George the Monk

A SHORT CHRONICLE, COLLECTED AND COMPOSED FROM VARIOUS ANNALISTS AND EXPOSITORS BY GEORGE THE MONK, SURNAMED THE SINNER. PROŒMIUM.

^A Many of the external philologists and orators, historians also, and poets, and annalists, when they had recounted the deeds of ancient kings and princes, and of old philosophers, and of those whose structure of words—the power and sharpness of their arguments—had brought them no small glory, and had [often] written in a sublime style, and a rich, and above all, copious manner of speaking about various kinds of end results, they left behind to posterity monuments that were obscure, and indeed so perplexed that they can hardly be perceived at all. For those who handled the praises of others for the sake of ostentation and applause could not attain to the unshaken truth of things or to a narrative of those matters which might be of use to men. But we, the servants of Christ our Lord, and indeed unworthy ones, aided by no help of external sciences or arts, ^B

^A but having met with histories not only of the Greeks and ancients, but also of those recent and much later, and with the expositions and chronographies, histories, and soul-benefiting teachings of venerable men, have, as accurately and circumspectly as was in our power, and in the fear of God and with historical faith, set forth this small and most lowly booklet, having gathered and composed with labor a few things out of many, which might in some way be conducive to benefit. Then, as I believe, ^B by way of summary and clearest lucidity, we bring forward that which essentially contains the unadorned and naked truth, fashioned by no art, but containing only necessary and useful matters. For it is better to stammer the truth than to lie significantly by recounting Plato. We do not admire a flowing and widely wandering discourse, but that which encompasses many things in a brief ambit of words, and by abundantly supplying contracted, necessary, and useful things, free from envy and every offense among our successors, is much quicker and more vivid. ^C Furthermore, those who, as very skilled and excellent men, interpret, examine, and explore spiritual things according to the Spirit, do not require of discourses on divine matters an illustrious, sinuous, and convoluted diction, with artificial composition and the elegant enticement of words, by which those crafty ones, excelling in fluency, abuse the vehement power of speech to conceal a lie, that they might deceive those who run through their writings incautiously and unexamined; but they seek it from that source whose truth is conspicuous, even if it be full of barbarism and solecisms. ^D You have, therefore, whoever you may be who reads these concise things faithfully, prudently, and incorruptly—provided you are not overly curious and are alien to all fraud and fallacy—the inventions of idols and the foments thereof cleverly devised, the ravings, fables, and ceremonies of the Gentile philosophers, and furthermore the discordant and portentous opinions, the institutions of various nations, the multiplicity of gods, or, to speak more truly, the impiety and perverse opinions. You have how the institution of the solitary life began from the Law; which then, from the life of Christ, the best of all, and from His doctrine, has become more eminent, more illustrious, and much more ample, and with these, many other things of the same kind annexed, which for men of heart and those who think rightly

are beneficial to the soul. You have, moreover, the savage, impious, detestable, and deceitful rabies of the Manichaeans, which has arisen, so that from it, as from a rabid dog, that stupid heresy of the iconoclasts, ^A most pernicious of all diseases, and most shameful for those who shamefully abuse their leisure, has broken forth; and in what way it spread: so that it has subjected its authors, as well as those who think as they do and their defenders, being utterly torn away from the orthodox faith, along with their writings and sermons, to the most sought-after punishments by divine justice. Oh, the fraud, imposture, and madness! For which they have been deservedly consigned to eternal fires. Furthermore, the ridiculous, foolish, and wicked persuasion of the Saracens, their beastly mode of living, and how their false prophet and seducer of nations wrongly collected his doctrine, is to be mocked. Add to this the childish folly and madness of the old man Thomas, and the sad and miserable destruction of that most unhappy and wretched man. And so much for this. ^B

OF THE CHRONICLE—PROOEMIUM

up to Constantine, and those who followed him shortly thereafter. We conclude with Michael, the son of Theophilus, who, while still a boy possessed of power, restored the orthodox faith that had been promulgated in a former holy synod. But, as was wisely stated by the Wise Man, "Hear the conclusion of the whole matter" (Eccl. XII, 13); let those who most gladly apply themselves to reading not look to the ornamentation of commentaries, but turn the eyes of their heart to the aim and end of the discourse. ^B For the construction and variety of discourse, inasmuch as it is arranged for ostentation and noise, is in a certain way transmuted; it defiles the subject matter set forth, instantly seizes the sense, and blunts the edge of the intellect so that it does not perceive the argument. However, whoever shall be a friend of God and of letters reading these things, I would wish him to be entreated to offer prayers to God for me, a little man, subject to sins and devoid of reason. But if he should see that these meager efforts of ours contain any utility and are worth the labor, he should attribute the whole thing to God, the same author of all good things. But if, as it is fitting to expect from our ignorance, they should be found inharmonious and foully exuberant, through that true and ineffable wisdom which instructs its students no less in divine doctrine than in eloquence, let pardon be granted to us as people entirely unskilled and destitute not only of eloquence but also of intellect. Now, with God Himself as our guide, according to my power, I shall begin the account from this point.

BOOK I

I. The Genealogy of Adam

The book of the generation of men, in the day that God created Adam after His own image and likeness. ^C (2) Now Adam begat three sons, Cain, Abel, and Seth, and daughters, Adsoura and Asouam. (3) And Adam, according to the command of God, imposed names upon all the quadrupeds, and the birds, and the amphibians, and the reptiles, and the fishes, and his own children; but he received his own name and the name of his wife from the angel of the Lord. (4) And Cain took as his wife his own sister, the elder, Adsoura.

^A And Seth took the second, Asouam. (5) And Abel was a virgin and a just man, a shepherd of sheep; from these he offered sacrifices to God, and being pleasing to Him, he was slain, envied by his brother Cain. Cain, who was a tiller of the soil, and who after his condemnation had become worse, was the first to invent measures and weights and the bounding of land. ^B Then, having built a city in the land of Naid, opposite Eden, he named it after his son Enoch, and having forced his own kin to gather there together, he occupied himself with wars. After this, some say that he finished his life crushed by the ruin of his own house; others, however, say that Lamech killed him. (6) But Cain begat Enoch, and Enoch begat Irad, and Irad begat Maviael, and Maviael begat Mathusael, and Mathusael begat Lamech, who, having taken two wives, Ada and Sella, begat Jabel, and Jubal, and Tubalcain. (7) Now Jabel revealed husbandry, and Jubal revealed the psaltery and the harp, and Tubalcain the smithing of copper and iron. And one chose to live in tents and to till the earth, another invented the playing of harps and tragedies along with demonic practices, and another devised the forging of swords and arms for wars. The race of Cain, therefore, being deemed worthy of remembrance up to this point, is removed from the number of the fathers, so that it is neither joined to the first nor does it lead those who follow. (8) Regarding then the saying: "Whosoever shall kill Cain, seven acts of vengeance shall be revoked," it has this interpretation: each person shall die for his own sin, but you, Cain, who initiated murder and became the instructor of sin to others, shall pay back seven debts of vengeance, that is to say, you shall be punished sevenfold and more. ^C For it is customary in Scripture to use this number for a multiple, and it is indicative of an indefinite quantity, as in: "Render to our neighbors sevenfold," and, "The barren woman shall bear seven," and, "I say not to you until seven times, but until seventy times seven." For the death of the wicked in this life brings repose, but to live in fear and sorrow generates a thousand deaths in the conscience. Cain, therefore, trembling and groaning, as if possessed by a demon, passed all his remaining time in epilepsy, having taken this sign from God so that he might not be slain by anyone. (9) Concerning this, however, the great Basil also says: "And the vengeances, whether ^D you consider the sins which Cain committed and for which he paid penalties, or the punishments imposed upon him by the just Judge, you will find them to be seven in number, and thus..."

you will not miss the meaning. For in the things dared by Cain, the first sin is envy ^A over the preference shown to Abel; second is the deceit with which he spoke to his brother, saying, "Let us go out into the field"; third is murder, the addition of evil; fourth, that it was the murder of a brother; fifth, that it was the first murder; sixth, that he caused grief to his parents; seventh, that he lied to God. For when asked, "Where is Abel, your brother?" he said, "I do not know." And these, then, are the seven sins of Cain. The punishments imposed upon him for his crimes by divine justice are these. The first: "Cursed is the ground because of you." The second: "Till the ground." The third: "It shall no longer yield to you its strength." The fourth—coupled with the fifth: "You shall be groaning and trembling upon the earth." The sixth, which Cain himself revealed by saying, "Behold, you cast me out now, and from your face I shall be hidden"—the most severe of all punishments for those who are in their right mind, namely, the separation from God. The seventh is that the punishment was not hidden, but was proclaimed to all by a manifest sign, by way of groaning and trembling. (10) Everyone, therefore, he says, who shall dare to wrong the one who has turned away from the murder against you, shall undo the punishment set against you. Therefore, he says, "the Lord God placed a sign upon Cain, that he should not kill him, every one who found him." (11) ^C When Adam was two hundred and thirty years old, he begat Seth. This Seth was the first to discover Hebrew letters and wisdom and the signs of the heavens and the changes of the years and the months and the weeks, and he gave names to the stars and to the five planets, so that they might be recognized by men. And the first planet, a star, he called Saturn, the second Jupiter, the third Mars, the fourth Aphrodite, and the fifth Hermes. For the two luminaries, the sun and the moon, God named. (12) When Seth was two hundred and five years old, he begat Enos, who "hoped to call upon the name of the Lord." (13) But after the flood, Cainan, the son of Arphaxad, wrote down the astronomy, having discovered the nomenclature of Seth and of his children ^D for the stars, which had been written upon a stone tablet. For the descendants of Seth had been warned by the Lord that a punishment of men was imminent: therefore, two columns...

^A, one of stone and the other of bricks, were erected, and upon them they inscribed all the heavenly knowledge taught by their grandfather Seth, reasoning that if the world were to be destroyed by water, the stone column would remain with the things written upon it, and if it were to be destroyed by fire, the brick column would be preserved, being more resistant to flames, with the things written upon it. This very column remains after the flood on Mount Siris, and is preserved even to this present time, as Josephus says.

II. Concerning Nimrod.

After these things, a certain giant was born, named Nimrod, son of Cush the Ethiopian, of the tribe of Ham; ^B he founded the city of Babylon, and was the first to demonstrate hunting and magic. He took the lead among the Persians, teaching them astronomy and astrology, as if indicating through the movement of the heavens all things that concern those who are born. [(2)] From whom the Greeks, having learned genethlialogy, began to refer the fortunes of those born to the movement of the stars. [(3)] Therefore, astronomy and astrology and divination began from the Magusæi, that is, the Persians. For the Persians are called Magog by the locals, who also say that Nimrod was deified and became one of the stars of heaven, which they call Orion; [(4)] the beginning of his kingdom was Babylon, and Calneh in the land of Shinar, ^C from whence went forth Philistim of the tribe of Shem, of Asshur, from whom the Assyrians. [(5)] And having mastered Syria and Persia and the remaining parts of the East, there appeared another son of someone called Uranus, and of his wife Venus, a giant by nature, by name Cronus, according to the name of the planetary star. Becoming also himself very powerful, and having conquered and mastered many, he first demonstrated the way to rule and hold sway over other men, ^D who, having reigned first in Syria for fifty-six years, subdued all of Persia, having begun from Syria. Having as a wife Semiramis, the one called Rhea among the Assyrians, he had two sons and one daughter; and one he called Jupiter, after the name of the planetary star, and the other he named Ninus, and gave the daughter the name Juno, whom Picus, who is also Jupiter, took as his wife, his own sister. [(6)] After Cronus, Ninus his son reigned for fifty-two years, who also, having taken his own mother Semiramis as wife, established a custom for the Persians to take their own mothers and sisters, because he himself had taken his own sister Juno as wife.

III. Of King Ninus

IV. Of King Thuras

V. Of King Lame

VI. Of King Sardanapalus

VII. Of King Perseus

^A he came into Isauria and Cilicia. Since, having fallen from his horse in that region, he had impressed the shape of his foot into the ground, he founded a city there, and for that reason gave it the name Tarsus. Having subdued the Assyrians and killed Sardanapalus, he seized the supreme command and reigned for fifty-three years. He called the Assyrians Persians after his own name, and thus took from them both their kingdom and their name. He taught them obscene rites and the magical art, which is called Median; for which reason he named their region Media, because of this base knowledge. When, in Persia, fire came down to him from heaven, he worshipped it; and for that reason he placed the flame kindled from it in a temple which he had built. He established religious men, called Magi, to serve it and keep it unextinguished, which the Persians hold in great veneration to this day, and thus, according to the doctrine of King Perseus, they worship fire. The first kingdom then was that of the Assyrians ^B or Babylonians; the second, however, was that of the Persians. These Babylonians and Assyrians were called by the same name.

VIII. Concerning King Sostrus.

After Perseus, and after the times and kings who succeeded him, Soster, of the lineage of Ham, a crafty man by the name of Sesostris, reigned over the Egyptians for twenty years; who in war subdued the Assyrians, the Chaldaeans, and the Persians as far as Babylon; he likewise overcame and subdued Asia, Europe, and Scythia with his arms. Under him was Hermes Trismegistus, an Egyptian man, celebrated for his wisdom among the Greeks. ^C

IX. Concerning King Pharao.

After Sostrus, Pharao, also called Naraon, reigned in Egypt for fifty years, from whom all the kings of Egypt were surnamed Pharaohs. Now, in the aforementioned times of Jove Picus, there appeared in the western regions, within the borders of Greece, a certain man from the family of Japheth, by the name of Inachus, who was the first to reign in that region; he founded a city there, which, by the name of the sun, he called Heliopolis. Libya, the daughter of Jove Picus, having been united to a certain man named Sidon, bore Bel and Agenor. Bel indeed, when he had come into Egypt ^D and had taken a wife named Sida, had a son, whom he named Aegyptus; hence that region was called Egypt. Bel reigned in Egypt. But Agenor, when he had come into Phoenicia and had taken a wife named Tyra, founded a city, which he called Tyre from the name of his spouse, and he also reigned there. He begat three sons, Phoenice, Syrus, and Cilix, and...

^A Europa. During these times Taurus, the king of Crete, having taken her prisoner in war and led the maiden Europa—who was of beautiful countenance—away to Thrace, his own land, named those regions Europe after her. When Agenor was nearing death, he ordained that all the land he had subjected should be divided among his three sons. Phoenice, indeed, took Tyre and its surrounding territory and called it Phoenicia. Syrus, however, called the region he received by lot Syria; from him they were named Syrians, who were previously called Jews and Palestinians, and Syria is also called Judea. Cilix called the property that fell to him Cilicia, each one naming their own regions after his own name.

X. Concerning the discovery of the conch

In the times of the reign of Phoenice there lived Hercules the Tyrian, a philosopher, the discoverer also of the conch. For, having gone up to the coastal part of Tyre, he saw a shepherd’s dog devouring the aforementioned conch. The shepherd, that he might make the dog vomit up the conch, squeezed it. Hercules took a fleece of wool from the sheep and wiped away the matter flowing from the mouth of the dog, and ^B when the fleece was dyed, Hercules observed that it was not blood, but the source of a dye. ^C This he marveled at, and as a great gift he presented it to King Phoenice, who, being even more astonished, ordered wool to be dyed with the conch and a mantle to be made for him. Therefore, he was the first to put on a cloak made of purple, and as everyone wondered at this strange garment, he forbade any subject to presume to wear a purple robe—which he reserved for himself and the kings of Phoenicia who followed him—so that the king might be distinguished from the army and the entire populace. For previously men did not know the colors of garments, whence the king was not easily recognized by his subjects.

XI. Concerning Pelops

After those times and kingdoms, Pelops the Lydian reigned over Greece; he founded a city there and ordered it to be called Peloponnese, from Pelops and the ^D island; from this the Greek inhabitants are also called Peloponnesians.

XII. Concerning Cyrus

Therefore, there reigned over the Assyrians Saturn, Ninus, and Sardanapalus, and thereafter up to Ulemarodach. Then Nabuchodonosor obtained the empire; after him, Balthasar and Darius, his son. Cyrus the Persian reigned over the Persians for thirty-two years, and was slain in Persia. In the time of King Cyrus, Croesus, king of the Lydians [was king].

^A Lydian, having conquered the regions neighboring him and the provinces from afar, declared to Cyrus either to cede to him the kingdom of the Persians or to receive his arrival in battle. (4) But Cyrus, having heard these things and being very much afraid, and having dismissed those who had been sent, desired to flee to the Indian region. When his wife learned of this, she said to him, "Why, being so discouraged and weak, dost thou wish to do this foolishly?" And he says, "And what companion is there who, having deliberated on this for me, will help?" But she says to him, "In the time of Darius, my first husband, there was a certain Hebrew prophet, by name Daniel, from the captivity of the sons of Israel, powerful in deed and in word, whom Darius also held in much honor and as a counselor, and he prospered greatly; who, being old, now lives in seclusion in the Indian region. ^B If thou hearest his counsels, thou shalt do well." Cyrus, having heard this, immediately sent his nobles to him, so that they might bring him with honor. For it is common in necessities that women often make use of stratagems more zealously than men, and are more zealous and fervent in their recourse to God.

(5) Croesus, moreover, when those who had been sent by him to Cyrus had returned, sent a trusted man to the oracle ^D to ask through the priest the Pythia whether, if he went out against Cyrus, he would conquer him. And the priest, having entered and having prayed, received an oracle from the Pythia: "Croesus, having crossed the river Halys, shall destroy a great empire." Which, having written on a scroll, he gave to those sent to Croesus. (6) And when the divine Daniel ^C had come to Cyrus, Cyrus said to him: "Tell me, wisest one, if I shall conquer Croesus, the plunderer and arrogant one?" And Daniel says, "Take heart, for thou shalt conquer Croesus and take him captive. For about thee said Isaiah the prophet: 'Thus says the Lord to Cyrus, my anointed, whose right hand I have taken hold of, to subdue nations before him; and I will break the strength of kings.'" — "He himself shall build my city, and shall turn back the captivity of my people, says the Lord Sabaoth." And Cyrus, having heard these things, fell at the feet of Daniel, saying, "As the Lord thy God lives, I will release Israel from my land, that they may serve their God in Jerusalem." (7) And having armed himself, he set himself in battle array against Croesus. Croesus, therefore, having heard the response of the oracle, rushed against Cyrus with a great force; and having crossed the river Halys and having joined battle with Cyrus, it being a great winter, he was defeated. He desired, therefore, to flee with his people; but the river overflowing,

^A he proved unable to cross it. On this account he was taken prisoner, and his multitudes perished, to the number of five hundred thousand. Cyrus took those who remained of them as captives; and having hung Croesus, bound upon a wooden stake, and having held a triumph over him with his army, and having led him into Persia, he delivered him to death—he who had lusted after the things of others and things beyond his power, and who, because of great greed, had also lost his own. (8) Having liberated all the children of Israel, he sent them back with Zerubbabel to Jerusalem. (9) And thus the kingdom of the Lydians was brought to an end by Cyrus, having lasted two hundred and thirty-two years.

XIII. Concerning Cambyses.

^B After Cyrus, his son Cambyses reigned for twenty years. (2) After Cambyses, and others, Artaxerxes, called Mnemon, reigned for twenty years. (3) In whose time there was a certain man in Italy ruling over a province, by the name of Palas, who, having built a very great house, such as that surrounding region did not possess, called it Palatium; from which the royal residence is called a palace.

XIV. Concerning Romus and Remus.

^C After these things, Romus, the founder of Rome, reigned, and Remus his brother, who renovated and enlarged the so-called Palace (namely, the royal house of the palace), and having erected a great temple to Zeus, they named it the Capitolium of Rome, which in the Roman tongue signifies the head of the city. (2) But during their reign, having fallen into enmity, Romus killed Remus and reigned alone. (3) Then, having filled the walls and adorned the city, and having built a temple to Ares, and having inaugurated it in the month of March, he also named the month March, which was formerly called Primus, that is to say, belonging to Ares, which festival the Romans, celebrating year by year, name the day of the feast March in the Campus. ^D He instituted the equestrian order, in order to scatter the multitude of the Roman people, because they were seething with sedition toward him on account of the murder of his brother; and he performed the first chariot race in Rome to the festival (so it is said) of the sun and to the honor of the four elements: earth, air, fire, and water. And he named them: the green, the white, the crimson, and the blue, following the example of the kings of the Persians, who, honoring these four elements by emblems, always fight against their enemies in the light of Mars. By this it came to pass that the citizens of the city, addicted to these separate colors, followed a certain element as if it were a badge. Exercising such cares and rivalries, he attempted to put an end to the dissensions. But the city nevertheless propagated the seeds of discord, from which the prince himself became guilty of fratricide. In this crisis of affairs he consulted the oracle, for which cause of discord—

^A there was no end to be inquired into; the Pythia replied thus: "The City, while you live, will not cease to be agitated by factions, until your brother occupies the royal throne with you." Therefore, an effigy of his brother having been fashioned out of gold and placed on the throne according to the oracle's decree, the troubled affairs returned to their former order. Thus, therefore, he reigned together with the golden brother, and whatever he commanded, he used the formula, "We command, we decree." ^B

XV. — On the Brumalia.

The same Romus also devised what are called the Brumalia for this reason. For they say that he and his brother were twins born of fornication and cast away in a wooded place, and were found and reared by a certain rustic woman who herded sheep. But it was a disgrace among the Romans for anyone to be reared on the property of others; therefore, at banquets, each person brought his own food and drink, and they would eat with all things placed in common, avoiding the disgrace ^C of being called "parasites" or "those who eat of others' food." For this reason, Romus devised the Brumalia, saying that it was necessary for the king to feed his own senate, especially in the wintertime when arms were silent, and therefore he invited everyone to a banquet, from him whose name began with A to him whose name began with ω, and he ordered the senators to invite the entire army in the same manner in turn. Wherefore the soldiers coming to the houses of those by whom they had been invited, passed the evening with pipes and dances, so that everyone knew that they would dine at the house of this or that person the next day. This, therefore, Romus did, as has been said, to ward off that disgrace, calling the name of the banquet "Brumalium," ^D which in Roman implies being fed from the property of others. But at length divine vengeance struck the fratricide; for he was slaughtered in the midst of the senate and perished after a reign of thirty-seven years.

After Romus, consuls and generals presided over the City for four hundred sixty-six years; of these there was a certain general, Manlius by name; and being envied for his martial valor by a certain senator named Februarius, he caused the senators to drive Manlius out of the city. Then the Gauls, having departed, took Rome in the night and wreaked great slaughter upon the people on the twentieth day ^C of the month called Sextilis. But the senators, knowing of the capture of the city and having fled, called back again with entreaties the general Manlius to their aid; and having gathered a multitude of the army, and having taken the others, he destroyed them all. And having regained Rome, Manlius, grieved because of its capture in the Sextilis month, changed it, declaring the name itself to be ill-omened for the City. After he had then captured his enemy Februarius, he ordered him, stripped of all his goods and his very garments, to be surrounded by an oak mat and beaten by lictors, shouting, "Away with you, Februarius." Thus with ignominy from the City.

^A He commanded that the month of Sextilis be called February, as the unfortunate month was worthy to have its name called February.

XVI. Of the reign of Philip, father of Alexander.

After the aforementioned Artaxerxes, his son Ochus reigned. He waged war against Egypt, took it entirely, and laid it waste, while Nectanebo, who practiced divination by a basin and was not ignorant of the fate of Egypt, was reigning over the Egyptians. He alone, putting off his royal vestments, fled to Macedonia; and when he had there displayed specimens of the fantastic and magical arts which he had brought from Egypt, he was received with hospitality by Philip and his wife, Olympias, with whose incantations he consorted and procreated Alexander. Philip reigned in Macedonia for 30 years; he named the city founded in Illyricum, Thessalonica; ^B afterwards he also ruled Thessaly, having brought it under his own dominion.

XVII. Of the reign of Alexander.

After Philip, his son Alexander succeeded to the kingdom, under whose reign Darius, the son of Arsamus, the successor of Ochus, attained to the highest power. In the fourth year of his reign, God raised up Alexander, king of Macedonia, against the Assyrians, Persians, Medes, and Parthians; who, having equipped himself against Darius, king of the Persians, came to Byzantium in Europe and founded a place there, in which, having marshaled his troops, he called it Strategen. ^C Departing from there a little way, he crossed back and distributed much gold to his people, and called the place Chrysopolis. Setting out like a leopard with a great army against the regions and cities of the East, and having taken Tyre, he sent envoys to the Jews, requesting auxiliary forces against the Persians. But they, refusing because of their fear of Darius, against whom they were forbidden by covenant to wage war, as they were under his subjection and had agreements not to fight him, Alexander, roused to anger against Judea, rushed against it. At this time, Jaddus, the high priest, having put on his priestly vestment at divine revelation, went out to meet him for the amazement and conviction ^D of Alexander.

XVIII. Of the vestment of the high priest.

For the high priest in ancient times was adorned with such a vestment. He was clad in a floor-length robe, that is, a garment gilded from head to foot; and he was girded with a sash made of purple, fine linen, hyacinth, and gold, intricately fashioned. Pomegranates and golden bells, and likewise tunics, encircled the hem.

^A He was clothed with another tunic of fine linen, hyacinth, purple, scarlet, and gold, and adorned and interwoven with all manner of colors, reaching down to the thighs, and bound with a sash similar to the first; this is called the epomis or ephod. For this reason Akylas (Aquila) has named it a "super-garment," upon which were fastened sardonyx stones on each of the shoulders, set in pure gold, as well as twelve other stones of unique size and beauty, difficult for men to procure, which were set in four rows on either side and likewise held by gold; appearing to those who beheld them as a marvelous work, ^B they possessed a triad of stones in each row. The first row had a sardion, a topaz, and an emerald; the second, a carbuncle, a jasper, and a sapphire; the third, a ligur, an amethyst, and an agate; the fourth, a chrysolith, an onyx, and a beryl. On all these the names of the patriarchs were engraved, each stone bearing the specific name of a tribal chieftain. Linked with the ephod was a breastpiece, a span in length and as much in width, square about the breast and adorned with the same beauties. This too was called *ephod* in Hebrew, but in Greek *logion* (rationale), and it was called "declaration," through which God foretold certain victory to those about to wage war. For so great a luster shone from these stones, and especially from the adamantine stone, that the army, as it marched, could behold God as their helper. ^C In the middle it bore what looked like a golden star, and on either side emeralds holding the twelve tribes of Israel inscribed; and in the middle of these emeralds was an adamantine stone. When, therefore, the high priest would enter the sanctuary in the sight of the Lord, he was girded about the breast with the humeral garment, and placing his hands underneath, he would find it spread out upon his palms, just like a pyxis. Whence Saul says to the priest, wishing to array himself for battle as quickly as possible: "Gather thy hands and take up the ephod." And thus, looking toward the ephod, he would inquire of God, attending precisely to the question and even more to the adamantine stone, which, by changing its color through divine transformation and alteration, clearly indicated what was to befall the people. For by turning black, it signified death; by turning red, slaughter; and by turning white, peace with God. ^D Furthermore, there were letters made of the purest copper and embossed, representing each character of the Hebrew alphabet, which the priest would bring before the Lord.

^A And thus, when he asked, the letters of the Tetragrammaton, IABE, would immediately stand upright, clearly indicating the inclination or disinclination of God. For instance, if the question and the matter were according to the will of God, only those letters signifying the [divine] name would rise. Likewise, in the case of the other responses of the Lord, which were made manifest through them, it happened clearly and distinctly, provided they were indeed acceptable to Him; but if He was angry with them, He would answer them nothing through these manifestations, nor even through divine revelations or prophecies. Whence it says: "Saul saw the camp of the Philistines and was afraid, and his heart trembled greatly, and he inquired of the Lord, and the Lord did not answer him." And then Saul said to his servants: "Seek me a woman who is a medium." (4) Upon his head, the high priest wore a golden-named ornament, that is, a miter or cap, as it is called, on which a plate of gold was placed upon his forehead, on which the name of God was inscribed in sacred ^B letters, Moses saying: "I am who I am." (5) And how He Himself disclosed this name, it is called ineffable among the Hebrews; for it is forbidden for them to utter it with the tongue. It is written by the four characters, whence they also call it the Tetragrammaton. The Samaritans call it IABE, but the Jews AEIA. The fourfold color of the priestly garment ^C was therefore a symbol of the four elements from which all things consist, which the high priest, putting on mystically and symbolically, and entering into the Holy of Holies, would make expiation through them for the world to the Creator and Lord of all. For the fine linen stood for the earth, the hyacinth for the air, the purple for the water, and the scarlet for the fire; and these were the visible things, while others were the intelligible ones. Moreover, the tabernacle of the testimony was covered with gold inside and out, having a ceiling fashioned from varied and different-colored woven fabrics: one was purple, another rose or scarlet, another resembling hyacinth, and the fine linen had a white color—which, as I said, were enigmas of the four elements. For the hyacinth resembles the air, the rose or scarlet resembles fire, the purple signified the sea—for it breeds the shellfish from which such color is made—and the fine linen the earth, for they say it springs from it. And he also had hair curtains placed over it and varied leathers, so as to ward off both rain and heat. Truly, God also clothed the priests in an all-encompassing adornment, one that would strike the people with awe by the difference of its fashion, and would teach the priests themselves how they ought to embellish the soul and clothe it with the ornament of virtue. (6) Thus, therefore, ^D with such vestments and glory, together with the rest of the priests and the civilian multitude, the high priest, having performed a meeting with Alexander in a manner religiously distinct from other nations, stood in a prominent place where the great beauty of the temple was most visible. And Alexander, having seen from afar the multitude clad in white garments, and the priests standing in [their] fine linen with great order and solemnity, and the high priest in hyacinth and golden ornament, and having the miter on his head and the golden plate upon it, on which the name of God was inscribed...

^A and as it has been said—being struck by the strange sight, Alexander leaped down from the chariot straightaway, and approaching alone, he worshiped the divine name and greeted the high priest, whom all the Jews with one voice, together with the high priest, greeted in sincerity.

Since the kings of Syria and others were struck with amazement and assumed that the mind of King Alexander had been corrupted, and Parmenion the general was all the more astonished and indignant that he had performed an act of worship like one of the subjects, Alexander said: "I did not worship the high priest, but rather the God whom he honors, who has promised to me help against my enemies. For when I was considering the campaign against the Persians, and did not dare to proceed because of the magnitude of their power, God appeared to me in a dream in the form of this high priest, and exhorted me to be of good courage and to prepare my zeal, saying: 'Into your hands I shall deliver the Persian kingdom.' Therefore, seeing him in such attire and being reminded of the appearance from my dreams, I quite ^B naturally worshiped him." Having said this to his kinsman Parmenion and having welcomed the high priest, with the priests accompanying him, he arrived at the city of Jerusalem, having been received by the Jews with great joy. (7) The scribes brought forth the book of Daniel and interpreted his prophecy, which the prophet had foretold concerning him, how it was necessary for one of the Macedonians to subdue the Persian kingdom. Being greatly pleased and overjoyed at this, and having ascended to the temple to sacrifice to God according to the instruction of the high priest, he honored the high priest himself and all the priests worthily, and having decorated the temple with splendid and very great offerings, he marched against the Persians. (8) He took some Jews for an alliance, among whom stood out a certain man by the name of Mosomachus, a man of great spirit and a most accurate archer. As they were traveling on the road toward Babylon, and a certain augur was observing birds and holding everyone up, he asked the reason for the people's delay. The diviner answered, pointing out the bird: "If it remains unmoved, it is beneficial for all to remain; but if it takes flight and moves forward, we are to advance; if backward, we must withdraw." Mosomachus, having heard this from the diviner, secretly drew his bow and shot the bird, upon which the diviner—and those who were enslaved to this superstition—were angered. Taking the bird into his hands, Mosomachus said: "Why do you blame me, you foolish ones? For how could this bird, not even knowing its own salvation, have announced your advantage? For if it had foreseen its own future fate, it would not have flown hither, fearing lest it be killed by Mosomachus." Upon hearing these things, they were all greatly ashamed. (9) Alexander, having set his battle line against Darius in the city of Issus in Cilicia, and having subdued him and slaughtered many with him, took possession of his whole kingdom ^C except for the territory of Candace. This widow governed the interior part of India, and she deceived him with a ruse, as follows.

XIX. Of Queen Candace.

^A It was Alexander’s custom, when sending envoys to enemy kings, to join them disguised as a soldier, in order to see what the king in question was like. Queen Candace, having learned of this, made inquiries as to his appearance and what distinguishing marks he had. Having learned that he was of short stature, with large and prominent teeth, and that he had one blue eye and the other black, she noted these traits for herself. And so, when Alexander entered to see her along with the envoys sent by him, recognizing him from these signs, she seized him by the hands and said: “Alexander, o king, you have captured the world, but now a woman has captured you.” To which Alexander replied: “Because of your malice and cleverness, I shall keep you and your sons safe with your kingdom; nay, I shall even take you myself in marriage.” After the wedding, therefore, he set out with her into Egypt, and having founded the great Alexandria there, he named it after himself. Returning again to Babylon, he died there, in the thirty-second year of his age and the twelfth of his reign. ^B

(2) Alexander erected for himself countless trophies that defied belief. For this reason, the prophet compares him to a winged leopard, as he traveled over the whole earth in victory with the utmost zeal, attacking his enemies with sudden force. (3) It is said that upon hearing some philosopher say that there are infinite worlds, he sighed deeply and said: “And although they are infinite, I have conquered not one of them.” So magnanimous, great-souled, and noble was he (whence he was everywhere praised and admired, especially for his prudence, wisdom, and his great sagacity and knowledge). For, having been tutored by Aristotle, he was educated to the highest degree in all logical science. ^C (4) Being a most formidable and courageous man, when he saw a young man who bore his own name fighting in a cowardly fashion, he said to him: “Young man, either change your ways or your name.” (5) Since he was also adorned with great temperance, he made this more manifest after his victory. For, having taken as captives the daughters of Darius, who were attested to be of wondrous and admirable beauty, he did not even deem them worthy of a glance, pronouncing it shameful—and indeed lamentable—that a man who had bravely conquered men should be wretchedly defeated by women.

XX. Concerning the Brahmans.

^D Alexander, who had proceeded as far as the most remote Indians and to the Ocean which surrounds the whole earth—that great river—and to the great island of the Brahmans, in order to learn of their way of life and the true or false worship by which they follow God the Almighty, reached that place and learned of their superhuman way of life and their piety and worship of the God of all.

^A And in that place he also set up a pillar, having inscribed upon it: "I, the great King Alexander, reached this point." For in that island dwell the "Long-lived" (Macrobii). Most of them live to about 150 years by reason of their great purity, their temperance, and the mildness of the air—an unsearchable judgment of God—in which place fruit never fails throughout the whole year; for in the same spot, one tree is in bloom, another is ripening, and another is being harvested. And there, too, are produced the largest Indian nuts, and spices that are hard for us to acquire and are highly sought after, and the magnet stone. ^B The Brahmans, therefore, are a most pious race, possessing a life of extreme poverty and having used this lot/portion by the judgments of God, they dwell in the vicinity of the river in natural nudity, always praising God. Among them there is no beast of burden, no agriculture, no iron, no building, no tower, no gold, no silver, no bread, nor any other thing of those which contribute to labor or to luxury; but they enjoy air that is moist and sweet and very mild and most virtuous, stripped of all sickness and corruption; and they enjoy small fruits and very clear waters, and they worship God sincerely and pray without ceasing.

(5) The men dwell in the parts of the ocean-river, while their women dwell on this side of the River Ganges, which flows past into the Ocean at the part of India. The men, therefore, cross over to the women in the months of July and August, at which time the air is cooler, the sun having moved toward the west and the north, which also causes them to be more temperate, and they say it stirs them to desire. This is also what they say of the Nile, that it does not flood at the same time as others, but in the middle of summer it inundates Egypt, as the sun of the whole universe runs through the more northerly zone, troubling the other rivers and causing them to diminish, while keeping far away from this one. After forty days with the women, they cross back. When the woman has borne two children, the husband no longer crosses over to her, nor does she approach another man at all, out of great reverence. If it happens that a woman is found to be barren for up to five years, her husband crosses over to her; and having had relations with her, if she does not conceive, he no longer approaches her. And for this reason, the land is not densely populated, due to their limited needs and their natural temperance. And this is the way of life of the Brahmans.

^{C D} They say the river is most difficult to cross because of the so-called "tooth-tyrant." For this is the largest amphibious animal that there is, dwelling in the river,

^A and it is able to swallow an elephant whole due to its immense size. It disappears for forty days during the crossing of those men, according to a divine command. (7) Furthermore, there are also dragons in those more desert regions that are extremely large, up to seventy cubits in length, with a thickness that is great and most terrifying; these manifestly recount the wisdom and glory of the Creator. And ^B scorpions are found that are a cubit long, and ants that are a palm long. For this reason, those desert places are impassable and uninhabited because of these most terrifying and venomous beasts. Elephants also appear in those regions in great numbers, and they graze as they move along in herds. (8) Indeed, the great Caesarius, brother of the great Gregory the Theologian, when making mention of different nations, customs, ways of life, and laws, briefly says this: "For in every land and among every people, there exists either written law or custom. Among those without law, custom is held as law."

XXI. Concerning the Seres.

The Seres, ^C who dwell at the edge of the world, hold ancestral custom as their law; for these forbid adultery, fornication, theft, slander, homicide, and every manner of wickedness.

XXII. Concerning the Bactrians.

The law among the Bactrians, or Brahmans, and the islanders, is the training or piety handed down from their ancestors: not to eat meat, not to drink wine, not to fornicate, and not to commit any kind of wickedness, because of their great fear of God and their faith, even though those who live adjacent to them are killers and commit shameful deeds ^D madly and excessively. (2) However, in the interior parts of these lands, there are those who eat human flesh and consume one another like dogs.

XXIII. Concerning the Chaldeans.

It is another law among the Chaldeans and Babylonians to marry their mothers, to slay their brother’s children, to commit homicide, and to practice every hateful deed as if it were a virtue, even if they are far from their own country. (2) Another law among the Gelae is that the woman should be the one to build, to farm, and to perform the work of men, but also to prostitute herself as she pleases, being in no way prevented or envied by her husband. These women are most warlike and hunt the beasts, though not the very strongest; they also rule over their own husbands and hold authority.

XXIV. Concerning the Britons.

^A In Britain, many men cohabit with one woman, and many women have relations with one and the same man. Holding as a praiseworthy law and a national custom that which one ought by no means to do, they indulge ingenuously in their inclinations.

XXV. Concerning the Amazons.

The Amazons do not marry men, but, after the manner of animals, once a year in the spring time they go beyond their borders to have intercourse with neighboring men. That festive occasion is spent among rejoicings. Then, having become pregnant, they all return home. The males that they bear, they kill, while the females they rear with the greatest care.

XXVI. Concerning the beginning of kingdoms.

^B After the death of Alexander, his kingdom was divided into many principalities. Aridaeus, his brother, also known as Philip, governed Macedonia; Antipater ruled Europe; Ptolemy son of Lagus, Egypt; Seleucus, Phoenicia and Coele-Syria; Philotas held Cilicia under his power; Antigonus, Asia; Cassander, Caria; Leonas, the Hellespont; Eumenes, Paphlagonia; Lysimachus, Thrace. And all these ceased not to be perpetually in open conflict with one another, until the Roman power put an end to all these dominions. ^C But at this place it will be opportune to reach further back for memorable events and to record briefly for memory each of the individual men from Adam onwards who were of benefit to their own age or adorned it. At the same time, we shall bring forward the judges and kings of the Israelites, just as the order and reason of historical events shall demand. In the computation of times, we shall follow Moses, who is truly worthy to be preferred to all the Greeks and those esteemed so highly among their writers. ^D For Moses was the first to become known for wisdom, and according to the testimony of Eupolemus, he was the first to transmit letters to the Hebrews, which had been introduced by the divine Abraham from the Chaldeans. Josephus, indeed, says that Abraham was the first to profess the worship of God, the creator of the world, and that he taught the Egyptians arithmetic and astronomy, which had been discovered by the Chaldeans. The forms of letters passed from the Hebrews to the Phoenicians, from whom Cadmus transmitted them to the Greeks, where Hesiod later reformed them. Josephus, who never renounced the Jewish faith, Clemens, Africanus, Tatianus, together with Justus, assert that the divine Moses flourished in the times of Inachus, from which each draws arguments from his own ancient history.

Clemens of Alexandria, being an Origenist, as was revealed by some of the Fathers, was not a Jew in what concerns condemnation. ^B

XXVII. Scholion of the holy Fathers.

It is not to be wondered at that Eusebius of Pamphilus is shown to have professed Arianism in his many writings, and yet to have been held in admiration by certain ecclesiastical authors as a most learned man and a polymath, just as Origen and many others who lived outside the Church were. Now this very Eusebius, who composed his chronological work with the greatest care, made the divine Jacob contemporary with Inachus, and Moses contemporary with Cecrops. ^C For in the chronological canon which he devised, he set forth side-by-side those ruling in each year. He gathered together the times of the kingdoms of the Chaldeans, the Lacedaemonians, the Corinthians, the Thessalians, the Macedonians (formerly called Citians), and the Latins, who were descended from their king Latinus and later called Romans from Romus and Remus. He arranged the times of all these kings, keeping a consistent system, and linked each of the kings with the kings of the Assyrians, Semiramis, and finally with Abraham. For in the times of Semiramis, Abraham became known; Jacob in the times of Inachus; and Moses in the times of Cecrops the two-formed, whom the Greeks record as having been the first king of Attica. Hence it is clear that Moses flourished before the most ancient sages of the Greeks, I mean Homer and Hesiod, and before the Trojan War, Hercules, Musaeus, Linus, Orpheus, the Dioscuri, Asclepius, Bacchus, and Mercury, Apollo, and the Greek mysteries and initiations, and even the existence of Zeus himself. From this it may also be conjectured that many of those whom we have mentioned borrowed their own material from the writings of Moses. All these, indeed, came after Cecrops, and are certainly far inferior in age to Homer and Hesiod. ^D

XXVIII. Of Saint Basil.

Moses, therefore, as we have seen, revealed the mysteries to all the learned, and uncovered the truth. For having spurned the wisdom of the Egyptians, he explored the universe; and you will easily persuade yourself that, inspired by the divine Spirit of God, the Creator of all things, he perceived the truth. For he says: "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." Many Gentiles, certainly, who dared to assert things contrary to this, fell into a deep pit of ignorance and impiety, as is just. Arguments which have proceeded from human reasoning are found to be confused, disjointed, and by no means stable, inasmuch as one doctrine succeeded another, so that we have no need even to refute them.

immovable, ever casting down the one before it, so that there is no task for us in refuting them. ^A For they are sufficient in themselves for their own overturning. For those who have not known God as the intelligent cause presiding over the generation of all things have not attained to this, but have drawn their own conclusions from their initial ignorance. For this reason, some have taken refuge in material hypotheses, attributing the cause of all things to the elements of the cosmos; while others have imagined that nature is held together by atoms and indivisible bodies and masses and pores. For they imagine that now, as indivisible bodies come together, and now as they are rearranged, generations and corruptions arise, and that among more durable bodies, a stronger interlacing of atoms provides the cause for their persistence. But in truth ^B those who write these things weave a spider's web, foolishly positing such thin and unsubstantial principles for heaven and earth and sea. For they knew not how to say: "In the beginning God created heaven and earth."

THE BEGINNING OF THE CHRONICLE OF GEORGE THE MONK

[B'] 1 Concerning the genealogy of Adam and his sons. ^B Adam, then, according to the wisest and divine prophet Moses, having become two hundred and thirty years old, begat Seth, and after this lived nine hundred and thirty years and died. He is also said to be the first to be buried in the earth from which he was taken; and a Hebrew tradition, as Josephus says, relates that his monument is situated near Jerusalem. He dies, however, on the day of the transgression, while the day of God has the span of a thousand years, yet he completes his life having lived only nine hundred and thirty years. He is said to be the first buried in the earth from which he was taken. For they say that the body of Abel vanished, leaving good hopes to the righteous who followed. Seth, having become one hundred and five years old, begat Enos, and after this lived eight hundred and seven years and died, having lived in all nine hundred and twelve years. Concerning whom it has been said: "The sons of God entered into the daughters of men," that is, those of Cain. For the men of that time were accustomed to call him god, because he had discovered Jewish letters and assigned names to the stars, and in addition to these things, they admired his great piety; ^C he who was indeed

^A ritualibus ac judicibus dixit: "Deos non calumniaberis, et contra populi tui gubernatores non male dices." Conveniently, therefore, Seth, Enos, and Enoch will be held to be sons of God and born of gods according to Symmachus, who, driven by evil desires, entered in unto the daughters of Cain, and incestuously begat giants—the strong and great, through the just Seth, but the evil and most wicked, through the unjust and profane Cain. Enos, having reached one hundred and ninety years, begat Cainan, and after his birth lived seven hundred and fifteen years, and died at the age of nine hundred and five. Maleleel, having reached one hundred and sixty-five years, begat Jared, and after this lived seven hundred and thirty years, and died, having reached in total eight hundred and ninety-five years. Jared, having reached one hundred and sixty-two years, begat Enoch, and after this lived eight hundred years, and died, so that at his death he was nine hundred and sixty-two years old. Enoch, at one hundred and sixty-five years of age, begat Methuselah; afterward he lived two hundred years, and departed in the three hundred and sixty-fifth year. Methuselah, however, at one hundred and sixty-five years of age, begat Lamech ^B and lived thereafter eight hundred and two years, and all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred and sixty-nine years, and he died. Lamech, at one hundred and eighty-eight years of age, begat Noah, and after five hundred and sixty-five years he died, in the seven hundred and fifty-third year of his age. Holy Scripture makes mention of two [men named] Lamech, one from Cain, the other sprung from Noah. For Noah originates from Lamech, not from the fratricide Cain, but from a later one who had the same name as the one from Seth. For it is he who says: "I have killed a man to my wound, and a young man to my ulceration." Having thus killed these two, he took their wives, Adah and Zillah, but judged himself reprobate and worthy of being punished seventy-seven times, because, as he says, Cain is avenged seven times, but Lamech seventy-seven times. ^C But wherefore is he more severely punished? Because he was not corrected by the example of the former sinner. Do you see how the earlier sin increases our punishment? It clearly means that for those who are not corrected, the vengeance is rendered more harsh, such as Lamech also experienced. For he had murdered the brothers of the just Enoch, who himself, having prayed that he might not die a similar death, was heard and died a natural death. Now Enoch drew his origin from the just Seth, from whom Christ is descended, being genealogized from Adam by ^D the Word of God, partly according to the flesh, partly according to the spirit. For God is spirit. For the seed of the impious

^A sought to eradicate the race of the just, since piety is an abomination to the sinner. For the race and seed of Cain were cursed, but that of Seth was blessed; and God did not wish for there to be any intermingling of the race of the just with that of the impious, but rather that they be wiped out. Since, therefore, they were murdering and taking their wives, monstrous giants were born, through whom the flood came and completely destroyed them all. But Noah alone is found righteous in his generation; wherefore he was preserved. Noah, having reached five hundred years of age, begat three sons, Sem, Cham, and Japhet. And after one hundred years from the birth of his sons, he entered the ^B ark, being six hundred years old, and the flood came to pass. And in the six hundred and first year of his life, he went forth from the ark. And after the flood he lived three hundred and fifty years, and died having lived in all nine hundred and fifty years. Now the flood having occurred for forty days, the whole earth was covered for one hundred and twenty days. And the water rose fifteen cubits above the highest mountains. The remains of the ark are shown even to this day, as proof of what took place, on Mount Ararat, between the region of Armenia, Parthia, and the country of the Diabeni. For it was constructed from incorruptible or cedar wood. For He says: «And the Lord God said: My spirit shall not remain among these men ^C because they are flesh. Their days shall be one hundred and twenty years.» And the Scripture adds, saying: «And God said to Noah: The time of all mankind has come before me, because the earth is filled with injustice from them; and behold I will destroy them and the earth.» Yet He did not limit their life to one hundred and ten years, but seeing the sin overflowing and increasing, He did not wait for the allotted time, but cutting short the one hundred years, He brought the flood upon all. Whence He says: «Make for yourself an ark of square, incorruptible wood; you shall make cabins and smear it inside with bitumen; and thus you shall make it: three hundred cubits will be the length, fifty cubits the width, and thirty cubits the height of the ark. You shall make a window for the ark, and finish it to a cubit ^D at its top. And you shall place the door of the ark in the side, downward, and you shall make it two-storied and three-storied.»

(10) But some of the Greeks, grappling with the text, said that it was impossible for so many varied and infinite kinds of animals to be contained in a space of three hundred cubits. And those self-proclaimed wise men do not know, as they meddle—thoughtlessly and ignorantly—in divine oracles, that the author, being a geometer of Egypt—for it is said, Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians—was referring to the geometric cubit, which possesses a very large span. For it is said that the Egyptians invented geometry, having learned to divide the earth from the flooding of the Nile.

^A We believe it firmly, for we possess an irrefragable testimony. For in the highest mountains and inaccessible places of the earth, no less than of the sea, the remains of snails and seashells are found, bearing witness to that terrible and universal deluge which occurred under the just Noah and which was the cause of such great misery and distress. Hear what the divine Chrysostom says: "Amidst the universal perversity of men, he alone did that which was pleasing to God, even though he experienced many evils. For throughout the whole year, he remained in an unaccustomed and terrible prison, enduring the same condition of life as those condemned to the mines. For, to say nothing of the beasts of every kind which he had as companions at that time, living in a most confined space, who would deny that he was dreadfully harassed by the rains and tempests? For while the celestial waters, mixed with the terrestrial, seemed destined to destroy all things, he kept himself within with his sons, oppressed by the fear of death on account of the risk and danger of the situation, although he eventually escaped unscathed. We ourselves, who dwell in comfortable houses and cities, if we are struck with fear and anxiety when an unusual rain beats down, how much more must he have been, who, while the tempest raged, had before his eyes the destruction of every kind of animal! And in truth, if one house or one city overwhelmed by the waters keeps minds anxious, how much more the whole earth, with waters rushing in from all sides!" ^B He was tormented by this fear, therefore, for a year; but once the waters had receded, his spirit failed him, having experienced that which the prophet Amos said: "As if a man should flee from the face of a lion, and a bear should meet him, and he should enter into his house, and lean his hand upon the wall, and a serpent should bite him" (Amos V, 19). For when he had left the foul and narrow prison and had gone out of the ark, his spirit was no less afflicted by the solitude of the places, when he saw violent death and the corpses of men, donkeys, and baser animals decaying together in the mud, gathered and cast into one common sepulcher, as it were. Those people had indeed sinned greatly; but Noah too, although just, was most heavily oppressed by his intercourse with perverse men and, afterwards, by the waters of the flood and the solitude he had experienced. Nor is it to be wondered at; for the number of those who had perished was very great, their end sad, and the earth completely ^C void of those who had written and from whom others had received tradition. Whence he called them very wise and prudent because of this marvelous knowledge and wisdom. And besides these, there is yet another acceptable testimony concerning the deluge, as Josephus says: "For in the highest and most difficult mountains of the earth and sea, remains are found—snails and shells of oysters and things similar to these—proclaiming that terrible and universal shipwreck which happened to this just man, and which has been proven to be the cause of much despondency and grief and great distress." Concerning which the divine Chrysostom also says: "With all things corrupted, he alone was well-pleasing to God, while all others had offended. And he endured ten thousand other great and evil tribulations." ^D For he dwelt for an entire year in a strange and terrible prison [living no better than those pressed in the mines]. For to let alone the multitude of wild beasts and reptiles with which he lived for so long a time, having been confined in such narrowness—what do you think he suffered from the crashing of the thunders and the sound of the rains? For an abyss was broken up from below, and another was poured down from above. He sat inside with his sons. For even if he had reason to be of good courage regarding the end, yet he was already dead with fear at the violence of what was happening. For where we, having houses settled on the earth and dwelling in cities, nevertheless, when we see a more violent rain than usual poured down, fall down and shrink away—what would he not have suffered, being inside and contemplating that most terrifying abyss and the various kinds of those being choked? It is enough, indeed, for one city or one house overwhelmed to be covered by the waves to strike the soul with terror. But that the whole inhabited world should suffer this—there are no words to describe how it disposed him, tossed about in the midst of the surging deep. (11) He was thus distressed by fear for a year. But when once the deluge had ceased, his fear finally gave way, but the causes of his despondency were greatly intensified. And he fell into that prophetic utterance which Amos says concerning the day of the Lord: "As if a man should flee from the face of a lion, and a bear should meet him, and he should enter into his house, and lean his hand upon the wall, and a serpent should bite him." For truly, after he had looked out from the ark [and being delivered from that foul and narrow dungeon], another storm succeeded the former, no less than the first, seeing the great desolation, that violent death, and the bodies of those who had been destroyed, defiled with mud and clay, and to see all people together—men and donkeys and the kinds of creatures humbler than these—held in one most pitiful burial, or rather...

he had suffered from them ambushes more to be feared than a dire flood. For the righteous man, set alone in the company of evildoers, was mocked and held in derision, ^A yet he persevered in virtue, especially when he warned them concerning the ark and the impending calamity. Thus, for one hundred years—the time during which the ark was being fashioned—he did not cease sowing words in vain, with none believing.

II. On the construction of the Tower.

^B Shem, having reached the age of one hundred and two years, two years after the flood, begot Arphaxad, and after this he lived for five hundred years, dying at the age of six hundred and two years. Arphaxad, having reached the age of one hundred and thirty-two years, begot Cainan, and after this he lived for four hundred years, dying at the age of five hundred and thirty-two years. Cainan, having reached the age of one hundred and thirty years, begot Salah, and he lived for three hundred and thirty years, dying at the age of four hundred and sixty years. His father had seen to it that Salah, upon reaching adulthood, was instructed in letters. And it happened that Salah, ^C having traveled to inspect foreign lands, came to the land of the Chaldeans, and found there the forms of letters inscribed upon rocks—which were, in fact, the tradition of the Watchers. While Salah was imitating these by writing them down, he himself fell into error and led others into the same transgression. Salah, having reached the age of one hundred and thirty years, begot Heber, and after this he lived for four hundred and thirty years, dying at the age of five hundred and sixty years. Heber, in his one hundred and thirty-fourth year, begot Joktan and Peleg. In the time of Heber, mankind, having multiplied beyond measure, reached the extreme pinnacle of wickedness. ^D Thereupon they presumed to build a tower whose summit would reach to heaven, in order to escape the flood, as if God were hostile to them. Now all were of one tongue. For Nimrod the giant, son of Cush the Ethiopian, reigned and used to set aside animals caught in hunting for their feasts. Heber, the son of Salah, had undertaken to speed along the construction of the tower and of Babylon, which is "confusion"; though this project was ruined, they persisted in attempting to ascend in vain. It is clear that those who had skillfully built the ark were the first to construct ships and to navigate upon the high seas. Now when all...

had rushed to the building of the tower and the city, they had ^A seventy-two leaders. But Heber alone did not become a partner in their foolish undertaking. Thus, therefore, the languages of all were confounded, and they were divided into seventy-two tongues according to the number of their leaders. And because they were driven and broken apart by the Spirit and by righteous wrath into mutual unintelligibility, God did not deprive this one man of the ancient tongue. Whence those who remained in the previous language named it Hebrew ^B according to the name of him who held fast to it, Heber, the ancestor of the race of the Hebrews, who are called Hebrews patronymically and eponymously.

III. Which was the first language?

It is already clear that the descendants of Adam used the Hebrew language just as the contemporaries of Abraham and Noah did. But it is also clearly manifest from the second Adam, that is, Christ, that He spoke in Hebrew, for example: *Ephphata*, *Talitha cumi*, and *Lama sabachthani*, etc. To this also come strong arguments from the names of the ancients, who attest that the language which they used before the confusion was Hebrew. For often it is possible to arrive at a solution or interpretation only through the aid of Hebrew. Thus, Adam and many other names are given in the Hebrew language and in that idiom alone. But if some through ignorance claim that not Hebrew, but Syriac was the first language in the mouths of men, let them weigh the opinion of the most learned and wisest Origen, who, in commenting on the Book of Job, says: “Thus,” he says, “it is interpreted from the Syriac book,” and so forth. He called the Hebrew dialect Syriac, because the ancients used to call Judea Syria, and the inhabitants of Palestine they named Syrians. ^C The tower, then, was built in forty years, and remained unfinished after the confusion. But God overthrew it with a violent wind, and its traces are still to be seen today between Assur and Babylon. Then Phaleg, having been born one hundred and twenty years, begat Ragau, and after this lived two hundred and nine years and died, having lived in all three hundred and twenty-nine years. From Adam then until the flood there are 2242 years, and from the flood until the building of the tower and the death of Phaleg, that is ^D *division*, eight hundred and sixty-eight; which was followed by the division, or rather the dispersion, of the sons of Noah and thence the progeny.

^A And for this reason they were called *meropes*, both from the articulated speech [that was divided] and from the division of the earth. (5) Now Shem begat Elam and Assur and Arphaxad and Lud; and Ham begat Chus and Mesrem and Chanaan; and Japheth begat Chamer, Magog and Theran and Junian and Elissan and Thobel and Mosoch and Madai, from whom the Medes were born, who also mastered the Babylonians. Media was indeed the territory itself, properly and appropriately so named. After the confusion and the destruction of the tower, the three sons of Noah, having gathered together all their descendants, handed down the regional description which they had received from their father, and they allotted to each one their territories, climates, lands, islands, and rivers, according to their respective tribes and patrilineages according to the exposition set forth below.

IV. On the distribution of the earth.

^B And there were allotted to the firstborn son of Noah, Shem, the regions facing the east, from Persia and Bactria as far as India and Rhinocorura; to Ham, from Rhinocorura as far as Gades, the regions facing towards the south; to Japheth, from Media as far as Gades, the regions facing towards the north. (2) Now the lands obtained by lot by Shem are these: Persia, Bactriana, Hyrcania, Babylonia, Cordyna, Assyria, Mesopotamia, ancient Arabia, Elimais, India, Arabia Felix, Coelesyria, Commagena, and the whole of Phoenice, and the river Euphrates.

(3) To Ham fell Egypt, Ethiopia looking towards the Indos, another Ethiopia, whence issues forth the river of the Ethiopians, ^C Erythra looking towards the east, Thebais, Libya stretching as far as Cyrene, Marmaris, Syrtis, Libya the other, Numidia, Massyris, Mauritania which stands opposite Gades. But towards the north it possesses the coastal regions: Cilicia, Pamphylia, Pisidia, Mysia, Lycaonia, Phrygia, Cabalia, Lycia, Caria, Lydia, Bithynia, and ancient Phrygia; furthermore it possesses the islands: Sardinia, Crete, Cyprus, and the river which is called the Nile.

(4) To Japheth [fell] Media, Albania, Armenia minor and Armenia major, Cappadocia, Paphlagonia, Galatia,

^A Colchis, Bosphorus, Maeotis, Derbis, Sarmatia, Taurianis, Molossis, Thessalia, Locris, Boeotia, Aetolia, Attica, Achaia, Pellena, which is called the Peloponnese, Arcadia, Epirus, Illyria, Lychnitis, Adriaca, from which comes the Adriatic Sea. It possesses also the islands: Britain, Sicily, Euboea, Rhodes, Chios, Lesbos, Cythera, Zacynthus, Cephallenia, Ithaca, Corcyra, and a certain part of Asia, called Ionia, and the river Tigris, which divides Media from Babylonia. ^B (5) These regions having therefore been allotted, Canaan, the son of Ham, seeing the land by Lebanon, that it was good and fertile and far different from his own land, seized it by tyranny and drove out the heirs of Sem; and thus the whole land was called by the name of Canaan. But at length the just Judge later delivered it to the heirs of Sem through Jesus [Joshua], son of Nave, just as He had predicted to Abraham: for the Lord is just, and He loved justice.

(6) Now Reu, having been born one hundred and thirty-two years, begat Serug, and after this lived two hundred and seven years, and died, when all his days had become three hundred and thirty-nine years. (7) And Serug, having become one hundred and thirty years old, begat Nachor, and after this lived two hundred years, and died, when all his days had become three hundred and thirty years. ^C The same man was the first to give origin to pagan rites, on account of the warriors and leaders of old and whoever had done something excellent and worthy of memory by virtue, whom they adorned with statues and columns, inasmuch as they had done something extraordinary. But the descendants, not knowing the mind of their ancestors—who had honored them merely for the sake of memory as progenitors and inventors of good things—honored them as gods and sacrificed to them, and did not regard them as having been mortal men; whose impiety Solomon censures, saying: «The man who a little while before had been honored as a man, they now accounted as God.» (8) More clearly and at greater length, the great Athanasius, proving the madness and impiety of these men, ^D speaks as follows: «Such being therefore the appearance of their thinking, it was necessary for the truth of ecclesiastical judgment to shine forth. For neither is evil from God, nor is it in God; nor does it have any substance, but it is a man’s [error] according to the privation of the perception of the good.»

^A And, [being] deprived of the notion of the good, they began to imagine and to make at once things that are not, and whatever they wished. For just as if someone, when the sun is shining, should close his eyes and seek darkness, and further, wandering and walking about in the dark, should stumble, and often proceed little by little, thinking that there is no darkness but light, so also the soul of men, closing the eye of the intellect by which it is able to see God, has imagined evils for itself. ^B For it was made to see God and to be illuminated by Him; but it, instead of the immortal God, sought after the mortal works of darkness, as it is written: “God made man upright; but he hath sought out many schemes.” (Eccl. VII, 29).

(9) Since, therefore, like madmen, men have devised evil which does not exist, so also have they fashioned for themselves gods that do not exist. For just as again, if someone having plunged into the deep, no longer sees the light nor the things that appear in the light, because of the downward inclination of his eyes and the suffusion of water, but sensing only the things that are in the depths, thinks there is nothing beyond them, so also the men of old, having plunged into the desires and fantasies of the flesh, and thereupon forgetting the knowledge and glory of God, depicted the visible things as gods, worshipping the creature instead of the Creator. And just as, according to the stated example, those who are plunged into the deep, the more they descend, the more they see things that are darker and deeper, so also the human race has fared. For they did not have a simple error and idolatry, nor did they remain in those things from which they began, but the more they were entangled in the former, the more they discovered for themselves newer superstitions, taking nothing from the first evils that was sound. (10) For descending further in their thoughts and reasonings, men attributed the honor and glory of God to heaven, and sun, and moon, and stars. ^C Then, again descending with dark reasonings, they called the ether and the air and the things in the air gods. Advancing further in evils, they even praised as gods the elements and the principles of the constitution of our body—the hot and the moist and the dry substance. (11) And those who were more perfect in impiety called men gods—some while still living, others even after death. (12) And they transferred the name of God not only to men and cattle and reptiles, both terrestrial and aquatic, but they also seemed to exercise their impiety even toward things which were not and were not seen at all; for by mixing rational things with irrational, and connecting things dissimilar by nature, they deemed them gods. Such are the cynocephali among the Egyptians.

^A and the ophiocephali [and the onocephali, and the criocephali among the Libyans], and the so-called figments in the myths, Scylla and Charybdis and the hippocentaur, and the stag-goat, stretching impiety further, and they worshipped pleasure and desire as God, and calling them Venus, they adored them.

Furthermore, out of honor for their predecessors or out of fear of their tyranny, they honored their own kings as gods; just as in Crete Jupiter was honored, and in Arcadia Mercury, and in India Bacchus, and in Egypt Isis and Osiris, and now the boy Antinous of Hadrian, the Roman emperor. For when Hadrian was staying in Egypt and saw that his minister of lust, Antinous, had died, he ordered that he be worshipped, being as it were captivated by love for the boy even after death, out of excessive impiety and madness. For the gods celebrated among the Greeks—Jupiter and Neptune and Apollo and Vulcan and Mercury, and among the females Juno and Ceres and Minerva and Diana—were decreed to be honored with divine honors. ^B Therefore, the Holy Scripture, conquering these superstitions and inventions, says: "The beginning of perversion is the searching out of idols, and the invention of them is the corruption of life. For they did not exist from the beginning, nor will they last forever. But by the vanity of men they entered into the world; and therefore their end was devised to be short. For a father afflicted by untimely grief, having made an image for his child who was quickly snatched away, honored him who was then a dead man as if he were alive, and handed down to his subordinates mysteries and rites. Then, in the course of time, the unholy custom was guarded as a law, and by the commands of ^C tyrants, graven images were worshipped. And this became a snare for human life, because men, serving either calamity or tyrants, imposed the singular name upon stones and wood."

Then the heralds and prophets of these false gods, the poets and historians, ^D not only wrote simply that they were gods, but also recorded their deeds as an argument for impiety and an obscene way of life. For they recorded the unchaste loves and adulteries of Jupiter, and his boy-ravishments, and the jealousies of the others regarding women, and their fears and...

timidities and other vices—and in doing so, they convict themselves; for they tell such things not only about gods, but not even about respectable men. For they say that from Jupiter came boy-ravishments and adultery; from Venus, lewdness; from Rhea, ^A lasciviousness; from Mars, murders; from Bacchus, drunkenness; and from others, similar things of this kind. But it is manifest to those who have understanding that they told of these passions and most shameful deeds against their own will. Since they were zealous to bestow the incommunicable name and honor of God upon beings who were not gods, but mortal men, for this reason, even against their will, they were compelled by the truth to set forth their passions in order to prove that they were not gods, but men subject to passions.

But those who are enslaved to error say: “For this reason we consider them gods, because they have been useful to men.” For Jupiter is said to have discovered the plastic art, Neptune navigation, Vulcan metal-working, Asclepius medicine, Apollo music, Minerva weaving, Diana hunting, Juno ornamentation, Ceres agriculture, and others discovered other things. ^B (15) Therefore, if it is fitting to proclaim them gods on account of the discovery of these arts, ought not the discoverers of other arts to be named gods as well? For the Phoenicians discovered letters, Homer heroic poetry, Zeno the Eleatic dialectics, Corax the Syracusan rhetoric, Aristotle the fruit of the bees, Triptolemus the sowing of wheat and barley; Lycurgus the Spartan and Solon the Athenian gave laws, and Palamedes discovered the arrangement and number of letters, as well as measures and weights, and others announced different things useful to the life of men, according to the testimony of historians.

(16) But the madness of these people is evident, because they attributed the name and glory of God not only to mortal men, but also to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things, and their own varied passions and maniacal frenzy. (17) Concerning which the Apostle says: “They became vain in their reasonings, and their senseless heart was darkened; claiming to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into the likeness of an image ^C of corruptible man, and of birds, and of four-footed beasts, and of creeping things. Therefore God also gave them up to shameful passions,” ^D

^A And, in general, the glory and religion of all those who have gone mad in idolatry is distinct, and the same things are not found among the same people. And rightly so; for this is no small proof of their atheism. Since the gods are various and many in every region, with one destroying the god of another, all are destroyed; for indeed, the gods considered by some to be gods become libations and sacrifices for the gods spoken of by others. The Egyptians worship the calf Apis and the Mendes-ian goat, whereas others sacrifice these to Zeus. The Libyans ^B worship sheep, yet by others these are slaughtered as victims. The Indians worship Dionysus, symbolically calling him wine, and others offer libations of this; others worship rivers and springs, and the Egyptians, more than all, have valued water and proclaimed it a god. Among them, the insane cult of idols abounded so much above all peoples, that they worshipped not only oxen and goats, dogs and apes, but also called leeks and onions and many of the vile garden herbs gods and worshipped them out of excessive impiety. And they worshipped the water of the Nile, as it irrigated their land; ^C they deified the ox as one that completes agriculture and provides food, and the goat and the sheep because of their utility; the remaining abominations—dogs and apes, and sea beasts, and other absurd animals and herbs—they worshipped because they provided safety at the time of the destruction of Pharaoh. For when that man, pursuing Israel, was drowned, each one deified that by which he had been impeded from following Pharaoh, and by whose agency he had escaped safely; everyone, I say, bestowed upon it divine honor, saying: “You have become my God, especially today, through whom I survived ^D and did not perish with Pharaoh, hindered by this providence.”

After a time, therefore, and according to a fixed period, an ox would be born to the Egyptians, having certain signs upon its tongue and in its tail, by which it was recognized to be Apis, that is, a god; whence they celebrated a feast as if a god had arrived to dwell among them, and they set before the ox a sumptuous repast in the manger, as if feasting their own god. Similarly, they also worshipped the goat, called Menden, and according to their own language they said it was consecrated to the generative power; of which goat there also existed a temple in which there was a statue having goat-legs, with the private parts erect.

^A Likewise, by worshipping crocodiles, serpents, cats, and fishes, they acquire for themselves nothing but disgrace from such irrational homage. Nay, some have been led to such infirmity and madness as even to slaughter human beings and offer them as sacrifices to their false gods. For this reason the divine Word, protecting the people from such error beforehand, declared from of old: "You shall not make to yourself an idol, nor any likeness of all that is in the heaven above, and that is in the earth beneath, and you shall not worship them, nor shall you serve them." Since, therefore, there is a distinction between an idol and a likeness, it rightly said: "You shall not make to yourself an idol nor a likeness"; for an idol has no substance, but a likeness is an image and representation of something that exists. Since, therefore, the Greeks fashion forms that do not exist—Sphinxes, Tritons, and Centaurs—and the Egyptians a dog-faced and bull-headed god, it calls "idols" the imitations of things that do not exist, but "likenesses" the representations of things that do exist, such as the sun, moon, stars, men, beasts, reptiles, and things similar to these. Prohibiting the worship or service of such things, it does not forbid both simply; but foreseeing that some would worship both on account of human fear, ^B yet not inwardly wishing to worship them in their hearts, it taught that both are impious, hateful to God, and utterly detestable.

V. Concerning the four elements.

For this reason, again, so that some might not, like those men, look upon the beauty of created things and offer them honor—not as the work of God, but as gods—Scripture fittingly adds, saying: "And do not lift up you eyes to see the sun, and the moon, and all the host of heaven, ^C and be deceived and worship them, which the Lord your God has distributed to all nations." But He distributed them not that they should be gods to them, but that by their energy the nations might know the Creator and Lord of all; for from the greatness and beauty of created things, the Creator is proportionately known, and "his invisible things from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made," and "the heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament announces the work of his hands," as it is written. Therefore, the Creator God is perfect and eternal, lacking nothing at all; but if one were to take creatures—for instance, the sun by itself, or the moon, or the earth and the stars, and the heat ^D and the cold, and the dryness and the moisture—separating them from the connection they have with one another, and each of these things...

^A looked at by itself and considered individually, one would surely find that it is in no way sufficient unto itself, but is in need of the help of others, and is sustained by the mutual assistance of others. For the sun rotates within the entire heaven and is contained by it, and without its movement there would never be darkness; the moon and the stars bear witness to the brightness they receive from the sun. The earth, again, is seen not to yield its fruits without rain, and the rains would not descend upon the earth if there were no need for clouds. Indeed, nothing comes into being without air, and the air does not burn of itself, but is kindled by the aether, and, being illuminated by the sun, it becomes bright. Moreover, springs and rivers would never exist without the earth; and the earth is not established upon itself, but is made firm upon the substance of the waters. It is itself contained, tied together in the middle of the whole universe; and the sea, and the great Ocean that flows around the entire earth from the outside, is moved by the winds and is carried ^B wherever the force of the winds strikes it. And again, the winds themselves do not exist in and of themselves, but, according to those who have spoken on these matters, they are formed in the air itself from the kindling and heat of the aether, and through this same air they blow everywhere upon the earth.

(3) For as to the four elements of which the nature of bodies consists—I mean the hot and the cold, the dry and the moist essence—who does not know that, while they exist together when combined, they destroy one another when they are separated and resolved into their own natures? For the hot is destroyed by the cold, and the cold is caused to vanish by the hot, and the moist is dried up by the dry. ^C How then could these be gods, when they are in need of assistance from others and war against one another, and how is it fitting to proclaim them gods? How, again, do those who bestow the divine name upon creation not see that when the sun goes beneath the earth, its light—conceded by it—does not shine for mortals, and that the moon is hidden by day by the brilliance of the sun’s light; that the fruits of the earth are often harmed by hail, and that fire, when water floods, is extinguished? If they were gods, they ought not to be overcome or hidden by one another, but ought always to be in harmony and to perform their works in common and together. Hence, with good reason, neither the sun, nor the moon, nor any other part of creation, and much less images ^D of stone or gold or other materials, nor even those mythologized by the poets as Zeus and Apollo and the rest, can truly be gods, as tradition says; but some of them are parts of creation, others lack a soul, and others are merely mortal men who have been or still are.

^A If, therefore, it has been demonstrated that those who are called gods by the poets are not gods, it is absolutely necessary, now that these have been removed, that among us there should be the true worship of God, and that He who is worshipped and preached by us is the only true God and the creator of all creation, who is worshipped and served in the Trinity, and who has also led men away from the error concerning idols and irrational imagination, and has brought them back to the divine knowledge of Himself. He says again: “You shall have no other gods before me,” and, “Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God, the Lord is one,” and, “You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only shall you serve.” ^B Thus, therefore, by His own wisdom and power He contains all things and preserves the principles of all sensible substance—which are hot, cold, dry, and moist—tempering them into one in harmony, so that they offer a concord; and neither does fire struggle against the cold principle, nor does the moist resist the dry, but as if joined by a brotherly concord, they vivify the contraries and the things that agree and appear, and become principles of existence for bodies; and thus, to all things obedient to Him, those things which are on earth are kept alive, and those which are in the heavens are established. The whole sea and the vast ocean move within their own boundaries; and the dry land is all covered in green and flourishes with all sorts of diverse plants, obedient to the divine command. (6) Many have interpreted the creation of the world and all of creation in different ways, and as each of them wished, ^C so also did they define it. For some say that all things came to be automatically and by chance, among whom are the Epicureans, and they mythologize that there is no providence for the universe; others, among whom is that most celebrated Plato, maintain that God made all things out of pre-existent and unbegotten matter.

VI. Concerning magic and sorcery.

However, having turned aside to injustice and having transgressed every law, they became insatiable in committing sin. For cities fought against cities, nations rose up against nations, and the whole world was divided into battle, each one competing in lawlessness and in performing forbidden acts to the grief of God and the service of the devil. ^D For they were so impious that they worshipped demons and declared them to be gods, and offered them sacrifices through the slaughter of irrational animals and of men, as has been said. (2) Therefore, magic was taught among them, and divination and sorcery, and they even attributed the birth and cause of every policy and transaction to fortune and the stars, considering nothing but visible things. In one word,

^A all things were full of lawlessness and impiety, and everywhere it was filled with the deceit of diviners. For the oracles in Delphi and in Dodona, and those in Boeotia and Lycia, and in Libya and Egypt and Calauria were celebrated; and the Pythia was at that time admired by men who were deluded by vain superstition. But now, since Christ, the Word of God, the wisdom and power of God, is proclaimed, these things have ceased, and this demonic madness has quieted, and there is no longer anyone among them who divines. And formerly, demons used to present visions to men, preempting springs, or rivers, or wood or stones, and thus with sorceries they struck the foolish; but now, after the divine manifestation of the Word of God has occurred, the fantasy of these things has vanished.

^B And formerly, when men thought that those called gods among the poets—Zeus, and Cronos, and Apollo, and the heroes—were truly gods, and worshiped them, they were wandering greatly. Indeed, some even worshiped them by interpreting them allegorically. Thus, they believed Poseidon to be water, and Hephaestus to be fire, and Hera to be air, and Demeter to be the earth and fruits, and Zeus to be the rain; in place of these, they were recognized as mortal men. But Christ alone was recognized among men as the true God, the divine Word of the true God. The poets, indeed, said that Zeus is the rain; but the same men again said that he is an adulterer, and a corruptor of boys, and a parricide, and committed other crimes no less than these—but it is not so, I say, in truth; therefore, neither is that which rains. For if you accept these things, you must also accept those; but if you reject those, you must also reject these along with them. ^C If—dismissing the poets as fabricators of myths, and taking refuge in allegories—I ask you this: what then is Zeus? I mean the "seething" substance, and the rain above the air—*aether* is so called from "seething" and "burning." Therefore, it is not a rational and discerning essence, but irrational; for it is evident to everyone that the nature of air is irrational. For if Zeus is air, he is irrational and insensible, and then the myth will be of no consequence. For air was not the father of anyone, nor did it beget any substance such as the mythologists and makers of fables fashion, who say that the Sun, whom they also call Apollo, is his son. For the sun has neither reason, nor judgment, nor mind, but is itself a natural work, moved and carried around by the law which God set for it from the beginning. ^D And so, the aether is not the cause of rain, but the clouds, receiving water either from the sea, or from that flowing from above, or from the waters that are above the heavens, as Truth itself said through the Prophets.

(6) And just as when the sun is shining, darkness is driven away, so when the divine appearance occurred, ^A the darkness of idol-worship was driven away, and all the plausible wisdom of the philosophers was clearly demonstrated to be foolishness and babbling, as it is written. For concerning the utter destruction of idols: "And it shall be," He says, "in that day, saith the Lord Sabaoth, I will utterly destroy the names of the idols from the land, and they shall be remembered no more." And concerning the vain talk of the philosophers: "He who catcheth the wise in their craftiness;" and: "The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain." (7) And formerly, those Greeks and Barbarians who worshiped idols fought against each other, as has been said, and they were cruel and inhuman toward their own kin; for it was impossible for anyone to cross land or sea unarmed because of the irreconcilable war they waged against one another; and in a word, their whole life and conduct was spent in arms, and the sword was to them instead of a staff and an aid in every conflict. But now, when they have descended into the teaching of the peace-making Christ, then indeed, being pricked in heart ^B in a truly paradoxical way, they have laid aside the cruelty of bloodshed, and no longer harbor hostile thoughts, but have turned the war against the demons through the best ways and deeds according to virtue, and have clearly arrayed themselves against them. Concerning whom it is written: "They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into sickles, and nation shall not take up sword against nation," and the rest.

(8) Theodoret also says this concerning these: "If therefore the Greeks had read the Greek histories accurately, ^C they would surely have known that even the renowned sciences and most of the arts were learned by the Greeks from the Hebrews; for they say geometry was discovered by the Egyptians; astrology and horoscope-making are said to have been an invention of the Chaldeans; the Arabs and the Phrygians invented augury, and were the first to sacrifice to the gods; the Chaldeans or Cyprians found them out, for they differ, being of Persian stock; but they say the Babylonians were the first to discover astronomy through Zoroaster, from whom the Egyptians later received it, having been taught geometry beforehand for the division of the vast land, and then, having written it down, others shared in it. (9) But magic and sorcery and witchcraft were discovered by the Medes and Persians, ^D though they differ from one another; for magic is the invocation of demons, supposedly beneficent, for the accomplishment of some good thing, just as—

the decrees of the Tyanean were accomplished for good; but sorcery ^A is the invocation of malevolent demons, performed around tombs for the accomplishment of some evil. Whence it is called sorcery (goēteia), from the groans (goōn) and lamentations that occur around tombs. Poisoning (pharmakeia), however, is when some lethal concoction is given to someone through the mouth as a love philter. (10) Likewise, of augury, one part is ornithoscopy (bird-watching), another is house-augury, another is road-augury, another is chiromancy (palmistry), and another is leaping-augury. And ornithoscopy is when, because this or that bird is flying before or behind, or turning to the right or left, they say: "This or that is happening." Regarding leaping-augury, it is that which is known by the pulsing of the body—for example, if the right or left eye twitches, or the shoulder, or the thigh, or the leg, or an itching occurs in the foot, or a ringing occurs in the ear—and they say: "This, he says, is happening or will happen." House-augury is when someone says, regarding things happening in the house: "This is happening," for example, if a weasel, or a snake, or a mouse appears on the roof, or if oil, or honey, or wine, or ash is spilled, or if there is a creaking of wood or something else, and he adds: "This portends such and such." Road-augury is when someone interprets the things encountered on the road, saying: "If such a man meets you, or one carrying such a thing, such a thing will happen to you." Chiromancy is when, through the extension of the hands, they ^B claim and say: "This will happen to him."

[11] Furthermore, the Greeks say that letters were invented by the Phoenicians and brought into Greece by Cadmus; and that the Egyptian Apis began to practice medicine, and Asclepius increased this art—to all of whom, however, the Hebrews are more ancient. Likewise, others have discoursed differently concerning dogmas. For some said visible things were created, others that they were uncreated but accidental; others said the whole world was enlivened by a soul, others that it lacked mind. For Anaxagoras and Protagoras, having come into Egypt and conversed there with Egyptian and Hebrew sages, learned of these things that are; and later Plato himself was duly initiated, as Plutarch said in his Parallels. ^C The Egyptians, before others, were the first to give names to the sun and moon, calling the sun Osiris and the moon Isis; and seeing them running in their course, they declared them gods from the word meaning "to run" (theein), and sacrificed to them. They also called fire Vulcan, earth Ceres, the moist substance Ocean, desire Venus and Love, rage Mars, and drunkenness

Bacchus, theft Mercury, prudence Minerva, and again Vulcan the arts, inasmuch as he used fire. For they were so enslaved to base pleasures that, on account of their unbridled lust, they even confessed the goat to be a god and sacrificed to it. The Mendesians especially honored this one, even as other cities attributed various theologies to other animals. The Memphites worshipped the bull, the Lycopolitans the wolf, the Cynopolitans the dog, and others the cat, and others the crocodile. Indeed, the Egyptians ^A and Phoenicians, from whom the Greeks received the sun, moon, stars, heaven, earth, and the other elements, were the first to name them gods and worshipped them as such. Later in time, the Greeks also deified those who had performed some exploit or had shown valor in battles, such as the noble and brave Hercules, and they proclaimed Aesculapius a god after his death because of his medical knowledge. And they reverenced and worshipped not only those who had done some good, but also men and women convicted of lewdness and abominable deeds.

VII. Concerning apotheosis among the Romans.

The Romans, having learned this from the Greeks, deified their own emperors after death, and ^B not only those who had reigned lawfully and had cared for justice, but also those who had managed their rule tyrannically, unjustly, and lawlessly. For they added to the catalogue of their gods Nero, who had exceeded every limit of incontinence and impiety, and Domitian, Commodity, and other murderers and most lustful men. Nay, moreover, they held the most wicked demons to be gods, from whom they had learned incantations and sorcery, and they honored them with evil works of craft, sacrifices, and mysteries; these, conversely, we rightly detest and abominably despise as being hated by God and deserving of eternal punishment.

Since I have made mention of demons, I think it not irrelevant to discuss those who are glorified by the wretched and by those worthy of the unquenchable fire. For the divine oracles call the prince of these Satan, whose name, according to the Hebrew tongue, signifies "apostate." ^C He is also called "Devil" (Diabolos), as one who slanders God before men and sows strife and contention among men themselves. These were not created evil from the beginning by God, the Creator of all ^D

^A nor did they receive such a disposition, but by the turning away of their judgment from better to worse, they fell voluntarily and by their own authority. Not contented with the good things they had received from their Maker, but desiring greater things, they admitted the passion of pride and fell from the glory given them from the beginning. Then, filled with rage, they acted against men, who were honored as the image of God, and undertook a war against them.

The Maker, on one hand, protected the human race through the guardianship of the holy angels, so that the devil, acting out of envy, might not invisibly attack and destroy those he hated through violence and tyrannical power. On the other hand, He did not prevent the struggle of the contest, in order that the wrestling might show who were the best and that they might become archetypes of virtue. For this reason, having restrained his violent assault as something destructive through the guardianship of the angels, He allowed the struggle of thoughts, in order that He might show the victors to be worthy of crowns—not that He Himself ordained him to the order of a rival, but that He used the malice of that one for a necessary purpose, just as physicians use vipers for the removal of diseases. ^B

Furthermore, since the Greeks say that the apostles and we speak a barbarian language, let them know that to us all Greeks seem Scythians; for Paul demonstrated this, saying: "If, therefore, I do not know the power of the voice, I will be a barbarian to him who speaks" (1 Cor. XIV, 11). For in truth, just as to the Greeks, the Illyrians, the Paeonians, and others seem to speak barbarously, so to those and such as they, all who are unable to understand the artful disputation and garrulity of Greece seem to be barbarians. But every language has the same meaning, for the nature of all men is one, and experience is a teacher. For it is possible to find among the barbarians, too, arts and sciences and virtues in war in abundance, and some of them even surpass the education and verbosity of the Greeks with the brevity of their speech. ^C

This is attested to by the Persians and the ancient historians, and by anyone who is now an ambassador, a general, or a merchant who has associated with them and has well tested their acuteness and craftiness. For they say that they sharply perceive the subtleties and deceits of speeches, and with few words they overcome those who have discoursed before them. They are also said to possess great power of reasoning and to be capable of easily unraveling what is woven by others, and they are accustomed to using very wise proverbs and riddles; for they were not imbued with philosophical or rhetorical discourses, but had nature alone as their teacher. ^D

^A The Gindes are said to be even wiser and more ingenious than those. And among us, the nomadic and rural peoples—I mean the Ishmaelites, who live their lives in the deserts and have read nothing of the Greek writings—are adorned with great ingenuity, intelligence, and much experience; yet they possess judgment and the sharpest cleverness, as they are capable of perceiving the truth most effectively, of refuting falsehood, and of distinguishing the better from the worse. Regarding the Egyptians, I consider it superfluous to speak; for the foremost among the philosophers themselves declared them to surpass the most renowned among the Greeks. The Romans, too, have had poets, historians, and rhetoricians, as those who are trained in their language say. They maintain that their arguments are more numerous and weighty than those of the Greeks, and that they possess more concise and profound maxims. ^B I say these things not to disparage the Greek tongue, nor to offer documents opposing it, but to deflate the cheeks and bring down the brow of those who boast about it, and to repress their pride, by teaching that a language serving the truth is not to be ridiculed, and that it should be concerned with its own glory not through ornate and varied discourses, but through those that are consistent with the truth.

VIII. Concerning Plato the philosopher.

^C For this reason, some have named the smallest and indivisible bodies "atoms," because they do not fall under the senses on account of their being too minuscule, as they are unable to undergo cutting or division. For this is what they call those most subtle and smallest of particles which the sun, as it shines in through windows, reveals as being agitated up and down. Others, indeed, have trusted in fortune and fate; they said that fate is a force of necessity, endowed with the power of moving matter, while Plato said that fortune is a chance cause arising from nature or will. And indeed, Democritus speaks about this as follows: ^D "For we have all things partly from God, but partly from fate and fortune, and from those smallest bodies, clearly agitated up and down, and intertwined, and separated, and carried around by necessity, from which he said were distributed not only wealth and poverty, health and disease, slavery and freedom, war and peace, but also virtue and vice were allotted to each." And because some opposed their opinions against others, and fought as if in an arrayed battle, on account of the dissonance and diversity of the doctrines that existed at that time, they are glorified; and rightly so, for some have refuted the false opinions of others.

For falsehood is not only an enemy to truth, but it is also by its nature an enemy to itself, whereas truth is consonant with itself and has only falsehood as its opposite. Hence, some said the mind is self-governing and quite capable of curing the passions by its own authority, while others declared it a slave to necessity and fate, and dependent upon the revolution of the heavens and the conjunction of the stars.

But Plato taught an opinion contrary to this regarding the soul; for he said it is free and mistress of the passions, as he shows in the *Laws*, stating: "To conquer oneself is the first and best of all victories; but to be conquered by oneself is the most shameful and ^B worst thing." For we know that these passions, like nerves or certain cords implanted in us, drag us and pull us against one another, being contrary and leading to contrary actions, where virtue and vice lie separated and distracted. For thus reason declares that one of these pulls must always be followed, and that one should never be abandoned, but that we must struggle against it with all our nerves: for this is the guidance of that reason. It is demonstrated therefore that the Creator assigned to the will of the soul the distinction between good and evil, and in a word, the struggle and battle that they have against one another. ^C This is what he said.

But those who had held these things in honor brought forth the opposite opinion; for they did not desire to learn the truth, but serving vainglory and emulation, they were eager to be called inventors of new doctrines, and therefore they substituted a great error, while the later ones shamelessly pervert the doctrine of the ancients. For indeed, that wretched Aristotle, while Plato was yet alive, openly and impudently set himself against him and undertook a war against the Academy; and he neither honored the teaching of which he had greedily partaken, nor did he respect the glory of that most celebrated man, nor did he fear the power in his speech, ^D but proudly and shamelessly that thunderstruck man stood against him, using not better, but in many respects worse doctrines. For while the former had said the soul is divided into three parts, and is immortal and God-like, he himself said it is mortal and temporal; and while the former had said that God oversees all things, this man, if one is to trust the tradition, deprived the earth of God’s care. For he said that things up to the moon are directed by God, but the rest

by fate and lot, and that everything happens to each person by a compelling necessity; and by this, making the murderers, house-breakers, and fornicators—the types of iniquity—and a great many other monsters A note: by his way of thinking, at the same time making them appear to happen by fate, the wretched man uttered these blasphemies against his master, impiously and boldly. (6) Therefore, the most wise Plato, discoursing on God, says: ^B "What is that which always is, and has no birth, and what is that which is always becoming, but never is? The former, which is always grasped by reason, is always the same thing, while the latter, which is grasped by irrational sense, is coming into being and perishing, but is in reality never Being." All these things—that it was and will be—are parts of time; and we err and do not speak well when we transfer these to eternal Being; for we say, "that which was, is, and will be," but if we wish to speak the truth, it is fitting to say: "It is." For it is fitting to say "it was" and "it will be" regarding the generation that exists in time; but to that which is always and by itself, it is not fitting to call it either younger or older, for that which is always Being and pre-existing is above all generation; but that which has come to be and receives many changes, he quite rightly said never exists. And again Plato says: "Good indeed ^C is God in truth, and must be called the cause of good things, but of all evil things, He is not the cause." Thus, about God the creator and about our free will, Plato taught well how to think and believe; and he orders those who say that God is the cause of evils to be driven out, and says that this statement is unholy, and harmful to us, and inconsistent with itself. Therefore, if God is good, as indeed He is good, He could not be the cause of evils. But if He is not the cause of the evils that come to be—and those things which are commonly called "evils" are not what many people like to call evil, but rather wickedness, licentiousness, and other iniquities which are dared by us of our own free will—we ourselves are the cause of these, and not God who ordained the contrary. As Plato shows again in the Laws, showing us the governor of all things, holding the helm of the universe, he says: "God indeed, as the ancient saying also testifies, holding the beginning, the end, and the middle ^D of all things, proceeds in a straight line according to nature, and justice always follows Him, taking vengeance on those who fall away from the straight law; of which justice, he who intends to be happy, holding fast, follows humbly, adorned..."

^A with a modest and composed spirit. But he who is elated by pride, who swells with confidence in his wealth or possessions, or who is inflamed in his spirit to insolence by the beauty of his body along with youth and folly, as if he needed neither a master nor a guide, but could himself be a capable leader of others—he is surely forsaken by God, deprived of His power and efficacy. And being forsaken, and having acquired other leaders of this kind, he exults, and disturbs and confuses all things at once; yet he seems to the common people to be someone, but after a time he pays to divine justice no blameless penalties, and he involves himself, his family, and finally the city itself in extreme ruin. ^B Thus the philosopher shows both that God provides for all things, and His long-suffering towards some, and the detriment that thence befalls the foolish, and the extreme destruction that in the end prepares ruin for them themselves. In the *Gorgias*, he shows the causes of punishment, saying thus: "It is appropriate for anyone who is subjected to punishment and is rightly punished by another, either to become better and derive benefit, or to become an ^C example to others, so that they, seeing what he suffers, may become better through fear of those same punishments." Those, then, who derive benefit from those punishments and pay penalty to both God and men are those who have committed lighter sins; but to them, benefit arises from pains and torments both here and in Hades; for it is not possible to be delivered from wickedness in any other way. But those who have been defiled by the most grievous crimes and have become through such unjust wickednesses incurable, these are set forth as examples; they themselves, however, derive no help therefrom, inasmuch as they are incurable; but others derive benefit when they see these people, on account of their ^D greatest sins, suffering the most painful, most fearful, and interminable punishments for all time, strictly as examples. This the most wise Plato seems to have gleaned from the divine Scriptures; for he absolutely heard what was said through Moses by God to Pharaoh saying: "For this very reason I raised you up, that I might show in you my power, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth." For when that man had become altogether wicked, the Lord brought upon him punishments of every kind, not that he might show himself better (for He knew the man's stubborn mind and incurable malice), but that the things which were reported about him might become useful examples to all people. For just as cities maintain executioners to punish murderers, burglars, and other transgressors of the laws,

^A but themselves do not approve of these executions, but are rather in maximum hatred of them, yet employ their ministry out of necessity, so the Ruler of the world, in the place of executioners, allows there to be tyrants, so that through them the prevaricators and the impious might pay their penalty; yet afterwards they themselves also will be delivered over to punishments, because they did not act as ministers of God, but were serving their own malice when they perpetrated those wicked deeds. Thus, when Israel had sinned, He delivered it over to the cruelty of the Assyrians, and when they did not recognize this intention, He caused their kingdom to be overthrown and forced them to serve others, as the prophets explicitly teach; from whom Plato opportunely borrowed the basis for his ^B saying that those who are incurable are to be disciplined for the benefit of others. (8) Indeed, moreover, concerning the departure and the allotment of souls, that wisest man says again in the *Phaedo*: "The imperfect and impure soul, upon arriving at Hades, will lie in the mire; but the perfected and purified one, having migrated thither, will dwell with God. For he who has passed through life justly and holily, when he dies, is sent away to the Isles of the Blessed to dwell in all blessedness, exempt from evils; but he who has lived unjustly and impiously goes to the prison of judgment and justice, which they call Tartarus, and thus stripped of everything, is then judged for all these things; for it is necessary that the dead be judged, so that the judgment of the judge may be just." Thus Plato precisely believed that there were tribunals in Hades. (9) For having encountered the Hebrews in ^C Egypt, he gladly heard the prophetic oracles and learned of the river of fire, which the great Daniel saw, and he was initiated into the words of the most godlike Isaiah, in which he says concerning sinners: "Their worm shall not die, and the fire shall not be quenched," and: "Who shall announce to you the eternal place?" So therefore Plato, who was the wisest and superior and the most renowned of all the Greeks, arrived in Egypt to the prudent and wise among the Egyptians, in order to become as learned as possible and to acquire the most perfect science of the nature of things, as the Greeks relate. But he also learned theology from the Hebrews, though not most certain and ^D pure—for he had received it while atheism still strongly beset him, and a pernicious error, badly simulated, was still flourishing—yet he did explain it. For having appropriated very many of the sacred oracles of Moses and having translated them, he tries in this way to make his narrative covertly and enigmatically; whence also, while hinting at this very thing to someone, he very well said: "You must speak in enigmas, so that if the scroll should suffer anything in its folds, whether of the sea or of the land, the reader may not understand. For the matter stands thus: About the King of all are all things, and they exist for His sake, and He is the cause of all good things; and the second things are about the second, and the third about the third. »

^A Regarding the third point. (10) And simply, to speak again in summary and recapitulation concerning these same matters: numerous and every kind were the throngs of the impious who made their choices, and diverse were the missiles of their blasphemy; and the falsehood, being multipartite and varied, having mixed with the pleasure of fables and prepared as it were a mixed drink, brought upon men the drunkenness of polytheistic error. But the sophist, in a white cloak and with a long beard and the hair of his head, defining philosophy and seeing the ridiculous nature of the poets’ theology, devised other paths of error, leading down to that same poetic abyss. For some indeed, with the elegance of speech and the force of their arguments, concealed the base deeds and indecent language of the gods in the poetry; others imposed the divine name upon the passions, and—as I said—called pleasure Venus, anger Mars, drunkenness Bacchus, theft Mercury, and prudence Minerva, and inventing such monsters with a proud eyebrow and Attic loquacity, they led the majority of men away into another form of error. And those who professed to live as philosophers, and because of their attire reaped honor from all, and boasted that they were masters of their passions, ^B foolishly persuaded men to worship the passions, and have blindly convinced them to sacrifice the governing mind—which ought to master the passions and rule like a charioteer—to concupiscence, and anger, and theft, and drunkenness, and the other passions. (11) Others again, being unable to conceive of anything beyond what is visible, but having confined their mind to sensible things, declared the things that are set before the eyes for viewing to be gods, and imposed the venerable name, which strikes horror into the hearers, some upon the elements, others upon the parts of these. And some imagined the world came to be by chance, while others imagined many gods instead of one. And some denied the divine absolutely; others confessed a God, but one who did not provide for the universe in any way; others said that God does indeed care for the world, but does so lightly, and limits providence to the moon, while the rest of the world’s parts are carried along at random, forced to serve the necessity of Fate. (12) Through these and similar things we have clearly recognized that they not only wrote contrary things to one another, but even ^C to themselves regarding the same matters, and, pressed by a zeal for glory and by malice, they wrought a most great discord among themselves, and disturbed the inhabited world, and destroyed many along with themselves. ^D Such, then, was the error that once occupied the world, which the Lord, worshipped openly by us, has entirely dissipated and expelled. And the works bear witness to the Word, both the earth and the sea, liberated from the former ignorance and impiety, with the

cessation of the error of idols; the gloom of ignorance is dispelled, and the rays of the light of knowledge have filled the inhabited world. Greeks, Romans, and Barbarians confess the crucified God, and instead of many and falsely-named gods, they worship the Trinity alone; they have utterly destroyed the shrines of the demons. The altars of idols have been torn up from their foundations, churches have been publicly built everywhere—in cities, in villages, and in the remotest places—the shrines of martyrs and saints have been constructed, and the dwellings of ascetics sanctify the mountain peaks. These things and those similar to them demonstrate the divinely-fitting success of the incarnation of our Savior; for we leave all the empty contentions of the philosophers to those who occupy themselves with the studies of street-performers. Thus, ^A the ancient error of idols endured from Sarug down to the times of Thare, the father of Abraham.

Nachor, having come to be seventy-nine years old, begat Thare (and after this he lived one hundred and twenty-two years and died, having lived in all two hundred and two years).

IX. Concerning the Nativity of Abraham.

Thare, when he was seventy years old, begat Abraham and Nachor and Aran, the father of Lot, who also died before his father, Thare. And after this, Thare lived one hundred and thirty-five years and died, having lived in all two hundred and five years. He was a maker of images, fashioning and selling gods from stones and wood. The age of the world had reached its twentieth generation by his time, being about three thousand three hundred and twenty-two years, and no one of the men before this time appears to have died as a son before his father; but fathers [died] before their children, leaving their sons as heirs of their affairs. And let no one speak of Abel; for he did not die a natural death, but a violent one. For from the time that Thare set himself up as a rival to God, by crafting idols through his own handiwork, he received in justice the like of what he had done, being himself provoked to jealousy by his own son. For Aran perished in the fire which Abram lit in order to burn his father’s idols. ^C For when Aran entered to take them away, he was consumed along with them and died; and therefore, the divine Scripture, marveling, noted it, saying: “And Aran died before Thare his father.” For Abram, when he was fourteen years old and deemed worthy of the knowledge of God,

^A seeing that all men were worshipers of creatures and were calling upon and adoring visible things under the various names of gods, went about each day in anguish, seeking the one truly existing God with a heart that loved God. And thus, looking at the sky, now brilliant, now dark, he would say to himself, “This is not God.” Similarly, he would say of the sun and the moon—the one often hidden or obscured, the other waning and fading away— “Neither are these gods.” Moreover, having scrutinized the course and movement of the stars (for he was deeply instructed in astronomy by his father), finding the creator of these not in them nor in any other visible things, he was deeply troubled and downcast. He whose desire and vow were seen by Him who fashioned our hearts and understands all His works appeared to him and invited him to go into the land of promise, saying: “Go out from your land and from your kindred and from the house of your father, and come into the land that I will show you.” ^B And immediately, having taken the idols—breaking some and burning others—he departed with his father from the land of the Chaldeans, and having come to Charran, his father died. And departing from there again, according to the word of the Lord, he came with his wife Sarra and his nephew Lot with all their possessions into the land of Canaan, which was owed to him, and which the Canaanites held tyrannically, having dealt with hostile force. ^C Regarding whom indeed, Clement the Roman, the philosopher and genuine disciple of the great Peter, speaks thus: “When a famine occurred, having left the land of Canaan, Abram went into Egypt. But when King Abimelech had abducted his wife Sarra, God immediately examined him and struck him with terror; at the same time, He brought upon him a wasting of the limbs, and said to him: ‘Restore the woman to the man, for he is a prophet and he will pray for you and you shall live; but if you do not restore her, know that you and all that is yours shall die.’ And thus Abram received back the undefiled Sarra, and having prayed, Abimelech and all those in his house were healed of the languor and of the plague which God had sent.” ^D Whence thereafter, as a just man and servant of God, the King honored him and attended to the things spoken by him, and he (Abram) became a teacher of piety and learning to the Egyptians. For he was the first, as Josephus says, to proclaim the Creator God, and the first, when he had descended into Egypt, to teach arithmetic and astronomy, and he became so beloved and honored that the King deigned to learn from him astrology and magic, as from a man most learned and a Chaldean. For astrology and magic [were derived] from the Magusaeans.

^A that is, the Persians; for the Persians were called Magog by the indigenous people. 67 And when the astrologers and magi had been assembled, the King sat with Abram and his companions. And when silence had been made, Abram said: "I wish to learn from you, who are wise, whether nativity and magic can harm or benefit anyone, according to your opinion." The Egyptian astrologer and magus answered and said: "A good occasion for great and necessary questions has arisen for us, O teacher, and it is right that we hide nothing from you of our secrets. We think that all men serve nativity and fate; for it is impossible for a man to be slain or to die outside [the dictates of his] nativity." ^B Abram said: "You have truly erred in saying this, not knowing that you have spoken before a king who is a judge and who holds power over the lives of men." And the King, becoming indignant, said to the astrologer: "Now then, if we should summon one of my subjects, and you, having deliberated, should declare that he has time to live or does not have it, but by my hand the opposite should happen to him, would you not evidently be found to be an impostor? For if you say he still has time of life, I shall immediately order him to be killed; but if you say he has no remaining time besides the present hour, I shall release him from his sentence, but you I shall immediately punish with death as a liar, so that henceforth your death may persuade everyone not to give any credence to the trifles you babble about astrology." When the King had said these things, the Egyptian, becoming terrified, fell prone, begging for mercy, he and his cohorts. And the King, wishing to be gracious to Abram as his teacher, and because he had openly demonstrated their error through wisdom and had also interceded for the babblers, pardoned them, ^C though he vehemently rebuked their insane opinion as vain and harmful to the people. And forthwith he ordered, as if at the prompting of Abram, that a certain man condemned to be burned be brought forward, and he commanded them to examine his nativity and his death, and after they had deliberated, to state the manner of his death. When they had deliberated with great care for a long time and had said that he would die by being burned—for his nativity clearly brought this about and declared it—yet that he still had time of life, and the time of death had not yet ^D arrived, the King said: "Today I shall deliver this man from burning and command that he be killed by water, so that I may demonstrate to you by deed that something can happen otherwise than by the horoscopes." And thus he excellently refuted their prophecy concerning the time and manner of death. When all had kept silent, Abram began to say: "O King, most great and most especially loving of the truth, since I see you are very diligent in the question proposed, I shall succinctly offer you what is more true, speaking truth in all things; for I am truly a servant of the truth." And when the King had said, "You will be very welcome to me," Abram spoke thus: "Not only men but even animals lacking reason are subject to nativity;

^B however, men possess something within themselves that is free and not subject to nativity, insofar as it is older than generation—that which is the power of self-determination in men, which was given to us by God. Thus, since we are superior to the irrational animals, we naturally have the power to destroy them; but as we have authority over them, you, in turn, are superior to us, having authority over us. Just as we are, by virtue of possessing reason ^C beyond the irrational animals, superior to them and rule over them, so you, O King, being superior to us, have authority according to the principle of leadership, just as there is also One superior to you—not a man, but the invisible God, the Maker and Lord of all, from whom it is fitting to seek what is beneficial."

Having said many such things, Abram, in order to show favor to the King regarding the subject of astrology, drew many of the Egyptians toward the worship of God and corrected their erroneous [(109)] knowledge and training regarding astrology and magic, saying: "There is a great difference, O men, between truth and custom. For truth, when sought sincerely, is always found; but custom, whether it be according to truth or according to falsehood, is confirmed by itself without judgment, and he who has received it rejoices not in the truth, nor is he indignant at what is false. For such a person gives his assent, not by judgment, but by a preconceived opinion of the judgment of those who were before him, having committed his own hope to uncertain fortune. And he is no longer able to easily cast off this 'ancestral garment,' even if it is shown to be entirely foolish and laughable. Indeed, I declare this discipline of the pagans and their trifles to be the most pernicious suggestion of the evil demon; for some of them have introduced many gods, and these are base and given over to all passions, so that anyone who wishes to act in a similar way might not blush, having as a model for what is human the worst and most indecent lives of those false gods. Having thus removed shame, he provides absolutely no hope of repentance. ^D Others, having feigned an error of fate, absurdly claim that everything happens by the name of 'nativity,' without which no one can suffer or do anything, and they offend by this very error and impiety. For if someone thinks that apart from nativity, or fate, a man can neither suffer nor do anything, he will easily slip into sins, acting like the brute beasts. And after committing sins, he feels no regret for his impiety, having the absurd excuse that he was forced by nativity to do these things. Moreover, he who cannot correct his nativity is not ashamed to have sinned. Still others introduce an unconsidered impulse, saying that all things consist and are carried along rashly, with no Lord or ruler assisting. Therefore, those who think such things are not easily, not to say ever, corrected and brought back to wisdom." The King praised him greatly, seeing that he was held in admiration by all, and with the greatest...

^A gifts and honors he rewarded him publicly. Having acknowledged the benefit of his teaching, he sent him off as he was hastening to return with his boys and girls, being exceedingly struck by his supreme understanding, wisdom, and piety in all the things he had interpreted.

X. Concerning Sido and Melchisedech.

^B There are, therefore, from the dispersion of the nations until the time when Abram came from Mesopotamia, from the city of Haran, and from the house of his father, according to the command of God, to the land of Canaan, or Palestine, one thousand and seventeen years; and he was in his seventy-fifth year. And after he had stayed in Canaan for twenty-five years, he begot Isaac, and after this he lived seventy-six years and died, having lived in all one hundred and seventy-six years. ^C (9) He was also deemed worthy of the blessing of the divine Melchisedech, King of Salem, after he had returned from the slaughter of Chodorlaomor and had redeemed his nephew from captivity. "And Melchisedech," he says, "King of Salem, brought forth bread and wine; for he was a priest of the Most High, and he blessed Abraham and said, 'Blessed be Abraham by God the Most High, who created heaven and earth, and blessed be God the Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hands.' And Abraham gave him a tithe of all." (3) Concerning whom the Apostle also said: "For this Melchisedech, King of Salem, priest of God the Most High, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him, to whom ^D also Abraham divided a tenth part of all; first being interpreted King of Righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is King of Peace; without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like unto the Son of God, he abides a priest continually. Now consider how great this man is, to whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tithe of the spoils. And those indeed of the sons of Levi who receive the priesthood have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law, that is, of their brethren, though they have come out of the loins of Abraham. But he whose descent is not counted from them received tithes from Abraham, and blessed him that had the promises.

^A For he was a just and pious man, descended from the Gentiles; for so far as it is said, he took part in another tribe, from the line of Sidus, the son of the king of Egypt, from whom Egypt received its name, as has also been said before. This Sidus, having gone forth from Egypt and dwelt in the region of the Canaanites, which is now called Palestine, and having built a city, called it Sidon after his own name. And thence from the line of Sidus descended Elchi, the father of Sedec, which Sedec, having become priest and king, was called Melchisedech by his father's name.

XI. Of the city built by Melchisedech.

^B This man, being a priest of God and king of the Canaanites, and having built a city on the mountain called Sion, called it Salem, which is "city of peace," in which, having reigned one hundred and thirteen years, he died a just man and a virgin, as Josephus says, with whom John and Cyril agree. Melchisedech is called "without genealogy," for the reason that he is not at all from the seed of Abraham, nor is he recorded by Moses in any lineage, but is a Canaanite by race and descended from a detestable seed; therefore they did not deem him worthy of a genealogy, for it was not fitting that he who was found to be of the highest justice should be mingled with a race of the highest injustice. And therefore he said "without mother and without father," ^C not judging the progenitors of the virtue of this just and wise man to be worthy. That he was a Canaanite by race is evident also from the fact that he held and ruled the regions of the Canaanites, and because he dwelt among the most wicked Sodomites.

XII. Of Salem.

Moreover, Salem, of which he was king—the much-famed Jerusalem—received the syllable "Ieru" after "Salem" by an addition, and by conjunction, being named with a fitting name, it was called Jerusalem. This addition of syllables, however, it received later, whether on account of the sacrifice of Melchisedech, or on account of the construction of the holy temple.

Regarding this, the divine Mark himself, a disciple of Chrysostom, said later: ^D "Since, forsooth, it is not set forth in the genealogy who his father or what his mother was, or when he died, for this reason he is said to have neither beginning of days nor end of life; for he could not be enumerated in any genealogy, since he was descended from the omitted Gentiles, just as through his habitation the Scripture indicated him."

of whom also the Apostle said: "For this Melchisedech, being interpreted first as king of righteousness, and then also as king of Salem, which is king of peace." ^A

XIII. Concerning the name Jerusalem.

For that which is now Jerusalem was once called Jebus; whence we learn that among the seven nations which were destroyed, Melchisedech was the first Jebusite. ^B Afterward, when the nations had been cast out and the people had established their settlement, God assigned it to the priests, that sacrifices might be offered there from every place of the Judeans. Therefore, after the wars had been quieted, He renamed the city Salem, which is peace; for Jerusalem is interpreted as "mountain of peace," for which reason Melchisedech, who reigned in it first, is interpreted as king of peace.

"King of righteousness" is again an interpretation of his same name, that is to say, Melchisedech in the language of the Canaanites. When therefore you read, whoever you are, and find something written concerning Melchisedech that is beyond a human, remember instantly the Apostle saying: ^C "...inasmuch as these things are said, he belonged to another tribe," and you will never be led astray. Therefore the foolish and impure Melchisedecians surely erred, who believed him to be a God by nature, and not a mortal human; wherefore they shall justly be condemned by the highest justice as anthropolaters, "serving the creature rather than the Creator," because of their great and final madness, or rather, to speak more truly, because of their stupidity and impiety. Rightly therefore did the Apostle say concerning such people: "They became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. And they changed the glory of the incorruptible God into the likeness ^D of an image of corruptible man. For this cause God gave them up unto the desires of their hearts, into a reprobate mind and into vile affections; who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed unto the ages. Amen."

Solomon likewise says: "Vain are all men by nature, in whom there is not the knowledge of God," and: "The heart of them is ashes, and their hope is more worthless than earth, because they did not know their Creator, and Him who...

breathed into them a vital spirit. ^A (9) During those times, God rained fire upon the Pentapolis of Sodom and Gomorrah and consumed the whole race of men, except for Lot, the nephew of Abram, and his two daughters; He also subverted the entire substance of the land, and the waters of the adjacent sea were rendered dead. Lot then begat two sons by his two daughters, Moab and Ammon, from whom came the Moabites and Ammonites. (10) But Abram begat Ishmael ^B by his Egyptian slave Agar, and Isaac by Sarah, from whom came the Ishmaelites and the Israelites. When Agar had conceived by Abram and was harassed by Sarah and had fled, the angel of the Lord found her in the desert and said to her, "Whence do you come and whither do you go?" And she said, "I am fleeing from the face of my mistress Sarah." And the angel of the Lord said, "Return to your mistress, and humble yourself under her hands, and I will multiply your seed greatly, and it shall not be numbered for the multitude. For behold, you have conceived and shall bear a son, and you shall call his name Ishmael, because the Lord has heard your affliction. This man shall be a wild man; his hands shall be against all, and the hands of all against him, and he shall dwell ^C before the face of all his brothers. And Agar called the name of the Lord who spoke to her, 'You are the God who has seen me.'" When Ishmael was born, Abram said to God, "Let this Ishmael live before you." And God said to Abram, "Nay, behold Sarah, your wife, shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac, and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant and for his seed after him. But as for Ishmael, behold I have heard you, and I have blessed him, and I will multiply him exceedingly, and he shall beget twelve nations, and I will make him a great nation. But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you." Then again the Scripture concerning those who were born of Ishmael: "The firstborn son of Ishmael is Nabeoth, and Cedar, and Nabeel, and Masisan, and Masma, and Massa, and Chodad, and Thema, and Jethur, and Naphis, and Gedma. These are the sons of Ishmael, twelve princes according to their nations." And Ishmael dwelt from Eila to Sur, which is opposite Egypt as you enter toward the Assyrians. ^D He dwelt before the face of all his brothers.

XIV. The Beginning of Abraham. Concerning Isaac.

Abraham, when he was seventy-five years old, begat Isaac of Sarah. A little while later, Abraham left the oak of Mambre and departed to the well of the oath, dwelling there privately with himself and his domestics according to

^A kindred connection, having pitched a tent. Then for the first time Abraham performed the festival of the tabernacles for seven days, which Israel even now celebrates by pitching tents. They say that Isaac was in his twenty-fifth year when he was led to the sacrifice; and in that very place Abraham built an altar, where David later established the temple.

XV. Concerning Esau and Jacob.

But these blessings were spoken toward Jacob, while other things were bestowed upon others, just as it is possible to see in those things said by Jacob to Simeon and Levi: “For I will divide them,” he says, “in Jacob, and scatter them in Israel.” ^C Yet this did not happen to him himself, but among his descendants. Similarly, what was said by Noah about the Gabaonites did not come to pass for Chanaan; and here, too, it was not fulfilled in Jacob—for how could it be, since he lived in fear and trembling, and bowed down countless times to his brother?—but rather in his descendants. Therefore, from Israel sprang the Ishmaelites, who are now called Agareni and Saraceni: Agareni from the Egyptian Agar, as has been said, and Saraceni from Sara. From Isaac, Esau, who is also called Edom, and Jacob were born of Rebecca; and from Esau was born Edom, having the same name as his father, and Amalec, from whom are the Idumeans and Amalekites. From Jacob, who is also Israel, was born Judas, from whom all the Jews, even those born of the others, have been named; and they are called Israelites from their father Jacob or Israel, ^D but Jews by a fitting name from their most famous brother, Judas. Furthermore, the divine Abraham again begat five sons from his last wife, Cethura, among whom is Madian, from whom are the Madianites, and Afar, from whom is Africa, in which he lived, and the region was named after him just as if by a paternal name, just as Ausitis is the place of Esau, in which the blessed and patient and most renowned Job was born, whom the divine Chrysostom praises, speaking thus: “There was a certain man in the region of Ausitis: he is celebrated,” he says, “both for his nature and for his region, so that when you hear that a man is

you may marvel,” because he lived in a manner beyond a man; and just so, having learned of the region from which so great a fruit blossomed, you may truly be amazed at what kind of rose blossomed in the midst of thorns. For it was from the region of Ausitis, of Esau, from whom also Ausitis is named, from the fornicator and the profane, so that you may marvel from what kind of fatherland and evil root a most beautiful fruit blossomed. For he is a descendant of the one who is slandered, as Scripture names him the fifth from Abraham: “Abraham,” it says, “begat Isaac, Isaac begat Esau, Esau begat Raguel and Zara, Zara begat Job.” Having, therefore, the succession coming down to him from Abraham through Esau, it shows the root, so that you may marvel at the fruit; because the one was indeed a fornicator and profane, but the other temperate and venerable, speaking thus: “If my eye has followed after another man’s wife,” and, “I made a covenant with my eyes.” Nay, but he also offered sacrifices for his own children every day, saying: “Lest perhaps my sons have thought evil thoughts toward God.” ^B Rightly, therefore, it said: “And that man was God-fearing, blameless,” and what follows. For the external philosophers, when showing the definition of man, say: “Man is a rational, mortal animal”; but the divine Scripture does not, but rather: “Man is blameless, just, God-fearing, abstaining from every evil deed,” for he of whom these things are not affirmed is a beast, not to mention a man. For if, possessing the type of nature, one insults it on account of the malice of the will, let them hear the Prophet: “Man, when he was in honor, did not understand; he was compared to the senseless beasts, and became like unto them.” ^C Just as, therefore, according to common custom, if someone sends his own son or servant to some task, he exhorts him, saying: “Act like a man in what you do,” and the common name becomes a proper one; so, although all humans are called humans, he alone is truly a human who preserves the image and does not take away the original beauty. It called him, therefore, a man, that you might praise his intent on account of his nature; and then it also spoke of him by the Ausitide region, so that on account of a region famous for impiety, you might celebrate the fruit, which the author of evils, seeing and moved by envy, petitions God that the just man may be tempted, so that you may take confidence and learn that the demon does not have power ^D against a Christian who truly fears and worships God, unless a dispensation comes from above, whether for the sake of correction or for the sake of indulgence. For when God brings about correction, he either demands the penalties of sinners, or exercises virtue for divine progress, then he delivers him over to the evil one; for he could not fight until permission was given, and do not marvel; not

even against the pigs does he have authority, as you have heard in the Gospels. ^B Now, the divine angels serve the salvations of good men: "For all," he says, "are ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation," but the wicked demons serve as against the penalties of sinners: "For you sent among them wrath and anger and tribulation, a mission through evil angels." Therefore, the demons, even if they have rebelled in their intention, nevertheless lie under the yoke of servitude and are commanded to act like lictors regarding things ordered by God and the saints. And Paul indicates this, speaking of certain ones, "Whom I delivered to Satan, that they may be taught not to blaspheme." For in order that the demons might not be thought to do all things by their own power, they are commanded, even against their will, to do what is ordered. And God sends holy, ministering angels to the saints for salvation, but to sinners He delivers demons for punishment; for indeed when God pronounced against Ahab, saying, "Who will go and deceive Ahab, and he will fall?" an evil spirit answered, "Behold, I," knowing fully that he was appointed for this. Indeed, they are sent individually to punish the wicked, but they are also sent to the righteous, not so that they might punish them, but so that they might tempt them; for since ^C a holy angel is not commanded to serve in temptation — for God does not command an unseemly task to a divine angel — for this reason, demons are permitted this temptation. And do not marvel if demons are sent to the righteous; for "the Lord of all," he says, "was led from the Jordan into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil." If, therefore, the devil tempted the Lord of all, why do you marvel if a demon is also sent to the righteous for the exercise of patience? But he is sent, not by God commanding him, but by God allowing him; for Scripture shapes the discourse as in a prosopopoeia, as when it says, "But to the sinner God said."

XVI. Concerning Jacob.

Isaac, when he was sixty years old, begat Jacob, and after this he lived one hundred and twenty years, and died, having lived in all one hundred and eighty years. (2) Jacob, when he was eighty-five years old, begat Levi, and after this he lived sixty years, and died in Egypt, having spent there years

^A seventeen, and all his years became one hundred and forty-seven. When he was in his seventy-fifth year, and was fleeing from his brother Esau, he arrived at Haran of Mesopotamia to Laban, the brother of his mother Rebecca; and having become a shepherd of his sheep for twenty years, and having taken his two daughters, Leah and Rachel, as wives, he had twelve sons and one daughter, whether from his wives or from his handmaids, Bilhah and Zilpah. For from Leah, his wife, he begat Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, and Dinah; from Rachel, Joseph, and later also Benjamin after his return; from Bilhah, Dan and Naphtali; from Zilpah, Gad and Asher.

But after twenty years, the time of his flight and servitude, ^B and after his return from Mesopotamia to the land of Canaan and the wrestling with God, in which vision he was named Israel, he saw a new vision at Bethel and, having tithed everything he possessed, he put forward those born last, and having counted them, beginning from Benjamin, ^C and returning backward to Levi, whom he found to be the tenth, he offered him to God, tithing both his children and everything he had, just as he had previously promised God when he was fleeing, saying: "Of all that You give me, I will tithe a tenth part to You." And immediately, having clothed Levi in a priestly robe, through him he offered sacrifices to God in Bethel, and from then on those who attend to legal sacrifice and ministry are called Levites, and those who attend to the sacrifice of divine grace are called clergy, because it is written: "There is no possession for the Levites among the sons of Israel; for the Lord is their portion and possession."

XVII. Concerning the death of Esau.

Isaac and Rebecca, after the return of Jacob, having called both Jacob and Esau, exhorted them and bound them with an oath to maintain peace among themselves and to embrace the affection of brotherly friendship; ^D which having been done, they died, first Rebecca, and not long after, Isaac himself, having left to Jacob the rewards of the birthright. (2) After these things, Esau was goaded by Amalek, his son whom he had from a concubine, and having gathered nations, he rushed against Jacob, as Josephus says. But he, having shut the gates of the city into which he had fled, from the wall exhorted Esau to remember the commands of his parents. But when he did not consent, but rather became more insolent and used insults and threatened him with death, Jacob, having drawn his bow, brought down Esau, having wounded him under the right breast, and struck him dead.

The sons of Jacob, having immediately gone out, killed almost all of them. And then was fulfilled the prophecy of Isaac, which said to Esau: «If you shake off the yoke of your brother from your neck, you shall commit the sin of death.» ^A

XVIII. Concerning the birth of Moses.

In the second year of the sojourn of ^B Israel in Egypt, a learned sacred scribe predicted that a child born at this time among the Hebrews would overthrow the empire of the Egyptians, and for this reason Pharaoh ordered the male children born to the Hebrews to be killed.

Levi, having reached the age of forty-five, begat Caath, and after this he lived sixty-three years and died, having lived in all one hundred and thirty years. And Caath, having reached the age of sixty-three, begat Amram. Amram, having reached the age of seventy, begat Moses and Aaron. They say that Amram, the father of Moses, prayed to God not to permit the race of the Hebrews to perish; and having been warned in a dream concerning the birth and power of the child Moses, who, when born and exposed, was taken up by Thermutis, the daughter of Pharaoh. And the child Moses was so handsome that those who saw him gazed upon him with wonder, and he became like a son to the daughter of Pharaoh.

It is said that when he was still an infant, being handsome to the sight and very graceful, he was brought before Pharaoh, the father of her [Thermutis], and he grabbed his beard. Because of this, [Pharaoh] ordered him to be killed, but by the providence of God, Pharaoh was restrained from killing the infant in such a manner. Certain wise men among his subjects advised him that burning coals and a heap of gold should be placed together on the ground [and they said]: "If the boy touches the gold and takes it, then he pulled your beard with malice; but if he touches the burning coals, he did this without malice and as a simple child, and it is not fitting to kill him without cause." When this happened, it was a proof. For, neglecting the gold, the boy ran towards the coals, and having taken a coal, as children are wont to do, he brought it to his mouth, and upon his tongue touching it, he became slow of speech and had a harsh voice for speaking. ^D

XIX. How the sons of Israel went out of Egypt.

In the eightieth year of Moses, the sons of Israel went out

of Egypt, in which they had dwelt for two hundred and fifteen years. Why, therefore, did God say to Abraham: "Your seed will be a stranger for four hundred years"? But it is evident that the sojourn of the people is to be reckoned from the departure of Abraham from Charran; for they were not inhabitants only in Egypt, but also in the land of Chanaan, as Moses testifies, saying: "The habitation of the sons of Israel in the land of Chanaan and in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years." Moreover, from the departure of Abraham from Charran to the birth of Isaac, there are twenty-five years; from Isaac to Jacob, sixty years; from Jacob to Levi, eighty-seven years; from Levi to Caath, forty-five years; from Caath to Amram, sixty-three years; from Amram to Moses, seventy years; from Moses to the exodus, eighty years. And thus, when Israel had gone out, carrying the bones of Joseph, he spent forty years in the desert; for it says: "In the fifth generation the sons of Israel went up from Egypt, and Moses took the bones of Joseph with him; for Joseph had adjured the sons of Israel, saying: God will surely visit you, and you shall carry my bones from here with you." Who, having been born seventeen years, was sold by his brethren out of envy, and having become thirty years old, was made ruler of all Egypt, in which, having begotten two sons, Ephraim and Manasses, he died at the age of one hundred and ten.

^C Since, therefore, Moses was in his eightieth year when he stood before Pharaoh, and dwelt for a further forty years in the desert, it is utterly evident that the plagues against Egypt happened over forty full days, which days we reckon after the forty years of sojourn in the desert; for we have read with diligence and noted that the forty days occurred thus: on the first day, Moses spoke with Pharaoh; on the second, the day following, the people ran about to collect straw, and their scribes were scourged because they had not done the work of the day; on the third, the following day, the sons of Israel cried out because straw was denied them, and Moses entered in to Pharaoh; on the fourth, having prayed in the word of the Lord, he said to Israel what God said: "God shall lead you out of Egypt," and they did not heed him because of great discouragement. On the fifth, he entered in to Pharaoh and turned his rod into a serpent; on the sixth, he changed the water into blood; then they waited ^D until the thirteenth day, and the frog ascended. On the fourteenth, the frogs died; on the fifteenth, the gnats were produced; on the sixteenth, he spoke with Pharaoh, because on the next day the dog-fly was to happen; on the seventeenth, the dog-fly came; on the eighteenth, the dog-fly departed, at which time also the death of the cattle was threatened; on the nineteenth, the cattle died; on the twentieth, "boiling pustules" were produced.

On the twenty-first, Moses threatened hail for the morrow; on the twenty-second, the hail came; on the twenty-third, the locust arrived, and on the same day, after prayer, it was removed; from the twenty-fourth until the twenty-fifth, for three days, darkness was produced, and after three days it was dissolved. Then, after nine days, the Lord ^A spoke to Moses and Aaron, giving instruction concerning the Passover: "This is the first month," called Nisan by the Hebrews, but March by us, as the Lord says: "This month shall be to you the beginning of months: it is the first to you; speak to the children of Israel, saying: On the tenth day of this month let each take a lamb," which is the thirty-sixth day. Then after four days the lambs were slaughtered, and having observed the Passover they departed, this being the fortieth day, on which the firstborn of Egypt were slain around midnight, so that even carrying their unleavened bread they left through the mediation and guidance of the venerable and wonder-working Moses. ^B

XX. Concerning the tablet given to Moses.

This is that great priest of God and teacher beloved of God, to whom God said: "Behold, I have given thee as a god to Pharaoh, and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet; do thou speak all that I command thee." This man, having struck the Egyptians with the ten plagues and destroyed them in the sea, led the children of Israel out of the "iron furnace" with great signs and wonders, with a strong hand and a high arm, as David also says: "To him who divided the Red Sea into parts," and so on. For there was not one way made, as the divine-minded Chrysostom ^C says, but the water was divided for each tribe, so that there were many passages for the people, in order that this might not be thought a work of nature, but of God who created and rules the whole of nature. Therefore in a brief moment of time the enemies perished, and the water was not cut to one side, with the waves rising up, but according to the number of all the tribes. For in each of the signs this was especially aimed at by God, so that since the miracles were being performed through the elements, the events might not be thought to be of some natural sequence or chance, but that all that had happened to the children of Israel might be judged to have been done by divine power through Moses. Since he had led them in the desert by a column of fire and a column...

of cloud, and had nourished them with celestial bread, he routed their enemies, the Amalekites, by the spreading of his hands. He heard the Lord saying to him: “Behold, I come to you in a column of fire and of cloud, so that the people may hear me speaking to you, and may believe you forever.” ^A (4) “And on the third day,” he says, “there were voices and lightnings and a dark cloud upon Mount Sinai, and the sound of the trumpet echoed loudly. And the people were terrified. The whole mountain was smoking because the Lord had descended upon it in fire, and the vapor ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and all the people were exceedingly disturbed. And the sounds of the trumpet became increasingly forceful. And all the people stood afar off, hearing the voices and seeing the whole mountain smoking, and not daring to draw near, but being ordered to worship from a distance. ‘Even if a beast,’ he says, ‘should touch it, it shall be stoned,’ and the spectacle was terrible. Being frightened, all the people said to Moses, ‘Speak to us, and let not God speak to us, lest we die.’” ^B — (5) “And the Lord called Moses to the top of the mountain.” “And when he had ascended, the cloud covered the mountain, and the glory of the Lord descended upon the mountain, and the cloud covered him for six days; and the appearance of the glory of the Lord was like a burning fire on the top of the mountain in the sight of the children of Israel. And Moses, having entered into the midst of the cloud upon the mountain, was there for forty days, standing in the sight of God; he ate no bread, he drank no water.” And at another time, again: “Moses and Aaron and seventy elders ascended, and they saw the place where God stood and what was under his feet, as it were the work of a sapphire stone and as the appearance of the firmament of heaven for purity.” ^C (5) And again he says: “And the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as if one were speaking to his own friend, and he would depart to the camp. And Moses said to the Lord, ‘If I have found grace in your sight, show me thyself clearly, so that I may see you, that I may be one who has found grace in your sight, and that I and your people may be glorified.’ And the Lord said to Moses, ‘And this word of yours, which you have spoken, I will perform; for you have found grace in my sight, and I know you above all others, and you have grace with me; but you will not be able to see my face, for no man shall see my face and live. And behold, there is a place by me, and you shall stand upon the rock, and I will cover you with my hand, and then you shall see my back parts; but my face shall not be seen by you.’” ^D (6) Then, intending to receive the Deuteronomy, he says again: “And Moses ascended into Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him. And the Lord descended in a cloud.” And he stood there with him forty days and forty nights;

he ate no bread and drank no water, and he wrote upon the tablets the words of the covenant, the ten commandments. And having taken the tablets and descended from the mountain glorified, he saw Aaron and all the sons of Israel looking at the face of Moses, and it was glorified, and they were afraid to approach him. ^A And with good reason: for having fasted forty days, standing with the Lord, and having received the tablets written by God and having obtained the God-given Deuteronomy, his face was so glorified by the theoptia that the people could not look upon the divine radiance and glory shining forth from it. And for this reason a veil was put on whenever he spoke to them; for casting forth radiant rays and flashing vehemently, he dazzled the eyes of those who looked, just as the sun’s radiance falling upon the eyes. (7) For after forty days, having descended and being angered on account of the making of the calf, he immediately shattered the tablets and ran back up into the mountain, spending as many other days in the mountain, philosophizing with God, and passing the time without any human food just as in the previous days. Thus, having taken the second tablets, he descended to the people. (8) What human reasoning, then, will be able to represent this greatness of the miracle, how the flowing nature of the body, being so agitated, endured, when nothing was replenishing what was daily expelled of its strength through perspiration? But ^B the divine Scripture solves this difficult and wondrous matter by saying: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Thus, it is evident to all from this that this angel did not eat anything at all on the day he descended, obeying the command of the Lord, and on the next day returned to the mountain—inasmuch as he had acted justly and with righteous wrath; for he shattered the divine words inscribed by the fingers of God upon sapphire stone, not bearing the accursed work and God-hated deed of those impious and profane ones; for he deemed it absolutely unworthy that such impious and mindless ones should enjoy such a benefit and aid of God, and being convinced that the wrath of God against them was just, he ordered that—if not all, then however many were ^C encountered—they be put to death. How, then, would the worker of such and so great temperance and fasting, and one full of divine grace, and fired with divine zeal, while at the same time being dizzy

^A from great distress and dejection, and exceeding sorrow over the terrible sin of the ungrateful, the heartless, and the implacable, have endured to partake of food or drink for a single day, filled as he was with bitterness, and anger, and anguish among a wicked, most evil, and most abominable people, without first having appeased God on his own behalf through the appointed fasting and contrition? For nothing is dear to God, as he knew well, if anyone else did, between the descent from the mountain and his ascent, wherein having smashed the tablets and destroyed the calf, and having put to death the three thousand most shameful and evil men, he wished, as they think, to appease the wrath of God slightly and His unalloyed ^B fury. Immediately on the next day, he ascended the mountain again to the Lord, to intercede on their behalf. Hear what the Scripture explicitly says: "And it came to pass after the next day, that Moses said to the people: 'You have sinned a great sin, and now I will make mention to God, that I may make atonement for your sin.' Then he added straightway: 'And Moses returned to the Lord and said: I pray, this people has sinned a great sin and they have made for themselves gods; and now, if Thou wilt forgive them their sin, forgive; but if not, blot me also out of Thy book which Thou hast written.' And the Lord said to Moses: 'If anyone has sinned before Me, I will blot him out of My book; but now go, and lead this people into the place which I have spoken to you of. And behold, My angel shall go before my face; but in the day that I shall visit, I will bring upon them their sin.' And the Lord struck the people regarding the making of ^C the calf which Aaron made." See then the goodness and severity of God, according to the Christ-bearer; and know clearly that it is indeed a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God, and that it is impossible for those who have fallen to escape the just and incorruptible divine judgment, even if He did not bring this upon them immediately, as has been most clearly and briefly demonstrated. (11) Therefore, it is beyond dispute that for the following days this marvelous man remained without food, being borne by God and strengthened in that long presence and standing before God, already become a man of God and a spectator of God, and demonstrating endurance and vigor beyond human nature, "whether in the body, or out of the body, God knows," ^D who thus manifested and gloriously magnified him. (12) Then again it says: "And when Moses entered the tabernacle, the pillar of cloud descended and God [was] upon the tabernacle. And the people saw the pillar of cloud, and everyone worshipped from his own tabernacle; and thus the Lord spoke with Moses in the sight of the people." By working in many ways to deliver the people from the wrath of God, he grieved so much for them, forgetful of his own salvation, that it is said by David that he stood in the breach before God: "If Thou forgivest them their sin, forgive; but if not, blot me also out of Thy book which Thou hast written;" for He said, as it says, that He would scatter them, if Moses, His chosen one, had not stood in the breach in His sight, lest He should scatter them. Whosoever, however, rose up against him, some were swallowed up alive by hell, others became heirs of divine fire.

For it says: “And there were those who died in the rupture, fourteen thousand, besides those who died because of Core.” ^D (14) Furthermore, Mary the prophetess and his sister also gave an account, having spoken against him. “And Mary and Aaron,” it says, “spoke against Moses because of his Ethiopian wife, for he had taken an Ethiopian wife; and they said, ‘Has the Lord indeed spoken only to Moses?’” And the Lord heard. And the man Moses was very meek, above all men upon the earth. And the Lord descended in a pillar of cloud to the tabernacle of testimony, and said to Aaron and Mary: “If there be a prophet among you to the Lord, I will make myself known to him in a vision and will speak to him in a dream. Not so, my servant Moses; he is faithful in all my house. Mouth to mouth I will speak to him, in appearance and not in riddles, and he has seen the glory of the Lord; and why were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?” And the anger of the Lord was kindled, and He departed. And behold, Mary had become leprous, as if white as snow. But when Moses besought for her, and she had been separated from the people for seven days, she was healed according to the word of the Lord. And after this Mary died. (15) And there was no water for the congregation, and the people grumbled against Moses and Aaron. And the Lord said to Moses: “Take this rod, and assemble the congregation, you and Aaron your brother, and speak to the rock before them, and it shall give its waters.” And Moses took the rod that was before the Lord, and Moses and Aaron assembled the congregation before the rock, and said to them: “Hear us, you rebels, shall I bring forth water for you from this rock?” And Moses, having lifted up his hand and struck the rock with the rod, immediately much water came out, and the people of the congregation and their cattle drank. And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron: “Because you did not believe in me, to sanctify me before the people, therefore you shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.” Therefore, let Aaron be gathered to his people (and die), because you shall not enter that land, for you provoked me at the waters of contradiction and the reproach of the people. And Moses brought Aaron up to the mountain, as the Lord had commanded, before all the multitude. And he stripped him of his priestly garments, and clothed Eleazar his son with them, and Aaron died on the top of the mountain, in the fortieth year of the exodus of the children of Israel, after having lived one hundred and twenty-three years. And all the people saw that Aaron had passed away, and they wept for him for thirty days.

^A

XXI. Concerning the death of Moses.

And after these things the Lord said to Moses: “Ascend into Mount Nebo, and see the land which I give to the children of Israel, and die there, just as Aaron your brother died on the mountain, because you disobeyed my word at the water of contention at Kadesh, and did not sanctify me among the people; for you shall see that land with your eyes, but you shall not enter there.” And when Moses often besought God concerning this matter and said: “Therefore, Lord, having crossed the Jordan, shall I see that good land, and the holy mountain, and the Antilibanus?” And the Lord said to him: “Let it suffice thee: see that you speak no more to me of this matter, but ascend to the summit of the mountain, ^B and see toward the sea, and the north, and the south, and the east, that good land and the holy mountain, for with your eyes you shall see it, but you shall not enter there.” And having written by the command of the Lord the great song and the testament, and having laid his hands upon Jesus the son of Nave (Joshua), he ascended into Mount Abarim, which is Nebo, and the Lord showed him all the land of promise and said to him: “This is the land for which I swore to Abraham and Isaac saying: ‘To thy seed I will give it’; I have shown it to thy eyes, but into it you shall not enter.” And Moses died there, by the word of the Lord, having lived one hundred and twenty years. And when the people had buried him, and had wept for forty days, no one saw his sepulcher. “And there has not since arisen a prophet in Israel like Moses, whom he knew face to face in all the signs and wonders.” After him no one lived beyond one hundred and twenty years. ^C

In the fortieth year after the exodus of the children of Israel, the new moon, Josephus says, of the first month, Nisan, Mary died and was buried in Mount Hor; and the new moon of the fifth month, Ab, of the same year, Aaron died, and was himself also buried in the same Mount Hor. And the new moon of the twelfth month, Adar, of the same year, Moses died on Mount Abarim, in which he was also buried, and they report that a certain bright cloud subsequently appeared in that place ^D

^A obscuring the eyes of those looking, so that they might not know his tomb forever. One must therefore note how he calls Nisan the first month, which we name March and not April, as some think; for Nisan is indeed the first month among the Hebrews, as the very name and its interpretation declare, being called Nisan in Hebrew, which is the first month we call March. And a witness to this is that most wise man and teacher of the law, Josephus, who declares Nisan the first month, Ab the fifth, and Adar the twelfth. But a more divine and credible witness is the prophet Zechariah, who speaking of the ninth and tenth months says: "On the fourteenth day of the ninth month, which is Sabath." ^B For indeed, this month too among us—if March is reckoned as the first—is found to be the eighth, as October is the tenth, and December is the twelfth. Furthermore, springtime begins from that same originally created month of March, and the earth brings forth, according to the divine command, the herb of grass; and the four seasons of the year are counted, each consisting of three months. And their names are stated: spring, summer, autumn, and winter.

^C Furthermore, the highly learned Eusebius says in his chronological canons: "The Jews always have the new moon of the year of the month called by them Nisan, that is, on the twenty-fifth day of the month of March, which is the first-created day, on which God brought forth this whole universe from nothing into being. By the good pleasure of the Father and the cooperation of the holy Spirit dwelling in the holy Virgin, at the same time of the year He became man; and on it He rose from the tomb and established the name of the Lord's Pascha." This, then, is for us, according to the holy Church of God, always the beginning of the year, and since we find the holy Pascha falling on a Sunday after the fourteenth day of the moon of this same month of March, also called Nisan, we celebrate this day not according to the Jewish manner, but apostolically, according to the natural method handed down to us by God.

XXII. — Concerning Moses again.

but you shall cross and inherit this good land.” ^A What heart of stone, then, did this tribulation of the righteous man not crush? What unyielding and implacable soul did he not soften and lead to pity, speaking these things with tears? Whom did it not strike and terrify, and move to tears and uncontrollable lamentation? Truly, indeed, many are the tribulations of the righteous; for behold, this man, seen to be comely from infancy and full of divine grace, this renowned and most excellent righteous man, having begun from his earliest age to be afflicted and tormented and to be most grievously distressed, ended his life with this same despondency.

For, to omit his many and grievous tribulations in Egypt, let us consider those in the desert, where, no longer able to bear the fickleness, boldness, and savagery of the people who had often treated him with contumely, he turned away from the dignity of leadership, and being in despair of all things, begged for death. Hear and ^B know the great tumult and terrible dizziness of his soul from a few words, for he says: “And Moses was very much troubled and said to the Lord: ‘Why have you afflicted your servant? And why have I not found grace in your sight, that you have placed the heavy burden of this people upon me? They are all but ready to stone me. Did I conceive this people in the womb, or did I bring them forth, that you should say to me: “Carry them in your bosom, as a nurse carries the suckling child,” to the land which you swore to their fathers? Whence should I have meat to give to all this people? For they weep before me, saying: “Give us meat that we may eat.” I cannot carry this people alone, because this word is too burdensome for me. But if you do this to me, put me to death by killing me, if I have found grace in your eyes, that I may not see my wretchedness.’” What, then, could be more painful than these words, and what could be more grievous than this condition? ^C

And he himself continued in doing good to them, and in venturing risks on their behalf. For since God had often said to him that He would destroy them, saying: “Leave Me alone, and in My wrath I will consume them at once, and I will make you a great nation,” he, acting as an ambassador to Him, said: “If You will forgive their sin, forgive; but if not, blot me also out of the book which You have written.” But they, without delay and rashly, rose up against him, until they brought him to the final danger and vexed him, depriving him of the promise. Manifesting this also to them again, and unfolding his misfortune in ominous words, he said: “The Lord was angry with me ^D...

of his own calamity, saying: «The Lord was angry with me for your sakes, and despised me because of you, and did not hear my petition, saying: Neither shall you enter there.» ^A Therefore David says: «And they provoked him at the waters of strife, and Moses was ill-treated for their sakes, because they embittered him, and he divided it with his lips;» for while he was despondent on account of his sister’s decease, they pressed upon him, suffering from thirst. (4) Being displeased, therefore, at their great intemperance and insolence, he suffered something human, and just as through divine zeal he had suffered—the meekest of men—because of the calf fashioned by them, from an excess of dejection, so also he did on the occasion of the contradiction; which the meek David himself, suffering, said: «Dejection has taken hold of me because of the sinners who have forsaken your law,» and, «I beheld the senseless, and I pined away, because they did not keep your law.» For unless their ^B extreme blindness had caused his troubled soul to fail, he would not have cast down and shattered the tablets written by God, in which these things were inscribed: 1. «I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage; you shall have no other gods beside me.» 2. «You shall not make for yourself an idol of any likeness, whatever is in the heaven above, and whatever is in the earth below, and whatever is in the waters under the earth: you shall not worship them.» 3. «You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.» 4. «Remember the day of the sabbaths to sanctify it.» 5. «Honor your father and your mother, that it may be well with you, and that you may be long-lived upon the earth.» 6. «You shall not commit adultery.» 7. «You shall not steal.» 8. «You shall not murder.» 9. «You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.» 10. «You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his house, nor his field, ^C nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his beast of burden, nor all things that are your neighbor’s.»

(5) Consider, moreover, with what fire his soul was kindled and what an unquenchable flame was raised by the death of his brother; what a continuous and incurable wound this kind of death inflicted upon this lover of the human race. First, when he led him to the mountain, that he might die by divine wrath; second, when he vested him in the high-priestly robe and saw him greatly afflicted and confused, languid and choked with tears, and in agony; third, consider the sudden separation from one another and the solitude of one lacking the company and converse of his sweetest sister. ^D For if the people mourned him for thirty days, how much...

^A more did he not cease to mourn him incessantly until the end of his life, burning vehemently and writhing under the tyranny of nature! And the most marvelous thing of all, that even the land so much desired, for which he endured many and terrible toils, he saw only from afar—and, being wounded more deeply thereby, departed without attaining it—that admirable and all-virtuous shepherd, [having been wounded] because of the disobedience, hardness of heart, and perversity of those he was seeking to shepherd. Where then are the virtuous shepherds? Perhaps they are shepherding an unruly, stiff-necked, and stubborn people at the same time as an argumentative one, and think they will suffer nothing dangerous from their depravity, out of a most evil forgetfulness. For if they always had in mind this ^B celebrated man and the just high priest Eli, and how each of them, though living and governing holily and irreproachably, were endangered by the malice of those over whom they were placed, they would not have ceased to mourn and shudder as was fitting, or [they would have] either declined the care of others, or, taking it up with great fear and trembling, would have passed their time in mourning and concern for their defense, according to the Apostolic exhortation which looks to both, saying: “Obey your leaders and submit to them; for they watch over your souls as those who will give an account.”

^C If therefore such and so great rulers of the people were endangered by the malice of their subordinates, as has been said, who then would boast with big and empty words, imagining or acting arrogantly that he can govern others without danger, forgetting that many, while attempting beyond their strength to save many inferior and headstrong people, have themselves been destroyed—woe to the wretched one!—sometimes even living a most shameful and evil life? For a certain holy man said: “It is not required of us all to save others, but of all [to save] ourselves.” Whence, therefore, Christophorus, charging his disciple with such a grave task and word, and warning him, ^D said: “Do not partake in the sins of others; keep yourself pure, because you will give an account for yourself to God.” And he spoke this with very good reason and most appropriately; for he knew that Scripture has most clearly testified to this beforehand, saying: “Save your own soul as much as you can”—everyone, that is, for it cannot be otherwise. It is truly just, therefore, for us to marvel greatly and rather to shudder, that both prophet and lawgiver and seer of God and mystic of heavenly things, and one deemed worthy of many divine gifts, and one who became a minister of various wonders of God, and, moreover, one chosen, as has been said, to suffer with the people of God for so many years, should have reaped the fruits of sins, and then, after many hardships, toils, troubles, struggles, sweats, temptations, and tribulations, when he had slightly erred...

^A he who had been adorned with all godly virtue and illuminated both in deed and word, was deprived of the promised hope, and of that yearning for which he had watched and waited for so many years. O the wonder, and the precision and examination of God regarding the deeds and words of the saints! For it is true that "few are those who are being saved," and "the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force"—since not even the previously wrought righteousness and the antecedent intimacy with God ^B could give the righteous man confidence, unless the end of his life should be consonant and congruous with his earlier virtue; this that great and admirable servant of God, a righteous man more than human, has clearly demonstrated. Hence, as it seems, the righteous Judge rightly said through the prophet: "If a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, all the righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered, but in his sin he shall die"; and "the righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day on which he transgresses." See then how neither the many and diverse and more than human achievements of Moses over so many years, nor his continuous prayers and supplications thereafter, could in the least appease God, nor could his former great glory and intimacy and dwelling with God draw God to mercy and forgiveness of the sin, because of the magnitude of the deed. Assuredly, therefore, according to Solomon, ^C "a severe judgment is executed upon those who are in high places, and a harsh inquiry awaits the mighty." By these things, God teaches us that He demands precision from those who are perfect in virtue, and while He bears patiently with other men who sin grievously, He does not grant the same indulgence to the saints. Therefore, Solomon says again: "For mercy is granted to the humble, but the mighty shall be severely examined." The Lord Himself says: "To everyone to whom little is given, little will be required of him; but to whom much is given, of him much will be required." Therefore, one might aptly say: ^D "O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How incomprehensible are His judgments, and His ways unsearchable!" And, "It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." And, "The face of the Lord is against those who do evil." And, "According to His great mercy, so also is His great correction." For "mercy and wrath are with Him, and His wrath rests upon sinners"; therefore also, "He did not spare even the angels when they sinned," just as it is written.

^A What, then, shall we say, burdened as we are with countless evils, and separated from that virtue as much as the earth is from heaven, daily and hourly provoking God to anger by our deeds and words? Let no one, therefore, who possesses some virtues, or thinks he possesses them, boast or remain unconcerned, as if he already held the labors and rewards of virtues in his hands, or were about to receive crowns without any contradiction whatsoever; nay rather, let him always be vigilant and remain humble even unto death, and let him consider himself as one who has kept no commandment of God, even if he possesses all virtues and has ascended to the very apex of good things. For if that friend of God, who equaled, or rather surpassed, the whole world in his merits—of whom it is said that "the world was not worthy"—he with whom God spoke face to face, as a friend is wont to speak to a friend, to whom He said, "I have known you beyond all others," ^B he to whom He spoke face to face, and not through mysteries, dreams, or enigmas, after such a mass of illustrious deeds, after such wisdom and sobriety, did not obtain pardon because he had slumbered but a little, how should we—we who do not possess even a trace or an appearance of such virtue—not be continuously vigilant, mourning and weeping for ourselves, and considering ourselves unprofitable servants?

(11) For this reason, the Lord, shielding us, said: "When you have done all things which are commanded you, then say, We are unprofitable servants; we have done that which we ought to have done." Knowing this, the divine Isaiah says: "All our righteousness is as a filthy rag before You, O Lord." Similarly, the holy psalmist and most excellent in virtue, David, says: "I said to the Lord, You are my Lord, for You have no need of my goods." ^C Wherefore he also exhorts, saying: "Serve the Lord in fear, and exult in Him with trembling; take hold of instruction, lest the Lord be angry [and you perish]," and the rest of the psalm.

Such things, therefore, the theologian Paul also commands, saying: "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling," and "Let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall." By these words, each of them signified that no one ought to trust in his own holiness, even if he be numbered among the most praiseworthy, and that one should never cease from vigilance, from humbling himself, ^D and from fearing exceedingly even unto the final silence; because for even the lightest word and thought an account will be required of us, and "by our words we shall be justified and condemned," just as the parable of the Pharisee and the Publican clearly demonstrates, each speaking within himself and in his heart, and declaring the one condemned—

^A for that the Lord judges thoughts and wicked meditations, listen to what God says through Isaiah: "And I come to gather their works and their thoughts." And David also said: "Wherefore has the ungodly provoked God? For he said in his heart: 'He will not search out,'" meaning my transgressions; so that He will certainly say to him with good reason: "I will reprove thee, and set thy sins in order before thy face." (13) And indeed, the Scripture says as much regarding this: "The Lord God seeing that the wickedness of men had multiplied upon the earth, and that everyone in his heart diligently meditates upon evil all the days, He said: 'I will destroy the man whom I have made from the face of the earth, for it repenteth me that I have made him.'" Then, after the flood, the philanthropic God having been moved with compassion, the Scripture continues, saying: "And the Lord God said: Knowing that I will not again curse the earth because of the works of men, because the imagination of man's heart is diligently bent upon evil from his youth." (14) Just as women conceive from intercourse, and if the bodies are healthy, so too are the offspring; but if they are corrupted, they imitate the nature of their parents; so it is also with our thoughts. If one associates with good ones, such will be the offspring; but if with wicked ones, one will take great plague from there, O man. And listen to what the prophet says about those who think good things: "For thy fear, O Lord, we have conceived, and have been in pain, and have brought forth the spirit of salvation." But concerning the vile: "They have broken the eggs of asps, and they weave a spider's web." Meditating on these things, then, beloved, let us ^B change our minds, and let us acknowledge the fragility of our powers, and keeping our end before our eyes as much as possible, let us always recall that famous and divine man to our memory. For indeed the great Basil also, admiring him greatly, speaks thus: "When I see Moses, that great servant of God, who was deemed worthy of such and so great honor from God, and who was so often testified to by Him as to hear: 'I know thee above all,' and 'Thou hast found grace before me'; when I see this man at the waters of contradiction, for the sake of no other cause except that he might say to the people murmuring because of the lack of water: 'Shall I bring you forth water out of this rock?'—for this cause alone immediately receiving the threat that he would not enter the land of promise, which was then the chief of the promises made to the ^C Jews; when I see him entreating and not receiving pardon; when I see that he was judged worthy of no pardon after so many noble deeds, on account of that brief word, I recognize 'the severity of God' of which the Apostle speaks; and I am wholly persuaded that that saying is true: 'If the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?'"

'" ^A Regarding whom the divine Isidore also says to someone: "Tell the Jew who disputed against you and said nothing valid, nor even youthful, but vomited forth windy lies, and contended that this was said of the son of Nave: 'The Lord will raise up for you a prophet from among your brethren like me'—that he errs in many things, not rightly understanding what has been said, nor even that which is added: 'Him you shall hear in all things that he shall command you. And every soul which shall not hear that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among its people.' For first, after his election, Moses prophesied these things, being moved by the divine spirit; second, because if the son of Nave be inferior to Moses, what was said is indeed probable, but not true; but if he was much inferior to him, that idea seems empty; third, he added nothing to the Law, but conducted himself according to his oracles; fourth, it was necessary, if the discourse were about him, to say not 'will raise up' but 'has raised up'; fifth, it should have been said: 'And it shall be that every soul which shall not hear this prophet'; but by saying 'that one,' he removed himself from this; sixth, why were those sent to John after many generations to ask if he were the prophet? To whom he said: 'I am not,' for he was one of the prophets, but the prophet was he who was to come; seventh, how is it that after Christ arrived, those who saw the miracles said: ^B 'This is truly the prophet'? Let him therefore perceive how many things are opposed to him, and let him worship the true foreknower, King, (and Creator)."

XXIII. Concerning Joshua the son of Nave.

After Moses, Joshua the son of Nave assumed the leadership, who, when he had crossed the Jordan and had spent thirty-two years in the land of promise, subduing its inhabitants and dividing it by lot to the children of Israel, died in the one hundred and tenth year of his life. ^C And Moses himself, when he had struck down Sihon, king of the Amorites, and Og, king of Bashan, who alone had been left of the race of the giants and dwelt in Rabbath in Astaroth—a descendant of the Raphaim, whose iron bed also remained, having nine cubits in length and four in breadth—seized their entire land. But Joshua, having subjected the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Girg-

Girgashites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites ^A, the Hivites and all their kings, being in number thirty-two, gave all their land, as it is said, to the sons of Israel. For, it says, as they were fleeing from the face of the sons of Israel, the Lord cast upon them hailstones from heaven, and there were more who died because of the hailstones than those whom the sons of Israel killed with the sword (in battle). (4) Joshua therefore being in command, who was indeed great, a worker of wonders, and a friend of God, having been shown to be also that, he did not become exempt from grief and various temptations, concerning whom also the divinely speaking Chrysostom said: “Consider how great is the just man.” Joshua (son of Nun) said: “Let the sun stand against Gabaon and the moon against the valley of Ailom”; and it came to pass; for ^B it says: “The sun stood in the midst of heaven at the end of one day, and there has not been a day such as this before and after, that God should obey man, because He was fighting along with Israel.” This is greater than that of Moses. (Why so? For it is not the same to give orders to the sea and to those in the heavens; though that indeed is great, and very great, yet it is not equal.) If, then, the saints work such things here, what then is it there? How much brightness and boldness have they with one another! (5) But also this same wonderful man and worker of wonders, having succeeded Moses, partook with him, so to speak, of all his troubles (if indeed he escaped anything because of the newness of his age, he fulfilled it after the latter's death; for neither did he only, when Moses was living, rend his garments and cast dust upon himself, but also when he had died, he fell into a ^C former and even greater necessity, or rather worse). For he lay prone upon the earth for the whole day because of the sin of Achar and the defeat of the people (after having stopped the Jordan, and led the people across, and destroyed the city of Jericho). And listen to his words and lamentations; for he says: “And Joshua rent his garments and fell upon his face on the ground before the Lord until evening, he and the elders of Israel, and they cast dust upon their heads; and Joshua said: ‘I beseech Thee, Lord, why did Thy servant bring the people of Israel across the ^D Jordan, to deliver them to the Amorite, to destroy us? And what shall I say, since Israel has turned his back before his enemy? And the Canaanite and all the inhabitants of the land will hear, and will surround us and wipe us from off the earth.’” Do you see how this man also is no less distressed and troubled than Moses, fearing the total destruction of the people? And he would gladly have given his own life, as the necessity grew heavy and danger arrived. Various wars, battles, and tribulations I shall pass over in silence and the deceit

of the Gibeonites. ^A Indeed, the distribution of the lots 17 brought him much labor and great anxieties, as well as heavy difficulties. (And this is known to those who have been tasked with distributing even modest property among brothers and heirs, 103 and the stubbornness and disagreeableness of both parties.) Thus, everyone who has greatly pleased God has, through being tested by tribulations and temptations, attained to love and boldness toward God. (And, in short, if anyone were to wish to count them all, he would find the gains of temptations to be many. And there is no one who has great standing with God who is without tribulation, even if we are ignorant of this and of God’s judgments concerning them.)

XXIV. Concerning the Judges

^B After Joshua, God saved the people through the Judges from the oppression of the peoples who had been left behind.

XXV. Concerning Judah

Among them, the first was he called Judah, and he judged the people for seven years, having subdued Adonibezek, the king of the Philistines. And when he had cut off the extremities of his hands and feet, Adonibezek said, 20 "Seventy kings, with the extremities of their hands and feet cut off, gathered the scraps of food under my table; as I have done, so God has repaid me." ^C

XXVI. Concerning Othniel

After Judah, Othniel became judge for fifty years, having struck down Chusan-Rathaim, the king of Syria, who had oppressed the people for eight years.

XXVII. Concerning Ehud

After Othniel, Ehud the ambidextrous became judge for fifty years, having struck down Eglon, king of Moab, with a double-edged sword that had a breadth of one span, to whom Israel had been in service for eighteen years. He was called ambidextrous because he used his left hand in every matter just as he did his right. ^D

XXVIII. Concerning Shamgar

After Ehud, Shamgar was judge for seven years.

^A He struck down six hundred men of the Philistines in one day with an ox-goad.

XXIX. Concerning Barac

XXX. Concerning Gideon

XXXI. Concerning Abimelech

^A come, take refuge in my shade; but if not, let fire come out from me and devour the cedars of Lebanon.' And now if you have acted in truth and integrity in making Abimelech king, the son of the concubine of my father, let fire come out from Abimelech and devour the men of Shechem, and let fire come out from the men of Shechem and devour Abimelech." And having said these things, Jotham fled. And God sent a wicked spirit between Abimelech and the men of Shechem, and the men of Shechem dealt treacherously against the house of Abimelech, to bring the injustice and the blood of the seventy sons of Gideon upon the head of Abimelech. For indeed, as Abimelech went to fight against the city ^B and drew near to the door of the tower to burn it, a woman cast a fragment of a millstone upon his head and crushed his skull. And he quickly called to his young man and said to him: "Draw your sword and kill me, lest it be said that a woman killed him." And his young man stabbed him and killed him. And God returned the evil which Abimelech had done against his father, having killed the seventy sons of his father, his own brothers; and upon the Shechemites also, God returned the evil which they had wrought, and it came upon their head according to the word and the parable of Jotham the son of Jerubbaal.

"It should be known, then," says the divine Chrysostom, "how the word 'parable' possesses many meanings. For a parable is a discourse, an example, and a reproach, as when David says: 'You have made us a ^C parable among the nations, a shaking of the head among the peoples.' There is also the parabolic, enigmatic discourse, which many call a 'question.' Something indeed appears, but it is not a discourse that is clear in every respect in its words, but has something hidden within, as when Samson said: 'Out of the eater came forth sweetness,' and Solomon said: 'Then you will understand a parable and an obscure saying.' A parable is also called a similitude: 'And He put forth another parable to them, saying: The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field.' A parable is also called a figurative discourse, as in the passage: 'Son of man, tell them this parable: A great eagle ^D of great wings.' A parable is likewise called a type and an image, as when Paul says: 'By faith Abraham offered up Isaac when he was being tested, and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten son, from whence he also received him back in a parable,' that is, in a type and an image. A parable is a discourse comparing intellectual things with sensible things, and showing from lower and visible present things the higher and invisible ones. A 'problem' is a dark and enigmatic discourse, according to what is said: 'I will incline my ear unto a parable; I will open my problem upon the harp.'

' ^A A 'problem' is a theorem when it leads to vision and knowledge. A 'paradigm' is an argument concerning that which belongs to each part in relation to the whole. A 'demonstration' proves the part through the part and its like. A 'proverb' is an obscure discourse signified through another, clearer one.

XXXII. On Tola.

XXXIII. De Jair.

XXXIV. On Jephthah.

XXXV. On Samson.

having rent asunder the mouth of the lion, and having slain a thousand Philistines with the jawbone of an ass, and having drunk water from the jawbone, and having, by excess of strength, torn away the gates of the city, as has been said, and, in short, he who was sanctified from his mother's womb, being—alas—enticed by a woman, not only lost such divine grace and such great strength, but was also blinded in his eyes, having become a mockery to the boys of the aliens, and with them he ended his life in a most shameful manner, having rendered himself a comedy to his enemies, and a tragedy to his friends.

^B After Samson died, anarchy prevailed for forty years, and each man did what he wished. Whence Scripture, declaring the cause of the iniquity, says: “In those days there was no king in Israel, but everyone did what seemed right in his own eyes.” So great a cause of evil was anarchy, that rising up against one another they slaughtered one another, especially when the wife of a traveler was violated by men of the tribe of Benjamin and killed by a most nefarious crime; the other ten tribes then attacked this one tribe. But when these ten tribes themselves fornicated with idols, they were defeated by the one tribe once and again. Then those Benjaminites were also destroyed, according to what is said: “Thou hast destroyed all who go a-whoring from thee.” For, inflamed with righteous fury against the men of Gabaa, the violators of the damsel, they armed four hundred thousand men against them. God, however, wishing to discipline them because, while they committed similar acts at home, they rebuked others for doing the same, gave them into the hands of the enemy many times, and prepared the death of many thousands of them. But when He saw that they had accepted the discipline and remained in their righteous fury, and were lamenting and shedding many tears, He cooperated with their purpose and utterly destroyed the lawless tribe, except for a few who were easily numbered, with Phinees, the son of Eleazar, acting as leader. For Scripture says: ^C “And the children of Israel inquired of the Lord. And there at that time was the ark of the covenant of God, and Phinees, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, stood before the ark and said: 'Shall I go out again to battle against the sons of Benjamin our brother, or shall I cease?' And the Lord said: 'Go up, for tomorrow I will deliver them into thy hand.'” Which indeed came to pass. For fighting against the sons of Benjamin, they slew of them twenty-five thousand and overturned their whole city with iron and fire, while the chief authors of the crime stood in the first rank. When their fellow tribesmen requested that the authors of the crime be delivered up to them, the Benjaminites not only did not obey, but ^D resisted bravely, for which reason they suffered a common destruction. At the time when divine justice called, they paid the deserved penalties, as God says: “When I shall have seized the time, I will judge what is rightly done.” Time, he says, is for the sinner

^A brought about by the multitude of sins, determined ^B before God, and calling for vengeance and retribution, just as it is written in the song of Moses: “Are not these things hidden with me, and sealed up in my treasures, in the day of justice and retribution, in the time when their foot shall slide?” and the rest.

Likewise, when Moses stood in his contrition, beseeching the Lord that He should not destroy the sinful and wicked people, God, overcome by his prayer, said: “But you, go where I have spoken to you, according to your prayer, and lead the people. I, however, in the day of vengeance will visit this sin of theirs.” And Scripture continues, saying: “The Lord therefore struck the people for the guilt of the calf which Aaron had made.”

It is impossible, and truly placed beyond the power of anyone, to escape divine vengeance, even if God does not immediately inflict it after the steps of the sinners, because He is long-suffering, good, and the friend of man, accepting rather conversion to what is better than corruption into what is worse and more base, which can be clearly shown in a few words. For the great Cyril says: “All men who dwell upon the earth have a measure of their iniquities; but how great and what the fullness of sin is, is not known to us. The Lord, the lawgiver, decrees punishments for the transgressor immediately, but He defers them out of His innate mercy toward men, and sometimes ^C suffers the wicked without any indignation at all; for He Himself said to Abraham: ‘As yet, the iniquities of the Amorites are not fulfilled up to the present time.’ And to the Pharisees who were perpetrating evils beyond measure He says: ‘You indeed fill up the measure of your fathers.’”

If any one wishes to live rightly and always to pursue in this life whatever is most excellent and perfect, and should firmly resolve with a right mind not to decline toward evil, could he walk justly and escape evils? Indeed he could: for it is in our power to cast our eyes in either direction, to things good, that is to say, or to things evil. And those who, obeying right reason, have performed actions worthy of praise, will enjoy the rewards of virtue; but those who, declining toward the opposite part, have preferred iniquity to justice, will bring death upon themselves, will be their own murderers, and will sever their own heads with a dire hand.

Whence also the holy Isidore says: “The very magnitude of sins compels the divine and spiritual nature to break forth from the goodness which is natural to it into wrath which is against nature; whence also Christ said to the Jews: ‘How often have I willed to gather you, and you would not; behold, your house shall be left to you desolate.’ Since, he says, you have rejected mercy, you shall experience the power of vengeance. Seeing man falling headlong into the highest evil, God takes away from him His grace, deprived of which

man becomes more hardened, being incited by the devil and not having God within himself as a counselor to abstain from evil, and for this reason, wrath overtakes him. (7) Thus, the decision of the impartial and divine judgment is clearly and briefly shown: “The righteous will see and will rejoice, and all iniquity will stop its mouth.” And very rightly so: “For the Lord will send crooked paths to those who are crooked,” and “Not unjustly are the nets spread for the winged ones.” For their feet run to evil and are swift to shed blood. Wherefore the Apostle says: “Do you not know that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.” For, it says, “all the works of the Lord are with justice, but the ungodly is kept for an evil day.” (8) Therefore, those who transgress and provoke, often prospering through the patience of God and suffering nothing terrible, but rather flourishing and enjoying every success, prosperity, robustness, and longevity, say—being senseless indeed—“Thus God rules and rejoices.” And for this reason, “Let us do evil that good may come,” whose condemnation is just. Regarding whom David also said: “They are not in the toil of men, and they shall not be scourged with men. Therefore pride has held them fast to the end; they have clothed themselves with injustice and impiety,” and “They have devised and spoken wickedness; they have spoken injustice against the heights. They have set their mouth against heaven, and their tongue has passed over the earth, and they have said: How does God know? And: Is there knowledge in the Most High?” Because of whose treacheries God has set evils upon them, cast them down while they were being exalted, and they became a desolation; they suddenly failed, they perished because of their iniquity. Whence: “I said to the transgressors: Do not transgress; and to the sinners: Do not lift up the horn; and do not speak injustice against God, for God is the judge.” And: “Do not emulate the one who prospers in his way, in the man who does unjust things. For like grass they shall quickly wither, and like the green herbs they shall quickly fall; for the Lord is righteous and has loved righteousness.” (9) It is necessary, then, if we are truly wise servants and not hypocrites, ^D to pursue virtue, not from the expectation of the heavenly kingdom or other goods, but to do all things for the sake of the Lord of all. Many, however, have fallen, and many are listless, because they do not long for the reward of virtue. God promises the kingdom and is not heeded; the devil promises hell and is loved. What is more shameful than this madness, what is more irrational? And why do I speak of hell? Before hell, he adds pain, reproach, mockery, and countless punishments and many deaths to those who have believed and obeyed him.

XXXVI. On Heli the High Priest

^A 113 After the judges, the high priest Heli judged the people for twenty years. And divine justice visited both his sons, Ophni and Phinees, due to their debauchery and disorder regarding the sacrifices; indeed, both perished miserably in war. For the voice of God had spoken to the ears of their father, saying: "I spoke, that thy house should minister in my sight forever; but now," saith the Lord, "be it far from me; for whosoever shall glorify me, I will glorify; and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed, and I will destroy thy seed from my altar." And again: "Behold, I," he says, "punish the house of Heli forever for the iniquities of his sons." After having learned of this, and of the capture of the Ark, he fell backward from his seat, and having broken his neck, he died at the age of ninety.

(2) Concerning whom Chrysostom says: "There was among the Jews a certain priest, a righteous and gentle man, Heli by name, who was the father of two boys. Seeing them walking in evil ways, he did not restrain them nor correct them with zeal and severity. The crimes of the youths were fornication and gluttony. 'For they slept,' Scripture says, 'with the women who kept watch at the door of the tabernacle of testimony,' and they would eat the meat before it was sanctified and the sacrifice offered to the Lord. Hearing these things, the father did not impose punishment upon them, but tried to draw them away from this wickedness with words and admonitions, saying: 'Do not, my children, do not act so, for the report I hear about you is not good, that you cause the people to cease from serving the Lord. For if a man sins against a man, one will pray for him to the Lord; but if a man sins against the Lord, who will pray for him?'" ^B Since, therefore, he did not show as much severity as was necessary, he too perished with them. For he ought to have added threats, and to the threats, blows, and to have driven them from his sight and not spared them at all. But because he spared them, he lost both his own sons and his own salvation. Hear what ^C God said to him, or rather not to him—for He did not deem him worthy to be answered, for into anger ^D

^A He had brought him—but through his disciple Samuel: «He knew that his sons were speaking ill, and he did not rebuke them.» And yet he did rebuke them, but that rebuke was considered as nothing, lacking the intensity and severity required. Having spoken the charge, He brings upon him the punishment with great anger, saying: «I have sworn to the house of Eli, that the sin of his house shall not be expiated with victims or offerings for ever.» You see the intensified indignation, and the punishment without pardon and without forgiveness for his entire ^B race and house; even though, as for his own life, he was never once accused, nor did God have any other complaint against the old man, but in all other matters he was admirable and wise—which is evident not only from other things, but also from the very calamities that befell him. For when that unhappy father learned that God had reached the extreme limit of anger and vengeance, he did not rebel, nor was he indignant against the Lord; nor did he say as most people are wont to say: "Are the deeds of others to be imputed to me? Must I pay for their sins? They are of age—it is just that they alone should pay the penalty." He said nothing of the kind, nor did he even think it; but like a wise servant he replied, saying: «Let the Lord do what is good in His eyes.» ^C If, therefore, God’s wrath and threat could not be diverted from the high priest, the old man, the glorious one, who for twenty years had presided over the people and served God blamelessly, but instead that man perished because of the sins of others—he who in so many years had done so many good works which could not appease an angry God—what forgiveness shall we have, who are so far removed from his virtue, and who, when others sin, sit by, overlooking it and allowing it, even when we have the power to stop and restrain them? Instead, we do the contrary, letting them go unrebuked and unpunished. And let no one say ^D that many others have neglected their children more than Eli, and yet have suffered nothing like him. They have suffered, and often things much harsher than these, even if we do not notice, for we are often untouched by our own misfortunes and calamities and those of our neighbors. For whence come sudden deaths? Whence the difficult and long-lasting diseases to us and to our children themselves? Whence these losses, adversities, and calamities? Whence these six hundred and manifold evils? Is it not because children are neglected and left without discipline? A witness to this truth is that old man, and a witness is the wise man who says: «Delight not in ungodly children; and if there is no fear of God in them, do not trust in their life,» and: «With bitter grief you shall grieve; you shall quickly know that they will result from this.» Many, therefore, as I have said, have suffered such things; and if some have escaped, they do not always escape.

but rather bring evil upon their own heads; and when they have departed from this life, they will pay a more bitter penalty. ^A Knowing this, the Apostle warns us, saying, «And you, fathers, bring up your children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.» Moreover, it is perilous and highly dangerous to remain silent towards those who sin, just as the Scriptures declare. For behold, when Achar stole the golden tongue and the fine garment, the wrath of the Lord came upon all the people, even though they did not know who had sinned nor what the sin was, until the thief was revealed and that terrible destruction fell upon him and all his household. And Eli, although he did not remain silent towards his own sons—who were, I might say, pests—as has been spoken of, but even used words to explain more fully the absurdity of the sin and the inevitability of the judgment, because he did not punish them more severely, he kindled the wrath of God to such a degree that the people fell with his sons by the sword, and that fearful ark, which few could handle, was taken by the hands of the Philistines to be led wherever they wished—and he himself, I mean the high priest, ended his life with a ^B miserable death. But if the wrath of heaven was kindled in such a way even against one who did not sin, and who indeed hindered and disapproved of those who did, what then can one say concerning those who know of sins and remain silent? For if they do not receive what was spoken by the Apostle: «Why did you not rather mourn, so that he who did this work might be removed from among you?» it is necessary that they too should perish; so that they are in danger, all of them together, of suffering the same destruction or worse. For «vengeance shall be taken sevenfold for Cain, but for Lamech, who has sinned the same, seventy times seven.» But why is it that among men who have sinned, some are punished and others are not? For how is it that among all the Jews who fashioned the golden calf, some perished and others did not? Or is it perhaps clear that some, moved by repentance, washed away their sin through piety, while others remained in their iniquity; so that although the sin was the same, the outcome was not the same? And for what reason was the punishment of Adam and Eve not the same, if the sin itself was the same? Because it is not the same thing to be seduced by a woman as it is to be deceived by a serpent. Hence Paul does not call this sin of Adam a seduction; for he says: «Adam was not seduced, but the woman was seduced ^C and came to be in transgression.» And for what reason did he who gathered wood meet with no mercy? Because the deed was full of much lawlessness, by transgressing the commandment of God from the beginning, and such a penalty was useful so that it might be an example to others, that they might not violate the commandments of God. This also happened in the case of Ananias and Sapphira. But when we have sinned, let us see whether we are worthy of mercy, or whether we have done something that might cause God to have mercy on us, whether we have performed true repentance, whether we have become better, or whether we have turned away from our evil works: «For turn away from evil,» says the Psalmist, «and do good.» ^D

XXXVII. On Samuel

XXXVIII. Beginning of the reign of Saul.

After these things, Samuel anointed David king according to the word of the Lord; but Saul, growing old and approaching the end of his life, added more to provoke the Lord to anger; whence also the spirit of the Lord departed from him, and an evil spirit strangled him, for which cause David was brought ^D to him for the consolation of his affliction. « And it came to pass, » Scripture says, « when the evil spirit was upon Saul, that David took his harp and played with his hand, and the evil spirit departed from him. » ^D But then, having smitten the Philistine Goliath (whose height was four cubits and a span, and who wore a bronze helmet upon his head, and was clad in a coat of mail of five thousand shekels of brass and iron; he had bronze greaves on his legs, and the staff of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and the iron of his spear was six hundred shekels of iron, and a bronze shield covered his shoulders), David, having for this reason become related to Saul by marriage, was envied ^D

by the maidens on account of the praise which they sang to him, saying: ^A “Saul struck his thousands, and David his ten thousands.” (5) And David fled from him, because he also ate the loaves of the presence from the hand of the high priest Abimelech; regarding whom Saul, being angered and indignant, slew Abimelech by the hand of Doeg the Syrian, and all the priests of the Lord who were with him, five hundred and fifty men, and indeed he also destroyed the whole city of the priests, Nobe, by the edge of the sword, from man even to woman, and infant nursing, and calf, and ass, and sheep; nor was even one of them left, except for Abiathar the son of Abimelech, who fled to David. (6) This slaughter by Saul was more impious than all his other sins; for though God had commanded that Amalek be utterly destroyed, he spared Agag—and all that was worth acquiring of his—but when his ^B anger was stirred, he not only slaughtered the priests, but also destroyed their city, inhabitants and all. (7) And pursuing David, and having fallen once and twice into the hands of the blessed one, David returned him no evil for evil, but the most meek David said to the most inhuman Saul: “Why do you pursue, O king, to take my life? The Lord shall judge between me and you, and shall avenge me from your hand; but my hand shall not be upon you, as it is said in the ancient proverb, that from the wicked shall lawlessness proceed.” And the house of David was journeying and waxing stronger, but the house of Saul was journeying and growing weak. (8) Then, the Philistines having encamped against Saul, and he ^C having gone to the ventriloquist and received his sentence, he entered willingly into the battle, and being struck by an arrow in his hypochondria, he said to the one carrying his armor: “Draw your sword and pierce me, lest these uncircumcised ones mock me.” But the armor-bearer being afraid and not obeying, Saul took his sword and fell upon it; and the armor-bearer also, falling upon his sword, was killed. And thus Saul died in his sins (which he committed against God, because he did not keep the word of the Lord; and because he sought after the ventriloquist, and Samuel the prophet answered him, and he did not seek the Lord; and he killed himself, and the kingdom, being ^D taken away from his race, was transferred to David and his race). (9) What, therefore, did the stature of Saul and the height of his body profit him? Or what did the small and insignificant stature of David harm him? For the former, like some high-branching oak, brought forth the fruit of wickedness and food for swine; but the latter, like a luxuriant and fruitful vine, gave with his various virtues the wine that gladdens the heart of man. “For when virtue is lacking,” says the great Isidore, “the makeup of the body is useful for nothing.” Whence God says to Samuel: “Do not look upon the face of the first.”

son of Jesse, nor be struck by his stature, for I have rejected him; for God does not see as man sees; for man sees the face, but God sees into the heart.” One must not, therefore, ^A be dazzled or pride oneself on the height of the body, but rather glory only in virtue and the commandments of God. For even Nimrod the giant surpassed many, and the giants of Astaroth (and Og, king of Bashan, who alone remained of the race of the giants, and dwelt in Rabbath-in-Astaroth, of the race of Rabbath, whose iron bed had a length of nine cubits and a breadth of four), and Goliath the foreigner, and likewise Saul, who towered over all Israel from the shoulder upwards—but the magnitude of their bodies, together with that great strength, did not profit them at all, since virtue was lacking and they ^B thought and prepared things greater than divine justice.

That the ventriloquist did not truly raise up Samuel, as some suppose on the grounds that sacred history simply uses the word “raise up,” is first of all clear from the fact that a demon cannot bear the encounter with a saint; for if he fears them while they are still living in the flesh, how could he bear the sight of them when they have been freed from the flesh? Second, she did not raise up the prophet himself, but only an apparition of him; for the person of Samuel consists of his body and soul, as Saul saw him while he was alive. Third, the prediction is false which says: ^C “Tomorrow you and your sons shall fall”; for Saul died four days later, when David returned from the war with the Amalekites. For Scripture says: “And David rose up by night to depart in the morning and to guard the land of the foreigners; but the foreigners went up against Israel.” And upon David entering that land on the third day, and pursuing the Amalekites, and returning after the victory on the fourth day, Holy Scripture adds: “And the foreigners were warring in Israel, and the men of Israel fled from the face of the foreigners, and the wounded fall in Mount Gilboa. And the battle bears heavily upon Saul and he is pierced in the hypochondria.” But if the ventriloquist did speak the truth, as some think, ^D it is no great wonder; for God compelled even the demon, appearing in a visible form, to speak the truth against his will, just as He also compelled Balaam to bless Israel. For Scripture says: “Whenever you go to a false prophet, I will answer you.”

When Saul was dead, David, having left Achish, king of the Philistines, came into Judea to his own kinsmen and reigned according to the good pleasure of God. But how, says the great Basil, is he named Abimelech in the inscription of the Thirty-Third Psalm? For Scripture says: “To David, when he changed his countenance before Abimelech, and he sent him away and he went.” The history

^A however calls him Achish. We reply that a certain account has reached us ^B by tradition: that the kings of the Philistines held the name Abimelech in common, but each was called by his own proper name, just as one may also see in the Roman Empire, where all are called Caesars and Augusti in common, but they have other proper names; just as also among the Egyptians there is the name Pharaoh. For it is apparent both in the time of Joseph and in the time of Moses that after four generations a king of Egypt was raised up who was called Pharaoh, and also in the time of Solomon; for it says: “He took the daughter of Pharaoh.” ^B And the king of Egypt in the time of Jeremiah was also called Pharaoh. Thus also Abimelech was so named in the times of Abraham, and in the days of Isaac, and also the one now mentioned in the times of David. “Abimelech is spoken of in the inscription” as a common name in the history, as has been said, which was specifically attached to him from birth.

XXXIX. The beginning of the kingdom of David.

^C After Saul, David reigned from the tribe of Judah for forty years, and he did all the will of the Lord according to what has been said: “I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after my own heart, who shall do all my will.” “I have found David my servant, with my holy oil I have anointed him; for my hand shall assist him, and my arm shall strengthen him. The enemy shall gain no advantage over him, and the son of iniquity shall not add to afflict him; and I will cut down his enemies from his face, and I will put to flight them that hate him; and my truth and my mercy shall be with him, and in my name ^D his horn shall be exalted.” Wherefore the Holy Spirit says concerning him and through him: “He chose David his servant, and took him from the flocks of sheep, to shepherd Jacob his servant and Israel his inheritance. And he shepherded them in the innocence of his heart, and led them in the understanding of his hands.” Hence Scripture adds, saying: “And David reigned over all Israel, and he was doing judgment and justice to all his people.” “Who, when he had fought against Molchom, king of the Syro-

-^A-ians, and had taken from his head a great golden crown adorned with precious stones, placed it upon his own head, and it was a most beautiful ornament on his head,” which, declaring it again, he said: “O Lord, in thy strength shall the king be glad, and in thy salvation shall he exceedingly rejoice. Thou hast given him his heart’s desire, and hast not withholden from him the request of his lips. For thou hast prevented him with blessings of sweetness; thou hast set on his head a crown of precious stone. He asked life of thee, and thou hast given it him. His glory is great in thy salvation; glory and great beauty shalt thou put upon him.”

Thus, the blessed one being strengthened and having happily become powerful by the help of the Almighty, ^B he fulfilled the prophecy of Isaac and the blessing given to Jacob, as Theodoret notes: “Be lord over thy brother, Esau.” Having struck Idumea and made all the Idumeans, the descendants of Esau, subject to David, the prediction of David singing came to pass: “Over Idumea will I cast out my shoe; the aliens have been made my friends.” For the Idumeans have as their father Esau, from whom they also received their name; for he was called Edom, because he traded his birthright for a mess of lentils. From him they inherited not only the name, but also the malice of their forefather. And just as he was inflamed with such great hatred against Jacob that he said: “The days of mourning for my father will come, and I will kill my brother Jacob,” so also these descendants of Esau, persecuting the ^C sons of Jacob with tireless hatred, lay in wait for them with six hundred machinations.

And when they wished to come into the land of promise, having been liberated from the Egyptian servitude, with Moses leading and going before them, they not only did not receive them as friends, but did not even allow them to pass through their own territory, even though the divine Moses had besought them through envoys, and had promised that the sons of Israel would turn neither to the right hand nor to the left, but would walk by the king’s highway, and would even purchase their need of water with money. Moreover, they continually demonstrated this domestic enmity, both when they fought against Israel alone and when they were allied with their enemies. When the Assyrians and Babylonians were warring against the sons of Israel, they inflicted manifold plagues upon the people of God, not only by fighting ^D with their enemies, but by setting traps, by trying to stop those fleeing, and by handing them over to the enemies.

This, the holy David himself, foreseeing things to come, prophesied. For speaking in the prophetic Spirit about the captivity, and assuming the person of the people, he says: “By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat and wept when we remembered Sion.” He speaks also of the adversity which will overwhelm those fighting against Israel: “Remember, O Lord, the children of Edom in the day of Jerusalem; who say: Exima-

Eximite, eximite usque ad fundamentum in ea.” ^A Regarding them, Isaiah says: “The vision that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw against Babylon,” speaking of the misery and afflictions of the captives: “Every one that is found shall be slain with the sword; their infants shall be dashed to pieces before their eyes.” He adds who shall be the ones to do this: “Behold, I will stir up the Medes against them, and they shall not have pity on those who give suck, and their eye shall not spare their children; and Babylon, that glorious one in kingdoms, the pride of the Chaldeans, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah,” says the Lord. Likewise, lamenting the devastation of Babylon, he says: “How is the hammer of the whole earth broken and crushed, Babylon?” ^B There were not many generations from the time the prophecy was made until the captivity, and from the beginning of the captivity a few years passed until the Medes appeared who were to defeat the Assyrians; and with the Medes themselves, a consolation for the captives and an expectation of the vengeance that was to seize those who had done evil to the people of Israel. Foreseeing this day of retribution, in which the Medes, having vanquished the Babylonians, would not spare their infants, David fittingly sang: “Blessed is he who shall take and dash thy little ones against the rock.” ^C Proceeding, David grew and was magnified, and the Lord Almighty was with him; and he had thirty-seven mighty men, such that the youngest of them was equal to one hundred soldiers in his strength, and the greatest to a thousand. These are their names: Sobochai, who struck down Saph of the race of Rapha, of the generation of the giants; Eelana, who killed a mighty man of unusual magnitude, the handle of whose spear was like the beam of weavers; Joatham, who killed a mighty man, Cetaeus, who had six fingers on his hands and feet, that is, twenty-four. Adina, who with his spear killed seven hundred soldiers in one blow. Ispebada, who in one moment killed three hundred soldiers with his sword. Mara, who, when the Philistines arrived and tried to occupy a part of the field that was sown with lentils, stood alone while the people fled, and pursued the Philistines, and guarded that part of the field. Eleazar, who, when the Philistines invaded a part of the field sown with barley and the people fled, remained alone just like a column, put the Philistines to flight, and saved the barley, and made such a slaughter among the Philistines that his exhausted hand stuck to the sword, and after him the people returned to spoil. Bananias, who performed many prodigies; for he struck down the sons of Ariel of Moab, and when he had descended into a pit one day in winter, he killed a lion. He also killed an Egyptian man whose

stature was seven cubits, having a spear like a weaver's beam; ^A for having snatched the spear from him, he killed him with it. Abessa, the brother of Joab, struck down six hundred men—and those who wished to kill David. There was also the grandson of Rapha, who had a spear weighing three hundred shekels. When Abessa ran, he was like a roe in the mountains. ^B Three of the other mighty men, when the Philistines once surrounded Bethlehem, and David desired to drink from the cistern of Bethlehem, went forth and, breaking through the camp of the Philistines, drew water from the cistern and brought it to David; but he, admiring their strength and boldness, took the water and poured it out to the Lord, saying: “Be gracious to me, O Lord, if I should drink the blood of these men who went at their own souls' peril.” Likewise the rest of the soldiers were most powerful men, and invincible, and most terrible to their enemies, bearing shields and very great spears, and being light of foot like roes on the mountains, and their equipment was quite terrifying, ^C and their faces were as the faces of lions. As for the warriors whom David had in turn, the number was two hundred and fourteen myriads, as they were numbered by Joab the commander-in-chief; for Scripture says: “And the anger of the Lord was stirred up to burn against Israel, and he shook David among them, saying: Go, number Israel and Judah.” And the king said to Joab, the commander of the power that was with him: “Go through all the tribes of Israel, and see, and inspect the people, and I will know the number of the people.” And Joab said: “May the Lord God add to your people; but why does my lord the king desire this in this matter?” But the word of the king prevailed over the words of Joab and the commanders of the army, and Joab went out to inspect the people. ^D And having inspected them, he gave the number of the inspection of the people of David. And all Israel was one million and one hundred thousand men drawing the sword. For he did not number Levi and Benjamin, because Joab was performing the king's command unwillingly. But this was displeasing before God. And David was struck after the people were numbered. And the Lord sent Gad the prophet to David and said: “Thus says the Lord: Choose what you wish that I may do for you; either three years of famine shall come upon you in your land, or three months you shall flee from your enemies, or three days there shall be pestilence in your land.” And David said to Gad: “These three are too hard for me, but it is better that I should fall into the hands of the Lord, for His mercies are abundant, than into the hands of men.” And David chose the pestilence, and it was the days of the wheat harvest, when the Lord sent the pestilence upon Israel from morning until the appointed time, and there died from the people seventy thousand men. Stretching

^A out his hand, the angel of the Lord came upon Jerusalem to destroy it. Then David, seeing the angel smiting the men among the people, said to God: "I am he who has sinned, I the shepherd have acted wickedly. These that are the sheep, what have they done? Let thy hand be turned, I beseech thee, against me and against my father's house." And the Lord, being entreated, said to the angel: "Stay thy hand." And David built there an altar to the Lord and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings, and the Lord was propitiated toward the earth, and the plague was stayed from Israel.

^B These evils, says Theodoret again, did not happen incongruously, but the people paid the penalty for their own transgressions; for they had abandoned the pious and godly king and had campaigned with the tyrant and parricide. Likewise, for the slaughter which Saul committed against the Gibeonites, the people were punished by a dire famine after Saul had ended his life. For all the people, and Joshua the son of Nun himself, had made covenants with them, the Gibeonites; and Eleazar the high priest also participated in those oaths. It behooved the descendants, therefore, not to transgress the oath and the promises, but rather to persuade the transgressing king to keep the covenants made with them. There is fulfilled in them that which was said by Noah ^C to their forefather Canaan: "Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers." Wherefore Joshua, having known their deceit, said to them: "And now you are cursed; there shall not fail from among you a servant, nor a hewer of wood and carrier of water for me and for my God"; and Joshua set them on that day as hewers of wood and carriers of water for the entire congregation and for the altar of God. For this reason did the inhabitants of Gibeon become hewers of wood and carriers of water for the altar of God and again for the congregation unto this day and [to] the place which the Lord shall choose. ^D Since, therefore, they had reasoned thus, and after his death they underwent the discipline by way of the famine, the account teaches us not to violate the covenants made before God with rulers, even if the violation might seem to be for the benefit of others.

David, not knowing the cause of the heavenly wrath and the most miserable famine, inquired of the Lord, and having heard that they were paying the penalty for the unjust slaughter of the Gibeonites, summoned those who had been unfairly harmed, saying: "What shall I do for you, and what shall be your expiation?" And the Gibeonites said to him...

^B "We have no claim concerning silver and gold with Saul and his house, nor is it for us to put any man of Israel to death; but the man who pursued us and destroyed us, and who devised to annihilate us so that we should not exist within any border of Israel, let seven men from his sons be given to us, and we shall make expiation for them to the Lord on the hill of Saul." In that place, therefore, they impaled the men delivered to them, in the place where he had dared to commit those lawless murders. These were two illegitimate sons of Saul, and five from his other sons. The punishment having thus been carried out, the Master became propitious, and the earth gave its fruit as usual. (8) We learn from this that God knows no distinction of race, but justly defends those who have been harmed, even if they are foreigners, although He does not demand justice immediately. For, having been patient for forty years, He then exacted the penalty in the time of David. Their guilt is aggravated by the fact that they did not abandon Saul, who had been rejected and stripped of divine grace, until the day he died. Yet they not only abandoned the man who had brought them so many and varied benefits—who had dissolved the boldness of the Philistines, delivered Amalek to total destruction, subdued the Edomites, Moabites, Ammonites, and Assyrians, reduced them to servitude, and compelled them ^C to pay tribute—but they also rejected and fought against him who enjoyed divine grace, even following his treacherous and murderous son. Hence the righteous Judge exacted justice upon them through the affair of David. For they wronged him, as the history reveals, saying: "And the anger of the Lord was added to burn against Israel." (9) Moreover, even David himself, through the rebellion of his son, clearly paid the penalties for his own murder and adultery in accordance with the divine prophecy. For it says: "Thus says the Lord: Behold, I will raise up evil against you from your own house," and so forth. How much, therefore, tribulation, adversity, and anxiety profit us, we learn from this history. For while fleeing from the face of Saul and from his own son Absalom, this holy man—David, I mean—practiced every virtue; and with his mind occupied by the cares of war, he lived according to the sacred laws, yet when the war rested for a little while, he fell into that sin. ^D (10) "And it happened at the time of evening, that David rose from his bed and was walking upon the roof of the king's house, and he saw a woman washing herself from the roof, and the woman was very beautiful to behold."

^A A great and vehement war, the abundance of luxury and the power of the kingdom, the beauty of the body, and the incitement of pleasure—by which the flame is kindled even in those who are unwilling—were all joined together to incline him more powerfully toward sin. It is evident, moreover, that nature in this man had agitated a desire more vehement; for he would not have made use of many women, had not nature forced him to do this. Whence the great Anastasius of Theopolis says: "It must be known that the judgments and retributions of the just Judge, God, are many and various regarding those who have sinned in their body, and who, having loosened all the reins, have corrupted their own modesty." For there are certain hot regions which, indeed, on account of the sweetness of the air, or the water, or the food, are wont to provoke bodies to dishonest commerce; thus Egypt, Ethiopia, Jericho, the territory of Gomorrah, and the Persian land. ^B There are also, again, races more prone to wantonness and lack of restraint, which, on account of custom or some other cause, are more sordid and lascivious, as the Persians and Assyrians. But if this man, living according to God, is enticed toward sin by such a cause, he ought nevertheless to have struggled against his nature in every way, and not yielded to it. "For the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force," and one must resist sin "even unto blood." "For no one," says the Apostle, "is crowned unless he has competed lawfully." (11) Having looked down, then, simply and not with curiosity, and having seen the woman washing, he did not avoid the spectacle as one deadly, but, being drawn by the lure of her beauty, he fell into the hook of sin. ^C Yet he did not receive this catch and wound from an evil intent and habit, but from circumstance and sudden impulse. And it perhaps became a remedy for a worse passion, namely pride, which he himself also signifying said: "But I was exalted, and humbled, and troubled." And, "I said in my abundance: I shall not be moved forever; but you turned away your face from me, and I became troubled." And, "It is good for me that you have humbled me, that I may learn your justifications." For the offenses and faults of the pious often turn out according to God’s providence for their own benefit, God sometimes willing that they sin for the remedy of pride. ^D Such is that which was spoken by the great Peter and which happened in him; for his sin was one of negligence, not of evil habit, and it provided him with an occasion for obtaining pardon. Among men, some sin from the worst excess and habit, while others do so from a desire that seizes and preoccupies their reason; as the Wise Man said: "There is one who offends not in his mind, and who is there who does not sin?" And therefore the Physician of souls threatens severe punishments and sends those that...

showed more brightly the glory of the wonderful King; for the divinely-sent scourges drove away that disease and restored the former health. For indeed, like a most wise physician, He restored him with manifold chastisements after the confession of sin; for after the prophet had said: "You shall not die," he added: "But by provoking you have provoked the Lord among His enemies." And first, indeed, God struck the child of the adulteress; then, also signifying the rebellion of his son Absalom against him, He says: "And now the sword shall not depart from your house." With justice, therefore, he said: "The Lord has chastened me, and has not delivered me to death."

^B When, therefore, you see a sinner who is flourishing in wealth, good fortune, and health, and suffering no evil, groan and weep and mourn for him, because these things and others still more grievous are falling upon him as a punishment. For just as those who sin much and do no penance "treasure up for themselves a treasure of wrath," so those who are free from every trouble and enjoy good fortune shall undergo a greater punishment. And this is evident not only from the future life, but is taken also from the present life. For this David, after that sin, was rebuked more severely, in that he had sinned while enjoying such great prosperity. For the Scripture says: God, bringing a reproach upon him through Nathan the prophet, speaks thus: "I anointed you king over Israel, and I rescued you from the hand of Saul, and gave you the house of your master and the house of Israel and Judah, and if it were a little thing, I would add to you all these. ^C And why have you not kept my commandment?" Then, surely, shall they hear, even those who now flourish in happiness and do not keep the commandments of the Lord: "Amen, I say to you, I do not know you; depart into the everlasting fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels." (And let these things be said by way of digression to this extent.)

(15) And the blessed David, when he had called his son Solomon before his death, said to him: "Solomon, my son, it was in my soul to build a house to the Lord our God, and the word of the Lord came to me, saying: 'You have shed much blood and waged great wars, and you shall not build a house to my name. ^D Behold, a son is born to you, and I will give him rest from all his enemies round about, because Solomon will be his name. And he shall build a house to my name.' And now, be courageous and strong. And behold, I, in my poverty, have prepared for the house of the Lord a hundred thousand talents of gold, and a thousand thousand talents of silver; and brass and iron, of which

there is no number. And to these you shall add toward the building of the temple of the Lord.” And David ^B was old and full of days. And when he had established his son Solomon as king, he said to him again in the presence of the people: “Behold, I have prepared the expenses of the house of God: gold, silver, brass, iron, precious and various stones, every precious stone; and over and above these, I have given for the temple of my God, except for those things which I have prepared for the holy house, three thousand talents of gold, of the gold of Ophir, and seven thousand talents of silver of the finest quality, to adorn the walls of the temple.” And the princes of the children of Israel gave for the works of the house of God seven thousand talents of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and immense quantities of brass. And when David had blessed the people and dismissed them, he exhorts his son again, saying to him: “And now, my son Solomon, know the God of your fathers and serve him with all your heart and with a fervent soul; for the Lord searches all hearts and understands all the thoughts of the mind. If you seek him, you will find him; but if you abandon him, he will cast you off forever.” ^C — And David gave to Solomon his son the pattern of all the temple, and the Cherubim extending their wings and covering the ark of the covenant of the Lord. David gave to Solomon his son all things written by the hand of the Lord, saying: “Be strong and act manfully, for the Lord my God will be with you.” — After these things, David died in a good old age, full of days, with riches and glory and piety, having attained seventy years. For it says: “And it happened after the death of Saul, that the men of Judah came to Hebron and anointed him king over all Israel.” He was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years. Samuel deemed him worthy of royal anointing; however, the people acclaimed him, giving their assent to the prophet’s anointing. David having died, was buried in the city of Jerusalem in a most magnificent monument which his most wise son Solomon prepared for him, excavated deep into the earth so that it might remain hidden. This indeed demonstrates Solomon’s wisdom and magnificence, for in that same monument he deposited with his father very many thousands of talents of gold, as is clear from the things that happened ^D subsequently, as Josephus states. For the chief priest Hyrcanus, while the city was being besieged by Antiochus the son of Demetrius, having opened the monument, carried off from it three thousand talents. After him, when Herod knew what Hyrcanus had done, he also opened the tomb, and while he did not indeed find riches, he took out golden ornaments and many precious vessels.

^A And when he attempted to penetrate further inside, where the bodies of David and Solomon had been placed, a fire came forth and destroyed two of his bodyguards.

XL. Concerning the reign of Solomon.

^B After David, his son Solomon reigned for forty years, that admirable man who had received from God a wisdom stupendous and beyond the powers of human intellect. And in the four hundred and fortieth year of the exodus of the children of Israel, in the fourth year of his reign, in the first month, Nisan, being thirty-three years of age, he gathered eighty thousand workmen, and seventy thousand who should cut stone in Mount Libanus, and three thousand six hundred overseers; which being done, Solomon began to build on the mountain which had been shown to David his father in the threshing floor of Ornan the Jebusite, in which Abraham had first built an altar. He cast sharp, rough, and very hard stones of huge mass, having ten cubits of thickness, into the foundations and began the construction of all the walls of the entire temple, and he built the city and the temple of the Lord for seven years. Its length was sixty cubits, the breadth twenty, and the height one hundred and twenty. And the house was of two stories, as Josephus says, and it is known from the book of Chronicles. But let no one think that the book of Kings disagrees with the book of Chronicles in that here the length is said to be sixty cubits, but there forty; for to these cubits must be added the twenty cubits of the place called Dabir, that is, the Holy of holies. There likewise the height is said to be twenty-five cubits, but here one hundred and twenty, which is explained by David handing down the sacred pattern of the temple to his son and saying, "And you shall make the upper stories." For the history of Kings teaches us that the house had not only two stories, but ^C three. For the ascent, it says, was by a spiral staircase into the middle chamber and from the middle into the third. For the wall, being very wide, had a spiral staircase by which they might ascend. And he gilded every floor, and all the ceilings. He made plates of five cubits on the walls and fixed single ones with golden nails, and carved Cherubim over the whole wall. When therefore he had decorated the house with precious stones, and had gilded it with gold of Ophir, as it is said, and the walls and the coverings and the doorposts and the doors, he covered it with gilded bronze plates. But he had made the oracle in the middle of the house in the interior part, so that he might place there the ark of the covenant of the Lord. Furthermore, the oracle had twenty cubits of length, and twenty cubits of breadth, and twenty ^D cubits of height, and he enclosed it and its door with locked gold, and it was called the Holy of holies and Dabir.

^A He fashioned two Cherubim from incorruptible wood, each ten cubits in size, and having wings of five cubits, so that wing touched wing; and the other two wings of both, those toward the wall of the house, were also spread out to twenty cubits. These, when he had overlaid them with gold, he set on either side, in the middle of the innermost house to cover the Ark, before which and in front of the veil he made a golden altar of incense, where the loaves of proposition lay. The veil he fashioned of hyacinth, scarlet, linen, and purple, and he wove Cherubim into it. (8) He also built side chambers around the temple on the outside, which he called "melathra," so as to enclose the building and to ensure that none of the Levites (325) should touch the walls of the temple. For he says, "I have given this space to the house, so that no one should touch the walls of the house." For the first temple, called the Holy Place, was accessible to priests only. But into the Holy of Holies it was not permitted even for them to enter; only the high priest could do so, and that but once a year. (9) Gold covered everything—the Cherubim, and the walls, and the doors—so that almost no other material could be seen within. That the temple was also adorned with the most beautiful marbles is clear again from the history, which says: ^B "He filled it with onyx and precious stones, various stones, and an abundance of every precious stone." (10) He also made two bronze columns, thirty-five cubits in height, having capitals of five cubits, and a cord of ten cubits encircling the thickness of each column. Having overlaid them with a plating of gold, a finger's breadth in thickness, he set them up in front of the temple, one on the right and one on the left, naming the one Righteousness, and the other Strength. Upon the capitals he made "a hanging, latticed work of gold, and four hundred golden bells for the two nets, and two rows of pomegranates in the nets that are above the column." And having made a bronze net of rings, and eight hundred bronze bells weighing a talent each suspended upon it, he placed upon it high machines, extending twenty cubits from the temple, so that the work might provide shade and ward off birds from alighting, defecating, and causing defilement, by the sound of the bells that were always being moved and stirred. ^C (11) He also made a bronze altar, twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in breadth, and ten cubits in height; likewise he made a molten sea, round in shape, and its supports, hav- ^D ing

^Aing a height of five cubits, a circumference of thirty-three cubits, a thickness of a palm’s breadth, and containing three thousand measures; he set under it twelve large cast oxen, so that the priests might wash in it. (12) He made a bronze base five cubits in length, and five cubits in breadth, and three cubits in height, and he placed it in the middle of the court of the temple. (13) And he made ten bronze tables, and ten basins, and ten large golden lampstands, and placed five on the right of the temple and five on the left. (14) And he made one hundred golden bowls, and censers, and fire-pans, and vessels in great multitude, for the weight of gold did not fail. (15) When, therefore, every work was finished, the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord into the Holy of Holies under the wings of the cherubim, and as the priests began to praise the Lord with trumpets, and with cymbals, and with instruments, the house of the Lord was filled with a cloud and with great glory. And the priests could not stand and minister because of the cloud. But King Solomon, having ascended the bronze base and worshiped God with his palms stretched out to heaven, said: “O Lord God of Israel, there is no God like thee in heaven and on earth,” and the rest of the prayer. And when Solomon had ceased pouring out his prayers, fire descended from heaven and consumed the burnt offerings and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the house. And all the children of Israel saw the fire and the glory of the Lord upon ^C the house, and they fell upon their faces to the ground onto the paved stone floor, worshiping and praising the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endureth forever. (16) And then Solomon dedicated the temple, sacrificing twenty-two thousand oxen and one hundred and twenty thousand sheep, and celebrated a great festival. And all Israel was with him in the temple, eating and drinking and rejoicing before the Lord for seven days, and on the eighth day, having blessed the people, he sent them away. (17) ^D And after he had prayed for the temple and for the people, the Lord appeared to him, saying: “I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, and I have sanctified this house which thou hast built, to place my name there forever. And my eyes and my heart shall be there all the days. And thou also, if thou walkest before me, as thy father David walked in integrity of heart and uprightness, to do according to all things which I commanded him, and keepest my ordinances and my judgments, I will establish the throne of thy kingdom over Israel forever, as I spoke to thy father, saying: 'There shall not be cut off from thee a man ruling in Israel.' But if you turn away and turn yourselves and your statutes..."

a man ruling in Israel. ‘But if you, or your children, turn away from me and do not keep my commandments, and go and serve other gods and worship them, I will remove Israel from the land which I gave to it; and this house, which I have consecrated in my name, I will cast out of my sight. And Israel shall be a desolation and an object of talk for all nations; and as for this house, which is high and great, everyone who passes by it shall be astonished and hiss and say: “Because they forsook the Lord their God, and followed other gods, therefore the Lord has brought upon them all this evil.”’ ^B

Chapter 41

The temple was built in the midst of the city; its back and rear parts faced the north, and Solomon enclosed it with a stone wall. He built a very great and beautiful city of white stones, and made the whole of it level. He made the perimeter from wall to wall, and the distance was forty stades, and from every side, the city was entirely difficult to besiege. For he surrounded it with a triple wall, and by digging deep trenches, he made the whole of it accessible to water, so that their gardens were irrigated by the flowing waters. For the city sat on a high and rugged place, in which there was a fountain of ever-flowing water. Many other sources of water, potable and inexhaustible, abounded in the city. ^C But that bright and renowned temple, being truly admirable and most glorious, was an excellent herald of the wisdom of Solomon, and even more so of the Creator of all who had commanded it and cooperated with the builders. For there was no such temple on earth, whence the Jews, boasting of its magnificence and majesty, said: ‘The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.’ For the Lord had commanded that it be built with great magnificence, because the Jews were more than usually attached to temporal things. Yet its glory did not consist in this magnificence alone, but rather in the fact that it was the only one of its kind in the whole world; for the Jews came to it from the ends of the earth, especially in later times; as Luke indicates in the Acts of the Apostles, saying: ‘And there were ^D Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and those who inhabit Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya that are around Cyrene.’ Men, therefore, from all over the earth gathered there, whence the name of the temple became very famous and renowned, even though it was destroyed and rebuilt, until its final ruin. All the things which the wisdom of Solomon gathered were subsequently seen by the holy Ezekiel.

after the destruction of the city and the temple, and the captivity of the people in Babylon.

Solomon also made for himself an ivory throne, of great teeth, having four steps, and heads of oxen from behind it on both sides, and twelve lions standing by the arms, and other twelve lions standing on the outer steps on either side. He covered ^A this throne on all sides with pure gold—a thing which had never been done in any kingdom before—upon which that wonderful and all-wise man, sitting clothed in bright and costly raiment, discoursed upon the gifts of the divine Spirit. Hence the Lord says: “Neither was Solomon in all his glory arrayed like one of these,” thereby signifying that he was supreme and more glorious than all kings in wealth and splendor. ^B (22) And together with these, he made eight hundred beaten golden shields, and four hundred spears, and many other golden weapons. Moreover, all the vessels of his house and the basins were entirely of gold. And silver was not accounted of in his days, because the king's fleet went to Tharsis once every three years, bringing back from there much gold, and silver, and hewn stones, and elephants' teeth, and apes. And Solomon made the gold and the silver in Jerusalem as stones, and the cedars as sycamores for multitude. (For Theodoret says that those cedars are incorruptible, and like cypresses and firs, difficult to decay, and altogether white, and not like ours.)

XLI. Concerning the sustenance of Solomon.

^C Now the daily provision for Solomon was thirty cors of fine flour, and sixty cors of meal, and ten fat oxen, and twenty pasture-fed sheep, and a hundred rams, besides the hunting of harts, roebucks, and buffaloes, and fatted fowl. Now a cor equaled thirty modii; all the cors together equaled two thousand seven hundred modii. And those who brought all these things from Egypt every month were twelve governors.

XLII. Concerning the kingdom of Solomon.

Concerning the great knowledge and wisdom which he received from God, hear again what God says to him: “Behold, I have given thee a wise and understanding heart; so that there has been none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee; and I will also give thee riches and wealth and glory, such as no one among kings has been like thee in days past.” Signifying this, the Scripture adds, saying: “And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, as the sand that is on the seashore; and the wisdom of So ^D

Solomon ^A surpassed the wisdom of all mortals and of the Egyptians.” When, therefore, he wished to display his own wisdom and to have it compared to others, he was justly and deservedly considered the first of all the ancient wise men, and he surpassed the Egyptians, who were held by all to be the wisest and most prudent. For Pherecydes the Syrian, as the Greeks record, and Pythagoras the Samian, and Anaxagoras the Clazomenian, and Plato the Athenian, came to the Egyptians, thinking that they would better discover theology and the knowledge of nature from them. And concerning Moses, the divine word also says: “Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians.” Scripture says that Solomon surpassed all these, since he had received from God the gifts of wisdom; whence it also said: “And Solomon was ^B wiser than all men, and he published three thousand proverbs, and his songs were five thousand. And he disputed about trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall; he discussed beasts, and creeping things, and birds, and fishes.”

(4) Recording this manifold knowledge of things, Eusebius says: “The books of Solomon regarding Proverbs and Songs, in which he had discoursed upon the nature of all shrubs and animals, whether terrestrial, aerial, or aquatic, and had assigned remedies for every pain—which the Greek physicians, taking them, declared to be their own—King Hezekiah ^C destroyed, since the people, receiving from these books the curing of diseases, neglected to seek healing from God.” However, Josephus records that these many poems were written as incantations and exorcisms performed by Solomon against demons, which they say the Jew Eleazar used in the time of the emperors Vespasian and Titus, placing a ring in the nose of the sick person, in the collet of which was inserted a root from among those which Solomon had taught. When the demon had inhaled its scent, it fled. Eleazar further ordered that a vessel full of water or a foot-basin be placed there, which compelled the demon to flee.

(5) And Solomon was magnified above all the kings ^D of the earth in wealth and wisdom. And all the kings of the earth sought to see his face, and to hear his voice. And they came every year from every place, bringing him gifts: gold vessels, and garments, and aromas, and horses, and mules; and there were for him one thousand three hundred chariots, and horses, and forty thousand mares, and twelve thousand horses for chariots. And he was ruler of all the kings of the earth from the river Euphrates unto the land of the foreigners and unto the borders of Egypt.

XLIII. Concerning the Queen of the Ethiopians, the Sibyl

^A The Queen of Sheba, who was called the Sibyl among the Greeks, having heard of the name of Solomon, came to Jerusalem to test him with enigmas. And her camels brought many excellent aromatics, and gold, and precious stones of great weight. And when she had come in to him and had spoken to him everything that was in her heart, and he had resolved all things for her in a discourse and most sweet interpretation, she set about testing him in this also. For she had arrayed beautiful children, boys and girls, in the same clothing and hairstyles, and presented them to him, seeking that he should discern the gender of each. For this Sibyl herself was also widely celebrated for the keenness of her mind, for wisdom, and for extensive experience. But the king, having ordered them to wash their faces, recognized the nature of each; for the boys washed their faces vigorously and manfully, while the girls did so softly and languidly, such that the queen was astonished. ^B And when she had come to know all his wisdom, and the house he had built, and his throne, and his garments, and also those of his ministers, she then marveled and exclaimed: "True is the word which I heard in my own land concerning all these things, and I did not believe it. Behold, there is not even the half of what was reported to me, for I have seen more than I heard. Blessed, then, are your women, and blessed are these children of yours who stand before you and hear the words of your wisdom." And having given him one hundred and twenty talents of gold, and very many aromatics, and precious stones, and the root of the opobalsam (from which time Palestine has possessed this plant, as Josephus says), she returned to her own land, being exceedingly struck with wonder. Concerning whom the Lord also said: "The Queen of the South came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon" (Matt. XII, 42). ^C To whom, moreover, Sirach also spoke in a more tragic manner: "Solomon, you were instructed in your youth and were filled as a river with wisdom; your spirit covered the earth, and you filled the world with parables and enigmas. Your reputation reached unto faraway islands (and distant lands), and you were beloved in your peace with which God caused you to rest on every side; they marvel at you for your songs and proverbs and parables. And you gathered gold as one gathers copper, and you increased silver as lead; but you submitted your loins to women, and you had power over your body; and you gave a stain to your glory and profaned your seed, bringing wrath upon your children." ^D But he himself speaks best of his own wisdom and his own riches: "May the Lord grant me to speak according to my judgment, and to think things worthy of what has been said; for he himself is the guide of wisdom and the corrector of the wise. For in his hand are both we and our words; for he himself has given

^A me true knowledge of things that are, to know the constitution of the world and the operation of the elements, the beginning and the end and the middle of the times, the alternations of the solstices and the changes of the seasons, the cycles of the years, the positions of the stars, the natures of animals and the rages of wild beasts, the violence of winds and the reasonings of men, and (354) the differences of plants and the virtues of roots; whatever is hidden and manifest, I learned. For the artificer of all things taught me ^B to seek out and consider in wisdom all things that have been made under the heaven.

CHAPTER XLIII

^A the idol of Moab, and to Astarte, the abomination of the Sidonians; and in this manner he acted for all his foreign wives who burned incense and offered sacrifices to their own gods. And Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and did not follow the Lord as David his father had. And the Lord was angry with Solomon because he had turned his mind from the Lord God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice and had commanded him regarding this matter not to follow foreign gods. Thus the Lord said to Solomon: "Because you have not kept my covenant and my commandments which I commanded you, I will surely tear away your kingdom and give it to your servant. Nevertheless, I will not do it in your days, for the sake of David my servant and your father, and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen." ^B And the Lord raised up an adversary to Solomon, Ader the Idumean, and Adrazar, king of Soba; and they were adversaries to Israel all the days of Solomon. And Solomon died when he had lived seventy-three years, and he was buried with his father.

(6) From hence, therefore, Theodoret also says: "We have learned how much the piety of ancestors avails; for the lover of mankind, God, suffers the wicked, not unmindful of the virtue of those who once existed, and yet he partially gathered the fruits of impiety, justly, at the hands of divine justice." (7) "As long as he enjoyed help from above, he spent his days in peace and tranquility, having all subject and paying tribute to the utmost extent. But when he was stripped of this prudence, he became open to attack by his enemies; so true is it: 'It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.' For just as His mercy is ineffable, so also is His correction intolerable." ^C Because he served idols, having abandoned the truly existing God of his father David, he was therefore punished, which is evident from those things which Achias, prophesying, said to Jeroboam: "Thus says the Lord: Behold, I will tear away the kingdom of Solomon and give it to you; yet I will leave him two tribes for the sake of David my servant and Jerusalem the city which I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel; for he has forsaken me and worshipped Astarte the goddess of the Sidonians, and Chamos the god of Moab, and Moloch the god of the children of Ammon." ^D That Astarte, moreover, is the same as Aphrodite among the Greeks. (From this star the epithet was imposed upon this goddess, for they say her son was Lucifer.) Chamos, however, was a god of the Tyrians. Moloch was a scandal, an idol, and thus Scripture is accustomed to call scandals ‘abominations.’ Which word signifies sacrilege and impiety. Rightly might one wonder that as it happened in the case of the divine Moses, so it happened in the case of the most wise Solomon: how both at first, gifted with such divine glory and wis-

wisdom, were later—the one having moved God to indignation and grief—deprived of the promise, while the other, having stirred Him to wrath and anger, ^B was utterly deprived of the excellent labors he had previously performed and ruined his own soul. For where is that familiarity and boldness toward God, and those so many and so great labors, struggles, and toils of the divine Moses? Having been looked over because of the sin of the water of contradiction, this righteous man was suddenly and inexorably deprived of entry into the land of promise, as has been said before. And where is the divine love, and such grace and wisdom granted to Solomon? What is the benefit of that immense wisdom, knowledge, and most acute thought, theology, and philosophy, when in the end he fell through lust for women into idolatry, as has been clearly demonstrated? For in truth, there is no profit if, "having begun by the Spirit, you are perfected by the flesh." (9) Therefore, also, John gives a warning, saying: "Look to yourselves, that you do not lose what you have worked for, but may receive a full reward;" for he who begins well and ends badly is not perfect, but he who begins well and completes his work according to the law of God. "For he who has persevered to the end, he shall be saved." From this, as it seems, we are rightly taught not to call a man blessed primarily before his death, because of the uncertainty of the outcome and the completion; for those who turn aside to crooked paths, the Lord will lead away with the workers of iniquity; for many running the race virtuously and being admired for the greatest achievements, having stumbled, have suddenly fallen, a terrible and extraordinary fall. (10) Such was that monk to whom the great Basil ^C wrote, saying: "Alas, what shall I write, or what shall I ponder, caught at the crossroads? For if I bring to mind your initial vain conversion, when riches and vain glory flowed to you, I shudder, when you were cherished by a multitude of flatterers, pleasure, and dangerous prosperity; when you were exercised, looking to a change in your holy state, your abundance, and refusing the servitude of your family and the familiarity of your parents, you appeared a stranger and a wanderer; for, having exchanged your lands and fatherland, you withdrew to Jerusalem, where you considered yourself happy, passing your time in the labors of athletes, then when you performed your fast in the weekly rounds, serving God, fleeing the conversations of men, preparing for yourself peace and solitude; and while you were fleeing civil tumults and afflicted your body with coarse sackcloth, circling your belly with a hard belt, and manfully ^D wearing down your bones, hollowing out your sides with fasts, causing the moist parts to swell, and denying yourself all use of soft speech. The part of the interior body which is between the ribs and the flanks, and grows like a melon, you have drawn in, and the whole of the flesh

of the body you have exhausted, and the parts of the navel you have shaded with the eminent parts of the ribs, as if it were a house, and you have oppressed your whole body. While you were talking with God during whole nights, and irrigating your wet beard with floods of tears. But why should I say all these things? Remember how many mouths of saints you kissed with a kiss; how many sacred bodies you embraced, how many you cherished as if your hands were untouchable. How many servants of God fell to your knees. But whither have all those things vanished? The reputation of an adulterous life, flying swifter than the weapon of calumny, wounds our ears and our heart. Where are the stories you told me of your labors? They have ceased. You have defiled the honor of chastity; you have confounded the profession of wisdom; we have become a mockery to our enemies and a cause of mourning to our friends. ^B You have torn apart the minds of the monks; you have struck fear and dread into the more diligent, while they wonder at the power of the demon again; you have turned love into indifference toward license; you have denied whatever honor was in you of Christ, who says: "Take heart, I have overcome the world," and its prince; you have mixed the cup of blasphemy for your country, and by your deed have proven true the proverb: "As a wounded stag even to the heart." Whence He encourages us elsewhere, saying: "It is necessary for us to collect many and various and heavenly riches, unless we wish to blush at the rendering of an account of our works, and like him who received the talent to hear: 'You wicked and slothful servant.'" Having therefore put aside all foreign things, let us attempt to enter this life securely. For many, after they had gathered much in their youth and reached mid-life, with temptation resisting them and the wind of iniquity blowing, did not sustain the force of the storm, because they were unequal to the task of steering, whence others have suffered shipwreck regarding the faith; ^C and so they have suffered the losses of all these things; others, however, lost the wisdom that they had acquired from their youth, as if in an instant storm of desire. Alas, a pitiful spectacle! After fasting, after a difficult manner of life by nature, after many tears, after twenty or thirty years of temperance, through negligence, softness, or carelessness of soul, to become naked to all, and to be like those who prepare themselves to follow the commands, or like that rich merchant who, having set out with a great multitude of wares, escaped the perils of the sea, but near the very harbor, with his ship broken, is left stripped of everything! For if those things which you had acquired with a thousand labors and much sweat, you have lost in one crisis and by a small temptation of the demons, surely this ^D of him who has suffered shipwreck in his entire life regarding virtue is 148 a useless manner of living, when the wealth and the base desire for glory passes by. I shudder when the multitude of flatterers touches you, and when temporary luxury and pleasure [touches you]. — When you were training yourself for a change of a venerable manner of life, regarding your wealth as refuse, and denying the care of a house and the company of a spouse, but altogether being heavenly, like a stranger and a wanderer, changing fields and places, you ran down to Jerusalem, where I myself, while staying with you, used to count you blessed for your athletic trials, when in weekly cycles you continued fasting, you philosophized to God, at the same time avoiding the meetings of men, and having applied silence and a solitary way of life to yourself, you turned aside from political disturbances, and wearing out your body with a rough hair shirt and girding your loins with a hard belt, you patiently crushed your bones, hollowing out your flanks with privations until the southern parts were relaxed, and you renounced the use of soft garments; but inward, you drew in your waist like a melon, as if needing to be stuck to the renal areas; and having emptied all the fat of the flesh, you bravely dried up the channels of the lower belly, and having withered the belly itself with fastings, you shadowed the pleural parts like a certain projection of a roof over the mid-sections of the navel, and with your whole body contracted, you confessed to God during the night hours, and you were smoothing your beard with torrents of tears. And what need is there to recount each thing? Remember how many holy mouths you kissed with a kiss; how many sacred bodies you embraced; how many [*] you cherished as if your hands were undefiled; how many servants of God were entwined with your knees. And what is the end of these things? The reproach of an adulterous reputation, flying sharper than an arrow, wounds our ears and our heart. — Where are the stories of your labors for me? They are gone. You have shamed the boast of purity; you have disgraced the profession of temperance; we have become a tragedy to enemies and a dirge to friends; — you have cut in two the mind of the monks, you have cast the more exact ones into fear and cowardice, while they still wonder at the power of the devil; you have transferred the indifferent into a zeal for licentiousness; you have nullified as much as was in you the boast of Christ, who says, "Take heart, for I have overcome the world" and the ruler of this world; you have mixed a cup of blasphemy for your country; indeed you have brought to pass the proverb, "Like a deer shot in the liver." (11) Whence elsewhere He generally exhorts, saying: "We must therefore have much and varied heavenly [treasure]...

if we are not to be put to shame in the displaying of our works [as those who received the talent], nor hear: 'You wicked and slothful servant,' but rather, having received the cargo, to try safely to complete this [voyage of] life." For many who have gathered much from their youth, and when they have arrived at the middle of their life, when temptation arises against them not from the spirits of wickedness, they have not borne the burden of the winter, because they lacked the steering [of their ship]; wherefore also, regarding the faith, they have made shipwreck of all. Others have lost the temperance which they gathered from their youth, when a storm of wicked pleasure suddenly rushed in. A most pitiful spectacle! After fasting, after hardship, after abundant tears, after the self-control of twenty or thirty years, through the negligence of the soul and slackness and carelessness, to be shown naked of all, and to become like those who abound in the performing of the commandments, to a certain very wealthy merchant, who, glorying in the multitude of his cargo, and the ship being carried by the breeze, having run through the terrible seas, at the very mouths of the harbors, his ship having been broken asunder, he was shown to be destitute of all things all at once. For if even he, who has built up what he has built with countless struggles and sweat, should in one moment and by a small attack of demons lose it, ^B as if sunk by some wild tempest of sin, it is a fitting voice for one who has shipwrecked all his virtue together: "I have come into the depths of the sea, and the storm has engulfed me." (12) Likewise also the divine Chrysostom says: "For when the devil sees those who have gathered much, fasting, prayers, almsgiving, virginity, and all the rest of the virtue, when he sees our ship full of the precious masterpieces of piety, then he attacks, digging through and plotting on all sides against the treasure, so that at the very mouth of the harbor he may sink the vessel, and make them naked and destitute and unable to rise again easily. For indeed, after such a fall, the resurrection becomes hard to achieve; he despises the rest, as having reached a depth of evils. And we all indeed forgive the one who falls at the beginning because of his inexperience; but one who is tripped up after many laps, one would not easily deem worthy of forgiveness, as having been brought down by negligence and sloth. And this is not the only evil, ^C but that, many having been scandalized and becoming even more slothful, he himself becomes accountable and inexcusable. Knowing these things, therefore, 'let us not corrupt [it] to the end' (as David exhorts, saying: 'To the end, do not corrupt'). ^D 'In the day,' he says, 'when the righteous man turns from his righteousness, his good works which he has done shall not be remembered; in his sin he shall die, and the righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him in the day he sins.' Learning which, the Apostle said: 'For even he who competes in the games is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.' It is necessary, therefore, that we show our first zeal and ardor even unto death in the faith of God and in patience, so that we do not lose at the end every good thing. Let no one endowed with virtue slumber, for he does not know the change. Who was more blessed than Solomon? Yet in old age and at the end, having fallen, he was lost. Who was more glorious than Judas? But the traitor hanged himself with a noose. Who was more ardent than Peter? Yet he suddenly fell by a destructive slip. How many changes is it permitted to witness, both those that happened long ago or that happen every day! Therefore, the divine Scripture warns, exhorts, and excites [us] to sobriety through heaven and hell, saying: 'He who thinks he stands, let him take heed lest he fall.' Let these things be said enough for the sake of digression."

XLIV. The Reign of Rehoboam

And Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, did ^B evil in the sight of the Lord just as his father had, and he died in his sins. At that time, when Shishak, the king of Egypt, had taken Jerusalem, he carried away the wealth that had been stored in the temple and the royal palace, as well as the golden spears and the golden shields, in whose place bronze ones were made.

XLV. The Reign of Abijah

XLVI. The Reign of Asaph

XLVII. The Reign of Jehoshaphat

twenty-five years. ^A Because of his friendship and covenant with Ahab, the prophet Jehu, son of Hanani, said to him: "O King Jehoshaphat, if you join yourself in friendship to him whom the Lord hates, for this reason the wrath of the Lord shall come upon you; unless good works were found in you, in that you removed the groves from the land of Judah, and prepared your heart to seek the Lord, and your heart was found perfect before the Lord. Therefore the Lord spared you, although He struck down your works and broke your ships." ^B Hence we learn that God measures out punishments for sins with justice and delivers an equitable judgment. Knowing this, it befits us to flee the friendship and familiarity of the impious; for there is no communion of light with darkness, nor is it fitting for a virtuous man to share any portion with wickedness, with a robber, or with an adulterer. Whence the Scripture says: "Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord, and am I not vexed at your enemies? I hated them with a perfect hatred; they have become my enemies. I hated those who commit transgressions, and a perverse heart has not cleaved to me." And indeed, because the servants of God, when they sin as men, are often judged worthy of mercy on account of their previously practiced virtues, divine justice punishes them in their property and possessions for their sins, though secretly. Furthermore, when other sinners live together with the righteous, the merciful Lord is accustomed, for the sake of the righteous man's justice, to act as He did for Jehoshaphat and for Paul through the crushing and loss of the ship. ^C Whence to those who were being tossed with him by a tempest at sea, Paul says: "O men, you ought indeed to have obeyed me, and not to have set sail from Crete, and to have incurred this injury and damage. And now I exhort you to be of good cheer: for there will be no loss of any life among you, except the ship."

XLVIII. The Reign of Joram

XLIX. The Reign of Ochozias

L. The Reign of Gotholia

the people. He was seven years old. And all the people rejoiced, and the city was at peace. But they killed Gotholia in the house of the king, after she had reigned for six years.

LI. The Reign of Joas

After Gotholia, Joas, the son of Ochozias, reigned, being seven years old. He did what was right in the sight of the Lord at first, but later, having turned to evil, he was slaughtered in his own house after he had reigned for forty years. ^B For as long as he was being instructed by Joiada the priest—who, because of his great piety, had lived for one hundred and thirty years—he governed well and rightly. But after the death of the divine priest, having declined into impiety, he killed the prophet Zacharias, the son of his teacher. For Scripture says: "And the Spirit of the Lord came upon Zacharias, the son of Joiada the priest; and he stood before the people and said, ‘Thus saith the Lord: Why do you transgress the commandments of the Lord, and you shall not prosper? Because you have forsaken the Lord, He shall also forsake you.’ And they conspired against him, and stoned him by the order of King Joas in the court of the house of the Lord." And Joas remembered not the mercy ^C which Joiada, his father, had shown to him, but killed his son. And as he was dying, he said: "May the Lord see and judge." And after these things, his servants conspired against him in revenge for the blood of the son of Joiada the priest, and they killed him in his bed. At this time, that Cumaean Sibyl was celebrated, and Lycurgus gave laws to the Lacedaemonians, and Iphitus established the Olympic games.

LII. Concerning Almsgiving

There was a man in Israel, rich and merciful, who, having approached one of the masters and opened the Wisdom of Solomon, suddenly found: ^D "He who has pity on the poor lends to the Lord." And so, having descended into himself and being pricked in his soul, he went and sold all that he had and distributed the price to the poor, keeping nothing for himself except two coins. And when he had become completely poor and was pitied by no one, though he was under divine trial, he eventually said to himself, having lost heart: "I will go to Jerusalem and plead my case before the Lord, because He has deceived me and scattered my goods." As he was making the journey, he saw two men fighting with each other over the possession of a precious stone. And he said to them: "Why, brothers, do you fight? Give me this stone and take two coins." And they, having very gladly given him the stone—for they did not know the great value of the stone—he went off to Jerusalem carrying the stone; and when he had shown it to a goldsmith, the goldsmith had scarcely seen the stone when he started up in astonishment, and having stood, he worshipped. And becoming amazed, he asked where

^A he had found this precious and holy divine stone. For behold, for three years today Jerusalem has been shaken and in an uproar on account of this famous stone; but go, give it to the high priest and you shall be very wealthy. As he departed, an angel of the Lord said to the high priest: “Now there shall come to you a man bearing the lost, celebrated stone, having it from the ephod of Aaron the high priest; when you have taken it, give the man who brought it much gold and silver, and at the same time, having struck him moderately, say: ‘Do not doubt in your heart nor disbelieve your God, through the Scripture saying: “He who pities the poor lends to God.” Behold, indeed, in this present age I have fulfilled for you many times over what you have lent me; and if you believe, you shall receive also in the future wealth incomparable.’” And the high priest did all that was commanded towards the man and spoke to him. Hearing this and becoming fearful, and having left everything in the temple, he departed, giving thanks and believing in the Lord, and [believing] all the things in the divine Scripture set forth.

LIII. The Reign of Amaziah

^A does not condemn, but rather the unanimity of their will. Therefore, one shall not die for another, but everyone is bound by the cords of his own sins. And: “Behold man and his work before his face,” and “the justice of the just shall be upon him.” “I will judge everyone according to his ways, O house of Israel, says the Lord God.” And: “Why do you say this proverb: The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the teeth of the children are set on edge? As I live, says the Lord God, if this proverb shall be used anymore as a proverb in Israel. For all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine; the soul that sins, it shall die.”

LIV-LV. The Reign of Uzziah.

^B After Amaziah, his son Uzziah, who is also called Azariah, reigned and did what was pleasing before the Lord. But when it went well with him, he became arrogant and desired to offer incense to God himself, which is permitted only to the priests. And indeed, having offered incense in the temple, he was immediately struck with leprosy and thus died, having reigned for fifty-two years. Concerning him, Chrysostom says: “Uzziah, when he became powerful, could not bear the magnitude of his authority, but just as from gluttony ^C there arises inflammation, and from inflammation a burning fever is born, and then death often follows from this; so here, too, from an excess of circumstances, folly came into being. For what inflammation is in the body, that is folly and pride in the soul. Then, from folly, a desire for things that are not proper tends to follow.” But his heart was lifted up, and the folly did not remain inside nor was it healed, but spurred him on to evil works and corrupted all his virtue. For Scripture says: “But when he was strengthened, his heart was lifted up to his destruction, and he neglected the Lord God; and having entered the temple of the Lord, he wanted to burn incense upon the altar of incense.” And immediately, Azariah the chief priest entered after him, and with him eighty priests of the Lord, saying: “It is not your office, Uzziah, to burn incense to God, but [the office] of the priests, the sons of Aaron, who have been consecrated for this ministry. Go out of the sanctuary, lest you sin; for this will not be reckoned to your glory by the Lord God of Israel.” ^D While he was still burning incense before the priests and holding the censer in his hand, leprosy broke out on his forehead before the priests in the house of the Lord, and they cast him out, and he himself, terrified, hastened to go out because he had immediately sensed the plague of the Lord; and as a leper—

he lay in his own house until the day of his death, because he had been cast out from the house of the Lord. ^A During his reign a great earthquake occurred, which, having rent a great mountain, leveled forty stadia into a plain.

LVI. The Reign of Jotham

LVII. The Reign of Ahaz

LVIII. The Reign of Hezekiah

LIX. Concerning Tobit and the Angel

^A having been slandered to the king and having fled, he slept outside the wall. And as it is wont to happen, as he lay there with his eyes open, warm excrement from a swallows' nest fell into his eyes, by which he became blind. (2) There was also in Ecbatana a maiden, his kinswoman, who, having taken seven husbands, all of whom were destroyed by a demon before they had known her, fell to prayer; and God sent to her as a helper the angel Raphael. (3) Tobit, therefore, having instructed his son Tobias not to take a wife from elsewhere except from the tribe of his own kin, according to the Law, gives him a promissory note for ten talents of gold, which he had deposited in Media, in order that he might go and retrieve them quickly. (4) As the boy was looking for a companion and guide for the journey—for he was ignorant of the road—by the providence of God, he happened upon Raphael standing in the marketplace in the guise of a man, whom he hired; and saying that he knew the road and calling himself Azarias, he accompanied him on the journey. (5) And when they arrived at the river Tigris and the boy had gone into the water to bathe, a great fish leaped up at him; the angel told him to seize the fish, to ^B cut open its belly, and to take the liver, the heart, and the gall, and to keep them. And when he inquired what use these might have, "The liver and the heart," he says, "when burned, drive away demons; and the gall cures the white film of the eye." (6) The boy therefore took the aforementioned maiden from his own kin as his wife, the evil demon being chased away through the counsel and cooperation of the angel by this fumigation. (7) And the angel, having gone to Media along with Azarias, and having received the ten talents, returns with the wife and the boy to the father Tobit, whose eyes the boy anointed with the gall of the fish; and immediately Tobit looked up. The angel revealed himself ^C as not being a man, but an angel sent from God for the aid of them and the maiden Sarah, on account of their piety, saying to them: "It is good to hide the secret of a king, but it is honorable to reveal and confess the works of God." (8) Whence Chrysostom says: "Therefore it is necessary to praise the angels, for they, ever singing to the Creator, render Him merciful and benevolent toward men. I speak, moreover, of the angels, your fellow-soldiers, who fight against those who stand against us: among whom is the archangel Michael, who contended with the devil over the body of Moses, and fought against the prince of the Persians for the liberty of the Jewish ^D people. For at God's command, they have been allotted the care of the whole creation and preside over the nations; God willed that Gabriel should provide for the Persians, but He commanded the people of the circumcision to be guarded by Michael. When Gabriel preached that it was necessary for the Jews to serve the Persians according to the divine and ineffable sentence, Michael, the obstinate champion of liberty, implored God with continuous prayers, saying: 'O Lord of hosts, how long wilt Thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah against which Thou hast been"

CHRONICLE. BOOK II.

commanded to watch over the people, but according to some divine and invincible decree, while on the one hand, He compelled the Jews to serve the Persians, on the other, He drew them toward freedom and continually presented their supplications to God, saying: “O Lord Almighty, until when wilt Thou not take pity on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, as Thou hast overlooked this seventieth year?” ^A Whom Daniel saw in the vision flying, “And his face,” he says, “was as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes were as lamps of fire, and his arms and his legs were as the appearance of glistening brass, and the voice of his speech was as the voice of a multitude.” ^B It is the same one who turned back the donkey, and restrained Balaam from his bold curse; and who, with drawn sword, prevented the son of Nave from being surrounded by enemies; who struck down one hundred and eighty-five thousand of the Assyrians in one night and turned their sleep into death; who transported the prophet Ambakoum through the air with a leap, so that he might feed the prophet Daniel in the midst of the lions. These, then, and such as these, fight against enemies; such was the divine Raphael, who, by the dissection of a single fish, healed a woman possessed by a demon and enabled a blind old man to see the sun. ^C Are they not, then, worthy of the greatest honor, they who guard our life? For not only were angels set as guardians over nations, as it is written: “When the Most High divided the nations, when He scattered the sons of Adam, He set the boundaries of the nations according to the number of the angels of God,” but an angel has been allotted to each one of the faithful as well. For when the maid Rhoda announced to the apostles that Peter was standing before the doors, having escaped from Herod’s prison, they said, disbelieving: “It is his angel.” And the Lord Himself testifies to this, saying: “See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven.” And moreover, Christ has stationed guardian angels over every Church, just as He says, revealing this to John: “Tell the angel of the Church of Smyrna: I know your poverty and your tribulation, but you are rich.” It is good, therefore, for us to store up heavenly things, by feeding the poor, ^D by showing hospitality to strangers, and by never neglecting the finest prayer, which the angels, seeing, present before the just Judge and Giver of Rewards, just as the Lord has ordained for them, pointing this out to the one who did good, He says: “Your prayers, Cornelius, and your alms have ascended for a memorial in the sight of the Lord.” We therefore rightly venerate the angels who love us, for they entreat the Lord on our behalf. For they are ministering spirits, as the Apostle says, sent forth into ministry, for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation. They fight for us and struggle with us, as you heard from Daniel, who reports that the archangel Michael is the guardian of all, for

he ^A contends for our freedom. For the one was compelling the people to serve the Persians, as has been said, whereas the other was striving to release the captivity. And Michael overcame his antagonist; and the Jews crossed the Euphrates, regained their ancestral homes, and rebuilt the city and the temple. (10) ^B Similarly, the great Epiphanius also said: “The divine Scripture says that an angel is set over every nation.” For the angel speaking to Daniel mentions both a prince of the Persians and a prince of the Greeks, and he calls Michael the prince of the Jews. And Moses says: “He set the boundaries of the nations according to the number of the angels of God.” For this reason, John also says in the Apocalypse: ^C “Loose the four angels who are stationed at the great river Euphrates,” which makes it clear that they are allowed to permit the nations to engage in war until the time of the Lord’s long-suffering; and He commands through them that vengeance be taken for His saints. For those angels appointed by the divine Spirit are holding back, not having the time for an incursion, because not yet is it permitted to them to execute judgments, ^D dissolving all the nations on account of the injuries done to the saints; for they shall be loosed, as John says, and will rush upon the earth—as other prophets also testify—and being stirred, they shall stir up the nations into the onset of judgment.

The wonderful Nicephorus of Constantinople also said: (11) “We know and we believe that the praises which we offer to God are presented through the holy angels, if it is true that ‘their angels always behold the face of my Father who is in heaven.’ For what else indeed do they care for or say, except that, by moving our prayers into the ears of the Lord Sabaoth, they make Him merciful to us regarding the things we have done?” Hence, then, we build temples in their honor and, celebrating feasts in a spiritual manner, we glorify God who has glorified them and all the saints, the order and station of whom, as well as the preeminence of divine illumination and how they surpassingly impart both illumination and knowledge, the Christ-bearing apostolic Dionysius, having been instructed, thus expressed: “All theology has called the heavenly powers by nine distinct names and divides them into three triadic arrangements. And in the first place, it says that those who stand ever by the divine substance and approach God before the other angels, namely the most holy Thrones and those having many eyes

and many wings, the Cherubim, and those named Seraphim in the Hebrew tongue. And it says that they are immediately established, and it transmits the revealing of the holy oracles. Our illustrious guide said therefore that this triadic order is as one, and of the same rank, and truly the first hierarchy, of which there is no other more God-like and, for the primordial illuminations of the Godhead, more immediately proximate. And that the second is filled by the Powers, and Dominions, and Virtues; and the third, in the last of the heavenly hierarchies, the ordering of Principalities and angels. (13) One must know, therefore, that Scripture has shown the appellation of no other angel at all ^B save only these three: Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael. Consequently, those who fabricate and introduce other names of angels are utterly foolish and greatly deceived, to the perdition of their impious and most wretched soul and to the destruction of those who hear and believe the God-hated error of the ill-named and falsely-named heretics. Indeed, such angels are they who have attained the greatest glory because they are present near God; nevertheless, they know nothing of the things to come until they receive divine revelation from God, who by nature knows all things and foretells them, and who says quite explicitly: “There is no one who announces things to come except Me.” The archangel showed this, saying ^C: “Lord Almighty, until when will you not have mercy on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah which you overlooked?” He said these things as one ignorant, supposedly, of the time of liberation; and it cannot be otherwise. And indeed, concerning the last day and the consummation, the Lord actively indicates their ignorance: “Not even the angels know.” Hence, it is to be concluded that they did not know the mystery of the incarnate divine dispensation, that secret which was hidden in God alone, “in whom are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge hidden.” “For who has known the mind of the Lord,” he says, “or who has become His counselor?” But after the saving incarnation, the multiform wisdom of God was made known, according to the same Apostle, to the Principalities and Powers in the heavens through the Church. For God alone is by nature wise, and foreknower, and prophet, and at the same time knowing the mind of men accurately ^D as the searcher of hearts. And no one has known His things except His Spirit. Therefore He says: “You understood my thoughts from afar.” For Paul, having looked into the incomprehensible and boundless sea of the hidden and ineffable judgments and mysteries of God, and having Him who had Christ speaking within him, was vehemently astonished and stupified, and exclaimed saying: “O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God; how incomprehensible are His judgments and unsearchable His ways!” All things that are from God are unutterable and incomprehensible. For the things that are of man himself, no one knows except the spirit of man; but if God alone searches

^A the heart and penetrates even to the division of soul and spirit, of the joints also and the marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intentions of the heart, it is manifest that not even the mind, will, or hidden thought of a man is known to an angel, much less any other mystery of God, unless it has been clearly declared by Him and from Him, in accordance with the divine plan for our benefit. Whence, therefore, He made the Incarnate arrangement obscure, and hid it from the many because of their lack of understanding, and it remained hidden for a long time. And why do I speak of the many? Seeing that even the pregnant Virgin herself did not ^B know the impenetrable mystery of it, and furthermore, it escaped the devil himself. For even if he had heard the prophecies concerning this, he was ignorant of the mode; for if he had known, he would not have interrogated Him after such a long time, saying to Him once, and twice, and a third time: “If you are the Son of God.”

Now Merodach, the successor of Sennacherim, having seen the return of the sun on account of Hezekiah’s illness (for the return of the sun became known to the whole world), and this king of the Babylonians having been informed of the death of the one who had been king before him, and having learned of the things that had happened with the sun ^C because of the piety of Hezekiah, sent ambassadors of peace and gifts to him. For that it was indeed on account of the sun’s returning fifteen degrees that the king of Babylon sent ambassadors to him, history itself again testifies: “Hezekiah prospered in all his works. However, in the case of the envoys of Babylon who had been sent to him to inquire about the portent that had occurred on the earth, God left him, to test him, so that all that was in his heart might be made known.” For when he had shown the envoys his whole house and his treasures, Isaiah said to him in the name of the Lord: ^D “Because you have shown them everything, behold, the days are coming, and all that is in your house will be taken away, and whatever your fathers have stored up until this day will be carried off to Babylon; nothing will remain, says the Lord. And some of your sons, who will come forth from you, whom you will beget, will be taken, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.” It is necessary, therefore, for every sensible person to be superior to joy and grief, and to bear the onset of both with prudence and equanimity of mind. For Hezekiah himself, when he saw the victory trophy being raised against the Persians—a feat beyond wonder and superior to all human strength and hope—was exceedingly elated with joy and carried himself more highly than becomes a man; it was then, for that reason, that he was struck with illness, so that the impulses of his soul, having been deemed worthy of a curb, might not force him into falling...

^A into the boastfulness of victory ^B—a war which he indeed experienced shortly thereafter. For having become extremely overjoyed at his recovery, which was beyond all expectation, and at the presence of the ambassadors, to the point that out of great pride he displayed the treasures of the Lord, he received the punishment that was justly spoken of, regarding which it says: "And Hezekiah did not render according to the benefit which the Lord God had rendered unto him, for his heart was lifted up; he was unmindful of his father David, who says: 'Lord, my heart is not lifted up,' ^C meaning beforehand, but afterwards ^D: 'I was exalted, I was humbled and troubled,' and: 'It is good for me that thou hast humbled me, that I may learn thy statutes.'" And the wrath of the Lord came upon him and upon Judah and upon Jerusalem, and Hezekiah was humbled from the height of his heart, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. Indeed, even Sennacherib, since he had threatened Hezekiah with things greater than human power, for this reason recognized the insignificance of his own weakness; for, having expected to overrun all Jerusalem with a single onslaught and initial aggression, having lost almost all his army without war or battle, he considered it a good thing to be saved alone, and having fled home, where he was slain by his own, he recognized his own weakness and underwent divine judgment.

In the same way also Nebuchadnezzar, whenever he was revealed to have thought and acted beyond human nature, then he was driven out from the society and honor of men, and became a messmate and companion of beasts. But when he held the proper opinion concerning God, then he received back his own glory and recognized the boundaries of human nature; for the end of the calamity was the confession of a superior power. That souls are carried away by joy, the Jews showed; for when they had been delivered from the hands of the Egyptians and had seen the deep become a tomb, then they turned to idolatry; and having crossed the sea without danger, they suffered shipwreck on dry land. The Theban general Epaminondas knew this very well. For after he had conquered the Lacedaemonians, he was seen the following day by his friends to be sad and downcast. And when they asked him what sorrow had befallen him, "Nothing," he said, "but yesterday I realized that I had exulted more than was proper; therefore, today I am voluntarily correcting the intemperance of my joy and victory, lest I fall from this into sorrow and ^D involuntary defeat, should a calamity arise. For everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled, and he who humbles himself shall be exalted."

LX. The Reign of Manasseh

After Hezekiah, Manasseh ^B his son reigned, and he did evil in the sight of the Lord, and died having reigned fifty-five years. He was most lawless beyond all the kings before him, on account of his idol-worship and bloodshed, and he sawed asunder the great Isaiah.

and by filling Jerusalem with innocent blood, he practiced idol-worship no less than the Amorites. Moreover, having defiled the house of the Lord and set up therein a four-faced idol of Zeus, he did not cease from augury, sorcery, and indecent acts, and by the excess of his madness he committed every form of evil. ^A (3) Wherefore, he was captured by the divine wrath under Marodach, king of the Assyrians, and was led away as a prisoner to Nineveh. (4) Of whom Josephus also says that, being captured by the king of the Assyrians and bound in bronze chains, he was led away prisoner; and realizing that he had received punishment worthy of his transgressions, and having through sincere repentance besought God, God immediately showed kindness to the king and sent him back to Jerusalem. Having returned, he destroyed every idolatrous shrine, purified the temple of God, kept the law, and lived piously.

^B (5) Likewise, in the Apostolic Constitutions it is thus written: "Manasses, son of Hezekiah, having done evil before the Lord beyond all those before him, as the Scripture says, the Lord brought upon him the captains of the host of the king, and they bound him in bronze fetters and led him away to Babylon." And he was bound and fettered in a house of prison, and there was given to him for bread a little bran and but little water with vinegar in measure, for his survival alone. Being hard-pressed and suffering greatly, he sought the face of the Lord his God and prayed, saying: "O Lord Almighty, the God of our fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob," and so forth. And God heard his voice and broke his bonds and sent him back to Jerusalem ^C into his kingdom. And having served the Lord God alone with all his heart, he was reckoned as righteous. (6) O the philanthropy of God! For there is no sin greater than idol-worship, since impiety is against God, yet even this is forgiven through sincere and wholehearted repentance. For it is worthy to marvel at God's philanthropy, how He considered one who had sinned so greatly and for so many years to be worthy of forgiveness in a single moment of time. For he had engaged in every form of evil; hear what the Scripture says: "And Manasses built up the high places which Hezekiah his father had demolished, and he erected an altar to Baal, and he made groves, ^D as Ahab, king of Israel, did, and he worshipped all the host of heaven and"

^A served them, and caused those who divine by the belly, and the knowing ones, to multiply, and practiced augury. By "host of heaven" he refers to the sun, the moon, and the stars. By "augury" he refers to observations made through words; by "divination by the belly" he refers to false prophecies made through the stomach; by "omen" he refers to the examination of birds; and by "knowing ones" he refers to those who divine through the liver or by some other means, and who prophesy demonically, about whom God said to Jeremiah: ^B "Prophecy and false visions, and divination, and the deceit and seduction of their own hearts, do they prophesy to you." For prophecy, as the great Chrysostom says, is of a twofold kind: one is divine, the other diabolic; yet they are called by the same name by men. But there is also a third prophecy, which is between the two, and is either natural or artificial, and is common to men. Divine prophecy is chiefly given to the saints, but by divine dispensation also to others, such as Pharaoh, Balaam, Nebuchadnezzar, and Caiaphas. Diabolic prophecy is given only to the servants of the devil; for his are the flour-diviners, the barley-diviners, the Pythia who foretells divine matters through plants, and the priestess of Dodona through the oak. Diabolic prophecy also includes that which uses the entrails of victims, the flight of birds, clamors, symbols, sneezings, ^C prognostic cries, the rumbling of thunder, mice, weasels, the sharp sounds of wood cracking, the ringing of ears, the twitching of the body, the invocation of the dead, and ten thousand similar things. For the prophecy that comes through dreams is also—even among us—by means of ecstasy; but their foreknowledge is not from virtue, as ours is, but from a certain hidden artifice. And when God makes known things to come, He also suggests the resolution, and the end comes to pass with all precision; but those others, because they happen to speak the truth in some instances, for the most part fail. Such, then, are divine and diabolic prophecy. Natural prophecy belongs to animals devoid of reason; for swallows, cranes, and ants sense that winter is approaching, as do hedgehogs and halcyons, possessing this by nature. Artificial prophecy belongs to physicians, symbols, and navigators; for some predict sicknesses and their resolutions, others changes of winds, ^D and others conjecture the consequence of things to come. Common and vulgar knowledge of the future is this, for example: that summer ends and winter comes, for all have a grasp of the periods of the seasons. What is so strange if even demons possess foreknowledge, when even ants possess it, and clever men are conjecturers of the future? But not so as to know everything entirely, since even the devil prophesied, saying, "You shall possess knowledge of good and evil," and it came to pass. And again, Balaam prophesied, saying, "Establish harlots, and Jerusalem will be betrayed through them," and it happened thus, which is more of a conjecture than a prediction; and such prophecies have nothing incredible in them.

[LXI. Regnum Amos.] ^A After Manasseh, his son Amos reigned, and he did evil in the sight of the Lord, and was slain in his own house, having reigned two years. At this time Midas the Phrygian became known (who, having once taken his chariot and gone to a certain place, and the chariot proceeding no further, stopped its course; and having built a city there, he called it Ancyra, for ancyra is an iron, river-faring anchor, which held the chariot and fixed Midas), who they said had donkey's ears. ^B It does not seem out of place for me to inquire for what reason God, when He had chastened Nebuchadnezzar and Manasseh, restored them again to their kingdom, but stripped Belshazzar and Amos suddenly of both kingdom and life, as unworthy of pardon, in an inglorious way. Truly, since these men imitated the deeds and impiety of their fathers, but not their repentance and return to their senses, the just Judge therefore stripped them of their power at an appointed time and deemed them worthy of no pardon. Because God foreknew all things and knows the customs and intention of each, ^C «searching hearts and kidneys,» and understanding all our deeds, and foreseeing the repentance of all, He dealt with them in this way; and seeing that their impiety would persevere until death, He took vengeance for the deeds perpetrated by them and for the hardness of their heart. This the divine word signifies in the Apostolic Constitutions, saying thus: «If anyone sins out of conceit, tempting God as if He will not exact vengeance from the sinner, this man will not receive pardon, even if he says in his heart: 'I will sanctify myself, and from a perverse heart I will return to conversion and do penance.'» Such was Amos, the son of Manasseh; for the Scripture says: ^D «And Amos, the son of Manasseh, devised a thought of transgression and said: 'My father did many lawless things from his youth, and in his old age he repented; and shall I not now follow the desires of my soul, and afterward return to the Lord?' And when he had done evil before the Lord, the Lord struck him suddenly.» Whence how true it is to say: «It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.» «For who of stout heart has resisted the Lord,» says the prophet, «and had peace? He is wise of heart and strong in power; who has resisted Him and had peace?» Whence David exclaims with great wisdom, saying: «Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the provocation.» Which the Apostle well interpreting, says: «See, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called today, that none of you be hardened by the deceit of sin.»

LXII. The Reign of Josiah.

^A After Amon, his son Josiah reigned for thirty-one years. He was eight years old when he began to reign, and he did what was upright in the sight of the Lord, and he died, having been struck by an arrow in battle. For Necho, king of Egypt, having campaigned against the Assyrians, was eager to assist the Assyrians; whence Ezra says: «And the king of Egypt said to Josiah, "What have I to do with thee, O king of Judah? I am not come against thee this day, but I am fighting against another house, towards which God has hastened me to go. Refrain from acting against God, who is with me, lest he destroy thee."» But Josiah would not turn back from him, but ^B prepared to make war against him, not heeding the word of Jeremiah the prophet speaking from the mouth of the Lord; and he drew up a battle against him in the field, contrary to the will of God, and having been struck by an arrow by the enemies, he said to his servants: «Take me away, for I am very severely wounded.» And immediately, upon his being brought back to Jerusalem and having departed this life, there was great mourning throughout all Judea, and Jeremiah mourned for Josiah more than all. For he was the most righteous of the kings who had been before him. And when the Law of the Lord was being read accurately, having heard it and being greatly ^C cast down in spirit, knowing that it had been trampled upon for so many years, he rent his garments and became fearful, and sent to Huldah the prophetess, inquiring what the Lord wills concerning him and all the people. And she says: «Thus says the Lord, "Because thy heart was tender and thou wast humbled before my face, as thou heardst what I spoke against this place and against those who dwell in it, that they should be for an astonishment and a curse, and thou didst rend thy garments and weep before me, behold I will gather thee unto thy fathers in peace, and thy eyes shall not see all the evils that I will bring upon this place."»

^D Then, being moved by divine zeal, he not only shattered from their foundations the idols and images that were everywhere, but also destroyed the idolaters, consuming the living ones and burning the dead in the tombs. And lifting his eyes to the monument of the man of God, he said: «What is that monument which I see?» And the men of the city say to him: «It is the sepulcher of the man of God who came from Judah and prophesied these words over the altar of Bethel.» And he said: «Leave him alone, no one shall move his bones.» And indeed, he also [destroyed] the necromancers and diviners and false prophets and...

every abomination and detestable thing that was in Jerusalem, and he turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his strength and with all his soul, according to the Law of Moses; and for this reason he celebrated a Passover such as had not happened since the time of Joshua the son of Nun and Samuel the prophet; in which he sacrificed twelve thousand oxen and thirty-eight thousand sheep. And it is said that the works of Josiah were accomplished before the Lord with a heart full of piety. For there was no king like him before him, nor did any arise like him; yet the Lord did not turn away from the fury of His great wrath, with which His anger was kindled against Judah, because of the provocations by which Manasseh had provoked Him.

Around these times, Byzantium was founded by Byzas, king of Thrace, and the Samian Sibyl became known. ^B

LXIII. The Reign of Joachaz

After Josiah, Joachaz his son reigned and did evil in the sight of the Lord; and being taken by Necho, king of Egypt, he was led away into Egypt, where he also died, having reigned three months. During his reign, as Josephus narrates, the people of Israel obtained that they should be called Jews from the tribe of Judah, which excelled the others by much and dwelt in the city of Jerusalem. The city itself, which is also called Sion, [was] called Judea, which was previously called Jebus by the Jebusites who had inhabited that region. David named this city Jerusalem, imposing this name upon it from a certain event; for it is situated on a very high ^C mountain on which the Lord appeared to David on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite, when the people were afflicted with plague because of the imprudently executed census of the people. For the mountain is called *Ar* in the Hebrew tongue, and the city *Salem*. When David chose this place to build a royal residence, he called it *Arsalem*, that is, mountain of peace; but the word, translated into the Greek tongue, shifted to *Hierosolyma* on account of the harmony of the sound. ^D

LXIV. The Reign of Joachim

After Joachas, Joachim reigned and did evil in the eyes of the Lord. And when Nebuchadnezzar, the successor of Merodach, had come and had reduced Judea into his domain, he had imposed tribute upon it; but as Joachim refused the tax, Nebuchadnezzar came again to Jerusalem and, having captured the king and ordered him to be cast from the walls and tortured, left him unburied for a long time; Joachim had reigned eleven years. Of whom Jeremiah says: «Thus saith the Lord concerning Joachim the son of Josiah, king of Judah: They shall not lament him; woe to that man: they shall not bewail him: Woe, Lord, and woe, O noble one. He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, decaying...

and cast out beyond the gates of Jerusalem. ^A Then Daniel and the three youths were also led away, as were many others of the people, and a part of the vessels of the Lord, into Babylon.

LXV. The Reign of Jechoniah

After Jehoiakim, Jechoniah, his son (who was also called Jehoiakim), reigned by the command of Nebuchadnezzar, and he did evil in the sight of the Lord. And when he acted insolently regarding the taxes, Nebuchadnezzar came to the city of Jerusalem and laid siege to it. ^B To whom Jechoniah went out with his mother, and his children, and his princes, and the nobles of Nebuchadnezzar entered into the city; and they carried out the treasures of the Lord and of the king, and all the golden vessels which Solomon had made in the temple of the Lord. And having established Zedekiah in place of Jechoniah, he deported Jechoniah—who had reigned for three months—together with his mother and his princes, to Babylon. Regarding whom Jeremiah again said: “Jechoniah is dishonored as a vessel of which there is no longer any need, because he was cast away and thrown into a land which he did not know, says the Lord. Earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord. Write this man as a cast-off person, because no man of his seed shall prosper sitting on the throne of David, ruling anymore in Judah.”

LXVI. The Reign of Zedekiah

^C After Jechoniah, Zedekiah, his paternal uncle, reigned, and he did evil in the sight of the Lord. And when he likewise broke his oath regarding the tribute, Nebuchadnezzar came again to Jerusalem and besieged it for six years. And Jeremiah, having prophesied the destruction of the city, was bound in chains by Zedekiah and cast into a pit.

Now, after this, by the command of the Lord, as the city was already about to be taken, he hid the altar and the table and the lampstand of the temple in an unknown place, and they were not found again. For the book of the Maccabees says: “Jeremiah went, an oracle having been given to him, ^D to the mountain where Moses saw the inheritance of God, and coming to a place there, and finding a cave-like dwelling, he brought in the ark and the altar of incense, and blocked the door. And when some who were following him came up to mark the way for themselves, they were unable to find it. But when Jeremiah knew, he chided them and said: ‘The place shall be unknown until God gathers the

^A congregation of the people and becomes merciful. And then the Lord shall reveal these things, and the glory of the Lord shall appear, and the cloud, as it was signified in the time of Moses.’ (3) But Nebuchadnezzar, having taken the city, burned it all; and having seized Zedekiah, he slew his wife and children before his eyes, and having blinded him and bound him in chains, he led him captive to Babylon, after he had reigned for eleven years. (4) Concerning whom Jeremiah again says: ‘Behold, I deliver him into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he shall strike him. And they shall take up a curse against him, saying: May the Lord make you as He made Zedekiah and as Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire because of the iniquity which they committed in Jerusalem, and they committed adultery with the wives of their neighbors, and spoke a word in my name falsely, which I did not command them, says the Lord.’

LXVII. Concerning the first captivity of Jerusalem in Babylon, which is the second after the sojourn in Egypt.

In the third year after the city was captured, Nebuchadnezzar sent Nebuzaradan, his chief of the guard, to Jerusalem, and he burned the house of the Lord, and the house of the king, and those that remained in the city, the divine house having lasted four hundred and forty-two years from its first construction. The great bronze pillars, and the bronze sea, and the twelve oxen underneath it, and the supports, and all the bronze that was in the temple of the Lord, he broke to pieces and carried off to Babylon; and indeed also the Levites, and the censers, and the fire-pans, and the golden, silver, and bronze bowls; for there was no weighing the bronze of all the vessels which the chief of the guard, Nebuzaradan, took. Of the remaining Jews, he led away the chief men to Nebuchadnezzar, who put some to death and delivered others as slaves to his commanders. ^B Zedekiah, however, he shut up in prison and condemned to grind at the mill, in whose time occurred the final and first destruction of Jerusalem, which was no longer ruled by the Jews, but was held by the Chaldeans.

(2) Therefore, Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem three times, as has been said: first in the time of Jehoiakim, with whom Daniel the prophet and the three children were also taken captive (in whose time prophesied Jeremiah, and Buzi, and Uriah, the son of Shemaiah, whom Jehoiakim caught and killed when he fled to Egypt); the second captivity was in the time of Jeconiah; and the third occurred when he arrived in the time of Zedekiah, when he even burned the temple, and blinded Zedekiah, and slaughtered his sons together with many others, and led the rest of the multitude into captivity.

(5) Concerning whom also the great Gregory the Theologian ^C making mention, says: ‘And that I may pass over the peoples, and the cities, and empires, and besides these, countries, and armies, and houses, and nav—

navies full of passengers, and marriages, and associations, all of which as they are held together by peace, so they are utterly overthrown by discord,’ I will turn my discourse to the Israelites, and when I have set forth their calamities, I will ask of you what is the cause of these disasters, so that we may be instructed unto concord by the misfortunes of others.

^A For as long as they had peace, both among themselves and with God, while they were oppressed by the Egyptian tyranny, that is, the iron furnace, and were joined and gathered together by their common affliction (for sometimes affliction itself is a good medicine for salvation), they were called a holy people, and the portion of the Lord, and a royal priesthood. Nor can it be said that these names were merely ample and magnificent, but that the realities did not correspond to the names. For they were led by leaders guided by God, and they were led by night and day by a pillar of fire and a cloud; the sea was divided for them as they fled; the heavens supplied food for them when they hungered; the rock provided for the thirsty the use of a fountain; and for those fighting, the extension of hands ^B was like unto countless armies, raising up trophies by the work of prayer and opening the way forward; the rivers also retreated, imitating their kindred sea; the elements halted; and walls were shaken down by trumpets. And what need is there to speak of the plagues of the Egyptians inflicted for their sake, or the voices of God heard from the mountain, or the double law, the one literal, the other spiritual, and the other honors which Israel had long before obtained beyond their own merits? But after they began to sicken, and to rage against God and against one another, and to be divided into many parts, what happened, and what did they suffer?

Jeremiah indeed rightly laments them ^C because of the incurable afflictions and bewails the captivity in Babylon; for these were truly worthy of tears and groans. How could they not be? Walls of the greatest cities razed, the city leveled to the ground, the sanctuary destroyed, votive offerings plundered, profane feet and hands: feet indeed invading places not to be entered, and hands luxuriating in things that it was forbidden to touch, prophets silent, priests abducted, elders held without mercy, virgins ravished, youth falling, foreign and hostile fire, rivers of blood instead of the holy fire and blood, Nazarites dragged away; and, that I may produce from the Lamentations of Jeremiah himself: ^D “The noble sons of Sion, those comparable to gold, those, I say, delicate and immune to evils, tread an unaccustomed path; and the ways of Sion mourn, because there are none who celebrate the feast days.” And a little before this: “The hands of merciful women, as the siege grew strong, did not prepare food for their children, but tore them for food, and made the remedy of famine, the most beloved of things, out of them.” How are these not terrible things, and beyond all that is terrible, not

to those who suffered them then alone, but to those who hear of them now? And these things, indeed, up to this point. ^B

LXVIII. The number of the years of the kings of Jerusalem.

There are, therefore, of those who reigned in Jerusalem from David until Zedekiah, four hundred and seven years; the kings, however, are twenty-two in number; and all were born of the one lineage of David. In their times, prophets existed whose names follow, namely: during the reign of Saul, David and Samuel; during the reign of David, Gad, Nathan, and Asaph; during the reigns of Solomon and his successors, Ahijah the Shilonite and Shemaiah the son of Addo; during the reigns of Jehoshaphat and his successors, Micaiah, Elijah, Elisha, Obadiah, Jehu the son of Hanani, Eleazar, and Azariah; during the reigns of Hezekiah and his successors, Hosea, Amos, Isaiah, and Jonah; during the reigns of Josiah and his successors, Jeremiah, Zephaniah, Huldah, and Baruch; under Zedekiah, again, Jeremiah and Habakkuk. After the captivity, under the leadership of Joshua the son of Jozadak the priest, Haggai and Zechariah prophesy—the last of the prophets. For Daniel and Ezekiel prophesied during the captivity in Babylon. ^C

There are, moreover, from the first year of Ahaz and the first Olympiad until the Babylonian captivity, when Daniel and the three youths were led away, one hundred and forty-three years; from Saul, the first king of the Hebrews, four hundred and seven years; from the death of Joshua the son of Nun, one thousand one hundred years; from Noah and the flood, two thousand and ten years; from Adam, four thousand eight hundred and seventy-two years.

While the sequence of the times for us is preserved through those who reigned from the dominion of David, it does not seem to me out of place to run through the times of those who ruled over Samaria by way of a digression. For when Solomon had died, Rehoboam his son went up to Shechem; for there the people had gathered in order to make him king. ^D As he was about to be anointed, the people came before him, beseeching him to lighten the multitude of the tributes which his father Solomon had exacted from the people. And when he had received three days to take counsel and to judge what he ought to do, with the elders advising him to lighten the people, but the juniors advising that he exact a heavier tribute, he gave credence to the latter. Therefore, on the third day, according to the counsel of the juniors, he addressed the people, and those who were at first submitting to his authority...

^A withdrew, renouncing his rule. And the ten tribes established over themselves Jeroboam, the son of Nabath and Sarira, a harlot, born of the tribe of Ephraim, as king; but the tribe of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin remained with Rehoboam. From that time the people were divided, and each part assumed its own name and royal house, just as we have said above.

LXIX. The Beginning of the Kings in Samaria.

The beginning of the reign of Jeroboam. After the division of the ten scepters, Jeroboam reigned, as it has been said, the son of Nabath, of the tribe of Ephraim, the servant of Solomon and a defector, when he caused Israel to defect into Samaria. And he did evil before the Lord, and God struck him, and he died in his sins, having reigned twenty-two years. For having made two golden calves, and having set one in Bethel and the other in Dan, he said to the people: "Let it be enough for you to go up to Jerusalem; behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up from the land of Egypt." And he committed a great sin against them, and the sons of Israel walked in all the sin of Jeroboam, and they served and worshipped vanities until the Lord removed them from his presence into Assyria. ^B

LXX. The Reign of Nabath.

After Jeroboam, Nabath his son reigned, and he did evil before the Lord, and was slain by Baaza, having reigned two years.

LXXI. The Reign of Baaza.

After Nabath, Baaza reigned, and he did evil before the Lord, and was slain in war, after a reign of twenty-four years.

LXXII. The Reign of Ela.

After Baaza, Ela his son reigned, and he did evil before the Lord, and was slain by Zambri, having reigned two years. ^C

LXXIII. The Reign of Zambri.

But after Ela, Zambri reigned, and he did evil before the Lord, and was burned in his house, having fled there from his enemies, after having reigned twenty-two years.

LXXIV. The Reign of Achab.

After Zambri, Achab his son reigned, and he did evil before the Lord, and died in his sins, having reigned twenty-two years. ^D

LXXV. Concerning Jezabel and the Prophet Elijah.

For when his wife Jezabel had slain Naboth...

and had thus seized his vineyard ^A 11, the prophet Elijah said to him 12: "Thus saith the Lord: Because you have killed and disinherited—in the place where the dogs licked the blood of Naboth, there shall the dogs lick your blood, and the dogs shall devour Jezabel at the fortification. And I will destroy Achab and every one that makes water against the wall."

(2) Achab, therefore, having built great and strong cities, and a very wondrous ivory house in Samaria, and having afterwards waged war against the Syrians, of whom he struck down in one day twelve myriads, that is to say, one hundred and twenty thousand, and having captured their king, by name Ader, whom he spared and sent away against the will of God, is clearly reproved by the prophet Micaiah, who says: "Thus saith the Lord: You have sent away a man worthy of death from your hand; your soul shall be for his soul, and your people for his people." Having heard this ^B, the king returned confused and greatly troubled.

(3) In the third year, when he had gone out to war against the ungrateful violator of the treaty, the king of Syria ^C, and Micaiah had reproved him, he said in anger to those around him: "Seize this man and cast him into the prison house, and sustain him with the bread of tribulation and the water of distress until I shall return in peace." And Micaiah said: "If you return in peace at all, the Lord has not spoken by me." And having entered into the war, and having been struck by an arrow between the breastplate and the lung, and having returned by his chariot, and having died, the dogs licked his blood there in the place where [they had licked] the blood of Naboth, according to the word which the Lord spoke through the hand of the prophet Elijah.

(4) Concerning which Theodoret ^D says: "It is indeed lawful to inquire for what reason the divine prophet, that burning zealot and worker of such great wonders, spoke so freely and boldly face to face with Achab, yet threatened his wife Jezabel with not even a slight threat, and fled for a journey of forty days. The reason, indeed, is that although that man was marvelous in miracles that surpass human powers, he was nevertheless not devoid of human infirmity, and moreover, he feared by the nod of divine providence. For, lest his spirit should grow proud through the magnitude of the wonders he was empowered to perform, grace permitted nature to exhibit trepidation, for the recognition of human weakness. For this cause the Lord also said to him: 'Do not glory, Elijah; there are seven thousand who have not been defiled by impiety.' Furthermore, God taught him to rule men gently and with long-suffering,"

and ^A furthermore taught that he was pleased to govern the human race with gentleness and long-suffering, and that it was easy for Him also to send thunder and lightning against the impious, to shake the earth, to manifest a sudden grave for them, and to destroy them utterly with violent winds. Therefore He says: "And a great and strong wind, dismantling the mountains and crushing the rocks before the Lord; the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake; and the Lord was not in the earthquake. [And after the earthquake fire; the Lord was not in the fire.] And after the fire, the sound of a gentle breeze; and there was the Lord." For by these things He showed that long-suffering and philanthropy alone are pleasing to God, while each of the others is kindled by wickedness, which attracts just wrath.

But for what reason was he again fed by a raven? Listen: because God, wishing to soften the just indignation of the zealous prophet against the lawless Jews, arranged for him to be fed by a bird that hates its own young, one that begets them but does not nourish them. Likewise also David, even though all creation by a natural law looks up to the Creator: "For the eyes of all," he says, "hope in Thee, and Thou givest them their food in due season" (Ps. CXLIV, 15), yet regarding ravens he speaks explicitly, saying: "Who gives to the beasts their food, and to the young of the ravens that call upon Him." All things, he says, are nourished by divine Providence, but especially the young of ravens, when they are not nourished by their parents; for when the little birds are fluttering about their nests, food is not lacking for them. By these, God persuaded Elias not to use more severe wrath in restoring serenity to the people, and not to appear to imitate this cruel bird which is accustomed to loathe its own chicks. For that bird, it was as if one were saying, "It is by My command that you are well nourished, and you are moved by wrath to violate the laws of humanity!"

LXXVI. The Reign of Ochosias.

^B After Achab, Ochosias his son reigned, and he did evil before the Lord; and having fallen from the upper chamber of his house, he became ill and died, having reigned for two years.

LXXVII. The Reign of Joram.

^C After Ochosias, Joram his brother reigned, and he did evil before the Lord, and was slain by Jehu, having reigned for twelve years; he who subjected to himself the king of Moab, from whom he was receiving as annual tribute one hundred thousand lambs and one hundred thousand rams. In his time, Elias the great was taken up to heaven, when he had anointed Eliseus in his stead as prophet. Ader, king of Syria, came and besieged Samaria, and a great famine ensued, so that an ass’s head was sold for thirty silver pieces. And Joram was passing along the wall, and a certain woman cried out to him saying:

^A “Save me, my lord king.” And he answered and said, “May the Lord not save you; from where should I save you? From the threshing floor or from the winepress?” And the woman says, “Not so, O king, but this woman said to me, ‘Give your son, that we may eat him today, and my son we shall eat tomorrow.’ And having cooked him yesterday, we ate, and today she has hidden her son.” Hearing this, the king tore his clothes, and the people saw the sackcloth that was upon his flesh underneath, and he answered ^B and said, “May God do so to me and more also, if the head of Elisha, the son of Saphat, remains upon him today.” And having sent the royal adjutant upon whose hand he leaned, the prophet said to him, “Thus says the Lord: Tomorrow at about this hour, a measure of fine flour shall be sold for a shekel, and two measures of barley for a shekel in the gates of Samaria.” And the adjutant said, “Even if the Lord makes floodgates in heaven, can such a thing be?” And he said, “You shall see it with your own eyes, and you shall not eat of it.” And four leprous men sitting by the gate of the city, and not bearing the famine, decided to desert to the enemy. And rising up in the darkness, they came to the camp of Syria, and behold, there was no man there, because the Lord had made the camp of Syria hear the sound of chariots and ^C horses and a great army, and they all fled in the darkness, leaving everything behind. And when the lepers had reported everything in the city, the king sent [men] to know if the report was true, and having gone behind the king of Syria as far as the Jordan River, behold, the whole road was full of garments and vessels which the Syrians had thrown away in their terror. And when those whom the king had sent had returned, the people went out of the city and plundered the camp of Syria, and there was a measure of fine flour for a shekel and two measures of barley for a shekel, according to the word of the Lord. And the king having placed the adjutant in charge of the gate, the people trampled him, and he died without having eaten of the grain, according to the word of the prophet. ^D And furthermore, he also healed the waters of Jericho by prayer, for they were bitter by nature and unpleasant to drink, and were an obstacle to childbirth, and deadly, and sometimes even unfit for irrigation, which, having changed for the benefit of men and cattle, became the cause of great fertility and salvation for the region. For even to this day, this overflowing spring waters the great plain and nurtures orchards and kinds of palm trees that are honey-bearing, of which the majority, when trampled and pressed, pour out much honey; for the region is very honey-bearing and aromatifera, producing citrus, and myrobalan, and much opobalsam, so that, on account of the rare fruits desirable to men, it might not absurdly be compared to Paradise. Concerning which the great Anastasius of Theopolis says: “Diligent chroniclers of events report that Paradise is a region most to the east, and as it were the altar of the earth, whose fields reach even to the outer Indians, fertile in odoriferous and aromatic fruits. For the winds...

^A catching the light of the sun and giving back to them the fragrance of the plants of Paradise, they take it up, even as do the palms that stand near one another, which transmit to each other through the winds the fertilizing flower from the males. Every fragrance, therefore—and especially that of Indian spices, without any liquid oil or other preparations—is restorative and temperate to the human body, just as, on the other hand, a foul odor is destructive and pestilential. Whence a certain medical philosopher truly said that, if he should find one dying before his mind is deranged, he could, by some preparation of aromatics, make his intellect sober for an hour, so that he might speak and settle his affairs, which indeed we have taken into consideration and have been eyewitnesses of; and ^B many other witnesses, even those most skilled in the medical art, testify up to this day to this having happened, seeing it performed by those who have practiced the science accurately and with circumspection.

LXXVIII. The Reign of Jehu

After Joram, Jehu, the son of Saphat, son of Nimshi, reigned. For Jehu, having found King Joram curing his wounds, struck him with an arrow. And as he was entering the city of Samaria, Jezebel looked down through the window, adorned in splendid clothing. Jehu commanded her eunuchs to cast her down, and she was trampled by horses and eaten by dogs. And having struck down the sons of Ahab and those who were left of his house in Samaria, according to the word of Elijah, he gathered all the multitude of the people and said to them craftily: "Ahab served Baal a little, but Jehu will serve him much. Now therefore call to me all the prophets and priests of Baal; ^C for whoever is missing shall not live." And when all were gathered together, and the temple of the idol was filled so that mouth touched mouth, the king said to the servants of Baal: "Search accurately, lest there be any one of the servants of the Lord among you." And when none was found, he commanded his ministers, and they struck them all with the edge of the sword, and Baal and all that was his were destroyed. Nevertheless, Jehu did not take care to walk in the law of the Lord, and he was killed in war after having reigned twenty-eight years.

LXXIX. The Reign of Joachaz

After Jehu, Joachaz his son reigned, and he did evil in the sight of the Lord, and died ^D having reigned seventeen years.

LXXX. The Reign of Joas

After Joachaz, Joas his son reigned, and he did evil in the sight of the Lord, and died, having reigned thirteen years. At that time, Elisha

^A died, having prophesied to Joas the former victory over the Syrians by the intervention of counselors, having instructed him to strike the ground five times. He struck well three times, but at the fourth he failed; and the prophet prophesied to him that he would join battle and conquer the Assyrians three times, but that in the others he would be defeated. For if he had struck the ground five times as he was instructed, he would have attacked by five times and destroyed the power of the Syrians. This admirable prophet, having died and been buried in a tomb, when Moabite raiders had buried a certain dead man there, as he was brought near to the bones of the blessed prophet, he came back to life and stood upon his feet.

LXXXI. The Reign of Jeroboam After Joas, Jeroboam his son reigned, and he did evil in the sight of the Lord, and died, having reigned thirty-four years.

LXXXII. The Reign of Azaria After Jeroboam, Azarias his son reigned, and he did evil in the sight of the Lord, and he was slain by Sellum, having reigned six months.

LXXXIII. The Reign of Sellum After Azarias, Sellum reigned, and he did evil in the sight of the Lord, and he was slain by Manahem, having reigned one month.

LXXXIV. The Reign of Manahem After Sellum, Manahem reigned, and he did evil in the sight of the Lord, and he was slain by Phaceia, having reigned five years.

LXXXV. The Reign of Phaceia After Manahem, Phaceia his son reigned, and he did evil in the sight of the Lord, and he was slain by Phacee, having reigned two years.

LXXXVI. The Reign of Phacee After Phaceia, Phacee reigned, and he did evil in the sight of the Lord, and he was slain by Osee, having reigned twenty years. ^B From this we learn that God is accustomed to punish those who live in evil through one another, and delivers the worse to the evil, using them as it were as executioners.

LXXXVII. The Reign of Osee After Phacee, Osee reigned nine years, and having done evil in the sight of the Lord, Salmanasar, king of the Assyrians, came against Samaria and carried it away on account of their great sins. ^C For they had made for themselves two golden calves and worshipped them, and served Baal, and consecrated their sons and their daughters by fire, and they practiced divinations and auguries and witchcraft; and the Lord rejected ^D them from His sight, and there remained nothing but

^A the tribe of Judah alone. But Judah itself did not keep the commandments of the Lord its God, but walked in the errors of Israel which he had committed. And the Lord delivered them into the hands of those who stripped them. And Israel was carried away into Assyria unto this day. And the king of the Assyrians brought three nations, namely from Cutha, and from Avah, and from Emath, and from Sepharvaim, and settled them in the cities of Samaria. And the Lord sent lions among them, which were killing them. And it was reported to the king of the Assyrians and it was said: "The nations which you have deported and caused to dwell in the cities of Samaria do not know the ordinances of the God of the land; and the Lord has sent lions among them, and behold, they are killing them." And the king said: "Bring some men from that land and let them teach them the ordinances of God." Therefore, when one of those priests who had been carried away captive from Samaria had come, he taught them how they ought to worship the Lord; and they were worshipping the Lord, yet serving their own gods, and they dwelt there until this day.

(4) The Jews, therefore, returning, were bitterly jealous of them as being foreigners, and had no dealings with them, but from Mount Somer they called them Samaritans. These men, having accepted only the books of Moses, made little account of the remaining Scriptures. From this, being at odds with the Jews, they claimed Abraham as their father, inasmuch as he originated from Chaldea, from whence they also had sprung; wherefore also the Samaritan woman said to the Lord: "Our fathers worshipped in this mountain," ^C signifying the children of Abraham who had offered his son in sacrifice to the Lord in that place. (5) Now those who reigned in Samaria were in number eighteen, from Jeroboam until the aforementioned Osee, in whose time Samaria ceased and perished, and the Assyrians settled there, as has been said; from whom the heretical Samaritans and Sadducees have appeared. The total number of years is two hundred and fifty-three; and they were sprung from diverse races, but all did evil in the sight of the Lord according to the sin of Jeroboam.

LXXXVIII. Concerning the Empire of Babylon

^D (1) The beginning of the reign of King Nabuchodonosor of Babylon. After the aforementioned kings of the Assyrians, Nabuchodonosor reigned for twenty-four years. He also captured Jerusalem for seven years, and God delivered into his hand Joachim, the king of Judah, and he brought all the vessels of the house of God into the house of the treasury of his god. (2) This man, having built a very great city in Babylon of kiln-fired brick and polished stone, whose

^A width was three cubits and its length six, made its perimeter forty stadia, which is six miles. The height of the walls was eighty cubits, and the width thirty; and he set towers upon the gates a hundred cubits in height and sixty in width, and made gates of bronze fifty cubits in height and twenty in width, for the in-and-out passage of his people. Near the city he dug a reservoir, and built it up and walled it in significantly, its perimeter being forty stadia, and its depth forty cubits; and he built another work just as admirable: for he raised stone embankments, very high and manifold, and planted fruit trees upon them, so that they looked like mountains covered with dense trees; he called this the hanging garden, in which his wife, walking around and surveying that whole region, was delighted, not being seen by anyone. (3) This is the city concerning which, while walking about, he said with much haughtiness and arrogance: "Is not this Babylon the great, which I have built as a royal house by the might of my power, for the honor of my glory?" And while the word was still in his mouth, a voice came from heaven, saying: "To you it is spoken, O King Nabuchodonosor: Thy kingdom is departed from thee, and they shall drive thee from among men, and thy habitation shall be with the beasts and the wild animals, and they shall feed thee with grass as an ox, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomever He will." And at that very hour the word was fulfilled upon Nabuchodonosor, and he was driven from among men, and he ate grass as an ox, and his body was wetted with the dew of heaven, until his hair grew like that of a lion, and his nails like those of a bird. (4) But after these things, the same person speaks again concerning his restoration: "At that time, my mind returned to me, and I came to the honor of my kingdom, and my form returned to me, and my lords and my magistrates sought me; and I was established in my kingdom, and greater majesty was added unto me. Now therefore I, Nabuchodonosor, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because all His works are true and His ways are judgments, and those walking in pride He is able to humble." (5) Therefore, the divine word, revealing the great wealth, strength, and splendor given by God (to him), says through Jeremiah: "Thus saith the Lord: Behold... [original-script column: see facsimile] ^{B C D}

earth to Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, to serve him, and the wild beasts of the field to labor for him; and the nation and the kingdom, as many as do not put their necks under his yoke, I will visit with sword and famine ^A until they are consumed by his hand." And he is fierce, and he shall have no mercy; his voice is like the roaring sea; he shall set in order the battle against you, O daughter of Zion, with many horses and chariots like a fire. And because of the sound of his rushing, and because of the pounding of his feet, and because of the shaking of his chariots, and the noise of his wheels, fathers shall not turn back to their sons because of the weakening of their hands. And as is written: "From Dan the voice of the swiftness of his horses shall be heard, and from the sound of the neighing of his cavalry all that land shall be shaken; and he shall come and devour the land and its fullness, the cities and those who dwell in them." ^B Likewise, he speaks thus through Ezekiel: "Behold, I lead Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, against Tyre, who is the king of kings, with horses and chariots and a great multitude of many nations. And he shall cast up against you a rampart and build a siege wall in a circle and siege-engines of war, and he shall set his spears against you. He shall tear down your walls and your towers with his weapons. And because of the abundance of his horses, their dust shall cover you." And again: "Thus saith the Lord Adonai: Behold, I give the land of Egypt to Nebuchadnezzar, and he shall take its multitude and spoil its plunder and prey upon its booty. For the service which he served against Tyre, I have given him the land of Egypt. And I will destroy the multitude of the Egyptians by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar; with the swords of his giants I will cast down their strength." And after this: ^C "And those who dwell in the cities shall go out, and they shall kindle and light fires with their weapons, and with shields, and with bucklers, and with spears, and with bows, and with arrows, and with hand-staves, and with javelins, and they shall burn with fire in them for seven years. And they shall not take wood from the field, nor shall they cut from the forests, because they shall burn the weapons with fire." Consistently, therefore, Daniel said to him: "You, O king, are a king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given a strong, mighty, and honorable kingdom in every place where the sons of men dwell; the beasts of the field and the birds of the sky He has given into your hand, and made you lord of all; you are the golden head of the image. And ^D the tree that you saw, the great one, whose height reached to heaven and its breadth to all the earth, and its leaves were flourishing, and its fruit was much, and there was food for all upon it, and under it the beasts dwelt, and in its branches the birds of the air made their nests—you are that king, for you have been magnified and have become very strong, and your greatness has reached to heaven, and your dominion to the ends of the earth."

LXXXIX. Concerning the reign of Evilmerodach

his son, for five years. He released Jeconiah from his bonds and took him to his table. Concerning him, the history of the Kingdoms and the divine Jeremiah said: "And it came to pass in the thirty-seventh year of the ^A migration of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-fifth of the month, Evilmerodach, king of Babylon, in the year he began to reign, lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah and brought him forth out of the house of prison; and he spoke kindly to him and set his throne above the thrones of the kings who were with him in Babylon. And he changed his prison garments, and he ate bread before him continually all the days he lived." Jehoiachin is the same as Jeconiah. For Nebuchadnezzar had killed his father, Jehoiakim, under whom Daniel had been carried into captivity, and threw him out beyond ^B the walls. XC. Concerning Belshazzar After Evilmerodach, his brother Belshazzar reigned for three years. Having made a feast for his nobles, he polluted in the banquet the sacred vessels of the Lord, which his father Nebuchadnezzar had carried away from Jerusalem; he was killed by the command of the angry God. For thus Daniel spoke to him: "The most high God gave the kingdom, and majesty, and glory to Nebuchadnezzar, thy father. And for the majesty that he gave him, all people, tribes, and languages trembled and feared before him; whom he would he slew, and whom he would he saved. But when his heart was lifted up and his spirit hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne. He did eat grass as an ox, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till he knew that the Most High ruled in the kingdom of men, and that He appointeth over it whomsoever He will. And thou, his son, O Belshazzar, hast not humbled thy heart, though thou knewest all this; and thou, and thy lords, and thy wives, and thy concubines have drunk wine in the sacred vessels. Therefore the ^C fingers of a hand were sent from before Him, and this writing was shown: MANE, THECEL, PHARES. Mane: God hath numbered thy kingdom and finished it. Thecel: Thou art weighed in the balance and art found wanting. Phares: Thy kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians. In that same night Belshazzar the Chaldean was killed, and Darius received the kingdom." Do not think, he says, that Nebuchadnezzar used his own proper strength when he subdued the whole earth. For God, when punishing sinners, uses certain instruments as if they were useful—even evil ones—to fulfill His wrath against them. Hence He says through Isaiah: "Shall the axe boast itself against him that heweth therewith? or shall the saw magnify itself against him by whom it is drawn?" ^D

^A For, he says, it is impossible for an axe or a saw or a rod to be moved of its own accord to perform its work; for each of these only acts when someone, wishing to move it, uses his hand. So, I too use the wicked against wicked men. Therefore, Jeremiah also says: "Thus said the Lord God of Israel: 'I have made the earth by my great power and by my outstretched arm, and I will give it unto whom it seems good in my eyes. And behold, I have given all the land into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, my servant, that all nations may serve him,' and so forth." [And having despised the divine judgment, the ineffable justice, and the long-suffering of God], he henceforth experienced the impartial and inescapable nature of the divine wrath.

XCI. The Reign of Darius

After Belshazzar, Darius the Mede, also called Astyages Artaxerxes, reigned for seventeen years. He had as his wife Esther, who from ^B among the Jewish maidens was chosen for her beauty, and who delivered her own Jewish people, who were about to be destroyed by a plot of Haman, the supreme commander of the royal forces; and she caused Haman to be impaled upon the very stake that he himself had prepared for Mordecai, the uncle of Esther, because he refused to honor and bow down to him. In these events, the Scriptures are rightly fulfilled which say: "He who speaks lies shall perish," and: "He who speaks with smooth and feigned words spreads a net for his own feet," and: "Upon the one who makes a most wicked plan, it shall roll back, and he shall not know whence it comes to him," and: "He who digs a pit for his neighbor shall fall into it," and: "By the things through which one sins, by these he is also punished." For one of the grandees said: "Behold, the stake which Haman ^C has set up for Mordecai is fifty cubits high." And it came to pass thus, by the command of King Artaxerxes. During his reign, visions were shown to Daniel through the archangel Gabriel, and the time of the advent of Christ was indicated. The same Daniel, out of the envy of the princes—because he was in great honor with the king—was cast into the den of lions, and was kept unharmed.

XCII. The Reign of Cyrus

After Darius, Cyrus the Persian reigned for thirty-two years. Having defeated Croesus, he ruled over the entire world (for he brought the kingdoms of the Chaldeans, Assyrians, and Persians, as well as Palestine and all of Asia, and the Lydian empire, under his dominion, having previously defeated Croesus, as was mentioned before). Under his reign, Daniel was even more illustrious; he destroyed Bel, ^D and slew the dragon, and the sacred objects of the Persians...

^A he broke, and was cast again into the lions' den, and he remained there for six days, and there were seven lions. Two bodies and two sheep were given to them each day, and at that time nothing was given to them, so that they might devour Daniel. And there was Habakkuk the prophet in Judea, and he was cooking pottage, and crumbling bread into a bowl, and he was going to the field to carry it to the reapers. And the angel of the Lord said to him: "Carry this meal to Babylon, to Daniel who is in the lions' den." But he said: "Lord, I have not seen Babylon, and I do not know where the den is." And the angel of the Lord took him by the crown of his head and, having lifted him up, placed him in Babylon above the den with the swiftness of his spirit. And Habakkuk cried out, saying: "Daniel, Daniel, take the meal which the Lord has sent to you." And Daniel said: "You have remembered me, O God, and you have not forsaken those who love you, Lord." And Daniel rose and ate; and immediately the angel of the Lord restored Habakkuk to his place. Now on the seventh day the king came to mourn for Daniel, and he drew near to the den, and looked in, and behold, Daniel was sitting in the midst of the lions. And the king cried out with a loud voice, saying: "Great are you, O Lord God of Daniel," and he drew him out of the lions' den. But those who were the cause of his ruin, he cast into the den, and they were devoured in a moment before him. ^B In the first year of his reign, the Jews were released; he himself commanded them to depart and granted them the return to Jerusalem; thus the seventy-year period of their transmigration was completed according to the terms ordained by God. But when Salathiel the son of Zorobabel and Jesus the son of Josedec returned to Jerusalem and had begun to build the temple, with Cyrus assisting and providing the money as if by the commission of the Lord, and having started with zeal, they were hindered by those living around them who had slandered them to the king.

XCIII. The Reign of Cambyses

Post Cyrus, Cambyses his son, who was also called Nabuchodonosor, reigned for six years. In the war against Arphaxad, king of the Medes, he sought help from all nations as far as Egypt; ^C and as they did not merely refuse, but even turned against him, therefore, after he had conquered and subdued Arphaxad, he waged war against those who had refused him help. Returning therefore, victory having been gained, he sent Holophernes, the commander of his army, with vast forces against them. And Holophernes, having conquered every nation and shattered their idols, arrived at the city of Bethulia with one hundred and twenty thousand soldiers, and he prepared himself to wage war against the children of Israel in this city. ^D And his commander Achior advised him not to wage war against the Hebrews, because they were protected by their God.

^A And Holophernes, having been angered, sent him into the city, threatening to kill him if he succeeded in taking it. Now Achior was inside the city of Bethulia, while Holophernes was besieging the city, having cut off the water supply. When the people were exhausted by thirst and were on the point of surrendering the city, Judith took off her widow’s garments—for she had been mourning her husband and spent her whole day fasting—and adorned herself like a bride, and after rebuking and admonishing the timid leaders at great length and instructing them not to surrender the city for five days, she slipped out to Holophernes. With the help of God and her own wisdom, she deceived him, beheaded him on the third day, and returning to the city by night, she displayed the head of Holophernes. The Jews were terrified, but after they were greatly astonished and had sent up glory to God, who had cooperated and given her the wisdom, they took on great courage. The commander Achior, being even more amazed at the great and ^B powerfully mighty help of the Lord, was immediately circumcised and believed in the Lord God of Israel. And thus, when the morning came and the Assyrians saw the head of Holophernes fixed on a pike, they were terribly ashamed and fled. The sons of Israel, running together from all sides, cut down the enemies, seized the spoils, and gave all of Holophernes’ belongings to Judith. She, having gone to Jerusalem, dedicated everything to the Lord, and returned to her own house, possessing the same virtue and asceticism, and died a widow at the age of one hundred and five. Some have thought that this history occurred in the time of Nebuchadnezzar, but they have been led astray by the similarity of names, not knowing that this happened after the captivity. For the first Nebuchadnezzar had died at the time of the captivity. It is said that at that time Anaxagoras and Pythagoras the Samian philosopher flourished.

XCIV. The Reign of Smerdis

XCV. The Reign of Darius

^A of the sons of Israel from Persia to Jerusalem came about by the decree of Cyrus, and then at the command of Darius at the hand of Jesus son of Josedech, and Zorobabel, and Nemesius the Jewish eunuch.

The occasion of the return was this: As three soldiers were guarding the king, among whom was Zorobabel, an enigma was proposed, with the promise that the victor might ask whatever he wished from the king. When one said that wine was strongest, and another said that the king was strongest, Zorobabel said that women were strongest and, above all, truth. Since he had spoken these things and won, and was permitted to ask for what he would, he requested that the captives be sent back to Jerusalem and that Jerusalem be rebuilt; and so it was done. And then the captivity and the seventy years of wrath reached their final end. ^B The high priest and scribe Ezra taught the people the Law and interpreted it as a most noble man, and he gathered together the sacred Scriptures which had been corrupted by wars. For the Chaldeans, after the capture of Jerusalem, had burned them all, but God put it into the mind of Ezra to read them again.

From the first building of the temple until the second, five hundred and eleven years passed. The form and appearance of the later building of the temple and the city of Jerusalem were thus: The city was fortified with a triple wall and was impregnable; the walls and towers were square, the towers having fifty cubits of width and the same of height, and every stone of the construction was twenty cubits long. ^C There were also magnificent houses, very high and prepared for the receiving of water. There were octagonal towers, whose height was two hundred cubits; from these at the rising of the sun Arabia could be seen, so great was their elevation. The external wall encircling the city was fifty stadia in length and forty cubits in height; all the stones with which they were built were twenty cubits in width, and ten in height, and the same in thickness, and they were so conjoined to one another in the work that they appeared to be one single rock, with no craft of their union being visible. ^D The temple was firmly built upon a hill and surrounded by four enclosures; its structure had white and polished stones, the length of each stone being forty feet. One ascended by twelve steps into the temple, which was situated in the middle of the city. The height of the front of the temple was one hundred cubits, but that of the back part was forty—for one part of the city was sloping, and the other part was elevated upon the mountain. The first gate of the temple was seventy cubits in height, and twenty-six in width. It was covered with Corinthian bronze, so that in beauty it surpassed the gates adorned with gold and silver, which were forty cubits in height, and in thickness with gold and silver—

so much that everything shone with great splendor. The first house had a loft inside, the height of which was ninety cubits and the length fifty. Above the gilded gate of the house were golden vines, from which hung clusters of grapes the size of a human. Upon entering the floor of the temple, one would encounter an inner house that was sixty cubits high and twenty wide, in which a lampstand, a table, and a censer were placed. It was separated by a veil from what lay outside, where nothing was placed, but which was both inaccessible and sacred, whence it was called the Holy of Holies. The upper and outer part of this sacred temple struck those who saw it with the greatest astonishment; for the very dense golden plates, illuminated by the first rays of the rising sun, emitted a most brilliant light and dazzled the sight of those looking at them, just as a ray of the sun strikes the eyes. Therefore, to visitors coming from afar, the temple appeared as if white snow were standing upon a high mountain, because it was constructed entirely of white marble and situated on a hill. Upon the roof it had standing golden, sharpened obelisks, forty cubits in height and six in width, intended to prevent birds from settling on the temple and defiling it with their droppings.

Regarding the four courtyards surrounding the temple, each was held in special regard according to the Law. For into the first ^B and outermost one, it was permitted to all natives and foreigners to enter; into the second, it was allowed for Jews to enter; into the third, for the princes of the priests alone, being pure and clean; into the fourth, for the cleansed priests; into the temple itself, only for priests who were immaculate and clothed in priestly vestments; and into the inner sanctum, where the altar, the table, the censer, and the inextinguishable lamp were, it was permitted only to the high priest, once in the year. Rightly, therefore, does the prophet say: "And the glory of this latter house shall be greater than the former, saith the Lord." Indeed, this second construction of the temple surpassed the first in beauty, in size, and in all other respects. And so much for this.

^C 203 (6) After these things, King Darius, having waged war with diverse nations, plundered Syria, Phoenicia, and the entire coastline. But when he returned against Jerusalem, he was cast down and perished—struck from heaven by divine blows and thunderbolts—along with a vast multitude of soldiers. Then God gave this miraculous victory to Jerusalem without arms and without battle, and filled it with immense wealth and spoils, under the leadership of Zorobabel; after whom no other from [the tribe of] Judah ruled, but the high priests exercised leadership. For after the return from Babylon, the Jews were no longer ruled by kings, but by high priests. (7) Hence the great Basil says: "For when Jerusalem was overthrown ^D by Nebuchadnezzar, the kingdom was dissolved, and no longer was the empire transferred by inheritance, as it was before."

^A Yet at that time, from the beginning of the captivity, the descendants of David were in charge. But when those with Zerubbabel and Salathiel returned, they governed the people more democratically, since the authority had subsequently fallen to the priesthood, because the priestly and royal tribes had become intermingled. From this, the Lord and King, and also High Priest, became the mediator in things pertaining to God. And the royal tribe did not fail until the coming of Christ, nor, indeed, did the seed of Jechonias cease from sitting on the throne of David—for by "throne" is meant the fullness of royal authority. ^B For you remember the history, that all Judea, the land of Idumea, ^C and Moab, and as much of Syria as borders on Chobor, and further, as far as the midst of the rivers, and in another direction as far as the river of Egypt, were tributary to David. Since after David no one held such great authority, the prophet Jeremiah rightly speaks thus: "Is this man Jechonias a discarded earthen vessel? For why is he and his seed cast out, that he should sit upon the throne of David and have authority in Judah any more?" Indeed, no one of those who were born from him held such dignity and power. Yet the tribe of Judah did not fail "until the One to whom it was reserved came," Who Himself did not sit upon a material throne; for royal authority had come into the hands of Herod, born of an Ascalonite father, and into the hands of his sons, who divided Judea into four provinces under the authority of Pilate, while Tiberius Caesar held the entire Roman power. For the prophet calls the throne upon which Christ sat the royal power, which shall never be taken away, but will be eternal: for He Himself is the expectation of the nations, not of a tiny part of the earth; whence Scripture says: "There shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall arise to rule the nations, in him the nations shall hope." And, "I have given thee for a covenant of the people, for a light to the nations." And, "I will establish his seed for ever and ever, and his throne as the days of heaven." Thus, therefore, the King remained, even if He did not take up the scepters of Judea; and God is King of all the earth, and the blessing of Jacob was confirmed: "And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed." For all the nations bless Christ. ^D But that you may see more clearly how the royal tribe was mixed with the sacred, I say thus: Judah begot Phares, and Phares begot Esron, and Esron begot Aram, and Aram begot Aminadab; and Aminadab begot Naasson, and Naasson begot Salmon and Booz; and Booz begot Obed, and Obed begot Jessai, and Jessai begot David the king. Since, therefore, Naasson was the son of Aminadab, the high priest Aaron, brother of Moses, from the tribe of Levi, took his sister to wife. And also...

the inspired high priest Joiada, being of the Levitical tribe, took to wife the sister of Ochozias, who was of the tribe of Judah. From this point on, therefore, the royal tribe was mingled with the Levitical. Very appropriately, then, the Lord, being genealogized from Mary, the Virgin and his mother according to the flesh, is shown to men and preached as King and Priest in things pertaining to God, as I have said, clearly an eternal and incorruptible King (and who shall recount his generation, that is, the incomprehensible and ineffable generation, coeternal with God in his divinity ^A?).

XCV. The Kingdom of Artaxerxes Longimanus

XCVII. The Kingdom of another Artaxerxes

The kings of the Persians after Nebuchadnezzar and his sons are these: Darius Astyages, also called Artaxerxes, reigned seventeen years; Cyrus, thirty-two; Cambyses, six; Smerdis the Magus, two; Darius, son of Hystaspes, forty-two years; Xerxes, his son, twenty-one years; Artabanus, seven months; Artaxerxes Longimanus, forty-one; Artaxerxes the Second, ten; Sogdanes, thirteen; Darius Nothus, nineteen years; Artaxerxes his son, Memnon, forty years—under whom the kingdom of the Romans ^C was abolished and administered by consuls until Julius; Artaxerxes Ochus reigned twenty-seven years; Arses, son of Ochus, four; Darius, son of Arsamus, six years, whom Alexander killed, as I have said, and destroyed the kingdom of the Persians, which had lasted for ^D two hundred and forty-seven years.

^A At this time, the philosophers Plato, Aristotle, Speusippus, Xenocrates, and Philistio were also flourishing (Eusebius). And thus much for this; but we shall return again to the previous sequence, as we promised.

^B The children and nobles of Alexander divided his kingdom among themselves. Ptolemy, son of Lagus the Elder, reigned in Egypt, and ten Ptolemies followed him, down to Cleopatra, the daughter of Dionysius. Antigonus gained control of all Asia. In Syria, Babylonia, and Palestine, Seleucus Nicanor reigned; he built two cities in the parts of Cilicia and another in Syria, calling one Seleucia, another Antioch, and the third Laodicea, after his own name and those of his son and daughter. In his time, the Rhodians, masters of the sea, erected on their island a bronze statue of the Sun, which, because of its size, was called the Colossus, from which they themselves were called Colossians.

After Seleucus, his son Antiochus reigned, and five others. Then Antiochus Epiphanes, son of Seleucus Philopator, received the kingdom; under his rule, Jerusalem was captured a second time, the Maccabees were tortured, and the temple was defiled. Regarding this capture, it is written as follows: "And it happened, after Alexander the Macedonian, son of Philip, had struck down Darius, king of the Persians and Medes, and had reigned in his place, he fought many battles, captured very strong places, and slew many kings, toparchs, generals, satraps, and tyrants; and he passed even to the ends of the earth, and gathered countless spoils, with no one resisting him. And he gathered a very strong force and army, and his heart was exalted; and he subdued the regions of the nations and tyrants; and they became tributary to him. And after these things, he fell upon his bed and knew that he was dying. And he called the noble youths who had been brought up with him from his youth and distributed his kingdom among them. And Alexander reigned for twelve years and died. And his sons gained the kingdom, each in his own place; and his sons put diadems upon themselves, and evils were multiplied in the earth. And there came forth from them a sinful root."

XCVIII. The Kingdom of Antiochus Philometor's son.

Antiochus Epiphanes, son of Seleucus Philometor, was a terrible prince, a plunderer, and famous for many robberies and extortions, and he amassed an immense store of gold and silver. ^D Furthermore, carried off by insolent license and the impulse of lust, he would mingle shamelessly with mimes before all the people and acted insanely toward women.

[Beginning of the chain: (this is the first page of the chain)]

as the face of the kingdom was advancing, he set out to seize Egypt, so that he might make one kingdom, of both Antioch and Egypt. (2) And indeed, having occupied Egypt with a heavy multitude, and with chariots, and elephants, and a great fleet, he joined battle against Ptolemy, king of Egypt, and, having routed him, he gained control of the cities of Egypt and plundered them all. ^A

XCIX. On the second destruction of Jerusalem.

After the holy city had enjoyed great peace, on account of the high priest Onias’s hatred of evil and his piety, it happened that throughout the whole city, for nearly forty days, there were seen through the air horsemen running, ^B possessing gilded robes and equipped with spears like armed companies, and maneuvers of shields, and splendors of golden armor and breastplates of every kind; wherefore all besought that the omen might turn out for the good. These things all foreshadowed the miserable invasion of Antiochus. Finally, exulting in many victories, and being wrathful in spirit on account of the pride and arrogance of the city, he took it by storm. Then he ordered the soldiers to strike down without mercy those they encountered, and tens of thousands were slain. Having then dared even to enter into the sanctuary in great pride, and having set up an altar and an idol, the abomination of desolation, ^C and having polluted the temple with impure sacrifices, he proclaimed it the temple of Zeus Olympius.

C. On Eleazar and the seven Maccabean boys and their mother.

He, sitting upon a high place (with his armed soldiers standing around him in a circle), ordered the guards, armed with spears, to seize every Hebrew and compel them to taste of swine’s flesh and of meats offered to idols; and if any were unwilling (to eat unclean things), these were to be put to death (having been broken on the wheel). (2) And when many had been seized, among whom was a certain Eleazar, one of the leading scribes, a man already advanced in age, he was compelled to eat of the unclean food. But he, ^D choosing a glorious death rather than a life of abomination, voluntarily allowed himself to be led to the torture-wheel. And thus, having departed this life after many torments and lashes, he left behind these things as a pattern of fortitude and a memorial of virtue not only to the young, but also to the elderly. (3) After him, also certain other seven brothers with their mother, having been variously tortured, (in like manner) assumed the crown of martyrdom.

Regarding these, ^A the great Gregory says: "Thus, the divine Eleazar enjoyed the priesthood, initiated into and initiating others in heavenly things; he did not sanctify Israel with external sprinklings, but with his own blood, and by his death made his departure a final mystery. Thus also the young boys, not serving pleasures, but having mastered the passions and purified the body, passed over to the life free from suffering." And again: "Thus the mother enjoyed her many children, as someone says; thus she adorned herself even as they were living, and departing, she rested with them, having presented to God those whom she had borne for the world." And Antiochus was astonished, having changed his threats into wonder. For even enemies know how to admire the virtue of men when, once their anger has ceased, the deed ^B is judged on its own merits, so that he departed without action and without result. By which, therefore, the tyrant being shamed and becoming even more enraged, took all the sacred vessels, and gathered an immense amount of gold and silver, and having plundered the whole city and slaughtered the livestock, and having committed great murder and spoken boastfully, he withdrew to Antioch (leaving great grief to the sons of Israel). And after two years, having campaigned against the Persians, he sent a commander to exact tribute from the cities of Jerusalem. He, having arrived with a great force and having spoken peaceful words, entered the city of Jerusalem with deceit and struck them ^C with a great blow, and having torn down the walls, he set the whole (city) on fire (and destroyed it), and filled the temple with (dissolute acts and) profane sacrifices, and those of the Jews who did not choose to cross over to the Greek (customs) and taste of the things forbidden, women and children, he killed indiscriminately, having inflicted upon them many and grievous tortures, and having led many away as captives with him, leaving behind a commander to torment the Jews.

CI. Concerning the Priest Mathathias

There was a certain priest, Mathathias, having five sons, of whom Judas, who was called Maccabaeus, was ^D one; being filled with zeal, he rushed against the commander, killed him, and having gathered all those around him, he went and tore down the unclean altars of the Greeks, and he killed those who were deserting the law. But Antiochus, having been defeated in Persia and being in the process of marching back in disorder, fell ill from great despondency and said to his own magnates: "Sleep has departed from my eyes, and I am collapsed from anxiety. Now, therefore, I remember the evils which I did in Jerusalem; I know that on account of these, these evils have found me. Behold, I perish..."

^A in a strange land." (3) And he ordered his charioteer to drive unceasingly to hasten the journey, clearly perceiving the punishment from above; for an incurable pain seized his bowels, and bitter internal torments. And it happened that he fell from the chariot rushing at full speed, and by this misfortune all his limbs were bruised. The disease increased so much that worms crawled out of him, and in the greatest pain his flesh fell away; and furthermore, because of the stench of his miserable and wretched body, his whole army was greatly burdened, and he who had boasted so much and done such terrible things, thus ended his life in a most shameful manner in a foreign land. (And here the unjust man was justly punished, dying miserably, and from there he is punished even more eternally.)

CII. The Reign of Antiochus Eupator

(1) After Antiochus, his son Antiochus Eupator reigned, during whose rule Judas Maccabæus routed the Antiochene commanders. Then Antiochus advanced against him with twenty thousand cavalry and one hundred thousand infantry, three hundred chariots, and fifty-five elephants trained for battle. He divided the elephants into phalanxes and assigned to each elephant one thousand men armored in chainmail with bronze helmets upon their heads, and selected cavalrymen ^C assigned to each beast by artifice, and on each one thirty-two armed men of strength. As the sun shone upon the golden shields and the chariots, the mountains glittered from them and shone like torches of fire; and all who saw them and heard the sound of the multitude and the clashing of the chariots were shaken; for the army was very great and strong, and the people were mixed, countless, and armed. (2) And as the battle intensified, Eleazar, the brother of Judas, seeing the elephants incited and the archers riding upon them, and seeing one greater than the others, armed with royal breastplates, and thinking the king was carried upon it, leapt from the ranks, engaged the enemy's mass, and having killed many of those around the elephant, he slipped beneath it; and having struck the elephant in the belly, the beast fell immediately upon him and crushed him, which Judas ^D seeing, and sensing that the battle was becoming more violent, he fled to Jerusalem. (3) And Antiochus, pursuing him, besieged it; then, having made peaceful overtures with oaths, Judas received him into the city. But he, having entered and violated his oaths, destroyed the walls completely, despoiled the inhabitants, and returned to Antioch.

CIII. On Judas Maccabeus.

CIV. On the Romans. What is Caesar?

^B When the divine Scriptures had been interpreted and read in the times of Ptolemy, the king and all the magistrates were amazed at the beauty of the words of Scripture. Menedemus the philosopher and Demetrius of Phalerum being present and marveling at the power of the words, the king asked them: "Since the divine words are of such a kind, why has no historian or poet made mention of them?" Demetrius replied: "No one ever dared to touch them, because when Theopompus wished to investigate them, his mind was suddenly alienated, and he learned through a dream that this had happened to him because he had laid hands upon sacred things. ^C Furthermore, Theodectes, a tragic poet, having mentioned these holy books in a certain play, was struck blind; but both, desisting from their undertaking and propitiating God, were restored to health."

To this Julius, a horse was born which, instead of hooves, had cloven feet, and would suffer no rider except him, just as Bucephalus [suffered] Alexander.

When he was exiting from the vestibule to go to the senate, his statue standing before the gates fell of its own accord; furthermore, someone gave him a document in which the whole conspiracy formed against him was revealed. Thinking it to be something else, Caesar did not read it, but entrusted it to another to be kept, and was slain by Brutus and Cassius in the senate house. ^D Julius Caesar waged the greatest struggles; by him the Germans, Gauls, and Britons were subdued, and five hundred cities were made subject to Roman rule.

BOOK III

BOOK THREE

THE BEGINNING OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE

CVI. The Reign of Augustus.

he rebuilt and called one Ancyra, because it is in the middle of the two seas, the Pontic and the Asian, which is Ancyra of Galatia; the other he named Diospolis. [CZ] [CVII. Of the fourth empire which Daniel saw.]

Then begins the fourth empire, which Daniel in the vision of the four beasts uses a figure to call the fourth beast, different from the others; under which Jesus Christ, who created the first four elements and joined together the four parts of the world, was incarnate for our salvation. Rightly, therefore, did Augustus become great and superior to all, and subject to himself the other kingdoms, because in his days the King and Lord of all was to be born, according to the words of the prophet Isaiah.

He says indeed: ^A "And it shall be in the last days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be prepared on the top of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills, and all nations shall flow unto it. And many people shall go and say: Come and let us ascend to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob, and He will teach us His ways, and we will walk in His paths; for out of Sion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And He shall judge among many nations, and shall rebuke many peoples. And they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn to war any more." ^B

The Jews, erring with Theodotion, contend that this is spoken of the return from Babylon. Nor is it a wonder; for just as they are deceived in other prophecies, so also in this one.

For what peoples, both those nearer and those further away, received the law and the word brought by the Jews, and did not rather resist them? After the return from Babylon, nations did indeed flock to the temple of the Jews, but they attacked them; all the neighbors waged perpetual wars against them: on one side the Idumaeans, Ammonites, and Moabites; on the other, the Philistines and Samaritans. And not long after, the Macedonian wars broke out, which are recorded in the books of the Maccabees, yet at that time the prophetic words promised deep peace. ^C But if these words refer to the time after the advent of Christ, they conform perfectly. For before the Roman empire, there were many conflicts of the nations among themselves, because the empire was divided among individual nations; but with the entire empire transferred to the Romans, and the rule of individual nations destroyed by the advent of Christ, deep peace flourished in the world, so that now no nation would move wars against another nation for power ^D

(and snatch away partial kingdoms), but all would apply themselves to the cultivation of fields. Thus, the end of the prophecy is shown very clearly. ^A (6) Do you not see the height of the Church, and that all submit and offer reverence to her? Most do so willingly and with good grace; but those who serve against their will and argue in vain are shamefully cast out. Do you not see the mountain tops, O Jews and Gentiles, purified of your filth and adorned with the dwellings of ascetics? Do you see how all people flow there to learn the divine word that came forth in silence, and embrace the law that proceeded from there, with wars having ceased and peace standing in place of the roar of arms? Are you unaware that when the prophet foretold these things, one was reigning over Jerusalem, another over Samaria, another over the Idumeans, another over the Moabites, and again another over the Ammonites, and another over the Arabs? And the Midianites and Amalekites were subject to other leaders, ^B and Gaza, and Ascalon, and Azotus. Indeed, even Sidon and Tyre and Damascus were ruled by various governors.

CVIII. On the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ.

^A For when the divine aid was manifested, the enemies turned their backs; and kingdoms formerly adverse and hostile bowed the neck and received the word of salvation. For God, making use of the truth and the testimony of events and all sorts of miracles as if by a certain voice, demonstrated His own sublimity and filled their minds with fear.

^B The prophetic word, therefore, foreseeing the false interpretation, folly, and transgression of the Jews regarding the divine Scriptures, spoke as if from the person of Him who was being prophesied, as if fortifying them and saying: "Be still and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth" (Ps. XLVI, 10). But by indicating to us who this is, and as if rejoicing together, it adds: "The Lord of hosts is with us, the God of Jacob is our helper" (Ps. XLVI, 11). He made mention of Jacob not without purpose, but because he was the first to prophesy the calling of the nations. "There shall not fail," he says, "a prince from Judah, until He comes for whom it is reserved, and He is the expectation of the nations." The prophetic word, by predicting here also the conversion of the nations, fittingly declared that the God of Jacob, who had foretold these things, had also brought them to pass.

Thus also Chrysostom says: "Nothing, therefore, was worse than human bestiality before the coming of Christ. For all, being positioned against one another like enemies and foes, were slaughtering their own children; fathers and mothers were raging against their offspring. Nothing stable remained, neither natural nor written law, but everything had been overturned. For continuous adulteries, slaughters, and thefts, and every kind of wickedness were being committed and were considered ^C as virtue. Enemies were constantly fighting among themselves by locality, region, village, and house, and these things were celebrated as manifestations of courage and glory. Meanwhile, by sacrificing their sons and daughters to demons, consulting oracles, employing sorceries, and serving idols, they thought they were revering God. But when our Lord had come, all these things were refuted as being most clearly hateful to God, and profound peace and broad virtue began to dwell in the world."

CIX. Concerning the cessation of those who exercised the priesthood lawfully from the tribe of Judah.

^D Therefore, in the forty-first year of the reign of Augustus, and in the five-thousand-five-hundredth year from the creation of the world, the numbering of the years according to the Antiochene computation began. And when Herod, who was from the Gentiles, had already been declared king of Judaea, and our Lord Jesus Christ had been born according to the flesh, and Herod had ended his life miserably, that which was written was fulfilled: "There shall not fail a prince from Judah, until He comes to whom it is reserved, and He is the expectation of

^A the nations," who is Christ. For since Herod himself, being an alien and circumcised, reigned over the Jews and appointed as high priest the alien Ananil, the rule from Judah which had prevailed until that time immediately ceased, in accordance with the divine prediction. For the priests had been in charge of affairs until Pompey, the Roman general, arrived; he besieged Jerusalem by force and defiled the holy things, having entered even into the inner sanctuary of the temple. ^B When, therefore, the priests had persevered in the ancestral succession up to that time, Pompey cast Aristobulus, king and high priest at the same time, into chains and sent him to Rome, and declared Hyrcanus, the brother of Aristobulus, high priest. Now this man had a friendship with a certain Antipater of Ascalon, the father of Herod, whom he appointed as procurator of the region. And Herod, his son, was capable in managing affairs, and he suppressed many brigand leaders. But when Hyrcanus had been taken prisoner by the Parthians, and Antipater had been murdered, and there was no one left to hold the state together, ^C the boy Herod seized the rule, having given much money to the Romans and having become a subject upon the conditions proposed by them.

CX. Augustus the emperor departed for Egypt.

For when Augustus Caesar had departed for Egypt with a very great army for the war against Cleopatra, to whom the rule of Egypt had fallen because she was of the race of the Ptolemies, Herod met him, providing him with services in troops and expenses such as had not fallen to another. But Augustus, in the fourteenth year of his reign, having subdued Cleopatra and returning to Rome, because Herod had shown himself well-disposed, declared him king of Judea with the whole senate, placing the diadem upon him. Thus, having arrived at Jerusalem, and because the Jews were unwilling to receive him as an alien, he slaughtered many of them, having plundered the city and the temple; and using his power wickedly, ^D he burned with fire all the records of the tribes and genealogies which had been deposited by Ezra, so that the Jews might no longer be able to know from what country the natives were, and who were those called proselytes. And he kept the priestly vestment under his own seal. And thereafter he sold the high priesthood with impunity to certain ignoble men for a sufficient sum of money.

In the forty-second year of Caesar Augustus, a decree went out from him that the whole world should be registered. And he entrusted the exaction of this tribute to Cyrenius, because

he was most benevolent and a prince of the ^A senate, whom he also appointed as president of Syria and consequently over Judea. Thus he made the whole Jewish nation tributary to the Romans. (5) And thus Herod, a foreigner—as has been said—first took charge of the Jewish nation at the very time when, with the advent of Christ clearly at hand, the high priests and leaders of the Jews had, as was to be expected, failed (according to the sacred prophecy). For the priests who were of the Jews—at least on their mother’s side—were so, since the great Aaron had taken the daughter of Aminadab as his wife. And in such a way were those from Judah and Levi related, so that Elizabeth, as one sprung from Aaron, is called a kinswoman of the Mother of God, Mary.

When, therefore, the high priests had failed among the Jews, Herod, ^B a foreigner, is established as king of the Jews—as has been said—at the time when, with the birth of Christ approaching, the ancestral succession in the high priesthood was dissolved, and the leader prophesied by Daniel came to an end. For the anointed leaders, that is, the high priests, existed until Herod, beginning from the restoration of the temple under Darius and ceasing in the times of Hyrcanus, over 483 years. Just as Daniel also prophesies, saying: “Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to answer and to build Jerusalem unto the Anointed Prince, shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks.” For these seventy weeks make up that amount of time, with each day being taken for a year. “And it shall return, and the street and the wall shall be built, and the times shall be emptied.” ^C For the weeks complete 483 years, as long as the dominion of the anointed princes subsists; of whom, Hyrcanus being the last, having been taken captive by the Parthians, Herod received the kingdom from Augustus, and after him others [ruled] until the final siege of Jerusalem. For no longer from succession of the pontifical race of the Jews and of the Asmoneans, that is, the Maccabees, as Josephus says, are men consecrated to God, nor indeed again are the annual ones [consecrated], but those who for a short time bought the priesthood from the Romans. Wherefore Daniel also prophesies, saying: “And after the seven and sixty-two weeks, the anointing shall be exterminated, and judgment shall not be,” ^D and the rest.

Thus, however, he divided the seventy weeks: seven after the return from the captivity until the building of the temple, and sixty-two, joined with the seven, confirming the time during which the anointed princes held [power] (and therefore “the anointing shall be exterminated”); but one week, through which the Lord preached the new

Testament, in the middle of which week he came to the saving passion, and the testament delivered through Moses was ^A taken from the midst. Thus Eusebius. Theodoret, moreover, in his own interpretation concerning Daniel, says again: “This one week shall confirm the covenant with many. And in the middle of the week, the sacrifice and the drink offering shall be removed, and upon the temple is the abomination of desolation.” For in this [week] the New Testament was given to the believers, and it filled them with every virtue, since in the middle of this week the legal sacrifice was removed and the true [sacrifice] introduced. And it is not only that that sacrifice will cease. A sign of the desolation was shown to be coming to pass (namely, certain images forbidden by the law being carried into it for this purpose. ^B For Pilate did this, bringing the emperor’s images into the temple by night, contrary to the law, which is also what the Lord said: “When you see the abomination of desolation spoken of through the prophet Daniel, know that its desolation has drawn near.” By saying these things, he indicated the end of the desolation and utter destruction to which they were to be abandoned.) And so that the Jews might not think they would again receive back the temple and the city (and their former beauty and glory), he added, “And until the consummation of the time, a consummation shall be given upon the desolation.” For, he says, until the consummation of the world, the consummation of the desolation remains, admitting of no change. David also said this: “In the wrath of the ^C consummation, and they shall not be, and they shall know that God rules over Jacob and unto the ends of the earth.” Or rather, they shall know it when they see “the sign of the Son of man in heaven. For then they shall see [them] tribe by tribe, then they shall see him whom they pierced.” (12) It must be understood that because the Hebrews calculate the year according to the course of the moon, they declare eleven extra days, which we call intercalary; for the course of the moon is completed in twenty-nine days and six hours. And so those who calculate [by the moon] make the year [to consist] of three hundred and fifty-four days. Since, therefore, the archangel Gabriel, speaking with the blessed Daniel, himself a Hebrew, and teaching [him] the ^D number of the years, spoke the customary number, it is necessary to add the years accumulated from the intercalary ones. For when these are added, four hundred and eighty-three years will be found according to the Jewish calculation. Now the seven and sixty-two weeks make up that many years. He divided them, however, not simply, but as a pre-indication of the change of certain things. Namely, from the building of Jerusalem, which took place under Nehemiah and Ezra, until Hyrcanus, the last high priest of the race of the Asamonaeans, or Maccabees, whom Herod killed, the sixty-two weeks are com-

completed; from the slaughter of Judah until the manifestation of our Savior and the arrival of the Magi before Herod, the remaining seven weeks attain their end. In this time, I mean after the killing of Hyrcanus, until the coming of Christ, the high priests were now lawfully assigned—for the law commanded that the high priests perform the priesthood for their whole life, and after death, their successors should follow—yet Herod and the Romans after him took this upon themselves, and those who performed the high priesthoods often made frequent successions of them, and they even chose some high priests who were not of the Hebrew race. ^B And Josephus, describing this, said: "When Herod had received the kingdom from the Romans, he no longer appointed high priests from the race of the Asamonaeans—these were those who were called Maccabees—but he bestowed the high priesthood upon some obscure persons, though they were merely of the priestly line." ^C "And after the sixty-two weeks," he says, "the anointing will be exterminated, and there is no judgment in it." It is clear, therefore, that he set the sixty-two weeks first, and after these the seven, in which they said: "The anointing will be exterminated," that is, the grace which flourished among the princes of the priesthood; and since even those who were anointed unlawfully were called high priests, he rightly added: "And there is no judgment in it." For if they were anointed, he says, it was unlawfully and unworthily. (He also made it manifest earlier that he had set the seven weeks as the final ones: "For until Christ the leader," he says, "there are seven weeks and sixty-two weeks.") For he placed the seven weeks as multiplying for Christ the leader and Savior, so that we might understand that if we wish to count from Christ and toward the things above, we shall find the seven weeks first, and then the sixty-two. Then he speaks also of the future desolation of the city and of the unlawful high priesthood, saying: "And he will destroy the city and the sanctuary with the coming leader"—for he called the foreign kingdom and the unlawful high priesthood the "coming leader." ^D (16) Thus, indeed, the divine Cyril of Jerusalem also said: "A ruler will not fail from Judah," he says, "nor a leader from his thighs, until He comes for whom it is laid up." He therefore gave a sign of Christ’s coming: the cessation of the rule of the Jews. For if they are not now under the power of the Romans, Christ has not yet come; if they have a prince from the race of Judah and David, the One who is expected has not yet come, "binding his foal to the vine," according to the divine Zechariah. Now, the rulers from Judah having failed, the foreigner Herod rules. For the angel speaking with Daniel says: "And you will know and understand from the outgoing of the word

to answer and to build Jerusalem until Christ the Prince, seven weeks and sixty-two weeks." Sixty-nine weeks of years, therefore, make up 483 years. He said, therefore, after Jerusalem was built, 483 years passed, and when the rulers failed, a foreign king ^A arrives, under whom Christ is born. Darius the Mede commanded Jerusalem to be built in the sixth year of his reign, and in the first year of the sixty-sixth Olympiad according to the Greeks. An Olympiad among the Greeks is called the contest celebrated every fourth year, on account of the day which is completed every four years by the three hours exceeding the solar course in each year. Herod rules in the 183rd Olympiad, the fourth ^B year of this one. From the sixty-sixth, therefore, to the 183rd, there are 120 Olympiads and a little more. The 120 Olympiads therefore amount to 480 years; for the three remaining years are perhaps taken up in the interval between the first and the fourth. The 70 weeks, therefore, are completed at the time of Christ according to the calculations of the Jews. For they calculate ^C the years according to the lunar course, so that the last month among them consists of twenty-nine days. But since the sun completes its own circuit in three hundred and sixty-five days, and the moon in three hundred and fifty-four, there is a difference of eleven days between the solar year and the lunar year. Whence the Greeks and Jews add three intercalary months in eight years.

^D And again the blessed Cyril said: "If therefore you ask for the cause of Christ's advent, run to the first book of the Scriptures. In six days God made the world, but the world was for the sake of man; on the sixth day man; then He placed him in paradise; afterwards He cast him out through diabolical envy. Not daring to come to him because of his strength, he came to the woman, as being weaker, while she was still a virgin. For after the fall and the ejection from paradise, Adam knew Eve his wife, and second were born the successors of the generation of men, Cain and Abel; and Cain was the first homicide. And later the flood was poured out because of the great wickedness of men, and fire descended from heaven upon the filthy deeds of the Sodomites. Afterwards God chose Israel, but even this one was perverted and wounded. — Prophets were sent after Moses to heal this state; but when they attempted to heal,

^A they lamented, unable to overcome the affliction, so that one of them said: "Woe's me, for the holy man has perished from the earth, and there is none upright among men." And again: "They have all turned aside; they have together become unprofitable. There is none that does good, no, not one." And again: "Cursing and theft and adultery and murder have been poured out upon the earth." And "They sacrificed their sons and their daughters to demons." They practiced augury and sorcery. And, simply put, the wound of the human race was very great from the feet even to the head; there was no medicament to be applied, neither oil nor bandages. Then the prophets, bitterly lamenting and being at a loss, said: "Who will give from Sion the salvation of Israel?" And again: "Lord, bow the heavens and come down; for the wounds of the human race surpass our healing." They killed your prophets and tore down your altars; the ill is incurable for us. Now you are needed as corrector and savior. Having heard the prayer of the prophets, the Lord descended, saying: "Behold, I am coming and I will dwell in the midst of you." And "I will be God to all, and they shall be a people to me. And they shall no longer teach every man his neighbor and every man his brother, saying: 'Know the Lord,' for all shall know me from the least of them to the greatest of them, for I will be merciful to their iniquities and their sins."

^C (20) Now the first Herod, the son of Antipater, had four sons, Archelaus and Herod and Philip and Lysanias, who were called tetrarchs, because each one of them possessed a specific part of the kingdom. And Herod at that time had put away his own wife, who was the daughter of Aretas, king of Arabia—of whom Paul made mention in his Epistle to the Corinthians—and had taken Herodias, the wife of Philip his brother, on account of whom he also killed the Forerunner; but not long after, he paid the penalty for his wicked deeds. For his wife, having been dishonorably expelled, departed to Aretas, her father, and complained of the violence done to her. He, indeed, having been moved by the insult to his daughter, gathered all his people and went against him in war, and cut to pieces all ^D his armies, and having delivered his land to the fire, took it into captivity. But not even so did Herod desist from his wickedness; rather, at the last, he was bound and taken to Rome, and with his adulteress was sent into exile by Tiberius to the parts of Spain, and there he miserably ended his life.

^A The great Herod, who had slaughtered the infants, had three sons who bore the same name as himself, though with additional designations: Herod Archelaus, and Herod Philip (who also killed the Forerunner, and under whom the Lord was crucified), and Herod Agrippa, who also killed James the son of Zebedee, and Lysanias. To this Herod, the people then shouted: "The voice of God, and not of man, [you] have suddenly uttered." For, having put on a garment made of silver, he had come to the spectacle, and sitting on a high tribunal, he was addressing the crowd; and as a ray of the sun fell upon the garment, the clothing flashed with brilliance like sparks, and dazzled the eyes of those standing around. When they neglected the reason [for this], and shouted that he was a god, the wretch swelled with greater pride, whom the angel of the Lord suddenly struck, and he sprang from his seat, his belly being painfully torn by violent spasms.

When his accuser saw divine James being led to death, he was moved by repentance and fell at the feet of the apostle, saying, "Forgive me, man of God, for I repent of what I have spoken against you." The blessed one immediately kissed him and said to him, "Peace be with you, my son; peace be with you, peace be with you, and for the offense, forgiveness." And he, with a loud voice, immediately proclaimed himself a Christian before all, and being thus numbered with him whom he himself had accused, along with him he carried off the prize of martyrdom.

^C The wretched Herod, consumed in his days and casting out worms, miserably ended his life, just as his most impious father did. For he too, having dared to take the rewards of his audacity against Christ and those infants of His own age—while still living in the flesh—perished by an most shameful fate; him whom Justice, pursuing as an unjust man, justly showed forth as a clear foreshadowing of the punishments that were to await the miserable one after his departure from here. For suddenly, a god-sent and deadly scourge attacked him and drove him painfully to death. ^D For Josephus says that the disease took hold of his body and divided it with varied suffering; for there was a fierce fever, and an intolerable itching over the entire surface of the skin, and worms, and continuous pains, and swellings of the feet emitting a foul odor, and inflammation of the lower belly and the rotting of the genitals which generated worms; and in addition to this, there was difficulty in breathing, and shortness of breath, and spasms of all his limbs occurred. An unpleasant odor proceeded from his continuous panting, so that all who beheld it said that the punishment was god-sent. Being thus surrounded for a long time by these and such-like sufferings, he endured such and so intolerable a pain that he was attempting to take his own life. For since, when...

^A he had asked for an apple and a knife, as if he supposedly desired to taste it himself, and having received them, he held up the knife wishing to strike it at his throat; and he would have struck, had not one of his attendants seen him and quickly and with difficulty snatched the knife from his hands. ^B (27) Being tortured all the more by these pains, he called for his sister Salome and her husband Alexander and instructed them that they should shut up the leaders of the Jews in the hippodrome, and that, upon his death, they should immediately have them slain by the army, so that the day of his death might not be a cause of joy to the Jews, but of mourning. (28) And having arranged these things, and being much afflicted with dropsy, and having given up the ghost after great torments, Salome immediately acted on everything and cast the Jews into great mourning and lamentation. (29) How many, then, added to his other crimes, were the prosperities of his reign which he darkened by the domestic and successive calamities of wives and children, and by the murders of others especially of his own kin and those most dear to him, it is impossible now to recount; for the whole subject-matter surpasses the context of a tragic work, as Josephus has dealt with it extensively in his own histories regarding him.

CXII. The Emperor Tiberius

(2) And in the fifteenth year of his reign, our Lord was baptized and began the proclamation of the Gospel. ^D (4) And in the eighteenth year of his reign, when the Lord had been crucified, He rose on the twenty-ninth day of the month Phamenoth, or the twenty-fifth of the month of March, which is called the first month created among the Hebrews, Nisan, at the dawning of the Lord’s day, the one after the Sabbath, the first and beginning and most honorable of days, concerning which Moses said: "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth," and "This is the book of the generation of the heavens and the earth, on the day that God made them." Therefore David says: "This is the day which the Lord has made,

let us rejoice and be glad in it," which is the Lord’s Passover, the twenty-fifth of March, as has been said. ^A

CXIII. Why Christ’s Resurrection is called the Eighth day.

Concerning this, the great Chrysostom said: ^B "If therefore Christ rose on the third day, as He Himself said: 'The Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected, and be killed, and on the third day rise again' (Luke ix, 22), why is the Lord’s resurrection called the eighth?" It is called "third" in relation to the passion and the cross, but "eighth" in relation to the creation and the resurrection. Since, therefore, Christ rose on the Lord's day [Sunday], on which day the beginning of the visible world arose, on which light dawned upon the world, and the intellectual and true light, Christ, shone forth from the sepulcher, therefore through the sepulcher and death the world was raised up. From one Lord's day to another the eighth occurs; and it is also the third: the third from when He suffered, the eighth from when the world was made.

There is also another reason for the eighth and the third, as to why each is called a resurrection. For on the seventh day God rested from all His works, and rest is the end, the consummation of completed works; "end" and "rest" are also spoken of as the consummation of the Word, when God is to bring to an end the figure of this world. Since, therefore, the world was full of sins and threatened the world with consummation, Christ indeed came at the consummation of the ages for the abolition of sin, and suffered, and was buried, and rose again, and raised up the world; and the first creation became the eighth in the regeneration.

On the sixth day He is suspended from the wood on account of the human being made on the sixth day; therefore He was crucified on the sixth day, so that we might all know that He who had created the human being on the sixth day was Himself crucified on the sixth day on behalf of the human being. ^C And not only on the sixth day, but also at the sixth hour He was suspended from the wood, because the beginning of sin occurred at the sixth hour from the wood, when Adam tasted death; whence, then, also being pierced by the lance, He poured out blood and water, the two witnesses of the Lord against His killers: the blood, indeed, to convict the Jews who had said: "His blood be on us and on our children" (Matt. xxvii, 25); but the water, to convict Pilate, because, having taken water and washed himself as though innocent, he crucified the innocent and just one, having scourged Him.

Since, therefore, as I have often said, the eighth day and the resurrection of the dead cry out the consummation of the world, it is necessary to know that when the consummation of the world truly arrives, then the holy and pious will fail from the earth. And of this thing Christ is a witness, saying: "When the Son of man comes, will He find faith upon the earth?" (Luke xviii, 8). And the Apostle says: "Unless the falling away comes first,"—when they will depart from the faith, giving heed to spirits of error and doctrines of demons, ^D

^A and will turn their hearing away from the truth, and will be turned aside to fables. And just as the loss of ships is a shipwreck of the pilots, and the absence of shepherds is the destruction of the sheep, and the neglect of fields by farmers is a laying waste, so too the failing of the holy is the destruction of the world. But holiness is the consecration to God; and that man is holy who, through faith and good works, has consecrated and dedicated himself to God. Whence, regarding those who forsake God and deny their covenants with Him, Moses said: "Do not say in your heart: Holiness shall be mine by departing from the Lord." For as one who defects from God and is a wrongdoer is called impious, so one who clings to God through faith and good works is rightly called holy and just.

Per ^B the wood, therefore, is death, and per the wood is life. On the seventh day He rested from His works; on the seventh day He rested His body in the tomb. For He waited for the whole seventh day, and on the eighth He rose, and awakened the world. And the day of the Lord is both the third and the eighth; the third, indeed, because of the Lord's resurrection, but the eighth, not only because of the Lord's, but also because of the resurrection of the world. Therefore, beloved, hear a wonderful and great mystery: Why is the Lord's resurrection called the eighth? Because we find in the divine Scripture seven times the resurrection of the dead, and after the seven, the eighth to rise from the dead was the Lord, who had raised the seven. For before the resurrection of Christ, seven individual ^C resurrections of the dead had occurred. And the first, indeed, in the old Scripture, was the son of the widow whom Elias raised at Sarepta; the second was the son of the Shunammite, whom Elisha raised; the third, indeed, was the soldier, whom, when they had buried him near Elisha, and the dead man touched the bones of the prophet, he leapt up as if from a fire; the fourth, however, was in the new, the resurrection of the daughter of the ruler of the synagogue; the fifth, indeed, the son of the widow; the sixth, of Lazarus; the seventh, when many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep arose; the eighth, however, was the Lord’s resurrection, after the saving passion: at which time of the Passion, and the earthquake which occurred, it was found in many Greek ^D records that a great earthquake had occurred, and darkness, such that the stars appeared. Josephus also narrates that in those times, on the day of Pentecost, the priests first felt a movement and a noise, and then heard the voice of many, that is to say, of angels, from the inner sanctuary: "Let us depart from hence." Moreover, another thing even more wonderful is recounted, that a certain oracle was found in the holy writings, containing this: "That at that time a man from the same region would rule over the whole world," which he indeed [interpreted as referring to] under Vespasian.

He erred diametrically in his interpretation; for he did not rule over the whole earth, but only over Rome. It remains, therefore, that this was fulfilled in our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom the Father said: "Ask of me, and I will give thee the nations for thine inheritance, and the ends of the earth for thy possession." ^A Whence "their sound went out into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world," openly proclaiming His everlasting empire and eternal kingdom. Since at that time God created the creature, and the germination of fruits in trees bears witness to this, as according to the divine decree, up to now spring reigns: "The earth brings forth the herb of grass," and the meadows bloom, and the trees produce fruit; therefore, at that same time, He also delivered Israel from Egyptian servitude, and the archangel Gabriel brought the good news to the Virgin; rightly, therefore, at the same season, did Christ also undergo the saving passion. ^B Pilate, therefore, after the crucifixion of Christ, installed images of Caesar in the temple by night. But when morning came, the Jews, seeing them, were so disturbed that Pilate, struck with fear, moved them elsewhere. And because he also destroyed the sacred treasury called Corban, he became a cause of much destruction and confusion, and became hated by the Jews. For fearing their rebellion, he stationed soldiers before his tribunal, having them conceal their weapons, but wearing the garments of private citizens on the outside, so that they would not be suspected. When, therefore, the rebelling Jews rushed upon him, he sent the soldiers against them. They, indeed, striking them with clubs and stones, ^C let them go wounded, but killed some of them. Many of the Jews, pushed by others, were trampled to death; those who counted the people found them to be an infinite number.

CXIV. Of Judas the Galilean

He also mingled the blood of some of them with their sacrifices in this way. The Galileans, following the tenets of Judas the Galilean, of whom Luke makes mention in the Acts of the Apostles, learned empty speech and error from him, as Josephus says. ^D For under the guise of piety, he claimed that no one should call any man Lord, not even with the tips of one's lips, nor pay him honor.

nor attribute to men the honor and glory befitting God alone. Whence many of them, because they would not say that Caesar was Lord and master, endured harsh scourging. These same people afterwards taught that no other sacrifices should be offered to God except those ordained in the Law of Moses; and for that reason they were hindering the sacrifices which were traditionally offered by the senate of the people for the salvation of the Emperor ^A and of the Roman nation. Pilate, reasonably indignant at these Galileans for this, ordered them to be killed in the midst of the sacrifices which they thought they were offering according to the Law, so that the blood of those who were offering was mingled with the sacrifices being offered.

(2) Now Tiberius, in addition to his other successes, also possessed this quality: he did not quickly change those who were brought into his favor, but made it possible for them to hold their command for a long time, or even until the end of their lives. Being asked once by his friends for the reason, he said: "It is naturally ingrained in all those who hold any office that they always crave greater things; and if it is granted them to rule more and more, they use their greed more leniently. But if it is for a short time, they are more incited to theft, as they have an uncertain tenure of government. I will tell you a clear example of this: a certain wounded man was lying down, and a multitude of flies were consuming his sores. Someone passing by, thinking he was unable to drive away the flies, approached and chased them off. But the wounded man said: 'I beg you, stop and do not chase them away; for you are harming me more; for those satisfied with my blood do not inflict an intolerable pain upon me by their biting. But if you drive them away, others will come, which in their hunger will cause me greater pains, so as even to deprive me of life.' It is for this reason that I, too, seeing that leaders are corrupt by many thefts, do not frequently change them."

(5) Being very solicitous for justice, he always wrote to the cities under him, saying: "If ever I write ordering something to be done against the laws, pay no heed, accusing me of ignorance." (4) For this reason, Pilate, knowing his love of truth and love of justice, communicated to him in summary all the miracles of Christ ^B and the demonstrations of his piety, as Tertullian (an expert in Roman laws) recounts in his Apology for the Christians, explaining also that after death he rose again and is already believed by all to be God. And that Tiberius, struck with amazement, reported everything to the senate; but the senate did not accept it, saying that it obeyed the ancient law, which ordered that no one be enrolled among the gods before it had been decided by their votes and decree.

prior to this, that any person should be deemed a god unless judged by vote and decree among them. He accepted this law; but he ordered that no one should be an obstacle to the preaching of Christ, and indeed threatened death to those who dared to bring charges against the preaching. ^A

CXV. Concerning Abgar.

Thus, then, by the divine power of Christ, the entire world was suddenly filled with the holy preaching through the teaching of the apostles, among whom Thaddaeus announced the Word in the city of Edessa. The governor of this place, Abgar, held and consumed by a cruel disease, having heard the name ^B of Christ and his mighty works confirmed by all with one voice, becomes a suppliant of Christ through a letter-bearer, asking to find release from his infirmity, writing through a certain courier, Ananias, as follows: « Abgar, the governor, to Jesus the good Savior who has appeared in Jerusalem, greeting. I have heard regarding you and your healings, how they are performed by you without medicines or herbs, since by a word you make the blind see, the ^C lame walk, you cleanse the lepers, and cast out unclean spirits, and you heal those tormented by long-term disease, and you raise the dead; having heard these things, I have pondered in my mind one of two things: either that you are God who came down from heaven, or that you are the Son of God, who does such things. Therefore, I have now written to you, beseeching you to come to me and heal the suffering that grips me; for I have also heard that the Jews murmur ^D against you and wish to do you harm; my city is indeed very small, but it will suffice for us both. » The Lord, having read these things, writes back to him as follows: « Blessed are you for having believed in me, when you have not seen me. Regarding what you have written to me, to come to you, it is necessary to fulfill all things for which I was sent here, and to be taken up to the One who sent me. And thus I shall send to you one of my disciples, and he will heal your suffering and will grant life to you and to those who are with you. » These things, then, were further appended to these letters in the Syrian tongue, as Thaddaeus performed after the Ascension of the Lord: « Abgar, therefore, having received the letter of the Lord, was more inflamed with faith and desire to contemplate Christ, at least in an image, and he sent a painter who, having copied the divine face, might carry it to him as quickly as possible. » When this...

failed ^A because of the excessive grace and splendor of his countenance, Christ himself, placing a linen cloth upon his own face, impressed his own image upon it, and sent what he desired to him who asked for it. And even before this, again, as the same story relates, when the Lord was born in Bethlehem of Judea, the king of the Persians sent a certain skillful painter, who, having depicted the image of the infant born and of the mother who bore him, brought it to him. But if not everything is recorded according to the evangelical history, it is not for that reason false; for it would have to be said that neither were the other signs which Jesus did performed, which are many, so that the world itself could not contain them if they were to be written one by one, "since they are not written," as the great evangelist John says.

^B Furthermore, Tiberius, although he was so very good in his youth, and prided himself on his philosophical and rhetorical discourses and his excellent deeds, was suddenly changed to a worse disposition, so that he was considered to have become demented, and even to be driven by a demon to every impiousness, murder, and rage; and he not only defiled himself beyond measure with vices according to nature and contrary to nature, but also with every injustice and tyranny. Having thus misused his power, and fallen from benevolence into wickedness, he reached the end of his life with dreadful cruelty, wicked avarice, and baseness, being killed by Gaius. For while he was sick, ^C the latter suffocated him by piling many garments upon him. His former probity and fortitude did not profit Tiberius at all; rather, he was held in hatred by all, inasmuch as at the end he had lifted himself up in total insolence, had violated everything, and had been cast down to eternal punishment along with other impious men: "But as for such as turn aside to their crooked ways, the Lord shall lead them away with those who work iniquity." Fittingly, therefore, the Apostle said: "He who began a good work in you will perfect it." But the Lord says: "He who endures to the end shall be saved."

[CXVI. The Reign of Gaius.] ^D After Tiberius, Gaius Caesar

^A Afterward, when after two years he had departed from common sense, in imitation of divinity he ordered himself to be worshipped, and his own statue to be adored in the temples throughout the cities, with a new temple dedicated to Gaius. And not only did he act tyrannically toward the Jews, but having also put to death whomever among the Romans was illustrious, he confiscated their goods. Moreover, having established by law the rule of slaves, he permitted them to accuse their masters if anyone detected a sin in them; and hence a terrible calamity invaded the entire world, as slaves subjected their masters to great torments; for each one of them was eager to avenge himself upon his own master for the tortures he had previously suffered at his hands by dint of interrogation. ^B Furthermore, having turned also to lawless madness, he would put on women’s garments and adorn his hair with curls and tresses, and, playing the woman and committing every foul act, he devised initiations and performed unheard-of mysteries. And indeed, having once taken his own daughter and placed her in the lap of the statue, he spoke thus: "Thou hast begotten this one, and thou art her lawful father." When the soldiers saw him doing these things and could no longer bear it, they killed him while he was bathing in the bath. ^C Under the same [emperor], Theodas the impostor, mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles, having led many astray, promised that he would divide the Jordan and make a crossing for the people; and since he was unable to accomplish the deed, he was killed, and all who were with him. Also the tower in Siloam fell upon eighteen men. And Stephen the protomartyr was martyred. And Paul believed. ^D And Philo and Josephus, the sages among the Hebrews, were recognized; which Josephus, being a lover of the truth, makes mention of John the Forerunner and of Christ. And concerning John, he says thus: "To some of the Jews it seemed that the army of Herod had perished by God, and that they were most justly paying the penalty for the punishment of John, who was called the Baptist. For Herod killed this man, a good man, and one who commanded the Jews to cultivate virtue and righteousness among themselves, and, using reverence toward God, to come together for baptism." And again he said concerning Christ: "There was at that time Jesus, a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man; for he was a doer of wonderful works and a teacher of those men who receive the truth with joy, and he drew to himself many from the Jews and likewise from the nations. This was Christ; whom, by the leaders of the people...

leading men among us, when Pilate had condemned him to the cross, those who had loved him from the first did not cease to love. For he appeared to them on the third day living again, the divine prophets having foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him. Even to this day the race of Christians, named from him, has not failed.

(12) Since the writer has said such things out of the Jews, what defense or pardon have the senseless and mad Jews, who are stricken with stupidity? Therefore Chrysostom says: ^B "They considered John to be much greater than Christ, because he had lived in the wilderness for his whole life, and was the son of a high priest, and wore such a garment, and called all to baptism, and had been born from a barren woman; but concerning Christ, both because he was from a lowly maiden — for the birth from the Virgin was not yet manifest to all — and because he had been raised at home, and associated with everyone, and wore this common garment, they conjectured him to be inferior to John, knowing nothing at all of those mysteries. And it happened that he was baptized by John, which rather confirmed this opinion. Consider, therefore, what kind of appearance he presented: a man coming down from the desert after thirty years, terrible to behold, having a thick beard and even longer hair, clothed in camel's hair, and needing nothing of human things." (13) "For it was indeed most wonderful and paradoxical to see such endurance in a human body; which indeed attracted the Jews the more, ^C seeing the great Elijah in him and being brought to the memory of that one by the things which were then seen, and even more so to greater astonishment. For that one used to be nurtured in cities and houses, often eating this common food. But this one, from his very swaddling clothes, inhabited the desert, being entirely deprived of all human foods and drinks; whence the Lord says: 'John came in the way of righteousness, not eating nor drinking.'"

CXVII. Of the Emperor Claudius.

At which time James, [the son] of Zebedee, confessed the faith. Simon the Magician also, resisting Peter, and using the cleverness of his speech and the deceit of magical art, fought valiantly against the simple words of the apostle. But Clement of Rome, Peter's disciple, also resisted the impious Simon...

being ^A perfectly instructed in both the Greek and Latin tongue.

And there lived under Claudius the Egyptian robber mentioned in the Acts, who had led the sicarii out into the desert, whom Felix pursued; they called them sicarii because of the short swords they carried; for they used to carry long daggers, which they called sicae, and would secretly strike those they chanced upon.

At that time, an island emerged between Thera and Therasia, thirty stadia from these. And a great and universal famine occurred, according to the prophecy of Agabus.

CXVIII. On the manner of life of the ascetics.

Mark the Evangelist, having been the first to call the Church in Egypt to life, established many monasteries, which were then called sanctuaries. ^B For the greatest monasteries which are found in that region up to this day, he was the first from the beginning to establish, just as Eusebius Pamphili demonstrates, speaking thus: "We know that Mark was the first in Egypt to write the Gospel, and the first to establish the Church at Alexandria."

So great, moreover, was the multitude of men and women who had accepted the faith there, that they came together at the first impulse to exercise themselves, with most vehement zeal, in the highest wisdom, that the most wise Philo himself—who was an eyewitness and hearer of Peter the Apostle, and became his companion at Rome—deigned to write down their manner of life, their ^C gatherings, and all the rest of the order of their excellent life. For he, approving of the life of the ascetics who are among us, greatly exalts and extols these apostolic men, living according to that rule, and being, as it appears, of Hebrew origin, having the exercise and regimen of the Essenes, whose fame had gone far before them, and whose rule of life greatly surpassed the righteousness of the Pharisees and Scribes. For they were descendants of Jonadab, son of Rechab, as he says: "Our father commanded us, saying: You shall not drink wine, you and your sons forever; and you shall not build houses, and you shall not sow seed, and there shall be no vineyard for you, but you shall dwell in tents all your days, that you may live many days upon the land in which you are sojourners. And we have obeyed the voice of Jonadab, our father, ^D keeping all these things."

^A For this cause, God says: “Because the sons of Jonadab, son of Rechab, heard the command of their father, to do all that he commanded them, there shall not fail a man of the sons of Rechab standing before my face all the days of the earth.”

Deriving their origin from these righteous men, these Essenes are even more worthy of admiration; they increased, amplified, and carried to a higher degree an entirely admirable and lovable poverty, a pious and quasi-divine austerity of life, and a supreme sanctity, as it is permitted to hear clearly from Josephus, who narrates their life: The Essenes, he says, are Jews by race, and they love one another more than others do; they turn away from pleasure as from a vice, and they consider temperance, continence, and fortitude against desires to be virtue. ^B Marriage is neglected by them, but they take in the children of others while they are still small, teaching and rearing them as their own kin, and shaping them with their own morals. They approve, however, of legitimate and temperate marriages and the succession that follows from them, but they entirely turn away from and reject unlawful and God-hated unions and lasciviousness. Wealth and the possession of many things are despised among them; they embrace poverty, because it has nothing superfluous and is strong. And before the sun rises, they speak of nothing idle, but offer prayers and psalms to God from midnight until dawn with reverence and gravity. Then, each is sent by the head of the community to the craft which he practices. And when they have labored intensely for six hours, intent and conversing about God, they thus assemble ^C into the dining hall with great reverence and silence. The baker in order sets out the loaves, and the cook brings to each one a single vessel of one course; but a priest blesses the food, for it is holy and pure; for they consider it an abomination to taste anything unless prayer precedes it; and again after the meal the priest prays; for, in a word, they always praise God at the beginning and the end of any matter. And again, continuing in their work until evening, they return to the same place with their accustomed silence and grave habit for prayers, and that they may take the briefest and lightest sleep, the cause of which is their perpetual sobriety, and the fixed ^D measure among them of simple, cheap, and sparse food and drink.

Various readings and notes

^A For there is no satiety or fullness of the belly among them, but great want and frugal living. And they do not straightway accept one who comes to ^B emulate their life without trial and training, but for a year, while he remains outside, they set before him the same diet and condition, and having given him a small axe, a loincloth, and a poor garment, they exercise him in excellent works and words. Then, after the demonstration of his patience, for two more years his character and obedience in all things are tested, and if he be found worthy and approved, thus he is admitted into the sacred assembly; and before all else, they require of him fearful oaths: ^B first, to revere and serve the Divine with all his soul, with a pure mind and clean body; then also to keep all things just toward men, and to be a respecter of no person, neither to harm anyone by intent, nor to have fellowship with the unjust, but to the best of his ability to care for justice and to strive always—and to the death to turn away from a life of pleasure, and excess, and effeminacy. In addition to these things, they further swear to deliver none of the doctrines and of these holy practices to anyone at all, except as he himself precisely received them, and to abstain from every contrary opinion and alien worship, and to cling to this sole divine religion and its institutions even unto blood. ^C And so great is the simplicity and spareness regarding the diet of those admirable men, that through the whole week they have no need of relief; and they reach such temperance through this exercise that they are for the most part content with a few herbs. From this it happens, I think, that many of them foresee future things, instructed by divine inspiration and grace, by constant study of the prophets and other holy scriptures, and by prayer. [(6)] Josephus, therefore, having practiced this philosophy to the highest degree, hastened to advance to something greater. For having heard that some Abbas was practicing in the desert in a different way—being clothed from trees, and *using food* ^D that grows of its own accord—and having emulated his extreme exercise, he came to him, and...

having studied wisdom with him for three years, he returned to the city and lived according to the righteousness of the Pharisees. ^B

(7) Regarding Philo, as has been said, he clearly makes mention of our ascetics who arose from the Hebrews in the treatise which he inscribed *On the Contemplative Life*, calling these *Therapeutae* [healers], as well as the women of similar habit and character, *Therapeutrides*. "Therapeutae," he says, "are so called either because they heal, in the manner of physicians, the souls of those coming to them, freeing them from the malice of the passions, or because of their pure and sincere service toward the Divinity." This name he either wrote as having invented it himself, or they were called by it from the beginning, as those who first followed such a manner of life. ^C "Afterwards," he says, "when they begin to occupy themselves with wisdom, they abandon their property and whatever they possess, and having bidden farewell to all the cares of life, they go outside the walls, and spend their time in lonely fields and gardens, or on mountains, knowing that the company of the wicked is dangerous and harmful; they emulate the prophetic and cultivated life." Thus, in many parts of the world, does this race dwell (for it was fitting that both Greeks and Barbarians should be partakers of the perfect good). But it is most frequent in Egypt, especially around Alexandria. Wherever a tribe of this kind exists, one may see a sacred habitation, which they call a sanctuary and monastery, in which those living in solitude perform the mysteries of the grave life; no one among them cares for anything, neither drink, nor food, nor anything else that pertains to the needs of the body, but they occupy themselves with the words and laws ordained through the prophets, and with hymns and other things for knowledge and piety, and in this way they grow and are perfected together. The whole interval from dawn until evening is devoted to exercise; for, by occupying themselves with the holy scriptures, they philosophize according to the ancestral philosophy.

They lay temperance as a kind of foundation in the soul, and upon it build the other virtues; for no one among them would take food or drink before the setting of the sun, since they judge that philosophizing is worthy of the light, but the needs of the body are worthy of the darkness. ^D Some even abstain from food for three days, those in whom a greater desire for knowledge is set. Others are so delighted and filled with such delicacies, having been nourished by wisdom, that it provides for the body lavishly and abundantly, so that they can endure for twice as long, scarcely tasting food on the sixth day.

^A For the interpretations of the sacred oracles are made by them through allegorical undercurrents; for all the legislation appears to these men like a living being, and the literal expressions are its body, while the invisible meaning underlying the words is its soul. Likewise, there are women also of this same sacred way of life and condition, most of whom are elderly virgins, preserving their chastity not by compulsion, as do certain priestesses among the Greeks for the sake of fleeting praise, but willingly and from a good choice, having set their desire upon future and eternal goods.

^B That Philo wrote these things having understood the first heralds of the teaching according to the Gospel, and the customs handed down by the apostles from the beginning, is evident to everyone. (He is indeed great in speech and broad in thought, being sublime and lofty in his contemplations of the divine Scripture, and he has made his exposition of the sacred oracles varied and manifold.) And Eusebius recounted these things in his Ecclesiastical History, and in his writings to Marinus he says the following again.

Chapter CXIX. Concerning the solitary state of life.

For the Church of Christ prescribes two ways of life and modes of living: one, which is eminent and transcends the common and human nature, admitting neither marriages, nor procreation of children, nor the possession of wealth, but in all respects entirely altered from the common and accustomed way of life of worldly men, and attached solely to the service of God through an excess of heavenly desire. ^C For those who follow this way, deeming this mortal life to be death, and lingering on the earth only in body, but having transferred their soul to the heavens in their mindset—like certain heavenly beings—they look down upon the life of men, having consecrated themselves for the sake of the whole race to God who is over all, not with the slaughter of cattle and blood, nor with libations and smoke, but having been purified by upright dogmas of true piety and by the disposition of the soul; and furthermore, by deeds and words according to virtue, by which they appease the Divine and perform the priestly service on behalf of themselves and their kin. And this is the imperfect ^D and primary mode of the way of life according to Christianity. The second is both more humble and more human, and is very different from the first, in that it lowers itself to modest marriages and the procreation of children, and busies itself with the ordering of those things which are according to justice, and performs military service, and proposes for itself the things that must be done, and attends to fields and commerce and the rest of the more civic way of life along with piety. These men, moreover,

have fixed times ^A for religious worship and education, and days for hearing the divine oracles; and a second degree of piety is allotted to them, providing the utility appropriate to such a life.

(2) Likewise, the divine Athanasius said: “For as there are two ways and modes of life in the world, one more moderate and secular—I mean marriage—and the other angelic, apostolic, and supreme, namely virginity or the solitary life, if anyone chooses the secular, that is, marriage, he is not subject to blame, but he will not receive such great gifts: he will receive them, however, since he too brings forth the thirtyfold fruit. But if anyone embraces the pure and heavenly life, although it appears harsh—especially in the beginning—and difficult to set right, yet it possesses, after the lawful struggle and endurance, more wonderful and glorious gifts; for it has clearly brought forth in every way the perfect and fullest fruit, I mean the hundredfold, joyous and holy. ^B Therefore, just as the old law was divided into two lives, into the Pharisaical and sublime, and into the more deficient and secular, so also the new and Christian law is divided into the solitary and excellent, and into the secular.”

(3) The Pharisees, therefore, which is interpreted as "separated" and "divided," were so called from the fact that they separated and stood themselves apart from all others toward the most pure and perfect life and the following of the precepts of the law. The Scribes pursued this same life, among whom the mode of life was the same: continence and virginity, and fasting twice in the Sabbath, and the purification of jugs, and plates, and cups, ^C and tithe-collections, and first-fruits, and continuous prayers and all the rest, excluding, of course, the marvelous Essenes, as being far more sublime and exceeding them too much. As Paul had emulated this Pharisaic life as an excellent discipline, he boasts greatly, saying: “I am an Israelite, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews, according to the law a Pharisee.” Whence also our Lord, rightly proposing the more perfect and evangelical life, said clearly to the lovers of the heavenly inheritance: ^D “Unless your righteousness shall abound more than that of the Scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.”

(4) Hence also the apostolic Dionysius (as it seems), exalting the holy order of the monks, speaks thus: “The order of monks is more sublime than all those who are initiated; it is a holy arrangement of life in which they are entirely purified by every virtue and in the full purity of their own actions, and in the whole peraction of the divine thing, as much as it is permitted to contemplate it, they are occupied in intellectual contemplation and communion, and the priesthood is found fitting for the perfecting of vir-

Atues, and they are instructed by divine illuminations and sacred communications, and, ^B contemplating the mysteries of the sacred ceremonies, they are raised by their holy art to the highest perfection. Hence our divine teachers have deemed them worthy of sacred appellations, and some have called them "therapeutae," others "monks," on account of their pure service and attendance upon God, and on account of the undivided and common life which draws them, as it were, into one in the sacred intertwining of virtues toward a deiform unity and a perfection pleasing to God. For this reason, he even called this mystic grace itself a "sacred institute," and deemed them worthy of a consecrated appellation—not a servile one (for this belongs only to the priestly orders), but a priestly one, consecrated in turn by holy and supreme high priests through initiation according to the hierarchy.

Having therefore, among many things, investigated a few, I have, of necessity, I think, set forth for the sake of those who do not know how, where, and whence the way of life, exercise, and order of the monks began. Where then are those who, with the impious and insane, cast aside and spit upon the rule of life of the solitaries along with the other traditions and laws of the apostolic Church—these new Jews, who, in accordance with their impious and God-hated initiator Copronymus, introduce a new and recent dogma out of extreme folly, negligence, and stupidity, “not understanding what they say, nor whereof they affirm”? ^C We, however, following the teachings of the holy Fathers, believe this rule of life to be ancient and primitive. Nor is it to be wondered at that they speak so of the solitary state, since they speak far more concerning all other things; may it put them to shame if not the divine and apostolic Dionysius, then at least the great and apostolic Eusebius himself, who recounts much about it with accurate diligence, and may the senseless and those devoid of reason fall silent. For see, he clearly confirms it from an abundance of evidence, and brings forward Philo as a lover of truth and a trustworthy witness, that it is an apostolic order and a most ancient tradition and one most pleasing to God; for testimonies from the side of adversaries are strong, confirming the truth which we hold, so that there is absolutely no room for doubt. But let these most wretched men of ancient malice, besides those ancient interpreters, at least listen to other later and venerable Fathers who treat briefly of the same things and agree with them, ^D so that perhaps in this way they might be able to cast off a little of their great madness and dissolution.

^A For the great Basil indeed, discoursing upon renunciation and the solitary life, spoke thus: "For this reason the compassionate Lord, taking thought for our salvation, divided the life of men into two states: marriage and virginity, so that he who is not able to endure the contest of virginity and the ascetic life might enter into the partnership of a wife, knowing this: that account will be required of him concerning temperance and sanctification and his likeness to the saints who lived in marriage and in the rearing of children, such as he who existed in the Old Testament, Abraham, who, setting God above all else, was sacrificing his only-begotten son with a calm mind, being boastful and having the doors of his tent wide open, prepared for the reception of those who needed to be lodged. For if Abraham had heard: 'Sell what you have and give to the poor,' he would have shown even greater things than those, as did Job ^B and Samuel and David and very many others; and in the New Testament, Peter and the rest of the apostles. For of everyone will be required the fruits of love toward God and neighbor, and an account will be rendered for the desertion of these commandments. For the Lord says: 'He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me.' And: 'He who does not hate his father and mother, and his wife and children, and moreover his own soul as well, cannot be my disciple.' Do you not think, then, that the Gospels were set down also for the married? Behold, it is manifest to you that all men shall have to render an account for obedience toward the Gospel, both monks and the married; for to him who has entered into marriage, the indulgence regarding incontinency ^C and regarding desire for the female and intercourse shall suffice; but the other commandments, being legislated for all alike, are not without danger for those who transgress them. For indeed, Christ, while announcing the Father’s commandments, was speaking to those who were in the world. But if at any time it happened that He was asked privately and answered His own disciples, He testified again and again, saying: 'What I say to you, I say to all.' Do not therefore fall away, O you who have preferred the partnership of a wife, as though you had license to embrace the world; for you have need of greater labors and vigilance for the successful attainment of your salvation, seeing that you have chosen to dwell in the midst of snares and the dominion of the apostate powers, and you have the enticements of sins before your eyes, ^D and you have laid open all your senses night and day to the lust for them. Know, therefore, that you will not escape the struggle against the apostate, nor will you carry off victory over him except with tribulations.

^A And let these things be said in passing to those who live in marriage while securely neglecting the observance of Christ’s commandments. But you, lover of the heavenly polity, and practitioner of the angelic manner of life, and desiring to become a fellow-soldier of the holy disciples of Christ, fortify yourself for the endurance of tribulations. And if you have generously entered into the assembly of monks, behold then, even the divine teacher himself asserts that Christ has divided human life into two: one, mundane and earthly; the other, heavenly, angelic, and apostolic. For elsewhere he says again: "Learn, that you may be taught the apostolic norm of life," that is, circumspection of the eyes, temperance of the tongue, the body brought into subjection, humility of mind, purity of thought, and the extinction of anger; when compelled, yield; when defrauded, do not sue; when hated, love; when persecuted, endure; when slandered, entreat; be dead to sin, be crucified with Christ, and transfer all your love to the Lord. But these things are hard! What good is easier? Who has ever erected a trophy while asleep? Who, living in delights and piped to with sonorous music, has been adorned with the crowns of patience? No one has ever carried off the prize unless he has run; labors beget glory; tribulations procure a crown: "Through many tribulations you must enter the kingdom of heaven." I say this too, and the kingdom of heaven and blessedness await these tribulations, whereas the labors of iniquity await the labor of Gehenna, and horror, and the unquenchable fire.

^D Similarly, the theologian Nilus also speaks: "Not a few among the Greeks and Jews have applied themselves to philosophy, but only the disciples of Christ have emulated true wisdom, since they alone have had true wisdom as their teacher. For the former, acting as if in a play upon a stage, adorned themselves with an alien mask, putting on an empty name while lacking true philosophy; by means of a worn cloak, and a beard, and a staff, they showed themselves to be philosophers, while they pampered the body and served their desires as if they were mistresses. They became slaves of the belly, and they accepted the pleasures of the belly as a work of nature, falling upon the splendid tables of gluttons like dogs, not knowing that a philosopher must above all be free, and must flee being a slave to the passions far more than being an item of property bought for silver or a house-born slave. For it has perhaps done no harm to the one who has lived correctly to be a slave to men, but to use the passions as masters and to serve pleasures has brought shame and much laughter." There are, therefore, among them those who are entirely negligent in action, while appearing to take up rational philosophy, concerning...

matters which they claim cannot be demonstrated, boasting that they know the dimensions of the heavens and the sun and the power of the stars; and there are times when they attempt even to theologize, where both truth is inaccessible and conjecture is dangerous, living more disgracefully than swine wallowing in the mire.^A But if any among them proved to be practical, they became worse than these, performing their labors for the sake of fame and praise; for the wretched men were pursuing these things for no other reason than for show and the love of glory, exchanging such misery for a small and vile reward. For to have been silent altogether according to the Pythagorean rule, and to feast on grass, to be covered in vile and tattered rags, and to dwell enclosed in a jar, and for this life endured to expect no reward after death, and to define the rewards of virtue as ending in this life—this is beyond all insanity.

(10) Now, as for the Jews who have honored this life, they are certain descendants of Jonadab; and they accept all who wish to live in the same way, bringing them into the same manner of life, which leads them to this. They dwell forever in tents, abstaining from wine and from all things that pertain to a life of luxury, having a frugal diet and measured bodily needs; they are, indeed, very diligent in their moral state, and they pass most of their time in contemplation; hence, in fact, they are called Essenes, as the name signifies, and their goal of philosophy is altogether rightly achieved by them in every respect, with their deeds in no way contradicting their profession.^B But what is the utility of these troubles and this laborious contest to them, who have slaughtered Christ, the umpire and instructor of the contest? For the reward of their labors perishes for them in the same way, as they have denied the dispenser of the prizes; and thus they have wandered away from the true life and from philosophy. For philosophy is the correction of character along with the right opinion concerning the Cognition of Him who is; but both Jews and Greeks have been deprived of this, for they turned away from the wisdom that descended from heaven and attempted to be wise without Christ, who alone demonstrated philosophy by deed and word. For He is the first and only one who opened the way of life; He demonstrated the regime of this life to be pure, always bearing the soul higher than the desires of the body, and in the end, He even despised the soul itself, when the salvation of mankind, being dispensed by Him, required death, teaching through this that it behooves the philosopher who chooses rightly to reject all the pleasant things of life, to prevail mightily over labors and passions, to despise the body, and to not hold even the soul in high value, but rather to gladly pour it out when it is necessary to lay it down for the proof of virtue.^C And His apostles and disciples, having received this, imitated His life in a genuine manner; for as soon as they were called, renouncing life, and neglecting country, and kin, and possessions, they passed over to a hard and laborious life, walking through every trouble...^D

and affliction, being persecuted, maltreated, wanting, driven out, suffering nakedness, being insulted, spat upon, and destitute of the very necessities of life; ^A later, they even despised death, rightly imitating the Master in all things, leaving behind their lives as an image of the best way of living. But since all Christians, who ought to have fashioned their own lives after this image, either would not or grew weak toward such imitation, yet a certain few were able to look down upon worldly disturbances and to flee the storm in the cities and the care and striving of a vain life; and thus, having escaped the worldly tumults, and having embraced the ^B unique life, they made themselves a pattern of apostolic virtue. They preferred poverty to possession for the sake of freedom from distraction, and in place of seasoned food they preferred what was quickly and artlessly prepared, satisfying the body’s need with whatever food was at hand on account of the rebellions of the passions; and rejecting soft clothing, and whatever was beyond necessity as an invention of human luxury, they used cheap and artlessly worked raiment for the body’s need. For indeed, the Lord, in setting before the rich man the most perfect and supreme life ^C according to God, clearly instructed him to “sell his possessions and give to the poor,” and so to serve without care and with a free mind, having “taken up the cross,” and He judged him who would not do this as unworthy of Himself: “For whoever,” He says, “does not leave father or mother, or brothers or wife, or children, or fields for the sake of my name and take up his cross and follow me, is not worthy of me.” Therefore, it is not possible otherwise to attain to this merit and perfection unless in the manner which the Lord, who is supremely and eternally perfect, taught. We ^D must therefore marvel at and greatly honor those who, having renounced all temporary pleasure and earthly affection according to the command of the Lord, have departed to the solitary life and filled the whole earth—for Egypt, and Libya, and Ethiopia, and India, and Mauritania, and the Thebaids are filled with them; Syria, and Cilicia, and Galatia, Pontus, and Armenia, Mesopotamia, and all of Persia are full of them; Palestine, and Arabia, and Cyprus, Asia, and the Cyclades islands, and all Greece, and indeed even Rome, and Spain, and Gaul, even unto the ends of the earth, have been gifted with monasteries and ascetics, and the whole earth resounds and is sanctified clearly by their choirs and psalmody.

(13) And indeed Gregory, the all-wise and the one who adorns the title of Theologian, himself says: “They who sing, they who glorify, they who meditate on the law of the Lord day and night, they who bring the exaltations of God in their throats; and these are the good fruits of the life according to God…

^A and his manifestations: silent heralds, unkempt and squalid hair, bare feet following the apostolic ways, bearing nothing dead, a becoming tonsure, attire that suppresses pride, a girdle decent in its simplicity, holding the tunic slightly and just so much as not to hold it up, a steady gait, an eye not wandering, a benign smile—or rather, a certain motion of a smile that checks the intemperance of laughter, discourse proceeding from reason, a leading toward what is better, a rebuke more desirable than praise, a medium and just temperance between sorrow and relaxation. ^B And greater than these and more sublime: wealth in poverty, a dwelling in transience, glory in ignominy, power in infirmity, and the education of beautiful offspring in celibacy, if that progeny which is according to God is indeed superior to that which arises from the flesh; living in delicacies yet despising them, humble, more sublime than the world, living out of the flesh even while in the flesh, they whose portion is the Lord, poor through the kingdom and reigning through poverty. These are my riches and my delights; present, they make me joyful, and absent, they afflict me. But who are these? "They who have abandoned the world and consecrated their lives to God, and embracing the solitary ^C life, live more for God than all who move about in the flesh." I mean, indeed, those among us who are Nazarites, of whom some lead an entirely solitary and secret life, conversing only with themselves and with God; others, however, rejoicing only in the communion of love, are solitary and mixed at once; and they know this world only as much as it is known from the desert. But others, dead to men and to the affairs that revolve as if in a whirlwind and perish in the midst, providing us with a game of shifting vicissitudes, are themselves a world to each other and sharpen virtue by emulation. Such are the words of Gregory. ^D But the divine-speaking Chrysostom, in his interpretation of Matthew, speaks thus concerning the monks of Egypt: "The heaven is not so splendid with its multifarious choir of stars as the desert of Egypt, showing us on all sides the tabernacles of the monks, who, having received the fire of Christ, have rushed in throngs to heaven, and being made more ardent than others, they imitate the incorporeal powers through the freedom from passion of their philosophy." And if anyone has been in that region, he knows what I say; but if anyone has not ascended to those holy tabernacles, let him call to mind the one celebrated until this time in the mouths of all, whom, after the apostles, Egypt brought forth

Egypt brought forth the great and blessed ^A Anthony, and to what divine visions he was deemed worthy, and what a heavenly and angelic life he displayed. And he who reads his life with careful diligence will know this, in which he will see many prophecies. For indeed regarding those who were ailing with the doctrines of Arius, he both predicted and told of the damage that was to happen to them, God having shown to him, even before his eyes, things that were to come. It is a proof of the truth that no such man is found among the heretics.

^B Therefore I also marvel greatly and praise perfectly those monks who have occupied the deserts, both for their other virtues and for the change of their attire. For if you wish, I will show you those who are dressed and have the garment of the wedding—I mean those of this wedding—and who live on earth as if in heaven; for their dwellings are so disposed that they have nothing to envy the heavens. For angels and the Lord of angels dwell among them; for if they came to Abraham, who had a wife and was raising children, because they knew him to be hospitable, when they find much greater virtue and a man despising his body and, while in the flesh, disdaining the flesh, they dwell there even more and celebrate their proper dance.

For the table among them is void of all superfluity and full of philosophy; there are no torrents of blood among them, nor butcherings of meat, nor dishes cooked with spices and unpleasant odors, nor unpleasant smoke, nor running, nor tumult, nor disturbances, nor heavy clamors, but bread and water—the one from a pure fountain, the other from righteous labors. And if at any time they wish to feast more sumptuously, fruit from trees provides the extravagance, and the pleasure there is greater than at royal tables. The angels in ^C heaven, beholding this table, are delighted and rejoice; for if they rejoice over one sinner who repents, what will they not do for these righteous men who imitate them?

And we indeed are worse than wild beasts and brute animals, but they are equal to the angels, being strangers and sojourners of the things here; and all things for them are transformed from ours: both garment, and manner of life, and dwelling, and footwear, and conversation. And if anyone were to hear them conversing, and then us, he would then know well how the former are citizens of heaven, while we are not even worthy of the earth.

Let us also see what desires luxury produces in us—a struggle over dainty-cooks, chefs, table-setters, confectioners, and such like; and over quality, arrangement, and number, of which there is nothing among those angels. For food among them is not for satiety and luxury, but for necessity, and is measured by the rule of the time; for there is but one total meal among them; nor do they know the name of luncheon, but only supper, since the present life is one of mourning, dedicated to fasts and combat; in this...

fulfilling what was spoken by God to the prophet Ezekiel: ^B "Son of man, eat your bread with grief, and drink your water with anxiety and affliction; and you shall eat your food by weight... from time to time; and you shall drink your drink with shame... of the day." Therefore, burst open by your word the belly of those who feed on those many foods, and you shall see a heavy burden and an unclean sewer and a whitewashed but rotten grave; and what follows these—which I am ashamed to even mention—the ugly and foul-smelling belches, the vomiting, the turbulence, the darkening of the soul, the heaviness of the body, the eruptions from above and below, and in addition to these, the more vehement desires of sensual pleasures. And that former table sends angels to heaven; ^C but this one drags the slaves of the belly to the fire of Gehenna, just like that rich man. And to the former, a sleep similar to death succeeds, while to the latter, wakefulness and vigilance; for the one there is torment, for the other the kingdom of heaven. For after a single repast and thanksgiving, pouring forth abundant tears of compunction and fervor, they go to sleep, but to a short sleep in which they barely find rest, and again they turn night into day, spending all their time in thanksgiving and psalmody. Go therefore to these saints and learn something useful from them, and be enlightened; for they are truly lamps ^D and lights, holding fast to the word of life, and existing everywhere in the world and brightening the whole earth. Therefore, walk constantly toward them, so that having cleansed the stains within you by their prayers and exhortations, you may show forth a better life for the future and attain the goods to come.

Similarly, Theodoret also speaks thus: "For those among men who have embraced the service of God, who clearly imitate the angelic way of life, who fled ^C the rest of the body and lawful society—as something that draws one away from divine things and distracts from celestial and invisible delights—and who have also left behind country and kin at the same time, and wealth, so that they might place all their care in divine things, and no bond might prevent the mind from flying to heaven. Of these, the cities, villages, and the peaks and ravines of the mountains are full." (16) For from the time that Christ honored virginity, having been born of a Virgin, nature blossomed forth with the meadows of virginity ^D and offers the sweet and unfading flowers of the monks to the Creator and Lord. For everywhere monasteries have been founded, not only among us, but also in all of Syria, and Palestine, and Cilicia, and in Mesopotamia; in Egypt, it is said, certain schools also hold five thousand men together.

^A And between these, they hymn God in prayers and psalms, keeping vigil, living with much hardship, and revealing in the highest degree the true philosophy of Christ. Some, as I said, living in groups, fashion within their souls the ornaments of philosophy; others dwell in pairs or threes; while others, enclosed and solitary, keeping quiet and restraining their eyes from being delighted by the beauty of visible things, grant their minds leisure to revel in the contemplation of intelligible things with understanding and wisdom. For truly, the knowledge of divine things is the greatest and most immense good; but he who receives it is not to be judged perfect immediately; for it is necessary that knowledge should surely coalesce with a way of acting well. For what the root is to trees and the eye to the body, that is the knowledge of truth to souls—the source from which firm and orthodox faith comes into being. Therefore, it is necessary to know not only what is fitting to believe concerning God, but also to direct one's acts well and simply according to his laws. For ^B it behooves those who are lovers of piety not only to be instructed in theology and natural philosophy, but also to learn the precise laws of practical virtue; so that knowledge requires practice, just as practice requires knowledge. Hence the Lord says: "Whoever shall do and teach, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." He did not say "Whoever shall do" only, but also "who shall teach." For if it were sufficient for perfection to do alone without teaching, or to teach alone without doing, he would not have joined both together, saying: "Whoever shall do and teach." Having himself accomplished these things firmly, he became for us in this also a pattern and an excellent type, just as his disciple testifies, saying clearly: "Which Jesus began to do and to teach." For he who thus harmonizes and shapes the soul not only expresses the characters of the divine laws, but also becomes a kind of living image of the Legislator. Hence the Apostle says: "Be imitators of God," ^C and the Lord: "Be imitators of your Father who is in heaven," and: "Unless your righteousness abounds more than that of the Pharisees and Scribes, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven."

^D Rightly, then, did Plato, indicating the scarcity of the perfect, say: "It does not seem possible to me for men to be happy and blessed, except for a few; as long as we live, I define this." And: "Thyrsus-bearers are many, but philosophers are rare and few." And: "Faith and action profit the departed more than if he had gained everything." Whence he added, "a simple and noble man," according to

^A Aeschylus, that one should not wish to seem but to be good; and the "seeming" must be removed. For if he happens to be thought just, honors and gifts will come to him in his appearing as such; so it is uncertain whether he is such because of justice or for the sake of the gifts and honors. He must therefore be stripped of everything except justice and be treated in a way contrary to the former; for, possessing no appearance, he should nevertheless be suspected of the greatest injustice, so that he may be tested for justice, not being affected ^B by ill-repute or ambition or the things arising from it, but let him be unmoved until death, appearing unjustified throughout his life. And indeed, Socrates, his teacher, said to him: "Ought we to follow and fear the opinion of the many, or that of the one, if there is one who understands and whom we ought to fear and feel ashamed before, rather than all the others? If we do not follow him, we will be terribly marred. Is it not the case, my excellent friend, that we should not be concerned with what the many say about us, but with what he who understands justice and injustice says, which is the truth?"

^C These things clearly harmonize more with our own sacred and apostolic writings, in which Christophorus says: "By the armor of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, by glory and dishonor, by evil report and good report; as deceivers, and yet true; as unknown, and yet known; as dying, and behold, we live; as chastened, and not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things." Such, therefore, was the teaching regarding justice and a life pleasing to God which Socrates and Plato imparted, truly admirable and worthy of praise, and in harmony with the rational nature of men; for nature has taught all men moral disciplines. For when God created the human race, He implanted in nature the discernment of good things and their opposites, He who instructs nations and teaches man knowledge. Therefore, not only Socrates and Plato and certain others among the Greeks ^D loathed the unjust life, but also many others among the Barbarians. For they say that the Hyperboreans, living on the Riphæan mountains, exercise themselves in justice, not eating meat but using tree fruits and water, and that the Brahmans spend their lives in the woods, covering their bodies with leaves, and practicing themselves above the nature of men. They also say that Anacharsis the Scythian became a philosopher, and that the love of philosophy so inflamed him that through great effort and temperance he became most celebrated; for not only was he vigilant against the soul’s struggl

struggles while silent and keeping quiet, but even while sleeping he showed signs of continence and temperance; for he was accustomed ^A to hold his genitals with his left hand and to compress his lips with his right, signifying that the contest against the tongue is much greater and that it requires more aid for its security. (18) The Greeks also relate that the centaur Chiron was a teacher of justice and purity, and Homer bears witness that he was proven the most just of the centaurs, on account, of course, of his great patience, continence, subjection of the body, and moderate care for it; whence Plato again, teaching plainly, says: "One ought to care for the body for the sake of the soul’s harmony, by which we live and live rightly and proclaim the preaching of the truth." The divine Paul said this same thing: ^B "I discipline my body and bring it into subjection," that is, I exercise it with skill and prudence for the sake of discipline and endurance, for the fellowship of better works, and I do not perform care for it toward lasciviousness. Therefore he similarly exhorts, saying: "Put on the Lord Jesus, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts." He did not forbid the moderate and necessary care which is performed for the sake of sustenance, but rather gluttony, the mother of incontinence; he added "in lusts," namely, those which are harmful and irrational; for it does not provide the body as a servant so that it may insult the soul, but so that it may cooperate and serve those best studies.

This of ours is in great harmony with Plato, who exhorts that necessary and required care be provided for the body; he also again shows and makes plain how the passion of base desire and worst habit begins and increases, saying thus: "The beginning of love is sight, but hope increases the affection, memory nourishes it, and habit preserves it." Wherefore Socrates taught one to avoid the gazes and the kisses of the beautiful as an arrow more terrible than scorpions and serpents, ^C lest they should fall together. Whence, seeing someone giving kisses to a beautiful young man: "This man," he said, "might easily cast himself even onto swords and fall into fire," for he had dared to kindle so great a pyre in himself. Diogenes, having seen a youth adorned more luxuriously than becomes a man, said: "If toward men, you are unhappy; but if toward women, you are unjust." Men hunt women, and the effeminate hunt men, through such adornment. Moreover, Arcesilaus was in love with a beautiful boy; and when he desired to kiss him, he vehemently forbade himself from this, fleeing the harm. Alexander did not even wish to see ^D the daughters of Darius, being exceedingly beautiful and virgins, saying it was base and very incongruous for him who

had captured men to be defeated by women. ^A Cyrus, the king of the Persians, did not even deign to look at a certain maiden who had been set apart for him and who was attested to possess impossible beauty; but he even advised the one who saw her constantly—and said he suffered no harm from this—neither to say nor to do this. "For fire," he said, "burns those who are near it, but beauty burns even those who stand far off." Since, therefore, out of seeing, loving is born, and out of loving, consent occurs, and out of consent, the act is completed, for this reason Christ adjudged as an adulterer him who feeds his eyes intemperately, restraining not just the act, but the very thought, which Habakkuk ^B hinted at, saying: "Thy eye is [too] pure to see evil and to look upon the labors of pain" (Hab. I, 13). Furthermore, Socrates, teaching that intemperance must be strongly and diligently avoided, said: "Let not those who are hungry eat too much, nor those who are thirsty drink much." For the Lord also blessed such as these, saying: "Blessed are the poor, for yours is the kingdom of God; blessed are you who hunger and thirst now, for you shall be satisfied; and blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh" (Luke VI, 20).

Where, then, are those who pursue a soft, delicate, and voluptuous life, and who, as if they had the entire world with license and security, use it for satiety with pleasure, laughter, filthy talk, dissipation, and without any fear of God; for whom every day is spent in delights? For they define time by their appetite. If hunger seizes them early in the morning, they immediately set out food; for these times are not defined for them for eating and that for prayer, but they enjoy all things intemperately, indistinctly, and inconsiderately, as worshippers of the table and slaves to the belly—which table could justly and properly be called the "chair of pestilence" and a manger of brute beasts. For unless they had, out of much madness and bestiality, forgotten Him who perceives all our works and is about to exact penalties even for the lightest word and thought, would they indeed partake of food given by God with vain-talk, malice, laughter, and blasphemy, not remembering Him who says, "That we shall render an account for an idle word on the day of judgment and justification, and by our evil words we shall be condemned," and, "Out of thy mouth I will judge thee, thou wicked servant" (Matt. XII, 36, 37)?

^D Therefore, some of the simpler secular people have been exceedingly mad, saying, to the ruin of those who hear them and give them credit, that—as they say—the most troublesome and heavier yoke is laid upon monks alone;

while for worldly people it is lighter and relaxed. For these foolish people ought to understand that the old law itself legislated for the ancient Jews without distinction, for both small and great, and the transgression was exceedingly dangerous and deadly; wherefore David says: “Cursed are those who deviate from your commands, O Lord.” ^A Likewise, the law of grace has been established equally for rulers and private citizens, for rich and poor, and in a word for all worldly people and monks alike, since our Lord and God says: “Blessed are you who hunger, for you shall be satisfied,” and, “Blessed are you who weep, for you shall laugh,” and, “Woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation,” and, “Woe to you who are filled, for you shall hunger,” and, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and his mother and his wife and his children and his brothers, and further even his own soul, he is not worthy of me,” and, “Everyone who does not renounce all that he possesses cannot be my disciple,” and, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, because the gate is wide and the way spacious that leads to destruction, and there are many who pass through it,” and, “How narrow is the way that leads to life, and few are those who find it.”

These things indeed, all these things and what is similar to them, are not spoken only to monks, but also to worldly people and those engaged in the life of the world, and those who have embarked upon a material and earthly life. ^B Since, if they were spoken to monks alone, then worldly people would be the most miserable of all men, being deprived of such beatitudes and divine commandments. But if the law and the yoke are common, and the beatitude and the condemnation and the torment are also common, it is manifest that those who read these things do not understand them at all; for they would not have condemned the innocent and God-loving monks, to the ruin of their own undiscerning soul and intemperate tongue and imprudent judgment. ^C

§(21) In the time of Claudius, Agrippa, who is also called Herod, slew James the brother of John with the sword, and “delivered Peter into custody,” intending to kill him thereafter.

§(22) Simon Magus, having renounced Christianity and associated with magicians, having come to Rome, was honored and revered as a god on account of his sorceries.

§(23) Because Peter traveled to Rome on account of these things, the power of Simon was indeed dissolved and extinguished, and suddenly failed with him. At the request of all, Peter encouraged Mark to write the Gospel for the Romans, beside the teaching delivered by word of mouth. And Mark, having been sent into Egypt, is established as the first bishop and herald of Alexandria. ^D

^A Agrippa, however, clothed in a robe shining with gold and addressing the Jews, when they said: “The voice of God and not of man,” being pleased at this, was immediately struck by an angel with a sword and brought to his end.

CXX. The Reign of Nero.

CXXI. About Simon’s dog.

^A Likewise, when he questioned Peter whether he was truly the Christ, Peter answered: “Not so, heaven forbid; for I am the disciple of Him who was crucified and rose again and was taken up into the heavens.” But Nero, as if dealing with monsters, promptly and ignominiously drove them both from his sight, while they, staying in Rome, performed wonders in opposition to one another. One day, when Simon had ordered a huge bull to be brought to him, he whispered something into its ear, and the bull immediately died. But Peter, having prayed, raised it to life. The people, seeing this, were amazed, saying, “Truly, to make alive is a greater miracle than to kill.” ^B Indeed, they also performed many other signs (and spoke dogmatic discourses in opposition to one another) not only in Rome, but also earlier in Syria, which Clement the Roman—a disciple of Peter, imbued with all wisdom, and his companion in travel—set forth in a more elegant manner, speaking thus: ^C “(3) As the blessed apostle Peter was instructing the people to reverence and adore the one true God among all, Simon, standing outside the crowd, shouted out: ‘Why do you wish to deceive the people by lying, and the unlearned crowd standing by you, persuading them that gods neither contemplate nor exist, although the books of the Hebrews say there are many gods? Nevertheless, concerning the God whom you have mentioned: if I demonstrate that He is not the most high and omnipotent God—inasmuch as He is lacking in foreknowledge, and is imperfect, and needy, and devoid of goodness, and subject to many evils, according to your own Scripture—then another certainly remains who knows future things, is perfect, not needy, good, and devoid of every evil; whereas the one you call the artisan of the world and exalted above all gods is found to be the adversary of his own contraries. Therefore, at the beginning, Adam was created in His image and is created blind, and having no knowledge of good or evil, he is found to be a transgressor and is cast out of paradise and condemned to death. And likewise, his fashioner, since He is not present everywhere, says concerning the destruction of Sodom: “I will go down and see whether they have worked according to the cry which comes to me; if it is not so, that I may know,” and He shows Himself to be ignorant; and what He says concerning Adam: “Let us cast him out, lest perhaps he reaching out ^D

^A his hand, should take of the tree of life and eating, live forever,” is a symbol of one who is ignorant and envious, just as also that: “God remembered that He had made man,” is a proof of repentance and ignorance of future things. ^B And that: “The Lord smelled a sweet savor,” is a sign of one in need, just as also the testing of Abraham and others is a proof of malice, and that the end of temptation is of one who does not know beforehand.

But Peter said to Simon, “If Adam was fashioned blind, as you say, how did God, when commanding him, show it to him, saying: ‘But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil ye shall not eat’?” And Simon says, “His mind was blind.” And Peter ^C says, “How was he blind in his mind, who, before tasting of the plant, had fitly given names to all animals?” For that they had the eyes of both soul and body open, and that both Adam and Eve were seeing, is manifest. “For the woman saw,” it says, “that the tree was good for food, and pleasing to the eyes to behold, and fair ^D to consider; and she took of its fruit and ate, and gave also to her husband (with her).” If, then, they ate having beheld the tree and the fruit as fair, it is manifest that even before the eating of the fruit, they had knowledge of good and evil, and a most keen sight capable of seeing all things. Therefore, it is not as if they received sight after the food and the transgression that it was said: “Their eyes were opened”; for they are shown to be seeing even before the food, as I said; but because they had laid aside their inexperience of evils through the transgression, which also provided them with an indifferent knowledge, it was said that “Their eyes were opened.” For by nature the eye is wont to be aroused by the intellect toward the things it sees, because it has no understanding of itself; and hence, often, while the intellect is occupied with other things, we pass by even very familiar objects like the blind, and when we are corrected, we excuse ourselves by transferring the cause to the preoccupation of the mind. So also Adam and Eve were aroused by the perception of the mind toward sight. For this, “Their eyes were opened, and they realized that they were naked,” denotes the revelation generated in the intellect, not the recovery of the sight of the eyes, so that Scripture has thus named the perception after sin; for immediately after sin the conscience is smitten. And Simon says, “If Adam had foreknowledge, why did he not foresee the fraud to be brought about through the serpent and the woman?” And Peter says, “If he did not have foreknowledge, how did he give names to his sons according to the subsequent actions, as soon as they were born? The firstborn

^A he named Cain, which means "zeal," who [also] moved by zeal, slew his brother Abel, which is interpreted as "grief"; for over him, being the first slain, his parents grieved. But if Adam, a work and creature of God, had foreknowledge, much more does God, who created him. For that God truly has foreknowledge, he says to Abraham: “Know, know that your seed shall be a sojourner in a land not its own, and they shall enslave it for four hundred years; but the nation, to which they shall be enslaved, I will judge. And after these things they shall come out from here with many possessions; but you shall go to your fathers in peace, having been buried in a good old age. But in the fourth generation they shall return here; for the iniquities of the Amorites are not yet filled up until now.” ^B And what then? Did not Moses and the rest of the prophets clearly show beforehand the sins of Israel and its disobedience toward Christ and its dispersion among all the nations? But if Moses and the other prophets knew the future beforehand by the grace of God, how does God himself, who spoke in them, not have foreknowledge of future things? Thus, therefore, it is said in a way accommodating human weakness: “He thought,” that is, he regretted, and “Coming down I will see,” and yes, indeed, also “He tempted Abraham,” and “He smelled,” and all such things, are said in a condescending manner because of our weakness; for he indicates that he does not desire sacrifices, by means of the prophet David, saying: “Shall I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats?” ^C Whence he who was begotten of him before the ages and was born in these latter times of the Virgin for our salvation, interpreting these and similar things to those ignorant that God and the Father of all has foreknowledge, said: “For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things, before you ask him.” And to those who think that he does not see all things, he said: “Pray in secret, and your Father who sees in secret will reward you in public.” And to those who suppose him not to be good, he ^D rebutted: “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him?” And to those who thought he desired sacrifices, God made public: “I desire mercy, and

not sacrifice.” And to those who suspected that he was evil, he exhorted, crying out: “Be merciful, as your Father who is in heaven is.” ^A And for the sake of those who were being led astray and supposed that there were many gods, he said: “That they might know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” And: “I confess to you, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth.” And furthermore, to the Scribe who had questioned him: “Which is the first of all the commandments?” he replied: “Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God, the Lord is one.”

(4) But Simon, realizing that Peter was hemming him in by the Scriptures, and not wishing to hold a debate regarding the word of God, departed with much shame and defeat; for that most profane person was highly versed in spiritual doctrines; and indeed, he was so trained in the magical arts and the frauds of Satan—as no one before him—that he was famous for diabolical devices and wicked actions. For he commanded statues to walk about, and when rolled in fire he would not be burned; he flew through the air, and made bread out of stones. He became a dragon, and transformed himself into other animals; he appeared two-faced, and turned himself into gold; he opened doors that were shut and bolted, and unfastened iron shackles. ^B Into the filth he placed idols of every shape; he caused vessels in the house to move of their own accord for service, without those who carried them being seen; and he made many specters appear before him, which he said were the souls of the dead. But many who tried to convict him as an impostor and a seducer, he would reconcile to himself, and then, under the pretense of a banquet, he would serve them a slaughtered ox and entertain them, only to subject them to various and scarcely curable diseases and demons. And he performed many other things, with the demons assisting him; and indeed, aided by these, not only did he transform himself—as I said—into other forms of men and irrational creatures, but he would do the same to whomsoever he wished. Once, being pursued by the Emperor as an impostor, he fled, having surrounded himself with the appearance of Faustus, the disciple of Peter. ^C When this man had come to Peter, he was being cast out by everyone because of the wicked appearance he bore. But Peter, looking upon him and seeing him afflicted and already weeping, said: “Faustus, an alteration of your countenance has been made by Simon Magus; for he, being pursued by the Emperor, fled in terror, surrounding himself with your form, so that...

you being seized and destroyed, he might cause us great sorrow and tribulation. But God, having delivered you from the form of Simon, the deceiver of the people and enemy of the truth, will quickly restore your former appearance,” which indeed came to pass even as he spoke, with all of us witnessing it. ^A And Clement, as I have said, has written that these and other such things were said and done in Syria.

But in Rome, after being cast out from the presence of Nero, as has been said, Simon said to Peter, “You said that your Christ and God ascended into heaven; behold, I also ascend.” And Peter, seeing him lifted up into the air by magic art in the midst of the city of Rome, prayed; and immediately Simon, falling and being shattered, died. ^B And the place that thenceforth received his altogether profane and impure body was called the Simonium; concerning which, in the Apostolic Constitutions, the great apostle Peter speaks thus: “The beginning of the recent heresies has proceeded from Simon Magus, who both did many wicked things in Syria, and, when he came to Rome, greatly shook the Church through magic and diabolical energy and skill. For while I, Peter, was at Caesarea Stratonis, he attempted to pervert the word of God, with the holy children present with me: Zacchaeus, formerly a tax collector, and Barnabas, and Nicetas, and Aquila, a brother of Clement the bishop and citizen of the Romans, who had been instructed by Paul, our co-apostle and fellow-worker in the Gospel; ^C and having debated with him there a third time from the words of the prophets and concerning the monarchy of God, I defeated him by the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, and having brought him to silence, drove him away to Italy. But dwelling in Rome, as I have said, he greatly disturbed the Church, seducing many and winning them to himself, and astonishing the crowds with magic art and the operation of demons. One day, in the middle of the day, having entered the theater, he announced that he would ascend into the air. But as all were marveling at this, I, Peter, prayed against him. ^D Moreover, being lifted up by demons, he was floating high in the air, saying that he was ascending into the heavens, and that from thence he would provide good things to the people. But when the crowds were acclaiming him as a god, I, extending my hands to heaven, besought God to cast down the destroyer and to render the power of the demons…

^A ineffectual. ^B And fixing my gaze, I said to Simon: "If I am an apostle of Jesus Christ and not a deceiver like you, Simon, I command the wicked powers to release you from their grasp." And when I had said this, he was immediately brought down with a great noise, and he was shattered, while the crowd shouted: "One God, whom Peter proclaims." Thus was the first heresy of the Simonians destroyed at Rome and completely extinguished. For this reason the Romans also celebrate this day of the Sabbath as a notable one. For it was a Sabbath on which prayer and fasting were performed by the faithful; for it was the custom for the Church to pray for the teachers, as it is written in the Acts of the Apostles: "Prayer was made without ceasing by the Church unto God for Peter." Since, therefore, on that day of the Sabbath the victory of Christ and the fall of the Antichrist Simon occurred in public, the Romans fast on Sabbaths and hold joyful assemblies in memory of this, observing that tradition even to this day. For other Churches also preserve different customs, as those who have compiled histories have recorded. For among the Scythians, he says, the cities have one bishop and only one, but among the Cypriots and Arabs there are bishops even in the villages, just as also among those in Phrygia who are called Novatians and Montanists. And in the Church of Rome there are only seven deacons, while everywhere else the number of them is indifferent. At Rome, again, the Alleluia is said but once a year, on the first day of Easter only; and no one ^C ever preaches in the church, not even the bishop; but at Alexandria the bishop preaches before the church, and while the Gospels are being read, he does not rise from his throne. As for the Forty Days of the fasts, some fast for six weeks, as in Illyria and Libya and Egypt and in all parts of the West and in Palestine; but at Constantinople and in the surrounding regions as far as Phoenicia, they fast for seven weeks. Others, again, fast for only three days during six or seven weeks sporadically; others, conversely, join three weeks in succession, while others two, as those who follow Montanus do. In some cities of Egypt, however, after they have dined in the evening, they receive the mysteries. These things Socrates has recounted, as it was proper that all things should be observed. Now, however, the aforementioned customs have been for the most part and little by little changed. ^D

^A

Chapter CXXII. Concerning Saint Peter.

Now Nero, hearing that [Simon] had perished through Peter, and having become indignant, commanded that he be crucified. But Peter, having besought the prefect that he should not be crucified upright like his Lord, was crucified head-downwards (as he had requested out of great humility). After the departure of Peter, as Eusebius says, the Apostle Paul, when he had come in bonds from Judea for his first defense and had made his defense to Nero, was sent forth to the ministry of preaching. From this point, as it seems, Luke described the Acts of the Apostles up to that time, inasmuch as he was with Paul. But at the time when he confessed the faith, [Luke] was not with him, the Apostle clearly saying this: "No one stood by me in my first defense, but all deserted me: may it not be counted against them." He wrote the second epistle to Timothy while being held in chains, at the same time signifying the first defense he had made before Nero, whom he rightly called "the lion" because of the inhuman and savage nature of his character. In that account ^B he also adds, concerning the end which was already approaching, saying: "I have been delivered out of the mouth of the lion; and the Lord will deliver me from every evil work, and will save me into his heavenly kingdom," pointing to the martyrdom that was immediately at hand, which he also calls by name more clearly in the same Scripture, saying, "For I am already being sacrificed, and the time of my departure has come." Having, therefore, made his first defense and having again set out for the ministry of the preaching, he then a second time entered Rome, and being in bonds, was in the same way surrendered to Nero, and won the crown of martyrdom by the sword.

^A And he was put to death on the 29th of June, the same day on which Peter was crucified, as also Mark and Luke the Evangelists maintain, as well as James the brother of the Lord. Now Luke, having been crucified upon an olive tree that bore fruit, because a dry piece of wood was not found in that place to make a cross, one took his body and, having buried it among many tombs, made the location of the grave unknown. But when the disciples sought it afterward and could not find his tomb because of the multitude of the monuments, as they prayed on that night, God showered medicinal eye-salves ^B upon the tomb, symbols of his craft; and by this sign the tomb became known, whose precious and holy relic Constantius, the son of Constantine the Great, afterward disinterred and deposited in the church of the Holy Apostles.

CXXIII. Regarding James the brother of the Lord.

^B The great James, the brother of the Lord, being holy from his mother's womb, drank neither wine nor strong drink, nor did he eat any living thing, nor did he ever use a bath; but his knees became hardened like those of camels, owing to his constant kneeling to worship God. Whence, on account of the excellence of his righteousness and the wondrous manner of his life, he was called the Just and ὠβλίας, which means a rampart of the people and righteousness. ^C Since, therefore, this angelic James was held in reverence and was very illustrious, when the feast of the Passover occurred and many tens of thousands of people had gathered in the temple of the Jews, the Scribes took him up onto the pinnacle of the temple, wishing to scatter the preaching of Christ, and they said in a loud voice, "We entreat you, O Just One, to say to the people not to be led astray after the track of the one called Christ; for we all obey you, acknowledging you to be a just man and a respecter of no person." And he, answering, said: "Why do you ask me about Christ, since

[GREEK COLUMN] and [LATIN COLUMN]

he answered and said, ^A "Why do you ask me about Christ, when he himself is sitting at the right hand of God in heaven?" But the wicked high priests and Pharisees cried out: "Oh, oh! The just man himself has gone astray." And they said among themselves: "We have acted wickedly in giving him an opportunity to bear witness for Christ; for we have led many to believe in him." And the wicked wretches, in their madness, cast him down; but he, while on his knees, was praying for them. And when one of the sons of Rechab approached and heard him, he said to them: "What are you doing? The just man is actually praying for us." And a fuller, running up, struck his head with the wooden beam upon which they are accustomed to press clothes, and the just man died immediately. And having buried him in ^B the temple, they raised a pillar to him. After his martyrdom, Jerusalem was quickly besieged; for Josephus says that these things happened to the Jews in vengeance for James the Just, who is the brother of Jesus, who is called Christ, because the Jews slew him, being a most just man. Now the Jews, after the Ascension of the Lord, remained for forty years in peace, Christ delaying his wrath against their impiety and hostility toward God, so that upon such a great sin of theirs they might come to their senses and perform acts of repentance; for this reason, fearful signs were shown to them, foretelling the ruin about to befall them. For at the feast of Unleavened Bread, about the ninth hour of the night, such a great light shone upon the temple ^C and the altar for one whole hour that it seemed to be day. After this, a star appeared over the city, similar to a sword. And at another time, the eastern bronze gate of the city, closed with iron bolts and which could scarcely be opened by thirty men, was seen opened about the eighth hour of the night. And again, at another time, before sunset, as it were towers in the air and armed camps were seen running about through the sky and surrounding the cities. After these things, in the days of the feast of Tabernacles, four years before the war, when the city was at peace and well-governed, a man named Jesus, having come to the feast, ^D suddenly cried out in the temple, saying: "A voice from the west, a voice from the east, a voice from the four winds, a voice over Jerusalem and all the people." And these things he cried out spiritedly and incessantly in the city for many days and nights; and for this reason, some of the populace, becoming indignant, beat him with scourges; but he cried out all the more, weeping,

and saying at every blow: “Woe, woe to Jerusalem!” ^D At the same festival, a bull led to sacrifice ^B unexpectedly gave birth to a lamb in the middle of the temple, which, I suppose (by the unnatural birth, prefigured the supernatural [nature] and the outcry of the city; and by the lamb, clearly manifested the negation of the Jews toward the Lamb of God, Christ, and the utterly ruinous and total destruction destined to befall them).

The Jews, therefore, having refused subjection and tribute to the Romans, and ^B Agrippa having fled to Rome, Nero, in anger and indignation, wrote to the prefect of the East (who was at that time Vespasian), commanding him to move all the army under his command, to take possession of the land of the Jews, and to destroy it entirely. Now, in the days of the feast of the Passover, when all from Judaea had come to Jerusalem, they were locked up by the Romans ^C in the capital alone, those who believed in Christ having already departed by divine revelation, and those remaining [being] like those in custody, the impious and the wicked, just as it once happened to those most nefarious Sodomites, whom these resembled. For indeed, acting as an envoy for Sodom of old, the holy Abraham says: “Will you destroy the righteous with the impious, and will the righteous be as the impious?” ^C Therefore, the man-loving God promised: “If ten righteous be found in Sodom,” [then I will not bring my wrath upon them;] but they were not found, whence they also perished utterly. (6) And concerning Jerusalem, the divine Jeremiah interceding, God said to him again: “Run about in the streets of Jerusalem, look and know, and seek in its squares if you find a man, and is there one doing judgment, seeking truth, and I will be propitious to it, says the Lord.” But come, even this city, lacking such men, tasted the fruit of divine wrath, and not at another time, but ^D during the days of the festival; and quite justly, for it was necessary that they, on the days when they sinned against the Lord, should in those same days undergo the wages of the deicide.

(7) Nero, indeed, as his power was being confirmed ^D for him, slid into unholy acts and busied himself with matters foreign to the empire, playing the lyre, acting in tragedies, and dancing on the stages; and in addition to these and all his iniquitous deeds, he added the hatred and struggle against God, becoming the first persecutor of the divine Word. (8) After this, when plots against him had been signified,

^A to him, and he had come to the height of madness, he slew his own mother, and his sister, and his wife, and countless others of his own kin, and indeed even those of note in Rome (fearing an uprising from them). And thus, having been rendered beast-like by his excessive madness, he went out to a suburb and did away with himself. Others, however, say that certain persons attacked him in order to kill him, but he begged those who were with him to kill him; when no one dared to do this, he said: "I have neither a friend who might save me, nor an enemy who might kill me. My soul desires to die, but my hand does not serve." Finally, having said, "O Jupiter, what a craftsman of a lyre-player perishes!" he killed himself. (9) Others say that he was killed in Rome by the people. The Greeks, who recorded the Olympiads together with the events that occurred over time, relate these things.

CXXIV. The Reign of Galba

CXXV. The Reign of Otho

CXXVI. The Reign of Vitellius

^A

CXXVII. The Reign of Vespasian.

CXXVIII. Concerning the Capture of Jerusalem.

having had their hands cut off, he sent into the city, wishing to strike terror into the insurgents. (4) Every house was filled with the dead (from the famine), reeking, and a severe pestilence prevailed in the city (whence the insurgents, unable to endure the stench, cast them from the wall into the trenches, while many of them were still breathing). (5) The insurgents, therefore, pressed by famine, secretly sallied forth toward the Mount of Olives, whom the Romans pursued and put to flight. A certain Roman, among the most approved of the cavalry, seeing the Jews being driven headlong into the trenches, driving his horse obliquely, apprehended a certain youth, robust in body and armed, from among the fleeing insurgents. Seizing him by the ankle, he leaned down while his horse was running and the Jew was pursuing on horseback; and when he had displayed such steadfastness of his right hand and ^B vigor of his whole body, and the excellence of his horsemanship, he arrived before the Caesar, bringing his captive as something precious. Titus, greatly admiring his strength and the invincibility of his power, rewarded him with gifts, but commanded that the captive be executed. (6) As the city was being severely devastated by the Romans, hunger destroyed more in the whole city than the war, so that brothers went against brothers, and kinsmen against kinsmen, armed with daggers into the houses, snatching each other’s food. Indeed, wives took it from husbands, and children from fathers; and — most pitiable of all — mothers snatched food from the very mouths of infants, and spared their dearest ones in nothing at all. Some, gaping because of the need, leaped like rabid dogs and wandered about like drunken men, as if the famine were passing through their ^C vitals and marrow and driving them to a violent death. Others reached for prohibited things, not even sparing the filth of animals; and finally, they would chew on their own belts, and ate shoes and the hides from their shields, stripping them off.

(7) Now a certain woman named Mary, illustrious and conspicuous by birth and wealth, having fled from the country to the city, saw all her property and food supplies plundered by the insurgents as they broke in day by day. Being entirely without food and having a babe at the breast, she slaughtered it and, having roasted it, she ate the one half, and kept the rest covered. But the insurgents, having entered ^D as was their custom, and smelling the fat, threatened to kill her if she did not produce what she had hidden; but she, bringing forward the remains of the little child, said: "Of this, truly once for my son, but now indeed altogether mine,

eat also of it, for I too have eaten; but if you have an aversion, leave the remainder for me." ^A And they, when they had sufficiently sated their astonished eyes with the sight, departed in tremors and stupor. Thus, the progeny that had well come forth from the womb, wickedly re-entered the miserable womb (which, when they heard it, all in the city prayed that they might die quickly). Such were the indescribable things that happened in the city at that time. ^B And in the surrounding region, as the war was raging, a most violent storm of wind suddenly arose, which directed the weapons sent by the Romans straight at the Jews, while it immediately veered aside the ones that they were casting in return at them. The Romans, meanwhile, seeing the eyes of the Jews obscured by the gale, made an attack and cruelly massacred them while they were unawares. Hence, many sensed that the blow was from the Lord, and that they were suffering such things because of the wrath of God. Thus, in two years, Titus, having taken Jerusalem, utterly razed it, and together with its temple, burned it with fire, according to the Lord’s prediction and prophecy. For while the disciples were speaking about the temple, that it was adorned with goodly stones and offerings, ^C He said: "As for these things which you see, the days will come in which there shall not be left one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down." "And when you shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that its desolation has drawn near." "Woe, however, to those who are with child and to those who nurse in those days. For there will be great distress and wrath upon this people, and they will fall by the edge of the sword, and will be led captive into all nations; and Jerusalem will be trodden down by the nations until the times of the nations are fulfilled." And: "There will be such tribulation as has not been from the beginning, nor shall ever be." ^D All these things the Jews, enemies of their own lives, have suffered, having been subjugated by the Romans for having rejected Christ, the King of all, and for having impiously drawn to themselves the Roman emperor, crying out: "We have no king but Caesar"; and: "His blood be upon us and upon our children," on account of which, until the end, through all nations, their children shall be dispersed and suffer misery, as fugitives, and runaways, and witless people, who are able to fulfill none of the things of the law. For them, under

^A the tribute of the Romans, they are not permitted to use their own laws, since they voluntarily invited servitude upon themselves, saying, "We have no king but Caesar." And, "If we do not kill Christ, all will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away our place and nation"—the very things they prophesied unwittingly; for indeed the nations did believe in Him, and they themselves were stripped of their authority by the Romans, and are prohibited from the legal worship, and are not permitted to slaughter and sacrifice when they wish. Hence they are also accursed, being unable to do the things commanded. For it says: "Cursed is everyone who does not remain in all things that are written in the book of the law to do them." For it is impossible, being dispersed among the nations, to fulfill all the requirements of the law and the worship circumscribed to one place, as Moses commanded in the law of the Lord.

(10) What then do you say to these things, O Jews? And what is the cause of such great and manifold evils that have beset you? Have you not understood that you have offended not a fellow-servant, but God, and that you have deservedly suffered these things and are enduring unheard-of miseries? For you sinned against that very Creator and benefactor, O senseless and lawless ones, as He Himself proclaims through Isaiah: ^B "I have begotten and raised up children, but they have rejected Me." And: "What was I to do to my vineyard that I have not done? Because I waited for it to bring forth grapes, but it brought forth thorns." And: "I waited for it to make judgment, but it made iniquity, and not justice, but a cry." But of what thorns is the discourse, and what iniquity and cry? Evidently, of those with which you crowned Him in the Passion, lawlessly crying out: "Away, away, crucify Him." As also through Jeremiah, regarding your impious struggle and your defiled synagogue, He says again: "My inheritance has become to Me as a lion in the forest; it has uttered its voice against Me, and therefore I have hated it." (Which is to say, the profane and God-hated synagogue, because it committed this deed). And Solomon (triumphing) says: "Go forth, O daughters of Zion, and see in the crown with which His mother crowned Him in the day of His wedding." He calls the synagogue of the Jews His mother according to the flesh, for "My flesh," He says, "is from them." He signifies the day of His wedding as that ^C in which He indeed espoused to Himself the Church from the nations; but that deceived and insane synagogue placed a crown of thorns upon His head, and as if joyful and mocking Him, said: "Hail, King of the Jews." Regarding whom, looking forward, Isaiah lashes out more strongly, saying: "At whom have you mocked? To whom have you opened wide your mouth, children of ruin, a lying seed?" Whence the Lord Himself lamentably said through Hosea: "Woe to them, because they have departed from Me, and they shall be miserable, because they have transgressed against Me."

And they have devised evil things against Me." ^A And, "Therefore Israel was swallowed up, and he became to no purpose, and he is like a useless vessel ^B among the nations." Likewise also, through Jeremiah, He says: "Thy backsliding shall instruct thee, and thy wickedness shall reprove thee, and thou shalt know that it is a bitter thing for thee to have forsaken Me (and I did not delight in thee)."

But the divine David, as if gnashing his teeth against you, prays against those who have offended the Lord, saying: "Let their eyes be darkened that they may not see, and bow down their back always: pour out Thine anger upon them, and let the fury of Thine anger overtake them; and add iniquity unto their iniquity, and let them not enter into Thy justice: let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous." And, "Disperse them in Thy justice, and cast them down, my protector, O Lord." ^C And, "Let them be caught in their pride—in the anger of completion, and they shall not exist, and they shall know that God is Lord of Jacob and of the ends of the earth." In which, to be sure, those who are dispersed will clearly know that God is the Christ of their father Jacob, and He rules over all things, and gives to each according to his works.

Thus, indeed, the manifestor of God, Moses, before rebuking and branding you as abominable, senseless, and ungrateful, said: "O perverse children, a crooked and distorted generation, do ye thus repay the Lord? Is this foolish and unwise people not this thy Father that purchased thee, and made thee and fashioned thee?" Whence God rightfully speaks: "I said: I will disperse them, I will make their memory to cease from among men."

But the renowned Jeremiah, more clearly indicating who it is that has suffered these things at your hands, cries out, saying: ^D "The Spirit before your face, Christ the Lord, was taken in your corruptions, of whom we have said: In His shadow we shall live." Such things, indeed, Solomon again, assuming your person—you who fight against God—distinctly prophesies, saying: "Let us lie in wait for the righteous, because he is difficult to us, and he opposes our works, and reproaches us with the sins of the law, and proclaimes that he has knowledge of God, and calls himself the child of the Lord; and that he is..."

^A to us for a test of our thoughts, and is burdensome to us even when seen, because his life is unlike others, and his paths are different. We were considered as counterfeit by him, and he keeps away from our ways as from impurities; he calls the latter end of the righteous blessed, and boasts that God is his Father. Let us see if his words are true, and let us test the outcomes for him. For if he is righteous and the Son of God, he will help him and rescue him from the hand of those who oppose him. Let us test him with outrage and torture, so that we may know his gentleness and examine his forbearance; let us condemn him to a shameful death, and see if there will be any visitation for him from his words.» ^B By mocking their madness and ill-will very thoroughly, he brought this on. They thought these things and were led astray, for their wickedness blinded them; and they did not know the mysteries of God. These are the ones also of whom the inspired Isaiah, lamented in harmony, says: «Woe to their soul, because they plotted an evil counsel against themselves, saying: Let us bind the righteous, because he is useless to us.» The cause, therefore, of your alienation and desertion from God, and of the continuous and endless misery, is shown very clearly (O ye who fight against God), if you wish to listen and understand. And indeed, concerning your Babylonian captivity, the prophets told of the fixed times, and even proclaimed the return and the rebuilding of the city. For listen to Jeremiah saying to you: «Because of the sins which you have sinned before God, you shall be led captive to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon. Having gone therefore into Babylon, you shall be there seventy years. And after this I will bring you out from there in peace, says the Lord.» And again: «They shall serve among the nations for seventy years, and when the seventy years have been fulfilled, I will restore Israel to its place, says the Lord.» And concerning the rebuilding of the city, Isaiah said: «Thus says the Lord to my anointed, Cyrus, whose right hand I have taken hold of, to subdue nations before him: He himself will build my city, and he will send back the captivity of my people.» Concerning which building Haggai also speaks: «In the second year under Darius, the Lord spoke to me saying: Speak now to Zorobabel, and to Joshua the priest, and to all the remaining people, saying: Who among you is it who saw this house in its former glory? And how do you see it now, as if it does not exist before your eyes? And now take courage, Zorobabel, and Joshua, and all the people, and [build the house, and it will be pleasing to me in it: and the glory of this latter house will be greater than the former, says the Lord.]

^A Just as therefore Solomon became the founder of the building of the first temple, so too did Zerubbabel lay the foundation of this house; and his hands shall finish it. If indeed another were going to be raised up again, the prophet would have said: “And the glory of this latter house will be greater than the former.” ^B But by saying "greater than the former,” he indicated the second [house] as the latter and final one. For just as there is nothing prior to the first, so too is there nothing more final than the final one; so that if he had said, “The second is greater than the first,” it might be expected that a third building was to come. But if he called the second the "latter" one, he clearly signified that final building of the city and the temple.

(12) And in vain do you deceive yourselves, O Jews, by anxiously awaiting the restoration of these things after the destruction by Vespasian and Titus. For indeed, the sacred psalmist David, putting on the person of the captives before these events, says: “By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, and wept when we remembered Zion; ^C because there they that carried us away captive required of us the words of a song, and those who carried us away, hymns.” And elsewhere he adds, speaking about the city: “The Lord building up Jerusalem, he will gather the dispersions of Israel.” And again, he says in the person of the people: “When the Lord turned again the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.” You are therefore greatly deceived, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the mysteries, nor the divinely inspired doctrine and prophecy stored up within them.

(13) But concerning this final captivity, God has neither set a time, nor have the prophets shown a restoration; but all the prophets announced the captivity, and the cessation of your kingdom, and the desolation of the city; but they did not announce a return and a new restoration of the city in any way, except only its total annihilation, and your destruction, and your perpetual punishment, and dispersion among all the nations. For the archangel says to Daniel: “The anointing shall be destroyed, and judgment shall not be, and he shall destroy the city and the sanctuary with the coming prince, and they shall be cut off as in a flood. And the sacrifice and the drink offering shall be taken away, and upon the temple the abomination of desolations, and even until the completion of time a completion shall be given upon the desolation.” ^D For by the anointing he indicated the priesthood; by the judgment, the royal and political constitution and the abolition of all other things; and by the flood, and the cutting off, and the completion, he signified the total ruin and desolation that was to be.

(14) When therefore you hear of the completion, O blinded Jew, what else do you await? But if, while reading, you do not understand—as in truth you do not—

you actually know nothing of your unexpected ^A revocation, and therefore, struggling against the truth, you are not sound. Hear then, in digression, the voices of the prophets, and cease from now on to contend and act foolishly. The prophet Hosea speaks in this way: “And I will cause to cease the kingdom of the house of Israel; and I will crush the bow of Israel,” and, “I will no longer heap mercy upon the house of Israel, but rather, contending, I will contend ^B against them,” says the Lord; and, “I have hated them because of the malice of their designs, and I will cast them out of my house, and I will not again love them,” says the Lord. “Ephraim has pained his roots and has withered, and he shall no longer bring forth fruit; and God will cast them away, because they did not hear him, and they shall be wanderers among the nations.” Malachi indeed also says: “There is no pleasure for me in you,” says the Lord Almighty, “and I will not accept a sacrifice from your hands, because from the rising of the sun even to its setting my name is glorified among the nations, and in every place incense is offered to my name and a pure sacrifice, because my name is great among the nations,” says the Lord Almighty, “but you profane it.” And, “Because of this I will give you up, despised among all the nations, because you did not keep my commandments.” Therefore Jeremiah also says: “Thus says the Lord Almighty: Behold, I have sworn by my great name, if my name shall hereafter be named in any mouth of Judah.” If then he said he would take his name away from the Judeans, it is manifest ^C that he would take away the law and the sacrifices as well. (15) Was the legislation concerning sacrifices, therefore, not given primarily against the divine will? And hence after this, through the prophets, he said: “For who has required these things from your hands?” and, “Do not prayers and flesh take away your sins?” and, “Did you offer me victims and sacrifices in the desert for forty years?” and, “Why do you bring me incense from Sheba, and cinnamon from a land far away?” Therefore he says: “A sacrifice and an oblation you did not desire,” and, “Does God want burnt offerings and sacrifices, or rather that one obey him?” and, “Better is obedience than a sacrifice,” and, “If you had desired sacrifice, I would have given it.” And indeed, casting out the feasts, he adds, saying: “I have hated, I have rejected your festivities; may the sound of your songs and the psalm of your instruments be absent from my ears,” and, “I will not endure the great day; my soul hates fasting and idleness,” and, “This is not the fast which I chose,” and, “I will give you ^D commandments that are not good, in which you will not live.” Because of the hardness of your hearts, therefore, and not because of their goodness, he gave you all these commandments; and there is no inconsistency.

^A Since, then, Israel had long since become exceedingly senseless and ungrateful, and had abandoned the truly existing and pre-existing God, who had created him and done him good in many parts and in many ways, and had completely departed from the God who was his Savior, ‹and had sacrificed his sons and his daughters to demons,› and had served the creature, worshipping it instead of the Creator, ‹saying to the wood and the stone: You are my God, and you gave birth to me,› the wretch, struck with madness, did not shudder to deny the God who had given him birth, the living and true God, and to forget the God who nurtured him. Therefore, for the future, God was indignant toward him as toward one useless and incurable, and turned away from him completely, saying through the great David: ‹And my people did not hear my voice, and Israel did not attend to me, and I sent them away to walk according to the designs of their hearts.› ^B Similarly, Zechariah also says: ‹I said: I will not shepherd them; but let that which is dying die, and that which is perishing perish, and let the remaining ones eat each one the flesh of his neighbor.› And since he had thus shown himself to be hateful and corrupt and altogether polluted through his most shameful and god-hating practices, he was justly and deservedly abandoned and cast off, as the divine Malachi also says again: ‹Israel has fallen, and shall no more rise again.› So too Isaiah says: ‹Who will spare you, Jerusalem, or who will return you to peace? says the Lord. You shall go backward, and I will stretch out my hand, and I will destroy you, and I will scatter you, and I will no longer pardon you. — Behold, I take and break you and the city which I gave to you, and I will give you over to everlasting reproach and everlasting shame, which shall never be forgotten.› ^C Therefore, the most knowledgeable of the divine word, Moses the great and inspired by God, and after him the prophets of heavenly things, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, have declared the terrible and fearsome things of this final and last destruction most clearly and most manifestly to all, even to the most unlearned. For Moses says in Deuteronomy: ‹And the Lord shall bring upon you a nation from afar, from the end of the earth, as the eagle swoops down, a nation shameless in countenance; and it shall crush you in all your cities, until your high and firm walls are destroyed, ^D in which you had confidence. — And you shall eat the fruit of your womb, the flesh of your sons and of your daughters — ‹and there shall be nothing left for you in the siege and in the distress, with which your enemy shall press you in all your cities. And the tender and delicate woman among you, whose little one that has gone forth from between her feet, and

the son whom she has borne, shall eat in secret because of the lack of all things in the distress and misery ^A in which your enemy shall press you in all your cities. And you shall be in an enigma, and in a parable, and in a narrative among all the nations to which the Lord shall lead you away, until He destroys you. And you shall be left in small number, whereas you were like the stars of heaven for multitude, because you did not hearken to the voice of the Lord your God. And it shall be, as the Lord rejoiced over you to do you good and to multiply you, so shall the Lord rejoice over you to destroy you. And you shall be removed from that good land, and the Lord your God shall scatter you among all nations from one end of the earth to the other end of it; but neither among those nations shall you rest, nor shall there be a standing point for the sole of your foot; and the Lord shall give you there a fainting heart, and failing eyes, and a pining soul; and you shall be afraid by day and by night. And you shall say in the morning for the fear of your heart: Would that it were evening! and in the evening you shall say: ^B Would that it were morning!

Now Ezekiel said: Thus says the Lord Adonai: Behold, I am against you, O Jerusalem; and I will execute judgment in your midst before the nations, and I will do in you that which I have not done, nor will I ever do the like to them again, for all your abominations. Therefore, fathers shall eat their children in your midst, and children shall eat their fathers; and I will execute judgments in you, and I will scatter all your remnant into every wind; because you have polluted my holy things with all your abominations; and I also will reject you, and I will not spare you any more. A fourth part of you shall perish in death, and a fourth part of you shall be consumed by famine in your midst, and a fourth part of you shall fall by the sword ^C around you, and a fourth part of you I will scatter into every wind. And indeed the war and the sword [shall destroy] from without, but the famine and the death from within; and he who is in the field shall die by the sword, and the famine and death shall consume those in the city; and those who are saved from them shall be consumed. And I will leave a remnant of them from the sword, and from the famine, and from the death, so that they may declare all their iniquities among the nations; and they shall know that I am the Lord who strikes. For this reason the holy Chrysostom says: He does not take away all entirely, but He scatters them; for the divine David, foretelling this, says to Him: ^D Do not slay them, lest they forget your law; scatter them by your power.

^A (8) Regarding His second coming, and the manifestation, and the great and inconsolable tribulation ^B of them, Zechariah says: "Then shall the Lord God come, and there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem." "For they shall look on Him whom they have pierced" (that is, on those nails with which they fastened Him; he did not say, whom they pierced, but, *on whom* they pierced). But what is *on whom*? It was the Cross on whom they pierced. For before the fearful coming of the Lord, like a royal standard, according to the common custom, that aforementioned sign of the advent of Christ shines forth, glorified and heralded by the angels; and the sign of the Cross shall appear upon the earth, obscuring the sun and dimming the moon, as the Lord says: ^C "Then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven." And that the word of Zechariah might be fulfilled, Christ, taking the very expression, transferred it to the truth, saying: "They shall look on Him whom they have pierced." (19) But Jeremiah likewise says: "Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing upon this place evils, so that the ears of everyone hearing them shall tingle, because they have forsaken Me and alienated this place; and I will slaughter the tribe of Jerusalem in this place, and I will cast them down by the sword before their enemies, and I will give their dead as food to the birds of the heaven and to the beasts of the earth; and I will set this city for a devastation and for an eternal hissing, so that all who pass by it shall be astonished, and grieved in spirit, and shall shake their heads over all its ^D plague." And: "As wind and heat I will scatter them before the face of their enemies, and I will show them the day of destruction." And: "And they shall eat the flesh of their sons and of their daughters, and each one shall eat the flesh of his neighbor in the region and in the siege by which their enemies shall besiege them; and I will shatter this people and this city as an earthen vessel is shattered, which cannot be restored again; thus will I do, says the Lord, to this place and to those dwelling in it, to have this city given as one falling to the kingdoms of the earth, and they shall be for a reproach, and for a parable, and for a curse in every place wherever I shall cast them out." (20) What else in the divine eloquence could be clearer and more profound in meaning? Behold, therefore, O foolish and senseless Jew, whether it has been fulfilled or not, and precisely, what...

^A the prophetic words proclaimed against you; and indeed, also the things foretold and threatened beforehand by Christ. For he says concerning Jerusalem and the temple therein, that “there shall not remain a stone upon a stone.” Has it remained? By no means. And: “Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.” Has it not been laid desolate? Indeed, it has. And: “There shall be tribulation as has not been.” Has it not occurred? Read the history of Josephus, a man of your own, a Jew and a lover of truth; and you will not even be able to catch your breath, merely hearing what terrible things the miserable Jews of that time suffered because of their madness and frenzy against the Lord. In order that none of the Jews should disbelieve, the Truth provided as a herald of these pitiable and unutterable sufferings, not some stranger, but a man of the same race and same faith, and one burning with zeal, who, in recounting these things, might lament them. For the Jews underwent such an overthrow from God as no time has seen since man has existed upon the earth, and with good reason. For while they sinned against fellow servants, they obtained forgiveness; but when they sinned against the Lord of all, they were punished without pardon. That Christ did these things to them, hear him speaking again through the parable: “Those who did not want me to reign over them, bring here and slaughter.” Therefore he also said to them: ^B “The kingdom shall be taken from you and given to a nation producing its fruits.” And indeed, to Jerusalem he says: “Days will come upon you, and your enemies will cast a bank about you, and encompass you, and hem you in on every side, and dash your children to the ground in you.” And speaking to the unbelieving Jews, he adds: “Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.” This is also what the divine Daniel predicted when he said: “He shall destroy the city and the sanctuary with the coming leader,”—that is, God and Father will destroy the solemn and illustrious things of all the Jews, but also the Son and Christ, whom they expected as redeemer and savior, together with him. For he did not say, “The city and the temple shall be destroyed with the leader,” as some errant ones think, but, “The Father shall destroy the temple and the city,” ^C plainly with the cooperation of the leader whom they insulted—concerning whom Jacob said to Bethlehem: “Out of you shall come forth a leader,”—and the rest. Moreover, the Lord also instructed his apostles thus: “When you see the abomination of desolation (the one spoken of by Daniel the prophet) standing in the holy place—let the reader understand.” And this was certainly fulfilled, first of all at the time of the capture and desolation, when the Roman army entered the temple and captured the city for the desolation—as some consider the aforementioned abomination of desolation ^D at the time of the capture and devastation, when the Roman soldiers entered the temple and razed the city to desolation, which some think is the predicted desolation, since, being alienated and defiled according to the law, they were justly called the abomination of desolation; then, when subsequently Hadrian erected his own statue and utterly laid waste the remains of the city.

Concerning this, the final captivity of the wretched Jews, the theological tongue discourses ^B (denouncing their irremediable desolation on account of their daring act against Christ). For it says: “The cross having impelled them to the final madness which they devised against God and our Savior, failing to acknowledge God in man, they drew upon themselves the iron rod that hung over them from afar—I mean the lordship and empire to which they are now subject—and their final abduction and migration, and the yoke of servitude now laid upon them, and the notorious servitude under the Romans, and the ^C dispersion which they now suffer and which they will suffer for the most part; for I am convinced by the prophecies concerning them. Who will lament worthily of those who are able to write lamentations and compose accounts that equal their sufferings? What books will contain these things? The whole world through which they have been dispersed is a single pillar of their disaster, and the worship that has ceased, and the very soil of Jerusalem, which is scarcely recognized (of which only so much is accessible to them, and of which they enjoy their former glory only as much as one day allows them for visiting it and lamenting their desolation).”

Josephus, who was present at Jerusalem during the time of the war, ^D wrote that three hundred myriads of men perished at that time (some perishing by famine, others slaughtered by one another in the siege, some destroyed by the Romans, some consumed by fire; while those whom the flower of their age, physical beauty, and outstanding stature commended were saved for the triumph in Rome for combat with wild beasts; of the remaining multitude, those who had passed their seventeenth year were sent off, hands bound, to the works in Egypt, while the greater number were distributed to the provinces to meet their death in theaters by the sword or by beasts; those under the age of seventeen were taken captive and sold; and the number of these alone reached nine myriads of men). And he also spoke concerning the destruction of Jerusalem. He said that the desolation of both the city and the temple occurred according to Daniel’s prophecy, which had been made four hundred and eight years before. And thus, finally, the third capture of Jerusalem took place, and its utter desolation under Vespasian and Titus, forty years after our Lord’s Ascension.

(23) This, indeed, the divine Chrysostom also explains more elaborately, refuting them very soundly, saying: “If you contend, O Jew, concerning the end, learn the present from the past, examine it: you descended into Egypt, and when the four hundred years had been completed, behold, you were freed from servitude,

to the Jews, concerning the end, from what has passed ^A learn also the present. For consider: you entered into Egypt, but it lasted four hundred years, and God quickly delivered you from that slavery, even though you were acting impiously and committing the most grievous fornication. You were delivered from Egypt and you worshipped a calf; you sacrificed your sons and your daughters to demons; you polluted the temple; you violated nature; you filled mountains, glens, hills, springs, rivers, and gardens with the ignominy of sacrifices; you slew prophets; you tore down altars; you pursued every kind of wickedness and displayed every excess of malice and impiety. Yet, nonetheless, He who gave you over to the Babylonians again led you back to your former freedom, and restored your homeland and the temple, and the ancient gift of prophecy, and ^B once again there were prophets and the grace of the Holy Spirit. Moreover, even in the time of captivity you were not abandoned, but Daniel and Ezekiel were there with you, and Jeremiah in Egypt, and even before these, Moses and Aaron in the desert. And after these things, you returned again to your former wickedness, and you rioted in drunken excess, and you defected to the Hellenic way of life under the impious Antiochus. Yet, once you were given over to Antiochus for three years, through the Maccabees you set up glorious trophies again. But now nothing of the sort has happened; on the contrary, the exact opposite has occurred—which is most to be wondered at—in that the things of wickedness have ceased, but those of punishment have ^C been intensified, and there is not even any hope of change. For not only have [seventy] years passed, but many more, and there is not even a shadow of hope to be found; and this is so even though you are not now idol-worshipping as you were before, nor daring anything else that you formerly practiced.

(24) In order that we may speak more clearly and exhaustively concerning these matters, let us begin again from the beginning. There were three most grievous slaveries that the Jews underwent, and divine justice brought none of them upon them without prior warning; rather, it took care to announce beforehand the place, the time, the affliction, the return, and all these things with great care. Regarding the first, in Egypt, while ^D conversing with Abraham, God said thus: “Knowingly know that your seed will be a stranger in a foreign land, and they will enslave them and afflict them for four hundred years; but the nation whom they serve, I will judge,” said God; “and in the fourth generation they shall come back here (with many possessions).” (25) Regarding the second, Jeremiah said: “Thus says the Lord: When seventy years are about to be fulfilled for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will establish My good words over you, to bring you back into this place.” “And I will turn back your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have scattered you there,” says the Lord; “and I will restore you to the place from where I caused you to emigrate.”

^A The discourse has briefly demonstrated that two such servitudes befell them after the prophecies, and not simply or unexpectedly. It remains for us to speak of the third, and then of the fourth which now holds them, and to show clearly that not a single prophet promised that there would be an end to the evils that befell them, or any liberation at all.

^B What then is the third? That which happened under Antiochus Epiphanes. For since Alexander, king of the Macedonians, having overthrown Darius, the king of the Persians, had annexed the empire to himself and had died, four kings were made, from one of whom arose Antiochus, who a long time later burned the temple, laid waste the Holy of Holies, abolished the sacrifices, subjected the Jews, and completely dissolved their civil state. All these things were predicted by Daniel with complete precision and even to the day, both when they would be, and how, and by whom, and in what manner, and where it would end, and what change would take place. You will know more clearly by hearing of this vision, which the prophet reported to us through a parable, calling the king of the Persians, Darius, a ram, and the king of the Greeks, Alexander the Macedonian, a goat; and by the four horns he denotes those who arose after him, from whom later he himself, as a horn, sprouted. For he says: “I saw in the vision, and behold ^C a ram standing, and it had high horns, and one was higher than the other; and the higher one grew up last; and I saw the ram butting towards the sea, and the north, and the south, and all the beasts will not stand before him; and there was none who could deliver from his hand; and he did according to his will and was magnified.” By this he speaks of the Persian power, which spread over the whole earth. Then, speaking about Alexander the Macedonian, he says: “And behold, a goat of the goats was coming from the west over the face of the whole earth, and it did not touch the ground, and for that goat there were seen ^D horns in the midst of his eyes.” And concerning his attack upon Darius and his powerful victory: “He came,” he says, “the goat as far as the ram having the horns; and he was exasperated, and he struck the ram, and shattered both his horns; and there was none who could deliver from his hand.” Then, speaking of the end of Alexander and the succession of the four kings, he adds these things: “And when it had grown, the great horn was shattered, and there arose four horns under it towards the four winds of heaven.” Then, coming to the kingdom of Antiochus, and showing that it is from one of those four, he says again: “And there came forth from one a strong one, and it was magnified greatly towards the south and towards the east.” And indicating that he would subvert the kingdom of the Jews, he speaks thus: “And through him the sacrifice

^A was disturbed by transgression, and it was done and prospered for him, and the holy place shall be desolated, and sin shall be given in place of the sacrifice.” For when the altar had been taken away and the holy things trampled, he set up an idol inside and gave orders to sacrifice to demons nefariously. Hence he says: “And righteousness was cast to the ground, and he acted, and he prospered.” Then again, speaking from the second point of view of the same kingdom of Antiochus Epiphanes, and of the captivity, and of the capture, and of the desolation of the temple, he adds also ^B the time. For beginning from the death of Alexander, and narrating to the end of the book all things that happened in the interim—all that the Ptolemies and the Seleucids did in clashing with one another, and what their commanders carried out, the deceits, the victories, the campaigns, the naval battles, the infantry battles—proceeding, he ends again at Antiochus and says: “Arms shall stand from him and shall profane the sanctuary and shall move away the perpetual ^C sacrifice,” speaking of the customary and daily sacrifices, “and they shall give into it an abomination of desolation; and those who act lawlessly against the covenant,” that is, the transgressors among the Jews, “he shall draw into stumbling with them, and he shall displace them; and the people who know their God shall be strong,” pointing to the things that occurred during the time of the Maccabees and the things concerning Judas and Simon and John. “And those of the people who are wise ^D shall understand many things; and they shall be weakened by the sword and by flame,” again explaining the burning of the city. “And in captivity and in the pillage of days, and when they are weakened, they shall be helped with a small help,” indicating that in the midst of those afflictions it would be permitted for them to breathe and rise up from the evils that had overtaken them. “And many shall be added to them in deceits. And of those who understand they shall be weakened,” showing that many even of those who stood firm shall fall. Then also the reason why God permitted them to be in such evils. And what is this? “To purify them,” he says, “and to choose, and to whiten them until the time of the end.” For these things, he says, God permitted so that He might purify them and show who were righteous among them. Then narrating his power, he says: “And he shall act according to his will, and he shall be lifted up, and he shall be magnified,” [to which] he also added his blasphemous mind, because “And he shall speak magnificent things against the God of gods, and he shall direct [them], until the wrath is completed,” showing that it was not from his own impulse, but that the anger of God dominating against the Jews was what strengthened him. Where, therefore, he has taught at length how many evils he is about to do in Egypt and in Palestine, and for what reason he is about to return, and how, and at whose summons, finally he speaks concerning the change of all these things, and concerning the help that the Jews, by an angel being sent, will sufficiently receive once they have been tested: “In this time,” for he says, “Michael shall arise, the prince...

the great one, standing over the sons of thy people; and there shall be a time of tribulation, such as has not been from when a nation has existed upon the earth until that time; and in that time shall be saved everyone written in the book,” ^C that is to say, those worthy of salvation.

(29) But the matter in question is not yet revealed; what is this? Because he defined times in these evils, as there he said, four hundred years ^D and after that, seventy. Let us see, therefore, if here too he defines a time. And where is it to be found? In the things to be said hereafter; for when he heard of many and great evils—the burning of the city, the subversion of the Law, the captivity—he desired to learn their end and if there would be any release from these calamities. And questioning, he said thus: “Lord, what is the end of these things?” And he said: “Go, Daniel, for the words are closed (and sealed) until the time of the end,” hinting at the obscurity of the things spoken, then also the reason for the permission of the evils, “until many are chosen and whitened and refined, and the lawless act lawlessly, and all the lawless shall not understand, but the learned shall understand.” Then, foretelling the time during which the evils are to hold them, he says: “From the time of the change, the perpetual sacrifice”; now the perpetual is that which is frequent and continuous. For it is the custom ^B of the Jews to sacrifice to God both in the morning and in the evening and every day; and for this reason that sacrifice was called the perpetual. Since, therefore, Antiochus came and abolished this custom and changed it, for this reason the angel says: “From the time of the change of the perpetual,” that is, from the destruction of the sacrifice, there are one thousand two hundred and ninety days, which are three and a half years (this refers to the time under the Antichrist). Then, pointing out that ^C there will be a release and deliverance from these evils, he added (likewise this also must be taken regarding that which is under the Antichrist, for it is not appropriate to assign the one thousand two hundred and ninety days to Antiochus, but rather the two thousand three hundred, which the same prophet Daniel spoke of in the ninth vision, which, when calculated according to the custom of the Hebrews, make up the number of six years and six months ^D) : “Blessed is he who waits and arrives at the one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days,” having added forty-five days to the said one thousand two hundred and ninety days, because in a month and

a half it happened that the conflict occurred, in which a pure victory and the final riddance of the evils that were imminent came to pass. For by saying, “Blessed is he who waits and arrives at the days of 1335,” he signified the deliverance; and he did not say, “he who arrives,” without reason; for whereas many of the impious saw the change (but he does not bless them, but rather those who waited in the times of evils and did not betray piety and attained to the relief). What could be more evident than this? ^B [(30)] It is time now to move to the matter at hand and to address the present captivity and slavery, for the sake of which we have set all these things in motion. That the three captive states were predicted—one with 400 years, the second with 70, and the third with six and a half—has been demonstrated by us from what follows as far as possible; come now, let us also speak about this one. ^C That this fourth, final, and last captivity was also predicted by this same prophet, we shall provide as our witness Josephus, who was most concerned with Jewish affairs. For since he spoke about the captivity under Antiochus and brought forward the prophet as a witness, he adds also about the latest: “In such a way did Daniel write also concerning the Roman empire, and predicted that Jerusalem would be devastated by them and the temple would be destroyed.” And you, observe for me the truth-loving nature of the man, who, although he is a Jew, did not endure to emulate the Jewish contentiousness and false speech; for having said that Jerusalem and the temple would be devastated, he added nothing else, because he did not find that the prophet had added any such thing. Where, then, did Daniel say that the temple would be devastated? Listen. Since ^D he had offered that prayer in sackcloth and ashes, Gabriel came to him and says: “Seventy weeks have been cut short upon your people and upon the holy city.” Behold, here too a time is mentioned, not of the captivity, but after what time the captivity was about to occur. Then again he says more accurately: “And you shall know and understand, from the going forth of the words to answer and to build Jerusalem until Christ the leader, are seven weeks and sixty-two weeks.” Here, pay close attention to me, for the whole of the question at issue lies here; for seven weeks and sixty-two weeks are 483 years. For he is speaking here not of weeks of days or of months, but of weeks of years. And from Cyrus to Antiochus the Epiphanes and that captivity, there are 394 years. Then he teaches us from where we must count, that it is not from the day of the return, but “from the going forth of the words to answer.”

^A Darius Hystaspis, after whom reigned Xerxes the son of Darius, who was also called Artabanus, and finally called Artaxerxes. In the twentieth year of this reign, Nehemiah returned and rebuilt the city, just as Ezra most diligently narrated to us. If we place 483 years from this point, we shall arrive at this very destruction, as Josephus also testifies again, saying: "The desolation of the city and of the temple came to pass according to the prophecy of Daniel, announced 608 years before." Therefore he says: "The square and the wall shall be built." Since, therefore, Jerusalem was not built in the time of Cyrus, but in the time of Artaxerxes Longimanus, and having recovered its own proper form, you should count the weeks from that point (and you shall see the captivity having no end, which he explains more clearly, saying that the evils possessing them shall have no solution, thus he says): ^B "And after the 62 weeks the anointing shall be cut off, and judgment shall not be in it," and "he shall destroy both the city and the sanctuary with the coming leader, and they shall be cut down as if in a flood, and until the end of the war they shall be cut short by ordered desolations." And speaking again of that same captivity, he says: "The sacrifice and the libation shall be taken away, and upon the temple shall be the abomination of desolation, and a fullness shall be given upon the desolation." He calls the statue that the Emperor Hadrian erected in the temple, who also leveled the city to the ground, the abomination of desolation. For after the destruction that took place under Vespasian and Titus, ^C the Jews rose up under the Emperor Hadrian and strove to return to their former state, vainly resisting God and not listening to the prophet when he says: "What God the Holy One has decreed, who shall weaken, and who shall turn back his lifted hand?" Therefore, having rebelled again, they came of their own accord to the end of their desolation; and subsequently, when they were subdued and the city completely overturned and the remnants destroyed, he placed his own statue so that they would not be without reproach. Then, when he understood that this would one day fall, in order to inflict an irremediable blow upon them, he imposed his own name on the city as a mark of reproach and disaster. For since he was named Aelius Hadrianus, he decreed that the city be named after his own name; ^D which, in fact, is to this day called Aelia from the name of him who took and destroyed it. Whence Christ, who came after Antiochus Epiphanes, when He was proclaiming the future captivity and showing that Daniel had spoken about it, says: "When you see the abomination of desolation standing in the holy place, let the reader understand." Since every idol and every carving of a man was considered an abomination by the Jews, he obscurely points out that statue, when the captivity would be and by whom, as he had foretold. That these things were said about the Romans, Josephus testifies, as we have already said.

^A (32) What answer, then, remains for them? When the prophets appear to have spoken of other captivities with specific times, saying that "the desolation shall be until the end." That we have sufficiently proven that, if the present servitude were to have an end, the prophets would have foretold this too and not remained silent, for they foretold all the captivities that were brought upon them with a previous announcement (the one in Egypt, the one in Babylon, the one under Antiochus); for we have proven that the places and times of each of these were proclaimed in advance through the divine Scriptures; but as for the present one, no prophet has fixed a time, save that Daniel foretold that it would come, and that it would ravage everything and would change the polity, and that after such a time the return from Babylon would occur. But that these evils would have an end ^B and would cease, neither he nor any other prophet indicated; but rather, on the contrary, as it has been said, he foretold that "until the end" this misery will hold them fast. And quite reasonably. For such a vast amount of time that has passed bears witness to these things; and it shows neither a trace nor a beginning of a good promise, and this even though they have often attempted to rebuild the temple under Hadrian, and Constantius, and Julian, and were hindered, first by soldiers, and later, under the apostate, by fires erupting from the foundations and by the contention and transgression ^C of those who were being restrained by their untimely contentiousness.

Let them therefore tell us: For what reason, when you spent so much time in Egypt in hardship, did you obtain mercy, and being led away again to Babylon, you returned again to your former state and dignity, but now nothing of the sort has come to pass, but, with five hundred years having passed since that time, we do not even see a riddle of such a change as we saw before? If they pretend and say, "Because we sinned against God, therefore we do not receive back our own land," I will again deservedly ask them: Are you living outside of Jerusalem for such a long time because you are sinners? But what is so new and marvelous? Do you live in sins only at this present time, and were you [living] in righteousness and uprightness of heart before? Were you not from the beginning ^D and from the start tangled up in myriads of transgressions? Was it not, while the sea was being divided, and the rocks were being split, and such wonders were happening, that you fell down before a calf in the desert? Was it not that you attempted to stone Moses and kill him in other ways and provoked the wrath of God by blaspheming?

Were you not initiated into the rites of Beelphegor? Did you not sacrifice your sons and your daughters to demons, and did you not serve foreign gods? Did you not exhibit every kind of sin and wickedness? How then did God not turn away from you then, but after infant-slaughters, after idolatries, after much ingratitude ^B did He leave prophets among you to be distinct, and perform signs and wondrous miracles? For what reason, then, being impious then and committing ten thousand terrible things, did you enjoy such favor ^C from God and such protection and providence, whereas now, neither practicing idolatry nor slaughtering children, you find yourselves in perpetual captivity and misery? For was there another God then and a different one now? Is He not the same who both ordained those things and is bringing these present things to pass? Why, when your sins were greater, was there great glory for you from God, but when you commit lesser offenses now, He has turned away from you entirely and handed you over to endless dishonor? But even if you were silent, the stones would cry out. For because you stretched out your hands against the Lord, for this reason there is no correction for you henceforth, nor pardon, nor justification; for what you dared against servants at that time, you have now dared against God, and you have surpassed your ancient crimes with fury against the Lord, whence harsher punishments are sought from you. And you have not even receded from your ancestral dementia and madness, since you call Him a deceiver and an impious man. If Christ was an impostor, as you say, and an impious man, you ought rather to have been exalted because you killed Him; for if Phinees, by removing one sinner, restrained all the anger against the nation—for it says, "Phinees stood up and prayed, and the plague ceased, and it was reckoned to him for righteousness"—much more should this have happened with you, if indeed the One who was crucified by you was impious. And whence is it clear, he says, that God has turned away from you completely? From your own affairs, which cry out and utter a voice louder than a trumpet, through the destruction of the city, through the desolation of the temple, through all other things. But men, he says, brought these things upon us, and not God. If, therefore, these things were the works of men and not of the wrath of God, it was necessary for your affairs to have stood firm at least until the capture of the city, and not for your dishonor and affliction to have progressed further; but still, let it be according to your word, that men destroyed the walls, and razed the city, and the altar ^D that mortals destroyed, and pulled down the city, and the altar.

^A For did men bring the prophets to an end? Did they themselves destroy the grace of the Spirit and the other holy things—the voice being heard from the propitiatory, the energy that occurred at the anointing, the manifestation upon the stones of the priest? For the Jewish commonwealth did not have all its beginnings from below, but the majority, and the more solemn ones, from heaven. For example, if I may say so: in the case of sacrifice, the altar was below, and the wood, and the knife, and the priest, but the fire which was to be in the inmost sanctuary and to consume the sacrifices had its beginning from above. For it was not a man who brought fire into the temple, but a flame brought down from above that completed the sacrifice during the service. Again, if at any time it was necessary to learn something, a voice was carried from amidst the Cherubim from the propitiatory, and it predicted things to come. Likewise, regarding the stones that were upon the breast of the high priest, which they called "the manifestation" (dēlōsis), a radiance occurred, and it signified things to come. Similarly, when it was necessary for someone to be anointed, the grace of the Spirit would descend, and the oil would bubble up, and prophets would serve in these matters, and a cloud and smoke would often cover the inmost sanctuaries.

^B In order, therefore, that you may not be shameless, nor impute the desolation to men, He did not allow only the city to fall and the temple to be laid waste, but He caused all those things which had their origin from the heavens to disappear from your eyes. For this reason, why do you not have prophets now, nor any of those other divine things? Is it not clear that God has turned away from your affairs? And whence is this manifest? From the fact that, whereas before this you obtained your desires even while being impious, now, though you seem to live more moderately after the cross, you endure a greater punishment; and you enjoy none of the former things, nor will you enjoy them, as the divine prophecies clearly show. If you wish, we will equip other prophets who say openly that your affairs will come to an end, ^C but ours will flourish, and the proclamation will be extended throughout the habitable world, and another manner of sacrifice will be introduced, with yours being abolished. For I do not yet bring forward Isaiah as a witness, nor Jeremiah, nor the others before the captivity, so that you may not say that those terrible things which they spoke came about during the captivity; but I bring forward Malachi, who, after the return from Babylon and the restoration of the city, prophesied clearly about your affairs. For when they had returned, and had recovered the city, and were building the temple, and were performing the sacrifices, he, predicting this future complete and final desolation and the destruction of the sacrifices, says: "If I shall receive from your sacrifices, says the Lord Almighty; for from the rising of the sun even unto the going down, my name is glorified among the nations; and in every place incense is offered unto my name, and a pure offering." ^D When, O Jew, were these things fulfilled? When was incense offered to God in every place, and a pure offering? You have no other time to name but the time after the coming of Christ. If it does not preach of that...

time, nor of our sacrifice, but rather the Jewish one, then the prophecy is lawless. ^B For if, while Moses commands that sacrifice be brought to no place other than the place which the Lord God might choose, and confines those sacrifices to one spot in Jerusalem, the prophet says, "In every place, incense is to be offered and a pure sacrifice," he contradicts and fights against Moses. But God forbid! For the one spoke of a different sacrifice, and this one of another. Hear also Sophonias speaking in agreement, saying: "The Lord shall appear over all the nations and shall destroy all the gods of the nations, and each one shall worship him from his own place." Although this was not permitted—for Moses decreed to worship in one place—when, therefore, you hear the prophets foretelling and proclaiming in advance that men will no longer be compelled to be gathered from everywhere into one city or one place, but sitting at home, each one will worship the Divine, what other time could you name but this present one, in which our things shine throughout the whole world, while yours have been extinguished, and you walk in darkness?

Furthermore, that He did not wish ^C to grant such sacrifices to you from the beginning, hear what Isaiah says: "To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to me? says the Lord." And: "Who has requested these from your hands?" For if He had requested these from the beginning, He would have certainly brought those who shone among you in the earliest times to these institutions. For what reason, then, did He permit them? he asks. By indulging your infirmity. Just as a physician, when he sees a man burning with fever, who is weak of spirit and heavy in all his faculties, who, if he is not given the cold water he demands, threatens that he will kill himself, grants the lesser thing to avoid the ultimate violence, in order to prevent a greater evil; so also did God act when He saw the Hebrews, with a certain impulse and fury and desire for sacrifices, threatening desertion to idols, and seeing them already deserting in deed; He permitted them to perform sacred rites. This is the cause, and it is evident from this: for after the detestable festival which they performed to the demons, having made a calf, then He permitted the sacrifices, as if He had said: "Rave on, do you wish to sacrifice? Then sacrifice to me." Nevertheless, while granting this, He did not allow it to the end, but by a most wise method He led them back again. As that physician, indulging the sick man, permits it, but orders him to drink from the single vial of cold water which he brought from his own house, and when the sick man is calmed, he secretly orders the vial to be removed by those in attendance. ^D

^A so that, stealthily and without causing suspicion, he might lead him away from that desire, so too did God act: having permitted them to offer sacrifices, He allowed this to happen in no place of the world, but in Jerusalem alone. Whence David says: "To thee, O God, a hymn is due in Sion, and to thee vows shall be paid in Jerusalem." Then, since they had sacrificed for certain periods of time, He destroyed the city, and just as through the breaking of the vessel, so too did God, through the destruction of the city, lead them away from the matter even against their will; for ^B if He had spoken openly, "Abstain," they would not have endured it easily, but by the necessity of the place He drew them away stealthily from their madness regarding the thing. Let the physician then be God; the vial, the city; the sick man, the disagreeable people of the Jews; and the cold water, the concession and authority of sacrifices. For if He did not desire to accomplish this, for what reason did He close such a sacrifice into one place, He who is present everywhere and fills all things? For what cause, after gathering worship into sacrifices, sacrifices into a place, the place into a time, and the time into one city, did He then again destroy the city itself? And it is truly a wonderful and paradoxical thing that all the inhabited world is open to the Jews where it is not permitted to sacrifice, but Jerusalem alone, in which alone it was lawful to sacrifice, has become ^C inaccessible and desolate [for them alone]. Concerning these matters, indeed, the divine word says in the Apostolic Constitutions: "Already, even before the incarnation's economy, the Lord strongly abhorred the Jews' victims, by which, while they sinned against Him very often, they thought He would be rendered propitious—though not by true conversion." For He says through the prophets: "Why do you bring me incense from Saba, and cinnamon from a land far off? Your burnt offerings are not acceptable, and your sacrifices have not pleased me. Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices and eat the meat, because I did not command you, when I led you out of the land of Egypt, concerning sacrifices and burnt offerings." And: "What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and I do not desire the fat of lambs and the blood of bulls and goats; and even if you come ^D to appear before me, for who has required these things from your hands? You shall no longer trample my court; if you bring fine flour, it is in vain. Incense is an abomination to me; I do not endure your new moons and Sabbaths and the great day; your fasting and solemnity and festivals my soul hates; you have become a satiety to me." And elsewhere: "Take away from me the tumult of your songs, and I will not hear the psalm of your instruments." And again: "I will not accept calves from your house, nor he-goats from your sheepfolds; for the earth is mine, and the fullness thereof. Shall I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats?"

^B Sacrifice to God a sacrifice of praise, and pay thy vows unto the Highest. And: A sacrifice to God is a spirit of contrition. And similarly in all the Scriptures He rejects victims, because they had sinned against Him out of long-standing wickedness, and disobedience, and hardness of heart: For the sacrifices of the ungodly are an abomination to God, because they offer them wickedly. Their sacrifice is as the bread of mourning to them; all that eat them shall be polluted. Therefore the divine Samuel also used to say to Saul: Obedience is better than sacrifice, and to hearken better than the fat of rams. Behold, for the Lord does not desire sacrifice like hearkening unto Him. If, therefore, even before His coming He preferred a pure heart and a contrite spirit to victims, how much more by His advent did He cause bloody sacrifices to cease! Of these He had no need, as has been said, but when they wished, He granted that they be offered from an upright heart. Hence He says: If thou wishest to sacrifice, thou hast no need of me. Since, however, they were unmindful of this matter, and called a calf ^C god instead of God, and attributed to it the cause of their journey out of Egypt, saying: "These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt," and denying God, who had visited them in their affliction through Moses, who had wrought signs with His hand and rod, who had smitten Egypt with a ten-fold plague, who had divided the Red Sea into parts and led them through the midst of the water as through dry land, who had drowned their enemies, who had made the bitter spring at Marah sweet, who had caused water to gush out of the jagged rock for their fill, who had led them with a pillar of cloud and a pillar of fire, through which they passed paths they knew not, defending them from immoderate heat and illuminating and guiding those who knew not whither they were going, who had given them manna from heaven and quails from the sea, and who had proclaimed the law on the mountain; whose voice they deemed worthy to hear thundering from heaven—this God they dared to refuse, saying to Aaron: "Make us gods which shall go before us," and they fashioned a calf, and sacrificed to an idol. Therefore, the long-suffering God, being angry, inasmuch as He did not receive from them the gratitude that was due, bound them with indissoluble chains and constricted their necks with a very hard bridle; and He no longer said: "If you do," as He had before the molten calf, but: "Make an altar, and sacrifice assiduously (for thou art forgetful and ungrateful), so that thou mayest always have a memory of Me." ^D

^A Since, therefore, the miserable and ungrateful misused this liberty, He imposed upon them thenceforth the necessity of sacrificing and abstaining from certain foods, and established the differences between clean and unclean animals, although every animal is pure; for whatever God made was very pure. He prescribed separations, and purifications, and sprinklings, and times of continence, and cessations from works, for the transgressors of all of which He instituted punishments, so that, being constrained and subdued by a certain bond, they might walk far from the paths of idolatry. Therefore, because of the hardness of their heart, He bound them, so that by sacrificing and ceasing from works and purifying themselves and observing other similar things, they might be recalled to the memory of God who instituted and commanded such things for them. But they, because of the malice of their heart and an ungrateful mind, did not cease from the beginning to the end to forget their God, and receding from the straight path, they worshipped the creature instead of the Creator, and at one time, as has been said, by making a calf, at another time by worshipping Beelphegor, at another time Baal, and Thammuz, and the Sidonian Astarte, and Moloch, and Chamos, and now the sun, and the moon, and the stars, which were made by God for the light of men, and not for their ^B adoration, and sometimes even dumb animals, as among the Egyptians the bull Apis and the Mendesian goat, and silver and golden gods in Judea. Therefore, God clearly threatening them, said through the prophet: "Is it a small thing to the house of Judah to do those abominations which they did?" and, "For they have filled the land with iniquity to provoke Me to anger?" Deservedly, therefore, were they utterly destroyed, as those who had provoked God to anger, and had defiled that holy land from the beginning even to the final destruction of this place under Vespasian and Titus.

^C (39) For even when various nations had captured this city, says Theodoret, God restored it again to its ancient dignity and form; but now it has been otherwise. For first Teglathphalasar led away into captivity [the inhabitants].

^A of the ten tribes, the greater part. After him, Salmanazar enslaved Samaria and the cities round about it. Third, Sennacherib besieged the other cities of Judea and led away many as captives; but having campaigned against Jerusalem arrogantly and impiously, he deservedly received the wages of his blasphemy, a divinely-inflicted plague destroying his army; and having retreated in disgrace, he was slain by his own sons.

After him, Nebuchadnezzar, in the third year of the reign of Joachim, son of Josiah, having come with a force into Judea and taken many talents of gold and silver, and having taken many captives of the royal lineage and a portion of the sacred vessels, returned, having imposed a tribute. A short time later, Joachim abolished the tribute, and Nebuchadnezzar, in the eighteenth year of his own reign, and the eighth of his own rule, campaigned against Jerusalem again; and having taken Joachim, he ordered him to be cast from the city wall, and left him unburied for a long time. Concerning whom Jeremiah says: ^B "Thus saith the Lord concerning Joachim, son of Josiah, king of Judah: Woe to this man! They shall not lament him, O brother, nor shall they bewail him. Woe, lord, woe, brother! But he shall not be buried in a tomb, and having been cast out, he shall be cast forth beyond the gate of Jerusalem." And finally, taking all the captives, and having appointed Jeconiah, son of Eliakim, as king over those who were left, he returned to Babylon.

Then, having heard that this one also was rebelling, after three months he returned again, and having bound him with shackles, he led him away, along with many of the younger men as captives, having appointed in his stead to reign over those remaining, Zedekiah, his uncle, having bound him with oaths by God not to rebel. But when he also had transgressed the oaths and was neither willing to pay the tribute nor to keep the friendship, but fled to the Egyptians, he [Nebuchadnezzar] came again. ^C Having captured Zedekiah, he blinded him, and having taken the city with all its inhabitants, and having burned the foundations and the holy temple and every house, he led away as captives those who had been saved from the famine and the war, and he took away the most precious vessels of the temple of the Lord.

Therefore, Joel, recounting the multitude of their calamities, says that first a caterpillar will come upon them, and that what has not been destroyed by it will be consumed by the locust, and whatever escapes this will be devoured by the bruchus, and that at last the mildew, having been brought on, will leave nothing entirely unharmed. For he says: "The residue of the locust hath the bruchus eaten, and the residue of the bruchus hath the mildew eaten." For these figuratively signified the Assyrian and the Babylonian; he names the caterpillar Teglathphalasar, the locust Salmanazar, the bruchus Sennacherib, ^D and the mildew Nebuchadnezzar, who, having attacked last,

and having utterly devastated Judea, took captive those who had escaped death, as it has been said. ^A

It has happened very often, as the great Cyril says again, that Judea was taken by the Assyrians and Egyptians, and by the Syrians and Moabites, by the Idumeans and those who are called Philistines, that is, the Palestinians; but having suffered a little and having occasionally fallen into moderate calamities, God, after their punishment, liberated it, and having been instructed, they were again restored. But now it has perished utterly after the crucifixion of the Lord. ^B

As, therefore, the kingdom of the Assyrians was destroyed by the Babylonians, and that of the Babylonians by the Persians, and that of the Persians by the Macedonians, and that of the Macedonians by the Romans, so the kingdom of the Romans will be destroyed by the Antichrist, and that of the Antichrist will be brought to nothing by Christ. Through the four winds, therefore, the great Zechariah teaches of the four great kingdoms: that of the Chaldeans, to be sure, and the Persians, and the Macedonians, and the Romans; and by the two mountains, he means the two inclinations of the inhabited world, by which it is divided into Asia and Europe. Now the red horses signify the bloodthirsty character of the Chaldeans; the black ones signify the death brought upon the Babylonians by the Persians and Medes; the white ones signify the manifest glory of the Macedonians (for this empire is not like the others). ^C But the dappled and varied ones signify the strength and vigor of the Roman empire. And since the Persians and Medes were campaigning against the Babylonians, for this reason it is said that they came to satisfy the wrath of the Lord; for because they had been harsh against the people of God, for this reason they were delivered into the hands of Cyrus the Persian. And the fact that the white horses, that is to say the Macedonians, follow after the black ones, means that the Macedonians would take possession of the Persian kingdom; and that the dappled ones go towards the south reveals that the Romans were about to wage war against Jerusalem, for the city lies in the south; and the fact that they were ordered to patrol the earth teaches once again that every kingdom consists by God. ^D

Chapter CXXIX. On the chronology from Adam to Alexander, and on the succession of kings.

There are, therefore, from Adam until the final capture of Jerusalem five thousand five hundred and seventy-five years; from the first building of the temple of Solomon and the city, one thousand and eighty-eight years; and from the second building...

of the temple, five hundred and ninety-two years; from the siege under Antiochus, two hundred and forty-eight years; and from the ascension of Christ, forty-two years.

^B The most learned Eusebius, in his Chronical Canons, discoursing upon the Antiochians, the Seleucids, and the Ptolemies, and upon the high priests who presided after the return from Babylon, speaks thus in summary: Alexander, king of the Macedonians, in the sixth year of his reign, having overcome and captured Darius, son of Arsames, took away the empire of the Persians, which had stood from Cyrus until Darius for two hundred and fifty-two years. The years of the kingdom of the Macedonians, which lasted from Caranus until Alexander, are five hundred and eighteen. And when he died in Babylon, Philip took the rule of Macedonia, Antigonus that of Asia, Ptolemy son of Lagus that of Egypt, and Seleucus that of Syria.

(3) Those who reigned in Syria after Alexander are these: Seleucus Nicanor, Antiochus surnamed Soter, Antiochus Nothus, Seleucus Callinicus, Seleucus Alexander, Antiochus Epiphanes, Ceraunus, Antiochus the Great, Seleucus Philopator, Antiochus, who, having removed Onias the high priest of the Jews from his priesthood, set out to turn the whole nation away from their ancestral religion, and having polluted the sanctuary, named it the temple of Zeus Olympius; and having brought incurable punishments upon the nation, he forced them to Hellenize; under whom also the Maccabees were martyred. The sanctuary, having been profaned for three years, Judas, who is called Maccabaeus, once the region had been purged of impious men, restored. Then reigned Antiochus Eupator, Demetrius Seleucus, Alexander son of Balas, Demetrius Nicanor, ^C Antiochus and Tryphon, Ptolemy, Antiochus Sidetes, Antiochus Grypus, Antiochus Cyzicenus, Seleucus son of Grypus, under whom Antioch was subdued by the Romans and the empire of Syria was destroyed, which had lasted for two hundred and fifty years.

(4) Those who were masters of affairs in Egypt after Alexander are these: Ptolemy son of Lagus, in whose reign the comic poet Menander was known, as well as Theophrastus the philosopher; then Ptolemy Philadelphus, under whom the wise men of the Hebrews translated the Law; Ptolemy Euergetes, under whom Jesus son of Sirach, who composed the all-virtuous Wisdom for the Hebrews, was known; and after him Ptolemy Philopator, his son, under whom the Jewish people, having been led captive into Egypt, suffered such a fate: for this king ordered his own armorbearers to make five hundred elephants drunk with wine mixed with incense, so that once intoxicated they might kill the Jews; but when they appeared, against ^D him, in turn, the soldiers and the crowds of ele

to prepare; and to this, to offer them frankincense-wine, ^A that being intoxicated they might kill the Jews. But as they prayed, the elephants rushed toward their own soldiers and the crowds, and in their surrounding madness destroyed a great multitude. And so, miraculously saved, the Jews were dismissed safe to their own homes, giving thanks to their benefactor, God. Then Ptolemy Epiphanes, his son, reigned; then Ptolemy Philometor, his son; then Ptolemy the Second, Euergetes, his brother; then Ptolemy Physcon; then Ptolemy (also called) Alexander; then Ptolemy his brother; then Ptolemy Dionysius; then Cleopatra, his daughter, whom Augustus, taking her away in the fourteenth year of his reign, possessed Egypt, overturning the kingdom of the Ptolemies, which had lasted for two hundred and ninety years.

^B (3) The high priests who presided after the return from Babylon are these: Jesus (the son) of Josedech, together with Zorobabel; Joacim the son of Jesus; Eliacimus the son of Joacim; Joiada; Sasim; Joannes the son of Joiada; Jaddus, under whom Alexander worshiped God at Jerusalem (and built Alexandria); Jonias the son of Jaddus; Eleazarus; Jonias; Simon; Jonathas; Simon; Joannes also called Hyrcanus; Aristobulus, who first assumed the royal diadem in addition to the high priesthood; Joannes also called Alexander, king and high priest at the same time: from Cyrus up to this point, they were the anointed leaders, spanning four hundred and eighty-three years, which are sixty-nine weeks of years, as Daniel said: ^C «Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks.»

CXXX. Beginning of the reign of Titus.

(2) After Vespasian, his son Titus reigned for three years. He, having spent the entire summer day on the road, suffered a hemorrhage from his nostrils, and being utterly exhausted by the heat of the sun and completely faint, was placed while still breathing into the tomb by his brother Domitian (at the command of his wife). ^D (3) This wonderful Titus, then, being a man most philosophical, most eloquent, and most warlike, and being exceedingly moderate and adorned with great kindness, temperance, justice, and prudence, made his own compassion more manifest to all in the capture of Jerusalem; for he mourned greatly over the God-cursed Jews at that time, and especially seeing the divine temple consumed by fire he wept and besought God to grant them mercy and forgiveness, as if these things had not come to pass by his own chosen intent, but because of their own stubbornness, which is an abomination to God; whence, when the city was taken, as victor and triumpher

^A he rejected the proclamations, making it clear that he had not himself brought this to pass, but had served as an instrument of a divinely-ordained and holy wrath, and had lent his hands to it. (4) From that time, therefore, because of his virtue and humility, he became most venerated and beloved, and thus he departed this life. (894) So great was the lamentation in Rome at his death that for a long time they remembered him, and reflecting upon his virtues, both in public and in their homes, they wept, ^B each one as if held by a private grief.

Near the end of his rule, Mount Vesuvius in the west, having broken at its summit, vomited forth such a quantity of seething flames that the entire surrounding region, together with its cities, was consumed by fire. Upon seeing this, the Gentiles were greatly astonished and asked certain of the illustrious Christians how and for what reason fire erupted from the deepest recesses of the earth. They replied that it had issued forth from that Gehenna which is prepared for the devil and his angels, and for all sinners and impious men, for the correction and manifestation of transgressors; and this, they said, is apparent from what your famous teacher Plato says, when discussing in the *Phaedo* the lot and the consummations of souls, namely that those who have lived wickedly are punished in Cocytus and in Phlegethon and in Tartarus, which are in the depths of the earth. And this they said to the Gentiles, who were troubled at that time.

(6) Moreover, the divine Patricius, bishop ^C and martyr of the city of Prusa, when questioned before the proconsul judge in the presence of the people and the populace as to whence the naturally-occurring hot waters rise, answered thus: "God, who created fire and water from things that were not, from the fire by a single word made and prepared the sun and the other luminaries, and commanded them to illuminate the days and the nights; for such is His power, which is His will. And from the water, having established the firmament of the heaven and set the earth upon the waters, He brought all things within them to fulfillment by His providential power, so that the man whom He was about to mold should be in need of nothing necessary or useful for his use; in which He also prepared two eternal places, of which He willed one to be bathed in light and to be filled with infinite blessings, but the other He made to be of darkness and of punishing, eternal fire, so that those who have acted well ^D and have not turned aside to the lies of the devil, may, after the resurrection, be introduced into a place of radiant blessings to dwell with Him forever;

but those who have provoked Him and followed the common enemy, having received with him the darksome place of punishment, may be cast into the shadow of punishments [alt-version omitted]—rejected to lament in eternity and without end.

He divided the fire and the water, just as the light and the darkness, and distributed them piece by piece through every part of His creation. And there is water ^B and fire above the firmament, which is the ether; and there is water and fire beneath the earth. And the water that is above the earth, being gathered into one gathering, was called the sea; but what remained beneath the earth was called the abyss, from which, as if through certain conduits, springs gush forth for our life and that of every living creature, from which also the hot waters are brought up. And those that are further away from the lower fire, by the providence of God, are supplied from that source much colder, but those that are closer to the fire, from that ^C source gush forth boiling and seething; but those that are further away from the fire, in certain places, emerge tepid.

And the fire beneath the earth is a place of punishment for demons and sinful men; but the water at the very bottom, being most cold and frozen into crystals, is also called Tartarus; this likewise is a torture chamber for those who have not kept the commandments of the Lord. And that there is fire beneath the earth, let the fire in Sicily and in Lycia, which is clearly exhaled, convince you; indeed, other diverse places similarly demonstrating fire manifest that all who have performed the works of fire will be openly burned in the fearful Gehenna, concerning which the great Moses also says in the person of God: "A fire is kindled in my anger, and it shall burn even to the lowest hell; it shall consume the earth and her produce; it shall set on fire the foundations of the mountains." ^D So also Isaiah, clearly prophesying to sinners the punishment that is to come and is prepared for them through fire, cries out: "Who shall announce to you that fire burns, and who shall announce to you an eternal place?" — "Walk in the light of your fire and in the flames which you have kindled." — "And they shall go forth, and they shall see the members of men who have transgressed against me, says the Lord; for their worm shall not die, and the fire shall not be extinguished, and they shall be a spectacle to all flesh." And indeed, the divinely inspired Chrysostom says: "Behold another paradox again, opposite natures coming together; for there is nothing more fervent than lightning, nor anything colder than water, but nevertheless they are joined, and they are not mixed nor confounded, but each thing preserves its own boundaries, fire in the water and water in the fire; and neither has the fire dried up the water, nor the water extinguished the fire; and yet the lightning is sharper than the solar fire, and

more incisive). And our eyes bear witness to this, for they are continually illuminated by the rays, yet they are unable for even a brief moment to withstand or endure the forward motion of that light. And while the sun traverses the heaven throughout the day, the lightning, in one moment of time, ^B traverses the whole world, as Christ also bears witness, saying: "As the lightning comes from the east and shines even to the west." Then he says: "He who brings forth the winds from his treasuries." This is another nature, one that provides us with no small utility, but such that it serves our life in many ways, by restoring bodies that have failed. For we have need of winds, both to agitate the air, so that it does not become stagnant and corrupt, and to ripen fruits and to nourish bodies. Who could recount the utilities and advantages of the winds in seafaring, just as they arise and yield to one another in order, flying over the sea and transporting sailors? This one leads the way, the next receives, and they travel by opposite paths, and they serve, and their conflict becomes, in turn, very useful to life. And a person could speak of countless other works of the winds, but the prophet, passing over all these things and leaving to the hearer the care of gathering them, ^C pointed out only the ease of the creation; for by saying, "from his treasuries," he does not mean to imply that there are some actual treasuries of winds, but rather the ease of the One commanding, and the readiness and preparedness of His will. For just as he who possesses a treasury brings forth everything with ease and, when he wills, puts it back again, so the Creator of all things made everything easily and entrusted it to nature. Have you seen what distinctions exist in the air, just as in water, and how many changes there are in fire? For of water, one part is from springs, another is of the sea, another is atmospheric, another is in the clouds, another is above the heavens, another is under the earth, from which hot waters also gush forth in various places, warmed miraculously by the subterranean fire. And of fire, one part is in the sun, another is in the moon, another is in the lightning, another ^D is in the air, another is from wood, another is about us, in lamps, another is from the earth—for there is much such out of the earth, just as there are springs of water—and one part is in stones when they are rubbed together, another in the thickets of trees if they happen to rub against each other, another from lightning, another from the air, another from waters and from the most pellucid and purest glass. And of the air, again, one type is thicker, which is around us and is lethal and the cause of various diseases; another is more subtle, bringing virtue and health to bodies; another is more sublime and warmer. There are also many distinctions among the winds: for one is more subtle, another thicker, another colder, another hotter, another wetter, another drier. Whence the prophet, having fallen into the abyss of such things

^A of these benefits, in which the power and wisdom of God are shown, and seeing the immense sea, leaped up crying out mightily: "How magnified are thy works, O Lord, all in wisdom thou hast made, and thou hast filled the inanimate and the animate things with wisdom."

CXXXI. Of the Emperor Domitian

^B After Titus, Domitian his brother reigned for fifteen years; and he was slain in the temple of Rome, by the treachery of his own wife. For he, having become successor to his own brother, did not emulate the excellent government of his father and brother, but rather, diametrically, the wickedness of Tiberius and Nero. And having indeed run through every form of wickedness, becoming full of both murder and lust for women and likewise for men, the wretch finally deified himself; and thenceforth—since he rendered himself hateful to all and a castaway, due to the murderous and beastly nature of his foul mind—having quite naturally received the rewards of his own malice, he ended his polluted and infamous life by a most shameful death, as has been said.

^C During his reign, Timothy the apostle and Onesimus suffered martyrdom, and John the Theologian and Evangelist was exiled to the island of Patmos.

CXXXII. Of Apollonius of Tyana

Apollonius of Tyana was celebrated as he went about and everywhere throughout cities and regions practicing diabolical arts. ^D When he had come from Rome to Byzantium, and was besought by the local inhabitants, he performed the same works, driving the multitude of serpents and scorpions out of the city, so that men might not be harmed by them, and curbing the disorder of horses in the assemblies of the magistrates. Similarly, having arrived also at Antioch, he did the same; for the people of Antioch were being harassed by scorpions and gnats. Therefore, a scorpion having been made of bronze, and earth heaped upon it, and a small one set upon a column, he commanded

the people ^A carrying reeds to walk around the column and, shaking those reeds, to cry out, "No gnats for the city!" And in this way, both the scorpions and the gnats vanished from the city. Being asked also concerning the earthquakes looming over the city, he groaned and wrote these things on a diptych: "Woe to thee, unhappy city, for thou shalt be brought low by many earthquakes and torches; nay, even the Orontes that washes thee shall mourn for thee." ^B Concerning this matter, moreover, the great Anastasius of Theopolis says: "Even until now, in certain places, the effects of Apollonius’s works remain in force, some standing for the driving away of four-footed animals and winged creatures capable of harming men, others for the restraint of the currents of rivers flowing in a disorderly manner, and others standing as protection against damage and scourges sent for the service of men." And, indeed, not only during his life did the demons work these things and the like through him, but even after his death, they remained at his tomb and performed certain signs in his name for the deceiving of miserable men, who are easily led astray by the devil in such matters.

CXXXIII. Concerning Manetho the Magus and his magic works.

^C What is one to say concerning the magic works in the time of Nero? Such a man was supreme in magic deception, that he always openly mocked Apollonius as not having possessed exact philosophical experience of them; for he said that he ought, like me, to operate by word alone whatever he wished, and not commit things to be done by arts. All these things occur by the permission of God and the energy of the demons, so that by such things our orthodox faith might be tested, to see if it remains firm and steadfast in Christ, not being led astray ^D by the enemy through vain signs and the Satanic works which are produced by the servants and ministers of iniquity. Nevertheless, some prophesied in the name of the Lord, as did Balaam, Saul, and Caiaphas, and some cast out demons, as did Judas and the sons of Sceva. Therefore, grace often flourishes even in the unworthy, that it may benefit others; for Balaam was a stranger to both an excellent life and the faith, yet nevertheless grace flourished in him for the sake of the profit of others. Such also was Pharaoh, and to him God manifested things that were to come. Nabuchodonosor was even worse, yet to him also, again, He revealed what would come to pass much later, after many generations. Whence it is manifest that many, while being of a contrary mind, nevertheless perform prodigies under the guise of Christ, but in reality by a certain alien art, for the deception of the foolish. Such was Simon, and Menander after him, and others of this sort.

For this reason it was reasonably said that one ought not to be deceived by wonders, nor by empty promises, but to test the truth of what is said.

CXXXIV. The Reign of Nerva

^A After Domitian, Nerva reigned for one year. Being wise and equitable, he recalled John the Theologian from the island where he was exiled and released him to Ephesus. As the only survivor of the twelve disciples, having written his Gospel, he rested in peace. Concerning him, the most learned Eusebius says in his *Ecclesiastical History*: "Thomas ^B rightfully obtained Parthia, but John obtained Asia, in which he also remained until he died at Ephesus." Again: "Meanwhile, as John the evangelist was at Ephesus in Asia, he died and was buried by the faithful there." Likewise also Philip, one of the seven deacons, died at Hierapolis and was buried there with his daughters. Speaking of whom, Polycarp, ^C bishop of the Church at Smyrna, writing to Victor, bishop of Rome, says thus: "For indeed, in Asia great luminaries have fallen asleep, which shall rise again in the last day of the coming of the Lord—John, who also reclined upon the breast of Christ, and who carried the petalon, and who became a teacher at Ephesus, has fallen asleep; and Philip, one of the seven deacons, died at Hierapolis; this is the one who also baptized the eunuch and instructed Simon."

^D (4) Furthermore, the divine Hippolytus of Rome, discussing the preaching and the end of the apostles, said: "John, the brother of James, preaching the word of the Gospel in Asia, was exiled to the island of Patmos by the emperor Domitian of Rome, and from there he was recalled to Ephesus by Nerva; having written the Gospel according to him, and having there also seen the Apocalypse, he died, and his remains, when sought, were not found." (5) Caesarius, the brother of great Gregory, being asked about this in the secretarium at Constantinople, answered saying: "John himself in his own Gospel clarifies this end, saying: 'And when he had said this, he says to him'—that is, to Peter—'Follow me.' Turning, Peter sees the disciple whom Jesus loved following, and says: 'Lord, but what of this man?' Jesus says to him: 'If I wish him to remain until I come, what is it to thee?' This report went out among the brethren, that that disciple should not die... 'but if I wish him to remain until I come, what is it to thee?'" Since, therefore, as they were fishing

^A he found them, he commanded Peter alone to follow him; but he, desiring that John should also go along, said: "Lord, what of this man?" Jesus, predicting that he would remain there fishing until he should return again, said: "If I wish him to remain here and fish until I come back here again, what is it to thee?" ^B Since, therefore, he was excellently correcting their erroneous supposition, he reasonably said: "And Jesus did not say to him that he does not die." For in many things they were often mistaken regarding the questions and answers of Christ, as also, being dull and slow of heart, they needed to hear, until the Holy Spirit should come and teach them and guide them into all truth, according to the word of the Lord.

If, however, some men, contentiously and rashly rejecting these sacred voices and testimonies, should inconsistently argue, as it were, that he was left behind alive in the flesh with Enoch and Elijah to announce Christ's second coming, let them hear him speaking from the person of God and saying, through revelation, that there will be only two witnesses, Enoch and Elijah. For these are the words: "And I will give to my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees and the two candlesticks standing in the sight of the Lord of all the earth. And if anyone should wish to injure them, ^C fire goes out of their mouth and devours their enemies. And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that ascends from the abyss will make war with them, and will conquer and kill them. And their bodies will lie unburied in the street of the great city where their Lord was crucified." Vainly, therefore, do some people rave, saying that he is still living in the flesh, not understanding either what they say or about what they are so confidently asserting, but rather fabricating this from their own minds, without any holy interpreters, recklessly and boldly.

^D That Nerva, having heard from Trajan of the victories celebrated in Paeonia, ascended the Capitol and offered incense; then, standing on the dais, crying out in a loud voice as the Roman senate and people stood by, he said: "For good fortune! I, Marcus Nerva, adopt Trajan."

^A He forbade the mutilation of the private parts of any Roman, and died of a disease.

CXXXV. Regnum Trajani

During his reign, Simeon son of Cleopas, the bishop of Jerusalem, and Ignatius the God-bearer were martyred. At that time also, Basilides, Menander, Cerinthus, and Nicolaus, one of the seven deacons, the heresiarchs and adversaries of the truth, became known. (The said Nicolaus was one of the seven deacons, and an Ebionite.)

CXXXVI. Reign of Hadrian

^A Under his reign, the Jews rebelled and wished to rebuild the temple at Jerusalem; for this, Trajan became extremely enraged at them. (A wondrous sign appeared before their capture: the tomb of Solomon opened of its own accord.) War having broken out in the meantime, he killed one hundred and eighty thousand of them in a single day, and after taking all the survivors captive with great fury and bringing them to the festival held at Hebron, he sold them in groups of four for a modius of barley. Having demolished what remained of the ancient city and the temple, he built a second holy city, which he renamed Aelia (after his own name, and because he was a leper, so that he might find mercy); and having placed his own idol in the temple, he ordered Greeks to live in the city.

He built a temple at Cyzicus, and a city in Thrace which he called Adrianopolis.

Under his reign, Cerdon, Valentinus, Marcion, Montanus, Saturnilus, and Carpocrates, the arch-heretics (and Aquila), became known.

^B Under him, Plutarch of Chaeronea and Phlegon the chronicler were known.

Hadrian dies, having designated Antoninus as his successor.

This Hadrian had a certain man named Similus, adorned with prudence, fortitude, equity, and many virtues, and he truly honored him and established him in high office. But he did not possess power for long; at his own request he departed from it and spent seven years in the country; afterwards he died, having ordered this inscription to be placed upon his tomb: "Similus lies here, who indeed spent many years, but lived for seven."

Hadrian perished from a violent disease, crying out: "O Jupiter, how great an evil it is to desire to die and not be able!"

CXXXVII. The Reign of Antoninus.

After Hadrian, Antoninus Pius reigned for twenty-two years; he had been adopted by Hadrian, and was the first of the emperors to be called Pius.

^C He dies, having designated Marcus Antoninus, his own son-in-law, for the empire.

^A Under him, Polycarp, the disciple of John the Theologian, and Justin the philosopher, and Dionysius, the bishop of Corinth, suffered martyrdom. ^B Tatian and Bardisanes, the heretics, and Priscilla and Maximina, the false prophetesses among the Phrygians, also became known. Under him, Galen the physician was admired, and a certain Syrian named Bardisanes, a most skillful dialectician and philosopher, flourished. Valentinus and Cerdon and Marcion were recognized as heresiarchs in Rome. When Polycarp, the bishop of Smyrna, encountered Marcion, Marcion said to him: "Do you recognize us, good Polycarp?" And he replied: "I recognize you, the firstborn son of Satan."

CXXXVIII. The Reign of Marcus

After Antoninus, his son Marcus reigned for nineteen years. And a persecution being stirred up, there were many martyrs. Aurelian Verus and Antoninus, his son, together with Lucius his brother. Under them, fire was seen moving from heaven from the west to the east. Under him, Opianus, who wrote *On Fishing*, and Sextus flourished. ^C They say that he killed twelve lions in one day. This Marcus was wise and endowed with virtue; having liberated Rome from many wars, and being greatly beloved by the citizens, he died, poisoned by his own son, Commodus. The senate, preserving the memory of his virtue, honored him after his death with a golden statue. ^D When he was waging war against the Germans and Sarmatians, and his army was being hard-pressed by thirst and endangered on that account, the soldiers of the legion called Melitene, who were Christians, through earnest prayer made to God, obtained that the enemy's army be struck by lightning, and that the Roman forces be refreshed by rain. Which, as they say, he greatly admired...

and wrote that the Christians should be honored, and gave the legion the name "the Thundering." ^A

CXXXIX. The Reign of Verus

CXL. The Reign of Commodus

CXLI. The Reign of Pertinax

CXLII. The Reign of Didius

^Arius.

Theodorus. (5) And Sabellius the Libyan was a most godless heretic.

CXLIII. The Reign of Severus.

After him, Severus (Septimius) reigned for seventeen years. ^B Having been victorious in the war in Britain, he walled off the island from sea to sea for a thousand stadia; and having captured Byzantium, he tore down its walls. It had seven towers, starting from the Thracian gates and extending to the northern sea; if anyone entered one of these towers, no one in the others would notice; but if he shouted or threw a stone in the first tower, it would resound and communicate the sound to all the others. He also built the Zeuxippus bath for the Byzantines, and delivered the first structure to the hippodrome, and built a hunting site and a theater for them.

Under him, Leonides, the father of Origen, witnessed for the faith (being a bishop). And Origen became known, ^C who, flourishing in Alexandria and bestowing great diligence upon the divine Word, became a source of great benefit not only to the faithful, but also to not a few of the heretics; for those among them who grasped the healthy dogmas of the faith became zealous for the truth. Among these, the distinctively prominent one was Ambrose, a man of note and a scholar, who, having been eager to arrive at the knowledge of the man, departed from the heresy of Valentinus and Marcion, having attained a sufficient test of his divine instruction. ^D Many of the outsiders, the philosophers, also traveling to him, themselves reaped the greatest benefit for their own disciplines; for he was regarded as great among them, teaching geometry, arithmetic, and other preliminary sciences; for which reason not a few among the wise men of the Greeks bear witness to him, making mention of him in their own writings as a teacher. Indeed, he was endowed with natural talent from childhood and exceedingly inquisitive; and when in his boyish years he questioned the meaning of divine Scripture, as if he were turning deeper things over in his mind, his father rebuked him, warning him not to inquire into matters beyond his age from others; but at night, standing over him while he was asleep, he would kiss his chest, as if the divine Spirit were sanctified within it, and he congratulated himself on having such a child. And as for purity—

^A he practiced it from his youth, being content with only four obols for his daily sustenance; and he continued doing this for many years. He slept on the floor and on a mat, and having rested for a short time at night, he spent the greater part of it in the meditation of the holy oracles. Exerting himself in these things, and subduing himself through fasting, vigils, and nakedness, he so broke the vigor of his body that he appeared entirely emaciated. Since he abstained from wine and oil and other such things, he bore the greatest mortification of his breast; wherefore he became renowned as one excelling in work and word, and one who had persuaded many Greeks to loathe their insane cult of idols. Much fame having spread about him, and many gathering to him from afar, he drew not only Greek philosophers and ^B noted heretics to the faith, but also confirmed and instructed more thoroughly those who were already Christians. Him the aforementioned Ambrose, having much entreated and constrained at Caesarea, and having provided for him seven shorthand writers, and more still who were elegant calligraphers, caused him to interpret the divine Scriptures. And he, on his part, conveniently provided for his needs, while he, having leisure, dictated to those writing quickly; and the elegant calligraphers, being trained in the art of writing beautifully, wrote along with the women, and he interpreted all the divine Scripture within eighteen years. It is said, moreover, that he composed six thousand books. For such zeal did Ambrose show for the exposition of the divine Books that Origen, testifying to his great diligence, wrote to someone, saying: "The holy Ambrose, a man truly consecrated to God, greets you much; for, thinking me to be industrious and thirsting for the divine word, he has convicted me by his own industry and love for the sacred Letters; whence he has so far surpassed me that I am in danger of failing before his questions; for it is not permitted to dine unless we confer together, nor, after I have dined, is it right to walk about and refresh my little body; but even in these moments we are compelled to converse and to inquire into the exemplars; nor indeed is it permitted for us to sleep all night to refresh our body, as we persevere in discoursing through the greater part of the evening. I say nothing of what we do from the first light until the ninth, and sometimes until the tenth ^D hour. For whoever desire to devote themselves to studies, they assign these times to the narration of the divine oracles and to readings." After, therefore, he had interpreted the whole of Scripture, he died at sixty-nine years of age.

^A Concerning whom the great Epiphanius also says in his *Panarion*: "While Ambrosius supplied what was necessary for his food, his secretaries, and his servants, as well as the parchment and other expenses, Origen, in his vigils and his way of life which excelled in virtue, and with the greatest leisure, completed his labor on the Scriptures; and this man completed the whole work known as the *Hexapla* and the rest with exhaustion and sweat. For he did not merely collect the four famous editions into one work, but he also arranged simultaneously the fifth and sixth, which he had happened to find in a jar in Jericho during those times. Having therefore gathered everything together, and having divided and compared them with one another, including the Hebrew notation itself, he ingeniously and skillfully constructed with great erudition the copies of the work called the *Hexapla*."

^B But his praise did not remain untainted until the end; for, as happens to men of supreme learning, he became very forward, and became a source of stumbling and ruin for many. For, wishing to leave nothing in the divine Scripture uninterpreted, he entangled himself in the snares of sin and uttered deadly words. For from him Arius obtained the pretexts, and those who followed thereafter, both the *Anomoeans* and the profane, and all the rest. For this man dared to say ^C at the beginning that the only-begotten Son cannot see the Father, nor the Son the Holy Spirit, nor the Holy Spirit the angels, nor the angels mankind. And he refuses to acknowledge the Son as being from the essence of the Father, but as a creature, and that he is called Son by grace, and that the human soul pre-exists, and the rest of his blasphemies.

He has indeed produced many a treatise on every Scripture, and whatever he said in homilies and prefaces regarding the character and nature, both of animals and of irrational creatures, ^D while being carried along at a midpoint, often are pleasant tales; but where he introduced any dogma concerning the faith, he is found to be the most absurd of all.

It seemed good to him to choose such a disciplined life that his breast was subdued by excess of fasting and harsh treatment; and something further against

^A the body; some say that he had cut a sinew so as not to be troubled by pleasure, while others say that a drug was applied to the parts, and that it withered them. Others report still other things about him, as that he also found a medicinal herb, for the sake of memory. This man is said to have suffered many things for Christ, as he was very eloquent and had been reared in the Church. By envy, during the time of persecution, he was slandered before those who held authority, by the evil craft and diabolic ^B design of those who work in- iquity, who thought to render such a man, as they say, most dishonorable. For they provided an Ethiopian to him for the abuse of his body. He, however, not bearing such an impure machination, cried out, with both fates set before him.

After he agreed to burn incense, they placed incense into his hands, which he placed into the ^C fire of the altar; and thus, deprived of martyrdom, he was dismissed and expelled from the Church. Having left Alexandria because of the disgrace, he went to Judea. When he had gone up to Jerusalem, as an interpreter and learned man, he was urged by the priesthood to speak before the Church—for he was a priest. Being greatly pressured by the priests, he arose and, opening the book, found only this: "But to the sinner God has said: Why do you declare my statutes, and take up my covenant through your mouth?" (Ps. XLIX, 16). Folding the book, he cast it from his hands with groaning and tears, all weeping with him.

There are many other things also said and celebrated regarding him, on account of his supreme knowledge and the composition of his books. But he did not heed, as it appears, the most wise Solomon, who says: "My son, refrain from making many books" (Eccl. XII, 12). And: "Be not rash with your mouth, and let not your heart be hasty to utter a word before the face of God; for God is in heaven above, and thou upon earth below: therefore let thy words be few" (Eccl. V, 1). "For many words multiply vanity" (Eccl. VI, 11). And: "Be not righteous over much." "There is a just man perishing in his justice" (Eccl. VII, 16; 17 in the Septuagint/Vulg.). "Do not be wise in excess, lest thou do ^D impiously." Rejecting and spurning these sacred admonitions, therefore, he did not even take heed of the intelligence and prudence of Christophorus.

in composing books; for the divine Paul, although he could have composed discourses of all kinds, and his intelligence was well endowed for such a work, committed only the briefest of letters to writing; yet he had six hundred hidden things to say, inasmuch as he had ascended before his time to contemplate the third heaven, and had been caught up into that magnificent paradise himself, there having merited to hear ineffable words. Indeed, the other disciples of Christ, namely the twelve apostles, the seventy disciples, and six hundred others besides them, were not unskilled in speaking; yet of all these, only Matthew and John left us written accounts of the Lord’s life; necessity compelled them to set themselves to writing, just as it also did Mark and Luke later on. Therefore the great Maximus says: “He who writes ^B anything, writes either for his own memory, or for the benefit of others, or for both, or even to harm some, or for ostentation, or out of necessity.”

(8) When Severus fell ill, he died.

(9) Under Severus, Paul of Samosata revived the heresy of Artemon.

CXLIV. The Reign of Caracalla

^A After Severus ^B Septimius, Antoninus, his son, called Caracalla, and Geta, his brother, reigned.

^C And when he had killed his brother and taken his stepmother to wife, and had reigned seven years, in his turn he was killed by his own men. He himself slaughtered his own brother in the bosom of his mother.

A certain Sarapion, a mathematician, said that upon Antoninus’s death, Macrinus would succeed him, and he pointed him out with his finger as he stood with the senate. But Antoninus, out of anger, or rather by chance, did not happen upon the face of Macrinus, but ordered another person who was near to be killed. But Macrinus was industrious in his efforts to forestall Antoninus, and when Antoninus had dismounted from his horse during a hunt to withdraw to relieve himself, he sent a centurion who killed him with a sword, saying to him: “As you slaughtered your brother, so I do to you.”

(4) Under him, Origen left behind various writings, ^D annotated with the signs of the Hebrews, which are called the Hexapla.

CXLV. The Reign of Macrinus

CXLVI. The Reign of Avitus

CXLVII. The Reign of Alexander

CXLVIII. The Reign of Maximinus

[index: entries preserved]

^A Because Alexander had favored the Christians, he stirred up a great persecution against the Christians. [(4)] Under him, Laurentius and Cyprianus, Balbinus, Eulampius and Eulampia, and the holy Sozon confessed the faith.

CXLIX. The Reign of Pupienus

After Maximinus, Pupienus Publianus reigned ^B for three months. In the same manner, these also were slaughtered by the soldiers. [(3)] Similarly, Gordianus, who had been made Caesar by Maximinus, also reigned and was killed, his supplies having been blocked by Philip the prefect from being transported to the army. This same man (Philip) was the father of Saint Eugenia. [(4)] Under Maximus and Gordianus, Africanus the writer flourished.

CL. The Reign of Balbinus

After Publius, Balbinus Junior reigned for three months, who was the first to create candidates and protectors; when he had established the order of the scholarians, he called them "Juniors" after his own name.

CLI. The Reign of Gordianus

After Balbinus, Gordianus, his son, reigned for six years, and after falling in battle with his horse ^C and breaking his thigh, he died.

After Gordianus, the Junior reigned, his son, for two years, and he died of dropsy.

Under him, a certain Hebrew who was traveling with some Christians through a desert place (in Syria), became so ill that he could not move at all. The Christians who were with him decided with many tears to leave him, fearing that they too would perish because of the aridity of the place and the desertion. The Jew, seeing that they were about to depart, began to say to them with groaning: "I adjure you by Him who made heaven and earth, and who came down for the salvation of men, and who is about to judge the living and the dead, not to let me die a Hebrew, but baptize me, and then depart." ^D They replied: "It is not permitted for us to do this, as we are laymen and do not have the imposition of hands, and moreover there is no water here, as you see." But he persisted all the more in these same oaths, compelling them and condemning them. When, therefore, they were at a complete loss for what to do, he said—

one of them said to the others: "Raise him up and undress him." And with much effort, having ^A raised him up and stripped him, one of them filled his hands with sand and poured it upon the head of the Jew, saying three times: "Theodorus is baptized in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit," the others responding "Amen" at each name. And immediately he was so strengthened that he walked with them with great zeal and vigor. When they had arrived in Alexandria and reported these things to Archbishop Dionysius, and had caused him to marvel, he immediately gathered all the clergy and laid the matter before them: whether the pouring of sand upon the Jew should be reckoned as baptism or not. And some said: "It is reckoned as such, as witnessed by his sudden restoration to health." But others did not accept this, because the Church holds no such tradition, and especially since the Lord said to Nicodemus: "Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven."

These and other things having been discussed, it seemed best to the holy Dionysius that he be baptized, and having sent him to the river Jordan, he baptized him. But as for the one who had previously baptized him with sand, finding him worthy, he ordained him a deacon by the imposition of hands. Rightly, therefore, the great Gregory, in enumerating all baptisms, says: ^B "Moses baptized, but in water, and before that in the cloud and in the sea. John also baptized, no longer in the Jewish manner; for it was not in water alone, but also unto repentance. Jesus also baptizes, but in the Spirit; this is perfection. I know also a fourth baptism, which is through martyrdom and blood—I know also a fifth, that by tears."

Rightly, then, and most appropriately they did not accept that baptism. For who was it who baptized at that time, so that it might be ratified as a certain and divine baptism? Where are now those who say that some laymen and women have sometimes baptized when necessity compelled, with no priest present, and who contend with the presbyters themselves about divine and perfect baptism, or rather, who are raging and blaspheming out of great ignorance and stubbornness, not heeding the sacred discipline of the apostles and the precept which says: "We do not permit a layman to perform any priestly function, such as sacrifices, or baptism, or the laying on of hands, or a blessing, whether small or great"; and, "No one takes this honor for himself, but he who is called by God; for by the imposition of the hands of the bishop is this dignity given." And he who has not been entrusted with it, but has seized it and subjected it ^C to himself, shall incur the sin and punishment of Saul and Uzziah. Indeed, we do not even permit the rest of the clergy to baptize—namely, deacons, or lectors, or cantors, or ministers—but only bishops and presbyters, with the deacons ministering to them.

^A For those who dare to do this will suffer the punishment of Core and his companions—and indeed we do not even permit presbyters to ordain a deacon, or a deaconess, or lectors, or ministers, or janitors, but only the bishops. For this is the lawful ecclesiastical order, and the arrangement and institution that is pleasing to God. Those, therefore, who cavil, or, to speak more truly, who fight against God, by bestowing the gifts and functions of the priesthood upon secular men and women to the ruin of those who hear them, are laboring in vain; they are persuaded by the vaniloquence and garrulity of those who are utterly ignorant that there truly is a priesthood, and a distinction between the secular and the priest.

CLII. The Reign of Justinian

CLIII. The Reign of Philip

CLIV. The Reign of Valerian

CLV. On the Pestilential Disease

breaths ^A from rivers and marshes exhaled, so that you would have thought the dews were the sanies of the dead. Consequently, by such a plague, the earth was held fast by heavy and incurable diseases, so that the destruction of men became infinite and innumerable. Lamentations and wailings were heard everywhere because of the multitude of those perishing, and nothing was left [of the desolation] that was comparable to the death of the firstborn of Egypt; for there was no house in which there was not a corpse stinking. And the cruel men among the nations, avoiding the harm of the disease and the communication of death, cast out men unburied and half-dead, sparing neither kinsmen, nor friends, nor any other relations, yet they did not escape the wrath and destruction. But the majority of those who feared the Lord, tending the sick without precaution and becoming partakers in the evil, were themselves deprived of life; while others, after they had cured the sick and relieved them of the disease, drew upon themselves the death of those whom they had tended.

CLVI. Reign of Gallus

CLVII. Reign of Decius

^D (2) This man (Decius) decreed in Rome that Christian women must not veil their heads, thinking that, to avoid what he considered infamy, they would pass over to idolatry; but they, on the contrary, proceeded with eager spirit unveiled; whence even until that time, perfect Christian women

go about with their heads uncovered, whereas Jewesses and infidels are veiled.

CLVIII. Reign of Aemilianus

CLIX. Reign of Gallienus and Valerianus

CLX. Reign of Claudius

CLXI. Reign of Quintilianus

CLXII. Reign of Aurelianus

had been collected, he introduced it from Persia into the Roman territory, by the permission of God.

This insane Manes, then, who is also called Scythianus, being a Brahman by race, had for a teacher Budas, previously called Terebinthus, who himself, having been instructed by Scythianus, who celebrated the opinions of the Greeks, adhered to the error of Empedocles, ^A who spoke of two principles opposed to each other. Having entered into Persia, he claimed that he was born of a virgin and reared in the mountains; and having written four books, he called one Mystery, the second the Gospel, the third the Treasure, and the fourth the Head.

And this Budas, who was also Terebinthus, perished, crushed by an unclean spirit; but a certain woman, at whose house he had stayed and died, when she had obtained his wealth and his profane and most wicked books as an inheritance, bought a small boy of seven years, by the name of Carbicon, whom she taught letters and, granting him his freedom, ^B appointed him the heir of all her goods. He, having taken the books of Budas and the wealth, traversed Persia, naming himself Manes (according to the language of the Persians, signifying some kind of dialectician); and having become a participant in the error of Budas, he said that his books were his own works.

He, the king of the Persians flayed alive, as being the cause of the death of his son. For when the royal boy was falling ill, and the care of the physicians proved of no effect, Manes promised that he would heal him without any medication; and so, by removing the physicians, he killed the ^C boy through negligence and tricks, and for this reason he deservedly received the pay he merited: the flaying of his own most wretched body.

His disciples were three, Thomas, and Buddas, and Hermas, of whom this Thomas published a book called the Gospel according to Thomas; therefore, let no one read the Gospel according to Thomas; for it is not by one of the twelve, but by one of the three perverse disciples of Manes.

This frantic Manes, therefore, rejects the Old Testament and all creation and the human condition, impiously saying that it did not proceed from any good God, as being ^D subject to corruption and change, but he admits the New as proceeding, forsooth, from a good God, and contends that Christ appeared only by appearance and semblance. Furthermore, in addition to these things, by practicing abominable and shameful retreats and nocturnal orgies and impious famous intercourses, he babbled of unspeakable wickedness, and fate, and the migrations of souls from one body to another, and many other things, and did and taught the evil and vain things of the Greeks.

^A He was eager to confirm the impious doctrines of the Greeks.

Concerning him, Theodore the priest of Rhaeti speaks: "Manes, the inventor of opposing darkness, or rather the creature of the power of darkness, imagined and dreamed that Christ had appeared to us in a thin form and in the void appearance of a human body. Thus, he says, he seemed indeed to suffer and to do what he did and suffered among us, but that none of these things existed in truth and reality; rather, he seduced men, with whom he was thought to have associated, by opinion alone and by deception. And for this reason, he refuses to speak of two natures concerning the Lord, but acknowledges only one, that of the divinity."

^B There was a certain Paul, contemporary with this Manes, Samosatene by race, and bishop of great Antioch, who impiously asserted that the Lord was a mere man; but just as in each of the prophets, so too in him, the Word of God had taken up residence; hence he held that there were two natures in Christ, distinct and entirely incommunicable to each other, as if Christ himself were one thing, and the Word of God dwelling in him were another. These, then, are the first voices, which in a bad and impious sense spoke of Christ either as having one nature or two—the one for the destruction of divinity, the other for the destruction of humanity.

CLXIII. Concerning Apollinaris.

^C In subsequent times, there arose a certain Apollinaris, bishop of Laodicea in Syria, who devised another madness. For while the Arians said that the flesh of the Lord was entirely without a soul, he himself said that the Lord had indeed assumed flesh animated with a vital soul, but that he had not received our mind; for he says that the soul of Christ had no need of human intelligence, since it is directed by the Word of God penetrating it, and it receives no other intellectual power than the divine. Having posited these things, he maintains that there is one nature of the Word and of the flesh, namely, because the flesh is imperfect for constituting a man, and for this reason is not considered worthy of the name of nature.

CLXIV. Concerning Theodore of Mopsuestia.

^D After him appears a certain Theodore, who was allotted the governance of Mopsuestia, a city in Cilicia. Being diametrically opposed to Apollinaris, he pours out, with a bold soul and a fearless heart, insults that do not befit the Lord Christ, calling him a man

^A one of us, a common man, who by advancement obtained the grace of God to be named God, and who, from his baptism in the Jordan, was deemed worthy of the gift of the Holy Spirit, being baptized first in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit; and [who,] because of his exceeding virtue, the Word of God, dwelling in him by good pleasure, bestowed upon him divine dignity and adoration thereafter until the consummation. Speaking impiously these and many other such things, he dogmatized two natures in Christ in a restrictive sense, united only by a certain relation. This is the later origin of not confessing one nature and two natures in Christ according to the right sense.

After these, there was a certain man named Nestorius, from Germanicia in Syria, who had seized the see of Constantinople. He likewise misused the expression of two natures in Christ in a perverse sense, following Paul and Theodore, his predecessors; for he was the son of the Cilician and the grandson of the Samosatener; and for this reason, he began an implacable war against the holy Virgin, denying his own Lord and insulting his own Lady, an evil and shameless servant. This wicked Nestorius, therefore, became the third author of this Jewish heresy; for he dogmatized that, according to his ancestral error, Christ was one thing to him, and the Word of God was another. ^B

CLXV. Concerning Eutyches.

Of the opposing party, along with Manes and Apollinaris, a third champion appeared again: Eutyches, the leader of a monastery in Constantinople, who, not enduring to confess that the flesh of the Lord is consubstantial with us and of the same nature, denied it, saying that two natures in Christ remain after their union and conjunction. Furthermore, he devised another madness and monster, saying that the body of the Lord descended from heaven, and that the Word of God passed through the Virgin as if through a conduit, ^C having been clothed in this from heaven, so that he might appear to have been born of a woman, although he was not born of her. This assertion is Manichaean, and [he is] even more than that one in conceiving a single nature, and he too, with a perverse mind, honored Christ. ^D

Then a certain man named Severus, having violently occupied the throne of Antioch, attempted again to defend the heresy of Manes, Apollinaris, and Eutyches, disturbing, as much as was in him, the peace of the Church. But being expelled from Antioch as seditious and a troublemaker, he rushed into the instability of the Alexandrians, like a whirlwind and a storm; there, other

^A storms of wind blowing against both him and the people, he confused and troubled everyone.

For a certain man named Julian, bishop of Halicarnassus of Asia and a most fervent defender of the Eutychian impiety, dispersed them. ^B For while Severus asserted that there is one nature in Christ but accepted that there is a difference in Christ, Julian asserted one nature according to Severus, but abolished the difference; these impious men were the cause of all the tumult and storm, "not understanding," as it is said, "what they say or whereof they affirm," ^C who contend against us, taking as an example of the divine union man, who consists of soul and body, and saying, "Do you then confess three natures?" ^D But let the unlearned and ignorant know that we speak of two natures, not of God and flesh, nor indeed of God and soul, but of God and man; for the nature of a part is not strictly the nature of man. For the parts of man are soul and body, and the parts of the parts are the divisions and subdivisions concerning them; and the parts of Christ are the unconfused divinity and humanity, but soul and body (are not parts of Christ, but parts of a part). The parts of the parts of man, in respect to the soul, are the rational essence and the incorporeal quality, of which some are directive, some irascible, and some concupiscible; and from these [are] the conceptual and the discursive faculty, memory and deliberation, the appetitive and the attractive, the defensive; and many other things are subdivided into these. Let it be left aside for now to inquire whether these are in the soul as parts or as faculties. And for the body, in turn, equal divisions are made, and these into head, hands, and feet, and these into bones, flesh, and nerves, and these into the four elements, and these finally into matter and form.

The sons of physicians also philosophize about many other things concerning natural faculties—the one which they call attractive, another retentive, another having the power of changing, and another excretive; and much also about sense and phantasy, and about the vital and organic spirit—distinct from the rational one, as they say—which exists and preserves the animal. As, therefore, it is sufficient, in order to represent all these things, to name the flesh or the body of man, and again it is sufficient to have shown, through the rational soul, into what parts it itself is divided; so it is sufficient for one to have said "man," or the nature of man, to have shown all things, and to have designated those things of which he consists and in which he is known. Those men, however, [did this] not that they might demonstrate the complete man, but that they might slander the Lord and consider Him alienated from our nature, either because He did not take what was ours from the beginning, or did not preserve entire what He had.

^A Reasoning subtly on these and similar matters, and acting in a manner contrary to the example [given], they have fallen into inescapable and inextricable labyrinths.

Indeed, Theodoret also speaks thus concerning these and such impious men: "There are some who possess the name of Christians, but who openly war against the dogmas of the truth; 1st, for they divide the unbegotten into three, and one they call good, another evil, and another just; 2nd, others depict in speech two unbegotten principles, diametrically opposed to one another; 3rd, others who profess to wage war against these impious doctrines devise another path of impiety; for while acknowledging the only-begotten Word of God as Son, they count Him among the creation as a creature; and 4th, they place the Creator with the creation; and ^B 5th, blaspheming the Holy Spirit, they banish Him from the divine nature. But others, having lost the divine path in various ways, have wandered far from the truth; 6th, some have totally denied the economy that took place for our sake; 7th, others concede that the Word of God was made man, but have taken only the body; 8th, others call the assumed flesh animate, but do not concede that a rational and intellectual soul was therein, perhaps having their own folly as an argument for this matter; but we know our human soul to be none other than rational and immortal. 9th, And others again divide the one Christ into two, contending that the man born of the Virgin is one, and the Word from God the Father is another; and they place the one as a man, separately and apart, and the other they name Son as God by nature and in truth. 10th, Others truly say that the Word of God the Father has turned into the nature of bones and nerves and flesh."

CLXVI. The Reign of Tacitus

CLXVII. The Reign of Florianus

CLXVIII. The Reign of Probus

CLXIX. The Reign of Carus

CLXX. The Reign of Carinus

CLXXI. The Reign of Numerianus

CLXXII. The Reign of Diocletian

^A Being unequal to the course of events, he appointed as emperor Maximian Herculius, who was his son-in-law and friend.

Under these men, a great and most horrendous persecution was stirred up against the Christians. For they issued orders in every city and region that the churches of the Christians should be overturned, their divine Scriptures burned, and the Christians forced to sacrifice to demons.

When this edict was promulgated in public, Diocletian set out from Italy for Egypt; for the faction that was then prevailing in the city of Alexandria in Egypt was calling him thither. Maximian, however, he sent to the nations beyond the Alps to quell the disturbances there. ^B

Judging that affairs required even greater care, he proclaimed two Caesars: Maximian, surnamed Galerius, and Constantius, the father of the Great Constantine, who was born of the daughter of Claudius. He betrothed to Constantius, Theodora, the daughter of the wife of Maximian Herculius; and to Maximian—who was also called Galerius—he betrothed his own daughter, Valeria, after they had dismissed their previous wives.

Having settled these matters, he sent Maximian Galerius against the Persians; but he himself, having gathered his own forces, arrived in Egypt; and having defeated the rebel Achilleus, he slaughtered all who were with him and abolished the tyranny. ^C

Therefore, many were also crowned with the wreath of the contest, among whom are Peter of Alexandria and Anthimus of Nicomedia, Procopius, and George, the illustrious martyrs. And three thousand at Nicomedia: Sabianus and Alexander, Dionysius and Artemius, Athenodorus and Diodorus, Rhodianus, Aquilinus, Febronia, Onesimus, Athenognotus, Marinus the elder, Photius, Anicetus, Diomedes, Philonides, Clement and Agathangelus, Menas, Callistratus, Gregory of Armenia, Rhipsimia, and Gaianes, under Tiridates, the king of Armenia. ^D

(10) A certain woman, distinguished in lineage, wealth, and bodily beauty, having been seized after many flights together with her two virgin daughters, fearing that their virginity might be violated, cast themselves into the current of the river

regarding whom it is a question whether they are to be numbered among the martyrs.

CLXXIII. Of the chaste woman.

^A Again, another holy woman, wonderful in her life, always a virgin and very beautiful, was seized, and when the tyrants forced her in many ways to offer sacrifice, she was not overcome. They ordered her to be handed over to a soldier for vile intercourse, and if she were not corrupted even by this, that she should be punished with the death penalty; she, being circumvented by these moves, asked St. Anthimus, who had not yet perished by martyrdom, what she should choose. He, a truly good man and a faithful steward, holding fast to the oracles of the Lord in judgment, says: “The practice of chastity is good, my child, and pleasing to God, but the commandment of faith is greater, being the foundation of the goods of piety. Do not, therefore, prefer secondary things to better ones; for just as when someone is in danger of life, it is more desirable for a garment to be torn away than for the body to be slain, so it is better in temptations to surrender the flesh to those who wish to offer it every kind of contumely, keeping the soul unstained, than to destroy the nobility of the soul.” Hearing this, she went away with a wavering mind, as one aspiring to two good things; but divine grace, which provides help in difficult circumstances, found a way of salvation for her. And how? Hear by what artifice she guarded her most secure asylum of chastity. ^B For when she was shut up in a single house, she deceived the soldier, saying: “Do nothing insolent to me, O man, and I will provide you with a reward worthy of this good work; for I will give you a drug—as I am a sorceress—that is a cause of immortality, whereby, if you smear your whole body, you will be invulnerable among enemies. If you wish to test it now, permit me to prepare it.” When he, with great joy, permitted her, the woman took wax and mixed it with oil, and having softened it much in her hands and smeared it around her own neck: “Strike,” she said to the soldier, “as hard as you can, and you will see the power of the ointment, and that you will neither wound nor kill me.” ^C He, raising his sword on high and bringing it down upon her, immediately cut off her precious head; and thus, having vanquished the malice of the adversaries, she was crowned with the double crown of martyrdom and chastity.

CLXXIV. Of another virgin.

^D Similarly, another girl of excellent beauty, who was practicing virginity, was accused on a false charge of blaspheming the emperors and the idols; and having been seized and scourged for a long time, yet not [yielding] to impiety.

^A They delivered her over to a brothel, charging the one who was in charge of it to receive her and to bring him three coins for her each day. The man, because the coins were exacted from him, exposed her to those who wished; and the men who were mad with love for women, knowing this, were persistent at the workshop of iniquity, rushing in upon the maiden and offering money. To them, stalling, she would say: "I have a foul sore in a hidden place, and I fear that I may communicate the disease to you as well; but wait a few days until I am healed, and you will have full access to me." Thus, having put them off, she prayed and besought God that she might be delivered from such defilement and might preserve her virginity ^B unstained. And God, having hearkened to her prayer, there comes a certain youth, conspicuous and very pious, to the manager of the brothel as the day was already falling, and gives him five coins, saying: "Grant me this maiden until morning." And having entered into the hidden place, he says to the virgin: "Arise and go in peace." And having clothed her in his own garments and veiled her head, the woman went out unpolluted and untouched, and remained safe from the foul crime. When day had come, and the drama was revealed, the youth was judged and condemned to death; and once this was carried out, he fulfilled the Lord’s saying which states ^C (John XV, 13): "Greater love than this no one has, than that one should lay down his life for his friends."

CLXXV. Concerning the solitary.

Similarly, another man who was living a solitary life, having been seized by those impious and wicked men, endured many punishments and scourgings. Finally, they devised an evil scheme to destroy the chastity of this just man. For having spread a bed in a certain garden and having bound the saint therein, they sent in to him an unchaste woman, so that, whether by the pleasantness and seclusion of the place, or by the inability to avoid the assault of the unchaste woman, he might be dragged ^D from all sides and even against his will into the lawless act. But when the divine man had the woman already encircling him with endearments and shameful words and gestures, and touching his private parts with her wicked hands and kindling lusts, the saint, having no way to push away that wicked and shameless woman, having bitten off his own tongue with his teeth, spat into her face; and for himself he brought upon his body pains and torments in place of the pleasures, while her he vehemently struck and filled with distress through the flow of blood.

greatly astonished and filled with disgust at the flow of blood. ^A The Gentiles, having learned of these things, marveled at the chastity of the solitaries.

CLXXVI. The Reign of Constantius

^A The impious tyrants Diocletian and Maximian, therefore, having been defeated by the multitude of the Christians who were being slaughtered, issued a decree that all who were found to be Christians should have their right eye gouged out, not only for the sake of the torment, but also so that, being thus disgraced, they might be looked upon as unworthy of the Roman people.

^B Divine justice justly pursued and punished them. For one of them fell into a dire disease and died, swollen up; the other hanged himself. For they say that a God-sent wrath seized Diocletian while he was living in Dalmatia, and his swollen body burst in many places; and his sacrilegious tongue having rotted in his throat, it emitted a multitude of worms, and thus the man miserably met his end. Herculius Maximian put an end to his life in Tarsus of Cilicia.

^{B C} (3) Now Constantine, the son of Constantius, while he was still a boy, was being reared in the East under the tyrant Diocletian—who had ordered him, in his father’s name, to stay there so he would not be murdered by his stepmother—and was being educated in Greek wisdom. Hence, when he was in Palestine and saw how much the servants of Christ were suffering, his soul was stung; for he hated wickedness from childhood. ^C But Diocletian, seeing the youth Constantine in the vigor of age and adorned with prudence, and fearing—or rather, divining—that he would be the one to overthrow his tyranny, plotted to kill him by treachery. But aided by divine Providence, the young man learned of the plot, and like David, found salvation in flight, reaching his father in safety.

^C (4) For his father had been sent against the Persians to make war upon them; and having defeated them, he came to Diocletian, bringing purses filled with precious stones and pearls, from which Diocletian was the first to use clothing and footwear adorned with precious stones and gold, and he ordered himself to be worshiped contrary to custom, and celebrated a ^D triumph; [so] named

^A a triumph, which was thus called by the poets, either from [thriasis], that is to say madness, or from *thria*, which is the name for fig leaves.

In the twentieth year of his reign, Diocletian and Maximian laid down the empire on the same day, as if to be numbered among the gods; but as Eusebius narrates, Diocletian, having become insane, and Herculius with him, having laid down the empire, resumed a private life; and the latter indeed ended his life by a noose, while Diocletian, having experienced the madness sent by God, also took his own life. ^B

Gelasius of Caesarea says that they, moved by repentance and having attempted to seize the empire again, were killed by a decree of the senate.

A certain Theotecnus, at the instigation of Maximian, feigning and fabricating in full blasphemy all the things that had supposedly been done to Christ by Pilate, circulated them through the cities and villages, with Maximian ordering the teachers of letters to instruct the children in these things, so that they might ridicule our mystery.

After Diocletian and Maximian Herculius, there reigned in those same times over the Romans and Greeks Constantius Chlorus, the father of Constantine the Great, ^C who was born to him by Helen near the city of Dacia.

There reigned with him Severus and Maximian, called Galerius, with his son Maximinus, and Maxentius, the son of Herculius, the brother of Theodora, the wife of Constantius, father of Constantine the Great, and indeed his uncle.

Constantine and Severus held Gaul and Britain; Maxentius and Maximinus held Rome; and Maximian Galerius held the East, who did many wicked and impious things beyond measure. Since he was seized by an insane love for women, those who were subject to his rule sought with great zeal where they might hide their own wives and daughters from the face of the tyrant, not only because of his impiety, but also because he would seize their goods; and furthermore, [he initiated] a cruel and inhuman persecution

^A in the whole Orient against the Christians, in which many illustrious men bore away the palm of faith.

(11) He justly suffered, in accordance with his impiety, the preludes to the punishment that awaited him; for he fell into a most terrible disease, and a grave ulcer, having sprouted in the secret parts of his incontinence, brought on a putrefaction incurable by any art. For a great, swarming number of worms—as this lost man was corpulent—sharpened the dire torments throughout his whole flesh. His inner organs were being destroyed by the most intense heat concealed within; his whole flesh, like wax, was being liquefied and squeezed out, and as it burned and roasted more fiercely, even his bones were scorched at the same time, so that the sign of the human form was erased. From then on, being miserably consumed and atrociously putrefied, he emitted such a stench that he differed in no way from corpses dissolved in tombs. ^B Yet, breathing amidst these torments, he groaned deeply and invoked death; and as he realized that the end was nearing him, the wicked man spoke thus: "Woe to me, the miserable and worthy of lamentations, what a punishment worthy of my impious deeds against the Christians I am sustaining!"

(12) And when he had said these things with great pain, he immediately sent an edict to all cities that the Christians should be released from chains and invited to pray for the emperor. And quickly Divine mercy showed itself; for the emperor, already drawing his last breaths, suddenly became sound and robust, that most grave ulcer having been healed, contrary to expectation, through the prayer of the Christians. ^C But before the wound had completely healed, he was moved to a greater fury and wrote inhuman edicts, in which he ordered that Christians should not be permitted to live or exist throughout all the world. But the good God never forgot His servants; for it was possible to see the Christians all dragged in herds, with their wives and children, to death with the whole multitude of the people; but Divine Justice, intervening, destroyed the counsels of the impious.

(13) For because of his immense wickedness, ^D

^A a grievous famine and pestilence, along with the virulence of another disease, broke out upon his realm; there was an ulcer, aptly named the "fiery carbuncle," which, creeping over the whole body, stirred up dangerous crises for those who suffered it. Nay, more, attacking the eyes very frequently and in particular, it rendered an infinite number of men, women, and children blind. And in addition to these things, the war against the Armenians arose against the tyrant; so that all these things, rushing together at one and the same time, refuted the boldness of this impious man and his boasting against God. For he had boasted and glorified himself that, through his zeal for idols and his persecution against us, neither war nor any other horror would ever afflict the empire while he lived. These things, therefore, struck him at the same time, and were the preludes of his ruin. As for the rest of those who inhabited the cities and regions of his dominion, a most cruel famine and pestilence were ^B consuming them; and the number of those dying in the cities was great, but even greater in the fields and villages, with almost everyone perishing through lack of food and the pestilential disease. For some, chewing grass and ruining their physical health, would perish; others, withered like dead statues, gasping for life here and there, trembling and falling in the streets, would collapse, whence their dead and naked bodies, lying about unburied for many days, provided a sad and pitiable spectacle to those who saw them, and some even became the food of dogs. Nor did the pestilence lay waste all houses any less.

(14) Such, therefore, were the rewards of Maximian's pride, and such was his miserable end; for he had inscribed on a monument against us that, with all the Christians destroyed (as he thought), the Roman state would be filled with every prosperity and well-being. ^C (15) Wherefore these things happened: famine and pestilence and droughts and other evils overtook men (for lightnings and terrors were sent, so that each man was anxious only for his own affairs, and thus the mandates of the tyrant remained unfulfilled).

(16) Constantius, called Chlorus on account of the paleness of his countenance—for he was religious, and educated his son Constantine in the same way, and was in no way a participant in the persecution against us, but even ^D

^A permitted those who wished to live as Christians under him to do so fearlessly and without hindrance. While still alive, he appointed his son Constantine as Augustus and emperor—whom some have said was born of a harlot, but they are clearly refuted by various interpreters as being false-speakers and foolish-minded. ^B Likewise, after Severus had died, Licinius, the brother-in-law of Constantine, was introduced in his place, even though he had not yet taken her [Constantina] to wife, and he was crowned Caesar by the senate; for he was about to become the brother-in-law of the great Constantine, feigning with guile that he was devoted to our religion.

CLXXVII. Concerning Saint Constantine.

After the death of his father and the overthrow of Maxentius, it happened that Constantine, upon entering the city of Rome, fell ill, so that neither the foreknowledge and charms of magi, nor the arts and mixtures of medicines could heal his affliction. ^C Priests of the idols came to him and suggested that a fountain be filled with the blood of innocent children, and that by being bathed in the warm and foaming blood he would be made whole. Consequently, after the children had been gathered from every province by imperial decrees and the emperor was passing by outside, all the mothers of those children from those cities met him, with loosened hair and bared breasts, with many lamentations and tears. The emperor, having inquired diligently concerning them and having learned that they were the mothers of the children who were to be put to death, wept and said: “It is better for me to die for the salvation of innocent children rather than to choose a cruel and inhuman life from such a most cruel slaughter of them, especially when there is doubt about recovery from them.” ^D Having announced these things to the senate, he entered the palace and ordered not only that the children be given back to their own mothers, but also commanded that carriages and provisions be given to them for their return.

This having been done, on that same night the emperor saw a dream in which the apostles of Christ appeared to him, saying: “We are Peter and Paul, sent by God to grant you health and salvation through the

^A mercy and compassion shown to the children. Send, therefore, and call for Silvester from Mount Soracte, and he will show you the truly divine and saving fountain, in which, having washed, you will possess not only bodily health, but also, most especially, health of the soul.” When day had come, having sent [messengers] to the divine Silvester, he brought him into the palace with great honor. And the emperor, arising, worshipped him, saying: “Welcome, Silvester.” And the bishop said: “May peace and salvation be granted to you by God.” And the emperor said: “I beseech you, tell me if you have certain gods called Peter and Paul.” And the bishop said: “We have one God, Creator of heaven and earth, of whom Peter and Paul are true servants.” The emperor then said: “Are you able, O bishop, to show me their faces through some painting, so that I may recognize more clearly if they are the ones sent to me by God?” And immediately the bishop, having commanded his own deacon to bring the portraits on tablets, they were brought; and having beheld them, the emperor cried out with a loud voice, saying: “These are truly they who were seen by me in a dream and who exhorted me to summon you, O Silvester. And now show me the fountain of which they spoke, through which I shall be saved in soul and body.” And the bishop, immediately ordering a pool of water to be made, baptized the emperor. And straightway he came out of the pool entirely whole, having left the sores of his body in the water like the scales of fish. ^B

^C When the senate and all the people saw that he had recovered his health, they shouted out in rivalry, saying: “One is the God of the Christians, great and terrible; and we all from now on believe and are baptized, because we have seen great miracles today.” To whom the emperor said: “Human things are indeed compulsory, but divine things must be chosen. God is worshipped with good will and affection; therefore, we wish those who desire to become Christians to do so not out of necessity, but by free judgment, and not to be brought to the worship of God through human fear.” And when all heard these things, they were kindled with the desire to embrace the faith, having already sufficiently experienced the moderation of the emperor and the purity of the doctrine. Immediately, therefore, Crispus, his firstborn son, was baptized with him; whom they say was afterwards falsely accused by his stepmother and killed by his father. ^D

as having plotted to sleep with her. But afterward the emperor, having learned that this was a lie, killed her also, as having slandered the innocent man. His mother, Helena—and the emperor’s relatives and friends—were also baptized. ^A

5 In the Capitol of Rome a dragon of immense size was seen, which afterwards Silvester killed.

^B 6 Now the emperor gathered the priests and scribes of the Jews to dispute with holy Silvester concerning Christ, whom the saint in the end overcame, refuting them by the power of Christ, and further by the prophets themselves and other proofs from their own Scripture.

6 Maxentius, having become the most wicked of all who had been before him, harassed the inhabitants of Rome and especially the Christians; for he murdered many of the foremost, and others he sent into exile, plundering their goods. Following the incontinence of Galerius, he defiled many free women, and by ravishing six hundred others and dedicating himself to obscenities, he became intolerable to all, using magical incantations. ^C

7 Now when the Great Constantine had subdued the northern and western parts as far as the Ocean in profound peace, benevolence, and order throughout the whole world subject to him, the inhabitants of Rome sent an embassy to him, begging him not to neglect the mother of empires as she was being destroyed by a cruel tyrant, or rather by a flesh-eating beast. When the great Constantine heard these things, he contemplated freeing them from his servitude; but he was afraid of this because of his magical sorceries, for he had already butchered many children under the pretext of nefarious incantation. Being, therefore, in great distraction and solicitude, there appeared to him, while he was in the field with his soldiers at midday, a pillar-like cross fashioned of light, on which was inscribed: "In this conquer." ^D Being terrified, the emperor asked those with him if they also saw anything. And they all confessed that they had seen the same vision as he. Then the emperor, being refreshed in spirit and filled with confidence and alacrity, was of good courage. But on the following night, the Lord supervening...

^A said to him: "Use the sign shown to you for assistance, and you shall be conquering all your enemies."

When day came, having without delay fashioned a cross—which is preserved in the royal palace to this day—he ordered it to be carried before him into battle. But the impious tyrant, trusting in his own demons ^B and having laid a bridge of many ships across the river flowing past, went out to set the battle array. When the engagement took place, the adversaries were shattered by the power of the cross; and while most were cut down, the others fled with the tyrant toward the city. The bridge having broken under the excessive weight, the tyrant was submerged in the river, just like Pharaoh ^C. And one could see the entire river filled with horses and their riders. The citizens of the city, having adorned the city with crowns, welcomed him with great joy and acclaim, calling the cross the author of victory and the victorious emperor their savior [(8)].

Then the emperor ordered the relics of the holy martyrs to be gathered and committed to holy burial, and their possessions to be returned to those who had suffered injustice. And they were celebrating a victory festival for seven days, honoring the cross of Christ. This was the seventh year of the reign of Constantine; and then, having become leprous, he was baptized by Sylvester in Rome.

(9) Hearing these things, Galerius Maximianus had gone out—for he too was expecting the same fate—and he ceased for a little while from his threats against the Christians.

(10) But the great Constantine, ^D trusting in the invincible instrument of the cross, rushed against him, having also Licinius Caesar with him at that time fighting alongside him against the tyrants, who feigned to be rejoicing in the doctrines of the Christians. But the tyrant, relying on incantations and divinations and frauds, went out to do battle against the pious empire, displaying himself by the infinite number of his ranks. When the engagement took place, and the precious cross had appeared, the satellites of the tyrant

^C failing to sustain the attack, turned to flight; and while some fled with haste, others pursued them keenly. And many thousands having fallen, the rest, abandoning the tyrant, went over to the emperor. The impious one, having cast away his diadem so that he might not be recognized and might be as one of the soldiers, roaming from village to country and hiding himself, escaped naked with a few of his most loyal personal attendants. Gathering together the priests of the so-called gods, and the prophets, and the seers, and those who were renowned for the art of divination—whom he formerly loved and held in honor—he slaughtered them as impostors, deceivers, and plotters against his own empire.

^B When he was on the point of falling into the hands of the emperor (for the war still pressed upon him), a divine wrath, having anticipated him, so afflicted him that he lay prone upon the ground, begging for help but finding none. For a flame, ignited from the depths of his internal organs and marrow, gave him intolerable pains as he gasped and turned this way and that, so that both his eyes started out onto the ground and left him blind; and by the internal flame, the flesh was consumed in a wondrous way, wasted away and separated from the bones, so that he himself invoked death. And when his whole frame had thus withered away, he breathed out his soul.

^C Having heard these things, and the grave and wicked things which had been done in Rome by Maxentius—concerning whom he had also received a delegation—he campaigned against him. And having beheld the sign of the cross in the heavens as light, bearing the inscription, "In This Conquer," he immediately had it fashioned with gold-welded stones and hung upon a spear, and ordered it to lead his own army. Through which, having put Maxentius to flight and submerged him in the river, he thus entered and seized Rome, Maxentius having been suffocated in the river; concerning whom the very learned Eusebius, ^D who knows and records many things, said: "Immediately the word was also clearly fulfilled again: 'The chariots of Pharaoh and his power he cast into the sea; his chosen riders, his captains, he submerged in the Red Sea; the deep covered them.'" For thus indeed Maxentius and the soldiers and bodyguards around him sank into the depths like a stone, when he turned his back to the power led by God with Constantine, and to the river, which he deftly

joined them together with a bridge, he prepared a lethal machine for himself, and he fell into the pit which he had dug, and "his pain turned upon his own head, and his iniquity came down upon his crown." ^A And thus, indeed, the impious man and those like him "sank like lead in the mighty waters." But the divine Constantine, having celebrated God for his deeds, entered Rome amidst triumphal hymns, with everyone gathering to him together with women and young children—and with the whole Roman people—with shining eyes, welcoming him as their redeemer, savior, and benefactor, with praises and insatiable joy. But he, possessing as it were an innate piety toward God, neither swayed at all by the clamors nor puffed up by the praises, being fully conscious of divine assistance, immediately commanded that the trophy of the saving Passion be erected upon a column by his own hand, and he ordered that Preparation Day ^B and the Lord’s Day be held in honor, the former on account of the cross, and the latter on account of the resurrection, and he forbade that any man henceforth be condemned to the cross.

BOOK IV.

BEGINNING, WITH GOD, OF THE REIGN OF THE CHRISTIANS AND CONCERNING CONSTANTINE THE GREAT.

^C CLXXVIII. The Reign of Constantine the Great. ^D After Maxentius, Constantine the Great reigned for thirty-one years, who immediately sent edicts throughout the entire world for the Christians living in exile to return with honor to their own lands, and that the temples of the idols should be destroyed, and that the churches...

^A of Christ should be built, and that those still practicing idolatry should be subject to capital punishment.

(2) Furthermore, he promulgated laws that the temples of the idols and their revenues should be handed over to those dedicated to Christ; that only Christians should hold positions of command and military service; that all should fast on the fourth and sixth days of the week, and that the Lord’s Day should be honored with rest and worship—the former days on account of the Passion, the latter on account of the Resurrection of the Lord—and that two weeks of Easter should be kept as holidays, one before the feast and another after the feast, on account of the Passion and the cross, and also on account of the Resurrection. He decreed that Jewish slaves should not be purchased, and that public sacrifices should not be performed; and that on account of the cross of Christ, no one should henceforth be condemned to the punishment of the cross, and that the image of Christ and the symbol of the cross should be inscribed everywhere on his coinage. ^B

(3) He had as a wife Maximina, the daughter of Diocletian, from whom he fathered three sons, Constantine, Constans, and Constantius, and two brothers, Dalmatius and Constantius, and one sister, Constantia, the wife of Licinius, all born from the first wife of his father Constantius, Theodora, who was the daughter of Maximian Herculius.

(4) Constantine himself, however, was born from Helena, and his brothers had sons: Dalmatius, another Dalmatius; and Constans, Gallus and Julian.

CLXXIX. From the life of Saint Silvester.

(1) Now in the Roman Capitol, in a certain recess reaching three hundred and sixty-five steps high, there was a monstrous dragon, which often and suddenly, ^D peering out from its lair, harmed the inhabitants of the city—and especially the children—with its breath. And for this reason, certain of the Greeks, coming reverently to the holy Silvester, said, "Go forth, O bishop, against the dragon, and in the name of your God, make it cease from the destruction of men—"

and we all believe and are baptized." Silvester therefore went forth and found a small dwelling with a bronze door where the dragon was; and after ^A he had closed the door in the name of Christ and departed, the dragon came out no more. When two years had passed, all who formerly used to worship the dragon with sacrifices, and many others, drawing near to holy Silvester, were baptized.

When the divine Constantine had assembled the Jews, priests, and scribes to the number of one hundred and twenty, to dispute with Silvester for the perfect manifestation of the truth ^B and the refutation of Jewish impudence and foolishness, almost the whole city gathered before the king to hear the debate of both sides concerning faith in Christ. And the Jews began to say to Silvester as follows: "What Scripture has prophesied concerning the Son of Mary, and what prophet has announced that He, being God, was to be born of Mary?" Silvester, answering, said: "You are utterly deceived, not knowing truly the Scriptures nor the mystical teaching contained within them." For concerning Whom did the great Isaiah speak? ^C "Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which is translated *God with us*"; and: "Before the child knows to call father or mother, he shall take the power of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria before the king of the Assyrians." And another: "A star shall rise out of Jacob, and a man shall rise out of Israel, and he shall crush the princes of Moab." ^D "A man shall come forth from his seed and shall rule over many nations." That He will appear as a man is foretold by these, but that He will be the Lord of all, they signify again, saying: "Behold, the Lord sits upon a light cloud and will enter into Egypt, and the idols of Egypt shall be shaken. Behold, the Lord our God shall come and save us, and then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall hear, and the lame shall leap as a deer, and the tongue of the stammerers shall be clear." Therefore the prophecy foretells that God is to arrive, and it signifies the signs and the time of His advent. For then were these things fulfilled, which had never previously occurred under anyone in Israel.

^A Concerning His passion, he says again: "A man in a wound, and knowing how to bear infirmity—he was dishonored and not esteemed. This one bears our sins and suffers for our sake; and we considered him to be in toil, and in a wound, and in affliction; but he was wounded on account of our sins, and the discipline of our peace was upon him; in his bruise we were healed." ^B And: "For his life is taken up from the earth; and who shall tell of his generation?" And Moses: "You shall see your life hanging before your eyes, and you shall not believe." And David says in the person of Christ: "They dug my hands and my feet," and "They divided my garments among themselves," and the rest. Regarding the fact that there was also a hope for the Gentiles, Jacob indeed foretold: "A ruler shall not fail from Judah, nor a leader from his thighs, until He comes for whom it is reserved, and he is the expectation of the Gentiles." And Isaiah says:

The Root of Jesse and the Expectation of the Gentiles

^A You shall therefore know and understand: from the going forth of the command for the building of Jerusalem until Christ the Prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks. As for the rest, you perhaps put forth vain excuses to defer the written prophecies to a future time. But what can you say or oppose to these things, where it is shown that both the anointer and the anointed are not a man, but the Holy of Holies is proclaimed, and Jerusalem stood until his presence, but after his presence it was overturned, and from that time every prophet and every vision ceased in Israel? Indeed, David, Solomon, and Ezechias were anointed long ago; but Jerusalem and the place stood, and the prophets were prophesying; furthermore, these anointed ones were called holy men, but not the Holy of Holies. When also did the prophet and vision cease from Israel, if not now, when the predicted one and the Holy of Holies, Christ, has arrived? Therefore, a truly great and manifest sign of the Word of God and of his advent is that Jerusalem no longer exists, nor is a prophet raised up, nor is vision revealed to them. And justly so: for after he who was signified and prophesied arrived, what need was there for those who signify and prophesy? For they prophesied to this end, until he who was prophesied should come, by whom our sins were to be washed away. Who, therefore, is the prince who ^B went forth from Bethlehem, and pastured Israel, whose going forth is from the beginning, from the days of eternity? And, ‹Before the sun, his name abides.› Is his generation ineffable, as it is written? ‹For we know the generation of all the holy men from the histories, which show the origin and the death of the leaders of Israel.› ^C When, therefore, a discussion had been held for many hours, and Silvester, with great sedulity, from the divine Scriptures ^D and by proving the things concerning Christ with great accuracy, and after the Jews had been greatly defeated, he said...

^A to the rest of the Jews, one of them named Zambres ^B said: "If you adhere to the discourses of Silvester, it is necessary to abandon the ancestral laws and to follow a vain man, whom our fathers condemned. But let the king hear me, and let a wild bull be brought, so that I may show today in his presence the power of the name of our God; for I do not wish to show the truth through words, but through deeds." Silvester, however, having exhorted (the king) that such a bull be brought, asked Zambres meanwhile: "For what purpose do you seek the bull?" And he says: "Since no created nature, having heard the name of our God, will live, I wish through this bull to demonstrate clearly the power of that name." To whom Silvester said: "And in what manner did you learn this name? Have you heard it from someone, or have you read it?" But he said: ^B "Neither paper, nor wood, nor stone is able to receive this name; for I, when I had fasted and had placed water into a basin, learned it there." While these things were being said, behold, the bull came, led by many men, bound on all sides with ropes, and was most wild and of great size. And Zambres, exulting ^C against Silvester, said: "Now the words and the arguments of your discourse will have an end; if, therefore, you trust in the name of your God, say it to the hearing of the bull, and you will be shown to believe in the Almighty; but if not, I shall speak, and all will hasten to my faith." While the Jews and others urged Zambres to speak the name to the hearing of the bull, and he said it, immediately the bull, having let out a great bellow and its eyes having protruded, died. As the Jews were leaping up and boasting ^C against Silvester, and the Christians were grieving greatly, Silvester exhorted the king to order the people to be silent. And this having been done, Silvester, having ascended a high place, said in a loud voice: "Hear me, magnates, and all of you Christians, who now marvel at the destruction of the bull. I know that my Lord Christ, whom I have proclaimed to you, caused the blind to see, the deaf to hear, the mute to speak, and the dead to rise in his own name: from this, therefore, it is manifest to all that the name which Zambres called upon to kill the bull is of the devil; for if ^D it killed the living—and it is not the lord of these—it is therefore an enemy of life and salvation..."

^A Hearing this, Zambres tore his garments and said to the king, "I, master, killed the bull in the name of the Almighty God, and this man, blaspheming, boasts only in words; therefore, it is fitting that no further opportunity be given him to speak." But Silvester said, "Hear, O Jew, your own Scriptures, and by them let your mouth be stopped once again. It is written: 'The Lord killeth and maketh alive.' And: 'I will slay and I will make to live.' Therefore, call again upon that name into the ears of the ox, and if it lives, we shall all know to believe in that name. But if not, I shall call upon my Lord Christ, and I will raise him up." And Zambres said, "If you do this, I swear by the head of the king, all the Jews, abandoning the law, will run to the religion of the Christians." ^B Then Silvester, stretching his hands to heaven and making a prayer with tears, approached the bull and said with a loud voice, "I call upon your name, Lord Christ, with a cry, especially that all this people may know that the bull was killed by the name of the devil, but by the invocation of your holy and most manifest name it was made to live." And approaching the bull, he said with a loud voice, "In the name of Jesus Christ, whom the [lawless] Jews crucified, arise with gravity." And immediately the bull moved itself and rose up, and Silvester loosened its bonds and let it go free, saying, "Go whence you came, and harm no one on the way." Observing this great miracle, the Jews were altogether amazed, and straightway they all fell at the feet of the divine Silvester, begging for holy baptism. And there was great joy for the king and all the people, ^C crying out for two hours: "Great is the God of the Christians."

Concerning Constantinople.

400 ^C He built a palace and a hippodrome and two large porticoes, and a forum in the place where he set up his own court. Returning from Rome, he also set up there the monolith and all-porphyry column, which he had transported from Rome with great admiration, and he placed upon it a statue which he had brought from Heliopolis in Phrygia, having seven rays on its head. ^D Thus did the great king Constantine inhabit Byzantium; he rebuilt it, and having established peace, called it C. P. (Constantinople), having gathered notable men from everywhere and settled them therein.

[Note: There follows a lengthy narrative in the apparatus/notes section, which forms part of the historical text provided in the PG edition:]

They say he also did such an admirable thing. Having sent his great lords into Persia—who, after ten months, had achieved a great victory and returned, having brought back all the eighteen centenaria—the king, before their return, had sent to Rome and had accounted for their families. He also appointed builders and engineers so that they might see their houses and the places where each one’s house was situated, and see them exactly: some on the seashores, others on the mainlands, as well as the shapes of the buildings and the approaches, which were spiral. And having taken the families of the senators, they went up to Byzantium and built everything in exactly the same way. And he settled their families there. Therefore, when they returned victorious from the Persian war, as has been said, the king received them with great joy and, having held a banquet, said to them: "Do you wish to depart for Rome?" testing them. They said they would not depart for twelve months. "From sight," he said, "I have to give you your houses." Having ordered his chamberlain to give each one his own house, when they saw the gateways and the courtyards and the approaches and everything identical to those in Rome, both in measures and shapes and heights and the aspect of the windows, they thought they were in Rome by a phantasm. But having found their families, they were amazed; and having questioned them and learned exactly, they then believed that it was no longer a phantasm, but the prudence of the king, that he had settled them there unwillingly and against their desire. And from their names, the places also received their designations. And by having built [the palace], he also set up [the statue].

^A Column, owing to its size and weight, he transported by sea for three years, and from the sea to the forum it came in a year, although the king was constantly moving from here to there and distributing an unusual multitude of gold. Then, after placing in the foundations for support and safekeeping the twelve baskets which Christ blessed, along with precious woods and holy relics, that wonderful man fixed this very same monolith column with great art, industry, and intelligence. Certain ignorant and foolish people—or, to speak more correctly, blockheads—have been led into error, so as not to believe it a monolith, because of the bronze bands and the many thongs quite suitably fitted for its adornment.

^B Furthermore, he built the temples of the Holy Apostles, Saint Irene, Saint Mocius, and of the Archangel Michael at the Anaplus. He also constructed Saint Sophia (near Saint Irene), a very beautiful church, though not according to the shape, beauty, and size which is now in use. He held its dedication under Patriarch Eudoxius, a disciple of Eunomius, on the eleventh day of the month of May, as celebrated by the first synod, where the three hundred and eighteen holy Fathers were seated.

Thereafter, having created as Caesars Constantius, his son, in Constantinople, and Licinius, his son-in-law, in Nicomedia of Bithynia, he bore arms against the Persians; and, being requested by them, he made them tributary and returned.

^C And when he learned in Nicomedia that Licinius, exercising vengeance, was handing Christians over to death, he was filled with grief and wrote to him, exhorting him to desist from his fury against the churches of Christ. But he...

^A scorning the warning, raged against them with even greater cruelty, and although secretly, he plotted against his benefactor. Finally, he declared public war ^B against the one whom divine power protected. A battle having taken place in the regions of Bithynia (and the glorious cross being borne before), the wretch was taken alive and trembling, and came into the power of Constantine. But the king, most mild toward all, having used clemency toward his enemy, ordered him to live peacefully in Thessalonica. Yet after he had rested a little, he hired some barbarians to fight again. Upon hearing this, Constantine ordered him to suffer the capital penalty.

^A For the blessed Helena, having gone to Jerusalem in search of the precious cross, and having found it, built marvelous ^B churches, having destroyed the temple which the impious had built over the Lord’s tomb to Aphrodite. And having returned, and having instructed her son much regarding the faith in Christ, she died at eighty years of age, and they buried her in the church of the Holy Apostles. Endowed, therefore, with all virtues, the blessed one possessed ^C humanity in imitation of Christ toward all, but especially toward the holy order of nuns. For she would often gather those who had practiced virginity throughout their lives, and ordering them to recline upon couches, she would minister to them herself, setting out food, handing them cups, and pouring water upon their hands, performing the work of a servant. In this way, she also educated her ever-memorable son, to have an unpretentious ^D mind, to be diligent in virtue and in upright conduct, and to serve God according to the Scripture, “with fear and trembling,” and he (himself) also, faithfully keeping her commands, bore fruit a hundredfold.

For under this blessed one, the interior Indians and Iberians ad...

approached holy baptism, and the Armenians believed perfectly, along with their king Tiridates, through the thrice-blessed martyr and great Gregory, their archbishop. ^B

There occurred also an earthquake in Campania, and thirteen cities fell; and an eclipse of the sun happened at the third hour of the day, so that even stars appeared in the heavens.

Near the region of Melitene, there was a kind of serpent of every sort, separated by five intervals; and entering into conflict, they slew one another, so that the region stank from their corpses.

The Jews also were traveling in crowds to Jerusalem to build the temple; the divine ^C Constantine punished many of them and scattered them, and having cut off the ears of some, and having impressed upon their bodies the mark of the disturbance, he led them about everywhere, disciplining them and all the others so that they would no longer attempt the same things.

Chapter CLXXXI. Of the First Synod.

The Nicene synod of the three hundred and eighteen holy Fathers was held for the following cause. When that great king ^D Constantine saw the Church troubled by Arius, he convoked an ecumenical synod.

He ordered the bishops to travel to the synod from everywhere using public horses and mules, and he himself arrived at Nicaea, desiring to see the multitude of the high priests (and to promote concord among them).

When, therefore, all had arrived, he ordered a very large building in the palace to be prepared and thrones to be placed in it; and thus he allowed them to enter. When he himself entered last of all with a few, and stood in the midst, he invited everyone to sit down. Then, a small throne having been placed, being bidden by them, he sat down (and he himself) last of all; such piety and reverence for the men possessed the king! And they indeed, crowning his head with the flowers of praises, accumulated blessings upon his zeal toward divine matters. And he, concerning the concord and [oneness of mind...]

having brought forth words, instructed many both with addresses and with gifts; and having commanded many cushions to be prepared, he entertained them all together. He took the more worthy to be his table-companions, and divided the rest among other tables.

^A Seeing certain ones deprived of their right eyes, and having learned that it was because of their faith in Christ and their confession that they had suffered this at the hands of Maximian and Diocletian, from his heart he embraced them and applied his lips to their scars, believing he would draw a blessing from there with the kiss of faith. Thus was that wonderful man resplendent in piety, faith, and modesty.

^B On the following day, the bishops and the king met in one place and called Arius, together with those who shared his opinion, to the synod, granting him the opportunity to put forth his own dogmas. Now the dogmas of that impious and thrice-accursed man were as follows: "God was not always Father, but there was a time when God was not Father. And the Word of God was not always, but came into existence from things that were not; for God, who is, made him who was not out of that which was not. Therefore there was a time when he was not; for the Son is a creature and a work. Nor is the Son like in substance to the Father, nor is he the Word by nature truly of the Father, nor is he His true Wisdom. But he is one of the things made and created, and is called Word and Wisdom figuratively, having himself been made by the proper Word of God and by the divine Wisdom, in which God made all things and him himself. Therefore he is variable and mutable by nature, as are all rational beings; and the Word is ^C foreign and alien and sundered from the substance of God, and the Father is invisible to the Son; for neither does the Word perfectly and exactly know the Father, nor is he able to see Him perfectly; for he did not even perfectly know his own substance. But he was made for our sake, in order that God might create us through him as through an instrument; and he would not have come into existence, had God not wished to create us." Some one then asked them if the Word of God could be corrupted as the devil was corrupted; and they did not hesitate to say that, indeed, he could be corrupted, ^D since, being begotten and created, he is of a variable nature.

(6) But the miracle that occurred at the synod it is not right to pass over in silence; for besides...

the ^A extraordinary nature of the royal decree, philosophers and rhetoricians, well-versed in dialectic, were present at the synod, among whom was a certain Greek, himself held in admiration by all, so that his participation created a great audience, with a multitude flocking to hear. For the bishops were not even able to refute the philosopher and rhetorician who was constantly arguing, because he easily resisted all opposing points, explaining the subjects before him beautifully, and proving to be as elusive as an eel, and (subdued by no logic) whenever he seemed to be cornered, he would slip away, appearing more powerful through the sharpness of his thoughts and his fluency and loquacity of speech. But in order that God might show that the kingdom of the saints consists not in words, but in power, a certain man from among the saints—a Cypriot by descent, and bishop of the city of Trimithous, named Spyridion, very simple by nature and unskilled in speech—requested permission to dispute with the philosopher. ^B The Fathers, knowing the simplicity and rusticity of the man, restrained him, lest they be mocked by the perverse. But he, not satisfied, approached the man and said, “In the name of Jesus Christ, listen, O philosopher, to the dogmas of the truth.” He replied to him, “Whatever you are going to say, I am listening.” And he said, “Know that there is one God who created the heaven and the earth, and fashioned man from the earth, and ordered all things visible and invisible by his Word and Spirit. Knowing this Word to be the Son of God, we worship Him, believing that for our salvation he was born of the Virgin in the last times, and by his cross, death, and resurrection, he has liberated the race of men; and we hope that he will also come to judge all in justice. Do you believe this, philosopher?” And he, as one who had never had the skill of speaking to offer a defense, was struck dumb, and as though blind and mute and silent, he pronounced only this: “These things seem to me also to be so.” And the elder added: ^C “Therefore, arise, follow me to the church, and you shall receive the seal of this faith.” The philosopher then turning to his disciples said: “Listen to me, O men: as long as I applied zeal to words, I opposed words with words, and refuted what was brought forward with the art of speaking; but when, instead of words, a power proceeded from the mouth of that elder, words could no longer be opposed to this power; for a man cannot resist God. Therefore, if anyone among you is able to understand as I have understood, he will have faith in Christ; and let him then accompany me to this elder through whom God has spoken.” In this way, therefore, he became a Christian. ^D

rejoicing to have been defeated by the elder. ^A

There was present at that time also the divine Paphnutius (an Egyptian man), a miracle-worker and confessor, whose right eye Maximianus had gouged out. When the synod wished to canonize that a cleric should not cohabit with the wife he had married before his ordination, he set aside the proposal as too burdensome, and represented that this should be required only of bishops. ^B

(8) After much and careful deliberation, it seemed to all, at the same time, that they must define the consubstantiality in the orthodox faith, that is to say, to confess that the Son is of the same substance and nature with the Father. This orthodox faith they successfully and unanimously established, excluding the impious Arius and six others who agreed with his teaching. After the three hundred and eighteen divine Fathers had anathematized them, the king ordered them into exile.

CLXXXII. That a priest ought not to be condemned

After this, malevolent men delivered written accusations against certain bishops to the king. He, having received these, bound them together, sealed them with his ring, and ordered them to be kept. Then, having led them to peace and concord, he burned those documents before everyone, and bound them by an oath to divulge nothing of what was written in them. For it is not proper, he said, for the offenses of priests to be made manifest to many, ^C lest those who take an occasion for scandal from this should sin more freely. “For my part,” he said, “if I were to be an eyewitness of a bishop engaging in an illicit marriage, I would conceal the illegal act with this purple robe of mine, so that the sight might not harm those who saw the deeds.” Thus, praising those who spoke well and leading those who spoke ill into concord through exhortation, he made them all like-minded and of the same opinion regarding all the matters in dispute; and having thus exhorted everyone and deemed them worthy of much honor and gifts, he commanded each one to return to his own flock. ^D

^A

Chapter CLXXXIII. On the Invention of the Cross

After the council had been assembled at Nicaea, and all the holy bishops had gathered in one place, and the matters concerning Arius had been settled, the king commanded Macarius, the bishop of Aelia, who was present at the council and a champion of the apostolic dogmas, to search for the life-bringing cross, the sepulcher of the Lord, and all the holy places. It was the nineteenth year of his reign when the council of Nicaea took place.

^B Afterward, the king sent his mother, Helena, to Jerusalem with letters and abundant funds for the aforementioned Macarius, the bishop of Aelia, to seek out the life-bringing wood of the glorious cross and to build up the holy places. The queen herself had requested this, saying that a divine vision had appeared to her, commanding her to go to Jerusalem and to bring into the light the holy places that had remained hidden for so long, having been covered over by the impious. When the bishop heard that the queen was coming, he gathered the bishops of the province and went to meet her with the honor that was due. Immediately, he commanded the bishops to conduct a search for the precious wood. As all were perplexed about this, and one person foolishly told one thing and another another based on suspicion, the bishop of the city invited everyone to remain quiet and to offer more fervent prayers to God regarding this matter. ^C This having been done, the place was immediately shown by God to the bishop, the place in which the temple and the statue of the unclean demon Aphrodite had been erected. Then the queen, using her royal authority and having called together a great multitude of craftsmen and laborers, ordered the foul structure to be overturned from its foundations and the earth and debris to be cast far away. This having been done, the divine monument and the place of the skull were revealed, and not far from there were three crosses buried. ^D Having searched diligently, they discovered the nails as well. From that point on, great anxiety and sadness gripped the queen as she sought to know which one was the Lord’s cross. The bishop, however, resolved the question with faith. For to a noble woman who was ill and despaired of by all, and who was breathing her last, he brought each of the crosses in turn, and thus discovered the one sought. For scarcely had the shadow of the Savior’s cross approached the sick woman, when she who had seemed to be without breath and without movement immediately leapt up by divine power, crying out with a loud voice and glorifying God. Queen Helena, with great joy and fear, taking up the cross...

retaining a portion, however, along with the nails—brought it back to her son; having fashioned a silver box for the remainder, she handed it over to the bishop of the city ^A for a memorial to all generations, and ordained that churches should be built at the life-giving tomb, at the holy Golgotha, at Bethlehem in the cave where our Lord Jesus Christ endured his birth according to the flesh, and on the Mount of Olives where, after blessing the disciples, he was taken up. And having done other good and praiseworthy things in Jerusalem, she returned to her son.

He, having received it with joy, deposited the precious portion of the cross in a golden casket and handed it over to the bishop for safekeeping, and ordained that the finding of the cross be celebrated with an annual memorial. As for the nails, he made some of them an ornament for his ^B own helmet, and others he mixed into the bridle-bit of his horse, so that what was said by the prophet Zechariah concerning the Lord might be fulfilled, saying: "In that day there shall be upon the bridle of the King's horse: Holy to the Lord Almighty."

412 (4) Concerning the Synod held against Athanasius

The King commanded the bishop of Constantinople to proceed to Aelia ^C and to convene a synod of many bishops and to dedicate the holy places. This was Eusebius of Nicomedia, who had become a champion of the Arian dogmas; he, having been anathematized at the synod of Nicaea along with those of like mind and sent into exile, after a time, craftily taking advantage of the benevolence of the King, brought a petitioning letter, swearing they would subscribe to the exposition of the faith and adhere in all things to the holy Fathers. ^D Persuaded by these things, the King recalled them from exile and deemed them worthy of the greatest honor. And the see of Constantinople becoming vacant, Eusebius, using his own machinations, tyrannically occupied the throne of the royal city. Having attained greater power, he restored those who agreed with him to their own dioceses, having expelled those who had been ordained in their place.

(5) This having been done, they thereafter spent their time contriving many wicked schemes against Athanasius of Alexandria. But the King deemed it just to call Athanasius himself to the dedication of the sacred places

of the holy places. He therefore commands the synod to convene first in Tyre, and to examine the matters alleged against Athanasius, and thus, with all controversy removed, for all to hasten to the festival. He also sent his nephew Dalmatius to be an overseer of the state of the gathering synod. ^B (6) When the bishops had met in Tyre, there was present with them also Maximus, the bishop of Aelia, who was entirely ignorant of the plots being woven against Athanasius. But when Athanasius entered the council, the accusers stood around him, bringing grave and heavy accusations against him, which the judges present—Eusebius of Nicomedia and those around him—had suggested to them; but they were unable to prove anything, as Athanasius defended himself and tore apart their slanders like a spider’s web. The accusers, however, turned to fury and threw the whole council into confusion, shouting: "Away with the impostor! For he has silenced everyone by some sorcery." And Athanasius would have been killed, had not the king’s nephew rescued him from their hands with soldiers.

It is a certain account that Athanasius, fleeing from there, betook himself to the holy city, and, having offered prayer and anointed the houses of prayer with holy oil ^C before the arrival of the rest of the bishops, he thus reached the king and informed him of all things concerning himself. And he, having heard and wondered at the wickedness of his adversaries, deemed him worthy of the greatest honor and sent him back to Alexandria with kindly letters. It was then the thirtieth year of the reign of Constantine.

The Fathers, therefore, after the royal disposition, ordained that the venerable day of the dedication of the sacred places and of the exaltation of the precious Cross be celebrated annually on the fourteenth day of the month of September.

^D (7) The first synod of the three hundred and eighteen holy and divinely inspired Fathers took place in the metropolis of Nicaea, in the twentieth year of the reign of Constantine. This was presided over by the legates of Sylvester, the elder bishop of Rome, Biton and Vicentius, presbyters, and by Metrophanes of Byzantium, Alexander of Alexandria, Eustathius of Antioch, and Macarius of

Jerusalem, against Arius, who was a presbyter of Alexandria, but blasphemed God the Word, teaching that He was a creature and not consubstantial with the Father, and that there was a time when He was not. ^A Him, the holy synod reproved and anathematized, along with his like-minded followers; but it defined the Son as consubstantial and coeternal with the Father, and true God and Creator of all (in an orthodox manner), according to the Prophet who says: "From the womb, before the daystar, I have begotten thee."

(8) He also decreed that we should celebrate the holy Pascha according to the prevailing custom; for some of the ancients used to celebrate it on the fourteenth of the moon.

(9) After some time, Constantine, being entreated by his sister Constantia, recalled Arius ^B from exile, as one who had supposedly repented. When he arrived and was asked by the emperor if he agreed with the rules and the exposition of the synod at Nicaea, he immediately testified that he believed thus. But the emperor, wondering, demanded an oath. Arius, deceiving him, as he thought, and dodging the oath, said: "I think just as I have also written." For the wretch had written down his heresy on a paper, and carrying it in his bosom, he swore that he truly believed just as he had written. When he had sworn that he did not hold anything contrary to the synod, the emperor released him, saying: "If your faith is orthodox, you have sworn well; but if it is impious and distorted, the Lord God will judge regarding you ^C quickly."

CLXXXIV. Of the judges of all.

The great Constantine, trusting, as he said, his response and oath, ordained that he should be received, and he even commanded that the great Athanasius receive him into communion, as one who had presumably repented. When he would not accept this, knowing accurately the perversity of Arius, he exiled the saint from his throne, believing also the calumnies brought against him by the Arians. ^D

^A And it is no wonder; for often even divine men, by accepting ^B without discernment calumnies against certain pious people, have swerved from the truth and both harmed and grieved the pious, just as the inspired David, having been deceived by his servant Siba against his master Misphiboseth, as if he had conspired with Absalom the rebel, harmed him, and having stripped him of his own possessions, handed them over to the servant. ^C Therefore, it is necessary to investigate accusations with great diligence and deliberation, and not to believe accusers as one happens to, even if they enjoy great credibility. For this reason, Nicodemus also said to the lawless Jews with great force, to their confusion: "Does our law judge a man, unless it first hears from him and knows what he is doing?" ^D Clearly implying this, they say: "Let ambiguity suspend judgments; let judgment examine the proofs; let exam-ination define what is just; let the definition be written; let what is written be ratified; let what is ratified be confirmed by deeds, and let all strife be extinguished, and let friendship bloom again."

CLXXXV. What kind of person a judge ought to be

Therefore, one must not speak or judge thoughtlessly and without consideration, nor rashly pass sentence against the accused, but only after much scrutiny and most diligent inquiry. Thus it is read in the Apostolic Constitutions: "Let the judge be a respecter of no person, neither ^C deferring to the rich or flattering them for the sake of profit, nor despising the poor. For it says: 'You shall not accept the person of the mighty, nor shall you show-mercy to the poor man in judgment; for the judgment is the Lord's,' and 'Justly shall you pursue what is just,' and 'No injustice shall please the just man.'" Therefore, one must not believe accusers without judgment and examination, as happens; for it is possible that some, out of jealousy or envy, may level a calumny against a brother, as the two elders did against Susanna, and the Egyptian woman against Joseph. You, therefore, as a man of God, do not accept such things rashly, lest you condemn ^D the innocent and kill the just. For you shall not kill the innocent and the just, nor shall you permit gifts

^A to corrupt the soul; for "gifts blind the eyes of the wise and mar just words." If, therefore, you judge without respect of persons, you will recognize the one who brings false witness against his neighbor; and when you have proven him to be a slanderer (and a liar), do to him as he malignantly intended to do to his neighbor, and "remove the evil from among yourselves," according to the divine law of the Lord. For as far as lay within him, he killed his brother, having forestalled the ears of the judge; for it is written: "Whoever sheds the blood of man, for that man’s blood his own blood shall be shed," and: "You shall remove innocent blood from you." Therefore, investigate with great diligence those who are accused, and first concerning the accuser, what his reputation is; and if he is found to be of good conscience and trustworthy, let him not be believed alone ^B (for such a thing is illegal), but let him have with him other pious and well-mannered witnesses, so that "in the mouth of two or three trustworthy witnesses every word may stand."

418 Why did we say that their manner of life must be inquired into? Because it often happens that two or more conspire to testify maliciously and to bring false charges, just as the two elders did against Susanna in Babylon, and the sons of the lawless against Naboth in Samaria, and the multitude of the Jews against the Lord in Jerusalem and against his protomartyr Stephen. Let the witnesses, therefore, be meek, un-angry, lenient, loving, temperate, self-controlled, not meddlesome, and God-fearing; for the testimony of such people is absolutely firm. As for those who are not such, do not accept their testimonies ^C, even if they appear to concur in the testimony; for it is prescribed in the laws: "You shall not be with the many in malice; you shall not admit a vain report; you shall not agree with the multitude to decline from justice." On the other hand, you ought also to know the person who is being judged, what he is like in the habit and conduct of his life: if he has a documented life, if he is blameless and irreproachable, if he is holy and hospitable and a lover of the poor, if he is temperate and pure of lies, if he abstains from every evil thing. For blessed is such a man if he is tested and appears approved. For "a man," it says, "who is not tested is not approved before God"; and so, having been tested ^D regarding the lie, he himself rightly says: "Have you seen, O Lord? Do not be silent, for unjust witnesses have risen up against me, and iniquity has lied to itself."

^A Observe also the worldly tribunals, to whose authority we see subjected murderers, adulterers, poisoners, violators of tombs, and robbers; and when those bringing them forward conduct their examinations, the presiding judges say to the evildoer: *"Are these things so?"* And even when he agrees and confesses, they do not immediately lead him to punishment, but conduct his examination for many days with deliberation and careful consideration and much inquiry. And so, finally, the one who is to deliver the decree and sentence of death against him, lifting his hands toward the sun before all, testifies that he is innocent of the blood of the man; although they be heathens and godless, and have only nature as their teacher.

^B You, however, knowing God, who searches the reins and hearts and knows all our works, how much more ought you, with much inquiry, to judge righteous judgment? For the judgment is the Lord's, who is going to render to everyone according to his works. Therefore, Solomon excellently admonishes and explicitly testifies, saying: *"Hear and understand, you who govern the multitude,"*—*"for from the Lord power has been given to you, and might from the Most High, who will examine your works and search out your counsels; because, being ministers of His kingdom, you have not judged rightly, nor kept the law, nor walked according to the will of God, a dreadful and swift examination will come upon you,"* for *"a most severe judgment shall be for those who are in high places."* For *"the lowest are pardoned through mercy; but the mighty shall be mightily examined."* And the Lord says: *"To whom little is given, little will be required of him; but to whom much is given, much will also be required of him."*

^C Moreover, the great Isidore also says: *"It is necessary that the judges of affairs be most sharp and circumspect in understanding, examining, and discerning; for the judgment is the Lord's. So that, passing over the skill of orators and the persuasiveness of speeches, they may be able to penetrate into the very depth of the counsels, and thence, with much inquiry and long circuit, not with a headlong impulse, but with much long-suffering and patience, hunting, they may exhaust the truth."* ^D

^A For some men, through slowness of mind, do not properly attain to that which is just; others, indeed, attain to it through keenness, but through love of money they traffic in it, offering grace for gold and swaying the scales of justice with a bribe. There are others ^B who corrupt it through reverence, flattery, and fear, or through friendship or enmity. Therefore, a judge must be prudent, upright, and superior to wealth, reverence, flattery, fear, friendship, and enmity; for if he be swayed by any of these passions, he corrupts and ruins all things. If, therefore, it is a difficult task to discover what is just, but even more difficult for those who have discovered it not to corrupt it, no one should be in too great a hurry to prepare himself to judge. ^{B C} Tunc igitur recta justitiæ regula servabitur, cum fiet causa judicium, judicio vero demonstratio, demonstratione autem sententia pœnam adversus auctorem delicti determinans.

Of Saint Athanasius.

^C But the great Athanasius was exiled not only by the emperor Constantine on account of the machinations of the Arians, but also by his son and successor in the kingdom, Constantius. For the great Athanasius, knowing again that even the emperor Constantius wished to strengthen the cause of the Arians, and that the Arians were preparing to accuse him of unlawful deeds before a corrupted tribunal, distrusting everyone, was suddenly sought for in the dead of the night ^D; he fled to a certain holy virgin, who, being surprised at the event, was unacquainted with the reason for his arrival. But the blessed one said to her: "I am sought by the Arians, and I am vexed by them; and lest, by enduring their glory-seeking through punishment, I fall into the hands of those who wish to destroy me, I have determined to flee. For God revealed it to me this night, saying: 'You are not to be saved by anyone except by that virgin.'" And indeed, knowing always the plots against him by divine revelation, this God-bearer fled, whence the enemies of the truth slandered him as a sorcerer and a poisoner. This virgin, therefore, having put aside every thought, as one sent from God, hid him for six years as long as Constantius lived. She alone persisted in washing his feet, diligently ministering to him, providing the necessities, and supplying him with books. And of the whole

^A population of Alexandria, no one throughout those six years knew where the patriarch was.

When Julian assumed power and attempted to overturn all that Constantius had done, he recalled all the exiles. Upon learning of this, the great Athanasius himself departed from the house of the virgin and came by night to the church, where the Alexandrians, marveling and praising God, received him as one alive from the dead. And he defended himself to his true friends, saying, "I did not flee to you for this reason, so that you might firmly and under oath affirm my departure. I therefore withdrew to that place, where no one would have cause for suspicion, having two things in mind: the salvation of that woman—for I was very useful to her—and my own reputation." ^B

(3) Julian, however, rejoicing in the idols, again disturbed the Church, opening the temples of the idols and prescribing that incense be offered publicly to Fortune in the basilica at Constantinople, where the statue of that same evil Fortune stood. From there, those who were captivated by the error of the idols suggested to Julian that the Christians could not be defeated in any other way unless they were freed from Athanasius, seeing that he was the foundation of the Church against them. Hence, there were again the agitations of judges, again the crowds, again the soldiers, again the councils and the multitude, all in fury and tumult demanding Athanasius. ^C Because of this, fleeing by night again, he came to the Nile; and as he was now ready to board a ship, his true friends standing by with tears thus addressed him: "Where are you departing again, O good shepherd, and to whom do you leave us, as sheep having no shepherd?" To whom the great one said: "Do not weep, my children, do not weep; this crowd is like an autumn cloud: it appears for a little while, but will quickly be dissipated. Do not be despondent, my children; shortly, God willing, I shall return to you." Which also came to pass. For after a short time, when the Greeks saw crows circling over the temple of Serapis in Alexandria and croaking loudly, they said mockingly to the saint, "Tell us, you worthless old man, what do those crows croak?" But the saint said to them, "The crows cry *cra, cra*; and this word (*cras*) in the Latin language ^D signifies the following day, whence tomorrow you shall see the providence of God and our glory." And on the following day, the death of the apostate Julian was announced. He returned

from Persia dead and abominable, neither pitied nor lamented, as the rumor spread clearly among many, and he did not even satisfy the Greeks with a grave. ^A

(4) However, exile, flight, and torture did not desert the great Athanasius; for having scarcely caught his breath from this, ^B once again the war of Valens rose up against him, whence he also overcame this through his noble flight, so that when the months of his flight were fulfilled, he departed from this life, having lasted six and forty years in the priesthood, having said many things before his death, or rather having prophetically foretold to Paul, the bishop who succeeded him, what and how great things he would suffer at the hands of the Arians. ^C

(5) Concerning his various and diverse struggles, and justifying himself for his innumerable flights and concealments, hear what the blessed man writes: "For if they revile those who hide themselves from those who seek to destroy them, and calumniate those who flee from their persecutors, what will they do when they see Jacob fleeing from his brother, and Moses withdrawing into Midian on account of Pharaoh? And what will they find by way of such delirious excuses against David, fleeing from Saul and hiding in a cave, and changing his countenance until he had passed by Achis and escaped his trap? And what will those say who speak everything easily and, as the saying goes, move every stone, when the great Elias hid on account of Achab and fled because of the threats of Jezebel? And meanwhile the sons of the prophets, sought out, were hiding in a cave by Abdias. What sort of response will they then contrive against Isaias, who, because of piety, was afflicted before God and warned them to withdraw thus: 'Hide yourselves for a little moment until the indignation of the Lord passes by'? ^D For indeed those who live piously in Christ will be persecuted, clearly without cause; but the ungodly shall be justly driven from the face of the Lord, 'and the seed of the ungodly shall be destroyed.' In the same way, the disciples of grace also, because of the fear of the Jews, were withdrawing and hiding; and Peter, fleeing from the prison, escaped the hands of Herod and the expectation of the Jews. But Paul, sought for by the ethnarch, was let down from the wall in a basket and escaped the fury of the one seeking him." When therefore Scripture

speaks such things concerning the saints, what excuse for their own rashness and ignorance of the Scriptures, I ask, will those scoffers be able to find? For in the Law it had been prescribed that cities of refuge be reserved for the sake of those sought for death, so that they might find safety there. ^B But most recently, the God-Word himself, who had once dictated these things to Moses, coming again, gave a commandment, saying: "When they persecute you in one city, flee to another." And: "Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let him who is upon the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house; and let him who is in the field not turn back to take his garments." Therefore, the God-Word, having become man, deemed it worthy, when sought for, to be hidden as we are, and again, when persecuted, [to flee] and to avoid the plotting of his enemies, teaching us not to cast ourselves recklessly into dangers. For this reason, also, the divine martyrs, when sought in persecutions, fled, but when found, suffered martyrdom.

Verily someone might say: The great and apostolic Dionysius says: "It is not right that holy men should be oppressed by the wicked when destitute of aid." To whom it must be said: Whoever among those who are called holy love the things that are sought upon the earth by carnal men have utterly fallen away from divine love. ^C I do not know how they could be called holy, if they act unjustly towards those things that are truly lovable and divine, since these are not virgily preferred by them over abject and contemptible things. But if they love those things which are substantial, one must rejoice for those who seek them, if they obtain the desired objects: unless they draw nearer in this to the evangelical virtues, when, as far as possible, they are freed from the love of carnal things by the desire for divine things, ^D exercising themselves most virily in all things that look toward the good. Wherefore it is true to say that this is more proper to divine justice, neither to soften nor to slacken the virtue of the best by gifts of carnal things, nor, if anyone should attempt to do this, to leave them destitute of aid, but to...

establish them in a fair and unyielding stability, and to bestow upon them, as they are such, what is their due.

^A When Constantine the Great was reproached by the Greek philosophers at Byzantium for having abandoned ancestral customs by living in the Roman fashion and for introducing a new religion, he deemed it expedient for one of the philosophers to have a disputation concerning the faith with Alexander, the bishop of Byzantium. Now Alexander, being unskilled in dialectics but endowed with divine grace, said to the dialectical philosopher on the day of the disputation: "In the name of Jesus Christ, my God, I command you to be silent and to utter no word." And as soon as he spoke, the other lost the power of speech and remained mute.

CLXXXVII. Concerning Saint Anthony.

^B In his days, Anthony the Great was shining in many and great virtues. His fame reached the king, who wrote him a letter, exhorting him to come to Constantinople, where he desired to enjoy his prayers. But the saint, being anxious with great care, said to his disciple Paul: "What do you say, my son? Shall I go to the king with submission?" He answered him, saying: "If you go, you are Anthony; but if you do not go, you are Abbot Anthony." And the saint said, "If I were not to be called abbot as a result of this glory, I would truly not go." When the sagacious king learned of this, he became more modest and temperate.

^C Regarding him, the great Athanasius also says: "The most virtuous life of Anthony reached even unto kings. For when Constantine the Great, Constantius, and Constans, the Augusti, heard of him, they wrote to him and sought replies from him. But he had not the slightest regard or concern for the letters he received; nor did he rejoice over such letters, as many do."

^A He would therefore summon ^B the monks and say: "Do not marvel if a king writes to us; for he is a man like ourselves. But marvel that God wrote the Law and has spoken to us through His own Son." When he subsequently wished not to receive the letters, he was prevented by the monks, who said to him that the kings were Christians and that by refusing them, he might cause scandal. He therefore permitted the letters to be read, and in his reply he commended them for worshipping Christ; yet he advised them to seek things pertaining to salvation, and not to consider present things to be of great account, but always to be mindful of death, of the coming judgment, and of retribution, and to know only the true God, the eternal King. He also urged them to be merciful and just, and to have a care for the poor, as those who would have to render to God an account of their stewardship. When the Augusti received these things, they rejoiced greatly at the exhortation of such a just man.

After the divine Constantine had reigned for twelve years in Rome and twenty years in Constantinople, and had been ill for some time in a certain imperial suburb of Nicomedia, he died, leaving as heirs to his kingdom his three children: Constans, Constantius, and Constantine the younger, and leaving also one daughter by the name of Helena, later the wife of Julian the Apostate, whom he had by his cousin Fausta, the daughter of Herculius.

^A These three sons of his obtained the royal scepters: Constantius held the East; Constantine and Constans the West—but Constans, having murdered his own brother Constantius and reigned alone for twenty years, was himself slaughtered by the people.

(5) In vain, therefore, did those who lied about the Great Constantine deceive themselves, claiming that he was baptized near the time of his death and had remained unbaptized until then. For how could such a man, God-fearing, Christ-loving, and most fervent in the faith, have endured to be kept for so long from the participation of the divine mysteries, especially when he was living together with such holy Fathers and was promptly and sincerely obeying their holy doctrines and admonitions? And to the unbelievers, how did he appear a perfect Christian if he had not yet been perfected by baptism? And how, as one who compelled and urged all other unbelievers to believe, to be baptized, and to confess the holy Trinity more clearly and radiantly, could he himself have been in such darkness? Verily, this is a lie and a fabrication of the Arian and godless heresy, and a crime of their own unbelief and impiety, in that they wanted to show Constantine the Great as a servant of their own heresy and falsely pretended that he was baptized by Arians.

(6) For the great Isidore also says this: ^B "It is necessary, therefore, to obey and comply with the great and holy synod of the three hundred and eighteen holy Fathers convened in Nicaea against the impious Arius; for that synod, inspired by God, defined the truth."

(7) It must be known, therefore, that in the Old Testament, the doctrine concerning the holy and consubstantial Trinity is scattered mystically, just as Philo, although he was a Jew and a zealot for his own religion, struggles against it. For, examining the saying: "In the image of God I made man," he is forced ^C by the truth, and compelled to speak theologically concerning the Word of God. For what? Even if he calls the second person one who is coeternal with the Father—and although he did not attain the truth, he nonetheless had an idea of the second person. He is not here ^D [original-script column: see facsimile]

^A merely suffering this, but he also had an idea of the most royal Trinity while attempting to interpret that which is "God" and that which is "Lord." For arguing that God is one, he did not run toward the number of the monad, but toward the mystery of the holy Trinity, which is more winning than those things that are entirely divided, and more abundant ^B than those that are truly monadic; and thus he spoke of his soul with such force that he was compelled to state this expressly (and) even to leave it behind in writing. For he said there are two powers of the Being who truly is, of which the creative and beneficial one is by nature called God, and the royal and punitive one, the Lord; not walking far from him who said, "Christ is the power of God ^C and the wisdom of God," a power not unsubstantial, but substantial, and omnipotent, and the creator of the substance, and equal to Him whose power he is. And again the same Philo, writing about the vision which Moses saw, crying out, says: "He sees a most striking vision; then after a little while, amid the flame, a form most beautiful, resembling none of those things that are visible, a most godlike statue, light ^D flashing forth more radiant than fire, which if someone supposed to be an image of the Being who truly is, he would have thought correctly." And if anyone wishes to learn exactly about the image, let him hear Paul speaking about the Son: "Who is the image of the invisible God." Does he not touch upon orthodox theology? But he does not seek perfection from the Almighty through a pure conscience, so as to see the truth and struggle for his own religion. This signifies, however, that he does not, like the ignorant teachers of the Jews, hampered by some prejudice, dogmatize by reducing theology to one person. Yet it was not only from these very conspicuous [texts] that he was brought to this thought, as it seems to me, but also from that: "Let us make man according to our image and likeness"; and from that: "The Lord rained fire from the Lord"; and from this: "The Lord called in the name of the Lord"; and from that: "The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand"; and from that: "In thee is God, and thou art God." Moreover, those who say that God is holy a thousand times, and this: "Holy, holy, holy, Lord Sabaoth," daring to interpret, he clearly refutes: "I have sought thy face, O Lord, I will seek; do not turn thy face from me." For unless he preached the holy Trinity, by the redundancy of his words he [might be argued to mean...]

Nor only in this—for I think one must hasten to a clearer statement—but also in that: "Offer to God a sacrifice of praise, and pay thy vows to the Most High; and call upon me in the day of trouble, and I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me." For if the Trinity were not clearly preached here, it should have been said: Offer to God a sacrifice of praise, and pay to him thy vows, and call upon him in the day of thy trouble, and he shall deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify him. But it was not said thus; it was said as it was said. Clearly, by these and by many other things (which, that I may not make the argument long, I now leave to those who are able to hear), the Old Testament preaches that it does not signify the lordship of one person, but of three persons and one substance, so as also ^A to brand the unsound opinion concerning a single person held by the Jews, to which also Sabellius adhered; for, from an excessive sense of the equality of the Son with the Father, he struggled to maintain a single person, while at the same time wishing to proscribe the polytheism of the Greeks—followers of which Arius and Eunomius were shown to be, because they irrationally transferred the difference of the persons to the substance.

But if anyone says: Why were these things not announced clearly and explicitly from the beginning? I would answer that this exposition and doctrine is clear ^B especially to those who listen intelligently, just as it also appeared to the wise Philo. And if it was declared even then somewhat obscurely, this too must be noted: that since the Jews were inclined toward polytheism, the lawgiver did not judge it right to introduce a distinction of persons, lest they, thinking that what differed in persons also differed in nature, might be led into idolatry. Rather, he preferred that the Jews, having accepted from the beginning the doctrine of the monarchy, be initiated little by little into the dogma of the persons, which reverts again to the unity of nature, so that those things stated according to the unity ^C might be demonstrative of that same one nature, and, above an arithmetic unity, might show the excellence of the property of the persons gathered into one substance. For to assume distinct substances is Greek; to think one person is one substance is Jewish; but to extend the holy and consubstantial Trinity of persons ^D and to gather them into one substance is the most correct and true dogma.

Chapter on the things said: that one should not use natural demonstration in all things to explain those that are above nature.

^A If the Word truly became flesh, Christ who became man was not a mere man; rather, he is God from both natures, existing as the Son of God, God transcendent. And even if those who compare the greater and the lesser in the Father and the Son are tearing things apart, dogmatizing that the Son is of a different substance than the Father and unlike him—for they do not know, as it seems, that "greater" and "lesser" are sought and judged among those of the same genus, such as a man compared to a man, an ox to an ox, and a horse to a horse; ^B and in short, the rule of comparison is applied to those of the same genus. Therefore, he who recklessly scrutinizes the things of God and calls the Father greater than the Son, whether he wishes it or not, admits the comparison involves a consubstantiality. For things of different natures cannot be compared; we do not say a man is greater than an ox, or a horse greater than a camel, or an ass greater than a fish.

Those terms in divine Scripture that go beyond the singular number indicate a difference of ^C persons; those stated generally indicate the identity of nature. The former are said so that Sabellius and the Jews might be silenced, and the latter so that Arius and Eunomius and the Greeks might be branded. For those who extend the number of properties to the holy Trinity, yet gather them into one substance, dogmatize correctly and follow the teachings of the heavenly oracles, neither falling into polytheism through a difference of nature, nor sliding into Judaism through the composition of a single person.

And how do those who worship creatures not blush, ^D fighting against their own votes? For, prohibiting the worship of a creature as a pagan act, they themselves do this, forgetting themselves. It is necessary to know also that the same names do not signify in every way the same things, nor does an "homonymy" indicate a "synonymy" in every way. For regarding the Son, generation is said properly, whereas regarding creatures, it is by catachresis—regarding Him, because of truth and consubstantiality, but regarding these, for the sake of honor and adoption: "For of his own will he begat us by the word of truth." Let no one, therefore,

^A pronounce the homonymy to generate equality of honor here, nor let it be thought that things spoken abusively are spoken properly; since even concerning anger and wrath and all other things that are not befitting the divine nature, if they were spoken abusively, no thoughtful person would say they were framed correctly; for it is manifest that to each place and to each word a proper and fitting explanation produces the truth.

^B Let those who blaspheme against the Holy Spirit and separate him from the divine substance also say how our God and Savior, having become man, handed down the Holy Spirit as the complement of the holy Trinity, and in the invocation of the divine baptism is numbered with the Father and the Son so as to liberate human beings from sins, and at the mystical table brings forth the body specific to the incarnation of the Son. How, therefore, could the Holy Spirit be made or created or of a servile nature, and not a sharer and consubstantial with the Lordly and creative and royal substance? For if he is a servant, let him not be numbered with the Lord; if he is a creature, let him not be numbered with the Creator; for he is joined and numbered, because it is necessary to believe firmly and securely in Christ, the profound teacher of such things, who instructs in what concerns his own nature; and if to those who oppose the Spirit they seem to be wiser and to know heavenly things better than God, they are vain babblers, or rather, they are reckless and impious rhetoricians. If, therefore, the divine Daniel, having seen an angel and having marveled at the beauty and magnitude of the one who appeared, fell prone, struck by the miracle of the vision, what excuse will they have who cast themselves as intermediaries between the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and attempt to weigh the ineffable nature in words and subject it to natural principles? Nevertheless, the Scriptures call the procession of the Son from the Father an eternal and everlasting and ineffable generation, a generation surpassing every word and thought, not that they might describe passibility, but that they might demonstrate consubstantiality; for things begotten are in their very essence consubstantial with those who beget them. But lest they bring in the idea of passibility, they call him the Word, and lest he be thought of as more recent: "In the beginning was the Word," he says; then also proclaiming his relation to the Father: "And the Word was with God"; afterward his dignity: ^C "And the Word was God." From "Son" [they learn] consubstantiality, from "Word" impassibility, from "in the beginning" co-eternity, from "with the Father" his proximity to him, and from "God" his very dignity; and once instructed to eliminate from each name what is incongruous and incompetent—such as, from "Son," that he is junior, and from "Word," that he lacks substance—we are taught to know and adore the eternal God, consubstantial, impassible, and proceeding from the Father before the ages. ^D

Caput CLXXXVIII. Regarding the reign of Constantius, son of Constantine the Great

^A After Constantine the Great, Constantius, his son, reigned in Constantinople for twenty-one years. After his father's death, having been led astray into the Arian opinion and instructed by Eusebius, son of Pamphilus, he compelled the divine Alexander, bishop of Constantinople, to receive Arius into communion. But when he would not accept this at all, saying, "O King, I cannot receive one who was condemned and anathematized by the three hundred and eighteen Fathers," the king said: "See, Bishop, that you do not receive him even against your will; for behold, I have commanded a synod to be held so that the life and doctrine of each of you may be examined exactly." ^B St. Alexander the bishop arose immediately and went out from the presence of the king, saying, "Let the will of the Lord be done." And when he had entered the church and fallen before the holy altar, he cried out to God all night with many tears, saying: "Lord God, do not allow the impudent and rapacious wolf to enter into your holy Church, but judge the unjust man justly and quickly." On the following day, when the synod had been gathered in the church and Arius had come in with all those who held the same opinion as him, he went out—as if for a necessity of the belly—into a house behind the forum. There, as he bent down according to nature, his body ruptured, and all his bowels were poured out, and the wretch was deprived of both: of communion and of the present life. And Arius thus ended his life; his associates were greatly ashamed and were scattered. But the good shepherd, blessed Alexander, while the Church rejoiced, celebrated the holy synaxis.

The grandsons of Constantine the Great, Gallus and Julian, became readers at Antioch. When they desired to build a church to the holy martyr Mamas, the earth would not support it in the part where it fell to Julian to build; for the work constructed during the day was found violently overturned on the following day, and the inanimate element foretold the ruin of the wretched man's state of mind.

^C Having cut his hair and feigning the monastic life, he went to Athens, desiring the kingdom, and wandering about Greece, he consulted seers and astrologers, if he might obtain his desire. And indeed he encountered a man who was impious and promised to predict these things to him; who, when he had... ^D

^A led him down into one of the idolatrous caverns, invoked the deceitful demons. When they appeared with their accustomed phantasm, fear compelled him to place the sign of the cross upon his forehead; seeing which, they vanished. That sorcerer, therefore, having understood the cause of their flight, rebuked him, saying: "It is not because they were afraid, as you suppose, but because they loathed what was done by you that they departed." Having thus beguiled the captive, he initiated him and filled him with abomination; for by means of filthy blood they washed away the divine baptism, and the desire for the kingdom stripped the wretched man of piety.

(4) Afterwards Constantius sent for him and, having proclaimed him Caesar, marched with him against the Persians; then, returning, he left him as master of all things and died in Cilicia. ^B

(5) Under him Eunomius, Photinus, Macedonius, and Apollinarius were known as heresiarchs.

(6) And the relics of the holy apostles Andrew, and Luke, and Timothy were brought to Constantinople.

(7) And Flavian of Antioch, having divided the choirs of chanters into two, first taught them to sing the Davidic melody in alternating order (a practice which, beginning first in Antioch, spread to the ends of the earth).

(8) And the synods at Sardica and Gangra were held; one against Marcellus and Photinus, who blasphemed Christ as a mere man, and the other against the disciples of Eustathius of Sebaste, who are also called ^C Massalians.

(9) And the great Ephraim flourished in word and deed, who also left behind many writings, in which, they say, he published three million verses for singing in Syriac, in order to draw back those who were in the error of the Syrian Bardesanes by the sweetness of melody and harmony. Being compelled, he was ordained presbyter by the great Basil, who also, at his request, provided him with the knowledge of the Greek language, so that he might speak it without hindrance.

(10) And the sign of the cross appeared in the heavens, extending from the place of holy Calvary to the Mount of Olives, concerning which a report was made to Constantius by Cyril of Jerusalem. ^D

CLXXXIX. Concerning the heresy of the Massalians

The Massalians, that is, the Euchites and Enthusiasts

^A take their name from Adelphius, Dadees, Saba, and Symeon, and Herma, the heresiarchs (having received this wicked and soul-destroying heresy). From among them, the great Flavian, bishop of Antioch, having gathered together many monks who denied this heresy, convicted them in the following way. Having taken aside a certain elder among them, by name Adelphius, he said to him with craft: "We indeed, O elder, having lived a longer life, have learned human nature more accurately, and we have known very well the stratagems of the opposing demons; but by experience we have also been taught the dispensation of grace. But these young men, who have been initiated into none of these things accurately, do not endure to hear a more spiritual discourse. Therefore, tell me, how do you say that, through your prayer and manner of life, the opposing spirit departs and the grace of the Holy Spirit is communicated?" He, being soothed by these words, vomited forth the hidden and soul-destroying poison, and he said: "We know that no benefit is conferred upon those who are baptized from baptism, but that diligent prayer alone casts out the indwelling and innate demon. For ^B each of those born from the first parent, he said, draws in, just as nature, so too the servitude of demons, which, being driven out by diligent prayer, the Holy Spirit thereafter descends visibly and sensibly and signifies His own presence most clearly. The body is at once set free from the movement of the passions; the soul becomes immune to every inclination toward evil, so that there is no longer any need for fasting to afflict the body, nor for teaching to bridle the soul and the mind, and training it to walk orderly, avoiding every evil action and thought. And not only is he who is of such a kind set free from the shameful movements and passions of the body and the soul, but he even clearly foresees future things, beholds the Holy Trinity with clear eyes, and is imbued with theology and divine mysteries." ^C When the divine Flavian had thus uncovered and laid bare this most shameful and diabolical heresy, he said to the most impious elder: "O you who have grown old in evil days, your own most impure mouth has convicted you, and not I; and your own corrupt and unclean lips testify against you." And when that diabolical and abominable deception and heresy had been manifested, they were driven out of Syria, and departed into Pamphylia, and filled that region ^D with this stain.

^A In the days of Constantius, there was no small tumult in the whole world because they wished to remove the word "Consubstantial" from the symbol of faith. At that time, a miracle occurred in Jerusalem that surpassed all description. For since, in this discord over doctrines, a rupture had occurred, with those coming to the faith being scandalized by the discord and rivalry of the priests, God, the author of wonders, showed from heaven that it is not the message of faith in Him that is the cause of scandals, but rather the perversity of unworthy priests and the ignorance of their own ill-intentioned judgment. There appears, therefore, ^B above the holy Golgotha, in the daytime (it being the feast of Pentecost, about the third hour), a very great cross fashioned from light, obscuring the brightness of the sun by the excess of its radiance, in the eyes of all who inhabited the city, both small and great, believers and unbelievers. Cyril was then the most wise bishop of Aelia, having succeeded the confessor Maximus. His ten catechetical lectures are preserved, written in an excellent manner, in which he interpreted the symbol of the holy Fathers word for word, yet did not make mention of the word "consubstantial," avoiding the opposition of those who then held power; yet he remained a defender of orthodoxy beyond his writings. He wrote to King Constantius about the sign that had occurred. And it is better that the bishop's own letters should teach you about this, which contain the following: ^C "For under the most religious Constantine, your father, the life-giving wood of the cross was found in Jerusalem; but under you, most pious lord, not from the earth any longer, but from heaven, the wonders of our Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, are seen; and the trophy of victory over death, that is, the blessed cross, has appeared, radiating with the splendors of light. For in these holy days of the feast of Pentecost, on the Nones of May, at the third hour, a very great cross, fashioned of light, appeared in the heaven above holy Golgotha, extending as far as the holy Mount of Olives, visible not merely to one or two, but clearly shown to the entire multitude of the city; and not, as one might suppose, quickly passing by as an illusion, but seen for many hours above the earth, with its shimmering rays surpassing the rays of the sun. For the sun would not be surpassed by it, unless it offered to those watching it greater brightness than the sun itself, so that all who inhabited the city, in fear of the vision, immediately ran together into the holy church, young men with their elders, men and women of every age, ^D even down to the most sequestered maidens, natives and foreigners, Christians and Greeks, and the Gentiles gathered from everywhere, all unanimously, as if from one mouth, Jesus Chri-

Christ the Lord, the only-begotten Son of God, the miracle-worker, praising ^A Him, having apprehended by deed and experience that the Christian dogma is not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in the demonstration of the Spirit and of power, not preached by men alone, but divinely attested from heaven. Thus speaks the bishop. And from that prodigy, many thousands of people were joined to the word of faith.

CXC. The Reign of Julian the Apostate

^B After Constantius, Julian reigned for two years, having been Caesar for four years and six months. He was a cousin of Constantius and was raised by Eusebius, bishop of Nicomedia. He was of short stature, and as for sleep, food, and pleasure, he was most strictly self-controlled; but in his other habits, he was crooked and wicked toward piety. For, having been initiated into the mysteries of the Christians, he afterwards despised them, preferred the rites of the Gentiles, and washed away his holy baptism with the blood of sacrifices. Having obtained the kingdom by the permission of God, whatever he did pertained to the worship of demons. Whence ^C the satellites of the idols, having regained confidence, opened the temples of the idols and performed their abominable rites; they tore down the divine temples and terribly scourged the Christians.

At that time, Porphyrius, governor of Tyre, raged furiously against our faith. For having become a Christian, and then having been struck with a fist by a certain Christian in Palestine, he returned in vengeance to paganism and dogmatized against the faith.

(3) As to what and how great were the things dared and done at that time by the satellites and associates of the doctrine of this impious man— matters which are very many and in need of their own writing; we...

however, from many shall narrate a few. ^A In Ascalon and Gaza, they offered as prey to swine the bodies of holy men and sacred women who had devoted their lives to virginity, having ripped open their bellies and filled them with barley, after the impious ones had tasted of their livers and blood. (4) And in the city of Sebasteia, they opened the sepulcher of the Forerunner, consigned his relics to the fire, and scattered the ashes into the air.

[CXCI. Concerning the woman with the issue of blood]

^B Now in Caesarea Philippi, which is now called Paneas, there was a statue of the Lord which the woman with the issue of blood had set up as a thank-offering before her house. A certain herb had grown at the base where the bronze statue of Christ had formerly stood; it was unknown to all men and served as an antidote for every kind of affliction. But the impious Julian, having ordered that the statue be pulled down and cast away in mockery, set up his own wooden idol in its place; but fire, having descended from heaven, consumed it. (The statue of the Lord, however, which the Greeks had shattered at that time, the Christians gathered up with care and deposited in the church.)

^C But the thunderstruck [(666)] Julian now acted openly and shamelessly against the faith. First of all, he defiled the springs in the city and those in Daphne with abominable sacrifices, so that anyone partaking of the water might also partake of the pollution; and afterwards, he filled everything exposed in the marketplace with this defilement. For the bread, and meat, and fruits, and vegetables, and whatever other things were edible were sprinkled [with the blood of victims]. Seeing this, therefore, the Christians groaned and lamented over what was happening; yet they still partook of them, obeying the apostolic law which says: "Everything that is sold in the shambles, eat, asking no questions for conscience' sake."

^D Furthermore, he devised another stratagem against the faith. For distributing gold to the soldiers in accordance with the ancient custom while sitting on the royal throne, he placed—contrary to custom—on a table set before him incense and an altar covered with coals, and prescribed that everyone receiving the gold...

first cast incense upon the altar, and then approach and receive the gold from his hand. ^B (4) And in addition to these things, he ordered that the images of Zeus and Ares be added to his abominable idols (and thus the unholy man hastened to defile everyone). (5) He set forth regulations so that Christians would neither serve in the military nor be permitted to learn poetic, rhetorical, or philosophical studies; "For," he says, "instructed by our own literature, they wage war against us." ^C (6) Gregory, surnamed the Theologian, noting this most beautifully, says: "Is your Hellenism [your own]? Tell me. Is the alphabet not Phoenician? Or, as some hold, [that of] the Egyptians or even the wiser Hebrews, who believe that the Law was inscribed by God upon tablets inscribed by the finger of God? Is your 'Atticizing' yours—to number or calculate with your fingers, or [your] measures and weights? Do they not belong to the Euboeans, if Euboean Palamedes, the inventor of many things, was for this reason also an object of envy? Are your poems yours? Or are they not rather [those] of that old woman who, having been vigorously shaken by the shoulder by someone, as the story goes, then, much provoked, uttered a word with such impetuosity, and this, pleasing the young man greatly and being measured ^D with labor, created this wonderful poetry of yours? And whence do you have the 'initiating' and 'being initiated' and acting religiously in the manner of the Thracians (that is, 'Thracizing')? The name itself should persuade you. And is not sacrificing [derived] from the Chaldeans and Cypriots? Is not geometry from the Egyptians? Is not magic Persian? And from whom do you hear the divination of dreams if not from the Telmessians? And from whom [do you hear] of augury? From none other than Phrygians, who were the first to observe the flight and movements of birds. And, that I might not prolong the discourse, whence do you have each individual thing? Does it not all come from one [source] or another, from which, all coalescing into one, a single mystery of superstition is established? What then? Shall we maintain—when all things go back to their first inventors—that they have nothing else but malice and innovation concerning divine matters? For the power of the Word is a shield to the good, but to the wicked it becomes a fortification of malice." ^D Attamen Judæos adversus Christianos armis instruens interrogabat eos: « Quare, cum lex sacrificare jubet, non sacrificatis? » Illis autem in Hierosolymis templum et cultum eorum ibidem terminatum [index: entries preserved]

^A alleging [these things], the impious one immediately ordered them to rebuild the temple, destroyed according to the wrath and will of God; which they, hearing with great joy, announced to all their tribesmen throughout the whole land. They indeed gathered from everywhere, bringing wealth and zeal for the building of the temple; but the apostate sent to them leaders with great liberty and much help: for he sent digging tools and instruments, and silver at the same time to the godless Jews. But when those six hundred had begun to dig and carry away the earth, suddenly vehement and violent winds and also whirlwinds blowing strongly dispersed them all. While they were still attempting and not repenting due to divine long-suffering, and were repeating the work anew; first a great and horrific earthquake occurred, ^B then fire rising from the excavated foundations burned many.

But during the night of this day and the following day, the sign of the cross appeared in the sky, shining entirely and illuminating the region; which when the foolish had seen, and had understood the wrath of God manifested against them, they fled back to their own [homes] with shame.

^C But Julian, tenacious of his purpose, having heard these things, hardened his heart no differently than Pharaoh. But afterwards, when the Persians had gone out into the land of the Romans, he thought he had to fight against them. The seers consulted by him exhorted him, and, as if holding this from demons, promised him victory; whence also they announced to the impious one a response having these words: "Now we all, the gods, hasten to earn trophies of victory near the wild river. I, however, the leader of them, moving to wars, am the terrible Mars."

Deluded by those words, after he had done many great things, difficult to narrate, against the Christians, and had announced that he would reserve other greater things for himself after the war and victory, he set out against the Persians. When he had crossed the river, ^D separating the land of the Romans from the land of the Persians, deceived by a certain Persian saying that he would hand over Babylon to the king after three days, and that there was no need for great expense, he quickly burned the ships that had brought the provisions, and he himself, through paths difficult of access, [went] on foot by the deceiver Persian

^A led, went away. But he, suddenly fleeing, abandoned the most fickle and light-headed king, wandering with the people and exhausted by the wilderness and the lack of provisions; for such hunger gripped them that they were even compelled to eat horses and mules. When the people had thus wandered and were greatly consumed, they suddenly found a death-dealing scourge sent by God: for an arrow was unexpectedly hurled at him, and passing through his arm into his side, it penetrated within; from this wound he ended his life, the hand that slew him remaining unknown. No one has known to this very day who it was that inflicted that just blow upon him; however, whether man or angel did this, he was a minister of the divine will. They say, moreover, that when he received the blow, he filled his hand with blood and threw it into the ^B air, saying: "You have conquered, Galilean; be satisfied, Nazarene."

His impure body having been taken and buried in Tarsus, the earth rejected and vomited it forth, as Gregory, surnamed the Theologian, again says: "It is a small thing that is in the midst. But since justice had delivered the wicked man to the Persians, it still pursues him there, and pursues the dead man without mercy; for I heard from someone that he is not received by the tomb, but the earth, shaken on his account, casts him out and vomits him forth—a prelude, I think, to the punishment that awaits him there." After these things, his magic, frauds, and arts were detected.

^C For when he was in Persia, he had sent a demon to the West to bring him an answer from there with all speed; but this demon, hindered from proceeding by a certain monk, was unable to continue his journey for ten days. Having returned to the Apostate and being questioned about the delay, he replied: "I was delayed and have returned without having accomplished the work; for I was waiting for the monk Publius, to see if perhaps he would cease from prayer; but since he did not cease for ten days, he prevented me from carrying out your order." When Julian heard this, and became violently angry, he threatened that after his return he would exterminate the whole race of monks. Having heard this and ^D marveled at it, one of his magnates, after the return, distributed all his substance to the poor and betook himself to the elder. Having become an illustrious monk, he told everyone of the power which the monks had received against the dark-shapen demons.

^A (11) In the city of Caris, which was built by King Carus, while he was making his journey against the Persians, having gone out and performed impure sacrifices in a certain cave, he placed bars and seals on the doors and stationed guards, ordering that no one should be inside the doors until his return. When they opened them after his fall, they found a woman hanging by her hair with her hands extended; some cruel person had cut open her abdomen, and indeed, by her liver, he had supposedly learned of the victory over the Persians.

^B (12) In Antioch, they found many chests in the royal palaces filled with human heads, and many wells filled with dead bodies. For indeed, the idol-loving idolater, in his passion for idols, cut open ten thousand women who were with child, and while divination was being performed upon the embryos, he also slaughtered many infants and buried them beneath the idols. Furthermore, this demon-possessed and God-hated man subjected a great and distinct flock of rational beings of various ages to various kinds of death in the name of Neptune and the rest of the demons. Moreover, he sacrificed white and red horses—the former to the sun, the latter to the fire and the winds. In addition to these, he did not cease sacrificing dogs, monkeys, ravens, and almost every type of reptile, quadruped, wild beast, and other winged and swimming creature, inventing all-manner of sacrifices, more numerous and worse than those considered customary among the Greeks, hoping by such means—the atheist that he was—to be apotheosized and considered a god, so as to surpass all the Greeks who were before him.

(13) Such are the commands and oracles of the ill-named gods and unclean demons, and such were the results of the work of the empty-minded, apostate, and divinely-scourged one. And while their false divination and deception have been exposed, he, indeed, having been enslaved to their error, perished in soul and body, being thirty years of age. "And his days have vanished in vanity, and his years with haste"; and he was "consumed by his own perversity." For "he spoke much injustice against the Most High, and he set his mouth against heaven, and his tongue went through the earth," as it is written. And after he had done things that were all-terrible and difficult to describe, and had acted very arrogantly, not having kept his former faith and order, he fell in a monstrous and indescribable ruin, just like that most evil devil who had deceived and destroyed him.

Caput CXCII. The Reign of Jovian

^B Therefore, a certain divine beneficence came to his aid; for, beyond all hope, when our phalanx was surrounded on every side by the enemy and no expectation of escape remained, suddenly ambassadors sent by the Barbarians arrived and asked for peace, promising that they would provide food, necessities, and other supplies in turn to the army, which was already exhausted by famine, and with all kindness they relieved our desperate situation.

^C Having concluded a peace of twenty-nine years, he returned with the armies to Roman territory; but he was compelled to cede Nisibis, an immensely large city, to the Persians.

He, displaying great care and concern for the Churches, recalled all the bishops who were living in exile. Moreover, he sent to the great Athanasius, writing to him that he should signify the precision of the irreproachable faith. And Athanasius did this in letters full of orthodoxy, which he wrote to Jovian.

^D But this so pious and admirable man, after eight months from the time he began to reign, having eaten a poisonous fungus in Cilicia, died in a place in Galatia named Dadastana, leaving great sorrow for the Church and all the people.

For this man, when he was known to Julian and was in the army, confessed himself a Christian; and one day, as he was walking behind Julian, he [the emperor]...

set foot ^A near him, and Julian, turning toward him and seeing no one else but him, said that he would succeed him in the kingdom: "Would that it were a human being!" Yet he was pious and mild and clement.

CXCIII. The Reign of Valentinian and Valens.

After Jovian, Valentinian reigned for sixteen years, having been proclaimed at Nicaea in Bithynia; he, for the sake of our faith, had been cast out of the army by Julian. But God fulfilled in him what He had promised, returning to him more than a hundredfold in this present age; for since he had left the military service for the sake of the faith, he even received a kingdom.

^B He, thirty days after his own proclamation, designated his brother Valens as a partner in the kingdom. For having entered Constantinople, he sent for him from the city of Cibala [(an allusion to Pannonia)]—for he was born there—and admitted him to a share in the kingdom; he reserved for himself the parts of the West, and abandoned to him the parts of the East.

Valens, however, being a partisan of the heretics, walked in the way of his own fathers. For he sent into exile bishops, presbyters, deacons, and monks, ^C with Tatian at that time governing Alexandria; this was so carried out that he cast some into torments and delivered them to the fire, and contrived many other impious and most cruel things against the Church of God. All these things he perpetrated after the death of Athanasius; for, as if restrained by his divine power, although he raged against others, he dared do nothing evil against him.

The orthodox who were in Constantinople, hoping to obtain mercy from Valens, sent an embassy to him ^D to Nicomedia, eighty clerics (led by Theodore, Urbanus, and Benedemus), all of whom he ordered to be burned along with their ship; and in fact they were consumed with their ship, the vessel lasting as far as Dacibiza.

Valens, having pillaged every Church, also moved from the East against Basil the Great at Caesarea; and at that time the things concerning his son occurred, just as Gregory the Theologian says.

A certain Demosthenes, one of the cooks of Valens, in the royal retinue accusing Basil to him, was blustering...

^A in barbaric fashion. The saint smiled slightly and said: "Behold, we have seen even a Demosthenes who is unlettered."

At that time the Goths were causing Valens trouble. He asked the divine Valentinian, his brother, to send him an army for assistance; but he did not grant it to him, and instead reproached him as a heretic and an evildoer, saying that help should not be given to a man who is fighting against God.

In this same time, after forty-six years of his priesthood, and after many struggles and many crowns of endurance, the great Athanasius fell asleep, having predicted that ^B that Peter, who had participated in his persecutions, would succeed him. But Lucius, being a bishop of the Arian sect, rushed immediately like a wolf upon the sheep. Peter immediately fled to Rome; but Lucius was so carried away into the blood of men that he seemed to have preserved no form of religion.

CXCIV. Concerning the monks of the desert.

In the beginning of his rule, he did so many and such shameful things against the virgins of the Church and those observing continence, such as are not recorded to have happened even in the persecutions of the pagans. ^C

Moreover, having plundered the desert, he brought war upon those who were living in tranquility. For he sent three thousand men at once into the desert to fight against the monks. But those who had come saw a new kind of war; for as the enemies advanced, the saints would present their necks to the swords, and those men heard nothing else except this: "Friend, for what purpose have you come?"

At the same time, the Fathers of the monks in their manner of life and the dignity of their antiquity, Macarius, Isidorus, another Macarius, Heraclides, and Pammos, disciples of Antony, were flourishing in Egypt; and especially in the desert places of Nitria there lived men who held to a communion of life and labor, ^D and not trusting in the manner of other men, they consorted with the heavenly angels. These things I have now seen in person; I record these actions; and I have been deemed worthy to be a participant in their sufferings.

These, lying in their private dwellings and praying, would receive their own killers. And there was brought to them a man who for a long time had all the limbs of his body and especially his feet withered. And anointing him with oil, they said: "In the name of Jesus Christ, whom Lucius persecutes, arise and walk with your feet."

^A And he immediately arose, and giving thanks to God, went away to his house.

A short time before, a blind man had requested to be led to the small dwelling of Macarius, which was situated three days' journey away in the desert. When the blind man arrived there, through much labor of those leading him, and did not find Macarius in the house, he was utterly despondent and began to grieve; but, becoming fervent through the excess of his faith, he said to those who were leading him, "I pray you, lead me to that part of the cell's wall where the elder is accustomed to sleep." ^B And when he had been brought there, taking a little of the dry clay with which the wall was plastered, he held it in his own hands and asked that water be brought from the well from which the elder used to drink. Dissolving the clay with that water, and anointing his eyes with it, and washing them with the water that had been drawn, he suddenly received his sight in such a way that he needed no guide, and he returned to his own home rejoicing. Later, he returned with his whole family to the elder, and gave thanks to God, and recounted the matter just as it had happened.

^B (6) This same Macarius had a cave near a hyena. One day, the beast brought her own blind whelps and placed them at his feet. Reasoning that the beast was beseeching him on account of the blindness of her whelps, he begged the Lord God to grant them sight. ^C And when it had been restored to them, they returned to the cave, following their mother. A little later, she returned with her whelps, bringing to the elder, as it were, gifts for the kindness bestowed upon them, skins of sheep which still had their wool, bearing the skins in her teeth and leaving them before the doors, she departed.

(7) Lucius sent those divine Fathers into exile ^D on a marshy island of Egypt, where no Christian lived. But when the ship with the monks approached the island, the daughter of the priest of the idols of that region, driven by a demon, was snatched up by the winds and came to the ship, uttering disorderly cries as one possessed by a demon. They, inflicting punishment upon the unclean spirit, returned the girl healthy to her parents, and made all the inhabitants of the island fervent and ardent Christians. When Lucius heard this, and feared that they might make everyone orthodox, he secretly persuaded them to return to their own places and seek out their own tiny cells in the desert.

CXCV. Concerning Mavia and the Orthodox.

(1) After this, Mavia, the king of the Saracens, was a Christian of Roman stock. Taken captive, he had pleased the king of the Saracens on account of his beauty.

^A And in the course of time, having advanced to become king, he did many evil things to the Romans, so that he destroyed their army in a most fierce war, and plundered many cities in Palestine and Arabia. Being then besought to make peace, he said, "This shall not happen in any other way, unless a certain monk of his own race, by name Moses, be ordained bishop." Now this Moses, dwelling in parts neighbor to Rome, had become known for his virtues and miracles. His petition was made known to the king of the Romans, who commanded his generals to do this with all speed. But when they had led him to Alexandria, that hands might be laid upon him by Lucius, he did not himself consent, saying: "Lucius shall not lay his hands upon me, for they are defiled with the blood of the saints." Although the impious Lucius was suffused with shame, at the urging of the public vow, he was forced ^B to consent against his will that Moses should receive the laying on of hands from the bishops whom he had sent into exile; which was also done. Thus, having received the laying on of hands, he was given to Mavia, and he made many Christians in his tribe. He [the author] narrates many things about this race, whence it had its origin, whence it received its name, and how they are circumcised for thirteen years at Edessa in Mesopotamia, where Thomas the apostle taught.

Postquam autem venisset Valens imperator et vidisset turbas orthodoxorum proscriptas in agro synaxim agere, in tantam iram efferbuit, ut propriis manibus praefectum in vultum percusserit, eo quod non exinde depulsæ sint multitudines, sicut ipse jusserat. Ille vero, licet gentilis et ab imperatore probro coopertus, humanitate tamen motus, cum postera die deberet ad perniciem Christianorum incumbere, hoc ipse manifestum fecit civibus per occulta indicia, ut non in synaxim abirent. ^C But Valens the emperor, having come and seen the crowds of the Orthodox proscribed and performing their gathering in the field, burned with such wrath that he struck the prefect on the face with his own hands, because the multitudes had not been driven away from thence as he himself had ordered. But he, although a Gentile and covered with insult by the emperor, yet moved by humanity, when on the following day he was to apply himself to the destruction of the Christians, made this manifest to the citizens through secret signs, so that they should not go to the synaxis. Being moved at dawn with greatest concern for the people, and standing by his retinue, he did everything so that no one of the people should be in danger. Yet he saw the multitude of the people walking and running to that place more numerous than usual, and many hastening as if fearing lest any be left behind through fear of death. ^D In the midst of the gathering, however, he sees a certain woman coming out of a house with such speed that she neglected to lock the doors, nay, having even neglected the garment which becomes an honest woman, she went forth into public. That woman was carrying with her a small child, and with a most rapid run was breaking the order of the consul and hastening. He, at length unable to bear it, said, "Retain this woman, and lead her hither." And when, having been seized, she was brought to the prefect: "Whither, unhappy woman," he says, "are you hastening so fast?" Truly she said: "To the field, where the assembly of the Catholics is gathered." "Do you not hear," he says, "that the legate comes hither, so that he may destroy all whom he finds?" She answered: "I have heard, and

that is why I hasten, that I may be found there." "But this child whom you are dragging along—where is he going?" the other said. She replied: "So that he too may be judged worthy of martyrdom." Having heard these things, he ordered the company and the carriage to return to the palace. But as she entered before the king, she said: "O king, if you command it, I am prepared to die; but the work which you have ordered, I am not able to fulfill." And by instructing him in everything concerning the woman, she restrained the king's impulse. ^B (3) At that time, the wars of the impious king Valens, which he had waged against the Churches of God, were turned against his enemies. For the Goths, having departed from their own regions, poured themselves out through the whole of Thrace, and began to ravage the cities and fields cruelly with their weapons. (4) Then the citizens used shameful words and harsh insults against Valens, because he would not set out for war. (5) As he was departing, the venerable Isaac, taking hold of the bridle of his horse, said to him: "Where are you going, O king, you who have warred against God and have God as your adversary?" Then Valens, greatly enraged, ordered him to be kept in custody, threatening him with death if he should return (just as Ahab [threatened] Micaiah). But he, filled with the same prophetic grace, gave the same answer to him before all the people, saying: "If you return, the Lord has not spoken through me." ^C (6) Then, a battle having taken place at Adrianople, and being defeated, he flees in rout with a few men to a house; perceiving this, the enemies burned it down with him and those who were with him inside the house (having reigned impiously for fourteen years). (7) Valentinian the Great, perfect and pure in faith and piety, governed the Roman state well according to the ancient authority of the Empire; for he ordered a synod to be held in Illyricum, which confirmed the faith of Nicaea. He also wrote an edict to the bishops in Asia and Caria, exhorting them to remain in the established dogmas, joining to himself in the same edict his brother Valens and his son Gratian. ^D (8) He wrote similar things also to Illyricum. When, therefore, the bishops had gathered in Italy, upon the death at Mediolanum

Auxentius, the bishop of the heretics, having died in Milan, the throngs of both parties were acting with great intensity. ^A There was among them a great dissension and a dangerous state of affairs; each side was preparing something disastrous for their own city, unless their own opinion were to prevail and their design brought into effect, even though their intentions were against one another. Now, at that time a certain Ambrosius was holding the administration of that prefecture, a man worthy of praise, who had shone in the Roman senate with very many virtues and to whom had been entrusted the governance of all Italy by the impious emperors Constantius and Constans, sons of the great Constantine, and indeed also by the pious emperor Valentinian, who immediately went into the church to suppress the sedition. The people, having set aside their mutual contention, requested Ambrosius with one voice, though he was still a catechumen; they said with a loud voice that they would be united and that there would be one faith for both parties if Ambrosius were given to them as bishop. ^B Having learned this, the pious Valentinian, attesting to much of his virtue, ordered Ambrosius to be initiated and consecrated by the laying on of hands. And when he had received the laying on of hands, the emperor offered this hymn to God: “I give thanks to Thee, O Lord Almighty and our Savior, because to that man to whom I had entrusted bodies, Thou hast entrusted souls, and hast made my own just votes manifest.” ^C They also say that when magistrates performed acts of injustice, Ambrosius would boldly rebuke them before the king.

In the meantime, when the great Valentinian wished to come from the borders of Gaul into Illyricum for the Sarmatian wars, and to take command of the war, he was suddenly seized by a disease and died. For the Sarmatians had sent envoys asking for peace; and when Valentinian had seen them, he asked if all the Sarmatians were of such a physical stature. To their replying that the best among them had been sent, he cried out with a loud voice that the kingdom of the Romans must surely remain in dreadful straits if such as these were the best of the Sarmatians who attempted to wage war against the Romans. But from the contention of his mind, a vein was ruptured, and with much blood flowing forth, he ended his life in a certain fortress of Gaul. ^D

CXCVI. The reign of Gratian and Valentinian, sons of the Great Valentinian.

This most orthodox prince and servant of God left as heirs of his kingdom Gratian, his son, who was an Augustus, and Valentinian, who was still very [... the next page begins]

young and not yet adorned with royal ^A insignia, having been brought to it by the necessity of those who were attempting to seize the place of the kingdom, as if it were vacant, and by the fact that his brother was absent; so that he himself was clothed in the purple, while Probus at that time handled the matter with great energy. ^B

(2) He reigned for three years, and with Theodosius for three years. For this man summoned the great Theodosius, having fetched him from Spain to fight against the Scythians, and appointed him king in Byzantium; he himself, however, resided in Rome.

(3) Now a certain Briton named Maximus, resenting the fact that Theodosius, being a man without any rank, had been granted the kingdom by Gratian, as if he himself had received no honor, stirred up those in Britain to rebel against Gratian, whom he also slew. Gratian was transferred by Theodosius to the royal tombs. This man was so skillful at archery for a long time that some used to say Gratian’s arrows had a mind of their own. ^C

(4) In those times, a great and terrible earthquake occurred, such that at Alexandria the sea receded a great distance, and ships were found lying as if on dry land. A great multitude of people having run together to see this wondrous marvel, the water returned to its usual place and was cast further out than before, and fifty thousand men were submerged. The water covered the ships that had been moored there, and as for those that were in the Nile river, the river cast them onto dry land with great force for a distance of 180 stadia. Indeed, the greater parts of Crete, Achaia, Boeotia, Epirus, and Sicily happened at that time to be destroyed, ^D as the sea rose up; and many ships, as the water was lifted high, were cast upon mountains for a distance of 100 stadia. The British islands and parts of Africa suffered the same and even worse, and almost the whole world—the parts that were near the sea—was submerged, some by earthquakes and some by the sea. Moreover, in the depths and in the great seas surrounding the Adriatic and Aegean, the waters receded and stood apart like a wall on this side and on that, and the dry land appeared; and many ships were then found sailing, and having settled to the bottom, they were lifted up again by the steadying of the water. As the earthquakes continued, one after another, the city of Nicaea in Bithynia totally collapsed with its suburbs in the circuit, and most of its fields and structures. The city called Germe in the Hellespont was completely submerged from its foundations; and besides these...

many injuries occurred throughout various places, so that out of fear, men remained in the mountains, and many animals and humans perished from the lack of rain). Gratian reigned for six years; and Valentinian reigned for three years and died.

CXCVII. The Reign of Theodosius the Great

After him, Theodosius the Great reigned for sixteen years. ^A At that time, the father of Theodosius, himself also called Theodosius, breathing out the trophies of great deeds, made the frontiers of the Romans more accessible by the expulsion of the barbarian nations. Seeing his own son great in hope, but in time young—for he had barely crossed the threshold of youth—he handed him over to be educated by a certain senator of the curia, a companion of his own learning and labors. This man of the curia strengthened the youth entrusted to him with most pleasant discipline and somewhat severe kindness, for the illustrious exercise of life. Now, while Theodosius was tarrying there, it is said that he saw himself in a dream adorned with the royal chlamys and purple. ^B But the elder Valentinian having died, the plebeian Maximus turned the prefecture of the Gauls into madness and, having made a certain conspiracy, ordered Theodosius the elder, laden with trophies, to be slain; and he, before he died, having received divine baptism and being reborn into immortality, departed this life. At the same time, the younger Theodosius had attained the rank of a duke; but he fell unjustly by the same dart of envy by which his father had also fallen, due to Maximus. Nevertheless, God saved him, and with his dignity remaining and his substance restored, he traveled by royal order to the land of his ancestors, Spain, ^C where he had been born, there living his life quietly and gently. At that time, he took Placilla as his wife, who was made Augusta, and he fathered kings by her; she surpassed her nature in reason and her fame in praises.

Meanwhile, Valens wrote a letter to King Gratian, prescribing that Theodosius be sent to him. Theodosius, having begun his journey and becoming aware of the death of Valens, came to the city called Sirmium. But because the Goths were cruelly devastating every city and region, and the Roman armies were fleeing from their face, ^D at that time Gratian summoned Theodosius, who was living in Sirmium, by the counsel of the Roman senate, which was envious of him; it persuaded Gratian to send Theodosius, who was adorned with the office of a duke, to this dangerous expedition with a few soldiers into this immense war: and the king obeyed. Indeed, this counsel and envy...

he knew nothing of; but Theodosius, having in a short time conquered the Goths, who were believed to be invincible in arms, and standing before the king laden with trophies, was by divine judgment invested with the royal diadem ^A. When Gratian invested him, he was clothed in a new and marvelous purple, like an ancient king; and because his shoulders, being of more than manly stature, could not accommodate themselves to the proportions of the various royal cloaks—for he surpassed all in size, and because of his height every garment appeared short—he at last shone forth adorned in the purple of the most pious Emperor Constantine, which fit him.

^B Gratian reserved to himself and his brother the western regions, but entrusted the care of the East to Theodosius. After Gratian had performed many pious and noble deeds against the tyrant Maximus, who had risen up in the Britains, he was betrayed by his own men through the duke Andragathius at Lugdunum, or rather, having been overwhelmed by the force of his enemies, he was put to death.

(4) Valentinian the younger, his brother, ^C residing in Italy, was struck with terror by the slaughter of his brother and the fear of war; and when peace was offered to him by Maximus under a pretense, he himself, also feigning, gladly accepted it.

(5) Then Justina, his mother, confidently revealed to her easily deceived son the impious poisons of the Arian heresy, which she had hidden while her husband was alive, and persuaded him that, through military force, he should drive out Ambrose, who was resisting him with the orthodox word, from the Church of Mediolanum and send him into exile, and that, having postposed the Church, he should fight against the holy things. Benevolus, however, who was then in dignity, not yielding to the queen's promises, and preferring the orthodox faith to the military belt and offices, cast his own belt at the feet of the kings.

(6) Maximus the tyrant, wishing to shed the odious name of tyrant and show himself a legitimate king, sent letters in which he disparaged the impiety of Justina, and rebuked her for the fact that she was persecuting the faith of God and overturning the constitution of the catholic Church; ^D and thus he began to approach Italy.

(7) Hearing this, Justina, vexed by both the enemy and her own impious conscience, turned to flight and was the first to obtain the exile which she herself had prepared for the priests. Therefore, fleeing with his impious mother, the king...

Valentinian the Younger was deprived of Italy and cast out of his own kingdom. ^A When, however, he had come into the East, he was so received by the pious Emperor Theodosius that he seemed to be reigning in those regions rather than living in exile. Immediately, moreover, having been cleansed by Theodosius from the filth of that impure sect, he vomited forth the poison which his imprudent mother had instilled into him, and through the very faithful encouragement of Theodosius he received Christ. For, having been educated many times by Theodosius in the hope of the faith, he learned that royal military array does not stand by arms, but by good causes. ^B Such, then, was the discourse of Theodosius to Valentinian: "I know," he said, "Valentinian, that many times the most pious emperors, while the army rested, have obtained victory, and that the enemies, having been subjected through the fear of danger, have become tributary. Thus the divine Constantine, relying on heavenly aids, destroyed Licinius, the enemy of God, in a naval battle; thus the illustrious Valentinian, your father, governed the kingdom intact and more easily died, after he had, with God as his avenger, reported many battles and many victories, having defeated countless and diverse barbarians. But your uncle Valens, fighting against God, profanely polluted the Church with the slaughter of the saints and the exile of the priests, [and] who, by the will of God, was besieged by the Goths and, having been defeated, was burned. ^C Will you, therefore, going forth to war, endure to take the name of a heretic? Truly Christ is worshipped by him who unjustly expelled you. Your infidelity provided the opportunity to Maximus. He is a tyrant only in his reigning, but you, in fact, began first to be an enemy of God. I will give you an army, and I will provide you with aid: but, if we injure Christ, whom shall we invoke while we are fighting?" By admonishing him of these things and more, Theodosius led Valentinian to the orthodox faith. ^D Meanwhile, however, his mother having died, on account of the faith and kindness of King Gratian, whose benefits he remembered, Theodosius, leading forth all the forces of the East to his aid, avenged the just blood and, with the tyrant cast out, restored Valentinian to the kingdom. He himself, indeed, afterwards coming to Rome, triumphed over the victory and returned to the queen of cities.

CXCVIII. Concerning Saint Arsenius.

In these days, in which the good God raised up Theodosius as a great king and entrusted to him the throne of the Roman kingdom, of his predecessor

^A king he took a daughter, Placilla by name, and from her he begat two sons, Arcadius and Honorius.

^A As the children grew and reached the age for learning letters, he sent out throughout the whole kingdom under his rule to seek a man of learning and an ascetic, adorned in truth with the fear of God, having divine knowledge to the highest degree, in order to entrust his sons to him. For he did not wish to send them to a school or to have them taught by undisciplined masters, for fear that they might learn from other children what God does not desire, and be molded by unprofitable words. The emperor, reflecting on these things, made every effort to find such a man; but though mandates were sent throughout the entire kingdom under his rule, they were not able to find anyone matching his criteria; rather, they found men who were philosophers but not lovers of God, or at other times lovers of God but not philosophers. The children grew up, and he still hesitated to hand them over to a school for the reason stated.

^B Not finding what he sought, he sent to the king in Rome to receive such a man from him, writing to him: "In doing this, you will be very pleasing to me." The king, therefore, summoning the Pope, showed him the letters of the Emperor Theodosius, saying: "It is impossible not to fulfill this request for him who reigns with us; for it is a disgrace to our authority that such a man cannot be found in the greatest city of Rome." They searched and inquired but did not find him. When, therefore, they had inquired for a long time, and had consulted and discussed it in detail, the Pope said to the king: "There is with us a certain deacon, a celibate with his own sister, named Arsenius; there is no other like him who is suited to the wish of King Theodosius and who could instruct his children in all divine and human knowledge. But I do not know if he will consent, because he has long since finished his time for standard education. Nevertheless, if your power commands, we will call him and discuss this matter with him." ^C Hearing this, the king rejoiced greatly; and they sent and summoned Arsenius.

When he arrived, the king said to him: "Our authority is not unaware of your life, which is according to God, and your virtuous conduct; on the contrary, hearing constantly of your good manner of life, we are greatly gladdened by these things. Since our co-emperor Theodosius has sent an embassy to us, asking us to send him such a man as is able to instruct his children in all piety and philosophy, for this reason we have summoned you, as one who is of God, so that you might go to him and instruct them with the grace which has been given to you by God; for we have decided that this matter is not to be entrusted to anyone carelessly or rashly, except to your piety." But Arsenius said to the king: ^D "The most religious king is not ignorant of my insignificance, most holy father our Pope, inasmuch as I have not yet found time for studying secular philosophy, especially since from the time of that sacred laying on of hands...

^A which I, unworthy as I am, received, I have not even looked into a book of such sciences.» The Pope replied to him: «We know that the things you say are true, and we know that matters stand thus; indeed, we greatly praise your virtuous manner of life in this regard. But since it is a divine and royal command, and the pleasure of God shines forth in what has been done, we beseech you to devote yourself to this good undertaking. For you can, through the grace of God which has been given to you, instruct them piously and in a manner pleasing to God, and furthermore be of great profit to them in philosophy, by showing them the shameful apparatus of the impious idols, which the wretched Greeks call gods, and that one should not believe those who have been initiated among them, but should call them demons, and one ought not to worship their abominations and monsters.»

With such words they admonished Arsenius, and sent him to the King with all praise and honor; the King and the Pope both wrote to him: «According to your pleasure we have sent you a man who, with the grace of God, will be able to educate the dearest children of your serenity in all wisdom and virtue.» Arsenius, therefore, having placed his sister in a convent of virgins, went to Constantinople. Now when King Theodosius had received and read the letters, he summoned Arsenius to him. ^B Being struck with wonder at him, seeing him to be remarkable in habit and character, venerable in bearing, of a fair complexion, gentle in countenance, humble in mind, moderate in speech, most wise in divine and human matters, and in a word, adorned with every virtue according to God, he rejoiced with great joy, and the King said to him: «You show truly by your habit, character, and speech that you are endowed with virtue and that you fear God; and just as our colleague the King and the most holy Pope of the Romans wrote to us, so we have seen; for they wrote the truth. Now, therefore, you are surely not ignorant of the reason why they sent you to us. But our own authority will also declare to you that this was done for the sake of our children, that you may instruct them in all piety and fear of God, and teach them all philosophy to the highest degree. But do not be reserved or hesitant toward them out of the thought that they are our children, nor again attend to them or reverence them as kings; but hold them as children and ^C disciples, and when they do wrong, correct them.» ^D After Emperor Theodosius had said these things, he brought forward Arcadius and Honorius and commended them into his hands, saying: «Behold, from this day forth this man is my father and yours, and your master. Offer him an ear as docile as to a father, and be not light or disobedient listeners; for I have proclaimed to him that if any one of you does not listen to him or does wrong, he shall treat him as a disciple to be corrected.»

^A

(5) Having said these things, he assigned them a large triclinium near the royal bedchamber and commanded them to live therein. The king devised this so that he might visit them more frequently; he honored Arsenius greatly, making him greater than all those who were in the palace, so that there was no one among those dwelling there who was arrayed in more splendid raiment than he; and, to speak simply, he was as a father to the king and his children.

(6) Arsenius, therefore, having received the sons of the king, Honorius and Arcadius, brought them up in the fear of God, teaching them all wisdom, both divine and human. But the holy Arsenius, being full of humility, did not treat them as disciples, but as kings; for having seated them on two thrones, he himself stood while instructing them. So, on one of the days, the king having entered suddenly to them, he sees Arsenius standing and his children sitting; and he was greatly grieved at Arsenius and says to him, «Is this how I commanded you, that you should treat the children in a royal manner and not rather as disciples? And why have you done this? For you have greatly grieved our majesty in this.» But Arsenius says to the king, «I did not think it fitting, O God-supported king, for me to sit while kings stood before me.» The king, angered by this word, replied with a grim look toward Arsenius, saying, «Do you constitute them kings? Did I not hand them over to you as servants? Why do you speak these things?» ^B And having said this, the king immediately tearing off the diadems which they had upon their heads, and throwing them to the ground, caused them to prostrate themselves at his feet, and having seated Arsenius upon a throne, he ordered them to stand before him, saying, «If they fear God and desire to walk in His law and keep His commandments, the King of kings of the ages is powerful, if such be His will, to grant them this dignity; but if they do not have the fear of God, I pray to Him that they might rather be uprooted from their childhood; for I consider it better that they should die piously than reign impiously.» Having said these things, the king went into his bedchamber. ^C

(7) From that time on, then, Arsenius, fearing the king, no longer made them sit, but rather provided that they stand before him and learn. Spending his time in these things, therefore, the hallowed Arsenius was very distressed and grieved; for he was a hater of glory and a lover of God; and he desired rather to assume the monastic and quiet life, so that he frequently prayed to God with tears concerning this, that He might make a way for him to be separated from the world. ^D

(8) On one of the days, the holy Arsenius, having found that Arcadius had fallen into a childish fault, brought him and, rebuking him, inflicted upon him a terrible

^A wound, such that he bore the marks of the blows on his body almost to the point of death. From that day on, Arcadius, being greatly harmed, nourished much malice against Arsenius and, summoning his guard, entrusted him with the matter in private, saying, "By whatever means you can, kill Arsenius for me, without anyone knowing it." The guard, however, having heard this lamentable decision and having the fear of God in his heart, disclosed the homicidal intent of Arcadius to Arsenius. Arsenius, seized by grief and fear, besought God, saying, "Lord, show me how I may be saved," and he repented of the blow he had struck upon Arcadius. Then, several days having passed, and Arsenius urging the guard to save him by whatever means possible, and he himself praying unceasingly, a voice came to him saying, "Arsenius, flee from men, and you will be saved."

Having heard this voice, he spoke to no one, but putting on a lowly garment, he betook himself to the port. There, through divine providence, he found a ship, and boarding it, he came to Alexandria; and having arrived there, he ran to the desert of Scetis, and there he shone forth with many virtues. Again, he heard a voice saying to him: "Arsenius, flee, hold your peace, live in quiet; for these are the roots of innocence."

(10) King Theodosius was greatly saddened ^C by the absence of Arsenius and wrote to everyone everywhere to search for him; yet they could not find him until his death. But when Arcadius and Honorius were reigning, it became known to them that Arsenius was in Egypt, leading the monastic life and conducting himself wonderfully; then they wrote to him very many letters, exhorting him to pray for their own disciples and children. Arcadius wrote to him again, beseeching him to forgive him the offense which he had committed against Arsenius by desiring to kill him, and in order to persuade him, he commanded in his rescript that he should receive from the prefect of Alexandria the revenues of Egypt and distribute them wherever he might command, provided only that he would forgive him and pray for his kingdom and for that of his brother Honorius, and that he would write to them at least once. But our holy Father Arsenius refused to write to them and made this declaration to them: "God, my children, will forgive you all and will deign to fulfill His divine pleasure. As for the gifts ^D of which you have written to me, I have already died to the world; do not count me among the living at all."

In these days, the great Emperor Theodosius signaled to Demophilus that he should either depart from the Arian error or leave the churches. He departed, therefore, after the Arians had held the churches for forty years. The synod, therefore, and the emperor [assigned to Gregory] the Theologian the episcopate of Constantinople, and although he did not wish it...

placed him on the throne, compelling him, inasmuch as he had labored much and had freed the city from the errors of the heretics. ^A For, having found only the holy Anastasia, which was very small and held by the orthodox, he performed the synaxes there and taught the orthodox faith, turning everyone away from the heresy. Later, it was rebuilt by Marcian, the oeconomus of the Great Church, to the size that is now seen, and received the name “Saint Anastasia,” either because a pregnant woman fell from above and died, but through the common prayer of the orthodox she rose again with the fetus unharmed, or because the resurrection of orthodoxy took place in it. ^B After the Theologian had been placed upon the throne of Constantinople, as has been said, hearing that the Egyptians envied him because of the Word [preached], he composed a valedictory discourse in haste, and reading it, voluntarily resigned from the church and the throne, and withdrew. ^C The emperor and the synod then chose Nectarius as patriarch; he was a Tarsian by race, then holding the office of praetor, and had not yet been baptized, though he was venerable, pious, and admirable in his life. Magnus Gregorius, returning to a village of Cappadocia, Nazianzus, which he possessed from his paternal inheritance, lived there quietly and peacefully for some time, and becoming a contemplator of higher things, he departed this life, an old man, full of days, and replete with every virtue.

Of the Second Synod

^D (1) The second synod took place in Constantinople, that of the one hundred and fifty holy Fathers, under Theodosius the Great and Damasus, Pope of Rome. Presiding over it were Timothy of Alexandria, Meletius of Antioch, Cyril of Jerusalem, and Gregory the Theologian. It was held against Macedonius, who had been bishop of Constantinople, who, while still living, blasphemed even as Arius did, and likewise affirmed that the Holy Spirit was not the true God, but a mere creature. (2) This synod, having assembled, ordained the senator Nectarius in Constantinople, and anathematized Macedonius, together with Sabellius the Libyan—who taught that there was one person in the holy Trinity—and Apollinarius of Laodicea, declaring the Word who became man...

to be without a mind, and that the Word stood in the soul in place of the mind. He proclaimed the Holy Spirit to be the life-giving God and consubstantial with the Father and the Son, adding to the Symbol declared by the holy Fathers at Nicaea ^A the words "the Lord, and the life-giver," and what follows.

(5) Then the great Amphilochius urged the emperor to expel the Arians from all the cities. But he, considering the request too severe, did not grant it. At that time, Amphilochius remained prudently silent; but afterwards, he devised a memorable scheme. For, having entered the palace again and seeing the emperor's son, Arcadius, sitting nearby, he greeted the father respectfully but passed by the son without greeting him. The emperor, thinking that Amphilochius had forgotten to greet his son, prompted him. But he said that the honor shown to the emperor was sufficient, and that no other honor should be required separately for the son. The emperor, angered against him, called the dishonor of his son a personal insult ^B. Then Amphilochius cried out to the emperor, saying: "Do you see, O emperor, how you do not endure the dishonor of your son? Believe, therefore, that God Himself also loathes and turns away from those who blaspheme His Son." Having heard this, the emperor was greatly astonished, and he immediately wrote a law forbidding the gatherings of the heretics.

Envious of this good, the enemy of good, the devil, prepared something cruel and inhuman to happen. For the emperor, having departed from Constantinople, was making his journey toward Rome. But while he was passing through Thessalonica, and his soldiers had disturbed the city with their insolence, the Thessalonians were stirred to anger, insulted the emperor, and killed some of his officers with stones. ^C He, indeed, being exasperated when it was reported to him and not containing the rush of his anger, issued a sentence of retribution to the prefect of that city; and he, gaining such power like a master and tyrant, bared his unrighteous swords against all and slaughtered seven thousand innocent people along with the guilty.

When Ambrose ^D learned of this calamity...

^A, the bishop of Mediolanum—which is a city of Italy—standing at the entrance for he wished to enter the church according to custom, he met him outside the doors and forbade him with boldness, crying out: "You do not seem to realize, O king, the magnitude of the slaughter that has taken place; for the power of your royalty does not allow you to recognize your sin. Deceived by your purple robe, you are ignorant of the infirmity of the body that it covers. But know that, just as you are fragile and corruptible, so too is your power and dominion corruptible, of which you shall briefly render an account to the Lord of those who reign. With what eyes, then, will you look upon the temple of the common Lord? With what feet will you tread upon that holy floor? How will you stretch out your hands, still dripping with the blood of an unrighteous slaughter? How, too, with such hands will you receive the immaculate body of the Lord? How will you bring to your mouth the precious blood, having shed so much unlawful blood in your wrath? Therefore depart, and do not try to aggravate your former transgression with a second, and accept the bond which God has ratified from above." Yielding to these words, the king returned to his palace, weeping and groaning.

^B When eight months had passed, and the king was not going out, but was intensely repenting, the feast of the Lord's Nativity arrived. Rufinus, the master of the palace, seeing that the king did not wish to make his customary procession, said to him: "I will go, my lord, if you command, and I will persuade the archbishop to release you from the bond." But he said: "I know the strictness of Ambrose, that he will not be persuaded." However, since Rufinus used many words and promised to lead Ambrose toward persuasion, the king ordered him to go. Encouraged by hope, he followed shortly after. But as soon as Ambrose saw Rufinus, he said: "O Rufinus, you ape the impudence of dogs, you who were a participant and counselor in such a great slaughter; but I will not allow him to step into the sacred vestibules." Having heard these things, Rufinus hastened to inform the king; ^C but the king, learning this while still in the middle of the road, said: "I will go and accept the just reproaches." Then, having arrived at the church, he was begging the high priest to be released from the bond. But the high priest declared that this presence was tyrannical and a madness against God. The latter, however, with much sadness and contrition: "I will venture nothing," he said, "against the sacred canons, but I have come to ask to be released from the bond." "And what," he asked, "peni-

- ^A tence have you shown after such great transgression? By what means have you worthily healed your mortal wounds?" And the king answered: "It is for you to point out and provide the remedies; it is for me to receive what is offered." Then Ambrose said: "Since you accept a just remedy for your wrath, subscribe to a law by which the dictates of wrath may be nullified and capital sentences remain in writing for thirty days, awaiting the judgment of sound reason." The king immediately ordered this law to be written and confirmed it with his own hand; and then Ambrose loosed the bond and permitted him entry into the church. ^B Having entered, he did not pray standing or even on bended knees, but lying prostrate upon the floor, he cried out with groaning: "My soul cleaves to the dust; revive me, O Lord, according to thy word." And with his hands tearing at the hair of his head (and his beard) and beating his forehead, and watering the ground with his tears (so that those who saw it were greatly edified and suffered with him), he did not cease thus to supplicate God until the hour of communion. And then rising and approaching the barriers, desiring to enter, he was prevented by Ambrose, who admonished him: "Know, O king, that the inner parts are accessible only to priests, and to all others they are inviolable and unapproachable. Depart, therefore, and stand with the rest; for the purple makes ^C kings, not priests." He, receiving this also willingly, replied: "I did not do this out of presumption, but I learned that this is the custom in Constantinople; and I owe thanks for this remedy as well." Thus, then, and with such great virtue, both the king and the high priest shone.

When the king had returned to Constantinople, and a festival was being celebrated, and he himself did not enter the sanctuary, Nectarius the patriarch asked to learn the reason. "With difficulty," said the king, "have I been taught the difference between a king and a priest; for I know only Ambrose to be called a bishop." ^D (Coming to Constantinople, he established this, that whereas before this the kings had their seat within the sanctuary, they should no longer enter there.)

CC. On the statues of Antioch destroyed.

^A In these days, the image of the wife of King Theodosius, Flacilla, was overturned in Antioch on account of excessive taxes; angered at which, the emperor threatened the city with total ruin. But he was hindered by the law concerning anger, which he had been made to write by Ambrose. ^B

(2) Then also John Chrysostom, being a presbyter at Antioch, wrote [homilies] concerning the statues.

(3) In these days, certain lawless men in Antioch, having overturned the imperial statues, provoked the emperor to great anger. Enraged, he sent magistrates to punish the inhabitants of the city; when those inhabiting the city sensed their arrival and took to flight, the monks descended from the mountains and changed his anger into compassion.

(4) Concerning these, Chrysostom speaks as follows: “Since certain wicked and most abominable men had trampled upon the laws, they finally overturned the statues and filled the city with danger. For when those sent by the emperor to investigate the things that had happened had established that terrible tribunal and were summoning everyone to give an account for what had been dared, and expectation of various deaths was upon all, then the monks dwelling upon the mountain heights ^C displayed their true philosophy. For although they had been shut up in their own cells for so many years, with no one exhorting or advising them, once they saw such a cloud surrounding the city, they left their caves and tabernacles and flocked from everywhere, like certain angels arriving from heaven. And it was to be seen that the city, while these holy men appeared everywhere, became like heaven; and by their appearance alone they exhorted those who were grieving, and led them to disdain every misfortune. For who, upon seeing them, would not immediately have despised death and looked down upon life?”

They also spoke to the magistrates with great boldness on behalf of those responsible, prepared to pour out their own blood that they might snatch the captured from expected punishments; and this is what came to pass. “Where now are those who are wrapped in the pallium, ^D showing a long beard and carrying a staff in their right hand, those false philosophers, the sweepings of the Cynics, more wretched than parasite dogs, and who do everything for the sake of their belly?” For when all the inhabitants of the city were fleeing into the deserts and hiding themselves, “these alone truly displayed philosophy by their deeds, and while all were trembling and terrified, standing in their midst they averted the danger, not in many days, but descending in a single day and defending [them] and averting the danger, they returned again to their own retreats. Behold

^A how great is the philosophy shown to men by Christ.

On the Transfer of Sacred Relics under Theodosius

Under Theodosius, the body of Paul the Confessor was brought into the city and deposited in the church designated by the name of Paul, which Macedonius had built while plotting against Paul.

Under him, Heliodorus, who wrote the *Aethiopica*, was bishop of Tricca; he also wrote a golden poem in iambic verses about the same Theodosius.

The relics of the holy martyrs Terentius ^B and Africanus were also translated and deposited in [the church of] St. Euphemia at the Petra.

The venerable head of John the Baptist was deposited in Constantinople. Some monks of the sect of Macedonius, who had arrived from Jerusalem and were living in Cilicia, had first found it. When the eunuch Mardonius learned of this and reported it to Valens, by his order it was being moved to Constantinople. But the men who had been sent for this purpose, having traveled by carriage, arrived at an inn, and the mules that were drawing the carriage would not move any further from the spot, although they were whipped severely. Then the sacred head was deposited in the village of Kosilaus, God not judging the Arian Valens worthy of such a gift. But God, rewarding the piety ^C of Theodosius, permitted it to be moved to the king, and he deposited it in the Heptascalon, after having built a very beautiful and great temple to the Forerunner.

(9) The temple of the Greeks that stood in Alexandria, Archbishop Theophilus, having entreated Theodosius, purified and transformed into a church, and he made public the things of the Greeks, the phalluses and whatever else was more lewd and profane than these, at which the multitude of the Greeks, being struck with astonishment, committed ten thousand murders. Having heard this, Theodosius declared the Christians who had been killed to be blessed, as having died for the faith; but to the Greeks he promised forgiveness, if they become Christians. ^D However, he commanded that the Greek temples be destroyed, and the gods be melted down and given to the poor as alms.

When the temple of Serapis was demolished, hieroglyphic figures having the form of a cross were found; at which, being amazed,

those of the Greeks who had become Christians said that the cross signified, to those who know hieroglyphic characters, the life that is to come.

11 Regarding the temple of Serapis (which the archbishop Theophilus tore down along with its idol), some say that it was Jupiter, while others say it was the Nile, on account of the modius which he wore upon his head and the cubit which he held in his hand, as if it were a measure of water; others say it was our Joseph; and others, finally, a certain Apis, who had been a merchant or a king in the city of Memphis in Egypt. For when a famine occurred, he provided sustenance to the citizens of Alexandria from his own stores; and when he died, they erected a temple to him, in which temple an ox was kept, bearing the symbol of the farmer (and having certain markings on its hide), which, from his name, was also called Apis. The tomb of this Apis, in which his body lay, they transported to Alexandria, and from the tomb and Apis they formed a compound name and called him Sorapis, and those who came later called him Serapis.

12 This temple built by the Alexandrians was very large, and was most magnificently adorned inside and out with precious columns and marble. In the middle of the temple, his statue stood, large and fearsome, in such a way that with its right hand it touched one wall, and with its left hand it touched the other; this image was covered with every kind of element, with plates of gold and silver. In it, another kind of fraud was thus wickedly constructed: there is a certain stone called a magnet, which possesses a natural power to attract iron. Since they had constructed a statue of brass, not large, and had fixed iron inside its head, they applied this stone to the ceiling of the roof, directly opposite it. This, being drawn by the natural power of the stone, was suspended with great art, and was held between the floor and the ceiling, a wondrous sight and always intact.

13 After this temple had been dismantled and leveled to the ground, and the Nile, contrary to custom, did not rise, the Greeks rejoiced, saying that for this reason the river was not rising. When the pious king heard this,

the pious Theodosius answered: “Far be it that a river should rejoice in the temples and sacrifices of demons and pour its waters onto the earth!” ^A And God, intending to bear witness to his faith, commanded it to flood beyond what was necessary; which threw all Egypt into no small fear, lest the water drown Alexandria itself.

As regards Artemis, the great Isidore also says to some: “Since you wished to learn, saying: ‘Who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is the temple-sweeper of the great Artemis and of the Jove-fallen one?’ ^B Know that this is not a word of Scripture, but a report of the statements of the Ephesians. I deem it superfluous, therefore, to interpret empty fables, of which I think the Psalmist David also spoke: ‘Transgressors have told me fables, but not according to your law, O Lord.’”

Since, therefore, you are studious and wish to be learned, I will tell you this: those among the Greeks who were the inventors of idols, wishing to strike fear into those who saw them, used to say that the statue had been sent down from heaven by Jove and had fallen, being superior to any human hand and untouched; whence they called it an idol sent by Jove and a "heavenly" likeness (the word for likeness, *bretas*, being derived from *brotos*, or mortal). ^C But this was not so, as the empty rumor concerning the idols, the rumor of the deluded, had it. Rather, having killed or sent into exile the makers of the idols, so that no one could say that the idol was a work of human hands, they would spread this rumor to the ears of the deluded, and thus the city of the Ephesians was led astray. That it is true that the makers of idols were killed, the event in Alexandria in Egypt yesterday and the day before bears witness. ^D For Ptolemy, having gathered craftsmen to make a statue of Artemis, after the work was perfected, having dug a great pit and concealed the trick, ordered the craftsmen to dine therein; and while they were dining, they were buried there and died, having received a reward worthy of that wicked work. But if he wished to make the craftsmen disappear, he did it solely so that what was called God might be believed to be "not hand-made," and he called it "untouched by hands." But our Lord and God soon made his most wicked homicide manifest; for a great lightning bolt and earthquake having occurred, the temple was overturned and the pit was uncovered at the same time, and thus the inventions of the fraud were revealed.

Now, in Canopus, more than in all of Egypt, they were full [index: entries preserved]

^A of idols, and they tell of a certain prodigy of this kind: Once, the Chaldaeans, celebrating their own god, which is fire, carried it about everywhere, so that it might contend with the gods of all the provinces, and that whoever emerged the victor might be held as a god by all. Therefore, the gods of the other provinces, made of bronze, or gold, or silver, or wood, or stone, or any other such material, were easily consumed by the fire, so that everywhere the fire necessarily proved victorious. Having heard this, the priest of Canopus devised a certain crafty trick: In the regions of Egypt, they are accustomed to have earthenware jars, which have fine and continuous pores, so that the turbid water, trickling through these pores, may be rendered purer. Taking one of these jars, ^B the priest of Canopus stopped those pores with wax, painted it with various colors, filled it with water, and set it up as a god; and having cut off the head of an ancient statue, which was said to be of a certain pilot named Elai, he carefully placed and adapted it to the new image. Afterward, the Chaldaeans arrived, and fire was kindled beside the jar; the wax by which the pores were stopped was melted. As the jar sweated and the water flowed out through the pores, the fire was extinguished. And thus, by the craft of the priest, the Canopean god was held to be the victor over the Chaldaeans, and from that time onward the Canopean god was esteemed as the victor over all.

Now, however, when Theophilus was the high priest of the God of all ^C things, no sweat helped, nor did the craft prepared with wax avail it; rather, all their images were destroyed and cast to the ground. When it was reported to the most pious king that this had come to pass, that the idols of Egypt had been cast down and churches built in their place, stretching his hands to heaven, he said: "I give thanks to you, Master Christ, my God, that without the destruction of that great city, such an ancient error has been extinguished."

Meanwhile, Valentinian, holding the reins of government in the parts of the West, put an end to his life by a noose ^D; for what reason, we do not know to this very day. For some said this was done by the treachery of the general Arbogastes; and such a conjecture prevailed among all. Others, however, said that the general was pure from such a crime, and that the cause of this was the indignation of a youth; for they say he was not permitted to have the rule as his own, being a youth who had not yet obtained the liberty of administering the kingdom in all matters.

^A Theodosius, nonetheless, kindled with indignation against Eugenius, who had been set up in his place, took up arms in vengeance, having accepted this opinion from John, the solitary monk of Egypt. For this divine man, now ninety years of age, lived alone, never leaving his cell nor receiving anyone inside; he would only offer a blessing and receive those who came to him through a small window. He did not do this every day, but twice in the week, on Saturday and Sunday; on the other days he did not allow himself to be seen by any man, but occupied himself with fasts, vigils, and prayers. And it was possible to see the blessed man, his whole body withered by severe discipline; he ate nothing but herbs and a few fruits after sunset; for indeed, to speak of bread, wine, oil, and other things cooked over a fire is superfluous. Occupying his nights and days with these and such other divine exercises, the holy man became celebrated and was filled with the gift of prophecy, at times foretelling things to come and what had been done or thought in secret by each person. ^B Concerning the Nile, too, and its time of fertility or sterility, he would predict threats or other punishments sent by God, and he would openly rebuke sinners. But why say more? For it is impossible for the mouth or mind of men to enumerate the ocean of his miracles and virtues. Therefore, King Theodosius sent to him, beseeching and imploring him to come, so that, fortified by his prayers, he might begin the battle against his adversaries. But he refused to appear in person because of his piety; instead, he offered up a prayer over the staff upon which he leaned and the cloak he wore around his neck, and sent these to him, instructing him to put on the cloak like a helmet over his head and to use the staff in his right hand as a spear, and to go forth first before the army. King Theodosius, having received what was sent by the saint with faith and piety, readied himself for, not so much trusting in the multitude of arms, javelins, and soldiers, as in the fasts and prayers of the holy man. ^C For he had predicted to him a new victory: that the struggle would not be bloody for him, but that much blood would be shed on both sides. He went about with the bishops and the people to all the places of prayer, and he would prostrate himself in sackcloth before the doors of the martyrs and the holy apostles, clearly showing himself to be one who sought most faithfully the help of God through the intercession of the saints. The Greeks at Rome, however, were eager to offer sacrifices and to examine the entrails of victims, promising victory to Eugenius with foolish confidence; Flavianus, who was then prefect, acted more ardently than the rest in these matters; for he, trusting heavily in his own prudence, persuaded everyone that Eugenius would be the victor. But when Theodosius of piety ^D possessed of the multitude of the people, as much as in the fasts and prayers of the holy man, he was promised by him a victory of a new kind, that it would proceed without blood so far as he was concerned, but that much blood was to be shed from either side. He went about with the bishops and with a multitude to all the places of prayer, and he cast himself down before the doors of the Martyrs and of the holy Apostles upon sackcloth, stretching himself out, and by the intercession of the holy ones he sought most faithful aid for himself from God.

The Hellenes, however, began to offer sacrifices throughout Rome and to perform divination by the entrails of animals, reporting victory to Eugenius without a care. Flavianus, who was then Prefect, being more earnest in these matters than others, persuaded all to proclaim Eugenius victor, having great conceit of his own wisdom. But when Theodosius—who truly trusted in the truth of piety—seized the passes of the Alps, those demons were the first to turn to flight, terrified by their own evil conscience. ^A For Theodosius, standing upon a high rock from which he could see and be seen by both armies, committed himself to his accustomed help and, spreading himself out before God, said, “O God Almighty, You know that I have undertaken this war in the name of Christ Your Son and for the sake of my own just vindication; and if I lie, exact the penalty from me. But if I have come here for a just cause and trusting in You, stretch out Your right hand over Your own, lest the nations say, ‘Where is their God?’” The most faithful commanders, confident that this prayer would be accepted by God, were inflamed to battle. Especially Bacurius, a man illustrious among all who were near him for his faith, piety, and the fortitude of his soul and body, wrought great slaughter with spear, with javelins, and at times also with the sword; he broke through the serried and dense ranks of the enemies, and, cleaving through the battle lines across the midst of the multitude of the fallen and passing over piles of corpses, he was borne toward the tyrant himself. When the battle had grown fiercer, Eugenius was led bound with his hands behind his back to the feet of the King. And there was the end of his life and of the war. ^B Then, as if foreseeing things to come and being concerned to order the state, the Emperor immediately sent to the parts of the East, where he had placed his children under most faithful guard when he was about to set out for war. He arranged for the Emperor Arcadius to preserve the realm formerly entrusted to him in the East; and as for Honorius, having honored him with the same dignity, he ordered him to come at once to the royal power of the West. When he had arrived, he embraced and kissed him, and delivered to him the scepter of the kingdom of the West. After he had governed the kingdom successfully for seventeen years, he passed to a better life, to receive the reward of the brave along with the pious kings; he died in Mediolanum, and his body was honorably buried by his son Arcadius in that city.

CCI. The Reign of Arcadius.

^C After Theodosius, Arcadius, his son, reigned for thirteen years, Honorius reigning in Rome. ^D (2) He, having set up the column of the Xerolophos, placed his own statue upon it. (3) And he founded a city in Thrace and called it Arcadiopolis.

^A Under him the earth groaned vehemently for seven days, and there was a great and universal earthquake.

CCII. Concerning the Great John Chrysostom.

Nectarius the archbishop of Constantinople having died, Arcadius, by common suffrage, brought John Chrysostom from the city of Antioch and had him ordained bishop of Constantinople.

It came to pass, moreover, that Theophilus also occupied the see of Alexandria. He was a man very wise and learned, and from the visible appearance of a person, he was able to perceive the invisible thought and character of that man in the highest degree.

He attempted to prevent the ordination of John, for he wished to have a certain Isidore, his own presbyter and host in Alexandria, preferred. Now this Isidore is not that monk and Pelusiote who was a disciple of Chrysostom, as some suppose, but the aforementioned host.

John was from Antioch by birth, the son of Secundus the commander and Anthusa his mother. He was most learned and highly skilled in the art of rhetoric, as Libanius himself, his teacher, testifies. For when he was asked by his relatives whom he would propose to be his successor as a teacher, he said: “John, had the Christians not snatched him away from us.” ^B

(5) Passing his eighteenth year, he broke the yoke of that [rhetorical] life, and having been baptized by Meletius, the patriarch of Antioch, and having been ordained reader by him, he presided over this church for three years. Departing from there, he came to a certain monk and master named Carterius, and having attached himself to him for four years, he was made a monk by him.

(6) Having been taught the Divine Scriptures and the precision of the monastic way of life by him, he withdrew for a time and remained alone in a cave for two years, out of a yearning for quiet. But since during the time of quiet he did not lie down either by night or by day, he was harmed by the cold, and he felt his internal organs grow numb and his nerves grow sluggish. ^C

(7) Not being able to provide for himself, by divine Providence he returned to the church for the salvation of many. Thence he was ordained deacon by Meletius, having served at the altar for five years. ^D

(8) And already, as his virtue in teaching shone forth, he was ordained presbyter by Flavian the bishop; and having remained for four years...

he adorned the priesthood of this place with the perfection of his life. ^A

(9) He was an ascetic in the extreme, and very sleepless, and a lover of silence; and because of his zeal for temperance, he was possessed of great freedom of speech; he was quick-tempered and yielded more to anger than to respect; he used excessive freedom of speech toward those he encountered. And in teaching, he was very useful; but in social intercourse, he was considered an arrogant and haughty man by those who did not know him. ^B

(10) Therefore, even when promoted to the episcopate, he used greater authority toward his subjects for the correction and salvation of each one; and he would change his manner and words—not, however, so that if someone were a flatterer, he would consider him arrogant, nor again, if he were ^C a base flatterer, he would call him modest, but rather he would keep himself in the order of conduct becoming to free men. For a teacher ought to be magnanimous, not proud; brave, not brash; gentle, not servile; modest, not feigning humility; free, not a slave—just as he himself, the one with the golden tongue, says: ^D

(11) For this reason, the teacher and shepherd must be diverse; I mean diverse, not dissembling, nor a flatterer and insulting, but filled with great freedom and boldness, knowing how to condescend usefully when the subject matter requires this, and to be at once both good and severe. For it is not necessary to deal with all subjects in one way; since even physicians ought not to treat all the sick with only one medicine, nor should a pilot know only one way of struggling against the winds. Meditate, therefore, upon what kind of man he must be who is to stand against such a storm and such a gale and such waves, to become all things to all men, so that he may save all. For such a man must be grave and modest, terrible and mild, commanding and sociable, upright and dutiful, humble and not servile, pleasant and sweet, so that he may more easily struggle against these things. Therefore, one endowed with virtue and prudence ought to avoid adulation on both sides, and be neither a boaster nor a flatterer, but to repress the excess of both evils, to act freely, and not to fall into the baseness of slaves. For toward the good, one must be modest, but toward the audacious, lofty; since some consider gentleness to be virtue, and others consider audacity to be manliness; to the former, one must offer humility, but to the latter, manliness, which dissipates their opinion of audacity, so that those

^A he may benefit, and of the others he may humble the pride.

(12) This, therefore, the great Basil also indicates, saying: As the most wise Solomon said: "To everything there is a time," ^B one must know that there is a proper time for humility, and for authority, and for reproof, and for exhortation, and for parsimony, and for boldness, and for kindness, and for severity; and, in a word, for everything there is a proper time, so that at one time one must show the things of humility and imitate the children in humility, according to the Lord’s saying; at another time, use the authority "which the Lord gave for building up and not for tearing down," whenever necessity demands boldness; at a time of exhortation, kindness must be shown, just as at a time of reproof, zeal must be manifested; and in the case of each of the others, a reasonable and just standard must be applied, for the reasonings of the righteous are judgments.

(13) Moreover, the God-bearing Isidore, a disciple of the blessed one, once says: "The one who presides must be both good and formidable, so that those who live well may have confidence, and those who are sinners may be restrained by fear; ^C for one without the other is the absence of authority rather than the use of it. For if all were docile and lovers of virtue, goodness alone would be needed; but if all were prone to sin, fear would be needed. Since, however, it is necessary for both the good and the evil to exist among those who are ruled, both must be employed by the one who presides and rules, so that kindness may support the good and the wise, and fear may forestall the transgressions of the most wicked."

(14) These things, therefore, as it seems, the enemies of the divine John, not knowing and not being able to properly discern and compare things like these, irrationally and foolishly hated him and slandered him as some sort of harsh and irascible man. For this reason, the blessed John also delivered a sermon in church against women; ^D the malevolent, murmuring that it had been spoken against Eudoxia, reported the sermon to her. She, indeed, complaining to Arcadius that she had been grievously injured, exasperated him against John. She took care to summon Theophilus, as he was a manifest enemy of John. Having arrived at the Oak in the Rufinian estates, he convened a council against John and judged that he should be cast into exile; when the people learned of this, they caused a great sedition, not suffering him to be driven from the city.

(15) Eudoxia, having been swayed by the plaints of the people, interceded with Arcadius on behalf of John, and sending the eunuch Briso, she brought John back from Praenetus, so that Theophilus and his party, being terrified, betook themselves to flight.

^A Sixty bishops who were then found gathered and declared all that had been done at the Oak to be null and void, and justly confirmed John in his bishopric.

(16) There arose again matters concerning the silver statue of Eudoxia and the widow's vineyard; once more hatred and once more wrath, once more hostility and the spreading of words, the beginning of which was: “Herodias rages again.” From thence the bishops of his party, seeing that his exile was about to occur, gathered to him with many tears, saying: “It is necessary for us, Master, to urge those who preside over the Churches to hold communion and to subscribe.” ^B But the blessed man said to them: “As to communion, participate, that you may not rend the Church; but do not subscribe; for I am conscious of nothing in myself that deserves deposition.”

(17) He had as disciples in the episcopate Proclus, and Palladius, and Brisson, and Theodoret, and in the ascetic life Mark, Nilus, and Isidore the Pelusiote.

(18) The great Epiphanius of Cyprus, having come to the Hebdomon, performed ordinations and synaxes without John’s knowledge. And when John wished to concede this and tried to induce him to be in accord with him in the episcopal office, Epiphanius refused: for he was preoccupied by the accusations of Theophilus.

(19) While John Chrysostom was exercising the episcopal office, ^C there was a certain Macedonian man who had a wife of the same persuasion as himself. This man, being persuaded by the teaching of John, came to the catholic Church and received communion. He likewise exhorted his wife to return to communion; and she, pretending to yield to her husband, came into the church. But her own handmaid brought her communion taken from the heresy of Macedonius. Having therefore received the communion from John, pretending to bow as if to partake of it, she gave that which she had to her handmaid, and took from her ^D the one which the handmaid brought from the Macedonians, which also, having brought to her mouth, she found to have turned into stone; and this being made manifest, trembling she approached the feet of John, reported what had happened, and adhered to the Church in truth. And the stone was placed in the treasury of church vessels to be kept.

(19) The illustrious John, therefore, having served as bishop—

^A for five and a half years, was exiled to Cucusus, and from there, after three years and two months, was transferred to Pityus. And having arrived by way of Comana, he died, being in much affliction and oppression, fifty-two years of age.

CCIII. Concerning the letter of the Pope of Rome to the Emperor Arcadius.

The Pope of Rome, Innocent, having heard of his death in exile, writes to Arcadius as follows: "The voice of the blood of my brother John cries out to God against you, O King, as once did that of the righteous Abel against the fratricide Cain. And surely, it will be required of you in every way, because you have stirred up an unjust persecution against the Church of God and His priests, and have cast out the great light of the Church and teacher from his episcopal throne, having unlawfully and condemnably ^B driven out Christ together with him."

After John died, Arsacius was ordained patriarch.

(3) The new Delilah, Eudoxia, having little by little shaved with the razor of deceit, brought upon herself a just and indelible curse, having bound up a heavy burden of sins and added to her former terrible and many transgressions.

(4) But the great Isidore, writing to someone, says this: "You ask to know about the tragedy concerning the inspired John; but I hesitate to relate it, for the atrocity of the matter overcomes the mind. Yet learn a few things ^C which Egypt did not know, rejecting Moses and conciliating Pharaoh for herself, scourging the humble and afflicting those worn out by labors, building cities and depriving men of their wages, even to this day intent on these deeds. Proposing to herself Theophilus, an idolater and lover of gold, as a helper, and fortified with four accomplices and apostate associates, she warred against the man who loved God and was a theologian; he whose hatred and enmity toward my namesake became the incentive for her own cruelty. But indeed, the house of David was advancing and ever flourishing, while the house of Saul was waning, blushing, and hindered, as you see; for the man of God departed from the storm crowned and triumphant, ^D and moved on to the heavenly serenity."

(5) When Epiphanius had returned to Cyprus, having been taught by God that his end was near,

^A he is said to have said to those accompanying him: "I am in haste; I leave to you the royal palace, and the city, and hypocrisy." He indeed made known the passing of John in exile and his victory, just as John, in like manner, signified to Epiphanius his falling asleep while on the ship. By divine inspiration, those blessed men had foreknowledge of these things, so that no one might suspect that enmity existed between them; for such god-loving and God-preaching masters, and true disciples of the Christ who makes peace, who says: "By this shall all know that you are my disciples, if you have love one for another," would never have died harboring enmity. Far from it! For even if a small scandal occurred between them long ago, testing human frailty for a little while, they soon rose again to the peak of the virtues, to love, about which the Apostle Paul says: ^B "Love is patient, love is kind; it is not irritable, it does not count the wrong," and that "God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God."

(6) After the death of John, a certain holy bishop, Adelphius by name, related: "I had intolerable grief, because such a man, the teacher of the world, who had gladdened the Church of God with his words, had died outside his see. I therefore entreated God with many tears that He might show me in what state he was, and whether he was numbered among the patriarchs. Having prayed for this for a long time, I was one day in an ecstasy ^C and saw a man of very comely form, who took me by the right hand and led me into a bright and most glorious place, where he showed me the teachers of the Church. I, he said, was looking around to see the one I longed for, the great John, my beloved. After he had shown me all of them and made known the name of each, he took me by the hand again and led me outside. But I followed him sorrowfully, not having seen John among the holy Fathers (John Chrysostom). ^D As I was going out, the one standing at the threshold held me back and said to me: 'What is the matter with you? Why are you grieving?' And as I did not answer, he said again: 'No one who enters here leaves grieving.' Then I said to him: 'This is my grief, that I did not see my most beloved John, the bishop of Constantinople, with the other teachers of the Church.' But he again said to me: 'A man existing in the flesh cannot see him; for he sits there, where the throne of the Lord is.'"

' ^A The Isaurians rose up against Arcadius, plundering as far as Cappadocia. Under him arrived the relics of the holy prophet Samuel, and they were deposited in his temple near the Hebdomon. The emperor fell ill and died.

CCIV. The Reign of Theodosius the Younger

After Arcadius, his son Theodosius reigned for forty-two years; and going out to ride in the Campus, he fell from his horse and died. This man built a temple of the Theotokos in the Chalcopratia, which had previously been a synagogue of the Jews. He tore down a wall made of solid earth and, by adding two other intervals, built another wall in sixty days. Under him, the seven children who had suffered martyrdom at Ephesus during the reign of Decius arose after three ^B hundred and seventy-two years.

A great and most terrifying earthquake also occurred in Constantinople, so that the walls of the city fell and the greater part of it was destroyed in various places; and indeed this earthquake shook the villages and regions of Thrace, Pontus, Bithynia, Phrygia, and Galatia for three months. Therefore the emperor, together with the patriarch Proclus and the entire multitude of the city, went in procession barefoot for many days, singing litanies. In these days of supplication, it happened that a boy from among the people was lifted into the air and, taught by some angelic instruction, intoned the sacred Trisagion hymn. But as soon as the boy had finished and announced what he had been taught, and the crowds had sung that same melody with him, the calamity of the earthquake ceased (and the boy died).

Under Theodosius, Aspar and Ardaburius were chosen as Domestics of the East ^C and West. Atticus the patriarch, having instructed a certain paralyzed Jew, and then having baptized him, brought him out of the baptistery healthy, contrary to all expectation.

CCV. Concerning the Third Synod

The third synod of the two hundred Fathers was held at Ephesus, in the thirteenth year of the reign of Theodosius the Younger, the son of Arcadius. ^D

^A (2) It was presided over by Cyril of Alexandria, who held the place of Coelestinus, Pope of Rome, together with Juvenal of Jerusalem (and John of Antioch, against Nestorius, Bishop of Constantinople, who was himself present at Ephesus). The latter taught that the holy Mary was not to be called the Theotokos (God-bearer), but Christotokos (Christ-bearer) and Kyriotokos (Lord-bearer); and he fabled that in Christ, the God, there were two sons and two persons, saying that the Word who was begotten of the Father was one, and that the man born of Mary was another, united to the Word of God only by a relation, and called "Son" by homonymy with Him. ^B (3) Since he had been summoned by the synod and did not appear, the synod canonically deposed him for refusing to subscribe to the orthodox dogmas, and anathematized him; and it clearly set forth the dogma of the one hypostasis of Christ, our God, through the union, and of the two natures; and that He is the same person, both God and man, and that the holy Mary is truly and properly the Theotokos.

(4) John, Bishop of Antioch, arrived after the deposition of Nestorius; and being troubled that Nestorius had been deposed without him, taking with him the bishops who had come with him, among whom were Theodoret, bishop of Cyrus, and Ibas of Edessa, he dictated the deposition of Cyril, who is in the ranks of the saints, and of Memnon, Bishop of Ephesus, on the charge that they had held the synod contrary to the canon of the Church. Those around Cyril, however, complained that the things done by them were lawless and absurd. And thus, differing among themselves, they separated from the city of Ephesus, the Orientals and the Egyptians. ^C (5) But after these things, by the zeal of the emperor, they were united, the Orientals agreeing to the orthodox faith defined at Ephesus and to the deposition of Nestorius, having sent a written letter to the Alexandrians through Paul, the bishop of Emesa.

(6) Nestorius was sent into exile in the Oasis.

(7) Upon the death of Atticus, Sisinius was appointed patriarch; upon his death, Nestorius; and after he was deposed, Proclus was ordained in his stead, at which time the relics of Chrysostom were also transferred to the city. Likewise the relics of Stephen and Lawrence.

^D The Prince of the Persians came to make war against Theodosius; but the emperor sent Patricius against him with a strong army. As he was advancing to battle, the Persian leader said to him: "If you have anyone among your people who can fight in single combat and defeat one Persian combatant, I willingly con-

commit to peace for fifty years; but if he is defeated, I shall receive fifty centenaria." And so, one produced a Persian in armor, and the other a Goth, long-haired and equipped, between the two armies. The Persian came on first, brandishing his lance; but the Goth deftly dodged the blow, wounded him in the Gothic manner, and having thrown him from his horse, immediately killed him. This having been done, the Persian commander made the peace agreement according to his promise.

Once, when the king went out to hunt, without the knowledge of any of those who were with him, he traveled a long way and came to a certain monk sitting in a cell near the suburbs of Constantinople. ^B The elder recognized him, but received him as one of the common soldiers. Now, as the king was weary from the journey and the heat, the elder mixed some bread, and pouring on vinegar and oil, the king ate and drank water. And he said to the monk: "Do you know who I am, Father?" But the monk said: "God knows you." And the king said: "I am Theodosius the emperor." And the elder, rising, bowed deeply to him. The king therefore said: "Blessed indeed are you monks, who have no care for the world. For I say to you truly, Father, I was born in the palace and never have I eaten and drunk with such pleasure as today." ^C When the people arrived, the king honored the elder worthily in the presence of everyone, and having ordered him to pray for all, he resumed his journey in peace. From that day on, the king honored him greatly; but the elder arose, fled, and returned again to Egypt.

CCVI. Concerning the translation of Chrysostom.

daughter, he left one hundred gold pieces, stating thus in his will: “To Athenaïs, my dearest daughter, I wish one hundred gold pieces to be given, and no more; for her own fortune is sufficient for her.”

^B (3) She, after the death of her father, having received nothing from her brothers, came to Pulcheria, the sister of Theodosius, to complain about her brothers. She, observing her beauty and her learning, and learning from her aunt that she was a virgin, baptized her—for she was a pagan—and renamed her Eudoxia. She joined her in marriage to her own brother (with the consent also of the most beloved Paulinus, who, having become master of offices, was greatly honored as a helper and groomsman; indeed, having summoned her brothers, she also raised them to offices of honor).

^C (5) After this, it happened that the king went out in public on the day of the Epiphany, and Paulinus, being unwell, was not found with the king. A certain poor man gave the king a Phrygian apple of immense size, which the king accepted and admired, along with the whole senate, and he gave the poor man one hundred gold pieces. He sent the apple to the empress, and she to Paulinus, and he to the king as he was returning into the palace. The king, having received this and recognized it, sought it from the empress; she said, “I ate it.” And when he urged her to swear by her own salvation, she persistently refused. Then he showed her the apple. Upon seeing it, she was ashamed and remained speechless. The king, enraged against her, and because she, being in love with Paulinus, had sent the apple to him and for that reason had denied it, immediately put Paulinus to death.

(6) Empress Eudoxia, having been saddened by this, begged the king to let her be sent to Jerusalem for the sake of prayer. He, yielding to her request, fulfilled her desire. ^D (7) When she had arrived there, she performed many great deeds of virtue, renewing the walls of Jerusalem.

(8) Certain conversations having been held with some people, she said this, that “Concerning me David has spoken: Deal favorably, O Lord, in thy good pleasure with Zion; and let the walls of Jerusalem be built” (Ps. LI, 18).

When she was about to die, she confessed that she was conscious of nothing regarding the accusation of Paulinus. ^A

When Proclus died, Flavianus, a most holy man, was set over the Church.

From the Goths there issued four nations, which are the Hypogoths, the Gepids, and the Vandals, from whom came the Arabs; and they began to invade the territory of the Romans.

CCVII. The Reign of Marcianus

^B After Theodosius, Marcianus, his son-in-law, reigned for six years. For when Theodosius had died, and this had not yet become known to anyone, Pulcheria, the emperor’s sister, having summoned him—a man who was a soldier and advanced in years, and commendable for his prudence and the honesty of his life—said to him: “Since the emperor has died, and I have chosen you from the entire senate as a man preeminent in virtue, give me your word that you will keep inviolate the virginity which I have vowed to the Lord, and I shall proclaim you emperor.” When he had promised this under oath, she called for the patriarch Anatolius and the senate, and proclaimed him emperor.

^C After she had performed such excellent works and had erected many houses of prayer, and asylums for the poor, and hospices, and cemeteries for strangers, and monasteries, among which she built the temple of Saint Lawrence, the virgin passed away, leaving Marcianus as her successor in the kingdom.

She was indeed adorned with all virtues. For she herself had instructed her brother Theodosius in all things, such as character and speech, and gait, and laughter, and the wearing of garments, and the manner of sitting and standing; but primarily she had diligently taught him piety toward God.

He, however, was by nature sluggish and incautious toward everything, especially toward those who presented documents to him: he would sign them without reading them. When his most prudent sister noticed this, she came to him cleverly and presented a petition that his own wife, Eudoxia, should withdraw among her servants; he signed it without reading it, and for this, he later suffered heavy reproaches from his sister Pulcheria.

^A Marcianus was a man of extreme piety and a just judge. It is written of him that while he was still a soldier, being afflicted in his feet and suffering from illness, he was left behind in the city of Sidima. Being restored to health, he was taken into the house of two wealthy brothers. Once, having gone out hunting with them, he fell asleep resting at midday. When the brothers awoke, they saw him sleeping in the sun, overshaded by an eagle. Astonished, they said to him upon his waking: “If you are to reign, what grace will you grant us?” Though he did not believe it, he nevertheless said: “I will hold you in the place of a father.” They gave him two hundred coins and sent him into the city ^B saying, “Remember us in your reign.”

Having entered, he attached himself to Aspar and Ardaburius. Afterward, he went with Aspar into Africa and was taken alive. While he was sleeping in the hall of Genserich, an eagle came down again and sheltered him. Being seen by Genserich, the sight seemed to presage that he was destined to reign. Considering, however, that the will of God cannot be thwarted, he made peace treaties with him and released him.

Upon the death of Flavian, Anatolius was ordained patriarch.

Marcianus, therefore, now left as the sole master of the empire, issued an edict that positions of authority should not be obtained by the payment of money; ^C moreover, he was full of mercy.

While litanies were being performed in the Field, he would walk on foot with the patriarch Anatolius, distributing many gifts to the poor.

In his time, three stones of wondrous size fell from the sky in Thrace.

CCVIII. On the Fourth Synod

The fourth synod of the 630 Fathers was held at Chalcedon in the first year of the reign of Marcianus, over whom presided the legates of the most holy Pope of Rome, Leo—namely Paschasius and Lucentius, bishops, and Boniface, a priest—along with Anatolius of Constantinople, Juvenal of Jerusalem, ^D and Maximus of Antioch, having as their champion the martyr Euphemia, who contends for the faith to this present day. They gathered against the wretched Eutyches—who had been a priest and archimandrite—and Dioscorus, bishop of Alexandria; but they were then separated as being contrary to those things which they had correctly taught, namely, to those who were declaring that the flesh of the Lord is not consubstantial with us, but that the union was formed out of two natures, and that after the union one [nature] is perfected.

who also speak mythically of the Lord as having worn the flesh in appearance only, and who attribute passion to the Godhead.

(2) These men the Council deposed as blasphemers and anathematized. They proclaimed the same Lord and God, Jesus Christ, to be perfect God and perfect man in two natures, unconfusedly and indivisibly. They spoke of two natures according to the principle of distinction, not according to the principle of separation, and they received the epistle written by Pope Leo of Rome to Flavian as a pillar of orthodoxy. ^B (3) They also confirmed the deposition of Nestorius, and they accepted Theodoret and Ibas because they had anathematized Nestorius.

(4) At this time, the wondrous Simeon was living atop a pillar. The synod, blaming him (for he was the first to invent this way of life), refused to have communion with him. Later, however, when the holy Fathers learned of the man’s life and simplicity, they again entered into communion with him. King Marcian even came to him in private attire and was deemed worthy of his holy prayers and of seeing him.

(5) Concerning him, Theodoret says: "Since the number of those who were arriving at him was exceeding what was proper, and since everyone desired to touch him and attempted to obtain some blessing from those leather garments of his—at first, because he thought such excessive honor was inappropriate, and later because he found the burden of the matter difficult to endure—he devised the station upon the pillar. ^C This, he first commanded to be six cubits [high], then twelve, after that twenty-two, and now thirty-six. Now, I do not believe that this station of his occurred without divine dispensation; and therefore I admonish the impious to curb their tongues from insolence, remembering that God has often provided for the utility of the incredulous in such ways. For thus He commanded Isaiah to walk naked and barefoot; and Jeremiah to gird his loins with a belt and thus to deliver prophecy to the unbelieving, and later to wear wooden and iron collars about his neck; and Hosea to take a harlot as a wife and again to love an adulteress; and Ezekiel to lie upon his right side for forty days and to recline upon his left for ^D one hundred and fifty days, and again to dig through a wall, to go out as a fugitive, to mark out servitude for himself, and elsewhere to sharpen a sword and with it to shave his head, and in four

^A And other times, 39 [he was commanded] to sharpen a sword to a point, and to shave his head with it, and to divide the hair into four parts, and to distribute some here and some there, that—not to say everything—the Ruler of all things commanded each of these things to be done, gathering together by the strangeness of the spectacle those who did not obey the Word (nor endure to listen to [the] prophecies), and preparing them to hear the divine decrees. For who would not have been amazed seeing a divine man walking naked? And who would not have asked why the prophet endured living with a harlot? Just as, therefore, God commanded each of those things to be done for the benefit of those living carelessly, so too did He orchestrate this new and strange way, drawing everyone by the strangeness and novelty of the spectacle to contemplation, and preparing an irresistible persuasion for those arriving [to hear] the offered exhortation. For the novelty of the spectacle becomes a pledge of a useful lesson, and he who comes to see it returns instructed in divine things. ^B For just as this most luminous lamp, set upon a 40 lampstand, sent out its rays in every direction like the sun, so one could see Iberians, Armenians, and Persians arriving and enjoying the divine baptism (and the Ishmaelites were coming in companies of two hundred and three hundred, sometimes even a thousand). And renouncing their ancestral deception with a voice, and the idols fashioned by their fathers, they would shatter them before that divine column (and renouncing the orgies of Aphrodite; for they had accepted the worship of this demon from of old), they would enjoy the divine mysteries, and receiving laws from that sacred tongue, they would bid farewell to ancestral customs, rejecting the food of wild asses and camels. I myself was an eyewitness of these things and heard them renouncing their ancestral impiety and subscribing to the evangelical teaching. ^C So much benefit did the column, [though] maligned by the censorious, pour forth, and such a ray of divine knowledge did it shine into the minds of the barbarians! ^D With good reason, therefore, did the Lord say: “He who believes in me, the works that I do, he also shall do” 51 (of which promise we have clearly seen the end. For since the shadow of the Lord performed no miracle anywhere, yet the shadow of the great Peter dissolved death, expelled diseases, and put demons to flight; but He who long ago performed those and suchlike wonders through His apostles, He Himself also now, through His servant Simeon, illuminating him with the splendor of the Holy Spirit and emitting rays of grace everywhere, according to the great Basil, performs miracles. 53

^A For Basil says: "Just as bright and transparent bodies, when a ray falls upon them, themselves become radiant and emit another light from themselves, so too do those souls filled with the Spirit, illuminated by the Spirit, themselves become spiritual and send forth grace to others." Hence come the foreknowledge of future events, the understanding of mysteries, the revelation of hidden things, the distribution of charisms, the heavenly manner of life, exultation with the angels, perennial joy, abiding in God, likeness to God, and that most excellent of things desired, to become god.

Under Marcian, the relics of Isaiah arrived, having been brought from Paneas, and were deposited in Saint Lawrence.

In the third year of his reign, the pious virgin Pulcheria passed away. She had built the church of the most holy Theotokos, the Chalcoprateia church, and the temple in Blachernae.

King Marcian, his feet having contracted, languished for five months and died.

CCIX. The Reign of Leo

After Marcian, Leo the Great, or Macellus, reigned for eighteen years and died of dysentery. The senate had designated him king because of his orthodoxy, while Aspar and Ardaburius wished to gain the kingdom; because they were Arians, the senate did not accept them. When the king also saw that they were not acting rightly toward him, he killed them; and from that time he was called Macellus, which in Latin means "the slaughterer."

^C Under him a sign appeared in heaven: for forty days a cloud in the form of a trumpet was seen, and it rained dust upon Constantinople in the volume of a handful; for as the clouds appeared like fire, it seemed that fire was falling. Therefore, as all prayed, by the kindness of God it was extinguished and turned into dust.

A certain painter having once dared to depict Christ in the likeness of Jupiter, his hand immediately withered. Patriarch Gennadius, however, healed him. Some historians say that the curly and sparse hair upon Christ is the more fitting appearance.

Divine Gennadius, because of the martyr Eleutherius ^D

^A regarding a certain cleric of the church who was not acting properly, declared the following: "O Saint of God Eleutherius, your soldier behaves with disorder; either correct him or cut him off." And he died immediately.

The same Gennadius, having come at night to the holy altar to pray, saw a certain demonic phantom, whom he rebuked and heard it crying out: "I yield to you, but you shall possess the Church until the very end." Gennadius, fearing this, and having offered many prayers to God, died shortly thereafter.

(6) Under Leo, upon the death of Anatolius, Gennadius was appointed patriarch. He chose as chancellor Marcian, who had been of the sect of the Cathari but had returned to the Church. He built Saint Anastasia, which he later rescued from a conflagration by his prayers; for at that time a great fire occurred from the New Harbor as far as Saint Thomas. ^B Having gone up then to the roof of Saint Anastasia, holding the Gospel in his hands, he saved the temple unharmed.

(7) In his time, Studius built the temple of Saint John the Forerunner and installed monks there from the Unsleeping ones.

(8) Also, the body of the prophet Elisha was translated to Alexandria in the monastery of Paul the leper; for he had healed a leper, and had made a leper, and was set in the (temple) of the leper.

(9) And the relics of Saint Anastasia were deposited in her temple.

(10) And Daniel the wonderful, having come from the monastery of Saint Simeon, ascended the column at Anaplus.

(11) And the garment of the most holy Theotokos, having been found in Jerusalem by a certain most pious Jewish woman and virgin, was kept in a sacred manner; and having been brought to Constantinople, it was deposited in Blachernae, where the king had built a temple to the Mother of God, and having prepared a chest of gold and silver, he deposited it there. It is woven from wool in an incorruptible manner, and the warp and the woof are of the same form and the same color; it is incorrupt and unharmed, proclaiming until today the miracle of the Ever-Virgin.

^D (12) Under him, Isocasius the quaestor, a Greek

^A accused, was brought to the prefect of the city, his hands tied behind his back. Posæus the prefect said to him: "Do you see, Isocasius, in what condition you stand?" And he said: "I see, and I am not amazed; for since I am a man, I have become involved in human calamities. Yet judge me as you were wont to judge with me." When the emperor had learned these things, moved by pity for him, he let him go free.

CCX. The Reign of Leo the Younger.

Leo the Younger, his grandson, reigned for one year.

CCXI. The Reign of Zeno.

After him reigned Zeno, son-in-law of Leo the Great and father of Leo the Younger, for seventeen years, and he died of dysentery. ^B Shortly after he had attained the kingdom, when snares had been laid for him by Verina, his mother-in-law, the wife of Leo the Great, claiming that he had reigned without her consent, he fled to his own homeland with his wife Ariadne. Verina then crowned Basiliscus, her own brother, and he reigned for two years, which were added to the counts of Zeno's time. He built a palace in Constantinople, and called it by his own name, Basiliscum.

Later, Zeno returned and entered Constantinople, and having gained power over those who had fled for refuge into the church, he sent them into exile with their wives and children to a fortress in Cappadocia, where Basiliscus, ^C locked in a tower with the door blocked, perished.

Under the same man, a horrible earthquake happened in Constantinople, and many churches, houses, and porticoes fell to the ground. Nicomedia also suffered the same.

He also sent Verina, his wife's mother, into exile by the counsel of Illus the magister. But the wife of Zeno, the daughter of Verina, Ariadne, commanded Urbicius to kill Illus. When the latter had come into the circus, Urbicius cut off his right ear with a sword. From this, he plotted a revolt against Zeno the headless.

CCXII. Concerning Peter the Fuller.

Under Zeno, Martyrius of Antioch, on account of Zeno's depravity regarding the orthodox faith, ^D resigning the bishopric, said in the church: "To an insubordinate clergy, to a disobedient people, and to a church defiled, I bid farewell, for..."

^A I maintain the dignity of the priesthood for myself."

^B This man was the first to devise that the holy oil be sanctified before all the people in the church, and that the invocation over the waters at the Theophany be performed in the evening, and that in every synaxis the symbol of the faith be recited, which beforehand was not said except once a year on Great Friday.

(5) When he had departed from the throne, as has been said, Peter the Fuller, who favored the doctrine of Eutyches, recovered it by force.

(4) After he had again gained possession of the Antiochene see by evil arts, and had been expelled by ecclesiastical decree, and then for the third time, after the rebellion of Basiliscus which had occurred in Isauria against the reign of Zeno, he had illegitimately occupied the same see by the authority of Basiliscus—without the chains of the excommunication launched against him having been loosed, and after he had disturbed the whole East—he was excommunicated by Pope Felix of Rome, both on account of his heterodoxy and on account of the addition to the Trisagion.

(5) During this same reign of Zeno, the relics of the Apostle Barnabas were found in Cyprus, in the city of Constantia, under a carob tree, by revelation: upon the saint’s chest lay the Gospel according to Matthew, the autograph of Barnabas himself.

(6) Through this occasion, by the revelation and instruction of the Apostle, the Cypriots overcame Peter the Fuller when he was contending that the churches in Cyprus were subject to Antioch, and they demonstrated that the metropolis of Cyprus was autocephalous.

(7) This Gospel which had been found, Zeno placed in the palace, in the temple of Saint Stephen, and it is read publicly every year on the holy and great Thursday.

(8) A certain Marianus foretold to the king that both his kingdom and his wife would be taken by one of the silentiaries. Zeno ordered a certain Pelagius, one of the silentiaries, a patrician and a most wise man, to be guarded in prison, and the guards, by the order of Zeno, strangled him by night.

(9) At the same time, Perozes the Persian, defeated in war by the Huns, ^D threw the pearl he was wearing, most white and exceedingly large, from his right ear

^A so that no one might wear it afterwards. (10) At the time of the earthquake which occurred then, the head of the statue at the Forum and the pillar of the great Theodosius fell onto the Column of Taurus. (11) Zeno, having been afflicted with dysentery, died in the heresy of the Acephali.

CCXIII. The Reign of Anastasius of Dyrrhachium

After Zeno, Anastasius, known as Dicorus ^B or the Dyrrhachian, reigned for twenty-seven years. It is said concerning him that, being a Dyrrhachian and the son of a presbyter, he had taken a loan of a hundred pounds of gold because he had suffered shipwreck; and the military commander who was at Dyrrhachium, wishing to take the presbyter’s wife for the sake of the money, was prevented from having commerce with her by a divine vision. He seized the presbyter’s son instead, and he went up to the palace.

(2) And after the death of Zeno, his wife Ariadne appointed Anastasius as emperor.

(3) It is said that he built a church at Dyrrhachium in honor of the Holy Anargyroi, as well as the animals ^C which are in the gate.

(4) At first he was orthodox, but finally he declined into Monarchianism, and he died by lightning, after having sent the patriarch of Jerusalem, who was orthodox and holy, into exile.

(5) During his time, Vitalianus the Thracian revolted, and having seized Thrace, he came with the Scythians and Mysians as far as the Anaplus, laying waste to the land. But Marinus the legate, having engaged him in a naval battle with the medical fire and natural sulfur which Proclus the philosopher had prepared, burnt the ships of the barbarians. And nearly all of the Huns, Goths, Bulgarians, and the rest of the army having been submerged in the current, Vitalianus fled with the few who remained.

(6) A fire also appeared in the sky, and a popular sedition concerning the orthodox dogma occurred in Constantinople when the emperor wished to add to the Trisagion: “Who was crucified for us, have mercy on us.” ^D For when the chancellor and the legate had ascended the ambo of the Great Church and started to preach the heresy decreed by royal mandate, the people and the whole multitude of the city rose up against them, and they barely escaped. And such a sedition and turmoil arose, with men shouting, “We want another king!” that the emperor and the magistrates had to flee and hide from the rush of the people. The rioters, having gathered, rushed into the house of the chancellor and the legate and plundered everything; and handing their houses over to the flames, those...

^A they found there they slaughtered. Then, a great tumult and sedition having arisen, they set fire to many houses, committed countless murders, and dared other such fearful and extraordinary things, insulting Anastasius with great shouting and cheering for Vitalian. And so, coming near the cistern of Saint Mocius which had been built by him, they found the superior of the monastery of Saint Philip who was beloved by the emperor, and having killed him and hung his head upon a spear, they shouted: "This is the friend of the enemy of the Holy Trinity." They also brought ^B out a woman who was a recluse living near the Xylokerkos Gate, in whom the emperor placed his trust, and killed her as well. Binding her body together with that of the aforementioned superior and dragging them along, they burned them at the Stoudion.

(7) In those same times, after Mundarus, the phylarch of the Saracens, had been baptized by the orthodox in Syria, Severus sent bishops to the emperor, wishing to share his heresy with him. Having perceived their dogma, he said craftily: "Today I received letters that the Archangel Michael has died." When they said that this was impossible, he answered: "And how, tell me, was [your] God crucified according to you, if Christ did not consist of two natures, if not even an angel dies?" Hearing this, they were greatly ^C astonished and withdrew in shame.

(8) Anastasius saw in his sleep someone of fearful appearance holding a book (written and being read). And having opened (five leaves of the book) and read the name of the emperor, he said to him: "Behold, because of your unbelief, I am erasing fourteen years (of your life)." And (with his own finger) he erased them.

(9) And after two days, when thunder and lightning had occurred in the palace and the emperor was left entirely alone and fleeing from place to place, in one of the bedchambers called Hoato, he felt the wrath of God, which fell upon him and tore him apart, so that he was suddenly found dead.

(10) They say that after he was buried, ^D after several days had passed, he cried out: "Have mercy on me, and open." When the memorialists said that another man was reigning, he said: "It is of no concern to me; take me to a monastery." But they left him. It is said that not long after, the tomb was opened and he was found, [from hunger], eating the flesh of his own arms and the boots that he wore.

^A In Alexandria, very many men and women and children, struck by demons, cried out all together. While still alive, he saw in a dream a terrible one saying to him: "Because of the anathemas of the synod, these just ones suffer these things."

(13) And the Huns and those who are called the Iberians, having crossed the Caspian Gates, laid waste to the whole of Armenia, Cappadocia, Galatia, and Pontus.

(14) When an earthquake was about to occur in Neocaesarea, a certain man journeying toward the city saw soldiers going before and another behind, calling out: "Keep watch over the house of Gregory the wonderworker." And when the earthquake occurred, the largest part of the city fell, but the temple of the saint was saved.

^B (15) And in Antioch there appeared a fraudulent goldsmith who showed the money-changers hands and feet of statues made of gold and other vessels, saying that he had found a treasure full of such things. And after he had deceived many and taken a great deal of money, he came fleeing to Constantinople. And there, having similarly deceived many, he came to the king, bringing a bridle made of pure gold and adorned with gems; upon receiving it, the king said to him: "Me, indeed, you do not deceive." And when he had whipped him severely, he sent him in chains into exile to Petra, which is a fortress in Asia, where he also died.

CCXIV. Concerning the reign of Coades

Coades, the king of the Persians, having learned that many precious stones were concealed in one of the fortresses of this region, and desiring to seize them, was prevented by the demons residing there. Therefore, when his servants had displayed all their magic and achieved nothing, he turned to the Jews, but in vain. Then he received counsel to suppress the power of the demons through the Christians. ^C And the bishop of the Christians who was in Persia, having celebrated a synaxis for this purpose, and having partaken of the divine mysteries and distributed them to the Christians assembled with him, drove away the demons with the sign of the cross and delivered the fortress to Coades.

^D (2) Who, having been astonished and thoroughly terrified, [honored the bishop with an honorable seat].

whereas until that time the Jews and Manichaeans had been preferred; and he gave full freedom to the Christians and to those who wished to profess the Christian faith, from that time onward greatly cherishing the Christians.

CCXV. Concerning Euphemius the presbyter.

Euphemius, a certain presbyter and nourisher of the poor at Neapolis, which is situated at the Anaplus, is appointed bishop of Constantinople. He, at the very ordination, before ascending the throne, erased with his own hands the name of Peter Mongus from the sacred diptychs, and thus occupied the episcopal throne. Now this Mongus was indeed bishop of Alexandria, but a most ardent supporter of heresy.

(2) Euphemius pursued the orthodox faith and persecuted its adversaries, the first of whom was ^B Anastasius, the then silentiary, who later became emperor. Knowing him to favor the doctrine of Eutyches and to stir up sedition, and having seen his seat in the church, he overturned it and declared threats to him, saying that unless he pursued the things of peace, his head would be cut off and handed over to the people for a triumph. He even made known to the emperor the things concerning him and received authority against him.

(3) But when Zeno the emperor had died, Anastasius the silentiary was proclaimed emperor by Ariadne the Augusta, against whom Euphemius the bishop rose up, calling him a heretic and unworthy of Christians. Ariadne, however, and those of the senate, compelled Euphemius to agree; yet he refused to do this unless he obtained from him a written confession that he would accept as a rule of faith the things defined at Chalcedon.

(4) By this confession the emperor deceived Euphemius and reigned. The Manichaeans ^C and Arians rejoiced over Anastasius; the Manichaeans indeed because his mother was a zealot for their cause, and the Arians because they had Clearchus, the maternal uncle of Anastasius, as one devoted to their opinions.

(5) As the Isaurians were daring many impious and cruel deeds in Constantinople, Anastasius cast them all out of the royal city. They, having gone out, rushed into tyranny and raided as far as Cotyaeum; against them the emperor sent an army and slew John the Hunchback.

(6) But as the war lasted for five years, Anastasius, wearied, confided in Euphemius the bishop concerning

the restoration of peace, and ordered him to summon the resident bishops to pray for the Isaurians. Euphemius conveyed this command to John the patrician, the brother of Athenodorus, one of the leaders of the Isaurians. ^A (7) But he ran and reported everything to the emperor, which incited the emperor toward greater hostility against Euphemius.

(8) Anastasius, moved to act more regally against the Isaurians, defeated them by force and sent Eusebius, his master of offices, to Euphemius, declaring to him: “Your prayers, most high sir, have disgraced your friends.”

(9) Anastasius the emperor, attributing the plots of the Isaurians to Euphemius, and as if he had sent letters to the tyrants, ^B assembled the resident bishops, who, wishing to curry favor with the emperor, repaid the man with excommunication and deposition.

(10) And the emperor appointed as bishop Macedonius, a presbyter of the Church and guardian of the treasury.

(11) The people, however, were agitated on account of Euphemius, and many ran into the hippodrome singing litanies, but they accomplished nothing, for the emperor’s faction prevailed.

(12) The emperor ordered Euphemius to be deported to Euchaita. He, however, requested a pledge ^C from Macedonius that he would be brought to that place securely and without treachery. Macedonius, consenting to give it, moved by a laudable plan, while Euphemius was standing in the baptistery, ordered his episcopal pallium to be removed. And thus entering in to Euphemius, having borrowed money, he provided for Euphemius and those who were with him.

(13) Now Macedonius was holily devoted to an ascetic life, having been brought up by Gennadius, and he was even his nephew.

(14) Yet, since he would not comply with the emperor’s heresy, he displayed many terrible things. For they say that when Macedonius ^D passed away in exile, a terrifying thing occurred: namely, that when he was dead and laid upon a bier, in the sight of all, he was marked with the sign of the cross.

(15) In his time, the great Sabbas came to Constantinople for the first time, and for the second time under Justinian.

(16) Under the same emperor Anastasius, Deuterius, the Arian bishop of Byzantium, baptizing a certain barbarian, dared to say: “So-and-so is baptized in the name of the Father through the Son in the Holy Spirit.” And immediately the baptistery was dried up. The barbarian, terrified...

fled ^A naked, and thus the miracle became known to all.

Again, while Anastasius was still reigning, when two bishops, an Orthodox and an Arian, were disputing with one another, and the Arian was a dialectician, while the Orthodox was pious and faithful, the Orthodox proposed that, setting aside arguments, they should enter a pyre, and thus it would be shown who was the more pious. The Arian having declined, he himself entered the flame and disputed amid the fires and emerged unharmed.

CCXVI. The Reign of Justin the Thracian

After Anastasius, Justin the Thracian reigned for nine years; he was brave in war and a fervent defender of the Orthodox faith. He reconciled to himself the aforementioned Vitalianus, honored him with the office of commander of the army, and granted him great liberty in his presence. But Vitalianus was killed by treachery by the Byzantines, who were enraged because of the aforementioned reconciliation.

Amantius, the grand chamberlain—who built and adorned the church of Saint Thomas—is said to have given money to Justin himself, who was commander of the guard under Anastasius, so that he might proclaim Theocritus, his nephew, king. Justin killed him and those who had plotted the rebellion with him, and he himself seized the kingdom.

Under him occurred the events concerning Saint Arethas and those in the city of Negra, ^C and those against the Homerites, carried out by Elesbaan, King of the Ethiopians.

It was also decreed under him that we should celebrate the feast of the Meeting (Hypapante).

And a star appeared in the heavens above the Bronze Gate, shining for twenty-seven days and nights.

There was also a most dreadful earthquake. Constantinople indeed felt it in various places; but great Antioch suffered unspeakable damage, so that almost the entire city was swallowed up and became the tomb of its inhabitants. Some, buried and still alive, were crying out from under the earth. And fire that came out of the earth consumed them, while another fire descended from the sky like a spark, and like lightning, it would burn whoever it found.

Pompeiopolis in Mysia suffered the same fate, and the middle part ^D was swallowed up along with its inhabitants. Under the earth

and its inhabitants crying out, praying to be granted mercy; and the earth did not cease shaking for a whole year.

^A (10) And a certain woman appeared, of gigantic size, who, originating from Cilicia, surpassed every man in stature by one cubit, and was very broad, so that those who saw her marveled. In the workshops and houses, they gave her an obol [as a fee].

(11) The same king showed much benevolence towards the city of Antioch ^B for the sake of its restoration and for those who remained alive in it. He grieved over it so much that he put aside his diadem and purple robe, and clothed himself in sackcloth and ashes, and mourned for several days.

(12) He died, leaving the kingdom to his nephew Justinian.

Justin recalled all the priests and pious and orthodox men ^C whom Anastasius had unjustly sent into exile.

(14) In his time, the river Scirtus, which flows through the middle of the city of Edessa and provides it with both wealth and pleasure, flooded and drowned it along with its inhabitants. After the waters receded, a stone tablet was found in the riverbed, engraved with hieroglyphic characters, which read thus: "The river Scirtus will move with evil movements for the city and ^D the citizens."

A certain Eulalius, having become poor after having been rich, upon dying, appointed Justin heir in his testament, and entrusted to him the task of nurturing and providing a dowry for his three daughters who were left behind as young children, and of paying all of his debts by which he was encumbered, and also of redeeming his documents. All of these things Justin fulfilled liberally, to the astonishment of all who heard it.

CCXVII. The Reign of Justinian

After Justin, his nephew Justinian reigned for thirty-nine years. He renovated the Great Church of Saint Sophia—first built by Constantius, son of Constantine the Great—to [a state of] beauty and magnitude, and he also gave ^D a hymn to be chanted in the church, the beginning of which is: "Only-begotten Son and Word of God."

^A He also made new constitutions, promulgating a law regarding bishops, hospice-keepers, stewards, and orphan-keepers, such that, except for those things which they possessed before undertaking their office, they could approach no inheritance.

Antioch, however, did not cease to be shaken until it seemed good to a pious man to write upon the door-frames of the entrances: "Christ is with us; stand fast." The wrath of God then stood fast, and from that time the city was called Theopolis.

^B (4) And the feast of the Meeting [Candlemas] was transferred and began to be celebrated on the second day of the month of February, whereas previously it occurred on the fourteenth day of the same month; this festival is not reckoned among the Dominical feasts. For the divine Chrysostom speaks thus: "God made all His works, as it is written, and on the seventh day He rested. Therefore, at the end of the days, the Word of God deigned to seek and to save that which was lost, and having become man, followed the same pattern, and according to the number of the days of the creation of the world, He gave us the festivals of His own economy. And the first, and the root of the feasts of Christ, is the Nativity according to the flesh from the Virgin Mary after the conception; the second is the Epiphany; the third is the day of the saving Passion; the fourth is the most glorious Resurrection, by which, when the Savior and Redeemer of all had descended into the lower regions, He raised up with Himself the just and the faithful; the fifth is His Ascension into heaven, just as it happened on the fifth day of the week; the ^C sixth is the day of the illumination of the Holy Spirit; the seventh is the day expected, the great and eternal day of the catholic resurrection of the dead. For then those who are to inherit will truly celebrate with much joy and exultation ‘what eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it ascended into the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him.’" And these things are from Chrysostom.

(5) After these things, in the reign of Justinian, the sea went out from its boundaries for three miles toward the regions of Thrace, destroying many villages and suburbs and drowning countless people, but it retreated again.

(6) And the faction which is called the Prasino-Veneta [Blue-Greens] created a tumult, and having perpetrated many crimes, rapine, ^D murders, and conflagrations throughout the city, proclaimed Hypatius king in the circus. When a great multitude had converged and the circus was filled, Justinian arranged his own people and the army. And some were stationed above, others below the [imperial] seat.

They shot arrows and killed thirty thousand, among whom they apprehended Hypatius and slew him, because he had worn the royal diadem.

CCXVIII. On the Fifth Synod

^A Under the reign of Justinian the Great, in the twenty-sixth year of his reign, when the most holy patriarch Vigilius of Rome was confirming the orthodox faith by rescript, the fifth synod of one hundred and sixty-five Fathers was held. Presiding over it were Eutychius of Constantinople, Apollinarius of Alexandria, Domnus of Antioch, Stephanus the bishop of Raphia, and Georgius the bishop of the city of Tiberias, acting as vicars for Eutychius of Jerusalem. They gathered against Origen and those who had received his impious dogmas—namely, Didymus and Evagrius, who were once celebrated—and against the chapters set forth by them. In these, they foolishly claimed that souls existed before bodies, relying upon pagan dogmas; they taught metempsychosis, the idea that there is an end to punishments, that the same bodies will not be resurrected in the resurrection, and the restoration of demons to their former state. They allegorized paradise, saying that there was not, nor is there, a sensible paradise created by God, nor was Adam formed in the flesh. These dogmas, which were for the most part concealed for a time, were then publicly struck with anathema because they were spreading among the multitude and ravaging the Church.

^C They also pronounced anathema against Theodore of Mopsuestia, who had been the teacher of the Judaizing Nestorius, and also against the so-called Epistle of Ibas, and certain writings of Theodoret, bishop of Cyrus, which were written against the twelve chapters of the blessed Cyril.

The letter of the emperor to the synod read as follows: “Regarding Origen, therefore, and those who agree with him, it has been and remains our concern that the holy, catholic, and apostolic Church of God be preserved without disturbance, and that all things, from whatever source they arise, which are contrary to the orthodox faith, be condemned. Since, therefore, it has become known to us that there are certain monks in Jerusalem who are followers of Pythagoras, Plato, and Origen—who is also called Adamantius—and who obey and teach their impiety and error, we have deemed it necessary that study and inquiry be made regarding these matters, lest they eventually ruin many through their Greek and Manichaean error. For they say—to mention only a few things out of many—that minds were without any number or name, so that they might constitute a unity of all rational beings in the identity

of substance and energy, and in their power of union and knowledge regarding the Word of God. And [they say] that, having had their fill ^A of divine love and contemplation, according to the analogy of each one’s turning toward the worse, they donned thinner or thicker bodies and acquired names, and from thence the heavenly and ministering powers came into being. Moreover, that the sun and the moon and the stars, being themselves of the same unity of rational beings, became what they are through that turning toward the worse. But those that had become more cooled toward divine love were called souls and were cast into thicker bodies, such as our own. And those that had been driven to the extreme of wickedness were clothed in cold and dark bodies, and were made and called demons. And they say that from an angelic state there comes a psychic state, and from the psychic, a demonic and human one.

But it is held ^B that one mind from the whole unity of rational beings remained unshaken and unmoved from divine love and contemplation, and that it was this [mind] that became Christ, king and man; and that there will be a complete destruction of bodies, the Lord Himself being the first to lay aside His own body, and then all the rest of them. And that all will return again to their own unity and become minds, just as they were in their pre-existence, it being understood that even the devil himself and the rest of the demons will be restored into the same unity, as will the impious and atheistic men, along with the divine and God-bearing men and the heavenly powers; and that they will have the same union with God ^C as Christ himself has, just as they pre-existed, so that there will be absolutely no difference between Christ and the rest of the rational beings, neither in substance, nor in knowledge, nor in power, nor in energy.

For Pythagoras said the monad was the principle of all things, and again both Pythagoras and Plato, speaking of a certain genus of bodiless souls, say that those which have fallen into some sin are sent down into bodies for the sake of punishment; whence Plato called the body a bond and a grave, as if the soul were bound and buried in it (for "grave" denotes a monument). Then, regarding the future judgment and the reward of souls, he says again: "The soul of him who has lived as a pederast and has fared ill with philosophy is released ^D to be punished for a third millennium cycle, and thus, having been winged, is sent forth and departs in the thousandth year. But the others, when they have completed their life—some, having come to the tribunals under the earth, render satisfaction and account, while others will fly up to heaven in some [way] and act according to justice, just as they have lived." You will easily be able to grasp the rashness of this discourse. For who taught him about the periods of years and the millennia? And [why does he say] that, a thousand years having elapsed, every soul...

departs to its own place? The intermediate state, moreover, is something not even the most licentious should suggest, let alone such a philosopher. For he has joined the lewd and pederasts with those who have achieved a pure life, and said that both alike shall enjoy the same rewards. Therefore, Pythagoras and Plato and Plotinus, and others of the same school, while confessing that souls are immortal, claimed they existed before bodies, and that there is a multitude of souls, and that those which have sinned fall into bodies, as I said, the bitter and evil into wolves, the deceitful into foxes, and those given to lust into horses—but the holy Church, obedient to the divine words, says that the soul is created at the same time as the body, and that one is not prior and the other posterior, according to the madness of Origen. For these wicked and pernicious dogmas, or rather ravings, we exhort you, most holy Fathers, to be gathered together and to examine the subject matter carefully, and to condemn and anathematize each of those chapters, along with the impious Origen and all who think or shall hereafter think such things.

When the synod heard these things and subjected everything to examination, the divine Fathers exclaimed: ^B "We anathematize all these things, and all those who think or shall hereafter think such things unto the end."

Similarly, concerning the writings of Theodore of Mopsuestia and the others, the royal exemplar again holds the following: "It was the concern of those who reigned orthodoxly and piously before us, our ancestors, to excise by synods of most holy Fathers the heresies that arose from time to time, and by purely preaching the orthodox faith, to preserve in peace the holy Church of God. Therefore, ^C Constantine the Great, when Arius blasphemed and said that the Son was not consubstantial with God and the Father, but a creature and made from things that were not, gathering the three hundred and eighteen Fathers at Nicaea, and being there present himself, once Arius was condemned, strove to confirm the orthodox faith. By this faith the divine Fathers confessed the Son to be consubstantial with God and the Father (and the Holy Spirit), and even now it is sung and believed. Moreover, Theodosius the Elder, when Macedonius denied the divinity of the Holy Spirit, and his disciple Apollinarius blasphemed against the economy of the Word of God, and said that the Word of God did not receive a human mind, but was united to flesh ^D

^A irrationalem animam habenti, gathering one hundred and fifty Fathers in Constantinople, and participating himself in the synod, he saw to it that the consubstantial be proclaimed and the orthodox faith be promulgated, along with the excommunication and anathematization of the aforementioned heretics and all those who held the same impious dogmas. Theodosius the Younger, however, because the impious Nestorius said that God the Word was one [person] and Christ was another, impiously introducing that the former was by nature the Son of God and the Father, but the latter [was Son] only by grace, and denying that the holy Mary was the Theotokos, gathered the first synod of the two hundred holy Fathers at Ephesus, and sending officials who ought to represent the synod, he ordered ^B Nestorius to be present there and for judgment to be rendered upon him. And indeed, a diligent examination having taken place, they condemned and anathematized Nestorius along with those who shared his views. When these matters had thus proceeded, those who held to the impure faction of Nestorius rose up against the most holy Cyril, endeavoring to turn the judgment passed against Nestorius back upon them [the orthodox]. But King Theodosius, approving what had been rightly defined against Nestorius and his perverse dogmas, ensured that the judgment passed against him remained just and firm. For since, among other things, certain other matters had been basely whispered ^C to the king against the divine Cyril, Cyril wrote to him as follows: "Since I have heard, most pious king, that some of those accustomed to finding fault, like wild wasps, buzz about and vomit forth malevolent words against me—as though I were saying that the divine body of Christ was sent down from heaven and not taken from the holy Virgin, and furthermore that we confess two sons after the manner of Nestorius—we deemed it necessary to say a few things to them on this matter, as follows: 'O senseless ones, knowing only how to slander, how have you been led into such a frame of mind and fallen into such madness? For it behooved you, it surely behooved you, to understand clearly ^D that almost our entire struggle for the faith has been directed toward the establishment that holy Mary is the Theotokos. But if, as you say, we declare that the divine body was born from heaven and not from her, how could she be considered the Theotokos? For whom, pray, has she given birth to, if it is not true that she has given birth in the flesh to Emmanuel? Let those, therefore, who have spoken such drivel against me be mocked. For the divine Isaiah does not speak falsely, saying: 'Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a son; and they shall call his name Emmanuel,' which is 'God with us.' The archangel Gabriel is also most truthful, saying to the Virgin: 'Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favor with God, and behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus: for he shall save his people from their sins.'"

^A When, however, we say that our Lord Jesus Christ descended from heaven from above, we do not say this as though his holy flesh were brought down from heaven, but as following the holy Apostle Paul, saying: "The first man is of the earth, earthly; the second man is the Lord from heaven." We also remember the word of the Lord saying: "No one has ascended into heaven but he who came down from heaven, the Son of Man," even though, as has been said, he was born having taken flesh from the holy Virgin. Because the God Word, who descended from heaven from above, "emptied himself, taking the form of a servant," and was named the Son of Man while remaining what he was—that is, God, for he is immutable and unchangeable by nature—he is said to have descended from heaven as one already considered with his own flesh. ^B He is named the man from heaven, being perfect in divinity and the same being perfect in humanity, and being considered as in one person (for there is one Christ the Lord), although the difference of the natures, from which we say the ineffable union is formed, is not ignored. Therefore, we confess the only-begotten Son of God and Word to be perfect God and perfect man, of a rational soul and body, born of the Father before the ages according to his divinity, but in the last days the same one, for our sake and for our salvation, born of the Virgin Mary according to his humanity, consubstantial with the Father according to his divinity and consubstantial with us according to his humanity. ^C For the union of the two natures has taken place, whence we confess one Christ, one Son, one Lord. According, therefore, to this conception of the unconfused union, we confess the holy Virgin to be truly Theotokos, because the God Word was incarnate and became man, and from the very conception joined to himself the temple taken from her. And if it pleases you, let us take as an example our own composition, according to which we are humans; for we are composed of soul and body, and we see two natures, one of the body and another of the soul. But one human being is made from the two by union, and it is not permissible because he is composed of two natures to consider the one human being as two, but one human being according to the composition, as I said, of soul and body. ^D For if we take away that which is from the two and diverse natures, the one and only Christ, who is indivisible after the union, those who are on the opposite side will say: "If there is one nature, how did he become man and [how] did he make his flesh?" But as for those who say that there was a mixing, or confusion, or agglutination of the God Word with the flesh, may your piety deign to bring them into open silence. Afterward, upon the death of Cyril, there arose a certain monk and archimandrite named Eutyches, who [led] not a few of the people towards his own parties

^A raging against Nestorius and his own wicked dogma, saying that the body of the Lord was not consubstantial with us. And again, after a short time, by the royal hand, another robber-synod ^B was held at Ephesus, not a holy one, Flavian of Constantinople having been sent there, while Dioscorus of Alexandria possessed all authority; and the divine Flavian is killed, contending for the orthodox faith, and the first synod of Ephesus is overturned, certain bishops having signed [the acts] under threat of death, among whom was Basil of Seleucia. Thence, the wicked dogmas of Nestorius, Dioscorus, and Eutyches being published, and great disorder and a very great storm occurring in the East, Proterius the great priest and many others are killed. Things, therefore, being in such a state, there arises by divine providence the Emperor Marcian, who gathers at Chalcedon ^C the synod of six hundred and thirty Fathers, with Dioscorus and Eutyches being present, with whom he himself also came. There, indeed, Dioscorus, Eutyches, and Nestorius are judged and again anathematized; but they received Theodoret and Ibas and Basil of Seleucia, who had signed [their submission]; and the robber-synod having been overturned and anathematized, the divine Fathers brought everyone into one concord. ^D These four councils having thus been held and confirmed, and having authority in the Church of God, those who held the opinion of Nestorius strove again to strengthen their heresy by means of the occasion of Theodore of Mopsuestia, who was far worse than his disciple Nestorius in his blasphemies. Wherefore, we also, following our Fathers and wishing the right faith to be preserved uninjured, exhort that his blasphemies also be examined, and that we pronounce judgment against him and those who agree with him; for besides his other innumerable blasphemies against Christ and God, he said that the God-Word is one and Christ another, who was troubled by the passions of the soul and the desires of the flesh, and who gradually turned away from worse things, having arrived at better things by the progress of his works, having become blameless through an excellent life, and as a mere man baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and through baptism...

^A having received the grace of the Holy Spirit and been counted worthy of adoption, as a likeness of the royal image, that it might be worshipped as the prototype of the Word of God, and that after the resurrection he had become unchangeable in his thoughts and sinless. And in addition to this, he said that the union of the Word of God with Christ had become such as the Apostle spoke concerning the husband and the wife: "The two shall be one flesh." Furthermore, we urge you to examine also the things wrongly written by Theodoret against the first council at Ephesus, and likewise to pronounce judgment against them.

And to these things, in the same manner, the ^B divine Fathers who thoroughly investigated these matters replied: "The divine council of Chalcedon did not receive Theodoret and Ibas, who had cried out many things in opposition, otherwise than after they had first anathematized their own wicked writings, and Theodore, and Nestorius. We, however, condemn and anathematize, besides all other heretics who have been condemned and anathematized by the four aforementioned holy councils, Theodore, who was bishop of Mopsuestia, and his impious writings; and, moreover, the things wrongly written by Theodoret against the orthodox faith and against the twelve chapters of Cyril of holy memory and the first holy council at Ephesus, and whatever was written by him in defense of Theodore and Nestorius. In addition to these, we anathematize the impious letter which is said to have been written by Ibas to Maris the Persian, which denies that God the Word became man incarnate from the holy Mary the Theotokos, and slanders the inspired Cyril as a heretic, and accuses the holy council at Ephesus of having deposed Nestorius without judgment and examination, and spits upon the twelve chapters of blessed Cyril, but vindicates Nestorius and Theodore and their God-loathed writings and dogmas. Therefore, counting the unbridled tongues of all these heretics and their most impious writings, as well as those heretics themselves who persevere until the end in their own evil faith and wickedness, together with the father of lies, the devil, we shall say: 'Walk in the light of your fire, and in the flames which you have kindled.'"

CCXIX. Concerning pestilences, earthquakes, stars, and slaughters.

Under the same reign, such a mortality of men took place in Constantinople that the dead remained unburied for three days, because the biers of the churches and of the houses did not suffice for carrying out the deceased. Whence King Justinian, having had a thousand biers made by his own command, and even these not sufficeing, ordered many carts and pack animals to be prepared, and placing the dead upon them, they carried them out. But as the death intensified, they would cast most of them upon the shore, and up to six ^D

days they remained unburied, because the ships were not sufficient to carry them across and bury them; and it was not only so in the houses and porticoes and churches, but in all places the dead were lying, many foul-smelling, and many finishing their lives intestate; and they left their goods to strangers, because all their kinsfolk and relatives had perished completely. ^B

(2) This mortality raged, then, for two months, July and August. And there were very great thunders and most fearful lightnings, so that even men sleeping were consumed by the lightnings.

(3) And moreover, there occurred a great and universal earthquake, so that almost the entire inhabited world was terrified, and the sea surged up for two miles, and many and countless ships were destroyed in the violence of the waters, and in Arabia, and Palestine, and Mesopotamia, and Antioch many cities and villages were swallowed up. And multitudes of men and animals were swept away together, and in Constantinople many churches and houses collapsed, and the greatest part of the city walls. And an infinite multitude died in the collapses. And the earthquake prevailed for forty days (and nights). ^C

(4) And a fire appeared in the heavens like the form of a lance, streaming from the north to the west.

(5) And there was an earthquake again, so that the walls of the city of Constantine, both the eastern and [the] western, and many churches and houses fell down to the ground; but indeed also the suburbs and the Rhegium (disappeared, and many were destroyed and places were ravaged) so that they could not even be recognized (easily). And the earth continued shaking incessantly for ten days and nights. Therefore, the king, being sorrowful, went out for the Nativity and the Theophany without the crown, and he did not hold the customary splendid banquets of the twelve days, but distributed everything to the poor. ^D

(6) Moreover, there again supervened a mortality from the disease called buboes for four months, and it destroyed no less than the previous plague, ravaging the whole city and parts far from it.

(7) And in Antioch, a great earthquake having occurred for one hour—

^A a most terrible roar was heard from heaven, and five thousand perished in the collapse. (8) As all were praying and trembling, a certain man received a warning in a vision to tell the inhabitants of the city to write upon their lintels, “Christ is with us; stand fast.” And when this was done, the shaking of the earth ceased immediately, and the wrath of God stopped. And from that time, Antioch was called Theopolis. ^B (9) And a great star, a comet, appeared in the western part, sending its rays upward; they called it Lampadias, and it continued shining for twenty days and nights. Thus, throughout the world, popular commotions and many slaughters occurred, and shortly after, a movement of stars took place from evening until morning, so that all were exceedingly terrified and said, “The stars are falling.” And after a little time, the sun again appeared without rays, just as the moon also did; but wars, diseases, and various kinds of death did not abandon men. ^C

CCXX. Concerning the vagabond and his dog.

There came from the West to Constantinople a wandering man having a yellow and blind dog, which, by his command, performed extraordinary signs. As a great multitude stood by, and the wanderer accepted rings—bronze, iron, silver, and gold—and mixed them all together and covered them with a mound, and entrusted them to the dog, the dog took them in his mouth and gave to each person what was his own. (2) Likewise, he returned coins according to their names. (3) And furthermore, when questioned, he indicated women who were pregnant lawfully or unlawfully, and adulteresses and fornicators; he revealed with truth all ^D who were upright and merciful, [and] the base and unmerciful; whence they said that he had a spirit of Python. (4) And there was also a disturbance concerning Easter; for the majority of the people began the time of abstinence before the king, but the king ordered meat to be sold during another week, and although all the butchers slaughtered [animals], no one found a buyer: for no one

ate. But Pascha took place as the king ^A had ordered, and the people were found to have fasted for an extra week.

[(5)] Some who were accused as sodomites, the king issued an edict against those found in such a state: some were to be castrated, and for others, sharp reeds were to be inserted into the passages of their genitals. Therefore, many even of the chief priests were led around with such punishment and perished miserably; and a great fear having arisen, it made the rest sober, and very deservedly so.

[(6)] "Let the pine howl," says the Scripture, "for the cedar ^B has fallen," that is, by the falling of the strong and great, let the weaker ones be instructed. Thus also the wise man says: "When the impious fall, the just become fearful," and: "When a plague is inflicted, the simple becomes more shrewd; but the shrewd man, seeing the wicked man severely punished, is himself instructed." This most shameful and rabid sin, contrary to nature, formerly committed by the Sodomites, as if a certain voice had risen and cried out to the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth the magnitude of their impiety, He who had been for a long time very long-suffering, afterward, because of their impenitence and the hardness of their senseless and libidinous hearts, most justly inflicting punishment, says: "The cry of Sodom and Gomorrah has been filled before me, and their sins are very great." And the Scripture adds, saying: "And the Lord rained fire and brimstone from the Lord upon Sodom and Gomorrah, and He overthrew these cities ^C and all the surrounding territory and all the inhabitants in the cities."

It is therefore truly worthy to marvel, and greatly to be astonished, and to shudder at that fearful, divine, and fire-bearing threat, how, by coming upon them rightly, it not only consumed the entire race of those wretched men and all the stature of the earth, but also the waters of the sea lying beneath were deadened, having been scorched and burned through the inflowing fire and combustion and the incontinence of the foul flesh of those wretches who were devoted to infamy until the end: whence, most justly, the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah undergo the punishments of fire even now, converted into ashes. For formerly, through their infamous and contrary-to-nature guilt, they had defiled the very air and the earth; but now, of that calamity and wickedness and the just judgment of God, the earth and the air ^D, having become even until today more dense, bear witness and convict both their infamous wickedness and the shameful action of those who tread in their footsteps: furthermore, they convict the dementia and hardness of those who deny the future judgment, so that through those who once paid the penalty, we may gain a view

and experience of the divine chastisements. But if any of those who have not seen that land should doubt that things are this way, let him hear the divine Scripture speaking of Wisdom and saying: ^A “She, when the ungodly were perishing, delivered a righteous man who fled from the fire that had descended upon the Pentapolis; of whose wickedness, as a testimony, there still remains a smoking desert and trees yielding fruits in uncertain seasons.” Likewise, Judas, the brother of James, also says: “As Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.” And: “To whom the gloom of darkness is reserved for ever.”

The divine Chrysostom also ^B says: “If anyone doubts about Gehenna, let him consider Sodom, let him take to mind Gomorrah, and the punishment that was inflicted and still remains, providing a strong proof of the penalty that is to endure for eternity. For not only the earth, but the air itself and the waters participated in the calamity, and just as when a body has been burned up, its shape and form and size and proportion remain in the appearance of fire, but its power is gone, so also there it is possible to see land, but it has nothing of earth, but all is ash; trees and fruits, but it has nothing of trees or fruits; air and water, but it has nothing of water or air; for all things have been turned to ashes. ^C For there is nothing other than a furnace of air, a furnace of water, all things barren, all things infertile, all things showing forth the vindication of a past wrath and images of the future punishment. Consider, therefore, how great a sin it is to force Gehenna to appear before its time. For that rain was extraordinary, since that commingling was contrary to nature and law; and it overwhelmed the land, even as the baleful and execrable pleasure overwhelmed their souls. But, O the madness of those who commit this! O the misery and stupidity of these unhappy wretches who, alas, suffer these things willingly, consenting to be corrupted by those who are defiled and polluted and impure in soul and body, showing themselves to be worse than swine, whether they are the corrupters or the corrupted, without fear and without shame! ^D These are certainly more irrational than the brutes and more shameless than dogs! For among them no such commingling ever takes place, but nature recognizes its own limits. I say that these are worse than murderers; by whatever name you may call such a sin, you will find nothing equal to this transgression. For the murderer separates the soul from the body, but this man destroys the soul along with the body. Whence, then, was such an evil born? From indulgence, from softness, from the abandonment of God, from the fact that He himself is not feared nor the future

^A judgment. For when some cast such a fear out of their heart, they are abandoned to the end, and thus they arrive at irrational and obscene desires and [into passions of dishonor.] For just as many, when the desire for food is removed, often eat earth and tiny pebbles; and others, being seized by intense thirst, often desire even bilge-water; so, too, those who have been abandoned for the aforementioned causes are inflamed toward their unlawful love and toward a filthy appetite, frenzy, and madness. But if they do not perceive this, but rather take pleasure in it, do not marvel; for even those who are mad and possessed by the disease of phrensy do much harm to themselves and perform pitiable deeds over which others shed tears, yet they themselves laugh and take pleasure in what is said to them. How many hells, then, will suffice for such people, and how many punishments? ^B But if, on hearing of hell, you mock and do not believe in that fire, remember again the divine conflagration in Sodom and that terrible consumption. If, therefore, you perform such things and do not pay the penalty, do not marvel. For they, as those who did not know of hell, were punished immediately; but you, whatever sins you commit, even if you pay no penalty here, will pay and be punished more severely there. Why? Because we have enjoyed greater grace. But when we sin more and greater things than they, what kind of forgiveness shall we obtain, we who have received from the Fathers life-giving precepts, which they had clearly neither heard nor learned? Therefore, whether we pay a small penalty here, or none at all, we shall be punished more. Let no one, therefore, be disturbed upon seeing wicked men prosper; for the retribution ^C for neither virtue nor wickedness is here; but if you do sometimes obtain a reward for virtue and wickedness, it is not according to desert, but simply as a tasting of judgment, so that those who do not believe in the resurrection may be made prudent by the things that occur here. When, therefore, the wicked man prospers, it is to the ruin of his own head; for because he received the recompense of those good deeds he performed here, he will be punished more there. But when the good man suffers, he is truly blessed; for having laid aside all sins, both great and small, he will depart approved and pure and blameless. For there are the perfect crowns of the good, and there are the more intense and endless punishments ^D of the wicked. For just as he who has a festering sore, even if he is not operated on, is sick, and is then all the more in bad straits when he is not operated on; so, too, the sinner, even if he is not punished, is the most wretched of all. And just as those who have an enlarged spleen or dropsy, when they enjoy a lavish table and cold drink and rich viands and succulent meats, are then especially more wretched than all, because they aggravate their disease with delicacies, while on the contrary, if they are constrained by hunger and thirst according to the laws of medicine, they have some hope of health: so those who live in malice, if they are punished, have an excellent hope; but if they live with malice while enjoying delicacies...

^A and license, they would be far more miserable than those suffering from dropsy, and by so much more, by how much the soul is better than the body. If, therefore, those men, having neither the law to restrain them from the forbidden act nor knowing the prophets, obtained no pardon, but became fuel for fire and brimstone, how much more are we worthy of punishment and liable to a more severe condemnation, who read the law, and the prophets, and the evangelists, and teachers, and yet do worse things? And for what reason, while we see such things, does God not bring upon us such total destruction, since another heavier and interminable punishment, indeed, an inextinguishable fire, sharper and more terrible, awaits us? ^B "For their worm," says Scripture, "shall not die, and the fire shall not be extinguished." On this account also the ancient and divine law, checking this most loathsome and deadly infamy, said: "You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination." And: "If anyone lies with a male as with a woman, let both die; for such a person is an abomination: stone them with stones."

(8) Great Cyril, sharply reproving ^C the opinion and lawless action of those who voluntarily offer occasion for that thing to be done most impudently, says thus: "For the sake of lust these wretches do this, desiring, while being men, to suffer the things of women; for for the sake of no useful end do they change nature, but for the sake of wantonness they voluntarily corrupt the God-created, man-befitting form, often or are compelled to suffer this by others; as plagues of nature and enemies of the race and stains of society and abominations of life they become. After the manner of Maenads, having prostituted themselves, they dance in the most foul passions, mingling their wretched life with a foul and corrupt conversation; they carry about ambiguous and detestable countenances and a spurious mark: let them be driven far away ^D from sacred houses, and as loathsome defilements and godless curses let them be driven away from holy assemblies; for since with the most foul and wicked opinion they have changed the beautiful and divine work into a wicked and calumniated dogma, and have compelled spiritual eunuchism to serve an unspeakable act, it is just that they should not only receive the punishment of legal judgment, but also, by evangelical and apostolic declaration, be driven into the so-called outer darkness." For of such people Moses said: "A man who is crushed or castrated shall not enter into the house of the Lord." Even now, while the houses of grandees are filled with such monstrous persons, with a golden crown about their necks, these men indeed have the nature of males, but the appearance of females, and walk effeminately.

and speak with a broken voice like indecent harlots, shaking their heads hither and thither. And they laugh intemperately and shamelessly, manifesting a clear agitation of lust, wherefore, when they lie softly with men as women, they are corrupted and made effeminate; and when they sleep with women as guards and, forsooth, images of temperance, they shamelessly commit shameful acts in a detestable manner. And these, being thus corrupted and made effeminate by lawless and profane men, are defiled by this unnatural ^B iniquity and filth; but they themselves, like rabid dogs, stain and corrupt miserable and, according to the saying, "laden with sins" [i] women. And what is harsher and more pitiable is that, from this, both the corrupters and the corrupted become guilty and the causes and partners of eternal punishment. But, O the folly! O the error and senselessness! Especially since men who are considered wise receive them among themselves, give them confidence, and settle them in their own houses; and these, once introduced into houses and having obtained liberty, little by little, acting as pimps, plunge those who in reality lived justly and practiced virtue into the abyss of Sodom. Therefore, henceforth, and more firmly, the evangelical law, the best way of life, and pious conduct detest these as God-hated and unclean. For these men, having preferred and desired such an abominable life, as far as it lay within them, have destroyed cities, corrupting the seminal reasons of nature and being themselves corrupted. They have also dreadfully exhausted Rome, abounding in men, both its youth ^C and its manly strength, and, in a word, by defiling the vigorous and flourishing flower of the youth, they have openly made those who were caught wretched and contemptible—men who should have been put to flight by all means and justly detested as slayers of souls and defilers of bodies, and as accursed corrupters of nature. For truly there is nothing more loathsome or unclean than those who thus prostitute themselves and prostitute others. For we have learned truly and accurately that not only those who are eunuchs and have in some way the members of turpitude are accustomed to wanton without limit and to lust insatiably, but even those who are completely castrated and excised. Just as therefore those who are deprived of these things from birth—alas for the madness and ultimate dementia!—are accustomed to pollute miserable women with their hands and fingers according to their own wickedness, so these wicked men are accustomed to act furiously. And the wise man, declaring this clearly, said, "Blessed is the eunuch who has not wrought lawlessness with his hand, nor ^D considered wicked things against the Lord; for to him shall be given the special gift of faith for his fidelity, and a most acceptable lot in the temple of the Lord" (Wisd. III, 14–15). Deservedly, therefore, are they called effeminate, emasculated, androgynous, devoted to the iron, and woman-crazy. Let the pure therefore hear, and let the prudent suspect them, and let them not believe a lie, but rather cast purity and prudence; for what can be purified by the impure, and what truth can be demonstrated from a lie

^A

The king Justinian, having made very many wonderful buildings, 9 and the five-arched bridge of the Sangarius, which Procopius the historian described in eight books. 10 Towards the end of his life, having stirred up the doctrine concerning the corruptible and the incorruptible, he died as a stranger to divine piety (having proclaimed Justin, his nephew, as king, who was then curopalates). 11

Gelimer, fleeing from Belisarius, took refuge in a fortified hill of the Moorish nation. For this Belisarius was the general whom Justinian had sent with a great multitude and ships and much gold to war against the Vandals and to plunder Africa: he, with great prudence and sagacity, having plundered everything and conquered Gelimer, returned to the city with great riches and, carried through the city in the consular manner, triumphed in the Hippodrome, so that Justinian ^B engraved himself on one side of a coin, and on the other side Belisarius armed, and made the inscription: “Belisarius the glory of the Romans.” 12

But the things which envy is accustomed to work in great prosperity, it also did against Belisarius. For having suffered calumny, he was driven from his dignity and honor, and in his place Solomon, a general of the army, was sent: who, not being able to preserve whatever Belisarius had acquired, yielded everything to the Vandals. 13

For this Gelimer, fleeing from Belisarius, as has been said, had retired to a fortified hill of the Moorish nation; among whom neither bread nor wine nor oil is produced by the land, but they sustain themselves on boiled barley and spelt, like irrational animals. Gelimer therefore writes to Pharas, whom Belisarius had left to besiege him, that bread and a sponge and a lyre be sent to him. Pharas, however, was ^C puzzled about these things, until he who had brought the letter said that he desired bread to taste and look upon, a sponge to refresh his eyes on account of tears and filth, and a lyre that he might lament his own fall. When Pharas had heard these things, grieving and mocking the human condition, he sent everything that he requested. ^D

^A Chosroes, the Persian, laying waste to the entire oriental region, Justinian recalled Belisarius from the West and, making him commander of the East, sent him against the Persians. When he had armed himself and campaigned against the Persians, he so astonished the ambassadors of Darius by his battle array and maneuver, appearing to them as if he were going out for a hunt, that when he arrived at Chosroes, he made him a guarantor of peace with the Romans; and Belisarius obtained such admiration and praise among the Persians and Romans as when he had brought the captive kings, Gelimer and Witiges, to Byzantium. ^B Again, however, being accused of plotting against the emperor Justinian, he died of grief, with all his property being confiscated.

CCXXI. The Reign of Justin

CCXXII. Concerning a Certain Jewish Boy

'" The mother, having heard these things and being struck with amazement, took the boy and reached Patriarch Menas. Having reported everything to him, she begged to become a Christian (with her child). He at once brought both to the king, and the king commanded that the child's father also be summoned. When the examination was held, although he implored him much to become a Christian, he did not consent; wherefore he commanded him to be impaled as having been the murderer of his own child, while he baptized the woman, made her a nun, and the boy a reader. ^B

CCXXIII. The Reign of Tiberius.

Tiberius reigned after Justin for four years. When he had come into the Hippodrome, the ranks cried out: "Let us see, let us see the Augusta of the Romans." But he answered: "There is a church of the same name as the Augusta opposite the public bath of Diegiste." Therefore, the ranks cried out auspiciously: "Many years to Anastasia Augusta." But Sophia, Justin's widow, was wounded in her soul; for she did not know that Tiberius had a wife, and therefore...

^A she was reconciled to him by Justin, persuading him to appoint him as Augustus with the empire, hoping that she would marry him and remain Augusta. ^B (3) Tiberius brought her down to the palace which is in the harbor of Julian, ordering chambermaids and certain others to serve and attend her; he honored her as a mother, and took every care of her. (4) He also built the public bath of Blachernae and restored many churches and hospices. (5) He sent Maurice and Narses against the Persians. Maurice, having returned after a great victory, the emperor received with much honor and took as his son-in-law, just as he did Germanus, to whom he gave his other daughter, and created both of them Caesars. (6) But having eaten early figs, delightful in appearance but infected with poison, and being about to die, he proclaimed Maurice emperor.

CCXXIV. The Reign of Maurice

^A Likewise, on the same day, the king’s horse fell and was killed. He, however, not taking such signs as a good omen, returned to the city. Moreover, a dog was born with six feet and a lion's head, being of marvelous size.

CCXXV. Concerning Sirens, crocodiles, and hydras

In the river Nile there appeared, at the rising of the sun, two creatures bearing human form, a man and a woman, who are called Sirens, with voices most pleasant and highly destructive. ^B From the head to the navel they have the form of a human, and the rest is that of a bird. The man was stronger and more robust in his chest; the woman, however, shone with her face and yellow hair, while the man had a chest and face without hair and thick hair on his head. The people, together with the prefect, marveling at this pair of man-women, begged them not to depart until all had been satisfied by this stupendous spectacle. And until the ninth hour, all the people were wondering as they contemplated these animals. And afterward they submerged themselves again into the river.

(2) After they had submerged, crocodiles appeared, which, rushing out, killed many men. For the crocodile is at once a huge beast and a fish from head to tail; its back is like a black stone, but its belly is white. ^C It has four feet and a very large, rough tail; for the spine of its bone consists of a single bone, and it is cut into spikes just like the teeth and points of saws, and with it it strikes those it attacks, and causes many wounds. Its head is joined to its shoulders and is on a level with them so long as it is not gaping; but when it gapes, the whole head becomes a mouth and spreads open as far as the shoulders.

(3) But the so-called hydra, which lives in the same river and has the form of a dog, often kills this beast in this way. For when ^D the crocodile opens its mouth to sleep, the hydra, having first rolled itself in mud, insinuates itself through its mouth into its belly, and, having torn it, the beast is killed, and it exits through the anus. And

hæc quidem huc usque: exinde sermo continuabitur.

^A Mauricius had sent his son-in-law Priscus against the Scythians with the entire army; but they, once they had defeated the Scythians, rebelled against the emperor. The emperor, incensed with fury against them, and the war intensifying between Romans and Barbarians, instructed the general to whom the army was entrusted to betray them to the enemy, on account of the rebellion they had plotted against him; and this was done.

^B A great multitude was then captured, and the Scythians led them away to be ransomed by the Romans. The emperor proposed to the Chagan that he should liberate them all, once a price had been accepted. But he replied: "I will return everyone if I receive one coin for each soul." As the emperor would not agree to pay, the Barbarian consented to accept half a coin. But since the emperor still would not acquiesce, the angry Barbarian killed twelve thousand in the field of the Tribunal.

From this time on, Mauricius was held in hatred by all, and was reviled and cursed. He, however, repenting and considering the future judgment, chose rather to pay for his sin in this life than in the future judgment. And having written formal petitions, he sent them to the patriarchal sees and to the asceteria and monasteries, along with many gifts, so that they might pray for him, that he might pay for his sin here.

^C Now he was also scandalized regarding Philippicus, his son-in-law, because of the syllable "Phi." For they had said to Mauricius that "Phi" would succeed him. But he, by many oaths, convinced Mauricius that he was pure of such a suspicion. And as Mauricius was beseeching God to be delivered from this sin, he had such a dream, wherein a great multitude of people appeared to be standing at the image of Christ at the bronze gate of the palace, and a voice from the image was saying: "Bring Mauricius to me." And those who brought him presented him. And the divine voice says: "Where do you wish, O Mauricius, that I should repay you: here or in the world to come?" And he, becoming trembling, answered and said: "Here and not there." And he immediately ordered that he himself, and his wife, and his children, and all his kin should be handed over to Phocas the soldier. ^D Having awakened, he immediately sent his chamberlain to summon Philippicus, who, seeing the chamberlain at that very hour and despairing of his life, requested the holy communion, and thus went to the emperor, leaving his wife groaning in sackcloth and ashes. Having entered, however—

he fell at his feet. ^A The emperor ordered the chamberlain to go out, and he himself fell at the feet of Philippicus, saying, "Forgive me, brother, for I have sinned much against you; for I suspected that you were plotting against my life, but now I recognize that you are innocent. I exhort you, therefore, tell me if you know any soldier in the ranks named Phocas." Philippicus said, "I know one, who long ago was sent by the army and spoke against your power." The emperor said, "What is his character?" "He is cowardly and fierce." The emperor said, "If he is cowardly and a murderer." And the emperor related the dream to him. He replied, "See how the letter of God is not lacking, O master, to whom He wills to give the kingdom."

In this same night a comet appeared. ^B

On the following day, a messenger, a *magistrianus*, arrived from the holy men, bearing this answer: "God will indeed save your soul, accepting your repentance, but you shall depart from the present life amid much tribulation and many dangers." When Maurice heard these things, he gave great thanks to God from his heart.

Sophia, indeed, the wife of Justin, had prepared for King Maurice a crown, wonderful and most precious. When he saw it and marveled at it, on the day of Holy Easter he laid it aside in the church and dedicated it to God. ^C

When autumn was waning, and the king had written to the commander Peter to winter in the region of the Sclaveni, the multitude rebelled; from this, the commanders, having gathered the crowds together, promoted Phocas the soldier as emperor.

When Peter and the other commanders had entered the city and reported this to the king, Maurice, seeing the hatred of the populace against him, laid aside his robes and in the middle of the night boarded a dromon with his wife and children, fleeing the rebellion of the people. ^D

And when he had with difficulty fled to the sacred [church of] Autonomus, wishing to seek refuge in a fortified stronghold, he could not; for suddenly, he was seized by the most violent pains of arthritis and gout, so that he was forced to lie immobile.

^A *Phocas, having been received by the people, entered into the city and the palace.*

(15) *He sent his son Theodosius to Chosroes, King of the Persians, to recall to his memory the benefits conferred upon him, and how, through his [Mauricius’s] help, he had obtained the kingdom of Persia.* Chosroes, having gathered the nation of the Persians, moved against the Romans and laid waste many cities and regions of the Romans.

CCXXVI. The Reign of Phocas the Tyrant

^B After Mauricius, Phocas the Cappadocian ruled as tyrant for eight years, having crowned his wife, Leontia, as Augusta.

(2) *When he [Phocas] was circulating in the circus and a sedition was heating up among the factions concerning the prestige of the place, the people shouted,* “Mauricius is not dead, but lives; let him be questioned.” *The wicked one, however, being incited to the murder of Mauricius, ordered Mauricius, laden with chains, to be led to the harbor of Eutropius. Having subjected him to preliminary torture by sight, the scoundrel commanded his five male children to be slaughtered before him. Mauricius, however, bearing the misfortune philosophically, ^C constantly exclaimed,* “Just you are, O Lord, and just is your judgment.” *When the nurse had stolen one of the five royal children and was offering her own child for slaughter in his place, Mauricius would not permit it, but sought that his own son be brought and slain. Thus, therefore, having become superior to the laws of nature and ways of life through such great repentance, Mauricius himself endured death with much patience and thanksgiving; and thus he became an heir of eternal blessings.*

(3) *When the wretched Phocas had ordered their heads to be deposited in the field of the Tribunal, the inhabitants of the city would go out and gaze upon them until they rotted. Then the scoundrel permitted them to be taken away if anyone wished to care for the matter. Those, however, who received them deposited them in fitting places.*

(4) *The wife of Mauricius, along with her three daughters, he shut up in a monastery.* ^D

^A Furthermore, a certain pious calligrapher in Alexandria, returning home at midnight from the vigil on the day when Mauricius was killed, saw statues removed from the altars and calling out: "Mauricius and his children have been killed." When he had noted this, ten days later a man arrived announcing the end of Mauricius.

(6) But the wicked Phocas, after some time, killed the very wife of Mauricius, together with her three daughters, in the mole ^B of Eutropius; indeed, the lawless man destroyed the entire family of Mauricius, to the greater ruin of the Christians. For from that time on, various and successive calamities did not cease to afflict the Roman Empire. For then Chosroes, king of the Persians, broke the peace, and the Avars ravaged Thrace; and both destroyed and annihilated the Roman armies because an impious and impure man had been preferred to a legitimate and pious emperor.

(8) Before these events, a mortality of men and beasts, a great sterility of the land, and a most severe winter had set in, such that the sea froze with ice and many fish died.

(9) Furthermore, the treacherous Phocas added this final outrage to all these evils. For when he had held a horse race, and the people did not receive him well, they shouted injuriously at him: "Rise, Phocas; again you have drunk to the cup, again you have lost your mind." Against them, that furious impious man mutilated many, and hung their limbs upon the vault; many others he beheaded, and others he burned. He entrusted the greater number of the people to the prefect, to lock them up and, after a few days, deliver them to death. The crowds, however, gathering together and throwing fire into the praetorium, ^C allowed all the prisoners to go out, and they fled.

(10) After these things, the wrath of God came upon the head of the impious Phocas for the numberless evils he had committed. For his son-in-law, Crispus the patrician, not bearing to see the unjust murders and cruelties perpetrated by his order, wrote to Heraclius, the general of Africa, ^D that, with many

^A navies equipped, he should proceed against the tyrant Phocas. Heraclius, having equipped many ships and brought together an immense army from Africa and Mauritania, took Constantinople, bringing before him—as Georgius Pisida says—the image of the Lord made without hands.

A battle having been fought shortly after between Phocas and Heraclius in the harbour of Sophia, Heraclius, with the help of Christ, was victorious over Phocas the brigand. Once he was defeated, a certain Photinus (one of the grandees), having been wronged by Phocas (and having suffered treacherous designs against his wife), burst suddenly with a multitude of soldiers into the palace, and having unceremoniously taken the wretched Phocas from the throne, stripped him of his royal vestments, and having clothed him in a black tunic and placed a collar about his neck, led him away, dishonoured and pitiable, to Heraclius. When Heraclius saw him, he said to him: "Is this, wretch, how you managed the commonwealth?" But he, having lost all hope, retorted: "Are you going to manage it better?" ^B And first, Heraclius ordered his hands and feet to be cut off, and after that, that he be mutilated at the shoulders, and that his private parts be cut away and hung from the tip of a pike on account of the countless injuries he had committed; then, finally, that his head be severed with a sword, and that the withered body ^C of the ill-omened man be delivered to the flames in the market-place called that of the Ox.

CCXXVII. The Reign of Heraclius.

After Phocas, Heraclius reigned for thirty years. Sergius the Patriarch crowned him in the oratory of Saint Stephen in the palace. His betrothed, Eudoxia Augusta, was crowned along with him; and thus, being inaugurated at once as emperor and bridegroom with the crowns of marriage, he was also acclaimed as king by all the people in the Great Church.

^A

Crispus, the prefect and son-in-law of Phocas, participated in and consented to what had been done. After some time, Heraclius made him the Duke of Cappadocia. When he had arrived there, he began to revile Heraclius and fostered a rebellion against him. Not long after, when he had come to Constantinople and the emperor held the letters written against him on a scroll, he struck him on the head with it and said (to him, before the senate): "You have not acted as a son-in-law, O wretched man; and how could you have acted as a friend?" Then, making him a cleric, he relegated him to the monastery of Chora, where, not long after, he met the end of his life. ^B

After these things, Chosroes, having sent a commander named Saites against the Romans with a great force, devastated the entire East. Having come to Constantinople, he encamped for a considerable time at Chalcedon; he hypocritically summoned Heraclius under the pretext of peace and spoke to him of amity. The emperor, deceived by his fallacious and perfidious words, sent seventy nobles to him as envoys of peace, whom Saites took with him; and passing through the Roman empire, he led them away, disgraced and as captives. But Chosroes ordered Saites to be flayed, as one who had seen Heraclius and had not captured him; and he condemned the envoys to prisons and the greatest hardships, because of which much desolation and affliction gripped the king and the whole city. ^C

There occurred also a harsh famine and a great pestilence, and the sun was darkened and rained dust.

And the Avars came to the king, feigning to ask for peace; the king received them, and having made a journey to Heraclea, he left the apocrisiarii to rest. But they, having evil counsel in their hearts, signaled to their fellow tribesmen to arrive with all speed: "Behold, for the king and his treasure are in our hands." They, without any delay, seized the place. Then, by the providence of the benevolent God who saves those who are upright in heart, the king fled secretly, though with difficulty, to Byzantium and was saved. They, however, pursuing him over a long journey and not catching him, ^D

having seized all his service, and having pursued the parts of Thrace, took captive men and women to the number of seventy thousand, and returned to their own lands.

^B (6) Now the impious Chosroes, having sent another commander against the Romans, by name Sarbarus, with a very great force, seized Cappadocia and Damascus and Palestine with the holy city, and slew many myriads of Christians by the hand of the Jews.

(7) He also took captive Zacharias, the patriarch of Jerusalem, and carried off the precious wood into Persia.

(8) Likewise they took Egypt and Libya and [reached] as far as Ethiopia; they came also as far as Chalcedon and took it.

(9) But the king, Heraclius, having celebrated the holy feast of Easter, determined to go out against Persia.

(10) Having taken the treasures of the sacred houses and the furnishings of the churches, he minted coin. And a little before he wished to set out, he said this to the patriarch: "Into the hands of the Mother of God I entrust this city and my son."

(11) And having entered into the Great Church, shod in black footwear [and having fallen prostrate], he prayed. Seeing him in such humility, George the Pisidian said: "O king, ^C Regal feet in black are shod, With Persian blood you shall crimson them."

(12) Taking, therefore, the God-man's image not made by hands, he marched against the Persians. And indeed, having gathered a multitude of Turks, he set out against the Persians with a very heavy force through the Euxine Sea.

(13) But king Heraclius sent ahead ambassadors to Chosroes, asking for peace; but he...

^A sent them away saying: "If your king will deny the Crucified One and worship the sun, I shall grant peace."

(14) But the Avars, having broken the treaties which Heraclius had confirmed by sending them gifts (for after they had occupied Thrace and captured seventy thousand, he reproached them for not keeping the treaties, and then, feeling ashamed, they promised to keep them), hearing of the king’s expedition, attacked Thrace and committed deeds worse than before.

(15) Whereupon the citizens, left desolate and driven to desperation, engaged the barbarians in battle, and having slaughtered many thousands of them, forced them to return to their own land.

(16) But Chosroes, having heard of Heraclius’s great preparation, sent one satrap with thirty thousand infantry against him, but a battle having taken place, they were all killed.

(17) The survivors among the Persians, ^B raging against Chosroes, locked him in one of the royal buildings and placed gold, silver, and precious stones before him, saying to him, "Enjoy these, on account of which you brought the Romans against us." And thus, punishing him with hunger and thirst, they put him to death shamefully.

(18) But king Heraclius, having entered Persia, destroyed the cities and overturned the altars dedicated to fire; in these was found an infamous effigy of Chosroes on the roof of the building, as if sitting in heaven. For the godless one, deeming himself worthy of apotheosis, had set up this statue, in which were represented the stars, the sun, and the moon, and angels stood around him holding a scepter; ^C he had even contrived, through the help of some machine, a way for thunder and rain to be produced whenever he wished. The emperor, having seen this abomination, cast it to the ground and dissolved it into dust.

(19) When Sarbarus heard these things, he wrote apologetic letters to Heraclius, as though he had not done what he had done against the Romans of his own accord, but compelled by the will of Chosroes. The king, having invited him to himself through peaceful letters, he soon came to him in Persia.

(20) Moreover, Heraclius, having been informed about the ambassadors that they had been cruelly killed by Chosroes, ^D was moved to anger and did not cease for six years to overturn the whole of Persia with fire and sword.

^A In the seventh year, the emperor went up to Jerusalem, where he restored with great celebration the precious and life-giving wood of the Cross, which had been seized by the Persians, and returned in peace to Constantinople.

(22) It is narrated in the Alexandrian chronicle how the Jews who lived in Jerusalem, driven by envy, killed all the Christians inhabiting Jerusalem when the city of Jerusalem was captured by the Persians, as was said before, and the precious wood was taken away to Persia along with the patriarch. Thus, after Heraclius, by the help of God, had achieved this great and admirable victory, he found that the patriarch had died; but having taken back the precious wood, as has been said, he returned to Jerusalem. The aforementioned impious Jews, who had killed the Christians, fearing for themselves and taking gifts ^B, went out to meet the emperor and craftily bound him with an oath. The emperor asked them from where they were and who they were. They answered, "We are servants of your majesty, poor Hebrews inhabiting Jerusalem." He swore that he would not harm them, not knowing what had taken place. But when he arrived in Jerusalem, he found only a few Christians hidden in the mountains and caves. The emperor asked them if there were no other Christians, and he learned of the things done by the Hebrews to the Christians. Therefore, the emperor, having learned of the treachery of the Jews, said to the Christians, "What is it your pleasure that I should do?" They requested that they suffer according to what they themselves had done. The emperor, however, disturbed by his oath, did not wish to do this. But the Christians, desiring to obtain this [justice], decreed that they should fast for one week in penance for the violation of the oath. So much for this matter. ^C

(23) The emperor, approaching Constantinople, formed a certain mystical contemplation based on the completion of God’s work. For just as God, having created the whole of creation in six days, called the seventh day the day of rest, so too he, having spent much time in wars over the course of six years and having labored, rested in the seventh year in peace.

(24) Therefore, the inhabitants of the city, having learned of his arrival, moved by an irresistible desire, all went out to the palace of ^D Hieria along with the patriarch and Constantine, the son of Heraclius, carrying olive branches and torches, celebrating him with great joy. And his son, approaching, fell at his feet. He, however, embracing him, together with his son, watered the earth with his tears;

which, when the people saw, they sent up songs of thanksgiving to God with tears; and thus, receiving the emperor, they entered the palace ^A with joy, cheering and chanting his praises.

Heraclius, having been led astray into the heresy of the Monothelites by Athanasius, the leader of the Jacobites, and Sergius the Syrian, the patriarch of Constantinople, fell into that error. And indeed, after this, having fallen into the disease of dropsy, from which he also died, he was punished terribly; for the pain advanced to such a degree that, when he needed to urinate, he would place a board against his abdomen because his penis was twisted, and it would discharge the urine onto his face. This was a proof ^B of his iniquity on account of his most unlawful marriage with his own cousin.

In the same reign, Mahomet, the leader of the Saracens, having come forth from Yathrib, came to meet the king with a multitude, and asking for a place to dwell in, he obtained it.

CCXXVIII. The reign of Constantine, son of Heraclius.

After Heraclius, his son Constantine, called Heraclonas, also a Monothelite, reigned for one year, and was removed by poison administered by his own household.

CCXXIX. Concerning the rich man who had given alms.

^C During his reign, a certain rich man in Constantinople, having fallen ill and fearing death, gave thirty pounds of gold to the poor. Contrary to expectation, he was healed, but, repenting due to the deception of the devil, he disclosed this to a friend, who was himself a rich man and a very true friend. The latter warned him, saying: "Do not, brother, assent to this thought; for it is from the devil. You will grieve God, who, because of this mercy of yours, had pity on you and delivered you from death. Beware lest he suddenly send death upon you again, so that you depart without repentance." When he was not moved by his persuasion, but rather became indignant, the friend said: "Since, despite my advice, you do not accept what pertains ^D to your salvation, I shall give you other advice." The man asked: "What is that?" And he who was truly merciful answered: "Come into the church and say: 'I did not, O Lord, perform that alms, but this man did; and I shall provide you with the thirty pounds.'"

'" ^A But that miserable man, having agreed to this, went to the church, took the gold in his hands, and spoke according to what had been dictated; but as he was leaving the very gate of the church, he fell down dead. With all who were present praising the just Judge and the unerring God, and with the clergy urging the master of the money to take back what was his, he would not consent, saying, "Far be it that this should even come into my mind! For since I have given these things in my own name as gifts to the Lord, they are His and have been inscribed in the heavenly prizes, and I no longer have any power over them; just as Ananias and Sapphira, being ignorant of this and taking back from what had been consecrated to the Lord as if it were their own, were consigned to sudden death, even as this man was." For "God is not mocked." ^B Those who heard these things received great benefit from them, considering the man's justice and constancy, and his unshakable faith. It was judged, therefore, that the thirty pounds should be given to the poor. Deservedly, then, did the great Athanasius say that everything whatsoever we have promised to God is no longer ours, but is God’s possession; and therefore, those who withdraw from these things are to be judged not as if taking what is our own, but as if sacrilegiously stealing what belongs to God; for a transgression is judged by a smaller fault just as by a greater. Hence the first-created were condemned to death and corruption on account of the tasting of a tree, and he who gathered wood on the Sabbath was stoned. ^C But the promise extends not only to money, but also to word and intention (in truth, our great and truly divine mystery does not have divine faith and promise concerning riches, but concerning perfect will and divine faith. For we have all made promises, and we are all bound by our promises). It is necessary, therefore, to render: the virgin the virginity which she promised, the continent person continence, and those in marriage moderation, mutual respect, and love; and finally, for all, the faith in God, piety, justice, and fortitude.

CCXXX. Concerning the bishop and the philosopher.

^D A similar thing also happened in Alexandria. A certain very pious bishop had as a neighbor a philosopher named Evagrius, whom he had had as a companion from childhood, and who was of the Greek religion...

The bishop, wishing to convert him ^A from this idolatry to the faith of Christ, was constantly inviting him and disputing with him. But as he would not be persuaded, and even took it quite ill, he is said to have one day said to the bishop: "Truly, Lord Bishop, this which you Christians say is thoroughly displeasing to me, namely, that there will be a consummation of the world, and a resurrection of bodies, and that a reward will be rendered to everyone for the life they have lived; and that he who has pity on the poor lends to God, and shall receive a hundredfold with eternal life; all which things seem to me to be mockery and a fable." And after the bishop had affirmed that there was no falsehood or mockery in the dogmas of the Christians, Evagrius departed, having much disputation within himself.

^B After some time, God co-operating with the bishop's teaching, the philosopher believed and was baptized; and immediately, offering the bishop three hundred pounds of gold—for he was very rich—he said: "Accept these, O bishop, and distributing them to the poor, make me a handwritten document, that I shall receive them from God." The bishop, having accepted them willingly and having made the document, distributed all to the poor. The philosopher, therefore, having lived for some time after in great piety and virtue, while dying gave instructions to his children that the paper should be placed in his hand and that he should be buried thus. This having been done, ^C after the third day the philosopher appeared to the bishop in a dream, saying: "Come to my tomb, O bishop, and take your written contract. For the debt has been rendered to me a hundredfold, and I have nothing which I might exact from you; yet for your full security I have signed the document with my own hand."

Since the bishop did not know that the document had been buried with the philosopher, he first summoned the children of the philosopher, and after he learned this, he went out with the clergy of the city to the tomb. Upon it being opened, they find the philosopher sitting and stretching out his hand with the writing. ^D But although the clergy wished to take the paper, no one was able to pull it away from his hand, until the bishop had put out his hand. And immediately, upon the document being given, he fell back again. The bishop, having opened the script, found a document newly written by the hand of the philosopher: "I, Evagrius the philosopher, to you, the most holy bishop in the Lord, greeting. Know, Father, that I have received the debt a hundredfold and have no account against you on that score." Upon this being heard, when all had been vehemently astonished and for some time had cried out, "Lord, have mercy," and "Glory to our God, the Lord Jesus Christ," and afterwards the bishop...

ordered the handwritten account to be kept in the treasury.

Caput CCXXXI. Of a soldier who fell into sin with a farmer’s wife.

^AThere was in Carthage in Africa a certain soldier, very dissolute, who, being struck by the pestilential disease of the city, returned to repentance, left the city, and lived apart with his wife in a suburb; but there again, through diabolical impulse, he fell into sin with the wife of a farmer. He, suddenly dying, was buried in a monastery near the suburb. ^BBut the next day, while the monks were chanting the third hour, a voice came from the depths of the grave, saying, "Have mercy, servants of God, have mercy." They, having immediately opened the grave, found the soldier sitting and crying out; and quickly bringing him forth and loosening his bonds, they asked the cause of such a wonder. But he begged them to take him to the servant of God, Thalassius the bishop. He, exhorting him, said: "Tell us what has happened to you, brother, that we too may glorify God." But he, with many tears, narrated everything to him, saying: ^C"I, a vile, miserable, and wretched man, having died here, father, in sin, saw certain Ethiopians standing near me, whose very sight was more troublesome than any punishment; seeing them, my sinful soul was troubled and constricted within itself. But as these fearsome Ethiopians stood by me, I beheld two youths clothed in white garments and very comely in appearance, who took my soul and immediately lifted it up from the earth toward heaven. We found many toll-houses ^Dguarded with all care, blocking the ascending souls, and requiring at each toll-house an accounting for a special fault: now for a lie, now for murder, now for injury, and, in a word, thus in order, every passion has its own exactors and judges. Detained by these, I saw the youths who were guiding me carrying my good deeds as if in a purse, from which they took them and set them against my evil works, which the perverse weighers and guards of the air were bringing forward with much diligence, and thus we were scarcely absolved. But when all my good deeds were exhausted, we arrived at the gate of heaven, where the toll-house of fornication is. Here by those black ones...

and carnal sin, which I, wretch that I am, had committed from the tenth year of my age. But when those young men were making a defense for me and saying that I had been forgiven the sins in the city because I had repented, "But," say the terrible accusers, "the one who repented fell again into adultery outside the city, and thus he perished," upon hearing which the angels departed, leaving me without excuse, as having no good work. And those Ethiopians, having seized me and beating me, brought me down again to the earth. ^C And I descended through certain narrow and dark, and utterly foul-smelling and fearsome, abysses as far as the underworld, into the prisons of Hades, where the souls of the sinners are locked up in a dark and terrible land, into a land of eternal gloom, where it is no longer possible to see light or the life of mortals, as it is written, but there is eternal and inconsolable lamentation and affliction and unceasing groaning; for each one of those who are there, recalling his own evil deeds and considering how he will make a defense before the impartial judge, and how he will endure the endless punishment, ^D is grievously tormented in his conscience, and, pondering in addition the separation from God and from the glory of His saints, and the interminable and inconsolable punishment along with the devil and the demons, he grieves and groans. Among whom I, having been locked up and mourning, see those two young men coming there again, whom I besought to lead me out of that terrible prison and necessity so that I might repent, to whom they say to me, "It is in vain that you beseech; for no one goes out from here until the common resurrection." But as I persisted in my prayer and cried out, "Have mercy on me; for I did not know that these things would happen to me, and for this reason I truly repent from now on and shall become of profit to many, if I return again to the life upon earth," the angels, moved to pity, lead me to the body. And I saw the nature of my soul itself like a shining pearl, but the body was foul-smelling and darkened, wherefore, as I was disgusted and saying that I could not enter into it because of its filth and darkness, they threatened me, saying, "If you do not enter, we shall lead you back again to that punishment."

So I saw it enter through my mouth and awaken the body, and I began ^A to cry out: "Have mercy on me!" All, being greatly benefited and even more afraid at this terrible account, were lamenting their own transgressions; and seeing the man thoroughly exhausted and tearful, they urged him to taste some food. But he would not obey at all, but having taken leave of them, he went about the churches, and casting himself upon the ground, cried out with a loud voice and many tears: "Woe, woe to those who sin without repentance! What terrible punishment and strict examination await them!" Having done this for forty days, fasting, watching, and preaching, and turning many to repentance, he finished his life in the Lord, having foreknown his own death twelve days before.

CCXXXII. Concerning various saints who have fallen asleep.

^B This prodigy agrees with what I say regarding souls, after their departure from here, ascending to the heavens, and the divine Chrysostom discourses thus concerning those who have fallen asleep: "Those who are dying, foreseeing these things and things even more ineffable than these, some are agitated on their bed, wishing to flee but not being able, others gnash their teeth, others strike their jaws, and others turn their eyes around miserably and draw in their hands, as the strength of the body gradually yields and the tongue is terribly scorched. For they see ^C then the divine angels demanding the soul with terror and urgency, and wicked demons standing by, demanding a reckoning, attempting to accuse, and trying to snatch it to themselves; then the thief arrives suddenly, and the body vomits forth the soul, which proceeds with much sorrow to strange and completely unknown places. Therefore, we have need then, brothers, of many prayers, of many good works, of much aid from the angels, and of much guidance and alliance for us in this ascent through the air. For if, when traveling here to a distant land and a strange city, we need a guide and leader, how much ^D more do we need defenders and guides to carry us safely through the principalities and powers and the watchers of the air, whom the divine Scripture calls tax collectors and exactors? Therefore let us arrive beforehand at the face of God in confession; let us arrive beforehand, lest we be forestalled; let us run before we are caught. For life is short, but the judgment is long; the end is near, fear is great, and there is no one to have mercy. Consider how souls are, because they despised the fear and commandments of God, asking for a little rest and not obtaining it; but because they gave themselves over to laziness, luxuries, fornications, and other wicked works in the subterranean places of the earth, they uselessly [seek] repentance for the evils which they have done.

are in despair, and they mourn inconsolable. Therefore, we call the just and the infants who die most happy, because the cup of death, which is dangerous to us, is salutary to them; and what is fearsome to everyone is desirable to them; and what is to us here the beginning of fear, is to them the beginning of salvation; saying, as it were: “Angels of peace led us forth from the body; without sorrow and without hindrance, having good guides for the way, we crossed over the principalities and powers of the air; for they did not find in us what they sought or hoped for. They saw our body pure and immaculate, and were confounded; they saw the soul undefiled and bright, and were ashamed; they saw the tongue incorrupt and guileless, and were silenced. We passed by and despised them; we went through them and mocked them, saying: ‘Blessed be the Lord, who has not given us as a prey to their teeth. The snare is broken, and we are delivered.’ ^B Whence the meeting angels exult, the just run to meet us, the saints rejoice and say: ‘Welcome, friends of Christ and heirs of eternal goods.’”

Similarly, moreover, Gregory, called the Theologian, in the epitaph for his brother Caesarius, says:

Not otherwise, moreover, does the great Athanasius say in the *Life of Saint Anthony*: “When he had risen to pray at the ninth hour, he perceived himself to be elevated in his mind; and, wonderfully, standing there, he saw himself as if placed outside himself, and as if being led into the air by certain ones; then some stern and terrible ones standing in the air, wishing to prevent him from passing through. ^C But while the guides were fighting on his behalf, they...”

^A demanded an account, whether he might be liable to them. Since they wished to reckon the account from his birth, those who were leading Antony did not allow it, saying, “Those things which are from his birth, the Lord has blotted out; but from the time he became a monk and pledged himself to God, it is permitted to render an account.” And then, as they accused him and could not convict him, the way became free and unobstructed for him. And immediately he saw himself as if returning to himself, and he forgot to eat, but remained for the rest of the day and the whole night ^B praying and groaning. He wondered, reflecting against what kind of enemies the struggle is, and through what toils one must pass through the air, and he remembered that this is what the Apostle was saying: “According to the prince of the power of the air.” For in this, the enemy has the power to fight and to attempt to hinder those passing through; whence ^C he most especially exhorts, saying: “Take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day,” so that having nothing evil to say against us, the enemy may be put to shame. Let us therefore persevere in asceticism without yielding, knowing that if we are negligent for one day, God will not forgive us because of the time past, but will rather be more angry with us because of the negligence. For so we heard in Ezekiel; so also Judas in one night lost the labor of his whole past time. For our enemy does not neglect to plot our destruction daily, and if he finds us negligent, he attacks more violently. But ^D so that we may not act carelessly, it is good to meditate always on the apostolic saying: “I die daily.” For if we thus live as dying daily, we shall not sin; and such is the saying, that as we arise daily, we should not think we shall reach the evening, and again, when about to lie down, that we shall not rise. But after these things, when he had had a conversation with some people about the passage of the soul and what place will be for it after the departure, on the following night someone calls him from above, saying: “Go out, Antony, and see.” And having gone out and looked up, he saw someone long in appearance and terrible, standing, and some ascending as if raised up by wings, and the other extending his hands, and some indeed being hindered by him, but others flying over and finally being securely led up. And at the latter, the tall one was gnashing his teeth, but at those falling he was rejoicing; and a voice came saying: “Consider what you see, Antony.” And, understanding being opened to him, he knew that it was the passage of souls, and that the tall one standing was the devil, the enemy of our race, who seizes those who are subject to him.

and who cannot hold those who are not. ^A For this reason, the great and long-suffering Eustratius, when about to die by martyrdom, prayed, saying: “I will greatly magnify you, O Lord, because you have looked upon my humility, and have not shut me up in the hands of enemies, and have saved my soul from distress. And now, may your hand sustain me, and may your mercy come upon me, for my soul is troubled and sorrowful at this departure from the body; let in no way the evil will of the adversary prevail ^B against it, nor envelop it in darkness because of the sins committed by me in this life in my agony. Be merciful to me, O Lord, and let not my soul see the fearful face of the evil demons, but may your shining and radiant angels receive it. Give glory to your holy name, and by your power lead me to your divine tribunal; when I am judged, let not the hand of the prince of this world seize me to drag me, the sinner, into the depths of hell.”

(4) ^C In the same way, the great apostle Jude also reveals these things in his catholic epistle, saying: “But the archangel Michael, when disputing and arguing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a judgment of blasphemy, but said: ‘The Lord will rebuke you, O devil.’ ” For wishing to signify the dark tyranny of the devil over human souls, and to oppose the power which he had to stand against the burial of the body of Moses, he did this, that we might learn that the devil with his perverse and rebellious powers hinders souls on the upper road ^D to the places of rest, so that they may not arrive there, and therefore angels receive them as they go out from the body.

So also Martyrius of Antioch says about the same epistle: “For after the soul is delivered from hence and departs from the body, angelic powers and a host of the most evil demons immediately meet it, so that according to the quality of the works which they have done, whether evil or good, they may lead it to the places worthy of them, either these or those, to be kept until the final judgment.”

^A in which we shall all stand for judgment, and from thence be led away either to eternal life and rest or to the unending flame of fire. Desiring to signify this by some bodily type, God prepared it to be seen at the death of Moses: the archangel Michael disputing over his body, and the wicked demon contradicting him, and the good angel Michael meeting him and putting him to flight, but leaving the judgment against him to the Lord of all. By this, He wished us to learn that there is a certain wrestling of the soul after the departure, and that we must prepare ourselves through good works to obtain the gospel defense against the demons, who howl against us with total envy and bitterness. ^B

The great confessor Maximus also says to John the cubicularius: “Who, beloved, stained with the filth of my sins, would not fear the approach of the holy angels, by whom, at the divine sentence, receiving the end of life, one is driven forth from the body with wrath, constrained and unwilling? Who, feeling his conscience stained, would not fear the most cruel and barbarous encounter of wicked demons, each of them dragging the miserable soul to himself through the air after the departure, and confounding it with an indictment of its deeds, and suggesting to it the loss of all hope in future goods?” ^C And after the inquiry and accounting regarding the spiritual powers of wickedness that takes place in the air, there follows the descent into and inhabitation of the underworld, where they dwell in thick darkness and deepest silence, having as food the bitterest moans of the soul condemned there, and most bitter tears, and dejection over the evils [they have committed], awaiting forever nothing else but the just recompense according to the just vote. This ceaseless grief and pain is sharpened for them by the hope of the resurrection, the expectation of the terrible day of the coming of Christ, the formidable judgment, and the defense for all things lived, according to which some shall stand at the right hand of the Judge and obtain the ineffable promised goods; but others, having obtained the position on the left, shall have the eternal fire, the outer darkness, [and the sleepless worm]. ^D These things, therefore, pondering and reflecting upon, they lament with good reason, like the condemned and inexcusable, not having heeded the discipline of the Wise man, who says: “Whatsoever thy hand is able to do, do it with thy might.”

for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave, whither thou goest.” For, “There is no one in death who is mindful of thee; and in the grave who shall confess to thee?” Truly, there is no one there who is mindful of God and says with gladness: “I remembered God and was delighted”; nor is there any ^B one confessing and being saved, because the Lord has closed against them every confession and correction.

Whence also the blessed Nilus admonishes, saying: “Remember also the state in the grave and consider how the souls are there, in what bitterness of silence, in what acrimony of groaning, with how much fear or agony, or in what expectation they receive ceaseless weeping, and have cold and those perennial tears.”

(9) Not only this, but Gregory, the illustrious pope of Rome, says in his dialogue to Peter: “If we believe the souls of the saints are in heaven, we must also confess that the souls of sinners are in the grave.” And just as ^C blessedness gladdens the saints and fills them with perpetual joy, so it must be believed that sadness and distress and eternal pain seize the sinners in the grave, like the flame of a furnace burning their souls, just as the things regarding the rich man and Lazarus concern them.

(10) That every one dying receives already from this point some perception and assurance of future things from those things which he has done, the apostolic Dionysius affirms, speaking of those who have died a holy death: “When they reach the end of this life, they see their journey to immortality as now already further drawn near, and they celebrate with hymns the gifts of divine grace and power, and are filled with divine delight, no longer fearing a change for the worse, but well knowing that they shall firmly and eternally possess the good things which they have built up. But those who are full of blemish and profane stains, even if they have attained to some holy initiation, which they have funestely cast away from their own mind and rushed toward deadly desires, when they reach the end of this life of here, not similarly ^D

do they consider the law of divine oracles; but rather, looking with other eyes upon the lost pleasures of their own passions, and calling blessed the holy life from which they have foolishly fallen, they are wretchedly and unwillingly separated from this life, being guided toward no holy hope because of their most wretched life. Nothing of this sort, however, is observed in the sleep of holy men; for anyone among them who attains to the end is filled with holy exultation regarding his own struggles, and with great joy sets out upon the path of holy regeneration. »

Quod etiam divinus Diadochus ostendens, ait: « If, therefore, we have not repented fittingly and have not made confession regarding ^B all our sins, we shall find in ourselves a certain hidden fear at the time of our departure. We ought, however, to pray, loving the Lord, and to be found outside of all fear; for he who is found in fear, it is evident that he will depart to the Tartarean rulers. But the soul that in the hour of dissolution exults in the friendship of God, being found above all the works of darkness, hastens and is carried toward the angels of peace with joy. »

^C (12) And holy Nilus says again: « Truly most terrible is the mystery of death, when the terrible presence of those demanding the soul surrounds it, making it tremble at the departure; and most horrific are the spectacles, when demons, reproaching sin and threatening, drag it toward themselves into joyless and gloomy places, so that before the judgment, the stupor is sufficient for punishment, since the conscience, looking back upon the sins, fears the future punishment worthy of its faults. Hence the body lies soaked in sweat, demonstrating signs of the interior labor, and that which is seen provides manifest proofs of the invisible perturbation. ^D Hence, just as those who have tasted a bitter cup compose their countenance to the invisibility of the soul, and the things that appear there express its sad disposition—for from the form of that which appears, expressing the character in the aspect, it manifests its own hidden distress. »

(13) So too Chrysostom says again: « Do you not know how on the last day sins constrain the soul? How they drag the heart downward? Wherefore it reports many dreadful things, and then compels one to behold terrible countenances, the sight of which those who are departing are unable to bear, and the bed itself they shake with much trembling.

^A For the soul is inward-ly disturbed and is unwilling to be torn away from the body. If, indeed, when we see fierce men, we are struck with terror, what shall we not suffer when we behold threatening angels and the austere powers of those standing by, as they drag us from the body and the soul is separated, lamenting much there, but in vain?

(14) But moreover, the great Basil also exhorts us, saying: « Do not, therefore, delay from day to day, lest you fall into a day you do not expect, when the fountains of life shall desert you, and there shall be straits on all sides and inconsolable affliction, when the physicians have despaired, and your relatives have despaired; when, seized with heavy breathing and paralysis, and a fever burning within, you shall groan from the depths of your heart, and find no one to console you; you shall cry out with a faint and weary voice, and there will be none who hears: everything that you say will be despised as delirium. Let no one, therefore, deceive you with empty and vain words; for sudden destruction will come upon you, and your end will appear like a tempest. For a grim angel will come, violently abducting and dragging away your soul, bound by sins, ^B looking back often to the things present, and lamenting greatly without a voice, the organ of lamentation being already obstructed. How much will you rend yourself! How much will you groan in vain, repenting of things ill-advised and done! Then you shall say in the sorrow of your heart: 'Woe, woe to me, that I did not cast off this heavy burden of sin! Woe to me that I did not wash away the stains! O wicked counsels and pacts! For on account of a momentary delight in sin, I am punished for eternity. On account of the pleasure of the flesh and its heat, I am delivered to eternal fire. Just is the judgment of God: I was called, and I did not obey; they bore witness to me, and I laughed.' These and such things you shall say, being excluded from yourself, having been snatched away before repentance. Therefore, have pity on yourself and keep in mind the last day, ^C the truly most dreadful and most pitiful than the departure itself, and the struggle, and the suffocation, and the hour of agony, and the swift sentence of God, and the angels hastening, and the soul in these things terribly disturbed, and reeling and trembling greatly and at a loss, and repenting uselessly when there is no benefit. »

CCXXXIII. The Reign of Heraclonas

After Constantine, son of Heraclius, Heraclonas reigned together with his mother Martina for four months.

The Senate deposed Heraclonas, and, having severed ^D

their noses and the tongue of Martina, they sent them into exile.

They then elevated to the throne Constans, son of Constantine, grandson of Heraclius.

CCXXXIV. The Reign of Constans, Grandson of Heraclius

^B Under him, a violent wind arose, which uprooted many trees, overturned the columns of monks, and smashed ships.

(3) Meanwhile, Moavias (the leader of the Arabs), having occupied Rhodes, also took the Colossus of Rhodes one thousand three hundred and sixty years after its construction and tore it down. A certain Jewish merchant purchased it and loaded seven hundred camels with its bronze.

(4) Moavias came with his ships to Phoenicia, where King Constans was with the Roman fleet, intending to do battle with him. ^C During the night, the king saw himself in a dream residing in Thessalonica. Having immediately recounted this to a certain diviner, he said: “O King, would that you had not slept this night nor had that dream! For the fact that you were in Thessalonica signifies that you will yield victory to another, and that, you being defeated, the victory will remain with the enemy.” When day had come, therefore, and they had engaged one another, the king was defeated, and the sea was mingled with the blood of the Romans.

(5) When the plot was reported to the king, he communicated this to a certain true friend among his subjects, and the king, following his counsel, having clothed him in his own royal garment, ^D boarded a humble boat with a few others and sailed away by night until Con...

^A Constantinople, having been saved in a miraculous fashion. The following day, the friend of the king, clothed in the royal garment, stood upon a royal ship and engaged in the battle; the enemies surrounding him, thinking him to be the king, fought him fiercely. But he, having manfully slain many of them, and having himself been mortally wounded by Moavia, died, fulfilling this word: “Greater love than this has no one, that one lay down his life for his friend” (John xv, 13).

Constans, moreover, slew his own brother, Theodosius, in the city, and departed for Sicily, wishing to transfer the kingdom to Rome. For the citizens hated him vehemently, not only on account of the murder of his brother, but also because he had dishonorably brought Martin, the Pope of Rome, to Constantinople and sent him into exile to Cherson. He had also cut out the ^B sacred tongues and severed the right hands of the most wise Maximus and two of his disciples. Furthermore, he had punished many orthodox believers with vexations and chains because they refused to acquiesce to the heresy of the Monothelites.

Then, when he had sent men to bring his wife and three sons (Constantine, Heraclius, and Tiberius), the Byzantines would not release them. After he had spent six years in Sicily, he was slain in Syracuse while bathing, by a lethal wound which one of those standing by inflicted upon his head with a bucket.

The people, however, seeing the king dead, organized a procession and proclaimed as king a certain man named Nizizus, an Armenian by race, a man distinguished in appearance and very handsome. When Constantine, his son, heard this, he occupied Sicily with a great fleet and, having captured Nizizus, the murderer of his father, killed him together with the seditious ones. And so, having returned to Constantinople, he was received with the applause of all. But let this account of him rest: I shall still linger on those events which occurred in the days of his father, who was killed in Sicily.

CCXXXV. Concerning the leader of the Saracens, Moameth, who is also Mahomet.

For indeed, under his reign, the leader of the Saracens and false prophet ^D Mahomet, descending from one of the most noble tribes of Ishmael, son of Abraham, appeared. I have deemed it necessary to narrate the details of his foul and filthy heresy.

^A For Nizarus, the descendant of Ishmael, is declared to be the father of them all. He begat two sons, Mundarus and Arabian. Mundarus begat Cusarus, Caitus, and Themimen, as well as Asadus and certain others whose names are unknown, who, having taken possession of the desert of Midian, dwelt in tents and raised herds. There are others further inland, not of their tribe, but sprung from Jectan, who are called Homeritae, that is to say, Ammanitae.

^B Now, as the aforementioned Mahomet, or Moamethus, was in want, he came to a certain wealthy woman (in order to serve her for wages) who was his kinswoman, called Chadiga, so that he might drive camels and trade with his tribesmen. Then, having by degrees gained her confidence and calling upon the woman, who was a widow, he took her as his wife and gained possession of her camels and her property. And while sojourning in Palestine, he consorted with Jews and Christians and searched for writings and certain passages of Scripture. Moreover, he labored under the disease of epilepsy. Therefore, his wife was deeply grieved that she, being illustrious and wealthy, should be joined to such a man—not only a pauper, but also an epileptic. Turning to her, he said, “I behold a fearful vision of an angel called Gabriel, and not being able to endure the sight of him, I faint and fall.”

^C He made use of the false testimony of a certain monk, a pseudonymous Arian, who had been expelled from Constantinople from the monastery of Callistratus on account of his depraved opinion. This wicked man deceived her and the other women, saying, “By a vision he beholds a certain angel called Gabriel, and not being able to endure the sight, he collapses. For this angel is sent to all the prophets.” Therefore, the woman and the other women, deceived by the discourses of the false abbot and believing him to be a prophet, everywhere proclaimed that he was a prophet.

^D And that heresy prevailed in the regions of Ethribus. The doctrine of this error reached even to a tribal chieftain named Bubachar. When the woman finally died, she left him as her successor and heir. From this, therefore, he became very famous and a man of great wealth. This impious and godless man, having associated with Jews and Christians—that is to say, with Arians and Nestorians—and from every side...

having gathered [various errors], he fashioned a religion for himself from the monarchy of the Jews, from the Arians the Word and Spirit as created beings, and from the Nestorians a worship of man. Under the pretext of the knowledge of God, he seduced the nation and taught them to be circumcised, both men and women, and to worship one only God, and to honor Christ as the Word of God, but not as the Son, and to conceive of the Spirit as an uttered word poured into the air, not substantial, nor consubstantial with the Father. And he charged them not to call the holy Virgin Mary Mother of God, but to suppose her to be the sister of Aaron and Moses; and he did not teach them to be baptized, nor to observe the Sabbath, nor to follow legal or evangelical customs, but to abominate the cross and to confess that it was the shadow of the Savior that was crucified. Furthermore, he enjoined them to participate in all things whatsoever forbidden by the law, except for swine’s flesh, and from wine they were to abstain entirely.

^B After he had devised something of this kind, he claimed that he had become the key-bearer of paradise; wherefore, on the day of judgment, after Moses had appeared with the Israelites and, as transgressors of the law, they had been delivered to the punishment of fire, and Jesus had again stood in the presence of God—and the Christians, because they had dared to attribute such a name to Christ, and had dogmatized that He was God and the Son of God, and the Word incarnate, and crucified, had been delivered to the gehenna of fire—then he says that he himself was called by God as one very pious, and was praised as the author of piety for their whole nation, and for that reason had been made key-bearer of paradise. And he says that after paradise had been opened by him, ^C seventy thousand of those who were able to attain to this did in fact enter with him, while the rest, he says, are to be judged; and the just, he asserts, enjoy the delights without ambiguity, while those found to be sinners, having little notes tied to their necks, enter into paradise and are called the freedmen of God and of Mahomet. He says, furthermore, that there are three rivers in paradise: one of honey, another of milk, and a third of wine, so that each may, according to his own desire, draw from where he wishes and be satisfied. And he says that women are with them, and they adorn their hair, and in every way tend to their voluptuous bodies—for he was dedicated to the flesh, libidinous, and a slave to sin. But the Jews and Christians, he says, are kept to be the wood of the fire; ^D and the Samaritans [he said] were to expel their excrement and dung from paradise, lest paradise become foul-smelling, and that each one, just as he lived here, whether in riches or in poverty and an inglorious condition, lives in the same manner there.

^A This pious and thunderstruck man, moreover, besides all these things, fabled that God is the author of every good and evil thing; and if he saw thieves and poisoners and as many as were being executed for prohibited acts, he would say: "Thus, he says, God wrote and predestined them to come into being, and thus he willed for them to die."

(9) One might very reasonably marvel at such a great and lasting power of the deception of the enemy of God and vain speaker, and especially at the supreme madness and stupidity of those who even until now serve his error and foolishly deem it a valid and divine religion. For those who are darkened and senseless manifestly shut their eyes to the truest and most holy faith handed down by God, ^B while these wretched and heavy-hearted people adhere to the falsely-named worship and plastic fabrications of the impostor, woefully applauding the trifles and foolishness and profane fables, while they do not suffer themselves to submit their ear at all to words inspired by God and bringing salvation. For they reject and despise the One who is truly God, who is clearly preached and believed through the Law and the Prophets; but they welcome with joy and zeal the one who is against God, who rages and is openly agitated by the Furies, and speaks as those evil-minded and rabid men, rejoicing with affection.

^C (10) For what inspired Scripture has spoken of the impious and delirious Mahomet? Or what divine prophet announced him as a teacher of piety? Let those, then, who are devoid of all sacred inspiration and initiation say how, while gladly accepting, as they pretend, the prophets from Adam until the advent of Christ, they deny Christ, who was clearly proclaimed beforehand by them, and God, and accept as an inspired and most excellent teacher of the faith the most wicked and perverse person, who was never named or signified by them at all, and celebrate him as a benefactor—these impious men, whose name is sinister or rather null.

^D (11) Let these senseless and mad men judge the ravings uttered maniacally and impiously by him and say what harmony they have with the words handed down by God. For indeed the divine word teaches openly (and proclaims most clearly and piercingly) that God is the cause of no evil, and that man has the faculty of his own salvation or perdition. But he [Mahomet]...

that ^A thrice-wretched and thrice-accursed enemy of both God and men, being prompted and energized by a most perverse and deceitful demon (and indeed speaking from an unbridled tongue and a senseless mind), audaciously and monstrously declares God the author of all good and evil. He maintains, in his misery, that whatever befalls a man—whether it arises from the malice of the Evil One, or from his own sloth and lack of discernment—occurs by divine providence. The former [the Word] exhorts us to despise wealth, to be humble, to cast off a life of pleasure, and not to return evil for evil. But he [Mahomet] teaches that to gather riches, to be haughty, to seize every pleasure in abundance, and to fight fiercely against one’s opponents, is a spiritual and salutary discipline, and a guarantor of paradise.

^B But O, the madness and the folly, the mocking of this impostor and crafty man! O, the stupidity and ruin of those whom he has miserably brought into subjection and has seduced and deceived right up to this day! For these wretched, foolish, and imprudent souls do not understand at all into what steep and dark abyss and Satanic Charybdis they have been plunged and completely swallowed; nor do they know the inextricable, impassable, and lethal mazes and paths into which they have been enticed, miserably wrapped, bound, and ultimately destroyed. Therefore, I truly marvel at their immense stupidity and senselessness; though they account themselves most clever and prudent, they do not perceive the precipice of this empty error. For it behooved these truly foolish and brutish men to recognize the manifest and foul snare of their [Mahomet’s] resurrection—that by the participation in food and drink, they would live a sensual and corruptible life, and would necessarily be subject to corruption and, by logical consequence, die. ^C For it is impossible for something corruptible, which partakes of food and drink, to remain utterly incorruptible and immortal. And where then, finally, will mortals (in soul and body) attain that eternal and stainless life so desired, which is promised to the faithful according to the divine Scriptures?

^D And furthermore, let these people—weak in faith and miserable, who even to this day have not been freed from their ancient and impious error, but under the guise of piety serve idols in secret—know that, in their imprudence and stupidity, they do not recognize the snare of their religion, which has been hidden by the primeval evil demon. For in days of old, as idolaters, they served her who is called Aphrodite among the Greeks—that is, pleasure—whose star they imagine to be Lucifer, whom they even [invoke] in their horrisonant

^A language, one which they call *Cubarum*—that is, "great"—continuing even until now to name Aphrodite as a goddess.

(14) And that we may not seem to some to speak falsely, let us explain their great ^B mystery; the reading of their profane and most filthy prayer is as follows: *Allah, Allah, Ouah, Cubar, Allah!* Indeed, *Allah, Allah* is interpreted as "god, god"; *Ouah*, however, as "greater"; but *Cubar* as "great"—that is, the moon and Aphrodite; which is [meaning]: "God, God, [the] greater and the great/greater—or rather, (the moon and) Aphrodite—is god." And the addition of the final *Allah* clarifies this; all of which things they speak in a hidden manner within the peculiarity of their own language (such being the nature of it, and they do not wish to publish them openly to rational and wise men, lest the doctrine be revealed). But let the discourse, as if leaving these swinish and muddy ones, who know nothing beyond pleasure and sloth, as if they were senseless and incurable sick people, return to the historical context ^C of the events that follow.

(15) After the death of the God-driven [tyrant] Mahomet, there appeared in the south a star, called *Docites*, foretelling the dominion of the Arabs. It remained for thirty days, extending from the south to the North in the form of a sword.

(2) At that time, those who were formerly called Arabs, but now ^D Saracens, having gone out to war and abandoned Arabia, came in an innumerable throng into the regions of Damascus. When Banes and Basiliscus, the generals of the East, learned of this, they marched against them. Then, when a battle took place, the Christians were greatly defeated; for since a violent south wind was blowing against the Romans, and they could not face the enemy because of the great cloud of dust, they were wretchedly turned to flight. And thus the Saracens, having conquered by force, came gloriously to Damascus, and taking it as a spoil of war, and likewise all the regions of Phoenicia, they settled in them (the accursed and profane ones, by the hidden judgments of God).

CCXXXVI. Concerning the Holy Land

^A a good and spacious land, a land of watercourses and fountains ^B and of the deeps bursting forth through the plains and the mountains, a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees, of herbs and dates, a land of oil and honey, a land in which you will eat your bread without scarcity ^C (and you shall lack nothing on it), a land whose stones are iron, and from whose mountains you shall extract gold, a land flowing with milk and honey; and honeycomb is found throughout all the land, and it is likened to the paradise of God.

"For, having lifted up," he says, "his eyes, Lot saw the whole surrounding region of the Jordan, that it was all well-watered, as the paradise of the Lord and as the land of Egypt, and he chose it for himself."

Aristotle, the wisest, also bears witness to these things, saying: "For the land of promise ^B truly abounds for men, and is covered with trees of every kind and teems with fruits—the multitude of vines, nuts, and date palms is vast, and there are countless cattle; and because of the land’s fertility and richness, their pastures are varied and plentiful at all times. There is, moreover, a great abundance of spices, precious stones, and gold, which are brought into this place by the Arabs."

Similarly, Josephus also says: "For the land is most fertile, and because of the temperate air and great richness, in the time of winter it produces nuts, and in the heat, dates; and it bears many olives. Those who dwell there eat grapes and figs for ten months, and they harvest the other fruits twice in the year."

The Scripture also shows the size of the grape clusters of that vine regarding the spies whom Moses sent, ^C saying: "They came to the valley of the grape, and cutting off a branch with its grape, they carried it on poles." For being suspended sideways on a piece of wood specially prepared for this and carried by two men, it demonstrated to everyone the fertility of that holy land, through which Alexander the Great, passing by and observing the fruit-bearing trees—among which was rue—as well as the height and thickness of the fig tree, greatly marveled at the fertility and richness of the land.

Furthermore, in Palestine there is also a fountain containing a remedy for all the maladies ^D of men and beasts, in which it is said the Lord washed his feet after a journey.

^A There stands also a tree, an antidote against every sickness, in which place they say that Joseph, when he was taking Christ with the most holy Theotokos Mary and making the journey to Egypt, saw the tree incline to the ground and do homage.

(8) Toward the northern part of the torrent there is a root in the shape of a flame, called Battarites, from which a light shines forth in the evening; no human can touch it, for if anyone touches the root with their hand, it immediately brings death upon them. Therefore, those digging around it in a circle tied a dog to it; the dog, wanting to follow the man, pulled at the root and immediately died. They then apply this root to one possessed by a demon, and they liberate him, the demon having been put to flight from him. ^B

(9) There is also another maritime city of Galilee, having a river two stadia distant, and a place within it in the shape of an island, having a circumference of one hundred cubits, in which a natural phenomenon worthy of wonder occurs. For when the winds drive the white sand from the outer region into it, the place immediately changes this into glass; and when sufficient boats surround it and carry away that glassy sand, the winds blowing again fill the place.

(10) Furthermore, it produces an abundance of the purest balsam and many other things, difficult to find and desirable to men. And for this reason, as it is choice and incomparably superior to all the earth, God rightly gave it to his beloved and firstborn son (Israel) for an inheritance and enjoyment. ^C "For he brought them," it says, "into his holy mountain, this mountain which his right hand had acquired."

(11) Therefore, in this holy, blessed, and good land of promise, God the Word, who of old was seen by the prophets in many and various ways (sitting on a Cherubic and exalted throne, and having spoken, and indeed having made his theophanies in various and God-befitting ways), said: "I have multiplied visions, and I was made like in the hands of the prophets." Now, in the last times, he was again seen (in this same holy land), having become incarnate and having conversed with men (according to the divine prediction), fulfilling the passage: ^D "Mother Sion, a man will say; and a man was born in her, and he himself, the Most High, founded her." In her he also endured the saving passion and wrought the salvation of the world in her midst (whence some interpreters have called her the navel of the earth). And moreover, Christ himself called her the heart, saying: "As Jonas was in the belly of the whale for three days and three nights, so shall the Son of man be in the heart of the earth."

^A Hence also the divine Chrysostom says regarding the text: "Out of Sion the perfection of his beauty" (Ps. CXVII, 20): For in antiquity, from thence the perfection of God was manifested, such as the altar, the Holy of Holies, the entire worship and discipline of the old Law, the multitude of priests, sacrifices and holocausts, holy hymns and psalms, and everything that was prefigured from thence as well as things to come. But when the truth arrived, it took its beginning from thence; from thence the Cross shone forth, from thence a thousand virtues were displayed. Therefore, the great Isaiah says concerning the second legislation of Christ: "Out of Sion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem, and he shall judge among the nations." For here he calls both the whole region and the metropolis of the Jews adjacent to it, Sion. For from thence, ^B just as swift and spirited horses from a starting-gate, the apostles were sent out into the whole world; from thence they began to perform signs; there occurred the saving Passion, the Resurrection, the Ascension; there were the beginnings of our salvation; there the mysterious dogmas were first preached; there the Father was first revealed and the only-begotten Son recognized, and such great grace of the Spirit was given, and there they unveiled the discourse on spiritual things, and the promises of gifts and powers and future blessings, all of which the text calls his "ornament." For the beauty and ornament of God are his goodness, his philanthropy, and his benevolence toward all. Having therefore healed the fault and fall of Adam, and prefiguring the swift as if winged congregation of the saints and their meeting in his second coming, he said: ^C "Wheresoever the body is, there will the eagles be gathered together" (Mt. XXIV, 28).

It should also be known here that this is the tomb of Adam, the leader of all men, as the tradition has been handed down since the flood; wherefore Christ, having investigated the beginnings of human death, accepted the Passion in the so-called place of Calvary, in order that where the corruption of men had taken its beginning, from thence also the life and the god-proclaimed preaching of the kingdom of heaven might begin.

[(14)] Likewise, the divine Athanasius also says concerning the Passion of Christ: "Why Christ does not suffer elsewhere, nor is he crucified in another place than in the place of Calvary, where the Hebrew teachers say is the tomb of Adam—for they maintain that he was buried there after the curse; for this reason I marvel at the appropriateness of the place. ^D For it was fitting for Christ, wishing to renew the first man, to suffer in that place." And since Adam [this...*]

*Note: The translation ends mid-sentence to reflect the final word of the provided page fragment.*

^A And since Adam heard, "You are earth and into earth you shall go," it is there precisely that he is placed again, so that in the same place where he received the curse, he might also receive the release from it.

^B The great Ephraim also says, regarding the matters of Cain: "And Cain was condemned to groan and tremble, held fast by his conscience; but this will be endured by way of eternal punishment. For to groan and tremble is here on this earth; it is the place of judgment, the valley of lamentation, according to the Holy Scriptures; the earth is not condemned because of judgment, nor judgment because of the earth. For the earth did not sin, but man; the earth is an aid to the justice of God, just as the word of the judge and the iron of the executioner are, and it is possible, he says, for judgment to be eternal in a moment. ^C The flesh of men is mortal now, but then it will become immortal, and Paradise, existing through sensible things, possesses eternal enjoyment. It is not said in a parable concerning Paradise, it was not planted in a figure as something that did not exist in reality. Paul beheld it after five thousand and five hundred years; he traveled there and heard the mysteries of the Church: "He ascended to the third heaven and heard the eternal words of the things to come." God clothed heaven and earth with the same grace and established Paradise in eternal promises. To you, the infidel, the sensible appears momentary, but to me, the faithful, the momentary appears eternal. You do not consider the power because you do not believe in the grace; you do not find understanding because you do not know the counsel of the Divinity. You demand of me an account of how that which is momentary is eternal; demand also of Paul why he said there was a narration which it is not lawful for a man to utter. But if the word is unutterable, much more so is the power of God ineffable; therefore, Paradise is sensible but not temporary, and the promise in it is of trees but not of temporal ones. ^D And indeed, the metropolis Jerusalem is now temporal and corruptible, yet it was chosen for the habitation of Him who is by nature incorruptible and eternal, God; one which, after a short time, will become incorruptible and illuminated by God in the regeneration, and will be the dwelling of the just according to the thunderous word of the son of thunder, John, in the Apocalypse: "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, truly built by God and guarded and adorned and beloved"—"for the Lord loves your gates above all the tabernacles of Jacob," which he also signifies as illustrious and the city of God, saying: "Glorious things are spoken of you, O city of God," and "As we have heard, so have we seen, in the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of the God of Jacob; God has founded it forever."

^A This holy and desirable and lovable and most beloved land, from which the first man was born, and all the prophets and apostles went forth, and from which the most holy Mother of God, who is exalted above all celestial and terrestrial creatures, budded forth and gave birth to the Lord and Master of this whole universe and became the procuratrix of the salvation of the world—this land, and the divine mountain of Sion, perpetually celebrated, the holy metropolis of the great King, God and our Savior, Jerusalem, the most wicked and most impure Saracens have occupied! When, therefore, they became masters of that holy city, they prevailed with great insolence, God permitting it because of the sins of those dwelling therein, and they subjected all places and cities to their dominion. This came to pass when King Constans, the grandson of Heraclius, had engaged with them in war and, having been defeated, had sought safety in flight, as has been said before.

CCXXXVII. Reign of Constantine Pogonatus

He was called Pogonatus because, having gone forth beardless to avenge his father, he returned to the city with a beard.

He reigned together with his brothers, but having suffered plots from them and having been victorious, he cut off all their noses and sent Heraclius and Tiberius into exile. He himself reigned for seventeen years.

CCXXXVIII. Concerning the heresy of the Paulicians

of Phanarra, there they disseminated their heresy. From this, therefore, the village was named Episparis, and their disciples were called Paulicians.

(2) After some time had passed in the teaching of Paul, these men had many other masters, including one called Constantine, who renamed himself Silvanus. Him, therefore, they hold as the leader of their teachers, and not Paul. For he handed down his heresies to them (not in writing, but) orally by tradition, though he handed down the Gospel and the Apostle in writing, complete in words and text as they are among us; yet he twisted every chapter toward his own heresies, and he ordained for them this law also: that ^B no one should read any other book except the Gospel and the Apostle.

(3) After Constantine (who is also called Silvanus), they had as a second teacher a man called Symeon (whom they renamed Titus, and a third, Genesius), who renamed himself Timotheus; and a fourth, Joseph, who renamed himself Epaphroditus. After him they had Zacharias, but some among them cast him out as a mercenary and not a true shepherd. As a sixth they had Baanes the sordid, and as a seventh they had Sergius, who renamed himself Tychicus. They readily anathematize Manes, Paul, and John, and others ^C whom one might name among them; but Constantine, who was also called Silvanus, and Symeon, who is also Titus, and Genesius, who is also Timotheus, and Joseph, who is also Epaphroditus, and Baanes the sordid, and Sergius, who is also Tychicus, they by no means anathematize as their teachers, but hold them as apostles of Christ.

(4) They have also six churches in their profession: (1) the Macedonian, which is the Castrum Colonia; (2) the Cibossa, which Constantine, who is also Silvanus, and Symeon, who is also Titus, instructed; (3) the Achaia, which is the village of Samosata; (4) the Mantalis, ^D which Genesius, who is also Timotheus, instructed; (5) that of the Philippians, whose disciples they call Jo->

- ^A seph, Epaphroditus, and Zacharias, the hired shepherd, as they say; (6) that of the Laodiceans. They also speak of the Argaitae, and the church of the Ephesians—those who are in Mopsuestia—and another of the Colossians, the Coenochoritae, which three churches, they say, Sergius, who is also Tychicus, anathematized. These seven masters of theirs, therefore, and their six churches they hold in honor and venerate, but all others, whomever one might name to them, they both anathematize and reject.

Primarily, however, they hold the heresy of the Manichaeans, confessing two principles just as they do. These people say: “There is only one thing that separates us ^B from the Romans: we say that the heavenly Father is one God, who has no power in this world, but in the world to come, and that the creator of the world is another God, who has power over this present world.” “The Romans,” they say, “confess that the heavenly Father and the creator of the whole world are one and the same God,” and they call themselves Christians and us Romans. To those who do not know them, they say persistently: “We believe in the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the heavenly Father,” and, “Anathema to him who does not so believe,” most cleverly practicing their own wickedness with method; for when they say “the heavenly Father,” they do not add, ^C “who is the only true God, who made heaven and earth, and all things that are therein.” It is necessary, however, for the orthodox person in a dialogue to ask the Manichaean to state the first symbol of our faith, which is: “I believe in one God, Father almighty, creator of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible,” and the rest.

Then, they blaspheme immoderately against the holy Theotokos. But if they are compelled by us to confess her, they speak allegorically: “I believe in the all-holy Theotokos, into whom the Lord entered and from whom He went forth,” and they say she is the Jerusalem above, “into which our forerunner entered for us,” ^D as says the Apostle. And they do not speak according to the truth

^A regarding the holy Mary, the Theotokos, nor that the Lord was incarnate from her.

(7) They blaspheme also against the divine mysteries of the holy communion of the precious body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, saying that the Lord, when giving His words to the apostles, said: “Take, eat, drink, not bread and wine”; and they say that bread and wine are not to be offered.

(8) They blaspheme against the precious cross, saying that Christ is the cross, and that wood ought not to be worshipped as a cursed instrument.

(9) They reject the prophets and the other ^B saints, and furthermore they slander and reject blessed Peter, the great chief of the apostles, more than all others, saying that none of them is among the number of those being saved, and they call their own synods the catholic Church, speaking allegorically toward us: for those people perform their prayers to themselves, and they call the words of the Gospel baptism, just as the Lord says: “I am the living water.”

(10) All these things and more than these, when they are detected, they explain allegorically; but one must argue with them prudently and distinctly in all matters. For they always have a lie ready as a law of their own, especially ^C when they are hard-pressed, saying that when they lie—whenever they consider it necessary or useful—they are innocent in their own sight. For thus Manes handed down to them, saying: “I am not inhumane, as Christ, who said: ‘Whoever denies me before men, I also will deny him.’ But I, when one denies me before men and seeks his own salvation, will joyfully receive the one who is as if he had not denied me, and his invocation and the lie, as a confession to me that is blameless.”

(11) Likewise, they reject the presbyters and the other priests who are among us; they call their own priests fellow-travelers and notaries, ^D who are indifferent to all others in their dress, their diet, and in the whole framing of their life.

(12) They hold all the words of the Gospel and the Apostle twisted, and contrary to those that are among us, but arranged by them as supposedly fitting their own heresies; for just as they are said in the Scripture and in the words, so they are as they are among us, unchanged, but their meanings are distorted, in the same way

^A as I have explained more clearly in my extensive works. They do, however, adore the Gospel that is among us when it chances to be present, not in the cross, but in the book, saying that they are the words of Christ and for that reason they adore them. In sickness and in pain, some of them, when they fall into such a state, place a cross upon themselves; and when they have recovered their health, they break it again and cast it into the fire to be burned.

(14) Some of them even have their children baptized by priests whom they hold captive among them; others, entering into our church of the orthodox, secretly communicate in the divine mysteries for the greater deception of the simpler folk.

(15) Employing such machinations and hypocrisy, they use every lust and pollution of both natures of men indiscriminately and without fear, though some of them say that they only allow themselves discretion regarding their parents.

So much for this heresy which arose under King Constantine Pogonatus, the grandson of Heraclius, who, having reigned for seventeen years, as has been said, died of dysentery.

CCXXXIX. The Sixth Council.

At that time the sixth synod was convoked, the third of Constantinople, to which came two hundred and twenty-seven Fathers, in the seventeenth year of the reign of Constantine, son of Constans and father of Justinian. ^B Those presiding were Theodorus and Georgius, presbyters, and Joannes the deacon, legates of Agathon, Pope of Rome; Georgius of Constantinople; and Theophanes of Antioch, who was ordained by the synod itself because the one who had preceded him, Macarius, had been deposed at that time as being opposed to the definitions of the orthodox. For the diocese of Alexandria, there was Peter the monk; for that of Jerusalem, no one, ^C since those sees had been deprived of their patriarchs, they having been captured at that time by the Saracen nation. It was held against Theodorus, bishop of Pharan, Honorius of Rome, Cyrus of Alexandria, and Sergius, Pyrrhus, Peter, and Paul, who had once been bishops of Constantinople; and furthermore against those who had renewed the errors of these heretics in that holy synod, namely, Macarius, the so-called prelate of Antioch, Stephen his disciple, ^D and also Polychronius, that childish old man, who said there was one will and one operation in the Saviour

^A and our God Jesus Christ (and God), whom the synod having anathematized, declared that two natural wills, that is to say, two wills and two natural operations, inhere in our one Christ and God.

(2). Under his empire, the Saracens came with a great fleet against Constantinople, drawing up along the coast of the Hebdomon. Constantine arrayed himself against them; naval battles took place between them every day from the springtime until the autumn. The fleet of the Saracens wintered at Cyzicus. ^B

(4). And again, as spring began, having set out from there, in like manner they continued the war by sea. Seven years of the war having passed, the fleet of the Saracens gained nothing more, but having lost many and innumerable fighting men, they returned to their own lands.

(5). Being in the parts of Syllaeum, and caught by harsh and violent winds and the surging of the sea, they were utterly destroyed. ^C

(6). Then also the *Akathistos* was composed, and the *kontakion* of the most holy Theotokos: "To the defending General," and the "Command of the Christians," and the "Fervent intercession."

(7). After these things, those of the Anatolic theme came to Chrysopolis, crying out and saying, "We believe in the Trinity; let us proclaim and crown the three emperors." Constantine, angered at them because he alone was crowned, and his two brothers enjoyed no authority, sent to them an official, supposedly approving this and inviting them to deliberate on these priorities with the senate. And in fact, when they had entered the city, he impaled them and cut off the noses of his brothers.

(8). At the time when the nation of the Bulgarians (from the northern and remoter parts of the Euxine Sea, from the so-called Maeotian lake) invaded Thrace (with great poverty and distress), Constantine, having learned of this and being deeply grieved, set out against them with a great naval and land force, and in the middle of the river ^D

^A Danube he drew up his infantry, and anchored his ships near the adjacent shore. The Bulgarians, struck with great terror, fled into fortifications that were difficult to storm.

When the emperor was suffering from severe gout and was compelled to divert southward to a bath with five swift ships, he left his army and the generals behind, ordering the soldiers to remain in the camp and fight. The army, however, thinking the king was fleeing, took to flight, with no one pursuing them.

Seeing this, the Bulgarians came forth from their fortifications, pursued them, and after killing many and plundering them, they seized their goods and from that time dominated the land of the Christians. ^B

Wherefore, the emperor was compelled to make peace with them, concluding treaties to the disgrace of the Romans, as they were plundering the whole of Thrace and the region beyond it.

Meanwhile, as was said above, the army of the Saracens, departing, perished by divine will in the sea: some were submerged in the Syllaeum; others were again warred upon and defeated by the general of the Cibyrraeots, and having had their ships burned by the aqueous fire. For a certain Callinicus, an architect who had fled to the Romans from Heliopolis of Syria, first prepared this fire, and thus he burned and destroyed the ships of the Arabs along with their men. And so the Romans, having discovered the maritime fire, returned with a great victory. ^C

The Mardaites, moreover, entered Lebanon (in Syria) and occupied it.

Fearing this, Muawiyah sent delegates to Constantine, seeking peace and offering an annual tribute. The emperor, receiving the delegates, sent with them the patrician John Pitzigaudes, as a man adorned with great experience and wisdom, that he might negotiate peace with the Arabs. The Arabs, having admired his wisdom and shrewdness, agreed to pay the Romans annually three thousand pounds of gold, fifty thousand captives, and one hundred thoroughbred horses; and this for thirty years; so that during that time there was peace everywhere between the Romans and the Arabs. ^D

^A

(16) Having thus secured peace on all sides, he unified the churches and convened an ecumenical synod at Constantinople; he confirmed the dogmas of the five holy synods that preceded, as has been stated before. ^B

(17) He also made his son Justinian his colleague in the empire.

(18) When Mavia, the Arab, had died, Abimelech held power, and by sending ambassadors to the emperor, he sought peace on the condition that he would provide three hundred sixty-five thousand golden coins, and three hundred sixty-five slaves, and three hundred sixty-five thoroughbred horses every year, provided that the band of the Mardaits in Lebanon be suppressed.

(19) This same pious emperor died after he had reigned for seventeen years.

CCXL. The reign of Justinian, who is surnamed Rhinotmetos (he of the nose cut off)

Justinian, his son, reigned for sixteen years. He sent to Abimelech to confirm the agreements inscribed in writing during the time of his father, and by sending these, he moved the Mardaits—twelve thousand in number—(O, the foolishness!), thereby mutilating the Roman authority. For from that time on ^D the Roman Empire has suffered terrible evils at the hands of the Arabs, even to this day, as a result of these being moved.

(2) He also broke the peace with the Bulgarians.

(3) Moving then into the western regions, he subjugated a great multitude of Sclavinians, partly by war and partly by persuasion; from these he selected and enrolled thirty thousand into the army, calling them the "superabundant" host.

(4) Having armed these and brought them to his own side, and

relying on their alliance, he broke the peace that had persisted until then between the Romans and the Agarenes, out of foolishness. He led forth his "superabundant" (or rather, one should say, unholy) host and the rest of his troops toward ^A Sebastopolis. The Agarenes came to him there and protested, adjuring him not to break the agreements they had established with one another by oath, for otherwise God would be the avenger and judge of those injuries. But the emperor would not admit to words of peace; rather, he hastened toward battle. So the Agarenes immediately spread out the written document of peace and hung it upon a spear, then charged against the Romans. A battle having been joined, twenty thousand of the Sclabeni deserted to the side of the Agarenes, and thus the Romans were dreadfully routed and countless numbers of them were slain; the judgment and the victory justly passed to their enemies, instructing them never to violate a divine oath, even if it be given to enemies and infidels. The emperor fled in great confusion and with a diminution of his forces, and arriving at the maritime place of ^B Leucatas, he slaughtered the remaining ten thousand of the Sclabeni.

From that time forward, the Agarenes, having become bolder, pillaged Romania, relying on the aid of the Sclavonian deserters.

(6) When the emperor had returned into the city, an eclipse of the sun occurred, so that even the stars were visible.

(7) Moreover, Justinian applied himself to the raising of palace buildings. ^C He built the triclinium named after himself and the walls of the palace, setting over the work Stephen, his sacellarius and chief eunuch, a bloodthirsty and cruel man who used lashes upon the laborers; indeed, he presumed to whip the emperor's own mother. This same man, having caused many evils to the commonwealth, and because of the exactions he exercised upon the inhabitants of the city, stirred up hatred against the emperor.

(8) The emperor demanded of Callinicus the patriarch that he recite prayers for the destruction of the church of the most holy Theotokos, which was adjacent to the palace, having it in mind to build in its place a cistern and seats for the Veneti faction ^D for the purpose of holding there that which is called the saximodexium. The patriarch replied: "Prayers to the temple...

[alt-version omitted]

we have for its foundation, but for its destruction we have received none." ^A Being constrained, and the prayer being demanded of him, he said: "Glory to God, unto whom it is acceptable always, both now and ever, and unto the ages of ages." Upon hearing this, the emperor and the vulgar mob, having replied "Amen," immediately tore down the church and built the cistern. And he called it [the cistern] of the Metropolitans. ^B

(10) Now Leontius, a patrician who had come under suspicion of aspiring to the throne and for that reason had been kept imprisoned for two years, having then been sent out by Justinian as a general into Greece, and having fallen in with his friend, the monk Paul, who was an astrologer and had predicted he would attain the purple, he replied to him and the others who were standing by in private: "Behold, the emperor sends after me and will take off my head, and false are those things which you have told me concerning the empire." But they said: "Do not you hesitate, and this shall be accomplished forthwith." ^C

(11) So taking them with him, he broke into the prisons, and having collected a great mob, he went out with them to the Forum. ^D They made proclamation to all the people, crying out: "All Christians to Saint Sophia!" And when the multitude had gathered, they cried out: "Let the bones of Justinian be dug up!" And coming at night to the Hippodrome, he was proclaimed emperor. When day came, having brought Justinian out to the Hippodrome and having made him noseless in the sphendone, he banished him to Cherson.

(12) After these things, the populace, having seized Stephen the sacellarius and eunuch, and Theodotus the prefect of the treasury, and having tied them by the feet with ropes, dragged them through the public thoroughfare and burned them at the Ox.

CCXLI. The Reign of Leontius

After Justinian, Leontius reigned for 3 years. (2) During his reign the Arabs took possession of Africa.

^A Leontius, having learned of this, sent the patrician John, a capable man, with the Roman fleet. He put the enemies to flight, liberated Africa, and having reported these achievements to the emperor, he wintered there.

The Protosymbulus, however, when he learned of these events, sent a great force of Agarenes against John. He, being compelled to withdraw, turned his ships towards Romania for the purpose of increasing and repairing his forces.

When he had reached Crete, while directing his journey toward the emperor, the army, by the counsel of its own commanders, turned to a wicked plan. Having killed the patrician John and cursed the emperor, ^B they hailed Apsimar, the drungary of the Cibyrraeots, as emperor, bestowing upon him the name Tiberius.

While Leontius was clearing the port of the Neorion of Constantinople, the bubonic plague spread through the city and destroyed a great number of people.

Furthermore, Apsimar arrived with his fleet at Sycae. As the city refused to surrender Leontius, the gate of the Blachernae was captured by treachery. Apsimar mutilated Leontius by cutting off his nose and hands, and relegated him to the monastery of Dalmatus; he ordered his friends to be beaten, fined, and sent into exile.

CCXLII. The Reign of Apsimar

After Leontius, Apsimar, who was also called Tiberius, reigned for 3 years; for he was binominal, as are Jacob and Israel, Jothor and Raguel, the father-in-law of Moses, as Simon and Peter, ^C Thomas and Didymus, Thaddaeus and Lebbaeus.

In his reign a great pestilence occurred. The Romans made an incursion into Syria and slaughtered up to two hundred thousand.

Apsimar relegated Philippicus, the son of the patrician Nicephorus, to Cephalonia, because he had dreamed that he would one day obtain the empire. For he asserted that he had seen in his sleep his head being shaded by the wings of an eagle. Having heard this, the emperor drove him into exile.

Meanwhile, Justinian was openly boasting that he would regain the empire. ^D The inhabitants, fearing him

consulted together ^A either to kill him or to hand him over to the emperor. [(5)] Having learned of this, Justinian fled to Chazaria, where the Chazar gave him his own daughter, Theodora, in marriage. Informed of this, Apsimarus sent to the Chagan, promising him great gifts if he would deliver Justinian to him alive, or at least his head. When Justinian learned of this, taking some men with him, he fled secretly to Cherson and sailed to the mouth of the Ister. [(6)] A storm suddenly arose, and when all were despairing of their safety, one of his companions said to him: "If you escape safely, O emperor, and God restores the empire to you, give your word that you will exact vengeance on none of your enemies." ^B Being still full of fury and rage, he said: "May the Lord sink me right here if I spare any one of them!" Having been saved from the storm, he sent to Terbelis the Bulgar to request an auxiliary force from him so that he might regain his ancestral empire, saying that he would compensate his service with very many gifts. [(7)] The Bulgar gave him not only auxiliary forces but also himself; for he marched toward the imperial city with Justinian in great power. Justinian, with a few of his own people, entered the city through the conduit ^C (by the treachery of certain men in the city). He arrived at St. Anna (the place which from that time on was called "The Second" because of him) and encamped at the palace of Blachernae, having already regained his empire. Upon hearing this, Apsimarus fled to Apolloniada.

CCXLIII. The reign of Justinian reigning a second time.

Justinian, having recovered the empire for a second time, gave many gifts to Terbelis and ceded to him a region torn away from the Roman domain, which is now called Zagoria. [(2)] Having sent for Apsimarus and having seized him throughout the whole city...

^A and having led him in triumph through the city, he quickly impaled Heraclius, his brother, along with all the nobles who were confederated with him. And having bound Apsimarus and Leontius (the emperors) in chains, he brought them to the seating area of the Hippodrome. And as he trod upon their necks until the first event of the circus was finished, the populace shouted: "Thou upon the asp and the basilisk shalt tread, and thou shalt trample the lion and the dragon." And having sent them off in this manner, he had them beheaded in the arena.

(3) Having blinded the patriarch Callinicus, he sent him into exile (and he put many of the citizens to death). Cyriacus, however, who was living as a recluse on the island of Amastris and who had predicted to him the restoration of his second reign, he promoted to patriarch.

(4) Since he had then become crazed and furious against all, he destroyed an uncountable multitude from the civil and military registry (for some he slaughtered openly; others he flayed by night. And some, whom he invited to banquet, he cruelly deprived of their present life by poison; others he imprisoned under the pretext of exile), whence a fear so great took hold of the city (so that some even defected to the barbarians).

(5) Having sent, he brought Theodora from Khazaria and Tiberius, her son, and he reigned jointly with them. ^B

(6) Having broken the peace concluded with the Bulgarians, he marched against them, and having been defeated, and having taken refuge in a fortress, and having cut the tendons of his horses, he embarked into boats and returned to Constantinople with dishonor.

(7) Being mindful of the injuries received long ago from the Chersonites during his exile, he sent the patrician Maurus with a fleet, and he ordered them all to be killed and their infants to be dashed against the ground. ^C

(8) But those who had insulted Justinian, and who had earlier, under Apsimarus, sent Philippicus, the son of the patrician Nicephorus—also called Bardanes, who in a vision had seen an eagle protecting him—whom some of the soldiers had suborned and had drawn toward his own favor because of Justinian’s inhumanity and cruelty, proclaimed him emperor and sent him forth against the city with a great fleet. ^D

Various readings and notes

Learning this, Justinian, struck with both fear and rage, retreated as far as Sinope so that he might learn more certainly about this. But when Philippicus arrived with his fleet at the city, Justinian fled to Damatrys, having been abandoned by all. Once he was immediately seized, Philippicus ordered his head to be cut off and sent to the Scythians. ^A

Chapter CCXLIV. The Reign of Philippicus

After Justinian, Philippicus, who was also called Bardanes, reigned for two years. He was considered eloquent and prudent in conversation, but in his actions, he lived a base life unworthy of such dignity, and was rejected by all. ^B He embraced depraved dogmas, and he did not blush to inveigh against the holy sixth synod, and attempted to subvert it. Under his rule, the Bulgarians advanced as far as the Golden Gate, inflicting great slaughter. ^C When the Circensian games were being held and the Green faction had won, it pleased the emperor to proceed with musical instruments and various trappings to the baths of Zeuxippus to bathe, and to dine with certain base men. While he was indulging in rest at midday, the patrician George, surnamed Boraphus, by the counsel of the patrician Theodore Myacius, suddenly burst in with the Thracian garrison, seized Philippicus, led him to the oratory of the Greens, and put out his eyes. ^D The following day, the people having gathered in the Great Church, Artemius the protasecretis was crowned.

Chapter CCXLV. The Reign of Artemius

After Philippicus, Artemius, who was also named Anastasius, reigned for two years. He was most eloquent. He appointed most upright leaders to command the equestrian forces, and others most learned to administer political affairs, so that he himself might live free from turmoil. He blinded the patricians George and Theodore and exiled them to Thessalonica.

^A As the Arabs were preparing weapons against the Roman Empire by land and sea, it was reported to the emperor that they were approaching the city. He began to build swift ships and dromons, and to restore the maritime and land walls of the city; he set up, in like manner, ballistae and other engines for the defense of the city, and filled the granaries with grain.

^B During this time, Germanus was transferred from Cyzicus to Constantinople. [(4)] A decree regarding this transfer was promulgated by the vote and consent of the most pious presbyters and deacons and the sacred senate, which proclaimed: “Divine grace, which always heals the weak and supplies what is lacking, transfers Germanus, the most holy president of the city of the Cyzicenians, to be bishop of this city guarded by God, the queen of cities, under the rule of the emperor Artemius.”

[(5)] When the emperor learned that a fleet of the Agarenes had set sail for Phoenicia for the purpose of cutting timber, he dispatched a fleet with a cleric named John, who was also called Joannaces, to burn the timber and the rest of the Agarene equipment. ^C A sedition was stirred up in the fleet; they despised the emperor and killed John with swords. Having done this, the seditious forces turned their ships toward the queen city.

[(7)] When they had landed at Adramyttium, they found there a certain Theodosius, a collector of public taxes, a pious man detached from worldly affairs, and declared him emperor, since they were without a leader. He fled and hid in the mountains, but they found him and, doing him great violence, hailed him as emperor.

[(8)] Upon learning of this, Artemius fortified the city and retreated to the city of Nicaea. The city's fleet and that of Theodosius fought against each other for six continuous months.

^D [(9)] Theodosius, having crossed the strait, occupied the city with a strong force, having entered through the wall of the Blachernae gate. The marines, spreading through the city, caused a great slaughter, sparing no one; they seized the patriarch Germanus and the notables of Artemius and carried them off to Nicaea. Upon seeing them, Artemius, having received a pledge of immunity, donned the monastic habit. Theodosius sent him into exile in Thessalonica.

CCXLVI. Concerning Leo the Isaurian

CCXLVII. Concerning the reign of Theodosius of Adramyttium

Leo, having sent consular men to him and having pledged the word of peace, was hailed as emperor by all. Then, surrounded by a great multitude, he set out for Nicomedia, where he encountered the son of Theodosius who had come to meet him with all the imperial retinue ^B and the notable men of the palace, and he seized him, and proceeded to Chrysopolis.

Theodosius, having received from him a promise of immunity, relinquished the empire to him and, with his son, was enrolled among the clergy.

CCXLVIII. The reign of Leo, who is also Conon

And that life-loving and swinish man, having listened to this counsel, ^D disturbed all the churches that were under his dominion. But the wretch paid the penalty; for not yet a year had passed...

his son, ^A having succeeded to the rule, wished to kill them as false prophets; and they, having learned of this, returned to the Isaurian regions.

While they were cooling themselves at a certain spring, there appeared this Leo, who was still a youth, handsome in appearance and tall in stature, a man of the mechanical arts, earning his living thereby, and as he was taking the load off his pack animal, he sat down himself at the spring to take his midday meal. ^B Then those votaries of the ventriloquists suggest to him a prophecy that he would gain control of the Roman imperial scepter. And when Leo hesitated, looking toward his own low status, the impious ones made him feel certain by oaths that such was destined to happen. In the meantime, they demanded that, if his affairs should reach this outcome, he would do whatever they were going to ask of him. There was nearby a temple of the holy Theodore; immediately the wretched Leo arose and entered the temple, and touching the holy railings of the altar, he gave as his guarantor the great martyr of Christ, Theodore, with the Jews standing at the entrance of the temple and receiving his oath. That having been done, each returned to his own affairs.

It was at that time that Sisinius the patrician was ^C commander of the eastern regions. Leo was enlisted into the military by him, and in a short time was promoted to the highest dignities, being appointed spatharios by Justinian Rhinotmetos. Then, having been sent to the western regions and returning having gained a great victory, he was created commander of the Orient by Theodosius.

When barbarians were ravaging Campania, Amalfi, and Naples, Leo was sent thither with one hundred and twenty dromons, and, having been victorious and having established a glorious peace, he put on the imperial insignia.

And immediately he is hailed as emperor by the army. Indeed, the emperor Theodosius, meeting him, removed the crown from his own head and placed it upon the head of Leo.

^D When Leo had acquired a good reputation for himself, behold, the wicked and sorcerous Jews invade the palace; then, from the young prince, they inexorably demand that which was owed from the promise received. When he readily promised he would gladly pay it, the godless ones said: "This we ask of you, most powerful emperor, that the name of the Nazarene Jesus and of his Mother be [erased] from all ecclesiastical history...

By doing this you shall reign for a hundred years in your generation." The foolish man, unstable in his faith, most readily promised what was asked. O the madness! O the insanity! A most Christian emperor is seen entering into a treaty with the Hebrews; he who received the scepter of imperial power from God is led astray by men who are enemies of God.

(8) There was born to the (godless) emperor a son named Constantine (whom they say defiled the sacred font while being baptized, a dire and foul token of his future life). ^B (9) Raging, therefore, against the orthodox and most ancient faith, having summoned the venerable Patriarch Germanos, he began to stir up deceitful arguments and to condemn all the emperors and patriarchs before him, calling them all idolaters because they worshipped the holy icons. (10) The great Germanos (hearing these things) said (to him): "Listen, O Emperor. Since our Lord Jesus Christ appeared in the flesh, all idolatry has been eradicated and every idol has vanished, as the prophet Zechariah says: 'And it shall be in that day, says the Lord of Hosts, I will cut off the names of the idols from the earth, and there shall no longer be any memory of them.'"

(11) From his conversion to us and the teaching of his holy apostles, seven hundred and sixty-six years have passed, and the orthodox Fathers and teachers of the Church who have lived during these years have never thought or spoken anything of the sort concerning the holy icons. ^C For from the beginning, after Christ’s ascension into the heavens, the veneration of icons was established. For the icon of Christ was set up in memory of the miracle performed upon her by the one suffering from the issue of blood, concerning which icon Eusebius speaks thus in his *Ecclesiastical History*, book VII: "Since I have made mention of this city of Philippi Caesarea, which the Phoenicians call Panias, I did not think it right to pass over a narrative worthy to be remembered by our descendants. For it is said that the woman with the issue of blood, whom we know from the holy Gospels to have obtained relief from her infirmity from our Savior, was from there, and that her house is shown in the city, and that wondrous monuments of the miracle performed upon her by the Savior remain. ^D For it is said that there is placed on a high stone near the door of her house a bronze statue of a woman kneeling with her hands extended before her chest, representing her in prayer; opposite her, another..."

statue of the same material, representing a man standing, elegantly dressed in a tunic, and reaching out his hand to the woman. At the feet of this statue, a certain strange species of plant grows on the stele itself, which climbs up to the hem of the bronze tunic and possesses the power of healing all kinds of diseases. This statue is said to represent Jesus, and it has remained even to our own times, such that pilgrims visiting that city have seen it with their own eyes. And it is not at all surprising that pagans did this, mindful of the benefits received from our Savior, since we have related that the images of his apostles, Paul and Peter, and of Christ himself, have been preserved in paintings.

^B There is also in the city of Edessa the image of Christ not made by human hands, working miraculous wonders; the Lord himself, having imprinted the form of his own visage upon a cloth as a faithful representation of his human appearance, sent it through Thaddaeus the apostle to Abgar, the prince of the Edessenes, and healed his disease. Furthermore, there is the holy image of the all-pure Theotokos, also painted while she was still living by the apostle and evangelist Luke, and sent to Rome to Theophilus, to whom he also wrote the Gospel and sent the Acts of the Apostles; this image works miracles even to this day. Therefore, the six ecumenical councils, finding these images worshipped and honored, accepted them and spoke nothing against them.

^C "Nevertheless," (one says), "we hear that the destruction of the holy images is about to come to pass, but not under your reign." When the emperor forced him to say under whose reign, the holy man said: "Under Conon." The emperor replied: "Truly, I am he; for thus I have been called from childhood." The great Germanus then replied: "Far be it, master, that this evil should be perpetrated while you are emperor: for he who does this is a precursor of the Antichrist, and a destroyer and adversary of the incarnation in the flesh of the Word of God." Then the tyrant, hateful to God, hearing these things, roared like a lion, and being suddenly inflamed with violent anger, ignominiously cast out the righteous man, calling him an idolater, and having beaten him with his own hands, drove him from the palace.

^D (12) As some very trustworthy men relate, near the so-called imperial cistern situated by the Chalkoprateia, there was a venerable palace in which, according to the ancient custom, an ecumenical master sat, having with him twelve disciples, grave in learning and life, imbued with all knowledge, defenders of the Church's dogmas, and having imperial decrees and books, without whom the emperors…

^A, having them likewise, would undertake nothing without their counsel. When these had been summoned by the most savage beast and the monster of ill-omened name, he attempted to persuade them to his own impiety. But as they did not consent, but rather reproached him for his impiety, he ordered them to be ignominiously dragged to that very place of their school and shut up within it. When this had been done, the savage lion, or dragon, sent again by night certain of his guards and cruel men, and ordered a pile of wood to be gathered, and when this was set ablaze, he ordered those men to be burned together with their house, their books, and the rest of their belongings. When this was done, all were utterly consumed by the flames. From that time the knowledge of learned men was obscured in Romania, diminished by the folly of the emperors who were enemies of knowledge, until the days of Michael and Theodora, emperors distinguished for their faith and piety.

^B (14) From that time forward, the beast championed the heresy even more intensely and with greater impiety, and cast down the image of our Lord Jesus Christ which was stationed at the Bronze Gate of the palace. Having then made an impious edict against the holy images, he again summoned the holy Germanos, hoping to persuade him to sign against the holy images. But Germanos did not yield in the slightest to the adulation or the fraud of the accursed tyrant; instead, laying his omophorion upon the holy table of the Great Church, he resigned his priesthood and withdrew.

(15) Having taken up the holy image of the Savior which he had with him, and having written on a parchment these words: "O Savior, save Thyself and us," he placed it upon the sea. By divine power, leading it dry and upright, it sailed straight across and arrived in Rome. The patriarch there, having learned of it through revelation, went out with all the clergy, with candles and incense, and seeing it coming upon the waters, it moved forward of its own accord and came into the hands of the prelate in his boat, approaching no other boat. The high priest embraced it and with psalms and hymns brought it into the Great Church; it had remained entirely dry, save for being moistened to the depth of three fingers. And this was for the greater glory of God.

^C (16) The enemy of God appointed in his place Anastasius, a presbyter of the Great Church, who had promised to do everything according to the impious will of the emperor. ^D

^A He cast down and burned every image of our Lord Jesus Christ, God, and of the Theotokos and of all the saints. And having stirred up a great persecution, he subjected many priests, monks, and laymen to various tortures and deaths.

(17) For this reason, Gregory, the pontiff of Great Rome, casting off the subjection of this emperor, escaped the filth of the heresy, and having entered into a peaceful alliance for the protection of the Franks with all of Italy, he immediately refused the imperial tributes, and struck Anastasius and his associates with anathema.

(19) During these same times, there occurred a great and most terrifying earthquake; many churches and houses collapsed, as did the landward walls of the city, and many fortresses and villages of Thrace, and an innumerable number of people died. The column of Arcadius, which was ^B in the Xerolophos, also fell, as did Nicomedia and Nicaea, and the earth was shaken for two years, to such an extent that the sea withdrew from its own boundaries in certain places.

(20) The emperor, seeing the ruin of the walls, spoke to the people, saying: "Since you, the people of the city, are unable to build the walls, we have entrusted the task to our administrators on the condition that they collect one miliaresion per coin." The emperor received this and built the walls. From that time on, the custom prevailed of paying two keratia to the administrators. ^C

CCXLIX. Concerning Masalmas

Masalmas waited for the fulfillment of the promises of Leo; but when he had received nothing, feeling that he had been mocked by him, he attacked the imperial city. Having captured Abydos and brought across an infinite multitude, he rushed against the city and wrote to Suliman, the first of his council, to come quickly with an equipped fleet.

In the month of August, he surrounded the city with a siege, and by fortifying the landward wall with a rampart, he severely harassed the territories of Thrace.

On the first of September, Suliman arrived with ships of unusual size, triremes and dromons, to the number of one thousand eight hundred.

The emperor, however, having sent fire-bearing ships with maritime fire against them, burned most of the ^D Saracen ships; for immediately others

^A were cast against the coastal walls while on fire, others were pushed together into the depths with their crews and were submerged, and others, still burning, were carried as far as the island of Oxia and Plate. From this, therefore, the inhabitants of the city took courage, while the enemies were greatly struck with terror.

CCL. Concerning the spring disease.

638 (2) Of these, the survivors, having joined battle with the Bulgarians in Thrace, twenty-two thousand were slain.

(3) On the fifteenth day of the month of August, having departed from the city, and a very strong wind blowing, some were lost ^B at Proconnesus and other shores; others, which were rapidly making for the deep sea, were all sent to the bottom when a vast cloud, full of hail and shrieking, came upon them with a violent whirlwind, bringing mortal destruction. Out of one thousand eight hundred, only five escaped, which, returning to their own people, brought the news of the Roman victory and of their own total destruction.

(4) Sergius, duke of Sicily, hearing that the Agarenes were sacking the city, crowned one of his own men (by name Basil, whose nickname was Omagulus) as emperor, and made provisions for officials. When the emperor heard of these things, he sent Paul there with orders and a fleet. The Sicilians, therefore, learning that the Saracens had been routed and that Leo was reigning, handed over Basil and the other officials to Paul, who beheaded all of them together as rebels. ^C

(5) Nicetas the patrician, Xylonites, along with other patricians, by means of letters and many riches and gifts, kindly invited Terbelis to proceed against Leo. Certain of the Bulgarians, having revealed the matter to the emperor, betrayed them to him, and he killed them all by the edge of the sword.

^A Leo crowned his son, Constantine, in the tribunal of the nineteen couches. (7) He also compelled the Hebrews and the Montanists to receive baptism, so that from that time on they were called Hebrews and Montanists. (8) He called John Damascene, whom they also styled Chrysorrhoas because of the wisdom innate in him, Mansur when he was in exile; which is a blasphemous name.

(9) He gave in marriage to his son Constantine the daughter of the Chagan, the ruler of the Scythians, after he had made her a Christian and named her Irene. Being studiously instructed in the sacred writings, she was distinguished for piety and refuted the impiety of those alien to God.

He treated Rome badly on account of the Pope and suppressed the annual revenues of the churches.

The Agarenes made an incursion through all of Romania and, having taken many captives, they withdrew.

In the midst of these things, the most wicked Leo died, breathing out his soul through a disease of the intestines.

CCLI. On the merciful and unchaste man.

In those times there was in Constantinople a certain man, illustrious and abounding in riches, a lover of the poor and most exceedingly merciful; however, he labored, at the instigation of the evil spirit, under the vice of unchastity. ^B Having advanced to old age, he neither abandoned his many and superabundant alms, nor did he desist from fornication due to a long-standing and most depraved habit; and he was snatched away by a sudden death. When a discussion took place concerning him between the Patriarch Germanus and the distinguished bishops, some indeed felt well of him, because it is written: “The redemption of a man’s soul is his own wealth” (for he performed alms from his own just labors, and not from the property of others or from unjust gains); others, however, did not admit this, but on the contrary said that the servant of God must be blameless and perfect, because it is written: ^C “Whosoever shall keep the whole law, but offend in one point, is become guilty of all,” and elsewhere: “In whatsoever I shall find you, I will judge you, says the Lord.” The Patriarch, having proclaimed a fast and prayer, commanded that prayers be made to God in all the monasteries and anchorite cells, that He might deign to manifest by some revelation the state of the departed man. The patriarch’s mandate having been fulfilled, He revealed to a certain pious and God-bearing monk how the man fared. The monk, ^D having immediately summoned the patriarch, before all the people

told the story with many tears, saying: ^A “It happened to me this night, while I was praying, to see through a divine ecstasy a certain place, to the right of which was paradise, adorned with ineffable beauty; and to the left, a furnace, whose flame ascended even to the clouds. The departed rich man, standing midway between paradise and the terrible furnace, was groaning much and frequently looking back at paradise. While he was thus lamenting and wailing, I see someone clothed in splendor standing by him and saying: ‘Why do you weep in vain, man? Behold, for the sake of your alms you have been redeemed from Gehenna; but because you did not cease from impure and filthy fornication, you have been deprived of paradise.’ Having heard these things, the patriarch and those with him, seized with great fear, said to one another: ‘You are just, Lord, and your judgments are right.’ ^B Rightly, therefore, the Apostle said: ‘Flee fornication. Every sin that a man commits is outside the body; but he who fornicates sins against his own body.’ For God also enjoins in the Law, saying: ‘Be holy, for I am holy’; and: ‘You shall not commit fornication, you shall not commit adultery’; and: ‘There shall be no fornication among the daughters of Israel, nor fornication among the sons of Israel.’ Where now are those who say: ‘Even if I fornicate, I do almsgivings and am saved’? For he who is truly merciful must first have mercy on himself; for it is written: ‘Follow after almsgivings and holiness, without which no one shall see the Lord.’ Therefore, money given from unclean hands and by a soul that is unrepentant and defiled and corrupted by unclean works will profit nothing. ^C

CCLII. Concerning the bond.

In those days in great Rome, this occurred: A certain monk had been excommunicated by Pope Gregory because he had not obeyed the instructions of his hegumen and the rule of the monastery of the same Gregory. A few days later, the excommunicated monk died; hearing this, the Pope grieved greatly that he had departed bound. Therefore, writing a document to release him from the bond, he gave it to one of the deacons, saying: “Go, and read it at the grave of the departed brother.” ^D When this was done, the hegumen sees the brother in a dream, and says to him: “We were in sorrow for you, brother, because you died bound; tell us, therefore, how you are.” He, answering, said: “Truly, Father, I was in prison until yesterday; but today I have been released by Christ.” The hegumen told this to the Pope, and it became known to all that at the hour when the deacon had read the prayer at the tomb, then he was released from the bond.

And all who heard it gave glory to God, who gives such authority to His own servants. ^B

For this reason the great Chrysostom says: “We indeed, according to the ecclesiastical regulation, bind with bonds; but if anyone should despise these, the time of death and of judgment will be present, teaching him that the Word of the Lord and the law of His Church is unerring. Whence, henceforth, I am irresponsible, for what was mine to do, I have done; but he who has cast off the divine yoke and broken the sacred bonds, his account is with Him who commanded me to bind. For if anyone among the armor-bearers standing by the throne of the king is commanded to bind and fasten with chains any of the subjects, and this person not only repels him, but also breaks the bonds, it is not the armor-bearer who suffers the insult, but the king himself who gave the order: so also, the King of kings, the Lord, in the most just way appropriating all things done towards His own disciples to Himself, will consider Himself to have been honored or insulted.”

CCLIII. The Reign of Constantine Copronymus.

After Leo the Isaurian, who reigned for twenty-four years, Constantine Cabalinus, his son, reigned for thirty-four years, having appeared from a most cruel lion like a most cunning leopard: “For out of the root of the viper shall come forth an asp, and its fruit shall be a flying serpent,” says the prophet—such a one as he himself was, born of Dan, the Antichrist. He, having inherited the paternal sovereignty and impiety, departed further and more extensively than his father from God, from the Mother of God, and from all the saints. From that time on, always taking pleasure in and busying himself with sorceries and the evocations of demons and other wicked practices, he became a chosen and suitable instrument of his own father and master, the devil. For he descended into such insanity and madness that he even issued a universal edict that no one of the servants of the Lord should be honored with the title of saint; nay, rather, he ordered their remains to be spat upon and prohibited their intercession from being requested, saying that they could accomplish nothing, and the wicked and profane man added: “Let no one implore the intercession of the Virgin Mary either, for she can provide nothing;” and indeed he did not even wish her to be called Theotokos. Having taken into his hands purses full of gold, he inquired how much they thought them to be [worth].

And when the response was given, “Great,” he emptied the gold and again inquired, “How much is it worth?” And they said, “Nothing.” “So too,” he said, “is Mary” — for the wretched man did not deign to call her Theotokos — “as long as she carried Christ within her, she was held in honor; but after she gave birth to him, she was no different from other women.” — O the blasphemy! Spare us, O Lord.

^B (2) Away with the insolent blasphemy of this man who thought like a Saracen and a Jew. For he was no Christian—God forbid!—but was in truth a Paulician, an idolater, a servant of demons, and a burner of human sacrifices. For that impious wretch, an alien to God, turned away from the most pure Mother of God and the saints, and, acting as a new Julian, he worshipped Venus and Bacchus, whom the Gentiles had held in honor, and offered human sacrifices to them outside the city where the temple of the holy martyr Maura had stood. Having demolished this and turned it into a slaughterhouse, the adversary of the saints named the place “Maura,” and there, performing nocturnal sacrifices to the demons, he butchered children; witness to this is the slaughter of the little child Suflamios, which, although hidden by that diabolical man, God made manifest to many.

^C (3) These things caused no small sorrow to the Christians, so that all hated him and attached themselves to Artabasdos, the curopalates, who was the husband of his sister (due to their hatred of him). For when Constantine set out for the regions of the Opsikion against the Arabs, with Artabasdos accompanying him, they watched one another with suspicion.

^D (4) And a clash having occurred between them, and Biseros, the intimate companion of Constantine, having been killed by Artabasdos, Constantine in fear fled to Amorion.

(5) From there, the most calamitous wars broke out between them. Artabasdos, however, sent word to Theophanes the magister, who was a friend of his and was at that time residing in the city, instructing him to receive him. And having been admitted, he was proclaimed emperor by the themes. Then the whole populace, going around the city with the pseudo-patriarch Anastasios, anathematized Constantine and hailed Artabasdos as the orthodox emperor.

(6) And Constantine, having reached Chrysopolis with his forces...

^A without achieving anything, returned again to Amorion. Artabasdos restored the holy images everywhere, and the Church recovered its former splendor. But the patriarch Anastasios, holding in his hands the venerable wood of the Cross and standing on the ambo, swore by Him who had been nailed to it, saying: "Constantine the emperor spoke these words to me: 'Do not consider the Christ who was born of Mary to be the Son of God, not at all, but rather that He was a mere man, just as my mother Mary gave birth to me.'" Upon hearing this, the people anathematized him.

(8) Artabasdos left the city and began to levy troops. But Constantine, having learned of this, moved against him, and having joined battle with him, put him to flight, and having taken Cyzicus, remained there in safety. ^B

(9) Having arrived at Chalcedon, Constantine crossed over to the Thracian regions and, having encamped at the land wall, made a sortie even as far as the Golden Gate to show himself to the multitudes.

(10) Artabasdos, having opened the gates and joined battle again, was utterly defeated.

(11) After Constantine had taken the ships, a great famine arose in the city, such that a modius of barley was sold for twelve numismata, and the rest of the supplies likewise. As the people were dying and perishing, Artabasdos was forced to release them and let them go out of the city.

(12) Nicetas, the son of Artabasdos, having gathered a considerable army, came as far as Chrysopolis. But the emperor, having crossed over with his forces, routed him and captured him, and having put him in fetters, he came swiftly and showed him to his father. ^C

(13) Suddenly he assaulted the city by the land wall and took it; and having seized Artabasdos and the patrician Bactagios, he blinded Artabasdos himself together with his two sons, while Bactagios, after his hands and feet had been cut off, was beheaded in the Cynegion; he also put many other nobles to death and confiscated their estates.

(14) Then, having organized equestrian games, he brought in Artabasdos with his sons, along with the patriarch Anastasios and the friends of that patriarch, seated backwards on a donkey ^D and paraded them as a public spectacle.

^A For this man, while he was the syncellus, walking behind the patriarch Germanos, stepped on his holy stole. And he, turning, said to him, "Do not be in a hurry; the chariot awaits you." ^B Constantine, however, having thus terrorized Nikolaos, a follower of his own error, restored him once again to his former throne.

^C During his reign, there appeared suddenly and unnoticed by sight, signs on the garments of men and on the sacred furnishings of the churches, namely many crosses that looked as if they were made of oil. And through the wrath of God, a pestilential bubonic disease was stirred up, which consumed not only those in the city but also the inhabitants of the surrounding region, dreadfully. And in addition to these things, certain phantasms and strange terrors seized many of the people, and those who experienced them died. For being cast into an ecstasy, they thought they were traveling with certain foreign and horrible men, and as they met others, they would address them as if they were friends and converse with them. And these things took place in the winter.

^D In the spring, however, the disease flared up to such a degree that entire houses were completely closed shut; wherefore, on account of the multitude of the dying, they were carried out, piled up indiscriminately on pack animals and wagons. And when all the places in the city were filled and the vineyards dug up, it happened that even the gardens inside the ancient walls were surrendered to such burial of men, and there were no longer those available to bury the dead. The tyrant, meanwhile, with all families ruined on account of his impiety, scraped together all the property of the city's inhabitants and amassed it in the palace. And the divine wrath reached even that impious Anastasios; he ended his life in a most miserable disease, which they call the chordapsus.

(19) The tyrant, having abandoned the city, withdrew to Nicomedia, and tarrying there for a long time, and having been informed that a civil war was being stirred up among the Saracens, he marched toward the parts of Syria and took back Germanicia, as well as Theodosiopolis and Melitene, having led all the inhabitants there into captivity.

(20) And on the pretext of such a plague, he brought in his fellow-Armenians and the heretical Syrians, whom he had received, and settled them in Byzantium and in Thrace, who up to this very day [remain] in the heresy of the tyrant.

The Theopaschites acknowledge Peter the Fuller as their author. ^A

Meanwhile, a son was born to the tyrant from the daughter of the Chagan of Chazaria; he gave him the name Leo.

(22) Being puffed up in his mindset ^B by the victory gained through him, the godless emperor, upon returning to the City, gathered a synod against the holy icons in the palace of Blachernae, in which the priests of shame, having uttered many things in vain against the Lord, and having lifted their defiled hands on high and shouted, broke forth into that wretched cry, saying: "Today salvation has come to the world, because you, O emperor, have delivered us from the idols." ^C

(23) O the extreme and bold insolence, and the madness, and the blasphemy of these Christ-fighters and temple-sellers, and of their licentious mind and tongue! For if this culprit and defender of impiety is the cause of the overthrow of the [so-called] idols, then the incarnation of Christ was in vain, and the preaching of the apostles empty.

(24-25) Puffed up, therefore, by this most detestable cry, the wretch added yet another lawless kind of behavior; for he ascended (lawlessly and unholily) the ambo, holding by the hand Constantine, who had been bishop of Syllaeum, and shouted with a loud voice: "Many years to Constantine, the ecumenical patriarch!" (The deluded and senseless emperor, prompted by the unholy traffickers in Christ, had made him patriarch, as he supposed.) ^D

(26) Concerning whom Ezechiel might rightly have said: Thus says the Lord: "The priests have despised my law and have profaned my holy things," and "they did not distinguish, and between the unclean and the clean they did not discern." And Daniel brands them with a heavier mark of ignominy, saying: "Iniquity has come forth from the elder judges who seemed to rule the people." For truly, indeed, these men "conceived sorrow and brought forth iniquity," since they granted to laymen matters of the priesthood that are established by divine canons, and entrusted to them the holy mysteries. And it is no wonder; for those who did not shudder to trample upon the Son of God by subjecting his holy image to abuse and destruction, how would they have spared his priesthood? Who would not shudder and be astonished, hearing and seeing that sacred things are being conducted

by one who once bore a shield and spent his time in wars and slaughter?

^A (27) But not long after, Constantine repaid him with a reward worthy of the patriarch he had appointed. For being informed exactly that the patriarch, holding the precious wood of the Cross, had declared before many: "By Him who was nailed to these, thus the emperor said to me, that Christ is not God, and for that reason I do not hold Mary to be the Theotokos," he was enraged against him, as one who had revealed his private secret. Therefore, having had him beaten with many lashes, he had him led in procession ^B through the Hippodrome, to be mocked, spat upon, and dragged.

(28) Then, having secured him in a certain place, he sent patricians to him and said: "What do you now think concerning our faith and the synod which we celebrated?" But the man, vain in his mind and thinking to appease him again, answered and said: "You think rightly, and you acted rightly in establishing the synod." Those who had been sent, mocking his folly, said: "This alone we wished to hear from your impure mouth; now go away to curse and to darkness." And immediately dragging him out, they beheaded him and hung his head in the Forum, and they cast his body into the Pelagium, dragging it there—where formerly there had been a church of the holy martyr Pelagia, which the God-hater had demolished and made into a burial place for those condemned, and had named it "the Pelagium." ^C Such was the punishment with which he visited the patriarch whom he himself had ordained and glorified. Some even say that his body was dissected by physicians so that it might serve their investigations into human constitution and structure.

(29) The tyrant, in his place, appoints as patriarch Nicetas, a eunuch of Sclavic race.

(30) Thus also, he commanded that the holy Peter the Stylite, not consenting to his wicked dogmas, having been vexed with many tortures, be cast alive into the Pelagium.

(31) As for John Damascene, whom they used to call Chrysorrhoas because of the wisdom inherent in him, he named him Mansour—that is, "blasphemer"—and commanded his hand to be cut off, which the holy Mother of God invisibly restored.

(32) And the divine Stephen the Younger, who on the summit of the mount of the God-bearing Saint Auxentius for forty years

had lived in a narrow cell, he ordered to be cruelly tortured, to be dragged alive, and to be thrown into the Pelagium, inasmuch as he not only resisted and opposed his wicked doctrine, but also led many to embrace the monastic life and urged them to despise imperial dignities and riches. And it was possible to see throughout the whole city and region lamentation upon lamentation and groaning upon groaning on the part of the pious, while on the part of the impious, holy things were trodden underfoot, sacred vessels were disturbed, churches were destroyed, and divine images were trampled. Furthermore, many commanders and soldiers, having been denounced for their devotion to holy images, he handed over to a dire death after they had been vexed by various tortures and most bitter torments.

^B (33) He also launched an expedition against the Bulgarians by land and by sea, and, having equipped one thousand six hundred ships from the themes, he sent them to Anchialus. As these were approaching the shore, a violent North wind blew, and nearly all were shattered, and an innumerable multitude was drowned. Upon learning of this, the Bulgarians engaged in battle with the Emperor, but their multitude was routed and put to flight, and they retreated with great disgrace and immense slaughter. Having thus defeated the Bulgarians, he returned to the city, surrounded by military ranks, leading the Bulgarians in triumph in chains.

(34) During his reign, there was a most severe and intolerable frost. It turned the northern sea into stone from the land for up to one hundred miles, to a thickness of thirty cubits. And with snow scattered upon the ice, its thickness increased by another twenty cubits. Thus, the sea was immediately made level with the land, and the ice provided a place for the overland travel of men, wild beasts, and domestic animals.

^C (35) ^D In the month of February, by God's command, this ice was broken up into many mountain-like fragments, which, by the force of the winds, were carried to Daphnysium and Hieron, and from there they arrived through the strait to the city, and from there they filled the entire coastline up to the islands and Abydos, containing also the frozen carcasses of various animals, both wild and tame. It was possible to travel on foot as if on land from Sophiani to the city and from Chrysopolis to Saint Mamas. From these huge fragments, two were dashed against the shore, one at the ladder of Chrysopolis, and the other against the city wall, which from its founda-

^A shook and shattered the mind with the houses situated near the wall. These fragments, therefore, were broken into three parts, and from the Manganon to the Forum of Bovis they encircled the city, and their height greatly surpassed the wall. Seeing this, the inhabitants of the city were anxious at heart and, struck with dismay, they lamented inconsolably.

(36) Among these things, an error also occurred concerning the exactness of the orthodox, which the senseless mocked; but later, acknowledging their own delusion and error, they were covered with shame. ^B In the month of April, stars wandering through the air fell to the earth, so that it was commonly said that the end of the world had arrived.

(38) Immediately there followed a great drought which a dire famine accompanied, so that the fountains and rivers were dried up, and such a great famine raged that a modius of barley was sold for twelve nomismata.

(39) In Syria, moreover, a most massive earthquake overturned cities, of which some were destroyed completely, others only in part, while others were carried whole, with their walls and houses, from high places to the plains below, or from about two miles away, undamaged. ^C But in Mesopotamia the earth, split over a distance of three miles, caused another, white and sandy, soil to bubble up, from the middle of which—a thing incredible!—a mule emerged, speaking with a human voice and predicting the incursion of a people, which happened a little later.

(40) After this the pestilent tyrant, sallying forth again against the Bulgarians by land and by sea, sent an army to the Achelous. A violent wind blowing, the ships were wrecked. Upon learning this, the Bulgarians joined battle with him. The tyrant, therefore, being terribly defeated, returned with shame; and even today the hollow and plain regions of the Achelous clearly show the bones of those who were slain and testify to the slaughter.

(41) This hater of God burned the sacred relics of many saints, or cast them into the sea. Moreover, he could not bear to see the holy relics of Saint Euphemia dripping with balsam, and he cast them, together with the chest, into the waves; but they arrived unharmed at the island of Lemnos and ^D were rescued by the inhabitants through a divine revelation. He turned the temple of the holy martyr into an arsenal and a place for storing dung. Furthermore, when Constantine and Irene restored the same relics of the all-praised one with much honor to the city.

reigning, the relics of the noble martyr were translated into the city with great veneration. ^A He also made his sons Nicephorus and Christopher Caesars, and Nicetas the Most Noble. ^B Irene came to the city from Athens with dromons; the emperor joined her to his son Leo, crowning them in the temple of Saint Stephen with a double crown, of kingdom and marriage. Constantine had secretly won over friends in Bulgaria who would reveal the king's plans to him. They informed the emperor that the king of the Bulgarians had sent troops to invade Berzetia. The emperor, pretending to move against the Arabs, sent envoys to Bulgaria to negotiate peace; meanwhile, having gathered an army with the tagmata, he attacked and crushed the Bulgarians, having ordered the trumpeters to remain silent, and won a great victory. Then, having returned to the city, he held a triumph in armor. He called this a noble war, because no enemy had resisted in it and none of the Romans had fallen. ^C The king of the Bulgarians, however, understanding that the emperor was being informed of his plans through the treachery of his own intimates, wrote to him deceitfully: «I have decided to flee and betake myself to you, so that through me you may obtain all of Bulgaria. Therefore, send a promise of immunity and signify whom you have here as friends, so that trusting in their faith I may come to you together with them.» By this fraud, that vain and foolish Bulgarian was circumvented; he wrote the names of his friends, which the king, learning of, put them all to a cruel death. Upon this being reported, Constantine tore out his own beard. Moving again against the Bulgarians, carbuncles attacked his feet, and furthermore a violent and most burning fever seized him not far from Arcadiopolis; he was carried back in a litter. ^D And having been carried back to Selymbria and thence conveyed by ship as far as the fortress of Strongylon, there he met the death of both soul and body, crying out and saying that, «I have been delivered alive to unquenchable fire on account of Mary the Mother of God; but from now on let her be honored and celebrated as truly the Mother of God.» While he was shouting these things and proclaiming Mary the Mother of God and

^A and those standing by, warning that it is necessary to honor her properly as the Mother of God and ever-Virgin, ^B he shamefully and painfully gave up his wretched soul.

[(49)] Concerning whom the divine Nicephorus, Patriarch of Constantinople, speaks thus: «Since, however, some things are cast about by the enemies of Christ from the breath of the father of lies, come now, let us consider what sort of things they are. For they are accustomed to lie to the insult of Christ the Lord and the Church, that the spans of a long life with the greatest pleasures were granted to this most wicked Mammon, and that he attained the height of happiness. But they also attribute to him notable victories over the Barbarians and many excellent deeds, which it is not right even to hear ^B admitted. But so that these lies may not be a snare to the more inexperienced and less evil men, they must be refuted by us, so that they may understand how greatly they are deluding themselves with these empty words. Therefore, that all his affairs were most shameful, and that he was execrable to God, the angels, and religious men, is by no means obscure. For since he wallowed in every kind of lust, and defiled his body and soul with those things which are forbidden to Barbarians as well as to Gentiles, he far surpassed the beasts themselves in filth. And not a few who lived with him and survive to this day will be able to testify to these things; nor was he free from various bodily infirmities. For, ^C tortured by pains and torments which cannot be explained in words, such as it is consistent for ulcerous bodies to suffer, he was affected most miserably and without any remedy. Wherefore some members, eaten away and consumed by ulcers, flowed away with intolerable pain, but also, perpetually agitated by intemperance, he spent most nights sleepless and most troublesome. I omit the bitterness and filthiness of his diet: for whatever food he had passed through his throat at dinner, he immediately cast out with vomitings. For who could describe in words that arrogance and ferocity toward his servants and his peevishness in demanding services? The bodies of many were beaten daily with many rods. Leaping upon them with fists and heels, he showed himself no milder than carnivorous beasts. Now, what is the point of speaking of the mutilations of limbs and eyes ^D and other bitter punishments of that kind, then of innocent men killed by sword and fire, especially the orthodox? For the satellites and ministers of his fury offered many noses cut from holy men on a platter, as once the head of the Forerunner to Herod, so to the new Herod in place of a most sweet gift. To these things, eyes gouged out and cheeks burned, and blood drained, are testified to by those who carry about the traces of those slaughters to this day. Furthermore, unusual and horrible

^A unto us like our Herod, as a gift both sweet and desirable to him ^B upon a platter. The gouging out of eyes, the burning of beards, and the shedding of blood—the witnesses to these things are those who carry such symbols even to this day. And the depths of the sea know of the violent and extraordinary deaths of such people; the stones themselves cry out. Regarding those victories which his rabid and furious supporters falsely attribute to him—to mention just one of his most prominent “achievements”—they are of this sort: when he had prepared to defend against the Scythian nation that had settled in the West, he gathered all the troops under his command and went to engage the enemy; what a success he achieved in that war, the observable evidence attests. For even today, the hollowed-out and depressed plains near the city called Achelous, which at that time were covered with the limbs of the slaughtered, clearly demonstrate it. For almost the entire Roman army became the work of the Scythian sword. If he did anything small and not very noteworthy, it was this: having heard that the barbarians living to the East were at odds with their own leaders and were occupied with civil war, he rushed like a bandit rather than an emperor into the regions of Armenia and Syria. There, after some fortresses had been surrendered by the inhabitants, he transported them to Thrace. Such are the great deeds of that man, such are the fabricated trophies of his battles against enemies; of such a sort, I say, are the things he insolently plotted against truth and piety. For without any sense of shame, he raged against God and against holy men who were, as it were, God’s own dedicated offerings. This angelic and apostolic form of the monastic life, this enemy of God and profane man—falsely named for the Christian religion—branded with a term of reproach, for “piety is an abomination to a sinner,” and the holy man is considered unclean by the wicked. ^C But who, as I said, can worthily recount what kind of tyranny he practiced against them? For he forced them to rescind those covenants and agreements by which they had bound themselves to the Divine Power, and, having stripped them of their sacred vestments, that lawless man legislated that they should be reclothed in the habit of laymen. And those monasteries which had been founded for the glory of God, that stinking man, well-named for his own filth, converted into lodgings for soldiers, stables for horses, and latrines. Finally, when he had reached the end of his crimes and his execrable life, burning with the heat of acute fevers, he plainly saw before his eyes the flames of Gehenna which were to receive him after this life. He felt, in a way, the bites of that wakeful worm, breaking out into horrible and vehement cries, which were, as it were, the beginnings of Gehenna. Resting, therefore, in such and so many delights—which we have received that Diocletian and Maximian were once given in their death—perishing in this evil way, that wicked man reached the end of his base and most criminal life, a man who was the most bitter enemy and foe of Christ and all His saints.

CCLIV. The Reign of Leo, Son of Constantine Copronymus

^A After Constantine Copronymus, his son by the Chazar woman reigned for five years. Being very liberal with the great wealth left to him by his father, he bound the nobles to himself; and he appeared religious to the people, and devoted to the Theotokos and to the monks, some of whom he even appointed as metropolitans.

^A The commanders of the themes, along with a dense crowd, entered the city and requested that Constantine, his son, be designated as emperor. But he, fearing for his other sons, resisted them, saying: "This son is my only one, and I fear to do what you ask, lest, if it should happen that I die while he is still a child, you might kill him and put forward another in his place." But they assured him with fearful oaths that they would accept no other emperor besides his son. They persisted in these demands from Palm Sunday ^B until the Great Thursday; and on Good Friday he ordered them to swear upon the life-giving and venerable wood. And the commanders of the themes and of the interior regiments, and all the citizens, swore that they would never accept any emperor other than Leo and Constantine and their offspring.

^B And on Great Saturday he proclaimed his brother Eudocimus as Nobilissimus, and proceeded with both Caesars, the three Nobilissimi, and the young Constantine to the Great Church. Having performed the customary rites, he went up onto the ambo with the patriarch and his son. ^C When all the multitude of the people had entered and placed their signed oaths upon the holy table, the emperor said: "Behold, you receive my son from the hand of Christ and the holy Church." And they all shouted: "Son of God, be our guarantor, that we receive lord Constantine as emperor from your hand, and we shall keep him safe, and for his sake we shall bravely meet death."

^D The following day, which was Great Sunday, at the Hippodrome, he was crowned by his father and the patriarch before the whole people. And thus both emperors, with the two Caesars and the three Nobilissimi, proceeded into the church.

^D When the Arabs had made an incursion, the emperor sent his armies and gained a great victory. Then, proceeding to Sophianae to celebrate the Maiuma—for it was the custom for the emperors to receive the spoils there—he celebrated his triumph.

^A After the death of Nicetas the patriarch, who was from the Slavs, the venerable Paul is appointed in his stead, a man distinguished in word and deed, Cypriot by birth.

^B (7) It was reported to the emperor that Theophanes, the *papias* of the palace, and three cubicularii with him, were venerating and worshipping the holy icons. Hearing this, the emperor, stripping away the impiety hidden within him, had them cruelly beaten and put to open shame, thus bestowing upon them the crown of confessors.

(8) Finally, Aaron, king of the Arabs, having made an incursion into the themes and having captured many fortresses, departed with great booty.

(9) Leo, being excessively fond of jewels, coveted the crown of Heraclius that was dedicated in the great church; having taken it, he wore it and went out in public. After he returned home, his head was dreadfully inflamed with carbuncles, and being seized and laid low by a most violent fever, he gave up his soul, having received the just reward for his sacrilege.

CCLV. Concerning the dog and its master.

Under the reign of Leo, while a certain man was traveling alone, accompanied by his dog, he was killed by a robber, as is accustomed to lye in wait along the roads. The robber having fled, the dog remained in that place, guarding the corpse of its master. By chance, another man passing by that way arrived and, seeing the corpse, was moved by compassion, dug in the earth, and buried it. The dog considered this a very pleasing service and of its own accord joined itself as a companion and servant to the man who had rendered the last rites to its master’s body. This man was by trade an innkeeper, and the dog was accustomed to fawn upon those who entered and left the inn. Some time later, it happened that the robber entered the inn; the dog, recognizing him, began to bark and leaped upon his face. This having happened many times by divine instinct, it excited suspicion among many; therefore, having been apprehended and brought before the judge, when he had confessed the crime as it had been perpetrated by him, he was punished with death.

CCLVI. The reign of Constantine and Irene the Athenian, his mother.

^D After Leo, his son Constantine reigned with his mother Irene for seventeen years. Under him, the abundance of holy doctrine began to be taught freely, the word of God to be propagated, and monasteries with all security and...

diligence ^A began to be rebuilt, all ecclesiastical order shining forth under him.

(2) But after forty days (from his taking possession of the kingdom with his mother), some of those in positions of power held a council, and acclaimed as emperor the Caesar Nicephorus, her husband's brother. ^B (3) Having scourged them and confiscated their property, she exiled them (to various places). She caused her husband's brothers, the Caesars and those of noble rank, to have their heads shaven and to be ordained into the priesthood, so that they might minister the holy things to the people on the feast of the Nativity of Christ; on which day she also, having gone forth in royal and public state with her son, ^C presented to the church the crown which had been taken away by her husband, adorned by her with pearls.

(4) Near the Long Wall, a certain man who was digging came upon a chest, and having uncovered it, ^D he saw a great man lying within, and letters inscribed on the chest which conveyed this meaning: "Christ is to be born of the Virgin (Mary), and I believe in him. In the time of Constantine and Irene (the emperors), again, O sun, you shall see me."

(5) Then too, the relics of the most praiseworthy martyr Euphemia (which had been cast into the sea with the chest by Copronymus) were found in the island of Lemnos through a nightly vision, and having been brought back with the fitting honor, they were deposited again in their own shrine, which Copronymus himself had in mind and name converted into a warehouse and a dung-heap, but which Constantine, together with his mother Irene, having purified, consecrated anew.

(6) Irene sent to Charles, king of the Franks, that they might seek his daughter to be a wife for her son. (7) But the agreement having been broken by envy, she brought a maiden from Paphlagonia named Maria (the granddaughter of the holy Philaretus), and joined her in marriage to her son Constantine, though he was unwilling and ^C did not wish it because of the attachment he had conceived for the daughter of Charles.

(8) Aaron, the leader of the Arabs, came against the city with a great force and besieged it in Chrysopolis. (9) The emperor, having sent troops and the lake of Banes...

obtained from Aaron a request for peace between them. Stauracius the logothete, Peter the master, and Anthony the domestic, along with the children of the leading men, were chosen for this business; having gone out to the Arab without a guarantee of public safety, they were seized by him and held as prisoners. Therefore, the people of the city were compelled to pay a great sum in gifts to redeem them, and having made peace, the Arabs withdrew. ^A

(10) Irene sent Stauracius the logothete with a large force against the Sclavonian tribes; he subdued them all and made them tributary to the Roman empire. ^B

(11) The emperor, too, went out with his mother to the regions of Thrace with musical instruments and a great multitude of people, and he traveled as far as Beroe. Having repaired this city, he named it Irenopolis; he also built Anchialus and returned with great joy and exultation. ^C

(12) The patriarch Paul the Cypriot, having fallen ill (and knowing of his departure from this life through a divine revelation), left the throne (and having departed) withdrew to the monastery of Florus. The emperor with his mother visited him immediately, inquiring the cause of his withdrawal. He, bathed in tears, replied: "Would that I had never sat upon the pontifical throne of the Church, since it is severed from the rest of the holy thrones and marked by anathema!" Hearing this, the emperors departed with sadness and dejection of countenance. They sent patricians to him, that they might hear from his own mouth what he had to say, and to them he spoke with great confidence, and at the end of his instruction he said: ^D "If therefore a universal council is not held and the error concerning our faith is not corrected, you have no salvation." They responded to him: "Why then, at your ordination, did you sign that you would never worship the holy icons?" He answered: "It is for this very reason that I weep and flee to repentance, praying that God may not punish me as a high priest and shepherd who has remained silent until now and who, through fear of your madness and murderous intent, has not proclaimed the truth." Hearing these things, they went away, having much debate and discussion among themselves. In these words, rejecting the wicked heresy and proclaiming the word of truth, he fell asleep in peace and the true faith, leaving behind as a result of his death a great longing among the emperors and all pious citizens. For he was worthy of veneration and adorned with every virtue, and therefore everyone reposed great trust in him.

^A His successor was Tarasius, who was then in charge of the secretariate. ^B By the command of the imperial authority, therefore, from Rome and the remaining holy sees, and from all the bishops subject to the queen of cities, they gathered in the church of the Holy Apostles in synod, upon the counsel and exhortation of Patriarch Tarasius, so that honor might be restored to the holy images. Barely had the imperial sacra regarding the approval of the synod begun to be read when the scholarii of Copronymus, drawing their swords, dispersed the assembly. The emperors immediately expelled them from the city; seizing the opportunity of a banquet, they stripped them of their arms and sent them away in disgrace to Malagina, toward their own regions. They then summoned Tarasius and the aforementioned bishops to Nicaea. ^C And the holy and ecumenical synod having been celebrated, the Church received back its ancient adornment. This is the seventh council, the second of those held in Nicaea. Three hundred and fifty-seven Fathers had gathered there, in the eighth year of the reign of Constantine and Irene his mother. Presiding over this were Peter, priest and abbot of Saint Sabas, legate of Pope Adrian of Rome; Tarasius, Patriarch of Constantinople; John, George, and Thomas, monks and priests, legates of the apostolic sees of the Eastern diocese, and vicars of the Patriarchs of Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem—Politianus, Theodoret, and Elias—against the synod previously illicitly convened by Constantine, who was reigning at that time, which was unlawfully and illicitly gathered and termed the seventh synod, to the insult and ruin of the venerable and holy images, having uttered the nonsense that Christians worshipped the holy images as gods. This conventicle the holy synod struck with anathema, and at the same time [it condemned] the leaders of the iconoclasts: Theodosius of Ephesus, Sisinnius of Perge (whose nickname was Pastillas), and Basil of Antioch in Pisidia (called Tricacabus). It restored to the Church the veneration of the ^D august images that had been handed down from antiquity, and decreed that they were to be venerated in the manner of the cross.

CCLVII. The reign of Constantine alone.

Meanwhile, some of those who were friends of Irene, led by envy,

^A wishing to administer affairs themselves, pitted the mother against her son, persuading her that it was not ordained by God that your son should hold power, but that the empire belongs to you. She, being a woman easily deceived and harboring a love for power, became convinced in her mind that this was so. The emperor, being twenty years old, of very robust strength, and capable in warfare, bore it ill that he held no authority, and began to plot against his mother. When Irene learned of this from Stauracius, she had all the members of his household severely beaten and banished; she also exiled the magister (Peter) and Theodorus the patrician, of the Camulian clan, along with others among the officials, to fortresses. Having bitterly insulted her son, she forbade him from appearing in public for several days. She also bound the army and the senate by oath that, while she was alive, they would not confer the empire upon her son. ^B The Armeniac soldiers alone refused this, acclaiming Constantine and Irene as emperors just as they had from the beginning. ^C Irene sent Alexius, the drungary of the Watch, surnamed Mosele, to appease them. But they seized him and proposed him as their leader, placing their own strategos in custody and acclaiming Constantine alone. Upon receiving news of this, the divisions of the other themes likewise acclaimed Constantine alone, with the devil prompting this infidelity and perjury in the people. Fearing the onset of the army, Irene sent her son to the troops; they confirmed Constantine on the seat of empire ^D and deposed his mother from all power. The emperor then confirmed Alexius as leader of the Armeniacs. Thereafter, returning to the city, he had Stauracius and Aetius, the protospatharios and members of her household, cruelly beaten and sent into exile, as well as the rest of her domestics and eunuchs; as for her, he ordered her to live a quiet life in the palace of Eleutherius, which she herself had built, and in which she had hidden a great quantity of her wealth. There occurred a conflagration which consumed the triclinium of the patriarchate, known as the Thomaites, and the chambers beneath it, where were stored all the manuscripts of the Scriptures which the great Chrysostom had interpreted; the flame spread as far as the Milion and the Quaestorium, burning everything that lay between. The emperor, having conducted an expedition against the Bulgarians, returned victorious.

^A Likewise, having gone forth to Tarsus with a large army against the Arabs, he returned having taken many prisoners. (9) Being entreated by his own mother and many of those in high office, the emperor restored her to the imperial dignity and commanded that she be acclaimed as from the beginning (Constantine and Irene for many years!). And while all obeyed, the Armeniacs alone rebelled and demanded Alexius Mosele, whom the emperor had honored with the rank of patrician and kept with himself. For this reason, and because of reports he heard that he intended to become emperor, Constantine had him scourged, tonsured, and locked in prison.

(10) Since the military units (the *themata*) had gathered in the city, they wished to proclaim Nicephorus, the son of the Caesars, as emperor. On learning this, he sent and led out both sons of his grandfather Constantine to the place of Saint Mamas; he cruelly blinded Nicephorus, and ordered the tongues of Christopher, Nicetas, Anthimus, and Eudocimus to be cut out (and, persuaded by his mother's suggestions, he also blinded Alexius Mosele along with them).

(11) Having subdued the Armeniacs and routed them in battle, he took vengeance upon their leaders, branding upon their faces ^B with black ink the words: "Armeniac conspirator," and banished them to Sicily and the other islands.

(12) Thereafter, the emperor, having conceived a hatred for his own wife Maria due to the machinations of his own mother, who from the beginning wished to make her son hateful to his subjects, ordered her to be tonsured as a nun.

(13) He then unlawfully betrothed himself to Theodota ^C, a lady of the bedchamber, and crowned her.

(14) Plato, the hegumen of Sakkoudion, and others separated themselves from the communion of Tarasius because he allowed the patriarch to tonsure Maria and take Theodota (which Theodota happened to be a relative of our holy Father Theodore, hegumen of the Studium), to whom the emperor showed forth many afflictions (and scourging).

(15) They say that the presbyter Joseph, the treasurer ^D of the Catharists, crowned him with Theodota, contrary to the wish of the patriarch, and admitted Constantine himself to communion. Thereupon, the emperor imprisoned Plato in the palace, and having scourged the rest of the monks, he banished them along with the nephews of Plato to Thessalonica.

whom his mother ^A defended as if they were accusing his own lawlessness, thus stirring up his hatred against them.

(16) Finding, however, that the emperor had fallen into the hatred and displeasure of the people, he set out for Pylas, desiring to approach the army of the Orient. But the nobles who were with him, fearing an uprising of the people and the confusion of the city, persuaded him by their entreaties to return to the city.

(17) In the meantime, Cardamus, prince of the Bulgarians, wrote to the emperor: "Either pay me what was agreed, or I shall come as far as the Golden Gate." The emperor ^B sent back to him horse dung wrapped in a scarf with this response: "I have sent you the tribute that befits you. But since you are an old man, I do not wish for you to be wearied by coming all the way here; rather, I myself shall come to you [God will judge]. Having gathered his army and setting out, the emperor pursued him to his own territory.

His mother, meanwhile, drawing everyone to herself with flatteries and the promise of gifts, awaited a suitable day to seize supreme power. When the emperor had departed ^C against the Arabs—the people being ill-disposed toward him because of the rumors spread by his mother regarding his transgression in marriage, which had incited hatred against him—his nobles, by the counsel of his mother, persuaded him to return to the city. Having entered the palace, the nobles—the counselors of his mother—shut him in, and there, in the porphyry chamber where he was born, they cruelly and incurably gouged out his eyes so that there was no room for medicine, and he almost expired in their hands. The sun was then darkened ^D for seventeen days, so that even ships wandered from their course, and the common people said that it had been darkened because of the blinding of the emperor. But behold the inscrutable judgments of God; for after five years, in the same month and on the same day as that on which he had gouged out the eyes of his uncles (and of Alexius Moseles), Constantine himself was also blinded.

CCLVIII. The Reign of Irene Alone.

Irene reigned alone for five years. And when her husband’s brothers stirred up sedition, she banished them to Athens.

^A And there, those who had taken counsel concerning the empire were put to death by the local inhabitants, and thus the race of the wicked Copronymus was extinguished.

(4) On the second day of Holy Easter, the empress went forth in the procession which, according to custom, takes place at the Church of the Holy Apostles; and towards evening she went forth in a golden carriage, drawn by four white horses held by the patricians, and she scattered much money among the populace.

(5) When the empress fell ill, it was reported to her that Stauracius was plotting sedition against her. She, therefore, having called a silentium in the Triclinium of Justinian, proclaimed that none of the officials should approach ^B Stauracius.

(6) Aetius, who was exercising authority along with him, was acting invidiously against Stauracius and drawing the power to himself.

(7) With things in this state, Nicephorus, the patrician and general logothete, affected the tyranny against her, with the consent of Nicetas the patrician and Sisinnius, who were brothers of the perjured and deceitful Triphylii, and of Leo the patrician, who was called Tessaracontapechis, and of Gregory the patrician, called Musulaces, and of certain other men of rank.

(8) Coming at the fourth hour of the night to the Chalke, they persuaded the guards that they had been sent by the Augusta, and they seized the palace. During the night, however, having set guards at the palace of Eleutherius, they caused the proclamation of him as emperor to be made throughout the entire city, and at daybreak they brought the Augusta and locked her up in the palace ^C of Eleutherius.

(9) And thus Nicephorus went to the church, where he was crowned by Tarasius.

CCLIX. The Reign of Nicephorus

(1) This Nicephorus reigned for seven years.

(2) But the crowds were cursing both the one who crowned and the one who was crowned.

(3) Pretending goodness, Nicephorus bade the empress to be of good cheer, promising that if she would inform him about her treasures, he would permit her to live in quiet—

^A but she, with a prudent mind, said to the one who had been but yesterday a perjured servant, today a tyrant: "As for me, O man, I believe it is God who raised me to this empire, and I attribute my fall to my own sins; yet in all these things, blessed be the name of the Lord. Neither are you unaware of the evidence brought to me regarding your treasons; had I believed it, I could have killed you with none to stop me. But, partly by giving credence to your oaths and partly by sparing you, I neglected all these things, leaving you to God, through whom kings reign and princes rule. And now, I entreat you as a pious emperor, raised to the throne by God, that you have regard for my weakness and suffer me to dwell in the House of Eleutherios, which I built, that I might find consolation for my incomparable misfortune." He answered her: "If you desire this, I shall be most generous to you in all things, provided you swear to me not to hide any of the treasures, and I shall provide for all your needs." She swore to him, and revealed great wealth. But Nicephorus, having attained what he desired, at once ^B banished her to the island of Prinkipo, which she herself had built into a monastery.

(4) But seeing that all the dignitaries were grieved for her sake on account of his greed, and fearing that the people might remember her good deeds and seek to proclaim her again, he banished the same Irene to the island of Lesbos to be kept in confinement, even though the winter was most severe.

(5) He also took hold of her son Constantine, ^C who showed him the wealth that had been refounded by Orthomarmarosis, which is now in the Sigma.

(6) Nicephorus also did away with Niketas Triphylios by poison.

(7) Meanwhile, Bardanes, the patrician and general of the Eastern forces—surnamed the Turk—was proclaimed emperor by the themes beyond the strait, though he himself strongly resisted this.

(8) Incapable of escaping, he was compelled to proceed as far as Chrysopolis. Then, being led by the fear of God, lest a slaughter of Christians should come about on his account, he accepted a guarantee of safety from Nicephorus and, at night, ^D unbeknownst to the soldiers, he came to the monastery of Heraclius at the Katabolos, and immediately became a monk.

^A When he had been conveyed by ship, sent by the emperor, to the island of Prote and had arrived at the monastery which he had formerly founded, certain Lycaonian men, or rather lycanthropes, put out his eyes, unknown to the emperor. For this reason, Nicephorus, seized with great grief, took an oath to everyone that he was innocent of such a crime. The truth of this assertion is made known by the fact that he is never said to have killed any Christian, nor to have maimed a limb of any person, being extremely pious and a great friend of the Christians.

(10) In the third year of his reign, the leader of the Saracens came with a strong force against Amorium. Nicephorus himself also marched towards Dorylaeum and wrote as follows to the protosymbolus: "Why do you rejoice in injustices and bloodshed, not being content with your own, but crossing over ancient and paternal boundaries? For what divine prophet taught you to do these things? Does not your prophet Muhammad command you to have and treat a Christian as a brother? And does the God who is the Creator of all and the provider for both peoples take pleasure in the blood of men unjustly shed? Heaven forbid! Or did you leave your home to wreak injury upon those from whom you have suffered no harm, because you are in need of gold, silver, or other things? Yet you possess in abundance every most precious thing that is highly valued by us and difficult to obtain. But if you have need of anything of ours, we will immediately provide it to you in a spirit of hospitality. Let us not, therefore, fight against one another as if we were immortal and godless, imitating the wars of evil demons against men; remember that shortly we shall die and be brought before the incorruptible Judge, who will render to each according to his works." ^B By these letters, to which some gifts were also added, the Arab was appeased and sent many wondrous gifts in return to Nicephorus, admiring his sagacity; and having made peace, he departed.

(12) ^C Irene meanwhile, having died in exile on the island of Lesbos, where she was being kept under guard, the emperor brought her body back to the monastery of the Prince ^D which she herself had built. For being extremely pious and a lover of virtue, she had built many hospices, homes for the elderly, and monasteries, and had brought about a reduction of taxes and accomplished many other noble deeds.

^A The emperor crowned his son Staurakius as emperor, a man unequal to such a post both in appearance and in mental capacity.

The most holy bishop Tarasius died, and in his place was ordained the most holy patriarch Nicephorus, who was at that time the secretary. After his ordination, Theodore, the hegumen of the Stoudios monastery, and his brother Joseph, the bishop of Thessalonica, together with Plato the recluse and others of their monks, withdrew from the communion of Nicephorus on account of the fact that Joseph had crowned Nicephorus and had been received into the priesthood by him. The emperor, however, having assembled a synod against them, sent them into exile. ^B

(15) The emperor, marching against the Bulgarians, defeated them soundly, to the extent that he set fire to the so-called palace of their leader, Krum. When the latter sent messages of entreaty, saying, "Let it be enough for you, O emperor, up to this point," he would not accept the words of peace at all, due to extreme greed.

(16) Angered, the Barbarian blocked the entrances and exits of his territory with wooden fortifications. Two days later, having gathered his forces, he attacked the tent of Nicephorus, and struck down both him and all who were with him. He had the emperor’s head cut off and set upon a pole; he then had the skull stripped, encased it in silver, and ordered the Bulgarian princes to drink from it, mocking Nicephorus as one who was greedy and had refused peace. ^C

(17) As some have said, he killed many Christians because of his greed and avarice. He increased tributes upon his subjects and decorated with dignities those who wished to buy them; for he considered that one was worthy of authority if he contributed more gold. He invented what they call "Chartiatika," and, so to speak, was altogether hostile and burdensome to the Christians in every evil way. Whence the Scripture, prefiguring such a man, said: "Be not greedy in any feasting; for by gluttony many have perished; but he who is abstinent will add to his life." And elsewhere: "Gold and silver have destroyed many, and extended and turned the heart of kings." For how many who desire more, lose all? How many who have gathered the superfluous, justly lose even the few and necessary things? How many who have walked upon mountains of coinage are stripped even of the modest means? It is necessary, therefore, to prune the superfluous prudently, so that one may opportunely ^D abound in necessary things.

One must therefore prune superfluities prudently, so that we may be rich in a good way regarding necessities. For it is not the possession of wealth, but the having no need of wealth, that is the greatest wealth. Yet of the manner of the emperor’s slaughter, none of those who were saved has given a clear account.

^A

CHAPTER CCLX. The Reign of Stauracius

CHAPTER CCLXI. The Reign of Michael

^A Leo the Patrician and Duke of the Orientals was proclaimed Emperor by the army and the grandees in the field of the Tribunal. Upon hearing this, Michael donned the monastic habit along with his wife and children and withdrew to an island near the city, where he died.

CCLXII. The Reign of Leo the Armenian, the Perjurer.

After Michael, Leo the Armenian, a patrician who later turned out to be an enemy of orthodoxy, reigned for seven years and five months. He received the crown from the hands of the Patriarch Nicephorus. Two years later, however, having fallen into the crime of apostasy and having annulled the handwritten document which he had given concerning his orthodoxy, he imitated the sins of Saul. ^B For just as he, having reigned according to the law of God for two years, thereafter turned aside from the straight path and, being stripped of divine grace and delivered to an evil spirit, armed his hands against his benefactor David and polluted himself with the slaughter of priests; so too this wretched and anti-god emperor, after two years, having raged and gone mad against piety, banished the divine Nicephorus, by whom he had been crowned.

He appointed Theodotus as patriarch in his stead, a man who was foolish and a thrall, more mute than the fishes, and knowing nothing other than impiety. From that time on, he stirred up an incessant persecution against the Church. If, therefore, one ought to marvel at a perversion into evil, one should marvel more at this man and his followers than at the Galatians, ^C who were so quickly transferred from Him who had called them in the grace of Christ to another Gospel, which is nothing other than having provoked God and drawn down the divine wrath.

Moreover, Crumus, a new Sennacherib, being elated by his victories to the point of pride, left his own brother to besiege Adrianople and, after six days of Leo’s reign, approached the city. He went around the walls from the Blachernae to the Golden Gate, displaying the power he had with him, and having performed profane sacrifices in the meadow adjacent to the Golden Gate. ^D He requested that the emperor conclude a peace or else he would plant his spear in the Golden Gate. When the emperor refused his request, he returned to his own tent, having greatly marveled at the city's walls and the orderly battle array of the emperor. He turned therefore to a proposal of peace, employing deceptive words.

^A The Emperor, having seized the opportunity, endeavored to pierce him with a lance; but in executing this he was frustrated by the sluggishness of his attendants, who indeed inflicted wounds upon the Bulgar, but none that were mortal. ^B Enraged at this, the wretch sent cavalry to Saint Mamas and burned the palace erected there; then, having loaded the bronze lion of the Hippodrome, together with the bear and the dragon of the water-clock, and most excellent marbles onto wagons, he withdrew, and having laid siege to Adrianople, he eventually subdued it by force of arms. Upon its capture, he deported a great number of the noble Macedonians, along with a great multitude, across the Danube and settled them in those regions. Leo, meanwhile, was occupied in the city with works of impiety.

(5) In his reign, a comet appeared in the shape of two bright moons joining together and again separating into various forms, until it was configured into the likeness of a headless man—which prefigured the headless head of those who later rose up against the Christians and that foolish Thomas, who gave the first occasion for the defection from the rest of the Christians. ^C Furthermore, terrible and repeated earthquakes, famines, droughts, parching of the air, and internecine civil strifes occurred in every city and region, beginning from the days of the God-hated and accursed one; and the terrible calamity of civil discord continued to prevail for a long time.

(6) Imitating, therefore, the leader of this abominable heresy—his namesake and embodiment of his character—he began to profess the heresy himself. Then, having sought out allies and fellow-initiates, he found John, called the Grammarian, or rather another Jannes or Simon, infamous for divinations by the basin, witchcraft, and foul deeds, and other fellow-thinkers of his, Jannites, Jambrites, and Simonites, whom he kept with him in the palace. Afterward, having summoned the praiseworthy patriarch Nicephorus and the bishops and priests with him before the senate, he says, "It does not escape you that some have arisen asserting that images should not be venerated; and if you wish them to be presented before you and to debate about this, the truth will appear more clearly."

(7) To this the godly Nicephorus answered nothing, but turning to the magnates who were standing by ^D he said: "Tell me, he who does not exist, can he fall?" To those standing

by who were in doubt because of the ambiguity of the question and who remained silent, the patriarch again said: "Did the holy icons fall under Leo and Constantine the Isaurians?" When they nodded their heads and said "Yes," he replied: "Therefore, they were standing, and they have an ancient foundation; for how can that which does not exist and does not stand fall?"

(8) After others of the bishops had brought forward similar arguments for the refutation of the heresy, the holy Euthymius, bishop of Sardis, speaking with boldness, says: ^B "Listen, emperor, to what I shall say in summary. From the time that Christ came upon the earth until now eight hundred years have passed, and everywhere Christ is depicted and worshipped in an icon. Who, then, is so arrogant that he would dare to abolish or to overturn an apostolic and patristic tradition of such a long time? Especially since the Apostle says: 'Therefore, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught, whether by our speech or by our letter.' Even if an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we preached to you, let him be anathema."

(9) After him, Theodore, the fervent defender of the orthodox faith, the hegumen of the Studium, says: ^C "Do not, emperor, alter the state of the Church; for the Apostle has said: 'And those whom God has set in the Church, first apostles, second prophets, third pastors and teachers;' he did not say 'emperors.' The state of political affairs and the army has been entrusted to you; take care of these, and leave the Church to pastors and teachers according to the divine oracle. But if you do not wish to pay attention to these things and to be united with us in the faith, even if an angel descending from heaven wished to subvert us, we would not listen to him, much less to an emperor."

(10) The tyrant, upon hearing these things, and being inflamed with fury, roaring like a lion—though he was a monkey—and having driven everyone away with insults, drove the great Nicephorus out of the city, and likewise sent Theodore the Studite into exile. ^D Then, in the place of Nicephorus, he ordains Theodotus Cassiteras, who had been among the spatharios and who drew his name from the theater. And thus that pestilence and beast, more in character than in name, declaring war upon piety, persecuted and ravaged the Church of God more and more, until divine justice justly punished him, whose most wicked origin...

malice, God-hated disposition, impiety, and ultimately his wretched end of life, the divine Nicephorus, ^A branding him openly with infamy, says:

“God has turned away his eyes, and a monster has fallen upon us. But why do I say man, when it is rather a beast, and the wildest and most cruel of beasts? For what could be more pitiful than this calamity, what more wretched than this misfortune? How great an evil has this man, of double nature and semi-barbarous race, multi-form in character, slavish, and fickle in judgment, brought into the Empire! ^B For if he be viewed in terms of what is close to us and well known—for he sprang from the land of the Armenians, whence we may speak of his difficult and malicious nature—or if he be considered far off and in antiquity, as certain old men declare who know what has long been handed down by tradition concerning him and his fathers, his origin is impure; for he drew his lineage from the worst class of the Assyrian people, and from them drank in his ancestral blood. For he traced his origin from the sons of Sennacherib, who once reigned over the Assyrians and fell by the hands of his own children; for they, having laid their parricidal hands upon their parent, and stained with paternal blood, inflicted death upon the author of their own life, and immediately fled to the regions of Armenia, seeking safety. ^C From this parricidal seed, unfortunately preserved unto our own generation, there blossomed a murderous fruit who, I know not whence, was allotted his dire role among the Romans, who are condemned to such a punishment; and, as those who suffer this condemnation well know, he was brought into the light and educated, and grew up in depraved and pernicious habits and actions. From the Assyrian lioness, therefore, and the Armenian leopard, a hybrid, a certain mixed and monstrous tiger, was born of an adulterous and spurious union, a son who seems more Armenian than Assyrian. ^D For he was indeed a Leo by name, and like a lion he was suited for dragging prey into his den, yet he was entirely devoid of the lion’s nobility; he much more resembled a chameleon, acting as such in his countenance and in his multi-form soul, because he had an unknown and hidden origin, and because he strove to conceal his ferocity and perfidy and to make them manifest to no one. For he endeavored to keep his mind hidden, enveloped in shadows, varying in counsel, and inclined toward malice; and he devoted, as it were, all his effort and care so that his heart might never conform to his lips, but that his mind should intend one thing, while his tongue spoke another: to such a degree of impiety...

and wickedness did his life deviate, that his demonic intent and malice became manifest to all. ^B

(12) When, therefore, he had attained the imperial power, or rather the tyranny, by God’s permission, he poured out all the fury and deceit of his soul against the true faith, and in all things emulated his predecessor, the impious Copronymus. Just like him, he committed the whole of his life to certain lost and most wicked men, who were impure and defamed by the baseness of their lives, corrupted in soul and body, performing incantations, philtres, fascinations, and every kind of outrage, having utterly abjured the Christian faith.

(13) These he willingly made his intimates and followers, and he yielded to their pernicious counsels and suggestions, and surrendered himself as a slave to sin, and being caught on the hook of deceit and iniquity, that sinner was sorely pierced. For they had promised him three things: the abnegation of our orthodox faith, the deposition of the holy icons, and the persecution of the pious. “And thus,” they said, “you shall reach the height of prosperity, so that you may complete your present life for a much longer and greater time than anyone else.” ^C

(14) Deceived by these and suchlike pernicious fallacies, the foolish and wretched man—just as he was manifest to be—became difficult of access and uglier in form (for if he had the name of a lion, he had the face of an ape); he became more wicked in his way of acting, more insolent in his habits, more brutal in his mind, more unrestrained in his impulses, more impure, more impotent, more ungentle, and more savage in his tyranny.

(15) For the proud, lazy, and unhappy emperor, inflated by the lies and traps of those plagues, thus undertook the war. First, he moved his God-fighting tongue against our divine dogmas; then, emulating in this too the most impious Copronymus Conon, he summoned, just as he had done, a perverse and tumultuous assembly, or rather a Jewish synedrium, over which the most wicked man himself presided; and there appeared once again in the temple of the Lord the abomination of desolation. ^D

^A And the mouth is opened, speaking great things against the glory of the Lord and against the divine dispensation, boasting arrogantly. And thus the second Caiaphas, with that band hostile to Christ, having uttered many foolish things against the truth, removes every sacred representation from the churches, and hates Christ and His servants, because Christ, represented in an image and kept in a memorial, and those who are His friends and servants, are displeasing to him. ^B Therefore, the madman kept declaring that every iconographic representation was rejected by Holy Scripture and entirely forbidden. What, then, is to be said to these things? This, indeed: "The words of the divine wisdom are unsearchable," but "the fool will speak folly." For this most ignorant and insane person did not at all know those golden Cherubim which the prophet Moses, at God’s command, fashioned, and which the old and lawful tabernacle bore above the ark, which indeed not only did the Jews glorify, but the Apostle also clearly calls "Cherubim of glory," that is, glorious ones. Moreover, those also which wise Solomon fashioned, and those which were seen by the divine Ezekiel, and other things of this sort in the holy Books, are recounted and honored: which that profane man was not ashamed to rank among idols, as though wishing to abolish the divine Scriptures rather than accept them, and therefore he should deservedly be considered more incredulous and ignorant than the Jews themselves, together with his accomplices; for they spoke and uttered words consonant with their own baseness, ^C incredulity, and madness. ^D Yet then they impiously rise up against Christ, who, having taken a clean linen cloth, pressed His own most resplendent and most beautiful God-formed face into it and sent it to Abgar, the king of Edessa, who had asked for it with faith. From that time even until today, by apostolic tradition and exhortation, for the sake of the knowledge and memory of the things which Christ did and suffered for us, as the venerable pages of the holy Gospels recount, we represent and adore Him in an image, even though the adversaries of Christ may burst with grief. Furthermore, according to oral tradition, which is held to be trustworthy and has reached us, the divine evangelist Luke painted in an image our Lord Jesus Christ and His inviolate Mother; and these

^A sacred images are preserved in the city of Rome. For what need is there to speak of others that are worshiped in Jerusalem with great veneration, as some who have been there have testified, since very many sacred images have until now been faithfully, religiously, and accurately expressed from the archetype? Furthermore, it is related that Peter and Paul, the princes of the apostles, preaching the mighty works of God and the miracles which Christ performed in Rome, first represented and exhibited to the Romans the divine Transfiguration, how He appeared to Moses and Elijah in the midst of these holy prophets; which image is preserved even to this day.

How then will the incredulous and the ignorant look upon the prodigy which is still celebrated and seen in the city of Lydda, in the temple consecrated to the Mother of God: which temple the apostles built while she was yet living? For many have witnessed that adorable, honorable, and venerable non-human-made image, engraved upon the tablets, bright and shining, and penetrating the entire thickness. Certain malicious heathens and Jews attempted to scrape it away, but their absurd endeavor came to naught; for the more they scraped the engraving, the more it shone forth. For nothing of the appearance, the form, the countenance, the garments, and all the features of the divine Virgin was diminished, as it preserved them indelible and intact. ^B Indeed, it is related that the holy apostles, having been instructed by the most holy Mother of God, built a temple in her name, and that she, at their request, entered the temple and leaned upon one of the columns; and her image was found upon the column, which, as has been said, the heathens and Jews, despite many attempts, could not scrape away. ^C

(20) That the making and tradition of these images is most ancient is attested, moreover, by the divine statue which the woman with the issue of blood erected to her Savior Christ near her own house, as a most manifest monument and indelible herald, publishing to future generations the wonder-working miracle which had occurred for her, a prodigy difficult to believe. The master of iconography, Eusebius, speaking of that statue in his *Ecclesiastical History*, recalls the miracles which the sacred herb born from it by divine power had performed, healing all diseases, and adds: ^D "Images of the apostles Peter and Paul, and of Christ Himself, [index: entries preserved]

^A preserved through painting in writings, we have historically recorded." The long passage of time clearly demonstrates this, as does the creation of sacred vessels, and furthermore, the creation and dedication of sacred vessels from of old by pious men, which are infinite in number. Moreover, even the cases of the holy Gospels themselves, bearing sacred images on the outside and honorably worshipped by all the faithful, as well as the divine columns and the so-called *soleae*, which support the venerable and most holy altar—for no other reason than that they might be worshipped, they are placed there from the beginning together with the image of the cross ^B in the adjacent area of the cross, piously established.

But after everything had been pointed out in this way, that beast, Leo by name and by nature, strove with all his might to root out every sacred image and submerge it in deep oblivion. That madman dared to utter such blasphemies openly before the people, saying: "Just as we have removed the images from your eyes, brothers, so hasten to remove them from your hearts, as servants and friends of God." (For "The fool will speak foolish things, and his heart will meditate on vain things, to commit iniquity and speak fraud against the Lord" [Isa. xxxii, 6].) From that time forward, therefore, that arrogant and bloodthirsty tyrant condemned those found possessing images of Christ or of any saint to ^C harsh punishments and death. And thus, every day, pious men, nobles, and the illustrious were cruelly slaughtered and destroyed everywhere; he likewise delivered monks to death.

In this way he acted towards the orthodox both ruthlessly and inhumanely. But against the magnates and the wealthy, the cunning contriver of iniquity devised another most evil plan. Being desirous of reducing them to need and beggary, what did he do? He entangled them in inextricable lawsuits and accusations, and falsely charged them with crimes, so that, moved by fear of these accusations, they would exhaust their entire substance to obtain their release. He brought force to bear upon the more generous and noble, out of envy for their nobility and station: he gouged out the eyes of some, amputated the extremities of the bodies of others, and kept others in chains, some of whom he sent to death daily.

^A Among these was Michael, who held the command of the excubitor regiment; for he had been falsely accused to the emperor of plotting against him, and for this reason he kept him bound in fetters in prison.

(24) When the festival of the Nativity of our Savior was at hand, he wished to put him to death by night; but, prevented by his own wife and moved by the reverence due the feast, he spared him. Michael, while in prison, learned of this and secretly informed all his fellow conspirators: "Unless you make haste to deliver me from this guard, I shall denounce you all to the emperor." There was with them also the *papias* of the palace, a kinsman of Michael. These men, arming themselves by night and carrying swords under their garments, with the *papias* opening the gates, entered as though they were priests dressed in chasubles. ^B When the emperor arrived at the church, they leaped out, seized him, and hacked him limb from limb, casting forth his sacrilegious soul within the palace—the very place where none of the emperors before him had been killed.

At that same hour, they rushed into the prison, brought out Michael, and led him to the celebration, and in place of fetters declared him surrounded by the imperial diadem, so that there was fulfilled in him that saying of the Psalmist: ^C "At evening weeping shall have a place, and in the morning gladness." After these things, they wrapped the corpse of the impious man in cheap rags, placed it in a small boat, and carried his abominable limbs to the island called Prote, where they tonsured his sons and compelled them to assume the monastic habit, condemned to this calamity—I know not whence—for the sake of the great evils they had committed.

(25) It must be considered how these impious and infamous men’s words could have had any force, how their doctrine could have had some appearance of truth, and how it was entirely observed and acknowledged in other orders of the empire; for now, that can in no way be recognized: for at once the East and the West follow and practice the evangelical and apostolic doctrine, and never in another empire where there are Christians is it found that this heresy has arisen—a heresy illegitimate, unjust, hateful to God, and alien to Christian piety—nay, not even among themselves,

^A nor anything that can even reach the memory of wicked and abominable compositions; but it is only amongst this servile and enslaved people, mocking divine things at their own will, where the passionate and earthly-minded spirit, crawling upon the ground and writhing, arrogant and proud, holds sway—where self-love, the love of power, the love of pleasure, ^B the love of glory, that most welcome desire of all, and the will to rule over all and not be ruled even by God Himself, and the acquisition and cultivation of human glory—or rather, to speak more truly, of shame—prevail. Hence arises blasphemy against God and the holy ones, and the persecution of the Church. Hence the subject people, overcome or tyrannized, are compelled to submit to their dogmas and wills, for the sake of which they have forged and prepared their weapons—ostensibly gathered to protect bodies, but in reality devised to devastate and despoil the Church, foolishly pretending that Christ’s divinity is circumscribed in an image. Just as if one, by showing that solar and disk-shaped body written in some place, as is seen in some cases, were to argue that the essence and splendor of light are also inscribed and circumscribed, or that light is cut off from the sun; or again, if one were to see a ray of the sun striking a tree and, crazily, were to think that if the tree were cut down, the ray would also be cut off. And yet they will think the same about fire and certain other things, so that they are justly mocked by children at play for holding views more foolish than theirs. For if, in the cases mentioned, it is neither natural for such a thing to happen or be seen, nor indeed can it be said to have a place, ^C how much more impossible and unattemptable is it to say or conceive such things regarding the ineffable and divine nature, or regarding the inexpressibly and inexplicably ordered economy of Christ! For neither did He, when incarnate and suffering for us, suffer with this fictitious body; otherwise, if one were to represent us by a body, it would be necessary to represent the soul as well, or else, with the soul separated, we would be dead; for what else is death than the separation of soul from body? Whence it is clearly manifest in these men that they are equally impious and ignorant; for they do not know how much that which is "inscribed" and "circumscribed" differs and is distinguished from the act of "inscribing" and "circumscribing," and therefore, being deceived, they utter vain talk. For where has it ever been heard that a body cannot be inscribed and circumscribed? Or how will the nature and definition of a body be preserved if it does not possess such properties? ^D Therefore, he who denies that Christ can be inscribed or circumscribed in body either does not know what a body is, and consequently does not hold a correct opinion, or, knowing what a body is, does not preserve the nature of the soul intact. Whoever, therefore, confesses that Christ assumed a body similar to our body, since this body of ours can be inscribed and circumscribed, must necessarily confess that Christ's body can also be inscribed and circumscribed; if he does not grant the latter, he will not grant the former.

This is altogether irrational and laughable. We, therefore, do not circumscribe, but describe.

The miserable wretches utter yet another absurdity: they deny that He whom they call uncircumscribable can be circumscribed, and I know not how they trick the simpler-minded into believing that He is circumscribed by the icon. But if they iterate that Christ should not be depicted, the whirlpool of their masters—Manes, Valentinus, and Marcion—gapes wide to swallow them; for those who imagine that the divine Word was incarnate only in appearance and fantasy will be pierced no less by the blasphemies of the devil's mouth, as they are not ashamed to rebel against all the decrees of God. And who are these? They are the accuser of the praiseworthy, the dark ones against the light, the ignorant against wisdom, the ungrateful creatures against the divine voice.

CCLXIII. The Reign of Michael the Amorian

^B After this perfidious Leo, Michael the Stammerer, the Amorian, reigned for 8 years and 9 months, and he died of dysuria and the most severe pain of the kidneys. He, having relaxed somewhat the malice that had long occupied his soul—insofar as it was permitted to dream of a feigned liberty and relaxation for those established in prisons, punishments, and exile—nonetheless cherished a mind hostile to God, after the manner of his impious predecessor; for he was held by the same hook of grave heresy, by reason of his mental stupidity and ignorance. Whence, keeping silence, he said: "Those who before us have scrutinized the laws and statutes and dogmas of the Church shall be examined concerning them, whether they have decreed rightly or wrongly; but we choose to remain in that state in which we found the Church proceeding."

^C Furthermore, he had as a son by Euphrosyne, named Theophilus, whom he had crowned in the Great Church. He decreed, however, that no one should be permitted to hold any discourse concerning icons, but that the synod of Constantine and that of Tarasius, as well as the synod recently convened under Leo concerning such questions, should be set aside and vanish, and that a deep silence should be maintained regarding the icons.

^A (3) It was during this time that the rebel Thomas, having set out from the Eastern regions and already gathered a chaotic and motley mob, and dragging them along, launched an attack against Byzantium, aspiring to the empire, though unworthy of such great dignity. For, having abandoned the Roman territory—he being low-born and obscure in origin—he had betaken himself to the parts of Syria, calling himself Constantine and the son of the Empress Irene. From there, having deceived many of the Barbarians and Christians, and having assembled a vast multitude from diverse nations, he advanced upon the city of Constantine with a heavy throng and a great fleet, like some strange, multi-formed, variegated, and many-headed beast, having gathered together the manifold races of the nations. ^B And, like another Sennacherib armed against the new Jerusalem, he boasted and grew proud in the multitude of his followers, not at all considering—as it seems—that "A king is not saved by much power, and a giant shall not be saved by the multitude of his strength, and a horse is a false thing for safety," and the rest: "The Lord dissipates the counsels of the nations." For even though the city for the most part did not have an Hezekiah—that is to say, a pious and virtuous emperor—yet the Lord, the Ruler of all and lover of mankind, did not abandon His city and His people when they were besieged; but because of "the misery of the needy and the groan of the poor," He said also then: "I will arise and protect ^C my city and my people"; and He does not now add, as He did then: "For my sake and for the sake of David my servant," but rather says: "For my sake, and for the sake of the Son born from the seed of David, and for the sake of the new Jerusalem which I have chosen."

(4) For indeed, under the impious Ahab, when the Syrian had gathered many myriads against him and was boasting and saying: "If Samaria be sufficient for all the multitude of my footmen," the merciful God easily and immediately dissolved the terror of the most miserable king, saying: "Behold, I deliver him into your hands this day, and you shall know that I am the Lord," which indeed came to pass. And He immediately showed to His own people and to the strangers His own power and the truth of this saying of David: "The Lord is strong and mighty, the Lord is mighty in battle." ^D For when the clash occurred, twelve of the adversaries' myriads were struck down by Israel, so that both the former and the latter might know that God...

s is this plague; and for those who had fled into a certain city, the falling wall crushed twenty-seven thousand.

^B [(5)] Relying therefore on this arrogance of the Syrian and the Assyrian, the senseless Thomas ravaged Constantinople, or rather Theopolis, for a year, while the citizens—well-prepared to offer courageous resistance—fought vigorously, whether by defending the city walls or by engaging in naval battle. For they burned most of the besiegers' ships and routed their picked men. Thomas, seized by helplessness, abandoned the city and went off into Thrace to spread devastation. Having plundered it, however, only moderately—not as he had hoped, but as Divine Providence allowed on account of our sins—he accomplished nothing more of what he had expected; indeed, he not only suffered a reversal in this, through which that which he pursued with such care perished, but he was also almost entirely stripped and bereft of the glory and power in which he seemed to flourish and by which he was led. ^C [(6)] For the citizens, as has been said, striving nobly and fiercely by the strength and aid of the Omnipotent, and fighting with such great hope from the walls, on land, and at sea, struggled strenuously and bravely, and almost completely washed away his rotting arrogance; for all those fortifications in which, in his extreme folly, he foolishly boasted and acted insolently—I mean the greater part of his ships, which they burned, and his picked men and commanders, whom they defeated—brought deep confusion and helplessness upon the fickle and very lightweight man, Thomas. Furthermore, they easily destroyed and utterly demolished all his ingenious and craftily devised siege engines, which he had thought were impregnable and almost impossible to capture. And thus ^D "the house of David," that is to say the city of Christ, "was going and growing stronger, but the house of Saul"—that is, the band of the enemy—"was going and becoming weaker," in very truth; and God was glorified, and it was possible to see clearly in him the holy oracle truly fulfilled: "You have broken down all his hedges; you have made his strongholds a terror," and the rest of the psalm. Whence the inhabitants of the city sang: "Some trust in chariots, and some in horses," and the rest of the psalm. [(7)] But the divine word, encouraging them and foretelling to them very clearly the sudden and...

^A swift collapse of their enemy, replied as if saying: "Children, suffer patiently the wrath that has come upon you; for your enemy has pursued you, but you shall see his destruction in a moment and shall mount upon his necks. Be of good cheer, children, and cry out to the Lord; for He who brought these evils upon you shall again bring upon you everlasting joy with your salvation."

(8) When that wretched and misguided man, exhausted and warring in vain and laboring to no purpose, became utterly despairing, as he had missed his goal entirely, and because his affairs were manifestly slipping backward day by day; and in addition to this, having learned that ^B Emperor Michael had called the Bulgarians into alliance against him—he immediately left the city and set out against them quickly. After engaging them in battle and destroying many of them, he sought safety in Arcadiopolis, suspecting, indeed, his own weakness and decline at the point of his invasion. Hence, those around him, perceiving more clearly their own terrible deception, the failure of their vain hope, and his impending total destruction, began to withdraw and fall away by degrees, and to abandon him as a futile man and a deceiver of the people.

(9) Michael, having heard these things, moved out of the city and marched against him with a most powerful force; and after besieging him for a short time, ^C he captured him without difficulty. Then, according to custom, he trampled upon his neck with his feet, and having mutilated his hands and feet and impaled him upon a stake in this manner, he brought to an end the difficult and unbearable civil war that had plagued them through him for three years, laying the rebel to rest in death.

(10) While Michael was occupied with the rebel Thomas, neglecting all other care for his sake, Crete and Sicily and the islands called the Cyclades were snatched away from the Roman empire by the Africans and Arabs who had lately ^D begun their rule, first of all because of the sins of the people and the impiety of their rulers, and the affairs of the Christians began to be brought under their hand and made subject to them.

(11) While matters were in this state and affairs were thus situated, Michael departed this life miserably from dysuria and pain in the kidneys; and Theophilus, his son, succeeded to the rule after him with his mother, Euphrosyne.

CCLXIV. The Reign of Theophilus

Theophilus reigned for 12 years. This man was a new Balthasar, an apostate, hateful to God, and a despiser, violator, and destroyer of the holy icons. ^A

Euphrosyne, his mother, sent messengers into all the provinces and gathered beautiful maidens so that she might betroth one of them to her son Theophilus. When all had been collected in the palace, at the triclinium named Margarites, she handed Theophilus a golden apple, saying: "Give this to her who pleases you most." Now there was among them a noble girl, Icasia by name, who was most beautiful. When Theophilus saw her and was delighted by her beauty, he said, "How many evils have flowed through woman!" She, blushing with modesty, replied, "But through woman also, better things spring forth." Stung to the heart by this answer, Theophilus dismissed her, but gave the apple to Theodora, who was from Paphlagonia. He crowned ^B Theodora in the oratory of Saint Stephen, having himself received the nuptial and imperial crown at the same time as her from the hand of the patriarch Anthony on the day of Holy Pentecost. From there he proceeded to the Great Church, bestowing many gifts upon the patriarch together with the clergy and the senate. The aforementioned Icasia, frustrated in her hope of the empire, built a monastery in which, having cut her hair, she lived a contemplative and philosophical life, living for God alone, until the end of her life. She also left behind many writings of her own wit, such as: "Lord, she who is in many sins," and the Triodion for Great Saturday: "O foolish old man," and certain other things. ^C Furthermore, Euphrosyne, the emperor's mother, having voluntarily deserted the palace, lived a quiet life in the monastery named Gastria. After the circus games had been celebrated, Theophilus commanded Leo Chamadrakon, his protovestiarius, to bring forward the many-branched candelabrum which had been struck by a sword during the murder of Leo the Armenian. When the games were finished, he summoned the entire senate to the place called the Kathisma, and displaying the candelabrum to them, he said: "He who entered the temple of the Lord and killed the Christ of the Lord, of what crime is he guilty?" The senate, answering, said: "He is guilty of death, lord." And he immediately commanded the prefect to seize those who, along with his father Michael, had slain Leo, and to cut off their heads at the Funda, although they ^D raised many objections and called the judgment unjust, saying: "For had we not brought aid to your father, O emperor, you would not be reigning now." In this manner, in the sight of all, their heads were cut off, on the pretext that they had dared to commit murder in the temple of the Lord, but

in truth because they had killed his fellow-heretic and one of the same mind in impiety; for that wicked man was held fast by that ^A god-hated heresy of his and kept himself away from piety, tearing down the holy icons or gouging them out, and exiling and torturing the monks who were devoted to piety.

Under this emperor, the Saracens, having come against his fatherland and city with many forces, and finding it strongly fortified and guarded by fifty commanders with picked troops, besieged it for fifteen days of the month of August; they took it by storm, ^B and having captured it, they enslaved and killed an infinite multitude of Christians, and the city was burned and razed to the ground. Indeed, many of their ships also went out, devastated the Cyclades islands, and took Crete and Sicily. There occurred also most biting cold and a winter most wild and bitter, and severe famine, and droughts of air, and intemperances, and irregularities, and fearful and successive earthquakes, which all proved the corruption and wickedness of the one reigning; for that godless man had lapsed into such godlessness and madness, that having received, accepted, and revived the vile and most loathsome heresy of Copronymus—who is rightly named for a beast—he appeared no less ^C than he in impiety and atrocities, this prince being deceived and insane in his tyranny and arrogance. Bound, therefore, by the same delusion and error and madness as those impious and most wicked men who were driven by the Manichaean fury and Arian frenzy, he himself likewise stirred up a persecution again against the Church. [(3)] To this enemy of God—for it is better to call him that than Theophilus—there fled for refuge Theophobus the Persian together with his father and fourteen thousand Persians, whom he divided among the themes, settled, and organized into turmae, which are called even to this day the turmae of the Persians; and he himself made this Theophobus his brother-in-law by the marriage of the sister of Theodora Augusta.

[(4)] Theophilus, moreover, since he took delight in the adornment of crafted works, ^D through the head of the goldsmiths' guild, a man of great reputation and a relative of Antony the patriarch, ordered to be cast a pentapyrgium and two very great instruments made of solid gold, embellished with various precious stones and crystals, and a golden tree on which perched sparrows.

^A He also restored the imperial robes, renewing them and fabricating them with gold-threaded work, the so-called *loroi*, and all the rest.

Pretending to observe public law and rigor, he nevertheless violated faith and piety more than those who had reigned before him. A widow woman approached him at the Blachernae—for it was his custom to go there—and complained that she was suffering an injustice at the hands of the Augusta’s brother, Petronas, the drungarius of the Watch; for, she said, "He is raising his own buildings with the constructions he is renovating, and he obscures mine and renders them entirely useless," as is the way with widows who are despised. And immediately he sent Eustathius the quaestor, surnamed Monachus, who was residing in Oxia, along with Leo Symbatios and Demetrius the Camulian, to see whether the newly renovated building was harming the woman. ^B They went away and, having seen such an injustice and having been convinced that the things said by the woman were true, they returned and reported it to the Emperor. And in the presence of the Emperor, the same Petronas, being convicted by them, was stripped in the middle of the street and beaten severely on his back. Then the quaestor and the secretaries were ordered to go and raze such edifices to the foundations and hand them over to the woman to possess.

(7) This man took the Armenian Alexios, surnamed Musele, a brave and sturdy man, as a son-in-law, having given him his beloved daughter Maria, and appointed him patrician, and shortly thereafter, magister. ^C Then, having formed certain suspicions about him as if he were aspiring to the empire, he sent him away, having appointed him *stratēlatēs* and Duke of Sicily. Since envy is accustomed to bring forth such things, certain Sicilians who were leaving slandered him to the Emperor, as though "he is betraying the things of the Christians to the Hagarenes and is plotting against your empire."

(8) In the meantime, Maria, the beloved daughter of the Emperor, having died, he adorned her urn with silver and bestowed a privilege of immunity upon those who should flee to it for any crime; this silver, the Emperor Leo, thereafter took from the tomb. ^D Theophilus, however, summoned Theodore the archbishop, surnamed Crithinos, who happened to be in the city at the time of the slander against Alexios. Having given him his own cross, which hung from his neck in the manner of an amulet, he sent him to Sicily to pledge security to Alexios and presently to bring him to himself. He set out and, with the prudence innate to him, led Alexios—persuaded by his words—to the Emperor; and the Emperor, as if he were a rebel, having beaten him...

and confiscated all his property, cast him into prison. ^A The patriarch, seeing these things, betook himself to the prison and offered all his own wealth to Alexios, saying, "Because you suffer all these terrible things on my account." Then, as the Emperor went to the Blachernae according to custom, the archbishop, having arrived before him and dressed in his priestly vestments, stood before the altar; and as the Emperor approached the threshold along with the Senate, the archbishop cried out with a loud voice: "Prosper, and proceed, and reign—for the sake of what, O Emperor?" ^B Confused by shame, the Emperor said to the Senate: "For the sake of truth, and gentleness, and justice." But he [the archbishop] replied, "And what sort of justice is in you, seeing that you sent a signed statement to Alexios by my hand, yet did not keep it?" The Emperor, moved by anger and uncontrollable fury as though rebuked, violently dragged him from the altar and, after inflicting many blows upon him, sent him into exile—not only because he had been rebuked by him, but also because he learned that he venerated and revered the holy icons, and secretly condemned his own impiety. Not long after, when the Emperor was arriving at the Great Church and the patriarch reproached him for what had been done to the archbishop, he brought him back again after much pleading. But since he judged himself unworthy of the priesthood because of what he had suffered, the Emperor appointed him ^C steward of the Great Church, and having ordered Alexios to be released from prison, he took him back again, restored all his property, and held him in honor.

(9) There was also a certain Manuel, the most renowned of all who were held in esteem by the Emperor in the East. This man, having had some words with Myron—who was logothete of the course and father-in-law of Petronas—was slandered to the Emperor by the insinuation of Myron, as if he were aspiring to the throne and meditating terrible things against him. But Leo the protovestiarius, who was a champion of Manuel and cared for his safety, asserted to the Emperor that the things said against him were false. Manuel, having learned of this and wishing to avoid the Emperor’s anger and the slanders, went out of the city secretly as far as the Gates; and having embarked on the public carriages, he fled as far as the passes of Syria, hamstringing the horses. And he made these things known to the Agarenes, saying, "I am escaping the Emperor’s anger, and if you do not compel me ^D to abandon my own faith, I take refuge with you. If, then, you receive me on these terms, send me a document of safety." They, having received this with great joy, sent a document of safety and received him as the Emperor of the Romans.

(10) Having heard this, the Emperor was overcome with much grief and distress of soul, and he took counsel about this with John the syncellus. But he said, "If you desire from your heart for Manuel to come back to you, having accepted money,

and having been sent to the Amerumnes as if to visit those in prison and chains, I am ready to do this, possessing also a signed document from your imperial majesty, with which I shall persuade Manuel, having approached his sight." I expect, however, to accomplish this in the signed document ^A of your imperial majesty, and by my persuasion, and by their piety, and by the natural desire that one feel for one’s homeland. And the emperor, having given him very many riches and gifts for the Amerumnes, sent him off.

(11) But he, having entered with much money and assorted finery, so that even the Hagarenes were astonished at his wealth, once he had scattered money through the shops and had seen the supreme counselor of the Hagarenes, he was able to converse secretly with Manuel and to give him the signed document and the safe-conduct of the emperor. And he, having done these things, returned, having reported to the emperor as much as he had accomplished. But Manuel, having requested of the Amerumnes to go out against a certain nation hostile to them, obtained his request; and having taken the son of the Amerumnes and a very large army, he went forth and wrought a great victory; and by this he was established in greater honor than before, and he was all-powerful with the Amerumnes.

(12) Wherefore, having great anxiety to depart into Romania, after some space of time he said to the satraps of the Amerumnes, "If you provide me with the son of the Amerumnes and an army, I shall go out and subjugate Romania." And they, having considered this a matter of the greatest joy, and hoping for this in addition to the former success, immediately armed him and sent him against Romania. But he, having come near to the theme of the East, having called together his subordinates and the son of the Amerumnes, as if to maneuver and hunt, once he was far from the enemies, having embraced the son of the Amerumnes and kissed him, said, "I, indeed, am going away to my emperor and to my own people, having preferred nothing in this life ^B to the faith and to my countrymen; but you, return to your own people with your own men, suspecting that you will suffer no harm from us." And he, indeed, returned in this manner with tears and shame; but Manuel went on toward the emperor, having sent a messenger ahead to him.

(13) The emperor, having received the messenger as a herald of great good things, honored him both with money and with ranks, and having received Manuel, as was fitting, he immediately appointed him Magister and Domestic of the Schools, and also received his children from the holy baptism.

(14) Elated by these things, the emperor went out with Manuel and the senate and the entire army against the Hagarenes; and having easily taken Zapetron and Samosata ^D, cities then very wealthy and very well-fortified, because the Amerumnes had a palace there, he soon emerged victorious and took away much spoil. Once he had returned to

^A Bryas, he built a palace, planted gardens, and ordered water to be brought there, which was done. Having reached the city from there, he celebrated a triumph with the spoils he had taken, staging horse races and performing the first ^B *baion* ritual; mounted on a white chariot and dressed in the Venetian color, he was crowned as victor, while the factions shouted: "Welcome, incomparable partisan!"

(15) Upon the death of the patriarch Antonius, Joannes the syncellus was ordained in his place—he who I shall call the new Jannes and Jambres, most notorious for sorcery, divination by basins, and all manner of impiety. Finding in him an instrument well-suited to his own impiety and inclination, the emperor worked with him toward everything that led to ruin. The poisonous basilisk of impiety which the emperor had conceived in his mind, but kept hidden, he allowed this man to bring forth and give birth to, commanding that the holy icons be stained with a single color, or rather, be effaced.

(16) Joannes himself, in a house built before the city (which is called the Trullus to this day) of hewn and carved stones, sought to consult with demons through certain sacrifices, and he would reveal the future to the emperor. Because of the frequent visitation of demons that occurred there at that time, the house remained uninhabited.

(17) For this reason, Theophilus kept this companion and partner in his own heresy—a second Nectanebo—the aforementioned Joannes, or rather Jannes, the patriarch or "mandriarch," who in our times truly appeared as a new Apollonius or Balaam, a diviner by the use of basins and a wretched prophet of every god-hating deed and imposture. Educated in letters by him, that most fickle and treacherous prince became a distinguished minister of hateful works and a most suitable instrument of the devil. To them, the divine word rightly utters a pitiful curse, saying: "Woe to them, for they have gone in the way of Cain, and have rushed headlong into the error of Balaam for the sake of reward, and have perished in the contradiction of Core." ^C "These are murmurers, complainers, walking according to their own desires in their impiety." The words of Gregory the Theologian, spoken against Julian, a man of the same sort, would apply to them most aptly; for this man was very similar to him, and in no way different in wickedness and harshness of character. Gregory therefore says: "How shall I not pursue the wretched man with tears? How shall I not lament even more those who have run to him of their own accord than those whom he has persecuted? And again, how shall I not weep for him, who drags others with him into ^D wickedness; or rather,"

to those who suffer nothing terrible for Christ, it is not only not grievous, but most blessed, and not only because of those things [to come], but also because of the glory and freedom gained from this life, which they won for themselves through dangers. But as for them, what they have already suffered is but a prelude to the punishments that threaten them; and it would have been better for them to have been tormented here for a longer time than to have been reserved for the tribunals ^B there.

For just as the saying goes that the chameleon easily becomes all things and changes into every color except for whiteness, so too did he become everything to the Christians except for kindness; and his very humaneness was deeply inhuman to him, and his persuasion was violent, and his goodness was but an excuse for his cruelty.

Wherefore one must say to him:

(18) Where are the sacrifices and the rites

^A (19) While these things were being done by the Emperor and his co-initiate the Patriarch, the Arabs marched against Romania with a great force; the Emperor set out against them with the refugee Persians, the tagmata, and the Domestic Manuel. When they joined battle, the Emperor was defeated and found himself in the midst of the Persians, assuming he would be saved by them. But Manuel, when he perceived while looking around that the Emperor was in the midst of the Persians—and that they were deliberating how to betray him to the Arabs and thereby reconcile themselves to them—split their phalanx, seized the bridle of the Emperor’s horse, and dragged him away against his will, deeming it an intolerable shame to the Romans if the Arabs were to take the Roman Emperor captive. The Emperor, dismayed by the terror of what had occurred, contemplated surrendering himself to the Persians again; but Manuel threatened to strike him with his sword drawn against him. Terrified and against his will, he followed him, and having barely escaped, he returned to Dorylaeum with shame and great loss. Manuel, however, having been wounded in the battle and seized by sickness, died, having performed many noble deeds against the Hagarenes. His body was carried away and laid to rest in the monastery he had built, which is called Manuel’s, near the Aspar cistern.

(20) And immediately accusations were made against the Persians to the Emperor, and threats against Theophobus as a rebel, a traitor, and an enemy. Learning this, Theophobus took the Persians, went down as far as Sinope, and having taken it, held it like a tyrant. When the Emperor learned of this—and he was in great grief, for he feared they might flee to the Arabs—he himself went as far as Paphlagonia. Having given them his word that they would suffer no harm, he took Theophobus and returned with him to the City, while the rest of the Persians returned to where they had originally pitched their tents. Theophobus was loved by the citizens no less than by the Persians, as he was an orthodox believer. ^B

(21) At that time a son was born to the Emperor by Theodora, whom he named Michael.

CCLXV. Concerning the Emperor’s horse.

^A with him who had approached him, the Emperor said: "Tell the truth: whose is the horse?" He answered saying, "It was mine; and the general sent and took him from me by force, without giving me any price or making any valuation." The Emperor said to the Count, "Tell me if this is so, and why, without settling with him for the horse, you sent him to me?" He replied, "Because he was seeking to become a member of the *scholarii*; but I, not knowing that he was brave, offered him a hundred *nomismata*." He would not take them. The Emperor said, "And why, without making a complete settlement with him, did you send me the horse?" And when the Emperor investigated and was fully informed that he had taken it by force, he chastised the general leader with the appropriate lashes, but he restored the horse to the man who had approached him. He did not wish to receive it, but received two pounds in its stead, it being ordered by the general that he should test him and, if he were brave, make him a *scholarius*. But he having gone off to war, in the conflict he was found among the fugitives as a coward and was slaughtered by the enemy.

CCLXVI. Of Leo the Wise.

^B (22) As the Emperor was proceeding to the palace at Bryas with his retinue, a message came to him from the general of the Anatolics, that the protosymbulus ^C had set out with a multitude of plunderers and was coming to Amorium. He, having made the customary distribution to the army and the nobles, in a short time marched as far as Cappadocia. The Amerumnes, having separated some thousands of men and Sudem, who was most renowned among the Agarenes for both bravery and wisdom, giving them command, sent them against the Emperor. When they joined battle, the Emperor was defeated and fled, and returned with disgrace, barely escaping with his life. The Amerumnes, however, accompanied by a great force, departed and invested Amorium, and having engaged in many struggles, he could not take it, as those within were fighting bravely and firmly. But a certain disciple of Leo the Philosopher was in the fortress, and when the Amerumnes wished to withdraw, through the agency of someone, he signified to him—as if skilled in astrology—"If you remain at the fortress for only two days, you will take us." Which also came to pass, for it was betrayed ^D by the man-called Boiditzes and by Manicophagus. There were also captured very many of the renowned and not ignoble men, who were taken off as captives into Syria: Theophilus the patrician; and those generals, Melissenus, Aetius, and Theodorus the protospatharius; he who was also Craterus the turmarch, Cyrillus the drungarius, and Bassoes the cursor; and certain leaders of the regiments who, having been driven by torments by the protosymbulus to deny the faith, and not yielding to them, were beheaded by the sword, and in place of temporal life obtained eternal.

^A (23) The disciple of Leo the philosopher, preferring a shameful safety to the most honorable, when he had gone over to the Amerumnes, was questioned by him regarding his own knowledge. And the disciple said that he was a student of the philosopher Leo. And this Amerumnes, wishing to prove who and what kind of a person this Leo was, gave letters to one of the captives and sent him to Leo the philosopher at Constantinople, promising him that if he came, he would be held in honor. When he received the letters, Leo, fearing that he might be identified, reported everything to the Emperor Theophilus. Theophilus, having been made certain of the man’s knowledge and that such a wise man was living in his royal city, summoned him and kept him in the palace of Magnaura, granting him the faculty of teaching and students and providing everything necessary for his service; and he later became the metropolitan of Thessalonica.

(24) The same emperor built a triconch in the palace, and what is called the Sigma, and the steps where the factions of the circus stand, and he also set up a fountain in which the so-called Saximodeximum is performed, while the horses of both factions, equipped with golden coverings, pass by. Below the triconch, by means of a mechanism, he made what is called the "Secret," in which at one corner, whatever anyone says, it is heard in the other.

^B

CCLVI. Concerning Theodore and Theophanes the brothers.

(35) The same Theophilus, having learned that Theophanes the poet and Theodore his brother, living by themselves, were mocking and refuting his impiety, sent in anger and brought them before himself, saying: "Where are you from?" They said: "From Palestine." The wicked one then said: "Why then, having abandoned your own country and come into our dominion, do you not obey our empire?" When they answered nothing, he ordered their faces to be struck severely. Then, after causing them to be beaten almost to death with ox-hide scourges over their bodies, he said with fury and a harsh voice to the prefect: "Take them to the praetorium, and write upon their faces by tattooing these lines:

To all who seek to run toward the city Where the all-holy feet of God the Word Were planted for the salvation of the human race, There appeared at that venerable place These vessels of pernicious, superstitious error. And there, after having committed many impious And shameful deeds against God, They were ordered as deserters to leave the land."

^A Having fled to the city of the empire, they did not cease their lawless follies. Whence, branded as criminals for their appearance, they were condemned and driven forth again; the Emperor added, "Even if they be not elegant, let it be no concern to you." He said this knowing them to be most learned and perfectly trained in the precision of poetic meters, when someone had remarked, "The iambs are not even worthy of being elegant." They replied, "Write, write, O Emperor, what pleases you, as one who is about to read the same before the just and fearful Judge." The Prefect, having led these men into the praetorium, after two days, having stretched their bodies out on a bench and bound their hands and feet, pierced them with needles and, having engraved the verses upon their faces, sent them into exile.

And in exile indeed Saint Theodore died; but the illustrious Theophanes the Poet survived until the times of Michael and Theodora, contending greatly for the establishment of the Orthodox faith; who also became Metropolitan of Nicaea, when matters had already been restored to a better state and greater piety.

In his time, the golden globe of the statue of Justinian at the Augusteum fell to the ground; and while everyone was anxious, debating how they might ascend to that height, a certain roofer was found, who, having ascended to the tiles of the Great Church, cast a javelin with a rope to the horse of Justinian; and the javelin being fixed there, he himself ran along the rope, striking amazement into all who beheld him: and having restored the globe, he won the Emperor’s favor, gaining for himself a great name by his skill and ingenuity, and was gifted with one hundred coins by the Emperor.

Theophilus, moreover, crowned his son Michael in the Great Church, and on the day of the coronation bestowed gifts upon all. He also built a hospice which is called by his name, of Theophilus. This had previously been the house of the patrician Isidore, who had come from Rome with Olybrius under Constantine the Great; but after a time, it was granted as a curatoria, so that women of noble birth who knew not how to live temperately might dwell there; in the time of Leo the Isaurian, it served as a brothel and hospice; ^C Later on, it became the house of Constantine, the son of Irene, after the blinding ^D which he suffered by the order of his mother; after his death, his wife, having donned the monastic habit, built a monastery there and called it that of Repentance. And as this same house was vast and magnificent, when the beams of the upper room had buckled and it appeared ready to fall, the nuns petitioned the Emperor, when he had come to the Blachernae, that it might be repaired. He refused; but delighted at the sight of the house, he transferred the same nuns to another monastery,

and having embellished the house itself with every kind of ^A ornament, he made it a hospice, bestowing upon it abundant funds, both silver and landed estates, naming it the Theophilou.

^B Before his death, this God-hated emperor, having held a secret council with those of like mind concerning the Persian Theophobos—fearing that the Persians under him, and not a few of the notables, held such great love and loyalty toward him that, after I am gone, they might plot a tyranny against my son, who is yet a child, and against my wife—brought Theophobos into the palace and kept him with him. But becoming burdened by his illness, he shut Theophobos in the vaults of the Bucoleon. When the Persians inquired what had become of him, the emperor, during the night, sent Petronas, the brother of the Augusta, along with the logothete, and ordered that the head of Theophobos be cut off. These men convinced the Persians that he was still with the emperor in the palace. But as the emperor was miserable, yielding up his soul to the disease of dysentery, his accursed body was carried to the Holy Apostles; but the body of Theophobos was secretly removed through the Bucoleon and brought to a monastery, now called Theophobia, near the house of Narses, and there they laid him to rest.

CCLXVIII. The Reign of Michael, Son of Theophilus.

^A He introduces Methodius, who was among the saints, a monk, and institutes him as patriarch. And having recalled from exile the monks and bishops sent away by Theophilus, he strengthened the orthodox faith and restored peace to the Church. For although the emperor was even then an infant, He who “out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants has perfected praise” (Ps. VIII, 2), He Himself caused even him to hymn and manifest the truth of the divine dogma for the glory of the Word of God, who through supreme mercy became flesh, and was seen by men on earth, and dwelt among us, according to the sacred oracle.

He convened at Constantinople a synod of ^B holy and divine Fathers. By them, the most wretched heresy of the wicked and ill-named iconoclasts was carefully refuted and its shameful ravings were utterly overthrown; and the doctrine of orthodoxy shone forth brightly, as if from some most hidden and inextricable labyrinths and dark abysses of that impious and depraved heresy. And thus its leader and teacher, along with his like-minded persecutors and abusers—as adversaries of the truth and defenders of lying, and as wolves driven by the madness of the impure and diabolical superstition of the Manichaeans, from whom they had taken both their fury against the dispensation of the Incarnate God, and its beginning and origin—are cast out. In their stead, by common consensus and by the instinct and grace of God, is substituted a most celebrated champion of the true and orthodox faith: who, so to speak, ^C refuted and dissolved, as invincibly and clearly as any could, all the calumnies and deadly snares laid against the holy images, and the profane ravings put forth by the heresiarchs and the heralds of their trifles and nonsense; and for this reason he underwent many persecutions.

^A and dangers and distresses, many and grievous, in addition to the overmeasure of those inflicted by the scourge of God, Theophilus.

(3) For who could count how many varied and continuous persecutions and trials, how many dark prisons, how many gloomy pits, and how many grievous necessities, how many bereavements of friends and those of the same faith, and what other calamities he endured ^B generously and readily from the ungodly, always setting himself forth clearly as a pattern and archetype of patience, and as a silent yet eloquent incentive to those who were afflicted? When that divine man took up the Church, by the will of God and the assistance of the God-bearing Fathers, the house of God—that is, the orthodox teaching—was advanced, and with God’s help, it clearly became more robust, and excelled in word and deed. The gathering of the heretics, however, that truly Jewish coven and faction, was utterly put to shame and grew weak, being evidently silenced and overthrown day by day. And so, immediately thereafter, by royal command, the Fathers who were in exile and in bitter prisons were recalled and restored to their former rank, and with them a huge multitude of monks, and indeed not a few of the pious laity as well, whom that miserable and pestilent emperor had despoiled of their property—some he had harassed with mortal tortures, and others he had handed over to various scourgings and punished with exile, as they would not yield at all to either the blandishments or the threats of the nefarious Theophilus. ^C

(4) In the time of the emperors Michael and his mother Theodora, Aboudinar, the leader of the Saracens, having prepared for war over a long period, advanced against the divinely guarded Constantinople with a most well-equipped fleet consisting of four hundred fearful and formidable ships. But divine justice destroyed him: for all the ships were wrecked together with their crews at the promontory of the Cibyrraeots called Chelidonia, so that only seven of them escaped into Syria. ^D

Thus far the Chronicles of George. What follows is by the Logothete alone.

BOOK V.

^A Now, on the first Sunday of the Holy Fast, after the confirmation of Orthodoxy, she sent the Logothete Theoctistus to Crete. Having departed with a great multitude and a large fleet, he struck great terror into the Hagarenes, who were not yet prepared to withstand such a strong assault ^B against their army. Yet he himself was more violently terrified, hearing that the Augusta had fled the city and that another had been substituted as emperor, which had been prepared by the trickery and artifice of the Saracens. For, by means of bribes accepted from those who were in his retinue—men who, having been struck by this vain terror, persuaded him to return to the city and cast away the army as fodder for the sword for the inhabitants of Crete—he seemed wretched in Crete, but appeared even more miserable and unhappy after he had returned from there.

Meanwhile, Amer, having set out on an expedition against Romania, was devastating and laying waste every place he encountered. Furthermore, Theodora and Michael sent the same Theoctistus—as a most faithful and beloved man—with a strong force of the army against Amer. He departed and, having joined battle with Amer at the place called Mauropotamon, was defeated and returned, with many of his own men having been killed and some having fled to Amer on account of the hostility and enmity felt toward the logothete—among whom was one Theophanes from Phargana, ^C excelling many in courage and strength, who, having later received a promise of safety, returned to the side of the Christians. Theoctistus, however, having returned from there to the city, maintained the same disposition; and, rendering an account to the brother of the empress, Bardas, he attributed and imputed the defeat to him, as if it were by his exhortation and counsel that the Roman army had turned its back.

^A And by the counsel of Theodora Augusta he was expelled from the city. ^B Ipse vero Theoctistus, ^B Theoctistus, having great power with the Empress, built houses and baths and a garden in the place now called the Apse, so that he might be closer to the palace; and mindful of his own protection and safety, he constructed the Iron Gate in the Daphne and designated janitors to keep guard there. The Emperor, having meanwhile reached manhood, was devoted to hunting and to the horse races in the stadium of the Hippodrome and to other disreputable pursuits. Theodora Augusta, therefore, having taken counsel with the Logothete Theoctistus to provide a wife for her son Michael (for she knew that he had formed a close association with Eudocia, the daughter of Inger, who was vehemently detested by the Logothete and the Empress on account of her immodesty), for this reason united him in marriage to Eudocia, the daughter of Decapolites, with whom he received the nuptial crowns in the church of Saint Stephen which is in the Daphne, the wedding banquet having been held at the Magnaura, while the Senate reclined in the nineteen dining-couches.

(7) ^C Shortly after, the general of the Bucellarians brought a high-spirited and noble horse to the Emperor. Desiring to use the animal for the games in the Hippodrome, the Emperor wished to examine its teeth, from which the number of years is determined, and to see what its disposition was like. But as the horse was behaving in a bold and skittish manner, the Emperor was vexed at this, as there was no one present and no one capable, through prowess and skill, of taming the horse or merely mastering it. As he was thus troubled, Theophilitzes, who was there, said, “O Master, I have a young man, very experienced and brave with horses, just as your Majesty desires, whose name is Basil.” The Emperor having ordered him to be summoned immediately, one of the cubicularii was sent to the Iron Gate, and having found Basil, he brought him with haste to the Emperor. And being ordered to restrain the horse, he grasped the bridle with one hand, and with the other seizing the ear of the horse, he brought it to the docility of a sheep; and the Emperor, delighted and pleased at this, commended Basil to Andrew the hetairiarch, so that he might be added to his retinue and serve with the horses.

^A

II. Concerning the education of Basil the Macedonian.

I have deemed it necessary to recount what the education of Basil himself was, and from whence he originated, leading up to the present subject. ^B This same Basil was born in Macedonia in the districts of Adrianople during the reign of Michael Rangabe, the father of Ignatius the patriarch, and husband of Procopia, the daughter of the Emperor Nicephorus. In his time, Crumus, the prince of Bulgaria, took up arms against the Christians; and after Michael had been put to flight and Leo the Armenian had thereupon seized the tyranny and assumed the throne, Crumus, coming behind him, encircled the city. Being wounded by a spear by Leo the Armenian, and returning into Bulgaria, he sent men to the place of Saint Mamas to carry off the bronze statues located there. Then, turning aside to Adrianople, he took it and removed ten thousand men without women, and settled them as far as the Danube. ^C In the days of the Emperor Theophilus, there was a master of the militia named Cordyles in Macedonia. He had a son named Bardas, who was already of manly age, whom he left in his stead to rule over the Macedonians who dwelt beyond the banks of the river Danube. He himself, through some artifice and device, approached Theophilus, as we have already said; the Emperor received him with joy, and, learning what he desired, sent ships to collect them and bring them into the city. Now the prince of Bulgaria was Baldimer, the grandson of Crumus, and the father of that Simeon who later reigned over the Bulgarians.

(9) The multitude of captives, therefore, took counsel with their wives and children to return to Romania. When Michael the Bulgar had departed for Thessalonica, they began to cross over with their possessions. ^D The count, having learned of this, crossed to the opposite bank of the river, intending to make war upon them. The Macedonians, in desperation, appointed Tzantzes and Cordyles as their leaders, and joining battle, they killed many and took some captive. The Bulgarians who were unable to cross turned to the Hungarians and reported to them everything regarding the Macedonians; the ships sent by the Emperor to receive the captives and convey them to the city also arrived, and at the same time an infinite multitude of Huns were seen approaching. Upon seeing them, the Macedonians cried out with tears, saying: "God of Saint Adrian, assist us," and they prepared for the clash of battle.

^A The Turks said to them: "Give us all your possessions, and go where you wish." They did not accept this, but remained prepared for battle for three days; on the fourth day they began to board their ships. When the Turks saw this, they joined battle from the fifth hour until evening. The nation was routed, and the Macedonians pursued them. On the following day, as they wished to withdraw, the Huns appeared again to fight them. A younger Macedonian, Leo by name, from the family of the Gemosti—who later became *hetairiarches*—and other notable Macedonians took courage, opposed them, put them to flight, and drove them out. Having returned, they entered their ships and were saved by going to the Emperor; having been honored by him, they returned to Macedonia, to their own country. ^B Now, Basil was at that time a youth, having returned from captivity in which he had remained for the entire duration of the reigns of Emperor Leo and Michael of Amorium; he returned during the reign of Theophilus, and his age was twenty-five years. Having been restored to his own country, he attached himself to serve the general of Macedonia known as Tzantzes. Having received no benefit from him, he came to the city, entering as far as the Golden Gate. Exhausted from his journey (for it was Sunday and the sun was setting), he lay down on the benches of Saint Diomedes, for it was at that time a public church, having a warden named Nicholas. ^C That night a divine voice called to the warden, saying: "Arise, bring the Emperor into the oratory." Arising, he found no one except Basil lying there like a poor man. Turning back, he lay down on his bed again. Again, for a second time, the same voice came to him. He went out, inspected the area, and finding no one, he closed the gate and lay back down. And immediately, someone struck him in the side with a sword, saying: "Go out and bring in the one you see lying outside the gate; this is the Emperor." Going out then with haste and trembling, and finding Basil with a wallet and a staff, he brought him inside the church. And on the following day, having led him to the baths, he offered him clothes to change into, and openly

formed a spiritual brotherhood with him ^A.

Now that same Nicolaus had a brother, a physician, who was in the service of Theophilitzes. Having come by chance to visit his brother, the physician saw Basil and, marvelling at his stature and strength, said to his brother: “Where is this man from?” He told him everything, although he had ordered him to keep the mystery secret.

As the physician was later sitting at the table with Theophilitzes, and the latter was lost in deep thought and said, “I am seeking a man suited for looking after my horses,” the physician, seeing his opportunity, told his master about Basil’s strength, saying: “He is just the kind of man you are seeking and asking for.”

He therefore sent for him, and when he had him brought quickly, he saw that he was a rustic youth with a large head. He bestowed upon him the name Cephalas, and entrusted his horses to his care. Thus, as has been said above, for this reason Theophilitzes presented him to the Emperor Michael ^B.

The Emperor, having brought Basil into the palace, said to his mother, as if rejoicing: “Come here, mother, and see what a strapping man I have just found.” She went out and, upon seeing him, turned back, saying to her son: “This is he, my child, who is destined to destroy our race.” But he was in no way persuaded by his mother, nor did he heed her words ^C.

In the meantime, the holy Patriarch Methodius died, and Ignatius, son of the curopalates Michael, was ordained in his place.

III. Concerning the Bulgarians and their leader.

The Bulgarians, having made raids through Thrace and Macedonia, were devastating those provinces. Theodora set up garrisons against them. Furthermore, the soldiers posted near the camp of the Bulgarians attacked the Bulgarians in groups and companies, and while raiding through their territory, slaughtered them and

took others into captivity, so that the Bulgarians were driven back to their own land.

^A Bardas Caesar was united in friendship with Damian the patrician and parakoimomenos. Damian, having gained control over the emperor, persuaded him to bring Bardas into the city. Bardas, having won over the emperor’s intimates with gifts, was ordered (along with the parakoimomenos) to proceed into the palace. Having also made an intimate of Theophane the protospatharios (who was called Phalganus, as a brave man), and having called upon Damian, they held council to kill Theoctistus, who was habitually referred to as being in charge of the inkstand [canicleus]. The emperor, being persuaded by Damian in this matter, also agreed that this should come to pass. For Bardas used to say to Damian, "As long as Theoctistus stands with the Augusta, the emperor will never possess imperial power or authority."

^B Theoctistus, having gone to be bathed in the baths of Areobindus, as was his custom, and then having come to the secretum to take up the reports, entered the Lausiacum. Upon looking around, he saw Bardas sitting with authority, and being violently disturbed, he said, "Once I have entered to the Augusta, I shall again cast this man out and drive him away." But as he went to the horologium, Michael met him along with Damian, and they did not permit him to enter unto Theodora; instead, he was ordered with fury to open the reports and read them in his presence. When he had done this, they ordered him to return home and go back. He left for the Lausiacum, weeping bitterly and lamenting. Bardas encountered him there, and began to strike him in the face and tear out his hair. The *drungarios* of the watch, Maniaces, seeing this, arose and opposed ^C Bardas, warning him not to strike the logothete. But they slaughtered him and cut him to pieces like a Scythian, mimicking the cruelty and savagery of wild beasts.

(13) When Theodora learned of this (from Papias), she went forth against Michael and the others who were participants in the murder, as was to be expected, and was indignant.

^A And while the emperor was attempting by all means to conciliate his mother, she remained inconsolable, neither letting go of her anger nor being comforted by anyone, but rather, like a tempestuous sea, though she was exhorted, she could not be soothed or persuaded. Wherefore the emperor, having changed—as he had changed his soul and his mind, so also his manner and his behavior—strove to cause her as much grief in as many ways as he had previously pretended to honor her. And he drove his own sisters, Thecla, Anastasia, and Anna, from the palace, taking them down to the estates of Carianus; but Pulcheria, as she was beloved by her mother, he sent away to the monastery of the Gastria. And shortly thereafter, having gathered them all together in the monastery of the Gastria, he sheared them (investing them). ^{B C} When he was acclaimed by the whole senate, he ruled alone as emperor, and he appointed Bardas as magister and Domestic of the Schools. Since his mother was not yet reconciled with him, due to the things by which he had grieved her and the unjust slaughter of Theoctistus, there existed an implacable enmity between them. He drove her from the palace and sent her to the monastery called Gastria. She, having become beside herself and demented by the sorrow of her soul, conceived a plan unworthy of a mother and entered into a plot against Bardas with many others, of which she made others participants, including the emperor’s protostrator, namely that they should kill Bardas when he was returning from his suburban estate of Cosmidium. Their scheme, having been revealed to the light before it could be carried out in action, brought the danger upon the heads of those who had meditated the crime. For, having been detected and apprehended, they were decapitated at the Sphendone. And the emperor appointed Basil as protostrator in place of the one who had died, and likewise appointed Bardas, his uncle, as curopalates. ^D Tunc temporis (15) "At that time, dust fell from the heavens and upon the roofs..."

^A of a blood-red color, and it collapsed; many found stones in the roads and gardens that were as red as blood. ^B Michael appointed Antigonus, the son of Bardas, as domestic of the schools; and to his other son, having given him a wife—into whom he would sometimes hurl invectives—he conferred the dignity of supreme commander (monostratēgos) of the western themes. After he died there, a little later, on the fourth day of Bright Week, Michael appointed his uncle Bardas as Caesar (who, traveling in a chariot, distributed gifts to the people).

The Saracen emir set out and descended as far as Sinope, having plundered all the Roman territories; he returned without having been caught by the Roman army. ^C Michael, having campaigned with Bardas Caesar, moved an army against Michael, the prince of Bulgaria, by land and sea, having learned that the Bulgarian nation was wasting away from famine. The Bulgarians, upon learning this, were humbled as if by the sound of thunder; even before the struggles and the battle, they despaired of victory and asked to become Christians and to be subject to the emperor and the Romans. The emperor, having baptized their prince and received him, gave him his own name; and having brought his grandees into the city, he had them baptized, and from that time on a deep peace was established. ^D When the impious Ishmaelites were harassing the Romans, with the emir leading them against Melitene toward Samosata, the Ishmaelite city, the emperor was led to make war, and he besieged it for three days. Suddenly the Hagarenes of the city opened the gates and repulsed the emperor into a rout, and drove him so far that they plundered his tents and everything else that he had for his needs. Later, two years having passed, the emir and the emperor campaigned against one another. The emperor, having occupied a place named Dazimon, encamped there. The emir, having bypassed him, went toward Zelissa, and departed toward Kōnárion; where, a battle having been joined, the emperor was routed and forced to look toward flight. Having come to total despair, he said to him, the Manouēl: "Put off these phoenix-colored sandals and the imperial armor, O master; I, having gathered five hundred picked men, will easily pass through the part." This having happened, and the sign of the Cross of the Savior having conquered, to the shouting of Manouēl, he bravely cut through and broke out. The emperor, seized by cowardice, turned back. Manouēl, having learned that the emperor had not departed for another part, and also having himself broken through again, entered to the emperor. Because of the dearth of water and pasture in the place, the emir withdrew to a meadow which is called Dōra. From there, having obtained safety, the emperor escaped the bloodstained hands of the enemy. When the emir again went out against the Romans in the fifth year of the emir, he went out against Romania; he was appointed by the emperor to lead the regiment of the schools, and he immediately ran toward the enemy emir with a few picked men and not with such a great multitude. Some fugitive of the Romans went away to the emir and says: "Let it be known to you, O emir, that this Petronas, who holds the honor of family ties to the emperor,"

^A having marched out against the Roman Empire, and Petronas, the general of the East, and Nasar, the duke of the Boukellarioi, having laid an ambush along the path of his return, encounter him at the Lalakaon. A battle having taken place, they put the emir to flight, and force him to seek safety on foot. A certain one of the counts pursues him as he is fleeing, and having cut off his head, brought it to Petronas the general. When the generals had returned with the trophies of victory, they celebrated these in the Hippodrome, and from then on there was great peace in the East on account of the slaughter of the emir.

And indeed, the emperor held the labors and noble deeds against the enemies of others as of little account, out of his more intense benevolence toward Basil, and he considered him alone to be the one from whom he might receive advantageous service. ^B

IV. Regarding the Poor-Master.

Michael adorned the horse stable with marbles and furnished it with an abundance of water, making it most pleasant to behold. When it was finished, a certain person in the city named Peter, a learned and mocking man, whom they called the "Poor-Master," was residing there. Michael, having called him to the stable, was showing him the inept adornment of the constructed house, desiring to receive praise from him, and boasting that he would report eternal memory of his name from the construction of such a work. ^C But he said to the emperor: "Justinian built the Great Church, having adorned it with gold, silver, and most precious marbles, and his memory is now perished. And you, emperor, having built a dung-heap and a resting place for horses, do you claim that you will be famous to posterity because of this?" But he, having been frustrated of the praises he was hunting for from his mouth, and incensed with anger, had the Poor-Master beaten and dragged away by force and cast out of his sight.

Rumor having spread through the city that Bardas Caesar was living in an illicit relationship with his own daughter-in-law, and this having been reported to the patriarch, Ignatius ^D repeatedly admonished him...

^A to abstain from such defilement and not to be a scandal to many, as one who ought to be an example of virtue and a chaste life. He, however, not obeying, kept himself apart from the patriarch, who was constantly rebuking him and urging him to live in temperance. And when at one time he was about to participate in the communion, the patriarch pushed him away, as he did not obey the canons or the exhortations. Stung in his soul with rage, he cast out the exhorter as an lawless man and a corrupter of the Church, and subjected him to infinite and merciless tortures, so as to make him resign. As he did not yield, he had Photios, the commander of the secretaries, a man most learned for his time, ordained as patriarch in his stead.

^D The emperor set out on an expedition against the Agarenes, having left Ooriphas as prefect (to guard the city). He, before the emperor had gone far, or had accomplished any of the things he had meditated and held in his mind, announced the arrival of the impious Rus, who had already reached the Black River. Then the emperor, having promptly repented of the road he had taken, turned back, having done nothing royal or noble. The Rus, having arrived, managed to penetrate as far as the Hieron, where they wrought much slaughter of Christians and shed innocent blood. There were two hundred ships, with which they surrounded the city (and caused great fear to those within). The emperor, having arrived, was barely able to pass through and enter; and then, with the patriarch Photios, he proceeded to the church of the Mother of God at Blachernae, where they sought to propitiate and appease the divine Numen. ^D Then, with hymns, they brought out the holy robe of the Mother of God, and dipped its edge into the sea; and, as there was a calm, suddenly a shifting of the winds, and of the

sea, which had been most peaceful, there occurred violent surges of waves, and the ships of the impious Rus were broken to pieces, with few of them escaping the danger. ^A

22 When Bardas, the Caesar, was being borne along in a celebrated procession—donning a violet-colored scaramangion—Damianus, the patrician and chamberlain, who was sitting at the horologium, did not rise to show him honor. Seeing this, the Caesar was incensed with anger; and having entered the gilded triclinium and sat down near the Emperor, he was bathed in tears from grief and rage. When the Emperor asked him the cause, he said, “By the command of your Majesty, I was raised to a high dignity, yet Damianus the chamberlain, in contempt of you and your Majesty, did not rise for me in the presence of the senate.” The Emperor, angered, immediately ordered that Damianus, formerly a chamberlain, be apprehended and taken to the emporium of Saint Mamas, and there to have his head shorn and be made a monk, and ordered that he be kept under guard. And on the same day, Basil, the protostrator, was promoted to be chamberlain. Upon hearing this, the Caesar was envious, and from that moment he meditated killing Basil. ^B

Michael, moreover, forced Basil to enter into a divorce with his wife Maria, giving him Eudocia Ingerina, and commanded him to have her as his lady and lawful wife. For she had been the mistress of the Emperor, and was cherished by him as one possessing beauty. As for his former wife, Maria, having bestowed upon her a certain weight of gold and other things, he sent her away to Macedonia to her parents. But he betrothed his own sister, Thecla, to Basil, that he might have her privately. ^C

From that time, being at odds with one another and suspecting some evil from each other, the Caesar and Basil sought how one might destroy the other; privately, however, Basil slandered the Caesar as one plotting against him. But the latter regarded these things as ravings. Basil, having meditated upon reconciling the Emperor to himself, with Symbatius the patrician and logothete of the dromos, who was the son-in-law ^D of the Caesar, and friends...

^A with the Emperor, also satisfied Symbatius by means of terrible oaths, declaring that the Emperor had great love for him, saying: "The Emperor intends to make you Caesar, and I am myself anxious on your behalf, but because of your father-in-law he cannot do this." Beguiled by the oaths of Basil, he became an adversary to Bardas the Caesar, his own father-in-law, and going ^B in to the Emperor, he swore to him, assuring him that "the Caesar wishes to kill you," and he even disclosed to him the plans of his counsel.

(25) The Emperor, therefore, being persuaded by the oaths of Symbatius and confirmed by the words of Basil, harbored designs against the Caesar. Basil, however, knowing that everything had been well arranged against the Caesar, and yet being unable in the city to accomplish this, persuaded the Emperor to move a fleet and army ^C against Crete. When this was done, Leo the philosopher exhorted Bardas the Caesar to withdraw himself and beware of Basil. The Caesar, for his part, kept attesting to the Emperor again to spare Basil.

(26) When the Procession to the Chalcoprateia took place for the Annunciation (and, the entry having been made and the Gospel read, Patriarch Photius and the Emperor, with the Caesar and Basil the parakoimomenos, went up to the catechumena, the patriarch holding in his hands the precious ^D blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, and both the Emperor and Basil, having dipped the pen, signed their names with precious crosses, confirming with an oath to the Caesar that he could fearlessly go along with them on the expedition—for Leo the philosopher was openly warning Bardas not to go out with them; for he said that he who went out would not return).

(27) Now at the holy feast of Easter, with a copious army

^A the emperor set out and arrived in the theme of the Thracians. (Meanwhile, as they had encamped in the place called Gardens,) Basilius the bedchamberlain was forming a plot to slay the Caesar. Taking part in the counsel were Marianus, Sumbatius, and Asyleon, his nephew, along with Peter the Bulgar, John the Chaldean, and Constantine Toxaras. Now John the Neatocomites learned of these things, and coming at sunset to the tent of the Caesar, and meeting Procopius, the Caesar’s protovestiarios, he asserted to him, "Tomorrow morning, your lord the Caesar is to be cut limb from limb." ^B Hearing this, the Caesar said to Procopius, "Go, tell the Neatocomites: 'You are raving; you know that you are young and not yet worthy of the patrician dignity; therefore it is you who are sowing these tares.'" The Caesar spent a sleepless night, but at early dawn, gathering all his men, he revealed to them what had been reported and sought their counsel. Philotheus, the protospatharios and a general, faithful friend of his, said to the Caesar, "Tomorrow, master, clothe yourself in your robe of gold and Persian color, and appear before your enemies; they will flee from your countenance."

Therefore, at the rising of the sun, having mounted his horse, he approached the emperor's retinue, shining in magnificent attire ^C with many accompanying him, among whom was Eustathius the protostrator, surnamed Argurus, a valiant man. And Constantine Toxaras, intending to show compliance with the counsel of Basilius, bowed down before him and, turning back, announced to Basilius the arrival of the Caesar. Basilius, going out and bowing before him, took him by the hand and led him forward to the emperor. ^D The Caesar, sitting down with the emperor, said, "Now that the entire army is gathered, master, give the order to cross over to Crete." But Basilius, standing behind him, was threatening the Caesar with his hand. Suddenly, the Caesar turned and saw him threatening, and immediately Basilius dealt him a blow with a sword, and after him the rest cut the Caesar to pieces, while the emperor watched and stayed silent.

29 ^A It was the third hour of the day. The emperor and Basilius immediately returned to the city. And as they approached the port of Akritas, the citizens having poured out of the city eager to see the emperor, someone in monastic garb standing on a high rock cried out loudly to the emperor: "You have undertaken a noble expedition, O emperor, for you have shed with the sword the blood of your own kinsman and your father's kin: woe to you, woe to you, that you have done these things." The emperor and Basilius, angered, sent the chief of the executioners, Maurotheodorus, to kill the monk with a sword. But the people, rushing toward the one who had been sent, claimed that he was senseless and possessed by a demon; and thus with difficulty the monk escaped the punishment.

743 30 ^B Now on the Saturday of Pentecost, toward evening, the emperor notified Photius the patriarch, through Rendacius his protovestiarius, that the partnership in the empire had been bestowed upon Basilius, so that he might announce it publicly. On the following day two chairs were brought out. The people were disturbed, wondering how, with one emperor, two chairs were brought out. As the emperor proceeded in solemn procession, Basilius walked behind him wearing a skaramangion and carrying a sword, as is the custom for the parakoimomenos. Having entered through the royal gates, the emperor did not lay aside his crown, as is the custom for emperors, but entered with it as far as the holy doors; and turning back, he ascended the three steps of the ambo, still wearing the crown. Below the emperor stood Basilius (the parakoimomenos), and below Basilius stood Leo the Castor the asekretis, holding a scroll in his hands, and Michael the praepositus of the Angura, and the demarchs together with the demes. ^C Leo the asekretis then began to read, saying: "Bardas Caesar plotted against me, and for this reason he removed me from the city; and had I not been informed through Symbatius and Basilius, I would no longer be among the living. But he has suffered the penalty of death for his own crimes. Therefore, I wish Basilius the parakoimomenos, as one who is faithful and a guardian of the empire, who has delivered me from the enemy, to be the guardian of the empire, and by all, just as the impe

emperor. ^A (Basilius, however, was filled with tears; and the emperor gave the crown to Photius the patriarch, having taken it from his own head; then, having brought him to the holy table, he offered a prayer upon him. ^B And the praepositi, having brought the divitision and the tzangia, clothed Basilius in them; and he, having put on the chlamys, fell at the emperor’s feet. Finally, the patriarch went out and took the crown which had been removed from the emperor’s head and handed it to the emperor himself, and, the scepters being tilted according to custom, Michael crowned Basilius; and all followed with auspicious acclamations: “Many years to Michael and Basilius!” Castor the asecreis, moreover, who had read the text, departing to Nicomedia and going to a certain monastery for men, remained in the middle of a small meadow. There was also a well there, and, falling into it, he was drowned ^B and buried there.)

Symbatius, however, the son-in-law of the Caesar, frustrated of the dignity of Caesar, perceiving that he had been mocked by Basilius, flared up in hatred against Basilius, and, having taken counsel with Georgius (the stratelates) Peganes, he requested to be appointed a strategos in his stead. Gumer, then, the count of Opsikion, was made logothete of the drome; and Symbatius and Peganes, bursting forth together, began to overturn the whole region and to devastate the fields and the vines with fire—for it was the time of harvest—offering auspicious wishes to Michael alone, but cursing Basilius with dire imprecations. ^C Informed of this, the emperors ordered the remaining stratelates to move their arms against them. Nicephorus Maleinos, furthermore, devised a plan to scatter documents through the army so that, those having been caught by craft and artifice, they might not deflect into open civil war. Peganes was thus captured, and, having been taken, they brought him into the city by order of the emperor. And Constantinus Myiares deprived him of his eyes; then, having ordered him to sit at the Milion, they handed him a vessel to hold in his hands, into which travelers cast whatever they pleased; and after thirty days Symbatius the Armenian was seized by Maleinos in the hospice of Cheltsines.

^A And Maleinos brought him to the emperor, who was at Saint Mamas. And by the emperor's command, they brought Peganes to meet Symbatius, having placed an earthen censer in the hands of Peganes, to burn incense towards him, and they blinded one of the eyes of Symbatius, and cut off his right hand, and placed a vessel in his bosom ^B so that whoever felt so inclined might cast something into it for him. And after three days they led them away to their own houses, keeping them under guard.

(32) ^B The emperor Michael, having sent for the worker (called Lamaris), caused Constantine Caballinus to be brought out of the tomb (whose body he found whole, and wishing to put it into a sack, but finding it would not fit, he wrapped it around). Likewise, he also brought out the patriarch John from the tomb along with his pallium. And them, by the emperor's command, the eparch shut up in the praetorium, ^C and on the day of the equestrian games, having brought them forth and stripped them, he punished them with lashes, and having sent their bones to the Amastrianum, he burned them; but the sarcophagus of Copronymus, which was of green marble and wondrous, having sawn it through, he made into stiles in the church built by him in the palace at the Forum.

(35) ^C Now, the emperor Leo was born of Michael and Eudocia Ingerina, while Michael was still alive, in the month of September, on the first day, of the fifteenth indiction. The emperor also held equestrian games at Saint Mamas, and he himself rode as a Venetus. But Constantine, who was from the Armenians, the father of Thomas the patrician and general Logothete, being drungarios of the Watch, rode as the White; Agalianus rode as the Green, and Crsas ^D as the Red. ^D When the emperor had won, and [had gone] to dinner

Georgius Hamartolus: LIber Quintus

[The victory having been declared, and while he was sitting at supper with Basilius and Eudocia, the patrician Basiliscianus praised the emperor for how skillfully he had driven the chariot ^A. The emperor ordered him to stand up and remove the imperial leggings, and to put them on himself. Upon his refusing, and casting his eyes toward Basilius, the emperor ordered him in a rage to do so. Basilius nodding his assent to him, he put on the leggings. The emperor then said to Basilius, calling God to witness: "They suit him better than they do you. For do I not have the power, just as I made you emperor, to make another one likewise?" Saying this, his anger against Basilius gradually flared up. But Eudocia, weeping, says to the emperor: "The dignity of the empire, my lord, is surpassing, and we have been honored with it although unworthy; and it is not right that it should be held in contempt." The emperor replied: "Do not be sad about this, for it is my intention to promote Basiliscianus to the empire." Furthermore, Basilius was gripped by great anger and sorrow.

Upon the emperor going out to hunt, a certain monk handed him a document in which the plots prepared by Basilius were described. Having read it, and having turned to fury, he devised a plot against Basilius. His mother, Theodora, having invited the emperor to the house of Anthemius, he sent Rentacius the protovestiarius with other ^B servants of his own, so that they might hunt and he himself might present them to his mother. Basilius, however, was crafting a crime against Michael and was weighed down by deep sorrow. But as the emperor sat at supper, Eudocia invited Basilius to feast with them. Then, the emperor gorging himself with wine, Basilius, acting as if forced by necessity, went into the inner chamber and disturbed the lock, being a strong man, so that the door could not be closed at all; and having departed, he reclined for supper with the emperor. The emperor, being now intoxicated, and with Ingerina amusing him according to custom, rose up and was led by the hand by Basilius, and retreated into the inner chamber; after Basilius had kissed his hand, he departed. Within the emperor’s chamber, by his command, stood Basiliscianus and Rentacius, heavy with sleep, at his bedside. Ignatius ^D

the cubicularius, having gone out to fasten the door of the chamber, found it opened; ^A in despair, he sat on the bed plucking his hair. While the emperor, due to the wine, was sleeping in a sleep as deep as death, suddenly Basil came with others and opened the doors. Ignatius, seized with fear, came out and opposed Basil to prevent him from entering. But Peter the Bulgar, ^B slipping under Basil’s arm and penetrating to the emperor’s bed, was held back by Ignatius, who was offering resistance, and because of this the emperor awoke. Then John the Chaldean immediately, striking the emperor with his sword, cut off his hands; and Jacobitzes the Apelates (a Persian) wounded Basiliscianus with his sword and threw him from the bed to the floor. Marianus, and Bardas the father of Basil the rector, and Symbatius the brother of Basil, and Asulaeon the son-in-law of Basil, and Constantine Toxaras were standing outside on guard, so that none of the domestics might ^C know what was being done to Michael. The conspirators, having gathered with Basil, took counsel. Asulaeon said to Basil, “Even if we have cut off his hands, we have still left him alive; if he survives, what defense shall we have?” Basil, wishing to please Basil, returned and found Michael in the bed, lacking his hands, miserably lamenting against Basil. He plunged his naked sword cruelly into the emperor’s heart, severing his entrails (and, turning back, boasted to Basil ^D as if he had performed a great deed of valor).

(35) A storm having arisen at sea, they gathered together and went down as far as the ferry; and having crossed it, they came to the house of Eulogius the Persian, and having taken him, they went down to Marina; and having climbed the wall, they came as far as the[…].

^A wall of the palace. There was a slab enclosing the wall, and Basil, together with two of those with him, kicked it and broke the slab, and entered as far as the gate of the palace. Eulogius the Persian spoke in his own tongue to Artabasdus, the leader of the guard, saying that Michael had perished by the sword, and, "Open to the emperor." And Artabasdus, having run to the gatekeeper and having violently taken the keys from him, opened to the emperor. And when he was inside, Basil took the keys of the palace into his hands ^B and in the morning made Gregory, called Philomon, the gatekeeper. Immediately he sent to Saint Mamas, and brought Eudokia, the wife of Inger, into the palace with great pomp. He also sent John the praepositus to take the Decapolitissa and carry her off to her own parents. He also sent Paul the cubicularius to bury Michael; and having gone, he found him wrapped in the saddle-cloth of the right-hand horse which he was riding (and his inwards were hanging out; he found there also) his mother and sisters mourning and lamenting over him. And having brought him into a small boat, he ferried him over to the monastery of Chrysopolis, and there, having performed funeral rites, he buried him.

V. The Reign of Basil the Macedonian

I considered it worth the effort to relate the vengeance from God upon the parricides of Michael, and the things that each of them suffered at different times. Jacobitzes, indeed, while hunting with the emperor...

^A in the Philopatium, intending to pick up his sword that had fallen to the ground, dismounted from his horse; but before his foot could touch the ground, his other foot remained caught in the stirrup. The horse, taking fright, dragged him along and, running through ravines and pits, tore him limb from limb. Joannes Chaldus, who had become commander-in-chief in Chaldia and was denounced for plotting against the emperor, was, by the emperor's order, impaled by Andreas the master of the soldiers. The emperor's cousin, having been banished by the emperor himself to his private suburban villa named Chartophylax, since he was cruel and inhuman to his domestics, was stabbed to death by them in the night with swords; the emperor, having seized them, cut them into pieces and burned them at the Amastrianum. Apelates the Persian, having been devoured by worms, lost his life ^B. Constantinus Toxaras was cut to pieces by swords among the Cibyrraeotae and died; and Marianus, the brother of the emperor, having one of his feet crushed, became food for worms and died.

Porro the emperor, on the celebrated day of Christ's nativity, proceeded in state to the Great Church and baptized his son Stephanus; and, white horses being yoked to the chariot, he sat in it with the Augusta. Baanes the praepositus, meanwhile, carried the child together with them as far as the palace, while the emperor scattered the largesse of coins along the way.

(4) ^C An immense earthquake occurred at the festival of Saint Polyeuctus (the greatest, such that the earth was shaken) for forty days and forty nights. ^D There fell at that time the sphere of the horse that was placed in the Forum, and the church of the most holy Theotokos which is called the Sigma, so that all those who were chanting inside perished. Leo the Philosopher, who happened to be there, kept telling the chanters and all who were there to depart from the church; but they, not heeding him, all perished together.

^A The philosopher himself, however, having stood by a pillar under the structures, was saved with two others, and five others who happened to be sitting under the ambo.

^B Photius the patriarch, when the emperor came to the church and was about to participate in the sacred mysteries, called him a brigand, a murderer, and unworthy of the divine communion. He, stirred to fury, sent to Rome and, through the influence of the Roman bishops, obtained a written judgment against him, expelled him from the throne, and for the second time installed Ignatius, who is among the saints, as patriarch.

Alexander the emperor was born of Eudocia, the daughter of Inger; this child was the legitimate son of Basil. The emperor campaigned against the Hagarenes living in the region of Tephrike, but having joined battle, he was defeated and, in repeatedly engaging with the Hagarenes, lost many of the Romans. Now, in this flight of the emperor, Theophylactus Abastactus, the father of Romanus who later reigned, saved the emperor who was almost captured by the Hagarenes. The emperor diligently sought this man out afterwards, and having found and recognized him—for many were saying to the emperor, "It was I who saved you"—he, scorning honors, asked for imperial land, which he also obtained. Having returned to the city, the emperor sent his son-in-law, Christopher, to Tephrike, and with a great victory—

^A he conquered the place, ravaged it to the ground, and laid it waste, having destroyed it down to the foundation.

757 (7) Ignatius the patriarch built ^B an illustrious church at Sator’s Emporium in the name of the prince of the heavenly host, and he established a monastery for men, where his body is also laid to rest.

758 (8) Thecla, the sister of the emperor, having sent to the emperor a certain man of hers who was of humble station, on a small petition, the emperor ^C asked him: “Who holds your mistress?” And he said: “The Neatocomites.” The emperor, having immediately sent [men], brought him [the Neatocomites]; having beaten him ^D and shorn him, he clothed him in the monastic habit. Likewise, having also sent [a messenger] to Procopius, his protovestiary, he struck Thecla, and the wealth of all those who were later added to the treasury, he took away: [he took] the Neatocomites—

[Variæ lectiones et notæ translated here, though often omitted in running text, per scholarly obligation to the page's structure:] [To give or to others, the Armeniaks replied: "Why do you strive? Let us engage both in battle, and then it shall be manifest to each which man happens to be the braver." And indeed, battle having been engaged, the Armeniaks pursued the enemy from Bathyrryax to the mountain named after Constantine, cutting them down cruelly.] [Now Poulades reaches the (son of) Chrysocheir, wearing a felt cap—for he had been overtaken near Tephrike and had associated himself with Chrysocheir—and he called out clearly: "Here is the general, here is the Domestic of the Schools!" And Chrysocheir said to Poulades: "What evil have I done to you?" And he to him: "You have done me many good deeds." And Chrysocheir, being inexperienced in running in front, his horse stumbled into a certain ditch through which he was busy trying to pass; Poulades strikes him in the armpit with a pike and cast him down. So his servant, Diakonitzes by name—whom the emperor Leo, after he was changed for the better from the foul heresy of the Paulicians, had appointed mensourator—dismounted, and having taken up the head of this man, he thought it worthy to be carried, having placed it on his own knees; which the generals, having found, seized, and cut off his head and brought it to the emperor.] [The emperor also sends with the Domestic Andrew his son-in-law Christopher into the Tibrike; they, having routed the Agarenes with might, sacked the city and destroyed it down to the foundations.] [In those days Phokas also was in Cappadocia, who happened to be the great-grandfather of the man who ruled after this, Nikephoros. Being clear to the emperor for his bodily strength and nobility of soul, surpassing all those of his own time, he made him a tourmarch. Having made his son Nikephoros one of his intimates, he kept him with himself, foreseeing both the charm of the youth and the character shown from his first hairs. Both of these he had with him in the campaign against the Agarenes; and he already honored the now-grown Nikephoros, having reached the height of his age, with the dignity of maglabites.] [Since both the stature of his age and the character of his soul and the gracefulness of his appearance and the fitness of his manners made the man beloved to the emperor, he put him forward as protostrator and gifted him a great house, happening to be nearest to the first-martyr Thecla, which he himself gave away to his son Bardas, who was later honored with the dignity of Caesar by the emperor Nikephoros, the son of him, and grandson of Nikephoros.] [This man then is also put forward as general in the theme of Charsianon, and having shown many acts of bravery against the Agarenes and having become notable from his deeds, he is also put forward as monostrategos of the western themes—I mean Thrace and Macedonia and Kephallenia, Longibardia and Calabria. For this man seemed most capable and battle-worthy against those from Africa who were plundering and ravaging Rome and cutting off the Roman authority, [against] Sicily itself and Calabria and Longibardia; for entire cities were captured by them, both Sorrento and Bari and the holy Severina and Torigia and Taormina, the Tropai and Amanteia.] [This most noble man, having gone down thither, checked the such great onslaught of the Agarenes like a most solid fortress; then, having dissolved them with strategic stratagems and having routed them in military orderly battles, he saved the cities for the Romans and brought them under their hand, and he restored whatever of the walls had been collapsed, and having fortified these with Roman power and having settled a multitude of Armenians in them, and not only that, but also having settled a thousand slaves in them—and those which that most illustrious and noble Danielina gifted to the emperor—he was besieging the city that was still remaining, Amanteia. And he thus excelled in the western theme.]

^A And, having taken all her wealth, he brought it to the emperor; this Nechtochomites he afterwards made oikonomos in the Great Church. (9) The same emperor also compelled all the Hebrews who were at that time under his authority to undergo baptism, all those who were in positions of dignity receiving them, the emperor treating all the Hebrews kindly and generously and providing them with much assistance and gifts. ^B He honored with the dignity of syncellus and oikonomos the aforementioned Nicholas, called Androsalites, the mansionarius of Saint Diomedes, to whom the martyr appeared, as was stated before regarding Basil; he made his other brother, John, drungarius of the Vigla, and his third brother, Paul, he made praepositus of the sakellion, and the fourth, finally, general logothete. Upon the death of Nicholas the syncellus, they buried him at the Arcadianai, his own house, where the metochion of Saint Constantine is now. (10) The emperor began to dig up the land near the palace in order to build the new ^C church, having purchased very many houses. It was reported to the emperor that Syracuse was being devastated by the Hagarenes. But, since the naval forces were occupied with the construction and earthworks of the new church, this caused a delay for the military and the people, and Syracuse itself was surrendered just a little before the fleet could arrive, at which the emperor mourned and lamented greatly. (11) Nicetas, the son of Xylinites, who was in charge of the table, having been reported as being in love with the Augusta, him the emperor tonsured and made a monk (who, under the emperor Leo, became oikonomos in the Great Church; and having passed away, he was laid to rest in the monastery which he himself had built, and he had his sisters tonsured). The emperor took many bronzes, together with marbles and mosaic-worked images and columns, from many churches and houses for the sake of the construction of the new church; among these ornaments was

^A a bronze statue representing the form of a bishop, which carried in its hand a staff with a serpent entwined around it. They took this down and deposited it in the vestiary. The emperor, having gone down thither and arrived at the place where the statue had been standing, thrust his fingers into the mouth of the serpent. And being a living serpent within, it bit the emperor’s finger, which was with difficulty healed by means of antidotes, to the astonishment of all at this.

(14) The statue of Solomon also, standing at the basilica, he caused to be broken, and commanded that from its metal a likeness of himself be cast, and that it be placed beneath the foundations of this same New Church, as if he were offering himself as a sacrifice ^B to God in such a work.

(15) The emperor again marched against Melitene, and having taken captives (and finished many wars), he returned. And (in his stead again) the emperor raised Photius (to the patriarchate) for the second time. After this, Photius the patriarch having died in exile, his body was deposited in the monastery called that of Jeremiah at Merdosagares, which had previously been a public church; but Photius had turned it into a women's monastery.

(16) Again the emperor went on an expedition against Germanicea, and having sacked it and taken captives, he returned.

(18) Constantine, the son of the emperor Michael and Eudocia, but as the saying goes, the son of Basil, died; on account of whose death Basil grieved much, inasmuch ^C as he was most beloved to him, and he placed his body in the sepulchers of the emperors.

(19) On the first day of the month of May, the New Church (which the emperor had built and adorned with much splendor) is inaugurated and enthroned by Photius the patriarch, the emperor (at the inauguration) wearing a loros as a gift, and distributing great sums of money, and naming it the "New" church. ^D

[alt-version omitted]

^A Now Procopius, the protovestiarius, was sent by the emperor with all the Western themes, Eupraxius having been appointed commander-in-chief in Sicily, and Mousoulikes in Cephalonia, and Rabdouchos in Dyrrhachium, and Oniatos and Apostuppes in the Peloponnese. This Procopius, having performed many deeds and acts of valor, was at last, in the course of a war, betrayed by Apostuppes and slain.

^B Leo Salibaras brings Theodore, a monk and archbishop of Euchaita—a man celebrated for his piety, famous for his miracles, and renowned for his knowledge of future events—to the patriarch Photius. Photius presents him to the emperor Basil and brings him into his presence. The emperor, being highly pleased with him (for the bishop readily conformed himself to the emperor's desires), held him in great esteem. For the emperor’s spirit was continuously afflicted by sorrow over the death of his son Constantine, to whom he was deeply attached, and he was wasting away due to this passion of love; therefore, the bishop deceived him, promising to show him his son alive, which he indeed performed. For while the emperor was walking in a certain wooded pass, a phantom appeared to him, riding a horse, dressed in garments interwoven with gold, in the likeness of Constantine; when the emperor beheld this with his eyes, he rushed into its embrace and kissed it. And when the vision vanished, he believed he had seen him and had not been deceived. For this reason, he built a monastery on that spot and named it after Saint Constantine.

^C Having been thoroughly instructed in, and having mastered the arts of Apollonius, the aforementioned Santabarenus gained much influence with the emperor.

Furthermore, the emperor had betrothed the daughter of Martinakios to Leo, his partner in the empire, whom, after the nuptials were celebrated at the Magnaura and in the nineteen couches, he crowned as Augusta. ^D Thereupon, the emperor Leo is accused by Santabarenus to his father, as if he: "He carries a sword, and with it [to stab you]."

^A This was the very dagger which, through his own deceitful counsel, he had persuaded Leo to have made and to carry in his stocking, saying to him: "Since your father often seeks a dagger for some need, why do you not give it to him?" And so, having had this made, and Leo the emperor having been accused ^D of it—as has been told—and detected carrying it in his stocking, he was not heard, no matter how much he pleaded in his own defense. ^A Consequently, Nicetas Helladicus, his protovestiarius, who became papas under Emperor Romanus, was beaten with many stripes, and others with him, having suffered many grievous things, were sent into exile. But the emperor, having confined Leo in the triclinium of Margarita, intended to blind him, if Photius the patriarch, by means of many supplications, had not dissipated this plan, along with Zautza and Stylianus, who was at that time the minor hetairiarch. ^B Being removed from the sight of the emperor, he spent three months weeping and mourning, and entreating the emperor through frequent letters. But Emperor Basil was moved by a great devotion and trust toward Saint Elias, and Leo also kept vigil through the night at the memorial of Saint Elias. When the procession took place, the crowds of the people, seeing him, cried out: "Glory to you, O God." But the emperor, turning back, replied to them: "Because of my son, you praise God; [but] you shall have to suffer many calamities from him, and you shall pass painful days." ^C Andreas, domestic of the schools, was likewise accused by Santabarenus to the emperor as sharing the sentiments of Leo, and because of this he was removed from his office by the emperor, and Stupiotes was appointed domestic in his place; and having departed with the people to Tarsus, he was defeated and lost all his men, and once again ^D Andreas was appointed domestic by the emperor.

(26)

A conspiracy against the emperor occurred

^A senators and other 80 nobles, up to sixty, adhered to them, among whom were Michael the Hetaireiarch, Katoudaris, 81 Myxares, and Babutzikios, and others who were counted. This conspiracy having been revealed, however, to the emperor by the protovestiarios Krokas, 82 when by chance games were being celebrated in the Hippodrome, and everyone was gathering there, the emperor was present likewise, and sitting there, he held an examination regarding them; and having scourged and shorn them all, he burned off the hairs that still remained to the skin. ^B Afterward, on the celebrated feast of the Annunciation, 84 when they had intended to carry out the conspiracy, they walked behind him naked and bound in chains as far as the forum, just as the emperor had commanded, and thereafter he confiscated the goods of them all and sent them into exile.

But at another time, the emperor having gone out to hunt, 85 he encountered a stag of immense size; and as the emperor was pursuing the beast in full speed, the stag turned, and having struck its horn into the emperor’s belt, it lifted him from the horse. 86 But one of the companions, having arrived and having unsheathed his sword, cut the belt and rescued the emperor. Yet, 87 after he had returned, he ordered the head of the man who had cut the belt to be severed, as if he had brandished his sword against him, and although he made many apologies, saying that he had done this for the sake of his safety, 88 it availed him nothing. But from the concussion and tearing caused by the stag, Basil was seized by a disease and died, leaving 89 Leo 90 as emperor, and Alexander. 91

VI. The Reign of Leo, Son of Basil

Leo, the son of Basil, reigned for 25 years and 8 months. His brother, however, Stephen, being a cleric and syncellus, was raised and educated by Photius 92 the patriarch.

the patriarch. ^A Leo, after he came to the throne, sent Andrew the commander of the army with a great quantity of wax tapers and senators to Chrysopolis; and they brought out Michael from the tomb and placed him in a cypress coffin, and having laid him upon a litter, and having prepared everything, and having honored him in royal fashion, with chants and great honor (his brothers following thither also), he brought him to the Holy Apostles and laid him in a sarcophagus.

(2) Afterwards the emperor sent Andrew the domestic of the schools, together with John the Hagiopolite, a man most excellent in learning and who had been logothete of the drome; and they having ascended the ambo of the church, read the charges against the patriarch Photius, ^B and they forced him to abdicate the throne; and they confined him in the monastery of the Armenians, which is called after Gordon.

(3) The emperor had promoted Stylianus Zautzes to the rank of magister and logothete of the drome; and he brought in Stephen, the syncellus and his own brother, into the patriarchate; and before the Nativity of Christ he was consecrated patriarch by Theophanes, the first-throned of the bishops and the other high priests; and having spent six years and five months in the patriarchate, he died, and he is buried in the monastery of the Syceons.

(4) In his time the fortress known as Hypsile was betrayed and taken by the Hagarenes, all who were there being taken captive. There occurred also a great fire near the Sophianai, the church of the holy apostle Thomas being also burned, ^C which the same Leo brilliantly rebuilt.

(5) The emperor sent a messenger to the Euchaitae and brought Theodore the Santabarenus to the city. But Andrew the domestic and Stephen the magister (he of the Calomaria), who had been much reviled under Basil by the Santabarenus, then devised a plot against him, and suggested to the emperor that the patriarch Photius and Theodore

^A the Santabarenus had conspired to make someone of Photius’s own kinsmen emperor. The emperor ordered that the patriarch Photius and Theodore the Santabarenus be brought to the palace of the Pegae, and he commanded that they be kept in custody separately. There were sent by the emperor Stephen the Magister, and Andrew the Domestic, also called Craterus, and the patrician Gouber, and John the Hagiopolite, to investigate the charges against them. And when they had brought the patriarch and had him seated upon a throne with honor, while they themselves also sat, Andrew the Domestic said to the patriarch: “Do you recognize, my lord, the abbot Theodore?” To this he replied: “I do not know Abbot Theodore.” Then Andrew: “Do you not know Abbot Theodore the Santabarenus?” The patriarch answered: “I know the monk Theodore, ^B who is Archbishop of Euchaita.”

Then they brought the Santabarenus into the midst, and Andrew the Domestic said to him: “The emperor asks you: Where is the money and the regalia of my empire?” He said: “Where the emperor who reigns this day has placed them. But now, if he orders them to be sought, he has the power to reclaim them.” Then Andrew said to him: “Answer: Whom were you intending to make emperor when, by your fraudulent contrivance, you suggested to my father that I should be blinded—someone from the patriarch’s friends, or one of your own?” He, answering, said: “I know nothing at all ^C about what you are accusing me of.” Then Stephen the Magister said to him: “And how did you inform the emperor that you would convict the patriarch of this matter?” But the Santabarenus, immediately falling at the feet of the patriarch, said: “I adjure you by God, my lord, that you first perform my deposition, and then, being stripped of the priesthood, let them punish me as a criminal; for I did not suggest such things to the emperor in any way.” The patriarch then, in the sight of all, said: “By the salvation of my soul, my lord Theodore, you are Archbishop both in the present age and in the one to come.” Exasperated by these words, Andrew said: “Did you not inform the emperor through me, abbot, that ^D I should convict the patriarch in this matter?” But he denied knowing anything. Therefore, they returned and reported to the emperor all that had been said. The emperor, in anger and unrestrained rage...

having found no cause against the patriarch, sent and severely beat Santabarenus, and banished him to Athens. ^A Afterwards, he sent after him, blinded him, and banished him to the East. ^B Some years later, the emperor, having been placated, brought the man back to the city and ordered that he receive rations from the New Church. And Santabarenus died under Constantine and his mother Zoe.

^B During the reign of Leo, Agion, the exarch and duke of Longobardia, and a son-in-law of the king of the Franks, rebelled against the emperor and subjected all that region to his own power. Upon learning this, the emperor dispatched Constantine, the prefect of his table, together with all the western legions to wage war against Agion. When a battle ensued, those who were with Constantine were defeated and slaughtered, and he himself barely escaped.

^C A solar eclipse occurred, such that for six hours there was deep night and the stars were visible. Moreover, there were such terrible peals of thunder, violent winds, and lightning strikes that seven men were consumed by fire on the steps of the Forum.

^C The city of Samos was captured by the Agarenes, and its general, Paspalas, was taken captive. Leo, the emperor, promoted Zautzas to the rank of *basileopator*, having already become intimate with [his daughter] Zoe, after her husband, Theodore Guzuniates, had been put to death by some poison.

^D Upon the death of the patriarch Stephen, Antonius, nicknamed Cauleas, was ordained in his place. A messenger also arrived from the duke of Macedonia, reporting that Simeon, the ruler of Bulgaria, intended to set out...

against Rome. ^A The cause, however, which moved Simeon was this: Zautzas, the emperor's father-in-law, had a servant, a eunuch named Musicus. This man was joined in friendship with Stauracius and Cosmas, very wealthy Greek merchants, who, intent on shameful gain, by the authority of Musicus, transferred the trade of the Bulgarians—which was in the city—to Thessalonica, and by imposing taxes, treated the Bulgarians abominably. These things being signaled to Simeon by the Bulgarians, Simeon made the same manifest to Emperor Leo. The emperor, hindered by the emperor's father-in-law, who was excessively attached to Musicus, deemed it all of no account.

Furious, therefore, the Bulgarian drew up an army against the Romans. Upon hearing this, the emperor sent Crinites, the commander of the army, with arms and many of the city's nobles against the Bulgarians. A battle being joined in Macedonia, the Romans were put to flight, with Crinites himself, and Corticius the Armenian, and all the rest being slaughtered. ^B Out of the Khazars who had arrived as auxiliaries to Leo, those who were captured had their noses cut off and were sent back by Simeon to the city in contempt of the Romans. The emperor, catching sight of them and incensed with anger, sent Nicetas, surnamed Sclerus, with speedy vessels to the banks of the Danube river to offer gifts to the Turks and to incite war against Simeon. Having set out and having also conferred with the leaders of the Turks, Arpad and Cusan, who consented to an alliance of war, and having received hostages, he returned to the emperor. ^C The latter, in turn, dispatched the patrician and drungary of the fleet, Eustathius, by sea, and by land, the patrician Nicephorus Phocas and the Domestic with the themes, who penetrated as far as Bulgaria. The emperor, however, desiring peace, afterwards sent the quaestor Constantinaces to consult with Simeon concerning peace. Simeon, seeing arms and war moved against him by land and sea, confined the quaestor, himself acting as if in grief, under guard.

^A The Turks, therefore, having crossed the Danube while Simeon was busy with the army of Phocas, captured all of Bulgaria. ^B Hearing this, Simeon moved against the Turks; they crossed over to the opposite bank and engaged the Bulgarians in battle, and Simeon was put to flight, barely escaping safely into Distra. The Turks then asked the emperor to buy the Bulgarian captives; this the emperor did, sending citizens from the city to pay the ransom.

Simeon, through the aid of the drungary Eustathius, offered terms of peace, to which the emperor showed himself agreeable and appointed Leo Choerosphactes to arrange it; Nicephorus, with the army, turned his mind to return, and likewise the drungary Eustathius. ^A Simeon did not even deign to speak with Leo, but held him under guard. Having then prepared an expedition against the Turks, and since they had no help or protection from the Romans—being left, in fact, without foresight or provision of weapons—Simeon slaughtered them all, and having his pride increased, he returned and found Leo at Mundagra, and said to him: "I will not make peace unless I receive all the captives back." The emperor proposed to restore them; and Theodorus the Bulgarian, a man of Simeon's own household, came with Leo and received them.

^C After Nicephorus Phocas had departed this life, Simeon sought grounds to dissolve the peace; for, desiring yet other captives, he marched against the Romans. Emperor Leo appointed as domestic of the schools Leo Catacalus, who had his dwelling at the Rhabdos, and sent with him Theodosius the patrician and protovestiary, ordering all the themes and regiments to cross over. And when they had taken counsel with Simeon at the Bulgarogephyrum, a general rout occurred, and all perished, and the protovestiary...

horrible, and all were destroyed: among whom was the patrician Theodosius, for whose sake the ^A emperor grieved not a little.

In his time, the inhabitants of the fortress of Cherson killed their own leader, Simeon the son of Jonas: the fortress of Corum in Cappadocia was also captured by the Hagarenes.

Furthermore, the emperor held a famous procession to the house of Damian, with Zautza accompanying him, exercising the supreme power after him, and Zoe, his daughter, likewise a companion of the solemnity. Theophano, his legitimate spouse, was not present, but was occupied with assiduous prayers at the holy sepulcher in Blachernae. The emperor therefore intending to spend time there, the kinsmen of Zautza and his son Tzantzes, as well as others, formed a plan to kill the emperor at night. Zoe, however, sleeping with the emperor, hearing a murmur and looking out through the window, imposed silence. Having been made aware of the danger and the ambush, she woke the emperor, who immediately boarded a ship, and leaving Zautza and all the others there, crossed to Pegas. At dawn, he entered the palace in haste, and having ejected John the drungary of the watch, he replaced him with Pardus, the son of the hetaeriarch Nicholas. For Nicholas himself, a companion of the emperor's friendship, revealed what Zautza was plotting against him. And from that time, the emperor did not enter Zautza's chamber until Leo the Magister and Theodotaces had convicted them of the crime.

However, Theophano Augusta died after ^B twelve years of empire, whom, after a short space of time, God showed to be a worker of miracles, because she had been free from the vice of jealousy and the memory of injuries: and because she had assiduously occupied herself with God through alms and prayers throughout the sacred churches.

Emperor Leo crowns Zoe, the daughter of Zautza

Zautza's ^A daughter, and underwent the nuptial blessing with her, ^B by a certain cleric from the palace, whose surname was Synapes. ^A (The minister of the blessing was deposed from his office. She, however, reigned for one year and eight months.) When the same Zoe had died, they found a coffin for depositing her body, having letters inscribed inside with these words: Wretched daughter of Babylon.

(19) Musicus and Stauracius were accused before Emperor Leo, that they had accepted gifts from dukes and officials, and had interceded with the emperor their father on their behalf. And when one day Stauracius had entered to Zautza with a letter from some duke, as soon as the emperor saw him standing on the balcony, he came after him, and seizing him by the neck, led him out as if to question him about the dukes. And having brought him to the Monothyron, he snatched the letters and scattered them into the air, and handed them to some passersby, ordering them to throw him out of the palace and shear him. When Musicus learned of this, he fell into despair. The emperor, however, having entered the place where Musicus was standing by Zautza, seized him by the neck and threw him out, and having handed him over to Christopher the chamberlain, ordered that he be led away to the Studite monastery and become a monk. Not long after, Zautza died in the palace, and they carried him through the Bucoleon and led him to the monastery of Caula, and buried him there.

(20) After the death of Zautza, Basil, prefect of the royal works, son of Nicholas the hetaeriarch, joined in friendship with Samonas the chamberlain, who was of Hagarene origin, burning with a desire for power. Samonas, however, confidently opened his mind to Basil, saying: ^C «Zoe, our aunt, has departed this life, and the emperor is preparing to take another wife, and he is going to destroy us all. But give me your faith, so that all plans may be revealed to you.» And when Basil had given him his faith, he revealed everything to him. Samonas, however, having entered to the emperor, ^D said to him: «My lord, I wish to tell you something in secret; which if...

Zautzæ ^A daughter, and brings all the conspiracy of Basil to the emperor. When the emperor did not credit what was told him, but rather said, "Did someone suggest that you tell me these things, and did you do it for the hope of a reward?" he said, "Send, master, whomsoever of your faithful servants you please into the chamber, that they may lie hidden and write down everything they learn from Basil and from me." The emperor immediately sent the protovestiarios Christopher with the cubicularius Calocyres; they entered and concealed themselves in the chamber. Basil, therefore, now ensnared, having received a pledge of his oath from Samonas, took him to his oratory and revealed to him both his own counsel and the participants in the counsel. When they had left, Christopher and Calocyres went away and detailed everything in writing to the emperor. The emperor, having at once summoned Basil, gave him twenty thousand miliaresia in the name of alms for the refreshment of the soul of his aunt Zoe, as if it were a legacy, and sent him off to Macedonia; and by this device he thrust Basil out of the city. As for the rest of the partners in the conspiracy, he sent Pardos, the drungarios of the watch (vigla), to the Stipiotis, as if to summon him to himself, though the man had been forewarned by the emperor's short letter to keep him in bonds. The emperor, pretending that he was setting out on a journey and would dine at Saint Lazarus at the descent of the Sphairisterion, detained John Garidas along with the other confederates in the chamber; and when the emperor went down, he took Nicolaus the hetairiarch, who had been seized with John, and led him out of the city. ^B Basil, having been recalled from Macedonia and questioned about the crime, was subjected to scourging; his hair was singed, and he was paraded through the middle of the city and relegated to exile in Athens, where he perished miserably. Likewise, he tonstured Nicolaus the hetairiarch, Stylianos, and John, and all of Zautzes' kin; those he did not tonsure he expelled into exile after all their property had been confiscated; and thus the whole lineage of Zautzes was wiped out by the delation of Samonas. ^C When the masters and all those in dignity had been summoned by the emperor, all the things reported by Samonas were read out to them. They, regarding the man as ^D

^A with great honor. And he immediately honored him with the dignity of protospatharios and bound him familiarly to himself.

^B (22) Patriarch Anthony died, and in his place Nicholas, the emperor's mystic, was promoted. The town of Demetrias, looking toward the theme of Greece, was captured by Damian the Hagarene.

Emperor Leo crowned Anna, the daughter of Zoe who was Zautza's, with the imperial crown, because with the Augusta missing, he could not celebrate the banquets instituted by custom. ^B (24) The same emperor took a girl from the Opsician theme, very beautiful, named Eudocia, and crowned her and proclaimed her Augusta, and took her in marriage; from whom, after a male offspring was received, the mother herself and the child who had been born died together.

(25) The emperor bought houses near the temple of the Holy Apostles, and there built a famous church in the name of his former wife, Saint Theophano.

(26) Similarly, he built a church in the place called Topi, dedicated to Saint Lazarus, having arranged for it to be a male monastery for eunuchs, where he also deposited the body of Saint Lazarus (retrieved from Cyprus) and of Mary Magdalene (brought from Ephesus); the solemnities of the dedication of the church itself having also been celebrated. ^C When, however, the fleet had been spent on the construction of such churches, the town of Tauromenium in Sicily was captured by the Africans (through the negligence, or rather the treachery, of Eustathius the drungary of the fleet, and Caramalus who was there, and Michael Charactus), a great slaughter of the Romans having been made. Who, having later returned to the city, when they were accused as traitors in the court of the king and the patriarch by Michael Charactus, were condemned to death; but with Patriarch Nicholas interceding with the emperor, death was pardoned for them, and they were only afflicted with lashes and, their goods having been confiscated, were thrust among the monks.

^A Monks set free—one, Karamalos, to the monastery of Pikridion, and Eustathios to that of Stoudiou. ^B Thereafter the island of Lemnos was also taken by the Hagarenes, who carried off many captives.

^A (27) In the procession of the Mid-Pentecost, as the Emperor Leo went out to Saint Mokios and was entering, ^B at the moment he arrived near the solea, a certain man stepped out from the ambo and smote him upon the head with a thick and heavy club. And had the impetus of the club not been hindered and slackened by colliding with the multi-branched candelabrum, he would have straightway delivered him from life. But as the blood flowed profusely from the Emperor's head, there arose a tumult and flight among the nobles, and many perished in it. Alexander, his brother, did not arrive to perform the entry, claiming sickness—from which it was suspected that he was the author of such a conspiracy. Samonas was likewise absent; in fact, he had gone away to bring Zoe into the palace to be joined to the Emperor. ^C The one who had struck the Emperor was seized, and when examined, he endured many tortures and punishments over several days, and since he confessed no accomplice in the conspiracy, he was at length deprived of his hands and feet and burned at the turning-post of the Hippodrome; and from that time forth, such processions were abolished.

After some time had elapsed, Marcus, the most wise steward of the same church, who had completed the tetraodion hymn for Great Saturday that had been begun by the Lord Kosmas, reclining at table with the Emperor, begged him not to curtail the solemnity. ^D When the Emperor refused, Marcus said: "It was predicted by the prophet David, Lord, that you would suffer this; for he proclaimed: 'How much the enemy has acted evilly against your sanctuary,' and: 'They have boasted, those who hate you, in the midst of your feast' (Ps. LXXIII, 3-4). And it is necessary, O Lord, that from now on you should hold the empire for ten more years," which in fact came to pass.

For on the very same day on which he received the blow, he also died.

^A Zoe, indeed, the fourth wife of the emperor, had not yet been crowned with the imperial diadem. While the emperor was conducting a solemn procession and escorting his retinue to the port of Botios, in order to celebrate the dedication of the monastery constructed by the protovestiarius Christopher, intelligence arrived that a fleet of the Agarenes, together with the Tripolitan, was advancing against Constantinople. The emperor therefore sent Eustathius, the drungarios of the fleet, with all the ships and their commanders against the Tripolitan; but as they were unable to oppose the enemy forces, they returned home with their mission unaccomplished.

The Tripolitan, however, came after them and advanced beyond Abydos as far as Parium. ^B Having learned of this, the emperor was affected by great grief and distress, and he dispatched Himerius, the chief of the imperial secretaries (protasekretis), with the fleet against the Tripolitan; but he, too, did not dare to approach the fleet of the Agarenes at all. Yet, by the secret judgment of God, the same Leo the Tripolitan turned away and went toward Thessalonica; and having besieged it, he captured it together with the leader of the city, Leo Chatzilicios, and having caused a great slaughter and taken captives, he brought them into his power.

^C Rodophylles—

a certain cubicularius who had been sent to Sicily on some business and was carrying with him one hundred pounds of gold—had happened to fall ill on the road; he entered Thessalonica in order to bathe and recover his strength, and he was captured by Leo. ^A Simeon, the head of the secretarii—who later became a patrician and the first of the secretarii—traveling by that way, took possession of the gold and the gifts which Rodophylles had left behind on the road; immediately afterward, Rodophylles was tortured greatly and died. When the Tripolitan wanted to destroy the city, Simeon, having learned of this, signaled to him to take the gold and let it go; and so it was done.

^B Samonas, however, under the pretext of visiting his monastery of Spira, which was situated at Damatrys, fled, taking with him his own wealth and horses, and he severed the hamstrings of all the public horses. When the emperor learned of this, he sent Basil Camateros, the hetaireiarches, and George Crinites after him to pursue and apprehend him. When Samonas was prepared to cross the river Halys, Nicephorus the droungarios, who was called Caminas, caught up with him and did not permit him to cross. Although Samonas promised many things, when he could not persuade the man, he fled to the precious ^C Cross at Siricha, pretending that he had come out of faith in the cross. Constantinus, the son of the doux, having arrived successfully and taken him, returned to the city. The emperor ordered that he be guarded in the house of Bardas the Caesar, but he asked Constantinus, the son of the doux, about him; and having learned that he had truly fled into Syria, he instructed the doux that he should not...

speak of this before the senate, if he should be asked by it, but that he had departed to Siricha for the sake of prayer; for the emperor wished to be reconciled with him. Having therefore summoned Constantinus, the son of the doux, before the officials, he said thus: ^A "You have God and my head; did Samonas flee or not?" And he, as he had promised the emperor before not to be sworn and to say what was commanded, when he heard the oaths, declared before all that he had fled into Syria. The emperor, being angry, sent him away, and Samonas spent four months in the house of Bardas; yet he was restored to the emperor’s favor.

^B At that time a comet also appeared, casting its rays towards the east, and it remained visible for forty days and nights. After his flight, Samonas was created a patrician. Leo also sired a son by Zoe, his fourth wife; he was baptized upon the feast of the Lights by the patriarch Nicholas in the Great Church, with the emperor Alexander, the patrician Samonas, and all the high officials receiving the child from the font.

At that time the house of Cyphe, having expelled the harlots, was made a hospice for the support of the elderly.

^C After the celebration of the feast, the emperor received the marriage blessing with Zoe from the priest Thomas, who was also deposed for this reason. The emperor declared the same Zoe Augusta, and for this reason the patriarch prevented the emperor from entering the church, whence he proceeded from the right side as far as the Mitatoricium, not passing at all through the customary way.

(35) Samonas was promoted to the position of acoubitor, because he offered the emperor an assisting hand for every crime and wickedness; and they began to plot against the Church. For having summoned Nicholas ^D

^A the patriarch on the first day of February, they pressed him with requests to be received into the church; but when they could not persuade him, they took him from the hall through the Bucoleon, placed him in a small boat, and transported him to Hieria, from where he went on foot to Galacrenas, barely arriving, as there was much snow. In his place Euthymius the syncellus, a grave man, distinguished by temperance and great piety, was appointed patriarch ^B, whom they say accepted this office because of a divine revelation, as the emperor was contemplating introducing a heresy and a law, that it should be lawful for a man to have three or four wives, with many of the most learned men cooperating with him in this.

In the month of June, Emperor Leo was invited by Constantine Libos to his monastery situated in Merdosagares, to celebrate its dedication and to attend the banquet. After this, a wind called the Africus [Lips] prevailed for three days, blowing most violently, shaking and overturning houses; so that everyone fled to open places, thinking that the end of the world had come, had not the kindness of God towards men quieted such ^C a shaking by means of rain.

The emperor appointed Himerius, the logothete of the dromos, as head of the entire fleet. When the naval army of the Agarenes had moved against the Romans, Andronicus the Doux was ordered to join Himerius the logothete on the ships and to fight the Agarenes. At that time Samonas remained an implacable enemy of Andronicus, and was continually plotting and contriving many things against him, and was studying with all his might and in every way to cause trouble for Andronicus, from whose flight he had himself originated the idea. He suggested to someone to write to Andronicus in secret: “Do not board the ships, lest you be captured by Himerius. For Samonas suggested to the emperor ^D that you be seized and blinded by him.” Although Himerius urged Andronicus many times to join the fleet as a companion and to fight the Agarenes who were already imminent, he did not agree. Therefore, Himerius alone, on the day of Holy Thomas, engaging in battle with the Agarenes, won a great victory. Upon hearing this, he was driven to desperation.

Andronicus, having fallen into ultimate defection, together with his kinsmen who accompanied his flight ^A (and his children) and his men, went off and seized the fortress of Cabbala, having come to a state of complete rebellion, so as to say (even) to Samonas, regarding the Emperor: "Did I not tell you, sir, that the Doukas was a rebel against you?"

(38) Immediately, therefore, the Emperor sent the Domestic of the Schools, Gregory, nicknamed Hiberitzen, who was a father-in-law to Andronicus, to wage war against him. Andronicus, having learned of this and that Patriarch Nicholas had been expelled from the church, fled to the Agarenes along with his kinsmen, children, and friends, who had gone forth at that time against the Romans, and he was received magnificently by the Amerumnes.

(39) Emperor Leo was saddened on account of Andronicus, and frequently wished to send him a signed letter of pardon (the sort that Theophilus had made on account of Manuel). Certain men ^B advised the Emperor to reconcile some person from the Sarracen praetorium who was being held, in order to send him into Syria with the signed letter. The Emperor did precisely this, having written in cinnabar and sent it, along with a golden bull ^C inside a short, wax-sealed cylinder. When the Sarracen departed from the Emperor, Samonas called him over and said to him, "Do you know what you are carrying?"—saying this on account of the wax—"You are carrying the destruction of Syria." And giving him money, he instructed him to place this into the hands of Uzer. The man having (departed) did this. Andronicus was captured and bound with all his kinsmen; and having learned that these things had happened to him through the trickery of Samonas, and having been forced, he defiled his faith (both he and those with him). From that time on, ^D Constantine, his son, and the others, seeing that it was impossible for Andronicus to escape, gave…

^A themselves to flight alone; and by a truly wondrous means, they went forth from the midst of Syria ^B toward Romania. Though they were beset by battles in the countryside, few of them managed to escape safely with Constantine, his son.

Finally, Abalbaces the elder, and the father of Samonas, came to the city ^C to hold talks concerning an exchange of prisoners. The emperor admitted them to his presence and received them with the utmost kindness, honor, and glory in the Magnaura. Moreover, he decorated the Great Church with sumptuous ornament, and displayed all the precious vessels to the Hagarenes—a thing unworthy of the imperial and Christian institution, that the sacred vessels of God should be viewed by the heathen. Now, the father of Samonas wished to remain in Romania with his son. But Samonas exhorted him, saying, “Hold to the faith which you have; and as for me, if I am able, I shall rather come to you.”

On the day of Pentecost, the Emperor Leo crowned his son, Constantine, with the imperial crown through the agency of the Patriarch Euthymius. Now, Samonas ^D had given for the service of the Empress Zoe a man of his own named Constantine, who had previously served the Magister Basil and the prefect of the inkstand (the Canicleus). This man later became very dear to the Emperor Leo and the Empress. For this reason, envy was directed against the man by Samonas, and he accused him of having intimacy with the Empress. The emperor, suspecting that this was indeed true, sent and had him tonsured a monk in the monastery of Saint Tarasius, through the influence of Samonas. A little later, however, the emperor ordered Samonas to have him received back into his own monastery, called Spira, intending to summon him back to himself at a later time. Accordingly, when an expedition was made to Damatris, the emperor, intending to dine in the monastery of Samonas, saw Constantine and immediately ordered Samonas to have him put back into the clothes he had been accustomed to wear in the world. Then, in the midst of the banquet, the emperor

^A drank, and returned with him to the palace.

(42) ^B Seeing the emperor’s growing affection for him, Samonas took counsel with the chief chamberlain and Michael Tzerithon; and they prepared a document full of abuse against the emperor, written and composed by the Rhodian, who was Samonas’s notary. When the emperor went to the Great Church, he found the document in the place where he was accustomed to pray, at the metatorium, and picked it up; having read it, he was in great distress, seeking the one who had done this. ^C An eclipse of the moon also occurred, and the emperor ordered the astronomers who were present at the time to declare its effect. As Pantaleon, the metropolitan, a friend of Samonas, was entering to see the emperor, Samonas asked him, "Against whom is the evil?" The metropolitan said to him, "Against you; but if you pass the thirteenth of June, from then on you shall suffer no harm." They reported to the emperor that the moon threatened the second person after him, which the emperor suspected meant his brother Alexander. After this, Tzerithon privately informed the emperor: "Samonas wrote the document." ^D And immediately he forced Samonas to retire to his house, and there he ordered him first to be tonsured and taken to the monastery of the patriarch Euthymius; there, having subsequently been convicted of other crimes, he was deported to the monastery of Martinakes. He made Constantine accubitor, built a monastery for him in Nosiis, and went there with the patriarch Euthymius and dedicated it with a solemn office.

(43) In the month of October, a naval battle took place involving Himerios the logothete and the Saracens, Damian and Leo, with Romanos—who later became emperor—serving as the Roman commander at Samos. Himerios was defeated and barely escaped, with almost everyone there in great danger.

^A Emperor Leo began to be afflicted by an abdominal disease, so that he was unable to deliver the oration in the Magnaura at the beginning of the Fast. A fire also occurred in the archives of the Great Church, in which the cabinets of records and the chapels were burned. On the eleventh day of the month of May, Emperor Leo, having previously designated his brother Alexander as his successor, passed away. It is said that Alexander, seeing him as he approached, said: "Beware. After thirteen months a very bad time will arrive." He fervently begged and implored him to protect his son Constantine.

VIII. The Reign of Alexander

^B Alexander, son of Basil and brother of Leo, reigned for one year and twenty-nine days, in conjunction with Constantine, the son of Leo. Having sent intelligence to Nicholas at Galacrenae, he deposed the patriarch Euthymios and restored Nicholas for a second time. Alexander held a silentium at the Magnaura and convened a council, having summoned Euthymios from the estates of Agathos in the Stenos. As Alexander sat with the patriarch Nicholas, those delegated to the deposition of Euthymios busied themselves with zeal, plucking the venerable beard of that man, who was to be admired in all things, and inflicting upon him other insults and injuries, which the honorable and holy man bore quietly and meekly. He was relegated again to the estate of Agathos, where, having soon ended his life, he was interred in his own monastery within the city, near Psamathios.

^C Alexander, free from the suspicions which his brother Leo had fostered against him while he was alive, occupied himself everywhere with constant hunting and excursions through the various palaces; he contemplated or performed nothing worthy of an emperor, but always indulging in delights, luxury, and drunkenness, he gave himself over entirely to such things.

^A He forthwith appointed a cleric named John, surnamed Lazarus, as rector, who, after the death of Alexander, miserably ended his life while playing with a ball in the Hebdomon. Likewise, he greatly enriched Gabrielopulus and Basilitzen (of the Sclavonian nation) with the riches of the palace; indeed, he even wished to make the same Basilitzen emperor, as he himself lacked offspring, and to castrate Constantine, the son of Leo. And though he often attempted this, he was prevented by those whom Leo had formerly benefited, who would plead now his infantile age, now his infirmity.

(3) In his time, a comet appeared for fifteen days in the west, which they said was called Xiphias, and which portended that a shedding of blood would occur in the city. ^B

(4) This man gave himself over entirely to wanderers and magicians, who even persuaded him, saying: "The figure of a wild boar is set apart for you and your life," indicating that he should lead the life of an insane swine. Seduced by these, he ordered the pudenda and teeth of the pig to be renewed as if they were his own missing parts. Persuaded by the same error, when an equestrian contest was held, he brought out the vestments of the church and, having taken the many-branched candelabras, he adorned the hippodrome and decorated the animals with a splendor of lights. For this reason, the hand of God was removed from him, because he did not fear to offer the honor of God to idols. ^C

(5) As for Himerius the logothete, who was returning from the defeat he had suffered at the hands of the Agarenes, Alexander sent a messenger and banished him to the monastery of the palace called Calupa, threatening him as an enemy who had been hostile to him since the time of his brother Leo. He, forbidden the company of men for six months, perished, seized by a malady from excessive grief.

(6) Simeon, prince of Bulgaria, sent envoys to Alexander to preserve peace, wishing to be friendly with him. ^D

^A Alexander, however, blinded by imprudence and folly, dismissed the envoys without honor, hurling threats at Simeon. Peace having been dissolved from that time, Simeon prepared to move arms against the Christians.

(7) Alexander, having dined well and being tipsy with wine, went forth to play at ball under the dog-star’s heat, and having been struck by a divinely-sent sword, returned wounded, pouring out much blood from his nostrils and private parts, and after two days he died, having left as guardians ^B Patriarch Nicholas, Stephen the magister, John Eladas, John the rector, Euthymius, Basilitzes, and Gabrielopulus, leaving the empire to Constantine his nephew, son of Leo the Emperor. They laid Alexander in the tomb with his father Basil.

IX. The Reign of Constantine, son of Leo.

Constantine, still a boy when his father Leo died—for he was in his seventh year—was left emperor under the tutelage of his uncle Alexander. He had imperial guardians, and under their care, with his mother joined equally with them, he reigned for seven years, and for another twenty-six years in subjection to Romanus, his father-in-law. ^C He ruled the empire alone for fifteen years, so that the whole time of his reign concludes at fifty-five years. Nicholas the patriarch, having obtained the power of the palace, insofar as he himself was a guardian together with the magister Stephen, and John Eladas, who was also a magister, provided for public affairs and took care of the daily concerns of the realm.

Since therefore the affairs of the empire stood thus, it was suggested to Constantine, the commander of the scholarians, by certain nobles of the city who were his friends, that as a brave and prudent man, and one who ^D could administer the republic, he should promote himself and undertake to seize the empire without any trouble, he being someone who had previously—in the dreams of his prayers—

^A buerat, and he was always burning with the lust for the crown. As soon as he was able, he took the queen of cities with the chosen troops who were with him and who were capable of daring anything. And at night, entering through the postern gate of the protovestiarios Michael, which was near the acropolis, he spent the night sleepless in the house of his father-in-law, Gregoras, together with his companions. Nicetas a secretis, who later became protonotary, signaled the arrival of Constantine to the patrician Constantine Eladikos, and both of them together on that same night came to the duke Constantine. Having taken counsel while the day had not yet dawned, but while it was still deeply dark, with lamps and a great multitude of people and arms, they seized the gate of the Hippodrome, acclaiming Constantine as emperor. There, his groom was struck by a spear and killed by those holding the inner gates of the Hippodrome. ^B Being thus refused entry, he betook himself to the gate called the Chalke, and having entered through the Iron Gate of the same Chalke, he reached the place of the excubitors. The magister John Eladas, therefore, having made a selection of his own associations and rowers, sent them armed against the duke. As they reached the Chalke, a battle joined, and many from both sides fell, pierced by swords—to such a number, indeed, that the place stagnated with flowing blood like a river. There fell also Gregoras, son of the duke, and Michael, his cousin, and that Cortices who hailed from Armenia. ^C When these things were known, much tumult having been stirred up throughout the city, Constantine struck his horse more vehemently with his spurs; the horse, slipping upon the stone slabs laid down beneath, threw his rider to the ground. When someone saw him thrown to the ground and abandoned alone—for all his other companions had fled and scattered—he cut off his head with a sword. ^D

^A After these events were accomplished, Gregoras the magister, his father-in-law, together with Leo, surnamed Choerosphaktes, fled to the Great Holy Church of God. Having been dragged from there by force, they were tonsured as monks in the Studion monastery. As for Constantine the Helladic, they beat him with bull-hide whips, clothed him in vile garments, mounted him upon an ass, and paraded him in triumph through the middle of the city; then, having taken him to the monastery of Dalmatos, they had him shut away under a sentence of confinement. They blinded Leo Catacalitzes and Abessalom, the son of Arotras, and sent them into exile. Theophilus, the city prefect, beheaded Constantine, the son of Eulampios, and others with him at the Meta of the Hippodrome with a sword. Although they made no small search for Nicetas the *asekretis* and Constantine Libys, they did not find them, as they had made use of flight. ^B They hanged on twin wooden beams—or gallows—that leader [Aegides] himself and many brave men who were with him, from Damalis, which is a place at Chrysopolis, as far as Leucates. These so-called "administrators" would have mercilessly and causelessly put many of those in high office to death at that time, had not certain of the judges checked their unjust impulse, saying to them, "Since the emperor is still among the children, how do you dare to perpetrate such things without his command?"

^C Then they shaved the head of the dux's wife and sent her to her house which she possessed in Paphlagonia, after having first castrated her son, Stephen.

In the month of August, moreover, Simeon, the ruler of Bulgaria, set out against the Romans and arrived at Constantinople with a great multitude. He laid siege to the city, having drawn a rampart around it from the Blachernae as far as the so-called Golden Gate, being raised high in his hopes that he would be able to capture it without any labor at all. But when he tested the strength of the walls and perceived the security and defense afforded by the multitude of the people and their siege engines, he was deceived in his expectations; he returned to the place called the Hebdomon to offer terms of peace. ^D When the administrators gladly accepted the offered peace; [Simeon sent...]

^A accepting, Simeon sent his magister Theodore to discuss the terms of peace. Patriarch Nicholas and Stephen and John the masters, having taken the emperor with them, went as far as the Blachernae and brought in the two sons of Simeon, and they feasted with the emperor in the palace. Patriarch Nicholas went out to Simeon, and Simeon bowed his head before him. The patriarch then, having offered a prayer, in place of a crown, as they say, placed his own head-covering upon his head. Having been dismissed with immense and very great gifts, Simeon and his sons returned to their own country (disagreeing and breaking off the aforementioned peace).

(8) Since Constantine was a child and was asking for his own mother—for ^B she had already been brought down from the palace (as has been stated, by the emperor Alexander)—he was brought back. Having thus gained control of the empire, she brought into the palace Constantine the accubitor, and the other Constantine and Anastasius, brothers surnamed Gongylios; and by the counsel of John the Elada, they dismissed the relatives of the emperor Alexander, the rector John and the one called Gabrielopulos and Basilitzes and the rest. The Augusta Zoe then appointed Theophylact the hetæriarch, son of Dominicus. But the magister John the Elada, having fallen into a sickness and been given up by the physicians, went down from the palace and reaching the Blachernae, grew sicker and died. By the counsel of Dominicus the hetæriarch, the Augusta cast off ^C Patriarch Nicholas with indignation, telling him to busy himself with the affairs of his own Church.

(9) Not long after, Constantine the accubitor accused the hetæriarch Dominicus to the Augusta, saying that he was plotting to usurp the empire for his own brother, and having made him a patrician under this pretext, they ordered him, when he went ^D to the church as was the custom to receive a prayer, to remain at home. The Augusta Zoe then promoted John Garidas as hetæriarch and Damian the eunuch as drungary of the Watch. Dominicus went away to his house lamenting in vain.

^A Since Simeon, the prince of the Bulgarians, was again ravaging Thrace, the Augusta and the leading men of the empire were anxious about how to restrain his arrogance and pacify him. Upon learning this, John Bagas sought the rank of patrician, promising that if his request were granted, he would bring the Patzinaks against him. Having obtained his request, he took gifts with him and set out for the land of the Patzinaks; and having taken hostages from there, he brought them to the city, the Patzinaks having agreed to cross over and wage war against Simeon. (11) There arrived also at the city Asotius, a man most renowned for his strength, being the son of the prince of princes; they say that having gripped an iron bar by its two ends, he bent it with his extraordinary strength and turned it into a circular shape, the iron’s nature of resistance yielding to the force of his hands. Him, upon his arrival, they received with great honor and sent back again to his own land with equal congratulations. (12) ^B In the month of September, in the third indiction, Pancratucas the Armenian surrendered Adrianople to Simeon. Not long after, Basilius the patrician and canicles, and Nicetas, the Helladic protospatharius, were sent by Zoe with many gifts, and he received the city back again into his own power. (13) ^C There came also the amiras Damian to Strobilus ^D with many warships and equipped with no small force; he would have taken it, had he not fallen ill and died, so the Agarenes returned to their own lands having accomplished nothing. (14) But the inhabitants of Greece and Athens, having been continually harmed by Chase son of Gobe, and being unable to endure his luxury and insatiable greed, crushed him with stones and killed him miserably inside the sanctuary of the temple in Athens. (15) The Augusta Zoe, seeing the pride of Simeon and his attack against the Christians, took counsel with the leading men, to make a treaty and peace with the Agarenes.

She also resolved to send the whole army of the East to defeat and destroy Simeon. ^A John the patrician, known as Radenos, and Michael Toxaras were therefore sent into Syria to establish a treaty. Peace was made with the Saracens, and, having distributed the customary donatives to the soldiers, they took up their cohorts and crossed over into Thrace, while Leo Phocas, the master of the offices, held the rank of Domestic.

When the venerable and life-giving wood had been brought out by Constantine, the chief priest of the palace, called Cephala, and by Constantine of Malelia in Thrace, all prostrated themselves on the ground and swore an oath to die together, force against force, against the Bulgarians, and set out. John Grapson led the Excubiti regiment, and the son of Marullus led the Icanati; Romanus Argyrus was the commander, along with his brother Leo and Bardas Phocas, whom Melias accompanied with the Armenians (and all the other generals of the themes accompanied them as well). ^B Constantine Libs, the patrician, was also there with Leo the Domestic, acting as his advisor in all matters pertaining to the campaign.

(16) Thus, on the twentieth day of the month of August, in the fifth indiction, a battle was joined between the Bulgarians and the Romans at the river Acheloos. As the judgments of God are, they are altogether unsearchable and inscrutable. The Romans were put to flight in full force, and there occurred a total rout and a terrible wailing, as they trampled upon one another and were slaughtered by the enemy; a shedding of blood such as had not happened since the beginning of time. ^C Leo the Domestic escaped by fleeing to Mesembria. However, among the others who were slaughtered in the collision of war were Constantine Libs, John Grapson, and many other of the commanders.

(17) At the same time, Romanus the patrician and Naval Drungary was sent with the whole fleet to the Danube River, to bring aid to Leo Phocas; but John Bagas was also sent to bring up the Patzinaces, as had been previously decreed, with orders for the Drungary Romanus to ferry them across so that they might join Leo Phocas against the Bulgarians. But when Romanus and John, the son of Bardas, fell into contentions and verbal disputes, the Patzinaces ^D parted from one another

^A and withdrew to their own territories.

When therefore the war was brought to an end, and Romanus and Boga had returned to the city, a question was raised concerning their disagreement, and they brought the drungary Romanus into such great danger that they even passed a sentence of condemnation against him, that he should be deprived of his eyes, as though by negligence, or rather by malice, he had not transported the Patzinaces, but had withdrawn too quickly and had not received the fleeing Romans into his ships. And he would have suffered much, had not his sentence been reversed by Constantine, the patrician of Gongyles, and Stephen, the magistros, who possessed great authority with the Augusta.

^B When the Bulgarians, elated by their victory at that time, led their troops as far as the city, Leo, the domestic of the schools, and John, the hetairiarch, and Nicolaus, the son of the doux, went out to that region of Thrace called Catasyrtas, equipped with a large army against the Bulgarians. But during the night, when the Bulgarians suddenly fell upon them, and the domestic took to flight, Nicolaus, the son of the doux, and many others with him, were slaughtered.

(20) Theodorus, therefore, the pedagogue of the Emperor Constantine, seeing that the parakoimomenos Constantine was meditating on transferring the empire to Leo, his son-in-law, suggested ^C to the Emperor Constantine that he should appoint Romanus, his paternal servant and one joined to him by benevolence, as drungary, so that he might always be present to assist him, keep him safe, and in all things where there was need, have him as a helper and ally. Romanus, however, often showed himself unwilling when requested about this. Therefore, the Emperor Constantine sent him a document written by his own hand and confirmed by his signature, which, when he had received into his hands, he promised to make an attack upon the parakoimomenos Constantine and his kinsmen whenever there should be need.

(21) Since, therefore, this report was spreading everywhere, and the parakoimomenos Constantine ^D was compelling Romanus to move out with the fleet, he himself was resistant to the contrary...

[alt-version omitted]

^A, therefore, he made a false excuse that it was impossible to sail because the soldiers had not yet been paid their customary stipend. ^A While Romanus was occupied with the preparations and outfitting the ships, the parakoimomenos Constantine came out, as if to urge him to set sail. He met him in the guise of a servant and promised that he would execute his orders with promptness. When the parakoimomenos was preparing to return, and Romanus asked him whether he had men of good appearance and noble spirit who could man the oars of the imperial trireme, he at once signaled with his hand to those who were nearby, ready to approach. They, being aware of the plan—for Romanus was already very near the dromon—since he was walking behind the parakoimomenos Constantine, he cried out: "Seize him and take him up with your hands!" ^B Straightway, therefore, having seized him, they placed him onto the trireme of the droungarios Romanus and held him in custody, no one of his companions daring to fight back or defend him; on the contrary, everyone shamefully took to flight.

(22) When these things were reported to Zoe Augusta, she summoned the patriarch Nicholas and the magnates kindly disposed to her, and sent them to Romanus, anxious to be informed of the order of all that had occurred. Indeed, when they were going toward her, the people attacked them by throwing stones. The next morning, therefore, Zoe went out to the solar clock of the Bucoleon and cried out to her son and to all: "How, then, has this rebellion come about?" ^C And the tutor of the emperor Constantine, Theodore, said to her, "These things have come to pass because Leo Phocas has destroyed the Romans, and the parakoimomenos Constantine has subverted the palace."

(23) The emperor then summoned the patriarch Nicholas and the master Stephen to be with him in the palace, transferring the power of the empire to himself from his mother. On the following day he sent John the Tubakes to remove Zoe Augusta from the palace. She, with wailing and tears, embracing her son, moved him to maternal compassion and pity, so that the emperor said: "Allow my mother to be with me." And they, at this word, let her go.

(24) ^D The emperor and the patriarch summoned John the Garidas and appointed him Domestic of the Schools, fearing that Leo Phocas might resort to rebellion.

^A However, he did not consent to this, unless they appointed as commanders of the Guard (hetaeriarchs) Theodorus, the brother-in-law of Zuphinezer, and his son Simeon. Having been assured by oaths from them, he went down to his house. Immediately, those men drove his kinsmen from the palace. When Garidas saw them flocking to him, he was seized by an unaccustomed fear and an unusual stupefaction of mind. He went at once to Romanus and explained what he had suffered. Friendship was soon struck up with him, and oaths having been given and received on both sides—and having promised to have one mind toward each other—he followed the intent and counsel of Romanus; and in order to bind him with a tighter bond of love, by contracting a mutual marriage pact, he secured the man for himself.

Therefore, on the twenty-fourth day of the month of March, Romanus sent John the presbyter, his own most faithful domestic, and Theodorus, surnamed Matzuces, as envoys to the palace, to speak in his defense: ^B "That which has been done by me is not a rebellion, but fearing the machinations of Phocas, and afraid lest something be devised against the emperor, for that reason I have planned to enter the palace and undertake the guardianship of the emperor." To these things, however, patriarch Nicholas did not acquiesce; thus, it was signified to Romanus by the aforementioned Theodorus, his tutor, that he should arrive with his entire fleet as far as the Bucoleon, and that he himself should have counsel with his associates (for indeed, he had come into great anxiety of soul). On the day of the Annunciation of the most holy Theotokos—it was the fifth day ^C of the week—Romanus, equipped with arms, arrived at the Bucoleon with his fleet, and immediately the magister Stephanus went out from the palace. Nicetas the patrician, the co-father-in-law of Romanus, having gone into the palace, cast out the patriarch Nicholas from there. The spirits of the courtiers having been confirmed to Romanus by oath, and the venerable cross having been sent to him, he himself adoring it and an oath being interposed, concealing the intent of his mind, he himself went up into the palace with those same few of his men to show reverence to the emperor; and having entered with him into the temple which is in the Pharos, having given and received the pledge of security, he is immediately created magister and great hetaeriarcha by the emperor. ^D

^A At that same moment, a sacred mandate was sent to Leo Phocas, ordering him, having abandoned his plan of stirring up sedition, to stay at home for a short time. In the same sense, other letters were ordered to be written to Constantine the accubitor, recommending the same thing, and that he should not attempt anything contrary, but should persevere in obedience to the emperor Constantine. Andreas, primicerius of the imperial vestiarium, having received the sacred documents, brought them to him in Cappadocia, where he happened to be staying at that time; having read them, he returned to his own house and lived in quiet.

^B In the fifth week of the holy fasts, in the month of April, the betrothal of Helena, daughter of Romanus, to the emperor Constantine was contracted, and on the third day of Easter, called Galilee, it was blessed; and being crowned along with her by Nicholas the patriarch, Romanus was declared Father of the emperor, and in the place of Romanus, his son Christophorus was appointed hetaeriarcha.

^C Not long after, Leo Phocas, seduced by some of the nobility and by the soldiers of the legions committed to his care, excited a tumult and, having sent a messenger, took to himself the accubitor Constantine, the other Constantine, and Anastasius, own brothers, and Constantine the protasecretis, son of Malelia, insinuating and persuading everyone that all this movement was being stirred up for the sake of the emperor Constantine's service. But Romanus, the Father of the emperor, issued golden bulls, confirmed by his own signature, as if in the name of the emperor, intended to suppress an attempt of this kind; by these, it was ordered that those who deserted Phocas and defected to the emperor's side should be considered as standing for the emperor. He entrusted these same letters to a certain Anna, a woman of shameless mouth and profligate virtue, and to a certain cleric named Michael, that they might distribute them through the opposing army. They, having received the letters, took care to have them distributed throughout the entire army; and Michael, coming under suspicion of the deed, was treated cruelly by Phocas, being punished by having his nose and ears cut off; later, however, he received fitting compensation from Romanus, as did the woman who had been sent with him.

^A The first, therefore, to leave Phocas and defect to the side of Romanus was the son of Barymichael, who thus became the initiator of the dissolution of this rebellion and tyranny; with him also went Balantius, both of whom were commanders of horse. Leo Phocas, then, with an army strongly armed in every type of weaponry, set out for Chrysopolis and, intending to strike terror into the citizens of Constantinople, encamped from the Stone Ox as far as Chalcedon. While these things were being done, Simeon, the keeper of the inkstand, was sent by Romanus in a fast boat, ^C carrying a document signed by the hand of Emperor Constantine.

(30) “I have found no one among my subjects more vigilant and faithful than Romanus. To him, after God, I have entrusted the protection of myself, and I have decided to treat him as a father, since he has shown me the inner heart of a mother and the resolve of a father. I have always suspected this Leo Phocas of plotting against my empire, and now I have found him in the very act of treachery and rising tyrannically against my rule. Therefore, I declare that from this moment he is no longer commander, nor do I say that he has carried out this rebellion with my consent, but rather that he has committed this aggression by his own independent will, usurping the empire for himself.” When these words were read aloud to the people, all began to withdraw and to cleave to Romanus, the father of the emperor. ^C Phocas, having fallen into dire straits (and having lost all hope, feeling that he had surely achieved nothing), betook himself to flight. Arriving at the fortress of Ateous, and not being accepted into it (fleeing instead to a place called Goeleon, where he was captured), Romanus sent John Tubakes and Leo, a kinsman of his, to bring him to the city. Those who seized him blinded him, although they had received no order to do so, having done this on their own initiative, at which Romanus, the father of the emperor, was greatly saddened.

(31) In the month of August, the plots of Constantine Ctematenus, David Camulianus, and Michael, the curator of the Manganon, were discovered; wherefore they too, their property having been confiscated, were scourged and led through the center of the city and sent into exile.

^A They also brought in Leo, the magistros and domestic of the schools, to the city, and he traveled through the center of the marketplace seated on a mule.

(35) ^B Zoe Augusta was also accused of plotting against Romanos by means of poisoned food (prepared by Theokletos, the notary of the ministry); wherefore, having compelled her to depart from the palace, they shaved her head and made her a nun in the monastery of Saint Euphemia, situated at Petrion.

(34) Theodorus, the pedagogue of the emperor Constantine, and his brother Symeon were invited to a banquet by Theophylaktos, the patrician and count of the stable. While they were reclining, Joannes the drungarios of the watch, called Kourkouas, entered with a great crowd of people; and having seized them, he expelled them to the Opsikion and forced them into exile on their own suburban estates, as if they had been plotting against Romanos.

(35) On the twenty-fourth of the month of September, Romanos was honored with the dignity of Caesar; and on the seventeenth of the month of December, on the Sunday of the Forefathers, he was crowned with the imperial diadem by the emperor Constantine, his son-in-law, and by the patriarch Nikolaos.

XI. On the reign of Romanos.

On the sixth of January, the day of the Holy Lights, he crowned his wife Theodora; soon, on the seventeenth of the month of May, in the fifth indiction, Christophoros, the son of Romanos, was proclaimed emperor; and on the twentieth of the same month, on the holy feast day of Pentecost, he was crowned by the emperor Constantine: and these two alone proceeded through the city in the solemn procession of that same day.

(2) In the month of July, in the eighth indiction, on a Sunday, the unity of the whole Church was brought about by Romanos, with all the metropolitans and clerics who had seceded from the parties of the patriarch Nikolaos and Euthymios returning to agreement.

(3) On the eighth day of the month of February, in the ninth indiction, Romanos sent and exiled the magistros Stephanos, the son of Kalomarias, to the island of Antigoni, having been accused of aspiring to the empire; having previously, together with Theophanes Tichiotis and Paul the orphanotrophos...

been deprived of his own men. ^A Now Romanus the emperor, having a formal proceeding at the Tribunal, with everyone gathered there in arms, and the reckoning of the soldiers having taken place, Romanus and Constantine suddenly, with great speed, returned to the palace. For a conspiracy of Arsenius himself and Paul Manglabites had been reported by Leo, the domestic of Arsenius, and by the men of his household. They, having been scourged and their property confiscated, were sent into exile. (At that time the presbyter John, the referendary, was exercising great power, he who had made Leo, the son of Arsenius, a hebdomadary, having previously recommended him to the emperor).

^B There was at that time in Hellas a certain Rentacius, a kinsman of the patrician Nicetas, an unprincipled man and guilty of parricide, as he had laid snares for his own father. Fleeing from the onslaught of his son, the latter boarded a ship and sailed away, and was captured by the Cretans. This Rentacius, having found an opportunity, plundered all the property of his father and, having come to the city, took refuge in the Great Church of God. But the emperor Romanus, having become informed of his crimes and robberies, ordered him to be dragged from the asylum and punished. Rentacius, however, having forged false letters to the Bulgarians, decided to defect to them. Having been caught and convicted, he was deprived of his eyes.

^C As the Bulgarians were again making incursions as far as Catasyrtæ after the death of the domestic Adralestus, Pothus, the son of Argyrus, was appointed domestic of the schools. Having led troops out as far as Thermopolis, he sent Michael, the son of Moroleon (who was their toparch), to scout the movement of the Bulgarians. He, unexpectedly falling in with their line, killed many of the Bulgarians, but having received wounds, he himself entered the city and died.

^D At that time, a conspiracy against the emperor Romanus was organized by Anastasius the sacellarius and chief of the goldsmiths, and by Theodoretus the cubicularius, and Demetrius, notary of the royal treasury, and Nicolaus Cubatzes, who favored the emperor Constantine. The plot was reported by Theocletus, notary of the office; and they, having been convicted and scourged, were sent into exile.

^A Theodoretus, having been scourged separately at the place in the palace called the Triconchus, was also sent into exile; and they shore the head of the sakellarios Anastasius in the monastery of the Elegmoi, where he also died.

(8) Romanus, having seized upon this pretext, deposes the emperor Constantine from the primacy and establishes him as second; but he promotes himself to the foremost position.

(9) ^B Simeon again leads an army against the Romans, and having sent a multitude of Bulgarians together with Caucanus and Menicus and others, he ordered them to march against the city as quickly as possible. These, then, having passed through the mountains, came as far as the Manglaba. When the emperor Romanus learned of their approach (reasoning that they might descend and burn the palaces of the Pegae and the Stenon), he sent John the rector, together with Leo and Pothus, called the Argyri, having with them a sufficient multitude from the imperial forces and the company and the regiments, with whom also was Alexius Mousele with his people — it was the fifth week of the Fast. ^B Having therefore drawn up these forces in the level and lower-lying places of the Pegae, the Bulgarians appeared from above, armed, ^C making a confusion of strange and terrible cries, and charging down upon them with great impetuosity; immediately John the rector took to flight, and Photeinus, son of Platypodes, fighting on his behalf along with many others, was killed. He, therefore, having with difficulty escaped the danger, embarked on a light galley. Alexius, fully armed, also made his escape, as did the drungarius Alexius Mousele. But since he could not easily board the ladder of the light galley, he was plunged into the sea together with his first-mandator and was drowned. The Argyri, however, fleeing to the fortress, saved themselves. As for the rest of the multitude, some, fleeing the hands of the enemy, were drowned in the sea; others were consumed by the sword; others were taken captive by Bulgarian hands. The Bulgarians, having no one to stop them, burned the palaces of the Pegae and burned the entire Stenon. (Thus, then, is imprudence combined with temerity and inexperience a terrible ally.)

^A In the month of February, on the twentieth day, in the tenth indiction, Theodora, the consort of Romanus, died; and her body was deposited in the house of the emperor Romanus himself, which had been converted by him into a monastery. [Bracket 10] In the same month ^B Sophia, the wife of the Emperor Christopher, was crowned.

At that time the Curopalates of Iberia arrived in the city, and having passed through the middle of the forum, which had been magnificently adorned, he was received with great honor and glory. He proceeded to the Holy Sophia of God, and having contemplated the vastness and the adornment of the temple (for it had been decorated within and adorned with hangings variegated with gold before he was introduced), and having marveled at its various furnishings, he declared that this place was truly the house of God, and then returned to his own country.

^C In the month of June, the Bulgarians again waged war and penetrated as far as the palaces of Saint Theodora, and having consigned them to fire, the Emperor Romanus summoned the commanders of the regiments, and with them also [one] called Sactices, and he exhorted and urged them to go out against the enemy and fight for the fatherland. They readily agreed to die for his imperial majesty and for the Christians. On the following day, therefore, the aforementioned Sactices, having been armed by the emperor, demonstrated that the loyalty he had pledged was true and steadfast. For he attacked the Bulgarians from the rear and, leaping upon their camp, slaughtered everyone found there.

The Bulgarians, having learned what had happened, returned to the camp, and when the battle was joined, with few men they forced Sactices to turn his back. He, having fought bravely and having killed many of the enemy, and being attacked by so many that he could no longer resist, slackened the reins of his horse and spurred it to flight. As he was crossing a river flowing nearby, his horse became stuck in the deep mud, and he was wounded in the buttocks and the hip. Having with difficulty extracted the horse from the mud with the help of his men, he was carried to the Blachernae, and having been placed in a holy coffin, since the wound was mortal, he died in the night.

At that same time also, the most reverend Petronas, by the ^D order of the Emperor Romanus, brought a chest from the monastery of Saint Mamas, near the gate called Xylocercus...

in which they say that Mauricius was deposited with his children, and he placed them in the Emperor’s monastery.

(14) A certain Adrian, a Chaldian, along with Tatzates the Armenian—a very wealthy man—counseled and instigated by Bardas Boelas, who was in command of the Chaldian militia, stirred up tyranny and rebellion against the Emperor Romanus, seizing the fortified place called Panper. John Krokas, Domestic of the Schools, fought against them; he captured some of them, and blinded the more prominent ones, having confiscated their property. Tatzates, however, after fleeing to another very secure fortress and receiving a promise that he would suffer no harm, entered the city; and having been honored with the rank of manglabites, he lived in the house of the Mangana, under custody. But having plotted an escape, he was caught, and was deprived of his eyesight. They tonsured Bardas Boelas as a monk, the Emperor having shown mercy to him as a friend.

(15) Now, as for a certain patrician by the name of Moroleon, the governor of the city of Adrianople—a man most mighty in war and of great skill, who had demonstrated many deeds of valor against the Bulgarians—Simeon the Bulgarian once again besieged the aforementioned city with his whole army, and having surrounded it with a palisade, he pressed it hard with strong arms. But when the grain failed those in the city, and a grievous famine pressed upon them—for they were entirely unable to procure provisions, being crushed by the scarcity—they handed over themselves ^B and the governor to the Bulgarians. Simeon, having seized him and bound him with chains over his whole body, and having tormented him with myriad tortures, finally killed him with a bitter death (worthy of his own most savage and cruel soul). Having therefore entrusted the guard of the city to the Bulgarians, he departed; but they, hearing of the advance of the Roman army against them, left the city and went away, and it again came under the Romans.

(16) As Leo of Tripolis, with a great force ^C and ships of war, was attacking the Romans and occupying the island of Lemnos, the patrician John Radinus and...

who was also drungary of the fleet—unexpectedly attacked him. A battle ensued, and by the assistance of God, the Hagarenes under his command were routed, with only the Tripolitan escaping by flight.

(17) In the month of September, in the second indiction, Simeon, the prince of Bulgaria, having led out all his forces, prepared an expedition against Constantinople. He ravaged Thrace ^B and Macedonia, set fires everywhere, overturned everything, and cut down even the trees. Having reached Blachernae, he requested that the patriarch Nicholas and certain of the grandees be sent to him so that they might confer with him regarding peace. Both sides having given hostages, they met; the patriarch Nicholas arrived first, then a patrician named Michael Stypiotes, and John the mystic, who held second rank after the emperor—for John the rector, having suffered calumny before the emperor, had pleaded illness, deserted the palace, and subsequently had been tonsured in his own monastery near Galacrenai.

These, then, were ^C negotiating peace with Simeon; but Simeon sent them back, for he desired to see the emperor himself, having been informed by many of his prudence, fortitude, and skill. The emperor was greatly delighted, for he was led by a desire for peace and lamented the blood being shed daily. Therefore, he ordered a very strong platform to be erected in the sea at the shore of Cosmidion, to which the imperial trireme could be easily brought by oars, and enclosing it with a very secure partition, he ordered the space in the middle to be arranged so that they might speak to one another about peace within it. But Simeon, having sent ^D soldiers, burned the temple of the most holy Theotokos at the Spring, and laid waste all the surrounding places, indicating thereby that he was a stranger to peace but was merely deluding the emperor with empty hopes.

(19) The emperor, together with the patriarch Nicholas, having arrived at Bla-

the holy shrine, extended his hands in prayer; then, falling prone, he watered that holy floor with his tears, beseeching the most immaculate Theotokos to soften the unyielding and relentless heart of the proud tyrant Simeon and to inspire in him the things that make for peace. Having opened the holy chest where the venerable robe of the most holy Theotokos was stored, the emperor took it out and wrapped it about himself like an impenetrable breastplate, and having donned his faith in the immaculate Theotokos like a helmet, he went out from the temple, having fortified himself with secure arms. Having adorned the fleet that was with him with shields and weapons, he reached the designated place to converse with Simeon.

(20) On the fifth day after these things occurred, which was the ninth day of the month of September, at the fourth hour of the day, Simeon arrived, accompanied by an immense multitude divided into many ranks—some with golden shields and gilded spears, others with silver shields and spears gleaming with silver, and others adorned with every kind of armament, all of them encased in iron. In their midst they received Simeon, whom they proclaimed as emperor, accompanying him with favorable acclamations. Men of the senatorial order, leaning against the walls, watched what was happening. It was truly a spectacle worth seeing, that soul of the emperor, worthy and noble, and it was a wonder to behold the unyielding nature of his resolve and the stature of his courage, which, seeing such an onslaught of enemies, was not terrified, nor crushed, nor did it retreat; but rather, as if he were going into the midst of a multitude of friends, he proceeded so fearlessly, almost offering his own soul as a ransom for the salvation of his subjects.

(21) The emperor, having arrived first at the said platform, awaited Simeon. When hostages were given from both sides and the Bulgarians had searched the platform thoroughly to see if there were any trickery or ambush, Simeon dismounted from his horse and went toward the emperor. Having greeted one another, they began to speak of peace. The emperor is said to have said to Simeon: "I have heard that you are a God-fearing man and a true Christian, but I see that your deeds in no way correspond to your words. For it is the hallmark of a God-fearing man and a Christian to embrace peace and charity, since God is and is called Charity, whereas the impious and ^{B C D}

unjustly shed, and to rejoice in slaughter and blood. If, then, you are a true Christian, as we fully believe you to be, put an end at last to ^B these unjust slaughters and the pouring out of unholy blood, and strike a pact of peace with us, the Christians, since you are yourself and are called a Christian. Do not desire to stain the right hand of Christians with the blood of fellow-believing Christians. You are yourself a man who awaits death, resurrection, and the retribution of works; you exist today, but tomorrow you will be dissolved into dust; a mere fever will extinguish all your boasting. What account, therefore, will you render to God when you stand before His tribunal for these unjust slaughters? With what countenance will you look upon the fearful and just Judge? If you do this out of a desire for wealth, I will fill you, even to satiety, with whatever you desire; only restrain your right hand, embrace peace, love concord, so that you too may live a tranquil life, free from anxiety, and that the Christians may be in some small measure relieved and cease to lay hands upon other Christians. For it is a sin to bear arms against men of the same faith.” ^C Having said these things, the emperor fell silent. Simeon, marveling at his moderation and his words with reverence, agreed for peace to be concluded. So, when they had said farewell to each other, they departed from one another, the emperor heaping magnificent gifts upon Simeon.

I will also tell of a prodigy that occurred at that time, which surpasses the belief even of those who judge such things. For while the princes were speaking to one another, they say that two eagles flew over them and appeared, and they say that they mingled together and immediately separated from one another, and that the one flew toward the city, while the other was carried by the motion of its wings toward Thrace. Those who study such things with curiosity did not judge this to be a favorable omen; for they divined that they would depart in discord and with the peace ^D unaccomplished. Simeon, after gathering his army, explained to his own magnates the emperor’s wisdom and moderation, and praised the excellence of his appearance and his fortitude and his undisturbed spirit.

(23) On the twenty-fifth day of the month of December, Romanus crowned his sons Stephen and Constantine with the imperial crown; but Patriarch Nicholas also tonsured and made a cleric, and ordained as subdeacon, Theophylact the eunuch, his own son, as...

and promoted him ^A to be syncellus, having previously caused him to enter the sanctuary with the subdeacons.

On the twenty-ninth day of the month of April, Romanus appointed John the Mystic to be administrator, patrician, and proconsul; and on account of this, John was regarded with envy by some and accused.

On the fifteenth day of the month of May, in the third indiction, Patriarch Nicholas departed this life, having held the patriarchy for thirteen years during his second tenure; his body was deposited in the monastery of the Galacrenai, which he had himself founded. In the month of August, Stephen, metropolitan of Amasea, who was a eunuch, was installed as patriarch.

^B After these events, in the month of October, John the Mystic—the administrator ranking after the emperor—was accused, as if he were aspiring to the empire, at the instigation of the patrician Cosmas and the logothete of the drome, who had given his daughter to him in marriage. For this reason, although he was dismissed from the palace, he was permitted to come to court and to serve the emperor and to administer the things associated with him; for the Emperor Romanus possessed the greatest affection for him, as he was able to serve him in all matters, and he did not wish to dismiss him entirely. When his accusers, therefore, urged the emperor on and clearly demonstrated the charges, the emperor investigated, and having learned that these things were true, he intended to seize him and examine him. ^C When he foresaw this, he took to flight, and arrived at the place called Monocastana, where he was shorn as a monk. Constantine, son of Boëlas, the master of the table, who was his intimate and friend, also fled, and arrived at Mount Olympus, where he took on the monastic habit; for he too was afraid, as he was a confidant of the Mystic and a participant in his more secret affairs. The emperor, having stripped the patrician Cosmas of his magistracy, punished him with scourges at the Horologion of the palace; and Theophanes the protovestiarius was promoted to be administrator of the empire in the place of John the Mystic.

^D At that time, a terrible earthquake occurred in the province of the Thracesians, and a great and astonishing chasm opened, such that many villages and churches together with their inhabitants were swallowed up.

On the twenty-seventh day of the month of May, in the fifteenth indiction,

Concerning Simeon of Bulgaria and his defeat by the Croats, and his death

^A Simeon, the ruler of Bulgaria, died, having proclaimed as ruler his son Peter, whom he had begotten from his second wife, the sister of George Surzubulis, whom Simeon also left behind as a guardian for his children. For Michael, whom he had begotten from his first wife, he tonsured a monk; and John and Benjamin, the brothers of Peter, were still adorned in the Bulgarian dress.

(29) When the surrounding regions, the Croats and other peoples, heard of the death of Simeon, they planned to take up arms against the Bulgarians. But since famine, together with locusts, was severely pressing upon the Bulgarian nation, they themselves feared the incursion of other nations, but feared even more the arrival of the ^B Romans. Therefore, having taken counsel, they marched against the Romans and occupied Macedonia, intending, as was natural, to strike fear into the Romans. Afterward, learning that the emperor was about to march against them, they sent secretly 10 a certain monk named Calocyrus, an Armenian by birth, carrying a golden bull. The contents of the bull were that they were not only prepared to embrace peace with the Romans, but were also eager to conclude it and, if they wished, to make a marriage alliance.

(30) When the emperor had welcomed such a monk most gladly, he immediately dispatched a light craft ^C with the monk Theodorus Abuces and Basil the Rhodian, and sent them to Mesembria 11 in order to negotiate peace with the Bulgarians. Having arrived and spoken of matters suitable for peace, they set out by land together with Stephen the Bulgarian. Behind them arrived also George Surzubules; and, all having gathered at Constantinople, they confirmed the peace and sought to make a marriage alliance with the emperor. Having caught sight of Maria, the daughter of the emperor Christopher, and being greatly delighted by her appearance, they 32 wrote to Peter that he should come as quickly as possible, having first established the conditions of the peace.

^A ...and Nicetas the Magister, the father-in-law of the Emperor Romanus, was sent to meet and bring Peter all the way to the city. When Peter the Bulgar had arrived, the Emperor Romanus embarked on triremes and reached the Blachernae; he beheld Peter arriving to him and greeted him. And when they had conversed together as was fitting, the conditions of peace and the marriage contracts were signed, the Protovestiarius Theophanes mediating these matters and continuously regulating the affairs between the Romans and the Bulgars.

^B (32) On the eighth day of the month of October, the Patriarch Stephanus, together with the Protovestiarius Theophanes and Maria, the daughter of the Emperor Christopher, and the entire senate, proceeded to the church of the Most Holy Theotokos at the Pegai, and they blessed Peter and Maria and placed the nuptial crowns upon their heads, with the Protovestiarius Theophanes and Georgius Soursoboulos acting as best men. A sumptuous and magnificent banquet having been prepared, and all things customary for weddings having been carried out joyfully, the Protovestiarius Theophanes, together with Maria, the daughter of the Emperor Christopher, returned to the city.

(33) ^C On the third day following the wedding, the Emperor Romanus prepared a magnificent banquet at the landing stage of the Pegai, on the imperial dromon, having adorned it with silken fabrics; there the Emperor Romanus sat together at the feast with Peter the Bulgar, along with his son-in-law Constantine and his son Christopher. As the Bulgars had previously made no small contention that Christopher should be acclaimed first, and then Constantine, the Emperor Romanus yielded to their insistence, and what they requested was done.

(34) ^D When all things pertaining to the marriage had been completed, and Maria was now ready to set out for Bulgaria with her husband Peter, her parents accompanied her as far as the Hebdomon along with the Protovestiarius Theophanes. Having dined there with Peter, when it was time to depart, they embraced their daughter, shedding many tears—as is natural when one is deprived of a beloved child—and after kissing their son-in-law, they were handed over to the power of his daughter and returned to the palace.

^A Maria, having been handed over to Bulgar hands, departed for Bulgaria, rejoicing and at the same time grieving: grieving for being separated from her beloved parents, from the imperial halls, and from the companionship of those related to her by birth; but rejoicing in that she had been joined to a husband adorned with a royal crown and had been hailed as Queen of the Bulgarians. She departed, therefore, laden with brilliant and varied wealth and countless equipment.

(55) ^B At that time, envoys arrived from Melitene to the Emperor Romanos to arrange terms of peace. Not long after, Apocaps, nephew of Amer—the emir of Melitene—and Apolasath, a most noble and wealthy commander, arrived from Melitene. Having been received with fitting honors by Romanos and having established terms of peace, they returned to their own lands. From that time on, they campaigned with the Romans against their own fellow-tribesmen, the Hagarenes, and after victory, they processed through the city in triumph with the Romans, leading Hagarene captives—a thing that seemed miraculous and incredible, and an example of the misery of the impious Saracens. ^C But when Apocaps, a prudent and sagacious man, had been taken from the land of the living, they immediately broke the peace. Consequently, against them marched John Krokas, the Domestic of the Schools, along with the legions, and Melias with the Armenians attached to him. Making many raids daily and, with continuous incursions, harassing and plundering them, they brought Melitene to such straits that they laid it waste immediately and razed it to the ground, and not it alone, but also neighboring cities and regions that offered the hope of fruitfulness from the fertility of their rich soil. The Emperor, therefore, placed Melitene under a curator, imposing upon it the necessity of collecting many thousands of gold and silver pieces annually, not only from it, but also from the rich and fertile neighboring cities and regions, which provided vast revenues. Having restored this Melitene to a curatorship, the Emperor made it pay thousands in gold and silver every year.

(56) ^D Nicetas the magister, father-in-law of the Emperor Christopher, was accused of having advised him on a plan to rise against his own father and to cast him from the empire. For this reason, he was driven from the city, tonsured a monk, and exiled to his own suburb.

^A On the eighteenth day of the month of July, in the sixth indiction, the patriarch Stephen died. Then, in the month of December, they appointed as patriarch for a fixed time Tryphon, a monk living a solitary life in Opsikion, who was renowned for his piety and holiness, until the son of the emperor Romanus, Theophylact—whom they had decided to make patriarch of Constantinople—should reach the measure of his years.

(38) ^B Furthermore, on the twenty-fifth day of the same month, such a harsh winter prevailed that the earth remained frozen for one hundred and twenty days. From this came a great famine, surpassing all those that had ever occurred before, and a vast mortality, such that the living were not sufficient to carry out the dead. ^C But the emperor Romanus, having contemplated that intolerable calamity, and being inclined toward compassion and mercy, showed worthy proofs of his character, consoling the need caused by the famine with abundant alms. Furthermore, he divided the spaces of the colonnades with boards and installed windows, so that the snow and cold would not penetrate against the poor from those directions. At that time, he also constructed what are called *arklai* (chests) in all the colonnades, and ordered that silver money be distributed every month to the poor who lay in them, and that monthly *trimisia* be distributed in the churches to other poor, so that the coined silver money distributed to the poor in the *arklai* and to those in the churches amounted to twelve thousand. ^D That compassionate soul, providing for the poor, ordained not only these things, but also ordered three poor men to eat with him daily, each of whom would receive one gold coin; and on Wednesday and Friday, three poor monks would dine with him and receive the established gold coin. Moreover, he followed the custom observed in monasteries, that reading should take place during the time of the meal, setting a double table before himself and his guests; so that while the body was nourished with the customary food, the soul was nurtured with the similar pleasure of discourse, which he provided, watering it with a copious source of tears as he reflected on it in contrition of soul.

(39) He truly possessed faith toward all monks, and note.

^A especially those renowned for sanctity and piety; who could recount it? For he never saw a monk who was a devotee of virtue to whom he did not disclose his own deeds with many tears. Most faithful and most orthodox, he brilliantly adorned and beautified all the churches of the city with translucent veils and a sumptuous abundance of candles and lamps. Moreover, he did not abandon the monks living in the mountains—namely on Olympus, in Cymena, in the place called Petra Aurea, and on Mount Barachaeus—but sent them annual revenues, caring for them and providing for them; he summoned those renowned for practice and contemplation to himself, gathering the blessings of their prayers. Indeed, he did not cease to provide the annual revenues he had established to those as well who had secluded themselves for the sake of God and confined themselves in the narrowest retreats, and to all the monasteries. And these are but a few of the countless benefits of his liberality that we have gathered.

^B Now John, the brother of Peter the Bulgar, was preparing an ambush against him with other Bulgars; and when their crime was discovered, John was beaten and locked in prison, while the others were subjected to extraordinary punishments. Since Peter made these same things manifest to the Emperor Romanus by letter, the emperor sent the monk John—who had been a rhaictor—under the pretext of arranging an exchange for the captive prisoners, but in truth to seize John and bring him to Constantinople; which also came to pass. For, having entered a ship with John from Mesembria, he sailed to the City. Not long after, as the man laid aside his monastic habit and sought to take a wife, the emperor gave him a house and very many estates, and a wife from his own fatherland, ^C originating from the Armeniacs; and he celebrated a brilliant wedding in the house of Caesar, with Emperor Christopher and the monk John—the one who had been rhaictor—acting as groomsmen.

^D Furthermore, in the month of March, on the second day, a *cosmites* placed upon the columns of the Forum fell to the ground and crushed six men. Also, a huge fire occurred.

^A and it was great and fearful in the portico of the Forum, near the church of the most holy Theotokos, so that the candle-sellers' shops and the furriers' shops of the Forum were consumed as far as the Psechas.

^B In the month of August, in the fourth indiction, the Emperor Christopher died, over whom his father mourned greatly, being already advanced in age and having sons still young; and his body was buried in the aforementioned monastery of his father.

Tryphon the patriarch was also deposed in the month of August, in the third indiction, having completed the stated time. Upon retiring to his own monastery he died. The Church remained widowed of a pastor for one year and five months, because Theophylact, the son of the Emperor Romanus, had not yet reached a mature age; for Romanus, as it is said, intended to establish him as patriarch.

^C A certain Basilius, a Macedonian, a wicked impostor, falsely claiming to be Constantine Ducas, enticed many to follow him. He was seized by Elephantinus, the *turmarch* of the Opsikion, and was brought to Constantinople, where his hand was cut off by the *eparch* Peter. But seizing an opportunity, he returned to the Opsikion and, having fitted a bronze hand in place of the one that had been cut off, and having provided himself with an enormous sword, he wandered about deceiving many, pretending that he himself was Constantine, the son of Ducas. ^D Having enticed many people to himself, he instigated a stupendous rebellion against the Roman Empire; and having taken possession of the fortress which is called the Broad Stone (Lata Petra), he stored up every kind of provision there, from which he would sally forth to commit brigandage and plunder those whom he encountered. The Emperor sent an army against him, pursued him and his companions, and having captured him, brought him to the city. He was examined through the courts and subjected to many stripes, so that he might reveal if any knew of the rebellion. But he, looking to his own interests, slandered eminent men of high rank as if they were of the same mind as he, framing lies far from the truth. However, having been convicted, he was at length made fuel for the fire at the square of the Amastrianos.

The aforementioned son of the Emperor, Theophylact, was consecrated patriarch on the second day of February, in the sixth indiction, while the legates of the Roman Pontiff were present.

^A And the aforementioned granddaughter of the Emperor Romanus, Maria, the wife of Peter of Bulgaria, came to the city not once to visit her own father and grandfather. Finally, she came with her three children, after her father Christopher had already died, and having received great and honorable wealth from her grandfather, she returned with honor.

(47) Now the Emperor Romanus betrothed to his son Stephen a wife, the daughter of Gabalas, and granddaughter of Catacyle, named Anna; and together with the bridal crown, the crown of the empire was also placed upon him. ^B

(48) The first incursion of the Turks against the Romans occurred in the month of April of the seventh indiction; they ran out as far as the city and pillaged all the life within Thrace. ^C Therefore, the patrician Theophanes, the protovestiarius and administrator of the empire, was sent to make a truce with them. He, having addressed them prudently and having dealt with them in a wonderful and sensible manner, obtained whatever he wanted, bringing back from them much praise for his prudence and gratitude for his counsels. ^D Then the Emperor Romanus showed great munificence and humanity, sparing no expense of money for the liberation of the captives.

(49) The Emperor Romanus also took a wife for his youngest son, Constantine, from the lineage of the Armeniacs, named Helena, the daughter of the patrician Adrian; and upon her death in the month of February of the second indiction, he joined him to another wife named Theophano, who was from the lineage of Mamas.

(50) Furthermore, on the eleventh day of the month of June, the Rus sailed against Constantinople with ten thousand ships. Against them, with the triremes and dromons that happened to be in the city, was sent the patrician Theophanes, the administrator of the empire and protovestiarius; and having arranged the ships and fortified himself as much as possible with fasting and tears, he awaited the Rus, expecting an opportunity to attack them. As they approached and drew near the Pharos...

^A (this place, situated at the mouth of the Euxine Sea, is called the Hieron), he suddenly attacked them. And indeed, he was the first to sail through with his own swift vessel, breaking the formation of the Rus ships and setting the majority of them on fire with his prepared sea-fire; he put the rest to flight, which the following swift vessels and triremes pursued and fell upon, inflicting a complete slaughter upon the enemy, with many ships being sunk with their crews, others being slain in great numbers, and very many being taken alive.

Those who remained sailed off to that part of Anatolia which is called Sgora. At that time, Bardas Phocas was sent by land with picked cavalry to pursue them. As for the strong force which they had sent into the regions of Bithynia to provide themselves with food and other necessities, the aforementioned Bardas Phocas encountered them, dealt with them severely, routed, and slaughtered them. Then, there arrived the Master and Domestic of the Schools, John Curcuas, with the entire army of the East ^B. He caught those who were straggling here and there and destroyed them—all of them, or rather the authors of most of these evils—by slaughter, in such a way that they, fearing his onslaught, remained huddled and crowded within their ships, never again daring to land.

843 (51) These men had committed many and very great evils before the Roman army came down. For they burned the entire place called the Stenon, and those they took captive they fixed, some on crosses and others on stakes; still others they placed as targets and shot through with arrows. As for those of the priestly order whom they took, they bound their hands behind them and drove iron nails into the middle of their heads, and they handed over many holy churches to be consumed by fire. Now that winter was approaching and they were lacking provisions, and were afraid of the army that had come upon them, especially the triremes prepared for naval battle, they took counsel to return home; and they were eager to conceal their departure from the royal fleet. In the month of September of the fifteenth indiction in

^A Thracian parts, they met the aforementioned patrician Theophanes—for they could not hide their presence from his most vigilant and noble spirit. ^B Therefore, a second naval battle was immediately joined, and the aforementioned man sank very many of their ships and killed many of them; but a few, having been saved with their ships and falling upon the shore of Coele as night descended, fled. But the patrician Theophanes returned in possession of a brilliant victory and laden with great trophies, and he was honorably and magnificently received and was honored with the dignity of *parakoimomenos*.

The aforementioned John, the *magister*, was excellent in matters of war and was held in honor for many trophies; he was extending the borders of the Empire and was laying waste to very many cities of the Agarenes. Because of the glory of such a man, the Emperor Romanos desired that his own grandson Romanos, born from his son Constantine, should take John’s daughter in marriage. But because other Augusti regarded this honor bestowed upon him with envy, the domestic *patricius* Pantherios, a relation of the Emperor Romanos, was substituted for him. And since the rest of the emperors were stirred up, Pantherios, who was a kinsman of the Emperor Romanos, fell from power.

In the first indiction, in the month of April, the Turks invaded again with a very great force. But the patrician Theophanes, the *parakoimomenos*, going out, made peace treaties with them to be observed for five years, having received noblemen as hostages; and as a result, peace was kept for five years. ^C

In the second indiction, the Emperor Romanos sent Paschalius, the *protospatharios* and *strategos* of Longobardia, to the King of Francia, Hugo, to request his daughter as a wife for Romanos, the son of his son-in-law Constantine; and the aforementioned Paschalius took her, along with much wealth, and brought her to the City. Then, in the month of September of the third indiction, the wedding was celebrated. She, having lived a common life with her husband for five years, died while her father-in-law Constantine was reigning.

^A In the month of December, a very violent wind blowing, those statues called the "demi" in the hippodrome, which were erected opposite the royal throne, fell down and shattered the pedestals beneath them and what are called the breastplates. ^B As the year turned, in that same month, they led the Emperor Romanus out of the palace. ^C Furthermore, the city of Edessa, in which the holy napkin of Christ was kept, being besieged by the Roman army and reduced to the greatest necessity, its inhabitants sent to the Emperor Romanus as envoys, promising to provide Christ’s holy napkin if the siege were lifted. In return for such a favor, they asked to receive back their nobles who were prisoners and to obtain a golden bull so that their region would no longer be ravaged by the Roman army; and this was done. When the holy napkin was sent and was already approaching Constantinople, Theophanes the patrician and chamberlain went out to the river Sangaris, and met it with magnificent illumination, reverence, and hymns. And on the 15th day of the month of August, he entered the city with it, while the emperor was at the Blachernae, and there he also venerated it. ^D The next day, those who went out at the Golden Gate—the emperor’s two sons, Stephen and Constantine, and his son-in-law Constantine, together with the Patriarch Theophylact—took up this holy pledge with the reverence it deserved, with the whole senate going before and a great illumination preceding, and on foot they conveyed it to the church of the Holy Wisdom of God, and after it was venerated there, they brought it up into the palace.

(56) In those days a certain portent arrived in the city from Armenia: two male children born from one womb, and grafted together, adhering to each other from the mouth of the stomach down to the pubic region, and looking at one another face to face; having stayed in the city for a long time, and being regarded by all as a monstrous portent and a baneful omen, they were cast out of the city. But during the sole reign of Constantine they returned. However, when one of them died, some very skilled doctors…

successfully cut away the adherent part in the hope that the other might live, but he survived only three days and then died.

(58) ^B The Emperor Romanus, as has been said above, possessed immense faith in all monks, but in private he especially honored and revered Sergius, who shone among the monastic brethren. He was the brother of the magister Cosmas and the nephew of Patriarch Photius; his nobility of soul rendered him even more illustrious than his noble birth. Indeed, he ascended to the pinnacle of virtue and knowledge, so that it was difficult to determine in which he excelled more, so thoroughly exercised was he in both. In him, more than in others, there flourished the gift of discernment, the sweetness of character, and a sense of moderation. For he did not knit his brows as do the wise men of today, nor did he display vanity or arrogance; rather, his speech was sweeter than flowing honey, his character firm and constant, and his spirit humble. The emperor kept this venerable companion with him constantly, as a true rule and plumb-line ^C ever regulating his own life. He would frequently advise the emperor to take care of his children and not to let them rush headlong into evil without discipline, lest he suffer the fate of Eli, who paid the penalty for his children's wickedness.

(59) ^C When he was cast out of the palace by his sons and relegated to the island of Prote, he once again had this man as a solace for his calamities and a soothing remedy for his distress. At that time, the most pious monk Polyeuctus ^D was also with him, offering consolation in the manner that was fitting. After the death of Patriarch Theophylact, he was promoted by Emperor Constantine to be Patriarch of Constantinople.

(60) ^C Since God is accustomed to save man in wondrous ways, He permitted the Emperor Romanus to fall into an unexpected calamity, so that through it he might be instructed, and being admonished concerning his own sins, might be found worthy of salvation. For He permitted his son Stephen to rise up against him, just as once Absalon rose up in rebellion against his own father, the great David. Constantine, indeed, with the monk Marianus…

and Basil, surnamed Petinos, and Manuel the Curtices, having their consent and that of the other Augusti, wickedly drove him from the palace and, having banished him to the island of Prote, ordered him to be shorn as a monk. ^B

XII. The Reign of Constantine Porphyrogenitus.

The emperor Constantine, son-in-law of the former, was thus left behind as sovereign. He immediately honored Bardas, son of Phokas, with the dignity of magister. Because he had displayed the excellence of his martial valor in wars for a long time, he was appointed Domestic of the Schools. He also promoted Basil, nicknamed Petinos, to be a patrician and the great hetaireiarches. The emperor also stripped the monastic habit from Marianus, of the lineage of the Argyroi, and made him a patrician and Count of the Stable; and likewise he promoted Manuel, called the Curtices, to be a patrician and Drungarios of the Vigla. Not long after, the just judgment of God overtook these three—since they ^C had sinned against the Christ of the Lord and had laid hands upon him unjustly, and were driven by a violent desire for the empire; for having been caught in the act of high treason, each of them miserably ended his life with a wretched death. I shall set forth a more expanded and elaborate account concerning them in the aforementioned work.

(2) Forty days later, on the twenty-seventh of the month of January, Constantine, suspecting the emperor Stephen and his brother Constantine—lest they should ever perpetrate similar deeds against him, and reasoning, as was plausible, that if they had not spared their own father, how would they spare him?—while they were dining with him, had them seized while the food was still in their mouths. ^D Certain men, the so-called Tornikioi, and the patrician Marianus, and the rest who were prepared for this, snatched them away and led them out of the palace, and having relegated them to the nearby islands as exiles, they had them shorn as clerics.

(3) After a little while, having requested to see their father, they arrived at the island of Prote and this, too, in the monastic...

habit, and seeing him they were seized with unbearable grief. To them, the father, shedding tears, said: "I have begotten and raised sons, but they have rejected me." And thus they were relegated: Stephen indeed to Proconnesus, then from Proconnesus to Rhodes, and from Rhodes finally to Mytilene; and Constantine to Tenedos, and thence to Samothrace, in which, having plotted a tumult and sedition against his guards, he was slaughtered by them. Michael, however, stripped the imperial sandals from the son of the Emperor Christopher and ordered him to be made a cleric.

(4) Since the Emperor Romanus was remaining on the aforesaid island, the Patriarch Theophylact and Theophanes the patrician and accubitor formed a plot to bring him back into the palace. Having communicated the matter to him and persuaded him, they were watching for a favorable opportunity to carry their plan to completion. But as this was detected and reported to the Emperor Constantine, he punished his accomplices with penalties. He sent Theophanes the patrician into exile, and having had the protospatharius George, and [the pin|cerna, and Thomas the primicerius beaten with stripes and shorn, he led them through the middle of the city in triumph and thus sent them into exile.

(5) In the month of December, of the sixth indiction, some individuals plotted a conspiracy against the Emperor Constantine, wishing to bring the Emperor Stephen from the island into the palace. ^C This conspiracy having been reported to Constantine through Michael, called Diabolinos, the emperor seized the conspirators; the noses and ears of some he cut off, and others he subjected to unbearable scourging, mounted them upon donkeys, led them in triumph through the middle of the city, and sent them into exile.

(6) And on the fifteenth day of the month of July, of the [sixth] indiction... ^D

[alt-version omitted]

the emperor Romanus died on the aforementioned island; and his body was carried to the city and deposited in the monastery which he had founded. ^A

Glory to God for all things. Amen. The narrative of the Logothete is completed.

XIII. The sole reign of Constantine Porphyrogenitus

(5) After the emperor Constantine remained alone, he appointed as protovestiarius Basil, a natural son born of a concubine to the emperor Romanus, his predecessor; he [also] made him a patrician, accubitor, and prince of the senate. He was a wise and learned man, and served the emperor in all things in a prosperous and fitting manner. ^B At that time, the patriarch Theophylactus, having been seized by an illness, ended his life after having governed the Church for twenty-four years. In his place was ordained the aforementioned Polyeuctus the monk, a venerable and most holy man.

(6) At that time also, apostolic vestments, which had been hidden in a certain corner of the city, were revealed to the emperor, who, having received them with great reverence and splendor, stored them in the great church of the Apostles; and likewise the relics of Gregory the Theologian, which were divided and deposited, part in the sanctuary of the Holy Apostles, and part in the church of the holy martyr Anastasia. ^C

(7) The emperor, therefore, because Bardas, called Phocas, the magister and domestic of the scholars, had reached old age and was unequal to the labors, removed him from the office of domestic, and in his place elected as domestic Nicephorus, a patrician and commander of the Orient, his son. In like manner, he appointed the patrician Leo, brother-german of the latter, as commander of the Occident. There occurred also a great conflagration near the church of Saint Thomas, so that the support of the iron gate was destroyed. ^C

(8) Note that in the fourteenth year of the reign of Constantine Porphyrogenitus—for he ruled for fifteen years—the emperor Basil, his grandson, the son of Romanus his son, was born. ^D When the Turks...

When the Turks had made an incursion as far as the city around the feast of Easter and had pillaged the whole of Thrace and taken great booty, the Emperor immediately sent the patrician and domestic of the Excubitors, Pothos Argyros, with his cohort and the general of the Bucellarians, and the Optimates and Thracians, to pursue them. Falling upon them by night, they slaughtered them, and took back the booty and all the captives. ^A

It is said that when the Porphyrogenitus was born, a brilliant star appeared for forty days, and at his setting and death, a star appeared shining with a gloomy light. He ended his life through illness, after having made his son Romanus emperor; and he was buried in the church of the Holy Apostles with his father, the Emperor Leo. He was of tall stature, of fair complexion; his eyes were beautiful and blue, his nose hooked, his face broad, his neck high, his shoulders broad; he was fond of feasting and wine, and courteous in speech. He lived fifty-five years, and died on the fifteenth day of the month of November, in the sixth indiction, in the year six thousand four hundred and fifty-six, leaving as his successor his son Romanus, with his mother Helena. ^B

XIV. The Reign of Romanus, Son of Constantine Porphyrogenitus.

In the year of the world six thousand four hundred and fifty-six, of the divine Incarnation nine hundred and fifty-six, Romanus reigned as Emperor of the Romans for three years, three months, and five days. He was young in age, vigorous in body, of a fair complexion, with beautiful eyes and nose, sweet of speech, straight as a cypress, broad at the shoulders, tranquil and gentle. Left heir to the empire by his father Constantine Porphyrogenitus when he was twenty-one years of age, with his one-year-old son Basil, his mother Helena, and his wife Theophano, he immediately honored the friends of his father ^C with the greatest dignities, and enriched with gifts he dismissed them from the palace, but chose and appointed administrators.

^A He selected and preferred as chamberlains and leaders of the senate Joseph the patrician and drungary of the fleet, whom he also shortly thereafter made an accubitor; he chose John, known as the Coenus, a protospatharios, as patrician and grand hetaireiarch; and he appointed Sisinnios, a protospatharios and keeper of the seals, as eparch of the city, and shortly after, patrician and quaestor.

His sisters—Zoe, Theodora, Agatha, Theophano, and Anna—he expelled from the palace and relegated to the imperial house known as the Canicleion, in which Sophia Augusta, the wife of the religious emperor [Christopher], had been tonsured as a nun, and after a few days he transferred them to the house of Antiochus; Agatha, however, he sent to the monastery built by the emperor Romanus, his grandfather, and he decreed that everything they had received in the palace should be supplied to them. ^B He honored the domestic of the schools and patrician, Nicephorus Phocas, with the rank of magister and sent him to the East; likewise, he made his brother, the patrician Leo, a magister and domestic of the West. He himself took pleasure in packs of hounds and hunting, being devoted entirely to a soft life.

He fathered another son after the death of his father, whom he named Constantine, who, not long after, was crowned by the patriarch Polyeuctus on the ambo of Hagia Sophia. Augusta Helena lived in the palace with the sovereign until, having fallen into illness, she died on the nineteenth day of the month of September; she was laid to rest in the monastery of her father, the emperor Romanus, in a sarcophagus near her father.

^C The emperor sent the magister and domestic, Nicephorus Phocas, to Crete with a large army and a great apparatus of warships and liquid fire, which [island], having previously been subject to the Romans, in the reign of Michael [the Amorian had been lost]...

arrived from Spain, because at that time the Roman armies were occupied in suppressing the tyranny and sedition of the rebel and madman Thomas, the companion of Michael, so that their hold on this island lasted until the day it was again devastated by the magister and domestic scholorum Phocas, that is, for 158 years. There were present 200 fire-bearing ships with liquid fire, 1,000 light dromons, and 360 transports burdened with provisions and engines of war. Having therefore set out from the imperial palace, the Domestic Nicephorus reached Phygela, and took care that the whole fleet might remain united and approach together. With haste, therefore, they occupied the island, and having disembarked from the ships, they constructed a rampart and a deep trench. ^B While they were thus besieging the island, a rainy and cold winter ensued, and as provisions were consumed, the soldiers, oppressed by exhaustion, wished to return home; but the prudent Nicephorus restrained them with gentle speeches. When the Emperor learned of the army’s want, he sent them grain and food of various kinds. In the month of March, however, a violent clashing of arms broke out, and after a heavy battle, the Romans captured the fortress.

In the month of October of the second year of the reign of Romanus, there occurred a shortage of wheat and barley in the city; for four modii of wheat were sold for a nomisma, and six modii of barley. The shortage did not last long, however, and a short time having passed, eight modii of wheat and twelve modii of barley were sold for a nomisma.

In the month of March, one Basil, called the Bird, was accused of desiring the empire, and was sent into exile, in which he died. The Emperor, learning of the shortage of the army of Crete...

who was sent into exile, where he also died. ^A The emperor, upon hearing of the capture of Crete, gave thanks to God. Not long after, at the order of the emperor, Nicephorus, Domestic of the Schools, entered the city; with the spoils and the captives, he proceeded on foot from his house to the Hippodrome, together with the Emir of Crete, called Curopalates, and all his kinsmen; all the Saracens were dressed in white garments. The Magister was honored by the emperor with great distinctions and rewards. The Emir, having received many gifts and gold and silver from the emperor, was granted permission to live in the countryside with his children, but was not admitted into the Senate because they did not wish to receive baptism. The emperor Romanus sent the Magister Nicephorus back to the East against the arrogant Hamdan. He, setting out, first took the fortress of Aleppo, from which a great harvest of spoils was gathered. ^B

BOOK SIXTH

(5) At that time, the Turks seized great Antioch of Syria and took many captives and made a great slaughter and destroyed a brilliant and glorious city. ^C

(6) And again Phocas drew his sword, and was moved by righteous anger and zeal, and he took commanders and forces and a mighty army, and moved against the Turks and engaged them and fought great battles, and he routed and cut down many myriads and rescued Antioch from the hands of the barbarians and restored it, beautiful and fair, just as it had been before.

(7) While Phocas was engaged in war, Romanus died and left the kingdom to his wife, Theophano, and to his children.

1. The reign of Theophano with her sons.

In the year of the world 6463, and of the divine incarnation 963, Theophano, wife of Romanus, reigned with her sons for 50 years. ^D

^A Having heard of the death of the Roman emperor, Phocas hastened to Constantinople, and gave the empress a solemn oath that he would never plot against the children of Romanus; and he became once again general of the East and was sent with forces into Syria.

^A (3) But envy and malice, which beget many evils and consume the hearts of men, entered in here also to confound affairs. For a certain eunuch of the palace, who then enjoyed great confidence and changed the imperial counsels at his whim, envied the general Phocas, and could not bear to see another’s success and good fortune; so he sent secret letters to John Tzimiskes, that he should slay Phocas with the sword or take him off by poison, and should hasten to the city to become emperor and autocrat of the Romans.

^B (4) Now Tzimiskes was a man handsome, fair-haired, beautiful, a warrior, skillful, brave, bold, full of counsel, good, magnanimous, wise, placid, most gentle, free from malice, sweet, forgetful of injuries, innocent in his ways; in a word, to say it this way, he was like a paradise planted with great graces, which God had cultivated; and he was adorned with every good virtue. Such was Tzimiskes, a man of good judgment and most graceful; and he was then the companion of Phocas and second in command after him; he was also his kinsman.

^C (5) When the letters of the eunuch reached the hands of Tzimiskes, he opened and read them; and since he was a man who hated every malice and wickedness, he handed these letters into the hands of Phocas, saying: "O great ignominy and calamity of the Romans; that the most wicked eunuchs, those artificers of iniquity, should hold the empire of the Romans and treat it as a thing for sale!"

^D (6) The general heard these things, and he was enraged, and breathed fire and wrath; and as a lion when it awakens and is shaken from sleep, and roars, so did he open his eyes and roar; and fear and trembling seized all, and he was proclaimed emperor. And he hastened to Constantinople, and entered it easily without any violence or necessity being offered; and all the nobles and the whole people, and the empress, and the patriarch received him with great joy, and by common consent they crowned him emperor of the Romans.

II. The Reign of Nicephorus Phocas

In the year of the world 6471, and of the divine incarnation 971, Nicephorus Phocas reigned. Everyone held this emperor in high esteem and...

were delighted, because he was a man most skilled in generalship, and intrepid, and powerful, and indefatigable in labors and toils, and in wars he was hardened like an anvil. ^A

(3) Now he was joined in marriage with the empress Theophano, and he showed toward the children of Romanus paternal affection and love. ^B (4) When, therefore, he attained the heights of the empire, then he showed what manner of man he was in bravery, and what a noble soul he possessed. For from the beginning he was such—a prudent and wise man, and an excellent warrior, and an experienced strategist—but such goodness was hidden, since authority rested in the will of others. But when the wheel of time brought him to such great power, then Phocas appeared like lightning, and he ran upon the enemies of the Romans; and as fire, when it finds straw or other dry material, and has a great wind, and gives into the material, and the flame rises with an uproar, and the smoke darkens the air, so did he toward the barbarians; and he cut down, and destroyed, and burned, and took captive, and ruined cities and barbarian lands, and he dismantled myriads of the foreigners, and he widened the rule and authority of the Romans. The Arabs trembled, the Armenians and Syrians shuddered, the Saracens were terrified, and the Turks fled, and the Romans again took their places and lands, and the name of Phocas was fearful to all, because every virtue was upon him: strength, bravery, prudence, gentleness, temperance. ^C

(5) But there is no man on earth who does not have some reproach or defect, even if he should occupy the rank of angels. For this great and excellent Phocas, regarding all the good qualities that a human heart ought to have, possessed that heart; and his soul was very good and God-loving; and he had myriad graces, and he strove so much to be in the fear of God and in His love, that beneath the glory of the empire he wore next to his skin a thick, hair-cloth habit, and above it the imperial robes. But even he, as a man, had a few defects; for as they say, the empress Theophano was his goddaughter, and later he had her as his wife. Another defect he had also, that he was not beneficent nor munificent, but he hid all his goods, and was like a tree devoid of leaves, which hides all its good things. ^D

(6) Moreover, it came to pass that a great famine fell upon the Romans, and the people were dying from the evil of the famine, and everywhere there was tribulation, and distress, and wailing, and weeping, because not even a *xylokaukion*, an eighth of a *modios*, could be found at the price of four hundred *assaria*.

^A Having learned this, Phocas felt pity—or perhaps he even feigned it—to do a kindness to the people. He decreed that the grain stores of the city be opened and that a *kaukion* be sold for four hundred *assaria*; he was so ungenerous, despite the fact that there were a thousand granaries of grain there from the time of abundance. He did not emulate Basil the Macedonian, the true emperor. For this Basil, on the day of the feast of Pascha, rode through Constantinople with the commanders and nobles, wearing splendid raiment, while a great famine was raging. There the emperor saw fathers of families and priests dressed in dark garments and very afflicted. The emperor asked them why they had not put on splendid raiment to honor the Resurrection of Christ. They answered, "How can they be splendidly dressed who have no bread with which to fill their bellies?" Hearing this, the emperor wept and felt pity in his inmost heart, and he immediately ordered the imperial and merchant granaries to be opened, and for two *modioi* to be sold for four hundred *assaria*; and thus he resolved the necessity of the famine and the distress of the people. And so it was done.

Phocas suspected Tzimiskes of being loved by the empress, and he learned that he was seeking to seize the kingdom. He removed him from the command of the armies, stripped him of all the authority and power he possessed, and ordered him to return to his own house and live there; but he inflicted no other harm upon him.

^B (7) To the empress, however, it seemed a very grave matter that she no longer often saw Tzimiskes in the palace, and she compelled and urged Phocas to recall him; he then restored to him the power which he had previously enjoyed. But Tzimiskes, returning with a wound in his heart and nourishing malice in his soul, indeed feigned to be joyful before the emperor, while within he concealed and meditated upon perverse counsels and wickedness, and countless schemes and deceits, and he was always weaving snares so as to use them when the opportunity was given. The emperor, however, knew nothing of the frauds intended against him and the ambushes laid within his own house. For as the eagle flies aloft in the air tirelessly, so did he [the emperor] ascend to the pinnacle of virtue; ^C for by day he would see the primates and the affairs of the empire, but by night he spent the whole time sleepless in prayer and psalmody, and he would take up the psalter and read. And when he occasionally wished to take a brief sleep, he would lie down before his iconostasis upon a little mat and sleep briefly. He so abhorred the lust of women and other carnal desires that they did not even enter his mind, nor did they appear in his sleep; but his life was pure, like that of a good and pious monk, and all his affections tended toward God and the privileges of justice.

^A But these things did not satisfy the empress, for she craved pleasure. Therefore, she herself also prepared a snare for him, and joined herself with Tzimiskes, whom she loved dearly and desired intensely. He, for his part, pursued Phocas with grief and rage. Therefore, they both plotted the attack. Thus, on a certain night, when Phocas, after he had spent the night in prayer, had lain down to sleep on a mat, as was his custom, Theophano secretly brought in Tzimiskes and other armed men, having shown them in secret the place where he was lying. They, therefore, entering first into the imperial bedchamber and not finding him, were afraid and wished to flee; then, upon searching, they found him lying on the mat. Tzimiskes kicked him to wake him from sleep, and as he tried to defend himself, they struck his head with a sword and, with redoubled blows, pierced him through like a criminal and a bandit. He, however, said nothing else except, "Lord, have mercy on me." Thus was this man slain through the treachery of his wife, as once Samson was by Delilah, and the blood of the righteous man was poured out upon the earth, like the blood of Abel by the hands of Cain the fratricide, and his lamentations ascended to God.

III. The Reign of John Tzimiskes

(1) In the six thousand four hundred and seventy-eighth year from the creation of the world, and the nine hundred and seventy-eighth from the incarnation ^C of the Word, John Tzimiskes began to reign.

(2) Then John went to the Great Church to receive the crown, but he was forbidden by Polyeuctus from entering the temple, as one defiled by murder. Tzimiskes, bearing the rebuke humbly, defended himself by saying that he was not the author of the murder himself, but that the Albanite and Atzypotheodorus, at the command of Theophano, had laid violent hands upon Nicephorus. Therefore, the patriarch demanded that Theophano be cast out of the palace into exile, that the slayers of Nicephorus be cast out, that the law which he had brought in—that no bishop should be ordained without the consent of the emperor—be abrogated, and that John himself should pay a penalty. He ^D promised to do all these things, and immediately ordered the empress to be taken out of the palace, abolished the law mentioned above, and ordered that the abundance of property he possessed be distributed to the poor. With these things done, on the feast day of our divine Savior, he obtained the faculty to enter the church and was crowned with the diadem, and he sent Theophano into exile to Proconnesus.

^A He was also a man of firm heart and most daring nature; and once he had gained possession of the empire, he took up arms against the Arabs and all the enemies of the Romans. The nations feared the onset of Tzimiskes with a great terror, and he extended the land of the Romans. The Saracens and Armenians fled, the Persians were struck with fear, and from everywhere they brought him gifts and entreated him to have peace with them. He then marched as far as Edessa and the river Euphrates, and the land was filled with the armies of the Romans; Syria and Phoenicia were trampled by the Roman infantry, and he won great victories, and the sword of the Christians flew like a sickle.

^B He returned again to Constantinople and campaigned as far as the Danube, and he cut down many myriads of Tatars and Bulgarians, and destroyed satraps and commanders, just as a lion when it rushes upon sturdy bulls and tears them to pieces. Then the currents of the rivers were turned into blood; the Romans traversed the shores of the Ister, and they bore the imperial scepter with joy into the interior of Tataria; and he fought a great battle with the Bulgarians and drove them as far as the city of Presthlaba, a great and populous city; and there was the king of the Bulgarians with an innumerable army; and he defeated them and their king, and returned with a great victory to Constantinople.

^C Such was the pastor Tzimiskes, who drove back wild beasts and guarded his own sheep, for he did not even satisfy himself with sleep, and he broke the jaws of the enemies of the Roman land. Yet in the time when he ceased from war, he was gentle, mild, and beneficent toward all; he was also magnificent and like a most beautiful garden, having in himself four fountains—justice, prudence, fortitude, and temperance—and all other virtues; so that, had he not been a participant in the murder of Phocas, he would have shone like a most radiant star.

^D When, however, as a man, he rendered the debt to nature, then in their prime flourished Basil and Constantine Porphyrogennetos, the sons of Romanus, the son of Constantine, the grandson of Basil the Macedonian; and they ruled over the Romans.

IV. The Reign of Basil Bulgaroktonos

In the year of the world six thousand four hundred...

eighty-five, in the nine hundred eighty-fifth year of the divine incarnation, there reigned Basil Bulgaroktonos and Constantine, sons of Romanos, for fifty-three years.

(2) For they, being but children, had been deprived of the ancestral throne during the times of Phocas and Tzimiskes. When therefore these had passed away, they found an opportune and easy moment, and coming forward again, they both took hold of the kingdom like a golden chain. The elder brother, Basil, imitated his great-grandfather, that Basil the Macedonian, as well as the most valiant Heraclius and other illustrious and most noble emperors. Food, drink, luxury, and ease he hated utterly in his heart. He loved hardship, labor, chariots, campaigns, and wars; in these were his joy and his delight. Elegant clothing, couches adorned with gold, and pearls did not even enter into his desires; but he loved to look upon the clashing of shields, war-horses, ^B shining swords, gleaming helmets, and glittering spears. In these he placed his concerns; upon these he fixed his gaze.

(3) But envy and malice again supervened, obstructing such noble generosity and such great virtue. For Bardas Skleros, a man of high rank, most skilled in war, and a kinsman of the emperor, refused obedience and gathered a strong force to seize the kingdom. His faction and power were great and formidable, and they disturbed the life of the emperor, just as a storm and great surge of waves might seize a small boat at sea. Since the battle and revolt of Skleros lasted for a long time, and there was civil confusion and regional instability, the Arabs found an opening, and coming out, they ravaged the East; the territory of the Romans and the provinces were reduced to great straits by the Assyrians. ^C The Bulgarians, too, came out and raided Thrace; from every side, the evil was great, and the emperor was in the midst like a lamb among many wolves, or a fledgling in the mouths of dragons. But suddenly, serenity took the place of the storm, and fair weather reached them instead of the turbulence; for Bardas made a sworn agreement with the emperor, and a great friendship was formed.

(4) And immediately, all those who loved the ^D empire gathered together. Basil... [alt-version omitted] [index: entries preserved]

however, did not rest after this restoration; rather, he moved all the Roman forces, and marched against the Arabs, and passed through as far as Iberia and Phoenicia. The kings, toparchs, and satraps of those regions trembled, and, like a sudden star, he traversed the entire East; his sword was inebriated with the blood of the nations, and he gave no rest to his heart nor sleep to his eyes until he had driven out the ferocious wolves and the barbarous and faithless nations which had destroyed the Christian fold, and he struck into them the terror of the Roman sword. Then, renowned for countless victories, with a great throng of captives and being rich in wealth, he returned to Constantinople. ^B (5) When he learned that the Bulgarians, emboldened by the departure of the armies to the East, had trampled and laid waste much of the land of the Romans, he was again filled with righteous anger and zeal; and again he set out with force and power against them, and sprinkled their fields with their blood. Streams and torrents of blood flooded them, and because of the many slaughters, the earth groaned and became like dust; the swords and spears of the Romans were blunted by the bones of the barbarians and by their many decapitations; and the Romans walked about without fear, both those armored and those unarmored. The emperor took many cities and regions of the Bulgarians and placed in them guards faithful to himself. He also took the region in which the Queen of the Bulgarians was, and there he found wealth and huge ^C treasures, and an immense weight of gold and silver, and crowns, diadems, and royal equipment.

(6) The leader of the barbarians, seeing such force and that his army was destroyed and laid waste, held back his arrogance for a little while and humbled his barbarian pride. But when he had again gathered another army and invited foreign forces, he went out into wars and battles, breathing anger and fury, and he closed the passes and the entrances in some places with walls, in others with ropes and beams, and he constructed war machines. And the army which he had gathered was three hundred and sixty thousand, and he gloried in this multitude. He created narrow places to this end, that he might hinder the emperor with his army, so that he could not find an exit by which to extricate himself. He came, therefore, and rushed quickly to the borders of the Romans. Now, where he was stationed, there were a plain and huge rivers and high, steep, and rugged mountains covered in snow between Romania and Bulgaria; and there was one pass, and he blocked it, and there he placed a powerful guard, and he fought as long as the day was light, and afterwards gave rest to his soldiers. The reason why he did not exit immediately was to deceive the emperor. ^D

The emperor had everywhere scouts accustomed to...

^A know everything, and he strengthened his resolution. And in order to show what kind of bravery and boldness the Romans possess, he did not wait for the enemy to come against him, nor did he fear being driven back, nor did he wish to be shut up in the palace and hide like a delicate girl; but the hair of his head, once perfumed with ointments, was now bedewed by the frost and the morning dew, his flesh was roughened by dust and sweat, and his face became dark from the heat of the sun. He sent out two generals, each with twelve thousand chosen horsemen, that they might go straight to discover passes that were very narrow because of the difficulty of the places, and to lead their horses, and climb the mountain on foot, where the barbarians were keeping no watch and did not even suspect, and to descend from the places that the vanguard of the enemy wished to occupy. ^B The other general was likewise ordered to go by another way to fall upon the guard that was holding the passage, and to attack them from the right so skillfully that not even one of them would be able to give a message to anyone to escape by flight. The first one took the mountain and climbed up it with twelve thousand men; and there was great force exerted so that they crossed it within three days; and he marched by night and descended to the other side and hid himself in a place covered with trees and concealed. The Bulgarians were nearby, but they had no knowledge of any of these things. The other one also found places very difficult and arduous; yet with great persistence he crossed them, and departed from the inner side where the guard was; and at the hour of dawn they sounded the instruments and the pipes of war. ^C But the Bulgarians were struck with great terror at the unexpected calamity; and so the Romans leapt upon them and surrounded them; and some they slaughtered, others they captured; and not even one escaped from their hands. And thus they broke the bond. The emperor, being prepared with his forces, entered and proceeded confidently against that great army, and thus proceeding he met the horsemen who were leading the first vanguard, and made them all captives; a little later he again met another hundred, who also belonged to the vanguard, and he captured them too. The Bulgarians, meanwhile, trusting that the vanguard remained for them, were carefree and sat without any fear. The emperor again marched by night, and at the hour of dawn he fell suddenly upon them, and at the same time the general who had been in hiding did the same from the other side; and the Bulgarians were found unarmed and heavy with sleep, and they rushed to flee; ^D and their destruction and distress and fear became very great; and they did not know where to go, and they fell into the rivers and were drowned; and one slaughtered another; and the Romans slaughtered them and

^A cut them down and slew them mercilessly. And there fell by the Roman blade on that day one hundred and sixty thousand of the barbarians; and the rivers flowed with blood instead of water, and their leader fled, and the Romans seized the tents and the wealth and the armor and the baggage of the Bulgarians, and there was great joy and thanksgiving to God.

(8) ^B But again the king of the Bulgarians did not desire to be silent, nor to endure and to suffer the evil which he had undergone; but after a few days he collected the remaining host. He sent indeed and invited auxiliary forces also from other nations, and came into the presence of the emperor to be vindicated, and he had no satiety of destruction and ruin; but he resembled a wild boar when it encounters the hunter and, from its fury, flings its body against the sword and despises death. Nevertheless, the Romans were armed on one side, and the Bulgarians on the other; and on both sides, beingclad in iron and armed, and iron-clad spearmen, they raised their standards and sounded the horns and the trumpets, signals of war. And there was a great cry and tumult in both hosts, and great fear. And as they met and clashed with one another, like wild boars or strong lions, they shattered their spears and fought, and the swords were shivered; and the din and the cry and the distress ascended up to heaven, and blood was poured out more than water, and the neighing of the horses obscured the air; ^C and the emperor of the Romans mounted and dismounted like a swift bird of the rocks or a ready hawk, and gave strength to his battle lines, and urged his generals to show how much the Romans surpassed other nations. At length the Bulgarians were put to flight and turned their backs, but the Roman soldiers followed after them and killed many and trampled them, and plundered their tents, and won a great victory. Thus, then, the emperor broke the arrogance and the boldness of the Bulgarians, and pursued them and made them slaves and subjects.

Since, however, death spares no one, Basil also departed, and a firm foundation of the Romans fell. Yet he died in advanced age, and the kingdom remained to his brother, Constantine.

V. The reign of Constantine, brother of Basil

In the year of the world six thousand five hundred and thirty-eight, and of the Divine Incarnation one thousand and thirty-eight, reigned Constantine, brother of Basil, for two years. ^D

(2) Then truly was manifest the proverb which says: A cup and a bowl from one crystal; or a Cross and a winnowing fan from one wood. For the disposition of these two brothers was far different the one from the other: for Basil hated pleasures and intemperance, and thought of nothing but...

the campaigns, and his mind was set upon arms and battles and how to honor the Roman ^A empire. But Constantine did not wish to hear even the name of war, nor did he see in his dreams arms or warlike shouts, but ate and drank and consorted with urban women and flagitious men and dancers; and this, too, as an old man of advanced years. He neither feared God nor stood in awe of men; he was, moreover, most cowardly and faint-hearted, and would accuse many for trivial causes as if they were his enemies. ^B He had two daughters; and he heard from someone that a certain man of the nobles, Romanus Argyropulus, would reign after him, and he compelled this Romanus to separate from his own wife and to enter into matrimony with his own Porphyrogenita daughter named Zoe; which also came to pass. But he rejoiced in the kingdom for a very short time and died.

VI. The Reign of Romanus Argyropulus

In the year of the world 6540, and of the divine Incarnation 1040, Romanus Argyropulus, the son-in-law of Constantine, began to reign, a man wise, fearing God, and prudent. He took delight in the divine oracles, and in night-long vigils, and in the reading of the holy Scriptures, and he built a wonderful and magnificent monastery ^C in the name of the most holy Theotokos, which is called the Illustrious.

But the empress, as she grew in years, being a young woman and taking delight in sexual intercourse and the entanglements of men, saw that Romanus was overly continent and neglectful of his wife; and she turned over in her mind evil thoughts and perverse counsel. There was in the palace a certain beautiful youth named Michael, native to the region of Paphlagonia; and as he walked in the courtyard of the palace, fair and elegant, the empress seeing him was wounded with love in her heart, and she coveted the form and the commerce of Michael, who was rosy-faced, very fair, and beautiful, so that she took him and committed adultery ^D with him, and satiated herself with his beauty. And on one of the days, when Romanus was inside the bath and was washing his body, there entered murderous and deceitful and wicked men, who, finding him naked, cast him down to the ground and pressed upon his throat, and strangled him. But never did it become clear whence this conspiracy came, or whether his wife Zoe knew of it or not. When Romanus had been strangled, Michael the Paphlagonian, who was previously obscure and unknown, reigned.

VII. The Reign of Michael the Paphlagonian

On that very night when Romanus died and lay unburied, the Empress summoned the patriarch, the leading men of the palace, and the grandees. They bound themselves by an oath, and Michael was crowned by the patriarch and proclaimed by the commanders of the armies. Michael was very handsome in face and body, and his soul was adorned with many graces and good virtues. For, being wise and prudent, he reflected and considered from what dishonor he had attained to such glory, and from what base poverty and obscurity he had ascended to the height of the empire. Therefore, he was condescending, humble, and gentle toward all men, both princes and the poor; he cared for the poor and enriched the needy. If he discovered that someone was a rich man or the son of a rich man who had fallen into misfortune, he would make him a magistrate again. He was like a good father to widows and orphans; he helped the infirm and strangers, and no one came to see him who did not go away rejoicing.

^B However, while gifted with such great virtues, he was ill in body, and his life was full of tribulations; and no one knew whether he was troubled and fell because of an overabundance of heated bodily matter, or whether he was vexed by a demon. For often, while speaking, he would suddenly fall to the ground; his mouth would foam, his eyes would twist, and he would utter fierce cries like a boar; and had there not been those present to hold him, he would have dashed his head against the walls and broken it. But when that fever had cooled and he recovered his senses, he would then become more proven in virtue, and he would struggle for his own soul, and had a great desire to become a monk.

^C He had brothers, true rogues, thugs, boorish, living like swine and corrupt in their ways. The first and worst was a eunuch, a malicious man, crude and unjust, who moved the whole sum of the empire at his whim, turning it upside down, and was like the emperor’s scourge. He pressed Michael keenly to speak with the Empress Zoe on behalf of his brother’s son, so that he might adopt him as his son. The emperor complied with his will and adopted Michael (for that was his name) as his son, and crowned him Caesar, a foolish, senseless, and bellicose man. But the emperor, vexed by his illness...

which he suffered, and compelled by his own judgment as a lover of virtue, abdicated the empire and the crown and the diadem and all royal enjoyment and glory, and became a monk, and passed from ^A the turmoils of the world into great serenity. The care of the empire fell to the Empress Zoe and to that wicked Michael, the son of her husband’s brother.

VIII. The Reign of Michael Calaphates

In the year of the world six thousand five hundred and fifty-four, and of the divine Incarnation one thousand and fifty-four, Michael Calaphates reigned—a diabolical man, a beast in mind, and by nature endowed with much silliness and ignorance. ^B Inexperience, mastery, and arrogance, joined with silliness and ignorance, made him most wicked; for he was like a fierce horse that does not tolerate a bit in its mouth, but kicks violently. And whereas he should have treated the empress with great honor and study due to such high office and her kindness, he provided her with great bitterness. And then she too understood what kind of enemy she had nurtured, and what kind of serpent she had warmed in her bosom, and what kind of dragon the bosom of the empire had given forth to be suckled by it. For when Michael arrived at such great dignity and took up matters of very serious weight and moment, being a young man, imprudent, ^C inglorious, and arrogant, he fell into a huge precipice. For happiness is like lead: if one is not well prepared to bear it and manage it with prudence, he falls headlong to the ground and perishes. And first indeed he began with the leading men and the nobles of the city, and by treating them barbarically he made them eunuchs, so that many, because of this great evil, lapsed from human nature and did not know if they themselves were men. Thus therefore from the beginning he showed himself malicious and cruel, so that from the first day he was an abomination. Then he gathered together rowdy youths and blockheads, and took them as his counselors; but he cast the Empresses Zoe and Theodora into ^D exile, relegated them to an island, and treated them badly. But he did this to his own detriment, for he stirred up against himself huge crowds and tempests, which he could not avert. Furthermore, from the calamity that then occurred, it is to be seen how submissive the common populace is to a clement, gentle, and beneficent prince, and how much a king prevails whom his own people love. For as it is found that Michael had expelled the empresses to an island, had struck their cheeks, and had treated them cruelly, the angry multitude, and with unanimous clamor, impulse, and counsel, seized stones, staves, and what—

whatever each could lay hands on: one a sword, another an axe, another an awl, and another a tool. ^B Women also came out with stones and wood, and with cries and unrestrained running they rushed to the Emperor, seeking the empresses. They insulted him and heaped great ignominies upon him, because Michael, who had previously been fierce-faced like a dragon, was humbled and trembled like a hare, and had lost his audacity and arrogance; and he quickly sent ships straightway and brought the empresses back, and gave them again their ancestral kingdom. However, the tumult did not die down but was rather fanned more; and the people held great wrath against that detestable and abominable man. And when he saw the violence and that confusion and how he was pressed—like a bad bear by many dogs—he sought to flee, as if to save his life; and he fled like a hare into a hole, and ran into the church, and hid himself under the holy table of the altar. But when the general public is moved to madness, it overcomes even the power of fire; for they entered even there, where he was in the sanctuary, and seized him. And he cried out and wailed and begged for much; but they meanwhile gouged out his eyes with a sword; they also seized his uncle, that eunuch, and justly deprived him of his eyes. ^C

Then the kingdom remained to Zoe and Theodora. But the empress saw and discerned that the Roman Empire needed a man as governor and leader; then she desired also to produce a child to inherit the kingdom, because from the two men she had previously had, she had not happened to conceive offspring, and she was always sick at heart because of her childlessness. She sent therefore to Mitylene, and they brought with quick ships a man most charming and most sweet, named Constantine Monomachus, whom the Emperor Michael the Paphlagonian had exiled there to Mitylene, because—as some say—he was aspiring to the kingdom. But others asserted the truer cause for which he had punished him with exile to be that he suspected him of intimacy with Zoe the empress. However that may be, he had exiled him to this island, and it lacked little but that he had gouged out his eyes. ^D Then, when the rolling wheel of time had been turned and the playful vicissitude of fortune had passed, the servant and exile became emperor and supreme lord of the Romans, and he entered into matrimony with Zoe the empress.

IX. The Reign of Constantine Monomachus

In the year of the world six thousand five hundred and fifty-five.

^A reigned Constantine Monomachus.

(2) Thus is the world unstable, and the life of men like a child’s game; thus the wheel of fortune turns the conditions of life up and down, rolling them and spinning them as it wills. It is said, however, concerning this Monomachus, that he was undistinguished in wars, battles, and martial exercises, but in other respects he was mature, magnificent, and munificent, gentle, serene, beneficent, mild, and accommodating. He was as a sea of favors and a river of generosity; many drank of his goods and were satisfied. And just as the river Nile floods like a sea and irrigates the land of Egypt, so too was he abundant toward all men—to the rich, to the poor, to ^B strangers, to the weak. Into every Church and monastery his goods flowed and were poured forth, and he built various great temples in many places.

(3) But if anyone wishes to know the magnificence and liberality of his soul, let him look at the splendid and immense monastery which he built from the very foundations in the name of the holy great-martyr George, which bears the name of Mangana.

(4) But gifted with so many virtues, he was infirm and always suffering in his feet, and he would always sit in the palace upon high and soft couches to alleviate the pains of his feet.

(5) ^C For this reason, many evils rushed upon him at that time, and waves of great calamities were stirred up. For a certain man, Maniaces by name, a giant warrior, fierce and bold, burning with anger and madness, gathered a powerful and numerous army. He marched forth with a strong impulse, ravaging the countryside, cities, and forts; he came upon the emperor like a dark cloud, puffed up with unbridled arrogance. And who could have hoped for deliverance from such great evil? But him whom God guards, he neither fears giants, nor shudders at wild beasts, nor fire, nor iron. Therefore, Maniaces was unable to harm the emperor, who had God as his helper; for when the battle was joined, his side was pierced by a spear, and he fell, ^D and all were rescued from his hands.

(6) But another great evil rushed upon him again: Tornicius, another terrible and savage beast, crushing and plundering what remained. But him too, divine justice swiftly removed; for when the battle was joined, he was pierced in the chest and died. Then

^A the emperor ^B enjoyed peace, which no storm ever disturbed.

Pressed by many illnesses of soul, he too paid the natural debt to death, and again the empire remained to the empress Theodora, for Zoe had passed away earlier.

X. The Reign of Theodora Porphyrogenita

When a short time had passed in power, Theodora ^C, foreseeing her death (she was, after all, a virgin), being now near death, found a certain trembling and feeble old man by the name of Michael, a man originally from Byzantium, but one utterly unsuited for the management of affairs and especially for the administration of such an empire, both because he was simple in his character and because he was an old man of advanced years; for he was not merely an old man, as he was called by the multitude, but was actually decrepit. Therefore, the ministers persuaded Theodora to choose him as successor; and she immediately encircled Michael with the imperial diadem, after he had bound himself with fearful oaths that he would never perform any administration of the empire without their counsel. Then the breath of life left the empress, after a reign of one year and twelve months.

XI. The Reign of Michael (Stratioticus)

In the manner therefore described, the old man Michael, having been proclaimed emperor by the senators and the multitude, seemed more liberal than was proper, promoting each of them to ranks of dignity and distributing inappropriate honors to very many. But the forces of the soldiers, and especially their leaders—to whom the command of the infantry and cavalry had long been assigned—he treated very differently from the others. For he showed no liberality toward them, they who had just recently captured the queen of cities, nor did he receive them with kind words. ^D Two men were in charge of these, both magistroi and illustrious in descent, and no less brilliant in their skill in war and their fortitude and boldness of spirit. One of them was Isaac Komnenos, the other was Katakalon Tecaumenus, whose homeland was Colonia. He was indeed the dux of Antioch; but no sooner was Michael proclaimed than he deposed him from his office, and immediately appointed his own kinsman Michael as magistros and dux of Antioch, and bestowed upon him the surname of Ouranos, so that he might appear to trace his descent from the ancient Ouranos. Now, he rebuked this Tecaumenus as though he had not performed his office well, but had dissipated funds and been troublesome to his subjects, and he attacked him with reproaches and insults. Indeed, when other most illustrious men who were leaders of the armies with him attempted to defend the man, he— against

nor was his tongue spared, nor did he revere Comnenus himself. ^A Hence the soldiers were broken in spirit, seeing that Michael showed liberality to others, but not even a word of goodwill to themselves. Nevertheless, they refrained from any revolution, and indeed wished to try a second experiment. But another insurrection against the emperor prior to this must be recounted, and in this way the narrative will return to the rebellion of these men; for the cousin of the Emperor Constantine Monomachus, the proedrus Theodosius, appearing in the forum in the evening shortly after the proclamation of Michael, declared that the authority belonged to himself.

XII. The Reign of Isaac Comnenus

After these and many other seditions, while Michael was still alive, Isaac Comnenus obtained the empire. After Michael, the old man, had reigned for one year, he fell from the throne; and having lived for a short while in a private condition, he paid the debt of nature. ^B Comnenus, however, once seated upon the throne, attributed such good fortune to himself and not to God; and this is evident from the fact that he represented himself on his coinage armed with a sword, being all but synonymous with crying out: "This has procured the kingdom for me, and nothing else."

He rewarded the accomplices of his conspiracy most generously, and having given each his prize, he ordered them all to return home, lest by lingering in the city they should rebel or stir the people to sedition.

He treated the patriarch himself with the greatest veneration, and for his sake he advanced his nephews with great honors and promoted them to lofty dignities; doing a favor also to the patriarch, he assigned the administration of ecclesiastical affairs to the Church, whereas until then the great oikonomos had been appointed by the emperor. ^C

^A Now, however, it must be stated how he abdicated the imperial throne, although those who have written about him do not agree on this. For the master of eloquence, the most wise Psellus, says that while the emperor was at leisure and enjoying the hunt, and often aiming his spear-bearing right hand at bears and boars, he was struck in the side by a cold wind; from this, a shivering fit followed, a fever blazed up from within, and on the following day his side was pierced and his breathing failed. As his life was deemed in great doubt or entirely despaired of, he appointed Constantine Ducas to the empire and passed on to a better life. The Thracesian, ^B however, narrates that the emperor was hunting near Neapolis, but, as he reports, a boar of horrible appearance appeared to him there; Comnenus, loosening the reins of his horse, chased the boar, which entered the sea and disappeared from sight. Then, like lightning, a brilliance came upon the emperor, and being disturbed by the shock of this, the sovereign fell from his horse and lay upon the ground, frothing at the mouth and having lost all his senses. Emboldened(?) to board a boat, he was conveyed to the imperial city, and having been ill for a short time, and his illness being judged incurable, he shaved his head and donned a rough garment in place of the purple, establishing Constantine Ducas as emperor; and thus he shut himself in the Stoudios monastery, and there he spent the remainder of his life in good health. He reigned for two years and three months. ^C He was bold in undertaking [tasks], endowed with a noble character, most keen in conducting affairs, most expert in the art of war, unversed in eloquence but fond of it, and treated its students well. When asked why he had usurped the tyranny: "It irked me," he said, "to serve a fellow-slave and not receive what was due."

XII. The Reign of Constantine Ducas

In the year of the world six thousand five hundred and seventy-three, and of the Divine Incarnation one thousand and seventy-three, Constantine Ducas reigned. ^D This man had assisted Comnenus in occupying the throne and showed him the treasures of many riches. Furthermore, Comnenus embraced the monastic life.

^A voluntarily stripping off all royal pride and outward show. He became an excellent and tried monk, and gave himself over to the many rigors of the monastic state and to many great labors, and his life became wonderful; and he died and gained the kingdom.

(3) Now Ducas, having begun his reign, was neither very energetic nor very cowardly, but occupied a middle position between the two. However, he was prone to rashness, and as he would rush headlong where he tended recklessly, he did not prove himself at all good. He had seven children. ^B

(4) In the fourth year of his reign, the patriarch Constantine died, and his throne remained without a shepherd for five months.

(5) In the fifth year of his reign, in the year from the creation of the world 6572, indiction 1, on the second day of the month of January, John Xiphilinus was ordained patriarch of Constantinople, and this bishop, distinguished for piety and pleasing to God, and possessing an excellent training in every discipline of learning, presided for eleven years and six months. He had just retired as a hermit to Mount Olympus when he was brought from there by Constantine Ducas and raised to the patriarchal throne, a very pure and most holy man. He illuminated and adorned the Great Church, having renovated all the icons of the saints displayed therein.

(6) And when he himself was about to die, his soul was oppressed with great cares and anxiety. ^C For he loved the empress, and wanted to leave her as heir to the kingdom along with his children; but since she was young and beautiful, he feared lest she should ever be joined with another man, who might beget other children and despise his own, and sending the empress away to other places and regions, might entrust the kingdom to his own children, appointing guardians for them until they should reach full age. But no one can avoid the future. The empress, therefore, having learned of the intention and will of her husband, at first spoke to him with grieving words, and finally promised him with terrible and great oaths that she would never look to a second ^D marriage, nor ever be joined to another man, but that she would live temperately and preserve the kingdom for his children. Thus he died, and was unburdened of the weight of the flesh.

XIV. Reign of Eudocia with her sons.

In the year of the world 6581, of the divine Incarnation 1081, Eudocia, the wife of Constantine, reigned.

with her children ^A Constantine, Michael, and Andronicus; and she governed the empire with her children. But a great hardship and tempest arose, and a mouth and throat were opened to swallow the empress and her children. And the cause was such: There was a general named Romanus Diogenes, handsome and fair of face, a Cappadocian by birth; he was valiant, and because of the gifts with which he shone, he was worthy to reign. This Romanus, therefore, seeing that the sum of affairs and the strength and power of the Romans lay in nursing infants and a painted woman, stirred himself like a dragon to swallow the mother with her children; and he did not know that a small child with a bow can cast an eagle flying in the air to the ground, and that a thin net can snare bears and lions. So when he had gathered a great army and went about, raiding the imperial provinces and cities, he was captured by the soldiers, laden with chains, and brought to Constantinople ^B to the empress, that he might be delivered to death by her as a conspirator. But the empress, when she had seen the beauty and comeliness of his face, marveled, and her heart was wounded by love, and she took no account of his conspiracy, nor did she remember the most fearful oaths which she had given to her husband at the time of his death, as we have said; but she freed him from his chains, made him emperor, and took him as her husband.

XV. Reign of Romanus Diogenes.

Saracens, and he covered the earth with their corpses, and the rivers were too small for the blood that was shed, and he showed that [men] might know what bravery and prudence the Romans possessed, and what sort of warriors they are.

(3) But if envy had not fallen in the middle and hindered him, as he was by nature arrogant, self-complacent, much puffed up, unpleasant, and haughty; then, most of all, because of the dignity of the empire, he became more insolent. He also had an unstable mind, and suspected everyone of evil, both kin and strangers, and it seemed to him that almost all were plotting against him; for this reason, he was very burdensome, savage, and unapproachable, not only to his lords, but also to his wife and his stepsons. ^B

(4) For this reason, everywhere they were secretly conspiring and meditating against him and setting a trap, and they hated him, and they devised a plan to deliver him, without a war, to the Saracens. This, then, the Caesar, the brother of Constantine Ducas, was preparing, and he discussed this with his son Andronicus, who was then commanding the Roman army, and equally with the other generals and magnates; and they wove a net of treachery for such an emperor, or rather against him. Romanus went out from Constantinople to Scutari, setting out against the Christ-hating Turks. And as he was sitting there, a pigeon flew and came and sat on his knees—which was an evil sign against him. But he rejoiced greatly, thinking ^C that it was a good sign, and he sent it to the Empress so that she might have comfort. For that which a man desires, that he hopes for and embraces. But for a man, there is no root of evils worse than to have enemies in his own household. For if some stranger is plotting against someone, the evil can be healed and corrected; but if one is circumvented by fraud by those of his own household and kin who eat his bread, he cannot avoid the death threatened by such vengeance; for if someone is in the same house with a traitor, how is it possible to be protected from his cunning? Likewise, as the emperor's tent was being set up, the great beam that held it fell, and it almost struck the emperor on the head; this, then, was another evil sign. ^D Nevertheless, frequent battles took place and the Romans overcame the Persians; and the Persians were struck with great fear and were reduced to straits, and they sought the emperor and begged that peace be made between them; for in the wars that occurred, the barbarians trembled before the emperor. He, indeed, was running about, slaughtering, and was not satisfied by the slaughter and their blood: at one moment he was reaping the heads of the Persians like ears of corn with his sword, at another he was casting down cavalry with his spear, together with their horses; and like a hawk [falling] upon small birds, or a lightning bolt, or a fiery sickle, or a deadly javelin, so he appeared to the Persians, and to many.

^A His garments were soaked with slaughter, and gore congealed upon him. Just such as a lion is when pressed by hunger, and having caught a stag, it rends its flanks, devours the limbs of its body, and splatters its own jaws with blood, such was the Roman to the Persians. The Romans rejoiced with great joy, but the Persians trembled and petitioned that peace be made. The Emperor was anxious that his mind might foreknow the future; the priest celebrated the liturgy and opened the holy Gospel, and this chapter occurred: "If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you"; and the army was saddened. Nevertheless, he made peace with the Persians and gave them firm oaths, and for greater security he sent them his own cross, thus preparing his own destruction, and not knowing that from the moment he had sent his cross to the enemies, he had surrendered all his own power to them.

^B Meanwhile, the Persians, once the reconciliation had been made and the peace was firm and the oaths valid, were secure and had it in mind to withdraw to their own country. But the commanders, who were plotters, urged the Emperor, saying: "Come then, in this carelessness and confidence in which the simple-minded are sleeping, let us attack and destroy them." And they impelled him and forced him so much that he was determined, and the army was called to arms, and the trumpets were blown and the banners were unfurled as a sign of war. The Persians, having turned and seeing this sudden evil and the swords drawn and the army rushing upon them in arms, at that very hour had nothing left to do but what occurred to each one: one snatched a sword, another mounted his horse as he was, whether armed or unarmed; and they fixed the oaths of the Emperor upon a lance and carried them before themselves, and demonstrated how he was a violator of his own oath, and that God would judge justly. And when they joined battle, the Caesar was the first to flee with his retinue. Then all the commanders likewise fled with their forces; and the Emperor remained alone without his comrades; he directed his eyes to the right and left, and saw no one; and he was entangled in inextricable snares. ^C When the emirs and commanders of the Persians saw him, they ran in competition to touch the Roman. Thus, therefore, did rabid hunters press and hunt the lion, and the Emperor of the Romans was seized as a slave and captive; and the owls caught the eagle, gleaming with golden feathers, and led him captive and bound in chains to the sultan himself. Then that sultan, contrary to expectation, became ^D (6)

^A benignly disposed towards the emperor, looked upon him with kind eyes, addressed him courteously, and comforted him; and this barbarian showed himself to be of a better and more humane disposition than those friends, kinsmen, and compatriots who had betrayed him. They remained together for eight days, eating, drinking, and walking together, and the sultan marveled at the emperor’s fortitude and prudence. Finally, they entered into a brotherly reconciliation and a firm friendship, and bound themselves to one another with a solemn oath. And the sultan gave Romanos many gifts and much wealth; he also restored all the Romans whom the Persians held captive, along with their chariots and horses, and set them free. He also gave him ten thousand Saracen coins, for providing whatever he needed, and men ^B to assist him as companions.

(7) Romanos was therefore snatched away like a leopard from incantations or a fish from the hook, and again he hoped to seize the throne. But envy thwarted his hope. For the generals of the Romans sent letters everywhere, ordering that whatever place Romanos might seek, he not be received, but that the gates be closed and he be kept outside. So Romanos wandered here and there, friendless, helpless, and deprived of the kingdom, and wherever he went, he was driven away.

(8) But envy did not yet rest nor did it stop here. For Michael, the son of Constantine, having reached the height of his growth, and being twenty years old, with the support and cooperation ^C of his uncle the Caesar and all the powerful generals and magnates, sat upon the paternal throne and illuminated the ancestral kingdom.

XVI — The Reign of Michael Parapinaces

(1) In the year of the world six thousand five hundred and eighty-three, and of the divine Incarnation the one thousand and eighty-third, Michael Parapinaces began to reign. Upon the commencement of his reign, he immediately expelled Eudokia, his mother, from the palace, while she wept and pleaded much; nevertheless, he had her shorn and made a nun, and he clothed her in the monastic habit and cast her into a monastery.

(2) But gaining intelligence that Romanos yet remained resolute and was seeking to regain the kingdom, and was gathering ^D allies, he sent an army and joined battle; and

having captured him—him whom even enemies and barbarians had pitied—his own former friends and acquaintances offered him countless poisons, and cruelly gouged out his eyes with a sword, and cast him into a small, harsh, and comfortless island. And flies filled his face, and worms crawled from his eyes, and the evil and calamity that befell him had no limit. ^A

(3) But Michael, once he was free from all anxiety and mental strain and no longer feared anyone, abandoned altogether the weapons and commotions of war and the gathering of armies. For his mind was occupied incessantly, day and night, in the meditation of the Scriptures and the reading of books; and, often taken by the pleasure of books and writings, he would not eat, but would sit until dawn reading the Scriptures. ^B

(4) Then the nations were stirred up on every side, and from every quarter a wave and a great storm came upon the Romans, and everywhere there were wars and destruction and the capture of Roman cities and lands. For their emperor lived the life of a snail, and he would seldom go out, and would scarcely appear; instead, he would return and hide himself in the palace, and would forget that he was emperor. And would that he had sometime considered that cities and fields were subject to him, and that the nations were stirred up like dragons, and were swallowing the land of the Romans like a sparrow! ^C There was, therefore, great affliction among the Romans, seeing how the world was in danger of being utterly destroyed.

(5) Now there was a certain man, illustrious and of noble birth and experienced in war—his body was scarred and battered from the great wars which he had fought from his youth, and he was powerful and seasoned in battles—by name Nicephorus Botaniates. He gathered an allied host and came to Nicaea and indicated to Michael, as a piece of counsel and a command, that he should relinquish the kingdom, and that this old man, Botaniates, should take it; for Michael, as one inexperienced in war and unversed in the affairs of the kingdom, should sit without cares and live undisturbed. And in a short time he arrived at Constantinople, and without war or any disturbance, he entered and was proclaimed emperor of the Romans. ^D

XVII. — The Reign of Nicephorus Botaniates

In the year of the world six thousand five hundred and ninety-three, and from the divine Incarnation one thousand and seventy-three, Nicephorus Botaniates reigned for three years, and he put on the diadem and the gold-embroidered robe.

He forgot his own long-standing old age, and was united with the wife of Michael, the old man, gray-headed, with a young and tender maiden. ^A He also made Michael a monk and archbishop of Ephesus.

At that time the emperor Nicephorus sent commanders with an army against the Bulgarians. The king of the Bulgarians took the field with eighty thousand soldiers and laid waste to many regions of the Romans and took many captives; doing as he pleased, leading his men into battles or camps, fearing no one; for he had heard that the Romans were vexed by internal dissension and calamities. The commanders of the Romans, therefore, proceeded with twelve thousand men; and they dared not show themselves anywhere openly, lest the Bulgarians, perceiving their small number, should destroy them. However, they were going around and devising a scheme and plan how they might make a stand, even if only to strike a blow. The commander therefore separated two excellent and prudent leaders and gave to each five hundred chosen and brave cavalrymen with good horses and select weapons; and he ordered them to go behind the Bulgarian army secretly and skillfully, and to see in what place they encamped, and what kind of guard they kept at night, and how they slept, and how they fought; and if they were able, to capture one of the Bulgarians to learn what plan they had, and to bring him frequent messages so that he might know. Those two commanders, therefore, went out; and each of them had his own unit, and they followed skillfully so that the Bulgarians might not uncover them.

^B And one night the Bulgarians arrived nearby and encamped in a beautiful plain, and spread out their tents; and as they were weary, there were fires everywhere, and they sat, and ate and drank, and lay down unconcerned, and only a few were keeping watch. And when the third part of the night had passed, the two leaders came with the two units close by, and they saw how great the host of the enemy was, and how difficult it would be to resist it. ^C At that time, a dispute arose among these soldiers; and one unit said to the other, "We are better than you." And a prudent soldier stepped into their midst and said, "Leaders and comrades, how will the truth appear and how are we to know that you are better than us? But if you wish, the proof is before us and before you, and our enemies lie before us; let it appear which unit is more proven." The soldiers heard this, and they were stirred, and they said, "You speak well and justly." And the five hundred were separated and took ^D the upper part, and the other five hundred the lower, and both attacked the Bulgarians. But the Bulgarians, having laid aside their garments and being heavy with sleep and struck with fear, turned their backs; and as it was dark, they soon collided with one another, and they killed one another inside and outside the tents. And the thousand Romans, of whom we have spoken, [caused] the slaughter of the enemy

^A until dawn. They slaughtered, indeed, even the king of the Bulgarians, and a great and unhoped-for victory fell to them, and the tents remained, the dwellings, the equipment, the prisoners, and the spoils, and the camp became theirs, and the sun rose, and the Romans were constantly slaughtering whomever they found. They sent messages and congratulations to the army. And [the commander] arrived with the host, and he saw that great slaughter and the terrible work and destruction, and they glorified God who had provided strength in such a great difficulty; and the prisoners captured horses and property, and they went away to their own lands; and the general returned with the host.

^B Imperator Nicephorus, however, since he was an old man and fled from battles and wars, sat idle, wore splendid golden garments, and pampered his old age with frequent baths, ointments, and royal banquets; he ate, drank, and lived luxuriously; and he loved the aforementioned most beautiful wife of Michael; and he indulged in pleasures and sexual gratification as much as an adolescent who is beginning to enjoy the pleasures of the world. He entrusted the duties of the empire and its great affairs to barbarian, rustic, and drunken men, who had been slaves and obscure persons from the time of their ancestors, knowing nothing good, but being all wicked and ignorant. Thus, the empire of the Romans was like a ship being carried without sailors and a helmsman. Meanwhile, Nicephorus sat on exalted thrones, adorned with gold and silver, and he shone with golden robes, changing one garment for another ten times in a single day. If anyone required an imperial office, he first offered gifts, and thus he dishonored the royal majesty. Moreover, the honors and dignities which other kings grant to illustrious commanders, nobles, and men celebrated for their fame, this man bestowed upon rustics, pack-carriers, woodcutters, dancers, salt-merchants, and charioteers; and he made honorable things dishonorable, and exalted and glorious things base and trivial. And if on a day there was no one soliciting for rights, he sat idle, not caring in the least whether his towns were being invaded, or whether enemies were looming, or whether he had an army or not; but all his care ^C was occupied with the things mentioned before. He had no other concern, nor [did he care] if the nations were destroying his world, or [if there were] the actions which we have related.

^D When Botaneiates obtained the kingdom, on the Tuesday of Holy Week he was crowned with the imperial diadem by the patriarch. And first he granted largesse to all: money...

owed to the public treasury he remitted to all, magnanimously decreeing their cancelation. ^A

(7) Then, as Bryennios was persisting in his tyranny, he sent messengers who promised that, if he would renounce the tyranny, he would be granted the dignity of Caesar, and his associates would be confirmed in the honors with which he himself had honored them. But he was set on the empire and would yield nothing. A second delegation was sent, and after that a third; but he, being arrogant and not receiving the envoys according to the established laws, instead dismissed them disgracefully. Therefore, when the emperor realized that he could accomplish nothing peacefully, he unwillingly resorted to war, and having honored Alexios Komnenos with the title of *Nobilissimus* and appointed him Great Domestic, and having placed him in command of the Roman forces, he sent him against ^B Bryennios. Alexios joined battle with him in a field called Calabrya, which because it was a place well-watered with many good springs, he easily surrounded his army. With some falling and others fleeing, he took the prince alone, and having gouged out his eyes, he led him blinded into the imperial city; and this was the end of Bryennios's rebellion.

(8) The Varangians also rose up against the emperor, intending to kill him; but another Roman cohort being set against them, they turned to supplication and obtained pardon.

(9) After the consort of this emperor died, many virgins were sought out for marriage, and especially Zoe, the daughter of the emperor Doukas; but he wished to take to wife the empress Eudokia or Maria from the Alans, the wife of his predecessor. He therefore sent to invite Eudokia; she, as the story goes, ^C did not refuse, but the emperor was dissuaded from this by certain monks. Then he took the empress Maria, having transgressed the law no less than if he had taken Eudokia; for this act was shameless adultery. Therefore, the priest who performed the sacred liturgy for them was cast out of the priesthood.

(10) Furthermore, the former emperor Michael, after he had, as has been said, shaved his head and by synodal vote had been ordained archbishop of Ephesus, visited that city once, then returned and spent his life in the monastery of Manuel. But after Botaneiates was ejected from the kingdom, the dying Michael, at the insistent pleading of the empress Maria—who had by then also become a nun—granted her pardon and sought forgiveness from God.

(11) The *Proedros* Nicephorus Basilacius, Bryennios's ^D

successor in the city of Dyrrachium, also conceived a desire for the empire. Having gathered an army, he marched with it toward Thessalonica; there, upon learning that Botaniates had become emperor, he sent him a submissive letter while secretly plotting his own insurrection and summoning the Patzinaks to his aid. When Botaniates learned of this, he sent him a document sealed with a golden bull, which both promised him oblivion for what he had dared to do and offered him the title of *Nobilissimos*. But he was inflexible. Therefore, Alexius Comnenus was sent against him, having been honored with the title of *Sebastos*. When he arrived at Thessalonica, he engaged Basilacius in battle, defeated his soldiers, and captured the man himself alive as he fled for refuge into the citadel of Thessalonica; by the emperor’s command, he had the man’s eyes put out.

Other men also raised their hands against the emperor, but having become wiser from what had befallen Bryennios and Basilacius, they laid down their arms.

(13) When the Turks were raiding the East, the emperor sent against them with a strong army Constantine, the son of the former emperor Constantine Ducas, appointing him commander-in-chief of the army against the Turks. ^B But he, as soon as he arrived at the city called Chrysopolis, immediately rebelled and was proclaimed emperor by the multitude of the soldiers. The emperor, however, drew some of the soldiers away with gifts, won over others with offices and honors, and dealt with others in different ways; and Constantine, being seized by them, was delivered to the emperor. The young man was then tonsured and relegated to an island; it is also said that the man was anointed as a priest.

(14) After the Patriarch of Antioch, Emilianus, had departed from this life, another was appointed in his place, Nicephorus by name, who was called Maurus.

(15) The emperor, whether because of his advanced age or his natural indolence, did not care at all for the administration of affairs, but entrusted the care of public business to the Archbishop of Side. This emperor also had two servants, one of whom was named Borilus and the other Germanus; these men guided and swayed everything as they pleased, even the emperor himself, their own master. ^C He incurred the hatred of the magistrates because the servants conducted themselves toward them more arrogantly and boldly than was proper.

(16) As has already been stated, the Logothete Nicephorus, who had stood on the side of Urselius, was being held by him in chains. But Urselius, seized by a sudden death, provided suspicion

that he had been destroyed by poison by the Logothete; wherefore, being handed over by the family of Urselius to Botaniates, he was confined to one of the islands lying before the Queen of Cities. ^A But the ministers around the emperor, fearing that he might find favor in the emperor’s eyes and be taken up and cast them all out, suggest to Botaniates that the Logothete possesses boundless wealth, and that this ought to be brought into the imperial treasury. Straboromanus is therefore sent, being at that time Great Hetæriarch, to inquire of the man where he had hidden his riches. But the ministers of the emperor, whom we mentioned above as fearing the presence of the Logothete, persuade Straboromanus to kill the man by any means whatever. He, having arrived at the island where the man was living in exile, subjected him to such a dreadful interrogation ^B that he expired under the very tortures, even though he promised that he would yield everything in writing if he were spared the questioning. Thus, therefore, he perished.

^C But the Comneni, Isaac and Alexius, were greatly honored and loved by the emperor, who called them his successors to the throne. For this reason, they were deeply hated by those around Botaniates, and especially by his aforementioned two servants, who slandered those men to him, as if they were aspiring to tyranny, and undermined and subverted the emperor’s disposition toward them. Knowing this, and fearing lest they might suffer some harm, and also—as the story goes—having long fostered the desire for the empire within themselves, and having communicated their plan to others in whom they trusted, they left the city. Having seized the city of Adrianople, they drew almost the entire military force to themselves; ^D and Alexius is proclaimed emperor, being preferred over his elder brother because the soldiers were more attached to him as one more skilled in war, and because they had been drawn in by the zeal and promises of those around him. Alexius having been acclaimed in this way, with Isaac bearing it with a calm mind, he took the capital and prepared for a siege. Botaniates, however, posted guards on the walls. Furthermore, a tower located near the gate of the city which is called Charsius was guarded by Nemitzi (the Nemitzi were of the Celtic nation); these men secretly conferred with the friends of the Comneni about betraying the city. Therefore, on the morning of Holy Thursday of the week of the saving Passion of our Savior, those around the Comneni attacked the outer wall opposite the tower held by the Nemitzi according to a signal. Those stationed upon it shot at the attackers and kept them from drawing near; but when the defenders of the wall were attacked with missiles by the Nemitzi from the tower, being unable to resist the external adversaries and combat those within who were hurling javelins at them from the right, they desisted from the attempt. Then the attackers of the wall, having applied ladders to the wall, climbed up; and cutting through the bolts of the gates with axes, they opened an easy access for the conspirators. Upon seeing this, the internal guards of the wall, common men and for the most part unskilled in war, w

^A or rather gathered from the marketplaces and the plebeian multitude, some went down and departed, while others, casting themselves down precariously, fled. Hence, because of the great emptiness of those who might have resisted, those around the Comneni took possession of the inner enclosure as well, and having similarly thrown open its gates, they offered the city accessible to all and sundry; and immediately, upon entering, that mixed multitude—composed of Thracians, Macedonians, other Romans, and barbarians—rushed forward for the pillage of wealth, acting no less like enemies toward their own fellow countrymen. For the evil proceeded even to the shedding of blood, and virgins consecrated to God were sacrilegiously defiled; and women joined to men were violated by force; and divine temples were stripped of their adornments. Nor did they spare even the sacred chalices, but these most impudent men plundered even these and the holy phials full of the bloodless and fearful sacrifice, pouring the holy things upon the ground. And whomever they met from the senate, they pulled them from their mules, and some they even stripped of their clothing, leaving them in the middle of the streets half-naked and on foot. And these things continued throughout the whole day; and the calamity reached as far as the Bosphorus, becoming common and universal; and some even ran as far as the Philadelphia ^B or further. But while everyone was scattered for plundering, the Comneni were left almost alone with very few companions; and having reached the Taurus, they dared not proceed further: for they were so depleted of fighting strength that if any had attacked them then, they could have easily captured them and brought them bound to Botaneiates. But that which had already been willed by God could not be changed. Hence, therefore, Botaneiates, having learned of the arrival of the Comneni, departs immediately from the palace, having cast aside the purple footwear he happened to be wearing; and proceeding to the [monastery] of the Peribleptos, of which he, after Romanus Argyropulus the emperor, became the second founder, he shaves his hair and changes his garments, putting on the rough garment of monks, where, having lived for some time, he returned dust to dust, being buried there. The Comneni, however, with no one resisting them, betook themselves to the palaces, entering them without toil, easily and with total smoothness. Such were their beginnings, such was their entry into the queen of cities, such was their ascent to the empire.

BOOK VII. ON THE CREATION OF THE WORLD, BY SIMEON THE LOGOTHETE, FROM VARIOUS CHRONICLES AND HISTORIES.

^A 1. On Light.

God eternal, bringing forth into time this world which did not exist before, "in the beginning created heaven and earth." With the earth, there subsisted simultaneously water and fire; and a clear proof of this is that from stone and iron, which are earthy, abundant fire leaps forth (and from springs and wells, rich water is poured forth). For since the earth itself was brought into existence from nothing, clearly so too were those things within it. All things, therefore, were made according to the will of God. But since the heaven, having been stretched out like a tent, darkened the space left behind, God said: "Let there be light," and straightway by the Word, this most beautiful substance of light was brought forth. It dissipated the darkness that had occurred due to the interposition of the celestial body and immediately revealed as most brilliant the air that had been obscure for this reason. That everything that existed before the constitution of this world was in light is evident; for neither the choirs of angels, nor all the heavenly hosts dwelt in darkness, but they fulfill the ministry appropriate to them in light and in all spiritual joy, from which they themselves were also brought into existence from nothing. Now, because that light, for the aforementioned reason, was enclosed above, God subsequently created the light that now shines and illuminates the interval between heaven and earth. These things were done on the first day of the creation of the world. On this day, therefore, Moses says in the *Microgenesis* that the heavenly powers were created.

^C II. On the Firmament.

On the second day, when the immense and infinite abyss surrounded the earth, God commanded a "firmament" to be made in the midst of the waters, which He later called "heaven." And simultaneously with the command, the work was completed; and that work was called "firmament" because of the nature of the waters above or even below, which was thin and rare; but "heaven" because it seems comparable to a hide stretched out over one's head.

III. On the sea.

IV. On the luminaries.

V. On fishes and flying creatures.

VI. On beasts and wild animals.

^A On the sixth day, the earth was commanded to bring forth a living soul according to its kind: quadrupeds, reptiles, and beasts. And immediately it brought forth both wild and tame animals. It was commanded to bring forth a living soul so that from this the difference between the irrational soul and the human soul might be understood. For the soul of the irrational animals was generated from the earth, whereas the soul of men was formed by the divine breath. And that the soul of irrational animals is earthly may be known again from the Scripture itself, for it is said: "The soul of every beast is its blood." Now, blood coagulating is transformed into flesh, and corrupt flesh is dissolved into the earth. Therefore, the soul of the brute is truly earthly.

VII. On the formation of man.

^B When all things had finally been adorned with their appropriate beauty—the heavens with the splendors of the stars, the sea and air with fish and birds, and the earth with the ^C manifold varieties of plants and cattle—the Maker of all things brought man into the world as if he were a king, whom He created last, not as an outcast, but so that he might reign from his very birth. For what does the Scripture say? "And God said: Let us make man to our image and likeness, and let him preside over the fish of the sea, and the birds of the air, and the beasts, and the whole earth." And while all other creatures were brought forth by a word alone, man had something exceptional in his formation compared to these. For he was created after a prior counsel, so that it might be shown from this that he is something precious. For that "Let us make man to our image and likeness" signifies nothing else but that the Father used his only-begotten Son as a counselor in his formation, who is, according to the Apostle, "the splendor of glory and the figure of his substance." For he could not have used any other counselor than his living and personal Word, who is his immutable image, consubstantial and coequal. Twenty-two works, as Moses says, God fashioned within six days: thus there are twenty-two letters, and as many books among the Hebrews, and twenty-two generations from Adam to Jacob.

VIII. On the phrase, "To the image."

^D Since, therefore, as has been said, man was introduced into the world as a king, it follows consistently that he was made to the image of God. For it was necessary that he who was to rule over others should be a living image and likeness of the King, not manifesting his dignity in purple, scepter, and diadem—since the Archetype himself does not shine forth in these—but in being adorned with incorruption, immortality, and virtue. For, ennobled by these, man preserves the image and likeness of the exemplar.

^A Moreover, it ^{B C D} clearly demonstrates the free will, the royal dignity, the sublimity, and the conformity of human nature with the divine image. And for this reason, man was fashioned by the hands of God because of the dignity of his formation; for the whole was worked out by divine counsel. Then, after this formation, what does the Scripture say? ^A "And God finished on the sixth day his work which he had made, and he rested on the seventh day... and he sanctified it, because in it he had rested from all his work which God had created to do." ^B

IX. On the Sabbath.

Why did God bless the seventh day alone, and not all of them? Because each of the others received a blessing from the work performed in it; but the seventh, with no work performed in it, was for that reason blessed by God.

X. On Paradise.

Again, Scripture says: "And the Lord God planted a paradise in Eden in the east, and he placed there the man whom he had formed. And the Lord God caused to spring forth from the ground every tree pleasant to the sight and good for food, and the tree of life in the midst of the paradise, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil." Proposing to honor the rational substance, God prepares a splendid dwelling place, full of all delight, and establishes Adam there. And in this place, indeed, it is necessary here to wonder at the ineffable kindness of God, that he who possesses absolute authority and eternal power over the universe made himself a gardener for the sake of man. For he who created with a word such a magnitude of heaven and earth and sea was much more able to plant a paradise with a word and to fix the all-blessed grounds with roots by a single command; but, as it has been said, out of honor for man, he who without labor had brought this world from non-being into existence by his will alone becomes, in a certain mystical sense, a gardener.

XI. On the Naming of Animals.

Scripture adds: "And God brought all the animals, and the beasts of burden, and the reptiles ^D to Adam, to see what he would call them: and whatever Adam called them, that was its name." Here, too, one must marvel at the dignity of man, which he possessed immediately from his very birth. For Adam sat as a kind of master of the herd; and God led to him the myriad kinds of wild beasts, beasts of burden, and birds, in order to establish him as king—he whom he had formed according to his own image. And he, being inspired by a divine and prophetic spirit...

^A imposed proper names upon each of the irrational creatures; and the animals, as if having received a great honor from this naming, departed in pairs.

XII. Concerning the formation of the woman.

Since there was nothing among all these kinds similar to Adam, God said again, as the Scripture says: "It is not good for the man to be alone; let us make for him a helper corresponding to him." By "helper," he means the female, for the sake of procreation, intended to assist the husband for the increase and preservation of the race. And again it adds: "And God cast a trance upon Adam, and he slept; and he took one of his ribs, and filled up the flesh instead of it, and built the rib which he had taken from Adam into a woman." ^B The aim of the aforementioned Scripture is this: God, who made all things in wisdom, having decided to give Adam a helper corresponding to him, as He had promised, did not form the female from the earth, as He had the man, but rather He turned him into a sleep, having cast a heavy lethargy of spirit upon his mind and inviting the eyes of his soul to an insatiable vision, so that, being captivated by the fantasy of such beauty, he would not know what was occurring. Then He takes one of his ribs without exertion, having brought no sense of pain to him; and immediately, as a skillful craftsman and physician, He filled the remainder with flesh. For while He was gladdening his soul with the insatiable divine pleasure, He built the rib which He had taken into a woman, having mystically formed her into a rational animal, ^C adorned with incalculable beauty and a most seemly shape, and brings her to Adam. Then he, being a partaker of the divine spirit, knowing that she was from himself, says: "This now is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called woman, because she was taken out of her husband." Adam, therefore, looking upon the woman, did not feel as one looking at a woman, but as one looking at himself, he spiritually rejoiced, seeing this one similar in form to himself. In like manner also the woman, observing the man, greatly exulted, considering herself to be similar to him. ^D Therefore, as they were dwelling in the paradise of delight, God gives them a law as a benefit, to show that their nature was free and possessed of its own will, and at the same time to show that they were subject to the Master and Guardian, saying as follows: "From every tree in the paradise you shall eat, but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat; for on the day that you eat from it, you shall surely die by death," meaning, you shall be mortal. For thus Symmachus also interpreted it: "On the day that you eat from the tree, you shall be mortal."

^A

XIII. Concerning the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

^B

XIV. Concerning the devil and the serpent.

they ate, and the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. ^A

XV. On that which is said: “The eyes of both were opened.”

It was not because the first-created beings were then first beginning to see that it was said, “The eyes of both were opened”; for it is shown that they were seeing even before they ate, since it is said: “And the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and beautiful to the eyes to look upon.” Rather, it means that they had cast away their innocence through the transgression, and it rendered their nakedness a matter of indifference. It was said, however, that “the eyes of both were opened.” For every eye is accustomed to be urged by the reason toward those things which it beholds, for of itself it has no understanding; so that often, when the mind is occupied with other matters, we pass by certain things, even though they are very easy to know, as if we were blind; and when we are accused of this, we defend ourselves by pleading the preoccupation of the mind. Thus, therefore, Adam and Eve were awakened by the sensation of the mind toward the act of seeing; for the words, “They knew ^B that they were naked,” signify the revelation that occurred in the mind, not an opening of the eyes. Furthermore, add this: that before their disobedience, since there was no place for the procreation of children, no covering for their nakedness had been given by God, but they lived as if they were without flesh, not yet being excited to carnal affections. But after disobedience brought in mortality, it was fitting that shame for one another should thereafter be placed in them, and finally they perceived the difference in their sexes, provided for by God for the necessity of the succession of generations.

XVI. Concerning the leaves of the fig tree.

Therefore, Adam and Eve, perceiving that they were naked after the sin, made themselves coverings from the leaves of the fig tree, ^C hinting by this tree at the nature of sin. For just as the fruit of the fig is sweet, but the leaf is rough and most bitter, so every sin in the act seems sweet, but after the act, it brings pain to him who committed it. What then does Scripture say again? “And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the paradise in the evening, and Adam and his wife hid themselves in the midst of the trees of paradise.” Having come to a consciousness of their fault after their daring act, they were seized by a fear of the Judge, and sought to hide from the all-seeing eye, and they shrank from His approach and avoided His presence. Seeing them thus shaken by fear, God, as ^D a tender-hearted father, calls out and says: “Adam, Adam, where art thou?” And he said to Him: “I heard Thy voice walking in the paradise, and I was afraid, because I am naked, and I hid myself.”

XVII. On the condemnation of the first-created man and the serpent.

XVIII. On the text: “Behold, Adam has become as one of us.”

XIX. On the Cherubim and the sword.

unguards and exceedingly terrible ones were appointed to guard the way to the tree of life, so that no one might henceforth dare to cross that place with profane steps. For a flaming sword was placed there, so that anyone approaching, being composed of matter, might be consumed by fire and immediately perish. The sword turns, so that in the regeneration, when man shall again become an inhabitant of paradise, it may illuminate the righteous who pass through into the divine region of immortality, but consume the unrighteous, if they should approach. ^A Furthermore, the earth brought forth everything spontaneously before the transgression of Adam; but after the sin, the earth ^B was commanded to bring forth nothing without toil. Having therefore gone out of paradise with Eve and come together with her, Adam begat Cain, and then Abel.

BOOK VIII

XX. A compendium of history from Adam to the present time.

[α'] Adam begat Seth, Seth begat Enos, Enos begat Cainan, Cainan begat Malaleel, Malaleel begat Jared, Jared begat Henoch, Henoch begat Mathusale, Mathusale begat Lamech, Lamech begat Noe, Noe begat Sem. ^C There are, therefore, from Adam to the flood 2242 years.

[β'] After the flood, however, Sem the son of Noe begat Arphaxad, Arphaxad begat Cainan, Cainan begat Sale, Sale begat Heber, Heber begat Phaleg, Phaleg begat Ragau. In the days of Phaleg the earth was divided; in his time the building of the tower took place. After Phaleg, Ragau begat Sarug, Sarug begat Nachor, Nachor begat Thare, Thare begat Abraham. In total, the years (from Adam to Abraham) are 3312 years.

[γ'] Abraham begat Isaac, Isaac begat Jacob, Jacob begat Levi, Levi begat Caath, Caath begat Amram, ^D Amram begat Moses the prophet. Moses leads the people out of Egypt. From Abraham to the exodus, 519 years.

[index: entries preserved]

^A From the exodus of the sons of Israel to David, 641 years.

[ɛ] David (being the king) begat Solomon, having held the kingdom for 40 years. Solomon begat Roboam, having reigned 40 years. Roboam reigned 17 years, (Abias 3 years), Asa 41 years, Josaphat 39 years. In his time, Michaeas and Elias and Elisseus prophesied. Joram reigned 9 years, Ochosias 1 year, Athalia his mother 7 years. Joas 40 years, Amazias 29 years, Azarias (also called Ozias) 59 years, Joatham 1 year, Achaz 16 years, Ezechias 29 years, Manasses 55 years. In his time Byzantium was founded. Amos 42 years, Josias 31 years, Joachaz 1 year, Joachim 11 years, Jechonias 1 year, SedeKIas 14 years. Nabuchodonosor put out his eyes and took him captive. And the temple was burned by Nabuzardan. From the beginning of the reign of Solomon to the captivity of the Jews in Babylon, there are 519 years.

[ς] Nabuchodonosor reigned in Babylon 24 years, Evilmerodach his son 5 years, Baltasar (who was also a son of Nabuchodonosor) 3 years. Darius (the Astyages who reigned first of the Persians) 17 years, Cyrus 32 years, Cambyses 19 years, another Darius 27 years, Artaxerxes 33 years, Darius 19 years, Artaxerxes Longimanus 34 years, Ochus 21 years, Arses 2 years, Darius son of Arsames 6 years. Alexander the Macedonian took him out and, having destroyed the empire of the Persians, reigned 12 years and died in Babylon at 35 years of age: he subjugated 22 nations of barbarians and 13 tribes of Greeks. ^B In total, from Adam to the death of Alexander, 5,188 years.

[ζ] After his death, Ptolemy reigned 24 years in Egypt and Alexandria, Ptolemy Philadelphus 30 years. In his time, the holy books among the Hebrews were translated into the Greek language. Ptolemy Evergetes reigned 25 years, Ptolemy Philopator 17 years, Epiphanes 23 years, ^C Philometor 35 years, another Evergetes 29 years, Physcon 17 years, Siderites 7 years, Alexander 3 years. Ptolemy Soter 8 years, Dionysius the younger 28 years, Cleopatra 22 years. ^D In the third year of her reign, Gaius Julius Caesar was the first to lawfully become monarch, from whom the subsequent emperors began to be called Caesars (he reigned in Rome 4 years), Augustus

^A reigned 56 years. In the 15th year of his reign, he destroyed Cleopatra and took away the rule of the Ptolemies, who had reigned for 208 years. There are, therefore, in total from Adam to the beginning of the reign of Augustus, according to the accurate chronologists, 5,457 years. ^B In the 43rd year of his reign, our Lord Jesus Christ was born according to the flesh from the holy Theotokos and ever-virgin Mary. Cyrinus, sent by the Senate into Judea, made a census of possessions and inhabitants. There are, therefore, from Adam to the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ 5,500 years.

[9] After Augustus, Tiberius reigned for 22 years. In the 15th year of his reign, our Lord Jesus Christ began his evangelical preaching. In the 19th year, our Lord suffered the voluntary passion for us. In total, from Adam to the saving passion and his holy ascension, 5,533 years.

[10] (4) After Tiberius, Gaius reigned for 4 years, (5) Claudius for 14 years, (6) Nero for 14 years (he fled and buried himself alive), (7) Vespasian for 10 years. In the 2nd year of his reign, the capture of Jerusalem ^C occurred by his son Titus, 40 years after the Lord’s ascension. (8) Titus reigned 3 years, (9) Domitian 15 years, (10) Nerva 1 year, (11) Trajan 18 years, (12) Hadrian 21 years, (13) Titus Antoninus (also called Pius) 20 years, (14) Marcus his son 16 years, (15) Antoninus (who was also) Verus 7 years, (16) Commodus 12 years (during his time, Leonides, the father of Origen, suffered martyrdom), (20) Alexander Mamalus 13 years, (21) Maximinus 6 years, (22) Philip 6 years, (23) Decius 1 year, (24) Aurelian 6 years, (25) Probus 7 years, (26) Carus 2 years, (27) Diocletian and (28) Maximian 20 years.

[11] ^D Beginning of the Christian reign: (29) Constantine the Great 32 years. In the 12th year of his reign, the Synod in Nicaea took place, in the year 318 from the incarnation of the Lord. Constantine the Great died at 69 years of age, leaving behind three sons: (30) Constans, (31) Constantine, and (32) Constantius. In Rome, Constans reigned, in the New Rome, Constantine, and in Antioch, Constantius, who reigned for 24 years. (33) Julian the Apostate...

^A for two years, (34) Jovian for nine months, (35) Valentinian the Great for 16 years, (36) Valens for four years, (37) Gratian for one year, (38) Valentinian the Younger for 15 years, (39) Theodosius the Great for 16 years, under whom the second synod was celebrated at Constantinople; (40) Arcadius, son of Theodosius, for four years, (41) Theodosius the Younger for 42 years, under whom was the third synod at Ephesus; (42) Marcian for six years, under whom the fourth synod took place at Chalcedon; (43) Leo the Great for 18 years, (44) Leo the Younger for one year, (45) Zeno for 17 years, (46) Anastasius for 27 years, (47) Justin the Thracian for nine years. (48) Justinian the Great ^B for 39 years, (49) Justin the Second for 13 years, under whom the fifth synod was held at Constantinople; (50) Tiberius for four years, (51) Maurice for 20 years, (52) Phocas for eight years, (53) Heraclius for 30 years, (54) Constans, son of Heraclius, for 27 years, (55) Constantine, grandson of Heraclius, for 17 years, (56) Justinian, his son, for 10 years, (57) Leontius for three years, (58) Tiberius, also called Apsimar, for six years; Justinian (for the second time, for six years), (59) Philippicus for two years, (60) Anastasius for three years, (61) Theodosius for one year, (62) Leo, also called Conon, the first of the iconoclasts, for 25 years and three months, (63) Constantine, his son, for eight years, (64) Leo, son of Constantine, for five years, (65) Constantine, with his orthodox mother Irene, for 10 years (in the eighth year of these, the second synod of Nicaea took place). Constantine alone for eight years, (67) his mother Irene again for five years and two months, (68) Nicephorus for seven years and nine months, (69) Stauracius, his son, for one year and one month, (70) Michael for one year and nine months, (71) Leo for seven years and five months, (72) Michael for seven years and nine months, (73) Theophilus for 12 years and three months, (74) Theodora, his wife, and Michael, his son, for 26 years, (75) Basil the Macedonian for 20 years, (76) Leo, his son, for 27 years, (77) Alexander, brother of Leo, for one year and one month, (78) Constantine, son of Leo, with his mother Zoe, for seven years, (79) Romanus the Armeniac, father-in-law of that Constantine, for 17 years, (80) Constantine Porphyrogenitus, again emperor, for 15 years, (81) Romanus, son of Constantine, for three years and four months, (82) Basil and Constantine, sons of Romanus, with their mother Theophano, for four months, (83) Nicephorus Phocas the Cappadocian, pious and just, for six years and four months, (84) John Tzimiskes for three years, (85) Basil, son of Romanus, who carried out the equalizations and the Great Church, reigned again for 52 years; (86) Constantine, his ^D brother, for three years; Romanus Argyrus, suffocated in the bath of the Blachernae, for five years; Michael the Paphlagonian, with the help of John his brother and tutor, for seven years.

^A Michael from Caesarea, his nephew the Calaphates, who was blinded in the Sigma by Nicholas the eparch and parakoimomenos and the other nobles, for nine months; Constantine Monomachus for twelve years and six months; Michael, son of Basil, for one year; Theodora the Porphyrogenita for two years.

[(93)] Isaac Comnenus reigned for three years, and being seized by sickness, he was tonsured after electing Constantine Ducas as emperor, and he himself lived as a monk among the Studites. [(94)] Constantine Ducas reigned for eight years and three months, and when dying, he left the empire to his wife and his children, having obtained dire oaths and signed writings from the synod and the senate. [(95)] Eudocia, wife of Ducas, reigned with her children for three years, and she took as a husband Diogenes, having proclaimed him emperor; [(96)] and he held power from the month of January of the year 6575; this same Romanus Diogenes reigned for three years; and having campaigned against the Persians in various ways, in his third expedition he was held prisoner by the Sultan of the Turks. [(97)] When Eudocia the mistress learned of this, she wrote to the themes and the fortresses not to receive him if he were to escape from captivity, but to despise and loathe him. [(98)] And Michael Ducas was again restored together with his mother Eudocia, [(99)] whom he also cast out of the palace and tonsured as a nun, having stayed himself as sole emperor. And having held the reign for sixteen years, he was deposed by Nicephorus Botaniates; who reigned for three years, and was deposed by the lord Alexius, [(100)] who also reigned from the second day of the month of April, 4th indiction, of the year 6589, and reigned for thirty-seven years and five months. [(101)] John the Porphyrogenitus, his son, reigned in the month of August, 11th indiction, of the year 6626, and reigned for twenty-five years.

On the Emperors

In black ink and by a more recent hand: