diminishest meat and drink from the body, its natural lust will be dried up, and all its lusts will become extinguished, and grow cold.
Let therefore lust move in thy body, not for thy |507 defeat but for thy victory, not that it may be unto thee a cause of rebuke, but of crowns of triumph; not that thou mayest appear thereby foolish and ignorant, but that thou mayest gather therefrom understanding and wisdom; not that it may move in thee and blind the vision of thy power of discerning, but that it may be to thee an unguent to cleanse the eye of thy thoughts, and that that which is written may be fulfilled in thee, O understanding one, "The wise man sitteth upon a strong high place, but fools shall fall into the pit;" therefore whilst thou sittest upon the height of knowledge, let lust and the body be subdued below thee, and be thou a spectator of their fight, and not a participator in their lust. Take good heed unto thy natural lust, O understanding one, whilst thou art a spectator of the fight of the lust of the flesh, and let it be subject unto thee in everything, even as the earth is pressed down under the mountains; let thy will stir it up, and let thy will quiet it, and by the direction of thy vision also shall its course be. Unto the wise the motion of lust becometh the cause of instruction, and the material for knowledge, for passions are stirred up [p. 533] in them for the trial of passions, that they may test their power by them, and may make them the material for a life of knowledge, and [may know] when these arise, and with what measure they are wrought when the mind is in its natural freedom above passions. And it is as when a master giveth commands unto his servants and they obey him, and he layeth upon them the yoke of his rule while they turn their gaze to the movements by which he indicateth his will, that they may be prepared for his word and ready to hear his command, and while he abideth in the freedom of his |508 nature, they, like slaves, minister unto the will of his word.
Now what instruction is so excellent as that through which a man shall be able to find victory over his passions? For these passions will not only make thee triumphant, but also wise and understanding, if thou wilt be a spectator thereof and not a doer, and wilt be free from the gratification thereof, and wilt be bound by the knowledge which ariseth from them; for so long as the mind is held fast by the sweetness of lust, it cannot be a spectator of the fight and one that gathereth knowledge, but it turneth unto the pleasure which is corrupt. Now lust was placed in us to be a matter of contest and not of defeat, and that it might be overcome by us, and not we by it, and that through our training therein we might become wise, and not that it might shew us to be fools and simple folk. The material of all instruction which is outside us we are able to gather together to ourselves by speech, but the certainty of the wisdom of the instruction of knowledge which we acquire through victory over our passions is only established to us by the experience of work; and for this reason this instruction is trustworthy and certain, [p. 534] and this wisdom, when it is found, is more pleasant unto the soul than that which is without, because it is home-born, and the soul delighteth in it, and its pleasure ariseth therefrom, and not from causes which are external thereunto. For when we gather together knowledge from without, the possession of our knowledge cometh from without, but when we obtain such instruction as this from the experience of the passions of ourselves, the instruction which is gathered together by us is sure and |509 trustworthy, and confidence may be placed thereupon and be maintained. For if the things which are outside us become the material for our knowledge, how very much more shall these, which are stirred up from us and in us, be unto us the cause of the instruction of wisdom, if it be that we cast away this passion, that is the lust which is stirred up in us, and do not [give ourselves] to the gratification of the lust.
Be thou therefore a spectator of thyself by the power of the discernment of knowledge, and distinguish with understanding between thyself and thy passion, that thou mayest hasten to find the purity of thy person. Lust shall not be gratified in thee, lest at all seasons it demand its gratification from thee; when it hath begun thou shalt not give it completion, lest at the end it demand from thee another beginning. Cut off its course, and behold its source of flow will be obstructed, restrain it in the path of its flow, and straightway the motion which giveth it birth will be stilled. Lust is never satisfied, therefore by eating it becometh hungrier, and by drinking it becometh thirstier, and so long as lust fulfilleth its desires in thee, its goadings will never cease from thee. Thou shalt not say, "I will do its will now, and at another time "I will fight against it," for if thou art once conquered by it, it will overcome thee always, and in proportion as it [p. 535] becometh stronger in its action, will thy strength become weaker. Thou shalt not allow thyself to give thy strength unto lust that it may become strong therewith, but do thou make use of thy natural strength, and lust shall abide in the feebleness which befitteth it.
Let the heat of lust be unto thee an example of |510 instruction, that like unto it spiritual lust may rise up and become hot in thee, for in the manner in which the body blazeth with its natural lust doth also burn fiercely and become hot the natural lust of the spiritual-ness thereof. So long as the lust of the spirit is hot in thee, the lust of the body hath no means of wakening up itself, and if it be that this doth not try thee in deed, receive instruction from that which is contrary thereunto. For, behold, when the lust of the body becometh hot in thee thou wilt then perceive that the lust of the spirit hath wholly and entirely ceased from thee, and that the lust of the body would not have become awake if it had not found that the lust of the spirit was asleep; for by the sleep of either one of them the other becometh awake, and therefore they watch each other continually, that when the motions of the first are gathered together [for sleep], those which belong unto its opponent enter after it. For as the thief watch-eth and observeth the sleep of the master of the house, even so also doth the lust of the body watch the sleep of the lust of the spirit, and when it seeth a little indolence and sluggishness, and that a man hath removed from him the taste of the perception of divine lust, immediately the lust of the flesh is awakened, and it beginneth to move and to go up against all the members; and if a man be [p. 536] indolent and shew himself slack thereunto, it spreadeth itself out like night in the house of his person, and maketh it dark. For as, when the sun inclineth towards the west in his course, the shadows increase and become deeper upon the earth, until he setteth and his rays are cut off, whereupon do the shadows of night ascend completely and enshroud creation, even so also doth the darkness of the lust |511 of the flesh observe continually the course of the light of spiritual lust, and as it seeth that it is journeying to set, it moveth itself to rise, step for step, measure for measure, and limit for limit, until this light hath set entirely, and the rays of its spirituality have become dark and contracted into itself; then doth the shadow of lust rise up wholly and cover the soul, and black night ariseth in the house of light, and herefrom a man beginneth to stumble because he cannot see and distinguish the things which are placed before him. For as in the darkness of night the power of distinguishing any thing is covered over, even so also in the night of lust all the powers of discernment of the soul become darkened, and the power of its knowledge becometh impoverished----especially if it hath felt the knowledge of the spirit----for as darkness is the opposite of light, even so also is this passion of lust the opposite of the knowledge of the spirit.
And, moreover, when the mind turneth to become a spectator of the motions of lust, it doth not look thereupon with the spiritual eye, but [p. 537] with the part which seeth, and which looketh at things with the knowledge of the soul, and since it looketh on in this manner it gathereth knowledge from the contest, because when the mind looketh upon God spiritually nothing which is contrary thereto is seen by it, neither is it debased to look upon lust, for admiration of the majesty of the glory of God permitteth it not to turn and to look at the things which are set behind it, for the sight of the pleasure which it hath tasted is sufficient to bind it thereto immovably. And, moreover, though a man say that to gather instruction he must look upon lust, yet the mind doth not gather instruction |512 such as this from things which are contrary thereunto, but by the simple motion of knowledge which hath been acquired by it after freedom from passions, even as also the angels know everything, not by comparing one thing with another and by bringing near each other the things which are contrary to one another, but by a simple and a single thought are they moved to knowledge.
Let us then be also watchful against the mind which wisheth to be a spectator of lust, lest, not being wholly free from passions, when it is subjected to receive knowledge it may be caught by the pleasure of abominable passions; for the mind, moreover, standeth at that time in the contest, and as the body and the lust fight, so also must it fight that it be not captured by the love of what it seeth. Now if the mind is confident that it can, without passion, look upon the passion of lust, [well,] and if not, it is better [p. 538] for it to flee than to be a spectator; for if it feeleth its weakness it is better for it to flee than to be made subject unto its enemies. For to fight and gain the victory is a proof of bravery, and a mark of fortitude, but if it is to be captured by the gratification of passion, and to be stolen away from the love of knowledge, it is better for it to be free even from passion, and not to be subject thereunto and not to receive knowledge; for it is impossible for it to acquire knowledge if it be captured by passion, for its natural eye which hasteneth to look at the knowledge of things becometh blind, and is captured by the pleasure of passion and not by the pleasantness of wise discretion.
Now as the virtues are different one from another, even so also are the tastes thereof different, and each |513 man chooseth that which he desireth, and is captured by the passion which he seeketh: one is captured by the passion of lust, and another by the passion of knowledge, and whosoever is held fast by the passion for the gratification of lust hath no care to gather knowledge therefrom. And thus also he that is held fast by the graciousness of knowledge turneth not himself unto the gratification of lust, which carrieth away captive that which it carrieth away, and all the members of the soul and body are gathered together unto the passion which is the mightiest, that they may increase it and minister thereunto. And for this reason thou wilt find many of the friends of knowledge who are free from this passion [p. 539] of lust, and their victory is not a perfect victory because they have overcome passion by passion, and not by the power of discernment of the Divine knowledge.
Now unto us the victory over lust is not only necessary, but also it is meet for us to know the cause whereby we have conquered, that also the victory may thus be named after the cause thereof. If God be the cause, then the victory also is Divine, but if it [ariseth] from the world, or the love of knowledge, or vainglory, or that a man will not impoverish within himself one of the other passions when he overcometh the passion of fornication, it is meet that this victory should be accounted feeble; for according as the cause is visible, being either weak or strong, those who conquer passions by passions become their mortifiers and not their transgressors. But whosoever overcometh passions without passion gaineth an impassible victory, for how can that which is composed of the passions be |514 called a victory over the passions? and how can that which hath sprung from the root of their growth be Called the mortifier thereof? For since the thought of knowledge is strong in thee thou canst overcome the passion of fornication, and a time will come to one passion when it will overcome its fellow passion, and to that [second], passion will come another time, and it will conquer the [first] passion, and while these are in this manner conquering and being conquered a righteous victory can be snatched from between them.
Now a victory which taketh place righteously is when good [p. 540] conquereth evil, and when the lust of the spirit overcometh the lust of the body, and light, darkness, and knowledge conquer folly, and so likewise with all other things; and the victory which taketh place in iniquity is when evil conquereth good, and darkness, light, and folly, knowledge, and the victory which occupieth a middle place is that of the passions over each other. And it is not the victory of a Divine triumph when the passions conquer each other, and are conquered by each other, and according to the stablishing of the one [set of passions] is the destruction of the other. For there are some men who, for the sake of the love of money, fight with the lust of the belly; and others who, for the sake of vainglory, overcome the lust of fornication; and others who, for the sake of human praise, fight against the love of possessions; and others who, for the sake of the love of honour. are kept from the passion of many affairs; and others who, for the sake of love of rule, wage war against the love of pleasures; and all these [qualities] being vices, each conquereth the other and each is conquered by the other, but it is not accounted a |515 strict victory when passion fighteth with passion and overcometh it.
Now, therefore, lusts stir in the body, and evil passions move in the soul, and as their natures are contrary to each other, their passions are also contrary to each other, for all the lusts of the body are, so to say, contrary to the passions of the soul. And, [p. 541] moreover, according to the greater number of cases, all the evil passions which shoot up from the soul are the opposites of the lusts of the body, for there are passions of the body, and passions of the soul----now carnal passions are those which spring from the body, and passions of the soul are those which spring from the soul----and if a man consider [the matter] with knowledge, [he will see] that all the carnal passions help one another. The growth of the passion of the lust of the belly is from the body, and it is a helpmeet of fornication, which itself is also a carnal passion, and thus also [the love of] fine apparel, and the passion for human pleasures, and all those which following upon these are found with the body, are helpmeets of the passion of fornication. Now the passion of the love of money holdeth a middle place. Sometimes it aideth the lusts of the body, and sometimes it supporteth the passions of the soul, but by its abundant supply of money it helpeth the lust of the belly, and fornication, and [the love of] fine apparel, and pleasures, and the sounds of music, and the pleasantness of human conversations----all of which are the offspring of the body; but, on the other hand, it is also a supporter of the passions of the soul and it helpeth the love of ruling, and also the passion of vainglory----if a man wisheth to glorify himself in this way----and the honour and |516 praise of the world, and it is moreover the nurse of boasting, and it giveth support unto envy, and unto other things which are like unto these, and it is the cause of their being moved in the soul.
Now therefore the passion of the love of money [p. 542] bindeth and gathereth together separated passions, and it is also found in another guise, which is that it becometh the contrary of the passions of the soul and of the body; for if a man examine closely with knowledge [he will see] that in order that it may grow and be strong, it will restrain the lusts from the body and also the lusts of the soul from the soul. All the passions of the soul, then, are helpers of each other, for in the same way in which [our] discourse hath shewn that the lusts of the body help each other is it found to be in respect of the passions of the soul. For behold honour helpeth vainglory, and vainglory helpeth pride, and pride inciteth to rule and dominion, and all these, in this way, help each other; and although there are to these passions other views and aspects also which are contrary to them, yet in the path in which [our] discourse now travelleth they are helpers and supporters of each other. For as good helpeth good, even so also doth wickedness increase wickedness, but because the paths of passions are narrow, and they possess various exits, and motions, and aims, and guises, no man will judge my words hostilely when he looketh at the aims of others in whom are the passions which are contrary to each other, both of the body and of the soul, and the love of money which holdeth a middle place; but let him that would become a judge of our words examine the example which is laid before us, and he will find that as we have written, even so it is. [p. 543] |517 Now the person of a man, from which all the passions spring, is one, because sin itself is one, although it be divided into many forms, and its composition is established by the members of opposing passions.
But now we are speaking about the passion of fornication, concerning which our discourse was moved, that we may rouse up, and be the spectators thereof, because it is manifest that he that is conquered thereby is not truly awake. For in the same manner in which it happeneth unto those who sleep, and who dream dreams in their sleep without the discerning power of knowledge, and who feel the gratification of lust even in their slumbers, he who is lax in respect of this passion that he may minister unto his desires thereby, is also, as it were, sunk in a deep sleep, and at that time he possesseth neither the power of healthy discernment, nor wakeful intelligence, nor enlightened knowledge, nor a clear mind, but as the senses of his body are confounded, and the constitution of his members is relaxed by the goadings of lust, even so also are the thoughts of his soul confounded, and his intellect darkened, and his intelligence snatched away. And as all the members of the body turn to become ministrants unto lust, even so also are all the thoughts of the soul debased and sunk in the pleasure of the body, and are smitten by the sweetness of corrupt lust, and at that season a man doeth every thing like one who is asleep. And thou mayest understand from events themselves that he is sunk in sleep, for when he is without the fear of God, and the shame of man, and the remembrance of remote punishment, and the remembrance of the judgment which is near, and when shame and repentance are not set before his eyes at that time, |518 and he meditateth not, and the thought [p. 544] of one of these things entereth not into his mind, is it not evident that he is, as it were, sunk in deep sleep, and that he doeth everything unconsciously as in slumber?
And we may, moreover, know [this] from another thing: immediately the work of lust is finished repentance cometh over the soul, and suffering for what it hath done is produced therein, and the conscience which feeleth, and which the soul had not at the season of passion, cometh unto it after a time, and the soul is afflicted, and grieved, and sorrowful, and repenteth because of the works of shame, and it perceiveth that that which it hath done is blameworthy, and the remembrance of the Judge and of the condemnation moveth in it, and the vengeance which to come is depicted before its face. And there appeareth unto it as in the light and in wakefulness that which did not appear to it when it was asleep; and it meditateth upon God, and is mindful of the Judgment, and remembereth the punishment, and despiseth lust, and it blameth itself for what hath been transgressed, because it was overcome by the attack of a dream, and vanquished by the onset of a shadow, and because, being something it was led into subjection by that which was not anything. Now these and such like fair memories which come upon the soul after the performance of the act of lust shew that it hath turned from slumber to wakefulness, and that it standeth in the healthy remembrance of itself, and that it hath returned to the house of life from the depth of slumber, and from the death of sin.
Now, therefore, in the season of lust, wakefulness is more useful to a man than anything else, and we must consider what thing will overcome it, and how |519 despicable and contemptible it is. For a short time sufficeth for the performance of the act of lust, and for us to withdraw from the performance of its abominable work, and behold we may see that there is no desire the performance of which is so rapid as that of the gratification of lust; [p. 545] and as the pleasure thereof is for a brief moment, and the gratification thereof for a short season, it is fitting that it should make us hold it in contempt, and not that we should be subject unto its destroying incitement. For I do not know that there is any other lust which is so absolutely unprofitable as this, and the feebleness of which is so apparent on all sides; if [thou lookest for] advantage, it existeth not; or at the season of its gratification, it is short; or at the enjoyment thereof, it is like a shadow; or at the motions of its refreshing, they are horrible; or at the causes which incite it, they are feeble; or at its actions, they are like those of animals; or at its ways, they resemble those of beasts; or at repentance, it is nigh unto it; or at fear, it accompanieth it; or at shame, it is its fellow dweller; or at terror, it is found therewith; or at trembling, it followeth in its train; or at loss, it followeth after it; or at defects; they are nigh unto it; or at an evil name, it is crowned therewith; or at scoffing, it accompanieth it at all [seasons; or at mocking, it is made a laughing-stock by all men; and whichever way thou lookest at lust loss accompanieth it. By which of these defects, then, shall it overcome us? And why should it vanquish us, even though its goadings be mighty? By which or by whatever it is, it is the more fitting that we should despise it. But because of our cowardice it seemeth that lust conquereth us by that thing with which it would be |520 the more right that we should overcome it, and should it be thought that it is powerful in us, it is because the power of our soul is feeble in us. Now the power which is in lust it taketh from the soul, [p. 546] and when strength is snatched from the soul, feebleness remaineth therewith. And what soul is so wretched as that of the strength of which others make use, and it itself is clothed with the weakness of others? The spiritual nature of our soul hath acquired naturally strength [to fight] against desires, and it is easy for it to overcome them if it pleaseth; for as feebleness, and dissolution, and destruction are nigh naturally unto the nature of the body, even so also are might and the sureness of virtues nigh unto the spiritual nature, and if it maketh use of [its] might it taketh it, as it were, from its own nature. Now besides this there accompanieth the soul the grace of the spirit which giveth it help and power, if it be that it fulfilleth its good desire, for as when a strong man taketh hold of the hand of a child he carrieth off his weakness by the association of his own strength, even so also doth the Holy Spirit take hold of the thoughts of the soul, which is suspended like the hand of the child, that it may be exalted unto spiritual things, and that by its union with the Spirit it may acquire lightness beyond its nature. Whosoever delivereth his soul to the spirit to be nursed thereby, the whole action of his life becometh superior to harm, and for this reason Paul teacheth us to live in the spirit, and to perfect the spirit;13 for whosoever liveth in the spirit and perfecteth it, his whole life becometh spiritual, and he is led by the motions |521 of the spirit, and his thoughts and deeds take place according to the will of the spirit. It is not because we lack a helper that we are overcome by lust, but [p. 547] because we do not seek help from the Helper, for as lust itself when it wisheth to overcome us invoketh other things to its aid, and then fighteth and conquereth us, even so must we also, if we determine to fight and to overcome it, invoke the aid of Divine power, and the support of the grace which is in us, and we shall easily overcome the lust which fighteth against us. For so long as our soul is purified from the thoughts of lust it standeth in the might of its nature, and so long as it is exalted to stand in the power of its nature, it is worthy to receive Divine power to be its support, and when it hath such company as this, it cannot be easily overcome by the lusts which fight with it.
Preserve thyself, then, [O disciple,] from the causes which will lead thee to lust, and dam up the watercourses and channels which collect an alien flow against thee from all sides, and when thou hast cut off the causes by which sicknessess are increased, even though thou dost not bring to them medicines for thy sores, they will choose them for themselves, and little by little the suppuration which is in them will finish and come to an end. For the lust which is in us is increased by causes which are outside us, and they are many in number, and each one is different from the other, and each one of them holdeth out to lust a separate power; and if thou cuttest off these causes, lust also cometh to nought and is finished, for lust cannot exist without these things, neither can it remain in us if it happen [p. 548] that the causes thereof are removed. |522
Now sometimes lust ariseth from the body, and sometimes from the motions of the thoughts, and sometimes from causes which are outside us, either from sight, or hearing, or through such like things, and it is right that we should consider with knowledge where it beginneth, and before everything cut it off there. If it be that it is stirred up by causes which are without, let us cut off from ourselves human intercourse, and let us make ourselves strangers to the sight of the things which are its helpers, and by this means we shall shut out its entrance unto us. If it be that its motions arise from the blaze of the heat of the body, it is right that we should make the body feebler and should diminish its strength by means of little and meagre food, and by the drinking of water even by measure, and by other afflictions which are wont to reduce the heat of the body. But if it happen that we perceive that the beginning of lust ariseth from the mind, it is right that we should know that the conscience itself is empty of the thought of God, and that because motions of Him are not therein, alien motions which are outside Him have fallen therein. And if it appear to us that the thought of lust is moved in us through the inactivity of the conscience towards the things which are good, we must make it our care to join it unto the understanding with the thought of spiritual things, and with the Divine knowledge, and at this time we must be constant in the reading of the Scriptures, and in the hearing of the stories of mighty men of endurance, and we must depict their forms before our eyes at all times, [p. 549] and we must stir up in us the lust of being like unto them; and we must also be constant in prayer, which, more than anything else, maketh the |523 understanding to acquire strength, for the sole work of prayer is to clothe the mind with invincible might. For as when we are remote from the converse of empty minds and are strangers unto the visions of slothfulness, we purify our thoughts, and we gather together our faculties to our souls, even so also when we are constant in prayer----after collecting the mind----our thoughts acquire power to fight mightily against the passions which fight against them.
Now, therefore, it is in these three ways that lust gaineth dominion over our lives, and if we know how to shut the door in its face wisely, and if we set against each one the means which befitteth it, we shall cast lust out from us and we ourselves shall abide in the purity our souls; and we shall be led by the might of an invincible understanding, after which the soul is worthy of the blessing of sublime vision, and there cometh to it the perception in spiritual things, which is above the body. And as the body is moved by the things of its nature, and is gratified thereby (or findeth rest), even so also hath the soul enjoyment in spiritual motions, and it liveth in the pleasure of the light of the living knowledge which is above the world, of which may all the disciples of faith be worthy, [p. 550] by the grace of Christ, the God of all, to Whom be glory for ever. Amen.
Here endeth the [First] Discourse upon the lust of Fornication.
[Footnotes renumbered and moved to the end. Page numbers in brackets refer to the Syriac text in vol. 1 of the printed edition.]
1. 1 St. Matthew x. 10.
2. 2 St. Matthew vi. 34.
3. 3 Romans xiii. 1.
4. 1 Romans vii. 7,8.
5. 1 Psalm lxviii. 6.
6. 1 Psalm lxviii. 5.
7. 2 Psalm lxviii. 6.
8. 1 EFG add: "And as the whore draweth nigh unto the wanton who turn glad faces unto her, but departeth and fleeth at the fearful sight of the chaste, even so also doth lust."
9. 1 Genesis ii. 24; St. Matthew xix. 5.
10. 1 Ephesians iv. 6.
11. 2 1 Corinthians iii. 16; vi. 19; and compare Ephesians ii. 21, 22; Hebrews iii. 6.
12. 3 1 Corinthians iii. 17.
13. 1 Galatians v. 25.
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Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
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Philoxenus, Ascetic Discourses (1894) pp.523-.... Discourse 13 -- Second Discourse on Fornication
Philoxenus, Ascetic Discourses (1894) pp.524-.... Discourse 13 -- Second Discourse on Fornication
[P. 551] THE THIRTEENTH DISCOURSE: WHICH IS ON FORNICATION, AND THE EVIL PASSION OF THE LUST OF THE BODY----WHICH MAKETH KNOWN HOW GREAT IS THE STRUGGLE WHICH IS NECESSARY FOR US WHO FIGHT IN THIS WAR, AND HOW ITS EXTERNAL PASSIONS MUST BE SCATTERED BEFORE THE INTERNAL MOTIONS, THAT WE MAY THUS BE RELEASED FROM THE EXTERNAL PASSIONS, UNTIL THEY FLEE THEREFROM IN EVERY WAY, AND FROM THE PASSIONS THEREOF IN THEIR OUTWARD AND INWARD MANIFESTATIONS.
When I consider the abominable passions which keep the soul from the divine knowledge, and from the purity of prayer, I find that the passion of fornication preventeth the things which are good more than most, and that it is the passion which especially ruleth persons who are wanting in patient endurance, and setteth them on fire; for when an opportunity ariseth to this passion from the heat of the body, and it findeth minds which are empty of the thought of God and of the quest of excellent knowledge, like the flame in stubble doth the fire of this passion lay hold upon and obtain dominion in all the members. And this destroying [p. 552] passion is hotter and more active than all others, and the greatest bravery is necessary unto the soul when lust setteth battle in array against it, that it may fight therewith and overcome it. And it must in |525 this contest also invoke the aid of Divine Grace, and it must be a care unto the man who will do battle with it, to fight and to root up this passion from his thoughts, and he must tear up the fibres of its growth from the depth of his heart, for there it entereth, and taketh hold, and maketh a habitation for itself, and when it hath been rooted up from thence, all its twigs and branches, which extend over all the other members, dry up. But if it happen that this passion rule within the soul for a long time, and it becometh, by constant meditation, embodied therein, it obscureth its powers of discernment and doth not allow it to see even that it is passion, but like other things, the doing of which is not blameworthy, this lust also is accounted blameless by the mind.
Now sin taketh great care to root up from the soul the thought which seeth that it is sin, in order that without fear and terror it may minister unto the thoughts which are within by the matters which are without, for so long as sin appeareth unto us in others, and is not ministered unto in our own person, by the examination of the justice which is in us, we decide that it is sin; but if it happen that it ariseth in very deed within ourselves, the knowledge of the doing thereof is rooted up from our soul, and the eye of discretion, by which the abomination of its action is apparent unto us, becometh blinded. Let us then take good heed that we slip not and fall into this lust, but if it happen that we be captured by the charms of the causes [thereof], let it not be driven from us to know and to distinguish that it is sin, especially [p. 553] if it be buried secretly in our thoughts. Now the lust of the thoughts is imagined by many not to be sin, although |526 not only is it sin, but it is also the root of all the actions of sin. For the heart is the fountain of all thoughts, and from it are produced all motions of things which are good, and of things which are bad, and that which striketh root, and taketh hold in it----whether it be good or whether it be evil----the fruit thereof appeareth externally, for if the heart is choked by lust, when shall it Wake itself up? And as a tree, which hath been cut down, but the root of which remaineth in the ground, becometh green again and putteth forth shoots when the moisture of water cometh thereto1, even so also doth lust which hath been cut down, but the root of which remaineth in the mind, become green and grow in the thoughts and members through the moisture of meats and drink. Hence, therefore, war against this hidden lust is much more useful unto us than that which is waged externally, because in the latter case there are many causes which restrain it, [such as] the sight of many people, and shame, and modesty, and laws, and penalties; and, moreover, it may happen that those persons with whom the passion of lust hath been taken may not consent [to the gratification thereof]; and because through all these things the working of lust is restrained, it seemeth as if the war against things external were not even difficult, for we do not fight against it by ourselves, but all these things are helpers unto us. And moreover, when we ourselves [p. 554] desire, and make plans with many things to fulfil the work of sin, these and such like things prevent [our doing so], and though because of our will lust is ministered unto within us, yet externally it is restrained |527 by reason of the causes which impede it; and although because of our exterior we are thought to be chaste by the children of men, yet because of our desire we are accounted whoremongers by God, Who looketh upon our inner man, for although we sin not before each other, yet before the knowledge of God our sin is manifest.
Let us then take good heed unto two things: we must not only be chaste in the sight of the children of men, but we must not only have shame before God; and it must also be a care unto us to please God first of all, for from that is produced the freedom of speech (or boldness) which is before the children of men. For because a man committeth not fornication openly it doth not prevent him from being considered a fornicator in secret, but for a man to be free from thoughts of fornication sheweth that he is chaste openly; for the act is not the root of the thought thereof, but the thought is the root and cause of the deed. For it is in the heart, the fountain of the thoughts, and there dwelleth the desire of everything, even as also the will of God there resteth, and because from it, as from a great fountain, the streams of our actions take their courses, it is right that we should preserve it in untroubled purity. For as when the head of the fountain is troubled, all the streams which flow therefrom are also troubled and sullied, even so also when the heart is disturbed by lust, all the senses are troubled, and all the members are disturbed, and the whole person is turned backwards, and the opinions are confounded, and the thoughts are confused, and each member [p. 555] of the body maketh known by its appearance that it is in subjection unto the hidden lust which is in the heart; for everything which beginneth from the heart----whether in things |528 which are good, or whether in things which are bad----is accounted sin or righteousness by the testing of Divine knowledge.
Therefore, our Lord also wishing to pluck lust up by its root, and not to cut it off only from external acts, said, "Whosoever looketh upon a woman to lust after her hath already committed adultery with her in his heart 2," and He placed these words here comparing adultery with adultery, and the test of the law concerning the works of sin with the minuteness of His own knowledge. "Ye have heard that it hath been said by the ancients, Thou shalt not commit adultery 3". Now the law repulsed the ancients from the deed of lust, and that their fornication might not appear in the[ir] external members He gave them the command, for because they had not the strength within them to root up the thoughts of fornication from the heart, the Lawgiver left the first thing, and went on to the second, and because they were unable to cleanse the heart from the thought of adultery, He urged them by the force of the command at least to preserve the body from the working thereof; and He set righteousness for them in an outside place where many causes might be found to support this endurance. Now our Lord did not seek to take adultery from outside, but from where He seeth, for the vision of God is one and alone, and where He seeth, the vision of man cannot see, because man [p. 556] hath not [the power] of knowing the hidden thoughts which are in the soul; therefore He said, "As the sight of the children of men restraineth thee from the open act of adultery, let also the sight of Me restrain thee |529 from the thought which willeth adultery, and cleanse the spiritual place of thy soul that it may become a counterpart of My vision which looketh thereupon. As My look which is upon thee is pure from error and suspicion, even so also let the place which receiveth this sight be pure from the passion of fornication. For to Me lust is adultery, and that the mind should desire, is to minister unto the body, for I do not need to see the lust which is perfected in very deed and then to find it adultery. The thought which lusteth for adultery hath already committed adultery, and whosoever looketh upon a woman to lust after her, hath already committed adultery with her in his heart; for where it is easy for him to commit adultery he ministereth unto adultery, and it is not the will which preventeth the act from being seen openly, but it is prevented by other causes, and therefore, it seemeth that the triumph ariseth not from the will, but from the causes which prevented it." Now the vision of the knowledge of God looketh beyond causes into our thoughts, and with it He examineth the depth of the mind where it is not easy for the children of men to see, and even if they sought to see they would not easily understand, because unto God alone it belongeth to feel the heart, and to know the things which are secret; and as it belongeth to Him to know our hidden parts, even so also doth it belong unto us to cleanse our hearts before His gaze. Now there are many [p. 557] who, although they commit not adultery in very deed are, nevertheless, adulterers in wish, and who minister unto fornication continually in their souls, for they continually conceive and bring forth forms of all kinds, and with the beauties of persons without |530 connection of the body do they commit fornication continually; and it never entereth into their minds that although men see not, yet God looketh upon the secret things of their thoughts. Sometimes the thought itself is sin, and sometimes the performance of the act thereof, for the thought which desireth wickedness wholly is sin, inasmuch as it is of the will, even though it performeth nothing in very deed.
Now our Lord laid down to us as to mighty men the commandment, "Whosoever looketh upon a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her in his heart," that He might pluck up sin by the root thereof, and that He might cut off and take up from the depth of the heart the lust which destroyeth; for He did not say unto thee, "Thou shalt not look," but, "Thou shalt not look to lust," for the eye looketh at everything, but it lusteth not after everything. In this manner, then, let the beauty of a woman be before thine eye even as the sight of any [other] thing, and be not snared by this beauty, for if the beauty of its nature appeared to the soul it would not desire longingly the beauty of the body, because its own beauty would be sufficient to bind it unto the mind by the pleasantness of its appearance; and when it hath seen it, and hath perceived that the beauty of its nature hath been awakened therein, it shall also acquire for itself the lust of the possession of itself which is more than everything, and it shall be associated therewith in all purity. Thou shalt not [p. 558] lust in thy heart after a strange thing, neither shall the eye of thy thought look upon beauty which is alien unto thee, for it is a disgrace to the soul to be fettered by the lust of the flesh; but if it be fettered |531 thereby, its fetter is outside its nature, and because it hath taken upon itself the mind of flesh it hath also desired the vision which is outside its nature. One kind of adultery is of the body, and another is of the soul, but when the soul lusteth in [its] thoughts, this is a kind of adultery which is peculiarly its own. For as in respect of the body the word "adultery" is the act, even so in respect of the soul the act of adultery is the thought, and there is no excuse for him that meditateth adultery because he hath not actually committed the act, for in himself he hath performed the deed of sin; and in proportion as the nature of the soul is more exalted than that of the body, even so is the fornication of the soul more cruel (?) than that of the body. Moreover, in another way doth this iniquity appear to be grievous, for he in whom is mingled lust naturally doth not fornicate with the body [only], but he maketh the soul subject unto what is alien unto its nature, and for the want of the knowledge of its lust it is reduced to lust with the lust which is not its own. And, moreover, to the fornication of the body there are seasons, and it hath divisions and breaks in its lust, for at one time a man sinneth, and at another he resteth from his sin, but whosoever fornicateth in the soul hath no cessation from the act of this iniquity, because lust is mingled continually in his soul; and if it happen that he go forth from the thought thereof, it is not because of his repentance concerning it, but because another passion hath become strong in him, and hath led away [p. 559] the new purpose, whatever it may be.
Now the victory over lust cannot be acknowledged when the mind, through converse with another purpose, |532 ceaseth from the meditation of lust, but [only] when it overcometh it by itself, having first of all made ready in us the preparation for its victory; for many are the thoughts which are made quiet because other thoughts come and put them to sleep; and when the thoughts which have come have ended their work and are quieted, the thought of fornication is found [to be] in its old place, because it hath not before departed therefrom, but, like a body in the darkness, hath been concealed by the shadow of another passion, and after the shadow which concealed it is cleared away, the body of fornication appeareth ready formed in the soul. Let us then flee, O my brethren, from this kind of fornication, especially from that which is not thought to be fornication, for many flee from the wickedness the Work of which is apparent, but the children of men are imperceptibly snared, especially by that which is not believed to be sin; for not only is evil that which doth not appear to be evil, but that which God hath decreed to be evil we must especially esteem [to be] evil. And behold the wickedness of each of the works of sin is apparent unto a man before he is captured thereby, but when he hath been subject thereunto, and hath performed it for a long time without repentance, the perception of its wickedness is removed from him, for he neither knoweth nor seeth [p. 560] the odiousness thereof, because he hath lost the power of discernment, for sin not only polluteth the person, but it also blindeth the discretion, and maketh him that seeth not to see at all, and him that knoweth not to know, and him that had the power of discernment not to make use of his intelligence, and the vision of that which, as in the light, was quickly seen and known, |533 becometh concealed when the darkness of sin is shed within the soul. For as everything is hidden from the sight by darkness, and even the person of darkness itself, so also everything is hidden from the soul in which the blackness of sin is diffused, and it doth not even recognize that sin is sin. Now that a man should know his sin is the first step to being set free from sin, for after he hath felt that he is fettered he deviseth means to set himself free, but if he doth not even know that he is bound and fettered, how can he devise means and seek freedom for himself?
"Thou shalt not look upon a woman to lust after her," and if thou dost, thou hast committed adultery with her, but look upon her with a pure eye, as upon a beautiful work of God, and glorify the wise Creator because He hath framed, and His will hath ordered such fairness from such a despicable nature, and the beauty which leadeth captive those who behold it from common dust, and from the beauty of the work see the beauty of Him that framed it; and as thou marvellest at the despicable thing which hath thus become wholly beautiful and glorious, thou must wonder and admire Him Who is glorious in His nature, and the beauty of Whose appearance is all-satisfying unto those who are worthy to look upon Him.
Let it be, then, a care to thee, to purify thy soul, and to make thy body also be pure therewith, and be [p. 561] thou holy in the body and spirit, because thou art the dwelling-place of the Spirit of God, for when thy thought is pure from the passion of fornication thy prayer also will be pure and light, and besides this the light of the knowledge of Christ will shine the more in thee when the eye of thy soul is purified |534 for it to dwell therein. As the healthy body is prompt for every work, even so also is it easy for the mind which is cleansed from wickedness to be a dwelling-place for divine motions; and as sickness weakeneth the body and maketh it fit for nothing, even so also do the thoughts of sin enfeeble the strength of the soul, and make it empty of divine motions. For the thought of fornication casteth an evil smell into the soul, by which the sweetness and desirability which it possesseth become changed, and it maketh a foetid odour to rise up therefrom, and in such a soul the treasure of divine thoughts cometh not. For as things which possess in their nature a sweet smell are put into pure vessels which befit them, even so also doth the Divine knowledge abide in the soul which is cleansed from the thoughts of sin, and especially in the soul which is free from this lust, for more than all the other passions doth it distract and confound the thoughts. And Solomon also depicted and compared this passion of fornication unto the following things, saying, "Three things are hidden from me, yea, four which I know not; the way of an eagle in heaven; [p. 562] the way of a serpent upon a rock; the way of a ship in the heart of the sea; and the way of a man in his young manhood. So is the way of an adulterous woman; she eateth and wipeth her mouth, and saith, I have done nothing".4 For he likeneth the lust of fornication unto an adulterous woman whose ways and paths are not known, because she boldly casteth her gaze upon every one, and ministereth unto every one, and she committeth fornication with every one outside |535 the order of nature; even so is the drunkenness of lust when it hath gained dominion over the thoughts, and it hath no way which is known, and no path which is revealed and made plain, and if thou seekest to stand in its footsteps, thou art not able to do so. For the lust of fornication wandereth hither and thither within the soul, and it turneth easily unto every place, while the tracks of her footsteps are not known, and her path is not plain to those who behold her, even as an eagle in heaven, and a serpent on the rook, and a ship in the heart of the sea. And well also did the wise man Solomon set the young man as an object of comparison m the similitude of the three things mentioned above, for what the sea is to a ship, and the air to the eagle, and the rock to the serpent, even so also is the young man to lust; for the eagle cleaveth the air mightily and without hindrance, and the serpent glideth upon the rock, and the ship saileth swiftly through the sea, even so also in the time of young manhood are the thoughts of fornication easily performed in the soul.
Now if a man were to call young manhood [p. 563] the path of fornication he would not make a mistake, that is to say, he would call it exactly what Solomon called it, for "The rock is an easy path for the serpent, because it is not tripped up thereupon, neither doth the heaviness of the dust there impede its course, and the air is the path of the eagle, and the sea of a ship; even so also is young manhood the path of fornication, because whithersoever he wisheth he flieth, as with wings", and with swift feet lust runneth everywhere. For in the time of young manhood the heat of the body is abundant, and it becometh superabundant |536 material for the fulfilment of lust, and fire obtaining the cause thereof from fire, that is to say, lust [taking fire] from that of nature, produceth the mighty blaze of sin. Hence it is right that constant war should be maintained at this period of life, together with bufferings, and labours, and tribulations, and meagre food, and little drink, for when the material upon which lust layeth hold be removed from the midst, it perisheth and cometh to an end; and this according to the experience of actual fact every man perceiveth who wisheth to become a spectator of such things as these, and because of this, moreover, every man who seeketh to overcome this lust must devise means to remove from before it the fuel and the material which kindle the flame, and behold it will not burn.
Now besides these causes lust entereth in either by the sight of women, or by the conversation of continual stories about it, or by the meat and drink which are given [p. 564] to the body beyond its need, and if thou wilt remove from the midst these three, and dost meditate upon divine knowledge, the thought of lust will not attack thee, for since the body because of the heat thereof doth not set it in motion, and the soul through idleness doth not meditate thereupon, wherewith can it be awakened? Now either the body kindleth it by the heat thereof, or the soul, for want of the thoughts of knowledge, meditateth thereupon; for outside of these two things lust hath not a place where it can lay its head, for when it hath found that the body is dead unto the world, and that the soul liveth in divine meditation, it turneth itself backwards straightway, and a place wherein to abide it findeth not. |537
If the pain of lust causeth thee to suffer pain, learn the cause thereof, and cut it off; why shouldst thou be afflicted through thy ignorance with a sickness the cure of which is easy? for I am not acquainted with any other passion the cure of which is so easy. Food doth not make thee to sin when it is taken to sustain thy life, but it is sin when it bringeth thee unto lust. So long as thou eatest unto thyself there is no sin in thy meat, but if thou eatest unto lust, thy food is of sin. Whence then canst thou know when thou eatest unto sin, and when unto thyself? Now, so long as lust is set in motion in the members of thy body and attacketh thee----if it be that thou eatest----thy food is of lust, and it is increased and intensified thereby; and not thy strength and thy life, for lust is mingled in thy life for the sustaining thereof----that is to say, [p. 565] that through thee thy life may be given unto others; but how much more shall that will which overcometh the lust of life overcome and subdue lust? Now thou hast not power to give thy life unto others, because it belongeth not unto thee, but unto Christ. For the carnal connection and marriage of the world continue human offspring, and transmit life from person to person, that from man man may come into being, and from a living being a living being like unto him may be produced, and these things happened when our life belonged unto ourselves. Of old we had the power to distribute it to others through marriage and carnal connection, but now, because we live the spiritual life of Christ we have not the power to give the life which is not our own unto others, for we are not our own, and the Apostle said unto us, "Ye are not your own, for ye are bought with a price; glorify then God |538 in your body and in your spirit, which belong to "God." 5 Thou seest then, [O disciple,] that also the body and the spirit belong to God, and that we have no power over either of them, and whosoever hath no power over his life, how can he give it to others by the intercourse of lust? that is to say, how can he shew it in another person by begetting after the manner of human beings?
Now spiritual begetting was revealed in the world that it might annul the" begetting of the body, and the other womb which is in baptism was constituted that it might make the natural womb to cease from bringing forth progeny, and if the whole of human nature had been able to keep this commandment, [p. 5615] the Will of the Majesty would have wished this and would have been gratified thereat, but because our Redeemer saw the feebleness of mankind, and that it was not able to [perform] this work, He set His will among the many, that at least a few of them might become doers thereof. Do not consider only that the womb which was to bear offspring was first framed by God, but see also that in the place of the first womb another was created which was to give birth unto spiritual instead of carnal beings, according to the perfect will of God, for the good and perfect will which is acceptable unto God is that all carnal beings shall become spiritual, because it was for this purpose that He came into the world, namely to create as another creation the children of men. And thou must not consider that He did not cut off marriage, nor destroy the flow of lust, and think that, perhaps, He is gratified thereat, for |539 behold neither did He make all this world to pass away, nor take away the pleasure, and riches, and power thereof, but He left it as it was in its original construction, and commanded thee to become an alien thereunto, and to cast it away like a worn out garment. That things have remained as they are----the world, or its pleasures, or the lust which is in thee----shall not be material to lead thee astray, and thy soul shall not be fettered by that which was once dissolved therefrom, because these were left to be the material of thy strife, and not for thy lust's sake, and that thy mighty will and God-loving mind may look thereupon. For the world remaineth that it may inflame thee with the lust for another world, and riches and power, that they may create [p. 567] in thee the longing for that possession which is incorruptible, and for that honour which cannot be dissipated, and pleasures also remain in the world that thou mayest desire longingly the taste of spiritual life, and lust also remaineth in thy body that it may be the material for thy good will, and that it may take it little by little from the body, and place it upon the soul.
Do not, then, give unto thy lust a portion with the body, and thou shalt not allow thy natural gratification to be broken up, and the joy and gladness which are in thee to be brought to nought, but carry them, as it were, from house to house, from the body to the soul; for as a man bringeth his things of great price out from the house which he knoweth will fall, and carrieth them into another which is new and firmly built, and which he is confident will neither fall nor be broken into, even so also do thou take all those passions which thy body hath, and which in name are |540 the material for that which is good, and lay them up in the dwelling of thy soul, in the house which neither falleth, nor is broken up, nor destroyed. Take the heat from the body, and lay it upon the soul; take lust therefrom, and mingle it with that of the soul; take the strength thereof, and mix it with the might of the soul; turn all things belonging to the body that they may belong to the soul; and be diligent and earnest to do these things especially in the time of early manhood, when the passions begin to shew themselves, because in youth and in old age thou hast them not, and what existeth not, how can it be easy to thee to take and to give to others? Now the period of passions is the period of early manhood, that is to say also, the time of strength, and it is well that together with the passions strength also should be revealed, that it may fight and deliver [p. 568] thy good things from the body, and bear and carry thy riches from place to place.
Whosoever fighteth and overcometh his lusts in the time of his early manhood is able to become mighty in his soul, and he alone is able to profit by all the growth of that which is good, for he hath it to give and to take; for old age is empty of both, and childhood hath not as yet arrived at either of them, and the lust which is dried up of itself shall not abide, and little by little, together with its nature, shall be brought to nought. Now in this thou hast no blessing, for as thy natural death is not said to be a testimony on behalf of God, thou receivest it as a penalty which was laid upon thy life, and thou hast neither renown nor glory thereby, even so also thou hast nothing whereof to boast when lust shall be brought to nought forcibly, either by old age or sickness; but it is thy |541 triumph when thou coolest it at the time when it is hot, and thou extinguishest it at the time of its blazing, and when immediately it beginneth to move in the members thou makest ready the shoulder of thy thought, and thou bearest it, and earnest it, and layest it upon the lust of the soul, and thou sayest unto it thus: "Why hast thou set thyself in motion where thou wilt be destroyed?" and immediately the sense of thy gratification will cease. "Come and set thyself in motion in thy natural place where the sweetness of thy lust will neither be dissipated nor annulled, and where, moreover, penitence will not draw nigh at thine end, and weakness entereth not in thy footsteps against the soul, and [p. 569] the nature of thy warmth becometh not cool after the fulfilment of thy work, but stand at all seasons in thy might, and taste the unchangeable treasure which is laid up there, and freedom of speech and confidence shall be strengthened in thee----not things which are not seemly unto thee, and which merit rebuke and reproof, but the things by the lust of which thou art moved naturally, and the lust for which is a matter for praise, and day by day this excellent lust will grow strong and increase, and thou shalt expend forwards. For thy season with the body is short, but with the soul thou hast no ending, and with the life of the soul abideth thy immortal gratification; with the body the union with another body setteth thee on fire, but with the soul, the union of the Holy Spirit kindleth a blaze in thee. Do not then be united unto the corruptible body in which, even if the soul had destroyed its differences, and the corruptibility and deformities of the body had been hidden from its face, thou wouldst not find place wherein to move; |542 for if it happened that at the season in which thou soughtest thy gratification the faculty of discernment were to rise upon the soul, straightway thy work would be brought to nought, and there would not be exit for thy corruptible gratifications." These, and such like things must be said by thee to lust when thou bringest it from the body to the place of the soul.
Now, therefore, thou must not remove from thyself the promises and good grounds for hope that thou art about to receive that which is more excellent than that which the soul leaveth, for in the manner in which lust is set in the body naturally the lust of things which are better is set even in the soul; [p. 570] and when the soul lusteth naturally, its lust is for spiritual things, and when it hath intercourse which is according to the law, it hath connection with the spirit, and from this union it produceth fruit of holy and pure offspring. And as the connection of the body worketh gratification in the members, and corrupt warmth is mingled throughout the body, even so also when the soul hath intercourse with the spirit doth the spirit receive gratification, and it acquireth warmth by its progress and power to fight against the evil things which are contrary to its gratification; and when the soul hath tasted this sweetness which cometh unto it by the connection with the spirit, it bringeth unto itself the lust of marriage wholly therein.
Know, then, as by experience, that for want of the feeling of the lust of the spirit, the lust of the flesh becometh stirred up in thy members, for that both of them should move in thee at one time is impossible; for in proportion as the spirit becometh hot in thee |543 the body cooleth, and in proportion as the body becometh hot in thee, the spirit cooleth. For the two lusts are placed one against the other, the lust of the body against the lust of the spirit, and as they are different from one another, so also are all the acts of the one different from those of the other; the one catcheth fire in the members, and the other kindleth in the thoughts; the vessel of the one is the substance of the body, and that of the other the nature of the soul; to the one cleaveth confusion, and to the other order; the one at the season of its fulfilment darkeneth the light of the thoughts, and annulleth in the mind [p. 571] wisdom and knowledge, and the other filleth the mind with light, and gathereth together in the soul the knowledge and wisdom of the spirit. The lust of the body when performed maketh a man to be weak and dazed, and to be ashamed of every man and even of himself, and to be afraid of everything; but the lust of the spirit placeth might and vigour in the soul, and suspicion of everything which is visible, and boldness towards the children of men, and a pure aspect towards God, and the confidence which ariseth in it towards man, it hath towards itself. The lust of the body is a teacher of folly, for the man who continually fulfilleth this lust cannot become wise, but the lust of the spirit not only maketh men to possess the mental knowledge of the world, but it also dippeth the understanding in the living motion of the spirit, and clotheth a man in readiness and preparedness for everything which is good. It maketh his understanding to be stirred up and active for every spiritual work, and all its own motions move with vigour, and power, and strength, and this lust doth not allow the sluggishness of the body to draw |544 nigh unto a man, for if it happen that, either through natural coldness, or by reason of sicknesses and weakness, the body produceth sluggishness, the fervour of this lust warmeth it immediately, and by its heat it driveth away from it the coldness of the body, and herefrom [p. 572] a man becometh watchful and ready for divine deeds.
Now spiritual beings do not fulfil the rule of their works by the warmth of the nature of the body, but because they are fervent in the spirit are they active and ready for such like works, even as Paul also commanded that we should stir up this fervour of love by which all spiritual things are perfected, and by the power of which we complete the course of this journey, saying, "Be ye fervent in spirit";6 for that the lust of the body possesseth fervour Paul hath made clear in his words, and he hath taught us with what lust we should be fervent, saying, "Be ye fervent with the lust of the spirit, that all your course and work may be spiritual." For as the heat of the blood driveth away from the body the sluggishness which produceth the coldness of phlegm, even so also doth the fervour of the spirit drive away from the soul and body the negligence which is born of error and of the want of the love of God. And as when the natural heat is raised, and it draweth nigh to the heart and is mingled therewith, it maketh a man zealous, and ready, and watchful, and active towards the affairs of the world, even so also when the heat of the spirit draweth nigh to the understanding of the soul it maketh a man zealous towards the building up of himself, and towards the |545 things of heaven, instead of the world, and zealous to gather together spiritual merchandise, and to speak judgment against those who plunder his inheritance, and to desire with longing the intercourse which is incorruptible, and to become a father unto [p. 573] immortal children, and to care for, and to possess, and to think of, and to gather together, and to carry, and to preserve all these spiritual and heavenly things.
Now, therefore, through the fervour of the spirit a man becometh ready for all these things, and well hath Paul taught us to be "fervent in the spirit", for as cold is dissipated and brought to nought before warmth, even so also before the fervour of this heat of the spirit doth sluggishness flee, and negligence is driven off, and weariness brought to nought, and suspicion dissipated, and error removed, and all the shadows of sin turn away to hide themselves entirely. And as natural strength is produced by heat, and weakness hath dominion over the members through cold, even so also through the heat of the spirit doth the soul acquire strength, and vigour, and power, and driveth away entirely by fair deeds all the sluggishness which cometh upon the soul or body. And as the measure of the heat of a fire and the quantity of the light thereof are in proportion to the blaze, even so also according to the measure of the heat which is found in the soul hath it fervour towards spiritual things, and knowledge, and wisdom, and power over Divine treasures.
Now therefore in the time when there is still heat in thy body, and the lust of nature liveth in thy members, be zealous to kindle in thee the heat of the spirit, and stir up in thy thoughts divine lust, that through one lust being |546 jealous of the other, and the one fire emulating the other, the lust of the spirit may be strengthened and carry off the victory, which victory is seemly thereto naturally. For in the time [p. 574] when thou hast in thee power to minister unto the lust of the body, be zealous and make thy power to become the minister of the lust of the spirit, because the Holy Spirit doth not work its deeds in useless bodies, nor in persons who have become cold through old age doth it make to rise the faculties of discernment of Divine wisdom. For whosoever in the time of his early manhood maketh his strength to embrace the service of evil lusts cannot receive Divine knowledge in the infirm time of his old age, but when natural soundness hath ceased from him, and he hath come to the condition of old age, he becometh wholly and entirely useless, and his body and his soul become cold and infirm together. Do thou, then, if thou wishest that the heat of early manhood be found with thee in the time of thine old age, labour with thy strength in the time of thy early manhood, and deposit this heat therein by the hands of thy soul, and because the soul groweth not old with the body, when the body becometh feeble through age thou canst in the time of thine old age bring out from the treasure-house of thy soul some of the deposits which thou didst hand over to the soul, and canst live upon them. And when the power of the body hath become feeble, thou canst find strength therewith, and when the heat thereof hath become cold, thou canst make thyself warm in thy works by its fervour, and when the strength of the members hath come to an end, thou canst become strong in thy works through thy thoughts, and when the natural lust, together with the heat of the |547 body, hath been cut off, the lust of the spirit abideth with thee, which at all seasons hath intercourse and beareth the fruit of spiritual offspring.
For seed time is one thing and harvest is another: sow then thy soul with the things which are good in the time of thy early manhood, that thou mayest reap therefrom in the time of thine old age. [p. 575] If, therefore, thou desirest union, devise means and implant in thee this lust that in old age it may conceive and bring forth; for the intercourse of the body hath not power over all seasons, and natural lust is not preserved in the members in every period of life, but the lust of the spirit is not thus, for all times are its own if the time of early manhood hath been to it a known time. Pass over, then, from the body to the soul whilst thou hast a bridge whereover to cross, and whilst thou hast strength in thy legs to walk, and whilst thou hast light whereby to walk, and whilst the shadows of old age do not bend over thee, and whilst thou still remainest in the country of the body. Stir up, then, in thee wrath against lust, and because wrath accompanieth lust when it is stirred up, do thou take wrath and anger to support thee, and go forth against it; and as love is necessary for thee against wrath, even so also will wrath be useful to thee against lust. For lust is peaceful and gentle in its coming when it is accompanied by laxness, and tranquillity, and rest, and wanton ways, and abominable motions and manners, which are the contrary of fortitude, but when lust looketh upon thee in these forms, do thou put on the armour of wrath, and go forth against it. For as the sluggishness of children's slumber is quickened into the activity of flight before a man who looketh upon them with a face full |548 of fear and who terrifieth them, even so also wilt thou drive away the childishness and annoyance of lust, if [p. 576] thou shewest it a face full of wrath and threatening.
Pluck, then, from the noontide of thy early manhood the blossoms of things of excellence, and glean, and bring in, and carry for thyself fruits [of] all kinds that they may be laid up for the winter of thine old age; for the man who hath lived wholly in the body in the time of his old age will come to an end completely, but whosoever in his early manhood is fervent with the lust of the spirit shall remain unchanged unto the end of his life. Now the body cannot preserve its natural faculties unendingly, for some of them are made useless before the end of life, and some of them come to an end with life itself, but they can all be set free, and removed from the body, and directed towards the soul, if there be a discerning understanding which knoweth how to turn them thereto; for behold, although the natural life be outwardly dissolved by natural death, yet in the spirit is it preserved to the soul, and in this manner, likewise, is it with the other natural things of the body which are made useless by old age and by the body, for when they are deposited in the hands of the soul, they abide unendingly with the life of the soul. There is, therefore, no power in lust to persuade thee, if thy will will not accept it as a suppliant, and for this reason it, as one that knoweth its own feebleness, draweth not nigh unto thee without thy will, but when thou hast taken this thought to be a guide unto thee, then it entereth in and kindleth its fire in thy members.
Do thou, then, when thou feelest the destructive |549 fire gaining power within thy body, kindle the living fire which is in thy soul, and when thou hast perceived that thy members have tabernacled in the ministration of lust, occupy thy thoughts in the service of the knowledge of Divine Mysteries; let not lust come and find thee empty, and behold, let it not perform its desires in thee, but thou must be found [p. 577] alive in the spirit before it, that by the fire which is in thee thou mayest extinguish its fire. Wherever it obtaineth a cause, thence cut it off; and wherever it beginneth to enter in against thee, there shut the door before it, and keep it outside, for the abominable lust cometh in against us from without, but that which is implanted in us----whether it be of the soul or of the body----is placed in us for the ministration unto the things which are good. For because it belongeth unto the soul to lust after God, and unto the body to be moved by the lust of its nature, well was lust set in opposition unto lust, that being mingled with each other they might establish one pure and holy deed of lust; for the causes which move the lust of the soul are from above, but those of the body are from below, whence also is the nature of the body, now He did not create it that we might desire these things, but that by intercourse with the soul we might lust after spiritual things. And behold, although the body is formed of the earth, and is made up of various mixtures, yet was it not formed for the earth, that is to say, that it might be named or called a body of earth, but it was created by the Creator to become a soul, that is to say, a minister unto the desires thereof in everything, and a participator in all things that are good.
Therefore we are bound not to consider that the deeds |550 of the body arise from whence the body came, but that for which it was made must we consider to be the aim of its works, for it was made for the spirit, and not for the earth, and it was made to become a spiritual and not a corruptible being. It was called "body," that it might be known from this name that it was derived from the earth, and it is also called "man," that thereby it may be revealed that it is united unto a living soul And well was this person of man called by three names, [two] specific, and one general name, [p. 578] [that is,] "body", and "soul", and "man"; by the name "body", that its carnalness might be recognized, and that it was of the earth; and by the name "soul", that the living nature which dwelleth therein might be indicated; and by the appellation "man", that one might learn the mixture of the person which is constituted of body and soul. Now therefore since the body hath no thoughts, and the soul hath no visible actions, they were rightly mingled with each other, [that is to say,] that which is the fountain of thoughts with that which is the vessel of the service of deeds, in order that from both of them there might be constituted a body of excellence, and that whosoever sought to belittle the body because it possessed not thoughts, might honour it because it was the ministrant unto deeds, and that the soul might be magnified in the sight of him that sought to despise the soul because it was not a ministrant unto the things which are good through actions which are manifest, because it is the fountain of the thoughts of the things which are good.
Now the lust of the spirit is hot even as the lust of the body is hot, but they are not of the one measure, for according to the subtlety of the soul also is the |551 heat of its lust, and according to the grossness of the body even so is cold the fire of the lust thereof, and if it be imagined that it is hot in the things which are carnal and lax, it is not because its nature is powerful and hot, but because their will is cold and lax. And thou must understand how much colder is the heat of the lust of the body, and how much hotter is the lust of the soul than the things which come upon both of them, for behold, when the lust of the body is set in motion in the members even the sight of the children of men cooleth it, and the rumour of a threat if it be heard, and a menace, of whatever kind, if it be uttered [p. 579] against it, and sudden amazement, and another passion which is contrary (if it be roused up in a man), and the rebuke and reproach of friends or neighbours, and the remembrance of the judgment of the children of men, and the remembrance of the infirmity of nature, and the thought of the deformities of the person by which lust hath been taken, and hunger and thirst, and unwonted heat and cold, and sickness, and pain (if it happen), and many other such like things when they happen quickly extinguish and destroy the heat of the lust of the body. But when the hot and spiritual lust of the soul layeth hold upon the thoughts of the soul wholly, there is nothing which is able to extinguish it, even as the things upon which the divine fire of this lust hath laid hold testify, that if the whole world were to fight with them it would not be able to quench the lust thereof. And kings, and princes, and governors, not by the threat of words only, but by tribulations, and cruel tortures, and imprisonments, and stripes, and prisons, and heavy penalties of all kinds, fire, and combs, and swords, and wild |552 beasts, and everything which could inflict pain and suffering by the tribulations of the time [have tried to do so], but nothing of all these and such like things was able to allay and cool the ardent power of this lust, on the contrary, it came to pass that these things became feeders of the fire of their lust. And like the fire which is fed with wood, and stubble, and the fatness of oil, even so also did the good lust which was in them receive food from afflictions and tortures; [p. 580] and when fire was brought nigh unto their bodies, the fire of the divine lust which was in them became the more strong, and burned the brighter----especially because it was overcoming things which were contrary, for that victory which ariseth over injuries is wont to fortify and strengthen a man in the love of that which he loveth. For when one lifteth away stumblingblocks from before him, and removeth the prickly thorns from before his feet, a man walketh easily, and he runneth his course without impediment, and when he hath subdued his enemies beneath his power, his might, moreover, becometh mightier, because that resistance which hath been removed from his sandals hath been added unto him, and that power which hath been taken from them turneth unto him.
But when the lust of the soul fighteth with the lust of the flesh, it not only cooleth the heat thereof, but it turneth it unto itself that it may be a ministrant unto its will, and be mingled in spiritual fervour, and not minister unto the lust of the body in the union with another. Moreover, for this reason the Creator made the lust of the body a hot thing----now the lust which is implanted in the soul is also a hot thing----and therefore every time that the soul wisheth to be |553 moved by the lust of its nature, it hath intercourse with the heat of the lust of the body, at the same time turning it towards its good desire, and thus it ministereth unto the good work, and not in this only, but also in each natural member. And when the soul wisheth to be moved unto the service of the things which are without, it draweth nigh unto the members which vivify its secret parts, and it seeth through the eye, and its heareth through the ear, besides through all the other senses and members which are the ministrants of its internal will; and as [p. 581] when it seeketh to lust with these it associated! the lust of the body with its spiritual lust, and it ministereth unto the work of divine love, and blazeth with the love of the life of righteousness, that the signs of the flame of this lust may also be visible in the external members of the body, not by foul motions, nor by the work of the service of foolish lust, but being hot, yet are they tranquil, and being fervent, yet are they peaceful. The heat of the lust which is mingled in our bodies must not be, therefore, a cause of defeat to us, but let us consider the object with which the Creator mingled it in us, and according to this rule let us make use thereof. But when the lust of the body is in a hot body it is contrary unto chastity, but when it is mingled with the lust of the soul it is a helpmeet to virginity; it is right, therefore, that the power of the lust should not be scattered without, but it should be gathered together and carried within to the lust of the soul, that when they are mingled together, each with each, like light with light, they may kindle one light which is perfect in chastity. Now the foods which each of these lusts hath are different from each other, for |554 by fasting, and abstinence, and watching, and prayer, and stripes, and bodily labours, the lust of the soul is added unto and strengthened, and by the things which are contrary, that is pleasures, and enjoyments, and delights, and meat, and drink, and fine apparel, and converse with the wanton and lax, the lust of the body increaseth and becometh set on fire in us; but it is not so if the body becometh meagre by works, for behold, by this the soul also becometh enfeebled therewith, but as the body becometh enfeebled the soul becometh mightier, and increaseth in strength, and especially because the soul maketh the body weak that it may become strong. Now there is a distinction between the body becoming meagre naturally, [p. 582] and the soul making it weak with the object of gaining possession of the strength of its nature, for when with this reason the soul maketh the body weak, and reduceth the strength of its power by afflictions, that is perfected with them which Paul spake, saying, "As the outer man is destroyed the inner man is renewed day by day."7 And for this reason also Solomon counselled us to begin to do the labours for the things which are good from our youth up, and to be trained in this doctrine from the beginning of our life, that we may overcome that which is in us, but which agreeth not with us, and that we should lead in subjection the lust which is the contrary of our lust; and herefrom every man, who in the time of his strength overcometh the feebleness which is in him, will be found in the time of his feebleness to be mighty, that is to say, if he taketh upon him in his early manhood the integrity of old |555 men, the strength of young men will be found in him in the time of his old age.
Take, then, O disciple, provisions for the time of thine old age from the field of thy early manhood, so that when thou ceasest from the labour of thy body thou shalt find rest of soul, for thou shalt not have war all the time of thy life, and thy Creator, having compassion upon thee, limited thy fight unto a determined period, but thy happiness He hath made unending. At the beginning and at the end of thy life thou hast no war, either because lust hath not yet been set in motion, or because having been set in motion it hath grown cold, and whether thou wishest it, or not, thou findest thyself worn out in the time of thine old age, and because of the weakness of the body thou art not able to fulfil thy lust, not that thou hast extinguished lust, but that it hath died down in thee. For the fire of the lust, which the Creator placed in the carnal nature for making the human race to fructify, towards the close of a man's life, |p. 583] in the time of his old age, becometh of none effect, for he cannot fructify during the whole period of his life; now he is unable to do so either in his childhood or in his old age, and in this respect he must be likened not to himself alone, but also unto beasts, and animals, and feathered fowl, and plants, the nature of which is not to put forth fruit after their kinds, either in their childhood or in their old age; for each kind is restricted, and the fructifying thereof is also laid under restriction, especially because the fruit itself is generated in and by the body, and therefore, like the body, it is itself restricted.
Now as the life of the body hath a limit, even so |556 is the strength thereof limited, although its power be not made known even during the whole span of its life, for as I have said, at the beginning and end of its life the body hath not the power of fructifying; but as concerning the soul, inasmuch as it hath no constitution it hath no old age, and the heat of its lust never be-cometh worn out, except the sickness of wickedness come over it. For as the body through the mingling of its component parts becometh old or weak, even so also doth the soul become sick and weak through sin, and through its feebleness it extinguisheth the heat of its lust, wherefrom it is unable to put forth fruit. Whosoever then maketh lust weak in his early manhood shall be found strong in himself in the time of his old age, and after he hath ended his war, his strength will abide with him. And this happeneth also to the warriors of the world who possess their strength, not only while they stand in the ranks of the battle and fight with their enemies, but also after the war hath come to an end [p. 584] doth it shew itself in them, and their strength doth not come to an end with their fight, even though its efficiency was shown to excess during the time of the contest, because it is helped by and ariseth from zealous feelings. And thus also, O thou who hast put on thy soul the armour of chastity that it may be the material of war against fornication, think not that the time of thy strength shall end with thy war, for on the contrary, at the end of the war it will be the more renewed. even though it be not to do battle but to work the things which are good. For with strength thou fulfillest two things: thou wagest war with fornication, and thou completest the edifice of chastity. For as the |557 workman, when an old building is given to him to restore, throweth it down with his strength, and buildeth it up therewith, even so also both the new building of thyself, and the throwing down of thy old building are completed with thy strength, for thou throwest down fornication, which is the path of all wickedness, and thou buildest up chastity, which is the pure path that goeth up to heaven.
And what wickedness is there which is not in fornication? and what abominable thing is there which doth not enter by the door thereof? If it be lust of the belly, fornication strengtheneth it; and if it be the lust for gold, it ministereth thereunto; and anger and wrath cleave unto it, and with them it fighteth against its opponents; grief travelleth at its heels, and shame accompanieth the fulfilling thereof; and besides, vainglory, which is thought to be the opponent of fornication, is the helpmeet of its abominable work; for how many times through it have many men turned towards the passion of fornication, which came after the conclusion of their labours, thinking that they had arrived at the haven of rest, because they were taken captive through their negligence of it? And it hath made gross their mind, and darkened their vision, which had been purified [p. 585] through the victory over the lusts of the body, and it hath turned them back to the lust of fornication which they conquered at the beginning of their contest. Therefore, he that calleth fornication the path of all wickednesses maketh no mistake, now I mean not only the fornication of the body, but more than that, the fornication of the soul, because with the worldly man adultery is the deed thereof, but with the coenobite it is the thoughts thereof; |558 and unto the worldly man it was said, "Thou shalt not commit adultery 8," but unto the coenobite, "Thou shalt not lust."
Now the war of the thoughts is entirely unknown unto the worldly man, and because of this he doth not overcome his lust with a mighty hand, but he ministereth thereunto according to the law, which is of nature; but the coenobite hath not this power, and his victory is not manifest in destroying the act of fornication, but in his victory over the thought thereof is his triumph proclaimed; for he is a spiritual soldier unto Christ, and his victory is also spiritually perfected in the thoughts which are within, and by his patient endurance he cleanseth the country of his soul so that when he driveth the thought from thence the whole house of his soul appeareth in the light, and where there is light the darkness of sin entereth not, because sin is wrought in the dark, even also as righteousness is wrought in the light. Let not, therefore, this destroying passion excite thee, and let it not have dominion subtilly in thy thoughts, for the material thereof is abundant with thee, especially when thou dwellest with the children of men, being increased at the remembrance of various persons, and through the beauty and appearance of the body.
Now because the lust of fornication is born of the flesh, it also lusteth after flesh, and as the lust of the belly longeth earnestly for various tasty meats, [p. 586] even so also doth the passion of fornication lust after persons of beautiful appearance, and the love thereof doth not rest upon any one of them, because it is not the children of men which it loveth, but the beauty of passion; but when the excitement thereof is |559 great, it doth not take its stand upon the beauty of the appearance, but it groweth and becometh strong of its own accord, and when it hath subdued the power of the soul inwardly, it overcometh also the patient endurance of the body outwardly. But if it be overcome by the body by watchfulness it turneth to fight against it by sleep, and during sleep it polluteth and filleth the soul with the remembrances of those persons which when it was awake were driven out therefrom, and it maketh a man to be overcome by sleep perforce. Therefore abstinence is necessary unto thee that through it thou mayest diminish the superfluity of the body, in order that not even through sleep may lust find material in thy members; for the custom of this passion is to fight first of all through the members of the body, and to move it to lust like an animal, but if a man possesseth discretion, and restraineth the motion of his members from the act, passion turneth and entereth into the thought, and exciteth it inwardly, that thereby it may stir up the members to the deed of lust also. But if it be overcome also by the thoughts ----now it is vanquished in any case when the thought looketh upon God, and patient endurance and abstinence are found therewith-----this evil passion next cometh unto sleep, and through sleep it fighteth against the patient endurance of the soul; but let us not leave this----if it happen unto us----unrepented of, especially if the forms [p. 587] of [certain] persons be depicted in our minds, for it showeth plainly that the passion is the remnant of wakefulness. And if the emission of the body take place without the appearance of certain persons it is because of the superfluity which is found in the members, for except the body be subdued by |560 abstinence the material of lust will be found in its members, and if it doth not feel at all that which taketh place it is [because] it is too deeply sunk in sleep. By all means possible, then, is the disciple bound to overcome passion, in deed, and in thought, and in the emission which taketh place in sleep, for that he is overcome in sleep is a proof that he hath not overcome in thought, and that he hath not overcome in thought is a testimony of his being overcome in deed, and therefore a diminution in food and a lessening of the time of sleep are of use, that superfluity fight not against the body and we be not overcome by an involuntary dream. For as this happeneth not even in sleep unto those who are weak and old in years, for the emission of fornication hath already been destroyed and dried up in their members, even so also the fornication of night happeneth not unto the body which hath been enfeebled through labours of abstinence, for even though the thoughts be set in motion, and devils excite [them], the material for the emission of lust is not found in the members. For solitaries fight against sleep even as they light against lust and meat, because sleep, like lust and meat, maketh gross the mind, and increaseth lust; but if a man offer food unto the body only because of the need thereof, and only allow it to sleep in a similar manner, according to the means employed he will be free from the passion of fornication; but even if his vigilance exist not in the wandering of the thoughts, [p. 588] but only in the mind which is collected, and which singeth psalms and prayeth, he must drive away this passion from the thoughts, and if it goeth forth from the soul it will not remain with the body. |561 "Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth" 9, the blessed Paul commandeth us, and if the members die according to the teaching of the Apostle there shall not be to thee in them a place for the motion of lust. For what can lust do in a dead body? That it is possible for the members to die the words of the Apostle shew, because he would not have commanded anything which was impossible, and as he said especially, "your members which are upon the earth," it seems as if we had other members in heaven, or from heaven, and this is what "Mortify your members which are upon the earth" meaneth. For since lusts are of the earth, they have dominion in the members which are of earth, but if we mortify these members by the patient endurance of fasting, and self-denial, and abstinence, and besides these things also by continual vigils, and the watchfulness of prayer, the lusts which are of earth are not received into them, for what have the passions to do with dead members? For the members of the new man Paul calleth "the members which are in heaven," and concerning them he spake, "they are from heaven," saying, "As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly." 10 Therefore the members of the new man he calleth "heavenly", and over these it is not right that passions should have dominion, for they [p. 589] befit them not, and they belong not unto them; how then shall the passion of fornication have dominion over the members of the new man who hath become one body with Christ? |562
Now I do not say that it is right for us to overcome this passion of fornication by reason of the greatness of the gift to us, and by reason of our exceedingly great honour only, but also because of the things which cling unto the passion, [I mean], shamefacedness, and grief, and repentance, and the want of freedom of speech, and darkness of the mind, and grossness of the thoughts, and disturbance of the reasoning powers, for all these things, and others like unto them enter in upon the soul in the train of the passion of fornication. But if we endure, and overcome, and set in our soul the beautiful image of chastity, after the victory over this lust the soul will immediately become filled with joy and with freedom of speech towards God and man, and it will delight itself in the pleasure of its thoughts, and will receive the light of Divine knowledge, and will also put on strength, and be filled with confidence. And the soul also will receive similar joy from this victory, which we are not able to express with words, because the soul itself is not able to express this joy with speech----for that which is acquired by deeds hath enjoyment in deeds, and the things which are acquired by speech rejoice in speech; therefore the victory over lust, inasmuch as it hath taken place through the might of the soul, together with the help of Grace and the happiness also which ariseth from the healthy condition of its nature and from the gift of the Grace of God, and which cometh unto it after the victory, is administered unto it conformably to rule. Now in that order, which is [p. 590] twofold, are the enjoyment and pleasure of the body, for sometimes it hath enjoyment from its natural health, and sometimes it receiveth enjoyment from foods and from things desired which are from without; and thus also it |563 happeneth with the soul, for sometimes while standing in the purity of its understanding and possessing its natural health it perceiveth the enjoyment thereof, and sometimes when it is worthy of the Grace of God, and of the contemplation of spiritual revelations, it receiveth this enjoyment. And it knoweth how to delight itself therein, and it feeleth the spiritual gratification which is shed abroad in all its parts; but there are no means whereby thou mayest reduce the enjoyment and gratification of spirit which it feeleth to speech or to the instruction of words, because it receiveth the taste of this enjoyment spiritually. Sometimes through the tastes of [various] substances and cooked things the body receiveth the gratification of eating, again through the sight of a person it is moved to the gratification of lust, or its sense of hearing hath pleasure from the sweet sounds of singing, and the various strains of music, or the body receiveth the gratification of pleasure from a soft touch; now because all these things belong to the body, and it hath enjoyment in them bodily and actually, a man is able to describe this gratification with words, and because corporeal things give enjoyment unto the body, and it is pleased with a material and embodied voice, so long as he pleaseth a man may speak of the gratification which may be derived from them.
Now because the enjoyment of the soul is not derived from substances, nor from the action of corporeal things [p. 591] and the corruptible things thereof, and because its enjoyment is derived from the spiritual contemplation of everything which it is able to feel when it hath acquired the health of its nature, it is unable to describe the gratification which cometh to it in words, but it hath enjoyment inwardly, and it rejoiceth invisibly, |564 because its joy is not of itself. For as the soul which, by its power, maketh the body to feel the enjoyment of everything is within the body, even so also is the contemplation of the spirit which is wont to give enjoyment unto the soul within the soul, and when the soul hath enjoyment thus, its enjoyment is natural, and according to the order of its nature it receiveth gratification, because the world of the soul is within the soul, even as the world of the body is outside the body; but when the soul hath enjoyment which is outside its nature, it deriveth it either from the body or from the world. And thus doth it happen unto such pleasure; it resteth satisfied either with the lusts of the body which can be fulfilled----either the lust of the belly, or the ministration unto the passion of fornication, or with those which it receiveth from the world ----praisings, and glorifyings, and sounds of singing, and the gratification of the bodily appearance of the things which are visible, in all of which, either through the body or through the world, hath the soul enjoyment---- and these give it enjoyment outside its nature, and it dependeth not upon its healthiness [p. 592] but upon its unhealthiness, for there are lusts which minister unto the health of the soul and body, and likewise there are lusts which minister unto their sickness.
Now therefore it is evident when the soul hath enjoyment in evil lusts that its enjoyment is outside its nature, and that it doth not enjoy quietly that which is seemly thereto, but that which is alien unto its natural health. For behold, when the body committeth adultery and performeth this act of transgression of the law, according to what it thinketh, the soul hath gratification therefrom; and again, when the soul fighteth |565 and overcometh the lust of its body, it completeth by God the victory with a fair aim and by the power of the discernment which it receiveth. And after this victory it also receiveth gratification as from the fulfilment of the lust, and from the victory over lust it receiveth gratification from both at once; but that gratification which it receiveth from the body----as I have said already so very many times----is outside of the order of nature, but that which accrueth unto it from the victory over lust, is natural gratification, and it feeleth this enjoyment like a healthy being, and lawfully and naturally it hath enjoyment in this gratification. And those who overcome the war of lust with a spiritual aim perceive what I say, and though they feel their enjoyment they utter not words concerning it; for how can they describe that in which they have enjoyment in an incorporeal manner? But since all the things of the spirit are not of the body, we must seek them in their proper place, and there will they be found, and where [p. 593] they are found there must they be enjoyed, and where their enjoyment is, there also is the joy thereof, the joy which maketh glad and is invisible, and with which also there is power.
And as in the former case when lust overcometh the soul it sheweth itself a weak and miserable thing clothed with shame, even so also in this case when the soul overcometh lust, it is after the victory filled with strength, and joy, and freedom of speech, and it possesseth an enlightened eye that it may see with full power the knowledge of the spirit which is mingled in all things visible; but as the things which fulfil the lusts of the body feel the gratification thereof, even so |566 also have the things which minister unto the spiritual lusts of the soul enjoyment of spiritual gratification. And as the sickness of the soul feeleth the enjoyment which ariseth from the lusts of the body, even so also doth the health of the soul feel the gratification thereof, and if a man seeketh to feel by words which can be written down what hath been said, he seeketh a thing which is both out of place and unseasonable, and the fruit which he seeketh he shall not find, because he seeketh not to pluck it from its proper tree; for as every fruit is found upon its own tree, and must be plucked therefrom, even so also must spiritual things be seen in their proper places, and these fruits which are the rational and spiritual gladdeners of nature are found upon their proper trees. Therefore after the victory over the passion of fornication the soul plucketh that spiritual fruit which gladdeneth [p. 594] and enlighteneth it, and whosoever seeketh it findeth it after his victory over this passion, a victory which must take place not only in the body, but also in the soul; for sometimes this lust fighteth against the body, and sometimes it wageth war with the thoughts of the soul, and so long as the fire thereof kindleth in the members, it fighteth not against the thoughts, for how can it fight against that which contendeth not with it? So long as the thoughts are subject unto lust and minister unto the will thereof, like a mistress doth it give commands unto all the members, and it fulfilleth all its pleasures absolutely in the country of the body with which it dwelleth. But if the mind becometh a spectator of itself and perceiveth that an alien rule dwelleth within the domain of its body, and that thievish and plundering passions dwell in its members, it straightway maketh |567 ready to expel them, and it beginneth to stir up a war to expel the strangers which are found in its house; and because unto the lusts their habitation is pleasant, they also fight that they may not be expelled, whence is set in notion the war of the thoughts against the thoughts, and with which side the strength is the greatest victory is found.
Now therefore, the lust which is in the members would accomplish the act thereof, but it cannot be fulfilled at all seasons, as it seeketh; but the lust which is hidden in the thoughts hath nothing to restrain it from being actually wrought except the appearance of God only, and therefore the prophet ascribeth "Woe" unto those who pollute themselves on their couches, and he exposeth the foolish thoughts of those who imagine and say, "The walls of my house surround [p. 595] me, and the shadow of my house hideth me, and he knoweth not that the eyes of the Lord are ten thousand times brighter than the sun, and that He seeth all the reasonings of the children of men."11 And although outwardly these words may be thought to have been spoken of the man who doeth iniquity upon his couch secretly within his house, and of those who fulfil their lusts in the dark in their habitations, being hidden from the sight of man, yet the words of the prophet rebuke especially that thought which committeth fornication inwardly within the soul, for instead of walls, the members of the body surround it, and instead of a roof, the vessel of the heart hideth him, and dwelling in this secret and hidden place he fulfilleth his adultery, thinking that he is seen by no man; and he fleeth not from |568 sin, but from the sight of man, and he understandeth not that there is nothing hidden from before the bright vision of God, for the sight of God who looketh upon hidden things is "ten thousand times brighter than the light of the sun". And as from the light of the sun nothing is hidden, for everything upon which he shineth he revealeth, and maketh to be seen by the sight, even so also doth the seeing Eye of the knowledge of God look upon the secret things of the children of men, and It looketh upon the thoughts which are concealed within the mind, and although the thought may not commit adultery actually, yet the Eye accounteth it an adulterer in will, and It judgeth it by its gratification, and not by its acts.
Now some gratify their lust in very deed, and some gratify it by a phantom; there is the adultery which taketh place in the body, and that which is fulfilled in the soul. [p. 596] It is manifest then, that whosoever driveth adultery out from the heart will not leave it in the body, for the thoughts are the roots of deeds, and as, if a tree be shaken from the roots. and the growth thereof which is embedded in the ground be loosened, its leaves wither immediately and its fruit drieth up, and its whole appearance is changed. even so also is it with the root of lust, for if it be shaken and loosened from the heart the external actions also begin to dry up immediately, because, like a root in the ground, the thought in the heart is also the nurse of external actions, whether of good, or whether of evil. And as trees grow and flourish in the water, even so also do actions grow through the moisture of the thoughts, and as plants which are set by the side of a spring dry up if it happen that the spring dry |569 up, even so also do the works of the lusts which are planted by the fountain of the heart, and which drink and grow therefrom, become parched, if a man blocketh up the fountain of the evil thoughts; for a man to cut off lust from the thought is a complete victory over the actions. To the lust of the thoughts no seasons are known, but at all seasons is it set in motion, and at all times it can be fulfilled, especially when it hath material from without to minister unto it, wherefore we must the more take good heed, and must look with wise discernment, and from whatever side lust looketh upon us there must we shut the door before it.
For lust is mingled in the motion of our life, and so long as life hath motion in our body, so long hath lust motion [p. 597] and movement therein; but as death putteth a stop to the motion of natural life, even so also doth it silence the motions of lust by the slaughter of the old man. If then through the natural motions of the body lust attacketh us, we must know that the suppression and subjugation thereof are necessary for the body, and we must remember the helpful words of the Apostle which he spake unto us concerning his own person, saying, "I subdue my body, and I bring it into subjection".12 And looking at this example let us also bring our body into subjection, and let us subdue the beastly lust which hath its motion and leapeth up therein, and let us lay upon it the weight of protracted fasting, and of little meat, and of little drink, and if these, when applied unto the body, are sufficient to subdue it, [well,] and if not, let us double and increase them; and if these also are not sufficient of themselves to bring it into |570 subjection, let us look for other things which are more severe than these, and let us apply them thereto. But the most necessary thing for this war is little drink, because lust----and especially the lust of fornication----is fed by moisture, and if moisture feedeth it, then the dryness which ariseth from little drink drieth and parcheth it up, even also as Gideon the warrior turned back from the war those who had knelt down and drunk their fill of water, and took with him to the war against the Midianites those who had drunk little, and who had lapped water into their mouths from their hands, [p. 598] And these things were not discovered and wrought by him only, but God commanded him to do thus, for when he had gathered together much people for the war to go up against the camp of Midian----which symbolizeth the passion of fornication ---- God commanded him to blow a horn to warn the people, and to say before them, "Whosoever is fearful and trembling, let him return;" 13 and by reason of this cry a multitude of the people who were with him returned. And from this it appeareth that not every man who was called to the war was fit for the war, and because there were still among them those who lusted after victory with ardent mind, although they were afraid of the labour which it involved, God told him to try these also, and after he had performed their trial by water he turned back from the war those who kneeling upon their knees had taken a long, full drink of water, because the satiety of water is useless in the war against lust; but the few who had drunk little in haste, lapping the water from their hands into their mouths, he took with him to the |571 fight against that camp which symbolizeth fornication, and that this is so, according to what is said, the history which Moses wrote testifieth, saying, "The people committed fornication with the daughters of Midian, and they took part in the sacrifices of their gods".14 Now all the things which happened unto them are a type of our own spiritual life, and everything which is written concerning them indicateth that which belongeth to us, even as Paul also saith, [p. 599] "Let us not commit fornication, as some of them committed, and there fell in one day four and twenty thousand".15 For when the war of fornication came against this sluggish generation which went forth from Egypt, it was not able to stand before it, but was conquered by the beauty of the daughters of Midian, and committed fornication with them, and in the track of this fornication a sudden pestilence had dominion over them at that time. Now in the case [of the Israelites] of old, the fornicators perished through a punishment which came upon them suddenly, and the passion of fornication was not destroyed in a regular way; but in the case of Gideon the governor, he did not destroy the fornicators, but only the fornication. And that he might do this when he was about to destroy this camp which had made the people of old to sin----in which, as I have said, a type of fornication is indicated----he took with him to the war against this passion the few men who had drunk a little water in haste, whereby they shewed concerning themselves that they were able to engage in the battle, which actually happened; and when he made them ready for the fight he made them take pitchers, |572 and horns, and torches, and they hid the torches inside the pitchers, and they took the horns in their right hands and the pitchers in their left, and immediately they blew the horns, the pitchers were broken, and the light of the torches appeared.
Now the sound of the horn is the mark of the commandment of God, Who crieth out against this passion of fornication in all His Books, saying, "Let us not commit fornication, as some of them committed";16 and "Let there be no [p. 600] man found among you who is a fornicator or a slothful, like Esau, who for one mess of meat sold his birthright";17 and, "Be not deceived, neither fornicators, nor adulterers, nor idolaters, nor corrupt men, nor those who lie with men, nor thieves, nor gluttons, nor drunkards, nor plunderers, shall inherit the kingdom of God";18 and, "Every man who is a fornicator, or unclean, or oppressor, or who is an idolater, hath no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God".19 And our Lord spake, saying, "Whosoever looketh upon a woman to lust after her, hath straightway committed adultery with her in his heart";20 and again James the Apostle said in his Epistle, "Whence come wars and strifes among you, except from the lusts which war in your members?"21 And again Peter saith, If a murderous lust come upon you, think ye that anything strange hath happened unto you? now ye are to be tried [therewith]";22 and again God with His voice cried out to the Jewish people, saying, "Thou shalt not lust after thy neighbour's wife." 23 |573
Now the blasts of the horns which cried out against the camp of Midian were a type of these holy words which were uttered against the passion of fornication, and together with the sound of the horns there was straightway the breaking of pitchers, for all the people were commanded by Gideon, saying, "When ye hear me blow [p. 601] the horn, blow ye also the horns, and break the pitchers, and let the light of the torches which are hidden in the pitchers appear",24 and all these things are a type of our own spiritual life. For by the sound of the horns were made known the Divine commandments, by which immediately a man maketh use of them with his own voice, and crieth out with power against the passion of fornication, this lust will be driven away, and be brought to nought by the Divine voice, and as in the case of Gideon when the trumpets sounded the pitchers were broken, even so also here at the hearing of the commandment is this lust of fornication broken and brought to nought. And as in the case of Gideon with the breaking of the pitcher the light which was hidden in it appeared, even so also here with the abatement of fornication the light of the knowledge of Christ riseth in the soul, and the three parts may be recognized thus: by the sound of the horn is symbolized the commandment of God; and by the pitcher which was broken the passion of fornication, the breaking of which is also as easy and simple; and by the torch which appeared at the breaking of the pitcher the light of the divine knowledge which riseth in the soul on the abatement of fornication; and these things will be readily accepted, especially by those who have had experience thereof. |574
Now this is the doctrine which Gideon's war sheweth unto us, and these are the types which it maketh known to us, and because of this lust, those who went forth to the ending of the war drank little water, and looking at them let us be like unto them. And whosoever fighteth this fight let him not drink water to the fill, neither let him fill his belly with food, [p. 602] and let him not be overcome even by the lust for common meats; and let him not be in the habit of filling his belly, but let him remember Esau, against whom an accusation was brought by the word of Paul, and he was called a "fornicator" and "slack," because he sold his birthright for one mess of meat.25 Now in this place Esau was not blamed by reason of the rarity and great costliness of the food, for the meat was of lentiles; but because of his laxity and because he was overcome by his lust and ate greedily thereof, he was called "fornicator" and "slack"; and very rightly did Paul call this being overcome "fornication", for how much more would the man who was overcome by the sight of a mess of lentiles be overcome by fair beauty?
Moreover, let us consider the word of God which was spoken unto the Jewish nation, that not only was adultery in very deed prohibited, but also the lust of the thoughts, for He did not say, "Thou shalt not commit adultery with thy neighbour's wife", but "Thou shalt not lust after thy neighbour's wife",26 and although their choice was according to that of youth, the commandment which He spake to them was perfect and full, for He warned them against the lust of the thoughts more than against the act of adultery. "Thou shalt |575 not lust, for unless I had lusted I had not committed adultery";27 and our Lord said, "Whosoever looketh upon a woman to lust after her, hath straightway committed adultery with her in his heart".28 For one looketh, and it is not for the sake of adultery, but he looketh and seeth in the ordinary way, but whosoever looketh that he may lust, this man is, in respect of his will and lust, an adulterer. And the two sayings, [p. 603] "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife", and that which was spoken by our Lord, against the adultery of the thoughts, agree, each with each; for in old time He said, "Thou shalt not lust", and here He saith, "Thou shalt not look to lust", for it is not the looking alone which maketh to sin unless it agree also with the will which is within.
For one man looketh to lust, and another looketh to see; now the ordinary sight of nature is of the eye, but the sight of lust is not only of the eye, but also of the will and thought; for if David had not looked, he would not have lusted; and if he had not lusted, he would not have committed adultery, for "He went up to the roof of his royal house, and saw a woman washing, and he lusted after her, and he sent and brought her, and committed adultery with her".29 If he had looked simply, he would not have lusted; and if he had not lusted, he would not have committed adultery.
Let us, then, shut the door of sight before lust, that the sight may not in the smallest degree depict phantoms within the soul, for for this reason lust setteth |576 itself in motion in our members in various ways, and it lusteth after various persons, and this happeneth unto it when the vision of God is not placed before the eyes of the soul; for if the remembrance" of God be found therein, all the memorials of the evil lust vanish swiftly therefrom, and it is not severed from the sight of that all-satisfying beauty in order to look upon corruptible beauty. For it will help us greatly to suppress lust if we consider the corruptibility of nature, and the other [p. 604] foul and loathsome things by which the conscience is polluted, which cling unto the nature of the body; and if a man look at their impurities they will quench the ardour of lust in no slight degree. And as the prophet of God, David, in suppressing the pride of human nature said unto it, "Man is like to vanity: and his days pass like a shadow";30 and again, to abate man's confidence in man, that no man, whoever he be, should bind his hope to his fellow man, he said, "Ye shall put no confidence in man, nor in a ruler, for there is no redemption in his hand. His spirit goeth forth, and he returneth to his earth, and on that day all his thoughts perish".31 And, moreover, let us act thus in respect of this passion of fornication: when it becometh hot in us, and disturbeth our thoughts, let us set against it either the remembrance of God and the fear of His judgment, or let us make use towards it of the repetition of the words of the Scriptures, or let us look at its corruptibility and weakness, and upon the diseases of human nature; for when a man looketh upon these wisely, and considereth the end thereof by the power of his soul, and he observeth the emission of seed and |577 the impurity, and the diseases which come upon the body, and especially the filth and corruption which exist in the members, and such like things which cleave to the body, he will be able through these to quench lust, and he will despise it, and treat it with contempt, because he seeth of what manner of things it hath need.
On the other hand, let him take heed unto [his] thoughts, lest when he looketh upon the corruption and foulness of nature it be not rejected in his sight, for he must not set these things in motion in him that he may despise them, [p. 605] but that he may suppress his lust. Moreover, if a fortifying example, and an encouraging sight be necessary unto him, let him remember the righteous men of old, not only those who have lived from [the time of] the revelation of our Redeemer onwards, but especially those who lived before His coming; for although perfection was not, as yet, delivered unto the children of men, and they were not worthy of the rule of the life of the world which is to come, yet even thus in their edifices chastity was esteemed more precious than marriage, and each one of them honoured holiness (i. e., an ascetic life) more than carnal union. And it seems that Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, who were the patriarchs of a race of believers, and [were] the mansions who received all the righteous, and who strove zealously in their faith and lovingkindness, lusted more after purity and the remoteness from carnal intercourse than after the marriage which continueth the offspring of the children of men. And again, after them Joseph the chaste, who although he was but a few years old, shewed by his forbearance the discretion of aged men, and having no teacher to admonish him, and no schoolmaster to enlighten, and no |578 father to protect, and no good example to help, the remembrance of God took the place of all these things for him, and he himself in deed fulfilled beforehand that which was spoken by the word, "I have set the "Lord before me at all times, that I might not be moved." 32 And although his master's wife was led captive by lust for him by reason of the beauty of his body, and was continually importuning him,33 to stir him up to the deed of sin, he learned beforehand the philosophy of the doctrine of Christ, [p. 606] and he resisted, that he might not be overcome by his lust, even though a twofold war was attacking him from within and without; for without, his master's wife was fighting against him with her beauty, and her words, and the incitement of her near presence, and within, the lust of the body was waging war mightily with him. And though standing between these two mighty contests, he overcame both by the power of his patient endurance, yet consider in what dire straits his soul stood at that season with the billows of lust, wave after wave, which had been stirred up by the blandishments from without beating upon it, but they overturned not the mighty rock of his patient endurance, for like a ship which is beaten about and shaken by the waves which dash upon it, even so also did the ship of Joseph's soul tremble and shake; but because the anchor of his soul was fixed above, in the heaven ---- according to the word of Paul 34 ---- and was not cast into the depth beneath, his thought was at all times lifted up to heaven, and was against the lust which was roused up against him. And he stirred up also the remembrance of God, and he was terrified at the |579 of His judgment, and he said unto her who incited him corruptly, "My master hath made me ruler of all his house, and hath kept back from me nothing, except thee who art his wife; how then can I do this great wickedness and sin against God?" 35 For to sin against God was more serious unto him than all harsh judgments, and all severe and cruel punishments, hence he was not prevented from sinning because of the judgment of God, but because he would not sin against God.
[p. 607] For what beating can make the soul to suffer----if it hath in it the perception of divine life----like the sinning against God? That a man should sin against God Joseph calleth "great wickedness," and in very truth the fall is great; the sin of a man against God hath no healing except by the Grace of God, even as the divine Book hath said, "If a man sin against the "Lord, of whom shall he entreat?" 36 Now the wise and chaste Joseph considered sin against his master----even though it were committed with his wife----to be sin against God, because the commandment of God would be undone by the transgression of the law of nature; for although the words, "Thou shalt not lust," and, "Thou shalt not commit adultery with thy neighbour's wife," had not yet been heard, yet the essence of the words was mingled in nature, because the words, "That which is hateful unto thyself, do not unto thy neighbour," were written in nature, and were inscribed by signs and by the act of creation of God upon the conscience of every man, that the law of every man might be within himself, and that he might not be able to say, "I have not as yet learned instruction, and I have not read and become |580 acquainted with the signs of the letters which were cut on the tablets of the heart by the act of the creation of God," and that as a man grew in his bodily stature he might meditate upon this instruction. And Joseph also, being only twenty years of age----now he was in this period of life when this war was stirred up against him----meditated upon these letters inwardly, [p. 608] and the instruction which he had received from them he proclaimed to his master's wife, saying, "How can I do this great wickedness and sin against God? 37 How can I condemn myself to do that thing from which I have separated myself aforetime? How can I condemn myself with that which hath appeared to me beforehand to be condemnation?"
Now that blessedness, which was ascribed by Paul 38 unto whomsoever should not condemn himself by that which he had set apart, Joseph fulfilled in very deed, and being [only] a few years old, he shewed forth a victory which was beyond his years; hence from him Moses took that which he spake, "Every one who passeth over in the number, from twenty years old and upwards, shall give the offering of separation unto the Lord." 39 Behold a helpful and encouraging proof for the disciple who fighteth against the lust of the flesh! although the cases are neither equal nor similar, for the promise of Joseph resembleth not thine own, and the divine dispensation had not set him apart to be a virgin and a solitary dweller, but a father unto a great nation, even as the issue of events shewed. And, moreover, he had not there before him an example, nor the pattern |581 of another man whereby he might be helped, nor the written law to restrain him therefrom----for Moses was not as yet named----and none of the prophets had spoken, and the commandments which teach the perfection of Christ our Redeemer had not, as yet, been heard in the world, and the ascetic life----which is itself a mighty subduer of lust----had not been discovered therefor, and he had not been prohibited from the sight of and converse with women,----which itself inflameth lust, but he, so to speak, waged war with the lust which was free, [p. og] that is to say, he fought with an unchained and destroying lioness, and by the new fight which is in the contest of patient endurance he obtained the victory. Now, therefore, to the coenobite, or solitary dweller, or whomsoever it may be who hath set himself apart by vow to God, to whom these things are spoken, there are many things which are helpful, and first and foremost is the covenant which he has made with God, for the remembrance of this alone is sufficient to teach us Divine philosophy; and together with these things is the dwelling in the wilderness remote and free from all disturbing occupations; and if moreover, to that dwelling of many or few there be walls which surround it, they preserve the recluse from the distraction of the world. So therefore, it is necessary for him that would shew himself conqueror in the war against this passion to keep himself free from converse with women, and from the sight of persons which move him to lust, for as the lust of the belly lusteth after various kinds of meats, even so also doth this impure passion of fornication lust after persons fair of face, and the lust thereof is fettered unto beautiful flesh; and in proportion as such a sight is remote from him, the remembrance thereof dieth within him, |582 and when he hath forgotten the forms he doth not henceforth commit fornication with them in himself. Therefore the habitation of recluses, and the dwellings of anchorites, and the [abode] of a society are not built merely that they may be guarded from the sight and converse of women, but that by reason of the absence of these things the mind may be purified, and find its strength, and that when it standeth in its own might it may engage in the war of fornication with [p. 610] fortitude; and if it happen that the war attack it, either by the incitement of nature, or by the instigation of devils, what then? Is not the remembrance of Joseph, who was young and in early manhood, and who was incited by his mistress to the abominable act of adultery, sufficient to make strong any disciple with whom lust fighteth? And in this case, if it happen that there be [to him] a victory, the praise thereof must be less than that of Joseph, because his helpers are many, and in proportion as the helpers of him that fighteth are numerous, so is made known his weakness.
And after the history of Joseph, the holy life of Moses was written, and the chastity of Joshua, and the abstinence of Samson and the fall which enfeebled his strength, and the rearing of Samuel, and the sin of David and the chastisement thereof, and the virginity of Elijah, and the poverty and purity of Elisha, and [the histories of] the famous companies of the sons of the prophets, who used to dwell in the mountains after the manner of monks, and who lived in patient endurance a life which wras alien to the world. And every example which was a teacher of chastity and virginity, was written down after the matter of Joseph so that he, who without an example had waged war and had vanquished, |583 might appear as the triumphant conqueror; but we are feeble folk and deserve all punishments, if after all these examples we stumble and fall.
Now the passion of fornication is, according to the teachings of the Fathers, a covering before the sight of the mind that it may not look upon Divine things, and as when a man spreadeth a garment over writing it will not be visible unto the eye to read, even so also doth this passion become a covering before the understanding so that it cannot perceive spiritual things, and not only when it is performed in very deed [p. 611] doth it darken the mind, but even when it abideth in the thought it deadeneth the soul therewith; so then it is right that we should first of all cleanse: the place of the mind, and then the members which are without will be preserved. For the lust of the members holdeth a middle place, and within is the power of discernment of the mind, and without is the sight which inciteth; if lust be obedient and subject unto the mind, it changeth it into the order of spiritual lust, but if it receive remembrances and grow from without, war is stirred up and it troubleth the purity of the thoughts, and in proportion as it weakeneth the mind, it is itself enfeebled, and all the carnal and sensual things which are of the world, and which make it to grow become the things which strengthen it.
Now there are some who fight and are defeated, and there are some who never wage war at all, for he that fulfilleth his lusts fighteth not, nor he that hath conquered his lust completely; the former because he never began, and the latter because he hath accomplished it; for it is wholly a war [which happeneth] between [these two things], and for this reason Paul calleth those |584 who had ended this fight, "dead," saying, "Ye are dead unto the law in the body of Christ, that ye might be married unto Another, Who hath risen from the dead, that ye might bring forth fruit unto God."40 And shewing forth the cause of the war which occupieth a middle place, he saith, "While we were in the flesh, the passions of the sins which were in the law were working zealously in our members that we might bring forth fruit unto death,"41 that is, "Those who live in the flesh are at all season overcome by lust, and bring forth fruit unto death, but those who are led by the law stand in the place of the war, [p. 612] and the law in which they stand is made a helper and a strengthener unto them." But when, in this intermediate place, they perfect the law and gain the victory, Paul saith unto them, "Now we have been discharged from the law, and we are dead unto that which held us fast; so that we serve henceforth in newness of the "spirit, and not in oldness of the letter."42 For in the new life there is no lust; and where there is no lust, there is no war; and where there is no war, there is made known that peace which our Redeemer brought into the world; so then the new peace appeareth with the new man, for it is this that is brought into the new life, and in this country there is no war of lusts, but as he who liveth in the flesh is without the perception of sin, even so also doth he who is led by the spirit stand in the impassibility of sin, for want of perception knoweth not that it hath sinned, but impassibility remembereth not sin. |585
Now the old man hath cast off his lusts in two places; in baptism, and in the grave. Whosoever casteth off his lusts in baptism is called unto the adoption of sons, but whosoever serveth them during the whole period of his life, and putteth them away by war in haste for the resurrection, is called unto judgment; and whosoever after his baptism is led in the life of the spirit, is in very truth a new man, for he hath not put on the oldness which he cast off by baptism. And this man hath no war with lust, because he is dead unto the world, for Paul said, "I had not known lust if the law had not said unto me, Thou shalt not lust".43 [p. 613] Whosoever, then, is led by the new man knoweth not lust, and he liveth not in the persistence, but in the impassibility of lust, even as did Adam before [the time of] the law which was laid down for him, for he knew not lust because it was not alive in motion, and the commandment brought lust into motion, and motion received the law, and the law said, "Thou shalt not lust"; now because he heard the words "Thou shalt not lust", he recognized lust, and he learned sin by the commandment which prohibited him from sin, which happeneth unto those who are overcome by the lust of the body. For when the words which are directed against lust and which recite its disgraceful forms, and its wanton ways, and its mighty motion are spoken, through these very words which are uttered to destroy lust, it blazeth the more, because by the tilings which are contrary thereunto they are led unto its help, and they are inflamed by its passion; and this also happened unto Adam----and happeneth unto every man who hath been |586 vanquished by lust----when "Thou shalt not lust" was said unto him, for the thoughts are wont to receive memories, and memories set lust in motion.
Now therefore, it is necessary that the disciple should be remote from conversations and sights that he may not receive memories, and that memories may not set the lusts in motion and disturb the thoughts; for when the mind is disturbed it is not able henceforth to see God. "Let not sin reign in your dead body, that ye may be obedient unto it in the lusts thereof";44 for if, according to the teaching of Paul, ye are dead----I mean those [p. 614] who live in the spirit----it is evident that the lust also which is in you is dead, and it is a disgrace to the understanding, not that it should be overcome, but even that it should wage war, and how can that which is dead wage war?
But these things will be understood with difficulty by those who have had no experience, and we do not write these things from our own experience, but by the power of the teaching of Paul [who said], "The law hath dominion over a man, so long as he liveth. For the woman is bound unto her husband by law so long as he liveth; but if her husband be dead, she is free from the law of her husband. But if, while her husband be alive, she live with another man she becometh an adulteress; but if her husband die, she is free from the law, and she is not an adulteress if she be [united) unto another man".45 What then doth the power of this proof seek? and what doth the Apostle teach us by these things? "Ye yourselves arc also dead unto the law in the body of Christ, that ye may be |587 [united] unto Another Who hath risen from the dead".46 [That is to say,] "So long as ye were members of the first Adam, who received the first commandment, ye were subject unto the law, but now that ye have become members of Another, that is to say of Christ, Who hath risen from the dead, the law hath no dominion over you, because He, Whose members ye are, is not subject unto the law, for, like God, He is above the law. When He was a man Who was subject unto the law, He kept the law, and fulfilled all the commandments thereof, and He went forth to that freedom which is above the law, according to that which was said by our Lord, If the Son shall make you free, [p. 615] ye shall be free indeed.47 But now that we have been discharged from the law, and we are dead unto that wherein we were holden, henceforth let us serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter."48
Now, according to my opinion, these words of the Apostle are evident and clear unto him that standeth in the life of the new man, and whosoever liveth this life is not a hearer of words, but a spectator of the power thereof, for the sight is more credible for being seen, and deeds are better understood by the doing thereof; for the things which are seen by the eye we recognize clearly, and so also those who are found to live the life of the new man become spectators of the words of the Apostle, and not hearers only, for he himself wrote not from the report of others, for he did not receive this doctrine from a man, or through a man, but even, as he said, ''By the revelation of Jesus Christ",49 |588 and it is well known that a revelation maketh plain things which are hidden. For as the sight of the eye seeth that which is manifest, even so also doth the pure mind see spiritual things, but purity of mind----as I have said many times----is [only] acquired by putting to death all the works of the old man. And well did Paul say, "The woman, so long as her husband liveth, is bound by the law",50 and as in a type, he calleth the soul which is not free from the works of the old man "woman", and the law to which she is subject "her husband", by union and obedience to which it is preserved [p. 616] from adulteries with strangers. But if it happen that its husband dieth----to whom it is holden by the law of bodily union----it is free to be [united) unto whomsoever it wisheth, even also as it hath happened unto the law through the freedom of Christ, for every soul which was subject unto it, being holden by the works of sin, was freed by the rule of Christ, and not because it kept the law doth it not sin, but because it hath intercourse with Christ, just as it is not prevented from wickedness by the fear of the penalty, but through the love of that which is good doth it serve it in very deed; because the power of the law is not as strong to restrain the soul from wickedness as a beautiful thing which hath power to bind it unto itself when it hath perceived the pleasantness of its task.
"Ye are dead unto the law in the body of Christ",51 or as if one should say, "Because ye are placed in another body, ye are free from the subjection of the law, for the dominion of the law is over the old man, |589 who had his beginning from [the time of] the transgression of the commandment by the first Adam, even as Paul said, The first Adam [became] a living soul. The last Adam [became] a life-giving spirit." 52 Therefore, since, according to the teaching of Paul, there are two Adams, the one who is led in the living soul and over whom the law hath dominion, and the other belonging to the life-giving spirit, who is above the law, well did Paul say, "The woman, so long as her husband liveth, [p. 617] is bound [to him] in the law".53 Hence the soul which is led after the manner of the soul is subject unto the law, but the soul which is moved by the living spirit is above the law, because the spirit which is the giver of the law is not subject unto the law, and those who are worthy to be led by the spirit are above the thoughts, and motions, and deeds of sin, and it is not because they fear the law that they do not work sin, but because they are dead unto sin.
"Ye are dead unto the law in the body of Christ, that ye may be [united] unto Another, Who hath risen from the dead".54 For as the members which are bound in the natural body feel only the pain or suffering which ariseth in their body, and if their body be healthy they enjoy the health thereof, and they neither feel the sickness which is in the body of others, nor suffer pain thereat, even so also the new members which are placed in the body of Him that rose from the dead, Christ our Lord, feel the spiritual life, and the true health which that body, unto which they are bound, hath acquired naturally, and they do not feel the passion of the sins which are in the body of the old man, even |590 as the body of each man doth not feel the sicknesses and diseases of another body. And although all the works of the old man prevent the mind from perceiving the life and rule of the new man, yet the passion of fornication [doeth this] more than all, and for this reason Paul said, "Every sin that a man doeth [p. 618] is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body".55 And here he calleth "body" the body of Christ, of which he hath been esteemed worthy to be a member, even as he said, "Ye are dead unto the law in the body of Christ, that ye may be members unto Another Who hath risen from the dead";56 and again he said, "The body is not for fornication, but for our Lord; and our Lord for the body".57 So then the body of him that liveth the life of the new man, according to the words of Paul, belongeth to our Lord, and as in the body of our Lord's Person there was no passion of fornication, even so also in him whose body hath become a member in the body of Christ it is not right that the passion of fornication should be set in motion, because it belongeth to the body of our Lord, which it hath become through a new composition, whence it cometh that the body should not be for fornication, but for our Lord, and our Lord for the body, [as Paul] said, for God raised up our Lord, and He raised us up by His power. For as God the Father raised up His Son from death to the immortality of another life, even so also have we all risen by His might, for as He after His resurrection no longer led our life, even so also we, who have risen with Him by His might do not live the life subject unto |591 the passions of the old man; and where it is not right for us to be led in the new life he bringeth straightway the words which are full of rebuke and teaching, saying, "Know ye not that your bodies are members of Christ?" 58 Now here [p. 619] Paul not only teacheth us, but he blameth us, and sheweth that there are no means whereby the member may live outside His body, for all the members which are set in the natural body are established thereby, and live therein, even as ye also whose bodies have become members in the body of Christ receive all your support from Him----life, joy, purity, holiness, chasteness from all wickednesses, impassibility unto sin, happiness, rest, peace, love, motion towards all things of the spirit, and finally all those things which the body hath to give unto its members.
Now if this be the life of the new man according to the law, it is not then by the power of the law which restraineth [from] wickedness that he worketh that which is good, but because he conformeth unto the order of Him that ordained it. For by the incarnation of Christ of the Virgin, He received the members of the body of His Person, and the fact that He became Man sheweth and maketh this plain; but in the birth from baptism which may be compared unto the birth from the Virgin, these members which were baptized came not unto Him by His incarnation, but by His dispensation, and each one of these which were baptized, being, in respect of his person, body and soul, and a man whose number is known, became a member in the body of Christ, even though this constitution is not so visible unto the children of men as was that which |592 took place by His incarnation of the Virgin. For in the former case the Son of God appeared openly out of concealment, and from being unembodied He shewed Himself as a constituted being; but in the latter case, from being men of the flesh they become men of the spirit, and each one of them from being in respect of his person a body [p. 620] of many members, is accounted in the body of Christ a [single] member which hath an invisible constitution, and is placed in the body in an indescribable manner, and he becometh a spiritual member in the body of God, according to the words of the Apostle, "Your bodies are members of Christ." 59
How then, can a member of Christ, through fighting, overcome lust? If the war of this lust [of fornication] existed in the holy body of Christ, there would be an excuse for them in that being members of that body they were disturbed by lust, but the Apostolic word doth not only command us that we shall not commit fornication, but that we shall not be receptacles of the passion of fornication, and that we shall be wholly and entirely undisturbed by lust and shall not fall in the war, for a dead person cannot fight, but life receiveth feeling, and feeling setteth lust in motion; but if there be no old life, there can be no feeling, and if there be no feeling, lust cannot be received, and therefore the war against lust cannot be. set in motion. For how can a man fight against that which existeth not? "Shall I take a member of Christ, and make it a member of fornication?"59 "Shall I take," he saith, as if one were to say, So long as it be placed in the natural body there are no means for it to become a member of fornication, |593 for so long as a member which is set in the natural body is in its place, it hath no means whereby it may receive life from another body, but only from its own body; but if a man cut it off from thence he is unable to [p. 621] join it unto another body even though that body be alive, for when it is cut off it leaveth its life with its body, and it remaineth dead and senseless in the hand of him that holdeth it. In this manner Paul saith, "Shall I take a member of Christ, and make it a member of fornication60?" as if one were to say, If it be taken from Christ, it cannot become a member of fornication, but if when it is in the body it committeth fornication----that is to say, if it become a receptable of this passion of fornication----it sinneth against all its body, that is to say, it maketh all its body to suffer. For as when one of the members of the body receiveth a blow the pain passeth unto all the other members of the body, even so also the member, which, being placed in the body of Christ, receiveth the passion of fornication, maketh the whole body to be sick and to suffer pain, and this is that which he saith, "He sinneth against his own body",61 as if one were to say, Not only because he causeth pain through the passion of fornication is it sin, but it also maketh the whole body suffer. For if the blow of him that smiteth the body of another placeth him under the obligation of sin, and the law commandeth that he shall be punished forthwith like a debtor, saying, "Blow for blow, burning for burning, stripe for stripe,"62 it is also manifest that if the member which is set in the body |594 of Christ be holden with the passion of fornication, it maketh sick the whole body, and for this reason Paul rightly said, "He sinneth against his own body."63
Now there is no other sin which knoweth so well [p. 622] how to defile the soul and body as the passion of fornication, and for this reason Moses also, in shewing the watchfulness which must be observed especially against this passion, said, "The man from whom shall go forth the seed of copulation shall be unclean;" 64 and he strengthened the blame to such a degree, that not only doth it defile him when it is set in motion voluntarily and he cometh unto the act of the adultery of fornication, but also by any way whatsoever, if it be that the seed of copulation go forth from him. And besides this there is another instance, for wherever he giveth commandments concerning the members of the beasts for sacrifice which are set apart to be offered unto God, he warneth them diligently that the two kidneys and the fat which is upon them shall be burned, and in no place doth he set apart these for the meat either of the priests or chief priests, but he committeth them unto the fire, together with the other members which are symbolized by the works of sin, [for he saith], "Take the fat, and the fat tail, and all the fat that covereth the inwards, and the caul of the liver, and the two kidneys, and the fat thereof, and burn them all in the fire;" 65 but with them all, and before them all, the two kidneys and the fatty parts thereof, which are the two passions of fornication and adultery. "And they shall burn the kidneys, together with the fat thereof;" now the fat is a sign of the |595 grossness of the mind, which doth not allow the odious sight of these passions to be seen.
So then the dumb law burneth the passion of fornication in the fire, and setteth impurity upon every man from whom, for whatever cause, the seed of copulation hath gone forth, and burneth also the adulterer and the adulteress 66 [p. 623] in the fire; and our Lord in the teaching of His Gospel not only cut off adultery, but also the thought which bringeth [a man] unto adultery; and Paul said, "Neither fornicators nor adulterers shall inherit the kingdom of God," 67 and again, "Whosoever is joined unto a harlot becometh one body with her, and whosoever committeth fornication sinneth against his own body;" and again he saith, "Shall I take a member of Christ, and make it a member of fornication?" and besides the words of the Scriptures actual experience teacheth those who are witnesses of their passions.
What disciple, who wisheth to live righteously and holily, will not watch against the fall which cometh of this passion, and receive with a living and wakeful hearing the voice of God which crieth unto us, "He ye holy, even as I am holy?" 68 And there would not, then, have been required from us by the commandment of God the holiness which is comparable unto His if it were not that He hath given unto us the spirit which sanctifieth us, and which becometh a soul unto our soul, and which maketh it to be led by thoughts which are not its own, and not to descend unto the gratification of the lusts of the body, but to be exalted |596 unto its own purity and holiness, and to receive its glorious ray, the purifier and sanctifier of its thoughts. For if old age and sicknesses suppress and extinguish this lust of fornication, how very much more should the healthy will which loveth spiritual things, and which longeth for Divine holiness [do thus]? Old age and sickness do not eradicate lust, but they enfeeble it, and cause it to sleep; but the will [p. 624] which is perfected in the Spirit, in the Holy Spirit, eradicateth lust completely, and it stablisheth man in impassibility, and maketh him to be moved in all his thoughts, and in all spiritual things, while it not only abateth in him the disturbance of the passions, but all the feeling of things which can be perceived. And as whosoever is holden firmly by the love of this passion hath the love of other things quenched in him, even so also whosoever casteth it away wholly and is entirely bound by the love of spiritual things cannot receive the feeling of the things which set this passion in motion.
But do thou, O disciple, because as yet thou hast not arrived at these things, meditate upon what hath been written above, and fulfil them in very deed; shut up the entrances of lust, which are external sights and conversations; and block up the fountain thereof, which is the natural passion and health of the body; and cleanse also the thoughts, which so many times become helpers thereof and set it in motion within the members. And if thou canst cut it off through these three things----that the thought think not thereupon, that the members be not moved thereby, and that it have no means of entrance from without----thou wilt remain at peace and without disturbance, and the course of thy ship into the haven of peace will be without |597 waves and storms, and the other things of profit will also be preserved therein, and through this thou wilt become a counterpart of heavenly hosts. And though thou standest in the body thou wilt be moved by the spirit, and being in one world, thou wilt lead thy life in another, and thou wilt perceive the cause of the coming of Christ into the world which all those who live in the body do not know, on the contrary they only hear the sound [p. 625] concerning His Mysteries and perceive not the power thereof. And may we not be deprived of the knowledge which perceiveth the power of these Holy Mysteries; and may we not be aliens unto the service of the Divine commandments; and may we never be shut out from the spiritual contemplation of visible and spiritual things; by the Grace of Him Who came for the redemption, and freedom, and renewing of all, Jesus Christ, the Only One, God the Word, to Whom be glory from all those who have received His redemption, and have perceived His redemption, and have become the intermediaries of His gifts in all the generations of the worlds of light, and of the countries of the Spirit, for ever and ever. Amen.
Here endeth the Thirteenth Discourse: which is on Fornication and the Lust of the Body. |598
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PRINTED BY W. DRUGULIN, LEIPZIG.
[Footnotes renumbered and moved to the end. Page numbers in brackets refer to the Syriac text in vol. 1 of the printed edition.]
1. 1 Compare Job xiv. 8, 9.
2. 1 St. Matthew v. 28.
3. 2 St Matthew v. 27.
4. 1 Proverbs xxx. 18-20.
5. 1 1 Corinthians vi. 19.
6. 1 Romans xii. 11.
7. 1 2 Corinthians iv. 16.
8. 1 Exodus xx. 14.
9. 1 Colossians iii. 5.
10. 2 1 Corinthians xv. 48.
11. 1 Ecclesiasticus xxiii. 19.
12. 1 1 Corinthians ix. 27.
13. 1 Judges vii. 3.
14. 1 Numbers xxv. 1.
15. 2 1 Corinthians x. 8.
16. 1 1 Corinthians x. 8.
17. 2 Hebrews xii. 16.
18. 3 1 Corinthians vi. 9.
19. 4 Ephesians v. 5.
20. 5 St. Matthew v. 28.
21. 6 St. James iv. 1.
22. 7 1 St. Peter iv. 12.
23. 8 Exodus xx. 17.
24. 1 Compare Judges vii. 17-20.
25. 1 Hebrews xii. 16.
26. 2 Exodus xx. 17.
27. 1 Romans vii. 7.
28. 2 St. Matthew v. 28.
29. 3 2. Samuel xi. 2.
30. 1 Psalm cxliv. 4.
31. 2 Psalm cxlvi. 3.
32. 1 Psalm xvi. 8.
33. 2 Genesis xxxix. 10.
34. 3 Hebrews vi. 19.
35. 1 Genesis xxxix. 8.
36. 2 1 Samuel ii. 25.
37. 1 Genesis xxxix, 9.
38. 2 Romans xiv. 22.
39. 3 Exodus xxx. 14.
40. 1 Romans vii. 4.
41. 2 Romans vii. 5.
42. 3 Romans vii. 6.
43. 1 Romans vii. 7.
44. 1 Romans vi. 12.
45. 2 Romans vii. 1-3.
46. 1 Romans vii. 4.
47. 2 St. John viii. 36.
48. 3 Romans vii. 6.
49. 4 Galatians i. 12.
50. 1 Romans vii. 2.
51. 2 Romans vii. 4.
52. 1 1 Corinthians xv. 45.
53. 2 Romans vii. 2.
54. 3 Romans vii. 4.
55. 1 1 Corinthians vi. 18.
56. 2 Romans vii, 4.
57. 3 1 Corinthians vi. 13.
58. 1 1 Corinthians vi. 15.
59. 1 1 Corinthians vi. 15.
60. 1 1 Corinthians vi. 15.
61. 2 1 Corinthians vi. 18.
62. 3 Exodus xxi. 25.
63. 1 1 Corinthians vi. 18.
64. 2 Leviticus xv. 16.
65. 3 Leviticus iii. 9.
66. 1 Leviticus xx. 10.
67. 2 1 Corinthians vi. 9, 15, 16.
68. 3 Leviticus xix. 2; 1 St. Peter i. 16.
This text was transcribed by Roger Pearse, 2003. All material on this page is in the public domain - copy freely.
Greek text is rendered using the Scholars Press SPIonic font, Syriac using SPEdessa, free from here.
Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
SOURCE SECTION: philoxenus_three_01_prefatory.htm
A.A.Vaschalde, Three Letters of Philoxenus (1902). Prefatory material.
A.A.Vaschalde, Three Letters of Philoxenus (1902). Prefatory material.
THREE LETTERS
OF PHILOXENUS
BISHOP OF MABBÔGH (485-519):
BEING THE LETTER TO THE MONKS,
THE FIRST LETTER TO THE MONKS OF BETH-GAUGAL,
AND THE LETTER TO EMPEROR ZENO;
EDITED
FROM SYRIAC MANUSCRIPTS IN THE VATICAN LIBRARY, WITH AN ENGLISH
TRANSLATION, AN INTRODUCTION TO THE LIFE, WORKS, AND DOCTRINES
OF PHILOXENUS, A THEOLOGICAL GLOSSARY, AND AN APPENDIX
OF BIBLE QUOTATIONS;
BY
ARTHUR ADOLPHE VASCHALDE,
Member of the Society of the Priests of St. Basil, Licentiate of Theology.
--------
A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE FACULTY OF PHILOSOPHY
OF THE CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY.
--------
ROMA
TIPOGRAFIA DELLA R. ACCADEMIA DEI LINCEI
PROPRIETÀ DEL CAV. V. SALVIUCCI
1902
FACULTAS PHILOSOPHIAE
N° 2.
TO THE VERY REVEREND
NOEL DVRAND
SIXTH SVPERIOR GENERAL
OF THE SOCIETY OF THE PRIESTS
OF SAINT BASIL
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BIOGRAPHY
The author of this dissertation, ARTHUR ADOLPHE VASCHALDE was born March 10, 1871, at Saint-Pons, department of Ardèche, France. After a preparatory trainingin the public school of his native town, he followed the academic courses at St. Barbe's College, Annonay, in the same department. Coming to Canada in 1888, he took up the study of Theology at Assumption College, Sandwich. There in 1892 he entered the Society of the Priests of Saint Basil. In the fall of 1893 he matriculated at the Catholic University of America, where he pursued the courses of Holy Scripture under Prof. C. P. Grannan, and of Semitic Languages under Prof. H. Hyvernat, and he received the degree of Licentiate of Theology in 1895. After teaching Mental Philosophy at Sandwich for five years, he returned to the University in 1900, to continue the study of Semitic Languages under Prof. H. Hyvernat and of Philosophy under Prof. E. A. Pace.
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PREFACE
With the heresy known as Jacobite Monophysitism are associated some of the greatest names in Syriac history and literature, such as Philoxenus (Aksenaya) of Mabbôgh (+ 523), Severus of Antioch (+ 537), John of Telia (+ 538), Jacob of Serugh (+ 521), Jacob Baradaeus (+ 578), and many others. Although this heresy was named after Jacob Baradaeus, the founder of the Jacobite Church, its origin can be traced to the reaction which, in the latter half of the fifth century, set in against the errors of Nestorius and Eutyches, and against the definition of the Council of Chalcedon respecting the existence of the two natures in Christ. Philoxenus was one of the foremost leaders in that great movement and, beyond question, the ablest champion of the new faith. The extracts from his works in the Bibliotheca Orientalis of Assemani and the recent publications of Guidi, Frothingham and Budge, leave no doubt on this point. Yet, outside of Budge's chapter on the creed of Philoxenus, but little has been written on the doctrines of the famous bishop of Mabbôgh, and, in our manuals of Church history and of dogmatic Theology, all the information which we possess about the life and teachings of Philoxenus is derived almost exclusively from Greek writers of the Byzantine period. |viii
Such information, however, ought to be supplemented by a comparison with the Syriac sources; for it is but fair to let the original documents speak for themselves. Hence, as a small contribution to the literature of this interesting subject, we give here for the first time the Syriac text and the English translation of three important letters of Philoxenus: the Letter to the Monks, the first Letter to the Monks of Beth-Gaugal, and the Letter to Emperor Zeno. It has been thought that these documents, if published and translated in their entirety and taken in connection with what has already been done, would throw more light on the doctrines of Philoxenus than could be obtained heretofore. To emphasize this method, an appendix has been added giving a concordance of the principal theological terms and expressions used by the author; this, we trust, will be useful to such as may wish to pursue the same course with regard to Syrian Monophysitism. In another appendix the Bible quotations, occurring in the text, have been compared with the Peshitta, following in this the laudable example of Budge in his beautiful edition of the Discourses of Philoxenus. To this we have added a list of the few words borrowed from the Greek, which occur in these three letters.
If circumstances permit, this work will be followed by the publication of other texts of the same author; in the meantime, this modest effort will be amply repaid, if it directs the attention of others to the necessity of studying Jacobite Monophysitism in the writings of those who are best qualified to speak for it, namely, the Syriac Monophysite writers of the fifth and sixth centuries.
It is now my pleasing duty to thank Prof. Hyvernat for the care with which he directed my Oriental studies, not only during the four years I spent in his Department, but also during the five years I was absent from the University. I am besides under obligation to him for placing at my disposal the |ix Syriac text of these three letters which he copied himself from the Vatican Manuscripts.
I may not close without expressing my gratitude to Prof. Guidi, of Rome, and to Professors Grannan, Shahan and Pace, of this University who kindly consented to examine this dissertation before it was printed and offered many valuable suggestions.
To Prof. Guidi I am also indebted for a description of Syr. Mss. 135, 136, and 138 of the Vatican library, and also for the anonymous notice on Philoxenus which he transcribed for me from Syr. Ms. 155 of the Vatican. He had also the kindness to read the proof-sheets of this dissertation and took the trouble to correct the Syriac text on the original Manuscripts in the Vatican Library, thus ensuring, even in the apparently most trifling details of punctuation, an accuracy too often wanted in similar publications.
The Catholic University of America,
February, 1902.
A. A. VASCHALDE.
[Blank page in printed text]
BIBLIOGRAPHY
ABBELOOS (J. B.). ---- De vita et scriptis Sancti Jacobi Sarugensis, Louvain (Vanlinthout), 1867.
ABBELOOS et LAMY. ---- Gregorii Barhebraei chronicon ecclesiasticum, 3 vol., Louvain (Peeters), 1872.
ASSEMANI (J. S.). ---- Bibliotheca Orientalis clementino-vaticana, t. I-III, Rome, 1719-1728.
BARONIUS. ---- Annales ecclesiastici, 37 vol., Bar-le-Duc, 1864-1883.
CANGE (Du). ---- Glossarium ad Scriptores mediae et infimae graecitatis 2 vol., Lyons, 1688.
The Catholic University Bulletin. Washington, 1895 sqq.
CHABOT (J. B.). ---- De S. Isaaci Ninivitae vita, scriptis et doctrina, Paris (E. Leroux), 1892.
DENZINGER (H.). ---- Ritus Orientalium, Coptorum, Syrorum et Armenorum in administrandis sacramentis, 2 vol., Würzburg, 1863.
DUVAL (R.). ---- Histoire politique, religieuse et littéraire d'Edesse jusqu'à la première croisade, Paris (Imprimerie nationale), 1892.
---- La littérature syriaque (no. 2 des anciennes littératures chrétiennes), e éd., Paris (Lecoffre), 1900.
FROTHINGHAM (A. L.). ---- Stephen Bar Sudaili, the Syrian Mystic and the book of Hierotheos, Leyden (Brill), 1886.
GIBBON (E.). ---- The history of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire, Milman ed., 8 vol., Paris (Beaudry), 1840.
GRAFFIN (R.). ---- Patrologia Syriaca, vol. I, Paris (F. Didot), 1894.
GUIDI (Ignazio). ---- La lettera di Filosseno ai monad di Tell'Adda (Teleda), Reale accademia dei Lincei (1884-85), Rome, 1886.
HALLIER. ---- Untersuchungen über die Messenische Chronik, Leipzig Hinrichs, 1892.
HARDUIN. ---- Acta Conciliorum, 11 vol., Paris, 1715.
HEFELE. ---- Conciliengeschichte nach den Quellen bearbeitet, d. ed., Freiburg im Breisgau (Herder), 9 vol, 1875-1890.
HERGENRÖTHER. ---- Histoire de l'Église, traduction de P. Bélet, 8 vol., Paris (V. Palmé), 1880. |xii
Journal Asiatique, Paris (E. Leroux), 9th séries, t. XIV, XV, XVI.
KRÜGER (G.). ---- Monophysitische Streitigkeiten im Zusammenhange mit der Reichspolitik, Iena (Pohle), 1884.
LABBE-MANSI. ---- Sacrorum Conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio, 30 vol., Florence, 1759-1792.
MAKIN (Abbé). ---- Les Moines de Constantinople depuis la fondation de la ville jusqu'à la mort de Photius, Paris (V. Lecoffre), 1897.
MARTIN (P.). ---- Syro-Chaldaicae Institutiones, Paris (Maisonneuve), 1873.
MIGNE. ---- Patrologia Graeca, vol. 67, 77, 86, 86 bis, 94, 108, 121.
---- Patrologia Latina, vol. 1, 2, 41, 48, 54, 58, 68, 78.
NEALE. ---- A History of the holy eastern Church; the patriarchate of Alexandria, 2 vol., London (J. Masters), 1847.
PETAVIUS. ---- Dogmata theologica, ed. J. B. Fournials, 8 vol., Paris (L. Vives), 1865-1867.
LE QUIEN. ---- Oriens Christianus, 3 vol., Paris, 1740.
RENAUDOT. ---- Historia patriarcharum alexandrinorum jacobitarum, Paris (Fournier), 1713.
---- Liturgiarum Orientalium collectio, a ed., 2 vol., Frankfurt on the Main (J. Baer), 1847.
La Revue Catholique de Louvain, Louvain, 1843 sqq.
RITTER. ---- Erdkunde im Verhältniss zur Natur und zur Geschichte des Menschen, d ed., 19 vol., Berlin (Reimer), 1822-1859.
ROTHSTEIN. ---- Die Dynastie der Lahmiden von al-Hira, Berlin Reuther n. Reichard, 1899.
SMITH and WACE. ---- A Dictionary of Christian Biography, 4 vol., Boston (Little, Brown & Co), 1877-1887.
TILLEMONT. ---- Mémoires pour servir à l'histoire ecclésiastique des six premiers siècles, 16 vol., Venise (F. Pitteri), 1732.
---- Histoire des Empereurs et des autres princes remarquables qui ont régné durant les six premiers siècles de l'Église, Venise (F. Pitteri) 1732.
VACANT. ---- Dictionnaire de théologie catholique, Paris (Letouzey et Ané), 1901.
WALLIS-BUDGE. ---- The Discourses of Philoxenus, bishop of Mabbôgh, A. D. 485-519, edited from Syriac Manuscripts of the sixth and seventh centuries in the British Museum, with an English translation. Vol. I, Syriac text; vol. II, Introduction, translation, etc. London (Asher & Co), 1894.
WRIGHT (W. J.). Catalogue of the Syriac Manuscripts in the British Museum acquired since the year 1838, t. I-III, London, 1870-1872.
---- Article Syriac Literature in the Encyclopedia Britannica, 9th ed. ( d edit., a short History of Syriac Literature, London, A. Ch. Black, 1894).
---- The Chronicle of Joshua the Stylite, Cambridge, 1882. Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft, Leipzig, vol. 30, 35, 53.
ZOTENBERG (H.). ---- Catalogue des Manuscrits Syriaques et Sabéens de la Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris (Imprimerie nationale), 1874. |xiii
CONTENTS
PART FIRST
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER I. ---- THE LIFE OF PHILOXENUS.
1. Sources 1
2. Early Life of Philoxenus 3
3. Philoxenus at Edessa 6
4. His Struggle with Calandion 9
5. His Appointment to Mabbôgh 13
6. His Struggle with Flavian 15
7. His Exile and Death 19
8. Various Judgments on Philoxenus 20
CHAPTER II. ---- THE PUBLISHED WORKS OF PHILOXENUS.
9. The Discourses and other Texts 25
10. The Letter to Abu-Nafir 29
11. The Letter concerning Stephen Bar Sudaili 33
12. The Letter to the Monks of Teleda 34
CHAPTER III. ---- THE DOCTRINES OF PHILOXENUS.
A) His Doctrine on the Incarnation.
13. General Considerations 38
14. Philoxenus and Nestorius 40 |xiv
15. Heresy of Nestorius. 41
16. The Word Qeoto&koj 42
17. Communicatio Idiomatum 44
18. Union of the Natures 46
19. Consequences of Nestorius' Theory 47
20. Philoxenus and Eutyches 50
21. Heresy of Eutyches 51
22. Manner of Union 53
23. Monotheletism 56
24. Reality of the Body of Christ 57
25. Other Consequences of the Eutychian Theory 61
26. Theory of Philoxenus on the Sufferings of Christ 66
27. Summing up of the Doctrine of Philoxenus 68
28. Philoxenus and Original Sin 69
29. Philoxenus and the Blessed Virgin 70
B) His Doctrine on the Trinity.
30. Three Persons and one Nature 71
31. Equality and Consubstantiality of the Persons 72
32. Eternal Generation of the Son 73
33. Procession of the Holy Ghost 74
C) His Doctrine on the Real Presence.
34. [Our Lord really present in the Holy Eucharist] 76
PART SECOND
CHAPTER I.
35. Description of the Manuscripts 81
CHAPTER II. ---- INTRODUCTION TO THE THREE LETTERS.
A.
36. The Letter to the Monks: Title, date, analysis 83
B.
37. The first Letter to the Monks of Bêth-Gaugal: Title, date, analysis 87
C.
38. The Letter to Zeno: Title, date, analysis 90
CHAPTER III. ---- ENGLISH TRANSLATION.
A.
The Letter to the Monks 93
B.
The first Letter to the Monks of Beth-Gaugal 105
C.
The Letter to Zeno 118
PART THIRD
SYRIAC TEXT.
A.
The Letter to the Monks 127
B.
The first Letter to the Monks of Beth-Gaugal 146
C.
The Letter to Zeno 163
APPENDICES.
I. An anonymous Notice on Philoxenus 175
II. Theological Glossary 177
III. Bible Quotations compared with the Peshitta and the Codex Sinaiticus 183
Greek words occurring in the three letters 190
Note to the online text: Part Third is omitted.
This text was transcribed by Roger Pearse, 2003. All material on this page is in the public domain - copy freely.
Greek text is rendered using the Scholars Press SPIonic font, free from here.
Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
SOURCE SECTION: philoxenus_three_02_part .htm
A.A.Vaschalde, Three Letters of Philoxenus (1902). pp.1-80. Part 1.
A.A.Vaschalde, Three Letters of Philoxenus (1902). pp.1-80. Part 1.
PART FIRST
INTRODUCTION.
CHAPTER I. THE LIFE OF PHILOXENUS.
Sources.
1. The material available for a biography of Philoxenus is not very abundant. Little is known, especially of his early life. Yet he was a prominent leader in the great movement which took place in Syria in the fifth and sixth centuries against the doctrines of Nestorius and Eutyches, and against the decrees of the Council of Chalcedon, a movement which resulted in the peculiar heresy known by the name of Monophysitism in specie (1) or Jacobite Monophysitism (2).
The few facts which we possess regarding Philoxenus' career are derived from sources which may be divided into two classes: Syriac and non-Syriac. The principal non-Syriac sources consist of short passages in the works of Theodore the Reader (3), |2 Victor Tununensis (4), Evagrius (5), Theophanes (6), and Cedrenus (7). These writers, however, do not always present independent testimony, for some of them often merely copied their predecessors (8).
The Syriac sources are also very fragmentary. The Vatican Syriac Ms. 155 (Codex Syr. noster XVI of Assemani) contains a biographical notice on Philoxenus by an unknown author. This is the document from which Assemani took the four extracts he gives in his sketch of Philoxenus' life (B. O., II, pp. 10, 13, 17, 20) (9). We publish it in extenso in Appendix I, and shall refer to it as the Anonymous Notice. It does not add much to what we already know. Scattered bits of information about Philoxenus are found here and there in Syriac authors, especially in the Letter of Simon of Beth-Arscham concerning Barsauma, bishop of Nisibis (10), in the Edessene Chronicle (11), in the so-called Chronicle of Joshua the Stylite (12), in the writings of Jacob of Edessa (13), and in the Ecclesiastical History of Bar-Hebraeus (14). The published writings of Philoxenus and the three letters which, for the first time, are given in this dissertation, supply us with a few important data, and it is probable that much valuable information might be gathered from his other works, but, unfortunately, they still remain unedited. |3
It is not within the scope of the present chapter to discuss all the different sources which have been enumerated; but it is sufficient to show that the information which we obtain from Syriac documents and from the writings of Philoxenus himself, sometimes confirms or supplements, and sometimes corrects or contradicts the testimony derived from non-Syriac sources.
Early Life of Philoxenus.
2. We are entirely ignorant of the year of the birth of Philoxenus; but as he studied at Edessa in the time of Ibas (15), bishop of that city from 435 to 457 (16), and was still living in 522 (17), it is safe to assume that he was born in the second quarter of the fifth century.
Theodore the Reader, Evagrius, and after them, Theophanes and Cedrenus, inform us that Philoxenus was of Persian origin (18). Their testimony is confirmed by Simon of Beth-Arscham and by the writer of the anonymous notice. They give the additional information that Philoxenus was born at Tahal, a village in the province of Beth-Garmai (19). The anonymous notice says: «Philoxenus, bishop of Mabbôgh, wise in God and illustrious by his science, is the same as Mär Aksenäyä who is famous for his writings. He was born in the village of Tahal, in the country of the Persians»(20). Nothing is known of his |4 parents; he had a brother named Addai who studied with him at Edessa(21).
In a fragment of Theodore the Eeader (22), it is related that some bishops from Persia visited Philoxenus after he had been appointed to the see of Mabbôgh, and recognized in him a slave who had run away from his master and had never been baptized. This they told to Peter the Fuller who had consecrated him bishop; but Peter, caring little what ought to be done, replied that the episcopal consecration was sufficient to take the place of baptism. This accusation is also made by Theophanes (23) and Cedrenus (24), and, in modern times, is repeated by the judicious Tillemont (25) and the learned Le Quien (26).
We have no means of determining whether Philoxenus was born a slave or a free man; but there is abundant proof that he was baptized. The testimony of Theophanes and Cedrenus, and the opinion of Tillemont and Le Quien, need not be considered here, for they evidently rest on the authority of Theodore. Now Theodore gives his information on mere hearsay, and does not confirm it by any written or public document. He says: «Concerning him (Philoxenus), I shall relate in part many things which I learned from different men through diligent inquiry» (27). Evagrius does not say that Philoxenus was unbaptized, and his silence is very eloquent here, for he had received his information concerning Philoxenus from old men who had seen with their own eyes, and remembered well everything that happened in Antioch in the days of Flavian, with whom Philoxenus |5 was continually at war (28). Again, the monks of Palestine, in their famous letter to Alcison, bishop of Nicopolis in Illyria, accuse Philoxenus of various crimes, but they make no allusion to the question of his baptism (29).
But, besides this negative evidence, it can be shown from Philoxenus' own writings that he had received the sacrament of baptism. In his Letter to Zeno, he says: «I was baptized, therefore, in the name of Him Who died, and I confess that He in Whose name I was baptized, died for me, and I believe that I have put on in baptism Him in Whose name and in Whose death I was baptized, according to the words of Paul. For I have put on spiritually in the waters (of baptism) the Spiritual Being Who became corporal, and I confess that He Who, living, experienced death in the flesh, is He Who raises (the dead) and gives life»(30). And again, in the same letter, he writes: «In saying anathema to these doctrines (of Nestorius and Eutyches), I act according to the Holy Books, and adhere to the tradition of the Fathers from whom I have received the true and apostolic faith, that faith by which I have been found worthy, with all the baptized, of life, of freedom, and of adoption» (31). We have no reason then to doubt the fact of Philoxenus' baptism, Assemani is probably right when he says that the assertion of Theodore the Reader is a calumny invented by the orthodox, «ab orthodoxis in odium flagitiosissimi hominis adjectum fuisse»(32); and, as this last sentence shows, Assemani cannot be suspected of partiality towards Philoxenus. |6
Philoxenus at Edessa.
3. At a comparatively early age Philoxenus, accompanied by his brother Addai (33), came to the Persian school of Edessa which was then, and had been from the time of its foundation in 363, the most prominent center of intellectual and literary activity among the Syrians (34). St. Ephrem taught ten years there (363-373) (35), and in its halls were trained some of the greatest masters of Syriac literature (36). As may be inferred from the many Syriac translations from the Greek which have come down to us, the writings of the Greek Fathers (37) and the teachings of Aristotle (38) were held in high esteem by that famous school, and the influence of both on Philoxenus is plainly noticeable (39). |7 It is there that he became acquainted with the patristic lore of the age, and especially with the works of Cyril of Alexandria for whom he always professed the greatest admiration. His knowledge of the Fathers must have been considerable, for in his treatise «How One Person of the Holy Trinity became incarnate and suffered for us», he quotes passages not only from SS. Ephrem and Cyril, but also from St. John Chrysostom, Eusebius of Emesa, Alexander and Theophilus of Alexandria, St. Athanasius, St. Basil, St. Gregory of Nazianzen and Atticus of Constantinople (40). It is partly from the works of those great masters that Philoxenus derived the wealth of theological terms and expressions for which his writings are remarkable. These terms and expressions do not imply a servile imitation of Greek literature, for his style and vocabulary are distinctly Syriac (41); they rather account for his deep knowledge of the principal religious works of the times, and his wonderful power and skill as a controversialist.
Philoxenus was influenced also by the philosophy of Aristotle. As the examination of his doctrines will show, his theological opinions reflect the tendencies of the school of Antioch, in which the teachings of the Stagyrite held sway, no less than those of the school of Alexandria which recognized Plato as its master. This is particularly true of his views on the Incarnation. Like the Alexandrian Monophysites, he admits only one nature in Christ after the union and dwells on the mysterious union of the two natures and on the necessity of faith in all |8 questions relating to the Incarnation of the Son of God; but, with the followers of the school of Antioch, he insists on the reality of Christ's humanity and its consubstantiality with ours, rejects the Gnostic and Eutychian theories on the origin of the body of the Lord, and teaches explicitly that Christ suffered in the flesh, that is, only in so far as He became man. Indeed, he hurled anathemas against Eutyches as freely as he did against the Nestorians and against the Catholics who received the decrees of the Council of Chalcedon.
But the school of Edessa was more than a home of science and literature; it had become the center of the religious polemics of the times. Naturally enough, it could not remain indifferent to the great christological questions which occupied the minds of both the clergy and the people, and which were discussed with as much ardor in the imperial palace at Constantinople as in churches and monasteries. Nestorian opinions were being spread broadcast and found their way into this famous school. St. Rabbula, who was bishop of Edessa from 412 to 435 (42), after having, according to some, looked with favor upon the new doctrines (43), fought with energy against them as soon as he understood that they were subversive of Catholic faith. He was one of the strongest supporters of Cyril of Alexandria at the Council of Ephesus (431) (44), and he translated into Syriac (45) Cyril's De recta fide in Dominum Nostrum J. C., which he distributed on all sides in the hope of checking the progress of error. But the seeds of the new heresy had taken deep root. Rabbula's successor, Ibas (435-457), was openly favorable to Nestorius. In collaboration with Koumi, Probus, and Mane, all disciples of the Persian school, he had, in his youth, translated |9 the works of Theodore of Mopsuestia and of Diodorus of Tarsus (46); and when Philoxenus came to Edessa, the great school had become a hotbed of Nestorianism and remained such up to the time of its destruction by order of Emperor Zeno in 489 (47).
However, not all the students shared the opinions of Ibas. Among those who disagreed with Mm, Simon of Beth-Arscham mentions Philoxenus of Mabbôg, and his testimony is well borne out by Philoxenus' subsequent career, for, during more than sixty years, he waged an incessant war against the doctrines of Nestorius. Under the name of Nestorians he also included Catholics and all those who maintained two natures in Christ; for, confounding the notions of nature and person, he did not admit a middle course between the Nestorian heresy and the Catholic doctrine. This explains why, in the same breath, he anathematizes not only Nestorius and Ibas, but also Pope Leo I, Leo's dogmatic epistle to Flavian of Constantinople, and the definition of the Council of Chalcedon (48), He refers to Catholics as the Nestorian heretics (49), for not admitting two persons as well as two natures in Christ.
His Struggle with Calandion.
4. But Philoxenus, as he tells us in his Letter to the Monks (50), did not keep his faith to himself. It is probable that, |10 after his departure from the Persian school, he travelled through Northern Mesopotamia and the Osrhoene province, spreading his Monophysite doctrines and enlisting the sympathy and help of those who agreed with him. The fact that he wrote letters to the Monks of Amid (51), of Arzun (52), and of Senun (53), would confirm this view, and such is also the inference which may be drawn from his first Letter to the Monks of Bêth-Gaugal, one of the many monasteries in the neighborhood of Amid (54). This important letter, as will be shown later on, was written in the year 485. It proves beyond all doubt that Philoxenus was well known by the monks there. The tone of the letter, the nature of its contents, the praises which he bestows upon their labors on behalf of truth, and the bitterness with which he speaks of his enemies, show not only that the Monks of Bêth-Gaugal agreed with him on matters of doctrine, but that he had in them willing and powerful allies ready to help his cause and to further his plans. However the labors of Philoxenus were not confined to the territory around Edessa and Amid. He must have come west of the Euphrates into Syria Prima before the year 485; for, according to Theodore the Reader, Evagrius, Theophanes, and Cedrenus, he was expelled from Antioch by the patriarch Calandion |11 (482-485), for corrupting the doctrines of the Church and disturbing the villages near the great city (55).
We have here a manifest allusion to his proselytizing work on behalf of Monophysitism and to the crusade he had already undertaken against the Nestorians and against the adherents of the Council of Chalcedon. The times were indeed favorable to his schemes. Zeno and Acacius, patriarch of Constantinople, were at war with the Holy See. The famous Henoticon of 482, which was to restore unity to the divided churches, had become a decree of discord (56). It offended the Catholics, because it spoke in equivocal terms of the faith of the Fathers of Chalcedon; and it did not satisfy the extreme Eutychians, because it did not condemn explicitly the doctrine of the two natures. The proud Acacius acted as if the pretensions of the 28th canon of Chalcedon, which made Constantinople the second see of the catholic world (57), had been recognized by Rome. He persuaded Zeno to depose John Talaia from the see of Alexandria and to appoint Peter Mongus in his stead (58). Contrary to the discipline of the Church, he appointed the heretic bishop, John Codonatus, to the diocese of Tyre, thereby usurping the rights of the patriarch of Antioch (59). Moreover, he endeavored to induce all the bishops of the East to sign the Henoticon and to communicate with Mongus (60). Deaf to the remonstrances of the Holy See, he was excommunicated by Felix III (61), and his excommunication marked the beginning of the Eastern schism (484-519) during which Constantinople was cut off from the communion of Rome. |12
Such a deplorable condition of affairs helped Philoxenus' designs. Besides, he had grievances of his own against Calandion. This holy patriarch was a zealous defender of the decrees of the Council of Chalcedon; he persistently refused to sign the Henoticon of Zeno (62); he would not separate himself from the communion of Rome nor acknowledge the usurper Mongus as the lawful patriarch of Alexandria (63); he had inserted the words «Christ King» into the Trisagion of Peter the Fuller, so as to refer the crucifixion explicitly to Christ alone (64); in a word, Calandion was then one of the standard bearers of the Catholic faith in Syria, and a staunch opponent of Monophysitism. Philoxenus, who had already espoused the cause of the Monophysites, became his bitter enemy. Nor was he alone in the struggle. It is indeed very probable that he was assisted by the monks of Teleda (65), and of Mar Bassus (66), two famous monasteries in the neighborhood of Antioch. We know from his letters to the Monks of Teleda and of Senün, that he had been in the monasteries of Mar Bassus and of Teleda, where the monks shared his opinions. It is possible that he was making an active propaganda among them. At any rate, Calandion, discerning in him an enemy of the faith and a disturber of the peace of the Church, expelled him from his diocese (67). But this triumph was not of long duration; for, under pretext of having favored Leontius in his revolt against Zeno, but in reality for refusing to sign the Henoticon (68) and to communicate with Mongus (69), Calandion |13 was banished to Egypt and the see of Antioch passed for the third time into the hands of Peter the Fuller (70).
After this, it would be natural to suppose that Philoxenus was connected in some way with the deposition of Calandion. His first Letter to the Monks of Beth-Gaugal seems to warrant this supposition. He says: «And the same friend of Christ (the Emperor) has openly declared that he gained the victory over his enemies with (the help of) your prayers, and he is ready to give us ample reward for the work which we have undertaken for the peace of the churches, and to drive away from them the enemies of the Cross» (71).
His Appointment to Mabbôg.
5. The nature of the reward to which Philoxenus alludes here can only be a matter of conjecture. It is worthy of notice, however, that in the year 485, shortly after the exile of Calandion and the intrusion of Peter the Fuller into the see of Antioch, Philoxenus was, by the latter, consecrated bishop and appointed to the diocese of Hierapolis or Mabbôgh (72) in the |14 patriarchate of Antioch. It was on this occasion that his name was changed from Aksenäyä to Philoxenus (73).
The anonymous notice (74) places Philoxenus' consecration in the year 800 of the Greeks (A. D. 488), but this is certainly an error. Church historians (75) agree in saying that Philoxenus came to Mabbôgh in 485, and their testimony is confirmed by a passage in Philoxenus' Letter to the Monks of Senün written in the year 522 from Philippopolis in Thrace, where he had been exiled by Justin. Speaking of Alexander, his successor in the see of Mabbôgh, he says: «The clergy and the monks of our city have been ordered by him who rules over them to accept his (Alexander's) faith. As to our faith, which is that of Peter and of the Apostles, and which during thirty-four years I have preached to them in all ecclesiastical assemblies, they are commanded by him to look upon it as the heresy of the Manicheans» (76). From the Edessene Chronicle (77) we know that Philoxenus was exiled in the second year of Justin (519). If we subtract thirty-four from this latter date, we get 485 as the year of his appointment to Mabbôgh. It was probably in the same year that he accepted the Henoticon which, under the reigns of Zeno and Anastasius, had to be signed by all the bishops of the East under penalty of exile (78), and which was then, as Tillemont remarks, the only door to the episcopate (79).
Very little is known concerning the next thirteen years of Philoxenus' life. There is no doubt that he continued his opposition to the doctrines of Nestorius and Eutyches and propagated his religious views in his vast province. It is also |15 possible, as Budge observes, that during this time «he wrote parts or all of many of the works which have made his name so famous among Monophysite writers» (80). The Letter to Zeno was written probably in 485 when he signed the Henoticon. The Discourses on Christian life and character were composed, according to Budge (81), between 485 and 500. We may also place within the same period the beginning of his translation of the Bible which was published at Mabbôgh in 508 (82). His discourses show that in the midst of turmoil and strife he found time for meditation and study; they contain no allusion whatever to the disputes and controversies in which he was engaged for the greater part of his life.
According to the so-called Chronicle of Joshua the Stylite (83), Philoxenus was in Edessa in May 498. The Saturnalia were being celebrated there for the second time. During seven days the citizens gave themselves up to all kinds of games and pleasures with the consequence that prayer and divine service were neglected. The pious author of the Chronicle remarks that Philoxenus preached only one day against the scandal, though he especially should have taken upon himself the duty of instructing the people.
His Struggle with Flavian.
6. In the year 498 Palladius, the Monophysite patriarch of Antioch, died and was succeeded by Flavian II. The latter passed for being an opponent of the Council of Chalcedon (84), and this is probably the reason why he was appointed by |16 Anastasius to that important see. After his accession, however, he declared himself in favor of the Council, renounced the communion of the patriarch of Alexandria (85), and united himself with Macedonius of Constantinople and with Elias of Jerusalem. This change of policy drew upon him the opposition of Philoxenus, and thus began between the two a struggle which, with some interruptions, lasted for nearly fourteen years (499-513).
It was probably in the interest of his party and to protest to Anastasius against Flavian's appointment that Philoxenus went twice to Constantinople, as we learn from his Letter to the Monks of Senûn, in which he complains of the persecutions he suffered at the hands of his enemies: «What I have suffered from Flavian and Macedonius, who were archbishops of Antioch and of the capital, and before them from Calandion, is known and spoken of everywhere. I keep silence concerning what was plotted against me in the time of the Persian war among the nobles by the care of him who is called Flavian the heretic, and what happened to me in Edessa, and in the country of the Apameans, and in that of the Antiochians when I was in the monastery of the blessed Mar Bassus, and also in Antioch; and again, when I went up to the capital on two occasions, the like things were done unto me by the Nestorian heretics (86)».
The first of these visits to the capital is believed to have taken place in 499 (87). Victor Tununensis relates that a council was held at Constantinople in that year under the presidency of Flavian and Philoxenus. At the demand of Anastasius, the council anathematized Diodorus of Tarsus, Theodore of Mopsuestia, Theodoret of Cyrus, Ibas of Edessa, Andrew of Samosata, Eleutherius of Tyana, Cyrus of Hierapolis, John of Cyrrhus, and all those who admitted two natures in Christ and did not |17 confess that one of the Trinity was crucified, also Leo of Rome and his dogmatic epistle, and the Council of Chalcedon (88). It is probable that Victor anticipates here the course of events, and places in the year 499 what, according to Theophanes and Evagrius, took place later on. It is hardly reasonable to suppose that a council could be held from which Macedonius, the patriarch of Constantinople (496-511), would have been excluded; still less, that Flavian would have consented to preside over a council in company with his enemy. Doubtless Victor refers here to another council (89) which was held at Constantinople in 498, to bring about a reconciliation between some monasteries of the city and the principal church from which they had separated themselves on account of Acacius and of the Henoticon. Whatever may have happened during Philoxenus' first visit to the capital, it is certain that his differences with Flavian were not settled. The Persian war (502-505), which caused untold misery and destruction in Syria and Mesopotamia, and in Philoxenus' own province, interrupted for a while the struggle between them. But it was renewed in 507 (90) with more bitterness than ever. From the passage quoted above it would appear that Flavian had sought to influence the nobles, probably the Roman officials of the country, against Philoxenus. Certain it is that the latter began to accuse Flavian of Nestorianism. After Flavian had anathematized Nestorius and his doctrine, Philoxenus insisted that he should also anathematize Diodorus of Tarsus, Theodore of Mopsuestia, Theodoret of Cyrus, Ibas of Edessa, Cyrus of Hierapolis, Eleutherius of Tyana, and John of Cyrrhus, and told him that he would continue to regard him as a Nestorian, unless he condemned all these men together with their |18 doctrines (91). To bring greater pressure to bear upon him, Philoxenus enlisted the help of the Acephali of Egypt, and of Eleusins of Sasima and Nicias of Laodicea, all of whom shared his opposition to Flavian (92). Coming again to Constantinople, Philoxenus sought the help of the Emperor with the result that in 509 Anastasius tried to force Flavian to sign the Henoticon a second time (93) and to condemn all the bishops whom Philoxenus had mentioned. Flavian convoked a provincial synod, and sent to the Emperor a letter in which, for the sake of peace, he confirmed the first three Councils and anathematized the persons named by Philoxenus, but did not speak of the Council of Chalcedon. With this procedure, however, Philoxenus was not satisfied, and he demanded that Flavian and Elias of Jerusalem, Flavian's friend, should condemn the Council of Chalcedon and all those who admitted two natures in Christ (94). He then joined hands with Soterichus of Cappadocia and appealed again to Anastasius, who gave orders for a council to meet at Sidon, 511-512 (95). Flavian and Elias were both present, and Philoxenus and Soterichus presided. We do not know exactly what took place there (96). Through the efforts of Flavian and Elias the Council of Chalcedon was not anathematized, and the council of Sidon was dismissed without anything being done against them. Thereupon, Philoxenus wrote to the Emperor accusing the two bishops of having acted hypocritically (97). Seeing that his efforts to dispossess Flavian of the see of Antioch had failed, he bribed the monks of Cynegica and those of Syria Prima to rush into the city and to make Flavian anathematize the Council of Chalcedon (98). |19 But the inhabitants, who were devoted to Flavian, rose up in arms against the monks, slew many of them, and cast their bodies into the Orontes. In a moment of weakness, and perhaps to avoid further bloodshed, Flavian pronounced anathema against the Council of Chalcedon, and the four bishops, Diodorus, Theodore, Ibas, and Theodoret (99). But Philoxenus accused him again of insincerity, and Flavian was banished to Petra in Palestine (Palaestina IIIa) (100), and the Monophysite monk Severus was appointed patriarch in his stead (101).
His Exile and Death.
7. Philoxenus did not long enjoy the fruits of victory. The Emperor Anastasius, his protector and friend, died in 518 and was succeeded by the orthodox Justin I. One of the first acts of the new ruler was to unite his efforts with those of Pope Hormisdas in bringing about a reconciliation between the East and the West. Communion with Rome was solemnly reestablished on Easter Sunday, March 24, 519 (102), and thus ended the schism which for thirty-five years had been a menace to the Church and to the Empire. The orthodox bishops who had been deposed under Zeno and Anastasius were restored to their sees, and the recalcitrant Monophysites sent into exile. Among the latter Theophanes mentions Philoxenus and his neighbor Peter ot Apamea (103).
Philoxenus was first banished to Philippopolis in Thrace. It is from there that he wrote his Letter to the Monks of Senün, and probably also his Letter to the Monks of Teleda, |20 two of the most important of his dogmatic works. In both of them he condemns the errors of Nestorius and Eutyches, and shows clearly that the sufferings and privations of his exile did not change the opinions for which he had been fighting since he left Edessa over half a century before. From Philippopolis he was brought to Gangra(104) in Paphlagonia, where he was murdered, probably in 523.
The anonymous notice (105) gives the following account of his death: «And when he (Philoxenus) had filled the Church with divine teachings and had interpreted the Books, and refuted the faith of the Nestorians by his writings against them, they cast him into exile in the city of Gangra and suffocated him with smoke. They shut him up in an upper chamber, and made smoke in the room below, and locked the doors. And thus he received the crown of martyrdom, being suffocated by them in the true confession».
Various Judgments on Philoxenus.
8. Such was the death of Philoxeuus. Very different judgments have been passed on this remarkable man. The Jacobites honor him as a martyr and saint. They celebrate his memory on the tenth of December, the eighteenth of February and the first of April (106), and, in the profession of faith exacted in the Jacobite Church from candidates to ordination, he is ranked among the holy Doctors and Fathers who preserved the faith of the first three Councils (107). The historians of the Byzantine period |21 regard him as the vilest of men, a slave of Satan (108), and a stranger to God (109). They accuse him of never having been baptized, and see in him a Manichean and the author of the heresy of the Iconoclasts. There is evidently a great deal of exaggeration on both sides and, as Budge remarks, «it is probable that we must make some allowance for the hostility of those to whose lot it has fallen to describe his life» (110).
It is certain that Philoxenus was baptized, if the evidence derived from his works is worth anything. His doctrine on the Incarnation does not bear out the charge of Manicheism; moreover, in some of his writings (111), he explicitly rejects the teachings of Mani and of Marcion. That he was an Iconoclast is not proved, and the passage adduced by Assemani (112) to confirm the testimony of Theophanes is far from conclusive. It is beyond question, however, that Philoxenus was always a bitter enemy not only of the doctrines of Nestorius and Eutyches, but also of the definition of the Council of Chalcedon which he regarded as confirming the heresy of Nestorius. It is also certain that he resorted to violent means to deprive Flavian of the episcopal throne of Antioch. Yet he seems to have been sincere in his opposition. From the Letter of the Monks of Palestine to Alcison, bishop of Nicopolis, it would appear that, according to some, Philoxenus was moved to attack Flavian by what seemed to him the interests of the faith (113). In his Letter to the Monks of Beth-Gaugal, Philoxenus thus rebukes his adversaries: «I fight for the common faith, and thou settest thyself against me with |22 the heretics. I toil and work day and night that the truth which was delivered to the Church may not be changed, and I direct the weapons of argument against those who deny the Cross, and thou insultest me (saying), «Hold thy tongue, let them do what they wish». They want me to be silent lest I should expose their doctrines, and thou, with them, wantest me to remain silent. I hasten to root out division and to end the schism which they have caused in the faith, and thou de-clarest publicly that I am the cause of the division. They began a tumult, introduced a novelty, and disturbed the peace of all the churches, and thou considerest me as the author of the disturbance» (114). In his Letter to the Monks of Teleda. written during his exile, he says that he expects eternal life on account of the persecution to which he is being subjected: «If death should come to me on account of this truth, I believe that I shall receive life from it. And not only (the words) seducer and corruptor and other opprobrious names am I ready to hear for this doctrine, but I am also ready to suffer fire and beasts, and different kinds of torments, and persecutions without number» (115). And notwithstanding all this, he asks the prayers of the monks that his own enemies may be converted and see the truth: «Let us pray for them that they may repent, and may be found by the truth which seeks to find them; that their eyes may be opened so that they will see what they are doing and whom they persecute» (116).
But if historians and scholars differ in their judgment of the character of Philoxenus, they all agree in regarding him as one of the brightest stars of Syriac literature. Jacob of Edessa (117), whom the Syrians call The Interpreter, ranks him among the |23 four great Syriac Doctors, putting him on an equal footing with St. Ephrem, Jacob of Serugh, and Isaac of Antioch. Bar-Hebraeus calls him «a most eloquent man and wonderful doctor who attacked mightily the party of the Dyophysites, and set forth healthy doctrines concerning the holy way of monastic life» (118). The moderns are no less lavish in their praise and admiration. Assemani, who pronounces a very severe judgment on Philoxenus' character, calling him «a most corrupt man» (119), «a most pernicious heretic» (120), who would have devastated the Church of God like a wild boar (121), confesses that he wrote Syriac most elegantly: «Scripsit Syriace, si quis alius, elegantissime» (122). The late Prof. Wright of Cambridge, who won for himself universal fame as a Syriac scholar, says that Philoxenus was not only a man of strife and action, but an elegant writer as well (123). Prof. Guidi, of Rome, in his beautiful edition of the Letter of Philoxenus to the Monks of Teleda, also contributes his share of praise to the purity, eloquence and force of the style of Philoxenus: «Il suo valore letterario è incontrastato; ed in lui la squisita purità délia lingua non è inferiore all'eloquenza ed alla forza dello stile» (124). And it is gratifying to add that the three letters, which are published in this volume, fully confirm the universal judgment of scholars as to the literary merits of Philoxenus, and give us, besides, a new proof of the dialectical skill and theological learning of that famous Monophysite. |24
CHAPTER II. THE PUBLISHED WORKS OF PHILOXENUS.
Philoxenus was one of the most prolific writers of his age. When we think of the troubled condition of his life, and of the constant struggle that he waged against the doctrines of Nestorius and Eutyches, and against the definition of the Council of Chalcedon, it is indeed marvelous that he should have found time to write so large a number of works. They are preserved mostly in the libraries of the British Museum, of Oxford, Rome, and Paris (125). They deal with a great variety of topics, and may be classified under four principal heads: Scripture, liturgy, asceticism and dogma. Outside of a hymn on the Nativity of Our Lord (the authenticity of which is doubtful for it has also been attributed to Severus of Antioch and to John bar Aphthon) (126), they are all written in prose, and, as ancients and moderns agree, they are among the best specimens of the golden age of Syriac literature. Unfortunately, the majority of them are still unpublished. Until the year 1873, in which Martin edited in his |25 Syro-Chaldaicae Institutions (127) the text of the Letter to Abu-Nafir, nothing was known of the writings of Philoxenus, except a Latin translation of two of his Anaphoras by Renaudot (128), and the brief extracts given of several of his works in the Bibliotheca Orientalis of Assemani (129). We give here a review of all the published works of Philoxenus, as we had to make use of some of them in the exposition of his doctrines.
I.
The Discourses and other Texts.
9. The Discourses of Philoxenus on Christian life and character, the most important of his ascetical works, were published (Syriac text and English translation) in 1894 by Budge from Syriac Mss. of the sixth and seventh centuries in the British Museum (130).
The text is based on Add. 14598 (Wright DCCLXIV), which is called A. Variant readings are given from Add. 14595 (Wright DCLXXVIII), Add. 12163 (Wright DCLXXV I), Add. 17153 (Wright DCLXXIX), Add. 14596 (Wright DCLXXX), Add. 14625 (Wright DCLXXXI), Add. 14601 (Wright DCCXCV), and Add. 14621 (Wright DCCLXXIX). These seven Mss. are referred to as B, C, D, E, F, G, and H respectively. From the fact that the Scriptural quotations in the discourses are taken from the Peshitta, Budge concludes that these discourses were |26 written before 508, the year in which Philoxenus published his translation of the Bible at Mabbôgh, and he places the time of their composition between 485 and the end of the fifth century (131).
These discourses are thirteen in number. The first is a prologue to the others; the second, third, and fourth treat of faith as a virtue; the fifth treats of simplicity; the sixth and seventh, of the fear of God; the eighth and ninth, of poverty; the tenth, of gluttony; the eleventh, of abstinence; and the twelfth and thirteenth, of fornication. They are written in exquisitely pure Syriac, and in them especially we notice those qualities of style for which Jacob of Edessa admired and praised the writings of Philoxenus (132).
Besides the above discourses, Budge has also published, in the second volume of his work, seven other short treatises of Philoxenus, which are very important from a dogmatic standpoint. Though less interesting than his larger dogmatic writings, they contain, in a few pages, the principles underlying his theological opinions, and make us partly acquainted with the objections which he urged against the Nestorians and against the adherents of the Council of Chalcedon. We give here a review of these different texts.
a) An explanation (133) of the heresies of Mani, MarcionJ and others, from. Add. 14529 ( th or th century) (Wright DCCCLVI) of the British Museum, (fol. 65b-66b). The title is:
In this document, Philoxenus explains and rejects the heresies of the Gnostics, the Nestorians, and the Eutychians on the Incarnation, and gives us a short statement of his own doctrine. |27
b) A treatise against every Nestorian (134), from the same Ms. (fol. 66b-(38a). The title is:
It contains seven chapters or paragraphs of which a summary is given (p. xxxvii). Philoxenus anathematizes Nestorius, Diodorus of Tarsus, and Theodoret of Cyrrhus, accepts the twelve chapters of Cyril of Alexandria against Nestorius, receives the Henoticon of Zeno, and pronounces anathema upon every one who would divide Christ into two natures.
c) A confession of faith (135) against the Council of Chalcedon. From the same Ms. (fol. 68a-69a).
In ten short paragraphs Philoxenus anathematizes the Council of Chalcedon for composing, as he says, a faith at variance with that of the Council of Nice, for excommunicating Nestorius while agreeing with him in doctrine, for distinguishing two natures in Christ and receiving Ibas of Edessa, Theodoret of Cyrrhus, and Leo (the Great) of Rome.
d) How one must reply when questioned as to his belief (136). From the same Ms. (fol. 69b-71a). [Syriac]
In this document, Philoxenus gives us a concise statement of his belief in the Blessed Trinity and in the Incarnation.
e) Twelve chapters against those who maintain two natures in Christ and one person (137). This treatise is found in |28 Add. 14597 (A. D. 569) (Wright DCCXXX) of the British Museum, (fol. 91a-98b). The title is:
Here Philoxenus argues that if we admit two natures in Christ, we must also admit two persons, and he does not distinguish between the Nestorian heresy and the Catholic doctrine.
f) Twenty chapters against, Nestorius (138). From the same Ms. (fol. 98b-105b). [Syriac]
In this treatise Philoxenus formulates twenty objections against the doctrines of Nestorius. Most of these objections rest on the confusion of the notions of nature and person, his chief point being this, that since the Word became incarnate in His person, He also became incarnate in His nature, and since there is only one nature before the Incarnation, there can be but one after the Incarnation. Thus in the third chapter he says: «If God the Word became man in His person, and is not called two persons, but one person who became man, He also became man in His nature, and His nature who became man is one, and is not called two natures».
g) Ten chapters against those who divide Our Lord after the indivisible union (139). From the same Ms. (fol. 105b-107b).:
These ten chapters are directed against the Nestorians for admitting two persons in Christ, and against the followers of the Council of Chalcedon for acknowledging two natures after the union. Both, according to Philoxenus, divide Our Lord |29 by admitting two persons or two natures in Him. Here again he misunderstands the Catholic doctrine. Thus, in the third chapter, speaking of the adoration of the Magi, he says: «If two natures be admitted in Christ, which of the two did the Magi worship? If the divine nature, they could have done so when they were in their own country; if the human nature, they are worthy of blame, not of praise. Now the Book testifies concerning them that their action is worthy of praise. Therefore, when they worshipped Christ, they worshipped the Incarnate God» (140). In the premises of this argument, he evidently supposes that Catholics adore the natures separately.
II.
The Letter to Abu-Nafir.
10. The Syriac text of this letter was published in 1873 by Martin (141) from Add. 14529 of the British Museum (fol. 61a-65b). Fragments of it are also found in Add. 17193 (Wright DCCCLXI) (fol. 83a) (142), and Add. 17134 (Wright CCCCXX ) (fol. b) (143). The title is:
The synodical letter which Mär Aksenäyä, bishop of Mabbôgh, wrote to Abu-Nafir, stratelates (144) of Hira (145) of Beth-Naaman. |30
Date. The list (146) of the rulers of Hira does not contain the name of Abu-Nafir. It mentions, however, Abu-Yafar who ruled from 498 to 503, simply as a vassal or lieutenant of the Persian King. If we assume his identity with Abu-Nafir, the date of composition of this letter would fall between 498 and 503. This document is very unlike the published writings of Philoxenus. The obvious differences of style and the glaring anachronisms which it contains regarding prominent events in the lives of Nestorius and of Theodore of Mopsuestia, raise serious doubts as to its authenticity (147). Philoxenus should have been well acquainted with the history of Nestorius and of Theodore, for he spent a few years in Edessa and in Antioch, cities which were for a time the strongholds of Nestorianism in the East. As no translation of this letter has been published, a detailed analysis of its contents will not be out of place here.
The letter gives: a) the genealogy of Nestorius and of Theodore; b) their elevation to the sees of Constantinople and of Mopsuestia; c) their heresy; d) the condemnation of Nestorius by the Council of Ephesus; e) the heresy of Eutyches and his condemnation at Chalcedon; f) the return of Timothy Aelurus to Alexandria; g) and the origin of the sect called Esaianists.
a) Addi married a woman named Amlaka who bore him two sons: Barbeelemin and Abasoum. Barbeelemin was the father of Nestorius, Abaoum of Theodore (148). Nestorius and |31 Theodore were born (149) at Mara where the sons of Addi had settled. After they had mastered the Greek language, they were sent to Athens (150), where they studied philosophy.
b) In Athens, they became acquainted with some free men from Constantinople who praised them before Honorius, with the result that Honorius (151) commanded that they should both be made bishops, Nestorius, of Constantinople, and Theodore, of Mopsuestia.
c) Once in possession of their sees, they began to corrupt the true faith in private commentaries which they sent to each other (152), distinguishing the Only Son of God into two natures, attributing miracles to the one, and humiliations to the other.
d) Hearing of this, Theodosius the Younger convoked the Council of Ephesus against the Nestorian doctrines. Then Nestorius wrote to Theodore, and told him not to be afraid, but to go the Council (153), and to anathematize him (Nestorius), not indeed with the anathema which cuts one off from the kingdom of heaven, but only in the sense in which St. Paul desired to be anathema for the salvation of his brethren, the sons of Israel. |32
e) In the days of Marcian, Eutyches rose against the Church, and taught that the Son of God brought His body down from heaven (154). And, because he would not recede from the position he had taken, he was excommunicated by the Council of Chalcedon. After the Fathers had assembled, Leo (155) wrote to them to receive the doctrines of Nestorius (156), and his own tomos (157). On threat of deposition made by Marcian, they yielded, because they loved their office. But Dioscorus, patriarch of Alexandria, did not yield; he was exiled, and his secretary (158) became patriarch in his stead. The Alexandrians received the new patriarch; but some priests, deacons, and laymen who would not agree with the Council of Chalcedon, did not communicate with him; they fled into Ethiopia with Timothy (159), a disciple of Dioscorus.
f) After a while, the Alexandrians became sorry for having received the secretary of Dioscorus; they stoned him (160), and cast his body into the sea. After the death of Marcian, Timothy returned to Alexandria, took possession of the see, and forgave the Alexandrians. However, the priests, deacons, and laymen, who had returned with him, would not communicate with the Alexandrians, for they said: «Whoever has taken part in the Council of Chalcedon in any way, has not the priesthood ».
g) Then four priests from among them took the Gospel, placed it on the head of Esaias, and made him bishop. From |33 that time on they were called Esaianistae-Acephali (161). Concerning the belief of the Acephali, that those who had taken part in the Council of Chalcedon in any way had not the true priesthood, the letter goes on to explain that heretics confer baptism and priesthood validly, provided they have not preached their heresy openly. Consequently, the baptism and the orders conferred by the Fathers of Chalcedon after their dispersion were valid, because they did not preach their heresy (the definition of the two natures in Christ), so that the case of those who received those sacraments from them was parallel to the case of those who were baptized or ordained by Judas Iscariot. As his heresy was only in his heart, the sacraments which he conferred were valid.
III.
The Letter concerning Stephen Bar Sudaili.
11. This letter, addressed to Abraham and Orestes priests of Edessa, was published (Syriac text and English translation) by Frothingham in 1886, in his work Stephen Bar Sudaili, the Syrian Mystic, and the book of Hierotheos, Leyden (Brill). It is extant only in Syr. Ms. 107 of the Vatican (fol. 60r-63v), which is of the eighth century. The close of the letter is wanting. The title is: [Syriac] |34
Date. This letter was evidently written before the year 513, for Philoxenus refers to the impossibility of communicating, on account of differences in the faith, with the bishop of Jerusalem, Elias (494-513). Frothingham places the date of its composition between 509 and 512, when the contest between the Orthodox and Monophysite parties was at its height (162).
Bar Sudaili was a Monophysite monk of Edessa, who had become imbued with pantheistic doctrines, probably in Egypt. From Jerusalem where he had retired, he had sent followers of his to Abraham and Orestes, priests of Edessa, with books containing his impious teachings. Hearing of this, Philoxenus wrote to these priests, warning them against Bar Sudaili's errors. According to Philoxenus, he taught that everything was consubstantial with God, that the good and the wicked would receive the same measure of retribution in the next world, that, on the day of the consummation, all things would return into the divinity from which they came. In his letter Philoxenus refutes at some length Bar Sudaili's pantheism and his doctrine on salvation.
IV.
The Letter to the Monks of Teleda.
12. The Syriac text of this letter, together with an introduction and an analysis of the contents, was published in 1886 by Guidi (163). His splendid edition corresponds page for page, column for column, and line for line, with the original which is extant only in Syr. Ms. 136 of the Vatican (fol. a-29a). Folios 1, 2, and 6, are wanting, hence the letter shows no title. A Syriac Ms. of the |35 British Museum, Add. 14663 (Wright DCCLI), contains four short extracts (164) of this letter with the following title:
The Ms. having been injured, the reading of the letter was a most difficult and laborious task. Guidi confesses that the decipherment of it cost him much patience and fatigue, and he certainly deserves the gratitude of all Syriac scholars for placing within their reach this letter of Philoxenus, which is one of the best specimens of the controversial literature of that period.
Date. From the last sentence of fol. 3 a, col. 2, Assemani (165) concludes that Philoxenus wrote this letter during his exile (519-523): «Pray also for me, not that I may be delivered from this persecution, but that I may derive profit from it, that it may become unto me a cause of eternal life». In fol. 14b, col. 1, Philoxenus attacks especially one enemy, who. as Guidi remarks (166), may be Paul II, the successor of Severus on the episcopal throne of Antioch. On account of his zeal for the decrees of Chalcedon (he had placed the names of the six hundred and thirty Fathers of the Council in the diptychs) (167), Paul was accused of Nestorianism, and was called «the Jew» by the Monophy sites (168). It is probably to him that Philoxenus refers in the following passage: «If any one calls thee by the name of Jew or heathen, thou art angry, and thou art not angry with thyself for voluntarily placing thy portion with them, and contending with us in their own words (169)». |36
If the identity of Paul of Antioch with the adversary attacked by Philoxenus be granted, the letter would certainly be posterior to 519, the year in which Severus was exiled by Justin. And it may have been written before the year 521, in which Paul resigned the see of Antioch (170).
This letter was addressed to the Monks of Teleda, according to Guidi (171), the modern Telladi, about half way between Antioch and Aleppo. That these monks shared the opinions of Philoxenus, is evident from Philoxenus' own words: «Therefore, what that faith is for which it is necessary for us to die, in a few words we will show; not as teaching, but because we agree with your truth and your faith, and to show that we are one with you on the question of the divine Economy. And if we have been a seducer and corruptor, as the adversaries say, then so are you also with us. But if we have been sincere and orthodox, and this is the truth, it is a common victory and joy for the holy body of the Church» (172).
The letter to the Monks of Teleda is one of the most important of Philoxenus' works from the standpoint of doctrine and style. It is dogmatic in character and argumentative in form. As we shall have occasion to quote from it frequently when treating of Philoxenus' doctrine on the Incarnation and the Trinity, a brief analysis will suffice here.
After recommending himself to the prayers of the monks that he may derive profit from his sufferings, Philoxenus declares his belief in the Trinity and in the Incarnation of the Son of God. He shows afterwards that the same Christ is both «ante omnes» and «the Firstborn from the dead»; ante omnes, because He is God, and the Firstborn from the dead, because He became man. Concerning the death of Christ on the |37 Cross, Philoxenus defends against the Nestorians the proposition «The Immortal died», and shows how he understands it. First of all, he postulates faith as a necessary condition to believe that Christ died, because faith is not needed to believe that God is immortal, and that man is mortal. Then he takes up in order his adversaries' objections. These were contained in a letter or treatise ('eggartha), which seems to have had considerable influence on the religious polemics of the times (173). The following are the principal objections with which he deals:
a) How can God be at the same time mortal and immortal?
b) Since angels do not die, how can God, Who made them immortal, die?
c) If Life died, who gave it life again?
d) Who ruled the universe, the three days that God was in the grave?
In answer to those different objections, Philoxenus shows that the Word of God suffered only in so far as He became man; that He was not a sufferer by nature, but by His will; that, when He was lying dead in the grave, He was living the life of His divinity, for the life which He commended on the Cross into the hands of His Father, was not His divine life, but the life which He had taken from us.
Towards the end of the letter, Philoxenus rejects the words «Christ King», which Calandion had inserted into the Trisagion of Peter the Fuller. He condemns the addition as bringing in Christ after the three divine persons, or as introducing a fourth person into the Trinity.
Philoxenus closes his letter with an anathema against Nestorius and Theodore of Mopsuestia, and with the declaration that he is ready to die for his faith. |38
CHAPTER III.
THE DOCTRINES OF PHILOXENUS.
A) HIS DOCTRINE ON THE INCARNATION.
General Considerations.
13. The dogma of the Incarnation was the principal theme of religious controversy in the fifth century of the Church. The disputes with the Gnostics, the Arians, and the Apollinarists had given rise to many discussions on the person of Christ. In opposition to all heresies, the Church always invoked the authority and voice of tradition affirming clearly the unity of the person of the God-man and the existence of two natures in Him. But the manner of union of the two natures had not been explained (174). The Fathers illustrated it by means of figures and comparisons, but did not always speak of it with strict philosophical accuracy. Any explanation that did not preserve the unity of person and the existence and distinction of the two natures in Christ was bound to end in error (175). And such, indeed, was the case. Here we see two different schools at work: the school of Antioch and the school of Alexandria. By applying their own theories to christological questions which, first of all, demanded faith as a necessary condition for their acceptance, they caused the two great heresies of Nestorianism and Eutychianism. |39
The school of Antioch insisted specially on the human element in Christ and on the permanent distinction of the natures after the union (176), Some, however, confounding the notions of nature and person, went so far as to acknowledge not only two natures but two persons also (177). They did not admit that the human nature could exist complete and perfect in Christ without its connatural subsistence or personality, and, instead of uniting the human nature with the divine person, they united a human person with the person of the Word.
Different was the course pursued by the theologians of the school of Alexandria. They dwelt willingly on the divine element in Christ and on the mysterious union of the natures (178). Some applied the trichotomy of Plato to the dogma of the Incarnation, and, believing that man was made up of three factors, body, soul (yuxh&)? and spirit (nou~j), taught that Christ consisted of the body, the soul, and the Logos (179). According to them, the Son of God was incarnate without the rational soul (nou~j), whose place was taken and filled by the Logos Himself. Others held the absorption of the human nature by and into the divine (180). Others again taught that the body of Christ was consubstantial with His divine nature, and that, on the day of the consummation, all things would become of one nature with the divinity (181).
Still another class combined, so to speak, the tendencies of the two schools; and, although they held that the humanity of Christ was real, nay, consubstantial with ours, they refused to it the name of nature, and spoke, not of two natures in |40 Christ, but of a twofold or composite nature, consisting of the divinity and the humanity, united after the manner of the soul and the body in man. This heresy is known by the name of Monophysitism in specie (182) or Jacobite Monophysitism, in contradistinction from Eutychianism proper. Philoxenus and Severus of Antioch were the principal champions of this doctrine in the end of the fifth century and the beginning of the sixth, and it may be said that they reduced it to a theological system. Philoxenus devoted his life to its propagation. Most of his dogmatic works were written in its defence. It is touched upon in many of his writings, particularly in the three letters the text of which is given here for the first time. The Letter to the Monks deals with the errors of Nestorius and Eutyches; the first Letter to the Monks of Beth-Gaugal was written to confirm those monks in the Monophysite doctrines which they shared with him, and the Letter to Zeno may be regarded as Philoxenus' own profession of faith in the mystery of the Incarnation. In the light of these three documents and of his other published works, we shall consider how Philoxenus opposes Nestorius and Eutyches, and thus we shall be able to form an accurate notion of his views on the Incarnation, and on other points of belief of which he speaks in connection with the main subject.
Philoxenus and Nestorius.
14. There is no doubt that Philoxenus was well acquainted with the tenets of Nestorianism, for he had studied in the Persian school of Edessa, which was at the time openly favorable to that heresy. Ibas had translated into Syriac the works of Theodore of Mopsuestia and Diodorus of Tarsus, and two of his |41 disciples, Mari of Beth-Ardasir and Marun Elitha, spread the Nestorian doctrines in the East (183). Philoxenus was one of those who opposed Ibas (184). This opposition which he began when only a student, he continued all his life, and to his efforts and those of his friends is principally due the fact that Nestorianism became confined to the Syrians of the Persian empire.
Heresy of Nestorius.
15. Nestorius, confounding the notions of nature and person, could not think of the human nature in Christ without its connatural subsistence. Hence, he understood the union of the natures in this way, that a man, integral and complete, was first formed in the Virgin Mary and united afterwards with the Word of God: «Scire autem convenit etiam de dispensatione quam pro nostra salute in Domino Christo Dominus Deus implevit, quod Deus Verbum hominem perfectum adsumpsit ex semine Abraham, et ex David juxta praedicationem Sanctarum Scripturarum, ejus naturae cujus et illi fuerunt ex quorum semine erat, hominem natura perfectum, ex anima rationali et humana carne compositum» (185). We find the same teaching in a homily (186) of the famous Nestorian poet Narses († 507), a contemporary of Philoxenus. Speaking of Diodorus, Theodore of Mopsuestia, and Nestorius, he says: «The just have interpreted one essence which is three, and have joined to it a man through the union» (187). |42
Against this doctrine, Philoxenus holds that the Word was not united to a man first created in the womb of the Virgin, but that He became man of the Virgin without ceasing to be God. Thus, in the Letter to Zeno, he says: «But I see, with the eye of faith, a Spiritual Being, Who, without change, became corporal, and Mary brought forth, not a double (Son), as Nestorius said, but the Only-Begotten embodied, Who is not indeed half God and half man, but wholly God because He is from the Father, and wholly man because He became (man) of the Virgin» (188). According to him, the body of the Lord was His own, and not of another, as he says in the Letter to the Monks: «But it is not at all in the sense that a man or a body distinct from God died, that death is spoken of God, as it is not in the sense that a man or the body of another person distinct from God was born that birth is spoken of God; for, it was not a body that was born, but it was God, Who became a body and remained in His nature God; and it was not a body that was crucified, but it was God, Who became man, and in His death did not lose His life» ( 189).
The Word Qeoto&koj
16. From Nestorius' theory on the union of the natures, it follows necessarily that Mary cannot be called
Qeoto&koj, Mother of God. And this title, in the sense in which Catholics understand it, he always refused to her. Thus, in his first sermon on the Incarnation, he says: «Habet matrem Deus? Ergo excusabilis gentilitas matres diis subintroducens. Paulus ergo mendax, de Christi deitate dicens, a)pa&twr, a)mh&twr, a!neu genealogi/aj (Heb. vii, 3), id est, sine patre, sine matre, sine generationis |43 narratione» (190). The Word, he argues, merely passed through the Virgin, but was not born of her: «Transiisse Deum per Virginem xristoto&kon, a Scriptura perdoctus sum; natum, non edoctus sum» (191).
Philoxenus teaches clearly that Mary is Mother of God, and that the Word was born of her. In the Letter to the Monks, he says: «For the Virgin was not indeed a channel (through which) God (passed), but His true Mother, because He became man of her» (192). In the Letter to Zeno, speaking of Mary, he uses the words «yâldath 'alâhâ», which are the exact Syriac equivalent of the Greek Qeoto&koj: «We confess, therefore, that the Virgin is Qeoto&koj (yâldath 'alâhâ), and we believe that the embodied Word, after being born of her corporally, was wrapped in swaddling clothes, sucked milk, received circumcision, was held on (His Mother's) knees, grew in stature and was subject to His parents, all this just as He was born» (193). Furthermore, Philoxenus argues that, by denying to Mary the title of Mother of God, we necessarily deny the divinity of Christ. Thus, in the eighteenth of his Twenty Chapters against Nestorius, he writes: «If the Virgin is Mother of God, He Who was born (of her) is God. But the one, who was born of the Virgin, who is he? Jesus Christ. Now, if Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin, and if the Virgin is Mother of God, then Jesus Christ is God and not a man in whom God dwelt» (194). And he defends this peerless prerogative of Mary not only against the Nestorians, but also against the Eutychians who, by holding that the body of Christ was not consubstantial with ours, were obliged to say that the Word became incarnate in, but not of the Virgin: «We do not say, like the erring disciples of Eutyches, |44 that He (the Word) was embodied in the Virgin, but not of her; but we believe (that He was embodied) in her and of her, and not in any other way He might have pleased, as those liars claim» (195).
Communicatio Idiomatum.
17. The communicatio idiomatum, by which we predicate the same properties of the two natures, not indeed in the abstract (Godhead and manhood), but in the concrete (God and man), is impossible in the system of Nestorius, because he regards the human nature as existing in its own subsistence, in other words, as a person. Thus he says that we cannot in any way attribute death to God: «Quid Dei nomen deputas morti, quod a divina Scriptura nusquam in mortis commemorationem profertur? Quid, Paulo clamante, cum audias: in viro, in quo definivit Deus, fidem praestans omnibus, suscitans eum a mortuis (Act., xvii, 31), tu natam et mortuam inani imaginatione judicas Deitatem?» (196). And more generally in his fourth counter-anathema against Cyril: «If any one assigns the expressions of the Gospels and Apostolic letters, which refer to the two natures in Christ, to one only of these natures, and attributes even suffering to the Divine Logos, both in the flesh and in the Godhead, let him be anathema»(197). Similar is the teaching of Narses: «To the human nature belong the humiliations of the human nature, and not to the nature raised and exalted above sufferings; to the man belongs all that was written of the Son of man: conception, birth, growth, suffering, and death» (198). |45
Thus we see that the Nestorians deny the communicatio idiomatum because they consider the human nature as existing in Christ with its own personality; Philoxenus rejects the communicatio idiomatum by the mere fact that he acknowledges only one nature after the union. He does not admit that we can attribute to the divine person what we deny of the divine nature. Thus, in the ninth of his Twenty Chapters against Nestorius, he writes: «If thou sayest that Christ is two natures, a divine nature and a human nature, and one person, and if thou givest to the divine person the properties of the divine nature and the properties of the human nature, why dost thou give to the divine person humiliation and glory and yet put them away from the divine nature? Is His divine person inferior to His divine nature? What His person is, is not that also His nature?» (199) And, arguing against those who admit two natures and one person in Christ after the union, Philoxenus contends that their doctrine involves us in hopeless confusion. In the sixteenth chapter of the same tract, he says: «How is there no confusion, when thou confessest two natures and one person? For, when thou sayest» two natures which run with their attributes, their properties, and their operations», and when thou attributest the divine things to the divine nature, and the human things to the human nature, how can confusion be avoided? Thou answerest (that thou avoidest confusion) by attributing to one person the properties of the divine nature and the properties of the human nature. But tell mo: To which nature does this one person belong? To the divine nature, or to the human? If (it belongs) to the divine nature, behold, the properties of the human nature do not belong to the divine person; and if (it belongs) to the human nature, behold, the properties of the divine nature do not belong to the human person. Is there a greater confusion than |46 that which admits two natures working in one person? Tell me: Does this one person belong to both natures, or to one only? If it belongs to both, then each nature constitutes the half of the person; if it belongs to one nature only then, either the divine nature or the human nature is without a person. If, on the contrary, this one person is both divine and human, then there is only one nature which is both divine and human. If there is not one nature, there is not one person» (200). Hence it is that Philoxenus refers all the properties and operations of Christ not only to one person, but also to one nature which is both divine and human, as he says in the Letter to the Monks of Bêth-Gaugal: «He who does not confess that glory and humiliation are of one Son, Who is one person and one nature who was embodied, such a one is an embodied devil» (201).
Union of the Natures.
18. Regarding the human nature of Christ as a person, Nestorius unites it with the Godhead only externally, and for him the Incarnation means simply the inhabitation of the Son of God in a man born of the Virgin: «Verbum ergo Deus non est natus ex Maria, sed in illo, qui ex ea natus est, mansit» (202). According to him, there was only an adhesion of a man to the person of the Word, and the Word dwelt in him as in a temple: «Aliud quidem Deus Verbum est, qui erat in templo, quod operatus est Spiritus, et aliud templum praeter habitantem Deum» (203).
Philoxenus rejects the theory of a mere adhesion of a body to the person of the Word in the Letter to the Monks of Bêth-Gaugal: «He who imagines that there was only a mere |47 adhesion (of a body) to the person of Christ, and not a real embodiment in the acknowledgment of one person, such a one has no relationship with Christ» (204). And again in the Letter to Zeno, he says: «I confess, therefore, one (only) person of the Word, and I believe that this same (person) is also man, that is, God Who became man; not that He dwelt in a man, not that He built to Himself a temple in which He dwelt» (205). According to Nestorius, this inhabitation of the Word in the man bora of the Virgin, consisted in a certain moral union in virtue of which the Word dwelt in him as God dwelt in the prophets of old: «Propterea vero Unigenitus Dei Filius Verbum dicitur incarnatus, quia semper est cum homine illo sancto, quem Virgo peperit; quemadmodum autem fuit cum prophetis, sic, inquit (Nestorius), est cum isto, sed majori connexione» (206). This doctrine Philoxenus rejects in the Letter to the Monks of Beth Gaugal: «He who says that the infinite God dwelt in a finite man as He dwelt in the Prophets and in the just, and does not confess that He Who, as God, is infinite, is the Same Who became finite by becoming man, (such a one) has not as yet passed from a corrupt error into the fold of the knowledge of Christ» (207).
Consequences of Nestorius' Theory.
19. On account of the moral union existing between the Word and the man whom He assumed, Nestorius spoke of one authority, one dignity common to both: «Dic de assumente quod Deus sit; adjice de assumpto quod servi forma; infer postea conjunctionis dignitatem, quod communis sit duorum auctoritas, quod eadem sit duorum dignitas; manentibusque naturis, confitere |48 unitatem» (208). The words of Narses, in the homily already quoted, are almost identical: «One is the Word, the Son of the Father, without beginning; and one is the man from the humanity of Adam. The Sou of God is two by nature, in every thing that belongs to the Supreme Being and to the man, but one by honor and by authority» (209). It is only on the basis of that moral union that Nestorius admits one Christ, and, in Christ, one prosopon, one will, one operation. Similarly, the Nestorian Syrians, in their doctrine on the Incarnation, speak of two substances ('ousia). two essences ('ithûtha), two natures (keyana), two hypostases (qenomâ), but of one prosopon (parsopä), one image (salmâ), one will (sebhyänä), one operation (ma'bedhânûtha), one virtue (hayla), and one power (sultana) (210).
According to Philoxenus, Christ is one not merely because there is only one person in Him, but in the sense also that, after the Incarnation, there is only one nature in Him, a nature consisting of the divinity and the humanity, as he says in the Letter to Zeno: «Of the one Son, therefore, are the two generations, the one from the Father and the other from the Virgin; of the one Son, and not of two natures, otherwise He would not be one. And if we admit (in Him) nature and nature, we must necessarily admit person and person, and consequently we must acknowledge two Sons and two Gods» (211).
As another consequence of his theory on the union of the two natures, Nestorius claimed that the same worship must be given to both: «Propter utentem illud indumentum quo utitur colo; propter absconditum adoro quod foris videtur; inseparabilis ab eo qui foris paret est Deus» (212). Not only is the same worship |49 given to both, but the man in whom the Word dwelt is actually called God, and honored as such: «Non per seipsum Deus. est qui in utero figuratus est: nam si sic esset, essemus hominis vere cultores; sed quoniam in assumpto Deus est, ex illo qui assumpsit, qui assumptus est, appellatus est, et appellatur Deus» (213). Hence it is that Nestorius was accused of introducing a fourth person into the Trinity. Thus, Proclus, bishop of Cyzicus, in a sermon preached in Constantinople against Nestorius, said: «Si alter Christus et alter Dei Verbum, non jam Trinitas, sed quaternitas erit» (214). Philoxenus makes the same objection against the Nestorians. In the Letter to the Monks of Beth-Gaugal, he says: «He who distinguishes Christ into two does not worship the Trinity» (215). Also, in the Letter to the Monks, he writes: «For he who counts another man with God, introduces a quaternity in his doctrine and corrupts the dogma of the Holy Trinity. With pagans is such a doctrine to be counted, for, like them, it errs inventing a new god, against that which is written, 'There shall not be to thee a new god'. It adores a new god, a man born of a woman» (216). He urges again the same objection against Catholics for acknowledging two natures in Christ, as we may infer from a passage in his short treatise on the heresies ot Mani, Marcion, and others: «And that addition (the definition of two natures in Christ) which took place at Chalcedon, admits a quaternity and brings in Christ after the Trinity» (217).
Finally, according to the Nestorians, the man, in whom the Word dwelt, merited the title of God by dying for us on the Cross and paying Adam's debt, on account of which God raised him from the dead, bestowed immortality upon him, and exalted him (218). Philoxenus rejects this doctrine and teaches |50 emphatically that the Word of God was born and died for us, and that He is immortal by nature, as he says in the Letter to the Monks of Beth-Gaugal: «He who says that Christ was justified by His works, and became the equal of the Most High by the practice of His virtues, and that He is not exalted and is not God by His nature, such a one is without any virtue and is filled with the malice of the devil» (219). And he urges, furthermore, the irresistible argument that, if God has not suffered for us in the flesh, we have not been redeemed: «If the death and the suffering were of another, the redemption and life which were merited for me would be of man, not of God» (220). This argument he develops at greater length in his Letter to the Monks of Teleda: «By His grace. He (Christ) became our brother; by His grace, we became His brothers. For by the grace (of God), there are two wonderful things: the Most High was humbled, and the humble ones were exalted. God became man, and the sons of men (became) sons of God. There was first the humiliation of God and, after that, the exaltation of man. For he who was low could not be exalted near Him Who was high, unless the High One descended to the low one. Such was the beginning of God's new way towards us» (221).
Philoxenus and Eutyches.
20. One of the most zealous opponents of Nestorianism was Eutyches, archimandrite of a monastery outside the walls of Constantinople (222). He boasted that he had fought for the faith at Ephesus. Although he was not present there in person, there is no doubt that he contributed greatly to the overthrow of the party of Nestorius (223). However his intemperate zeal and |51 superficial learning carried him into the opposite error, and he accused of heresy every one who spoke of two natures. Unable to grasp the difference between the Nestorian heresy and the Catholic doctrine, he rejected not only two persons in Christ, but two natures as well, and admitted only one nature after the union. He was excommunicated by the Council of Chalcedon (451), but his heresy did not end with his condemnation. It was introduced. successively into Palestine, Egypt, and Syria (224). How rapid was its progress may be seen from the fact that, a few years after the death of Eutyches, the two great sees of Antioch and Alexandria were occupied by Monophysite bishops.
The error was held in various forms. Although all Monophysites admitted only one nature in Christ, they differed in explaining how the Godhead and the humanity could form one nature; hence the anomalous fact that many of them, especially those who were not of Greek origin, whilst professing one nature like the Eutychians, anathematized alike Eutyches and the Council of Chalcedon. This is particularly true of Philoxenus, as is clear from many passages of his writings in which he speaks of the doctrines of Eutyches. These we shall consider presently.
Heresy of Eutyches.
21. Nestorius denies the unity of the person of Christ; Eutyches exaggerates it, and goes so far as to teach the unity of nature (225). He acknowledges only one nature after the union, that of God made flesh and man: «Post incarnationem vero Dei Verbi, hoc est, post nativitatem Domini Nostri Jesu Christi, unam naturam adorare, et hanc Dei incarnati et inhumanati» (226). He interprets in his own heretical sense the famous words of Cyril to Succensus: «But we say one Son, and, as the Fathers have spoken, one |52 incarnate nature of God the Word» (227). As is evident, however, from the context of the letter, from his own explanation to Acacius of Melitene (228), and from the testimony of others (229), Cyril, in this passage, takes the word «nature» (fu&sij) in the meaning of «subsistence or person». Eutyches takes it in the meaning of «nature», not indeed in the sense simply that the divine nature was united with the human, but in a compound sense, so as to admit after the Incarnation, after the union of the Godhead and the flesh, only one nature. Hence, he says that Christ is from two natures, e0k du&o fu&sewn, but not in two, e0n du&o fu&sesin: «Confiteor ex duabus naturis fuisse Dominum Nostrum ante adunationem; post adunationem vero unam naturam confiteor» (230). Like Eutyches, Philoxenus admits only one nature in Christ after the union, one nature consisting of the divinity and the humanity. In the Letter to the Monks of Bêth-Gaugal, we read: «He who says that the name of Christ signifies two natures distinct and separate the one from the other, and not one nature (keyana), and one prosopon (parsopa), and one person (qenoma), who was embodied and became man of the Virgin, such a one denies the faith and is worse than those who do not believe» (231). He also misinterprets the words of Cyril which we have quoted above. The expression «one nature who was embodied» is very common in Philoxenus' writings, and it always occurs in a Monophysite sense, as implying only one nature in Christ after the union. In the same Letter to the Monks of Bêth-Gaugal, he says: «He who does not confess that glory and humiliation are of one Son, Who is one person and one nature who was embodied, such |53 a one is an embodied devil» (232). Thus again, in the first of his Twenty Chapters against Nestorius, he writes: «If God the Word and His nature are one, and if God is not one thing, and His nature another, why, when thou comest to (the word) 'God', dost thou say 'one God who was embodied', and when thou comest to the word 'nature', why dost thou not say 'one nature who was embodied', instead of two natures?» (233) And in the seventh chapter of the same tract, he argues: «If the Word, after He was embodied, is two natures, the Word, after He was embodied, is two persons also; but if the person of the embodied Word is one, the nature of the embodied Word is one also, for the person of the Word is not inferior to His nature» (234). So far Philoxenus agrees with Eutyches, and, by the expression «one embodied nature of the Word», he understands one nature after the Incarnation, one nature consisting of the divinity and the humanity. He also says in his Letter to the Monks that Christ is from two (men tartên), that is, from the divinity and the humanity: «Let us beware of the impiety of those who say that the Virgin brought forth God and a man; who divide and count two in Him Who is the Only Son of God, Who is from two, from the divinity and from the humanity; (of the impiety of those) who divide (Christ), and in this one God Who was embodied, attribute humiliation to the one and glory to the other, power to the one and weakness to the other «(235).
Manner of Union.
22. Thus, we see that Philoxenus agrees with the Eutcychians in teaching one nature in Christ after the Incarnation; but he differs from them in his explanation of the union. As St. Thomas |54 observes, some one thing may result from the union of two others in three ways: «Uno modo ex duobus integris perfectis remanentibus; quod quidem fieri non potest, nisi in iis quorum forma est compositio, vel ordo, vel figura...; alio modo, fit aliquid unum es perfectis, sed transmutatis...; tertio modo, fit aliquid ex aliquibus non permixtis, sed imperfectis, sicut ex anima et corpore fit homo» (236). And he shows that none of these ways could take place in the Incarnation; not the first, because it would make the union of the two natures merely accidental; nor the second, because it would imply mutability in the divine nature; nor the third, because it would suppose the divine nature and the human nature to be both incomplete rations naturae. Eutyches did not explain himself clearly on the manner of the union (237), but there is no doubt that those of his disciples, who were called strict Monophysites, taught a mingling or confusion of the two natures (238). Philoxenus rejects this explanation on the ground that it does away with the immutability of the Word. Thus, in the Letter to the Monks, he says: «there having been neither change, nor mixture, nor confusion in His nature, as God Himself said by the Prophet, «I am, and I change not». For He Who was not made is not mutable; He Who was not created cannot change. Therefore, He became man without change; He was embodied, and remained as He is, spiritual (239). And, in his Letter to Zeno, he tells us how he understands the words of St. John «And the Word was made flesh»: «With John I cry out that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, not by changing, God forbid! for 'to change' is a modification, but 'to become' belongs to the Economy (of the Word). For I learn from John and Paul that (the Word) has become; but that He was changed, none of those who saw and served the Word |55 (ever) said. Besides, God the Word Himself teaches by His Prophet, 'I am the Lord, and I change not'. Where you would suppose that, by becoming embodied, He was changed, He testifies all the more to the truth of His own immutability, and, as if already embodied from the Virgin, He cries out to those who think that perhaps He was changed by becoming (man), 'I am the Lord, and I change not'» (240).
Philoxenus holds then that the Word was not changed by becoming man, and so far he is orthodox; but he draws a wrong conclusion from the truth which he admits, for he refuses to consider the humanity as a nature; and, to safeguard the immutability of the Word, he argues against Nestorians and Catholics alike that by teaching two natures after the Incarnation they admit a change, since before the Incarnation there is only one nature. Hence, his favorite expression «it is after the Incarnation as before», which in his writings does not mean simply that the Word was not changed by becoming man, but implies besides, that, as there is only one nature before the Incarnation, so there can be but one after the Incarnation. He did not acknowledge that the assuming of the human nature by the person of the Word did not perfect the Word in any way, and did not interfere in the least with the immutability of the divine nature. He regards the divinity and the humanity in Christ as forming one nature which the Jacobites call a composite (merakkebha) or double ('affifâ) nature (241), and the example he adduces to illustrate the union, is the example of the union of the soul and the body into one human nature (242). His position is impossible, for the divinity and the humanity are complete in Christ, whilst the body and the soul of man are both incomplete ratione naturae. |56
But although Philoxenus insists on the fact that the Word became man without change, he is not always consistent, and some of his expressions would point to a confusion of the two natures in Christ. Thus, in the tract [Syriac] which is a theological discussion between a Nestorian and an Orthodox (Monophysite) (243), the Nestorian asks: «Is the humanity, (which the divinity has put on), finite?», and the Orthodox (Monophysite) answers: «We believe that it is infinite, for there is not in it (the divinity) duality of natures and quaternity of persons, but only unification of natures and trinity of persons. It is after the embodiment of the Dispensation (Incarnation) as before» (244).
Monotheletism.
23. One of the logical consequences of the heresy of Eutyches was Monotheletism, for if there is only one nature in Christ, there can be but one will and one operation in Him. Hence, the Council of Chalcedon, in defining against Eutyches the existence of the two natures, states also that the properties of each nature are preserved: «Nusquam sublata differentia naturarum propter unitionem, magisque salva proprietate utriusque naturae» (245).
Like the Eutychians, Philoxenus admits Monotheletism, and teaches categorically that there is only one will and one operation in Christ. Thus, in his profession of faith entitled [Syriac] he says: «We do not acknowledge in Him (Christ) two sons, nor two persons, nor two wills, nor two natures; one, God, and |57 the other, man» (246). And again, in the same document: «If any one confesses in the Only Begotten two persons or two wills, or admits a distinction of persons after the union in the womb, let him be anathema» (247). Such is also the doctrine of his famous neighbor and contemporary, Jacob of Serugh, who, in his second Letter to the Monks of Mär Bassus, says: «I anathematize also those who, after the union, divide, and confess, and count in one Christ (two) natures with their properties, attributes, and operations, so as to give to God what is God's and to man what is man's» (248).
Reality of the Body of Christ.
24. Another important question in christological controversies was the reality of the body of Christ. By holding the confusion of the two natures and the absorption of the human by and into the divine, strict Eutychians were led to deny the consubstantiality of the body of Christ with ours. Hence the assertion of Eutyches that, although the Blessed Virgin was consubstantial with us, the body of Christ was not (249). He did not explain himself on the origin of the body of the Lord. According to Gennadius (250), he taught with the Gnostics that the Word brought His body down from heaven. This charge, however, he denied at the Council of Constantinople in 448 (251). Philoxenus accuses him of holding that the body of Christ was made out of nothing. |58 Whatever may have been Eutyches' own opinion on this point, there is no doubt that his doctrine leaned towards Docetism, and consequently did not appeal to the Syrian Monophysites who had been schooled in the traditions of Antioch and of Edessa. This may account partly for the fact that his doctrines found but few followers among the Monophysites of the East; indeed, they made no difficulty in anathematizing Eutyches and his opinions (252).
Philoxenus, by teaching that the divinity and the humanity in Christ, although forming but one nature, are not confused nor mingled in any way, is able, from his own point of view, to deny some of the consequences which follow necessarily from Eutyches' doctrine; and so, in the Letter to the Monks, he rejects the Gnostic and Eutychian theories about the origin of the body of the Lord: «He (the Word) did not bring His body down from heaven, as Bardesanes said; nor was He seen under a false appearance or a phantom, according to the blasphemy of Mani and Marcion; nor was (His body) made from nothing, as said Eutyches the fool; nor was His nature changed, as the wicked Arius and Ennomius imagine; nor was He, Who was embodied, without (human) intelligence, according to the blasphemous doctrine of Apollinaris; but He Who is perfect God took a body, and became perfect man of the Virgin» (253). Hence he asserts repeatedly that the Word became incarnate in the Virgin, and of the Virgin, and not simply in the Virgin as Eutyches contended: «The Word was not embodied in the Virgin, as if not also of the Virgin, but He truly became man in her and of her (254).
The reality of the body of Christ is a frequent theme in Philoxenus' writings. He dwells on it at great length in his |59 Letter to the Monks of Teleda, and says not only that the humanity of Christ is real, hut that, through the manifestation of that same real humanity, we are led to believe in the divinity of the Son of God. Commenting on St. Luke, xxiv, 39, he says: «To this end Jesus was seen in true manifestation, that He might teach us that His hidden divinity is true. For, 0 heretic, Thomas did not touch an appearance, but the real humanity of God. To show us that He was not changed by becoming incarnate, He (Christ) said, 'I have flesh and bones', but did not say, 'I am (flesh and bones)', lest by saying I am thou shouldst suppose a change. For He said: 'A spirit has not flesh and bones as you see that I have', and not '(as you see) that I am'. I am a Spirit because I am God; I have flesh and bones because I became a body and was not changed. Touch the flesh and the bones, and make certain that 1 am; put thy hand in the places of the nails and of the lance, and believe that I became incarnate. Hear the words 'I have' and not 'I am', and believe that I was not changed. By the touch make sure of the corporeity; from the word believe the immutability; with the finger touch the corporeity; from the word of doctrine understand the spirituality» (255). Again, in the same letter, commenting on the first verse of the first epistle of St. John, Philoxenus writes: «How can this be 'We have handled and have seen with our eyes the Word of life' if it was an appearance and not a reality that was assumed, as the blasphemer Eutyches said? How can this be 'We have handled the Word', if, as he says, it was an appearance that was handled? And this again 'Touch and see because I have flesh and bones?' Therefore, let us cry out against these two (Nestorius and Eutyches) with a voice full of truth and life and faith, that He Who was touched was God incarnate, the Word |60 Who became flesh truly, not a man distinct from God, nor an appearance without reality» (256).
Not only does Philoxenus insist on the reality of the humanity of Christ, but he urges against his opponents the irresistible argument that, if the body of Christ was not real, two of the great ends of the Incarnation ---- the reparation of fallen human nature and our sonship with God through Christ ---- could not be obtained (257). Thus in the Letter to Zeno, he says: «For He (the Word) did not bring to Himself a body from heaven as the foolish Valentinus and Bardesanes assert; nor was His embodiment from nothing, because He did not wish to redeem a creature that did not exist, but He wished to renew that which, created by Him, had become old» (258). In the Letter to the Monks he says that, unless the Son of God took upon Himself our humanity, we could not have become the sons of God: «Herein then is a great mystery of profound love and of ineffable salvation, that He Who is became, not that He might bo since He is, but that we, through His becoming (Incarnation), might become the sons of God» (259). And again, in the Letter to Zeno, «The Word, therefore, became something that He was not, and remained something that we were not (but became), |61 that is, sons of God. For we became sons of God, although our nature was not changed» (260).
Other Consequences of the Eutychian Theory.
25. From their theory on the union of the two natures in Christ, the Eutychians could not avoid one or the other of the two alternatives: either the divinity suffered, or the sufferings of Christ were not real. Many of them held that the divine nature in Christ suffered, as we know from the preamble to the definition of the Council of Chalcedon: «Et illos qui passibilem deitatem Unigeniti ausi sunt dicere, a sacro coetu expellit (Synodus)» (261). Others attributed suffering to the whole Trinity. Such was probably the meaning intended by Peter Fuller (262), patriarch of Antioch, when, in the year 477 (263), he added to the Trisagion (264), |62 the words «Who wast crucified for us», which gave rise to bitter theological disputes, and, on one occasion, nearly cost the emperor Anastasius his throne and his life (265).
By denying the confusion of the divinity and the humanity in that one nature which he admits, Philoxenus is able, from his own point of view, to avoid the conclusion that the divinity suffered. He clearly teaches that Christ suffered only in the flesh. The many passages in which he speaks of the death of the Saviour leave no doubt as to his belief on this point.
Thus, in the Letter to the Monks of Beth-Gaugal, he says: «The Spiritual One did not die in so far as He is spiritual, and God did not suffer in so far as He is God. He has no beginning, to the extent that He is without beginning in his generation from the Father. He suffered, therefore, because He took a body, and He died because He became a brother of mortals» (266). In the Letter to Zeno, speaking of the death and of the immortality of Christ, he writes: «The Cross is the herald of the death and of the immortality of God; for, until then, we believed by hearing that God is immortal; but, on the Cross, experience has shown (that) both (were true), for, whilst tasting death, He remained living. Death could not attack and destroy His life; but, by His death, the power of death was destroyed, so that this death (of the Son), after His becoming (man), is a miracle. For He Who suffered death for us was not mortal as one of us, otherwise the power of death over mortals would not have been destroyed. From all men we know that what is mortal shall die; but, that the Immortal be considered as having |63 died corporally, is something new which took place once on the Cross» (267).
It is true that Philoxenus accepted the Trisagion with the addition made by Peter the Fuller, but he understood the addition to apply to Christ alone, as can be seen from the Letter to the Monks: «Nor did He (Christ) become immortal by being justified by His works, as the wicked followers of Nestorianism assert; but by His nature He is immortal because He is God, as the whole Church of God cries out in the Trisagion: «Thou art Holy, God; Thou art Holy, Strong One; Thou art Holy, Immortal One; (Thou) Who wast crucified for us, have mercy on us» (268). Thus far it might be objected that he agrees with the Theopaschites in attributing death to the divinity, but he immediately explains himself, and tells us what interpretation he puts on the Trisagion, and how he understands the addition of Peter the Fuller: «Thus does the true Church believe, thus do the tongues which are moved by truth cry out that He, Who is immortal by nature, God the Word, was crucified in body for all, not that a body or a man distinct from Him was suspended on the Cross» (269).
This doctrine is explained more fully in his Letter to the Monks of Teleda, and he shows clearly that the Word suffered only in so far as He beca.me man. Thus, to the objection of his adversaries, «Since angels do not die, how is it believed that God died?» he answers: «First, to ask this question about God is a blasphemy. When thou hearest that God has done any thing, thou shouldst not ask how. Secondly, the angel, who is immortal by his nature, did not become man. But we first say of God, of Whom we confess that He died, that He became man, and then we attribute death to His person, so that it is |64 seen that it is the death of His becoming, not of his essence, for the essence of God is above death» (270). And he says, furthermore, that the objection drawn from the angels and other spiritual natures is irrelevant, because none of them became incarnate, and that the Word alone died because He alone, of all spiritual natures, took a body: «Corporally, therefore, God died, and not spiritually, as He was born according to the flesh, and not in His essence. Not similar then is the example which thou bringest. If thou shouldst say that He tasted death before He became man of the Virgin, thou couldst well refute my argument by the example of spiritual natures; but if He is the only one Who had corporeity, and if it is not found in any other spiritual nature, nor in the eternal persons of the Father and of the Holy Ghost, nor in the spiritual nature of the angels, He, Who alone among spiritual natures, had by His will corporeity, to Him alone applies the fact of death, which cannot happen in the other spiritual natures. For, if it were written that other spiritual natures were incarnate, then death could be predicated of other spiritual natures; if, on the contrary, corporeity was not in any of them, then none of them tasted death. The Word alone became a body, as it is written, and in Him alone was the mystery of death accomplished corporally. As He alone of all spirits became a true body, so also, He alone of all spirits tasted death truly. Whilst the Father did not die, nor the Holy Ghost, nor any of the created spiritual natures, He alone was subject to death, because He alone became man from our nature» (271). And, in the Letter to the Monks of Beth-Gaugal, Philoxenus asserts that Christ lying in the grave as man, was, at that very time, the Ruler of the universe: «When He lay and reclined dead in Scheol, He was preparing, for all, resurrection, was ruling the hosts of heaven and all creatures by |65 His nod, creating bodies and putting the limbs together and breathing in the souls, and governing the worlds and all creatures, as God Who is everywhere» (272).
It is evident, therefore, from all these passages that Philoxenus attributes death to the Word of God, only in so far as He became man. He gives this as the belief of his church at the time, and such is, according to Renaudot (273) and Assemani (274), the common doctrine of the Jacobites.
As we remarked above, the Eutychians who denied that the divinity in Christ had suffered were forced to admit with the Gnostics that the sufferings of Christ were not real. It was a necessary consequence of their doctrine on the origin of the body of the Lord, which they said was not consubstantial with ours; for, as Philoxenus expresses it, «where there is no true corporeity, there cannot be any true death» (275). Philoxenus, however, by holding fast the reality of the humanity of Christ, puts himself in a position to deny the conclusion which the Eutychians could not escape. In his Letter to the Monks of Teleda, he expresses clearly his belief in the genuineness of the passion and death of Christ. Arguing against the Gnostics and the Eutychians, he says: «Do not corrupt, O rebel, the word of faith, and do not make it a phantom. For I did not say, and I do not say, and God forbid that I should say that those things were performed in the divine Economy in a false appearance. The becoming (man) and birth, and likewise the passion and death and all. the human actions between these, all this took place really and truly, as becomes God. Not, indeed, as the angels appeared, was God seen in the world; not as the angels ate and drank in the house of Abraham and in the house |66 of Lot, did God eat and drink in the world. That (in the angels) took place in appearance only; this (in God) in the truth of corporeity. That is not similar to this, as said the heretic Eutyches and the followers of his diabolical doctrine» (276).
Theory of Philoxenus on the Sufferings of Christ.
26. Although Philoxenus teaches that Christ suffered truly and not in appearance, his theory concerning the nature of these sufferings and the manner in which the Saviour assumed and bore the infirmities and needs of humanity, is not in harmony with his own principles. Many passages in his writings go to show that he did not regard the body of Christ as passible by nature. Thus, in the Letter to the Monks, he says: «Everything that He (the Word) became, He became, not for Himself, but for us. For He was not a sufferer by His nature, because, if He had suffered being a sufferer (by nature), He would have suffered for Himself» (277). In the Letter to the Monks of Teleda, speaking of the human operations and defects (hunger, thirst, fatigue, etc.) which Christ assumed, he says that they were not in Christ as they are in us: «Not indeed as they are performed by man, were those things which I have enumerated in man performed by God. For they are performed by man naturally, but (they are performed) by God in the wonder of His Economy, supernaturally, in true wonder «(278). And again, in the same letter, he writes: «Therefore, He (Christ) is also above death naturally, for His Incarnation took place in a holy manner, without intercourse, without the concupiscence of sin and death. Because there is not in Him any one of these things, His fight was not His own or for Himself; nor were the rest |67 of the weak things which He assumed in His person (His own or for Himself); but, by His will He fulfilled them in Himself for us. For if He had been subject to them naturally, they would have been performed by Him necessarily as by every man, and then His victory over these things would have been for Himself and not for us. By His will, therefore, was He subject to them, not as by excess or defect, or as ruled by necessity, or as impelled by the motion of concupiscence, or as a sufferer, or as mortal by nature, but as being above all these things by nature» (279).
From these passages it seems clear that Philoxenus regards the infirmities, sufferings and death of Christ simply as voluntary, not only in their assumption, but also in the way they were supported. He does not consider the humanity of Christ as passible naturally. In this he departs from the common doctrine according to which the sufferings of Christ were both voluntary and natural, that is, voluntarily assumed and naturally supported. They were voluntary because the Son of God consented to forego the preternatural gifts of immortality and impassibility which belonged to His innocent body by virtue of the hypostatic union, and because, after having assumed them, He had fall control over them, and they were natural because He became like unto us in everything except sin. Hence we see that the doctrine of Philoxenus on this point is not in harmony with his well known belief in the reality of Christ's humanity and its consubstantiality with our human nature. In his teaching we already notice the germs of the heresy of Julian of Halicarnassus who taught, against Severus of Antioch, that Christ was not subject to human passions or exposed to the changes of our corruptible nature (280). |68
Among the infirmities which Christ assumed in the Incarnation Philoxenus appears to include the moral defect of ignorance or liability to error. In the Letter to the Monks of Beth-Gaugal, he says: «He who as God. experiences neither hunger, nor fatigue, nor sleep, nor ignorance; the Same, as man, was hungry and thirsty, ate and drank, was sleepy and slept, and asked questions to learn «(281). Here, he evidently affirms of Christ as man what he denies of him as God. The word te'a means «to err», and in a transitive sense «to forget» (Cf. PAYNE-SMITH, Thes. Syr., sub voce). As Philoxenus denies it of Christ as God, he seems to affirm it of Him as man; the words «He asked questions to learn» confirm this view.
Summing up of the Doctrine of Philoxenus.
27. From the comparison of the errors of Nestorius and of Eutyches with the passages adduced from Philoxenus' works, the following points concerning his doctrine on the Incarnation seem clear: |69
a) Against the Nestorians, he acknowledges only one person in Christ.
b) With the Eutychians and against the Council of Chalcedon, he admits only one nature after the union.
c) This nature is a composite one, consisting of the divinity and of the humanity,
d) united without change, mixture or confusion,
e) after the manner of the soul and the body in man.
f) The humanity of Christ, although real and consubstantial with ours, is not a nature, nor a person.
g) The divinity and the humanity constitute in Christ one nature, which Philoxenus calls «One embodied nature of God the Word».
h) The expression «The Immortal died» means that the Word of God suffered in the flesh, and not in so far as He is God; so that the Trisagion, with the addition introduced by Peter the Fuller, is to be referred to Christ alone, and not to the other two persons of the Holy Trinity.
i) Christ suffered by His will, which means not only that He assumed suffering voluntarily, but also that He was not passible and mortal by nature.
Philoxenus and Original Sin.
28. In speaking of the death of Christ in his Letter to the Monks of Teleda, Philoxenus gives us incidently his doctrine on original sin. He acknowledges its existence, its effects ---- privation of original justice, concupiscence, and death ----, and its transmission into all those born according to the ordinary laws of nature. «On account of the transgression of the first precept, death reigned, and this death is naturally mixed with concupiscence. Therefore every one who comes into this world by way of intercourse, is born naturally mortal; and whether he sins or not, whether he sins little or much, he is in any case subject |70 to death, because death is mixed in with his nature» (282). And in the same letter, he states clearly that death and concupiscence are in us through ordinary generation: «God then, when He wished to become man of the Virgin in order to create us anew by His becoming, was not incarnate and born from intercourse, as in the old law, so that even in His Incarnation He might be above death and concupiscence, for in every man these two things follow only from intercourse. Of Him, therefore, neither of these is said, because He was conceived and begotten without intercourse. Therefore, the Holy Ghost came to the Virgin, that the Incarnation of the Word might take place of her in a holy manner» (283).
Philoxenus and the Blessed Virgin.
29. That Philoxenus believed in the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin is very probable, not only because it was a common doctrine in the Syriac Church in his time (284), but also on account of the allusions to it which we find in his writings. He calls Mary «the pure Virgin» in the Letter to the Monks: «He (the Word) came down and dwelt in the pure Virgin who was sanctified by God the Spirit, and He became man of her without change, in everything like unto us except sin» (285). He also acknowledges in an explicit manner her virginity ante partum et in partu. Thus, in the Letter to the Monks of Teleda, he says: «Therefore, He (Christ) is also above death naturally, because His Incarnation took place in a holy manner without intercourse, without the concupiscence of sin and death» (286). And |71 again, in the same letter: «Also all those who are born, are not born in a virginal manner; He (Christ), on the contrary, was born of the Virgin who, in His birth, preserved the signs of her virginity» (287).
B
His DOCTRINE ON THE TRINITY.
Three Persons and one Nature.
30. When he treats of the Blessed Trinity, Philoxenus, like the other Monophysites of his day, preserves the distinction between nature and person, which he does not admit in the mystery of the Incarnation. He confesses clearly one God in three divine persons. Thus, in the Letter to the Monks, he writes: «This Jesus, God the Word, is our truth, with His Father and with His Holy Spirit: one Trinity, one essence, one divinity, one nature from everlasting and from eternity. For there is not in Him (God) nature and nature, nor essence and essence, nor anything recent or old, but One in Three and Three in One; an eternal nature and eternal persons, one essence adored with its persons from everlasting and from eternity» (288). In the Letter to the Monks of Teleda, speaking of the faith for which we must be ready to die, he says: «Thus I believe and confess one substantial and eternal nature of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: the Father, Who is really Father, because of His Son Who is from Him; the Son, Who is Son in truth, because He is consubstantial with the Father; and the Holy Ghost. Who proceeds from the Father and is glorified with the Son; one God, |72 because there is one nature; three persons, because they are so» (289). And again: «In this one divine nature with its three holy persons I have learned to believe» (290).
Equality and Consubstantiality of the Persons.
31. Philoxenus also teaches the equality and consubstantiality of the three divine persons. In the Letter to the Monks, he calls the Son the Splendor and the essential Image of the Father: «By the will of the essence, this same Person (the Word) came down from heaven, that is, God from God, natural Son of a natural Father, the Splendor of the Father and His essential Image, God the Word Who is over all» (291). In the Letter to the Monks of Beth-Gaugal, he calls Christ the equal of God: «He who does not confess that God emptied Himself, and took the likeness of a servant, as Paul teaches, does not know that Christ is the equal of God» (292). He acknowledges in explicit terms that the Son is consubstantial with the Father, as is clear from the opening sentence of the Letter to Zeno: «O Christ-loving Zeno, Emperor, concerning the embodiment and the humanifying of God the Word, Who is consubstantial with God the Father, and was begotten by Him before ages and worlds, Who is always God and near God, Who is God the Word, because He was begotten by Him without passion and, with Him, is not subject to time, we have learned, we believe, and we have received from tradition (as follows): that He (God the Word) emptied Himself and came into the womb of the Virgin, without leaving the Father, without |73 separating Himself from Him with Whom, near Whom, and like unto Whom He always is» (293).
That the testimonies as to the equality and consubstantiality of the Holy Ghost are not so numerous, is accounted for by the fact that, in his letters, Philoxenus treats mainly of the Incarnation. Still the few passages in which he speaks of the Holy Ghost leave no doubt as to his belief on this point. In the Letter to Zeno, he says that the Son is consubstantial with the Father and with the Holy Ghost: «The person of the Son, therefore, became embodied by the will of the Father and of the Holy Ghost, and this embodiment daes not exclude that He may be consubstantial with them, for He was begotten Son (by the Father) and He was born Son (of the Virgin)» (294). And, in the same letter, he attributes to the Holy Ghost as well as to the Father the power of raising Christ from the dead: «The Holy Ghost also raised Him, for (Paul says again): He (Christ) was known to be the Son of God by power, and by the Holy Ghost according to the resurrection from the dead» (295).
Eternal Generation of the Son.
32. The eternal generation of the Son is often spoken of in Philoxenus' writings especially in connection with His temporal generation from the Virgin. In the Letter to the Monks, we read: «And He, Whose generation from the Father is without beginning, was brought forth with a beginning in His generation from the Virgin» (296). And in the Letter to Zeno: «She (the Virgin) did not bring Him forth spiritually since (the Word) has His spiritual generation from the Father, and He did not |74 become (man), as He was begotten bj the Father, according to the order of the (divine) nature and of the essential generation» (297).
Procession of the Holy Ghost.
33. That Philoxenus believed in the procession of the Holy Ghost from the Father is evident from the passage adduced above: «And the Holy Ghost, Who proceeds from the Father and is glorified with the Son» (298). This, in fact, was the expression generally used in speaking of the procession of the Holy Ghost before the insertion of the Filioque into the Creed (299). Not only does Philoxenus affirm that the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Father, but he considers the procession of the Holy Ghost different from that of the Son, which is called generation. In the Letter to Zeno, giving a reason why the Father and the Holy Ghost did not become incarnate, he says: «The Father had no corporal generation, because He is always Father; nor had the Holy Ghost, because He did not come from the Father as Son in order to become the Son of the Virgin» (300).
But does Philoxenus also teach that the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Son? Assemani denies it on the strength of the following passage in Philoxenus' treatise De Trinitate et Incarnatione: «Not indeed as the Son is from the Father is also the Holy Ghost from the Son, but both are from the Father: the Father is Being only; the Son, Son of the Being; the Holy Ghost is from the Being» (301). Here, however, Philoxenus does |75 not deny absolutely that the Holy Ghost proceeds from the Sou, but seems to imply that He does not proceed from the Son in the same way as the Son proceeds from the Father, that is, by way of generation. As a matter of fact, Assemani is obliged to admit that Philoxenus contradicts himself in this passage, and goes against the principles he gives in the same treatise regarding the distinction of the three divine persons. The principle is this: «The Father is distinguished from the Son by this only that He is Begetter unbegotten; the Son is distinguished from the Father by this that He is begotten, not begetter; and the Holy Ghost is distinguished from the Father and from the Son by this that He is always Holy Ghost, and never Father and never Son» (302). Hence, argues Assemani, if the Son is distinguished by this only that He is begotten, not begetter, it follows manifestly that He has everything that the Father possesses, except the power of generating; and, consequently, the power of producing the Holy Ghost is common to Him with the Father (303). There is no need, however, of making Philoxenus contradict himself, for, if we turn to his Letter to the Monks of Teleda, we find a remarkable testimony concerning his belief in the procession of the Holy Ghost from the Son. In this letter, after declaring his faith in the Blessed Trinity, he adds: «One God, because there is one nature; three persons because they are so; the Father Who is Father from everlasting and from eternity, Who is Father, not by will only, but by nature; the Son Who is essentially Son with the Father, Son, not indeed by grace, but by natural generation; and the Spirit Who is so, not metaphorically nor in time as the other messenger spirits who came into existence, but Holy Spirit, from the nature of (men keyänä) and consubstantial with (bar keyänä) the Father and the Son» (304). Here. Philoxenus asserts that the Holy Ghost is not only bar |76keyana, (consubstantial with) the Father and the Son, but that He is also men keyana, that is, that He proceeds from the nature of the Father and of the Sou. Hence we see that his teaching on the Holy Ghost is in perfect harmony with that of the Syriac Church. Long before the insertion of the Filioque into the Creed, forty bishops from Persia assembled at Seleucia in 410 under the presidency of SS. Isaac and Maruthas, and expressed their belief in the procession of the Holy Ghost in the following canon, which is one of the oldest documents of Syriac literature: «We confess a Living and Holy Spirit, the Living Paraclete Who is from the Father and from the Son, and one Trinity, one essence, one will, embracing the faith of the three hundred and eighteen bishops which was defined in the city of Nice. Such is our confession and our faith, which we have received from our holy Fathers» (305). Such was also the teaching of Jacob of Serugh (306) and other Monophysites.
C
His Doctrine on the Real Presence.
34. As regards the Holy Eucharist, there is no doubt that Philoxenus, like the other Monophysites of his day (307), believed in the |77 real presence of Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. In his Letter to the Monks of Senim, written a year or so before his death, he refutes the opinion of the Nestorians who held that the body and blood given in Holy Communion were not the body and blood of Christ, but the body and blood of a man whom the Word of God had assumed and united to Himself (308). The passage quoted by Assemani is well worth reproducing here, for it is one of the clearest testimonies of the Syriac Church on the dogma of the real presence: «And He (Christ) is one Son and one Lord in these two: that is, in so far as He is God, and in so far as He became man. He remained one after He became man, as He was one before His Incarnation, except that formerly (before the Incarnation) He was one without flesh, but now (after the Incarnation) He is one having a body. For the flesh, which He took from us belongs to Him, and not to a man considered distinct from Himself. And, therefore, we confess that we receive the living body of the Living God, and not the mere, simple body of a mortal man; likewise, we receive the living blood of the Living One in the sacred draughts (of Communion), and not the mere blood of a corruptible man like ourselves. For it was not sanctified bread that He called "His body"; nor was it wine enriched only by a blessing that He called "His blood". But He said of them that they were truly His own body and blood, as it is written: "Jesus took bread, and blessed, and broke: and gave to his disciples, and said: Take ye, and eat: This is My body, which shall be broken for you unto remission of sins. Likewise, taking the chalice, He gave thanks, and said: Take ye, and drink of this: This is My blood which shall be shed for you unto remission of sins". Thus He called the bread "body" and the wine "blood". not indeed (the body and blood) of another man, but His own» (309). |78 It is clear that Philoxenus acknowledges here the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist and the dogma of transubstantiation. In this he agrees with the Jacobites as is plain from the liturgies which have come down to us (310).
Concerning the reception of Holy Communion, wo find a very interesting passage in Philoxenus' Letter to the Monks. Speaking of the Word made man, he says: «Invisible, we see Him; not tangible, we handle Him; not capable of being eaten we eat Him; not capable of being tasted, we drink Him; we embrace Him Who is all powerful; we kiss Him Who is infinite» (311). Here, we have not only an explicit proof of his belief in the real presence, «we eat Him, we drink Him», but probably also an allusion to the special acts of devotion which, in the early ages of the Church, often accompanied the reception of the Holy Eucharist. We know that, in the times of persecution, the faithful used to receive the Blessed Sacrament in their hand (312), from the priest (313), and carry it home where they could communicate themselves. Even after the days of persecution, the custom continued for a long time. St. John Damascene tells us that, in Jerusalem, the faithful, after receiving the Blessed Sacrament in their hand, carried it to their eyes, lips, and forehead, to sanctify themselves (314). This custom obtained among the Syrians in the days of Aphraates, for he says in his seventh Demonstration: «They love Our Lord, and they lick His wounds when they receive His body, and place it over their eyes, and lick it with their tongue, as the dog licks |79 his master» (315). It is probably to the same custom that Philoxenus refers when he says in the passage quoted above: «We embrace Him Who is all powerful; we kiss Him Who is infinite». |80
[Footnotes renumbered and placed at end]
1. (1) HEFELE, Conciliengeschichte, vol. II, p. 564.
2. (2) This heresy is still professed not only by the Jacobites of Syria, but also by the dissident Copts, Armenians, and Abyssinians (cf. ADOLPHE D'AVRIL, Documents relatifs aux Eglises d'Orient, ch. III).
3. (3) MIGNE, Patrologia Graeca (P. G.), vol. 86, p. 216.
4. (1) MIGNE, Patrologia Latina (P. L.), vol. 68, p. 949.
5. (2) MIGNE, P. G., vol. 86 bis, pp. 2657 sqq.
6. (3) MIGNE, P. G., vol. 108, pp. 325 sqq.
7. (4) MIGNE, P. G., vol. 121, pp. 676 sqq.
8. (5) Cf. KRÜGER, Monophysitische Streitigkeiten im Zusammenhange mit der Reichspolitik, p. 4.
9. (6) Assemani quotes those extracts from Codex Syr. nost. XIII. This is evidently an error (cf. B. O., I, 614).
10. (7) Bibliotheca Orientalis clementino-vaticana (B. O.), I, pp. 346-358.
11. (8) B. O., I, pp. 387-429.
12. (9) Ed. W. WRIGHT, Cambridge, 1882. The name of the author of this Chronicle is unknown (cf. DUVAL, La Littérature Syriaque, d. ed., p. 188).
13. (10) B. O., I, p. 475.
14. (11) Ed. ABBELOOS and LAMY, vol. I, pp. 183, 195.
15. (1) B. O., I, p. 352.
16. (2) DUVAL, Histoire politique, religieuse et littéraire d'Edesse jusqu'à la première- croisade, p. 168.
17. (3) Philoxenus wrote his Letter to the Monks of Senun in 522 Cf B. O., II, p. 20.
18. (4) Although Philoxenus was born a subject of Persia, he may not have been of Persian blood. The Syrian Christians living in the colonies of the Persian empire were generally called Persians.
19. (5) The country between the Tigris and the mountains of Kurdistan, south of the Lesser Zab and north of the Didjala (cf. DUVAL, Lit. Syr., Map.).
20. (6) See Appendix I.
21. (1) B. O., I, 353.
22. (2) MIGNE, P. Cf., vol. 86, p. 216.
23. (3) MIGNE, P. G., vol. 108, p. 328.
24. (4) MIGNE, P. G., vol. 121, p. 676.
25. (5) TILLEMONT, Mémoires pour servir à l'histoire ecclésiastique des six premiers siècles, vol. XVI, p. 677.
26. (6) LE QUIEN, Oriens Christianus, vol. II. p. 928.
27. (7) «Peri\ tou&tou, a polla_ para_ diafo&rwn h)kri/bwsa, a)po_ me/rouj le/cw. » MIGNE, P. G., vol. 86, p. 216.
28. (1) «Kateilh&famen ga_r e0ni/ouj e0sxatoge/rontaj, tou_j, o#sa sumbebhken e)pi\ Flabianou~ th~| mnh&mh| diasw&zontaj». MIGNE, P. Gr., vol. 86-bis, p. 2665.
29. (2) MIGNE, ibid., p. 2657.
30. (3) P. 125.
31. (4) P. 126.
32. (5) B. O., II, p. 12.
33. (1) B. O., I, p. 353.
34. (2) Cf. DUVAL, Histoire d'Edesse, p. 145.
35. (3) DUVAL, Littérature Syriaque, p. 334.
36. (4) Isaac of Antioch, Narses, and others.
37. (5) DUVAL, Littérature Syriaque, p. 308.
38. (6) DUVAL, ibid., p. 254.
39. (7) The influence of Aristotelian philosophy among the Syrians dates from the beginning of the fifth century, when the spread of Nestorian doctrines had made a knowledge of Greek absolutely necessary. According to Ebed-Jesu, three professors of the Persian school of Edessa, Ibas, Koumi, and Probus, translated into Syriac the works of the Interpreter (Theodore of Mopsuestia) and the writings of Aristotle (B. O., III, pars I, p. 85). It is not believed that all the works of Aristotle were translated by them. Probus translated and commented the Peri\ e9rmhnei/aj (DUVAL, Lit. Syr., p. 254). He also wrote a treatise on the Prior Analytics (edited and translated by A. VAN HOONACKER, Journal Asiatique, 9th series, t. XVI, pp. 70-166). After the destruction of the Persian school of Edessa by order of Zeno in 489, the study of the philosophy of Aristotle was cultivated by both the Jacobites and the Nestorians. Among the Jacobites, we may notice Sergius of Res'aina († 536), Severus Sebokht (VII c.), Jacob of Edessa († 708), and George, bishop of the Arabs († 724); among the Nestorians, Henaniso' I († 701), Mar-Abba II († 751), and especially the numerous scholars and physicians who lived at the court of the Abbassides in Baghdad during the ninth and tenth centuries. The Nestorians initiated the Arabs to the philosophy of Aristotle, and translated it for them from Syriac into Arabic. The Arabs proved very apt pupils. Indeed, they soon surpassed their teachers themselves, and, after having made Aristotelian philosophy their own, they introduced it to the scholars of the middle ages. Cf. DUVAL, Lit. Syr., pp. 253-263.
40. (1) WRIGHT, Catalogue of the Syriac Mss. in the British Museum, part II, p. 528.
41. (2) I have noted the few Greek words occurring in the three letters.
42. (1) DUVAL, Histoire d'Edesse, p. 168.
43. (2) DUVAL, ibid., p. 171.
44. (3) DUVAL, Histoire d''Edesse, p. 172.
45. (4) DUVAL, Littérature Syriaque, p. 342.
46. (1) DUVAL, Hist. d'Edesse, p. 174.
47. (2) Cf. the first letter of Jacob of Serugh to the Monks of Mar-Bassus, published by Abbé Martin in the Z. D. M. G., vol. 30, p. 221: «Now there was in the city (Edessa) a school of Persians, which adhered very strongly to the doctrine of the foolish Diodorus. That school has corrupted the whole East, although it has since been destroyed by the care of the Blessed Mar Cyrus, of holy memory, bishop of Edessa, and by order of the faithful Emperor Zeno».
48. (3) Cf. his confession of faith against the Council of Chalcedon, in Budge, The Discourses of Philoxenus, vol. II, p. xcviii.
49. (4) B. O., II, p. 15.
50. (5) P. 94.
51. (1) The modern Diarbekir. An extract from the letter to the Monks of Amid is extant in Syr. Ms. Add. 17193 of the B. M., (Wright DCCCLXI), fol. 69b. Another fragment is found in Syr. Ms. 126 of the Vatican (Cod. Syr. nost. VI). Cf. B. O., II, p. 37.
52. (2) A little east of Amid. A fragment of the letter to the Monks of Arzün is found in Syr. Ms. 135 of the Vatican (Cod. Syr. nost. XI), fol. 89. Cf. B. O., II, p. 45.
53. (3) The letter to the Monks of Senün was not written till the year 522 (B. O., II, p. 20), but Philoxenus' acquaintance with these monks must go back to a much earlier date. The letter is extant in Syr. Ms. 136 of the Vatican, fol. 58v-end of Ms., and in Syr Ms. Add. 14597 of the B. M. (Wright DCCXXX), fol. 35b-91a. The monastery of Senün was situated near Edessa (B. O., II, p. 38).
54. (4) Cf. SOZOMEN in MIGNE, P. G., vol. 67, p. 1077.
55. (1) Locis citatis.
56. (2) Cf. MARIN, Les Moines de Constantinople, p. 270.
57. (3) On this canon of the Council of Chalcedon cf. HEFELE, Conciliengeschichte, vol. II, p. 527.
58. (4) TILLEMONT, Mémoires, vol. XVI, p. 330.
59. (5) TILLEMONT, ibid., p. 335.
60. (6) THEOPHANES in MIGNE, P. G., vol. 108, p. 324.
61. (7) HEFELE, op. cit., vol. II, p. 607 sqq.
62. (1) Cf. THEOPHANES in MIGNE, P. G., vol. 108, p. 325.
63. (2) TILLEMONT, Mémoires, vol. XVI, p. 366.
64. (3) TILLEMONT, ibid., p. 319.
65. (4) The modern Telladi about half way between Antioch and Aleppo. Cf. GUIDI, La Lettera di Filosseno ai monaci di Tell'Addâ. p. III.
66. (5) Near Apamea. See DUVAL, Lit. Syr., Map.
67. (6) THEODORE the READER, in MIGNE, P. G., vol. 86, p. 216.
68. (7) THEOPHANES in MIGNE, P. G., vol. 108, p. 325.
69. (8) TILLEMONT, Mémoires, vol. XVI, p. 366.
70. (1) Cf. BARONIUS, Annales, anno 485, t. VIII, p. 460.
71. (2) P. 115.
72. (3) The modern Manbidj, northeast of Antioch and almost due south of Carchemish. Hierapolis was a metropolitan see and, according to LE QUIEN (Oriens Christianus, vol. II, pp. 926-952), had jurisdiction over the following thirteen dioceses or churches: Cyrrhus (Huru Peigamber), Samosata (Samsat), Douche (Dulluk), Germanicia (Maras), Zeugma (Biredjik), Europus (Djerabis), Barbalissus (Kalaat Balis?), Perrha, Urima, Sura, Neocesarea, Sergiopolis and Marianopolis. See KIEPERT'S Maps (Provinces Asiatiques de l'Empire Ottoman), and his map of Prof. HAUSSKNECHT'S Reisen im Orient, 1865-1869, I-II. For a history and description of Hierapolis, see BITTER'S Erdkunde im Verhältniss zur Natur and zur Geschichte des Menschen, d ed., vol. 10 (West-Asien, Band IV), pp. 1041-1061. Cf. also POCOCK.E, A description of the East, London (1745), vol. II, part I, p. 166 sqq., and the Archives des Missions scientifiques et littéraires, Paris (1866), e série, t. III, p. 347 sqq.
73. (1) THEOPHANES in MIGNE, P. G., vol. 108, p. 328.
74. (2) See Appendix I.
75. (3) BARONIUS, anno 485, Annales, vol. VIII, p. 456.
76. (4) B. O., II, p. 12.
77. (5) B. O., I, p. 408. Cf. RALLIER, Untersuch, ü. d. Edess. Chr. 125.
78. (6) GIBBON, The history of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire, ed. Milman (1840), vol. VI, p. 29.
79. (7) Mémoires, vol. XVI, p. 664.
80. (1) The Discourses of Philoxenus, vol. II, p. xxi.
81. (2) Ibid., p. LXXIII.
82. (3) BUDGE, ibid., p. xxix.
83. (4) Edition Wright, p. 25.
84. (5) «fasi\ de\ Flabiano_n toi=j e0n Xalkhdo&ni do&gmasin a)ntikei=sqai». THEOPHANES in MIGNE, P. G., vol. 108, p. 341.
85. (1) Cf. LIBERATUS, MIGNE, P. L., vol. 68, p. 1030.
86. (2) B. O., II, p. 15.
87. (3) DUVAL, Lit. Syr., p. 357; B. O., II, p. 15.
88. (1) MIGNE, P. L., vol 68, p. 949.
89. (2) THEOPHANES in MIGNE, P. G., vol. 108, p. 340. Cf. also ASSEMANI. B. O., II, p. 15.
90. (3) Cf. TILLEMONT, Mémoires, vol. XVI, p. 677.
91. (1) EVAGRIUS in MIGNE, P. G., vol. 86 bis, p. 2661.
92. (2) EVAGRIUS, ibid.
93. (3) TILLEMONT, Mémoires, vol. XVI, p. 679.
94. (4) TILLEMONT. ibid., p. 681.
95. (5) HEFELE, Conciliengeschichte, vol. II, p. 666.
96. (6) TILLEMONT, ibid., p. 703.
97. (7) THEOPHANES in MIGNE, P. G., vol. 108, p. 361.
98. (8) EVAGRIUS in MIGNE, P. G., vol. 86 bis, p. 2665.
99. (1) THEOPHANES, ibid.
100. (2) EVAGRIUS, ibid.
101. (3) EVAGRIUS, ibid., p. 2668.
102. (4) HERGENRÖTHER, Histoire de l'Eglise, traduction Belet, vol. II, n.° 163, p. 274.
103. (5) MIGNE, P. G., vol. 108, p. 384.
104. (1) Barhebraei Chronicon Ecclesiasticum, ed. ABBELOOS and LAMY, vol. I, p. 197.
105. (2) See Appendix I. According to a note at the bottom of the page containing the anonymous notice, Philoxenus was put to death on account of his opposition to the Council of Chalcedon.
106. (3) B. O., II, p. 20.
107. (4) DENZINGER, Ritus Orientalium, vol. II, p. 104.
108. (1) CEDRENUS in MIGNE, P. G., vol. 121, p. 676.
109. (2) EVAGRIUS in MIGNE, P. G., vol. 86 bis, p. 2660.
110. (3) Op. cit., vol. II, p. xxiv.
111. (4) BUDGE, op. cit., vol. II. p. cxxxvi.
112. (5) B. O., II, p. 21.
113. (6) EVAGRIUS in MIGNE, P. G., vol. 86 bis, p. 2660: «Ou)k oi damen ti/ skopwn h poi/an e xqran pro_j Flabiano_n e0kdikw~n, proga&sei de\ th~j pi/stewj, w(j oi( polloi\ dihgou~ntai, kinei=n me\n pro_j au)to_n kai\ diaba&llein a!rxetai w(j Nestoriano&n».
114. (1) P. 117.
115. (2) GUIDI, La lettera di Filosseno ai monaci di Tell'Addâ, fol. 29a, col. 1, lines 11-24.
116. (3) GUIDI, ibid., col. 2, lines 12-18.
117. (4) B. O., I, p., 475.
118. (1) Chronicon eccl., vol. I, p. 183.
119. (2) B. O., II, p. 12.
120. (3) Ibid., p. 11.
121. (4) Ibid., p. 18.
122. (5) Ibid., p. 20.
123. (6) Art. Syriac Literature in Ency. Brit., 9th ed., p. 872.
124. (7) Op. cit., p.111.
125. (1) For a complete catalogue of the writings ascribed to Philoxenus, see BUDGE, op. cit., vol. II, pp. XLVIII-LXVI. After ASSEMANI (B. O., II, p. 37), BUDGE (ibid., p. LVIII, n°. XLV) speaks of two letters of Philoxenus to the Monks of Teleda. As GUIDI remarks (Z. D. M. G., vol. 35, p. 143), we know of one only. The supposed second letter to the Monks of Teleda, which is the first of the three letters published in this dissertation, is to be identified with the Letter to the Monks which Philoxenus inserted in his treatise showing that One of the Trinity was incarnate and suffered for us. This treatise is found in Syr. Ms. Add. 12164 of the British Museum (Wright's Catal., n°. DCLXXVI), and in Syr. Ms. 138 of the Vatican.
126. (2) B. O., II, p. 46.
127. (1) Syro-Chaldaicae Institutiones, pp. 71-78.
128. (2) Liturgiarum Orientalium collectio, vol. II, pp. 300, 309.
129. (3) B. O., II, Xenaias Mabugensis, pp. 10-46.
130. (4) These discourses are found in 19 Mss. of the British Museum, either in whole or in part (BUDGE, op. cit., vol. II, pp. LII, xciv). They are extant also in Syr. Ms. 201 (XIIIth century) of the Bibliothèque Nationale of Paris (See ZOTENBERG, Catalogue des Manuscrits Syriaques et Sabeens de la Bibliothèque Nationale, p. 149). Extracts of them in Karsuni exist in Ms. 239 of the same library (ZOTENBERG, ibid., p. 194).
131. (1) BUDGE, op. cit., vol. II, p. LXXIII.
132. (2) DUVAL, Littérature Syriaque, p. 230.
133. (3) Vol. II; Text, p. cxxxvi; Translation, p. xlv.
134. (1) Vol. II, Text, p. cxx.
135. (2) Ibid., Text, p. xcviii; Translation, p. xxxiii.
136. (3) Ibid., Text, p. xcvi; Translation, p. xxxt.
137. (4) Ibid., Text, p. civ.
138. (1) Ibid., Text, p. cxxiii; Summary, p. xxxix.
139. (2) Ibid., Text, p. c; Summary, p. xxxvi.
140. (1) Ibid., p. c.
141. (2) Syro-Chaldaicae Institutions, pp. 71-78.
142. (3) WRIGHT, Cat. Syr. Mss., p. 998.
143. (4) WRIGHT, ibid., p. 338.
144. (5) The magister militum of the Romans (Cf. Du GANGE, Glossarium ad Scriptures mediae et infimae graecitatis, vol. II, p. 1459).
145. (6) A little south-east of Meshed 'Alî, (Cf. ROTHSTEIN, Die Dynastie der Lahmiten in al-Hîra, 12, f.). At an early date, the rulers of Hira became simple lieutenants of the Persian Kings.
146. (1) The kingdom of Hira was founded, it is related, about 195 by Malik ben Fahm, but see ROTHSTEIN, op. c. 37 f.
147. (2) These doubts are again increased by the strong probability that, at the time the letter is supposed to have been written, the kings of Hira were still heathens. Cf. the article of GUIDI, Mundhir III, und die beiden monophysitischen Bischöfe in the Z. D. M. G., vol. 35, p. 142, where he shows that Mundhir III, who reigned in Hira from 505 to 513, was very probably a heathen.
148. (3) This genealogy makes Nestorius and Theodore first cousins. There is no evidence of their having been related.
149. (1) Theodore was born at Antioch, about 350 (MIGNE, P. G., vol. 66, p. 11), and Nestorius was born in Germanicia (Marais) (SMITH, Dictionary of Christian Biography, art. Nestorianism).
150. (2) According to all accounts, they both studied at Antioch.
151. (3) This is at variance with well established dates. Honorius ruled in the West from 395 to 423. The emperors of the East, during that period, were Arcadius (395-408), and Theodosius II (408-450). Nestorius was consecrated bishop of Constantinople, April 10, 428, five years after Honorius' death (Cf. SMITH, loc. cit.), whilst Theodore became bishop of Mopsuestia at the end of the year 392 or the beginning of 393 (Cf. GOYAU, Chronologie de l'Empire Romain, p. 610).
152. (4) There is no evidence of any correspondence between Theodore and Nestorius, especially after the elevation of the latter to the see of Constantinople, for Theodore died in 428 (MIGNE, P. G., vol. 66, p. 12). Nor is it certain that Nestorius was ever a disciple of Theodore at Antioch, as some have maintained. All we know is that Nestorius and his followers held the writings of Theodore in great esteem (Cf. TILLEMONT, Mémoires, vol. XII, p. 441).
153. (5) Theodore died in 428, and the Council of Ephesus was held in 431.
154. (1) In his Letter to the Monks (p. 97), Philoxenus accuses Eutyches of teaching that the body of Christ was made from nothing.
155. (2) Pope Leo the Great (440-461).
156. (3) As Monophysites did not distinguish between nature and person, they identified the followers of the Council of Chalcedon with the Nestorians.
157. (4) The dogmatic epistle to Flavian of Constantinople; MIGNE, P. L., vol. 54, p. 755.
158. (5) Proterius. He was patriarch of Alexandria from 454 to 457.
159. (6) Timothy Aelurus.
160. (7) Proterius was not stoned by his own people, but was stabbed to death together with six of his priests in the baptistry of his cathedral on Good Friday 457 by the followers of Timothy himself. Cf. NEALE, The patriarchate of Alexandria, vol. II, p. 12.
161. (1) The origin of the Acephali, and of the Esaianists, who were only a branch of that sect, does not date from the time of Timothy, but from the time of Peter Mongus, for the Acephali separated themselves from the latter, because he accepted the Henoticon, and would not anathematize the Council of Chalcedon. (Cf. LEONTIUS BYZ., De Sectis, Act. V, n.° 2, in MIGNE, P. G., vol. 86, p. 1229). Their origin is posterior to 482, the year in which the Henoticon was promulgated. As to the origin of the Esaianists, some say that the hand of a certain bishop Eusebius, when dead, had been laid on the head of Esaias. Cf. NEALE, ibid., p. 22.
162. (1) Stephen Bar Sudaili, p. 58.
163. (2) La lettera di Filosseno ai monad di Tell 'Adda ( Teleda), Memoria del Socio IGNAZIO GUIDI. Reale Accademia dei Lincei (anno CCLXXXII, 1884-85), Roma, 1886.
164. (1) Published by GUIDI. ibid., p. vi.
165. (2) B. O., II, p. 37.
166. (3) Op. cit., p. v, note 1.
167. (4) LE QUIEN, Oriens christianus, vol. II, p. 732.
168. (5) ABBELOOS and LAMY, Barhebraei Chronicon, vol. I, p. 195. Cf. also the chronological Canon of James of Edessa, edited by Brooks in the Z. D. M. G., vol. 53, p. 318.
169. (6) GUIDI, op. cit., fol. 14b, col. 1, lines 14-21.
170. (1) LE QUIEN, ibid., p. 782.
171. (2) Op. cit., p. 111, note 4.
172. (3) GUIDI, op. cit., fol. 4 a, col. 2, lines 2-21.
173. (1) GUIDI, op. cit., p. v.
174. (1) HERGENRÖTHER, Histoire de l'Eglise, traduction de P. Bélet, vol. II, n. 126, p. 201.
175. (2) HERGENRÖTHER, ibid.
176. (1) Cf. HERGENRÖTHER, op. cit., vol. II, n. 98, p. 134; also VACANT, Dictionnaire de théologie catholique, art. Antioche, p. 1435.
177. (2) Nestorians.
178. (3) Cf. VACANT, op. cit., art. Alexandrie, p. 805.
179. (4) HEFELE, Conciliengeschichte, vol. II, p. 142.
180. (5) Strict Eutychians.
181. (6) The Syrian Stephen Bar Sudaili.
182. (1) HEFELE, Conciliengeschichte, vol. II, p. 564.
183. (1) DUVAL, Histoire d'Edesse, p. 177.
184. (2) B. O., I, p. 352.
185. (3) LABBE-MANSI, Sacrorum Conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio, vol. V, p. 696.
186. (4) Homélie de Narses sur les trois docteurs Nestoriens, par l'Abbé F. MARTIN, in the Journal Asiatique; Introduction and Syriac text, 9th séries, tome XIV, pp. 446-492; French translation, 9th series, tome XV, pp. 469-525.
187. (5) Ibid, tome XIV, p. 453, lines 18-19.
188. (1) P. 120.
189. (2) P. 99.
190. (1) In MARIUS MERCATOR, MIGNE, P. L., vol. 48, p. 760.
191. (2) Sermon V, n. 8; MIGNE, P. L., ibid., p. 787.
192. (3) P. 97.
193. (4) P. 122.
194. (5) BUDGE, op. cit., vol. II, p. cxxxv.
195. (1) P. 102.
196. (2) Sermon VII, n.° 45: MIGNE, ibid., p. 800.
197. (3) HEFELE, Conciliengeschichte, vol. II, p. 174.
198. (4) Journal Asiatique, op. cit., tome XIV, p. 476, line 25, and p. 477, lines 1-3.
199. (1) BUDGE, op. cit., vol. II, p. cxxix.
200. (1) BUDGE, ibid., p. cxxxiii.
201. (2) P. 113.
202. (3) MIGNE, P. L., vol. 48, p. 769.
203. (4) MIGNE, ibid., p. 784.
204. (1) P. 112.
205. (2) P. 120.
206. (3) HARDUIN, Acta Conciliorum, vol. I, p. 1319.
207. (4) P. 112.
208. (1) MIGNE, ibid., p. 766.
209. (2) Journal Asiatique, op. cit., tome XIV, p. 453, lines 22-25.
210. (3) ASSEMANI, B. O., III, pars a, p. 218. Cf. also CHABOT, De S. Isaaci Ninivitae vita, scriptis et doctrina, p. 23.
211. (4) P. 121.
212. (5) MIGNE, P. L., vol. 48, p. 762.
213. (1) MIGNE, ibid.
214. (2) MIGNE, ibid., p. 780.
215. (3) P. 110.
216. (4) P. 103.
217. (5) BUDGE, op. cit., vol. II, p. cxxxvii, line 17.
218. (6) Cf. LABBE-MANSI, op. cit., vol. V, p. G96.
219. (1) P. 113.
220. (2) P. 109.
221. (3) GUIDI, op. cit., fol. a, col. 2, lines 3-23.
222. (4) HEFELE, op. cit., vol. II, p. 317.
223. (5) HEFELE, ibid.
224. (1) HEFELE, op. cit., vol. II, p. 564.
225. (2) HERGENRÖTHER, op. cit., vol. II, n.° 142, p. 228.
226. (3) HARDUIN, Acta Conciliorum, vol. II, p. 142.
227. (1) 'All'e na fame\n Ui9o_n, kai\ w(j oi9 Pate/rej ei0rh&kasi, mi/an fu&sin tou~ Qeou~ Lo&gou sesarkwme/nhn. MIGNE, P. G., vol. 77, p. 232.
228. (2) MIGNE, ibid., p. 181.
229. (3) Thus Justinian, Liber adv. Origen., in MIGNE, P. G., vol. 86, p. 1001, says: «Kai\ au)to_j o( path_r (Kuri/lloj) o9sa&kij mi/an fu&sin ei]pe tou~ lo&gou sesarkwme/nhn, e0pi\ tou&tou tw~| th~j fu&seuj o)no&mati a)nti\ u(posta&sewj e0xrh&sato ».
230. (4) HARDUIN, op. cit., vol. II, p. 166.
231. (5) P. 111.
232. (1) P. 113.
233. (2) BUDGE, op. cit., vol. II, p. cxxiii.
234. (3) BUDGE, ibid., p. cxxvi.
235. (4) P. 98.
236. (1) Summa Theologica, pars a, q. a, art. I.
237. (2) Cf. HERGENRÖTHER, op. cit., vol. II, n° 144, p. 230.
238. (3) Cf. HARDUIN, op. cit., vol. II, p. 454.
239. (4) P. 96-97.
240. (1) P. 121.
241. (2) B. O., II, p. 25.
242. (3) B. O., II, p. 26.
243. (1) This tract is extant in Syr. Ms. 135 of the Vatican library, and is as yet unpublished. We quote from a copy in the possession of Prof. Hyvernat.
244. (2)
245. (3) HARDUIN, op. cit., vol II, p. 455.
246. (1) B. O., II, p. 33.
247. (2) Ibid., p. 84.
248. (3) Z.D.M.G., vol. 30, p. 235, lines 15-17. The letters of Jacob of Serugh to the Monks of Mar Bassus and to Paul of Edessa have been published and translated by Abbé MARTIN in the Z. D. M. G., vol. 30, pp. 217-275. They prove beyond all reasonable doubt that Jacob of Serugh was a Monophysite.
249. (4) « o j ou)de\ to_ sw~ma tou~ Kuri/ou o(moou&sion h(mi=n e legen ei]nai », in MIGNE, P. G., vol. 86 bis, p. 2445.
250. (5) Liber Dogmatum, in MIGNE, P. L., vol. 58, p. 981.
251. (6) HEFELE, Conciliengeschichte, vol. II, p. 322.
252. (1) RENAUDOT, Historia patriarcharum alexandrinorum jacobitarum, p. 115.
253. (2) P. 97.
254. (3) P. 97.
255. (1) GUIDI, op. cit., fol. 20a, col. 2, line 16-fol. 20b, col. 1, line 21.
256. (1) GUIDI, op. cit., fol. 20b, col. 2, line 19 - fol. 21a, col. 1, line 6.
257. (2) From this we see how groundless is the assertion of Theophanes (MIGNE, P. G., vol. 108, p. 384) and of Cedrenus (MIGNK, P. G., vol. 121, p. 693) who accuse Philoxenus of Manicheism. This charge is sufficiently refuted by his opinion on the reality of the body of Christ; besides, he condemns Mani and Manicheism explicitly. In the Letter to the Monks of Beth-Gaugal, he says: «He who says that the aspect of Christ was a false appearance, and not a real embodiment from the nature of the Virgin, is a disciple of Mani and Marcion» (p. 114). And in the Letter to the Monks of Teleda, «It was not an appearance that the Apostles touched, O Manichean, nor a mere man, O Jew». (GUIDI, op. cit., fol. 20b, col. 1, lines 26-29).
258. (3) P. 119.
259. (4) P. 101.
260. (1) P. 110. Cf. ST. AUGUSTINE, De civitate Dei, lib. XXI, c. XV, in MIGNE, P. L., vol. 41, p. 729: «Unicus enim natura Dei Filius, propter nos misericordia factus est filius hominis, ut nos natura filii hominis, filii Dei per illum gratia fieremus».
261. (2) HARDUIN, op. cit., vol. II, p. 455.
262. (3) Cf. TILLEMONT, Mémoires, vol. XVI, p. 301.
263. (4) BARONIUS, Annales cccl., anno 477.
264. (5) During the year 446, earthquakes were frequently felt in Constantinople. One day, the earth shaking more violently than usual, the clergy and the faithful withdrew into the country, and offered public prayers for the salvation of their city. During one of these public services, a boy was suddenly taken up into the air before the bishop and the people, and it is said that he heard the angels sing:
a#gioj o( qeo_j, a#gioj i0sxuro_j, a#gioj a)qa&natoj, e0le/hson h(ma~j. Such was the origin of the Trisagion. In the Latin Church it is sung in Greek on Good Friday during the exposition of the Cross to the veneration of the faithful, and it is recited in Latin at Prime of the Ferial office. Peter the Fuller inserted into the Trisagion the words «o( staurwqei\j di' h(ma~j». This addition was capable of a twofold interpretation. The Catholics who accepted it, and some Monophysites, understood it as referring to Christ alone. Other Monophysites, and especially the Theopaschites, understood this addition as meaning that the whole Trinity had suffered. To remove all ambiguity, Calandion, patriarch of Antioch (182-485), added the words «Xristo_j Basileu&j» after a)qa&natoj, thus referring explicitly the crucifixion to Christ alone. Cf. TILLEMONT, Mémoires, vol. XIV, p. 713 sqq.; BARONIUS, anno 446, Annales, vol. VII, p. 579 sqq.
265. (1) GIBBON, Decline and Fall, ed. Milman, vol. VI, p. 30; MARIN Les Moines de Constantinople, p. 272.
266. (2) P. 109.
267. (1) P. 123-124.
268. (2) P. 101.
269. (3) P. 101.
270. (1) GUIDI, op. cit., fol. 13a, col. 2, line 22 - fol. 13b, col. 1, line 13.
271. (2) GUIDI, op. cit., fol. 15a, col. 2, line 26 - fol. 15b, col. 2, line 13.
272. (1) P. 108.
273. (2) Lit. or. coll., vol. II, p. 70.
274. (3) B. O., II, p. 36.
275. (4) GUIDI, op. cit., fol. 15 a, col. 2, lines 2-6.
276. (1) GUIDI, ibid., fol. 19a, col. 2, line 10; ----fol. 19b, col. 1, line 7.
277. (2) P. 101.
278. (3) GUIDI, op. cit., fol. 19 a, col. 2, lines 1-9.
279. (1) GUIDI, op. cit., fol. 11b, col. 1, line 29 ---- col. 2, line 29.
280. (2) Julian held that the body of Christ was incorruptible, that it was not subject to the changes of our nature. Severus maintained the con trary. Having been expelled from their sees by Emperor Justin in 519 on account of their Monophysite doctrines and of their opposition to the Council of Chalcedon, they sought refuge in Egypt. There each began to propagate his opinions on the body of Christ. Hence arose the famous disputes about the corruptibility and the incorruptibility of the body of the Lord. The controversy rose to a serious height in Alexandria. The adherents of Severus were called fqartola&trai, or worshipers of the corruptible; the followers of Julian were known by the name of a)fqartodokh~tai, or teachers of the incorruptible. The patriarch of Alexandria, Timothy II, although inclining to the creed of Severus, tried to conciliate both parties and to remain in communion with them. After his death (536), each party chose its own patriarch. The followers of Severus, having elected Theodosius, called themselves Theodosians; those of Julian elected Gaianus and became known as Gaianites. ---- Cf. HEFELE, Conciliengeschichte, vol. II, p. 573; NEALE, Patriarchate of Alexandria, vol. II, p. 30; PETAVIUS, Dogmata Theologica, De Incarn., lib. I, cap. XVI, num. XI-XIII.
281. (1) P. 108.
282. (1) GUIDI, op. cit., fol. 11a, col. 1, line 26 - col. 2, line 7.
283. (2) GUIDI, op. cit., fol. 11a, col. 2, lines 8-30.
284. (3) Apud Syros praecipue, forsitan magis dilucida et frequens quam in aliis ccclesiis occurrit perfectae a)namarthsi/aj et integrae puritatis Dei Genitricis assertio. ABBELOOS, Vita S. Jacobi Sarugensis, p. 187.
285. (4) P. 96.
286. (5) GUIDI, op. cit.. fol. 11b, col. 1. line 29 col. 2 - line 1.
287. (1) GUIDI, ibid., fol. 17b. col. 1. lines 23-26.
288. (2) P. 96.
289. (1) GUIDI, op. cit., fol. a, col. 2, line 22 - fol. b, col. 1, line 5.
290. (2) GUIDI, op. cit., fol. b, col. 1, lines 26-29.
291. (3) P. 96. Cf. Hebr, I, 3.
292. (4) P. 110.
293. (1) P. 118.
294. (2) P. 121.
295. (3) P. 124.
296. (4) P. 98.
297. (1) P. 119.
298. (2) P. 71.
299. (3) The definition of the Council of Constantinople (381) runs thus: (Histeu&omen) kai\ ei0j to_ pneu~ma to_ a#gion, to_ ku&rion, to_ zwopoio_n, to_ e0k tou~ patro_j e0kporeuo&menon, to_ su_n patri\ kai\ ui9w|~ sumproskunou&menon kai\ sundo-cazo&menon, to_ lalh~san dia_ tw~n profhtw~n. HEFELE, op. cit., vol. II, p. 11.
300. (4) P. 121.
301. (5) B. O., II, p. 20.
302. (1) Ibid., p. 21.
303. (2) B. O., II, ibid.
304. (3) GUIDI, op. cit. fol. b. col. 1. lines 2-21.
305. (1) Cf. the article of LAMY, L'Eglise Syriaque et la procession du St. Esprit in La Revue Catholique de Louvain for March 1860, pp. 106 sqq. The Syriac text of this canon which LA MY published in the above article is:
306. (2) ABBELOOS, Vita S. Jacobi Sarugensis, p. 121.
307. (3) RENAUDOT, Lit. Or. Coll., vol. II, p. 507.
308. (1) B. O., III, pars a, p. 200.
309. (2) B. O., II, pp. 38, 39.
310. (1) RENAUDOT, op. cit., vol. II, pp. 449, 494.
311. (2) P. 101.
312. (3) TERTULLIAN, De Idolatria, cap. VII, in MIGNE, P. L., vol. I, p. 669.
313. (4) TERTULLIAN, Liber de Corona, cap. III, in MIGNE, P. L., vol. II, p. 79.
314. (5) De Fide orthodoxa, lib. IV, cap. 13, in MIGNE, P. G., vol. 94, p. 1149.
315. (1) Demonstration VII, n.° 21, in GRAFFIN'S Patrologia Syriaca, vol. I, p. 349. Cf. review of the same by HYVERNAT in The Catholic University Bulletin for April 1895, pp. 314-319.
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A.A.Vaschalde, Three Letters of Philoxenus (1902). pp..... Part 2. Introduction
A.A.Vaschalde, Three Letters of Philoxenus (1902). pp. 81-92. Part 2. Introduction
PART SECOND.
CHAPTER I.
DESCRIPTION OF THE MANUSCRIPTS.
35. The three letters which are published here are extant in Syr. Mss. 135, 136, and 138 of the Vatican library. The Letter to Zeno is extant only in Ms. 135 (fol. 17r-19v); the first Letter to the Monks of Bêth-Gaugal exists only in this same Ms. (fol. 19v-23v); the Letter to the Monks is found in Ms. 135 (fol. 15v-17r), in Ms. 136 (fol. 29v-35r), in Ms. 138 (fol. 120r-123r), and in Syr. Ms. Add. 12164 of the British Museum (fol. 126a-130a). The following is a brief description of these different Manuscripts.
Ms. 135 (according to the old catalogue Codex Syr. XI of Assemani) consists of 102 vellum leaves, 26 by 18 ctm., and is written in the Estrangelo character. Folios 1-12 have one column each; the others have two. The columns are ordinarily of 37 lines. The Ms. is not all of the same hand. It bears no date; Guidi assigns it to the seventh or eighth century (1). |82
Ms. 136 (Codex Nitriensis XXVII of the old catalogue) belongs to the sixth century. It consists of 130 vellum leaves, 25 by 16 ctm., and has two columns to a page. It is written in the Estrangelo character.
Ms. 138 (Codex Nitriensis XXVI of tho old catalogue) contains 136 vellum leaves, 31 by 25 ctm., and has three columns to a page. It is written in the Estrangelo character and bears the date 581.
Syr. Ms. Add. 12164 of the British Museum, written in a beautiful Edessene hand of the sixth century, consists of 141 vellum leaves about 31 by 25 centimeters. Each page is divided into three columns of from 37 to 44 lines (Cf. Wright, Cat. Syr. Mss., p. 527). |83
[Note from p.127: 1 The present text which is that of ms. 138 is called A. In the notes B = ms. 135 and C = ms. 136. ]
CHAPTER II.
INTRODUCTION TO THE THREE LETTERS.
A.
The Letter to the Monks.
36. The Syriac text of this letter is given as it stands in Ms. 138, together with the variant readings from Mss. 135 and 136. These three Mss. are referred to in the notes as A, B, C, respectively. In Add. 12164 of the B. M., the text of the Letter to the Monks presents but few unimportant variant readings which have been omitted in this edition.
Title. Assemani (2) takes this letter for a second letter to the Monks of Teleda. As Guidi remarks (3), however, there is no indication of the fact in the above Mss., and it is not known to whom it was sent. Assemani himself, in another place (4), calls it simply «The Letter to the Monks». The four Mss. which contain it give each a different title, without any reference to the Monks of Teleda. The title in Ms. 138 is:
In Ms, 136, the title is:
Ms. 135 gives it as a letter to the monks on the subject of faith: |84
The Ms. Add. 121.64 gives simply:
It seems probable that this letter was not directed to any particular monastery, but was meant for circulation among the monks of many convents, as we may infer from the opening sentence: «To the holy, pure, and faithful convents, healthy members of the body of the truth of Christ God Who is over all; zealous supporters of orthodoxy, ye who heal the breaches of error which false doctrines have made in the body of faith; (to) ye all whom I have seen in body and in spirit, holy monasteries. It is good and fitting for the truth to be declared openly, because truth is like unto light in the type of its manifestation which is for all». This would justify the name Letter to the Monks by which it is known in the Mss.
Date. Assemani, regarding this letter as a second letter to the Monks of Teleda, naturally places the date of its composition during the exile of Philoxenus (519-523), and he bases his opinion on the following passage: «I heard that, after I had gone from you, they circulated false reports about me, calling me a deceiver and corruptor» (5). This, however, merely shows that all the monks of these monasteries did not share the views of Philoxenus; as a matter of fact, this very letter made him another enemy against whom he wrote his famous treatise «How One Person of the Holy Trinity became incarnate and suffered for us» (6).
This letter was evidently written after the year 477, because it contains the Trisagion with the addition «Thou Who wast crucified for us» made at that time by Peter the Fuller, patriarch of Antioch; and it may have been written many years after that for Philoxenus speaks of the Trisagion as being sung |85 generally in the churches: «But by His nature He is immortal because He is God, as the whole Church of God cries out in the Trisagion: «Thou art Holy, God; Thou art Holy, Strong One; Thou art Holy, Immortal One; (Thou) Who wast crucified for us, have mercy on us» (7).
An approximate date may perhaps be found in the passage in which Philoxenus advises the monks not to confine themselves to the duties of their ascetic calling, but to go out and fight for the truth openly: a I exhort you also to be open defenders and preachers of the truth. Be not afraid of man; do not desist from fighting zealously for the truth, saying: 'We are solicitous for the quiet of our ascetic life'. Ascetic life is beautiful (indeed), and the works of justice are worthy of praise. (But) these (works) are members whose head is truth, and if the head is cut off, the members perish. Let no man say: «I keep my faith to myself»; for thou dost not preserve it in thyself if, seeing it perish in others, thou remainest negligent» (8). We know that Philoxenus often sought the help of Monophysite monks in his struggles against his enemies. According to Evagrius (9), he instigated the monks of Cynegica and those of Syria Prima against Flavian II, when his efforts to deprive the latter of the see of Antioch, had failed at the council of Sidon. The present letter may be one of the many that he wrote to enlist the help of the monks who agreed with him. For these different reasons, it seems probable that it was written some time during his fourteen years' struggle with Flavian of Antioch (499-513).
Analysis. As the titles in Ms. 135 and Add. 12164 indicate, and as Philoxenus tells us himself (10), this letter deals with, the question of faith, not of faith in general as in the Discourses; |86 but of faith relative to the Incarnation. It is divided into three parts: a prologue, a refutation of the Gnostic, Nestorian, and Eutychian theories on the Incarnation, and an epilogue.
After praising the monks for their zeal in the cause of religion, Philoxenus tells them that faith must be preached openly, for truth has been revealed to enlighten every man. It must be announced not only to friends, but also to enemies. If we seek it with ardor and experience how sweet and agreeable it is, nothing can separate us from it.
Philoxenus then goes on to explain what truth is, and he defends his own doctrine on the Incarnation.
a) By becoming man, the Word of God suffered no change.
b) He did not assume the person of a man in whom He dwelt as in a temple.
c) The body which He took did not come down from heaven; nor was it a mere appearance (fantasi/a).
d) The Word was not incarnate without the rational soul, and He assumed our humanity in and of the Virgin, so that He, Whose generation from the Father is eternal, had a real and temporal generation from the Virgin.
e) We must not, like the Nestorians, divide Christ into two persons or two natures, attributing sufferings to the one and glory to the other; but we must refer both glory and humiliation to the Only Son of God, Who is from two, that is, from the divinity and from the humanity.
f) The Word of God Who became incarnate for our salvation died for us, and the death which He died was suffered by Him and not by a man distinct from Himself, for he who admits a human person along with the Son of God in the mystery of the Incarnation, introduces a fourth person into the Trinity.
In the epilogue, Philoxenus advises the monks not to be satisfied with the duties of contemplative life, but to fight courageously for the faith that is in them: he asks for their prayers, |87 and he anathematizes Nestorius and Eutyches and all those who agree with them.
B.
The First(11) Letter to the Monks of Bëth-Gaugal.
37. This letter is extant only in the Syr. Ms. 135 of the Vatican (fol. 19v-23v). The title, according to the catalogue, is:
Date. The first letter to the Monks of Bëth-Gaugal (12) was evidently written before 491, for Zeno is mentioned as being in actual possession of the throne: «Moreover, the faithful and just Emperor Zeno and the archbishop of the capital return you thanks for the anaphoras which you have sent» (13).
There is another indication, however, which determines approximately the date of composition of this letter. After praising the monks for their zeal on behalf of the faith, Philoxenus adds: «And the same Christ-loving (Emperor) has openly declared that he gained the victory over his enemies with (the help of) your prayers, and he is ready to give us ample reward for the work which we have undertaken for the peace of the churches, and to drive away from them the enemies of the Cross» (14). |88
The enemies referred to here are not only Basiliscus, the usurper (476-477), but especially Leontius and Illus, whose rebellion lasted nearly three years (15), and who were not defeated till the early part of the year 485 (16). By the enemies of the Cross, Philoxenus understands, as usual, the Nestorian bishops, and also all those who accepted the decrees of the Council of Chalcedon and refused to sign the Henoticon. We know from Theophanes that in 485 many Catholic bishops were banished from their sees by Zeno and Acacius, under pretext of having assisted the rebels (Leontius and Illus), but in reality for refusing to sign the Henoticon and to communicate with the Monophysite patriarch of Alexandria (17).
This wholesale deposition of bishops had not taken place when the letter was written, for Philoxenus says that Zeno is ready to drive away from the churches the enemies of the Cross. The patriarch of Antioch, Calandion, who was one of the first victims of this persecution, must have been deprived of his see about the middle of the year 485, for a council was held in Rome on the fifth of October of that year over the question of his deposition (18). Hence it seems very probable that this letter was written some time between the fall of Leontius and Illus, and the deposition of Calandion, perhaps in the spring of 485.
Analysis. This letter, like the preceding, consists of three parts: a prologue, a defence of his own doctrine, and an epilogue.
Philoxenus writes to confirm the glad tidings already proclaimed in the churches (probably the promulgation of the Henoticon and the overthrow of the rebels). He praises the holiness of the monks, the purity of their life, and the rigor of |89 their rule. They serve Christ for Christ's sake, and not for temporal gifts.
After stating his own doctrine, Philoxenus defends it against Nestorius and Eutyches.
a) The Son of God became man and remained as He is, God.
b) He did not receive any glory from the body that He took, but by His Incarnation He gave glory to our nature.
c) He was incarnate of the Virgin without change.
d) Both the divine and the human acts are to be referred to one Christ, and not to two persons or to two natures.
e) Christ suffered by His will, and the death of the Cross was undergone not by a man in whom the Word dwelt, but by the Word Himself Who became man and Who, in His death, did not lose the life of His nature.
f) Then follow a number of sentences which remind one of the canons or anathemas of a council. In them Philoxenus sets forth at length his views on the person of Christ and rejects the Nestorian opinions. Many of these sentences contain some plays on words which give additional force to the expression. Thus (p. 111) we read: «He who attributes number (menyänä) to the one Christ, and counts in Him two persons or distinguishes two sons, such a one is not a member of Christ, and has not been numbered (la'ethmeni) among the host of the chosen ones of God». And, in the next sentence, Philoxenus says: «He who does not confess that He, Whom John called "the Word", is the very Same of Whom Matthew wrote (kethabh) "Son of David and Son of Abraham", such a one has not been written (la 'ethkethebh) in (the book) of the adoption of the Heavenly Father».
In the epilogue, Philoxenus exhorts the monks to fight against godless doctrines, and he bitterly denounces his enemies. |90
C.
The Letter to Zeno.
38. The Letter to Emperor Zeno on the Incarnation of the Son of God is extant only in the Vatican Syr. Ms. 135 (fol. 17r-19 v). The title is:
According to Assemani (19), Philoxenus wrote this letter shortly after his consecration as bishop of Mabbôgh, when he accepted the Henoticon. But this was not the only event that called forth this interesting document. From the last sentence of the letter it would appear that the faith of Philoxenus had been attacked, or that representations had been made to the Emperor for appointing to an important metropolitan see a man who had caused much trouble in Antioch, and whose name was «synonymous with turmoil and strife» (20). It was then that Zeno demanded of him an exposition of his doctrine, so that Philoxenus gives us in the present letter his own profession of faith in the Incarnation, written in obedience to the Emperor's orders and in answer to his opponents: «I have written these few lines, O pious Emperor, and have sent them to Your Christianity, because you have ordered it, to confound the heretics who question my faith in Christ, and also to edify those who think as I do, and who, made bold by divine love, try to defend me» (21).
What were the exact charges brought against Philoxenus by his enemies is not certain. From the contents of the letter |91 it seems probable that he had been accused of Eutychianism or Apollinarism, for he lays emphasis on the fact that he is writing about the embodiment (methgassemänüthä) and the humanifying (methbarnesänuthä) of the Son of God. Although these two words are often loosely translated by «Incarnation», they are not at all synonymous, and the difference of meaning between them ought to be borne in mind, especially when studying the christological controversies of the fifth and sixth centuries. The Apollinarists, adopting the trichotomy of Plato, taught that the Word of God assumed in the Incarnation the human flesh (sa&rc), and the animal soul (yuxh&), but not the rational soul (noij); in other words, they admitted the sa&rkwsij (methgassemänüthä), but rejected the e0nanqrw&phsij (methbarnesänüthä) (22). It is probably to clear himself of some like charge that Philoxenus makes use of those two words here. And it is also worthy of notice that the word «ethbarnas» (he was made man), which does not occur in the preceding letters, is found no less than three times in this one, and in places where Philoxenus generally employs the more common term «hewä barnäsä» (he became man).
Analysis. a) The Word of God, the consubstantial Son of the Father, was incarnate in and of the Virgin.
b) His humanity was real, otherwise He could not have redeemed us.
c) His becoming man, like His essence, was without change, for change belongs only to things created.
d) He did not create in the Virgin a man whom He afterwards assumed, but He is true God and true man.
e) Of the Son of God Philoxenus confesses two generations but not two natures, for he argues that, if we admit two natures, we must necessarily admit two persons and two sons. |92
f) Christ died on the Cross without losing the life of His essence, and by His death He destroyed the power of death over all the children of men.
g) Finally, Philoxenus anathematizes Nestorius for admitting in one and the same Christ a distinction of persons and of natures, attributing the miracles to God and the sufferings to a man in whom God dwelt; he also says anathema to Eutyches for doing away with the Incarnation of the Word of God by denying the reality of the body which He assumed.
[Footnotes renumbered and placed at the end]
1. (1) From a private communication dated Rome. January 17, 1902.
2. (1) B. O., II, p. 37.
3. (2) Z. D. M. G., vol. 35, p. 143, note 1.
4. (3) B. O., II, p. 38.
5. (1) P. 104.
6. (2) WRIGHT, op. cit.. p. 528.
7. (1) P. 101.
8. (2) P. 104.
9. (3) MIGNE, P. G., vol. 86 bis, p. 2660.
10. (4) P. 96.
11. (1) Following Assemani (B. O., II, p. 35), we have called this letter «the first Letter to the Monks of Bëth-Gaugal». The other letter to these monks is found in Ms. 136, which is the Codex Nitriensis XXVII of Assemani (B. O., I, p. 569).
12. (2) According to Sozomen, our only authority on this matter, Gaugal is a mountain near Biarbekir. It is perhaps identical with the Karadja-Dagh, a little to the southwest of Biarbekir.
13. (3) P. 115.
14. (4) P. 115.
15. (1) BROOKS, The Chronological Canon of James of Edessa, in the Z. D. M. G., vol. 53, p. 317; also TILLEMONT, Histoire des Empereurs, vol. VI, p. 516.
16. (2) Cf. TILLEMONT, ibid.
17. (3) MIGNE, P. G., vol. 108, p. 325.
18. (4) TILLEMONT, Memoires. vol. XVI. p. 366.
19. (1) B. O., II, p. 34.
20. (2) BUDGE, op. cit., vol. II. p. x.
21. (3) P. 120.
22. (1) Cf. PETAVIUS, Dogmata Theologica, De Incar., lib. II, cap. 1
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Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
SOURCE SECTION: philoxenus_three_04_letter_to_monks.htm
A.A.Vaschalde, Three Letters of Philoxenus (1902). pp. 93- 105. Letter to the Monks.
A.A.Vaschalde, Three Letters of Philoxenus (1902). pp. 93- 105. Letter to the Monks.
CHAPTER III.
TRANSLATION (1).
A.
||127| [Letter of Mar Aksenaya] which was written by him to the Monks (2).
To the holy, pure, and faithful convents, healthy members of the body of the truth of Christ God Who is over all; zealous supporters of orthodoxy (3), ye who heal the breaches of error ||128| which false doctrines have made in the body of faith; (to) ye all whom I have seen in body and in spirit, holy monasteries (4).
It is good and fitting for the truth to be declared openly, because truth is like unto light in the type of its manifestation which is for all. For, as light has been made to shine on every thing so also truth has been revealed in the world to enlighten every man, according to the words of Him Who is Truth, and Who has given the truth: «That which I tell |94 I tell you in the dark, speak ye in the light; and that which you hear in your ears, preach ye upon the house-tops» (5). And, to teach us that we must not only preach the truth in simple words to our friends, but that we must declare it also before enemies, with that confidence that fights with death, He said to us: «And fear ye not them that kill the body, and are not able to kill the soul» (6). And again, in the public confession before persecutors, He exhorts and urges us by His promises to declare the faith which He has delivered unto us, saying: «Every one that shall confess Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father Who is in heaven, and before His angels; but he that shall deny Me, I will also deny him before the Father ||129| and before the angels» (7).
Such is the openness, therefore, with which Jesus Our God commands us to declare our truth, and not to be ashamed, and not to blush, and not to be acceptors of persons in authority, and not to seek to please those men who are the adversaries of truth; for he who wishes to please men cannot be a servant of Christ. But as for him who has experienced the love of Christ, and tasted the sweetness of truth, nothing shall ever be able to diminish the ardor of his pursuit in search of the truth which he loves. For truth is agreeable and sweet above all things; and it inflames every soul, that has tasted it rightly, to seek after it. Like the divine Apostles and the holy Martyrs, every one who has experienced this pleasure seeks it with an unspeakable ardor. Nothing was able to diminish the ardor of their love in the pursuit of truth: neither fire, nor beasts, nor swords, nor the combs (of executioners), nor exile from country to country, nor close confinement in dungeons, nor the insults of enemies, nor calumnies, nor injustices, nor the inconstancy of friends, nor the |95 defection of acquaintances, nor separation from family, nor the opposition of the whole world, nor the onslaught of visible and invisible (enemies), nor anything ||130| above or below, can separate from the love of Christ those who have tasted and perceived the truth, as St. Paul, in the ardor of this love, speaking for all those like himself, declared, (saying): «For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor powers, nor virtues, nor height, nor depth, nor things present, nor things to come, shall be able to separate me from the love of Christ (our) God» (8).
It behooves every one who is a disciple of truth to place this mirror before his eyes, and to look at it constantly, and he shall not be cast down by the fear of anything. For in the truth and love of Christ there is no fear, and he who fears is not perfect in love. Every thing that is not from truth is placed outside of truth: whether fear or lying, whether flattery or respect of persons, love of pleasures or thirst for power. These and similar things are placed outside of truth; and, as these things cannot be in truth, those who are enslaved by them cannot remain in truth nor possess faith. For they are those ||131| whose god is their belly (9) which has become to them the master of their lives; wherever they find its pleasures and desires, there they tarn; they so identify themselves with it that they remain slaves to their shame, and never give up the pleasures of the flesh.
But as for us, O dear (brethren), athletes in the spiritual warfare, it is not becoming for us to deal thus with truth, which is our life; but (it behooves us) to renounce whatever is outside of it, and to confess that in it alone are our light and our joy, our wealth and our priceless treasure, and the breath of our spiritual life.
Now, because it is necessary to make known the cause of my discourse, what it is about, and the reason for which it was |96 written, I state clearly the scope of my discourse. Briefly, I (intend to) demonstrate in writing the truth of the faith which I have learned from the Holy Books and from the interpreters of the Church, my masters, for the joy and consolation of those who love me in truth and for truth's sake, and for the shame and confusion of heretics, disciples of the demons, who calumniate me and call me a deceiver, and insult in me the truth which I have learned and which I preach. For, since they call truth error, ||132| these liars give the name of deceivers to the heralds of truth.
Who then or what is truth, if not Jesus Christ, the God Who is over all, He Who said, «I am the Truth, and the Light, and the Life» (10). This Jesus, God the Word, is our truth, with His Father and with His Holy Spirit: one Trinity, one essence, one divinity, one nature from everlasting and from eternity. For there is not in Him (God) nature and nature, nor essence and essence, nor anything recent or old, but One in Three and Three in One; an eternal nature and eternal persons, one essence adored with its persons from everlasting and from eternity.
One of the persons of this essence is the Mediator of our Confession (11), Truth from Truth, Light from Light, Living from the Living One, and Immortal from Him Who does not die. By the will of the essence (12), this same person came down from heaven, that is, God from God, natural Son of a natural Father, the Splendor of the Father and His essential Image, God the Word Who is over all. He came down and dwelt in the pure Virgin who was sanctified by God the Spirit, and He became man of her without change, in everything like unto us ||133| except sin, there having been neither change, nor variation, nor confusion in His nature, as God Himself said by the Prophet, «I am |97 and I change not» (13). For He Who was not made is not mutable; He Who was not created cannot change. Therefore He became man without change; He was embodied, and remained as He is. spiritual.
He did not cause the person of a man to adhere to Himself that two might be counted in Him, He and a man adhering to Him. Nor did He enter and dwell in another, He Who is the Only Son, but He was embodied from our nature and He is not counted two. He became man of the Virgin, and His person was not doubled; He became (man), and He was not changed, because even in His becoming His essence remained without change. For as He is in His essence, so He remained also in His becoming, that is, without change.
The Ancient of days became a child; the Most High became an infant in the womb, and God became man in the womb. The Spiritual One became corporal; the Invisible One was seen; the Intangible One was handled; He Who is consubstautial with the Father became of us in His becoming, because He, God the Word, was embodied in the Virgin and of the Virgin. He did not bring His body down from heaven, as Bardesanes said; nor was He seen under a false appearance or a phantom, according to ||134| the blasphemy of Mani and Marcion; nor was (His body) made from nothing, as said Eutyches the fool; nor was His nature changed, as the wicked Arius and Eunomius imagine; nor was He, Who was embodied, without (human) intelligence, according to the blasphemous doctrine of Apollinaris; but He Who is perfect God took a body, and became perfect man of the Virgin.
The Word was not embodied in the Virgin, as if not also of the Virgin, but He truly became man in her and of her. For the Virgin was not indeed a channel (through which) God |98 (passed), but (His) true Mother, because He became man of her. Nor again was God born in another man, for a man was not born in whom God dwelt, according to the teaching of the impious Nestorius and his mad disciples; but God, Who was embodied without change, was born of the Virgin. For He, Who descended into her as God, the very Same came forth from her as man; and the one Whom she conceived spiritually, the very Same she brought forth corporally. And He, Whose generation from the Father is without beginning, was brought forth with a beginning in His generation from the Virgin.
(Being) of a supernatural nature, He became man; (being) of a supernatural nature, ||135| He was born of a creature; (being) of a supernatural nature, He sucked milk; (being) of a supernatural nature, He grew in stature. Let us beware of the impiety of those who say that the Virgin (14) brought forth God and a man; who divide and count two in Him Who is the Only Son of God, Who is from two, from the divinity and from the humanity; (of the impiety of those) who divide (Christ), and in this one God Who was embodied, attribute humiliation to the one and glory to the other, power to the one and weakness to the other.
Thus, indeed, do these dishonest (men) speak: «One was born, and the other was not born; one sucked and the other did not suck; one was circumcised and the other was not; one grew and the other did not; one (15) ate and the other did not; one drank and the other did not; one fasted and the other did not; one (16) was hungry and the other was not; one slept and the other did not; one suffered and the other did not; one died and the other did not; and (so these) dishonest men divide unto one and another all these words which are spoken of Christ, as if one was born truly and the other in deception, as if one suffered |99 in fact and the other ||136| in name, and as if one died in reality and the other in fraud.
But it is not at all in the sense that a man or a body distinct (17) from God died, that death is spoken of God, as it is not in the sense that a man or the body of (18) another person distinct from God was born, that birth is spoken of God; for, it was not a body that was born, but it was God, Who became a body, and (19) remained in His nature God; and it was not a body that was crucified, but it was God, Who became man, and (20) in His death did not lose His life. Not one with another was born; but one God Who was embodied was born. There were not two at the birth, nor two on the Cross; but one was born, and the Same one was crucified. And as of the Virgin, not one in another, nor one with another was born, but one God became man of her without change and the Same is one in His divinity and His humanity; so also on the Cross one was suspended and not two.
Therefore, that God was born of the Virgin, the Church of God believes; (that) God was crucified for all, the truth of the Holy Books declares. Christ is the Son, and the Son is God, ||137| and God is the Word, and the Word is consubstantial (with God). If it is written that Christ was crucified, it is God Who was crucified. Christ died and He also rose. Not one was the Christ Who died, and another the God Who did not die; not one was the Only Son Who was given for the redemption of the world, and another the Word Who was not given; not one was the Son Who suffered and died, and another Who remained without suffering. It is written, «God so loved the world as to give His Only Begotten Son for it» (21). This Only Son Who |100 was given to death for the redemption of the world, is He of Whom it is said, «The World was made flesh, and dwelt among us» (22). Again, Paul said, «God was reconciled with us by the death of His Son» (23). And again he said, «Verity He did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all» (24). This Son, by Whose death He (God) was reconciled with us and Whom He delivered to suffering for us, is no other than God the Son Who was begotten of God the Father. Therefore, whether the Holy Books say that Christ, or the Son, or the Only Begotten, or Jesus was born and died, it is God Who was born and died, and not another distinct from Him. For we do not acknowledge ||138| a Son Who is not God, nor a God Who is not Christ.
Be not troubled, therefore, O hearer, at this (statement) that God was crucified for us. For, if God was born of the Virgin, God was also suspended on the Cross. And if a heretic should say, «How can God die?», ask him in return, «How can God be born?» If then He was born of the Woman (25), although He is from the Father in His first generation, He also tasted death of His own will, although He is living in His nature. And as, when He became man, He remained God as He is, without change, so also, when He tasted death for us. He did not lose the life of His nature. For it is God Who became man for us, and it is the Living One Who tasted death for our sake. Let them not deceive thee, O faithful (hearer), by words fraught with fatal discord, as they say to thee, «How can God die?» When thou hearest this from them, return them the answer. «How can God be born?» If, being (already) born, |101 He was born; if existing, He became (man), therefore also, being living, He died of His own will (26).
It was not indeed a mortal or a man that died for us; ||139| for every mortal that dies, dies for himself; and every sufferer that suffers, suffers for himself; and every thing that, not existing, comes into existence, comes into existence for itself. Herein then is a great mystery of profound love and of ineffable salvation, that He Who is became, not that He might be, since He is, but that we, through His becoming (Incarnation), might become the sons of God. Everything that He became, He became, not for Himself, but for us. For He was not a sufferer by His nature, because, if He had suffered being a sufferer (by nature), He would have suffered for Himself. Nor did He become mortal in punishment for the transgression of the (original) precept, as is the case with us, but He is immortal because He is God. (27) Nor did He become immortal by being justified by His works, as the wicked followers of Nestorianism assert; but by His nature He is immortal because He is God, as the whole Church of God cries out in the Trisagion: «Thou art Holy, God; Thou art Holy, Strong One; Thou art Holy Immortal One; (Thou) Who wast crucified for UP, have mercy on us». It is, therefore, this Holy, Strong, Immortal God, Who was crucified for us (28). Thus does the ||140| true Church believe, thus do the tongues which are moved by truth cry out that He, Who is immortal by nature, God the Word, was crucified in body for all, not that a body or a man distinct from Him was suspended on the Cross.
Invisible (29), we see Him; not tangible, we handle Him; not capable of being eaten, we eat Him; not capable of being tasted, we drink Him; we embrace Him Who is all powerful; we |102 kiss Him Who is infinite. Of Him, Who is immortal, we believe that He died for us; of Him, Who is impassible, we confess that He suffered for us. «We preach unto you that which was from the beginning», said John in his epistle, «that which we have hoard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon and our hands have handled of the Word of life, for the life was manifested. And we have seen, and do bear witness, and declare unto you the life eternal, which was with the Father, and hath been revealed to us» (30).
(31) Thou hearest how this Apostle, who knew the mysteries of Christ, preaches to thee concerning truth, and cries out to thee that the life, which was with the Father, has been revealed; that He Who was invisible has appeared; that He Who was inaudible ||141| has been heard; (32) that He Who was not tangible has been handled; that He Who was silent has conversed. Which dost thou wish to hear, O faithful (hearer), this Apostle who knew the secrets of God the Word, or the mad Nestorius and his wicked followers who say that another man, distinct from the Word, bore and suffered everything for us?
We, on the contrary, believe in the Only Begotten God the Word, Who came down and was embodied of the Virgin in an ineffable manner, and remained, in His nature, God. We do not say, like the erring disciples of Eutyches, that He was embodied in the Virgin, but not of her; but we believe (that He was embodied) in her and of her, and not in any other way He might have pleased, as those liars claim. We say that He wished to become, and became (man) of the Virgin, who was of the seed of the house of David, as the Books teach, and as the teachers of truth have delivered unto us; not that a man. who was not, came into existence in the Virgin and adhered to God, as |103 the impious Nestorius said, which man bore and suffered all the things of his nature in agreement with his own nature. Not so ||142| does truth affirm, not so does faith declare. For he who counts another man with God, introduces a quaternity in his doctrine and destroys the dogma of the Holy Trinity. With pagans is such a doctrine to be counted, for, like them, it errs inventing a new god, against that which is written, «There shall not be to thee a new god» (33). It adores a new god, a man born of a woman.
It is not a man, therefore, that was exalted, was honored, and became God; but it is God Who abased Himself, humbled Himself, emptied Himself, and became man; and because He is God by His nature, and did not become God, not being God (first), for the same reason, having become man, He did not change, but remained one God as He is, and He is counted, with the Father and with the Spirit, one Holy Trinity: «Go ye forth, teach all nations, and baptize them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost» (34). One Father, with Whom there is no other Father; one Son with Whom there is no other Son; one Holy Ghost with Whom there is no other Spirit. There is not (in each divine person) one with one, and another ||143| with another, for each one of them is one: the Father Who has no body; the Son Who was really embodied; and the Holy Ghost Who is adored with the Father and with the Son. This is the Holy and Adorable Trinity Which we confess; outside of It, we know no other, and anything which is named and called God outside of It, is to be anathematized.
I have written to you these things in haste, O holy servants of truth, not as teaching, but to show the conformity of my faith |104 with yours. I pray that in this (faith) I may depart from this life to its life, and that I may bo offered in sacrifice for this truth which I confess. I exhort you also to be open defenders and preachers of the truth. Be not afraid of man; do not desist from fighting zealously for the truth, saying: «We are solicitous for the quiet of our ascetic life». Ascetic life is beautiful (indeed), and the works of justice are worthy of praise. (But) these (works) are members whose head is truth, and if the head is cut off, the members perish.
Let no man say: «I keep my faith to myself»; for thou dost not ||144| preserve it in thyself, if, seeing it perish in others, thou remainest negligent. Where is the virgin who would insist on staying in her chamber, if she heard that her father's room is on fire? If she remains negligent, it will happen that the fire will become master of the room in which she dwells. Therefore, you also, without losing the purity of your monastic life, be defenders and open preachers of the truth; and pray also for me, I beseech you all at your feet, that I may be found worthy to suffer for my God as He suffered for me.
I heard that, after I had gone from you, they circulated (35) false reports about me, calling me a deceiver and corruptor. As to myself, I pray that such an error may remain with me to the end of my life. May God forgive them and grant them pardon; may He open to them the gate of repentance that they may know His truth.
(36) Anathema upon Nestorius and Eutyches, and their doctrines and their disciples; upon every one who agrees with them; upon every one who does not anathematize them with mouth and heart, and does not confess that Christ, God the Word, one of the Trinity, was crucified for us. |105 If any man love not Our Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema (37). ||145|
The End (38).
What you have heard by word (of mouth), I have sent to yon in writing, and also to the holy friends whom I have not seen in the body, by Ephrem, the bearer of this letter to Mar Acacius, the priest, who, for a long time, after the example of his master, has waged a war of this kind. Therefore, have courage, for this is the time of the harvest, in which we will reap the new fruits of the works of justice, in the field of the zeal for the faith of Christ God, Who is over all; to Whom be glory for ever. Amen.
[Footnotes moved to end and renumbered]
1. (1) The numbers in the margin refer to the pages of the Syriac text, the sign || indicating where the page of the text begins. The translation has been made as literal as possible; the words added to bring out more clearly the meaning of the text are placed between brackets.
2. (2) The title in B (Vat. Syr. Ms. 135) is: By the power of Our Lord Jesus Christ, we begin to write a compilation of works of all kinds. First, the letter of the Saint Mär Aksenäyä to the monks on the subject of faith. The title in C (Vat. Syr. Ms. 136) is: Again, the second letter of Mar Aksenaya.
3. (3) The word orthodoxy here is synonymous with Monophysitism.
4. (4) B and C add: I, Aksenaya, a disciple of you all and an humble member, yet found worthy of your divine truth, (wish you) abundant peace
5. (1) St. MATTHEW, x, 27.
6. (2) St. MATTHEW, x, 28.
7. (3) St. MATTHEW, x, 32,33.
8. (1) ROMANS, viii, 38-39.
9. (2) PHILIPPIANS, iii. 19. C adds «And whose glory is in their shame».
10. (1) St. JOHN, xiv, 6,
11. (2) B has «The Mediator of the divinity».
12. (3) B has «By the will of the divinity».
13. (1) MALACHIAS. III, 6.
14. (1) B has «Mary».
15. (2) B omits all as far as «one fasted».
16. (3) B omits all as far as «one slept».
17. (1) BC omit «distinct from God».
18. (2) BC omit «of another person distinct from God».
19. (3) BC omit «and remained in His nature God».
20. (4) BC omit «and in His death did not lose His life».
21. (5) ST. JOHN, iii. 16.
22. (1) St. JOHN, I, 14.
23. (2) ROMANS, v, 10.
24. (3) ROMANS, viii, 32.
25. (4) B has «If then God was born of the Virgin».
26. (1) B omits «of His own will».
27. (2) B omits all as far as, «as the whole Church, etc.».
28. (3) B omits this whole sentence.
29. (4) C has «Immortal».
30. (1) I St. JOHN, i, 1-3.
31. (2) B omits all as far as «He Who was invisible».
32. (3) B omits all as far as «He Who was silent».
33. (1) DEUTERONOMY, v, 7.
34. (2) St. MATTHEW, xxviii. 19.
35. (1) B has «they wrote».
36. (2) B and C omit all as far as «What you have heard».
37. (1) I Corinthians, xvi, 22.
38. (2) Thus far Ms. A. What follows is found only in B and C.
This text was transcribed by Roger Pearse, 2003. All material on this page is in the public domain - copy freely.
Greek text is rendered using the Scholars Press SPIonic font, free from here.
Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
SOURCE SECTION: philoxenus_three_05_ st_letter.htm
A.A.Vaschalde, Three Letters of Philoxenus (1902). pp. 105-118. First Letter to the Monks of Beth-Gaugal.
A.A.Vaschalde, Three Letters of Philoxenus (1902). pp. 105-118. First Letter to the Monks of Beth-Gaugal.
B.
||146| The Letter of St. Mar Aksenaya, to the pure Monks of Beth-Gaugal.
Christ has, in these days, manifested the light of Redemption to the faithful people. Behold, joyful news and good tidings are proclaimed to-day in the midst of the churches, because error has been deserted by all its votaries, and truth has been exalted by all its heralds. This news, which is full of joy, together with the reports and tidings of life, I too wish to confirm and make known to Your Holinesses through this humble letter of mine. Though of little worth in itself, the joyful news it contains will render it dear in your eyes. Owing to my ignorance, I cannot speak anything worthy to be uttered in your assemblies; therefore, I shall lean my discourse |106 upon other helps, that it may find outside of itself the dignity which it has not by nature. For when an humble man speaks before princes, their great kindness will manifest itself in his regard.
Well you, Fathers, you are princes, and this title you have earned it justly by your works; for, where are not your labors spoken of? Where has not ||147| the fame of your holy monastery spread? Who has not admired, who has not wondered at the cruel persecutions (which) you (have suffered)? The (very) mention of your rule causes the lax to fear, for the weak are wont to be afraid when they hear of your courageous works. But as these tremble at the mention of your fervor, so also the strong take heart, and try to imitate the zeal (which you display in) your works. Your conduct is to the indifferent what salt is to food, a condiment. And as light dispels darkness, so also the fame of your fervor drives away all weakness. It is not vain glory which upholds your labors, but the love of God; and therefore you do not practise virtue in appearance, but in the truth of a pure understanding, It is not indeed only the figure of justice which you have put on, but the truth of justice is fixed in your thoughts. To-day, you form an illustrious remnant among all the disciples, and you have preserved, so to speak, your rule of life without change; for laxity, which in every way has injured many, has not inserted its teeth into the sound body of your works; and dejection of mind, which is wont to spoil the labor of others, has not prevailed against your treasures. Neither the fear of men nor the flattery of the great has ruled over you. You have not bartered the truth for earthly presents, and you have not ceased ||148| from your zeal for the faith for the sake of temporal gifts, and your monastery is not addicted to begging like those which subsist in that way. You have not sold Christ for sheaves of barley and loaves of bread like those who sell Him for such prices.
It is written that Judas sold Him for thirty (pieces) of silver; but those disciples in name (only) sell Him every day |107 for things more contemptible and abominable than that. Those who act thus serve their belly and not God; in them is fulfilled that which was written by Paul (1), «Their god is their belly, and their glory their shame». And again he says, «Their mind is wholly upon the earth»; because they were born for the earth and not for heaven, their eyes are fixed altogether on the things of the earth.
Now the disciple who knows Christ and delights in Him cannot fail to experience sorrow when he hears a blasphemy against Him. For as our body naturally suffers when a wound is inflicted upon it by iron, or a stone, or anything else, so also does the soul of the true disciple suffer when witnessing a blow and an insult against Christ. Is there a greater insult ||149| than that which the new Jews (2) of our day utter, blaspheming Christ face to face, subtracting from the honor (due to) Him, reviling His glory, and saying to Him, «Thou art a man, and Thou makest Thyself God?» (3). They try to show that His glory is not His own; that He received everything from the favor of another; that He is not God by His own nature, but was made God recently. For these devils (the heretics), without being ashamed, speak of Christ as one speaks of idols, because they are idols who are turned into gods when they are not such. It is not so, however, with Christ, O godless man, but by nature He is God. If then He became what He was not, as it is written of Him, it is not that from man He became God, but from God He became man and remained as He is, God.
A body did not take Him, but He took (a body). For He did not receive any glory from the body that He took, but by His embodiment He gave glory to our miserable nature. He did not come to a creature to be made God, but to be known |108 as God. His appearance amongst us was not from nothing into something, but it shows truly that He is something which does not change. For He was born of the Virgin corporally, and not in so far as He is God. But because He became man of the Virgin, in this He had a beginning; for in so far as He is, ||150| not even from the Father has He a beginning. Because He became man, we are not ashamed to say that He had a beginning from the Virgin; for He Who, as God, is without beginning, became, as man, subject to a beginning; and He Who, as God, is spiritual, infinite, and with the Father, became, as man, a, body, and finite in the Virgin. He Who, as God, designs, fashions, shapes, joins, and creates the fetus in the womb, the Same, as man, was formed and shaped, and became a child in person. He Who, as God, nourishes every thing, waters it, and gives it the increase, Who supports, holds, and preserves all things, the Same, as man, was carried and grew, was held in arms, sucked milk, and received increase in His person. He Who as God experiences neither hunger, nor fatigue, nor sleep, nor ignorance, the Same as man was hungry and thirsty, ate and drank, was sleepy and slept, and asked questions to learn. He Who, as God, is above suffering and insult, Whose nature is not subject to death, the Same, as man, suffered, was insulted, slapped in the face, scourged, and really tried by death; and He Who is always one without change because He is God, rose from the grave on the third day because He became man. When He lay and reclined dead in School, He was preparing the resurrection for all, ||151| was ruling the hosts of heaven and all creatures by His nod, creating bodies and putting the limbs together and breathing in the souls, and governing the worlds and all creatures, as God Who is everywhere.
It is a mystery we propound here, and we are not writing about things mine or thine. For Christ is believed to be God and man, not in the sense that we believe that He Who took a body is one, and the body that He took another |109 but in order to signify by the word «God» that He was begotten by the Father, and by the word u man» that He was embodied of the Virgin. For we do not despise His humanity, and we do not deny His divinity, and we do not divide Him into two. Who is one even after He was embodied. For upon the throne, He is God and near God, and in the womb, man and with men. In the Father He is living like the Father, Son and Substance; with the dead, He was dead like them and man like them. The Spiritual One did not die in so far as He is Spiritual, and God did not suffer in so far as He is God. He has no beginning, to the extent that He is without a beginning in His generation from the Father (?). He suffered, therefore, because He took a body, and He died because He became a brother of mortals. He had a beginning in the womb, because He was born like ourselves. We confess without blushing that God became man, that the Impassible One became subject to suffering, and the Living One tasted death. The Living One then tasted death in order ||152| to vivify (our) mortal nature. God became man, that men might become the sons of God. For I do not deny that He vivified me, and I do not attribute to another the redemption which He wrought for me. If the death and the suffering were of another, the redemption and life which were merited for me would be of man, not of God. It is not another, therefore, who vivified me by one who died, but the very One Who died, vivified me by His own death. And if it is written «God was reconciled by Christ with the world» (4), it is not that God the Word (was reconciled) by a man, as the wicked (heretics) interpret, but that God the Father (was reconciled) by His Beloved Son, as this Apostle again said, «God was reconciled with us by the death of His Son» (5). He also said: «He (God) did not spare His |110 Son, but delivered Him up for us all» (6). Therefore, he who doss not confess that God died, does not believe that the Son of God died, but opposes the teaching of Paul. For, when the Holy Books say that the Son, or Christ, or the Only Begotten died, it means that God died; and the words, «In the beginning was the Word» (7), are known to refer to the Son of God, for the Son is not different from the Word.
Of this very Son the Apostle said, «God was reconciled by His death». Therefore he who is scandalized at the mention of death, does not believe that the Son of God is God.
He who distinguishes Christ into two, does not worship the Trinity.
||153| He who says that Christ is a man, is a partner of the heathens and the Jews.
He who attributes glory to the one and humiliation to another, openly confesses two sons and makes void the redemption which came to our nature.
He who says that the person of a man who was not God was made God, sets up an idol, forms an image, and makes a new god.
He who does not confess that God emptied Himself, and took the likeness of a servant, as Paul teaches (8), does not know that Christ is the equal of God (9).
He who does not believe that the Only Son of God was given for the redemption of the world in the love of the Father, does not understand the love of God for the world.
He who does not hold for certain that He Who was crucified was one of the Trinity, has not received the freedom and joy of baptism, and has not as yet been redeemed from the sentence of death and from the original curse. |111
Whosoever is ashamed to declare that Christ is God, him shall Christ put also to shame before God and before His holy angels.
The disciple who does not confess that the Impassible One suffered, and the Immortal One died for us, is a heathen, not a disciple.
He who does not confess that Jesus is Lord from eternity, has not the odor of Christ.
||154| He who says that Jesus was made Lord and Christ by another, as if He was not so (by nature), but became so recently, brings God into contempt.
He who attributes number (10) to the one Christ, and counts in Him two persons or distinguishes two sons, such a one is not a member of Christ, and has not been numbered among the host of the chosen ones of God.
He who does not confess that He, Whom John called «the Word», is the very Same of Whom Matthew wrote, «Son of David and Son of Abraham» (11), such a one has not been written in (the book) of the adoption of the Heavenly Father.
He who says that He of Whom it is written, «He was in the beginning, and He was with God, and He was God» (12), is not the Power of the Most High, (the Power of Whom) the Angel said to the Virgin, «Thou shalt conceive in the womb, and shalt bring forth a son; and thou shalt call His name Jesus» (13), such a one is anathematized by the word of Jesus.
He who says that John wrote of one, and Matthew, Mark, and Luke, of another, such a one is a stranger to the Gospel of the Apostles and to the preaching of the Prophets.
He who says that the name of Christ signifies two natures distinct and separate the one from the other, and not one nature |112 (keyänä), and one prosopon (parsopä), and one person (qenoma), who was embodied and became man of the Virgin, such a one denies the faith and is worse than those who do not believe.
He who says that there are in Christ one and another, God Creator and a man created as one of us, and does not confess ||155| that the Same One is the likeness of God as Creator, and the likeness of a servant as being in the body, such a one is as yet a servant of sin, and has not received the freedom of Christ.
He who says that, in the one person of Christ, there are the Giver and the Deceiver, one giving mercy and the other receiving mercy, and does not confess that He is altogether the Giver and the Distributor of good things to others, is filled with the malice of the devil.
He who says that the half of Christ is the Redeemer, and the other half is redeemed, and does not confess that He is wholly Redeemer, on account of which He was called Jesus, which is interpreted Saviour (14), this one is cut off from the redemption which Christ wrought by His Cross.
He who does not confess that He, Who is perfect God and the consubstantial Son of the Father, is also perfect man from the human nature, shall not be counted among men (for whom He became man).
He who imagines that there was only a mere adhesion (of a body) to the person of Christ, and not a real embodiment in the acknowledgment of one person, such a one has no relationship with Christ.
He who says that the infinite God dwelt in a finite man as He dwelt in the Prophets and in the just, and does not confess that He Who, as God, is infinite, is the Same Who became finite by becoming man, (such a one) has not as yet passed from a corrupt error into the fold of the knowledge of Christ. |113
He who does not confess that the Athlete, who fought for our nature ||156| in the desert against the Adversary, is the natural Son of the Father Who, in so far as He became man, waged war against the Adversary, but thinks that God raised up another Athlete from our nature to triumph for Himself and for us, such a one is a stranger to the victory of Christ.
He who says that Christ was justified by His works, and became the equal of the Most High by the practice of His virtues, and that He is not exalted and is not God by His nature, such a one is without any virtue and is filled with the malice of the devil.
He who says that He Who raised the dead is one, and He Who was tried by death, another, the death of such (a man) has not yet ceased.
He who does not believe that He Who, as man, was apprehended by the Jews and led to the death of the Cross, is the Same Who, as God, in the power of His divinity caused creatures to tremble, shall experience the wandering of Cain all the days of his life.
He who says that He Who cast out Legion (15) from the man (in the Gospel) is one, and He Who was comforted by the Angel at the time of His passion (16), another, in such a one dwells Legion whom Jesus drove out.
He who does not confess that glory and humiliation are of one Son, Who is one person and one nature who was embodied, such a one is an embodied devil.
He who says that there are this and that (person or nature) in the one Christ, has not as yet put off the «old man».
He who does not confess that He Who said, «My Father worketh until now, and ||157| I work» (17), is the Same of Whom Peter |114 wrote, «He hath been exalted by the right hand of God and hath received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost» (1), in such a one the evil spirit dwells.
He who says that the body of our Lord came down from heaven, has not been redeemed with the sons of men.
He who says that the aspect of Christ was a false appearance, and not a real embodiment from the nature of the Virgin, is a disciple of Mani and Marcion.
He who says that God refused to take a body of our nature as being defiled, and confesses that a body was formed for Him from another place, shall be cut off from the life which the corporeity of God has prepared for us.
He who does not confess that the Word became the seed of David and Abraham in the flesh, and took a body really and without change from the Virgin who brought Him forth, has not as yet changed from the old error.
He who does not anathematize Nestorius with his whole soul and Eutyches with his whole mind, and their abominable doctrines which are dangerous to men, is anathematized in his soul and in his body.
Against all these doctrines, therefore, we have stood and still stand with our whole soul, that the true faith, which was delivered by Christ to His Church, may remain without change. We wage this war with gallant courage, and in the struggle which is for Christ, we stand unmoved by the gifts and honors of the wicked. ||158| Nor do we fear their threats, for Our Justifier is near; and in Him we have placed our confidence, for we have been believing for a long time that He will do what He has promised. And although many without the faith would take away our hope, in His true hope we are strengthened all the more. As in the war waged against Christ, we have arisen and have desired your own cooperation, we have written to you that you |115 may be persuaded that we do not wish to triumph without you. You have done well to join in my conflict on behalt of truth, because we are in the truth and the (dogma of the) Trinity is held in the same sense by you and by us. You have agreed in your letters, and, by the signing of your names, you have confirmed, not anything new, but the very truth which you possess (18). For it is fitting that what we hold in the mind and confess with the tongue, we should also commit to writing, without fear and without trembling. For you are with God, and also with my humble person, and with all the cenobites of Syria, your brethren. Moreover, the faithful and just Emperor Zeno (19) and the archbishop (20) of the capital return you thanks for the anaphoras (21) which you have sent. And the same Christ-loving (Emperor) has openly declared that he gained the victory over his enemies (22) with (the help of) your prayers, and he is ready to give us ample reward ||159| for the work which we have undertaken for the peace of the churches, and to drive away from them the enemies of the Cross. May those who were accusing us be put to shame and confusion, even with the heretics, ----those liars! They are abhorrent to us even more than the heretics, those men who, corrupted by their passions, have become workmen in the building of the devil, and are considered disciples on account of their garb (only).
Where are, O false disciple, (the words), «I am under obligation to fight for the truth until death»? Where is the promise of thy profession? Where are the vows thou madest to God? |116 Thou hast destroyed the seal and hast profaned the sign put upon thee. Hearest thou not Christ saying: «Whosoever shall confess Me, I will also confess him, and whosoever shall deny Me, I will also deny him» (23); and again, «Whosoever shall seek to save his life, shall lose it; and whosoever shall lose his life, shall preserve it» (24); and this again, «Whosoever wisheth to be My disciple, let him renounce himself, take up his cross, and follow Me» (25); and Paul who says, «Confess with thy mouth Our Lord Jesus Christ and believe with thy heart?» (26) Remember also, besides these holy words, the teaching of the Prophets, and the preaching of the Apostles, and the zeal of all the Doctors on behalf of the true faith, and, what is more glorious and a much greater wonder than all this, the Cross ||160| and the humiliation of the Living God Who, for the establishing of faith and the redemption of men, bore and suffered all the things that had been written of Him. And all the heralds of the word of God, if thou noticest well, were always persecuted because they followed in the same way as their Lord.
Was there ever a teacher of divine science who did not seal his faith in the midst of afflictions, persecutions, contempt, insults, calumnies, injustices, cruel sufferings and bitter torments, and who did not by his patience put to shame those who persecuted him? But I, who announce the truth in the midst of sufferings like these, testify that the truth is with this man. Knowest thou not these things, O disciple in name (only)? If not, thou shouldst know them, and shouldst not find fault with those who fight for God against godless doctrines. Come to the help of the Lord, although He has no need of thee, and do not stay the hand of the others who give their lives in fighting for |117 the Lord. Hear the sentence pronounced by God against him who causes his brother to stumble, and tremble. I contend for thy inheritance (27), and thou contendest with me. I pronounce judgment against thy enemy for thy possessions which have been dilapidated, and thou becomest an adversary to me. I fight for the common faith, and thou settest thyself against me with the heretics. I toil and work ||161| day and night that the truth which was delivered to the Church may not be changed, and I direct the weapons of argument against those who deny the Cross, and thou upbraidest me (saying), «Hold thy tongue, let them do what they wish». They want me to be silent lest I should expose their doctrines, and thou, with them, wantest me to remain silent. I hasten to root out division and to end the schism which they have caused in the faith, and thou declarest publicly that I am the cause of the division. They began a tumult, introduced a novelty (28), and disturbed the peace of all the churches, and thou considerest me as the author of the disturbance. I am zealous that the doctrine of the Trinity may remain as it is, without receiving any addition (29), without being increased by another (person), and thou accusest me falsely of preaching something new. Thou art looked upon as a disciple, but thou art an adversary. Thou puttest on the appearance of truth, but thou art entirely on the side of false men. Since thou lovest to be with them and blasphemest like them, thou wilt soon be put to shame like them. Behold they are overthrown and they hide away, and they have no protector. The sword of justice is drawn against them and they cannot escape it. This I say to the disciples in name |118 only, because, when they are confounded, the glory ||162| of your fortitude will be all the more manifest.
All the holy (brethren) who are here salute you. I also adjure you before God, the Lord of all, to remember me in (your) prayers at the time of your services, for I believe that by your prayers I have been preserved until now. Farewell in Our Lord Jesus Christ Who crowns your labors.
[Footnotes have been renumbered and placed at the end]
1. (1) PHILIPPIANS, iii, 19.
2. (2) The Nestorians and the adherents of the Council of Chalcedon were called «Jews» by the Monophysites.
3. (3) St. John, x. 33.
4. (1) 2 Corinthians, v, 10.
5. (2) Romans, v, 10.
6. (1) Romans, viii, 32.
7. (2) St. JOHN, i, 1.
8. (3) Philippians, ii, 7.
9. (4) Philippians, ii, 6.
10. (1) i. e. two persons or two natures.
11. (2) St. MATTHEW, i, 1.
12. (3) St. JOHN, i, 1.
13. (4) St. LUKE, i, 35, 31.
14. (1) St. MATTHEW, i, 21.
15. (1) Cf. St. LUKE, viii, 30, and St. MARK, v, 9.
16. (2) St. LUKE, xxii, 43.
17. (3) St. John, v. 17.
18. (1) It is probable that Philoxenus refers here to the Henoticon of Zeno, which was promulgated in 482. Cf. B. O., II, p. 36.
19. (2) Zeno (474-491).
20. (3) Acacius, archbishop of Constantinople, (471-489).
21. (4) [Syriac]. The meaning of this word here seems uncertain, Cf. PAYNE-SMITH, Thesaurus Syriacus, sub voce, p. 274. Assemani (B. O., II, 37) translates it by «Oblationes». It may have been an address or letter sent by the Monks of Beth-Gaugal to Zeno to congratulate him over his victory.
22. (5) Basiliscus, Leontius, Illus.
23. (1) St. MATTHEW, x, 32-33.
24. (2) St. LUKE, xvii, 33.
25. (3) St. MAKK, viii, 34.
26. (4) Romans, x, 9.
27. (1) The inheritance of faith.
28. (2) Probably the definition of the Council of Chalcedon regarding the two natures in Christ.
29. (3) Because the Nestorians admitted two persons in Christ, Philoxenus accused them of adding a fourth person to the Trinity. He made the same accusation against Catholics for admitting two natures in Christ after the union.
This text was transcribed by Roger Pearse, 2003. All material on this page is in the public domain - copy freely.
Greek text is rendered using the Scholars Press SPIonic font, free from here.
Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
SOURCE SECTION: philoxenus_three_06_letter_to_zeno.htm
A.A.Vaschalde, Three Letters of Philoxenus (1902). pp. 118-.... Letter to the Emperor Zeno.
A.A.Vaschalde, Three Letters of Philoxenus (1902). pp. 118-.... Letter to the Emperor Zeno.
C.
||163| The letter of Mär Aksenäyä to Emperor Zeno
on the embodiment and incarnation of God the Word.
O Christ-loving Zeno, Emperor, concerning the embodiment (methgassemänüthä) and the humanifying (methbarnesa-nüthä) (1) of God the Word, Who is consubstantial with God the Father, and was begotten by Him before ages and worlds, Who is always God and near (2) God, Who is God the Word, because He was begotten by Him without passion (3) and with Him is not subject to time, we have learned, we believe, and we have received from tradition as follows: that He (God the Word) emptied Himself (4) and came into the womb of the Virgin, without leaving the Father, without separating Himself from Him with Whom, near Whom, and like unto Whom He always is. For we believe that, in so far as He is God, He is everywhere, that is, like the Father and like the Holy Ghost. |119
He wished to give life to men by His abasement, His embodiment, His passion, His death, and His resurrection. And He came to the Virgin without ceasing to be everywhere, and He was embodied in her and of her, and became man without change. ||164| For He did not bring to Himself a body from heaven as the foolish Valentinus and Bardesanes assert; nor was His embodiment from nothing, because He did not wish to redeem a creature that did not exist, but He wished to renew that which, created by Him, had become old (5).
We do not hold that (the Word) became man with a change in His nature, because God is not capable of change, change being a modification of things created; but, as He exists without having begun, so also He was not changed by becoming (man). For He became man by taking a body, and not by assuming a man whom He caused to adhere to His person; otherwise, we would be introducing an addition into the Trinity, and would be found to admit a son of grace, outside the Son of nature. Therefore, whilst adoring this God the Word, Who is the Only Begotten Son of the Father, I believe that He was really embodied, and was born of the Holy Virgin, for He, Whom she brought forth, has become (man) and has been embodied in her and of her. She did not bring Him forth spiritually, since (the Word) has His spiritual generation from the Father, and He did not become (man) as He was begotten by the Father, according to the order of the (divine) nature and of the essential generation. But the Virgin brought Him forth corporally in order that, through this corporal generation, we might be made worthy of the spiritual (generation). The Word, therefore, became something that He was not and remained something that we were not (but became), that is, sous of God, yet ||165| remaining what we were by nature. For we became sons of God. although our nature |120 was not changed, and He became man by His mercy, although His essence was not changed.
I confess, therefore, one (only) person of the Word, and I believe that this same (person) is also man, that is, God Who became man; not that He dwelt in a man, not that He built to Himself a temple in which He dwelt. It is we who are His temples, and He dwells in us by His Spirit. He did not create a man in the Virgin before He dwelt in her, a man whom He afterwards assumed as another person; for, by His embodiment from the Virgin, He did not unite Himself to the person of a man, but to our nature. I do not acknowledge in the Virgin a man adhering to God, nor a person joined to another; but I see, with the eye of faith, a Spiritual Being, Who, without change, became corporal, and Mary brought forth, not a double (Son), as Nestorius said, but the Only-Begotten embodied, Who is not indeed half God and half man, but wholly God because He is from the Father, and wholly man because He became (man) of the Virgin.
I confess that there was a union of the natures, that is, (a union of) the divinity and the humanity, and I divide neither the natures nor the persons, nor the parts of this and that, ||166| which have been united in an ineffable manner. I do not see two things where they became one, nor do I admit one where two are known to be. It is not true that a man was made, was considered independent (6), and then assumed by God; if we say this, we do not confess that corporeity belongs to God. If on the contrary we believe that the body belongs to Him, because He was made man, then corporeity is the property of the person of God, and not of another human person. For the body of each one of us does not belong to God, although we are the sons of the Father and the brothers of Christ; and likewise (the body) |121 of that man, whether you consider it from the point of view of the person, or of the nature only, cannot be regarded as belonging to God; therefore, it is not true that a body was created, was acknowledged as belonging to another (person), and was then taken by God and made His.
With John I cry out that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us (7), not by changing, God forbid! for «to change» is a modification, but «to become» belongs to the Economy (of the Word). For I learn from John and Paul that (the Word) has become; but that He was changed, none of those who saw and served the Word (ever) said. Besides, God the Word Himself teaches by His prophet, «I am the Lord, and I change not» (8). Where you would suppose that, by becoming embodied. He was changed, He testifies all the more to the truth of His own ||167| immutability, and as if (already) embodied from the Virgin, He cries out to those who think that perhaps He was changed by becoming (man), «I am the Lord, and I change not». Of the one Son, therefore, are the two generations, the one from the Father and the other from the Virgin; of the one Son, and not of two natures, otherwise He would not be one. For if we admit (in Him) nature and nature, we must necessarily admit person and person, and consequently we must acknowledge two Sons and two Gods.
The person of the Son, therefore, became embodied by the will of the Father and of the Holy Ghost, and His embodiment does not exclude that He may be believed consubstantial with them, for He was begotten Son (by the Father) and He was born Son of (the Virgin). The Father had no corporal generation, because He is always Father; nor had the Holy Ghost, because He did not come from the Father as Son in order to become the Son of the Virgin. But that One was born, |122 Who was begotten, that is, the Son. And we believe that the Same is Son by two generations, and that He, to Whom belong the name and fact of Son from the Father, became truly the Son of the Virgin; for to Him indeed belong these two things «to become and to be born», and because He was Son,
He was born Son, that is, in becoming ||168| man without changing. And since we hear from the Books that one person was embodied, that the same (person) was born, and is the Only Begotten of the Father and the Firstborn of the Virgin, we must believe that He is known (as such) even in all the humiliations and defects to which humanity is liable.
We confess, therefore, that the Virgin is qeoto&koj (yäldath 'alähä), and we believe that the embodied Word, after being born of her corporally, was wrapped in swaddling clothes, sucked milk, received circumcision, was held on (His Mother's) knees, grew in stature and was subject to His parents, all this just as He was born. He did not need to be fed Who feeds (others), since He is known (to be) God, but He became subject to all this because He was made man, although perfect and complete in His nature and in His person. It is then only in so far as He became (man) that He grew. To Him belongs greatness by His nature; and humiliation, because He emptied Himself. The things of the Father are His, because He has the same essence; and ours are His, because He became like unto us. To Him honor, because He is the Lord of glory; to Him humiliation, because He revealed Himself in the flesh. His the fact that He was hungry, and His the fact that He multiplied bread. He was hungry, and (thereby) showed that He became like unto us; He fed the hungry, and (thereby) showed that the power remains to Him. For His nature was not ||169| changed when He became (man), nor was the strength of His power diminished.
He was baptized by John in the Jordan (9), and the Father |123 testified that He is His Beloved Son. I recognize the Trinity in the Jordan: the Father Who speaks; the Son Who is baptized; and the Holy Ghost Who shows. The Son was baptized as man, and not in appearance, because the appearance of the dove belongs to the Holy Ghost, and the appearance of the humanity (10) belongs to the Father; but, with the Son, it is the reality of corporeity. The One Whom I have seen in baptism, I have acknowledged in the womb (of the Virgin), and the One Whom I have found in the womb, I contemplate stretched on the Cross. One of the Trinity was in the womb; one of the Trinity in baptism; one of the Trinity on the Cross.
We believe in one Son, in one Father, and in one Spirit. For there is no other Son than the one Who is adored in the Trinity, Who accomplished the Economy for us, and was crucified between thieves. For He, at Whose baptism the Father testified, «This is My Beloved Son» (11), is the Same Who cried out on the Cross, «Father, into Thy hands I commend My Spirit» (12). Since He calls God «His Father», it is certain that He is His Son. For He Who, as man, was stretched on the Cross, is the Same Who (at that very time) was ruling, as God, all creatures by His nod, because the source of His natural life was not broken by death. ||170| For if we believe that, conceived as man, He is God, we must necessarily admit that, enclosed as dead in School, He is Life from Life, lest, because He became (man), His essence be considered as having changed, and lest we believe that by death the life of His nature was destroyed.
The Cross is the herald of the death and of the immortality of God; for, until then, we believed by hearing (13) that God |124 is immortal; but, on the Cross, experience has shown (that) both (were true), for, whilst tasting death, He remained living. Death could not attack and destroy His life; but, by His death, the power of death was destroyed, so that this death (of the Son), after His becoming (man), is a miracle. For He Who suffered death for us was not mortal as one of us, otherwise the power of death over mortals would not have been destroyed. From all men we know that what is mortal shall die; but, that tho Immortal be considered as having died corporally, was something new which took place once on the Cross.
Thus the immortality of God does not prevent us from believing in His death, nor does His death oblige us to deny His immortality. God was tried by death, and thereby He destroyed the power of death over all the children of men. As spirits cannot die, He did not die spiritually; ||171| besides, His nature is immortal. But, since the body is subject to the power of death, Pie was tried by death corporally. For there was not (in Christ) a body adhering to God, nor was there (in Him) a man as His temple, who was dissolved, and was raised up by the Word Who dwelt in him, as heretics imagine. But He Who was dissolved as man, the Same, as God, raised up (His own body). The Father also raised Him, according to the words of Paul, «God, His Father, Who hath raised Him from the dead» (14). The Holy Ghost also raised Him, for (Paul says again): «He (Christ) was known to be the Son of God by power, and by the Holy Ghost according to the resurrection from the dead» (15). He also raised Himself, as He said: «I have power over My soul to lay it down, and I have power to take it up again» (16). For the divinity did not leave the body (of Christ), when He cried out on |125 the Cross, «Father, into Thy hands I commend My Spirit» (17). And it is not a man that said to the Father, «My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?» (18); but He called Him «His Father» because He is consubstantial with Him, and «His God», because He became man. For He Who was suspended on the Cross, by commending His Spirit into the hands of His Father, gave to the souls of men a relationship with the Father, and the Same, with His body, descended into Scheol, and prepare the resurrection of the bodies that were there.
We do not therefore subject the nature of the Word to passion; nor do we believe that a man distinct from Him died. But we believe that He Who, as God, is above ||172| death, experienced it as man. (We believe) that He is the Only Begotten Son, one of the Trinity, as is clear from His own words to His disciples: «Go ye forth, teach all nations, and baptize them in the name of the Father, and of the Sou, and of the Holy Ghost» (19).
I was baptized, therefore, in the name of Him Who died, and I confess that He, in Whose name I was baptized, died for me, and I believe that I have put on in baptism Him in Whose name and in Whose death I was baptized, according to the words of Paul (20). For I have put on spiritually in the waters (of baptism) the Spiritual Being Who became corporal, and I confess that the Living One Who, experienced death in the flesh, is He Who raises (the dead) and gives life; thus not taking anything from the Trinity, as the foolish Sabellius and Photinus have thought (to do), nor dividing its persons, like Arius and Macedonius, nor adding another person to the Trinity, as Theodore and Nestorius have imagined, nor saying that one of its persons suffered a change, like Apollinaris and Eutyches. |126
Therefore, I say anathema to the impious Nestorius and to his doctrine, which, in the one Christ, admits a distinction of natures and of persons, attributing the miracles to God and the sufferings to the man, denying openly the Economy ||173| of the Word Who was made man.
I also say anathema to Eutyches the heretic, and to his followers, because he denies that there was a real embodiment of God from the Virgin, and regards as hallucinations the mysteries of His corporeity.
In saying anathema to these doctrines, I agree with the Holy Books, and adhere to the tradition of the Fathers from whom I have received the true and apostolic faith, that faith by which I have been made worthy, with all the baptized, of life, of freedom, and of adoption.
I have written these few lines, O pious Emperor, and have sent them to Your Christianity, because you have ordered it, to confound the heretics who question my faith in Christ, and also to edify those who think as I do, and who, made bold by divine love, try to defend me. |127
[Footnotes renumbered and placed at the end]
1. (1) As Incarnation does not render exactly the two Syriac words here, I have translated methgassemänüthä by «embodiment», and methbarne-sänüthä by «humanifying». These seem to be the English equivalents.
2. (2) [Syriac], apud.
3. (3) This word is taken here in its widest sense, as meaning a change or modification of any kind.
4. (4) Philippians. ii, 7.
5. (1) Cf. p. 97.
6. (1) Sui juris, complete; literally «to his own count».
7. (1) St. JOHN, i, 14.
8. (2) MALACHIAS, III, 6.
9. (1) St. LUKE, iii, 21-22.
10. (1) The voice that was heard.
11. (2) St. MATTHEW, iii, 17.
12. (3) St. LUKE, xxiii, 40.
13. (4) Ex auditu. Cf. Romans, x, 17.
14. (1) Galatians, i, 1.
15. (2) Romans, i, 4.
16. (3) St. JOHN, x, 18.
17. (1) St. LUKE, xxiii, 46.
18. (2) St, MARK, xv, 34.
19. (3) St. MATTHEW, xxviii, 19.
20. (4) Cf. Galatians. iii. 27.
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Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
SOURCE SECTION: philoxenus_life.htm
A. Mingana, New documents on Philoxenus of Hierapolis and on the Philoxenian version of the bible. The Expositor, 9th series vol. 19 (1920) pp. 149-160.
A. Mingana, New documents on Philoxenus of Hierapolis and on the Philoxenian version of the bible. The Expositor, 9th series vol. 19 (1920) pp. 149-160.
Foreword
Life of Philoxenus - translation
General criticism
|149
NEW DOCUMENTS ON PHILOXENUS OF HIERAPOLIS,
AND ON THE PHILOXENIAN VERSION OF THE BIBLE.
I. Foreword.
"Any person who expects to solve the problem of the diversity of the New Testament text in the second century, without employing in the solution the old Syriac and associated versions, and the closely connected Diatessaron of Tatian, is, no doubt, victim of a delusion." 1 In fact, no Church can claim to have studied the Scriptures more, carefully, and to have applied all the scientific resources of the early ages of Christianity to biblical criticism more steadily than the Syrian community. From the second century till the first quarter of the seventh, eight different versions of the New Testament were produced by genuine researches of the Aramaean population, spreading from the Mediterranean shores to the East of Persia, and from the massif of the Taurus to the Arabian peninsula.
Numerous conversions to the Gospel from Mazdaism, and, in later generations, the conquest by evangelical missionaries of a huge population from India, Mongolia, Persia, Samarkand and neighbouring districts, nay, even from China, made the Syriac a sacred and liturgical language to hundreds of nations different in ethnology and often hostile to one another by previous tribal raids and sanguinary battles.
On the other hand, the writers of the Gospels, being from an Aramaic-speaking population, while writing in Greek were generally thinking in Syriac, and the Aramaic stamp |150 of their phrases is sometimes so strong that without a knowledge of this language and the reading of the versions which are written in it, the real thought of the sacred author will perhaps be misunderstood.
Before we begin a study of the Syriac Version called Pshitta by means of some fresh and unedited hagiographic pieces, we wish to make known in an English translation some other new and not less important documents dealing with the life and the biblical version of the famous Philoxenus of Hierapolis, who proved himself the strongest champion in the Christological movement of the fifth and the first quarter of the sixth century. His real name was Akhsnaya (Xenaïas), and it is by this name that he is generally known in the books written by oriental historians.
In spite of Philoxenus' greatness and of the strong and durable influence that he exercised on the highly placed patriarchs and bishops of his time, no complete life of him is extant to-day. The list, too, of his works, given by Eastern and Western writers of later generations, is very imperfect, even the precise date of his well-known version of the Bible being still very obscure. Students of Church History and critics of the Old and New Testaments will perhaps be pleased to have at hand genuine and unique documents which will throw great rays of light upon these questions, and prepare the way to a better understanding of the bitter religious schism which tore up the single Christian community into so many acephalous and autocephalous bodies that we find even in our days scattered all over the land of pre-classic empires.
The original Syriac manuscript (probably of the fourteenth century) which contains the life and works of Philoxenus, printed in this article, is preserved at Bassibrina, in Tur `Abdin, near Mardin. I translate if from a faithful copy kindly given to me when I was travelling in that country by |151 the Rev. E. Barsom, of the monastery of Deiruz-Za`farân. Its title is: "Victory (= life) of Mar Akhsnaya, who is Philoxenus, bishop of the town of Mabbūg" (Hierapolis). I give first a literal translation of this narrative, then some other corroborative documents with a few words of general criticism. We will place, too, in the footnotes a critical apparatus as accurate as can be done in the present state of our knowledge, comparing our text with some other general and fresh data found in the works of writers recently published by the editors of the Patrologia Orientalis and of the Corpus Scriptorum Christ. Orientalium, etc.
II. Translation.
This Mar Akhsnaya, who is Philoxenus of Mabbūg, city of priests, was in his terrestrial origin from the province of Beith Garmay,2 in the East, and from the village of Tahl. His brother, called Addai, was teacher in his village. It happened that one day his parents, with all his family, left their country and came to live in Tur `Abdin,3 in the mountain of Beith Réshé. They dwelt in the possession of the great tower of Haitam, their precise residence being a small plot of ground near Beith Sabrina, northwards between this village and Beith Zriza of `Arabân. They built houses for themselves in this ground and lived in them.
When the little Akhsnaya grew up and knew how to read, he began to study the sacred books and learned to distinguish |152 between good and evil. Under the impulse of the divine grace Mar Akhsnaya parted from his relations to the distance of one mile, built for himself a shed of stones, and lived in it for a certain time in peace and in the service of God.
When several monks from the monasteries of the mountains of Kardu 4 passed close to him, on their journey to the monastery of Kartamin founded by angels,5 he was much pleased, received them with joy and entertained them in his divine faith. He accompanied them afterwards to the monastery of Kartamin. All of them prayed there and were blessed by the saints (of the monastery).
Mar Akhsnaya wished to enter this monastery, and he learned there perfectly all divine science, in Syriac and in Greek. He succeeded so well that he became teacher in the school of the monastery and of the neighbouring districts. For a short interval of time he was called Magister Doctorum, and was praised by the professors of all countries on account of his application and his science in the divine books of both Testaments. From thence he went to Western countries, travelled to convents and monasteries, and reached the monastery of 'Tel'eda, which was richer in professors, students and exegetes than all other monasteries of the East and the West.6
There he perfected himself in the Greek and in the Syriac languages, and he translated both Testaments, the Old and the New, the Old (Testament) according to the Septuagint,7 which he compared with the Syriac Version ( = Pshitta?). |153
Jacob of Edessa 8 says: "He made an excellent version which has no equal in the Church." He translated, too, several books of the Fathers in a solid manner with great care and much diligence.
His fame spread all over the Church and he was honoured by all the bishops because of his science. For this reason he was elected to be the bishop of the holy town of Mabbūg,9 which, on account of the great number of priests and doctors that it produced, was called city of priests (Hierapolis). The town of Mabbūg was pleased with him, and prouder of his teaching than all the other towns of other countries.
He opened in this town an immense treasure of doctrine, and filled it with spiritual riches. He composed, first of all, excellent homilies on the commemorative feasts of our Lord, and on all the Dispensation of Christ. He wrote five other books of discourses which enlighten, by means of the Holy Spirit, all those who read them. He wrote six books against the heresy of Nestorius and of Barsauma of Nisibis,10 and disclosed all the falsehood of the Nestorians by proving that they were "new Jews" and "ancient Pagans." He wrote thirteen books against the heretic Chalcedonians, and unveiled to the orthodox all their craftiness. He wrote an instruction to the monks, and ten books saturated with spiritual thoughts. He wrote twenty-two books of epistles addressed to all classes of people. The number of all the books that he wrote in the course of his life amounts to one hundred and seventy volumes 11 of divine doctrine, which |154 illuminated all Christendom with the orthodox people of all countries.
In one of his letters addressed to John Sa`ara, metropolitan of Amid,12 he writes as follows: "I love thee and I am thy colleague of the holy monastery of Kartamin 13; I am weak (in science), but thy holiness is strong. In a time like this it was necessary to have a man like thee in God's Church, thee whose education has been made in the monastery of my spiritual Fathers, wherefrom thou hast been called. All the ancient doctors were brought up in this angelic monastery.14 It is there that I have been myself brought up, though I was unhappily not perfected by its teaching in a complete manner.15 It is true that, in body, I am now far from my spiritual and perfect and holy Fathers, but in spirit I am nearer to them."
Many sentences like these were written by him and sent to remote countries, especially to Gurzanites and to the people of the interior of Persia. In his letters to Abu Hafar16 of Hira of Nu`mân, and in those written to the Himyarites and to the inhabitants of Nijran, in which he speaks of the |155 error of the heretics and confirms the orthodox in their faith.
He had caused the inhabitants of Antioeh to follow the order 17 of Zeno, the faithful king (and he caused them also) to vote for the nomination of Mar Severus to the Patriarchate of Antioch and all Syria as far as India.
When, then, Mar Severus was elected and arrived, Mar Philoxenus, with eleven other bishops, ordained him in the big town of Tyre,18 which is at the seashore and which had been built by King Hiram. Afterwards (Mar Severus) entered Antioch and occupied his see during six years and a half.
Then the Chalcedonians persecuted cruelly the orthodox people, and Mar Severus escaped from them by going to Egypt. Mar Akhsnaya was seized by the perverse Greeks, who incarcerated him during five years and made him suffer all sorts of torments. He covered them every day with shame, and they were not converted, but they inflicted on him tribulation, pain, anguish and ill-treatment, which he endured with the courage of martyrs and true confessors. After these five years, he was conducted to the town of Gangra, and there imprisoned in a high house above the oven of a bath. All the openings of the house were closed in order that he might be asphyxiated. He migrated to his Lord with the crown of victory.19 May his prayer be with us. |156 Amen. Mar Akhsnaya was crowned on the tenth of December.20
Now his nephew was with him from the beginning of the persecution directed against him. He bribed the persecuting Greeks by means of much money; he stole and brought the treasure of the body of Mar Akhsnaya, his uncle, to the town of Mabbūg. It was laid in an urn of marble and placed in the church that Philoxenus himself had erected. The nephew instituted three feasts for him, the first for the day of his death, the second for the day of his sepulture, and the third for his episcopal coronation.21
After a time his nephew was nominated to the see of his uncle, and lived in his diocese in great persecution and |157 migrated to his Lord.22 May their prayers be with us.
After a long time, the town of Mabbūg was destroyed in the wars between Greek and Arab kings. When the Arabs owned the seashore, the members of Mar Akhsnaya's family took the head (the body?) of the saint, and arrived at Tur `Abdin. They built a church in a village called Mediad, and there they laid the body of Mar Akhsnaya. This village of Mediad 23 is near the monastery of Mar Habel the Stylite, who, at the time when Mar Akhsnaya was going to the Western countries for the purpose of studying and enlightening himself, caused the top of the column of stones on which he was living to bend to the ground. On that occasion both saints gave each other a mutual greeting. This was a great miracle for their glorious life.
When Mar Habel died a good death, he was buried and placed in his monastery in the castra of Mediad. After a short time, the body of St. Abraham,24 the master of Barsaumas,25 the head of the Anchorets (Abîlé) was also brought to the monastery of Mar Habel. A big sanctuary has been erected to him, below the small one. The sanctuary of Mar Habel became then a Beith Kaddishe,26 and a baptistery, and that of Mar Abraham became the real sanctuary. The monastery has been called, and is also called in our days: Monastery of Mar Abraham, belonging to the family of Mar Gabriel of Kartamin. The head of Mar Akhsnaya is down to our time in the church of the village of Mediad....27 |158
III. General Criticism.
Without resorting to a rigid criticism in discussing the value of this document, we may be allowed to state that when we compare it, in its historical points, with some other sources of information, it has some claim to a preponderating authority. The annotations which accompany our translation, dispense us from occupying ourselves with details; it forms a part of the group of lives of saints written in Tur `Abdin, good instances of which are found in E. Rahmani's Studia Syriaca (pp. 33, 34, 35. 37).
Some dark points in the life of the hero known through other valuable documents are utterly missing in this notice, So, 1° if the famous archimandrite Babai the Great (589-623) deserves credit,—and so far we have no sufficient reasons to believe the contrary—Philoxenus was driven out of his country by Nestorian bishops1 about 485. 2°, Simon of Beith Arsham, surnamed the Persian Sophist (sixth century), tells us that our hero spent some time in the school of Edessa2; and this same historian wants us to believe that he did not study exclusively in the monastery of Kartamin and Tel`eda. A complete and convincing harmony of events is almost impossible in the present state of our knowledge.
But there is a point in this notice which deserves more than a simple reference, and this point is the precise year in which the well-known Phiioxenian Version of the Old and New Testaments saw the light. We were told by a colophon of some manuscripts printed by Assemani (Bibl. Orient. ii. 23) |159 that this Version was elaborated in 508 under the auspices of Philoxenus by a certain Polycarpus. A second document published by E. Rahmani (ibid. pp. 5, 54) informs us that it was already finished in 505. Our author seems to state that it was prepared by Philoxenus himself in the monastery of Tel`eda before his elevation to the see of Hierapolis. This opinion of an anonymous writer, confirmed by a quotation from Jacob of Edessa, may perhaps claim a certain reliance:
A. We are not to be easily convinced that a version called Philoxenian would ever have been exclusively known by this name if Philoxenus were only its promoter, and the Chor-episcopus Polycarpus its sole translator, as the document edited by Assemani would have us to believe. More probably, therefore, Philoxenus had prepared it long before his episcopal ordination, in the monastery of Tel`eda, having possibly handed his work to Polycarpus for the purpose of a simple revision in 505-508.
B. That the Philoxenian Version of the New Testament was prepared even before 505 is suggested also by the following document: In the town of Mediad there is a manuscript (probably of the eleventh century) belonging to Mr. Emmanuel, head of the Protestant community of the country; the colophon of this manuscript being as follows 28: "This is the book of the Gospels containing the four Gospels with the Acts and all the Epistles. It has been translated from Greek into Syriac, with great accuracy and with great solidity, at the first time in the town of Mabbūg in the year 809 of Alexander the Macedonian (498 a.d.) in the days of the just man and confessor Philoxenus, bishop of the town..."
This colophon is found in some other manuscripts of the |160 public libraries of Europe, but with this difference, that several of them exhibit the same date as that printed by Assemani, i.e. 819 of the Greeks 29 (608 A.D.). We leave it to more skilled minds to decide which manuscript has got the right date; ours seems to be more in harmony with the history of Philoxenus and with the general course of events.
Alphonse MINGANA.
[Footnotes renumbered and moved to the end]
1. 1 Dr. Rendel Harris in the Expository Times, May 1914.
2. 1 This province, known in Roman and Greek geographers under the name of Garamaea, is situated on the left side of the Tigris, and the Great Zab. Trajan conquered it in 116 A.D., but at the time of Philoxenus it formed a part of the Persian Empire.
3. 2 Hilly country between Mardin and the Tigris; this name, which means "mountain of holy men," has been given to it on account of the numerous monasteries which made it for a long time a second desert of Scété.
4. 1 Mountains of South-Western Armenia, commonly identified with. Ararat, on which a well-known legend relates that the ark of Noah floated and rested.
5. 2 Allusion to an old legend which attributed the foundation of this very ancient monastery to an angel who showed the site where it should be built. See H. Pognon's Inscriptions Sémitiques, 1907, p. 39 sqq.
6. 3 About this famous monastery see Pognon, ibid. p. 52.
7. 4 Cf. the end of this article.
8. 1 A well-known Syriac writer (633-5 June 708). Cf. R. Duval, Littérature Syriaque, me édit. pp. 374-377.
9. 2 He was nominated bishop of Hierapolis by Peter the Fuller, patriarch of Antioch, in 485, see Corp. Script. Christ. Orient., vol iv. p. 188.
10. 3 The greatest pillar of Nestorianism (fifth century). See J. Labourt, Le Christianisme dans l'Empire Perse, pp. 130-152.
11. 4 The author means doubtless by the word "Penkitha" a long discourse on different subjects. For the books of Philoxenus extant in our days, see Duval, ibid. p. 355.
12. 1 This John was elected Bishop of Amid in 484 and died in 502. He was really brought up in the monastery of Kartamin. Cf. Chronica Minora, ibid, p, 165.
13. 2 This quotation proves convincingly that Philoxenus had in fact made his studies in this monastery. This information is corroborated by his office found in the Syrian breviary. We may, therefore, safely infer that our hero did not spend much time in the school of Edessa, as we are told by other writers. His study in the capital of Osrhoene could not then have taken place long before the year 457, in which the death of the famous Ibas is placed.
14. 3 This letter seems to have been written in 485, i.e. in the very year of the nomination of Philoxenus to the see of Hierapolis.
15. 4 We are tempted to conclude from this sentence that Philoxenus did not finish his studies at Kartamin.
16. 5 This name is written Abu Nafir in the text edited by L. Martin, Gram. ling. Syr. p. 71. The reasons alleged to deny the authenticity of this letter do not seem to be very probable. Cf. contra, Tixeront, Revue de l'Orient Chrétien, viii. 623, and A. Vaschalde, Three Letters of Philoxenus 1902, p. 30.
17. 1 Allusion to the "Henoticon" which promulgated in 482, at the instigation of Acacius of Constantinople, favoured enormously the Monophysite party.
18. 2 The accession of Athanasius to the throne, in 491, reinforced the hopes of the Monophysites even more than that of Zeno. We know that under his reign Philoxenus succeeded, in 512, with the help of Sotericus, bishop of Cesaraea of Cappadocia, in exiling Flavianus the Chalcedonian Patriarch of Antioch. In this very year, and always under the influence and presidency of Philoxenus, twelve bishops elected Severus for this predominant see, and they conducted him from the monastery of Theodora (Chron. Minora, pp. 166, 189).
19. 3 According to the Syrian breviary, Philoxenus underwent another exile at a period which is unhappily not clearly fixed. Unless we go back to the time of Leo (457-474), i.e. to a time in which Philoxenus was not yet a bishop, this information can hardly be in accordance with the general course of history, since before Justin the politic of Zeno and Anastasius was, roughly speaking, very favourable to Monophysism.
20. 1 We know that the election of Severus of Antioch took place in 512 and that according to our document, corroborated by general history (Chron. Min. p. 169) he governed the see of this celebrated metropolis during six years and a half, i.e. till 519. We have seen, too, that Philoxenus was after this date in detention during five years, i.e. till 524. The death of our hero must, therefore, be fixed at 10 Dec. 524. We think that this date ought to be adopted as the only true one, since it is made more than possible by the following new document. In the monastery of St. Lazarus, near the village of Haboanas, in Tur `Abdin, we read in an old liturgical manuscript the following sentence at the beginning of the liturgy written by Philoxenus: "St. Philoxenus lived at the time of the great Severus and of Anastasius, the faithful king. He was asphyxiated by the Greeks with the smoke of a bath-house, in the town of Gangra, in the year 835 of the Greeks. His body was transferred to the monastery of Kartamin and his head to the town of Mediad." The year 835 of the Seleucides corresponds exactly, according to Eastern computation, to 524 a.d. On the other hand, if the date of his episcopal ordination be surely 485, as we are told by some reliable ancient historians, he would have governed the see of Mabbūg during 39 years. (Cf. the following footnote.)
21. 2 The ancient calendars of thy Monophysite church mention clearly three feasts for Philoxenus. The first is fixed at Dec. 10, the second at Feb. 18, and the third at Aug. 18. Some parishes in Tur `Abdin keep this third one even in our days. If these calendars may claim a good historical value, tho episcopal ordination of Philoxenus ought to be fixed at Aug. 18 of the year already mentioned.
22. 1 Barhebraeus tolls us in his Chron. Eccles. that this bishop, Philoxenus nephew, surnamed the "junior" Philoxenus, joined the Chalcedonian party, and for this reason he was elected to the bishopric of Cyprus.
23. 2 This village gave its name to the actual Ottoman district of Mediad. We are, in fact, shown westwards the debris of a church under the title of Mar Philoxenus.
24. 3 This illustrious monk has a monastery extant in our day.
25. 4 A well-known Monophysite monk who propagated his doctrine even in the central provinces of the Persian Empire.
26. 5 A place where ecclesiastical prelates were inhumed.
27. 6 There are short lines here describing the invasion of the country by the Mongol hordes. The interest of these lines, however great, is local, and would not advance theological studies.
28. 1 See A. Mingana's Narsai Homiliae et Carmina, 1905, vol. i. pp. 5, 6.
29. 2 Cf. Assemani, B.O.I, p. 351 sqq,, and F. Nau, Notice inédite sur Phioxène de Mabbug in "Revue de l'orient Chrétien," 1903, p. 630 sqq.
30. 1 I translate it from a copy made for the Rev. A. N. Andrus, veteran American missionary at Mardin.
31. 1 See W. Wright's and S. A. Cook's A Catalogue of the Syriac Manuscripts preserved in the library of the Univer. of Cambridge, 1901, vol. i., pp. 7-8. cod. 1700.
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Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
SOURCE SECTION: evagrius_0_intro.htm
Evagrius Scholasticus, Ecclesiastical History (AD431-594), translated by E. Walford (1846). Introduction
Evagrius Scholasticus, Ecclesiastical History (AD431-594), translated by E. Walford (1846). Introduction
THE
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY
OF
EVAGRIUS.
IN SIX BOOKS.
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY.
-----------
A
HISTORY OF THE CHURCH
IN SIX BOOKS, FROM A. D. 431 TO A.D. 594.
BY
EVAGRIUS.
A NEW TRANSLATION FROM THE GREEK:
WITH AN
ACCOUNT OF THE AUTHOR AND HIS WRITINGS.
LONDON:
SAMUEL BAGSTER AND SONS;
WAREHOUSE FOR BIBLES, NEW TESTAMENTS, PRAYER-BOOKS, LEXICONS,
GRAMMARS, CONCORDANCES, AND PSALTERS, IN ANCIENT
AND MODERN LANGUAGES;
PATERNOSTER ROW.
M.DCCC.XL.VI.
ACCOUNT OF THE AUTHOR AND HIS WRITINGS.
THE very few particulars which are known respecting the author of the following History, are gathered from the history itself.
Evagrius was a native of Epiphania on the Orontes, and his birth may be fixed about A.D. 536. He was by profession a Scholasticus, or advocate, and by this title he is commonly distinguished from other persons of the same name. The earliest circumstance which the historian mentions respecting himself, is his visit when a child, in company with his parents, to Apamea, to witness the solemn display of the wood of the cross, amidst the consternation caused by the sack of Antioch by Chosroes (Book IV. chap. xxvi).-. The history, in many places, shows a minute familiarity with the localities of Antioch: and the prominent interest which the writer variously manifests in that city and its fortunes, can only be accounted for by supposing that it was his ordinary residence, and the principal scene of his professional practice. In his description of the great pestilence which continued its |viii ravages throughout the empire for more than fifty years, he mentions that he himself was attacked by the disease in his childhood, and that subsequently he lost by it his first wife, besides several relatives and members of his household, and among them in particular a daughter with her child (Book IV. chap. xxix).
Evagrius accompanied Gregory, patriarch of Antioch, as his professional adviser, when he appeared before a synod at Constantinople to clear himself from a charge of incest (Book VI. chap. vii). On his return to Antioch after the acquittal of the patriarch, he married a young wife: and a proof of the important position which he occupied, is incidentally afforded by the circumstance that his nuptials were made an occasion for a public festival (Book VI. chap. viii). Some of his memorials, drawn up in the service of the patriarch, obtained for him from the emperor Tiberius the honorary rank of Exquaestor; and a composition on occasion of the birth of an heir to the emperor Maurice was rewarded with the higher dignity of Expraefect (Book VI. chap. xxiv). With the mention of these last circumstances the history closes.
The only extant work of Evagrius is the "Ecclesiastical History," commencing with the rise of the Nestorian controversy, and ending with the twelfth year of the reign of Maurice. He professes, at the outset, an intention of including in his narrative matters other than ecclesiastical; and this he has done so far as to give a secular |ix appearance to some parts of it. As might be expected from an author of that period, his style is frequently affected and redundant. The modern reader will, however, be principally struck by the credulity manifested in his cordial detail of prodigies and miracles. But on this point it must be remembered, that the bent of the age was strongly in favour of the marvellous: and this frame of the public mind was a soil which would both spontaneously produce an abundant crop of wonders, in a fond distortion and exaggeration of ordinary occurrences, and also would not fail to be cultivated by the hand of imposture. This feature of the historian's character ought therefore in no way to affect his reputation for honesty, or his claim to general credence. It is only a proof that he was not one of the few whose intellectual course is independent of the habits of their age. There is no reason for confounding him with those in whom a heated mind has at length admitted the idea, that the maintenance of what is believed to be a good cause may be rightfully aided by attestations knowingly bestowed upon falsehoods. Upon the whole, the preservation of his work must be a matter of satisfaction to the studious in history, whether ecclesiastical or civil. It was used by Nicephorus Callisti in the composition of his own History, and has received a favourable notice in the Myriobiblion of the patriarch Photius.
Evagrius also published a collection of his memorials and miscellaneous compositions, which may now be regarded as |x lost (Book VI. chap. xxiv). He also intimates an intention (Book V. chap. xx.) of composing a distinct work, embracing an account of the operations of Maurice against the Persians: but there is no reason for supposing that this design was ever executed.
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Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
SOURCE SECTION: evagrius_0_intro .htm
Evagrius Scholasticus, Ecclesiastical History (AD431-594), translated by E. Walford (1846). Preface to the online edition
Evagrius Scholasticus, Ecclesiastical History (AD431-594), translated by E. Walford (1846). Preface to the online edition
Preface to the online edition
Evagrius Scholasticus (so-called to distinguish him from people like Evagrius Ponticus, the desert father) was born around 536 and died around 600 AD. He was a lawyer in Constantinople, later imperial quaestor and honorary prefect. He was strictly orthodox. His church history in six books covers the period between 431 and 594, and so is important for the history of the Nestorian and Monophysite controversies. He is truthful and impartial in his reports. However he shares the credulity of his time where miracles are concerned -- doubtless anything else might even have been dangerous.
The physical book from which I have scanned this text has few footnotes, and does not contain the translators name. From the online catalogue of the Bodleian library, I discover that the translator was Edward WALFORD (1823-1897), who also translated the epitome of Philostorgius found elsewhere in this collection. The book is one volume in a six-volume set of ecclesiastical historians. I have included the advertisment for this found at the back of the book.
The translation seems to have been reprinted in 1854 as part of Bohn's library, but was not translated again until the recent version by Michael Whitby. However I haven't seen either of these.
There are more details of the manuscripts and editions in the text of Bidez and Parmentier. Their introduction is as follows:
Manuscripts
A Laurentianus LXX 23; 18 1/2 centim. x 15; 165 leaves; parchment manuscript, palimpsest, bound. F. 1—156v The Ecclesiastical History of Evagrius; 156v— l65v Lo&goj ei0j a9giouj tih& pate/raj kai\ ei0j Kwnstanti~non to_n eu0sebe/staton h9mw~n despo&thn lexqei\j para_ Gewrgi/on presbute/rou Kaisarei/aj Kappadoki/aj (printed in COMBEFIS, novum auctarium, II p. 547—568; cf. Migne, PG III 420 sq.).
The rather careless handwriting dates from the end of the 12th century; a few iotas adscript; mistakes in orthography are fairly numerous; there are some omissions (9, 32. 67, 20. 80, 8. 86, 6 etc.). Before being bound the volume had lost quaternions in five places; a late 14th (?) century hand (A1) has supplied the missing passages on paper leaves: 38, 1—48, 22 (f. 25— 29; a leaf is missing between 25 and 26=39, 11-40, 32); 130, 5—140, 17 (f. 86—91); 167, 15—176, 15 (f. 108—113); 186, 27—199, 16 (f. 122—127); 219, 26-231, 5 (f. 144—149).
On the margins of A and of A1 are scholia, which appear to be by the same hand as the text.
L Laurentianus LXIX 5; 28 centim. x 21 1/2; 290 leaves; fine manuscript on parchment. On the fly-leaf, recto, is the following indication in a different handwriting from the manuscript: Bibli/on th~j sebasmi/aj basilikh~j monh~j tou~ a)rxistrath&gou tw~n a!nw duna&mewn Mixah&l (probably the monastery of Monte Gargano); on the verso we read in the same hand as the text, under the title ττίναξ ακριβης της γραφής του βιβλίου, the titles and the number of the books of the two histories contained in the volume: f. 1—192 the Ecclesiastical History of Socrates; f. 193—290 the Ecclesiastical History of Evagrius. The regular and careful handwriting belongs to the 11th century; there are very few abbreviations; a few iotas adscript; orthographical mistakes are very rare. The same scribe, apparently, but with different ink, has revised the text and carefully corrected the mistakes, especially those of breathing, accent, and iotacism. There are scholia on the margins, in two different handwritings: L probably by the same hand as the text, and Ls by a later hand.
P Patmiacus 688 (Sakellion), 31 centim. x 22; 217 leaves. The manuscript is on paper and is unbound, most of the leaves are entirely detached; the first and last are missing. F. 1—131 Ecclesiastical History of Socrates; 132—217 Ecclesiastical History of Evagrius. Careful 13th century hand. Five leaves at least have disappeared: two after f. 134 (12, 15—17, 14); one after f. 192 (168, 6—170, 21); the end is missing from 230, 14. Ρ contains no scholia.
B Baroccianus 142; 25 centim. x 16 1/2; 292 leaves. Paper manuscript: f. 1—153 Ecclesiastical History of Sozomen; f. 154—202 Ecclesiastical History of Evagrius. See the description that M. de Boor has given of this manuscript in the Zeitschrift für Kirchengeschichte vol. VI, p. 478 sq., and our article in the Revue de l'Instruction Publique en Belgique vol. XL p. 161 sq. The small and rather careless handwriting seems to date from the beginning of the 14th century. The numerous abbreviations are often indistinct. There are a good many iotas subscript. The very frequent errors are chiefly due to misinterpreted symbols, for example kai\, for w(j, peri\ for para_, -tai for -tej or vice versa. In the margin there are scholia by the same hand as the text.
Five other manuscripts are derived from this Baroccianus (cf. Revue de l'Instruction publique en Belgique, vol. XL p. 170—171):
V Marcianus 337, 15th century.
T Parisinus 1446 (Tellerianus), 16th century.
E a manuscript in the Egerton collection in London, 2,626, copied in 1524.
R Parisinus 1444 (Regius), 16th century.
S Scorialensis y—I—3, 16th century.
We have collated all these except S.
For the constitution of the text we have therefore only to consider ALPB. These four MSS., which we shall divide into two families, A and LPB, are derived from an archetype x in which were a certain number of mistakes and lacunae common to ALPB: for example 11, 8. 87, 26. 104, 31. 140, 31. 181, 5 etc.
The archetype x already contained the marginal notes that are found in AL or in ALB, and also doubtless those that are found in A only, and which are decidedly of the same character. It seems probable too that some of the marginal corrections of A were already noted in x, and were introduced later in the text of LPB by the corrector of z (see below, and 204, 10; scholia 108, 8).
The existence of a special archetype for the group LPB is proved by many mistakes and omissions in common, for example: 30, 1. 51,9. 52, 10. 55, 13. 65, 22. 73, 22. 77, 1-6. 90, 28. 102, 28. 108, 5. 114, 28. 120, 31. 127, 9-13. 141, 33. 161, 14. 177,1.
Among the readings of LPB there are a good many which come from a process of revision which M. de Boor has acutely recognised (Zeitschrift für Kirchengeschichte, V p. 315 sq.): 23, 14. 26, 33. 58, 4. 72, 12. 87, 26 u(pegra&yamen because of the mistake oi9 pa&ntej x, etc.
A is therefore the most important MS. because it has escaped the corrections of the archetype LPB (= z). We have reproduced the version of A in the text, and we have adopted that of z only in cases where we find in A one of its usual mistakes: defective orthography, careless blunders (11, 21. 12, 21 etc.), omissions (such as 7, 20, 31. 26, 1. 27, 19. 89, 3), especially of the particles. We have also preferred the text of z in those passages (58, 31. 129, 29 etc.) where documentary evidence is against that of A.
In group z, B differs often from LP, independently of cases in which it has special mistakes. For example in 17, 21. 37, 22. 61, 9 it agrees with A, against LP, which have undergone a special, and in some cases successful revision. Sometimes indeed B alone gives the right reading: 44, 23 (A is missing). 106, 9.
P errs chiefly through omissions. It resembles L closely (38, 20, 23. 42, 14. 65, 15. 111, 28. 114, 4. 115, 30. 124, 27. 138, 15. 163, 1. 173, 4. 182, 26. 206, 5. 225, 1). Moreover the contents of the two MSS. are the same. P does not however seem to be a copy of L: 25, 32. 46, 13, 20. 54, 21. 92, 3 etc., etc. Many of the readings peculiar to L are those of an intelligent reviser: 60, 14. 78, 12. 109, 10. 184, 21. 212, 32. L is by far the least faulty of the representatives of class z, and where A fails it is L that has helped. The text of A1stands to B in very much the same relation as the text of P to L: 48, 21. 167, 17, 21. 193,1. 195,11,23. 196, 18, 30 etc. etc. Cf. also scholia 136, 32. 195, 9.
To recapitulate, A represents the oldest state of the text; its tradition dates from the period when Evagrius was still preserved separately. MSS. of this first edition were not multiplied between the years 650 and 850 A.D. and they became scarce at an early date, for Evagrius is hardly ever quoted (cf. testimonia). At the period of the revival of learning a copy was used by the members of the literary circle of Photius. It was doubtless at the same period, and perhaps even from the hands of the same scholars, that a copy (x) received the oldest of our scholia (cf. testimonial schol. 123, 5 and Photii Bibliotheca, cod. 78, 54b, 21; schol. 119, 25 sq. and ibid., cod. 42, 9a, 21 sq.). From this copy, A, which is not altered by learned corrections, is derived. Drawing from the same source x an unknown philologist unites Socrates and Evagrius in one revised edition (z), which perhaps formed part of a corpus of ecclesiastical historians. It is from copies of this edition z that BA1 are derived on the one hand, and on the other the archetype of LP. The beautiful volume of the Laurentian (L) was written for the convent of St Michael, by a monk who carefully revised it and added new scholia (Ls).
As we have already shown (De la place de Nicéphore Kallistos Xanthopoulos dans la tradition manuscrite d'Evagrius, Revue de l'Instruction Publique en Belgique, XL p. 161 sq.), those parts of Evagrius that are preserved in Nicephorus come from B, and the variants of Nicephorus have no value save as frequently happy conjectures.
Laurentianus LXX 8 gives three extracts from Evagrius: V 24, IV 36, and 31. It adds nothing of importance. The same must be said of several catenae that we have examined.
Editions
Editio princeps: Ecclesiasticae historiae Eusebii Pamphili, Socratis, Theodoriti, Sozomeni et Evagrii. Lutetiae, Robertus Stephanus 1544, after Regius R, the worst of the derivatives of B.
Musculus published a Latin translation of the volume of Estienne at Basle, in 1562. John Christophorson, bishop of Chichester, wrote another, which was published after his death by Edward Godsalvus in 1570 at Louvain in 8° and the same year at Cologne in folio. In 1571 Christophorson's translation was also published at Paris (in folio) with scholia by J. Curterius.
Certain copies of Estienne were enriched by scholars of the time with notes, corrections, conjectures, and different readings derived from other MSS. than the Regius, and these were utilised by later editors. For Evagrius these were by Christophorson, who made extremely interesting conjectures upon the text, by John Scaliger, who made use of the notes of Bon. Vulcanius (now at Leyden 754 A 19), Savilius, Castellanus (Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, H inv. 70?) and Méric Casaubon. We only know at second hand of the edition of Paris 1571, and the codex Scaligeri at Leyden.
In 1581, Peter Suffridus of Leeuwarden re-edited at Cologne Christophorson's Latin translation, and gave as an appendix to Evagrius the variants of Christophorson and Curterius. In the new Geneva edition of 1612, a reprint of the Greek texts of Estienne was added to the edition of Suffridus, and in the case of Evagrius the variants of J. Scaliger.
A new period of the history of the text begins with Valois Henry of Valois and the discovery of Laurentianus L. He published the Greek ecclesiastical historians at Paris in 1673 with a Latin translation of which a large part was original. Besides Estienne he made use of Mus-culus, the Geneva edition, the notes of Savilius and Vulcanius, Nicephorus and his translator Langus, and above all Tellerianus T, as well as an incomplete collation of L, made for him by the Florentine Erminius. He often introduced readings of L into the text without stating that he had done so. His edition, furnished with very learned notes, marked a great improvement in the text.
Amongst other reprints of Valois may be cited those of Amsterdam, 1695, and Turin, 1720. That of Reading, Cambridge, 1713, is the most important. Beneath the commentary of Valois he has added several notes, and some conjectures of the English philologist Lowth, and at the end of the volume, a leaf of variants taken from two annotated copies of Estienne: one by Méric Casaubon, the other by Bishop Duchatel. The edition of Reading became the vulgate: the Greek text of this edition was published at Oxford in 1844, with unqualified carelessness and ignorance. Vol. 862 of Migne's Patrologia Graeca (1865) simply reproduces Reading.
Besides these editions, the only works we need mention are two important articles (see above, p. vi and p. vii) by M. de Boor who discovered Laurentianus A and the account of the Oxford edition by Nolte (Theologische Quartalschrift, t. 43, 1861, ρ. 674 sq.), which is worthless. We owe much to the labours of M. de Boor, who has published model editions of Byzantine authors, which even editors of classical texts would do well to imitate.
We have retained the division in chapters of the vulgate, although it is defective (cf. I 6, etc.) and does not always faithfully represent that of z (cf. p. 51, 1. 156, 28 etc.); the marginal numbers of A are given in the critical apparatus. We have reproduced the πίνακβς of the two classes of MSS. (for questions concerning these tables, see Revue de l'Instr. Publ. XL p. 167 sqq.). As for Evagrius himself, he has divided his history into six books, which he calls lo&goi, diale/ceij, i9stori/ai, po&noi, bibli/a.
Our critical apparatus contains all the variants of ALPBA1, except iotacisms, ai for e, γ for gn, λλ for λ, vv for v, rr for r, long vowels for short, or vice versa, mistakes of breathing or accent. We note however cases of doubtful orthography, morphological differences worthy of mention, and without distinction all variants of proper names. After a last revision of A, we have noted in the index nominum some details of accentuation which were omitted or inexact in the critical apparatus. For the choice between ei0j or e0j, for the j and ν of euphony we have followed A and in its default L.
[...]
Stemma
Testimonia
Ex Actione quinta vu synodi oecumenicae, a. 787 (Mansi XIII 189) [...]
Ex Bibliotheca Photii, cod. 29 [...]
Ε Vita S. Symeonis iunioris a Nicephoro magistro Antiochiae, ο Ουρανός dicto, conscripta, a. 976—1025 (c. 237, Migne PG 862 3204) [...]
Ex Historia ecclesiastica Nicephori Callisti, lib. I, c. 1 (p. 35). (Nomen Evagrii laudatur prae-terea XVI 31 et xvil 19.) [...]
De se ipse Evagrius: 16, 23. 21, 20. 23, 12, 31— 25, 2. 124, 31. 130, 26. 133, 17. 171, 21. 173, 12. 178, 2. 204, 6. 214, 14. 215, 30. 216, 28. 219, 19, 25. 223, 13. 220, 24. 227, 4. 238, 30. 239, 22. 240, 22. [...]
Tables
Emperors Bishops of Rome Bishops of Constantinople Bishops of Alexandria Bishops of Antioch Bishops of Jerusalem
431 Theododius II Coelestinus I Nestorius Cyril John Juvenalius
431 Maximianus
432 Sixtus III
434 Proclus
440 Leo I
Domnus II
Dioscorus I
447 Flavianus
449 Anatolius
Maximus
450 Marcianus
Proterius
Basilius
457 Leo I
Timotheus II Aelurus
458 Gennadius I
Acacius Anastasius
Timotheus III Salophacialus Martyrius
461 Hilarius
468 Simplicius
Petrus Cnapheus
471 Acacius
Julianus
474 Zeno
Timotheus II Aelurus (again)
Petrus Mongus Petrus Cnapheus (again)
Timotheus III Salophacialus (again) Stephanus II Martyrius
Johannes Tabennesiota Stephanus III
Petrus Mongus (again) Calandio
438 Felix III
Petrus Cnapheus (for the third time) Salustius
489 Phravitas
490 Euphemius
Palladius
491 Anastasius I
Athanasius
492 Gelasius
496 Anastasius II 496 Macedonius II
Elias
Johannes o9 mona&zwn
498 Symmachus
Flavianus II
Johannes o9 Nikaiw&thj
511 Timotheus I
514 Hormisdas
Severus Johannes III
Dioscorus II
518 Justinus I
518 Johannes II
Timotheus IV Paulus II
520 Epiphanius
Euphrasius
523 Johannes I
Petrus
526 Felix IV
527 Justinianus I
Ephrem
530 Bonifacius II
532 Johannes II
535 Agapetus I
536 Silverius 536 Anthimus I Gaïnas — Theodosius
537 Virgilius 536 Menas
Paulus
Zoïlus
Domnus III Macarius II
Eustochius
Apollinarius
552 Eutychius
555 Pelagius
Anastasius I
560 Johannes III
Macarius II (again)
565 Justinus II
565 Johannes III
Johannes IV Gregorius
574 Benedictus I
577 Eutychius (again)
578 Tiberius II 578 Pelagius II
Eulogius
582 Mauricius
582 Johannes IV
Nesteutes
Johannes IV
590 Gregorius I
Anastasius I (again)
593
[End of Bidez and Parmentier]
Bibliography
Text:
-- Patrologia Graeca 86, 2, 2415/2886.
-- The ecclesiastical history of Evagrius: with the scholia / edited with introduction, critical notes, and indices by J. BIDEZ and L. PARMENTIER. Series: Byzantine texts Publisher: London: Methuen, 1898 Physical Desc.: xiv, 285 p: diagrs., fold. tab; 23 cm Notes: Greek text, Latin notes, introduction in English. Includes bibliographical references and indexes. Reprint: Facsimile of work published: London, Methuen, 1898 Edition: st AMS ed. Publisher: New York: AMS Press, 1979 Physical Desc.: xiv, 285 p; 23 cm. ISBN/ISSN: 0404600042 Notes: Reprint of the 1898 ed. published by Methuen, London, which was issued in series: Byzantine texts.
Translations:
-- Ecclesiastical history. A history of the Church... from A. D. 431 to A. D. 594, tr. with an account of the author and his writings [by E. Walford]. Publisher: London 1846. Description: cm.22. Series: Gr. eccles. historians of the first six centuries vol. 6. Tr.: WALFORD, Edward 1823-1897 (This volume)
-- A history of the church, from A.D. 322 to the death of Theodore of Mopsuestia, A.D. 427 / by Theodoret, Bishop of Cyrus and from A.D. 431 to A.D. 594 by Evagrius. Publisher: London: Bohn, 1854. Description: xiv, 480. 26 p.; 19 cm. Tr.: WALFORD, Edward, 1823-1897.
-- The Ecclesiastical History of Evagrius Scholasticus. Translator: Michael WHITBY. 352 pages / 5 7/8 x 8 1/4 / 3 maps, 2 plans. Paper 2001 / ISBN 0-85323-605-4 / $19.95s / £14.00. Translated Texts for Historians. Blurb: "In six books The Ecclesiastical History of Evagrius traces the history of the church from the start of the Nestorian controversy in 428 until the death of Evagrius's employer, Patriarch Gregory of Antioch, in 592. It is our best continuous account of these ecclesiastical events and provides an important narrative of disputes within the church in the fifth century, including substantial quotations from relevant contemporary documents, some of them unique. Evagrius's choice and presentation of material illustrate the close interaction of secular and ecclesiastical concerns in the later Roman world, demonstrating that it is impossible to study either in isolation. Michael Whitby, Professor of Classics and Ancient History at the University of Warwick, is coeditor of The Cambridge History of Ancient Warfare."
Studies:
-- Catholic Encyclopedia Article. A useful summary.
-- Pauline ALLEN, Evagrius Scholasticus the Church Historian, Leuven, 1981; xxii + 290.
ROGER PEARSE
19th October 2002
This text was transcribed by Roger Pearse, 19th October 2002. All material on this page is in the public domain - copy freely.
Greek text is rendered using the Scholars Press SPIonic font, free from here.
Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
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Evagrius Scholasticus, Ecclesiastical History (AD431-594), translated by E. Walford (1846). The Table of Contents
Evagrius Scholasticus, Ecclesiastical History (AD431-594), translated by E. Walford (1846). The Table of Contents
The Table of Contents
THE HISTORY.--BOOK I. Pages 1-42.
PAGE
PREFACE. --Design of the work 1
CHAPTER I.
Artifice by which the devil attempts to subvert the purity of the faith 2
Chap. II.
Heresy of Nestorius discovered and condemned 4
Chap. III. Letter from Cyril to Nestorius.--Council of Ephesus 6
Chap. IV. Deposition of Nestorius 7
Chap. V. Deposition of Cyril and of John.--Their reconciliation 9
Chap. VI. Cyril's eulogy of a letter from John of Antioch 10
Chap. VII. Death of Nestorius 11
Chap. VIII.
Succession of bishops at Constantinople 18
Chap. IX. Heresy of Eutyches 18
Chap. X.
Proceedings of the second council of Ephesus 19
Chap. XI. An apology for differences of opinion among Christians 20
Chap. XII. Condemnation of the Nestorian doctrine by Theodosius 23
Chap. XIII. Simeon the Stylite 24
Chap. XIV.
Description of the appearance of a star near the column of Simeon 28
Chap. XV.
Isidore of Pelusium and Synesius of Cyrene 30
Chap. XVI. Translation of the remains of Ignatius 31
Chap. XVII.
Attila king of the Huns.--Earthquakes 33
Chap. XVIII. Antioch embellished by different governors 34
Chap. XIX. Wars during the reign of Theodosius 35
Chap. XX.
The empress Eudocia 36
Chap. XXI.
Visits of Eudocia to Jerusalem.--Ascetics 37
Chap. XXII. Buildings erected by Eudocia.--Accession of Marcian 42
---------
THE HISTORY.--BOOK II. Pages 43-118.
CHAPTER I. Fortunes and character of Marcian 43
Chap. II. Council of Chalcedon summoned by Marcian 46
Chap. III.
Description of the Church of St. Euphemia 48
Chap. IV. Council of Chalcedon 51
Chap. V.
Tumult at Alexandria--and at Jerusalem 63
Chap. VI. Drought, famine, and pestilence in Asia Minor 67
Chap. VII. Death of the emperor Valentinian.--Rome taken.--Successors of Valentinian 67
Chap. VIII.
Death of the emperor Marcian.--Murder of Proterius, Bishop of Alexandria.
--Election of Timothy, surnamed Aelurus (the Cat) 69
Chap. IX.
Letter from the emperor Leo 75
Chap. X.
Replies of the bishops.--And of Simeon 77
Chap. XI. Punishment of Timothy 79
Chap. XII.
Earthquake at Antioch 80
Chap. XIII.
Conflagration at Constantinople 81
Chap. XIV.
Other public calamities 83
Chap. XV.
Marriage of Zeno and Ariadne 84
Chap. XVI.
Reign of Anthemius--of Olybrius--and other Western princes 84
Chap. XVII.
Death of the emperor Leo 85
Chap. XVIII.
Epitome of the acts of the council of Chalcedon 86
-------
THE HISTORY.--BOOK III. Pages 119-188.
CHAPTER I.
Character of the emperor Zeno 119
Chap. II.
Incursions of the barbarians 120
Chap. III.
Insurrection of Basiliscus.--Flight of Zeno 121
Chap. IV.
Circular of Basiliscus 121
Chap. V.
Reception of the circular 126
Chap. VI.
Proceedings of Timothy Aelurus 128
Chap. VII.
Counter circular of Basiliscus 129
Chap. VIII.
Restoration of Zeno 131
Chap. IX.
Epistle of the Asiatic bishops to Acacius 132
Chap. X.
Succession of bishops at Antioch 133
Chap. XI.
Succession of bishops at Alexandria 134
Chap. XII.
Ecclesiastical measures of Zeno 134
Chap. XIII.
Publication of the Henoticon of Zeno 135
Chap. XIV.
The Henoticon (Instrument of Union) 136
Chap. XV.
Correspondence between Simplicius and Zeno 140
Chap. XVI. Deposition of Calandion, and restoration of Peter the Fuller 140
Chap. XVII.
Letter from Peter to Acacius 141
Chap. XVIII.
Felix issues a sentence of deposition against Acacius 144
Chap. XIX.
Interference of Cyril the Monk 145
Chap. XX. Correspondence between Felix and Zeno 145
Chap. XXI. Accusation of the legates by Simeon the monk, and their consequent deprivation 147
Chap. XXII.
Commotion at Alexandria on account of the council of Chalcedon 149
Chap. XXIII. Succession of bishops at Constantinople, Alexandria, and Antioch 150
Chap. XXIV.
Death of Armatus 151
Chap. XXV.
Insurrection and death of Theodoric 152
Chap. XXVI.
Insurrection of Marcian 153
Chap. XXVII.
Insurrection of Illus and Leontius 154
Chap. XXVIII.
Account of Mammianus and his structures 155
Chap. XXIX. Death of Zeno.--Succession of Anastasius 156
Chap. XXX. Divisions in the church 157
Chap. XXXI.
Letter to Alcison from the monks of Palestine 159
Chap. XXXII. Ejection of Macedonius and Flavian from their sees 163
Chap. XXXIII. Severus, bishop of Antioch 165
Chap. XXXIV.
Act of deposition against Severus 168
Chap. XXXV.
Suppression of the Isaurian insurrection 170
Chap. XXXVI.
Invasion of the Arabs 171
Chap. XXXVII.
Capture of Amida.-- Founding of Daras 171
Chap. XXXVIII.
The Long Wall 172
Chap. XXXIX.
Abolition of the Chrysargyrum 173
Chap. XL.
Falsehoods of the historian Zosimus 176
Chap. XLI.
Refutation of Zosimus 177
Chap. XLII.
The Gold-Rate 184
Chap. XLIII.
Insurrection of Vitalian 185
Chap. XLIV.
Sedition at Constantinople 186
-------
THE HISTORY.--BOOK IV. Pages 189-244.
CHAPTER I.
Accession of Justin 189
Chap. II.
Designs and death of Amantius and Theocritus 189
Chap. III. Assassination of Vitalian 190
Chap. IV.
Deposition of Severus, bishop of Antioch.--Succession of Paul and Euphrasius 191
Chap. V.
Fires and earthquakes at Antioch.--Death of Euphrasius 192
Chap. VI. Elevation of Ephraemius, count of the East, to the patriarchate of Antioch 193
Chap. VII.
Miracles of Zosimus and John 194
Chap. VIII.
General calamities 197
Chap. IX.
Appointment of Justinian to a share in the empire 198
Chap. X.
The council of Chalcedon upheld by Justinian 199
Chap. XI.
Deposition of Anthimus and Theodosius from their sees 200
Chap. XII.
Cabades and Chosroes, kings of Persia 201
Chap. XIII.
Incursion of the Arabs.--Sedition at Constantinople 202
Chap. XIV.
Persecution by Huneric 203
Chap. XV.
Cabaones the Moor 204
Chap. XVI.
Expedition of Belisarius against the Vandals 206
Chap. XVII.
Triumph of Belisarius 208
Chap. XVIII.
Origin of the Moors.--Munificence of Justinian in Africa 209
Chap. XIX.
Events following the death of Theodoric 210
Chap. XX. Conversion of the Heruli 212
Chap. XXI.
Loss and recovery of Rome 212
Chap. XXII.
Conversion of the Abasgi 213
Chap. XXIII.
Conversion of the people on the Tanais.--Earthquakes 213
Chap. XXIV.
Achievements and piety of Narses 214
Chap. XXV.
Invasion of the Persians. -- Capture of Antioch 215
Chap. XXVI.
Display of the wood of the cross at Apamea 217
Chap. XXVII.
Siege of Edessa by Chosroes 218
Chap. XXVIII.
Miracle at Sergiopolis 221
Chap. XXIX.
Pestilence 223
Chap. XXX.
Avarice of Justinian 226
Chap. XXXI.
Description of the church of St. Sophia at Constantinople 227
Chap. XXXII.
Partiality of Justinian for the Blue faction 229
Chap. XXXIII.
Barsanuphius the ascetic 230
Chap. XXXIV.
Simeon the monk 231
Chap. XXXV.
Thomas the monk 233
Chap. XXXVI.
Account of a miracle in the patriarchate of Menas 235
Chap. XXXVII.
Succession of bishops 236
Chap. XXXVIII.
The fifth general council 237
Chap. XXXIX.
Departure of Justinian from orthodoxy 241
Chap. XL.
Anastasius, patriarch of Antioch 242
Chap. XLI.
Death of Justinian 244
----------
THE HISTORY.--BOOK V. Pages 245-283.
CHAPTER I.
Accession of Justin the Second 245
Chap. II.
Murder of Justin, kinsman of the emperor 247
Chap. III.
Execution of Aetherius and Addaeus 248
Chap. IV.
Edict of Justin concerning the faith 249
Chap. V.
Deposition of Anastasius, patriarch of Antioch 254
Chap. VI.
Gregory, the successor of Anastasius 254
Chap. VII.
Submission of the inhabitants of Persarmenia 256
Chap. VIII.
Siege of Nisibis by Marcian 258
Chap. IX.
Invasion of the Persians 258
Chap. X.
Capture of Apamea and Daras 262
Chap. XI.
Insanity of Justin 263
Chap. XII.
Embassy of Trajan to Chosroes 264
Chap. XIII.
Proclamation of Tiberius.--His character 265
Chap. XIV.
Successes of the Roman commander Justinian against the Persians 267
Chap. XV.
Death of Chosroes.--Succession of Hormisdas 270
Chap. XVI.
Succession of bishops 271
Chap. XVII.
Earthquake at Antioch 271
Chap. XVIII.
Commotion on account of Anatolius 272
Chap. XIX.
Character and achievements of Maurice 275
Chap. XX.
Overthrow of the Persians 277
Chap. XXI.
Prodigies foreshewing the elevation of Maurice to the empire 278
Chap. XXII.
Accession of Maurice 279
Chap. XXIII.
Chronological statement 280
Chap. XXIV.
Succession of writers on sacred and profane history 281
---------------
THE HISTORY.--BOOK VI. Pages 284-314.
CHAPTER I.
Nuptials of Maurice and Augusta 284
Chap. II.
Alamundarus the Arab, and his son Naamanes 286
Chap. III.
Military operations of John and Philippicus 287
Chap. IV.
Mutiny of the troops against Priscus 288
Chap. V.
Compulsory elevation of Germanus 289
Chap. VI.
Mission of Philippicus 290
Chap. VII.
Accusations against Gregory, patriarch of Antioch 290
Chap. VIII.
Recurrence of earthquakes at Antioch 292
Chap. IX.
Inroad and destruction of the barbarians 294
Chap. X.
Clemency of the emperor towards the rebels.--Invasion of the Avars 295
Chap. XI.
Mission of the patriarch Gregory to the troops 295
Chap. XII.
Oration of Gregory to the troops 296
Chap. XIII.
Submission of the troops 299
Chap. XIV.
Loss of Martyropolis 300
Chap. XV.
Capture of Ocbas 302
Chap. XVI.
Murder of Hormisdas 303
Chap. XVII.
Flight of Chosroes the younger 304
Chap. XVIII.
Mission of Gregory and Domitian to meet Chosroes 305
Chap. XIX.
Restoration of Chosroes 305
Chap. XX.
Golanduch the martyr 306
Chap. XXI.
Offerings of Chosroes 306
Chap. XXII.
Naamanes the Arab 310
Chap. XXIII.
Simeon the Stylite the younger 311
Chap. XXIV.
Death of the patriarch Gregory 313
This text was transcribed by Roger Pearse, 19th October 2002. All material on this page is in the public domain - copy freely.
Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
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Evagrius Scholasticus, Ecclesiastical History (AD431-594), translated by E. Walford (1846). Book 1
Evagrius Scholasticus, Ecclesiastical History (AD431-594), translated by E. Walford (1846). Book 1.
THE
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY
OF
EVAGRIUS.
------------
THE FIRST BOOK.
PREFACE.
DESIGN OF THE WORK.
EUSEBIUS PAMPHILI—an especially able writer, to the extent, in particular, of inducing his readers to embrace our religion, though failing to perfect them in the faith—and Sozomen, Theodoret, and Socrates1 have produced a most excellent record of the advent of our compassionate God, and His ascension into heaven, and of all that has been achieved in the endurance of the divine Apostles, as well as of the other martyrs; and, further, of whatever events have occurred among us, whether more or less worthy of mention, down to a certain period of the reign of Theodosius. |2 But since events subsequent, and scarcely inferior to these, have not hitherto been made the subject of a continuous narrative, I have resolved, though but ill-qualified for such a task, to undertake the labour which the subject demands, and to embody them in a history; surely trusting in Him who enlightened fishermen, and endued a brute tongue with articulate utterance, for ability to raise up transactions already entombed in oblivion, to reanimate them by language, and immortalise them by memory: my object being, that my readers may learn the nature of each of these events, up to our time; the period, place, and manner of its occurrence, as well as those who were its objects and authors; and that no circumstance worthy of recollection, may be lost under the veil of listless indifference, or, its neighbour, forgetfulness. I shall then begin, led onwards by the divine impulse, from the point where the above-mentioned writers closed the history.
CHAPTER I.
ARTIFICE BY WHICH THE DEVIL ATTEMPTS TO SUBVERT THE PURITY OF THE FAITH.
SCARCE had the impiety of Julian been flooded over by the blood of the martyrs, and the frenzy of Arius been bound fast in the fetters forged at Nicaea, and, moreover, Eunomius and Macedonius, by the agency of |3 the Holy Spirit, had been swept as by a blast to the Bosphorus, and wrecked against the sacred city of Constantine; scarce had the holy church cast off her recent defilement, and was being restored to her ancient beauty, robed in a vesture inwrought with gold, and in varied array, and becoming meet for the bridegroom, when the demon enemy of good, unable to endure it, commences against us a new mode of warfare, disdaining idolatry, now laid in the dust, nor deigning to employ the servile madness of Arius. He fears to assault the faith in open war, embattled by so many holy fathers, and he had been already shorn of nearly all his power in battling against it: but he pursues his purpose with a robber's stealth, by raising certain questions and answers; his new device being to turn the course of error towards Judaism, little foreseeing the overthrow that hence would befall the miserable designer. For the faith which formerly was alone arrayed against him, this he now affects: and, no longer exulting in the thought of forcing us to abandon the whole, but of succeeding in corrupting a single term, while he wound himself with many a malignant wile, he devised the change of merely a letter, tending indeed to the same sense, but still with the intention of severing the thought and the tongue, that both might no longer with one accord offer the same confession and glorification to God. The manner and result of these transactions I will set forth, each |4 at its proper juncture; giving at the same time a place in my narrative to other matters that may occur to me, which, though not belonging to my immediate subject, are worthy of mention, laying up the record of them wherever it shall please our compassionate God.
CHAPTER II.
HERESY OF NESTORIUS DISCOVERED AND CONDEMNED.
SINCE, then, Nestorius, that God-assaulting tongue, that second conclave of Caiaphas, that workshop of blasphemy, in whose case Christ is again made a subject of bargain and sale, by having His natures divided and torn asunder—He of whom not a single bone was broken even on the cross, according to Scripture, and whose seamless vest suffered no rending at the hands of God-slaying men — since, then, he thrust aside and rejected the term, Mother of God, which had been already wrought by the Holy Spirit through the instrumentality of many chosen fathers, and substituted a spurious one of his own coining—Mother of Christ; and further filled the Church with innumerable wars, deluging it with kindred blood, I think that I shall not be at a loss for a well-judged arrangement of my history, nor miss its end, if, with the aid of Christ, who is God over all, I preface it with the impious blasphemy of Nestorius. The war of the churches took its rise from the following circumstances. A certain presbyter |5 named Anastasius, a man of corrupt opinions, and a warm admirer of Nestorius and his Jewish sentiments, who also accompanied him when setting out from his country to take possession of his bishoprick; at which time Nestorius, having met with Theodore at Mop-suestia, was perverted by his teaching from godly doctrine, as Theodulus writes in an epistle upon this subject—this Anastasius, in discoursing to the Christ-loving people in the church of Constantinople, dared to say, without any reserve, "Let no one style Mary the Mother of God; for Mary was human, and it is impossible for God to be born of a human being." When the Christ-loving people were disgusted, and with reason regarded his discourse as blasphemous, Nestorius, the real teacher of the blasphemy, so far from restraining him and upholding the true doctrine, on the contrary, imparted to the teaching of Anastasius the impulse it acquired, by urging on the question with more than ordinary pugnacity. And further, by mingling with it notions of his own, and thus vomiting forth the venom of his soul, he endeavoured to inculcate opinions still more blasphemous, proceeding so far as thus to avouch, upon his own peril, "I could never be induced to call that God which admitted of being two months old or three months old." These circumstances rest on the distinct authority of Socrates, and the former synod at Ephesus. |6
CHAPTER III.
LETTER FROM CYRIL TO NESTORIUS.—COUNCIL OF EPHESUS.
WHEN Cyril, the renowned bishop of the church of the Alexandrians, had communicated to Nestorius his reprobation of these transactions, and he, in rejoinder, paid no regard to what was addressed to him by Cyril, and by Celestine, bishop of the elder Rome, but was irreverently pouring forth his own vomit over the whole church, there was just occasion for the convening of the first synod of Ephesus, at the injunction of the younger Theodosius, sovereign of the Eastern empire, by the issuing of imperial letters to Cyril and the presidents of the holy churches in every quarter, naming, at the same time, as the day of meeting, the sacred Pentecost, on which the life-giving Spirit descended upon us. Nestorius, on account of the short distance of Ephesus from Constantinople, arrives early; and Cyril too, with his company, came before the appointed day; but John, the president of the church of Antioch, with his associate bishops, was behind the appointed time; not intentionally, as his defence has been thought by many to have sufficiently proved, but because he could not muster his associates with sufficient despatch, who were at a distance of what would be a twelve days' journey to an |7 expeditious traveller from the city formerly named from Antiochus, but now the City of God, and in some cases more; and Ephesus was then just thirty days' journey from Antioch. He stoutly defended himself on the ground that the observance of what is called the New Lord's Day by his bishops in their respective sees, was an insuperable impediment to his arriving before the stated day.
CHAPTER IV.
DEPOSITION OF NESTORIUS.2
WHEN fifteen days had elapsed from the prescribed period, the bishops who had assembled for this business, considering that the Orientals would not join them at all, or, at least, after a considerable delay, hold a conclave, under the presidency of the divine Cyril, occupying the post of Celestine, who, as has been before mentioned, was bishop of the elder Rome. They accordingly summon Nestorius, with an exhortation that he would defend himself against the allegations. When, however, notwithstanding a promise given on the preceding day, that he would present himself if there were occasion, he did not appear, though thrice summoned, the assembly proceeded to the investigation of the matter. Memnon, the president of the Ephesian church, recounted the days which had elapsed, fifteen in number: then were read |8 the letters addressed to Nestorius by the divine Cyril, and his rejoinders; there being also inserted the sacred epistle of the illustrious Celestine to Nestorius himself. Theodotus, bishop of Ancyra, and Acacius, of Melitene, also detailed the blasphemous language to which Nestorius had unreservedly given utterance at Ephesus. With these were combined many statements in which holy fathers had purely set forth the true faith, having side by side with them various blasphemies which the frenzy of the impious Nestorius had vented. When all this had been done, the holy synod declared its judgment precisely in the following terms: "Since, in addition to the other matters, the most reverend Nestorius has refused to submit to our summons, or yet to admit the most holy and godly bishops who were sent by us, we have of necessity proceeded to the investigation of his impieties: and having convicted him of entertaining and avowing impious sentiments, on the evidence both of his letters and writings which have been read, and also of words uttered by him lately in this metropolitan city, and established by sufficient testimony, at length, compelled by the canons, and in accordance with the epistle of our most holy father and fellow-minister, Celestine, bishop of the church of Rome, we have, with many tears, proceeded to this sad sentence. The Lord Jesus Christ, who has been blasphemed by him, has, through the agency of this holy synod, decreed, that the same |9 Nestorius is alien from the episcopal dignity, and from every sacerdotal assembly."
CHAPTER V.
DEPOSITION OF CYRIL AND OF JOHN.—THEIR RECONCILIATION.
AFTER the delivery of this most legitimate and just sentence, John, the bishop of Antioch, arrives with his associate priests, five days after the act of deposition; and having convened all his company, he deposes Cyril and Memnon. On account, however, of libels put forth by Cyril and Memnon to the synod which had been assembled in company with themselves (although Socrates, in ignorance, has given a different account), John is summoned to justify the deposition which he had pronounced; and, on his not appearing after a thrice repeated summons, Cyril and Memnon are released from their sentence, and John and his associate priests are cut off from the holy communion and all sacerdotal authority. When, however, Theodosius, notwithstanding his refusal at first to sanction the deposition of Nestorius, had subsequently, on being fully informed of his blasphemy, addressed pious letters both to Cyril and John, they are reconciled to each other, and ratify the act of deposition. |10
CHAPTER VI.
CYRIL'S EULOGY OF A LETTER FROM JOHN OF ANTIOCH.
ON occasion of the arrival of Paul, bishop of Emesa, at Alexandria, and his delivery before the church of that discourse which is extant on this subject, Cyril also, after highly commending the epistle of John, wrote to him in these words: "Let the heavens rejoice and the earth be glad, for the middle wall of partition is broken down, exasperation is stilled, and all occasion for dissension utterly removed through the bestowal of peace upon his churches by Christ, the Saviour of us all; at the call, too, of our most religious and divinely favoured sovereigns, who, in excellent imitation of ancestral piety, preserve in their own souls a well-founded and unshaken maintenance of the true faith, and a singular care for the holy churches, that they may acquire an everlasting renown, and render their reign most glorious. On them the Lord of Hosts himself bestows blessings with a bountiful hand, and grants them victory over their adversaries. Victory He does bestow: for never can he lie who says, As I live, saith the Lord, those that glorify me, I glorify. On the arrival, then, of my most pious brother and fellow minister, my lord Paul, at Alexandria, I was filled with delight, and with great reason, at the mediation of such a man, and his voluntary engagement in labours beyond his strength, in order that |11 he might subdue the malice of the devil, close our breaches, and, by the removal of the stumbling-blocks that lay between us, might crown both our churches and yours with unanimity and peace." And presently he proceeds thus: "That the dissension of the church has been altogether unnecessary and without sufficient ground, I am fully convinced, now that my lord the most pious bishop Paul has brought a paper presenting an unexceptionable confession of the faith, and has assured me that it was drawn up by your holiness and the most pious bishops of your country." And such is the writing thus drawn up, and inserted verbatim in the epistle; which, with reference to the Mother of God, speaks as follows: "When we read these your sacred words, and were conscious that our own sentiments were correspondent—for there is one Lord, one faith, one baptism—we glorified God, the Preserver of all things, with a feeling of mutual joy, that both your churches and ours maintain a faith in agreement with the divinely inspired Scriptures and the tradition of our holy fathers." Of these matters any one may be assured, who is disposed to investigate diligently the transactions of those times.
CHAPTER VII.
DEATH OF NESTORIUS.
HISTORIANS have not detailed either the banishment of Nestorius, his subsequent fortunes, or the manner |12 in which his life was closed, and the retribution with which he was visited for his blasphemy; matters which would have been allowed to slip into oblivion, and have been altogether swallowed up by time, so as not to be current even in hearsay, if I had not met with a book written by himself, which supplied an account of them. Nestorius, then, himself, the father of the blasphemy, who raised his structure not on the foundation already laid, but built upon the sand one which, in accordance with the Lord's parable, quickly fell to ruin, here, in addition to other matters of his choice, puts forth a defence of his own blasphemy, in reply to those who had charged him with unnecessary innovation and an unseemly demand for the convening of the synod at Ephesus. He asserts that he was driven to assume this position by absolute necessity, on account of the division of the church into two parties, one maintaining that Mary ought to be styled Mother of Man; the other, Mother of God; and he devised the title, Mother of Christ, in order, as he says, that error might not be incurred by adopting either extreme, either a term which too closely united immortal essence with humanity, or one which, while admitting one of the two natures, involved no mention of the other. He also intimates that Theodosius, from feelings of friendship, withheld his ratification of the sentence of deposition; and, afterwards, that, on occasion of the mission of several bishops of both parties |13 from Ephesus to the emperor, and, moreover, at his own request, he was allowed to retire to his own monastery, situated without the gates of the city now called Theopolis. It is not, indeed, expressly named by Nestorius, but is said to be that which is now styled the monastery of Euprepius; which we know to be, in fact, not more than two stadia from that city. Nestorius, then, himself says, that during a residence there of four years, he received every mark of respect and distinction; and that, by a second edict of Theodosius, he is banished to the place called Oasis. But the pith of the matter he has suppressed. For in his retirement he did not cease from his peculiar blasphemy; so that John, the president of the church of Antioch, was led to report the circumstance, and Nestorius was, in consequence, condemned to perpetual banishment. He has addressed also a formal discourse to a certain Egyptian, on the subject of his banishment to Oasis, where he treats of these circumstances more fully. But the retribution with which, unable to escape the all-seeing eye, he was visited for his blasphemous imaginations, may be gathered from other writings addressed by him to the governor of the Thebaid: in which one may see how that, since he had not yet reached the full measure of his deserts, the vengeance of God visited him, in pursuance, with the most terrible of all calamities, captivity. Being, then, still deserving of greater penalties, he was liberated |14 by the Blemmyes, into whose hands he had fallen; and, after Theodosius had decreed his return to his place of exile, wandering from place to place on the verge of the Thebaid, and severely injured by a fall, he closed his life in a manner worthy of his deeds: whose fate, like that of Arius, was a judicial declaration, what are the appointed wages of blasphemy against Christ: for both committed similar blasphemy against him; the one by calling him a creature; the other, regarding him as human. When Nestorius impugns the integrity of the acts of the council of Ephesus, and refers them to subtle designs and lawless innovation on the part of Cyril, I should be most ready thus to reply:—How came it to pass, that he was banished even by Theodosius, notwithstanding his friendly feelings towards him, and was condemned by repeated sentences of extermination, and closed this life under those unhappy circumstances? If Cyril and his associate priests were not guided by heaven in their judgment, how came it to pass that, when both parties were no longer numbered with the living, in which case a heathen sage3 has observed, "A frank and kindly meed is yielded to departed worth," the one is reprobated as a blasphemer and enemy of God, the other is lauded and proclaimed to the world as the sonorous herald and mighty champion of true doctrine? In order that I may not incur a charge of slander, let me bring Nestorius himself into court as an evidence on these points. Read me then, |15 word for word, some passages of thy epistle, addressed to the governor of the Thebaid:—"On account of the matters which have been lately mooted at Ephesus concerning our holy religion, Oasis, further called Ibis, has been appointed as the place of my residence by an imperial decree." And presently he proceeds thus: "Inasmuch as the beforementioned place has fallen into the hands of the barbarians, and been reduced to utter desolation by fire and sword, and I, by a most unexpected act of compassion, have been liberated by them, with a menacing injunction instantly to fly from the spot, since the Mazices were upon the point of succeeding them in their occupation of it; I have, accordingly, reached the Thebaid, together with the captive survivors whom they had joined with me, by an act of pity for which I am unable to account. They, accordingly, have been allowed to disperse themselves to the places whither their individual inclinations led them, and I, proceeding to Panopolis, have shewed myself in public, for fear lest any one, making the circumstance of my seizure an occasion of criminal proceeding, should raise a charge against me, either of escaping from my place of exile, or some other imagined delinquency: for malice never wants occasion for slander. Therefore I entreat your highness to take that just view of my seizure which the laws would enjoin, and not sacrifice a prisoner of war to the malice and evil |16 designs of men: lest there should hence arise this melancholy story with all posterity, that it is better to be made captive by barbarians, than to fly for refuge to the protection of the Roman sovereignty." He then prefers, with solemn adjuration, the following request: "I request you to lay before the emperor the circumstance, that my arrival hither from Oasis arose from my liberation by the barbarians; so that my final disposal, according to God's good pleasure, may now be determined." The second epistle, from the same to the same, contains as follows: "Whether you are disposed to regard this present letter as a friendly communication from me to your highness, or as an admonition from a father to a son, I beseech you bear with its detail, embracing, indeed, many matters, but as briefly as the case would allow. When Ibis had been devastated by a numerous body of Nomades," and so forth. "Under these circumstances, by what motive or pretext on the part of your highness I know not, I was conducted by barbarous soldiers from Panopolis to Elephantine, a place on the verge of the province of the Thebaid, being dragged thither by the aforesaid military force; and when, sorely shattered, I had accomplished the greater part of the journey, I am encountered by an unwritten order from your valour to return to Panopolis. Thus, miserably worn with the casualties of the road, with a body afflicted by disease and age, and a mangled hand and side, I |17 arrived at Panopolis in extreme exhaustion, and further tormented with cruel pains: whence a second written injunction from your valour, speedily overtaking me, transported me to its adjacent territory. While I was supposing that this treatment would now cease, and was awaiting the determination of our glorious sovereigns respecting me, another merciless order was suddenly issued for a fourth deportation." And presently he proceeds: "But I pray you to rest satisfied with what has been done, and with having inflicted so many banishments on one individual. And I call upon you kindly to leave to our glorious sovereigns the inquisition, for which reports laid before them by your highness, and by myself too, by whom it was proper that information should be given, would furnish materials. If, however, this should excite your indignation, continue to deal with me as before, according to your pleasure; since no words ca,n prevail over your will." Thus does this man, who had not learned moderation even by his sufferings, in his writings strike and trample with fist and heel, even reviling both the supreme and provincial governments. I learn from one who wrote an account of his demise, that, when his tongue had been eaten through with worms, he departed to the greater and everlasting judgment which awaited him. |18
CHAPTER VIII.
SUCCESSION OF BISHOPS AT CONSTANTINOPLE.
NEXT in succession to that malignant spirit Nestorius, Maximianus is invested with the bishopric of the city of the renowned Constantine, in whose time the church of God enjoyed perfect peace: and when he was departed from among men, Proclus holds the helm of the see, who had some time before been ordained bishop of Cyzicus. When he too had gone the way of all mankind, Flavian succeeds to the see.
CHAPTER IX.
HERESY OF EUTYCHES.
IN his time arose the stir about the impious Eutyches, when a partial synod was assembled at Constantinople, and a written charge was preferred by Eusebius, bishop of Dorylaeum, who, while still practising as a rhetorician, was the first to expose the blasphemy of Nestorius. Since Eutyches, when summoned, did not appear, and afterwards, even on his appearance, was convicted on certain points; for he had said, "I allow that our Lord was produced from two natures before their union, but I confess only one nature after their union;" and he even maintained |19 that our Lord's body was not of the same substance with ourselves—on these grounds he is sentenced to deprivation: but on his presenting a petition to Theodosius, on the plea that the acts, as set forth, had been concocted in the hands of Flavian, the synod of the neighbouring region is assembled at Constantinople, and Flavian is tried by it and some of the magistrates; and when the truth of the acts had been confirmed, the second synod at Ephesus is summoned.
CHAPTER X.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE SECOND COUNCIL OF EPHESUS.4
OF this council, Dioscorus, the successor of Cyril in the see of Alexandria, was appointed president, by an intrigue, in enmity to Flavian, of Chrysaphius, who at that time swayed the imperial court. There hasten to Ephesus Juvenalis, bishop of Jerusalem, who was present at the former council, with a great number of associate priests, and with him also Domnus, the successor of John at Antioch: and besides them, Julius, a bishop, who was the representative of Leo, bishop of the elder Rome. Flavian also was present with his associate bishops, an edict having been addressed by Theodosius to Elpidius, in these precise terms. "Provided that those who had on the former occasion passed judgment on the most religious Archimandrite |20 Eutyches, be present, but take no part in the proceedings, by abstaining from the functions of judges, and awaiting the resolution of all the most holy fathers; inasmuch as their own previous decision is now a subject of inquisition." In this council, the deposition of Eutyches is revoked by Dioscorus and his associates—as is contained in the acts—and that sentence is passed upon Flavian, and Eusebius, president of the church of Dorylaeum. At the same time, Ibas, bishop of Edessa, is excommunicated; and Daniel, bishop of Carrhae, Irenaeus of Tyre, and Aquilinus of Byblus, are deposed. Some measures were also taken on account of Sophronius, bishop of Constantina: and they depose Theodoret, bishop of Cyrus, and even Domnus of Antioch. What afterwards befel the last mentioned, I am not able to discover. After these proceedings the second council of Ephesus was dissolved.
CHAPTER XI.
AN APOLOGY FOR DIFFERENCES OF OPINION AMONG CHRISTIANS.
AND here let not any one of the deluded worshippers of idols presume to sneer, as if it were the business of succeeding councils to depose their predecessors, and to be ever devising some addition to the |21 faith. For while we are endeavouring to trace the unutterable and unsearchable scheme of God's mercy to man, and to revere and exalt it to the utmost, our opinions are swayed in this or that direction: and with none of those who have been the authors of heresies among Christians, was blasphemy the first intention; nor did they fall from the truth in a desire to dishonour the Deity, but rather from an idea which each entertained, that he should improve upon his predecessors by upholding such and such doctrines. Besides, all parties agree in a confession which embraces the essential points; for a Trinity is the single object of our worship, and unity the complex one of our glorification, and the Word, who is God begotten before the worlds, and became flesh by a second birth in mercy to the creature: and if new opinions have been broached on other points, these also have arisen from the freedom granted to our will by our Saviour God, even on these subjects, in order that the holy catholic and apostolic church might be the more exercised in bringing opposing opinions into captivity to truth and piety, and arrive, at length, at one smooth and straight path. Accordingly the apostle says most distinctly: "There is need of heresies among you, that the approved ones may be manifested." And here also, we have occasion to admire the unutterable wisdom of God, who said to the divine Paul, "My strength is made perfect in |22 weakness." For by the very causes by which the members of the church have been broken off, the true and pure doctrine has been more accurately established, and the catholic and apostolic church of God has attained amplification and exaltation to heaven. But those who have been nurtured in Grecian error, having no desire to extol God or his tender care of men, were continually endeavouring to shake the opinions of their predecessors, and of each other, rather devising gods upon gods, and assigning to them by express titles the tutelage of their own passions, in order that they might find an excuse for their own debaucheries by associating such deities with them. Thus, their supreme Father of Gods and men, under the form of a bird, shamelessly carried off the Phrygian boy; and as a reward of his vile service, bestowed the cup, with leave to pledge him in an amorous draught, that they might with the nectar drink in their common shame. Besides innumerable other villanies, reprobated by the meanest of mankind, and transformations into every form of brutes, himself the most brutish of all, he becomes bi-sexual, pregnant, if not in his belly yet in his thigh, that even this violation of nature might be fulfilled in his person: whence springing, the bi-sexual dithyrambic birth outraged either sex; author of drunkenness, surfeit, and mad debauch, and all their fearful consequences. To this Aegis-wearer, this Thunderer, they |23 attach, in spite of these majestic titles, the crime of parricide, universally regarded as the extremity of guilt; inasmuch as he dethroned Saturn who unhappily had begotten him. Why need I also mention their consecration of fornication, over which they made Venus to preside, the shell-born Cyprian, who abhorred chastity as an unhallowed and monstrous thing, but delighted in fornication and all filthiness, and willed to be propitiated by them: in whose company Mars also suffers unseemly exposure, being, by the contrivance of Vulcan, made a spectacle and laughing-stock to the Gods? Justly would one ridicule their phalli and ithyphalli, and phallagogia; their Priapus, and Pan, and the Eleusinian mysteries, which in one respect deserve praise, namely, that the sun was not allowed to see them, but they were condemned to dwell with darkness. Leaving, then, the worshippers and the worshipped in their shame, let us urge our steed to the goal, and set forth, in compendious survey, the remaining transactions of the reign of Theodosius.
CHAPTER XII.
CONDEMNATION OP THE NESTORIAN DOCTRINE BY THEODOSIUS.
THEODOSIUS, then, issued a most pious constitution, which is included in the first book of what is termed |24 the Code of Justinian, and is the third under the first title; in which, moved by heaven, he condemned, by all the votes, as the saying is, him to whom he had been long attached, as Nestorius himself writes, and placed him under anathema. The precise terms are as follow: "Further we ordain, that those who favour the impious creed of Nestorius, or follow his unlawful doctrine, be ejected from the holy churches, if they be bishops or clerks; and if laics, be anathematised." Other enactments were also promulgated by him relating to our religion, which shew his burning zeal.
CHAPTER XIII.
SIMEON THE STYLITE.5
IN these times flourished and became illustrious Simeon, of holy and famous memory, who originated the contrivance of stationing himself on the top of a column, thereby occupying a spot of scarce two cubits in circumference. Domnus was then bishop of Antioch; and he, having visited Simeon, and being struck with the singularity of his position and mode of life, was desirous of more mystic intercourse. They met accordingly, and having consecrated the immaculate body, imparted to each other the life-giving communion. This man, endeavouring to realise in the flesh the existence of the heavenly hosts, |25 lifts himself above the concerns of earth, and, overpowering the downward tendency of man's nature, is intent upon things above: placed between earth and heaven, he holds communion with God, and unites with the angels in praising him; from earth, offering his intercessions on behalf of men, and from heaven, drawing down upon them the divine favour. An account of his miracles has been written by one of those who were eye-witnesses, and an eloquent record by Theodoret, bishop of Cyrus: though they have omitted a circumstance in particular, the memory of which I found to be still retained by the inhabitants of the holy desert, and which I learnt from them as follows. When Simeon, that angel upon earth, that citizen in the flesh of the heavenly Jerusalem, had devised this strange and hitherto unknown walk, the inhabitants of the holy desert send a person to him, charged with an injunction to render a reason of this singular habitude, namely, why, abandoning the beaten path which the saints had trodden, he is pursuing another altogether unknown to mankind; and, further, that he should come down and travel the road of the elect fathers. They, at the same time, gave orders, that, if he should manifest a perfect readiness to come down, liberty should be given him to follow out the course he had chosen, inasmuch as his compliance would be sufficient proof that under God's guidance he persevered in this his |26 endurance: but that he should be dragged down by force, in case he should manifest repugnance, or be swayed by self-will, and refuse to be guided implicitly by the injunction. When the person, thus deputed, came and announced the command of the fathers, and Simeon, in pursuance of the injunction, immediately put one foot forward, then he declared him free to fulfil his own course, saying, 'Be stout, and play the man: the post which thou hast chosen is from God.' This circumstance, which is omitted by those who have written about him, I have thus thought worthy of record. In so great a measure had the power of divine grace taken possession of him, that, when Theodosius had issued a mandate, that the synagogues of which they had been previously deprived by the Christians, should be restored to the Jews of Antioch, he wrote to the emperor with so much freedom and vehement rebuke, as standing in awe of none but his own immediate sovereign, that Theodosius re-called his commands, and in every respect favoured the Christians, even superseding the prefect who had suggested the measure. He further proceeded to prefer a request to this effect, to the holy and aerial martyr, that he would entreat and pray for him, and impart a share of his own peculiar benediction. Simeon prolonged his endurance of this mode of life through fifty-six years, nine of which he spent in the first monastery, where he was instructed in divine |27 knowledge, and forty-seven in the Mandra, as it is termed; namely, ten in a certain nook; on shorter columns, seven; and thirty upon one of forty cubits. After his departure, his holy body was conveyed to Antioch, during the episcopate of Martyrius, and the reign of the emperor Leo, when Ardabyrius was in command of the forces of the East, on which occasion the troops, with a concourse of their followers and others, proceeded to the Mandra, and escorted the venerable body of the blessed Simeon, lest the inhabitants of the neighbouring cities should muster and carry it off. In this manner, it was conveyed to Antioch, and attended during its progress by extraordinary prodigies. The emperor also demanded possession of the body; and the people of Antioch addressed to him a petition in deprecation of his purpose, in these terms: "Forasmuch as our city is without walls, for we have been visited in wrath by their fall, we brought hither the sacred body to be our wall and bulwark." Moved by these considerations, the emperor yielded to their prayer, and left them in possession of the venerable body. It has been preserved nearly entire to my time: and, in company with many priests, I enjoyed the sight of his sacred head, in the episcopate of the famous Gregory, when Philippicus had requested that precious relics of saints might be sent to him for the protection of the Eastern armies. And, strange as is the circumstance, the hair of his |28 head had not perished, but is in the same state of preservation as when he was alive and sojourning with mankind. The skin of his forehead, too, was wrinkled and indurated, but is nevertheless preserved, as well as the greater part of his teeth, except such as had been violently removed by the hands of faithful men, affording by their appearance an indication of the personal appearance and years of the man of God. Beside the head lies the iron collar, to which, as the companion of its endurance, the famous body has imparted a share of its own divinely-bestowed honours; for not even in death has Simeon been deserted by the loving iron. In this manner would I have detailed every particular, thereby benefiting both myself and my readers, had not Theodoret, as I said before, already performed the task more fully.
CHAPTER XIV.
DESCRIPTION OF THE APPEARANCE OF A STAR NEAR THE COLUMN OF SIMEON.
LET me, however, add a record of another circumstance which I witnessed. I was desirous of visiting the precinct of this saint, distant nearly thirty stadia from Theopolis, and situated near the very summit of the mountain. The people of the country give it the title of Mandra, a name bequeathed to the spot, as I |29 suppose, by the holy Simeon, in respect of the discipline which he there had practised. The ascent of the mountain is as much as twenty stadia. The temple is constructed in the form of a cross, adorned with colonnades on the four sides. Beside the colonnades are arranged handsome columns of polished stone, sustaining a roof of considerable elevation; while the centre is occupied by an unroofed court of the most excellent workmanship, where stands the pillar, of forty-cubits, on which the incarnate angel upon earth spent his heavenly life. Adjoining the roof of the colonnades is a balustrade, termed by some persons windows, forming a fence towards both the before-mentioned court and the colonnades. At the balustrade, on the left of the pillar, I saw, in company with all the people who were there assembled, while the rustics were performing dances round it, a very large and brilliant star, shooting along the whole balustrade, not merely once, twice, or thrice, but repeatedly; vanishing, moreover, frequently, and again suddenly appearing: and this occurs only at the commemorations of the saint. There are also persons who affirm—and there is no reason to doubt the prodigy, considering the credibility of the vouchers, and the other circumstances which I actually witnessed—that they have seen a resemblance of the saint's face flitting about here and there, with a long beard, and wearing a tiara, as was his habit. Free ingress is allowed to |30 men, who repeatedly compass the pillar with their beasts of burden: but the most scrupulous precaution is taken, for what reason I am unable to say, that no woman should enter the sacred building: but they obtain a view of the prodigy from the threshold without, since one of the doors is opposite to the star's rays.
CHAPTER XV.
ISIDORE OF PELUSIUM AND SYNESIUS OF CYRENE.
IN the same reign Isidore was also conspicuous: "wide whose renown," according to the language of poetry; having become universally celebrated by deed and word. To such a degree did he waste his flesh by severe discipline, and feed his soul by elevating doctrine, as to pursue upon earth the life of angels, and be ever a living monument of monastic life and contemplation of God. Besides his numerous other writings, well stored with various profit, there are some addressed to the renowned Cyril; from which it appears that he flourished contemporary with the divine bishop. And now, while endeavouring to give every attraction to my work, let me also bring upon the scene Synesius of Cyrene, whose memory will add an embellishment to my narrative. This Synesius, while possessed of every other kind of learning, carried the study of philosophy, in particular, to its |31 highest pitch; so as to gain the admiration even of those Christians whose decision upon things which fall under their observation is not guided by favouring or adverse prejudice. They, accordingly, persuade him to resolve on partaking of the saving regeneration, and to take upon himself the yoke of the priesthood, while as yet he did not admit the doctrine of the resurrection, nor was inclined to hold that tenet; anticipating, with well-aimed conjecture, that this belief would be added to his other excellencies, since divine grace is never content to leave its work unfinished. Nor were they disappointed in their expectation: for his epistles, written after his accession to the priesthood, and composed with elegance and learning, as well as his discourse addressed to Theodosius himself, and whatever is extant of his valuable writings, sufficiently show how excellent and great a man he was.
CHAPTER XVI.
TRANSLATION OF THE REMAINS OF IGNATIUS.
AT the same period also took place the translation of the divine Ignatius, as is recorded, with other matters, by John the rhetorician: who, having found a tomb, as he himself desired, in the bowels of the wild beasts, in the amphitheatre of Rome, had, nevertheless, through the preservation of the more solid bones, |32 which were conveyed to Antioch, long reposed in what is called the cemetery: the good God having moved Theodosius to dignify the bearer of the name Theophorus with increased honours, and to dedicate a temple, long ago devoted to the demons, and called by the inhabitants Tychaeum, to the victorious martyr. Thus, what was formerly the shrine of Fortune, became a sanctuary and holy precinct for Ignatius, by depositing there his sacred remains, which were conveyed on a car through the city, attended by a solemn procession. From this event arose the celebration of a public festival, accompanied with rejoicings of the whole population; which has continued to our times, and received increased magnificence at the hands of the prelate Gregory. Such results were brought about by the conspiring agency of friends and foes, while God was decreeing honour to the holy memories of the saints. For the impious Julian, that heaven-detested power, when the Daphnaean Apollo, whose prophetic voice proceeded from the Castalian fount, could give no response to the emperor's consultation, since the holy Babylas, from his neighbouring resting-place, restrained his utterance; was goaded on to be an unwilling instrument in honouring that saint by a translation; on which occasion was also erected to him, outside the city, a spacious temple, which has remained entire to the present day: the object of the removal being that the demons might no longer be |33 overawed in the pursuit of their own practices, the performance of which, as is said, they had previously promised to Julian. Thus were events disposed by the providence of God, in his design that both the power of those who were dignified by martyrdom should be clearly manifested, and the sacred relics of the holy martyr should be transferred to sacred ground, and be honoured with a noble precinct.
CHAPTER XVII.
ATTILA KING OF THE HUNS. EARTHQUAKES.
DURING those times arose the celebrated war of Attila, king of the Scythians: the history of which has been written with great care and distinguished ability by Priscus the rhetorician, who details, in a very elegant narrative, his attacks on the eastern and western parts of the empire, how many and important cities he reduced, and the series of his achievements until he was removed from the world.
It was also in the reign of Theodosius that an extraordinary earthquake occurred, which threw all former ones into the shade, and extended, so to speak, over the whole world. Such was its violence, that many of the towers in different parts of the imperial city were overthrown, and the long wall, as it is termed, of the Chersonese, was laid in ruins; the earth opened and swallowed |34 up many villages; and innumerable other calamities happened both by land and sea. Several fountains became dry, and, on the other hand, large bodies of water were formed on the surface, where none existed before: entire trees were torn up by the roots and hurled aloft, and mountains were suddenly formed by the accumulation of masses thrown up. The sea also cast up dead fish; many islands were submerged; and, again, ships were seen stranded by the retreat of the waters. At the same time Bithynia, the Hellespont, and cither Phrygia, suffered severely. This calamity prevailed for a considerable time, though the violence with which it commenced, did not continue, but abated by degrees until it entirely ceased.
CHAPTER XVIII.
ANTIOCH EMBELLISHED BY DIFFERENT GOVERNORS.
IN the course of the same period, Memnonius, Zoilus, and Callistus, were sent out by Theodosius to the government of Antioch, men who made our religion an object of marked honour. Memnonius also rebuilt from the foundation, in a beautiful and elaborate style, the edifice which we name Psephium, leaving an unroofed court in the centre. Zoilus built the basilica, which is situated on the south side of that of Rufinus, and which has continued to bear his name to our times, |35 although the structure itself has undergone changes from various casualties. Callistus, too, erected a noble and striking edifice, called both in former and present times the Basilica of Callistus, in front of the seats of justice, and opposite the forum where stand the splendid buildings which are the quarters of the military commanders. Subsequently, Anatolius, having been sent out as commander of the forces of the East, erects the basilica which bears his name, and embellishes it with every variety of material. The introduction of these matters, though beside my more immediate purpose, will not offend the taste of the curious reader.
CHAPTER XIX.
WARS DURING THE REIGN OF THEODOSIUS.
IN the times of Theodosius, repeated revolts took place in Europe, during the reign of Valentinian at Rome. These were crushed by Theodosius, who sent out for that purpose large land and naval forces. He also so far quelled the insolence of the Persians, whose sovereign at that time was Isdigerdes, the father of Vararanes, or, as Socrates thinks, Vararanes himself, as to reduce them to solicit peace; which was granted, and lasted till the twelfth year of the reign of Anastasius. These transactions have been recorded by other writers, and have also been very elegantly |36 epitomised by Eustathius of Epiphania, the Syrian, who wrote, besides, an account of the capture of Amida. In that age, too, it is said that the poets Claudian and Cyrus flourished; and that Cyrus was elevated to the seat of highest dignity among the prefects, styled by our ancestors the prefect of the palace, and was also invested with the command of the forces of the West, when the Vandals under Genseric had made themselves masters of Carthage.
CHAPTER XX.
THE EMPRESS EUDOCIA.
THEODOSIUS also espoused Eudocia, who had previously participated in the saving baptism; an Athenian by birth, and distinguished by poetic skill and beauty of person; through the offices of his sister, the princess Pulcheria. By her he had a daughter Eudoxia, whom, when she had reached a marriageable age, the emperor Valentinian afterwards espoused; for which purpose he made a voyage from the elder Rome to the city of Constantine. At a subsequent period, when Eudocia was pursuing a journey to the holy city of Christ our God, she also visits this place; and concluded an address to our people with the following verse, 'Tis from your blood I proudly trace my line:6 in allusion to the colonies which were sent hither from |37 Greece. Of these, if any one is curious to know the particulars, an elaborate account has been given by Strabo, the geographer, Phlegon, and Diodorus Siculus, as well as by Arrian and Pisander the poet, and, besides, by the distinguished sophists, Ulpian, Libanius, and Julian. On this occasion, the sons of the Antiochenes honoured her with a skilfully executed statue in brass, which has been preserved even to our times. At her suggestion, Theodosius considerably enlarges the bounds of the city, by extending the circuit of the wall as far as the gate which leads to the suburb of Daphne: of which those who are disposed, may assure themselves by visible proof; for the whole wall may still be traced, since the remains afford a sufficient guidance to the eye. Some, however, say that the elder Theodosius extended the wall. He gave, besides, two hundred pounds' weight of gold for the restoration of the baths of Valens, which had been partially burnt.
CHAPTER XXI.
VISITS OF EUDOCIA TO JERUSALEM. ASCETICS.
FROM this city Eudocia proceeds on two occasions to Jerusalem; but on account of what circumstances, or with what object in the first instance, must be gathered through those writers who have treated the |38 subject, although they do not appear to me to give true accounts. At all events, when visiting the holy city of Christ, she did many things for the honour of our Saviour God, even so far as to erect holy monasteries, and what are termed laurae. In these places the mode of life is different, but the discipline of each terminates in the same devout object. For those who live together in companies are still not under the influence of any of those things which weigh down to the earth, since they possess no gold: but why should I say gold? when no article of even dress or food is the sole property of any one among them, but the gown or vest which one is now wearing, another presently puts on, so that the clothing of all appears to belong to one, and that of one to all. A common table also is set before them, not delicately furnished with meats or any other dainties, but supplied with fare of herbs and pulse, and that only in sufficient quantity to sustain life. They maintain common supplications to God throughout the day and night, to such a degree distressing themselves, so galling themselves by their severe service, as to seem, in a manner, tombless corpses. They also frequently practice superadditions, as they are called, namely, by maintaining their fastings for two or three days; and some on the fifth day, or even later, scarcely allow themselves a portion of necessary food. On the other hand, there is a class who pursue a contrary course, and individually seclude themselves in |39 chambers of so limited a height and width, that they can neither stand upright nor lie down at ease, confining their existence to "dens and caves of the earth," as says the apostle. Some, too, take up their dwelling with the wild beasts, and in untracked recesses of the ground; and thus offer their supplications to God. Another mode has also been devised, one which reaches to the utmost extent of resolution and endurance: for transporting themselves to a scorched wilderness, and covering only those parts which nature requires to be concealed, both men and women leave the rest of their persons exposed both to excessive frosts and scorching blasts, regardless alike of heat and cold. They, moreover, cast off the ordinary food of mankind, and feed upon the produce of the ground, whence they are termed Grazers; allowing themselves no more than is barely sufficient to sustain life. In consequence, they at length became assimilated to wild beasts, with their outward form altogether disfigured, and their mind in a state no longer fitted for intercourse with their species, whom they even shun when they see them; and, on being pursued, contrive to escape, favoured either by their swiftness of foot, or by places difficult of access. I will mention still another class, which had almost escaped recollection, though it bears away the preeminence from all others. Its numbers are very small; but still there are persons, who, when by virtue they have attained to a condition exempt |40 from passion, return to the world. In the midst of the stir, by plainly intimating that they are indifferent to those who view them with amazement, they thus trample under foot vain-glory, the last garment, according to the wise Plato, which it is the nature of the soul to cast off. By similar means they study the art of apathy in eating, practising it even, if need be, with the petty retailers of victuals. They also constantly frequent the public baths, mostly mingling and bathing with women, since they have attained to such an ascendancy over their passions, as to possess dominion over nature, and neither by sight, touch, or even embracing of the female, to relapse into their natural condition; it being their desire to be men among men, and women among women, and to participate in both sexes. In short, by a life thus all excellent and divine, virtue exercises a sovereignty in opposition to nature, establishing her own laws, so as not to allow them to partake to satiety in any necessary. Indeed, their own rule enjoins them to hunger and thirst, and to clothe the body only so far as necessity requires: and their mode of life is balanced by opposite scales, so accurately poised, that they are unconscious of any tendency to motion, though arising from strongly antagonist forces; for opposing principles are, in their case, mingled to such a degree, by the power of divine grace combining and again severing things that are incongruous, that life and death dwell together in |41 them, things opposed to each other in nature and in circumstances: for where passion enters, they must be dead and entombed; where prayer to God is required, they must display vigour of body and energy of spirit, though the flower of life be past. Thus with them are the two modes of life combined, so as to be constantly living with a total renunciation of the flesh, and at the same time mingling with the living; both applying remedies to their bodies, and presenting to God the cries of suppliants, and in all other respects fully maintaining a practice in accordance with their former mode of life, except as regards restriction in intercourse and place: on the contrary, they listen to all, and associate with all. They also practise a long and continuous series of kneelings and risings, their earnestness alone serving to reinvigorate their years and self-inflicted weakness; being, as it were, fleshless athletes, bloodless wrestlers, esteeming fasting as a varied and luxurious feast, and the utmost abstinence from food a completely furnished table. On the other hand, whenever a stranger visits them, even at early dawn, they welcome him with generous entertainment, devising another form of fasting in eating against their will. Hence the marvel, how far the pittance on which they subsist falls short of a sufficient allowance of food; foes of their own desires and of nature, but devoted to the wills of those around them, in order that fleshly enjoyment may be constantly expelled, and |42 the soul, diligently selecting and maintaining whatever is most seemly and pleasing to God, may alone bear sway: happy in their mode of existence here, happier in their departure hence, on which they are ever intent, impatient to behold Him whom they desire.
CHAPTER XXII.
BUILDINGS ERECTED BY EUDOCIA. ACCESSION OF MARCIAN.
AFTER having conversed with many persons of this description, and founded, as I have already said, many such seats of contemplation, and, besides, restored the walls of Jerusalem, the consort of Theodosius also erected a very large sanctuary, conspicuous for elevation and beauty, in honour of Stephen, the first of deacons and martyrs, distant less than a stadium from Jerusalem. Here her own remains were deposited, when she had departed to the unfading life.
When Theodosius had subsequently, or, as some think, before Eudocia, departed the sovereignty which he had administered for eight and thirty years, the most excellent Marcian is invested with the empire of the Romans. The sequel of my history shall very clearly set forth the transactions of his reign over the East, while the heavenly impulse bestows its own kindly aid.
THE END OF THE FIRST BOOK.
[Footnotes have been moved to the end and assigned numbers rather than the asterisks etc used in the printed volume. Footnotes in [Red] are taken from the running titles, not the bottom of the page]
1. * The "Greek Ecclesiastical Historians of the First Six Centuries," newly translated: viz. I. Eusebius's History, to A.D. 324; II. Eusebius's Life of Constantine, Orations, etc.; III. Socrates's History, A.D. 305—445; IV. Sozomen's Narrative, A.D. 324—440; V. Theodoret's History, 322—428; VI. Evagrius's History, A.D. 431—594; in six uniform volumes, each s. in cloth. London: Samuel Bagster and Sons.
2. [A. D. 431.]
3. * Thucydides. B. ii. c. 45.
4. [A.D. 449.]
5. [A.D. 440.]
6. * Hom. Il. vi. 211.
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Evagrius Scholasticus, Ecclesiastical History (AD431-594), translated by E. Walford (1846). Book 2
Evagrius Scholasticus, Ecclesiastical History (AD431-594), translated by E. Walford (1846). Book 2.
THE SECOND BOOK.
CHAPTER I.
FORTUNES AND CHARACTER OF MARCIAN.1
THE transactions of the time of Theodosius have been embraced in the preceding book. Let me now introduce upon the scene Marcian, the renowned emperor of the Romans, and in so doing, first recount who and whence he was, and by what means he won the imperial power: and having done this, let me record the occurrences of his reign in the order of time. Marcian, as has been recorded by many other writers, and in particular by Priscus, the rhetorician, was by birth a Thracian, and the son of a military man. In his desire to follow his father's mode of life, he had set out for Philippopolis, where he could be enrolled in the legions, and on the road sees the body of a person recently slain, lying exposed upon the ground. On going up to it—for, besides the excellence of his other virtues, he was singularly compassionate—he commiserated the occurrence, and suspended his journey for some time, from a desire to discharge the due offices to the dead. Some persons, |44 observing the circumstance, reported it to the authorities at Philippopolis, and they proceeded to apprehend Marcian, and interrogated him respecting the murder: and when, through the prevalence of conjecture and mere probability over truth and asseveration of innocence, he was upon the point of suffering the punishment of guilt, a providential interposition suddenly brings into their hands the real criminal, who, by forfeiting his own head as the penalty of the deed, procures an acquittance of the head of Marcian. After this unexpected escape, he presents himself to one of the military bodies stationed in the place, with the intention of enlistment. Struck with the singularity of his fortunes, and with reason concluding that he would arrive at power and preeminent distinction, they gladly admitted him, and that too without placing him, according to military rule, lowest on the roll; but they assigned to him the grade of a lately deceased soldier, named Augustus, by inscribing in the list, Marcian, called also Augustus. Thus did his name anticipate the style of our sovereigns, who assume the title of Augustus on attaining the purple. It was as if the name refused to abide on him without its appropriate rank, and, on the other hand, the rank was not ambitious of another name for the augmentation of its style: and thus arose an identity of his personal and titular appellations, since his dignity and his name found an expression in the same term. Another |45 circumstance also occurred, which might serve as a prognostic of the imperial power being destined to Marcian. When serving under Aspar against the Vandals, he was one of many who fell into their hands on the total defeat of that general; and, on the demand of. Genseric to see the prisoners, was dragged with the rest along the plain. When the whole body was collected, Genseric sat in an upper chamber, surveying with delight the numbers that had been taken. As the time wore on, they pursued each his own inclination, for the guard had, at the order of Genseric, released them from their bonds; and while they accordingly disposed of themselves each in his several way, Marcian laid himself down upon the ground to sleep in the sun, which was shining with unusual heat for the season of the year. An eagle, however, poising his flight above him, and directly intercepting the sun as with a cloud, thus produced a shade and its consequent refreshment, to the amazement of Genseric, who, rightly presaging the future, sent for Marcian, and liberated him, having previously bound him by solemn oaths, that on attaining the imperial power he would maintain faithfully the rights of treaty towards the Vandals, and not commence hostilities against them; and Procopius records, that Marcian observed these conditions. But let us leave this digression, and return to my subject. Marcian was pious towards God, and just towards those under his rule; regarding |46 as wealth neither treasured stores nor the revenue of imposts, but only the means of providing relief to the needy, and to the wealthy the security of their possessions. He was dreaded, not in the infliction of punishment, but only by its anticipation. On this account he received the sovereignty not as an inheritance, but as the prize of virtue, conferred by the unanimous voice both of the senate and men of all ranks, at the suggestion of Pulcheria, whom he also espoused as his partner in the imperial dignity, though she still remained a virgin to old age. These transactions took place without a previous ratification of the choice by Valentinian, the emperor of Rome, who, however, accorded his approval to the virtues of the person elected. It was further the desire of Marcian, that an undivided service should be offered up by all to God, by uniting in pious concord the tongues which the arts of impiety had confounded, and that the Deity should be honoured by one and the same doxology.
CHAPTER II.
COUNCIL OF CHALCEDON SUMMONED BY MARCIAN.
WHILE entertaining these intentions, the emperor is addressed both by the legates of Leo, bishop of the elder Rome, who alleged that Dioscorus had, during the second council of Ephesus, refused to receive the |47 epistle of Leo, containing a formula of the true doctrine; and also by those who had been contumeliously treated by Dioscorus, intreating that their case might be submitted to the decision of a synod. But Eusebius, who had been president of the church of Dorylaeum, was especially urgent, and affirmed that both himself and Flavian had been deposed by the intrigues of Chrysaphius, the minister of Theodosius, because, in reply to his demand of an offering in gold, Flavian had, in acknowledgment of his own appointment, sent the sacred vessels to shame him; and also that Chrysaphius made a near approach to Eutyches in erroneous doctrine. He also said, that Flavian had even been brought to a miserable end by being thrust and trampled on by Dioscorus himself. These circumstances caused the synod at Chalcedon to be assembled; for which purpose the bearers of missives were despatched, and the prelates in all quarters were summoned by pious letters. The place named was, in the first instance, Nicaea; and, accordingly, Leo, the president of Rome, on writing an epistle respecting Paschasianus, Lucentius, and others, whom he had sent as his representatives, inscribed it to the council assembled at Nicaea. It was, however, subsequently convened at Chalcedon in Bithynia. Zacharias, the rhetorician, influenced by partiality, says that Nestorius was also fetched from his place of exile: but this is disproved by the circumstance, that Nestorius was generally |48 anathematised by the members of the synod. And Eustathius, bishop of Berytus, clearly establishes the point, when writing in the following terms to John, a bishop, and another John, a presbyter, respecting the matters agitated in the assembly. "Those who were in quest of the remains of Nestorius, again presenting themselves, clamorously demanded of the synod, why the saints are anathematised: so that the emperor indignantly ordered the guards to drive them far from the place." How then Nestorius was summoned, when he had departed from the world, I am unable to say.
CHAPTER III.
DESCRIPTION OF THE CHURCH OF ST. EUPHEMIA.
THE place of meeting was the sacred precinct of Euphemia, the martyr, situated in the district of Chalcedon in Bithynia, and distant not more than two stadia from the Bosphorus. The site is a beautiful spot, of so gentle an ascent, that those who are on their way to the temple, are not aware of their immediate approach, but suddenly find themselves within the sanctuary on elevated ground; so that, extending their gaze from a commanding position, they can survey the level surface of the plain spread out beneath them, green with herbage, waving with corn, and |49 beautified with every kind of tree; at the same time including within their range woody mountains, towering gracefully or boldly swelling, as well as parts of the sea under various aspects: here, where the winds do not reach them, the still waters, with their dark blue tint, sweetly playing with gentle ripple on the beach; there wildly surging, and sweeping back the sea-weeds and the lighter shell-fish with the recoil of its waves. Directly opposite is Constantinople: and thus the beauty of the site is enhanced by the view of so vast a city. The holy place consists of three immense buildings. One is open to the sky, including a court of great extent, and embellished on all sides with columns; and next to it another, nearly resembling it in its length, breadth, and columns, and differing from it only in being roofed. On the north side of this, facing the East, is a round building, skilfully terminated in a dome, and surrounded in the interior with columns of uniform materials and size. These support a gallery under the same roof, so contrived, that those who are disposed, may thence both supplicate the martyr and be present at the mysteries. Within the domed building, towards the Eastern part, is a splendid enclosure, where are preserved the sacred remains of the martyr in a long coffin (it is distinguished by some persons by the term "long") of silver, skilfully worked. The wonders which have at certain times been wrought by the holy martyr, are |50 manifest to all Christians. For frequently she has appeared in a dream to the bishops of the city from time to time, and even to certain persons whose lives have been otherwise distinguished, and has bid them visit her and gather a vintage at her sanctuary. When such an occurrence has been ascertained by the sovereigns, the patriarch, and the city, they visit the temple, both those who sway the sceptre, and those who are invested with sacred and civil offices, as well as the whole multitude, desirous to partake in the mysteries. Accordingly, the president of the church of Constantinople, with his attendant priests, enters, in sight of the public, the sanctuary where the already-mentioned sacred body is deposited. There is an aperture in the left side of the coffin, secured with small doors, through which they introduce a sponge attached to an iron rod, so as to reach the sacred relics, and after turning it round, they draw it out, covered with stains and clots of blood. On witnessing this, all the people bend in worship, giving glory to God. So great has been the quantity of blood thus extracted, that both the pious sovereigns and the assembled priests, as well as the congregated people, all share in a liberal distribution, and portions are sent to those of the faithful who desire them, in every place under the sun. The clots also are permanent, neither does the appearance of the sacred blood undergo any change. These divine manifestations occur not at the recurrence |51 of any definite period, but according as the life of the prelate or gravity of manners calls for them. Accordingly it is said, that when the governor of the church is a person reverend and remarkable for virtues, the marvel occurs with peculiar frequency; but when such is not his character, such divine operations are rarely displayed. I will, however, mention a circumstance which suffers no interruption depending on lapse of time or seasonable occasion, nor yet is vouchsafed with a distinction between the faithful and infidels, but to all indiscriminately. Whenever any person approaches the spot where is deposited the precious coffin in which are the holy relics, he is filled with an odour surpassing in sweetness every perfume with which mankind are acquainted, for it resembles neither the mingled fragrance of the meadows, nor that which is exhaled from the sweetest substances, nor is it such as any perfumer could prepare: but it is of a peculiar and surpassing kind, of itself sufficiently indicating the virtue of its source.
CHAPTER IV.
COUNCIL OF CHALCEDON.2
THIS was, then, the place of meeting of the before-mentioned synod; at which the bishops Paschasinus and Lucentius, and the presbyter Boniface, were the |52 representatives of Leo, archpriest of the elder Rome; there being present Anatolius president of Constantinople, Dioscorus, bishop of Alexandria, Maximus of Antioch, and Juvenalis of Jerusalem: on whom attended both their associate priests, and those who held the places of highest rank in the most excellent senate. To the latter the representatives of Leo alleged, that Dioscorus ought not to be seated with themselves; for such, they said, were their instructions from their bishop: as also that they would withdraw from the church, if they should be unable to maintain this point. In reply to the question of the senators, what were the charges against Dioscorus, they stated, that he ought himself to render an account of his own decision, since he had unduly assumed the character of a judge. After this statement had been made, and Dioscorus, according to a resolution of the senate, had taken his seat in the centre, Eusebius demanded, in the following words, that the petition should be read which he had presented to the sovereign power: "I have been wronged by Dioscorus; the faith has been wronged: the bishop Flavian was murdered, and, together with myself, unjustly deposed by him. Give directions that my petition be read." When the matter had been discussed, the petition was allowed to be read: it was couched in the following terms. "To our Christ-loving and most religious and pious sovereigns, Flavius Valentinianus, and Flavius Marcianus, the petition of |53 Eusebius, the very humble bishop of Dorylaeum, who now pleads on behalf of himself and the orthodox faith, and the sainted Flavian, formerly bishop of Constantinople. It is the aim of your majesty to exercise a providential care of all your subjects, and stretch forth a protecting hand to all who are suffering wrong, and to those especially who are invested with the priesthood; for by this means service is rendered to God, from whom you have received the bestowal of supremacy and power over all regions under the sun. Inasmuch, then, as the Christian faith and we have suffered many outrages at the hands of Dioscorus, the most reverent bishop of the great city of the Alexandrians, we address ourselves to your piety in pursuance of our rights. The circumstances of the case are as follow:— At the synod lately held at the metropolitan city of the Ephesians—would that it had never met, nor the world been thereby filled with mischiefs and tumult— the excellent Dioscorus, regarding neither the principle of justice nor the fear of God, sharing also in the opinions and feelings of the visionary and heretical Eutyches, though unsuspected by the multitude of being such as he afterwards shewed himself, took occasion of the charge advanced by me against his fellow in doctrine, Eutyches, and the decision given by the sainted bishop Flavian, and having gathered a disorderly rabble, and procured an overbearing influence by bribes, made havoc, as far as lay in his |54 power, of the pious religion of the orthodox, and established the erroneous doctrine of Eutyches the monk, which had from the first been repudiated by the holy fathers. Since, then, his aggressions against the Christian faith and us are of no trifling magnitude, we beseech and supplicate your majesty to issue your commands to the same most reverent bishop Dioscorus, to defend himself against our allegations; namely, when the record of the acts which Dioscorus procured against us, shall be read before the holy synod; on the ground of which we are able to shew, that he is estranged from the orthodox faith, that he strengthened a heresy utterly impious, that he wrongfully deposed and has cruelly outraged us. And this we will do on the issuing of your divine and revered mandates to the holy and universal synod of the bishops, highly beloved of God, to the effect, that they should give a formal hearing to the matters which concern both us and the before-mentioned Dioscorus, and refer all the transactions to the decision of your piety, as shall seem fit to your immortal supremacy. If we obtain this our request, we shall ever pray for your everlasting rule, most divine sovereigns."
In the next place, at the joint request of Dioscorus and Eusebius, the acts of the second council of Ephesus were publicly read, the particulars of which, as being lengthy, and at the same time embraced by the detail of the proceedings at Chalcedon, I have subjoined to the |55 present book of the history, that I might not seem prolix to those who are eager to be brought to the end of the transactions; thereby leaving to such as are desirous of minute acquaintance with every particular, the means of leisurely consultation and an accurate conception of the whole. By way of a cursory statement of the more important points, I mention, that Dioscorus was convicted of having suppressed the epistle of Leo, bishop of the elder Rome; and farther, of having enacted the deposition of Flavian, bishop of new Rome, in the space of a single day, and procured the subscriptions of the assembled prelates to a blank paper, represented as containing the form of the deposition. Upon these grounds, the senators decreed as follows: "Of points relating to the orthodox and catholic faith, we are agreed that a more exact inquiry should take place before a fuller assembly of the council, at its next meeting. But inasmuch as it has been shewn, from examination of the acts and decrees, and from the oral testimony of the presidents of that synod, who admit that themselves were in error, and the deposition was void, that Flavian, of pious memory, and the most reverent bishop Eusebius, were convicted of no error concerning the faith, and were wrongfully deposed, it seems to us, according to God's good pleasure, to be a just proceeding, if approved by our most divine and pious sovereign, that Dioscorus, the most reverent bishop of |56 Alexandria; Juvenalis, the most reverent bishop of Jerusalem; Thalassius, the most reverent bishop of Caesarea, in Cappadocia; Eusebius, the most reverent bishop of Ancyra; Eustathius, the most reverent bishop of Berytus; and Basilius, the most reverent bishop of Seleucia, in Isauria; who exercised sway and precedency in that synod; should be subjected to the selfsame penalty, by suffering at the hands of the holy synod deprivation of their episcopal dignity, according to the canons; whatever is consequent hereupon, being submitted to the cognizance of the emperor's sacred supremacy."
On the presentation of libels against Dioscorus at the next meeting of the council, containing charges of slander and extortion, and his refusal, for certain alleged reasons, to appear, after a twice and thrice repeated summons, the representatives of Leo, bishop of the elder Rome, made the following declaration:—"The aggressions committed by Dioscorus, lately bishop of the great city Alexandria, in violation of canonical order and the constitution of the church, have been clearly proved by the investigations at the former meeting, and the proceedings of to-day. For, not to mention the mass of his offences, he did, on his own authority, uncanonically admit to communion his partisan Eutyches, after having been canonically deprived by his own bishop, namely, our sainted father and archbishop Flavian; and this |57 before he sat in council with the other bishops at Ephesus. To them, indeed, the holy see granted pardon for the transactions of which they were not the deliberate authors, and they have hitherto continued obedient to the most holy archbishop Leo, and the body of the holy and universal synod; on which account he also admitted them into communion with him, as being his fellows in faith. Whereas Dioscorus has continued to maintain a haughty carriage, on account of those very circumstances over which he ought to have bewailed and humbled himself to the earth. Moreover, he did not even allow the epistle to be read which the blessed pope Leo had addressed to Flavian, of holy memory; and that too, notwithstanding he was repeatedly exhorted thereto by the bearers, and had promised with an oath to that effect. The result of the epistle not being read, has been to fill the most holy churches throughout the world with scandals and mischief. Notwithstanding, however, such presumption, it was our purpose to deal mercifully with him as regards his past impiety, as we had done to the other bishops, although they had not held an equal judicial authority with him. But inasmuch as he has, by his subsequent conduct, overshot his former iniquity, and has presumed to pronounce excommunication against Leo, the most holy and religious archbishop of great Rome; since, moreover, on the presentation of a paper full of grievous charges against him to the |58 holy and great synod, he refused to appear, though once, twice, and thrice canonically summoned by the bishops, pricked no doubt by his own conscience; and since he has unlawfully given reception to those who had been duly deposed by different synods; he has thus, by variously trampling upon the laws of the church, given his own verdict against himself. Wherefore Leo, the most blessed and holy archbishop of the great and elder Rome, has, by the agency of ourselves and the present synod, in conjunction with the thrice-blessed and all honoured Peter, who is the rock and basis of the Catholic church, and the foundation of the orthodox faith, deprived him of the episcopal dignity, and severed him from every priestly function. Accordingly, this holy and great synod decrees the provisions of the canons on the aforesaid Dioscorus."
After the ratification of these measures by the synod, and the transaction of some other matters, those who had been deposed together with Dioscorus, were reinstated, at the request of the synod and the assent of the imperial government; and, after some further transactions, a definition of faith was enounced in these precise words: "Our Lord Jesus Christ, while confirming the knowledge of the faith in his disciples said, 'My peace I give to you; my peace I leave to you;' to the purpose, that no one should differ from his neighbour in the doctrines of piety, but should accord in publishing the declaration of the truth." |59 After the reading of the holy Nicene creed, and also that of the hundred and fifty holy fathers, they subjoined as follows: "This wise and salutary symbol of divine grace is indeed sufficient for the perfect knowledge and confirmation of godliness; for, concerning the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, its teaching is plain and complete, and it sufficiently suggests the incarnation of the Lord to those who receive it faithfully. But since the enemies of the truth are endeavouring to subvert its doctrine by heresies of their own, and have given birth to certain empty speeches, some daring to pervert the mystery of the economy which the Lord bore for our sakes, and rejecting the term 'Mother of God,' in the case of the Virgin; others introducing a confusion and commixture of substance, and inconsiderately moulding into one the natures of the flesh and of the Godhead, and by such confusion producing the monstrous notion of passibility in the divine nature of the Only-begotten; for this reason the present great and universal holy synod, from a desire to preclude every device of theirs against the truth, and to maintain the hitherto unshaken declaration of doctrine, has determined primarily that the creed of the three hundred and eighteen holy fathers shall be indefeasible; and, on account of those who impugn the Holy Spirit, it ratifies the doctrine delivered subsequently concerning the substance of the Spirit by the hundred and fifty |60 fathers, who assembled in the imperial city, and by them promulgated universally, not as though they were supplying some defect on the part of their predecessors, but were more clearly setting forth, by expressly recorded testimony, their notion respecting the Holy Spirit, in opposition to those who endeavoured to annul His prerogative. In respect to those who have dared to corrupt the mystery of the economy, and with shameless wantonness to represent Him who was born of the holy Virgin as a mere man, the, council has adopted the synodic epistles of the blessed Cyril, pastor of the church of the Alexandrians, addressed to Nestorius and the prelates of the East, in refutation of the madness of Nestorius, and for the instruction of those who with pious zeal are desirous of being impressed with a due conception of the saving symbol. To these the council has not without reason appended, in order to the confirmation of the true doctrines, the epistle of the president of the great and elder Rome, which the most blessed and holy archbishop Leo addressed to the sainted archbishop Flavian, for the overthrow of the evil design of Eutyches; as being in agreement with the confession of the mighty Peter, and forming with it a monument of concurrent testimony against the maintainers of pernicious opinions; for it boldly confronts those who endeavour to dissever the mystery of the economy into a duality of sons; it expels from the congregation of the holy |61 rites those who presume to affirm that the Godhead of the Only-begotten is passible; and opposes those who imagine a mixture or confusion in respect of the two natures of Christ. It also ejects such as fondly fancy that the form of a servant which He assumed from our own nature, was of a heavenly or any other substance; and it anathematises those who fable a resolution into one, at their union, of two previous natures of the Lord. Following, accordingly, the holy fathers, we confess one and the same Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, and we all with one voice declare him to be at the same time perfect in Godhead, and perfect in manhood, very God, and at the same time very man, consisting of a reasonable soul and a body, being consubstantial with the Father as respects his Godhead, and at the same time con substantial with ourselves as respects his manhood; resembling us in all things, independently of sin; begotten, before the ages, of the Father, according to his Godhead, but born, in the last of the days, of Mary, the virgin and mother of God, for our sakes and for our salvation; being one and the same Jesus Christ, Son, Lord, Only-begotten, made known in two natures without confusion, without conversion, without severance, without separation, inasmuch as the difference of the natures is in no way annulled by their union, but the peculiar essence of each nature is rather preserved, and conspires in one person and one subsistence, not as though he were |62 parted or severed into two persons, but is one and the same Son, Only-begotten, Divine Word, Lord Jesus Christ, as the prophets declared concerning Him, and Christ himself has fully instructed us, and the symbol of the fathers has conveyed to us. Since, then, these matters have been defined by us with all accuracy and diligence, the holy and universal synod has determined that no one shall be at liberty to put forth another faith, whether in writing, or by framing, or devising, or teaching it to others. And that those who shall presume to frame, or publish, or teach another faith, or to communicate another symbol to those who are disposed to turn to the knowledge of the truth from heathenism or Judaism, or any other sect—that they, if they be bishops or clerks, shall suffer deprivation, the bishops of their episcopal, the clerks of their clerical office; and if monks or laics, shall be anathematised." After the reading of the formula, the emperor Marcian visited Chalcedon, and attended the synod, and, having delivered an harangue, again took his departure. Juvenalis also and Maximus arranged on mutual terms the matters relating to their own provinces, and Theodoret and Ibas were reinstated. Other matters were also mooted; an account of which, as I have already said, is subjoined to this history. It was also determined that the see of New Rome, while ranking second to that of Old Rome, should take precedence of all others. |63
CHAPTER V.
TUMULT AT ALEXANDRIA—AND AT JERUSALEM.3
IN addition to these transactions, Dioscorus is sentenced to reside at Gangra in Paphlagonia, and Proterius is appointed to the see of Alexandria by a general vote of the synod. On his taking possession of his see, a very great and intolerable tumult arose among the people, who were roused into a storm against conflicting opinions; for some, as is likely in such cases, desired the restoration of Dioscorus, while others resolutely upheld Proterius, so as to give rise to many irremediable mischiefs. Thus Priscus, the rhetorician, recounts, that he arrived at Alexandria from the Thebaid, and that he saw the populace advancing in a mass against the magistrates: that when the troops attempted to repress the tumult, they proceeded to assail them with stones, and put them to flight, and on their taking refuge in the old temple of Serapis, carried the place by assault, and committed them alive to the flames: that the emperor, when informed of these events, despatched two thousand newly levied troops, who made so favourable a passage, as to reach Alexandria on the sixth day; and that thence resulted still more alarming consequences, from the license of |64 the soldiery towards the wives and daughters of the Alexandrians: that, subsequently, the people, being assembled in the hippodrome, entreated Floras, who was the military commandant, as well as the civil governor, with such urgency as to procure terms for themselves, in the distribution of provisions, of which he had deprived them, as well as the privileges of the baths and spectacles, and all others from which, on account of their turbulence, they had been debarred: that, at his suggestion, Floras presented himself to the people, and pledged himself to that effect, and by this means stopped the sedition for a time. Nor did even the wilderness in the neighbourhood of Jerusalem preserve its tranquillity, unvisited by this commotion. For there arrived in Palestine some of the monks who had been present at the council, but were disposed to harbour designs in opposition to it; and by lamenting the betrayal of the faith, exerted themselves to fan into a flame the monastic body. And when Juvenalis, after obtaining restitution to his see, had been compelled to return to the imperial city, by the violence of the party who claimed the right to supersede and anathematise in their own province, those who, as we have already mentioned, were opposed to the acts of the council of Chalcedon, assembled in the church of the Resurrection, and appointed Theodosius, who had especially caused confusion in the council, and been the first to bring a report of its |65 proceedings, and respecting whom, at a subsequent period, the monks of Palestine alleged, in letters to Alcison, that having been convicted of malpractices in relation to his own bishop, he had been expelled from his monastery: and that at Alexandria he had impugned the conduct of Dioscorus, and, after having been severely scourged as a seditious person, had been conveyed round the city on a camel, as is usual with malefactors. To him many of the cities of Palestine made application, with a view to the ordination of bishops. Among these was Peter the Iberian; to whom was committed the episcopal helm of the city called Majumas, in the neighbourhood of Gaza. On being informed of these proceedings, Marcian, in the first place, commands Theodosius to be conveyed near his own person, and sends Juvenalis to rectify the past, with an injunction that all who had been ordained by Theodosius should be ejected. Many sad occurrences followed the arrival of Juvenalis, while either party indulged in whatever proceedings their anger suggested. Such was the device of the envious and God-hating demon in the change of a single letter, that, while in reality the one expression was completely inductive of the notion of the other, still with the generality the discrepancy between them was held to be considerable, and the ideas conveyed by them to be clearly in diametric opposition, and exclusive of each other: whereas he who confesses Christ in two natures, |66 clearly affirms Him to be from two; inasmuch as by confessing Christ at once in Godhead and manhood, he asserts His consistence from Godhead and manhood; and, on the other hand, the position of one who affirms His origin from two natures, is completely inclusive of His existence in two, inasmuch as he who affirms Christ to be from Godhead and manhood, confesses His existence in Godhead and manhood, since there is no conversion of the flesh into Godhead, nor a transition of the Godhead into flesh, from which substances arises the ineffable union. So that in this case by the expression, "from two natures," is aptly suggested the thought of the expression, "in two," and conversely; nor can there be a severance of the terms, this being an instance where a representation of the whole is afforded, not merely by its origin from component parts, but, as a further and distinct means, by its existence in them. Yet, nevertheless, persons have so taken up the idea of the marked distinction of the terms, either from a habit of thought respecting the glory of God, or by the inclination forestalling the judgment, as to be reckless of death in any shape, rather than acknowledge the real state of the case; and hence arose the occurrences which I have described. Such then was the state of these matters. |67
CHAPTER VI.
DROUGHT, FAMINE, AND PESTILENCE IN ASIA MINOR.
ABOUT the same time there was also a drought in Phrygia, Galatia, Cappadocia, and Cilicia: and, from want of ordinary necessaries, the inhabitants had recourse to unwholesome food, which further gave rise to pestilence. The change of food caused disease; excessive inflammation produced a swelling of the body, followed by loss of sight, and attended with a cough, and death took place on the third day. For a time no relief could be devised for the pestilence; but all-preserving Providence vouchsafed to the survivors a remedy for the famine, by raining down food in the unproductive year, in the same way as what was termed manna upon the Israelites; and, during the succeeding year, by willing that the fruits of the earth should be matured spontaneously. The spread of these calamities included also Palestine and innumerable other districts, making, as it were, a circuit of the earth.
CHAPTER VII.
DEATH OF THE EMPEROR VALENTINIAN.—ROME TAKEN.— SUCCESSORS OF VALENTINIAN.
DURING the progress of these events in the East, Aetius meets with a miserable end at Old Rome, and |68 Valentinian, the emperor of the West, is slain, together with Heraclius, by some of the guards of Aetius, at the instigation of Maximus, who afterwards assumed the sovereignty, and who conspired against them because Valentinian had violated his wife. This Maximus forces Eudoxia, the wife of Valentinian, into a marriage with himself; and she, justly regarding the transaction as an outrage and altogether monstrous, determined to set, as the saying is, all upon a cast, on account of the wrong she had suffered both in the person of her husband and the infringement of her liberty: for a woman, jealous of her chastity, is unscrupulous and implacable if she has suffered defilement, especially by one through whose means she has been deprived of her husband. Accordingly, she sends to Genseric, in Africa, and by considerable presents, as well as by holding out confident expectations of the future, induces him to make a sudden descent upon the Roman empire, with a promise of betraying every thing into his hands. This was accordingly done, and Rome captured. But Genseric, barbarian-like and fickle, did not maintain his fidelity even to her; but, after firing the city and making an indiscriminate pillage, he retired, taking with him Eudoxia and her two daughters, and returned to Africa. The elder daughter, Eudocia, he espouses to his own son, Huneric; but the younger, Placidia, he subsequently sends, together with her mother Eudoxia, |69 with a royal escort to Byzantium, with the view of pacifying Marcian, who was exasperated both by the burning of Rome and the outrage upon the royal ladies. Placidia, in obedience to Marcian, consents to marry Olybrius, a distinguished member of the senate, who had come to Constantinople on the capture of Rome. After Maximus, Avitus was emperor of the Romans for eight months; and on his decease by starvation, Majorian for more than a year: and after he had been treacherously murdered by Ricimer, master of the Roman armies, Severus for three years.
CHAPTER VIII.
DEATH OF THE EMPEROR MARCIAN.4 — MURDER OF PROTERIUS, BISHOP OF ALEXANDRIA. — ELECTION OF TIMOTHY, SURNAMED AELURUS (THE CAT).
DURING the reign of Severus at Rome, Marcian exchanges his earthly sovereignty by a removal to a happier state, having reigned only seven years, but leaving behind him a truly royal monument in the memories of mankind. On learning this event, the people of Alexandria renewed their feud against Proterius with still greater exasperation and excessive heat: for the populace in general are an inflammable material, and allow very trivial pretexts to foment the flame of commotion, and not in the least degree that of Alexandria, which presumes on its numbers, chiefly |70 an obscure and promiscuous rabble, and vaunts forth its impulses with excessive audacity. Accordingly, it is said that every one who is so disposed may, by employing any casual circumstance as a means of excitement, inspire the city with a frenzy of sedition, and hurry the populace in whatever direction and against whomsoever he chooses. Their general humour, however, is even of a sportive kind, as Herodotus records to have been the case with Amasis. Such, then, is the character of this people; who were, however, in all other respects by no means contemptible. The people of Alexandria, accordingly, taking advantage of the prolonged absence of Dionysius, commander of the legions, in Upper.Egypt, decree the elevation to the highest priestly grade, of Timotheus, surnamed Aelurus, who had formerly followed the monastic life, but had subsequently been admitted among the presbyters of the church of Alexandria; and, conducting him to the great church, styled that of Caesar, elect him their bishop, though Proterius was still alive and discharged the functions of his office. There were present at the election, Eusebius, president of the church of Pelusium, and Peter the Iberian, bishop of the town of Majumas, according to the account given of the transaction by the writer of the life of Peter, who also says that Proterius was not killed by the populace, but by one of the soldiers. When Dionysius, on account of the urgency of these |71 disorders, had occupied the city with the utmost dispatch, and was taking prompt measures to quench the towering conflagration of the sedition, some of the Alexandrians, at the instigation of Timotheus, according to the written report made to Leo, despatch Proterius when he appeared, by thrusting a sword through his bowels, after he had fled for refuge to the holy baptistery. Suspending the body by a cord, they displayed it to the public in the quarter called Tetrapylum, jeering and vociferating that the victim was Proterius; and, after dragging it through the whole city, committed it to the flames; not even refraining themselves from tasting his intestines, like beasts of prey, according to the account of the entire transaction contained in the petition addressed by the Egyptian bishops and the whole clergy of Alexandria to Leo, who, as has been said, was invested with the imperial power on the death of Marcian. It was couched in the following terms:—"To the pious, Christ-loving, and divinely-appointed, the victorious and triumphant Augustus Leo, the petition of all the bishops of your Egyptian diocese, and the clergy of your most dignified and holy church of Alexandria. Having been granted, by divine grace, a boon to mankind, as such you cease not to exercise, next to God, a daily providence of the common weal, Augustus, most sacred of all emperors." After some other matters, the petition proceeds: "And while undisturbed |72 peace was prevailing among the orthodox people of our country and Alexandria, Timotheus, immediately after the holy synod at Chalcedon, being at that time a presbyter, severed himself from the Catholic church and faith, together with only four or five bishops and a few monks, of those who, as well as himself, were infected with the heretical errors of Apollinaris and his followers; on account of which opinions they were then deposed by Proterius, of divine memory, and the general synod of Egypt, and duly experienced the motion of the imperial will, in the sentence of banishment." And afterwards it proceeds: "And having watched the opportunity afforded by the departure from this world to God of the emperor Marcian, of sacred memory, assuming then in blasphemous terms a bold tone of independence, and shamelessly anathematising the holy and general synod at Chalcedon, while he drew after him a mercenary and disorderly multitude, and assailed the divine canons and ecclesiastical order, the commonwealth and the laws, he intruded himself upon the holy church of God, which at that time was possessed of a pastor and teacher in the person of our most holy father and archbishop, Proterius, duly performing the ordinary rites, and offering up to Christ, the Saviour of us all, supplications in behalf of your pious sovereignty and your Christ-loving court." And presently it proceeds: "And after the interval of only one day, while Proterius, |73 beloved of God, was occupying, as usual, the episcopal residence, Timotheus, taking with him the two bishops who had been justly deposed, and the clergy who, as we have said, were condemned to banishment with them, as if he had received rightful ordination at the hands of the two, though not one of the orthodox bishops of the whole Egyptian diocese was present, as is customary on occasion of the ordinations of the bishop of the church of Alexandria—he possesses himself, as he presumed, of the archiepiscopal see, though manifestly guilty of an adulterous outrage on the church, as already having her rightful spouse in one who was performing the divine offices in her, and canonically occupied his proper throne." And further on: "The blessed man could do nothing else than give place to wrath, according to what is written, and take refuge in the venerable baptistery from the assault of those who were pursuing him to death, a place which especially inspires awe even into barbarians and savages, though ignorant of its dignity, and the grace which flows from it. Notwithstanding, however, those who were eager to carry into execution the design which Timotheus had from the first conceived, and who could not endure that his life should be protected by those undefiled precincts, neither reverenced the dignity of the place, nor yet the season (for it was the solemnity of the saving paschal feast), nor were awe-struck at the priestly office which |74 mediates between God and man; but put the blameless man to death, cruelly butchering him with six others. They then drew forth his body, covered with wounds, and having dragged it in horrid procession with unfeeling mockery through almost every part of the city, ruthlessly loaded the senseless corpse with indignity, so far as to tear it limb from limb, and not even abstain from tasting, like beasts of prey, the ilesh of him whom but just before they were supposed to have as a mediator between God and man. They then committed what remained of the body to the flames, and scattered the ashes to the winds, exceeding the utmost ferocity of wild beasts. Of all these transactions Timotheus was the guilty cause, and the skilful builder of the scheme of mischief." Zacharias, however, while treating at length of these events, is of opinion that the greater part of the circumstances thus detailed actually occurred, but through the fault of Proterius, by his instigation of serious disturbances in the city, and that these outrages were committed, not by the populace, but by some of the soldiery; grounding his opinion on a letter addressed by Timotheus to Leo. In consequence, however, of these proceedings, Stilas is sent out by the emperor to chastise them. |75
CHAPTER IX.
LETTER FROM THE EMPEROR LEO.
LEO also addresses circular letters of inquiry to the bishops throughout the empire and the most distinguished monastics, relating to the synod at Chalcedon and the ordination of Timotheus, surnamed Aelurus, accompanying them with copies of the petitions which had been presented to him on the part both of Proterius and Timotheus. The circular letters were couched in the following terms:—
A copy of the sacred epistle of the most pious emperor Leo to Anatolius, bishop of Constantinople, to the metropolitans throughout the whole world, and the other bishops.
"The emperor Caesar Leo, pious, victorious, triumphant, supreme, ever-worshipful Augustus, to the bishop Anatolius. It has ever been a subject of prayer to my piety, that all the orthodox and most holy churches, and, indeed, the cities throughout the Roman dominion, should enjoy perfect tranquillity, and that nothing should befall them to disturb their settled serenity. The events, however, which have lately happened at Alexandria, we are assured, are known to your holiness: but that you may be more fully informed respecting the entire transaction, and the |76 cause of so much tumult and confusion, we have forwarded to your sanctity copies of the petitions which the most reverent bishops and clergy of the before-mentioned city, and of the Egyptian diocese, presented to our piety against Timotheus, at the imperial city of Constantine; and, in addition, copies of the petitions presented to our serenity, at our sacred court, by persons from Alexandria on behalf of Timotheus; so that your holiness will be able distinctly to learn what have been the proceedings of the before-mentioned Timotheus, whom the people of Alexandria and their dignitaries, senators, and ship-masters request for their bishop, and what relates to the other transactions, as intimated by the tenor of the petitions, as well as regarding the synod at Chalcedon, to which these parties by no means assent, according as the matters are set forth by the petitions appended. Your reverence will accordingly forthwith cause to assemble to you all the orthodox holy bishops who are now resident in the imperial city, as also the most reverent clergy; and, after carefully investigating and testing every circumstance, considering that Alexandria is at present disturbed, and that we are most solicitous for its settlement and tranquillity, declare your opinion respecting the before-mentioned Timotheus and the synod at Chalcedon, without any fear of man, and apart from all favour or dislike; setting before your eyes only the fear of the Almighty, inasmuch as ye |77 know that ye shall give account of this matter to His pure Godhead. This we enjoin, in order that, being perfectly informed by your letters, we may be able to frame the fitting issue on the entire matter." The emperor wrote also in similar terms to the other bishops, and, as I have said, to the most distinguished among those who at that period were practising the endurance of the bare and immaterial mode of life. Among these was Simeon, who first conceived the station on the pillar, and of whom I have made mention in the former part of the history; as well as Baradatus and Jacob, the Syrians.
CHAPTER X.
REPLIES OF THE BISHOPS.—AND OF SIMEON.
ACCORDINGLY, in the first instance, Leo, bishop of the elder Rome, both wrote in defence of the synod at Chalcedon, and declared the ordination of Timotheus to be null, as having been irregularly performed. This epistle the emperor Leo dispatches to Timotheus, president of the church of Alexandria; Diomedes, the silentiary, executing the imperial commission: and Timotheus wrote in rejoinder, excepting to the synod at Chalcedon and the epistle of Leo. Of these documents copies are preserved in the collection called the Circulars: but I have omitted them, to avoid |78 encumbering the matter on hand with too great a number. The bishops, too, of the other cities, expressed their adherence to the determinations framed at Chalcedon, and unanimously condemned the ordination of Timotheus. Amphilochius alone, bishop of Side, wrote an epistle, loudly reprobating the ordination of Timotheus, but also rejecting the synod at Chalcedon. Zacharias the rhetorician has also treated of these transactions, and has inserted the epistle itself of Amphilochius in his work. Simeon, too, of holy memory, wrote two epistles on the occasion; namely, to the emperor Leo, and to Basilius, bishop of Antioch. The latter, as being brief, I insert in this my history, as follows: "To my lord, the most religious and holy servant of God, the archbishop Basilius, the sinful and humble Simeon wishes health in the Lord. Well may we now say, my lord: Blessed be God, who has not rejected our prayer, nor withdrawn his mercy from us sinners. For, on the receipt of the letters of your worthiness, I admired the zeal and piety of our sovereign, beloved of God, which he manifested and still manifests towards the holy fathers and their unshaken faith. And this gift is not from ourselves, as says the holy apostle, but from God, who, through your prayers, bestowed on him this readiness of mind." And presently he proceeds: "On this account, I also, though mean and worthless, the refuse of the monks, have conveyed to his majesty my |79 judgment respecting the creed of the six hundred and thirty holy fathers assembled at Chalcedon, firmly resolving to abide by the faith then revealed by the Holy Spirit: for if, in the midst of two or three who are gathered in His name, the Saviour is present, how could it be otherwise, than that the Holy Spirit should be throughout in the midst of so many and so distinguished holy fathers?" And afterwards he proceeds: "Wherefore be stout and courageous in the cause of true piety, as was also Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, in behalf of the children of Israel. I beg you to salute from me all the reverent clergy who are under your holiness, and the blessed and most faithful laity."
CHAPTER XI.
PUNISHMENT OF TIMOTHY.
ON these grounds Timotheus is sentenced to banishment, and Gangra is in his case also named as the place of exile. The Alexandrians then elect another Timotheus, variously surnamed Basilicus and Salofacialus. Anatolius dies, and Gennadius succeeds him in the see of the imperial city. His successor is Acacius, who had been master of the Orphan Hospital in that city. |80
CHAPTER XII.
EARTHQUAKE AT ANTIOCH.
DURING the second year of the reign of Leo, an extraordinary shock and concussion of the earth took place at Antioch, preceded by certain excesses of the populace, which reached the extreme of frenzy, and surpassed the ferocity of beasts, forming, as it were, a prelude to such a calamity. This grievous visitation occurred in the five hundred and sixth year of the free prerogatives of the city, about the fourth hour of the night, on the fourteenth day of the month Gorpiaeus, which the Romans call September, on the eve of the Lord's day, in the eleventh cycle of the indiction; and was the sixth on record after a lapse of three hundred and forty-seven years, since the earthquake under Trajan; for that occurred when the city was in the hundred and fifty-ninth year of its independence; but this, which happened in the time of Leo, in the five hundred and sixth, according to the most diligent authorities. This earthquake threw down nearly all the houses of the New City, which was very populous, and contained not a single vacant or altogether unoccupied spot, but had been highly embellished by the rival liberality of the emperors. Of the structures composing the palace, the first and |81 second were thrown down: the rest, however, remained standing, together with the adjoining baths, which, having been previously useless, were now rendered serviceable to the necessities of the city, arising from the damage of the others. It also levelled the porticoes in front of the palace and the adjacent Tetrapylum, as well as the towers of the Hippodrome, which flanked the entrances, and some of the porticoes adjoining them. In the Old City, the porticoes and dwellings entirely escaped the overthrow; but it shattered a small portion of the baths of Trajan, Severus, and Hadrian, and also laid in ruins some parts of the quarter of houses named Ostracine, together with the porticoes, and levelled what was called the Nymphaeum. All these circumstances have been minutely detailed by John the rhetorician. He says, that a thousand talents of gold were remitted to the city from the tributes by the emperor; and, besides, to individual citizens, the imposts of the houses destroyed: and that he also took measures for the restoration both of them and of the public buildings.
CHAPTER XIII.
CONFLAGRATION AT CONSTANTINOPLE.5
A SIMILAR, or even more terrible calamity, befell Constantinople, which took its rise from the quarter of |82 the city bordering on the sea, and named Bosporium. The account is, that about dusk-hour, a demon of destruction in the form of a woman, or in reality a poor woman incited by a demon, for the story is told in both ways, carried a light into the market for the purpose of buying pickled victuals, and then, having set down the light, stole away. Catching some tow, it raised a great flame, and in a moment set the apartment on fire. The conflagration, thus begun, soon consumed every thing within its reach, and afterwards continuing to spread for four days, not only over the more combustible materials, but buildings of stone, notwithstanding every effort to check it, at last destroyed the whole heart of the city from north to south, a space of five stadia in width, and fourteen in length; throughout which it left no building standing, either public or private, nor pillars nor arches of stone; but the hardest substances were as completely consumed as if they had been combustible. The ruin, at its northern extremity, which is where the docks are situated, extended from the Bosporium to the old temple of Apollo; at the southern, from the harbour of Julian as far as the houses near the oratory of the church of Unanimity; and in the centre of the city, from the forum of Constantine to the Forum Tauri, as it is called: a pitiable and loathsome spectacle; for all the most conspicuous ornaments of the city, and whatever had been embellished with |83 unrivalled magnificence, or adapted to public or private utility, had been swept together into huge heaps and impassable mounds, formed of various substances, whose former features were now so blended in one confused mass, that not even those who lived on the spot could recognise the different portions, and the place to which each had belonged.
CHAPTER XIV.
OTHER PUBLIC CALAMITIES.
ABOUT the same time, when the Scythian war was gathering against the Eastern Romans, an earthquake visited Thrace, the Hellespont, Ionia, and the islands called Cyclades; so severe as to cause a universal overthrow in Cnidus and Cos. Priscus also records the occurrence of excessive rains about Constantinople and Bithynia, which descended like torrents for three or four days; when hills were swept down to the plains, and villages carried away by the deluge: islands also were formed in the lake Boane, not far from Nicomedia, by the masses of rubbish brought down by the waters. This evil, however, was subsequent to the former. |84
CHAPTER XV.
MARRIAGE OF ZENO AND ARIADNE.
LEO bestows his daughter Ariadne on Zeno, who from his infancy had been called Aricmesius, but on his marriage assumed the former name, derived from an individual who had attained great distinction among the Isaurians. The origin of the advancement of this Zeno, and the reason why he was preferred by Leo before all others, have been set forth by Eustathius the Syrian.
CHAPTER XVI.
REIGN OF ANTHEMIUS—OF OLYBRIUS—AND OTHER WESTERN PRINCES.
IN compliance with an embassy from the Western Romans, Anthemius is sent out as emperor of Rome; to whom the late emperor Marcian had betrothed his own daughter. Basiliscus, brother to the emperor's wife Verina, is also sent out against Genseric, in command of a body of chosen troops: which transactions have been treated of with great exactness by Priscus the rhetorician; and how Leo, in repayment, as it were, for his own advancement, treacherously procures the death of Aspar, who had been the means |85 of investing him with the sovereignty, and also of his sons, Ardaburius and Patricius; on the latter of whom he had previously bestowed the title of Caesar, in order to conciliate Aspar. After the slaughter of Anthemius, in the fifth year of his reign, Olybrius is declared emperor by Ricimer; and after him appointment is made of Glycerius. Nepos possesses himself of the supreme power for five years, by the expulsion of Glycerius, whom he appoints to the bishopric of Salona, a city of Dalmatia. He is himself driven from power by Orestes, as was subsequently Romulus, surnamed Augustulus, the son of the latter, who was the last emperor of Rome, at an interval of thirteen hundred and three years from the reign of Romulus. Odoacer next sways the affairs of the Romans, declining the imperial title, but assuming that of king.
CHAPTER XVII.
DEATH OF THE EMPEROR LEO.6
ABOUT the same time the emperor Leo, at Byzantium, departs his sovereignty, after having swayed it for seventeen years, and appointed to the empire Leo, the infant son of his daughter Ariadne and Zeno. Zeno then assumes the purple, being aided by the favour of Verina, the wife of Leo, towards her son-in-law. On the death of the child, which shortly |86 followed, Zeno continued in sole possession of the sovereignty. The transactions which originated with him, or were directed against him, and whatever else befell him, the sequel shall detail, with the aid of the Superior Power.
The proceedings of the synod at Chalcedon are here given in a compendious form.
CHAPTER XVIII.
EPITOME OF THE ACTS OF THE COUNCIL OF CHALCEDON.
PASCHASINUS and Lucentius, bishops, and Boniface, a presbyter, filled the place of Leo, archpriest of the elder Rome; there being present Anatolius president of the church of Constantinople, Dioscorus bishop of Alexandria, Maximus of Antioch, and Juvenalis of Jerusalem, and with them their associate bishops; on whom attended also those who held the highest rank in the most excellent senate. To the latter the representatives of Leo alleged, that Dioscorus ought not to be seated with themselves, for such were their instructions from Leo; and that if this should be allowed, they would retire from the church. In reply to the question of the senators, what were the charges against Dioscorus, they stated, that he ought himself to render an |87 account of his own decision, since he had unduly assumed the character of a judge, without being authorised by the bishop of Rome. After this statement had been made, and Dioscorus stood in the midst, according to a decision of the senate, Eusebius, bishop of Dorylaeum, demanded, in the following words, that the petition should be read which he had presented to the sovereign power: "I have been wronged by Dioscorus; the faith has been wronged; Flavian the bishop was murdered, and together with myself unjustly deposed by him. Give directions that my petition be read." On its being so ruled, the petition was read, couched in the following terms: "The petition of Eusebius, the very humble bishop of Dorylaeum, in behalf of himself and the sainted Flavian, formerly bishop of Constantinople. It is the aim of your majesty to exercise a providential care of all your subjects, and stretch forth a protecting hand to all who are suffering wrong, and to those especially who are invested with the priesthood; for by this means service is rendered to God, from whom you have re ceived the bestowal of supremacy and power over all regions under the sun. Inasmuch, then, as the Christian faith and we have suffered many outrages at the hands of Dioscorus, the most reverent bishop of the great city of the Alexandrians, we address ourselves to your piety in pursuance of our rights. The circumstances of the case are as follow:—At the synod |88 lately held at the metropolitan city of the Ephesians— would that it had never met, nor the world been thereby filled with mischiefs and tumult—the excellent Dioscorus, regarding neither the principle of justice nor the fear of God, sharing also in the opinions and feelings of the visionary and heretical Eutyches, though unsuspected by the multitude of being such as he afterwards shewed himself, took occasion of the charge advanced by me against his fellow in doctrine, Eutyches, and the decision given by the sainted bishop Flavian, and having gathered a disorderly rabble, and procured an overbearing influence by bribes, made havoc as far as lay in his power, of the pious religion of the orthodox, and established the erroneous doctrine of Eutyches the monk, which had from the first been repudiated by the holy fathers. Since, then, his aggressions against the Christian faith and us are of no trifling magnitude, we beseech and supplicate your majesty to issue your commands to the same most reverent bishop Dioscorus, to defend himself against our allegations; namely, when the record of the acts which Dioscorus procured against us, shall be read before the holy synod; on the ground of which we are able to shew, that he is estranged from the orthodox faith, that he strengthened a heresy utterly impious, that he wrongfully deposed and has cruelly outraged us. And this we will do on the issuing of your divine and revered |89 mandates to the holy and universal synod of the bishops, highly beloved of God, to the effect, that they should give a formal hearing to the matters which concern both us and the before-mentioned Dioscorus, and refer all the transactions to the decision of your piety, as shall seem fit to your immortal supremacy. If we obtain this our request, we shall ever pray for your everlasting rule, most divine sovereigns."
At the joint request of Dioscorus and Eusebius, the transactions of the second synod of Ephesus were publicly read; from which it appeared that the epistle of Leo had not obtained a reading, and that, too, when mention of the subject had been twice started. Dioscorus, being called upon to state the reason of this, said expressly that he had twice proposed that it should be done; and he then required that Juvenalis, bishop of Jerusalem, and Thalassius, bishop of Caesarea, metropolis of Cappadocia Prima, should explain the circumstances, since they shared the presidency with himself. Juvenalis accordingly said, that the reading of a sacred rescript, having precedency, had, at his decision, been interposed, and that no one had subsequently mentioned the epistle. Thalassius said that he had not opposed the reading, nor had he sufficient authority to enable him singly to signify that it should proceed. The reading of the transactions was then proceeded with; and on some of the bishops excepting to certain passages as forgeries, Stephen, bishop of |90 Ephesus, being asked which of his notaries were copyists in this place, named Julian, afterwards bishop of Lebedus, and Crispinus; but said that the notaries of Dioscorus would not allow them to act, but seized their fingers, so that they were in danger of most grievous treatment. He also affirmed, that on one and the same day he subscribed to the deposition of Flavian. To this statement, Acacius, bishop of Ariarathia, added, that they had all subscribed a blank paper by force and compulsion, being beset with innumerable evils, and surrounded by soldiers with deadly weapons.
Again, on the reading of another expression, Theodore, bishop of Claudiopolis, said that no one had uttered the words. And as the reading was thus proceeding, on the occurrence of a passage to the effect that Eutyches expressed his disapproval of those who affirmed that the flesh of our God and Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ had descended from heaven, the acts testify that Eusebius, upon this, asserted that Eutyches had discarded indeed the term "from heaven," but had not proceeded to say from whence; and that Diogenes, bishop of Cyzicus, then urged him with the demand, "Tell us from whence;" but that further than this they were not allowed to press the question. The acts then shew:—that Basil, bishop of Seleucia, in Isauria, said, "I worship our one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the only Divine Word, |91 manifested after the incarnation and union in two natures;"—that the Egyptians clamoured against this, "Let no one part the indivisible One; it is not proper to call the one Son two;" and that the Orientals exclaimed, "Anathema to him that parts! anathema to him that divides!"—that Eutyches was asked, whether he affirmed two natures in Christ; to which he replied, that he held Christ to have been from two natures before the union, but that after the union there was only one;—that Basil said, that unless he maintained two natures without severance and without confusion after the union, he maintained a confusion and commixture; but, notwithstanding, if he would add the terms "incarnate," and "invested with humanity," and should understand the incarnation and the assumption of humanity in the same sense as Cyril, he affirmed the same thing as themselves; for the Godhead derived from the Father was one thing, and humanity from His mother was another.
On the parties being asked why they had subscribed the deposition of Flavian, the acts shew that the Orientals exclaimed, "We have all erred; we all intreat pardon." Again, as the reading proceeded, they shew that the bishops were asked why, when Eusebius wished to enter the council, they did not allow him. To this Dioscorus replied, that Elpidius presented a commonitorium, and solemnly affirmed that the emperor Theodosius had given command that |92 Eusebius should not be admitted. The acts shew that Juvenalis also gave the same answer. Thalassius, however, said that authority in the matter did not rest with himself. These replies were disallowed by the magistrates, on the ground that such excuses were insufficient when the faith was at issue: upon which Dioscorus recriminated; "In what respect does the presence of Theodoret at this time accord with the observance of the canons?'' The senators rejoined, that Theodoret had been admitted in the character of an accuser; but Dioscorus signified, that he was sitting in the position of a bishop. The senators again said, that Eusebius and Theodoret occupied the position of accusers, as Dioscorus himself that of an accused person.
The entire transactions of the second synod at Ephesus having been accordingly read, and, in like manner, the sentence against Flavian and Eusebius, as far as the place where Hilary had declared a protest, the Oriental bishops and their party exclaimed, "Anathema to Dioscorus: Christ has at this moment deposed Dioscorus. Flavian was deposed by Dioscorus. Holy Lord, do thou avenge him! Orthodox sovereign, do thou avenge him! Many be the years of Leo! Many be the years of the patriarch!" When the sequel of the document had been read, shewing that all the assembled bishops had assented to the deposition of Flavian, the most illustrious magistrates |93 ruled as follows: "Concerning the orthodox and catholic faith, we are clearly of opinion that a more accurate investigation should be made in a more complete assemblage of the synod to-morrow. But since it appears that Flavian, of pious memory, and Eusebius, the most reverent bishop of Dorylaeum, were not in error concerning the faith, but were unjustly deposed, both from the examination of the acts and decrees, and from the present confession of those who presided in the synod, that themselves were in error, and the deposition was null; it seems to us, according to the good pleasure of God, to be just, with the approval of our most divine and pious lord, that Dioscorus, the most reverent bishop of Alexandria; Juvenalis, the most reverent bishop of Jerusalem; Thalassius, the most reverent bishop of Caesarea; Eusebius, the most reverent bishop of Ancyra; Eustathius, the most reverent bishop of Berytus; and Basil, the most reverent bishop of Seleucia, in Isauria, should be subjected to the same penalty, by being deprived, through this holy synod, in accordance; with the canons, of the episcopal dignity; with a reference of whatever is consequent, to the imperial supremacy." On this the Orientals exclaimed, "This is a just decision;" and the Illyrian bishops, "We were all in error; let us all be deemed deserving of pardon." When the Orientals had again exclaimed, "This is a just verdict: Christ has deposed the murderer: Christ |94 has avenged the martyrs!" the senators ruled to the effect, that each of the assembled bishops should severally put forth his own formulary of faith, under the assurance that the belief of the most divine emperor was in accordance with the exposition of the three hundred fathers at Nicaea, and of the hundred and fifty at Constantinople; and with the epistles of the holy fathers, Gregory, Basil, Hilary, Athanasius, and Ambrose, as well as the two of Cyril, which were made public in the first synod at Ephesus; inasmuch as upon these grounds Leo, the most reverent bishop of the Elder Rome, had deposed Eutyches. In this manner was closed the present meeting of the council.
At the next, composed of the most holy bishops alone, Eusebius presented libels in behalf of himself and Flavian, in which he objected to Dioscorus, that he held the same opinions as Eutyches, and had deprived themselves of the priesthood. He further charged him with inserting in the transactions expressions which were not uttered in the synod, and having procured their subscription to a blank paper. He petitioned that the entire acts of the second synod at Ephesus should be annulled by vote of those who were now assembled; that themselves should retain their priesthood; and that foul tenet be anathematised.
After the reading of this document, he also required that his adversary should be present. When this |95 had been ruled in the affirmative, Aetius, archdeacon and primicerius of the notaries, stated that he had proceeded to Dioscorus, as also to the others; but that he said he was not permitted by the persons on guard to appear. It was then decided that Dioscorus should be sought in front of the place of meeting; and, on his not being found, Anatolius, bishop of Constantinople, ruled that he ought to be summoned, and be present before the synod. This course having been adopted, the delegates, on their return, said that he had replied: "I am under restraint. Let these say whether they leave me free to proceed thither;" and to their intimation that they were deputed to himself, and not to the civil powers, his answer was stated to be: "I am ready to proceed to the holy and universal synod, but I am prevented." To this statement Himerius added, that the Assistant of the Master of the Sacred Offices had met them on their return, in company with whom the bishops had again visited Dioscorus, and that he had taken some notes of what then passed. These were then read, and set forth the precise words of Dioscorus, as follows: "Upon calm reflection, and due consideration of my interest, I thus reply. Whereas, at the former meeting of the synod, the most illustrious magistrates ruled upon many several points, and I am now summoned to a second, having for its object a modification of the preceding matters; I pray that the most illustrious magistrates |96 who attended on the former occasion, and the sacred senate, should do so on the present also, in order that the same points may be again debated." The acts shew that Acacius then replied in the following words: "The great and holy synod, in requiring the presence of your holiness, has not in view a modification of what was transacted in the presence of the most illustrious magistrates and the sacred senate; but it has deputed us merely that you should have a place in the meeting, and that your holiness should not be wanting to it." Dioscorus replied, according to the acts, "You have just told me that Eusebius had presented libels. I pray that the matters touching myself may be again sifted in the presence of the magistrates and the senate."
Then follow other similar matters. Afterwards, persons were again sent with a commission to urge Dioscorus to appear; who, on their return, said that they had taken notes of his words. From these it appears that he said: "I have already signified to your piety, both that I am suffering from sickness, and that I demand that the most illustrious magistrates and the sacred senate should also on the present occasion attend the investigation of the matters at issue. Since, however, my sickness has increased, on this ground I am withholding my attendance." Cecropius, then, as appears from the acts, intimated to Dioscorus, that but a short time before he had made |97 no mention of sickness, and, accordingly, he ought to satisfy the requisitions of the canons. To whom Dioscorus rejoined: "I have said once for all, that the magistrates ought to be present." Then Rufinus, bishop of Samosata, told him that the matters mooted were under canonical regulation, and that on his appearance he would be at liberty to make whatever statements he chose. To the enquiry of Dioscorus, whether Juvenalis, Thalassius, and Eustathius were present, he replied that this was nothing to the purpose. The acts shew that Dioscorus said in answer, that he prayed the Christ-loving emperor to the effect that the magistrates should be present, and also those who had acted as judges in conjunction with himself. To this the deputies rejoined, that Eusebius accused him only, and there was accordingly no occasion that all should be present. Dioscorus replied, that the others who had acted with him ought to be present, for the suit of Eusebius did not affect himself individually, but rested in fact upon a judgment in which they had all united. When the deputies still insisted upon this point, Dioscorus summarily replied: "What I have said, I have said once for all; and I have now nothing further to say."
Upon this report, Eusebius stated that his charge was against Dioscorus only, and against no other person; and he required that he should be summoned a third time. Aetius then, in continuance, informed |98 them that certain persons from Alexandria, professing to be clerks, together with several laymen, had lately presented libels against Dioscorus, and, standing outside, were now invoking the synod. When, accordingly, in the first place Theodoras, a deacon of the holy church at Alexandria, had presented libels, and afterwards Ischyrion, a deacon, Athanasius, a presbyter, and nephew of Cyril, and also Sophronius, in which they charged Dioscorus with blasphemies, offences against the person, and violent seizures of money; a third summons was issued urging him to attend. Those who were accordingly selected for this service, on their return, reported Dioscorus to have said: "I have already sufficiently informed your piety on this point, and cannot add any thing further." Since Dioscorus had persisted in the same reply, while the delegates continued to press him, the bishop Paschasinus said: "At length, after being summoned a third time, Dioscorus has not appeared:" and he then asked what treatment he deserved. To this, when the bishops had replied that he had rendered himself obnoxious to the canons, and Proterius, bishop of Smyrna, had observed, that when Flavian had been murdered, no suitable measures had been taken with respect to him; the representatives of Leo, bishop of the elder Rome, made a declaration as follows: — —"The aggressions committed by Dioscorus, lately bishop of the great city Alexandria, in violation |99 of canonical order and the constitution of the church, have been clearly proved by the investigations at the former meeting, and the proceedings of to-day. For, not to mention the mass of his offences, he did, on his own authority, uncanonically admit to communion his partisan Eutyches, after having been canonically deprived by his own bishop, namely, our sainted father and archbishop Flavian; and this before he sat in council with the other bishops at Ephesus. To them, indeed, the holy see granted pardon for the transactions of which they were not the deliberate authors, and they have hitherto continued obedient to the most holy archbishop Leo, and the body of the holy and universal synod; on which account he also admitted them into communion with him, as being his fellows in faith. Whereas Dioscorus has continued to maintain a haughty carriage, on account of those very circumstances over which he ought to have bewailed, and humbled himself to the earth. Moreover, he did not even allow the epistle to be read which the blessed pope Leo had addressed to Flavian, of holy memory; and that too, notwithstanding he was repeatedly exhorted thereto by the bearers, and had promised with an oath to that effect. The result of the epistle not being rend, has been to fill the most holy churches throughout the world with scandals and mischief. Notwithstanding, however, such presumption, it was our purpose to deal mercifully with him |100 as regards his past impiety, as we had done with the other bishops, although they had not held an equal judicial authority with him. But inasmuch as he has, by his subsequent conduct, overshot his former iniquity, and has presumed to pronounce excommunication against Leo, the most holy and religious archbishop of great Rome; since, moreover, on the presentation of a paper full of grievous charges against him to the holy and great synod, he refused to appear, though once, twice, and thrice canonically summoned by the bishops, pricked no doubt by his own conscience; and since he has unlawfully given reception to those who had been duly deposed by different synods; he has thus, by variously trampling upon the laws of the church, given his own verdict against himself. Wherefore Leo, the most blessed and holy archbishop of the great and elder Rome, has, by the agency of ourselves and the present synod, in conjunction with the thrice-blessed and all honoured Peter, who is the rock and basis of the Catholic church, and the foundation of the orthodox faith, deprived him of the episcopal dignity, and severed him from every priestly function. Accordingly, this holy and great synod decrees the provisions of the canons on the aforesaid Dioscorus."
After the ratification of this proceeding by Anatolius and Maximus, and by the other bishops, with the exception of those who had been deposed together with Dioscorus by the senate, a relation of the matter |101 was addressed to Marcian by the synod, and the instrument of deposition was transmitted to Dioscorus, to the following effect: "On account of contempt of the sacred canons, and thy contumacy regarding this holy and universal synod, inasmuch as, in addition to the other offences of which thou hast been convicted, thou didst not appear, even when summoned the third time by this great and holy synod, according to the sacred canons, in order to reply to the charges made against thee; know then that thou hast been deposed from thy bishoprick, on the thirteenth day of this present month, October, by the holy and universal synod, and deprived of all ecclesiastical rank." After a letter had been written to the bishops of the most holy church at Alexandria on this subject, and an edict had been framed against Dioscorus, the proceedings of this meeting were closed.
After the business of the preceding meeting had terminated in this manner, the members of the synod, again assembling, replied to the inquiry of the magistrates, who desired to be informed respecting the orthodox doctrine, that there was no need that any further formulary should be framed, now that the matter relating to Eutyches had been brought to a close, and had received a conclusive determination at the hands of the Roman bishop, with the further accordance of all parties. After the bishops had with one voice exclaimed, that they all held the same |102 language, and the magistrates had ruled that each patriarch, selecting one or two persons of his own diocese, should come forward into the midst of the council in order to a declaration of their several opinions; Florentius, bishop of Sardis, prayed a respite, so that they might approach the truth with due deliberation: and Cecropius, bishop of Sebastopolis, spoke as follows. "The faith has been well set forth by the three hundred and eighteen holy fathers, and has been confirmed by the holy fathers, Athanasius, Cyril, Celestine, Hilary, Basil, Gregory, and again, on the present occasion, by the most holy Leo. We accordingly require that the words both of the three hundred and eighteen holy fathers and of the most holy Leo be now read." At the conclusion of the reading the whole synod exclaimed, "This is the faith of the orthodox; thus we all believe; thus does the Pope Leo believe; thus did Cyril believe; thus has the Pope expounded."
Another interlocution was then issued, that the form set forth by the hundred and fifty fathers should also be read: which was accordingly done; and the members of the synod exclaimed, "This is the faith of all; this is the faith of the orthodox; thus do we all believe!"
Then Aetius, the archdeacon, said that he held in his hand the epistle of the divine Cyril to Nestorius, which all who were assembled at Ephesus had ratified |103 by their individual subscriptions; as also another epistle of the same Cyril addressed to John of Antioch, which had itself also been confirmed. These he earnestly prayed might be read. Agreeably with an interlocution on the point, both were then read; a portion of the former being precisely as follows. "Cyril to our most reverent fellow minister Nestorius. Certain persons, as I am informed, treat my rebuke with levity in the presence of your holiness, and that, too, repeatedly, taking especial occasion for that purpose of the meetings of the authorities; perhaps also with the idea of gratifying your own ears." Afterwards it proceeds. "The declaration, then, of the holy and great synod was this: that the only begotten Son, begotten naturally of God the Father, very God of very God, light of light, by whose agency the Father made all things, descended, was incarnate, assumed humanity, suffered, rose again on the third day, ascended into heaven. This declaration we, too, ought to follow, carefully considering what is signified by the expression, that the Divine Word was incarnate and assumed humanity. For we do not affirm that the nature of the Word by undergoing a change became flesh, nor yet was even converted into a complete human being, consisting of soul and body; but this we rather maintain, that the Word, by uniting personally with himself flesh, animated by a rational soul, became man in an ineffable and incomprehensible |104 manner, and bore the title of the Son of Man, not in respect of mere will or pleasure, nor even, as it were, in an assumption of person merely; and, further, that the natures which conspired to the true unity, were different, but from both is one Christ and Son; not as though the difference of the natures had been done away for the sake of the union, but they had rather consummated for us the one Lord and Christ and Son, from both the Godhead and the manhood, by their ineffable and mysterious coalition for unity." And presently the epistle proceeds. "But since, for our sakes and for our salvation, having personally united humanity with himself, he came forth from a woman; in this respect he is said also to have been born carnally. For he was not born in the first instance an ordinary man of the holy Virgin, and then the Word descended upon him: but the Word, having been united from the very womb, is said to have undergone a carnal nativity, as it were, by an assumption of the nativity of his own flesh. In this manner we say that He suffered and rose again; not as though the Word of God had endured, as regards his own nature, stripes or piercings of nails, or the other wounds, for the Deity is impassible, as being incorporeal. Since, however, his own body underwent these circumstances, Himself is said, on the other hand, to have suffered them on our behalf, inasmuch as the impassible being was in the suffering body." |105
The greater part of the other epistle has been inserted in the preceding portion of this history. It contains, however, a passage to the following effect, which John, bishop of Antioch wrote, and Cyril entirely approved. "We confess the holy Virgin to be the Mother of God, because from her the Divine Word was incarnate and assumed humanity, and from the very conception united with himself the temple which was derived from her. With respect, however, to the evangelical and apostolical language concerning our Lord, we know that the expressions of the divinely inspired men are sometimes comprehensive, as in respect of a single person; sometimes distinctive, as in respect of two natures; and that they deliver such as are of divine import, in reference to the Godhead of Christ, and those which are humble, in reference to His manhood." Cyril then subjoins the following words:—"On reading these your sacred expressions, we find that we ourselves hold the same opinion: for there is one Lord, one faith, one baptism. We accordingly glorify God, the Saviour of all, rejoicing mutually, because both our churches and yours hold a faith which is in accordance with the inspired scriptures, and the tradition of our holy fathers."
After the reading of these epistles, the members of the synod exclaimed in these words: "Thus do we all believe; thus does the Pope Leo believe. Anathema to him that divides and to him that confounds! |106 This is the faith of Leo the archbishop. Thus does Leo believe. Thus do Leo and Anatolius believe. Thus do we all believe. As Cyril believed, so do we. Eternal be the memory of Cyril! Agreeably with the epistles of Cyril do we also think. Thus did we believe; thus do we now believe. Leo the archbishop thus thinks, thus believes, thus has written."
An interlocution having been given to that effect, the epistle of Leo was also read, in a translation, and is inserted in the acts; the bishops at its conclusion exclaiming, "This is the faith of the fathers: this is the faith of the Apostles. Thus do we all believe: thus do the orthodox believe. Anathema to him who does not thus believe! Peter has uttered these words through Leo. Thus have the Apostles taught. Leo has taught truly and piously: thus has Cyril taught. The teaching of Leo and Cyril is the same. Anathema to him who does not thus believe! This is the true faith. Thus do the orthodox think. This is the faith of the fathers. Why was not this read at Ephesus? This did Dioscorus withhold."
It is contained in the acts that, when the bishops of Illyria and Palestine had expressed some hesitation, after the following passage of the epistle had been read: "In order to the discharge of the debt of our natural state, the divine nature was united to the passible, that one and the same person, the man Christ Jesus, being the mediator between God and man, |107 might be enabled from the one part to die, but incapable of decease from the other, such being the process adapted to our cure;"—that upon this Aetius, archdeacon of the most holy church of Constantinople, produced a passage from Cyril to the following purport: "Since, however, His own body by the grace of God, as says the Apostle Paul, tasted death for every man, Himself is said to have suffered the death on our behalf; not that he experienced death to the extent of his own nature, for it would be madness to say or think this, but because, as I said before, his flesh tasted death." Again, when the bishops of Illyria and Palestine had expressed their hesitation at the following passage of the epistle of Leo:—"For there operates in each form its peculiar property, in union with what belongs to the other; the Word working that which pertains to the Word, and the body discharging that which pertains to the body; and the one shines forth by the miracles, the other was subjected to the insults;" upon this the said Aetius read a passage of Cyril as follows:—"The rest of the expressions are especially appropriate to deity; others, again, are equally suited to manhood; and some hold, as it were, an intermediate place, presenting the Son of God as being God and man at the same time." Afterwards, when the same bishops hesitated at another part of the epistle of Leo, which is as follows:—"Although in our Lord Jesus Christ there is altogether one person, of God and man, |108 yet the one part from which was derived to the other a community of ignominy, is distinct from that from which proceeded a community of glory; for from us was derived the manhood, which is inferior to the Father, and from the Father the Godhead, which partakes equality with the Father;" Theodoret said, to adjust the point, that the blessed Cyril had also expressed himself thus:—"That He both became man, and at the same time did not lay aside His proper nature; for the latter continued as before, though dwelling in what was different from it; namely, the divine nature in conjunction with humanity." Afterwards, when the illustrious magistrates asked whether any one still hesitated, all replied that they no longer entertained any doubt.
Atticus, bishop of Nicopolis, then begged a respite of a few days, in order that a formulary might be framed of the matters which were approved by God and the holy fathers. He also prayed that they might have the epistle which was addressed by Cyril to Nestorius, in which he exhorts him to assent to his twelve chapters. All expressed their concurrence in these requests; and when the magistrates had ruled that a respite of five days should be allowed, in order to their assembling with Anatolius, president of Constantinople, all the bishops signified their approval, saying, "Thus do we believe, thus do we all believe. Not one of us hesitates. We have all subscribed." Upon |109 this it was ruled as follows:—"There is no necessity that you should all assemble; since, however, it is reasonable that the minds of those who have hesitated should be confirmed, let the most reverent bishop Anatolius select from among the subscribers whomsoever he may deem proper for the information of those who have doubted." Upon this the members of the synod proceeded to exclaim, "We intreat for the fathers. The fathers to the synod. Those who accord with Leo to the synod. Our words to the emperor. Our prayers to the orthodox sovereign. Our prayers to Augusta. We have all erred. Let indulgence be granted to all." Upon this, those who belonged to the church of Constantinople cried out, "But few are exclaiming. The synod is not speaking." Then the Orientals shouted, "The Egyptian to exile!" And the Illyrians, "We entreat compassion upon all;" and again the Orientals, "The Egyptian to exile!" While the Illyrians persisted in their prayer, the Constantinopolitan clergy shouted, "Dioscorus to exile! The Egyptian to exile! The heretic to exile!" and again the Illyrians and their party, "We have all erred. Grant indulgence to all. Dioscorus to the synod! Dioscorus to the churches!" After further proceedings of the same kind, the business of this meeting was brought to a close.
At the next meeting, when the senators had ruled that the forms which had been already enacted should |110 be read, Constantine, the secretary, read from a paper, as follows: "Concerning the orthodox and catholic faith, we are agreed that a more exact inquiry should take place before a fuller assembly of the council, at its next meeting. But inasmuch as it has been shewn, from examination of the acts and decrees, and from the oral testimony of the presidents of that synod, who admit that themselves were in error, and the deposition was void, that Flavian, of pious memory, and the most reverent bishop Eusebius, were convicted of no error concerning the faith, and were wrongfully deposed, it seems to us, according to God's good pleasure, to be a just proceeding, if approved by our most divine and pious sovereign, that Dioscorus, the most reverent bishop of Alexandria; Juvenalis, the most reverent bishop of Jerusalem; Thalassius, the most reverent bishop of Caesarea, in Cappadocia; Eusebius, the most reverent bishop of Ancyra; Eustathius, the most reverent bishop of Berytus; and Basilius, the most reverent bishop of Seleucia, in Isauria; who exercised sway and precedency in that synod; should be subjected to the selfsame penalty, by suffering at the hands of the holy synod deprivation of their episcopal dignity, according to the canons; whatever is consequent hereupon, being submitted to the cognizance of the emperor's sacred supremacy."
After several other readings, the assembled bishops, being asked whether the letters of Leo accorded with |111 the faith of the three hundred and eighteen holy fathers who met at Nicaea, and that of the hundred and fifty in the imperial city, Anatolius, president of Constantinople, and all who were present, replied, that the epistle of Leo accorded with the before-mentioned fathers; and he further subscribed the epistle. At this stage of the proceedings the members of the synod exclaimed: "We all concur: we all approve: we all believe alike: we all hold the same sentiments: thus do we all believe. The fathers to the synod! the subscribers to the synod! Many be the years of the emperor! Many be the years of Augusta! The fathers to the synod: those who agree with us in faith, to the synod! Many be the years of the emperor! Those who agree with us in opinion, to the synod! Many be the years of the emperor! We have all subscribed. As Leo thinks, so do we." An interlocution was then pronounced to the following effect. "We have referred these matters to our most sacred and pious lord, and are now waiting the answer of his piety. But your reverence will give account to God concerning Dioscorus, who has been deposed by you without the knowledge of our most sacred sovereign and ourselves, and concerning the five for whom you are now making entreaty, and concerning all the acts of the synod." They then expressed their approval, saying, "God has deposed Dioscorus; Dioscorus has been justly deposed. Christ has deposed Dioscorus." |112 Afterwards, on the presentation of a response from Marcian, leaving the case of those who had been deposed to the decision of the bishops, as the interlocution of the magistrates had set forth; they made entreaty in the following words. "We pray that they may be admitted:—our fellows in doctrine, to the synod: our fellows in opinion, to the synod: the subscribers to the epistle of Leo, to the synod." They were accordingly, by an interlocution to that effect, numbered with the members of the synod.
Then were read the petitions presented from the Egyptian diocese to the emperor Marcian; which, in addition to other matters, contain the following. "We agree in opinion with what the three hundred and eighteen fathers at Nicaea, and the blessed Athanasius, and the sainted Cyril have set forth anathematising every heresy, both those of Arius, of Eunomius, of Manes, of Nestorius, and that of those who say, that the flesh of our Lord was derived from heaven and not from the holy Mother of God and ever-virgin Mary, in like manner with ourselves, with the exception of sin." Upon this, the whole synod exclaimed: "Why have they not anathematised the doctrine of Eutyches? Let them subscribe the epistle of Leo, anathematising Eutyches and his doctrines. Let them concur with the epistle of Leo. They intend to jeer us, and be gone." In reply, the bishops from Egypt stated, that the Egyptian bishops were numerous, |113 and that they themselves could not assume to represent those who were absent: and they prayed the synod to await their archbishop, that they might be guided by his judgment, as usage required: for if they should do any thing before the appointment of their head, the whole diocese would assail them. After many intreaties on this subject, which were stoutly resisted by the synod, it was ruled, that a respite should be granted to the bishops from Egypt, until their archbishop should be ordained.
Then petitions were presented from certain monks; the purport of which was, that they should not be compelled to subscribe certain papers, before the synod which the emperor hud summoned should have assembled, and its determinations be made known. After these had been read, Diogenes, bishop of Cyzicus, stated that Barsumas, one of the persons present, had been the murderer of Flavian, for he had exclaimed "Slay him!" and, though not a party to the petition, had improperly obtained admission. Upon this all the bishops exclaimed: "Barsumas has desolated all Syria; he has let loose upon us a thousand monks." After an interlocution, to the effect that the assembled monks should await the determination of the synod, they demanded that the libels which they had drawn up, should be read; one requisition therein contained being, that Dioscorus and the bishops of his party should be present in the synod. In reply to which all |114 the bishops exclaimed: "Anathema to Dioscorus. Christ has deposed Dioscorus! Cast out such persons. Away with outrage; away with violence from the synod! Our words to the emperor! Away with outrage; away with infamy from the synod!" After a repetition of these exclamations, it was ruled that the remainder of the libels should be read: wherein it was affirmed, that the deposition of Dioscorus was improper; that, when a matter of faith was before the council, he ought to share in its deliberations, and that, if this were not granted, they would shake their garments from the communion of the assembled bishops. In reference to these expressions, Aetius, the archdeacon, read a canon against those who separate themselves. Again, when, at the questions of the most holy bishops, the monks manifested disagreement, and afterwards at an interrogation put by Aetius in the name of the synod, some anathematised Nestorius and Eutyches, while others declined; it was ruled by the magistrates, that the petitions of Faustus and the other monks should be read: which prayed the emperor no longer to sanction the monks who had lately opposed the orthodox doctrines. Whereupon Dorotheus, a monk, termed Eutyches orthodox: in reply to whom various doctrinal points were started by the magistrates.
At the fifth meeting, the magistrates ruled that the determinations relating to the faith should be |115 published; and Asclepiades, a deacon of Constantinople, read a formulary, which it was resolved should not be inserted in the acts. Some dissented from it, but the majority approved it: and on the utterance of counter exclamations, the magistrates said, that Dioscorus affirmed that he had deposed Flavian on his asserting two natures, whereas the formulary contained the expression "from two natures." To this Anatolius replied, that Dioscorus had not been deposed on a point of faith, but because he had excommunicated Leo, and, after having been thrice summoned, did not appear. The magistrates then required that the substance of the epistle of Leo should be inserted in the formulary; but since the bishops objected, and maintained that no other formulary could be framed, inasmuch as a complete one already existed, a relation was made to the emperor; who commanded that six of the Oriental bishops, three from Pontus, three from Asia, three from Thrace, and three from Illyria, should, together with Anatolius and the vicars of Rome, assemble in the sanctuary of the martyr, and rightly frame the rule of faith, or put forth each his several declaration of faith; or be assured that the synod must be held in the West. On this, being required to state whether they followed Dioscorus when affirming that Christ was from two natures; or Leo, that there were two natures in Christ; they exclaimed that they agreed with Leo, and that those who contradicted, |116 were Eutychians. The magistrates then said, that, in accordance with the language of Leo, a clause should be added, to the effect that there were two natures united in Christ, without change, or severance, or confusion; and they entered the sanctuary of the holy martyr Euphemia, in company with Anatolius and the vicars of Leo, as well as Maximus of Antioch, Juvenalis of Jerusalem, Thalassius of Caesarea in Cappadocia, and others; and on their return, the formulary of faith was read, as follows. "Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ," and so forth, as it has been inserted in a previous part of the history. When all had exclaimed, "This is the faith of the fathers: let the metropolitans at once subscribe! This is the faith of the Apostles: by this are we all guided: thus do we all think!" the magistrates ruled, that the formulary, thus framed by the fathers and approved by all, should be referred to the imperial supremacy.
At the sixth meeting Marcian was present, and harangued the bishops on the subject of unanimity. At the command of the emperor, the formulary was read by Aetius, archdeacon of Constantinople, and all subscribed it. The emperor then asked, whether the formulary had been composed with the approbation of all: upon which all declared their confirmation of it by expressions of approval. Again the emperor twice addressed them, and all applauded. At the emperor's suggestion certain canons were enacted, and |117 metropolitan rank was conferred upon Chalcedon. The emperor further commanded the bishops to remain three or four days; that each one should move the synod on whatever matters he might choose, in the presence of the magistrates; and such as were judged proper, should take effect. The meeting was then closed.
Another was held, at which canons were enacted; and at the next, Juvenalis and Maximus came to an agreement that Antioch should have for its province the two Phoenicias and Arabia; and Jerusalem, the three Palestines; which was ratified by an interlocution of the magistrates and bishops.
At the ninth meeting, the case of Theodoret was mooted. He anathematised Nestorius, saying, "Anathema to Nestorius, and to him who does not affirm the holy Virgin Mary to be Mother of God, and to him who divides into two Sons the one Son, the only begotten! I have also subscribed the formulary of faith and the epistle of Leo." Upon this he was restored to his see, by an interlocution of all parties.
At another meeting, the case of Ibas was discussed; and the judgment was read which had been passed upon him by Photius, bishop of Tyre, and Eustathius of Berytus; but the vote was deferred to the next meeting.
At the eleventh meeting, when the majority of the bishops had voted that Ibas should be restored to his episcopal rank, others, in rejoinder, said that his |118 accusers were waiting outside, and required that they should be admitted. The proceedings in his case were then read; but when the magistrates ruled, that the transactions at Ephesus respecting Ibas should also be read, the bishops replied, that all the proceedings in the second synod at Ephesus were null, with the exception of the ordination of Maximus of Antioch. On this point, they further requested the emperor to decree that nothing should be valid which had been transacted at Ephesus subsequently to the first synod, over which the sainted Cyril, president of Alexandria, had presided. It was judged right that Ibas should retain his bishopric.
At the next meeting, the case of Bassianus was inquired into, and it was judged fit that he should be removed and Stephen substituted: which measures were formally voted at the following meeting. At the thirteenth, the case was investigated of Eunomius of Nicomedia and Anastasius of Nicaea, who had a dispute about their respective cities. A fourteenth was also held, at which the case of Sabinianus was investigated. Finally, it was decided that the see of Constantinople should rank next after that of Rome.
THE END OF THE SECOND BOOK.
[Footnotes have been moved to the end and assigned numbers rather than the asterisks etc used in the printed volume. Footnotes in [Red] are taken from the running titles, not the bottom of the page]
1. [A.D. 450.]
2. [A.D. 451.]
3. [A.D. 451.]
4. [A.D. 457.]
5. [A.D. 462.]
6. [A.D. 474.]
This text was transcribed by Roger Pearse, 19th October 2002. All material on this page is in the public domain - copy freely.
Greek text is rendered using the Scholars Press SPIonic font, free from here.
Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
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Evagrius Scholasticus, Ecclesiastical History (AD431-594), translated by E. Walford (1846). Book 3
Evagrius Scholasticus, Ecclesiastical History (AD431-594), translated by E. Walford (1846). Book 3.
THE THIRD BOOK.
CHAPTER I.
CHARACTER OF THE EMPEROR ZENO.
ZENO, on becoming, by the death of his son, sole emperor, as if entertaining an idea that his power was incomplete without an unrestrained pursuit of every pleasure that presented itself, so far abandoned himself from the first to the solicitations of desire, as to hesitate at nothing of ail that is unseemly and illicit; but so thorough was his habitude in such things, that he esteemed it grovelling to practise them in concealment and privacy; but to do it openly, and as it were, in a conspicuous spot, truly royal and suited to none but an emperor: a notion base and servile; for the emperor is known, not by the circumstances of ordinary sway over others, but by those wherein he rules and sways himself, in guarding against the admission in his own person of whatever is indecorous; and being thus unconquered by loose indulgence, so as to be a living image of virtue for imitation and the instruction of his subjects. But he who lays himself open to the pleasures of sense, is unwittingly becoming a base |120 slave, an unransomed captive, continually passing, like worthless slaves, from the hands of one master to another; inasmuch as pleasures are an unnumbered train of mistresses, linked in endless succession; while the present enjoyment, so far from being lasting, is only the kindler and prelude to another, until a man either banishes the rabble rule of pleasures, becoming thus a sovereign instead of a victim of tyranny; or, continuing a slave to the last, receives the portion of the infernal world.
CHAPTER II.
INCURSIONS OF THE BARBARIANS.
IN such a manner, then, had Zeno, from the commencement of his reign, depraved his course of life: while, however, his subjects, both in the East and the West, were greatly distressed; in the one quarter, by the general devastations of the Scenite barbarians; and in Thrace, by the inroads of the Huns, formerly known by the name of Massagetae, who crossed the Ister without opposition: while Zeno himself, in barbarian fashion, was making violent seizure on whatever escaped them. |121
CHAPTER III.
INSURRECTION OF BASILISCUS. FLIGHT OF ZENO.1
BUT on the insurrection of Basiliscus, the brother of Verina----for the disposition of his nearest connexions was hostile, from the universal disgust at his most disgraceful life----he was utterly wanting in courage: for vice is craven and desponding, sufficiently indicating its unmanly spirit by submission to pleasures. Zeno fled with precipitation, and surrendered so great a sovereignty to Basiliscus without a struggle. He was also blockaded in his native district, Isauria, having with him his wife Ariadne, who had subsequently fled from her mother, and those parties who still continued loyal to him. Basiliscus, having thus acquired the Roman diadem, and bestowed on his son Marcus the title of Caesar, adopted measures opposed to those of Zeno and his predecessors.
CHAPTER IV.
CIRCULAR OF BASILISCUS.
AT the instigation of an embassy of certain Alexandrians, Basiliscus summons Timotheus Aelurus from his exile, in the eighteenth year of his banishment; at which time Acacius held the episcopate of |122 Constantinople. On his arrival at the imperial city, Timotheus persuades Basiliscus to address circular letters to the bishops in every quarter, and to anathematise the transactions at Chalcedon and the tome of Leo. They were to this effect.
THE CIRCULAR LETTER OF BASILISCUS.
"The emperor Caesar Basiliscus, pious, victorious, triumphant, supreme, ever-worshipful Augustus, and Marcus, the most illustrious Caesar, to Timotheus, archbishop of the great city of the Alexandrians, most reverent and beloved of God. It has ever been our pleasure, that whatever laws have been decreed in behalf of the true and apostolic faith, by those our pious predecessors who have maintained the true service of the blessed and undecaying and life-giving Trinity, should never be inoperative; but we are rather disposed to enounce them as of our own enactment. We, preferring piety and zeal in the cause of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ who created and has made us glorious, before all diligence in human affairs, and being further convinced that unity among the flocks of Christ is the preservation of ourselves and our subjects, the stout foundation and unshaken bulwark of our empire; being by these considerations moved with godly zeal, and offering to our God and Saviour Jesus Christ the unity of the Holy Church as the first fruits of our reign, ordain that the basis |123 and settlement of human felicity, namely, the symbol of the three hundred and eighteen holy fathers who were assembled, in concert with the Holy Spirit, at Nicaea, into which both ourselves and all our believing predecessors were baptised; that this alone should have reception and authority with the orthodox people in all the most holy churches of God, as the only formulary of the right faith, and sufficient for the utter destruction of every heresy, and for the complete unity of the holy churches of God; without prejudice, notwithstanding, to the force of the acts of the hundred and fifty holy fathers assembled in this imperial city, in confirmation of the sacred symbol itself, and in condemnation of those who blasphemed against the Holy Ghost; as well as of all that were passed in the metropolitan city of the Ephesians against the impious Nestorius and those who subsequently favoured his opinions. But the proceedings which have disturbed the unity and order of the holy churches of God, and the peace of the whole world, that is to say, the so-called tome of Leo, and all things said and done at Chalcedon in innovation upon the before-mentioned holy symbol of the three hundred and eighteen holy fathers, whether by way of definition of faith, or setting forth of symbols, or of interpretation, or instruction, or discourse; we ordain that these shall be anathematised both here and every where by the most holy bishops in every church, and |124 shall be committed to the flames whenever they shall be found, inasmuch as it was so enjoined respecting all heretical doctrines by our predecessors, of pious and blessed memory, Constantine, and Theodosius the younger; and that, having thus been rendered null, they shall be utterly expelled from the one and only catholic and apostolic orthodox church, as superseding the everlasting and saving definitions of the three hundred and eighteen fathers, and those of the blessed fathers who, by the Holy Spirit, made their decision at Ephesus; that no one, in short, either of the priesthood or laity, shall be allowed to deviate from that most sacred constitution of the holy symbol; and that, together with all the innovations upon the sacred symbol which were enacted at Chalcedon, there be also anathematised the heresy of those who do not confess, that the only begotten Son of God was truly incarnate, and made man of the Holy Spirit and of the holy and ever-virgin Mary, Mother of God, but, according to their strange conceit, either from heaven, or in mere phantasy and seeming: and, in short, every heresy, and whatever other innovation, in respect either of thought or language, has been devised in violation of the sacred symbol in any manner or at any time or place. And, inasmuch as it is the special task of kingly providence to furnish to their subjects, with forecasting deliberation, abundant means of security, not only for the present but for future time, |125 we ordain that the most holy bishops in every place shall subscribe to this our sacred circular epistle when exhibited to them, as a distinct declaration that they are indeed ruled by the sacred symbol of the three hundred and eighteen holy fathers alone----which the hundred and fifty holy fathers confirmed; as it was also defined by the most holy fathers, who, subsequently, assembled in the metropolitan city of the Ephesians, that the sacred symbol of the three hundred and eighteen holy fathers ought to be the only rule---- while they anathematise every stumbling-block enacted at Chalcedon to the faith of the orthodox people, and utterly eject them from the churches, as an impediment to the general happiness and our own. Those, moreover, who, after the issuing of these our sacred letters, which we trust to have been uttered in accordance with the will of God, in an endeavour to accomplish that unity which all desire for the holy churches of God, shall attempt to bring forward or so much as to name the innovation upon the faith which was enacted at Chalcedon, either in discourse or instruction or writing, in whatever manner, place, or time; with respect to those persons, as being the cause of confusion and tumult in the churches of God and among the whole of our subjects, and enemies to God and our safety, we command (in accordance with the laws ordained by our predecessor, Theodosius, of blessed and sacred memory, against such sort of evil designs, |126 which laws are subjoined to this our sacred circular) that, if bishops or clergy, they be deposed; if monks or laics, that they be subjected to banishment and every mode of confiscation, and the severest penalties: for so the holy and homoousian Trinity, the Creator and Vivifier of the universe, which has ever been adored by our piety, receiving at the present time service at our hands in the destruction of the before-mentioned tares and the confirmation of the true and apostolic traditions of the holy symbol, find being thereby rendered favourable and gracious to our souls and to all our subjects, shall ever aid us in the exercise of our sway, and preserve the peace of the world."
CHAPTER V.
DECEPTION OF THE CIRCULAR.
ACCORDING to Zacharias, the rhetorician, Timotheus, who, as I said, was just returned from banishment, agrees to these circular letters; as does also Peter, president of the church of Antioch, surnamed the Fuller, who also attended Timotheus at the imperial city. After these proceedings, they also determined that Paul should occupy the archiepiscopal throne of the church of Ephesus. This author also says, that Anastasius, the successor of Juvenalis as president of Jerusalem, subscribes the circular, and very many |127 others; so that those who repudiated the tome of Leo and the synod of Chalcedon, amounted to about five hundred: and also that a written petition was addressed to Basiliscus by the Asiatic bishops, assembled at Ephesus, a part of which is couched in the following terms: "To our entirely pious and Christ-loving lords, Basiliscus and Marcus, ever victorious emperors." Presently it proceeds: "Whenever the faith has been hated and assailed, you, all pious and Christ-loving sovereigns, have made it manifest throughout that you were equally assailed." And further on: "A certain fearful retribution of judgment and fury of divine fire and the just wrath of your serenity shall suddenly involve the adversaries, those who endeavour with vauntful assault to battle down the mighty God and your sovereignty fortified by the faith; who also in various ways have not spared our humble selves, but have continually slandered and belied us, as having subscribed to your sacred and apostolic circular letters by compulsion and violence, which we, in fact, subscribed with all joy and readiness." And further on: "Let it therefore be your pleasure, that nothing be put forward otherwise than as accords with your sacred circular, being assured that, as we have before said, the whole world will be turned upside down, and the evils which have proceeded from the synod at Chalcedon will be found trifling in comparison, notwithstanding |128 the innumerable slaughters which they have caused, and the blood of the orthodox which they have unjustly and lawlessly shed." And further on: "We conjure your piety, in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ, to maintain the just and canonical and ecclesiastical condemnation and deposition which has been inflicted on them, and especially on him who has been on many points convicted of having unduly exercised the episcopate of the imperial city." The same Zacharias also writes as follows: "On the issuing of the imperial circulars, those in the capital who were infected with the phantasy of Eutyches, and followed the monastic rule, believing themselves to have chanced on a prize in the person of Timotheus, and hoping by the circulars to catch their own profit, flock to him with all speed, and again retire, as if convinced by Timotheus that the "Word of God is consubstantial with ourselves as to flesh, and consubstantial with the Father as respects the Godhead."
CHAPTER VI.
PROCEEDINGS OF TIMOTHY AELURUS.
THE same author says, that Timotheus, setting out from the imperial city, visited Ephesus, and there enthroned Paul as archpriest; who had already been ordained, according to the more ancient custom, by |129 the bishops of the province, but had been ejected from his see: and he also restored to Ephesus the dignity of the patriarchate, of which the synod at Chalcedon had deprived it, as I have already mentioned. Proceeding thence, he arrives at Alexandria, and uniformly required all who approached him to anathematise the synod at Chalcedon. Accordingly, there abandon him, as has been recorded by the same Zacharius, many of his party, and among them Theodotus, one of the bishops ordained at Joppa by Theodosius, who had, by means of certain persons, become bishop of Jerusalem, at the time when Juvenalis betook himself to Byzantium.
CHAPTER VII.
COUNTER CIRCULAR OF BASILISCUS.
THIS author also says, that Acacius, president of the church of Constantinople, in consequence of these proceedings, stirred up the monastic body and the populace of the imperial city, on the plea that Basiliscus was a heretic: and that the latter repudiated the circular, and issued a constitution to the effect, that transactions precipitated by overbearing influence were utterly null; and also sent forth a counter circular in recommendation of the synod at Chalcedon. This counter circular, as he terms it, he has, however, |130 omitted, having written the whole work under passionate feelings. It is as follows: ----
THE COUNTER CIRCULAR OF BASILISCUS.
"We, the emperors, Caesars, Basiliscus and Marcus, thus ordain: that the apostolic and orthodox faith, which has held sway in the catholic churches from the very first, both until the beginning and during the continuance of our reign, and ought to sway in all coming time, into which also we were baptised, and in which we believe; that this alone continue to sway uninjured and unshaken, and ever prevail throughout the catholic and apostolic churches of the orthodox; and that no question tending otherwise be a subject of debate. On this account we also enjoin, that all acts during our reign, whether circular letters or others, or any thing whatever relating to faith or ecclesiastical constitution, be null; while we at the same time anathematise Nestorius, Eutyches, and every other heresy, with all who hold like sentiments; and that no synod or other debate be held on this subject, but that the present form remain unimpaired and unshaken. Also, that the provinces, the ordination to which was possessed by the see of this imperial and glorious city, be restored to the most reverent and holy patriarch and archbishop Acacius, the present bishops, highly beloved of God, retaining their respective sees; provided |131 that no prejudice thence arise after their demise to the right of ordination belonging to the illustrious see of this imperial and glorious city. That this our sacred ordinance has the force of a sacred constitution is a matter of doubt to none."
Such was the course of these transactions.
CHAPTER VIII.
RESTORATION OF ZENO.2
BUT Zeno, having seen in a vision the holy and much tried proto-martyr Thecla encouraging him and promising him restoration to power, after winning over the besiegers by bribes, marches on Byzantium and expels Basiliscus, who had now held the supreme power for two years, and, on his taking refuge in a holy precinct, surrenders him to his enemies. Zeno, in consequence, dedicated to the proto-martyr Thecla a very extensive sanctuary, of singular stateliness and beauty, at Seleucia, which is situated near the borders of Isauria, and embellished it with very many and royal offerings, which have been preserved to our times. Basiliscus is, accordingly, conveyed to Cappadocia, in order to his death, and is slain with his wife and children at the station named Acusus. Zeno enacts a law in abrogation of what Basiliscus the tyrant had constituted by his circulars, and Peter, surnamed the Fuller, is ejected from the church of the Antiochenes, and Paul from that of the Ephesians. |132
CHAPTER IX.
EPISTLE OF THE ASIATIC BISHOPS TO ACACIUS.
THE bishops of Asia, to sooth Acacius, address to him a deprecatory plea, and implore his pardon in a repentant memorial, wherein they alleged, that they had subscribed the circular by compulsion and not voluntarily; and they affirmed with an oath that the case was really thus, and that they had settled their faith, and still maintained it in accordance with the synod at Chalcedon. The purport of the document is as follows.
An epistle or petition sent from the bishops of Asia, to Acacius, bishop of Constantinople. "To Acacius, the most holy and pious patriarch of the church in the imperial city of Constantine, the New Rome." And it afterwards proceeds: "We have been duly visited by the person who will also act as our representative." And shortly after: "By these letters we acquaint you that we subscribed, not designedly but of necessity, having agreed to these matters with letters and words, not with the heart. For, by your acceptable prayers and the will of the higher Power, we hold the faith as we have received it from the three hundred and eighteen lights of the world, and the hundred and fifty holy fathers; and, moreover, we assent to the terms which were piously and rightly framed at Chalcedon by the holy fathers there assembled." |133
Whether Zacharias has slandered these persons, or they themselves lied in asserting that they were unwilling to subscribe, I am not able to say.
CHAPTER X.
SUCCESSION OF BISHOPS AT ANTIOCH.
NEXT to Peter, Stephen succeeds to the see of Antioch, whom the sons of the Antiochenes dispatched with reeds sharpened like lances, as is recorded by John the Rhetorician. After Stephen, Calandion is entrusted with the helm of that see, and he wrought upon those who approached him, to anathematise Timotheus, and, at the same time, the circular of Basiliscus.
CHAPTER XI.
SUCCESSION OF BISHOPS AT ALEXANDRIA.
IT was the intention of Zeno to eject Timotheus from the church of Alexandria; but, on being informed by certain persons that he was already aged, and had almost reached the common resting-place of all men, he abandoned his purpose. And, in fact, Timotheus shortly after paid the debt of nature. Upon this the Alexandrian bishops elect, on their own authority, |134 Peter, surnamed Mongus; the announcement of which proceeding exasperated Zeno, who judged him to have incurred the penalty of death, and he recalls Timotheus, the successor of Proterius, while residing, on account of a popular tumult, at Canopus. Thus Timotheus obtained, by the commands of the emperor, possession of his rightful see.
CHAPTER XII.
ECCLESIASTICAL MEASURES OF ZENO.
BY the advice of certain persons, John, a presbyter, who held the office of steward of the venerable temple of the holy forerunner and baptist John, visits the imperial city, in order to negotiate permission for the inhabitants of Alexandria to elect as president of their church a person of their own choice, if it should happen that their bishop should depart out of the world. According to Zacharias, he was detected by the emperor in the endeavour to compass his own appointment to the bishopric, and was allowed to return home, under an oath that he would never aspire to the see of Alexandria. The emperor too issues a precept, to the effect that, after the death of Timotheus, that person should be bishop whom the clergy and people might elect. On the death of Timotheus, which took place shortly after, John, by the employment of money, as the same |135 Zacharias writes, and in disregard of his sworn pledge to the emperor, procures his own nomination as bishop of the Alexandrians. The emperor, on being informed of these circumstances, commands his expulsion, and, at the suggestion of certain persons, addresses an allocution to the Alexandrians, which he named Henoticon, directing, at the same time, that the see of Alexandria should be restored to Peter, with a stipulation, that he should subscribe this document and admit to communion the party of Proterius.
CHAPTER XIII.
PUBLICATION OF THE HENOTICON OF ZENO.3
OF this measure of arrangement, framed according to the advice of Acacius, bishop of the imperial city, Pergainius is the bearer, who had been appointed procurator of Egypt. Finding, on his arrival at Alexandria, that John had fled, he addresses himself to Peter, and urges him to receive the allocution of Zeno, and also to admit the separatists. He, accordingly, receives and subscribes the before-mentioned allocution, with a promise also to admit to communion the members of the opposite party. Accordingly, on occasion of a general festival at Alexandria and the universal acceptance of the so-called Henoticon of Zeno, Peter admits the partizans of Proterius; and, on delivering in the church an address to the people, he reads the allocution of Zeno, as follows. |136
CHAPTER XIV.
THE HENOTICON (INSTRUMENT OF UNION).
"THE emperor Caesar Zeno, pious, victorious, triumphant, supreme, ever worshipful Augustus, to the most reverent bishops and clergy, and to the monks and laity throughout Alexandria, Egypt, Libya, and Pentapolis. Being assured that the origin and constitution, the might and invincible defence of our sovereignty is the only right and true faith, which, through divine inspiration, the three hundred holy fathers assembled at Nicaea set forth, and the hundred and fifty holy fathers, who in like manner met at Constantinople, confirmed; we night and day employ every means of prayer, of zealous pains and of laws, that the holy Catholic and apostolic church in every place may be multiplied, the uncorruptible and immortal mother of our sceptre; and that the pious laity, continuing in peace and unanimity with respect to God, may, together with the bishops, highly beloved of God, the most pious clergy, the archimandrites and monks, offer up acceptably their supplications in behalf of our sovereignty. So long as our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ, who was incarnate and born of Mary, the Holy Virgin, and Mother of God, approves and readily accepts our concordant glorification and service, the power of our enemies will be crushed and swept away, and peace |137 with its blessings, kindly temperature, abundant produce, and whatever is beneficial to man, will be liberally bestowed. Since, then, the irreprehensible faith is the preserver both of ourselves and the Roman weal, petitions have been offered to us from pious archimandrites and hermits, and other venerable persons, imploring us with tears that unity should be procured for the churches, and the limbs should be knit together, which the enemy of all good has of old time been eagerly bent upon severing, under a consciousness that defeat will befall him whenever he assails the body while in an entire condition. For since it happens, that of the unnumbered generations which during the lapse of so many years time has withdrawn from life, some have departed, deprived of the laver of regeneration, and others have been borne away on the inevitable journey of man, without having partaken in the divine communion; and innumerable murders have also been perpetrated; and not only the earth, but the very air has been defiled by a multitude of blood-sheddings; that this state of things might be transformed into good, who would not pray? For this reason, we were anxious that you should be informed, that we and the churches in every quarter neither have held, nor do we or shall we hold, nor are we aware of persons who hold, any other symbol or lesson or definition of faith or creed than the before-mentioned holy symbol of the three hundred and |138 eighteen holy fathers, which the aforesaid hundred and fifty holy fathers confirmed; and if any person does hold such, we deem him an alien: for we are confident that this symbol alone is, as we said, the preserver of our sovereignty, and on their reception of this alone are all the people baptised when desirous of the saving illumination: which symbol all the holy fathers assembled at Ephesus also followed; who further passed sentence of deposition on the impious Nestorius and those who subsequently held his sentiments: which Nestorius we also anathematise, together with Eutyches and all who entertain opinions contrary to those above-mentioned, receiving at the same time the twelve chapters of Cyril, of holy memory, formerly archbishop of the holy Catholic church of the Alexandrians. We moreover confess, that the only begotten Son of God, himself God, who truly assumed manhood, namely, our Lord Jesus Christ, who is con-substantial with the Father in respect of the Godhead, and con-substantial with ourselves as respects the manhood; that He, having descended, and become incarnate of the Holy Spirit and Mary, the Virgin and Mother of God, is one and not two; for we affirm that both his miracles, and the sufferings which he voluntarily endured in the flesh, are those of a single person: for we do in no degree admit those who either make a division or a confusion, or introduce a phantom; inasmuch as his truly sinless incarnation from the Mother of God did not |139 produce an addition of a son, because the Trinity continued a Trinity even when one member of the Trinity, the God Word, became incarnate. Knowing, then, that neither the holy orthodox churches of God in all parts, nor the priests, highly beloved of God, who are at their head, nor our own sovereignty, have allowed or do allow any other symbol or definition of faith than the before-mentioned holy lesson, we have united ourselves thereto without hesitation. And these things we write not as setting forth a new form of faith, but for your assurance: and every one who has held or holds any other opinion, either at the present or another time, whether at Chalcedon or in any synod whatever, we anathematise; and specially the before-mentioned Nestorius and Eutyches, and those who maintain their doctrines. Link yourselves, therefore, to the spiritual mother, the church, and in her enjoy the same communion with us, according to the aforesaid one and only definition of the faith, namely, that of the three hundred and eighteen holy fathers. For your all holy mother, the church, waits to embrace you as true children, and longs to hear your loved voice, so long withheld. Speed yourselves, therefore, for by so doing you will both draw towards yourselves the favor of our Master and Saviour and God, Jesus Christ, and be commended by our sovereignty."
When this had been read, all the Alexandrians united themselves to the holy catholic and apostolic church. |140
CHAPTER XV.
CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN SIMPLICIUS AND ZENO.
JOHN, however, of whom we have made mention before, having fled from Alexandria, arrives at the ancient Rome, and there causes great stir, by saying that he had been banished from his rightful see for upholding the doctrines of Leo and the council at Chalcedon, and had been superseded by another person, who was their opponent. Upon this Simplicius, bishop of the elder Rome, writes in alarm to Zeno; who in reply charges John with perjury, and alleges that for this reason and no other he had been ejected from his bishopric.
CHAPTER XVI.
DEPOSITION OF CALANDION AND RESTORATION OF PETEE THE FULLER.
CALANDION, president of Antioch, writing to the emperor Zeno, and to Acacius, president of Constantinople, terms Peter an adulterer, saying that, when he was at Alexandria, he had anathematised the council at Chalcedon. He is afterwards condemned to exile at Oasis, on a supposition of having supported Illus, Leontius, and Pamprepius, in their usurpation against |141 Zeno; and Peter the Fuller, the predecessor of Calandion and Stephen, as I have mentioned, recovered his own see. The latter also subscribed the Henoticon of Zeno, and addressed synodical letters to Peter, bishop of Alexandria. Acacius, president of Constantinople, also entered into communion with him. Martyrius, too, bishop of Jerusalem, addressed synodical letters to Peter. Subsequently, certain persons withdrew from communion with Peter, who, in consequence, thenceforward openly anathematised the synod at Chalcedon. The news of this circumstance greatly troubled Acacius, and induced him to send persons to gain information on the subject; when Peter, to convince them that he had not so acted, drew up memorials, in which certain persons said, from their own knowledge, that Peter had not done any thing of the kind.
CHAPTER XVII.
LETTER FROM PETER TO ACACIUS.
THIS Peter never abided by one opinion, being a double dealer, a waverer, and a time-server, now anathematising the synod at Chalcedon, at another time recanting, and admitting it with entire assent. Accordingly, the same Peter wrote an epistle to Acacius, president of Constantinople, in the following words: "The most high God will repay your holiness for the |142 many labours and toils wherewith, during the lapse of time, you have guarded the form of faith of the holy fathers, which you have confirmed by unceasingly proclaiming it; in which form when we found the symbol of the three hundred and eighteen holy fathers to be embraced, we were disposed to accord with it; that symbol in which we believed at baptism, and still believe; which also the hundred and fifty holy fathers, who assembled at Constantinople, confirmed. Accordingly, while increasing in your endeavours to guide all aright, you have united the holy church of God, by convincing us by the most powerful proofs that nothing at variance with this was enacted in the holy and general synod held at Chalcedon, but that it accorded with the acts of the holy fathers at Nicaea, and confirmed them. Thus, having discovered no novelty therein, we have of our own free motion accorded our assent and belief. But we are informed that certain monks, envying our brotherly union, have conveyed certain slanders to your holy ears, which have with some difficulty succeeded in embittering the feelings of your holiness. And, in the first place, it is alleged that we have removed to another place the remains of our sainted father, the blessed archbishop Timotheus, a thing abhorrent to religion and law: and they have further shifted their ground to another charge, in itself incoherent and worse than the former; for how could we possibly have anathematised the synod at Chalcedon, |143 which we had previously confirmed by according to it our belief? But the malignant temper and fickleness of our people are notorious, and cannot but be known to your piety, as well as of those monks who are disposed to innovation; who, in conspiracy with certain ill-designing persons that have broken loose from the church, are endeavouring to draw away the people. Through your prayers we have also devised a discourse of a directly healing tendency, and in no way impugning the synod at Chalcedon, well knowing that its transactions contain no novelty; and, further, for the satisfaction of guileless persons, we have procured those who had united themselves to us, to affirm this point. This mischief, then, by much exertion, I have readily checked: but I make known to your holiness, that even still the monks who are ever sowing the tares, are not at rest, associating also with themselves, as instruments, persons who were never the inmates of monasteries; but they travel about disseminating various rumours to our disadvantage, and, while they do not allow that we act canonically and in a manner suitable to the holy catholic church of God, but are habituating our people to govern rather than obey us, they are bent on doing whatever is unbecoming the service of God. We doubt not, however, that your holiness will inform the most sacred master of the world of all these circumstances, and provide that a formulary shall be put forth by his serenity, embracing |144 the necessary matters relating to such a peace of the church as becomes both God and the emperor; so as to lead all to repose on its provisions."
CHAPTER XVIII.
FELIX ISSUES A SENTENCE OF DEPOSITION AGAINST ACACIUS.
JOHN, who had fled to Rome, was urgent on Felix, the successor of Simplicius in that see, respecting the proceedings of Peter, and recommends, according to Zacharias, that an instrument of deposition should be sent to Acacius from Felix, on the ground of his communion with Peter: which, however, as being un-canonical, Acacius did not admit, as the same Zacharias writes, on its presentation by certain members of the monastery of the Acoemets, as they are called. Such is the account given by Zacharias; but he appears to me to have been altogether ignorant of the real transactions, and to have reported merely an imperfect hearsay. I now proceed to give a precise account of the proceedings. On the presentation of libels to Felix by John against Acacius, on the score of irregular communion with Peter, and other uncanonical proceedings, the bishops Vitalis and Misenus are sent by Felix to the emperor Zeno, with a requisition that the authority of the synod at Chalcedon should be |145 maintained, that Peter should be ejected as a heretic, and that Acacius should be sent to Felix to answer for himself to the charges brought against him by John, of whom we have made frequent mention.
CHAPTER XIX.
INTERFERENCE OF CYRIL THE MONK.
BEFORE, however, they reached the imperial city, Cyril, the superior of the Acoemets, writes to Felix, blaming his tardiness, when so grievous offences were being committed against the right faith; and Felix writes to Misenus and his associates, that they should take no measures until they had conferred with Cyril, and learnt from him what was best to be done.
CHAPTER XX.
CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN FELIX AND ZENO.
FURTHER commonitories were also addressed to them by Felix; as also letters to Zeno, concerning both the synod at Chalcedon, and the persecution which Huneric was carrying on in Africa. He also wrote an epistle to Acacius. Zeno wrote in answer, that the concern with which John had filled him, was groundless; because, having sworn that he would in |146 no way endeavour to insinuate himself into the see of Alexandria, and having subsequently violated these terms and disregarded his oath, he had been guilty of the extreme of sacrilege: that Peter had not been appointed without being tested, but had with his own hand subscribed his reception of the faith of the three hundred and eighteen holy fathers who met at Nicaea, which the holy synod at Chalcedon also followed. Part of the epistle is in these precise words: "You ought to be assured that our piety, and the before-mentioned most holy Peter, and all the most holy churches, receive and revere the most holy synod at Chalcedon, which agreed with the faith of the Nicene synod."
In the transactions are also contained epistles from the before-mentioned Cyril, and other archimandrites of the imperial city, and from bishops and clergy of the Egyptian province, addressed to Felix against Peter, as being a heretic, and against those who communicated with him. The members of the monastery of the Acoemets who came to Felix, further averred against Misenus and his party, that before their arrival at Byzantium, the; name of Peter had been read secretly in the sacred diptychs, and since that time without any concealment, and that they had in this way communicated with him. The epistle also of the Egyptians affirmed the same things respecting Peter; and that John, being orthodox, had been rightfully ordained: that Peter was ordained by two bishops |147 only, maintainers of similar errors with himself: that since the flight of John every species of severity had been inflicted on the orthodox: that all these circumstances had been made known to Acacius by persons who had visited the imperial city; and that they were convinced that he was in all things acting in union with Peter.
CHAPTER XXI.
ACCUSATION OF THE LEGATES BY SIMEON THE MONK, AND THEIR CONSEQUENT DEPRIVATION.
THIS stir was further increased by Simeon, an Acoemet, who had been dispatched to Rome by Cyril. He expressly charged Misenus and Vitalis with holding communion with the heretics, by distinctly uttering the name of Peter in the reading of the sacred diptychs; and affirmed that many simple persons had, on this ground, been beguiled by the heretics, who said that Peter was admitted to the communion even of the Roman see: and, further, in reply to various interrogatories, Simeon said that Misenus and his party had declined to have communication with any orthodox person, either in person or by letter, or to sift any of the presumptuous attempts upon the right faith. There was also brought forward Silvanus, a presbyter, who had been in company with Misenus and Vitalis at |148 Constantinople, and he confirmed the statement of the monks. There was read, too, a letter from Acacius to Simplicius, to the effect that Peter had been long ago deposed and had become a child of night. On these grounds Misenus and Vitalis were removed from the priesthood and severed from the holy communion, when a unanimous vote was passed by the synod, in the following terms: "The church of the Romans does not admit Peter, the heretic, who has also been long ago condemned by the holy see, excommunicated, and anathematised. To whom, if there were no other objection, this is sufficient, namely, that having been ordained by heretics, he could not have authority over the orthodox." The decree also contains what follows: "The mere circumstance shews Acacius, bishop of Constantinople, to have incurred very great responsibility, because, writing to Simplicius and having termed Peter a heretic, he has nevertheless made no such declaration to the emperor: which was his duty, if he were loyal to him. He is, however, more partial to the emperor than to the faith."
Let me now return to the order of events. There is extant an epistle from Acacius to the Egyptian bishops, the clergy, monks, and the people in general, by which he endeavours to heal the existing schism: on which subject he also wrote to Peter, bishop of Alexandria. |149
CHAPTER XXII.
COMMOTION AT ALEXANDRIA ON ACCOUNT OF THE COUNCIL OF CHALCEDON.
WHILE the schism at Alexandria was thus at its height, Peter, having again anathematised the tome of Leo, the transactions at Chalcedon, and those who refused to admit the writings of Dioscorus and Timotheus, induced some of the bishops and archimandrites to communicate with him, and failing to prevail upon the others, ejected most of them from their monasteries. On account of these proceedings, Nephalius visited the imperial city, and reported them to Zeno; who, in great vexation, despatches Cosmas, one of his officers, charged to load Peter with menaces, for the enforcement of unity, on the score of his having caused a serious dissension by his harshness. Cosmas returns to the imperial city without accomplishing the object of his mission, having merely restored those who had been ejected, to their monasteries. Subsequently, Arsenius is sent out by the emperor as governor of Egypt and commander of the forces. Arriving at Alexandria in company with Nephalius, he negociated with a view to unity; but failing to induce persons to acquiesce in his measures, he sends some of them to the imperial city, where, accordingly, many discussions took place in the presence of Zeno: but with no |150 practical result, because the emperor altogether declined agreement with the synod at Chalcedon.
CHAPTER XXIII.
SUCCESSION OF BISHOPS AT CONSTANTINOPLE, ALEXANDRIA, AND ANTIOCH.
AT this juncture Acacius departed on the common journey of all men, and is succeeded by Fravitas. On his addressing synodical letters to Peter of Alexandria, the latter replies with a repetition of the former matters respecting the synod at Chalcedon. On the demise of Fravitas, after an episcopate of only four months, Euphemius was ordained as his successor, and is the recipient of the letters of Peter addressed to Fravitas. On discovering the anathema against the transactions at Chalcedon, his feelings were greatly roused, and he broke off from communion with Peter. Both epistles are extant, namely, from Fravitas to Peter, and from Peter to Fravitas; but I pass them over on account of their length. When, in consequence, Euphemius and Peter were upon the point of coming to open hostility, and summoning synods against each other, these proceedings were prevented by the death of the latter. He is succeeded by Athanasius, who attempted to unite the dissidents; but without success, since the parties were ranged under |151 differences of opinion. Subsequently, when dispatching synodical letters to Palladius, the successor of Peter in the bishopric of Antioch, he took a similar course respecting the synod at Chalcedon; as did also John, his successor in the see of Alexandria. On the death of Palladius, and the succession of Flavian to the see of Antioch, Solomon, a presbyter of that church, is sent to Alexandria, as the bearer of synodical letters, with the request of an answer from John to Flavian. John is succeeded in the see of Alexandria by another of the same name. Such was the progress of these events down to a certain period of the reign of Anastasius: who had himself ejected Euphemius. I have been compelled thus to detail them continuously, for the sake of perspicuity and a ready comprehension of the whole.
CHAPTER XXIV.
DEATH OF ARMATUS.
ZENO, at the instigation of Illus, puts to death Armatus, a kinsman of the empress Verina. When Armatus had been sent against him by Basiliscus, Zeno had succeeded, by bribes, in converting him from a foe into an ally, and had bestowed on his son Basiliscus the rank of Caesar at Nicaea: but on his return to Constantinople, he procures the assassination of Armatus, |152 and makes his son a priest instead of Caesar. The latter was afterwards raised to the episcopal dignity.
CHAPTER XXV.
INSURRECTION AND DEATH OF THEODORIC.
THEODORIC also, a Scythian, raised an insurrection, and having collected his forces in Thrace, marched against Zeno. After ravaging every place in his march as far as the mouth of the Pontus, he was near taking the imperial city, when some of his most intimate companions were secretly induced to enter into a plot against his life. When, however, he had learnt the disaffection of his followers, he commenced a retreat, and was very soon afterwards numbered with the departed, by a kind of death which I will mention, and which happened thus. A spear, with its thong prepared for immediate use, had been suspended before his tent in barbaric fashion. He had ordered a horse to be brought to him for the purpose of exercise, and being in the habit of not having any one to assist him in mounting, vaulted into his seat. The horse, a mettlesome and ungovernable animal, reared before Theodoric was fairly mounted, so that, in the contest, neither daring to rein back the horse, lest it should come down upon him, nor yet having gained a firm seat, he was whirled round in all directions, and |153 dashed against the point of the spear, which thus struck him obliquely, and wounded his side. He was then conveyed to his couch, and after surviving a few days, died of the wound.
CHAPTER XXVI.
INSURRECTION OF MARCIAN.
SUBSEQUENTLY Marcian had a rupture with Zeno, and attempted to dispute the empire with him. He was the son of Anthemius who had formerly reigned at Rome, and was allied to Leo, the preceding emperor, having married his younger daughter Leontia. After a severe battle around the palace, in which many fell on both sides, Marcian repulsed his opponents, and would have become master of the palace, had he not let slip the critical moment, by putting off the operation to the morrow.
For the critical season is swift of flight: when it is close upon one, it may be secured; but should it once have escaped the grasp, it soars aloft and laughs at its pursuers, not deigning to place itself again within their reach. And hence no doubt it is, that statuaries and painters, while they figure it with a lock hanging down in front, represent the head as closely shaven behind; thus skilfully symbolising, that when it comes up from behind one, it may perhaps be held fast by the flowing |154 forelock, but fairly escapes when it has once got the start, from the absence of any thing by which the pursuer might grasp it.
And this was what befel Marcian, when he had lost the moment favourable to his success, and was unable to find it afterwards. For the next day he was betrayed by his own followers, and being completely deserted, fled to the sacred precinct of the divine Apostles; whence he was dragged away by force, and transported to Caesarea in Cappadocia. Having there joined the society of certain monks, he was afterwards detected in meditating an escape; and being removed by the emperor to Tarsus in Cilicia, he was shorn, and ordained a presbyter: of all which particulars an elegant narrative has been given by Eustathius the Syrian.
CHAPTER XXVII.
INSURRECTION OF ILLUS AND LEONTIUS.
THE same writer states that Zeno also devised innumerable machinations against his mother-in-law Verina, and afterwards sent her away to Cilicia; and that subsequently, on the assumption of sovereign power by Illus, she removed to what is called the castle of Papirius; where she died.
Eustathius also narrates with great ability the story of Illus: how he escaped Zeno's plots against him, and |155 how Zeno gave up to capital punishment the man who had been commissioned to murder Illus, rewarding him with the loss of his head for his failure in the attempt. He also appointed Illus commander of the forces of the East, thinking thus to conceal his real designs: but he, having gained over as partizans Leontius, Marstis, a man of reputaion, and Pamprepius, proceeded to the east.
The same Eustathius then mentions the proclamation of Leontius as emperor, which took place at Tarsus in Cilicia; and how these persons reaped the fruits of their assumption of power, when Theodoric, a man of Gothic extraction, but illustrious among the Romans, had been sent out against them, with a force composed both of native and foreign troops.
The same author ably depicts the fate of those who were miserably put to death by Zeno in return for their loyalty to him; and how Theodoric, becoming aware of the evil designs of Zeno, withdrew to the elder Rome. Some, however, say that this was done at the suggestion of Zeno. Having there defeated Odoacer, he made himself master of Rome, and assumed the title of king.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
ACCOUNT OF MAMMIANUS AND HIS STRUCTURES.
JOHN the rhetorician writes, that in the time of Zeno, Mammianus from an artizan became a person of |156 note and a member of the senate; and that he built in the suburb of Daphne what is called the Antiphorus, on a site previously planted with vines and suitable for cultivation, directly opposite the public baths; where there is also the brazen statue inscribed, "Mammianus the friend of the city." He also states that he built within the city, two basilicas, singularly beautiful in their design, and embellished with brilliant stone-work; and that, as an intervening structure to the two, he raised a Tetrapylum, exquisitely finished both in its columns and its brazen work. The basilicas I have identified, retaining, together with their name, some trace of their former beauty, in the stones from Procomiesus, which form the pavement, but nothing remarkable in their architecture: for, in consequence of the calamities which had befallen them, they had lately been rebuilt, without receiving any thing in the way of ornament. Of the Tetrapylum I was not able to detect the slightest vestige.
CHAPTER XXIX.
DEATH OF ZENO.----SUCCESSION OF ANASTASIUS.4
ON the decease of Zeno, by epilepsy, without issue, after a reign of seventeen years, Longinus his brother, having raised himself to considerable power, hoped to secure the sovereignty, but was, notwithstanding, |157 disappointed of his expectation. For Ariadne bestows the diadem on Anastasius, a person who had not yet attained senatorian rank, but belonged to the corps of the Silentiaries.
Eustathius writes, that two hundred and seven years elapsed from the beginning of the reign of Diocletian to the death of Zeno and the nomination of Anastasius: five hundred and fifty-two years and seven months from the time that Augustus obtained the supreme power; eight hundred and thirty-two years and seven months from the reign of Alexander the Macedonian; one thousand and fifty-two years and seven months from the reign of Romulus; one thousand six hundred and eighty-six years and seven months from the taking of Troy.
This Anastasius, being a native of Epidamnus, now called Dyrrachium, both succeeds to the sovereignty of Zeno and espouses his wife Ariadne. In the first place, he dismisses to his native country Longinus, the brother of Zeno, who held the post of Master of the Offices, formerly termed commander of the household troops; and afterwards, many other Isaurians at their own request.
CHAPTER XXX.
DIVISIONS IN THE CHURCH.
THIS Anastasius, being of a peaceful disposition, was altogether averse to the introduction of changes, |158 especially in the state of the church, but endeavoured by every means, that the most holy churches should continue undisturbed, and the whole body of his subjects enjoy profound tranquillity, by the removal of all strife and contention from matters both ecclesiastical and civil. During these times, accordingly, the synod of Chalcedon was neither openly proclaimed in the most holy churches, nor yet was repudiated by all: but the bishops acted each according to his individual opinion. Thus, some very resolutely maintained what had been put forth by that synod, and would not yield to the extent of one word of its determinations, nor admit even the change of a single letter, but firmly declined all contact and communion with those who refused to admit the matters there set forth. Others, again, not only did not submit to the synod of Chalcedon and its determinations, but even anathematised both it and the tome of Leo. Others, however, firmly adhered to the Henoticon of Zeno, and that too although mutually at variance on the point of the single and double nature; some being caught by the artful composition of that document; and others influenced by an inclination for peace. Thus the churches in general were divided into distinct factions, and their presidents did not even admit each other to communion.
Numerous divisions, hence arising, existed in the East, in the West, and in Africa; while the eastern |159 bishops had no friendly intercourse with those of the West and Africa, nor the latter with those of the East. The evil too became still more monstrous, for neither did the presidents of the eastern churches allow communion among themselves, nor yet those who held the sees of Europe and Africa, much less with those of remote parts.
In consideration of these circumstances, the Emperor Anastasius removed those bishops who were promoters of change, wherever he detected any one either proclaiming or anathematising the synod of Chalcedon in opposition to the practice of the neighbourhood. Accordingly, he rejected from the see of the imperial city, first, Euphemius, as has been already mentioned, and afterwards Macedonius, who was succeeded by Timotheus; and Flavian from the see of Antioch.
CHAPTER XXXI.
LETTER TO ALCISON FROM THE MONKS OF PALESTINE.
THE monastic body in Palestine, writing to Alcison concerning Macedonius and Flavian, express themselves thus: "On the death of Peter, they were again separated, but Alexandria, Egypt, and Africa remained at unity among themselves; as, on the other hand, did the rest of the East; while the churches of the West refused to communicate with them on any other terms |160 than the anathematising of Nestorius, Eutyches, and Dioscorus, including also Peter, surnamed Mongus, and Acacius. Such, then, being the situation of the churches throughout the world, the genuine followers of Dioscorus and Eutyches were reduced to a very small number; and when they were upon the point of disappearing altogether from the earth, Xenaias, who was truly a stranger to God, with what object we know not, or pursuing what enmity towards Flavian, but under colour of defending the faith, as is generally said, begins to raise a stir against him, and to calumniate him as being a Nestorian. When, however, he had anathematised Nestorius and his notion, Xenaias transferred his attacks from him to Dioscorus and Theodore, Theodoret, Ibas, Cyrus, Eleutherius, and John; and we know not whom, besides and whence he mustered them: some of whom really maintained the opinions of Nestorius, but others, having been suspected, anathematised him, and departed in the communion of the church. 'Unless,' said he, 'thou shalt anathematise all these, as holding the opinions of Nestorius, thou art thyself a Nestorian, though thou shouldest ten thousand times anathematise him and his notion.' He also endeavoured by letters to induce the advocates of Dioscorus and Eutyches to take arms with him against Flavian, not however with a view of exacting from him an anathema upon the synod, but merely on the before-mentioned persons. But when |161 the bishop Flavian had maintained a prolonged resistance to them, and other persons had united with Xenaias against him, namely, Eleusinus, a bishop of Cappadocia Secunda, Nicias, of Laodicea in Syria, and others from other quarters, the motive of whose spite against Flavian it is the province of others, not of ourselves, to detail; at last, in hope of peace, he yielded to their contentious spirit, and having in writing anathematised the before-mentioned persons, he despatched the instrument to the emperor, for they had stirred up him also against Flavian as a maintainer of the opinions of Nestorius. Xenaias, not contented with this, again demands of Flavian that he should anathematise the synod itself, and those who maintained two natures in the person of the Lord, namely, the flesh and the Godhead; and on his refusal, again accused him of being a Nestorian. After much stir upon this subject, and after the patriarch had put forth an exposition of faith, in which he confessed that he admitted the synod as far as regards the deposition of Nestorius and Eutyches, not however as defining and teaching the faith; they again impugn him as secretly holding the opinions of Nestorius, unless he would further anathematise the synod itself, and those who maintained two natures in the person of the Lord, the flesh and the Godhead. They also win over to their side the Isaurians, by various deceitful expressions, and having drawn up a formulary of faith, in which they anathematise the |162 synod together with those who maintained the two natures or persons, they separate themselves from Flavian and Macedonius, but unite with others on their subscribing the formulary. At the same time they also demanded of the bishop of Jerusalem a written statement of faith; which he put forth, and sent to the emperor by the hands of the party of Dioscorus. This they present, containing ari anathema upon those who maintained the two natures. But the bishop of Jerusalem himself, affirming that it had been forged by them, puts forth another without such anathema. And no wonder. For they have often forged discourses of the fathers, and to many writings of Apollinaris they have attached titles assigning them to Athanasius, Gregory Thaumaturgus, and Julius; their principal object in so doing being to draw over the multitude to their own impieties. They also demanded of Macedonius a written statement of faith; who put one forth, affirming that he recognised only the creed of the three hundred and eighteen, and of the one hundred and fifty fathers, anathematising at the same time Nestorius, Eutyches, and those who held the doctrine of two sons or two Christs, or divided the natures; making, however, no mention of the synod of Ephesus, which deposed Nestorius, nor that of Chalcedon, which deposed Eutyches. Indignant at this, the monastic bodies about Constantinople separate from their bishop Macedonius. In the mean time |163 Xenaias and Dioscorus, associating with them many of the bishops, became insufferable, from the stir which they raised against those who refused to anathematise; and, by various devices, they endeavoured to procure the banishment of those who persisted in their refusal. In this way, accordingly, they banish both Macedonius, find John, bishop of Paltus, and Flavian." Such are the contents of the letter.
CHAPTER XXXII.
EJECTION OF MACEDONIUS AND FLAVIAN FROM THEIR SEES.
THERE were other things which caused secret vexation to Anastasius. For when Ariadne was desirous of investing him with the purple, Euphemius, who held the archiepiscopal see, withheld his approval, until Anastasius had presented to him an agreement, written with his own hand, and secured with fearful oaths, that he would maintain the faith inviolate, and introduce no innovation into the holy church of God, in case he should obtain the sceptre: which document he also deposited with Macedonius, the keeper of the sacred treasures. This measure he adopted, because Anastasius had generally the reputation of holding the Manichaean doctrine. When, however, Macedonius ascended the episcopal throne, Anastasius was desirous |164 that the agreement should be returned to him, affirming it to be an insult to the imperial dignity, if the before-mentioned document, in his own hand-writing, should be preserved: and when Macedonius resolutely opposed the demand, and firmly protested that he would not betray the faith, the emperor pursued every insidious device for the purpose of ejecting him from his see. Accordingly, even boys were brought forward as informers, who falsely accused both themselves and Macedonius of infamous practices. But when Macedonius was found to be emasculate, they had recourse to other contrivances; until, by the advice of Celer, commander of the household troops, he secretly retired from his see.
With the ejection of Flavian, other circumstances are associated. For we have met with some very aged men who remembered all the events of this time. These say, that the monks of the district called Cynegica, and of the whole of Syria Prima, having been wrought upon by Xenaias, who was bishop of the neighbouring city of Hierapolis, and who was named in Greek Philoxenus, rushed into the city in a body with great noise and tumult, endeavouring to compel Flavian to anathematise the synod of Chalcedon and the tome of Leo. Roused at the indignation manifested by Flavian, and the violent urgency of the monks, the people of the city made a great slaughter of them, so that a very large number found a grave in the Orontes, |165 where the waves performed their only funeral rites. There happened also another circumstance of scarcely less magnitude than the former. For the monks of Caele Syria, now called Syria Secunda, from sympathy with Flavian, since he had led a monastic life in a monastery of the district called Tilmognon, advanced to Antioch, with the intention of defending him. From which circumstance, also, no inconsiderable mischief arose. Accordingly, on the ground either of the former or latter occurrence, or both, Flavian is ejected, and condemned to reside at Petra, on the extreme verge of Palestine.
CHAPTER XXXIII.
SEVERUS BISHOP OF ANTIOCH.
FLAVIAN having been thus ejected, Severus ascends the episcopal throne of Antioch, in the five hundred and sixty-first year of the era of that city, in the month Dius, the sixth year of the Indiction; the year in which I am now writing being the six hundred and forty-first of that era. He was a native of Sozopolis, a city of Pisidia, and had applied himself to the profession of a pleader at Berytus; but immediately on his abandoning the practice of the law, having participated in holy baptism in the sacred precinct of the divine martyr Leontius, who is revered at Tripolis, a city of Phoenicia |166 Maritima, he assumed the monastic life in a certain monastery situated between the city of Gaza and the town called Majumas; in which latter place Peter the Iberian, who had been bishop of the same Gaza, and had been banished with Timotheus Aelurus, passed through the same discipline, and left behind him a famous memory. Severus there engages in a discussion with Nephalius, who had formerly sided with him on the question of the single nature, but had subsequently been one of the synod at Chalcedon and among those who held the opinion of two natures in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ; and he is, in consequence, expelled from his own monastery by Nephalius and his party, together with many others who held similar doctrines. Thence he proceeds to the imperial city, to plead the cause of himself and those who had been expelled with him, and thus obtains the notice of the emperor Anastasius, as is narrated by the author of the life of Severus.
Accordingly, Severus, in issuing synodical letters, expressly anathematised the synod at Chalcedon; on which point the letters addressed to Alcison speak as follows. "The synodical letters of Timotheus of Constantinople were admitted here in Palestine, but the deposition of Macedonius and Flavian was not admitted, nor yet the synodical letters of Severus; but the bearers were put to flight, with the ignominy and insult which they deserved, by the people and monks of the |167 city, who rose upon them. Such was the situation of matters in Palestine. But of the bishops subject to Antioch, some were carried away into compliance, among whom was Marinus, bishop of Berytus; others by force and compulsion concurred in the synodical letters of Severus, which included an anathema, both on the synod and all others who affirmed two natures or persons in the Lord, namely, the flesh and the Godhead; and others, after having concurred by compulsion, recalled their assent, and among them the bishops subject to Apamea; others, again, altogether refused concurrence, among whom were Julian, bishop of Bostra, Epiphanius of Tyre, and some others, as is said. But the Isaurian bishops, having returned to their sober senses, are now condemning themselves for the error into which they had been beguiled, and are anathematising Severus and his party. Others of the bishops and clergy subject to Severus have abandoned their churches, and among them Julian of Bostra, and Peter of Damascus, who are now living in these parts, as also Manias. This latter is one of those two who seemed to be the chiefs of the followers of Dioscorus, by whose means also Severus obtained his dignity: but he now condemns the arrogance of that party." And presently the letter proceeds. "The monasteries in these parts and Jerusalem itself are, with the aid of God, unanimous respecting the right faith, and very many cities besides, together with their bishops, for all of whom, |168 and for ourselves, pray thou that we may not enter into temptation, our most holy lord and honoured father."
CHAPTER XXXIV.
ACT OF DEPOSITION AGAINST SEVERUS.
SINCE, then, these letters state, that the priests subject to Apamea had separated from Severus, let me now add a circumstance transmitted to us from our fathers, although it has not hitherto found a place in history. Cosmas, bishop of my native place, Epiphanea, which stands on the Orontes, and Severian, bishop of the neighbouring city of Arethusa, being troubled at the synodical letters of Severus, and having withdrawn from his communion, despatched an instrument of deposition to him, while still bishop of Antioch. They entrust the document to Aurelian, chief of the deacons at Epiphanea, and he, through dread of Severus and the majesty of so great a bishopric, on his arrival at Antioch puts on a female dress, and approaches Severus with delicate carriage and the entire assumption of a woman's appearance. Letting his vail fall down to his breast, with wailing and deep drawn lamentation he presents to Severus, as he advanced, the instruments of deposition in the guise of a petition: he then passes unobserved from among the attendant crowd and |169 purchased safety by flight, before Severus had learned the purport of the document. Severus, having received the document and learned its contents, continued, nevertheless, in his see, until the death of Anastasius.
On being informed of these transactions, for I must record the benevolent measure of Anastasius, he directs Asiaticus, who was commander in Phoenicia Libanensis, to eject Cosmas and Severian from their sees, because they had sent the instrument of deposition to Severus. Finding, on his arrival in the East, that many adhered to the opinions of those bishops, and that their cities resolutely upheld them, he reported to Anastasius that he could not eject them without bloodshed. So great then was the humanity of Anastasius, that he wrote in express terms to Asiaticus, that he did not desire the accomplishment of any object, however important and illustrious, if one drop of blood was to be shed.
Such, then, was the situation of the churches throughout the world down to the reign of Anastasius; whom some, treating him as an enemy to the synod at Chalcedon, erased from the sacred diptychs; and he was also anathematised at Jerusalem even during his life-time. |170
CHAPTER XXXV.
SUPPRESSION OF THE ISAURIAN INSURRECTION.
IT will not be inconsistent, if, in accordance with the promise which I originally made, I insert in my narrative the other circumstances worthy of mention which occurred in the time of Anastasius.
Longinus, the kinsman of Zeno, on his arrival at his native country, as has been already detailed, openly commences war against the emperor: and after a numerous army had been raised from different quarters, in which Conon, formerly bishop of Apamea in Syria, was also present, who, as being an Isaurian, aided the Isaurians, an end was put to the war by the utter destruction of the Isaurian troops of Longinus. The heads of Longinus and Theodore were sent to the imperial city by John the Scythian; which the emperor displayed on poles at the place called Sycae, opposite Constantinople, an agreeable spectacle to the Byzantines, who had been hardly treated by Zeno and the Isaurians. The other Longinus, surnamed of Selinus, the main stay of the insurgent faction, and Indes, are sent alive to Anastasius by John, surnamed Hunchback; a circumstance which especially gladdened the emperor and the Byzantines, by the display of the prisoners led in triumph along the streets and the hippodrome, with iron chains about their necks and |171 hands. Thenceforward, also, the payment called Isaurica accrued to the imperial treasury, being gold previously paid to the Barbarians annually, to the amount of five thousand pounds.
CHAPTER XXXVI.
INVASION OF THE ARABS.5
THE Scenite barbarians also insulted the Roman empire; not, however, to their own advantage; by plundering Mesopotamia, either Phoenicia, and Palestine. After having been everywhere chastised by the commanders, they subsequently continued quiet, and universally made peace with the Romans.
CHAPTER XXXVII.
CAPTURE OF AMIDA. FOUNDING OF DARAS.
THE Persians too, having, in violation of treaties, marched beyond their own territories under their king Cabades, first attacked Armenia, and having captured a town named Theodosiopolis, reached Amida, a strong city of Mesopotamia, which they took by storm; and which the Roman emperor subsequently restored by great exertions.
If any one is inclined to learn the particulars of these |172 transactions, and to trace the whole minutely, a very able narrative, a work of great labour and elegance, has been composed by Eustathius; who, after having brought down his history to this point, was numbered with the departed; closing with the twelfth year of the reign of Anastasius.
After the close of this war, Anastasius founds a city on the spot called Daras, in Mesopotamia, situated near the limits of the Roman dominion, and, as it were, a border-point of the two empires. He surrounds it with strong fortifications, and embellishes it with various stately erections, both of churches and other sacred buildings, basilicas, public baths, and other ornaments of distinguished cities. The place is said by some to have obtained the name of Daras, because there Alexander the Macedonian, the son of Philip, utterly defeated Darius.
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
THE LONG WALL.6
BY the same emperor was raised a vast and memorable work called the Long Wall, in a favourable situation in Thrace, distant from Constantinople two hundred and eighty stadia. It reaches from one sea to the other, like a strait, to the extent of four hundred and twenty stadia; making the city an island, in a |173 manner, instead of a peninsula, and affording a very safe transit, to such as choose, from the Pontus to the Euxine Sea. It is a check upon the inroads of the Barbarians from the Euxine, and of the Colchians from the Palus Maeotis, and from beyond the Caucasus, as well as of those who have made irruptions from Europe.
CHAPTER XXXIX.
ABOLITION OF THE CHRYSARGYRUM.
THE same emperor completed an extraordinary and divine achievement, namely, the entire abolition of the tax called chrysargyrum: which transaction I must now detail, though the task needs the eloquence of Thucydides, or something still more lofty and graceful. I will, however, myself describe it, not in reliance upon powers of language, but encouraged by the nature of the action.
There was imposed upon the Roman commonwealth, so singular in its magnitude and duration, a tax vile and hateful to God, and unworthy even of Barbarians, much more of the most Christian empire of the Romans: which, having been overlooked, from what cause I am unable to say, until the time of Anastasius, he most royally abolished. It was imposed, both on many other classes of persons who procured their livelihood by an accumulation of petty gains, and also upon women |174 who made a sale of their charms, and surrendered themselves in brothels to promiscuous fornication in the obscure parts of the city; and besides, upon those who were devoted to a prostitution which outraged not only nature but the common weal: so that this mode of revenue proclaimed, as distinctly as a direct enactment, that all who chose, might practise such wickedness in security. The impious and accursed revenue raised from this source, the collectors paid at the end of every five years into the hands of the first and most dignified of the prefects: so that it formed no unimportant part of the functions of that office, and had its separate exchequer, and accountants, men who regarded the business as a military service, suited, like the rest, to persons of some distinction.
Anastasius, being informed of the circumstance, laid the matter before the senate, and justly declaring it to be an abomination and unparallelled defilement, decreed that it should be utterly abolished; and committed to the flames the papers which were vouchers for its collection. With the desire also of making this measure a complete sacrifice to God, and of preventing any of his successors from reviving the ancient shame, he puts on the appearance of vexation, and accuses himself of inconsiderateness and excessive folly, saying, that in the too eager pursuit of novelty he had neglected the interests of the commonwealth, and had rashly and thoughtlessly abolished so important a revenue, |175 which had been established in former times and confirmed by so long a continuance, without duly weighing the impending dangers, or the expenses necessary for the maintenance of the army, that living bulwark of the empire, nor yet for the service of God. Accordingly, without betraying his secret thoughts, he proclaims his desire to restore the before-mentioned revenue; and having summoned those who had been in charge of the levy, he told them that he repented of the step, but knew not what course to take, or how to rectify his error, now that the papers had been burnt which could be vouchers for the particulars of its exaction. And while they, on their part, lamented the abolition of the levy, not in semblance but in reality, on account of the unrighteous gain which had thence accrued to them, and were professing the same perplexity as the emperor, he urged and exhorted them to employ every mode of search, in the endeavour to procure from among documents preserved in various quarters, a statement of the entire levy. Supplying each individual with money, he despatched him to collect materials, enjoining him to bring every paper which threw light upon this matter wherever it might be found; that by means of the utmost circumspection and minute attention, a statement of the business might be again put together. Accordingly, on the return of those who were engaged in the execution of these orders, Anastasius put on a pleased and gladsome appearance, and was in reality |176 rejoiced in having compassed the object on which he was bent. He also made particular enquiries, both how they were discovered and in whose possession, and whether any thing of the same kind was still remaining: and on their affirming that they had expended great pains upon the collection, and swearing by the emperor himself, that no other paper which could be a voucher was preserved throughout the whole empire, Anastasius again lighted up a great pile with the papers thus produced, and drenched the ashes with water, with the intention of removing every trace of this levy; so that there might appear neither dust, nor ashes, nor any remnant whatever of the business, through imperfect combustion.
In order, however, that, while we are thus extolling the abolition of this impost, we may not seem to be ignorant how much has been written under passionate feelings on the subject by former authors, let me produce these matters, and shew their falsehood, and that more especially from their own statements.
CHAPTER XL.
FALSEHOODS OF THE HISTORIAN ZOSIMUS.
ZOSIMUS, a follower of the accursed and foul religion of the Greeks, in his anger against Constantine, because he was the first emperor that had adopted Christianity, |177 abandoning the abominable superstition of the Greeks, says, that he was the person who devised the tax called Chrysargyrum, and enacted that it should be levied every five years. He has on many other grounds also reviled that pious and magnificent monarch; for he affirms that he contrived many other intolerable proceedings against every class of persons; that he miserably destroyed his son Crispus, and made away with his wife Fausta by inclosing her in an overheated bath; and that, after having in vain endeavoured to to procure purification from murders so detestable at the hands of the priests of his own religion (for they plainly declared its impossibility), he met with an Egyptian who had come from Iberia; and, having been assured by him that the faith of the Christians had the power of blotting out every sin, he embraced what the Egyptian had imparted to him, and thenceforward abandoning the faith of his fathers, he made the commencement of his impiety. The falsehood of these assertions I will forthwith shew, and in the first place treat of the matter of the Chrysargyrum.
CHAPTER XLI.
REFUTATION OF ZOSIMUS.
THOU sayest, O evil and malignant demon, that Constantine, wishing to raise a city equal to Rome, |178 first made a commencement of so vast a place by laying strong foundations and erecting a lofty wall between Troas and Ilium; but when he had discovered in Byzantium a more suitable site, he in such fashion encircled the place with walls, so far extended the former city, and embellished it with buildings so splendid, as hardly to be surpassed by Rome itself, which had received gradual increase through so long a course of years. Thou sayest also that he made a distribution of provisions at the public cost to the people of Byzantium, and bestowed a very large sum of gold upon those who had accompanied him thither, for the erection of private houses. Again, thou writest to the following effect: that on the decease of Constantine, the imperial power came into the hands of Constantius, his only surviving son after the death of his two brothers; and that when Magnentius and Vetranio had assumed the sovereignty, he wrought upon the latter by persuasives: and when both armies had been mustered, Constantius, addressing them first, reminded the soldiers of the generosity of his father, with whom they had served through many wars, and by whom they had been distinguished with the most liberal gifts; and that the soldiers, on hearing this, stripped Vetranio of his imperial robe, and made him descend from the tribunal into a private station; and tha,t he suffered no unkindness at the hands of Constantius: who has shared with his father in so much |179 of thy calumny. How thou canst then maintain that the same person could be so liberal, so munificent, and at the same time so paltry and sordid as to impose so accursed a tax, I am utterly unable to comprehend.
In proof that Constantine did not destroy Fausta or Crispus, nor was on that account initiated by an Egyptian into our mysteries, listen to the history of Eusebius Pamphili, who was contemporary with Constantine and Crispus, and had intercourse with them. For what thou writest, so far from being truth, was not even contemporary hearsay, since thou livedst long after, in the time of Arcadius and Honorius----to which period thou hast brought down thy history----or even after their time. Eusebius, in the eighth book of his ecclesiastical history, has the following words: "After no very long interval, the emperor Constantine, having maintained a disposition remarkable for gentleness in respect to his whole life, kindliness towards his subjects, and favour towards the divine word, closes his life by the common laws of nature, leaving behind him, as emperor and Augustus in his own room, a, legitimate son, Constantius." And farther on he says: "His son Constantius, having at the very commencement of his reign been proclaimed supreme emperor and Augustus by the armies, and long before by God himself, the universal Sovereign, shewed himself an imitator of his father's piety as respects our faith." And at the end of the history he expresses himself in the following |180 terms: "The mighty, victorious Constantine, distinguished by every religious excellence, in conjunction with his son Crispus, a sovereign highly beloved of God, and resembling his father in all things, obtained his rightful possession of the East." Eusebius, who survived Constantine, would never have praised Crispus in these terms, if he had been destroyed by his father. Theodoret, in his history, says that Constantine partook in the saving baptism at Nicomedia, near the close of his life, and that he had deferred the rite till this period, from a desire that it should be performed in the river Jordan.
Thou sayest, O most detestable and polluted one, that the Roman empire from the time of the appearance of Christianity, fell away and was altogether ruined: either because thou hast not read any of the older writings, or because thou art a traitor to the truth. For, on the contrary, it clearly appears that the Roman power increased together with the spread of our faith. Consider, for instance, how, at the very time of the sojourn of Christ our God among mankind, the greater part of the Macedonians were crushed by the Romans, and Albania, Iberia, the Colchians, and Arabians were subjugated. Caius Caesar also, in the hundred and eighty-first Olympiad, subdued in great battles the Gauls, Germans, and Britons, and thereby added to the Roman empire the inhabitants of five hundred cities; as has been recorded by historians. He also |181 was the first who attained to sole sovereignty since the establishment of consuls, thereby preparing a way for the previous introduction of a reverence for monarchy, after the prevalence of polytheism and popular rule, on account of the monarchy of Christ which was immediately to appear. A further acquisition was also forthwith made of the whole of Judaea and the neighbouring territories: so that it was at this time that the first registration took place; in which Christ also was enrolled, in order that Bethlehem might fulfil the prophecy relating to it; for thus had the prophet Micah spoken respecting that place: "And thou, Bethlehem, territory of Judah, art by no means least among the princes of Judah, for from thee shall come forth a governor who shall feed my people Israel." Also after the nativity of Christ our God, Egypt was added to the Roman dominion; Augustus Caesar, in whose time Christ was born, having completely overthrown Antony and Cleopatra; who also killed themselves. Upon which Cornelius Gallus is appointed by Augustus governor of Egypt, being the first who ruled that country after the Ptolemies: as has been recorded by historians. To what extent the territories of the Persians were curtailed by Ventidius, Corbulo the general of Nero, Severus, Trajan, Carus, Cassius, Odenatus of Palmyra, Apollonius, and others; and how often Seleucia and Ctesiphon were taken, and Nisibis changed sides; and how Armenia and the |182 neighbouring countries were added to the Roman empire; these matters have been narrated by thyself, as well as by others.
I had, however, nearly forgotten to notice what thou thyself writest respecting the achievements of Constantine, how nobly and courageously he swayed the Roman empire, while professing our religion, and what befell Julian, thy hero and the votary of thy orgies, who bequeathed to the commonwealth injuries so serious. Whether, however, he has either already received a foretaste of the things which have been foretold concerning the end of the world, or will even receive their full measure, is a question relating to an economy too high for thy comprehension.
Let us, at all events, consider under what circumstances heathen and Christian emperors have respectively closed their reigns. Did not Caius Julius Caesar, the first sole sovereign, close his life by assassination? In the next place, did not some of his own officers despatch with their swords Caius, the grandson of Tiberius? Was not Nero slain by one of his domestics? Did not Galba, Otho, and Vitellius, who reigned in all only sixteen months, suffer a similar fate? Was not Titus, on his attaining the empire, taken off by poison by his own brother Domitian? Was not Domitian himself miserably despatched by Stephanus? What too dost thou say about Commodus? Was not he killed by Narcissus? Pertinax and Julian, did they not meet |183 with the same treatment? Antoninus, the son of Severus, did he not murder his brother Geta, and was himself murdered by Martial? Macrinus too, was he not dragged about Byzantium, like a captive, and then butchered by his own soldiers? And Aurelius Antoninus, the Emesene, was he not slaughtered together with his mother? And his successor Alexander, was he not, together with his mother, involved in a similar catastrophe? What should I say, too, concerning Maximin, who was slain by his own troops? or Gordian, brought to a similar end by the designs of Philip? Tell me whether Philip and his successor Decius did not perish by the hands of their enemies? And Gallus and Volusian by their own armies? Aemilian, was he not involved in the same fate? And Valerian, was he not made prisoner and carried about as a show by the Persians? After the assassination of Gallienus and the murder of Carinus, the sovereignty came into the hands of Diocletian and those whom he chose as his partners in the empire. Of these, Herculius, Maximian, and Maxentius his son, and Licinius utterly perished. But from the time that the renowned Constantine succeeded to the empire, and had dedicated to Christ the city which bears his name, mark me, whether any of those who have reigned there, except Julian thy hierophant and monarch, have perished by the hands of either domestic or foreign foes, and whether a rival has overthrown any of them; except that Basiliscus |184 expelled Zeno, by whom, however, he was afterwards overthrown and killed. I also agree with thee in what thou sayest about Valens, who had inflicted so many evils upon the Christians: for of any other case not even thou thyself makest mention.
Let no one think that these matters are foreign to an ecclesiastical history; since they are, in fact, altogether useful, and essential, on account of wilful desertion of the cause of truth on the part of heathen writers. Let me now proceed to the rest of the acts of Anastasius.
CHAPTER XLII.
THE GOLD-RATE.
THE before-mentioned measures Anastasius successfully carried out in a truly royal spirit; but he adopted others by no means worthy of them: both by devising what is called the gold-rate, and farming out the supplies for the army on terms most burdensome to the provincials. He also took the levying of imposts out of the hands of the councils of the respective cities, and appointed what are called Vindices, at the suggestion, as is said, of Marinus the Syrian, who held the highest prefecture, termed in former times the Prefect of the Praetorium. The result was that the revenue fell off to a great extent, and the local dignitaries sunk into |185 abeyance: for persons of high families formerly had their names inscribed in the album of each city; which regarded those who were members of its council, as a kind of senate.
CHAPTER XLIII.
INSURRECTION OF VITALIAN.7
VITALIAN, a Thracian by birth, disputes the empire with Anastasius, and having devastated Thrace and Mysia as far as Odessus and Anchialus, was advancing rapidly upon the imperial city, at the head of an innumerable force of Huns. The emperor despatched Hypatius to encounter this force; and, after he had been captured through the treachery of his own troops, and liberated at a large ransom, the conduct of the war was entrusted to Cyril.
The battle which followed, was at first indecisive, with several subsequent alternations of success; but, notwithstanding the advantage was on the side of Cyril, the enemy rallied, and he was ultimately routed through the wilful desertion of his own soldiers. In consequence, Vitalian captured Cyril in Odessus, and advanced as far as the place called Sycae, laying the whole country waste with fire and sword; meditating nothing less than the capture of the city itself and the seizure of the sovereignty. When he had encamped |186 at Sycae, Marinus the Syrian, whom we have mentioned before, is despatched by the emperor to attack him by sea. The two armaments, accordingly, encountered, the one having Sycae astern, the other Constantinople. For a time the fleets remained inactive: but, after the skirmishings and discharge of missiles had been followed by a fierce conflict in the place called Bytharia, Vitalian withdraws from the line of battle and takes to flight, with the loss of the greater portion of his fleet. The remainder then fly with such precipitation, that the next day not a single enemy was found in the channel or in the neighbourhood of the city. It is said that Vitalian then continued inactive for some time at Anchialus. There was also another inroad of Huns, who had passed the defiles of Cappadocia.
About the same time Rhodes suffered by a violent earthquake at the dead of night: this being the third time it had been visited by that calamity.
CHAPTER XLIV.
SEDITION AT CONSTANTINOPLE.8
A VERY great sedition occurred at Byzantium, arising from a wish of the emperor to add to the Trisagion the clause, "Who was crucified for our sakes:" which was regarded as subversive of the Christian religion. Its prime mover and chief was Macedonius, aided by |187 his subject clergy, as Severus says in a letter to Sotericus, which he wrote before his elevation to the episcopal throne, while residing at the imperial city, at the time when, with several others, he had been expelled from his monastery, as I have already mentioned. It was on account of this imputation, in addition to the causes before mentioned, that, in my opinion, Macedonius was ejected from his see. Amid the uncontrollable excitement of the populace which followed, persons of rank and station were brought into extreme danger, and many principal parts of the city were set on fire. The populace, having found in the house of Marinus the Syrian, a monk from the country, cut off his head, saying that the clause had been added at his instigation; and having fixed it upon a pole, jeeringly exclaimed: "See the plotter against the Trinity!"
Such was the violence of the tumult, filling every quarter with devastation, and surpassing every means of control, that the emperor was driven to appear at the Hippodrome in pitiable guise, without his crown, and despatched heralds to proclaim to the assembled people, that he was most ready to resign his sovereignty; at the same time reminding them, that it was impossible that all should be elevated to that dignity, which admitted not of a plurality of occupants, and that one individual only could be his successor.
At this the temper of the people was suddenly changed, as by some divine impulse; and they begged |188 Anastasius to resume his crown; with a promise of peaceable conduct in future.
Anastasius survived this event a very short time, and departed to the other world after a reign of twenty-seven years, three months, and three days.
THE END OF THE THIRD BOOK.
[Footnotes have been moved to the end and assigned numbers rather than the asterisks etc used in the printed volume. Footnotes in [Red] are taken from the running titles, not the bottom of the page]
1. [A.D. 475.]
2. [A.D.477.]
3. [A.D. 482.]
4. [A.D.491.]
5. [A.D. 500.]
6. [A.D. 507.]
7. [A.D. 514.]
8. [A.D.518.]
This text was transcribed by Roger Pearse, 19th October 2002. All material on this page is in the public domain - copy freely.
Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
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Evagrius Scholasticus, Ecclesiastical History (AD431-594), translated by E. Walford (1846). Book 4
Evagrius Scholasticus, Ecclesiastical History (AD431-594), translated by E. Walford (1846). Book 4.
THE FOURTH BOOK.
CHAPTER I.
ACCESSION OF JUSTIN.
AFTER Anastasius had, as I have said, departed for the better lot, Justin, a Thracian by birth, assumes the purple, in the five hundred and sixty-sixth year of the Era of Antioch, on the ninth day of the month Panemus, which the Romans call July. He was proclaimed emperor by the imperial body-guards, of which he was also the commander, having been appointed-prefect of the household troops. His elevation was, however, contrary to all expectation, since there were many most distinguished and flourishing members of the family of Anastasius, possessed also of sufficient influence to have secured for themselves the supreme power.
CHAPTER II.
DESIGNS AND DEATH OF AMANTIUS AND THEOCRITUS.
AMANTIUS was the imperial chamberlain, and a man |190 of very great influence; but as it was not lawful for any emasculated person to attain the sovereignty of the Romans, he was desirous that the imperial crown should be given to Theocritus, one of his creatures. He, therefore, sends for Justin, and gives him a large sum of money, with orders to distribute it amongst the persons most fit for this purpose, and able to invest Theocritus with the purple. But with the money he either bought over the people, or purchased the goodwill of what are termed the Excubitores--for both accounts are given--and so attained the empire. Soon afterwards he took off Amantius and Theocritus, with some others.
CHAPTER III.
ASSASSINATION OF VITALIAN.
JUSTIN sends for Vitalian, who was living in Thrace and who had entertained designs of dethroning Anastasius, to Constantinople: for he dreaded his power, his military experience, his universal renown, and his great desire to possess the sovereignty: and rightly conjecturing that he should not be able to overcome him otherwise than by pretending to be a friend; by way of concealing his guile under a plausible mask, he appoints him commander of one of the bodies called Praesentes, and, as a more effectual persuasive, with a |191 view to a still greater deception, he raises him to the consulship. He, being consul elect, was assassinated on visiting the palace, at an inner door, and thus met with a punishment for his insolence towards the Roman sovereignty. But these events happened subsequently.
CHAPTER IV.
DEPOSITION OF SEVERUS, BISHOP OF ANTIOCH. SUCCESSION OF PAUL AND EUPHRASIUS.1
SEVERUS, who had been ordained president of Antioch, as stated above, ceased not daily to anathematise the synod at Chalcedon, and chiefly by means of those epistles called Enthronistic, and in the responses which he sent to all the patriarchs, though they were received only at Alexandria, by John, the successor of the former John, and by Dioscorus and Timotheus: which epistles have come down to our time.
Many contentions having thus arisen in the church, whereby the. most faithful people were split into factions, Justin, in the first year of his reign, ordered him to be arrested, and to be punished, as some say, by having his tongue cut out; the execution of which sentence was committed to Irenaeus, who, at Antioch, held the government of the Eastern provinces.
Severus himself confirms the account of Irenaeus being appointed to arrest him, in a letter to some |192 of the Antiochenes, describing the manner of his escape; wherein he casts the strongest invectives on Irenaeus, and states that he is under the strictest surveillance lest he should escape from Antioch. Some say that Vitalian, who still appeared to be in the highest favour with Justin, demanded the tongue of Severus, because he had reproached him in his discourses. Accordingly, he flies from his see, in the month Gorpiaeus, which in the Latin language is called September, in the five hundred and sixty-seventh year of the Era of Antioch. Paul succeeds to the see, with orders to proclaim openly the synod at Chalcedon. Afterwards, retiring voluntarily from Antioch, he went the way of all flesh by a natural death. He is succeeded in his see by Euphrasius from Jerusalem.
CHAPTER V.
FIRES AND EARTHQUAKES AT ANTIOCH. DEATH OF EUPHRASIUS.2
ABOUT the same period of Justin's reign there happened at Antioch numerous and dreadful fires, as if harbingers of the terrible shocks which afterwards took place, and serving as a prelude for the coming calamities. For, a short time after, in the tenth month of the seventh year of Justin's reign, being Artemisius or May, on the twenty-ninth day of the month, precisely |193 at noon, on the sixth day of the week, the city was visited with the shock of an earthquake, which very nearly destroyed the whole of it. This was followed by a fire, to share, as it were, in the calamity: for what escaped the earthquake, the fire in its spread reduced to ashes. The damage that the city sustained, how many persons according to probable estimate became the victims of the fire and earthquake, what strange occurrences surpassing the power of words took place, have been feelingly related by John the Rhetorician, who concludes his history with the relation.
Euphrasius also perished in the ruins, to add another misfortune to the city, by leaving no one to provide for its exigencies.
CHAPTER VI.
ELEVATION OF EPHRAEMIUS, COUNT OF THE EAST, TO THE PATRIARCHATE OF ANTIOCH.
BUT the saving care of God for man, which prepares the remedy before the stroke, and the compassion which, while sharpening the sword of wrath, at the moment of the deepest despair displays its sympathy, raised up Ephraemius, at that time governor of the Eastern provinces, to take upon himself all the care of the city; so that it lacked not any thing that its |194 exigency required. On this account, the sons of the Antiochenes so admired him, that they elected him their priest: and he thus attains the apostolic see as a reward and prize of his singular care for the place. Thirty months after, the city suffered again from an earthquake.
At this time also, what had been hitherto called the city of Antiochus was entitled the City of God, and received additional care at the hands of the emperor.
CHAPTER VII.
MIRACLES OF ZOSIMAS AND JOHN.
Now that I have recorded the above-mentioned calamities, let me also add to the present narrative some other circumstances worthy of record, and which have been transmitted to us from those who have made them a subject of notice.
Zosimas was a native of Sinde, a village of Phoenicia Maritima, distant from Tyre about twenty stadia, and pursued the monastic discipline. He, by means both of abstinence and use of food, having attained to such a union with God as not only to discern forthcoming events, but also to possess the grace of perfect freedom from passion, was in company with a distinguished person from Caesarea, the capital of one of the Palestines. This was Arcesilaus, a man of good |195 family, accomplished, and high in dignities and whatever gives lustre to life. Zosimas, at the very moment of the overthrow of Antioch, suddenly became troubled, uttered lamentations and deep sighs, and then shedding such a profusion of tears as to bedew the ground, called for a censer, and having fumed the whole place where they were standing, throws himself upon the ground, propitiating God with prayers and supplications. Upon Arcesilaus asking the reason of all this trouble, he distinctly replied, that the sound of the overthrow of Antioch was at that instant ringing in his ears. This led Arcesilaus and the rest of the astonished company to note down the hour; and they afterwards found that it was as Zosimas had said.
By his hand many other miracles were performed: but omitting the greater part of them, since they are too numerous to detail, I shall mention a few.
Contemporary with Zosimas, and endued with equal virtues, was a man named John, who had practised the endurance of the solitary and immaterial life in the cloister called Chuzibas, situated at the extremity of the glen at the northern part of the highway leading from Jerusalem to Jericho, and was now bishop of the before-named Caesarea. This John, the Chuzibite, having heard that the wife of Arcesilaus had lost one of her eyes by a stroke of a spindle, runs immediately to her to see the accident; and when he finds that the |196 pupil is gone and the eye altogether lacerated, he commands one of the physicians in attendance to bring a sponge, and, having replaced as well as he could the lacerated parts, to apply and secure the sponge with bandages. Arcesilaus was absent, for he happened to be with Zosimas in his monastery at Sinde, distant from Caesarea full five hundred stadia. Accordingly, messengers proceeded with all haste to Arcesilaus, whom they found sitting in conversation with Zosimas. When informed of the circumstance, he uttered a piercing cry, tore his hair and cast it towards heaven. Upon Zosimas asking him the reason, he told him what had happened, interrupting his account with frequent wailings and tears. Whereupon Zosimas, leaving him alone, goes to his chamber, where he used to make his addresses to God according to the rule of such persons, and after some interval he approaches Arcesilaus with a solemnly joyous countenance, and gently pressing his hand, said: "Depart with joy, depart. Grace is given to the Chuzibite. Your wife is cured, and is in possession of both her eyes; for the accident has had no power to deprive her of them, since such was the desire of the Chuzibite." This was brought about by the united wonder-working of both the just men.
Again, as the same Zosimas was going to Caesarea, and leading an ass laden with certain necessaries, a lion encountered him and carried off the ass. Zosimas |197 follows into the wood, reaches the place where the lion was, satiated with his meal upon the beast, and smiling says, "Come, my friend; my journey is interrupted, since I am heavy and far advanced in years, and not able to carry on my back the ass's load. You must therefore carry it, though contrary to your nature, if you wish Zosimas to get out of this place and yourself to be a wild beast again." All at once the lion, forgetting his ferocity, fawned on him, and by his gestures plainly manifested obedience. Zosimas then put the ass's load upon him, and led him to the gates of Caesarea, showing the power of God, and how all things are subservient to man if we live to Him and do not pervert the grace given to us. But that I may not render my history prolix by more circumstances of the kind, I will return to the point whence 1 digressed.
CHAPTER VIII.
GENERAL CALAMITIES.3
DURING the reign of Justin, Dyrrachium, formerly called Epidamnus, suffered from an earthquake; as did also Corinth in Greece, and afterwards, for the fourth time, Anazarbus, the capital of Cilicia Minor. These cities Justin restored at great expence. About the same time Edessa, a large and flourishing city of |198 Osroene, was inundated by the waters of the Skirtus, which runs close by it; so that most of the buildings were swept away, and countless multitudes that were carried down by the stream, perished. Accordingly, the names of Edessa and Anazarbus were changed by Justin, and each of them was called, after himself, Justinopolis.
CHAPTER IX.
APPOINTMENT OF JUSTINIAN TO A SHARE IN THE EMPIRE.
WHEN Justin had reigned eight years, nine months, and three days, he associated in the government Justinian, his nephew, who was proclaimed on the first of the month Xanthicus, or April, in the five hundred and seventy-fifth year of the era of Antioch. After these transactions, Justin departs his earthly sovereignty, closing his life on the first of the month Lous, or August, having had Justin for his associate in the empire four months, and reigned in all nine years and three days. Now that Justinian was sole sovereign of the Roman empire, and the synod at Chalcedon was being proclaimed in the most holy churches by the commands of Justin, as stated before; the state of the church was disturbed in some of the provinces, but |199 chiefly at Constantinople and Alexandria, Anthimus being bishop of the former, and Theodosius of the latter: for both held the doctrine of the single nature of Christ.
CHAPTER X.
THE COUNCIL OF CHALCEDON UPHELD BY JUSTINIAN.
JUSTINIAN very resolutely upheld the synod at Chalcedon and what was put forth by it; and Theodora, his consort, those who maintained the single nature: either because such were their real sentiments--for when the faith is a matter of dispute, fathers are divided against their children, children against the authors of their birth, a wife against her own husband, and again a husband against his own wife--or by mutual understanding, that he should uphold those who maintained the two natures in Christ our God after the union; and she those who alleged the single nature. Neither conceded to the other: but he strenuously supported the acts at Chalcedon, and she, ranging with the opposite party, exercised the greatest care towards those who maintained the single nature. Our people she treated with the warmest kindness, and others too with great munificence. She also persuades Justinian to send for Severus. |200
CHAPTER XI.
DEPOSITION OF ANTHIMUS AND THEODOSIUS FROM THEIR SEES.
THERE are letters extant from Severus to Justinian and Theodora, from which we may gather that at first he put off his journey to the imperial city on leaving his see of Antioch. Nevertheless he afterwards arrived there; and has written to the effect that when he came thither and had conversed with Anthimus, and found him holding the same sentiments with himself, and the same opinions with respect to the Godhead, he persuaded him to withdraw from his see. He wrote concerning these matters to Theodosius, bishop of Alexandria, and greatly gloried in having persuaded Anthimus, as stated before, to prefer such doctrines to earthly glory and the possession of his see. Letters are also extant on this subject from Anthimus to Theodosius, and from Theodosius to Severus and Anthimus; which I pass over, leaving them to those who choose to consult them, that I may not include in the present work too great a mass of materials. Nevertheless, both were ejected from their sees, as opposing the imperial mandates and the decrees of Chalcedon. Zoilus succeeded to that of Alexandria, and Epiphanius to that of the imperial city: so that from that time forward the synod at Chalcedon was openly proclaimed |201 in all the churches; and no one dared to anathematise it; while those who dissented, were urged by innumerable methods to assent to it. Accordingly, a constitution was drawn up by Justinian in which he anathematised Severus, Anthimus, and others, and subjected those who held their doctrines, to the highest penalties: the effect of which was, that thenceforward no schism remained in any of the churches, but the patriarchs of the several dioceses agreed with each other, and the bishops of the cities followed their respective primates. Four synods were thus proclaimed throughout the churches; first, that held at Nicaea; secondly, that at Constantinople; thirdly, the former one at Ephesus; and fourthly, that at Chalcedon. A fifth also took place by order of Justinian, concerning which I shall say what is suitable in its proper place, while I weave into my present narrative the several events of the same period which are worthy of notice.
CHAPTER XII.
CABADES AND CHOSROES, KINGS OF PERSIA.4
THE history of Belisarius has been written by Procopius the Rhetorician. He says that Cabades, king of the Persians, wishing to invest his youngest son Chosroes with the sovereignty, was desirous to have him adopted by the Roman emperor, so that by |202 that means his succession might be secured. But when this was refused, at the suggestion of Proclus, who advised Justinian as his quaestor, they conceived a still greater hatred against the Romans. This same Procopius has, with diligence, elegance, and ability, set forth the events of the war between the Romans and Persians while Belisarius was commander of the forces of the East. The first victory on the side of the Romans which he records, was in the neighbourhood of Daras and Nisibis, under the command of Belisarius and Hemogenes. He subjoins an account of the occurrences in Armenia, and the mischief inflicted on the Romans by Alamundarus, the chieftain of the Scenite barbarians, who captured Timostratus, the brother of Rufinus, together with his troops, and afterwards liberated him for a considerable ransom.
CHAPTER XIII.
INCURSION OF THE ARABS. SEDITION AT CONSTANTINOPLE.
HE also feelingly details the incursion of the before-named Alamundarus and Azarethus into the Roman territory; and how Belisarius, compelled by his own troops, engaged them in their retreat by the Euphrates, on the eve of Easter day; and how the Roman army was destroyed through their repugnance to the |203 measures of Belisarius; and how Rufinus and Hermogenes made with the Persians the peace called the perpetual peace.
He subjoins an account of the insurrection of the people at Byzantium, which derived its name from the watchword of the populace: for they entitled it "Nica", because on their assembling they chose this term as the watchword, to know each other. On this occasion Hypatius and Pompeius were compelled by the people to assume the sovereignty. But on the defeat of the populace, both were beheaded by the soldiers at the command of Justinian, and the insurrection was quelled. Procopius states that thirty thousand persons were killed in this disturbance.
CHAPTER XIV.
PERSECUTION BY HUNERIC.5
THE same writer, when treating of the affairs of the Vandals, has recorded most important occurrences and worthy of perpetual memory, which I now proceed to mention. Himeric, the successor of Genseric, and a professor of the creed of Arius, entertained most cruel intentions against the African Christians, in the endeavour to convert by force the maintainers of the orthodox doctrines to the opinions of the Arians. Those who refused compliance, he destroyed both by |204 fire and various modes of death, and some he deprived of their tongues. The latter, Procopius says that he himself saw, when they had taken refuge at the imperial city, and that he maintained a conversation with them in the same manner as with unmutilated persons: that their tongues were cut out from the root; nevertheless their speech was articulate, and they conversed distinctly; a new and strange marvel, of which also a constitution of Justinian makes mention. Two of these persons lapsed, as Procopius himself writes. For on their desiring commerce with women, they were deprived of their speech, since the grace of their martyrdom had abandoned them.
CHAPTER XV.
CABAONES THE MOOR.6
HE also relates another wonderful occurrence, wrought by our Saviour God in the case of men, aliens indeed to our religion, who, however, acted with religious reverence. He states that Cabaones was chieftain of the Moors in the neighbourhood of Tripolis. This Cabaones, he says--for it is worth while to use his own words during his able narration of this matter also--this Cabaones, as soon as he learned that the Vandals were marching against him, acted in the following manner. First, he commanded all his |205 subjects to refrain from injustice and all luxurious food, but particularly from commerce with women; and having raised two fortified enclosures, he encamped himself with all the men in one, and enclosed the women in the other, threatening death to any man who should approach the women. Afterwards, he sent scouts to Carthage with these instructions: that when the Vandals on their march outraged any temple reverenced by the Christians, they should note what was being done, and when the Vandals left the place, should, immediately on their departure, treat the sanctuary in a manner directly the reverse. It is mentioned that he further said, that he was ignorant of the God worshipped by the Christians, but it was likely, if he were powerful, as was affirmed, that he would chastise those who outraged him, and defend such as rendered him service. The scouts, therefore, coming to Carthage, continued to watch the preparations of the Vandals, and when the army set forward for Tripolis, they followed it, disguised in a sorry dress. The Vandals, encamping at the close of the first day, introduced their horses and other beasts into the temples of the Christians, and abstained from no species of outrage, but gave way to their usual license; and beating and severely scourging the priests whom they happened to seize, bid them wait upon them. But as soon as the Vandals had left the place, the scouts of Cabaones did all that had been enjoined them, and |206 immediately cleansed the sanctuaries, sedulously removing the dung and every other defilement: they lighted all the tapers, paid reverent obeisance to the priests, and saluted them with every kindness; and when they had bestowed money on the beggars who sat round the shrine, they followed the army of the Vandals, who, from this point along the whole line of march, committed the same outrages, while the scouts remedied them. When, however, they were at no great distance, the scouts, proceeding in advance, announced to Cabaones all that had been done by the Vandals and themselves to the temples of the Christians, and that the enemy were now near. On hearing this, he prepared to engage. By far the greater part of the Vandals, as our author states, were destroyed: some were captured by the enemy, and very few returned home. Such was the misfortune that Thrasamund sustained at the hands of the Moors. He died some time after, having ruled the Vandals for seven and twenty years.
CHAPTER XVI.
EXPEDITION OF BELISARIUS AGAINST THE VANDALS.
THE same author writes that Justinian, having, in pity to the Christians in that quarter, professed his intention of undertaking an expedition for their relief, |207 was being diverted from his purpose by the suggestion of John, prefect of the palace, when a dream appeared to him, bidding him not to shrink from the execution of his design; for, by assisting the Christian she would overthrow the power of the Vandals. Being determined by this circumstance, in the seventh year of his reign, he despatches Belisarius, about the summer solstice, to attack Carthage; on which occasion, when the general's ship touched at the shore of the palace, Epiphanius, bishop of the city, offered up appropriate prayers, having previously baptized some of the soldiers and embarked them on board the vessel. He also narrates some circumstances, worthy of record, relating to the martyr Cyprian, in the following words:
"All the Carthaginians especially reverence Cyprian, a holy man, and having erected on the shore, in front of their city, a noble shrine, besides other reverential observances, they celebrate an annual festival, and call it Cypriana; and the sailors are accustomed to call the tempestuous weather which I have before mentioned by the same name as the festival, since it is wont to happen at the time of the year at which the Africans have fixed its perpetual celebration. This temple the Vandals, in the reign of Huneric, took by force from the Christians, and ignominiously expelling the priests, refitted it, as henceforward belonging to the Arians. They say that Cyprian, frequently appearing in a dream to the Africans who were indignant and |208 distressed on this account, told them that there was no occasion for the Christians to be solicitous about him, for in time he would avenge himself: which prediction attained its accomplishment in the time of Belisarius, when Carthage, ninety-five years after its loss, was reduced by him under the Roman power, by the utter overthrow of the Vandals: at which time the doctrine of the Arians was entirely extirpated from Africa, and the Christians recovered their own temples, according to the prediction of the martyr Cyprian."
CHAPTER XVII.
TRIUMPH OF BELISARIUS.
THE same author writes as follows. "When Belisarius had subdued the Vandals, he returned to Byzantium, bringing the spoils and prisoners, and among them Gelimer, king of the Vandals. A triumph was granted him, and he carried in procession through the Hippodrome whatever would be an object of wonder. Among these were considerable treasures obtained by Genseric from the plunder of the palace at Rome, as I have already narrated; when Eudoxia, the wife of Valentinian, emperor of the West, having been both deprived of her husband and subjected to an outrage on her chastity by Maximus, invited Genseric, with a |209 promise of surrendering the city to him: on which occasion, after burning Rome, he conveyed Eudoxia and her daughters to the country of the Vandals. Together with the other treasures, he then carried off all that Titus, the son of Vespasian, had brought to Rome on the capture of Jerusalem; offerings which Solomon had dedicated to God. These Justinian, in honour of Christ our God, sent back to Jerusalem; an act of becoming reverence to the Deity, to whom they had in the first instance been dedicated. On this occasion, Procopius says that Gelimer, prostrating himself on the ground in the hippodrome, before the imperial throne on which Justinian was sitting to witness the proceedings, made application, in his own language, of the divine oracle: "Vanity of vanities; all is vanity."
CHAPTER XVIII.
ORIGIN OF THE MOORS. MUNIFICENCE OF JUSTINIAN IN AFRICA.
PROCOPIUS mentions another circumstance, unnoticed before his time, but one that can scarcely be regarded with sufficient wonder. He states that the Moors of Lybia settled in that country after being dislodged from Palestine, and that they are those whom the divine oracles mention as the Girgashites and Jebusites, |210 and the other nations subdued by Joshua the son of Nun. He concludes the entire truth of the story from an inscription in Phoenician characters, which he says that he himself had read, and that it was near a fountain, where were two pillars of white stone on which were engraved these words: "We are those who fled from the face of Joshua the robber, the son of Nun."
Such was the end of these transactions, in Africa becoming again subject to the Romans, and paying, as before, an annual tribute.
Justinian is said to have restored one hundred and fifty cities in Africa, some of which had been altogether, and others extensively ruined; and this he did with surpassing magnificence, in private and public works and embellishments, in fortifications, and other vast structures by which cities are adorned and the Deity propitiated: also in aqueducts for use and ornament, the supply of water having been in some cases conveyed to the cities for the first time, in others restored to its former state.
CHAPTER XIX.
EVENTS FOLLOWING THE DEATH OF THEODORIC.
I NOW proceed to relate what occurred in Italy; events which have also been treated very distinctly by Procopius, the Rhetorician, down to his own times. |211
After Theodoric, as I have already detailed, had captured Rome and utterly destroyed its king Odoacer, and had closed his life in possession of the Roman sovereignty, his wife Amalasuntha held the reins of government, as guardian of their common son Athalaric; a woman rather of a masculine temperament, and administering affairs accordingly. She was the first person who led Justinian to entertain a desire for the Gothic war, by sending an embassy to him on the formation of a conspiracy against herself. On the death, however, of Athalaric at a very early age, Theodatus, a kinsman of Theodoric, was invested with the sovereignty of the West, but abdicated when Justinian had despatched Belisarius to that quarter; being a person addicted rather to literature, and altogether wanting in military experience; while Vitiges, an able soldier, was in command of his forces. From the materials which the same Procopius has collected, one may gather that Vitiges abandoned Rome on the arrival of Belisarius in Italy; who at once marched upon the city. The Romans readily opened their gates to him; a result mainly brought about by Silverius, their bishop, who, with this view, had sent to him Fidelis, formerly assessor to Athalaric. They accordingly surrendered their city to him without resistance: and thus Rome, after an interval of sixty years, again fell into Roman hands on the ninth day of the month Apellaeus, called by the Latins |212 December.7 The same Procopius writes, that, when the Goths were besieging Rome, Belisarius, suspecting Silverius of a design to betray the city, transports him to Greece and appoints Vigilius in his room.
CHAPTER XX.
CONVERSION OF THE HERULI.
ABOUT the same time, as Procopius also writes, when the Heruli, who had already crossed the river Danube in the reign of Anastasius, had experienced generous treatment at the hands of Justinian, in large presents of money, the whole nation embraced Christianity and adopted a more civilised mode of life.
CHAPTER XXI.
LOSS AND RECOVERY OF ROME.
JN the next place he records the return of Belisarius to Byzantium, and how he brought thither Vitiges, together with the spoils of Rome; also the seizure of the sovereignty of Rome by Totila, and how the city again fell under the dominion of a Goth; how Belisarius, having twice entered Italy, again recovered the city, and how, on the breaking out of the Median war, he was recalled to Byzantium by the emperor. |213
CHAPTER XXII.
CONVERSION OF THE ABASGI.
PROCOPIUS also records, that the Abasgi, having become more civilised, embraced the Christian doctrine about the same time, and that Justinian sent to them one of the eunuchs of the palace, their countryman, by name Euphratas, with an interdict, that henceforward no one in that nation should undergo emasculation in violation of nature; for from among them the imperial chamberlains were principally appointed, whom usage styles eunuchs. At this time, Justinian, having erected among the Abasgi a temple in honour of the Mother of God, appointed priests for them; by which means they were accurately instructed in the Christian doctrine.
CHAPTER XXIII.
CONVERSION OF TILE PEOPLE ON THE TANAIS. EARTHQUAKES.
THE same author narrates, that the people on the Tanais (the natives give the name of Tanais to the channel extending from the Palus Maeotis to the Euxine Sea) urged Justinian to send a bishop to them; which request he granted, and gladly sent |214 them a priest. The same writer describes, with great ability, the irruptions of the Goths of the Maeotis into the Roman territory in the time of Justinian, and the violent earthquakes which took place in Greece; how Boeotia, Achaia, and the neighbourhood of the Crisssean bay suifered shocks; how innumerable towns and cities were levelled, and chasms were formed, many of which closed again, while others remained open.
CHAPTER XXIV.
ACHIEVEMENTS AND PIETY OF NARSES.
PROCOPIUS also describes the expedition of Narses, who was sent by Justinian into Italy; how he overthrew Totila and afterwards Teia; and how Rome was taken for the fifth time. Those about the person of Narses affirm that he used to propitiate the Deity with prayers and other acts of piety, paying due honour also to the Virgin and mother of God, so that she distinctly announced to him the proper season for action; and that Narses never engaged until he had received the signal from her. He recounts also other distinguished exploits of Narses in the overthrow of Buselinus and Syndualdus, and the acquisition of nearly the whole country as far as the ocean. These |215 transactions have been recounted by Agathias the Rhetorician, but his history has not reached our hands.
CHAPTER XXV.
INVASION OF THE PERSIANS. CAPTURE OF ANTIOCH.8
THE same Procopius has also written the following account. When Chosroes had learned what had occurred in Africa and Italy favourable to the Roman dominion, he was moved to excessive jealousy, and advanced certain charges against the Roman government, that terms had been violated and the existing peace broken. In the first place, Justinian sent ambassadors to Chosroes to induce him not to break the peace which was intended to be perpetual, nor to trespass on the existing conditions; proposing that the points in dispute should be discussed and settled in an amicable manner. But Chosroes, maddened by the ferment of jealousy, would not listen to any proposals, and invaded the Roman territory with a large army, in the thirteenth year of the reign of Justinian. The historian also writes, that Chosroes captured and destroyed Sura, a city on the banks of the Euphrates, after having professed to make terms, but dealing with it in defiance of all justice, by paying no regard to the conditions, and becoming master of it rather |216 by stratagem than by open war. He also narrates the burning of Beraea, and then the advance upon Antioch; at which time Ephraemius was bishop of the city, but had abandoned it on the failure of all his plans. This person is said to have rescued the Church and its precincts, by arraying it with the sacred offerings, in order that they might serve as a ransom for it. The historian also feelingly describes the capture of Antioch by Chosroes, and its promiscuous devastation by fire and sword: his visit to the neighbouring city of Seleucia, and to the suburb Daphne, and his advance towards Apamea, during the episcopate of Thomas, a man most powerful in word and deed. He had the prudence to yield to Chosroes in becoming a spectator of the horse-races in the hippodrome, though an act of irregularity; employing every means to court and pacify the conqueror. Chosroes also asked him whether he was desirous to see him in his own city: and it is said that he frankly replied that it was no pleasure to see him in his neighbourhood: at which answer Chosroes was struck with wonder, justly admiring the truthfulness of the man. |217
CHAPTER XXVI.
DISPLAY OF THE WOOD OF THE CROSS AT APAMEA.9
Now that I have arrived at this point of my narrative, I will relate a prodigy, which occurred at Apamea, and is worthy of a place in the present history.
When the sons of the Apameans were informed that Antioch had been burnt, they besought the before-mentioned Thomas to bring forth and display the saving and life-giving wood of the cross, in deviation from established rule; that they might behold and kiss for the last time the sole salvation of man, and obtain a provision for the passage to another life, in having the precious cross as their means of transport to the better lot. In performance of which request, Thomas brings forth the life-giving wood, announcing stated days for its display, that all the neighbouring people might have an opportunity to assemble and enjoy the salvation thence proceeding.
Accordingly, my parents visited it together with the rest, accompanied by myself, at that time a school-boy. When, therefore, we requested permission to adore and kiss the precious cross, Thomas, lifting up both his hands, displayed the wood which blotted out the ancient curse, making an entire circuit of the sanctuary, as |218 was customary on the ordinary days of adoration. As Thomas moved from place to place, there followed him a large body of fire, blazing but not consuming; so that the whole spot where he stood to display the precious cross seemed to be in flames: and this took place not once or twice but often, as the priest was making the circuit of the place, and the assembled people were entreating him that it might be done. This circumstance foreshewed the preservation which was granted to the Apameans. Accordingly, a representation of it was suspended on the roof of the sanctuary, explaining it by its delineation to those who were uninformed: which was preserved until the irruption of Adaarmanes and the Persians, when it was burnt together with the holy church in the conflagration of the entire city. Such were these events. But Chosroes, in his retreat, acted in direct violation of conditions--for even on this occasion terms had been made--in a manner suited to his restless and inconstant disposition, but utterly unbecoming a rational man, much more a king professing a regard for treaties.
CHAPTER XXVII.
SIEGE OF EDESSA BY CHOSROES.10
THE same Procopius narrates what the ancients had recorded concerning Edessa and Abgarus, and |219 how Christ wrote a letter to him. He then relates how Chosroes made a fresh movement to lay siege to the city, thinking to falsify the assertion prevalent among the faithful, that Edessa would never fall into the power of an enemy: which assertion, however, is not contained in what was written to Abgarus by Christ our God; as the studious may gather from the history of Eusebius Pamphili, who cites the epistle verbatim. Such, however, is the averment and belief of the faithful; which was then realised, faith bringing about the accomplishment of the prediction. For after Chosroes had made many assaults on the city, had raised a mound of sufficient size to overtop the walls of the town, and had devised innumerable expedients beside, he raised the siege and retreated. I will, however, detail the particulars. Chosroes ordered his troops to collect a great quantity of wood for the siege from whatever timber fell in their way; and when this had been done before the order could well be issued, arranging it in a circular form, he threw a mound inside with its face advancing against the city. In this way elevating it gradually with the timber and earth, and pushing it forward towards the town, he raised it to a height sufficient to overtop the wall, so that the besiegers could hurl their missiles from vantage ground against the defenders. When the besiegers saw the mound approaching the walls like a moving mountain, and the enemy in |220 expectation of stepping into the town at day-break, they devised to run a mine under the mound--which the Latins term "aggestus"--and by that means apply fire, so that the combustion of the timber might cause the downfall of the mound. The mine was completed; but they failed in attempting to fire the wood, because the fire, having no exit whence it could obtain a supply of air, was unable to take hold of it. In this state of utter perplexity, they bring the divinely wrought image, which the hands of men did not form, but Christ our God sent to Abgarus on his desiring to see Him. Accordingly, having introduced this holy image into the mine, and washed it over with water, they sprinkled some upon the timber; and the divine power forthwith being present to the faith of those who had so done, the result was accomplished which had previously been impossible: for the timber immediately caught the flame, and being in an instant reduced to cinders, communicated with that above, and the fire spread in all directions. When the besieged saw the smoke rising, they adopted the following contrivance. Having filled small jars with sulphur, tow, and other combustibles, they threw them upon the aggestus; and these, sending forth srnoke as the fire was increased by the force of their flight, prevented that which was rising from the mound from being observed; so that all who were not in the secret, supposed that the smoke proceeded |221 solely from the jars. On the third day the flames were seen issuing from the earth, and then the Persians on the mound became aware of their unfortunate situation. But Chosroes, as if in opposition to the power of heaven, endeavoured to extinguish the pile, by turning all the water-courses which were outside the city upon it. The fire, however, receiving the water as if it had been oil or sulphur, or some other combustible, continually increased, until it had completely levelled the entire mound and reduced the aggestus to ashes. Then Chosroes, in utter despair, impressed by the circumstances with a sense of his disgraceful folly in having entertained an idea of prevailing over the God whom we worship, retreated ingloriously into his own territories.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
MIRACLE AT SERGIOPOLIS.11
WHAT occurred at Sergiopolis through the proceedings of Chosroes shall also be described, as being a notable event and worthy of perpetual remembrance. Chosroes advanced against this city too, eager for its capture; and on his proceeding to assault the walls, negociations took place with a view to spare the city: and it was agreed that the sacred treasures should be |222 a ransom for the place, among which was also a cross presented by Justinian and Theodora. When they had been duly conveyed, Chosroes asked the priest and the Persians who had been sent with him, whether there was not any thing besides. Upon this one of them, being persons unaccustomed to speak the truth, told Chosroes that there were some other treasures concealed by the townsmen, who were but few. In fact, there had been left behind not any treasure of gold or silver, but one of more valuable material, and irrevocably devoted to God, namely, the holy relics of the victorious martyr Sergius, lying in a coffin of the oblong sort, plated over with silver. Chosroes, influenced by these persons, advanced his whole army against the city; when suddenly there appeared along the circuit of the walls, in defence of the place, innumerable shields; on seeing which the persons sent by Chosroes returned, describing, with wonder, the number and fashion of the arms. And when, on further enquiry, he learned that very few persons remained in the city, and these consisted of aged people and children, from the absence of the flower of the population, he perceived that the prodigy proceeded from the martyr, and, influenced by fear and wonder at the faith of the Christians, he withdrew into his own country. They also say that in his latter days he partook in the holy regeneration. |223
CHAPTER XXIX.
PESTILENCE.12
I WILL also describe the circumstances of the pestilence which commenced at that period, and has now prevailed and extended over the whole world for fifty-two years; a circumstance such as has never before been recorded. Two years after the capture of Antioch by the Persians, a pestilence broke out, in some respects similar to that described by Thucydides, in others widely different. It took its rise from Aethiopia, as is now reported, and made a circuit of the whole world in succession, leaving, as I suppose, no part of the human race unvisited by the disease. Some cities were so severely afflicted as to be altogether depopulated, though in other places the visitation was less violent. It neither commenced according to any fixed period, nor was the time of its cessation uniform; but it seized upon some places at the commencement of winter, others in the course of the spring, others during the summer, and in some cases, when the autumn was advanced. In some instances, having infected a part of a city, it left the remainder untouched; and frequently in an uninfected city one might remark a few households excessively wasted; and in several places, while one or two households utterly perished, the rest of the city remained unvisited: but, as we have learned |224 from careful observation, the uninfected households alone suffered the succeeding year. But the most singular circumstance of all was this; that if it happened that any inhabitants of an infected city were living in a place which the calamity had not visited, these alone were seized with the disorder. This visitation also befell cities and other places in many instances according to the periods called Indictions; and the disease occurred, with the almost utter destruction of human beings, in the second year of each indiction. Thus it happened in my own case--for I deem it fitting, in due adaptation of circumstances, to insert also in this history matters relating to myself--that at the commencement of this calamity I was seized with what are termed buboes, while still a school-boy, and lost by its recurrence at different times several of my children, my wife, and many of my kin, as well as of my domestic and country servants; the several indictions making, as it were, a distribution of my misfortunes. Thus, not quite two years before my writing this, being now in the fifty-eighth year of my age, on its fourth visit to Antioch, at the expiration of the fourth indiction from its commencement, I lost a daughter and her son, besides those who had died previously. The plague was a complication of diseases: for, in some cases, commencing in the head, and rendering the eyes bloody and the face swollen, it descended into the throat, and then destroyed the patient. In others, |225 there was a flux of the bowels: in others buboes were formed, followed by violent fever; and the sufferers died at the end of two or three days, equally in possession, with the healthy, of their mental and bodily powers. Others died in a state of delirium, and some by the breaking out of carbuncles. Cases occurred where persons, who had been attacked once and twice and had recovered, died by a subsequent seizure.
The ways in which the disease; was communicated, were various and unaccountable: for some perished by merely living with the infected, others by only touching them, others by having entered their chamber, others by frequenting public places. Some, having fled from the infected cities, escaped themselves, but imparted the disease to the healthy. Some were altogether free from contagion, though they had associated with many who were afflicted, and had touched many not only in their sickness but also when dead. Some, too, who were desirous of death, on account of the utter loss of their children and friends, and with this view placed themselves as much as possible in contact with the diseased, were nevertheless not infected; as if the pestilence struggled against their purpose. This calamity has prevailed, as I have already said, to the present time, for two and fifty years, exceeding all that have preceded it. For Philostratus expresses wonder that the pestilence which happened in his time, lasted for fifteen years. The sequel is uncertain, since |226 its course will be guided by the good pleasure of God, who knows both the causes of things, and their tendencies. I shall now return to the point from which I digressed, and relate the remainder of Justinian's history.
CHAPTER XXX.
AVARICE OF JUSTINIAN.
JUSTINIAN was insatiable in the acquisition of wealth, and so excessively covetous of the property of others, that he sold for money the whole body of his subjects to those who were entrusted with offices or who were collectors of tributes, and to whatever persons were disposed to entrap others by groundless charges. He stripped of their entire property innumerable wealthy persons, under colour of the emptiest pretexts. If even a prostitute, marking out an individual as a victim, raised a charge of criminal intercourse against him, all law was at once rendered vain, and by making Justinian her associate in dishonest gain, she transferred to herself the whole wealth of the accused person. At the same time he was liberal in expenditure; so far as to raise in every quarter many sacred and magnificent temples, and other religious edifices devoted to the care of infants and aged persons of either sex, and of such as were afflicted with various |227 diseases. He also appropriated considerable revenues for carrying out these objects; and performed many such actions as are pious and acceptable to God, provided that those who perform them do so from their own means, and the offering of their deeds be pure.
CHAPTER XXXI.
DESCRIPTION OF THE CHURCH OF ST. SOPHIA AT CONSTANTINOPLE.
HE also raised at Constantinople many sacred buildings of elaborate beauty, in honour of God and the saints, and erected a vast and incomparable work, such as has never been before recorded, namely the largest edifice of the Church, a noble and surpassing structure, beyond the power of words to describe. Nevertheless I will endeavour to the best of my ability to detail the plan of the sacred precinct. The nave of the sanctuary is a dome, supported by four arches, and raised to so great a height that the sight of persons surveying it from below can scarcely reach the vertex of the hemisphere, and no one from above, however daring, ventures to bend over and look down to the floor. The arches are raised clear from the pavement to the roof: but within those on the right and left are ranged columns of Thessalian stone, which, together with other corresponding pillars, support galleries, so as to allow those who wish, to look |228 down upon the performance of the rites below. From these the empress also, when attending at the festivals, witnesses the ceremony of the sacred mysteries. But the eastern and western arches are left vacant, without any thing to interrupt the imposing aspect of so vast dimensions. There are also colonnades under the before-mentioned galleries, forming, with pillars and small arches, a termination to so vast a structure. But in order to convey a more distinct idea of this wonderful fabric, I have thought proper to set down in feet, its length, breadth, and height, as well as the span and height of the arches, as follows:--The length from the door facing the sacred apse where are performed the rites of the bloodless sacrifice, to the apse, is one hundred and ninety feet: the breadth from north to south is one hundred and fifteen feet: the depth from the centre of the hemisphere to the floor is one hundred and eighty feet: the span of each of the arches is * * * feet: the length, however, from east to west is two hundred and sixty feet; and the range of the lights seventy-five feet. There are also to the west two other noble colonnades, and on all sides unroofed courts of elaborate beauty. Justinian also erected the church of the holy Apostles, which may dispute the first place with any other. In this the emperors and the bishops are usually interred. I have thought fit thus to take some notice of these and similar matters. |229
CHAPTER XXXII.
PARTIALITY OF JUSTINIAN FOR THE BLUE FACTION.
JUSTINIAN was possessed by another propensity, of unequalled ferocity; whether attributable to an innate defect of his disposition, or to cowardice and apprehensions, I am not able to say. It took its rise from the existence of the faction among the populace distinguished by the name "Nica." He appeared to favour one party, namely the Blues, to such an excess, that they slaughtered their opponents at mid-day and in the middle of the city, and, so far from dreading punishment, were even rewarded; so that many persons became murderers from this cause. They were allowed to assault houses, to plunder the valuables they contained, and to compel persons to purchase their own lives; and if any of the authorities endeavoured to check them, he was in danger of his very life: and it actually happened that a person holding the government of the East, having chastised some of the rioters with lashes, was himself scourged in the very centre of the city, and carried about in triumph. Callinicus also, the governor of Cilicia, having subjected to legal punishment two Cilician murderers, Paul and Faustinus, who had assaulted and endeavoured to despatch him, suffered impalement, as the penalty for right feeling and maintenance of the laws. The |230 members of the other faction having, in consequence, fled from their homes, and meeting with a welcome nowhere, but being universally scouted as a pollution, betook themselves to waylaying travellers, and committed thefts and murders to such an extent, that every place was filled with untimely deaths, robberies, and every other crime. Sometimes also, siding with the other faction, Justinian put to death in turn their opponents, by surrendering to the vengeance of the laws those whom he had allowed to commit in the cities equal outrages with barbarians. Neither words nor time would suffice for a minute detail of these transactions. Thus much will, however, serve for a conception of the remainder.
CHAPTER XXXIII.
BARSANUPHIUS THE ASCETIC.
THERE lived at that season men divinely inspired and workers of distinguished miracles in various parts of the world, but whose glory has shone forth every where. First, Barsanuphius, an Egyptian. He maintained in the flesh the exercise of the fleshless life, in a certain seat of contemplation near the town of Gaza, and succeeded in working wonders too numerous to be recorded. He is also believed to be still alive, enclosed |231 in a chamber, although for fifty years and more from this time he has not been seen by any one, nor has he partaken of any earthly thing. When Eustochius, the president of the church of Jerusalem, in disbelief of this account, had determined to dig into the chamber where the man of God was enclosed, fire burst forth and nearly consumed all those who were on the spot.
CHAPTER XXXIV.
SIMEON THE MONK.
THERE lived also at Emesa, Simeon, a man who had so completely unclothed himself of vain-glory as to appear insane to those who did not know him, although filled with all wisdom and divine grace. This Simeon lived principally in solitude, affording to none the means of knowing how and when he propitiated the Deity, nor his time of abstinence or eating. Frequently, too, on the public roads, he seemed to be deprived of self-possession, and to become utterly void of sense and intelligence, and entering at times into a tavern, he would eat, when he happened to be hungry, whatever food was within his reach. But if any one saluted him with an inclination of the head, he would leave the place angrily and hastily, through reluctance that his peculiar virtues should be detected by many persons. Such was the conduct of Simeon in public. |232
But there were some of his acquaintances, with whom he associated without any assumed appearances. One of his friends had a female domestic, who, having been debauched and become pregnant by some person, when she was urged by her owners to name the individual, said that Simeon had secretly cohabited with her and that she was pregnant by him; that she was ready to swear to the truth of this statement, and, if necessary, to convict him. On hearing this, Simeon assented, saying that he bore the flesh with its frailties; and when the story was universally spread, and Simeon, as it seemed, was deeply disgraced, he withdrew into retirement, as if from feelings of shame. When the woman's time had arrived, and she had been placed in the usual position, her throes, causing great and intolerable sufferings, brought her into imminent peril, but the birth made no progress. When, accordingly, they besought Simeon, who had come thither designedly, to pray for her, he openly declared that the woman would not be delivered before she had said who was the father of the child: and when she had done this, and named the real father, the delivery was instantaneous, as though by the midwifery of truth.
He once was seen to enter the chamber of a courtezan, and having closed the door, he remained alone with her a considerable time; and when, again opening it, he went away looking round on all sides lest any one should see him, suspicion rose to so high a pitch, that those who witnessed it, brought out the |233 woman, and inquired what was the nature of Simeon's visit to her and continuance with her for so long a time. She swore that, from want of necessaries, she had tasted nothing but water for three days past, and that Simeon had brought her victuals and a vessel of wine; that, having closed the door, he set a table before her and bid her make a meal, and satisfy her hunger, after her sufferings from want of food. She then produced the remains of what had been set before her.
Also at the approach of the earthquake which visited Phoenicia Maritima, and by which Berytus, Byblus, and Tripolis especially suffered, raising a whip in his hand, he struck the greater part of the columns in the forum, exclaiming, "Stand still, if there shall be occasion to dance." Inasmuch as none of his actions were unmeaning, those who were present carefully marked which were the columns he passed by without striking them. These were soon afterwards thrown down by the effects of the earthquake. Many other things he also did which require a separate treatise.
CHAPTER XXXV.
THOMAS THE MONK.
AT that time lived also Thomas, who pursued the same mode of life in Coele-Syria. On occasion of his |234 visiting Antioch, for the purpose of receiving the yearly stipend for the support of his monastery, which had been assigned from the revenues of the church in that place, Anastasius, the steward of the church, struck him on the head with his hand, because he frequently troubled him. When the bystanders manifested indignation, he said that neither himself should again receive nor Anastasius pay the money. Both which things came to pass, by the death of Anastasius after an interval of one day, and by the departure of Thomas to the unfading life, on his way back, in the sick hospital at the suburb of Daphne. They deposited his body in the tomb appropriated to strangers: but, after the subsequent interment of two others, his body was found above them, an extraordinary wonder, proceeding from God, who bore testimony to him even after his death; for the other bodies were thrown to a considerable distance. They report the circumstance to Ephraemius, in admiration of the saint. In consequence, his holy body is transported to Antioch, with a public festival and procession, and is honoured with a place in the cemetery, having, by its translation, stopped the plague which was then visiting the place. The yearly festival in honour of whom the sons of the Antiochenes continue to celebrate to our time with great magnificence. Let me now, however, return to my subject. |235
CHAPTER XXXVI.
ACCOUNT OF A MIRACLE IN THE PATRIARCHATE OF MENAS.
WHEN Anthimus, as has been already mentioned, was removed from the see. of the imperial city, Epiphanius succeeds to the bishopric; and after Epiphanius, Menas, in whose time also occurred a remarkable prodigy. It is an old custom in the imperial city, that, when there remains over a considerable quantity of the holy fragments of the immaculate body of Christ our God, boys of tender age should be fetched from among those who attend the schools, to eat them. On one occasion of this kind, there was included among them the son of a glass-worker, a Jew by faith; who, in reply to the inquiries of his parents respecting the cause of his delay, told them what had taken place, and what he had eaten in company with the other boys. The father, in his indignation and fury, places the boy in the furnace where he used to mould the glass. The mother, unable to find her child, wandered over the city with lamentations and wailings; and on the third day, standing by the door of her husband's workshop, was calling upon the boy by name, tearing herself in her sorrow. He, recognising his mother's voice, answered her from within the furnace, and she, bursting open the |236 doors, saw, on her entrance, the boy standing in the midst of the coals, and untouched by the fire. On being asked how he had continued unhurt, he said that a woman in a purple robe had frequently visited him that; she had offered him water, and with it had quenched that part of the coals which was nearest to him; and that she had supplied him with food as often as he was hungry.
Justinian, on the report of this occurrence, placed the boy and his mother in the orders of the church, after they had been enlightened by the laver of regeneration. But the father, on his refusal to be numbered among the Christians, he ordered to be impaled in the suburb of Sycae, as being the murderer of his child.
Such was the course of these occurrences.
CHAPTER XXXVII.
SUCCESSION OF BISHOPS.
AFTER Menas, Eutychius is elevated to the see.
At Jerusalem, Sallustius succeeds Martyrius, who is himself succeeded by Helias. The next in succession was Peter; and after him came Macarius, without the emperor's confirmation. He was ejected from his see, on the charge of maintaining the opinions of Origen, and was succeeded by Eustochius. After |237 the removal of Theodosius, as has been already mentioned, Zoilus is appointed bishop of Alexandria, and when he had been gathered to his predecessors, Apollinaris obtains the chair. After Ephraemius, Domninus is entrusted with the see of Antioch.
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
THE FIFTH GENERAL COUNCIL.13
DURING the time that Vigilius was bishop of the Elder Rome, and first Menas, then Eutychius of New Rome, Apollinaris of Alexandria, Domninus of Antioch, and Eustochius of Jerusalem, Justinian summons the fifth synod, for the following reason:--On account of the increasing influence of those who held the opinions of Origen, especially in what is called the New Laura, Eustochius used every effort for their removal, and, visiting the place itself, he ejected the whole party, driving them to a distance, as general pests. These persons, in their dispersion, associated with themselves many others. They found a champion in Theodore, surnamed Ascidas, bishop of Caesarea, the metropolis of Cappadocia, who was constantly about the person of Justinian, as being trusty and highly serviceable to him. Whereas he was creating much confusion in the imperial court, and declared the proceeding of Eustochius to be utterly impious and lawless, the latter |238 despatches to Constantinople Rufus, superior of the monastery of Theodosius, and Conon, of that of Saba, persons of the first distinction among the solitaries, both on account of their personal worth and the religious houses of which they were the heads; and with them were associated others scarcely their inferiors in dignity. These, in the first instance, mooted the questions relating to Origen, Evagrius, and Didymus. But Theodore of Cappadocia, with a view to divert them from this point, introduces the subject of Theodore of Mopsuestia, Theodoret, and Ibas; the good God providentially disposing the whole proceeding, in order that the profanities of both parties should be ejected.
On the first question being started, namely, whether it were proper to anathematise the dead, Eutychius, a man of consummate skill in the divine Scriptures, being as yet an undistinguished person--for Menas was still living, and he was himself at that time apocrisiarius to the bishop of Amasea--casting a look on the assembly, not merely of commanding intelligence but of contempt, plainly declared that the question needed no debate, since King Josiah in former time not only slew the living priests of the demons, but also broke up the sepulchres of those who had long been dead. This was considered by all to have been spoken to the purpose. Justinian also, having been made acquainted with the circumstance, elevated him to the see of the imperial city on the death of Menas, which happened |239 immediately after. Vigilius gave his assent in writing to the assembling of the synod but declined attendance.
Justinian addressed an inquiry to the synod on its assembling, as to what was their opinion concerning Theodore, and the expressions of Theodoret against Cyril and his twelve chapters, as well as the epistle of Ibas, as it is termed, addressed to Maris, the Persian. After the reading of many passages of Theodore and Theodoret, and proof given that Theodore had been long ago condemned and erased from the sacred diptychs, as also that it was fitting that heretics should be condemned after their death, they unanimously anathematise Theodore, and what had been advanced by Theodoret against the twelve chapters of Cyril and the right faith; as also the epistle of Ibas to Maris, the Persian; in the following words:--
"Our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ, according to the parable in the gospels," and so forth. "In addition to all other heretics, who have been condemned and anathematised by the before-mentioned four holy synods and by the holy catholic and apostolic church, we condemn and anathematise Theodore, styled bishop of Mopsuestia, and his impious writings; also whatever has been impiously written by Theodoret against the right faith, against the twelve chapters of the sainted Cyril, and against the first holy synod at Ephesus, and all that he has written in defence of Theodore and Nestorius. We further anathematise the impious |240 epistle said to have been written by Ibas to Maris the Persian."
After some other matter, they proceed to set forth fourteen chapters concerning the right and unimpeachable faith. In this manner had the transactions proceeded: but on the presentation of libels against the doctrine of Origen, named also Adamantius, and the followers of his impious error, by the monks Eulogius, Conon, Cyriacus, and Pancratius, Justinian addresses a question to the synod concerning these points, appending to it a copy of the libel, as well as the epistle of Vigilius upon the subject: from the whole of which may be gathered the attempts of Origen to fill the simplicity of the apostolic doctrine with philosophic and Manichaean tares. Accordingly, a relation was addressed to Justinian by the synod, after they had uttered exclamations against Origen and the maintainers of similar errors. A portion of it is expressed in the following terms: "O most Christian emperor, gifted with heavenly generosity of soul," and so forth. "We have shunned, accordingly, we have shunned this error; for we knew not the voice of the alien; and having bound such a one, as a thief and a robber, in the cords of our anathema, we have ejected him from the sacred precincts." And presently they proceed: "By perusal you will learn the vigour of our acts." To this they appended a statement of the heads of the matters which the followers of Origen were taught to |241 maintain, shewing their agreements, as well as their disagreements, and their manifold errors. The fifth head contains the blasphemous expressions uttered by private individuals belonging to what is called the New Laura, as follows. Theodore, surnamed Ascidas, the Cappadocian, said "If the Apostles and Martyrs at the present time work miracles, and are already so highly honoured, unless they shall be equal with Christ in the restitution of things, in what respect is there a restitution for them?" They also reported many other blasphemies of Didymus, Evagrius, and Theodore; having with great diligence extracted whatever bore upon these points. At an interval of some time after the meeting of the synod, Eutychius is ejected, and there is appointed in his place to the see of Constantinople John a native of Seremis, which is a village of the district of Cynegica, belonging to Antioch.
CHAPTER XXXIX.
DEPARTURE OF JUSTINIAN FROM ORTHODOXY.
AT that time Justinian, abandoning the right road of doctrine, and following a path untrodden by the apostles and fathers, became entangled among thorns and briers; with which wishing to fill the Church also, he failed in his purpose, and thereby fulfilled the prediction of prophecy; the Lord having secured the royal road with an unfailing fence, that murderers |242 might not leap, as it were, upon a tottering wall or a broken hedge. Thus, at the time when John, named also Catelinus, was bishop of the elder Rome, after Vigilius; John from Seremis, of New Rome; Apollinaris, of Alexandria; Anastasius, of Theopolis, after Domninus; and Macarius, of Jerusalem, had been restored to his see; Justinian, after he had anathematized Origen, Didymus, and Evagrius, issued what the Latins call an Edict, after the deposition of Eustochius, in which he termed the body of the Lord incorruptible and incapable of the natural and blameless passions; affirming that the Lord ate before his passion in the same manner as after his resurrection, his holy body having undergone no conversion or change from the time of its actual formation in the womb, not even in respect of the voluntary and natural passions, nor yet after the resurrection. To this, he proceeded to compel the bishops in all quarters to give their assent. However, they all professed to look to Anastasius, the bishop of Antioch, and thus avoided the first attack.
CHAPTER XL.
ANASTASIUS, PATRIARCH OF ANTIOCH.14
ANASTASIUS was a man most accomplished in divine learning, and so strict in his manners and mode of life, as to insist upon very minute matters, and on no occasion to deviate from a staid and settled frame, much |243 less in things of moment and having relation to the Deity himself. So well tempered was his character, that neither, by being accessible and affable, was he exposed to the intrusion of things unsuitable; nor by being austere and unindulgent, did he become difficult of approach for proper purposes. Accordingly, in serious concerns he was ready in ear and fluent in tongue, promptly resolving the questions proposed to him; but in trifling matters, his ears were altogether closed, and a bridle restrained his tongue, so that speech was enthralled by thought, and silence resulted, more valuable than speech. Justinian assaults him, like some impregnable tower, with every kind of device, considering that if he could only succeed in shaking this bulwark, all difficulty would be removed in capturing the city, enslaving the right doctrine, and taking captive the sheep of Christ. In such a manner was Anastasius raised above the assailing force by heavenly greatness of mind, for he stood upon the immoveable rock of faith, that he unreservedly contradicted Justinian by a formal declaration, in which he showed very clearly and forcibly that the body of the Lord was corruptible in respect of the natural and blameless passions, and that the divine apostles and the inspired fathers both held and delivered this opinion. In the same terms he replied to a question of the monastic body of Syria Prima and Secunda, confirming the minds of all, preparing them for the |244 struggle, and daily reading in the Church those words of the "chosen vessel:"15 "If any one is preaching to you a gospel different from that which ye have received, even though it be an angel from heaven, let him be accursed." 16 To this all, with few exceptions, paid a steady regard and zealous adherence. He also addressed to the Antiochenes a valedictory discourse, on hearing that Justinian intended to banish him; a discourse deserving admiration for its elegance, its flow of thought, the abundance of sacred texts, and the appropriateness of its historical matters.
CHAPTER XLI.
DEATH OF JUSTINIAN.
BUT this discourse was not published, "God having provided some better thing for us:" 17 for Justinian, while dictating the banishment of Anastasius and his associate priests, departed this life by an invisible stroke, having reigned in all eight and thirty years and eight months.
THE END OF THE FOURTH BOOK.
[Footnotes have been moved to the end and assigned numbers rather than the asterisks etc used in the printed volume. Footnotes in [Red] are taken from the running titles, not the bottom of the page]
1. [A.D. 519]
2. [A.D. 526.]
3. [A.D. 521.]
4. [A.D. 531.]
5. [A.D. 484.]
6. [A.D. 522.]
7. [A.D. 537.]
8. [A.D. 540.]
9. [A.D. 540.]
10. [A.D. 540.]
11. [A.D. 540.]
12. [A.D. 542-594.]
13. [A.D. 552.]
14. [A.D. 561.]
15. * Acts iv. 15.
16. + Gal. i. 9.
17. ++ Heb. xi. 40.
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Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
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Evagrius Scholasticus, Ecclesiastical History (AD431-594), translated by E. Walford (1846). Book 5
Evagrius Scholasticus, Ecclesiastical History (AD431-594), translated by E. Walford (1846). Book 5.
THE FIFTH BOOK.
CHAPTER I.
ACCESSION OF JUSTIN THE SECOND.
IN this manner did Justinian depart to the lowest region of retribution, after having filled every place with confusion and tumults, and having received at the close of his life the reward of his actions. His nephew Justin succeeds to the purple; having previously held the office of guardian of the palace, styled in the Latin language Curopalata. No one, except those who were immediately about his person, was aware of the demise of Justinian or the declaration of Justin, until the latter made his appearance in the hippodrome, by way of formally assuming the stated functions of royalty. Confining himself to this simple proceeding, he then returned to the palace.
His first edict was one dismissing the bishops to their respective sees, wherever they might be assembled, with a provision that they should maintain what was already established in religion, and abstain from novelties in matters of faith. This proceeding was to his honour. In his mode of life, however, he was |246 dissolute, utterly abandoned to luxury and inordinate pleasures: and to such a degree was he inflamed with desire for the property of others, as to convert every thing into a means of unlawful gain; standing in no awe of the Deity even in the case of bishoprics, but making them a matter of public sale to any purchasers that offered. Possessed, as he was, alike by the vices of audacity and cowardice, he in the first place sends for his kinsman Justin, a man universally famous for military skill and his other distinctions, who was at that time stationed upon the Danube, and engaged in preventing the Avars from crossing that river.
These were one of those Scythian tribes who live in wagons, and inhabit the plains beyond the Caucasus. Having been worsted by their neighbours, the Turks, they had migrated in a mass to the Bosphorus; and, having subsequently left the shores of the Euxine---- where were many barbarian tribes, and where also cities, castles, and some harbours had been located by the Romans, being either settlements of veterans, or colonies sent out by the emperors----they were pursuing their march, in continual conflict with the barbarians whom they encountered, until they reached the bank of the Danube; and thence they sent an embassy to Justinian.
From this quarter Justin was summoned, as having a claim to the fulfilment of the terms of the agreement between himself and the emperor. For, since both |247 of them had been possessed of equal dignity, and the succession to the empire was in suspense between both, they had agreed, after much dispute, that whichever of the two should become possessed of the sovereignty, should confer the second place on the other; so that while ranking beneath the emperor, he should still take precedence of all others.
CHAPTER II.
MURDER OF JUSTIN, KINSMAN OF THE EMPEROR.
THE emperor accordingly received him, in the first instance, with an abundant display of kindness. Afterwards, he proceeded to fix certain charges upon him, and to withdraw the various guards of his person, forbidding him at the same time access to his presence; for he himself lived in the retirement of his palace: and ultimately he ordered his removal to Alexandria. There he is miserably murdered in the dead of night, when he had just retired to rest; such being the reward of his fidelity to the commonwealth and his achievements in war. Nor did the emperor and his consort Sophia abate their rage, nor had they sufficiently indulged their boiling spite, before they had gazed upon his head and spurned it with their feet. |248
CHAPTER III.
EXECUTION OF AETHERIUS AND ADDAEUS.
NOT long after, the emperor brought to trial for treason Aetherius and Addaeus, members of the senate, who had occupied the very highest position at the court of Justinian. Aetherius confessed to a design of poisoning the emperor, saying that he had in Addaeus an accomplice in the plot and an abettor throughout. The latter, however, asseverated, with fearful imprecations, that he was utterly ignorant of the transaction. Both were accordingly beheaded, Addaeus affirming, at the instant of execution, that he had been falsely accused on this point, but admitting that he received his due at the hands of all-seeing Justice, for that he had taken off Theodotus, prefect of the palace, by sorcery. How far these statements are true, I am not able to say; but both were men of bad character; Addaeus being addicted to unnatural lust, and Aetherius pursuing to the utmost a system of false accusation, and plundering the property both of the living and the dead, in the name of the imperial household, of which he had been comptroller in the time of Justinian. Such was the termination of these matters. |249
CHAPTER IV.
EDICT OF JUSTIN CONCERNING THE FAITH.1
JUSTIN issues an edict to the Christians in every quarter, in the following terms.
"In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, our God, the Emperor Caesar Flavian Justin, faithful in Christ, clement, supreme, beneficent, Alemannicus, Gothicus, Germanicus, Anticus, Francicus, Herulicus, Gepidicus, pious, fortunate, glorious, victorious, triumphant, ever-worshipful Augustus.
"'My peace I give to you,' says the Lord Christ, our very God. 'My peace I leave to you,' he also proclaims to all mankind. Now this is nothing else than that those who believe on him should gather into one and the same church, being unanimous concerning the true belief of Christians, and withdrawing from such as affirm or entertain contrary opinions: for the prime means of salvation for all men is the confession of the right faith. Wherefore we also, following the evangelical precepts and the holy symbol or doctrine of the holy fathers, exhort all persons to unite in one and the same church and sentiment; and this we do, believing in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, holding the doctrine of a consubstantial Trinity, one Godhead or nature and substance, both in terms and reality; one power, influence, and operation in three subsistences |250 or persons; into which doctrine we were baptized, in which we believe, and to which we have united ourselves. For we worship a Unity in trinity and a Trinity in unity, peculiar both in its division and in its union, being Unity in respect of substance or Godhead, and Trinity with regard to its proprieties or subsistences or persons; for it is divided indivisibly, so to speak, and is united divisibly: for there is one thing in three, namely, the Godhead; and the three things are one, namely, those in which is the Godhead, or, to speak more accurately, which are the Godhead: and we acknowledge the Father to be God, the Son God, and the Holy Spirit God, whenever each person is regarded by itself----the thought in that case separating the things that are inseparable----and the three when viewed in conjunction to be God by sameness of motion and of nature; inasmuch as it is proper both to confess the one God, and at the same time to proclaim the three subsistences or proprieties. We also confess the only begotten Son of God, the God-Word, who, before the ages and without time, was begotten of the Father, not made, and who, in the last of the days, for our sakes and for our salvation, descended from heaven, and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and of our Lady, the holy glorious Mother of God and ever virgin Mary, and was born of her; who is our Lord Jesus Christ, one of the Holy Trinity, united in glorification with the Father and the Holy Spirit: for the Holy Trinity did not admit the |251 addition of a fourth person, even when one of the Trinity, the God-Word, had become incarnate; but our Lord Jesus Christ is one and the same, being consubstantial with God the Father, as respects the Godhead, and at the same time consubstantial with ourselves as respects the manhood; passible in the flesh, and at the same time impassible in the Godhead: for we do not admit that the divine Word who wrought the miracles was one, and he who underwent the sufferings was another; but we confess our Lord Jesus Christ to be one and the same, namely, the Word of God become incarnate and made perfectly man, and that both the miracles and the sufferings which he voluntarily underwent for our salvation belong to one and the same; inasmuch as it was not a human being that gave himself on our behalf; but the God-Word himself, becoming man without undergoing change, submitted in the flesh to the voluntary passion and death on our behalf. Accordingly, while confessing him to be God, we do not contravene the circumstance of his being man; and while confessing him to be man, we do not deny the fact of his being God: whence, while confessing our Lord Jesus Christ to be one and the same, composed of both natures, namely, the Godhead and the manhood, we do not superinduce confusion upon the union; for he will not lose the circumstance of being God on becoming man like ourselves; nor yet, in being by nature God, and in that respect incapable of likeness to us, will he also |252 decline the circumstance of being man. But as he continued God in manhood; in like manner, though possessed of divine supremacy, he is no less man; being both in one, God and man at the same time, one Emmanuel. Further, while confessing him to be at the same time perfect in Godhead and perfect in manhood, of which two he was also composed, we do not attach to his one complex subsistence a division by parts or severance; but we signify that the difference of the natures is not annulled by the union: for neither was the divine nature changed into the human, nor the human nature converted into the divine; but, each being the more distinctly understood and existent in the limit and relation of its own nature, we say that the union took place according to subsistence. The union according to subsistence signifies, that the God-Word, that is to say one subsistence of the three subsistences of the Godhead, was not united with a previously existing human being, but in the womb of our Lady, the holy glorious Mother of God and ever virgin Mary, formed for himself of her, in his own subsistence, flesh consubstantial with ourselves, having the same passions in all respects except sin, and animated with a reasonable and intelligent soul; for he retained his subsistence in himself, and became man, and is one and the same, our Lord Jesus Christ, united in glorification with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Further, while considering his ineffable union, we rightly confess one nature, |253 that of the Divine Word, to have become incarnate, by flesh animated with a reasonable and intelligent soul; and, on the other hand, while contemplating the difference of the natures, we affirm that they are two, without, however, introducing any division, for either nature is in him; whence we confess one and the same Christ, one Son, one person, one subsistence, both God and man together: and all who have held or do hold opinions at variance with these, we anathematize, judging them to be alien from the Holy and Apostolic Church of God. Accordingly, while the right doctrines which have been delivered to us by the holy fathers are being thus proclaimed, we exhort you all to gather into one and the same Catholic and Apostolic Church, or rather we even entreat you; for though possessed of imperial supremacy, we do not decline the use of such a term, in behalf of the unanimity and union of all Christians, in the universal offering of one doxology to our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ, and in abstinence for the future on the part of all from unnecessary disputes about persons and words----since the words lead to one true belief and understanding----while the usage and form which has hitherto prevailed in the holy Catholic and Apostolic Church of God, remains for ever unshaken and unchanged."
To this edict all assented, saying that it was expressed in orthodox language. None, however, of the severed portions of the Church were entirely reunited, |254 because the edict distinctly declared that what had hitherto been unshaken and unchanged, should continue so in all coming time.
CHAPTER V.
DEPOSITION OF ANASTASIUS, PATRIARCH OF ANTIOCH.
JUSTIN also ejected Anastasius from the episcopate of Theopolis, on the charge of a profuse and improper expenditure of the funds of the see, and also for scandalous language against himself; inasmuch as Anastasius, on being asked why he was so lavishly squandering the property of the see, frankly replied, that it was done to prevent its being carried off by that universal pest, Justin. He is also said to have entertained a grudge against Anastasius, because he had refused to pay a sum of money, when demanded of him in consideration of his appointment to the bishopric. Other charges were also brought against him by persons, who, as I suppose, wished to second the emperor's bent.
CHAPTER VI.
GREGORY, THE SUCCESSOR OF ANASTASIUS.2
NEXT in succession, Gregory is elevated to the episcopal see: "wide whose renown," according to |255 the language of poetry; a person who had devoted himself from the earliest period of life to the monastic discipline, and had wrestled therein so manfully and stoutly, that he arrived at the highest elevation when scarcely past his boyhood, and became superior of the monastery of the Byzantines, in which he had assumed the bare mode of life, and subsequently, by the orders of Justin, of the monastery of Mount Sinai. Here he encountered extreme danger, having sustained a siege by the Scenite Arabs.
Having, nevertheless, secured the complete tranquillity of the spot, he was thence summoned to the archiepiscopal dignity. He was unrivalled in every excellence of intellect and virtue, and most energetic in accomplishing whatever he resolved upon, uninfluenced by fear, and incapable of shrinking before secular power. So noble was his expenditure of money, in a general system of liberality and munificence, that whenever he appeared in public, crowds, besides his ordinary attendants, followed him; and all gathered round him who saw or heard of his approach. The respect shewn to so high a dignity, was but second to the honour bestowed upon the individual, in the generous desire of persons to obtain a near view of him and to hear his words; for he was possessed of singular power to inspire with attachment towards himself all who held converse with him, being a person of most imposing aspect and sweet address, especially |256 quick of perception and prompt in execution, a most able counsellor and judge, both in his own matters and in those of others. On this account it was that he accomplished so much, never deferring any thing till to-morrow. By dealing with matters with unfailing promptitude, according as either necessity required or opportunity favoured, he tilled with admiration not only the Roman but the Persian sovereigns, as I shall set forth the particulars in their proper place. His character was strongly marked by vehemence, and at times by indications of anger; while, on the other hand, his meekness and gentleness were not confined, but were exceedingly abundant; so that to him was admirably fitted the excellent expression of Gregory Theologus, "austerity tempered with modesty," while neither quality was impaired, but each rendered more striking by the other.
CHAPTER VII.
SUBMISSION OF THE INHABITANTS OF PERSARMENIA.
IN the first year of the episcopate of Gregory, the inhabitants of what was formerly called the greater Armenia, but afterwards Persarmenia----this country was formerly subject to the Romans, but when Philip, the successor of Gordian, had betrayed it to Sapor, what is called the lesser Armenia alone was possessed |257 by the Romans, but the remainder by the Persians ---- this people, being Christians and cruelly treated by the Persians, especially on the score of their faith, sent a secret embassy to Justin, imploring to be allowed to place themselves under the dominion of the Romans, in order to a safe and unrestrained observance of their religion. When the emperor had admitted their overtures, and certain written conditions had been settled on his part and guaranteed by the most solemn oaths, the Armenians massacre their governors; and the whole nation, together with their allied neighbours, both of kindred and foreign race, unite themselves to the Roman empire, Vardanes having a precedence among his countrymen by birth, dignity, and military skill. In reply to the complaints of Chosroes on account of these transactions, Justin alleged that the peace had expired, and that it was impossible to reject the advances of Christians, when desirous of uniting themselves with fellow Christians in time of war.
Such was his reply. Notwithstanding, he made no preparation for war, but was involved in his habitual luxury, regarding every thing as secondary to his personal enjoyments.|258
CHAPTER VIII.
SIEGE OF NISIBIS BY MARCIAN.3
THE emperor sends out his kinsman Marcian, as commander of the forces of the East, without, however, sufficiently supplying him with troops, or the other material of war. He occupies Mesopotamia, at the imminent risk of utter ruin, followed by very few troops, and these imperfectly armed, and by a few rustic labourers and herdsmen, whom he had pressed into his service from among the provincials. After gaining the advantage in some skirmishes near Nisibis with the Persians, who were themselves not yet completely prepared, he sits down before that city, though the enemy did not think it necessary to close the gates, and insolently jeered the Roman troops. Besides many other prodigies presaging the approaching calamities, I also saw, at the beginning of the war, a newly born calf with two heads.
CHAPTER IX.
INVASION OF THE PERSIANS.4
CHOSROES, when his preparations for war were completed, having accompanied Adaarmanes for some |259 distance, sent him across the Euphrates from his own bank of the river into the Roman territory, by Circesium, a city most important to the Romans, situated at the limit of the empire, and rendered strong not only by its walls, which are carried to an immense height, but by the rivers Euphrates and Aboras, which, as it were, insulate the place. Chosroes himself, having crossed the Tigris with his own division of the army, advanced upon Nisibis.
Of these operations the Romans were for a long time ignorant, so far that Justin, relying on a rumour to the effect that Chosroes was either dead or approaching his last breath, was indignant at the tardiness of the siege of Nisibis, and sent persons for the purpose of stimulating the efforts of Marcian, and bringing to him the keys of the gates as quickly as possible. Information, however, that the siege was making no progress, but that the commander was bringing great discredit upon himself by attempting impossibilities in the case of so important a city with so contemptible a force, is conveyed in the first instance to Gregory, bishop of Theopolis: for the bishop of Nisibis, being strongly attached to Gregory, as having received munificent presents from him, and especially being indignant at the insolence which the Persians were continually displaying towards the Christians, and desirous that his city should be subject to the Roman power, supplied information to Gregory of all things that were going |260 on in the enemy's territory, at each several juncture. This the latter immediately forwarded to Jus tin, informing him as quickly as possible of the advance of Chosroes: but he, being immersed in his habitual pleasures, paid no regard to the letters of Gregory; nor was he indeed inclined to believe them, indulging rather the thoughts suggested by his wishes: for the ordinary mark of dissolute persons is a meanness of spirit combined with confidence with regard to results; as well as incredulity, if any thing occurs which runs counter to their desires. Accordingly he writes to Gregory, altogether repudiating the information as being utterly false, and, even supposing it were true, saying that the Persians would not come up before the siege was concluded, and that, if they did, they would be beaten off with loss. He further sends Acacius, a wicked and insolent man, to Marcian with orders to supersede him in the command, even supposing he had already set one foot within the town. This command he strictly executed, carrying out the emperor's orders without any regard to the public good: for, on his arrival at the camp, he deprives Marcian of his command while on the enemy's territory, and without informing the army of the transaction. The various officers, on learning at the break of the next clay that their commander was superseded, no longer appeared at the head of their troops, but stole away in various directions, and thus raised that ridiculous siege. |261
Adaarmanes, on the other hand, in command of a considerable force of Persians and Scenite barbarians, having marched by Circesium, inflicted every possible injury with fire and sword upon the Roman territory, setting no limits to his intentions or actions. He also captures many fortresses and towns, without encountering any resistance; in the first place, because there was no one in command, and secondly, because, since the Roman troops were shut up in Daras by Chosroes, his foragings and incursions were made in perfect security. He also directed an advance upon Theopolis, without proceeding thither in person. These troops were compelled to draw off most unexpectedly; for scarcely any one, or indeed very few persons, remained in the city; and the bishop had fled, taking with him the sacred treasures, because both the greater part of the walls had fallen to ruins, and the populace had made insurrection with the hope of gaining ascendancy by change: a thing of frequent occurrence, and especially at junctures like this. The insurgents themselves also abandoned the city, without any attempt to meet the emergency or take active measures against the enemy. |262
CHAPTER X.
CAPTURE OF APAMEA AND DARAS.
FAILING thus in this attempt, Adaarmanes, having burnt the city formerly called Heraclea but subsequently Gagalica, made himself master of Apamea; which, having been founded by Seleucus Nicator, was once flourishing and populous, but had fallen to a great extent into ruin through lapse of time. On the capitulation of the city from the inability of the inhabitants to offer any resistance, since the wall had fallen down through age, he fired and pillaged the whole place, in violation of the terms, and drew off, carrying away captive the inhabitants of the town and the adjoining country, and among them the bishop and the governor. He also exercised every kind of atrocity during his march, without meeting with any resistance or indeed attempt at opposition, except a very small force sent out by Justin under the command of Magnus, who had formerly been a banker at Constantinople, and subsequently appointed steward of one of the imperial residences. These troops however fled with precipitation, and narrowly escaped being made prisoners.
After these operations, Adaarmanes joins Chosroes, who had not yet captured the city he was besieging. By the junction, he threw an important weight into the |263 scale, in raising the spirits of his countrymen, while he disheartened their opponents. He found the city cut off by lines, and a huge mound carried forward within a short distance of the walls, with engines mounted, and especially catapults, shooting from vantage ground. By these means, Chosroes took the city by storm. John, the son of Timostratus, was governor, who paid little regard to the defence of the place, or perhaps betrayed it; for both accounts are reported. Chosroes had besieged the city for five months or more without any effort being made for its relief. Having brought forth all the inhabitants in immense numbers, some of whom he miserably slaughtered but retained the greater part as captives, he garrisoned the city, on account of its important situation, and then retired into his own territories.
CHAPTER XI.
INSANITY OF JUSTIN.
ON being informed of these events, Justin, in whose mind no sober and considerate thoughts found place after so much inflation and pride, and who did not bear what had befallen him with resignation suited to a human being, falls into a state of frenzy, and becomes unconscious of all subsequent transactions.
Tiberius assumes the direction of affairs, a Thracian by |264 birth, but holding the first place in the court of Justin. He had previously been sent out against the Avars by the emperor, who had raised a very large army for the purpose; and he would inevitably have been made prisoner, since his troops would not even face the barbarians, had not divine Providence unexpectedly delivered him, and preserved him for succession to the Roman 'sovereignty; which, through the inconsiderate measures of Justin, was in danger of falling to ruin, together with the entire commonwealth, and of passing from such a height of power into the hands of barbarians.
CHAPTER XII.
EMBASSY OF TRAJAN TO CHOSROES.
ACCORDINGLY, Tiberius adopts a measure opportune and well suited to the state of affairs, which altogether repaired the calamity. He despatches to Chosroes, Trajan, a senator and an accomplished man, universally esteemed for his years and intelligence; not, however, as representative of the sovereign power, nor yet as ambassador for the commonwealth, but merely to treat on behalf of the empress Sophia; who herself also wrote to Chosroes, bewailing the calamities which had befallen her husband, and the loss of its head which the commonwealth sustained, and urging the unseemliness of trampling upon a widowed female, a prostrate |265 monarch, and a desolate empire: at the same time reminding him that, when afflicted with sickness, he had himself not only been treated with similar forbearance, but that the very best physicians had been sent to him by the Roman government, and had cured him of his disease. Chosroes is, accordingly, moved by the appeal, and when upon the very point of attacking the empire, makes a truce for three years, embracing the eastern parts; with a condition that Armenia should be excepted, so as to allow of hostilities being maintained there, provided the East were not molested.
During these proceedings in the East, Sirmium is taken by the barbarians, which had some time before fallen into the hands of the Gepidae, and been afterwards restored by them to Justin.
CHAPTER X
PROCLAMATION OF TIBERIUS. HIS CHARACTER.5
ABOUT this time Justin, by the advice of Sophia, bestows on Tiberius the rank of Caesar, giving utterance, in the act of declaration, to such expressions as surpass all that has been recorded in ancient or recent history; our compassionate God having vouchsafed to him an opportunity for an avowal of his own errors, and a suggestion of what was for the benefit of the state. For when there were assembled in the open |266 court, where ancient usage enjoins that such proceedings should take place, both the archbishop, John, whom we have already mentioned, and his clergy, as well as the state dignitaries, and the household troops, the emperor, on investing Tiberius with the imperial tunic and robe, gave utterance with a loud voice to the following words: "Let not the grandeur of thy investiture deceive thee, nor the pomp of the present spectacle; beguiled by which, I have unwittingly rendered myself obnoxious to the most severe penalties. Do thou make reparation for my errors, by administering the commonwealth with all gentleness." Then pointing to the magistrates, he recommended him by no means to put confidence in them, adding: "These are the very persons who have brought me into the condition which thou now witnessest:" together with other similar expressions, which filled all with utter amazement, and drew forth an abundance of tears.
Tiberius was very tall, and by far the most noble in person not only of sovereigns but all mankind; so that, in the first place, his beauty was deserving of sovereignty. In disposition, he was mild and compassionate, and gave cordial reception to all persons at their very first approach. He deemed wealth to consist in aiding all with largesses, not merely so far as to meet their wants, but even to superfluity: for he did not consider what the needy ought to receive, but what it became a Roman emperor to bestow. He |267 esteemed that gold to be adulterated which was exacted with tears: on which account he entirely remitted the taxation for one year, and released from their imposts the properties which Adaarmanes had devastated, not merely to the extent of the damage but even far beyond it. The magistrates were also excused from the necessity of making the unlawful presents, by means of which the emperors formerly made a sale of their subjects. On these points he also issued constitutions, as a security for coining time.
CHAPTER XIV.
SUCCESSES OF THE ROMAN COMMANDER JUSTINIAN AGAINST THE PERSIANS.
TIBERIUS, accordingly, applying to a rightful purpose the wealth which had been amassed by improper means, made the necessary preparations for war. So numerous was the army of brave men, raised among the Transalpine nations, the Massagetae, and other Scythian tribes, by a choice levy in the countries on the Rhine, and on this side of the Alps, as well as in Paeonia, Mysia, Illyria, and Isauria, that he completed squadrons of excellent cavalry, to the amount of nearly one hundred and fifty thousand men, and repulsed Chosroes, who, immediately after the capture of Daras, had advanced in the course of the summer against Armenia, and |268 was thence directing his movements upon Caesarea, which was the seat of government of Cappadocia and the capital of the cities in that quarter. In such contempt did Chosroes hold the Roman power, that, when the Caesar had sent an embassy to him, he did not deign to admit the ambassadors to an audience, but bid them follow him to Caesarea; at which place he said he would take the embassy into his consideration. When, however, he saw the Roman army in the front of him, under the command of Justinian, the brother of that Justin who had been miserably put to death by the Emperor Justin, in complete equipment, with the trumpets sending forth martial sounds, the standards uplifted for conflict, and the soldiery eager for slaughter, breathing forth fury, and at the same time maintaining perfect order, and, besides, so numerous and noble a body of cavalry as no monarch had ever imagined, he drew a deep groan, with many adjurations, at the unforeseen and unexpected sight, and was reluctant to begin the engagement. But while he is lingering and whiling away the time, and making a mere feint of fighting, Kurs, the Scythian, who was in command of the right wing, advances upon him; and since the Persians were unable to stand his charge, and were in a very signal manner abandoning their ground, he made an extensive slaughter of his opponents. He also attacks the rear, where both Chosroes and the whole army had placed |269 their baggage, and captures all the royal stores and the entire baggage, under the very eyes of Chosroes; who endured the sight, deeming self-imposed constraint more tolerable than the onset of Kurs. The latter, having together with his troops made himself master of a great amount of money and spoil, and carrying off the beasts of burden with their loads, among which was the sacred fire of Chosroes to which divine honours were paid, makes a circuit of the Persian camp, singing songs of victory, and rejoins, about nightfall, his own army, who had already broken up from their position, without a commencement of battle on the part of either Chosroes or themselves, beyond a few slight skirmishes or single combats, such as usually take place.
Chosroes, having lighted many fires, made preparations for a night assault; and since the Romans had formed two camps, he attacks the division which lay northward, at the dead of night. On their giving way under this sudden and unexpected onset, he advances upon the neighbouring town of Melitene, which was undefended and deserted by its inhabitants, and having fired the whole place, prepared to cross the Euphrates. At the approach, however, of the united forces of the Romans, in alarm for his own safety, he mounted an elephant, and crossed alone; while great numbers of his army found a grave in the waters of the river: on learning whose fate he retreated. |270
Having paid this extreme penalty for his insolence towards the Roman power, Chosroes retires with the survivors to the eastern parts, in which quarter the terms of the truce had provided that no one should attack him. Nevertheless Justinian made an irruption into the Persian territory with his entire force, and passed the whole winter there, without any molestation. He withdrew about the summer solstice, without having sustained any loss whatever, and passed the summer near the border, surrounded by prosperity and glory.
CHAPTER XV.
DEATH OF CHOSROES. SUCCESSION OF HORMISDAS.6
CIIOSROES, lost in frenzy and despair, and submerged in the surgings of sorrow, is brought to a miserable end by overwhelming anguish, after leaving behind him a lasting monument of his flight, in the law which he enacted, that no king of the Persians should henceforward lead an army against the Romans. He is succeeded by his son Hormisdas. These matters I must now pass over, since the events which follow in direct succession are inviting my attention and awaiting the regular progress of my narrative. |271
CHAPTER XVI.
SUCCESSION OF BISHOPS.
ON the decease of John, named also Catelinus, Bonosus is intrusted with the helm of the Roman see, and he is succeeded by another John, and he, again, by Pelagius. In the imperial city John is succeeded by Eutychius, who had already held the see before him. Apollinaris is succeeded in the see of Alexandria by John, and he by Eulogius, After Macarius, John is elevated to the bishopric of Jerusalem, who had pursued the monastic discipline in what is called the monastery of the Acoemets. This period passed without any changes being attempted in the state of the Church.
CHAPTER XVII.
EARTHQUAKE AT ANTIOCH.7
IN the third year of the administration of the empire by Tiberius, a violent earthquake befell Theopolis and its suburb of Daphne, precisely at noon; on which occasion the whole of that suburb was laid in utter ruin by the shocks, while the public and private buildings in Theopolis, though rent to the ground, were still |272 not entirely levelled. Several other events occurred both in Theopolis, and also in the imperial city, deserving especial notice, which threw both places into confusion, and broke out into excessive disturbances: events which took their rise from zeal for God, and terminated in a manner worthy of divine agency. These I now proceed to notice.
CHAPTER XVIII.
COMMOTION ON ACCOUNT OF ANATOLIUS.
THERE was residing at Theopolis a certain Anatolius, who was originally one of the vulgar and an artisan, but had subsequently, by some means or other, obtained admission into public offices and other posts of importance. In this city he was pursuing his engagements, from which resulted an intimacy with Gregory, president of that Church, and frequent visits to him, partly for the purpose of conversing on matters of business, and partly with a view to obtain greater influence on the ground of his intercourse with the prelate. This person was detected in the practice of sacrificial rites, and being called to account was proved to be a miscreant and a sorcerer, and implicated in innumerable enormities. He gains over, however, by bribery, the governor of the East, and would have obtained an acquittal, together with his accomplices, for he was |273 associated with others of a similar stamp who were involved in the detection, had not the people risen, and, by exciting a universal stir, frustrated the design.
They also clamoured against the bishop, saying that he was a party to the scheme; and some turbulent and malignant demon induced persons to believe that he had also taken part with Anatolius in the sacrificial rites. By this means Gregory was brought into extreme danger, from the vehement efforts of the populace against him; and the suspicion was so far prevalent, that even the emperor Tiberius was desirous of learning the truth from the mouth of Anatolius. Accordingly, he orders Anatolius and his associates to be conveyed forthwith to the imperial city. On learning this, Anatolius rushed to a certain image of the Mother of God, which was suspended by a cord in the prison, and folding his hands behind his back, announced himself as a suppliant: but she, in detestation and conviction of the guilty and God-hated man, turned herself quite round, presenting a prodigy awful and worthy of perpetual remembrance; which, having been witnessed by all the prisoners as well as by those who had the charge of Anatolius and his associates, was thus published to the world. She also appeared in a vision to some of the faithful, exhorting them against the wretch, and saying that Anatolius was guilty of insult against her Son.
When he had been conveyed to the imperial city, |274 and, on being subjected to the extreme of torture, was unable to allege anything against the bishop, he and his associates were the cause of still greater disturbances and a general rising of the populace: for, when some of the party had received sentence of banishment instead of death, the populace, inflamed with a sort of divine zeal, caused a general commotion, in their fury and indignation, and having seized the persons condemned to banishment and put them into a skiff, they committed them alive to the flames; such being the people's verdict. They also clamoured against the emperor and their own bishop Eutychius as betrayers of the faith; and they would have inevitably despatched Eutychius, and those who had been charged with the investigation, making search for them in every quarter, had not all-preserving Providence rescued them from their pursuers, and gradually lulled the anger of so numerous a population; so that no outrage was perpetrated at their hands. Anatolius himself, after being first exposed to the wild beasts in the amphitheatre and mangled by them, was then impaled, without terminating even then his punishment in this world; for the wolves, tearing down his polluted body, divided it as a feast among themselves; a circumstance never before noticed. There was also one of my fellow-citizens, who, before these events took place, affirmed that he had been informed by a dream, that the judgment upon Anatolius and his associates was in the |275 hands of the populace. A person too of high distinction, being the curator of the palace, who had resolutely protected Anatolius, said that he had seen the Mother of God, demanding of him how long he intended to defend Anatolius, who had so grievously outraged herself and her Son. Such was the termination of this business.
CHAPTER XIX.
CHARACTER AND ACHIEVEMENTS OF MAURICE.
TIBERIUS, being by this time in possession of the crown on the death of Justin, supersedes Justinian, since he had not been equally successful against the barbarians, and appoints Maurice to the command of the forces of the East; a person who derived his descent and name from the elder Rome, but, as regards his more immediate origin, was a native of Arabissus in Cappadocia; a man of sense and ability, and of unvarying accuracy and firmness. Being staid and precise in his mode of living and manners, he was temperate in his food, using only such as was necessary and simple, and was superior to all other indulgences of a luxurious life. He was not easily accessible to the solicitations of the vulgar, nor a too easy listener in general; well knowing that the one tends to produce contempt, and the other leads to flattery. Accordingly, |276 he granted audiences sparingly, and those only to persons on serious business, and closed his ears against idle talk, not with wax, as poets say, but rather with reason; so that this latter was an excellent key to them, appropriately both opening and closing them during conversation. So completely had he banished both ignorance, the mother of audacity, and also cowardice, which is at the same time a foreigner and a neighbour to the former, that with him to face danger was an act of prudence, and to decline it was a measure of safety; while both courage and discretion were the charioteers of opportunity, and guided the reins to whatever quarter necessity directed: so that his efforts were both restrained and put forth, as it were, by measure and rule. Concerning this person I shall speak more fully in the sequel; since the detail of his greatness and excellence I must reserve for the history of his reign; which displayed the man in a clearer light, as unfolding, through freedom of action, even the more inward parts of his character.
This Maurice, advancing beyond the limits of the empire, captures both cities and fortresses, of the greatest importance to the Persians, and carried off so much plunder, that the captives were sufficiently numerous to occupy at length whole islands, towns, and districts which had been deserted: and thus the land which had been previously untilled, was every where restored to cultivation. Numerous |277 armies also were raised from among them, that fought resolutely and courageously against the other nations. At the same time every household was completely furnished with domestics, on account of the easy rate at which slaves were procured.
CHAPTER XX.
OVERTHROW OF THE PERSIANS.
HE also engaged Tamchosroes and Adaarmanes, the principal Persian commanders, who had advanced against him with a considerable force: but the nature, manner, and place of these transactions I leave others to record, or shall perhaps myself make them the subject of a distinct work, since my present one professes to treat of matters of a very different kind. Tamchosroes, however, falls in battle, not by the bravery of the Roman soldiery, but merely through the piety and faith of their commander: and Adaarmanes, being worsted in the fight and having lost many of his men, flies with precipitation, and this too, although Alamundarus, the commander of the Scenite barbarians, played the traitor in declining to cross the Euphrates and support Maurice against the Scenites of the opposite party. For this people are invincible by any other than themselves, on account of the fleetness of their horses: when hemmed in, they cannot be |278 captured; and they outstrip their enemies in retreat. Theodoric too, commander of the Scythian troops, did not so much as venture within range of the missiles, but fled with all his people.
CHAPTER XXI.
PRODIGIES FORESHEWING THE ELEVATION OF MAURICE TO THE EMPIRE.
PRODIGIES also occurred, which indicated that the imperial power was destined to Maurice. As he was offering incense, at the dead of night, within the sanctuary of Mary, the holy and immaculate virgin and Mother of God, which is called by the Antiochenes the church of Justinian, the veil which surrounds the holy table became wrapt in flames; so that Maurice was seized with amazement and awe, and was terrified at the sight. Gregory, the archbishop of the city, who was standing by, said that it was a divine manifestation, betokening to him the highest fortune.
Christ our God also appeared to him, when in the East, calling upon him to avenge Him: which circumstance distinctly intimated the possession of sovereign power; for of what other person would He have made the demand than of an emperor, and one who manifested so much piety towards Him?
His parents also detailed to me circumstance's |279 remarkable and worthy of being recorded, when I was making inquiries on this point: for his father said that, about the time of his conception, he had seen in a dream a very large vine growing from his bed, on which hung great numbers of beautiful clusters of grapes: and his mother told me that, at the time of her delivery, the earth sent forth a strange odour of peculiar sweetness; and that Empusa, as she is called, had often carried off the child for the purpose of devouring him, but had been unable to injure him.
Simeon, too, who practised the station upon the pillar in the neighbourhood of Theopolis, a most energetic man, and distinguished by every divine virtue, both said and did many things which betokened his succession to the empire. The sequel of the history will relate respecting him whatever circumstances are suitable.
CHAPTER XXII.
ACCESSION OF MAURICE.8
MAURICE assumes the sovereignty, when Tiberius was at the point of death, and had bestowed upon him his daughter Augusta, and the empire as her dowry. Notwithstanding the shortness of his reign, Tiberius left behind him an immortal memorial in the remembrance of his good deeds; for he bequeathed to the |280 commonwealth, in the appointment of Maurice, an inheritance, not admitting of specification in terms, but most precious. He also distributed his own appellations, giving to Maurice the name of Tiberius, and to Augusta that of Constantina. The transactions of their reign the sequel of the history will set forth, with the aid of the divine impulse.
CHAPTER XXIII.
CHRONOLOGICAL STATEMENT.
IN order also to an accurate account of the various periods of time, be it known that Justin the younger, reigned alone twelve years, ten months and a half, and in conjunction with Tiberius, three years and eleven months: so that the whole period is sixteen years, nine months and a half. Tiberius also reigned four years alone: so that the whole time from Romulus to the proclamation of Maurice Tiberius, amounts to * * * years; as appears from the previous and present dates. |281
CHAPTER XXIV.
SUCCESSION OF WRITERS ON SACRED AND PROFANE HISTORY.
BY the aid of God, an account of the affairs of the Church, presenting a fair survey of the whole, has been preserved for us in what has been recorded by Eusebius Pamphili down to the time of Constantine, and thence forward as far as Theodosius the younger, by Theodoret, Sozomen, and Socrates, and in the matters which have been selected for my present work.
Primitive and profane history has been also preserved in a continuous narrative by those who have been zealous at the task; Moses being the first to compose history, as has been clearly shewn by those who have collected whatever bears upon the subject, in writing a true account of events from the beginning of the world, derived from what he learned in converse with God on Mount Sinai. Then follow the accounts which those who after him prepared the way for our religion have stored up in sacred scriptures. Josephus also composed an extensive history, in every way valuable. All the stories, whether fabulous or true, relating to the contests of the Greeks and ancient barbarians, both among themselves and against each other, and whatever else had been achieved since the period at which they record the first existence of |282 mankind, have been written by Charax, Theopompus, Ephorus, and others too numerous to mention. The transactions of the Romans, embracing the history of the whole world and whatever else took place either with respect to their intestine divisions or their proceedings towards other nations, have been treated of by Dionysius of Halicarnassus, who has brought down his account from the times of what are called the Aborigines, to those of Pyrrhus of Epirus. The history is then taken up by Polybius of Megalopolis, who brings it down to the capture of Carthage. All these materials Appian has portioned out by a clear arrangement, separately grouping each series of transactions, though occurring at intervals of time. What events occurred subsequent to the before-mentioned periods, have been treated by Diodorus Siculus, as far as the time of Julius Caesar, and by Dion Cassius, who continued his account as far as Antoninus of Emesa. In a similar work of Herodian, the account extends as far as the death of Maximus; and in that of Nicostratus, the sophist of Trapezus, from Philip, the successor of Gordian, to Odenatus of Palmyra, and the ignominious expedition of Valerian against the Persians. Dexippus has also written at great length on the same subject, commencing with the Scythian wars, and terminating with the reign of Claudius, the successor of Gallierius: and he also included the military transactions of the Carpi and other barbarian tribes, in Greece, Thrace, |283 and Ionia. Eusebius too, commencing from Octavian, Trajan, and Marcus, brought his account down to the death of Carus. The history of the same times has been partially written both by Arrian and Asinius Quadratus: that of the succeeding period by Zosimus, as far as Honorius and Arcadius: and events subsequent to their reign by Priscus the Rhetorician, and others. The whole of this range of history has been excellently epitomised by Eustathius of Epiphania, in two volumes, one extending to the capture of Troy, the other to the twelfth year of the reign of Anastasius. The occurrences subsequent to that period have been written by Procopius the rhetorician as far as the time of Justinian; and the account has been thenceforward continued by Agathias the rhetorician, and John, my fellow-citizen and kinsman, as far as the flight of Chosroes the younger to the Romans, and his restoration to his kingdom: on which occasion Maurice was by no means tardy in his operations, but royally entertained the fugitive, and with the utmost speed restored him to his kingdom, at great cost and with numerous forces. These writers, however, have not yet published their history. With respect to these events, I also will detail in the sequel such matters as are suitable, with the favour of the higher power.
THE END OF THE FIFTH BOOK.
[Footnotes have been moved to the end and assigned numbers rather than the asterisks etc used in the printed volume. Footnotes in [Red] are taken from the running titles, not the bottom of the page]
1. [A.D. 566.]
2. [A.D. 571.]
3. [A.D. 572.]
4. [A. D. 574.]
5. [A. D. 474.]
6. [A. D. 576.]
7. [A. D. 580.]
8. [A. D. 582.]
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Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
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Evagrius Scholasticus, Ecclesiastical History (AD431-594), translated by E. Walford (1846). Book 6
Evagrius Scholasticus, Ecclesiastical History (AD431-594), translated by E. Walford (1846). Book 6.
THE SIXTH BOOK.
CHAPTER I.
NUPTIALS OF MAURICE AND AUGUSTA.
MAURICE, on succeeding to the empire, in the first place made the necessary arrangements for his nuptials, and, in accordance with the imperial ordinance, marries Augusta, named also Constantina, with magnificent ceremony, and with public banquetings and festivity in every part of the city. In attendance on the nuptials were Religion and Royalty, offering an escort most distinguished and gifts most precious. For the one supplied a father and mother, to hallow the rite with honoured locks of grey and venerable wrinkles— a circumstance strange in the story of sovereigns— as also brethren noble and blooming, to give dignity to the nuptial procession: the other, a gold embroidered robe, adorned with purple and Indian gems, and crowns most costly, with abundance of gold and the varied emblazonment of jewels; together with the attendance of all who were |284 distinguished in courtly rank or military service, lighting the nuptial flambeaux in splendid costumes and investitures, and hymning the bridal cavalcade: so that no human display was ever more majestic and happy. Damophilus, when writing on the subject of Rome, says that Plutarch the Chaeronean1 has well remarked, that in order to her greatness alone did Virtue and Fortune unite in friendly truce: but, for myself, I would say, that in respect of Maurice alone did Piety and Good Fortune so conspire; by Piety laying compulsion upon Fortune, and not permitting her to shift at all. It was henceforward the settled aim of the emperor to wear the purple and the diadem not merely on his person but also on his soul: for he alone of recent sovereigns was sovereign of himself; and, with authority most truly centred in himself, he banished from his own soul the mob-rule of the passions, and having established an aristocracy in his own reasonings, he shewed himself a living image of virtue, training his subjects to imitation. Nor have I said this by way of flattery: for how could such be my motive, since he is not acquainted with what is being written? That such was, however, the case with Maurice, will be evidenced by the gifts bestowed upon him by God, and the circumstances of various kinds that must unquestionably be referred to divine favour. |286
CHAPTER II.
ALAMUNDARUS THE ARAB AND HIS SON NAAMANES.
BESIDES his other noble purposes, this was an especial object with the emperor, to avoid in every case the shedding of the blood of persons guilty of treason. Accordingly, he did not put to death Alamundarus, chieftain of the Scenite Arabs, who had betrayed both the commonwealth and Maurice himself, as I have already detailed; but sentenced him to deportation to an island with his wife and some of his children, and appointed Sicily as the place of his banishment. Naamanes his son, notwithstanding a unanimous sentence of death, he detained as a prisoner at large, without any further infliction; although he had filled the empire with endless mischiefs, and, by the hands of his followers, had plundered either Phoenicia and Palestine, and enslaved the inhabitants, at the time when Alamundarus was captured. He pursued the same course in innumerable other cases, which shall be severally noticed in their places. |287
CHAPTER III.
MILITARY OPERATIONS OF JOHN AND PHILIPPICUS.2
MAURICE sent out as commander of the forces of the East, first, John, a Scythian, who, after experiencing some reverses, with some alternations of success, achieved nothing worthy of mention; afterwards, Philippicus, who was allied to him by having married one of his two sisters. Having crossed the border and laid waste all before him, he amassed great booty, and killed many of the nobles of Nisibis and the other cities situated within the Tigris. He also gave battle to the Persians, and, after a severe conflict, attended with the loss of many distinguished men on the side of the enemy, he made numerous prisoners, and dismissed unharmed a battalion, which had retreated to an eminence and was fairly in his power, under a promise that they would urge their sovereign to send immediate proposals for peace. He also completed other measures during the continuance of his command, namely, in withdrawing his troops from superfluities and things tending to luxury, and in reducing them to discipline and subordination: the representation of which transactions must be fixed by writers, past or present, according as they may be or have been |288 circumstanced with respect to hearsay or opinion— writers whose narrative, stumbling and limping through ignorance, or rendered affected by partiality, or blinded by antipathy, misses the mark of truth.
CHAPTER IV.
MUTINY OF THE TROOPS AGAINST PRISCUS.
HE is succeeded in the command by Priscus, a person difficult of access, and not readily approached without necessary occasion, who expected the successful accomplishment of all his measures if he should maintain an almost entire seclusion; from a notion, that, through the awe thence resulting, the soldiery also would be more obedient to orders. Accordingly, on his arrival at the camp with stern and haughty look and in imposing costume, he issued certain orders, relating to the hardihood of the soldiery in the field, to strictness in respect of their arms and to their allowances. Having received previous intimation of the proceeding, they then gave unrestrained vent to their rage; and advancing in a body to the general's quarters, they pillage, in barbarian fashion, all his magnificence and the most valuable of his treasures, and would inevitably have despatched Priscus himself, had he not mounted one of the led horses, and escaped to Edessa: to which place they laid siege, demanding his surrender. |289
CHAPTER V.
COMPULSORY ELEVATION OF GERMANUS.3
ON the refusal of their demands by the citizens, they leave Priscus there, and seizing Germanus, who at that time held the command in Phoenicia Libanensis, they elect him their own general and emperor, while he resisted and they were the more urgent; and a struggle thus arose, on the part of the one to escape compulsion, of the others to enforce their object. After they had menaced him with death unless he would embrace the offered charge, and he, on his part, eagerly embraced the alternative, disclaiming all fear and consternation, they proceeded to certain severities and methods of cruelty, which they thought he would not be able to bear; for they did not suppose that he would manifest greater endurance than the strength of nature and his time of life would warrant. By putting him to the trial at first cautiously and sparingly, they succeed in forcing him to accede to their demands, and solemnly to swear that he would be true to them. Thus they compelled him to be their ruler under rule, their subject sovereign, their master in thraldom. Then chasing from them the officers of every grade, they elect others in their place, openly reviling the imperial government. They treated provincials on the whole less harshly |290 than the barbarians did, but in a manner very unlike allies or servants of the commonwealth: for they levied their provisions not according to stated measures or weight, and were not contented with the quarters assigned to them: but the will of each individual was a rule, and his caprice an established measure.
CHAPTER VI.
MISSION OF PHILIPPICUS.
THE emperor despatches Philippicus to settle this ferment: they, however, not only denied him reception, but perilled the lives of all whom they supposed to be connected with him.
CHAPTER VII.
ACCUSATIONS AGAINST GREGORY, PATRIARCH OF ANTIOCH.
WHILE matters were in this situation, Gregory, bishop of Theopolis, returns from the imperial city, after having been victorious in the struggle which I now proceed to detail.
At the time when Asterius held the government of the East, a quarrel had arisen between him and Gregory: the higher ranks of the city sided entirely with the former, and were supported by the populace, and |291 by those who were engaged in trades; for each class declared that they had been injured by Gregory; until at last license was given to the rabble to vent their abuse against him. Thus both the other classes accorded with the populace, and they clamoured forth their insults against the prelate in the streets and the theatre; and even the actors indulged in them. Asterius is removed from his government, and John is invested with it, with orders from the emperor to make inquiry into the stir; a man incompetent to the management of the most trifling matters, much less a business so important. Having, in consequence, filled the city with confusion and uproar, and given public license to any one that chose, to accuse the bishop, he receives a formal charge against him from a certain banker, to the effect that he had had criminal intercourse with his own sister, married to another man. He also receives accusations from other persons of the same stamp against Gregory, as having repeatedly disturbed the peace of the city. On the latter charge he declared his readiness to make his defence: with respect to the others, he appealed to the emperor and a synod. Accordingly, he repaired to the imperial city, to make answer to these charges, accompanied by myself as his adviser, and is victorious after a prolonged struggle during an investigation of the matter before the patriarchs from every quarter, who appeared either in person or by deputy, as well as the |292 sacred senate, and many most religious metropolitans: and the result was that the accuser, after having been scourged and paraded round the city, was sent into exile. Gregory thence returns to his see, at the time when the troops were in a state of mutiny, and Philippicus was remaining in the neighbourhood of Beroea and Chalcis.
CHAPTER VIII.
RECURRENCE OF EARTHQUAKES AT ANTIOCH.4
AT an interval of four months from the return of Gregory, in the six hundred and thirty-seventh year of the era of Theopolis, sixty-one years after the former earthquake, a crash and concussion shook the entire city, about the third hour of the night, on the last day of the month Hyperberetaeus, at the time when I was celebrating my marriage with a young maiden, and the whole city was making rejoicings and holding a festival at the public cost, in honour of the nuptial ceremony. This convulsion levelled by far the greater part of the buildings, their very foundations being cast up by it, and all the portions of the most holy church were thrown to the ground, with the exception of the hemisphere, which, after its injury by the earthquake in the time of Justin, had been secured by Ephraemius with timbers from |293 Daphne. By the subsequent shocks, it received an inclination in a northerly direction; so that the timbers were thrown by it into a leaning position, and fell, when the hemisphere had returned, by the force of the shock, exactly into its original situation, as if it had been adjusted by a rule. Nearly the entire quarter named Ostracine was ruined, and Psephium, of which I have made previous mention, as well as all the parts called Brysia, and the buildings of the venerable sanctuary of the Mother of God, with the sole exception of the central colonnade, which was singularly preserved. All the towers of the plain were also damaged, though the other buildings in that quarter escaped, with the exception of the battlements, of which some stones were thrown backwards, though they did not fall. Other churches also suffered injury, and one of the public baths, namely, that which had separate divisions according to the seasons. An incalculable number of persons were involved in the destruction, and, according to an estimate which some persons drew from the supply of bread, about sixty thousand perished. The bishop experienced a most unexpected preservation in the midst of the fall of the entire habitation where he then was, and the destruction of every individual except those who were near his person. These took up the bishop in their arms, and lowered him by a cord, after a second shock had rent an opening, and thus they removed him beyond |294 the reach of danger. Another preservation was also granted to the city, our compassionate God having mitigated the keenness of His threatened vengeance, and corrected our sin with the branch of pity and mercy: for no conflagration followed, though so many fires were spread about the place, in hearths, public and private lamps, kitchens, furnaces, baths, and innumerable other forms. Very many persons of distinction, and among them Asterius himself, became the victims of the calamity. The emperor endeavoured to alleviate this visitation by grants of money.
CHAPTER IX.
INROAD AND DESTRUCTION OF THE BARBARIANS.
IN the army, matters continued in the same state; and, in consequence, the barbarians made an inroad, in the expectation that there would be no one to check them in the exercise of barbarian practices. Germanus, however, encounters them with his forces, and inflicted a defeat so destructive, that not a man was left to convey to the Persians tidings of the misfortune. |295
CHAPTER X.
CLEMENCY OF THE EMPEROR TOWARDS THE REBELS. INVASION OF THE AVARS.5
ACCORDINGLY, the emperor remunerates the troops with largesses of money; and, withdrawing Germanus and others, brings them to trial. They were all condemned to death: but the emperor would not permit any infliction whatever; on the contrary, he bestowed rewards on them.
During the course of these transactions, the Avars twice made an inroad as far as the Long Wall, and captured Anchialus, Singidunum, and many towns and fortresses throughout the whole of Greece, enslaving the inhabitants, and laying every thing waste with fire and sword; in consequence of the greater part of the forces being engaged in the East. Accordingly, the emperor sends Andrew, the first of the imperial guards, on an attempt to induce the troops to receive their former officers.
CHAPTER XI.
MISSION OF THE PATRIARCH GREGORY TO THE TROOPS.
SINCE, however, the troops would not endure the bare mention of the proposal, the business is |296 transferred to Gregory, not only as being a person competent to the execution of the most important measures, but because he had earned the highest regard from the soldiery; since some of them had received presents from him in money, others in clothing, provisions, and other things, when they were passing his neighbourhood at the time of their enlistment. Accordingly, he assembles, by summons despatched to every quarter, the principal persons of the army at Litarba, a place distant from Theopolis about three hundred stadia; and, though confined to his couch, addressed them in person, in the following words.
CHAPTER XII.
ORATION OF GREGORY TO THE TROOPS.6
"I HAVE been expecting, O Romans—Romans both in name and deeds—that your visit to me would have been made long ago, for the purpose of communicating to me your present circumstances, and of receiving that friendly counsel of which you have an assurance in my kindliness towards you, so unequivocally evinced by past occurrences, at the time when I relieved, by a supply of necessaries, your tempest-struck and wave-tost plight. Since, however, this course has not hitherto been taken—it may be that Providence has not permitted it, in order that the Persians, having |297 been utterly defeated by men without a leader, might be thereby thoroughly taught the prowess of the Romans, and that your pure loyalty might be completely proved, in having been tested by the juncture and testified by your deeds; for you shewed that, notwithstanding your quarrel with your officers, you do not regard any thing as more important than the good of the commonwealth—let us accordingly now deliberate what ought to be your conduct. Your sovereign invites you with a promise of an amnesty of all past transactions, receiving the display of your loyalty to the commonwealth and your prowess in the field as emblems of supplication. While bestowing upon you these most certain pledges of pardon the emperor thus speaks: 'Since God has given victory to their loyalty, and, on the abandonment of their errors, a signal display has been granted to their prowess as a clear intimation of forgiveness, how can I do otherwise than follow the judgment of heaven? A king's heart is in the hand of God, and He sways it whithersoever He will.' Yield, therefore, to me at once, O Romans. Let us not wilfully forfeit the present opportunity, nor allow it to elude our grasp: for opportunity, when it has once slipped from us, is most unwilling to be seized, and, as if it were indignant at having been neglected, is ever after intolerant of capture. Shew yourselves the heirs of the obedience of your fathers, as ye are of their courage; in |298 order that ye may appear altogether Romans, and no taunt may touch you or point at you as degenerate. Your fathers, under the command of consuls and emperors, by obedience and courage became masters of the whole world. Manlius Torquatus, though he crowned, yet also put to death his son, who had placed a valiant part but in disobedience of orders. For by skill on the part of the leaders, combined with obedience in those whom they lead, great successes are ordinarily achieved; but either, when bereaved of the other, is lame and unsteady, and is utterly overthrown by the separation of the excellent pair. Be not, therefore, tardy, but at once obey my call, while the priestly office mediates between the emperor and the army; and shew that your proceedings were not the establishment of a rival sovereign, but a transient display of just indignation against commanders who had wronged you: for unless you immediately embrace the offer, I shall at once consider myself as quit of the service laid upon me in this matter by my duty to the commonwealth and my regard for you. Consider too yourselves, what has been the fate of pretenders to the sovereignty. What too will be the termination of your present position? To continue concentrated is impossible: for whence will you derive your provision of ordinary fruits, or those supplies which the sea furnishes to the land, except by war between Christians, and the mutual infliction of the most |299 disgraceful treatment? What too will be the final result? You will live in dispersion, and haunted by Justice, who will henceforward disdain to bestow forgiveness. Let us therefore give pledges of amity, and consider what course will be for the benefit of ourselves and the state, at a time too when we shall have the days of the saving Passion and of the most holy Resurrection conspiring with the deed."
CHAPTER XIII.
SUBMISSION OF THE TROOPS.
HAVING thus addressed them, accompanying his speech with many tears, he wrought an instantaneous change in the minds of all, as it had been by some divine impulse. They immediately requested permission to retire from the meeting, and to deliberate among themselves respecting the course to be pursued. After a short interval they returned, and placed themselves at the disposal of the bishop. However, on his naming Philippicus to them, in order that they might themselves request him for a commander, they declared that the whole army had on this point bound themselves with fearful oaths: but the bishop, undeterred by this, without the least delay said, that he was a bishop by divine permission, and had authority to loose and bind both upon earth and in heaven, and at |300 the same time he quoted the sacred oracle. On their yielding upon this point also, he propitiated the Deity with supplication and prayers, at the same time administering to them, the communion of the immaculate body; for it happened to be the second day of the holy passion week. After he had feasted them all, to the number of two thousand, upon couches hastily constructed on the turf, he returned home the following day. It was also agreed that the soldiers should assemble wherever they might choose. Gregory in consequence sends for Philippicus, who at that time was at Tarsus in Cilicia, intending to proceed immediately to the imperial city; and he also reports these proceedings to the government, communicating at the same time the prayer of the soldiery respecting Philippicus. Accordingly, they meet Philippicus at Theopolis, and employing those who had been admitted to partake in the divine regeneration, to entreat for them, they bend in supplication before him, and, on receiving a solemn promise of amnesty, they return to their duty with him. Such was the progress of these events.
CHAPTER XIV.
LOSS OF MARTYROPOLIS.7
A CERTAIN Sittas, one of the petty officers stationed at Martyropolis, considering himself aggrieved by the |301 commanders in that place, betrays the city, by watching the withdrawal of the troops which occupied it, and introducing a Persian battalion under colour of being Romans. He thus obtained possession of a place which was most important to the Romans; and, retaining most of the younger females, expelled all the other inhabitants, except a few domestic slaves.
Philippicus in consequence marched thither, and beleaguered the city, without being provided with things necessary for the siege. Nevertheless, he maintained his operations with such means as he possessed, and, having run several mines, threw down one of the towers. He was unable, however, to make himself master of the place, because the Persians continued their exertions through the night, and secured the breach. When the Romans, repeatedly assaulting, were as often repulsed, for the missiles were hurled upon them from vantage ground with unerring aim, and since they were suffering greater loss than they inflicted, they at last raised the siege, and encamped at a short distance, with the sole object of preventing the Persians from reinforcing the garrison. By the order of Maurice, Gregory visits the camp, and induces them to resume the siege. They were, however, unable to accomplish any thing, from their utter want of engines for sieges. In consequence, the army breaks up for winter quarters, and numerous garrisons are left in the neighbouring forts, to prevent the |302 Persians from secretly introducing succours into the place.
In the succeeding summer, on the re-assembling of the army, and the advance of the Persians, a severely contested battle is fought before Martyropolis. Though the advantage was on the side of Philippicus, and many Persians had fallen, with the loss of one distinguished chieftain, a considerable body of the enemy made their way into the city: which was in fact their main object. Thenceforward the Romans gave up the siege in despair, as being unable to encounter this force, and they erect a rival city at the distance of seven stadia, in a stronger situation on the mountains, in order to the carrying on of counter operations. Such were the proceedings of the army during the summer; it broke up on the approach of winter.
CHAPTER XV.
CAPTURE OF OCBAS.
COMENTIOLUS, a Thracian by birth, is sent out as a successor in the command to Philippicus. He engaged the Persians with great spirit, and would have lost his life by being thrown to the ground together with his horse, had not one of the guards mounted him upon a led horse, and conveyed him out of the battle. In consequence, the enemy fly with |303 precipitation, with the loss of all their commanders, and retire to Nisibis; and, fearing to return to their king, since he had threatened them with death unless they should bring off their commanders in safety, they there enter into the insurrection against Hormisdas, now that Varamus, the Persian general, had already entertained that design with his party on his return from his encounter with the Turks. In the meantime, Comentiolus, having commenced the siege of Martyropolls, leaves there the greater part of his army, and himself makes an excursion with a chosen body of troops to Ocbas, a very strong fortress, situated on a precipice on the bank opposite to Martyropolis, and commanding a view of the whole of that city. Having employed every effort in the siege, and thrown down some portion of the wall by catapults, he takes the place by storming the breach. In consequence, the Persians thenceforward despaired of keeping possession of Martyropolis.
CHAPTER XVI.
MURDER OF HORMISDAS.8
WHILE such was the course of these events, the Persians despatched Hormisdas, the most unjust of all monarchs, in as far as he inflicted upon his subjects not only pecuniary exactions, but also various modes of death. |304
CHAPTER XVII.
FLIGHT OF CHOSROES THE YOUNGER.
THEY establish as his successor his son Chosroes, against whom Varamus advanced with his troops. Chosroes encounters him with an inconsiderable force, and takes to flight on seeing his own men deserting him. He arrives at Circesium, having, according to his own account, vowed to the God of the Christians, that he would allow his horse to take its course wherever it should be guided by Him. He was accompanied by his wives and two newly-born children, and certain Persian nobles who voluntarily followed him. Thence he sends an embassy to the emperor Maurice; who, manifesting on this occasion too the soundest judgment, and deriving from the very circumstances an estimate of the instability and mutability of life, and the sudden fluctuations of human affairs, admits his suit, and treats him as a guest instead of an exile, and as a son instead of a fugitive, welcoming him with royal gifts, which were sent not only by the emperor himself, but, in similar style, by the empress to the consorts of Chosroes, and also by their children to the children. |305
CHAPTER XVIII.
MISSION OF GREGORY AND DOMITIAN TO MEET CHOSROES.
THE emperor also despatches the whole of his body guards and the entire Roman army with their commander, with orders to attend Chosroes wherever he might choose to proceed: and by way of still greater distinction, he also sends Domitian, bishop of Melitene, his own kinsman, a man of sense and ability, most capable both in word and deed, and most efficient for the despatch of the highest transactions. He sends Gregory too: who on all points filled Chosroes with amazement, by his conversation, by his munificence, and by his suggestion of seasonable measures.
CHAPTER XIX.
RESTORATION OF CHOSROES.9
CHOSROES, having proceeded as far as Hierapolis, the capital of Euphratensis, immediately returned: and this was done with the consent of Maurice, who favoured the interest of his suppliant more than his own glory. He also presents Chosroes with a large sum of money, a circumstance never before recorded; and having raised a body of Persians, and supplied |306 the cost from his own means, he sends him across the border with a combined force of Romans and Persians, after Martyropolis had been previously surrendered, together with the traitor Sittas; whom the inhabitants stoned and impaled. Daras was also recovered on its evacuation by the Persian garrison, and Chosroes was restored to his kingdom in consequence of the utter overthrow of Varamus, in a single engagement with the Roman troops only, and his inglorious and solitary flight.
CHAPTER XX.
GOLANDUCH THE MARTYR.
AT that time there was living in our country Golanduch, a female martyr, who maintained her testimony through a course of severe sufferings when tortured by the Persian Magi, and was a worker of extraordinary miracles. Her life was written by Stephen, the former bishop of Hierapolis.
CHAPTER XXI.
OFFERINGS OF CHOSROES.
CHOSROES, on his restoration to his kingdom, sends to Gregory a cross, embellished with much gold and precious stones, in honour of the victorious martyr |307 Sergius; which cross Theodora, the wife of Justinian, had dedicated, and Chosroes had carried off, with the other treasures, as I have already related. He also sends another golden cross, on which was engraven the following inscription in Greek:—
"This cross I, Chosroes, king of kings, son of Hormisdas, have sent. After I had been compelled to take refuge in the Roman territory by the slanderous practices and villany of the unhappy Varamus and his cavalry, and when, because the unhappy Zadespram had come to Nisibis with an army, with a view to seduce the cavalry in that quarter to revolt and raise commotion, we also had sent a body of cavalry with a commander to Charchas; at that time, by the fortune of the venerable and renowned saint, Sergius, having heard that he granted the petitions addressed to him, we vowed, in the first year of our reign, on the seventh day of January, that if our cavalry should slay or capture Zadespram, we would send to his sanctuary a golden cross, embellished with jewels for the sake of his venerable name: and on the seventh day of February they brought to us the head of Zadespram. Having, accordingly, obtained our petition, in order that each circumstance should be placed beyond all doubt, we have sent, in honour of his venerable name, this cross, which we have caused to be made, and together with it that which was sent to his sanctuary by Justinian, emperor of the Romans, and which |308 was conveyed hither by our father Chosroes, king of kings, son of Cabades, at the time of the rupture between the two states, and has been found among our treasures."
Gregory, having received these crosses, with the approval of the emperor Maurice, dedicated them with much ceremony in the sanctuary of the martyr. Shortly after, Chosroes sent other offerings for the same temple, with a golden disc, bearing the following inscription:—
"I, Chosroes, king of kings, son of Hormisdas, have placed the inscription upon this disc, not as an object for the gaze of mankind, nor that the greatness of thy venerable name might be made known by words of mine, but on account of the truth of the matters therein recorded, and the many benefits and favours which I have received at thy hands: for, that my name should be inscribed on thy sacred vessels, is a happiness to me. At the time when I was at Beramais, I begged of thee, O holy one, that thou wouldest come to my aid, and that Sira might conceive: and inasmuch as Sira was a Christian and I a heathen, and our law forbids us to have a Christian wife, nevertheless, on account of my favourable feelings towards thee, I disregarded the law as respects her, and among my wives I have constantly esteemed, and do still esteem her as peculiarly mine. Thus I resolved to request of thy goodness, O Saint, that she might |309 conceive: and I made the request with a vow, that, if Sira should conceive, I would send the cross she wears to thy venerable sanctuary. On this account both I and Sira purposed to retain this cross in memory of thy name, O Saint, and in place of it to send five thousand staters, as its value, which does not really exceed four thousand four hundred staters. From the time that I conceived this request and these intentions, until I reached Rhosochosron, not more than ten days elapsed, when thou, O Saint, not on account of my worthiness but thy kindness, appearedst to me in a vision of the night and didst thrice tell me that Sira should conceive, while, in the same vision, thrice I replied, It is well. From that day forward Sira has not experienced the custom of women, because thou art the granter of requests; though I, had I not believed thy words, and that thou art holy and the granter of requests, should have doubted that she would not thenceforward experience the custom of women. From this circumstance I was convinced of the power of the vision and the truth of thy words, and accordingly forthwith sent the same cross and its value to thy venerable sanctuary, with directions that out of that sum should be made a disc, and a cup for the purposes of the divine mysteries, as also a cross to be fixed upon the holy table, and a censer, all of gold: also a Hunnish veil adorned with gold. Let the surplus of the sum belong to thy sanctuary, in order that by |310 virtue of thy fortune, O saint, thou mayest come to the aid of me and Sira in all matters, and especially with respect to this petition; and that what has been already procured for us by thy intercession, may be consummated according to the compassion of thy goodness, and the desire of me and Sira; so that both of us, and all persons in the world, may trust in thy power and continue to believe in thee."
Such is the language of the offerings sent by Chosroes: an instance altogether resembling the prophecy of Balaam; since our compassionate God has wisely disposed it, that the tongues of heathens should give utterance to saving words.
CHAPTER XXII.
NAAMANES THE ARAB.
AT the same time Naamanes, chieftain of the Scenites, after having been a detestable and vile heathen, to such an extent as to sacrifice with his own hand human beings to his gods, approached the sacred baptism. At which time he melted down a Venus of solid gold, and divided it among the poor, and also brought over all his followers to the service of God.
Gregory too, after the presentation of the crosses of Chosroes, while making, with the approbation of the government, a visitation of the solitudes on the |311 borders, where the doctrines of Severus extensively prevailed, brought into union with the Church of God many garrisons, villages, monasteries, and entire tribes.
CHAPTER XXIII.
SIMEON THE STYLITE THE YOUNGER.
AT this time, when the sainted Simeon was afflicted with a mortal disease, Gregory, on being informed by me of the circumstance, hastens to salute him for the last time, but was nevertheless disappointed. This Simeon far surpassed all his contemporaries in virtue, and endured the discipline of a life on the top of a column from his earliest years, since he even cast his teeth in that situation. The occasion on which he was first elevated on the column, was the following. While still very young, he was roving about, sporting and bounding along the eminences of the mountain, and meeting with a panther, he throws his girdle round its neck, and with this kind of halter led the beast, beguiled of its ferocity, to his monastery. His preceptor, who himself occupied a column, observing the circumstance, enquired what he had got; to which he replied, that it was a cat. Conjecturing from this occurrence how distinguished the child would be for virtue, he took him up upon the column; and on this |312 column, and on another, towering above the summit of the mountain, he spent sixty-eight years; earning thereby the highest gifts of grace, in respect of the ejection of demons, the healing of every disease and malady, and the foresight of future things as if they were present.
He also foretold to Gregory that the latter would not witness his death, but said that he was ignorant of the events which should follow it.
On occasion also of my ponderings on the loss of my children, when I was perplexed with the suggestion, why such things did not befall heathens who had numerous offspring; although I had not disclosed, my thoughts to any one, he wrote advising me to abandon such ideas as being displeasing to God.
In the case of the wife of one of my amanuenses, when the milk would not flow after child-birth, and the child was in extreme danger, laying his hand upon the right hand of her husband, he bid him place it upon the breasts of his wife. When this was done, immediately the milk started, as if from a fountain, so as to saturate her dress.
A child having been forgotten at dead of night by its fellow-travellers, a lion took it on its back, and conveyed it to the monastery; when, by orders of Simeon, the servants went out and brought in the child under the protection of the lion.
Many other actions he performed, surpassing every |313 thing that has been recorded; which demand of an historian elegance of language, leisure, and a separate treatise, being renowned by the tongues of mankind; for persons came to visit him from almost every part of the earth, not only Romans but barbarians, and obtained the object of their prayers. In his case, the place of food and drink was supplied by the branches of a shrub which grew upon the mountain.
CHAPTER XXIV.
DEATH OF THE PATRIARCH GREGORY.10
SHORTLY after, Gregory also dies, after taking a draught of medicine composed of what is called Hermodactylus, administered by one of the physicians during a fit of gout; a disease with which he was much afflicted. At the time of his death, Gregory, the successor of Pelagius, was bishop of Old Rome, and John of New Rome; Eulogius, one of those whom I have already mentioned, of Alexandria; and Anastasius was restored, after three and twenty years, to the see of Theopolis. John was bishop of Jerusalem; since whose decease, which occurred shortly after, no one has hitherto been entrusted with that see.
Here let me close my history, in the twelfth year of the reign of Maurice Tiberius, leaving the task of selecting and recording succeeding events to those |314 who choose to undertake it. If any matter has been overlooked by me or has been treated without sufficient accuracy, let no one blame me, considering that I have brought together scattered materials in order to the benefit of mankind; for whose sake I have submitted to so much toil.
I have also compiled another volume, containing memorials, epistles, decrees, orations, and disputations, and some other matters. The memorials were principally composed in the name of Gregory, bishop of Theopolis; and by means of them I obtained two dignities, Tiberius Constantine having conferred upon me quaestorian rank, and Maurice Tiberius that of prefecture, in consideration of what I composed at the time when he rid the empire of reproach in becoming the father of Theodosius, an earnest of all prosperity both to himself and the commonwealth.
THE END.
[Footnotes have been moved to the end and assigned numbers rather than the asterisks etc used in the printed volume. Footnotes in [Red] are taken from the running titles, not the bottom of the page]
1. * De Fortuna Romanorum, sub init.
2. [A.D. 589.]
3. [A.D. 587.]
4. [A.D. 589.]
5. [A.D. 590.]
6. [A.D. 590.]
7. [A.D. 590.]
8. [A.D. 591.]
9. [A.D.591.]
10. [A.D. 594.]
This text was transcribed by Roger Pearse, 19th October 2002. All material on this page is in the public domain - copy freely.
Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
SOURCE SECTION: timothy_aelurus_testimonia.htm
Timothy Aelurus, Patristic Testimonia. Journal of Theological Studies 15 (1914) pp.432-442
Timothy Aelurus, Patristic Testimonia. Journal of Theological Studies 15 (1914) pp.432-442
THE PATRISTIC TESTIMONIA OF TIMOTHEUS AELURUS.
(IRENAEUS, ATHANASIUS, DIONYSIUS.)
I. *
In the following pages I discuss certain pieces which occur in what we may call the Patristic dossier of the patriarch of Alexandria Timotheus, nicknamed Aelurus or the Cat. Next to nothing remains in Greek of his works, because he was in conflict with the form of belief which triumphed in the great churches of the west and the east at the Council of Chalcedon.
Four years ago, however, there was published at Leipzig a lengthy treatise of Timotheus in old Armenian by two archimandrites of Edschmiadsin. It is a work which seems to have been written by him when he was banished to Gangra in the year 460; his method in it is to state his own views, together with those of his opponents, and then to give select passages from fathers whose orthodoxy was considered above doubt and dispute, to shew that his opinion was old and catholic; and these are followed by passages from recognized heretics like Paul of Samosata, Nestorius, and Theodoret, and it is argued that the decisions of the Council of Chalcedon were in agreement with the latter. We should expect a patriarch of Alexandria writing in the middle of the fifth century to preserve to us passages from many Christian authors now lost; and this expectation is not wholly disappointed when |433 we come to examine the Armenian text, which was made from the original Greek between the years 550 and 600. We find, however, many more testimonia from writers of the third and fourth century than we do from that of the second century, and Irenaeus is the only really early writer whom Timotheus had in his hands. It is also to be doubted whether he had his works entire, and did not rather derive his citations from some book of selections made for the use of the fathers who assembled at Ephesus to condemn Nestorius.
(a) Irenaeus.
The passages which he quotes from Irenaeus are as follows:----
1. Title: Of the blessed Irenaeus, a successor of the apostles and Bishop of Lugdunum, who was celebrated for his knowledge of the lore of philosophers.
'The law and the prophets and the gospels have proclaimed that Christ was born of a virgin and passible upon the cross, and visible from among the dead, and that He ascended into the heavens, and was glorified by the Father and is King for ever. Also that He is perfect mind, the Word of God, who before the Daystar was born, co-creator of all, fashioner of man, who became all in all: patriarch among patriarchs, law among laws, high priest among priests, among kings ruler and leader, among prophets a prophet, among angels an angel, among men a man, in the Father Son, in God God, Eternal Ruler. He it is who steered Noah in his ship, and guided Abraham, with Isaac was He bound, and together with Jacob He sojourned in a strange land; together with Joseph He Was sold, and with Moses He led the host; to the people He gave laws, and with Joshua the son of Nave He uttered dooms. In David He was a singer, and among the prophets He proclaimed His own passion. In the virgin He was made flesh, and in Bethlehem was born, in a manger He was wrapt in swaddling clothes, and was beheld by the shepherds. By the angels He was glorified, and by the Magi worshipped, was welcomed by John and was baptized in the Jordan, was tempted in the wilderness and was found to be Lord. He gathered round Him disciples, and preached the kingdom, He healed the halt and cleansed the lepers, He illuminated the blind, and raised the dead. He appeared in the temple, and was not believed in by the people, He was betrayed by the Jews and taken prisoner by the high priest, was brought before Herod and judged in the presence of Pilate. In His flesh He was nailed, and hung upon the tree, in the earth He was buried, and He rose again from the dead, He appeared to the disciples and was raised up to heaven; on the right hand of the Father He sat down and was glorified by Him. As He is the Resurrection of those who are buried, so He is the salvation of the |434 lost, the illumination of them that are in darkness, and the ransom of those who are exiled, guide of those gone astray and refuge of the afflicted, Shepherd of the saved and Bridegroom of the Church, the charioteer of the cherubs and captain of the angels, God of God, Son from the Father, Jesus Christ, King unto the ages, Amen.'
The above passage has already been published in Armenian by Cardinal Pitra, in vol. i ch. 4 of his Spicilegium, from a recently written Codex in the library of the Convent of San Lazaro at Venice. W. W. Harvey, the Cambridge editor of Irenaeus, remarks that it represents the same original as a Syriac fragment which he publishes, but with certain interpolations, which he brackets as such in his Latin translation. The passages bracketed at least double the length of the extract; and the text, as we have given it above from the work of Timotheus, not only contains several phrases which are not found in the Armenian MS of Venice, but is in general more correct. There is no reason to suppose that the additional matter of Timotheus is an interpolation. In antiquity his text of Irenaeus goes far behind any other sources; and there is no reason to suppose that its tradition has been tampered with. It may be remarked that the Armenian text of Timotheus is published from a very ancient uncial MS written on parchment, of which the editors 'give a couple of facsimiles. It is in a very archaic style of writing, certainly not later than the twelfth century, and perhaps as early as the tenth.
2. The next fragment of Irenaeus also exists in Syriac, and is given in Harvey's edition on page 458 of the second volume. It had already been printed by Cardinal Pitra in the first volume of his Spicilegium in a Syriac form with a Latin translation. It is as follows in the text of Timotheus:----
'The Holy Scriptures recognize that Christ as He was Man, so likewise He was not man; and that as He was flesh, so also spirit, and Word of God, and God. And as in the last times born of Mary, so also first-born of all creation, come forth from God; and as hungering, so also as satisfying His appetite, and as thirsting, so also they state that He long ago gave to the Jews to drink, when He was the rock Christ 1; so now to the faithful, Jesus gives spiritual water to drink, welling forth to life eternal. And as He felt weariness, so He gives rest to those who are weary and heavy-laden; and as He was Son of David, so also that He is David's Lord; and as He is descended from Abraham, that so He was before Abraham. And as He was a servant of God, so also that He was Son of God and Lord of all. And as He was spat upon in ignominy, so also that He breathed His Spirit into His disciples; |435 and as He sorrowed, so is giver of joy to His people. And as He was susceptible to capture and to handling, so again He passed into the midst of those who thought to do Him harm, yet was not taken by them, and through closed doors He entered in, yet was not confined by them. And as He slept, so also He gave command to sea and winds and spirits; and as He suffered, so also He is alive, and redeemer, and heals from every sickness. And as He died, so also is He the Resurrection of the dead; on earth without honour, yet in the heavens greater than all honour and glory. Crucified indeed He was because of infirmity, yet He lives by dint of divine potency.2 Into the lowest parts of earth He descended, yet ascended above the heavens.3 He found sufficient for Himself the manger, yet fills everything. He became dead, and was made alive for ever and ever, Amen.'
3. A third passage which survives in the citation of Timotheus is Book I, ch. ii, of the work against Heresies. It is a passage of which Epiphanius discerned the importance and accordingly cited it in his. work on Heresies, Book XXXI, ch. xxx. In the Armenian we have a fresh testimony to the text of it, as follows:----
Holy Church, although it extends over the whole world, being sown like seed to the limits of the earth, from the Apostles and from their disciples has received the faith in one God, Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, of the sea and all that is in them; and in one Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, who was made flesh for our salvation; and in the Holy Spirit, who by means of the prophets was preacher of the dispensations of God and of the advent and of the birth from a virgin, and of the passion and the resurrection from the dead and the bodily ascension into heaven, of the loved son Christ Jesus, our Lord, and of His advent from the heavens in the glory of the Father in order to recapitulate all things, and raise all flesh of all mankind; in order that to Jesus Christ, our Lord and God and Saviour and King, in accordance with the will of the Father unseen, every knee may be bent, of beings in heaven and on earth and under the earth; and that every tongue may fully confess to Him; and that He may fulfil judgement of righteousness upon all, and may send into eternal fire the spiritual powers of evil and the transgressing angels, and those that became apostates, and the impious and the unjust and the lawless and the blasphemers among men; but that bestowing life He may make ready incorruption and glory for the holy and righteous, and for those who kept His commandments, and did abide in His love, some from the beginning, but some by way of repentance.
This preaching the Church received, and this faith, as we said above; |436 and although she is sown like seed over all the earth, she carefully guards it, as dwelling in a single house; and in the same way she believes in the above, as having one soul, and the same heart, and concordantly she preaches these things and teaches them and hands them down, as possessed of one mouth.
(b) Athanasius.
From Athanasius Timotheus derived many pieces of his dossier, some of them not extant in Greek. The texts used by Timotheus were many centuries earlier than any of our MSS of Athanasius, and must have been those which were preserved in the archives of the Alexandrine patriarchate. The Armenian version is therefore of some value for the text of the excerpts, but in some cases they appear to be abridged from the original. Three passages are cited from the Discourse on the Holy Spirit which are not found in the Latin version: we may perhaps infer that the Latin text is an abridgement of the lost Greek original. Several passages are cited as from Athanasius which are from works to-day ascribed by critics to Apollinaris of Laodicea. The De incarnatione Dei Verbi is an example. Timotheus gives it in full among his testimonia, just as his predecessor Cyril cited it at some length in his Epistle to the Princesses. Leontius of Byzantium under Justinian surmised that the citation had been interpolated in Cyril's letter, but the reappearance of the entire piece in Timotheus does not confirm such an hypothesis; and it is possible after all that at one time of his life Athanasius may have written passages which a hundred years later the adversaries of the Council of Chalcedon found useful.
(c) Dionysius.
Among the existing Greek fragments of Dionysius, Patriarch of Alexandria (died a.d. 264-265), is a letter to Basilides, Bishop of the churches in the Pentapolis, on the great Sabbath. It deals with the question of what is the right hour at which to break the Easter Fast, and was printed in vol. iii of Routh's Reliquiae Sacrae, in Beverege's Synodicum, in Mansi's Concilia, and other collections of the kind.
Now in the same uncial MS which contains the work of Timothy Aelurus f. 306 r° we find a long excerpt from Dionysius bearing the following title: 'Of the Blessed Dionysius, Archbishop of Alexandria, from the Epistle to the Queen, an examination of the evidence of the Resurrection after three days of the Lord, shewing that the Lord is true.'
I conjecture that the Armenian word thaguhin, 'queen', here renders basi/lissan in a Greek original, and that this was a corruption of |437 βασιλίδην; for we know from Eusebius that Dionysius wrote to him not only the epistle above mentioned, but several others. An alternative view is that the Queen in question was Zenobia, the patroness of Paul of Samosata. The Epistle of Dionysius against the latter proves that he was interested in churches which were under Zenobia's jurisdiction. If she was as favourably inclined to Christianity as she is reported to have been, she may well have sought information on the points with which this letter deals from the head of a church so celebrated as was that of Alexandria for skill and accuracy in respect of calendarial calculations.
Here are the passages of this letter preserved by Timotheus or by the Armenian who translated his book against the Decisions of Chalcedon. In the MS they follow that book without any break:----
306 r°. 'And the evening and the morning were one day' (Gen. i 5). And they ask which was first, day or night?
Now thou hast rightly reckoned that which lies immediately at hand and has been made clear in advance, that the day seems to be previous to the night. In common parlance anyhow we say that the day is fulfilled at eventide and that the dawn is the completion of the night. And for this reason perhaps Job, anxious because of his excessive agony4 for the divisions of time to pass by, says: 'If I fall asleep, I say, When is the day? But if I wake up, again I say, When is evening?'5 Signifying the evening to be as it were the limit of the day, and that the night ceases when the day, that is the dawn, appears.
And, mark this, a similar conclusion appears to be in accordance with convention. For after God had said, Let there be light,6 and after the light was first created and called by him Day, just as later on the darkness was called Night, he added----as if the day was fulfilled----that, 'There was the evening and there was the dawn.' And straightway comprising the two at once, he fulfilled one day. For, says some one, it is meet for the time of working to be called Day, but for what remains and is a cessation from work to be called Night. Even as our Lord said: It is needful for you to do the work of him that sent you, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.7
And after a little:----
For the day is always mentioned first, as God foretold to Noe: 'By day and by night thou shalt not pause'8; or the Sun makes the beginning of his revolution from the West and concludes it at the East, and then pursues his return, as the Psalmist foretold: ' The Sun knew |438 his setting. Thou didst set the darkness, and it was night; but thereafter the Sun arose and beamed.' 9
But if persuaded by the above arguments we believe that the day precedes night, then a doubt, as thou hast written, assails the argument; I mean that you call in question, in respect of the three days, the mystery of the resurrection of the Beloved.10 For it is no longer on the third day, but on the second, that he must be reckoned first to have risen from the dead; for if he died on the Paraskevé (i. e. Friday) and rose on the next day, on the Sabbath, (that was) after the same (day's) night, this being reckoned therewith.11
And after a little:----
Now, if one begins at this point, he contradicts all that was said before; and we all affirm----I mean that the entire Church of God beginning from the holy apostles bears witness----that the night was part not of the day which had passed away, but of that which was approaching; and was divided from what preceded it, but associated with what succeeds itself. For when does he minister and to whom, as to one dissatisfied, does he present his work? If he really refers his work first to the past, then it were meet for us to feast the Sabbath, as if the Lord had risen thereon. For he rose on the night of it,12 if on the night following it. But as it is, we have left this 13 to Jews, and the eyewitnesses and those who themselves heard the Lord, have handed down to us the tradition of feasting on the first of the week. For they have related to us that our Lord arose unto it and on it; and so they honoured the day with a glorious epithet, naming it Kyriaké, which means Dominical.
And after a little:----
So at least the Jews, when the sun sets on Paraskevé, 14 say that the Sabbath is come and first enforce Sabbatical inactivity during the repose of night; for it is forbidden them to light a fire on the Sabbath day. But the day 15 belonging to the preceding night 16 they exclude, (the day) |439 which is ushered in by the evening 17 before it. For their 18 repose is abrogated, having become general mourning in connexion with the feast, in that the Lord was hidden from that (day) forth, having remained wholly in the heart of the earth without arising thereon, in order to establish for us as a more Dominical and truer feast the first of the week dawning on us.19 And, indeed, all men associate the preceding nights 20 with the morrows to come, and regulate their nocturnal proceedings to suit the days which immediately follow. In this manner do they celebrate birthdays, in this annual commemorations of deaths, in this those of festal occasions.
308 r°. Why in confirmation of this do we further appeal to the general procedure of Gentiles and to the traditional usage of the ancestors of the Jews? Not only so, but sufficient for us, as teaching this, is the Healer of God Moses, so far forth as he has revealed to us the creation of the world; for with all clearness he indicated to us that the compass of day extends from evening to evening, in the passage 21 in which he enacts concerning the Pascha as follows:----
'For at the commencement, on the 14th day of the first month, from even (ye are) to eat unleavened bread until the 21st day of the month at even. For seven days leaven shall not be found in your houses.'
But the seven days are from the 15th to the 20th. It is clear, therefore, that the 15th began with the 14th evening, while the 21st ended on the following day before the night of the next evening. And the 14th day was not one of the days of unleavened bread; but the lamb was slain on it, not at even, for the evening was not thereof, but when the evening was advanced,22 as it is written 23:----
'And they shall slay it, all the multitude of the congregation of the children of Israel, towards even.'
Then, anyway after a sufficient interval had taken place, during which they were laying the blood on the door-posts and lintels, were also skinning and preparing it, and as the Scripture adds:-----
'They shall eat the flesh on that night roasted with fire, with unleavened bread upon bitter herbs shall they consume it.'
So then the first day of unleavened bread was the 15th, beginning with eventide and night, as he again says 24:----
'Seven days ye shall eat unleavened bread, and from the first day ye shall hide away leaven out of your houses.'
And after a little from Leviticus 25:----
'In the first month on the 14th of the month, in the middle of the |440 evening is the Pascha of the Lord. And from the 15th of this month is the feast of unleavened bread of the Lord. Seven days ye shall eat unleavened bread.'
And as he said in Exodus:----
'They shall slay it towards even.'
So in this passage he modifies his expression to 'in the middle of the evening', because not at the completion nor on the verge of even, but in the middle of the term, the passover was to be slain, in order that on that account the 15th might be called the feast of unleavened bread and it might be consumed just at nightfall.
And after other matter:----
'But if any one imagine that eventide is end and last portion of the day, because the Pascha is declared to be the seventh until evening, let him reflect that the first day was declared (to begin) from the evening, as if the evening were the first limit of the day; and it is necessary that all the days compounded of days and nights should be uniform and commensurate one with the other; and their common beginnings must be one, and their completion must be the same in transmission, while the definite periods comprised in them must be invariable one from the other. One eventide, therefore, and one dawn, and one mid-day, and one mid-night is included in each.
And after other matter:----
For the three days' mystery of our Lord's Resurrection is to be computed thus: He instructed his disciples beforehand that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders and high priests and scribes, and die, and on the third day rise from the dead.26 Now after the ninth hour----in which he died----what remained of Paraskevé was one day, but the day-night 27 of the Sabbath totalled a second; but the evening of the Sabbath, as Matthew says,28 was 'beginning to dawn for the first of the week', and in these words he signified as a manner of its imminence that the night was being illumined, but not that the day was being darkened by the night's overtaking it. From the verge of night was the third day, on which, according to his prediction, our Lord arose.
Some one argues from there having been darkness from the sixth to the ninth hour, taking (this) for a night, that the three days and three nights (so) came to pass, and reckons this fraction too (as belonging) to the days in order to complete the days; for he divides off the Paraskevé up to the sixth hour and puts it aside as then entirely completed; but from the ninth hour on as the second day, both 29 what |441 of these (hours) is Paraskevé and what is Sabbath. Now two days in one do not constitute a Paraskevé, nor two Sabbaths. And he recognizes one true night, but adds the other that never was. For the darkness in question was in a way a symbolic passion and mourning, as it were, of the day, the sun having all but hidden himself and subsided into blackness at what was taking place. But a night was not (therefore) to be added in the reckoning; nay, even if it be called exceptional and excessive night, it was yet moonless and starless, and for that reason is not to be reckoned on a level with other nights. If, however, Sabbath follows Paraskevé and after it the first day of the week is completed, it is clear, if the Paraskevé on that occasion lasted until the sixth hour, while the Sabbath came after the ninth, then the Sabbath was turned into the first of the week, and the first of the week trenched on the second. And as we still feast it as dominical, both number and order of the days have obviously been confused, an extra day having been intercalated.
But such views are most unreasonable. Why should we not equally entitle nights all eclipses of the sun? For although on that occasion, the moon being at its full, and the month only half expired, the eclipse was most incongruous and miraculous, for it is (under such circumstances) impossible, as experts in these matters declare it to be. For they say this never occurs except in the usual intercrossing of their paths and directions, by reason of the moon's intrusion and of its turning the rays into shadow relatively to us. And although this (eclipse) was a longish one, extending over three hours as it did, and though in its case the darkness was very profound, nevertheless some other eclipses have been longer in duration, and during them both the atmosphere has been darkened and the stars have shone out as at night, yet they;have never been intercalated as forming a single night. And that the day was single, and that the darkness as well as its light was included in it, had been prophesied by Zachariah 30: 'On that day there shall not jbe light, and cold and frost shall there be, the one day, and that day known unto the Lord, neither day nor night, but toward evening there shall be light.'
And that the darkness was altogether (equivalent to) 31 three days' death is not true, for the darkness took place while he was still alive upon the tree; for he was nailed up at the third hour, as Mark 32 assures us: 'It was now the third hour and they crucified him.' But the three evangelists are also concordant in declaring that the darkness lasted from the sixth hour to the ninth, and that then the Lord with a cry gave up the ghost. |442
And after a little:----
In spite of this uncertainty, we must recognize which (were) the three days: we have clearly the Sabbath fully composed of a night and a day. For as we said above, it was in order to refute and cast opprobrium on the Jews, that he enacted that their festival should become wholly a day of mourning. At least he associated death with each of the days, and accepted for one complete day part of a day, and for another part of a night, indicating that the night in importance pre(cedes)33 day and that the day is to be (dated) by the night. For the part is in (the whole) and the whole is often named from the part. For a man has only to pass inside a city's gates, and he is said to have entered the city; and another to have gone aboard a ship, if he only sets foot on the gangway (or? bows); and one who transgresses a single rule, is a transgressor of the law. Again, a man is born in a single hour, yet we keep his birth-day, and pretend that what took place in a moment was done on that day. In the same way as we say that the passover is slain on the 14th, when it is only slain at its close, nights and days in a way passing into one another and along with one another,----So we say that the Lord fulfilled the type of Jonah by passing three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
F. C. CONYBEARE.
[Footnotes renumbered and moved to the end.]
* Note to the online edition. The text has been indented to highlight the quotations, but it is not quite clear whether 'And after a little' is a statement by Conybeare or Timothy. I have indented as if the latter. The quotation marks are as in the original: i.e. apparently random.
The 'I' that appears at the top of the article suggests that further articles were intended. However in Louis Mariès, Frederick Cornwallis Conybeare (1856-1924): Notice Biographique et Bibliographique (1926: New York reprint 1970, ISBN 0-8337-22158), p.261, we are told that the bibliographer could find no trace of any such continuation.
1. 1 1 Cor. x 4.
2. 1 2 Cor. xiii 4.
3. 2 Eph. iv 9, 10.
4. 1 Reading geradsavotzn for the vox nihili garadsotsn in the Arm. text.
5. 2 Job vii 4.
6. 3 Gen. i 3-5.
7. 4 John ix 4 (the ordinary text read us or me for you).
8. 5 Gen. viii 23.
9. 1 Ps. ciii 19, 20.
10. 2 i.e. ἀγαπητός.
11. 3 i. e. From Friday 6 p.m. to Saturday 6 p.m. is one day; from Saturday 6 p.m. to Sunday 6 p.m. is a second day; therefore if Jesus died on Friday afternoon and rose on Sunday at dawn, he rose on the second day, not on the third.
12. 4 i. e. of the Sabbath or on Saturday night. Perhaps this sentence is the lemma of one whom Dionysius controverts. The meaning of the sentences which precede: For when, &c, is obscure, though the Armenian text is straightforward. Perhaps for djkhoyi----'one dissatisfied' should be read dshkhoyi='a Queen', viz., the Christian Church.
13. 5 i. e. the feasting of the Sabbath.
14. 6 Friday.
15. 7 i. e. our Friday 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.
16. 8 i. e. our Thursday night.
17. 1 i. e. our Thursday evening.
18. 2 i. e. of the Jews.
19. 3 ἐπιφώσκουσαν.
20. 4 i.e. the eves of festivals.
21. 5 Exod. xii 18-19.
22. 6 Or 'added'.
23. 7 Exod. xii 8.
24. 8 Exod. xii 15.
25. 9 Levit. xxiii 5-6.
26. 1 Matt. xx 18.
27. 2 ἡμερονύκτιον.
28. 3 Matt. xxviii 1.
29. 4 The next few words are to me unintelligible.
30. 1 xiv 6-7.
31. 2 Owing to lacunae in text the reading is not certain.
32. 3 xv 25.
33. 1 The brackets represent lacunae in the text and the sense is not quite clear.
This text was transcribed by Roger Pearse, 2006. All material on this page is in the public domain - copy freely.
Greek text is rendered using unicode.
Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
SOURCE SECTION: severus_coll_0_eintro.htm
Severus of Antioch: A collection of letters from numerous Syriac manuscripts (1915). Preface to the online edition
Severus of Antioch: A collection of letters from numerous Syriac manuscripts (1915). Preface to the online edition
These letters were transcribed from the Patrologia Orientalis. Each page of this has the Syriac at the top, and the English at the bottom. There is a list of subjects at the end, but the numbers in this do not appear to correspond to the PO page numbers.
There is an extensive academic bibliography of the works of Severus, together with translations and primary and secondary sources at "http://www.cecs.acu.edu.au/severusresearch.htm".
This text was transcribed by Roger Pearse, 2005. All material on this page is in the public domain - copy freely.
Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
SOURCE SECTION: severus_coll_1_intro.htm
Severus of Antioch: A collection of letters from numerous Syriac manuscripts (1915) Introduction
Severus of Antioch: A collection of letters from numerous Syriac manuscripts (1915) Introduction
A COLLECTION OF LETTERS
OF SEVERUS OF ANTIOCH
FROM NUMEROUS SYRIAC MANUSCRIPTS
EDITED AND TRANSLATED
BY
E. W. BROOKS
PATR. OR. ---- T. XII. ---- F. 2.
Nihil obstat,
R. GRAFFIN.
PERMIS D'IMPRIMER
P. FAGES,
Vic. gen.
Paris, le 14 Juin 1915.
Tous droits réservés.
INTRODUCTION
The letters of the great Monophysite patriarch Severus, who held the see of Antioch from 512 to 518 and died in exile in Egypt in 538, like the rest of his works, and indeed nearly all Greek Monophysite literature, have been lost in the original, except in so far as a large number of citations are preserved in catenae and a few in Acts of Councils; and of Syriac versions only one exists in a continuous form, the collection of 123 letters entitled «The Sixth Book of Select Letters (e/klogai/)», translated by Athanasius of Nisibis, which I edited with an English translation for the Text and Translation Society in 1902-4. Of the existence of other Syriac versions, either of all the letters or of selections, we have no direct evidence; but it may be inferred from the fact that citations in MSS. of different contents often agree verbally, and that, where the letter in question is included in the Athanasian collection, the text in the other MSS. differs from that of Athanasius. On the other hand the existence of different versions of particular passages (in one part of ep. 99 of the present edition there are four) does not prove the existence of different continuous translations, since the compilers of the catenae or other documents in which the citations are found may have translated the passages for themselves, and in many cases the citations are found in translations of Greek works such as those of Peter the patriarch and those against Probus and Paul of Beth Ukhame 1, where the translator naturally rendered them from the original.
The object of the present edition is to collect the letters and |iv fragments of letters outside the Athanasian collection which are found scattered in various MSS; but, in order to keep the edition within reasonable limits, I have excluded the great dogmatic letters «To Sergius the grammarian», «Against John the grammarian», and «Against Julian of Halicarnassus,» which rather require separate publication, as well as letters already published in the work of the so-called Zacharias Rhetor, and other versions of letters contained in the Athanasian collection. The heavy task of collecting the Greek fragments also seemed to lie outside the scope of the present work, and I have contented myself with referring to published extracts from letters to the same addressees as those of the present collection. Coptic and Arabic versions are also excluded.
The total number of manuscripts used is 28, of which 20 are in the British Museum, 6 in the Vatican, one at Paris, and one at Berlin. Of the Berlin extract M. Kugener kindly lent me a photograph which he had obtained for another purpose; for the Paris extract and most of the Vatican extracts I have, as usual, to thank the indefatigable photographic labours of Mgr Graffin; of some of the Vatican extracts I have copies which I took in 1901; and for the few which remain I am indebted to the kindness of M. Tisserant, who verified the references and had the required photographs taken for me. - A list of MSS. is given after the Introduction; but for a full description of each I must refer to the catalogues of Wright, Assemani, Zotenberg, and Sachau, only noting that I seems to be a copy of V and is only useful where the photographs of V are defective or indistinct or the accuracy of my copy doubtful, and that, as part of F is identical with part of L (Wright p. 1007), and apparently a copy of it, I have not thought it necessary to collate this portion except where L is defective or illegible. Where more than one version of a passage exists, I have given the text of all, but in the translation I have tried to reproduce the original from the different versions, placing such variants as seemed worth preserving in the notes. Of the usual varieties of spelling in such words as [Syriac] I have taken no account in the apparatus, and I have in such cases generally placed the shorter spelling in the text, whatever the MS. reading may be. Words or letters inserted to fill illegible or defective places in the MSS. are |v enclosed in square brackets in the text and words depending on such supplements in the translation.
The letters in the original Greek existed in a collection divided into 23 books, of which 4 contained those written before episcopacy, 10 those written during episcopacy, and 9 those written after exile, and there were also some letters described as 'outside the 23 books' (S. L., iv, 7, 10). Of these the books which contain those written during episcopacy seem from the numerals of the letters preserved to have been much longer than the other books. In the Select Letters the place of each letter in the original collection is stated; but among the scattered letters contained in the present edition it is only in 26 cases that any such information is given, and there is still nothing to show on what principle the letters were arranged. That the order is not chronological I showed in the Introduction to the translation of the Select Letters (p. x). As however a list of the contents of the original collection, so far as they can be ascertained, may be useful for easy reference, I subjoin a catalogue of letters in the order of that collection with the names of the addressees and references to the Select Letters or to the present edition, the former being distinguished by the letters S. L.
Before episcopacy:
i, 7
About the Anthropomorphists
28
---- 250
Theognostus
109
---- 272
A woman
S.L., x, 2
ii, 10
Phocas and Eupraxius
68
---- 12
Constantine of Seleucia
S.L., i, 1
---- 63
Antoninus of Berrhcea
29
iii, 5
The patricians
S.L., ii, 1
---- 227
Conon silentiarius
---- x, 4
---- 257
Alypius
---- x, 1
iv, 2
John the tribune
---- v, 1
---- 18
Theodore the monk
---- x, 5
---- 89
---- ---- notary
---- x, 3
---- 104, 106
Solon of Seleucia
---- i, 2
---- 118, 121
Jannia the archimandritess
---- vii, 2
Without number of book or letter: Oecumenius comes
1
Entrechius of Anazarba
19
During episcopacy:
i, 10
Peter, Ammonius, and Olympiodorus
38
---- 22
Ammonius the Alexandrine
S.L.,iv, 2
|vi
i, 115
Dioscorus of Alexandria
S.L., iv, 3
---- 121
Eleusinius of Sasima
---- vi, 1
---- 141
Archelaus the reader
---- vi, 2
---- 208, 209
Zacharias of Pelusium
---- iv, 1
ii, 4
Dionysius of Tarsus
---- iv, 4
---- 16
Cosmas of the monastery of Cyrus
---- iv, 5
---- 22
Solon of Seleucia
96
---- 24
do
S.L., i, 3
---- 42, 50
do
---- i, 4
---- 55
Conon silentiarius
78
iii, 5
Peter of Apamea
S.L., i, 5
---- 10, 15
Valeriana the archimandritess
---- vii, 1
---- 35
Simeon of the great monastery
---- vii, 3
---- 171
Nicias of Laodicea
---- i, 6
---- 232
Castor of Perga
---- i, 7
---- 256, 258
Timostratus dux
---- i, 8
---- 323
Nicias of Laodicea
---- v, 2
---- 345
Archimandrite of monastery of Bassus
---- i, 11
---- 354
Cosmas, Polyeuctus, and Zeno
---- i, 12
---- 390
John comes
---- iv, 6
---- 397, 398
Entrechius of Anazarba
---- i, 13
iv, 64
The fathers
---- i, 42
---- 65
Antoninus of Berrhoea
---- i, 14
---- 72
do
---- i, 15
---- 100
Misael the chamberlain
---- xi, 1
---- 101
Antoninus of Berrhoea
---- i, 16
---- 103
Misael the chamberlain
---- i, 17
---- 123
Entrechius of Anazarba
---- i, 18
---- 149
Solon of Seleucia
---- i, 19
---- 156
Victor of Philadelphia
---- vii, 5
---- 187
Suffragans of Apamea
---- i, 20
---- 189
The magister officiorum
---- i, 21
---- 231
The fathers
---- i, 22
---- 248
Monks of Tagais
---- v, 3
---- 270
Solon of Seleucia
---- i, 23
---- 293
Theotecnus archiater
---- i, 24
---- 331
Dionysius of Tarsus
---- i, 25
---- 338
Solon of Seleucia
---- i, 26
v, 66
Philoxenus of Doliche
---- i, 28
---- 74
Musonius and Alexander
---- i 27
---- 97
Monastery of Isaac
---- i, 29
---- 135
Clergy of Apamea
---- i, 30
---- 236, 237
Bishops of Phoenice
---- i, 31
vi, 1
The fathers
---- IX, 1
---- 154
John of Alexandria Minor
---- i, 32
---- 161
Theotecnus archiater
---- v, 4
---- 178
Dionysius of Tarsus
---- v, 5
---- 186
do
---- i, 33
|vii
vii, 42, 51
Solon of Seleucia
S.L., i, 41
---- 106
Stephen of Apamea
---- vii, 6
---- 127
do
---- i, 34
---- 140
Eustace the presbyter
---- i, 35
---- 218
Eusebius the deacon
---- i, 36
---- 238, 240
Simeon of Chalcis
---- i, 37
---- 267, 269
do
---- i, 38
---- 289
Clergy of Apamea
---- i, 39
---- 354
Monastery of Bassus
---- x, 6
---- 372
Cassian of Bostra
---- viii, 2
---- 376, 378
Aurelius scholasticus
---- viii, 3
---- 392
Stephen the reader
---- viii, 1
---- 406
Anastasius comes
---- iii, 1
---- 458, 465
Hypatius mag militum
---- i, 40
viii, 20
Monastery of Isaac
84
---- 134
Archim of monastery of Simeon
S.L., i, 43
---- 157
Wife of Calliopius
---- vii, 7
---- 190
Eutychian, governor of Apamea
---- i, 44
---- 237
Conon SIZE="1">lh|stodiw&kthj
---- i, 45
---- 264, 265
Clergy of Antaradus
---- i, 46
---- 276, 277
Stephen of Tripolis
---- i, 9
---- 288
Cassian of Bostra
---- i, 47
ix, 1
Against Re-anointers
---- v, 6
---- 5
Archelaus the reader
93
---- 8
Theodore of Olbe
S.L., ix, 2
x, 61
Dionysius of Tarsus
---- v, 7
---- 295
Philoxenus of Hierapolis
---- i, 48
---- 384, 385
Nunna of Seleucia
---- vii, 4
Without number of book:
142, 143 Eucherius of Paltus
---- i, 10
Without number of book or letter: Oecumenius comes
2
After exile:
i, 6
John and John
S.L., ii, 2
---- 11
Scholasticus
82
---- 16
John and John
S.L., i, 50
----53, 55
do
---- i, 49
11, 8
Anastasia the deaconess
71
----9
Believers at Antioch
S.L., iv, 8
---- 24
Orthodox at Antioch
---- v, 8
---- 27
Sergius comes archiater
---- 85
---- 28
Simeon, archim. of Teleda
S.L., v, 9
---- 29
Monastery of Isaac
---- v, 10
---- 40
Philip the presbyter
---- i, 51
---- 42
John and John
---- i, 52
---- 64
Bishops at Alexandria
---- i, 53
---- 71
John and John
---- v, 11
---- 72
do
---- v, 12
---- 93
Orthodox at Emesa
---- ii, 3
|viii
iii, 32
Theodore of monastery of Romanus
S.L., i, 55
---- 35
Proclus and Eusebonas
---- v, 13
---- 36
Proclus of Colonia
---- i 56
---- 46
Caesaria hypatissa
---- x, 7
---- 50
Didymus the bishop
---- i, 57
---- 53
Thecla comitissa
---- ix, 3
---- 74
Caesaria hypatissa
97
---- 90
Thecla comitissa
S.L., i, 58
iv, 5
Caesaria hypatissa
98
---- 21
John, Philoxenus, and John
S.L., v, 14
---- 57
Caesaria hypatissa
99
---- 69
Sergius of Cyrrhus
88
---- 81
Sergius and Marion
S.L., v, 15
v, 1
Anastasia the deaconess
69
---- 15
Constantine of Laodicea
91
---- 22
Georgia
S.L., x, 8
---- 38
Eustace the monk
---- vii, 8
---- 39
John of Bostra
---- viii, 4
---- 52
Julian of monastery of Bassus
---- i, 59
vi, 3
Caesaria hypatissa
100
---- 4
Probus mag militum
79
---- 70
Sergius comes archiater
86
vii, 15
Photius and Andrew
59; S.L., i,60
---- 29
Ammonius and Epagathus
S.L., iii, 2
---- 30
Misael the deacon
---- iii, 3
viii, 54
Caesaria hypatissa
---- iii, 4
ix, 13
Isidora
---- vii, 9
---- 27
Thomas of Germanicea
108
---- 43
Misael the deacon
S.L., i, 63
---- 51, 61
Andrew the reader
---- viii, 5
---- 62
do
iv, 9
Outside the 23 books:
4
John Canopites
S.L., iv, 7
15
Caesaria hypatissa
---- iv, 10
Without number of book or series:
60
Leontius the presbyter
87
If we take the highest number in each book and in the extra letters and add them up, we shall find that the smallest number of letters that the collection can have con tained is 3824. There are indeed 19 cases in which the same letter occurred twice, and in the whole collection there were no doubt many more; but, as it is very unlikely that the last letter in each book has been preserved, we may be sure that the whole number of letters did not fall short of that given above. The letters according to the subjects with which they deal fall naturally into three classes: 1) theological, 2) ecclesiastical, 3) epexegetical: of which only the second class are preserved in the Select Letters, while the present collection comprises letters and fragments of all three. In fixing the order of the letters therefore it has been my object to arrange them according to these three classes, and in each class to place letters dealing with one subject |ix together. This system however it was impossible to carry out completely, since (1) it often happens that one letter deals not merely with different subjects but with subjects of different classes; (2) there are some letters which it is difficult to assign definitely to one class more than another; (3) some letters which should from their subject have been included in the present fascicule were not known to me till it had gone to press. The division is therefore only a rough one; and I have not separated the letters into classes, but numbered them continuously. Of whole letters the number contained in the present edition is 7 or 8 only, the first two to Oecumenius (1, 2), that to the Emesenes (25), that to Elisha the presbyter, which is attached to the work against John the Grammarian (34), that to the monks of the East, which is attached to the correspondence with Julian of Halicarnassus (35), that to the convents of virgins (61), the first to Anastasia the deaconess (69), and perhaps that to the presbyters at Alexandria (39), which, though described as an exbract, appears to be a whole letter: but the Answers to the Questions of Eupraxius (65) must be nearly complete, and there are many long extracts, especially in the epexegetical portion, which exhaust the subject with which they deal. As the distinction between whole letters and fragments is therefore of no practical importance, I have made no separation between them, but arranged them all indiscriminately according to the subject matter. It has been my object to include all accessible letters and fragments of letters of Severus existing in Syriac with the exceptions mentioned above; but, as these are distributed over a vast number of MSS., of which some are imperfectly catalogued, there are no doubt many which have escaped me. The document contained in Brit. Mus. Add. 14668 f. 44 v° which Wright (p. 788) calls a letter is however a prayer, and the letter in Y p. 117 (Assemani's notation) addressed to the patriarch Peter the younger, which Assemani (III, p. 63) with strange chronological confusion ascribes to Severus, is a letter of Damian. Wherever possible, I have placed a date in the margin of the translation of each letter; but the cases in which the date can be fixed within narrow limits are few. In an appendix I have added a short collection of hymns composed for use at the commemoration of Severus.
ABBREVIATIONS.
A. v. Alia versio.
C. B. M. Wright, Catalogue of Syriac MSS. in the British Museum.
P. G. Patrologia Graeca.
P. L. ---- Latina.
P. O. ---- Orientalis.
R. O. C. Revue de l'Orient chrétien.
S. L. Select Letters of Severus, ed. Brooks.
S. V.N. C. Mai, Scriptorum Veterum Nova Collectio.
|x
MANUSCRIPTS
A =
Brit. Mus. Add. 14601 (9th cent.).
B =
---- ---- ---- 12157 ( th or th cent.).
C =
---- ---- ---- 17149 ( th cent.).
D =
---- ---- ---- 14531 ( th or th cent.).
E =
---- ---- ---- 17214 ( th cent.).
F =
---- ---- ---- 14538 (10th cent.).
G =
---- ---- ---- 12155 ( th cent.).
H =
---- ---- ---- 17193 (874).
I =
---- ---- ---- 12144 (1081).
J =
---- ---- ---- 12168 ( th or 9th cent.).
K =
---- ---- ---- 17191 (9th or 10th cent.).
L =
---- ---- ---- 14532 ( th cent.).
M =
---- ---- ---- 14533 ( th or 9th cent.).
N =
---- ---- ---- 14613 (9th or 10th cent.).
O =
---- ---- ---- 17134 (end of th cent.).
p =
Par. Syr. 62 (9th cent.).
Q =
Brit. Mus. Add. 12154 (circ. 800).
R =
Vat. Syr. 140 ( th or th cent.).
ρ =
---- ---- 255 ( th or th cent.).
S =
Berlin Sachau 321 ( th cent.).
T =
Brit. Mus. Add. 14612 ( th or th cent.)-
U =
---- ---- 12153 (845).
V =
Vat. Syr. 103 (841).
W =
---- ---- 100 (9th or 10th cent.).
X =
---- ---- 107 ( th cent.).
Y =
---- ---- 108 ( th cent.).
Z =
Brit. Mus. Add. 7191 ( th -cent.).
ζ =
---- ---- ---- 7192 ( th cent.).
FOR THE APPENDIX.
Brit. Mus. Add. 14504 (9th cent.).
1. 1. Mss. GLMXYZζ
This text was transcribed by Roger Pearse, 2003. All material on this page is in the public domain - copy freely.
Greek text is rendered using the Scholars Press SPIonic font, free from here.
Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
SOURCE SECTION: severus_coll_2_letters.htm
Severus of Antioch: A collection of letters from numerous Syriac manuscripts (1915). Letters 1-61
Severus of Antioch: A collection of letters from numerous Syriac manuscripts (1915). Letters 1-61
A COLLECTION OF LETTERS
OF SEVERUS OF ANTIOCH
I. -------- OF THE SAME
1 A LETTER TO OECUMENIUS
2 THE COUNT 3, ABOUT PROPERTIES AND OPERATIONS, WHICH IS OF THOSE WRITTEN BEFORE EPISCOPACY. [508-12 AD]
We also have in the God-inspired Scripture supplies of humility, and 508-12. no lack of arguments to bring us down and help us to keep silence. If you, as if you were about to go up to Mt. Sinai, shrink from writing 'to such a man' (referring to me), and think fit to use David's words which he says to those who were urging him to take Saul's daughter in marriage, «Is it a small thing in your eyes that I should be son-in-law to the king?»4, while I am a poor man and inglorious, I also, when required to make answer to your question, make use of these words: «I am not a prophet, nor the son of prophets, but I am a shepherd, and a scraper of sycamore fruit»5, if it is not too much for me to say even this: for I am not worthy to tell the righteousnesses of God, and to take his covenant in |4 my mouth6. However, since the time of the present struggles does not allow silence, I accept an honourable defeat from you, and turn to the question. And in this I defeat you, since I show that you do not practise humility in a philosophic spirit7. As to your statement that the holy old men called bold speech8 fire or warmth, I say this, that we must not use this method of speaking without discrimination, but there are occasions for using it and circumstances to which to apply it. Our Lord in the Gospels in many parables teaches us in the case of spiritual petitions to knock without ceasing and display a praiseworthy audacity. And the saying of the Proverbs also instructs us that 'there is shame which brings sin, and there is shame which brings glory and grace'9. Know then, mighty man, (for I now return to make answer) that for us to anathematize those who speak of properties of natures (I mean the Godhead and the manhood of which the one Christ consists) is not permissible. Flesh does not renounce its existence as flesh, even if it has become God's flesh, nor has the Word departed from his nature, even if he has been hypostatically united to flesh which possesses a rational and intelligent soul: but the difference also is |5 preserved, and the propriety in the form of natural characteristics of the natures of which Emmanuel consists, since the flesh was not converted into the nature of the Word, nor was the Word changed into flesh. We mean in the matter of natural characteristics, and not that those which were naturally united are singly and individually separated and divided from one another: this is the assertion of those who cleave our one Lord Jesus Christ into two natures. For, since the union in hypostasis is acknowledged, it follows that those which were united are not separated from one another; but there is one Son, and one nature of God the Word incarnate himself, as the holy Cyril also says in the work against Diodorus: «Let him know therefore that the body which was born at Bethlehem, even if it is not the same as the Word from God and the Father (I mean in natural characteristics), yet nevertheless became his, not anyone else's separate from the Son: and there is recognised to be one Son and Christ and Lord and Word who took flesh» 10. Those therefore who confess one incarnate nature of God the Word, and do not confuse the elements of which he consists, recognise also the propriety of those that were joined in union (and a property is that which |6 exists in the form of a manifestation of natural differences), and not that we should ascribe the acts of the manhood only to the human nature, and impute again those of the Godhead separately to God the Word, but they recognise the difference only, not admitting a division: for the principle of union does not admit of division. Hear what the holy and wise doctor Cyril says in the second volume11 of the work against the blasphemies of Nestorius: «For between Godhead and manhood I also allow that there is great distinction and distance. For the things which have been named on the principle of manner of existence are clearly different, and in no point like one another. But, when the mystery in Christ is introduced among us, the principle of union is not oblivious of difference", but rejects division, not by mixing or commingling the natures with one another, but that, after the Word of God has partaken of flesh and blood, he is even so understood and named as one Son» 12. But, if Emmanuel is one, consisting of Godhead and manhood which have a perfect existence according to their own principle, and the hypostatic union without confusion shows the difference of those which have been joined in one in dispensatory union, but rejects division, both the elements |7 which naturally belong to the manhood have come to belong to the very Godhead of the Word, and those which belong to the Word himself have come to belong to the very manhood which he hypostatically united to him. On this subject we will again adduce the sacred words of Cyril. In the prosphonetikon to the religious king Theodosius he spoke as follows: «As therefore it came to belong to the humanity to be the Only one, because it had been united to the Word in a dispensatory union, so it came to belong to the Word to be 'the first-born among many brethren'13, because of the union with flesh»14. Gregory the Theologian15 also in the letter to Gledonius wrote words which agree with him as follows: «As the natures are mingled, so also are the appellations; and they run into one another on the principle of coalescence»16. Do not let the term 'mingle' disturb you: for he used it very clearly and without danger5 with the intention of denoting the primary union: for, where there is a union of something incorporeal with a body, no danger17 anywhere arises from mingling. For this is manifestly a quality of fluid bodies, to be confounded together by intertwining, and, so to speak, come out of their nature. We therefore anathematize not |8 those who confess the properties of the natures of which the one Christ consists, but those who separate the properties, and apportion them to each nature apart. When the one Christ has once been divided (and he is divided by the fact that they speak of two natures after the union), with the natures which have been cut asunder into a duality and separated into a distinct diversity go the operations and properties which are the offspring of this division, as the words of Leo's impious letter state in what he said: «For each of the forms effects in partnership with the other that which belongs to itself, the Word doing that which belongs to the Word, and the body performing the things which belong to the body» 18. Against these things it is well to set the much-honoured words of the holy Cyril which refute impiety. In the Scholion about the coal he speaks as follows: «Nevertheless we may see in the coal as in a figure that God the Word was united to the manhood, but has not cast off being that which he is, but rather changed what had been assumed or united into his glory and operation. For, as fire when it takes hold of wood and is introduced into it, prevails over it, and does |9 not make it cease being wood, but rather changes it into the appearance and force of fire, and performs all its own acts in it, and is already reckoned as one with it, so understand in the case of Christ also. For, since God was ineffably united with manhood, he has preserved it as what we say it is, and he himself also has remained what he was. But, after he has once been united, he is reckoned as one with it, appropriating its qualities to himself, but he himself also carried on the operation of his nature in it»19. If 20 then the Word changed the manhood which he had hypostatically united to him, not into his nature, for he remained that which he was, but into his glory and operation, and things which manifestly belong to the flesh have come to belong to the Word himself, how shall we allow that each of the forms performs its own acts? But we must anathematize those who confine the one Christ in two natures and say that each of the natures performs its own acts. Between the things performed and done by the one Christ the difference is great. Some of them are acts befitting the divinity, while others are human. For example, to walk and travel in bodily form upon |10 the earth is without contention human; but to bestow on those who are maimed in the feet and cannot walk upon the ground at all the power of walking like sound persons is God-befitting. Yet the one Word incarnate performed the latter and the former, and the one nature did not perform the one, and the other the other; nor, because the things performed are different, shall we on this account rightly define two natures or forms as operating. Again the Tome of Leo says: «For each of the natures preserves its own property without diminution» 21, distributing the properties to the two natures severally, as one who divides the one and only Christ into two natures. For the property of the natures of which Emmanuel consists, which is shown in the natural characteristics, continues constant and fixed, as the holy Cyril also says in the second letter to Succensus: «But, while each of them both remains and is perceived in the property which is. by nature, according to the principle which has just been enunciated by us, the ineffable and incomprehensible union has shown us one nature of the Son, yet, as I have said, an incarnate nature»22. But God the Word did not permit his flesh in all things to undergo the passions proper to it, in order that its |11 property might be preserved undiminished, as the impious disputer said. For observe what the wise doctor Cyril says, in answer to the objections made by Theodoret, in the defence of the tenth anathema: «When the lowness arising from the exinanition seems hard to you, wonder greatly at the love of the Son toward us. For, what you say is a mean thing, this he did voluntarily for your sake. He wept in human fashion, that he might take away your weeping. He feared by dispensation, inasmuch as he sometimes permitted his flesh to undergo the passions proper to it, that he might make us valiant»23. If he sometimes permitted his flesh by dispensation to undergo the passions proper to it, he did not preserve its property undiminished: for in many instances it is seen not to have undergone the things which manifestly belong to its nature; for it was united to the Word, the Maker of nature. The Word therefore who had become incarnate walked upon the sea, and after his death under the wound of the lance caused a stream of salvation to well forth from his side: again, after the Resurrection, he came in while the doors were shut, and appeared to the disciples in the house; whom he also allowed to touch him, showing that his flesh was tangible and solid, and of one essence24 with us, and was also |12 superior to corruption; and thereby he subverted the theory of phantasy. It belongs therefore to those who part the one Christ into two natures and dissolve the unity to say, «For each of the natures preserves its property unimpaired». But those who believe that, after God the Word had been hypostatically united to flesh that possessed an intelligent soul, he performed all his own acts in it, and changed it not into his nature (far be it!), but into his glory and operation, no longer seek the things that manifestly belong to the flesh without diminution, to which flesh the things that manifestly belong by nature to the Godhead have come to belong by reason of the union. But, if they senselessly divide it from God the Word by speaking of two natures after the union, it then walks in its own ways following its nature, and preserves its properties undiminished on the principle of the impious men. But these things are not so (how could they be?), but indeed very different: for union rejects division, as the holy Cyril said: «For, though it is said that he hungered and thirsted, and slept and grew weary after a journey, and wept and feared, these things did not happen to him just as they do to us in accordance with compulsory ordinances of nature; but he |13 himself voluntarily permitted his flesh to walk according to the laws of nature, for he sometimes allowed it even to undergo its own passions»25. For from Cyril's words, as from a sacred anchor, I do not depart. And the same statement is made by Gregory the Theologian26 of Nazianzus also in the sermon on baptism: «For he is purity itself, and did not need purification; but he is purified for you; just as for you he put on a garb of flesh, while he is fleshless: and he would have run no danger at all from putting off baptism; for he himself was a warden of passion to himself» 27. Accordingly then28 he was a warden to himself of hungering as well as of being tired after a journey, and of accepting the other human passions, such as do not fall under sin, in order to display the Humanization truly and without phantasy 29. Of what we have said this is the sum; that we must anathematize those who divide the one Christ: and they divide him by speaking of two natures after the union, and consequently apportioning the operations and properties between the natures. Accordingly good doctrine is contained in the30 ---- of the serene king: for it anathematizes those who divide the one Son who was |14 hypostatically united to flesh into two natures, and the operations and properties of the same two natures: for thus also says the impious Theodoret: «How does he range under impiety those who divide the properties of the natures of God who is before the ages and of the man who was assumed in the last days?» 31 I have written these things though I am poor in intellect and praise the greatness of your God-loving understanding; and because, as you are wise, I give you an opportunity to attain wiser results. Forgive me that on account of the lack of leisure caused by the present struggles I have been late in writing. Greet your honoured consort, who is a partner and a helper in the affairs of God.
The end of the first letter to Oecumenius the count.
II. -------- OF THE SAME THE SECOND LETTER TO THE SAME OECUMENIUS THE COUNT UPON THE SAME MATTER, AND IT IS AMONG THOSE WRITTEN DURING EPISCOPACY. [513-8.]
I wonder how it is that your God-loving magnificence has picked |15 up again from the beginning the contention that had been put to silence. While confessing Emmanuel to be of two natures, to suppose the elements of which he consists to be generalities covering many hypostases (this is what is meant by the property of a generality) is a thing that is very abominable and inept, and one that confirms the charge falsely disseminated against us by the impious: for we are found to be imagining two natures before the union according to their account; for there would be the whole of humanity and of course the Godhead also, even before the Humanization of the Word. And these matters would need further conversation by word of mouth, not written words in a letter, which are subject to considerations of brevity, and bring danger32 to the writer, wherever any unusual name or unelaborated phrase is inserted in the document. You know what words that lead to rocks you have used in your recent composition, and, though admitting that you do this as a concession, you have still done it. But to us, who by ordinance from above and mercy have attained to this priestly office, it does not bring honour to take such ill expressions in our mouth and consign them to writing: for it is written, |16 «The lips of a priest will guard knowledge, and they will ask law from his mouth»33. Wherefore Paul also, who was taken up to the third heaven, and heard ineffable words34, knowing the difficulty of words of this kind, urged the believers to make earnest and constant prayer that speech might be granted him with eloquence35. Since then these things are so, and we decline to employ a multitude of words, which as a rule do not escape sin36, I will use shortness of speech to your wisdom and knowledge, and ask you a very easy question. Do you call the flesh possessing an intelligent soul, which God the Word voluntarily united to himself hypostatically without any change, a specimen or a generality, that is one soul-possessing hypostasis, or the whole human generality? It is manifest that, if you wish to give a right-minded answer, you will say one soul-possessing body. Accordingly we say that from it and the hypostasis of God the Word the ineffable union was made: for the whole of the Godhead and the whole of humanity in general were not joined in a natural union, but special hypostases. And the holy and wise Cyril plainly witnesses to us in that in |17 the third chapter 37 or anathema he spoke thus: «Whoever divides the one Christ into hypostases after the union, associating them in association of honour or of authority only, and not rather in junction of natural union, let him be anathema» 38. And again in the Scholia the same says: «Hence we shall learn that the hypostases have remained without confusion»39. Accordingly the natural union was not of generalities, but of hypostases of which Emmanuel was composed. And do not think that hypostases in all cases have a distinct person assigned to them, so that we should be thought, like the impious Nestorius, to speak of a union of persons, and to run counter to the God-inspired words of the holy Cyril, who in the second letter to the same Nestorius speaks thus: «But that it should be so 40 will in no way help the right principle of faith, even if some men spread about a union of persons. For the Scripture did not say that God the Word united to himself the person of a man, but that he became flesh» 41. When hypostases subsist by individual subsistence, as for instance, those of Peter and of Paul, whom the authority of the apostleship united, then there will be a union of persons and a brotherly association, not a natural junction |18 of one hypostasis made up out of two that is free from confusion. For this is what those who adhere to the foul doctrines of Nestorius are convicted of saying with regard to the divine Humanization also. They first make the babe exist by himself separately, so that a distinct person is even assigned to him, and then by attaching God the Word to him impiously introduce a union of persons into the faith. This Gregory the Theologian 42 also rejected by saying in the great letter to Cledonius: «Whoever says that the man was formed, and God afterwards crept in is condemned: for this is not a birth of God, but an escape from birth»43. But, when hypostases do not subsist in individual subsistence, as also in the case of the man among us, I mean him who is composed of soul and body, but are without confusion recognised in union and composition, being distinguished by the intellect only and displaying one hypostasis made out of two, such a union none will be so uninstructed as to call one of persons. Though the hypostasis of God the Word existed before, or rather 44 was before all ages and times, being eternally with God both the Father and the Holy Spirit, yet still the flesh possessing an intelligent soul which he united to him did not exist |19 before the union with him, nor was a distinct person assigned to it 45. And the great Athanasius bears witness, who in the letter to Jovinian the king says: «As soon as there is flesh, there is at once flesh of God the Word; and, as soon as there is soul-possessing and rational flesh46, there is at once soul-possessing rational flesh of God the Word46: for in him also it acquired subsistence»47. And the holy Cyril also testifies, addressing the impious Diodorus as follows: «My excellent man, I say that you are shooting forth unlearned words much affected with what is abhorrent. For the holy body was from Mary, but still at the very beginning of its concretion or subsistence in the womb it was made holy, as the body of Christ, and no one can see any time at which it was not his, but rather simple as you say and the same as this flesh of other men»48. Following these God-inspired words of the holy fathers, and confessing our Lord Jesus Christ to be of two natures, regard the distinct hypostases themselves of which Emmanuel was composed, and the natural junction of these, and do not go up to generalities and essences49, of the whole of the Godhead and humanity in |20 general: for it is manifest that the whole of the Godhead is seen in the Trinity, and humanity in general draws the mind to the whole human race. How therefore is it anything but ridiculous and impious for us to say that the Trinity was united in hypostasis to the race of mankind, when the holy Scriptures say more plainly than a trumpet, «The Word became flesh and dwelt in us»50, that is that one of the three hypostases who was rationally and hypostatically united to soul-possessing flesh? But neither do we deny, as we have also written in other letters on different occasions, that we often find men designating hypostases by the name of essence51. Hence Gregory the Theologian named hypostatic union union in essence51 in the letter to Cledonius which we have just mentioned, speaking thus: «Whoever says that he worked by grace as in a prophet, but not that he was united and fashioned together with him in essence, may he be bereft of the excellent operation, or rather may he be full of the contrary»52. And the wise Cyril in the second letter to Succensus calls the manhood which was hypostatically united to God the Word essence51, saying: «For, if after saying 'one nature |21 of the Word' we had stopped and not added 'incarnate', but set the dispensation as it were outside, they would perhaps in a way have a plausible argument when they pretend to ask, 'Where is the perfection in manhood? or how was the essence after our model made up?' But, since the perfection in manhood and the characteristic of our essence has been introduced by the fact that we said 'incarnate', let them be silent, since they have leaned upon the staff of a reed» 53. But saying that Emmanuel, is from two essences54 also, as we confess him to be from two natures, even if one understand the essences 54 as hypostases, we avoid, as a thing that is unscientific, and has not been stated in so many words by any of the God-clad fathers: for in such matters we must avoid novelty, even if it has some religiousness about it, and with the psalmist-prophet be preserved in the tent of caution, and be hidden by grace from on high, even from the contention of tongues55.
These things we have written in epistolary style, though we are in the midst of many troubles, and of many tens of thousands of kinds of cares. But it rests with your truth-loving and God-loving soul to inform us by letter if you have given up the doubts, and if what we have written appeared |22 to have been well stated, Know that the religious deacon Anatolius 56 has abandoned this opinion, and, though late, has thanked us.
III. -------- OF THE SAME FROM THE th LETTER TO OECUMENIUS, WHICH BEGINS, «When I read the letter addressed to the God-loving Peter the presbyter 57». [513-8]
It is not confessing the particularity of the natures from which Emmanuel comes that we avoid, so long as we maintain the unity without confusion (the particularity is that which is expressed in natural characteristics), but distributing and dividing the properties to each of the natures 58.
IV. -------- OF THE SAME FROM THE LETTER TO SIMUS THE SCRINIARIUS, WHICH BEGINS, «Unless I had some great affection for your illustriousness». [513-8(?).]
[After first citing the passage of Basil which says, «'Unbegotten' is a characteristic of a form of being, not of essence 59 » 60, he speaks as |23 follows] 61. But, if we interpret the saying rightly from the clear teachings of the saints and of the other fathers, the meaning becomes plain, and there is nothing contradictory or dime alt in it: for 'being' here expresses the distinct hypostasis of the Father. For the fathers said that the Holy Trinity exists both in one essence 62, and in the being of each, that is, three hypostases, existing severally, of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
V. ---- OF THE HOLY SEVERUS, FROM THE LETTER TO EUSEBIUS THE SCHOLASTIC, WHICH BEGINS, « Since you have raised objection against me through your letter». [513-8 (?)]
But now also we will come to what is required, and, we will again say, that 'essence' 62 signifies a generality, and 'hypostasis' a particularity, but 'being' and 'nature' introduce sometimes a general signification, sometimes a partial or particular one. This is stated on account of the varying use that is found in the holy fathers: for you knew both that 'essence'62 is sometimes employed in the particular signification of 'hypostasis ', and occasionally also |24 'hypostasis' is found employed in place of 'essence' 63. For this reason we decline to use such a signification as being unscientific.
VI. ---- OF THE HOLY SEVERUS, FROM THE LETTER TO MARON, OF WHICH THE BEGINNING IS, «When Naaman the Syrian». [513-8 (?).]
Enough has, I think, been said about essence 63 and hypostasis. But the name 'nature' is sometimes taken in place of essence', sometimes in place of hypostasis. For even the whole of mankind we call comprehensively 'nature', as it is indeed written: «For all natures of beasts and of birds, and of reptiles and of things that are in the water are subjected and are made subject to human nature»64: and again we speak of one nature in reference to a single man, Paul for example or Peter, or maybe James. Where therefore we name all mankind one nature, we use the name 'nature' generically in place of 'essence' 63; but, where we say that there is one nature of Paul, the name 'nature' is employed in place of 'individual hypostasis'. So |25 also we call the Holy Trinity one nature, employing the term 'nature' in place of the general designation 'essence' 65; as Gregory the Theologian the bishop of Nazianzus also said in the sermon on the Holy Pentecost: «Confess the Trinity to be of one Godhead, my friends; or, if you like, of one nature; and we will ask for you from the Spirit the expression 'God'»66. But, when we say 'one incarnate nature of God the Word', as Athanasius the prop of the truth and the apostolic faith said in the books on the Incarnation of the Word 67, we use 'nature' in place of 'individual designation', denoting the one hypostasis of the Word himself, like that of Peter also or of Paul, or of any other single man. Wherefore also, when we say 'one nature which became incarnate', we do not say it absolutely, but by adding 'one nature of the Word himself clearly denote the one hypostasis. But the very men who blasphemously call the one Christ two natures use the name 'nature' in place of 'individual designation', saying that the Word of God is one nature, and the man as they say from Mary another. For they do not reach such a height of fatuity as to say that they are using the name 'natures' in place |26 of 'general designation', I mean in the same sense as essence 68: for, if the Holy Trinity is one nature, and all mankind one nature, in the same sense as anything which is shown to be so on this principle, the Holy Trinity will be found (to say a very absurd thing) to have become incarnate in all mankind, that is the human race.
Of the same, from the letter to Maron, which begins, «When Naaman the Syrian».
But the Holy Scriptures instruct 69 us otherwise, teaching us that God the Word one only of the three hypostases became incarnate and humanized. For 'the Word became flesh, and dwelt in us' 70.
Of the same, from the letter to Maron the reader, which begins, «When Naaman the Syrian».
But, when you hear these things, you will perhaps say that we ought not to have spoken of difference between the natures from which Emmanuel is, lest we ourselves be found to be repeating and using the same expression as these proud men. Accordingly, let us also refrain from confessing the union, |27 because they also profess to speak of a union which consists in an association of honour; and, because they speak of two natures after the union, let us also not say that the union was made from two natures, rejecting even the very mention of natures, like silly children, who tremble at terrifying alarms that are fictitious and invented, as if they were truth, and flee to their mothers' bosoms. If on account of the blasphemies contained in the opinions of those men we yield to them words and names which establish the truth, together with the sound of the words the great mystery of religion 71 goes from us. But, if we be right-minded, we shall both religiously hold to the words and cast out the foul opinions as evil speaking.
Of the same, from the letter to Maron, which begins, «When Naaman the Syrian ».
You see that we must also confess the difference between the natures from which the one Christ is, and avoid the cutting into two, and extol one Son and Christ, and one incarnate nature of God the Word. |28
VII. ---- OF SEVERUS, FROM THE LETTER TO MARON, WHICH BEGINS, «When some time ago I received the letter of your religiousness». [513-8 (?)]
Accordingly it is the same thing to say that God the Word was united to flesh possessing an intellectual soul in nature and in hypostasis and in essence 72.
VIII. ---- To MARON. [513-8 (?).]
Perfection is not found in anything by nature, except in God only.
IX. -------- OF OUR FATHER SEVERUS, FROM THE LETTER TO MARON. [513-8 (?).]
But the power of the unconfused and initial union preserved those that were united beyond the reach of disturbance, and caused the two of them to exist in one hypostasis and one person, and one incarnate nature of the Word.73 |29
X. ---- OF THE HOLY SEVERUS, FROM THE LETTER TO ELEUSINIUS 74, WHICH BEGINS, «As the great Moses appeared». [516-8]
Where then we confess the one out of two, Lord and Son and Christ, and one incarnate nature of the Word himself, we understand the difference as it were in the natural characteristics of the natures from which Christ is. But, if we speak of two natures after the union, which necessarily exist in singleness and separately, as if divided into a duality, but united by a conjunction of brotherhood (if we ought to call such a thing unity), the notion of difference reaches to the extent of division, and does not stop at natural characteristics.
Of the holy Severus, from the letter to Eleusinius the bishop, which begins, «As the great Moses appeared».
But, since it is a habit of the enemies of the truth to hurl accusations at |30 us of things which are the opposite of their evil opinions, and to charge us with holding some mixture or blending or confusion or phantasy in the divine and ineffable Humanization, after common deliberation we have decided to make clear by a limitation and distinction what was stated by you without limitation. You say of the mystery of Christ that you do not recognise the difference of the natures, nor yet their individuality, since with 'difference' you understand also 'division'. Hence also you clearly laid down the following by way of a canon: «When therefore we seek to separate and distinguish rational nature from irrational, and suprasensual from perceptible, and created from uncreated, together with the difference between these things we also make a separation and division». These statements have been made by you as well and wisely as possible, that, where there is rational and irrational, or perceptible and suprasensual, or created arid uncreated, each of them remains by itself, and appears in its own hypostasis, that is, has an individual and separate and distinct existence; for here with difference is understood also division, and again from the difference of the qualities which naturally belong to each singly we recognise |31 division. When therefore out of things that differ in kind and are not of one essence 75 with one another, the suprasensual I mean and the perceptible, a combination or natural union takes place in order to make up one animal, as we see in the case of a man, the division into two ceases, for of this the notion of unity does not admit, but the difference and individuality as it were in the natural characteristics of the elements which have come together into one is preserved, since the body has not refused to be body, nor has the soul passed into the nature of the body. The same thing, and something higher, is understood with regard to Emmanuel also.76
XI. -------- OF THE SAME FROM THE LETTER TO ELEUSINIUS THE BISHOP, WHICH BEGINS, «In wrestling-contests». [516-8.]
But, since you have thought fit to ask me what is the difference that appears in natural characteristics, I mean of the natures from which Emmanuel is, I will explain clearly and not conceal. (And a little farther on.) For |32 Cyril the truly holy and wise after writing in the letter to Acacius, «Godhead and manhood are not the same thing in respect of natural characteristics» 77, in the second volume 78 against the blasphemies of Nestorius writes as follows, as if explaining the meaning of the expression: «For between Godhead and manhood I also allow that there is great distinction and distance: for the things which have been named are clearly different, and in no point like one another» 79. This then is the difference that appears in natural characteristics, the different principle underlying the existence of Godhead and manhood 80: for the one is without beginning and uncreated, and bodiless, and intangible, while the other is created, and subject to beginning, and temporary and tangible, as being flesh and solid. This difference we in no wise assert to have been removed by the union.
Of the same from the letter to Eleusinius which begins, «In wrestling-contests».
It was sufficient to banish this unseemly supposition, that 'difference |33 in characteristics' was not stated absolutely, but the word 'natural' was added, which declares the fact that it is only by the intellect and by subtle investigation that we can know of what kind each of the natures is which have combined in the unity and made up one hypostasis and manifestly declare that Emmanuel is one out of two opposite things, Godhead I mean and manhood, as Gregory the Theologian 81 said, «Let distinctness be maintained in the unity»82.
Of the same from another 83 letter to the same Eleusinius, which begins, «In wrestling-contests».
How then, after these things have been written by me, is it not plain to everyone from the words used by the wise Cyril that division also is then understood to accompany difference, when the separate natures or hypostases exist individually, not when one person and one incarnate nature or hypostasis of God the Word is made up by coalescence from two? That the holy Cyril says that separation or division is then joined with difference |34 when the natures exist apart and by themselves is testified by the addition made to the words cited above from the prosphonetikon oration.
Of the same from the letter to Eleusinius, which begins, «In wrestling-contests».
And do not tell me that the holy Cyril alone used the expression in this sense; but observe with sound intelligence that he does not step outside the apostolic faith; for Gregory the Theologian also spoke words that are in accord with him in the passage which we have just cited above. And, if none of the God-clad fathers before him in fact spoke in so many words of unity in hypostasis with reference to the Incarnation of God the Word, yet still all the lovers of the right faith accepted it, inasmuch as it sets forth the splendour of the mystery of the divine Humanization, and it agrees with the opinion of the doctors of the church. Therefore also that wretched and impious Theodoret speaks thus in the objection to the nd anathema: «Unity in hypostasis we do not recognise at all, as being strange and alien to the divine Scriptures, and to the doctors who expounded these» 84. |35
XII. ---- OF THE HOLY SEVERUS, FROM THE LETTER TO ELEUSINIUS. [513-8.]
But perhaps someone will say that, when the wise Basil said, «Grace arising from the dispensation» 85, he referred to the coming in the flesh. But let us know clearly that the Word of God, even before he rose upon us in fleshly form, constantly controlled 86 our life and our salvation; for 'in him we live and move and exist'87: for the name 'dispensation' is not applied to the grace of the Humanization among us only. And Gregory the Theologian 88 is a witness of this when he says, «The other appellations etc.» 85.
XIII. ---- OF THE HOLY SEVERUS FROM THE LETTER TO ESTORECHIUS (?) 89 BISHOP OF ANAZARBA, ABOUT THE DISPUTATION THAT TOOK PLACE IN THE ROYAL CITY, FROM THOSE BEFORE EPISCOPACY, WHEN HE WAS SPEAKING AGAINST MACEDONIUS BISHOP OF CONSTANTINOPLE. [508-11.]
But know that the great Basil did not call Christ a God-clad man (far |36 be it!), but called Christ's flesh God-clad flesh. But the same immediately afterwards termed the same flesh Christ-clad 90. But if the expression 'God-clad' and 'Christ-clad' is the same, the conclusion is that Christ the Word who became incarnate and was humanized for our sakes is true God, not a God-clad man.
XIV. -------- OF THE SAME FROM THE SOLUTION OR DEFENCE IN ANSWER TO THE 15th QUESTION OF THOSE THAT WERE SENT TO HIM BY THOMAS HIS SYNCELLUS 91. [513-8.]
We therefore judge that which was desired by those who assembled at Chalcedon against the truth, to banish the confession that Christ is to be recognised as from two natures, and to introduce instead the confession that he is to be recognised as in two natures, as the company of Nestorius desire, to be abominable and also impious, and we will never propound the same teaching (?) as those who, in order to open the gates to the doctrines of Nestorius,.....92 so we also require the opposite, that the one be openly proclaimed, and the other completely suppressed and banished in accordance |37 with the laws of the holy church. For let the means of remedy be introduced by the same similar drugs as those by which it was desired to produce the sickness; and let us not neglect things that are so manifest, and go about and pick out, or search as among reeds, and seek if anywhere in the writings of the holy fathers of the orthodox 93 we occasionally find 'difference' or 'in two' or 'from two' indiscriminately and incautiously stated. Indeed in the 11th book of the interpretative narrative of the Gospel of John the holy Cyril used the expression 'in two' of the separate hypostases as follows: «Everywhere and under all circumstances there will follow and coincide with the knowledge concerning the offspring the knowledge also concerning him who begot him; as indeed the converse also is true. But, if the statement is true and is unhesitatingly received, that the Father is understood together with and enters together with the Son, and the Son also with the Father, and the knowledge of each of them runs in the two, how can the Son be a creature, as. some impious men say?» 94; even as no one says that the name and fact of division and union are the same, as they themselves indeed suppressed the one and stated the other. |38
XV. ---- OF THE SAME, FROM THE LETTER TO THOMAS HIS SYNCELLUS, IN WHICH HE SHOWS THAT IT IS THE SAME THING TO SPEAK OF THE UNION IN CHRIST AS FROM TWO NATURES AND FROM TWO HYPOSTASES. [513-8.]
For those hypostases or natures, being in composition without diminution, and not existing separately and in individual existence, make up one person of one Lord and Christ and Son, and one incarnate nature and hypostasis of the Word.
From the same letter after a citation 95 from Cyril.
From what has been stated the doctor teaches that the peculiarity of the natural union is that the hypostases are in composition and are perfect without diminution, but refuse to continue an individual existence so as to be numbered as two, and to have its own person impressed upon each of them, which a conjunction in honour cannot possibly do. |39
From the same letter after a quotation from Cyril.
It is plain therefore that the natures or hypostases, if they are not combined in one in hypostatic union without confusion, do not make up one Christ and Son and Lord, and one incarnate nature of the Word and one person.
XVI. ---- OF SEVERUS FROM THE LETTER TO THOMAS THE SYNCELLUS. [513-8.]
Since therefore these things have thus been made clear, it has already been recognised that it is alien to those who confess a hypostatic union to call the hypostases, that is the natures which in an ineffable manner coalesced in one, from which Emmanuel is, persons, and therefore to think and say that the union is from two persons. To say this belongs to those who confess a falsely-named union, who make the man and God exist apart in individual existence, and devise for themselves a conjunction founded upon authority and identity of name. |40
XVII. ---- TO THOMAS THE PRESBYTER.
For the true fast is a life pure from every evil act, and that we should break bread for those who are hungry.
XVIII. -------- OF THE SAME FROM THE LETTER TO THE MONKS AT TUFA, WHICH BEGINS, «When I read the letter of your love of God». [513-8(?).]
For we must confess the one our Lord Jesus Christ, out of two natures the Godhead and the manhood, to be one and the same invariably and unconfusedly God and man, since not being again divided aftert he union; for duality is a dissolver of unity, although it is obscured by countless devices. For he who has been united is fixedly one, and does not become again two. For Christ is not divided, but is one person, one hypostasis, one incarnate nature of God the Word. |41
XIX. ---- OF THE HOLY SEVERUS, FROM THE LETTER TO ISIDORE, THE BEGINNING OF WHICH IS, «I rejoiced greatly when I received the letter of [your] Christ-loving illustriousness». [508-11 (?)]
The doctors called the Holy Trinity co-essential, that through this word, composed in so polished and very sublime a way, they might express both the fact of the oneness of essence1 and that of the division of hypostases, by the same expression both union and division, in one word. For, when the Son is said to be co-essential with the Father and the Holy Spirit, he claims to share in essence 96 with those who are recounted, but to differs in hypostasis.97
sXX. ---- OF THE HOLY SEVERUS, FROM THE LETTER TO ISIDORE THE COUNT.
On this point we find that the accurate doctors celebrate the Trinity in 508-11 (?). one essence 96 which is the Godhead, but consequentially confess that this consists of three hypostases. |42
XXI. -------- OF THE SAME, FROM THE LETTER TO ISIDORE THE COUNT, WHICH BEGINS, « From the letter of your religious and learning-loving magnificence». [508-11(?).]
But may the Lord of the seeds, who by coming in the flesh shone upon us, and came to cast good seed upon the earth, the one of the Holy Trinity, who together with the Father and the Holy Spirit is theologically defined98 and glorified (for in these things Godhead consists to us, or rather 99 these things are Godhead) multiply in you many times the seed of religion, especially because you are inflamed with watchfulness, burning with divine zeal, against the seed of heretical tares.
XXII. -------- THE TEACHER OF THE TRUTH SAID THEREFORE IN THE LETTER TO JOHN AND JOHN PRESBYTERS AND ARCHIMANDRITES 100 AND THE REST, THE |43 BEGINNING OF WHICH is, «After I had written in answer to the previous communication of your holinesses as follows». [519-20.]
But I hear that the Romans say, «We are afraid to call him who suffered for us in the flesh one of the Trinity, lest we subject the Holy Trinity to numeration». But this is full of utter ignorance and impiety, and is a pretext of men who seize pretexts for sins, or of those who know not what they say and about what they affirm 101, as Paul the apostle somewhere says about certain persons. The Holy Trinity is capable of numeration in respect of hypostases; but, in that it is one and of the same essence 102, it stands outside number.
(And again a little lower down.) Accordingly therefore the Romans, who are very wise, are infected with profound error, not knowing that in essence 102 the Trinity is incapable either of numeration or of division, but in respect of hypostases it is both divided and separated, in order that distinctness may be maintained in the individual likenesses of the Father and |44 the Son and the Holy Spirit. But at those who resemble the Romans both in impiety and in ignorance, the Jebusites 103, I am greatly surprised, since they have in clumsy fashion and by a new and very crass expression named the Holy Trinity a Trinity of hypostases' 104. A word compounded in this way I have never till this day heard; for it leads us to understand that three glorified hypostases do not exist apart, but one that takes three forms and changes now into the hypostasis of the Father, now into that of the Son, now into the hypostasis of the Holy Spirit, and that it is one, but changes person 105 as in a theatre 106, and speaks or acts now as from the person 105 of the Father, now as from the person 105 of the Son, now as from the person 105 of the Holy Spirit, as the witless Sabellius the Libyan was pleased to hold.
XXIII. ---- AGAIN OF THE SAME, FROM THE LETTER TO THE PRESBYTERS AND ARCHIMANDRITES, JONATHAN AND SAMUEL AND JOHN, WHO WERE STANDING |45 ON PILLARS, AND ALL THE REST OF THE ORTHODOX 107 WHO ASSEMBLED IN THE CHURCH OF THE CITY OF AN BAR, AND IN THE CHURCH OF HIRTHA DNU'MAN. [519-38 (?).]
For he said, «Go make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son, and the Holy Spirit» 108; so that there is aHoly Trinity, divided and distinct in hypostases, but not divided in one essence 109 and Godhead, and kingship and glory and eternity and the other attributes which God has by nature. For the Father has one thing hypostatically, fatherhood, and the fact that he is unbegotten; and the Son again has one thing hypostatically, sonship, and the fact that he was begotten by the Father; and the Holy Spirit again has one thing, the fact that he was not begotten, but proceeds eternally without beginning from the Father: for in virtue of these things distinctness of person belongs to each one of them, that is, is marked out and defined for the hypostases, but all the other attributes are, as I have said, common, equal in honour and undivided, and such as show that we for our part have believed in one God, and in one |46 essence 109, and he exists and is made known in three hypostases. For the Son was begotten by the Father, and the Spirit proceeds from the Father, although eternally and without time, and their ascent is to him, as to a root and source, and from him they are, though they are not after him. And for this reason, while we confess three hypostases, we do not believe in three first causes, but one first cause, and one kingship. After pursuing the matter so far we praise only and do not investigate what the unbegottenness of the Father is, or what the generation of the Son is, or what the procession of the Holy Spirit is; for these things are known only by the Father who begot and the Son who was begotten, and the Holy Spirit who proceeds from the Father: but he requires us to know 'through these things that we are to confess one essence 110 and Godhead, made known in three distinct hypostases.
XXIV. ---- OF THE HOLY MAR SEVERUS, FROM THE LETTER WHICH HE WROTE TO JOHN THE CHRIST-LOVING ROMAN 111, SHOWING WHAT IS SIGNIFIED BY A PERSON BEING DIPPED THREE TIMES, AND WHY CHRIST CAME TO BAPTISM WHEN HE WAS 30 YEARS OLD; AND HE SHOWS FURTHER WHAT IS THE NATURE |47 OF THE CONFIRMATION BY OINTMENT 112 WITH WHICH THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN BAPTIZED ARE CONFIRMED AFTER BAPTISM.
For the same baptism is both performed in the name of the Holy Trinity, and by the triple dipping it is further signified that the man who is baptized is buried with Christ.
Of the same to John the Roman on the fact that holy baptism is performed in the name of the Trinity, and by the person being immersed three times within the water it is signified that he is buried with Christ, and why Christ came came to baptism when he was 30 years old.
For that the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit should be named on the occasion of baptism......... For how [can] they who have not participated in flesh nor been humanized......... the only Son and Word who was begotten by the Father? For there are indeed many rites that are performed, and......... look to the same origin. |48 But each........., so that even the understandings are confused. Of this I..... in one of my treatises which I wrote... about interpretations. There after examining the question why the Lord came to baptism when he was 30 years of age in the flesh I said at one time that it was in order to show that the new birth begets men full-grown in reasonable age, for so also the first man was created full-grown, and immediately as full-grown received a commandment and a law, and was given permission to till and keep Paradise, and the words which follow113; and at another that by means of three periods comprised in three decads which make 30 years he signified the mystery that was revealed on the Jordan, that one Godhead is made known in three complete hypostases, by which holy baptism in the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit was to be performed. That these things introduce no confusion Gregory the Theologian in the sermon on the Passover states as follows: «The Lord's passion2, the passion2, and again I say the passion114, in honour of the Holy Trinity»115; though I know that no other |49 undertook the saving passion on our behalf in the flesh except God the Word, who became incarnate for our race. For the whole of the saving Humanization has this effect, that the mystery of the Holy Trinity is revealed to us, although you speak of the birth in flesh, or of the Gross or of the burial, or of the Resurrection from among the dead, dividing the Humanization into many elements. For indeed in each of these we confess that we know the Trinity, in that we indicate upon our faces that the sign of the revered Cross is a dissolver of every evil influence; and, when therefore we sign ourselves, we sign three times, and we show that it is through the Gross that we have obtained knowledge in the Trinity. And this sign is a thing which makes known and completes all things that are done among Christians; and it is everywhere adopted, at the performance of baptism, at the consecration of water, at the celebration of the rational, spiritual sacrifice, and at the symbolic and ineffable ordinations to the priesthood of those who are duly appointed to the sacred ministry, though in all these things we do not call upon one of the hypostases only, that is God the Word who |50 was humanized, but on the three together, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, indicating that it is by the power of the Cross that we have partaken of all these things and have obtained knowledge in them116.
XXV. ---- OF THE HOLY SEVERUS, THE LETTER THAT WAS WRITTEN BY HIM TO THE EMESENES. [512-8.]
To the devout presbyters and orthodox117 deacons, and to the rest who compose the holy order 118 of the clergy 119, and to the magnificent and Christ-loving magistrates of the city, and to all the people of the holy church, Severus greeting in our Lord.
To those who are not wise in their mind or are otherwise without intelligence, and are lacking in true instruction, the holy Scripture gives the proper rule and place, in order that their emptiness of mind and lack of instruction may be turned to wisdom: for indeed it commands those who are such both to learn and to ask, or to be silent altogether; for the holy book |51 of Proverbs somewhere said: «To the fool who asketh wisdom shall be reckoned: but, when a man maketh himself silent, he is thought to be wise» 120. But the man who keeps this rule it raises and advances, and incites to learn things that are of use and profit, and it says, «Give thine heart to wisdom, and prepare thine ears for words of understanding» 121. I am surprised therefore that the brother whom you mention (out of tenderness for his soul I do not mention his name) did not know his own measure, and, besides not knowing originally the subject on which he was talking, neglected this legally established and salutary rule; and, when he ought to have bent a ear of understanding to those who are wiser than he is, he on the contrary threatened to take the ignorance that is in him to the city of Alexandria, like an invincible warrior, who is able to overcome and take captive all that meet him, and sell them where he likes. Therefore I have both accepted your wisdom in the Lord, which is worthy of the church and very honourable, and your patience, which is such as befits Christians, and have crowned them also with a decree of many praises, since in accordance with the apostolic model you both received and admonished him as your member and brother 122, and brought forward the teachings of the holy fathers. And, |52 whereas you once and twice secretly and openly refuted and corrected him on the points on which he spoke without knowledge, and he was again involved in the same errors, and you behaved like doctors and churchmen, and on all sides seek to gain his salvation, and by actual deeds show that you look to the apostolic commandment which commands, «Let everything be done decently and in order»123, but he, though he was thought worthy to receive so much attention, had no mercy on his soul, and did not restrain himself so as to show moderation and humility, I expressed blame and at the same time showed mercy and still show mercy, since ignorance is free from danger124, for a man is not blamed because he does not know. He is trying to bring upon himself the sin that does not deserve forgiveness, in that he does not yield to those who are wise among the brethren, or seek from wiser men a cure for his ignorance by desire to learn, but pettily searches into things that are unknown and uncertain, and does his best to find men to share his opinions, in order that he may seem to be saying something when he is saying nothing that is sound. But the other things which he said without |53 knowledge he has with difficulty come to honour by silence, in that he assented to the passages from the holy fathers (that were brought before him; and he was reduced to one passage, the words used by the holy Cyril in the second volume 125 against the blasphemies of Nestorius, which are as follows: (( For, because the Word who is from God the Father took flesh and came forth as a man like us, he would not for this reason be also termed a double thing. For he is one, and not without flesh, who in his own nature is without flesh and blood» 126. After you had quoted to him the 127 words used by the doctor, he persisted and said 128 that after his own Resurrection 129 we must confess that God the Word is without flesh 130, inasmuch as he put off that which was without variation and without 131 separation hypostatically united to him, a thing that is beyond all impiety and profanity, so that |54 everyone who has natural (I will not say, spiritual) intelligence must wonder if a fact which is so universally admitted has ever been made a subject of contention, and has 132 passed the lips of anyone who has duly believed in our one Lord and God and Saviour 133 Jesus Christ. If he were skilled in divine doctrine, he should have (to omit everything else) considered the anathemas of Gregory the Theologian, who in the great letter to Cledonius which begins, 'I wonder what this innovation is', clearly lays down these principles in it, «If anyone says that the flesh 134 was now laid down by him, and the Godhead is stripped of a body, and does not confess that he both is and will come with the thing assumed itself, may he not see the glory of his coming. For where is the body now except with him who assumed it? For it has not been laid up in the sun, as the silly tale of the Manichees goes, in order that he may be honoured through the object of contempt, or diffused and dissolved in the air, like the nature of a voice and the wafting of a smell, and the course of lightning that does not stand still. But what becomes of the fact that he was actually touched after the Resurrection, or that he will again some time |55 be seen by those who pierced him? For the Godhead by itself is invisible. But he will come with the body, according to my account, and such as he was seen by, or was shown to, the disciples on the mount, inasmuch as the Godhead easily overcomes the flesh» 135. Who.that reads these words resplendent with truth, and flashing with the rays of the Holy Spirit, will dare to say that the Word of God, who was humanized immutably and without any phantasy 136, is without flesh after the inexplicable and incomprehensible union? Accordingly it is clear that you also have not gone beyond what is fitting in opposing the precipitous error of that man and saying in order to remove him from this error, «The words used by the doctor about the Word of God, In his own nature he is without flesh and blood', refer to the time before the Humanization». Indeed, since he himself said that 'he is one, and not without flesh', how can it be anything but wholly unreasonable, and presumptuous and irreverent, for us to gainsay this, and contend that he is without |56 flesh? But the words which he went on to add, 'who in his own nature is without flesh and blood', plainly introduce this thought, that in his own nature, that is in the Godhead, he has no association with flesh and blood. He did not take the flesh into the fulness of his own divine nature and mix it with it, nor did he mingle it with his own Godhead, but that in the dispensatory assumption we might understand him to be not without flesh, Emmanuel being wonderfully composed and consisting of two elements, the Godhead and the manhood: but even so he preserved the absence, of mixture in the divine essence1, and did not change the essence137 of the Godhead into the nature of flesh. And that this is so I bring as a witness to the accuracy of his doctrines the doctor himself, who by the operation of the Holy Spirit is an accurate doctor. In the first letter to Succensus, when certain men had advanced a similar objection, he expressed himself thus: «Since I found in |57 the memorial an assertion of this kind stated, that since the Resurrection the holy body of Christ the Saviour of us all has passed into the nature of the Godhead, so as to be all Godhead only, I thought it right to speak against this also». And thereupon, after he has above in a brief compass gone through all the statement of the dispensation of the Humanization, he brings against it this argument: «It is impossible for a body taken from earth to endure the change into the divine nature. And, if not, we bring against the Godhead the charge that it is as a thing that is made and as a thing that has taken into it something that is not its by nature» 138. See! how plainly he denies that the divinity of the Word has taken anything into its essence 139 which is not its by nature, though we confess that flesh possessing an intelligent soul was taken by God the Word, and he united this to him hypostatically, but not so that anything should be added to his divine essence2, as if it were deficient (for he is truly complete in everything), but that from the unmixed union of the Incarnation, and the composition out of two elements, the Godhead |58 and the manhood, Emmanuel should be made up, who in one hypostasis is ineffably composite; not simple, but composite: as the soul of a man like us, which by nature is bodiless and rational, which is naturally intertwined with the body, remains in its suprasensual and bodiless nature, but by reason of the composition with the body makes up one composite animal, man. Accordingly the assumption of the body makes no addition to the essence 140 of the soul, but makes up the composite animal, as it is reasonable to understand with regard to the theory 141 of Emmanuel also. The Word did not take the flesh intelligently possessed of a soul in order to complete his being God, as we have said, but that one hypostasis might be wonderfully and immutably made up out of two elements, the Godhead we mean and the manhood, and the one incarnate nature of the Word himself, and one person: for the Word of God, according to the saying of Paul the apostle, partook of blood and flesh after our pattern 142. And that this is so the approved Cyril further shows in the letter to Valerian bishop of Iconium; who wrote as follows: «For God and man did not come together, as they say, and make up |59 one Christ; but, as I have already said, the Word, being God, partook of blood and flesh like us, in order that he may be known to be God who was humanized, and who took our flesh, and made this his, because, as the man who was composed of soul and body is known to be one, so also now 143 he is acknowledged to be one Son and Lord. For one nature and hypostasis of a man is acknowledged, though he is known to be made of diverse and heterogeneous elements: for the body is truly different in nature from the soul; but it belongs to it, and with it makes up the hypostasis of the one man. And in mental conception and in theory the difference of the things that have been named is not obscure, but by combination and concurrence that cannot be cut asunder one animal, man, is made up. The Word therefore, the Only one of God, did not come forth as man by taking a man, but, though his birth from the Father is ineffable, he became man by forming a man 144 for himself through the Holy Spirit which is of one essence with him. Accordingly he is known to be one, though in the theory which is according to reason his own body is different in nature from himself. Let it therefore be everywhere acknowledged that he was not without soul, but that he was possessed of an intelligent soul» 145. Similarly also in the second volume 146 |60 against the blasphemies of Nestorius he clearly teaches that the assumption of flesh did not pass into the Godhead of the Word, but that the Word of God remained in his own nature, and apart from flesh, but by the immutable combination with flesh it was wisely and beyond all reason and understanding brought about that one Christ should be marvellously made up; for he speaks thus: «Accordingly confess one, not dividing the natures, while you know and understand that to flesh belongs one principle, and to Godhead that which befits it only. For we do not say that the flesh of the Word became Godhead, but rather that it is divine as being his. For, as the flesh of a man is called his, on what ground is it not right for us also to call that of the Word divine?» And again farther on: «If therefore he were a wise and intelligent man at all, he should say that the body is from a woman, but confess besides that by being combined in hypostatic union with the Word it has made up one Christ and one Son, and one Lord, who being the same is God and man» 147. The expressions therefore that are used by this genuine and very accurate father, 'for he is one, and not without flesh', and, 'he who in his own nature is apart from flesh and blood', demonstrate |61 this, as is plain from what we have demonstrated, that in the dispensatory conjunction he is not without flesh: for he is one composed of two elements, the Godhead and the manhood, which have a perfect existence in their own sphere; but in his own nature he is known to be apart from flesh and blood, and without a body; not that he mingled flesh with the nature or with the essence 148 of the Godhead, but that he kept the Godhead sublime and pure and unmixed, in the characteristics of its own incorporeal character, as also he did not change the manhood which was hypostatically united to him, but kept it free and without change in its own characteristics. Wherefore also one may see that Nestorius and those who like Jews hold his opinions wish to reject the absence of change of the hypostatic union, and to put confusion into the minds of the believers, while they are everywhere making this charge, that we confess that the body was changed into the divine essence1, and thereby hold one incarnate nature of God the Word, and they say that they themselves only, the wretched, unhappy men, keep the Godhead of the holy Trinity unmixed and pure, by confessing that the man from Mary, as they themselves say, in loving mercy was conjoined to |62 God the Word and shares with him in sonship and divine authority, and by this self-created scruple 149 they make the Trinity a quaternity. And for this reason the wise Cyril shows Nestorius also, who was their leader in this fatuity, speaking thus: «Therefore God the Word is named Christ also, because he has the eternal conjunction with Christ, and God the Word cannot do anything without the manhood: for he knows the coalescence exactly 150, not with the Godhead, as the new wise men amoug the doctors say» 151. And the same man of small intellect weaves the same charge, and in the treatise entitled 'Against the Theopaschites or Cyrillians', which he composed in the form of question and answer, speaks thus:
«The Theopaschite says: 'And how can we be accused of the composition of the Diphysites, we who call Christ one incarnate nature of God?'
The orthodox 152 says: 'Your own refutation, which you think is a defence, itself refutes. For you have confessed that one nature is prepared for Christ, from incorporeality and a body, and a hypostasis with one nature |63 of the incarnation of the Godhead. But this is the confusion of those who have two natures, that the natures themselves are deprived of the hypostases which they severally possess, that are confounded with one another'» 153.
And again farther on in the same treatise:
«The Theopaschite says: 'What do you think of an eggshell (?) of water that has been poured into the sea?' The orthodox 154 says: 'What else except that the unstable addition of the water has disappeared in the great volume of the sea?'
The Theopaschite says: 'Something similar happened also to the flesh: for do not think that the Godhead is smaller than the sea in relation to the flesh as compared with the shifting character of the eggshell'.
The orthodox2 says: 'By «shifting character» do you mean a kind of instability, or the change of that which was swallowed up into that which swallowed it up?'
The Theopaschite says: 'The change of the essence 155 of the body into the Godhead'.
The orthodox2 says: 'The nature of the body remaining, or being dissolved into non-existence?' |64
The Theopaschite says: 'The flesh passing into the nature of the Godhead instead of the essence 156 of flesh'»157.
While very vainly putting together such reasons against the right confession of the Humanization, as I said before, reasons which contend against God, and saying that a man should be worshipped with the Trinity, Nestorius and those who think with him state of themselves that they preserve the unity of nature of the three hypostases unmixed, in that they do not confess that God the Word was hypostatically united to flesh possessing an intelligent soul, and call the union that is so far above nature and immutable and wonderful mingling. Wherefore also Dorotheus, who became bishop of Marcianopolis 158, and belonged to the same Jewish company and party, presented a petition to Marcian's own self at the very beginning of his reign, and found fault with the position 159 held by the bishops, and the sound opinion of the holy churches; and he speaks thus: «Therefore, merciful kings, in consideration of their so ridiculous, that is lamentable, opinions, renew the firm maintenance of the connaturality while it is possible, while there is time, by recalling Nestorius from exile 160, and join together the people of Christ who are divided, lest, |65 as I pray may not happen, the past be repeated» 161. The holy Cyril therefore, having exposed such old people's fables and Jewish tales 162 in every part of his writings, in the first letter to Succensus also, which I mentioned above, said thus: «But it is impossible for a body taken from earth to endure the change into the divine nature; for it cannot be done. And, if not, we speak of the Godhead as a thing that is made, and as a thing that has taken into it something that is not its by nature. For on the score of impropriety it is equal for us to say that the body was changed into the nature of Godhead, and also the other thing too that the Word was changed into the nature of flesh. For, as this is impossible (for he is invariable and immutable), so also is the other. For it is not among possibilities that any created thing can pass into the essence or nature of Godhead. But the body too is a created thing. Accordingly we say that Christ's body is divine, because it is also God's body, and resplendent with ineffable glory, incorruptible, holy, life-giving: but, that it was changed into the nature |66 of Godhead, none of the holy fathers has either thought or said, nor do we ourselves so hold» 163. This fact therefore according to the expression of the doctor, that the body of the Word is resplendent with ineffable glory, incorruptible and holy and life-giving, Gregory the Theologian also in the demonstration contained in the letter to Gledonius demonstrated by saying that the Godhead overcame the incarnation 164. Accordingly the flesh remained flesh, even after the God-befitting Resurrection and Ascension, but adorned with divine and ineffable glory, and with all the excellencies that befit God; and it is divine as something that is the body of God, and it was not changed into the essence 165 of the Godhead. It is in this meaning that the expression of the doctor with which we are now concerned also should rightly be understood that God the Word is one and not without flesh: for he is incarnate by hypostatic union in flesh possessing an intelligent soul (but in his own nature he is without flesh and blood), that is, without mixture |67 with what he possesses in his essence 166 and nature, that is the bodiless and immutable and incomprehensible Godhead.
As for what you say at the end that the man who easily follows illusions (?) 167 and shifts his ground widely said on the advice of certain persons, that we must think of the Word of God in the infinity of his divine essence 166 without flesh, is very foolish and senseless. Even though the Word of God is infinite, the whole of him was united to the flesh that was received from the holy Virgin, the God-bearer and ever-virgin Mary, even the very person of the Word and not a partial operation as in the prophets. How then is it anything but ridiculous for us to say that he who was in the actual divine hypostasis wholly united to a body naturally as well as miraculously is without flesh, even in the greatness of his infinite Godhead168? For 'there is no limit to his greatness' 169, as David said, and he fills everything, and is above everything, and cannot be comprised by anyone. And the subtlety of |68 the mystery cannot be explored by reason and intellect, how the whole of him was in flesh, and the whole of him is in all things and the whole of him is superior to all things and he himself is Ruler of all in infinity. But, that we believe that the very hypostasis of God the Word became incarnate, according to the apostolic tradition of the church that has been handed down from of old, it is superfluous for us to demonstrate by testimonies to those who have once believed in the Gospel, when John who was divine in words beyond the evangelists said, «The Word became flesh and came to dwell in us» 170. How ever, since there is a doubt about it, and in order that we may close the doors against all contention, on this point too let the words of the father himself, I mean the holy Cyril, come to our assistance, who in the defence of the second chapter 171 addressed to Theodoret the deceiver wrote thus: «Since Nestorius therefore everywhere eliminates the birth in flesh, and introduces among us a union of authority only, and says that a man was conjoined to God, who is honoured by identity of name of sonship, in contending against his propositions we were compelled to say that the hypostatic union took place, in which expression |69 the word 'hypostatic' denotes nothing else except this only, that the nature itself or his hypostasis, which is the Word himself, after it has been united to human nature without variation and confusion, as we have often said, is recognised as one Christ [and] is so, the same God and man» 172. After the same fashion in the Scholia also he comes forward with the same words as follows: «'For in him dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead bodily', that is not by assumption simply 173, like light that shines, or fire that imparts its heat [to] the objects near it, but, if we may so say, that the divine and incontaminable nature itself by a true union as I have said made the temple from the Virgin a dwelling-place for that which he is recognised to be. For thus Christ Jesus is recognised to be one» 174. But, that the whole of him was in a body, and was hypostatically united to it, him of whom all things were divinely full, he himself confirms by his own words. For it is written in the Gospel of John also that he said to Nicodemus, «No man hath gone up to heaven, except him who came down from heaven, the Son of man who is in heaven» 175; though he did not come down from heaven in that he became man, for he did not bring the flesh down from |70 heaven, but he received it from the holy Virgin, flesh that is of our race, and of our nature. Nor again, when he was speaking to Nicodemus, was he corporeally in heaven; but incorporeally, in that he is God, heaven and earth and what is above heaven were perpetually full of him. And in the eighth section of the second of the books against 176 Julian the great in demon-worship, which were written by him in defence of the Christian religion, the doctor shows how the Word of God, while he is all in all, was hypostatic ally united to the flesh derived from the holy Mary, and, beyond every creature, filled all things by reception from him (in a suprasensual sense nothing is empty of him), though the infinity of his greatness surpasses and soars above all things that exist with a great space between (how great it is impossible to say): by whom according to the words of Isaiah «all the nations have been reckoned as a drop from a pot, and as the sand of a balance» 177. But the holy Cyril again speaks thus: «He has become, as I said, in the likeness of men, as it is written, and in our human appearance truly. Nevertheless we did not say that he who cannot be comprised was |71 confined, nor that he was inclosed in the limits of the body. For it is utterly silly and complete folly to say anything of the kind of him who is by nature and in truth God. For, while he is one and the only Son, and completely above all human phantasy, the whole of him is in virtue of a gift in every man, and in each [one] by presence, not being divided nor cleft asunder, but [above] everything by nature, and in everything as God. 'But in that all-pure and holy body 'all the fulness of the Godhead bodily has come to dwell', as it is written. And he was as in his own flesh, but still even so he filled all things from him» 178. And in the treatise addressed to the queens the opening words of which are, Those who administer the divine and heavenly preaching', he explains the meaning of the statement that the Word of God and all the fulness of the Godhead came to dwell in flesh as written by Paul in this way: «But we believe that the Word became flesh, not by way of removal or change, but rather that he came to dwell in us, and, to speak correctly, made the body that was in truth united |72 to him, possessing an intelligent soul, his own temple. And the divine Paul, declaring the indwelling of the Word in the holy flesh, or the true union, said that in him all the fulness of the Godhead came to dwell, not so much by way of assumption or presence, or by way of a gift of grace, but bodily, that is in essence; as in the case of a man also it is said [that] his spirit dwells in him, though it is not something different from him»179. How then shall we say [that] he who is wholly in everything by way of gift, and in each man in presence (for he receives all things from him and they depend upon his presence), and who further also is in everything and is nowhere cleft asunder or divided, and further is wholly in the all-holy flesh in essence, and so is united to it, after the fashion in which the soul of a man like us is united to its own body, how shall we say that he is without his own flesh, because he filled all these things with the gift of himself, he who is infinite, and is wholly in everything? But to inquire into such a marvellous subject is a piece of utter foolishness: for glorious things are sealed by faith only. In the other treatise addressed to the religious virgin queens, Arcadia and Marina, which begins, 'The world's boast', the same wise Cyril |73 inserted a demonstration from the holy John who became bishop of Constantinople, who spoke about the God-bearer Mary, and about the birth of God the Word, as follows: «'And instead of a sun she contained without confining the Sun of righteousness. And do not ask how: for, where God wills, the order of nature is defeated. For he willed, he was able, he came down, and he saved. All things run into one for God. To-day he who is is born, and he who is became that which he was not. For, being God, he became man, not by departing from being God; for he did not became man by departure from Godhead, nor did he become God by growth from man: but, being the Word, he became flesh on account of suffering 180, while he remained invariable in his nature'. And he adds to these things: 'He who sits upon a lofty and high throne is laid in a manger. He who is intangible and simple and bodiless is grasped by human hands. He who cuts asunder the bonds of sin is wrapped in swaddling-clothes'»181. And the saintly Proclus who became bishop of the same city in the exposition which he delivered in the church of Anthimus on the feast of the Resurrection spoke to the same effect as follows: «The heaven |74 cries, 'He who became man, who was crucified in flesh, is God: for as God he caused me to incline and came down'. The sun also cries, 'He who was crucified in flesh is my Lord: for I in fear of the light of the Godhead held-back my rays'. The earth also cries, 'He who clothed himself in a body, who was crucified in flesh, is the Maker: for, though I embraced his flesh in a manger, yet I did not confine the might of his Godhead'» 182. It would have been possible to add other things also which are like these and resemble them, but it is superfluous to add to what has been so wisely said, and make the discussion inordinately long. But I pray your holy assembly and lawful church to be of the same mind, as the apostle said 183, and conform to the same rule 184, and, if any disputed point arises, not make this a cause of strife and division, and of useless contentions, but lovingly join with one another in the inquiry. But, if any of you has anything to say, let him speak with humble mind, as the words of God, as Peter the 'chosen apostle gave admonition 185. If anything also needs further explanation, you must not act hastily, nor be in a hurry, but await the proper time, and bring it before the saintly bishops, and accept the healing that they shall apply. As for |75 the brother who gave occasion for this dispute, since we have written these few words, receive him lovingly, and strengthen him, and acknowledge him as your member. And, whether he is one man, or many who were associated with him in this dispute or ignorance, act in the same way towards them: for concerning those who are such the apostle commands us and says, at one time, «Him that is weak in the faith bring near to you»186, and at another, «And reckon them not as enemies, but admonish them as brothers»187. It is not because they made inquiries, or because they were ignorant that they are blameworthy; on the contrary they would actually have been praised, if they had discussed the point with humility, and not with haste and confusion, and with a desire to add to ignorance; for this is what prevented them from being received in regard to the discussion which they raised. However, now that we have written so much, let love vanquish everything, and let not these distressing matters come even into remembrance: for 'love' also, as it is written, 'covers a multitude of sins'188; which love may the God of love and the lawgiver Christ also strengthen in you. |76
The signature. May you be made perfect in the Lord, being sound, and living in the Spirit, and remembering me, our religious and Christ-loving brothers.
The end.
XXVI. ---- OF THE SAME, FROM THE LETTER TO JOHN AND JOHN AND THEODORE 189 THE ARCHIMANDRITES. [519-38.]
For the Godhead exists before the worlds and eternally in three hypostases.
XXVII. ---- OF THE HOLY SEVERUS FROM THE LETTER TO JOHN AND THEODORE AND JOHN THE GOD-LOVING PRESBYTERS AND ARCHIMANDRITES, AGAINST THE CODICILS 190 OF THE ALEXANDRINE. [519-38.]
Alexander is manifestly found to say that [man] is in the form of angels, in that he contends that the holy bodies become spiritual bodies, denying the resurrection of the flesh and bones; if 'a spirit [hath] not flesh and bones'191, |77 according to the unerring saying of the Lord. Accordingly it manifestly appears that he preaches contrary to the prophets and apostles and holy doctors of the church, who in revealing fashion taught the words of faith and expounded the God-inspired Scriptures, and outside what we receive, according to the apostle's ordinance 192; and he is under anathema, even if we keep silence.
Of the holy Severus patriarch of Antioch from the letter to John and Theodore and John, the God-loving presbyters and archimandrites, which was written in answer to the Codicils 193 of the Alexandrine.
For we may hear wise men outside also saying, «Not to sin194 at all, and to do everything rightly is of God»195. And we see the divine Scripture also saying of each created thing, «Let there be light, and there was light; and God saw the light that it was good»; and again, «Let there be so-and-so and there was; and God saw that it was good»; and after everything together so to speak which he called forth and which answered, «God saw |78 all that he had made and lo! it was very good» 196. How then can anyone say that things which are good both in themselves severally, and because they fit together with one another and make up one world, are a sin on God's part? If so be they are a sin, they are not good: but, if they are good, they are not a sin. But, if by reason that they are corruptible, therefore they are a sin, yet rather, as a certain wise man says, «God created everything that it might come into being, and salutary are the creations of the world, and there is no poison of corruption in them; and Sheol hath no kingdom upon earth» 197. Again, if the first man had kept the commandment, and not gone astray after sin through the serpent's deceitfulness, and lost the grace of immortality, having voluntarily drawn death upon himself, then creation itself also would have continued, acquiring for its own self the grace of immortality from God: for in accordance with the condition 198 in which we are for whose sake it came into being its parts also pass away. For this reason then, when man himself was condemned to death, it itself also served corruption and 'was made subject to vanity' 199, as the apostle says; but it hopes further to gain with us what it had from |79 the beginning: and it will have continuance without corruptibility when we are admitted to the resurrection and the kingdom of heaven: for the most wise Paul himself also cries, «Creation itself also shall be freed from the bondage of corruption, into the freedom of the glory of the children of Gods» 200.
(And after other things).
But, my good friend, neither indeed did God make the world in order that it might be corrupted, for 'salutary are the creations of the world', as you have heard; but, since it is of a very fluid nature, he on the contrary brought it into being in order that it might partake of incorruption; for indeed 'even creation itself shall be freed from the bondage of corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God'. For what logic is it, tell me, that rational man who sinned of his own accord should according to your argument be raised to incorruption, while creation which is inanimate and without perception, which for his sake was made subject to vanity, should be delivered to final destruction, and not partake of the incorruptibility and the glory of those for whose sake it was made |80 subject to corruption? For that the world shall be consummated is manifest according to the faith in the divine Scriptures: for that the rudiments which compose this visible creation will not pass into absolute non-existence, but will be changed into something better, Paul testifies when he says, «The form of the world passeth away» 201, and not 'this world', and Peter also testifies when he writes, «The heavens shall be dissolved with fervent heat, and the elements shall burn and collapse» 202. (But those in whom righteousness dwells look for new heavens and a new earth according to his promises.) And before him David sings about the heavens the passage also, «They all shall grow old as a garment, and as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed» 203. Words agreeing with these were written by the Theologian Gregory also, in the sermon on the funeral of his brother Caesarius, as follows: «But why am I faint-hearted about the hopes? Why do I become a man of time? I await the voice of the archangel, the last trump, the transformation of heaven, the changing of the earth, the emancipation of the elements, the renovation of the whole world. Then shall I see Caesarius, no longer departing, no longer carried, no longer |81 being mourned for, no longer being pitied, bright, glorious, exalted, even as you have often appeared to me in a dream, O most brother-loving 204, and most brother-loving; either as I have wished to depict thee, or in reality» 205. And the most wise John, the expounder of the divine words, in the commentary on the epistle to the Hebrews speaks as follows: «And besides this he demonstrated another thing also worth attention 206 in parabolic form: for he also denoted the transformation of the world by saying, 'As a garment shall they grow old; and as a vesture thou shalt fold them up, and they shall be changed'; a thing which he also states in the epistle to the Romans, that he shall transform the world: and setting forth the easiness he added that, as a man may fold up a vesture, so shall he fold them up. and change them. But, if he effected the transformation and the creation into something better and higher so easily, for the creation of something worse he needed another; how long will, you not be ashamed?» 207. And in the commentary on the epistle to the Romans he gives an account of this matter in very complete form, writing as follows: «'For the expectation of creation', he says, 'looks for the revelation of the sons of God. |82 For creation was made subject to vanity, not of its own accord, but because of him who subjected it in hope'. For what he says is something like this. 'This same creation suffers great pain expecting and hoping for the good things which we have just mentioned. But expectation is earnest looking'. But, in order that the account may be clearer, he also personifies the whole of this world, as the prophets too do, when they introduce rivers clapping hands, and high places leaping, and the mountains dancing; not that we may understand these to be animate, nor that we may assign any reason to them; but that we may learn the abundance of the good things, so that it reaches even to things without perception. And they often do this same thing in the case of distressing things also, introducing a vine lamenting and wine and mountains, and the roofs of the temple crying, that from this again we may understand the greatness of the evil things. But, imitating these, the apostle personifies 208 creation and says that it groans and suffers pain; not because he had heard any groan come from earth and sky; but that he may show the abundance of the future good things, and the desire of escape from the prevailing evil things. 'For creation was |83 made subject to vanity, not of its own accord, but because of him who subjected it'. What is 'Creation was made subject to vanity'? It was made corruptible. Why and wherefore? On account of you the man. For, since you received a body that is mortal and passible, the earth also received a curse, and produced briars and thorns. But, that heaven together with the earth will grow old and eventually pass to the better ending, hear the prophet saying, 'In the beginning, Lord, thou laidst the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of thine hands. They shall perish, but thou endurest; and they all shall grow old as a garment; and as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed'. And Isaiah, demonstrating these things, said, 'Observe heaven above and the earth beneath; because heaven hath been solidified as smoke, and the earth shall grow old as a garment; and they that dwell therein shall perish like them'. You have seen how 'creation was made subject to vanity', how also it shall be freed from corruption; for the former said 'As a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed', and Isaiah said 'They that dwell therein shall perish like them', not 209 speaking of utter destruction, for neither shall the men who dwell in it undergo such as this, but the temporary destruction, and through that very thing they shall pass to |84 incorruption, just indeed as by saying 'like these things' he pointed to creation itself, that is the universe 210, just indeed as Paul also says farther on. However for the present he is speaking about its subjection and showing why it was made of this kind, and assigning us as the reason. What then? Was violence done to it in that it underwent these things for another? Not at all; for it was indeed made for me. How then is a thing which was made for me injured when it undergoes these things for my reformation? But, to look at it in another way, we ought not even to raise the question of justice and injustice with respect to things without life and perception. But Paul because he personified it uses none of the arguments that I have stated, but by another method of reasoning sets himself superfluously to comfort the hearer. But what was it? 'What say you? It underwent evil things for you and has become corruptible. But it lost nothing; for it shall also become incorruptible again through you': for this is the meaning of 'in hope'. But, when he says, 'It was not made subject of its own will', he does not say this to show that it is possessed of thought, but that you may learn that |85 everything was brought about by the will of Christ, and the one is not a reformation of the other. But he stated also in what hope. 'Because creation itself also shall be freed'. What is 'itself also'? That not you, but it also, even a thing that is far inferior to you, and that does not partake of reason and perception, this also shall partake with you in the good things. For it 'shall be delivered', he says, 'from the bondage of corruption'; that is, it shall be no longer corruptible; but it shall follow the beauty of your body. For, as, when it became corruptible, creation also became the same, so, when it is rendered incorruptible, creation also as well shall again follow; to denote which indeed he added, 'into the freedom of the glory of the children of God '» 211.
But, inasmuch as the Alexandrine is a stranger and a barbarian to the divine Scripture, and is not accustomed to the teachings of this Scripture, he thinks that God is a creator of corruption, and he calls the world his sin; a thing that is of fluid nature, but is honoured by the grace of incorruptibility together with man for whose sake also it was made. It was not as a sin of God that Christ reformed the world's subjection also that was for man's sake, that he might bring in one set of |86 things in place of another, as this wicked and deceiving man says; in place of bodies that had been delivered to death the immortality of spirits, and in place of the corruption of the world eternal incorruptibility, and in place of abundance of sins abundance of right acts; but in order that he might raise man, who had fallen, and by erring been stripped of the grace of God through which he had immortality, to the original state, through the resurrection of the bodies into incorruption, by which this world also shall partake of the freedom and the glory, as we have written.
(And after other things.)
But from the investigation you have plainly recognised his corruption on every point, and his spuriousness in the matter of faith; in the theology which concerns the Father and the Son mingling of hypostases (since he has cast behind him the godlessness of Sabellius the Libyan); in the Incarnation of the Only one phantasy and change, and the other things that do away the true Humanization and fight against our salvation; in the Resurrection lessening of hope, and denial of the resurrection of bodies; in the creation of the visible world, a blaspheming tongue that under the appearance of good will arms itself against the wise Creator and Maker, |87 and that utters follies akin to those of Mani the madman and Marcion (for well was he named Mani from mania, that is, from madness, who is the founder of the Manichees, who are most exceedingly foul). But that these confused opinions are rejected and anathematized by the holy Church, and those who were the originators of them, there is none among Christians who does not confess. Accordingly therefore it is manifest that Alexander, inasmuch as he has agreed with all these opinions, shares the anathema of each one, being subject to many sentences or punishments 212.
XXVIII. -------- OF THE SAME FROM THE th LETTER OF THE st BOOK OF THOSE BEFORE EPISCOPACY, IN WHICH IS CONTAINED A PRINCIPLE ACCORDING TO WHICH THOSE WHO SAY THAT GOD EXISTS IN HUMAN FORM ARE APPROVED IN THEIR ACTION (?). [490-512.]
But, if we in some place hear Scripture say 'the Lord's eyes', we understand God's activity, which is signified through the term 'eyes'. And, when again we hear of ears, we understand the propensity and inclination that he has toward us, and that he has the attribute of mercifulness, and that |88 he brings our service to completion; for Scripture speaks to our weakness in human and condescending fashion. And, because it is said that God has wings also, yet we do not understand that he has wings, but that his sheltering power is signified through these; for, since we are Christians, we must understand the divine Scriptures spiritually, not according to the letter.
XXIX. ---- OF THE HOLY SEVERUS FROM THE 63rd LETTER OF THE nd BOOK OF THOSE WRITTEN DURING EPISCOPACY, TO ANTONINUS BISHOP OF BERRHOEA 213. [513-8.]
But we hear of the said Mara that he said this also as well, that the holy Virgin did not feel the birth, in manifest opposition to the Holy Spirit and to the Scriptures which were spoken by him. The loud-voiced among prophets, Isaiah, shows that he came forth from the bond of virginity like anything else, and he was ineffably born without rending her from Mary the God-bearer, saying thus, «Before she that travailed bare, and before the |89 pain of the travail came, she escaped and bare a male child» 214. The fact that she escaped shows that the birth took place with perception on the part of her who gave birth, and not in phantasy 215. So Gregory the Theologian also in the sermon about Easter says of the birth of the babe when it is born: «But she also cried 216 from the compulsion of the virgin and maternal bonds, with great power, when a male child was born from the prophetess, as Isaiah announces» 217. How could the fact that she cried from the compulsion and did not rend the bond of virginity happen without perception, and not with such great perception as this oh the part of her who bare? And these things took place ineffably and beyond everything. He who wished to come truly in all our attributes, and to be made like to us his brethren without sin, was. certainly born in fleshly fashion by a manifest and true birth, causing perception in her who bare, free from all pain and suffering; for the prophet proclaims that she gave birth before the pain of the travail came. For how was she to be subjected to the trial of pains and anguish, who put an end to the bearing of children in anguish through the fact that joy was born for the whole race of men? For, «Lo!», he says, «I announce unto you great |90 joy, that is to all the people, that there hath been born to you to-day a Saviour, who is the Lord Christ» 218.
XXX. ---- OF THE HOLY SEVERUS, FROM THE LETTER TO THE PRESBYTER VICTOR 219, BECAUSE SOMEONE WHEN READING WITH THE SAME VICTOR IN THE BOOK OF THE SAME PATRIARCH SAID TO HIM THAT IT IS NOT PROPER TO SAY THAT THE BREAD WHICH IS CONSECRATED UPON THE HOLY ALTARS, WHICH IS THE BODY OF EMMANUEL, IS IMPASSIBLE AND IMMORTAL, AND IS A GIVER OF IMPASSIBILITY AND IMMORTALITY TO THOSE WHO PARTAKE OF IT, THOUGH EVEN HE HIMSELF SAID AND CONFESSED THAT THE BREAD WHICH HAS BEEN TRANSMUTED IS THE BODY, BUT NOT IMPASSIBLE, BECAUSE IT IS BROKEN AND DIVIDED; IN ANSWER TO WHICH THE HOLY MAN HIMSELF SPEAKS AS FOLLOWS. [519-21 (?).]
For the bread that is consecrated on the holy tables and mystically transmuted is itself truly the body, the body of him in whose name it was in |91 fact transmuted, that is of him who voluntarily died and rose for our sakes. But, if it is the body of him who rose, it is plain that it is impassible and immortal. If we do not look at the bread that is mystically transmuted, but at that which comes under the eyes of the senses, and, seeing it broken, do not confess it to be indeed immortal, it is time for us to say that neither is it God's body: for what is seen is indeed bread. By the faith therefore by which we understand and believe it to be the body of God who became incarnate without variation for our sakes, and voluntarily suffered and rose, by the same faith we understand and confess that it is also immortal and impassible, and bestows impassibility and immortality on us. For he who allowed it to be cut and divided, because indeed it was otherwise impossible for us to partake of it, in the same mercifulness also allows God's body which has been already transmuted to appear as bread. And for a confirmation of the transmutation that is accomplished this has been seen by many even with the eyes of their senses themselves, and they have seen bloodstained flesh being broken, not the bread that is laid upon the altar.|92
XXXI. ---- OF THE HOLY SEVERUS FROM THE LETTER TO SERGIUS THE PHYSICIAN AND SOPHIST. [515-8.]
But with regard to the reception of Eutyches that it was done in a canonical way, and that it casts no slur on the holy. Dioscorus, and on the synod which assembled with him at Ephesus, I addressed the arguments on this head to certain persons some time ago, and I also dealt completely with it as the truth demands; and I have thought it good and urgent to send a copy of these things to your learning. Not only the wretched man from Scythopolis 220, but many others besides before him and after him, employed the same blasphemous absurdities, not knowing what they are saying 221, but made empty-mindedness fulness of blasphemy against God. The holy synod which assembled at Ephesus with the saintly witness of the truth Dioscorus taught nothing new whatever with regard to the faith, but only effected the deprivation 222 of those who were infected with the Jewish poison of |93 Nestorius and cast them off: but Eutyches, who presented a petition and anathematized his heresy, on account of which he was accused, it accepted on the ground of the actual petition itself and on the ground of the minutes 223 that were written at Constantinople before Flavian, since it did not recognise the poison that was in his heart, and the disease hard to be discovered was in accordance with the human standard properly hidden from it; for the divine Scripture plainly teaches that 'man looks on the face, but God looks on the heart' 224. But what will anyone say about those who assembled at Chalcedon, who received Theodoret and Hiba, who not merely hid the foul heresy of Nestorius in the heart, but actually displayed it with open face. When the contents of the minutes' on account of which Hiba's deprivation 225 took place had been read, and his letter to Mari the Persian, which was full of many blasphemies (a copy of which I have also sent to you), the representatives of Leo, who had become prelate of the church of the Romans, pronounced him blameless, making the following declaration 226: «Pascasinus and Lucentius the reverend bishops and Boniface the presbyter representing |94 the apostolic throne 227 said by the mouth of Pascasinus, 'From the reading of the documents 228, and from the statement 229 of the reverend bishops we know that the reverend Hiba has been shown to be innocent. For, when his letter was read, we recognised that it is orthodox 230; and therefore our decision is that the episcopal rank also and the church from which he was wrongfully ejected in his absence be restored'» 231. And to these things the whole synod assented; and they promulgated the same decision. How then can those who defend those men dare to make the reception of Eutyches, which took place according to the canons, a charge against the holy Dioscorus and the synod which assembled with him?
XXXII. -------- OF THE SAME FROM THE LETTER TO THE ORTHODOX 232 BROTHERS IN THE CITY OF TYRE, WHICH IS SUR. [513-8.]
Since you have thought fit to ask me for what reason Eutyches is anathematized, the man of ill name 233 and impious, and how it is that he was received by Dioscorus of saintly memory, we say in a few words that he was |95 received on presenting a document 234 which contained a right confession of faith and anathematized Mani and Valentine, and Apollinaris, and those who say that the flesh of our Lord and God Jesus Christ came down from heaven; to which he further added the words that follow (though those who assembled at Chalcedon interrupted the reading, when the things that were written at Ephesus in the transactions 235 concerning him were put in), that the things which they wished to impute to him were slanders 236. But the man of ill name seems again to have 'returned to his vomit' 237. And that 238.....
XXXIII. ---- OF THE HOLY SEVERUS, FROM THE LETTER TO NEON THE PRESBYTER AND ARCHIMANDRITE 239, ABOUT THE RECEPTION OF EUTYCHES. [513-8.]
And, in order not to extend the letter to a great length, from these declarations 240 it has been clearly made known that, as we said, in consequence of the document' and of the minutes 241 written in the royal city, and of the depositions 242 on behalf of Eutyches that are contained in them the holy synod |96 which then assembled in the city of the Ephesians gave a decision by which it declared this man innocent; and it can never be accused on account of the fact that after these things the same Eutyches ran back to the vomit 243 of his own evil opinion. For neither against the holy fathers did this bring a reproach, because many heretics consented to a temporary hypocrisy, and again returned to their impiety; since even with the 318 holy fathers Eusebius Pamphili both sat in concourse with them and was one of their number; and he contended with these on behalf of the madness of Arius, and armed himself against those who held the right opinions.
(And a little farther on.)
But in the synod at Chalcedon Dioscorus said this: «But, if Eutyches holds anything outside the doctrines of the church, he deserves not merely punishment, but even fire. But I concern myself for the catholic and apostolic faith, not for any man soever» 244. But that the saintly man of saintly memory acknowledged Emmanuel who is of the Father's nature in |97 the Godhead himself to have become also of our nature in the manhood, how do we need any other testimony, since the minutes 245 that were written in Constantinople before Flavian, and brought in again at Ephesus, plainly contain this expression, which was confessed by Eutyches, and confirmed by him, in that he asked that synod, «Do we all also agree to these things?» and they said, «We agree» 246?
XXXIV. ---- OF THE HOLY SEVERUS, A LETTER TO ELISHA THE PRESBYTER AND ARCHIMANDRITE, AND THE REST 247. [519-21 (?).]
The saintly presbyter John has removed and gone to the place of light of the righteous, and to the rest above in which those who have so lived abide, expecting the day of the perfect and full promise, and not without us to be made perfect, as Paul who was initiated into the deep and ineffable things of the foreknowledge of God somewhere says 248. What need is there even to say |98 what poignant and heavy sorrow has shaken my soul? For it is a great loss that this wretched turbidity of times in which we ourselves have been left alive should by such men being snatched away be gradually laid bare and reduced so to speak to the last dregs. About him there is much that I might write on the laudatory side, but, overcome by the multitude of subjects, I say this briefly, that he alone taught us and caused us to see before our eyes, what is the kingdom of heaven that is spoiled, which spoilers seize 249. In such a a way, clad in the feeble body as in a chain of lead, he parted and dispersed all things outside, and by taking little thought for things that draw downwards, and receiving strength through desire of heavenly things, he fitted himself wholly for things above, to which he has now easily departed. Therefore we must both weep and groan for our solitude, which has been deprived entirely of such a pattern and honourable example. But, since we ought to bow our neck before the just scales of the judgments of God, we praise him who so orders these things and brings them to pass: for the wise and strenuous Job somewhere says, «But if he too hath so judged, who is he that gainsaith him? For what he himself wished he also did»250. And for |99 the rest we pray that by the saintly prayers of those who have made a good departure hence we may be saved, and as far as possible be kept unharmed, and not wander from the faith of these men, and may be raised to them in memory.
May these things be so. But in respect of what has been written by your love of God about the sustenance of the poor, and our necessity or refreshment, and that you wish to share with us in everything, and give readily, know this, that we accept the full purpose of your mind, but, being small and weak, we look to Paul the doctor of the church, and as regards our needs set ourselves to feel shame and refrain, and look at him who says, «In all things I have kept myself without being burdensome to you and will keep myself»251. But with respect to the relief of our brethren who are labouring under the same distresses, by which life is oppressed, I will exert myself, and will be importunate, or rather 252 will use lawful boldness of speech 253, and will beg, and grasp 254, and incite to liberal giving; and I will again use his words and say, «He that soweth sparingly shall reap sparingly; and he that soweth bountifully shall reap bountifully»: and this he seals by the |100 very wise and understanding addition, «Every man as his heart willeth, not grudgingly nor of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver» 255.
As to the book that I have composed against the heretical fatuity of the wicked grammarian, by often writing and asking for it to be sent to you before it was completely finished you were acting like men who urge a boy who is healthy and well-prepared, and instructed in military affairs, to appear in the line of battle when he has not yet put on his armour. But, now that by God's help it has been finished, as far as our little power goes, and has been duly written, and duly collated as far as was possible, it has been sent. It was a very difficult task and needed a great store of books, and it was so to speak difficult for me to correct, because I am moving from place to place, and I have not everywhere at hand fitting testimonies and demonstrations from the Scriptures. For I thought it right to meet not only the lamentable babblings of the grammarian, but also the whole web of impiety contained in what was defined and done by way of innovation at Chalcedon by the synod which met there, and the impious Tome of Leo, taking occasion from the very |101 things stated by him (I mean that grammarian) to expose the dishonesty of the adversaries, and cut the very root so to speak of bitterness 256, and to show whence it sprang, and that these things are not new, but were evolved long ago by the impious company of those who unlearnedly held this evil opinion; and not only so, but also to show the agreement of the doctors of the orthodox 257, and of things which to men who are not practised in divine doctrines seem to be contrary, and have the same purpose before them, and to guard myself as far as possible against contention from all sides. Immediately therefore after the holy Cyril and Gregory the Theologian, and all who so to speak taught the same things, had also said that we must note the distinction in theory 258 and in thought of the natures of which Emmanuel is composed, from which natures the different character and diverse essence 259 of the elements that were joined in union is recognised, Theodotus of saintly memory, bishop of Ancyra in Galatia, seems to deny this and not to accept the division in thought 260. On this account many of the orthodox 257 also were confounded by the heretics as if they were adducing fathers who said |102 contradictory things, though the objectors could not discern even the reading of the words of Theodotus, but read them differently, not as the words stand. This therefore and all such points we have brought together from all quarters, and, God stretching forth his hand, have explained them, and so have shown the objections of the impious to be vain. The demonstrations which they adduce are of ancient date and not of yesterday and the day before, and they have been worked up by means of inventions and false attributions and tens of thousands of contrivances, since they wish on all sides to show the refutation of the impiety to be futile. Therefore it was indeed a task replete with great difficulties to find these passages, and lay bare the evil dealing and expose the deceit contained in them. These things the prophet's words fit, which were spoken in the name of God to those of Israel, «Ephraim hath surrounded me with falsehood, and the house of Israel and of Judah with impiety» 261: and still better that also which is written in Daniel, «They worked zealously to strengthen their deceit which consisted in transgressions»262. Having therefore as far as possible read all the books, thoroughly and not negligently, I made myself acquainted with their evil purpose after |103 much labour and after searching for each one of them (often it could not be found at all), and this though I am in a condition 263 of exile, and flee from one place to another for refuge like boats 264 upon the sea. To me also it was gratifying that the wise and Christ-loving Zacharias the scholastic 265 should read the dissertation mentioned: for in the royal city also I used to bring my works to him, when he would listen attentively with all care fulness, and received from God the privilege of being a wise hearer of Jerusalem, I mean of the church of God, and did not shrink from being an admirable adviser, on account of the great experience and instruction in the sacred books which he has enjoyed from his boyhood. And we believe that upon you the religious presbyter Victor 266 the same grace blooms, and that it in no way falls short of that which was given to him, or certainly it was even greater, and reaches a still higher standard on account of the order of the presbyterate, and the priestly seat to which you have been called by God. I therefore beg you all to read the composition diligently and with attentive thoughts and, as your habit is, wisely, and if as weak men we have anywhere gone wrong to point it out. «That a brother should be helped by a brother, this also is the firm strength of a fortified |104 city» 267, the God-inspired words teach. Therefore also we made it our business, as far as possible, to bring this dissertation also to certain men of intelligence and skilled in argument, who are not without a share in divine and profane learning, and read it to them, generally stealing an opportunity for reading, and doing this in secret, on account of the present time. The beginning of this treatise I have put in such a form 268, in order that I may seem to have prepared this while I was living in Antioch, lest perhaps these adversaries might kindle a greater flame of prejudice against me, if they perceived that this had been composed by me in exile: and in truth when I was there I began to prepare material for an answer, though, when the persecution came, it scattered these things.
Since you, the God-loving presbyter Philip 269, have often asked for the Book of Dispensations as you say to be sent you, the only reason for which we have put off doing this is that we are desirous of first carrying out your request, and casting an eye of criticism on what is written in it; which down to this day we have been confident of being able to do, though all our attention was occupied with the said composition. Therefore, when we have read your book also hastily, we will send it as soon as possible. |105
As to those who have been converted from the error of Theodotus 270, we say this much, that, if there are some who received ordination from Theodotus himself, since he was a bishop legally appointed, but was afterwards perverted to the abominable tenet of a self-created observance 271, I mean that of the illegal re-anointing, and to a change as to the faith, so that he does not confess that our Lord and God Jesus Christ, who is of one essence 272 with the Father in the Godhead, himself became also of one essence 272 with us without variation, and took our likeness, except sin only, let these be subject to the periods of penance which Timothy of saintly memory, archbishop of Alexandria, laid down with regard to those who are converted from the heresy of the Diphysites 273. But, if there are some others who derive the ordinations alleged to have been performed over them from the man called Gregory 274 or from others, who are not even bishops, let these be reckoned as laymen, and not dream of the name of service or priesthood; but eventually after some time, if some of them receive a report for good works, let these |106 be ordained, as if they had been advanced from the lay standing to the priestly chancel 275. But I was surprised to see that in your letter, though you termed them laymen, you afterwards asked the question «How long a period ought to be appointed for these men», as if they were clergymen 276, men who never became such at all. Therefore also I praised the ignorance of the religious presbyter Victor about these men.
As to the complete manuscript 277 of the divine Scriptures which belonged to John whose soul is at rest, which may fill many bellies of poor men, sell it: for we by God's grace have books 278, and would we had also perfect knowledge of these, which we pray may be given to us by God.
We were not surprised to hear that those without are at peace with you, since we recalled to mind the divine declaration which says to the righteous man, «For the beasts of the field shall be at peace with thee»279. Therefore also we again praised him who confessed these things without falsehood.
The end of the letter to Elisha the presbyter and archimandrite. |107
XXXV. -------- OF THE PATRIARCH SEVERUS TO THE MONKS OF THE EAST 280. [520-5.]
To the holy fathers and archimandrites of the holy cloisters in the East and the presbyters and deacons, and all the brothers who are practising the God-loved life of monasticism Severus greeting in our Lord.
I have heard that the great convents of the holy monasteries in the East, who are honoured for eminence in life and in asceticism and for age, have withdrawn, and that to this same thing they have been driven by compulsion, by those who without fear stretch out their hands against every man: and I groaned deeply; and I continued weeping till there was no strength left in me to weep more, as the Holy Scripture somewhere says 281. For I sorrowed not for you (no tears are needed for you) but for the countries which have been deprived of you, and for those who live a religious life in them, and to speak generally for all that district 282. If there were not universal wrath, and the face of God were not averted, you at least would |108 have remained, as pillars of the great house who would have prevented the ruin that was threatening it. So also, when Jerusalem was being chastised for her sins, and was being delivered to various chastisements, the God of mercy, 'he that taketh pleasure in mercy' 283 (for so the divine Scriptures term him), again spared her on account of his great mercifulness, and, because he did not wish to bring a complete destruction, is seen to address, those who administered such chastisements as were to come, things which Jeremiah saw and heard by prophetic perception, in this way: «Go up to her walls and pull down; but make not a full end. Leave her foundations because they are of the Lord»284. If then you, who are the foundations of the Lord which stave off destruction, have now been disturbed and shaken, what is there to expect, save sore stripes from God, and great evils that cannot be assuaged and wrath that is poured out, which he who in just judgment brings it declares in such words as these: «Behold! my wrath and mine anger is poured out upon this country and upon men and upon cattle and upon all things that are in the field, and upon all the fruits of the earth, and they shall be burnt up and shall not be extinguished» 285? |109
For these reasons I sorrowed, and I perceived not the number of my groans, while I contemplated the desolation of the ways that led to your convents and sent to you those who had a zealous desire to delight their souls by the remembrance of divine things, and to whom constant standing and angelic singing were a festival, and the upward-pressing life, which reminds rational souls of the imitation of God. For thus Jeremiah also made lament after the destruction of Jerusalem, and said as in a figure: «The ways of Zion mourn because there is none to come to the feast. All the gates in her are desolate» 286. (And he himself clearly said that her produce is given to destruction). «Whose priests shall go into captivity groaning, and they that have taken upon them the virgin life shall be led away. And she that was abandoned by them hath bitterness for these things». For, in order that none might think that the lamentation that was made was not right, on account of beams and stones and great buildings that were razed to the earth and the dust, exalting plainly by words the greatness of the disaster, he made proclamation and said: «Her priests groan and her virgins |110 are carried away, and she herself within herself hath bitterness» 287. And Elisha the great, who received a double portion of the spirit that was in Elijah, the man of many visions and miracles, foreseeing that which was future like the present, and how many evils the people of Israel was to endure, inasmuch as Hazael, King of Syria, was to come against them to war, wept bitterly when he.considered the incurability of the evils that were coming, and under stress of these things he could not refrain, and abstain from tears, and from pity, though they were about to endure these chastisements as they deserved. And therefore also the divine Scripture says as in wonder: «And the man of God wept» 288. But I beg and entreat your sanctities (for you are my affection no less than he 289), you who also suffer with your kindred, and, to speak in the words of the apostle, «have a heart of mercy and of grace» 290, pray for the sheep and avert the wrath, and cease not holding up your saintly hands to your Jesus, saying to him from the divine Scriptures, «These sheep what have they done? Have pity, Lord, upon thy people, and give not thine inheritance to shame» 291. Perhaps he will be turned by these prayers and repent, and will leave in his country a blessing, |111 a sacrifice and a libation to the Lord our God. For on your account I have no weight of care and no anxiety: for well I know that everything is easy to you, and there is no impediment or difficulty of walking for your feet, which are adorned in apostolic fashion with bareness, and by their steps are able to bless even the uninhabited deserts and make them habitable;. and that the lack of money in your girdles is a fulness of all abundance, so that it provides a superfluity for others also, and the staff in your hands is a symbol of the very fixity and firmness of the faith that is in you, so that it supports those who are shaken also and they do not fall; but the earth and the heaven and the air 292 are your purse, and all the elements supply food in diverse forms and coming of itself, and make it known to everyone that «man liveth not by bread alone, but also by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God»293: I forbear to say, what is a great thing and very true, that, since you have a spiritual rock going before you (and Paul said that Christ is a rock 294), that is to you food and drink; for you were persecuted with this same rock when it was persecuted. For in the case of the sons of Israel of old, who saw little, and had their eye blinded by Egyptian |112 darkness, and could scarcely see the writing of the law and could not contemplate the depth of hidden mysteries, the apostle justly wrote that «that rock followed them» 295: for it was right that they who were so-imperfect should be first exercised in the law, and afterwards see Christ following them. Wherefore also in waterless countries he gave them water in tangible form, assuaging the thirst of the flesh; and, whenever they desired flesh, he invisibly brought birds like rain from the air 296, and other things like these and resembling them. But before your own perfections, who can contemplate the very glory of the Lord 'with open face', as again Paul said 297, that rock continually goes in front, giving suprasensual food and drink, and showing everyone that through the things which you have endured you cry and say, «Who shall separate me from the love of Christ? Tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or hunger or nakedness or clanger or the sword, as it is written, 'For thy sake we die every day; we have been reckoned as sheep for slaughter'; but in all these things we are victorious through him who loved us» 298. For the results of your victory are not only |113 in this evil present world, in which you showed invincibility, but all of them are more truly in the future world. Then all who have been exercised in the life of virginity, and have prevailed over shameful passions and are honoured for white-haired old age of the intellect, and for the holy order, and deceive the accompanying honour, shall be gratified with such joy that their soul shall be made drunk with good things, as to which Jeremiah the prophet, depicting them beforehand, spoke thus: «Then shall virgins rejoice in gatherings of young men and old men shall rejoice: and I will turn their mourning into joy, and I will make them rejoice: and I will make great and make drunken the soul of the priests the sons of Levi, and my people shall be filled with my good things» 299; and these things that fail not and are as they are, and are never destroyed. Such as these are the blessed homes and mansions. But, if there is yet an extension and we have not been brought to the end of time, assuredly 'he who scattered Israel he will gather him, and he will keep him as a shepherd who feedeth his flock' and will say, «With weeping went they out, and with consolation will I bring them: and I will make them to dwell by streams of waters in a right way and they shall not again go astray» 300. |114
But pray that we also may hold to the right and unerring way, and our foot may not turn aside to the right hand or to the left from the king's highway 301 which was rightly traversed by those seers and ministers of the word. For, inasmuch as you exercise yourselves in the law of the Lord by night as well as by day, you know well that, even if a man contend, he is not crowned unless he contends lawfully. For certain men have come in upon us, wishing to put a blemish on the 'good confession' to which we were called and which we confessed 'before many witnesses' 302 as the apostle said, that is, before the whole church and 'the elect angels' 303, never having yielded to remissness. For that 'we are not of remissness which leads to perdition' 304 you also well know: for you are the first who testify. For, 'having no sound knowledge of what they say or the things about which they strive' 305, they do not consent to confess that the true flesh of God and the Word which is from the holy God-bearer and ever-virgin Mary and from the Holy Spirit, which was hypostatically united to him, so that from the fact that he came to be with us as God who became man he was named Emmanuel, and that he was made like unto us in all things except sin, suffers |115 like us and is susceptible of innocent passions, but say that he suffered in semblance, and that the flesh was impassible and immortal at the time of the voluntary and saving Cross; and besides other impossible things the wretched men foolishly speak of false passions, and in false words they name phantasy 306 incorruptibility, and deny the true incorruptibility, and they fail to notice the wisdom of the dispensation whereby the impassible God united to himself those of our passions which do not fall under the description of sin, wishing in it to taste our death voluntarily, destroy its dominion over us, and by means of the Resurrection to set us free in incorruptibility, that is in impassibility and immortality, and raise us to our first state in which also we were created. If the Word of God desired to display passions and death in unreal form, the Incarnation is quite superfluous. He had the divine impassibility and immortality, and so also he might have suffered as in semblance and shown himself after the fashion of former appearances, as he appeared as a man who wrestled with Jacob and was received in Abraham's house, and was represented in many forms through the prophets: for this he himself is seen to have said in Hosea the prophet 307. But this was not |116 what he desired, but that by means of a real death he might save the man who had died through the deceit of the serpent, and make his own Resurrection the gate and way of return to everlasting life. For this reason Paul cries louder than all trumpets in the ears of men who will not hear: «For, since by man came death, by man also cometh the resurrection of the dead. For, as in Adam all died, so also in Christ shall all live» 308. But... with... the Scriptures and... these hasty and presumptuous men presumed blasphemously to say against the divine Scriptures and against the holy fathers who interpreted them in approved fashion, who at various times fed the holy churches. From these things you see clearly how much difference and distinction there is between truth and error even as the heaven is far from the earth, and that out of the thought of their heart they have 'devised words of iniquity' and that 'truth has perished in their ways, and they could not walk in the right way', and also that 'they have removed their thoughts from understanding' 309. For well did Isaiah the prophet expose them beforehand by these words. |117
Pray therefore, saintly ones (for indeed I say the same thing many times) that we may be delivered from evil and unjust men. For they have been unable not only to endure reproof on account of their wickedness, but even to give drink to them that thirst: for, besides their thoughts that blaspheme against God, 'their counsels1 also 'are counsels of murder' 310. For this very thing Isaiah says with me concerning them. But that these same men may be changed to what is right make the subject of your own prayers. For we on our part look to him who willeth not the death of a sinner so much as that he be converted and live 311. Indeed at first on the entreaty (and to speak the truth on the compulsion) of him who wrote unsoundly and rashly upon this same matter 312, while far away and in hiding I wrote and admonished him in a brotherly manner and urged him to have regard to the holy fathers and to the approved doctors and follow them, and correct himself. And even upon this he attacked my meanness in a ferocious manner, worse than any raging savage beast, and kept bitterly complaining because he did not find me a partner of his error, and over the whole world, as far as he could, he sent out and scattered abroad what he had |118 written, which came from his heart 'not from the mouth of the Lord' 313: and we were set forth as a laughing-stock to those who contend for the Chalcedonian impiety; and in Palestine, as I have learned, and in other provinces 314 they were going about, and everywhere opening and extending their capacious mouth and saying: «See! Those who pride themselves on being orthodox 315 have been manifestly seen to be zealous for the semblance of Eutyches, which is the error of the followers of Mani». Then indeed, being pierced by the judgments of God after the manner of goads and being... in my soul because I could not endure the slander and the blasphemy against the glory of the Most High and the fact that one man's error should be a stain upon the whole body of the church, I made the true facts known to everyone, facts which are known and familiar to you also, saying with courage as well as faith in accordance with the truth (for Jesus is very God and Saviour), «If it be my lot to die with thee I will not deny thee» 316, but, «I will go up upon the mountains, and will preach to Jerusalem» 317. May I gain his boldness of speech 318, and may I receive help from him, through your saintly prayers and entreaties. |119
The handwriting of the patriarch, himself.
May the holy Unity in Trinity (for this is our God) keep your holinesses, and all the brotherhood that is with you, illustrious in divine contests, in perfect concord and endurance and praying for our meanness. My spirit greets you. «Greet one another with a holy kiss» 319. Grace be with you.
Blessed be God for ever, and praised be his name to all generations.
XXXVI. ---- OF THE HOLY SEVERUS FROM THE LETTER TO ISAAC THE SCHOLASTIC, WHICH BEGINS, «I, since on account of my sins I have been condemned to live for a long space of time in the royal city». [509-11.]
For it is not saying what agrees with the 318 fathers that is prohibited to us, but adding anything to or detracting anything from the correctness of the doctrines 320. If not, the synod of the 150 also incurs blame, because it widened the theology 321 relating to the Spirit, and, when the confession had been laid down with regard to the only Son who became incarnate for us, it added the |120 words 'from the Holy Spirit and from Mary the Virgin', and 'he was crucified in the days of Pontius Pilate'; for these things were not stated by the 318.
And a little farther on in the same letter.
But you say that the synod at Chalcedon also placed the faith of the 318 before its definition. But in that case the innovation is obvious. First it says in plain words, and that twice and three times, that it is itself making a definition; secondly, because it said that our one Lord Jesus Christ is made known in two natures; thirdly, to omit the other points, because it called Leo's letter, which is full of the blasphemies of Nestorius, 'a pillar of orthodoxy 322'.
XXXVII. -------- OF THE SAME FROM THE LETTER TO CHARISIUS THE MONK, THE BEGINNING OF WHICH IS, «It did not escape our smallness». [513-8.]
Who among the orthodox 323 would agree that the synod at Chalcedon |121 should be suppressed in conjunction with all the religious synods, so that from the silence it might be inferred that it too enjoys equal honour? Assuredly those who turn away their faces from it would raise arguments against those who hold to it, and the one would say, «It is suppressed as impious», while the others would say. «It has met with the same suppression as the other synods», and again there would be contentions and disturbances.
And again before these things he says.
For for us to say that the synod must be suppressed, and formulate an orthodox confession, but not reject the blasphemies with the persons themselves and the words, is neither lawful nor conducive to peace. But, even if we be willing to shut our eyes, no one among the congregations of the orthodox 324, especially after so much agitation, would agree to such a spurious union, since the apostle plainly says, «If anyone preacheth to you outside what ye have received, let him be anathema» 325. What has thrown the churches into confusion down to the present day is this, the fact that those who are in power halt between the two sides, and wish always to please both sides. |122
XXXVIII. ---- OF THE HOLY MAR SEVERUS THE PATRIARCH FROM THE LETTER TO PETER AND AMMONIUS 326 AND OLYMPIODORUS, ABOUT THE NAMING OF PETER BISHOP OF ALEXANDRIA; WHICH IS THE 10th OF THE st BOOK OF THE LETTERS WRITTEN DURING TENURE OF THE SEE. [513-6.]
For we may learn from the facts themselves, that we, the few in number and small, by God's help completely checked the synod of Chalcedon that was already acting as absolute shepherd of the churches, we who as in Isaiah's prophecy were left like a bunch after the olives have been gathered, 'two or three on the high ends of the branches, or four or five, who were from this bunch of olives'327, Peter who was from the country of the Iberians, but was a citizen of Jerusalem the city above, and Theodosius 328 who adorned the throne 329 of Antinou 330, and Isaiah331 the very famous, the statue 332 of philosophy and of life in God, like a column and pattern; men who even in this world reaped the honour due to their labours, prophesyings and gifts of healings, |123 and were illustrious in other spiritual excellencies, whose spirits also, I am convinced, are offering prayers on our behalf, and are close by us in these present struggles, and rejoice in this union and peace, and bond of faith, which has now begun. For besides the other good things they knew what is the time of strictness, and what that of lawful concession, and they used to learn the dispensations of the Spirit, and followed the wise dispensations of Basil and Gregory and Athanasius and other God-clad fathers: whom let us also follow, though we are small, men, whose judgment is a subject of prayer.
XXXIX. ---- OF THE HOLY SEVERUS FROM THE LETTER THAT WAS WRITTEN TO THE PRESBYTERS AT ALEXANDRIA. [516-8.]
When I took in my hands the letter that has now been addressed to me by your holinesses, I began to read it with such pleasure as if a son were seeing his father's face after the lapse of a long time. But after reading it I knew you better from the contents; for I found the letter to be in reality wholly occupied with fatherly reproofs; for it is often a habit of fathers also to apply unfounded |124 reproofs to sons in order to make them more 333 industrious and vigilant; but, when they see them making a wise defence to the accusation and dissipating the reproofs, then they exchange the desire of fault-finding for the desire of natural affection, and are filled with tears and exult from joy, and submit to a defeat that they have made an object of much prayer, and proclaim the sons' victory as their own. Accordingly listen like fathers to your son's defence, and judge upright judgment, and test the matter carefully as in the scales of a balance. You say in the letter that we departed from the strict rule in making union with the Isaurians, because Philoxenus, when he wrote to them in the course of the controversy, testified that there is nothing wanting in the edict 334, and said that he was in communion with the prelate of Alexandria 335, and did not omit the names of the heretics. Tell me what blame this casts upon the Isaurians, since they are shown to have summoned Philoxenus by letter to the high standard of their profession, and, when he would not at that time rise to their height and range himself on the side of strictness, together with the others to have left those who were in communion with |125 Flavian who previously held the see of Antioch, and united with us only, and exposed in writing the imperfection of the edict, and professed that they would not otherwise enter into communion with the chief of the Alexandrines until he first made a defence to the orthodox 336 in common and removed from the midst the scandals which separate us from him. How then do you find fault with them as if they had neglected these things, things which they were in fact careful to put in writing? If to write to Philoxenus and summon him to the perfect standard is a cause of blame in them, it is time for us to blame some of you also who in the royal city urged us to go [to] Philoxenus and examine him, and to bring serious accusations against the [holy] Cyril because he wrote to Acacius the prelate of Berrhoea, when he advised him to disavow the 12 chapters 337 and the other works against Nestorius. But it is not receiving a letter from men who are involved in heresies, or otherwise not of a perfect mind, which subjects us to blame, but adhering to the things written by [them], and not walking in a contrary direction. I am much |126 astonished at that part of your [letter in which after] saying that the edict is imperfect you write lower down, «We, [when] in the chapters 338 which we presented to the prelate of the men of Jerusalem we said that the edict contains a [right] profession of faith, said so as a concession, not as the truth». How then is it imperfect, if in truth it does not contain a right profession, and does not remove the scandals from the midst? That which is imperfect contains at any rate some part [agreeing with] that which is perfect, so that [that] which is wanting for perfection may be restored: but that [which] contains nothing sound [even] in part is not imperfect but entirely [false] 339 and is the same as that which does not exist. [But] how is it that you, when writing to father Stephen the Isaurian of religious memory, imitated what was [formerly] said as a concession, and said, «The edict contains a right profession of faith»? Or how is it that the God-loving fathers in Egypt reject the written testament 340 of defence which remained with them as they say from father John the archimandrite and bishop who is among the saints, [which] is composed of the actual bare words of the edict? Or rather 341, to |127 cite the very words themselves, let someone proceed to say what heresy it introduces when it is said, «For we say that both the miracles and the passions, which he underwent voluntarily in the flesh, belong to one only Son of God», and again, «Because the true and sinless Incarnation from the God-bearer did not bring about an addition of a Lord; for the Trinity remained a Trinity even when one of the Trinity, God the Word, became incarnate» 342. But perhaps you will say that the words are rightly expressed and free from blame, but are not sufficient to demolish the scandals; for, inasmuch as they are ambiguously expressed, even those also who call the one Christ two natures profess them, since [they confess] the form 343 which they call the Son who became incarnate to be one and the same in identity of honour, in identity of name in that he is of the same [essence], in authority, as we ourselves elsewhere stated, when convicting the edict of ambiguity; but we ought not to open a door to impiety by ambiguity in what we write, according to the words of Gregory the Theologian, «For this is a common sandal which is put on both feet; this is an image which looks at everyone who passes; a sifting which [sifts out] everything» 344. But this argument is then [sound] 345 |128 when the ambiguity is introduced [and the] truth condemned, [for accuracy] is then expelled and banished, [like that which] was done by the synod which the holy [Athanasius] termed 'an assembly of Caiaphas' 346, [when it introduced] the expression 'like' and removed [that of] co-essentiality, in order that the Arians might understand the word 'like' to mean 'resembling'... and the orthodox 347 'that which is of the same essence' 348 and 'that which does not vary in anything'. But, if, when it pronounced that [the Son] is like the Father, it had added, 'that is identical [in] essence 348 with the Father', it would by the addition have limited the expression of likeness which is [common] to both and eradicated the error arising from the ambiguity. So also a man who accepts the right confession of the edict, if it is enough for him, and he does not add the exact words which remove the heresy, opens a door to impiety through the ambiguity of the written words, and falls under the sentences of the holy Gregory in that he is doing detriment to the truth. But, if besides the edict he both confesses one incarnate nature of God the Word and anathematizes those who speak of two natures after the union, and the operations and properties of these, and all the impiety that was |129 confirmed at Chalcedon, he has removed the danger 349 that is expected from the ambiguity, and has bound the understanding of both parties under the yoke of exactitude, and has also followed the law of Gregory the Theologian who in the rd letter to Cledonius wrote thus: «Since therefore the same expressions when rightly understood are consistent with religion, but when badly interpreted contain foul impiety, what wonder is it if we accepted the words of Vitalis also in a more religious sense, for so our object urges, while others are furious against the sense of the things written?» 350 Let us therefore acquiesce in the spiritual distinctions of Gregory the Theologian, and shun ambiguity only when it stands alone, and by the double meaning inflicts injury on the truth; but, when it is made subservient to accuracy by the addition of more perfect statements, let us accept it. This same teaching is given by Basil also who has the same spirit as Gregory in the epistle which he wrote to Maximus the philosopher, the words being as follows: «But for my part I must call what is yours mine 351. As to the term 'like in essence', if it has added 'without variation', I accept the expression, as |130 coming to the same thing as co-essentiality, that is, according to the sound meaning of the expression 'co-essentiality', which those at Nicaea also understood, when they called the Only one 'Light of Light', 'true God of true God', and similar things, and consequently introduced the expression 'co-essentiality'. But it is never possible for us to imagine any difference between light and light, or between truth and truth, or between the essence of the Only one and that of the Father. If anyone therefore takes it as I have said, I accept the expression. But, if anyone severs 'without variation' from 'like', as those at Constantinople 352 did, I am suspicious of the phrase, as diminishing the glory of the Only one. For even in the case of things that resemble in a few points also, and are very much inferior to the originals, we are accustomed often to use the expression 'like'» 353. In accordance therefore with these enactments of the fathers, since a mention of the edict was once inserted in the defence of the Isaurians, we have accepted it, because the whole evil-doing that is contrived by the ambiguity was removed by the very fact that the things that are lacking were added, |131 and a clear defence was made to us that exposed the imperfection of the edict. These things I was desirous to write, not out of self-seeking 354, but because I have inserted in the letter a portion of what has often been addressed by me in laborious arguments to many who maintained that the edict sufficed for a defence. It is not as one might think because we cling to the memory of the edict that we are compelled to employ words of this kind, nor because we wish to oppose you; but, since by reason of our sins 'we have been made a spectacle to the world, and to angels and to men', as the wise Paul says 355, and we are henceforth set under the eyes of everyone, we must speak the words of truth to everyone alike, and guard ourselves beforehand against causes of blame even from all quarters, and use the examples and God-inspired teachings of the holy fathers to guide us in what is right, and not love laughter and show ourselves betrayers of lawful accuracy, nor yet incur blame for lack of learning and spring beyond the bounds of the wrestling-space, but wisely consider the saying of Koheleth, «There is a righteous man who perisheth in his righteousness» 356. Even now we are ready, and that since the holy |132 John the presbyter and archimandrite..... wrote to us, to proceed to Egypt, only provided that he will choose for us a quiet spot suited for our purpose, so that we may not be annoyed by turbulent men, nor yet suffer injury from our opponents. For through your saintly prayers those orthodox 357 in Isauria, forming a determination worthy of their previous life, and being the first to incur danger 358 on behalf of the common hope, have lawfully instituted an orthodox archbishop 359: and now both the man himself who has been instituted [and some of] the God-loving bishops who performed his institution, men who were indeed known to our meanness in the royal city, have written us letters that are very excellent and full of propitious hopes, which we will also read to you our fathers, [when] we deliberate [upon] what is beneficial. For you [will see] 360 from what has been [said] that we should not [reject] 360 so much good, and accept the contrary, or rather 361 simple [words]. And this I [heartily] 360 wish [your] sanctities to believe, that I would have chosen to be burned with fire, [in order] that what is |133 gratifying to you may be done, and especially where with the gratification there is combined lawfulness and reasonableness. But these things, [if] God pleases, we will [consider] 362 at length together when we meet.
XL. -------- OF THE SAME FROM THE LETTER TO THE INMATES OF THE CONVENT OF THE HOUSE OF MAR BASSUS, WHICH WAS WRITTEN ON THE SUBJECT OF NAMES 363. [510-7.]
For, if we are about to require strictness like our strictness which we observed when we were living in seclusion in monasteries, we shall not suffer presbyters or archimandrites, or anyone else who took part in the synod of Chalcedon, to be named. But, if we have regard to the complete conjunction and unity of the holy churches, which extends to many countries and churches, it is not easy suddenly to observe or think of any such rule: and, if we do, we shall unwittingly fall into useless confusion, and upset everything, since such things are not of a kind to stand at all in the way of the general benefit of peace. |134
XLI. ---- FROM THE LETTER TO MUSONIUS BISHOP OF MELOE IN ISAURIA 364, THE BEGINNING OF WHICH is, «When I came to the high-priestly throne 365». [516-7.]
And know this, that, where general unions were concerned, the fathers did not wish to inquire into the observance of the strict rule with regard to names. Many of the 318 who assembled at Nicaea, as ecclesiastical histories relate, were present at the synod at Ariminus [sic] and at Sardica 366; and still, though the doctrines there laid down 367 were not approved, no one contended about names. And in the same way at Nicaea 368 in Thrace also the synod of bishops which pronounced that the Father is like the Son, not co-essential, was rightly rejected; and yet there was no question about names at that time. It is a long matter to recount the other rejected synods, that at Sirmium, that at Lampsacus, that at Rome, that at Zelo 369, that at your Seleucia, all of which the synod of the 150 caused to be passed over in silence as if it had |135 forgotten them, not introducing among us any vain talk or superfluous inquiry about names, but only asserting the divinity 370 of the Holy Spirit together with the Father and the Son, and explaining the intention of the 318. And, when the holy Cyril with the holy synod at Ephesus accomplished the deprivation 371 of the evil Nestorius, the bishops of the East, though they contended for his rejected tenets3, afterwards agreed to the deprivation 371 of that wolf and the rejections of the hateful tenets 372; and there was never any discussion about names, although how many do you think had died in the meanwhile, who contended for the wickedness of Nestorius? For these things, as I have said, general unions have no room; but they remained without examination; since many are in fact passed over at councils, although they have often been involved in impious opinions. Since then at the present time some common agreement among the churches is hoped for, do not lower your mind to untimely hair-splitting. As there is a time to speak and a time to be silent 373, so there is a time both to inquire into a matter of this kind and not to inquire. Bear these things in mind and be rightly disposed, |136 and have no regard to men who cleave to division, and find fault with everything in the same way, whom the sacred Scripture calls backbiters and enemies of the common peace, and Christ the God of peace 374.
XLII. -------- OF THE SAME FROM THE LETTER TO THEOPHANES THE SCHOLASTIC. [516-7.]
For that to be devoid of dispensation is a subversal of every action is testified also by the text of Proverbs which says thus: «They that have not dispensation fall like leaves» 375.
Of the same, from the same letter.
We see that the champion 376 of the truth also, the man of blessed and very beloved memory, Timothy archbishop of Alexandria, walks in the same paths, and through the Encyclical letter communicated with Paul of Ephesus and Peter of Antioch, and Anastasius of Jerusalem, and, to put it simply, with all who signed the Encyclical letter, and that he did not demand any |137 rejection of names, but set one purpose only before himself, to root out the heresy from the foundations, and to show that it had been unanimously condemned, and to free the right confession from every evil species of heresy, and from the mist that arises therefrom. For all those, inasmuch as they were like Moses faithful servants in all God's house 377, were instructed in the sacred text of Proverbs which wisely teaches and says, «He that dispenseth not his house aright inheriteth winds» 378.
XLIII. [516-7.]
For in matters in which we have patristic examples we are not to blame, as the holy Severus teaches in the letter to Theophanes cited above 379.
But he who does a thing which was done by the fathers, he acts canonically and lawfully, as the holy Severus also teaches, in the letter to Theophanes cited above 379. |138
XLIV. -------- OF THE SAME FROM THE LETTER TO URBAN THE GRAMMARIAN, WHICH BEGINS, «When I read the letter of your learning». [516-7.]
In dealing with abstentions with regard to names preserved in the sacred tablets we must in fitness duly compare the things of which the sacred Scripture said that, when they fall into water that is contained in small vessels, they pollute it, but, when into pools or wells or cisterns containing many streams, they cause no stain or pollution. For the law of the divine Spirit said thus: «And every drink that ye shall drink in any vessel shall be polluted; and everything on which anything from a dead body falls is polluted. However fountains of water and pools and cisterns of water shall be pure» 380. This principle then ought to be observed in the present case also. If a man separates from many on the ground that they are infected with heresy, or that they communicate with those who are infected, let him with all his power maintain abstention from the dead body, and not mention even the name of those who are under suspicion and not genuine, lest it fall and pollute the |139 purity of the communion. But, if the holding of the orthodox faith, and an anathema of every heresy reigns in the churches, and whole countries and provinces 381, and populous churches, confess one uncorrupted confession, then names which are thought to pollute are inundated by the multitude of streams. It is good that no particle of a dead body should be introduced even into a large quantity of water; but if perchance 382 it in fact happen to be introduced, it is cleansed by the quantity of streams, and swamped by the quantity of cleansing 383. We find that in fact the holy fathers also who were in former times upholders of the right word managed these things in this way. Show us from the compositions of the doctors of the church that, after so large a number had found fault with the faith of the 318 at Ariminus [sic], any question was raised about the names of those who had died. And, not to make the letter tedious by using many words, let us pass on in mind to times that are near and not far removed. We find that the holy Timothy, he who underwent long exiles 384, united with everyone in the Encyclical, and communicated with Paul bishop of the city of the Ephesians, and Peter who had become prelate of |140 this great Christ-loving city of Antioch, while names under suspicion were preserved in the sacred tablets; and the holy Cyril, when he united with the Easterns after the deprivation 385 of Nestorius, when many bishops had died, and had departed under the stain of the Nestorian heresy, made no inquiry about names. If therefore those who set great store by strictness in respect of such names say that the oblation is not pure, let them know that their strictness also draws its origin and existence from such communion, and descends from that source as from a root. For the saintly Timothy, as we have said, consented to hold communion with those of like opinions in company with such names, he whose grandsons they are who now with a boastful front loudly proclaim, «You shall not approach me because I am pure». And this we say superfluously, that some of the bishops in the cities of the Easterns set even this also straight, and ceased to mention all such names: for others found it impossible to set this same thing straight; and it was not right for such a reason for them to enter on wrangles 386, and set themselves in array against the enthusiasm of the people of the cities, in order that they might suffer shipwreck in the most essential things. |141
XLV. ---- OF THE HOLY SEVERUS, FROM THE LETTER TO SETORIC 387 BISHOP OF CAESAREA IN CAPPADOCIA, WHICH BEGINS, «The God-loving bishop of the city of the Nyssenes». [516.]
They are not acting rightly who think that our oblation is not pure on account of the names of those who have already died, and who have fallen into heretical tenets 388, and have not been removed from the sacred tablets; because in fact such matters did not affect the oblation of orthodoxy 389 of the holy fathers also. Though Eusebius Pamphili contended for the disease of Arius, both in speech and in act, the members of the church of Caesarea mentioned his name, until the holy Cyril passed by, when he was hastening to the city of the Ephesians, and had this name removed. What shall we then say? That throughout the time during which the name of Eusebius stood in the sacred tablets it perturbed the oblation of men who held right opinions 388? What? When again the same holy Cyril of saintly memory wrote to the holy |142 Proclus bishop of Constantinople at that time to spare the name of Theodore of Mopsuestia, who was the putrid source of the hateful and putrid tenets 390 of Nestorius, in order not to give an opportunity to those who wished to disturb the church 391, shall we think that thereby some pollution and stain of heresy was inflicted on the oblation of the orthodox 392? By no means. If we search into this, there is no time at which we shall see the church to be pure. If is already well-known that such things have not and never will cause any injury to the whole fulness of the body of Christ. In fact in Leviticus we find something like this written, where it is dealing with the pollution that is caused to anything by a dead body, as follows: «And all food that ye shall eat on which water shall come, and there fall upon it any of these dead things, it is pollution; and every drink that ye shall drink in any vessel is polluted. However of 393 springs of water and of pools and of cisterns of water they shall be pure» 394. What then is it that is made known to us by this? That, when certain men are by themselves, in a church for instance or in one |143 city, or in monasteries perhaps make mention of the names of those who are under suspicion and of dead men, like the similarly small amount of water contained in a vessel they are polluted by the mention, as if something dead were falling; but, when churches of many provinces 395 and of dioceses are held in one bond of faith, and resemble fair fountains and pools and cisterns of water, the dead thing which has the property of polluting if it fall cannot injure; for it is swamped by the flow, and by the abundance of many streams. I have said these things in order to show from the God-inspired Scripture, and from the bishops, the pastors, the upholders of right reason, that in such matters observance of every point is endless, and that mention of this kind 396 does no injury to the fair body of the church. But your sanctity should know that we have by a letter made the above project known to the saintly Dioscorus also, bishop of Alexandria 397, since we considered his assent also most necessary. |144
XLVI. ---- OF THE HOLY SEVERUS, FROM THE LETTER TO HIPPOCRATES THE SCHOLASTIC 398, WHICH BEGINS, «I have not learned to jest at divine things as on a stage 399». [516-7.]
For the holy Cyril also, after he had written a derisive book against Theodore and Diodorus, the teachers of the impiety of Nestorius (and he contends against them and says, «You have surpassed the open-mouthedness of the heathen, you have shown the impieties of Jewish pride to be nothing»400), sent a message by letter to Proclus of saintly memory bishop of Constantinople not to remove the name of such men from the sacred diptychs, because those of the East clung to the memory of this man401.
Of the holy Severus, from the letter to Hippocrates, which begins, «Not to jest as on a stage».
For I believe that we incur equal danger 402 if we abate anything from |145 strictness in the case of strict and perfect men, and if we show untimely strictness in the case of men who need a dispensation and lawful concession, and give our neighbour, as it is written, turbid dregs to drink 403.
Of the same from the letter to Hippocrates the scholastic, which begins, «I have not learned to jest at divine things as on a stage».
Being pricked by these words and divine laws as by goads, and fearing and trembling, I mentioned the matter of those from Cappadocia who wish to be united to us to the saintly Dioscorus bishop of Alexandria and our fellow-minister, and 1 consulted with your learning also, revealing to you all my affairs from the beginning, and hiding nothing whatever; and I do not know how it is that you have thrown over the letters and consultations that have passed since that time, and tell us to take no account of those from Cappadocia the waste country, but to treat the divine laws that I have just mentioned with contempt. In the first place the same account is due to one soul |146 and to many; and next how can we call the two Cappadocias and Armenia waste places? But in this you thought or spoke rather 404 like the natives of the country (allow me with your pardon to say), and not truly. For it is the habit of the Alexandrines to think that the sun rises for them only, and towards them only the lamp burns, so that they even jestingly term outside cities 'lampless'. If for the purpose of right judgments it is possible to weigh the numbers of a people, like weights that are distinguished by the inclinations of the scale of a balance, the inhabitants of all these countries will produce no less than the whole city of the Alexandrines. But you say that in the case of men who make right requests we should have regard to our understanding. But in this also we have a better principle, as we showed in what we said a little before, having countless other texts of the God-inspired Scriptures also which command us, that those that are strong should bear the infirmities of those that are weak 405, and that we should not have regard to our own affairs but to the interest of others 406, and texts that agree with those. And, while was writing and speaking |147 these things, I showed caution in every point, and did not trust to myself in everything, but awaited the assent of the saintly Dioscorus my fellow-minister who shares my opinions, and Eleusinius 407 and Proclus 408 the God-loving bishops from Cappadocia I took from the beginning as my fellow-communicants and now hold them as such, since they have anathematized the synod of Chalcedon by many signatures in no small number of tomes: but Soteric 409 who offered us a covenant of union and conjunction I passed over, for I did not wish to term him our fellow-communicant by letter (how could I so term one who is not bound in communion?) Wherefore also Asterius, his God-loving brother, and bishop of Nyssa, is ready to leave the see. So for our part we held to our own principles and did not give any man, to speak in the words of Scripture, cause of offence 410. For we know positively and we say openly 411 that you have formed an execrable purpose that is not pleasing to God. And I beg your learning not to bestow this foolish favour on me at all, and hide what was written by me, but make it known, if possible, to everyone. What sense is there in |148 our promising something difficult on account of an insignificant cause of fear, and in fact taking the opposite course?
Of the same from the letter to Hippocrates the Alexandrine scholastic, the beginning of which is, «And I have not learned to jest at divine things as on a stage».
But as to the edict I have often said to your wisdom what my position is, and it seems a piece of perversity that we should sing 412 to no purpose about the same things; for whether you remember or do not remember is the same to me. While the things wickedly done at Chalcedon against the orthodox faith are not anathematized by name, no argument can persuade me like an interpreter of dreams to expound and forcibly understand the text of the edict as a rejection of the unlawful things. (And again he says of the Henotikon.) For it contains a right confession of faith only, though by itself it be destitute of healing for what is required. |149
Of the same from the same letter.
And, when all the bishops of the East were present at Antioch 413, and anathematized the synod in writing, and we addressed a synodical letter to Timothy the prelate of the royal city, we anathematized what was done at Chalcedon against the orthodox faith, and the Jewish Tome of Leo, and those who call our one Lord and God Jesus Christ two natures after the incomprehensible union. And afterwards, when innumerable attacks were made upon me, insomuch that the glorious Asterius, the ex-prefect 414 of the city, who held the office called a secretis 415, was sent after me, I was not in the least frightened, nor did I fear, nor yield to the time, though he said, «The kingdom of the Romans is in a turmoil 416 on account of this», but I plainly said, «I am ready to leave the city and resign the see, rather than upset one stroke of what I wrote from the beginning in the synodical words addressed to Timothy»: and this I did not say without writing it down, but I expressed myself with freedom 417 in writing to the religious king also. |150
XLVII. -------- OF THE SAME FROM ANOTHER LETTER TO THE SAME HIPPOCRATES, THE BEGINNING OF WHICH IS, «That which brings your wisdom». [516-7.]
But this you may keep firmly and fixedly in your mind, that no one shall be our fellow-communicant, nor will we consent to greet by letter any man who at the same time receives the wicked synod at Chalcedon contrary to the law, and does not anathematize the Tome of Leo. But, if any concession is necessary 418, I will stand within the ordinances of the holy Timothy 419, considering the general benefit of a union of the holy churches, and demanding an open anathema of the things done at Chalcedon against the orthodox faith, and of the wicked Tome of Leo, and of those who speak of two natures after the union, and the operations of these and their properties. But, if these things are upset, no argument nor inducement shall persuade me to assent to the wickedness. For I say like Paul, «It is better for me to die, than that anyone should make my boasting vain: for, if I so preach, I have no |151 cause of boasting; for necessity is laid upon me, and woe to me unless I so preach, since so I have received»420.
XLVIII. -------- FOR THE HOLY SEVERUS SAID IN A LETTER TO HIPPOCRATES. [516-7.]
This therefore I testify to all who confess the right faith according to the apostolic command, before God and Christ the Son, who shall judge living and dead at his appearance and in his kingdom, that for my part I even now also have believed that I have stood and stand as a mediator between the holy church of Alexander's city and that of the city of Antiochus, holding the right hand of each of them, and I will hold inseparably to the confessions in which both have been united, although I pass beyond the bounds of Gades or of the end of the inhabited earth.
XLIX. -------- OF THE SAME FROM THE LETTER TO DIOSCORUS PATRIARCH OF ALEXANDRIA. [516-7.]
But perhaps it is good to say, both to our people and to all strangers, |152 that, if the time of concession call, to catch one who is separated and to gain him, I prescribe a formula that does not exceed what is right, but goes in the middle of the king's highway 421, a formula which anathematizes by name the things done at Chalcedon against the orthodox faith, and against those who contended on behalf of this, and the wicked Tome of Leo, who became chief of the church of the Romans, and those who call our one Lord and God Jesus Christ two natures after the divine and ineffable union, there being also expressly joined with these things the right confession contained in the edict of Zeno of pious ending, for the rejection of the wicked synod at Chalcedon. If the things blasphemously and unlawfully done at that synod, and the polluted Tome of Leo, and those who after the union divide the one Christ into a duality of natures, are not anathematized, though the edict or Henotikon is taken as a rejection of these things, I do not consider this sufficient for persuasion, as was also declared in the proceedings 422 held among you. |153
L.-------- OF THE SAME FROM THE LETTER TO DIOSCORUS BISHOP OF ALEXANDRIA. [516-7.]
But neither can I consent to the proposals that come from your religiousness, nor is it reasonable for me to form a judgment upon the things written by the other party as if something certain were in question, even if it were an angel who says these things: for can I ratify words without witnesses and without verification while we are at a distance?
LI. -------- AND THIS AGAIN THE HOLY SEVERUS STATES IN THE LETTER TO AMANTIUS THE CHAMBERLAIN, IN REFERENCE TO EPIPHANIUS METROPOLITAN OF TYRE 423, «Even if he repents, I cannot receive him, lest the church be rent asunder in that he has wounded the feelings of many»; FOR HE SAID THUS: [513-8.]
Now therefore I have thought it necessary to write this present short letter and inform you that the good and gentle Epiphanius of the city |154 of the Tyrians exalted himself against my great weakness, and he became an example to others to secede; but he has also wounded the hearts of all the believers, as if I, who confess the right faith, were hurling myself against that impious man, who exalts himself both against the divine commands and against church order; so that, if I wish, it is no longer permissible for me to receive him in communion, even if he repents, since every man's conscience has already been wounded because of him.
LII. -------- OF THE SAME FROM THE nd LETTER TO THE SAME PHILIP THE PRESBYTER AND MONK 424 ABOUT THE FORMATION OF MAN, AND THAT THE MONASTIC HABIT FREES FROM PREVIOUS SINS.
And now I turn to the statement made by your religiousness, that one of those who live an ascetic life of philosophic labour, after he had come and presented himself for ordination 425 in order that he might officiate as a priest to God, having afterwards come to remember his life, and the sins that he had committed in his boyhood, and all the rest of his life, and having learned |155 that the canon requires blamelessness, sought to range himself outside the priestly ministry, and in a way renounce ordination 426, and satisfy the canon. How is this endurable? tell me; and how is it anything but a result of false modesty? You write that this man has lived both with earnestness and according to the ordinances of philosophy 427, and, to speak in the language of Scripture, looks to himself 428. If the facts of that great sin which cuts off from the priesthood or from the ministry had happened after the profession of monastic life, then there would have been reason for modesty to play its part. But, where the facts of the sin happened firsthand the enrolling in philosophy followed, how is it right to feel fear where no fear is 429? We believe, not without the divine Spirit, that the holy habit of the monastic life carries forgiveness of sins, and strips off the old man 'who is corrupted in the lusts of error', and puts on 'the new man who was created in God, in righteousness and sanctity of truth' 430, as the wise Paul somewhere said in writing. I adduce, although I am addressing those who know, in confirmation of what has been stated, |156 the vision which that heavenly man the great Antony saw. What in fact does the man who told the story of his life say, the divine Athanasius who is among the high-priests? «When he was about to eat, and had risen to pray at the 9th hour, he felt his consciousness lifted up, and (wonderful to relate!) he felt himself standing and seeing himself, as if he had been taken outside him, and as if he were being led into the air by some men, and afterwards some grievous and cruel men standing in the air and seeking to prevent him from passing. And, when the conductors opposed, these required an account to know if he were not liable to them; but, when they sought to make an account from his birth, those who were leading Antony prevented it, saying to these: 'What happened from his birth the Lord has wiped out; but you may inquire into the time since he became a monk and made profession to God'. Then upon their making charges and failing to convict, the road was made free and unimpeded before him. And immediately he saw himself standing, as if he had come to himself, and that he was again wholly Antony» 431. Guided therefore by this divine command, I have answered the present question; and I affirm and say with confidence that that modest man |157 must retain the priestly ministry, since with his very scrupulousness and carefulness he has conferred a great benefit upon us, and by the wise and modest question has astringed with apostolic salt those who gape for priestly offices, and fun after ordinations 432, like the pomp 433 and honours of the world, and those whose minds are fixed on pride or on visions of things here, and who treat as of no account the judgments which we shall receive for these things, when the day of judgment arrives, which will assuredly come, and is spoken of by every one's mouth, but is looked for by few as it should be looked for.
LIII. ---- OF THE HOLY SEVERUS FROM THE LETTER TO CAESARIA THE HYPATISSA 434, WHICH BEGINS, «Again of this letter also let God be the beginning». [519-38.]
You are acting rightly and as befits women who profess religion in asking everything without shame; for there is one thing only that brings shame, if through sin we come in conflict with God's laws, and fall under the |158 judgment of divine wrath. I. Know therefore that a woman who has the usual flow of blood ought not to communicate in the divine communion till the blood ceases to come. II. On the same principle, in the case of one also who has held the chaste intercourse of the couch with a lawful husband, after the same intercourse, it is not in accordance with religion that she should for the space of a day receive the most mysterious food: for these things increase men's awe and clearness of vision as regards the practice of religion and the worship of God.
In the apostolic injunctions something like this is written about a widow who is appointed in the churches: «But, after she enters upon her functions, as has been said, let her not be concerned with anything, but be alone, for the purpose of undisturbed prayers; for to such a widow solitude is a foundation of holiness and of life: for she has had no pleasure in anyone else but the God of gods, the Father in heaven. But at stated times let her give praise apart, at night and in the morning. If she have a menstruation, let her remain in the church, but not approach the altar; not that she is polluted, but because honour is due to the altar» 435. For the sake |159 of confirmation we have also adduced the answers of the blessed and saintly Timothy, the great bishop of Alexandria, who was at the time of the synod of the 150 bishops, which in giving instruction on such matters write for us in agreement with the apostles, and on the present point enjoin as follows: Question V; if a woman be with her husband at night, whether she ought to receive or not; Answer. «They ought not to receive immediately, since the apostle cries: 'Deprive not one another, unless it be by consent for a time' (by 'time' he means that which is occupied with communion), 'that ye may devote yourselves to prayer, and come together again, lest Satan tempt you concerning the lust of incontinence'»: and again: Question VII; if a believing woman see that which is customary among women, whether she ought to approach the mysteries on the same day, or not. Answer. «A religious woman therefore who is about to receive of the divine communion ought to prepare herself beforehand before that day, and abstain from the lawful couch, in honour of the body and blood of God»436. |160
LIV. ---- FROM THE LETTER OF THE HOLY SEVERUS, PATRIARCH OF ANTIOCH, TO CAESARIA THE HYPATISSA, THE BEGINNING OF WHICH is «The words that were addressed to me by your God-loving highness». [519-38.]
[The order of service of me, Severus, in Palestine and in Antioch they continue to sing even down to this day.
The office 437.
The service of night and evening] 438. But I wish your God-loving highness to know that the order of- hymns and odes has been preserved in one form among the Egyptians, in another among the Palestinians and Phoenicians, and in another among the Syrians, according to the custom that has been handed down from the beginning in each of the regions.....439 |161
LV. ---- OF THE HOLY SEVERUS FROM THE 21st HYPOMNESTIKON TO CAESARIA THE HYPATISSA. [519-33.]
But, as to the kings, hear a story of the holy old men that has been transmitted and has come down to us. They said that the religious king Theodosius sent someone secretly to father Nisthora 440 the God-clad old man, begging of him to pray that a male child might be given him: and, on the day on which the messenger reached his cell in the desert, it happened that that old man died two or three hours before; and, when that man knocked at the door, immediately the old man rose up and sat down according to his custom to make a rope 441 of palm-leaves; and he said to his disciple, «Bring in the man who knocked»: and when he came in he said to him, «Say to Theodosius, 'Because God loves you, he will not give you a malakion; for after your reign the faith shall be corrupted; and the faith of Nestorius shall prevail, and God does not wish the evil to be done through your seed'» (The Egyptians call a male infant malakion, as the Byzantines call it |162 philikarion): and, when that man had gone out, that old man again lay down and fell asleep and departed to God. This father Nisthora was a celebrated man, so that his words are recorded in several of the books which contain tales of the holy old men. So long therefore as the synod of Chalcedon is in force, it is impossible for a king to beget sons 442, or, if he beget one, to leave the kingdom to his son. And this was both foretold by those holy men, and in the days of Leo the king proved by experience: for Leontarius the younger was actually created Caesar, and died an untimely death before his father 443. Vainly therefore does he err who deceives himself.
LVI. ---- OF MAR SEVERUS TO CAESARIA THE HYPATISSA, BY WAY OF DEFENCE FOR HIS OWN FEAR AND TIMIDITY, AND THAT TO FEAR WHEN IT HAS HAPPENED THAT TRIALS BESET US WORKS A REWARD AND IS A MARK OF LOVE OF GOD. [519(?).]
David that king and lover of God and prophet, who was more humble than all men, when Saul had twice armed himself against him, with many |163 thousands of armed men and warlike soldiers, and, after being in a way caught, he not only escaped in a marvellous manner from the danger 444 which surrounded him, but even captured with his hands the man who had armed himself against him, and he had it in his power to kill him, mercifully spared him twice, that enemy and murderer who was so ferociously set against him. And yet, [after] he had received such an experience of God's support and protection, hear what kind of things he meditates and says [in] his mind when he is debating with himself. «And David said in his heart, 'Now shall I [be delivered] one day into Saul's hands and there is nothing good for me, unless I escape to the land of aliens, and Saul cease searching for me through the whole border of Israel, and I escape from his [hand]'. And David arose and the 600 men who were with him; and he went to Achish son of Maacah, [King of Gath]; and David settled with Achish in Gath he and his men» 445. Where therefore was then Caesaria the strongest of all persons in faith, in order that she might have said to David also who was [meditating] and doing such things, «Whither flee you, O prophet? Rather 446 |164 you are forgetting God's [high and] constant right hand, which saved you and delivered that adversary and foeman into your hands, faithless thoughts have gained control of you»; and, «The land of the mightiness of that Exalted one is more worthy of confidence for your protection than that of Achish the barbarian. It seems to me that the words escape your memory which you yourself... sing by the Holy Spirit, which, I believe, run: 'Many are the tribulations of the righteous, and the Lord will deliver them out of them all. The Lord preserveth all their bones, and not one of them shall be broken'; and again, 'The Lord will deliver the souls of his own bondmen' 447»? In answer to these things David would say, «Listen, my daughter, and incline thine ear' 448. I know the purport of the spiritual songs that were sung by me better than you: but I also know the God of all, who beyond all hope snatches his own peculiar bondmen out of all dangers 449, and again, exercising them, also leaves them to adopt plans derived from human thoughts, and weapons drawn from nature, in order that they may also flee and choose to suffer everything, and not betray God, and do aught that distresses him. If we trusted to his help and were incapable of falling, not weakening in |165 anything of ourselves or contributing anything, the virtue would be without reward; or rather 450 there would be no room at all to perform anything whatever, or to show any kind of success».
For this reason therefore Moses the great was afraid of the king of Egypt and fled, and became a sojourner in the land of Midian for 40 years, and again he returned to Egypt, and transfers the fear to the king, and he chastised that obstinate and disobedient man with plagues by means of the marvellous signs. [And the one] was the effect of the virtue of Moses, that is [the affair] of the flight by which he fled, in order to bring just help to his countrymen who were being oppressed, while the other was the effect of the mightiness of God, the display of the great wonders.
And Elijah the prophet, fearing the threat of Jezebel, the wife of that prodigal 451 and impious man, was a fugitive, he who bound the clouds for three years and six months, and dried up the land with drought, and again by a word brought down rain. But Paul also, the great in signs and wonders, was let down from the wall in a basket 452 by the disciples in Damascus |166 and fled, when the Jews wanted to kill him; and those who took pleasure in hearing his teaching did not say, «Let the teacher stay with us that we may hear his very pleasant exposition, by means of which he causes the venomous reptiles to flee like a stag» (I mean the demons and evil spirits that are envious and hostile against the salvation of men).
(After other things). And the Lord also, the Giver of powers, not being a teacher of timidity, said, «When they persecute you in this city, flee ye to another» 453, wishing us not to trust in our own strength, but rather 454 be anxious about such things, and, when at his permission conditions of trial beset us, then indeed we must fight bravely.
LVII. -------- OF THE BLESSED MAR SEVERUS, CONCERNING ORDINATION 455.
The test of true ordination3 is not the matter of the see, but holding the right faith in God. |167
LVIII. ---- To ZENOBIUS 456. [513-8.]
But he who is lacking in wisdom and virtue is under blame; and he who is under blame is under sin.
LIX. -------- FROM THE LETTER TO ANDREW THE PRESBYTER 457. [519-33.]
For the mind that is burdened by the dull weight of demons does not receive the spiritual first word.
LX. ---- OF MAR SEVERUS FROM THE LETTER TO JOHN ARCHIMANDRITE OF THE HOUSE OF MAR HANANYA.
When I learned that the presbyter and archimandrite Beronician (?) 458 of saintly memory had departed and migrated to the heavenly mansions, partly from outside report, and partly from his revered letter, which at his decease |168 he left for me as a blessing 459, which is truly full of all spiritual blessing, then I was distressed and my heart gave me bitter pain; and not only did I lament for his decease, but I also lifted the eyes of my mind together with my body upwards, and lifted up my voice to him, as to one who hears and perceives; for indeed he does even perceive the truth, «My father, my father, the chariots of Israel and the horsemen thereof» 460.
LXI. ---- OF THE HOLY SEVERUS THE PATRIARCH, A LETTER TO THE HOLY CONVENTS OF VIRGINS OF CHRIST. [519-25.]
An identical copy 461 to each one of them.
That a church is a confession of right faith no one who is reckoned among Christians and has understanding doubts, since the Lord plainly said in the Gospels to the divine Peter, the first of the apostles, when he made the confession, «Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God», «Thou art Cephas, and upon this rock will I build my church, and the gates of Sheol shall not |169 prevail against it» 462; and he called the firmness and fixity of such a confession a rock. And, as speech knows a right and sound opinion on faith as a church, so it also knows the believers who confess it as a church. And David the wonderful among prophets, depicting this church beforehand as a queen and a virgin clad in various kinds of flowers and in royal excellencies, and for this reason all the more and 463 in loving fashion espoused to the king, and gathering many virgin souls, and attracting them to her pattern and the example of her chaste life, said, «Virgins shall go to the king after her» 464. You also therefore showed by your writings and acts, after choosing the virgin and angelic life, that is free from all material things, that you are walking after the queen and first virgin, the church. See therefore that you turn not your looks away, but with all diligence look intently and securely and fixedly at her, and cleave to her, in order that, being hard by, you may enter the king's temple, which is the expected rest, and the suprasensual bridal-chamber, concerning which the same prophet again said, «Holy is thy temple, and wonderful in righteousness» 465: |170 For it excites wonder as something holy and raised above earthly deeds and thoughts, and it cannot be expressed and explained in words, but shows by experience to those who are worthy what manner of thing it is; and, looking at the bountiful right hand of the Giver, they will say, «Pleasure is in thy right hand for ever» 466. These things may your chastities find, showing as you do the lamp of asceticism in its brightness, through keeping the orthodox faith; for, when this is absent, the lamp inasmuch as it lacks oil cannot give light 467. Be not therefore remiss in labours, but sustain yourselves on the hope of the future life, and look for a reward to be added to the now existing troubles, and ask the God of all not to allow us to be tried beyond what we can bear, but with the trial to give also a way of escape, that we may be able to endure 468. And these things we have written in few words, being as we are at a distance and in varying and unwonted places; but every day we are with you in spirit, and speak similar words.
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Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
SOURCE SECTION: severus_coll_3_letters.htm
Severus of Antioch: A collection of letters from numerous Syriac manuscripts (1915). Letters 62-118.
Severus of Antioch: A collection of letters from numerous Syriac manuscripts (1915). Letters 62-118.
PATROLOGIA ORIENTALIS
TOMUS DECIMUS QUARTUS
A COLLECTION OF LETTERS OF SEVERUS OF ANTIOCH
FROM NUMEROUS SYRIAC MANUSCRIPTS
EDITED AND TRANSLATED
BY
E. W. BROOKS
|172MANUSCRIPTS
A = Brit. Mus. Add. 14601 (9th cent.).
E = ---- ---- ---- 17214 ( th cent.),
F = ---- ---- ---- 14538 (10th cent.).
G = ---- ---- ---- 12155 ( th cent.).
H = ---- ---- ---- 17193 (874).
I = ---- ---- ---- 12144 (1081).
J = ---- ---- ---- 12168 ( th or 9th cent.).
K = ---- ---- ---- 17191 (9th or 10th cent.).
L = ---- ---- ---- - 14532 ( th cent.).
M = ---- ---- ---- 14533 ( th or 9th cent.)
N = ---- ---- ---- 14613 (9th or 10th cent.).
Q = ---- ---- ---- 12154 (circ. 800).
T = ---- ---- ---- 14612 ( th or th cent.).
U = ---- ---- ---- 12153 (845).
V = Vat. Syr. 103 (841).
W= ---- ---- 100 (9th or 10th cent.).
X = ---- ---- 107 ( th cent.).
Y = ---- ---- 108 ( th cent.).
Z = Brit. Mus. Add. 7191 ( th cent.).
C = ---- ---- ---- 7192 ( th cent.).
FOR THE APPENDIX. Brit. Mus. Add. 14504 (9th cent.).
When the same passages occur in more than one place, in the same ms., the differentiation is marked by the addition of (1) (2) (3) or (4) after the letter indicating the ms.
|173
LXII. (XIX)469. ---- OUR GOD-INSPIRED FATHER SEVERUS SAYS IN THE LETTER TO ISIDORE THE COUNT, THE BEGINNING OF WHICH IS, «I rejoiced greatly when I received the letter of your Christ-loving illustriousness».
[508-511(?)] As regards these things therefore I think that we ought to avoid this composite term, that we should call the Holy Trinity or the Father uni-essential, both because it is not found among the accurate fathers, and470 it gives occasions for the evil deviations of the heretics: but they called the Trinity co-essential, in order that by means of this word so plainly and very excellently stated there might be expressed in the same phrase both the oneness of the essence 471 and the separation of the hypostases, and by means of this one word unity and division: for by being called co-essential with the Father and the Holy Spirit the Son claims to share essence3 with those who are reckoned with him, but to be distinct in hypostasis; for a man is not co-essential with himself, but one man with another. |174
LXIII. ---- OF THE HOLY 472 MAR SEVERUS FROM THE LETTER TO CAESARIA473.
[519-33.] When474 therefore Adam was stripped of the blessedness of immortality, and was thereafter destined to be cast into the earth by means of death, then only there was introduced, as being necessary, the process of the generation of children, which preserves a succession to our race by means of the intercourse of copulation, and by means of the partnership of male and female, in the manner in which the quadrupeds also increase and multiply by generation. And for this reason also the flow comes from the very members which point downwards, and intercourse and birth do not take place from any other, in order that we may learn that it was from a high and heavenly position that we flowed down to this lowly state. |175
LXIV.475 ---- AND LET THE GOD-GLAD SEVERUS ALSO BEAR WITNESS, HE WHO IN ALL SUCH MATTERS HAS MORE KNOWLEDGE THAN MANY MEN. IN THE LETTER TO OECUMENIUS 476 OF WHICH THE BEGINNING IS, «Neither did I forget when I was writing the letter», IN SPEAKING ON THIS SUBJECT HE USES THE FOLLOWING WORDS.
[513-8.] For those therefore who wish to learn the purport of what has been written by me in brief and in few words it was right that these things should be put forward: but to those who desire to know the reasons and the argument 477 contained in this composition let the whole letter be given. But it is certain that even a man who has received summaries of what has been said will need the whole: for a summary is an epitome of many words; therefore he must first know those many words in order to know of what things it is an epitome. Otherwise the result will be that we shall be putting forward empty words devoid of sense, like those perhaps who desired to speak with tongues only, whom Paul reproves, saying, «For, if I prayed |176 in a tongue, my spirit prayeth, but my understanding is unfruitful»: and afterwards he adds what he thinks right, saying, «I will pray with my spirit, but I will pray also with my understanding. I will sing with my spirit, but I will sing also with my understanding» 478. And I therefore, making a slight change, say: It is right to argue with words; but it is right to argue also with the understanding. I do not know if any of the God-clad fathers pronounced it right for us to speak in brief when giving teaching; for in these matters it is a welcome thing if even by expending the whole power of speech that is in us we utter a small portion and that in obscure form of what the intellect has gathered.
LXV. ---- FROM THE LETTER OF THE SAME HOLY SEVERUS TO EUPRAXIUS THE CHAMBERLAIN 479, AND ABOUT THE QUESTIONS WHICH HE ADDRESSED TO HIM.
[508-11.] (And the first question is this, as to how we say that God the Word was begotten without beginning by the Father: and the beginning of the letter is this: «You, |177 God-loving Eupraxius, are smitten with divine love»: and a little farther on the defence). First therefore you seek to learn how we say that God the Word was begotten without beginning by the Father. But I from the very appellation 'Father' say that the generation of the Son is without beginning. If the Father was from eternity, the Son also, who shows forth the Father, existed from eternity: for, if there was a time when the Son did not exist, there was then a time when the Father was not a father. We, because we are a corruptible nature, come into being in time, and again pass away from being: therefore also the names applied to us vary; and at one time we are sons of certain persons, and after this we cease to be sons, and we become fathers, and we beget others. But God is in his nature invariable, and he is as he is from eternity, and he is a father from eternity. And the Son became such to eternity, and the Son is a son who is from eternity, and he was begotten everlastingly by the Father, and he did not acquire for the Father from outside the status of a father, because the Son was begotten by him without beginning and without time. If we say that the Son is the wisdom and the power of the Father in accordance with the wise Paul's |178 saying, «Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God»480, how is it not beyond all impiety for us to presume to say that the Father ever appeared without wisdom or without power? But, if he is wise from eternity, and he is powerful from eternity, then he has also wisdom and power from eternity, which is Christ: for he is the ray of the glory of the Father, and the impress of his hypostasis481. As the sun from which it. shines is the cause of the ray, and the sun is a circle and orb, and, so to speak, a composition, and the ray that comes from it is the light that is emitted and lightens everything under heaven, the land I mean and the sea at the same time, and one can never see the sun without the ray that comes from it, but, when you hear of the sun, then you also without separation think of and understand the light that comes from it, that which gives light and that which is lightened by it, for it is from it, and is not after it, so also from the everlasting and suprasensual light, which is the Father, the Son shone forth without beginning and everlastingly, who himself also is the suprasensual ray which proceeds from him by generation, and does not appear after him. And, as when we hear the divine Scripture calling the Son a ray, |179 we think of the Father from whom, he radiated, so, when we hear that he is the Word of God, according to the passage, «In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God» 482, we regularly think of the Father who is the subject of the Word, who begot the Son from his own nature without passion, the Word so to speak of a great intellect, and the messenger in whom he displays and makes known and on whom he impresses the hypostasis of the Father, who is a great intellect, and a mind above all. things. And, as our mind begets the word without passion, and makes known the thought that is in the heart, and the word is a true image of the mind and an exact likeness, and in conjunction with the word, so to speak, there proceeds forth, also the emission of the breath of the mouth, in the same way from the essence 483 of the Father also the Son proceeds by way of birth, and the Holy Spirit by way of procession. And of the person of the Son who is the wisdom of the Father it is written, «I was born before all the mountains» 484, and about the Spirit it is said, «The Holy Spirit which proceedeth from the Father» 485. And the divine Scripture does not use such words at random, saying that the Son is begotten and the Spirit proceeds, |180 486 but that we may not confuse the hypostases, and that 487 we may know definitely that the Son is one in his hypostasis, and the Holy Spirit another, and that, though they are both from the same essence488, and from the same one Father, one is begotten and the other proceeds: whence it follows that the Holy Spirit is not the Son; for he is not begotten but proceeds. But, if anyone say, «How is the Son begotten, and how does the Spirit proceed?», we discreetly say that it is as the Father knows that he begot and the Son that he was begotten, and the Spirit that he is from the Father; but this even the very angels are not allowed to understand, and we too will not contuse ourselves by investigating it. But, inasmuch as we are variable, our mind, being subject to variations and changes, emits a word that proceeds and is dissolved in the air 489, and a breath in the same way that as soon as it proceeds is diffused over the same air3. But God and the Father, the living and |181 hypostatic mind, being incorruptible and invariable, and everlastingly the same, consequently begets a living and hypostatic Word, and emits a living and hypostatic Spirit. And, as the Father is the Creator, so the Son is the Creator, and the Holy Spirit: for 'by the word of the Lord were the heavens established, and by the spirit of his mouth all the strength of them'490: and, since they are of the same essence 491 of the Father, they are of necessity 492 of the same glory and kingship and eternity; for the fact that they are of the same essence 491 brings with it identity in every respect. And, when we hear of the Son, we immediately understand that he himself is of the same essence 491 as the Father; for every father certainly begets a son of the same essence 491 as himself. Thus also from every appellation 493 we draw |182 God-befitting thoughts about the Son, from that of 'ray' the thought of co-eternity with the Father, from that of 'Word' impassibility of birth, from that of 'Son' the thought of co-essentiality. It is impossible for us in one appellation or illustration to comprehend all the attributes that exist in the divine nature, because it is without likeness and without peer: but, when we receive from each of the names that which is God-befitting, we dismiss all the other things and let them remain below. When we speak of the divine nature, we mean the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, separating the hypostases, but |183 uniting the Godhead. And, as the name 'Father' and the fact that he is not begotten by anything is the peculiar characteristic of the hypostasis of the Father, so also the name 'Son' and the fact that he is begotten by the Father is the peculiar characteristic of the hypostasis of the Son: similarly also the appellation 'Holy Spirit' and the fact that he is not begotten but proceeds from the Father is the peculiar characteristic of the hypostasis of the Holy Spirit. While therefore the hypostases or persons are recognised by the peculiar characteristics, and the Father is not converted into the Son or the Holy Spirit, nor does the Son pass into the Holy Spirit or the Father, nor yet is the Holy Spirit transformed so as to become the Father or the Son, the three are one, in that they are of the same essence of the Godhead; for the Father is God, and the Son God, and the Holy Spirit God, and, while |184 the hypostases remain unconfused, the Trinity is invariable in all points: for its essence 494 is one, its glory one, its everlastingness one, its kingship one, its power one, its will one, its operation one, and through it we hold that the Trinity is one God. And, though each appears by himself, yet there is one Godhead, in the same essence 495......the Son the fact that he is begotten, and the Spirit the fact that he proceeds. And these are from the Father as from a root and we refer their Godhead eternally and timelessly to one first cause, to the Father, and so the principle of a single first cause is preserved. For we do not hold several first causes, but we reject the Jewish poverty also which sees little,, and do not confine the Godhead in one person, and at the same time we know and think of three hypostases in one essence1, and one identity of honour, and do not divide it into a trinity of first causes, and shun the polytheism of the pagans.
(Of Cyril, from the 12th chapter of the Treasure. «As the sun is in the ray that proceeds from it, and the ray in the sun from which it proceeded, |185 and in the word is the intellect which begot it, and in the river the fount that sent it forth, and in the image the original, so the Father is in the Son and the Son in the Father, as he says, 'He who hath seen me hath seen the Father', and, 'I and my Father are one', and, 'I am in my Father, and my Father in me', being numerically divided into a duality, and being so in hypostases, but in that they are one in nature restricted to one Godhead») 496. Next the second question, 'Why and in what way do we say that God the Word was humanized?'. The defence. But now it is reasonable to consider why and in what way we say that the only Word, the Son of God, was humanized; for this is the second question that you put. But we without going outside the divine Scriptures say that the reason for which he shone upon and gave light to this world by the coming of his Humanization in the flesh was that, as in Adam we die, so in Christ himself we might live 497, and, as it is said, «By man is death, so also by man is the resurrection of the dead» 498. Since Adam was condemned to death after the transgression which was committed through the deceitfulness of the serpent, and heard the words, |186 «Dust thou art and to dust shalt thou return», and, «Cursed is the ground in the work of thine hands», and, «In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat thy bread», and Eve too was also condemned with him by hearing the words, «In pains shalt thou bear children» 499, so with us also who are sprung from them the charges of disobedience have been confirmed, and we ourselves are dust and to dust we return, and we are condemned to the curse and are creatures born in pains: and from that time we have been in subjection, being subject to lust and to the varied pleasure of this, according to the saying of the blessed Paul 500. For it was right that against the cunning contriver of evil, the serpent and the destroyer of our life, we should contend with him with the same weapons (?) 501 with which he deceived those founders of our race: and, since it was not the part of another power to annul the punishment fixed by our Lord himself, he did not send an envoy nor an angel, but, as Isaiah cries, the Lord himself saved us 502. The only God the Word who is before the ages, the power and wisdom of the Father, in whose image he created rational man, became flesh, I mean man according to the words of «John 503, not that he was changed into flesh (far be it!), but, while he remained invariable as God, he himself assumed the whole of me by a true |187 and hypostatic union, but still without the sin which had come in upon us 504. For, immediately after Gabriel had made announcement to the Virgin and said to her, «Rejoice greatly, thou that art made glad, the Lord is with thee»505, at the very moment of time, we believe that God the Word himself came to dwell in her womb, and was incarnate of the Holy Spirit, and olthe very leaven of the holy Virgin, in flesh of our nature possessing an intelligent soul. For he says, «That which is born in thee is of the Holy Spirit» 506, since the Holy Spirit.operatively effected the fertilization of the conception, while Mary contributed the birth according to the natural manner of mothers. Wherefore also the period of conception was one of nine months (for he says, «But, when the days were accomplished that she should bring forth» 507), and all these things were devoid of phantasy 508, since he who was conceived took the seed of Abraham 509: for a descendant of Abraham is the Virgin, who also is of our nature, from whom the Lord took flesh and became a babe. For he himself became a babe, and the babe was not first formed separately, while he afterwards came to be with him by way of indwelling, as those who divide him into two natures say. This unsound opinion is |188 rejected by the blessed Paul when he says, «For, since the children partook of flesh and blood, he himself also similarly partook of the same, in order that through death he might destroy him who hath the power of death, who is the devil» 510. If then 511 he partook of flesh and blood similarly to the children and in the same way, it is plain that, as the soul of a man is born with its own body, though in its nature it is incorporeal, but is nevertheless reckoned to be one with it because of the union, so too he who was born is also said to be united to the body that was born that has a rational and intelligent soul. And, as you do not say that a man's soul passed into flesh, although it is united with the body by an original union, so also no one says that God the Word was changed into flesh and endured the process of mingling, because he is hypostatically united to a body. Wherefore, when he was born, he made the Virgin the God-bearer, but he did not receive the beginning of being God and being held as such from her, but in that he became man. he writes her as his mother. But he did not pass from being God, although he took that which he was not; but, as he remained that which he is, so also he became truly man. That the body which he united to |189 him was not without a soul is certain from the words of the angel: for he said, «Rise, take the boy and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for they are dead who sought the boy's soul» 512: concerning which he also said, «I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again» 513. But it was not without intelligence and imperfect, according to the statement of the proverbs of Apollinaris, but was in fact intelligent, as indeed the very term 'boy' and the fact that he was named 'man' is enough to show this same thing: for a boy's soul is not without reason, but it is reasonable because it is human. However this very same thing is also clearly shown even by the sacred writings of the gospel; for it said of him, «Then he began to be distressed and grieved, and to say, 'My soul is sorrowful, even unto death'» 514. But it is plain to everyone that distress and grief happen to a rational and intellectual soul. But, if they say that the Godhead of the Only one took the place of intellect, this is in truth a thing without intellect, for us to assign the passion of distress to the impassible nature of God. Accordingly the Only God the Word became perfectly man, that he might:bestow upon us perfect salvation: for, as soon as he was born, he did away |190 the punishment laid upon Eve, who was first led astray by the serpent. If Emmanuel had not been born, who is the Word of God who took flesh, who according to the saying of the prophet 'removed weeping from all faces' 515, the curse, «In pains shalt thou bear children» 516, would not have ceased: nevertheless it ceased because God was born. Further witness is borne to this by the actual unerring words of the gospel also: for it introduces to us the angel saying, «I announce unto you great joy, which belongeth to all the world, that to-day there hath been born to us a Saviour, who is the Lord Christ, in the city of David» 517. Mark clearly that, if it were not that hé who was born was the Lord, the joy that came to all the world, which is also the joy of the whole race of men, the curse, «In pains shalt thou bear children», would not have ceased. But, if the birth is the cause of the joy, she who bore is also free from the punishment; and thenceforth the joy necessarily passes to those who believe in him: for he said, «Those who received him he gave them power to become sons of God» 518, those who attained to the adoption through the Spirit, after he became man.
And next the third question, as to how we should, understand Paul's |191 saying, «In him all the fulness of the Godhead dwelleth bodily» 519. The defence.
In the same God-befitting frame of mind let us also understand (and that is what in your third question you thought good to ask) the words which the wise Paul wrote and sent to the Golossians about Christ, how that in him all the fulness of the Godhead came to dwell bodily; for we do not understand the expression 'in him dwelleth' as the supporters of the impiety of Nestorius wish to understand it: for these say that the Word came to dwell in Christ by way of indwelling, as in one of the prophets. But, lest any man in consequence of the statement that he came to dwell decline from the proper opinion and reckon the Incarnation of the Word a mere indwelling, as happened in the case of a man, Paul is sufficient to meet this false tenet when he says that it came to dwell in him 'bodily', that is hypostatically and naturally, even as the statement that he similarly partook with us of flesh and blood 520 unconfusedly and immutably, in a Unity that is not dissipated, all mingling and phantasy 521 being far from it; for it is alien to a bodiless nature that in consequence of its union with a body it should be mingled or changed, a thing which in its nature does |192 not touch anything bodily. As to the fact that the word 'dwell' is also used of those who are hypostatically united, we have the testimony of the wise Paul himself; for in writing to the Corinthians he said, «We know that, even if this our house, our tent on earth, is dissolved, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, that abideth for ever in heaven»522. As we are said to dwell in a body as in a house, so too God the Word is said to dwell in a body, as being hypostatically united to a body that has a rational and intelligent soul. But he said that all the fulness of the Godhead dwells, that is, not one operation, nor yet a partial grace of the Word himself, as took place in the inspiration of the prophets, but the whole hypostasis of the Only one, although he is raised above all limitation, he who imparts tens of thousands of operations to others, and distributes graces by way of gifts as from a fountain.
And again the fourth question, as to how it is that, if we say that the Trinity is one nature, and also confess one incarnate nature of God the Word, we do not also say that the Father and the Holy Spirit became incarnate with the Son. The defence. |193
Since you have said that this also is impiously said by some men, that, inasmuch as we believe that God the Word was united to flesh, the Father also, inasmuch as he is named as being of the same nature, is necesarily said to have become incarnate, and the Holy Spirit also, we fitly say what we can and what we have believed, fixing our mind on the divine Scriptures, and not crying from the earth according to the prophet's saying 523, nor yet making up things that come from our heart 524. But this objection has occurred to them in this way. If so be that Christ cries in the gospel, «I am in my Father and my Father in me»525, and Paul again says that the Son is the image of the invisible God 526, and the Holy Spirit also the image of the Son, in that he said of those who had been admitted to the adoption as sons by the Spirit, «they became conformed to the image of his Son» 527, that it might be shown as following from this that the Holy Trinity is one essence 528, when it is said that the Son became incarnate, how can we not also allow that the Father and the Holy Spirit too became incarnate, inasmuch as they are in the Son and appear in him? This is what these say. But we say with intelligence: These, my good men, are the words of those who confuse the hypostases. But, if the Father is the Father, he never passes |194 into the Son, and the Holy Spirit also remains fixedly and without transformation in his own hypostasis, and does not pass into the hypostasis of the Son: but the divine Scriptures have said that the Son became incarnate and became man, and it is on account of the co-essentiality that, the Father and the Holy Spirit are said to be in him, not in order that we may dissolve and confound the hypostasis of the Father and of the Holy Spirit in the Son. But, if the Son is the image of the Father, the very name 'image' shows that it is understood to be the image of another hypostasis separate from itself: for, if it is an image, it is an image of some one, and, because it is an unvarying image in all points, it is not therefore the person himself of whom it is an image; for, if it were the person himself, it would fail to. be an image, for of whom would it be an image? Suppose a man delineates and copies a design and pattern from an original tablet on to another, and draws it correctly in all points, and makes the copy like the original, in no |195 point falling short of the pattern that was first designed, but makes the colour and form 529 and stature and size and pose of the limbs also alike, and those who see it for the first time do not know, if one may so say, which is the original from which it was drawn and designed, on account of the exact resemblance of the appearance in both, and after this he takes the copy and fixes it on a wall, then 530 will anyone of right understanding say that the original tablet has been fixed on the wall, because it is a copy of it and contains all that belongs to the original pattern? So we say that the Son became incarnate, the true image of the Father, who has by nature everything that belongs to his begetter, and we do not on this account hold that the Father became incarnate, who appears in his own special hypostasis or person. |196 What has been said is intended as an indication of the subject, in order that the understanding may receive a defective and obscure example, because the whole force of the example does not follow in the footsteps of the truth, since here the image is without soul and immoveable, and is limited by the appearance of colours, but above there is a living and moveable image, suprasensual and unlimited and without appearance 531, and possessing immutability by nature. But, if we look into the divine Scriptures, we may through the mystery that has been richly revealed in them by another example also reçoive an illustration of what is stated. It is everywhere known that our speech 532 is the offspring of our mind, and not the offspring only, but also the clear image, which represents the disposition 533 that is in the depths of the mind, and with the speech comes forth also the |197 breath 534 of the mouth. The example is defective, and is a kind of similitude and shadow of the truth itself for those who are able to listen properly and intelligently. However, as our speech comes out through the organ 535 of the voice and moves the hearing and passes inside him who hears, and no one says that the speech which is begotten by the mind, exists hypostatically, the speech which enters into the hearing of him who hears, or says that the breath which comes out in the speech through the voice exists in hypostasis 536, but only calls it a help to the hearing, so understand also with regard to the mystery of God the Word, because he himself alone hypostatically and ineffably and as he himself only knows came to dwell in the Virgin's womb and became incarnate from her, and neither the Father his begetter nor the Spirit which proceeds shared in this, but according to the saying of John, «The Word became flesh, and he was God, and was with God» 537, as one with another, because the hypostases exist severally. Since then these things are so, that question of theirs which arises from ignorance |198 is superfluous and vain, a question that amounts to actual impiety. «If» (they say) «you say that the Trinity is one nature, and say that there is one nature of the incarnate Word, how are you not driven to saying that the whole Trinity became incarnate?» I am surprised at the cunning rusticity of those men, as shown by the way in which they display courage without consideration against the right opinion. We 538 use the name 'nature' sometimes generally of 'essence' 539, and sometimes specifically signifying the hypostasis of a man. We term all mankind one nature, as in the text «Every nature of beasts and of birds and of things that are in the water is subjected and made subject to human nature» 540: and again we call a man 'nature', Paul for instance or Peter or James. Where we name all mankind one nature, we use the name 'nature' generically in place of 'essence': but, where we speak of one nature of Paul, we employ the name 'nature' in place of 'individual hypostasis'. So also, when we say that the Holy Trinity is one nature, as in the text, «In order that we may be sharers of the divine nature» 541, we use the name 'nature' in place of the general |199 designation 'essence' 542. And to say that the Holy Trinity is one nature is the same as to say that it is one Godhead, as we are in fact accustomed to call all mankind one nature. But, when we say 'one incarnate nature of God the Word', we say 'nature' in place of an individual designation, and thereby we denote the one actual hypostasis of the Word, like that of Paul or Peter or any single man. Therefore also, when we say one nature which became incarnate', we do not say so absolutely, but we say 'one nature of the Word himself, and clearly denote that it is one hypostasis. But again let no one stain the divine nature that is raised above all things with anything lowly taken from the example of Paul and Peter. For, although they are of the same essence, they differ not only in hypostases, but also in power and operation, and stature and shape, and in the various kinds of impulses that are in men's minds. The Holy Trinity however differs by the difference of hypostases only, and in every point is unvarying in equality, and in the fact that it is of the same essence. And avoid that poverty of the example which is not worthy of the Godhead, and do not conceive of the Word as without hypostasis, nor yet of the Spirit as being dissipated in the air 543. |200
Next the fifth question, as to how the Only one, who is a quickening blessing, was termed a curse 544. The defence.
We will now go on to give you an answer with regard to the fifth question also, how the Only one, who is a quickening blessing, was termed a curse. If he became man to free our race from the bonds of former crimes, and took upon him the seed of Abraham, and flesh of our nature, and united a human soul to himself hypostatically, therefore he made all the debts of our race to which we were liable his own: for we are accursed, and we came under, the penalty of the curse, and heard the words, «Dust thou art and to dust shalt thou return», and, «Cursed is the earth in the work of thine hands», and, «In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread» 545; and he became the firstfruits of our nature. For in that he took upon him the seed of Abraham he is consequently said to have become 546 those things to which our nature was subject. Nor yet was he subject to these things for a moment of time, but rather after they had been vainly applied to him he destroyed them. Just as the sun when it shines in a gloomy and dark house, as soon as it puts forth its ray, dispels the darkness, since it itself is not affected |201 by darkness, in the same way also the Only God the Word, the Sun of righteousness, as soon as he approached our nature, also dispelled the curse. For the holy Virgin, who conceived with the divine and incorruptible conception, immediately heard from Elizabeth who had been divinely moved, that is the servant of the Baptist, the words, «Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?» 547. If she had not known that it was the Lord who was conceived of the God-bearer Mary, she would not have cried, «Blessed is the fruit of thy womb». In agreement with this our Lord himself also in his words dispelled the curse, that the earth might no more be 'cursed in the work of thine hands', saying, «Work not the food that perisheth, but the food that abideth in eternal life, which the Son of man will give you», and not, «In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat thy bread», but, «I am the bread of life which came down from heaven, and if any man eat of this bread he shall live for ever», and no more, «Dust thou art and to dust shalt thou return», but, «This is the will of my Father, that everyone who seeth the Son and believeth on him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day» 548. You see that on all points by |202 being himself made a curse he becomes a dispeller of the curse, and this curse he takes up on to the cross, and thence puts it to flight: for it was overcome by the law which said, «Cursed of God is everyone who shall be hanged upon wood» 549. And he himself underwent the accursed death that was for our sake, and thence blessed the whole human race; and the blessed Paul bears witness who writes to the Galatians and says, «Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, and became a curse for our sake, because it is written, 'Cursed is everyone who is hanged upon wood', in order that the blessing of Abraham might be among the nations in Jesus Christ» 550. So also he is said to have become sin 551, because he endured the death that was the due of sinners; for, while he is himself the pure justice of the Father, he is crucified between two robbers; but these on account of their offences, and in accordance with the passage in the Gospel of Mark who says, «And with him they crucified two robbers, one on the right hand and one on the left, and the Scripture was fulfilled which saith, 'He was numbered with the unjust'» 552. So he became sin to remit the sins of others: so also he paid the debt that was incurred for us, and we ourselves became righteousness in him; for those who have been freed from debts are righteous, and |203 are not termed liable. And, because during the time of his Humanization he did no sin, therefore also iniquity was not found in him, but he showed himself righteous, that is, he is righteousness; and, when he became flesh, all our nature again was justified in him as in firstfruits; and this is what the wise Paul said to the Corinthians about the Father, «He made him sin for our sake, who knew no sin, that we might be the righteousness of God in him» 553. This too was carried out in the ritual of the law also; for the two goats on whom lots were laid were a type of Christ our Saviour, who is made up of two elements, the perfect Godhead I mean and the manhood: and the one, on whom the Lord's lot fell, was slaughtered, while the other was dismissed into the wilderness that is not passed,, who also was named 'the dismissible', who gained the appellation also from the fact itself; for he was dismissed, but was hot simply dismissed, but in the manner which Scripture mentioned; for it said as follows: «And thou shalt bring the living goat, and Aaron shall lay his two hands on the head of the living goat, and shall confess over him all the sin of the sons of Israel, and all their wickedness and their iniquity, and shall lay them on the head of the living goat, and shall dismiss him by means of a man who is ready into the wilderness; |204 and the goat shall take upon him all their iniquity» 554. This therefore was thus performed in the case of the two goats also, that the one was slaughtered and the other dismissed. We clearly see the hidden meaning which relates to the Cross: for the type denotes that the same one Christ suffered in the flesh, but remained without suffering in that he is considered to he true God. For the same person both is separated by lots to the Lord and slaughtered (for 'he delivered himself for our sake as an offering and a sacrifice to God the Father for a sweet savour' 555), and goes away without suffering bearing the sins of all Israel, which in the type of Aaron were confessed over the head of the goat: for he clearly displays himself as being himself true God, over whom we confess our sins according to law; for «I will make confession», he saith, «unto thee, Lord, concerning my sins, and thou wilt forgive the wickedness of my heart» 556; for, though 'he was led as a lamb to the slaughter', yet, 'who shall tell his generation, because his life is taken away from the earth?' 557, for he is without descent as God, and he is life in his nature, for he was taken away and lifted up from the earth. Truly is it said of him in reference to the type that he shall be dismissed into the wilderness that is not passed; for that country is impassable to all outside |205 nature, and is passable to him who became incarnate only, I mean the throne of the kingdom, on which he sits at the Father's right hand, bearing our sins; for so too John also the loud-voiced preacher and ambassador of the Word himself cried and said, «Behold! the Lamb of God who beareth the sin of the world» 558. For the same person is termed at one time a goat, at another a lamb; and he shows that he came to suffer not only for the sake of sinners, but also for the sake of the righteous; for death reigned 'even over those who had not sinned' also, as Paul also said 559. Accordingly the lamb is the type of the righteous, and the goat of sinners; for the righteous stand as lambs on the right hand, and the sinners as goats on the left. Let no one think- that through the symbol of the two goats he shows us two Christs, one passible and the other impassible, but one and the same, passible in the flesh, but impassible in his Godhead. For indeed one goat only was not sufficient to signify what was signified with two (how was it possible for the same to be slaughtered and not slaughtered?), to show that Christ tasted death in the flesh, and in his Godhead is raised above suffering. Is it not plain therefore that another goat is necessarily taken, in order that the one fact may be perfectly revealed symbolically in |206 the two? Just as a painter, when he depicts the story of Abraham, depicts him several times, now hearing God saying to him, «Offer thy son to me as a burnt-sacrifice», now cutting faggots, now again binding Isaac and laying him on the faggots, now with his hand armed with the knife and stretched out to slay and held back by the heavenly voice coming from above, and we do not think the one Abraham to be many because the same person was depicted many times, and indeed one picture was not sufficient to tell the whole story, so also for the shadowy representation of the symbol, for the sake of perfectly setting forth the fact, two goats were taken, and we do not divide the one Christ into two, but we declare him to be one out of two natures, the perfect Godhead and the manhood, according to the faith of the divine Scriptures, and the words of the fathers that are inspired by the Spirit, from which sources we also speak these things. That the two goats symbolized the one Christ is plain from the allegory of the lots; for the priest Aaron did not select one of the goats at haphazard to be slaughtered, but committed the matter to the uncertainty of lots, that by this he might show the primary unity of God the Word and his flesh. As he is himself God |207 impassible and free, but by reason of the union with a body possessing a rational soul was condemned to death, though in his nature he is immortal, so also the one goat who was to be dismissed to the wilderness symbolized the impassibility of the Godhead of the Only one, and was under the decree of slaughter; for the lot cast over him, whether he was to be slaughtered or dismissed, was uncertain. Accordingly it is plain that the two goats signify the one Christ, and that the same suffered in the flesh, and, in that he is God, remained raised above sufferings. Nor yet let anyone, imitating the madness of the heathen, imagine that the dismissed goat was set apart and dismissed to the wilderness for some demon; for this is a departure from the laws of Moses, inasmuch as he said, «Hear, Israel. The Lord thy God is one Lord», and again, «Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve, and to him shalt thou draw near, and in his name shalt thou swear», and, «Thou shalt not go after other gods» 560; and again in another place, «And ye shall not make mention of the name of other gods, and it shall not be heard from your mouth»; and again, «Thou shalt not worship their gods, nor serve them, nor do according to their deeds, but shalt utterly overturn them and destroy their pillars, and shalt serve the Lord |208 thy God only» 561. How then should he in the same mind break in pieces and overturn their pillars (and he did not allow the name of other gods to be mentioned at all beside the one Lord God), and on the other hand separate the goat to another beside him as to some evil fiend, and propitiate this fiend in this way? But it is plain that the two goats were offered in order to honour one God only, and completed the symbolic allegory which we have already mentioned, and two lots were cast, and one was slaughtered to the Lord, and the other was dismissed after the manner of the separation of the lots, and therefore he was called 'the dismissible'. If he had said, «One goat to the Lord, and one goat to the dismissible», perhaps their charge would have derived some plausibility from the divine Scripture, because it said, «One lot to the Lord, and one to the dismissible»; for it is plain that the one was separated for the purpose of slaughter, and the other was dismissed to the Lord, not to another different from him; for this is what the divine Scripture said, «And he shall set' the living one before the Lord, in order to dismiss him in dismissal» 562. But some of the learned Hebrews, that is rather those who are earlier than those who are of the Hebrews, said |209 «One lot to the Lord, and one lot to him that was dismissed» 563, in order that in all points and that even from the very imagination of the heathen, or, to speak fittingly, from their lack of instruction, it might be seen that their charge against the holy laws of Moses is without plausibility. For those who after the Christian religion were lifted up in philosophy, and endeavoured to adorn demon-worship in a reverend fashion 564, as they themselves say on behalf of others, say of their god who is called 'mb khywn, «We should not sacrifice to the gods, but by purity of mind propitiate and honour them» 563: but men who were fettered in the same chain as they said that men should sedulously offer sacrifices to the evil spirits who delight in blood, not that they may help, but that they may not injure 565. If then Moses separated and dismissed one of the goats to a demon, according to the madness of those men he ought to have ordered this goat to be slaughtered to the demon, and he who is pleased by blood ought to have rejoiced in his blood. But now the exact contrary is the case: the one who was set apart to God Most High was slaughtered, while the other, the dismissible, or, as they wish to say. the one who was separated to an evil |210 demon, was dismissed into the wilderness without blood and without sacrifice. By all these arguments the ingenious madness of the heathen has been refuted, who wished to stain the divine Scripture with the blame of their cults of many demons, men who did not shrink from calling the usual sacrifices to their idols 'dismissible', in order to substantiate their error by a plausible identity of name. These things we have stated shortly in the desire to show how Jesus became sin for us, that we might in him become the righteousness of God. He endured a death that was for our sake, he who for the sins of us all became one that is subject, he who knows not sin, for according to the prophet's saying, «He came to death for the sins of my people, and for our sake he suffered pain, and was smitten, and he endured sickness for our iniquity» 566. So also Paul wrote to the Hebrews and said, "Christ was offered once, that he might bear the sins of many», and he says that 'by his sacrifice he hath been revealed once for all at the last for the doing away of sin', and 'he offered one eternal offering for our sins' 567: and Peter the eminent among the apostles said, «The same carried up our sins in his body on to the cross, that we, being freed from sins, might live in righteousness»568.
And again the sixth question, as to how we say that the same suffered in |211 the flesh, and in his Godhead remained without suffering, and, while we do not make him alien to suffering, we keep him without suffering. The defence. Now we will give a sufficient answer to that question also, how we say that the same suffered in the flesh, and did not suffer in the Godhead, and, while we do not make him alien to suffering, we keep him without suffering. On the same subject we will lay before you an example which has come to us from our fathers. The force of examples is in truth small, and far removed from the truth; nevertheless, if only in some thin and shadowy phantasies 569, it offers to the understanding a beginning of conceptions. As, when iron or another similar substance 570 is abundantly warmed by fire, and is heated by flame, we know that, while the iron does not pass out of its own nature, the iron which has passed into a complete flame, and has been made to hiss and to glow by it, it appears to be all fire, and, while it is in this state, blows are applied to it, it being smitten by a hammer or by means of other kinds of strokes, but the iron is exposed to the blows themselves, being expanded and narrowed at the same time, while the nature of the fire is in no way injured by the smiter, so must we also understand the mystery |212 concerning Christ also, even although all the power of speech shrinks, from the glory of the fact. He was hypostatically united to a body with a rational and intelligent soul, but he permitted it to suffer naturally from the blows of pains, I mean on the cross, when he might have deadened these also as God, but he was not desirous of this, for it was not for himself, but for our race, that he was purchasing the successes of victory. Therefore he permitted his body to suffer, while even he himself also was not alien from suffering, for he was united to a suffering body, and, as it is his body, so also it is called his suffering; nevertheless as God he remained without suffering, for God is not touched by suffering. He is said also to have tasted death for us, in that his soul was separated from his body; not that his soul was cut away from his Godhead, or his body left without Godhead; but he showed that he was in both without separation, for neither was his soul left in Sheol, nor did his flesh see corruption 571, according to the saying of the Psalmist. For he was not separated from his body that was buried, and therefore he annihilated corruption; for, if it had been separated from him who is life and incorruption, perhaps it would have been constantly |213 attacked by corruption also. For he went down into Sheol with his soul also, the whole of him being in it, and the whole of him in his body without separation, as one that is incorporeal and is able to fill everything as one that is infinite. It was necessary for him to give light even to the lower regions also, and to have mercy on the souls there imprisoned, and, according to the saying of the prophet, «to say to those that are in bonds, 'Come forth', and to those also that are in darkness, 'Be revealed'» 572. This he accomplished in action. The gates of Sheol which saw him trembled, and he broke the bars of iron and gates of bronze 573, and opened Paradise which was shut, and «many bodies of just men among those who had fallen asleep came out of their graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared to many» 574. Very properly the evangelist added, 'after his resurrection'; for it was necessary that he who is life in his nature should himself first begin the resurrection, and that the very one who was able to dissolve the power of death should himself tread the way for the rest who came after him. He did not deal arbitrarily with the devil, the same who led the first man astray, when he was defeated as by God, but, as one who is just and 'taketh the wise in their craftiness' 575, he brought the |214 crafty one into subjection by means of his devices. He who led Adam astray and said to him, «You will be a god, if you transgress the law», fell by the device of craft. He fought with the second Adam who is Christ, and found him to be God and man at the same time; and he won a just victory over him; and henceforth we confidently sing songs of praise for his victory over death and say, «Where is thy victory, death? and where is thy sting, Sheol?» For Paul says that 'the sting of death is sin' 576.
Next the seventh question, why the law was given to the fathers that they should circumcise their foreskin. The defence.
Now we pass on to discuss the subject of circumcision. This 577 is what you ask, "Why was the law given to the fathers that they should circumcise their foreskin?» Some have simply and easily handed down a reason like this. They say, «Because Abraham migrated from the land of the Chaldees, and the Chaldees were permitted (and the same was the case too with the Medes and Persians also) according to the custom of their fathers to have intercourse with their mothers and sisters, for this reason therefore he circumcised his foreskin, that he might shun kindred flesh, |215 and renounce marriage with those of his kin, and on this account God gave the law to the sons of Israel through Moses and said, 'A man shall not go in to any that is related to him in the flesh to uncover his shame' 578». And others say that the reason why Abraham was commanded to circumcise his progeny also besides was that it might be plain that Christ should come of them in the flesh who is God over all for ever and ever. But, if you please, we will pass from these reasons; for it is known that the Egyptians also as well and other nations circumcise their foreskin, even although they imitated the Hebrews; and we state that which is true and befits God the lawgiver, and that is very sublime and to which testimony is borne by the Scriptures, that circumcision promises renunciation of fleshly birth, and acquisition of the adoption of the Spirit, by which we are called sons of God; for it is written, «Thus saith the Lord, 'Israel is my son, my firstborn'» 579. After the fall from Paradise and the' destruction of immortality, Adam knew Eve, and she conceived and bare; and this unstable intercourse, intercourse befitting beasts, was given for the propagation of our race, it being a kind of healing of the sickness, that the race of men might |216 not be cut off through death. The woman was not at first given to Adam for the sake of the procreation of children, but that she might be a helper to him; for the Lord God said, «It is not good for Adam to be alone; let us make him a helper like to him» 580. He did not say from the beginning that he would make her be fruitful and multiply, in order that by means of fertility the race might go on to multiplication; for God might have done this even without the intercourse of marriage, and have made our race increase and multiply like the myriads of angels, as the Lord himself actually said in a place in the gospel, «In the resurrection there is no marriage, nor yet are they joined in marriage, but they will be as the angels in heaven» 581. If anyone says, «What is the help that the woman was to give the man?», we easily say: In the worship in Paradise and in the keeping of the law; as Solomon also said of a similar woman, «Who can find a manly woman?» 582, and again another wise man says, «A manly woman gladdeneth her husband», and, «A good woman is a good portion 583»: and for this reason they also received the law in common, that through union and conjunction of breath 584 they might be cautious, and not liable to be overcome by the |217 deceit of the serpent; for he said to them, «Of the tree of knowledge of good and evil ye shall not eat of it; but in the day in which ye shall eat of it ye shall die» 585. For, as long as they kept the law, and rejoiced with one another without passion, and did not perceive one another's nakedness, and also did not think of their union in marriage, they enjoyed the blessed life in Paradise itself. But, when the woman gave up the duty of help, and like a weak person out of simplicity accepted the deceitful counsel of the serpent, then she herself also became an evil counsellor to the man, and immediately they were alien to God, and also to the life in Paradise, and by means of death were condemned; and Adam knew his wife, and she becomes a helper to him in the second line, through the procreation of children 586. And at first she was given him as a helper in the worship in Paradise; for such is God's care for us that, even when we change, he continues to help us: for he made man his own master, and to honour that which is good; and, having foreseen that he would change, he provided a helper for him beforehand. Therefore also Adam by the grace of God, as soon as the woman was created, foretold that a man should 'leave his father and his |218 mother, and cleave to his wife, and they two should be one flesh' 587. This bodily birth circumcision renounces, which was given after the fall from the life in Paradise in the character of a remedy, and causes us to approach to the impassibility which existed during the residence in Paradise; by which we are named sons of God, inasmuch as it slays our members upon the earth, and puts off from us the old man. The truth itself, of which circumcision is a type, testifies to us; for Paul wrote to the Colossians and said that circumcision in Christ is baptism, whereby we put away from us our old man, and the mortality wherein we died after our fall from Paradise, and we also cut away the bodily desire as it were a kind of foreskin, and bury it in the waters which slay sin, and in the same way we are buried with Christ, and rise as new men and born afresh, and hasten to the new and; passionless life; for this is what Paul wrote: «In whom ye were circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, by stripping off the body of your flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, and were buried with him in baptism, and rose in him through faith in the operation of God who raised him from the place of the dead; and you also, who had died in your sins and in the foreskin of your flesh, he quickened |219 with him, and he forgave you all your sins» 588. You see that circumcision is the destruction of the foreskin, and contains a renunciation of fleshly birth and of the body's pleasure in mortality; for it confesses the passionless and new-fashioned life, as the actual truth of baptism showed, of which circumcision is a type, which in a shadow cuts away the foreskin of the flesh, while baptism cuts away the foreskin of the soul, and, so to speak, destroys its excessive wickedness. Such was the legal ceremony, and the covenant with Abraham, and of 589 his descendants, which by the ancients was carried out in a bodily and sensual fashion, but signified beforehand the allegorical conceptions, which the spiritual and suprasensual ceremony in Christ revealed and brought to pass, for through baptism we are circumcised with a suprasensual circumcision, and receive in our mind the privilege of being no longer sons of the flesh, for we are named sons of God. Hear what John the thunder and trumpet of the divine words says, «For those who received him he gave them power to become sons of God, those who believed on his name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of man, but of God» 590. Joshua 591 also the son of Nun, who typified Jesus who is God and our Saviour, shows this clearly, that circumcision is the baptism which is |220 perfected in Christ, and was given to the sons of Israel as to a kind of sons without passibility; but, because they had lived forty years in the wilderness, it happened that the sons who were begotten by them remained uncircumcised, though it was possible for them to circumcise. But this did not happen by chance, but because God was directing this matter in order to reveal the future mystery; and neither did Moses circumcise them, the exact observer of the fathers' customs, who ordered that anyone who collected sticks on the sabbath-day should die 592, who knew all things beforehand, and among them the threat pronounced by God who said, «Whoever is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin on the eighth day, that soul shall perish from among its people, because it hath set at naught my covenant» 593; nor yet did Joshua 594 again, who succeeded to the government after Moses, circumcise them before they crossed Jordan; but, after they had crossed Jordan, then he took knives of rock and cut away their foreskins from them. And this is plain, that he who has crossed Jordan and by the laver is admitted to regeneration is circumcised with a rock-knife, which is Christ: for «the |221 Word of God is living, and effectual and sharp beyond a two-edged knife»595; and according to Paul's saying Christ also is a rock 596. Let no one hold the unreasonable supposition that they had no iron-knives in the wilderness; for they were armed, and slew those who opposed them. Mark again the same type in other mysteries also; for the blessed Paul said, «Those who were baptized in Christ were baptized in his death» 597, and. Joshua 598 the son of Nun presents the same figure, for he provided that the knives with which he circumcised the sons 0f Israel should be buried with him, that thereby he might show that those who are baptized in the name of Jesus the true God with the baptism that is completed in his death are by it circumcised. And, when we examine the sense of Scripture, we find an unlimited abundance of thoughts, and a primary union and agreement of the types with the truth, and praise the one God, the giver of the two covenants 599. And, as to the manner again in which we on being admitted to the divine laver and regeneration and putting off from us our old man are both invited by Christ to the mystic table and eat the angelic heavenly bread, Joshua the son of Nun himself again showed us this mystery. For, |222 after they had crossed the Jordan and been circumcised with knives of rock, then for the first time those who were circumcised ate of the wheat of the land of promise, and celebrated the Passover, not with the old leaven, but with the pure true leavens: and, as, when Jesus Christ ate the legal Passover with his disciples, and thereby fulfilled the law, and took the bread of thanksgiving in the midst, and blessed 600 the cup, and put an end to the legal Passover, the new 601 suprasensual sacrifice received a beginning and entrance, so also, when Joshua 602 the son of Nun as in a kind of prefigurement and type kneaded 603 unleavened loaves out of new wheat and kept the Passover, the old eating of manna ceased, and on that same day came to an end. Thus in every single point the type set forth the truth, It is proper also for us to hear the actual words of divine Scripture: |223 «And the sons of Israel celebrated the Passover on the fourteenth day from the evening, to the west of Jericho, beyond Jordan in the plain. And they ate of the produce of the land, and the next day they ate of the unleavened loaves of the Passover. And that same day the manna was taken away, after they had eaten of the wheat and the fruits of the land, and the sons of Israel had no longer manna» 604. The fact again that he who was bom was circumcised on the eighth day shows clearly that that circumcision is a type of the life of impassibility in which we truly live, not the life that is spent by those who are bom to destruction; «for in the resurrection there is no marriage, nor yet persons given in marriage, but they are as the angels in heaven» 605: for the eighth day itself is the beginning also on which our Lord rose, when he became firstfruits for our resurrection. He who is circumcised on the eighth day, which is the beginning of the future world 606, is raised above this world, for the rest of which the seventh day was appointed, the end of which brings us to that day which is the beginning and the eighth, on which is the impassible life, and he does not know the words, «Be fruitful and multiply» 607. These, we think, are the |224 things which through circumcision were given to the sons of Israel. But you perhaps, conversant as you are in divine things, can think of something else that is greater and more sublime.
And next the eighth question, how we ought to understand the saying of our Saviour in the gospel, «Agree with thine adversary quickly, while thou art in the way with him» 608. The defence.
It agrees with the order of your questions that we should also shortly refer to your other question about the words spoken by our Saviour in the gospel by way of persuasion and advice, «Agree with thine adversary quickly, while thou art in the way with him, lest thine adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison, and thou shalt not come out thence till thou pay the last mite» 609. This commandment is almost the same which says, «He that will sue thee and take away thy tunic, let him have thy coat also» 610. However this needs a great effort in order that we may restrain and cut away the corruptions of sin. For what he said is like this. «If you are standing in the |225 court that is trying the case itself, and are prosecuting before the judge, and are altogether wrapt up in the court, rouse yourself on the way, and change from enmity towards your adversary to agreement, considering the uncertainty of the issue, lest you have to submit to an adverse verdict, and the adversary on the contrary part deliver you to the judge as one that is guilty, and you fall some time under sentence, and the judge deliver you to the officer, and so you be chastised until you pay the last mite» (it is the custom to term the bronze coin that is the smallest a mite). Luke also clearly confirms this sense, and for perfect understanding it seems to me sufficient to cite his actual words: «But why dost thou not of thyself judge righteously? But, when thou art going with thine adversary on the way to the judge, make it thy business to be quit of him, lest he deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the exactor, and the exactor cast thee into prison. And verily, verily I say unto thee that thou shalt not come out thence till thou pay the last mite» 611. To strip off your cloak also for the man who has a suit with you about your tunic and with great power overcome the rapacity of him who is contending with you is an act of sublime and exalted wisdom. Think only of getting rid of the running to, the judge |226 and duly preventing it during the time that is pressing upon you, when 612 you are not master of yourself, either to ruin your enemy or to reconcile him; and this needs the labour and toil of philosophy. For he commands us not only not to become adversaries, but to agree with our adversaries, and by watchfulness to keep guard over and restrain wrath, and quickly assuage the fire of enmity, and reconcile our present enemies by agreement. This is the simple conclusion of this in the form of exposition; for some have taken this saying in a higher sense. They say that a man's adversary is the reminder that comes from his conscience, and our Lord says this: «When you sin or wish to sin 613, agree with your adversary»; that is, accept the admonition that comes from your conscience, when it reminds you and blames you, if you have sinned or wished to sin; and, if you neglect the reminder from your conscience, and do not obey nor restrain yourself 614, you do not agree |227 with your adversary, but rather use force against your adversary. So also is it written in the prophet Hosea: «Ephraim used force against his adversary and forgot judgment, because he began to go after vanity» 615. So also Paul wrote to the Romans and said: «Our conscience beareth witness, or maketh defence, on the day on which God shall judge the secrets of men» 616. The words, 'as long as thou art in the way with him', have this meanmg, 'as far as this world extends', and the way is trodden by all men: and this is what he said: «While you are walking in this world as on a way, 617 accept the reminder that comes from your conscience and do not refuse it. If you refuse it and pass out of this world without having agreed 617, the conscience will take the place of an adversary and accuse you before the judge and place you under his sentence, and the judge will deliver you to the torture 618; |228 and these things would not have befallen you if you had made union with your adversary in this way of the world, when admonition was offered to you, and you did not accept this in agreement. This John the Evangelist also wrote in an epistle and said: «If our conscience condemneth us not, we have confidence towards God» 619.
And next the ninth question, as to how we ought to understand the words used by Paul in the first epistle to the Corinthians, «Every sin that a man may sin is outside his body; but he who committeth fornication sinneth against his body» 620. The defence.
Since you wished to have that other saying of the wise Paul also explained to you which is made in the first epistle to the Corinthians, «Every sin that a man may sin is outside his body, for he who committeth fornication sinneth against his own body», examine the explanatory and easy exposition of our holy fathers, who take this as a decree. Some say that Paul's |229 intention was this, to show the offence of fornication to be something greater than all other sins, and therefore he frightens those that are weak in order that they may rise to reformation, and by way of deterrent says that fornication is a sin of the body, and as if the other sins are outside the body, and, though a murderer defiles his hand with blood, and sins against his own body, and a slanderer immerses his tongue in calumny as in blood, yet he who commits fornication, he says, dips his whole body in the mire of sin, and lets it down as into a pot that is fall of putrid matter; therefore too he who commits fornication also, in that he thinks that the whole of him has been defiled and polluted, runs to the laver in order to wash off the stain itself of the pollution, which a slanderer or a robber or a thief never does, for they do not think that their body is polluted and defiled by the sin: for Paul, wishing to show that the offence of fornication is higher than the other sins, used this expression and said, «The other sins are outside the body; for he who commits fornication sins against his body». But certain others say that this is the meaning of the saying that he who commits fornication sins against his own body, that is, that he offends against the structure of the body, and, so to speak, against the very formation of man, |230 and the very mystery of the beginning of birth (for it is indeed an ineffable and all-glorious mystery and is known to God alone, how from the emission of a small seed this great and rational animal, that is to say man, takes a beginning); and this, they say, is the meaning of the words 'sins against his body': «and abstain, I pray you, so to speak, from doing despite to the formation of nature, from which your body too also sprang, by unlawful intercourse; for you forget that you are acting madly against yourself, for this act is in truth one of madness and drunkenness».
This is what these say. But others say better, as I also judge their interpretation to be the highest, that is the nearest to the apostle's meaning. Paul desired, so to speak, to show that the sin of fornication is beyond forgiveness; and above this he says, «Know ye not that your bodies are members of Christ?», and he turns reprovingly and says, «Shall I 621 then take a member of Christ and make it a member of a harlot 622?» 623: and by this he |231 showed that he who commits fornication offends against the members of Christ; and so he goes on to say, «Every sin that a man may sin is outside the hody, but he who commits fornication sins against his own body». A slanderer or a thief or a robber or a covetous man sins against a man by slandering him or by stealing his property or by desiring his goods; but he who commits fornication sins against his own body, that is against a member of Christ. Every sin distresses God, and men are reckoned to have sinned against him. These however are human sins, and have been committed as it were against men. But blasphemy or idolatry, and contempt and neglect of the sacred service, and things like these, are, we say, acts of impiety against God, and they are believed, so to speak, to be without |232 forgiveness, as also Eli the priest and old in days who was negligent concerning his sons, who were evil men as it is written and unlawfully offended against the divine service; for 624 he testified to them and said, «If a man sin against a man, they shall pray to the Lord for him: but, if he sin against the Lord, to whom shall they pray for him?» 625 So therefore Paul also wishes to make it appear that the sin of fornication is committed against Christ himself: and just as, if a man take a harlot and bring her into the holy temple of the Saviour of all, and there commit fornication, he will not merely be called to account for fornication, but also judged for impiety as having polluted the illustrious and holy place, so also he who commits fornication before believing: in Christ and writing him as his leader commits fornication |233 only; but, when he has through adoption been inserted in Christ's body, he is not only charged on account of fornication, but is also accused of impiety, as doing despite to the members of Christ 626. Therefore it is with this meaning that Paul says, «He who commits fornication sins against his own body». Immediately without any intervening words he went on to say, «Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Spirit that is in you, which ye have from God? And ye are not your own, for ye were bought with a price. Praise God therefore in your body» 627. Accordingly it is plain that through the adoption of the Spirit, which is the Spirit of Christ, we both become a temple of God, and, as it is said, «Christ dwelleth in our hearts» 628; and let no one say that he who slanders and he who robs pollutes the one the tongue, the other the hand only; for the pollution is not the same, nor are the stain and the mire the same; and, even if we allow it to be the same, yet the pollution does not affect the whole body equally, nor is the whole temple of God so to speak defiled. For he who commits fornication with a woman who commits fornication intertwines his whole body. |234 This objection the blessed Paul demolished beforehand by having recourse to the divine Scriptures and saying, «They two shall be one flesh» 629. That the sin and pollution of the other sins and those of fornication are not the same, but that the sin that arises from fornication is far removed from these, because it renders the man who commits fornication with his body, or with the temple of God, suddenly void of divine grace, this is clearly signified by the story of Samson. He even before his conception received a commandment by the voice of an angel, his mother being barren and his father Manoah 630; and, when he had been conceived and grown up, his affairs were determined according to the commandment of the angel who appeared; for he said, «Thou shall observe and not drink either wine or strong drink, and thou shalt not eat aught that is defiled; for lo! thou shalt conceive and shalt bear a son, and iron shall not go up upon his head, because the boy is a Nazirite unto God from thy womb» 631. And he grew up and became very great, and he was blessed by the Lord, and the Spirit of God was upon the boy, through whom he wrought marvellous and glorious deeds. But, |235 when he began to transgress the law of the Lord, the other sins were worthy of forgiveness, and the grace of the Spirit did not yet depart from him; but the sin of fornication rendered him bereft of the grace of the Spirit. First he transgressed against the law which commands the sons of Israel that it is not right to take in marriage women alien to their tribes, who 632 were the peoples round them whose land they inherited. For Samson said, «I have seen a beautiful woman in Timnath, of the daughters of the Philistines: now, take her for me to wife». And his father said to him, «Is there not a woman in the house of thy brethren of thy people to take, that thou goest to the uncircumcised Philistines to take thee a wife?» 633: however, they did not persuade him, but on the contrary even went with him to make the unlawful betrothal. And God suffered this wickedness to be carried out, in order that he might requite the Philistines, even against the wish of the sons of Israel; for Samson's going down became an occasion for their destruction. But, as they were going along and were bent on making the betrothal, he turned a little out of the way, and he came upon a lion and killed him as a man might kill a little kid. And the divine Scripture states that the Spirit of the Lord worked mightily upon him', or according to the text |236 contained in other manuscripts, 'the Spirit of the Lord prospered his way' 634; and, though he opposed himself to God's laws, the grace of the Holy Spirit did not abandon him. However it was not fornication on which they were bent, but marriage. And again at the wedding-feast he composed a certain question, or rather 635 a riddle, and asked it of those Philistines, fixing gifts for them and promising them so many garments and articles of clothing, if they told him the solution of that riddle; but, if they failed to find the origin of it and did not tell it, on the other hand he appointed a similar present for them to give. So much for what he did: but they could not find the interpretation of the question; but they persuade the woman who had been united to him to get the answer to the riddle from him by a trick, and make this known to them, as was in fact done. And thereupon those garments had to be exacted from him; for the holy Scripture said, «The spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him; and he went down to Ascalon, and there killed thirty men; and he took their spoils, and gave their garments to those who interpreted the riddle to him» 636. Now mark here again also how it said that the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him, because he killed men alien to his race in fight, since God, as we have said, permitted this |237 same thing, that these men should perish, as men who had oppressed Israel: and at every great and wonderful and glorious deed that he did Scripture stated and said that the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him 637. And, after he had gone down to Gaza as is written 638, and had there seen a harlot and gone in to her, he shone with the same brilliant deeds and was resplendent with the same good successes, and with great power advanced to such acts, God instigating him to these. Nevertheless after the fornication on the occasion of the successes gained by him the divine Scripture no longer stated that the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him; for the sin of fornication which is committed against the body, that is which is a sin against God, is of such a kind as to drive away the Holy Spirit. Wherefore also the wise Paul too says, «He who commits fornication sins against his own body», not as if the other sins were not objects of condemnation, for all of them contain a falling from the kingdom, but for the reason that was stated he was desirous to show that fornication is evil, and he wished to eradicate the passion itself from every man, as from some root; because the |238 Corinthians sinned wickedly in this respect; for he said, «Such fornication is reported among you, and fornication of such a kind that is not even named among the peoples, that a man should have his father's wife" 639. He began with an accusation of this kind, founded upon the particular unlawful intercourse, and he went on to use the spiritual knife against all fornication; and he raised a charge of this kind to a height. Look at the strict mercifulness of God, as in the history of Samson. As soon as he had committed fornication, the grace of the sanctifying power of the Spirit departed from him, but it was nevertheless poured out upon him in the power and operation of the successes obtained by him, giving an opportunity for repentance by means of which every sin is overthrown and cast out, unless we throw ourselves into the pit of despair 640.
LXVI. ---- OF THE HOLY SEVERUS FROM THE LETTER TO EUPRAXIUS.
[508-11.] For not only the manifestations of wrath that arise from wars, but also the chastisements of many kinds which are brought to pass from heaven for our correction it is the habit of Scripture to call evils. For the prophet |239 Amos said, «Is there evil in a city which the Lord hath not done?» And, explaining what an evil of this kind is, which is brought to pass by God in order to benefit, he said as his mouthpiece: « 'I smote you with heat and with jaundice, ye increased your gardens: your vines and your olives and your figs the caterpillar ate, and even so ye turned not to me', saith the Lord» 641.
(A little farther on.) Of these chastisements and calamities therefore God is the maker, for our reproof and the repression of our sins. Indeed we also call the things that are brought upon us by way of chastisement evils: and the holy prophet also speaks and composed according to our custom, or rather 642 the Lord himself who spoke in him.
LXVII. ---- OF THE HOLY MAR SEVERUS, FROM THE LETTER TO EUPRAXIUS THE CHAMBERLAIN.
[508-11] First he says, «I am he who formed light», and then he added, «and made darkness;» 643 meaning this; that, because he formed light, he himself |240 made darkness. If light had not existed first, darkness would not have been brought into being, from the shield of the heavenly body. When light was formed, and heaven was stretched like a roof over the earth, the space between became of necessity 644 not light, and so darkness was accidentally brought into being, not having existed before; and for this reason the maker of all had need to say, in order to illuminate the darkness that was in the world, «Let there be light» 645. All darkness is brought about by reason of shadowing bodies; because, if bodies did not exist in the way of the light, darkness would not result. The words are moreover spoken in order to do away with the falsely-named gods, and that we may know that he is the Creator of night and of day, and not, as the deceivers say, that the Creator of light is one and the creator of darkness again another.
But the phrase «maketh peace and createth evil» makes its interpretation clear from the very understanding of the composition of the words: for he meant, 'Let everyone know that I am he who makes peace and creates evil'. What evil? That which stands in active opposition to peace, that is wars, and devastations of cities, which are justly brought upon us on account of our sins: just as, when the sons of Israel sat in peace |241 and plenty, and afterwards left the Lord and turned aside to idolatry, God delivered them into the hand of the Moabites, and at times to the sons of Ammon, and to the rest of the nations: and this Micah declares when he says, «Evils came down from the Lord upon Jerusalem, noise of chariots and horsemen» 646.
LXVIII. ---- OF THE SAME FROM THE 10th LETTER OF THE nd BOOK OF THOSE WRITTEN BEFORE EPISCOPACY, WHICH WAS ADDRESSED TO PHOCAS AND EUPRAXIUS THE CHAMBERLAINS.
[508-11.] For, after the fishermen had proclaimed the gospel and caught all the world, the word of truth took teachers of the church from profane wisdom, and seized them like vessels of sanctification (?) 647, and, having given them to taste of the bowl of true wisdom, and satisfied them with the unintoxicating drinks of the Holy Spirit, it sent them out like fishermen and they caught those who were puffed up with the wisdom of the rulers of this world on all mountains, that is by means of the very thoughts of false |242 knowledge which are supposed to be high and elevated. This was proclaimed beforehand by Jeremiah the prophet when he said thus: «'Lo! I send out the many fishermen', saith the Lord, 'and they shall catch them; and after these things I will send out the many hunters, and they shall catch them on all mountains, and on all high places'» 648; though indeed, when a goodly spoil has been caught by the doctrines of divine wisdom, they reveal and expose their own defeat by means of another prophecy, crying to God their Saviour, «Behold us. We will be bondmen to thee, because tho.u art the Lord our God, and truly the high places and the power of the mountains were reduced to falsehood» 649. But, if the thoughts of profane wisdom are understood to be the low mountains, we shall consequently understand that the gates of bronze which are shattered and the bars 650 of iron that are broken 651 are the snares of argument and the precise questions stated in words from which there is no escape, which have many windings; questions which the truth has refuted and dissolved, being, stronger than everything, which heaven also blesses, as Ezra said 652; questions which Jeremiah calls 'holes of the rocks', on account of the secrecy and obscurity and the |243 ambushes hard to see which the same objections contain; for «they shall catch them», he says, «on all mountains, and on all high places and from the holes of the rocks». For the low mountains may be understood in another way also as those who are proud and arrogant in character, but are taught the gospel and made lowly, and are changed so that they cast themselves on their faces on the earth and converted to a humble demeanour by hearing the Teacher say, «Learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest for your souls» 653, and thereby another prophecy of Isaiah also is fulfilled in addition which says, «All mountains and all high places shall be brought low, and the crooked places shall be made straight, and those that have rough paths smooth, and all flesh shall see God's salvation» 654. But, if we call the change of the souls of the haughty to a lowly demeanour the low mountains, we shall not receive it as unfitting that the gates of bronze and the bars 655 of iron are the character of wickedness that is very wicked, that has not only set men under the compulsion 656 of nature, but also 657 brought them to such a state that they cannot be reformed, since 'they have been constrained in their will', as Jeremiah says, 'and |244 become pieces of flesh' 658, so that they are not able to have God's spirit dwelling in them. That character so to speak of gates of bronze and bars 659 of iron was shattered and crushed by the power of the divine Incarnation by him who said, «The kingdom of heaven belongs to violent men, and violent men seize it» 660, and, «I will give thee hidden and secret treasures, and invisible ones will I open to thee that thou mayst know that I am the Lord God who calleth thy name, the God of Israel, because of Jacob my bondman and Israel my chosen»661. And we said before at the beginning of the composition that Cyrus searched the very depths of the earth themselves in Babylon, and carried all the riches of the Babylonians into captivity. This therefore God himself promises to Cyrus by word of mouth, saying, «I will give thee hidden and secret treasures, and invisible ones will I open to thee, that thou mayst know that I am the Lord thy God, who called thy name, the God of Israel». But he uses the name 'kingdom', on account of which he also termed him 'anointed' 662. «These», he says, «you shall find, because of Jacob my bondman and Israel my chosen», |245 whom also Cyrus brought up from captivity: therefore he merited also the aforesaid rewards. It was because of Cyrus therefore that the announcement was put together in this way: but the aforestated words fit Christ the Saviour of us all also; for, if he divested himself and became poor for our; sake while he is rich 663, he does not refuse to have words used of him which befit his exinanition.
LXIX. ---- THE LETTER OF THE HOLY MAR SEVERUS, PATRIARCH OF ANTIOCH, TO ANASTASIA THE DEACONESS 664.
[522-6.] While walking in the way of righteousness (I mean that of asceticism), and the monastic life, you meditate on the sublime thoughts of the God-inspired Scriptures, and gather benefit from them, and shun lack of knowledge and the poverty arising therefrom as something alien to the commandments of religion, and for this disposition therefore you are an object of praise. For the book of Proverbs also somewhere said, «The lips of the |246 righteous know high things, but fools die in scarcity». For this reason it has decreed for you a blessing from above, and a life that is without sorrow and blessed: for it adds, 'The blessing of the Lord upon the head of the righteous, this maketh rich, and sorrow in heart shall not be added unto it» 665. It is therefore known beforehand that to me too you bring freedom from sorrow through your God-loving questions, inasmuch as you cause me to enjoy the pleasure of spiritual thoughts. Accordingly I will readily try to give an elucidation of the rest 666 of your questions also. You are pleased to ask me what our Lord Jesus Christ wishes to make known to us by that parable which Luke the Evangelist recorded as follows: «Who among you shall have a friend, and he shall go unto him at midnight and say to him, 'My friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend hath come to me from a journey, and I have not wherewith to set before him', and he from within shall answer and say, 'Trouble me not. Lo! the door is shut, and my children with myself are in bed. I cannot rise and give to thee'? I say unto you that, if he will not rise and give to him because he is his friend, because of his importunity he will rise and give him as much as he needeth». For 667, us to find the reason of this parable from outside is foolish and senseless, |247 since our Saviour himself plainly added by his own words and declared that he brought this forward to convince us that we ought to pray and make requests without ceasing and at all times, readily 668 and without ever growing slack or weak from the constant habit 669: for he added, «I also say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given unto you. Seek, and ye shall find, knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For everyone that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened unto him» 670. In what precedes he delivered to the disciples the form of that divine prayer which begins, «Our Father which art in heaven» 671; and so he added to it the parable given above, so that on all sides the object'is clear. But, since you have thought to yourself that there is some spiritual, sublime, lofty allegory 672 contained in the words of the parable, and ask what those three loaves are, we ourselves also find it quite impossible not to be uplifted with your instruction-loving and inquiring mind, and to state the partial result which we have reached; for assuredly we must not force the parables into an allegory 673 in every point. These 674 three loaves I consider to be faith in |248 the Father and in the Son and the Holy Spirit; to which it is reasonable to suppose that our Lord, the ' one of the Trinity ' is urging all men through these words; because indeed, as the apostle said, he ' wisheth all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth' 675. Since therefore some have wasted all their life in negligence, and taken no account of the faith, and at last towards the end of life come to a perception of their sins, and rush to the faith, the merciful one says this: «Even men of this kind, who come and knock at my door at an untimely hour of night, I will hear, not for the sake of justice, but because of their importunity 676, and I will hand to them the loaves of faith, which is the confession of the Holy Trinity». The friend therefore, the master of the house, is the God and Saviour Jesus 677, who loves every man, even those who have not yet believed on him, and thirsts for their salvation. But he who asks for the three loaves in the middle of the night is he who comes to the faith late. But the friend who came from a journey and was received by him we should afterwards rightly understand as the angel or angels who come at the end of life to take us and |249 conduct us on the last journey; for they themselves also love us, and make our salvation a subject of rejoicing, according to the testimony of our Lord which says, «Joy ariseth before the angels of God over a sinner who repenteth»678. But the children who are resting in the bed are those who have been brought up as children, and have believed the gospel with a simple heart, and have been judged worthy to rest with our Lord. For the lying on the bed also is a sign of rest, as our Lord himself again says in the Gospel of Matthew: «Many shall come from the east and from the west, and shall recline with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven»679.
The words spoken by our Saviour to the Jews, «In order that upon you may come all the blood, of righteous men that has been shed upon the earth, from the blood of Abel the righteous to the blood of Zacharias 680 whom ye |250 slew between the temple and the altar» 681, have been variously understood by those who have interpreted, because concerning this matter nothing is plainly stated by the God-inspired Scripture. But, since our Saviour's purpose requires that he should unite and comprise in the saying all the blood of righteous men that was unjustly shed, from Abel down to the day on which he himself said these things to the Jews, and lay the responsibility for this upon them and upon their ancestors, it 682 is a right and reasonable thing, as it seems to me, to understand that he referred to Zacharias the priest, who begot for us the holy 683 John the Forerunner and Baptist, whom a tradition not contained in Scripture relates that the Jews slew between the temple and |251 the altar, because he plainly prophesied or rather 684 showed the God-bearer to be a virgin 685, and him that is born of her, the great God and Saviour Jesus Christ, like some King and chief and Lord over their people, and did not remove the holy Virgin herself after the incomprehensible conception by the Holy Spirit from the virgins' place in the temple, between the temple and the altar, as one that was married, but knew her to be still a virgin, and allowed her to stand in the same 686 accustomed place as usual. For this reason (they say) those who heard of it fell into a rage and took weapons in their hands against him, fearing the king who was expected from his |252 prophecy, who was to exercise sway over them and lay the yoke of bondage upon them. And these things Gregory the wise in divine things, the brother of Basil the great, and bishop of Nyssa, in the sermon on the Nativity of our Saviour, states thus: «But, if we are not straying a long way from the subject, it would perhaps not be inopportune to adduce Zacharias also who was slain between the temple and the altar to testify to the undefiled mother. This Zacharias was a priest, but not a priest only, but possessing also the gift of prophecy, and the power of prophecy is proclaimed in the book of the gospel as inevitable 687, in that the divine grace makes a way for men beforehand, that they may not think the birth from a virgin incredible, and, training the assent of those who did not believe beforehand by small miracles, a child |253 is born to her that is barren and past age 688. This is the beginning of the miracle that is performed in the Virgin 689. For, as Elizabeth does not become a mother by the power of nature, inasmuch as she had grown old in the world 690 without bearing, but the boy's birth is referred to the divine will, so also the incredibility of the virgin birth-throes obtains belief by reference to the deity. Since therefore the son born of the barren woman, who at the voice of her that had conceived the Lord, before he came forth to the light, leaped in his mother's womb, preceded the son born of the virgin, immediately on the forerunner of the Word coming forth to birth, then the silence of Zacharias is dissolved, by the prophetic indwelling, and all things that Zacharias utters were a prophecy of the future. This man therefore who was being led by the spirit of prophecy to the knowledge of hidden |254 things, having understood the mystery of virginity in the undefiled birth, did not exclude the unmarried mother in the temple from the place which according to the law was assigned to the virgins, teaching the Jews that the Maker of the things that are and Ring of all creation has human nature under his rule with all things, and by his own will leads it to that which pleases him, and is not himself controlled by this nature, so that it is in his power to make a new form of birth which will not cause her who has become a mother to cease from being a virgin. Therefore he did not exclude her in the temple from the ranks of the virgins; and this place was a space between the temple and the altar. Since therefore they heard that the King of creation was coming forth 691 by dispensation to human birth, in fear of being under a king's rule they slew the man who testified these things |255 concerning the birth, sacrificing 692 the priest at the very altar» 693. But of the Zacharias who was one of the twelve prophets we cannot reasonably understand the passage quoted, since it is not related that he was killed, but he departed from life by the ordinary end of human life. Wherefore also in the times of the pious king Theodosius the grandson of the elder Theodosius his holy body was found by revelation in the territory of Eleutheropolis, when it had not been in the least corrupted but was found as if it had been buried yesterday, at a place at which an oratory is now to be seen, and a temple which was consecrated to God in his name; and it is known and honoured by all who pass by that way. This is related by a certain Sozomen who wrote ecclesiastical histories 694. Some have supposed that in the above-quoted passage our Saviour referred to Zacharias the son of Jehoiada who was put to death by Joash, king of the Jews. But this explanation is futile, and is refuted by the facts themselves. For it is not the case that the foul murder of prophets and priests, the murder which it is the intention of the |256 evangelic saying of our Saviour to set forth, was perpetrated down to his time and then ended: for after Joash other kings of the Jews also reigned who turned aside to idolatry, and, as is natural, were ill-disposed towards those who pleased God; among whom Manasseh is said to have put Isaiah the great among prophets to death with a saw. But besides these things we should know this also, that the man who was put do death by Joash was called Azarias and not Zacharias, though in certain copies some men have changed the name, and by a slight change have written 'Azarias' as 'Zacharias' 695. Accordingly for all these reasons it seems to be a just conclusion that we must consequently understand our Saviour's saying of the father of John the Baptist, as the holy Gregory said.
Of the passage written by the wise Paul in the first epistle to the Corinthians, «He that speaketh with tongues edifieth himself, but he that prophesieth edifieth the church 696», this is the elucidation. In the times in which the apostles were "propagating the saving preaching of the gospel in the |257 world, many of those who believed worked signs and prodigies, in order to bring unbelievers to accept the truth. For it is for this cause that miracles are numerous among unbelievers, and not among those who have already believed, according to the saying of the same Paul 697. For this very same reason the gifts of the Spirit were given with greater liberality, and more openly, to these who were being brought to the faith. And those who were baptized often spoke with tongues immediately, and some were thought worthy to receive prophetic inspiration, while certain others even enjoyed the possession of both, as is written in the book of the Acts about some men who were baptized by Paul at Ephesus, as follows: «But, when they had heard it, |258 they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And, when Paul had laid his hand upon them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spake with tongues and prophesied» 698. This grace therefore flourished among the Corinthians also at that time, and some used to speak with tongues, while others were thought worthy to prophesy. And the form of prophecy was such that it was made known not only by foretelling the future but also by the commingling of words of instruction which corrected morals, as the God-clad doctors such as Athanasius the great and Basil, and such as Gregory and John, and all who were like these, gained renown at one time and another in the churches. Since therefore certain men at Corinth were puffed up and thought much of themselves because they spoke with |259 tongues, while others prophesied and taught things useful and beneficial, Paul, wishing to bring down their high looks, says this: «He who speaks with the tongues of the nations edifies himself, that is, establishes his own reputation, and is admired only, but does not benefit the soul of the hearers by reforming morals: but he who prophesies and weaves a web of moral teaching, and reproves secret things of the heart, and purifies the souls of the hearers from shameful passions, edifies the church, and acquires the gift of prophesy or of teaching for others rather 699 than for himself».
The meaning of Job's saying, «May the blessing of him that hath perished come upon me» 700 is plain to those who read with intelligence and not carelessly from the fact that it follows the words which precede, and from |260 the words which next follow. This is what he says: «Often have I seen a man suffering extreme tortures, and just on the point of perishing, as perhaps when enemies were upon him, or violent men, and have rescued him from distress701 and saved him; and such a one has blessed me, because against all hope he had been delivered from the destruction that was impending over him702. May that blessing therefore come upon me, and may God bring it to effect» 703. That this is so the words which follow will prove as I said before. What in fact does he say? «For I delivered the poor from the hand of the powerful, and I helped the orphan who had no helper. May the blessing of him that hath perished come upon me; and the mouth |261 of the widow hath blessed me» 704. But one may also understand this in a higher sense as a parable. For our Lord also says in the gospels about those who mortify their soul to the world, and give up their body to the arena 705 of martyrdom, or to labours of asceticism, and are thereby thought to be destroying and slaying their soul, because they are deprived of worldly pleasure: «He that destroyeth his soul for my sake shall find it» 706. The prayer and blessing therefore of a man who has thus perished according to our Saviour's saying and finds his soul is a great thing: and any right-minded man will pray that this may come upon him, and will wisely say the words, «May the blessing of him that hath perished come upon me».
As to what is written at the end of the book of Job, that he took an Arabian 707 wife, it is unnecessary for us to inquire much who this is, |262 whether this is another wife by whom he had other children after the calamity, or the former one, who under the magnitude of the afflictions that came upon him gave way and stumbled, and advised him to utter some blasphemous speech and depart from his pains. However it is reasonable for us to understand that the wife by whom the children after the calamity were born was some other one different from her. For it is as if adding something new that the writer uses the words: «Having taken an Arabian wife he begets a son» 708. For it would have been far from just that she should share in the good things, who shrank in the time of the struggle, and tried to bring the combatant 709 down from the highest summit of endurance. |263
The words that were written by the writer in the book, and these also about Job, of whom it is written that he also 'shall again rise with those whom the Lord raiseth' 710, we must suppose to have been composed with this meaning. In consequence of so great a trial he had in a sense gone down to Sheol and final destruction, so that even his name should thenceforth be extinguished, as he himself said when he was being tormented by the pains 711, and suddenly he arose as from the dead, and put off the unsightliness of the sores, and he was comely in body, as in the bloom of youth, and everything ended for him in a change to the best fortune. Therefore, lest any think that the prize of virtue ends with these things, and lest we who read imagine that we shall receive the rewards for the labours |264 of virtue in this world, for this reason the writer recorded the words that are written, «He shall again rise with those whom the Lord raiseth»; that is, lest any think that his rewards are completed and ended with present things: for these were given as an earnest for the things that are future and are expected by us all. For he shall rise with those whom the Lord raiseth, viz. those who have conducted themselves after the same pattern, of whom Paul also in writing to the Hebrews says that all those who have borne testimony through faith 'did not receive the promises, God having provided some better thing for us, that they might not be made perfect without us'712. By the words which he used (and it is written, «He shall |265 again rise with those whom the Lord raiseth») the writer is thought to be explaining this also, that he endured such pains, not because he looked to the things that were given him in this.world, but to the hope of the great and wonderful resurrection, concerning which also he said, «I will endure for thee until I shall again be» 713; and again, «For I know that he ever floweth who shall release me upon the earth. He shall raise my skin which endureth these things»714. The words which are before us for the purpose of interpretation were used by the author with reference to the general resurrection which is expected by everyone (and the words are «He shall again rise with those whom the Lord raiseth»), and not, as your religiousness has supposed, to that by which some of the saints rose, |266 when our Lord took the saving Cross upon him for our sakes, and the Good Shepherd laid down his soul for the sheep. For this the holy 715 Matthew the Evangelist recorded in these words: «But Jesus, when he had cried with a loud voice, gave up the ghost. And lo! the veil of the temple was rent in two, from the top to the bottom, and the earth quaked, and the rocks were rent, and the graves were opened, and many bodies of the saints who slept arose, and came out from the graves, and after his resurrection went into the holy city, and appeared to many» 716. Since then the Evangelist stated indefinitely that many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep rose, it is unnecessary for us to inquire who these were, and if Job was among them. For the reason why he said 'many', and not 'all the bodies of the saints' is because the resurrection which is expected by everyone is not that one, |267 but the one at the second coming of our Saviour Christ. For then, I mean at the time of the revered Gross, it was only in order to demonstrate the power of our same Saviour, who in that the soul separated from the body went down to Sheol, that certain men rose by a divine manifestation, showing that in the places beneath the earth there was perception of the God-befitting illumination. And these were prophets and some of those who lived after the same manner as they, who were well-known from the Holy Scriptures among the inhabitants of Jerusalem. This is stated also by the God-clad Ignatius, who adorned the throne of the Antiochenes, immediately after the apostolic administration 717, and the first see of the chief of the apostles Peter, and was perfected with a crown of martyrdom. In writing-to those at |268 Magnesia he wrote as follows about our Saviour Christ: «How shall we be able to live without him? whom the prophets also, being his disciples in the spirit, expected as a teacher; and for this reason he whom they rightly awaited when he came raised them from the dead»718. But that we should think that those who rose then, at the time of the saving Cross, remained to this day the words of the gospel do not permit; for they cry plainly, «They went into the holy city and appeared to many». The word 'appeared' plainly denotes a temporary appearance, for the purpose of confirming, as we 719 said, the power of our Saviour, who broke the gates of bronze, and the bars of iron 720 from which there is no escape, of the places |269 beneath the earth. After therefore those who rose had shown themselves at that time, they again laid their bodies aside and departed to their places, awaiting the general resurrection which is expected by everyone. That this is so, the holy John bishop of Constantinople also testifies in the fourteenth note of the second part of the commentary on the first epistle to the Corinthians, where he wrote thus: «But if any be in doubt why, when speaking about the resurrection, he did not here introduce the bodies which rose in our Lord's time, we will say this, that this is not speaking about the resurrection. For to show that those who rose die again was alien to the purpose of one who is showing that death is finally destroyed. For it is for this reason also that he said that it is the last thing to be destroyed, in order that you may no longer fear that it will rise. For, when evil is |270 done away, much more shall death be annihilated» 721. And in the fifteenth note which follows, when speaking about saving baptism, and explaining why a man who is about to be baptized, when he repeats 722 the baptismal confession, is baptized into the remission of sins and the resurrection of the dead, and eternal life, he says this: «For, since sin brought in death, the root being dried up, we must no longer dispute in any way about the: destruction of the fruit. Therefore after first saying 'the remission of sin', he then confesses 723 also the resurrection of the dead, being led from this to that also. And afterwards, since the name 'resurrection' does not suffice to set forth everything (for many after they had risen departed again,' as |271 those in the Old Testament, as Lazarus, as those at the time of the Cross) you are bidden 724 to say, 'and in eternal life', that none may any longer fear death after that resurrection» 725.
We have now discharged, as you see, all the God-loving debt of your, esteemed questions, according to our feebleness, and according to the small measure of knowledge which has come to us; and we pray that there may fall to you the glorious part of Mary, who never tired of bending her instruction-loving ear to the saving teaching of Jesus, and upon whom that testimony was given which said, «For Mary hath chosen for herself the good part, which shall not be taken from her» 726. But, whereas in the previous letter to us you stated how your religious brother Innocent and the sisters stand in the faith, and after writing this about them, as if you had done something contrary to the profession of philosophy, you then added that you take no «thought for them, know clearly that it is not a thing unworthy of your perfection that as regards the faith and in fitting spiritual matters you should take thought for those who are related to you, and perform all that is in your power, and give assistance with counsels and |272 prayers. For in these things our duty consists; and to this also the apostolic saying extends, «If any man taketh no thought for his own and especially those of the house, he denieth the faith, and is worse than an unbeliever» 727. And that we should take thought for their worldly opulence, or for anything else that is pleasant, is the part of those who are not philosophers. This distinction therefore I too made, and asked the love of God that is in you to write to me about them; and you have done well in telling everything both wisely and in accordance with truth; and it is proper that the distinction in this point also should not escape you. Upon another matter you have asked me questions of this kind. 1 have heard that Isaiah 728 the unlawful, like Dathan and Abiram, has risen against the laws of the priesthood, and has trampled upon everything like a hog, with foul, disorderly, uncanonical feet; and that, having gone to Pamphylia, he has thought fit to whisper lies about me, and to say that in what I wrote about the incorruptibility of the body of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ 729 I proclaimed the faith, and said that the body was corrupted and dissolved during the three days' burial, and certain similar blasphemies which are not plausible, which wound the ears, and disturb the souls, of those who listen without intelligence: and it |273 is therefore in my mind to send a man there carrying all that has been written by me, in order to establish the truth. If then you also have heard of any similar report that has been whispered there, since some persons have perhaps written and told you, tell me. The statement on which you have dilated in the letter, as to how you have loved and still love my humility with peculiar warmth, I read with great pleasure, and I rejoiced with spiritual joy on learning the fervour of the love that is in you, the God-befitting and pure love, wherewith rational souls are smitten towards one another, even among those with whom you associate in the blood of Christ. But I believe of you that, even if you write at very great length in every letter, you will not be able to express even a small portion of the love and confidence that you have towards me, who am unworthy and fall far short of this. But I pray that for this perfect love you may receive rewards both in this world, and in the future and endless life.
The end of the letter to Anastasia the deaconess 730. |274
LXX. ---- OF THE SAME CONCERNING DAVID'S SAYING, «AS ARROWS IN THE HAND OF A MIGHTY MAN, SO ARE THE SONS OF THE SHAKEN» 731, FROM THE LETTER TO ANASTASIA THE DEACONESS 732.
[522-6.] But the words used in the 126th 733 Psalm, which is the th of the Songs of Ascents, «As arrows in the hand of a mighty man, so are the sons of the shaken», should receive this interpretation. But the words contained in this statement apply also in a higher sense to each man's soul which by means of deeds of repentance is built up and renovated to form a holy temple of God. Those who returned from Babylon to this tangible and visible Jerusalem became sons of the shaken; who after captivity came to repentance, and by means of many trials were driven this way and that and shaken, and produced fruits of repentance, and thereby merited the return. But those who build up their own soul are in another sense sons of the shaken. |275 Divine Scripture calls the holy prophets and apostles, and all who conducted themselves like these, 'the shaken', because they shook out of their own soul like ashes all earthliness, whether thought or action, and all the likeness of the creature of dust and of the old man, and introduced into and impressed upon themselves instead of these the likeness of the heavenly one 734 by means of a new life, as through the mouth of Isaiah our Lord is introduced saying to Jerusalem, and raising her obediently (?) from earthly deeds, «Shake the dust from thee and rise» 735. And a garment that is shaken is not eaten by moth, and remains whole and uneaten. So therefore also those who by means of earnestness that is not eaten by evil things have been preserved for the adoption are understood to be and are called shaken. And again. Those who like smooth rocks that cannot be broken receive without changing the waves of this world and the assault of trials will therefore be understood and that very rightly to be shaken: and the sons of those who are shaken are the teachers of the church, who are held like arrows in the hand of a mighty man. For God the Lord of hosts is able to shoot those who through the same men learn religion, and to send into their |276 hearts the arrow of wisdom, the arrow of righteousness, the arrow of love in him, which comprises all the virtues; and through the same men also he shoots those too who oppose the word of truth, sending shafts of reproofs to effect a saving restoration if they will. To these sons of the shaken therefore, who are as arrows in the hand of a mighty man, he next gives a blessing, and says, «Blessed is the man who shall fill his desire from them» 736, for a blessing is given to the teacher who fills his desire by means of such arrows. But what else is the teacher's desire except the things that are for the profit of the souls of those that are saved? And this therefore should be understood not of a teacher only, but also of every Christian who lives virtuously, and through his own manner of life shoots everyone else as with arrows, and draws them to his own pattern. For those who so teach, or live, 'shall not be ashamed when they speak with their enemies in the gate' 737; and the gate is the exit from this world. For, even when they depart from the world, and take the last journey, and are about to go to the actual presence of their God himself, the demons the enemies of man's life are no longer able to encounter them; because, when they take |277 the last departure, those holy ones are not silent, but speak with the high voice of deeds, and in company with the rulers, I mean with the good and angelic hosts, who come to receive them, sing songs of victory and thanksgiving, according to what is said in the 67th Psalm, «Rulers went in front following singers, in the midst of damsels beating tambourines» 738. And he applies the expression 'damsels beating tambourines' to the souls which show youthful prowess over evil passions, and like tambourines have deadened the bodies and fleshly desires.
LXXI. -------- OF THE SAME FROM THE th LETTER OF THE nd BOOK OF THOSE AFTER EXILE, WHICH WAS ADDRESSED TO ANASTASIA THE DEACONESS.
[522-6.] As to the words therefore which the Evangelist Matthew wrote that our Lord and God and Saviour Jesus Christ used: «Pray that your flight be not in the winter nor on the sabbath» 739, know that they have a double meaning, and as a historical fact this has already happened to the Jews at the time |278 of the captivity at the hands of the Romans 740, but in a higher sense it is expected to take place at the end of the whole world. In fact after the outrage on the cross the judgment of God-slayers was exacted from them when the Romans took arms against them, and encamped over all Judaea and over the country round for whole years, and during the winter-seasons the evil consequences of war prevailed, and these especially in the winter when the fighting-men were idle; and not so only, but on the sabbath also they were slaughtered, because on account of the cessation of the sabbath they could not take arms in their hands and exact vengeance from those who were fighting with them. And this is often recorded by those who described the calamities of those men, that, by reason of the distress of the calamities which came upon them, they disregarded even the cessation of the sabbath, and took arms against their adversaries: nevertheless even so they fell with a complete and lamentable fall, and endured utter ruin. But, when our Saviour's words in respect of this prophecy are raised in meaning so as to refer to the time of the end and of Antichrist, it induces believers |279 always to persevere in works of virtue, and strive not to be caught by the winter or by the sabbath, at the time of the end, or the departure of every soul and its separation from the body, the winter signifying absence of fruit, and the sabbath cessation from virtue: for we know that the winter is unproductive as regards the production of fruit, and that the sabbath signifies cessation. For the winter, in which there is much rain and falls of snow, and gathering of clouds and a murky atmosphere 741, and scarceness of pure air 741, may denote confusion. The intention of the saying therefore is that our souls should be active and fruitful, and free from confusion as regards readiness and preparation for acts of religion, as in the words sung by David the prophet, «I was made ready and was not confounded» 742. In the same way should also be interpreted the saying, «Woe to them that are with child and to them that suckle in those days» 743. For this also occurred as a historical fact throughout Judaea, when the hand of the Romans fought with them, so that the women who were with child and those who were |280 suckling were pitifully slain with their children themselves, either while they were yet in the womb or while they were being nourished at the breast. And in a higher sense on the last day the souls are to be reckoned as objects of pity which received in the mind the practice of virtue and bear it as in a womb, and began to hold the seed of the word of religion, which was with difficulty conceived in them, which bring forth to the light and as it were give birth, but produce the thing itself in very imperfect form, like women who are unable to give perfect nourishment to their babies. For those who cultivate virtue must according to the parable that is in the gospel bear the full measure so as to rise to the number of 100, or produce fruit of the measure of 60, or at least of 30; for what is less than this should like an incompletely-formed and unnourished babe be reckoned as nothing.
But the saying «Where the corpse is, there will the eagles be gathered together» 744 is spoken as a kind of simile and proverb and illustration. As, when a dead body is found lying anywhere, both eagles and other birds of |281 prey come from different quarters from very lofty heights, suddenly and unexpectedly, in order to be fed, 'in the same way' (he says) 'shall be also the coming of the Son of man' 745, for, when he shall again appear upon the earth, at the glorious second coming to judge the world, and shall appear with armed ranks of angels, all the saints also, rising 'suddenly and in the twinkling of an eye at the last trump' 746, as the apostle said, shall suddenly all appear like some swift eagles of rapid motion. And very rightly were they compared to eagles, because they had high and heavenly thoughts, and lived in a manner worthy of the kingdom of heaven. But some have tried to interpret this saying in the following way, and have said that at the Lord's second coming all those who have lived a righteous life, and were like high and heavenly eagles in their mind, shall receive Paradise, and shall be gathered in the same place where Adam's fall 747 was, and the disobedience through which he fell into sin. Of the words, «Two men shall be at that time m the field, one is taken away and one left, two women shall be grinding |282 in the mill, one is taken away and one left» 748 this is the explanation. The field is the world, according to what was said by our Saviour, «He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; but the field is the world»749. Those therefore who have received the seed of the gospel, and the word of religion, while they are in the field and at work, either are taken into the kingdom because they are working and acting strenuously, or are left and remain as men who are indolent and slothful and lax. And the mill after the same model is this world, in which we pass our 750 time as at a mill, eating bread by labour and toil; and some strenuously undergo hardship and exertion in works of righteousness, while others spend their time in vain acts which pass away like a shadow. And on account of those things 751 therefore it is |283 manifest that some are taken and others left. But the very wise Luke the Evangelist wrote this passage in the following form: «In this night there shall be two in one bed; the one shall be taken and the other left. There shall be two women grinding together; the one shall be taken away but the other left» 752. And these things are brought about beforehand by each act, of the rich that is and of the poor, some of whom because they have done deeds worthy of the kingdom of heaven shall be taken, while others who have been negligent shall be left. For indeed even those who are in bed, those that is to say who enjoy ease in this world, and are in the portion of the rich, who 753, if they administer the riches well, shall earn the privilege |284 of the kingdom of God, but those who spend this on vanities will justly be despised and put to contempt. But by the work of the mill those again are denoted who live in poverty and contempt, according to what is said in Exodus, «And all the firstborn shall die in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sitteth on his throne down to the firstborn of the bondwoman who is in the mill-house»754; so that from this it is manifest that the name of [mill-house or 755] mill signifies the utter contempt and poverty of those who continue in such service for the sake of daily sustenance. Accordingly our Lord's saying in the gospel signifies that both from among the rich who enjoy ease upon beds, and from among the utterly poor who are occupied in contemptible employments on the last day some shall be found, of whom |285 some will be saved, while others will perish, and neither poverty nor riches are 756 impediments to him who seeks to live in the fear of God, in order to earn the kingdom of heaven. But some have said that the words «Two women shall be grinding in the mill, one is taken and one is left» were meant by our Saviour to refer to those who teach in the church. For those men grind the word of teaching as in a mill for those who learn, and lay rational bread before them, suprasensually feeding the souls. Wherefore also they say that what is written in Deuteronomy, «Thou shalt hot take a millstone nor an upper millstone in pledge, because this man taketh a soul in pledge» 757, was meant to refer to teaching, that a teacher must not lay them under any debt and bond of debt, since the souls of those who are |286 taught are taken in pledge, and made void 758 in respect of the principles of religion and the hope that arises thence. And this holy Scripture signifies in Koheleth also, saying of the time of the end, «And the grinding-women ceased because they had became few» 759. Then accordingly all teaching shall be silent, and labour and toil, when those who have previously performed shall receive rewards: for neither is it time then for them to teach or perform. Therefore Paul in writing to the Galatians said: «Therefore then while we have time let us work that which is good» 760. This then is what our Saviour said: «Then shall there be two women grinding» (and that means souls occupied in teaching), «one is taken and one is left»: and he who has taught the things that belong to religion, and has set the sound word without detraction and accurately before the rational sheep is taken |287 into the kingdom, but he who has detracted from 761 the teaching by heretical doctrines and deceived many, who by his own deceit has injured some, shall be left and sent outside the kingdom, having extreme judgments exacted from him on account of the wrong that he has done. Those again upon the roof they interpreted as those who have stood at the height of eminence.
LXXII. ----OF THE HOLY MAR SEVERUS, FROM THE LETTER TO ANASTASIA THE DEACONESS. 762
[522-6.] But do not think that the words written in the Revelation, of John, «Blessed and holy is he who hath part in the first resurrection» 763 indicate a first and second resurrection, in order of time. There is one resurrection of all men, and God 'appointed one day, on which he will judge the world in righteousness' 764, and that is the day of the resurrection and of the judgment, |288 and of receiving of good things. But John used the term 'first resurrection', because it has the first, glorious, superior rank. Our Lord said in the gospel, «The abodes in my Father's house are many» 765. But, if there are many abodes, it is plain that the ranks are also many of those who are admitted to the different abodes; so that one is first, and another second, and another third, and others lower, as each prepared his conduct. But the first rank belongs to the souls which have suffered tribulation for the testimony of Jesus' 766, and those who are like these 767.
LXXIII. ---- OF THE SAME, AS TO WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THE SAYING THAT THOSE WHO HAVE RECEIVED THE HEAVENLY SEED WILL PRODUCE FRUIT A HUNDREDFOLD AND SIXTYFOLD AND THIRTYFOLD 768, FROM THE LETTER TO DOROTHEUS THE COUNT.
[513-8 (?).] Those therefore who love the Lord as it is written with all their heart and with all their soul 769, and observe the commandments that were given |289 by him, and follow him as far as men can rise to the height, are said to produce fruits to the number of a hundred; and to the number of sixty those who hold a middle place; and after the same fashion those who produce thirtyfold also, who are lower than these. Though all received the saving word with the very same faith, and therefore all were with equal honour termed 'good soil', yet all had not the same capacity. Accordingly therefore among the crowns that are provided in the future blessed life they will receive abodes and honours on different scales, those which our Lord signified when he said in the gospel, «Many are the abodes in my Father's house» 770. And, when as in a parable he was about to go on a journey, he distributed talents among his bondmen to use, for it is plainly written thus: «To one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each of them according to his own capacity, and immediately started on his journey» 771. Words agreeing with these were spoken by Paul also in writing to the Corinthians, «Every man shall receive his own reward, according to his own labour» 772. |290
LXXIV. ---- OF THE SAME FROM THE LETTER TO VlCTOR THE PRESBYTER 773, THE BEGINNING OF WHICH IS, «With great pleasure I received the letter of your God-loving wisdom».
[513-21] (?). And these things are obvious in accordance with the primary and as one might say the superficial sense, for it was not even my intention to touch upon the deep meaning of the expression: but now the very expressions which precede in Job's speech appear to me to lead the man who examines them up to a higher understanding, and to show very clearly that we must understand the saying as referring to the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, and is himself Life and God, who is everlastingly with the Father and the Son.
LXXV. ---- To VICTOR THE PRESBYTER.
[513-21 (?).] A great and stern rebuke given in its time as the saying is should not be called presumption as some think, but gentleness. |291
LXXVI. ---- OF THE HOLY MAR SEVERDS, FROM THE LETTER TO GEORGIA THE PATRICIAN AND TO HER DAUGHTER 774.
[532-8 (?)] Your modesty's highness asked me some time ago why towards the end of the proverbs of Solomon we find this heading placed among them, as it were between two lines: «These are the indiscriminate admonitions or proverbs of Solomon, which the friends of Hezekiah king of Judah set down or arranged» 775; and it seems to me that the sentence bears some such meaning as this; that the proverbs contained in the book down to this heading are those which were discriminately arranged as one may say in one corpus and volume, that is which were set down in order and collected, Solomon having so arranged them; but many others also which were spoken by him as in short utterances were in a scattered way current. And the book of Kingdoms also states this, that Solomon spoke 3000 proverbs or parables 776, from those therefore that were set down in a scattered way, confusedly |292 and indiscriminately, not as in a series and collection, Hezekiah's friends chose these, brought them into one order and collection, and added them to the book itself. You certainly do not forget that Hezekiah was a lover of God and an observer of the commandments of the law. Consequently therefore some learned Hebrews, wise in the divine words, took the trouble to dispose these indiscriminate and confused proverbs in some order, put them together as in one corpus, and presented them as a rational present to the king.
LXXVII. ---- OF MAR SEVERUS, FROM THE LETTER TO PHILOXENUS THE BISHOP.
[513-8.] This saying refers to teaching; and this is plain from the words that precede: for he said, «According to the grace of God that was given to me like a wise master-builder I laid a foundation» 777. But what is the foundation that Paul laid in the souls of believers except the gospel-preaching? |293
What he here said therefore is this. If a man has expounded the genuine message of the gospels to those who listen, like gold or silver or precious stones, this man's work, that is his teaching, will by the test of the last fire, and by the impartial judgment, be shown to be genuine, and of necessity 778 it abides and is not destroyed. But, if one of the falsely-named teachers has used defiled and spurious doctrines, like pieces of wood and reeds and hay, this man's doctrine does not endure the fire, but, as soon as it is brought into contact with the flame, it will be burnt and consumed. But the expounder and teacher of this doctrine will not be destroyed, nor come to annihilation, but he shall be saved, continuing to maintain a'strange kind of existence, painful and grievous, being consumed by the fire without being consumed. This Isaiah the prophet also said, «Such mens' worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be quenched» 779. |294
LXXVIII. ---- Or THE HOLY MAR SEVERUS, FROM THE 55th LETTER OF THE nd BOOK OF THOSE WRITTEN DURING EPISCOPACY, WHICH WAS ADDRESSED TO CONON THE SILENTIARY 780.
[513-8.] The reason for which we are said to have become heirs of the curse and of condemnation and of death is not that the sin and condemnation and death passed to us, as if these fell to our nature by lot, for man's nature was from the beginning free from all these things, but that the method by which intercourse takes place derived its origin from sin, as I have said, a method which cut away the blessing of immortality, so that the race of men is preserved from dissolution by the procreation of children 781. We therefore were in consequence born mortal from a mortal father. These things are defined both by the holy John in the Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans 782, and by the holy Cyril in the letter to Succensus 783. |295
LXXIX. ---- OF THE SAME FROM THE th LETTER OF THE th BOOK OF THOSE WRITTEN AFTER BANISHMENT, WHICH WAS ADDRESSED TO PROBUS THE GENERAL 784.
[519-38.] «Give a portion to seven, also to eight» 785. This has this elucidation. In six days, as the writings of the blessed Moses mystically teach us, God made this visible world, and on the seventh he rested. This same period therefore during which we men live in this world, like a wheel, turns and revolves round itself in the space of seven days, but at the end it gives up the course and this circular movement; and thereafter rises a great much-beloved light, that of the last day, with which there is no night, but this day is one thing extending without end, and does not pass into another; the day on which the Lord the Judge will come, and 'will reward every man according to his works' 786, and to those who have lived well, and are prepared by zealous actions, he will reveal the good things which ' eye hath not seen, |296 and ear hath not heard, and which have not gone up into the heart of man' 787, and the whole kingdom of heaven itself. This last and renowned day without evening therefore is one reckoned by itself: but, if a man reckons it with the seven days of this world, he mentions it in the sequence of the eighth 788; the day for which all who have believed in Christ are made ready by good actions, yearning to be admitted to the good things in it, which do not wither, which belong to the angels only. This therefore is (he 789 says) the commandment of Koheleth also, that we ought to give a portion to seven, that is, give the proper attention to the affairs of this world, in which the seventh period is passing 790, but give a portion also to the eighth, and that means show great earnestness in the matter of labours of virtue, and of good works which on the eighth day procure for us the beloved bliss, not the enjoyment that blooms and withers. |297
LXXX. ---- OF THE SAME MAR SEVERUS FROM THE LETTER TO AMMONIUS THE PRESBYTER OF ALEXANDRIA 791.
[515-8.] That which you say is staled by Koheleth, «There is nothing new under the sun; whosoever shall speak and say 'Lo! this is new'; whatever happened is already», and, «All things that are to be lo! they have been already» 792, does not apply to everything, but only to those things that belong to the weekly circle, and to this limited and temporal life, which revolves upon itself by means of nights and days, and blooms and withers by means of birth and death, and to the distraction and vanity to which Adam was condemned after the disobedience, and the fall from the immaterial and blessed life in Paradise.
But all things that occurred in Christ and after Christ are the appointed time 793 or beginnings of that eighth day, and of that new life without evening and without end. Therefore also the torments that are applied to those who come afterwards are terrible and beyond conception, and such as the |298 previous time did not display. What also shall we in fact say, when our Saviour himself cries in the gospel about the things that shall happen in the last times, «For there shall be then great tribulation, such as hath not been from the beginning of the world unto now, and shall not be» 794? Or what solution shall we devise in consideration of the plagues beyond conception which John the son of thunder named, when he had mysteries revealed to him in the wonderful revelation? Shall we say that these things also fall under the words of Koheleth? But how is it not unreasonable, and a thing that plainly contends against the truth, and against the sacred Scriptures?
LXXXI. ---- OF THE SAME TO JOHN OF BOSTRA 795, EXPLAINING WHY, WHEN THE GOSPELS AND THE OTHER DIVINE SCRIPTURES SAY THAT CHRIST DAWNED UPON US IN THE LAST DAY, WE SEE THAT MANY REVOLUTIONS OF YEARS HAVE PASSED SINCE THAT TIME.
[519-38.] If Jews and heathens accepted the words of the apostles, we should have said what Peter says in the second epistle: «One day with the Lord is as a |299 thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord delayeth not from his promise, as some reckon delay; but he is long-suffering toward us not wishing that any should perish, but that all men should come to repentance, but the day of the Lord will come as a thief, wherein the heavens shall pass away with a cry, the elements shall be burnt and dissolved» 796. But, since those men are under no obligation 797 to bow to the writings of the New Testament 798, but from this source yet more increase their unbelief, we will produce a demonstration for them from the prophetic words. Daniel the seer of those divine visions hard of interpretation, when he was explaining Nebuchadnezzar's dream, and was revealing the heterogeneousness of the image that appeared to him in the dream, which was composed of gold and silver and bronze and iron and earthenware, and by the diversity of the materials 799 signified the various kingdoms, said of Christ's kingdom as follows: «And in the days of those kings the God of heaven shall set up a kingdom which shall not be destroyed for ever; and his kingdom shall not pass to another people. It shall break in pieces and scatter all the kingdoms and itself shall stand for ever» 800. Those therefore who proclaimed |300 the gospel applied the term 'last days' to the days of Christ's kingdom and the evangelic life.
John the Evangelist also when he said in his epistle, «Children, it is the last season» 801, did not speak falsely. For it is in fact the custom to apply the term 'seasons' 802 not only to those of the days, but also to those of the whole year: for the whole course of the year is divided into the spring season, the summer season, the autumn season, and the winter season; and the winter was in truth that of godlessness, which covered the whole world, in which there was all spiritual barrenness, and coldness as regards the fervour of the divine Spirit, and the whole earth was completely devoid of the gifts from heaven, when Christ 'the Sun of righteousness' 803 by his coming in the flesh dawned upon us.
And, to put it in another way, since 5000 years and more had passed since the world came into being, as the writings of Moses have handed down to us, and from Christ's coming there has not yet been completed as much as 600 or 700 or 1000 years4 (let us concede this), how can it appear unreasonable to apply the term ' last' to the days of the 600 years or may be 1000, |301 'when compared with those of the 5000? Johannes also in the 34th homily of the Commentary on the Gospel of John uses these words, which agree with the above sentiments: «For whence do you know, O man, that the end is not near and that the things mentioned will occur after a short time 804? For, as we do not say that the last day is the end of the year, but also the last month, although it contains 30 days, so also, even if I call 400 years the end of so large a number of years, I shall not be wrong» 805.
LXXXII. ---- OF THE SAME FROM THE 11th LETTER OF THE st BOOK OF THOSE WRITTEN AFTER BANISHMENT, WHICH WAS ADDRESSED TO SCHOLASTICUS.
[519-38.] «Hungry men he filled with good things and rich men he sent empty away» 806. For the Jews, who thought that they were rich in the riches of the divine Scriptures, became empty of these, and the nations who were hungry with the hunger of the word of God, as the prophet Amos said 807, |302 were filled. This our Lord himself also foretold to the proud Pharisees, who were to fall completely away from the principles of the divine Scriptures; «The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and shall be given to a people that shall bring forth its fruits» 808.
LXXXIII. ---- OF MAR SEVERUS TO JOHN 809, THAT, ACCORDING TO THE LETTER, BOTH CHRIST AND PAUL ABOLISHED THE LAW, BUT, ACCORDING TO THE SPIRIT, THEY CONFIRM IT.
[519-38.] We say that according to the letter the law was abolished through Christ, but that in the spirit it was much more fully brought to confirmation. But what were the things of the letter? Sacrifices, sprinklings, various temporary cleansings repeated at stated times, and other similar things, which were different from heathen demon-worship, but prefigured the truth as in a shadow, as Paul also says: «For the law contained a shadow of the future good things, not the very image of the facts» 810. In the |303 same way Gregory the Theologian 811 also in the homily on the Holy Spirit wrote thus: «The first, when it cut away idols conceded sacrifices: the second, when it caused sacrifices to pass away, did not forbid circumcision. But afterwards, when they had once accepted the suppression, they conceded even what had been conceded, the one sacrifices, the other circumcision; and they became instead of Gentiles Jews, and instead of these Christians, having by a gradual change of position been brought near to the gospel. Let Paul persuade you of this, who from circumcising and being purified was brought to say: 'But as for me, my brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why do I continue to be persecuted?' The one is a matter of the dispensation, the other of perfection» 812.
That God permitted sacrifices in order to lead men to shun idolatry, Moses also testifies, since in Leviticus he wrote thus, after he had said that those of Israel were not allowed to perform any kind of sacrifice in another place besides the tent of witness: «And they shall no longer perform their own sacrifice to the vanities after whom they themselves go a whoring» 813. When therefore we say that the enactments which were laid down for that infant people, who were incapable of rising to the perfect service of God, |304 that I mean which is performed through the spirit, when the perfection came, which is Christ, were in the bodily form done away, we do not sin 814. Let me, as if dealing with a hypothesis 815, test the matter. Various animals were formerly sacrificed for sin, and the blood of these was brought into the sanctuary by the high-priest, while, their bodies were delivered to be burnt outside the camp. This kind of sacrifices therefore symbolized beforehand the great sacrifice which balances the great sin of the world, as Paul also says: «For, as for the animals whose blood was brought into the sanctuary because of sins by the high-priest, the bodies of these were burnt outside the camp. Therefore Jesus also, in order to sanctify the people by his own blood, suffered outside the gate» 816. Since then Christ the Saviour of all was sacrificed in the original model on the cross, and is also slaughtered so to speak every day on the altar, and is distributed to the believers limb by limb by the hand of the priests, who is so mad, and so exceedingly uninstructed in the greatest matters, as to dare to deny that the type was abolished in the letter, that is according to the bodily form, and the |305 sacrifice of animals ceased, but the intellectual meaning 817 was also preserved according to the spirit, in which the truth was prefigured through it? After the same manner also the eating of unleavened bread was abolished according to the letter, but according to the spirit it is still maintained, in that we 'keep the feast not in the leaven of wickedness and bitterness, but in the unleavened bread of purity and truth' 818. (A little farther on). But we will grant if you wish that the wax represents the letter, and the bronze that has been melted is the perfection in the spirit. If then it is the fact that, when the bronze is brought to the fire, it is reduced to non-existence, and the wax, when liquefied, gives to the bronze the shape only of that which was fashioned, explain if you have any abundant store of wisdom. But, if the wax has been dissolved and liquefied, the letter will be dissolved, but the spiritual meaning 819 of the law will remain, preserving the form 820 of the letter. or Cyril teaches and says: «We have not relegated the types to utter desolation(?), though certainly to partial desolation, I mean since the letter of the bodily observances ceases» 821. Listen to the expressions of Gregory |306 the Theologian 822, and let the words of that man and his thoughts be a law to you, and a fixed ordinance, since they are indeed such to all Christians. When in the homily on the Passover he discussed the meaning 823 of all the rites performed at the old Passover, he also caused the hearer to pass from the letter to the spirit: for, when he came to the staff, and solved the riddle of this, he commanded the man who eats this our Passover in truth to lean upon the staff of faith, using these words: «Stand firmly, with feet strongly planted, being in no point shaken by the adversaries, nor carried away by words of plausibility. These things Christ fulfilled, the subverter of the letter, the fulfiller of the spirit» 824. If 'the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life' 825, and Christ is life as it is written, «When Christ our life shall be revealed» 826, how can it be that when the life came that which slew was not abolished? since, if you deny that the law was abolished in the letter, but brought to confirmation in the spirit, Paul also will be seen to say contradictory things, writing in one place that he 'annulled the law of commandments in teachings' 827, and saying in another, «Do we therefore annul the law through faith? For be it. Nay we establish the law» 828, recognising the |307 commandment as 'holy and just and good' 829, and in another sorrowfully crying to those who chose after recognition of the truth to live by the law, «Ye who are justified in the law have been annulled from Christ, ye have fallen from grace» 830. It is a thing impossible that of the same object he should say that it has been annulled and openly confess that it has been established, and that he should admire it as just and good, while he rejects those who are justified in this and asserts that they have fallen from the grace that is in Christ. For it seems to some extent likely that we [shall remove] the enigma..... from doubt if we look carefully at the words of Gregory the Theologian 831; for he called Christ 'the subverter of the letter, but the fulfiller of the spirit'. Let us therefore cleave to the law inasmuch as it has been fulfilled, but let us neglect it, let us make haste to eradicate it with the swift foot of the word inasmuch as it has been abolished, rightly treating its bodily observances with contempt. Nay, you say, but that holy man says that the letter was abolished, while you say the law, inasmuch as you said that Paul is a subverter of the law. Rather..... from what we have said you have the certain truth which |308 was before likely. When Paul says that the law of commandments was annulled, we say that he means that according to the letter it was annulled, trusting to the words of Gregory; and there is therefore nothing that prevents me also from calling the letter the law. However 832, if you desire to hear one of the fathers saying that the law was abolished when he should have said the letter, we will readily produce this citation also for you.
LXXXIV. ---- OF THE SAME FROM THE 20th LETTER OF THE th BOOK OF THOSE WRITTEN DURING EPISCOPACY, WHICH WAS ADDRESSED TO THE MONKS OF THE HOUSE OF MAR ISAAC 833.
[513-8.] But the 'abomination of desolation ' (for you asked this also as well) Daniel the prophet mentions at the end of the 10th vision, saying thus: «And in the middle of the week the sacrifice and the libation shall be taken away, and together with these things upon the temple shall be the abomination of desolation» 834; and a mention of it was made also in the gospels 835. And John the holy and of renowned memory, who adorned the throne 836 of |309 the church of Constantinople at that time, said 837 that the abomination of desolation is the image which Hadrian, king of the Romans, set up within the temple, when he encamped against Jerusalem838: for it is the habit of Scripture to say that likenesses made with hands, and the graven statues of the demon-worship of the heathen, are an abomination, as Manasseh says in the song that he set up abominations and multiplied pollutions 839. For it is better for us to say that the abomination of desolation is Antichrist; since it is impossible for us to interpret all the expressions contained in the gospel in the same passage like a record of Scripture 840 history. Of him the apostle also in writing to the Thessalonians said, «In order that the man of sin may be revealed, the son of perdition, who is opposed to and exalteth himself against everyone that is called God or is an object of worship, so that he sits in the temple of God, declaring himself to be God» 841: for the temple at Jerusalem is termed a ' holy place'. For it is possible for the same words of the gospel to be taken both in a historical sense as referring to the desolation and devastation of Jerusalem, and in a sublime sense to the complete |310 desolation and end of the world. But for your assurance I have thought it to be necessary for us to cite also the words of the interpretation of the man whom we have mentioned, the holy John, which are these: a But he said that the image of him who came at that time, who also devastated the city, and set up the image within the temple, is an abomination; wherefore also he called it a desolation» 842.
LXXXV. ---- Of THE SAME HOLY SEVERUS FHOM THE 27th LETTER OF THE nd BOOK OF THOSE WRITTEN AFTER BANISHMENT, WHICH WAS ADDRESSED TO SERGIUS THE COUNT AND archiatros 843.
[519-38.] You ask why our Lord and God Jesus Christ took Peter and the sons of Zebedee, James that is and John, apart from the other apostles and disciples, and this when he raised the daughter of the president of the synagogue who was dead, and again when he took them up with him into the mountain, and as the text of the gospel says ' was transfigured before them, and his face |311 shone like the sun, and his raiment Became bright like the light' 844. My opinion is that he shows them such honours beyond the others because they had a more specially acute mind, and one that rose with the height of the Godhead of him who voluntarily humbled himself for us and condescended to become incarnate and remained in the same and did not leave his most exalted glory and his divine height 845. For Peter after he had confessed him and said, «Thou art the Christ the Son of the living God», heard the plain words, «Blessed art thou, Simon Bar Jona, for flesh and blood revealed it not to thee but my Father which is in heaven» 846. And James and John, as Mark the Evangelist related, being brothers in the spirit more than in the body, were named by our Saviour Bnai ragsh, that is 'sons of thunder' 847. The reason for which they merited such an appellation was that he who proclaimed, «In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God» 848, loudly thundered the divine utterance from heaven |312 and the gift of the Spirit that in truth came down thence, and stirred the attention of all nations by reason of the wonder, and tore up from its roots and as one might say from its foundations every false and human opinion that creeps upon the earth 849. For it is manifest that James also was rich in the same grace as his brother, according to the unerring testimony of him who honoured them by one comman appellation. But some have said that the reason for which those three were peculiarly honoured beyond the rest of the disciples was that they specially loved Jesus, and in the same way he also too loved them, because of the virtues that were in them, as the very wise John bishop of Constantinople also said in the 56th homily of the Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, where he thus interpreted the words concerning them: «Why did he take these? Because these excelled the others. And Peter showed the superiority by the fact that he loved him much, and John by the fact that he was much loved, and James by the answer which he returned saying, 'We can drink the cup', and not by the answer only, but also by other actions, among them the fact that he carried out what he said. For he was so troublesome and burdensome to the Jews that Herod |313 thought this would be a great present to give to the Jews if he put him to death» 850. The words used by our Lord to his disciples, «Greet no man by the way» 851 naturally cause perplexity among those who read the divine Scriptures superficially: for greeting more especially becomes ministers of peace and teachers of a humble disposition. But it is not possible for us to take the actual injunction as bearing this meaning; for our Saviour is thereby shown to contradict himself and to be making use of injunctions which do not agree with one another; for Matthew wrote of him that he said to his disciples, «And, if ye greet your friends only, what special thing do ye? Do not the tax-gatherers also the same?» 852. How then can he who enjoins us to greet not only those who are friends but also enemies prohibit us from greeting those who meet us on the way? Accordingly therefore it is manifest that we must direct the purport of the injunction to another meaning. It is the habit of men to visit their acquaintances who live at a distance from them, and whom they have not seen for a long time, making this the occasion |314 of a journey, the greeting of those persons, as Luke wrote of Mary the God-bearer that the reason for which she went to the hill-country was to greet Elizabeth, saying thus: «And Mary arose in the same days, and went to the hill-country in haste, to a city of Judah, and entered the house of Zacharias, and greeted Elizabeth» 853. Since therefore our Lord and God wished his disciples to be unencumbered and self-reliant, and that they should be very zealous for the preaching-journey, he prohibited such greeting, when they were setting out on the apostolic and divine journey, lest they should give up the zeal for the journey set before them and enter upon the journey that is called vain, which leads aside to another path. For he wished the divine service of the gospel-message and of the saving preaching to be honoured before fitting human affection and the love that creeps upon the earth. And the approved Cyril also bishop of Alexandria wrote in agreement with these things in precise words and at length, in the 62nd homily of the Commentary on the Gospel of Luke: «Again how could it not be incumbent on men who were to enlighten those that were in darkness and to bring |315 them to the knowledge of the truth above all others to adopt a gentle demeanour and great affability, and not roughly shun intercourse with them, so as to refuse even to greet them? though it indeed becomes saints together with other good qualities to have that also of approaching people in a proper way and giving greeting. For perhaps it would happen that those who met them were not under all circumstances unbelievers, but also some of those who shared their opinions, or of those who had been already enlightened, so that for this reason it was necessary to give them a message of love, I mean the word ' Hail! '. What therefore? And for this reason Christ does not give the injunction in order that they may be misanthropes, nor does he give it in order to show honour to 854 a refusal to offer greeting, but rather he teaches them to avoid such refusal. It is not unreasonable for us to understand that, when the disciples were going round the cities and villages, and propounding the mysteries relating to the divine doctrines to those in every place, they did not then wish to do this without distraction, but so to speak at leisure, turning out of the way and making use of certain diversions, because someone perhaps wished to see a man whom he knew |316 and his friend, and afterwards spend the time proper for teaching in gluttony, not in urgent things. Accordingly he says that, showing unencumbered zeal for the divine proclamation, they should be sure not to give attention that does not profit to friendships (but rather that which pleases God is placed before every thing), and, while employing acts of courtesy that cannot be impugned and do not occupy attention, to give close attention to the apostolic business» 855.
LXXXVI. ---- OF THE SAME FROM THE 70th LETTER OF THE th BOOK OF THOSE WRITTEN AFTER BANISHMENT, WHICH WAS ADDRESSED TO SERGIUS THE COUNT AND archiatros 856.
[619-38.] As to the fact that our Lord and God Jesus Christ appeared after the Resurrection to Peter and John and their companions, and commanded them to cast the net on the right side of the ship, and to catch a multitude of great fish, making up the number of 153, I say in brief language that its meaning |317 is this 857. The gospel related that that night after toiling greatly they caught nothing whatever; and this narrative, when transferred to spiritual and suprasensual sublimity, suggests to us that before our Saviour's coming there was night in this world, for human affairs were devoid of the knowledge of God, being devoted to the service of gods falsely so-called; but, when a kind of rising and dawn of light took place, when our Saviour came and rose and shone upon those on earth, like a 'Sun of righteousness' (this the divine Scripture says 858), then the apostolic net was let down, and made a great catch of men, and for this reason had the right side allotted to it. For Moses and the prophets, when they let down the fishing-net, during the past night, caught the people of Israel only, while these often jumped out of the net and served demons, and the present state is understood to be the same as if they had not been caught 859. Wherefore, also they 860 left for the apostles the most honourable place on the right, while they themselves occupied the left station, which according to our custom is inferior in honour. But in respect of the fish which were caught the number 100 shows the great |318 multitude from the nations who were caught by the proclamation of the gospel; and, when Israel did not succeed, the teaching of the gospel seized that which is perfect;for the number 100 is perfect, being composed of 10 times 10. Wherefore also our Saviour likened all rational creation to 100 sheep, saying that 99 861............
LXXXVII. ---- OF THE SAME ON OUR LORD'S SAYING, « I WILL NOT DRINK WITH YOU HENCEFORTH OF THIS PRODUCT OF THE VINE TILL THE DAY ON WHICH I SHALL DRINK IT ANEW WITH YOU IN MY FATHER'S KINGDOM»862, FROM THE 60th LETTER 863, WHICH WAS ADDRESSED TO LEONTIUS THE PRESBYTER 864.
[514-8.] But the words spoken by our Saviour to the disciples at the institution of the new and divine mystery, «I will not drink henceforth of this product of the vine till the day on which I shall drink it with you new in my Father's kingdom» are explained and interpreted in two ways. John bishop of |319 Constantinople says that the new drinking of the cup is that occasion on which he drank with his disciples after the Resurrection, thereby confirming the nature of the body which rose, and eradicating the profane notion of phantasy; for the holy Peter is related in the Acts of the Apostles to have said to Cornelius, «Us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead» 865. But Gregory the Theologian in the homily on the Passover says that the new drinking of the cup is the revelation of the divine conceptions that shall take place and is expected in the kingdom of the heavens, when mirrors and riddles are done away, and the sight face to face is revealed, as the divine apostle says 866. But it is fitting that I should quote to you these words of the doctor, the contents of which are as follows: «We shall receive the Passover, but now symbolically 867, and a Passover that is more plainly revealed than the old one (for I am bold enough to say that the legal Passover was an obscurer symbol of a symbol); but a little later |320 one thatis more perfect and purer, when the Word shall drink it new with us in the Father's kingdom, revealing to us and teaching us things that he has now shown ohscurely; for that which is now made to appear is always new. But, what the drinking and enjoyment is, it is ours to learn, but his to teach, and to show the matter to his disciples. For even the teaching is the food of him who teaches» 868. And very well did the Theologian give expression to these words; for our Lord also reckons our profit his own food and drink; for thus also he says in the gospel, «My food is to do my Father's will» 869; and again, when he was about to speak to the men from Samaria, he said to the disciples, «1 have food to eat, which ye know not» 870.
LXXXVIII. ---- OF THE SAME FROM THE 69th LETTER OF THE th BOOK OF THOSE APTER BANISHMENT, WHICH WAS ADDRESSED TO SERGIUS BISHOP OF CYRRHUS 871.
[519-38.] But, since your saintliness asked with regard to Enoch and Elijah, of whom one was translated that he should not see death, as the apostle said 872, |321 while the other was caught up towards heaven, if they will undergo the common death, it is incumbent upon us to state, in proportion to the small capacity which we possess, the things that have reached our comprehension from the teaching of the fathers. It is believed therefore according to the testimonies of the divine words that Enoch was translated, and Elijah was caught up towards heaven, and was carried by the air 873, and that they are alive, and that they are in such places as God knows, and that he 874 bestowed upon them such a marvellous translation hence, and that they are in a mortal body, having not yet received the blessing of immortality. For let us agree with Paul who says generally of all the holy men who pleased God, «And all these to whom testimony was borne through faith received not the promises, God having foreseen, some better thing for our sakes. that they might not be perfected without us» 875. And it is manifest that perfection |322 is nothing else except a state of immortality and glory, and impassibility, that does not grow old, in the kingdom of heaven. That this is so is confirmed by John also the wise in the Spirit, who became bishop of Constantinople, in the 22nd homily of the commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews, where he gives the following teaching: «But many inquire whither Enoch was translated, and why he was translated, and why he did not die, neither he nor. Elijah, and, if they are still living, how they are living, and in what form. But it is superfluous for us to inquire into these things. For that the one was translated and the other was taken up the Scriptures stated; but where they exist or how they exist they did not go on to say; for they do not say anything beyond what is necessary» 876. And the same doctor delivered an expository discourse in Constantinople in the church of Marth Anastasia 877 about the saying of the apostle who says, «Henceforth, my brethren, be strong in our Lord and in the power of his might» 878, and, it being the day of the actual commemoration of the martyrs, and the king |323 having come to the martyrs' chapel and withdrawn before the sermon, he delivered a discourse after the king's departure, of which the beginning is: «Blessed is God for the greatness of the power of the martyrs, for yesterday they drew the whole city with the queen, and to-day the king with his soldiers, with great reverence». And, when in this discourse he was explaining about death and the resurrection, he gave this teaching: «Since therefore the fear had increased and had shaken the mind, see how thereafter he introduces also the hope concerning the resurrection, a dark hope indeed and not clear, but still he introduces it. For Enoch, who came into being after these things, he did not allow to die; and Paul says that 'by faith Enoch was translated that he might not see death; and he was not found, because God translated him'. For he translated him and did not allow him to die. He did not yet make him immortal, in order that he might not do away the fear, but he remains without dying. And he is not immortal; but he gave continuance of life in the mortal body, opening up, as I said, obscurely the hope of the resurrection» 879. |324
LXXXIX. ---- OF MAR SEVERUS TO AMMONIUS THE SCHOLASTIC OF BOSTRA.
[519-38.] For Paul says, « [Those who sinned without the law] shall also perish without the law; [and] those who sinned in the law shall also be judged in the law.» 880.......every created thing.......good and evil who are creatures and a rational soul.................... 'shall stand before the judgment-seat of Christ' 881.............. [shall give account] 882 for all the contempt and................ renounced the recognition of God.................... and that they kept the natural law and in piety............... lived... according to the law from among those who..............according to the law....................... |325 and those who.....the gospel-commandments............ from among those who........................... For neither did he leave himself without witness................ made men perfect towards righteousness, since [he permitted....] all men in freedom of will to walk as pleased them, but he................ that, being rational, they should understand [the words that Paul] and Barnabas [said] to those who wished to sacrifice to them as gods: «... turn [from these vain things] to the [living] God who made heaven and earth [and] the seas [and all that is in them, who in] past [generations] permitted all nations to go [their own] ways; and that without [leaving himself] without witness, in that he did good, since from heaven [itself] he gave them [rains and] fruitful [seasons], filling their own [hearts] with food and gladness» 883............................... |326 performed unlawful deeds, and from lack of perception did not know their own Maker, shall be bereft of this grace 884.
XC. ---- OF THE SAME, FROM THE LETTER TO CONSTANTINE BISHOP OF LAODICEA 885, AN INTERPRETATION OF THE POINTS STATED BELOW.
[513-38.] You ask therefore what is the meaning of the divine command which is contained in the law that was given through Moses and says: «If thou make me an altar of stones, build them not hewn; for thou hast laid thy hand-tool upon it, and it is defiled» 886. By 'hand-tool' he designates the instrument 887 of iron, the ax or hatchet, that is wielded by the hewers. For he reckons an altar fashioned of hewn stones to be abominable and does not |327 accept it as being a defiled thing. But the symbol teaches that fruits that spring by nature itself from the earth are more pleasing to God, which shall be offered to God upon the altar rather than those that are gained by the rapine and violence of war, which are the acquisition of iron.
(And again.) But the symbol of the law introduces to us also another thought which is akin to this and edifying. 'The altar that was built of chance stones naturally produced by the earth establishes the fact that God is pleased 888 by the simple impulses and natural thoughts that are in our soul, not by thoughts that are decked out by artificial preparation and manifold devices, and, as if hewn out, mingle with the truth and the simplicity arising from this. (And again from the same.) For as the holy Cyril interprets in the 9th book about worship in spirit, «He names Emmanuel an earth-altar. For 'the Word became flesh'. For the nature of flesh is earth and |328 from earth» 889. «But, if thou make me an altar of stones, build them not hewn». He does not allow words offered to God to be cut with iron. For Christ was 'the elect stone of the head of the corner and precious', 890 incapable of being cut by sin, because he knew not how to be injured by the devil's strokes; and he was not divided between God and the world, though he became flesh, but he is all holy. Accordingly the altar made of earth, and the stones also that are not smitten by iron, signify Christ, as in the illustrations mentioned above.
XCI. ---- OF THE HOLY SEVERUS PATRIARCH OF ANTIOCH, FROM THE 15th LETTER OF THE th BOOK OF THOSE AFTER BANISHMENT, WHICH WAS ADDRESSED TO MAR CONSTANTINE BISHOP OF LAODICEA.
[519-38.] But the next point to which I will apply myself is the words found in the Book of Genesis that were spoken by God, when he was about to bring |329 the flood in the days of Noah, «My spirit shall not dwell among those men forever, because they are flesh; but their days shall be 120 years» 891. You ask how it is that, when a space of 120 years had been granted, he is seen to have carried out the same threat after 100 years, and flooded the whole earth together. For Noah was 500 years old on the day on which he granted him the space; and the divine Scripture said, «And the waters of the flood came upon the earth in the 600th year of the life of Noah, in the nd month on the 27th day of the month» 892. Upon this, being directed to the truth by the divine Scripture itself, we say that the term of 120 years was given in mercifulness, in order that those who were living an evil life might change for the better in fear of the threat. But they came to the utmost limit of wickedness, and treated the divine long-suffering with contempt, and accordingly God brought the punishment immediately; not as if he did not know what was to happen, but to show by the long term the abundance of his own long-suffering, and to establish also the greatness of those men's wickedness, who so much increased their impiety, and went down to the very end and bottom of wickedness, so as to call the sentence quickly down upon them. |330 Therefore he further also said to the righteous Noah, «The end of all flesh hath come in before me, because the earth hath been filled with iniquity by them» 893. For it is his custom to change his own sentences in the direction of fury and goodness according to our change, either towards wickedness or towards virtue. And this he stated plainly through Jeremiah the prophet: «If I speak a determination against a people or against a kingdom to root it out and destroy it, and that people turn from their evil deeds, I will repent concerning the evil things which I spake to do to them. And, if I speak a determination against a people and against a kingdom, that it be built and planted, and they do evil deeds before me, and hearken not to my voice, I will repent concerning the good things which I spake to do to them» 894. And that these things are so is laid down by the very wise John also who became bishop of Constantinople, when he is interpreting the 104th Psalm and writing thus, and contending as against the Jews, who adduced the promises to their fathers: «But, if the Jew argues against these things, and holds to the promise that was made to them, I learn that many such promises were indeed made in the Old Testament also. He promised to give the land |331 from the river of Egypt to the Euphrates, and did not give it. He promised Adam to lay the fear and dread of him upon the animals, and the promise was not brought to completion. He promised that the life of men should be 120 years, and he brought the punishment before the term. And in the opposite cases the same things are to be seen. He threatened Hezekiah with death, and turned it away. He threatened the Ninevites with overthrow, and dispelled the wrath, showing that neither good things nor painful things depend on him only, but also on the recipients. For, if he threaten something grievous, and those who receive the threat change, they repel the wrath from them. But, if he promise something good, and they show themselves to be unworthy, they will be deprived. Therefore he says, ' I will speak a determination against a people and against a kingdom, to build and to plant', but, 'if he says 'they are seen to be unworthy, I will not bring these things'. Let them not therefore bring God's promises before us, but let them show if they were seen to be worthy of these. But they cannot show it: therefore they passed to others. For we nowhere find that they are able to show that the words 'In thy seed shall all the nations be blessed' 895 'were fulfilled of them» 896. It is the same difficulty and elucidation |332 to which the words' also relate which the holy Cyril wrote in the 12th book of the commentary on the Gospel of John, as follows: «But, because 897, though he often promised to do many things at the fitting time, he nevertheless did them even before the time appointed, for the purpose of persuading us, in order that we may truly believe that even under all circumstances the things said by him will come to effect, we will show from the following. He promised to raise the dead, and to bring back to life those who are laid in the earth and dust. For, 'there cometh', he saith, 'an hour, wherein the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of man and come forth, they that have done good deeds to the resurrection of life, but they that have done evil deeds to the resurrection of judgment'. And that he will easily make this good, and will hasten to persuade 898 he taught by saying, ' I am the resurrection and the life'. And, because he would not make the greatness of the thing that the dead should rise at that time so to speak incredible, for a useful purpose the time of the resurrection is hastened 899 and he shows the sign in that he raised Lazarus and the widow's son, and Jairus' daughter. And what else besides these things? He says that the resurrection of the |333 saints shall be something exceedingly glorious. 'Then', he says, 'the righteous shall shine in their Father's kingdom', that he may again be believed as one who speaks truly, in that he saw the disciples beforehand and gave the sight of this 900. For 'he took Peter and James and John, and went up into a mountain, and was transfigured before them; and his face shone as lightning, and his raiment became white as snow'» 901. But in the above-mentioned commentary on the 104th Psalm we find the holy John bishop of Constantinople solving the point in Exodus that seemed doubtful; and the point that seemed doubtful is, you said, as follows: «How is it that, after Moses had turned all the water in Egypt into blood, Scripture said that the magicians were able to show the same sign against that? For, since all the water had been changed, how was it possible for pure water to be found in which these men were to show the sign?» Some have said that it was possible for sea-water to come, since the sea was not at a great distance, in order that they might change this by magic skill; while others have said that it is not incredible that Moses himself, after the change to blood, turned |334 the water back to its own appearance and nature, in order that the magicians might show their own skill on the other side. But the wise doctor John, since he understood the divine power as is right and in very discerning1fashion, said that, as in the case of the darkness the Egyptians had that darkness, while the sons of Israel had light, and, as in the matter of the herds, and in the case of the yoke-animals when they died, those belonging to the Israelites remained unharmed, and, in the case of the plague of hail, where the sons of Israel were in the land of Goshen no hail fell, in the same way you should understand as regards all the plagues too, among which that change from water to blood was also included, and it must be believed that in the land of Goshen, and where the sons of Israel were, the water remained for the sons of Israel in its own nature without change, in which it was possible for the magicians to show the performances of their own skill. Among the words uttered by the doctor is contained the following passage by way of summary: «' He sent darkness and made it dark' 902; and it was a very glorious fact that, while the ray shone everywhere, in, Egypt darkness appeared; and there not throughout, but only where the Egyptians were. For, lest any one should say that what happened was an eclipse 903, |335 that is a disappearance of the moon, nor 904 the course of nature, the Hebrews who were living in the same country with them were not affected by this plague, a thing which happened in the other plagues». After a similar manner Gregory also bishop of Nyssa, who was great in the knowledge of divine things, in the treatise which he composed about virtue said these things: he said: «For then all the nature of the waters in Egypt was in accordance with Moses' command turned to blood, and the fish were destroyed, because the water was converted to fleshlike density; but the Hebrews, when they drew the blood, had water 905. Therefore there arose an occasion for the display of skill, that with the water found among the Hebrews they might in a defective manner contrive to produce the appearance of blood» 906. The words used in the st Book of Kingdoms to Ahimelech the priest by the holy David, «Is the journey itself also profane? 907 because it will be hallowed to-day by means of my implements», if it is very carefully and clearly read, is seen to be much plainer than the sun, and to be free from all obscurity. David asked for bread to eat; and the priest answered and said, «There are no profane loaves under my hands; but there are holy |336 loaves. If the slaves have refrained, at least from a woman, they shall eat». And David answered and said, «But we have kept away from a woman since yesterday, and since the third day. Since I set out on the journey, all the slaves have been pure». And, these things having been so stated first, what follows should be read as a question, «Is the journey itself also profane?» 908; and thereupon the addition will give the reason for which the journey is not profane; and the addition runs, «Because it will be hallowed to-day by means of my implements», that is to say, 'Will anyone call the same journey a profane thing, a journey which has been hallowed by means of my implements?', viz 'by means of my armour, and the burden of my implements, and by my going to war'. And from this it is manifest that, inasmuch as the slaves were accustomed to carry his implements and arms, when he went out to war, they were purified. And, that slaves again used to march after generals or commanders, as armour-bearers, this is manifest from many instances; for the present from the end of the Ist Book |337 of Kingdoms, in which it is stated that Saul said to his weapon-carrier, «Draw thy sword and transfix me with it» 909. And towards the end of the nd book he says, in the numeration and reckoning of the generals or commanders of the divine David. «Naharai the Berothite, weapon-carrier of Joab the son of Zeruiah» 910. This then is what David here said, «Even the slaves themselves are pure, because they are weaponbearers»; and this now when he had fled from Saul, and was not carrying arms. Wherefore also he asked the priest saying, «See if there be here under thine hand a spear or a sword, because I did not take my sword and my weapons in mine hand, because the king's word was pressing» 911. And from what is here stated especially it is manifest that those who went out for the purpose of being ranged in order of battle were purified. And this is very clearly recognised also from the commandments given in Deuteronomy; for he says: «If thou go out against thine enemies, keep thyself from every evil action. And, if there be among thee a man who is not pure from his discharge at night, he shall go outside the camp and shall not' come into the camp. And it shall be that towards evening he shall bathe his body in water, and, |338 when the sun hath set, he shall go into the camp. And thou shalt have a place outside the camp, and he shall go out there without. And thou shall have a peg on thy loins, and it shalt be that, when thou sittest outside, thou shalt dig with it, and shalt turn and hide thy shame with it; because the Lord thy God walketh in thy camp, to rescue thee, and to deliver thine enemies into thine hands; and thy camp shall be holy; and the shame of an act shall not be seen in thee and shall turn away from thee» 912. And in the nd Book of Kingdoms Uriah too also manifests this same sentiment. When he had returned from the lines, and was about to go to them, David ordered him to go down to his own house after supper; and he answered and said, «If the ark and Israel and Judah dwell in tents, and my lord Joab and my lord's bondmen are encamped upon the face of the field, shall even I go into mine house and eat and drink and sleep with my wife? how? As my soul liveth, I will not do this thing» 913. These are the conclusions at which we for our part have arrived on the questions that were presented to me by your saintliness according to the capacity that our meanness possesses. |339
XCII. --- AGAIN OF THE SAME FROM THE LETTER TO PROCLA, IN WHICH HE SHOWS THAT THE WOMAN HAD EQUAL HONOUR WITH THE MAN IN THE LIFE IN PARADISE.
Though the man is ruler, and holds the position of head towards the woman 914 (it was indeed for this reason that she came into being from his rib), yet nevertheless the two had equal honour in the life of bliss in Paradise. Holy Scripture says that the woman was given as a helper to the man, who was ordered to till and keep Paradise 915, and both the tilling and the keeping was common to them. But, because the deceitfulness of sin came in through the woman, then she lost the equality of honour with the man; for she heard the words, «To thy husband shalt thou turn, and he himself shall have authority over thee» 916; which punishment your modesty desired to undo. |340
XCIII. ---- OF THE SAME FROM THE th LETTER OF THE 9th BOOK OF THOSE WRITTEN WHILE HE HELD THE BISHOPRIC, WHICH WAS ADDRESSED TO ARCHELAUS THE READER 917.
[513-8.] For you write to the effect that certain men said about the holy John the Evangelist that he did not undergo the common end, but still continues even now to exist without death, like Enoch, of whom the apostle said that he 'was translated that he might not see death' 918, and Elijah of whom it is written that he 'was carried up in a whirlwind toward heaven' 919. I am astonished at the crassness of the ignorance of those who said this and their lack of information. As the evangelist manifestly corrects the supposition of many and says, «Jesus did not say to him 'He shall not die', but 'If I will that he tarry till I come what is it to thee?» 920, where is there room for us to speak in opposition to the divine Scriptures and say that he who said these things remained immortal? The disciples above all, they who were the preachers of the resurrection, were bound to undergo the common |341 end, in order that all who received the preaching of the gospel might learn that all the chances of their blessedness rest in the future life, and that we must despise the life here, and willingly hasten to death. Such wonderful things were done in the times of the old covenant, when men were not yet in a perfect condition, and were deficient in faith, and were unable to receive the teaching of the resurrection, and firmly to believe that, after the separation of soul and body, it is possible for those who have once died to come back again to life. As to the fact that John the Evangelist underwent the common end, it is not we only who admit this, but men also who are highly distinguished among the fathers, and guides to the mysteries and doctors of the holy church. And John, who became bishop of Constantinople, in the commentary on the Gospel of John, when commenting on the very place from which those who are blind towards what is manifest and plain draw the erroneous inference, says thus: «For, because Peter was always confident and forward in asking such questions, it was again by way of cutting away his impetuosity and teaching him not to make any further inquiry that he said this. Therefore the report went out among |342 the brethren that that man should not die. And he did not say, 'He shall tarry till I come', but, 'If I will that he tarry'. 'For do not suppose either', he says, 'that I manage your affairs in one way only'. But this he did because he wished to detach them from excessive love towards one another. For, since they were to receive the charge of the world, it was not right for them any longer to be bound up with one another: for, if this had been so, this would have been a great loss to the world. Therefore he says thus': 'You have had a work entrusted to you, look to it, and act and fight like a combatant. For what even though I will that he tarry here? look you to your own affairs, and concern yourself about them'. But do you observe, I pray, even here also the unassuming character of the evangelist. For after mentioning the belief of the disciples with regard to this matter he corrects it on the ground that they had not noticed what he said. For neither did Jesus say, ' He shall not die', but, 'If will that he tarry'921. And the very wise Cyril, while inserting a mention of the interpretation of this saying, writes thus: «When Peter therefore saw this man, he tried to be curious, and begged to learn to what and what kind of |343 dangers he also would after these things be exposed, or to what the end of his life also would come. But the question was manifestly beyond the limits of due reason, and that act was one of inquisitiveness rather; not of useful learning, that, having obtained knowledge about himself, he should inquire into the things that were coming upon others. For this reason, as I think, the Lord answered and said something, though not a direct answer to, the things asked or inquired about, but he turns in a way the purpose of the questioner to other things, so that he does not say 'John shall be immortal' but 'If I will that he be alive till I come, what then is it to you yourself?': 'therefore', that is, 'you have heard, O Peter, the things that concern you, and why are you curious about things that concern others? and why do you probe into the knowledge of the divine judgments out of season? For, if he had actually said that he should never die 922, how then will this comfort your anxiety?'»923 And Athanasius patriarch of Alexandria in the 41st exposition spoken at a festival on the rd of the month of Farmenothi said these words: «And the graves of all these exist to this day, and we have ourselves seen them, as that of Peter and that of Paul at the great Rome, |344 and that of John at Ephesus» 924. And Eusebius Pamphili in the rd book of the Ecclesiastical History plainly wrote that John the theologian-apostle and evangelist underwent the common end of all men, and that he awaits the true and long life that has no ending which is after the resurrection: and in the 68th chapter of the book which we have mentioned he says; «It is related that John, the apostle and evangelist at the same time, was still living in the world, and on account of the testimony concerning God the Word was condemned to live in the island of Patmos»; and again in the 23rd chapter he writes thus: «In these times there had been left in the world in Asia the actual man whom Jesus loved, John the apostle and evangelist at the same time, and he was governing the churches there, having returned from the island in which he had been exiled after Domitian's death»; and in the 31st chapter he immediately adds these things about him: «But the chronology of John's life we have already mentioned, but the locality of his body is shown from the letter of Polycrates (he was bishop of the region of Ephesus), in writing which to Victor bishop of the Romans |345 he mentions him and Philip the apostle at the same time and the latter's daughters as follows: 'In Asia also sleep great lights who shall rise at the last day of our Lord's coming, in which he comes with glory from heaven and shall search out all the saints, Philip who was of the 12 apostles, who also sleeps in Hierapolis, and his two daughters who had grown old in virginity; and his other daughter, who lived her life in the Holy Spirit, fell asleep in Ephesus. Moreover John also as well who fell upon our Lord's breast, who became a priest, having put on the crown, and martyr 925 and doctor, he sleeps in Ephesus'. So much we have said concerning these persons' death» 926. But that other argument also besides is one of great madness and of uninstructed understanding, which confirms the erroneous supposition from the gospel saying which was spoken by our God and Saviour Jesus Christ to his disciples in this way: «Verily I say unto you; there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom» 927. It is time for those who thus err to say also of which of the other disciples they suppose that together with John himself they did not taste of death, but that they have remained immortal to this day; for the |346 saying is expressed in the plural, for Christ did not say 'someone who shall not taste death till he see the Son of man coming in his kingdom'. What answer will the men who speak all their words without examination give to this? It was not in reference to immortality in this world that our Saviour himself spoke these things to his own disciples, but because he wished to supply confirmation in the matter of the promise of the future life, and of the glory that is in it; for in fact a little before he said, «The Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and then shall he reward every man according to his works»928. It was because he wished, as I have said, to raise their mind which still saw little and was confined to the lowliness of the dispensation and had no God-befitting thoughts to the height of that hope that he immediately added the saying, «Verily I say unto you that there are some standing here who shall not taste death till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom», and because he was about to take the three disciples, Peter, James, and John, up into the mountain, and to show them a phantasm and very obscure picture of the future kingdom and of his own glory, and as on a stage give to that which was immediately |347 duly to appear the future exalted and God-befitting greatness which our mind cannot grasp. For after these words in immediate sequence the evangelist added, «After six days Jesus took Peter and James and John his brother, and led them up into a high mountain alone and was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his raiment became white like the light» 929. Let no one again from the statement that the Son of man shall come in his kingdom refer the saying to the second coming of our Saviour; for the name 'coming' may be used not only to signify a bodily coming, but also for the glory and light of the divine revelation. This is shown by the divine saying of our Saviour when he says in the Gospel of John to his disciples, «If a man loveth me, he will keep my words, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and make an abode with him» 930. Here the expression 'we will come'manifestly denotes not a bodily coming, but a revelation as we have said of God-befitting glory and brightness. |348
XCIV. ---- OF THE HOLY SEVERUS, FROM THE LETTER TO ARCHELAUS, WHERE HE ADDUCES TESTIMONIES FROM THE DOCTORS.
[513-8(?).] For the holy Basil the wise in divine things in the homily on the Faith says thus: «For as to angels' tongues, whatever they are, to know what they are is not within our compass» 931. But the holy Johannes also the great in spiritual wéath taught in accord with this in the commentary on the Epistle to the Corinthians: «But he here says ' angels' tongues', not that he clothes angels in a body, but what he says is of this kind: ' even if I so speak as it is the law for angels to speak to one another, without love I am nothing'. So therefore also in another place, when he says, 'To him shall every knee bow of those in heaven and of those on earth, and of those under the earth', he does not say this as assigning knees and bones to angels (away with the thought!), but he wishes to signify the intense worship through the form that it takes among us. So here also he uses the term 'tongue', not as |349 signifying an organ of flesh, but because he wished to signify their own intercourse with one another by the method known among us» 932.
XCV. ---- OF THE HOLY MAR SEVERUS FROM THE LETTER TO ISIDORE THE COUNT 933.
[508-11(?)] But perhaps someone will say in question, «How are we to understand that the words which God spoke were uttered?" (meaning words such as those that were addressed to Adam, «Where art thou, Adam?» 934, and those to Moses on the mountain at the giving of the law, and on the banks of Jordan, when Christ was baptized with the dispensatory baptism which saves us, and again when his appearance was changed on the mountain, when Peter and James and John were with him); for lo! we see that they are words of a saying that was uttered through the articulation, and it is written that they were heard by human ears, and it plainly cried by the Jordan and on the mountain, «This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased» 935. We should therefore know, both in these cases and in all similar ones, that we ought not to fall from the supposition that befits God, and say that God emits |350 the sound of the composition of words made through the lips and with the tongue, but be assured, and that very wisely and confidently, that, by the divine operation and by the power that makes all things that exist, the filling word was brought into being. This the holy Cyril teaches and confirms in the work which he addressed to Theodosius: «For the Jews said that they knew that God spoke with Moses 936. For perhaps they did not know by reason of great stupidity that no one has ever heard the nature that is above all things speaking in a manner befitting men, but the words that are addressed to men are brought into being in a manner which he knows, for it is not possible for us to say. For what work will God fail from weakness to perform? For what will he not bring to pass if he wishes, and that very easily?» 937
When also it is written that the words of God were brought to one of the saints through a mediating angel, according to the same reverent principle let us say that the words that were emitted by the mediation of an angel were brought into being through divine inspiration and so to speak by operation. And this Athanasius teaches in the rd treatise on the Trinity 938. |351
XCVI. ---- OF THE HOLY SEVERUS THE 22nd LETTER OF THE nd BOOK OF THOSE WRITTEN DURING EPISCOPACY, WHICH WAS ADDRESSED TO SOLON BISHOP OF ISAURIA 939.
[514-7.] After we had held the love of God that is in you much to blame for sending the religious bishops Epiphanius and Symbatius 940, who are under your authority by right of the metropolitan dignity, without a letter, the well-tried Basil arrived, bringing us a letter written by you, and, after gladly seeing this, we believed it to be a defence to the same charge, since we perceived that by means of it the reason for which the bishops came to the city of Antiochus is made clear. And the contents of the letter were concerned with other matters: for among these there was a query concerning a certain scriptural problem; and it seemed to me difficult and evidence of great ignorance for us to return an answer to the question while I am distressed in my soul on account of the division in the faith which has prevailed among you because of our sins. For we remember one of those wise in divine |352 things who says, «Instruments of music at a time of mourning are a tale out of season» 941. However, since by the other letter 942 we were released so to speak from the mourning of sorrow, I considered it right on account of the great honour maintained towards your excellence to write a few words in answer to that query, such as have come into my mind, and words which are drawn from the Scriptures composed by the Spirit and the fathers who with the help of the Spirit expounded these, little as we have understood. Since you have set. down in your letter (therein acting rightly) the points raised by every kind of understanding or by impulsive eloquence, I have determined not to extend this letter to a great length; for I myself also have believed that the enjoyment of the good things that are promised us in the kingdom of heaven is not sensual, nor yet does it consist in eating and drinking. Since the man who propounds the contrary argument is vehement, and everywhere introduces the restoration to the primitive state and the enjoyment in Paradise, I pass over the theory which raises the enjoyment and the trees and the ends of the branches to an allegory 943, and come to a matter which is free from dispute, and simple, and one which draws its defence |353 from the truth only. That Christ by means of his Incarnation raised or raises us to these primitive conditions is certain. But this must be understood as far as concerns in corruption arid the abolition of death, to which the bitter taste enjoyed by disobedience gave birth. That Emmanuel invites us to prizes and crowns that surpass the primitive state, making our right actions means of support for further assistance, and that he does not raise us to Paradise again, but introduces us in a new fashion into the kingdom of heaven, is manifest and is never a matter of doubt, not even to those who are very perverse. And, in order that we may not be thought to be rousing the hearer to maintain the contrary argument by using our own inventions, we will as a superfluity cite the laws of the God-clad guides to the mysteries 944 of the church, which suffice to bring before our eyes the meaning of the divine words. Gregory the Theologian in the homily on the divine Epiphany in speaking about the Incarnation wrote thus: «This is more godlike than the former. This to those who have intelligence is higher» 945. But, if there is more likeness to God, and it is higher than a new creation, it is manifest that it leads those who are formed anew to a higher and more divine |354 condition. And John the holy bishop of Constantinople in the homily entitled 'Why that tree was called the tree of good and evil', and 'What is the meaning of the words «To-day thou shalt be with me in Paradise» ', laying down clear teaching on this matter, said these words: «The robber entered Paradise. And what is this? Are these the good things which God promises us? Do you not hear Paul saying, ' These good things eye hath not seen, and ear hath not heard, and they have not gone up into man's heart'. But Paradise both eye has seen, that of Adam, and ear has heard, and man's heart has received, for indeed we have been speaking about it for so many days. How then did that robber receive them? For God does not promise to bring us into Paradise, but into heaven itself; and he did not proclaim a kingdom of Paradise but a kingdom of heaven. For 'he began to proclaim and to say, «Repent, for the kingdom of heaven hath drawn near»"946. Since these things therefore have been thus stated by the holy doctors, it is good to add Paul's words as a head and confirmation to what has been stated; for he |355 said, «The kingdom of heaven is not food and drink, but righteousness and peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit» 947. For the saying, «Blessed are the lowly, for they shall inherit the earth»948, must on no account lead us to the notion that after release from this world and the future life we shall enjoy sensual things. For even the holy John also whom I mentioned a short time ago stated how Christ, following the custom of the Old Testamen, which promises a land of promise flowing with milk and honey, himself also similarly promised to the lowly after this model abundance of days in this world, and a share in the good things of the earth, writing thus in the commentary on the Gospel of Matthew: «For he does not incite from future good things only, but also from present ones, and that on account of the more dense among the hearers, who seek these things before those that are future»; and a little farther on: «And in another way also, because in the Old Testament the prophet says, 'For the lowly shall inherit the earth', he therefore weaves the sentence together out of words that had grown up with them, in order that they may not everywhere hear strange things» 949. And the saintly Gregory bishop of Nyssa in the work entitled 'About the |356 Beatitudes' said thus: «But, if we soar in language and stand above the arch of heaven, we shall find there the supracelestial earth also, which is kept as an inheritance for those who have lived in virtue, so that the order of sequence of the blessings may not seem to be at fault, in that heaven was first set before us by God and afterwards a promise of earth» 950. But, if any man, having regard to his belly and occupying himself with foods that please the throat, turn against these things also, saying, «Why therefore shall we make use of the earth?», then we must say to him; If we look for a new heaven and a new earth according to his promise, as the divine Scripture said 951, how is it anything but inconceivable that we should introduce the old custom into the renovation of the elements? When the earth is new, the life also as well: will assuredly be new, a life that on every point lies outside this one and differs from it; for we may hear the Psalmist saying,, «The voice of praise and salvation is in the tent of the righteous» 952. And this a man will say is the food of those who are about to live the expected life, continual songs of praise and the sublime contemplation on which the angels also feed, and joy and inexplicable exaltation, in life that does not |357 end. For those whose throat gapes for sensual enjoyment, being involved in the same empty-mindedness as those men, make use of senseless fatuities and say, «For what purpose then shall we make use of teeth, or the other members by which the perception of the things that please is received?» To these it is obvious to answer that, since the soul receives the body in perfection at the time of the resurrection, those who rise not being devoid of genital members, and this though the book of the gospel cries, «In the resurrection they marry not, nor are given in marriage, but they are as the angels that are in heaven»953, after the same fashion they will have also |358 teeth and all the members of the body, that, as they have together with the soul practised habits of virtue, they may also partake of the glory; for it is not in order that they may make use of these according to the ancient custom. If we crave for and need sensual food in the future painless life, it is then time to desire also clothes made of wool, and the other things which this life shows to be necessary, in the summer and in the winter which comes round in the succession of the other seasons. But it is very certain that the expected life is free from all these things, since the seven days' circle which makes up the existing time ceases, and there is one day the eighth 954, one which has none to succeed it and is without evening. If then there is a new heaven and a new earth and a new course of time expressed in one endless day and not divided into days and nights, how is it anything but reasonable to expect that the new life which is unknown to us and is not |359 even comprehended by the mind is severed from sensual foods, just as the life of the angels is far removed in comparison with the present life of men? But I for my part say this also, that, since Christ became a beginning for us in all things, it is manifest that the conditions of our resurrection also bear a resemblance to the same beginning. If then Christ after the Resurrection from the place of the dead is 955 made known in flesh as it is written 956, having, as he had, that body and no other, but no longer susceptible of hunger, or of any similar thing, nor yet one sustained by foods, it is assuredly necessary that our bodies also should not want anything; for Paul said, «As we were clad in the image of the earthy, so shall we also be clad m the image of him that is from heaven» 957. For the fact that he ate and drank with the disciples as it is written 958 and received food should be ascribed to dispensation; because he did this same thing in order to confirm the nature of the body that had risen and cast out the supposition of phantasy. But, even though in conflict with the beginning of the argument, I say this also, guiding my opinions by the labour of the God-clad guides to the mysteries, |360 that, even if we expect the kingdom of heaven, and an end that is greater than the life of Paradise, we are not debarred from expecting a fresh return of the primitive state; for Basil the great said in the homily entitled ' God is not the cause of evils' that, if Adam had kept the commandment and not transgressed, suprasensual prizes and crowns and such as raise to an equality of honour with the angels were prepared for him; for he wrote as follows: «It was not fitting that he should have clothes either from nature or from craftsmanship, but there were others prepared for the man, if he displayed virtues, clothes such as by God's grace glistened and were to flash, shining garments, as those of the angels also are, surpassing the varied hues of the flowers, and excelling the light of the stars. For this reason therefore the garments were not immediately forthcoming, because they were prizes of virtue reserved for the man, to which by Satan's fraud he did not receive permission to attain» 959. For us to adduce the food of the angels who were |361 entertained by Abraham is very much beside the point; for how can those who appeared as in a vision and a symbol be patterns for the things that are expected by us in reality? Shall we say that these three, who appeared to the, patriarch in the likeness of men, and signified the Holy Trinity (for the sacred Scripture said that God himself was manifested to Abraham 960), ate of that unleavened bread and partook of that calf in such a way that these things actually passed into the digestion and the material exits, and not rather that they were invisibly consumed in a manner which God understands, who brought about these things? But how is it anything but foolish and an act of great madness for us here to think of the phantasy 961 of Eutyches? Eutyches by comparing our Saviour's dispensation in the flesh, by means of which the word of God shared our nature, to earlier utterances and revelations of |362 God both to prophets and to patriarchs, which were described in symbols and adumbrations as being of God, missed the right principle. But we, who follow the apostolic teachings, who know that a vision shown in a symbol is one thing, and the truth of the fact another, pronounce that the coming of the Word in the flesh is quite distinct from the earlier manifestations which were made as in a dream and an adumbration. For we also hear of revelations coming from God which say to Aaron and Miriam, «If there shall be among you a prophet to the Lord, I will be made known to him in a vision and will speak to him in a dream» 962, and cry in Hosea the prophet, «I for my part multiplied visions, and by means of prophets was I likened» 963. But he who multiplied visions and was variously likened by means of prophets became man for our sake truly and without variation, and in a new way. As therefore the shadowy and primitive symbols in no way impair by comparison the fact that our Lord and God Jesus Christ became in truth man invariably, so we do not on account of his true Incarnation refuse to hold the earlier symbols and obscure revelations given as in a dream and visions to be |363 adumbrations, since the Holy Scriptures cry this out with loud voice. Since then these things are so, we must shun the false opinion of those who think that the enjoyment promised in the kingdom of heaven consists in some sensual foods, an opinion into which Irenaeus bishop of Lyons in Gaul fell, who through the books of Papias departed from the truth, as Eusebius, who composed the Ecclesiastical Histories for us, wrote 964. Those who so hold, and expect a kind of recurrence of a cycle, are of a folly which even madmen do not possess; into which the witless Apollinaris also fell. This is as much as we are able to write on the present question, according to our small capacity. But it is the duty of your saintliness after the reading of these things to acquaint us by letter what was the frame of mind of those who disputed about this; for we shall think this a reward for our labours, to know clearly if after what has been written the supporters of the contrary opinion were helped. The other thing also do not forget, that, if after reading these things they retain any contrary opinion in their mind, we shall perhaps not be wanting in the needed medicines for this also. |364
XCVII. ---- OF THE SAME FROM THE 74th LETTER. OF THE rd BOOK OF THOSE AFTER EXILE WHICH WAS ADDRESSED TO CAESARIA THE HYPATISSA WHICH BEGINS, «The various communications addressed to me by your highness».
[519-38.] And the other thing also which you ask is a question of the Phantasiasts who hold the opinions of the Manichees, since they think that they are propounding and saying something against which it is impossible to argue: «If our Lord underwent the circumcision required by the law, 'when', as the gospel says, 'eight days were accomplished for circumcising him, and his name was called Jesus' 965, what happened to his foreskin?»; for those wretched men think that they are driving us into a corner, and do not understand that it would be an act of their own godless lack of intelligence |365 for us to refuse to acknowledge things that are written on account of things that are not written. It is not the gospel only which testifies through these words which have been cited that Christ was circumcised according to the law, but Paul also, who in writing to the Romans says, «For I say that Christ became a minister of circumcision on behalf of the truth of God, that he might confirm the promises made to the fathers» 966. For to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob our fathers both the covenant of circumcision was given, and the promise was made, «In thy seed shall all the families of the nations be blessed» 967; for Christ was their seed. Therefore also in writing the epistle to the Galatians he says, «But to Abraham were the promises made and to his seed; for he saith not 'and to seeds' as to many, but, as to one, 'and to thy seed', which is Christ» 968. In order to carry out the accomplishment of those promises therefore Christ came, and truly to endure |366 circumcision in the flesh, and to carry out the dispensation that consists in this; for the whole principle of the dispensation is dispensation and service; and so he caught all the nations by faith in him and made them Abraham's sons. Since therefore the God-inspired Scripture says that he was circumcised in reality, who is he who presumes to say that he did not undergo circumcision? a thing which those who teach the phantasy 969 seek to deny along with the other things. Because nothing is written about the portion of himself that was cut off (I refer to the foreskin), we will not therefore refrain from confessing that he was circumcised in reality, he who said, «For so it becometh us to fulfil all justice» 970, and was in everything made like unto us except sin 971. Perhaps indeed some God-befitting miracle was performed with regard to the portion that was cut off, which Scripture left unknown to us; and for us to guess about unknown matters is a thing of great danger. But what |367 is assuredly already known is this, that, when he rose from the dead, he took that also, inasmuch as it is a portion of the whole body, and he preserved it with this without corruption according to ineffable methods which he understands. For we also shall receive our own body complete at the resurrection, not carrying the diminution caused by sores or other injuries, but whole and perfect. It is a good thing to ask the impious men, who think that by such questions they frighten those who believe rightly, so as to reduce us not to acknowledge 972 that our Lord suffered real sufferings in the body, what they themselves say about the blood which came out from the pure rib mixed with water. Did it reach the earth? For this also is |368 not declared by the holy Scripture of the gospel. But let them themselves be frightened by the fear of loss; and it is consistent for them to say that the blood was poured, out in semblance only, and did not flow in reality. But John, who became bishop of Constantinople and was a preacher of the true dispensation with boldness, in the homily entitled 'Concerning the cross and concerning the robber, and concerning the fact that we should frequently pray for enemies' was not frightened by the fear of these impious men, but said that the blood dropped upon the earth and purified the whole of it, inasmuch as he wrote thus: «But why is he slaughtered at the height of the tree, and not under a roof? In order to purify the nature of the air, therefore it is done high up, without a roof above him, but heaven. For |369 the air was purified by the sheep being sacrificed high up. But the earth also was purified; for the blood dropped from the rib upon it» 973. Accordingly therefore, if on this analogy the foreskin that was cut off touched the earth, it assuredly also sanctified it, and by methods which he himself understands who was voluntarily circumcised, he assuredly, as I said before, preserved it; and at the time of the Resurrection he rose with the whole body complete and without corruption, having this portion also undiminished, although he showed the scars of the nails and the lance; with which he will also appear to those who pierced him, according to the unerring words of the God-inspired Scripture 974. |370
XCVIII. ---- OF MAR SEVERUS FROM THE th LETTER OF THE th BOOK OF THOSE AFTER EXILE, WHICH WAS ADDRESSED TO CAESARIA THE HYPATISSA, WHICH BEGINS, «When I read the letter of your magnificence's love of God, not once nor twice».
[519-38.] But to the question which your excellency's magnificence has asked me by letter I return an easy answer, that for my part I have never accepted or expressed agreement with those who speak of an apokatastasis, and an end to the judgment involved in the torments that are threatened us in the future world, and the man who says that he has a letter of mine which proclaims this opinion manifestly lies. Therefore I praised your God-loving magnificence for asking for such a letter to be shown to you; a letter which the man who concocted it necessarily set himself falsely to show to be my composition. Those who hold such an opinion, wishing to accomplish their desires, as if forsooth on the basis of plausible suppositions, make use of arguments that are gratifying to the hearers, saying that it is unbecomingto or unworthy |371 of God, and far removed from his mercifulness, that the man who has sinned for 50 or 100 years in this world should endure torments for unending ages, forgetting this, that God's laws and those which, prevail among men think fit to requite sins according to the intention of the sinner, and one may hear even wise men outside saying of certain persons who have done foul deeds and acts that are not permitted, «This man deserves to die not once but many times»975. But, when a man hears as we do that God who became incarnate and was humanized without variation for our salvation, and who for this reason came down from heaven and conversed with us plainly threatens 976 fire that is not quenched and an undying worm 977, and 978 makes light of it, how does he not deserve, if it is possible to say so, to be condemned |372 twice over to 979 endless torment? If a man live 100 years or more in this present world and spend such a period in vanity, it is certain that this man, if he were allowed to live this same temporal life 980 without end 981, would not cease from his eternal 980 greed and wantonness 982. How therefore will this man in accordance with his disposition not justly 980 be tormented without end? Even the very men who introduce an apokatastasis 983 say of sinners that they will be tormented for many 984 and long periods so to speak 985, and then afterwards will be purified and admitted to clemency and attain to the promised blessedness. But they 986 forget that their human reasonings |373 themselves show God to be unrighteous in his judgments 987. If a man lives 988 in sin 50 or 80 years, but 989 endures torments many long generations, it is again apparent on their principle that this is not worthy of God's mercifulness 990, to extend the period of torment beyond the time of the life in sins, If God agreed with the reasonings of those who think thus 991, the man who sins for 50 years should endure torment for 50 years, and it 992 should not be thus long extended over many generations, as they say 993. For our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ also, in the holy words of his preaching, when |374 separating the righteous from the sinners, said, «These shall go to eternal torment, and the righteous to eternal life» 994, and with regard to both the classes 995, that of the former and that of the latter, he spoke in exactly the same fashion of an equality without distinction, applying the word ' eternal' to both without distinction. Basil the great among teachers of the truth shows this clearly in the teaching composed by him in the form of question and answer addressed to the brethren of the convents; and it is the 219th question, which is expressed as follows:
«The brethren say 996.
'If 997 one shall be beaten with many stripes and another with few, how |375 say some that there is no end to the sentence of those who are tormented?'
Basil 998 says.
Points which are matters of dispute and seen to be obscurely expressed m various places of the Holy Scriptures are elucidated by clear statements in other places. Since therefore our Lord says at one time, 'These shall go into eternal torment 999', and at another dismisses some to 'the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels', and at another mentions 'the gehenna of fire', uttering further the words,1000 'Where their worm dieth not, and their fire is not quenched', and again said before through the prophet about certain |376 men, 1001 'Their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be quenched'; while these and similar expressions, are often 1002 used in the divine Scriptures, this also was brought about by the machination of the devil, in order that men, forgetting these and similar decrees of our Lord, might presume to sin without restraint, persuading themselves that there is an end to judgment. For, if it is possible for there to be 1003 an end to eternal judgment, there will assuredly also be an end to eternal life. But, if we do not consent to think this with regard to 1004 life, what plausibility is there in our assigning 1005 an end to eternal judgment? For the addition of the word 'eternal' is made equally in both cases. 'These shall go into eternal |377 judgment, and the righteous into eternal life'. These things therefore being thus admitted, we must know that the words 'He shall be beaten with many stripes' and 'shall be beaten with few' are not an end, but signify a difference of torment. For, if God is an upright judge, not only to the good but also to the evil 1006, and requites each according to his deeds, it is possible for one to be in the fire that is not quenched 1007, burning either less or more than the other, and another in the worm that dies not, both one that hurts little and one that hurts much 1008, each as he deserves, and another in gehenna that has a variety of torments, and another in outer darkness, and that there |378 is a place where a man is found amidst weeping only, and there is a place where he is amidst gnashing of teeth also from the severity of the pains 1009. But the outer darkness signifies that there is in truth an inner darkness also.1010 And the words used in the Proverbs 1011 'at the bottom of Sheol 1012' signify that there are persons in Sheol and not at the bottom of it, because their torment is smaller 1013. And this is depicted now also in bodily afflictions. For there is aman who is in a fever together with other pains, and another |379 who is in a fever only, and the latter is not like the former, and another has no fever, but is troubled by pain in some limb 1014, and one again either less or more than another. But this expression 'much' or 'little' is employed by our Lord in accordance with customary usage, as are also many other similar phrases. For we know that this form of speech is frequently adopted even with regard to those who are suffering from one disease 1015. For example, in the case of a man who has a fever only, or has pain in the eye only 1016 we 1017 say in astonishment ' How much he has suffered! ' or ' What anguish he has endured!' Accordingly the expression 'shall be beaten with many' |380 and 'with few', I say again, stands not in the extent of the time and the shortness1018, but in the difference of the torment» 1019. These things this great ruler and shepherd of rational souls Basil taught and stated with great completeness.1020 And Gregory, who became bishop of Nazianzus, himself in the homily of defence thinks that the future torment is endless, teaching thus: «But for us, the salvation of whose blessed and immortal soul is in danger, which will be undyingly tormented or glorified1021 by reason of wickedness or of virtue, how great do you think should the contest be1022?»1023 And John in the 66th homily1024 of the commentary on the Gospel of Matthew |381 states things consonant with these as follows: «For all these reasons accordingly let us first pay the taxes; for it is indeed very easy, and the reward is greater, and there is great abundance of profit, and worse is the torture if we do not understand, and a torture that has no end»4. And the same again in the 79th exposition when speaking of the Passion referred to the kingdom, and to the endless torment. And in the 82nd about the man who approaches the communion of the holy mysteries in a careless mood and without caution he gives teaching in the following words: «He who approaches after he has sinned is worse than a demoniac; for the: latter because they have a demon do not receive punishment, but the |382 former, because they approach unworthily, are delivered to undying torment 1025» 1026. And at the end of the commentary on the epistle to the Ephesians he 1027 expressed himself thus: «For a man to be burnt 1028 and not consumed, and to be perpetually gnawed by a 1029 worm is indestructible 1030 destruction, as happened to the blessed Job, who was in process of destruction and did not perish for a considerable time, but was constantly suffering and wasting away, while he scraped off putrid matter from his body 1031 for a long time. Something similar will happen to the soul at that time, when the 1032 worms surround and gnaw it, not for two years 1033 nor for ten nor for a hundred nor |383 for myriads 1034, but for years without end; for 'their worm', he says, 'shall not die'» 1035. The wise Cyril 1036 also in the st book of the commentary on the Gospel of John said: "We ought not to be ungrateful to God but on the contrary 1037 to thank him because by means of the Resurrection from the dead he has appointed for us torment that does not pass away 1038»1039.
XCIX. ---- OF THE SAME FROM THE 57th LETTER OF THE th BOOK OF THOSE WRITTEN AFTER EXILE, WHICH WAS ADDRESSED TO CAESARIA THE HYPATISSA 1040.
[519-38] «But in the fourth watch of the night Jesus came to them walking on the sea»1041. Know therefore that it is the custom in a city for the sake of |384 precaution against housebreakers and thieves, as well as in military camps for the sake of precaution against an attack upon them by their enemies, to keep ward by night and watch in turns; and some watch during the first portion of the night, and go round the city or the camp, and some during the second portion and some during the 1042 third, and others during the fourth, and others at the very appearance of dawn, those who follow in succession coming in in order after the previous ones are tired. And this is recorded even in the Old Testament Scriptures also. When Gideon was ordered to attack a city by night, I mean the camp of the Midianites, the divine Scripture said: «And Gideon went in and the 100 men who were with him into a part of the camp when they had begun the middle watch, when those who set the guards had just set them, and they sounded the horns» 1043. And in the nd book of Ezra, when the walls of Jerusalem were being built, and the barbarians who lived near the country wished to assail them and stop the work, it is written thus: «And I prayed to our God, and we set guards over us day and night against them»; and again, «At that time I said to the |385 people, 'Every man with his slave shall go up and down in the midst of Jerusalem, and let us take night for the first watch, and day for the work'». Accordingly therefore the evangelist desired to signify the very time of night at which Jesus, who is God appeared to his disciples when distressed in the boat walking on the sea.
(And after other things.)
But that which is written in the divine gospels about the cloak with which the Romans at the time of the Passion and of the voluntary saving Cross sought to clothe our Lord and God Jesus Christ, and indeed did actually clothe him, for the purpose of mockery contains no discrepancy, because Matthew related as follows: «And, when they had stripped him, they put on him a cloak of scarlet», and Mark, «And they clothe him in purple robes», and John, «And they covered him with a purple garment». You should understand that the rascally company of soldiers, by way of prolonging the mockery and ridicule and derision for him, first clothed him with the cloak of scarlet, that is red, and after this with the purple one, |386 thinking by the change of attire to increase the mockery. That they did this for the sake of mockery is plainly signified by the story told by Luke also, for he said that, when Pilate learned that Jesus was from Galilee, he sent him to Herod, on the ground that the supremacy and authority was by right his, and he was glad to see him; and when he did not hear any word from him, or see any sign done by him, but found him silent, 'having set him at naught' (he says) 'with his soldiers and made fun of him, having clad him in splendid robes, sent him to Pilate'. But, if one considers the matter carefully and minutely, one may say that there is one cloak, of purple, but of purple which contains some inferior dark tincture, so that it disavows the true purple, and changes its appearance to one that is redder, and appears to hold a position approximating to both colours, and to be each of them, and in strictness is neither of them.' Accordingly the evangelists looked one at the one colour and the other at the other, so as to mention each of them both with the same meaning and in different terms. Since it was the purpose of those blasphemers against God to pile up the whole mass |387 of insult and increase the mockery, for this reason they found even the very dress which, as they thought, would excite much mockery; but the mystery contained in it which was hidden was shown by each of the colours, in order that the purple colour might show the King of kings and Lord and God, who was of his own will coming to the Passion, while the scarlet and red showed the fact that he himself took the whole of our sin, so that he was clad in the crimson cloak of blood, and nailed this to the saving Gross. For he suffered who knows not sin, not on his own behalf (may we never say this!), but rather on behalf of our sins. This therefore John also the ambassador said: «Behold! the Lamb of God who beareth the sin of the world» 1044. And Peter the chief of the apostles wrote in his epistle: «He took up our own sins in his body on to the tree, in order that being separated from the sins we may live in righteousness» 1045. And the wise Paul wrote to the Corinthians about God and the Father, who wishes with him that he should suffer for for the sake of the salvation of the race of all men: «Him who knew not sin he made sin for our sake, that we in him may become righteousness unto God» 1046. |388
For there is also another further question which you ask, as to how we should understand the statement made by Gregory the Theologian in the nd peace-making homily about the Holy Trinity in the following words: «A perfect Trinity of three perfect ones, Unity having been moved on account of wealthiness, while duality was passed over on account of the material and the form of which bodies consist, and a Trinity was fixed on account of perfection, for it first passes the composition of a duality, in order that the Godhead may not remain narrow, nor be diffused into infinitude; for the one is mean, and the other disorderly, and the one is utterly Jewish, and the other heathen and polytheistic»1047. This abominable notion must therefore first be removed from our mind, that we should not 1048 think that the Father first existed in his own sole hypostasis, and was moved as if by some |389 afterthought to put forth another hypostasis, that of the Son, and similarly further conceived the thought of putting forth a third hypostasis also from himself, that of the Spirit, in order that he might exist in a Trinity. On this theory it will result that the Son and the Holy Spirit are not ever-existing but were afterwards added to the Father, and we shall give occasion for the blasphemy of Arius who says, «There was once when the Son and the Holy Spirit were not». But this is abominable; for one who was acquired later and came into being afterwards is not God; for the Holy Trinity is of equal everlastingness, and it is therefore understood and acknowledged to be one God truly in three hypostases. The words used by the doctor we should therefore understand in the same way as that which is stated in Wisdom, «From the greatness and beauty of created things the causer of their birth |390 is inferentially seen» 1049; and from formed creation and this visible world we may conceive not only of the wisdom and power of him who created them, but also of the very peerlessless of his Godhead in regard of creation, and its distance in all points and lack of similarity. We see that all the bodies which make up the world are composed of material 1050 and form, and arise from a duality; but what material 1050 and form are we will state in the form of an example. For instance the potter's material 1050 for the craft is the clay, but he adds the form to the material 1050, that is to say, that which belongs to the fashioning of the vessel that is being manufactured, a jar or a pot or anything of the kind. But in this case the potter is the maker of the form only, and he borrows the material 1050. But God, the Maker of all and perfect in craftsmanship, both brought the material 1050 of every body from that which did not exist and added the form; and, if you speak of fire or of earth, or |391 of air 1051 or of water, or of the sky and the sun and the moon and the other stars, he both formed the material 1052 of all of them out of non-existent things, and the form was devised for them in different ways at the moment that they came into being, and he is both the Maker and the adorner of the shapeless material 1052 of the bodies, in that he differentiated it into the various forms of the bodies. And this Wisdom also states, when it declares concerning Pharaoh and the Egyptians, who were vexed by the serpent and the vile reptile: «For neither was thine almighty hand, which created the world out of shapeless material, at a loss to send against them either a multitude of wolves or fierce lions» 1053. Therefore our mind, seeing that the bodies in this tangible world consist as we have said of material 1052 and form, |392 and that they arise from a duality, and being instructed by the sacred Scriptures that there is one Godhead in a Trinity, wonders and is amazed at the profoundness of the theology, since it sees a corresponding fact in creation, and is as it were initiated into a mystery and learns from creation the inaccessibility of the Trinity and its lack of likeness to and community with creation, and reflects in itself and says: The reason then why the Godhead does not exist in one hypostasis is that it may not be inferior to the bodies, falling short in the restriction of number. And it does not again exist in a duality, because it shuns similarity to the bodies, which arise from a duality, but it only appears in a Trinity and as plural, which is admirable; for in the Trinity is completed the unique number which follows two. Therefore also, when Moses said to him, «Show me thyself, let me see thee plainly», he refused this, saying, «Thou wilt not be able to see my face, for a man shall not see my face and live»; but he added, «Thou shalt see my back parts, |393 but my face shall not be seen by thee» 1054; signifying that by the very essence 1055 and by the sight, as one may say, of the face no man can comprehend God, but from his back parts a man shall know the things that pertain to him. out his back parts are created things which came into being afterwards, through which he is inferentially seen as the causer of their birth, as our father the Theologian himself also said in the nd theological homily: «These are God's back parts, all things which, being after him, make him known, like the shadows and reflexions of the. sun upon waters, which show the sun to weak eyes, because they cannot look at it, since by the purity of the light |394 it overcomes the perception» 1056. And therefore in the passage now before us for interpretation he applied the expression 'movement of the Unity towards a duality' to the everlasting birth of the Son from the Father, and 'passing over of the duality' to the procession of the Holy Spirit which is timeless and thereby without beginning, and by means of the words used as we have said he gave a philosophical 1057 explanation in mysterious and divine fashion of the lack of community in the Trinity towards bodies which exist in a duality. The passage contained in the homily entitled 'of Lights' which says, «But where there is purification there is shining, and shining is the completion of love, to those who desire things that are great, or that which |395 is great, or beyond what is great»1058, is plain and contains nothing difficult of comprehension. What he said is, «Where there is purification of the soul by means of virtues, there is the shining of knowledge, which raises and uplifts to the satisfaction of divine love». But the satisfaction of love is the end of things delightful and pleasing, which is God, who exists and is made known in things that are great, and in that which is. great, and beyond that which is great; in things that are great in the three hypostases which are equal in power and of which none is in anything inferior to the others in power and in equality in all things, except that they are distinct in the matter of non-generation and generation and procession, in the unconfused individualities which stamp each of the hypostases; in that which is great, |396 because he is one and the same and because of the Unity of the Godhead; and beyond that which is great, because he is not limited by size and quantity. For, in. that we employ the poverty of names that exists among us, we name God great, when he is more than great. Therefore also the Psalmist said: «Great is the Lord and very admirable; and there is no end to his greatness»1059. For all greatness is limited, but the Godhead cannot be limited, and is not limited by any boundary. |397
[Syriac] |398 [Syriac] |399
C. ---- OF THE SAME FROM THE rd LETTER OF THE th BOOK OF THOSE AFTER EXILE, WHICH WAS ADDRESSED TO THE GLORIOUS CAESARIA.
[519-33.] You say therefore that it has been discovered by certain persons concerning Balaam the soothsayer and seer and propitiator of falsely-named gods that it is testified by the divine words that he had such power in his mouth |400 that those whom he blessed were bles'sed, and those on the contrary whom he cursed were cursed. For this reason therefore the man who bore such a character was then lifted up to bless Israel also the holy people, the people which was named God's people; for you say that the same men who discovered this plainly produce these words. And at this I am not surprised; for it is the peculiarity of those who repeat the contents of divine Scripture cursorily and as it were from hearing, and not from learning and accurate knowledge, to arrive at false and erring notions. Where did the divine Scripture testify of the reprobate Balaam, as they said, that he had such a power? Moses who wrote these things, being inspired 1060 by the very excellent Spirit and being a minister of the truth, neither gave this testimony as in his own person, nor said of God that he gave any such testimony concerning Balaam, but recorded that Balak, King of the Moabites, being a demon-worshipper and a slave of foul fiends, thought of Balaam the soothsayer that he could curse and bless authoritatively and not in a worthless manner. And it is a simple thing to listen to the divine Scriptures manifestly proclaiming this: «And Balak son of Zippor, King of Moab, was at that time, and he sent |401 ambassadors to Balaam son of Beor the interpreter of dreams, who was on the river-land of the sons of his people, to call him. saying. 'Lo! a people hath come out of Egypt, and lo! they have covered the face of the land, and this people hath encamped round me. And now come, curse me this people, because this people is stronger than we, in case we may be able to overthrow some of them, and cast them out of the land; because I know that they whom thou blessest are blessed, and they whom thcu cursest are cursed'» 1061. Since therefore Balak and the Moabites who were under subjection to him, and the Midianites their neighbours, who were barbarians, held this belief, God 'who wisheth that all men should live and come to the knowledge of the truth' 1062 according to the apostle's saying, instructing our race, hard as it is to turn, by many various methods, first showed his power with which none can contend, and displayed the kings round about them, Sihon, King of the Amorites, and Og, King of Bashan, who were giants, and trusted to their strength, and were eager to engage in battle, and met Israel in warlike guise, slain with the sword and dead together with their followers; and |402 afterwards, when the same Balak, prince, of the Moabites, as we have said, perceived the feebleness of his own power, and feared lest he also should become the prey of the Israelite sword, and had recourse to the power of the falsely-named gods, and thought that by means of the soothsayer's curse he was escaping from his troubles, the wisdom that is higher than all understanding instructed the barbarian by the instrumentality of the very soothsayer himself in whom he trusted that there is no other god beside him, and that by the very demons and the very soothsayers who serve them witness is borne that he alone is true God. For it is his habit to convert those who are in error to the truth by the very paths of the error. And this we do not say out of our imagination, but because we learn it from Scripture itself. It is recorded in the first book of Kingdoms that the Philistines who dwelt in Ascalon and Gaza and the neighbouring cities took arms against Israel and won a great victory over them in combat, insomuch that together with the rest of the spoil they took the ark of God also and placed it in the sanctuaries and shrines of the idols, and every city to which they carried it was smitten with the disease of emerods for which there was no cure, and the land produced a multitude of mice, and they [deliberated] 1063 and took counsel |403 what they could do to escape from such distresses, and, having called upon the soothsayers, who were accustomed to instigate their actions by making use of the deceit of demons, they begged them to find a means of release from these calamities, and those men proposed to them the following plan; to bring cows that were first-born 1064 and were unaccustomed to the yoke, and to yoke these to a new cart bearing the ark and golden figures of the emerods and of the mice, equal in number to the cities that had been smitten with a plague of this kind, and upon this to shut up the calves that had been born in one house, that, if their mothers went on drawing the cart to the land of Judah, where the ark was previously placed, they might know that the God of Israel had laid the plagues upon them as a punishment, but, if hey turned towards the cry of the calves and were affected in accordance with their own natural instincts, they might learn that it was not on account of Israel that the punishment came upon them, but they happened as men to suffer these things. And, when these things had been thus stated, those cows as if very forcibly driven by the command of God, went of their own |404 accord to the land of Judah and brought the ark with the propitiatory offerings, though it was not those words of the soothsayers that were able to do these things, but God himself acted according to their words, and by means of the soothsaying to which they were accustomed and which they loved led the Philistines who were in error to the knowledge of the truth. So too Nebuchadnezzar also had future things revealed to him beforehand by an ordinary vision seen in dreams, in order that by Daniel's wise interpretation concerning the things seen in the dream the Babylonians might know what the God of the Hebrews was; and Nebuchadnezzar must not on this account be placed among religious men, as neither must the soothsayers who advised the Philistines to adopt the above-mentioned plan; for even they themselves also could if they wished on the strength of such signs have recognised God and not remained in error. For neither did God bring such things about for any other purpose, condescending as he did at times to men who were not in the perfect state, except that every man might be saved, because he is indeed the Creator of all. The prophesyings and workings of miracles are not under all circumstances performed by men who are worthy, but perhaps by men who are unworthy also for their own profit, because they are |405 barbarians, and cannot be brought to religion by teaching or by any other similar method. This same thing our Lord and God Jesus Christ also said in the gospel: «Many shall say in that day, 'Our Lord,] our Lord, did we not in [thy] name prophesy, and in [thy] name cast out demons, and in thy name do many mighty works?' and then will I profess unto them, ' I never knew you, depart ye from me, workers of iniquity'» 1065. And Caiphas, being president and ruler of the assembly of the Jews that contended with God, those who crucified our Lord, said prophetically that he should be crucified for the people; and this John the Evangelist who was indeed the Theologian described as follows: «But one of them, Caiaphas, who was the high-priest of that year, said to them, 'Ye know nothing, and do not consider that it is expedient for us that one man die for the people, and the whole people perish not'. But this he said not of himself, but, because he was the high-priest of that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for the people, and not for the people only, but also that he might gather into one the sons of God who were scattered»1066. Accordingly therefore neither |406 Caiaphas nor Balaam are 1067 religious men, but actually blasphemers and contenders against God, and remained in the snares of impiety, although God, In order to show the truth, and in order to convert those who were in error, made use of their words.
(And after other things.) The citations which we have made from the testimonies of the divine Scriptures are in themselves sufficient; but I will show by means of a few instances that the genuine doctors of the church also have taught us to think and say these things. The very wise John who became bishop of Constantinople in the th homily of the commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, when he was speaking about the Magi who by seeing the star were led to know our Lord and God Jesus, who was in swaddling-clothes and was being nurtured on milk from his mother's breast in the flesh, teaches as follows: «And wherefore did he attract them by such a sight? But how should he have done so? Should he have sent prophets? but the Magi would not have submitted to the prophets. But should he have emitted a voice from on high? but they would not have regarded this. But should he have sent an angel? but him also they would accordingly have |407 neglected. But on this account God, having set all these methods aside, calls them by means of things to which they are accustomed, condescending greatly, and showing them a great and peculiar star, in order by means of the size and the beauty of the appearance to make them astonished, and by the method of movement. Imitating these things, Paul spoke to the heathen from the starting-point of an altar, and cites testimonies from the poets, and he spoke with the Jews from the starting-point of circumcision, and with those who lived according to the law he took the beginning of teaching from sacrifices. For, since each man loves that to which he is accustomed, both God and also the men who were sent by him for the salvation of the world used facts in this way. Do not therefore think it an unworthy thing that he called them by means of a star; since, if it is so, you will find fault with all the practices of the Jews also, their sacrifices and their cleansings, and the beginnings of the months and the ark and the temple itself. For these things also received their origin from heathen denseness. But nevertheless God for the sake of the salvation of those who had gone astray consented to be worshipped by means of the very things by which the demons outside were worshipped, changing them himself a little, in order [that] he might |408 remove them gradually from the custom [and] bring them to the high philosophy; a thing which he also does to the Magi, in that he consented to call them by means of the appearance of the star, in order to make them thereafter higher. Since therefore he brought and led them, and set them by the manger, he did not again thereafter speak with them through a star, but through an angel, and so they gradually became better. The same thing he did also to the men of Ascalon and Gaza. For these five cities also, since after the coming of the ark they had been smitten with a regular plague, and found no escape from the plagues laid upon them, having called the soothsayers and held an assembly, wished to find a release from the plague which came from God. But the soothsayers said that they should yoke unbroken and firstborn 1068 cows to the ark and let them go, no man leading them; 'for so it will be plain whether the plague is from God, or from some chance or disease. For, if' (they say) 'they either from inexperience break the yoke, or return to the calves when they low, it is a chance or an accident that has happened. But, if they walk straight, and are in no way affected by the lowing of their young, or by the ignorance of their error 1069 |409 in the way, it is very plain that it is God's hand that has touched these cities'. Since therefore, after the soothsayers had said these things, those who dwelt in these cities obeyed, and did as they commanded, God also followed the counsel of the soothsayers, again condescending, and it did not seem to him to be a thing unworthy of him to carry into effect the thing stated beforehand by the soothsayers, and make them appear to be truthful men in what they spoke at that time. For indeed the success obtained was a great thing, that the adversaries themselves should bear witness to the power of God, and their own teachers themselves should pronounce a decision concerning him. And many other such things one may see that God performs by dispensation» 1070. And in the 24th homily of the same work, where he is expounding the passage which we ourselves mentioned above, which says, «Many shall say to me on that day, 'Our Lord, our Lord, did we not in thy name prophesy, and in thy name cast out demons, and in thy name do many mighty works?' And then he will profess unto them, 'I never knew you. Depart ye from me, ye who work iniquity'», he gave the same teaching in the following form: «Who therefore are these?» (he says). |410
"Many of those who believed received gifts, as was 1071 the man who was casting out demons and was not with him; as was1 Judas, for even he also, being an evil man, had gifts. And in the Old Testament one will accordingly find that the grace often worked in men who were unworthy, in order to benefit others. For, since all had not readiness for all things, but some were pure in life, but had not an equal amount of faith, while others were in the converse position, he both entices the former by means of the latter in order that they may show great faith, and calls the latter by means of this incomprehensible grace to become virtuous. Wherefore also he used to gave the grace with great abundance, for '«We did many mighty works». But then will I profess unto them «I know you not». For now they think they are my friends, but then they will know that I did not give as to friends'. And why are you surprised if he gave his graces to men who had believed in him but had not a life consonant to the faith, when he is in fact found to work even in men who have fallen from both? For Balaam was an alien both to faith and to life; but nevertheless the grace was effected in him for |411 the sake of influencing others. And Pharaoh likewise; but nevertheless to him also as well he showed the future. And Nebuchadnezzar was a great transgressor of the law; and to him again he revealed things that should happen later after many generations. And to his son again who surpassed his father in transgression of the law he showed the future, in that he brought wonderful and great things to pass. Since therefore at that time also the proclamation was at its beginning, and it very was desirable that a display of its power should be made, many even among the unworthy also received gifts. But nevertheless those men gained nothing from these signs, but are even judged all the more. Wherefore also he said to them those terrible words, 'I never knew you'. For many he already hates even here, and before the judgment turns away from them" 1072. By means of all these things therefore he clearly establishes the fact that Balaam also and Nebuchadnezzar, and Belteshazzar the latter's son, and all such men, did not profit by the grace of God, in that they remained in the snares of demon-worship, but even endure the decrees of the sentences of tortures all the more. |412
(And after other things.) But, as to the tunic of God our Saviour Jesus, on which those who performed the crucifixion cast lots, your mightiness' love of God should know that we should understand the statement exactly according to the letter. In Palestine it is the custom for men to make such tunics as are divided in the middle and not woven together throughout, but contain the sections of the texture separately; so that even now we may see many such tunics, made of wool and linen, in the city of Gaza; since afterwards, when it is about to be put on, and is skilfully and becomingly folded, that division is concealed by the tailors. But some 1073 of those who are of low station have it all woven together from beginning to end, and these they |413 describe according to custom as being woven from the top to the bottom, since there is no division in them. But this indicates also a mystery which shows 1074 that the Only Word who was born below in flesh is above from God and the Father. Since every human soul has a body like some garment which springs up with it, as is said by Job the man of mighty endurance to God: «With skin and flesh hast thou clothed me, and with bones and sinews hast thou strengthened me»1075, so also our Saviour's body, if one conceives of it as a kind of tunic that sprang up at the same time, because it was united to the Word invariably by a natural union, was woven from the top, that is by the coming of the Holy Spirit, and not by human seed. That these things are so the genuine doctors of the holy church also show; for it is good that |414 we confirm every statement and opinion by the expressions used by these. John who became bishop of Constantinople in the 85th homily of the commentary on the Gospel of John wrote as follows: «But do you, I pray, observe the prophet's accuracy; for the prophet did not say only that they divided, but also that they did not divide. Some things they divided, but the tunic they did not divide, but also committed the matter to lot. But the expression 'woven from the top' is not added casually; but some say that by means of this expression one thing is indicated in place of another, because he who was crucified was not mere man, but had also the Godhead from above; while others say that the evangelist is depicting the actual pattern of the tunic, for, since in Palestine they join two pieces of material together and so weave garments, John signifies that the tunic was not 1076 of this kind, in that he says that it was woven from the top. And this it seems to me that he says by way of signifying the meanness of the garments, and, as in all other things, so also in raiment he followed a simple form» 1077. And Athanasius the great in the homily on the Cross says these things: «Together with these things |415 he put on also an unsewn tunic that was woven from the top throughout, that from this also the Jews might be able to believe who and whence he is who put on these things; that the Word is not from the earth, but that he came from above, and he is not one divided, but is without division from the Father; because, when he became man, he had not a body that was sewn together from a man and a woman, but one that was woven from a virgin alone by the Spirit's workmanship» 1078.
(And after other things.) But, as to the passage about the sweat and the drops of blood, know that in the divine and evangelical Scriptures that are at Alexandria it is not written. Wherefore also the holy Cyril in the 12th of the books written by him on behalf of the religion of the Christians against the impious demon-worshipper Julian plainly stated as follows: «But, since he said that the divine Luke inserted among his own words the statement that an angel stood and strengthened Jesus, and his sweat dripped like blood-drops or blood, let him learn from us that we have found nothing of this kind inserted in Luke's work, unless perhaps 1079 an interpolation has been made |416 from outside which is not genuine. The books therefore that are among us contain nothing whatever of this kind; and I therefore think it madness for us to say anything to him about these things; and it is a superfluous thing to oppose him on things that are not stated at all, and we shall be condemned to be laughed at and that very justly» 1080. In the books therefore that are at Antioch and in other countries it is written 1081, and some of the fathers mention it; among whom Gregory the Theologian made mention of this same passage in the nd homily on the Son 1082; and John bishop of Constantinople in the exposition composed by him about the passage, «My Father if possible let this cup pass from me» 1083. And I myself therefore in the 64th homily showed the religious meaning of the things thus brought about 1084, according to the limited power that has been given to me from above.
CI. ---- OF THE SAME FROM THE LETTER TO CAESARIA THE HYPATISSA.
[519-38.] But the Lord, when after the Resurrection he breathed upon the disciples |417 and said, «Receive the Holy Spirit» 1085, (since you ask this question also besides), gave them a beginning only of the gifts of the Spirit, and, as one may say, one kind among the many gifts of the Spirit which Paul enumerated in writing to the Corinthians 1086, I mean that of binding and loosing men's sins. This was signified by the addition, in that that Giver of the gifts of the Spirit said, «If ye forgive any men's sins they shall be forgiven to-them; and if ye bind any men's sins they shall be bound» 1087. And by means of the breathing he taught them in very mysterious fashion that he is himself the Creator of Adam, whom he formed out of earth and into whose face he breathed the Spirit of life, and that he made man 'a living soul' as it is written 1088, shining in the spiritual image and the beauty that flashes from it, and sharing in the divine likeness. And by breathing into the disciples he majestically shows that the Holy Spirit himself is of his essence 1089 and not alien.
And in addition to that you ask this other question, how then we are able to explain how it is that our Lord Christ does not speak falsely who says, «As Jonah was three days and three nights in the fish's belly, so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the |418 earth 1090» 1091. Some say that we are to reckon the time from the very evening of the th day of the week when our Saviour supped with the disciples, and instituted the new Passover, causing the old to cease, since it was from that time that our Lord was virtually sacrificed of his own accord on our behalf, and went down into the lower parts of the earth, and they say that the one night and the six hours of the preparation should be reckoned as one day and night, and the darkness from the th hour to the 9th and the light from the 9th hour till sunset as the nd day and night, so that consequentially the following night and the sabbath-day make up the whole of the rd day and night, and in this way it is to be believed that our Lord rose after three days and nights. But others 1092 have appeared to give another elucidation upon the question 1093 before us, which is subtle and very accurate. They said that according to the custom and tradition contained in Scripture every day with the night preceding it are 1094 combined into one entity. Thus in Exodus, when Moses was giving orders about the Passover and about the feast of unleavened bread, he said, «When the 14th day of the st month beginneth, ye |419 shall eat unleavened bread from the evening» 1095, and he counted the beginning of the following day from the preceding evening: and the cessation of the sabbath he instituted the same way, so that they were to cease from work on the preceding night and the following day; and the Jews are known to observe this down to this day, and to honour not the night after the sabbath but the night before the sabbath by cessation and- abstention from work; and we ourselves on the Ist day of the week honour the preceding night as united with the honoured day, and not the night following. Accordingly therefore they say that every night-and-day is as one may say one entity, and, what therefore anyone does during one of these 24 hours, that act is said to have been performed on the whole of that day. As for instance, when a man is sent on a long journey and returns to his own country or city either on the nd or on the rd day of the week, this man entered the city during one hour or a small portion of an hour, but everyone says, «So-and-so arrived on the nd day of the week» or «on the rd», and they reckon the whole day which is one with the preceding night to his arrival. |420 And therefore, they say, we should on this principle regard the period of the three days' burial, and the descent of our God and Saviour who became incarnate into Sheol, as beginning from the time when he truly entered the heart of the earth; and that he did after he gave up his spirit, saying, «My Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit» 1096, and then his spirit departed, and thus, though he was united in a perfect union, the soul and the body were separated from one another, and through the burial of the body he does away corruption in graves, and through the soul he is seen in the lower parts' of the earth, and he released those who were bound in graves. Then it was therefore that he entered the heart of the earth, when 'he went down', as Paul says, 'to the lower parts of the earth' 1097, that is to the lowest limits and to the gloomy crowns (?) 1098 in the earth; From the departure of the spirit therefore the three day-and-nights are to be counted; and the departure took place at the 9th hour of the preparation, when three hours of the day remained. Since therefore the preparation is according to the custom handed down in Scripture united with the preceding night, we reckon that our Lord spent the whole of the day and the night of the preparation in the heart of the earth, and then after sunset the sabbath begins and its |421 night, the day which the Jews honour by a cessation; and the whole of this together with the following day which is joined to it our Lord spent in the lower parts of the earth. But, when the sabbath had gone by, and had been completed by the, setting of the sun, then began the night of the st day of the week; and the night again and the day following it are to be reckoned in order according to that same custom of Scripture, and our Lord will be found to have risen from the place of the dead on the rd day-and-night, that of the st day of the week; for in fact one who passed the beginning of a day-and-night in the heart of the earth is to be reckoned as having spent the whole of that day-and-night there. For this reason they say that Christ spent the preparation in the lower parts of the earth as regards the last portion of the day-and-night, and the st day of the week as regards the first portion, and the sabbath entirely through all the 24 hours, keeping the day of the Jews' feast in mourning, that thereby also he might fulfil the prophecy spoken through the prophet Amos, which threatens the Jews and says, «I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into wailing»1099. But those men say also that the three hours' darkness which took place is reckoned to be a night, and this is forced; for this darkness is not a night, |422 but an affliction of day; and they say that they are prevented from holding anything of the kind by the prophecy of Zechariah also, who prophesies about that day as follows: «On that day there shall be no light, and cold and frost shall be one day, and that day shall be known to the Lord, neither day nor night, and towards evening there shall be light» 1100. See! the prophet plainly says, «On that day there shall be no light», and, having first plainly named the darkness, he prevented such an affliction and the light which rose afterwards from being reckoned a night and a day by saying «neither day nor night»; and this he says plainly, in order that no one may reckon this a day and a night. As to the statement, «Cold and frost shall be one day», it is not unreasonable for us to understand it to mean that there was actually sensible cold and frost on that day; and supra-sensually that, because at a certain time fiery fervour had grown cold among the Jews, the grace of the Holy Spirit ceased to work among them 1101. This also besides we should know, that our Lord in the gospels sometimes said that he was destined to rise on the rd day, and sometimes that he would rise after three days, the expression signifying that even the beginning of the rd day is reckoned a whole day. |423
CII. ---- OF THE HOLY MAR SEVERUS, FROM THE WORDS WRITTEN TO CAESARIA THE PATRICIAN.
[519-38.] What he says therefore is this. In the way of worldly intercourse, that is to say in the business of this world, I do not forbid you to associate with idolaters, it may be, and with those who are differently situated and hold different opinions. Otherwise we are reduced to withdrawing outside the world. But, if, when a man is named a brother, that is one who has the same spirit of adoption with us and is judged among the sons of faith, he fall away to idolatry or any such abominable thing, with such a one it is good for us not even to eat1102. Otherwise, by disregarding foul behaviour of such a kind we fall under God's judgment.
CIII. ---- OF THE HOLY MAR SEVERUS FROM THE LETTER TO CAESARIA.
[519-38.] For1103, since they had a mind in contact with earthly things, they said, |424 «Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary?» 1104; and again, «Thou art a 1104 Samaritan and hast a demon»1105; and, «For good deeds we stone thee not, but for blasphemy, that, being a man, thou makest thyself God»1106. Since therefore it was because they stumbled at the dispensation in the flesh that they said these things, all the blasphemies that they uttered against the Son of man, our Saviour said that they should be forgiven to them; for they have as a defence ignorance of the mystery and the condescension as man. «Therefore it shall be forgiven to men and not to you», as if he were saying, «I give forgiveness as to men who have not known the depth of the dispensation». But the things which they said in blasphemy against the divine signs and mighty works which he did and performed by the Spirit that was in him and of his nature (as he said, «I by the Spirit of God cast out the demons»), «In Beelzebub» (as they say) «he casts out the demons», these things (he says) as things which are concerned with blasphemy against the Holy Spirit and have from the acts |425 themselves the quality of God-befittingness 1107 and have no room for defence Christ said should not be forgiven 1108. But this blasphemy against the Son of man shall be forgiven, and it is smaller than the blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, down to the time of the Cross, we must understand, because down to that time Christ obscured the greatness of his Godhead by means of the words and actions of the dispensation; but after the Cross and the Resurrection 1109 he did so no longer; since the dispensation had once for all received an end 1110.
CIV. ---- OF THE HOLY MAR SEVERUS FROM THE LETTER TO CAESARIA.
[519-38.] But Luke related that he even communicated in the holy body and in our Lord's cup 1111, whence also the devil gained complete mastery over him, inasmuch as he had presumed to communicate in the mysterious spiritual food when he was unworthy and had a heart such as his. This we say, not |426 because that savage fiend in the case of men of this character treats the power of the mystery, with contempt, but because he who communicates when unworthy is delivered into his hands, when anyone presumes to receive the holy communion when secretly involved in impieties that are great, and especially in such as relate to God.
CV. ---- OF MAR SEVERUS TO CAESARIA THE HYPATISSA.
[519-38.] You should know that the priest who offers represents the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; for he in fact celebrates the memory of the sacrifice which he himself instituted, and of that which he himself began in the mysterious supper.
The veil therefore which before the priest approaches hides what is set forth and is removed after his entry manifestly cries by the mouth of the facts themselves that the mystery, which was previously concealed by means of the sacrifices of the law and the shadowy service, and was obscurely made known as it were by an indication only, by means of this spiritual and rational priestly ministration reveals Christ who is God to those who have believed on him. |427
To this refer also the words which Paul uses in the epistle to the Corinthians, «The veil remaineth upon the readers of the Old Testament, and it is not revealed because 1112 it is done away in Christ» 1113; since Christ has indeed done away or has removed the veil by means of the service and ministration in the Spirit, as is further stated by Paul himself, «We all with open face see the glory of the Lord as in a mirror» 1114. For what is done with the veil shows according to a simple explanation that things that are hidden from and not [seen] by those who initiate, these are manifest and visible to those who believe and are initiated. [In] Palestine and in Jerusalem, while the priest makes the said 1115 prayer, the deacons frequently and ceaselessly lift [the cover] 1116 up and let it down again, until the end of the prayer, and so after that the priest begins the petition over the offering of the sacrifice. Further what is done in this fashion reminds us of that veil or linen sheet which came down from heaven upon Peter, which contained all the quadrupeds and reptiles, and birds clean and unclean, and signified to him that |428 the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out not only on the people of Israel which was clean, because it received God's law, but upon all the nations which were without the law and unclean.
For this reason therefore the cloth that is laid upon what is set forth on the altar shows by being lifted and lowered the abundant and perfect gift of the divine Spirit, which was shown to Peter by the vision to have included all the nations, which descends from heaven upon [all] that is set forth, and consecrates and hallows it.....1117
CVI. ---- OF THE HOLY MAR SEVERUS THE PATRIARCH, ON SOME EXPRESSIONS TAKEN FROM THE SAME BOOK OF KOHELETH, WHICH ARE, «KEEP THY FOOT WHEN THOU GOEST INTO A HOUSE OF GOD, AND DRAW NIGH TO HEAR» 1118. FROM THE LETTER TO CAESARIA.
[519-38.] For you have listened with perception to Koheleth wisely warning and |429 saying, «Keep thy foot when thou goest into a house of God, and draw nigh to hear». For a man who is going along the road of religion must keep his own foot and be attentive lest he anywhere slip; and, when he is walking to the church as to a house of God, I mean the teaching of piety and the confession of the faith (for this is what we must suppose the church properly to be), draw nigh to hear, and not hold aloof, and apply and attach so to speak a ear that loves listening to the sound words of the teaching. For a mind that is so disposed God reckons in place of a sacrifice, and above every gift and fruit-offering of the foolish, who know not how to do good, nor yet will learn from those who know. Therefore he who said, «Keep thy foot when thou goest into a house of God, and draw nigh to hear», went on to say carefully, «Above a gift of the foolish is thy sacrifice, because they are not men who know how to do good» 1119. |430
CVII. ---- OF THE HOLY SEVERUS PATRIARCH OF ANTIOCH AS TO WHAT THINGS THE SOUL WILL ENCOUNTER.
(To Thomas, bishop of Germanicea) 1120.
[519-38(?)] For we have already said that those who became founders of these evil heresies find fault with the Old Testament 1121, and put forward the New, some adding to it, others mutilating it; men whom the apostle Jude accuses through the words stated as men who speak (?) 1122 great swollen words of railing, which he also called their shame which comes after 1123 it. But Michael the archangel who was then contending with the devil, when he was speaking about Moses' body, did not dare to bring a railing accusation, but said, «The Lord rebuke thee» 1124, which seems to me to convey the following meaning. The law which was given through Moses showed all the things that relate to the cleansing of the soul and its justification |431 by means of bodily types and indications. Such is the fact that it passes judgment upon the body of a leper as unclean, and similarly also upon a man with an issue; for God does not exact punishment for involuntary afflictions, but by means of these things annuls the stain of sin which is diverse and hard to wash away, by which the soul is in divers manners stained. After this pattern therefore he judges it pollution that the man should be dissipated on pleasures who begets fruits for the benefit of the rational and intelligent soul 1125; and here therefore God further showed by a bodily type a certain mystery that happens to the soul. Since, when the soul is separated from the body after the release from this world, the angelic and good hosts and a company of evil demons meet it, in order that, according to the quality of the deeds which it has performed bad or good, either the one or the other may convey it to the proper regions to be kept till the last day, on which, we shall all rise, either to judgment or to eternal life, or shall be brought to the unending flame of the fire, therefore, because God wished |432 to show this to the sons of Israel by some bodily type, he caused the burial of Moses to appear before their eyes at the time of the swathing 1126 of the body and at: the customary deposition in the earth, as if the evil demon were opposing and, Michael the good angel were, acting contrary to him. who met him and drove him away, and did not authoritatively rebuke him, but yielded the judgment against that demon to the Lord of all, and said, «The Lord rebuke thee», that by means of these things those who are being instructed may learn that that the soul has a contest after the release from this world, and that we must by means of good deeds pre'pare ourselves in order that angelic help may come to us when the demons gnash their teeth enviously and bitterly at us. And, when this sight had appeared before the eyes, then there fell in that place a ray of light of a cloud that darkened and obstructed the sight of those who were standing on this side and that, that no man might know his grave. Therefore the Holy Scripture says in Deuteronomy also: «Moses the Lord's bondman ended his life there, in the land of Moab, by the word of the Lord; and they buried him there in |433 the land of Moab beside the house of Peor, and no man hath known the end or his grave to this day» 1127; which is also confirmed by that which the evangelist wrote 1128, since Luke one of the evangelists said in the story of the rich man and Lazarus, «And it happened that the poor man also died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom» 1129. These same details labout the burial of Moses men have stated to be contained in an apocrypha Book the more succinct title of which is 'The book of Generation or of Creation, which Moses himself wrote for us' 1130. And to us this seems to be the interpretation of what he propounded, so that I thus understand it. But some have said that Jude calls the law itself the body of Moses; and, when he came down to show this to the sons of Israel, the devil opposed, and he worked in opposition retarding the gift of the law, and contending and saying, «The people does not deserve this to be done for them»; and therefore Michael went before him and drove away him who opposed, uttering the rebuke, «The Lord rebuke thee». And others |434 again: «He calls the people whom he was leading the body of Moses; and he meant that, when they were leaving the land of Egypt, the devil opposed and resisted, as if he were saying in contention with Moses, «His body (which is the people) does not deserve deliverance from Egypt to be given to it». And this devil when he was opposing Michael put in bonds, and he reproved him saying, «The Lord rebuke thee».
CVIII. ---- OF THE HOLY SEVERUS PATRIARCH OF ANTIOCH, FROM THE 27th LETTER OF THE 9th BOOK AFTER EXILE WHICH WAS ADDRESSED TO THOMAS BISHOP OF GERMANICEA.
[519-38.] «Thus saith the Lord: 'I found a hot one in the wilderness with the slain of the sword. Go and destroy not Israel. The Lord shall be revealed upon him afar off. With perfect love I loved thee; therefore I drew thee with mercy. Again I will build thee and thou shalt be built, virgin Jerusalem'» 1131. Certain men with experience of war say that generals of |435 armies have a custom of bringing besides the armed forces physicians also, and, after the hosts engage with one another and the battle is joined, and the opposite side is defeated, they send the physicians to search among the fallen, and examine carefully lest there be found a man among them who is warm and has breath in him, and may by medical skill recover from the deadly wounds that are upon him. Therefore also the purport of this figurative prophecy which we have cited is that, when Israel was reckoned with the dead, he restored him to life; but some have not discovered the meaning contained in this figure, or the explanation of the words, 'I found a hot one in the wilderness', but have given a foolish interpretation. They changed the reading 'hot', and instead of saying 'hot' said 'solitary', and supposed from this that there is some herb which grows of itself in the wilderness, and signifies the solitariness of Israel. For it is not so. The words of the following context refute and truly banish their supposition; and the words of Scripture are as follows: «I found a hot one in the wilderness with the slain of the sword». So therefore I also am in this manner lifted up, and am constrained to take courage and speak a few words about the communications that have been addressed to me by your eloquent wisdom. |436
(And after other things.)
But that our Lord Jesus Christ our God was pierced in the side with a lance by that soldier after he gave up the ghost, and blood and water came forth from it in a miraculous manner, the divine John the Evangelist recorded, and no one else wrote about this. But certain persons have clearly falsified the Gospel of Matthew and inserted this same passage, when the contrary is the fact, in order to show that it was while he was alive that the soldier pierced his side with the spear, and afterwards he gave up the ghost 1132. This question was examined with great carefulness when my meanness was in the royal city, at the time when the affair of Macedonius was being examined, who became archbishop of that city, and there was produced the Gospel of Matthew, which was written in large letters, and was preserved with great honour in the royal palace, which was said to have been found in the days of Zeno of honourable memory in a city of the island of Cyprus buried with the holy Barnabas, who went about with Paul and spread the divine preaching; and, when the Gospel of Matthew was opened, it was found to be free from the falsification contained in this addition, |437 of the story of the soldier and the spear. I do not know how and for what reason the holy John who became bishop of the same royal city, and the admirable Cyril, bishop of Alexandria, did not test this question, and allowed the two passages to stand, in the two evangelists, neglecting the evidence to the contrary;1133 but perhaps in order that this also might be known, that, while they speak and write everything under the operation of the Holy Spirit, and while these men are higher than we (for we are men who creep along the earth), as the heaven is higher than the earth1134, and that they themselves also might be known to be men, and to leave omniscience to God only, and that there is something in affairs which cannot be expressed, the complete revelation of which is not made known. Thus Samuel also, who as one may say saw with the eye of prophecy everything that was about to happen, did not know Saul when he was present and standing among all Israel, Because God by means of these things was instructing his bondmen, and teaching them to pay regard to humility. Wherefore also the divine Scripture is written thus: «And Samuel asked in the Lord and said, 'Cometh that man hither?' And the Lord said, ' Lo! he is hidden among the vessels'. And |438 he ran and took him thence» 1135. And at the time when the Shilumite woman's son died, and she had come to Elisha in great distress, as a mother who had been deprived of her beloved son, and, when she had just fallen at the feet of the prophet of God, and Gehazi tried to prevent her, the bondman of God, being moved by love and sorrow, said to Gehazi, «Let her alone, because her soul is bitter in her, and the Lord hid it from me and showed it not to me»1136. Accordingly you should know that Eusebius of Caesarea also who is called 'Pamphili', who wrote the canons of the gospel, and imitated those who wrote on this subject before him, and had more complete knowledge of this question than the others, in the 10th canon, in which he recorded the places peculiar to one of the evangelists, inserted this passage also about the soldier and the lance, saying that John alone recorded it 1137. And we also agree with this careful accuracy, not that we contend against our fathers (far be it!), but that we place the evangelists at a greater height than them, and assign to the evangelists only the intention which properly belongs to them, in order that in everything Jesus, who is God, who spoke in the |439 evangelists, may be glorified, 'in whom are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge hidden' 1138, according to the saying of Paul. But for the rest we find that the holy John himself also, the bishop of Constantinople, in the commentary on the same Matthew the Evangelist with regard to this same addition which we are now discussing, himself also said things that fit the truth; for he expressed himself thus: «'But another came up and perforated his side with a lance'. And what could be more wicked than these men? And who could be lawless like them? And who could be more savage than these same men, who showed their madness to such an extent, that they attacked a dead body. But do you mark how their madness was brought about for our salvation. For after the wound the fountain of life welled forth for us» 1139. But these are the words of a man who follows the footsteps of the narrative of John the Evangelist and nothing else; for he called the body 'dead'; because it was after he gave up the ghost that the soldier pierced him, and gave occasion for the fountain of our salvation to well forth thence, as the doctor John the bishop said. But this addition to the narrative of Matthew the Evangelist has never been inserted by any of the earlier |440 commentators who wrote, not by Origen, who examined such questions minutely, though he sinned 1140 in matters that are necessary for the truth of the faith of the church, nor by Didymus, nor by any other man who has written on this subject. But Eusebius 1141 of Caesarea, who is called 'Pamphili', whom we mentioned a little above, when writing to a man called Marinus about questions concerning the passions of our Saviour and about his Resurrection, showed us nothing whatever about the said addition, as being unknown and having no place in the books of the gospel. But in the same letters to Marinus, who had asked him for an interpretation on the subject of our Saviour's passions and his Resurrection, he inserted the following exposition also in his letters, that the divine Mark the Evangelist said that it was the rd hour at the time when Christ who is God and our Saviour was crucified, but the divine John (he said) wrote that it was at the th hour that Pilate sat upon his judgment-seat at the place called 'the pavement', and judged Christ. And therefore Eusebius said that this is an error of a scribe, who was inattentive when writing |441 the Gospel. For it is the letter gamal that denotes 3 hours, while the letter which is called in Greek episemon denotes the number of 6 hours, and these letters are like one another in Greek, and, the scribe wishing to write '3' quickly, and having turned the letter a little backwards, it was thereby found to be '6', because, since the letter had been turned backwards, it was supposed to be the letter that denotes '6'. Since therefore the three other evangelists Matthew, Mark, and Luke stated alike as with one mouth that from the th hour to the 9th there was darkness over all the land, it is plain that our Lord and God Jesus Christ was crucified before the th hour, at which the darkness took place, that is from the rd hour, as 1142 the blessed John himself wrote. Similarly we say that it is the rd hour, because those who wrote before, as we have said, changed the letter. We must insert also in this our letter upon this matter a part of what Eusebius himself stated at length; and his words are as follows: «We agree not with any chance man, but with the evangelist who gave this testimony, |442 Mark. For it happened that there was an error on the part of the scribe so that he changed the letter by adding length to it, and it was thought that the letter which represents '3' was '6', on account of the likeness of the two letters [of that which denotes '3' and that which denotes '6'. If the refore it is stated by John that it was the preparation of the day of unlevened bread, and it was about the th hour, and Pilate said to the Jews «Behold! your king» 1143, and so on, let there be read instead of ' th' ' rd', since the beginning of his trial took place at that time, and in the middle of the hour or after it had been completed they crucified him, so that the result is that they judged and crucified him at the same hour» 1144; If you look for and find the volume addressed to Marinus about the interpretation of these things, you will find the accuracy of the writer as regards these matters. For our part we do not wish to write much on these subjects in this our letter. May the industry of your holiness be preserved for us meditating on these things and occupied with these things in priestly fashion, and rousing up the gloom of our silence and urging it to speak 1145. |443
CIX. ---- OF THE SAME HOLY SEVERUS FROM THE 250th LETTER OF THE Ist BOOK BEFORE EPISCOPACY, WHICH WAS ADDRESSED TO THEOGNOSTUS. 1146
[508-12.] But now it is time for us to come to the other question. You say «What is meant to be signified by the phrase used by Isaiah the prophet about our Lord, that he was sent 'to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord ' 1147?» But this I say..........1148
CX. ---- OF THE HOLY MAR SEVERUS, FROM THE LETTER TO EUGENIA THE DEACONESS AND ARCHIMANDRITESS.
[513-38.] «When thou sittest at the table of mighty men, to dine» (or «to take a meal»), «consider the things set before thee with intelligence, and stretch forth thine hand»1149. But a man will properly say that mighty men are am who showed themselves mighty and prevailed against the passions |444 of sin, but are ruled by righteousness, and made their own members an instrument of this, and give no passage for any strange and demoniac thoughts to creep into their own souls.
By these, as by men who have made themselves masters of the passions of lusts and gained the victory over them, the table of the word of religion is set before the pious hearer, which urges not only to fear God, but also strife against the devil and against all the passions of sin.
This teaching one should consider with intelligence and clothe oneself in the benefit derived from it, and delight oneself in its sweet and pleasant sustenance.
CXI. ---- OF THE HOLY MAR SEVERUS FROM THE LETTER TO SIMUS THE SCRINIARIUS 1150, SHOWING THAT THE DIVINE INFLATION IN ADAM IS THE HOLY SPIRIT, AND THE POWER WHICH MAKES THE SOUL OF MAN.
[513-8 (?).] For against that contention we must vigorously make answer, that in |445 the composition or fashioning of man the rational soul of man is not created before the body, nor is the body formed before the soul. Why do you drag the teaching of the holy fathers which says that the divine inspiration is the Holy Spirit, an active and operative force, and is the power which makes the soul of man, to an abominable objection by saying this, that they who say this absolutely and by all means clearly hold that the body is created first, and after the formation is complete receives a soul, in that the Holy Scripture says, «And God created man dust from the earth, and breathed into his face the breath of life» 1151, as if the formation comes first, and the animation follows afterwards, in the second place, according to the narrative of Scripture? But we shall not arrive at this cold supposition, if we receive in our mind that God creates, not like some feeble man. (A little farther on.) It would perhaps be possible for us to adduce other testimonies also that the human soul was created by divine inflation; but indeed this stands clear, that the holy Cyril taught all of them in his writings, showing that the soul of man came into being by divine inflation, and again that we are to |446 understand that, man having been created and possessing a soul, the inflation inserted only spiritual gifts and patterns of divine association.
And the holy Basil in what he wrote about the Holy Spirit taught as follows: «For, when Adam had lost the grace derived from the divine inflation, Christ gave it back again, when he breathed into the face of his disciples and said, 'Receive the Holy Spirit'» 1152. And again he said, «When he breathed in intellect, he is not another diifering from him who breathed at the beginning, but the same through whom he gave the inflation, then giving it with the soul, but now giving the soul». So much we have written as an abundant elucidation of the words, «Let us make man in our image» 1153, and of the words, «breathed into his face the breath of life».
CXII. ---- OF THE HOLY MAR SEVERUS FROM THE LETTER TO URANIUS.
Therefore in the Old Testament also, when the high-priest was anointed, and at his anointing the sacrifice of the ram of perfection was offered, the |447 thumb of his right hand, and the great toe of his right foot, and the lobe of his right ear were anointed with the blood of the victim which was sacrificed 1154, the type signifying this, that, if he set himself to perform right actions, and if he make great progress in them (for the hand is the emblem of deeds and of actions, and the foot of effort and of advance towards the things that are in front), he will have his ears fall of divine announcements and revelations.
CXIII. ---- OF THE HOLY MAR SEVERUS FROM THE LETTER TO ZACHARIAS 1155.
[513-8.] God said to Moses, «Choose thee seventy old men and I will take of thy spirit and lay it upon them» 1156. And the God of all said and did these things by way of giving instruction and teaching in the direction of humility (for the gifts of the Spirit are not scanty or defective), and it was not because he took away some of the spirit that was upon Moses that he filled others with this. For the whole of it was both with the recipients and with him, just as one may also see in the nature of fire. When a man has lighted several |448 torches from one torch, he has not diminished the one, and yet has from it caused many to be in equal honour. For the grace that was upon Moses appeared as it were to be darkened by the fact that the seventy shared in the same honour and prophesied in the Spirit. But this type was fulfilled by the future; for, when after the coming of the Only one in the flesh the Spirit was poured out, the grace that was upon Moses was darkened, and the fire of the torch of the law, when brought near to the gospel, is extinguished by the all-brilliant rays of the Sun of righteousness.
CXIV. ---- OF THE HOLY MAR SEVERUS FROM THE LETTER TO MITRAEUS 1157.
[519-38.] When he was about to deliver Jerusalem to utter destruction on account of the abundance of evil things that were done in it, and showed the prophet Ezekiel the form that such wrath was to take, and sent forth the angels who performed this office, one executor of these things he commanded|449 thus: «Pass through the midst of Jerusalem, and give forth a mark on the foreheads of the men who groan and are distressed, on account of all the unlawful acts that have been done within her»; and to the others he said, «Go after him and destroy and spare not; and have no mercy on old man and on young man and virgins; and the old men and the women slay utterly; and begin with my holy ones; but those that have the mark upon them approach not» 1158. The expression, 'begin with my holy ones' shows 1159 this, that there were men who were very proud of the garb of the high-priesthood, and on account of the place of the temple and the sanctuary were much puffed up, but were devoid of good deeds; and therefore he tells the tormenting angels to make a beginning with those who ought to have conducted themselves in such a way as to be able to stretch out their hands to God on behalf of others also who sin, and restrain the threat and the punishment impending over them.1160 |450
CXV. ---- OF MAR SEVERUS, FROM THE LETTER TO HERACLIANA 1161.
[519-25.] But Isaiah 1162 also the prophet, beholding beforehand with foreseeing eyes the holy order of the monks, who take upon themselves the voluntary distresses for the sake of the law of the Lord, said that their tribulation was offered to God in place of sacrifices and offerings, in that he wrote thus: «At that time there shall come up offerings to the Lord of Sabaoth from a people distressed and plucked»1163. But the word 'plucked' shows the abundance of the distresses; for, if one grasp the hair of a man's head, and pluck this out by force, one causes him intolerable pain and injury. Wherefore also the great Job too, when he wished to show the abundance of his own pains, said, «Having grasped me by my locks he tore» (or «plucked») «me» 1164. Accordingly therefore, since you have been marked for such a life, you ought to have souls ready and prepared for every trial that is thought to be hard. |451
CXVI. (XXVII) ---- OF THE HOLY SEVERUS FROM THE TREATISE AGAINST THE CODICILS OF ALEXANDER; AFTER ITS TWO PARTS (?). (XXVII)
(To John, Theodore, and John) 1165.
[519-38.] But he 1166 says concerning what is written in Matthew, «Many bodies of the saints who slept arose» 1167: «For, if 'many', it is plain that all did not; and, if 'saints', it is beyond controversy that those of wicked men and. men who died in sins did not also rise».
(And a little farther on.) For this also is the reason for which he said that they 'appeared to many', to show the object for which they rose, and through a thing that is manifest to make known something that is not manifest, whom Christ's descent into Sheol benefited, viz. the saints who had already purified their soul. For, when he went thither, he made proclamation to the spirits in prison also who had aforetime been disobedient according to the statement of the apostle Peter 1168. And to all alike he appeared, having broken gates of bronze and shattered bars of iron as it is written 1169. But all did not know him, nor benefit by his appearance, but those |452 only who lived uprightly, who also, if he had appeared to them while they were still living the life in the flesh would certainly have believed on him. (And lower down.) But that all did not rise at that time with Christ, nor all who had died benefit by his descent into Sheol, although he himself appeared and made proclamation to all alike, but those who had already purified their soul as we have said, and therefore knew him and believed, Gregory the Theologian in the sermon on the Passover handed down, after expanding the question as is proper in what he added, writing thus 1170: «If he go down to Sheol go down with him. Know the mysteries there, what is the economy of the double descent 1171, what the principle. Does he simply save all by appearing, or there also those who believe 1172?» And Ignatius the truly God-clad and martyr, who, or some other man 1173, saw ineffable mysteries, so that he was even careful to say of himself, and this with humble mind, «For I also in that I am hound and am able to understand |453 the heavenly things and the angelic locations, and the princely companies, visible and again invisible, am not thereby a disciple» 1174, in writing to those at Magnesia said thus: «For the divine prophets lived in Jesus Christ; therefore also they were persecuted, being inspired by his grace in order that the incredulous might be persuaded that there is one God who revealed himself through Jesus Christ his Son»; and a little further on: «How shall we able to live without him? whom the prophets also, being his disciples in the spirit, expected as a teacher, and therefore he whom they rightly awaited, when he came, raised them from the place of the dead» 1175. You see that those who like the prophets lived in Jesus Christ, that is in justice and saintly deeds, benefited by our Saviour's descent into Sheol; many of whose bodies arose, and appeared for the confirmation only of the power of him who went down into the lower parts of the earth as I said, not to give the recompense of the resurrection that is promised to all together, on the day of the righteous recompensing.
(And lower down.) «For to this end it was preached to the dead also, that |454 they may be judged in the flesh as men, but live in God in the spirit» 1176. For it was not to the just, but chiefly to sinners and those sunk in transgression that the gospel was proclaimed, that they might judge themselves, humanly publishing a sentence against themselves and judging the flesh, and bringing their soul into subjection by works of repentance and urging it to escape from the divine judgment, since there is also fear of falling into the hands of the living God 1177, in order that they might be judged in the flesh as men (that is, that a man in mercy on his soul might judge himself), but live in God in the spirit.
CXVII. ---- OF THE SAME HOLY SEVERUS, FROM THE HYPOMESTIKA TO CAESARIA THE HYPATISSA, FROM THE Ist BOOK FROM THE 20th HYPOMNESTIKON 1178, SPEAKING ABOUT THE DEPARTED.
[519-38.] But they are conscious of services and prayers, and especially those that are made over the bloodless sacrifice on behalf of their life; and assuredly |455 some consolation results to them in proportion to the measure of each man's character. And they are conscious too of alms given to the poor on their behalf; for they also are a rational sacrifice as Paul teaches this and says, «To give alms and to impart forget not; for such sacrifices please God»1179. For that those who have fallen asleep in Christ are conscious of these things the ritual also which was handed down to the churches from of old by the apostles and from the beginning to the present day clearly witnesses; for the deacon makes proclamation to those who are standing while the bloodless sacrifice is being offered that they are to make supplication on behalf of those who have fallen asleep, and on behalf of those on whose behalf they are making commemorations and alms. But it is not lawful for us to say that any of the things enjoined in the holy churches is useless or vain.
Of the same holy Severus, from the same 20th hypomnestikon.
From the God-inspired Scripture we learn that in the resurrection both the just shall see the just and the sinners the sinners; but the just also |456 shall see the sinners who have conducted themselves in a manner opposite to their own being sent to the endless torments, and the sinners also shall gaze from afar at the righteous who have been injured by them enjoying pleasures. And this is a kind of punishment which they will bear in addition to their torments in the pains, that of being tormented by remorse, and then they will know from what good things they have fallen. These things the Lord taught us in the gospel as in an image and type delineated beforehand, by means of the parable of Lazarus and the rich man. Lazarus, having been justified by endurance in the distresses of poverty, was known by righteous Abraham, and was resting in his bosom; and the rich man also when judgment was being exacted from him for his sins, and his mercilessness towards Lazarus, while he was in the flame that is not quenched, from afar saw and knew Lazarus. This the Book of Wisdom also shows, in that it clearly depicts the wicked as knowing on the day of judgment the just who have been set at naught and evil entreated by them; and it speaks thus: «And they shall come to perception of their sins in fear; and their iniquity shall stand up against them and reprove them. Then shall the just man stand up with great boldness against the face of those who afflicted him and spurned his labour. They shall see |457 and be troubled with sore fear, and they shall be amazed at the greatness of his salvation. And repenting in their soul they shall say, and in affliction of spirit they shall groan and say, 'This was he who was then to us fools for a derision and a parable and a reproach. His life we counted folly, and his death contemptible. How is it that he hath been counted among the sons of God and his inheritance is with the saints? Did we then err from the way of truth, and did the light of justice not shine upon us?'» 1180 Lo! therefore they of whom we speak, who were friends to one another with the evil friendship that is of perdition, on the last day at the judgment shall recognise one another, and the just man, whom in this world they senselessly set at naught and derided, they shall see to have been counted among the sons of God and to be receiving inheritance with the saints; and so thereafter they shall be separated, the one party to the outer darkness as it is written 1181, or to the fire that is not quenched, or to the gnashing of teeth and to the weeping and to the worm that undyingly torments, and to judgments that are sent in such forms, and the other to the blessed abodes in the kingdom of heaven. For the words «Let the wicked man be taken away that he see not the glory of the Lord» 1182 are spoken with this meaning, that he shall not |458 share in the glory of the Lord that is given to his just ones. Though 1183 they shall not come lo judgment nor stand before the judgment-seat of Christ according to what is stated by the psalmist: «Therefore the wicked shall not stand in judgment»1184, yet still they will be aware what glory the just are enjoying, and of what they themselves have been deprived on account of their unbelief, in order that they may be tormented by this also. That it is the custom of Scripture to use the expression 'see' in place of 'share' or 'have experience' is made known by that which is stated by David also, «May the Lord bless thee out of Zion, and mayest thou look upon the good things of Jerusalem»1185. And Ezekiel the prophet shows that the grievous tyrants of the different peoples and the soldiers with them, who did evil with one another and armed themselves in sins, shall also be together in the eternal torments; for he said, «There is Assyria, and all his concourse»; and again, «There is Elam and all his host»; and further on, «There were given Moshach and Thubel, and all their host»1186. But that those who have lived uprightly will know those whom they love in the future life Isaiah |459 the prophet clearly cries, in that he terms them deer, inasmuch as by means of their struggles against passions they trampled upon serpents and scorpions, and upon all the power of the the adversary (for a deer is a serpent-slaying animal); for he said thus: «There the does met one another, and saw one another's face. They passed over in number and none of them perished. They sought not one another, because the Lord commanded them, and his spirit gathered them»1187. And kinsmen shall know kinsmen, as the sacred Scripture teaches us, saying of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob who died, in one place, «he was added to his fathers», in another, «he was added to his kin», and again, «he was added to his people»1188. And David the wise, who as a prophet was initiated in and saw the future hope beforehand, when he had buried his son, bathed and anointed himself, and changed his garments, and set out a table, saying, «Wherefore do I fast? Shall I be able to bring him back any more? I shall go to him, but he himself will not return to me»1189. He would not suddenly have been converted from that mournful sorrow to such great cheerfulness unless he had been assured that he should see the boy again living in the resurrection. The |460 doctors of the church, weaving words of consolation from these and similar thoughts and from scriptural indications, persuaded fathers and mothers who were mourning beyond measure that in the resurrection they would see and receive their children who had died, and in like manner kinsmen and friends.
CXVIII. ---- FRAGMENT OF A LETTER OF SEVERUS TO SOTERIC OF CAESAREA, FROM THE COPTIC. 1190
Apa Severus to Soteric, [the] bishop of Cappadocia. But the Christ-loving and revered general 1191 Patrick rose and said to him in righteous anger, «A synod that everyone has rejected it does not befit you to bring up afresh by the minute which you have drawn up». He answered and |461 said, «But I for my part will bring up nothing that may prejudice the synod. As for that minute, I drew it up at the bidding of the devout king, being desirous to bring certain monasteries into the faith with us». But I answered and said, «His majesty did not know that you were desirous of confirming the synod by that minute. The revered and Christ-loving patrician Paul the son of Vivian 1192 answered and said, «And in order to reconcile four or five monasteries to yourself you will dissolve the whole unity of the churches». The bishop Julian 1193 also said to him, «Must we needs draw up that minute, because you desire to reconcile the monasteries to yourself? And who constrained you to receive oaths and signatures from the bishops whom you from time to time ordain, that they would accept the synod of Chalcedon?» |462
APPENDIX
A CANON CONCERNING THE HOLY AND GREAT SEVERUS PATRIARCH OF ANTIOCH IN SYRIA WHICH IS PERFORMED ON THE th OF FEBRUARY, AND IS IN THE th OBLIQUE TONE.
The st hymn. Praise the glorious Lord.
The rod which was cleft 1194 divided the indivisible sea and the sun saw land which had never seen it; and it whelmed the iniquitous foeman in the water of the deep, and Israel passed through by a road that had not been trodden, singing a hymn and saying, «Let us praise the Lord God for he is gloriously splendid and glorious» 1195.
Who is able and sufficient as is meet to praise thy triumphs, O saintly and blessed Severus? For they overcome and surpass all intelligence and reason and knowledge. Thee Christ raised up as a champion of the orthodox faith, Christ whom also thou didst praise 'for he is gloriously splendid and glorious'. |463
Since thou first receivedst the seal of light, thou didst never consent to defile this by the lusts of the world, but straightway betookest thyself to the life of asceticism and didst commune with Christ the King, the Saviour of all created things, whom also thou didst praise 'for he is gloriously splendid and glorious'.
My heart hath been strengthened.
Thou art the strength and confirmation of them that hope in thee. Lord of all, thou art the light of them that are in darkness and to thee my spirit maketh confession without ceasing.
Thou art the strength of the truth, thou art the sound prop. Thou art the pillar and the foundation of the churches and we honour the day of thy commemoration.
Thou didst raise up and confirm the right faith in the churches which were torn by heresies, our father, and we honour the day of thy commemoration.
Lord, I have heard.
Thou rodest in procession upon horses which are those who please thee, |464 Lord of all, and with strength thou didst hold these reins in thine hands and they became as it were a great salvation in that comeliness becometh (?) 1196 them that cry in faith «Praise to the might of thy being, Lord of all».
That wolf once attacked as one that is bold when Justinian overthrew and expelled the party of the orthodox; but Severus opposed him in the mind of the Lord, and by the shafts of his words rescued and saved the flock that was being despoiled.
Thou didst set up and strengthen the right teachings of the faith without blame, having thrust away alike the cleavage and the confusion of those who foolishly dared io divide or confound, in that thou taughtest us rightly to proclaim the doctrine of one incarnate nature.
In the night my soul.
Give light to us all, Lord, by thy life-giving commands, and, leading us with thine exalted arm, grant thy peace to our souls, merciful one.
Supplicate, saintly one, on behalf of the members of the holy church, that |465 they may quickly in mercy be at peace and be united, and through thy prayer be delivered from the assaults of heresies.
Arise saintly one now also to defend the flock which hath fled to thee for refuge, and restrain by the might of thy prayer the treacherous wolves of all the heresies, who are howling to break it in pieces, and make them cease from it.
Thou confessedst the incarnate Word to be one hypostasis. and nature only, that was in no wise divided or changed; and therefore the believers zealously honour the day of thy commemoration.
«I cried unto the Lord» 1197.
I pour out my prayer before God, and to him I reveal and declare my distress, because my soul hath been filled with evil things, and my very life hath approached and reached Sheol. Lift me up from destruction, my God, like Jonah from beneath the sea and save me.
Thou passedst wisely through the grievous storm of this perturbed world, holding the definition of the orthodox faith, and now in heaven thou dwellest with the saints because thou showedst thyself a strenuous defender of the teachings that are full of life, O blessed one. |466
In knowledge and in a life of virtue, as in these two things 1198 thou didst glitter and shine brightly, while thou wast eminent in all things, and didst urge all nations to come to the faith and diligently admonish everyone with thy sound words, O blessed one.
«Blessed art thou»1199.
Once that tyrant commanded and provided the furnace to be heated in the plain of Dura to burn those who feared God, the furnace in which the three boys, having been made like to the one God, uttered a triple song of praise and said, «God of our saintly fathers, blessed art thou»2.
When Marcian once set up the evil invocation of two natures to overthrow the orthodox, thereby, our father, thou becamest more illustrious in that thou didst urge and teach all men to cry and say, «God of our saintly fathers, blessed art thou».
Thou showedst thyself an approved one among the doctors, O saintly Severus, and with them thou didst profess and proclaim and fill the world with the right doctrines and saidst, «The Son, the Word who became |467 incarnate, is one nature and hypostasis» and taughtest us to cry and to say, «God of our saintly fathers, blessed art thou».
«Bless, all ye» 1200.
Praise him who was glorified on the holy mountain, and in the flame in the bush figured beforehand and showed to Moses by a miracle the mystery of the Virgin, the Lord of all, and exalt him without ceasing for ever and ever.
Praise him who bestowed such a luminary upon his church, one who stood forth as an advocate of the right doctrines, and in all his contests was shown as victor, the Lord of all.
Thou becamest a teacher of the apostolic faith, and a subverter of the heresy that is full of impiety, thou who didst never divide Christ the Son, but who didst confess him. Praise the Lord of all.
«My soul magnifieth»1201.
Thee we confess to be verily the God-bearer in whom we have been saved |468 and delivered, O pure Virgin, and 1202 together with the bodiless hosts we all magnify thee.
We who have been enlightened through thee proclaim thee to be verily the teacher of orthodoxy, and therefore the church and all its children honou-reth the day of thy commemoration.
Truly thou art the invariable image of all the orthodox teachers, carrying their doctrine and their manner of life at the same time, saintly Severus.
This text was transcribed by Roger Pearse, 2003. All material on this page is in the public domain - copy freely.
Greek text is rendered using the Scholars Press SPIonic font, free from here.
Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
SOURCE SECTION: severus_sermon_52.htm
Severus of Antioch, Sermon 52: On the Maccabees. from R.L.Bensly, The Fourth Book of Maccabees (1895) pp.xvii-xxxiv
Severus of Antioch, Sermon 52: On the Maccabees. from R.L.Bensly, The Fourth Book of Maccabees (1895) pp.xvii-xxxiv
Bensly is online at Google books, but is hard to access outside of the USA, and the presence of this translation in it is generally unknown. The following notes appear in the introduction to Bensly's text:
All the above documents are connected with the Commemoration of the Maccabean Martyrs which was held both in the East and West on the First of Ab (August 1). This festival was early in its origin and popular in its reception. All Syriac speaking Christians observed it. It is noticed in Monophysite, Nestorian, and Maronite liturgies; it has its proper lesson (Mat. x. 16 ff.) in the Melchite lectionary published by Miniscalchi; it is found noted at the present day in the Surgada or Calendar published for the Eastern Syrians at Urmi.
As regards the documents found in this book it will be noticed that Nazianzen (p. 57, 1. 14) alludes to a yearly festival of the Maccabean Martyrs, Severus (p. 76,1. 6) speaks as though it were a customary thing to pronounce a panegyric upon them, and the colophon of the Anonymous Discourse mentions the First of Ab as the day of Commemoration. The Hymn of Ephrem which follows is found in part at least in use in the liturgies; and the Anonymous Poem, the last of the six documents, breaks out (1. 629) into the exclamation, How pleasant and fair is thy commemoration, O Martyr Shamon!
...
The two succeeding documents in this book are two different translations of a single Greek homily of Severus of Antioch, Monophysite Patriarch (A.D. 512-519). Fragments of the original text are given in Mai, Script Vet. Nova Collectio, t. ix. p. 725. The first form is edited from Brit Mus. Add. MS. 14599 (fol. 138, r. 2) = Wright DCLXXXVI. The MS. is dated A. Gr. 880 (= A.D. 569). It contains
"the Second Volume of the ἐπιθρόνιοι (homiliae cathedrales) of Severus, Patriarch of Antioch, in a more ancient translation than that of Jacob of Edessa, comprising homilies 31 to 59. It is perhaps the version of Paul of Callinicus (see Assemani B. O. II. 46)."
The second form is edited from Brit Mus. Add. MS. 12159 (fol. 98, v. 2) = Wright DCLXXXV. This MS. contains the homilies of Severus translated by Jacob of Edessa A. Gr. 1012 (= A.D. 701). They are 125 in number and are divided into three parts or volumes. The MS. is dated A. Gr. 1179 (= A.D. 868). A translation of the first form of the homily on the Maccabees is given below.
The chief interest of this discourse of Severus is to be found not in its treatment of the Maccabean story, but in its references, somewhat meagre it is true, to the circumstances of Severus' own day. Plainly the Jews were still a great power in Antioch as they had been in Chrysostom's time and long before. The Manichees were still to be reckoned with; and astrology was still a trouble to the Church.
[Translated by W. Emery Barnes]
A Memra of Mar Severus
The Panegyric of the Maccabean youths is thought on account of the glory of the conflict they sustained to supply rich intellectual materials to those who pronounce it, but in that it surpasses all power (finding) of words it convicts of poverty those who panegyrize.
And [even] in that which is before us (in the midst) they greatly fall short of the truth; for even a painter, if he see anything strange and unusual of endless beauty of created nature, and takes pains to copy this with pigments, paints indeed an image beautiful and very fair agreeing with this beautiful and lovely prototype; but he is overcome in that he is not able accurately by means of art to attain to that natural beauty.
So we also desiring to paint with the pigments of words the spiritual beauty and the manly struggle of these seven youths for piety say indeed things beautiful and very beautiful, for such is the subject, but we stand at a distance from their greatness of deeds, as we are removed even from nature. For merely to hear that seven youths, who, being now of youthful age, went forth by the same gate of youth, who overtopped one another a little in age like the steps of a ladder, but nevertheless youths all of them, that they suffered one and the same death on behalf of piety, and were constant under (in) various kinds of tortures; and before them Eleazar elder and priest, and instructor rather in sufferings for piety than in the Law—and of their aged mother— that she endured manfully the scourgings of her sons and denied that she was a mother, what obedience unfearing! What a soul not dismayed! And what a wealth of words do the events need to be able to extol them to the height!
It putteth down therefore [the eloquence] which promises with sighs by study and art to write praises, and it flieth to that which is of heaven; and it lifteth up itself with its own wings and not with artificial and alien wings; and to God who crowns the contest of piety it cries with the prophet: Of thee is my glory in the great congregation.
And as regards that which I bring to the remembrance of the Church, I have evolved a certain truly divine and secret thought from the struggle of these valiant martyrs. For it seems to me that the old man holds forth a type of the Law which has waxed old in the Scriptures, and that the youths who were disciples to the old man together with their mother fulfil [the conditions of] the type of the Church of the Nations, which was indeed of old without child, but afterwards had many sons; which formerly was taught by the Law with symbolic teachings of piety; concerning which Hannah the prophetess said: The barren hath born seven. Because the Synagogue whose sons were formerly many hath waxed feeble.
But bring before your eye as it were into that stadium of virtue him whom time hath not darkened, who contended that he might annul former things. Moreover that which is sung by every man when it sounds as it were in the ears new and undefined of those who desire sustenance which is old indeed in the passage of years, but new in affection and freedom from cloying......
(3) And Antiochus the tyrant sat and was cruel in his mind, in a certain lofty place, for such is loftiness of spirit that it causeth perverseness to those who are troubled with it, namely, that they stand upon the earth with the rest but think they are fixed in the air when they walk on the tips of their nails, and lift up their eyebrows and exalt themselves as the cedars of Lebanon, as said the Holy Scripture, displaying their bareness of fruit and their haughtiness.
And there was standing before him girded in armour all the assembly of the soldiers ("Romans") and of the servants bearing lances, a sight sufficient to cause astonishment (dismay) in the beholder. And there were set in the midst instruments of every kind of torture which threatened various kinds of punishment And there were some of them not yet made ready and as yet known only as a danger, which threatened by their very appearance bitter and violent death; and with scourgings very fearful, if it were possible, so to speak, lacerating with the body the soul also, and almost separating it from the bond of its fellow.
(4) And first into the midst came Eleazar the priest, hoary of hair but shewing youth in mind. And he was urged to eat of heathen sacrifices and flesh of swine, and herein that he should renounce his pure reverence for the Law; for the tyrant thought that if he overcame this man, he would overcome the Law, yea the Priesthood itself; and he thought that to overthrow the old man was to dissolve these (Law and Priesthood). For with these was his war and not with the sons of men. And he hoped again that the master would be followed without a struggle also by the young men his disciples. But his hope and his expectation disappointed him. For with the body the old man and infirm triumphed over the torments, and strengthened the youths strong as they were in body, and proved that the Law was spiritual and the Priesthood heavenly. And he made known that there was in them a good and ready hope for the sake of which it was also right to suffer, even though these things were not yet established unto [? legal] form and writing.
For Antiochus indeed laughed much at him as though he were suffering in vain and [in vain] rejecting that pleasant taste of swine's flesh; and he called it a servant of nature and he reckoned it folly that he should take death in exchange for a single food. For he was mixing his very threats and at the same time mocking the man and frightening [him]. And sometimes he spoke both pitying and being grieved for [his] weakness and old age and worthiness; and the self-same sneers his servants also held forth. Being armed even thus on the king's side and helping him in every way, they were surrounding this old man as a tower of virtue. But he was not to be taken nor known nor subdued by them.
(5) For he said: Our Law, O Antiochus, is verily The Law, for it is the work and gift of God and the teaching is not of one of the sons of men. Hearest thou not of Moses and his fast of forty days and the purity and brightness which came from him? And of the top of Mount Sinai and the cloud, and of Him who spoke to him from thence, and of the tables graven with the finger of God, which were written on both their sides, within and without; declaring to those who were heavy (brutish) in their minds the external things of the word, but to those who Feared hinting carefully the theory of the deep things of the Spirit?
From thence we derive our refusal of the food of the flesh of swine, for it teaches us to restrain gluttonous desires, and not to pursue after pleasure, and that therein we should maintain constancy.
Reverence therefore either the Lawgiver who is God, or the high estimation of the Law. For irrational beasts are permitted, as I have said, to make use of the abundance of nature, and to possess the lust of unrestrained pleasures. But for rational man the Law is appointed that he may neither eat nor do all the things that are natural; for some are withholden, and the rest are permitted him. On account of this we even call those barbarians beastly who bring all things under the tooth, obeying nature and not the Law. The counsels of the Law therefore are such as they are because they remove men from irrational follies. For I speak even to your untaught obedience and heathenishness. And what shall I say? For the sake of decency (that is reverence for the High-priesthood) I reverence the worked tunic which giveth oracles by means of various colours, making it known that it is fit for the high-priest to be clothed with the whole various host of virtues. I reverence the ephod of judgment and the Urim and Thummim which we who are worthy to exercise the priest's office carry upon our breasts when we enter within the Holy of Holies, that we may gain eloquence of soul and that the adversary may be turned back rather with a word than in wrath and in lusts; that we may be able to judge the things that are fitting, and as in a vision may receive revelations from above and teachings of truth, and may offer answers clear of falsehood to those who are initiated. I reverence the tiara which crowns the head of the priest, as [of] one who has mastered the passions.
I tremble at the sacred plate of gold seeing that he carries on it the name of God which is without reproach, for this is engraved on the seal, even things ineffable, that it may give light to the face and may direct him that he may see Qod only.
As I think these thoughts and more than these, how can I betray the law of my fathers? And how can I be overcome by one irrational food? How can I defile my mouth? Herein thou hast, Antiochus, proof of my soul; try now my body also!
(6) But he was smitten with these truly philosophic words as with goads, and now commanded that he should be scourged with torments. And immediately the cruel servants began smiting him with fists and jumping on him with kicks (bringing down kickings on him); and with blows of whips they broke and pierced his ribs and they carded his flesh and his blood ran down in streams.
But the old man fixed his eyes on the heavens, and running with swiftness the heavenly course, was oppressed with sweat and panting. And at last when he was not overcome even so as to utter one unsound word, he was delivered to the fire. And when the rest of his body was melted there after prayer on behalf of the people and dying words [addressed] to God, he flew away to the blessed roofs of the angels and the holy fathers.
(7) But these youths with like divine learning embraced the struggles of the teacher, and meditated therein (in the learning) very diligently and carefully. And more than the teachings of the Law, the constancy of the old man which they learnt and enjoined while he suffered they kept in remembrance with a certain keen diligence.
And in nothing at all did they fall short of that which was learnt; they made known and proclaimed it, not the more by the tongue, but by the like manhood under tortures. For every one of the youths according to the order of his age came into the midst, the tyrant thinking that by means of the punishment inflicted on the first he would bring the others to submission. For who is there that would not faint with fear when he saw the flesh of his brothers cruelly lacerated?
But this did not so fell out. But these armed ones, Piety's trained ones, shewed the snare set for their submission to be an occasion for the display of their manhood. For the eldest of the brethren thought that the example [set by] his teacher was due from him [also]. And the second one thought that the virtue of his brother, as well as that of his teacher (Rav), was due from him. And the third one contended to surpass those who had contended before him, and that he might be an example of manhood to the rest
And all of them were associated together in the contests; and every one of them was glorified, not only in his own martyrdom but also in that of his fellow, for he who preceded was a kind of monument inspiriting him who followed, and a fresh type of encouragement, sufficient and able to draw him to like zeal. But the later ones who drew near to the stadium were more constant in the contests of their brothers than they who were suffering, and were made ready for that which was to follow, fearing lest they should be passed over, and [desiring] that they might display in the body a brotherly unanimity of constancy under (in) varied torments of skilled tormentors.
(8) For one of them was stretched upon the wheel and the bond of his joints was loosened, and when he was revolving with the circle of the wheel at the same time also he was burning, because coals of fire were placed beneath. And another one was stripped of his skin with claws of iron as a lamb is stripped. Another when his tongue was ordered to be cut out, of his own will put this forth for cutting off, declaring that even if one of those things hidden in the deep, that is to say, his inner parts, was demanded of him to give up to tortures, even this, if it were possible, he would willingly put forth.
For each one of them was striving in regard to fresh kinds of tortures to shew fresh readiness of will, and to be tried in all his members and to bear many trials of [his] faithfulness, before his soul departed from his body. For they judged that it was [the function] of beasts to fall (as is generally the case) with one death, but that it better suits those who are made men to bear upon their bodies many marks of manhood, and to draw near together to the sword of the enemy, and that their blood should drop upon enemies and upon kindred. Such was the stedfastness of those manly youths that I will not occupy myself with many particulars, while I relate [once for all] as to every one of their tortures, that such was the prepared readiness for their conflicts of these invincible martyrs.
For as those who fix in crowns of gold these precious stones seek not one colour but various for the increase of one beauty, these men leapt with the same banner over strange and varied inventions of tortures and desired the crown of martyrdom which comes by contests of all kinds which diversify it as with precious stones.
(9) When therefore the six brethren had finished the good course, and had attained to the crown of the City which is above, the youngest and seventh was left, prepared ("whetted") by six contests and exceedingly vehement in the strength of piety.
The tyrant being afraid of this one, tried to weaken him with flatteries and promises. And when he saw that he despised even these things, he commanded that his mother should stand by him, in order that he might take compassion as it were upon an old and childless woman; for he even thought that it would be enough, if she seemed only to be saying, Forbear, to weaken and subdue that athlete to nature. But it had escaped that self-sufficient one that it was she who had anointed the others for the contest and had sent them on their way to heaven. For when she was near, like the sum of virtuous strength, she was reminding (warning) these champions of piety, going round hither and thither and considering, and trembling lest any of her sons should stumble and fall from piety.
While she was testifying with each one and shared the torments with them and thought (seemed) that she burned indeed and was indeed cut in pieces, like a tree whose own children, the branches, are cut in pieces. And so to speak she cried the cry of Paul, My sons, of whom I travail again 1, until Christ be formed in you!
(10) These things therefore she thought and taught and did secretly and not visibly. But when she stood openly by her youngest son according to the command of the tyrant, she cast in Hebrew speech one word not only into the ears of her son but into his mind. And she did not speak in his father-tongue to hide it from the servants, but that, she might remind the champion of the glorious deeds of the ancient and chief fathers (of the ancient fathers and patriarchs) and draw him to like zeal.
And she made the heart of the youth boil exceedingly and as if he were admiring bitter death, he hastened to swallow [it] as something sweet. And he cried out to those who stood by, Loose me from the bonds. And when he was readily loosed by those who erroneously supposed that he was changed from his manly mind, he leapt into every one of the frying pans which were set [ready] and flamed with fire, and he found more quickly even than he wished his desire and was added to the heavenly chorus of his brothers.
And by him also his mother cheerfully (readily) stood and was tried with like ills. And when she was crowned in the seven contests of her sons, she herself crowned her sons, and shewed by deeds from what a root these manly shoots sprang and grew up. Not so [truly] did the candlestick of seven lights which made glorious the temporal tabernacle give light, as did this woman with the seven human (rational) lights, her sons, give light to the Church of Christ.
(11) Hear these things, O mothers, and so bring up your sons, and let them go to the church and urge them to the learning of sacred worda And strangle them not with youthful cares. For the things that are seen are temporal, but the things that are not seen are eternal, as Christ crieth who speaketh in Paul O holy mother! O manly soul of a woman's body! O harmony of sons who shewed us one patience and one virtue and one constancy, on behalf of one hope or one equal death.
What will they say to these things, they who compound fate (compose horoscopes) from the planetary motion of stars? For their mother did not bear them as the orbit(s) stood still, in the self-same hour, nor did they all have in themselves a special portion from one ruling-star ("ruling-influence "), according to the folly of the Manichaeans. But because the Almighty Reason had (found) one thing in them, It prepared one and the same crown of martyrdom for them.
(12) These though they girded themselves from the Law's Teaching were forerunners of the martyrs of the Gospel, as John also was the forerunner of Jesus. For those three youths also and Daniel the man of virtuous desires were delivered from tbe fire of the Babylonian furnace and from the pit of lions, in order that they of Israel might turn the barbarians towards Jerusalem which is below, [and] by means of signs they were shewn to be virtuous.
But tbe Maccabean youths, when the coming of Messiah and the resurrection were standing at the door, and when [that] Jerusalem whose architect and creator is God, and the preaching of the Kingdom of Heaven were about to be made known, departed from the stadium of conflict to heaven. And they first teach us the hope of the life to come and prepare us for it
But otherwise, if this had not been thus ordered by Providence beforehand, would not the blind Jews say, Whom of the martyrs who testified for Christ have ye seen die in torments 2? And these things they say because they look not to that glorious hope by the brightness of which we shine by the grace and mercy of Him who called us to this. To whom be glory for ages. Amen.
[Selected notes]
1. 1 Gal. iv. 19.
2. 2 The Second Form reads: What would not those blind Jews have said, when they saw some of those who testified for Christ die in torments, not having themselves (i.e. the Jews) eyes to look to the glorious hope of the Resurrection, by the brightness (rays) of which we have been enlightened, etc.?
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The Chronicle of Edessa. The Journal of Sacred Literature, New Series [=Series 4], vol. 5 (1864) pp. 28-45
The Chronicle of Edessa. The Journal of Sacred Literature, New Series [=Series 4], vol. 5 (1864) pp. 28-45
( 28 ) [April,
SELECTIONS FROM THE SYRIAC,
No. 1.----THE CHRONICLE OF EDESSA.
SOME of the early Christian writers refer in very eulogistic terms to the archives of Edessa. The archives were, of course, the public or royal library of the city, the existence and value of which cannot be called in question. It included both Greek and Oriental books, and was therefore a depository from which literary men could largely benefit. Moses of Chorene consulted the books while compiling his history of Armenia. Eusebius of Caesarea declares himself to have been indebted to this library for his account of the conversion of Edessa, the correspondence between Jesus Christ and king Abgar, and a few other matters true and false, to be read at the end of the first book of the ecclesiastical history. We have substantial reasons for saying that in the particular instance first mentioned, Eusebius was deceived; that the documents he quoted could not have been long written, as appears from further portions of the same story now in the British Museum, under the title of the Acts of Addi.1 The estimation in which the Edessene archives were held, is shewn by the following sentence from an old Syriac chronicle, some extracts of which are given in Cowper's Syrian Miscellanies:----"In the year 309 of the era of Alexander of Macedon did our Redeemer appear in the world (i. e., about B.C. 2); and he was in the world thirty-three years according to the evidence of the true books of the archives of Edessa, which err in nothing, and which make everything known to us truly." 2 This is something like the stereotyped phraseology for allusions to, the historical documents at Edessa.
The Maronite, Joseph Simon Assemani, devotes a chapter of his great work, the Bibliotheca Orientalis, to the "Chronicle of Edessa." 3 He gives the Syriac text of the Chronicle, with a Latin translation, introduction, and notes. Considering that the matter is of some importance, we propose to give a version of Assemani's introduction, and of the Chronicle itself. The introduction is to the following effect:----
The Chronicle of Edessa.
We have hitherto not discovered who was the author of the Edessene Chronicle, nor in what age he flourished. Yet it is |29 sufficiently plain that he followed the Catholic faith, because he declares that he admits four holy councils down to the year 838 of the Greeks, and also because he expressly rejects the opposers of the councils of Ephesus and Chalcedon, strongly commending their orthodoxy, which was a most certain mark of the Catholics of the time in which he lived. He seems, indeed, to have lived about the year of Christ 550, for he brought down his history to the year 540, as will shortly appear. That he copied it out of the archives of the Edessene church is shewn by its beginning, course, and end. In the beginning of the history he describes the flood of waters which overflowed Edessa under the emperor Severus and king Abgar, according to the acts formerly drawn up by the notaries, and preserved in the archives, and put by us into their proper place. Moreover, the author is almost wholly occupied in registering the series of bishops of Edessa, and in describing their deeds. He leaves off writing just when the Jacobite pastors began to invade that church.
The epoch which he uses is that of the Greeks, also called that of the Seleucidae, or the Syro-Macedonian. He affirms that the Christian era was later by 309 years, according to the common opinion of the Edessenes. But if we look closely into the indictions which he sometimes mentions, and the days of the month and of the week, which he often mentions, it becomes evident that the aforesaid years are called 309, but are really 311; and, therefore, the nativity of Christ, according to his view, fell in the three hundred and eleventh year of the Greeks, and not in the three hundred and ninth. That is plainly the case from what he writes of the earthquake at Antioch, and the death of Simeon Stylites, who he affirms was taken to heaven in the year 771 of the Greeks, on the second of September, and on the fourth day of the week, which answers to the vulgar era A.D. 460, not 462. He relates that the earthquake at Antioch happened in the year 837 of the Greeks, on the 29th of May, and on the sixth day of the week, which will be A.D. 526, when May 29th fell on the Friday, not A.D. 528, when it could not happen on a Friday. To the year of the Greeks 850 he also adds the "second indiction," which nevertheless answers to 539 A.D., and not to 541. Therefore the vulgar Christian epoch, according to his view, must be later than the era of the Greeks 311 years, and not 309.
He starts at the beginning of the kingdom of Edessa, which he ascribes to the year 180 of the Greeks. He ends at the year of Christ 540, when the Persian war was waged between Justinian and Chosroes. Although he sometimes neglects the order of time or disturbs it, I think this is to be attributed rather to |30 the copyist than to the author. In publishing it, therefore, I shall first restore the events to their own place and order. Some notes which seem to throw light upon it or other histories I shall place in the margin. The Chronicle is intitled A history of events by way of compendium.
[Translation.]
1. In the year 180 kings began to rule in Edessa.
2. In the year 266 Augustus Caesar was made emperor.
3. In the year 309 our Lord was born.
4. In the year 400 Abgar the king built a mausoleum for himself.
5. In the year 449 Marcion forsook the Catholic Church.
6. The year 465, in the month Tammuz, on the eleventh day (i.e., July 11th, 154 A.D.), Bardesanes was born.
7. Lucius Caesar, with his brother, subjugated the Parthians to the Romans in the fifth year of his reign.
8. In the year 513, in the reign of Severus, and in the reign of Abgar the king, son of Maano the king, in the month Tishrin the latter (i. e., November), the fountain of water which proceeds from the great palace of Abgar the great king increased, and it prevailed, and it went up according to its former manner, and overflowed and ran out on all sides, so that the courts and the porches and the royal houses began to be filled with water. And when our lord Abgar the king saw it, he went up to the level ground on the hill above his palace, where dwell and reside those who do the work for the government. And while the wise men considered what to do to the waters which had so greatly increased, it happened that there was a great and violent rain in the night, and the Daisan (river) came, neither in its day, nor in its month. And strange waters came; and they encountered the cataracts (? flood gates) which were fastened with great pieces of iron which were overlaid upon them, and with bars of iron which supported them. But not prevailing against them, the waters rose like a great sea beyond the walls of the city. And the waters began to come down from the apertures of the wall into the city. And Abgar the king stood on the great tower which was called that of the Persians, and saw the water by the light of torches, and he commanded, and they took away the gates and the eight cataracts (? flood-gates) of the western wall of the city where the river flowed out. But that very hour the waters broke down the western wall of the city, and entered the city, and overthrew the great and beautiful palace of our lord the king, and they carried away everything that was found before them, the desirable and beautiful edifices of the city, whatever |31 was near the river on the south and on the north of it. And they destroyed the temple of the church of the Christians. And there were killed by that occurrence more than two thousand men, upon many of whom as they slept in the night the waters came suddenly, and they were drowned, and the city was filled with the sound of lamentation.
And when Abgar the king saw this destruction which had befallen, he commanded that all the craftsmen of the city should remove their cottages (or huts) from near the river, and that no man should build near the river any cottage. And by the wisdom of measurers and men of skill the cottages were placed so that the breadth of the river might be increased, and they added to its former measure. For if the waters were many and strong, the width of the river was too small to receive the water of twenty-five brooks with what they gathered from all sides. And Abgar the king commanded that all who lived in the porch, and were occupied over against the river, from Tishrin the former to Nisan (October to April), should not lodge in their cottages, except the islanders (Gazireans) who kept the city, five of whom should lodge on the wall above the place where the waters entered the city all the time of winter, and when they perceived by night and heard the sound of strange waters, which began to enter the city, and whoever heard the sound and neglected it, and did not publish it, behold the waters should drown the contempt of him that despised the command of the king. And this commandment was decreed from this time wherein it was so to the end of the world.
Our lord Abgar the king commanded, and there was built for him a building for his royal house----a winter house at Tabara ----and there he dwelt all the time of winter; and in summer he came down to the new palace which was built for him at the fountain head. And his nobles also built for themselves buildings to live in, in the neighbourhood in which the king was, in the high street (?) which is called Beth Saharoye. And in order to restore the welfare of the former city, Abgar the king commanded, and the tributes due from those within, and from those who dwelt in towns, and in hamlets, were remitted: and tribute was not demanded from them for five years, until the city was enriched with men, and was crowned with buildings.
Now Mar Yahab Bar Shemesh, and Kajuma Bar Magartat, the scribes of Edessa, recorded this event, and the command of Abgar the king: and Bar Din and Bulid, who are prefects over the archives of Edessa, received and deposited it within them as trusted of the city (i.e., archivists.) |32
9. And in the year 517, Abgar built a palace in his own citadel (? town).
10. The year 551 Manes was born.4
11. The year 614, were broken down the walls of Edessa the second time in the days of Diocletian the king.5
12. In the year 624, Conon the bishop laid the foundations of the Church of Edessa; and Sha'ad, the bishop who came after him, built and finished the structure.
13. In the year 635, the cemetery of Edessa was built, in the days of Ethalaha the bishop, the year before the great synod of Nicea was held.
14. The year 635, Ethalaha became bishop in Edessa; and he constructed the cemetery, and the eastern side 6 of the church.
15. And the year after, a synod of three hundred and eighteen bishops was assembled at Nicea.
16. The year 639, there was building and enlargement in the church of Edessa.
17. In the year 649, died Mar Jacob, bishop of Nisibis.
18. The year 657, Abraham became bishop in Edessa, and he built the house (or church) of the Confessors.
19. The year 660, Constantius, the son of Constantine, built the city of Amida.
20. And in the year 661, Constantius built Tela, a city which was before called Antipolis.
21. The year 667, Abraham of Chidon, a recluse, became (bishop).
22. In the year 670, Nicomedia was overthrown.
23. In the year 672, Mar Abraham, bishop of Edessa, left the world.
24. And in the same year, Vologesh, bishop of Nisibis, departed from this world.
25. And in the same year came Barses, the bishop from Haran to Edessa by command of the king (i. e., the emperor Constantius, then in that region).
26. And in the year 674, in the month Haziran (June), Julian went down and made war with the Persians, and died there.
27. In the year 675, in the month Shebat (February), Valentinian the Great became king, and Valens his brother. |33
28. In the year 678, Mar Julian Saba departed from the world.
29. The year 681, was built the great Beth-ma'amuditho (House of Baptizing) of Edessa.
30. In the year 684, in the month Haziran (June), on the ninth in it, departed from the world Mar Ephraim "of his wisdoms" (= the wise).
31. And in the month Elul (September) of that year, the people departed from the church of Edessa, through the persecution of the Arians.
32. In the year 689, in the month Adar, Mar Barses, bishop of Edessa, departed from the world.
33. And on the twenty-seventh day in the mouth Canun the former (December), of the same year, the orthodox came in and recovered the church of Edessa.
34. And in those days Mar Eulogius became bishop in the year that Theodosius the Great became king; and that Mar Eulogius built the house of Mar Daniel, which was called the house of Mar Demet.
35. The year 692, Theodosius the Great built in Osrhoene the city Resaina.
36. The year 693, was gathered the synod of one hundred and fifty bishops in Constantinople.
37. In the year 698, Mar Eulogius the bishop departed from the world on the Friday of the crucifixion.
38. The year 705, in the month Ab (August), on the twenty-second day in it, they brought the glossocom (i.e., coffin) of Mar Thomas the Apostle to his great temple in the days of Mar Cyrus the bishop.
39. In the year 706, and on the seventeenth of Canun the latter (January), departed from the world Theodosius the great king; and on the twenty-seventh in Nisan (April), Arcadius entered Constantinople; and on the eighth in Tishrin the latter (November), the body of Theodosius entered Constantinople.
40. And in the month of Tammuz (July) of the same year, the Huns crossed over to the territory of the Romans.
41. In the year 707, in the month Tammuz (July), on its twenty-second, departed from the world Mar Cyrus, bishop of Edessa.
42. And in the year 708 Mar Silvanus became bishop of Edessa.
43. In the year 710, on the seventeenth of Tishrin the former (October), Mar Silvanus, bishop of Edessa, departed from the world.
44. And on the twenty-third of the month Tishrin the latter |34 (November) of that year, Mar Pakida became bishop in Edessa.
45. And in that year arose Johanan Chrysostomos, bishop in Constantinople.
46. The year 714 began Theodorus, bishop of Mompsesta, to expound the Scriptures.
47. The year 715, 'Absamia Kashisha (presbyter), son of the sister of the blessed Mar Ephraim, composed madroshé (poems?) and discourses upon the coming of the Huns to the territory of the Romans.
48. The year 720, Mar Diogenes became bishop in Edessa, and he began to build the house of Mar Barlaha.
49. And in that year, in the neomenia of Ab (August), Mar Pakida, bishop of Edessa, departed from the world.
50. The year 721, Cyrillus became bishop in Alexandria the great.
51. The year 723, Rabula became bishop in Edessa. And he built the house of Mar Stephanus, which had been formerly a house of Sabbath (synagogue) of the Jews. Now he built it by command of the king.
52. The year 724, the walls of Edessa were again broken down by water the third time, in the days of Honorius and Arcadius the victorious kings.g
53. The year 732, Eutychius the monk arose, who rejected the incarnation.
54. At that time the blessed Jacob, the mutilated, was a martyr.
55. The year 739, the heresy of those who say that sin is implanted in nature, became known.
56. The year 740, Andrew, bishop of Samosata, became famous.
57. The year 741, dust came down from heaven.
58. The year 742, was assembled the first synod at Ephesus.
59. The year 746, Rabula, bishop of Edessa, departed from the world on the eighth of Ab (August), and the great Hiba became (bishop) instead of him. He built the new church which now is called the house of the apostles.
60. The year 749, in. the days of the excellent Hiba, Senator brought a great table of silver, in which were seven hundred and twenty pounds (of silver), and it was put in the old church of Edessa. |35
61. The year 753, Anatolius, the stratelates (military commander) made a coffin of silver, in honour of the bones of Thomas the holy apostle.
62. The year 756, Dioscurus became bishop in Alexandria the great.
63. And there was assembled again at Ephesus another synod. This anathematized the great Flavianus bishop of Constantinople, and Domnus of Antioch, and Irenaeus of Tyre, and Hiba of Edessa, and Eusebius of Dorylaeum, and Daniel of Haran, and Sophronius of Tela, and Theodoret of Cyrus.
64. The year 759, Hibas the bishop departed from Edessa on the first day in the month Canun the latter (January 1), and on the twenty-first day of the month Tammuz (July), Nonnus came in in his stead, and continued two years, and made a hierateion (sacristy) in the church.
65. Anno 760, arose Leo bishop in Rome.
66. Anno 762, a synod was assembled in the city of Chalcedon.
67. An. 763, Mar Isaac, a composer (an author) and abbot (or Archimandrite) was famous.
68. An. 769, in the month Tishriu the former (October), on the twenty-eighth, Hiba, bishop of Edessa, went to rest; and Nonnus came into his place, and built the house of Mar Johanan the Baptist, and (he constructed) a place for poor invalids, outside the gate of Beth Shemesh; and in the place for the poor he built the house of martyrs to Mar Cosma and Mar Damian. Now he built also convents and towers, and made bridges, and levelled the roads.
69. In the year 771, departed the blessed Simeon of "his column" (Stylites) from the world, on Elul the second (September 2), on Wednesday (the fourth day in the week), the time the eleventh hour.
70. The year 777, Leo built Callinicns in Osrhoene, and named it after his own name Leontopolis; and set in it also a bishop.
71. An. 782, Nonnus, bishop of Edessa, rested, and Cyrus became (bishop) in his stead.
72. An. 795, Leontius rebelled against Zeno, and reigned in Antioch two years.
73. An. 800, the school of the Persians was eradicated from Edessa.
74. An. 809, the (tribute of) gold was remitted to the artificers in all the land, in the month Iyar (May).
75. And on the sixth in the month Haziran (June), Cyrus, bishop of Edessa, rested, and Peter became (bishop) in his stead, |36 and he entered Edessa on the twelfth of Elul (September) of the same year.
76. An. 810, many locusts appeared, but did no great damage that year: but the herbage grew again. And there was a great earthquake. And the warm bath of the Iberians failed three days. And the city of Nicopolis was overthrown, and buried in it all its inhabitants, save the temple, and the bishop, and two Syncelli (sons of his cell). And a sign that was like a spear appeared in heaven many days, in the month Canun the latter (January).
77. Now Anastasius the king deposed Euphemius, bishop of Constantinople, from his place, and Macedon became bishop in his stead.
78. An. 811, many locusts came and destroyed and devoured all the produce.
79. An. 813, a great fire appeared on the side of the north, which blazed all night on the twenty-second of Ab (August).
80. An. 814, Cavades, king of the Persians, encamped against Amida, a city of Beth Naharotha (Mesopotamia), on the fifth day in the month Tishrin the former (October), and fought with it, and took it in ninety-seven days.
81. And in the month Elul (September) of that year, he came and encamped against Edessa, and by the grace of God, did it no harm, except that he burnt the house of Mar Sergius and the northern basilica of Beth-maudiné (the House of Confessors, see above, No. 18.)
82. An. 821, Peter, bishop of Edessa, rested on the day of the Sabbath of the resurrection (Saturday, April 10, 510 A.D.), and Paul was appointed instead of him.
83. And in the year twenty-one of the reign of Anastus (Anastasius), he commanded them to open the coffin of Euphemia the martyr, and to bring forth from thence the book which the synod that was assembled at Chalcedon had put there, and to burn it; and there came forth fire from thence, and smote upon the faces of those who wished to bring it out, and because of this Anastasius refrained from taking it away from thence and burning it.
84. But he removed Macedon, the bishop of Constantinople, because he did not anathematize the synod, and Timothy became (bishop) instead of him.
85. And in the twenty-fourth of the same Anastasius Vitalian rebelled against him.
86. An. 829, in the month Tammuz (July), on the ninth, Anastasius the king departed from the world, and Justin became (king) in his stead. |37
87. And in the second year of the reign of Justin, which was An. 830, he thrust out of Antioch Severus, and Xenaias from Mabug, and everybody that received not the four synods.
88. Now such was the care and concern of the friend of God, king Justinian, that he wrote in the diptychs of the church the four holy synods, that is to say, that of Nicea, and that of Constantinople, and the first of Ephesus, and that of Chalcedon.
89. And in An. 831 came the patrician (or Patricius) to Edessa to remove Paul in the month Tishrin the latter (November) on the fourth, and he urged him to do one of two things, either to receive the synod and continue on his seat, or if he would not be persuaded he would remove him from his seat. But he was not persuaded to do one of these, but fled and went in and stayed in the House of Baptism. Now when the patrician (or Patricius) saw that he was unpersuaded to do one of these, and was afraid of the command of the king, he was compelled to remove him from the House of Baptism, and conveyed him to Seleucia. And when the king heard that he had taken him from the House of Baptism, he commanded that he should return to his seat, in hope that he would repent and receive the synod. And Paul re-entered his seat in forty-four days, and he was a long time without receiving the synod, and when the king saw that he was not persuaded, he sent him to Euchata. And Paul departed from Edessa on Tammuz (July) 27, of the year 833, and Asclepius was (bishop) instead of him, and entered Edessa on the 23rd of Tishrin the former (October), of the year 834, three months after Paul the bishop departed from Edessa.7
90. And in the month Canun the former (December), on the 24th in it, after the entering of Asclepius the bishop to Edessa, he expelled the Oriental monks, and all the monks their allies who were like them, because they did not consent to the synod of Chalcedon.
91. And in the year 836 many waters entered Edessa, the fourth time, and broke down the walls of it, and overturned its dwellings and drowned its children, and made in it much destruction.
92. And through this circumstance Asclepius fled from Edessa, and went up to Antioch the city to Euphrasius the patriarch, and he was there, more or less, seventy days, and he died there in Antioch on the 27th in the month Haziran of that year, and was buried there in Antioch. And on the th in the month Elul of the same year they brought his body from Antioch and buried it at Beth Mar Barlaha, by Mar Nonnus the bishop. |38
93. And when Paul heard that Asclepius was dead he repented and offered a petition to Mar Justinian the patrician (Patricius), and he made also a libellum to Euphrasius the patriarch, and because of the libellum that he made, and because of the epistle of the illustrious and friend of God, Mar Justinian the patrician (Patricius), he was returned and restored to his seat, and he entered Edessa on the th in Adar (March) of the year 837, eight months after the death of Asclepius.
94. Now Paul the bishop lived after he returned to his seat the third time, eight months minus eight days; and on the 30th in the month Tishrin the former (October) of the year 838 Paul the bishop rested.
95. And Andreas became (bishop) in his stead, and entered Edessa on the th of the month Shebat of the same year 838.
96. And in the year 837 in the month Iyar (May), on the 29th in it on Friday at the seventh hour, there was a great and violent earthquake, and there fell by it much of Antioch, and overwhelmed its children, and suffocated its inhabitants.
97. And in that earthquake died also Euphrasius the patriarch, and was buried under the houses, and as they say he was crying out all day beneath the houses. Now after him Ephraim of Amida became bishop in Antioch, who had been Comes of the East.
98. An. 838 on day 1 in the month of Nisan, Mar Justinian became Caesar, and on the 10th in the month Ab of the same year king Justinian (Justin) rested, and Mar Justinian reigned alone.
99. And in An. 839, in the month Tishrin the latter, on the 15th in it, a great fire happened at Antioch, and burned much of what remained from the earthquake; but whence the origin of the fire remains unknown.
100. An. 842, in the month Tammuz, came down Mar Demosthenes to Edessa to command the Roman forces.
101. And in the month Canun the former of An. 843, on the 18th in the month, the Huns entered the Roman territory, and plundered and wasted as far as the country of the Alepponians, and to the dodecaton [twelfth milestone] from Antioch. And through this affliction Mar Demosthenes fell sick and died at the city of Tela, on the 10th in the month Canun the latter of the same year.
102. And in An. 843, in the month Elul of the same year, Mar Rufinus the patrician made peace between the Persians and the Romans, and this peace was prolonged to the year 851.
103. And in An. 844, in the month Canun the former in that year, Mar Andreas, bishop, departed from the world, and he |39 was deposited at Mar Barlaha's by the bones of Mar Nonnus and Mar Asclepius; and Addi became bishop instead of him, and entered Edessa on the 28th in the month Ab of An. 844.
104. In An. 13 of the reign of Justinian, which was the year 850, indiction deutra (the second), a sign like a spear appeared in heaven on the th of Tishrin the former (October).
105. And in the same year in the month Iyar (May) Chosroes king of the Persians broke the peace, and crossed over to the territory of the Romans, and laid waste Shura, and Haleb (Aleppo) and Antioch, and also took possession of Apamea, and turned and came as far as Edessa, but by the grace of God protecting it, he did no harm in it; but the great men of the city brought out to him, and he took away two centenaria (hundreds of pounds or talents) of gold, and he returned to his place.
106. As we learn from the former histories, behold the waters have four times broken down the walls of the blessed [city] and overthrown its towers, and choked its children, since Messiah ascended to his glorious Father. The first time its walls were broken down was in the days of Severus the king of the Romans, which was An. 513, by the reckoning of the Ionians (Greeks), in the month Tishrin the latter. And the second time its walls were broken down was in the days of Diocletian the king, which was the year 614 in the month Iyar. And the third time its walls were broken down was in the days of Honorius and Theodosius the illustrious kings, which was. An. 724 in the month Adar, on the 18th in it, on the rd in the week (Tuesday), when Mar Rabula had become bishop in Edessa. And the fourth time they were broken down was in the days of Justin the king, which was the year 836, when Asclepius had become bishop in Edessa.8 |40
NOTES.
The numbers of the Notes correspond with the sections of the translation.
1. The year 180, i.e. of the Greeks, of the Seleucidae, or of the Syro-Macedonians, coincides, says Assemani, with B.C. 129. Dionysius places the commencement of the Edessene kingdom in B.C. 136, or, as he calls it, in the year of Abraham 1880.----"The year 1880 of Abraham, there began to reign over Edessa (Urhoi) the first King Orhoi, son of Hevia, five years, and after his name it was called Urhoi.'' No great antiquity is ascribed to the name of the city by this version of its story.
3. The chronicle of Edessa says, "In the year 309 our Lord was born," i.e., in the forty-fourth of Augustus. See Pagi in Apparatu, No. 157.
4. The Syriac is remarkable. Abgar "built a naphsho in honour of his death." The word naphsho is usually translated "soul," or " self," but is said sometimes to denote a sepulchre or mausoleum. Perhaps the word should be nauso, a shrine or temple. Assemani says this Abgar was Abgar Bar Ajazat, the nineteenth King of Edessa. Bayer thinks he was old when he began to reign, because he built a mausoleum for himself. Bibl. Or., i., 421; Bayer, Hist. Osrhoena, p. 147.
5. Marcion is joined with Manetes in the extracts from the Syriac Chronicle quoted in Syriac Miscellanies, p. 87. "In the year 448, Marcion and Manetes, heretics in Phrygia, were famous." This is a year earlier than the date above given.
6. Other dates have been given for Bardesanes. Thus in Syriac Miscellanies, p. 87, we read that Bardesanes, who promulgated the doctrine of Valentinus, was famous or flourished in the year 479. If he were only born in 465 (A.D. 154) this can hardly be correct; but other authorities clearly imply an earlier date than that of the Edessene Chronicle.
7. This event really occupies an earlier place in the chronicle under the year 449, which Assemani says is wrong, and he has therefore corrected it.
8. Dionysius places this flood in A.D. 216.
9. This palace probably stood upon the hill where the citadel of modern Urfah now stands.
11. This overthrow of the walls in 303 was also caused by a flood, as shewn by Dionysius in his chronicle, and as stated below. The account of Dionysius, as quoted by Assemani, is to this effect,----" In the year 614 of Alexander, Edessa was taken by the waters, and its eastern walls were broken down and fell, and (the river) carried away and removed all that was in it; and the flood made great havoc in it, both upon men and cattle, and in all the plain of Edessa and Haran." |41
13. This cemetery is perhaps the first on record constructed for the special use of Christians.
17. Jacob of Nisibis was one of the most famous of the bishops of his time. He was at the council of Nicea, and so was Ethilhas or Ethalaha of Edessa.
20. Constantius is said to have built Tela, but probably he restored or enlarged it, and called it Constantina. Dionysius refers this restoration to Constantine. Assemani says the new name was Constantina, and not Constantinople, as Dionysius affirms.
21. Chidon was not far from Edessa.
22. This happened in consequence of an earthquake, at the very time a council was being held in the city. The bishops removed to Seleucia, in Isauria, and finished their business there.
25. Barses seems to have been translated from Haran to Edessa simply by the command of the emperor.
29. The great baptistery may have stood where Mr. Badger says a mosque now stands,----"The mosque called Oloor Jamesi was an old Christian church, as is evident from the hexangular belfry which is now converted into a minaret, and from the lower parts of the building. As in the case of the Great Mosque at Diarbekir, the nave of the church has been turned into a court-yard, in which a fountain has been introduced for the religious ablutions of the Mussulmans; and the southern wall of the church is now the northern wall of the mosque. The fountain is surmounted by a dome raised upon four Corinthian pillars taken from some more ancient building." (Nestorians, i., 326). May not the fountain be really of ancient origin?
30. The grave of Ephraim, or rather his tomb in a cave, is still shewn at Urfah, and upon it the Jacobites consecrate the Eucharistic elements.
33. Certainly not in the same year as the death of Barses. It is not clear when these years begin. They are usually supposed to begin Sept. 1, but our author seems to have some other day, as several of his entries suggest. Above in No. 31 he reckons September, as in the same year with the preceding June. Assemani says this belongs to the year 690.
34. Mar Demet is rendered by Assemani as if it were a contraction of Domitius, "Domus Mar Domitii." He prints it in italics, apparently as if in doubt. The vowels are as we give them, and therefore we prefer to think Demetrius is meant, both here and elsewhere (B. O., i., 215).
35. Resaina signifies Fountain-head, and was restored by Theodosius. |42
36. The second general council in A.D. 381. It began in October, hence the author assigns it to 693, and not 692; Assemani at least puts it in October, with which however others do not agree. Socrates assigns it to May; and the very ancient MS. quoted in Syriac Miscellanies (A.D. 500) refers it to August. So also the Syriac Chronicle quoted, in Syriac Miscellanies, p. 89. Eulogius of Edessa attended the council.
37. Eulogius died on Good Friday.
38. It does not appear where they obtained the relics of the Apostle. They were, however, deposited in "his great temple," i.e., a church dedicated to his name, or called after him.
40. This invasion of the Huns or Asiatic Tartars (A.D. 395) was probably the first in that direction; it was not the last.
47. The Madrashé of Absamia may have been poems, but the word is also used of prose. Assemani says "odas et sermones composuit."
48. Who was Barlaha, "the son of God?" A writer of the name copied Ephraim's works in A.D. 551, and is spoken of by Assemani as an "egregius scriptor." B. O. i., 83.
49. The Syriac text has the word neomenia.
51. This adaptation of a Jewish synagogue for Christian worship at the emperor's bidding, was probably an act of spoliation perpetrated upon the Jews.
53. The Eutychian heresy began later than A.D. 421, and probably later than 431 by a few years at least. Eutyches affirmed that there was but one nature in Christ, and there are many Monophysites to this day.
54. Possibly Jacob the "mutilated," had misunderstood and misapplied Matthew xix. 12. Jacob was, however, doubtless a real martyr; as he was certainly a famous one.
55. Assemani understands this to allude to the heresy of Theodore of Mopsuestia, and thinks the writer favoured him and Pelagius, from the form in which he puts the record. The orthodox held that "sin was implanted in nature;" it was the heterodox who maintained that it was not. The scribe then makes the orthodox the heretics.
57. A shower of dust at Edessa must have been a rare event.
58. For 742 the MS. had 744, which Assemani corrected.
60. The weight of the table offered by Senator is put down at 720 litra, the same as the Latin libra, a pound of about twelve ounces avoirdupois. This would make about 540 lbs. avoirdupois.
61. In the Syriac we read that Anatol the Stratelates made a nauso of silver. The name Anatol is, of course, a shortened form of Anatolius,----proper names are frequently abbreviated in |43 this chronicle, but we have not always indicated the fact. The Nauso seems to be a mere variation of Naos, a temple or shrine. Christianity was now looking up the trappings of exploded idolatry. The reader will be reminded of the silver shrines of Artemis in Acts xix. 24, where the Greek has this very word, and so has the Syriac Peshito. The other word Stratelates,= strathla&thj, a commander of soldiers, is as old as Sophocles and Euripides.
63. The second synod of Ephesus, says Assemani, was held, not in 756, but in 760, or A.D. 449. Although Ibas of Edessa was anathematised on that occasion, the fact is recorded without a remark. The bishop, we are told in the following article, left Edessa on January st, 759; if, however, the synod was held in 760, the bishop could not have been removed till the next year. Nounus, called Nono in the Syriac text, "made a hierateion in the church." A "hierateion" is a "locus sacer ac venerandus, tabulate inclusus, clericis tantum, viris saecularibus raro, mulieribus nunquam penetrabilis."
65. This reference to a "bishop in Rome" (as the Syriac has it), is the first and only indication given by the chronicle that there were bishops there at all. From first to last there is no sign of dependence upon Rome, or of any connection with it.
67. Mar Isaac is called an Archimandrite by Assemani, but the Syriac is "head of a convent," or monastery,----the Greek word is not used.
68. Ibas was restored and Nonnus removed; but when Ibas died Nonnus resumed episcopal functions. Nonnus was no doubt a zealous churchman, for he not only made a sacristy in the church, he built the Church of John the Baptist, etc. As Assemani renders it, he also built a "nosocomium pauperum invalidorum extra portam Beth-Semes." The Syriac is here peculiar, and might be rendered "the field of the house of poor invalids." Michaelis says "videtur significare hortos, subdio sed porticibus cinctos, in quibus obambulari aegroti poterant." Within this inclosure Nonnus built a church. His philanthropy and religious zeal further appear in his erection of convents, towers and bridges, and in the improvement of the highways. These things certainly indicate wealth, influence and public spirit.
69. The death of this famous enthusiast, whom Assemani calls "Sanctissimum Stylitam," is said to have happened in the year 770, or A.D. 459. So the Chronicle quoted in Syriac Miscellanies (p. 83), "In 730 Mar Simeon ascended the pillar, and in 770 he died on the nd of Elul."
74. All artificers were required to pay a tax of one Aureus |44 every fourth year. The taxes levied are enumerated in the extracts given by Assemani (B. O., i., 268), and are very curious, including horses, oxen, mules, asses, dogs, beggars, and dunghills.
76. The Syncelli were the personal attendants and assistants of the bishop. Assemani overlooks in his translation the clause about the sign which appeared in the sky, and which was probably a comet.
79. The great fire in the north was no doubt the aurora borealis. From this record we should infer that it is seldom seen in those parts.
82. The sabbath of the resurrection is, of course, the day before Easter Sunday. In the tables of lessons appended by Widmanstadt to his Syriac Testament, the day after Good Friday is called the "sabbath of the annunciation."
83. The receptacle in question was probably the shrine of St. Euphemia. According to Theophanes, the book was laid up in the altar, and was actually conveyed to the emperor. The miracle was of course an after-thought.
87. To this item Assemani appends the words "exilio mulctavit," probably because he supposed this implied by the previous verb.
89. This Paul was Bishop of Edessa twice. The Syrians call him an "interpreter of books," either because he translated out of Greek into Syriac, or because he wrote expositions of Scripture. Respecting him Assemani gives an interesting extract from John of Asia (or of Ephesus) preserved by Dionysius in his Chronicle. The baptistery alluded to in the text is probably the one mentioned above, number 29.
90. For "December" Assemani has "October" by mistake. Who were the oriental monks so summarily ejected? They were monophysites, but how came they to be styled "orientals" at Edessa?
92. The remains of Asclepius were exhumed and transferred to Edessa to be buried in the Church of St. Barlaha, upon or beside those of Nonnus.
97. Ephraim of Amida is called "Comes Orientis," a dignity which he appears not to have retained, although Assemani passes over the verbs which we translate "had been."
101. The Huns who thus come upon the scene, it is needless to say, were Asiatic Tartars.
102. Rufinus is called "patricius" or the patrician, a name borne by the presidents or prefects of Edessa. (See Nos. 89, 93.)
104. The word "indiction" occurs in the text. This mode of reckoning is often given in old Syriac writers. Procopius |45 says that a comet appeared in the thirteenth of Justinian, and hence Assemani infers that for 850 we should read 851 in the text.
105. Shura or Sura is mentioned by Procopius, De Aedific. Justin, ii. 9. See Martiniere sub voc. Surum. D'Anville places it on the Euphrates, and with others calls it Sura. Procopius terms it Surwn polisma ----the town of Suron. The Syriac word means usually "a wall." Instead of two hundred pounds of gold, or, as the Syriac text has it, "two centenaria of gold," Assemani writes "duobus auri pondo," but surely "pondo" does not equal "centenaria;" probably we should read "ducentis auri pondo."
106. This Chronicle is followed in Assemani by a list of the kings of Edessa, and a list of its bishops from A.D. 313 to 769. We may note that the Chronicle mentions no Bishop of Edessa before Conon, "who laid the foundation of the Church of Edessa" in A.D. 313. But we must not misinterpret this indication. There had long been Christians in Edessa, as authentic records prove. Not only so, this very Chronicle, in recording the overthrow of the city by water in 513 (A.D. 202), mentions the destruction of the "temple of the church of the Christians." This remarkable phrase shews not only that the disciples had a house of worship then, but that it was called a temple. More than this, the Christian community seems to monopolize the word Church, which was not yet applied to the building in which they assembled. Assemani observes that the words under notice shew that the Archivists were still heathen, although the king was a Christian, as Eusebius notes from Africanus (in Chron). Conon, above-named, refounded the church at Edessa, and hoped to rebuild it, but this work was accomplished by his successor. It can hardly be supposed that the reference is to the restoration of the "temple" destroyed in A.D. 202; it is rather to what is called "the old church" in number 60; restored by Justinian with immense splendour.---- (Vid. Bayer, p. 250).
B.H.C.
[Footnotes numbered and placed at the end]
1. a For an account of these curious relics see J. S. L., Third Series, Vol. VII., p. 423, for July, 1858.
2. b Syrian Miscellanies, p. 81.
3. c Bibliotheca Orientalis, vol. i., cap. ix., p. 387, et seqq.
4. d See Syrian Miscellanies, p. 87; "In the year 448, Marcion and Manetes (i.e., Manichaeus), heretics in Phrygia, were famous (i.e., flourished);" and again, "In the year 573 arose the deceiver Manes."
5. e At the end we read, "And again a second time were broken down its walls, in the days of Diocletian who was king,----the year 614, in the month Iyar (May)."
6. f Assemani says "southern side," and we may guess why.
7. g Lower down, said to have been on Tuesday the eighteenth of March, and the name of Theodosius properly substituted for that of Arcadius, who had been dead five or six years.
8. h Observe, July was in 833, and October in 834.
9. i In the later portions of the translation we have put "An." where the text has "the year," or "in the year;" and we have not always explained the month. The year A.D. may of course be ascertained by deducting 311; care being taken to remember that the years properly commence in September. Hence Haziran 636 is A.D. 325; but so is Canun the former 637. Therefore, when an occurrence falls in the first eight months of the year we must deduct 311 to reduce it to A.D.; but when an event belongs to the four last months we must deduct 312. There are irregularities, but the year properly began on the Calends of September. For the benefit of some readers we append the months which generally correspond. At present the Persian Nestorians follow the old style, like the Russians, but we may regard the ancient months as agreeing with the Roman:----
Elul............September. Adar............March. Tishrin 1......October. Nisan...........April. Tishrin 2......November. Iyar.............May. Canun 1.........December. Haziran.........June. Canun 2.........January. Tammuz...........July. Shebat..........February. Ab..............August.
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Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
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John of Ephesus, Ecclesiastical History, Part 3 -- Preface
John of Ephesus, Ecclesiastical History, Part 3 -- Preface
THE THIRD PART
OF THE
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY
OF
JOHN BISHOP OF EPHESUS
NOW FIRST TRANSLATED
FROM THE ORIGINAL SYRIAC
BY
R. PAYNE SMITH, M.A.
SUB-LIBRARIAN OF THE BODLEIAN LIBRARY
OXFORD
AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS
1860
TO THE
REV. W. CURETON, D. D.
CHAPLAIN IN ORDINARY TO THE QUEEN, AND CANON OF WESTMINSTER.
MY DEAR DR. CURETON,
You might justly claim this Volume, since it is to you that
we owe the splendid edition of the original Syriac. I have the
further pleasure of offering it you, as a slight acknowledgment
of the assistance I have derived from you in my studies.
Believe me to be,
Yours very truly,
R. PAYNE SMITH.
OXFORD, FEB. 1860.
PREFACE.
THE Ecclesiastical History of John, Bishop of Ephesus, was discovered by Dr. Cureton among the Manuscripts obtained by the British Museum from the convent of St. Mary Deipara, in the desert of Scete, and published in the original Syriac at the Oxford University Press in 1853. It was then his intention, as he mentions in the Preface, to have also undertaken the task of making its contents generally available by means of an English translation; but as more important labours have hitherto prevented the fulfilment of this duty, it has now, with his consent, been undertaken by myself, and I am alone responsible for the correctness with which it has been accomplished.
The chief value of this history will be found in its being contemporaneous with the events which it records; and as the author was resident at Constantinople, and a busy actor in the scenes which he describes, he had the best opportunity of obtaining accurate information: but, on the other hand, it refers to a comparatively late period of the Church, and one to which no special importance has been attached. Still, as a picture of the manners and feelings of the latter half of the sixth century, it will not be without interest to the ecclesiastical student; especially as the Eastern Church shortly afterwards was brought into collision with Mahometanism, and much new information is given us respecting the Christian Arabs of Ghassan, who |vi would naturally be the representatives of Christianity to their countrymen.
The history, as originally composed, consisted of three parts, of which the first, as our author tells us, commenced with the reign of Julius Caesar; but as it was probably nothing more than an abridgment of Eusebius, its loss is not much to be regretted. The second part must have contained many interesting particulars of the later emperors, and especially of Justinian, but the extracts from it preserved in the Chronicle of the Jacobite Patriarch, Dionysius, are principally concerned with a record of earthquakes and pestilences. From one or two of them, however, we learn almost the sole facts respecting our author upon which we can depend. The third, of which the present work is a translation, was written under the pressure of great difficulties, owing to the persecution to which John of Ephesus and the sect to which he belonged were exposed, and is consequently of a fragmentary character; for the leaves, he tells us, on which from time to time he inscribed a short narrative of passing events, had to be entrusted to various friends for concealment, and he never found time afterwards to reconstruct his work.
The extracts above referred to, and which will be found in Asseman's Bibl. Or. ii. 83-90, inform us that John of Ephesus was born at Amid, a city in the north of Mesopotamia, probably about A. D. 516; and as Syriac was the language spoken by his countrymen, it was employed by him in writing this history for their use. We subsequently find him at Constantinople, where for thirty years he enjoyed the friendship of the Emperor Justinian, and was employed by him in various important offices. Especially we are informed that he was sent on a mission in A.D. 542 to the heathens in the provinces of Asia, Lydia, Caria, and Phrygia; and so energetically did he labour among them, that in the space of four years he baptized no less than seventy thousand persons. To this mission he also refers |vii in the 230th and following pages of the present volume; and from Ephesus, the capital of the district, he took his title of Bishop.
On his return to Constantinople in A. D. 546, the Emperor confided to him the still more serious duty of making search there for such persons as, while professing to be Christians, practised in secret heathen rites: and so many men holding high offices in the state were detected by him, that the Byzantine historians, though they have not preserved his name, yet record the general consternation occasioned by these discoveries. Among the guilty were many even of patrician rank, as well as grammarians, sophists, scholastics, and physicians; but, above all, Phocas, the prefect of the city, was informed against, and, hopeless of escape, destroyed himself by poison; and his corpse, by the emperor's command, was thrown into a ditch, without the rites of burial. The rest were commanded to assemble in a church, where our author was appointed to instruct them in the doctrines of the Christian religion; and his lessons were enforced by an edict, which, besides other penalties, fixed the period of three months as the limit, beyond which their conversion must not be delayed.
In the present volume we have some further information given us respecting the heathen, and especially an account of some remarkable events which occurred in the reign of Tiberius.
A short notice of our author is also found in Gregory Bar-Hebraeus (apud Ass. B. O. ii. 329), who says that 'after S. Anthimus, John was made bishop of the Orthodox at Constantinople:' but this statement must be received with caution. We learn indeed from his description of himself in page 53, that he had the entire administration of their revenues both at Constantinople and the districts adjacent to it, and consequently he must have exercised great influence among his party, and may even have been regarded as their chief. But the whole tenor of his |viii narrative is inconsistent with the supposition of his being in any sense their patriarch, and if any one can be said to have succeeded S. Anthimus, it was Theodosius, the exiled patriarch of Alexandria.
As the name of John is borne by many writers of this period, it has been a subject of inquiry whether some one of them may not have been identical with our author. But after going over much the same ground as Dr. Land, in his work entitled, 'John of Ephesus, the first Syrian Church-historian,' I have come to the same negative conclusion. Should any be sufficiently interested in the subject to wish for the particulars, I cannot do better than refer them to his interesting volume.
For the easier understanding of our author's pages, it may be necessary to add, that he was a Monophysite: and though his party are not to be confounded with the followers of Eutyches, whom they anathematized by name, yet they refused to receive the council of Chalcedon, at which he was condemned, on the ground of its being tainted with Nestorianism. As men's minds were greatly embittered at this period by the disputes which had arisen respecting our Lord's nature, it was found impossible to enforce general obedience in the East to the council's decrees: and thus John's party held a sort of intermediate position, not being condemned by their opponents as heretics, and yet being separated from their communion. As they professed themselves ready to obey the teaching of the Fathers generally, and especially, as Renaudot testifies in his History of the Alexandrian Patriarchs (p. 143) 'to accept every thing which John Chrysostome and Cyril had taught,' they claimed as their peculiar right the appellation of 'Orthodox,' and by this name are distinguished in the following pages.
As regards the translation, it seemed scarcely possible, from the fragmentary character of the original, and the frequent loss of leaves, to give merely a verbatim rendering, |ix and I have therefore endeavoured to connect the various facts by inserting a few lines here and there, so as to carry the reader over the breaks in the narrative, and occasionally I have brought together scattered chapters relating to the same event. In all cases I have marked where the author's own words begin, by placing the reference to book and chapter in the margin: but in comparing the translation with the original, it must be kept in mind, that if the heading was more full than the opening words of the chapter, I have inserted the additional matter. These headings, which occur twice in the original, occasionally with some slight discrepancies, I have confined to the commencement of the volume. As the style of our author is heavy and cumbrous, I have also frequently been compelled to break up his sentences into periods of moderate length, and also to retrench many synonymous words, and even sentences; but in so doing, I have been careful to omit nothing which had not been said before. In a book, abounding in words not to be found in any lexicon, and which requires almost as great a knowledge of the Greek of the Byzantine historians as of the language in which it is written, errors and mistakes may naturally be expected, and will readily be excused: but I have done my best to give the exact sense of the author, as far as possible, in his own words, and yet in such a form as to prevent the perusal of him occasioning unnecessary weariness to the reader.
OXFORD, March, 1860.
[Note to the online text: It is incredible, but true, that the translator has taken no pains to mark accurately which passages are his own, and which are those of John of Ephesus. His statement above that he marks the start of each passage -- but he doesn't mention the end of each passage! -- means only that he places in the margin a numeral. The reader is left to imagine for himself where on the line the words of John begin. Sometimes a reader can work it out -- in many cases the reader is left to wonder.
The obvious remedies are two-fold. Firstly, one could go through the text placing all obviously editorial matter in a smaller type-face, as should have been done. This I have not attempted, because it would involve guesswork. The second alternative is to seek out some more careful edition in French or German, and use this as a guide when doing the same. I hope that at some time someone will do this. The German edition of Schonfelder I have seen, and seems to be more carefully laid out, and so could be used as a guide.
As stated above, it seems frankly incredible that such a basic failure in the duty of a translator should be permitted to reach the public, even in 1860, and even on the feeble excuse of a damaged manuscript. One wonders what the reviewers said. Roger Pearse, 2002]
For the convenience of those who may wish to read the original Syriac, I append a Table, 1. of Errata, and 2. of Emendations.
ERRATA.
[Note to the online text: omitted]
IN THE TRANSLATION.
P. 148. 1.15, for ii. 48. read ii. 51.
P. 160. 1.16, read: The next chapter (ii. 45.) treated of the Condobaudites, and will be found in page 65: and the next (ii. 46.) of the apostasy of the Cappadocian monks.
P. 170. 1.12, for mitre read orarium: which was a sort of tippet worn over the shoulders by priests and deacons when officiating at the communion, and by bishops at all times. See Du Cange, under w)ra&rion, and Morini Comm. de Sacris Ecclesiae Ordin. p. 174.
This text was transcribed by Roger Pearse, 2002. All material on this page is in the public domain - copy freely.
Greek text is rendered using the Scholars Press SPIonic font, free from here.
Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
SOURCE SECTION: ephesus_0_toc.htm
John of Ephesus, Ecclesiastical History, Part 3 -- Author's Table of Contents
John of Ephesus, Ecclesiastical History, Part 3 -- Author's Table of Contents
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY
OF
JOHN BISHOP OF EPHESUS.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS.
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BOOK THE FIRST.
CHAPTERS 1, 2, 3, are lost.
Ch. 4. Quotations from the books of the prophets relating to the distress which at this time happened in the church of God
5. Upon the bitter suffering caused by the sudden uprooting of all the congregations of the church of the believers in the capital
6. 7, 8, 9, are lost.
10. Upon what was done in the convents of men and women by the barbarous violence of the persecution.
11. Concerning John the bishop of the city, and the deeds wrought by the urgency of his wickedness
12. Upon the priesthood of the Orthodox, which John annulled, without purpose, or respect to justice, and in violation of the canons, and ordained them anew in the priesthood of the Synodites, that is, of those who believe in two natures
13. Upon a night vision, which happened to a worthy monk as a revelation of what was quickly about actually to be done openly
14. Concerning Paul, bishop of Asia
15. Concerning bishop Elisha
16. Concerning bishop Stephan, whom John similarly wished to depose and consecrate afresh.
17. Upon their sending for and summoning the bishops from the monasteries and places in which they were imprisoned
18. Upon the rebuke and admonition which John received from the bishops whom he had brought together and imprisoned, because of his annulling their laying on of hands, and conferring it afresh in violation of law, and contrary to all the rules and regulations of the Church of God
19. Upon the edict which the illustrious king Justin made
20. Shewing, that after twenty clean copies of the edict had been written out, he sent the first, signed with his own hand, to those who were in prison
21. Shewing that John protested to the bishops, saying, 'See now that it is you who prevent the unity of the Church.'
22. Shewing that the bishops were blamed and found fault with, even by the chief men of the orthodox party, because of their obstinacy and refusal to give way for the sake of unity
23. Upon the disputation and distress of the bishops themselves and of their people
24. Upon the last disputation held, and the treacherous and lying oaths
25. Upon the grief and contrition of spirit which overtook the bishops, because they had submitted to and united themselves with the communion of John, and the other Dyophysites of his party
26. Shewing that when the king learnt thereof, he sent for them, and had them brought to the palace, and comforted them
27. Shewing that subsequently the king returned from the warm baths, and concerning the schedule that was sent them, etc.
28. Shewing that when these things were made known to the king, and he was angry, he commanded that all the princes should assemble, and that the bishops should be tried by them in the bishop's palace
29. Shewing that according to their orders they assembled at the bishop's palace, and that the bishops were summoned to trial
30. Containing the writer's defence against those who fall into an unfounded idea respecting him
31. Concerning Conon, the head of the heresy of the Tritheites
32. Concerning Photius, and his conduct
33. Concerning the Sophists and Scholastics, and Naucleri, and others, who in the middle of the persecution were summoned and went to the capital from Alexandria
34. Concerning all the chiefs of the clergy of the orthodox, who were next arrested, and sent to the capital
35. Concerning some Egyptian monks, who also were summoned to the capital to foretell things future
36. Upon the monasteries of men and women, which, after they had been treated violently, and some few had yielded, finally returned to their faith
37. Relating that John before his death was questioned by the Christ-loving Caesar respecting the orthodox
38. Shewing that even while John lived, the congregations of the orthodox finally grew in strength, and rose up
39. Upon the monastery, called Cathara, in the land of Bithynia
40. Upon the Synodite bishops of Alexandria
41. Upon the bishops at Antioch from Flavianus and Severus
42. Upon the bishops at Constantinople during Justinian's reign
BOOK THE SECOND.
1. Showing that when the bishops saw that they had lied unto them, they separated and abandoned the communion of the Dyophysites
2. Concerning Paul the patriarch, and the writing which he made, and which was found out
3. Concerning Stephan, bishop of Cyprus; and the summons of Paul, and his journey to the capital from his place of exile, and subsequent flight
4. Concerning John, Superintendent of the heathen
5. Concerning the trials which came upon John
6. Concerning a vision, and no dream, but a reality, which was seen by John in his affliction
7. Concerning the imprisonments and second banishment of the said John
8. Concerning the flight of Paul from the episcopal palace
9. Concerning the praiseworthy Andrew, the queen's chamberlain and pursebearer, and the conflicts which he underwent
10. Concerning the merciful queen Sophia, who was orthodox
11. Concerning three consuls, who also behaved bravely, and stood firmly in the truth
12. Concerning two noble ladies, who also behaved bravely, and courageously stood firm
13. Concerning Sergius, and Sergius, the presbyters, and the conflicts which they underwent
14. Concerning Andrew, who was imprisoned
15. Concerning the diaconate of those who tend the sick, who are thrown out into the streets of the city
16. Concerning another and different diaconate
17. Shewing that now a persecution was stirred up everywhere
18. Concerning what was related at the capital by the Catholicus of Dovin, a city of the greater Armenia in the Persian dominions, and by the other bishops who were with him
19. Concerning what was said by the Magi to Khosrun their king, and put in execution
20. Concerning the commencement of the provocation of the Christians in the Greater Armenia by the king of the Persians, etc.
21. Shewing what was afterwards done by Khosrun in Persarmenia, and how they revolted from him, and the whole land surrendered itself to the Romans
22. Concerning the narrative of the Catholicus and his companions, etc.
23. Shewing that at first, on the arrival of the Armenian bishops at the capital, they went, in their simplicity, and communicated in the church of the Synodites
24. Showing what was subsequently done after the Armenians had surrendered themselves (to the Romans), and that owing to their extreme numerousness we omit and pass by the narrative of these events
25. Concerning the dread and severe chastisement of God's righteous judgment, which in the height of the persecution quickly overtook both sides alike
26. Concerning the humiliation and torture which overtook John of Sirmin, and that he was chastised by a devil all the days of his life, because it was he who set on foot a merciless persecution
27. Showing, that when John was persecuting, he rooted out and took down all the pictures of the orthodox fathers from all the monasteries, and fixed up his own
28. Concerning Theodulus, the deacon, who was also a violent persecutor of Christians, and of the righteous sentence of retribution which also overtook him, when tortured by misfortune
29. Concerning the king's quaestor, whose name was Anastasius
30. Showing that as the churches of the orthodox were rooted up in the persecution by the Synodites, so shortly afterwards those which the Synodites themselves possessed were similarly treated by a certain just sentence; the altars of the churches throughout all Thrace, and up to the city wall, being rooted out and stripped by the barbarians, and they fled from before the face of the barbarians
31. Upon the summons and arrival at the capital of the patriarch Eutychius after the death of John
32. Concerning what was said by the archdeacon of Rome in the presence of the king canonically with boldness concerning John and Eutychius before the arrival of the latter
33. Showing that when Eutychius was recalled, it was supposed by every one that he would not be permitted to return and occupy the see, until a synod had been assembled and sat and examined every thing that had been done by him and John unto one another
34. Concerning the images of John which Eutychius took down, and his relatives, all of whom he humbled and ejected
35. Concerning the books of the Quaternity, that is, the two natures after the union, which Eutychius composed when in exile
36. Showing that Eutychius was perverted to the view of the heresy of the Athanasians, who say that these bodies do not arise, but others arise in- their stead
37. Showing that when Eutychius was murmured at and ridiculed and reviled by every one, he thought that he was only reviled by the orthodox
38. Concerning Fravianus, the slave of Andrew, who had been originally the queen's pursebearer
39. Concerning a sister a nun, and the courageous conflicts she underwent, and was victorious and triumphant in all of them
40. Concerning the Antiphon for Thursday in Passion-week, which Eutychius wished to alter, and which from ancient custom was part of the service in all churches, and substitute his own
41. Concerning what finally happened to John, called Superintendent of the heathen, after all his trials
42. Concerning the injured Paul of Asia, who was deposed from the episcopate
43. Showing that John endeavoured by a crafty artifice to consecrate Paul again, of which attempt we here record only a short summary
44. Concerning Deuterius, who succeeded Paul as bishop of the orthodox
45. Concerning the sect of those who are called Condobau-dites, after the name of the monastery in which they assembled
46. Concerning the monastery of the Cappadocian monks
47. Concerning the confused and troubled orthodoxy which prevailed in the monasteries
48. Concerning a marvellous sign manifested in some animals, that is, some elephants
49. Concerning a conflagration which took place at the capital
50. Explaining the reason why possibly the account of one event will be found recorded in a confused manner in several chapters
51. Showing that while Eutychius originally belonged to the heresy of the Samosatenians, he finally gave himself up to other heresies
52. Showing that Eutychius was opposed to the phrase, "Thou that wast crucified for us"
BOOK THE THIRD.
1. Concerning the commencement of the book.
2. Showing that when the king gave way, and betook himself to evil courses, chastisement was sent down upon him from God for his good
3. Concerning the means employed for the king's amusement, etc.
4. Concerning what was said of the king's temptation
5. Concerning the appointment of the God-loving Tiberius as Caesar, etc.
6. Concerning the end of king Justin, and the reign of the merciful Tiberius
7. Concerning queen Sophia, etc.
8. Concerning the wife of Tiberius Caesar, whose name originally was Ino, etc.
9. Concerning the arrival of the Caesar's wife at the palace, after he had begun to reign, etc.
10. Concerning the queen Sophia, and what happened afterwards
11. Concerning the commencement of the reign of Tiberius
12. Concerning the manner in which the Caesar was annoyed by the patriarch John
13. Concerning the persecution commanded against heresies for the following reason
14. Concerning the Hypatia of king Tiberius, etc.
15. Concerning the persecution which was stirred up against heresies, and also against the orthodox
16. Concerning the uprooting of the congregation which assembled at the church in the Marianum
17. Concerning the patriarch Eutychius himself, etc.
18. Concerning the patriarch Eutychius himself, and his pride
19. Concerning the opposition he made to the phrase, "Thou that wast crucified for us"
20. Concerning the heat and bitter bile and utter hatred entertained by Eutychius against the whole party of the orthodox
21. Showing that the victorious king, in whose nature was nobleness and humility, though occupied with the cares of the wars, did not often give way to persecution, according to the wish and urgency of the persecutors..
22. Concerning the gentleness of king Tiberius
23. Concerning the buildings which king Tiberius erected in the palace
24. Concerning Justin's Pharos, which king Tiberius rooted up
25. Concerning the trials occasioned by the numerous wars which surrounded king Tiberius from the time he was made Caesar
26. Concerning the Romans and Goths who were Arians, and asked for a church to be given them
27. Concerning the audacious doings of the heathens, and what was justly stirred up against them
28. Concerning what was done at Edessa respecting the heathen
29. Concerning the tumult, and what was done at Antioch the Great after these things
30. Concerning what was done and carried on at the capital in the matter of the heathen
31. Concerning the riot at the capital from the zeal of the Christian people because of the quest after the heathens
32. Concerning the entry of the king into the city, and what happened afterwards
33. Concerning what was subsequently done in the trial of the heathens
34. Concerning the quest subsequently made after the heathen
35. Concerning the bitter murder of Eustochius, bishop of Jerusalem, which was perpetrated by his slave..
36. Concerning the great monastery newly built in the land of Asia by John, Superintendent of the heathen, in a mountain of (near) the city of Tralles
37. Concerning the opposition and trials which arose against the said monastery of Derira (? Erira), through the envy of the evil one..
38. Concerning the sudden death of Eutychius
39. Concerning John, who, from being the pursebearer of the former (John), was subsequently chosen (to be patriarch)
40. Concerning Mondir, the son of Harith, and the accusation against him
41. Concerning the visit of Mondir to Magnus, and his arrest, etc.
42. Concerning the four sons of Mondir, and what they did
43. Concerning the second journey thither of Magnus, and the death which overtook him, and put an end to his wicked plots
44. Concerning the peace and short respite which the orthodox enjoyed at the capital.
45. Concerning the famine which suddenly happened at the capital.
46. Concerning the excessive mortality of children.
47. Concerning king Tiberius, and the time of his death.
48. Concerning king Tiberius' purpose of bringing about unity in the church.
49. Showing that king Tiberius' wife from ignorance hated the orthodox.
50. Concerning the three queens who dwelt at one time in the palace after the death of Tiberius.
51. Concerning John, who was patriarch after Eutychius.
52. Concerning the mercifulness and liberality of the patriarch John.
53. Concerning the struggles of the patriarch John against the heathen.
54. Concerning the imprisonment of Mondir, and his banishment from the capital to a distant place of exile.
55. Concerning one of the princes of Mondir whose name was Sergius, a believer, who was also sent into exile.
56. Concerning the arrival of Noman, the son of Mondir, at the capital.
BOOK THE FOURTH.
The first four chapters and part of the fifth are lost.
6. Concerning the barbarian people of Nubia, who were instructed in Christianity, together with the cause of their being instructed
7. Concerning the arrival of the blessed Julian and his companions in the land of Nubia, and their reception, and the other things which they there accomplished by the help of God
8. Showing that when the blessed Theodosius departed from this world, he remembered this people, and commanded that Longinus should be immediately made their bishop, and sent thither, inasmuch as Julian also was dead
9. Concerning what was written to Longinus by Theodosius, arch presbyter, and Theodore, archdeacon, of the clergy of the church of the orthodox at Alexandria
10. Concerning two bishops, John and George, who at that time had been sent from Syria to Longinus, and concerning Theodore, who fell into temptation
11. Concerning those things which malignantly and savagely and confusedly, and contrary to all canonical order, were done by the Alexandrians after these things, together with the consecration of Peter
12. Showing that though the question had not been taken into consideration, and examined by them as orderly men, whether the former (bishop) had been appointed in a fitting and orderly manner, (or not,) they consecrated a second
13. Concerning Theodore, the first bishop, who, against his will, was appointed and consecrated upon compulsion
14. Concerning Paul the patriarch, spoken of above, and concerning the unfounded idea respecting him, and his deposition contrary to rule by Peter, who was himself appointed unseasonably
15. Concerning the division and quarrel, which by the instigation of Satan took place between Jacob and Paul, contrary to the rule of propriety
16. Concerning the deposition of Paul by Peter, who was the second consecrated (to the see), contrary to justice, and the entire canonical order of the church
17. Concerning the arrival finally of the blessed Jacob at Alexandria, and the rest of his acts
18. Concerning the departure of the blessed Jacob and the other bishops who were with him from Alexandria
19. Concerning the division and quarrel and schism which ensued not only in Syria, but also in Cilicia and Isauria and Asia and Cappadocia and Armenia, and especially at the capital, etc
20. Concerning the message sent by Paul the patriarch to Jacob, respecting an inquiry and canonical examination of the charges brought against him..
21. Concerning: the zeal and earnestness of Mondir, son of Harith, king of the Arabs
22. Concerning the journey of Longinus, and Theodore, whom he had made pope, into the regions of Syria, and to the side of the Paulites
Chapters 23-29, and the commencement of the 30th, are lost.
31. Showing that there were divisions also in most of the chief monasteries, and that being at variance, they parted and withdrew, some standing up for the Paulites, and some for the Jacobites
32. Concerning the meetings of numerous abbots, and the message they sent to Jacob, and the bishops who were with him
33. Showing that an impulse suddenly seized upon the old man Jacob to go to Alexandria, and that on his journey he departed from the world.
34. Concerning an unfounded idea and full of wickedness, which some persons imagined and gave utterance to, respecting the sudden death of the blessed Jacob and his companions, who, having no fear for the account they must give for every idle word, spread abroad a report, that some Paulites forsooth murdered the old man Jacob and his companions with stones
35. Concerning the three ambassadors who, in the year 888, were sent to confer about a peace upon the marches, and who strongly took the side of Paul
36. Concerning Mondir, the son of Harith, king of the Arabs, and all his hordes, who were grieved and vexed on account of the Paulites and Jacobites
37. Concerning the second journey of the clergy of Alexandria to the capital, and their imprisonment in monasteries
38. Concerning the death of Theodosius, archpresbyter, and Ecclesiecdicus of the church of the Alexandrians, who died in imprisonment at the monastery of Nitria
39. Concerning the journey of Mondir, the son of Harith, king of the Arabs, to the capital, and what was done by him there in his zeal because of the schism between the Jacobites and Paulites
40. Concerning the meeting, and promises of peace and union made by the two parties to one another by the mediation of the illustrious Mondir
41. Concerning Damianus, a Syrian, who also, contrary to canonical order, was appointed patriarch at Alexandria after Peter
42. Concerning the departure of the Alexandrian clergy, and subsequently of Mondir himself from the capital
43. Concerning Damianus, and his falsehood, and the upsetting which he iniquitously brought about of the peace made at the capital; and concerning the clergy who also turned round and were false to their promises
44. Concerning what was done also in the land of Syria, occasioned by the letters of Damianus, without order, and contrary to the laws of the church
45. Concerning the letters of the monasteries in the east in their own handwriting to John of Ephesus, who was dwelling at the capital, inviting him to communion with the patriarch, whom they had consecrated..
46. Apology of the author, showing that he writes without partiality or passion towards either party
47. Showing that Paul finally went and hid himself in a mountain of Isauria in a cave, as they said, for four years, without intercourse with any one
48. Concerning Theodore, who was made pope of Alexandria by Longinus and the rest
49. Concerning the commencement of the conversion to Christianity of the people whom the Greeks call Alodaei, who are supposed by us to be Cushites
50. Concerning those who were sent by the Alexandrians to the people of the Alodaei
51. History of the journey of the blessed Longinus to the land of the Alodaei, and of their joyful conversion and baptism by him
52. Concerning the letter of the king of Alodaea to the king of Nubia
53. Part of a letter of bishop Longinus
54. Concerning the concealment of Paul the patriarch
55. Concerning Theodore, who was made pope of Alexandria by Longinus
56. Concerning the journey of pope Theodore to the island of Cyprus
57. Concerning the end of Paul the patriarch, how it was
58. Concerning the decease of Paul and Jacob, how it happened to them both one after the other in a troubled manner
59. Concerning what after their death was said and done by the parties of the Paulites and Jacobites, who were at variance with one another
60. Concerning the journey of Peter, who had been consecrated in Syria, to Alexandria
61. Concerning the congress of the bishops of both parties, etc., who for a year, more or less, contended and debated with one another
BOOK THE FIFTH.
1. Concerning the commencement and time when the Tritheites began the laying on of hands, and took measures, that their bishops might fill all quarters with their impudent and polluted heresy
2. To the same effect, namely, that they consecrated and sent everywhere numerous bishops of their party
3. Concerning the sectaries of the heresiarchs Conon and Eugenius
4. Concerning the release of Conon from exile
5. Concerning the division of the Cononites into two heresies
6. Concerning the journey of both parties to the land of Pamphylia, to pervert it, and the death of Eugenius there
7. Concerning the message sent to Conon by John of Asia at the capital, and the cause of his (Conon's) journey thither
8. Concerning the imposture of the Tritheites, who, by a crafty artifice, professed to wish for union, but did not do so in reality
9. Shewing that they were guilty of the same at Alexandria and also in Syria
10. Concerning the great book of lacerations (catena of extracts) which the Tritheites tore out and put together
11. Concerning the meetings of the bishops of the Tritheites
12. Concerning a solitary bishop of the Tritheites, who returned to the Orthodox, and made an act of recantation, and anathematized them
13. Concerning the time of the reign of the victorious king Maurice, which according to the rule of propriety ought to have been written at the head of the book, but it did not so occur
14 Concerning king Maurice, and his marriage banquet, and his son, whom afterwards he begot in the palace, etc.
15. Concerning those whose habit it was, on pretext of the faith, to fall upon men, and rob and steal the goods of others, and who did not rest quiet till they had informed the king about the Orthodox
16. Concerning the persecution of the Church of the Arians
17. Concerning Gregory, bishop of Antioch, and his journey to the capital, and the request he made to the king
18. Concerning the. parents, and brothers, and sisters, and very numerous relatives, whom king Maurice sent for and brought to the capital, and enriched and ennobled them
19. Concerning Domitianus, metropolitan of the city of Melitene, a relative of the king
20. Shewing that when Maurice began to reign he found the palace emptied of its treasures, and came into great trouble and distress
21. Concerning the disturbers, and persecutors, and plunderers of others, who constantly were annoying the ears of king Maurice, and the rest of his court..
22. Concerning the rebuilding of the desolate city of Arabissus in Cappadocia, which was king Maurice's native town
23. Concerning the destruction by an earthquake two years afterwards, more or less, of the rebuilt town of Arabissus
BOOK THE SIXTH.
1. Concerning the commencement of the book
2. Concerning the war conducted by the patrician Marcian, and what subsequently happened to him.
3. Concerning the causes of the king's wrath against Marcian, in respect of Mondir, king of the Arabs
4. Concerning the king's letters to Marcian and Mondir
5. Concerning the march of the king of the Persians, and the capture of Dara, in the year 884, etc.
6. Concerning the capture of the city of Apamaea, and the devastation wrought that year, while the Persian king sat before Dara
7. Concerning two thousand beautiful virgins, who, at the king's command, were selected to be sent as a present to the barbarians, and the wonderful and astonishing act which the virgins committed in their zeal for Christianity
8. Concerning the short truce which was made at that time for three years in the provinces of Syria, and the expedition of the king of the Persians into the territory of the Romans, that is, into Armenia and Cappadocia
9. Concerning the burning of Melitene, and the subsequent events
10. Concerning what finally happened to the Romans in Persarmenia
11. Concerning the Persarmenians who had given themselves up to the Romans
12. Concerning the ambassadors of the Romans and Persians, who met on the part of the two realms upon the borders, mutually to judge of and examine all the matters on account of which wars had been stirred up, and for which they blamed one another..
13. Concerning the inroad which the Persians made into the Roman territories, immediately, at that very time
14. Concerning Count Maurice, etc., and the stratagem and inroad of the Persians
15. Concerning the subsequent actions of Maurice.. 16; Concerning Mondir, the son of Harith, and Maurice, how after these things they invaded in concert the Persian territories
17. Concerning a Marzban of the Persians, who crossed over, and burnt the district of Tela a second time, and that of Edessa, and Haran, etc.
18. Concerning Mondir, the son of Harith, and his victory
19. Concerning what was done by the captives imprisoned in Antioch, which Khosrun built in Persia, and has imprisoned there all his captives from the Roman territory unto this day
20. Concerning the death of Khosrun, king of the Persians, and of the duration of his reign, etc...
21. Showing that Khosrun gave proof that he was sorry and vexed at the rupture of the peace between the kingdoms, and that even after much devastation had taken place in both realms, he wished to reestablish peace, and made many concessions
22. Concerning the son of Khosrun, king of the Persians, who reigned after him, and whose name was Hormuzd
23. Concerning the reasons whence the ill feeling originally arose, and the peace was broken between the kingdoms
24. Concerning a base people who are called Avars
25. Concerning the people of the Slavonians, and the devastations which they committed in Thrace, in the third year of the reign of the serene king Tiberius
26. Concerning the battle of the Romans and Persians, which happened before the city of Tela, on a day of the month Haziron, in the year 892, as follows;
27. Concerning Maurice, who was over all the generals in the East
28. Concerning a battle which took place in Armenia, and the other matters administered and done there
29. Concerning a certain Persian impostor, who gave himself out as the king's son
30. Concerning Sirmium, a great city in the kingdom of the Gepidae, which the Avars took by violence
31. Concerning the journey of Narses the Spatharius
32. Showing that finally when what they hoped did not come to pass, the city of Sirmium was given up to these barbarians
33. Concerning the burning of Sirmium, which happened subsequently
34. Concerning the record of numerous wars, and finally of the war conducted by count Maurice, and the capture of Arzun
35. Concerning another fort which Maurice built opposite Sophene, the name of which is Shemkoroth
36. Concerning another fort, the name of which is Ocba, which is situated on the Chalat, in the land of the Persians
37. Concerning an ambassador of the Persians, who happened at that time to be sent to the king of us the Romans
38. Concerning the journey of an ambassador of the Romans, to confer with the king of the Persians about a peace
39. Concerning the Persian ambassador, who was sent a second time to the king of the Romans.
40. Concerning the immense devastation wrought during a long period by the two states against one another.
41. Concerning the rise and subsequent fall of the principality of the Roman Arabs.
42. Concerning some of the princes of the Arabs, who went and surrendered themselves to the Persians.
43. Concerning some famous princes among the Persian Marzbans, who were taken prisoners, and sent in chains to the capital.
44. Concerning another war in the third year (of Maurice), and the victory which God gave the Romans.
45. Concerning the base people of the barbarians, who from their long hair are called Avars.
46. Showing that the Avars made an expedition, and captured numerous important cities and forts.
47. Concerning the terror and commotion which fell upon Constantinople, while we also were there.
48. Concerning the capture and laying waste of the land of the Slavonians.
49. Concerning the laying waste of the city of Anchialus, and concerning the warm baths there.
[Note to the online edition: book 6, ch. 37-49 are lost apart from these chapter titles]
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Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
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John of Ephesus, Ecclesiastical History, Part 3 -- Book 1
John of Ephesus, Ecclesiastical History, Part 3 -- Book 1
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY
OF
JOHN BISHOP OF EPHESUS
--------
DURING the reign of Justinian, the empress Theodora, a devoted member of the Monophysite party, had built and endowed at Constantinople numerous monasteries, in which she placed bodies of monks drawn chiefly from the Asiatic provinces of the Roman empire. Fostered by the empress they naturally were looked upon with displeasure by the patriarchs of Constantinople, whose authority they disowned; for already their own organization was complete, and from the death of Severus, patriarch of Antioch, A. D. 542, to the present day, there has been maintained in the East a succession of Monophysite patriarchs, to whom all the members of the party owe allegiance. But as lesser evils close at hand are more felt than greater ones at a distance, so probably the residence of Theodosius, the exiled patriarch of Alexandria, at Constantinople, annoyed the ecclesiastical authorities there far more than the rapid increase of |2 Monophysitism in the East. For though Justinian had removed Theodosius from his see, yet he was received at court with so much distinction by Theodora, and so thoroughly supported by her influence, that his disgrace was turned into a triumph, and during his thirty years' exile, to his death in A. D. 567, he exercised paramount authority over the numerous monasteries and churches of his party at the capital, as well as in Egypt his proper sphere.
The patriarch moreover, who had been intruded into the Constantinopolitan see upon the refusal of Eutychius to subscribe to a notion of Justinian that the body of our Lord was incapable of corruption, was by no means a man likely to bear with any interference with his authority patiently. For John Scholasticus was more of a lawyer than a theologian, and a thorough man of the world; and no sooner therefore had the health of Justin failed, and John was free to carry out his plans, than he determined upon crushing the whole Monophysite party.
The narrative of this persecution is introduced by a pathetic lamentation, in which our historian especially quotes the prophecy of our Lord, that "the brother shall deliver the brother to death:" a prophecy, he says, not to be restricted to the glorious company of the Apostles, but equally belonging to all members of the Church; and especially true in the case of his own party, as being persecuted, not by heathens, |3 but by their fellow-Christians, at whose hands, restrained neither by mercy nor the fear of God, he protests that they met with such cruel and pitiless treatment that heathens could have done no more.
It was, however, the breaking out of this persecution which induced him to add this third part to his Church History. For he had previously completed in twelve books, divided into separate chapters, each with distinct headings, the history, or literally, the narratives and tales of the church, from the days of Julius Caesar, the first king of Rome, to the sixth year of Justin II, Justinian's sister's son: and in it he declares that he had borne willing testimony to Justin's zeal and anxiety for the unity of the church, his earnest desire being to speak the truth whatever might befal. For this concluding portion he requests the indulgence of his readers, if they find it destitute of arrangement and with occasional repetitions: for it was written under circumstances of great difficulty, piecemeal as opportunity permitted; nay, he even apologizes for writing it at all: "for I am fully aware that the times of the world are on the wane, and all but spent: yet have I recorded these events, because I would have men know them during the period, short though it be, ere this woebegone world shall pass away."
[I. 4.] He introduces his narrative by a string of quotations from "the groans and lamentable cries of the much suffering Jeremiah, and the glorious |4 prophet Isaiah," spoken originally of Jerusalem, but applied by him to the Monophysite church; doubtless their most mournful expressions seemed to him, and that rightly, to find their fulfilment in the events of his own time; for it is thus that Scripture is the support and consolation of all ages, because its words whether of joy or sorrow are not confined to one fulfilment, but belong to all times and all individuals. These however we may pass by, and proceed to his history.
[I. 5.] For the long period then of more than forty years, all the congregations of the orthodox church had enjoyed a time of peace and tranquillity both in the capital and its suburbs; and in entire liberty, fully and freely and without fear, had assembled wherever they chose, and performed all the mysteries and ordinances of the church. But suddenly in the holy days of the Lenten fast, on the Saturday 1 before Palm Sunday, from the urgency and wicked violence of him who governed the church of the capital, namely John of Sirmin 2, a village in Syria, and from his numerous slanders against the whole party of the orthodox, the victorious Justin was |5 stirred up unto great wrath, and in an angry decree commanded that all the places where the believers assembled should be shut up, the altars in them razed, their priests and bishops seized and cast into prison, and all who met there for worship driven away and dispersed, and commanded never to enter them again. And other similar decrees and injunctions were issued in great wrath, whereas up to that time they had been permitted in peace and quietness to celebrate the rites of their religion.
The loss of a portion of the manuscript keeps us in ignorance of the measures which immediately followed. When the narrative recommences, we find the prefect sitting in judgment upon (apparently) an old man, who thus indignantly apostrophizes his judge.; [I.9] "...Why sittest thou as a Christian, and judgest the servants of God after the fashion of a heathen? Thou art not a living man, if thou dost not quickly burn me, a weak old man, and roast and eat me." Similar emphatic protests against the cruelty of the persecutors occur in other parts of John's history. The prefect on hearing himself thus addressed was alarmed, and moved by the prisoner's great age, commanded him to be conducted to the bishop: but he in great anger sent and imprisoned him at Heraclea in Thrace, where during two years he was so closely confined that none of his friends were permitted to see him; and as no change of raiment was provided for him, he was soon covered with |6 vermin: and when one of his former disciples who had heard of his state procured for him a supply of clothing, he was not allowed to give it him even by the hands of others. At the end of two years he sickened and died: and in his last words pronounced a solemn anathema, in case he should be buried by the Synodites 3, or if any one of them should dare to minister at his funeral, or offer over him a prayer. A crowd of orthodox Romans therefore in the neighbourhood undertook the charge of his burial, and wrapping his body as that of an illustrious martyr in cere cloths and spices, they conducted him in solemn procession towards the capital, uttering as they went cries of indignation and shame at the persecution of such holy men: and finally a party of believers from the capital went out to receive the corpse, as being that of a saint.
[I. 10.] The patriarch's chief attack however was directed against the monasteries, of which there existed many both in Constantinople itself, and its neighbourhood, and of these several had a very large number of inmates, especially the convents, in which the late queen Theodora had placed the nuns who in a previous persecution |7 had been driven out of Antioch, Isauria, Cilicia, Cappadocia, and the Roman provinces in the east. So powerful in fact were some of these establishments that they numbered more than three hundred members. Upon these then also descended the storm and tempest of persecution, and a murky cloud and terrifying darkness covered them; for there came clergy and laics with the prison-keepers, and sergeants, and along with them the body-guard of the prefect of the city; who being let loose upon them with barbarous violence surrounded the convents, and like a troop of wolves breaking into and falling upon a fold of sheep, so they rushed in, and laid their destructive hands upon the inmates, who were Christ's own lambs; and the clergy, who had brought with them consecrated bread, dragged and pulled them by main force to make them receive the communion at their hands. And they all fled like birds before the hawk, and cowered down in corners, wailing and saying, 'We cannot communicate with the synod of Chalcedon, which divides Christ our God into two natures after the union, and teaches a quaternity instead of the Holy Trinity.' But with angry words and main force they were dragged up to communicate; and when they held their hands above their heads, in spite of their screams their hands were seized, and they were dragged along, uttering shrieks of lamentation, and sobs, and loud cries, and struggling to escape. And so the |8 sacrament was thrust by force into the mouths of some, in spite of their screams, while others threw themselves on their faces upon the ground, and cursed every one who required them to communicate by force. Some of them then they thus reduced to obedience; but others who still resisted, and would not yield, they separated from the rest, and expelled them from their convents, and delivered them into the hands of the Roman sergeants, by whom they were hurriedly torn away, and taken to the city, and dispersed there among various houses and prisons; and, as was said, they there met at the hands of some with treatment too wanton and abominable for us to mention. But there is One, Who seeth their cause, even the righteous Judge, Who shall judge their cause and avenge their quarrel.
And thus then, and in this savage and barbarous manner, were the convents treated, both of men and women.
[I. 11.] The person who stirred up and occasioned and put into execution all these evils, was the John mentioned above as head of the church in the city. For he by his slanders inflamed the king against the whole party of the believers, and so worked upon him that at length he obtained permission to treat them as he liked: whereupon, by means of his satellites, he poured upon their ranks every where the blight of his wicked nature. For his measures were not |9 confined to the city, nor to his own diocese, but he wrote letters also to other countries, that he might stir up the like troubles and persecutions and miseries also there. He even went in person to the convents both of men and women, and to houses, and forced and compelled the inmates to communicate with him, and whoever persisted in refusing, both men and women, whether monks or clergy or nuns, he commanded in cruel wrath and without mercy, that they should be imprisoned separately in various monasteries, and finally pronounced against them harsh sentences of death. He managed also so to deceive and stir up their victorious majesties, that they did whatever he wished, and visited the convents one after another, the patriarch going to each first in person, accompanied by his clergy, to celebrate divine service there and reconsecrate them; after which he proclaimed in them the 'divided synod,' and fixed up his own pictures, and put in them clergy to celebrate the communion every first day of the week, and on the festivals, and days kept in memory of the saints. The following day the king visited the monasteries in person; and the next day the queen in like manner, offering each of them gifts, and restoring such monks as either had, or were ready to make their submission. But such as resisted were exiled, or sent into close confinement, or made over without mercy to the praetorian guards to torture, or given up to whatever bitter and cruel scourgings and ill treatment |10 the fierce and vindictive malice of their persecutors suggested to them.
The measure however which the orthodox most deeply resented was the annulling of the orders of their clergy. And this, as our historian represents it, was the result of mere caprice on the patriarch's part, who was so blinded by mere party rage as to be unable to perceive that such a proceeding was "contrary to reason and justice, and the canons." Probably however he was principally influenced by the desire of increasing the power of his see; for just at this time the bishops of Constantinople were making that attempt, in which Rome finally succeeded, of raising themselves to the headship of the Christian church. Constantinople was not merely then "a second Rome," as they delighted to call it; but from the disastrous state of Italy, it was raised in importance far above its western rival, and the residence of the emperor there, gave to its patriarch the opportunity of gaining for his plans the support of the secular power. Already we find them assuming the title of (Ecumenical bishop, so sharply rebuked a few years later by Gregory the Great of Rome; and probably John's purpose was to extend the authority of his see, by compelling bishops beyond its limits, such as Paul of Antioch, Stephan of Cyprus, &c., to submit to reconsecration at his hands, and return to their dioceses as his suffragans. The accusation of heresy gave him an excuse for meddling beyond his own proper limits, and we shall find |11 him trying his hand, though not successfully, with Alexandria itself. Be this however as it may, the narrative is as follows:
[I. 12.] The bishop therefore being full of the spirit of fierce opposition, and led away by violence and heat, and as a man blinded in the vision of his eyes, so he being blinded by the passion of hatred in his soul, and intoxicated as it were, ventured, after contriving to force and drive into communion with him by savage tyranny and violence, many priests of the orthodox party: after, I say, they had communicated with him, and been received according to their rank in the priesthood, the presbyters being received by him as presbyters, and officiating at the administration of the sacrament on an equal footing with his own presbyters, and sitting in a row with them inside the chancel; and the deacons also in like manner performing in company with his own deacons their appointed part in the services; and that not once merely or thrice, but on as many as thirty-six several occasions in all the offices of the church: after they had thus officiated with him in right of their previous ordination, and fulfilled all the order of their priesthood, then, after all this, the cruel thought entered his mind, as though he had been but a young boy, and violently, being elated with pride, and drunken with power and haughtiness, he gave orders, saying; 'We command all those who have given in their submission to us after being our opponents, that they be deposed from their |12 former priesthood, and be made priests by us anew.' And thus he now deposed them all, after they had acted as priests with him and in his presence thirty-six several times by right of their former ordination by the orthodox, and ordained afresh all who had submitted to communion with him. And great was their dismay and trouble at this proceeding, and they cursed and reviled both him and his lawless ordination. Several of them thus reordained he placed among the clergy of his own church: but many even of his own party blamed the step he had taken, as done wickedly and violently by him, in violation of church law and canonical order. Nor did it suffice him to act thus in his own person, but he even wrote letters to other countries, urging upon the bishops to follow his example, and do as he had done: his object being, not to bear the odium and blame alone of these illegal and disorderly doings, but hoping that others also would make themselves liable to similar complaints.
[I. 13.] Unexpected as was the outbreak of the persecution at the hands of the patriarch, still it had not been entirely unforeseen by the more thoughtful members of the orthodox party. For there had been before revealed to a worthy monk, in a vision of the night, what immediately and without delay was about to happen in the church of God. 'For he saw a lofty and broad mountain, on the southern side of which was a vast plantation of numerous churches, built row upon row, |13 until they covered a vast extent, standing close together, and being beautiful and comely and many in number. And he saw, and lo! suddenly John bishop of the royal city came, with clergy and many people with him, and ran upon them with violence, and began to root up and level with the ground all those churches: and he rooted up and levelled also the altars of them all, until he had made an end of them.' And quickly after this vision, after the interval of a few days, this very thing came to pass; for he came forth, and rooted up and overthrew the numerous meeting-houses of the churches of the believers that were in the city and in all its suburbs, according to the revelation, and according to the vision that had been foreshewn, and which manifestly in a short time was fully accomplished.
The patriarch's main difficulty, however, lay with the Monophysite bishops; and he selected Paul of Asia, bishop of Aphrodisias, and metropolitan of Caria, as the first object of his attack: and his proceedings shew how vast and despotic was the power to which the patriarchs of Constantinople had attained. [I. 14.] For Paul, as John tells us, was an honest and simple-minded old man, and was dwelling quietly in his monastery, when the patriarch sent his emissaries and arrested him, and threw him into chains, and imprisoned him in his palace: and by the severity of his treatment compelled him at length to submit to communion with him. He then sent him back |14 home, but wrote at the same time orders to the synodite bishop there to depose him from his episcopal office, and consecrate him afresh bishop of Antioch, a city of Caria. Which also was actually done, and they deposed him; and, as though they imagined that they had really stripped him of the priesthood, they now ordained him afresh, as if he had been a layman. And this became a mockery and derision to the actors themselves, and to his own people; and his clergy called him "the double-dyed." Whether Paul had been previously deprived of his bishopric does not appear, as John refers to the missing portion of his history for the reason why he was dwelling "in his monastery;" but probably he was under restraint there, and evidently had been previously removed from the discharge of his episcopal functions at Aphrodisias.
In a subsequent part of his history John relates the adventures of Paul at greater length, and even gives the very words of the recantation which the patriarch wrung from him. For apparently forgetting that he had already narrated to us his history, he writes as follows; [ II.42.] "The great sorrow of Paul also deserves to be related, who was a man honest and peaceable, and humble and guileless, and dwelt like Jacob in the tabernacle of his monastery, in the land of Caria, for a long time. And when John of Sirmin heard of him, he sent at once into Asia, and brought him bound and in chains to Constantinople, and imprisoned him in his palace in sore misery: and |15 by bonds and many tortures he forced him to submit to receive the communion at his hands. And because he felt shame at the gray hair and venerable character of the man, he did not reveal the fraud of his heart, and what he purposed concerning him. But after he had brought him to submission, and made him obedient to his will, he sent him to the bishop of Aphrodisias, with a letter in these words: 'Depose this man from his bishopric, and consecrate him afresh, and set him over Antioch, a city under thy dominion (in thy diocese).' And when he had received Paul and the letters, he at once laid hands on him,—for he had no idea of their artifice,—and said to him, 'See, the patriarch has sent me his commands to depose thee from thy bishopric, and consecrate thee afresh.' And he, on hearing this, began lamenting and saying, 'O heathens that ye are! lo, these many years have I been consecrated, and am a bishop, and, according to canonical order, three bishops took part thereat; and now, for what reason am I deposed contrary to the canon, and wickedly ordained anew? And if ye annul my priesthood, and ordain me afresh, then also first annul my baptism, and baptise me afresh.' And when they would not give way, but were even full of wrath at him, they took him tyrannically and violently and deposed him, and consecrated him afresh, while he smote upon his face, and his eyes became dim, and he grew blind. And so finally, in tears and lamentation over his state, and anxious only to hasten for |16 refuge unto repentance, death overtook him, and his old age descended in affliction and misery to the grave, reserving his cause for that Judge who judgeth righteously.
[II. 43.] John further adds a copy of the recantation which they forced Paul to sign without reading it, and which is as follows;
Act of recantation, which the counsellors of John wrote in the name of Paul, and laid it before him.
"I, Paul, who was a lost and erring man, having come to the knowledge of the true faith, and repented, and returned to the Church of God of my own accord, and by my own free act, without violence or compulsion, acknowledge unto thee, my Lord John, the oecumenical patriarch, by this writing, that I consent, unto my last breath, unto the Synod of the six hundred and thirty holy fathers assembled in the city of Chalcedon, and to the letter of the holy and blessed pope of Rome, as the confession and faith of Peter, head of the Apostles; nor will I again turn away or change from it for ever. And these things I have confessed and signed in my own handwriting; I, Paul, bishop, confess that I consent, and receive all that is written in this paper."
This therefore they brought for him to sign, but would not let him read it, or know what they had written in his name, falsely and treacherously professing that it was all his own doing, and testifying of him a testimony of lies without fear of God. |17
[I.15.] The patriarch's next victim was Elisha, who already was in confinement in a monastery called Bethdios 4, whence the patriarch took him, and imprisoned him in his palace, and by the most rigorous measures compelled him to submit to his communion, Elisha hoping, says John, even so to find an opportunity of escaping from his hands. But on the patriarch's wishing to send him to Sardes, the metropolis of Lydia, that he might be deposed from his episcopal office, and consecrated afresh, Elisha resisted, saying, 'All unworthy though I be, yet was I made bishop by the orthodox, and thou never shalt consecrate me afresh. If however thou thinkest that it is according to order to depose me, and consecrate me afresh, depose me first of all from the baptism wherewith I was baptized, and then baptize me a second time.' To this the patriarch craftily replied, that, after all, it was but the vestments which he took away. But Elisha would not for one moment consent, or submit himself to him, or listen to his words: and upon this he grew angry, and imprisoned him in another monastery called Beth Abraham 5, and |18 passed upon him a harsh sentence: and there accordingly he was detained for a long time, and underwent great affliction, until he fell seriously ill, when upon petition he was permitted to go to the warm baths attended by keepers.
[I. 16.] Far more severe and extraordinary was the treatment experienced by Stephan, bishop of Cyprus. He had aroused the wrath of the patriarch by warmly reproving him for seeking to annul the orthodox ordinations, and in return had been banished to the island of Plataea. Thither he now sent a body of clergy to fetch him away, and along with them a number of lifeguardsmen (excubitores), with orders to beat him with clubs 6, until he vomited blood, or consented to their communion. Twelve of them accordingly beat him until he fell down speechless in the midst, and lay apparently dead. But on seeing him lie motionless, and dying as it seemed, they ran, and brought four pails of water, which they dashed over him, and so after a long time his soul returned to him again, and he returned to life as from the dead. And thus by force he was compelled to submit to |19 communion with them; but even so he was less influenced by his own sufferings, than by the knowledge that several of the believers who had sent to supply his wants, had been arrested and thrown into prison on his account, and that in case of further resistance on his part, they intended to attack them, and plunder their property. They took him therefore, and brought him to the capital, where much discussion took place between him and the patriarch, but finally he was compelled to submit to their communion.
When however John required him to consent to the annulling of his orders, and his reconsecration to the bishopric of the island of Cyprus, he contended with him and resisted him, and finally made an outcry, and began to exclaim, 'Woe is me! If thou purposes! to depose me from the priesthood of the orthodox, and ordain me afresh, depose me first also from my baptism, and baptize me also afresh, and then thou shalt depose me from my priesthood and ordain me again. For by the life of the Lord God, if thou dost not baptize me afresh, I will never suffer thee to ordain me afresh.' And as this took place in the church, a great tumult arose, and multitudes flocked together, until Stephan rushed suddenly away, and entered the king's presence, terrifying him also, and exclaiming, 'Woe! woe! Christianity is ruined: the regulations of the Christian church are overthrown: all the constitutions and canons of the church of God are confounded and trampled under foot, and are |20 undone! What means this wickedness, that contrary to law the priesthood of the orthodox Christians is annulled by those who are now in power, and another new one substituted in its place? For lo! these twenty years have I, unworthy though I be, been a bishop canonically consecrated by the orthodox at the command of Theodosius, patriarch of Alexandria; and now that I have yielded myself, and submitted to you, this man, acting in the same wicked way to me as he has done to many others, wishes to depose me also from the priesthood of the orthodox, and to ordain me afresh in his own. Let him show the canons where he learnt this; or say whether it is from ignorance and not understanding the canons of the church, that he thus acts; or whether, knowing them, he insults them and tramples them under foot, in his pride and haughtiness and wrong-headedness. If too this commandment proceeds from you, and he thus acts with your privity, let every one know it: but be well assured, that his purpose is, that after your reign is over, the blame and fault of breaking the canons shall rest upon you, and he intends that you should be included with him in the violation of the laws of the church. If moreover it is with your privity, and by your command, that he annuls our priesthood, and ordains afresh, command him also to annul our baptism and confer it afresh, and so let him proceed to reordain us as priests. For so the nineteenth canon of the three hundred and eighteen fathers commands, |21 with reference to the pernicious heresy of Paul of Samosata, and the like, that they are first to be baptized again, and then such of them as are worthy are to be made priests 7. And this regulation was made because of the wickedness of their heresy. Now then let this man show first of all what his pretext is for thus acting, and for being so puffed up with pride as to depose and ordain us afresh.' When the king heard these things, and perceived that Stephan had good reason for finding fault, and was supported by the canons in his arguments, he was in a maze, and like one just roused from a deep sleep; and himself also blamed and reprobated the proceeding, saying, 'In very truth this is done wrongly and without law, and is contrary to the whole constitution of the church, for the priesthood to be annulled and conferred afresh; and it is monstrous and entirely foreign to all the constitutions of the church.' And then he commanded that such a thing should never again be done in the church |22 of God: and published immediately a royal edict forbidding every one from ever again venturing to annul the priesthood, except in case of the heresies in which the canons so ordain. And if, it proceeds, any bishops are proved guilty of so acting, they are to be immediately deprived of their sees and sent into exile. When however the edict was drawn up, and John knew that a decisive order was about to be published, he and his partisans contrived by bribery to put the obnoxious decree out of the way; and it was never again seen!
And there was great enmity between John and Stephan on this account all their days.
[II. 3.] In a subsequent part of the history, mention is again made of Stephan, where, after an outline of the previous narrative, our historian tells us, that this event led to much confidential intercourse between him and the king, who appointed him bishop of the island of Cyprus, and honoured him greatly, and also granted for his sake a considerable alleviation of the taxes there. It appears further that Stephan continued in union with the council of Chalcedon, the arguments employed being possibly too powerful for him to wish to experience them a second time, but used his influence on more than one occasion in mitigation of the treatment to which other monophysite bishops were exposed.
[I. 17.] The pretext, though, as the event proved, it was but a false and deceitful one, on which John and his counsellors summoned the bishops together, |23 who had previously been exiled by him from their sees, and imprisoned in various monasteries, was, that he wished to confer with them as to the best mode of reconciling all parties, and establishing unity in the Church, On this pretence then he first took Paul the patriarch from the monastery of the Acoemetae 8, and imprisoned him in his palace, and then the rest, one after another, until all four were confined in the same prison, that is, Paul, and John (our author), and Stephan, and Elisha. No discussion, however, was permitted, but they sent them in the prison a paper containing words to this effect; 'You must unite yourselves to us after the manner of the union |24 between Cyril of Alexandria and John of Antioch.' Upon receiving this message, they both understood and despised the wickedness practised towards them, and sent in answer, 'Ye have counselled well: and we therefore, provided we have leave to do and practise that which Cyril did, and may excommunicate and eject and drive out of the Church of God the Synod of Chalcedon just as Cyril did the wicked Nestorius;—upon these terms we will not oppose you upon other matters, but will unite ourselves to you without hindrance. If, however, it is not your pleasure to permit us to do that which Cyril did, how or in what manner craftily plan ye to require of us the union which finally took place between Cyril and John, when the very first step that Cyril took. is forbidden us?'
Nor was this retort the sole rebuff which the patriarch had to endure from the Monophysite bishops: [I. 18.] for on a subsequent day, when they were brought into his presence to dispute concerning the faith, and the corruption of it by the council of Chalcedon, and concerning also his own proceedings, they took the initiative, and reproached him strongly, and argued with him, and rebuked him manfully, urging him with questions, and saying, 'O master, and chief ruler of the church, shew us by what canon or ecclesiastical constitution you have been taught, and received the practice of annulling the ordination of the orthodox bishops, and the rest of the clergy, many of whom have been more years in |25 orders than your father has lived: and yet nevertheless you depose and ordain them afresh in the priesthood of the two natures, the followers of which proclaim and teach a quaternity instead of the mysterious and holy Trinity? In what ecclesiastical constitution have you discovered, and lit upon this right of annulling the priesthood of the true orthodox, and creating afresh in its place another priesthood of the synodites? What is your pretext, or what fault find you in us, or what heresy, such as the canons enjoin, that you take and depose those, who themselves find fault with you, and flee from your communion because of the heresy of the two natures, and because of the blasphemies of the synod, and of the letter of Leo, which proclaim and teach a quaternity instead of the holy Trinity. You least of all men have the right, under pretext of heresy, to find fault with, and condemn them, and pronounce their ordination invalid. If, however, you think you have the right thus illegally to depose them, tell us wherein your right consists, and we will henceforward cease to blame you. For if you have persuaded yourself, that this practice of your's to depose true priests, and ordain them again, in violation of all the constitutions and canons of the church, is a right one, you should also have annulled their baptism, and baptized them again, according to the purport of the canons. For the sixteenth (really the nineteenth) canon of the 318 fathers, which treats of the pernicious heresy of Paul of Samosata, |26 ordered them to be baptized afresh: and that then such as appeared worthy should be ordained priests again. If therefore you now consider in yourself, that you have received back from heresy those whom you have treated with as much cruelty as if they had been captives taken in battle, and ordained afresh, why have you observed one part of the canon, but set at nought its previous requirement?'
The patriarch listened in silence to these arguments, and knew that his acts were worthy of blame, nor had he any defence to offer for them: finally however he answered as follows; 'As I perceive that you are troubled and offended at this annulling of your orders,—for so I conclude from what you have said, and to which I have given a patient audience,—if this matter is set right, and the annulling of your ordinations discontinued, will you be contented, and enter into union with me?' But they replied, 'What setting right is possible, after all this corruption and disorder which you have wrought contrary to law? Nor have your proceedings even been confined to your own diocese, nor limits put by you to your violence and heat and hatred, but you have extended even into other countries this your violation of law, and your opposition to all the constitutions and canons of the church: as regards which, one of two things must be the case, that either in ignorance of their injunctions, you have broken and transgressed them,; and trampled them under foot, or, if acquainted with |27 them, that you have despised and contemned them, and purposely set them at nought. But of this be well assured, that whenever the time shall come, whether in your lifetime, or, if so be, after your death, there will be a strict investigation, and canonical inquiry into all these transactions, if the world last so long, and the existence of the church of God. Moreover your last proceeding is a thing worthy of wonder, and a proverb, and the clapping of hands; whether it be the result of hasty passion, or of hatred, or of the pride of power; or whatever was the object for which you did it; do you settle this and decide it in. your own mind, and whether it was an act fittingly done, and after careful examination; that after you had fallen upon your captives, as if they had been the spoil of war, or like a robber on his prey, and forced them to submit to communion with you; that then, after they had taken part with you in thirty-six consecrations of the Eucharist, and the liturgies during the whole feast of Passover as well as subsequently, and you had received them in right of their former ordination, and had made the presbyters sit with your presbyters in the chancel during all those days called the love feasts, and similarly had admitted the deacons to perform the office of the diaconate with the rest of your deacons, and had placed them according to their degree, that then finally, after all this, you ventured upon the annulling of their former ordination by some strange act of senseless audacity. |28 But a point which we would now leave to your consideration and judgment is this, that in case you were determined, contrary to order and the canons of the church, thus to act, you should have done so before you had admitted them to officiate with you at the consecration of the Eucharist, and not, after all these communions, at which they had been present and taken part with you by right of their former priesthood, then to turn round, and depose them and ordain them afresh.' Much further was said on both sides, which from its copiousness and length we must omit; but it proved to him that his conduct was open to censure, and that, if he examined what he had done, he could not acquit himself of fault, especially in his last and most extraordinary act of annulling the orders of those whom he had himself admitted to officiate with him. Upon these points his silence plainly showed that he felt he was wrong, as he had nothing to answer but arguments of a most trifling and unmeaning character.
[I. 19.] As the followers of the synod perceived that their plans had so far failed, the victorious king Justin next undertook to frame an edict by which he hoped to bring about a union. And when he had carefully copied it out, he sent it direct to the bishops imprisoned in the patriarch's palace by the hand of Zachariah, a learned man 9, and chief physician of the palace, |29 born at Arx Romanorum, and originally, as was generally supposed, of the orthodox persuasion. Him therefore the king sent with a copy of the edict, and a message to the following effect: 'The merciful king has sent you this edict, which he has had copied for your sakes, that ye by its means, together with the rest of your party, may be brought into union with us. And he permits, and even commands you, when ye have read it, to correct in it whatever ye see to be deficient and in need of correction: and whatsoever is deficient in it for a correct confession of faith, such as ye wish should prevail, add to it without fear.' The bishops accordingly having received this command took and read it, and saw that it was incomplete: for though there were expressions in it at variance with the council of Chalcedon, yet there were others borrowed from it, and in defence of its views. In accordance therefore with the command they had received, they drew up heads, under which they arranged the corrections, which if their opponents would consent to admit into the edict, they were ready, they said, to unite themselves in the fullest manner with them. The same messenger then who had brought the edict took the amendments, but showed them first to his privy councillor and adviser John, and the rest of their confederacy, who upon hearing them were in fright and alarm, and great fear fell upon them. For |30 should the bishops succeed in obtaining the insertion of their corrections, they would tear up by its very roots the whole heresy of the two natures. And the strict Nestorians 10 were even in greater alarm than those only half so; and agitated and made an uproar throughout the church, running to and fro, and stirring up both clergy and people, and saying, 'If we accept these conditions, the whole church is thrown into confusion and overturned.' And finally their whole troop assembled together, and went to the king, and endeavoured to persuade him not to admit the corrections into the edict; and at the same time stirred up the members of the court to use their influence in their behalf, many of whom were not sound in their faith, and especially the quaestor, whose name was Anastasius, of Palestine, and who was not only an heathen, but a Samaritan.
When then they had entered the king's presence, and the corrections had been read to him, they pleased him greatly, and he gave orders for their admission into the edict, and that a fair copy should be written out. Upon which all present, clergy and laity, and the members of the senate, strove with him, saying, 'Depend upon it, my lord, that if you admit these corrections into |31 your edict, and these men enter the church, it will be forthwith overturned and ruined: and in seeking to recover and get back a few, you will make men leave the church in tens of thousands.' And when some of them grew vehement in their opposition, he became angry, and turned his face upon them, and said, 'These chapters are right: but as for all of you, I know that you are Nestorians, and diseased in conscience, and rejoice not in a sound faith: and if you are not quiet, I will loose and bring out those bishops, and set them upon you, and make them fall upon you like wolves, nor will you be able to stand before them.' And then he commanded the quaestor to bring him before sunset twenty copies of the edict, with the corrections inserted; or, said he, 'I will take off your head!' And at this the agitation of the whole gang of Nestorians and semi-Nestorians grew extreme, and they buzzed about like a swarm of bees, and at length succeeded, partly by supplications and partly by terrifying him with the picture of the confusion it would introduce into the church, in prevailing upon him, after much importunity, to consent to leave the matter to their will; nor did they permit him to insert more than one or two trifling amendments: while, on their part, they introduced heretically into the body of the edict a rule to the effect, that the customs of the church were to be observed; which was a device, and crafty addition in favour of the synod, enjoining its |32 proclamation 11 in accordance with their custom. And, by this they intended to render a union impossible, and trusted to make the wheel revolve in their favour as Nestorians.
[I. 20.] Immediately that the edict thus amended was brought unto him written out fair, he signed one of the copies, and sent it to the bishops who were in prison, with a message, saying, 'See! now we have made a union upon the terms you require, and have sent you the edict, and you therefore cannot refuse to unite yourselves unto us; for it is for your sakes that I have composed this edict.' But the bishops, on reading it, saw that some fragments merely of the corrections which they had proposed were there, selected at the will of the other party, and therefore they rejected it, because their opponents had confused and mutilated it, according to their own fancy: and though they had not ventured, through fear of the king, to expunge those expressions of his which were opposed to the two natures, yet they had managed to insert in it so much of their own, that while some parts were against the synod, others were strongly in its favour, and plainly were borrowed from it and on its side. The answer, therefore, which the bishops gave to those who brought it was, that "if the |33 stumbling-block and source of the confusion of the whole church, the synod namely of Chalcedon, were entirely taken away, the church would stand in no need of the edict: but if it were to be proclaimed in the church, not a thousand such edicts, though fixed up in all parts and in every quarter, would bring about a unity, but produce rather schisms. For it is both opposed to the synod, and also contends in its behalf: and both sides of the argument are to be found in it.'
[I. 21.] As they had thus rejected the terms proposed, the patriarch threw upon them the odium of the continuance of the schism, and every day, in company with those sent unto them to represent the king's person, he protested, saying, 'See, it is you who prevent and hinder the unity of the church of God. For, after all our efforts for fifty years 12, you are still driving it away, and resisting and grieving it, and not willing to come to any terms of peace.' But they in answer said, 'How do we prevent unity? A thing which you will not touch with one of your fingers, except so far as outside words go and trickery, that you may be supposed and imagined really by men to be in earnest after unity; and throw, if your devices succeed, all the blame upon us. And what is the unity you would make? or how can |34 you expect us to come to terms with you, while you still retain the synod which has uprooted and troubled the whole church of God, and proclaim it, and love it? If. however, you are really anxious to bring about a unity according to your words, remove the snare and offence out of the level pathway of the faith, and eject it from God's church: and so, not we only, but all the believers, with joy, and free from all cause of stumbling, will unite ourselves to you.' And much more of the same sort was said, which we cannot detail because of the great thickness of paper which it would require; which passed between them every day in mutual discussion, but which, from the abundance of the words and the mass of writing, we have passed over and neglected, lest it should prove an annoyance to those who fall in with bur history.
[I. 22.] But this was not all the bishops had to suffer, for they were also in disgrace with the chief laymen of their own party. For even before the persecution broke out, and the trials and distresses and imprisonments which it brought upon them, they were sharply reproached by other members of the orthodox party, who argued with them, saying, 'Why do ye thus persist in dispute and obstinacy, and hot make some compromise and give way a little, that there may be unity in the church of God? Why stand ye thus with stiff neck, and resist those who are in power, without having any care for us, whom ye are ruining with our sons and daughters and |35 our substance? But what care ye that we lose our property, and become beggars?' And as these reproaches had even before been addressed to them by the orthodox, annoyed at the loss of their wealth, and as now moreover the synodites protested against them every day, saying, 'Ye are the persons who stand in the way of unity,' they fell into great grief, and spent both day and night in sorrow and bitter weeping, sitting over against one another in tears and wailing and sobs, and saying with sad words, 'What then shall we do? for lo! we are blamed by both sides, and testified against, and found fault with: and while we are imprisoned here in misery, and no leave granted to any friend to see us, our opponents say and proclaim to the chiefs and nobles of our party, that they earnestly desire unity; and so we have to bear the whole blame of preventing unity, for every body will suppose that what they say is true. And thus we are exposed to the attacks of both sides, and shall be compelled to yield, and trust ourselves to the treacherous promises and false oaths of our opponents; though we know that they have no truth in them, and that they are unworthy of being the means of restoring unity. Should we however still resist them, we shall be held accursed of both sides even unto the end of the world, as the impeders and hinderers of the unity of the church of God, while they will have their false professions believed, and will gain the credit of being ready to effect a union, had not |36 we repelled their efforts.' These, and such as these, says John, were the words they spake one to another during many days, with tears and groans; and he adds his protest, as in the presence of God, that his report of them is true, and himself present and an eyewitness of it all. I. 23. The discussion lasted thirty-three days, during which they were ranged against one another in sharp dispute: those on the side of the synod being clad in all the pride of power, while those who dissented from it were shut up in prison, and bitterly oppressed. And whenever their presence was required, they were loosed and taken out of their prison, and brought into the patriarch's court 13, where they were allowed to sit down, and the disputation began, and lasted as long as those in power permitted. For when either they were beaten in argument, or otherwise chose, the bishops were sent away, accompanied by their keepers, and were imprisoned within three sets of guards, the innermost being the bishop's own, the second consisting of men |37 belonging to the emperor's body-guard, while the third was the foreign guard, who kept the outer watch. Nor were they the only sufferers, for their confinement was shared by their dependents, and not merely by the clergy and monks and other freemen, but even by their slaves, all of whom without distinction were imprisoned in dark and bitter dungeons in the palace, and closely watched. Nor was this all, for they were stripped as bare as thieves could do it by the patriarch's body-guard and apparitors, who not only took from them their coats, but even trifles of no use to them, together with their shoes and girdles and belts; and in fact whatever was found upon them they took away, and left them upon the bare ground, with scarcely clothing to cover them, or food sufficient for their maintenance. Nor was any one allowed to visit them, or supply them with anything whatsoever either for their own wants, or for the use of the bishops. And instead of the promised unity, they and their friends had to bear all these evils and griefs and temptations; and the more so because they had plainly beaten in argument those who were thus torturing them.
[I. 24.] Finally the bishops gave way: for on one occasion being summoned as usual into the patriarch's presence, they found not only John there sitting as president, but also some high officers sent to represent the king's person, who sharply reproached them in his name for their obstinacy, saying, 'How long will ye thus resist and |38 prevent the unity of the church of God, which our lord the king, and we also, are anxious to bring about, but which blessing you day by day prevent, and drive away? When will you cease thus to show plainly to all men that you are the disturbers of the church, and you alone? Now therefore, in short, either unite yourselves to us, or make it evident that it is you who trouble and disturb and hinder the unity of the church.' But the bishops in grief and deep sorrow said, 'Were matters justly tried, and by upright rules, it is not we who hinder union, but you, who, while the very centre of your heart is full of the corruption of opposition and division introduced at Chalcedon, wish to make it appear that we are the hinderers, while ye neither have proposed to yourselves, nor shown that you possess even the shadow of unity. What you fraudulently require is, that we should unite ourselves to all the falseness of Chalcedon, without seeking in the least to bring about in a just and upright manner a real union of the church. And now, as we have said from the beginning, if you wish really for unity, and your purpose is not rather to bring about a fraudulent deception and wicked artifice, put away first of all the cause of this division from between us, and at once unity is established in its place. Do not then falsely throw the blame upon us. And besides, supposing that this simple plan has never entered your minds, why, we ask, do you every day thus oppress and wrong us? why do you add |39 to our anxieties pain and the misery of imprisonment, and the other wrongs which without fear of God you inflict upon us, while every day you further torture us with your words, and pierce thorns into our sores? Have you no fear of God, when you see that, lo! already our lives are consumed and spent and gone from the troubles which surround us on all sides? If therefore you really propose to make union, as your words declare, put away the council of Chalcedon, which has troubled and divided, and caused schism in the church, as you yourselves cannot deny, and so will a unity, free from all division, be established throughout the whole church of God.' And to this John and his assessors replied, 'It is you who prevent the ejection of the synod from the church: for if you united yourselves unto us, forthwith the synod also would be ejected, and the unity become complete.' To this the bishops answer, that they can conceive no other explanation of his conduct than the wish to make them accept the council of Chalcedon, 'of which be thou well assured, said they,and all besides, that until the last breath cease from the nostrils of each one of us, the anathema of the synod and of Leo's letter, which conspire in dividing our Lord and God and Saviour into two natures after the union 14, shall never |40 cease from our mouths.' But John and those with him answered, 'As we have often said before, so now, both we and our lords, their majesties, give you our word, and our oath as in the presence of God, that upon your union with us the synod shall immediately be put away: and whatever comes out of our mouths shall not be changed.' But still the bishops doubted, and said, 'If you really intend to do as you say, why do you not reject the synod at once, that not we alone, but all men without hindrance may join you? Plainly your object is rather to take us by subtlety, and make us accept the heresy of the two natures, and then afterwards you will turn round and laugh at us. If this however be really your purpose, be assured that you delude and deceive your own selves: for we know full well that your purposes and thoughts are not for unity, inasmuch as it is quite evident that what you say is not the truth, and that you pretend to be ready in words only, that we may be thought by every body to be the sole obstacles to union, and be anathematized both by you and all the world as the disturbers of the peace. Nevertheless, we will sacrifice ourselves for the sake of unity, for confiding in your words and promises, and acting as though already the synod were anathematized and ejected, we, with its anathema nevertheless incessantly in our mouths, |41 will communicate with you, once, or if so be, twice; but as for a third time, until the anathematizing and ejection of the synod has taken place, we will have neither part nor communion with you for ever and ever. For we know that you will not establish the truth of your words. But to make it plain and evident to all men that you are not prepared to make unity, but purpose to deceive us and all men, lo! we yield ourselves up to communion with you, as often as two times.' And much more was similarly said and protested on both sides, and so at length the bishops gave way, saying, 'Because of the slanders brought against us by the synodites, see, we yield ourselves up that it may be known that we are not those who prevent union.' For every body blamed them on both sides, saying, 'See, their majesties, and the patriarch are anxious, and in earnest and ready to make union, but those in prison prevent and hinder it.' And therefore they yielded themselves up with great sorrow, and anathematizing with loud voice the council of Chalcedon, submitted themselves to communion twice, as they had promised and agreed, after having strenuously demanded of the king and patriarch, with many adjurations during all those three and thirty days its anathematization and expulsion from the church.
The bishops apparently twice communicated with their opponents, and were let out of their prison: but upon pressing for the ejection of the |42 synod, the patriarch and his council began, as our historian proceeds, to alter their words, and make excuses, saying; 'We will write to the pope of Rome: and if he assents, we will eject the council: for we cannot for your sakes separate ourselves from Rome.' To which the bishops sadly replied: 'Now may we also repeat the word of the prophet Jonah, [Jon. iv. 2.] " Was not this my saying, when I was yet in my country?" But now at least it is known and made plain to all men, that not we in our prison, and in bitter misery, are the obstacles to unity, for which we have yielded ourselves up, but that those who are clad in power, and oppress us, have been false to their promises and oaths, and seek nevertheless to throw all the blame, not of this generation only, but of all future times, upon us, as though we hindered and prevented the unity of the whole church of God: but now men will say, "See, they have sacrificed themselves for it, though treachery has been used towards them.'"
[I. 25.] But who can suffice to write or to detail the misery and grief and lamentation and breaking of heart, which came upon them after they had thus fallen into communion with their deceivers, and submitted to union with them, when union was never intended? For now their strength was spent and gone, and their eyes swollen and blinded with weeping and lamentation night and day; and scarcely might the grief of a woman for the husband of her youth be compared with theirs. For they could no longer eat their usual |43 food, but remained fasting and without consolation, while their tears flowed unceasingly and unremittingly, and they sat with their faces covered, and bewailed with bitter cries and groans one unto another; and especially that now, after so many conflicts and imprisonments, and afflictions, they had thus been taken by false craft, and submitted themselves, and fallen, while all hope of unity was far away, and the promise made them unfulfilled. So sad was their state, that those who had deceived them how tried to comfort them, when they saw them thus consumed, and surviving only for grief, and said, 'Why do ye thus kill both body and soul, as if ye had sacrificed to idols? What have ye decreed against yourselves, that ye continue thus weeping and lamenting, and choking yourselves with grief? Take food, and be comforted, and live, and not die.' But though this and much more was said by their opponents, they refused to be comforted, and sat the rather in mourning and weeping; and after spending many days in indignation after they had been released from prison, they finally returned, and stood up manfully, and reproached them even more boldly than before, chiding and reviling them for their false and treacherous conduct; and so they were again delivered up to prison and to tortures even more severe than what they had previously endured: and at length were sent in bitter wrath each into separate exile.
[I. 26.] Before their banishment however their anguish |44 of mind had moved the pity of Justin and Sophia, who sent for them to the palace, and comforted them, saying; 'Why do you give way to violent lamentation, till you are thus dejected, and more like men dead than alive? Cheer up, and be comforted: for we purpose in God to content you, and unite you to us in perfect unity. Do not despond.' But they argued with him at great length upon the promises made them, and which had been violated, and not put into execution: and finally he said to them, 'As we are preparing to go to the hot-baths, wait for us for twenty or thirty days, and be assured, that we will return at once for your sakes, and talk the matter over with you, and content you: and the whole church shall be one, and unite us all.' And so they were dismissed from his presence, after having detailed to him at great length their complaints.
[I. 27.] The king continued at the baths a full month, and then, according to his promise, set out upon his return. But before he had reached the city, while still on the other side of the straits at Chalcedon, the patriarch John, accompanied by his partisans, went out to meet him, and as it appeared, brought fresh accusations against his prisoners, saying, 'These men have separated themselves from us, and withdrawn from the church entirely.' They now formed a plan for making trial of their determination, and deceiving them again: and drew up for this purpose a schedule of the chief cities, and sent it |45 to them by the quaestor, with this message; 'Inasmuch as we have a care for your peace, and are anxious for your honour, and wish to give you a share of authority, see, we have sent you a schedule of the cities of most note, not venturing of ourselves to name that over which you are to preside, but leaving it to your own will, that you may choose each one of you the city that best pleases himself.' And when the illustrious quaestor had received the schedule, and arrived at the city, he summoned the bishops, to place the schedule in their hands, and delivered them the message as above, with much beside as coming from the king. But they would not look at the schedule, nor receive it from him, saying, "Tell the victorious king, that we did not sacrifice ourselves for the sake of being made bishops of cities, but in expectation that the promised unity would be fulfilled. For bishops we are, however unworthy. If then the promises of unity are fulfilled, and the oaths so repeatedly made us during so long a space of time, we are content. For relying upon them, and that our slanderers might not be confirmed in the assertion that we were the hinderers of unity, we yielded ourselves to communion with those who have acted falsely by us, and thought therein that they were deceiving us, whereas really they were deceiving themselves, and not us. And if now the synod is not ejected, according to their promises and oaths, and unity made, Heaven forbid that we should ever hold |46 communion again with those who make mention of its name for ever and ever.' And upon their expressing this as their firm determination, and refusing to receive the schedule, the qusestor grew angry, and went and told their words to the king; and he too was angry, and rose up in great wrath, and gave utterance to many threats against them, and stern denunciations; which also subsequently he executed.
[I. 28.] His first act was to summon the patriarch of the city, whom he accosted sternly, and with many contumelious expressions said, 'You are the man who have made the bishops turn back, after they had been prevailed upon with much labour and difficulty to promise to communicate with us: and you now have turned them back from us.' And in great excitement he commanded the senate to proceed to the patriarch's palace, and sit in judgment upon the matters in dispute, the patriarch also being upon his trial, and in case of their deciding that he was wrong, he said, that he would condemn him also.
[I. 29.] On the morrow then, in accordance with the king's command, the senate, accompanied by the quaestor, proceeded to the patriarch's palace, and the bishops were summoned to trial, and required, as a matter of command, to continue in communion with the partisans of the synod, keeping quiet, and not requiring any further concession. But they stood up, and strove powerfully and manfully in contest with them, and without fear openly convicted them of all |47 their deceitful promises, and false oaths, and of the truth rejected by them, and trodden under foot; and after much besides they proceeded with great boldness to anathematize publicly to the senate the whole heresy of the two natures. And this they did stoutly as a thing of primary, and of secondary, and even of final importance: and also, by a sentence of entire separation, withdrew and separated themselves for ever from their communion. And much besides was done and said there in manly contest, until the wrath of the senators and of the patriarch blazed out upon the bishops, and they commanded that they should be dragged by the throat out of their presence, and separated from one another, and sent into exile. And the sentence was quickly put into execution, and they were taken away, and separated, and never saw one another more, being sent into banishment, some to monasteries, and some to islands in the sea, and some to oppressive and bitter imprisonment in hospices 15, it being part of their sentence |48 that they should be kept in confinement, and that neither friend nor stranger should be permitted to see any one of them. And much besides was decreed against them, cruelly, and sternly, and without mercy, in bitter anger, and with iniquitous violence, as though they had been murderers.
[I. 30.] Now what has been here related and written may seem perhaps to those exercised in lofty knowledge, and acute in mind, and who judge things with nicety, to be but fiction, and a rhetorical composition merely of the writer, in words drawn from his imagination: for if not, 'whence,' they will say, 'had he the knowledge to enable him to narrate in this orderly manner, and describe and set down in writing all that was said by both parties; and that as if himself marshalled on one side, and aiming his shafts against the other, in combat for his own party?' Let then such as hold this opinion now know, that the writer of all these details was no stranger to the conflict, nor remote from the struggle, who, far away, upon report and by hearsay of others set down and described these events; but that he was one of those marshalled in the battle, and who, in earnest struggle equally with the rest, or even more so, manfully endured these sufferings, and patiently bore the pain of persecution and imprisonment: and let them know too, that not only the short summary contained in this book was spoken in argument with the king and patriarch, but a hundred times more |49 besides, which however he has omitted, for fear of making the narrative too long, and crowding it with Words without end. And though ranged on one side, that, namely, opposed to the two natures, as the narrative itself shows, he has observed, a strict neutrality, avoiding all calumny and misrepresentation of those opposed to him, and the temptation of establishing his own views; and has endeavoured, in accordance with his promise at the beginning of the book, to be the advocate of truth alone, and has observed the seal of truth for both sides, in whatever was discussed, and brought forward and spoken, though confining himself to a summary of the facts, inasmuch as scarcely the hundredth part of what actually was said and done could, on account of its length, be set down in writing.
As the person whom our historian next mentions belonged to an obscure sect, who have left but few traces of their existence in the pages of ecclesiastical history, it may be necessary to give a slight sketch of Conon and the Condobaudites. A fruitful source of heresy in the fifth century arose from the careless statements of earlier writers, who, before theology grew up into a science, made use of language partially inconsistent with the technical exactness of later times: and as an almost idolatrous reverence was entertained for them, an attempt was often made to give to their indefinite statements a precise and scientific meaning. Thus, for instance, |50 the Monophysites regarded Ignatius as a powerful witness in their favour, because he says, 'Permit me to be a disciple of the sufferings of my God: and similarly, from the passages in which writers like Justin and Tertullian speak as if the Persons in the Holy Trinity differ in degree, Conon and the Condobaudites argued that there were as many natures, substances, and Godheads in the Trinity as there were persons. Timothy, presbyter of Constantinople, in his work 'On the Reception of Heretics,' (Meursii Var. Div. Lib. p. 123,) defines their doctrines thus, 'The Condobaudites are those who say that God is one in number, and not in an exactly similar equality: and they take their name from a building in Constantinople, in which they used to assemble.'
Their other name of Tritheites was given them because of their doctrine leading to the confession of three Gods. Not that they exactly said this, but rather that there was a quasi subordination in the persons of the Trinity, as earlier fathers seemed to teach. But this name was fatal to their progress, and injurious even to the Monophysites, out of whom they sprung: for Bar-Hebraeus says that our author, John of Asia, complained of the disgrace brought upon them by their founder professing to belong to their party: and many even deserted them, and joined the Dyophysites, saying, that it was better to hold two natures, with the council of Chalcedon, than four Gods, with John Philoponus, the great exponent of their views. |51
This Philoponus, called also John Grammaticus, a very learned Aristotelian of Alexandria, is generally looked upon as their founder, but really he only defended their heresy, by an argument deduced from an exposition of what 'substance' is, according to the doctrines of his great master, Aristotle. Their real founder was a certain obscure John Ascunages, whose creed is preserved by Bar-Hebraeus: 'I acknowledge one nature of Christ the Incarnate Word, but in the Trinity I reckon the natures and substances and Godheads according to the number of the persons.' But for the learning of Philoponus the sect would probably have expired with its founder; but an adventitious importance was further given to it by its being joined by Athanasius, the son of Theodora's daughter, whose great wealth was freely expended in obtaining converts. And as this made it necessary to expose its unsoundness, a public discussion was held under the presidency of the Synodite patriarch of Constantinople, with the proviso however, that none but Monophysite authorities, such as Severus of Antioch, should be quoted. The disputants against Conon and his party were our author, John of Asia, and Paul, subsequently patriarch of Antioch, one of the four bishops whose sufferings we have just read. The discussion lasted four days, and ended in the complete defeat of the Tritheite party. Another leading Monophysite who wrote against them was |52 Theodosius, ex-patriarch of Alexandria. (Cf. Ass. B. O. ii. 328 etc.)
We may now, however, return to our author, whose narrative will be found to confirm the above statements of Bar-Hebraeus, and which is as follows:
[I. 31.] About this time Conon also was seized, who was at the head of the heresy of those who ventured upon enumerating the natures and substances and Godheads and Gods in the holy and consubstantial Trinity: and after his arrest, he too was imprisoned for a time with the rest in the patriarch's palace, and was required to sign a recantation as a heretic; but he resisted this, and would not. And when the victorious king learnt it, he swore by the Mother of God, saying; 'Though he consent, and go, and take the communion, yet if he make not a recantation, and express in it his penitence, I will not go and take the communion there.' Because then he was a heretic and a blasphemer, when about that time Photius, the son of Belisarius' wife, came to the capital, Conon was made over to him; and he took him with him to Palestine, and imprisoned him in the so-called New Monastery: where he remained three years, but was then set free, and went to Cilicia.
Their history is continued in the fifth book, and as it stands there quite unconnected with the rest, we propose to proceed with it here.
[V. 1.] The great difficulty which they found in |53 propagating their audacious and polluted heresy was the want of bishops. For at first there were but two, namely, Conon himself, the head of the schism, and Eugenius, both bishops of towns in Cilicia. When, however, their views became known there, they were greatly blamed by many of their compeers, and admonished: and upon their refusal to withdraw them, the sentence of deposition was passed upon them: upon which, they and Athanasius, the son of queen Theodora's daughter, who increased and multiplied the heresy by a liberal expenditure of gold, took measures in concert for obtaining a third bishop according to the canon; and for this purpose began honouring and flattering John of Ephesus, who was then resident at the capital, and had the administration of the entire revenues of all the congregations of believers there and elsewhere: their object being to prevail upon him by bribes and presents to submit to them, and join them, that so, they might consecrate bishops. But he refused, and blamed them greatly, and proved to them by argument that 'they were heretics, and worse even than Arians and Macedonians and Nestorians, and all heresies besides.' And when they could not cajole him, and lead him astray, there happened just then to arrive at the capital a certain Theonas, who had been consecrated at the command of Theodosius the patriarch, but subsequently charged with some offence, and deposed. ''As having then nothing to do, he wandered about; and happening to arrive there, was |54 easily induced by their gifts to adopt their error. Having associated him then with them, Conon and Eugenius consecrated numerous bishops, and sent them into all quarters to propagate their heresy.
[V.2.] The episcopacy thus founded by Conon and Eugenius, the heads of the heresy of a multitude of Gods, was in fact contrary to the canons and constitutions of the church, as being given by a man who had been deposed from the episcopate; but nevertheless, whoever came in their way, whether young or old, unlearned or wise, and, so to speak, all their disciples and followers, whoever joined them, they made them all bishops, and sent them in all directions and to all countries, and so gathered congregations in Rome and Corinth and Athens and Africa, and led simple-minded people astray after them. They even made a serious attempt to lead astray the Patrician Narses at Rome, having taken with them for the purpose with no slight labour two picked men, the sons of one mother, named Phocas and Theodosius: but he turned his face away from them, and would not receive them. They managed, however, to lead into their error some of his chamberlains and chiefs and generals.
[V.3.] Conon meanwhile, and Eugenius, had continued at the capital, even after they had been excommunicated, urging on their views, and arguing and deceiving people, and importuning them, and even going and complaining to the king that they were ill-used and slandered. Thereupon the king |55 issued a command to the patriarch of the city to bid both sides assemble in his presence and that of his whole synod, that they might debate together upon the doctrines about which they were at enmity 16, and of all of which an account is given us in the preceding books. And thus they acted, until Justin the king commenced a vigorous persecution, and sent them to Palestine into exile by the hands of Photius, Conon I mean, and Eugenius: while as for the other members of the party, they were far away, busied in traversing the regions of Syria and Cilicia and Isauria and Cappadocia, leading men into error, and ordaining priests and deacons in churches and monasteries, and cities and villages, until they even brought over whole districts to their views, and spread their heresy far and wide.
[V.4.] At Constantinople many still held to Conon for |56 old association sake: for his house had been at the foot of the palace, and they used to go down in their court shoes 17 and communicate in secret, and return and stand before the king without being found out. On this account, therefore, and because he showed himself to be an humble and righteous man, several of them joined in interceding for him, and he was set free, and departed from the monastery, in which he had been confined. The town to which he withdrew was called Eulae, and there he abode in a nunnery. And as all the people there, especially those of Cilicia and Isauria, were caught by his heresy, they ran after him, as though he had been one of the apostles, and glorified him, and adopted the error principally for his sake. Finally, however they severed into two parties, and opposed one another.
[V. 5.] An account of the error and schism into which these proclaimers of Gods fell, and the causes which led thereto, has been already briefly given in the preceding books 18, together with an |57 enumeration of the pernicious and mistaken writings of John Grammaticus of Alexandria, by which he first led them into error and imbued them with his views. For they all regarded them unanimously, and proclaimed them on all sides as though they had been a very gospel, and gloried in them. As then what took place in the intervening time comprises a considerable number of events, only one here and there can be recorded in our memorials, and the rest, on account of their mass, can neither be detailed nor related When however the second treatise written by this John Grammaticus reached them, in which he teaches that it is not these same bodies which arise from the dead, but that they are changed into other bodies, which come in their stead to the resurrection, it led them into still greater error, and rent them into two heresies, each of which was, if possible, more abominable than the other. For some of them did not receive this second treatise, but opposed and reviled and anathematized it: while others regarded it as more precious than the writings of the prophets and apostles. And thus they quarrelled among themselves, and stood in mutual opposition, and were divided and separated, and excommunicated each other, and exposed one another's errors in written treatises. And still do the two heresies stand arrayed over against one another.
[V.6.] In spite however of this schism, Conon and Eugenius continued their efforts, and paid a visit to Pamphylia, in the hope of converting it to |58 their views. This province had originally been occupied by the orthodox, and there are in it many large and noble towns, with churches, and numerous convents both of men and women. For long ago a portion of those named Acephali 19, as having no head, separated themselves, and migrated in great numbers to this country: but by the zeal and earnestness of the orthodox there, they had all been converted, and returned to orthodoxy, and with one accord were animated with the spirit of the true faith. From that time, at frequent intervals, orthodox bishops were sent to visit them, and set in order all matters relating to the church, such as the consecration of altars, and new churches, and monasteries erected there. They also ordained numerous clergy, and attended to whatever else was |59 necessary: And twice, to our certain knowledge, this miserable Eugenius, who had now fallen into heresy, was sent there on these visitations; and again other bishops at other times. Finally, however, the desire seized Conon and Eugenius of going to this country, and leading it into error, and winning it over to their heresy. But while thus busily occupied, the fated day arrived for Eugenius, and he died there; and Conon returned to Constantinople.
[V. 7.] The cause which induced him to proceed thither was as follows: previously to the schism among the Tritheites, and their separation into Cononites and Athanasians, the founder of the latter sect had made his will, and after naming the king and queen as his chief heirs, he directed that his slaves should be set free, and each one receive a legacy: he further left bequests to various friends, and to Conon a considerable sum of money to be expended on charitable objects, besides ten litres of gold for himself, to be paid immediately: and as we are told that a litre was equal to twelve ounces, the legacy amounted to about £500: nor was this all; for he also gave him two litres as long as he lived, or about £100 a year; and in estimating the value of this, we must of course take into consideration the greater quantity of commodities which could be purchased for the same weight of gold. Having sealed this will, Athanasius deposited it in safe keeping at a time anterior to the breaking out of the schism: but |60 when this took place, and they mutually excommunicated one another, and finally published hooks against one another, full of bitter revilings, Athanasius purposed to change his will, and exclude Conon from it, but died suddenly: and when his will was opened, Conon took what was written in it, while still excommunicating him who had left him the money. And this then was the reason why he came to the capital. But on his arrival there, John of Asia, that is, John of Ephesus, sent him the following protestation: 'How long, O wise man, dost thou not take it into thy thought that thou art a mortal, and that thou must stand revealed before the dread tribunal of justice, and that there thou must give an account why thou permittest thyself to be called lord, and hast thy hands kissed by a sect of the church of the living God, who delivered Himself up for its sake? Why persistest thou in such folly, since thou must know that all, to whatever side they belong; whether it be thine or ours, are alike on their way to God? Let us both then, both thou and my unworthy self, while we continue in the body, abstain from all violence, of which Satan is the author, and be clothed in the gentleness and lowliness of Christ our God, and draw near to one another in mutual love, and put an end to this dispute and schism. And evilly as matters have gone in our days, and m our intercourse with one another, yet let us now, while we still survive, break down and destroy the |61 wall of enmity between us, that false doctrine may not thus continue in the church of God. To this Conon replied; that he should be glad if it could be so: but without giving any further answer, he took the gold that had been left him, and returned to Cilicia, where he delighted himself in his heresy, as much as a drunkard in his wine.
[V.8.] But though Conon was thus indifferent, it was not so with the rest of those who proclaimed substances and natures in the Godhead; for being blamed by every body, and despised also by their own hearts, they often clad themselves in sheep's clothing, and begged that they might be reunited to the orthodox church: from which indeed they had gone out, but to which they had never belonged; for if they had been of it, they would have continued in it. Concealing therefore the guile of their hearts, they said that they wished to return to unity. But when they came to converse, and were required to repent, and cease from saying that there are substances and natures in the Trinity, lest thereby a diversity of Gods, and Godheads, such as the heathen hold, should enter into Christianity, they immediately declined, saying, 'We cannot but affirm that the substances and natures are capable of being numbered.' To which the orthodox replied, 'that the faith of the church confesses one God, who is known under the three persons of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost: three persons: three names: one Godhead, and one substance; one nature: |62 one Lordship, and might, and will, and kingdom, and authority, and dominion, in heaven and in earth: one three; and three one, without division and without confusion. How then can ye desire, though ye confess it not openly, to introduce into the catholic church, by these crowds of Gods, which like heathen ye hold, the doctrine of a diversity (number) of substances and natures, while in pretence, and not in truth, ye desire to be united to us, and guilefully devise and form plans for seducing and drawing aside the whole church to your heresy?' And so they were sent away blushing and ashamed; but their present failure did not prevent them from often making similar overtures, both at Constantinople and in other quarters of the empire.
[V. 9.] Especially both in Alexandria and Syria the same attempts were again and again made. For when they found that they could not cajole those at the metropolis, they proceeded to Alexandria, and drew up an act of recantation, in which they skilfully inserted their confession of faith, and presented it to Damianus 20, the successor of Peter in the patriarchate there: but when he further required of them the denial of a plurality of natures and substances in the Godhead; and also, that they should excommunicate John Grammaticus and his three books, which had |63 been the original cause of their error, they showed that they were ready to anathematize the third book, which denied the resurrection of these bodies; but the first, in which was contained the doctrine of a diversity of Gods, they refused to reject and anathematize: and he therefore excommunicated and deposed them. They made the same attempt also more than once in Syria; but finally, when they saw that their wiles did not succeed, they continued without further attempts at union to hold their pernicious heresy even to this day.
[V. 10.] Thus rejected by the orthodox in all parts of the empire, the Tritheites made an attempt to lessen the general odium in which they were held by forming a Catena, or literally, a large book of lacerations, which those of them who considered themselves to be philosophers tore from the living body of the writings of the holy fathers, in the idea that it established and confirmed their heresy. But of them the law of God speaks in its command, [Ex. xxii. 31.] 'Ye shall hot eat flesh torn by wild beasts;' for they tear dead limbs from the argumentative works of the holy fathers, imagining that they thereby prove that the fathers generally, like themselves, introduce and teach a plurality of substances, that is, of existences in the Godhead. But, without perceiving it, they only convict themselves thereby of. teaching and proclaiming a plurality of Godheads and many Gods, as the heathen do. |64
[V. 11.] The further history of the Tritheites is given in few words; for these teachers of polytheism under Conon and Eugenius as their heads, flourished for a time greatly, and multiplied their bishops, and sent them in all directions to increase and establish their heresy, and posted also several in the capital, who opened there large meeting-houses, and gathered numerous congregations, to whom: they taught their tenets boldly and without fear because John, the patriarch of the city, was originally inclined to help them. But when, upon his death, Eutychius returned as his successor, he sent and seized all he could find of that portion of them, who separated themselves from the followers of his own favourite heresy 21,—the denial of the resurrection of the body,—stripped their churches of their furniture, and overthrew and uprooted their altars: while their bishops and leading men he arrested and confined in various? monasteries, where they were forced to remain in inactivity for many years.
[V. 12.] One alone recanted his errors and returned to the orthodox church, a Cilician bishop, consecrated by Conon, but whose name is not given, though he is said to have been a man of note. |65 When, however, he knew and understood the false doctrine contained in their heresy, he turned from them, and offered to the orthodox a writing of recantation, and anathematized the Cononites, and their heresy, and was added to the side of the believers.
Elsewhere we have an incidental mention of them under the name of Condobaudites, a title, which, though frequently applied to the followers of Conon generally, seems properly to belong to a small section confined to Constantinople, where the monastery was situated, from which they took their name.
[II. 45.] Their existence, it seems, was owing to their dislike of a sermon preached at the capital by Theodosius of Alexandria, against the two heresies of the Tritheites and the Sabellians, certain expressions of which offended them as appearing to imply that he also introduced a diversity of nature and substance into the Godhead. For this reason they withdrew and assembled apart, but they had no head, and no one to make priests for them: and therefore they often made the attempt to gain admission into the communion of the believers. Conferences accordingly took place, and such of them as had knowledge to discern what was fitting, united themselves unto them; and such as had no knowledge foolishly and without fitting reason wickedly continued as they were.
In his account of Conon, the Tritheite heresiarch, John mentioned that he was delivered into |66 the hands of Photius, with instructions to imprison him in Palestine; and this induces our historian to give some details respecting this personage, who, individually worthless, is nevertheless deserving of interest on account of the ill treatment he experienced from his mother, Antonina, wife of 'the patrician Belisarius,' and the bosom friend and confidante of the unworthy Theodora. [I. 32.] Photius had been bred, he tells us, to the profession of arms, and had accompanied his stepfather in several campaigns; but, finally, for some reason, into which he does not enter, he had assumed the tonsure 22, and the monkish dress, though he by no means conformed to their morals, but had put on the appearance of a monk under a borrowed name,—by which is meant, not that he concealed who he was, but that his adoption of the profession of a monk was but a pretence. And this soon led him to repent of the step he had taken; for shortly afterwards, being unable to quell the savageness of his temper, and bend it unto piety, he betook himself to the king, still clad outwardly in the monastic garb. Now it so happened that the Samaritans were in a state of revolt, and the king therefore sent him with full powers into Syria. As his wish then was to please men, and anger the God who made him, by running on every pretext after impure gains, he gave himself up to the spoiling and plundering and oppressing |67 of mankind, till he became their uprooter and destroyer; and all the regions in the east, great and small, were ruined as utterly as if they had been pillaged by barbarians: and so great was the terror he inspired, that even the bishops and clergy of the cities fled from before him: for if he heard of any one whatsoever, either in the city or the country, possessing in sufficiency his daily bread, he seized them, and plundered them, and imprisoned them, and hung them up, and tortured them, and imposed upon them a fine of a pound of gold, whoever they might be, whether they were worth as much or not. Nor could he be induced to alter his sentence, even though a man had to sell himself and his children into slavery, and his household, and his substance. For when he layed hands on any one, whatsoever he said, Give me so many pounds of gold: for the king has need of gold to expend upon his wars. And in this way he gathered together hundreds of pounds of gold, and sent them to the king, in order that he might obtain authority and power from him to do whatever he liked to whomsoever he liked, and that no man might stand before him. For he even exacted large sums from bishops; and if any one resisted him, forthwith on the very spot he strung him up to a rope fixed either behind his head, or to his elbows, or to one arm. And in this way, it is said, he served the bishop of Askalon, on whom he levied a contribution of three hundred pounds of gold; and when the bishop bewailed, and |68 begged for mercy, saying he had not so much, he ordered him to be hung up by a rope, and left him hanging, and went on his way, leaving orders that though he should hang for three days, they should not let him down till the money was paid. Nor was he loosed from the rope till the three hundred pounds of gold were brought. And he treated the rest in many instances in a similar manner, till the land trembled before him, and all the magistrates and governors and the rest of the lords. And when many went to the king, and in his presence implored for mercy, he wrote to Photius, saying, 'The money you send us being got by plunder is a sin;' but he wrote in reply, 'Do not you be afraid, my lord, of sin, in respect of the gold which I send you: the sin is on my; head.' In these doings he was accompanied by a crowd of monks fit for such deeds, and members even of the imperial family, and officers of the household troops, and guardsmen, and a host of Romans 23. And when in this base course |69 of destruction and wickedness and cruelty, devoid of all fear of God, he had fulfilled a period of twelve years, his alloted time overtook him, and he descended to the tomb by a miserable end, and with an accursed remembrance. And there was appointed in his stead a certain Abraham, the abbot of what is called the new monastery in Jerusalem.
Returning from this digression, our historian I.33. proceeds with some further particulars respecting the persecution, and says, that in the midst of it a missive was sent to Alexandria, the chief seat of the orthodox, requiring the presence of certain of their learned men and jurists, or, as they were then called, sophists and scholastics, and with them many others, including some of their great shipowners, the most powerful class in that wealthy city. Their secret purpose in requiring their presence was to compel them to communicate with the synod, but their pretext was the wish to consult how they might best restore the unity of the church. And in fact they did treat with them in both ways, but finally required them to communicate. But they refused, and resisted for many days, or rather for a whole year, manfully, nor would they give way or |70 submit in the least. And, finally, they were let go, because those in authority were afraid to proceed to acts of open violence, as the capital depended upon Alexandria for its supplies of wheat. A few, however, of them were detained for a period of three years, but when they proved inflexible, all alike were set free.
[I. 34.] The heads, however, of the orthodox clergy at Alexandria were soon afterwards arrested and sent to the capital on a different charge: for information being sent to the king that the bishops there, upon the death of the blessed Theodosius, had consecrated, not one bishop in his stead, but two, he was highly displeased, and ordered the arrest of all their leading men, and that they should be sent to him,—and this was also done, for they were arrested and conducted thither, and detained for about a year, until the patriarch John died, and was succeeded by Eutychius, who had occupied the throne before him, and who immediately upon his arrival dismissed them to their homes 24.
[I. 35.] But besides these some pious Egyptians were also summoned to the capital to search into future things. For again and again they sent to Egypt to bring from thence certain hermits who had the reputation of knowing secrets, and |71 of understanding things future; as for instance, how many years the king and queen would live, and who would be his successor; and other things. of the same sort. And some of them, when required to prophecy these things, refused, and confessed that they knew nothing about them: but they spake of correction and judgment and righteousness, and that the doing of these things pleases God, and brings men near unto Him. Such, then, as would not consent disgracefully to give an answer as men-pleasers, according as they were required, were immediately sent away and driven from the city to go to their own land: while those who, through desire of human applause, yielded themselves to the task of discerning the secrets of future time were held in honour, and lived in ease and luxury, with their wants supplied from the royal table. And this was done, not once only, but again and again.
[I. 36.] But to return now to the main thread of the narrative; although the monasteries, as has been mentioned above, were treated with lawless violence, yet but few of the members had submitted to communion with the patriarch, and the rest had been expelled, and sent to other monasteries, while clergy were everywhere introduced in their stead, to celebrate the holy communion, and administer it to those who had yielded to him. The name, moreover, of the synod was written up, and proclaimed in them, and the pictures of all the orthodox fathers taken down, and those |72 of John himself every where set up. But as he had done, so was he requited of God.: For after his bitter and painful death, and the succession of Eutychius his predecessor upon the throne, his pictures in all places were utterly destroyed, and those of Eutychius fixed up in the churches in their stead. Most also of the nunneries returned to their old creed, and became orthodox, except a few young girls, who still went every day and received the sacrament from the clergy in communion with the synod, and assumed the monastic dress: but the rest openly seceded, and not a single one of them would take the communion at their hands, especially after the death of John.
[I. 37.] And even before his death. John, still intoxicated with wrathful zeal for the persecution of Christians, and thirsting, like a wolf, for the blood of the lambs, went into the presence of the peaceful and serene Caesar 25 Tiberius, being anxious to inflame him also with the same angry zeal as himself. But after he had exhausted his arguments against the believers, the Caesar replied, 'Tell me now the truth: who are these persons about whom you ask me, and whom you urge me to persecute? are they heathens?' The patriarch, knowing that deceit was |73 impossible, answered, 'Heathens' they are not.' 'What then,' said he, 'are they heretics?' 'No, my lord,' he replied, 'neither are they heretics.' 'Well then,' said he, 'as you yourself bear witness, they are Christians.' 'They are so indeed,' he replied, ' Christians of the Christians.' 'If then, as you bear witness,' said the Caesar, 'they are Christians, why do you urge me to persecute Christians, as if I were a Diocletian, or one of those old heathen kings? Go, sit in thy church, and be quiet, and do not trouble me again with such things 26.' And so the heat of his savageness cooled down, until the wrath of Heaven overtook him, as we have mentioned above, and he departed from this life. And when his successor, Eutychius, returned to his throne, being incited by those clergy who had become habituated to plunder and rapine, he also had an audience with 'the serene Tiberius Constantinus Caesar,' and spake much against the whole party of the believers. But he gave him also for answer; 'We have enough to do with the wars against the barbarians, which surround us on every side: —we cannot stir up another war against Christians. Go and sit quiet. If however, by word and admonition, you can persuade them, do so: but if not, let them alone, and do not persecute |74 them, nor trouble me, who am exposed to the attacks of war from every quarter.' And so he also was rebuffed for the present, and kept quiet.
[I. 38.] But even while John lived, the orthodox congregations grew in strength, and lifted up their heads again. For though he had driven away their inmates, and closed their doors, yet when God sent down upon him from heaven the chastisement of his heavy wrath, they all began to take courage, and reopened them: at first indeed timidly, and quietly, and little by little, and so even during his lifetime they obtained considerable additions to their number, and multiplied. But when he was scourged by the wrath of God, and his mind enwrapped in the deadly fire which was fixed in his heart and burning in his bowels, the orthodox acted more boldly; and finally, his adherents and the ministers of his wickedness, as if knowing his will, went unto him, and said, 'Lo! once again these enemies of the church and synod have opened the doors of their meeting-houses, and are spreading more than ever, and rejoice in thy sickness, and pray for thy death. But if thou wilt give us the command, we will torture them more sharply than at the first, and heap evils upon them.' But he in wrath, and with loud voice, resisted them, saying, 'Depart from me, ye murderers, and be content with my humiliation; for it is ye who have chiefly brought me to this miserable state. There are curses enough already uttered, which |75 have roused and brought down upon me the wrath of Heaven. Away with you, and let no man ever mention this subject again in my presence.' And so they departed humbled from before him. And thus then, as we have said, both before his death, which was not long delayed, and after his death, the congregations of the believers once again met in full security.
[I. 39.] One monastery 27, the history of which deserves especial mention, was built by the famous eunuch Narses, when holding the office of chartulary at the court of Justinian, before he was sent to restore the fortunes of the empire in Italy, His purpose had been to retire from the palace, and adopt the monkish tonsure, and reside in it; and with this object he located there the monks who had been driven out of Cappadocia by persecution, and purchased a large estate, upon which he erected a magnificent church, and a hospice for the reception of strangers, and finally, endowed the monastery with large revenues. But just then he received orders to proceed to Rome: and there, by the help of God which went with him. he gained numerous and important victories in many successive campaigns. And there finally he departed from this world, and his bones were brought and deposited in his monastery, in the presence of the king and queen, |76 who took part in the procession, and deposition, of the relics, and in his canonization as founder.
[II. 46.] In a subsequent part of the history, we have some further particulars respecting these Cappadocian monks, who found but a temporary resting place in Narses' monasteiy. When he took pity upon them, they had just, in the height of the persecution in Justinian's time, been expelled from a large and well built convent belonging to them in Cappadocia, the name of which was Gordison, and were no less than seventy in number, men aged, honourable and zealous. And compelled to wander from place to place, they erected buildings, and tried to establish themselves, but were repeatedly driven away, until finally they lit upon a good and fertile piece of ground, replete with every thing essential for their maintenance, at Cardynias, near the warm baths of Dephatia, upon the straits to the south of Constantinople. This one of the king's chamberlains, who was a believer, purchased for them, and they settled there, and planted a vineyard, and built a large church. In process of time the whole band of venerable elders slept in their graves, and young men alone remained: and finally, when king Justin, attended by the queen and the whole senate, were on their way to the warm baths, they sought admittance and lodged in this monastery; and by promises and gifts prevailed upon them to submit themselves, having commanded both that their former monastery, from which they had been originally driven by |77 persecution; should be restored to them, and also granted them a remission of taxes. And thus they brought them to submission, and imbued them with their errors, after they had struggled for a period of twenty years under the miseries of persecution. And now they were divided, for part returned and took possession of their former monastery, and part stayed where they were. And they were confused and troubled: for their ship, so to speak, was wrecked at the very mouth of the haven, by their complete perversion from the orthodox faith.
The rest of the first book is occupied with some details respecting the episcopal succession in the three great patriarchates of Alexandria, Antioch, and Constantinople, as follows:
[I. 40.] 'As regards the synodite bishops at Alexandria, after John, who had originally been a patrician at the capital, but was sent there, had fulfilled his years and died, there came as his successor one Eulogius, the head of a hospice at Antioch, who was made pope there in the third year of the victorious Tiberius, And of the Julianist party Dorotheus was bishop, and occupied the see for many years. And of the followers of Theodosius (that is, the Monophysites) after his death, first of all a Syrian was created bishop, named Theodore, the governor of a monastery. But when the clergy and others learnt of his appointment, they turned away, and having refused in violation of canonical order to |78 receive him, they took the haughty resolution of consecrating another besides, whose name was Peter; and when he had fulfilled his time and consecrated more than eighty bishops, he died and they elected in his stead a Syrian, named Damianus, and continued in a state of schism 28.
[I. 41.] At Antioch the Great, in Syria, Flavianus was patriarch in the days of king Anastasius, but being convicted of the heresy of the two natures, he was deposed from his throne, after occupying it certain years. His successor was the orthodox Severus, who held the see six years; but at the |79 commencement of the reign of Justin I., he was expelled, and after spending some years in the Egyptian desert, he died there. For a year Antioch had no bishop, but finally there came down Paul the Jew, who had been dean of the church of St. Euphemia at Chalcedon. He took down the diptych on which was inscribed the name of the synod of the East 29, but after occupying the see two years, he was proved to be a Nestorian, and was also ejected and expelled. And in his place came Euphrasius, a Samaritan, in whose seventh year Antioch was overthrown by an earthquake, in which he lost his life. And after him was Ephraim of Amid, the son of Appianus, a worse persecutor than either Paul or Euphrasius, and after certain years he died. And his successor was Domninus, a Roman, who was followed by Anastasius, who had held the office of Apocrisiarius at Alexandria: but accusations were laid against him before Justin II., who deposed him, and sent in his stead the abbot of the monastery of Mount Sinai, whose name was Gregory.
And on the part of those opposed to the synod |80 of Chalcedon 30, first of all, after a long time had |81 elapsed, they consecrated in the place of Severus, one Sergius, a man sprung from the town of Tela; and after fulfilling three years, he died at the capital, where he chanced to be. And again after an interval Paul was appointed as his successor, an Alexandrian, and Syncellus of Theodosius of Alexandria; but who, as regards his government and fame, fell upon evil days: for by reason of the schism which took place between him and the blessed Jacob, the church of the believers was split into two parts, and both sides entered upon unappeasable wars and contentions one with the other. And the opponents of Paul, after Jacob's, death, set up, contrary to law, another patriarch at Antioch, named Peter, |82 of the city of Callinicus. Such then were the events which followed in rapid succession, up to the time when these things were written, and which is the year eight hundred and ninety-two (A.D. 581).
[I. 42.] At Constantinople during the reign of Justinian, on the death of Epiphanius, Anthimus was translated to the patriarchate, having previously been bishop of Trapezuntium. And after holding the see a year, on Severus of Antioch being summoned from Egypt by the command of Justinian, that they might confer upon the means of unity, and Anthimus had learnt by the arguments of Severus the unsoundness and erroneousness of the synod of Chalcedon, and the blasphemies of Leo in his letter, he left the throne of the capital, and withdrew and united himself to Severus and Theodosius of Alexandria. And after him the metropolitan see was occupied by a certain Mennas, who had been the warden of Sampson's hospital. And when he had fulfilled his years, he left this world: and in his stead arose a young monk, who was Apocrisiarius of Amasea, and when he had occupied the throne about twelve years, he was deposed and ejected, and John, a Syrian, of Sirimis, a village in the territory of Antioch, succeeded him. And upon his appointment he pronounced sentence of deposition against Eutychius, and Eutychius pronounced a similar sentence against him. And after John had fulfilled twelve years and a half, he died: |83 and Eutychius was summoned again, and returned to his throne 31.
End of the First Book of the Narratives of the Church, in which are contained forty-two chapters.
[Footnotes have been moved to the end and renumbered]
1. a The words literally are, 'on the Sabbath of the dawn of the first (day) of the week of Hosannahs.' In the Syriac service books, Saturday is still called the sabbath, and Friday "the preparation" paraskeuh&, Mark xv. 42. The other days are called, "one in the week," "two in the week," &c. The week commencing with Palm Sunday is " the week of Hosannahs," and Passion week " the week of the mystery."
2. b In Evagrius this Patriarch is called 'Iwa&nnhj o( a)po_ Siri/mioj.
3. c By the Synodites are meant the followers of the general council of Chalcedon, A. D. 451, in which the doctrine of the two natures in Christ was authoritatively decreed. His own party John styles "the orthodox," "the believers," &c. So Leontius de Sectis says that Justinian was notoriously sunodi/thj, a follower of the council of Calcedon.
4. d This monastery was erected in Constantinople by Dios in the reign of Theodosius the Great, and was appropriated to monks of the order called Acoemeti, who flourished about this time. Du Fresne Const. Chr. iv. 123.
5. e Bandurius, Imp. Orient, p. iii. 56, says that 'the monastery, made without hands, was built by Constantine the Great, that he might put the monk Abraham there, whose name it subsequently took.' Among the signatures to the council of Constantinople is Alexander, Archimandrite of the monastery of St. Abraham.
6. f The word applied to this punishment, namely,[Syriac], is evidently the corruption of some Greek perf. participle passive, and is construed with the verb to make. The sense requires that it should come from spaqi/zein, fastigare, to beat with clubs, but by some process the q has been changed into a r. The Olaf is as usual prefixed to a Greek word beginning with j.
7. g The words of this canon are as follow: "As to such Paulianists as have subsequently fled for refuge to the Catholic church, the rule is, that they be all without exception baptized afresh. And if any previously were in the number of the clergy, if they were clearly free from blame and reproach, after being rebaptized, let them be ordained by the bishop of the Catholic church. But if on examination they be found unfit, they must be deposed. And the same rule must similarly be observed respecting deacons, and generally of all who are in the list of clergy. The deaconesses, as being so only in dress, and not receiving any ordination, we consider are to be reckoned entirely as belonging to the laity." Mansi ii. 678.
8. h These monks, whose name signifies "the sleepless," were so called because they were divided into courses, and maintained service day and night in their church. Although accused of following the heresy of Nestorius, they rapidly grew into importance, and possessed several monasteries in other parts of the empire, in addition to their great house at Constantinople, of which mention is frequently made by ecclesiastical writers. (Du Fresne, Const. Chris. IV. 151.) As regards Paul, whose name occupies so considerable a place in this history, he was consecrated patriarch, of the Monophysites on the death of Sergius, (conf. p. i.), by the famous Jacob Zanzalus, to whom the sect owe so much that they finally adopted his name, and take their place in history as " the Jacobites;" which again was shortened in Egypt by the Arabs to, "Copts," the name by which the Monophysite Christians are there known. The bitter hatred felt towards him by the Alexandrians, his compulsory submission to the council of Chalcedon, the quarrel which thence issued with Jacob, his flight and concealment, and the strange circumstances of his death and burial, will be found fully detailed, and put into a new light, in the pages which follow.
9. i Literally " a sophist." His high position in the favour of Justin is shown by his having sent him to sue for peace from Kosrun after the calamitous capture of Dara. Bar. Heb. Chron. p. 89.
10. k Our author considers the whole of his opponents as really Nestorians, and adds therefore the epithet "strict" to indicate such as confessedly agreed with that heresy, whereas the council of Chalcedon, and consequently its regular followers, anathematized it.
11. l The proclamation of the council of Chalcedon involved its acceptance as an oecumenical synod: but this was the very point at issue, the Monophysites regarding it as destitute of authority, and its decrees as invalid.
12. m Though the patriarch uses the term fifty years to express an indefinitely long period, yet it agrees closely enough with the commencement of Justinian's reign, in A. D, 519, from which time constant efforts were made to heal the breach occasioned by the council of Chalcedon.
13. n Literally "Secretum," but, as Du Cange shows in his notes, ad Alex. 269, 307, the name is applied by the Byzantine writers to the judicial courts. Among the ecclesiastical authorities, the treasurer had his court, in which he tried matters referring to the church revenues, and which was called Secretum oeconomi; in the Secretum sacellarii accusations were heard against the clergy and monks for dissolute living: while the patriarch had two courts, to_ me/ga Se/kreton, and to_ mikro_n Se/kreton, in which he sat to discharge the public duties of his office. Const. Christ. ii. 162.
14. o These words contain the definition of the Monophysite creed, as appears from its frequent occurrence in our author, and in the works of Severus of Antioch, who in his letters, e. g. Lib. V. Ep. 54. says, "The Chalcedonians divide our one Lord and God, Jesus Christ, after the union into a duplicity of natures." (Add. MSS. Brit. Mus. 12, 181. f. 30.) They did not deny the existence of the perfect godhead and the perfect manhood in Christ, but asserted that after their union, it was the very essence of Nestorianism to distinguish them.
15. p The cenodoxei=a, or hospices, were buildings erected in connection with monasteries, for the entertainment of strangers, and so important was this use in a country where inns were unknown, that the xenodochium was frequently the reason why the monastery was erected, or at least fixed its site. From their utility the emperor Julian ordered hospices to be erected in all the chief, cities, and maintained by the state, Epist. XLIX. In the middle ages the name was frequently used as identical with monastery: and in the passes of Switzerland such hospices still exist, as that of St. Bernard, &c.
16. q This discussion is also mentioned by Photius (Bibl. p. 5. ed. Bekker), who says that Conon and Eugenius opposed the vain labour of Philoponus respecting the resurrection, though they agreed with him in rejecting the synod of Chalcedon: but when, in a discussion held before the patriarch John, of which the acts were still extant, between Paul and Stephan on one side, and Conon and Eugenius on the other, they were required to anathematize John Philoponus; they not only refused to do so, but quoted passages from Severus and Theodosius in support of his views. They are, he adds, orthodox in holding a consubstantial and connatural Trinity, one God and one Godhead; but they blasphemously say, that the substances are divisible, and the Godheads and natures distinct, so as for there to be the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Bar-Heb., as we have seen, substitutes the name of John of Asia for Stephan.
17. r The campagi were shoes worn only by the emperors and the chief officers of their court; and subsequently they were adopted by the pope of Rome; and George Metochita tells us that Michael Cerularius, patriarch of Constantinople, broke off communion with Rome because the pope would not let him wear 'a pair of scarlet campagi.' At the present day cardinals are also allowed to use them.
18. s To these lost books our author referred also a little above. John Grammaticus is the same as John Philoponus, the latter title being given him from his industry, the former from his profession.
19. t The Acepliali were so called because they rejected the henoticon of the emperor Zeno (cf. Timothy, as quoted before); for so little did the early church distinguish between the province of the temporal and the spiritual power, that they received with complacency an edict of one of the most contemptible of the Greek emperors, published by him for a political purpose, and the object of which was to keep out of sight the synod of Chalcedon, and so put an end to the disputes which its decrees had occasioned. By anathematizing those who divided Christ, it satisfied most of the Monophysites, and by equally anathematizing those who confounded Him, it secured the approbation of the followers of the council of Chalcedon: and as it condemned all bishops who refused to sign it to degradation and exile, it was so generally received, that the few Monophysites who rejected it for not expressly anathematizing Chalcedon. were left without emperor or patriarch, and called therefore 'the headless.'
20. u This Damianus was himself the founder of a sect called after him the Damianitae. Their doctrine apparently distinguished God absolutely from God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, whence they are also called Tetratheites.
21. x This refers to what John asserts in ii. 36,51, that Eutychius was a zealous follower of that portion of Philoponus' doctrine, which teaches that at the resurrection the bodies which rise are not these present bodies, but new ones in their stead. As Theodora's nephew adopted this tenet in opposition to Conon, its followers are known in church history as Athanasians.
22. y The tonsure, as I have shewn in my notes to Cyril, was at this date peculiar to monks.
23. z The spatharii were the emperor's bodyguard, so called from the a-nddrj or broadsword which they wore. By Romans are meant the inhabitants of Constantinople, who had so appropriated this name that the modern Greek language is to this day called Romaic, and the country about Constantinople Roumelia.
The despotikoi\ were members of the imperial family. The later emperors often even called themselves 'despot' upon.their coins.
The domestici were the emperor's household troops, to whom was intrusted the charge of his person: and as they were generally selected for the command of other troops, the word domesticus became equal to captain, just as the comites or immediate attendant of the kings in the middle ages became high officers, 'counts.' It was also the title of an ecclesiastical dignitary, whose business was to preside over the chanting in church—in modern phrase, a precentor.
24. a The fourth book of John's history, from the thirteenth chapter to the end, is chiefly occupied with the detail of the disastrous consequences to the whole Monophysite party of the consecration there by different factions of two opposing bishops, Theodore and Peter.
25. b The title Caesar at this period of the Byzantine empire signified the successor designate to the throne: and he was usually addressed by the epithets of "serene," and "peaceful," just as the emperor was always "victorious," the patriarch "merciful," and so on.
26. c This story is related again in B. iii. 12, with the addition, that Tiberius said to the patriarch, "Now on your oath," and that though John was a great hypocrite, he would not venture on oath to tell a falsehood.
27. d This monastery is mentioned in the Chronographia of Theodosius Melitenus, p. 95. edidit Tafel, thus, e0pi\ 'Iousti/nou Narsh=j kti/zei th_n tw~n Kaqarw~n e0pilegome/nhn monh&n, e0kklhsi/an perikallh~ kataskeua&saj.
28. e Of John, Le Quien (Or. Ch. ii. 438) knows nothing more than that his consecration at Constantinople instead of Alexandria gave great offence, as an invasion of the rights of the latter see, and that after an episcopate of eleven years he died A. D. 578, or 579. Eulogius succeeded, he says, in the second year of Tiberius, but, according to our author, the third. To him Gregory the Great addressed his epistle against the claim of the Constantinopolitan patriarchs to the title of universal bishop, and the frequent mention of him in the Bibliotheca of Photius, attests the important position he held in the East. The Julianistae took their name from Julianus of Halicarnassus, who argued that the body of our Lord not merely did not see corruption, but was incapable of it: and the character of the times and place may be judged from the fact, that having agreed on having a bishop in common with the Theodosians, but imagining that they were not fairly used in the selection of an abbot named John, they seized the unfortunate man, and flayed not his beard only, but the skin of the whole lower part of his face. Le Quien argues, that Dorotheus was bishop, not of the Julianists, but of the Theodosians, but the testimonies he quotes all agree with our author. Theodore was unknown to Le Quien, and his acquaintance with Peter and Damianus was also very slight.
29. f The Chronicle of Edessa, Ass. B. O. I. 408, says, 'By the providence and care of the God-loving king Justinian, the four holy synods had their names inscribed on the diptych of the church, to wit, the names of Nicaea, Constantinople, Ephesus, and Chalcedon.' That of Ephesus is here meant by the synod of the East, which was generally distasteful to all persons of Nestorian tendencies.
30. g Flavianus, after a thirteen years' episcopate, was ejected by a provincial council in A. D. 512, for not condemning with sufficient readiness the council of Chalcedon, as they considered that his anathema of it was wrung from him. The expulsion of his successor, Severus, was the first act of Justin I., a determined upholder of the Chalcedonian tenets, and took place in A. D. 517: how long he lived afterwards is uncertain, but he was alive and at Constantinople in A. D. 536. His deposition was followed by long discussions, so that no successor was appointed till early in A. D. 519, when Paul came to Antioch with special directions from Rome that he was to be consecrated in his own see. Having however taken a strong course against the Monophysites, he was compelled to withdraw in A.D. 521. His successor, Euphrasius, is said by Evagrius to have been a Jew, and Theophanes says that first of all he expunged the name of the synod of Chalcedon from the diptych, and that of the pope of Rome; but finally repented, and proved his sincerity, as Malalas testifies, by putting many of the so called orthodox to death. Ephraim was originally Comes Orientis, but his care of the people of Antioch in the distress occasioned by the earthquake, made them vehemently desire him to take orders, and be their bishop. He held the see eighteen years, and an account of his writings in defence of the council of Chalcedon may be seen in Photius Bib. cc. 227, 228. Domnus, or Domninus, was bishop from A. D. 545 to A. D. 559. Anastasius is famous for his bold resistance to Justinian, who had asked his opinion about his favourite theory of our Lord's body being incorruptible. His deposition in A. D. 569 is said to have been caused by his answer to the question, sent to him from Constantinople, why he so squandered the revenues of his see? 'That Justin may not plunder them,' he replied, 'who is the ruin of the whole world.' But others ascribe it to his resistance to the attempts made by John Scholasticus to claim the right of consecrating the other patriarchs, as in the case of John the Patrician mentioned above. Of Gregory, who held the patriarchate from A. D. 569 to A. D. 593, whose business talents caused him to be repeatedly employed by the Roman emperors on'the most important transactions in the East, very extraordinary revelations are made by our author, whether they are true or false. His own friends extol him for three things—his bounty in almsgiving, the readiness with which he forgave injuries, and the copiousness of his tears. Le Quien ii. 729-736.
Of the Jacobite patriarchs, Bar-Hebraeus names Sergius as the immediate successor of Severus, and says he was a monk in a monastery near Tela, or Constantina in Osrhoene. After an episcopate of three years he died, and the history of his successors, Paul the Black, and Peter of Callinicus, is so fully given by our author, that any further details are unnecessary. The patriarchate thus commenced has continued to the present time, and Le Quien gives the history of no less than 80 persons, who up to A. D. 1721 had held in regular succession the oversight of the Monophysites in the East.
31. h Epiphanius succeeded John the Cappadocian A. D. 520, and after a patriarchate of fifteen years died in 535. Anthimus his successor was appointed by the influence of Theodora, but as Marcellinus tells us (ap. Le Quien, Or. Chris. i. 223) he was expelled by a synod summoned by Agapetus, pope of Rome, for having deserted his original diocese, an act called, in the theological language of the times, adultery. Evagrius however, iv. 11, confirms the statements of our author. Mennas held the patriarchate from A. D. 536 to A. D. 552. The hospital, of which he was previously warden, was built at Constantinople by Sampson, for the relief of the sick and poor, and rebuilt, enlarged, and amply endowed by Justinian. His successor, Eutychius, is commemorated in the Greek church as a saint, and his life, written by his syncellus Eustathius, is still extant. He died in A. D. 582, but John Scholasticus occupied the throne for twelve years and a half of his patriarchate, from A. D. 564 to A. D. 577.
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John of Ephesus, Ecclesiastical History, Part 3 -- Book 2
John of Ephesus, Ecclesiastical History, Part 3 -- Book 2
BOOK THE SECOND.
AT the commencement of the Second Book, John returns to his main subject, and, by way of introduction, repeats his account of the great grief of the bishops, when they found they had been deceived, and the determination to which they came of immediately breaking off all further communion with the patriarch. His words are as follows: [II. 1.] To return then to the narrative of the bishops, and the many trials and three separate imprisonments, and other things which they had to endure, and of which we have given a short account in the First Book, as was fitting there according to the order of the arrangement; directly they saw that they had been deceived, and that the many promises and repeated oaths made to them, to the effect that unity should be fully established, had been broken, having been thus induced by fraud twice to communicate, they were in sorrow and mourning and trouble without end, and in lamentation and bitter sighs, and finally determined and made up their minds, that never again should there be communion with them and the followers of the two natures for ever, even though they dragged them to death by the sword or fire. And on this account violent anger and great wrath was felt against them, and they were all sent into |85 exile for the third time, each one of them separately; so that now quickly they were removed far away from one another, and severe and bitter sentences passed upon them, and great was their distress in being thus separated and banished far away from their friends and relatives, and that, as the sentence ran, even until their deaths.
[II. 2.] Upon the bishops coming to this firm and mutual resolve, and determining and deciding, that never again would they communicate with the synodites for ever; and when further they resisted and stood up manfully against those in power, and much beyond recounting had been done and spoken on both sides, in great conflict and struggle, sentence of exile was finally in bitter gall decreed against them, each individually, without mercy. And first of all, Paul the patriarch was removed to the monastery of Abraham, and confined there. But while shut up he found a place where a scanty light entered his prison, and began in secret to write an account of what had been done in the church by John of Sirmin: but being watched, he was caught in the act of writing, and the book taken from him before it was finished. And they carried it to John, who took it in bitter wrath, and went and read it before the king; and when on hearing it he found that his own acts against the orthodox were regarded with disapproval, as well as those of the patriarch, he too was greatly enraged and embittered against Paul, and commanded that they should |86 take the book and lay it before Paul, and require him to confess whether he were the author: and should he do so, they were to make him write an acknowledgment with his own hand to that effect. On the other hand, should he refuse, they were to scourge him to the point of death, until he confessed, and then commit him again to his prison. The officers accordingly took the book to the monastery, and with great anger showed it him, and required him to confess in writing that he was its author. And he, as falsehood was useless, confessed that he wrote it, and upon their requisition made with his own hand the following acknowledgement, 'I Paul confess that with my own hand I wrote all these things which are in this book.' Upon which, leaving him in prison, they carried the book back to the king and the patriarch. And so great was their indignation, that they threatened Paul with death; and the more so, upon finding that he had embodied in it accusations also against Rome. And both Paul himself, and all men, were alarmed for his life, and expected that he would die a painful death, and perish from this present life.
[II. 3.] Stephan 1, however, bishop of Cyprus, was then |87 in great honour with the king, and boldly ventured to offer a petition in Paul's behalf, praying that he might be pardoned for his sake, and set free from the terrible misery in which he was confined. And the king accepted his intercession, and promised that if he would come to the capital, and take the communion in his company, all his offences should be forgiven him. Stephan therefore went to him, and after conversing with him, induced him by the terrors of death to yield himself up, and accordingly he came and communicated, and was taken into the patriarch's palace. And John, wishing to make sport of him before all men, assembled a large number of the senators, and certain also of the inhabitants of Alexandria, to which city Paul belonged 2, and made him receive the sacrament from his hands afresh, in the presence of them all, that even though he should wish afterwards to return, it might be, as he supposed, impossible. From this time the king every |88 day received him, and talked with him on many subjects, because he was a wise and intelligent man, and well read in books, and even often asked his advice on business of state, and repeatedly conversed and talked with him confidentially, until John was not a little alarmed, lest the king should deprive him of his office, and substitute Paul in his place. And as John was now in much trouble and solicitude, he began to sound the king, saying, 'If you, my lord, command, we will send father Paul as bishop to Jerusalem or to Thessalonica;' for both these thrones were vacant. But the king easily perceived his cunning, and, to frighten him the more, replied, 'Leave father Paul alone; for we want him here.' And this so alarmed him, that he was now thoroughly taken possession of and troubled by the idea: and therefore he gradually relaxed the vigilance with which Paul had been hitherto guarded, to prevent his escape, and left him without a keeper, and gave his friends full liberty of access to him, that he might have the opportunity of running away: and Paul, nothing loath, fled away, and John once again breathed freely.
The manner of his flight is narrated some few chapters further on as follows: [II. 8.] As it was now supposed that Paul of Antioch was sufficiently embued in the doctrine of the two natures, and John the patriarch was in great alarm at him, he joyfully took the opportunity of suggesting to him the idea of making his escape. And |89 as he was no longer guarded, after having spent so long a time in the bishop's palace, he mixed one evening with the people as they came down, and escaping among them unobserved, went for refuge to a place prepared for him among some ruins. And in time he was sought for, and could not be found: and John now being afraid of the king, went immediately and informed him of Paul's flight. And when he heard of it he was astonished, and filled with anger, and commanded that all the ferries should be occupied, and all ships searched, and all the houses in the outskirts of the whole city, and the suburbs, and monasteries: even the very tombs were opened, and they searched between the rows of corpses there: and, finally, urgent orders were sent to every town and city to the bishops and governors, with a description of his person that he might be recognised and seized: but still he remained undiscovered. Even his brother, who was admiral of the fleet, was arrested, and fell into much trouble. Meanwhile Paul during the whole of this time was hid, as they say, in the city, in a small chamber fixed in the wall, in which he found safety for nine months: and the vigilance of the watch having finally relaxed, he escaped with the privity of the household of Mondir, son of Hareth, into Arabia, where he met with a hospitable refuge until the time when the terrible retribution of Heaven fell upon the patriarch John. As the patriarch had been thus successful |90 separately with two of, the four bishops, whose constancy collectively he had been unable to break, namely, Stephan, bishop of Cyprus, and Paul, patriarch of Antioch, he determined next to force John of Ephesus to submission by equally decided measures, the account of which our author gives as follows:
[II. 4.] When, therefore, Paul had been induced by Stephan to go to the capital, and had been received there, and the synodites now felt quite sure of him, Stephan was next sent to John, surnamed, Superintendant of the heathen and Idol-breaker, as ambassador from the king and patriarch, accompanied by senators and a numerous retinue, to the hospital of Eubulus 3, an which, after his two former imprisonments in the patriarch's palace, and the separation of the bishops from one another, he had been confined in the house of afflictions, (or penitentiary,) and none of his acquaintance on any pretext permitted to visit him. Hither, then, the embassy came, and addressed the prisoner as follows:— 'Our lords, the victorious king and patriarch 4, very lovingly ask thy health, and advise thee to |91 free thyself from this misery, and come and join thy brethren, my lord Paul the patriarch, and my lord Elisha, and rejoice them, as also our merciful king himself, and the holy patriarch; and ye shall again discuss the best means for restoring unity.' But he, on hearing these things, was stirred up with great zeal to answer those who had come to him fiercely and sternly, with anathemas and reproaches and insults too many to record in writing: and so Stephan and his companions retired, embittered and indignant at him. After the lapse of a day they were again sent unto him, beseeching him in the merciful person of the king and patriarch, and saying, 'For the sake of the unity of the church, yield thyself up, and come and let us converse, and do not thus persist in opposition to union.' But they had for answer from him things even sterner than before; for he said: 'Even that former unity I reject before God and man; for it has proved only an overthrowing and an uprooting and a downfall:' and much more too he added of a similar kind. And after they had often visited him, but he would neither submit nor yield to their persuasions, finally they said, 'Inasmuch as we know what you will have to suffer, and have heard the threats of death denounced against you, and that you will not be put to death merely, but in a most painful way, feeling sincere sorrow for you, we wish to say, that we are innocent of the miseries which you will have to bear.' But upon hearing this, he |92 burnt with zeal, and expressed his detestation of them, saying, 'Even though you eat me roasted, if I be but quit of the sight of you, I am ready on these terms to be delivered to a painful death.' And so, to be brief, they departed from him. But Stephanus secretly paid him a solitary visit, to tell him of the threats of death determined upon against him, and said, 'See, I have come to thee, that I may not witness the evils that will fall upon thee; look to thyself.' But though much was said, he could not bend his determined spirit, and finally left him, and departed for Cyprus.
[II. 5.] The first addition, however, to the bitter misery of his imprisonment arose from a painful attack of the gout, which affected both his hands and feet, so that he lay like one dead, unable to stir himself, or move either hand or foot: and in this state he was cut off from all human solicitude, and especially from the care which his relatives would gladly have shown him. But besides this he was tormented night and day with the numerrous vermin with which his prison swarmed. For, first of all he was eaten up with innumerable lice, and the cell, moreover, in which he was imprisoned was full of fleas, which day and night; tormented him out of his life; nor was this all, for the fetid smell of the hospital attracted infinite numbers of flies and gnats, which settled upon him, and neither could he move a hand to chase them away, nor was there any one to drive them from him. And the fourth and bitterest |93 trial of all was occasioned by the bugs at night, which then left their hidingplaces, and covered both him and the mattress on which he lay till his face and eyes were inflamed and swollen, nor could he brush them away. And another, and that his fifth trial, arose from gnats, which, in company with the vermin last mentioned, all night long stung him like fire, especially upon the face, and every part of his body not covered with the bedclothes. And so great was his distress, and the inflammation caused by the five plagues, which encompassed his body within and without, that he wept and lamented, but there was no man to come to his cry, either by night or by day, though he burnt like fire from the stings of all these vermin. And, moreover, Satan brought upon him yet a sixth trial, in some mice which climbed up and made their nest under the pillow which supported his head, and all night long they were scratching and squeaking there. All these distresses were added to the pain of imprisonment and sickness, with no one to help him: and it may be that the record of these things will excite the laughter and ridicule of those who have never been tried, nor fallen, into misery, and who, in the words of our Lord, should rather watch and pray that they enter not into trial.
[II. 6.] From the exhaustion caused by these tortures, and the inflamed state of his body from the stings of these manifold and bitter vermin, the aforesaid John came almost to his last breath: |94 for besides the bitter pains which tormented him, there was the hopelessness of his neglected state, while he looked for some one to pity him, and there was no man, and for a comforter, and one was not found; and that such was his state, from the severity of his trials, he himself afterwards repeatedly declared, both in numerous letters, and in his defence addressed to the synod of the east, and to all classes of the believers, in which he described all these things, and the vision which he saw, protesting before God that he did not exceed the bounds of truth, nor add a single word either to the narrative of his sufferings or to the facts of the vision which appeared unto him openly. And the account which he gave, as in the sight of all men, was as follows:—'When I was scourged by all these trials, and was sick in spirit, and despaired of my life, there came one day a youth of beautiful aspect, clad in a white tunic with fringes of spotless purity, and as he gently approached me, I imagined that he was one of the attendants upon the sick, who after the midday meal, when all were sleeping, and the doors closed, and silence everywhere prevailed, had visited me because I was inflamed and feverish, both from the annoyance of the vermin and my grievous pains. Approaching me quietly, he said, 'Peace be to thee, father! What is thy cry? How art thou? Fear not.' And I, indeed in the deep affliction of my spirit caused by my great misery, said unto him, 'Why askest thou, my son, when thou |95 thyself seest me in such great torture?' But the young man said unto me, 'Cheer up, father, and let not thy spirit be sad, but give thanks unto God, who hath not left thee: for thy affliction is not forgotten by Him.' And I replied, 'What cheer or what consolation can there be for me, who die miserably, not merely from the violence of these cruel pains, which, as my sins deserve, are laid upon me, but also from all these vermin which encompass me, and eat me up, and I have none to bear me in their mind, that I might at least be comforted by the sight of them?' And he said, 'We know that thou art afflicted; and that there is no man to take care of thee: and, moreover, that thou art tormented with pain, and with the vermin, and therefore have I come unto thee, to visit and encourage thee. For I know also that thou art thirsty, and that; there is no one to give thee water, and therefore have I brought thee a cooling draught: God will help thee; cheer up; and know, that as great as is thy present affliction, so will God multiply thy recompense. Be not sad, nor faint in spirit.' And when he had so spoken, and much to this effect, he went out and returned, bearing a cup, in which were wondrous mixtures which sparkled: like fire; and he gave it me, and I drank it with joy and delight, and my spirit was refreshed, and I gave thanks unto God. And to the youth, I told my gratitude, and said, 'God have mercy upon thee, my son, in that thou hast done unto me this kindness, and hast visited and |96 comforted and cheered me.' And after he had consoled me with many words, and said, 'To-morrow I will visit thee again at this time,' he went away: and I was so cheered by the sight and speech of the young man, that all my pains and miseries grew light. And again on the morrow he came at the same time, and asked me of my state, saying, 'Cheer up, and be not sad; for great shall be thy reward which thou shall receive from God for thy heavy affliction: and thou shalt be delivered from thy distress, and thy people shall assemble themselves to thee: for God is with thee. Let not thy spirit be sad.' And after thus talking with me for some time, he departed. And on the third day, when my eyes were straining in hope of his coming, he came not: and I was greatly distressed, and in deep affliction. But on the fourth day he came again at the same hour, and said, 'I know that thou art distressed, because I came not to thee yesterday: but be not grieved, for I will not forsake thee.' And again he spake much to comfort me, and so departed. And thus for eight days he came to and fro to me, and I was in wonder at his comeliness, and the beauty of his features, and at the speech and knowledge of the young man so lovely of aspect. And after he had come in unto me and gone out eight times, the syncellus of the patriarch visited me to sound me, and after he had used to me many arguments, I finally replied, 'Your treatment of me is on a par with your schismatic faith; for you act to me like |97 heathens, and do a heathen deed, in that when you see me in this extreme misery, you fear not God enough to grant me even one of my servants, whom you have shut up in prison, to wait upon me.' And after he had replied, and much had passed between us, and I had sharply handled him, and rebuked him, he went out from me in hot anger, and brought me one of my servants, and said, 'See, here is a servant to wait upon you, and curse us no more:' and so saying, he angrily departed. And from the time I had a servant, the young man came not again, nor did I ever see him more. And when I was astonished and vexed at this, still supposing,that he was one of the attendants, I said to the officer who guarded me, 'A young man of your attendants used to come to me, and comfort me, and visit me: but for some days from the time that I have had a servant to wait upon me, he has come to me no more. Tell me, who is he? and is he ill?' And the guard enquired, 'What was the young man like?' And he answered, 'He was of a beautiful aspect, and very handsome in person, and bright and fair in countenance, and clad in a tunic of spotless white, with rows of embroidery above and below.' And the keeper said, 'None of our attendants resembles what you describe.' But he answered, 'I assure you that for eight days he came in unto me and went out, and comforted and cheered me, and talked with me wisely and sensibly:' but the keeper said, 'We have no such person as you describe.' And then he went and |98 collected all the servants, and set them before him, and said, 'See, here are all the attendants, nor have we any besides: look if any of them is he.' And when he had attentively considered them all, he acknowledged that it was not any one of them. Upon which the keeper said, 'A vision of. God has appeared unto thee, and visited thee, my father: and one of the angels or of the saints has been sent unto thee, to strengthen and encourage thee: for we have no such person as you describe.' And thereupon John was in astonishment, and being full of wonder and amazement, he carefully considered the words and the wisdom and the answers of that youth of wonderful aspect, and said, 'I verily looked upon him as one of the attendants, but God knows who and what he is: but me he hath greatly helped; for he brought me a cup of mixtures, at which I wondered, so bright were they and admirable; and all my pains were lightened. And I myself was astonished at the wise and edifying words which came out of his mouth, and wondered whether one so excellent attended merely upon the sick in your hospital. Henceforward, therefore, in admiration of the goodness of God which has been shown us, we will praise, as in duty bound, the God Who doeth all in His love, and Who alone knoweth the vision of this young man, and who it was that visited us, and alleviated our misery.'
[II. 7.] In this prison John passed twelve months and nine days, in addition to his two confinements in |99 the patriarch's palace: but as even this did not appease the malice of John of Sirmin, orders came for his removal from the hospice, and transportation to an island in the sea, where he was again imprisoned, and treated with great rigour, strict orders being given that none of his friends should on any account be permitted to speak to him. But when he had spent upon the island a period of eighteen months, the chastisement of God overtook the patriarch in so marked a manner as to cause fear and astonishment and terror to both sides alike. And so, finally, upon the command of the Caesar Tiberius, orders were sent to free John from his prison, and bring him to the capital, where he dwelt under the surveillance of keepers' rather more than three years, until the death of the persecutor, John of Sirmin.
All these things will be found also in the numerous letters written by him to various persons as soon as he obtained his freedom, together with the vision of the young man who came to him. And let no one who falls in with both the former narrative and also this present account be surprised if he find that they differ from one another in some points being added and others left out: since the utmost he professes is to give a succinct account of what took place for the glory of God. He has omitted, therefore, and passed by much in his former narrative on account of its too great length, while other particulars he has more fully recorded, and especially some of |100 the details of the vision, and other points, it may be, as well, though even in them he has used the greatest possible brevity, in order that they might simply be short memorials, and lest, should he relate them too fully, they should be regarded as wearisome by such as afterwards fall in with them.
The determination of the king and patriarch to compel all parties to accept the council of Chalcedon not only brought ecclesiastics into trouble, but also many of the chief laity at court. For as Sophia had originally been brought up in Theodora's tenets, most of the officers of her household belonged to the Monophysite party, and apparently had not hitherto been interfered with. But now determined measures were taken to bring them to obedience, and John details the resistance made by many of them, and even by ladies, in the following succession of narratives.
[II. 9.] At this time, when every body was possessed by great fear at the stern and terrible threats of the king, many grew alarmed, and submitted themselves to communion. For he even gave orders that no one should attend his levee to salute him on Easterday unless he had previously partaken of the sacrament in his company. As disobedience to this command entailed loss of office as well as the king's displeasure, most of them were terrified, and went over to his communion. A few, however, stayed away, though convinced that by so doing they passed |101 sentence of death upon themselves, so taken were most of them by abject terror. Among these was Andrew, the queen's chamberlain and purse-bearer, a man of active and fervent zeal, and earnest in the ways of virtue from his youth up, and constant in fasting and prayer. At the commencement of the persecution most of the chamberlains, and ladies of the court, and the queen's chief officer of the household, whose name was Stephan, were members of the orthodox community, and had been so from the days of Theodora; but they were prevailed upon by fear, and submitted to take the communion with the king from the hands of the synodites; but Andrew alone was firm, and stood up manfully with mind fully prepared to struggle even unto death. Their majesties therefore, and the chamberlains on both sides, with the view of obtaining favour, attacked him with strife and argument: but he was not in the least frightened at them all, nor ceased from contending with them, nor gave way: and this made the king repeatedly utter the most fearful threats of death itself against him. And as he still would not yield a single point, nor humble himself, nor shew fear of him, the king once grew so angry that he even struck him with his hands in a fury, because he so boldly and firmly resisted him, answering in his turn when he required him to communicate with those who acknowledged the synod, and arguing, and manfully resisting him in words such as the following: 'I confess that you are my lord, and I am |102 your slave: and my body is in your hands, to do with it whatsoever you will: but over my soul you have no power, for it is in the hands of God, and my faith is for ever, and neither shall ye nor any other change it, because I believe in God.' And in this way constantly every day they argued one with the other. And as both their majesties loved him for his nobleness and virtue, and valued his good sense and knowledge, they were the more anxious to obtain his submission, that he might still remain in their service: and the king even said in the presence of several of his courtiers, 'What shall we do with this audacious fellow who resists and disobeys us? for such a mind and brain as he possesses is not in all our court besides, so that we do not wish to send him away, nor can we possibly let him stay if he refuse us his obedience.' Accordingly they long bore with him in the hope that finally they would convert him, but when he gave no signs of yielding, the king at length briefly said to him, 'Either submit to us, and take the communion with us, or get out of our palace.' Upon which Andrew immediately divested himself of his robe of office 5, and joyfully laying it at the king's feet, said, 'Never hast thou shown me a greater kindness than this, in separating me from the service of men, and making me give myself to His ministry and service, Who created me and brought me into the world; for henceforth I will serve |103 Him alone.' So saying, he left the king's court, and was confined in a miserable prison in the building called "the palace of Hormisdas 6:" and there, after some time, he received a visit from the king's curator, who was sent partly to coax and partly to terrify him, and see whether he would give way, and communicate with them, and not lose his post. The conference lasted for a long time, and at first the curator had recourse only to admonitions and flatteries and persecutions: but when he saw that he would not give way, he began to threaten and terrify him, saying, 'Look to thy life, lest I be compelled to execute upon thee, what I have been commanded.' Upon which Andrew bent down his neck, and stretching out his head before him, said, 'Thou art not a living man, and may God shew thee no mercy if thou dost not bring thy sword and take off my head. But do not mistake, either thou or those that sent thee, and suppose that I ever have on any account held communion with those who divide into two our Lord Jesus Christ, or ever will—the Lord forbid. And may God shew thee no mercy, if thou dost not at once take off my head, and rid me of the burden of this life.' |104 Upon hearing this, the curator departed, and carried his report to the king and queen, who greatly wondered, but also were vexed at his conduct: and in hope still of making him give way, they gave orders for his removal and imprisonment in the monastery of Dalmatus 7, which was the highest in rank of all the religious houses both in the capital and its suburbs. They brought him out, therefore, and removed him in the most public manner by day, in the hope of frightening him: but Andrew, as they led him through the city amidst crowds of people, was full of joy and eagerness, and gave praise to God that he was accounted worthy to suffer imprisonment for the true faith, while the mob ran together to see the queen's purse-bearer stripped of worldly office, and conducted to prison for the true faith's sake. And all men wondered at him, and many glorified God who had given him the strength thus to despise the world; and many too were confirmed in the faith when thus they saw him cheerful and joyous, and gave praise to God on his account. But the monks and others who had |105 charge of him tried to pull up the hood of his cloak to cover his head: but he uncovered it, saying, 'It is a great glory to me to die for Christ's truth: and no man may make my glorying vain.' His imprisonment lasted three years, at the end of which came the chastisement of his persecutors, and he was set free, but not restored to his office at court.
[II. 10.] From this history of her pursebearer, our historian proceeds to give a sketch of the empress Sophia, who, he says, during the lifetime of her aunt, the late queen Theodora, from her youth up to within three years before she ascended the throne, used to take the communion with the orthodox, and entirely rejected the communion of the synodites, that is, of those who held that there were two natures in our Lord. And this was a thing known publicly to everybody, and that also a presbyter named Andrew regularly went, and consecrated the communion in her house, and administered it to her, and to all the members of her household: and when he was reserving the consecrated elements, she used to tell him to put by one pearl,—for so they called the pieces of bread,—and place it upon the patten under the cloth; and no one knew who received the pearl so put by except the patrician Sophia, though it was supposed by every one that it was the merciful Justin himself who took it in secret, as he also had an aversion to the communion of those who held the two |106 natures. Whether or not this was true, we cannot vouch, but have recorded it on hearsay, as being the opinion generally entertained by every body. The conversion of Sophia to the communion of the two natures was brought about in the following way: His late majesty Justinian had long been solicited by many influential members of his court to appoint Justin, his sister's son, to the office of Caesar; but he kept putting it off, and refusing them. At length a certain Theodore, upon his consecration to the bishopric of Caesarea, and whose doom God alone knows for his many evil deeds, had an interview with Sophia, and said to her, 'Be well assured, both of you, that the reason why your uncle has listened to no one, nor consented to appoint his sister's son as Caesar, is his indignation at you for opposing him in communicating with those of whom he disapproves, and not communicating with him. For how can he appoint you to share the royal rank with him, if you are manifestly opposed to him? Listen therefore to me, and go and communicate at Church, and content the king, and then he will content you.' And Sophia being persuaded by his representations gave way, but her union with the synod took place only three years before she became queen.
[II. 11.] From this account of the empress Sophia, which naturally followed the mention of Andrew, her pursebearer, our historian returns to the fortunes of the other chief members of the |107 orthodox party at Constantinople. Among these were three men of consular rank, named John, Peter, and Eudaemon, who counted their lives in the body as nothing compared with the spiritual life by a true faith in Christ; and firmly refused therefore to hold communion with those who divided Him. On this account there was anger against them even unto death, and the turning away of faces; but when every moment they were expecting trial, and the ruin of their estates and families, and of all that they possessed, and everybody felt certain of their utter destruction, God, who saw that they were contending unto death for His name's sake, and for a true faith in Him, saved them. For inasmuch as many members of the senate, and chamberlains, and other nobles, had been prevailed upon by terror to enter into communion with the Chalcedonians, the murmuring occasioned by the violence and compulsion generally used, at length reached the king's ears, and led him to say in the presence of many senators, with the view of making it appear that he prevailed upon no one by violence, as though any one was prevailed upon except by a violence too strong for him to bear: however, be this as it may, God put it into his mind to say words such as these, 'We neither have, nor will we force any one of those who have not submitted to us to communicate with us: we leave them to their own will.' And this declaration of the king's determination rescued them, and they were no longer exposed to trials |108 on account of their faith: but, on the contrary, they finally reached the highest dignities, and enjoyed the fullest freedom; so that the illustrious Eudaemon, who became Comes Privati 8, an office which gave him the charge of the king's privy purse; and the illustrious John, who was descended from king Anastasius, and the son moreover of queen Theodora's daughter 9; and, lastly, Peter, who was of the family of Peter the Patrician, the queen's curator, were sent to make a treaty of peace with the Persians, in behalf of the whole Roman state. And this great embassy was entrusted to them in spite of their continuing to hold the truth, as they had ever done, in full assurance. The patriarch John, however, erased their names from the diptych 10 — an act which caused them great joy: for they said, 'Now we know that God hath pleasure in us, and hath looked upon us, seeing that we are no longer mentioned at the communion of those |109 who divide Christ into two, after the true indivisible union.'
[II. 12.] Less fortunate were two ladies of equally high birth, who with others of patrician rank were fiercely attacked on all sides, breathing out terrible threats of fire, and menaces of death. And the rest, from the overwhelming misery of the persecution, fainted in the conflict, and for their wealth's sake, and houses and children and substance, submitted to communion, as far as form alone went. But these two boldly resisted unto death, and counted as nothing their possessions, and children and households. Of these the elder, whose name was Antipatra, was the mother-in-law of the consul John mentioned in the preceding narrative, and her daughter Georgia, who was also of consular rank, and a zealous believer, was John's wife. The other lady, whose name was Juliana, was the daughter of the consul Magnes, who himself was on one occasion banished with all his family, and Juliana among them, though he also was descended from king Anastasius: and subsequently Juliana herself became sister-in-law of king Justin, having married his brother. After much contention, therefore, and a manly contest, they placed both these ladies in nunneries, upon the straits of Chalcedon, and strict injunctions were given, and orders sent to the convents, in which they were severally confined, that unless they would consent to communion, their hair was to be shorn in monastic fashion, and they were to |110 wear the black dress used by the nuns, and be further compelled to perform the most menial labours. And these orders were strictly carried out, and they were made to sweep the convent, and carry away the dirt, and scrub and wash out the latrinse, and serve in the kitchen, and wash the candlesticks and dishes, and perform other similar duties. And as they could not endure and bear with patience such annoyances as these, they also, as far as appearance went, submitted to the Chalcedonian communion, to be set free, and escape from their miserable imprisonment in these convents, if convents they may be called. Upon their submission, they were allowed to return home, and restored to their former rank: but soon the time of chastisement from God came upon both king and patriarch, and they and all men breathed freely once again after their troubles.
[II.13.] There were also two presbyters who underwent a great conflict for the faith's sake, and who both bore the same name of Sergius; of whom one had been the writer's own syncellus 11, and the other his disciple. While then John was imprisoned in the penitentiary of the hospital of Eubulus, the two Sergiuses were seized, |111 after having long refused to conform, and thrown into prison. Their arrest was effected through the treachery of a relative, who professed to be of their party, but who, after thus playing the part of another Judas, was himself apprehended, and hurried off to the bishop's palace, and imprisoned there. Upon their arrest the two priests resisted those sent to seize them, and argued and disputed sharply with them, until they grew angry, and before a vast crowd they stripped them of their clothing, and tying them up scourged them publicly with the utmost severity, but were not able to break their constancy. And so manfully and with such spirit did they endure and persist in their resistance, that their persecutors wondered at them, and finally imprisoned them in a diaconate 12. Already they had repeatedly endured the horrors of imprisonment twice both together in the patriarch's palace, and Sergius, the syncellus, once by himself in a monastery called Beth-Rabula 13; and their present confinement, which began in February, and lasted forty days, was aggravated by a severe frost. For Sergius the syncellus, the patriarch had a great regard, and sent for him, and advised and coaxed and persuaded him to dwell |112 with him in his palace, and be his cellarius 14; even offering him his solemn promise, that if he would consent, he should not be compelled to take the communion with him: he also added, that 'as I hear of you, that you are a pious man and a monk, abide with us, and be whatever you wish: but if you will consent to take the communion with us, I will immediately make you bishop of whatever city you please.' But Sergius manfully refused, and as he could bow his conviction of the truth neither by promises nor flattering words, and saw his firmness and immoveable constancy, he sent him to the monastery of Beth-Rabula, where however he was treated with considerable kindness, the monks not being ill-inclined to the faith as the rest were, and having no love for the council of Chalcedon, nor even proclaiming it in their worship.
There was also a presbyter named Andrew, who had shut himself up in one of the towers of the city wall; whence he was torn at the patriarch's orders by a band of clergy and Romans, who broke open his place of concealment, and pulled him out. But as they dragged and tore him along, they arrived at length in the middle |113 of the city; and on seeing a large crowd assembled there, he began to cry out, 'Help! help! men: I am a Christian, and an orthodox: and if these who drag me along are not heathens, but Christians, as they say, why do they persecute and murder Christians? And why do they drag me through the midst of you, and ye rest quiet, and shew no zeal for Christ's sake?' As he repeated these and similar cries, a large crowd rapidly ran together, and their eyes flashed with wrath against those who had him in charge, as if they would slay them. And when they saw the anger and zeal of all the multitude against them, they ran away, and hid themselves; and so the people delivered the blessed Andrew from their violence. Subsequently, however, he was again arrested, and imprisoned in the monastery of "the sleepless;" whence also, after a protracted imprisonment, and much suffering, he escaped: but having set people to watch for him, they again seized and imprisoned him in the patriarch's palace; but even from thence, after taking part in several disputations, he again managed to make his escape.
Among the various charitable institutions at Constantinople which had sprung from Christianity, no mean place was held by the diaconates 15, which were institutions for the care of the sick and persons in distress. The utility of them was |114 the greater, because, while the hospitals were attended only by clergy, monks and nuns, the diaconates gave an opportunity to pious laymen also to devote themselves to works of active benevolence: while in those specially set apart for women, numerous ladies, who might otherwise have found no fitting field for their energies, piously tended the suffering members of Christ's [II. 15.] flock. Among those at the capital, two especially were famous for their size and reputation, and both belonged to the orthodox communion. Of these, the first and largest was founded by the divine Paul of Antioch, who, filled with zeal, visited the chief and most famous cities of both East and West, and founded in them diaconates, in which the word of our Lord was visibly fulfilled, that 'this is my rest:' for their object was to give rest to those whom trouble had distressed. On no account, however, would he accept the services of any in the diaconates which he founded who agreed with the synod of Chalcedon.
At the period when the persecution broke out, the head of this diaconate was a great and famous and notable man named Thallus, who had largely increased and multiplied its ministrations by his many spiritual and divine qualities, upon which alone much might be written; and the diaconate continued to flourish under his care, until, by the envy of the devil, an information was laid before the king and bishop, that all the members were opposed to the council of Chalcedon, and had admitted into their fraternity |115 many monks and clergymen, and that meetings for worship, and communions and love-feasts were held there. Upon this the blessed Thallus was compelled to send away the clergy and monks, that he might give no occasion to those who were ready to find fault, but he resolutely continued his care of the sick with the aid of laymen only. And when this reached the ears of those in power, because they honoured and admired the man and his ways, they let him alone, and interfered no more all the days of his life. His death took place in the year eight hundred and eighty-eight, (A. D. 577,) and a silversmith named Romanus was appointed principal in his stead.
[II. 16.] At the head of the other diaconate at this time was a clergyman named Cometes, who also was an active and virtuous man. Originally he had been one of the clergy of the house of my lady Mary of Blachernae 16, but was expelled for the |116 faith sake with many others, whom, however, he prevailed upon to keep together, and live with all the strictness of the monastic rule, while he took charge of them in every thing. Soon afterwards some one who admired his virtues bequeathed him a large hall, capable of being turned into a diaconate, to which use he put it, and actively employed himself in ministering in it to all the wants of the poor. At the time, however, of the persecution, an accusation was brought against him of holding assemblies for the administration of the holy communion, and the hall was confiscated, and formally closed by an imperial brief suspended on the door. Cometes was himself banished to an island, and all |117 his fraternity, except a few, dispersed: but his fate did not deter these few from continuing their labours; for retiring to another place, they still devoted themselves, according to their rule, to ministering and tending the poor.
[II. 17.] Nor was it merely at the capital that the orthodox communities thus suffered, but the persecution carried on there so determinately and despotically, and unremittingly, was the cause of the same violent measures being stirred up against them in every province of the Roman empire, wherever any orthodox communities were to be found. And this persecution was excited by the letters written by John the patriarch, and others: for he was swollen with rage like the waves of the sea, and, like some blazing Babylonian furnace, inflamed not with twigs and brushwood, and other such materials, but with wrath and heat of temper, and eagerness for ruin and slaughter, he burnt and blazed fearfully and terribly, adding to his violence to men's persons those evil deeds which generally go therewith, such as the plundering of their goods and spoiling of their property, on the pretext of their faith; as also painful imprisonments, and heavy chains, and tortures, and the scourge and exile, and the like, in every land and city and village of the realm.
[II. 18.] Thus far then we profess that we have written that only of which we were eyewitnesses, and |118 near spectators of the chief trials recorded, or actual sufferers ourselves during the whole period to which our narrative extends: but we have thought it right now to chronicle events, which we neither saw, nor learnt of our own knowledge, nor can testify to their truth ourselves, inasmuch as we were far away from the countries in which they occurred; but which nevertheless we had, not from private individuals, or men of inferior rank, but from the chief Catholicus of Dovin, the capital of Persarmenia, and the bishops who accompanied him, and who narrated these events in the presence of multitudes in this the royal city of us Romans; for having escaped from the dominions of the Persians, they came for refuge to a Christian realm, and were received with great honour by their victorious majesties; and their narrative scrupulously given as upon oath, and in the presence of a numerous auditory, was as follows:
Revolt of Armenia from the Persians.
When the Magians and princes of the Persians learnt that by the commandment and will of the king of the Romans, all persons, in every land and city of his dominions, were required to conform themselves. and come over to his faith; and that such as refused and were disobedient to his will and commandment, were by his orders persecuted and imprisoned, and their goods spoiled, and finally delivered up even to death; lo! said they, in all the dominions of the Romans these |119 things are now being done, and it is but just for us also to do the same in all our dominions, and convert to our own religion all other religions within our realm.
[II. 19.] They therefore assembled together, and begged an audience with Khosrun 17 their king, and said, 'O king, live for ever! Behold we have learnt that the Roman Caesar requireth, and forceth, and compelleth all persons within his realm to conform themselves to his faith, and obligeth many throughout all his dominions to worship according to his religion. And all those who will not. submit, he driveth away, and persecuteth from all his realm. Let thy godship therefore in like manner command, that so it shall also be throughout thy realm: that all religions shall conform to thy religion, and all persons in thy dominions worship according to thy worship; and that such as insolently dare to resist thy commandment shall no longer live.' And when Khosrun the king heard these words of the Magians, he consented thereto, and accepted their counsel: and immediately he began with the Christians first, and sent and seized three bishops and many of the clergy, and commanded them to deny their faith, and worship with him fire and the sun and the other objects of his reverence. |120
But they argued with him, and manfully resisted, and confessed, saying; 'We are of Christian sentiments, and worship and honour the God Who made the heavens and the earth and the seas, and all that therein is: and we cannot leave Him Who is the Creator of all to worship His creatures. Let not the king mistake: for over our bodies thou hast power to do with them whatsoever thou wilt: but our souls are His, and in His hands, and over them thou hast absolutely no power at all.' And when the king heard the bishops testify these things, and much besides of a similar nature, he commanded that they should be that instant flayed, and die. And many evils besides he inflicted upon the Christians, and their monasteries and churches were everywhere levelled to the ground, and multitudes bound and thrown into prison: and the heart of the king was lifted up, and he blasphemed Christ, and said, 'Let us see what Christ the God of the Christians will do unto me: for I do not know who or what He is.' And this then, and much more, was related by these bishops as having been said and done at this time by the king of the Persians previously to the revolt of Armenia to the Romans, and which was occasioned by his command that fire-temples should be erected throughout all that part of Armenia which was subject to his rule.
[II. 20.] His next measure, as the Catholicus and his companions proceeded to relate, was to send a |121 Marzban 18 to our territories, attended by an armed force of two thousand cavalry, who came first of all to our city, and commanded us to erect a fire-temple, for the celebration of the rites of the king's religion. But when, said he, he showed it to me and the people of the city, I burnt with zeal, and stood up against him, I and all the people of the city, and we said, 'We are indeed servants of the king of kings, and to him we pay tribute; but we are Christians, and in matters of faith we can yield him no obedience, even though we have to die for our faith's sake. For this same thing was attempted in the days of Sapor, king of kings, who also wanted to build here a temple for his worship, but the people of the land gathered themselves together, and a war ensued, which lasted seven years, and at the end he made terms, and published an edict, commanding that no one should meddle or interfere with us as regards our being Christians for ever.' |122 And we further shewed him the original copy of king Sapor's edict: but he refused to obey it, and in obedience to Khosrun's commands, began by main force to mark out a site, and to dig and lay the foundations, and to build the walls; while at the same time he made determined preparations for battle. And I besought him again and again, but availed nothing, nor would he attend to me, or even deign me a single look; and finally I sent everywhere to all the people of the land, and when they heard the news, they burnt with zeal for the faith's sake in Christ, and assembled all as one man, to the number of ten thousand, armed for battle either to live or die for Christ, and firmly determined not to permit a Magian and heathen temple to be built in their land. And when there were assembled all the princes and chieftains of the land, we went to the Marzban, to the place where he was building the fire-temple, and had a long conference with him, and boldly resisted him, saying, 'We are Christians, and subjects of the king of kings: but in matters of faith we neither can nor will yield submission to any one, and even though the king come in person, yet as long as any one of us lives to resist it, there shall no heathen temple be built to all eternity in our land. Depart therefore without war or devastation from our country, and tell the king of the firm determination of our minds to defend our faith; and let him take such steps as he thinks right; for though it cost us all our lives, we will never permit a temple for the |123 Magian worship to be erected in our land?' A long conference followed, in which the Marzban protested to the people assembled that he must build the temple according to his orders, and argued with them, and testified against them, saying, 'You are resisting the commandment of the king of kings, and setting him at nought, though it is in his power to command you to be put to an evil death: beware therefore what you do.'
But when he saw their readiness and their preparations to resist him, and perceived moreover that they were stronger than himself, he retired, with threats nevertheless and protests against their conduct: and returning in great anger to the king, informed him of all that had taken place. And he, on learning it, was roused to anger, and burnt with indignation; and vowing death against all the people of the land, he sent against them the Marzban with a body of fifteen thousand men ready for war, with instructions to exterminate any who ventured to resist his commandment, and erect there a shrine for a temple of fire. But the people of the land, when they heard thereof, assembled together to the number of twenty thousand men, and made ready for battle, prepared to struggle even unto death in defence of their Christianity. And on the arrival of the Persians, they drew themselves up in order of battle against them; and shouting, 'In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,' they moved onward to the attack. And Christ broke the foe before the children of the land, and they utterly |124 destroyed them as one man, and slew the Marzban, and took off his head, and sent it to the patrician Justinian, who was encamped at that time at Theodosiopolis 19 in the marches. Such then were these events, and they were followed by others, the full recital of which would occupy greater space than we can spare.
[II. 21.] And when these things had taken place, and the whole people of the Greater Armenia saw that a fierce war was stirred up against them from the wicked kingdom of the Persians, they all gathered themselves together from one end of it to the other, and ran for refuge to the kingdom of the Christians, saying, 'Henceforward we are the servants of the kingdom of the Christians, and have run to take refuge in the Roman realm, that it may deliver us from the savage violence of the Magians.' And all this, and much more, the Catholicus of Dovin, and the other bishops who were with him, related in the presence of our merciful king and queen, and of the whole senate: but we have admitted only a small portion of it into our history; for they recounted also the details of the repeated |125 conflicts and devastations which followed, and in which the Persian hosts had more than once been vanquished, and their elephants captured; but which we at present must omit for want of space.
[II. 22.] Such then is a short abstract of the account of the Catholicus of Dovin, the capital of Persarmenia, related in the royal city of us Romans, by him, and the other bishops and the numerous noblemen who accompanied him, in the presence of many witnesses: and all on their arrival were received with distinguished respect, and large presents and regal honours paid them, and high dignities granted them, and some of the royal residences and chief monasteries were set apart for their abode, and an income assigned sufficient for their proper maintenance; and titles of high rank were also sent to the leading men in the land, as also a large subsidy of gold, and orders that no tax should be levied for three years for the king of the Romans, but that they should do their best to assist those who, having accepted the sovereignty of the land, were warring in their defence, and that of the whole of Armenia against the Persians. And this they did for a long time, and the Magian people fell before the Christians on numerous occasions in the first six years of the time during which the war lasted. Of these events we will subsequently give some brief particulars in their proper place. As for the Catholicus, at the end of two years he died |126 at Constantinople, and never returned to his own land.
[II. 23.] Upon the first arrival at the capital of the Catholicus of Armenia, and the bishops and nobles in his suite, as men who had fled from the wicked and heathenish kingdom of the Magians, and had come for refuge to the kingdom of the Christians, meeting immediately upon their arrival with so honourable a reception, they went, without making inquiries, and through inattention communicated in full confidence with the patriarch of the city, as not being aware of the schism and quarrel which had arisen in all the churches of the Roman dominions, from the corruption of the faith by the council of Chalcedon. But when intelligence of this reached the bishops and leading men of Armenia, they were angry with them, and wrote sharply to them such things as may now be well passed over in silence; and therefore they withdrew, and separated themselves, and having fitted up a large hall, in a building granted to one of their nobles for a residence, into a church, they there formed a distinct congregation, and celebrated the communion after their own manner; and continued so to do even after the death of the Catholicus.
[II. 24.] We are well aware that the events which happened in our time are numerous, especially now at last, and that they exceed the limits of history: and more particularly after the defection of Armenia to the Romans, which took place in |127 the year eight hundred and eighty 20, of the era of Alexander, (A. D. 569.) For this act was the cause of constant and numerous battles on all sides, and of dreadful devastations, and the shedding of much blood. For the Magian, after his defeats, was again lifted up in his wickedness, and fell upon the Roman armies in Armenia, expecting to route and annihilate them utterly. But when he found himself unequal to this, he turned aside and entered the Lesser or Roman Armenia, in the hope of being able to capture and pillage the city of Caesarea, in Cappadocia: but the Roman armies hemmed him in, and drove him back from thence, and gave him battle, and deprived him utterly of his baggage, and made him return ashamed; and had it not been for a disagreement between the Roman commanders, he would scarcely have escaped with his life. And again the Roman king sent presents and subsidies, and despatched fresh troops to Armenia to ensure his victories; but nevertheless, after it had been completely taken possession of and occupied by the Romans, and they had gained numerous victories, and had reduced several powerful tribes to obedience, finally, either by the unskilful measures of their generals, or because in many things they had brought upon them the anger of God, when they were not fewer in number than a hundred |128 thousand men, they were stricken with a panic at the presence of a single paltry Marzban, with but thirty thousand troops, and all the Roman hosts fled, with the loss of their arms and horses, and were put to shame. And the Persian was lifted up, and increased in strength, and overran and conquered the whole of Armenia, and all the land asked for terms of peace from him, and he granted them; whereupon it returned to its allegiance, excepting those only who had betaken themselves to Constantinople, when seven years before they rebelled against him, and the struggle began 21.
After this, men of high rank in both kingdoms were sent as ambassadors to examine the matters in dispute between the two realms, and to confer about peace; and for more than a year they were occupied at the borders talking and discussing, and disputing with one another, but without effecting any thing. And at first the Persian required a sum of money, before he would make peace; but at this the king of the Romans was stirred up manfully, and said, 'This man demands of us gold, as if we were afraid of him, or subject to him; but let him know that as he never yet has received of us a single mina, so neither shall he as long as we live. And if he treats not with us on equal terms, kingdom with kingdom, we will not make |129 peace with him.' And so, finally, the Persian gave way on this point; but nothing came of it. But of all this, it is not possible for us to give the particulars: many books would scarce hold a full account of it, and of the other contests in the church and the world, which happened in our days, and which therefore, from their too great length, we must omit 22. |130
[II. 25.] Contemporaneously with the disgrace which befell the Roman arms in Armenia, there was seen in very deed the meaning and accomplishment of the apostolic lesson, [Rom. i. 18] 'that the wrath of God is revealed from heaven upon all iniquity and wickedness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness.' For because Christians, on slight and insufficient reasons, had risen up as stern and violent persecutors of Christians, mercilessly and without fear of God, yea, savagely, barbarously, and unchristianly, 'like unto a lion roaring that he may break in pieces, and as a lion's whelp that sitteth in secret,' therefore did the Lord arise before their faces, and lay them low, |131 so manifestly that it was known and observed of all men. For they had intemperately practised every cruelty against the members of their own body, even against the whole people of the orthodox, in vehement wrath, not treating them in that orderly and gentle manner which becomes just and Christian men, but stirring themselves up to be violent and merciless persecutors. For they sentenced the servants of God to cruel imprisonments in dark and narrow dungeons, though they were aged men, infirm and frail in body, and venerable for their years; yea, they condemned them to merciless banishment, without fear of God; ordering them in bonds and strict confinement, to be left exposed to hunger and thirst, and no friend permitted to visit them: and when they banished them, they gave directions that the exiles should have no mercy shown them, but be ill treated in every possible way, in the expectation that the greatness of their sufferings and trials would compel them to submit themselves to the will of their tormentors. And when, by force and compulsion, they had made any submit, they then, in violation of all law and canonical order, pronounced the ordination invalid, which they had received long before at the hands of orthodox bishops, and ordained them afresh, both priests and bishops. And so many were their deeds of this kind, that the time is too short to relate them, nor, as the event plainly proved, could the justice of God either tolerate or endure them. For quick and speedy |132 was the wrathful sentence sent down from heaven upon this cruelty and savageness, or rather upon those who, unrestrained by the fear of God, had practised it, even upon John the patriarch, and upon the king, who was led by him astray, and who did these things under his influence. For both were scourged by the same angry rod, and received the same sentence, that they should be given over to evil spirits. And they had much meanwhile to suffer, which was terrible and alarming, but which shall now be veiled by us in silence, because of the honour due to the priesthood and the royal dignity; but which being wrought in them during a lengthened period of time by the devils, to whom they were severally given up, became matters of common report and conversation, and to the truth of which, and their terrible and fearful reality, we have the testimony of all the people of those times.
[II. 26.] Upon this alarming chastisement falling upon the king and patriarch, the bishop John was at first rather stimulated to increased persecution of the believers by the operation and incitement of the evil spirit which wrought within him, so that every day, without knowing what he was doing, or settled purpose, he gave utterance to savage and cruel threats, unwarned by the chastisement which, from time to time, he received from the evil spirit; and thus he still more irritated the righteous Judge, Who sent yet again upon him a disease of the bowels, and internal |133 pains, and the bitter agonies of gout: so that, being now tormented beyond hope of cure, and pain following upon pain, and blow upon blow more intensely every day; and all the care of his many physicians being in vain, and no respite or aid appearing, at length, as the magicians confessed before Pharaoh, saying, 'This is the finger of God,' so also was he now forced to understand that his chastisement came from Heaven; and he began with sighs and tears to say to his physicians, 'Why weary ye yourselves, my children, about me, a miserable wretch? for my maladies are past the power of healing. For all these tortures have been inflicted upon me by the just sentence of Heaven because of my cruelty, and men cannot heal them. For now I know and understand that as I, without mercy, smote many, so am I now singly scourged without mercy by the One.' And in process of time the physicians ceased to attend him, for he himself refused their services; and he became unable to take food, and even when he swallowed any thing liquid, he quickly threw it off his stomach, and finally his bowels came away piecemeal. And his torment was not only thus bitter and severe, but also protracted, so that he often said with tears before many people, 'I know, O Lord, that I have done evil in Thy sight, and that the curses of Thy aged and honoured servants have overtaken me, and stirred up Thy wrath against me, because I treated them without mercy.' His punishment began about a year |134 after he commenced the persecution, and never abated: and as he did not even then desist from the cruelty of his measures, there finally fell upon him this severe and most painful torment, under which he lingered two years, and at length departed from this present life in the thirteenth year of the reign of king Justin. The latter still lingered under his maladies, finding occasional relief, but never being entirely delivered from his sufferings until the day of his decease. [II. 27.] His death was followed by the immediate recall of Eutychius 23 to the patriarchal throne: and as we have mentioned briefly before the purport of this chapter, so now we will shew at length the just judgment of God, which not only at the day of future trial, but also here, visits men with retribution according to their deeds. For John the bishop of the capital, of whom we are now |135 speaking, being urged onwards by savage violence, and hurried along by pride and arrogance like a boy, and intoxicated and drunken with power, took down and erased all the pictures of the orthodox fathers, and fixed up his own everywhere in their place. And while he thought not that he should die, suddenly the time of his departure overtook him, and Eutychius his predecessor, who had been deposed, was summoned to fill his place. And though by the persuasion of their majesties he consented upon his return to let all that had previously passed between him and John rest in silence, yet his pictures he everywhere obliterated, and expelled them, not merely from the episcopal palace and the churches, but even had a search made for them, lest any one should here and there escape notice. And the inhabitants of both towns and villages, when they learnt his will, that they might not be informed against, obliterated all John's pictures, whether painted on the walls or on tablets, and took them down, and fixed up those of Eutychius in their place, so that at most only one or two remained here and there: [Jud.ix.56.] 'and God requited the wickedness of Abimelech, which he had done, in slaying his brethren, fifty men, upon one stone.' And this became a wonder and an astonishment to all men, that God so quickly had recompensed John even here, and that as he had done, so it was done unto him, [1 Sam.xxv.39] 'and the Lord returned the requital of Nabal upon his own head.' And thus the pictures of John were obliterated as soon as |136 he was dead, just as he had boldly taken down the pictures of the saints and set up his own.
The time during which John 24 occupied the patriarchal throne was thirteen years, more or less.
[II. 28.] Among the satellites of the patriarch was a certain deacon, named Theodulus, who distinguished himself by the activity he displayed in the persecution, and who also was overtaken by the Divine vengeance. From his youth this man had been remarkable for his demureness, and humility, and quietness, and had thereby earned with many the reputation of extraordinary virtue. These qualities had moreover gained him an introduction to the king Justinian, who, on seeing his humility and sedateness, employed him as his almoner, and intrusted him with large sums of money to distribute to the poor, and prisoners, and to the monasteries in the suburbs and outskirts of the city. The money thus given him amounted to many talents; and his services were not confined to the capital, but he was often sent on similar errands even to distant countries: |137 and finally, by little and little, he amassed for himself out of the sums given him to distribute great riches. After Justinian's death, he was employed by Justin in the same confidential post; and when the persecution broke out, being anxious to obtain the favour of men, he was the means, as one who held a confidential position, of bringing, in company with John and the rest, many evils upon the whole body of the believers. His business was to go in advance to the monasteries, and there, by his false oaths, he deceived many: but finally, he was detected in his wickedness.
His zeal and vehemence in defence of the synod, and the whole heresy of the two natures, was even greater than that of John himself; and as he was perpetually slandering the believers both to the king and patriarch, and exciting cruel anger against them, he was himself invested with power to seize and imprison and torture whom he would, besides being often intrusted with special commands, in the execution of which he treated the believers in the most wilful manner. Even the patriarch himself was in no little alarm and fright at his rising power, and the more so when the Arians everywhere were put under his authority. But when he was thus lifted up, and still busied with persecution, God severely scourged him, so that he could no longer walk erect. For while he was still in his strength, and angrily urging on the persecution, it so happened that his own and his wife's cousins and his |138 secretary embarked in a carvin 25, or small vessel, to cross the sea: but it foundered, and all on board, two or three only excepted, were drowned. Nor was this the only calamity which befell him: for, soon after, his wife died, and a severe illness stretched him also upon his bed, where he lay in much pain for three years. And now, in the misery brought upon him by these severe chastisements, he confessed with bitter tears, saying, 'Woe is me! for the curses of those whom I persecuted have overtaken me, and the cry of those whom I oppressed has gone up before God, and therefore is this my humiliation sent upon me from Heaven.' For it had so happened, a little time before, that somehow or other he offended his vestryman, who had the charge of all which he possessed; and for revenge he went in secret and informed the king of the talents which his master Theodulus had secreted, and which it is said—for we have no means of knowing exactly —were from twenty-four to thirty. These the king had secretly removed, and then sending for Theodulus, he said; 'We are in great need, O deacon, of money for the wars; and if thou wilt lend us two or three talents, we will requite thee.' And he replied, 'Me, my lord, whence could I have talents?' ' By my life and my salvation,' exclaimed the king, ' say you that you have none?' |139 'None, certainly,' was the answer; and he took his oath that he was not worth a talent. Upon this, the king ordered the talents to be produced, and with them the vestryman, and sternly said, 'Knowest thou these? and how didst thou swear, and perjure thyself unto us and unto God? Thy shame suffice thee: depart hence.' And so he departed, ashamed like the shame of a thief when he is caught, and hid himself for shame; and became the scorn and ridicule of all men.
Thus then disgrace was added to his other afflictions, and he was further dismissed from his office, and continues so to the present day.
[II 29.]Another of the chief persecutors was the king's quaestor, Anastasius, who by birth was a Samaritan; and when his countrymen in Palestine were being brought to judgment by Photius, they accused him also of practising their idolatrous customs, and an indictment against him was drawn up, and laid before the king. And upon this the alarm of Anastasius was extreme, and he ran hither and thither, and. gave bribes on all sides, and so the indictment disappeared, and no inquiry was made into his conduct. This man was the foe and stern enemy of the believers, and used to threaten them severely; and whenever in the patriarch's absence he acted as his commissary, he used the opportunity for stirring up the king against them by his calumnies: and on John's return, the two persisted, whenever they had an audience, in these representations, and so abused the king's confidence, that, |140 being roused to anger, he published decrees of alarming severity against the whole body of the believers. And, as was known to every one, Anastasius was constantly in the habit of receiving sums of money from John, and was his adviser and inciter to every thing that was abominable, like his accursed teacher Aetherius 26, who prided himself upon Anastasius having been from the first a labourer in the same cause as himself, and eager to walk in all his footsteps.
But justice could no longer endure this man's cruelty, who, while professing himself a Christian, used the opportunity of his office secretly in every way, and on every pretext, to smite the Christians, as only a heathen and a Samaritan would do, and conspired with the other secret heathens to prevent the unity of the church. But God saw his crafty purposes, and while he supposed that he was deceiving both God and men, He brought his falsehood to light before the whole church, when it was crowded with people, on the day of the adoration of the holy cross of our Saviour. On this festival the cross is brought out, and set up in the great church, and the whole senate and all the people of the city assemble to adore it: and with the senate came also the quaestor, to show forsooth in |141 pretence that he also was an adorer. And as they formed themselves in rows, and drew near in order, he too approached the holy cross; but before he could adore it, a demon entered into him, and lifted him up, and threw him on the ground before the holy cross,—yes, this man, I say, who falsely and deceitfully, in mockery of the Christian religion, had drawn near to worship —and he began to foam, and was torn by the devil, and deprived of his senses, and screamed so long, that at length the patriarch gave orders for them to lift him up, and carry him through the throng, and place him in an inner apartment of the church: while the whole multitude who filled the church long continued crying Kyrie eleison, being in wonder at the revelation of his fraud, and at the chastisement which the Lord of the cross had inflicted upon him, before the eyes of so many people. And terror fell on many deceivers and hypocrites.
As for Anastasius, he never again raised his head, but being thus tormented by the devil, he lived about a year and a half, more or less, and so departed from this life.
[II. 30.] Nor did vengeance fall only upon individuals, but as the synodites had rooted up the churches of the orthodox during the persecution, so after a short time, by a righteous sentence, the altars of their churches throughout Thrace, and up to the very walls of the city, were rased to the ground by the barbarians. For it seemed good to the rulers in church and state, to |142 overthrow the meeting-houses of the believers, and level their altars with the ground: but when a short time only had elapsed, a barbarous people, who from their unshorn hair are called Avars, invaded the country and marched up to the outer walls of Constantinople: and all the churches in Thrace were plundered by them and desolated with the whole land, and the altars were stripped and overthrown, and the ciboria 27 destroyed and plucked down, even to the very walls of the city. And many of them understood this just judgment, and said, 'Lo, that which was unjustly done by men of our own party unto those who do not agree with us, in uprooting their churches, this has God done unto us in anger, and our churches also are rooted up and ruined.' —And all men wondered thereat and praised God, Who requiteth every man according to his works.
[II. 31.] Upon the death of the patriarch John, Eutychius was once again summoned to fill the archiepiscopal throne, from a monastery at Amasea 28 in the north. And on his arrival at |143 the capital, he was received by their majesties and the whole city with the utmost pomp: for wonderful rumours were spread abroad concerning him, to the effect that he wrought miracles and did mighty works. The whole city therefore rejoiced at his arrival, and congratulated themselves upon their deliverance from the perfidy and falseness and usurpation 29 of John, who had been appointed in violation of canonical order; and moreover originally he held a menial position, and subsequently was a jurist; nor was it until a very short time before that he received the tonsure and became a clergyman, and then unexpectedly bishop of the royal city; but this in no way broke him of his habits as a layman and jurist. Eutychius, on the contrary, was a sober monk: and already at his deposition he had occupied the throne of the capital for twelve years; and on his expulsion John had held the episcopate also for twelve years, and just entered upon the thirteenth: and so Eutychius returned, feeling as though he could not sit upon his throne until he had excommunicated John, and cast, his memory out of the church of God.
[II.32.] His return brought with it a practical difficulty as to who had been the real bishop of Constantinople during the twelve years of John's |144 occupancy: and therefore the archdeacon of Rome, after the death of John of Sirmin and the restoration of Eutychius, spake with much freedom before the king, as follows: 'Be it known unto your clemency, that according to the canons and rules of the church, if John was patriarch,—and he certainly acted in that capacity all the days of his life,—then Eutychius was not patriarch, and it is utterly impossible for him to be admitted into the church, and occupy the throne. If however Eutychius is received, and admitted as patriarch, and occupies the throne, then John and all that he did cannot be acknowledged by the church, but must be rejected, whether it be the consecration of bishops, or ordinations, or any baptism which he performed, or the consecration of a church, or an altar, it is all null and void, and his name must be erased, and proclamation made of his expulsion from the church of God, and the order of the priesthood. And this is the more necessary, because the two have mutually deposed and excommunicated each other, and all who severally communicate with them: so that it plainly follows from the canons, that one or other is deposed and ejected from the church.' And when the archdeacon had said these things in the presence of the king, and declared that the pope of Rome held the same view, he was sharply rebuked, and told to hold his peace, and not trouble himself about the exact letter of the canons. And so he held |145 his peace, and passed the matter by; and the rule of the canons was trampled under foot and broken.
[II.33.] The archdeacon of Rome had however only expressed the general opinion: for all men had expected that Eutychius, upon his recall, would refuse to occupy the patriarchal throne, until a synod had been assembled, and full enquiry made. But on arriving at the city, he mounted and sat upon his throne without opposition: and both parties drank and swallowed down the turbid dregs of the mutual excommunications, which John and Eutychius had pronounced against each other and their respective adherents; so that astonishment took possession of all men.
[II.34.] But though Eutychius abstained from a ca nonical enquiry into the validity of John's patriarchate, fearing lest he should stir up some opponent against himself, and lose his manger, he showed his hatred and fierceness against him by giving orders that all his pictures should immediately be extirpated and removed from the palace; which John had himself rebuilt in a magnificent manner, after it had been destroyed by fire. His pictures also elsewhere were obliterated, and his name no longer heard at the recitation from the diptychs of the former patriarchs of Constantinople, until the king expressed his displeasure at the omission. He moreover drove away and deprived all his relatives of their offices, and heaped upon his |146 predecessor's memory every possible contumely. And every one who wished to please him, when they saw his infatuation, spoke ill of John, and he listened to it with pleasure: and finally, his folly reached such a height, that he used openly to say, 'John never was bishop of Constantinople, but was simply keeping my place, having himself nothing to do with it.' But these absurdities deceived no one but himself: for all knew that he had been deposed, and that John was appointed in his stead, and had occupied the see, and formally pronounced his deprivation.
[II. 35.] The restoration of Eutychius did not promise much peace to the orthodox party: for in his exile he had occupied himself in his monastery in tearing up and arranging books of lacerations 30, as a proof from the fathers of the doctrine of a quaternity instead of the Holy Trinity, as it had been set forth at the synod of Chalcedon in the wicked tome of Leo. For he in like manner taught that there are two natures in Christ even after the union, and said that all the fathers also acknowledged this. Immediately then that he had been reinstated in his see, he busied himself in eagerly sending copies of these books to the leading men, and ladies of note, requesting them to read and understand, and so be led themselves to acknowledge the two natures: and especially he sent them to such persons as were |147 offended at the doctrine of the two natures, and held, in accordance with all. the fathers, that there was but one nature in Christ as He existed corporeally. But the contrary effect to what he had expected followed upon the perusal of his books: for even his own suffragans and people generally ridiculed his absurdity, and the whole city began to be excited, and those especially, who had not drunk of the turbid dregs of Nestorius' gall, expressed freely and in severe terms their indignation, including some of his own bishops. And at length so much excitement and debate was stirred up against him, that they assembled at the palace, and frankly said, 'Know that if thou dost not gather in thy books, and say nothing more upon this matter, thou wilt cause a schism in the church of God, even among our own party.' And so he gathered in his books, upon which the excitement died away, though he continued to hold the same views as before.
[II.36] After these things, the haughty Eutychius, who belonged originally in the main to the heresy of Paul of Samosata, was not long in precipitating himself into a fresh snare, by adopting the views of those who denied the resurrection of the body: nor did he merely assent to their opinions, but set himself industriously and zealously to confess and publicly teach their doctrine, saying, 'These bodies of men do not attain to the resurrection, but others are created anew, which arise in their stead.' And this view he not merely taught by word of mouth, but even drew up |148 written treatises in its defence, and distributed them publicly, and constantly spoke of nothing else. And again, on this account the whole city was excited against him, and murmurs were every where heard, and expressions of scorn and ridicule. And those especially were scandalized who were of his party, and finally they said to him, 'If thou dost not hold thy tongue about this doctrine, we will in a body excommunicate thee.' And even this threat did not divert him from his opinion, but he attempted no longer to teach it, especially as all men had come to regard him as a heretic and a simpleton.
A few chapters further on, John repeats this narrative as follows:
[II. 42.] The vanity of his heart often led the patriarch Eutychius astray; and whereas originally he belonged to the heresy of the Samosatenians, on being made bishop, he sought to conceal this fact; and to please those who had appointed him, and who held the Chalcedonian tenets, he stood up and played the man in the heresy of the two natures, and began to persecute severely. And when he was driven from his throne into exile, he composed a large work of instruction, divided into heads, concerning the two natures, which upon his restoration after John's death, as we have previously narrated, he began to distribute among the houses of the leading senators, both to men and women, especially to such as held back from the confession of the two natures. And with his book he sent this message, 'Read |149 and learn that the church confesses two natures in Christ after the union.' And laughing at his absurdity, they sent him his books back again. Next, after a short interval, he heard of the heresy of Athanasius, who after having been head and founder of the heresy of those who number the substances, that is, the essences and natures in the Holy Trinity, having been led astray by the error of John Grammaticus, of Alexandria, he further said that these bodies of ours do not rise again at the resurrection of the dead, but that others are made 31, which come to the resurrection in their stead. And from this madness, worthy of heathenism or the Manichees, there arose a schism among them, and they anathematized one another in their writings. When then Eutychius heard of these people, he immediately joined himself unto them, and was imbued with their sentiments, and became one of them, and began composing a work in their defence, and drew up and published books, until |150 his bishops and clergy were alarmed, and resisted him; and after much discussion, he was ashamed, and held his peace, and gathered in his writings, though he still continued of the same opinion.
[II. 37.] Eutychius, however, himself ascribed the ill success of his books to the machinations of the orthodox: and though the supposition was unfounded, it led him to entertain an implacable animosity against them, and to set his face to exterminate and destroy them. He let loose therefore upon them, on the occasion of the celebration of their love feasts, the more violent members of his party, such as the officials of the ecclesiastical courts, and soldiers and civilians and clergymen and guardsmen 32, who attacking them, not like Christians, but like murderers and barbarians, dragged them with open violence to prison, overturned their altars, threw down their oblations, and poured, out the consecrated wine, while the sacred vessels, and every thing else of any worth, which they could find, with the service books, they plundered and stole: they even robbed the worshippers of their clothing and their shoes, and any thing else they found of value they took, without despising even trifles. And when they had stolen all they could, they dragged them away, and all whom they found |151 in their company, to prison, and confined them, rich and poor together, and only let them out to make room for a fresh crowd, as similar scenes were repeated every day. But these proceedings brought general disgrace upon Eutychius and his party, because, like heathens, they had thrown down and trampled under foot the bread consecrated on Christian altars, and even cast it into the fire and burnt it. And all these evils were done without restraint, until no congregation openly ventured to celebrate public worship throughout the whole city.
[II.38.] The cause of all these wrong doings was a certain Fravian, or Flavian 33, originally a slave of Andrew, the queen's pursebearer, who at the commencement of the persecution left the palace and his office, and went forth for the truth's sake, and was plundered, and imprisoned in the monastery of Dalmatus, but retained his constancy unbroken. In his household was a slave of barbarian parentage, whom he had carefully brought up, and trained to be his scribe; and he was a believer and all his house. In process, however, of time he apostatized and conformed to the tenets of Eutychius, by whom he was employed as an informer, and troubler of the believing clergy and their congregations. Taking therefore with him a troop of officials and |152 guardsmen and civilians and clergy, he went about laying hands on every body, and dragging them to prison, after plundering them barbarously, and spoiling them and taking from them all they had. To escape from him, many gave him large bribes; for though a man crept and hid himself in a needle's eye, as the proverb is, he was sure to creep in after him by some stratagem or other, and seize him, and plunder and imprison him. And thus he became the tempter and Satan of all the priests and congregations, and of all the believers in the capital, and of us too with the rest; and, in short, it would be impossible to enumerate the evils wrought by this man against the whole orthodox church.
[II. 39.] Among those who endured this persecution with exemplary firmness was a young nun. She was one of two sisters whose mother died while they were infants, and their father placed them in a convent; and dying soon after, he left them, that is, their convent, whatever he possessed. And in process of time they grew up, and had just arrived at womanhood, when John's persecution broke out, and subsequently that of Eutychius: and as they obliged every religious house to receive the sacrament at their hands; they took the sisters, upon their refusal, and placed them in separate convents: but they both stood firm as adamant, and especially the elder; upon which they inflicted upon her every kind of torture and pain, and close confinement, |153 and hunger and thirst, as being the elder of the two, and glorying and fervent in the faith. But she rebuked and reproached those in whose convent she was confined, and said, 'Ye and your priests, and all your party, are aliens to the Holy Trinity, and hold instead of it a quaternity of persons, like the synod of Chalcedon, which makes a pretence of excommunicating Nestorius, but really and truly holds his view, and acknowledges two natures, just as he did, and as you also do, and all who agree with it.' And as they could not refute her arguments, they went and accused her to the bishop, and said to him plainly, 'Unless you give orders for the immediate removal of this tempter, know for certain that we must all quit our nunnery; for it is impossible to endure her scoffs and contumelies, or answer her arguments.' He therefore sent to the exarch, or officer who had the general oversight of the monastic institutions, commanding him to go and examine her, and severely chastise her; and then eject her, and send her to a convent where their discipline was more severe, with directions to torture her until they made her submit. The exarch accordingly deputed his visitor to try the case, and on his arrival they began to accuse and threaten her; but she of her own accord laughed at them, openly expressing her contempt, and saying, 'Why do ye heathens and murderers threaten a poor weak girl like me? If ye go no further than threats, and do not at once murder me, according to your |154 custom and that of him who sent yon, I do not count you as men, or even as living creatures.' Upon this, they beat her in anger with a staff until they were tired: but she only derided them the more, and anathematized them, saying, 'O you heathen persecutors and murderers of Christians!' and urging them to kill her, she said, 'You are heathens and not Christians; for Christians do not persecute Christians: but you shew yourselves to be heathens, and that you do the work of heathens.' And as they could not answer her, they dragged her away and imprisoned her in another nunnery, leaving orders that they should torture her severely. But when but a few days had passed, they also began to cry out, and try to get rid of her. And so she was removed to one convent after another; and when none could break her spirit, Eutychius gave orders that she should be brought to him in the church. But when the exarch's people heard of the patriarch's intention, they went to him, and said, 'Know, my lord, that if you let her enter your presence, and do not first cut out her tongue, or strike off her head, there is no reproach or ridicule that she will not freely utter to your face: for even when flogged and scourged, she only grows the more vehement, being ready and eager to suffer death.' Finally, however, she was brought to the church, and many attacked her one after another, and multiplied their threats and denunciations; but she regarded them no more than as if they had been |155 so many dead persons, and reproved them at great length. And so they were all everywhere vanquished by her, and finally let her return to her own nunnery. And thus she was the cause of the whole convent being unmolested: for they never ventured again to attack them, being unwilling to encounter her, and saying, 'If this one sister of that convent has endured without flinching all these trials, since they are all alike, who will ever be able to overpower them?'
[II.40.] Not satisfied with these attacks upon their persons and their property, Eutychius endeavoured also to weaken the argumentative position of the orthodox by making a change in those parts of the Liturgy which favoured their views.
Carrying himself then proudly, in this as in every thing else, and wishing to prove himself a theologian, he formed the purpose of doing away with and abolishing the immemorial custom of the ministrations in the churches, and establishing a corruption of his own composing: he therefore drew up an antiphon for the Thursday in Passion week, and had it copied on tablets, and sent it to all the churches, with orders that the ordinary antiphon should no longer be used, but his own substituted in its place, adding threats and menaces against such as should still venture to use the former one in preference to his own.
But not only the clergy of all the churches and convents and monasteries, and monks and nuns, were in alarm and commotion, but also the whole city and senate: and a general riot was on the |156 point of breaking out, not only on the part of the churches and monasteries, but also of the people of the city. And at length the matter reached the king's ears, to whom it was told by one of the senate: and when the bishop came in haste and hot anger, to complain to the king of these things, he rebuked him very sharply, and said, 'How long will it be before you can moderate yourself, and live in quiet? For see, you have agitated and disturbed the whole city. For how could you imagine that you had authority to change our ancient customs? Look to yourself, that they do not stone you.' To this he replied: 'I assure you, my lord, that what I have composed is far fitter for the occasion than the old one.' But the king said, 'Know that if you had brought your antiphon down from heaven, we would not admit it. Go, and keep to your church: and follow in it what has been established by the ancient fathers.' And so his vehemence was checked, and his menaces gave place to a discreet silence.
[II.52.] Of a similar change attempted in the Trishagion34 our author gives some more particulars in |157 the last chapter of this book, wherein he says, that as we have mentioned above the excellent Eutychius was a very eager opponent of the phrase, 'That wast crucified for us,' and wrote strict injunctions to the bishops everywhere to omit this confession from the churches of the cities over which they presided: and at the consecration of all new bishops he exacted a promise that they would cause its entire suppression in their dioceses. But upon their endeavouring to obey this command, the people everywhere, both in the cities and villages, were offended and scandalized, especially in Syria, Asia, and Cappadocia, inasmuch as they had used this phrase from the first. And in many places they resisted, and rose up, saying, 'Though we be hacked to pieces, and burnt, yet will we not deny the God Who was crucified and suffered for us.' And this strife and quarrel continued in every province of the empire even after the death of Eutychius.
[II.41.] In this persecution our author suffered chiefly in the unjust legal proceedings taken against him respecting some property. For this, John, generally known as Superintendent of the heathen, and who was bishop of Ephesus, after all the trials and imprisonments and persecutions and banishments which he had endured, was required to give up the writings of an endowment which had been granted him by Callinicus, chief officer of the king's household, and a patrician. But John, upon receiving it, had expended upon it considerable sums, having both restored the buildings, |158 and built a church, and erected three cisterns; and finally, had dedicated it as a monastery. But when the persecution broke out, in the time of John of Sirmin, he took from him the monastery, and put into it monks in communion with Chalcedon, and sent its founder into exile to an island in the sea. And when upon John's death he returned from exile, Eutychius demanded of him the deed of gift and all the other writings by which he held the property; and not only so, but also the furniture, and service books, and every thing else belonging to it. And when John resisted, after a lengthened persecution, he finally arrested him, and cast him into prison, and took from him by force all the papers upon which he could lay hands. And while he still lay in prison, he assembled a troop of officials and laymen to try him for refusing to deliver up the furniture. But John was strengthened by the grace of,God, and said to them, 'What furniture and what things demand ye? Is it aught that ye gave, or that some one else gave? He who gave me the furniture would be the fitting person to demand it back. For lo! all the deeds of the endowment that were in my possession ye have already taken away by fraud and violence, without fear of God. Read then, and see for yourselves: is there so much as the name of monastery there, or. any mention of furniture as received by me? If there be, then let it be required of me. For I it was who, to my misfortune, made it a monastery. But if the name do not occur, then was it no |159 monastery when first it came into my hands.' And so, by the grace of God, he made them ashamed of themselves, and they said nothing more to him upon this point; but they took away from him the right of having five loaves at each public distribution of corn m, which had cost him three hundred darics, saying, 'These at all events you bought in the name of the monastery.' And even then they did not restore him to liberty, but kept him in prison, until he formally resigned the endowment, and so he was set free.
The two succeeding chapters contain the information respecting Paul, metropolitan of Aphrodi-sias, which we have given above in its proper place: and then follows an account of Deuterius, John's fellow labourer, and subsequently the successor of Paul as bishop of the orthodox communion in Asia. He is spoken of by his former coadjutor in terms of sincere affection, as follows:
[II.44.] 'This Deuterius was a man of industrious and upright habits, who from his youth to old age uninterruptedly, through a period of five-and-thirty years, was fellow-labourer with John in instructing the heathen in the provinces of Asia, Caria, Phrygia, and Lydia, where together they built ninety-nine new churches and twelve monasteries: and throughout this time John confided in him, and trusted in him more than in all besides. When therefore he grew old, and became the victim also of persecution, he appointed |160 Deuterius in his place as bishop of the orthodox in Caria, and intrusted to his charge the churches and monasteries there, among which he laboured, visiting and strengthening them all, until his death, which happened at Constantinople. For he was greatly assisted by Divine grace, which enabled him to discharge efficiently and zealously and manfully the painful duties of his office: and when the synodites pursued him in hopes of getting him into their power, that they might treat him as they had done Paul of Aphrodisias, and substitute him in the place of the other Paul of Antioch, the Lord did not deliver him into their power: and so he fought unto the end the good fight, and arrived at a prosperous old age.
The next chapter treated of the apostasy of the Cappadocian monks, whom Narses had received temporarily into his convent in Bithynia (l. i. c. 39), and we have therefore arranged it with the rest of their history: and possibly the next chapter should have accompanied it, as it is a lament over the confusion and uncertain creed which was occasioned in the monasteries by the persecution, and of which they were an example. As, however, it belongs chronologically to the present time, it has been allowed to retain its original position; and is as follows:
[II. 47.] Upon the visitation of the nunneries, great and small, the inmates were compelled to receive the communion at the hands of their persecutors,; and such of them as submitted, continued to |161 reside as inmates; but some of those who refused, subsequently returned, and again commenced residence. There were therefore now two parties in the nunneries; those who had submitted, and those who had not; and both joined in the whole service, except the actual partaking of the Eucharist. And even when the elements were consecrated by the clergy, and during the actual participation, all had to stand and join in the services, and perform the whole office in common, without venturing to separate one from the other. Such, however, as did not actually partake were allowed to have a special service for themselves, and receive the Lord's supper at the hands of orthodox presbyters. And because of the urgency of the times, they were compelled to submit to these regulations, or they would have been summarily expelled and dispersed; and the chiefs of the orthodox were obliged to keep quiet, and overlook these things, or orthodoxy would have come to a speedy and utter end.
[II.48.] There were at that time at Constantinople some elephants, whose conduct excited wonder and astonishment. Now it may easily happen that those who are given to ridicule will find only an occasion for derision in lighting upon a narrative of the acts of irrational animals in our histories: but we do not record it without reason, or, so to say, foolishly, but first of all for the glory of God, and secondly for the refutation and conviction of heathens and Jews, and of all other |162 mistaken persons, who deny the cross, and reject the dispensation of our Saviour, the sign of which is the cross upon which it was wrought.
These elephants then were part of the spoil captured after a victory, which God gave the Christians over the accursed people of the Magians; and being sent to Constantinople, continued there a long time; and whenever they passed a church, the foremost elephant, who was marching in their front, turned round towards the east, and bowed down his head and trunk, and made obeisance; and then, raising up his trunk, he waved it round, and made the sign of the cross, and signed himself, and so passed on. And next, the second would raise his trunk, and act in the same manner; and the rest in order unto the last. And this we have often seen with our own eyes, while we wondered and praised God, Who had given the knowledge of Christianity even to dumb animals, for the rebuke of those who have the gift of reason, and yet neglect Christianity, and despise the grace of Him Who has saved our sinful race.
And there was another similar practice of these animals equally wonderful and astonishing, and which they never failed to perform whenever the customary horseraces were held in the Hippodrome. For these elephants were always brought in, each with his conductor on his neck; and standing in the Hippodrome opposite the king, they bowed down, and made their obeisance to him to the best of their ability, and as far as |163 their nature would permit. And then each one of them made the sign of the cross with his trunk, and signed himself before the king: while the crowds assembled there were amazed and astonished to see them use the sign of the cross exactly like men. And finally, the king made them presents, and they retired.
[II.49.] Another extraneous subject is an account of a great fire, which, towards the close of Tiberius' reign, and the commencement of that of Maurice, broke out in the very centre of Constantinople, and devastated a great portion of it; so that many estates, some large and some moderate and some small, were simultaneously destroyed, and their owners, even if they escaped with their lives, were stripped and beggared of all they possessed, and with their own eyes saw it fall in one day a prey to the flaming fire.
[II.50.] Now when men of practised learning fall in with these narratives, they will possibly blame the writer, because it may so happen that the same fact is recorded in a confused and disorderly way in several different chapters; be it known, then, in our defence to such as are inclined to find fault, that most of these histories were written at the very time when the persecution was going on, and under the difficulties caused by its pressure: and it was even necessary that friends should remove the leaves on which these chapters were inscribed, and every other particle of writing, and conceal them in various places, where they sometimes remained for two |164 or three years. When therefore matters occurred which the writer wished to record, it was possible that he might have partly spoken of them before, but he had no papers or notes by which to read and know whether they had been described or not. If therefore he did not remember that he had recorded them, at some subsequent time he probably again proceeded to their detail; and therefore occasionally the same subject is recorded in more chapters than one: nor afterwards did he ever find a fitting time for plainly and clearly arranging them in an orderly narrative.
Of this we have an instance in the two next chapters, one giving an account of the lapse of Eutychius into the heresy of the Athanasians, and the other of his attack upon the Trishagion, both of which belong to previous portions of the history.
End of the Second Book of the Narratives of the Church, in which are contained fifty-two chapters.
[Footnotes moved to end and renumbered]
1. a As no attempt is made by John of Ephesus to arrange his Narratives in chronological order, I imagine that it was subsequently to the banishment of the four bishops, that the patriarch had convinced Stephan of the soundness of the council of Chalcedon, by the extraordinary arguments recorded in c. 16, and as he still continued in communion with Chalcedon, though refusing to be reconsecrated, and was supported in this by Justin, he was now dwelling at Constantinople in full possession of the influence which, as our author mentions above, he obtained over the weak mind of the king.
2. b So Dionysius, in his Chronicle, quoted by Ass. B. O. ii. 6. 'Paul who had been consecrated patriarch of Antioch, by Jacob Burdoho, was by birth of Alexandria, and having partaken of the communion with John the Chalcedonian, for the sake of peace, he was deposed and ejected; and further, because he had secretly consecrated a patriarch of Alexandria;' (of which we shall see more hereafter in the history of Longinus).
3. c The hospital of Eubulus was a late foundation at Constantinople, having been built in the reign of Justin I, and must have been situated near the great church of St. Sophia, as the Alexandrine chronicle mentions that when that edifice perished by fire, the hospitals of Sampson and Eubulus were also destroyed, and the sick in them perished in the flames. Du Fresne Con. Chr. ii. 163.
4. d Both these substantives are in the plural, the patriarch as well as the king taking the pluralis majestatis.
5. e This was the paragau~dij, for which cf. Du Cange Glos. sub Paragauda.
6. f The palace of Hormisdas was originally a mere house, the use of which was granted to Hormisdas, when he fled to Constantinople for refuge from the cruelty of his brother, Sapor, king of Persia: but when subsequently Justinian dwelt there, before he attained to the empire, he conceived so great an attachment for it, that he rebuilt it magnificently, and added it to the palace by a covered way.
7. g The monastery of Dalmatus (for so we ought to read, the mark of the plural both here and constantly in the case of the monastery of Eubulus being an error of the copyist, who mistook the waw, which represents the genitive case, tou~ Dalma&tou, for a plural termination) was the highest in rank and most ancient and celebrated of all the religious houses at Constantinople. It was founded in the reign of Theodosius the younger, and an account of it will be found in Du Fresne Const. Christ. ii. 154.
8. h Comes Privati, ko&mhj tw~n priba&twn, is defined by Philostorgius as, o( th~j basilikh~j oi0ki/aj proestw&j.
9. i Theodora bore Justinian an only daughter, of whose son, Anastasius, Procopius gives an account in his Hist. Arc. c. iv. calling him 'Anastasi/w| tw~| th~j basili/doj qugatridw~|, and detailing the particulars of the scheme for marrying him to Belisarius' daughter Joannina; but of another son, John, he knows nothing.
10. k The diptychs here spoken of were of two kinds — one for the dead, and one for the living; and on them were inscribed the names of those who were to be mentioned at the eucharist. The omission therefore of their names was equivalent to condemning them as heretics; and Evagrius mentions that Anastasius' own name was similarly removed 'because of heresy.'
11. l Syncellus signifies literally, 'one who shares the same cell,' whence it became the title of a high ecclesiastical dignity, the person invested with it being at once the prime minister and privy councillor of the bishop. Occasionally the syncellus was nominated by the emperor, to watch and control the actions of a dangerous prelate.
12. m These diaconates were also hospitals; but the sick in them were tended by deacons and laymen.
13. n Beth-Babula was built at Constantinople by S. Rabula, bishop of Emesa, in the reign of Anastasius, who provided him with the funds. An account of its erection will be found in the Menologies, under Feb. 19.
14. o The cellarius was the house-steward of a bishop, or monastery, and the immense revenues of the patriarchates rendered the office one of great responsibility. Lanfranc, in the th chapter of his Decrees to regulate the monks of the order of S. Benedict, thus describes his duties: 'Ad cellarii ministerium pertinet omnia quae in pane et potu et diversis ciborum generibus patribus sunt necessaria procurare,' etc.
15. p For these diaconates, conf. Du Cange, Glos. sub Diaconia.
16. q There was a very famous temple of the Virgin at Blachernae, but she is so universally styled Deipara, both by our author and by all who have described this church, that I feel far from certain of the correctness of the translation.
So beautiful was this edifice, that Nicephorus Callistus describes it as 'the great house of the Mother of God, which vies in beauty with the very heavens:' and its foundation is so illustrative of the times, that I cannot forbear giving it from the Greek Liturgies, where it will be found in the Menologies, or Services for the Saints' days, under July 2. 'Two Patrician youths, we are there told, named Galbius and Candidus, went on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem; and passing through Galilee, they lodged for the night with a pious woman, who had in her possession a robe which had once belonged to the holy Virgin. This treasure she shewed to the devout travellers, who, eager to gain so precious a relic, offered her large sums of money: but being unable to induce her to part with it, they finally proceeded on their way to Jerusalem. There, while visiting the holy places, the pious thought suggested itself of engaging the services of a carpenter to make a chest exactly similar to that in which the robe was deposited in the widow's house: and so exact was the counterfeit, that the brothers returned full of holy joly to Galilee; and being again hospitably entertained, they succeeded easily in effecting the substitution, as the true chest miraculously aided in the exchange. On returning to Constantinople, the youths endeavoured to conceal their pious theft, but the miraculous virtues of the robe quickly manifested themselves, and being noised abroad, they were constrained to acknowledge their possession of it to the Emperor, who hastened with all humility to kiss and do homage to the saintly relic, and built a splendid church for its reception, wherein the blessed chest remains even to this day, the palladium of the city against danger, and its best protection against pestilence and war.'
17. r This Khosrun is the famous Nushirwan, whose eulogy has been written by Gibbon, and to whose many excellent qualities our historian himself bears witness in the sixth book of his history.
18. s The title of Marzban is exactly equivalent to the German Markgraf, and English Marquis, and signifies Lord or Warden of the Marches, or border lands. Adelung, in his Krit. Wörterbuch, enumerates an endless number of dialects in which Marz or Mark has this meaning, and we retain it exactly in landmark, which signifies the edge, border, limit of the land, not a sign to mark the boundary. Ban the Germans retain as the title of the Warden of Croatia; and Adelung says, Ban, Pen, in Goth. Fan, signifies high, the summit, the chief lord. As regards the title King of kings, which occurs a few lines below, it is perhaps hardly necessary to say that Khosrun is meant by it, as it was the regular title of the Persian monarchs.
19. t Theodosiopolis is better known by its other name of Resaina, by which it is frequently spoken of afterwards, and was situated in Mesopotamia. The patrician Justinian was the grand nephew of the Emperor of that name, and in the latter part of Justin's reign conducted the war against Khosrun with considerable ability. Evagrius (Eccles. Hist. V. 7-15.) gives a brief account of these transactions confirmatory of the more stirring narrative of John.
20. u The real date was A. D. 571, consequently [Syriac] has probably been omitted from the text.
21. x A more full, but still piecemeal, account of these events will be found in the sixth book.
22. y Before completely dismissing the subject, it may he interesting to add a translation of Saint Martin's account of this seven years' war, in his Mémoires sur 1'Arménie, vol. i. p. 330, and which is as follows:—'In spite of the treaty made between Vahan Mamigonean and king Balasch, the Persian sovereigns frequently persecuted the Christians in Armenia, in the hope of making them abjure their faith. Nevertheless during most of the reign of king Khosrou, Armenia was tranquil, and enjoyed as much prosperity as was possible for a land which was necessarily the battle field for the incessant struggle waged between the Greek and the Persian empires. Towards the end however of his reign a war broke out, which for many years spread devastation and slaughter through every part of the land. For Vartan Mamigonean, irritated by the persecutions which his Christian countrymen had to endure, raised in A. D. 571 the standard of revolt, marched upon Tovin, the capital, of which he made himself master, defeated and slew beneath its walls the Marzban Souren Jihrveschnasbean, and with the support of the emperor of Constantinople, assumed the reins of government as an independent prince. And at first success seemed likely to crown his enterprise: for the army which Khosrou sent to suppress the rebellion was defeated by Vartan in the plains of Khaghamakha, on the shores of the Ourmiah lake. But this reverse served only to rouse the aged king to greater efforts, and upon the approach of his most famous general Bahrain Tchoubin, with a numerous army, the insurgents, weakened by intestine discords, did not dare to meet him in the field, and some even fled to Constantinople. The Greek emperors in vain endeavoured to prop up Vartan's tottering rule, and after a seven years' struggle, the Armenians, in A. D. 578, wearied with the ravages of war, made voluntary offers of submission, which were accepted by the Persian king, and Mihram Jihrvegon appointed to be their Marzban.'
This summary of the seven years' war is gathered by Saint Martin from the writings of the Armenians themselves; and should it interest any one in the brave endeavours of this people to maintain their faith in spite of the incessant persecutions of the Zoroastrian priests, he will find a stirring recital of a more successful struggle waged a hundred years before, in the translation (into French) of the history, which Elisée Vartabed wrote at the request of the hero of the war, Vahan Mamigonean, the ancestor of the Vartan mentioned above, by the abbé Gregory Karabagy Garabed: other available sources of information are, the translation of Moses Chorenus, an Armenian bishop of the fifth century, by Le Vaillant de Florival; Avdall's translation of Michael Chamich's History of Armenia, Calcutta, 1827; and the recent translations of Dulaurier.
23. z The deposition of this prelate had been one of the last acts of Justinian's reign, who, in his eagerness to unite all parties within the church, had adopted as his standard the tenets of a subdivision of the Monophysite party, who held that the body of Christ was not subject to corruption. The head of this party was Julianus, and a Syriac translation of the great work of Severus of Antioch in opposition to his views is extant among the manuscripts of the British Museum. Eutychius, to his honour, opposed the Emperor's scheme of elevating this doctrine to the rank of orthodoxy: and by a stretch of the imperial prerogative, by no means uncommon in those days, was at once deposed, and went into retirement. It follows therefore that John's elevation was entirely uncanonical, and hence the treatment of his pictures, &c. regarded by our historian as part of his retribution.
24. a The opinion of Baronius concerning John is by no means a favourable one: for speaking of Eutychius's deposition, he says, 'his successor was John Scholasticus, apocrisiarius of the church of Antioch, a man plainly the slave of glory, and a trafficker in holy things, and who purchased his high rank by flattery.' (Eccles. Hist. sub A. D. 564.) Raderus is even less complimentary: for referring to the fact that the Greek church celebrates him as a saint, he says, 'I find no traces of sanctity in him: away with him therefore from the sacred Fasti.' (Conf. Morcellus in Kal. Eccl. Const. ii. 229.)
25. b The carvin, or kara&bion, is explained by Isidore as a vessel made of osiers and hides: its Ar. equivalent [Arabic] is the small vessel used in disembarking from a larger one. In modern languages it still exists in the Portuguese, Caravela; Italian, Caravella, &c.
26. c Evagrius, Eccles. Hist. v. 3, applies the same epithet of exsecrable, or accursed (alith&rioj) to Aetherius, and describes him as a man whose sole delight was in calumniating and bringing evil upon others. He was put to death by Justin, on a charge of conspiracy against his life.
27. d The ciborium was properly a covering built over the altar, and supported by four pillars at the corners; and in this sense S. Chrysostom uses it to explain the 'silver shrines of Diana,' in the Acts. Subsequently the name was also given to the pyx erected under it for the reservation of the host.
28. e Amasea is in Pontus, and Eutychius had been apocrisiarius there before his elevation to the see, and had retired to his old monastery upon his deposition.
29. f [Syriac] literally means, that John was an impostor, e0piqe/thj, his appointment being uncanonical, and therefore invalid.
30. g This simply means that he drew up a Catena, or string of passages from the fathers in support of his views.
31. h Or, perhaps, 'but are made into others.' Eustathius, in his life of Eutychius, gives no explanation of John's assertion, that originally he was a follower of Paul of Samosata, if such is the meaning of [Syriac]: but he refers to this charge of his being an Athanasian, and says that he held no more than the fathers generally, in whose writings he was deeply versed, and of whom Gregory said, 'Despise the flesh, which passes away; care for the soul, which is immortal.' And Basil, 'Would that I might put off this heavy cloak, and receive a lighter one.'
The ill fate of Eutychius' books evidently was a favourite topic with our author, as he tells the whole story again in lib. iii. cc. 17, 18.
32. i [Syriac] evidently is for Xlanidwtoi\, but who are meant by the term is uncertain: as Chlanis, teste Du Cange, is however used for Chlamys, I imagine they may possibly be the young officers of the royal bodyguard, generally called Chlamydati.
33. k The change of Flavianus to Fravianus is not unusual in the Graecising of Roman names. Thus in the lists of the patriarchs of Constantinople we find Phravitas, i. e. Flavitas, still better known as Flavianus II., patriarch A. D. 488-490.
34. l The Trishagion was a hymn originally taken from Is. vi. 3, but subsequently remodelled till its words were, 'O holy God, holy mighty One, holy Immortal, have mercy upon us.' Into this Peter the fuller, patriarch of Antioch in A. D. 460, introduced the words, 'that wast crucified for us;' with the express purpose of supporting the views of the Monophysites, and succeeded in the patriarchate of Antioch, when their views were for many years in the ascendant.
35. m The a!rtoi politikoi\ are fully explained below in III. 14.
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John of Ephesus, Ecclesiastical History, Part 3 -- Book 3
John of Ephesus, Ecclesiastical History, Part 3 -- Book 3
BOOK THE THIRD.
[III.1] INASMUCH then as the events which took place at the commencement of the reign of the victorious king Justin II. have been sufficiently detailed by us in the previous part of our history; and that originally he was anxious to make unity, and mild and peaceable to the whole body of believers for the first six years of his reign, but then changed, and took part in a persecution carried on in a violent and uncanonical manner, of which in the two former books we have given a few details out of many; and inasmuch as we then gave a slight account, but covertly, of the chastisement which came down upon him from Heaven for his soul's benefit, and to abate the violence of the evils about to fall upon him, desisting from an exact detail, lest we should be thought to speak in scorn or derision of the high office of royalty, in venturing openly to describe and record the pitiable smiting justly inflicted upon him by God; but have been rebuked for this silence; we therefore now think it right briefly to record what took place, that those may fear who in future times shall be girt with high and princely power, and that the dread judgment of God upon king Justin may be recorded, and its remembrance engraven on the heart of all men for their admonition. |166
[III. 2.] For the merciful God, Who willeth not the destruction of His creatures, and Whose providence watcheth over the lives of men, when He saw that king Justin was using his royal power for things excessive and alien to all piety, visited him with chastisement, lest when the measure of his sins was full, it should sink him in utter perdition. For He beheld him wickedly shedding the blood of innocent men, and given up to the plundering and reckless spoiling of their goods, unrestrained by the thought of the fear of God, and gathering and heaping up unrighteous wealth beyond what most of his predecessors had done: and finally, not content with stirring up God to anger by crimes such as these, he betook himself also to the persecution of Christians severely and pitilessly, and without natural mercy, levelling the altars of the orthodox in bitter wrath by the hands of the bishop John, and everywhere breaking down their churches, and seizing their priests and bishops, and oppressing them, and vexing them, and confining them in prisons, and guardhouses and monasteries, and in various cruel hospices, being men aged and weighed down, and infirm with years; so that many of them even fainted, and departed from this present life, being exhausted by the miseries and tortures of their bonds, and their strict and bitter and severe imprisonments. For many of his evil deeds have never even been mentioned by us, nor are we willing to record or bear witness of much of his conduct, so iniquitous was its character: but it |167 did not escape the justice of God, Who yet, because He was gracious unto him, that he might not utterly perish, but being rebuked, might be stopped in his wicked course, sent upon him, in the language of Scripture, 'indignation and wrath and tribulation.' [Rom, ii. 8.] And He sent it by means of an evil angel, who suddenly entered into him, and took his form, and domineered over him cruelly and fearfully, making him an example of the terribleness of their malice. For suddenly it destroyed his reason, and his mind was agitated and darkened, and his body given over both to secret and open tortures and cruel agonies, so that he even uttered the cries of various animals, and barked like a dog, and bleated like a goat; and then he would mew like a cat, and then again crow like a cock: and many such things were done by him, contrary to human reason, being the workings of the prince of darkness, to whom he had been given up, and who had darkened his understanding, and taken it captive, and who wrought in him every thing that he did.
At other times the evil spirit filled him with agitation and terror, so that he rushed about in furious haste from place to place, and crept, if he could, under the bed, and hid himself among the pillows; and then, when the horror came upon him, he would rush out with hot and violent speed, and run to the windows to throw himself down. And his attendants, in spite of their |168 respect for him as king, had to run after him, and lay hold of him, to prevent him from dashing himself down and being killed: and the queen was obliged to give orders for carpenters to come, and fix bars in the windows, and close them up on the whole of that side of the palace on which the king lived. Moreover they selected strong young men to act as his chamberlains and guard him; for when they were obliged, in the way I have described, to run after him and seize him, as he was a powerful man, he would turn upon them, and seize them with his teeth, and tear them: and two of them he bit so severely about the head, as seriously to injure them, and they were ill, and the report got about the city that the king had eaten two of his chamberlains. And sometimes, as was said, they had even to tie him up, while he screamed and howled, and uttered words without meaning: but if they said to him, The Bogle 1 is coming for you, he would be still in a moment, and run away, and hide himself; and any name which they mentioned was enough to frighten him, and make him run away, and be quiet, and creep under his bed. And there were other things more disgraceful than these, and more lawless, which were openly spoken of without fear by every one in the city. These few which we have here recorded we had upon the testimony of many: for they were the constant |169 subject of conversation. He continued then, not for a few days only, but for five years, thus tried and tortured: and our brief account of his state we have given upon the authority of others; for we were neither near, nor eyewitnesses of it; but the whole senate and city, natives as well as foreigners, bear witness to the truth and exactness of our details: and that much besides happened, too unseemly to be recorded in writing.
[III.3] In this disordered state of the king's intellect, those about him devised various kinds of amusements, both to divert his attention, and in the hope of restoring him to the use of his reason. The most successful of these was a little wagon, with a throne upon it for him to sit upon, and having placed him on it, his chamberlains drew him about, and ran with him backwards and forwards for a long time, while he, in delight and admiration at their speed, desisted from many of his absurdities. Another was an organ, which they kept almost constantly playing day and night near his chamber; and as long as he heard the sound of the tunes which it played he remained quiet, but occasionally even then a sudden horror would come upon him, and he would break out into cries, and be guilty of strange actions. For once, when the patriarch came to visit him, and drew near and made his obeisance, seeing that the king was agitated, he signed him with the sign of the cross; upon which he raised his hand, and struck him so heavy a blow on the head, that the patriarch reeled and fell on his |170 back a good distance from him, while the king exclaimed, 'An evil end be thine: go and sign thyself, that thy own devils may get out of thee.' The rest meanwhile took the bishop and raised him up; but it was some time before he returned to his senses, being stunned by the severity of the blow. At another time, as it was impossible for the patriarch not to pay the customary visits to the palace, upon his entering cautiously, and on his guard, the king, at the sight of him, fell into a fit of laughter, and jumping up, laid hands upon him, and took from his shoulder his mitre, which is the insignia of the episcopal office, and spread it out, and put it upon his head, like a woman's hood; and looking at it said, 'How well it becomes you now, my lord patriarch: only you should put on some gold lace, like the ribands which the ladies wear upon their heads.' At another time, standing at a window overlooking the seashore, he began to cry like those who go about hawking crockery, 'Who'll buy my pans?' And many other such things he did which it is impossible to relate, and which were wrought in him by the devil, to whom he was given up; and which were the common talk of every city and village, and house and street, and tavern, within and without Constantinople: and even upon the way all men talked of them with much wonder and astonishment.
[III.4] When then the king was chastised by this bitter humiliation and trial, many thought and spoke of it in different lights: and first of all his wife, |171 the queen Sophia, was not only not chastened or alarmed by the affliction and punishment which had overtaken her consort, but was rather elated, and said; 'The kingdom came through me, and it has come back to me: and as for him, he is chastised, and has fallen into this trial on my account, because he did not value me sufficiently, and vexed me.' Such, however, was not the general opinion; but she was considered as having spoken wickedly, as we shall shew in what we have afterwards to record. What, however, men generally did think, though they did not venture to express it, was, that God had inflicted upon him this visitation for three chief reasons; first, because of the innocent blood that he had shed; next, because he had persecuted Christians, and had inflicted torments and miseries, and bonds and close imprisonments, and exile, upon priests and bishops, and the believers generally, both men and women; and thirdly, because of the manner in which he had plundered and spoiled men's goods, and not permitted orphans to inherit their fathers' property, so that the cry of orphans and widows rose up before the Lord, together with his other evil deeds; and therefore He was angry with him, and delivered up his kingdom to others, while he was yet alive, and saw it with his own eyes.
[III. 5.] When king Justin had continued in this state of trial and sickness, and oppressed with other evils, for a period of five years, and the sixth had begun, being thus chastised by the operation of |172 the devil, all business being neglected, and matters of state in confusion, and wars with the barbarians coming in quick succession in every quarter 2, the whole senate took counsel with the queen to make the God-loving Tiberius king, and appoint him as Caesar to conduct in Justin's stead all matters of state. And to this Justin himself consented; for there were intervals, though coming irregularly, when he recovered the use of his senses, and could converse upon matters connectedly. After a long consultation, therefore, with him, they chose and appointed Tiberius as Caesar, as for a long time he had been Justin's keeper, even before he had come to the crown. Upon Justin's summoning him, therefore, and solemnly investing him with the dress and insignia of royalty, an angel, as he himself acknowledged, appeared to him, and stood by him, and dictated in his ear the words with which he was to address Tiberius Caesar: and he began to speak unto him words of wonder and astonishment, as though his mind had never sustained any injury. For weeping, and with his words broken by tears and sobs, he said, 'O son Tiberius, come and take the kingdom of the wretched Justin, who has made God |173 angry, so that He has rejected him, and cast him out of his royal estate while still living. Come, my son, enter upon thy office, and displace him who has set his Creator at nought, that Creator Who gave him the kingdom, from which his own eyes now see him rejected and fallen.' And when he thus spake with a loud voice in the presence of the many thousands assembled there, all who heard his words broke out into bitter weeping and loud sobs; and especially when he turned round, and, waving his hand towards the soldiers posted there, said to them with a loud voice, 'Open, my children, your ranks, and let whoever will come in, and see the wretched Justin stripped and fallen from his kingdom, because he has provoked to anger and wrath that true and eternal King Whose empire passeth not away, and Who had bestowed upon him, unworthy as he was, the kingdom. And now, O Tiberius, let my fate be to thee a terror, and alarm, and trembling, before the Lord the eternal King, that thou beware of Him, and stir Him not up to anger by thy evil deeds, as I have done, by those deeds of mine, which have brought down upon me this severe and terrible chastisement. For lo! while I yet live, I am stripped and ejected from my kingdom, because I have acted iniquitously therein. Beware, lest this apparel and royal dress lead thee astray, as it has led me, and fill thee with pride and error and presumption, and bring upon thee the wrath of Heaven, as it has upon me, and thou too be stripped, and fall from thy kingdom, |174 as I this day. Look, my son, at him who stands by me, and whispers to me in my ear, and teaches me all those things which I speak unto thee, and teach thee, and command thee and admonish thee; and be thou sure and convinced, and aware within thyself, that what is now spoken to thee by me is not of me, but comes from this angel of God. And if thou, or any one besides, seest him not, behold he stands by me, and teaches me those things which I say unto thee, that thou mayest fear, and be afraid at the dread sentence of justice decreed against and inflicted upon me, as, lo! thou and all men see. For because I have not kept God's commandments, He now strips and ejects me from my kingdom, and delivers it unto thee. Look therefore on me, my son, and from my case take an example of terror and alarm for thy own heart, at the sentence which has gone out against me, and let it not be lifted up unto evil deeds, such as I have done, lest wrath be sent down also upon thee from Heaven, as it has now upon me, and thou too be cast out of thy kingdom. Beware, therefore, lest thou give way to wicked men, who will counsel thee unto evil, and lead thee astray as they have led me astray, until I have made God angry by all my doings.' These words, and many more to the same effect, but which we have omitted because of their too great length, were spoken by the king, in sorrow and tears, with a loud voice, in the presence of all men: while the illustrious Tiberius threw off his robe, and fell on his face to |175 the ground at the king's feet, and gave unrestrained way to his lamentation 3 with tears and sobs of bitter sorrow, in which the whole senate, and all who stood around joined, when they heard these things, and saw both him who was giving up the kingdom, and him who was summoned to receive it, the prey of such deep anguish. And when they took hold of Tiberius, and raised him from the ground, he fell again on his face with a loud wail. And at this, all the multitudes at once, with one cry of mighty suffering, and from their hearts, lamented with loud voice, nor could any one check or restrain his tears on hearing the words which the king, weeping at his humiliation, spake. And finally, he gave orders, and they raised Tiberius up, and again he addressed him in language broken by sobs: and then he invested him with the insignia and dress and emblems of royalty, and said, 'Henceforward be thy name called Constantine; for in thee shall the kingdom of the great Constantine be renewed.' The rest, want of space alone compels us to omit. The day of the appointment of Tiberius as Caesar was the seventh day of the earlier Conun, in the year eight hundred and eighty-six, on the day of the preparation, in the morning. (Friday, Dec. 7, A. D. 574.)
So firmly persuaded were all men that these words were not spoken by the king himself, but by an angel of God, that when at length pictures |176 were set up in honour of Tiberius and Justin, an angel was painted standing between them, and with his mouth at Justin's ear: and that the fact was really so, was firmly received by every one. The words themselves were taken down in shorthand 4 by many who were present, and at once committed to writing; for there were numerous scribes present taking notes: but their full and exact recital would exceed our limits.
[III. 6.] Justin survived the appointment of Tiberius as Caesar for four years, and hopes were long entertained of his recovery, chiefly because of the recurrence of lucid intervals, during which he could be propped up in his chair, and shown to the people, and even taken to the entertainments of the Hippodrome in the morning: and sometimes he was sufficiently well to give audience, and receive the salutations of the senate. Sometimes also he distributed largesses to the people, for which purpose they put money into his hand, which he scattered, with the help of his attendants, who guided his arms: but then he would again relapse into his former imbecility, to which were added other trials, especially the painful disease of strangury: so that upon the whole his health constantly declined.
During this period the affairs of state were entirely directed by the God-loving Caesar, especially the wars with the barbarians and the Persians; |177 but whenever Justin was capable of it, he took counsel with him; and if he spake any thing sensibly, it was done. But as time passed on, their hopes of his recovery were disappointed, and his maladies rather grew more and more aggravated, till his pain was such, that he often called,out, and besought them to bring a sword and kill him; for death, he would say, is better for me than a life of such anguish and agony: and at other times he would bid them throw open the gates of the palace, that all who wished might enter, and see the king asking for death, and desiring it rather than life, and death denied him. And when afterwards the pain of the strangury increased, and he was tortured by stones. which obstructed the bladder, and physicians came to cut them away, they requested him, after the usual cowardly manner of physicians, to take the lancet into his hand, and give it them 5: and he in answer begged them to shew him no mercy, but let him depart from life: and said, 'Fear not: even if I die, no harm shall happen unto you.' A deep incision was then made in both his groins, and the whole operation so barbarously performed, that he was put to extreme torture: nevertheless, in the midst of his cries, he said, with a loud voice, 'Just are thy judgments, O God; for all the sins and wickednesses which I committed with my body are |178 openly requited in Thy anger upon the members whereby I wrought them.' His death was now certain; and being fully aware of it, he sent for the Caesar, and charged him, and admonished him in many words, saying, 'I, my son, am dying: go now, take the royal crown, but be on thy guard, that thou be not guilty of sin, and provoke God to anger: and consult for the good of the kingdom of the Romans.' Accordingly, Tiberius received the crown on Monday the twenty-sixth of September, in the year eight hundred and ninety (A. D. 578); after which, Justin survived for nine days, and departed from this world on the fourth day of October that same year.
[III. 7.] After the death of Justin, the queen Sophia continued to dwell with Tiberius in the palace, and he showed her the greatest honour, 'though she being in honour understood it not,' [Ps. xlix. 20.] as Scripture says. For before they made him Caesar, they had required from him an agreement confirmed by solemn oaths, that in case of the king's death, the Caesar should pay every honour to Sophia, and not do her any evil. And this he scrupulously observed, and on the king's death took her to dwell with him in the palace, saying unto her, 'You are my mother: dwell here, and command me whatever you wish.' When, however, he requested permission for his wife to come and dwell with him, she was displeased, and refused her consent. For even during Justin's life, he had said to her, 'Let the Caesar's wife come and dwell with him: for he is a young man, and the flesh |179 is hard to rule:' but she had answered him with scorn; 'Fool, do you wish me to make myself as great a simpleton as yourself? you! who have invested your slave with the insignia of sovereignty!' And then she vowed with oaths, 'I, as long as I live, will never give my kingdom and my crown to another, nor shall another enter here as long as I am alive.' The idea therefore was given up, and during the four years which elapsed between the appointment of Tiberius as Caesar and Justin's death, the Caesar's wife was never suffered to enter the palace, and her husband was compelled, on bringing her to Constantinople, to give her and his two daughters the house of Hormisdas as a residence, as it was situated just below the palace. And constantly he went down and spent his evenings with them, and returned early in the morning to the palace. And it is said, that proposals were made to him, both through another person and through the patriarch, that he should put away his wife, and marry either Sophia herself or her daughter, who was also then a widow. But he was very indignant on hearing their proposal, and said, according to the current rumour, 'Will it please God, as well as you, for me to leave my wife, by whom I have had three children, and who took me to share all she had when I had nothing? and now that God has raised me to power, am I to leave her and take another?' And thus he refused to listen to their words, and commit this iniquity.
[III. 8.] The name of the Caesar's wife was Ino, and she |180 had previously been married to a Roman who held some military office at a place called Daphnudii Castra 6, and to whom she bore a daughter and this daughter they betrothed to Tiberius, while he was still a civilian and a Roman merely. Soon after the betrothal, the father died, and as the damsel did not long survive him, the mother remained a widow and childless. And Tiberius, as the will of Providence apparently had ordained, took the maiden's mother to wife, and had by her three children. And when he sent for her, and made her dwell in the palace of Hormisdas, she was in constant terror, considering her life in danger: and as long as she remained there, no one ventured to visit her. For the wives of the senators met to consider it, but were afraid to go and make their obeisance: and, finally, they asked Sophia, whether it was her command that they should pay their respects |181 to the Caesar's wife? fearing lest otherwise they should incur blame. But she scolded them sharply, and gave them an angry answer, saying, 'Go, and be quiet: it is no business of yours.' And as no one ventured to oppose her, the Caesar's wife made her escape, and fled from the city back to Daphnudium; and when she fell ill there, the Caesar was obliged to go backwards and forwards to see her.
Upon the death however of Justin after having invested Tiberius with the royal crown, as we have mentioned above, when Tiberius made the request that his wife might be sent for, to share the crown with him, though Sophia was by no means pleased, yet it was impossible for her to offer any opposition. Accordingly the commander of the praetorian guard, accompanied by a large number of men of senatorial rank, with numerous row-boats, and a great retinue, set out to fetch her: and starting with great pomp, they arrived at Daphnudium, and informed her of the purpose of their visit; upon which she answered, 'Come in the morning, and we will start immediately.' Upon receiving this reply, they prepared to remain there for the night, and a temporary abode having been erected for them, they entered it, and lodged there. But her real purpose, was very different: for having sent immediately for one of her boatmen, she said, 'Go and get a boat ready; for I wish to send forward an answer by you, without any one knowing it.' And at midnight, when the |182 boat was ready, she took her two children, and one boatman only, and went on board with them by herself, without any companion, and started for the capital, leaving it to others to say to the commander and his retinue, 'Do not linger here; she whom ye want was at the city before sunrise.' On being informed of this, they were greatly annoyed, and returned to the city, ashamed at having to come back without bringing her. She meanwhile on her arrival was conducted immediately to the palace, and the patriarch met her there, and the whole senate and the king, and invested her in the robes and other insignia of royalty. And from the palace she proceeded in a covered litter to the church, attended by the senate and her chamberlains, while the blue and green factions stood prepared each to greet her, the blue naming her Anastasia, while the green shouted Helena; and so fiercely did they contend with rival shouts for the honour of naming her, that a great and terrible riot ensued, and all the people were in confusion. She meanwhile entered the church, and made adoration, and returned to the palace as queen 7. |183
Of the civil events which followed, our historian says that their narration does not fall within his province; nor indeed did the preceding account, which however he recorded, because the affairs of state are closely connected with those of the church; and because there was a change of rulers; and, lastly, because the knowledge of these events may lead men to give God the glory.
[III. 10.] The queen Sophia, after the death of king Justin, set on foot plots without number against king Tiberius, who was now also styled Constantine, in bitter malice and wicked violence, being indignant at seeing him and his wife resident in the palace, and invested with the royal authority; and herself now in her lifetime |184 deprived of her kingdom, in which she had conducted herself neither justly nor in the fear of God; nor had she, when trial and chastisement fell upon her hushand, been warned thereby, or sorrowed, or understood that she also ought to fear God, and be admonished, and become as one of the just; but was like one of those to whom the words of the Apostle belong, that 'because of the hardness of thy unrepentant heart, thou storest up for thyself a treasure of wrath, for the day of wrath and revelation of the just judgment of God, Who shall render unto every man according to his deeds.' [Rom. ii. 5.] And truly in her case these words were fulfilled: for because, through the hardness of her heart and her proud imaginations, she would not repent, nor fear God; she also was deprived of her royal state, though she had declared with oaths, that 'as long as she lived, she would never give her kingdom to another.' Without her consent, therefore, the kingdom was taken away from her, and given to another, and she was set aside.
They say, moreover, that when her husband's death was certain, she had several hundred pounds' weight of gold removed from the palace, and placed in a house of her own: how many they were, we will not attempt to write, because we do not know the exact truth about the matter; but the number mentioned was very large: and with them she also took other royal property besides. And when these doings reached the king's ears, he would not have her sent away |185 from the palace, but said to her, 'Dwell here, and be content, as my mother: and whatever you command, we will do.' Accordingly she dwelt in the palace, but was bitter, and vexed, and out of temper, and full of grief and lamentation at her present state, to think that she was humiliated, and reduced in rank, and deserted by all men, and in her lifetime had become like one dead.
[III. 11.] At the commencement of Tiberius' reign as Caesar, he began distributing presents lavishly to all men, so that when going to prayers, or wherever it might be, to the right hand or the left, money was scattered about on all sides as his hypatia 8: and even at sea, as he was rowed along, boats gathered round him from every quarter, and he threw them all money. This lavishness, however, displeased Justin and Sophia, and they scolded him sharply for it, and finally took from him the keys of the treasury, |186 and set apart a fixed sum of money for his disposal; and so restrained him from such lavish and incessant gifts. When, however, he became king, and the power was his alone, and, as the story goes, saw with his own eyes the piles of money which Justin and Sophia had gathered, he began again spending and dispersing it largely and widely: and when, at the commencement of his reign, he was distributing his Augustaticum, or, as it is also called, 'the Donative of the Romans,' and which was never higher in ordinary circumstances than nine darics, he sent to the army in the field against the Persians no less than eight hundred pounds' weight of gold as largess. And, as though it was his object to scatter his gifts more bountifully than any one of his predecessors had done, he commanded the whole of the scholastics, or jurists, who formed a very numerous profession, to come to the palace, and made presents to them all, beginning with fifteen and twenty darics, and giving to those of lower rank ten or twelve. Soon after, he bade the physicians come, and gave liberally to them all. And next came the silversmiths, and then the bankers: and what they received depended upon what came into his mind; but if it so chanced, he would give them a pound of gold, or fifty or sixty darics apiece. And then there were the officers of the staff 9, and the decani, and the troops generally. And all had |187 their share: for Tiberius said, 'What good is all this gold hoarded up here, while the whole world is choked with hunger?' And thus he spent and squandered without stint: finally, however, he held in his hand, both discontinuing his donations, and not permitting any one to have access to him for such purposes.
[III. 12]. When the God-loving Caesar was importuned every day by John the patriarch about the 'Diacrinomeni 10,' as the orthodox are called, he one day said, 'Upon your oath in God, tell me, if they are heretics or not.' And he, hypocrite though he was, yet would not venture on oath to tell a lie, but answered, saying, 'In truth they are not heretics.' 'Are they then believers?' 'Yes, thoroughly believers: but they will have nothing to do with us and the church; and will not communicate with us.' Upon which he said, 'If, as you testify, they are believers and Christians, why do you urge me to be like Diocletian, a persecutor of Christians? Go and sit quiet: we have enough to do with the wars with the barbarians: do not also bring upon us wars with our own people.' |188
[III. 13.] At a subsequent time, nevertheless, Tiberius was compelled to give way to the popular thirst for persecution, from the following circumstances:
When, a few days before the death of Justin, he was solemnly invested with the crown, he immediately proceeded in state to the great church of Constantinople to pray: and the whole populace, together with the strangers Avho were there beyond numbering, assembled from every part of the city to see him; but after the usual shouts in his honour, they began to cry, 'Out with the bones of the Arians: out with the bones of all heretics, and of the heathens too: may the faith of the Christians flourish!' These seditious cries greatly annoyed him; but he said nothing at the time, being occupied in prayer, and after making the customary offerings upon his succession to the crown, he returned to the palace. On arriving there, however, he gave orders that the ringleaders should be sought for, and immediately arrested: for he considered that their cries had reference to and were levelled at himself, as though he were in secret an Arian: and in their private thoughts many had a suspicion of this kind from the following occurrence: A short time before, a large body of Goths had been despatched to fight against the Persians; and their wives, who were left behind, requested Tiberius to assign them a church, in which they might worship according to their views, which were Arian. And he, that |189 he might not annoy them, bade them return, and said, 'We will see the patriarch, and talk the matter over with him.' And from this the story was buzzed about throughout the whole city, before he obtained the crown, that the Caesar was an Arian. And for this reason, those who had charge of the churches assembled, and shouted in the manner described. When then they were arrested, and brought into his presence, he received them very angrily, and said, 'What have ye seen in me like the Arians, that ye have treated me with contumely, and followed me with cries about the Arians?' Nor was it until they had made many apologies that they obtained their release. This occurrence led however to his publishing an edict, which was fixed up in the city, to the effect, that the Arians should be arrested, and the Manichaeans and Samosatenians. And hence, as was sure to be the case, numbers were arrested and imprisoned by men who had no other object than openly and without fear to pillage those who had wherewith to bribe them: and large sums were given by many to purchase their freedom. And in this manner many of the orthodox suffered, being arrested, and kept a long time in close confinement: and money was demanded of them, and when they had paid it they were set free.
[III. 14.] It is possible that this occurrence may also have made Tiberius more lavish in his largesses: at all events, according to what was said both by himself and others, in the first year after he |190 became sole monarch, he spent in this way no less than seven thousand two hundred pounds' weight of gold, besides silver, and dresses of silk 11, and other things. He confined his benefits, however, to the rich and well fed, and did nothing to benefit the poor. And when Sophia was angry with him, and scolded him, and said, 'All that we by great industry and care have gathered and stored up, you are scattering to the winds as with a fan;' he said to her, 'What you collected by iniquity and plunder and rapine, I am doing my best that not a fragment of it may remain in my palace.' Even before this, he had ordered the remission of one-fourth part of the taxes in all parts of his dominions: and further, directly he became emperor, he annulled a tax of four darics, which king Justin had levied upon each right of obtaining a loaf at the public distributions of bread 12, instituted by |191 Constantine, and which they were then collecting; and returned the money to all such as had already paid their quota.
Another work of mercy he had done immediately upon his appointment as Caesar: for Jus-tin had levied upon all ships and merchants a payment equal to the value of one flagon upon each cask of wine: and this was every where |192 exacted so sharply that it brought in many talents. When, however, a petition upon the subject was presented to Tiberius, he immediately remitted it. And these things he did at the very commencement of his reign: and what was its character subsequently shall be shewn hereafter. And further he also made a public profession of being a Christian; for Justin had introduced in the coinage of his darics a female figure 13, which was generally compared to Venus, and this Tiberius discontinued, and had a cross struck upon the reverse of his coins: and this act, as he himself said, was dictated to him in a vision.
[III. 15.] To return, however, to the persecution commanded against heresies upon the occasion referred to above; not only those against whom it was directed suffered from it, but also the orthodox congregations were swept along by its violence, as by the rush of a mighty stream. And first of all they fell upon John, surnamed Superintendent of the heathen, and bishop of Ephesus, but who had now been for many years a resident at Constantinople, and having seized him and his companions, they cast them into a prison called the chancery, regardless of the many imprisonments and repeated banishments |193 which he had now been called upon for many years to endure: The season, moreover, added to the severity of their sufferings: for it was Christmas, and the prison was in such bad repair that the water ran down at the corners, and after rain the drip continued for two or three days, owing to the ruinous state of the roof, so that they were, in a manner, cast into a pool, and were obliged constantly to stand up and exert themselves in baling out the water. They were glad, moreover, to throw themselves upon mattresses used to bury the dead in, because they had no other place where to lay their heads. And to all this annoyance was added, that twice every day they were attacked by bishops and metropolitans and church lawyers sent to examine them. And when the grace of God which was with them, so sustained them that they did not give way, but fearlessly contended with great freedom of speech for the truth of the orthodox faith, their dyophysite persecutors, being beaten in argument, made use of insults and threats. And this continued for eighteen days, during every one of which there were meetings of syncelli and oeconomi 14 and other clergy, and also of |194 laymen, to debate with them: and while Tiberius was scattering his largesses, they lay in prison. But when nothing could prevail upon John to yield to the patriarch's will even in words, sentence was finally given that he must quit the city: whereupon he was led out of the prison with his friends, rejoicing and praising God that they had been counted worthy again to suffer for His name's sake. For Eutychius had even sent and torn away from John an easy chair on which he used to sit because of the gout in his feet. And much besides he had to suffer, but has contented himself with recording a few facts out of many.
[III.16] The day after John had been let out of prison, a troop of persecutors,—or rather perhaps they might fittingly be called a band of robbers,—assembled and attacked the church of the orthodox situated in the extensive palace called the Marianum. It was Sunday, and the congregation were engaged in worship when they entered and arrested many of them: and going, like heathens, to the altar, they lifted it up, and overturned it, and broke it, and poured out upon the ground the consecrated wine, and scattered the eucharistic bread; and after destroying and spreading ruin throughout the church, and tearing down the pictures of the blessed Severus and Theodosius, they dragged off the clergy who were ministering there and many of the laity, and carrying them, as in mockery, head foremost, took them to the common prison, and confined them in the same |195 ward-house in which John himself had lately been shut up. The majority of them, however, after pillaging them of every thing that fell into their hands, they let go; and the rest, a few days after, Eutychius caused to be brought into his presence, and subjected to a long examination, at the close of which, in the evening, he set them free. But when at length the merciful king heard of these things, he rebuked the patriarch, and somewhat restrained his impetuosity.
[III.17] As regards Eutychius himself, when, after John's death, he was invited to return to his see, people spread abroad the report that he was a righteous man, and had the power of working miracles, and seeing visions: and he was even weak enough to imagine this of himself. When, however, upon his restoration, no legal inquiry was made into his deposition by his predecessor, but he mounted his throne in the cathedral church without even the act of excommunication issued against him being annulled, many withdrew themselves from his communion as being a man excommunicate and formally deposed by the late patriarch; and also because having retaliated by excommunicating his rival, he now accepted his ordination and every thing he had done as valid, without any inquiry or examination being held. And besides this, there was also a second cause of offence to the church, in that when shortly afterwards he had heard of some persons who were infected by the erroneous doctrine of John Grammaticus of Alexandria, |196 who, as we have mentioned in the preceding book, held that the present bodies of men do not arise at the resurrection, but others in their stead; Eutychius was perverted by it, and greedily swallowed it, and undertook the defence of those who do away with the resurrection, and argued that the case is so, that this body does not rise, but another is formed, and takes its place. Upon this, several of his suffragans and leading clergy and others reasoned with him, but only confirmed him in his belief, and he even composed a treatise in its defence, and had several copies of it made, which he distributed among the ladies of the court, that they might read it, and be taught his views. And many other similar absurdities were committed by him in word and deed, so that people began to regard him as a simpleton, who was out of his mind. But really, as was only too manifest subsequently, an evil spirit vexed and troubled him, so that on two several occasions, as he was standing at the altar in the great church, it tore him in the presence of the whole congregation, and they hastily put him into a litter, and carried him out. And once again in the church of the blessed mother of God in Chalcoprateia 15; and often, as men said, in his palace it threw |197 him on the ground. His friends, who were anxious to throw a veil over it, said, that from long fasting and watching, the humour was stirred up, and got into his head, and there congealed, and produced vertigo, and made him fall; and that he had not a devil. But many, in answer to this, said, 'Does humour tear a person, and convulse him, and make him foam, and roll upon the ground?' And besides, all his acts soon made it plain to every body that his mind was troubled and darkened by an evil spirit; for his words often were quite beside the purpose, and he would break out into unseemly fits of laughter, and other similar follies. He also wrote a book entirely from beginning to end in defence of the doctrine of the two natures remaining after the union, and in it he found fault with all the fathers, who had not blasphemously taught like himself a quaternity in the place of the holy Trinity. And this book also he circulated among private houses, that they might learn it; but all who read it only laughed and derided him, regarding him as a simpleton, who was not right in his mind: and, in fact, the common rumour throughout the city was, 'Verily, this man, whom they described as working signs and miracles, is quite bereft of common sense.' [III.18] The real cause of these absurdities was |198 Eutychius's pride: for upon his restoration to the throne of the church of the royal city, on finding himself firmly established there, and the object at first of general praise, and further received with the utmost honour by the merciful king Tiberius, he was immediately so puffed up with arrogance and vanity, as not to know his position, and say things superfluous and unmeaning, which led to his being talked about and ridiculed as wanting in good sense. And it was this which led to his publishing the large book referred to upon the two natures, by which he only called attention to his infatuation; and what was worse, he began sending copies to the houses of the chief men, and required ladies of senatorial rank, and their husbands, especially if previously opposed to this doctrine, to read his arguments, and assent to them, and own that for certain the two natures did remain distinct after the union: and any one who did not own this was a heretic, he said, and follower of Eutyches. But the only effect was, that even his own side ridiculed him, and sent him back his books.
[III.19] Furthermore, this proud and haughty Eutychius shewed his zeal against the phrase, 'That wast crucified for us,' introduced into the Trishagion, and threatened and disputed with every one who ventured to use it. Now there were at Constantinople certain famous and princely convents of ladies who had fled from Antioch at the commencement of the persecution, and from that time had dwelt in various parts of the capital, |199 and who, according to the custom and tradition of the East, used to say in their services, 'Thou that wast crucified for us, have mercy upon us.' And on this account Eutychius paid them a visit in person, attended by his clergy, and began explaining to them, and teaching them the impropriety of the expression: and threatened them with punishment unless they discontinued it. And whereas in the days of the victorious Justin, in the persecution which he authorized against both them and every body else, some of these nunneries had conformed to the council of Chalcedon, and some had resisted to the last, they now unanimously all assembled, and determined firmly to resist this innovation, saying, 'We have gone far enough, in having at your compulsion changed and corrupted our faith: but to deny our God, Who was crucified and suffered and died for us, is a thing we will never assent to, spite of sword and cross and fire.' And as they all with one voice warmly and decidedly exclaimed and protested to this effect, the clergy, seeing the firmness and determined zeal which made them utter these things to the patriarch's face, said to him, 'Come, my lord, we must go: it is time for service:' and so he arose and departed, without at all effecting his purpose. And finally, he wrote a long treatise, full of instruction and flattery and threats, and sent, it to them: but they paid no heed to it, saying, 'We are but women, and know nothing about controversy: but from the tradition of the Oriental Fathers we will never depart as long as |200 we live.' The story was soon told about the city, and thence reached the palace, and the ears of Tiberius; and as the whole attempt met with his and general disapproval, the zeal of Eutychius cooled down, and he kept quiet.
[III.20] In the fourth year after the restoration of Eutycliius to his see, he set his face against the orthodox in bitter malice, sending his emissaries to seize and plunder and imprison, overturning everywhere their altars, and tearing down their pictures, and plundering by open robbery everything they could lay hands on, such as altar furniture, and vestments, and carpets, and books and cushions, and, in short, everything there was wherever they went. They seized moreover upon men's persons, with the view of extracting money: and throwing even priests and bishops into prison, they kept them there in bitter misery as long as they liked, until they had wrung every thing from them. And those who had nothing were compelled to borrow, and give it; and though thus they were set free, and came out of prison, it was in poverty, as they had saved nothing whatsoever from their former pillaging: but those who had no means of obtaining money were banished, or sent to various monasteries for imprisonment, and were treated there with much severity. And the excellent Eutychius used to go to the merciful Tiberius, and accuse the whole body of the believers, wickedly and unrestrained by the fear of God. And while all the heretics, such as Arians, and Macedonians, and |201 Samosatenians, to whom he himself belonged, and Manichaeans, and Marcionites, and the followers of Manes, dwell every where in peace, with no one to trouble them, the true believers alone were persecuted and spoiled, and sent into exile, to distant cities and various islands far away in the sea, and delivered over to every kind of misery in heavy bonds and close imprisonments, and hunger and thirst, and trials of every kind; so that if the grace of God had not visited them, and strengthened them, [Mat. xxiv.22] "no flesh of them could have lived," according to what Scripture says of the distress which is foretold as about to be at the end.
[III.21] In permitting this persecution, Tiberius was but partially to be blamed. For he was occupied entirely with the dangerous wars which surrounded him on every side; and when the bishop Eutychius daily visited him, and incited him against the 'distinguishers,' he at length answered, 'Trouble me about such things no more: I have as much as I can do with the wars I am engaged in: you must act in church matters according to what you think right at your own risk. Look to it yourself. I am free from guilt in this matter.' Thus left to himself, the patriarch, without fear of God or the king, widened and aggravated a persecution the sole object of which was plunder, and not anything connected with the faith. And to extend it to every land, and induce men to persecute after his example, he even deigned to write himself to all the |202 provinces and chief towns, urging them everywhere to commence a sharp persecution against the distinguishers as he had himself done: and as they were themselves ready enough to do it for the sake of the plunder and spoil of men's property, and the open robbery permitted on pretence of the faith, they set a persecution on foot, in company with his creatures and others, in every province and in all directions, while the victorious king was so occupied with the trying wars which surrounded him, that he could afford neither the time nor attention necessary for examination and inquiry into these things.
[III.22] Be this then known to all men, who in time to come shall fall in with these narratives, that in thus writing we adhere strictly to the exact truth; and although we profess ourselves the opponents of the excellent patriarch Eutychius, yet even so, we have not departed from the truth even in one point out of a hundred, nor have we recorded these things through any desire to bring reproach and scorn upon him. And equally so with respect to his serene majesty, we have neither spoken nor written any thing with the view of flattering him, but have endeavoured in all things to be the advocates of truth. And yet when the king Tiberius was but a youth, and his cheeks undarkened by a beard, we both of us, together with the rest of the court, were constantly in one another's company, in attendance upon his late majesty Justin; and owing to this, I have long had the fullest knowledge of his |203 manner of life and conduct. And now that he has been thought worthy of being elevated to his present royal dignity, we assure all those who are not eyewitnesses of it, that he continues to practise the same frankness and humility as of old, without being changed or filled with pride, as so young a man might be by the possession of royal power. Nor will he permit any one to be put to death, or plundered of his property, as was the practice of his predecessor, who stained himself and his hands with innocent blood: but up to this present time, which is the third year of his reign, [A.D.581] besides the four during which he was Caesar, he conducts himself with nobleness and humility, although many find fault with him as being too quiet and humble, and inspiring no fear; but in spite of their representations, he still continues his gentleness of demeanour up to this present time.
[III.23] While king Tiberius, or, as he is also called, Constantine, was Caesar only, and Justin occupied the palace 16, scanty apartments were assigned for his use in one of the wings: and even after Justin's death, as Sophia gave no signs of changing her residence, and he was unwilling to dispossess her, and she would not permit him to reside with her, he was in great difficulties, as the space |204 allotted him had always been of the narrowest description, and now that he was sole master, and had been joined by his wife and two daughters, was altogether inadequate to his wants. As he would not therefore oppose or annoy queen Sophia, by taking up his residence in the palace itself, he was compelled to remodel the whole of the northern side, and erect large and spacious buildings; for which purpose he was not only obliged to take down the extensive edifices already existing there, but also to sacrifice a beautiful garden, which had existed in the interior of the palace, and been a great pleasure to former kings. Upon its site magnificent and splendid buildings were erected, including a noble bath, and spacious stabling for his horses, and other necessary offices.
[III.24] Justin had also busied himself in building, even when engaged in persecution, and the troubling of the church, and in plunder and pillage; and when too the dread punishment was sent down upon him: but in this also there had been evident signs of the wrath of Heaven resting upon him. For having formed the idea of erecting a palace upon the site of his former dwelling in the north-western suburb of the city, he razed a great number of houses there to the ground, and built a hippodrome, and laid out extensive gardens and pleasure-grounds, which he planted with trees of all kinds: and gave orders also for the erection of two magnificent statues of brass in honour of |205 himself and Sophia 17. But scarcely had they been set up, before a violent storm of wind occurred, which overturned them, and they were found deeply imbedded head foremost in the ground. And this was regarded by men as a sign of wrath and impending ruin. But Justin, nothing discouraged, next determined upon building a pharos, that is, a tall and lofty pillar, whence to enjoy the view: and this he commenced in the eastern part of the city on the seashore, in what is called the Zeuxippus 18. Within it a vaulted stair was constructed, so broad and strong that the workmen could mount up it with loads of massive hewn stone; which were cramped together with bars of iron, and strongly cemented with lead. And when it had reached a great height, and was all but completed, some of the city wits |206 wrote a doggrel inscription, and fixed it up on a tablet there, as follows:
Build, build aloft thy pillar,
And raise it vast and high;
Then mount and stand upon it,
Soaring proudly in the sky:
Eastward, south, and north, and westward,
Wherever thou shalt gaze,
Nought thou'lt see but desolations,
The work of thy own days.
Before its completion, however, Justin died, and it is said that the question who should finish it led to a quarrel between Tiberius and Sophia: for she bade him undertake it; but he said, 'I shall do nothing of the sort; for it is your duty to finish it.' And she, supposing that at all events he would complete it, if his own statue were placed upon it, said, 'If you will not finish it in honour of him who began it, do so for yourself:' at which he was angry, and vowed that his statue should stand neither upon it nor any where else. Subsequently, when he saw that the huge blocks of stone employed in it would be useful for his new buildings in the palace, he had it entirely taken down, and the stones removed thither, and to the church he was building close by, dedicated to the 'forty martyrs:' and it supplied him with materials for a long time. This folly was said to have cost Justin many talents of gold. |207
[III.25.] The merciful Tiberius during the whole time he was Caesar in Justin's lifetime, because of the king himself having fallen a prey to various maladies, was entirely occupied with the wars which surrounded him on all sides: for, besides the struggle with the Persians, he was constantly threatened in every direction by those other barbarian tribes which had risen up against the powerful empire of the Romans: and after the death of Justin, they pressed upon him with still greater violence, especially the accursed tribes of the Slavonians, and those who, from their long hair, are called Avars. For after he became sole ruler, they gave him neither rest nor breathing-time, but constantly wars and rumours of war multiplied around him: so that many, both of the chiefs and the commonalty, used to express their sorrow for him, and say, 'Verily the kingdom has fallen to his lot in a time of trial and in evil days; for day and night he is anxious, and full of care how best he can gather troops from every quarter, and send them to maintain these incessant wars.'
[III.26] It was this necessity which compelled Tiberius to enlist under his banners a barbarian people from the west, called Goths, and who were followers of the doctrine of the wicked Arius. And on their departure for Persia, leaving their wives and children at Constantinople, they asked the king to set apart and assign for their use a church, in which during their absence their families who remained behind might assemble for |208 worship. And the king, anxious to content them, and considering that they were labouring to the best of their ability in defence of the Roman realm, and fighting with its enemies, said, 'We will see to it, and talk the matter over with the patriarch.' And from this promise and answer, which he gave them to satisfy them for the moment, without granting at once their request, it was supposed by everybody, and said, that the king was an Arian, and held the same doctrine as those who had made the request, only that he concealed his opinion. When then, according to custom, he went to the high church, the crowds shouted, 'Out with the bones of the Arians: dig from their graves the bones of the Arians.' And when Tiberius heard these cries, he knew that they were directed against himself, and was much disturbed; and on his return to the palace, he sent and arrested many of them, and said to them, 'What see in me like an Arian, that ye have followed me with cries, and have insulted me in the church?' And when they had apologized, being in great fear of the consequences, with the view of clearing himself from the supposition, he gave orders that the Arians should be persecuted. And having thus obtained the opportunity, the ruffians in the church, on pretence of the edict, rushed like so many wolves, not only upon those to whom the commandment applied, such as the followers of Manes, the Macedonians, the Samosatenians, and others, but upon those to whom it did not apply, and confounded the |209 orthodox with them, and fell upon all alike, and plundered without distinction, until their doings reached the king's ears, and he rebuked them, and sharply threatened them, unless they immediately discontinued such conduct.
In the second year of Tiberius' reign, A. D. 579, the news reached the capital that the wicked heathens at Baalbec, otherwise called Heliopolis, who were professed worshippers of Satan, were plotting whenever they could find an opportunity to destroy and wipe out the very remembrance of the Christians in that town, who were few and poor, while they all were in the constant enjoyment of wealth and dignity. They indulged moreover in scoffs at Christ, and all who believed in him, and had already ventured upon many acts of open violence. Upon the news reaching Tiberius, he intrusted the matter to an officer who had already a short time before been sent to the East by Justin, upon the occasion of a revolt and disturbance created by the Jews and Samaritans in Palestine: and who on his arrival there had effectually reduced them to order, exterminating some and crucifying others, and destroying their property, and compelling them, by the severity of his measures, to submission. On receiving the king's commands, this officer, whose name was Theophilus, proceeded at once from Palestine to Heliopolis, and having arrested numerous heathens, recompensed them as their audacity deserved, humbling them and |210 crucifying them, and slaying them with the sword. And on being put to the torture, and required to give the names of those who were guilty like themselves of heathenish error, they mentioned numerous persons in every district and city in their land, and in almost every town in the East, but especially at Antioch the Great. Of most of these he was contented with sending the names to the magistrates of the place where they resided, with orders that they should be arrested immediately, and sent to him: but Theophilus despatched one of his own attendants to secure the person of Rufinus, whom they had mentioned as holding the office of high-priest at Antioch. On the officer's arrival, however, he found that Rufinus was not there, but had lately gone on a visit to Anatolius, the governor and procurator of Edessa. Having demanded therefore the services of a magistrate to escort him, and of a bishop to conduct the examination; as soon as they were granted him, with an officer of the church court, he started for Edessa, in the hope of arresting Rufinus there.
[III.28] On their arrival they learned that he was dwelling there, and having waited for night, upon surrounding the house in order to arrest him, they found a feast of Zeus actually being celebrated by the heathens, and people assembled together with Rufinus to offer sacrifices. On becoming aware, however, that they were endeavouring to surround the house, those present took the alarm, and fled. But Rufinus knowing well that |211 he had no place of refuge to which he could escape, drew his knife, and smote it into his heart, and having given himself also a wound in the abdomen, fell down dead. There was, however, a gouty old man, too feeble to flee, and an old woman, whom on entering they found still present, with the dying body of Rufinus stretched upon the ground, and surrounded by the preparations for sacrifice. Upon them therefore they laid hands, and threatened them with instant death, unless they truly declared the names of all who had taken part in these proceedings; but if they would make a full confession, they promised that no harm should happen to them. And they being in terror of death, told all their names, and among them was the governor and procurator, Anatolius. He meanwhile had contrived a subtil way of escape, which however proved of no avail: for hastily wrapping himself in his travelling coat, as if just come from a distant journey, and putting on his leathern leggings and walking shoes, he went to the bishop's house. And he on hearing that the governor was come, was in a great state of terror, and said, 'Why has the governor come hither at this unseasonable hour?' But being admitted, he said, 'I have come hither straight from my journey, that I might be satisfied about a certain text. For I have had a dispute about such and such a passage of Scripture, and am in doubt as to its right explanation: and therefore I have |212 paid you a visit before going to the government house, that you may explain it to me.' But this he only did in subtilty, that he might have the bishop to bear witness, that he had called upon him fresh from a journey; and in case they were to say that he had been that night in the company of those who offered the sacrifice, he trusted that this trick would set the matter right. But, as the Scripture says, 'The Lord is a Lord of knowledge: and artful ways shall not be established before Him:' [i Sam. ii.3.] so this man's artifices did not stand. For just as he left the bishop's presence, those who had been sent to arrest him met him, and laid hands upon him, and said, 'Come peaceably with us, my lord governor: we are greatly in need of your highness: give orders for bailsmen to be put in for you at a talent apiece, that within ten days you appear at An-tioch.' But he in answer began to explain to them, and say, ' I have but just entered the city from a journey, as the bishop will bear testimony.' But they replied, ' It is no use playing us tricks, my lord governor. This very night you have been with Rufinus and the rest of your people, and have offered sacrifice to Zeus; and the witnesses are all ready to prove it.' And When upon this he threatened them with his power, and said, 'You are putting a stop to all matters of state;' they replied, 'Threaten us not, my lord governor: as your highness is a living man, you will not get away from hence without |213 giving us bail.' And now finding that he had no choice, nor probability of escape, he consented, and gave bail, and set out immediately with them and their other prisoners for Antioch.
[III.29] On their arrival at Antioch, and the depositions taken at Edessa concerning the heathens found there being read over, both Anatolius and his secretary, whose name was Theodore, were arrested and put to the question: and at first they had recourse to falsehood, but finally the secretary, after being tortured and severely scourged, declared his willingness to confess every thing: and, as was said, they deposed that both Gregory, the patriarch of Antioch, and Etilogius, who was subsequently patriarch of Alexandria, had been present with them at the sacrifice of a boy, held by night at Daphne: and scarcely, said they, had they completed the sacrifice, before the whole city suddenly trembled and shook, with earthquake. No sooner was this confession heard, than the whole population was filled with horror and amazement, and various cries were raised, and the cathedral closed, while Gregory could not venture to leave his palace, nor could the liturgy be celebrated, nor the consecration of the holy chrism, as is usual on Thursday in Passion week. The full account, however, of what took place, and the cries raised, we must be excused from recording; but, as was said by all men, the depositions were sent to the king, and the affair became the subject of general conversation: but finally, it was thought, |214 that for the honour of Christianity, and that the priesthood might not be exposed to scorn and blasphemy, the matter must be hushed up.
As for Anatolius, having set up in his house a picture of our Lord, in the hope of making people erroneously suppose that he was a Christian, he invited a number of persons to come and see it. But as he was shewing it, the picture turned hindside foremost with its face to the wall, so that astonishment fell upon all who witnessed it. Anatolius, however, turned it back again, and put it right; but suddenly, a second time, it turned round; and again a third time. And upon this they examined it closely, and found skilfully introduced into the back a likeness of Apollo, so carefully done as not to be visible without looking closely at it. Horrified at the sight, the archers threw him on the ground, and kicked him, and dragged him by the hair to the Praetorium, where they declared all that had happened: and, as was said, finding escape impossible, he also made a full deposition of every thing.
His notary, Theodore, who had made the deposition respecting the bishops, and the rest, being kept in prison, subsequently, as we shall shew hereafter, died there, and it was the general belief that really he was murdered, in order that his deposition might be got out of the way: but to the truth of this we will not bear testimony, nor have we space for much besides which happened. |215
[III.30] When, however, the news arrived at the capital, accompanied by the depositions of what had taken place at Antioch, the whole city, together with the merciful king and the senate, were moved, an,d struck with consternation and astonishment, and nothing else was talked of in all parts of the city. And on the arrival of the prisoners, a court was appointed, consisting of magistrates and jurists, to try them, and examine into the truth of the matter, upon oath that they would shew no partiality nor respect of persons. Accordingly they held their sittings in the royal palace of Placidia, but their proceedings were secret, and although a few facts transpired, it was in spite of their own efforts to conceal them. And after some time, men generally were convinced that bribery was permitted, and prevailed over the truth: and while there were known to be in the city many followers of heathenism, the people considered that the court acquitted whom they chose, such, that is, as gave money, and whom they chose they unjustly condemned; and that the quest for the heathen was carelessly and corruptly carried on: and the more so as the king was indifferent to it, and had gone out to one of his country palaces, and what was done was kept secret from all eyes.
[III.31] There was, therefore, much murmuring and complaint because the matter was, as they considered, put out of the way and dropped by the influence of gold, and was coming to an end, and nullified, and even such heathens as were |216 arrested set free; and the dissatisfaction proceeded so far, that at length crowds began suddenly to gather in the heart of the city, and give utterance to their indignation in cries, such as, ' Out with the bones of the dicasts!' 'Out with the bones of the heathens!' 'The faith of the Christians for ever!' 'Out with the bones of the dicasts!' meaning by them the judges appointed to try the heathens, and who, they considered, had taken bribes, and so ruined the whole matter. And no sooner were these cries heard than people flocked to them from all parts of the city, so that the number of the rioters rapidly increased to more than a hundred thousand men, all inflamed with zeal for Christianity. In alarm at so vast a mob, the whole city was troubled, the shops were shut, the silversmiths' workshops closed, and Jews, Samaritans, and heretics of all kinds rushed from every quarter, and mingled themselves in the crowd, ready both to set the city on fire, and steal whatever came to hand. Meanwhile the Christians were hurrying under great excitement to the cathedral in the hope of seizing the bishop, uttering by the way many scandalous reproaches at his conduct, such as are not fit for us to record; accusing him of taking side with the heathens, and supposing, because of the rumours of heathenism current against the bishops of Antioch and Alexandria, that he had used his utmost exertions to screen them from trial, and so brought the matter to an end: and therefore they threatened him with death. But |217 on reaching his palace, they found it shut on every side, and some of the mob, therefore, were ready to burn it: but there stood a church within the precincts, which stayed their rage, though the Jews and heretics, as they afterwards confessed before the prefect of the city, were ready to burn the church as well. An official of the patriarch's court now came out to address them, but they threw him down, and gave him a bitter time. And next they all ran to the hall of Placidia where the trials were carried on: uttering reproaches against the judges and patricians and magistrates and recorders and jurists, who formed the court, and threatening them with destruction. Upon arriving there, they burst open the doors and windows, and broke to pieces the benches and the cells, and forced an entrance into the great hall, and made search every where for heathens. One of the cells into which they broke belonged to the treasury, and was full of talents of gold; but on seeing them they immediately turned away: and the sentinel, wishing to appease their violence, and supposing that they would immediately begin to plunder, said, 'Sirs, make no tumult; if you wish for gold, see, here is plenty.' But, as with one mouth, the whole multitude called out, 'We are no thieves: we are Christians, and assembled in Christ's cause, to avenge the wrongs of Christianity upon the heathen. Keep your gold for yourself; we touch it not.' Rushing on, they destroyed every thing in their way, even some pictures which they |218 found, and pulled down all they could, and broke it, and finally they found two heathens in prison, a man and a woman, with whom they hurried off to the shore of the sea, where they seized a boat, and having laid hands on the public executioner, commanded him to set it on fire. But when he refused, being afraid of the prefect of the city, they put them on board, and threw fire in, and flung the executioner in with them, but he managed to leap overboard into the sea, and though much burnt, escaped with his life: but the other two were consumed and sunk in the sea 19. And next the mob, whose numbers were now incredible, ran to the prisons, and broke open the doors, and set the prisoners free, calling out, 'Ye let heathens go: why keep ye Christians in prison?' And thence they ran to the praetor's government-house, and broke open the doors, and having entered the chambers and record offices, in which all processes against Christians are deposited, they abstracted the papers, and cut them up and threw them about, and set those who were imprisoned there free.. Their next object of attack was the dwelling of the prefect of the city, whither they proceeded with tumultuous and violent cries of 'Out with the heathens' bones:' |219 and he, though it was universally said that he was a heathen himself, joined heartily in their shouts, saying, 'Out with the heathens' bones: Christianity for ever: your zeal is beautiful: and see! I join you in your cries: and ye know that I was not one of the judges of the heathen; they would not trust me, and no heathen has been judged in my court: make, therefore, no tumult.' And with these words he restrained their impetuosity, so that they did not lay hands upon him as they had intended, and burn down his court. They cried out, however, that he must accompany them immediately to Tiberius' palace in the suburb; and he was far too terrified to refuse: and calling hastily for a boat, he started in the utmost confusion, without even waiting to put on the insignia of his office, being solely intent upon making his escape from the violence of so countless a mob. He started, therefore, in haste to the king; and while informing him of what was going on, suddenly more than twenty thousand rioters appeared, who had determined to come in person, and arrived at the very time when he was speaking, uttering various cries, and moreover asking why the inquisition after the heathen was perverted, and hushed up; and why bribery was permitted to overbear the truth. And after uttering these cries against the heathens, they began to shout and revile the Arians, having a different object in view; and the whole palace was thereby thrown into confusion, and things were said |220 unfit to be recorded in writing. Finally, the king sent them a message as follows: 'Make no tumult, but return to the city, and we will immediately return there ourselves, and do what you wish; nor will we neglect the matter.' And so the mob was quieted, and the fierceness of their rage appeased, and they returned to the city, and the riot ceased, as they waited for the arrival of the king, and the fulfilment of his promise.
[III. 32.] Upon their departure, the king gave orders to collect a considerable force of armed men, that in case there was any disturbance, he might take military measures for its suppression, and with them entered the city. His first act was to give an equestrian entertainment in the Hippodrome; but when the people assembled, they began to utter cries of various kinds, until he sent and bade them be quiet and peaceable: 'for you know,' he said, 'that every man shall be recompensed according to his deeds.' And upon this all tumult and confusion ceased. Immediately upon his arrival he had dismissed the prefect Sebastian from his office, and appointed in his stead one Julian 20, to whom he now gave orders to arrest such as were known to have taken part in the tumult, and put them to the torture, and find out who the rest were. On commencing his interrogatories. Julian found out that many of them were |221 Jews, and some Samaritans, and some Manichees, and the like; and being a sensible man, he had these arrested, lest he should stir up a war against himself, by rousing the zeal of the Christians: and examining them with the scourge, he asked them, saying, 'Though the Christians are carried away with zeal for the welfare of Christianity, what right have you Jews, who are a set of murderers and misbelieving heretics, to take part in the riot, and mix yourselves up with them?' And they all confessed, that seeing a great crowd, they had entered among them, in the hope that something might come to them in the way of plunder: and as they further confessed, they were ready to burn the churches, imagining that the Christians would be arrested, and put to the torture for it, while they would pass unrecognised. They acknowledged also other crimes under the scourge; and some therefore he condemned to be crucified, and some to be put to death, and some he sent into banishment. And in this way no Christian could complain, or say that anybody was treated unjustly. But next he arrested some of the Christians, whom, however, he treated with the greatest clemency: and when they took them round the city to inspire others with fear, lest men should notice that there were no marks of the scourge on their sides, he gave orders for them to be rubbed with vermilion, that their loins might look red as if marked with the lash: and this especially was done in the case of young lads, of whom many |222 were found to have taken part in the uproar, and some of whom even laughed when riding in the cars, and taken in procession round the city. At length there was a man arrested, and brought before the prefect, who said to him, 'Who and what are you?' He answered, 'A Christian and a storekeeper.' 'If you are a storekeeper,' said the prefect, 'what business had you to take part in the riot? why did you not remain in your shop, and keep quiet? We give orders therefore for you to be scourged.' But as they were carrying him away to scourge him, he cried out, 'By the head and life of the king, if I am to be scourged for Christ's sake, do not inflict upon me only lashes and the scourge, but after this, by the life of king Tiberius, off with my head!' And when the prefect heard this, he was agitated, and said, 'This man wishes for martyrdom at my hands. Am I then such a Trajan? Loose him, and let him go.' And so he let him depart without receiving a single blow. And proceeding to the king, he persuaded him to grant an indulgence or amnesty to the Christians, and command that no more should be arrested for their past riotous proceedings. And upon this the merciful king granted a pardon, and all arrests ceased.
[III.33] After all these things, his serene majesty Tiberius, with a view of shewing that he neither had nor would neglect any thing that was useful for the service of God, gave orders to all magistrates and senators to assemble together, in |223 company with all men of patrician rank, and the subconsuls, and those who bear the title of 'illustrious,' and the suhprefects of the city, and all members of the senate. The place appointed for their meeting was the prefect's court, and all the depositions relating to the heathen were to be read before them, both of cases in the east and in the west; and whosoever was not present he gave orders that his girdle should be cut, and he should lose his office. In obedience to so strict a commandment they all met, and sat the whole day from morning till night fasting, and anxious; and upon the depositions being read, their first sentence was to condemn to death him of whom we have spoken before, Anatolius, the governor and proprefect of Edessa. And accordingly he was first tortured, and then cast to the wild beasts, and after being cruelly lacerated by them, he was torn from their claws, and fixed to a cross. But the other, named Theodore, who had been his yokefellow, and with him had served devils, according to all the works of heathenism, after suffering long and cruel tortures, and confessing much, was reserved for fresh tortures, and a fuller examination. For this purpose he was sent back to the prison attached to the praetor's court, and there during the night he died; or rather, as many thought, he killed himself, because the sentence of death was certain to be pronounced against him. And as he had offered sacrifice to devils after being baptized, sentence was still given against him, |224 though dead, that his body should be burned. But as the natural feelings of humanity revolted at this, and many objected, the sentence was withdrawn, and he was ordered to be buried with the burial of an ass, and accordingly was dragged out of the city, and cast into a ditch. His execution was in addition to those two, a man and a woman, whom the mob burned; but that man was the son of this Theodore: and thus then they perished, and many more besides, already lying in prison, and whom they next proceeded to examine by torture: and others there were in Syria and Asia, and elsewhere, after whom they sent emissaries, with orders to arrest them, and bring them to the capital.
[III.34] Upon this, fresh names began to pour in, and every day new arrests were made, and more and more Involved in danger, until the prisons were all full: and even many of the clergy officiating in the churches were informed against, and convicted of many heathenish crimes, and the sentence pronounced upon them was, that they should be cast to the wild beasts, and their bodies burnt with fire. And so they received here the punishment which they deserved; and hereafter the dread Judge of righteousness alone knoweth what their sentence will be. And of the common people so many were named and arrested, that the judges appointed to examine them were unequal to the task, and finally their sittings were no longer held in the court of the |225 prefect of the city, who himself had the reputation of entertaining heathen views, but were removed to the praetor's court, and subsequently to the public hall, and there the judges sat and gave sentence, until the death of king Tiberius. And when Maurice was established in his stead, he was conspicuous for the same zeal, and gave orders that all should be sought out and tried, who professed to be Christians, but really were guilty of idolatry. And so every day they were tried, and received the just reward of their deeds, both here and hereafter.
[V.17] The case of Gregory of Antioch was long deferred; for though the people of his city were all excited against him, and filled the streets with shouts of 'To the fire with this man: let the city have a Christian patriarch;' and the like; yet because many great and notable men were involved in the affair, it was hushed up, and put aside, and he remained in his see a stumbling-block to all the people. But after a time he made up his mind to present himself before the king, and prepared a great quantity of gold and silver, and numerous costly dresses of every kind, and such other matters as are useful for presents and gifts of honour, for the leading men in the senate: and in these things alone, it is said, his journey cost him many talents. And when he arrived at the capital, he glutted the whole senate with his presents, and every man and woman of rank; and all the churchmen, who were angry at him because of the rumour of his |226 being a heathen, he quieted and appeased by gifts: as also all the relatives of the patriarch 21, who, on hearing of his arrival, had refused to hold communion with him; and as he was not open to bribes himself, those who were about him were prevailed upon to intercede, and persuade him, until finally he received him, as also did the king, Maurice, and all the senate, and treated him with much respect, and were on his side. And when men generally expected that the process against him would be entered into, and that he would not return to his throne, he was received at court, and having effected all that he desired, was sent away with great honour. And with the view of appeasing and quieting his people, he asked the king's permission to build them a hippodrome; and not only obtained it, but also the necessary supplies wherewith to erect this church of Satan, in which he himself was ready to be minister and perform all his pleasure, so that, as was said, he even took with him from the capital a troop of pantomimists. And this to many was a cause of laughter and ridicule and mockery, but to others of grief and sadness: for they said, 'Lo! to this man the word of our Lord belongs, which says,[Luke xiv.34] 'If the salt have lost its savour, wherewith shall it be salted?' For having been appointed head of the church of Christ, now, after all the troubles we have passed through, he has publicly shewn himself as the |227 builder and establisher at Antioch of a church of Satan, in the erection of which he has constantly interested himself, and been present, and untiring in his exertions.' For so they said, in contempt and derision of his doings.
This narrative relating to the heathen, and the establishment of the inquisition, by which the last traces of idol worship were violently suppressed, leads our historian to mention one or two facts, more or less directly connected with them. Of these the
[III.35] First is the tragical fate of Eustochius, who had originally been bishop of Jerusalem; but having distinguished himself by his eager zeal against the heathen, whom he detected in spite of their efforts at concealment, they framed against him charges of their own invention and false accusations; and on his arrival at the capital, being tried before wicked judges, who were themselves heathens in disguise, he was iniquitously deprived of his bishopric. And on being deposed, he did not stoop to wander to and fro to canvass for his restoration, but went at once and obtained a cell in the holy house of Mar Sergius 22, situated near the palace of Hormisdas, and there remained during a period of |228 eighteen years, during which he was regarded by their majesties, and the chamberlains, and the whole senate, both men and women, as a righteous man; and constantly they paid him visits of respect, as being an old man of venerable aspect, and lucid in his conversation and doctrine, and well practised in holy books. It happened, however, in the third year of the sole reign of the victorious king Tiberius, that Satan by night entered the heart of one of his servants, and he took up a silver candlestick that was burning before him, and raised it and struck him, and wounded him on the head. And on his exclaiming, 'Woe,' and saying, 'Why doest thou so, my brother?' he returned and struck him again on the stomach with a spit, and so lacerated him that he died immediately. The lamentations raised by his other servants alarmed the sentinels who were on guard below, and caused them to hurry up to the cell, where they endeavoured to arrest the murderer, but he drew his knife, and stabbed one of them, whereupon another drew his sword, and struck him on the shoulder, and brought him down, and they were then able to overpower him. And immediately there was a general commotion, and men in terror ran together from all quarters, to see this sad and alarming sight: and the news even |229 reached the king, who was in the suburban palace situated in the Hebdomum 23; and at once, without delay, he ordered his retinue to accompany him, and came to the city; and when he saw that he was dead, he lamented and wept like a woman for the husband of her youth, as also did the bystanders at a sight so full of horror. And the king commanded the murderer to be given over to the prefect of the city, that he might die by an ignominious and painful death; and then immediately withdrew. The servant, therefore, was cast to the wild beasts, and after being lacerated and torn, his hands were cut off and then his feet: and his trunk, with the hands and feet, were then put into a boat, which was set on fire and floated out to sea till it sunk. And so he received the requital of his deeds, and that which is written was fulfilled in him, 'Woe to the wicked, the evil one: for that which his hands have done shall be requited him.' [Is. iii. 11.]
[III.36] The second subject mentioned in connection with the heathen is John the Superintendant's mission to them in Asia, and especially the building of the great monastery in the |230 mountains near Tralles, which was both the commencement and the crowning proof of his success. He was appointed teacher of the heathen in Justinian's time in the four provinces of Asia 24, Caria, Phrygia, and Lydia; and began his labours in the mountains which overhang Tralles, in the territory of which city alone he converted many thousands from the error of idol worship, and built for their use twenty-four churches, and four monasteries, all of which were entirely new. Of these the principal was erected upon the site of a famous idol temple built high up among the mountains, at a village called Derira, and as he had often been told by the older inhabitants, in the days of its prosperity no less than fifteen hundred temples, situated in the neighbouring provinces, were subject to its authority, and every year, at a vast assembly held there, the regulations were fixed for the ensuing twelvemonth, and the order of the ministrations settled for the use of both priests and people. John, therefore, being directed by a divine mission, made this temple the first object of his attack, and having levelled it to its very foundations, he built this chief monastery, to which he gave the same name as the idol temple had held, on a strong site upon a lofty mountain in the centre of the new churches: and subsequently he erected the three other monasteries, one of which was situated still higher up among the mountains, |231 and two in the valleys below; but all alike were subject to the authority of the monastery of Derira. And this, as the chief, he built very strongly, and of great extent, from ample funds supplied him by king Justinian, who also bore the expence of the other monasteries and churches. The king, moreover, published three imperial edicts, by which the chief monastery was invested with authority over the others, and also over the new churches, with power to visit and teach them, and take oversight of them, and settle their observances. But from the very first Satan had looked with an evil eye upon this monastery, and raised up against it many trials and strong opposition from all quarters. For the devils who used to dwell there in times past, and fatten upon the blood of the sacrifices offered them, upon which they would settle in swarms like flies upon putrid ulcers, openly showed themselves, and contended with the builders. And when it was first begun they even went so far as to lay hold upon one of the masons who was in holy orders, and lifted him up in the air, and threw him down upon a rock below, from which he was dashed to one even more precipitous still further down; while John and the other builders gazed in horror as they watched him fly along, and fall head foremost on his face, and roll down from cliff to cliff, till finally his fall was stopped by a rock in the river, which was not less than a thousand cubits below the place whence he was thrown. And as |232 they watched his descent, and cried 'Kyrie eleison,' they felt sure that his brains must be beaten out, and scattered upon the rocks against which he was dashed, and that he would be torn limb from limb. They ran, therefore, with loud lamentations to gather up though it were only the fragments of his bones, and give them burial: but on reaching the spot they found him whole, and in a sitting posture, and looking at them. And when they saw him alive, they were astonished and full of joy, and gave thanks unto God, who had saved him from a bitter death by the machinations of these pestilent devils: nor had Christ permitted him to receive even a single bruise, or any other injury except the loss of some skin upon his face. And all who saw and heard it were in astonishment at the miracle which had been wrought by our Lord Jesus Christ.
[III.37] The year after the monastery of Derira was finished, which was the sixth year from its commencement, the bishop of Tralles was stirred up by envy against it, and swore, saying, 'I will make that monastery of Derira part of the endowment of my church, and will spend there all the hot summer season.' For even before he had a quarrel against John, and now started to thwart him at the court of Justinian. And on arriving there, he told him of the monastery, and prayed him to give orders that it might be made subject to his authority and rule, and that John might not have access to it. But the king said, |233 'I have not entered either your church or city without Christ's blessing, nor could I have effected what I have done unless the management and government had been intrusted to John: for you could not possibly have administered the church which you have just now unjustly claimed. What you want is to seize upon a monastery which belongs to me, and which was built with my knowledge and at my command.' And then he commanded him not to quit the capital until after John's arrival. After a time, then, John came, and the king informed him of all that had been said to him by the bishop, and of his own reply, and further gave orders that John should go in person, and himself administer the affairs of the church of Tralles and of the bishop's own hospice there, and that the bishop should have no power to do anything whatsoever without first receiving his orders from John. And other trials too there were and difficulties, which Satan raised up against this monastery, and the twenty-four new churches which John had erected in its vicinity for the service of the heathen whom he had baptized and made Christians in the mountainous districts of the city of Tralles: but God in His mercy brought to nought all the envy of the evil one, and established them unto the glory of His name, so that they continue to flourish unto this day.
[III.38] Eutychius enjoyed the patriarchate after his restoration for a period of four years and a half; |234 and while full of threats of death against the orthodox party, and menacing them with terrible oaths, and saying, 'I will not leave one of them in this city, or in its suburbs, or in any other town in my diocese;' in the midst of his raging and threatening, his end suddenly overtook him, and he descended into his grave, and on that day all his imaginations perished, and came to an end, and all his threats and denunciations ceased. His errors in doctrine were numerous, as he both explained away the resurrection of the dead, and warred against the words, 'Thou That wast crucified for us:' and much more there was which ought to be inserted in the record of him, but which we from their length must entirely omit.
[III.39] Scarcely was Eutychius dead, upon the fifth day of the month Nisan, or April, before John the deacon was seized upon, that they might raise him to the vacant see. He had been pursebearer of John of Sirmin, the predecessor of Eutychius; but after his death, had constantly dwelt in his cell in the great church as a Nazarite 25, and devoted himself to fasting and vigils. Him they now seized upon, but he would not even so much as hear the bare proposal of being raised to this princely dignity. On his refusal, king Tiberius gave orders that he should be brought by main |235 force to the palace, and there kept under close guard, while both he himself and the whole senate pressed upon him the acceptance of the patriarchate, and finally, with great difficulty, prevailed over his scruples. But he protested, saying, 'I cannot alter or break my rule, and until three o'clock in the afternoon I can give no one audience.' And, in short, after many discussions, he was finally elected, and they say that he made it his rule never to admit any one until three o'clock, according to his former custom: and men wondered thereat, for, as was said, he lay the whole day upon his face and prayed, being reduced to a state of great infirmity, and as dry as a stick.
The hangers on, meanwhile, of the patriarchal court, who had been accustomed in the days of Eutychius, under pretext of the faith, to fall like so many robbers upon orthodox and heretics alike, and plunder them of their goods, began, according to their wont, to beg of him to grant them his permission, as his predecessor had done, to enter into men's houses, and plunder them, and drag them off, and shut them up in prison. But he, on hearing their request, gaid, 'Depart, and sit quiet: for I will not permit you to go and fall upon men, and plunder them, whereby God and His holy church are blasphemed.' And on their saying, 'Eutychius so commanded us;' he replied, 'My orders are, that there be peace and quiet in my days. But if you make Eutychius your pretext, go to him for orders; and if |236 he bids you, you shall do it.' And much more is recorded of him that is admirable, but we, from want of space, can admit but little into our narrative.
[II.40] For the affairs of the empire also claim our attention, and especially what happened to Mondir, the son of Harith 26, king of the Tayan Arabs, and of the accusation brought against him. For when Maurice was in the East, as commander of the forces, with the title of count, a convention was made with Mondir, king of the Arabs, that they should simultaneously invade the territory of the Persians. Accordingly they made a march of several days in company; but on arriving opposite Mesopotamia, in which country the capital of the Persian king is situated, they found the bridge destroyed, over which they had expected to pass in order to capture the city. And this led to a quarrel between them, because Maurice imagined that Mondir had given information to the Persians, upon receipt of which they had broken up the bridge. They returned, therefore, having accomplished nothing, but with feelings of mutual animosity and dislike: and both wrote |237 to king Tiberius, complaining of the other's conduct, and he in vain used his utmost efforts to reconcile them. When, however, soon afterwards Maurice returned to the capital, he wickedly and harshly brought accusations against king Mondir; on hearing which the king was filled with extreme indignation, and planned how best he could lay a trap for him, and cause him to be arrested, and brought to Constantinople. A means soon offered itself, in the presence at the capital of a Syrian curator, named Magnus, who was the friend and patron of Mondir, and on whom he depended to make his defence before the king: but wishing to curry favour with Tiberius, he said, 'If you give me your command, I will bring him here in chains.' At this proposal the king was pleased, and gave him the wished-for commission; upon the receipt of which he proceeded to the East, to a town named Churin, which he had himself founded, and surrounded with a wall, and erected in it a church, the consecration of which he made his pretext for paying the town this visit: and he took the patriarch of Antioch with him, that he might the better deceive Mondir, and prevail upon him to come. On arriving there, he sent a message to Mondir, saying, 'I have come hither for the consecration of this church, and had it not been for my being tired with the journey, I should have gone and paid my respects to you. But as I wish to see how you do, I beg of you at once to pay me a visit: but do not bring a large |238 escort, for I wish you to stay with me several days, that we may enjoy one another's company; and as I should not wish you to be put to great expence by coming with a large army, I pray you bring only a few with you.'
[III.41] On receiving this missive, Mondir was greatly pleased; and having the fullest confidence in Magnus, as his dear friend, he set out immediately without delay, attended by a very small escort, not having the slightest suspicion that any danger could befall him at his hands. And Magnus, anxious to conceal his wicked schemes, received him with a show of friendship, and gave orders for a great banquet to be prepared. He then said, 'Send away these people who have come with you.' But he replied, I have come, as you requested me, with but a small escort; but on my return, I cannot travel without having an armed force with me, even if it be but a small one.' But he pressed the point, and said, 'Send them away; and when you return, you can send for them, and they will come for you.' And as Mondir was a man of considerable experience, the matter did not please him, and he began to be suspicious, and sent orders to his escort to remove but a slight distance from him, and await his coming. On their dismissal, Magnus gave directions to the troops whom he had secretly with him, to hold themselves in readiness, and the general he commanded to remain in his company. And when evening arrived, he said to Mondir, 'My lord Patrician, you have |239 been accused before the king, and he has given orders for you to go to the capital, and make your defence there, and prove to him that nothing that is said against you is true.' But Mondir replied, 'After all the services which I have rendered the king, I do not think it right that accusations should be listened to against me. For I am one of the king's vassals, nor do I refuse to go and appear before him: but I cannot possibly at this time break up my army; for if I do, the Arabs, who hold allegiance to the Persians, will come, and take my wives and children prisoners, and carry off all that I have.' But at this moment the Roman troops appeared in arms; and Magnus angrily said to him, 'If you will not go of your own accord, I will throw you into chains, and mount you on an ass, and so send you.' And when now the fraud was plain, and he saw that his friend had stripped him of his escort, and made him a prisoner, and delivered him up to a Roman army to guard him, he was distressed and broken hearted, like a lion of the wilderness shut up in a cage. And when his escort heard what had happened, they surrounded the fort, and prepared to set it on fire: but when the Romans shewed themselves, and made ready for battle, they withdrew; and Mondir, accompanied by a strong guard, was removed from the fort, and arrived in safety at the capital. And on reaching it, the king gave orders that he should have the same dwelling set apart for his use, as on the previous occasion when he was at |240 Constantinople, and an income assigned him: and so he remained there without being admitted to an audience, but had with him one wife, two sons, and a daughter.
[III.42] At home Mondir had left four sons, the eldest of whom, named Noman, was a man of even greater intelligence, and more warlike spirit than his father; and with his brothers he assembled his forces, and fell upon Magnus' fort, who had, however, himself returned to the capital; and, excepting the people whom they either took captive or slew, and what they burnt, everything else they plundered and carried away, gold and silver, and brass and iron, dresses of wool and cotton; corn, wine, and oil; troops of baggage animals of all kinds, whatever fell into their hands, and herds of oxen, and all their flocks of sheep and goats. And from thence the hosts of the Arabs overran and plundered the whole country of Arabia and Syria, and the neighbouring regions, and gathered immense wealth and booty without end: and retiring into the heart of the desert, they there pitched their tents in great numbers, and divided the spoil, being constantly on their guard and ready for war, and on the watch on all sides. And then sallying out again, they plundered and spoiled, and withdrew into the desert, until the whole country of the East to the shores of the Mediterranean was in terror at them, and fled for refuge to the cities, and did not dare show themselves before them. And when the princes of the land, and the |241 commanders of the Roman troops sent to them, saying, 'Why do ye all these evils?' they sent back the question, 'Why did your king lead our father into captivity, after all the labours, and victories, and feats of valour which he had bravely wrought for him, and has also cut off our supplies of corn, so that we have not the means of living? This is the reason why we are compelled to do these things, and you ought to be well contented that we do not kill you, and destroy everything with fire.' And finally, they went against the city of Bostra, and blockaded it, and said, 'Surrender to us our father's armour, and all the other royal property which we deposited with you: and if not, we will root up and burn and slay everything which we can both in your city and your land.' And when the commandant, who was a man of note and fame, heard these things, he was very angry, and gathered his troops together, and sallied out, despising them as roving Arabs: and they set themselves in array against him, and overpowered and slew both him and large numbers of his men. And when the citizens saw it, they were terrified, and sent out to them, begging them to desist from pillage, and we, said they, will give up what belongs to you, and take it in peace. And so they brought out to them their father's property, upon the receipt of which they retired to their encampment in the desert; but still for a long time they continued to spoil and plunder all the country round about.
[III.43] When the news reached Tiberius of the active |242 vengeance of the sons of Mondir, he was greatly annoyed, and gave Magnus orders to proceed immediately to the East, and use his endeavours to place a brother of Mondir upon the throne of the Arabs in the stead of their rightful chief: and if farther he could get Mondir's sons into his power, whether by fraud, or by blandishments and flatteries, or by war, he was to seize them. And to support him in these measures, the civil and military governors of the cities in the East received orders to accompany him with a large force. He entered therefore upon his mission with great pomp, and was so far successful as to make Mondir's brother king; but ten days after death overtook him, and deprived him of the power of committing any further frauds.
The unfortunate loss of thirteen chapters of the manuscript leaves us in ignorance of the manner of his death, and of the subsequent fortunes of Mondir, except so far as we can gather them from the headings prefixed to the third book. We learn there, that three other chapters were occupied with Mondir's history, giving an account of his imprisonment, and his being finally sent into exile into a distant country, whither he was accompanied by one of his chiefs named Sergius, a believer; and that his son Noman subsequently came to the capital, but for what reason is not stated. We further learn, that the orthodox enjoyed a time of peace and quiet after the death of Eutychius; but in common with all the people |243 of the capital, suffered first from a famine, which unexpectedly visited the city, and subsequently from a terrible mortality, which was especially fatal to children. These lost chapters also contained an account of the death of Tiberius 27, and of his plan for bringing about the unity of the church: and further mention the hostility of his wife to the orthodox, ascribed to her want of knowledge of the true nature of their doctrines. A chapter is also devoted to the three queens, who, after Tiberius' death, all inhabited the same palace. Further, there was an account of John the Faster, who succeeded Eutychius as patriarch, and of the gentleness of his character, and great liberality: and, finally, of his endeavours to suppress the heathens. The first five chapters of the fourth book are also lost: and as the table of contents has perished with them, we are left in entire ignorance of their nature. |244
DISSERTATION
UPON THE
ARABS OF HIKAH AND GHASSAN.
THE interest taken by our author in Mondir, son of Harith, arose chiefly from his being a Monophysite, and not only did the oppressed members of the party find a hospitable retreat at his court, but his services were always ready to intercede in their behalf. As, however, his statement differs considerably from the conclusions of M. Caussin de Perceval, it is necessary to enter at some little length into the history of the Arab courts of Hirah and Ghassan.
The Arabs of Syria and Mesopotamia played, during the fifth and sixth centuries, a very important part in the constant wars between the rival empires of Persia and Rome. Their religious differences, however, divided them into two parties, which the diplomacy of the Greek emperors managed generally to engage in mutual feuds. Of these two divisions, the more powerful family of Hirah followed the fortunes of Persia, while the Ghassanide princes combatted on behalf of Rome.
According to the Arabic authorities of M. Caussin de Perceval it was Mondir IV, son of Mondir III, who in 576 went to Rome, and agreed to join his arms with Maurice to oppose his former suzerain Khosrun Nushirwan, whose power had been broken at the battle of Melitene. In 580 he returned loaded with presents by Tiberius, and joined Maurice, who had passed the Euphrates at Circesium, and intended to strike the Persian capital, Ctesiphon, itself. His course lay through the deserts of Mesopotamia, inhabited by warlike tribes, more or less in subjection to Mondir; |245 but the latter had changed his mind, and sending a fleet courier to Hormizdas, the son of Khosrun, informed him of the designed attack: and was confirmed as his reward in the kingdom of Hirah in opposition to his brothers.
According to the Arabic authorities he was killed shortly afterwards at Ayn Obagh by the Ghassanide Arabs; but the Greek writers assert that he was only taken prisoner there and sent to Constantinople, whence he was banished by Maurice to Sicily. Of the treason employed by Magnus no record is found in either Greek or Arabic writers.
In the account of M. de Perceval, Mondir was succeeded by a son of that name, whose fortunes occupy a considerable space in the narratives of Arabic historians: whereas John of Ephesus says that Magnus succeeded in placing, not his son Noman, but a brother of Mondir upon the vacant throne. Before settling the question between the two authorities, it may be expedient to give some account of the two dynasties.
The word Hirah signifies a Camp, and its origin is ascribed to a Himyarite king, who left a division of his forces encamped there while pushing his conquests in central Asia. It was situated about three miles from the site subsequently occupied by Cufa; and it seems probable that a branch of the Euphrates flowed near it, while in its rear was the desert. Its date is of uncertain antiquity, but it certainly existed in A. D. 205, as it was then conquered by the Arsacide Sapor, i. e. Schah-pour, 'the king's son.'
Its prosperity, however, commenced about A. D. 272, when, upon the fall of Zenobia, the Arabs of Hirah contrived to reduce under their dominion several of the tribes of Mesopotamia who had previously obeyed her. And we still find in John's history the Mesopotamian Arabs obeying the princes of Hirah, as vassals of the Persian king.
Christianity probably was soon partially received there, but it made no rapid progress until the reign of Noman. In his time, about A. D. 410, the fame of Simon Stylites caused numerous Arabs to wander to his pillar in Syria, and Noman, fearing they might be won over to the Roman side, forbade these pilgrimages. |246 The saint, however, attended by two acolytes, appeared to him in a dream, rebuked him severely, and ordered the acolytes to scourge him. The dream was so vivid, that upon awaking in the morning he found himself covered with the marks of their blows, and being thus divinely warned, he revoked the edict, and gave free permission to the Christians to build churches, and perform the rites of worship in his dominions.
Cosmas, who details this story (Ass. B. O. i. 247), says that he had it from a Roman governor Antiochus, who was told it by Noman himself, when the latter, in a time of peace, being near Damascus, invited Antiochus to dine with him; and after many inquiries concerning Simon Stylites, informed him at length of the reason which prompted his curiosity.
It is further added, that he became himself a Christian; and this is confirmed by the story told by Arabic writers, that when walking one day on the roof of his palace admiring the splendour of his city, and the beauty of the neighbouring country, the thought that he must soon abandon it to another, struck him so forcibly with the uncertainty of all human things, that he descended, changed his garments, and retired into the desert, where he spent the remainder of his life in meditation.
The most powerful monarch of Hirah was Mondir III, father of the supposed false ally of Maurice. Of him M. Perceval gives abundant proof that he was not a Christian, and that Christianity had really made very little progress among his people; and the same would follow from his constant wars with the Romans. During a reign of nearly fifty years the life of this prince was spent in ceaseless battle. Restless and indefatigable, at one time falling suddenly upon his personal enemies, at another ravaging the Roman territories far and wide, he did not even fear to give battle to Belisarius, and came off undefeated. In Theophanes he appears as the 'Alamou&ndaroj who ransacked the suburbs of Antioch, and penetrated to Chalcedon; and his advice to the Persian monarch, after the defeat of Dara, was to leave Mesopotamia and the military confines alone, and strike at the peaceful centres of the Roman dominions. His whole life and character is a picture of that Arab activity, already forecasting the empire of the world, |247 and destined so soon to gain the ascendant over the two exhausted kingdoms of Persia and Rome.
It excites no wonder that Justinian bought peace of such a chieftain at the price of an annual subsidy. But the death of his son Amru, (whose murder by a poet of the same name, for an insult to his mother, forms so celebrated a subject in Arabic literature,) led to family feuds: and the rapid succession of Noman IV, Cabus, and finally of the Mondir, to whom M. de Perceval assigns the treachery complained of so bitterly by Maurice, weakened the power of Hirah; and, after becoming a Persian satrapy, it finally fell before the arms of Khalid, general of the Caliph Abu-becr, and was merged in the empire of Islam.
Except Mondir IV, the princes of Hirah were the constant enemies of Rome: but the case is far different with the Ghassanides. Of their origin little is known, but about the time of Constantine they embraced Christianity, and became therefore the allies of Rome. One, however, of their sovereigns, the queen Mawia, broke the alliance, and fought so successfully against her former friends, that Valens, circa A. D. 377, was obliged to sue for peace: upon which she assisted him bravely against the Goths. Their history henceforward is without interest until the time of Harith (Aretas), whose son Mondir is the prince spoken of by our author.
Harith reigned from A. D. 530 to A. D. 572, and is the person described by the Byzantine historians as Aretas, king of the Christian Arabs. In Asseman's Bibl. Or. his name frequently occurs, and, as in our author, in connection with Sergius and Paul, the two first Jacobite patriarchs. In spite of his Mono-physite creed, Justinian honoured him with the titles of patrician and king, on account of his valuable services to the Roman empire in holding the kings of Hirah in check. His troops fought under Belisarius at the battle of Callinicus against Mondir III, and soon after he endeavoured single handed to avenge the Roman general's check, but was so utterly defeated that Justinian had to interfere to save him from ruin. Again, in 541, he joined Belisarius in an invasion of Persia, but the plundering propensities of his men ruined the whole expedition. In spite |248 of the disgrace into which he fell at Rome on this account, he nevertheless gradually increased in power, and earned among the Arabs the title of 'the Magnificent:' and in 562 we find him in person at Constantinople, to obtain from the Roman emperor, Justinian, the confirmation of his son in his dominions; and the title given him by Theophanes, who records his visit, is, 'Are/taj o( patri/kioj kai\ fu&larxoj tw~n Sarakh&nwn. Really it is his son Mondir, and not Mondir of Hirah, to whom our author so frequently refers in his narrative.
The last king of Ghassan, Jabala, after a defeat, embraced Islamism, and submitted to the caliph Omar in A. D. 637.
Now it is exceedingly probable that M. de Perceval may have interchanged the two Mondirs, as his Arabic authorities are so confused that it is scarcely possible to draw out of them a connected narrative: and besides, they are many centuries subsequent to the times of which they write. The arms of Islam had obliterated all traces of the kingdoms of Hirah and Ghassan, and powerful cities had grown up on their sites hundreds of years before the princely Abbassides called forth a crowd of Arabic writers to chronicle the past exploits of their race: and of these, most felt no interest in any thing which occurred before the birth of the prophet. While in his Greek authorities there is nothing to decide which Mondir it was who was banished to Sicily.
But it is quite incredible that John of Ephesus, a contemporary writer, could have confounded the two chiefs. For he was the personal friend of the man of whom he wrote, and looked up to him as the hereditary patron of his party in the East. He had returned moreover to Constantinople from his banishment two years before Mondir's departure from that city upon his first visit, and narrates his efforts to reconcile the Monophysites. themselves, rent into parties by the quarrel between the patriarch Paul, and Jacob Zanzalus: and also his intercession with Tiberius in their behalf, and his successful attempt to put an end to the persecution of his friends by Eutychius, and the bishops in the East. He was too at Constantinople when his friend was brought there as a prisoner, and |249 probably had his account from one of his suite. Moreover, the very plea on which Magnus allured him into his power, namely, the consecration of a church, shows that he was a Christian, whereas Mondir IV. of Hirah was a heathen: nor would he have fallen so unsuspiciously into the hands of the Romans, as for centuries his family had been at war with them, and consequently had neither friends nor patrons there, nor any such intimacy as lulled the other Mondir's fears. And besides, John says that Magnus succeeded in placing Mondir's brother upon the throne, in the place of Noman his son: and accordingly M. de Perceval makes Mondir, son of Harith, to be succeeded by hia brother Jabala, whereas Mondir of Hirah was succeeded by his son Noman. John's narrative further explains also the unaccountable disappearance of Mondir, son of Harith, from the Arabic histories, whereas Mondir of Hirah was slain, they say, at Ayn Obagh.
And, in short, if, as Dr. Land thinks, John of Ephesus really confounded the two Mondirs, and describes a heathen as allured to the consecration of a church, and the pleasure of meeting the patriarch of Antioch, and tells moreover a story, every part of which is applicable to the Ghassanide Prince, and no part to the Lakhmite at Hirah, he will have been guilty, not merely of stupidity, but of an amount of wilful misrepresentation and invention, which will throw complete discredit upon every part of his history.
[Footnotes have been renumbered and placed here at the end]
1. b Literally, Chorth the son of Gabolo, that is, Harith the son of Jabal, a common name at this time aniong the princes of the Arabian kingdom of Hirah.
2. c The final disaster which rendered the appointment of a Caesar indispensable was the capture of Dara by Khosrun, and as a necessary consequence the devastation of all the provinces of the East up to the walls of Antioch: of which an account is subsequently given in the sixth book. Khosrun is said to have returned from this expedition with a quarter of a million of Christian captives.
3. d Literally, ' bellowed like a bull.'
4. e Literally, e0n shmei/oij, arbitrary signs being substituted for words according to the method of stenography existing in those days.
5. f By this action was signified the king's consent to the operation, so that if he died under it, they would not be punished.
6. g I imagine this to be the place mentioned by Stephanus Byzantinus, in his work, 'De Urbibus,' who says, Esti kai\ Dafnou&dion pro_j tw~| (Rhyi/w| plhsi/on th~j Qra|kw~n gh~j. It evidently was on the seashore, and therefore cannot be the Daphnudium mentioned by Fabricius, as the seat of a bishopric in Phrygia Salutaris.
The word for civilian is literally pagan: but it had come to bear this interpretation among the jurisconsulti at Constantnople. Similarly in the Acta Martyrii, c. 1. Tarachus, on being asked what was his profession, says, ' I was a soldier; but on becoming a Christian, I chose to be a pagan, i. e. civilian, paganeu&ein h9retisa&mhn. Tiberius originally was a notary; but rose subsequently to the high office of Comes Excubitorum, and so paved the way to his adoption by Justin.
7. h The account in Theophanes, though full of inaccuracies, confirms generally the narrative here given. He says, that when Tiberius had been crowned, on entering the Ludi Circenses, the populace demanded an Augusta: upon which Tiberius rose, and said, there was an empress already, whose name was the same as that of a church he pointed out: and thereupon the populace shouted Anastasia. This name apparently she afterwards bore, as Tiberius did that of Constantine. Theophanes describes the consternation of Sophia upon the news as extreme; for hitherto she had had no idea that Tiberius was married, and still less that he had two daughters. But plainly Sophia knew of his marriage soon after he became Caesar, but hoped to prevail upon him to put his wife away. In the Remains of Theodosius of Melitene, just edited by Tafel, (Munich, 1859, p. 95), a similar account occurs: 'When Tiberius entered the Hippodrome, the factions demanded an Augusta: upon which he rose, and said, that the Augusta had the same name as the church opposite the public baths of Dagistes. Upon this, shouts were raised of 'Long live the empress Anastasia!' But Sophia was grieved in heart; for she intended to marry Tiberius, and remain Augusta: and to her influence with Justin he owed his elevation. Tiberius subsequently appointed the palace on the Julian port for her residence, and surrounded her with a courtly retinue of chamberlains and officers, and honoured her like a mother.'
8. i The distributing of money and doles of corn, bread, &c. at Constantinople was reduced to a system, and formed a principal means of subsistence with large numbers of the population. Of the various methods practised, three in particular are noticed here: 1. The hypatia, or money scattered among the crowds whenever the emperor appeared in public. It took its name from the consuls (hypati), as it was also expected of them. 2. The Augustaticum, which consisted of more formal presents to the chief officers, and also civilians of the city. And, 3, the Donativum, which was a largess distributed in equal proportions among all the soldiers in the army.
9. k Magistriani.
10. l The Diacrinomeni are explained by Du Gauge, as those who neither entirely accepted the council of Chalcedon, like the Catholics, nor entirely rejected it, like the Eutychians. But plainly this is not correct. The meaning of the term rather is, that they drew a distinction between the doctrine of pope Leo, which they rejected, and that of S. Cyril of Alexandria, to which they adhered; whereas the council of Chalcedon declared, that the two doctrines were in complete unison.
11. m Silk in a manufactured state had long been known to the Romans, but Justinian introduced the worm itself into Europe by the exertions of two monks, who having penetrated into China, and seen the whole process there, were encouraged by him to return and obtain, if possible, some of the eggs. In this they succeeded, and the production of silk soon became general in Greece; but it long continued to bear so high a price, as for a dress to be a fit present for emperors to make.
12. n These a rtoi politikoi\ have been already mentioned, where John tells us that Eutychius forced from him the right of receiving five loaves, which he had purchased for his monastery for three hundred darics; and as these rights were attached, not to persons, but to buildings, Eutychius, as we shall see, had legal right on his side, if he was justified in confiscating the monastery
at all. The history of these loaves, as given by the Byzantine historians, is as follows: When Constantine the Great and his son Constantius, were doing their best to induce people to settle in their new city, they made regular distributions of corn there, and every person who built a house received orders, in the shape of brazen tallies, for a certain number of loaves at each distribution for ever: and this right went with the house, and as the distributions were very frequent, was a valuable property. The bread was given from certain stairs erected at intervals in the city, and not only had the householder to shew his tally, called calamus, but means were also taken to prevent their improper alienation from the house to which they belonged; and churches and hospitals, by the laws of Justinian, could neither alienate nor pawn them on any pretence whatsoever. So valuable a property was naturally taxed by poor or greedy rulers; and the very last emperor, who made the distribution, Heraclius, had but a short time before he discontinued it altogether, exacted a considerable money payment for each right. Cf. Justiniani Novel. 7. Ecclesise et xenodochia alienare vetantur res immobiles, sive etiam rusticum mancipium, vel panes civiles, &c.; and, for further particulars, Du Fresne's Constant. Christ., p. 158, under Gradus, and his Glossary, under Panis Gradilis. It had this name, because (in the words of Prudentius) it was
.. gradibus dispensus ab altis.
And there were no less than a hundred and seven flights of steps erected in various parts of Constantinople, for the purpose of distributing bread and alms to that splendid city of beggars.
13. o In Du Fresne's Familiae Augustae Byzantinae a coin of Justin's is engraved in p. 70, with a figure such as that described by our author: those of Tiberius, in p. 104, uniformly have the cross.
14. p At first the church depended solely on voluntary offerings, but in the fourth century ample endowments were given by wealthy laymen; and that the time of the bishops might not be occupied with temporal matters, treasurers, called oeconomi, were appointed to manage the episcopal revenues; and subsequently those of monasteries; and these treasurers naturally became men of importance.
15. q This district of the city was so called because inhabited chiefly by Jews, who followed the trade of braziers. The church of the Virgin situated in it was rebuilt by Justin and Sophia, after having been destroyed by an earthquake, and was famous both for an ancient image of our Lord, which Leo the Iconoclast vainly endeavoured to destroy, and also for possessing a girdle, once worn by the Virgin. Cf. Du Fresne, Const. Christ, lib. iv. p.85.
16. r The name here given to the palace is the Authenticum, as au)qe/thj had now become one of the recognised titles of the Emperor.
17. s An account of these statues is extant also in Cedrenus, who describes them as set up near the harbour subsequently known as the Palace Haven, but then called by the name of Sophia. Theodosius Melitenus also, p. 94, describes their erection upon the Julian port, which Justin, he says, cleaned out, and called by the name of the Empress.
18. t The Zeuxippus was a splendid bath, built by the Emperor Severus, and surrounded by extensive pleasure-grounds, in which were collected the chief treasures of art in Constantinople. Its beauty is the theme of many Byzantine writers, and whole books of epigrams have been written upon the master works of statuary deposited there; one of which was a statue of the Sun by Zeuxippus himself, whence the bath took its name: but its chief glory was a statue of Homer, sitting, full of thought, his hair and beard rough and neglected, and his hands folded on his breast.
19. u This method of executing criminals was not an uncommon one at Constantinople. Among other instances, we read in Chron. Alex. (p. 870. ed. Raderus) [Greek]. And subseqquently the murderer of Eustochius was thus put to death, iii. 35.
20. x A word occurs in the original which I am unable to translate, namely, [Syriac]. It reads literally, 'and another who was prefect, [Syriac], whose name was Julian.
21. y The patriarch at this time was John the Faster.
22. z The emperor Justinian was saved in his youth from destruction by the appearance of the two saints Sergius and Bacchus to his predecessor Anastasius, who, in obedience to his holy monitors, spared the youth's life. He, therefore, afterwards erected numerous churches in their honour, and as he long resided in the palace of Hormisdas, and greatly increased its buildings, one of the largest of these edifices was erected within its precincts.
23. a The Hebdomum, also called Campus, was the open plain to the west of the city, and held, in the estimation of the people, the same place which the Campus Martius held at Rome. Heraclius surrounded it with a wall to protect it from the Avars, and made it the fourteenth region of the city. Various unsatisfactory reasons for its name are given in Du Fresne, Const. Christ. 173.
24. b By Asia is signified the district immediately round Ephesus.
25. c If we may believe Michaelis, these Nazarites were a monkish sect, who took a vow entirely to abstain from bread and wine; and supposed that they kept this vow by having the consecration service of the Eucharist performed over it, by which means it became flesh and blood.
26. d If Caussin de Perceval is right, of which however I am doubtful, John of Ephesus confounds here two Mondirs: it was not Mondir, son of Harith, the Ghassanide ally of Rome, and a Monophysite Christian, who played Maurice false, but Mondir IV, son of Mondir III, the heathen king of Hirah, and a vassal of Persia. As the subject is however too long for a note, I must refer the reader to the Dissertation appended to this book.
27. e Theodosius Melitenus says that he was murdered by means of a dish of early and very fine mulberries which had been poisoned (pefarmagme/na).
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Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
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John of Ephesus, Ecclesiastical History, Part 3 -- Book 4
John of Ephesus, Ecclesiastical History, Part 3 -- Book 4
BOOK THE FOURTH.
THE loss of most of the first five chapters of the fourth book of John's history has deprived us of the prefatory matter respecting the persons employed in the mission for the conversion of Nubia, and probably of several details respecting the church of Alexandria, which had long been the head quarters of the Monophysites; as also concerning its patriarch Theodosius, who was deposed for belonging to this heresy, but survived for a period of rather more than thirty-one years, during which he still administered the affairs of his party, and directed the consecration of new priests and bishops, as occasion required. In the discharge of these duties he was subsequently joined by Paul, patriarch of Antioch, whose fortunes and flight to the court of Harith, father of Mondir, have been detailed above. [IV. 5.] In the latter years, however, of Theodosius' life, as on account of his great age and feebleness he was unable to stand at the consecration of the Eucharist, a priest, named Longinus, was appointed, at his request, to officiate in his stead, and did so during the rest of his life. And it was this Longinus who was finally appointed by him bishop of the Nobadae 1, upon their conversion to Christianity, under the following circumstances; |251
[IV. 6] Among the clergy in attendance upon pope Theodosius, was a presbyter named Julianus, an old man of great worth, who conceived an earnest spiritual desire to christianize the wandering people who dwell on the eastern borders of the Thebais beyond Egypt, and who are not only not subject to the authority of the Roman empire, but even receive a subsidy on condition that they do not enter nor pillage Egypt. The blessed Julianus, therefore, being full of anxiety for this people, went and spoke about them to the late queen Theodora 2, in the hope of awakening in her a similar desire for their conversion; and as the queen was fervent in zeal for God, she received the proposal with joy, and promised to do every thing in her power for the conversion of these tribes from the errors of idolatry. In her joy, therefore, she informed the victorious king Justinian of the purposed undertaking, and promised and anxiously desired to send the blessed Julian thither. But when the king heard that the person she intended to send was opposed to the council of Chalcedon, he was not pleased, and determined to write to the bishops of his own side in the Thebais, with orders for |252 them to proceed thither and instruct them, and plant among them the name of the synod. And as he entered upon the matter with great zeal, he sent thither, without a moment's delay, ambassadors with gold and baptismal robes, and gifts of honour for the king of that people, and letters for the duke of the Thebais, enjoining him to take every care of the embassy, and escort them to the territories of the Nobadae. When, however, the queen learnt these things, she quickly, with much cunning, wrote letters to the duke of the Thebais, and sent a mandatory of her court to carry them to him; and which were as follows: 'Inasmuch as both his majesty and myself have purposed to send an embassy to the people of the Nobadae, and I am now despatching a blessed man named Julian; and further my will is, that my ambassador should arrive at the aforesaid people before his majesty's; be warned, that if you permit his ambassador to arrive there before mine, and do not hinder him by various pretexts until mine shall have reached you, and have passed through your province, and arrived at his destination, your life shall answer for it; for I will immediately send and take off your head.' Soon after the receipt of this letter the king's ambassador also came, and the duke said to him, 'You must wait a little, while we look out and procure beasts of burden, and men who know the deserts; and then you will be able to proceed.' And thus he delayed him until the arrival of the merciful queen's embassy, who |253 found horses and guides in waiting, and the same day, without loss of time, under a show of doing it by violence, they laid hands upon them, and were the first to proceed. As for the duke, he made his excuses to the king's ambassador, saying, 'Lo! when I had made my preparations, and was desirous of sending you onward, ambassadors from the queen arrived, and fell upon me with violence, and took away the beasts of burden I had got ready, and have passed onward. And I am too well acquainted with the fear in which the queen is held, to venture to oppose them. But abide still with me, until I can make fresh preparations for you, and then you also shall go in peace.' And when he heard these things, he rent his garments, and threatened him terribly, and reviled him; and after some time he also was able to proceed, and followed the other's track, without being aware of the fraud which had been practised upon him.
[IV. 7.] The blessed Julian, meanwhile, and the ambassadors who accompanied him, had arrived at the confines of the Nobadae, whence they sent to the king and his princes, informing him of their coming: upon which an armed escort set out, who received them joyfully, and brought them into their land unto the king. And he too received them with pleasure, and her majesty's letter was presented, and read to him, and the purport of it explained. They accepted also the magnificent honours sent them, and the numerous baptismal robes, and every thing else richly provided for |254 their use. And immediately with joy they yielded themselves up, and utterly abjured the error of their forefathers, and confessed the God of the Christians, saying, 'that He is the one true God, and there is no other beside Him.' And after Julian had given them much instruction, and taught them, he further told them about the council of Chalcedon, saying, that 'inasmuch as certain disputes have sprung up among Christians touching the faith; and the blessed Theodosius being required to receive the council, and having refused, was ejected by the king from his throne, whereas the queen received him and rejoiced in him, because he stood firm in the right faith, and left his throne for its sake: on this account her majesty has sent us to you, that ye also may walk in the ways of pope Theodosius, and stand in his faith, and imitate his constancy. And moreover the king has sent unto you ambassadors, who already are on their way in our footsteps.' They then instructed them how they should receive them, and what answer they should give: and when every thing was fully settled, the king's ambassador also arrived. And when he had obtained an audience, he also gave the king the letters and presents, and began to inform and tell him, according to his instructions, as follows: 'The king of the Romans has sent us to you, that in case of your becoming Christians, you may cleave to the church and those who govern it, and not be led astray after those who have been expelled from it.' And |255 when the king of the Nobadae and his princes heard these things, they answered them, saying, 'The honourable present which the king of the Romans has sent us we accept, and will also ourselves send him a present. But his faith we will not accept: for if we consent to become Christians, we shall walk after the example of pope Theodosius, who, because he was not willing to accept the wicked faith of the king, was driven away by him and expelled from his church. If, therefore, we abandon our heathenism and errors, we cannot consent to fall into the wicked faith professed by the king.' In this manner then they sent the king's messengers away, with a written answer to the same effect. As for the blessed Julian, he remained with them for two years, though suffering greatly from the extreme heat. For he used to say that from nine o'clock until four in the afternoon he was obliged to take refuge in caverns, full of water, where he sat undressed and girt with a linen garment, such as the people of the country wear. And if he left the water his skin, he said, was blistered by the heat. Nevertheless, he endured it patiently, and taught them, and baptized both the king and his nobles, and much people also. He had with him also a bishop from the Thebais, an old man, named Theodore 3, and after giving them instruction and setting things in order, he |256 delivered them over to his charge, and himself departed, and arrived in safety at Constantinople, where he was most honourably received by the queen. And to her he related many wonderful particulars concerning that numerous people, but they are too long for us to write, nor can we spare space for more than we have already inserted.
[IV.8] The chief charge of the new converts was vested in Theodosius, as being patriarch of Alexandria; nor were they forgotten by him: for on the very day of his departure from this world he had them in his memory, and especially because the blessed Julian their teacher had died but a very short time before, and also because her late majesty, the queen Theodora, had given orders that the excellent Longinus should be made bishop there, as being an earnest man admirably adapted to convert and establish them in the doctrines of Christianity. Immediately therefore after the pope's decease, Longinus was consecrated bishop of those parts, and made ready to proceed thither. But scarcely had he embarked his goods on board ship, when men were found, such as those of whom it is written, that 'their teeth are spears and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword,' [Psalm lvii. 4.] who went and told the king, that 'Longinus, the enemy of our palace, has been made bishop, and has embarked his goods on board ship, ready to start. And should he go, for he is a passionate man, and arrive among that people in safety, he will immediately stir them up to |257 make war upon and pillage the territory of the Romans. Give orders therefore for his immediate arrest.' When the king heard these things, he was stirred up to anger, and gave orders for his arrest, and had his baggage removed from the vessel. Thus then he was not permitted to depart, and three years passed by, during which he was waiting for an opportunity; and finally, as he was aware that he was watched, and would not be permitted to leave, he disguised himself, and put a wig on his head,----for he was very bald;----and taking with him two servants, he fled, and God delivered him, and caused him to arrive in safety at that land. And there he was magnificently received, and great joy testified at his coming: and immediately he began to instruct them afresh, and enlighten them, and teach them. And next he built them a church, and ordained clergy, and taught them the order of divine service, and all the ordinances of Christianity. But when the king heard of his flight he was very angry, and gave directions that the ferries over the sea should be all occupied, and the roads watched, and letters written to the provinces; but all proved to no purpose. Longinus meanwhile prevailed upon the king of that people to send an ambassador to the king of the Romans with presents, and gifts of honour. And on his arrival, he had an audience, and was honourably received in the presence of myself and the rest of the court, and spake highly of Longinus, saying, 'Though we |258 were Christians in name, yet we did not really know what Christianity was until Longinus came to us.' And much more he related, greatly to his honour; but the king retained a bitter feeling against him, though he said nothing.
[IV. 9.] After Longinus had passed a space of five years, more or less, in Nubia, Satan, who envies everything that is good, contrived a device for driving him away from thence, and producing by his means ruin and schism and disruption in the church. He stirred up therefore Theodosius, the archpresbyter of the clergy at Alexandria, and Theodore, his sister's son, who held the office of archdeacon, to write letters to him, inviting him to quit Nubia, and journey to the suburbs of Alexandria to consecrate for them a pope, and so benefit the church----an act which was the beginning of much mischief and schism. When then Longinus received these letters, he was stirred up, and burnt with earnest zeal; and, despising all danger of death, began to make preparations for his journey, and for fulfilling what was enjoined in the letters. But when the king and his nobles learnt these things, they assembled, and tried to prevent him from leaving them. But he shewed them the letters, saying, 'The business for which I am commanded to set out upon this journey is one for the common good of the whole church, and I cannot therefore refuse to go.' And they still tried to prevail upon him, and lamented and wept, saying, 'Once again, as before your arrival, we shall be left like orphans without a |259 father.' But finally, with much sorrow and bitter lamentation, they let him go, and provided him with means for his journey. He started therefore, and went first to Theodore, the venerable bishop of Philae, in the further Thebais, and shewed him the letters, and took counsel with him as to what was therein written, requesting him, if it were possible, to accompany him on his journey. But he could not, from his extreme old age; for it was now nearly fifty years since he had been made a bishop by Timotheus 4, the predecessor of the blessed Theodosius: nevertheless he entirely agreed with the purport of the letters, and drew up a mandate appointing Longinus to act as his proxy, and certifying His consent to whatever he did. Thus encouraged, Longinus proceeded on his journey, and arrived at the place in the Mareotis indicated to him in the letters; and now it became a matter of deliberation what he should do next, for he was alarmed and afraid, lest the news should get abroad of his having entered the Roman territories after escaping from surveillance, and orders be given for his arrest; in which case he would die a painful death: and at this his heart was terrified.
[IV.10.] Now it so chanced that about this time two bishops, John of the monastery of Marbas, and George Eurtoyo 5, of whom the latter had just |260 been consecrated, but not yet permitted to perform episcopal functions, had been sent by the synod of the East to Longinus, and to the above-named Theodore of Philae, to consult them respecting the reception of Paul 6, patriarch of Antioch, into the church after his temptation and flight; and to learn whether they consented to admit him once again to communion and union. While, however, they were making their preparations to proceed up the Nile on their journey, they learnt that Longinus had left his |261 see, and come down to Egypt: and following in his track, as hearsay guided them, they at length found him in Libya, outside Alexandria, in a place called Mareotis. And he received them with joy, and on reading their letters, he was glad, and said, 'God has happily brought you hither, chiefly that you may give us a helping hand in the establishment of the church. For this is the purpose for which I also, being invited by letter, have travelled to this place from a distant land, in order that there may be a patriarch of Alexandria.' And they said, 'But how can we make a patriarch without the command of our own patriarch? If therefore this is your wish, let him by all means be found, for he is not far off; and we will go and bring him.' After much discussion, therefore, they went and brought into Libya Paul the patriarch from some place, as was said, in the neighbourhood, where he was dwelling disguised as a Roman. And on their return, they found Longinus actively engaged in going from place to place in search of a fit person for the office of archbishop. And on joining him, they travelled in his company to the desert of the hermits, beyond the blessed Mar Minas 7, to a place called Rhamnis; and they |262 found the abbot there to be a most excellent man, named Theodore, by birth a Syrian; and to him they addressed themselves, begging him to yield himself up, and consent to be made pope of Alexandria. But he, on hearing the proposal, was terrified, and refused, and fled from it, even taking solemn oaths, and condemning himself utterly, should he consent: but on their threatening him with excommunication if he persisted in his refusal, he was forced by violence, against his will, weeping and lamenting, to consent to their request: and thereupon, Longinus |263 and the two other bishops consecrated him, Paul, as they affirmed on oath, not being near, nor taking part in his ordination, because at present he was not absolved from his fall, nor admitted back into communion. But though unable to take part in any other way in his ordination, he subsequently gave it his approbation, and received him, and communicated with him, and, as was said, they even addressed a synodical letter to one another, as patriarchs respectively of An-tioch and Alexandria. And when now all imagined that, in accordance with the canons, they had performed a great work for the union and establishment of the church of Syria and |264 Alexandria, because the bishop was made without the knowledge of the Alexandrians,----a thing which justice forbade,----it proved the ruin of them all, and of the whole church of the East, and of the Egyptians; and a source of trial and confusion and quarrels, and schisms, and divisions, and the cause both of manifold evils to themselves personally and individually, and a pretext to the savage people of Alexandria for giving way to excessive and unrestrained fierceness and barbarity.
[IV. 11.] For when the Alexandrians received the letters of Longinus, and of the bishops who were with him, and subsequently of Theodore himself, giving an account of all they had done, and informing them that Theodore was their patriarch; and when further, as in duty bound, he addressed to them his synodic letter, chiefly to assure them of his soundness in the faith, but also containing such other matters as were fitting for him to write to his church; and among them an apology, in which he alleged his fear of the authorities, and of there being a disturbance, as his reason for not having come in person to their city, that every thing might be done in canonical order, and with their consent and decree; ---- when the chiefs, I say, of the clergy, whose names have been given above, and the rest, heard these things, they were greatly excited and agitated and enraged at every thing that had been done: and stirred up and inflamed the other clergy to the like fury and savage |265 violence against Longinus and Theodore, and even more fiercely against Paul, on whose account especially it was that they spurned and reviled and rejected the rest, and cried out both in the church and city against them in a disgraceful and disorderly manner, saying, 'Let us at once assemble without delay, and make us here a pope of our own selves.' At length they proposed the name of a certain Andronicus, whom we have once before mentioned 8. But in this their real purpose, as was said, was, that they might have full and unlimited power over the revenues of the church of Alexandria. When, however, they became aware that neither the clergy nor the laity would be content with him, because report said that a devil a short time before had appeared unto him; and as he himself now gave signs of declining the appointment, having fallen from their hope of electing one of themselves, they next fell upon the abominable artifice of nominating a contemptible and inefficient man, intending that he should possess nothing more than the name and dress, being prevented by his ignorance and simplicity from taking part in the administration of |266 the revenues, and those other duties which befit so princely an office: for they supposed that they could command, and turn him about and manage him as they chose, while he would not be able to command them. And this plan they succeeded in effecting: for they chose a simple and ignorant old man, named Peter, who belonged to the ordinary class of deacons, and who had been one of the companions of the blessed Theodosius in his exile, and proposed him as bishop. And on their determining to appoint him, only one bishop, a certain John, could be found to consecrate him, and even he was himself waiting his trial for some canonical offence. And when they knew not what to do next, two foreign bishops arrived, who had lately been consecrated for the church of Syria by the blessed Jacob, and who, it so happened, both bore the same name of Antoninus; and on them they laid violent hands, and made them consecrate the deacon Peter as bishop, though there was at the time another in possession of the throne, and they had themselves received his synodic letters. And without examination and trial, as order and the canons command, or making inquiry whether his appointment had been conducted in a proper manner, and according to the canons, or in violation of them, they were roused to bitter anger, and iniquitous contrivances; for their wrath led them into a course marked by savage violence and barbarous fury. And thus they made and appointed a second bishop upon the same throne from their |267 hatred to the first, causing thereby disturbance and confusion, and schism and quarrel, in the whole church. And, in fact, as the result shewed, it was done at the will and pleasure of the devil, who was the real instigator of these things, and who led them on as being a vindictive and intemperate people to so great turbulence and savageness, that no single thought of order entered their minds, or of the duty of judging and examining whether the former appointment had been made fittingly or not, as Theodore supposed they would do on hearing the news of his creation. Instead of this, they took so extreme a course as to appoint another in his place. Had their violence been bridled by the fear of God, they would have understood of themselves the mischiefs and schisms, and divisions and disputes, and struggles and disturbances, which they were about to occasion in His church: instead whereof their evil purpose was accomplished, and the quarrel so begun continues to this day, though eight years, more or less, have now elapsed 9. And to describe all the fightings which have sprung forth from this source, the mutual quarrels, the unappeasable hatred which has taken possession of many hearts, would require the lamentations of Jeremiah, the prophet of grief: for sense and moderation seem entirely lost, nor can they restrain themselves from |268 uttering reproach and contumely, and bitter calumnies? against one another.
[IV. 12.] Just therefore as a man who is weak and diseased in his eyes, cannot easily see with accuracy, and search for any thing in the rays of the sun; and again, as one who is burning with fever cannot do any thing whatsoever like a healthy man; so also those who are hurried away by passion, and dragged along by the fury of an angry zeal, can neither discern nor judge what is fitting, nor thereby regulate their conduct. And so also neither can those who are intoxicated with heat, and agitated with wrath and the spirit of opposition, either purpose or execute any thing whatsoever in a firm and steadfast manner. And this in fact happened to the wise clergy of Alexandria: for they were by no means men of inferior merit, or without knowledge, had not the gall of anger agitated them, and wrath made them stumble; and yet they lived to be an example of the Scripture, which says of those tossed by waves and winds and tempests, that [Ps. cvii.27] 'they shook and reeled like drunken men, and all their wisdom perished.' For so in their hasty and uncanonical proceeding, when the synodal letter reached them, informing them that a bishop had been consecrated for them by those who were orthodox like themselves, and members of their communion, because, owing to the urgency of the times, it was done without their vote, they took so violent a course as to seize upon and consecrate Peter as the second bishop, at the |269 same time upon the same throne. Whether this was right, any one may judge, who considers that during the whole space of ten years, which had elapsed since the death of the blessed Theodosius, they might have created for themselves a bishop without dispute; whereas they waited until the news reached them of the appointment of Theodore, and then made an election in anger, to be a cause of quarrel and dissension and schism in the church; for Peter, whom they elected, was immediately regarded by many as an adulterer, who had entered in unto his neighbour's wife 10. And moreover, to strengthen his position, they persuaded this second prelate, thrust contrary to church-laws and canonical order into another's throne, to consecrate no less, as was said, than seventy bishops; though were a man but seeking for labourers to till his fields, he would find it no easy matter to bring together at one time so many men fit for his purpose. What then shall we say of those who were chosen to feed Christ's rational flock, according to the |270 commandment given to the blessed Peter, 'Feed my sheep:' and of whom the apostolic rule and instruction to Timothy was, that with much care and enquiry and examination he should select those whom he appointed to the priesthood only, and how much more then those who are heads over the priests? And as the beginning of the matter was troubled and confused, and contrary to established precedent, so was its end. For even so no check was put upon his hasty course of violence, nor did he clothe himself in the quietness and gentleness of Christ, but let them hurry him into malignant proceedings, which caused a schism between the churches of Syria and Alexandria: for he ventured unjustly and uncanonically to depose Paul, who by the command of the blessed Theodosius had been consecrated patriarch of Antioch, and this too in his absence. Nor merely so, but he must needs bring accusations against Jacob, bishop of Syria, and even publish them in a circular letter, which he sent about in all directions: in which, from the old enmity and feud of the Alexandrians against Paul, he inserted a number of murderous and lying slanders, to the effect that Paul and his party had communicated with the Synodites. But those whom he calumniated solemnly abjured the charge, in the defence which they jointly addressed to the whole church, and in which they anathematized the authors and publishers of the scandal, and themselves, if ever knowingly and consciously, either in secret or in |271 public, they had been guilty of the act of which they were accused.
[IV.13] And though I thus write, let no man imagine that either here, or in what I shall hereafter relate concerning this turbulent affair, my purpose is to indulge in slanders, or to say any thing. untrue, or even superfluous, in the hope of gaining for the one side the victory, and of throwing blame upon the other. My sole object is briefly to record the events which happened in the year 886 of Alexander (A. D. 575), and subsequently: adding nothing to them, though we will not promise not to curtail them; for the confusion and turbulence and irregularity wrought by the contrivance of the enemy of mankind exceeds all measure, nor can we do more than give a short sketch of it, classing it all under the title of disorder. But to return to our narrative. When Theodore, who had been consecrated bishop of Alexandria against his will, by Longinus and the rest, learnt that the Alexandrians had behaved thus violently and savagely, and had refused to receive either him or his letters, and contrary to all canonical order had even appointed the above-named Peter after his election, and in his stead, he remained quiet, and continued to observe the rules of his former habit (as a monk), nor did he allow himself to be disturbed by what had happened, saying, 'Let there be no schism, and no quarrel, on my account; for my sole care is to live in peace, as I have done unto this day.' And so he |272 continued for awhile to avoid all agitation; but when in process of time many, both in the city and in the deserts, and in Egypt and the Thebais, came over to him, he also appointed vicars in his own name, and ordained priests 11.
[IV. 14.] Far different was the conduct of the other side, as regards both the patriarch Paul and Jacob. Of the former we have already given in the Second Book at full length an account of the fall, into which he was betrayed by the hope of unity: and now we have to tell how the people of Alexandria became possessed of the vain idea, that attended by his bishops he had travelled into Nubia, and there with Longinus had consecrated Theodore: whereas Longinus, in a letter which he sent in his defence, declared that this was false, and denied with solemn adjurations that Paul was either present at Theodore's consecration, or a party to it by word or privity. Nevertheless they prevailed on Peter, in their savage violence, audaciously to pronounce sentence of deposition against him, in violation of all canonical order; by which in fact his own consecration was illegal and invalid, inasmuch as he was the second appointed to fill a throne already occupied, a thing which the rules and canons of the church forbid. And moreover |273 they invented charges against the blessed Jacob, and, not content therewith, published them in circular letters. And this was done in the absence alike of Paul and Jacob, who were not cited as the canons require, nor were the charges brought against them in their presence, that so sentence might follow according to what they had done. And this proceeding of the church at Alexandria led to a bitter schism between them and Syria, and was itself the result of an old grudge which they harboured against Paul.
[IV.15] It may perhaps not be out of place here to say of the simplicity and innocence of the old man Jacob, that which is written in the Scriptures, concerning the brethren in the days of the blessed apostles, that 'in the singleness of their heart they praised the Lord.' [Acts ii. 46] For he, like them, to simplicity and innocence, joined great spiritual zeal, and from his youth, even unto old age, was indefatigable in his exertions and labours for the church. He was however too much under the influence of the crafty and designing men about him, who turned him every way they chose, and used him as a means of establishing their own power, swaying him now in this direction, and now in that, like a child. And so it was in the case of Paul, who originally had been consecrated by him and the rest, patriarch of Antioch the Great, and thereby elevated to be their own head and ruler: but when after his appointment they still continued to conduct matters at their own discretion, and without consulting |274 him; and others at length represented to them, that it was not right to act without the judgment of their patriarch, the rebuke greatly displeased them, nor would they even so desist from managing every thing as they chose. When then subsequently Paul and the other leading bishops were summoned to the capital, in the hope of establishing the unity of the church, and had arrived there, and been received by the king, many long discussions were held, and consultations, which extended over a period of more than two years, and of which we have recorded the leading particulars in the Second Book, and therefore think it better now to pass them over. Finally, however, Paul and the three others with him, through too great confidence in the oaths and declarations of those in power, were betrayed by their too eager hope of union into lapsing miserably into the communion of the two natures: and after much had passed, of which an account has been already given, and they had been all sent into banishment, Paul, setting his life at nought, fled from the palace, and was delivered from the hand of his enemies, and hastened unto Syria, where he laid his act of penitence before the synod of the East, and not content with one petition, sent also a second. And he continued as a supplicant for the space of three years, more or less, and then was duly and canonically received into communion by the blessed Jacob and his synod. Whereupon Jacob wrote letters, both to us at the capital, and to |275 Antioch, and to other quarters, as follows:---- 'Learn that we have received our blessed patriarch, the lord Paul, into spiritual communion; and we have taken the sacrament together: and every one who receiveth him, receiveth us; and every one who receiveth not him, receiveth not us.' And yet after a little time, by the contrivance of the evil one, various accusations were stirred up between them, which we for their habit's sake shall hide in silence.
The enmity and division between the two parties, and their mutual criminations concerning the disorderly proceedings at Alexandria, continued for a considerable time; and the blessed Jacob was especially active in writing in all directions in opposition to Peter, the second bishop consecrated to the see, and described him in his letters as a new Gaianus 12, who had |276 arisen for the disturbing of the church: he even sent me, though but of small account, three epistles upon this subject. |277
[IV.16] As for Peter, whom others had set up as bishop of Alexandria when the see was already occupied, to be but as a picture painted upon a wall, while they managed every thing at their own will, not content with his illegal and disorderly election, and with having induced him to ordain men without examination, young and old alike, until he had made a string 13 of seventy bishops, and other clergy in proportion, they now led him on to another violent act, and prevailed |278 upon him to venture to pronounce the formal deposition of Paul of Antioch, in violation of the order and canons of the church; nor did the fact of his having no legal rights himself restrain him from this piece of audacity. And for the purpose of stirring up opposition and hatred, he drew up a paper full of false accusations against Paul and others, and was guilty of such acts of tyranny and pride, that he can be compared only to a drunken man, who wanders about without sense after his vomit; nor had he any will of his own, but acted as they who appointed him led him on. And these missives he sent every where, and committed other acts, which became the fruitful source of schisms, and widened the breach and dissension already existing between the churches of Syria and Egypt.
[IV. 17.] To some of these acts the blessed Jacob was prevailed upon to give his consent; for being, as we have said above, a simple man, he was influenced by the violent persons who surrounded him, and whose object was to find an opportunity of showing the hatred, which by the instigation of the enemy of man, they entertained against Paul. They now, therefore, prevailed upon the old man to visit Alexandria, persuading him that he would thus establish unity between Alexandria and Syria, though they were themselves well aware of the old grudge and unappeasable enmity which had long existed at Alexandria against Paul, and of which the sole root was envy. They found means, therefore, of |279 inducing the unsuspecting old man to visit Alexandria, telling him he could do so without its being generally known; but many, when they heard what he was about to do, wrote to him and protested, that he ought not inconsiderately to go there alone, lest he should be prevailed upon by their wiles to take part in their hatred, and so fresh schisms and disputes be occasioned between Egypt and Syria, and the evil already existing be increased and strengthened. But those about him were deaf to persuasion, and took him to Alexandria, where he fell among 'a barbarous 14 people,' [Psalm cxiv.1] as Scripture says; and having led him there, they next induced him by trickery to submit to communion with Peter, though he had himself reproached him both verbally and in writing, and called him a new Gaianus risen up for the confusion of the church of God. And further they prevailed upon him to draw up a paper, professing to be articles of union, and offer it to the very person whom he had himself blamed and reproached, and said that he was nothing better than an adulterer, who had seized |280 upon another's wife, in having been consecrated to a see, which another orthodox bishop already filled. But in thus acting, their real motive was hatred to Paul, whom they hoped to find an opportunity of condemning and deposing; and thus they closed their eyes to all other considerations, and joined the very Peter whom they had reviled as a new Gaianus, and, as the saying is, trampled all propriety under foot, and counted as nothing the violation of the canons which they had themselves previously laid to Peter's charge; assenting and setting their seal to all his illegal acts, and, above all, to his deposition of Paul, patriarch of Antioch, which audaciously and tyrannically, and in violation of all canonical rules, had been pronounced by Peter and his party, in Paul's absence, before the arrival there of Jacob. For when they first heard of it, this act had delighted them and gratified their feelings of enmity; for they hoped that the yoke of their patriarch Paul was taken from off their neck, and they, therefore, wrote and gave their assent thereto. The old man Jacob, however, persuaded them that the deposition should not be accompanied by any act of excommunication.
[IV. 18.] On the completion of this turbulent business at Alexandria, which proved a fruitful source of ruin and disturbance and schism and quarrel to the whole church of Syria, Peter asked the blessed Jacob and his companions, on their departure, after having approved and confirmed every thing he had done, to allow three of his bishops |281 to accompany them back to Syria to give their testimony and confirmation to the disorder they had wrought. They travelled, therefore, in company; and all Syria, so to speak, was startled and astonished at their coming. And when they began to tell the purport of what they had done, and the deposition of Paul in violation of canonical law, a great division and schism and offence was the immediate consequence throughout the whole church of the believers in every part of Syria; for many assented to what had been done by the old man Jacob at Alexandria, some for his own sake, because for a long time they had looked up to him, and others, because they hoped that a firm and lasting union would so be made with Alexandria: but the rest at once dissented and disapproved and rejected all that had been done there, blaming and severely censuring Jacob and his party; for at first he had himself blamed Peter's appointment, and reproached both him and those who consecrated him, and called him a new Gaianus whom the Alexandrians had set up for the disturbing of the church: and said that his appointment was contrary to the canons, and invalid, and his priesthood nought, and that he was an adulterer; and then, after all this, he had gone and assented and submitted to the man whom he had rejected and reproached, and had communicated with him; nor so only, but had even presented to him a petition: for the three bishops who accompanied him back had |282 brought it with them, and showed it privately to many, saying, 'See, here is the petition which father Jacob made and presented to pope Peter.' And this they did in secret, as neither he nor his companions considered that it was a petition which they had drawn up, but articles of union; and were it not for the length of the narrative, we would have inserted it here in its place entire.
[IV. 19.] Unfortunately the schism was confined to no narrow limits, but spread from Syria into Cilicia, Isauria, Asia, Cappadocia, and Armenia; and especially to the capital, so that in this the 887th year of Alexander (A. D. 576), grief upon grief, and blow upon blow fell upon the persecuted and lacerated church of the believers every where, by reason of the division, and quarrels, and schisms, and wrongs, and evil deeds which sprang up and multiplied between Jacob and Paul, and spread like an ulcer cruelly, and without fear of God. For the bishops and clergy and monasteries, great and small, joined some one side and some the other, as also did the people of the churches, both in towns and villages, and in the country: and each faction eagerly set itself to injure, and ruin, and revile, and speak evil of the other, with barbarous and unmitigated violence, seeking the other's wrong, and slandering them, and dividing the people, and producing schism in the churches, and tearing the congregations to pieces, till each one abominated his neighbour, and rent himself from him, |283 and endeavoured to enlarge his own party, doing his utmost to produce division, and make others stumble, and cause schisms, and bring men over to his own views. And thus both sides were filled and exasperated with the spirit of opposition, in contempt of order and judgment, and the fear of God: to which had they not been strangers, they would have repented of their evil doings, and ceased from thus creating schism and disturbance in His church. But this course of murderous hatred and rancour, and reproach and mutual revilings was stirred up in them by one who asked 'that he might sift them as wheat,' [Lu. xxii.31] by tempting them to deride and reproach one another. For even of heathens and Jews and heretics, no one, however fierce and savage, would venture to speak so reproachfully as the believers did of one another; at the very time. when in matters of faith there was no difference or dispute between them.
[IV.20] Upon the breaking out of this fierce and cruel and disorderly schism between Jacob and Paul, and not between them only, but generally throughout all Syria, and the neighbouring countries, where every one took either one side or the other, some approving of and receiving all that had been done by Jacob in Alexandria, while others sided with Paul, and rejected Jacob's proceedings, as being entirely contrary to canonical order; to which view the chief monasteries principally inclined: when this savage and violent state of things everywhere prevailed, |284 Paul constantly sent to Jacob, by the hands of numerous messengers, saying, 'Why is there all this disturbance in the church of God? Let us hold a conference with one another, and examine canonically and legally the matters in dispute between us, and if I am guilty according to the canons, instead of one sentence and one canon, I am ready to submit to three; but if, on the contrary, the fault rests with you, even so for your sake I will submit to it.' But those who were about the simple old man Jacob, would not let him give way, and consent to see and converse with him; for they knew that they could not stand before him, and knew too that at his first word he would convict them as they deserved. Jacob therefore said, 'I have come to terms with and received the Alexandrians, and drawn up writings of agreement with them; and from them I cannot turn away, and without their consent neither shall he see me nor I him.' [IV. 21.] Equally in vain was the intercession of Mondir, son of Harith, king of the Arabs, who was both a believer, and an active and zealous man, and who spent much time in urging and supplicating both sides to cease from their wrath and contest, and hold a conference with one another, and talk the matter over, and make peace. But the Jacobites would not consent, though Paul besought both Mondir himself and others, that a full examination and inquiry might be made into those things which had been stirred up by Satan between them. And inasmuch as for a |285 long time, from the days of Harith his father, they had regarded Jacob as a great man, and subsequently, at a later time, had similarly respected Paul; and now the two had come to so fierce a difference and quarrel, and Jacob's party would not be appeased, the discussion spread also among the Arab tribes, and to many of them also the matter proved a stumblingbloek; for some went after Paul, while others took the side of Jacob.
[IV.22] The news of this dissension and disturbance caused Longinus and his companions, and with them Theodore, whom they had made patriarch, to proceed from Egypt to the countries of the East, and especially to Syria, where they joined themselves to the adherents of Paul, with the view of entering into a judicial examination of the matter with the partizans of Jacob, and if possible to put an end to the quarrel, and the continually increasing evils to which the dispute led. Theodore therefore remained quietly in the city of Tyre, but Longinus went to Hirah, the capital, founded by Gabala, son of Harith, to find Mondir, the son of Harith; and after he had conversed with him, and told him exactly the whole truth, the king was the more anxious to get them together, and reconcile them; but the partizans of Jacob utterly rejected his mediation. Finally, however, a large number of Jacob's party and himself assembled in the monastery of Mar Ananias 15 in the desert: and one of them, a |286 bishop, named John, belonging to the same monastery, was sent, with a fraudulent purpose, to Longinus and his companions, saying, 'Inasmuch as the old man, my lord Jacob, has come hither, and wishes to converse with you, come to him quickly: for there will be present only us three, myself, and you, and Jacob, and we will talk the matter over, and put an end to the quarrel, and bring this turbulent state of things to an end.' And upon the receipt of a letter to this effect, Longinus readily arose, and started, accompanied by the rest of his party, and arrived there. But no sooner had they come, than they conducted him and his company into a place where there was sitting no small crowd of monks, and laymen, and jurists, and lawyers. And when Longinus saw the partizans of Peter 16, he said to John, who had come to invite him, 'What fraud is this that thou hast done me, and hast written unto me falsely, saying, that the old man was here alone, and that I should come that we three might confer together? where is the old man? and what is this crowd?' And on |287 his thus speaking, one of the monks produced a written indictment against him, and said, 'Take and read this, and give in an answer thereto.' But he replied, 'I have been invited hither by fraud and falsehood, and I will not read it, nor give an answer to any man.' And upon his looking round for a means of escape, they laid hands upon him, and seized him, saying, 'You will not get out hence until you have read it: and if you will not read it, we will read it to you, and listen.' But when they began to read, he put his fingers into his ears, that he might not hear. Whereupon they began to pull him this way and that, and he cried out, 'Woe, woe, what have I done 17? why am I to be treacherously murdered?' And now a strife arose, and the quarrel grew louder, and a scene of disorderly violence ensued, and murder was at the very point of being committed, until he managed, still crying 'Woe!' to extricate himself from among them, and get out, and save himself from their hands, and flee away. Jacob himself he never even saw. And many such acts as these were committed everywhere by the evident instigation of devils......
The rest of the chapter, and the next eight, are lost; but it is evident that they contained the recital of similar acts of unbridled temper |288 and fraud and violence, from the few lines of the thirtieth still preserved; in which we find our historian lamenting, that 'deeds were wrought on both sides by the two factions, into which the believers----so unworthy of the name----were rent, so insensate and unrestrained, that Satan and his herds of demons alone could rejoice in them, as involving the ruin of the church, while for all reflecting men they were a source of lamentation, and bitter sorrow, and groans.'
That these words are not stronger than the facts warrant, we learn from what he next narrates; for he tells us, [IV.31] that the principal and most famous monasteries, both in the south and east, were split and sundered into the two opposing parties of Paulites and Jacobites, and that they were so exasperated against one another as to come to blows and fighting, and the mischief wrought was incalculable, and often ended in murders. Finally, the civil powers interfered, and many arrests were made, and the monks dragged in chains and fetters to Antioch the Great, and cast into prison: and so the honoured dress they wore, but which they had not honourably kept, became an object of contempt and ridicule to heathens and Jews and heretics, when they saw them brought before the courts of justice, manacled and fettered, and charged with murder; being men of venerable aspect, aged monks, with beards so long as to reach to the hems of their garments, but now with collars round their necks, and standing before the judges to |289 answer for the crime of bloodshed. Who would not tremble and lament and wail over deeds so horrible? Who would not mourn as the hyaena, and lament as the jackal, over salt which had not only lost its savour, but itself become foul and rotten, and therefore was cast out and trodden under foot of men? And in other monasteries the monks divided into two parties, of which the one continued in their old home, while the other abandoned it, and went away and found some other place to dwell in, to which they gave the name of the monastery they had left; but even so each entertained against the other a feeling of deadly hostility unchecked by any thought of moderation and restraint.
[IV.32] Nor did the abbots shew greater moderation than the inferior monks; for after numerous meetings held in various places, they at length assembled in a great congress, and after long debate, and preparation for opposing the adherents of Paul, they decided upon appointing three of their most active partisans, men ready for any contest, to go as a deputation to the old man Jacob, and those who were with him, to rouse and incite and stir them up by a letter which they addressed to them, and which we are prevented from inserting only by its length, but its purport was to bid them stand up zealously, and make a patriarch for them in Paul's stead; and further they asked them, what they intended to do with respect to Paul's ordinations, and as to the Tritheites, and so on. And when |290 the letter was brought to the old man, he gave orders for a meeting to be held in the monastery of Mar Ananias; but when they began to talk the matter over, several of the bishops would not consent to create a patriarch while Paul was alive, and not canonically condemned; 'for how,' said they, 'can we trifle like children who have not yet arrived at discretion, and make another patriarch while there is one still living, and expose ourselves canonically to punishment?' And as they could not agree, the meeting separated without accomplishing any thing.
[IV. 33.] Soon after they had thus been prevented from making a patriarch, the blessed Jacob suddenly determined upon going down forthwith to Alexandria; and accordingly set out thither, accompanied by several bishops and other attendants, to the number of eight. And among the many opinions entertained concerning his journey, the most prevalent was, that he intended, in conjunction with Damianus 18, the patriarch there, |291 to create a new patriarch for Syria: while others affirmed, that his purpose was to come to terms with the followers of Paul: but as he kept his intentions secret from every body, it will never be certainly known what his real views were. But from the eyes of God nothing is hid, and ever does He watch over the good of the creatures of His hands. When therefore they had commenced their journey, and had reached the great monastery of Cassianus on the borders of Egypt, there first of all, as was said, immediately one of the bishops who accompanied him, and who was abbot of Cartamin 19, died. And the old man arose, and celebrated the communion over him to his memory. Almost immediately afterwards, Sergius his own syncellus, and who was also a bishop, fell sick and died; and then the old man also fell sick, and lingered for three days, and died; and finally the deacon who waited upon him. All these died unexpectedly one after another within a period of twelve days; and men wondered greatly, and interpreted it in various ways, and their thoughts were troubled. And when the news reached Alexandria, Damianus and the rest of the clergy hastened thither, but arrived after the old man's death, and wanted to carry away his remains with them, but the |292 inhabitants of the monastery would not give their consent. And astonishment seized them because of all these things, and wonder that the blessed Jacob and his company should so suddenly be snatched away; and many concluded in themselves that possibly he was about to do something strange, and likely to increase the troubles of the church; or that he was even purposing perhaps to make a patriarch; and so God took him to Himself, that the soul of the pious old man might not suffer loss.
[IV. 34.] As the death of the blessed Jacob and his company was so sudden and remarkable, it naturally led to various rumours, but there was one especially most wicked as well as unfounded, invented by men who have no fear of the account which hereafter they will have to give, nor care for their own souls. For counting as nothing the injury of their own souls, they were not ashamed to say, that some of Paul's party by his command lay in wait for father Jacob on the way, and beat him with staves, and stoned him and his companions, and so seriously injured him that he was just able to creep into Egypt to die there. But this story is not merely false, but very wicked; for to increase their own condemnation, and multiply the causes of offence already existing, they eagerly spread this rumour abroad every where, that they might terrify others, and cause them to stumble, and defile the consciences of believers, that others might be offended and their own party increased. As for the injury |293 and ruin which their own souls suffered by spreading abroad such murderous calumnies, it gave them no pain or solicitude, because plainly they were destitute of all fear of God.
[IV.35] Various attempts meanwhile were made from time to time to reconcile the Paulites and Jacobites; and especially the three ambassadors, who were sent in the year 888 (A. D. 577) to confer with the Persians about reestablishing peace on the borders, did their utmost in Paul's behalf. Their names were Theodore the patrician, and the consuls John and Peter, of whom we have read before, and who both were inclined to side rather with Paul; and so greatly did they interest themselves in his behalf, that they thought far less of the political objects for which they had been sent, than of assembling meetings every day, and addressing them in his defence. And even father Jacob went unto them, attended by numerous friends, and the debate between them was so long that the particulars of it would exceed the bounds we are obliged to set to our narration. But neither side could persuade the other, and they parted with feelings of mutual annoyance, and withdrew from one another. And in every city which the ambassadors visited they made the same attempt; but as the people in theEast along the banks of the Euphrates as far as the dominions of the Persians, for the most part, held rather with the blessed Jacob than with Paul, they could not be prevailed upon to give way; and so they returned hither |294 to the capital much offended, and reviling all the orientals.
[IV. 36.] The course taken by the Arabs of the desert was the only one marked by any degree of moderation; for originally, before the schism broke out, the tribes there acknowledged the authority of the blessed Jacob; but when, during the lifetime of the old king Harith, Paul fled thither, and remained in concealment among them, they were greatly edified also by his presence, because of his moderation and gravity and learning. And especially this was still more the case after the death of Harith, when both parties often met there, and received one another in a friendly manner: so that, in short, at Hirah all the Arabs equally respected Paul and Jacob. But when afterwards Satan put enmity between them, the Arabs were all grieved, and especially their king Mondir and his brethren and children. And they besought the old man Jacob to be reconciled and unite again one with the other; but he would not consent either to receive Paul, or join in union with him, making the Alexandrians his pretext; 'For if,' said he, 'they will not receive him, neither will I.' And at this the Arabs were all offended and annoyed; and when Paul went there, they received him, and took the communion at his hands; and when Jacob went there, they did the same, until he decreed that they were not to take the communion from Paul. And so they all continued offended and vexed and troubled until the death of the old man |295 Jacob: and after his death many still adhered to his party, but others went over to the side of Paul; and others received both alike. But all, without exception, were vexed and saddened at this strange schism and quarrel which had arisen between them, and especially king Mondir; for constantly he besought the two parties to make peace with one another; but the envy and hatred of Satan, and the evil counsellors on both sides who did his will, prevented there being any respite or reconciliation until the day of Jacob's death. And so, when the old man was in the thick of the quarrel, while busied in his journey to Alexandria, God Who knows all things, and Who had forethought for his real good, commanded that his end should overtake him on the way.
[IV.37] Besides the orthodox patriarch Damianus, Peter's successor at Alexandria, there was also the synodite patriarch, John 20, and repeated complaints being made by him in letters to Constantinople, orders came for the arrest of many of the orthodox clergy, with directions to send them to the capital. And on their arrival there in the month of May, in the year 890 (A. D. 579), the patriarch Eutychius refused to see them, and sent them a pompous message, saying, 'Inasmuch as on the former occasion, when ye were brought hither, I let you go upon your promising |296 to receive the communion from me, come and do so now, and then ye shall have an audience with me, and see me.' And on hearing this message, they sent in answer, 'We never promised to communicate with you, except upon the condition of your rejecting the council of Chalcedon.' Upon which he became angry, and had them sent away, and separated from one another, and imprisoned in various monasteries.
[IV. 38.] One of these clergy was the Theodosius, arch-presbyter and chancellor of the church of Alexandria, whose letter to Longinus, requesting him to consecrate for them a patriarch, had led to such disastrous results. He now was imprisoned in a monastery at the Natron Lakes, but soon after fell ill, and died in a good old age: and great grief was felt at his loss by all the Alexandrians, and especially by the imprisoned clergy. His death took place after their first summons to a discussion with the patriarch Eutychius; on which occasion they had said, that unless either the king or senate were present as moderators, they would not debate. Long negotiations followed, but finally they were sent back to the monasteries in which they had been imprisoned. And when they were now expecting a second summons to Constantinople to a discussion, their chief fell ill, as I have mentioned, and died, while they were still in prison and carefully watched.
[IV. 39.] At length, however, there appeared to be some chance of reconciliation between the followers of Paul and Jacob by means of the good offices of |297 Mondir, the son of Harith, king of the Arabs. For when a very furnace of Babylon seemed to be blazing and burning more hotly than ever between the two factions, kindled on insufficient reasons and groundless conjectures by the officiousness of men, who, to gratify their envy and an old grudge, envenomed the simple and laborious soul of the old man Jacob against Paul; and the two parties were mutually reviling and reproaching one another, beyond all bounds and rules of propriety, without restraint, and, unbridled by the fear of God, Mondir made a journey from Arabia to the capital, and there laboured zealously to bring about a peace. For though the will of God was fulfilled in the old man Jacob, and he rested from this painful and troubled life, and departed from the world, yet the same, or even more, grievous quarrels continued, and mutual anathemas, and their minds were everywhere savagely excited in every region and district and province alike, in the East and the West, until, in the words of Scripture, 'they had become a reproach to their neighbours, a scorn and derision to them that were round about them.' [Ps. lxxix.4] But the illustrious Mondir, who had been honoured with the title of Patrician, on visiting the capital by invitation, and being magnificently received there by the king, set himself manfully and piously to abate all these evils, which he saw mutually practised by men who were members of the same faith and the same communion. He assembled therefore both sides, and scolded and |298 admonished and reproached them for all the evils and schisms and quarrels which had sprung up between them: and advised them to cease from these strifes, and he at peace with one another; and the more so, because they were all members of the same faith. And advice to this same effect he had long ago given to Paul and Jacob in person, and had prayed them to live in peace and love one with another.
This visit of the illustrious Mondir to the capital took place in the year 891 (A. D. 580), on the eighth day of February; and he was received with great pomp, and endless honours conferred upon him by the merciful king Tiberius, who made him large presents and royal gifts, and did for him all that he desired, and gave him everything he asked, even bestowing military titles on the two sons, whom he had with him, and giving him leave to wear a royal crown.
[IV 40.] The meeting, which, with Tiberius' consent, was convened by the illustrious Mondir, was held on the second day of March in the above-mentioned year, and attended by the chief men of note on both sides, and also by the Alexandrian clergy; and his advice was, that they should cease from their quarrels, and put an end to and trample out the evils stirred up by Satan among them. And upon this, a debate took place too long for insertion here, and much was said, not only by the followers of Jacob and Paul, but also by the Alexandrians, who appeared as a third party, and finally by our own unworthy self: and inasmuch |299 as there were many persons of discernment on all sides, who deeply regretted the violent deeds wrought by turbulent men of all three parties alike, and rejoiced at the prospect of peace, and at an end being put to so many evils, they all consented, and unanimously promised, that they would unite again, and it was settled that they should enter into a compromise, and that all the points of difference which Satan had stirred up between them should be examined into, and done away. And when every one had agreed to this, a formal deed of union was drawn up, by which all schisms and quarrels were to cease, and the archbishops, and bishops, and clergy and monks of all the monasteries, and the laity, who were at variance, were to receive one another, and all with one accord consent to be at peace. And hereupon prayers for union were offered up by the priests on both sides, and also by the Alexandrians, and the reconciliation was complete; and all praised God for driving away the evil one, and putting an end to the wicked acts done at his instigation among them: and each and all promised that they would severally use their strenuous exertions to bring those of their party who were absent in the body to assent to this pacification. There were found, however, seditious and turbulent men, full of the canker of iniquity, who complained, and were displeased at the peace which had been made: and because the chiefs and notables alone had taken part in the conference with king Mondir, and the |300 common people had not been summoned to the meeting, chiefly on this ground they set themselves against it, and wished every thing that had been done annulled. They held meetings, therefore, and made disturbances, and wrote and agitated both in Syria and Alexandria, and prevailed on many to join their party, and not to submit to or accept any thing that had been done, to the great delight of Satan, and all his hosts of devils. The meeting however at the capital separated quietly and with joy, and all thankfully accepted the grace of God, and the services of the illustrious Mondir.
Our historian next relates an attempt of Damianus to consecrate a patriarch of Antioch, which must have taken place at least a year previously to the meeting just described as having been held in A. D. 580. The deacon Peter did not survive his consecration many months, so that the number of bishops created by him would be incredible were it not that at that time the ordinary officers of a patriarch's household were frequently members of the episcopate, as were also many of the abbots and leading monks, as well as the clergy of the towns; and as none probably had been consecrated during the ten years which intervened after the death of Theodosius, Peter had at least a specious pretext for thus increasing the power of his party. [IV.41] At his death, Damianus, a Syrian, was elected, and equally in John's eyes was a usurper, appointed contrary to all church laws, and moreover he describes him as an |301 illiterate and unwise man. Of this he gave a proof in conceiving the vain and foolish idea of journeying to Syria, and appointing, in violation of the injunctions of the canons, a patriarch of Antioch in the place of Paul while he was yet alive; in imitation, as it seemed, of his own appointment and that of his predecessor, after another had been nominated to the see, even Theodore, and had written his synodical letters to Alexandria; whereupon the Alexandrians became furious, and savagely and barbarously were stirred up in hot wrath, and consecrated Peter, a deacon, and a simple and unlearned man, whose name they used for their own purposes as they chose. And so there were two patriarchs at one time upon the same throne, and Peter therefore and Damianus his successor were often spoken of as adulterers, who had entered in and denied another man's wife. As though his purpose then had been to hide his own shame in occupying a throne, of which Theodore, who was consecrated even before Peter, was the rightful owner, Damianus formed the plan of appointing another patriarch for Syria while Paul was still alive, that there might be found among them a parallel case to that of which the shame rested upon himself. On his arrival therefore he summoned the Syrian bishops, and urged them to join him in appointing a patriarch of Antioch: but several of them, out of regard to the canons, declined, saying, 'Until Paul has been summoned, and tried and convicted of the offence laid to his charge, and |302 condemned and canonically deposed, we cannot consent to appoint another in addition to him. Nor must he be only canonically condemned, but also excommunicated.' But others agreed with Damianus, and consented to join in making another patriarch. They found, however, great difficulty in prevailing upon any one to allow himself to be appointed: for the first and second to whom they proposed it said, 'As long as the man is alive, and has not been cited and tried according to the canons, and condemned and deposed, I for my part cannot consent to be set in his place; for possibly the end would be, that I should myself be deposed.' At length, however, they found a silly man like themselves, named Severus; and Damianus, in company with two other bishops, took him with him, and entered Antioch by night; and sent secretly to the sexton of the church of Cassian, and promised to give him eighteen darics if he would leave the church open, that they might enter at night, and consecrate Severus there. And when the sexton had accepted their offer, and promised them his help, and they now felt confident of success, and every thing was ready, the news got abroad that they were about to consecrate some one or other by stratagem: and information being given to the patriarch 21 of the city, he immediately sent orders |303 for their arrest. They surrounded the house therefore, in which they were, and having effected an entrance, seized upon three monks, but Damianus and his bishops and some others managed to descend into the latrina, and thence scrambled out by a window at the back, and so made good their escape, but with both their persons and their dress all covered with filth and ordure. The names of those who escaped in this distressing manner were Damianus himself, and Sergius the single-browed 22, and George Sarcabinus, and the bishops who were to have joined in the consecration, and Severus, the intended patriarch: and they were more ashamed at having had to encounter this uncleanness than at the failure of their deep-laid plans. As for the monks who were arrested, they brought them to the patriarch, and he had them hung up and bitterly tortured, until they acknowledged every thing they had been about to do. Having confessed therefore about Damianus, and his party, orders were sent everywhere for their arrest, but they succeeded in making their escape. They confessed also about the sexton, and he was brought, and acknowledged his guilt, and was tortured even worse than the monks were, and his goods pillaged. Damianus, on his escape, made his way in disguise to Constantinople, just before the meeting was held for the |304 establishment of unity; and by the zealous services of certain who were anxious for peace, he was introduced by night to the illustrious Mondir, and they conversed with one another, and he promised that he would do his best to bring about a reconciliation, and assent to it himself. And after holding interviews with a few persons, he withdrew secretly, and arrived at Alexandria: it was said, however, that he had made bishops even at the capital.
[IV. 42.] The Alexandrian clergy who had been present at this meeting were at Constantinople under arrest, together with many laymen of note, and Mondir now offered his intercessions in their behalf with the merciful king Tiberius, and he let them go; and not content with this, Mondir made them handsome presents because they had consented to a reconciliation, and they left with joy, and went on board, and returned to their city. And subsequently the illustrious Mondir begged that he might himself be permitted to leave, having first interceded with Tiberius also for the peace of the church, and begged that all persecution of Christians might cease. And he further promised on oath, that if Tiberius would cease from all military proceedings, he would immediately make peace. And upon this promise Tiberius dismissed him with great honours, and kingly presents of gold and silver, and magnificent dresses, and saddles, and bridles of gold, and armour. And besides all this, he also gave him a royal crown, the right of wearing which |305 had never hitherto been conceded to any of the chiefs of the Arabs, but only leave to put on their heads a simple circlet. And thus then he was sent away, and departed with great pomp and joyfulness. And on his arrival at Antioch, he was similarly received there; and supported by the express wishes of the king, and his promises and oaths for the union of the church; and by his orders that the persecution should cease, he gave notice thereof to the patriarch and other officers of the city: and the patriarch immediately gave orders, and letters were written to the provinces, enjoining that no one should venture upon persecuting others; for that the king had commanded and wished peace to be made. And so for a short time the persecution was stilled. But when news of this reached the Dyophysites at the capital, they were very angry with Mondir, and went and accused him harshly before the king, but he would not listen to them. Now while Mondir was on his road, those hostile Arab tribes who were subject to the Persians, having imagined that his detention at the capital would be indefinitely prolonged, gathered themselves together, and supposing him to be far away, marched in company with the Persians into his territories to attack his sons and brothers, hoping to fall upon them and slay and take them captive. But at the very moment when they were drawn up in hostile array, Mondir suddenly arrived, and at once, without their expecting it, he gave orders for the attack, and |306 fell upon them and slew them until they were consumed, and very few escaped from his sword. And so his return was a joyful one, and he brought with him great spoil, and was extolled by every body, and his name magnificently praised.
[IV 43] The pacification, however, which he had wrought in the church was but of short duration: for no sooner had the Syrian, Damianus, returned to his see at Alexandria, than, being blamed for making peace with Paul, like one more desirous of pleasing men than God, and indifferent to the peace of the church, he violated his word and proved false to the promises he had made to the illustrious Mondir, and to the rest of the believers of both parties who had interceded with him, and turned round and opposed Paul, and wrote anathemas against him, and reproaches and contumelies of the harshest kind. And not content with this, he even penned a circular letter to the same effect, and sent it to Syria, and to all other places both in his diocese and elsewhere. And these letters were chiefly given to those men of turbulent and savage temper, who are Satan's yokefellows, and labourers with him, and who instead of gathering with Christ scatter abroad. And being thus encouraged, they stirred up schisms everywhere and disputes and quarrels and all the evils in which the devil delights, more vehemently even than before. And in thus acting, Damianus was guilty of deeds worthy of himself, or even |307 perhaps one may not unfitly say, of Satan. And the clergy also who were present at the meeting held in the capital for the purpose of bringing about a reconciliation, imitated his example in lying against the Holy Ghost, and proved false to their word, though they had been set at liberty and escaped from their troubles by the earnest intercession of Mondir in their behalf. And he had thus exerted himself because in his presence, and before a numerous assembly, they had promised to be reconciled and join in union, and had signed their names to a paper to that effect: and thereby had obtained their freedom, and escaped from confinement and from prison; and yet afterwards they turned round, and were 'faithless like their fathers,' [Psalm lxxviii.8] that is, like their father Damianus, who was as bad as they were, and they equally bad with him. When therefore king Mondir returned from battle with his enemies, and learnt their perfidy, and how they had changed from truth unto endless falsehood, he was very sorrowful: and surprised, moreover, and astonished, especially at Damianus' circular letters, which approached as near as possible to utter wickedness. Nor did he even decline the trouble of writing to each one of them by name, to admonish and reprove them for their falsehood against God and himself and the whole church. And they, from shame and mortification, would not receive his letters, nor would they write an answer. And he thereby was greatly offended, |308 because these letters lit up a flaming furnace of anger throughout the church of the believers, and multiplied the strife already existing, and made their quarrels blaze up more hotly than ever without restraint or fear of God's just judgment.
[IV. 44] For immediately that these letters were received in the east, they stirred men up to the irregular proceeding of creating a second patriarch, as far as the name went, of Antioch, while the first had never been publicly condemned as the canons direct; and this gave the mockers an opportunity of saying in sport and derision, 'A second patriarch, we suppose, was wanted to be nominated for Antioch, because there are three 23 at Alexandria, to say nothing of him of the synodites, and they cannot make game of one another.' So disorderly and confused was all that was done among the believers, because their incessant quarrels turned every thing upside down.
[IV. 45] They even endeavoured to draw John himself into the quarrel, by writing to him at the capital, and requesting him to communicate with their |309 new patriarch. For in the year 892 24 (A. D. 581), the bishops and abbots and clergy of the blessed Jacob, after his death, formed the plan of appointing as their patriarch a layman named Peter, son of Paul of the city of Callinicus; a man whom the blessed Jacob twice while he lived had endeavoured to raise to that office; and now again, after the death of the saint, they were desirous of consecrating him, but he would not consent, nor permit it; for he said, 'I can never agree to be set over a man who has not been cited canonically, and condemned and deposed according to law.' When, however, they proceeded to excommunicate him and eject him from the church, he was compelled to give way, and went, as was said, to Alexandria, and was there elected by Damianus and the rest, and named patriarch of Alexandria in addition to Paul, while he still lived, and had never been condemned by a synod and deposed: so great was the corruption and confusion in the church of the believers by the instigation and to the delight of the devil. And the next scheme they formed was for all the abbots who had consented to this proceeding to meet together, and draw up letters signed by their own hands to John bishop of Ephesus, who was dwelling at the capital, to invite him to union and communion with them and their patriarch, without, however, telling |310 him openly the name of him whom they had elected. And John at this time, because he stood neutral between the two parties, was equally the object of blame to both sides, while all he could do was to grieve and mourn at the disruption occasioned by the envy and rancour of the Alexandrians, and the schisms throughout the whole church of the believers; and to admonish them and protest against their doings, and entirely refuse to take part with either one side or the other, or join in the conflict. And when he received these letters, he gave way to tears and bitter lamentation at this fresh ruin and confusion of the church; and could he have done as he pleased, he would not have answered them; but because a year before they had addressed other letters to him, and invited him to join them, and oppose the other side; and he had refused even to send them a reply, and they had mentioned this reproachfully in their present epistles, he was obliged to write an answer, though it was one of strong reproof, for having violated all canonical order in what they had done, and invited him to union and communion with them. And it is only their length that prevents him from inserting here both their letters to him and the answer which he sent. [IV. 46.] Now let this be known for certain by both sides, who are thus embittered against one another by the instigation of the spirit of opposition, and to all men besides, that in whatsoever has been attempted or done by our unworthy |311 selves, and in our narrative of the proceedings of both parties, we have had no other object than the truth's sake, in blaming and condemning both sides alike; nor have we written with the view of wounding individuals, nor for factious purposes; for, as may be seen, we have directed our reproofs and admonitions now against one party, and at another time against their opponents, and have exposed the factiousness and irregularity and illegal nature of their several proceedings. And this we have done, with our own mind full of grief and sorrow, and our eyes running down with tears, at the mischief and ruin and schism and quarrel and division and enmity and scorn and reproach stirred up between them, to the delight of the enemy of mankind. At the sight of these evils, we were constrained in sorrow of heart to blame them, because, being members and children of the same faith, they allowed themselves, for insufficient reasons, to rush without thought and without restraint into these unworthy deeds. And to this same effect we wrote at the very commencement of the quarrel, to the leading men personally, and especially to the laborious old man Jacob, and repeatedly urged our intercession to the very day of his death, in words like these: 'I, though but of inferior rank, keeping to the laws of the church, and not perceiving any errors in matters of faith, will neither abandon thy communion, nor that of Paul, because you are at variance with one another on canonical grounds, |312 which may be true or may be false. And as to the other things which, without order or propriety, and contrary to the regulations of the church, have been or are now being done between you, I warn you, that if you anathematize the adherents of Paul, or depose him uncanonically; or if Paul so treats you, or the Alexandrians; or the Alexandrians so treat you or Paul; for these illegal acts you shall never have part or communion with me, until all these things have been examined and inquired into in a legal and canonical investigation before a synod, and it is decided whose actions are in accordance with and maintain the laws of the church, and whose are at variance with order and propriety.' Ten times in separate letters we wrote to this effect in person to the blessed Jacob, while he was yet alive, and similarly to the rest; and on this account, while I was full of grief and incessant sadness of heart, the accusation was brought against me by both parties, of nourishing opposition against them; but I call Him to witness, Who tries the reins and heart, that I take no part either with one side or the other, but remain strictly neutral up to this day, in grief and sighs and sorrow, at all the evils wrought by his instigation, who has asked to sift us as wheat.
[IV. 47.] As for Paul, the patriarch of evil days, on finding that the enmity of the other side was so inveterate against him, he withdrew in secret, and dwelt, as was said, in a cavern in the lofty |313 mountains of Isauria25, where he has continued for a period of four years, even unto this day, without being seen by any one, except the few who make answer for him: for he himself neither writes to any one nor receives their letters. And this has led to complaint and blame against him on the part of many, because of his withdrawing himself, and standing apart from the struggle maintained in every province on his behalf: and especially because even when his violent opponents consecrated another in his stead in Syria, yet even so he neither shewed himself, nor spake a single word, but still remained at this present moment in concealment and silence.
[IV.48] Meanwhile Theodore, whom we have mentioned above as having been consecrated patriarch of Alexandria by Longinus and the rest, continued to dwell openly in Alexandria itself, observing the customs of his order; for he had previously been a monk, and the head of a monastery, and in it he still calmly resided, and many gathered themselves round him. And because of his humility and peaceableness, no man troubled him, or drove him from the city, although Damianus, the successor of Peter, was against him; but they let him alone, knowing the sweetness of his temper, and that he said, |314 'My only care is, that there be no schism or disturbance in the church on my account.' In process, however, of time, he was grieved in mind at the conduct of Paul and Longinus; for Paul had hid himself, and paid no attention to any thing that was done; and Longinus had travelled still further onward, beyond the people of the Nobadae, to whom he had some time before returned, to another powerful tribe many score leagues beyond them, whom the Greeks call Alodaei, and who are supposed to be Aethiopians: but God had helped them, and spoken to their king and his princes, and to all the tribes under his rule, as we will in due time relate in order. But to return now to our former subject about Theodore; for by wishing to shew what were the fortunes of Paul and Longinus, our narrative has wandered away to a different subject. Being, as we said, vexed and annoyed at them both; 'for after coming,' said he, 'and exposing me to trouble, and getting me away from the desert, they have now left me, and neglect me, and do not even inquire whether I am alive or dead;' he wrote several letters expressive of his indignation, both to Syria and also to myself, and to others at the capital, filled with complaints and vexation. And these he sent by the hands of a blessed man, a Stylite 26, who had been |315 with him in the desert, a person of great worth, and who came accompanied by a priest named George. And when we had received them, and the letters which they brought, and had comforted them much, and had also written a reproof on this account to the partisans of Paul, a violent persecution overtook us, and we were hurried away and removed from the city, and never saw them again. And subsequently he wrote to us again repeating the same complaint, upon the same grounds, but we think it best not to record it, but pass it over in silence for peace sake.
[IV.49] For far more pleasing is the subject to which we alluded above, namely, the conversion of the people whom the Greeks call Alodaei, but whom we believe to be Aethiopians, to the Christian faith. For to repeat some part of our previous narrative, it was by the zeal of the late queen Theodora that the blessed Julian was originally sent to the powerful people called Nobadae, and taught both the king and his princes, and most of the tribes in his dominions, for a period of two years. And on his departure thence, he intrusted all that people to a certain Theodore, a very old man, and bishop of the city called Philae, situated in the further part of the Thebais, on their |316 borders, who went to them, and visited them, and gave them counsel, and returned to his own city; and so they continued for a period of eighteen years, more or less And then it was that Longinus escaped in disguise, and went to them, and taught and instructed them afresh, and baptized such of them as had never partaken of this rite, and continued with them six years: and ambassadors moreover were sent by them to the king, and arrived at the capital, and we were repeatedly in their company, and heard them praising and extolling Longinus in the highest terms. And when the people of the Alodaei heard of the conversion of the Nobadae, their king sent to the king of the Nobadae, requesting him to permit the bishop who had taught and baptized them, to come and instruct them in like manner. But Longinus had just then received the letters from Alexandria, and hastily departed into the Roman territories, and fell into all the troubles one after another, which we have mentioned above. Subsequently, however, the king, with great labour and trouble and difficulty, managed to send ambassadors to him, who prevailed upon him to return with them to their territories And the people of Alexandria, in their Satanic envy, wishing to set the king and his people against him, and turn them away from receiving him, drew up a formal act of deposition, iniquitously and against all canonical right, and sent it to the king; but he and his people would not look at it, or have anything to do with them, |317 saying, 'We will not receive any one but our spiritual father, who begot us again by a spiritual birth; and all that is said against him by his enemies we regard as falsehoods.' And so they sent the bearers away, and would have nothing to do with them.
[IV.50] Nevertheless, in spite of this failure, when the Alexandrians learnt that the king of the Alodaei had despatched a second embassy to the king of the Nobadae, requesting him to let them have the same Longinus who had taught him, in envy, and not in zeal, they sent to that people, in the hope of setting them against Longinus, and of teaching them the same corruption and lawlessness of which they were themselves guilty. Accordingly, they hurriedly drew up a letter to them against Longinus, without fear of God, or regard for justice, being drunk, as it were, with envy, and the hatred that was in their hearts, and not reflecting that it was a wrong thing to send to a people in the error of heathenism, and who now were asking to be converted unto Christianity, and to learn the fear of God, only confusion and offence, and the revilings of Christians against Christians, instead of those things which were useful for their edification. But, as Scripture says, 'their mind was darkened, and their reason blinded, that they could not understand,' [Eph.iv.18] and therefore they were eager, even under these circumstances, to implant hatred and a cause of offence among this heathen people, instead of instruction in the fear of God; and with this view they sent letters |318 to them against Longinus, the bearers of which were two of those bishops, whom, with many others, they had consecrated in opposition to church laws. And the letters were to this effect: 'Inasmuch as we have learnt that ye have requested permission for Longinus, who is in Nubia, to come unto you, to baptize you,we have sent you two bishops, and other persons, to give you instruction, that ye may not be baptized by him, for he is a heretic, and has been deposed, nor can he perform any of the functions of the priesthood, or baptize any one.' And much besides they wrote, to corrupt them, rather than admonish and instruct them. 'But the Lord turned back the recompense of Nabal upon his own head;' [1 Sam xxv.39] and, as it is written, 'the heathen, who knew not the law of righteousness, attained to the law of righteousness, and were a law to their own selves; but Israel, which ran after righteousness, did not attain to it:' [Rom. ix.30] and this text was fulfilled here: for they were rebuked and put to shame by a heathen people, who would not receive them, and sent them back abashed and ashamed; for they said, 'We know not who you are, nor can we receive you, or be baptized by you: but we will receive him who baptized the Nobadae, and by him will we be baptized. And as for what you say of him, we do not listen to it: for we see that you are his enemies, and speak thus of him from envy. Depart, therefore, from our land, that ye die not miserably.' And thus they had to retire, having neither been received themselves, nor |319 their words; for God so ordered it, who saw their crooked devices, and the perverse spirit which had aroused their zeal.
[IV.51] Meanwhile the king of the Alodaei had, as we have mentioned, sent a second embassy to the king of the Nobadae, requesting that the bishop Longinus might be sent to teach and baptize both him and his people: and it was plainly visible that the conversion of that kingdom was the good purpose of the grace of God. The Lord therefore stirred up the spirit of Longinus to go to them; and though the Nubians were grieved at being separated from him, they nevertheless sent with him nobles and princes and men well acquainted with the desert. Upon the journey, however, he became ill, as also did his companions: and so great were their privations, and the intensity of the heat, that, as he mentions in a letter, he lost in the desert no less than seventeen camels out of the baggage animals which accompanied him. Nor was this their only or chief danger; for between the Nobadae and the Alodaei is a country inhabited by another people, called the Makoritae 27; and when their king heard that Longinus had started on his journey, Satan in his envy stirred him up to set watchers in all the passes of his kingdom on all the roads, both in the mountains and in the plains, as far as the sea of weeds 28, in hopes of arresting Longinus, and so hindering the salvation |320 of the powerful people of the Alodaei. But God preserved him, and blinded the eyes of those who wanted to seize him; and he passed through them, and went on his way, and they saw him not. And on his arrival at the borders of the kingdom to which he was travelling, the king, as he tells us in his letters, on hearing of it, sent one of his nobles to meet him, named Aitekia 29, who received him honourably, and made him pass over into their land with great pomp: and on approaching nearer, the king went out in person to meet him, and received him with great joy. And immediately upon his arrival, he spake unto the king and to all his nobles the word of God, and they opened their understandings, and listened with joy to what he said; and after a few days' instruction, both the king himself was baptized and all his nobles; and subsequently, in process of time, his people also. And so the king, being glad and joyful, wrote a letter of thanks to the king of the Nobadae, as follows:
Letter of the King of Alodia to the King of the Nubians.
[IV.52] 'Thy love is remembered by us, my lord, our brother Orfiulo 30, because thou hast now shown thyself my true kinsman, and that not only in the body, but also in the spirit, in having sent me hither our common spiritual father, who has shown me the way of truth, and of the true |321 light of Christ our God, and has baptized me, and my nobles, and all my family. And in every thing the work of Christ is multiplied, and I have hope in the holy God, and am desirous moreover of doing thy pleasure, and driving thy enemies from thy land. For he is not thy enemy alone, but also mine: for thy land is my land, and thy people my people. Let not thy courage therefore fail, but be manful and take courage: for it is impossible for me to be careless of thee and thy land, especially now that I have become a Christian, by the help of my father, the holy father Longinus. As we have need, however, of church furniture, get some ready for us: for I feel certain that thou wilt send me these things with carefulness, and I will make thee an answer: but on the day on which I was keeping festival, I did not wish to write, lest my letters should fail. Be not anxious then, but encourage thyself, and play the man: for Christ is with us.' Such then was the letter which this new confessor, the king of the Alodaei, wrote to the king of the Nobadae. And next we will also give a short extract from a letter of the blessed Longinus, which he wrote from that land, and sent to the king of the Nobadae, with a request that he would forward it to Alexandria: which also he did; and it is as follows:
[IV.53.] '... Not then to trouble you with our annoyances, and make the letter tedious, I have omitted all such matters, and will tell you, |322 secondly, that which will rejoice all who are real Christians, and strict members of the orthodox communion: and I do rejoice with you all, and will rejoice, and ye in like manner must rejoice with me. And, moreover, rejoice with me in this, that He Who willeth that every man should be saved, and desireth not the death of a sinner, such as I am, but forgetteth all my sins, hath remembered His mercy and grace towards me, and opened for me the door of His mercy, and delivered me from those who were hunting after my life, and led me safely through them, and blinded their eyes that they saw me not. Nor were we unvisited by His lovingkindness in chastening us, in that all of us, with my unworthy self, fell ill, from the greatest even to the least; and I was the first to suffer: for it was but right that I should be chastened first, because I am guilty of many sins, and many are the offences into which I have fallen. And not only did we become ill ourselves, and despaired of our safety, but also the animals that were with us died, not being able to bear the heat, and the thirst in the mountains, and the unwholesomeness of the water, so that we lost no less than seventeen camels. And when the king of the Alodaei heard that I had determined to come to him, he sent one of his princes, named Itika 31, who led me with great pomp into their land. |323 And on our arrival at the river's bank, we went on board a vessel; and the king hearing of our coming rejoiced, and came out in person to meet us, and received us with great joy. And by the grace of God we taught him, and have baptized him and his nobles and all his family; and the work of God grows daily. But inasmuch as there are certain Abyssinians, who have fallen into the malady of the fancy of Julianus 32, and say, that Christ suffered in a body not capable of pain, or of death, we have told them what is the correct belief, and have required them to anathematize this heresy in writing, and have received these persons upon their presenting their recantation..... And again, after some things which we have omitted, he thus proceeds;... And let all your rulers and people, on learning these things, offer up with spiritual joy their praises and thanksgivings to our merciful God, for all these His innumerable gifts; and let the fathers take care that there be sent down hither bishops, who will be able to labour and minister in this divine work, which is pleasing both to God and men, and in the reality of which they may feel confident, and that it is going on prosperously. For there are a thousand thousand here who are hastening to salvation, to the glory of Him Who is the Saviour of us all, even Christ. |324
And believe what I say, that a short time ago a sort of purpose suggested by the weakness of human nature came to me, not to write to any one: but when I considered the danger which those incur who are negligent in their use of spiritual gifts, I have addressed this short letter to your spiritual love. For I desire neither silver, nor gold, nor dresses, as God is my witness, Who trieth the hearts of men, and Who knoweth all I do, and that I have not bread for my daily use, and am even glad to see with my eyes food of vegetables only. And thus far then let it suffice me to have told you.' This then was written by the holy Longinus himself, being extracts from the letter he sent from the land of the Alodaei to the king of the Nobadae, with a request that he would forward it to Alexandria, which he accordingly did, to Theodore, whom Longinus had himself appointed as patriarch: and at the same time the king himself sent him a letter to inform him of Longinus' arrival among them, and his subsequent departure, and the trials and difficulties which stood in his way, and the gracious aid which God in His goodness gave him, and so forth; writing in admiration of him, to the following effect:
Letter of the king of the Nobadae to Theodore of Alexandria.
'Before all things I especially desire your health in Christ, my blessed father; and next, my purpose is that you should know, that seven |325 months ago the king of the powerful people of the Alodaei in Ethiopia, sent hither, to obtain from me, my holy father, the bishop Longinus, to baptize him. And it was done according to all that the holy king my father wrote unto me. For when I had mentioned the matter to my father, he at once readily and with good will assented thereto, and in his kindness promised to visit them. And every day he urged me on, saying, We must not neglect this business, for it is of God. But because of the wicked devices of him who dwells between us, I mean the king of the Makoritae, I sent my saintly father to the king of the Blemyes, that he might conduct him thither by routes farther inland; but the Makorite heard also of this, and set people on the look out in all the passes of his kingdom, both in the mountains and in the plains, and as far as the sea of weeds, wishing to lay hands on my father, and put a stop to the good work of God, as my father has written hither to tell me. And great was the wearisomeness and the bitter trials of soul and body which he endured in the land of the Blemyes, together with extreme privation and want. And yet even so the wicked devices of his enemy could not hinder the readiness of my saintly father in doing the work of God; and the Lord our God directed his ways and ordered his paths so that he travelled safely over long tracks of country, and escaped the strong garrisons set in his way, although he lost his retinue of camels and the other beasts of |326 burden with him. But God helped him, and delivered him, and he arrived at the land, and was joyfully received by the king and all the people; and he taught and baptized them, as we learn from the letter which he has sent hither. And this further you must know, how God the Lord of all has been with my father, and accompanied him, that ye may wonder greatly at what he has done unto him. For when the king, my uncle, and his royal ancestors used to send an embassy to that kingdom, the ambassador generally took eight or ten years in going and returning. But when my holy father went thither, within two hundred days he sent an embassy to us from the king, whereas many of my former ambassadors had never returned hither at all. And not to make my account too long, my father has sent me hither letters which I was to forward to you; and see, I have sent them by his ambassador; and in them he has given us an account of all that has happened to him, and all that he has done. And the news which his messenger has brought us, you must make known; for it would not be right in your excellency to conceal and neglect all these matters: rather your holiness ought to aid my saintly father by your pious prayers.' Now this portion of the letter of the king of the Nobadae we insert here in confirmation of our narrative, because he bears witness to the whole of this providential history; and he wrote two others to the same effect, which we have not been able to insert for fear of making |327 our story too long. And inasmuch as the main purport of this divine transaction is made known to every one, and declared by means of these two letters of the bishop and the king, we have determined not to lengthen the narrative by adding anything of our own, except to apply to these things, in token of our praise and admiration, the word of our Saviour, which says,'Verily, I say unto you, that this good news of the kingdom shall be preached unto all the nations, and then shall the end be.' [Matt.xxiv.14] And these things then, which are now recorded by us, were done by the help of God in the year 891 (A. D. 580).
[IV.54] But to return now to the thread of our former narrative, when above we mentioned the flight and concealment of Paul the patriarch, we said, as we believed ourselves, and as men generally supposed to be the case, that he had hid himself in a cave in the mountains of Isauria. But, as the fact finally proves, according to the assertion of those who find pleasure in investigating any thing thoroughly, during the four years in which he was out of sight, and was supposed to be hid in the mountains of Isauria, he really was concealed in the mountains near the capital. And though we were dwelling there, we were entirely unacquainted with the fact of his being so near us, nor did any one disclose it to us until his death. And those who were in his confidence imagined that even this was kept secret from us, and from men generally, and that three persons |328 alone knew of his burial; but in so supposing they forgot the word of the Lord, which says, that 'there is nothing secret which shall not be revealed.' [Matt. 26]
[IV. 55] Paul's continued silence had been a source of great grief to Theodore; for during these four years he had never received an answer from him, though he had often written. And Longinus too, who had consecrated him, had gone far away unto those tribes who had been christianized by him in further Aethiopia, and so Theodore was left without consolation on all sides. He determined, therefore, upon writing a circular letter to all the partisans of Paul, complaining and lamenting that he so neglected and despised him. And this he sent by two of his priests, who came to the capital; and on their arrival, their complaints and murmurs made the fact of Paul's concealment more generally known. And many were annoyed, and blamed Paul, and wrote wherever they thought he was, but he could not be found. And with much excuse and consolation, the priests were next sent to the island of Cyprus, because there were some of Paul's bishops there; and finally they returned to Theodore without having gained any thing by their journey. And he was still more distressed, and finally started for Cyprus himself in person. [IV. 56] For when pope Theodore saw that he got no answer, either by letters or by the persons whom he sent, he determined to embark on board a vessel, and sail himself to the island of Cyprus. |329
But he did not find Paul, but only some of his bishops, and though much discussion took place between them, still he could not discover where Paul was: two of the bishops, however, accompanied him back to Alexandria. And so he returned disappointed and vexed; for he did not believe what they said, that Paul was neither there nor in Cilicia, and that he could not see him. But, as was subsequently proved, during all this period of four years, in which no one saw him, and they had spread abroad the report that he lay hid in a cave in the mountains of Cilicia and Isauria, he really was dwelling in concealment in the capital, and but very few were privy to his secret. And there his end overtook him, of which we will now give a more particular account.
[IV.57] For while, as men thought, Paul was in the regions of the East, he really spent these four years in concealment in a mountain near the capital, as every one became aware at his death, though even then those who took care of him did their best to conceal it, and would not even have had it known that he was mortal. For after, as was said and proved, he had come to this city with the privity of a few members of his party, and had lain concealed with certain of them during all these years, suddenly he fell into a serious illness, and after a short time died. And great alarm and extreme terror fell upon them, lest if those in power should hear that he had been hid either in their houses or with their knowledge, they |330 should get into danger on his account; and therefore they fetched three individuals only of those presbyters who were in communion with him, and exacted of them a solemn oath, that they would not tell any one that it was the remains of the patriarch Paul, but bade them say, if the truth were suspected, that an aged stranger, named Christopher, had come to the city, and died there. And this the three presbyters did, and took him up by night, with his face covered, and carried him for burial to a certain convent. And when the nuns heard their request to bury him, they were terrified, saying, 'We cannot receive a corpse at night, in the dark, without knowing who it is, or whether it may not be some person who has been murdered; for we shall get into trouble.' And when they earnestly besought them, saying, 'It is a great and righteous man, and a foreigner; be not afraid:' they were at length prevailed upon to admit him. And they brought him in, with a covering over his face, and began in great haste and hurry to let him down into the catacombs: but the nuns were angry, and said, 'If it is as ye affirm, and your words are true, that he is a great and righteous man, let us celebrate over him the proper service for the dead, and uncover his face, that we may see him, and bury him, and be blessed by him: and then ye shall let him down into the grave.' But they hastily wound him up in the graveclothes, and buried him, saying, 'Let us let him down at once, and go; for we are in haste.' |331 And so they buried him with the burial of an ass 33, without any regard to decency, and went their way. And the nuns, who were more than a hundred and fifty in number, fell into many conjectures, and spread abroad various stories; and many different opinions were held, not only in the capital and in Syria, but also at Alexandria and everywhere else; but it was the general belief that it was Paul who was dead, though the three presbyters still stoutly affirmed and swore that it was another who had died, and not my lord Paul our patriarch. But all the orthodox at the capital, who acknowledged him as patriarch, were very indignant and angry that the secret of his death had been revealed to three of them, and kept secret from the rest; and many finally ceased to mention even Paul himself with love, and especially when they learnt that his arrival and residence in the capital, and death, had been concealed from them, and confided to three only of their number. But those who were privy to the secret still swore by a lying artifice that Paul was not dead, but alive; imagining that by so doing his opponents would not be able to rejoice. And for a whole year this dispute continued, and his name, as though he were alive, was proclaimed in the diptychs of the living, in the vain idea that his death would not be known as a certain fact, whereas really everybody did know it. |332
[IV. 58.] And here our historian feels himself bound to make some solemn reflections upon the troubled deaths, one after another, of these two saints, Jacob and Paul, whose quarrel had led to so widespread a schism, and so bitter a dissension in the persecuted church of the believers. For no one, he says, can help wondering and clapping his hands, who considers how strikingly and suddenly and ignominiously they were taken from this present life, and made their exit from this world. For, first of all, the blessed Jacob, in the very heat of their quarrel and dispute, taking two other bishops with him and a number of monks, hurriedly hastened to Alexandria: but what was the purpose of his journey was kept a secret, and men held various opinions about it, some this and some that. But He Whose providence watches over the good of His creatures, saw perchance and knew that it was neither for his own good nor that of the church, and therefore hindered and prevented and forbade his arrival. Now a report, which some have spread abroad of him and his company, is, that when they had reached the sea, and begun their voyage, a violent storm arose, and their ship sunk, and all perished in the sea, and their corpses were never found. But evidently none can ever know whether this be true. And others, who zealously defend his memory, say, that even if the storm really happened, their ship did not sink, but they were thrown on land, and arrived at the borders of Egypt, and reached a monastery in the desert, |333 called by the name of Cassian. And within three days after their arrival there, the two bishops first died, and then my lord Jacob, and then one of his deacons, all four together, one after another. And which of these stories is true, God knows; but we cannot say for certain. After then an interval of two or three years, the burial of Paul took place, in the confusion and absence of all right order, which we have briefly described in the previous chapter, and in secret, as those thought, who were the doers of it. And of these things what ought we to think and write, except to lament unto God with the prophet in sorrow and with sighs, and say, 'If our sins testify against us, Lord have mercy for Thy name sake: for great is Thy goodness, and we have sinned against thee.' [Jer. xiv.7]
[IV.59] The death of the two leaders led to various attempts at healing the schism in the church: for on both sides men arose, and spake to one another about a reconciliation, but not in an upright manner, and with due regard to humility and the fear of God, but proudly and haughtily, each side thinking that it was the head, and that its neighbour was the tail; and that it was high and exalted, and pure and free from blame, while it sought to keep the other down, and make it take an inferior place. And each side threw upon the other the blame of causing all these evils and schisms and divisions, and each vaunted itself over the other, and swelled with pride, as though it was to receive |334 the other as a penitent, and upon submission; for they had yielded themselves up to the teaching and malignity of the devil, who embittered them, and set them against one other, and so their path never led them to success. [IV. 60.] Peter alone, who had been made against his will patriarch of Syria, in Paul's place, endeavoured, with something like sincerity, to bring about a reconciliation: for even while Paul lived, being reproved by his own conscience, and by many also of his contemporaries, for having uncanonically occupied the throne of another while he was yet alive in the body, when finally the two parties began speaking to one another of a reconciliation; and those on Paul's side unanimously rebuked Peter, because, in Paul's lifetime, he had set himself above him, Peter, 'whether in pretence or in truth,' [Phil. i.18] or by cunning artifice, I know not, but certainly he began to say; 'Let there be no quarrel on my account: I will withdraw, and dwell in retirement: be ye then reconciled one side with the other: and appoint whomsoever ye shall in concert choose in my place, and so let there be union between you.' And when what he said pleased many, as bearing the appearance of humility and gentleness, others rebuked him even to his face, and called out reproachfully, 'Thou sayest this deceitfully, and in craft, and not honestly out of a pure heart: for thou knowest that those on thy side who set thee up, will never abandon thee: and besides, thou wilt make an excuse of Alexandria.' |335 And when he heard this, and much besides, from many of them, to shew that he really was desirous of union, he arose, and took with him some of his partisans, and went to Alexandria, to urge them also, and Damianus, whom they had set over them as their head, to union. And after many matters had been mooted and discussed between them, it seemed, according to the word of the apostle quoted above, 'whether in pretence or in truth,' that while he had spoken and argued much for union, they had resisted him, and would not listen to what he said: and so, as it seemed, he went away in vexation. But some thought that this was done artfully, and by cunning: but God, Who trieth the mind and heart, knoweth what is the real truth in these things. Because, however, they parted in peace with one another, therefore some concluded, that he had gone thither and back under a false pretence: especially because afterwards he stood firm in the quarrel, and said, 'I shall do nothing without the Alexandrians.'
[IV.61] Subsequently, for the space of a whole year more or less, meetings on both sides of bishops and monks and others were held, in which they debated with one another, assembling now in one place, and now in another, and going to and fro, and sending messages, and exacting heavy and severe stipulations of one another, and treating one another, as we mentioned above, haughtily and despotically, and not in a friendly manner, |336 and with brotherly love. And these stipulations they exacted first of all by messengers, who went to and fro, but subsequently in a more formal manner in writings, which they drew up to bind one another. But no sooner had a meeting risen and broken up, than there were found quarrelsome and litigious men, both of their number who had been present at the meeting, and others as well, who hindered peace, and put fresh causes of quarrel between the two parties; and giving themselves up to the spirit of opposition, they tore to pieces even the written conditions which they had mutually adopted, and circulated written attacks on one another, both to the capital, and the East and West, each one thinking his own the victorious side, and reviling the other, and accusing it, and often falsely, of every thing that would lead to the idea that it was in the wrong. And these mutual slanders they have often sent to me and others in the capital in the form of official deeds, and have not only refused to be the ambassadors of peace to one another, but have persisted in this division and schism and quarrel and opposition to one another, even to this day, and lived in a tempest of passion, such as gives pleasure to Satan, who asks for us, 'that he may sift us as wheat:' and by the false and disorderly dealing of both sides alike, who have refused to approach one another in the wish to examine dispassionately, in the fear of God, into the points in dispute, he has |337 gained his end, and now dances with joy, in company with all his herds and hosts of devils, and rejoices in their mutual deeds.
Of these events then, we have, briefly recorded the sum, not entering into all particulars, because of their too great length, from their commencement down to the present year, 896, (A.D. 585).
End of Book the Fourth; in which are contained sixty-one chapters.
[Footnotes given numbers and moved to the end]
1. a Procopius de bello Persico, i. 19, tells us that the Nobatae dwelt beyond Elephantine, on the banks of the Nile, but the Blemyes inland: and he adds, that Diocletian had greatly increased their territories, and given them an annual subsidy on condition that they should protect the Roman borders from marauders.
2. b Bar-hebraeus says that at this time Theodosius was dwelling at Constantinople. Cf. Assem. Bib. Or. ii. 330.
3. c Curiously enough, traces remain of bishop Theodore of Phyle in some inscriptions discovered by M. Gau, and which are given in the Appendix.
4. d This was Timothy III, pope of Alexandria from A. D. 518 to 535. Like most of the clergy and people of Egypt, he was a Monophysite.
5. e This is possibly the person mentioned in Ass. B. O. ii. 63.
6. f It may not be without its use to compare the full account of Paul as related by our historian with the compendium given by Asseman, as we thus learn how different a complexion is given to history by the filling up of the outlines. His narrative, B. O. ii. 331, is as follows: 'Paul of Alexandria, after putting on the monkish dress, was for some time with Theodosius, the patriarch there: but after the death of Sergius, being ordained patriarch of Antioch by Jacob Burdoho and two others, he was driven away from Egypt by Athanasius, Theodora's grandson, for endeavouring to obtain the patriarchate of Alexandria, and fled to Harith, king of the Arabs. Thence having gone to Byzantium, he was prevailed upon by the Emperor's services to embrace the council of Chalcedon. But on his return to Syria, he sent in a petition to Jacob Burdoho, begging to be received back into the Mono-physite communion; and his request being supported by the prayer of Mondir, the son of Harith, Jacob admitted him on ejuring the true religion.' The nature of the Emperor's good services we have seen before, and it is a proof of the strictness of discipline then enforced that so much difficulty should have been experienced by Paul in obtaining readmission to his own party, after a submission extorted by such violent means: and it also explains the patience with which men like Stephan of Cyprus, after being flogged into communion with the church, abode by the step they had taken.
7. g In Quatremère's Mémoires sur l'Égypte, i. 489, a description is given of the church of St. Minas, taken from an Arabic MS., which well illustrates the magnificence to which the hermits in the Nitrian desert had attained. According to this account, the church of St. Minas was a vast building decorated with statues and paintings of great beauty: wax tapers burnt therein clay and night without interruption. At one end was a massive tomb, with two camels sculptured in marble, on which a man stood upright, with his feet resting upon the camels' backs. He held one hand open, and one closed. This figure, which was also of marble, represented, they said, St. Minas. In the same church were the statues of John, Zacharias, and of Jesus, placed inside a vast colonnade of marble, situated on the right-hand side of the entrance: and in front of them was a gate kept constantly closed. There were also the statues of the prophets, and of the Virgin Mary, concealed from view by two curtains. On the exterior of the edifice were statues representing all sorts of animals, and men of all professions: among them a slave-merchant, with a purse in his hand with the bottom out. In the centre of the church was a dome, underneath which were eight statues, representing, if what they said is true, the angels. The land round the church was planted with a multitude of fruit trees, especially almonds and carob trees, the fruit of which being sweet and sugary, was used in making sirops. There were also numerous vines, the grapes and wine from which were exported into Egypt. The author subsequently adds, that the town of Fostat every year sent a thousand dinars to maintain the church.
In this desert, called also Scetis, and Scete, the monkish population was so dense, that seventy thousand, with their staves in their hands, are said to have met Amrou-ben-el-as, on his return from Alexandria, to beg him to take them under his protection: which he did, and granted them moreover a yearly allowance of five thousand ardebs of corn levied on Lower Egypt.
On the mountain of Nitria itself, in the early ages of Christianity, there were nearly fifty monasteries, besides fifteen hundred hermits, subject to the authority of a superior. They did not, however, all follow the same mode of life, but might either dwell absolutely alone, or in pairs, or even in greater numbers. Seven bakeries were constantly employed in supplying the hermits with bread; there were also physicians, pastrycooks, and places where wine was sold. At the chief church on the mountain there were eight priests, the first of whom alone had the right to celebrate mass, to preach, and judge in cases of quarrel. Every Saturday and Sunday the hermits came to church. Just by was a hospice where they received strangers, and maintained them as long as they chose to stay, even if it was for two or three years but after the first week, they expected them to undertake some kind of employment. (Ibid. p. 485.)
8. h Probably in the lost chapters at the beginning of this book, as no mention is made of him in any of the extant parts. A word occurs just before [Syriac] which I am unable to translate. It does not belong to the Syriac language, and as nothing suggests itself in Greek, I have omitted the sentence: the construction apparently requires that it should be the name of some class of people, or order in the church, as it says that Andronicus belonged to them.
9. i This chapter must have been written therefore A. D. 585, in the second year of the reign of Maurice.
10. k This phrase was applied in the early church, not merely as in the present case, to a bishop elected to a see already filled by another, but even to one who deserted the bishopric to which he was first appointed, even though it was for a patriarchate. Thus when Epiphanius, patriarch of Constantinople, died in 535, and Anthimus, bishop of Trapezus, was translated to the see, Agapetus, pope of Home, 'Constantinopolim de Roma adveniens, Anthimum ecclesia pellit, dicens eum contra regulam adulterum qui sua ecclesia dimissa, ambierat alienam.' Com. Marcellinus in Chronico, Indict. xiv.
11. l I imagine that [Syriac] is the Greek word sugkri/tai, which occurs in the life of S. Theophylact, bishop of Nicomedia: 'coming to Constantinople, he was slave first of all to the most holy Tarasius, who held the office of
prw~toj sugkri/thj first vicar or assessor in the patriarch's court.'
12. m On the death of Timothy, patriarch of Alexandria in A. D. 518, a double election took place, two persons, Gaianus and Theodosius, being chosen by the people, both opposed to the synod of Chalcedon, but differing upon a question, greatly agitated at that time in the church, Gaianus holding that the body of our Lord was incapable of corruption, whereas Theodosius maintained that though it did not actually see corruption, yet that it was capable of it. The scenes which followed are strongly indicative of the state of the church in the sixth century. On the death of a patriarch of Alexandria, the custom was for his successor to perform the funeral rites over his remains, during which he placed the hand of the dead man upon his own head, and after burying him, assumed the 'pall of St. Mark,' and so mounted the throne. As Theodosius was the court candidate, he succeeded in so far getting the start as to perform some of these ceremonies, but before the funeral was over, and the throne mounted, the monks and populace who sided with Gaianus drove him away. Gaianus now filled the see for three months, until Justinian sent the famous eunuch Narses to reinstate Theodosius; and when the citizens drove him out of the town by force, the very women throwing missiles from the roofs of the houses, Narses set fire to the city, and having burnt down most of it, obliged them in this manner to receive their bishop. The arguments of Severus of Antioch against Julian of Halicarnassus, the chief defender of the tenets of Gaianus and his party, (and which are still extant in MS. in the British Museum,) seem to have gradually brought over the better educated portion of the inhabitants of Alexandria to Theodosius' side, but as the mob there continued its resistance, he was at length deprived of his see by Justinian, and retired to Constantinople, where, as I have mentioned, he was supported by Theodora's influence, and still recognised by the Monophysites as the true patriarch of Alexandria. Cf. Le Quien, Oriens Chr. ii. 430.
The reason alleged by Renaudot for his being deprived of his see is, that really his restoration was brought about by Theodora, and Justinian vexed at seeing so great power in the hands of a man opposed to his theological tenets, wrote to him and required him to receive Leo's letter, and use his exertions to bring about its general acceptance in his diocese; in which case he promised to make him the temporal as well as spiritual governor of Egypt, and subject all the bishops of Africa to his authority, whereas should he refuse, he was immediately to quit his see. On receiving this letter, Theodosius told the prefect and the messengers, that the devil once took our Lord into a mountain and shewed him the kingdoms of the world and its glory, and said, 'All this will I give thee, if thou wilt worship me.' And so now the emperor offered him what would be the ruin of his soul, if it led him to desert Christ his King. Then raising his voice, he said in the presence of the multitude, 'I anathematize Leo's letter, and the council of Chalcedon; and all who approve of its articles of faith, be they accursed now and for ever.' Then turning to the prefect, he continued, 'The emperor has power over my body, but not over my soul. Jesus Christ the true emperor has power over both. I am ready, therefore, to follow the example of my predecessors, Athanasius and Cyril and Dioscorus and Timothy, and suffer as they have done for the faith.' He then went out, exhorting all who loved God to follow him; for naked he had left his mother's womb, and naked he must return to it: and that whosoever lost his life for the faith's sake, would save it. At night he was taken into custody, and sent into the Thebais, where he exhorted the monks to constancy; but the emperor, fearing lest his example should encourage the people to remain firm in their creed, commanded him to come to Constantinople. There his modesty and humility won for him the emperor's respect, who treated him kindly, and tried to win him over to his views; but finding all his efforts unsuccessful, he finally banished him to a place a few miles from the city. Ren. Pat. Alex. 239.
13. n The word [Syriac], used in the original, signifies, 1. 'a bow;' 2. 'chaff.' As, however, I find that the root has the meaning of 'collegit,' cf. Ges. Thes. sub [Syriac] I have translated it in this sense.
14. o This is now the third time that John has applied to the Alexandrians the remarkable epithet [Syriac], taken from Psalm cxiv. i, the only other place where it occurs. Bar Bahlul explains the verb as Aegyptiace locutus est: but plainly John intends by it 'savage,' 'barbarous.' The people of Alexandria do not seem to have borne a very good character in ancient times, if we may judge from Dio Cassius, who calls them (lib. 4. 24), [Greek], the greatest braggarts, and the most utter cowards in the world.
15. p Asseman, in his account of the Monophysites, mentions a monastery of Mar Ananias in Mesopotamia,, famous as being the residence of their patriarchs, from A.D. 1166 to the present day. But from his description, it is apparently a different place from the monastery in the desert mentioned here.
16. q The word in the original, [Syriac], is very uncertain: a point over the initial letter seems to require the vowel to be a, in which case it may be a Syriac plural for pate/rej, abbots; but I am rather inclined to read it petrei=oi, and refer it to the three Alexandrian bishops, sent to represent pope Peter.
17. r The Syriac is [Syriac] which signifies, 'I have a king;' but as this is nonsense, I imagine the right reading to be [Syriac].
18. s The Arabic authorities, quoted by Renaudot, Pat. Alex 144, agree in assigning two years to Peter in the see of Alexandria; but it is evident from our author, that the Canon Chronologicus is right, which fixes his death in the tenth month after his election Damianus, the next patriarch, had previously been Peter's syncellus, having been appointed to this office from the great reputation he had acquired as an ascetic in a monastery on mount Thabor, where he devoted his time to sermon writing, and to disputations with heretics I may mention, that the Chronology of Renaudot is hopelessly confused in this part of his work, from his not being aware that many years elapsed between the death of Theodosius and the election of Peter.
19. t Cartamin was a very ancient monastery of the Monophysites, situated near Marde, in Mesopotamia. An account of it is given by Asseman, in his Essay on the Monophysites, prefixed to the second volume of his Bibliotheca Orientalis.
20. u John, the synodite, or as we should say, the catholic patriarch of Alexandria, occupied the throne about eleven years from A. D. 568 to 579.
21. x By the patriarch is probably meant not Paul, but the synodite patriarch, as Paul would not have had power sufficient for the purpose In the next chapter it is certainly the synodite patriarch who is described in similar terms
22. y He is called 'Sergius Anophitor, that is, [Syriac] one whose eyebrows meet: whether Anophitor is the corruption of some Greek word, formed perhaps from
a0nofrua&zomai, I must leave to others to settle.
23. z By referring to page 77, it will be seen that besides John, the catholic patriarch of Alexandria, and Damianus, the Monophysite, there was also one created by the followers of Gaianus, or Julianists, as they were indifferently called, because of the services of Julianus of Halicarnassus in defending their tenet of the incorruptibility of our Lord's body. His name was Dorotheus and Le Quien incorrectly supposes that the Theodosians concurred in his election Oriens Christ ii. 438
24. a The text has 882, but the previous dates show that it was not till A. D. 581 that Peter Callinicus was consecrated.
25. b It will be found afterwards that this report was untrue: Paul was actually concealed at Constantinople, where he was much more likely to remain undiscovered, than in the mountains.
26. c After the example of Simeon Stylites, or the pillar-man, who spent most of his life standing on a pillar, which every year was raised higher and higher, numerous monks and hermits adopted the same method of attaining to distinction: and naturally, for Simeon on his pillar became more powerful than any patriarch in the East, and all difficult matters, in church and state, were referred to his decision, which was received with undoubting faith and obedience as something infallible and inspired.
27. d A district of Nubia still retains their name in its modern title of 'Maqorrah.'
28. e The sea of weeds is the constant appellation given by all Syriac writers to the Red Sea.
29. f This word, [Syriac], Aitekia, is probably a corruption of the Greek name Eutychius.
30. g Orfiulo, [Syriac], is. also a corruption of a Greek name, Eurypylus.
31. h The carelessness with which John of Ephesus spells is extreme: in this case I have in each place given the name as he writes it.
32. i This is the Julianus of Halicarnassus, repeatedly referred to above, as the chief writer in defence of a heresy commonly held in the fifth century, of the body of our Lord being incorruptible.
33. k That is, without any religious service being performed over his remains.
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Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
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John of Ephesus, Ecclesiastical History, Part 3 -- Excursus upon the geography of Nubia and upon some Christian inscriptions recently discovered there
John of Ephesus, Ecclesiastical History, Part 3 -- Excursus
EXCURSUS
UPON THE GEOGRAPHY OF NUBIA,
AND UPON SOME
CHRISTIAN INSCRIPTIONS RECENTLY DISCOVERED THERE.
AS the names and districts mentioned in the foregoing narrative of the conversion of Nubia will probably be unknown to many of my readers, I have collected such traces of them as are to be found in Hitter's Erdkunde, Afrika, vol. i.; Quatremère's Memoires sur l'Égypte, and recent books of travels: and must also mention my obligations to Dr. Land, who has put many of these particulars into a clear and connected form.
While the countries to the north and south were early brought under the influence of Christianity, Nubia remained, owing to its physical conformation, a sealed land until the sixth century. From Alexandria, which claimed St. Mark as its first patriarch, the faith had quickly spread throughout Egypt, and as its deserts formed the refuge of the persecuted and oppressed, as well as of those who hoped to find in the monastic life closer communion with God, there was no portion of it which was not more or less completely occupied by Christians at a very early period To the south, Abyssinia also venerated one of Apostolic times as the introducer there of Christianity, and in A D. 330 we have satisfactory historical evidence to prove that the piety and activity of Frumentius had carried the knowledge of the Gospel into every district of that land: but century after century elapsed before the name of Christ was heard in the intermediate region, except by the report of occasional merchants, or the hearsay of the ambassadors, who were yearly sent by the Nobades and Blemyes to Philae to swear there not to plunder the Roman lands, and |339 receive in return their annual subsidy. The reason of this seclusion of Nubia from the zeal of Christian missionaries is to be found, as I have mentioned, in the physical formation of the country South of Syene, from the first to the second cataract, extends a narrow valley, hemmed in on both sides by wastes of sand, capable of being traversed only by camels but up the Nile travelling is still comparatively easy until the second cataract is reached There not only is the channel of the river obstructed by a multitude of rocks, which render navigation impossible, but on each bank extends a district of steep and rugged precipices, which scarcely can be crossed with the consent of the natives, and, should they offer any resistance, a few men can oppose with success the pi ogress of a numerous army This region the Arabs call Batn-al-Hagar, 'the bosom of rocks,' and its vast extent, both to the east and west, and the rugged nature of the surface, no longer practicable for camels like the previous wastes of sand, renders it one of the most impenetrable mountain fastnesses upon the face of the globe At this rocky barrier commenced the country of the Nobades, from whom the whole region is now called Nubia, but whose dominions did not reach far beyond the third cataract, in the neighbourhood of which alone they possessed a district of somewhat level and fertile ground As the Nile, a little below Syene, forms a deep bay, flowing first of all for several days' journey in a westerly direction, and then southward, until it has passed Dongola, where it turns sharply round, and for many scores of leagues doubles back towards the northeast, until finally half-way between the fourth and fifth cataract it resumes its original course, this rocky district is generally avoided by modern travellers, who take the direct route by land across the deserts between the Nile and the Eed Sea The narrow valley, which I have described above as lying between Syene and the second cataract, about seven days' journey in length, originally belonged to the Romans, but Diocletian withdrew their garrisons, and invited the Nobades to occupy it, upon condition of their protecting Egypt from the incursions of the Blemyes, as a further inducement to which, they were to receive a yearly subsidy, and still more to secure the fair fields of Egypt from |340 these marauders, he offered the Blemyes themselves a similar payment, upon condition of their abstaining from their ravages: and finally, at a subsequent period, the ambassadors of the two tribes went every year to Philae, where they swore to observe the terms of the contract in the temple of Isis, and received the covenanted sum. The result was such as might have been expected; for, secure in their fastnesses, the barbarians were constantly tempted by the prospect of immediate plunder to violate the Roman territories, and Diocletian was himself obliged to fortify the island of Philae, and place a garrison there, and build also extensive works on each bank of the river. Upon the wall round Philae one of the inscriptions is found commemorating bishop Theodore. In the sixth century it will appear that the Blemyes possessed the narrow Nile valley south of Syene, and that the Nobades had been driven back to their mountain fortress.
To the south, a district of swamp and morass still more completely isolated Nubia from Abyssinia. In these dreary marshes the Bahr-al-Aswad, or Black Nile, takes its rise, and forms the eastern boundary of the people called by John of Ephesus the Alodseans. On their western limit flowed the Bahr-al-Asrek, or Blue Nile; and as the southern marshes completely separate them from Abyssinia, their territory is constantly described as an island, and by the Greeks was called Meroe. Their capital, Sobah, cironeously styled Souiah by Quatremère, (i. e. [Syriac] for [Syriac] cf. Burckhardt, p. 530 ) was situated near the confluence of the third great branch of the Nile, the Bahr-al-Abiud, or white river, with the Bahr-al-Azrek This region still bears the name of Alouah, and its king, according to the Arabic authorities of Quatremère, is more powerful, and has larger armies, and more horses than the king of Makorrah, and his territory is more extensive and of greater fertility. The people are Jacobite Christians, and their bishops pay allegiance to Alexandria. Their religious books are in Greek, which the priests translate into the language of the natives. Alonah is a vast tract of level land, and of extreme fertility.
Between the Alodseans and the Nobades dwelt the Makoritae, occupying the bay of the Nile from the third to the fifth cataract, |341 with Dongola as their centre: while the deserts as far as the Red Sea were held by the predatory tribes of the Blemyes. The vast number of allusions to them in ancient times collected by Quatremère, t. ii. 128-132, suffice to shew the extremely harrassing nature of their inroads, and the vast tract of country over which they wandered. In Arabic times they still retained their marauding habits, and appear under the name of Bedjah as the worst enemies of Egypt. One of the most interesting traces of them occurs in Evagrius, who gives an account of the heretic Nestorius falling into their hands in one of their incursions into Egypt.
The same inaccessibility of the land which had long closed it against Christianity, served for its protection in the rapid progress soon afterwards of the Moslem arms. It is true that the Arabs entered the country in the 20th or 21st year of the Hejira A. D. 641, but the flight of the Christians thither from Egypt for refuge, more than served as a counterpoise to the injuries inflicted upon them by the invaders. We find therefore the whole country overspread with Christian bishoprics, lists of which are still preserved, (conf. Wansleb, Histoire de l'église d'Alex), and among them the names of the chief districts into which Nubia Christiana is divided are Noubadia, Aloodia, Makouria, and Niexemetes, i. e. Axumitis, the ancient name of Abyssinia, so called from its capital Axum.
In modern times the whole of this region has been carefully examined, and the inscriptions on its buildings and rocks copied both by the members of the commission sent out by the French government, and also by individual travellers; and the results, as far as regards our subject, have been ably summed up by M. Letronne, in three essays contained in his Materiaux pour l'histoire du Christianisme en Egypt, en Nuhie, et en Abyssinie, to. Paris, 1832. I find in it no less than four inscriptions commemorating Theodore, bishop of Philae, whose name appears so often in our historian's narrative.
Three of these inscriptions are found on a wall in the temple of Isis, the pronaos of which was turned in Theodore's time into |342 a Christian church. The naos, with its numerous small apartments, was unfitted for the publicity of Christian worship, and therefore the roomy pronaos was chosen in its stead. That this conversion took place subsequently to Justinian's time appears from the fact that that emperor renewed Diocletian's compact with the Nobades and Blemyes, and exacted from them an oath in this very temple of Isis. The bishop's alterations were not exactly such as would have pleased the aesthetic tendencies of an architectural society; for having taken a pillar of red Egyptian granite covered with bas reliefs for the altar, he had both it and the whole pronaos covered over with a coating of plaster, which not only protected his flock from having their minds occupied during the hours of Christian service with the familiar emblems of idol worship, but has also admirably served to protect these sculptures from injury, and keep them unharmed to the present day. Upon the interior of the entrance leading from the naos into the pronaos two of the inscriptions commemorating the alterations are found, one on each side, as follows:—
I.
[Greek]
'This work was done in the time of our father, abbot (ana for abba) Theodore, the bishop.'
II.
[Greek]
'This good work was done when our most holy father, abbot |343 Theodore, was bishop. May God preserve him for a very long time.'
In this inscription Letronne gives OΘO; but plainly the reading should be OΘC, i. e. ho ths, contracted for ho theos, as the capital C differs from O only in not being a complete circle.
The third inscription was found just inside the outer entrance, near an image of St. Stephan, who had taken the place of the Egyptian Isis; and is as follows:—
III.
[Greek]
'May abbot Theodore the bishop most beloved of God share in the loving kindness of our master Christ for having made this temple [Greek] into a place dedicated to S. Stephan. May a blessing rest upon it. It was accomplished by the aid of Christ when the most pious deacon Posias was provost.'
[Greek] evidently refers to the plastering and repairs necessary for converting the pronaos into a church. The long w in [Greek] is a mere mistake of the provincial sculptor. Posias, the provost of the college of deacons, has the honour of being mentioned, because the funds came through his hands, as it was usual for the [Greek] or manager of the ecclesiastical revenues to belong to that order.
Two crosses which occur in this inscription are remarkable for not being true crosses, but imitations of the Egyptian symbol, called the crux ansata, Christians noticed this symbol on Egyptian temples, and regarded it as a prophetic intimation of their future use, and therefore preserved it upon converting them into churches. Sozomen, vii. 15. 298, mentions the wonder with which Christians observed the repetition of this symbol upon the walls of the temple of Serapis at its destruction. |344
The fourth inscription was found by M. Lenormant, carved on a wall of the quay on the south-east of the isle, forming part of the fortifications erected by Diocletian, but renewed and restored in Theodore's time. It is as follows:—
IV.
[Greek]
'By the providence of our Lord God, arid the fortune of our most pious lords, Flavius Justinus and Aelia Sophia, perpetual Augusti, and emperors, and of the God-defended Caesar Tiberius, the new Constantine, and by the kindness of Theodore the most praiseworthy decurion and duke and augustal of the Theban district, this wall was rebuilt in answer to the prayers of the holy martyrs, and of the most saintly abbot Theodore the bishop, by the care and goodness of Menas, the most illustrious chartulary of the ducal archives, on the 18th of the month Choeak, in the eleventh indiction. May a blessing rest upon it.
The date represents Dec. 14, A. D. 577, the year before Justin died. Augoustalou is an error for Augoustaliou, and until Justinian's time this epithet, which is equivalent to imperial, was confined to the prefect of all Egypt: it is now given to the duke of the Thebaid.
So also, in the days of Athanasius, the duke of Egypt was only lamprotatos, he is now paneuphemos, an epithet which often occurs at this period in S. Nilus, Hesychius, &c., while lamprotatos descends to the chartulary. The title decurion seems beneath the duke's rank, as we find it applied to inferior military officers, and even to the magistrates of municipal towns. But Letronne thinks |345 Egypt may then have had ten nomes.... poa is probably incorrectly copied, as it is difficult to suggest any word of which it can have formed a part. Lariou evidently is put for Chartoulariou, but whether the sculptor omitted one half by accident, or whether the title was shortened down in the vernacular of Philae, is uncertain. Possibly, however, the correct reading is lampro, and the copyist, instead of carefully decyphering what followed, CHARTOG, took it for granted that it was TATOG. He taxis at this time was equal to ta taktika, the public archives.
The solemnity of the inscription makes it evident that it commemorates the rebuilding of the entire wall: the necessity of which possibly was due to the hostility of the Blemyes, excited by the conversion of the temple of Isis to Christian uses Hence the piety of the inscription, the reference to the prayers of the martyrs, &c. Shortly afterwards this danger was removed by the Blemyes being expelled by the converted Nobades from the Nile valley, and the people of Philae had Christian neighbours.
We are informed of this in the most remarkable inscription as yet discovered in Nubia, and which has been copied both by M. Gau and Mr. Baillie, and commented upon by Niebuhr, Franz, Letronne, and others. It must have been engraved subsequently to Longinus' mission, but prior to the Moslem invasion in A. D. 641; and probably its date is shortly after the conversion of Nubia, if we may judge from the extraordinary ignorance it displays of Greek. It was discovered at Kalabsche, and the text, as given by Letronne, is as follows: |346
[Greek]
'I, Silco, the powerful king of the Noubades, and of all the Aethiopians, went to Talmis and Taphis once, twice: I fought with the Blemyes, and God gave me the victory once and thrice besides. Again I conquered them, and took possession of their cities Along with my hosts I settled there at the first once for all. I conquered them, and they begged for mercy. I made peace with them, and they swore to me by their idols, and I believed their oath, because they are worthy men. I withdrew to my upper dominions. When I became a king, I did not walk at all behind other kings, (but altogether in front of them). For those who cope with me, I do not suffer them to dwell in their land, unless they ask my permission, and entreat me. For I in my lower dominions am a lion, and in my upper dominions a goat. I warred with the Blemyes from Primis unto Telmis yet once again. And the rest, beyond the Noubades, I ravaged their territories, because they tried to cope with me. The sovereigns of other lands who cope with me, I do not permit them to dwell at ease in the shade, unless they submit to me, nor can they drink water (from the cisterns) within their house. For those who disobey me, I carry off their wives and their children....'
That Silco was a Christian king, is evident from his saying, 'God gave me the victory,' whereas a heathen, instead of speaking of God absolutely, would have mentioned the deity who was his peculiar patron. He also calls the gods of the Blemyes, idols, |347 a word taken from the Septuagint, and used in this sense exclusively by Christians. Moreover, throughout the inscription the words are chiefly taken from the Septuagint, or used in a sense peculiar to it; [...philological remarks...]. The towns mentioned, Talmis, Taphis, and Prirnis, are all in the narrow Nile valley, formerly ceded by Diocletian to the Noubades, but now evidently long occupied by the Blemyes; the first being the Kalabsche, where the inscription was found. [...philological remarks...] The simplicity of the half line—' but altogether in front of them,'—carved in small letters between lines 11 and 12, is most amusing: evidently it was an afterthought of king Silco, who was afraid lest posterity should put a wrong construction upon his claim to being unlike his ancestors. From line 12 the inscription is remarkable for the number of nominativi pendentes; and [...philological remarks...] all suggest that Silco's Greek had been learnt by the ear alone. By being a lion in his lower dominions, he probably signifies, not merely the bravery of his subjects, but that to the south his empire extended to the flat lands inhabited by that animal, while his mountain fastnesses were the abode of the wild goat; and the two symbolized his activity and strength. In line 15 begins the account of the second expedition against the Blemyes, referred to in line 2. The people beyond the Noubades are the Makoritae; in the account of whom, in line 17, occurs the most extraordinary slip, in [Greek] as Silco, in forming it, evidently considered that an augment added to a future tense changed it into an aorist. [...philological remarks...]. Neron is an |348 affected Byzantine word for 'water,' signifying, 'the moist.' In the last line, [Greek] is put for the accusative.
Niebuhr imagined that this inscription was possibly of the times of Diocletian, but his copy contained several mistakes, corrected by subsequent copyists, which led him to imagine that Silco was still a heathen. The more accurate text, and careful examination of Letronne, led him to assign to it its true date, about the end of the sixth century. With the narrative of John of Ephesus it so far coincides, that we find the Christian king, Orfiulo, promising to join his arms with the king of Nubia in a war upon the enemies of the latter: but whether the expedition ever took place, we have no means of determining. As however the invasion of the Arabs happened but a few years later, and rendered such conquests impossible, it is by no means impossible that the inscription records the success of the very expedition announced in John's pages, and that Silco was the first Christian king of Nubia.
[Note to the online text: I have not transcribed the lengthy Greek, nor all of the detailed comments upon it, since I don't know to whom this would be useful. If anyone needs this, let me know. But while Ancient Greek must be transcribed by hand a character at a time, it will always be very tedious to include.]
This text was transcribed by Roger Pearse, 2002. All material on this page is in the public domain - copy freely.
Greek text is rendered using the Scholars Press SPIonic font, free from here.
Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
SOURCE SECTION: ephesus_6_book .htm
John of Ephesus, Ecclesiastical History, Part 3 -- Book 5
John of Ephesus, Ecclesiastical History, Part 3 -- Book 5
BOOK THE FIFTH.
THE first twelve chapters of the fifth hook refer to the Tritheites, and will be found in the earlier part of the translation, where we have collected the scattered references to Conon, the Condobaudites, and other minor Monophysite sects. For so Timothy classes them, because however strongly opposed by Theodosius and the heads of the party, they nevertheless had sprung out from them, and agreed in holding their central doctrine of the complete union of the two natures in Christ. The rest of the book treats of the emperor Maurice, and in rearranging these chapters, we have done no more than our author recommends; for in his naive heading he says, 'After the first twelve chapters it treats of the reign of the victorious Maurice, who ought indeed to have stood at the head of the book, but it did not occur to us.' And this same apology he repeats in his title to the thirteenth chapter.
[V.13] His account of Maurice he commences ab ovo, with the death of Justinian, in the fourteenth day of the month of November, 876 (A. D. 565), after a reign of thirty-nine years. His successor, Justin, his sister's son, reigned thirteen years all but forty days, during part of which, from the severe malady which visited him, Tiberius acted |350 by his appointment as Caesar, made on the seventh day of December, in the year 886 (A. D. 575); and subsequently, during his lifetime, he bestowed upon him the royal crown: for he saw that he was himself dying, and therefore raised him to the throne, for though he still survived, it was in the weakness and humiliation of death. The time he lived after making Tiberius king was nine days. Tiberius occupied the throne as Cesar for four years, and reigned afterwards as emperor for a period of four years more all but thirty-one days; and when he found himself sick unto death, he too was compelled to appoint as Caesar the count Maurice, the Cappadocian, on the fifth day of August in the year 893 (A. D. 582); for it had so happened, that Maurice had arrived at the capital but a few days before from the East, where he had been made Commander-in-chief over all the Roman generals, as we have mentioned in the previous chapters upon this subject. He further gave him the name of Tiberius, and joined with him in the government his younger daughter, Augusta, to whom he also gave the name of Constantina, and, made Maurice immediately take her as wife. The time he survived this appointment was only eight days, and when he saw himself sinking, on the day before his death, he further gave him the royal crown, and departed from this world in his suburban palace in the Hebdomum 1; whence they brought him to |351 the palace in the city, and buried him after the manner of kings.
[V. 14.] Meanwhile, the God-loving king Maurice sat upon the royal throne, and showed himself, and was proclaimed as emperor, and began to manage and administer such matters as belong to the kingdom; and after the time of mourning for king Tiberius was passed, he made great preparations, and arranged the affairs of the kingdom, with much pomp and magnificence, such as suits the majesty of kings. But these things it would not be easy for any one to detail without much labour, nor does our subject permit us to occupy ourselves with them, further than by an occasional allusion to such of them as are connected with the history of the church, which is our proper business. After the royal banquet, therefore, which was very splendid with magnificent presents and royal shows, the queen proved with child, and in due time a son was born to them in the purple, on the fourth day of August, 894 (A. D. 583), and they named him Theodosius, |352 in allusion to Theodosius the Second, who was the only one besides from the time of Constantine downwards who was born in the purple. For neither did Constantine beget a son after attaining to the empire, nor any one of those who succeeded him, neither Marcinus nor Leo, nor Zeno, nor Anastasius, nor Justin, nor Justinian, nor Justin the Second, nor Tiberius, down to the time of Maurice. Upon the birth, therefore, of the child, general rejoicing was made, especially because there were persons entirely unfit for so high an office, looking forward to and making preparations for seizing the kingdom by force: but on the day of this infant's birth, their projects were extinguished and brought to an end, so that even in the Hippodrome the people of the city, with loud shouts in his honour, said, 'God grant thee well; for thou hast freed us from subjection to many.' Forthwith, too, there were offered to the infant presents and gifts in abundance, by all the nobles and ladies of rank, and senators and others besides, each one trying his best to outdo his neighbour in the costliness of the offerings which were presented to him with great respect.
[V.15] The commencement of a new reign is naturally favourable to designing men, and those therefore whose practice it is to make a pretext of men's religion in order to rob and plunder them, did not cease their endeavours to stir up Maurice against the orthodox, laying to their charge many wicked and unfounded accusations, while |353 he neither knew what they held, nor what was the cause of their mutual divisions. As then they were constantly irritating him against them, he finally became angry, and summoned the patriarch, and commanded him to send and arrest and imprison such as would not communicate with him. But John 2 the patriarch, being already in grief and sorrow because of the heathen, since even after they had been detected and discovered by the providence of God, and convicted by the testimony of one another, and the legal depositions had been taken, and that not only in the capital, but in every region and city, as we have fully narrated above, and many members of the senate had been proved to be guilty, he then had let the matter rest, and thrown a veil over it, and but few of them had been put to death, and a few others sent into exile, while the rest of them continued as they were, and still held their rank and office. On this account the patriarch mourned inconsolably, so that when he was ordered to arrest and persecute the orthodox, he answered with indignation, 'Think you that God will be pleased that when we let heathens escape, and set them free, and acquit them, after their heathenism has been discovered and made known to every one, that now, after we have given them impunity, we persecute and condemn and slay Christians in their stead? Are these |354 the laws of justice? What do the distinguishers say or do that we ought to persecute them? Be it known then to your majesty, that as long as heathens are unpunished, and go at large, and not one of them is even deposed from his office, I know not how I can persecute Christians, with whose faith no fault can be found, and who consider themselves to he believers even more fully than ourselves.' And so for the present he put a stop to the persecution.
[V 15] A short time after these turbulent persons found some victims in the Arians: for as leave had always been refused to their repeated requests for permission to fall upon the congregations of the believers, they invented pretexts, and made numerous complaints against the Arians, and having assembled their whole troop, they fell upon an Arian church, the members of which met outside the city in the queen's monastery. The time chosen for the attack was when they were celebrating the communion, and having entered, they overturned their altar, and threw their oblations to the ground, and carried off all their vessels and books, and every thing else on which they could lay hands: and the people they dragged by force and imprisoned in the chancel of the church. And every one imprisoned there experienced the truth of the word of the Lord, where he says, 'Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt not come out thence, until thou hast paid the uttermost farthing.' [Matt.v.26] For not one of them |355 was allowed to get out, until he had paid the very last farthing which he possessed in the world.
[V.17] How much better those fared who were accused of heathenism, our author shews in the adventures of Gregory of Antioch, which we have detailed before. In the next chapter he tells us of the wealth and dignities conferred by Maurice upon his relatives, as follows:
[V.18] At the beginning of his reign, the king sent for his father, an old man named Paul, and his mother, and his brother, whose name was Peter, and his two sisters, one of whom was a widow, and the other the wife of Philippicus. The latter he first of all appointed comes excubitorum: and subsequently elevated him to the rank which he had himself previously held, of commander-in-chief over all the Roman armies in the East, in which capacity he sent him to levy fresh forces to carry on the war against the Persians. And next he made his father head of the senate, and chief of all the patricians, and gave him and his son Peter, the king's brother, the entire property of the great patrician Marcellus, brother of the late king Justin, which was not much less than the royal demesnes themselves, with his houses and landed estates, and gold and silver, and his wardrobe, and every thing that he had everywhere without exception. And next he gave his father and mother another house near the church (of S. Sophia) and his own palace. Soon after he gave his sister and her husband |356 Philippicus a large and strong-built house, on the western side of the city, in the suburb called Zeugma 3; while his other sister, the widow, received a new and well-built mansion, lately erected by the patrician Peter, and which is almost as large as a city. He also gave to his other relatives large and noble houses belonging to the crown, and studiously enriched them in wealth and rank and honour, and gave them high offices near to the royal person, and in every way sought to increase their power: but as it is not the object of our book to treat of these things, we must omit their further detail.
[V.19.] One relative, however, needs more particular mention, namely, Domitian, metropolitan of Melitene. Already Maurice, when sent by Tiberius to the East with the title of count, had shewn his devotion to the interests of his family by making him bishop of Melitene in Cappadocia: and when, after spending a period of two years more or less in the East, he had returned to the capital, and been made king, immediately Domitian hastened to him, and became his counsellor and most intimate adviser, and the person |357 who thought for him, and encouraged him in all the severe and painful difficulties with which he had to contend in the wars which pressed upon him on all sides, with the heathen and Magian people of the Persians, and the barbarous and savage tribes who came from the ends of the world, and are called Avars, and also with the Slavonians. And in all these difficulties the bishop of Melitene was the king's comforter and counsellor, although he was still but a young man. He was however thoroughly imbued with the opinions of the council of Chalcedon and of Leo. The great and important matters then, which pressed upon the empire on all sides, he laid before the king, together with his advice; and he let him settle them as he chose, and so he continues to do to this day 4.
[V.20] On Maurice's elevation to the crown, his chief difficulty arose from finding that the lavishness of Tiberius had exhausted the treasures which Justin had stored up in the palace. For upon his becoming king, he found large sums of gold secretly hoarded there, which his predecessor had gathered by unjust means: and at the sight of it, as though some zealous spirit had entered into him, he began spending and scattering and dispersing it on all sides, sometimes fittingly and compassionately, or in the usual |358 largesses to the army; and sometimes without thought or reason, as if he were throwing it about with a fan, until all Justin's treasures were expended, a large portion being consumed in his largesses at his accession. For as he himself said, he gave away then no less than seventy-five talents of gold, besides silver, and other royal matters, such as is the custom of kings to give; and finally, he was obliged to open the treasures of king Anastasius, and take money from thence. But when he departed from this world, and Maurice became king in his stead, he found the palace swept as clean as if it had been emptied with a broom, and was compelled therefore to take possession of any money that was discovered, or came in from the taxes, and withhold his hand, and effect savings in the expenses of the army, and hoard it up, saying, 'I must not disperse and scatter the money, but collect and store it up, that I may have the means of purchasing peace for the state.' And with this object he withheld his hand, and refrained from many of the customary observances, until he was much ridiculed and scoffed at by many, and called a close-fisted and miserly fellow, who could benefit and enrich none but his own relatives: and much more of the same sort was said, which, without some special reason, would not have been fit to record in a history of the church.
[V. 21] Returning to ecclesiastical matters, our |359 historian informs us, that the rebuke of the patriarch, though ineffectual in preventing attempts at persecution, was not lost upon the king. For, in the midst of his difficulties and anxieties, from the wars which surrounded him on all sides, turbulent men, having no zeal for the faith, and using it only as a pretext for greedily plotting after the spoil of the house's and property of their neighbours, craftily endeavoured to get permission and authority to carry out their purpose, and never ceased wearying the ears of the king and patriarch with their constant calumnies, which, though not confined to them, were especially directed against those who found a stumblingblock in the council of Chalcedon. They complained therefore, saying, 'These men gather in large meetings, and celebrate the communion and baptism in greater numbers than the catholic church, even if you add to it all the heresies of Arians, and Samosatenians, and Tetradites 5, and Manichaeans 6, and Marcionites, and the like: and they disturb and upset the whole church. Give us therefore authority to arrest and imprison them, and put them to the torture, and root out all their |360 meeting houses.' But the patriarch, being a gentle and merciful man, and who knew their cunning, and that their zeal was only for rapine and plunder, rebuked them, saying, 'If your zeal were upright in these things which you so press upon us, or if your purpose were the correction of these people, we should commend it: but as we know that your real object is to plunder and steal the goods of others, go and be quiet: for we will not permit any persecution to take place in our days, but to the best of our power will teach and admonish them.' And as these persons consisted not merely of clergymen, but also of laymen, some of whom were unsound in their Christianity —physicians, for instance, and heathens—who, besides their greediness for plunder, wished to make a demonstration also of their Christianity by professing zeal for the Christian faith, when they saw that the bishop would not submit to their cunning, they did not hesitate to din the ears of the merciful king himself, as some of them had access to him by being the royal physicians. But the king, as one whose whole conversation and all his thoughts were wrapped in the wars with the barbarians, would not even so much as listen to them, saying, 'Because we have not enough to do with the wars with the barbarians on all our confines, you want to bring upon us intestine wars also!' And thus their violence was restrained, and their projects were rebuffed and brought to nought.
Of the subsequent tragical fortunes of Maurice |361 and his family our historian of course knows nothing: for his own death, at a good old age, apparently happened in the third or fourth year of Maurice's reign. His last notice of him is an account of his rebuilding the desolate city of Arabissus, in Cappadocia, a town remarkable on no other account than as being the emperor's birthplace, and the original seat of his family: and this new instance of devotion to his relatives naturally served to increase the ill-will entertained against him at the capital, on seeing all matters of state administered with so niggard a hand, while he loaded them with the highest offices and the most extravagant gifts. [V.22] The narrative is introduced by a statement, confirmed by coins still extant, that Maurice did not consent to the change of name commanded by Tiberius, who, on giving him the crown in his dying moments, had called him after himself, but persisted in using that only which had been given him by his parents, and would permit no other name than Maurice to be inscribed on his gold coins. From this he proceeds to mention, that a point on which he had greatly set his heart was the rebuilding and restoration of his native town of Arabissus. For this purpose he sent officers 7 into all quarters to collect skilful artificers in the |362 working and chiselling of stones, and builders, and carpenters, and masons, and smiths, and mechanicians, and all other kinds of craftsmen, and stationed there a troop of soldiers, to keep them constantly engaged in the building, each occupied with his own branch of labour. His first command was, that the church should be taken down, and rebuilt on a larger and more magnificent scale: and he sent himself a large and splendid set of church-furniture of silver and gold, with beautiful vessels for the altar, and for the adornment of the whole building, and gave orders also for a large ciborium, such as is customary in all the churches of the capital, to be made here in pieces, and sent thither to be fixed up on the spot. After the church, his next order was for the erection of an extensive hospice, with lofty buildings: and next, for the public service of the city, a large townhall, and long and handsome porticoes followed, and magnificent basilicas, and a palace, and a strong wall. And much conversation and murmuring was made thereat; for people said, 'Every day he complains about the Roman armies, which labour and fight in behalf of the state, and says, I have no gold to distribute among them: and while there are numerous strong cities, both in the East and West, captured and laid in ruins by the barbarians, to which all he has to say is, I have no money to give, how is it that he now expends such and such a number of talents—and they mentioned a definite number, but as we cannot answer for its |363 exactness, we do not record it in our history: they said, however,—How is it that he expends all these talents in rebuilding a town, which never was of consequence, nor of any value to the Roman state?'
[V.23] But Maurice had soon a worse enemy to contend with than the murmurs of his citizens: for two years after he had undertaken the restoration of his native town, and while the works were being rapidly pushed onwards to completion, suddenly a great and terrible earthquake happened, being the third which in succession have overthrown place after place in the East, and, as it were, in wrath, threw down the whole of Arabissus, and levelled all the buildings in it, new and old, to the ground. And all men wondered: but though the king Maurice was greatly vexed and troubled, and feared lest the overthrow of the city was by the secret indication of God, yet will he not desist from rebuilding it a second time: for all the artificers whom he had collected still remain there, apparently to renew their former attempt at restoring and rebuilding it again.
End of the Fifth Book of Church Histories, in which are contained twenty-three chapters.
[Footnotes have been numbered and moved here]
1. a This passage shows that the Hebdomum was still outside the city, for Tiberius is said to have been [Syriac, Greek] a word solely applied to the suburban palaces Probably, therefore, Justinian only included a part of it within the city walls. It is mentioned as a place of recreation for the emperors by Rufinus, de vit. Pat iii. 19.... in Septimo, ubi solent imperatores egressi de civitate libenter degere. I have before mentioned the rumour that Tiberius was poisoned in a dish of mulberries. In the Chron Alex. nothing more is said than [Greek]. Prokenson is the Latin word 'processus' as transmuted by the Byzantine nasal pronunciation.
2. b This was John the Faster, a very different character from John Scholasticus.
3. c The suburb called Zeugma is said to have had its name from mules having been there yoked to the car on which the remains of the protomartyr S Stephan were brought to the capital. The names of both the houses are given in the Syriac, namely, [Syriac] but I can find no traces of them in the Byzantine historians, though Theophanes, p. 229, gives an account of various buildings which Philippicus himself elected
4. d To this Domitianus of Melitene Maurice left the guardianship of his children, by his will dated in the fifteenth year of his reign: and Theoph Simocatta praises him as [Greek], i e. in counsel.
5. e Several sects in the eaily church were called Tetradites, [Greek], but probably it here signifies such as were accused of holding a quaternity, tetras, instead of the Holy Trinity In this sense Dom Macer applies it to the Manichees in his Hierolex, but probably oui author intends by it the Nestorians.
6. f Although the word in the text [Syriac] suggests 'Montanists,' yet I imagine that it really signifies the Manichees, constantly called [Syriac] by our author as being the followers of Manes
7. g These officers were called Scribones, and Du Cange quotes a passage from Gregory the Great, to prove that their duty was to travel into the provinces with the emperor's commands, and even sometimes with authority to see them executed Their rank is shewn by his calling them 'viri magnifici'
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Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
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John of Ephesus, Ecclesiastical History, Part 3 -- Book 6
John of Ephesus, Ecclesiastical History, Part 3 -- Book 6
BOOK THE SIXTH.
IN the sixth and concluding book of John's history, he gives us a brief and affecting narrative of the wars by which the Roman empire was encompassed in his days; and as has constantly been the case in all troubled times, the good old man drew his strength and consolation from the belief that his Saviour's coming was close at hand. It was indeed close, but in a very different way from what he expected: for already the young Mahomet 1, repelled in his first inquiries by the idolatrous aspect which Christianity outwardly bore, was rising to be the instrument of God's just anger against the eastern church For the picture which John has drawn for us, especially in the fourth book, of the narrowness and bigotry, the fierce strifes, the want of self-restraint, the injustice and cruelty and utter absence of Christian charity, which characterized all parties in his days alike, makes us feel that the times were ripe for punishment. Not but that, possibly, there still remained some sparks of true faith; for it is the nature of history to record rather the external form than the inner life of the world's progress; and on its |365 surface the bad and turbulent play a more important part than the virtuous and good. For virtue is, for the most part, uneventful, and holds on its calm and peaceful course unseen, except where the wickedness of others seeks to oppress and overwhelm it. And so with the history of the church: as a general rule, it is but a history of schism and heresy, of persecution and violence, and of the attempts now of this party and now of that to tyrannize over the consciences of others. But beneath there lies the golden thread, unseen too often, yet really there, of the grace which spiritualizes and ennobles man's earthly being; and though the general effect of reading ecclesiastical history in most ages of the church's existence is quite as much wonder at the all but total absence of the gentler Christian virtues, as admiration at the zeal which has never seemed to flag: yet one cannot but feel certain that there always have been in the church Christians in deed and in truth, on whose lives the doctrines which they professed had a better influence than merely to serve them as a battle field for contention and dispute. Whatever of these there were in the sixth century, we find at all events but faint indications of them in the pages of John's history, except in his own character; and though that is disfigured by much of the fanaticism of his time, so that he considers it a Christian duty to persecute heretics and heathens, yet in most respects we can fully feel with him, and admire the moderation of his character, brought out the |366 more strongly into relief by the turbulence and intemperance of his contemporaries; and can therefore sympathise with the feelings which made him pen the introduction to this sixth book in the following terms:
[VI.1] It has not seemed to us a thing improper or alien from our purpose to attach to these ecclesiastical narratives a short account also of the wars and battles and desolation and bloodshedding which have happened in our days, for the information of those who come after us, should the world continue to exist so long. And we record them to the best of our ability, and as we have learnt and received them by inquiry: being reminded by them of the word and lifegiving doctrine of our Saviour, where He teaches us, and warns and testifies to us of the time of the end and the consummation of the world, and also of His advent, and says, 'When ye have seen all these things coming to pass, know that it has come even to the door.' [Matt.xxiv.33] And, lo we in our days see all these things happening, and all accomplished, and therefore we ought always to expect His dread advent with great power and much glory.
The narrative commences about the year A. D. 574 with the military operations of the Patrician Marcian in the east. To throw some light upon his operations it may be necessary to recapitulate some of the facts of the previous history, namely, that in A. D. 571, the greater or Persian Armenia revolted from Khosrun, upon his |367 endeavouring, in violation of the compact with Sapor, to introduce there the Magian religion; but being unable to cope with the Persian monarch singlehanded, they offered their allegiance to Rome. Their submission was accepted, and orders were sent to the Roman commanders to defend Armenia as part of the Roman dominions. At first the efforts of the Armenians were crooned with success, and a great victory, which they gained under the Mamigonean chief Vartan over the army of Khosrun, needed only to have been vigorously followed up to have insured final success. How the incapacity of a despotic court, jealous of its own officers, and more intent on petty intrigues than careful for the general good, thwarted the efforts of its generals, and both lost Armenia, and was compelled to submit to an inglorious peace, will best appear in the simple narrative of our author.
[VI.2] The illustrious Patrician Marcian, a relative of king Justin, was sent by him to command one of the Roman armies in the east; and being warmly zealous for the polity of the Christians, he assembled an army, and laid siege to Nisibis, the frontier town and bulwark of Mesopotamia, and then in possession of the Persians. And having strongly invested it, and constructed round it a palisade, he commenced, with the aid of the skilful mechanicians whom he had brought with him, to erect more scientific works, consisting of lofty towers and strong covered approaches. And the city began to be distressed, |368 and both its inhabitants and the Persian garrison despaired of their lives when they saw it so hard pressed by the Romans. And as those inside were in alarm, so those outside were making their preparations to assault the city and plunder it; but just as they were ready to storm it, a violent tempered man arrived, named Acacius Archelaus, sent for no just reason by king Justin to deprive Marcian of his command, and cut his girdle 2, and send him away from the cast. And immediately that he came he showed his orders, just at the time when Marcian and his army were fighting against Nisibis, and expecting to assault it the next day, and win the city; and all were in astonishment, and their hands were weakened. And the illustrious Marcian, who had been assiduously making his preparations, and was upon the point of capturing Nisibis, on hearing the orders, said to Acacius, 'You see how great labour we have taken for the purpose of capturing this city; and now, wait a little, and grant us a delay of two days only, and then do what you have been commanded; for the king has a right that what he orders should be done.' But he was angry with him, and insulted him, and in hot wrath laid hands upon him in the presence of all his officers, and pulled him about, and threw him down, and cut his girdle, scoffing at him, and even, as was said, he struck him on the cheek. And the |369 whole army was indignant, and their hands weakened, and execrating the wickedness which had been done before their eyes, they lowered their standard, and turned it upside down. And thereupon the whole army fled, and left the city far behind them, and loud was their grief and lamentation at what had happened to their commander; for he was a good man and a believer: and besides, at the very time when they were expecting to enter and take the city, they had shown their backs when there was no enemy who pursued them, and had become the laughter and scorn of their foes. And when the Persian army which garrisoned the city saw the breaking up and sadden retreat of the Romans, and Marcian's standard overthrown, they were astonished, and encouraged one another, and armed and pursued after them, and fell upon a body of infantry which remained behind, and defeated and slew most of them, and so returned to the city, laughing and mocking at what had happened to the Romans of their own selves. Forthwith, too, they wrote and informed their king of all these things, saying, 'Come, immediately, and let us cross over into the Roman territory; for our noble gods, the sun and fire, have made them, by the commandment of their king, fall upon one another; and they have dismissed Marcian with scorn, and have all fled and gone away from our city.'
The anger of Justin against Marcian arose from no fault of the latter, but rather from the unbusinesslike habits of the king himself, who |370 allowed the underhand dealings of the weak court of Constantinople to come to light by a carelessness as indefensible as the treachery it disclosed was base. The account of it is as follows:
[VI.3] The Tayenses, or Arabs of the north, were at that time divided into two sections, of which the one was allied with Rome, the other with the Persians. Of the former Harith was king, and was held in such general awe and terror by all the nomad tribes, that as long as he lived, no one ventured to disturb the peace. But upon his death the Arabs in alliance with Persia looked with contempt upon his sons and princes and army, and imagined that, 'lo! now at length all his encampment is delivered into our hands!' Accordingly they gathered themselves together, and pitched their camp in Harith's territories, bringing with them all their flocks, and vast herds of camels. But when Mondir, Harith's eldest son, heard of it, he was very wroth, and burnt with zeal, and taking with him his brothers and sons and nobles and all his army, he fell suddenly upon them, whereas they had expected that he would never venture to make any resistance. They were utterly defeated, therefore, and put to the sword, and their king Kabus, when he saw the fierce onset made by Mondir and his troops, and that already they had broken through and overpowered and slaughtered his hordes, turned his horse, and fled with a few companions, and succeeded in making his escape, but saved nothing of his property. And Mondir |371 entered, and took possession of Kabus' tent, and his entire encampment, and all his baggage, and his herds of camels. Several also of his relatives he made prisoners, and some of his nobles, but the rest he put to the sword. And next he crossed over the Euphrates, and pitched his camp in the territories of Kabus, and marched inland to the distance of sixty leagues, and arrived at the place where the herds and all the riches of the Persian Arabs were. There he pitched his camp for some time, and the hordes of Kabus, on seeing their master's well known tent erected so far in their land, boldly came to it, expecting to find their king there, but on entering, found themselves in Mondir's camp, and were seized and put to death, except some of note, who were kept as prisoners. And after staying there as long as he chose, he set out upon his return with much spoil, consisting of herds of horses and camels and armour and so forth. And after some time had elapsed, Kabus also collected his forces, and sent to Mondir, bidding him meet him in battle: 'for, lo!' said he, 'we are coming upon thee. For though thou didst fall upon us a thief, and imaginedst that thou de-featedst us, behold, we openly draw near to thee for battle.' But Mondir sent in reply, 'Why do ye trouble yourselves? for I am already on my way.' And not only did he consent and make preparations, but with the word effected also the deed. For he met them suddenly in the desert, when they did not expect him, and fell upon |372 them, and threw them into confusion, and slew most of them; and again they fled before him. But inasmuch as we have previously given an account of these achievements elsewhere in our history, our purpose now is to record the iniquitous plot formed against him in violation of all right feeling after these glorious victories, and so great a triumph in two successive battles. For, as Mondir imagined that his success would be acceptable and extolled by the king, he wrote to him an account of all that he had done, and his complete victory; and added a request that he would send him gold that he might hire troops; because be expected that certainly they would gather their forces once more to attack him. And when king Justin heard that he had written to him to send him gold, he was angry, and very indignant, and reviled him, and vowed vengeance against him, and secretly determined in his heart to murder him by some artifice or other.
[VI. 4] Thus then being filled with the spirit of opposition, king Justin wrote a letter to the patrician Marcian with the intention of having Mondir secretly put to death; and the letter was as follows: 'I have written to Mondir the Arab to bid him come to thee: see, directly that he comes, that thou take off his head, and write and inform me of it. To Mondir I have written in these words: Because of some matters of importance, I have written to the patrician Marcian, requesting him to confer with thee; go therefore to him immediately without delay, and consult with him |373 upon the matters in question.' But, as became subsequently known to everybody, the letters, by the providence of God, were changed, and the name of Mondir himself was inscribed upon the despatch, directing Marcian to take off Mondir's head; while, by some mistake or other, the letter intended for Mondir was directed to Marcian: and the messenger who started with the two despatches, having delivered them to the persons to whom they were severally addressed, it happened that Mondir received the despatch which gave directions to Marcian to take off his head; and Marcian, on the other hand, that which required Mondir to go to Marcian, to hold the proposed conference. When then Mondir received the despatch, and had read it, he was greatly agitated, and said, 'In return then for my labours and anxieties in behalf of the Roman territory, my reward is the loss of my head. This is my desert.' And being filled with anger, he collected all his people, and bade them provide for his safety, saying, 'If you see any one whomsoever sent unto me from the king of the Romans, if he has but a small escort, seize them, and keep them closely guarded outside your encampment: but if the escort is numerous, at once advance boldly and fall upon them, without giving the slightest credence to anything whatsoever which they shall say unto you, or permitting them to approach on any pretence into the neighbourhood of your encampment.' And thus uninterruptedly day and night the Arab hordes kept armed watch in |374 defence of their king, being ever on the look-out, and ready for battle with any one whomsoever who should come unto them from the Romans. And when the Persians, and the Arabs under the Persian rule, heard the news, and learnt that they had now nothing to fear from Mondir, and that he would not trouble himself to engage in war for the sake of the Romans, who had tried to murder him, they boldly made preparations for invading the Roman territory, and laid it waste with fire and sword as far as Antioch, and captured an immense number of prisoners, and ruined and razed and burnt large and strong towns, almost equal in size to cities, both in the territory of Antioch and elsewhere, and took the inhabitants prisoners, and utterly ruined all these countries, and returned to their land with a mighty spoil. But Mondir was full of grief and lamentation at the treachery of the Romans towards him, and at the devastation wrought by his enemies, and the wealth which they had carried away from the Roman land and therefore he gathered his people, and withdrew into the deserts. All meanwhile who heard of the wickedness which had been purposed against him, without fault on his side, were greatly displeased, and blamed it, and found fault with commands so contrary both to reason and justice. And when the king heard that this was said on all sides, and learnt moreover that Mondir had abandoned all care of the Roman territories, he sent orders to the chiefs and generals in the East, |375 commanding them to go to him, and persuade him to be reconciled to them. And when many of them sent to him proposing to visit him, the answer he returned to each one was; 'Be well assured, that any one whosoever who comes unto me from the Roman dominions, I shall resist his approach by force, so that either he shall kill me, or I will kill him. For God forbid that I should ever again entrust my life to any Roman; for, as far as it depended upon you and your king, my head is already off. For this was the fate to which I was condemned by the Romans.' And this state of things continued for two or three years, during which repeated attempts were made to prevail upon him to consent to a reconciliation; but he would not permit any one to approach him, but sent about Justin's despatch, commanding his murder, in all directions, and shewed it to every one.
The displeasure therefore which was entertained against Marcian was because Mondir had escaped and was still alive, while the secret had been revealed and become known, and the plot consequently had been unsuccessful. For all men knew what the sentence was which had been decreed against him iniquitously and wickedly, and without regard to the fear of God. But after king Mondir had given way to his indignation, and stood with his forces carefully on his guard against all the princes and armies of the Roman realm, for a period of three years, more or less, then, as being a Christian, and grieved at the miseries which had fallen upon the Roman |376 territories, and full of anger against the Persian Arabs, who had carried fire and sword, and made captives of the people as far as Antioch, and had returned to their land with an immense spoil and prisoners without number, he determined to make peace, and take up arms for the Roman state. And as he would not consent to receive the letters which were constantly sent to him from the king by the hand of many of the princes, in which Justin denied all privity to the attempt, and said that the orders to kill him were not written with his knowledge, but continued to shew his resentment, and would not admit to his presence either the bearers or the despatches themselves, but stood ready for war with all who should venture to approach near his camp: he finally determined himself to send to the patrician Justinian, the son of Germanus, who at that time was head and commander-in-chief over the armies of the Romans in the East, a message to this effect: 'Directly that I heard and learnt the plots of the Romans, and knew that I was doomed to a certain death, in return for my exertions in their behalf, I felt that henceforward it would be impossible to trust myself in the hands of any of the Roman princes for ever. But because I know thee to be a Christian, and a nobleman who fears God, if thou wilt go to the house of the blessed Mar Sergius at Resef 3, and send |377 me word, I will come to thee there, with my men armed ready for battle: and if peace meet me, and true dealing on thy part, we will converse together, and finally both of us depart in amity: but if I find any treachery, I trust that the God in Whom I believe will not relax His care of me.' When the patrician Justinian received the message, he was very glad, and sent in answer; 'Entertain no suspicions of me: for, lo! the God of the Christians is between us. Come on such a day to the holy house of Mar Sergius, and thou shalt find me there: and trouble not thy army; for I trust in God that we shall separate from one another in peace and love and concord.' And when Mondir received this answer, he proceeded thither immediately, but changed his mind respecting his escort, and took but few attendants with him; and on his arrival, the two remained alone before the shrine in which were deposited the bones of the holy Mar Sergius; and after a conversation too long to record, and they had mutually given each other their word, they departed in confidence and peace with one another, and great joy. And when the news reached king Justin and the senate, they also rejoiced greatly, that Mondir had consented to make peace: and subsequently letters of peace and reconciliation were interchanged between the two kings. And after a short time, the warlike and spirited king |378 Mondir, being full of anger at the audacity of the Persian Arabs, and desirous of tearing away and stripping them of the prey which they had taken from the Roman territory, quietly gathered his brothers, and all his relatives, and his sons, with their forces, and bade them immediately make rapid preparations, and get their arms and provisions ready, and meet all together on the second day at his tent. And on their assembling with great promptitude, he revealed to them his purpose, saying; 'Immediately, without any one separating himself or withdrawing from us, let us all fall suddenly on Hirah, the capital of Noman, in the Persian territories; for, to punish their boastfulness, and insulting violence against the Christians, God will deliver them into our hands.' Immediately therefore they set out with speed, and reached Hirah, and fell upon it suddenly, when its inhabitants were in peace and tranquillity; and they surprised them, and put to the sword and destroyed the garrison there, and overthrew and uprooted and burnt the whole town, with the exception of the churches. And Mondir pitched his tent in the middle of it, and remained there five days, and bound such Arabs as he had taken prisoners, and drove off all the booty of Hirah, and every thing which they had captured and brought away from the Roman territories, and all their herds of horses and their camels, and so returned to his land, in great triumph, and after a decisive victory. And it even more increased his glory and magnificence, that |379 he liberally gave presents to all the churches and monasteries of the orthodox, and especially to the poor. For all men extolled him, and the two neighbouring realms of Rome and Persia admired and wondered at his spirit, and the martial exploits and victories which he had achieved.
[VI.5] The discovery, therefore, of Justin's treachery against Mondir, brought about by the carelessness of the clerks at Constantinople, was the sole reason why Marcian was deprived of his command at the very moment when the capture of Nisibis seemed certain, whereby the eastern confines of the Roman territories would have been secured against the inroads of the Persians. But the retribution which fell upon the Roman realm was not confined to this check upon their onward progress; for no sooner had the Persian king heard of Martian's fall, and the breaking up of the armies before Nisibis, than he determined to take full advantage of the mismanagement of his enemies, and assembling a powerful force, arrived rapidly at that town, and found the engines and machines which Marcian had erected still standing before it. And with these he forthwith commenced the siege of Dara, having removed thither all Marcian's engines of war, and applied them to his own use, for which purpose he had brought all kinds of artificers with him. His first act was to command the stone-cutters and others to make a cutting through a hill which lay on the east of the city outside the aqueduct, in order to divert the water; and when, as was said, |380 they found the stone hard, they lit fires upon it, and cooled it when hot with vinegar, and so made it soft for working. He further set up against the city all the engines which Marcian had constructed against Nisibis, and invested it, and used every device of war for its capture during a period of six months. Among his machines were two towers, which he erected, but the Romans devised a plan for setting them on fire, and were successful, and burnt them, although all egress from the city was impossible. On the side of the besieged the generals were John, the son of Timus Esthartus, a man of great warlike ability, and Sergius, the son of Shaphnai, and others. But Sergius, as they said, was struck by an arrow and died. After a time the Persian king, not finding the siege making progress, removed his tent and pitched it on a mountain on the northern side of the city, whence he could see every thing that was done within. And there also he ordered a tower to be built on more elevated ground, opposite a great turret which rose higher than the rest, and which they called Hercules. And against this the besieged found all their efforts unavailing, while the besiegers were able to strengthen their tower, and bring it up close to the city. Sometime before this, when the king saw that his vast works had not terrified the inhabitants, he had given orders for a brick wall to be drawn all round the outer fortifications, that if they made a sally, they might be caught within it. But when he saw that all |381 his stratagems were in vain, he fell ill, as was said, and was afraid lest he should die. He, therefore, sent a messenger to the city, requesting them to appoint some one to confer with him. Now there was there at the time a famous and illustrious man, named Cometes, whose office it was to interpret between the Romans and the Persians, and him the citizens chose as their deputy And after a conference, the king said to him, ' Tell the citizens they must give us five talents as ransom for the city, and we will withdraw from it.' But he, as he acknowledged afterwards, being confident that the city was impregnable, did not tell them of the king's offer. And when the king saw that the appointed day had passed by, and that they despised him, and sent him no answer, he was the more angry, and full of great wrath; and attacked the city again, and strengthened and increased the tower which he had last built But the Romans now despised and mocked him, and said, 'He will get only shame from this as from his other attempts.' But this over-confidence led them to neglect the maintenance of a proper force upon the wall, especially as the cold was now great and intense; and they even came down from the ramparts, and went to their houses to eat and drink. But when the Persians saw that the wall was no longer guarded by the Roman soldiers, and that the tower which they had built exceeded the height of the fortifications, they set their invention to work, and fastened planks together, |382 until they reached the wall; and passing over, they occupied the whole of it on one side of the city, and then began to descend within. And when on a sudden a cry was raised, that the city was taken, as the Persian army was far more numerous than the Romans, they were panic stricken and in confusion; and all ran in crowds to the gates of the city to endeavour, if they possibly could, to escape. And when the Persians saw how numerous they were, they again were afraid, and anxious, and held back, and gave the Romans room to flee, lest they should turn and defend themselves. The Romans then ran to all the gates, and shouted for the keys, and search was made, but no keys could be found, for the generals had hidden them; and as they saw that the Persians were growing every minute more numerous, and that the whole city was already full of them, and that they were hemmed in on all sides, and flight impossible, they recovered their courage, and threw themselves upon the enemy, prepared either to live or die. And so like harvest men they began mowing and smiting one another down like ears of corn; and the battle was stern in the heart of the city, and for seven days, with the gates still closed, they slaughtered one another, till the city was full of corpses, the smell of which became so unbearable, that they were obliged to drag them away, and throw them into the river and the cisterns. And when the Persians saw that they were losing great numbers |383 of their men, and that they could not get possession of the city, and take its spoil, being terrified moreover at the Romans, they fled and mounted upon the wall, and took counsel how they might effect their purpose by fraud. They sent a message, therefore, to them, saying, 'Why thus do we slaughter and consume one another? Come, and let us mutually pledge our word, and lay aside our weapons on both sides, and make peace with one another.' And as the Roman host now despaired of their lives, and saw that they were pressed by necessity, they accepted the proposal, and both sides pledged their word, and laid aside their arms, and approached one another confidently as in peace. And as the Romans put confidence in their word, they were without fear; but upon this a strong body of Persians entered the city, and at first both sides mingled with one another in peace; but soon they began to plunder the city, and the fraud and perfidy of the Persians was made manifest. For they turned round and proved false to their word, and seized the Romans themselves, and put most of them to the sword; and the rest they threw into chains, and took them to their king, with their nobles, and women of rank, and their princes; and the king commanded them to be drowned in the river which flows by. And next he commanded that every one who had gold should bring it to him; and that all the gold and silver that was found should be collected at his tent; and in this way an immense quantity of gold |384 was gathered, more, as was said, than a hundred or even two hundred talents, and piled up before him. As we are not however acquainted with the exact sum, we do not wish to decide falsely, but prefer passing by in silence whatever we have no means of knowing accurately. The king then, when he saw all this gold, called for the chief men of the city, and said to them, 'May the great God of heaven require at your hands the blood of all the souls that have perished on your side and on mine, since I did not ask of you so much as the hundredth part of the gold which is here piled up, to be given as the ransom for your city, and then I would have gone away. For to this effect I sent to you by Cometes, and ye paid no heed to me.' And when they heard these words, they swore unto him that they had never heard the proposal. And having summoned Cometes to convict them by his testimony, he said to him, 'Did I not send this message to them by you?' He answered, 'Yes, my lord.' 'And you told them,' said he. 'No, my lord,' he replied, 'I did not tell them, for I was afraid.' Upon this, in great wrath, he sentenced him to death; but subsequently said, 'Since thou hast been employed for both kingdoms, I will not slay thee.' But he commanded that both his eyes should be put out. And thus he spoiled the city of a vast and incalculable prey, and took the people captive, and emptied it of its inhabitants, and left in it a garrison of his own, and returned to his land with an immense |385 booty of the silver and gold taken from the inhabitants, and the churches, and every where else. Its capture, and deliverance into the hands of the Assyrians 4, took place seventy-two years, more or less, after the time of its first being founded by king Anastasius.
[VI.6] Nor was Dara the only place captured and spoiled by Khosrim; for while he lay encamped before it, as he saw that no attempt was made to raise the siege, he sent a Marzban, named Adormahun, with a large body of troops, to besiege Apamea. On his march thither, Adormahun stormed numerous castles, which fell in his way, and rased and burnt them, together with several strong and well fortified towns, and at length arrived at Apamea. Now, upon a previous occasion, the Persian king, after capturing Antioch, |386 had once before laid siege to Apamea, and pressed it so hard, that finally it capitulated; and the king in person entered the walls, and was a spectator of an equestrian entertainment in the Hippodrome; and because he then destroyed none of the buildings, nor set fire to any thing, they now felt equal certainty that the Marzban on the present occasion would do them no harm. In this confidence, therefore, the princes of the city and the bishop went out to meet him, and carried him a dress of honour. And he treacherously said to them, 'Inasmuch as your city is now ours, open unto me the gates, that I may enter in and inspect it.' And they trusting to him, and not expecting that he would do them any injury, opened the gates and admitted him within the walls. But no sooner had he entered than he seized the gates, and began to lay hands on and bind men and women, and spoil the city. And they brought out the prey, and all the people of the city, and put them outside the walls, and utterly spoiled Apamea, which was full of the accumulated wealth of many years, and rich beyond most of the cities of the east; and when they had thus placed all the population, and the bishop with them, and all the booty outside the walls, they set fire to it, and burnt the whole of it from one end to the other. Having thus completed their work of destruction, they took with them their captives and the spoil both of Apamea and the other towns, and |387 returned to the king, who was still sitting before Dara. And the captives were counted in the king's presence, and their number was two hundred and ninety-two thousand; and they were divided among the troops, and taken into the Persian territories. Shortly afterwards the king captured Dara, and spoiled it, and found in it immense wealth; for being regarded by all the neighboring towns as impregnable 5, they had fled thither, carrying their valuables with them; and all this and the people he took, and carried with him into his land.
[VI.7] The next action recorded of the Persian monarch is of a most tragic character; for being intoxicated with the glory he had gained in this expedition, and his mind elated by the greatness of the booty torn from the Roman territory, he gave orders that there should be selected from the captives two thousand virgins, full-grown, and of perfect beauty. And when they had been selected according to his orders, they were brought before him; and he commanded that they should be adorned in every thing like brides, in splendid and costly garments, and gold and silver, and jewels and pearls, and sent as a present to the barbarians who dwell in the heart |388 of his territories, and who are called Turks 6, in order to please and content them, and hire their services. And when every thing had been done according to his command, and they were adorned magnificently, he appointed two Marz-bans to form their escort, with a body of troops, and supplied them with large funds for their expenses, and sent them away, with strict injunctions that they should not be hurried on their journey, but travel quietly and at their leisure, that they might not grow thin, and lose their beauty. But these virgins being in deep grief, not only because of their separation from their fathers and brothers, and other relatives, but also because of their souls, which would be lost by their removal from Christian instruction; and their bodies, which were to be delivered into the savage hands of barbarians and enemies, with tears and hitter lamentations, spake one to another in their own tongue, as being now sisters; and all with one consent prayed for death instead of life. And their great grief was known to the other Syrian captives, natives of their own country, who were with the Marzbans, and to those also who were appointed to escort them, and attend to them: for they revealed to them in secret, as being natives of their own homes, their |389 longings for death, as subsequently became known to every one, and was attested by their countrymen and compatriots. When then they had travelled to within fifty leagues of the barbarous people for whom they were intended, and learnt that they had reached the regions which were their final destination, it so happened that there came in their way a very broad and rapid river, which they found great difficulty in crossing. And as those who had charge of them had orders to give them rest, and not to hurry them, they encamped for a day upon the bank of this river. And here they all took counsel with one another, and in all there was but one and the same noble and courageous purpose, to despise death. They hastily therefore conferred with one another, and said, 'Let us all understand, that when, in company with the heathen, we have polluted ourselves with their heathen ways, and impure meats, and horseflesh, and things that have died or been strangled, and have lost our Christianity, we must still finally all die, and go to the judgment of doom. Whereas now we are all sisters, and Christians, and the daughters of Christian parents: let us not, then, separate from one another, but with one will and one soul and one mind, let us all firmly hold to one purpose, and before our bodies are defiled by the barbarians, and our souls polluted, and death finally overtake us, let us now, while our bodies are still pure, and our souls free from heathenism, in the Name, and trusting to the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, offer unto Him in purity both |390 our souls and bodies, by yielding ourselves up now to death, that we may be saved from our enemies, and live for evermore. For it is but the pain of a moment which we have to endure in defence of our Christianity, and for the preservation of our purity in body and in soul.' And upon these words, they all firmly united in one purpose and secret covenant; and having pledged themselves to one another by a solemn oath, they all in a body threw themselves into the river, and were drowned, and so escaped the hands of the barbarians: nor was there any one who did not cheerfully embrace this resolution. But as their keepers closely watched them, they kept their purpose secret, and waited for an opportunity; and as they were never left alone, they said, 'If you will grant us permission, we wish to wash on the banks of this river.' And as they had received orders to endeavour to please them, they gave them leave. But they said, 'We are ashamed to wash ourselves, if you stand by us, and look on: but if you will stand at a little distance from us, we can then wash.' And so they left them, and withdrew. And when they had all strengthened and encouraged one another, and all signed themselves in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, they threw themselves suddenly by one hasty rush into the river, and were drowned. And as the keepers watched the river, they saw some of them floating and carried down the stream on the surface in a mass, and others sinking: and on hurrying to the place where they had asked |391 leave to wash, they saw not a single one of them alive. And, with bitter lamentations, they ran hither and thither, to save, if they could, hut one of them, and were not able, nor could they rescue them. And thus these weak ones becoming strong in Christ in defence of their Christianity, committed their souls into the hand of God, that they might be saved in soul and body from the impurity and savageness of the barbarians.
[VI.8] The conquest of Dara and Apamea was followed by a truce of three years' duration, ignominiously purchased by the Romans for the sum of three talents. It extended, however, to Syria only: for in Armenia the war was continued on both sides. Now the cause of this war, which was the surrender of themselves by the inhabitants of the Greater or Persian Armenia to the Romans, has already been briefly detailed by us in our previous history: we will now therefore proceed with the events which followed the revolt. The Persian king, then, being hurried away by his vanity at the successful conquest of Dara, and deceived by the pride of his heart, and assured moreover by the truce just concluded, that he had no war to fear in Syria, assembled his army, and boldly invaded Armenia, with the purpose of investing Theodosiopolis, the border town, and thence penetrating to Caesarea in Cappadocia, and thence onward to other cities: and so confident was he of success, that when Theodore the Silentiary was sent to him as ambassador, and noticed that he was upon the point of starting upon a military |392 expedition, he made him go with him; and on his requesting to be allowed to depart, he said to him in derision, 'Come with me to Armenia, and we will together enter into Theodosiopolis, and there you shall bathe and refresh yourself, and then I will let you go.' And so he brought him with him into Armenia, being perfectly persuaded that without trouble he should capture the city 7. But when the Roman armies heard these things, although greatly terrified at the name of the king, they nevertheless made preparations for meeting him in the field: and when he saw how strong they were, he was greatly disturbed; for their number, as was said, was more than a hundred and twenty thousand men. When then they met him, and drew up in order for battle, he was alarmed, and would not give it, but marched toward another city. And they also hastened thither, and threw themselves in his way, and repulsed him from thence also. And as they had now made trial of his army, their own courage grew, and they despised him. And as he saw that matters were not advancing according to his wish, he marched towards the mountains on the northern frontier towards Cappadocia, with the intention of attacking Caesarea. But when the Roman armies saw this, they also marched |393 thither, and arrived before him, and posted themselves in his way, and met him in the mountains of Cappadocia, and stopped his further progress, and would not let him pass over. And there they encamped opposite one another for several days, nor would he venture to engage with them in a general battle. And when he saw that they were more numerous and powerful than himself, and that he could not pass by them, and march upon Caesarea, he was greatly disturbed and alarmed, and began to plan how he might, if possible, effect his escape to his own land. But his Magian priests blamed him, and dissuaded him from this course, and at their instigation he wheeled round, and leaving Cappadocia, advanced to attack Sebaste; for though terrified as well as his men at the Roman armies, yet from shame of being ridiculed for not having accomplished any of his plans, he attacked and burned Sebaste with fire. But he could take neither booty nor captives, because the whole land had fled from before him. Crossing next from thence, he began to retreat towards the East, in the hope, if possible, of escaping homewards. But the Roman armies now despised him; for having tried the mettle of his troops, they had learnt to regard them with contempt, and were eager for battle. And when he saw that they had surrounded him, and were pressing upon him on all sides, he was compelled to flee in haste to the mountains, leaving behind him his camp, and all his equipage, that is, his tent, and retinue, and tent-furniture of silver and |394 gold and pearls, and all his magnificent garments of state, and fleeing away empty. And the Romans hastened, and entered his camp, and took possession of it, and slew every one whom they found there, and laid hands upon his equipage, and that of his nobles; and also upon the fire-temple in which he used to worship, and upon the horses which drew it, and were harnessed to it. And the wealth gained from spoiling the king's baggage was so great, that the Roman soldiers who had found it deserted with their gains in a body, and were never heard of nor seen afterwards. As for the Persians who had charge of it, such as managed to escape, went weeping to the king, and said, 'My lord, the Romans fell upon us, and have slain most of thy servants, and spoiled and plundered all thy camp.' And when he heard this, he answered, 'Let them alone:' and gave orders that his whole army should gather round him, and set up for him a wall of shields; and he made them stand in their ranks, and riding through on horseback, he supplicated them, pointing to his gray hair, and saying, 'My brothers, and children, have pity upon my gray hair, and advance and fight for the kingdom of the Persians, that it may not be despised and ridiculed: See, I, on horseback, will fight along with you as an ordinary trooper.' For his own princes were constantly contending with him, saying, 'Whether we live or die, Persia will get an ill name by us. For never at any time has any Persian king done what you have done, and brought |395 us here to die among these mountains.' This conversation, and the previous events, the Romans learnt subsequently from these persons themselves. The Persians consequently made their preparations, and descended on the opposite side, with the view of fleeing 8 to some city, and advanced towards Melitene: and had it not been for the envy and divisions which existed among the Roman generals, and prevented their acting in unison, they might utterly have destroyed both him and his army: for all that was necessary for this was, that they should arrange a common plan of operations, and with their several divisions surround him. As it was, the Persians advanced against Justinian the patrician, the son of Germanus; and Justinian was afraid, and fled from the encounter: and his fellow generals did not join him, nor come to his support. And when the king and his army saw this, they took courage, and were emboldened to attack and set fire to the city of Melitene.
[VI.9.] But the real object of Khosrun was chiefly to escape: and as soon, therefore, as he had destroyed Melitene, he directed his march towards the Euphrates, in the hope of making good his retreat to his own land. But upon hearing this, the Roman generals wrote to him as follows: 'The deed thou hast accomplished in invading |396 our territories, and burning a city, is not in accordance with the rank of a king----to do forsooth a piece of mischief 9, and beat a retreat. Even we, who are but the servants of a king, had we acted as thou hast done, it had been a disgrace to us: and how much more to thee, who art not merely a king, but, as thou accountest, even a king of kings. For it becomes not a king to emulate the deeds of those who come in thievish fashion to rob and run away, and set on fire and burn: rather it is a king's way, in the open light to stand up in battle mightily and boldly and royally: and should he conquer, then let him glory as a king in victory, but let him not enter like a robber, and destroy, and steal, and run away. Prepare thyself, therefore, and let us at length stand up in battle with one another in open fight, that it may be plainly known with whom both the victory and the defeat remains.' And when the king heard these things, he gave orders for battle the next day, in a plain to the east of the city, at some little distance from it. And in the morning the two sides approached one another in battle array, until but a small interval separated them: and there they stood in their ranks facing one another from morning until the sixth hour, and not a man moved from his place, the king himself being posted in the rear of his army: and so they stood looking at |397 each other, and waiting to see who would begin the fight. And those who gave me this account, with the strongest asseverations of its truth, and who were the officials appointed to act as interpreters between the Romans and the Persians, said, 'At length three of us spurred our horses, and sprang forth from the Roman ranks into the space between the two armies, and went at full speed close up to the Persian ranks, and wheeling round returned at full speed: and this we did three times, without being attacked by them, riding as fast as our horses could carry us, while both sides watched us intently, as our object was to provoke them to battle. But not a man moved from his place, or came out against us, but they stood still like a wall in their ranks.' And no message passed between either army, until finally Khosrun sent to say, 'There can now be no battle to-day: for the time has passed:' and so the two armies parted for the present. But during the night, before the day dawned, the king and his army made for the Euphrates, in the hope, by using every exertion, of crossing the river, which is six miles distant from Melitene: but the Romans were upon his track, purposing to drive him into the river, and destroy him. And in this they were successful: for their rapid march had thrown the Persians into confusion; and at the sight of the Roman army pressing close upon them, they hurried on horseback into the river, and more than half the army sank there, and were drowned. But the |398 king himself and the rest with difficulty swam over to the other side on their horses, and escaped, and marched rapidly into the Roman Armenia: and as they hastened along, he gave orders,to set fire to all the villages which came in their way. And thus finally he reached the lofty mountains of Carkh 10, where never yet had road been: and he was compelled to make his army advance before him, and construct a road, cutting through forests, and occasionally, in order to open a path, they had to dig through rocks, and hew the stones away: and in this manner, vexed and anxious in mind, he scarce escaped from the hands of the Romans, and arrived in his dominions in great distress: and there he published an ordinance, and made a law, that the king henceforth should not go out in person to war, except against another king 11.
[VI. 10.] Success had now for some time attended the Roman arms, and their generals had gained great glory in. many important victories, and had vanquished all who were sent to oppose their progress: they had also captured and subdued the northern tribes, who previously had been subject to the Persians, and further carried their |399 devastations for many scores of leagues into the enemy's dominions, and penetrated within a hundred miles of his capital, spoiling every thing in their way, and especially carrying off the elephants, until they had filled Constantinople with these animals. The full account of their successes would exceed the limits of our history, but all Persia trembled before them. When however, in the year 880 of Alexander, (A. D. 577 12,) the Persian king withdrew to his dominions, the Romans laid all care aside, and were elated with pride, as men who had valiantly withstood the king in person. Henceforward they acted as though they had nothing to fear, and imagined that now at length they were finally delivered, and at rest from all wars and conflicts. And similarly the troops in their camps were full of over-confidence, and carelessness, and, had put off their arms, and sent their horses away to pasture, when suddenly their outposts came in, and said, 'Arise, and arm yourselves: for the Persian army is upon you, with the Marzban Tam Khosrun 13: look to yourselves.' But they ridiculed the, idea, and said, contemptuously, 'Do you think they would venture to come and find us, and show themselves |400 to us?' And they paid no attention, nor troubled themselves to get ready; so that, as my informants said, the Persian army was upon them, when they were not only not prepared for battle, but not ready even to show their faces. When then they saw them approaching in long files, firm as a wall, a panic and terror fell upon them all alike, and confusion: for they had not brought in their horses, and were occupied solely with eating and drinking and gluttony: and some were here, and some there. And as each one caught sight of the enemy, he was terror-stricken, and began to flee at full speed: and others caught the infection, and fled, because their comrades fled: and the generals, when they saw themselves left alone, and that their troops were in full flight, fled too: and he who could get his arms, and catch his horse, mounted, and rode away; and he who could not catch his horse, fled away on foot, carrying his arms at first, but when he grew tired with running, he threw them away upon the road, and fled weaponless And some even of those who were mounted, and had their arms with them, on growing tired, threw them away; or if their horse grew weary, they dismounted, and fled away on foot. As for the Persians, they followed them at their leisure, not so much pursuing after them, as jesting and ridiculing and laughing at them, because when they were a hundred and twenty thousand in number, while they themselves were not more than thirty thousand, they |401 were thus panic-stricken and fled away, though they had not been terrified nor fled from their king. And thus at last, shame and an ill name fastened upon all the Roman armies, with their commanders; for the Persians did not so much as draw sword against them, nor bend the bow, nor shoot a single arrow, but gathered up the arms and coats of mail, which they had scattered in their flight, and their breastplates, and shields, and helmets, and spears and swords, and lances and bows, and quivers full of arrows, beyond numbering. And the cause of their defeat, as all men said, was, that the Romans had made God angry: for when they entered the northern territories of the Persian realm, where the people are all Christians, and the priests went out to meet them, carrying the Gospel, and bearing crosses, they paid them not the slightest reverence: and finally, in impious sport, they even went so far as to seize hold of little children, of one and two years of age, and, taking them one by one leg, and another by the other, threw them as high up in the air as they could, and then caught them as they fell on their spears and swords, and running them through, cast them to their dogs. Nor did they confine their cruelty to children, but treated the monks also with contempt, and slew and plundered them: and still more, they dragged out of their retirement the hermits, men of great age, and highly esteemed, who had practised asceticism for many years, and hung them up, and tortured them, |402 and mutilated them with their swords, saying, 'Bring us gold and silver.' And the nuns they tortured in a similar manner, even till they died miserably from their cruelty. And as was generally said, it was because of these atrocious deeds, by which they had made God angry, that He put them to shame, and brake them before their enemies, nor could they stand up against them.
When such were the excesses allowed by the lax discipline of the Roman camp, it is no wonder if Armenia began to grow weary of its defenders, and willingly made terms again with the Persians. [VI. 11.] Our historian, therefore, after referring to his previous history for an account of the rising of Armenia, and of the journey of the Catholicus of Dovin to Constantinople, and his magnificent reception there, and that of the nobles who accompanied him, now tells us, that after the king of the Romans had undergone all these conflicts with the Persians in their defence, being unwilling to abandon those who, for the sake of Christianity, had sought refuge with him; and had further, so to say, enriched all the Armenians with gifts and magnificent presents, and granted them an immunity from taxation for three years; and when the Persian sent to him, saying, 'Give me up my slaves who have rebelled against me,' had refused to consent: after all this, when finally the Persian had recourse to artifice, and promised the Armenians in writing not to do them any evil, nor remember their |403 offence against him, they then all deserted the Roman side, and the whole country delivered itself up to him, except those princes who had taken refuge with the king at Constantinople. Omitting them, the number of those who surrendered was twenty thousand men, and the government of the Persian king was restored there as of old. Of those who stayed at Constantinople, the leading men were Vardun with his retinue, and the king of a tribe who also had come over to the Romans, and whose name was Gorgonis; and both were still treated with great honour, because they had come for refuge, and surrendered themselves to king Justin, in the fifth year of his reign, which was the year of Alexander 882 (A. D. 571). The war, however, upon their account lasted for several years afterwards.
[VI.12.] Attempts, however, were made from time to time to bring about a peace, and in the year 887 (A. D. 576) three members of the senate were sent to the borders as ambassadors, whose names were Theodore the Patrician, the son of Peter Magister 14, and John and Peter, who were both of consular rank and of the family of king Anastasius, and Zacharias, a physician of Arx Romanorum and a learned man, went with them. On the Persian side came Mabodes and others; and the place appointed for their meeting was near Dara, which the Persians occupied; and their |404 instructions were to inquire into and settle the matters in dispute between the two states, as each side accused the other of misconduct, saying, 'Ye transgressed what was fitting in such and such matters.' And especially they each threw upon the other the blame of having violated the peace, the one side saying, 'Ye were the first to break it, by crossing our borders and devastating our land;' while the other replied, 'No; it was your Arabs who first crossed and wasted our territories.' And thus they remained, coming to no conclusion, but stirring up grounds of quarrel and dispute, till they even proceeded so far as to personal altercations and insults. And in this way they spent a year and more in debate with one another, each side sending reports to their own sovereign, which, because of the illness of king Justin, the godloving Caesar Tiberius received at Constantinople, and answered; and while both sides were anxious for peace, neither would humble itself to the other, nor acknowledge its weakness; and consequently they confronted one another with the appearance of determination. For the Roman Caesar sent to the Persians, saying, 'We rejoice in peace far more than in war; and if you wish for peace, we will not hold back: but if you wish for war, we shall not prove less brave than you are, but are ready to meet you.' But the Persian supposed, that because three talents of gold had been given him as the price of peace for three years, he might now look for a talent as yearly tribute in |405 return for his consent to a treaty But when the Caesar knew this, he sent in answer, 'You are greatly mistaken if you imagine that the Roman realm will give you a single pound as the price of peace, or will purchase peace with gold at all. If, therefore, you wish that the two kingdoms should make peace with one another on equal terms, well and good; but if not, you will have war.' And when the Persian learnt that this was his decision, he was not a little alarmed, and consented that a peace on equal terms should be made without gold. And when the Caesar received this answer, he wrote back in return, 'Know for certain that the Roman realm is no paltry state, but has ever been a powerful empire, and owed subjection to no one: nor can I tell for what reason the kings my predecessors submitted to give to the Persians a yearly sum of five talents of gold. Learn, therefore, that neither to you nor to any other will the Roman realm henceforward for ever give as much as five pounds. For your ambassadors were so arrogant as to say to the barbarous tribe called Turks, "The Romans are our slaves, and as despicable slaves, pay us tribute." If, therefore, you do not abandon this payment, there can be no peace between us.' And though he had already surrendered much, yet he not merely immediately consented, but ordered the payments to be discontinued; and had copies made in writing of the conditions of peace, and sent them to the borders to the ambassadors. And when the |406 Caesar saw that he had submitted to these terms, he further sent to him, 'Give us up at once the city of Dara, and we will make peace.' And when the Persian received this message, he was greatly disturbed, and wrote, 'Dara I took by the laws of war; but you did not take the lands of our slaves the Armenians by war, and yet you retain them. Give me back Armenia, and I will give you back Dara.' But the Caesar could not bear the idea of surrendering the Armenians, because they were Christians, and had therefore given themselves up to the kingdom which represented Christendom; and therefore upon this point the ambassadors of the two powers had so violent a quarrel with one another, that they put on their arms, and were ready to meet in battle. Thus, then, they separated from one another, in mutual displeasure, and the negotiations were broken off, and both realms prepared for war. And the Persian ambassador sent for the military commanders, and gave them orders, saying, 'Go, and take measures for the safety of the marches, as we shall not make peace with the Romans.' [VI. 13] But the Persians not only took measures for their defence, but also invaded the Roman territories: for there had been present at the conferences a powerful Marzban, named Adormahun 15; and no sooner were the negotiations broken off, than being enraged at some reproaches addressed |407 by the ambassadors to himself, he collected his troops, and began to waste and burn every thing on which he could lay hands, in the districts round the strong towns of Dara, and Tela 16, and Telbesme, and Resaina, sparing neither churches nor monasteries, nor any thing throughout the land. And thus he wasted and burnt and slew as far as Tela; to the inhabitants of which town he sent, saying, 'Deliver unto us your city, lest the same fate happen to you as to the people of Dara, and ye perish. For where now are your ambassadors who were threatening us? Let them come hither, and attack us.' But the people of Tela answered, 'We cannot surrender our town to you, for we have received letters, with the intelligence that the patrician Justinian is already on his march, and has with him sixty thousand |408 Lombards: and were we now to surrender ourselves to you, he would come, and utterly exterminate us from the land.' Upon hearing this, the Persians withdrew, but not till they had burnt the great and magnificent temple of the Mother, of God, which stood outside the city; and having clone whatever other mischief they could, they retreated to Dara. And the Marzban derided the Romans, and was greatly elated at the devastation he had wrought, and the captives he had taken, and the great booty which his men had carried off.
[VI. 14.] As the Roman reverses in the East had arisen from the want of a good understanding among the generals, who carried their quarrels by letter even into the Caesar's presence, he determined to send thither an officer of his own court, whose name was Maurice, and who held the same post which he had himself possessed before he was made Caesar, being Comes excubitorum, or count, of the body-guard, for which reason he is generally known by the name of the Count Maurice. Having summoned him, therefore, he gave him orders to proceed to the East as commander-in-chief of all the forces there,with authority to govern and direct and control all the generals and tribunes of the whole army, and that no one should venture, on any pretext, to transgress his orders and the word of his mouth. And further, he gave him power to appoint and to dismiss any officer from the service at his sole discretion; and sent with him many talents to provision the troops, having |409 also just previously commissioned Gregory the prefect of the Praetorian guards----a man who had distinguished himself in all the affairs of Armenia----to proceed thither to administer and take charge of the sums of money disbursed for the army.
No sooner then had the illustrious Maurice received his orders, than he set out on his journey, and arrived first in Cappadocia; where he began to collect troops; and numerous Romans, and excubitores, and officials 17, and common soldiers had accompanied him from the capital to enlist under his standard, which was now joined by hosts of Iberian and Syrian recruits. Directly then that he had gathered an army, he marched forward and encamped between Armenia and Syria, at the town of Citharizon: and there he assembled all the generals, and conferred with them, and appointed them their posts, and gave them their orders, and encouraged them, and sent them away. And for two months he remained there, and his name spread abroad, and fear fell upon all the Persians, who saw that the Roman armies were more numerous and more powerful than themselves. Being afraid then of meeting them in open battle, they contrived a stratagem, and while their real object of attack was that part of Armenia which borders upon Persia, they sent to the inhabitants of |410 Theodosiopolis 18 the following message: 'After thirty days, be ready, and meet us in battle.' And when the Romans received this message, they sent to inform the count Maurice, who immediately gave orders that his whole force should get ready for the encounter. But the Persians, immediately that they had sent the message, the object of which was to deceive the Romans, put their stratagem into execution, and made their preparations, and gathered their forces, and crossed over into their territories, making their inroad unawares at a place near Maipherkat 19. And as soon as they had entered the Roman territory, they began to devastate and burn all the land of Sophene, and especially the churches and monasteries: and in the same way they treated the district of Amid; and on approaching the town itself, they burnt all its suburbs, up to its very walls, and destroyed every church, and the large monasteries situated there. And for three days they besieged the city; but when they saw that they could not take it by storm, and were afraid lest Maurice should come upon them with his army |411 and put them to the sword, they raised the siege, and resumed their devastations, burning and spoiling the whole land of Mesopotamia like thieves, and finally wheeling round, retreated into their own country. And thus, while the Romans were preparing for the day appointed for battle, the Persians deceived them, and, like thieves and robbers, invaded and burnt and wasted and spoiled the whole of Mesopotamia. The date of this invasion was the year of Alexander 888 (A. D. 577), being the same as that on which Maurice had travelled thither from the capital: and the time spent by them in this rapid raid, and their hurried flight back to their own land, was eighteen days.
[VI.15.] On hearing of this inroad, the Count Maurice was very indignant; and gathering his whole force, marched into Arzun 20, a fertile province of Persia, in great anger at having been mocked and made the laughingstock of the Persians. And on entering it, they wasted and overthrew all that came in their way, and took a great booty, and advanced victoriously as far as the Tigris, burning and destroying the whole country as they went. But because the inhabitants were true Christians without guile, they came out to meet the armies and generals, with the holy vessels and crosses and the gospel, asking of them a pledge for their lives, and saying, 'Have mercy |412 upon us; for we are Christians like you, and ready to serve the Christian king.' And when Maurice and the rest heard these appeals repeatedly addressed to them, they shewed them mercy, and said, 'Whoever of you wishes to live, and serve the Christian king, let him bring hither his goods, and load all that he has upon his horse, and he shall live, and we will not slay him: but if we find him here after two or three days, he shall die.' And so the great majority of the people of Arzun, whosoever had escaped from the sword, fled into the Roman territory. And when the news was carried to the king, he gave orders for them to be sent to the island of Cyprus; and they had lands allotted them among all the villages throughout Cyprus, and dwelt there. As for the Persians, who stole into the Roman territories, and made a rapid raid there, being afraid of Maurice, lest he should overtake them, after plundering and burning as much as they could for fifteen 21 days, they fled back, and retired into their own land.
Of the proceedings of Maurice in the two following years, our author has given us no account; but in A. D. 580 he made, in company with the Arab Mondir, the unsuccessful expedition against Persia, to which we have already |413 referred, and which led to Mondir being delivered into the hands of the Romans by the treachery of his patron Magnus.
The narrative of the expedition here given by John is as follows: [VI.16] 'At a subsequent time Maurice and Mondir the son of Harith king of the Arabs united their forces together, and marched into the Persian territories by the route through the desert, and penetrated into the enemy's dominions for a distance of many score leagues, as far as Armenia. But on arriving at the great bridge there, upon which they had relied for crossing over, and subduing the wealthy cities upon the opposite side, they found it cut away: for when the Persians had learnt their intentions, they had destroyed it. And as they and their armies had undergone great fatigues, especially the Romans, they came to high words with one another, but nothing could be done except to return, without having met with any success; and it was with difficulty, and only after great fatigues, that they finally arrived back in safety in the Roman dominions As both were equally irritated, they wrote angry accusations against one another to the king; for Maurice thought that Mondir had sent information of their plans to the Persians, and had thus enabled them to break down the bridge to prevent his passage----a supposition which was false. And the king, before he could reconcile Maurice and Mondir with one another, had great difficulty, and was obliged to request the mediation of many of the leading men. And |414 finally Maurice went to the king at Constantinople, but whether or not he there accused Mondir is not known for certain.
[VI. 17.] No sooner had Maurice and Mondir returned to their respective territories, and the Persians saw that their own land was free from the invading army, than their Marzban, Adormahun, with a large force, crossed over into the Roman province, and entering the districts of Tela and Resaina, destroyed and burnt whatever he had left in his former invasion. Thence he marched into the fertile district of Edessa, and ravaged the whole province of Osrhoene, passing hither and thither in full confidence without fear, as though he were dwelling in his own land. And he continued there many days, not leaving so much as a house standing wherever he inarched, and making sport of the whole Roman army, because they were not able to drive him away. Soon after, when Maurice and Mondir returned from the Persian territories, wearied with the fatigues of the journey, and he learnt that they purposed to attack him, he sent to them in derision, saying, 'Inasmuch as I have heard that you propose to fall upon me, do not trouble yourselves to come; for you are exhausted with the fatigues of your march. Rest yourselves, therefore, a little, and I will come to you.' And after wasting and spoiling and capturing and doing whatever he liked, on hearing that they intended to attack him, he took with him all his booty and his captives, and withdrew from the |415 Roman territories, and arrived in his own land without a single man attempting to drive him back of the two hundred thousand Romans who were eating at the king's expense; nor was it till he had made up his mind to retreat that they commenced their march; and when they could not overtake him, they said that he had fled too fast.
[VI.18.] In Mondir, however, the Persians found a more active enemy than in Maurice; for when the Arabs under their rule had gathered their whole force, and been joined also by a division of the Persian army, they set out, intending to fall upon Mondir, and take vengeance upon him for having invaded their territories. But the warlike Arab, on hearing of their purpose, determined to lose no time, but gathered his troops, and set out to meet them in the desert. And having learnt by his spies where and how many they were, he fell upon them suddenly, when they were not aware of his approach; and in their alarm and confusion he put some to the sword, and destroyed them, and others he took prisoners, and bound, so that but few of them escaped. And thence he marched directly upon Hirah, and pillaged and burnt it; and so returned with great booty and numerous prisoners and surpassing glory.
[VI.19] The prisoners whom the Persians had taken in Dara and Apamea, and the other cities which they had conquered, were counted in the king's presence at Nisibis, and found to be two hundred |416 and seventy-five thousand. And such of them as were not there and then divided among the troops, were shut up in Antioch, a city which Khosrun had built in his own dominions in honour of his having captured and spoiled the famous city of that name; and there he confined all those whom he had taken captive in Antioch, and in all the country round about, as well as the inhabitants of Dara and Apamea, and the places of which he had subsequently made himself master. But though confined and watched by a strong garrison, they did not desist from schemes and conspiracies, in the hope that something might be done to help them. They secretly plotted, therefore, with one of the Persians who guarded them and kept the walls, and prevailed upon him by a bribe of five hundred drachmae, which they collected among them, to let two of them down by night by a rope from that part of the wall where he was sentinel. The men selected were two pious monks, both Arabs, whose names were, of the first, Benjamin, and of the second, who was his disciple, Samuel; and their plan was, if they escaped thence in safety, at once to go to the king of the Romans, and tell him how many thousand captives were shut up in Antioch. And they all sent a message to him by their hands, saying, 'Lo, we are shut up here to the number of more than thirty thousand men; and the Persians who guard us are not more than five hundred: if, therefore, but one Roman general be sent, and show himself |417 outside the walls, we will slay the Persians, and break out of the city, and return in safety to the Roman territories.' And when this message had been intrusted in secret to the blessed Benjamin by the captives, the Persian who had received the bribe let him and his companion down by night from the wall with cords, and they fled away, and arrived safely in the Roman dominions. And he delivered his message first to the Roman generals, and they sent him on with letters to the king. And on his arrival at the capital, he came unto me; and having delivered his message to the Magister, he went and informed the king Tiberius. But he paid it no attention, and acted as though he thought it was not true; and so the deliverance of all these oppressed captives was deferred and nothing done.
[VI.20.] There may perhaps be nothing improper, though we are writing of a Magian and an enemy, in giving an account of the life and death of Khosrun, king of Persia. As the facts then themselves prove, he was a prudent and wise man, and all his lifetime he assiduously devoted himself to the perusal of philosophical works. And, as was said, he took pains to collect the religious books of all creeds, and read and studied them, that he might learn which were true and wise, and which were foolish and full of absurdities and empty fables. And after the perusal and study of them all, he praised the books of the Christians above all others, and said, 'These are true and wise above those of |418 any other religion' And on this account he the more constantly studied and read them, and believed their words: nor did he ever show himself an enemy of the Christians, and though incited by the Magians against them, he was not often prevailed upon to consent to their being persecuted. Moreover, on one occasion the Catholicus of the Nestorians, who was constantly at his court, accused before him the few orthodox bishops to be found in Persia: for the bishops generally throughout the whole country are Nestorians, and but few orthodox are found there. As then the Catholicus had brought serious charges against them, the king commanded them to assemble in his presence, and hold a discussion upon their faith, that he too might know and examine, in his own person, what was said, both on the one side and the other, and decide, after hearing their arguments, which were most in accordance with reason. And when the orthodox had arrived, he commanded that both sides should assemble, and enter into his presence: and on doing so, they were placed on opposite sides before him, the chief of the orthodox being a certain holy bishop, named Achudemes. And the king commanded them to argue and debate with one another as to their faith, upon which the Catholicus and his side began, while the orthodox waited until he had concluded his discourse, to which they then replied, and disproved all his reasonings, and refuted him, having the king himself for judge. |419 As however the arguments brought forward upon the two sides were lengthy, and not easy to write down, we must omit them. The king Khosrun, however, approved and praised what had been spoken by the orthodox, and said to the Catholicus, 'These men know what they say, and can establish and prove their words, and their arguments seem to me to be very true: but yours are confused and indistinct, and have no solid foundation; nor do ye yourselves seem able to prove your words; nor, in fact, do they seem to me to have any certainty and truth, like those spoken on the other side. And from this I perceive that you have accused them before me without just and fitting cause; and now that I have myself seen and heard them, I command that ye never again offend against them, nor do them wrong.' And when he had uttered this command, all the orthodox fell down, and made obeisance to him, and thanked him, saying, c Lord, they persecute us, and fall upon us, and spoil us, and uproot our churches and monasteries, and do not permit us to offer up in them our prayers and supplications unto God, that He would establish and watch over your life, and the welfare of your kingdom.' Upon which he comforted them, and bade them go and build their churches and monasteries: 'for no one,' said he, 'henceforth shall be permitted to injure you.' And thus having worshipped him, and prayed for him, they returned to their homes with great joy: and henceforward all the |420 orthodox in the Persian dominions dwelt there in great confidence and fearlessness, so as even to venture, after having received this commandment, upon doing a great act, which was no less than the setting up of a Catholicus of their own, by the hands of the blessed lord Jacob, the bishop of the orthodox, a thing which had never been done before in the Persian dominions: but from that time even until this day there has continued to be a Catholicus of the believers in Persia 22.
[VI. 21.] It appears also that the war between Persia and the Romans was a cause of great grief to him, and that he would readily have submitted to much for the purpose of reestablishing peace. And in testifying to this, let not men imagine that our purpose in giving this short history is to write a panegyric upon a Magian, though he was one in whom Samson's riddle came true, 'That out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the bitter came forth sweetness.' For what other epithet than bitter can we apply to a man who was wandering in heathen error? Still, our purpose in recording his history is simply to throw light upon the events which we have detailed above. When then the peace upon the |421 marches was broken, he showed that he was vexed and grieved thereby; and even, as was said, when he was marching against Dara, the parchments on which were inscribed the terms of the peace, which had been made between the two empires, were carried before him, tied up and suspended towards heaven: while he himself said, 'Thou, O great God, Who knowest all things, behold, I pray, that I neither have wished, nor now wish, for this devastation and shedding of human blood, which is taking place between the two kingdoms.' And he gave further proof of his desire for peace, when his end was nigh, by his readiness to make concessions. For he had imagined that he should receive a talent of gold for every year of the peace, as had been the case in the three years which had just elapsed. But when the ambassadors of the Romans and Persians met upon the borders to treat and confer about terms, the victorious Tiberius, as we have mentioned above, being then Caesar in the lifetime of Justin, and all the Persians afraid of him, behaved himself manfully, and stood up, saying, 'The Roman realm is no abject state, nor in subjection to the kingdom of the Persians, nor will we give you a single talent in order that there may be peace. And if peace be not made on equal terms, I will never make peace with you at all for ever.' And this not a little alarmed the Persian king, and he assembled his Magians together, and said unto them, 'We learn that the Caesar of the Romans is a |422 young and warlike man; and I, as ye see, have grown old, and can no longer bear the fatigue of wars. Let us therefore make peace with the Romans, for we cannot overcome them.' And so they conferred together, and sent the following answer: 'That ye may not imagine that I look to gold alone, and prefer gold to peace, lo! now let us make peace on equal terms for both kingdoms, and put an end to the devastation at present going on; nor do I ask for any thing.' But no sooner had he assented to this, than the victorious Caesar Tiberius threw upon him a second slight, saying, 'Do not imagine that of the gold which up to this time you have received from the Roman territories, you will ever receive again to the extent of a single drachm: for the Roman realm is not so weak as to pay tribute to the Persians.' To this the Persian sent in answer, 'The yearly subsidy of gold was settled by the kings who preceded you, nor had you any thing to do with the arrangement: but know, that peace is far dearer to me than any thing whatsoever, and therefore I remit these talents also, and let us make peace.' And when the Caesar saw that the Persian gave way, and consented to these things, he sent him a further message, saying, 'If you will not give up Dara to us, we will not make peace with you.' And at this the Persians were irritated, and the peace broken off, and they separated at the marches in so hot a quarrel, as even to put on their arms in readiness for combat with one |423 another. And immediately the work of devastation was resumed in both states. And just then at that very time Khosrun the king died, in the year 890, (A. D. 579,) and was succeeded by his son, after a reign, as they reckon, of forty-eight years.
[VI.22.] The name of the new king was Hormuzd, and his character was very different from that of his father. For as the reports of him show, and facts themselves prove, he was a ferocious and savage youth, and but slightly endowed with understanding. At the commencement of his reign, being proud and deficient in sense, he was so haughty and arrogant, as not even to send to the king of the Romans the usual symbols of his having succeeded to the throne, according to the custom of kings. For when Tiberius was appointed Caesar, although the two realms were at feud and war, he did not depart from the established usage of sending the customary marks of respect; but one of his first acts after ascending the throne was to despatch presents to Khosrun as the symbol of his having commenced his reign, just as Khosrun, when he came to the throne, had done to king Justinian, whose reign began three years before his own. But this man, in his senselessness, haughtily said, 'Why should I send gifts of honour to my slaves?' And accordingly he did not send them. Nor was this his only act of the kind. For certain Roman ambassadors had been sent to his father with presents and royal letters, but on their arrival at |424 Antioch, had learnt that Khosrun was dead, and that his son reigned in his stead. But when our peace-loving sovereigns heard of it, they commanded the ambassadors to continue their journey, and carry the presents to the new king. But though he had given them permission in a haughty manner to enter his realm, nevertheless he received them with insult, and illtreated them, and threw them into prison, where he left them for a long time to languish in misery, till they were ready to perish and their lives be consumed. But at length, on the advice of the Magians, he let them go; but even then he would not permit them to travel by the direct road, but sent persons with them, with orders to take them over lofty and precipitous mountains, in the expectation that they would be worn out by the difficulties of the way, and die: so that they even said to the escort, 'If you wish to kill us, why do you not openly slay us at once, instead of bringing us here to die of fatigue among these mountains?' But the aid of God was with them, and brought them back in safety: and they related, both to the king and men generally, these proofs of the Persian's ferocity and want of sense.
Our historian has on several occasions referred to a barbarous tribe, called Turks, who dwelt in the heart of the king of Persia's dominions; and now he informs us, that they also were indirectly the occasion of the war breaking out between the Romans and Persians. [VI.23] For the first cause, he says, why the peace was broken was, that the |425 Persarmenians surrendered themselves and their country to Rome: but there was a second cause, which greatly embittered the enmity, namely, that the king of the Romans had sent ambassadors to the barbarous tribes, who live in the interior of the Persian dominions, and whom they call Turchios: nor were there wanting minor causes of quarrel as well. As regards, however, the Turks, Justin had sent them an embassy in the seventh year of his reign, at the head of which was a prince named Zemarchus: and never before had a Roman embassy been sent to these numerous and powerful tribes.
When, then, after journeying for a year, the ambassadors arrived in their dominions, he tells us, that one of the kings of these tribes (for they have eight other chiefs who dwell farther inland) on learning that an embassy had been sent unto them by the Romans, forthwith was alarmed and terrified, and began to lament and weep bitterly. And especially when he gave them audience, and saw them standing before him, he gave way for a long time to his grief, nor did any one venture to speak to him. Some then of those in the ambassadors' suite went on to say, that when we saw him weeping thus bitterly, and that no one of his nobles ventured to speak unto him, we fell upon our faces before him, and told the interpreters to say, 'We would know of thee, O king, why, upon seeing us, who have been sent unto thee by thy brother, the king of the Romans, thou weepest thus?' And he, on hearing our |426 question, wept yet more bitterly for a long time, and did not speak a single word in answer for the space of two hours. And then his sobbings' being somewhat stilled, he said unto us,' That you may know the cause of my present lamentation and tears, lo! I tell you, that for ages and from generations we have received this tradition, that whenever we should see ambassadors from the Romans enter these lands, we were to know for certain that the whole world was passing away, and being dissolved, and that all its kingdoms were coming to an end, and that forthwith in these times all mankind would destroy one another. And when therefore I saw you, and remembered these things, I lamented and wept.' After this, a long conference followed, and they spread out a splendid present of gold and silver and pearls, and magnificent state-dresses, and offered it unto him: and on seeing it, he was astonished, and accepted it; and picking out those articles which were most magnificent and beautiful, he said, 'These are indeed the gifts of a great king.' Now by chance it so happened that there were present at that time at his court ambassadors of the Persians, and the king asked the Roman legates, 'Tell me, is it true what the Persians say, that the king of the Romans, is their slave, and pays yearly tribute as a slave?' And when Zemarchus heard this, he replied, 'They speak falsely: for many Roman kings have invaded their lands, and devastated them, and taken their people captive: and when Trajan, |427 a Roman king, invaded them, he so overthrew and vanquished them, that to this very day they tremble and shake before the statue of himself which he set up in their land; nor will any one of them venture, even to this day, to pass before it on horseback. But let them be summoned, and we will convict them in person of falsehood, nor will they be able to deny it.' Accordingly the king gave the command, and on their arrival, he said to them, 'Did ye not tell me that the king of the Romans is your slave, and lo! as these men inform me, to this very day ye do homage to, and tremble at, the image merely of a king of the Romans, which he set up in your land: and how, then, can they be your slaves, when ye tremble at the image of their king, and do it homage? Is this true?' They say to him, 'Yes, my lord, it is true, that there is a statue of him in our land.' And upon their acknowledging this, he said, 'Why then did ye speak to me falsely, and deceive me?' And he swore, that, 'Were it not that I should then be as bad as you, I would take off your heads.' And he dismissed them in anger. Upon their return to their king, they informed him, that Roman ambassadors had visited the Turks while they were there, and had questioned them respecting the image of Trajan; 'And as we,' said they, 'could not deny what they affirmed, he was angry with us, and sent us away in wrath.' And the Persian, on hearing this, was greatly moved and enraged, and commanded that Trajan's statue should be |428 overturned; and he was embittered in his enmity by this occurrence, for he imagined that the Romans were stirring up these tribes against him, especially as the king of the Turks had greatly honoured their ambassadors. Such, then, were the facts which occurred, according to the relation of the ambassadors, of which we have given a brief abstract. For on their return, after an absence of two years, they detailed much besides that was extraordinary and wonderful of the great populousness of these tribes, and the astonishing character of the regions they inhabit, and of their military institutions, and the uprightness of their morals.
[VI. 24.] While the Romans were waging war in the east with the Persians, in the west they were suffering almost greater miseries from the inroads of an abominable people, who, from their long hair, are called Avars. Their first appearance in the Roman territories was in the days of king Justinian, who received their ambassadors with great honour, and made them rich presents of gold and silver and dresses and girdles and saddles ornamented with gold; and sent also similar presents by their hands to their chiefs. And not only were they astonished at his bountifulness, but also quickly sent other ambassadors, whom he treated with equal munificence. And often on various pretexts they sent embassies, and he gave presents to them all, and sent them away loaded with gifts, imagining that by their means he should subdue all his enemies. And |429 this continued until the murmuring against him grew general on the part both of the senate and the people; for they said, 'He is stripping the whole kingdom, and giving it to barbarians.' And when Justinian departed from this world, and Justin, his sister's son, reigned in his stead, a troop of them had just come, to be loaded as usual with presents, and go their way. And after a few days they had an audience with Justin, and said to him, 'Give us as he used to give us who is dead; and send us away to our king.' But Justin, having been one of those who were vexed and grumbled at the amount which these barbarians received, and carried out of the kingdom, answered them, 'Never again shall ye be loaded at the expense of this kingdom, and go your way without doing us any service: for from me ye shall receive nothing.' And when the Avars began to threaten, he grew angry, and said, 'Do you dead dogs dare to threaten the Roman realm? Learn that I will shave off those locks of yours, and then cut off your heads.' And at his command they were seized and hurried on board some boats, and turned out of the city, and taken across the strait, and imprisoned in Chalcedon. And as their number was fully three hundred men, a force was posted there to guard them, together with some of the royal bodyguard. And at the end of six months he loosed them and sent them away, with threats, that should he ever set eyes upon any of them again, either at the capital or in any part of his |430 dominions, their lives should answer for it. And thus they were terrified at him, and kept quiet, and did not shew themselves for a long time: but finally, they sent ambassadors to him to ask for friendship and make submission, and to say, that whatever he commanded them, they would do. And accordingly all his days they continued to be his friends. And as they were a powerful people, and rapidly grew in wealth and importance by the conquest and plunder of many of the northern tribes, they finally carried their arms so far as to fall upon another powerful people, called the Gepidae, who dwelt upon the banks of the great river, the Danube; and them they conquered, and took possession of their territories, and dwelt there, and spread themselves in the rich lands which they had occupied far and wide. Still professing to be friends, they sent ambassadors to Justin, and cunningly asked him, in the name of their king, to send artificers and masons to build him a palace and a bath. And on their arrival there, they built him a palace and a bath; and as soon as both buildings were completed, they requested to be sent away to their homes: but now at length he shewed his treachery, and revealed the guile that was in his heart, and seized them, and drew his sword, saying, 'Unless you build a bridge by your art over the Danube, that we may pass over whenever we wish, there shall not one of you live, for I will immediately cut off your heads.' And when he pressed them, they said to him, 'Who could possibly build a |431 bridge over a river as wide as a sea? And even if we could do so, it would be injurious to the Roman state, and the king would put us to death. Whether therefore we die, or whether we live, we cannot do what you ask.' But upon this answer, he had two of them immediately beheaded: and the rest, terrified at the sight of their execution, promised that if he would give orders for as many large timber-trees as possible to be brought, they would make a bridge to save their lives. And upon this, a numerous body, of men were sent out to cut down the tallest and largest trees: and urged on by the fear of being slain by the sword, they planned and executed a very strong bridge.
And when king Justin had reigned thirteen years, he departed from this world, and the victorious Tiberius, who had for four years been associated with him in the government as Caesar, succeeded him as sole emperor. And as this bridge was the cause of no little annoyance both to himself and the whole state, he endeavoured in the third year after the death of Justin, by all the means in his power, to cut it away, and at the time was not able: for they occupied it, and fixed their habitations there, and further demanded of him the surrender of the city of Sir-mium, on this bank of the river, for them to settle in; and threatened, that in case of refusal, they would commence a war with him, and devastate the Roman territories. But he would not submit to abandon to them so important a city: |432 and thereupon they began to assemble, and watch for an opportunity of stirring up a war. And they also made another bridge, as was said, a thing unheard of before, but which they contrived to erect, as being bent upon mischief. [VI. 25.] That same year, being the third after the death of king Justin, was famous also for the invasion of an accursed people, called Slavonians, who overran the whole of Greece, and the country of the Thessalonians, and all Thrace, and captured the cities, and took numerous forts, and devastated and burnt, and reduced the people to slavery, and made themselves masters of the whole country, and settled in it by main force, and dwelt in it as though it had been their own without fear. And four years have now elapsed, and still, because the king is engaged in the war with the Persians, and has sent all his forces to the East, they live at their ease in the land, and dwell in it, and spread themselves far and wide as far as God permits them, and ravage and burn and take captive. And to such an extent do they carry their ravages, that they have even ridden up to the outer wall of the city, and driven away all the king's herds of horses, many thousands in number, and whatever else they could find. And even to this day, being the year 895 (A. D. 584), they still encamp and dwell there, and live in peace in the Roman territories, free from anxiety and fear, and lead captive and slay and burn: and they have grown rich in gold and silver, and herds of horses, and arms, and have learnt to |433 fight better than the Romans, though at first they were but rude savages, who did not venture to shew themselves outside the woods and the coverts of the trees; and as for arms, they did not even know what they were, with the exception of two or three javelins or darts.
[VI.26] But to return to the war between the Romans and Persians in the East. After hostilities had been carried on for some time, proposals of peace were made, and a conference held, at which the chief speakers, besides others, were the bishops of Nisibis and Resaina; and also Zacharias the Sophist, of the town of Arx Romanorum. There was, however, a certain, Marzban of the Persians, who, being blinded and carried away by pride, and confident in his troops, and vain and boastful of his courage, advised the king not to give way to the Romans, nor make peace with them; 'For I,' said he, 'will immediately enter their territories, and exterminate them all, and conquer all their dominions, and will winter at Antioch.' And the king, being elated by these promises, and equally full of pride, broke off the conferences. The Marzban, therefore, whose name was Tam Khosrun,----the same who had so ignominiously put the Romans to the rout on a previous occasion,----collected his troops, and marched upon Tela Mauzalat, though there were many generals high in command, and chief officers, assembled there. And on his arrival, he surrounded the city; but the Roman commanders went out to meet him, and especially a bold and |434 courageous captain, named Constantine. Now it so happened, that the day before he had laid hands upon a scout, and examined him closely as to Tam Khosrun's dress, and the part of the army in which he would probably be found. And when he had learnt every particular, he posted himself on one of the wings; and having caught sight of the Marzban in the centre of the Persian army, he charged so vigorously at him, that he penetrated into the enemy's ranks, and making straight for Tam Khosrun, smote him with his lance, and unseated him, and threw him from his horse: and turning his lance, he smote him again, and pierced him through. But he was himself now surrounded by the Persians, and slain: and so Constantine fell, who was not only a brave man, but a Christian also, and a believer. But when the Persians saw that Tam Khosrun, on whom they relied more than on the king himself, was slain, in spite of his boasts that he would forthwith take the city by storm, and lodge there; and, further, became aware that they were hemmed in on all sides by their enemies, they turned their backs, and were hotly pursued by the Romans and Arabs, who slew and unhorsed many of them, to the number, as was said, of several thousands: but as we do not know the certainty, nor how to distinguish the truth from the false rumours which fly abroad, we have not recorded the exact numbers told us. It is certain, however, that many of them fell, and three other princes were said to have been slain, and all |435 their pride was brought to shame. After this defeat, they first halted at the river Bethvashi, and encamped there three months, waiting for an opportunity of renewing the contest: hut finding themselves unable to stand up against the Romans, they retreated into their own land in disgrace, without having accomplished their purposes. The date of this battle 23 was June, 892; (A. D. 581.)
The next chapter repeats almost word for word what has been previously recorded respecting Maurice; but as a few new particulars are added, it may be worth while giving it entire. He tells us, then, that [VI.27.] as the Roman generals, after the death of the commander-in-chief, Justinian 24 the patrician, the son of Germanus, would not act in concert, the merciful king Tiberius sent Maurice to take the supreme command. For as Maurice, like himself, had been a notary, and his personal friend in earlier days, now that he was king, he promoted him, and gave him first of all the office of Comes excubitorum, or count of the bodyguard: and next sent him as commander-in-chief over all the generals and high officers of Rome in the East, with power to arrange all military matters, and to enlist and dismiss from the service, and act entirely at his own discretion. On starting for his post, |436 armed with such high powers, a considerable number of men followed him, many of whom belonged to the excubitores, while others were members of the palace-guard. And on arriving at Cappadocia, to which country he belonged, being a native of Arabissus, he selected there a large number of young men, and enlisted them under his banner as Romans: he obtained also many recruits from the province of Henzit 25, in Armenia, upon his arrival there from Syria. And first he pitched his camp near the city of Citharizon, and the whole Persian land was terrified at the first rumours of him: and the Marzban, who kept the Persian Armenia, being alarmed at what was said of him, and wishing to find some excuse for getting away from his front, sent to the officers in garrison, in Theodosiopolis, the following artful message: 'How long are we to sit still and watch one another? At the expiration of thirty days, let us prepare for battle, and fight, and know who is the conqueror, and who the conquered.' And when they had received this message, the officers sent word to the count Maurice: and he gave orders that they should send in answer, 'We will be ready.' The Romans then relied upon this message, but the Marzban and his troops got away in the night, and crossed over into the Roman dominions, opposite Maipherkat, and began to pillage and burn and slay and take captive, throughout the whole district of Sophene and Amid. And |437 they penetrated as far as Amid, and surrounded it, and besieged it for three days. But when they saw that they could not take the city by storm, they demanded that gold should be given them as ransom for the city, and that they might not burn the suburbs. But the people of Amid did not believe them, but considered that whether they received the money or not, they would most certainly burn them: and thereupon they were angry, and burnt all the churches, and the monasteries, great and small, and every thing outside the walls, and overran the country wherever they could; and for fifteen days continued to pillage and lead the inhabitants captive, and then returned to their land with haste, amidst the general panic of the Romans. The count Maurice meanwhile, when he heard of their inroad, was indignant, and put himself at the head of his forces, and entered Syria in pursuit of them, but could not overtake them. And thence the Roman troops, in heat and anger, entered the province of Arzun, and ravaged and burnt and wasted and led captive throughout every district there, and carried the spoil into the Roman territories, as we have mentioned before. And at the king's command the captives were sent to the island of Cyprus, and divided among the cities and villages: and there they dwell unto this day.
[VI.28] At the time when the main body of the Roman troops, under the command of two generals, |438 named John and Curis 26, was engaged in the endeavour to protect the Greater Armenia from the Persians, and a large Persian force lay in front of them, no less than fifty thousand men withdrew themselves, and stood aloof, being angry and full of complaint, and saying, 'Unless we receive our pay in full, and the divisions to which we are each one attached are made known to us, so as for us to be assured of our posts, not one of us will go out to war, nor will we fight with anybody.' And when news of this was carried to the king Tiberius, immediately without delay he sent thither a curator of the royal palace of Hormisdas, named Domtzolus 27, and gave him a large sum of gold to divide among them, and told him to appease and satisfy them: and thereupon they made themselves ready for war. Just then it happened that the Persian Marzbaris sent a message to the Roman generals, saying, 'Why do we thus sit opposite one another, and watch one another like women? Let us come forth into the plain, and fight with one another.' Upon the receipt of this message, Curis, the Roman general, being a prudent man, and trained under Narses, with whom he had made many campaigns in the Roman territories, sent in reply, 'We are not able to fight now, |439 because our whole force is not here at present; but if you will come to us, we will do our best to meet you, according as our God shall grant us the power.' And when the Magian people had received this answer, they set out with great confidence, without being on their guard, or feeling fear of the Romans. And that same day Curis quietly prepared only his own division, which consisted of about twenty thousand men, and at night, just before daybreak, he set out, when they in their camp were resting and sleeping without care, and fell upon them, 'like fire that is left in the wood, and as the flame which burneth the mountains 28:' and struck them with terror and panic, and put them to the sword, or made them prisoners, except a few who escaped. Among the prisoners were a Marzban, and his son. He further spoiled their camp, and returned in great triumph, bringing with him their arms and horses.
[VI.29] After the death of Khosrun, his son and sue- cessor, Hormuzd, in accordance with the old custom of the Persian kings, of slaying all the brothers of the reigning monarch, put some of his brethren to death, and blinded the eyes of the rest. There was one, however, whom, as they said, his father had wished to reign in his stead, but the senate rejected him, and refused to accept his nomination: and, as was affirmed, king Khosrun himself supplied him with money |440 for his journey, and sent him away during his lifetime, saying to him, ' Go, my son, while I am still alive, lest you die.' And on his flight, various rumours concerning him were spread abroad, and he was supposed and reported by his countrymen to be now in one place and now in another: and this gave the opportunity to a crafty impostor among the Persians, whose youth made the personification probable, to allege and bring forward proofs, sufficient to induce people to believe that he was the son of Khosrun who had fled. He came therefore to the Roman generals in Persarmenia, and said, that he wished to make an agreement with them: 'for if the king of the Romans will acknowledge me.' said he, 'and assign me a force, I will subdue all the armies and dominions of the Persians, and will bring my brother Hormuzd, who has usurped my kingdom, and deliver him up bound to your king.' And when the generals of the Romans had fully examined into what he affirmed, and he had brought many to testify to his being the son of Khosrun, who had fled from his brother, being persuaded of its truth, they wrote an account of him to king Tiberius, detailing the investigation which they had made, and that they had found men who knew him, and bore witness to his really being the son of Khosrun, and further mentioning his destitute condition. And when the victorious king had received their report, and believed it, on the evidence reported to him by the generals, he immediately sent ambassadors, |441 with large sums of gold and silver,' and many dresses of honour, and horses, and numerous mules, to do him all respect, and convey him: and he gave orders that he was to he brought to the capital, and be escorted through all the Roman dominions, by the judges or sheriffs of the several districts. And this was done, and with great pomp and magnificent honours he traversed the provinces like a king; and Tiberius further sent, as he drew near, other especial marks of respect. When he arrived however at Chalcedon, and was ready to cross over to the capital, he was commanded to wait there, as the king purposed himself closely to examine his claims. For at that time a Spatharius of the king of Persia, who had come down to make peace with him, was at his court, and he knew the son of Khosrun, as also did the ambassadors whom he had brought with him: and the king, therefore, commanded them to cross over, and examine him, that he might see whether they also knew him, and could prove whether he was false or not, that so he might be sure of not being cajoled. But on crossing over and seeing him, they did not recognise him: and the Spatharius, who was himself a Persian, interrogated him at great length, and he could not prove that his claim was true. Now he was sitting upon a lofty throne, as a king, and the Spatharius went up to him, and seized him by the hair, and lifted him up, and threw him on the ground, saying, 'Do you, an impostor, who are guilty of death, |442 sit upon a lofty throne, while the princes of the realm stand before you?' And he further smote him on the head: and thus he brought his falsehood to light; nor could he make any defence, or prove the truth of his claim The king, therefore, gave orders that he should have a place appointed for him to remain in, but did not punish him as his falsehood deserved; he even assigned him a sum for his maintenance, and that of those who were with him, but he would not admit him into his presence. It is said that the expenses incurred in his behalf amounted to more than three talents. Finally, he became a Christian.
[VI. 30] From the east our historian now returns to the west, and details some particulars of the capture of Sirmium, which he describes as the inevitable consequence of the Avars having now obtained two bridges over the Danube. For gathering in great numbers, and occupying the country round, with threats of war and devastation against the Roman territories, they sent to king Tiberius, saying, 'If you would have us for friends, give us Sirmium for us to inhabit with your consent: for if not, we will take it without your consent, and be your enemies.' But the king put them off with words and various promises, as he was altogether unwilling to give the city up to them; and meanwhile he sent secretly an embassy to the Lombards, and other tribes, in the hope of hiring them, and bringing them upon the Avars in the rear. And when they pressed |443 their request upon him, he determined, in order not to let them know his plans, to send unto them Narses, the great Spatharius of the kingdom, to confer with them, and waste time. He supplied him, therefore, liberally with gold, besides what Narses took of his own, and gave him secret orders not to travel rapidly on his journey thither; and should the Lombards come, he was to put himself at their head, and fall upon them, and, if possible, utterly destroy them: while to them he sent this message, 'Lo, we have appointed the illustrious Narses, our Spatharius, to come and confer with you, and conclude with you a peace.'
[VI.31] The illustrious Narses accordingly started from the capital with great pomp, taking with him a considerable army, and a large sum in gold, and dresses of various materials. To carry them, he loaded several ships with articles of every kind, and set out upon his voyage over the dangerous sea of Pontus; but one of the vessels, on which was embarked most of the gold and his valuables, with one of his chief officers, and a number of eunuchs placed on board to keep watch over her freight, foundered the very first day of her voyage; and on learning this, which was not till after he had landed at the mouth of the Danube, he was so greatly vexed, that he fell into a serious illness, and after suffering for a considerable time in bitter mortification, his end overtook him, and he died painfully, and all his plans came to nothing, without his |444 accomplishing any part of them whatsoever. And much trouble subsequently was occasioned in the endeavour to recover his property.
[VI. 32.] In consequence of Narses' death, Sirmium had to he yielded up to the barbarians. For as the Lombards, on whom Tiberius depended for making a diversion in its favour, did not appear, he was compelled to send to the Avars another ambassador in the person of the prefect of the praetorian guards, named Callistrus. And on his arrival he made over to them the city, considering that it was a more prudent course than for it to be captured by war and violence; for it had already endured for two years the extremity of famine, and after eating their cattle and beasts of burden, they had finally been compelled to feed upon cats and other such things, and had suffered privations no less bitter than those which the Scripture describes as having happened at Samaria. People speak also of the compassion shown by the barbarians to the inhabitants, on seeing the pitiable condition to which they were reduced by famine, and which well deserves the admiration of Christians, whose conduct too frequently it condemns; because they do not show kindness to their fellow-servants, nor pity those of their own flesh. For when, upon entering the city, they saw the mortal misery of the people, they had compassion upon them, and gave them bread to eat and wine to drink. But when, after the emptiness of hunger, endured for a period so protracted as |445 two years, they seized upon the food and ate it greedily, many immediately fell down suddenly dead. Finally, the survivors had to depart from the city, and the barbarians took possession of it, and dwelt there.
[VI.33.] About a year, however, after the barbarians had occupied this Christian city, a fire broke out, ----from what cause God alone knows,----and suddenly it was brought to ruin, and became the prey of the flames; and as the barbarians neither knew how to prevent its progress, nor extinguish it, they all fled without being able to save any of their property, and abandoned it, and it was burnt, and utterly ruined. And many other occurrences in its history would be interesting to relate, but because of the length of our narrative, we have been compelled to omit them.
[VI.34] For what we have attempted has been nothing more than briefly to record some special incidents in the wars which have been successively carried on, and into the exact truth of which we have carefully examined; and thus we have described the attack of the illustrious patrician Marcian upon the town of Nisibis, and the events which followed. And next, we have shown how Khosrun, at the head of his armies, crossed over into the Roman territories, and took Dara and Apamsea by siege, and various other towns. Next came the arrival of the illustrious Maurice in the east with great pomp; and we described the fear which fell upon the whole Magian people, |446 and how, in the hope of deceiving him, they crossed over by stealth into the Roman territories in the neighbourhood of Maipherkat, and rapidly carried fire and sword for fifteen days throughout every part of Sophene, and as far as Amid; and when they saw that they could not take the city by storm, in barbarous fury they set fire to and burnt all its suburbs, and the churches, and monasteries, and every thing else situated there. And carrying with them their spoil, they hastily returned to their own land. We next related how count Maurice, on learning these things, was greatly enraged, and pursued them, but could not overtake them, and proceeded with haste into the land of Arzun, and burnt and destroyed and took captive and carried away such of the inhabitants as he did not kill, and brought them into the Roman territories, and that finally they were sent to the island of Cyprus. He also stormed several fortresses there, one of which, named Pum, he occupied, and placed in it a Roman garrison: but the fort opposite, the name of which is Klimar, is still held by the Persians, who paid Maurice a sum for its ransom; and the two garrisons dwell in face of one another, but they have come to an agreement, and mutually give and take without fear.
[VI. 35.] There was also another fort which count Maurice took measures for building upon a lofty and strong mountain, named Shemkoroth, whence the fort also took its name; and he put a |447 garrison into it, and supplies of provisions, and took measures for its safety in every thing. This fort then of Shemkoroth is situated in the Roman dominions; and the building of it was intrusted to an architect to whom Maurice had sent orders for its erection while he was himself in Persia.
[VI.36] There was also another fort, named Ocba, on the river Chalat in Persia, the history of which is as follows: On the bank of this river, on the borders opposite Maipherkat, is a precipitous hill, which for many years the perverse race of the Magians had been anxious to seize upon as a site for a fortress; but as there is a compact between the Romans and the Persians, extending to a certain number of miles from the border, neither the one nor the other had the right to build there; and therefore the Romans resisted them, and would not suffer them to erect any works upon it. For the building of the fort was often begun, and as often prevented. But once upon a time, as we have related before, the Persians found an opportunity, and built a fort there, and garrisoned it. But after some years had elapsed, the Roman armies attacked it, and under the command of a general named Aulus, they invested it on all sides, and commenced a blockade. And in process of time the garrison was reduced to such extremities of hunger and thirst, that their lives were all but exhausted; and on seeing that they could hold out no longer, they requested that their lives might be assured them, and that they should neither be seized nor made captives, nor |448 taken into the Roman dominions; and upon these terms they said that they were willing to yield up the fort, and withdraw. And the generals accepted the terms, and gave them the required promise, upon which they opened the gates, and came down; but upon meeting with water, and drinking of it, so many of them suddenly fell down dead, that but few finally returned to their country. Upon the surrender of the fortress, the general and his army ascended to it, and rased it to the ground, leaving not one stone upon another, but utterly destroying it, and casting the materials down from the mountain top. Before its capture, other generals and a large force had been collected, and they were posted some here and some there, in various places, and took the watch in turn. The capture of Ocba took place in the year 894 (A.D. 583).
Of the remaining thirteen chapters of the book but a fragment exists, and it contains little more than is told us in the headings, all of which are still extant. From them we learn that an embassy was sent to Maurice, now emperor of the Romans, to sue for peace; and that he in return sent an ambassador to the Persian court, which was followed by a second embassy to Constantinople. The fortieth chapter contained a statement of the mutual losses sustained by the two states of Rome and Persia during the ruinous wars occasioned by the weak policy of Justin: and this was succeeded by an account of the rise |449 and subsequent decline of the kingdom of the Roman Arabs, occasioned possibly to some extent by the defection of several of their leading princes to the Persians. Next, there was the capture of some famous Marzbans, who were sent as prisoners of war to the capital. The forty-fourth chapter detailed the history of another war, waged probably with the Persians in the third year (of Maurice), and of the victory which God gave the Romans. The next three treated of the 'base, barbarian, long-haired people,' called Avars, who invaded Thrace, captured many cities, and numerous forts, and carried terror and alarm to the very walls of Constantinople, at a time, when, says our historian, we ourselves were there. The forty-eighth chapter gave an account of the manner in which the land was taken possession of, and wasted by the Slavonians: and the forty-ninth, and last, recorded the destruction of the city of Anchialus, and described the warm baths there.
It seems plain that these chapters were penned one by one as the events themselves occurred, and probably they were brought to an abrupt conclusion by the death of the good old man who wrote them. Little did he foresee that the prudent and victorious Maurice, together with his sons, and among them that Theodosius, whose birth in the purple, after so long a series of childless sovereigns, he had so rejoiced in, would perish by the hand of the executioner: and that |450 the daughter of Tiberius, the one emperor whose name no stain or spot defiles, would be dragged, with her children, amidst the apathy of the populace, to the same cruel fate. Scarcely too could he have foreseen, that before many years had elapsed the Avars would lay siege to the capital itself; while across the strait, the hosts of another Khosrun encamped within the walls of Chalcedon, and, fresh from the conquests of Syria and Asia, would insult the city which still called itself by the proud name of Eastern Rome. And behind there was a yet darker hour: for the two empires, which had so long struggled for the mastery of the world, were about to fall before a kingdom and a creed which were but just struggling into existence.
With the victorious Khosrun the throne of Cyrus perished, and Arab Chalifs reigned upon the Tigris and Euphrates: while Heraclius had to yield to the partisans of the same conquering faith the provinces which his heroic vigour had wrested from the Persian arms. But these dark scenes of history our author did not live to behold: he had suffered under the cruelties of the weakest of the effeminate despots who held sway at Constantinople: he had had the happiness of living for four years under the government of the best: and Maurice, though with colder affections, endeavoured to tread in his steps. His last days were calm and tranquil: his last hopes pictured perhaps a new era of prosperity for his country, |451 and of peace for the church: but his own history shews that the times were ripe for punishment. The salt had lost its savour: and nothing remained hut for it to he cast unto the dunghill, and trodden under foot of men.
FINIS.
[Footnotes have been numbered and moved to the end]
1. a Mahomet, who was born circa AD 570, was seventeen or eighteen years of age at our author's death.
2. b This is the usual phrase for depriving an officer of his command, especially when it is intended to disgrace him.
3. c Rezeph, Jer xxxvii. 12, the 9Rh&safa of Ptolemaeus, is about a day's journey from the well-known town of Thapsacus on the Euphrates. As Sergius and Bacchus were the patron saints of the Syrians, churches and monasteries were too frequently dedicated to them for it to be surprising that no other mention of this monastery occurs in history.
4. d The Persians, I imagine, are here called Assyrians, not because that country belonged to them, but in a biblical sense, as the type of the enemies of God's people. The capture of Dara was the greatest misfortune which for many yeais had befallen the Romans, and the news of it spread universal consternation throughout Constantinople, but it led to the one redeeming action of Justin's life; for as it was now evident, even to himself, that abler hands than his own must guide the vessel of the state, he consented to appoint Tiberius as Caesar. The fall of Dara occurred in A. D. 566, and the account given by Theoph. Sim. iii. xi. agrees with our author. He says, [Greek].
5. e Literally, 'as Beth Merda, which cannot be taken,' a name given in I Macc. i. 35. ii 45, to the acropolis at Jerusalem, and translated in our version, 'a stronghold.' The Arabs also gave the same name to the citadel of Duma, which they regarded as impregnable.
6. f In the MS. the scribe has accidentally omitted their name, but from a comparison with the twenty-third chapter of this book, it is plain that after [Syriac] (p 360, 1, 17. ed. Cureton.) we ought to read [Syriac], Turkis.
7. g An answer of Theodore, preserved by Menander, p 160, is worth preserving. One day Khosrun boastfully asked him, if he imagined that a town like Theodosiopolis could resist the arms of the conqueror of Dara. But Theodore replied, 'Any town is impregnable which God guards '
8. h Instead of [Syriac], 'that they might flee to some city,' the right reading possibly is [Syriac], that they might destroy some city,' their object being to recover their honour before retreating homewards
9. i I imagine [Syriac] to be klasmata: the sense therefore may be, 'to act piecemeal,' 'on a petty, nibbling scale,' like one breaking off small fragments.
10. k The reading probably ought to be [Syriac], as the mountains of Kardaikh must be meant, Khosrun's route being through the Lesser Armenia, and, as Theophylact tells us, Arzanene. The difficulties of these mountains we already know from Xenophon's account of the passage of them by the ten thousand.
11. l Theophylact, iii. 14, also mentions this law, and is ridiculed by Gibbon for giving credit to it, but apparently without reason.
12. m Menander puts this event in the autumn of 576.
13. n This is the Tagchosdro mentioned by Menander, Maii Script. Vet. Nov. Col. ii. 364, where we learn that he met with a mortal wound from some unknown hand: upon which Menander frigidly remarks, that there was nothing very wonderful in this, 'for chance rules such things.'
14. o The Magister, or, more fully, Magister officiorum, was one of the chief dignitaries in the emperor's household.
15. p In Theophylact his name often appears as [Greek], Adormanes
16. q Tela, or Tela Mauzalat, otherwise called Constantina, in honour of the emperor Constantine, who rebuilt it in A. D. 350, was situated about fifty-five miles due east of Edessa. Of Telbesme little is known: Asseman mentions a defeat of the Romans there in A. D 503, and in B. O. ii 111 commemorates the building of a monastery on a mountain at Telbesme by Athanasius, bishop of Maipheracta; to which he again refers in p 228, and adds, that it was one of five Mesopotamian towns in which John, bishop of Marde, erected magnificent churches of stone and lime. Resaina, otherwise called Callirhoe, and Theodosiopolis, lay about seventy miles to the south-east of Edessa, and was one of the most considerable cities of Mesopotamia it had its name from Theodosius the Great, who restored it in A D. 381, but it was not till A D. 506 that Anastasius followed his policy of protecting Mesopotamia by powerful fortifications, and built Dara, which for half a century was the bulwark of the Roman empire in those regions, and called, after its founder, Anastasiopolis.
17. r John of Ephesus especially mentions the scribones, whose duties have been explained above.
18. s That is, Resaina.
19. t This place, better known as Martyropolis and Tagrit, was on a ford of the Euphrates in Sophene; to Syriac scholars it has the additional interest that most of the MSS. brought from the Nitrian deserts were collected in its neighbourhood, and bear its name on the fly-leaves. At Amid our author was himself born, and naturally therefore he took great interest in this region, and probably had more than ordinarily good means of information as to every thing that befell it.
20. u In Greek it is called Arzanene, cf. Theoph iii 15, who gives a short account of this invasion.
21. x There is a slight discrepancy in the numbers, as in the previous chapter John informs us that they consumed eighteen days in their inroad. In the twenty-seventh chapter, however, he again fixes the period at fifteen days, and also in the thirty-fourth.
22. y The first Catholicus, or Maphrian, was the very Achudemes mentioned above, as the chief speaker at the discussion with the Nestorians. His consecration took place A. D. 559, and sixteen years afterwards he was beheaded by Khosrun for baptizing a boy of the royal race: cf. Ass. B. O. ii. 441. 448: Le Quien, Or. Christ, ii. 1533.
23. z A short account of it is given by Theoph. Sim l iii c 18
24. a The MS reads Constantine, but there can be no doubt that Justinian is intended.
25. b Called by Cluverius, Anzitene.
26. c This is probably the Kours spoken of by Theophylact.
27. d I have no doubt that Domnizolus is meant, who is mentioned in the Chron. Alex. p. 870, as Curator of the Palace of Hormisdas about this time.
28. e Psalm lxxxiii. 14, according to the Peschito version
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Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
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Zachariah of Mitylene, Syriac Chronicle (1899). Introduction
Zachariah of Mitylene, Syriac Chronicle (1899). Introduction
BYZANTINE TEXTS
EDITED BY J. B. BURY
SYRIAC CHRONICLE
THE
SYRIAC CHRONICLE
KNOWN AS THAT OF
ZACHARIAH OF MITYLENE
TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH
BY
F. J. HAMILTON, D.D.
AND
E. W. BROOKS, M.A.
METHUEN & CO.
36 ESSEX STREET, W.C.
LONDON
1899
CORRIGENDA
P. 3, note 5. Omit the second sentence. P. 20, note 3. For fol. iii. read fol. III. P. 23. For Moris read Mori, and again on p. 42.
P. 27, note 2. The latter part of this note refers to the word "voices" higher up on the same page.
P. 40. For Silentarius read Silentiarius.
P. 71, note 2. For vi. read lxxxvi.
P. 168. Transpose notes 2 and 3.
P. 169, note 5. For "Magisterian" read "Magistrian."
P. 318, note 12. For 56 read "56."
[Note to online text: Syriac material, notes etc have been omitted]
INTRODUCTION
IN Brit. Mus. Add. MS. 17,202 there is a historical work in Syriac, which has been published by Dr. Land 1 under the title of Zachariae Ep. Mitylenes aliorumque scripta historica Graece plerumque deperdita. In the MS. the Chronicle bears no author's name, but is simply entitled, A volume of records of events which have happened in the world. Extracts from the same work are contained (also anonymously) in Cod. Syr. Vat. 14.6 2 (formerly 24), fol. 78ff. An account of these extracts, with quotations, was given by Assemani,3 and the whole was published with a Latin translation by Mai in 1838.4 A passage found among these Vatican fragments is quoted by Dionysius Bar Tsalibi as from "Zachariah the Rhetor and bishop of Melitene,"5 whence Assemani entitled the author "Zachariah of Melitene." The name of Zachariah is confirmed by the fact that Brit. Mus. Add. MS. 12,154 contains two extracts from our Chronicle, which it cites as from the "Ecclesiastical History of Zachariah."6 Further, Evagrius, in bks. 2 and 3 of his History, frequently cites a Monophysite writer whom he calls Zachariah the Rhetor, and these citations agree closely with our text. "Zachariah the Rhetor" is also cited by Michael the Syrian 7 (who is copied by Gregory Abu'l |2 Farag) for the first Synod of Ephesus, the story of the Seven Sleepers, events of the reign of Marcian, and the plague in that of Justinian.
On turning, however, to the work as preserved in the London MS. we find that in the appendix to bk. 2 the author states that bk. 3 is drawn "for the most part from the Chronicle of Zachariah, a rhetor, which he wrote in Greek to a man named Eupraxius, who lived at the Court, and was devoted to the service of the king and queen"; and the first chapter of bk. 3 opens with the preface of Zachariah addressed to Eupraxius. Again, in the appendix to bk. 6 it is stated that that book is derived "from the Greek Chronicle of Zachariah the Rhetor, who wrote down to this point at great length, according to the Greek practice of diffuseness." From this it is clear that the work of Zachariah ended in 491, and that he was only one of the authorities used by the compiler of the work before us, who followed him in bks. 3—6 only, and to whom the name of Zachariah was wrongly attached by later writers. This is confirmed by the facts that each of the bks. 4-6, and no others, is stated in the preface to be taken from Zachariah, that the words "Ecclesiastical History of Zachariah" are found at the top of the page (with two exceptions in bk. i) in bks. 3—6 only, and that the citations in Evagrius are confined to these same books. (See Land, Introd. pp. x—xiii.) 8
As to the identity of Zachariah, the Life of Isaiah the monk, published by Dr. Land9 from Brit. Mus. Add. MS. 12,174, fol. 142, is in the MS. ascribed to "Zachariah the Scholastic, who wrote the Ecclesiastical History," and a Life of Severus by the same author has been published by Dr. Spanuth10 from a MS. at Berlin (Sachau Collection, 321).11 From the |3 latter we learn that Zachariah was a native of Gaza, that he studied law in company with Severus at Alexandria and Berytus in the reign of Zeno, and that he practised as an advocate at Constantinople, where he was living at the time of writing the Life. There can therefore be little hesitation in identifying him with the "Zachariah of Gaza" to whom an ode of John of Gaza is addressed, with the "Zachariah" to whom several letters of Procopius of Gaza are addressed,12 and with the author of the Dialogue, De Mundi Opificio,13 inscribed "Zaxari/ou Sxolastikou~ Xristianou~ tou~ genome/nou meta_ tau~ta e0pisko&pou Mitulh&nhj," who in his preface states that he had studied at Alexandria. The "Melitene" of Dionysius Bar Tsalibi is therefore an error for "Mitylene."
Now Zachariah of Mitylene was present at the Synod of 536, but in 553 the see was occupied by Palladius. Hence we may infer that Zachariah, a rhetor,or scholastic of Gaza, residing in Constantinople, between 491 and 518 wrote an Ecclesiastical History of the years 450-491, and also between 511 and 518 wrote a Life of Severus,14 at a later time, conforming perhaps to the Chalcedonian faith,15 was made bishop of Mitylene, and died or was deposed between 536 and 553.16 The courtier Eupraxius, to whom the History is dedicated, is mentioned also in the Life of Severus in terms which imply that he was dead,17 from which it seems to follow that the History was written before the Life. He is no doubt the same as Eupraxius the chamberlain, to whom a letter of Severus is addressed.18 |4
Zachariah's work then forms the basis of our Syriac author's bks. 3-6. The author did not, however, incorporate Zachariah in full, but epitomated him, as is clear from the fact that Evagrius quotes as from Zachariah a statement which is not found in our text.19 On the other hand, the main narrative in these books is so homogeneous that in general we may assume that no other source was used. In 3. 1, however, occur three passages which are found in almost identical words in John of Ephesus,20 and must therefore have been interpolated either from John or from a common source, since the identity of language forbids us to postulate a common use of the Greek Zachariah. To another source also may be ascribed the list of Emperors and short secular chronicle with which bk. 3 concludes, the chronological summary at the end of the preface to bk. 4, for which the authority of a certain xroniko&n is cited,21 and the notice of Zeno's death and the secular events of his reign in 6. 6.
The compilation opens with an introductory chapter containing a general plan of the work, from which it is clear that the whole work, heterogeneous as it is, is the deliberate composition of one man, not a mere collection of extracts. As to the personality of the writer, there are two possible indications, one in 7. 5 (p. 161), where, in speaking of a certain Gadono who took part in the campaign at Amida in 503, he says, "I know him"; and another in 9. 18 (p. 264), where the same expression is used of an Italian named Dominic or Demonicus, who fled to Constantinople during the Gothic rule; but in neither case can we feel certain that the author is not copying the expression of some other writer,—a supposition which is supported in the former instance by the early date of the events related, in the latter by the fact that John of Ephesus, whom |5 our author appears to have used (see below), resided at Constantinople, while our author's interests lay entirely in the East.22 As to the place of writing, in 12. 5 the author speaks of an event which happened at Amida as happening "here," from which it may be inferred that he was living at Amida, or at any rate in Mesopotamia;23 and a connexion with Amida is also rendered probable by his acquaintance with Eustace, the architect of Amida, which may be gathered from 9. 19 (p. 267), the special mention of the Amidene who was appointed to command the guard at Alexandria in 10. 1, and the author's intercourse with the Amidene captives mentioned in 12.7 (p. 329).24 If 7. 3-5 is original, the intimate acquaintance with the history of Amida there shown must further be added.
The date of writing is given in I. 1 and I. 3 as A.S. 880 = A.D. 569. This must have been the date of the completion of the work, of which different parts were written at different times; thus 12. 4 was written in 561, and 12. 7 in 555; 10. 12, which I have restored from Michael (see below), would appear, on the prima facie interpretation of the words to have been written in 545; but, since the style of the narrative makes it incredible that it was written within a year of the events recorded, "this year 8" must be understood to mean "this year 8, with which we are now dealing."25 Throughout the history of Justinian's reign the author speaks of the Emperor in terms which imply that he was still living.
In respect of the date a difficulty arises from the use of John of Ephesus, which use seems to be proved by the facts |6 concerning the letter of Simeon of Beth Arsham in 8. 3. Of this letter our author and John (preserved in the Chronicle attributed to Dionysius26) have practically the same version, and this version is an abbreviation of the original letter, which is preserved in Brit. Mus. Add. MS. 14,650 and in a MS. in the Museum Borgianum and has been edited by Prof. Guidi.27 Now two men cannot have made the same epitome of the same document; hence one must have copied the other; and that the copyist was our author appears from the fact that in his work the letter stands alone, while in John it is embedded in a narrative of Homerite affairs. Again, our author's account of the bishops of Amida in 8. 5 is so similar to that in Assem., B. O. vol. ii. pp. 48, 49, that, though the divergences show that it is not slavishly copied from it, it is scarcely credible that it is wholly independent.28 The second part of John's History was, however, not completed before 571,29 while our author, as we have seen, finished his work in 569. It is not, however, necessary to suppose that the whole of John's second part was published at one time; indeed we know from his own statement 30 that a narrative of the persecution which began in 518, which, if not a portion of the Ecclesiastical History, must have been afterwards in great measure incorporated with it, and may well have included an account of the persecution of the Homerites, was published by him thirty years before 567. If, indeed, this date is to be taken literally, it is too early for our purpose, since the headings of the lost chs. 2, 3 of our bk. 10, |7 dealing with the persecution of Abraham Bar Khili at Amida in 537-539, correspond with chapters in "Dionysius," 31 who wrote out John, and must therefore be assumed to be derived from the latter's work.32 In one of the fragments of the History,33 however, John mentions an account of this persecution written by him, from which it follows either that the history of the persecution was not written before 539, or that a later work dealing with this second persecution was afterwards added. In either case we have a sufficient explanation of our author's use of John. Our author did not, however, merely copy John of Ephesus, even for events preceding 540. For instance, John's account of the earthquake of Antioch in 526 is preserved,34 and is quite different from our author's, and his account of the persecution at Edessa under Asclepius35 is very hard to combine with the narrative in our text (8. 4). But the true relation between the two can only be solved when the full text of "Dionysius" has been published.
This complication often makes it impossible to determine whether a particular passage of Michael is derived from our author or from John; and therefore, though the references should give only sources and parallels, not derivatives, I have thought it best to give the references to Michael throughout rather than venture on arbitrary decisions,36 which might be misleading. As Michael is not published, I have added references to his copyist Gregory.37 There is, however, one test by which it is sometimes possible to discriminate, and that is the method of dating; for John dates by Seleucid years only, while our author uses also the indictional reckoning, and generally writes the numeral in Greek, a practice found also |8 in the Edessene Chronicle.38 The use of this method in certain passages in Michael has enabled me to restore some lost chapters in bk. 10.
The first book, after the introductory chapter and a discussion of the chronology of Genesis, contains the History of Joseph and Asnath,39 the Acts of Silvester,40 and the narrative of the discovery of the relics of Stephen, Gamaliel, and Nicodemus by the presbyter Lucian,41 concluding with a short account of two early Syriac writers. Bk. 2, ch. 1, contains the Acts of the Seven Sleepers,42 while in ch. 2 the continuous historical narrative opens with the Synod of Constantinople in 448, and at the end of bk. 9 it is brought down to the capture of Rome in 536. Bks. 2—6 are almost wholly ecclesiastical, but bks. 7—9 contain much valuable information on secular matters, particularly on the relations between Rome and Persia. So far the work is practically complete,43 but the |9 remaining books are unfortunately fragmentary. Of bk. 10, in which the history is continued to 548, we have the headings of the chapters complete and portions of the chapters themselves;44 the lost chapters I have been able in part to restore from Michael, Gregory, and the fragments of James of Edessa.45 Bk. 11 is wholly lost: of bk. 12 we have a fragment extending from the middle of ch. 4 to the middle of ch. 7, and dealing with the years 553-556. The original work was, as we are told in the introductory chapter, brought down to 569.
The legendary matter at the beginning, though of great value for comparison with other versions of the same legends, stands quite apart from the rest of the work; and, as it does not contain anything which does not exist in Greek or Latin, it does not appear worth the space that would be required for translating it, and is therefore omitted. Of the remainder the translation of I. 9, bk. 2 (omitting ch. 1), and bks. 3-7 is the work of Dr. Hamilton,46 while for the introductory chapter, bks. 8 and 9, and the fragments of bks. 10 and 12 47 I am responsible.
Since Dr. Land, as he states in his preface,48 thought it better to spend his time in copying fresh documents than in revising his transcripts, his text is naturally far from accurate, and an examination of the MS. has enabled us in many instances to correct it. The MS. itself, however, is considerably corrupted, and supplies a text inferior to that of the Roman MS., which is later in date. All departures from Land's text on the authority of the MS., or of Cod. Rom. (which I have examined), or by conjecture, are noted, except in the case of (1) punctuation, including plural marks; (2) |10 division of words; (3) final [Syriac] or [Syriac]; (4) foreign proper names and technical terms, where there is no doubt what is meant. In many places assistance has been derived from the work of other writers, of whom mention is made in the notes.
E. W. BROOKS.
[Note to the online edition: footnotes have been moved to the end.]
1. 1 Anecdota Syriaca, vol. iii., Leyden, 1870.
2. 2 On the cover it is numbered 145.
3. 3 Bibl. Or. vol. ii. p. 54 ff.
4. 4 Scriptorum Veterum Nova Collectio, tom. x.
5. 5 Assem., B. O. vol. ii. p. 53.
6. 6 Fols. 151, 158. See Land, Introd. p. xiii. Another extract with Zachariah's name is found in Add. 14,620, fol. 28 (ibid. p. xiv).
7. 7 In the Arabic translation in Brit. Mus. MS. Or. 4402, which is far superior to the Armenian epitome (translated into French by Langlois). As the original Syriac is as yet inaccessible, I frequently for brevity's sake write "Michael," where I mean the Arabic translator. [The Syriac text is now being published by M. Chabot.]
8. 1 In spite of these facts Land ascribes bk. 7 to Zachariah. The different character of that book is enough to show that it is derived from another source. It does not, however, follow that it was not taken from another author, distinct from the compiler. The list of bishops in 7. 15 must be drawn from an author who wrote in 518, 519. See Land, Introd. pp. xi, xii. On the other hand, the end of 7. 6 was written after 540.
9. 2 Anecd. Syr. iii. p. 346.
10. 3 Progr. des Gymn. zu Kiel, Göttingen, 1893.
11. 4 Zachariah tells us in this Life that he also wrote a Life of Peter the Iberian; but the Life contained in this MS. and in Brit. Mus. Add. MS. 12,174, and edited by Dr.Raabe (Leipzig, 1895), is not his (see Raabe's Introduction). The Life of Theodosius, published by Land (Anecd. Syr. iii. p. 341) from Add. 12,174, is ascribed by him to Zachariah; but the discrepancies with the account in our 3. 9 make this ascription very doubtful. All these lives exist in Syriac only.
12. 1 Mai, op. cit. praef. p. xiv.
13. 2 Migne, Patrol. Graec. vol. lxxxv. p. 1012.
14. 3 The Life of Isaiah is mentioned in that of Severus, and is therefore earlier. Similarly that of Peter.
15. 4 His name is not among the signatures to the decree of the Synod of 536, and he may possibly have been a nominee of Anthimus.
16. 5 There are some notices of Zachariah in the Plerophoriae of John of Majuma, lately published in a translation by M. Nau, chs. 70, 73. From ch. 70 it appears that he gave up his secular career before 519. (Revue de l'Orient Chrétien, 1898, Suppl. trim. pp. 375, 377.)
17. 6 Vit. Sev. p. 28, l. I, 2, "Eupraxius of illustrious memory."
18. 7Wright, Cat. Syr. MSS. Brit. Mus. p. 944.
19. 1 Evagr. iii. 18; cf. also ii. 10,
20. 2 Anecd. Syr. iii. p. 120, 1. 6-9 = Anecd. Syr. ii. p. 363, 1. 6-9; Anecd. Syr. iii. p. 123, 1. 11-13 = Anecd. Syr. ii. p. 363, 1. 1-5; Anecd. Syr. iii. p. 119, 1. 11-16 = a passage quoted by M. Nau in his analysis of the second part of Jo. Eph. ap. "Dion." (Revue de l'Orient Chrétien, 1897, Suppl. trim. p. 457).
21. 3 Cited also in ii. 1 (p. 93, 1. 9, Land) for the death of Decius and accession of Gallus, and in the appendix to bk. 2 for the length of the life and reign of Theodosius II.
22. 1 No passage corresponding to this occurs in the analysis of Jo. Eph. given by M. Nau from "Dionysius," but I can hardly believe that the whole of Jo. Eph. is preserved by "Dion.," since the analysis contains no record of the Synod of 536 or of the death of Theodora.
23. 2 In 12. 6 "the cities here" = the cities of Mesopotamia; but, on the other hand, the fact that this somewhat obscure event is recorded makes it probable that the author was a native of Amida. Jo. Eph. was also an Amidene, but the late date of this event makes it unlikely that the narrative was derived from his work (see below). Moreover, at that time he seems to have been living in Constantinople or Asia Minor.
24. 3 On the other hand, Dodo the anchorite, whom he quotes as an informant in 8. 5, seems to have been a native of Emesa.
25. 4 Similarly "this year 4" at the end of 12. 5.
26. 1 Assem., B. O. vol. i. p. 364. It has been shown by M. Nau, in Bulletin Critique, ser. 2, tom. ii. p. 321 ff., and by Prof. Nöldeke, in Vienna Oriental Journal, tom. x. p. 160 ff., that the attribution of this Chronicle to Dionysius is a mere blunder of Assemani; but, as the name is too well established to abandon, I refer to it as "Dionysius." I may here add that from Mich. (fol. 223) it appears that the work of Dionysius, whose preface is there given in full, began at 582, and was a continuation of Cyrus of Batnae.
27. 2 Atti dell' Accademia de' Lincei, ser. 3, tom. vii.
28. 3 See also Hallier, Untersuchungen über die Edessenische Chronik, p. 67. His argument from the list of banished bishops, which Mich. (fol. 161 v.) quotes as from Jo. Eph., is, however, not quite conclusive, since our author's account in 8. 5 is somewhat different, and the correspondence as to Akhs'noyo may be explained if both drew from the letter to which our author refers.
29. 4 Jo. Eph. pt. iii. I. 3.
30. 5 De Beat. Orient. 35 (Anecd. Syr. ii. pp. 203, 212; transl. pp. 130, 135).
31. 1 Cod. Syr. Vat. 162, fol. 96. I made a cursory examination of this MS. in 1894, but I owe most of my knowledge of "Dionysius" (apart from Assemani's extracts) to M. Nau's analysis (see p. 4, note).
32. 2 It does not follow that the narrative itself was copied, since our author may have taken his subjects from John, and given his own account of the events.
33. 3 Anecd. Syr. ii. p. 294; transl. p. 221.
34. 4 Anecd. Syr. ii. p. 299 ff.; transl. p. 224 ff.
35. 5 Anecd. Syr. ii. p. 291 ff.; transl. p. i9ff.
36. 6 This does not apply to the Zachariah books, in which there can be no doubt that he copies our author.
37. 7 The references to the Chronicon Syriacum are to the edition of Bedjan.
38. 1 See Hallier, op. cit. p. 41.
39. 2 The translation from the Greek is ascribed to Moses of Ingila. This chapter has been translated into Latin by Oppenheim (Berlin, 1886). Part of the Greek version of this legend and a Latin epitome were published by Fabricius (Cod. Pseudepigr. V. T. vols. i. and ii.), and a complete text in Greek and Latin has now been published from several MSS. by the Abbe Batiffol (Paris, 1889-1890). The Greek text has been again edited by V. M. Istrin (Moscow, 1898).
40. 3 The Greek Acts are published in Combefis, Christi martyrum lecti triumphi. Portions are also given by Cedrenus, and in a shorter form by Geo. Mon. and Zonaras. A Latin version with large additions exists in a book entered in Brit. Mus. Catalogue under "Eusebius," and supposed to have been published at Strassburg in 1470. Another with slight variations is in Mombritius, Sanctuarium, vol. ii., and the Jewish dispute was published by Wicelius (Maintz, 1544). An epitome is in Surius, Act. Sanct., Dec. 31. The Syriac Acts are also in Add. MS. 12,174, but without the Jewish dispute. See article of A. L. Frothingham in Memorie dell' Accademia de' Liucei, 1882.
41. 4 Lucian's letter exists in two Latin versions in Migne, Patr. Lat. vol. xli. p. 807 ff. The Greek original is mentioned by Fabricius (Bibl. Graec. vol. x. p. 327), but is not published. An epitome is given in Photius, Bibl. Cod. 171, which contains a passage found in our author but not in either of the Latin texts. Another Latin version, with slight variations from the first of the two in Migne, is published in Mombritius, Sanctuarium, vol. ii.
42. 5 For the various versions of this legend see Act. Sanct., Jul. vol. vi. p. 375 ff., and Guidi, Testi Orientali Inediti sopra i Sette Dormienti di Efeso (Atti dell' Accademia de' Lincei, ser. 3, tom. xii.). The Greek Acts are in Migne, Patr. Graec. vol. cxv. p. 428. A Syriac version similar to our author's is in Add. MS. 14,641, fol. 150. El. Nis. quotes the legend from "John the Jacobite," i.e. John of Ephesus.
43. 6 Setting aside small tears and obliterations, the only losses are a part of I. 6, where a leaf has been lost, and the end of I. 5, which is also missing. The beginning of I. 6, also contained on this latter leaf or leaves, is supplied by Dr. Land from Add. MS. 7190.
44. 1 10. 16 and a part of 10. 15, missing in Cod. Brit., are found in Cod. Rom.
45. 2 Brit. Mus. Add. MS. 14,685.
46. 3 A translation of bks. 3-6 was privately printed by Dr. Hamilton in 1892. No other continuous translation, except of the Vatican fragments, has as yet appeared.
47. 4 The epitome of Ptolemy's Geography in 12. 7 is omitted.
48. 5 P. xiv.
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Greek text is rendered using the Scholars Press SPIonic font, free from here.
Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
SOURCE SECTION: zachariah01.htm
Zachariah of Mitylene, Syriac Chronicle (1899). Book 1.
Zachariah of Mitylene, Syriac Chronicle (1899). Book 1.
A VOLUME OF RECORDS OF EVENTS WHICH HAVE HAPPENED IN THE WORLD
BOOK I
THE first chapter, an apology for undertaking the work.
The second chapter, an epistle containing a request with regard to the table of generations in the book of Genesis.
The third chapter, a defence of the table of generations in the matter of the chronological canons, which are set down below.
The fourth chapter, an epistle containing a request with regard to the translation of the Greek book of Asyath, which was found in the library of the house of Beruya, the bishops from the city of Rhesaina.1
The fifth chapter, an answer to the epistle.
The sixth chapter, a translation of the book of Asyath.
The seventh chapter, a translation of "Silvester, Patriarch of Rome," relating the conversion and baptism of Constantine, the believing king, and the disputations of the Jewish doctors.
The eighth chapter, the revelation of the repository of the bones of Stephen and Nicodemus and Gamaliel and Habib his son.
The ninth chapter, about Isaac and Dodo, the Syriac doctors. |12
THE FIRST CHAPTER
MEN who were moved like irrational beasts (and they were merely animal) by foul habits and wicked customs and brutal instincts and earthly life and evil tradition handed down from one to another, in the eager pursuit of passions, in the corruption of the flesh, and in the impure desires of the body, men whom the Scripture named flesh, saying, "My spirit shall not dwell with men for ever, for that they are flesh";2 whom Solomon also calls ungodly, saying, "Ungodly men with their words and with their works called upon death and thought it their friend; and they melted away and sware and made a covenant with it, because they are worthy to be part of it. For they said in themselves (and they did not reason aright), 'Our life is short and in sorrow, and there is no further remedy at the death of a man, and no man hath appeared who hath been released from Hades. For we were suddenly born, and hereafter we shall return to be as though we had never been: for the breath in our nostrils is as smoke, and reason as a spark stirred in our heart; which being extinguished, our body shall be as ashes, and the breath shall be scattered abroad as thin air, and our name shall be forgotten after a time, and no man shall remember our works, and our life shall pass away as the trace of clouds, and as a mist that |13 is driven away before the beams of the sun, and its heat is heavy upon it. For our life is a shadow that passeth away, and there is no remedy at our death: for it is sealed, and there is none that returneth. Come on therefore, let us enjoy these good things: and let us speedily use the creatures in our youth. Let us fill ourselves with choice wine and ointments: and let no blossom of the air pass by us: let us crown ourselves with the flowers of the rose-tree before it be withered: and let none of us be without voluptuousness until our old age; and in every place let us leave a token of our voluptuousness: for this is our portion and this is our inheritance' ";3 these did as Moses bears witness: "The whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. And it came to pass, when they removed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Sin'ar; and they dwelt there. And they said, each man to his fellow, 'Go to, let us cast bricks and burn them with fire.' And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar. And they said, 'Go to, let us build us a town and a tower whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the earth.'" 4 And they toiled and built zealously, and laboured in vain at the tower.
And 5 yet again the tribes of Reuben and Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh, when they turned back from the rest of the tribes of their brethren, who had taken possession of the land of promise, and came to Gilgal by the side of Jordan in the land of Kh'na'an, built there with stones which they |14 collected a great altar to see to by the side of Jordan. And, when the rest of the tribes heard of it, Phineas the son of Eli'azar the priest and the chiefs of the congregation, the captains of the hosts of Israel, came to them and inquired at their hands concerning this; and they returned them answer, "It is that it may be a witness between us and you, that your children may not say to our children in time to come, 'What have ye to do with the Lord God of Israel, ye children of Reuben and children of Gad? For behold! the Lord God hath set a border between us and you, even this Jordan.' And we said, 'Let us take us occasion and build us an altar, not for sacrifice, nor for offering, but for a witness between us and you, and between our generations after us.'"
And 6 again Gideon, after he had overthrown the Mid-ianites, spread a garment and asked each man for the earrings of the prey which the men with him had gathered; and the weight of the earrings that he asked was a thousand and seven hundred measures of weight: and Gideon took them and made thereof a lufro, and put it in his village, even in 'Ofrah: and the children of Israel went astray after it, and it became a snare to Gideon and to his house.
And 7 again the mother of Micah of Mount Ephraim, she also received eleven hundred measures of silver from her son, and made a graven image and a molten image.
And again Abshalom the son of David "in his lifetime reared up for himself an image in the dale of the kings: for he said, 'I have no one to keep my name in remembrance': and he called the image after his name: and it was called 'Abshalom's hand,' unto this day."8 And Methodius also, bishop of Olympus and martyr, in the work which he addressed to Aglaophon concerning the resurrection of the |15 dead, tells a story about Phidias,9 a craftsman and sculptor, who wrought an ivory statue, beautiful to behold, and, in order that it might last a long time and not be destroyed or spoilt, poured oil under its feet and anointed the rest of the sculpture.
And we see images of divers persons in divers places, and we find records written on papyrus concerning divers events which have happened in the world, and statues set up to preserve the memory and extol the merits of those who are dead.
How just and right is it therefore for the discreet and earnest to see that the rest of the events which have occurred from time to time after those chronicled in the three Ecclesiastical Histories of Eusebius, Socrates, and Theodoret, which are scattered about and not collected in one book, are, as far as is possible, collected together from epistles or manuscripts or trustworthy reports and set down for the benefit of the believers and of those who care for right instruction and mental excellence! May the recording of them have the help of Christ our God, to whom we pray that He will give us wisdom and eloquence, that without confusion we may write the true account of the things which have happened!
Now, since in the Syriac manuscripts of the table of generations in Genesis there is a certain variation and divergence from the Greek, and no small deficiency in the number of years, it is right for us and in harmony with our work and reasonable that it should begin with the book of Genesis, and after this should continue with the book of Asyath, and after that with that of Silvester and the conversion of Constantine the king and his baptism, with regard to which Eusebius has failed to give an accurate account and Socrates has missed the truth (for the king was not baptized |16 at the end of his life, as he 10 wrote, since the story of his conversion by Silvester is also preserved in writing and in pictures at Rome in several places, as those who have been there and come to us have seen and tell), and further concerning the revelation of the repository of the bones of Stephen and his companions, and concerning Isaac and Dodo, the Syriac doctors.
And here we will end the first book; and afterwards, from such sources as we can find, we will write about the succeeding events in books and in the chapters contained in them severally, as written below, from the thirty-second year of Theodosius the son of Arcadius to the year 880 of the Greeks.11
Now 12 we beg that the readers or hearers will not blame us, if we do not call the kings victorious and mighty, and the generals valiant and astute, and the bishops pious and blessed, and the monks chaste and of honourable character, because it is our object to relate facts, following in the footsteps of the Holy Scriptures, and it is not our intention on our own account to praise and extol rulers with flattering words, or to revile and insult with rebuke those who believe differently, provided only we do not find something of the kind in the manuscripts and epistles which we are about to translate. |17
[Note to the online edition: nothing is said here in the printed text, but the introduction indicates that chapters 2-8 have been omitted as containing only derivative material]
CHAPTER IX
THIS CHAPTER TELLS ABOUT THE SYRIAC DOCTORS, ISAAC AND DODO, WHO LIVED IN THE DAYS OF THE BELIEVING KINGS ARCADIUS AND THEODOSIUS
ISAAC the teacher, a native of Syria, issued forth from one of the monastic dwellings of the West; and he in his diligence went up to Rome, and he also travelled to other cities. And he had books which were full of profitable teaching, containing all kinds of comments upon the Sacred Scriptures, following Ephraim and his disciples.
And Dodo also was a worthy monk of Samkè, a town belonging to the district of Amida. And on account of the captivity and famine which occurred in his days in that country, he was sent by the chiefs of the people to the king; and he proved himself very acceptable. And this man also had, as it appears to us, about three hundred works, more or less, upon every matter taken from the Divine Scriptures, and concerning holy men, and hymns.
[Note to the online edition: footnotes have been moved to the end. Footnotes concerned only with bits of Syriac and Greek have been omitted because of the time it would take to transcribe it.]
1. 1 Cf. ch. 4 (p. 15, 1. 24, L.), "in the library of the memorable bishops who were called the family of the house of Beruya from the city of Rhesaina, in the possession of a lad of their kin named Mor'abdo..., I found a little book... called the book of Asyath."
2. 5Gen. vi. 3.
3. 3 Wisd. i. 16-ii. 9.
4. 5 Gen. xi. 1-4.
5. 7 Josh. xxii. 9-27.
6. 2Judg. viii. 24-27.
7. 5 Judg. xvii. 1-4.
8. 6 2 Sam. xviii. 18.
9. 1 Method. ap. Epiph. Haer. lxiv. 18, Phot. Bibl. Cod. 234.
10. 1 I.e. Eusebius; but perhaps we should read [Syriac], "they wrote".
11. 4 569. The same date is given in ch. 3 ad fin.
12. 5. Cf. Socr. bk. 6, praef.
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Zachariah of Mitylene, Syriac Chronicle (1899). Book 2.
Zachariah of Mitylene, Syriac Chronicle (1899). Book 2.
BOOK II
THE BEGINNING OF THE SECOND BOOK
AFTER the Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius of Caesarea, both Socrates and Theodoret, in the treatises which they successively composed, reaching down to the thirty-second year of the reign of Theodosius the Less, wrote for the memory and profit of the prudent, as best they were able, accounts of the transactions and matters that occurred in various places, which they were diligent in learning from the volumes, and letters, and records, and words of living speakers, that they examined.
And accordingly I also, insignificant though I be, am beginning to write, as you asked me, for the instruction of the brethren, and for the gratification of the lovers of doctrine, and for the confirmation of believers, Christ our Lord and God consenting and aiding and giving the word of power—by your great advice, diligent brother, and while you pray that I may write the truth with eloquence without confusion or cause for blame.
For when, making a commencement of this treatise of the second Book, I am relating, as concisely as possible, without prolonging the discourse or being wearisome to the reader or tedious to the hearer, what I was able to discover from records and Acts or from letters,—truth that was carefully examined,— I shall set down here the truth of the resurrection, which took place in the days of Theodosius the king, of the bodies of the seven youths who were in a cave in the district |19 of Ephesus, and the Syriac records; both to keep them in the memory of the saints and for the glory of God, Who is able to do all things.
And then I shall set down briefly in the form of chapters, so that the account may not be enlarged of the events of one period which we write in detail in the Acts that are found in every place, what happened during the ten remaining years of the life of Theodosius, but in this Book I am writing them so to speak—what happened in Constantinople respecting Eutyches the archimandrite and Flavian the chief priest, and the Synod of thirty-one bishops and twenty-two archimandrites who met together and who brought about the deprivation of Eutyches; and also respecting the second Synod which was held in Ephesus concerning Flavian in the days of Dioscorus and Juvenalis and Domnus, and the one hundred and twenty-eight bishops who were with them.
And then I begin with the third Book.
CHAPTER II
THE SECOND CHAPTER TELLS ABOUT THE HERESY OF EUTYCHES THE PRESBYTER, AND HIS DEPRIVATION
There was, in the days of king Theodosius, one Eutyches, a presbyter and archimandrite, a recluse belonging to those who dwell in Constantinople. This man was visited by many (who resorted to him ostensibly on account of his chastity and piety) who happened to be in the city, and especially by the soldiers of the palace, who were lovers of doctrine. For at that time Nestorius, who was ejected, was being justly reviled because of his filthy doctrine. This Nestorius it was who held and taught base opinions respecting the Incarnation of God the Word; and he imagined that the two Natures existed separately in Christ our God after the union; and he held the precedence of the infant who was conceived and formed in the Virgin, whom he also called |20 Jesus and Christ; and he thought that God the Word at length descended upon Him, views scarcely differing from those of Paul of Samosata, and much the same as the teaching of the school of Diodorus, which he studied, accepted, and loved; but he lightly and without compunction refused to call the. ever-virgin, holy Mary, by the title "Theotokos,"1 even though the true doctors who were before him, Athanasius and Gregory and Basil and Julius, and the others, had so called her; and, moreover, he also censured them, as the letter testifies which he wrote from Oasis to the clergy and citizens. Whereupon, many being disturbed by his doctrine, a Synod, consisting of one hundred and ninety-three bishops, was assembled at Ephesus; and it carefully examined his teaching; and it called upon him three times, according to the canonical rule of the Church, to apologise and to censure his own interpretations, and at length to confess Jesus to be God the Word Who became incarnate, one Person and one Nature, as the doctors of the holy Church teach. But he would not consent, as also Socrates relates in the short account which he wrote of him, and which is fully told in the original Acts. Consequently his deprivation took place in the days of Celestine, Cyril, and Juvenalis, before the arrival of John of Antioch and his attendant bishops, who were delayed.
It2 was somewhere about this time that Eutyches, wishing to affirm the one Nature in Christ, rejected the truth of the body derived from the Virgin, which God the Word took in her and from her. And in the conversation which he held with those who came together to him, this same Eutyches affirmed an inaccurate dogma, not having been well instructed.
But he taught many that (the Word became flesh) 3 as |21 the atmosphere assumes bodily form and becomes rain or snow under the influence of the wind, or as water by reason of the cold air becomes ice.
And 4 when the report of his vile teaching was published abroad it was investigated by Eusebius of Dorylaeum, who happened to be in the city; and he informed Flavian, the chief priest, concerning it, and he gave him an indictment.
And he was called upon three times by thirty-one bishops who were there and twenty-two. archimandrites, to come forward and apologise for his opinions, and abjure them, and make a written statement of the true confession. And at first, indeed, he would not do so, at one time saying that it was5 his fixed determination to remain in perpetual seclusion, and again, that he was sick, and had a cough, and was old; (and he made these excuses) relying upon the aid of the soldiers of the palace, who were his friends. Now the king heard of these matters. But at last, when his deprivation was decreed to take place, he was compelled to appear before the council of bishops; however, he did not recant his doctrine with whole-hearted sincerity, but kept on saying, "Just as you teach two Natures in Christ, so do I say."
And, behold! all these things are written expressly, one after another, in lengthened discourse in the Acts of that Council. However, that we may not make our narrative too long, but may compress much into small compass, as the wise man says,6 we refrain from relating them again in detail and writing them down here. Then his deprivation took place. Now in the accusations against him and in the interlocutions, and more especially in what was said by Eusebius of Dorylaeum when contending with him, the two Natures after the union were expressly taught in conformity with the doctrine of Nestorius.7 And the interlocution of Flavian set forth the same views. And 8 Eutyches, rejecting the party of Flavian |22 and Eusebius, who deposed him, sent a libel9 to Rome to Leo, who was the chief priest there, begging that these matters should be investigated in another Synod; with regard to which libel he received a reply. And when the party of Flavian heard it they also wrote,10 and sent the Acts of the Council concerning Eutyches to Leo. And the latter wrote to Flavian the letter called the Tome, in which there are many heads that have been condemned by the dogmatic doctors; which also were censured at that time by Dioscorus and his followers, and again by Timothy the Great, who was with him, and by many treatises of others, which we omit to mention again here and to write down.
CHAPTER III
THE 11 THIRD CHAPTER GIVES AN ACCOUNT IN CONCISE TERMS OF THE SECOND SYNOD WHICH WAS HELD IN EPHESUS, ABOUT THE MATTER OF FLAVIAN THE CHIEF PRIEST AND EUTYCHES THE MONK
Accordingly a Synod was convened, the second in Ephesus, about the matter of Flavian and Eutyches; and it was held in the presence of the legates of Leo, who were sent with his letter. And the bishops came together there to the number of one hundred and eighty-eight, the chief rulers among them being Dioscorus of Alexandria, and Juvenalis of Jerusalem, and Domnus of Antioch. And the contents of the Acts of the Constantinopolitan Council concerning Eutyches were examined;12 and Flavian and Eusebius were ejected. And an outcry was raised by the bishops who were there; and they anathematised every one who would say, " There are two |23 Natures in Christ after the union." But a question was also raised again there about what Theodoret of Cyrrhus wrote censuring the twelve Heads which Cyril drew up against Nestorius, who was previously banished; and about the letter of Hibo of Edessa which he wrote to Moris of Nisibis in opposition to Cyril and in favour of Nestorius; and about what he said in his interpretations concerning Jesus Christ and Mary, as his own deacons, who were his accusers, testified. And besides these the partisans of John of Gaios13 and others were deposed. But Eutyches the archimandrite was received, because he presented a libel of recantation to the Synod, which was held there in Ephesus, and confessed the true faith. But the Synod appointed Anatolius as bishop of Constantinople in the room of Flavian, and then dispersed.
CHAPTER IV
THE FOURTH CHAPTER DESCRIBES THE REGULAR SUCCESSION OF THE CHIEF PRIESTS WHO HELD OFFICE FROM THE FIRST SYNOD OF EPHESUS TO THE DEATH OF KING THEODOSIUS, IN THE DAYS OF VALENTINUS,14 WHO WAS SUCCEEDED BY MARCIAN, THE CONVENER OF THE SYNOD OF CHALCEDON IN BITHYNIA, WHICH MET IN THE YEAR SEVEN HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FOUR OF THE GREEK ERA OF ALEXANDER
With respect to the regular succession of the chief priests from the first Synod of Ephesus to the death of Theodosius, it is pertinent to our subject to relate who they were. In |24 Rome, after Celestine, Leo was bishop for twenty-one years and forty-three days; and in Alexandria, after Cyril, Dioscorus was bishop for eight years and three months. And in Constantinople, Maximus15 for two years and two months; and after him, Proclus for two years and two months; and after him, Flavian for six years; and after him, Anatolius for eight years. In Antioch, Domnus was bishop after John; and after him Maximus. And in Jerusalem, Juvenalis was bishop for thirty-six years, who, holding the same position, was present at the three Synods, because the time of his years was protracted.
CHAPTER V
THE FIFTH CHAPTER CONTAINS THE LETTER OF PROCLUS, CHIEF PRIEST OF CONSTANTINOPLE, TO THE ARMENIANS. IT IS A VERY EXCELLENT LETTER, SHOWING THE FAITH OF THE MAN; AND TO PRESERVE IT IN MEMORY WE HAVE TRANSCRIBED IT HERE FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE BELIEVING BROTHERS
THE LETTER OF PROCLUS.16
"Beloved, the mystery of the true faith is true love, and the pure undoubting confession of the Trinity equal, undivided, and susceptible of no addition; and a mind not varying in its state, but steadfast in its faith towards God. That is the faith which we do not possess on tables of stone, as in the type, but receive on the tables of our hearts, as in a mystery; tables (I say) which are nailed to the cross, and are inscribed with the sprinkling of the blood of God. And it is right for us not only to believe, but also to follow earnestly after virtues and morals worthy of the faith.17 For virtue is to be chosen by everyone, especially by those whose beauty of soul has not been corrupted by a hateful life of lusts. There are indeed |25 many kinds of virtue. For even the heathen, drowned in error and lost in mind, wrote memorable things concerning this virtue. But as for this nature which is visible and flows on without cessation, they only felt after it in their written teaching. But either their sight was dim from length of time, or they were blinded by error, so as to hinder them from the perception of the truth and from real virtue. For they say in their teaching that there are four kinds of virtue, namely, justice, self-restraint, wisdom, and fortitude; which things, though they are to be highly accounted, yet are exercised here below and have their sphere upon the earth. They say, indeed, that fortitude is the contest with fierce nature, and self-restraint the triumph over the passions, and wisdom the distinguished government of cities, and justice right division. And thus they ordered and arranged the world, according to that which is in the law, and they defined wickedness on both sides. However, anything superior to and transcending this visible scene they did not understand, nor were they able to describe it in writing. But with the blindness of their mind they have contracted virtue itself, and have shut it up within what is visible alone. The Christians, however, by whose own faith the eyes of their heart have been enlightened, whose master and teacher is the blessed Paul, have declared that to be virtue which lifts us up to God, and which governs in orderly fashion the things that are on earth. This most illustrious Paul, then, considered that there were many kinds of virtue; but he especially preached about these three, namely, faith, hope, and love. For faith gives to men something which transcends human nature, and causes that fleshly nature, as yet encompassed by many passions, to hold converse with spiritual beings. |26 For the knowledge of that which angels and spiritual hosts did not know on account of its sublimity, faith imparts to men, who walk upon the earth and wallow in the dust, and it brings them near to the Throne of the Kingdom, and it tells them of that Nature which is without beginning and without end; and by the rays of light which it diffuses, it drives away darkness of thought from the soul; and when it has cleared off all gloom and denseness from the heart, then it causes that to be clearly seen which is comprehended in its invisibility, and also is seen in its incomprehensibility. But hope shows things to come in the present, not as in a dream, one can say, but forcibly; and, without a doubt, confirms in the mind that which is future as if it were actually seen; and it forms before a man's eyes, so to speak, what he is still expecting. For this hope is superior to every restraint, and brings near, without delay, the thing expected to him who is expecting it.
"But love is the chief of all our mysteries, for it persuaded God the Word, though He is always on the earth, near to all and with all (heaven and earth being filled by Him), to become incarnate and come by means of the flesh. And, being God, He became also man; He retained that which properly belonged to Himself on His own part, and He became like us on our part. These two then agree together, for faith is the mirror of love, and love is the completion of faith. We believe, therefore, that God the Word became incarnate without undergoing any change; and we rightly so believe, for this is the foundation of our salvation. For His nature receives no change, nor does it cause any addition to the Trinity. Thus indeed do we also ourselves believe.
"Every Christian, therefore, who is not rich in faith, hope, and love, is not what he is named; but even though he seem to have subdued his flesh and to have delivered himself from the passions of his soul, he is not meet for the crown of victory, inasmuch as he maintains the outward appearance of virtue, but he is not united to Him who crowns the conquerors that have resolutely contended on behalf of virtue in faith and |27 hope and love. Faith, then, according to what we have said, is the chief of all blessings; let it therefore be kept without guile, and let us not tarnish it by the falsehood of human thoughts, neither let us toss it about in the midst of confusing voices, nor by the explanations of those who are reputed to be wise: for faith is not to be explained; faith is a mystery. Let it then remain within the limits of the Gospel of the apostles; and let no man dare to contend in his explanation with this faith by which he is saved, and which he confessed in baptism by the signature of his tongue. For this lofty height of faith has repelled every attack and all vaunting and rashness, not of man only, but also of every spiritual nature. And the blessed Paul testifies, crying out, 'If we or an angel from heaven should preach anything beside what ye have received, let him be accursed,'18 For the angel has been appointed to minister and not to preach doctrine, and he brings punishment19 upon any who does not remain in his allotted station, but seeks after what is too high for his nature; but even though he displays the exaltation of his nature, let not the novelty of his preaching be received. Let us then guard what we have received with sleepless care; and by the bright shining of our faith let the eye of our soul be always open. But what have we received from the Divine Scriptures except this, that God by His word created the world out of nothing and brought the creation, which had no previous existence, into being; and made man in His own image and likeness, and honoured him by the law of nature; and gave him the commandment when he was in a state of freedom; and showed him how to help himself, that by the choice of the good he should flee from the evil; and the propensity of man being biassed towards the evil expelled disobedience |28 from Paradise? And again, by the fathers and patriarchs, and by the Law, the judges, and the prophets, our Creator instructed our nature, that we should keep far away from sin, and should concern ourselves about the good and do it. And at last when sin established its kingdom over us by our own will, because the law of nature had been corrupted on its part,20 and the written law had been despised, and the prophets, after the manner of men, brought deeds to remembrance but did not raise up our fleshly humanity from the depth of the evils, God the Word Himself, even He who is without beginning and without end, incomprehensible, invisible, and almighty, God the Word (I say) came and became incarnate; for He could be whatsoever He willed. God the Word then, Who is one of the Trinity, became incarnate; but He became incarnate because He so willed. And wishing to show everywhere that He was really man, He was born from the Virgin. For the evangelist did not say that He entered into a perfect man, but that He 'became flesh,' meaning thereby His natural beginning and referring to the origin of His birth. For just as a man who is naturally born does not come forth complete in the perfection of active power all at once, but the seed of the nature at first becomes a body, and afterwards, little by little, at length attains the strength of the passions and of the whole active power; so God the Word went to meet the origin and root of the birth. God the Word then became perfect man, and He did not take away anything from His own unchangeable nature by the miracle which He wrought—a miracle which did not enter into the heart of man to conceive, but which we learn by faith and have not comprehended by investigation. And having become man, He saved by His flesh the whole human race, and He paid the debt of sin, in that He died as man for all men; but as God the hater of evil, He destroyed him that had the evil power of death, that is, Satan. But He showed the capability of the Law by fulfilling all righteousness. And He gave to our nature its pristine beauty; and by becoming man He honoured the nature |29 which was derived from the earth, and showed Himself to be its Creator. There is therefore one Son, for we worship the Trinity in unity, and we do not introduce a fourth into this number; but there is one Son, begotten from the Father, without beginning and without end, through whom we believe that the worlds were made, He Who was from that root, He Who without flux sprang from the Father; that same God the Word Who, without change of place, issues from the Father, yet remaining as He is. For although He became man and appeared on the earth, yet He did not depart from Him who begat Him.
"God the Word therefore wished to save the being whom He created; and He dwelt in the womb which is the gate of the universal nature of all, and He revived and blessed the womb, and by issuing forth from it He sealed it. And by His supernatural birth He showed that He became incarnate in a manner transcending reason; for there are none among the beings above and beneath who know how He became incarnate. There is not, then, one who is Christ and another who is God the Word (away with such a thought!), for the divine nature does not know two sons; He therefore was begotten the only One from One; for where there is not copulation of parents, there duality of the offspring is not possible. 'In the name of Jesus Christ,' indeed, 'every knee shall bow, of things in heaven and on earth, and of things under the earth.'21 For if Christ is another and not God the Word, then of necessity Christ must be mere man; and how can the exalted nature of heavenly beings bow the knee and worship His Name, if He be not God of God? or how shall we receive the voices of prophets, crying, 'God appeared upon earth and held converse with men'? 22 For concerning His Incarnation it is said, 'He appeared,' and the expression, 'He held converse,' is used concerning His converse which He displayed with men in the end of the ages. For thus He that is exalted in greatness showed His almighty power; and as the universal Ruler to Whom everything is easy, He remained what He was on His own part, and became what He willed for us. |30
"But if the swaddling clothes, and the lying in the manger, and the growth of the body, and the sleeping in the ship, and the weariness on the journey, and the occasional hunger, and all those things which happened to Him Who was truly man, be a cause of stumbling to some persons, let them know that if they be in doubt concerning His sufferings, they deny the dispensation; but when they deny the dispensation they do not believe in the Incarnation, but when they do not believe in the Incarnation they lose their own lives. For if from the foundation of the world a man was not born who trod a way of birth like this, let these new Jewish wranglers show it, and then indeed their troublesome contention will be disclosed. But if this is the universal beginning of nature, and God the Word truly became man, how then, while confessing with us the dispensation, do they deny the sufferings? Let them therefore choose for themselves one of two things: either let them by denying the sufferings deny also the dispensation and be reckoned among the ungodly; or, if they accept the benefit which is derived from the dispensation, let them not be ashamed of the sufferings. I am amazed indeed at the blindness of their heart, who by a newly invented way have trodden the path that leads to error. For I myself know and have rightly learned from the Holy Scriptures only one Son; and I believe in one nature of God the Word Who became man, and the same endured the sufferings and wrought the miracles, Who was begotten from His Father before all things, and became incarnate in the end of the ages, and was born from Mary, the Theotokos. And we confess that He is God over all, and we introduce no foreign element into the nature of the Deity, for no addition is possible to the Trinity in Unity; but the same Lord Jesus Christ, by Whom were all things, also endured our sufferings and carried our infirmities, |31 as the prophet 23 says; and He, being the same, wrought the miracles and suffered in our stead.
"But perhaps in their contention these new Jews will strive with us, inventing thoughts weaker than a spider's web, and say that if indeed the Trinity be one essence then the Trinity is without suffering; and our Lord Jesus Christ is reckoned in the Trinity, and He is God the Word, therefore He is without suffering; consequently He Who was crucified must be another, and not God the Word Who is without suffering. Truly they who speak in this fashion are weaving the texture of a spider's web, and they who excogitate these new definitions are writing upon water; and 'thinking themselves to be wise they have become foolish, and their silly heart is darkened.'24 For the eye, which has been dazzled by the brilliant light of the sun, cannot see clearly; and the mind that is sick cannot receive the sublimity of the faith.
"What then do we say? That, so far as the Godhead is concerned, the Trinity is one essence, and is exalted above all sufferings. And when we say that the Son suffered, we do not mean that He suffered according to Nature, for His Nature is above sufferings. But in confessing that God the Word, one of the Trinity, became incarnate, we give a reason for the understanding of those who in faith ask us why He became incarnate. Because man who was formed in the image of God, and to whom imperial freedom was given, erred in this freedom, and was led by the counsel of the deceiver; and he gave himself up to error, and he became the slave of lustful passions—passions all of which exercise dominion over a composite being—passions whose end is death—passions which none among the created beings is able to destroy. God the Word willed to destroy those passions whose end is death. He willed, indeed, to become incarnate and to be a composite being; that is, a perfect man in all points like us, sin only excepted; because it was not possible for that Nature, which is incorruptible, intangible, and invisible, to receive passions, for all passions are struggles of all composite |32 beings. For with that exalted Nature of the Godhead, which alone is uplifted high above all things, there is no composition; passion therefore was unable to enter where composition could not be. God the Word then willed to destroy the passions which reign over nature subject to passions (as we said before) whose citadel was death; and He became flesh from the Virgin, in a manner that He, God the Word, knew; and He became man perfectly, being at the same time God over all. For He did not abandon what properly belonged to Him when He became like us; but being God, He became man, for such was His will. He emptied Himself, therefore, by His own will by taking the likeness of a slave, and He became man, and suffered in our stead, by His own will, though His Godhead was not in any respect limited; and thus He saved the whole human race. Wherefore Gabriel also, when announcing the might and dominion of Him that should be born, said to Mary, 'He shall save His people from their sins.'25
"But the people are not the people of a man but of God, and a man cannot deliver the world from sins, because he also entered into the world in a state of corruption. But necessarily He is the same; He is not divided into two (away with such a thought!); but being one, by being born from a woman, He shows that He is truly man; but by becoming man without copulation, and preserving His mother's virginity, He declared Himself to be God. The Lord Jesus Christ, therefore, Who came into the world and held converse with men, as the Holy Scriptures testify, saved the world. Now, if Christ be man, and not God the Word, how did He create everything in the beginning, when He Himself had no existence? For if man was later than the (other) created things, it is evident that this Christ also did not bring into being what had existence before Him. How then does Paul cry, saying, 'There is one Lord Christ, through Whom were all things'?26 For if all things were through Christ, it is evident that Christ is God the Word. The evangelist also testifies, saying, 'In the beginning was the Word, and |33 the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God, and all things were by Him.' 27 If, therefore, the evangelist cries that all things were by the Word, and Paul, interpreting this expression, says, There is one Lord Jesus Christ, by Whom were all things, it is evident that Christ is God over all. But if the objectors bring forward to us the voices of the Scriptures, in which He is called man, namely, that of Peter, who says, 'Jesus of Nazareth, a man';28 and of Paul, who says, 'By that man in Whom God has ordained that we should believe';29 and of our Lord Himself, Who says respecting Himself, 'Why do ye seek to kill Me, a man?'30 let them know that either through their dulness they have been hindered from the understanding of Scripture, or through their wickedness they are perverting what is well written, according to their own deceitfulness. For also Christ is truly man; but He became man, not having been so before, but only God; for just as He is uncreated God, so also He, the same, is man, truly, personally, and certainly, without change and without any kind of phantasy. And we do not confess that the body of our Lord is from heaven; indeed we excommunicate everyone who says so; but we confess that it is by the Holy Ghost and the power of the Highest which overshadowed the holy Virgin Mary, the Theotokos. But if the Virgin did not bear God, then she who remained undefiled is not deserving of admiration. But if the voices of the prophets foretelling the incomprehensible nature of our mystery, cried out, 'Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and they shall call His name Immanuel, which is, God with us,' 31 why |34 do they take away from the glory of His mother, seeing that He Who was born in lowly fashion is God over all? But perhaps the objectors will raise this objection, that truly every one who is born is of the same nature as the mother who bore him; if, then, she who bore him was human, it necessarily follows that he who was born was human also. Ye say well, O vain babblers! but then the child is of the same nature as she whom the birth-pangs smite when he who is born comes according to the natural course; however, the naturally-born child is corrupt from the beginning, because copulation precedes corruption. But where this reproach did not even enter the mind, but there was an ineffable miracle, the birth having been supernatural, there He that was born was God. We confess Him to be the same who created the world, and gave the Law, and put the Spirit in the prophets, and in the end of the times for the sake of the life and salvation of men became incarnate and was made man; and He inspired the apostles, and sent them forth for the salvation of people and nations. Let us flee, then, my brothers, from these troubled streams of error; I mean the doctrines that fight against God—namely, from the mad folly of Arius, who was dividing the indivisible Trinity; and from the rashness of Eunomius, who limited beneath his science the incomprehensible nature; and from the frenzy of Macedonius, who would sever from the Godhead the Spirit proceeding not departing;32 along with all the other heretics lost in their error; but especially from this new doctrine and blasphemy formulated by Nestorius, who far surpasses the Jews in his blasphemy. For those former heretics were despising the everlasting Son, Who is from all eternity with the Father, and depriving the root of its fruit; but these teachers of our day by their doctrine are bringing in another in addition to Him Who is from all eternity, Who became man for our salvation, so that they make a plurality of sons in that one and incorruptible Nature which is from one essence. |35 Let us say, then, with Paul, that Christ is He Who ' made both one'; 33 for of Jews and heathen through baptism, He has created one new man, and by His power He made that one, which, through the exercise of its freedom was divided. Let these impious teachers, then, dread the sentence of judgment if what was divided has been brought into unity, but that one Person Who made both one is, after their manner of reasoning, divided.
"But now we shall leave the multitude of words and come to the concise statement of true doctrine. Whoever desires to know that the alone and only-begotten Son, Who was before the life of Abraham—that the same became incarnate in the end of the times, let him ask Paul, who thunders with his voice, declaring rightly that He Who was born from the Jews in the flesh is the everlasting God; for, while telling and declaring the contempt of the Jews and the contention of the people with God, and the root which is the Father, and the seed which is Christ our Lord, he says thus, 'Whose is the adoption'34—for God cried through His prophets, 'Israel is My son; My firstborn and My glory';35 and indeed they reaped immeasurable glories from the constant miracles and the covenants with Abraham, which told of the multitude of the people and the blessings—'and the. giving of the law,'—that of Mount Sinai, which was written by the finger of God,— 'and the promises,'—both the land of Palestine and that in the seed of Abraham the nations should be blessed,—'whose are the fathers,'—for in the night of error they arose and as stars of the,faith—'from whom Jesus Christ appeared in the flesh, Who is God over all.' And he does not say this only and deem it sufficient; for also indeed the beginning of God the Word, Who is without beginning and without end, is not from the time of His birth by Mary. Who then is this Christ? He Who was begotten of the Father before the worlds in a manner which the mind of created beings cannot comprehend, and in the end of the times took flesh and became |36 man from the Virgin Mary, the Theotokos; He Who was shut up in the womb and in the cave, in a manner which He Himself knows; He Who was laid in the manger; He Who grew in the flesh; He Who came down to the lower parts of the earth, and by His own will endured all the sufferings of men, that He might be believed to be man, and to be no other than the One Who came down; but He Who came down and He Who went up is the same; however, He did not go up first, but came down. For He did not become God by addition (away with such a thought!), but He became man by the dispensation, for the race of men was in need of this. And you shall not hear this from me or from any other, but from Peter and from Paul—Peter when he says, 'Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God'; 36 and Paul also, who learned by revelation from the Father concerning the Son, and says, 'When God Who separated me from my mother's womb and called me by His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son by my means.' 37 This Paul has truly taught you who Jesus Christ is when he cries and says, 'Of whom is Christ in the flesh, Who is God over all, blessed for ever.' 38 What occasion of calumny does not the word of Peter and Paul drive away from those who love calumny! for he called Him 'Christ' to show that He truly became man; he said of Him, 'Who is of the Jews in the flesh,' to show that His existence does not date only from the time when He became incarnate; he said of Him, 'He is,' to tell us by his mode of expression that He is without beginning; he said of Him, 'Who is over all,' to proclaim Him Lord of created things; he said of Him, 'Who is God,' that we should not be drawn aside by the outward appearance and sufferings so as to deny his incorruptible Nature; he said of Him, 'blessed,' that we should worship Him as the Ruler of all, and not regard Him as a |37 fellow-slave; he said of Him, 'Who is for ever,' to show that it is He Who by His word created all things, visible and invisible, whereby His Godhead is glorified. We have, then, Christ Who is God over all, Whom we shall worship, and we shall say to the heretics, 'In whomsoever the Spirit of Christ is not, he is none of His.' For we have the mind of Christ, and therefore we look for the revelation of God our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, Who Himself shall reward the well-doers with the crown of victory, but the despisers with the recompense of their rashness. See, then, my brothers, that no man rob you by impious words, or turn you aside by false science from the simplicity and unadorned modesty of the pure beauty of the faith. But again, I repeat to you the word of Paul, 'Beware lest any man rob you by the vain philosophy of the traditions of men'39—men who are inventors of vain things, who have not taught us as the prophets and apostles teach, but have gone astray by their own wisdom and followed the interpretation of their own mind; wherefore their teaching is a stumbling-block to the Church of God, which He purchased with His precious blood. For other foundation of the true faith can no man lay except that which is laid, that there is one God, the Father, Ruler of all, and one Lord Jesus Christ, by Whom were all things, Who is from all eternity with the Father, from Him and of the same Nature with Him; and one Holy Spirit, the Lord and Life-giver, Who proceeds from the Father, and together with the Father and the Son is worshipped and glorified. Stand, then, in one spirit and one mind, and fight for the faith, and be not in anything troubled by the adversaries, but keep the tradition which you have received from the blessed Fathers, who,40 out of the whole creation, met together by the operation of the Holy Spirit, and preached to us the true and undefiled faith, which we have from one end of the earth to the other."
The end of the letter which the blessed Proclus, bishop of |38 Constantinople, wrote to Great Armenia of the Persians, concerning the true faith.
But41 Theodosius lived, as the Chronicle informs us, fifty years; of these he reigned forty-two years, for he was eight years old when he began to reign. And the acts of thirty-two years of his reign are related in the ecclesiastical history of Socrates, and those of the other ten years more are written concisely above in this second Book. He died then in the three hundred and eighth Olympiad; and Marcian succeeded him in the kingdom. And in the year seven hundred and sixty-four by the reckoning of the Greek era of Alexander, he gathered to Chalcedon a Synod of five hundred and sixty-seven bishops, whose acts we shall describe as concisely as possible in this third Book which is written below, and in its chapters, which have been taken for the most part from the history of Zachariah the Rhetorician, which he wrote in Greek to a man called Eupraxius, who lived in the royal palace and was engaged in the service of kings. But the body of the holy John the bishop, who is called Chrysostom, had been brought back from the place of his banishment, and it was honoured with a procession in Constantinople. And Eudocia the queen, the wife of Theodosius, went to Jerusalem for prayer, and returned, and then died. But Geiseric subdued Carthage of Africa and reigned over it. And John the general was killed by the servants of Arbindus,42 and there were earthquakes in various places. And then Theodosius died.
[Note to the online edition: footnotes have been moved to the end. Footnotes concerned only with bits of Syriac and Greek have been omitted because of the time it would take to transcribe it.]
1. 1 It is impossible to give in English the exact equivalent of this theological term; neither "God-bearer " nor "mother of God " quite meet the case.
2. 3 Mich. fol. iii. v; Greg. H. E. i. p. 159 ff.
3. 5 Some such words must have dropped out of the text; both Michael and Barhebr. supply the omission as above.
4. 1 Liberat. 11.
5. 2 Liberat. II.
6. 4 Sir. xxxii. (LXX. xxxv.) 8.
7. 6 This seems to be the sense of the passage, but the text is evidently corrupt.
8. 8 Liberat. II.
9. 1 Or petitions... For this letter see Leo, Ep. 21 (Migne, Patr. Lat. vol. liv.).
10. 2 Leo, Ep. 22, 26.
11. 4 Liberat. 12.
12. 5 An exact translation of the text as it stands is impossible. Perhaps... we should... render it, "And they searched in the Acts for what was done in Constantinople concerning Eutyches."
13. 2... No doubt John of Aegae is meant (Brooks).
14. 5 I.e. Valentinian.
15. 1 I.e. Maximian.
16. 3 Migne, Patr. Graec. vol. lxv. p. 856, and Patr. Lat. vol. lxvii. p. 409.
17. 4 Down to this point the Syriac text is quite different from the Greek.
18. 2 Gal. i. 9.
19. 3 Or, and punishment comes.
20. 1 Or, had become obsolete.
21. 3 Phil. ii. 10.
22. 4 Bar. iii. 37.
23. 1 Isa. liii. 4.
24. 2 Rom. i. 21, 22.
25. 1 There seems to be a confusion between Matt. i. 21 and Luke i. 31-33.
26. 3 i Cor. viii. 6.
27. 1 J ohn i. 1-3.
28. 2 Acts ii. 22.
29. 3 Acts xvii. 31. 1
30. 4 John viii. 40.
31. 8 Isa. vii. 14; Matt. i. 23.
32. 2 Or, proceeding immutably.
33. 1Eph. ii. 14.
34. 3 Rom. ix. 4.
35. 4 Ex. iv. 22 and Isa. xlvi. 13.
36. 1 Matt. xvi. 16.
37. 2 Gal. i. 15, 16.
38. 3 Rom. ix. 5.
39. 2 Col. ii. 8.
40. 4 From this point the Greek and Latin are different from our text.
41. 1 Mich. fol. 115 v.
42. 4... i.e. Areobindus (Brooks).
This text was transcribed by Roger Pearse, 2002. All material on this page is in the public domain - copy freely.
Greek text is rendered using the Scholars Press SPIonic font, free from here.
Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
SOURCE SECTION: zachariah03.htm
Zachariah of Mitylene, Syriac Chronicle (1899). Book 3.
Zachariah of Mitylene, Syriac Chronicle (1899). Book 3.
BOOK III
THE beginning of the third Book, which (inasmuch as it is from the history of Zachanah the believer, who wrote in Greek to one Eupraxius by name, a minister of the king, and engaged in his service) records the events that took place in the Synod, which met at Chalcedon, after the death of Theodosius, in the days of Marcian, in the year seven hundred and sixty-four by the reckoning of the Greeks. And the number of the bishops was five hundred arid, sixty-seven, who were brought together in consequence of the exertion,of Leo of Rome, and the letter that he wrote to the king and his wife Pulcheria. And the Synod sent Dioscorus of Alexandria away to Gangra of Thrace, and appointed Proterius bishop in his stead, and received the letter of Leo, which is called the Tome. And the other matters, which occurred in Jerusalem, or in Alexandria, or in other places during, the life of Marcian, that is, a space of six years and a half; behold they are written down here distinctly in these twelve Books below and the chapters contained in them.
The first chapter relates the events which occurred in the Synod of Chalcedon, until the public address of Marcian the king to the bishops assembled there.
The second chapter tells about the banishment of Dioscorus to Gangra, and the consecration of Proterius in his stead; and the events which occurred in Alexandria upon his entry there.
The third chapter relates the events which occurred in Palestine, concerning Juvenalis of Jerusalem, who broke his promises, and separated from Dioscorus, and agreed to the Synod. And when the citizens of Jerusalem and the |40 Palestinian monks learned this, they appointed, as bishop in his stead, one Theodosius, a monk; who, in his zeal, had attended and watched the Synod closely, and then went back to Palestine and told what had occurred at Chalcedon.
The fourth chapter tells of Peter the hostage, the son of the king of the Iberians, a wonderful man, who was taken by the people of Gaza; and they brought him to Theodosius of Jerusalem, by whom he was consecrated as their bishop.
The fifth chapter tells about the flight of Theodosius of Jerusalem, in consequence of the king's threats; and also about the return of Juvenalis, by force, to Jerusalem, and the great slaughter that ensued upon his entry there.
The sixth chapter gives an account of a certain blind Samaritan, who smeared his eyes with the blood of the slain, and they were opened.
The seventh chapter tells how Christ appeared in vision to Peter the Iberian, bishop of Gaza, and told him to depart from thence, and also himself to suffer banishment of his own accord.
The eighth chapter tells about a certain monk, named Solomon, who acted cunningly, and went in to Juvenalis of Jerusalem, and threw a basketful of dust upon his head, and reproached him.
The ninth chapter tells how Theodosius of Jerusalem was taken, and was imprisoned in a house containing lime, and there he ended his life.
The tenth chapter tells about the heresy of John the Rhetorican, and how this heresy was anathematised by Timothy, the bishop of Alexandria, after him.
The eleventh chapter tells about the mission of John the Silentarius, from the king to Alexandria.
The twelfth chapter tells about Anthemius, and Severus, and Olybrius, and Leo the Less, and what happened in the seven years of their reign.1 |41
CHAPTER I
THE 2 FIRST CHAPTER OF THIS BOOK TELLS ABOUT THE EVENTS WHICH OCCURRED IN THE SYNOD, BEING TAKEN FROM THE HISTORY OF ONE ZACHARIAH BY NAME, WHO BEGINS TO WRITE IN GREEK TO EUPRAXIUS AS FOLLOWS
Since it is acceptable unto you, and desired by you, Christ-loving Eupraxius,3 who are dwelling in the royal palace, and are occupied in the service of kings, to learn what happened, in the reign of Marcian, to the holy Church of God; and who they were who, in regular succession, were the chief priests in Alexandria, and Rome, and Constantinople, and Antioch, and Jerusalem, from the time of the Council of Chalcedon—that Council which, ostensibly convened about the matter of Eutyches, introduced and increased the heresy of Nestorius; and shook all the world; and added evil upon evil; and set the two heresies, one against the other; and filled the world with divisions; and confounded the faith delivered by the apostles, and the good order of the Church; and tore into ten thousand rents the perfect Robe of Christ, woven from the top throughout: therefore we, anathematising those two heresies, and every wicked teacher of doctrine corrupt and contrary to the Church of God, and to the orthodox faith of the three holy Synods, which skilfully maintained the true doctrine; shall, to that end, employ this history which you urged us to undertake.
After the death of the holy Cyril of Alexandria, who carried on the conflict against many corrupt doctrines, and exposed them, Dioscorus received the throne as his successor; |42 and he was a peaceable man, and also a champion; although he had not the same promptitude and boldness as Cyril.
At that time Theodoret and Hibo, who, along with Flavian of Constantinople and Eusebius, were deposed by the second Synod of Ephesus, which met there in the days of Theodosius, about the matter of Eutyches, and Flavian— Theodoret of Cyrrhus, because he wrote twelve censures upon Cyril's Heads against Nestorius; and Hibo of Edessa, because he wrote a letter to Moris of Nisibis, reviling Cyril -- were, both of them, upholding the doctrine of Theodore and Diodorus. And Theodoret4 went up to Leo of Rome, and informed him about all these matters; and, with the gift which blinds the eyes of the soul, he got the better of him. Whereupon Leo composed 5 that letter which is called the Tome, and which was ostensibly written to Flavian against Eutychianism. But Leo also wrote to Marcian the king, and his wife Pulcheria, and warmly commended Theodoret to them.
This6 Marcian favoured the doctrine of Nestorius, and was well disposed towards him; and so he sent by John the Tribune, to recall Nestorius from his place of banishment in Oasis; and to recall also Dorotheus, the bishop who was with him. And it happened while he was returning, that he set at naught the holy Virgin, the Theotokos, and said, "What is Mary? Why should she indeed be called the Theotokos!" And the righteous judgment of God speedily overtook him (as had been the case formerly with Arius, who blasphemed against the Son of God). Accordingly he fell from his mule, and the tongue 7 of this Nestorius was cut off, and his mouth was eaten by worms, and he died on the roadway. And his companion Dorotheus died also. And the king, hearing of it, was greatly grieved; and he was thinking upon |43 what had occurred, and he was in doubt as to what he should do.
However, written directions from Marcian the king were delivered by John the Tribune to Dioscorus and Juvenalis, calling upon them to meet in Council, and John also informed them of what had happened to Nestorius and to Dorotheus.
And when the bishops of every place, who were summoned, were preparing to meet at Nicea, Providence did not allow them; for the king8 issued a new order that the assembly should be convened to Chalcedon, so that Nicea might not be the meeting-place of rebels.
Then 9 the Nestorian party earnestly urged and besought the king that Theodoret should be appointed the president of the Synod, and that, according to his word, every matter should be decided there.10 And when they met at Chalcedon, Theodoret entered in and lived there boldly, like an honoured bishop; he who a little time before had been ejected from the priesthood by their means. And Dioscorus and the chief bishops were vexed and troubled on account of the haughty insolence which the man displayed; but they could not put a stop to it, because of the royal authority, though they saw that the canons were despised by him, and by Hibo also, with the help of the Roman legates of Leo, who were aiding and abetting them.
And when Dioscorus was proclaiming the doctrine of the faith in the Synod, and with him Juvenalis, and Thalassius of Cappadocia, and Anatolius, and Amphilochius of Side, and Eusebius of Ancyra, and Eustace of Berytus; then, as by a miracle, Eusebius of Dorylaeum also agreed with them; for they saw that the Nestorian doctrine of the two natures was confirmed, and established there, by the co-operation of John of Germanicia, who fiercely contended, in the course of the dispute there, with the side which said, "It is right for |44 us to confess Christ after His incarnation as one Nature from two, according to the belief of the rest of the Fathers, and not to introduce any innovation or add any novelty to the faith."
Wherefore, John of Germanicia, and the rest of the Nestorian party, with Theodoret at their head, brought about the deprivation of Dioscorus; because he said, "It is right for us to believe that Christ became incarnate from two natures; and we should not confess two natures after the union, like Nestorius.
And 11 then Anatolius, the bishop of the royal city, cried out in words to this effect, "Not for the faith is Dioscorus deposed; but he is set at nought for refusing to hold communion with the chief priest, my lord Leo."
And after the outcry of many, and after the things had been spoken which have been written in the Acts of that Council, at last those bishops being forced to do so, defined our Lord Jesus Christ to be in two natures. And they praised the Tome of Leo, and they called that an orthodox definition which said, "There are two Persons, and two Natures, with their properties and their operations." And this being so, they were required to subscribe under compulsion; those very priests who, a little time before in the days of the blessed Theodosius, being assembled at the second Council of Ephesus, cried out many times, "If anyone shall say 'Two natures to two,' let the Silentiarius come up!"
And when they repeated this over to Dioscorus, by means of John the chief of the Silentiarii, and asked him to agree to it, and to subscribe, and get back his throne; he said, courageously, "Sooner would Dioscorus see his own hand cut off, and the blood falling on the paper, than do such a thing as that." Whereupon he was sent into banishment to Gangra, |45 because the Nestorian party published the report about him, that his opinions were the same as those of Eutyches.
And I think it well, omitting many of his sayings, both what he spoke and wrote to Domnus of Antioch, and in the Synod of Chalcedon itself, which testify concerning the faith of the man, that his faith was like that of Athanasius, and Cyril, and the other doctors, I think it well (I say) to make a written extract out of what he wrote from his place of banishment to. Secundinus, in the following words:—
"Omitting many urgent matters, this I declare, that no man shall say that the holy flesh, which our Lord took from the Virgin Mary, by the operation of the Holy Spirit, in a manner which He Himself knows, was different to and foreign from our body. And, indeed, since this is so, they who affirm that Christ did not become incarnate for us, give the lie to Paul. For he has said, 'Not from angels did He take (the nature), but from the seed of the House of Abraham'; to which seed Mary was no stranger, as the Scriptures teach us. And again,' It was right that in everything He should be made like unto His brethren,' and that word 'in everything' does not suffer the subtraction of any part of our nature: since in nerves, and hair, and bones, and veins, and belly, and heart, and kidneys, and liver, and lungs, and, in short, in all those things that belong to our nature, the flesh which was born from Mary was compacted with the soul of our Redeemer, that reasonable and intelligent soul, without the seed of man, and the gratification and cohabitation of sleep.
"For if, as the heretics think, this was not so, how is He named 'our brother,' supposing that He used a body different from ours? And how, again, is that true which He said to His Father, 'I will declare Thy name to My brethren?'12 Let us not reject, neither let us despise, those who think in this way. For He was like us, for us, and with us, not in phantasy, nor in mere semblance, according to the heresy |46 of the Manichaeans, but rather in actual reality from Mary, the Theotokos. To comfort the desolate and to repair the vessel that had been broken, He came to us new. And as Immanuel, indeed, He is confessed; for He became poor for us, according to the saying of Paul, 'that we, by His humiliation, might be made rich.'13 He became, by the dispensation, like us; that we, by His tender mercy, might be like Him. He became man, and yet He did not destroy that which is His nature, that He is Son of God; that we, by grace, might become the sons of God. This I think and believe; and, if any man does not think thus, he is a stranger to the faith of the apostles."
And although14 this apostolic man had been well versed in this confession of faith from the beginning of his life, yet he was deposed and sent into banishment, because he would not worship the image, with its two faces, which was set up by Leo and by the Council of Chalcedon; and because he refused to hold communion with Theodoret and Hibo, who had been deprived on account of their blasphemies.
But the story goes that when, oh one occasion, he saw Theodoret sitting upon the throne in the Council, and speaking from it, and not standing and making his defence, as one should who had been canonically deposed from the priesthood; then he himself arose and descended from the throne and sat upon the pavement, saying, "I Will not sit with the wicked, nor with vain persons will I enter in."
Whereupon the partisans of Theodoret cried out, "He has deposed himself." But the other bishops cried out, "Our faith15 is perishing. If Theodoret, who holds the opinions of Nestorius, be accepted, we reject Cyril." And then Basil, the bishop of Tripolis, stood up and said, "We ourselves have deposed Theodoret."
But they say that Amphilochius was beaten on his head by Aetius the deacon, to make him sign. It was this Aetius who went to Theodoret by night, and made a complete copy |47 for him of the Symbol of the two Natures; and when 16 it was accepted by the bishops, and they agreed to it, then Theodoret insolently derided them, saying, "See how I have made them taste the leaven of the doctrine of Nestorius, and they are delighted with it! "17
"But Eustace of Berytus, when he signed the document, wrote in short hand, "This have I written under compulsion, not agreeing with it." And he wept very much, as did also others who proclaimed the compulsion and exposed the hypocritical profession of faith which was made, because the chief senators were present time after time at the discussions, and closely watched the proceedings of the Synod. But, at last, the king came there, with his wife Pulcheria, and he delivered a public address in the Martyr Church of Euphemia in the following terms:—
"From 18 the first time that we were chosen and accounted Worthy of the kingdom by God, amidst all the care of public business, no concern whatever in which we might be involved was allowed to hinder us, but we made it our choice to honour the true faith of the Christians, and to accustom the minds of men to it, with purity; all novelty of false doctrines and preachings that do not agree with the well proved doctrine of the Fathers, being taken out of our midst. Therefore we summoned this holy Synod that it might cleanse away all darkness, and put away filth of thoughts: that so, in pure mind, the doctrine of the faith which is in our Lord Jesus Christ might be established," and so on, to the same effect.
When the king had finished his public address, the bishops praised him and the Senate, and also the letter of Leo, affirming with respect to it that it agreed with the faith of the Apostle Peter. |48
CHAPTER II
THE SECOND CHAPTER TELLS ABOUT THE BANISHMENT OF DIOSCORUS, AND THE CONSECRATION OF PROTERIUS IN HIS STEAD; AND ABOUT THE SLAUGHTER WHICH ENSUED UPON HIS COMING IN; AND THE CHURCH FUNDS, WHICH HE EXPENDED UPON HIS ALLIES THE ROMANS, BUT WHICH, BY RIGHT, BELONGED TO THE POOR
The Synod having received such an end as this, Dioscorus 19 was decreed to be a confessor, and was sent away to live in Gangra; and Proterius was appointed bishop in Alexandria, in his stead. This Proterius20 had been a presbyter on his side, and had contended earnestly against the Synod at first, but afterwards, with the object of snatching the see for himself, he became like Judas, a betrayer of his master, and like Absalom, of his father; and he showed himself a rapacious wolf in the midst of the flock. And many who were unwilling he afflicted and ill-treated, to force them into agreement with himself. And he sent them into banishment, and he seized their property by means of the governors who obeyed him in. consequence of the king's command.
Whereupon, indeed, the priests, and the monks, and many of the people, perceiving that the faith had been polluted, both by the unjust deposition of Dioscorus and the oppressive conduct of Proterius and his wickedness, assembled by themselves in the monasteries, and severed themselves from his communion. And they proclaimed Dioscorus, and wrote his name in the book of life as a chosen and faithful priest of God.
And Proterius was very indignant, and he gave gifts into the hand of the Romans, and he armed them against the people, and he filled their hands with the blood of believers, who were slain; for they also strengthened themselves,21 and made war. And many died at the very Altar, and in the Baptistery, who had fled and taken refuge there. |49
CHAPTER III
THE THIRD CHAPTER NARRATES THE EVENTS WHICH OCCURRED IN PALESTINE RESPECTING JUVENALIS OF JERUSALEM, WHO BROKE HIS PROMISES, AND SEPARATED HIMSELF FROM DIOSCORUS. AND THE MONKS AND THE CITIZENS OF JERUSALEM HEARD OF THE MATTER FROM THEODOSIUS, A MONK, WHO, THROUGH ZEAL, WAS PRESENT AT CHALCEDON, AND WHO, AFTER HAVING CAREFULLY WATCHED THE PROCEEDINGS THERE, CAME TO JERUSALEM AND GAVE INFORMATION ABOUT THEM; AND THEY MADE HIM BISHOP BY FORCE, INSTEAD OF JUVENALIS
And in Palestine, indeed, there were evils like these, and worse. But from what cause I shall now tell. When Juvenalis was summoned to Chalcedon, and he learned from John the Tribune the will of the king; and also that Nestorius, who had been recalled, died on his return from banishment; then he (inasmuch as he was persuaded that the doctrine of the Tome, which favoured the opinion of Nestorius, was corrupt) summoned the clergy, and gathered the monks and the people together; and he exposed this false doctrine, and anathematised it. And he confirmed the souls of many in the true faith. And he charged them all, that if he should be perverted in the Synod, they should hold communion with him no more.
And at first when he went there, he made a great struggle, along with Dioscorus, on behalf of the faith. But because the royal pressure was brought to bear; and because of the flattery and compliments of the king, who himself waited personally upon the bishops at the banquet, and showed great condescension to them; and because the king also promised that he would give the three provinces of Palestine to the honour of the see of Jerusalem; then the eyes of his mind were darkened, and he left Dioscorus the champion alone, and |50 he went over to the opposite side. And he treated with contempt the oaths which he had made in the name of God. And both he and the bishops who were with him agreed and subscribed.
And 22 when Theodosius the monk, and his companions who were in close fellowship with him, and who zealously watched what was taking place in the Synod, heard about this they returned quickly to Palestine; and they came to Jerusalem, and told about the betrayal of the faith. And they called all the monks together, and gave full information to them.
And the monks assembled, and prepared themselves, and went to meet Juvenalis as he was coming. And they reminded him of his promises, and that he had failed to keep them. And they made this one request of him, that he would censure the proceedings which had taken place, and anathematise them. But he showed himself like Pilate, saying, "What I have written, I have written." And the monks said to him, "We will not receive you then, for you have broken your oaths and your promises." So he returned to the king.
But the assembly of monks and clergy went back to Jerusalem. And the people, and the bishops who were with them, were distressed, and they consulted together as to what they should do. And they decided to appoint another bishop instead of Juvenalis. When they were speaking of the chaste monks, Romanus and Marcian, and of other men of wonderful excellence; at length23 it was agreed that they should appoint Theodosius, who had been found zealous, and who also had contended for years on behalf of the faith. And they took him by force, while he persisted in refusing, and conjuring them not to do so, and begging them to allow him to be the helper of the person whom they appointed from amongst themselves. However, they would not yield to his entreaties; but blessed him and placed him on the throne. And when |51 the other cities of Palestine heard it; inasmuch as they knew him to be a man of surpassing virtue, and zealous for the truth; they severally brought persons to receive his blessing and be admitted to the priesthood.
CHAPTER IV
THE FOURTH CHAPTER TELLS ABOUT PETER THE IBERIAN; AND HOW HE ALSO WAS TAKEN, AND WAS BROUGHT TO THEODOSIUS BY THE PEOPLE OF GAZA; AND HE BECAME THEIR BISHOP
Among these also was Peter the Iberian, a man wonderfully celebrated throughout the world, a king's son, who had been given as a hostage to Theodosius; and who was beloved by him and by his wife Eudocia, on account of his excellent parts. And he was brought up in the king's palace; and he was placed in charge of the royal horses. But he resigned this appointment, and gave himself up to the discipline of Christ along with John the Eunuch also, who was his sponsor, and his father by water and the Spirit. And they prospered, and God wrought signs by their means in Constantinople. And they fled from thence, and betook themselves next to the wilderness of Palestine, and there they loved and cultivated the monastic life. And although after this manner they desired to be hidden, yet they became greatly celebrated; and they wrought signs like the apostles.
And as they were changing from place to place, they arrived opposite to Gaza and Majuma. And the men and the women and the people of all ranks and ages went out and seized Peter, and brought him to Jerusalem to Theodosius, whom they besought to make him their bishop.
And he laid many charges against himself, and refused ordination. And against his will Theodosius laid his hand upon his head and consecrated him, for he knew the man. |52 And when he became violently agitated, and called himself a heretic; then Theodosius hesitated a little, and said to him, "My cause and thine are before the Judgment Seat of Christ." And he changed his words, saying, "A heretic indeed I am not, but a sinner." And Theodosius, being well acquainted with the man, blessed him as priest for the people of Gaza.
But there were other excellent deeds done by this man, which, however, I omit, lest I should make my narrative too long.
CHAPTER V
THE FIFTH CHAPTER TELLS ABOUT THE FLIGHT OF THEODOSIUS OF JERUSALEM, IN CONSEQUENCE OF THE KING'S THREATS; ALSO ABOUT JUVENALIS, WHO RETURNED WITH AN ARMY OF ROMANS; AND THE GREAT SLAUGHTER THAT ENSUED UPON HIS ENTRY THERE
And when Theodosius was prospering in this manner, the report of all that he was doing reached Marcian the king. And Juvenalis returned, having with him Count Dorotheus and an army; for the purpose of taking Theodosius, and making him a prisoner, and deposing all the bishops whom he had made in his district, and punishing24 the monks and the people, and expelling them in consequence of their insolence and rashness in setting up Theodosius as bishop in Jerusalem. But, by the desire of the queen, Peter the Iberian alone was to be spared; even though he should not consent to hold communion with the other bishops.
And when Juvenalis arrived at Neapolis, he found a large number of monks there; and at first he tried to seduce them, simple men as they were, and single-minded, whose arms and helmet were the true faith and works of |53 righteousness. These he endeavoured to persuade to hold communion with himself. And when they turned away from this proposal with disgust, unless he would anathematise the violent transactions of Chalcedon; he then said, "It is the king's will."
And they still refused. Whereupon he gave orders to the Romans and the Samaritans, who smote and killed these monks, while they were singing psalms and saying, "O God, the heathen are come into Thine inheritance, and they have defiled Thy holy temple; and behold they are making Jerusalem a waste place!" 25
And some of the Romans were overcome with pity, and wept. But some of them, along with the Samaritans, killed many of the monks, whose blood also was poured out upon the ground.
CHAPTER VI
THE SIXTH CHAPTER TELLS ABOUT A CERTAIN BLIND SAMARITAN WHO DREW NEAR WITH FAITH, AND SMEARED HIS EYES WITH THE BLOOD OF THOSE THAT WERE SLAIN; AND HIS SIGHT WAS RESTORED
There was a certain blind Samaritan who deceived his own guide, and said, "Since mine eyes cannot see the blood of the slaughter of these Christians, so that I may delight myself in it; bring me near and I shall feel it." And when the guide brought him near and caused him to feel it, he dipped his hands in the blood. And he prostrated himself upon the ground; and he wept, with prayer and supplication, that he might be a sharer in their martyrdom. Then he arose, and smeared his eyes, and lifted up his hands to heaven; and his eyes were opened, and he received his sight.
And all who were witnesses of this miracle, were astonished and believed in God. And the blind man also believed, and was baptized.
But the party who administered the king's orders, laid |54 hold upon the surviving believers, and expelled them from the whole district.
CHAPTER VII
THE SEVENTH CHAPTER RELATES HOW OUR LORD APPEARED TO PETER THE IBERIAN, OF GAZA; AND TOLD HIM THAT HE MUST DEPART ALONG WITH THOSE WHO WERE EXPELLED
But they say that Peter the Illustrious was at rest, being left undisturbed by all, both on account of the king's orders, and the loving care of the queen for him.
But he saw the Lord in a vision, saying to him indignantly, "How now, Peter! Am I being expelled in My believing servants, and art thou remaining quiet and at rest?" Then Peter repented and obeyed, and he arose and left Gaza; and he joined those who were expelled, and departed with them.
CHAPTER VIII
THE EIGHTH CHAPTER TELLS ABOUT A CERTAIN ZEALOUS MONK, NAMED SOLOMON; WHO ACTED CUNNINGLY, AND WENT IN TO JUVENALIS, AS IF HE DESIRED TO BE BLESSED BY HIM, AND THREW A BASKETFUL OF DUST UPON HIS HEAD, AND REPROACHED HIM
And Juvenalis, having by means of the armed force of the Romans expelled the believers and the monks who were in the country district, arrived at Jerusalem and sat upon the throne. And he paid no regard at all to his promises, nor to the slaughter which had occurred upon his entry there, nor to the falsehood of his oaths. |55
Then a certain monk, Solomon by name, was stirred in his spirit; and in this honourable garb of chastity, and as if desiring to be blessed by the chief priest himself, acted cunningly, and filled a basket with dust and ashes, and placed it under his armpit, and drew near to Juvenalis. And the latter was glad when the monk came in to him. And Solomon, being received by him, said to him, "Let my lord bless me."
And, as the Roman guard permitted him to draw near and come close to Juvenalis, he took out the basket of dust and emptied it on his head, saying, "Shame upon thee, shame upon thee, liar and persecutor! "And when the Roman guard were about to strike him, Juvenalis would not allow it. And he was not enraged, but was rather moved to penitence by this, and shook the dust from his head. So they only put out the monk from his presence. And he ordered that money for his expenses should be given to him, and that he should leave his country. The monk, however, refused the money, but left the country.
CHAPTER IX
THE NINTH CHAPTER TELLS HOW THEODOSIUS, BEING SOUGHT FOR BY THE ROMAN ARMY, WAS TAKEN AND IMPRISONED IN A HOUSE CONTAINING LIME; WHERE AT LENGTH HE DIED
But Theodosius, when he was sought for by the king's orders through the whole province, assumed the garb of a Roman, having on his head hair and a helmet; and he went about confirming and encouraging the believers. At length, however, when he arrived at the parts about Sidon, he was taken and delivered up to the Romans by one of his own friends.
And the Nestorian party were so enraged against him, because he had been going about through the whole world, and |56 exposing and anathematising the false doctrine of Nestorius, that they went up to the king, and persuaded him to grant that the man should be given into their charge and keeping. And they took him and imprisoned him in a small house, belonging to the monks, in which there was quicklime.
And these followers of Nestorius used to go to him in troops, and dispute with him, hoping that under pressure of great affliction he would change his mind, and agree to their will. And he prevailed over them all and repulsed them; and as they departed from him ashamed and confounded, he said, "Even though I am imprisoned and thereby prevented from going about in the different places, according to my former custom; yet as long as the breath is in my nostrils, the word of God shall not be imprisoned in me; but it shall preach that which is true and right in the ears of the hearers."
But the Eutychian party also imagined that he would agree with them; and they came together to him, and entered into discusssion with him. And in like manner, contrary to their expectation, he showed them to be in agreement with Valentinus, and Manes, and Marcion; and that their heresy was a wicked one, worse even than that of Paul of Samosata, and Apollinaris, and Nestorius. And so they, in their turn, departed from him, being condemned by him.
And because they laid one affliction after another upon him, his soul also continued steadfast in the good fight.
While there he met with some writings of John the Rhetorician from Alexandria, which were full of false doctrine and very defective, and it is a heresy; and he exposed the man and anathematised him. And having finished his course, and contended in the fight, and kept his faith, at length he died. And departing from the prison, he went to be with Christ our Lord. And he left the example of courage to the believers. |57
CHAPTER X
THE TENTH CHAPTER GIVES A RECORD OF THE HERESY OF JOHN THE RHETORICIAN OF ALEXANDRIA; AND HOW IT WAS REJECTED AND ANATHEMATISED
John was an adherent of Palladius the Alexandrian sophist, and was second to him; and for that reason he was called the Rhetorician; because that next to sophistry comes rhetoric, and therefore by that name the philosopher is surnamed.26
This man, in the days of Proterius who succeeded Dioscorus, saw that the whole city of Alexandria hated Proterius, some in consequence of their zeal for the faith, and others because they had been plundered and persecuted by him, with the object of making them agree to the Synod and accept the Tome. He then sought to ingratiate himself with the people, and to present a fine appearance, and to collect money for himself, and to be celebrated with this empty glory. And not having read the Holy Scriptures, and not understanding the meaning of their mysteries, and not having exercised himself in the writings of the ancient doctors of the holy Church, and not knowing what he was saying, or that about which he was contending, he was puffed up to write a sort of proof that, after the manner of a seed, God the Word was wrapped up in the body; and that He suffered in His own Nature, if indeed He suffered at all. But he denied that the Word was united to a human body; and he would not confess the natures from which One Christ appeared. But he prepared and collected words, saying, "It can by no means be called a nature, as indeed without the seed of a man in the Virgin the Incarnation took place." And he said, "Therefore Christ was neither by her nor from her." And he did not agree with the doctors of the Church, who declare that the |58 human nature was united to God the Word, and that He became man.
And with vain words such as these he used to chatter; and he also wrote books. And in these he was self-contradictory; sometimes agreeing with Apollinaris, sometimes with Eutyches; and again, stating what was quite new. And because he was in doubt about the subject of his writings, lest they should be reviled,27 he did not subscribe his books with his own name. But at one time he wrote the name of Theodosius, the bishop of Jerusalem, upon one; and again, the name of Peter the Iberian upon another; that even the believers might be deceived by them and accept them.
But they say, that on one occasion, Peter the Iberian met with one of them, which had been written in his own name, in a certain monastery; and when he took it and read it he was full of indignation, and he anathematised the man who wrote it. And not there alone, but also in Alexandria, and in Palestine, and in Syria, both he and Theodosius anathematised the writings of this man.
CHAPTER XI
THE ELEVENTH CHAPTER TELLS HOW JOHN THE SILENTIARIUS WAS SENT BY THE KING, AFTER THE DEATH OF DIOSCORUS AT GANGRA, TO EXHORT THE ALEXANDRIANS TO BE UNITED TO PROTERIUS
But when the report of the death of Dioscorus reached the Alexandrians, there was great trouble and sorrow. And after his death, on account of the love that they had for him, they proclaimed him as a living man, and his name was set in the Diptych. But let no man even of those, whose endeavour it is to revile what is not done in exact order, find fault.
But the believing party were desirous of appointing a bishop instead of Dioscorus. However, they were afraid of |59 the threats of Marcian the king; for he was sending letters in every direction, and fulminations against all who would not agree to the Synod and receive the Tome. For so it was, that when he heard of the men of Alexandria, and of their intention to appoint a bishop for themselves after the death of Dioscorus, he sent John, the chief of the Silentiarii, with a letter from himself exhorting the Alexandrians to be united to Proterius.
And this John was of the same mind as the king, and he was an astute man. And when he came and saw the crowd, the numbers of monks arrayed in chastity, and possessing readiness of speech in defence of the faith, and also the strong body of the common people who were believers, with whom he had to deal, he was astounded, and said, "I am ready, if the Lord will, to inform the king and to plead with him on your behalf." And he received from them a petition— which gave information concerning their faith; and concerning all that happened to them at the hands of Proterius; and concerning the impious conduct of the man, and his wickedness, and the Church property which he expended upon vanity—written at length in words which I omit to reproduce here, lest I should be tedious to the reader.
And when John returned to the king and told him about these matters, he said to him, "We sent you, indeed, to persuade and exhort the Egyptians to obey our will: but you have returned to us, not according as we wished, since we find you an Egyptian." However, when he perceived the things that were written about Proterius, in the petition which the monks sent, he blamed the pride and the craftiness of the man. And while he was occupied with this matter, he died, having reigned six years and a half.
But Morian28 also, who reigned four years along with him, died.
And after him, Anthemius, and Severus, and Olybrius received the kingdom. And one year after, Leo the First was associated with them. So that the lives of these four made up seven years. |60
CHAPTER XII
THE TWELFTH CHAPTER TELLS ABOUT ANTHEMIUS, AND SEVERUS, AND OLYBRIUS, AND LEO; WHO REIGNED TOGETHER AND IN SUCCESSION, SEVEN YEARS
When Anthemius had reigned five years he was killed by Ricimer. And Severus, having reigned one year with him, died. And Olybrius, who reigned after Severus along with Anthemius for one year, died. And Leo the First also died, having reigned with Anthemius for three years, and two years after.
In the first year of Leo indeed, Antioch was overturned by the earthquakes which occurred; and there was also a great fire. And in the second year of his reign, Sulifos, the Gothic tyrant, was killed. And in the third year of his reign, Aspar the general and his sons were killed.
But there is in this third Book and in its chapters, which are written above, a period of thirteen and a half years. And it is made up in the following manner:—Of Marcian and Morian six years and a half; and of Anthemius, and Severus, and Olybrius, and Leo the First, who reigned in succession and together, seven years.
And this period begins from the third year of the three hundred and fifth Olympiad, and it ends in the three hundred and eighth Olympiad.
[Note to the online edition: footnotes have been moved to the end. Footnotes concerned only with bits of Syriac and Greek have been omitted because of the time it would take to transcribe it.]
1. 2 Here the text adds, "The thirteenth Book tells about the accession of Marcian, and about the council of bishops which came to Chalcedon, and what took place in the council until the public address of the king to the bishops."
2. 1 Evag. ii. 4, 18; Liberat. 13.
3. 2... " Eupraxius of illustrious and Christ-loving memory, who was one of the eunuchs of the royal bedchambers," das Leben des Severus (ed. Spanuth), p. 28.
4. 2 Jo. Eph. ap. "Dion." See Introd. p. 4, note.
5. 3 Here an extract in Cod. Rom. begins.
6. 4 Evag. ii. 2.
7. 6 Evag. i. 7.
8. 3 Evag. ii. 2; Liberat. 13.
9. 4 Jo. Eph. (Anecd. Syr. ii. p. 363). See Introd. l.c.
10. 5 Here extract in Cod. Rom. ends.
11. 1 Mansi, vol. vii. p. 104.
12. 3 Ps. xxii. 22.
13. 2 2 Cor. viii. 9.
14. 3 Here an extract in Cod. Rom. begins.
15. 4 The faith (Cod. Rom.).
16. 1 Jo. Eph. Fr. (Anecd. Syr. ii. p. 363). See Introd. l.c.
17. 4 Here an extract in Cod. Rom. ends.
18. 7 Mansi, vol. vii. p. 132.
19. 1 Evag. ii. 5; Liberat. 14.
20. 2 Here begins an extract in Cod. Rom. which continues to end of chap. viii.
21. 4 Or, "became exasperated."
22. 1 Evag. ii. 5.
23. 4 Evag. ii. 5.
24. 3 Evag. ii. 5.
25. 1 Ps. lxxix. I.
26. 1 An exact translation of this passage is impossible. I have tried to give what appears to be the sense of it.
27. 1 Or, remain unknown.
28. 3 I.e. Majorian.
This text was transcribed by Roger Pearse, 2002. All material on this page is in the public domain - copy freely.
Greek text is rendered using the Scholars Press SPIonic font, free from here.
Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts
SOURCE SECTION: zachariah04.htm
Zachariah of Mitylene, Syriac Chronicle (1899). Book 4.
Zachariah of Mitylene, Syriac Chronicle (1899). Book 4.
BOOK IV
THIS fourth Book also, inasmuch as it is from 1 the History of Zachariah the Rhetorican, relates (in its twelve chapters that are written down distinctly below) and makes known the events occurring after the death of Marcian, and Morian, and Anthemius, and Severus, and Olybrius, who reigned in all twelve years, as the Chronicle testifies—these events (I say) it makes known which took place in Alexandria, and in Ephesus, in the days of Leo, and Leo, during a period of twenty years. It tells about the consecration of Timothy the Great, surnamed the "Weasel." And how Proterius, who was appointed as the successor of Dioscorus by the Synod of Chalcedon, was killed; and how, after his death, his clergy presented a libel to Timothy, and sought to come to the Church; but the zealous priests, on the side of Timothy, and the people would not allow them. Whereupon they went to Rome, and informed Leo about the matter; who wrote a letter to Leo the king censuring the consecration of Timothy.
But this Book, further, tells about the letter of Timothy to Leo censuring the additions which had been made in the Synod, and the Tome.
And, moreover, it tells about John, who was the bishop in Ephesus after the resignation of Bassianus; and about the encyclical letter of Leo the king, which he wrote to the bishops, with the object of eliciting from them their written opinions respecting the definitions that were made in the Synod. And they all, with the exception of Amphilochius of Side, wrote in praise of these definitions. |62
This Book, further, tells how Timothy was banished to Gangra, and from Gangra to Cherson; and that his successor was one of the Proterian party, another Timothy surnamed Salophaciolus.
And it, moreover, tells about Isaiah the bishop, and Theophilus the presbyter, who showed themselves to be Eutychians; and about the letter which Timothy wrote respecting them, and by which he exposed them.
The first chapter tells about the consecration of Timothy the Great, surnamed the "Weasel"; and the events which then occurred.
The second chapter shows how Proterius was killed, and dragged away; and his body was burned with fire.
The third chapter explains how after Timothy appeared as the sole bishop, the other clergy also, who were adherents of Proterius, presented a libel by which they showed themselves desirous of coming to the Church; but the zealous priests, on the side of Timothy, would not allow them.
The fourth chapter tells how these men, because they were not received by Timothy, got ready and went up to Rome and gave information to the chief priest Leo (respecting the matter).
The fifth chapter tells about Timothy; and also what happened in Ephesus to John the successor of Bassianus.
The sixth chapter, moreover, explains about the petition of Timothy which he wrote to the king, which contained a censure upon Leo and his letter.
The seventh chapter tells about the replies to the Encyclical respecting the Synod, which were sent to Leo the king by the bishops; and how Amphilochius did not agree with the others in what he wrote.
The eighth chapter tells about the letter of Anatolius to the king, proving him to have influenced the bishops, as to the purport of their replies respecting the Synod. |63
The ninth chapter tells about the banishment of Timothy, and the events which happened at his departure from Alexandria.
The tenth chapter explains about the other Timothy, who was the bishop of the Proterian party, and was called Salophaciolus.
The eleventh chapter tells about the removal of Timothy from Gangra to Cherson.
The twelfth chapter tells about Isaiah and Theophilus, the Eutychians; and about the letter which Timothy wrote respecting them, and by which he exposed them.
But the time occupied by this Book is two or three years of Leo the First, and seventeen years of Leo the Second, less by two months, as the Chronicle informs us. For Timothy the Great was about two years, more or less, bishop in Alexandria; and then he was banished to Gangra, and after the lapse of eighteen years he returned to his see; and he very soon died.
This fourth Book is a narrative of the consecration of Timothy, and of the events which occurred in the days of King Leo the First, and Leo the Second. |64
CHAPTER I
THE FIRST CHAPTER OF THE FOURTH BOOK, TELLING ABOUT THE CONSECRATION OF TIMOTHY THE GREAT, SURNAMED AELURUS, AND THE EVENTS WHICH HAPPENED THEN
The Alexandrian Church being in the condition that we have described above, suddenly the report of the death of Marcian reached them, and they all took courage, and consulted with the whole order of the monks as to whom they should make the bishop of the believing party. For2 at that time Dionysius the general was not there, but was on a visit to Egypt.3 And they agreed upon Timothy, a man expert in business and of ascetic life; who had been brought from the wilderness, by force, to Cyril, and ordained as presbyter by him. Moreover, he was of the same faith as Dioscorus; and he was well versed in all the truth of the faith of the doctors of the Church. This man the people of Alexandria along with the monks seized, and brought to the great Church which is called Caesarian. And they sought for three bishops, according to the canonical statute, to consecrate him. And since two Egyptian bishops were present, it was necessary that some other bishop should be found. And on making diligent inquiry, some of the people heard of Peter the Iberian, who had left Palestine and was sojourning there in Alexandria. And they ran quickly and laid hold of the man; and carried him on their shoulders, not letting him touch the ground. And as they were bringing him along, a voice was heard in the minds of the clergy, and of the monks, and of the believing citizens, like that voice which Philip heard respecting the eunuch of Candace the queen, saying, "Consecrate him by force, even though he be unwilling, and set him on the throne |65 of Mark." And he was weak in body through much self-mortification; so that, on account of his emaciation, the Proterian party used jestingly to style him the "Weasel." And when Dionysius the general heard of the matter, he became uneasy, lest he might receive blame for there being two bishops in the city, when the king heard it. And accordingly he returned, and taking the whole Roman force with him, he made Timothy prisoner. And many were killed. And Dionysius gave orders that they should carry him off to a place called Cabarsarin.4 And upon his departure the conflict between the citizens and the Romans became severe. And there was a great tumult, and slaughters were matters of daily occurrence; more especially as he (Dionysius) kept inciting and urging on the Romans called Cartadon, who were passionate men and Arians. And so the custodian of the Church funds expended them upon the Romans who were contending with the people. But it happened that numbers of them and of their wives fell and perished in the conflict. And they were divided into parties, and fought one against another. And when confusion like this had prevailed in the city for many days, Dionysius was at his wits' end, so he brought a certain monk Longinus, celebrated for chastity and virtue, and he intrusted Timothy to him; that he might restore the bishop to the city and to his church, upon the condition that the fighting should cease, and that there should be no more slaughter.
And when Timothy had returned to the great church from which he had been forcibly removed, and Proterius had taken for himself the church which is called Quirinian, and Easter |66 time came round, children without number were brought to Timothy to be baptized; so that because of their multitude those who were writing and reading out their names became weary; but only five were brought to Proterius. And the people were so devotedly attached to Timothy that they drove Proterius out of the church of Quirinus; and slaughter ensued.
CHAPTER II
THE SECOND CHAPTER SHOWS HOW PROTERIUS WAS SLAIN, AND DRAGGED THROUGH THE CITY; AND HOW HIS BODY WAS, AT LAST, BURNED WITH FIRE
And 5 when Proterius continued to threaten the Romans, and to display his rage against them; because they took his gold, but did not fill their hands with the blood of his enemies: then, indeed, a certain Roman was stirred to anger in his heart, and was boiling over with rage; and he invited Proterius to look round and he would show him the corpses of the slain as they lay. And suddenly and secretly, he drew his sword and stabbed Proterius in the ribs along with his Roman comrades, and they despatched him, and dragged him to the Tetrapylum, calling out respecting him as they went along, "This is Proterius." And others suspected that it was some crafty plot. But the Romans left the body, and went away. Then the people, perceiving this, became also greatly excited, and they dragged off the corpse, and burnt it with fire in the Hippodrome. Thus the end of death overtook Proterius, who had done evil to the Alexandrians, iust as George the Arian, and he suffered at their hands in like manner, and so was it done to him. |67
CHAPTER III
THE THIRD CHAPTER TELLS HOW, AFTER TIMOTHY APPEARED AS THE SOLE BISHOP, THE OTHER CLERGY ALSO EXPRESSED, BY MEANS OF A LIBEL, THEIR DESIRE TO REPENT AND BE UNITED WITH HIM; BUT THE PEOPLE AND THE ZEALOUS PRIESTS OF HIS PARTY WOULD NOT ALLOW THEM
But Timothy, when he appeared before them as the only chief priest of Alexandria, showed that he was really what a priest should be. For the silver and the gold that were given to the Romans in the days of Proterius, he expended upon the poor, and the widows, and the entertaining of strangers, and upon the needy in the city. So that, in a short time, the rich men, perceiving his honourable conduct, lovingly and devotedly supplied him with funds, both gold and silver. But the presbyters and all the clergy belonging to the Proterian party, since they knew all his virtues and his angelic mode of life, and the devotion of the citizens to him, joined themselves together and made libels in which they entreated him that they might be received. They also promised that they would go to Rome to Leo, and admonish him concerning the novelties which he had written in the Tome. Among these persons there were some who were ready and eloquent, and of great wealth and dignity, and of high birth also, who had been called to the clerical order by Cyril; and who were honoured in the eyes of the citizens of Rome; and they presented the petition on their behalf to Timothy. And Eustace of Berytus wrote, also recommending their reception.
But the jealousy and hatred of the citizens against these persons were great, on account of the events which had occurred in the days of Proterius, and the various sufferings which they had endured. So they would not consent to their reception, but they prepared the others to cry out, "Not one |68 of them shall set his foot here, neither shall the transgressors be received."
CHAPTER IV
THE FOURTH CHAPTER TELLS HOW THESE MEN GOT READY AND WENT UP TO ROME, AND GAVE INFORMATION RESPECTING THE TREATMENT WHICH THEY HAD SUFFERED
This was the reason why matters were disturbed and thrown into confusion. For when these men were ignominiously refused, they betook themselves to Rome, and there they told about the contempt of the canons, and about the dreadful death of Proterius; and they said that he died for the sake of the Synod and for the honour of Leo; and that they themselves, also, had endured many indignities; and further, that Timothy had come forward in a lawless manner and taken the priesthood. So they rendered the latter odious, and made the whole business appear disgraceful in the eyes of Leo; and they stirred him up against Timothy.
CHAPTER V
THE FIFTH CHAPTER TELLS THE FOLLOWING MATTERS RESPECTING TIMOTHY; AND ALSO WHAT HAPPENED IN EPHESUS TO JOHN THE SUCCESSOR OF BASSIANUS
But how it came about that Timothy was given up, I shall now relate. Marcian the king having died, and Anthemius, and Severus, and Olybrius having reigned for only short lives, in Italy and the regions beyond, Leo the First received the kingdom in the territory of Europe in conjunction with them and after them. And he was both a believer and vigorous, but simple in the faith. |69
And when Leo the king learned the evils which occurred in Egypt, and in Alexandria, and in Palestine, and in every place; and that many had been disturbed on account of the Synod. And also that in Ephesus there had been much slaughter, upon the entrance of John, after Bassianus had resigned and fled because he would not subscribe the transactions of Chalcedon. But this John, being inflamed with desire for pre-eminence, betrayed the rights and honours of the see; so that in Ephesus they call him "the traitor" unto this day; and they blotted his name out of the book of life. He accordingly, when he received a letter from Timothy of Alexandria, was willing to convene a Synod. But Anatolius, the bishop of the royal city, prevented him; not, indeed, that he was able to find any fault with the written statement of Timothy, but he was very uneasy lest, if a Synod were assembled, it might put an end to all the transactions of Chalcedon. And his anxiety was not for the faith, but rather for the privileges and honours which had been unjustly granted to the see of the royal city.
Accordingly, Anatolius persuaded the king not to assemble a Synod, but by means of written letters, called Encyclicals, to inquire what the mind of the bishops was respecting the Synod of Chalcedon and the consecration of Timothy.
And6 the king began to write to the bishops about Timothy and the Synod of Chalcedon, in the encyclical letter, to the following effect:—
"Do ye, without fear of man or partiality, and unbiassed by influence or by favour, setting the fear of God alone before your eyes, and considering that to Him alone ye must make your defence and give your account, tell me briefly the common opinion held by you the priests in our dominion, what ye think right, after having carefully investigated the transactions of Chalcedon, and concerning the consecration of Timothy of Alexandria." |70
And 7 when a letter such as this from the king was given to Leo of Rome, he wrote two letters to Leo the king; one concerning Timothy, and the other on behalf of the Proterian party, in which he also asserted of the clergy of Constantinople that they were of the same mind as Timothy; and he called Anatolius indolent; and he defended the Tome which he himself wrote respecting Eutyches, and which was accepted in the Council of Chalcedon. However, in a similar strain he wrote distinctly concerning the taking of the Manhood by Christ in this letter also. And Leo the king sent it on to Timothy of Alexandria. And, upon the receipt of it, the latter wrote a petition to the king as follows.
CHAPTER VI
THE SIXTH CHAPTER, DECLARING, BY HIS PETITION, THE FAITH OF TIMOTHY AND THE CHARGES THAT HE MADE AGAINST THE LETTER OF LEO
"O kind and indulgent king! Since among wise men there is nothing more honourable than the soul, and also we have learned to despise the things of the flesh, and not to lose the soul; therefore, as far as in me lies and with all my might, I am careful to keep my soul, lest before the time of judgment I may be condemned as a lover of the flesh, and prepare for myself the fire of Hell. And this I think, that all who are wise concerning that which is good, desire that nothing hateful to their brethren should ever occur. And accordingly, in writing this petition I assure your Serenity that from my youth I have learned the Holy Scriptures, and I have studied the divine mysteries contained in them. And even until now, I have ever been careful to hold the true faith as it was delivered to us by the apostles, and by my |71 fathers the doctors. And, being united to them by the grace of God our Saviour, I have reached my present age. And I confess the one faith which our Redeemer and Creator Jesus Christ delivered when He became incarnate, and sent out the blessed apostles, saying, 'Go, teach all nations; baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.' 8 For 9 the Trinity is perfect, equal of Nature, in glory and blessedness; and there is not in It anything less or more. For thus also the three hundred and eighteen blessed fathers taught concerning the true Incarnation of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, that He became man, according to His dispensation, which He Himself knows. And with them I agree and believe, as do all others who prosper in the true faith. For in it there is nothing difficult, neither does the definition of the faith which the fathers proclaimed require addition. And all (whoever they be) holding other opinions and corrupted by heresy, are rejected by me. And I also myself flee from them. For this is a disease which destroys the soul, namely, the doctrine of Apollinaris, and the blasphemies of Nestorius, both those who hold erroneous views about the Incarnation of Jesus Christ, Who became flesh from us; and introduce into Him the cleavage in two, and divide asunder even the dispensation of the only-begotten Son of God: and those, on the other hand, who say with respect to His Body that it was taken from Heaven, or that God the Word was changed, or that He suffered in His own Nature; and who do not confess that to a human body what pertains to the soul derived from us was united.
"And I say to any who have fallen into one or other of these heresies, 'Ye are in grievous error, and ye know not the Scriptures.'10 And with such I do not hold communion, nor do I love them as believers. But I am joined, and united, and truly agreeing with the faith which was defined at Nicea; and it is my care to live in accordance with it. |72
"But when Diomedes, the distinguished Silentiarius, came to me and gave me the letter of the bishop of Rome, and I studied it, and I was not pleased with its contents; then lest the Church, O Christ-loving man, should be disturbed, I neither, as yet, have publicly read nor censured it.
"But I believe that God has put it into the mind of your Serenity to set right the statements in this letter, which are a cause of stumbling to the believers; for these statements are in accord, and agreement, and conjunction with the doctrine of Nestorius; who was condemned for cleaving asunder and dividing the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ, in respect of natures, and persons, and properties, and names, and operations; who also interpreted the words of Scripture to mean two (natures), which are not contained in the Confession of Faith of the three hundred and eighteen. For they declared that the only-begotten Son of God, Who is of the same Nature with the Father, came down, and became incarnate, and was made man; and suffered, and rose again, and ascended to Heaven; and shall come to judge the quick and the dead. And natures, and persons, and properties were not mentioned by them, nor did they divide them. But they confessed the divine and the human properties to be of One by the dispensation.
"Accordingly, I do not agree with the transactions of Chalcedon, because I find in them divisions and cleavage of the dispensation.
"And now, O victorious king, receive me, for I am speaking this confidently on behalf of the truth; that your Highness may prosper as on earth, so also in Heaven. And accept this my petition with goodwill, for in this letter from the West there runs confusion likely to cause stumbling; for it cleaves asunder the dispensation. And I pray that this letter may be annulled, so that God Christ may be purely confessed by all tongues that He truly suffered in the flesh; while He remained without suffering in His Godhead, which He has with the Father and the Spirit.
"And I entreat and beseech your honoured Majesty that |73 orders be sent to all men to hold the Confession of the faith, as defined by our three hundred and eighteen fathers, which, in a few words, declares the truth to all the Churches, and puts an end to every heresy and all false doctrine and causes of stumbling; and which itself stands in no need of correction. But the matters in this letter which appear to me to require correction" (which are not repeated) "are these—" and because they are given at length with quotations refuting them, we do not repeat them here, lest the reader should be wearied. For believers may find, in all places, the censures upon them that have been made by wise men. In the first place, by Dioscorus; and after him, by this Timothy; and after him by Peter; and by Akhs'noyo of Hierapolis; and by the learned Severus, the chief priest of Antioch, in his work Against the Grammarian;11 and by Cosmas; and by Simeon of L'gino; and by the letter of the Alexandrines.
CHAPTER VII
THE SEVENTH CHAPTER TELLS WHAT THE OTHER BISHOPS WROTE TO LEO; AND HOW THEY ALL (WITH THE EXCEPTION OF AMPLILOCHIUS OF SIDE) MADE KNOWN THEIR VIEWS IN CONFORMITY WITH THE DOCTRINE OF THE SYNOD, AND AGREED TO IT
But Timothy wrote confidently, as above, concerning the letter of Leo and the Synod of Chalcedon. The other bishops, however, the Metropolitans of every place, having received the encyclical letter of the king, testified to what was done by them in Chalcedon, to which also they agreed.12 And they censured the consecration of Timothy, whom Leo, |74 the bishop of Rome, even named "the Antichrist." 13 They say, indeed, that the other bishops also were influenced to write thus by the instigation of Anatolius, and his letters to them.
But14 Amphilochius of Side alone showed truth and uprightness without fear. And he and the bishops of his province wrote confidently, censuring and reviling the transactions of the Synod, and the doctrine of the Tome, telling of the violence and partiality there displayed, and confirming their statements by proofs and copious testimony from the Holy Scriptures and the Fathers. He, moreover, besought the king that the transactions of Chalcedon should be cancelled, since they were a cause of stumbling to the believers, as well as of confusion. Nevertheless, he censured the consecration of Timothy, and said that it had been done in an uncanonical manner. This man, indeed, who testified thus confidently and truly to the king respecting the Synod, fell into danger from the Nestorian party, in consequence of the malignity and treachery which they exhibited towards him; for he was the only one of all the bishops who had the courage to revile the Synod with its transactions, and also the Tome. But Aspar, who was general at that time, although he was an Arian, pleaded and begged for him that such a truthful priest should not be exposed to danger. And thus, indeed, Amphilochius was delivered from danger.
But15 in his endeavour to correct the evils which were done in the days of Marcian, the king was hindered by the bishops. And by their means also Timothy was condemned to banishment in Gangra. Now that Anatolius of Constantinople was the one to instigate the bishops to make these statements to the king in the Encyclicals, you will learn from his letter to the king which I have written below. |75
CHAPTER VIII
THE EIGHTH CHAPTER, INDEED, TELLS ABOUT. THE LETTER OF ANATOLIUS TO THE KING ABOUT THE SYNOD, SAYING THAT HE HAD INFLUENCED THE BISHOPS BY WRITING 16
"Anatolius, bishop of Constantinople, to the believing and Christ-loving king, victorious Augustus, Leo the emperor. It is a subject of prayer with me, Christ-loving and believing king," etc. And a little further on he says: "Those audacious acts which have been committed In Alexandria, do not suffer me to remain silent. But, as becomes one holding the priesthood of this your royal city, being attached to the peaceable will of your Majesty, which desires that the canons of the Fathers should not be despised, but that the laws should be maintained, I have testified thus to the pious chief priest Leo and the chaste Metropolitans of your dominion. And I weep for the canons which have been despised by the wicked deeds of Timothy; since the records sent to your Majesty respecting him declare that he has trampled upon the laws of the Church and of the world; and that he has loved vainglory, according to the saying of Scripture, that 'the wicked man is a despiser, even when he is falling into the depth of evils.' "17
And the rest of his letter will be understood from this specimen; how he was the cause of the letters sent by the bishops to the emperor, in which they agreed to the transaction of the Synod. But many senators and citizens, having learned this respecting Anatolius, withdrew from his communion. |76
CHAPTER IX
THE NINTH CHAPTER TELLS ABOUT THE BANISHMENT OF TIMOTHY, AND THE EVENTS WHICH HAPPENED AT HIS DEPARTURE FROM ALEXANDRIA
But, because the king's order respecting the departure of Timothy was sent to Alexandria at this time, the general was consequently much distressed, and felt himself constrained to suffer many things rather than that the city should lose such a priest. However, since he saw the slaughter which was threatened against him by the Proterian party, and especially as the members of that party had taken refuge with the king, and were aided by all the bishops; this same Stilas the general18 thought it well that he and the bishop should betake themselves for refuge to the Baptistery of the great Church. And he did so for two reasons: one was, that they themselves might be preserved from harm; and the other, that they might not be the cause of the loss of life and of slaughter.
But when Timothy had taken refuge at the font of the Baptistery, the clergy of the Proterian party paid no regard either to the priesthood, or to the chastity, or to the age, or to the ascetic life, or to the labours of the man, or indeed to the place where he had taken refuge; but with an armed force, they snatched the chief priest from the very font, and dragged him away. And, as soon as the report of this reached the people, they killed more than ten thousand there to rescue the priest from them. However, after the Romans had slain many of the Alexandrians, the man was taken; and he went out across Egypt to Palestine, that his journey might be along the sea of Phoenice. |77
But when the cities and the inhabitants of Palestine and the seacoast 19 heard it, they came to him to be sanctified, and that the sick among them gain healing for their diseases through the grace of God which was attached to his person; and they snatched torn pieces of stuff from his garments, that they might have them as charms to protect them from evil.
And when he arrived at Berytus, Eustace the bishop urged the citizens there to receive him with public honour.
And he begged Timothy, upon his entry into the city, to pray for it; and the latter stood in the midst of the city and made supplications and prayers to God for it, and blessed it.
But Auxonius, the brother of Eustace, who was at that time an interpreter of the law, acting upon the advice of his brother, spent the whole night with Timothy, speaking earnestly about the faith, and against Nestorius. And during the whole of his long discourse Timothy was a silent listener; but when at length Auxonius, after many words, ceased speaking, Timothy said to him, "Who could persuade me that these three fingers should write upon the paper of Chalcedon?" And, upon hearing this, Auxonius was very sad, and began to weep. Then Timothy, encouraging both him and his brother Eustace, who afterwards joined them, said,
"Attach yourselves to me, and let us contend together for the faith, and let us prevail; so that either we shall recover our bishoprics, or else we shall be driven into banishment by our enemies, and live a sincere life with God." And he alleged as an excuse the dedication of a church, a great temple which Eustace built and named "Anastasia"; and Timothy said, "Shall we wait for the dedication of an earthly temple? But if you obey me, then we shall hold our festival in the heavenly Jerusalem?"
And Timothy received the same kind of honour along the way, until he reached Gangra. |78
CHAPTER X
THE TENTH CHAPTER EXPLAINS ABOUT ANOTHER TIMOTHY, WHO WAS THE BISHOP OF THE PROTERIAN PARTY, AND WAS CALLED SALOPHACIOLUS
But20 the members of the Proterian party, because of the order of the king and the governors of the cities who were obedient to the command, elected one of themselves, also called Timothy Salophaciolus, and placed him upon the episcopal throne. He was a man who sought popularity; and was soft in his manners and feeble in his actions; as events, indeed, proved.
For when all the people of the city forsook the church, and assembled, along with the believing clergy, in the monasteries, he was neither enraged nor distressed. But when his own clergy were anxious to restrain the people by means of the Roman armed force, he would not allow them.
Now it happened that a certain woman met him carrying her child, who had just been baptized by the believers, and was being borne along in triumph according to the usual custom. And his attendants were very indignant at it. But he ordered them to bring her to him quietly; and he took up the child and kissed him, and he urged the mother to take whatever she wanted. And he said to his own followers,
"Let us and these Christians, each as he thinks right, believe and honour our Lord." Nevertheless, though he did all this, he could not appease the rage of the citizens; and because he dreaded the fate of Proterius, he would not walk abroad without the Romans. And just in proportion as the people loved Timothy the believer, so they hated this man. And they never ceased imploring and entreating the king that Timothy should be restored to them from banishment. |79
But they say of this Salophaciolus that he tried hard to persuade the Alexandrians to hold communion with him; and, as if rejecting the Synod, he wrote in the Diptych the name of Dioscorus. And when Leo of Rome heard it, he excommunicated him.
And on one occasion, when he went up to Constantinople, he had a great dispute with Gennadius, the successor of Anatolius, in the king's presence. And he said, "I do not accept the Synod which would make your see the next in importance to Rome, and cast contempt upon the honour of my see." And the king laughed when he saw them, and heard the two priests contending for the pre-eminence.
And he wrote to tell about this dispute to the bishop of Rome; who at that time replied in writing, that the privileges of each see should be restored according to their original constitution. And he made this known to the king.
So much about this Timothy Salophaciolus.
CHAPTER XI
THE ELEVENTH CHAPTER TELLS HOW TIMOTHY WAS DRIVEN FROM GANGRA TO CHERSON, IN CONSEQUENCE OF THE HATRED WHICH THE PARTY OF CHALCEDON ENTERTAINED AGAINST HIM
But Gennadius of Constantinople and his adherents did not desist from their persecution of Timothy, even when he was in banishment. For they persuaded the king to command his removal from Gangra to Cherson, which is a region inhabited by barbarous and uncivilised men.
But the bishop of Gangra heartily consented to this, on account of the envy which he felt towards the believing, virtuous, and miracle-working Timothy, the friend of the poor; because he used to receive gifts from the believers of Alexandria and Egypt and other places, and to make liberal distribution for the relief of the needy.
And having embarked on board ship, and launched upon |80 the sea, though he was tossed in the midst of the winter, yet he reached Cherson without danger. And when the inhabitants of the country learned the reason, they were filled with admiration for him; and they became followers of his faith, and submitted themselves to his authority.
But the hatred which the Nestorian party entertained against him was caused by his diligence in continually writing reproaches and censures upon the Synod and the Tome, and sending them forth on all sides; thereby encouraging the believers. And he corroborated his words from the Holy Scriptures, and the doctors of the Church, from the time of Christ's preaching even to his own day.
In consequence of these writings, those persons who understood the matter left Gennadius of Constantinople and joined in communion with Acacius the presbyter and Master of the Orphans, the brother of Timocletus the composer, who joined the believers, and strenuously opposed the Nestorians; and he also set verses to music, and they used to sing them. And the people were delighted with them, and they flocked in crowds to the Orphan Hospital.
But the king ordered that the blessed Mary should be proclaimed and written in the book of life as Theotokos, on account of Martyrius of Antioch, who was an avowed Nestorian, and would not now consent to teach these things, who also was deposed.
But Gregory of Nyssa (a believing and virtuous man, the namesake of the learned Gregory) was summoned by the king to put an end to the doctrine of the Nestorians at that time; as some monks went on a mission to the king about the matter of Martyrius. And Gennadius21 had died; and Acacius, the Master of the Orphan Hospital, was appointed as his successor.
And a promise had been made by the latter that he would put an end to the Tome of Leo, and the Synod of Chalcedon, |81 and the innovations and additions which had been imposed upon the faith in it.
CHAPTER XII
THE TWELFTH CHAPTER TELLS ABOUT THE EUTYCHIANISTS, ISAIAH, BISHOP OF HERMOPOLIS, AND THEOPHILUS, A PRESBYTER OF ALEXANDRIA; AND ABOUT THE LETTER WRITTEN BY TIMOTHY RESPECTING THEM, IN WHICH HE EXPOSED THEIR ERRORS
The affairs of the Church of the royal city, indeed, were in the condition described above.
But Timothy, when in banishment, wrote not alone against the Nestorians, but also against the Eutychianists. And this appears from his letters to Alexandria and Palestine, against those who hold the opinions of Eutyches, and do not confess Christ to be of the same nature with us in the flesh as well as of the same Nature with the Father in the Godhead.
And it so happened that the Eutychianists, Isaiah, bishop of Hermopolis, and Theophilus, a presbyter of Alexandria, were sojourning in the royal city with the desire of making money. And they circulated a report that Timothy also was of their way of thinking. And when he heard this he wrote a letter dealing with the doctrines of Eutyches and Nestorius, which he sent to Constantinople signed with his own signature. And when the bearers of this letter became known, they were treated by these men with contempt; and were exposed to danger, because he called the followers of Isaiah "deceivers." Whereupon he sent again another letter respecting them, confirming it by quotations from the fathers. And it was to the following effect:—
THE LETTER OF TIMOTHY
"Our Lord and God, Jesus Christ, in order that He might redeem us and set us free from the dominion of Satan, and |82 make us meet for the blessings of Heaven, appointed for us, through the holy fathers, the law of those things which are pleasing to Himself. And He gave commandment that no man, thinking to honour, should insult the Merciful One; but that He should receive the dispensation for our redemption. And He said, 'Turn not aside to the right hand or to the left, but walk in the way of the kingdom.' 22 And again He said, 'Be not righteous overmuch, nor count thyself too wise, lest thou fall into error. And do not fall deeply into error, nor be stubborn, lest thou die before the time';23 the meaning of which is, lest the evil one should infuse into thee anything contrary to My commandments, and set a stumbling-block for thee on the way of the kingdom along which thou art walking, and slay thee. For he said, 'In the way wherein I walked they laid snares for me.' 24 Take heed, therefore, to thyself, and do not turn aside nor depart from the way of the kingdom. For this is the desire of the evil one, who, if thou shalt fill up much wickedness, will meet thee, and thou wilt fall into danger.
"For, suppose a man seeking to enter a city surrounded by water; if he attempt to pass through on foot he will sink and be drowned in its depth; if, on the other hand, he be afraid to pass over, he cannot enter the city at all; but if there be a convenient ford, and he try to cross over by it, then he can enter the city. In like manner also we being anxious to enter Jerusalem, which is above, if we do not follow the Law of God, which we have learned from the holy doctors, cannot indeed stand upon the rock of our leader Peter Kepho, the true faith. 'For thou shalt indeed be called Kepho, and upon this rock I will build My Church; and the bars of Sheol shall not prevail against it.'25 Let no man be so led astray by the evil one as to imagine that he can subvert the true faith; and if he is contending, it is against his own soul |83 that he contends; but nothing can overcome the faith. And this is the meaning of the expression, 'The bars of Sheol shall not prevail against it.' Wherefore, if any man stand not upon the truth of the faith, but is righteous overmuch, when he thinks to confer honour, he rather offers insult; but if he accept the Law of the Lord, which has been laid down for us by the saints, he survives visions of death and the verge of Sheol. For we have learned that apart from the standard of the faith, we cannot please God.
"These things I have written, because I have heard that some persons are contentious, and are not obedient unto the Law of the Lord which has been laid down for us by the saints; and which declares that our Lord, by His incarnation, was of the same nature with us in the flesh which He took from us, which doctrine they have even rejected if they are not of this mind.
"Accordingly, let no one, thinking to honour God, insult His mercy by refusing to obey the doctrine of the holy fathers, who have declared that our Lord Jesus Christ is of the same nature with us in the flesh, and is one with His flesh. For I have heard also the holy apostle teaching and saying, 'Forasmuch as the children were partakers of the flesh and the blood, He also (partook of the same) in like manner; that by means of death He might destroy the power of death, who is Satan; and might deliver all who were held in the fear of death, and were subject to bondage, that so they might live for ever. For He did not take (the nature) from angels, but He took it from the seed of Abraham. And it was fitting that He should be made in all points like unto His brethren, and that He should be a merciful priest, and faithful with God; and that He should make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that He suffered being tempted, He is able to succour them that are tempted.' 26 For this expression, 'He was made like us in all points,' teaches all who desire to be meet for the blessings of heaven and to be redeemed, that they must confess the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ as being from Mary the |84 holy Virgin and Theotokos; Christ Who was of the same nature with her and with us in the flesh, and is of the same Nature with the Father in His Godhead.
"For the fathers anathematised, and we also agreeing with them anathematise in like manner, any who do not hold their doctrines.
"But we have, moreover, in our letter added some quotations from them, attesting the truth of this doctrine:—
"OF ATHANASIUS 27
" 'For this, indeed, the apostle writes expressly, that, "other foundation can no man lay (than that which is laid), even Christ; but let every man take heed how he builds."28 Now it is necessary that a foundation such as this should be in conformity and likeness with those who are built upon it. God the Word, because He is the Word and the only-begotten one, has no peers who could be the sons of the Godhead in the same manner as He. But inasmuch as He became man, of our nature, and clothed Himself with our body, we are of the same nature with Him. Accordingly, in the matter of our humanity He is the foundation; so that we may be precious stones, and be built upon Him, and be a temple for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
" 'For, in like manner as He is the foundation and we are the stones built upon Him, so also He is the vine and we are the branches, hanging from Him and in Him; not indeed in the nature of the Godhead, for that would not be possible, but in the manhood. Now it is fitting that the branches should be like the vine, because we also are like Him in that body which He took from us.
" 'And 29 we confess that He is the Son of God, and God in the Spirit, and man in the flesh. And there are not two natures in one Son, one to be worshipped and the other |85 unworthy of worship; but there is one Nature of God the Word, Who became incarnate, and Who, along with the flesh in which He is clothed, is to be worshipped with one worship.'
"OF THE SAME, IN HIS LETTER TO EPICTETUS 30
" 'Now there are many, hiding themselves and blushing, who imagine that, if we affirm the body of our Lord to be from Mary, we introduce a fourth Person into the Trinity; but if we affirm the body to be of the same Nature with the Word, the Trinity thereby remains without the addition of any foreign element. While if we maintain with respect to His body that it is human; then since the body is foreign to the Nature of God, when the Word is in it, there must of necessity be a Quaternity instead of a Trinity, in consequence of the addition of the body.
" 'When they talk in this way they do not consider how their own argument breaks down and fails. For even if they deny the body to be from Mary, they, no less than those who hold a distinct body,31 also seem to hold a Quaternity. For in like manner as the Son is of the same Nature with the Father, and is not the Father but the Son in Person, yet being of the same Nature with the Father; so also, if the body is of the same Nature with the Word, it is not the Word, and since there is another, the Trinity, even according to their showing, is found to be a Quaternity.
" 'But the true, indivisible and perfect Trinity can never receive any addition. What then must be the mind of these persons, and how can they be Christians who hold that there is another besides Him who is God? '
"OF THE SAME, FROM THE SAME LETTER 32
" 'The body of our Redeemer, derived from Mary, was in reality and truth human in nature, because it was like our body; |86 since Mary is our sister, we being all descended from our father Adam.'
"OF JULIUS OF ROME 33
"' And there is no change whatsoever in the Divine Nature, for It is not subject to diminution or increase. And when He says, "Glorify Me," that is the voice of the body, and is spoken concerning the body. For glory was affirmed with respect to His whole Being, for He is all one. And by this the "glory which I had with Thee before the world was," 34 He testified concerning His Godhead that It is always glorified, for such glory properly belongs to It, even though this affirmation was made equally concerning His whole Being. So in the Spirit He is of the same Nature with the Father invisibly; and since the body also was united to Him in His Nature, it is equally included under the name. And again, also, His Godhead is comprehended under the name because It is united to our nature, and the nature of the body is not converted into the nature of God by the union, and conjunction of the name of the nature. Just as the nature of the Godhead was not changed by the conjunction of the human body, and by the appellation of a body of our nature.'
" OF THE SAME, FROM HIS LETTER TO DIONYSIUS 35
" 'They indeed, who confess that the God of heaven became incarnate from the Virgin, and that He being joined to His flesh was one, give themselves needless trouble in contending with the maintainers of the opposite view, who affirm (as I have heard) that there are two natures. Since John proved our Lord to be one by saying, "The Word became flesh."4 And Paul by saying, "There is one Lord Jesus Christ, through Whom are all things." 36 Now, if He Who was born from the Virgin was named Jesus, and He it is through Whom were ail things; He is one nature because He |87 is one Person, Who is not divided into two. For the nature of the body was not separate, nor yet did the Nature of the Godhead remain distinct at the Incarnation; but just as man, composed of body and soul, is one nature, so also He, Who is in the likeness of men, is one Jesus Christ.'
"OF GREGORY THE MIRACLE-WORKER 37
" 'Whosoever says that Christ appeared in the world in phantasy, and does not confess Him to have come in the body, as it is written: let him be accursed.
" 'Whosoever says concerning the body of Christ that it was without soul and without mind, and does not confess His humanity to be perfect, He being the same, according as it is written: let him be accursed.
" 'Whosoever says that Christ took a part of man only, and does not confess Him to have been in all points like as we are, yet without sin: let him be accursed.
" 'Whosoever says that Christ was liable to change and variation, and does not confess Him to be unchanged in Spirit, and uncorrupt in the flesh, as it is written: let him be accursed.
" 'Whosoever says that Christ was perfect man separately (and God the Word separately),38 and does not confess Him to be one Lord Jesus Christ: let him be accursed.
. " 'Whosoever says that there was One Who suffered and Another Who did not suffer, and does not confess God the Word, Himself impassible, to have suffered in His flesh, as it is written: let him be accursed.
" 'Whosoever says that there was One Who existed before the worlds, the Son of God, and another, who at length came into being; and does not confess Him to be the same Who was before the worlds and at length came into being, according as it is written, "Christ yesterday and to-day ": 39 let him be accursed.
" 'Whosoever says that Christ was of the seed of a man in like manner as the rest of mankind, and does not confess Him |88 to have been incarnate, and to have become man, of the Holy Spirit and also of the Virgin Mary, of the seed of the house of David, as it is written: let him be accursed.
" 'Whosoever says that the body of Christ was of the same nature as His Godhead, and does not confess Him to be God before all worlds, Who "emptied Himself and took upon Him the form of a servant," 40 as it is written: let him be accursed.
" 'Whosoever says that the body of Christ was not a created body, and does not confess the uncreated God the Word to have received incarnation and manhood from created man, as it is written: let him be accursed.
" 'For how can one affirm the body of Christ to be uncreated; since that which is not created is not susceptible of suffering, or wounds, or contact. But Christ Himself, after His resurrection from the dead, showed His disciples the prints of the nails and the wound of the spear, and afforded them bodily contact with Himself. And although the doors were shut He entered, that He might display the power of His Godhead and the reality of His body.41 For the flesh which comes into being after lapse of time, cannot be said to be of the same nature with the eternal Godhead. For whatsoever in nature and property is incapable of change is of the same nature.
" 'And42 He is the true incorporeal God who appeared in the flesh, a perfect Being; He is not two persons nor two natures. For we do not worship Four, God, and the Son of God, and a man, and the Holy Spirit; but, on the contrary, we anathematise those who act so wickedly, and who would place man in the glory of God. But we hold that God the Word became man for the sake of our redemption, and that He took our likeness upon Him, and that He who came in our likeness is in His true Nature the Son of God, but in the flesh a man, our Lord Jesus Christ.'43 |89
"OF BASIL OF CAESAREA 44
" 'That which is made is not of the same nature as its maker, but that which is begotten is of the same essence as its begetter. Accordingly, that which is created and that which is born are not one and the same.' And again, 'The children have the same nature as the parent, even though he that was born has come into being in a different fashion. For Abel, who was born as the result of copulation, was in no respect different from Adam who was not born, but was formed.' And again, 'If they who are different in the manner of their creation are different also in their essential being, then men must be unlike one another in nature. For there is one creation of Adam, who was formed out of the earth; and another creation of Eve, who was made from a rib; and another of Abel, who was from copulation; and another of Him Who was from Mary, who was from a virgin alone. And, indeed, the same might be said with respect to birds and beasts.'
"OF GREGORY, HIS BROTHER 45
" 'The nature, indeed, of those who are begotten must of necessity be like their begetters.'
"OF GREGORY OF NAZIANZUM 46
" 'Now these are generally accepted doctrines, that He Who was exalted far above us, for our sake took our qualities upon Him and became man; not that through the body He should thenceforth be limited to the body, for He is not so limited, since His Nature is infinite; but that He might sanctify man by His body He became as leaven to the whole lump, and drew it to Himself. And him who was guilty he released from his guilt. He was, for our sake, in all points like as we are, sin only excepted, in body, soul, mind, |90 of which the ordinary mortal man is composed. He Who manifested Himself was God in respect of His spiritual being, but human in respect of Adam and the Virgin from whom He was derived; from the former as His ancestor, but from the latter who was His mother according to the (natural) law, and who gave Him birth in a manner superior to nature, and not after the (natural) law.'
"OF JULIUS OF ROME 47
" 'But, again, with respect to the dispensation of our Redeemer in the flesh, we believe that God the Word remaining unchanged, became flesh, with the object of renewing mankind. And He, being the true Son of God by the eternal generation, became man by the birth from the Virgin. And He, Who is perfect God in His Godhead of the same Nature with the Father, and also perfect man of the same bodily nature with mankind by birth from the Virgin, is one and the same. But whosoever says that Christ had a body from heaven, or that His body was of His nature: let him be accursed.
" 'Whosoever denies that the flesh of our Lord is from the Virgin, of the same nature as ours: let him be accursed.
" 'Whosoever holds concerning our Lord and Saviour Who was from the Holy Spirit and from Mary the Virgin in the flesh, that He was incomposite and without consciousness, and without reason, and without mind: let him be accursed.
" 'Whosoever shall dare to say with respect to Christ that He suffered in His Godhead, and not in the flesh, as it is written: let him be accursed.
" 'Whosoever would separate and divide our Lord and Saviour, and say that God the Word is one Son, and the man whom He took another, and does not confess Him to be one and the same: let him be accursed.'
"OF JOHN CHRYSOSTOM
" 'He Who transcends all our conceptions and surpasses |91 all our thoughts, and is exalted above angels and above all intelligent powers, was content to become man; and He took flesh, which was formed; from the earth and the clay. And this He did by entering the Virgin's womb, where He was carried for the period of nine months; and after His birth He sucked milk; and indeed He suffered all things pertaining to the human lot. Why48 was He called a Table? Because when I eat the mystery which is upon Him, I am refreshed. Why was He called a House? Because I dwell in Him. Why was He called an Indweller? Because I am His temple. Why was He called a Head? Because I am His member. When 49 He set His love upon a harlot, what did He do? He did not call her up; for He would not bring a harlot up to Heaven. But He came down; as she was not able to ascend to Him, He descended to her. And coming to her hovel, He Himself was not ashamed; and He found her drunk. And how did He come? Not openly in His own Nature; but He became like the harlot herself in nature though not in will; lest, when she saw Him, she might be confounded through terror and flee. He came to her having become man. And how did He become man? He was conceived in the womb, and He grew gradually.'
"OF THE SAME 50
" 'This is the day on which the Eternal One was born and became man, a thing which never took place before, though He did not change from being God, for it was not by a change of the Godhead that He became man; neither from a human original by growth did He become God; but the impassible Word suffered no change in His Nature by becoming flesh. He that is seated upon the throne high and lifted up, was laid in the manger. He that is simple and without body, and cannot be touched, was embraced by human hands. He |92 Who severs the chains of sin, was wrapped in swathing-bands.'
"OF ATHANASIUS 51
" 'If any man teaches doctrine contrary to the Holy Scriptures, and says that the Son of God is One, and he who is man from Mary is another, who became a son by grace as we; so that there would be Two dwelling in the Deity; One, of the same Nature with God, and the other who became so by grace, the man from Mary: and whosoever, further, says that the body of our Lord was from above, and not from the Virgin Mary; or that the Godhead was converted into flesh; or that It was confounded or changed; or that the Godhead of our Lord suffered; or that the body of Christ, inasmuch as it is from men, should not be worshipped, and not that the body is to be worshipped because it is that of our Lord and God;—the man who asserts these things we anathematise, for we obey the apostle when he says,
"Whosoever preaches to you a gospel different from that which we have preached to you, let him be accursed." '52
"OF BISHOP AMBROSE
" 'He is the same Person Who speaks, though not always in the same manner. But He had regard in it at one time to the glory of God, and at another time to the passions of men. As God, He teaches divine things, because He is the Word; and as man, He teaches human things, because He speaks in our nature.'
"OF THEOPHILUS OF ALEXANDRIA 53
" 'The Word, the living God, the Lord of all, and Creator of the worlds, did not clothe Himself in a heavenly |93 body as in some costly substance and come to us, but He displayed in clay the greatness of the skill of His art. For, when He would restore and renew man who was formed from the clay, He was born as man from the Virgin, who, corresponding to us in all points, sin only excepted, and coming into being by a miracle, shone upon us and blessed our human nature.
" 'However, the first man also came into being in a manner different and distinct from us, as the intercourse and association of man and woman did not minister to his creation. And if they allow, in his case, that he was formed out of the earth by the will of God, no parents having ministered to his birth by the conjunction of male and female; why do they quarrel with the Incarnation of our Lord and Saviour, which was from the Virgin? And when they oppose us in this matter, we ask them whether is it easier that a man should come into being from the earth without parents, or that our Saviour Christ should be born from the Virgin, with flesh, and soul, and consciousness? And the first man, indeed, who was from the earth, partook of flesh and blood in all the likeness of humanity; but our Saviour, by His own power, created and prepared from the Virgin a body for Himself with flesh, and blood, and soul, and consciousness. And we confess that He consorted with men, even though in His holy Incarnation the sensual intercourse of man and woman had no part.'
"OF THE SAME54
" 'Now it was not difficult for God the Word to prepare for Himself a temple from the Virgin's body, for the purpose of our redemption. For consider, indeed, that God also is never polluted by natural copulation when He creates man; and how much more then, by His mercy, may He become |94 incarnate from the blood of the Virgin, for the purpose of our redemption.'
"OF CYRIL
" 'So, truly, the Theotokos still remained a virgin after giving birth to Christ by a miracle; and He was partaker, in like manner as we, of flesh and blood, not of His own nature, as the heretics say, but of our nature, according to the saying, "He took the seed of Abraham." ' 55
"OF THE SAME 56
" 'We assert that the body of the Word was His own, and not that of some other man separately and distinctly who is held to be different from Christ the Son. And as the body of each one of us is said to be his own, so also we believe respecting the one Christ. And although He took the body from our race and our nature, because He was born of the Virgin; yet it must be held and declared to be His own body. And, since God the Word is the Life in His own Nature, He declared His body to be a life-giving one. And therefore He became to us a blessing, giving life to all.3 And if it be not so, how then is He like us, while yet remaining as He was before, God the Word? However, grant to Him that in the unity of the Person His body is not separated, and do not denude Him of His flesh. And thus I rightly worship one Son, Who is of the same Nature indeed with the Father in the Godhead, but of the same nature with us in the manhood. And as for those who delight to believe this truth, Christ will enlighten their knowledge also of Himself by His mysteries.'
"OF THE SAME
" 'It is right, indeed, for us to say and believe that God the Word, still remaining of the same Nature with God the Father, was sent and became man, of the same nature with us. |95 He is and He remains as He is, and by becoming man He was not changed. And He was sent to preach deliverance to the captives and light to the blind.'
"OF THE SAME, FROM HIS LETTER TO SUCCENSUS 57
" 'They say, if Christ be perfect God and perfect man, and the same is of the Nature of the Father in the Godhead and of our nature in the manhood, how is He perfect if His human nature is not seen? and how is He of our nature if that actual and self-same nature which is ours be not seen? The answer which we have given at the beginning should suffice to enlighten them. For if, when speaking of one nature of the Word, we refrained from saying "incarnate," rejecting the dispensation, their word would be plausible when they ask, "How can He be perfect in manhood and in Nature?" But since our word indeed testifies that He is perfect in manhood and in Nature by saying that He became flesh, therefore let them cease from these objections, and not lean upon a broken reed.'
"OF THE SAME
" 'In the might, indeed, of His Godhead He took the hand of the daughter of Jairus, saying, "Maid, arise." 58 And He did not give the command in word merely, and the work was accomplished according to His own will. But59 that we might believe that His holy body was of the same nature with our bodies, while it also was glorious, and divine, and raised above our measure, it being also His own, He wrought in it. For which reason, also, He called His own body the "Bread of Life."' 60
"And so these fathers and holy men like them have with |96 one consent anathematised every man who is not obedient to their doctrine.
"And I have written to Alexandria, to the clergy, to the monks, to the sisters the virgins in Christ, and to the believing people; and I have sent the letter to you, my dear friends; and that ye may know what I have written, I, Timothy, have marked the salutation with my own handwriting.
"Whosoever does not believe in the doctrine of the holy fathers, in accordance with the tradition of our Lord Jesus Christ: let him be accursed. For it is right for each one of us either to stand fast in the faith and to live in it, or else to die on behalf of it, and to live for evermore.
"My brother Anatolius the presbyter, and Theophilus, and Cyrus, and Christodorus, and Gennadius the deacons, and the members of the brotherhood who are with me, send you their greeting."
The foregoing letter, with the quotations appended thereto, we have written down here. By reading and considering it, lovers of the doctrine will find in it a sufficient refutation of the notion of Nestorius, who holds that there are two Natures in the unity of Christ; and also of the teaching of Eutyches, who does not confess that God the Word became perfect Man, and remained without change God the Word, One Person who became flesh.
And, besides this letter, we have subjoined another explaining the right method of reception in the case of those who repent and turn from heresy.
THE LETTER OF TIMOTHY WHICH HE WROTE TO ALEXANDRIA, AND BY WHICH HE CUT OFF ISAIAH AND THEOPHILUS FROM COMMUNION WITH THE BELIEVERS
"Timothy to the God-loving bishops, and presbyters, and deacons, and archimandrites, and sisters, and faithful people in the Lord, greeting—
"Inasmuch as Isaiah and Theophilus have been for a long time heretics in secret, whom I admonished by letter, urging |97 them to agree to the holy doctrine of the fathers, and they have not been obedient to the letters which I wrote to them to Constantinople, containing proofs from Scripture, and the doctors of the Church, that our Lord Jesus Christ was of the same nature with us in the body; and furthermore they have shown no respect for my sufferings in being banished from place to place, but have behaved treacherously towards the bearers of my letter, and also informed the prefects against them, and they stirred up others, saying, 'It is a forgery,' even though they knew my signature which was on the letter. And I waited a considerable time for them though I knew their disposition, and they made no reply, either by word of mouth or in writing. And upon reflection, I thought it right to send them another letter; so I wrote urging them to come and confess the true faith. And in my admonition I reminded them that God does not condemn nor reject those who repent. And I cited the examples of holy men who sinned and denied the Lord, but who afterwards repented; and God accepted their repentance, and accounted them worthy of their former dignity; such was the case of David, and Peter, and Paul.
"And I wrote to them that in like manner, if they would repent and confess the body of Christ to be of the same nature as ours, I would continue to entertain my old esteem and love for them; and I would maintain them in the honour of their rank. And they showed no affection for me, but treated me with contempt.
"And after this I waited four years more for them, without exposing them by name. And they still persevered in their disobedience, and showed no sign of repentance, and they neither received the doctrine of the holy fathers nor me. And they associated with some heretics who openly deny that our Lord took a human body, and that He became perfect man from us. And they creep into houses, and greedily grasp at gain, which they hold as their god, while they are sojourning in the royal city. And I wrote to them that they should |98 depart from it, but they would not. And they continued to lead simple folk astray, and to circulate other rumours respecting me, with the object of doing me great harm. And being distressed and saddened by them, I was compelled to excommunicate them by their names lest they should cause many to stumble and err.
"And I now give sentence upon Isaiah and Theophilus, who say that the body of the Lord is of His own divine Nature, and not of ours, and who deny His true humanity, thereby cutting themselves off from the fellowship of the holy fathers and mine; that no man henceforth hold communion with them. For John the evangelist commands, saying, 'My brethren, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they be of God; for indeed, many false prophets have appeared in the world. And hereby the spirit which is from God is known, every spirit which confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit which does not confess Jesus is not from God. And this is the spirit of the false Christ. Because many deceivers have gone forth into the world, who do not confess Jesus Christ to have come in the flesh; this is a deceiver and a false Christ.'61 And again, 'If any man comes to you not preaching this doctrine, do not either receive him into the house or greet him, for he that greets him is partaker with his evil deeds.' 62 And because of the apostle who says, 'Whosoever preaches to you a gospel different from what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.'63
"I am clear from their blood and from that of their associates; for I have not ceased to show them, according to the will of God, what is for their good. For Paul further exhorts us, saying, 'After thou hast warned an heretic once or twice, and he has refused thine admonition, avoid him; since by continuing in his sin he is corrupted and guilty.'64 But the blessed Dioscorus the Confessor wrote sentiments agreeable to these of the holy fathers, and after the same manner, in his letter to Secundinus."... And the letter goes on to say, "Now, I beseech you, brethren, by the |99 Lord Jesus Christ, and by the love of the Spirit, concerning those who repent and turn from the heresy of the Diphysites, as I wrote in a letter a year ago, that you, the bishops, and clergy, and other believers, all who are subject to you, help them, and extend the hand to them in the Lord.
"And when anyone is converted let him have one year of repentance, and after that let him be established in his former rank, and his dignity be restored to him. And if there be no believing bishop, let the clergy or the believing bishops, who from any cause happen to be in the country, fill the place in the love of God, even though those who repent are not subject to them in jurisdiction.
"This same order and regulation Cyril and Dioscorus observed of one year's repentance for bishops, presbyters, and deacons; after which they should be established in their former rank.
"Pray for me that God may help me in this conflict; the Lord be with you. Amen!"
Such letters he wrote advising them how they should receive converts from the Proterian party.
And he became so celebrated, even with the people of India, that when their bishop died they, being of the same faith with him, sent a request to him that he would appoint a bishop for them.
But, indeed, the Alexandrians never ceased sending petitions and supplications to the king on his behalf, time after time, and stirring up popular tumult for him. For as soon as they heard of the death of Leo and the succession of Basiliscus, they sent a deputation of certain chosen monks, Paul the Sophist, and James, and Theopompus.
But the chief priests who held office from the Council of Chalcedon until the time of Basiliscus, and the encyclical |100 letters which he and Marcus, wrote, and up to the reign of Zeno, who became emperor, are as follows:—
Of Rome, Leo, and his successor Hilary.
Of Alexandria, Proterius, who was killed. And his successor was Timothy the Great, who was banished. And until he returned by means of the Encyclicals, they appointed another Timothy, called Salophaciolus.
In Constantinople, Anatolius, and his successor Gennadius, who was succeeded by Acacius.
In Ephesus, John, who took the place of Bassian; and Paul, who was banished, and who returned by means of the Encyclicals, but was banished again.
In Antioch, Domnus, and his successor was Maximus, and then Martyrius, who was driven out; and after him Julian, who was succeeded by Stephen; and then another Stephen, who was driven out; and Peter, who returned from banishment two or three times.
And in Jerusalem, Juvenalis, and Anastasius his successor.
Now King Leo the emperor died, and there arose after him Basiliscus, and Marcus, and Zeno, who had retired for a little time to the strongholds of Salmon; but he afterwards returned and became emperor, and Basiliscus and Marcus were driven out.
[Note to the online edition: footnotes have been moved to the end. Footnotes concerned only with bits of Syriac and Greek have been omitted because of the time it would take to transcribe it.]
1. 1 Or, "being, so far as it goes, drawn from," etc. This maybe an intimation that our Syriac text is a compilation of extracts from the original Greek.
2. 2 Evag. ii. 8; Liberat. 15.
3. 4 I.e. Upper Egypt, see Evag.
4. 2... the name was taken to mean "Tomb of Osiris" (Brooks).
5. 3 Evag. ii. 8; Liberat. 15.
6. 2 Liberat. 15; Evag. ii. 9.
7. 1 Evag. ii. 10.
8. 1 Matt. xxviii. 19.
9. 2 Migne, Patr. Graec, vi. p. 274.
10. 4 Matt. xxii. 29.
11. 3 See bk. 7, ch. 10.
12. 5 Mansi, vol. vii. p. 539 ff.
13. 1 Leo, Ep. 156, ch. ii.
14. 2 Evag. ii. 10.
15. 5 Evag. ii. 11.
16. 1 Mansi, vol. vii. p. 537.
17. 3 Prov. xviii. 3 (LXX).
18. 5 Liberat. 15 and 16.
19. 1... i.e.... the province of Phoenice Maritima.
20. 2 Liberat. 16.
21. 3 Evag. ii. 11.
22. 1 Num. xx. 17; Prov. iv. 27.
23. 2 A free quotation from Eccles. vii. 16-18.
24. 4 Ps. cxlii. (Syr. cxli.) 3.
25. 8 John i. 42; Matt. xvi. 18.
26. 3 Heb. ii. 14-18.
27. 1 Orat. ii., contra Arian. 74.
28. 3 1 Cor. iii. 11, 12.
29. 4 De Incarn. Dei Verbi (Migne, Patr. Graec. vol. xxviii. p. 25).
30. 1 Athan. ad Epict. 8, 9.
31. 3 This is the best I can make of it, the text may be corrupt.
32. 4 Ibid. 7.
33. 1 Migne, Patr. Lat. vol. viii. p. 874.
34. 2 John xvii. 5.
35. 3 Migne, Patr. Lat, vol. viii. p. 929. 4 John i. 14.
36. 5 1 Cor. vi. 8.
37. 1 Migne, Patr. Graec. vol. x. p. 1128ff.
38. 4 Supplied from the Greek.
39. 5 Heb. xiii. 8. This quotation is not in the Greek.
40. 1 Phil. ii. 7.
41. 2 Luke xxiv. 36-43; John xx. 19-27.
42. 4 Migne, Patr: Graec. vol. x. p. 1117. Here Mich. has "OF THE SAME."
43. 5 This is only an attempt at translating the sentence; a comparison with the Greek shows that the text is corrupt.
44. 1 Migne, Patr. Graec, vol. xxix. pp. 673, 680, 681.
45. 2 Ibid. vol. xlv. p. 601.
46. 3 The source of this quotation we are not able to find.
47. 1 Not in any of the extant works of Pseudo-Julius.
48. 2 De Capt. Eutrop. 8. Here, and at the beginning of the next quotation, Mich. has "OF THE SAME," which must therefore have dropped out of our text (Brooks).
49. 3 Ibid. 11.
50. 4 This quotation does not occur in either of the extant sermons on the Nativity.
51. 1 Migne, Patr. Graec. vol. xxviii. p. 28.
52. 3.Gal. i. 8, 9.
53. 4 Sixth Paschal Letter, Migne, Patr. Grac. vol. lxv. p. 60.
54. 3 This and the latter part of the preceding are probably from the lost part of the fifth Paschal Letter.
55. 1 Heb. ii. 16.
56. 2 Migne, Patr. Graec. vol. lxxvi. p. 372. 3 The rest is not in the Greek. Mich. has "OF THE SAME," which must therefore have dropped out of our text (Brooks).
57. 1 Cyr. Ep. 46. 3.
58. 4 Mark v. 41.
59. 7 Pusey's Libr. of the Fathers (Cyr. 5 Tomes, p. 368); cf. Migne, Patr. Graec. 76, p. 1429, where, however, the extract begins after this sentence.
60. 8 John vi. 48.
61. 2 I John iv. 1-3; 2 John 7.
62. 3 2 John 10, 11.
63. 4 Gal. i. 8.
64. 5 Tit. iii. 10, 11.
This text was transcribed by Roger Pearse, 2002. All material on this page is in the public domain - copy freely.
Greek text is rendered using the Scholars Press SPIonic font, free from here.
Early Church Fathers - Additional Texts