FIRMUs, BISHOP OF CÆSAREA IN CAPPADOCIA
NOTICE
A I. After Helladius, the successor of Saint Basil, the see of Cæsarea in Cappadocia was held by Pharetrius and Archelaus, both of whom are mentioned by the most learned Muratori. Saint John Chrysostom records the former, while Photius records the latter, as the learned man attests. Accordingly, Firmus succeeded Archelaus in the governance of the Church of Cæsarea, and he is the subject of our discourse. This prelate flourished most especially during the tempest of the Nestorian heresy, and his name is held in celebrity in the Acts of the Council of Ephesus, whose decrees he is reported to have signed in the fourth and sometimes in the sixth place. Upon the arrival of the legates of Pope Celestine to the same council, our bishop of Cæsarea informed them of those things which had been enacted there according to the prescriptions of the letters of that same Roman pontiff. After these things, we know that he himself was delegated by the Ephesian Fathers, along with six other bishops, to plead the cause of the faith before the Emperor Theodosius. On this matter, see Tillemont. Partly on account of this legation, and partly because of other illustrious proofs of virtue and constancy he exhibited against Nestorius, it is found that he was subsequently deposed by the conventicle of the Orientals at Tarsus, over which John of Antioch presided, although the attempt was in vain. That our prelate, a most keen defender of the faith, suffered these and other things at the hands of those who patronized heretical depravity is attested by several letters among the many that Christian Lupus first published, then Garnerius, and lastly the more amended versions by Baluze; for which reason, we note the same here below from his *Synodicon* against the *Tragedy* of the Nestorian Irenæus.
II. Yet, although the Orientals were of a very hostile mind toward Firmus, especially after B Nestorius had been condemned—though before the synod of Ephesus was celebrated—that same John of Antioch whom we just mentioned wrote much in his praise to him, saying in these words: "The affection which is in God, he says, knows not how to be extinguished by time, nor can it be corrupted by any means. Whence we remain mindful of your religiousness; for while we were cherished by your friendship for a short time in Constantinople, we experienced your virtue for a longer time. For besides other things, you are pleasant in your cohabitation, and you show humility with pleasantness to those who see you. Yet while you pursue humility, you possess lofty thoughts." But of these things, enough has been said: for the enumeration of your virtues exceeds the measure of an epistolary style. These things indeed were said truly, but deceitfully, by the prelate of Antioch to Firmus, as we understand from the remaining context of the letter, in order, clearly, to soothe his mind and entice him to take up the patronage of Nestorius. But our prelate, intercepted by no flatteries and moved by no ruses, stood undaunted and immovable in the defense of the Catholic faith. We have at hand other matters regarding Firmus and his illustrious deeds which could still be said; but since they are not of this place, we dismiss them to be sought elsewhere. This prelate of Cæsarea died, as we learn from Socrates, when the Emperor Theodosius the Younger was holding his seventeenth consulship, *περὶ τὴν ἑπτακαιδεκάτην ὑπατείαν τοῦ βασιλέως*, that is, in the year 439, at which time Proclus at Constantinople ordained Thalassius as his successor.
III. But strictly regarding the documentary remains of Firmus, it is truly to be lamented that what such a man, by reason of his office, wrote for the Church, has been snatched away.
He undoubtedly consigned [his work] to writings for the sake of defending and confirming the doctrine. Now we enjoy only forty-five of his letters, from the reading of which, says a learned man, we discover that Firmus was distinguished for his knowledge of secular letters no less than Christian. These letters, indeed, copied from an ancient codex of the Ambrosian library, rendered into Latin, and illustrated with notes, were published at Padua at the beginning of this century by the most distinguished man Ludovico Antonio Muratori. Regarding them, he holds this in his Prolegomena: "I am the first, as far as I know, to include Firmus, Bishop of Caesarea, among those records of men who have bequeathed to posterity some monuments of their learning. Here are his forty-five letters, not indeed of great weight in subject matter, but commendable for their familiar elegance. Brevity and erudition are prominent in them, just as the subject matter and the custom of those times demanded. And what is not to be valued lightly, here at least one may read what manners and what duties were once [practiced] among friends, truly very similar to our own. One might find letters written with equal brevity among other Greek writers, such as Saint Gregory of Nazianzus, Saint Isidore of Pelusium, Saint Nilus, to omit the rest." These [are the words of] that most learned man, whose edition we have expressed exactly. Indeed, we subjoin here the names of those to whom Firmus wrote, as Fabricius has arranged them.
Acacius, bishop, epist. XIX, XXXV. Achilles, I. Alypius, chorepiscopus, V. Armenius, archiater, VIII. Atticus, bishop, XIII. Ausonius, presbyter, XI. Chilo, bishop, XXIV. Colossianus, XVII. Cynegius, comes, IV. Cyrillus (Alex.), bishop, XXXVI. Cytherius, sophist, II. Daniel, bishop, XLII. Didnius, VII. Dometianus, XXXIII. Ecdicius, XXXII. Evandrius, bishop, XV, XXXIV. Eleusinius, XXXI. Eupnius, XL. Eustrathius, XXXIX; comes, III. Eutherius, XXIII. Florentius, XXIX. Gerontius, presbyter, X. Gessius, scholasticus, VI. Helio, XXVIII. Helladius, X, XXVI; bishop, XLI. Inachius, XLIII and XLIV, unless the later one is rather a reply to the former; and so [it was] written by Inachius to Firmus, not by Firmus to Inachius. Isidorus, XXX. I suspect that this person is not different from the Pelusiote. Lausus, IX, XX. Perhaps the same as he to whom Theodotus of Ancyra inscribed six books against Nestorius: as we have said in [the section on] Theodotus of Ancyra, above. Leontius, bishop, XXXVI. Olympius, XXVII. Firmus praises his prudence and eloquence, by which he surpasses Themistocles and Pericles, in letter VIII, to Atticus the bishop. Pergamus, chorepiscopus, XLV. Pliethas, [Greek: Πλήθας], XXI. Soterichus, XVII. Thalassius, XVI. Perhaps Firmus' successor in the episcopate. Theodotus, bishop, XXII. Perhaps the Ancyran. Valerius, bishop, XXXVIII. Volusianus, XXV.
LETTER XLV OF FIRMUS, BISHOP OF CAESAREA IN CAPPADOCIA.
A I. ACHILLI.
Ingenuity and simplicity of character, and a spirit B fitting for heroic dignity, those who correctly scrutinize the natures of men discerned in you from afar, and bestowed upon you the name of the most illustrious of heroes; a fact which experience now duly attests. For at the same time you have ordered the people subject to you with a right and salutary discipline, and terror has been banished from even the most extreme and remote frontiers. Although one might call the crag impassable, inaccessible, and sheer, one may nevertheless traverse it as though it were a quiet city living in peace; thus for us who were passing the path of Taurus, once rugged from those waves of wickedness, you have made it level and tranquil. And grateful thanks are due to those who, at the time of your magnificence, cast their vote for these things being done; for you make those with whom you live excellent, since such is your own nature. In this we have seen a proven and examined gravity of judgment; and we increase our admiration, and pray that you may remain such, and that you may continue to progress further in right actions, and in acquiring and ministering a good name.
II. CYTERIO SOPHISTÆ
The Pythia commanded the son of Sophroniscus to cultivate music and to work at it, thereby increasing his zeal for speaking, and his art. But I, having recognized that he from early youth applied himself to this study, who had made it an art to soothe the ears more sweetly than the Sirens with his words, was struck with wonder when I suddenly saw him keeping silence toward me, fearing lest perhaps my own ineloquence had become an obstacle to your writing. But I beseech you, who are a master of both words and deeds, not to look to our sluggishness, nor, if I write back in an inferior style, to dwell upon that; but C ...