and he who repents without reserve. Would that we, too, might show works worthy of Him who called us to His yoke, Christ our true God, to whom befits all glory, honor, and adoration with His Father, who is without beginning, and His most holy and good and life-giving Spirit, now and forever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.
FROM THE PREFACE OF JOHN SELDEN TO THE ORIGINS OF THE ALEXANDRIAN CHURCH OF EUTYCHIUS
In which [is treated] the author's name, homeland, birth, age, writings, and also the sources from which these *Origins* are derived.
A This patriarch's name from his birth was Said, with the addition of the patronymic *Ibn Batrik*, that is, Said son of Batrici or Patricii, or Batricides. But when he was made patriarch, he preferred for himself the name *Eutyches*, which is also written from time to time as *Eutychios* and *Eutychies* for what in Greek is *Eutyches* or *Eutychius*. That word, thus deformed from Greek into Arabic elements, I once read, though not without error, as *Aphthysius*; as also, alongside me, that illustrious man Thomas Erpenius, the father of Oriental languages—especially Arabic—in the West, while he lived, most worthy of honor. This is evident from a note of his concerning this author, added in his own hand to one of the codices I use, while I enjoyed his company for some time in London more than twenty years ago. And the elements of the word itself provide sufficient evidence for readings of this kind. But eventually I saw the names *Eutychis* and *Eutychii* designated by the same letters by Said himself, whence I did not hesitate at all to say that he should be called *Eutychius* or *Eutyches*. Nor did Said take a new name so much as the interpretation of his former one, or a synonym from another language. For *Said* means the same thing in Arabic that *Eutychius* or *Eutyches* does in Greek, or *Fortunatus* in Latin.
B His homeland was Egypt. The place of his birth (as he himself testifies in the Caliphate of Kahiri Billa) was Fustat, about which see, if you please, the *Geographia Nubiensis* in part 1 of climate 3, besides Leunclavius in the *Pandectae Turcicae*, ch. 61 and 212. The time of his birth was the eighth year of Mutemadis Billa Ibn Metwachal, Caliph in Syria, with Achmede Ibn Tolon holding the Caliphate of Egypt; it was on Sunday, the 27th of the month of Dilhuggia, in the year of the Hegira 265, as is stated expressly in another of the codices I use, whether by Eutychius himself or by someone else I do not know. The words about the year are: "And this happens in the lunar year 265." And from the Hegira to his birth there are 254 solar years. But when the year from the incarnation of Christ is numbered there, it becomes 868; which is clearly the same as the year 876 that is held in our most accepted chronology. Indeed, Eutychius throughout his chronology makes Christ’s birth eight years later than in the common era. And so, for that reason, he dates the Hegira from the year of Christ 614, which our chronologists unanimously attribute to the common era of Christ 622. And from 622 and 254 solar years, that year 876 is produced. But the 27th day of Dilhuggia in the year of the Hegira 263 corresponds to the 8th day of September in the year 876 Julian. I received [this information]—and I gratefully acknowledge it as a favor—from that man most distinguished in letters and virtue, Edward Pococke,
A professor of the Arabic language at Oxford, who obtained the manuscript life of our Eutychius from Ibn Abi Osaibea – in his work *Among the Lives of the Arabs who excelled in medicine* (for Eutychius was also a distinguished physician). In that work, the same day, month, and day of the week are assigned as his birthday. The year recorded there, however, is 223 of the Hegira. But the error of the scribe is manifest, for 223 is a mistake for 263; it should plainly be read as the sixtieth. That author is elsewhere called Abu Elaighbas Achmed Ben Casem, whom I consider to be the same person as the Ben Casem—the author of the *Lives of Illustrious Men*—cited several times by Gabriel and John the Maronites in the treatise on Oriental matters appended to the Nubian Geography. He flourished around the year of the Hegira 610, or the year of Christ 1212. He died in the thirty-seventh year of his age, in the year of the Hegira 616, which is 1220 of Christ. Therefore, Eutychius was born during the reigns of Charles the Bald in the West and Basil in the East, and while Alfred was king of England, and Michael was Patriarch of Alexandria.
While we are bringing forward this account of his time from Arab sources, there comes to mind that remark of Landulphus Sagax regarding the extreme and unheard-of ignorance in numbering which he attributes to the Arabs, citing an unnamed Greek author. He says, namely, in Book 20, that Walid, Caliph of Syria, forbade public logothesion records to be written in Greek, but ordered them to be noted in Arabic without calculation: because, he says, it is impossible in their language to write a unit, or a duality, or a trinity, or eight and a half, or three, for which reason even today there are Christian notaries. Thus Landulphus, concerning the affairs of Justinian Rhinotmetus, or around the year of Christ 700. But I cannot wonder enough where this fiction first arose. Nothing is more manifest than that, not only in the Arabic language—which is older than Walid, as it even appears in the Alcoran—the method of numbering is expressed just as in other languages, but even those numerical figures themselves, which we Europeans use and so accommodate to arithmetical operations, and which we call barbarian, were once borrowed by Europeans from them, and are not formed much differently by us even now than they were by them. And William of Malmesbury, *De Gestis regum Anglorum*, book II, chapter 40, where he interweaves the history of Gerbert, later Pope Silvester (whom, however, he mistakenly calls John XV), says that he was the first to steal the abacus from the Saracens, and provided rules that are scarcely understood by abacists sweating over them. But this by the way.
B The dignity of our Eutychius is evident both in the singular fame he achieved in the art of medicine, and in the historical and theological matters in which he was greatly accomplished, and thus in the patriarchal pinnacle to which he was elevated. He himself not infrequently calls himself a physician in his writings, adding to his name—which, according to the custom of the Orientals, he inserts from time to time—the word physician. And Achmed Ben Casem says in his Life: "And he was a distinguished physician, skilled in both the theory and practice of that part, and preeminent in his time; just as his brother, called Isi Ibn Batrik, also was." We know his historical learning from his Annals, of which we shall speak presently. He acts the theologian from time to time in those Annals, being sharp when he wishes to dispute against the Arians, Nestorians, and others of that kind, though only in passing and somewhat briefly, as he narrates their affairs. He was elevated to the patriarchal dignity after the death of Christodulus, Patriarch of Alexandria, at about the age of fifty-eight solar years. Indeed, in the year of the Hegira 321, or the first of the Caliphate of Kahiri Billa, he became patriarch on the 8th day of the month of Tzephar, as both Ben Casem and Eutychius himself explicitly state. But in another exemplar of Eutychius (for we have used two, as we shall say directly) there is a manifest depravation in the numbers regarding this matter. In the Julian calculation, this corresponds to the year of Christ 933 and the eighth day of February. He sat for 7 lunar years and 6 months, as testified both by George Elmacinus, or the note added to it in book II, chapter 1, and by the aforementioned author of his Life. Macarius was at that time the patriarch of the Jacobites or Eutychians there, just as he was of the Orthodox. For it had long since obtained in that city, so devoted to seditions, that there should be a bishop there for the heretics as well as for the orthodox. See Nicephorus, *Hist.* xv, c. 16. And the *Breviculum historiae Eutychianistarum*, or *Gesta de nomine Acacii*, published some time ago by Jacob Sirmond together with several letters of the Roman pontiffs, page 16: "After Prince Marcian died, the crowds of heretics gathered, and Timothy and Peter came to Alexandria, and Timothy was ordained bishop by the heretics; therefore, two bishops began to exist at Alexandria." Proterius was the bishop of the Orthodox at that time. C But both George Elmacinus and Ben Casem say that dissensions of no small moment existed between Eutychius and his flock. He died at Alexandria while suffering from diarrhea in the year of the Hegira 328, on the day of the moon which was the last of the month of Ragebi. The beginning of that year was the 18th of October of the year of Christ 939, a Friday. Thus, by the Julian calculation, he died on the twelfth of May, in the year of Christ 940, after having lived about 65 years. Arade Billa held the Caliphate of Syria; Romanus held the Empire of the East, Otto the Great that of the West, and Athelstan was King of England. Among his contemporaries was Abi Hali Ben Mucla, who was the first to emerge as the author of the more elegant style of writing among the Arabs, as well as Albatenius or Albategnius—that is, Mahumed the Aracensian, called by Copernicus and others the Aratensian and subsequently the Aracensian, that most celebrated astronomer of whom it is read in *Tzemach David*: "He found and simultaneously restored the exact calculation and the tables for astronomers, which they use even to this day in calculating true motion." And so that David, part III, in the year of the fifth millennium 655, or 875 of Christ. The Alphonsines, as it seems, wished these tables to be constructed from the book of Albatenius on the *Science of the Stars* (which Plato Tiburtinus once translated from Arabic). Also contemporary with Eutychius was Photius, Archbishop of Constantinople, and, as some will have it, Theophylactus of Bulgaria, and Vitellio the Optician. The books written by Eutychius are four: *A Book of Medicine*; *A Book of Disputation between a Heretic and a Christian*; *An Ordination* or *Ordered Arrangement of the Gem*, or *Arrangement* or *Ordered Arrangement* or *Syntagma of Substance* (as the Arabic word likewise signifies), or *Compendious Syntagma*; as if a Medulla
had he called it historical. For the Arabs use the same word not only for a gem and for substance (namely, *Giaukar*); but they also use it because, just as the dignity of a gem is most eminent among other goods, so the dignity of substance is most eminent among other predicaments. For thence comes [the source of] the name, this association, as Averroes explicitly states in his Epitome of the books of Metaphysics, in the first treatise. A The fourth book attributed to Eutychius is about the affairs of Sicily after it was captured by the Saracens, which is said to be annexed to his ecclesiastical history, that is, the *Medulla* [Marrow] which we have called historical, in the Catalog of the Oriental Library of that most excellent man Thomas Erpenius. The first three books of those we have mentioned are remembered by that Achmed Ben Casem. Even in the third of them, or historical *Medulla*, Eutychius himself is said to have laboured. But the third part comprises the Annals from the creation of the world down to his own times; in which occur very many things pertaining to history, both sacred and profane, most worthy of note, which I have not seen read anywhere at all among the writers who are extant, or others whom it has been my lot to see, whether Greeks, or Latins, or Hebrews, or Arabs. They were written to his brother, Isa ibn Batrik. They are cited many times by George Elmacinus in his *History of the Saracens*. And they are undoubtedly numbered among those manuscripts of the Oriental Arabs, which the Emperor Amalric of Jerusalem once provided to William, Archbishop of Tyre, to prepare from them his work on the Oriental princes; not as common ones, but as primary sources. Seith, son of Patricius, is called a venerable man by this Tyrian; nor is he mentioned elsewhere among the ancient writers of Europe, so far as I have observed. In the time of King Amalric, says the Tyrian, in the prologue to his *History*, providing us with the Arabic copies, we have written another history, running from the time of the seducer Mahomet down to this year, which is for us the year of our Lord 1184, over the space of five hundred and seventy years: having followed chiefly the venerable man Seith, son of Patricius, Patriarch of Alexandria. But as to what he says, that he followed him "chiefly," it is clearly to be understood only of the time preceding the year of Christ 957, or the Hegira 326. For Eutychius closes his Annals then, dying about two years later.
Aerius, as report D. Augustine, Epiphanius, other Fathers, and ecclesiastical writers, had once taught that a presbyter and a bishop are of the same order, dignity, and power. This opinion, condemned by the decrees of sacred councils, cast down into hell by the authority of the holy Fathers, and at last justly buried in oblivion, Luther and Calvin—by some fateful spell I know not—revived from thence into the memory of our ancestors into the light of mortal men; and subsequently those who swore by their words either cherished it in their own bosom or stubbornly spread it in their own writings. Yet Claudius Salmasius, a man of rash erudition and a Calvinist, recently agitated this question more sharply and with a more virulent pen, in the work which he had entitled *De fenore trapezitico*. As soon as so detestable and pernicious a pestilence appeared, the most learned Dionysius Petavius, of the religion of the sacred Society of Jesus, met it in opposition, in a work entitled: *Dissertationes ecclesiasticae de episcoporum dignitate et jurisdictione*; and the veteran and fiercest champion of the Catholic faith endeavoured to drag the evil beast back to whence it had emerged.
At such a rumour and the report of the revived question, John Selden moved from far-off Britain, bringing aid and supplies to his friend. Observing, however, that his own and his colleague's Western forces were far inferior in both number and strength, he brought from the Orient itself, at his own expense, the Patriarch Eutychius of Alexandria as an auxiliary soldier, armed and equipped with Arabic weaponry. He adorned the banner of this work with a specious title: *Eutychii Aegyptii patriarchae orthodoxorum Alexandrini, scriptoris ut in Oriente admodum vetusti ac illustris, ita in Occidente tum paucissimis visi, tum perraro auditi, Ecclesiae suae Origines*. Furthermore, he commends the author to his readers in his preface because of his dignity, antiquity, native land, rarity of the work and of the copies, the clarity of the material which is treated, and other ornaments: Now indeed, he says, when concerning the hierarchical order in the Alexandrian Church, that is, of the presbyters, and
PREFACE OF ABRAHAM ECHELLENSIS
John Selden had edited separately, in the year 1642, a pericope of our Eutychius from his *Annals* (p. 328), with a great apparatus of commentaries, under the title: *Eutychii Aegyptii, patriarchae orthodoxorum Alexandrini... Ecclesiae suae Origines*. Father Abraham Echellensis took upon himself, in his *Eutychius Vindicatus*, published at Rome in 1661 by the presses of the S. Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, to refute Selden's error regarding the hieratic order. We are reprinting the preface of that work, in which Father Abraham presents that same pericope, gifted with a new interpretation, to show that Eutychius spoke through the mouth of Selden not willingly, but unwillingly and reluctantly.
A And of this very witness, which Jerome mentions, there exists a much clearer and more explicit one, found in a sufficiently ancient Arabic and Egyptian writer, who was himself the patriarch of the orthodox of that same Church (for often there was another there who was a Jacobite), not yet edited in print, and, unless I am greatly mistaken, read or seen by very few.
Truly, from such a pompous title, from such immoderate praises and eulogies, and finally from such great rarity of the work and the copies, I had once conceived something of much greater weight and importance, while the most learned man, well-deserving of the Catholic Church, Barthold Nihusius, was consulting me by letter concerning these *Origins*; nor did the matter happen to me otherwise than to him who, because of the puffed-up name of "chameleon," had imagined it—though he had not yet seen it—to be far greater in bulk than an elephant; or to him who thinks of an ass and a cicada from their names. But when a copy of that work was made available to me a few months ago, all my admiration vanished at once; indeed, I admired much more the vanity and futility of the title, when I saw such a vile and common remedy, well-worn by the hands of all, being sold with such shoutings in the Calvinist marketplace. Since that Chronicle of Eutychius, from which Selden excerpted, or rather extorted, this pericope concerning the origins of the Alexandrian Church, exists in almost all the more famous libraries of Italy or France: it is known to no one who has even tasted Arabic letters with their lips, let alone is it, as the good Selden sells it to his Protestants, a work seen or read by very few.
B But as for the matter itself, as soon as I perused this pericope of Eutychius with Selden’s version and commentaries, I admired the man’s modesty, but I longed in him for an equal amount of good faith. For, carried away by the zeal of his faction and party, he led Eutychius into the camp of his own people, not willingly, but unwillingly and reluctantly, and under the ornaments of modesty, he seems to have mixed in deadly poison. Indeed, if one must examine it more deeply, you will find not Eutychius the Alexandrian, but a masked Englishman coming onto the stage under the name and guise of Eutychius. For Selden has either adulterated the principal passages on which the momentum of this controversy depends, or by his commentaries has tried to snatch from them their true sense and light. And this pericope, thus corrupted and vitiated by him, it pleased him to term "The Origins of the Church of Eutychius, Patriarch of the Orthodox Alexandrian Egyptians, etc.," to capture the minds of the readers at the very beginning, as if indeed Eutychius had written some distinguished and peculiar treatise on that subject by profession, when he had only touched upon it as if in passing. All of which, surely, no one studious of truth and skilled in the languages, things, and dogmas of the Orient can peruse without indignation. C Hence, moved by the duties of my office, by ancestral religion, and especially by the promptings of truth, we have decided to examine every single thing by the Catholic faith—that is, most sincerely, without deceit, without masks, without adulteration, without mutilation of authorities, or corruption. And in this accomplishment, the Lydian stone for us will be the Chronicle of Eutychius itself, the very pericope itself, the most ancient monuments of the Church of Alexandria, and the marvelous consensus of other Orientals. We shall observe, moreover, especially that saying of Aulus Persius Flaccus, which Selden has affixed to the front and threshold as the motto of his work: namely,
*...... Non si quid turbida Roma* *Elevet, accedas, examenve improba in illa* *Castiges trutina* . . . . . . . . . . .
No, we will not approach, Selden, to defend the defects of Rome, but the faith, which has lacked and lacks all defect, despite the defects which you most falsely attribute to it along with your fellows. Indeed, that faith concerning which the Apostle thus wrote to the Romans themselves: *First of all, I give thanks to my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because your faith is spoken of in the whole world.* D Perhaps you will say that this faith has been changed? But the learned Jerome affirms in *Lib. I Apologeticus contra Rufinum*: Know, he says, that the Roman faith, praised by the apostolic voice, does not receive such prestige [i.e., of being changed]. Even if an angel (why not, if an Englishman?) announce otherwise than that which was once preached, defended by the authority of Paul, it cannot be changed. And before Jerome, blessed Cyprian, *Lib. I, epist. 5*, says that the Romans are those to whom perfidy can have no access.
The adversaries unwillingly confess this same thing, and indeed the coryphaeus of the adversaries, Martin Luther, *Tom. Germ. Wit. fol. 561*, where he says: The Church, he says, neither ought nor can lie, nor teach what is false, not even in a single head. He gives the reason for this infallibility of the Church there as follows: Since the mouth of God is the mouth of the Church, God certainly cannot lie, therefore neither can the Church. But this proposition being laid down, which is most true, even though spoken through the mouth of Balaam, it follows most correctly: therefore the Roman Church is the true Church, and the Roman faith has by no means changed, nor could it be changed; but it is even now precisely the same as it was when it was praised by the apostolic voice.
That indeed this Church, which neither ought nor can lie, nor teach what is false, not even in a single head, is the Roman Church, is evidenced by the adversaries themselves. Luther, *Tom. IV, edit. Witember. fol. 225*: We confess, he says, that under the papacy there are many good Christian things, indeed every Christian good, and that even from there it has come down to us. And a little later: Indeed I say that within the papacy there is true Christianity, indeed the true kernel of Christianity. Again: Namely, that in the papacy there is the Word of God, the apostolate, and that we have received the holy Scripture, baptism, the sacraments, and the office of preaching from them. Bucer, in *Praeparatio ad concilium*: We clearly profess that it is agreed among the ancient Fathers of the Church that the Roman Church held the primacy.
A James, in the arguments taken from the Word of God, page 24, related by the Rev. Father Henry FitzSimon in *Britannomachia ministrorum*, book 1, chapter 10, page 5: "There is no place in the whole world," he says, "so probably the fountain and origin of the whole government of the Catholic Church as Rome." King James of Britain, in the House of Parliament, precisely in the middle of the letter D: "I profess the Roman Church to be our mother Church." And in the Hampton Court conference: "This is my constant and fixed persuasion, that no Church ought to secede further from the Roman Church than she herself has lapsed from her own flourishing state."
If, therefore, the Roman Church was once, as the adversaries admit, the mother of all Churches, the fountain and origin of the whole government of the Catholic Church, from which every Christian good flowed into other Churches; and if in her was true Christianity, nay, the very nucleus of Christianity, the Word of God, the apostolate, Holy Scripture, baptism, the sacraments, and the office of preaching, so that it was not permitted to secede from her further than she herself has lapsed B from her own flourishing state: if such a Church neither ought nor can lie, nor teach falsehood, not even in a single point, since the mouth of God is the mouth of this Church, who cannot lie; who will be of such manifest impudence, and of such execrable stupidity, as to dare to affirm that the Roman faith, fortified by the authority of the Apostles, has been changed?
But someone of the adversaries will perhaps object here: "This infallibility is to be attributed to the universal Church, to which it is promised, and not to any singular [Church]." To this objection, one from the flock of the adversaries, Whitaker, may reply to the adversaries (contr. 2, quest. 4, page 489), where he says: "Nothing is promised to the universal Church that is not similarly promised to singular Churches."
Let it be so, let us grant for a moment to this Whitaker and his fellow-sectaries (however erroneous it is), that nothing was promised to the universal Church that was not promised to singular Churches. By right, therefore, from this doctrine, one may infer against the man that the Roman Church has never succumbed, nor could have succumbed, because she was once—by the admission of the adversaries themselves—the true Church and the mouth of God, whether as universal or as singular, C since nothing according to them was promised to the universal Church that was not promised to the singular ones. With what front, therefore, do they dare to accuse her of error and lapse? They pierce themselves with their own weapons while they rush with blind impetus upon the Roman Church, and unwillingly bring her cause into the light of truth, and entangle themselves in their own paralogisms. For no one of sound mind easily concedes what they do, namely, that nothing was promised to the universal Church that was not promised to singular Churches; when it is most certain that infallibility was promised to the universal Church, but not to the singular ones. Regarding the infallibility of the universal Church, it was said: "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it" (Matt. xvi, 18). And also: "Which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth" (I Tim. iii, 15). Whence, notably, Stapleton, *controv.* 4, quest. 2, in a single article: "The Church," he says, "in the conclusion of faith is always most certain and infallible." That singular Churches have in fact failed and succumbed is most evidently clear. For who does not know that the Constantinopolitan [Church] succumbed at one time under Macedonius and Nestorius; the Alexandrian under Dioscorus; the Antiochene under Macarius; and so of others? It remains, therefore, to say that infallibility necessarily resides in the universal Church, whose head is the Roman Pontiff, to whom, in Peter, whose successor he is, it was said by the mouth of Truth: "But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not" (Luc. xxii, 32). What is then immediately subjoined: "And thou, being once converted, confirm thy brethren" (ibid.), must be understood as referring to singular Churches, which are to be directed and confirmed in the faith by the successor of Peter, in whom authority to confirm the brethren is derived. D In the Roman Church, therefore, resides this infallibility. Although it does not escape me that Whitaker, after the manner of all heretics, contradicts himself, and elsewhere asserts that both the universal Church and singular Churches can err. From which it clearly appears that these men are blasphemous against God Himself, because if the mouth of the Church, which according to them is the mouth of God, can lie and err, it follows from this necessarily that God can also lie and err, which—to even utter in words or conceive in the mind, to refute the obstinacy of these men—the soul shudders and reflects with sorrow.
But you, Selden, meanwhile weigh in your mind these verses used against the Romans:
... *Neither seek yourself outside.*
Dwell within, know yourself, nor make such rash judgments regarding the Roman religion, when you are completely ignorant of what is today the religion in your own—more than turbulent—England, nor what it will be tomorrow; not of all, I say, but of individuals; for among you there are as many religions as there are heads. The thing itself proclaims it in the markets and the streets. The decrees of your senate, or parliament, published nearly four years ago concerning the religion to be established by your theologians and ministers, bear witness to this enough and more than enough. Long ago, Theodore Beza complained of this matter in grave words in *Epist. Theolog.*, epist. 1, to Andreas Dudith: "They have exercised me for a long time, and that very thing which you describe, namely, our people wandering with every wind of doctrine, and carried on high, now to this side, now to that, being carried off. What their opinion on religion is today, you might perhaps know, but what their opinion on the same will be tomorrow, you cannot certainly affirm." In what point of religion, pray, do the Churches that have declared war on the Roman Pontiff agree among themselves? If you run through everything from head to foot, you will find almost nothing affirmed by one that the other does not immediately call impious.
A But let Luther himself be heard in his Epistle to the Antwerpiers: "There are so many religions among us, as there are men; and there is no one so dull and senseless among the asses, who would not desire his own individual head's daydreams and his own private opinion to be held as the instinct of the Holy Spirit, and himself to be held a prophet."
I would that that Beza, and Luther, might now return from the underworld, so that they might say what their opinion of one single England might be. For if then, day by day, the opinion of individuals regarding religion was changing, now it surely changes by the hour and the moment. The synagogue of all Protestants throughout the world is indeed turbulent; but the most turbulent of all is that which they call the Anglican. It lies in these most dense, and more than Egyptian, shadows, where ministers and theologians seek it out by groping according to a decree of parliament, and have so far been entirely unable to find it; but the confused tongue of the true Church, stones, as they say, for bread, and in this Anglican tower one hands the other stones for bread. Wherefore, B Seldene... Do not seek yourself outside. For: "If any could escape," says St. Cyprian (De unit. Eccles., book), "who was outside the ark of Noah, and who was outside the Church, then you may escape; but do you think, Seldene, that you can stand and live, receding from the Church, and building for yourself other sees and diverse dwellings?"
Further, what is the aim of these adversaries, while they contend with us about the equality, inequality, or distinction of presbyters and bishops? And to what end do they aim? Perhaps someone here will ask: since they themselves have neither presbyters nor bishops, equal or unequal, or according to any other geometric figure. Indeed, no other aim or reason appears to exist for them than sheer insanity, and that lust for impugning the dogmas of the Roman Church. Nor was Luther ashamed to admit this openly (vol. V edit. Wittem., ann. 1551, fol. 475): "Doctor Martin Luther wishes it to be so, and says that a Papist and an ass are one and the same thing. I so will, I so command, let my will serve as reason." He also provides another cause for this matter (vol. IV edit. Ien., fol. 245), speaking of himself as well as his own: "We," he says, "are held captive by the devil, as by a prince; and are forced by our God C to do whatever he himself wills, and inspires in us." And he who regarded the invocation of saints and good angels as idolatrous, and on that account strove with all his might to uproot it from the memory and mind of the faithful, nevertheless in his table talks (fol. 5, 18, and 124) did not shrink from exclaiming: "Holy Satan, pray for us: we have sinned not against you, most clement devil."
Jacob Zaborovius had a different aim, when in his Response to the Gordian Knot of Martin Smiglecius of the Society of Jesus he attempts to prove that a presbyter and a bishop are by divine right the same, and that it was only through the custom of the Church that ordination came to pertain to the bishop. This he indeed contends in order to demonstrate the legitimate mission of his own ministers; because, since Luther was a duly ordained presbyter, as he claims, he could also by right ordain and send other ministers. Many other Protestants think the same. But how successfully and truly they prove this, the aforementioned Smiglecius shows most learnedly in two books concerning the marks of ministers against the Response of Zaborovius to the Gordian Knot, and especially in book 1, chap. 9, p. 66.
D However, all Protestants of every kind and feather, who have always hungered with ravenous mouths for the goods and faculties of the Churches, seem to agree that the strong man must first be bound, and then the vessels of his house plundered. Now, who is this "strong man" who, placed upon the watchtower of Christ's Church, keeps watch over the flock? The Syrian interpreter, whoever he may have been, declares to us in his exposition of these words of Ezekiel (chap. xxxiii, vers. 2, 3): "Land, when I bring the sword over it, and the people of the land take one man from among their last, and set him as a watchman over them, etc."
The sword, therefore, is judgment; the trumpet, however, is the Gospel; the watchman is the bishop who is set over the Church. Hence, quite aptly, both in the aforementioned Apostolic Doctrine and elsewhere, the Syrians frequently call the bishop *Rab Baito*, namely, Master, steward, and prefect of the house, economist, dispenser, and such like. The more Eastern Chaldeans are accustomed to call the bishop *Ghizabra*, namely, Keeper of the Treasury, Prefect of the treasury. Therefore, they think that this master, this steward and prefect of the house, this economist and dispenser, this keeper of the treasury, this prefect of the treasury, must be bound, expelled, cast out, and exterminated by those recent reformers of religion (for so they love to be called; but more truly they are deformers), so that access might be easier for them to plunder the goods of the Churches.
Claudius Salmasius in his *Apparatus concerning the primacy of the Pope* would wish this weed, namely the episcopacy, to be rooted out, because the papacy springs from it, which, as it is the supreme apex and authority of the Christian and Catholic religion’s dignity, is the strongest barrier against invading wolves.
Furthermore, it is a thing worthy of pity, nay, of most abundant tears, that if anything ambiguous or slightly obscure occurs among the Fathers and writers, the adversaries claim it for themselves, and twist it with their paralogisms against the Catholic Church and abuse it, while they extol the author himself to the stars with praises. But when he speaks so clearly and plainly that he strikes down their arguments directly and validly, and his testimonies cannot be extorted to suit their whim, they immediately abandon him, dare to accuse him of ignorance, and intone the opposite song. St. Jerome left it written once in his Epistle to Evagrius, which is 85: "For what does a bishop do, except ordination, that a presbyter does not?" And though these words clearly show the distinction of both orders by that exception, the adversaries nevertheless snatched a handle from it...
[as they say,] that the hearing [of the Emperor] was closed to all, or rather, that his heart, inclined toward the woman, was closed before his ears. He said that he would not only not keep her separated until a synod could be held, but not even for a single day; indeed, he commanded that she remain with him as his lawful wife, honored as an empress, and that once the synod was concluded, he would confirm what seemed good to him. A Eight or nine months after the contracting of that marriage—which afflicted our entire Church with sorrow—the legates of Old Rome arrived. The Emperor had publically proclaimed that he had summoned the Romans so that they might approve his marriage. How, indeed, could our Church not resent that these things were being spoken by him openly, [namely,] that he held our affairs as naught, and that he was bestowing upon others the administration of our province, which is owed to us according to the sacred decrees established from above and from the beginning, and this in a matter prohibited and condemned by the canons? For where is it lawful, and where is it fitting for the stability of the Church, that we be thrust out of the authority given by God, and that others should administer what we ourselves are not permitted to perform due to the interdiction of the canons? B Yet he was saying that he had those from whom he would obtain his desire, even if there were no canonical authorization for it. We are not ignorant of how the rumor was spread against us, that we were unwilling, out of pride, to present ourselves or to enter into discussion with the Romans who had arrived at that time. But I affirm before God as my witness—before whom the one who spread this rumor now stands, and before whom we shall perhaps stand today or tomorrow—that I told him that our chief priests were distressed at the prospect of meeting the Romans in public and were wholly turning away from it, being alarmed by the things often said by you, [namely,] that the Romans would give you what you seek, even if no one else would give it. C For this reason, I suggested to you that you summon them and us to the palace, so that, having been brought together before you, we might see and embrace each other and hear what they had to say. But the man was looking only toward one thing—our exile—and was gathering pretexts from everything to pour out his bitterness against us. In no way, therefore, did he consent to this, nor did he wish for us and them to meet each other in the palace; and thus the conspiracy plotted against us was held back for a time, since the mind of the Church was still one, and neither any chief priest nor any priest had submitted to him, nor had they become of his faction. But when, little by little, by gifts and promises of offices, he had torn away from us those very subjects, kinsmen, and friends, and had joined to himself those who were persuaded, and had acquired as it were a force of his own, then he brought into the light what had been plotted in secret. D Therefore, he invites us to the palace, as if to celebrate a feast and dine together—for it was the solemnity of the great martyr Tryphon. But in the midst of the banquet, just as we were, he put us on a ship...
A While I was meditating on these things, someone interrupted me, saying: "Hark, Abraham! To what purpose do you expend vain labors? If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets whom they have, do you think they will listen, or believe, if you were to send them your Oriental Lazarus, or someone else from your dead?" To this I answered: "What they are going to do, my friend, I am utterly ignorant; but as to what my own role requires of me, I have the words of Saint Jacob of Syria, who wrote as follows in his poem on the love and pursuit of truth: 'Speak, speak, you to whom it is given to speak; whether they listen to you, or do not listen, do not cease to speak.' Yet it is equitable, and it is right to believe, that they will listen and will yield to the authority of those to whom they appealed. Wherefore, may God, who has the power, grant our wish."
PERIOD OF THE PATRIARCH EUTYCHIUS
A *With Selden's version.* The ninth year of [the reign of] Claudius Caesar was passing when Mark the Evangelist stayed in the city of Alexandria, so that from there the faith in Christ our Lord might be propagated among men. But as he was walking through the city, the strap of his shoe broke; and in order to get it repaired, he betook himself to a shoemaker named Hananias. The latter, having taken his awl to pierce the shoe, pierced his own finger, so that much blood flowed, and not without great pain. He murmured, therefore, against Mark; but Mark said to him: "If you believe in Jesus Christ the Son of God, your finger will be healed." Then, taking hold of his finger, he said: "In the name of Jesus Christ, may your finger be healed." At that very moment it was restored to health, and the blood ceased flowing. From that time Hananias believed in Christ, whereupon Mark baptized him and appointed him Patriarch of Alexandria. Indeed, he was the first established Patriarch of Alexandria. Mark the Evangelist also appointed twelve presbyters with Hananias, who were to remain with the patriarch, so that when the patriarchate became vacant, they would choose one from the twelve presbyters, upon whose head the remaining eleven would lay their hands, and bless him, and appoint him patriarch. Then they would choose some other distinguished man, and appoint him as a presbyter in his place, so that there would always be twelve. Nor did this institution of the presbyters in Alexandria—to wit, that they should appoint patriarchs from among the twelve presbyters—cease until the times of Alexander, the Alexandrian patriarch, who was one of that number, 318. But he forbade the presbyters to appoint the patriarch thereafter. And he decreed that, when a patriarch died, the bishops should convene to ordain B the patriarch. He also decreed that when the patriarchate was vacant, they should choose, whether from any region whatsoever or from among those twelve presbyters or others, as the situation required, some outstanding man, and make him patriarch. And thus that more ancient institution, by which the patriarch was accustomed to be created by the presbyters, vanished, and a decree about creating a patriarch by the bishops succeeded in its place. He also requested of them that the Alexandrian patriarch should not be called 'papa,' which signifies grandfather. But in truth, from Hananias whom Mark the Evangelist appointed Patriarch of Alexandria, down to the times of Demetrius, who was patriarch there (he was the patriarch of Alexan-
Alexandria, and the eleventh patriarch of Alexandria), there was no bishop in the territories of Egypt; nor did the patriarchs before him create a bishop. Yet when he was made patriarch, he appointed three bishops. And this Alexandrian patriarch was the first to appoint bishops. Upon the death of Demetrius, Heraclas was appointed Patriarch of Alexandria, who appointed twenty bishops. One of these was a man named Ammonius, a deserter of his religion. As soon as word of this was brought to Heraclas, he gathered a synod of bishops and set out for the city of Ammonius, where, having sufficiently investigated and examined the matter, he brought him back to the truth. When, however, people had heard that the bishops addressed the patriarch as *abba*, or father, they said among themselves: "We call any bishop *abba*, or father; and the bishops call the patriarch *abba*. Wherefore it is surely fitting that we call the patriarch *papa*, which means 'grandfather,' since he is the Father of Fathers." Thus, from the time of Heraclas, the Patriarch of Alexandria was called *papa*, which means 'grandfather.' B After Hananias, the Patriarch of Alexandria whom Mark the Evangelist had established in his see, had sat for 22 years, he died. And Mark the Evangelist went to Barca, that the faith in Christ, the Son of God, might be spread among men. After that, the Emperor Claudius Caesar died, and his son, Nero Caesar, reigned in Rome for thirteen years. He was the first author of the most grievous evils among the Christians, a man most wicked in his principles and in his way of life. At the time of the Emperor Nero, Peter, the prince of the apostles, wrote the Gospel of Mark with Mark, in the Roman language, in the city of Rome, though he attributed it to Mark. Also in the time of this emperor, Luke wrote his Gospel in Greek to a certain noble man from among the wise Romans, whose name was Theophilus, to whom he also wrote the history of the Acts of the disciples. Now Luke the evangelist was a companion of the Apostle Paul, with whom he remained for some time. Whence it is that the Apostle Paul says in one of his Epistles: "Luke the physician greets you." (Coloss., iv, 14.) Nero Caesar then seized Peter and fastened him to the cross, with his body, indeed, inverted, and thus put him to death. C For Peter had said to him: "If you wish for me to be fastened to the cross, fasten me to the cross with my body inverted, lest the death inflicted upon me be similar to that which was inflicted upon my Lord Christ, who was fastened to the cross with his body upright." But he slew Paul with the sword. Now Peter was killed in the 22nd year after our Lord Christ. After Peter, Linus was Patriarch of Rome, who held that dignity for 12 years and then died. And he was the first Roman patriarch. And Mark, the author of the Gospel, was in Alexandria and Barca (that, indeed, the faith in Christ, the Son of God, might be spread among men) for seven years. D And in the first year of the reign of the aforementioned Nero Caesar, Mark was killed at Alexandria, and his body was cremated with fire.
May God inspire you, my brother, with the best and most convenient of good things, and turn away from you the greatest and most harmful of those things which bring sadness. May He cover you with the veil of protection spread as widely as possible, and preserve for you the most ample power. May He grant you a portion in both lives, and a lot in both conditions; may He cause you to understand all those things which are pleasing to Him, and may He not separate you from His neighborhood with those whom He removes far away. I have understood what you have ordered me to describe—may God preserve you in the robe of virtues, and keep you pure, lest you put on the filthy garments of vices—regarding the knowledge of universal history from the time of Adam up to the years of the Islamic Hegira. And I have demonstrated it according to the series of months, centuries, and years, so that in its knowledge there may be that which suffices for you abundantly, so that you might have no need to interrogate anyone among the powerful or the common folk. I have described for you—may God indicate to you the way most expedient to happiness, and make knowledge and the primary utility perpetually known to you—a type, an exemplar, and a norm; which I have established as compendious and useful, as I judged it to be fitting for the illustrious loftiness of your mind, and conformable to the sharpness of your excellent and sublime intellect; to be delivered concisely and summarily, those things which I have gathered and comprised from the Law, the Gospel, and other ancient and new books in this book of mine which I have composed, which in its method is most excellent for investigating matters, and in its doctrine is most truthful; having attained in it the end which is pleasing to the prudent man and sufficient for one endowed with intellect, and I have explained those things to you and your brethren clearly, C as a cause for us and for you to attain reward and good.
IN THE NAME OF GOD, THE ONE, ETERNAL, IMMUTABLE, IMMORTAL, FROM WHOM WE ALSO SEEK AID.
THE BOOK OF HISTORY
D 5-7 Thus, says Said Ebn Batrik the physician, we begin with the praise of our Lord and Creator who formed us and led us into life, whose fame is glorious, since His praise (may His name be sanctified) is the key to all books and treatises. Asking Him (the most powerful and most glorious) that He may bring us aid to perform that task, according to His customary goodness. Glory, therefore, to God, who is worthy of glory and is the Lord of it, and on account of which He expects thanks from His servants, who decreed things before they existed, and governs them after they have been produced; who commanded mercy and justice in the ways of truth, but forbade wickedness and injustice in the ways of falsehood; who does not compel His servants to do anything that exceeds their strength; nor did He appoint for His creatures works for which their strength is unequal, but rather He constituted them the arbiters of their own actions, the moderators of their works, and the administrators of their own affairs; and for this He instructed them with excellence of judgment and counsel, and with the goodness of deliberation and science, by the aid of that which He implanted in them, the nature of the intellect; which He made a cause impelling them to confirm the argument against themselves, and a way that would make them masters of their own direction, choosing that which is convenient for them, and inclining toward them with mercy. Praise, therefore, to God who is indivisible by reason of His unity, and who (the most powerful and most glorious) on account of His essence, wisdom, and eternal life, is worthy of praise and celebration, and deserves glory and exaltation; who placed nothing ambiguous in His law, which might provide an opportunity for doubting, nor anything uncertain in His precepts, which might cause dissension
but it has established things clear and manifest to the peoples, notwithstanding the difference of nations and regions, and it has made knowledge clear to all peoples, however much they may be distinguished one from another by language and dialects, through revelation made to His prophets and apostles, and through the miracles and signs which He sent to them, inviting them to His worship; and He has promised a benign countenance to him who believes in Him, but has threatened the worst of ends to him who has turned away from Him and denied Him. A I say, let Him be celebrated with praise, such as may provoke His greater beneficence and afford access to Him. I pray to Him, I supplicate Him, that He may render our intentions sincere for embracing what is pleasing to Him, and turn our innermost affections toward that which may promote the service to be rendered to Him, and may make us attain a position near to Him.
Thus far this matter. Whoever has not had knowledge of the foundation of any science, about which he wishes to institute a discourse, so that he may deduce from it such consequences as may seem fit to him—consequences 9–11 to the cognition of which, since it is a branch of that same science, there is no other foundation to which one may subsequently recur—his discourse and the method of his reasoning will be vain and futile, and the labor and study expended on that matter will be fruitless and ridiculous. The parable, however, which our Lord and Savior published in His holy Gospel, saying: "If anyone builds his house upon the sand, and the slightest wind passing over it overturns it, and the smallest mountain torrent ruins it; but if he has built it upon a rock, it can neither be overturned by the winds nor subverted by the torrent," is a rule and an example for one who understands. For whoever has spoken of any science without a foundation to which he may look and upon which he may lean, will suddenly fall to nothing, and will fail as quickly as one who builds his house upon the sand; but if anyone, having first thoroughly known the foundation of any science, speaks about it, his discourse will be true, brilliant, clear, and firm, because he has spoken upon a substructure of a foundation to which he may look and upon which he may lean, as when anyone builds his house upon rock. Moreover, Plato and Aristotle have said many things to this effect in their dialectic books and others, about the foundations of the sciences and their definitions, and about the foundations and definitions of arithmetic, and the method which a student ought to follow when he wishes to acquire proficiency in any science at length; explaining D and setting forth those matters which pertain to this, which it is not necessary for us to repeat (lest this book of ours become longer). Since, however, having stated these things in the preface of my book, I have said that it is necessary for anyone who wishes to speak about the cognition of any science to know its foundations; since (I say) these things are so, it is necessary that we should provide for you the foundation which you have requested, to which you may recur and upon which you may lean. Truly and most clearly do men differ among themselves in history, but having come to me in this matter after long investigation and much labor, this is what I have found: that what is exhibited from those things in the law and other books of undoubted faith, I am about to explain with just and sufficient explanation, with succinct and compendious narrations added to it, so that this book of mine may be sufficient for you, and may make it so that there is no need for you to have recourse to anyone else for the sake of knowing the history of any matter. The purpose, however, is to set out from the beginning, from when God created Adam down to B this our time, so that its knowledge may be manifest to you. But in God is aid and strength and power, which may bring us help for all things that are sought to be perceived, and direction to that by which our affairs may be prospered, so that the service to be rendered to Him and His good pleasure may be fulfilled, since He is omnipotent. Praise, therefore, be to God, the Lord of creatures.
13–15 God, the most powerful and most glorious, created the world with the things that are in it, and also Adam and Eve, in six days. Adam, however, was created on the sixth day, and God blessed the seventh day, because in it He finished the work of creation. But He commanded Adam and Eve, who had been introduced into paradise, that they should eat of all the trees, except the tree of knowledge; of that, however, they were not to eat. But when the devil tempted Eve, she transgressed the commandment of God, and ate from that tree, and while eating of it, offered it to Adam. Since, therefore, they had rebelled against their Lord, He expelled them from paradise C at the ninth hour of the day of Friday, and ordered them, having been placed in the land, to procreate offspring, so that they might multiply and fill the earth. Adam therefore had congress with Eve, who, when she had conceived, brought forth a boy and a girl; she named the boy Kain, and the girl Azrun. Then again, Eve conceiving, and bringing forth a boy and a girl, imposed the name Abel on the boy, and Owain on the girl, who is called Laphura in Greek. And when the children had become older, Adam said to Eve: "Let Kain take Owain, who was born with Abel, but Abel [take] Azrun, who was born with Kain." But Kain said to his mother: "I will take my sister, and let Abel take his sister." Indeed, Azrun was more beautiful than Owain. When Adam heard that, he took it very badly, 16 and said: "This is against the commandment, that you should take your twin sister." And Cain was a farmer, and Abel a shepherd of sheep. And Adam said to them: "Take of the fruits of the earth, and of the offspring of the sheep, and having ascended the summit of this holy mountain, offer your gifts; then you shall take your wives." Therefore, Kain brought of the fruits of the earth as an offering to God, the best and most select; Abel [brought] of the firstlings of his sheep the best and most select. Meanwhile, however, while they were ascending the summit of the mountain, Satan put it into the mind of Kain that he should kill his brother Abel, for the sake of his sister Azrun. And when they were offering the obla-
oblation, God accepted the oblation of Abel, but not that of Kain. Wherefore, A moved by anger and heat against Abel, Kain envied his brother, and when they had descended from the mountain, he rushed upon him, and striking his head with a stone, he killed him. Deeply grieved, therefore, Adam and Eve mourned for Abel for one hundred years. But God cursed Kain and his offspring; and Kain was fearful, trembling, and a wanderer all the days of his life. And God cast him out, while he was still single, into the (region of) Nod. Kain then took his sister Azrun with him and dwelt there. Then, Adam having had relations with Eve, she conceived, and when Adam was two hundred and thirty years old, she bore a boy whom she named Seth. Seth was of fair countenance, strong, of perfect stature like his father, and he himself was the father of the giants who were before B the flood. 17-19 And when Adam had given to Seth as a wife Owain, the sister of Abel, Enosh was born to him from her; and of Enosh, Kainan was born, and indeed many other children later to Adam.
Adam, before his death, as it was already approaching, having summoned his son Seth, and Seth’s son Enosh, and Enosh’s son Kainan, and Kainan’s son Mahlaliel, commanded them, saying to them: "Let this be a mandate to all your children: when I am dead, cover my body with myrrh, aloes, and cassia, and lay it in the cave of Alcanuz; and whoever there may be among your children at the time when you must depart from the borders of paradise, let him take my body up with him and place it in the middle of C the earth, for from there shall be my salvation, and the salvation of all my children." Now the whole span of Adam’s life was nine hundred and thirty years, and he died on a Friday, on the fourteenth day of the moon, on the sixth of Nisan (which is Barmudah), at the ninth hour of the day; at which hour he was also driven from paradise. His son Seth, therefore, shrouded the dead Adam according to his command, and carried his body to the summit of the mountain and buried it in the cave of Alcanuz: and they mourned for him for one hundred and forty days.
Seth, when he was two hundred and five years old, became the father of Enosh. After the death of Adam, the family of Seth withdrew from the family of the accursed Kain. Seth, therefore, having D taken with him his firstborn son Enosh, and Kain’s son Enosh and Mahlaliel of Kainan, along with their wives and children, led them to the summit of the mountain; and Adam is there, but Kain, and all his children, remained below in the valley where Abel was killed.
The children of Seth practiced purity and holiness on this mountain, hearing the voice of the angels, near whom they dwelt, and together with them praising and celebrating God; and they were called, with their wives and children, the sons of God. They had no labor, nor crops, nor harvest; but the fruits of the trees provided them sustenance: nor was there among them any place for envy, injustice, or lying; their oath was: "No, by the blood of Abel." Every day, however, as they ascended the summit of the holy mountain, prone they worshipped God, and (visiting) the body of Adam, they sought a blessing. And when the death of Seth was approaching, he adjured his sons by the blood of Abel, that none of them should descend from this holy mountain, nor allow themselves to migrate to those born from the accursed Kain. The whole of Seth's life, therefore, was nine hundred and twelve years. Enosh, when he was one hundred and ninety years old, became the father of Kainan; in whose time the children of the accursed Kain made drums, cymbals, lutes, and musical instruments, and they were the first to work iron, and all things which are made from it, and they also built 21-23 the tents in which they would dwell.
Furthermore, in the three hundredth year of the life of Enosh, the accursed Kain was killed, the son of Adam, who killed his brother Abel. For the seventh of the descendants of Kain, by the name of Lamech, who was a shepherd, killed him with an arrow, which he shot while playing, having pierced the heart of his ancestor Kain; for Kain, as it were, was wandering about in the forest, as one who, being struck with terror, could not remain in one place. The accursed Kain therefore died when he had lived seven hundred and thirty years. The whole span of the life of Enosh was nine hundred and five years.
To Kainan, however, when he was one hundred and seventy years old, was born Mahlaliel. Kainan, therefore, as death was already approaching, adjured his son Mahlaliel by the blood of Abel, that he would not permit any of his children to descend from the mountain to the descendants of the accursed Kain. Now the whole age of Kainan was nine hundred and ten years. To Mahlaliel, when he was one hundred and sixty-five years old, was born Jared, and in the one hundred and thirty-fifth year of the age of Mahlaliel, Kainan died and was buried in the cave of Canuz. Mahlaliel, however, as death was already approaching, adjured his son Jared, whom he had summoned, by the blood of Abel, not to permit any of his offspring to descend from the mountain to the descendants of the homicidal, accursed Kain. The whole span of the years that Mahlaliel lived 24 was eight hundred and ninety-five years. To Jared, when he was one hundred and sixty-two years old, was born Enoch.
As for the descendants of the homicidal Kain, the men neighed at the women like horses, and women in the same way, without shame, committed sordid acts with men, and others with others; and they coupled openly, the same woman having relations with two or three men, and the old women were more lecherous than the younger ones; fathers used their daughters in promiscuous intercourse, and young men their own mothers, to such a degree that neither did children know their fathers, nor fathers their children; meanwhile, they all used musical instruments, so that the sound of their clamor and laughter ascended to the summit of the holy mountain; when the descendants of Seth heard this, one hundred men from among them gathered to descend from the mountain to the descendants of the accursed Kain, whom Jared had bound with an oath by the blood of Abel.
A They, however, ignoring his word, descended; and when they had descended and saw the daughters of the accursed Kain—beautiful in appearance and naked without shame—they burned with lust. The daughters of Kain, seeing them in turn—men of beautiful appearance and giant stature—leaped upon them like beasts and defiled their bodies, and thus the sons of Seth perished by committing fornication with the daughters of Kain. The daughters of the accursed Kain bore giants to the sons of Seth. For in the Law it says: "The sons of God (called Bani Elohim) when they had looked upon B the daughters of Kain, how beautiful they were, descended to them and begat from them."
But those who err, and do not know what they are saying, claim that angels descended to the daughters of men, when (they must be understood) to be the sons of Seth, who descended from the holy mountain to the daughters of the accursed Kain. For the Sethites, because of their holiness and because they inhabited the holy mountain, were called Bani Elohim, that is, Sons of God. They err, therefore, who say that angels descended to the daughters of men, since the substance of angels is a simple substance, and the use of physical desire does not befit their nature, whereas man is of a composite substance, to whose nature such use befits, as it does all living creatures. And if angels had consorted with women, they would have left no virgin nor any uncorrupted daughter of men anywhere. But when the sons of Seth, who had descended from the mountain to the daughters of the accursed Kain, wished to ascend back to the holy mountain, the stones C of the mountain became fire, so that in no way was a return to the mountain open to them. Then others began to descend from the holy mountain to the daughters of the accursed Kain one after another. Therefore, when death approached Jared, having called together his son Enoch, and Enoch’s [son] Mathushalech, and Mathushalech’s [son] Lamech, and Lamech’s [son] Noah, he said: D "Take heed, lest any of you descend from this holy mountain. For your children have fallen and perished. But I know that God, powerful and glorious, will not leave you on this holy mountain. Whoever of you, then, shall depart from this place, let him take with him the body of Adam, together with these offerings, and let him bury it wherever the Lord shall tell him." The whole span of Jared’s life was nine hundred and sixty-two years. To Enoch, when he was one hundred and sixty-five years old, was born Mathushalech; and in the twentieth year of Enoch, Seth died on Tuesday, at the ninth hour of the day, the twenty-seventh of the month of Ab (which is Meshri), when he had lived twelve years beyond nine hundred, and his son Enosh buried him, embalmed with myrrh, frankincense, and cassia, in the cave of Alcanuz near Adam, and they mourned him for forty days. To Mathushalech, after one hundred and eighty-seven years had passed, was born Lamech; the total that Mathushalech lived was nine hundred and sixty-nine years. Furthermore, in the fifty-third year of the life of Mathushalech, Enosh died...
A Sedechum. When Lamech had given these instructions to his son Noah, he died on the Lord’s day at sunset, on the nineteenth of Adar (which is Bormahat); and Noah buried him, having prepared his body, in the cave of Aleanuz, and they mourned him for forty days. 33 35 The life of Lamech was seven hundred and seventy-seven years. Furthermore, in the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, Mathushalech died, on the day of Venus, around midday, on the twenty-first of Ilul, which is Thut; whom Noah and Shem buried, having prepared his body, in the cave of Aleanuz, and they mourned him for forty days. The life of Mathushalech was nine hundred and sixty-nine years. Nor did anyone now remain on the holy mountain except for Noah alone and his wife (whose name was Ilaical), the daughter of Namusa, the son of Enoch, together with their three B sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and the three wives of these, who were from the daughters of Mathushalech; the name of Shem’s wife was Salit; Ham’s, Mahlat; Japheth’s, Arisiseh.
As wickedness increased upon the earth, and the descendants of Seth mingled with the descendants of the cursed Cain, committing sins, doing base things, and having turned to frivolous pursuits, God indicated to Noah through a revelation: I am about to send a deluge upon the earth, and I am to destroy all that shall be found upon it. And having ordered him to descend from the holy mountain with his sons and his wife and the wives of his sons, He commanded him to build a ship out of squared timbers (according to some, out of wood of the Indian plane tree), whose length should be three hundred cubits, its width fifty, and its height thirty; and C he was to delineate it, smeared inside and out with pitch and bitumen, into three stories 36, of which the lowest should be for wild beasts and cattle; the middle, for birds; and the highest, for himself and his sons; and there was to be a door to the ship on its side, toward the eastern part, and places were to be made within it for receiving water, and a place for food. Therefore, Noah entered the cave of Aleanuz, and after kissing the bodies of Seth, Enoch, Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared, Mathushalech, and Lamech, he took up the body of Adam and with it the offerings, with Shem carrying gold, Ham myrrh, and Japheth frankincense. Having gone out, therefore, to descend from the holy mountain, with their eyes raised to paradise, they wept, saying: "Farewell, holy paradise"—and having kissed the stones and embraced the trees, they descended from the holy mountain; and Noah built the ship. The Lord also indicated to him that he should make a bell out of wood of the Indian plane tree, three cubits long and one and a half cubits wide, whose mallet also should be of the same D material: which he should strike three times daily; in the morning, so that the laborers might be gathered to him, then at midday, at the time of lunch; and again in the evening, when it was time to leave; and He said to him: "When they hear you striking the bell and say to you: 'What is this thing that you are doing?' answer them: 'The Lord is about to send a deluge.'" Noah therefore did everything that the Lord commanded him. And the Lord sent to him from every kind of living creature, namely, cattle, birds, wild beasts, and reptiles, saying: "Bring with you from among them 37-39 those that are clean, seven pairs, seven males, and as many females; but of the unclean, two, namely, a male and a female." Noah therefore entered the ship with his wife, his sons, and his sons' wives, and he placed the body of Adam into the ship, having deposited it in the middle of it, with the offerings placed with it. Noah and his sons were at the eastern part of the ship; but his wife and the wives of his sons were at the western, so that the men would not approach the women, nor the women the men. And when he had brought with him everything that God had ordered to be brought, as the Lord opened the fountains of the waters, the earth gushed forth, the seas were mingled, and God sent down rain from heaven. And there was a deluge when Noah was six hundred years old, and his son Shem was one hundred. But with the water bursting forth from the earth, and the rain from heaven, for forty days and nights continuously, the water prevailed upon the earth to such an extent that it exceeded the highest of the mountains that are on earth by fifteen cubits, and covered the surface of the earth for one hundred and fifty days, until there remained no animal or plant on the earth that was not destroyed. By then, from Adam to the deluge, there were two thousand two hundred and fifty-six years. After one hundred and fifty days, however, from the deluge, God sending a wind that blew upon the earth, so that the water subsided, the fountains ceased, and the rain was restrained, the water began to continually subside and recede until the seventh month. And on the seventeenth day of the seventh month, namely, the month of Ilul (which is the same as Thut), the ship rested on the mountain called Ararat, which is the mountain of Alluda in Musal, in the region of Diar-Rabia, in a territory called Korda; it is called in modern language Thamanin, and the island of Bani Omar. And when the water had ceased to grow and recede until the tenth month, on the first day of the tenth month, the peaks of the mountains appeared, then after forty days, the door of the ship having been opened, Noah sent out a raven to explore whether the water had dried from the surface of the earth, which went away and did not return. Therefore he sent out a dove, which without delay returned with its feet wet, from which Noah knew that water was still upon the earth. But after seven days, when he sent out the dove again, it returned to him in the evening, carrying in its mouth an olive leaf. Then, when he had waited for yet another seven days, he sent out the dove, which did not return to him. Therefore, when he had waited for another seven days after this, having opened the door of the ship, he looked out, and behold, the earth had produced green grass and the waters had receded from it. Therefore, Noah went out from the ship with his sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and his and his sons' wives, and all the living creatures that were in the ship with him, after two months beyond a year, on the seventeenth day 41-43 of the second month, namely, of Nisan, which is also Barmudah. And when they had gone out, they built a city, which they called Thamanin, according to their number, as if to say: "We are eight." And the Lord said:
A power, glorious, Noah: There shall no more be a flood upon the earth.
And the Lord set a covenant for Noah, namely the bow appearing in the clouds, saying to him: When you shall see this bow, it shall be for you a sign of the covenant. And the sons of Noah planted a vineyard, and when wine newly pressed was offered to his father Noah, he himself, drinking, was made drunk, so that while sleeping his nakedness was uncovered; which Ham seeing, laughed, and told his brothers. Therefore, Sem and Japhet, taking a garment, cast it upon themselves, and going backwards, lest they should see the shame of their father, covered the nakedness of their father. And Noah, having awakened from his sleep, and upon his wife telling him what had been done, was angered at his son Ham and cursed him, saying: Cursed be Ham, and he shall be a servant to his brothers. After this, when Ham had taken for himself all the instruments of play, in this also he was cursed, and he became a servant to his brothers; he, indeed, and his offspring, who are the Egyptians, Negroes, Ethiopians, and (as it is said) the Barbarians. Two years after the flood, Arphachshad was born to Sem; when Sem was already one hundred and two years old. And Noah lived B after the flood three hundred and fifty years.
But Noah, already near to death, commanded his son Sem, saying to him in secret: Take the body of Adam from the ship, while no one is aware, and having taken with you bread and wine as provisions, and having taken Melchisedech, the son of Phalek, depart until you deposit him there where the angel of the Lord shall indicate. And you shall command Melchisedech to fix his dwelling in that place, and not to take a wife, but to addict himself to piety for his whole life; for the Lord has chosen him to serve His worship. Therefore, let him not build a house for himself there; nor let him shed blood in that place, weder of beast, or bird, or any animal; nor let him offer any other sacrifice than bread and wine, which he shall offer to the Lord, and let his clothing be of lion skins; nor let him cut his hair, nor pare his nails, and let him remain alone, since he is a priest of the Most High God. The angel of the Lord shall go before you until you arrive at the place where you are to bury the body of Adam; you shall know, however, that this place is the middle of the earth. When he had commanded these things to Sem, Noah died, on Wednesday, in the second hour of the day, on the second day of the month Aiyar, which is the same as Bashnes; and the life of Noah was nine hundred and fifty years. This occurred in the four hundred and fiftieth year of the age of Sem. Having prepared him therefore, his sons Sem, Ham, and Japhet buried him; and they mourned for forty days. The total that Sem lived was six hundred years; of which one hundred were before the flood, and five hundred after the flood. To Arphachshad, after one hundred and thirty-five years, was born Kainan; the total that Arphachshad lived was four hundred and sixty-five years. To Kainan, after one hundred and thirty years, was born Shalech; the total C of the life of Kainan was four hundred and thirty years. To Shalech, after one hundred and thirty years, was born Eber; and the total that Shalech lived was four hundred and sixty years. Eber is the father of the Hebrews, whom the Arabs call Hud. To Eber, after one hundred and thirty-four years, was born Phalek; who for this reason was called by this name, because in his time the earth was divided.
Moreover to Eber, after Phalek, was born Kahtan, who is the father of the Arabs. In his time, men began to worship a painted image of anyone who was distinguished by strength, or by excellence of form, or stood out in counsel, or was illustrious by fame. The cause for the worship rendered to images was this: that long ago when some man outstanding in prudence and counsel or fortitude was dying, they would paint his likeness in the assemblies; then, when something pleasant happened to them, about which counsel was to be taken, they would gather before this image and consult, as if this image were present with them during the consultation, lest there be lacking to them in their council the image of some ancestor: which, because they persevered in doing, they fell into the worship of images. From the time of the flood to the birth of Phalek (there intervened) five hundred and thirty-one years. From Adam to the birth of Phalek, two thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven years. And to Phalek was born Melchisedech the priest. Sem therefore did as his father Noah had commanded him; and having entered the ship by night, he took from it the body D of Adam, with no one knowing of the deed; then having called his brothers, he said: In the mandates before his death, our father gave command that I should go forward on the earth until I reached the sea, and see how the earth and its rivers and valleys should behave, and then return to you. Therefore I leave my wife and children with you, whom I would wish you to keep until I return to you; but to Phalek he said: Grant me your son Melchisedech, that he may be a help to me on the way. When therefore Sem had departed, having taken with him the body of Adam and Melchisedech, the angel of the Lord ran to them, and did not depart from them until he had led them to the middle of the earth and shown them the place; to which, when they had placed the body of Adam, it opened of its own accord: then, the body having been deposited in it, it closed again. The name of this place is Jaljalah, 49-51 that is, cranium.
Then Sem commanded Melchisedech all that Noah had commanded him, saying to him: Remaining here, be a priest to the Lord, since the Lord has chosen you to perform worship to Him; and this angel of the Lord shall descend to you continuously. Then having returned to his brothers, to Phalek asking where the boy Melchisedech was, he answered that he had buried him, having died on the way; and they were, therefore, affected with great sadness for him. In the seventieth year of the life of Eber, Arphachshad died, in the month Nisan (which is Barmudah); and his life was four hundred and sixty-five years. In the year of the life of Eber
one hundred and three, Shem, the son of Noah, died on a Friday in the month of Iul (which is Thoth), having lived six hundred years. The total of the years Eber lived was four hundred and sixty-four. At that time, A the language of men was one, their speech one: that is, according to some, Syriac; according to others, Hebrew; according to others, Greek; the opinion of the latter seems probable to me, that the Greek, Syriac, and Hebrew languages are more firmly founded, and are broader and more expansive. Therefore, seventy-two men were gathered from them, who said: "Let us build a city, and let us fortify it with a citadel in which we may build a tower that reaches to the sky, so that if by chance a flood should ever happen, we might be freed from it." They spent three years making and firing bricks; of which B each was thirteen cubits long, ten wide, and five high; and they built the city between Tyre and Babel, three hundred and thirteen fathoms long, one hundred and fifty-one wide: the walls of which were five thousand five hundred and thirty-three fathoms high; thirty-three wide; but the tower was ten thousand fathoms high: for the construction of which they spent forty years. While they were still building, behold, God sent an angel from heaven to confound their languages and change their dialects, so that when one spoke, another did not understand what he was saying. Hence this place was called Babel, because the languages were C confounded there; and thus they were dispersed on the earth; and this was in the forty-sixth year after the birth of Peleg. Of those seventy-two men, twenty-five were from the sons of Shem, who dwelt from the Euphrates and Mosul to the extreme East: among whom are the Syrians, the inhabitants of Diyar Rabi'a and Mesopotamia, the Jarmakani, the Chaldaeans (that is, the inhabitants of Babel), and the (peoples of) Persia, and Chorasan, and Fargana, and the Sindians, and the Indians, and the islands of Sin, and the Hebrews, and the (inhabitants of) Yemen, and Al-Taif, and Al-Yamama, and Al-Bahrain, and various Arab races; and they have eight types of script: namely, Hebrew, Syriac, Persian, Indian, Chaldaean (which is also D Babylonian), Chinese, Hamyaric, and Arabic: and the major rivers for Shem are the Euphrates and the river Balkh.
Of the sons of Ham, there were thirty-two men who inhabited Syria, which is also called the land of Canaan (because Ham had a son whose name was Canaan), as far as the extreme borders of the Occident: among them are the Canaanites, the Philistines, the inhabitants of Egypt, the Copts, the Marisii, various races of blacks, the Ethiopians, the Nubians, the Al-Bajait, the Al-Zenii, the Al-Zutti, the Karrani, the Samaritans, the Al-Zabeii, the Al-Mogrebini, and the Barbarians. There are twenty-six islands for them, among which are Sardinia, Malta, Crete, and part of the island of Cyprus, along with others; but they have six (types of) script: namely, Egyptian, Nubian, Ethiopian, Frankish, Punic, and Kanke-lic. Furthermore, for Ham, among the greater rivers is the Nile. Finally, among the sons of Japheth were fifteen men, who inhabited the lands from the Tigris up to the extreme parts of the North; and among them are the Turks, Al-Baitae, Al-
- A approaching it, he worshipped it; and there he placed someone to serve the fire and to offer incense to it. And from that time the Magi began to cherish the fire and to worship it. Now there was a man whom Nimrod appointed to serve the fire, named Andeshan; to whom, speaking from the midst of the fire, the devil said: "No one can serve the fire or learn my religion, unless he first has had relations with his mother, his sister, and his daughter." Andeshan therefore did as the devil told him; and from that time, it was the custom for the priests of the Magi to have relations with their mothers, sisters, and daughters. The first author of this practice was this Andeshan. Furthermore, Nimrod built Azerbaijan, Babylon, Nineveh, Resen, and very many cities. The total time that Terah lived is two hundred and sixty-five years, and then he died. Now from Peleg to Abraham the years are five hundred and forty-one; from the flood to Abraham, one thousand and seventy-two; from Adam to Abraham, three thousand three hundred and twenty-eight. To Abraham, when he was seventy-five years old, God commanded that he depart from his native land, Harran, and dwell in the land of Canaan (which is Alsham). Abraham therefore took as his wife his B Sarah, who was also his sister by his father; for Terah, the father of Abraham, after the death of Yuana, Abraham's mother, took another wife named Tohwait, from whom was born to him Sarah, whom Abraham married; and for this reason Abraham said: "She is my sister, the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother." He also took Lot, his brother's son, and set out for the land of the Amorites of Al-Manarian, where, when some had come out against him and taken Lot captive, Abraham pursued them and delivered Lot from their hands. But on his return, at the mountains of the Jebusites, Melchizedek, who is called king of peace and priest of the Most High God, met him. Seeing him from afar, Abraham worshipped him, and then embraced and kissed him, and asked for a blessing from him. Melchizedek therefore blessed him and offered him bread and wine; and Abraham gave Melchizedek tithes of all that he had. Then, by revelation, God said to Abraham: "From this time forth you shall become great, for I will bless you, and I will multiply your seed." And when Melchizedek had already become renowned, the kings who had heard of him gathered to him; among whom were Abimelech king of Gerar, Markal king of Zoar, Ariush king of Ellasar, Jardaomer king of Elam, Targali king of Zaglai, Baaz king of Gelaath, Yaez king of Sodom, Barsha king of Gomorrah, C Sebaath D king of Edom, Banbu king of Damascus, Baktar king of Rabba, Samaan king of the Amorites: these twelve kings, coming to Melchizedek, who is also called the king of peace, when they had seen him and heard his words, asked him to go with them, to which he replied: "I cannot depart from this place." Therefore, they took counsel among themselves concerning building
A that city, saying: "Truly this man is the king of all the world and the father of all kings." Having, therefore, built the city, they established him as king in it. Melchizedek named that city Jerusalem. Furthermore, when the report of the kingdom of Melchizedek reached the king of Machul al-Tairani, he came to him to see and speak with him, and gave him a great quantity of wealth. Melchizedek was in honor among all kings, insomuch that they called him the father of kings. Now, those who say that Melchizedek had neither beginning of days nor end of life, bringing forward to confirm this the saying of the apostle Paul where he says, "Of whose days there is no beginning, nor limit of his life," do not understand the passage of the apostle Paul. For when Shem, the son of Noah, had taken Melchizedek from his parents, it was not inscribed in the [sacred] book how old he was when he set out from the East, nor how many years old he was when he died. And since Melchizedek was the son of Peleg, son of Eber, son of Salah, son of Cainan, son of Arphaxad, son of Shem, son of Noah, none of these ancestors is called his father. For Paul says: "No one of his lineage served the temple," and they did not ascribe a father to him among the tribes. For Matthew and Luke the evangelists described only the heads of the tribes; and therefore the apostle Paul did not write down the name of his father or his mother. Moreover, Paul does not say that he did not have a father; but [only] that he was not inscribed among the tribes. Furthermore, in the fifty-first year of the life of Abraham C, Sarug died in the month of Adar (which is Bormahat), having lived three hundred and thirty years. Also, in the time of Abraham, those who were with Lot, the son of Haran, committed sins—namely, the inhabitants of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. The Lord, therefore, destroyed them, saving Lot. But since Sarah, the wife of Abraham, was sterile, so that she did not conceive, Abraham, being rich in wealth, gave to Abraham a handmaid named Hagar, who, becoming pregnant by Abraham, bore him a son, whom he named Ishmael, Abraham being then eighty-six years old. And when Abraham was reaching ninety-nine years, he was circumcised, and he circumcised his son Ishmael, already thirteen years old. But when Abraham was now fully a centenarian, his wife D Sarah bore him a boy whom he named Isaac, Sarah being then ninety years old. And Isaac was circumcised on the eighth day after his birth. But Sarah, when she had now borne Isaac, said to Abraham: "Cast out from my sight Hagar with her son Ishmael." Abraham, therefore, sent away his son Ishmael, provided with wealth and provisions, along with his mother, into the land of Yathreb and Yaman, where he dwelt and, having taken a wife, begat sons. The whole duration of Ishmael's life was one hundred and thirty-seven years. Furthermore, in the time of Abraham there was in the East a king named Cyrus, he who founded Samosata, Claudias, and al-Iraq: in his days also reigned Chahib, the wife of Sin the priest of the mountain, who built and walled around Nisibis and Roha; indeed, she founded a great temple in Harran, and from melted gold she fashioned an idol to which she gave the name Sin, and she ordered all the inhabitants of Harran to worship it, having placed it in the middle of the temple. Therefore, the Harranians did not cease to worship the idol for fifty years. But afterwards, when Baal Samin, the king of al-Iraq, was perishing because of the wife of Talbin, the king of Mussal, she herself, fleeing from him, set fire to Harran, by which both the temple and the idol burned. In the fifty-ninth year of the life of Abraham, Nahor died in the month of Tammuz (which is Abib), having lived two hundred and eight years. In the seventy-third to the seventy-fifth year of the life of Abraham, God commanded him to take his son Isaac to be offered in holocaust in the fire, he being thirty-seven years old. But if one should say: "How is it proved that Isaac was thirty-seven years old when his father had it in mind to offer him?" it would be answered for him: that his mother Sarah had borne him at ninety years old, and she, having heard that Abraham had taken their son Isaac up to the mountain to immolate him, was affected with great sadness, and from the vehemence of the pain which she conceived, she fell into a sickness, from which she died, being one hundred and twenty-seven years old; it is necessary, therefore, that at that time Isaac should have been thirty-seven years old. Abraham, therefore, having taken his son Isaac and having brought him to the mountain, with wood and fire laid upon him, and having bound him and placed him upon the wood, and having made him lie down in order to sacrifice him, the angel cried out from heaven: "Look, Abraham, do not kill your son: for we have tested your patience and obedience and have probed the inner affections of your soul, and, having pitied you, we have redeemed him." Therefore, the Lord redeemed Isaac with a great ram. Sarah, moreover, having heard that Abraham had taken Isaac away to the mountain to be sacrificed, exclaiming and wailing, overcome with/ 76 sadness, the highest that she was affected with, that same year died, having lived one hundred and twenty-seven years. And Abraham took, after the death of Sarah, a woman named Keturah, daughter of the Bactrian king Rabba; who bore him many sons, whom, having furnished with provisions, he sent away from his presence. But all the years that Abraham lived are one hundred and seventy-five. Furthermore, in the thirty-fifth year of the life of Isaac, Terah died in the month of Elul (which is Tut), having lived two hundred and five years, and was buried in Harran. Isaac, moreover, at forty years old, took a wife whose name was Rebecca, daughter of Bethuel, son of Nahor, brother of Abraham. Truly, in the sixtieth year of the life of Isaac, his wife Rebecca became pregnant, and being pressed by distress and pain, she had gone to Melchizedek; and he, having prayed for her, said: "Two peoples are in your womb, and you shall bring forth two tribes; but the greater shall be subject to the lesser." Therefore, Rebecca brought forth at one birth
A twins, whose first Isaac called Esau, and the second Jacob, to whom he gave the name Jacob because as he came from his mother's womb, he held Esau's heel. Now Isaac loved Esau, but Rebecca loved Jacob. Esau was hairy, shaggy, and rough. Being now advanced in age, Isaac called his son Esau and said: "Take up your arms, and having gone into the field [77-79], hunt for me some prey from which you may prepare me food, that I may eat and bless you before I die." When Rebecca heard this, she took Jacob and clothed him in the garments of Esau, and having taken up goat skins, she placed them upon his chest, shoulders, and arms, and with the prepared food, she said to him: "Go in to your father Isaac and say: 'I am Esau your son,' that he may bless you before his death." When Jacob had gone in to Isaac, he said to him: "Approach me." And when he had touched him, he said: "The voice is indeed the voice of Jacob, but the touch is the touch of Esau." Eating, therefore, Isaac gave a blessing to Jacob, and appointed him prince over his brother. Then Esau returned from the hunt and also prepared food, which he offered to his father Isaac. His father said to him: "Who is it that proceeded you, so as to receive the blessing?" Esau, weeping, said: "O my father, have you not another blessing for me?" Isaac said: "I have appointed him prince over you, and what can I do for you?" But when Esau approached, he blessed him also, yet established Jacob as prince over him; wherefore B Esau plotted in his mind to kill Jacob. Therefore, Jacob fled from his brother Esau to Haran, to his uncle Laban. Moreover, in the time of Isaac, Jericho was founded, with seven kings building it, each one of them 80 building his own wall. In the seventy-fifth year of the life of Isaac, Abraham died in the month of Nisan (which is Barmudah) [but in another copy it is read: in the month of Adar, which is Bormalat], having lived one hundred and seventy-five years. In the one hundred and twenty-third year of the life of Isaac, Ishmael died, in the month of Nisan (which is Barmudah), having lived one hundred and thirty-seven years. The whole that Isaac lived was one hundred and eighty years. Esau, being forty years old, took a wife from the daughters of his uncle Ishmael, named Nahalat, who bore him very many sons. He also took from the daughters of Canaan a woman named Ada, daughter of Elon the Hittite; and also from the daughters of the Greeks, whence he had progeny among them. And his progeny is C more numerous than can be counted. From his stock are the Amalekites and the Korahites. The total that Esau had lived was one hundred and twenty-nine years. But Jacob reached his uncle Laban in Haran, who had two daughters, the elder of whom was named Leah (who was weak-eyed), and the younger Rachel. Jacob loved Rachel, and asked for her as wife from his uncle, who said to him: "If you serve me for seven years, I will give Rachel to you as wife." But when he had served him for seven years, at night he brought in to him Leah, the sister of Rachel. 81 83 Then Jacob said to his uncle: "For seven years I served you so that you might give me Rachel as wife; how did you then bring in to me her sister Leah? If you have served me for other years, I will also give you Rachel." So he served him for seven other years, and D he gave him Rachel as wife, and he took both sisters.
Leah bore to Jacob Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, while Rachel had not yet given birth. Rachel then said to Jacob: "Take my handmaid Bilhah, that she may bear children for me through her." So Bilhah gave birth to two boys for Jacob, Dan and Naphtali; then Leah said to Jacob: "Take also my handmaid," and having conceived from him, she bore to him Gad and Asher. After this, Rachel became pregnant and bore Joseph and Benjamin. These are the twelve sons of Jacob, from whom come all the sons of Israel. Then Jacob returned to the land of Canaan; God called him Israel. In the eighty-seventh year of Jacob, Leah bore Levi, his third son. Moreover, it is recorded that the time for Levi was before the other brothers, because from him was born Moses. Jacob loved Joseph with vehemence, 84 and preferred him over his brothers, whence they plotted to take him from their midst. Therefore, while they were grazing their sheep and camels, behold 85 a company of Midianite merchants passes to them (who are Ishmaelites and Arabs), whose merchandise was pine nuts, terebinth, and oil, headed for Egypt, to whom they sold Jacob's son for twenty coins, being seventeen years of age. Then, taking Joseph's coat of many colors and staining it with blood, they said to Jacob: "A wolf devoured Joseph." But Joseph, having been abducted into Egypt by the merchants, was bought by them as a servant of Pharaoh, a prince; whose wife longed for him, but he restrained himself; wherefore she lied about him to her husband, saying: "The Hebrew boy sought me," and he threw him into prison. In the one hundred and twenty-seventh year of Jacob, Isaac died in the month of Aiyar (which is Bashnes), having lived one hundred and eighty years. In the one hundred and twenty-nine year of the life of Jacob, Esau died, in the month of Tishrin the first (which is Babah), having lived one hundred and twenty-nine years. Then in prison, along with Joseph, were Pharaoh's chief baker and chief cupbearer, who, as if in a sleep, saw [that] one held a cluster of grapes in his hands, and 87 squeezing the juice, offered it to Pharaoh to drink; to whom Joseph: "So," he said, "it shall be as you have seen; I, however, will make mention of you before my master." The cupbearer also saw a basket of bread upon his head, from which the birds were eating; to whom [Joseph]: "You will be crucified," he said, "and the birds shall eat your flesh," which came to pass.
A for when the day of future calamity shall stand over—which is for me the day of tribulation—I shall rest; that is, I shall close the final day of my life: for death is for man a rest and a cessation. And I shall ascend into the supernal city, where there is the people of the saints, considering this life to be a pilgrimage, which I myself also... similarly B to him. Thus also David says: "I am a sojourner and a pilgrim, as all my fathers were," (Ps. XXXIX, 13) signifying altogether and obscurely the patriarchs, and others who followed them, the saints. Some copies here have: "The example of my pilgrimage." You will thus understand: I shall ascend into the heavenly temple from this pilgrimage of mine: and desiring release from the mortal body, C he says: "I shall rest." For when he had foreseen what was to befall his race and people, with a troubled mind he said: Then I shall rest from affliction, if I am dissolved from this pilgrimage (35).
D Verse 17. For the fig tree shall not bring forth fruit, nor shall there be buds on the vines; the olive shall deny its work, and the fields shall not produce food. He exhibits the cause of his affliction, on account of which he is troubled, saying: Because I mourn, that the fig tree shall not bring forth fruit, namely Jerusalem itself. For when Christ had come to it, he found no fruit in it, except leaves alone, namely external demonstration and appearance and a simulation of piety. Just as A also again in the parables he said: Someone had a fig tree, which he wished to cut down because of its barrenness. But the dresser of the vineyard prayed that a little time be granted to it, that it might either bear fruit or be rooted up. But neither did the vine itself bring forth fruit. But the vine is the people, as Isaiah says: The vineyard of the Lord of hosts, he says, is the house of Israel, and the house of Judah, a pleasant plant (Isa. V, 7). B But he calls the Pharisees and Sadducees the olive, who indeed wished to appear conspicuous and grave by the name of just, but meanwhile were empty of its fruits, and naked of them. But that the olive is assumed for the image of the just, David also testifies: "I as a fruitful olive," (Ps. LI, 10) he says. The whole Synagogue likewise is an olive, as Jeremiah says: "The Lord shall call thy name a beautiful, shady olive" (Jerem. XI, 16). Therefore it belied its own work, C refused, defrauded. For having been instructed, and led like children to Christ through the law and the prophets, they did not approach him: on account of this its branches were broken, and the infidels formerly belonging to the wild olive were grafted in, the gentiles. Furthermore, the fields shall not produce food, or fruits for nourishment, that is, the le-
- A eum, having lived one hundred and ten years. Others claim that Joseph’s body was placed in a marble chest and cast into the Nile. Furthermore, Miriam was born to Amram after seventy-three years; Aaron after seventy-seven; Moses after eighty, to whom be peace. Amram lived in total one hundred and thirty-six years. In the thirty-seventh year of the life of Amram, 96 Levi died, having lived one hundred and thirty-seven years. In the sixty-seventh year of the life of the same, Kahat died, having been born one hundred and twenty-seven years. Now when Joseph and his brothers and all that generation had died, and the sons of Israel had multiplied and brought forth children by whom the land of Egypt was filled, the king who reigned over Egypt, who did not know Joseph, said to his counselors: "Many survivors of the Israelites exist, and we cannot be secure, lest some rebel arise against us and bring them aid to expel us from Egypt." Therefore, he set over them Egyptians who, reducing them to slavery, forced them to serve harshly in clay, bricks, and excavating stones and mountains, [in digging] caverns and cultivating the land: and he gave a mandate to the midwives that all males who were born to the Israelites should be taken out of the way, and cast into the river: so that the infants who were killed and submerged in the river exceeded the number. B
When Moses was born, therefore, his mother, fearing that he might be taken away, hid him for three months: then, fearing for herself (her name was Jochabad), she made an ark of reeds (in the Law, it is called made of pine wood) and smeared it with pitch inside and out, and having placed the boy into it, she cast it into the shallow water at the bank of the Nile, in a city called Dhan, of Egyptian jurisdiction, so that, lifted by the waves, he might not be submerged while she watched. 97-99 Miriam, the sister of Moses, sat from afar to see what might become of the boy. Therefore, the daughter of Pharaoh coming down, named Siyun, to bathe herself in the Nile, heard the wailing of the boy in the ark, and being moved with pity and tender affection for him, she took him to herself, ordering that a nurse be sought who might suckle and raise him. Therefore, running to him, Miriam, the sister of Moses, said that she would seek a nurse from the Israelites who might provide him milk and cherish him. And she brought her own mother (who was also the mother of Moses), the daughter of Pharaoh not knowing that she was his mother, who handed over the boy to her to be suckled and raised. C
But when Moses had already reached virile age, having caught sight of a certain Israelite who was contending with an Egyptian, he himself killed the Egyptian with a blow and buried him in the sand; and a few days later, while he was inserting himself as an arbitrator between two Israelites struggling with each other, they said to him: "Perhaps you are going to kill us too, just as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?" Wherefore, fearing for himself, Moses fled into the region of Hejazi, where he dwelt in the city of Midian, and there he took a wife named Siphurah, the daughter of Jethro (whom the Arabs call Shoaib), a descendant of Ismail, son of Abraham, a priest of the temple in the city of Midian. And Siphurah bore Moses two sons, Gersom and Elyazer. But while 100 Moses was pasturing the sheep of his father-in-law Jethro, behold, he saw on the mountain a bush on fire, in the middle of the day, a flame, with the tree not consumed by the fire. Which when he saw, approaching, the Lord called out from the bush: "Do not fear, Moses, for I am the Lord. Going to Pharaoh, you shall order him to release the sons of Israel so that they may serve Me." Therefore, Moses went to Pharaoh, at the time the Lord spoke to him, he was eighty years old, with Aaron eighty-three D and their sister Miriam eighty-seven. Now in the fifty-sixth year of the life of Moses, his father Amram died, whose life was one hundred and thirty-six years. Now there prophesied in Egypt among the Israelites Zarach, from the sons of Judah, Zamri, Abiathar, Haiman, Halcuc, Darda, and then Moses. The number of the sons of Israel when they entered Egypt was seventy persons, and they lived in Egypt two hundred and seventeen years, reduced to slavery by the Pharaohs succeeding one another. If, however, someone should say that it is written in the Law that the sons of Abraham were to be detained in slavery for four hundred years, [in another exemplar, "sons of Israel"], how then do you say they served for two hundred and seventeen years? We answer him that he does not know from what time he ought to calculate so that the space of four hundred years might be completed. Know in the first book of the Law 101-103 that God (whose praise is to be celebrated) said to Abraham: "Look at the heaven and the stars, if you can count them, so shall your seed be." The Lord also said to him: "I am the Lord who led you out of Karra of the Chaldeans into this land which I have given to you as a possession." And to Abraham asking, "Lord, how shall I know that I will possess it?" the Lord said: "Having taken a heifer, a ram, and a goat of three years, and a turtledove and a pigeon, and having divided them equally, place all their members opposite their counterparts, with the birds alone not divided." Which when Abraham had done, he was close to the point that the birds were about to swoop down upon the parts so divided, which when Abraham had called, they came to him. This happened at the setting of the sun; and a quiet and great fear seized Abraham, with thick darkness covering him. And the Lord said to Abraham: "Know for certain that your seed will live in a foreign land, in which they will labor, reduced to slavery for four hundred years. I, however, am going to judge the nation that will reduce them to slavery and they will go out finally toward this place with great wealth. You, however, will be transported to your fathers in peace, and you will be buried in a well-lived old age." Now from this time in which the Lord spoke to Abraham, "Your seed will make them serve au
and they will maltreat them for four hundred years," it is clear what I wish to be understood. A
He then once more collected them and placed them in the Ark. When the Tabernacle of the Time had also been completed by the Israelites, Moses placed the sanctuary within it, in which his brother Aaron performed the priestly office. And when the Israelites, who had been struck and killed by serpents—of which there was a great supply in the desert—implored help from Moses, the Lord commanded him to set up a serpent cast in bronze on a standard, and to fix it transversely in the middle of the Israelite camp; so that, if any of those bitten by a serpent looked at the bronze serpent, he would feel no harm from the venom. Moses, Aaron, and their sister Miriam died in the same year in the desert, after forty years had been spent in it. Miriam died first, on the sixth day of Nisan (which is Barmudah), aged one hundred and twenty-seven. Then Aaron, on the first day of the month of Ab (which is Meshra), who was also buried on Mount Hor, aged one hundred and twenty-three. Finally, Moses B on the seventh day of Adar (which is Bormahat) in the region of Moab, where he was also buried in a certain valley, when he was one hundred and twenty years of age. Upon the death of Moses, Joshua, the son of Nun, was placed in charge of ruling the people for thirty-one years: he, when he had crossed the Jordan, waited for seven days to besiege Jericho. On the seventh day, as the trumpets sounded around the city and the Israelites shouted, the ramparts of the city collapsed due to the vehemence of the shouting and clanging, and he put to death everyone in the city, men, boys, and women.
Having captured Jericho, he celebrated the Pasch in its plains. Then he sent the army ahead to the city of Ai and Bethel, to scout the state of the city. And when the inhabitants of Ai had met and killed thirty-six of Joshua’s men, Joshua sent thirty thousand men against it, whom he himself followed with an ambush. As the king of Ai advanced, therefore, against the army C, the Israelites retreated from them until they had moved far from the city, which Joshua, having entered with some ambushers, destroyed and consumed with fire, after killing those who had been in it, both men and women. He then pursued its king, killed his companions, and hung the person himself, who had been captured alive, after handing him over to death. Joshua then ascended with the Israelites onto the mountain of Canaan. Now, since the Israelites for the forty years that they were in the desert had not been circumcised, where, after the Jordan and the surrounding lands had been brought under their power, they mingled with the gentiles, the Lord commanded Joshua to circumcise them with knives made of hard stone, which he did. (There is, moreover, a certain race of Ethiopians called Al-Najab, which still does the same.) He also D described the Book of Deuteronomy to the Israelites, and the blessings and curses contained in it.
When the fame of Joshua had reached the king of Gibeon, he requested security from him through letters, having sent him many gifts; wherefore, having received him into his faith, he permitted him to remain in his own place. But the king of Jerusalem, whose name was Nisedek, the king of Hebron, the king of Yarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Ashkelon, having heard the report
that the Gibeonites had surrendered to Joshua, the son of Nun, having gathered their forces, attacked the city of Gibeon and besieged it; the king of Gibeon informed Joshua of this matter by letters sent to him. Joshua, having gathered his army, set out to attack them and was granted victory over them, pursuing them as they fled before him as far as the cities of Azekah and Makkedah; and the Lord rained upon them hail and stones, by which they were killed: the sun also stood still for the sake of Joshua, so that it moved neither toward the east nor the west until the Lord had granted him victory over them. A These five kings who were fleeing hid themselves in a cave they had entered, from whence Joshua brought them out, and having afflicted them with death, he hanged them. Thence he set out from the city of Makkedah toward the city of Libnah, which he captured while it was under siege, with its king and all others who were in it killed. From the city of Libnah he proceeded to the city of Lachish, whose king and inhabitants he also destroyed when it was captured. Having heard, of course, that Joshua had besieged the city of Lachish, the king of Gaza emerged with his army to bring aid to the king of Lachish against Joshua, the son of Nun, but Joshua, having gained the victory over him, killed him along with his followers. From Lachish he set out toward the city of Ashkelon, and having captured it by siege, he killed the king along with the rest of its inhabitants. Thence he proceeded to the city of Hebron, and having besieged and captured it, he destroyed its king and all its inhabitants. Thence he set out toward the city of Debir, and likewise captured it by siege, killing its king and the rest of its inhabitants. Having heard these things, Jabin, the king of Hazor, sent to the king of Maron, the king of Shimron, the king of Achshaph, the king of Sidon, the king of Ramah, and also to the Moabites, the Haranites, the Avvites, the Keraite, the Jebusites, the Shianabites, and whoever inhabited the seacoast, that they might assemble in one place. B Therefore, the kings, having gathered with their forces, so that they were in number like the sand, set out to fight against Joshua, the son of Nun. Joshua met them and, having achieved victory, killed them, burned their tents with fire, and hamstrung their beasts. Nor did the sword cease to pursue them all the way to the cities of Maron and Sidon, so that not one of them escaped; furthermore, he killed the kings who were captured. Now, all those whom Joshua, the son of Nun, killed—the kings and their regions which he took possession of—are thirty-five in number: among whom are the king of the Sanabites, the king of the Moabites, the king of the Canaanites, the king of the Kararites, the king of the Jebusites, the king of the Hivites, the king of the Gergesites, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Ani, the king of Saba which is near Bethel, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, the king of Adullam, the king of Geder, the king of Debir, the king of Hazor, the king of Hormah, the king of Arad, the king of Lebnah, the king of Lalam, the king of Abdad, the king of Hapher, the king of Phik, the king of Sadum, the king of Shamrun, the king of Barmut, the king of Haphir, the king of Kades, the king of Rahebb, the king of Mardut, the king of Sikom, the king of Batendun, the king of the mountain of Galilee, the king of Carsae, who are thirty-five kings in all. Joshua was therefore occupied for six years in defeating the kings and nations until he had taken their regions: then he spent fourteen years dividing the lands among the Israelites [then] C he ruled the people in tranquility and peace for eleven years. In his days, those who served the prophetic office were Eleazar, the son of Aaron, and Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron. Now Joshua, the son of Nun, died when he had reached the age of one hundred and ten, and was buried on Mount Gilead, together with the knives with which he had circumcised the Israelites at Gilgal. After the death of Joshua, the son of Nun, the priest Phinehas took charge of the people; namely, Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron; he served in the priesthood for twenty-five years; indeed, the Jews believe that the priest Phinehas is the same as the prophet Elijah, whom the Arabs call Al-Chadr. Then, when the Israelites had mixed with the neighboring nations, contracting marriages with them, and giving their own daughters in marriage to them, and had worshiped their idols (to which the names are Baalim, and Ashtoreth, and Baal), Cushan-Rishathaim, the king of Aram, being stronger than them, who was also called the king of Tyre and Sidon, and the king of Bahrain [that is, of the two seas], ruled the people harshly and cruelly for eight years. But when, due to the anguish of the affliction they suffered, they had returned to the worship of the Lord, having abandoned the idols, Othniel, the son of Kenaz, a young man from the tribe of Judah, set out and attacked Cushan-Rishathaim in battle, killed him, and ruled the people for forty years. D Upon the death of Othniel, when the Israelites had returned to the worship of idols, Eglon, the king of Moab, prevailed, who, having gathered as many as there were of the Ammonites and Amalekites, set out, and having overcome the Israelites, snatched the city of Phik from their hands. They therefore served the people of Moab, who ruled them harshly and cruelly for eighteen years. The Israelites, choosing one from among their own named Ehud, the son of Gera, from the tribe of Ephraim, a man remarkable for his strength and daring, sent him to Eglon, the king of the Moabites, with offerings. He, having entered to the king with the offerings, said: "I have a word for you in private, O king; I ask, therefore, that you withdraw with me." When he had withdrawn with him, he killed him, transfixed by a dagger; then, having closed the door of the king's upper room, he went out and said to his attendants: "The king has ordered that no one should enter to him"; and fleeing until he reached his own people, he gathered forces, with whom he set out for the city of Moab, captured it, destroyed all who were in it, and ruled the people for fifty-five years. After him, Samaan, the son of Anathi, ruled the people for twenty-five years, who killed six hundred of the Philistines who had attacked him. Upon the death of Samaan, Jabin, the king of Canaan, having subjected the Israelites who had returned to idolatry, from the city called Hazor, whose army was commanded by a man named Sisera, who ruled the people for twenty years with anguish and sadness. In his days, Deborah, the wife of Alkindun from the tribe of Ephraim, prophesied, who lived between Ramah and Bethel, and exercised judgment among the Israelites. Gathered before her, therefore, the Israelites said in great numbers: "Thou seest what anguish and affliction we suffer, and us in servi-
-Atude to Jabin, king of Canaan; be thou therefore present for the Israelites and rescue them from his power." Deborah, having therefore taken up Barak, son of Abinoam, of the tribe of Naphtali, appointed him to lead the people [according to another copy, the army]. Barak, therefore, having taken to himself ten thousand Israelites from the sons of Naphtali and Zebulun, and with Deborah accompanying him, ascended Mount Tabor. When the news of this reached Sisera, the lieutenant of Jabin, he moved against them; descending from the mountain against him, they were granted victory over him, so that all who were with Sisera, the lieutenant of Jabin, were utterly destroyed by slaughter. He himself, fleeing, entered the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite (that is, of the descendants of Cain, who was the father-in-law of Moses, otherwise called Jethro), who, having hidden him with her, gave him milk to drink when he asked for it, to test him and to see whether he was of sound mind or not; for he thought it was water that he had drunk. When, therefore, she had made him lie down, she drove a tent peg through his temples, so that the peg was fixed into the ground, and he died. Deborah, having found him dead, and she and Barak having set out to Jabin the king of Canaan, overcame him and slew him together with all his followers. Now Deborah presided over the people for forty years.
Upon her death, the Israelites, having returned to idolatry, the Midianites Oreb and Zeeb brought them into their power, who ruled them harshly and cruelly for seven years, seizing their livestock, B124 oxen and wealth. Going out against them, Gideon, son of Joash, of the tribe of Manasseh, having taken with him by night ten men from his servants, tore down the temple of the idol Baal, which, when it became known to the Midianites, he fled from them; then, having gathered three hundred men from the Israelites, he approached them by night. When he reached the army of the Midianites, having dispersed his men around the army, he sounded drums and blew trumpets, by which means the broken Midianites fell into confusion and fled before the Israelites. Gideon also wrote to the Israelites of the tribe of Ephraim, who dwelt in the regions adjacent to the Jordan, that they should go out and meet the Midianites, inasmuch as they had turned to flight. They went out and killed them with a great slaughter, and having captured Oreb and Zeeb, kings of the Midianites—Oreb at the bank of Oreb, and Zeeb in the threshing floor of Zeeb—they sent the heads of the slain to Gideon at the city of Succoth. When he asked its [inhabitants] to provide food for his army and receive them with hospitality, they replied to him: "If the heads of Zeba and Zalmunna, kings of the Midianites, were with thee, we would then refresh thy army with food and sustenance." Leaving them, therefore, he set out against Zeba and Zalmunna, the kings of the Midianites, who were with Cfive thousand men fit for war, and having gained the victory over them, he slew them with their followers. Then, having returned to Succoth, he destroyed it, having removed from the midst all who were 125-127 in it. Now Gideon had seventy sons; he also had a concubine from the [city] of Shechem who
bound herself meanwhile to God, that if the Lord should grant her victory over the enemy, she who first greeted her from her house would be offered a sacrifice to God. The Lord granted him victory, such that he inflicted great slaughter upon the Ammonites and wrested twenty other cities from them. When he returned, his daughter went out to the gate to meet her father with all the instruments of mirth, A such as tabrets and cymbals, so that she was the first to meet him at the house door; and he had no other children. Seeing her, he rent his garments, overcome with great grief. But she said: "Do not grieve, O father, but do what you have vowed; only grant me this, that having gathered my virgin companions, I may go up into the mountains with them, weep for myself, and lament my youth." So she remained on the mountain weeping for herself for two months. Meanwhile, Jephtah's friends advised him to approach Phineas the prophet, B 132 the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, to consult him, that perhaps he might give him a response by which his daughter could be spared. But the majesty of his kingship moved him not to approach him, and the prophetic dignity of Phineas kept him from approaching the king. Therefore, after two months, Jephtah convened a great assembly of judges and on the same day sacrificed his daughter, and that festival he called the festival of lamentation. Then, the Ephraimites having gathered in the city of Shechem, said to him: "Why did you go to war against the Ammonites without consulting us, nor did you take anyone of us with you? We shall now burn you and your house with fire." C Wherefore, Jephtah joined battle with them, gained the victory over them, and slew forty-two thousand of them. Jephtah, having ruled the people for six years, died and was buried in Gilead. At the same time, a great famine occurred in the region of the Greeks, from which so many men died that the streets and squares were filled with the dead, and dogs fed upon them. But since this happened frequently, they committed the dead to the earth in sepulchral pits, and only then were graves first made. After Jephtah died, Ephsan from the tribe of Judah, a Bethlehemite, led the people for seven years; he had thirty sons, thirty daughters, and thirty wives; D and when he was dead, he was buried in Bethlehem. Eblan the Zabulonite succeeded him in the empire for ten years: 133-135 when he had passed away, he was buried in Zabulon. After him, Abdon, son of Hillel, of the tribe of Ephraim, ruled the people for eight years; he had forty sons and thirty grandsons, who followed him riding on horses; and when he died, he was buried in Parathon, in the region of Ephraim, in the mountains of the Amalekites. After his death, the Israelites having returned to idolatry, the tribes of the aliens prevailed over the people and ruled over them for forty years. Now there was a man of the tribe of Dan whose name was Manoah, from the city of Zorah, whose wife was barren; to her an angel appeared in a dream and announced that she would bear a son. Having become pregnant, she bore a son, whose name
the arrogance of them, and their hardened hearts, and their [insulting] pride toward the grace of God which is poured out freely. For [some] say that they are a people precious to God, just as the Jews [once were]. But they, B along with the Nestorians and the Eutychians, have made the same error, and the Armenians have brought it into their own fold. 14. They who are the disturbers of the Christians, those who, as it were, speak and declare Christ to be one nature, as the Lord teaches in the Gospel; and yet they misinterpret the meaning, and pervert the faith, and deny the union, as the Manichaeans do, and they teach two natures in Christ, do they not shudder? For if it were the apostolic Church—and the high priests thereof—that truly held this view, then the Armenians would not be rightly accused of being "one-nature" C as they are. But if Christ is not two, as the Romans say, and the Church holds that He is [one] in a way that does not allow for two, then why do they not stop all those—firstly Eutyches, Dioscorus, Timothy, and Severus, Peter the Fuller, and Paul the Apostle, and all those of like mind with them, the Armenians—and turn them away from their denials, heresies, blasphemies, and Christ-destroying [tenets]? And just as the Jews were condemned by God for the killing of Christ, so D let the arrogant Armenians be condemned, [for] they act and speak against the orthodox faith. And just as that wicked Diabolus, the source of all evil, established heresies and blasphemies in himself, and taught his own [tenets]. 15. For all their ancient books, [both] the two natures, and the two energies in Christ which they preach, and all their new heresies which they have written, and the councils of Eutyches, and the followers of the Romans, [and] the Armenians, [are] all under the anathema. Therefore, he says, and [they] have [made] a new, and alien, and strange [teaching] of the Armenians! For who could hear with patience, and [not] be astounded, that they deny the [deity of] Christ, [those who] confess Christ, [when] the Romans, [the] kings, [who] are Christ’s confessors…, [and] like the Jews and Nestorians, [are] slandered, [who] celebrate the [feasts], and venerate, and magnify the [divine] majesty, [as] the [Church]…
… A and the Israelites [seized] all the cities they had overcome as far as Ephron and Ramah. Now Samuel had two sons, the elder of whom was named Joel, and the younger Abia, who ruled the people in Beersheba in tranquility and peace. But when Samuel had grown old, the Israelites gathered to him in Ramah and said, "Appoint a king for us to rule us, just as the remaining nations have kings." Then the prophet Samuel said to them: "When you have taken a king over you, he will reduce you to servitude; he will take power over your riches, and he will take the tithes of all that you possess." They replied to him: "This is not pleasing to us." Samuel said: "I know a man from the tribe of Benjamin named Kish, son of Abiel, whose son is named Saul, a man of handsome face, noble stature, and distinguished form; him you wish to have as king." Moreover, when the donkeys of Kish, Saul’s father, had gone astray, he said to his son Saul: "Take one of your servants, and go seek the lost donkeys." He therefore set out, and having passed from village to village to seek the donkeys, he said to his servant: "Let us approach the prophet Samuel; indeed, he will indicate to us what place the donkeys are in." They went, therefore, to Samuel, who set before them food and drink [149-151]; then, having taken a horn that had been filled with oil, he poured it over Saul’s head and, anointing him, said: "God has established you as king over the Israelites," and as a sign of this, he said that upon returning to his father, he would find the donkeys he sought; and it was just as the prophet Samuel said; Saul, therefore, reigned over the Israelites, and he was the first man to be their king.
B When the Jabesh-Gileadites had gathered against Nahash the Ammonite, they did not want to submit to Saul. Nahash therefore went out to attack Saul with a great multitude of men; against whom Saul, having obtained help from God, slaughtered the Ammonites with a great slaughter. Then the prophet Samuel, having taken Saul and the elders of the Israelites with him, having set out for Gilgal, and having taken a horn full of oil, anointed Saul again with oil before the people in Gilgal; and the people rejoiced at the reign of Saul and offered many sacrifices to the Lord. And Saul chose three thousand men from the Israelites to be with him. Now there was a son of Saul named Jonathan, who, having taken one thousand of their men to Nasim, where he had been, waged war, and killed many of the hostile tribes. When those tribes heard what Jonathan had done, thirty thousand foot soldiers and six thousand cavalry came together from among them and marched out against the Israelites in Gilgal; C struck with fear at their sight, 152 Israelites fled into the mountains, valleys, and deserts. And Saul was in Gilgal; but Jonathan, having taken a cohort of Israelites, set out against the army of the aliens, and before himself, he brought about a very great slaughter of those fleeing. Having heard this, Saul, having fallen upon the army of those tribes by night, slaughtered them, so that not even one escaped. Then, having become superior to their corporeal affections, they showed that they had as much audacity against death as they had demonstrated through the fire of the torments that their virtue was insuperable: he himself who justly straightens the bow [153-155] and removes his adversaries, according to the oracle of the Prophet: who did not leave the rod of sinners to mock the inheritance of the just, remembering the groaning of those in chains, and the beast D that devours Jacob. Therefore it was pleasing that he who had held the [divine] incarnation of Emmanuel in mockery should himself be slaughtered in the same [places], and should break off his miserable soul in a manner he least thought: and the oracle of Solomon regarding him was clearly fulfilled. For it says: "The fool folded his hands and ate his own flesh." To this man, however, the sacred trumpet of Isaiah also appropriately sang when it said: "As a garment stained in blood shall not be clean, so you shall not be clean: because you destroyed my land, and killed my people." When, therefore, the emperor had fallen miserably in such a stupendous death in the holy temple of God, there arose in his place, not some star providing morning light for the illumination of the day from its rising, but, as one might say, the morning star, delivering the day and not-day to the faithful, away from that dark night. For a certain Michael from the guards, having seized the scepters of the Roman empire, although it was evident that he was greatly fattened with the leaven of the heretics, he nonetheless remitted that immense cruelty which his predecessor had used against the confessors of Christ, proving himself good and humane towards them in all things. And it was possible to see those exhausted by diverse tortures and macerated by a long imprisonment, as if in a spiritual dance joined together to one another, boasting of their struggles, as if one might say calves released from their bonds. Then, truly, those great pillars of piety, Theodore and Nicolaus, leaving Smyrna, relying only on a staff, and swaying as they walked, went to the parts of Prusa; and from here at last seeking Chalcedon, and thereafter refreshed by the sight of the patriarchs named after the trophy, for a just time they remain, happy, with him. Then the common pastor, seeing...
that he was not doing so, himself seized a sword and committed suicide. Seeing this, his attendant also killed himself. They were slaughtered in battle with a great slaughter of the Israelites, and furthermore Jonathan, Abinadab, and Melchishua, the sons of Saul, were killed. On the next day, when the foreigners were stripping the slain, they took the heads of Saul and of his sons and sent them to their own country, hanging their bodies upon the wall of Beth-shan. When his fellow tribesmen heard this, they set out, took their bodies, and buried them at Beth-shan. A David was then in Ziklag, and when a certain man approached him with a dirty face and torn garments, David said to him: "What misfortune has befallen you?" He replied: "Saul is killed in battle, along with his sons Jonathan, Abinadab, and Melchishua, and I am the one who killed them." Therefore David and his companions tore their clothes, and for three days they fasted and did not taste bread, out of grief for Saul and for the Israelites who had been killed with him. Then, having summoned the man who brought the news to him, he cut off his head, as a reward for the report of the murder which he had claimed to have committed. The reign of Saul lasted twenty years, to whom David, the son of Jesse, succeeded in the kingdom. Now, from the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt to the kingdom of David, there are six hundred and six years; from Abraham, one thousand one hundred and thirteen; from Peleg, one thousand six hundred and fifty-four; from the flood, two thousand one hundred and eighty-five; from Adam, four thousand four hundred and forty-one.
David, the son of Jesse, obtained the kingdom over all the tribes of the Israelites when he was thirty years old, and he reigned for forty years and six months, specifically seven years and six months in Hebron, and thirty-three in Jerusalem. The commander of Saul’s army was Abner, the son of Ner; when he had killed Asahel, the brother of Joab, Joab marched against him with his troops and put three hundred and sixty of his men to death; then he buried his brother Asahel at Bethlehem. Furthermore, when Saul had been killed, Abner took Ish-bosheth, the son of Saul, and set him up as king in Gilead over Ephraim and over the Israelites; and Ish-bosheth was forty years old when he was established as king. There were many battles, however, between the army of Saul’s son and the army of David, and many were slaughtered. Now Saul had a concubine named Rizpah, whom, when Abner took her, Ish-bosheth, the son of Saul, forbade him to do; for which reason Abner, in anger, went over to David, entrusting himself to his loyalty, and David dismissed him freely, having clothed him in a garment. But Joab, the son of Zeruiah, the commander of David’s army, seized Abner and cut off his head because of his brother Asahel. For this reason, David, in anger, ordered the whole army to tear their garments and to mourn for Abner, whom he buried in Hebron. Now there were two brothers among the leaders of Saul, one named Rechab, the other Baana, the sons of Rimmon, a Benjamite, who, after Abner had already been killed, came by night to Ish-bosheth, the son of Saul, B and having lit torches with fire, they entered in and took the head of the man who had been killed and brought it to David; but David had them mutilated, with their hands and feet cut off, and hanged. But he buried the head of Ish-bosheth, the son of Saul, in the sepulchre of Abner. Furthermore, David founded the city of Usha, which he called David’s city; and the same is Sihon. When the kings of the foreigners heard that David had obtained the kingdom, they gathered to wage war against him, against whom he himself went out with his army C and destroyed them with a slaughter; and so his kingdom became tranquil; and his counselor’s name was Jehoshaphat, the son of Ahilud. Furthermore, Hiram, the king of Tyre, sent him cedar and fir wood, with which David built a house.
All the princes of the Israelites, however, set out for the house of Abinadab, and they took up the ark and placed it upon a wagon and carried it; Uzza and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, from the descendants of Kohath the son of Levi, were driving the wagon, although it was not lawful for any Israelite other than the sons of Levi to carry the ark. But as they carried the ark on the wagon, they covered it with garments, leaving a space of two thousand cubits between it and the people. And while they were conducting it on the wagon, it happened D that as the oxen’s feet stumbled, the ark was nearly falling; Uzza, catching it, fell dead. David, therefore, becoming afraid, brought the ark into the house of Obed-edom the Gittite, where it remained for three months. Then David took it from the house of Obed-edom, with seven trumpets, flutes, and every sort of musical order of singers surrounding it; David himself, clothed in multicolored garments, danced and leaped before the ark. They brought the ark, therefore, into the midst of the tabernacle which David had set up at Sihon, with David sacrificing a great quantity of bullocks and rams. The ark was of cedar wood, one and a half cubits in length, width, and thickness, covered with gold. Then Hadad-ezer, the king of Zobah, the son of Rehob, having gone out against David to wage war against him, David set out to meet him and gained the victory over him, and killed seven hundred of his cavalry and twenty thousand infantry. Moreover, when the king of Damascus departed to bring help to Hadad-ezer, David killed twenty-two thousand of his men; and the Syrian of Damascus became like a servant to David; and David took to Jerusalem all the golden and silver belts that belonged to Hadad-ezer’s companions, along with very many ornaments, which Shishak, king of Egypt, later took away when he came to Jerusalem in the reign of Rehoboam, the son of Solomon. David also brought a great quantity of bronze from the battle to Jerusalem, from which, at the time he built the temple, Solomon fashioned the columns, the bases, and the gates. After this, David saw a woman named Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, wife of Uriah, a beautiful and shapely woman, and he fell passionately in love, and having sent for her, he had relations with her, so that she became pregnant by him, while her husband, Uriah, was with Joab in the war...
When he learned that she had become pregnant, since she had nothing for which she could blame someone else—for she had not slept in her own house—he wrote to Joab, asking that Uriah be placed before the ark in battle. Once this was done, Uriah was killed before the ark in battle. A Since he was killed, David took his wife, who bore him a son. But then Nathan the prophet came to him and said: "There were two men in a city, one of whom possessed immense riches of cattle and herds, while the other was poor and had nothing but one little ewe lamb, whose milk and wool he provided; but when a certain guest arrived, the rich man seized the poor man’s lamb, slaughtered it, and served it to his guest." David replied: "He acted wickedly; he shall restore fourfold for the lamb." Then Nathan the prophet said: "You (he says) are that man." Upon hearing this, David immediately tore his garments, put on sackcloth, and fasted for seven days, praying to the Lord that He not bring death upon the child; but on the seventh day, the child died. After these things, David again knew the wife of Uriah, and she bore Solomon.
There were twenty-four sons of David. Then Ammon, the firstborn son of David, having fallen into an illicit passion for his sister, Tamar, who was his sister on the father’s side, had relations with her; because of which his brother, Absalom, the son of David, being enraged, killed his brother Ammon; then he fled to Talmai, the son of Ammihud, king of Geshur, where, having gathered together those from Israel, two hundred men, he rebelled against his father and proceeded to occupy Hebron. B Having heard that he had occupied Hebron, David feared for himself and fled Jerusalem; but arriving there, his own son entered the city, and having seized the concubines of his father, he had relations with them. Then, proceeding to seek his father David, who had fled from him and crossed the Jordan, he gathered his forces and marched against Absalom, the son of David; the resulting battle between them was fierce, and since many among the Israelites were killed, and among them two armies, twenty thousand men, the struggle between them became violent. Absalom, being on a mule, had his hair caught in the branch of a terebinth tree, and his neck was broken; Joab also thrust three javelins into him and pierced his heart, and he and his attendants killed him with the sword. When the messenger was brought to David, he was afflicted with immense grief, and C he returned to Jerusalem.
Absalom, the son of David, had abundant hair, to such a degree that as often as he cut his hair from time to time, it would weigh two hundred shekels. Moreover, the prophets in the time of David were Nathan, Gad, Ahijah the Shilonite, Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun the Levite, and Joab, the son of David's sister, who was also his deputy. David and his deputy, Joab, numbered the tribes of Israel. The number of the Israelites whom David and Joab calculated was four hundred thousand and one hundred thousand. [But according to another copy, four thousand thousand and one hundred thousand.] Of whom, from the sons of Judah, four hundred and seventy thousand, but the Benjamites and Levites were not numbered. The number of aliens who were not of the lineage of Jacob was one thousand. The Lord therefore said to Gad the prophet: "It displeases me that David has numbered the Israelites; therefore, go to him and order him to choose one of these three: either that there be seven years of famine throughout his kingdom; or that he be defeated by his enemies for three months; or that a pestilence spread throughout his entire kingdom for three days." David chose the pestilence, and seventy thousand died by the sixth hour of the day. Because of this, David sought help from Gad, who, when they prayed together to God, through his mercy, removed the plague. In the time of David, the high priests were Abiathar, son of Ahimelech, a kinsman of Eli the priest, and Zadok.
When David had already grown old, he gave instructions to Solomon his son, and handed over to him all the wealth of jewels, gold, and silver that he possessed in his kingdom. David the prophet then died, aged seventy years, of which he reigned forty. After him, his son Solomon obtained the kingdom at the age of twelve; and reigned for forty years after his father; fearing him, Joab, the deputy of David, fled into the temple of the Lord. D Solomon therefore sent Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, who killed him with a sword and buried him in the desert. The kingdom of Solomon was so confirmed that all the kings around him feared him, and having sent him gifts, they made a treaty with him. Furthermore, Solomon surrounded Jerusalem with a wall; and in the twelfth year of his reign, he undertook the structure of the temple. Many gifts were sent to him by Hiram, king of Tyre, and much cedar, pine, and fir wood, and also much wealth that was of help to him for constructing the temple, Solomon in turn donating to him annually twenty thousand cors of wheat and as much of pressed grapes. Furthermore, it is said that Hiram, the king of Tyre, was the first of the kings to wear purple, the cause of which was that, when a certain dog of a shepherd—which accompanied him on a certain day while he was grazing sheep on the seashore—found a murex of purple color crawling on the shore and began to eat it, such that its mouth was filled with the blood of the murex; observing this, the shepherd, having taken the wool,
A wiped his mouth with it, and when he had placed the finished wreath upon his head, it came to pass that whoever saw him walking in the sun would think that a flash of fire was coming out of his head: having heard this, Hiram, king of Tyre, after sending men to summon the shepherd, when he saw the wreath and wondered at the beauty of the color, ordered the dyers to dye one similar for him: the men, having gone to the shore and sought out and found the murex, dyed the purple for him. And this was the reason for the discovery of purple.
Now the length of the temple which Solomon, son of David, built was sixty cubits, the width twenty, and the height one hundred, the inner part of which he covered entirely with gold; moreover, he built a sanctuary within the temple out of fir wood, twenty cubits long, twenty wide, and as many high; which he covered with gold both inside and out, and he fashioned upon it the form of cherubim, each of which was ten cubits long and five wide, made of gold, one on the right side of the sanctuary and the other on the left, and each had six wings, with which they covered it, extending them over it. Then he placed the ark, brought from the city of B Silon, in that house. Furthermore, he placed two huge bronze columns in front of that temple, each of which was thirty cubits long and five wide; from these he hung a crimson veil, which he had made from different kinds of gems, in the area of the temple. He also made a bronze table on which the loaves of oblation were to be placed; its length was twenty cubits, its width the same, and its thickness ten; this also he covered in gold and gems. He also brought all the vessels of gold, silver, and gems into the temple. He also built a palace for himself, which he overlaid with gold and silver; in the middle of this he built a praetorium, one hundred cubits long, fifty wide, and thirty high; inside, as if surrounded by four rows of cedar columns covered in gold, upon which were four gold-ornamented roofs. He also made a great ivory throne, variegated with gold and marked with gems, which he set in the middle of this praetorium, that he might sit upon it when he sat in judgment on the affairs of men. He finished the construction of the temple and the palace in seven years. It has now been fifty-nine years from the reign of David to the completion of the temple construction. The annual revenue of Solomon, son of David, was 666,000 talents of gold, beyond the trade that was acquired. The daily ration C was thirty kor of fine flour, sixty kor of meal, ten heifers, twenty-two oxen, and one hundred sheep, besides stags, roes, and birds. There were also in the palace of Solomon one hundred golden tables, and on each of them were one hundred platters, and no less than three hundred vessels, in each of which were three hundred golden cups.
One day, while Solomon was sitting in the praetorium, two women came to him with a newborn child, one of whom said: Yesterday I gave birth, and this woman and I were in the same house. And as her son died in the night, while I slept, she took her dead son and, placing him against my breast, took this my son for herself. The other, however, said: This boy is my son, and hers is the dead one. Solomon therefore, ordering a sword to be brought to him and taking the boy in his own hand, said: I shall divide the boy into two parts, one of which I shall give to each of you. Then the mother of the boy said: My lord, do not divide him, but give [the whole] to her; while the other said: [Nay] divide him, so that he may be neither mine nor hers. Solomon therefore gave the boy to her who asked that he not be divided, seeing clearly that she was his mother, from the affection he saw in her toward him. And the people wondered D at his judgment.
There were seven hundred noble wives of Solomon, and three hundred concubines. Solomon also married the daughter of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, whose name was Shishak, and brought her to Jerusalem. After which, Pharaoh, king of Egypt, went forth, having captured the city of Aazar, and burned it with fire; having also sent fire upon the Canaanites living in Maraah, he sent the wealth he had plundered to his daughter, the wife of Solomon. The Queen of Sheba also, having heard that Solomon was reigning, came to him with many gifts, and gave him one hundred and thirty talents of gold. And when Solomon had given her in turn whatever she had asked for, she returned from him. Solomon, son of David, also took the daughters of foreign tribes, namely, Ammonite, Edomite, Amalekite, Moabite, and others; and because he loved them, the vehemence of the love with which he embraced them impelled him to build a temple for himself, in which he placed the idols they might worship and to which they might sacrifice. And for this reason Solomon, son of David, was cast down from his prophetic rank.
Moreover, there were in his army forty thousand horsemen who rode mares, and twenty thousand who rode horses. There was a servant of Solomon named Jeroboam, son of Nebat, of the tribe of Ephraim, whose mother, who was a thieving woman, was named Sisera; when Solomon had put him in charge of the tribe of Joseph, he himself built the city of Sair in the borders of Ephraim, and was strong and powerful. Ahijah the prophet met him, and having torn the garment he had seized into twelve parts, offered ten of them to Jeroboam, son of Nebat, and said: You are going to reign over the ten tribes of Israel. Solomon, however, intended in his mind to kill Jeroboam. He therefore fled from him to Shishak, Pharaoh of Egypt, and stayed with him; who gave him to wife the sister of his own wife, whose name was Atu, and who bore him a son, whom he named after his own father. Nathan and Ahijah the Shilonite were prophets in the time of Solomon, and Zadok was high priest. At the same time, Homer the Greek poet flourished in Greece.
Solomon died after he had reigned for forty years, and was buried in the house of David. His son Rehoboam succeeded him in the kingdom, aged sixteen years, who in Jerusalem reigned for seventeen
years. Moreover, Jeroboam, son of Nabat, hearing that Solomon was dead, came up from Egypt to the city of Sair. The Israelites, however, gathered to Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, and said: "Your father ruled us very harshly, but if you rule us well, we will be your servants forever." He said to them: "Go, and on the third day I will give you an answer." When he had consulted with some of his own men, they said to him: "Say to them: 'If my father ruled you with harsh measures, I shall rule you with the best and most beautiful, and such as will be most light and pleasant to you.'" When he was unwilling to listen to this, he went in to his own women and told them the same thing, A and they gave him counsel that he should respond to the Israelites in this manner: "If my father ruled you harshly, I shall rule you in such a way that I will break up your assemblies and disperse your congregations; say this to them," they said, "lest they consider you a mere boy, and their presumption concerning you be confirmed." Following their counsel, he said to the Israelites what they had suggested to him. They, therefore, hearing his words, departed from his presence and were in tumult. Rehoboam then went out to them and sent Adoniram, the prefect of taxes, whom they stoned to such an extent that he died, while Rehoboam fled from them to Jerusalem. The Israelites therefore gathered together and appointed Jeroboam, son of Nabat, as king over them, and thus the kingdom was divided. Jeroboam, son of Nabat, reigned over the ten tribes; and he built Nables, in which he also dwelt, and also Phanuel. Rehoboam, son of Solomon, reigned over the tribe of Judah and Benjamin. B There were for Rehoboam, son of Solomon, one hundred and twenty thousand fighting men, and he possessed many cities, among which were Bethlehem, Batshur, Ziph, Lahish, Gath, and Azika, with all the cities of the land of Judah and Benjamin. His mother's name was Naamah, from the daughters of the Ammonites, who incited him to worship idols. But Jeroboam, son of Nabat, fearing [185-187] the Israelites, lest they ascend to Jerusalem to the house of the Lord with their neighbors, and seeing the temple, they might rebel against him and deliver themselves to Rehoboam, son of Solomon, king of Judah, made two golden calves, one of which he placed in Bethel, the other in Banias, and appointed priests for them from the Levites, saying to them: "These are your gods who delivered you from the hand of Pharaoh; therefore, worship them, since there is no need for you to ascend to Jerusalem"; and he even instituted a great festival for them, as was accustomed to be done in the land of Judah. C Furthermore, in the fifth year of Rehoboam, son of Solomon, Shishak, the Egyptian Pharaoh, ascended to Jerusalem with twenty-two thousand men (seven thousand of whom were horsemen), and Rehoboam fleeing from him, Shishak took all the treasures of gold and silver that were in the house of the Lord; as well as the golden and silver shields which were in the royal citadel, in place of which Rehoboam, son of Solomon, fashioned others out of bronze. Many wars occurred between Rehoboam, son of Solomon, and Jeroboam, son of Nabat, as long as Rehoboam was alive. Furthermore, Rehoboam, son of Solomon, took eighteen wives and begot many children. He also took Maachah, daughter of Absalom, who bore him Abijah and his brothers; there were besides thirty concubines; but all his children, both male and female, were twenty-eight. 188 In the time of Rehoboam, son of Solomon, prophets were Semaiah the Machlamite, and Ahijah the Shilonite, and Obed also prophesied; the altar was split near Bethel. When Rehoboam, son of Solomon, had died, he was buried with his father in the city of David, and after him his son Abijah reigned over Judah and Jerusalem for six years, this being in the eighteenth year of the reign of Jeroboam, son of Nabat, king of Israel. Many wars also occurred between Abijah, king of Judah, and Jeroboam, king of Israel, with Abijah, king of Judah, putting him to flight and slaughtering five hundred thousand of the Israelites, so that Jeroboam, king of Israel, feared Abijah, king of Judah. D But Abijah, king of Judah, died and was buried in the city of David; after him reigned in Judah and Jerusalem his son Asa for forty-one years, this being in the twenty-fourth year of the reign of Jeroboam, son of Nabat, king of Israel. The mother of King Asa of Judah was named Naamah, daughter of Absalom. Furthermore, Jeroboam, son of Nabat, king of Israel, died after he had reigned for twenty-four years; after whom his son Nadab obtained the kingdom of Israel for two years, this being in the second year of the reign of Asa, king of Judah. But Baasha, son of Ahijah, rose up against Nadab and killed him at Gibbethon, along with all the offspring of Jeroboam, son of Nabat. Baasha, son of Ahijah, reigned over Israel in Tirzah for twenty-four years; this being in the third year of the reign of Asa, king of Judah. Furthermore, many [189-191] wars occurred between Asa, king of Judah, and Baasha, king of Israel. For when Baasha, king of Israel, invaded the land of Judah and was building the city of Ramah, Asa sent many gifts to Hadad, son of Jazael, king of Damascus, and all the treasures of gold, silver, and gems that he had in his house, seeking aid from him against Baasha, king of Israel; wherefore Hadad, son of Jazael, sent him a great army as aid; upon emerging, he devastated the city of Ijon and Dan, and all the storerooms and the entire land of Naphtali. When Baasha, king of Israel, heard this, he desisted from building Ramah and returned to Tirzah; but Asa, king of Judah, gathering the stones and timber with which Baasha, king of Israel, had wished to build Ramah, built with them all the fortresses and castles in the land of Benjamin. Against him, when Zarah, king of the Cushites (who are Nigritae), went out with a thousand thousands of soldiers, meeting him, King Asa of Judah—for he had three hundred thousand soldiers of Judah, and fifty-two thousand of Benjamin—put the Nigritae to flight, having made a great slaughter of them, and having captured all that they had brought with them. But Baasha, king of Israel, died and was buried in Tirzah. After whom his son Elah reigned over the Israelites for two years in Tirzah, this being in the year of Asa, king of
Judah, the twenty-sixth A. Elah was [at that time] in the army, and Omri, the commander, attacked and killed him, and with him the entire lineage of Baasha, king of Israel. The Israelites were [at that time] gathered at Gibbethon to wage war against foreigners, and when they received news of the slaughter of their king, some wanted to appoint Omri to rule over them; others appointed Tibni, son of Ginath, for a short period of time. After this, upon the death of Tibni, Omri reigned over Israel for twelve years, starting in the twenty-seventh year of the reign of Asa, king of Judah; he reigned for six years in Tirzah, [where] he also founded a city which he named Omri, on Mount Samer; and six years in Samaria. Then, having died, he was buried in Samaria. After him, his son Ahab reigned over Israel in Samaria for twenty-one years, starting in the thirty-eighth year of the reign of Asa, king of Judah. Now, when Asa had grown old, he was afflicted with gout; yet he did not cease to reign in tranquility and peace. In his time, Hanani, his son Jehu, and Azariah, son of Obed, served as prophets. B When Asa, king of Judah, died, he was buried in the city of David. After him, his son Jehoshaphat reigned in Jerusalem for thirty-five years; he reigned for twenty-five years, starting in the fourth year of the reign of Ahab, king of Israel. King Jehoshaphat became illustrious and powerful in wealth and arms. [193-195] In his time, the prophets were Micah, Jehu son of Hanani, Eliazar son of Doday; Obadiah, Elijah (who is Al-Chadr), and his disciple Elisha. There was also at the same time a false prophet named Zedekiah, son of Chenaanah. Now Ahab, king of Israel, took a wife named Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians; he also built a temple in Samaria, in which he wished for the idol Baal to be placed. C Furthermore, in the time of Ahab, king of Israel, there was an Israelite named Naboth, who possessed a very elegant garden. When King Ahab coveted it, he approached Naboth, asking him to sell it to him, as it was adjacent to his house. Upon Naboth’s refusal, he said: "This garden came to me by hereditary right from my fathers and ancestors, and therefore I will neither sell it nor give it as a gift." When Ahab took this badly, to such an extent that he was afflicted with anger and grief, his wife Jezebel came to him and said: "What is this matter that I see you to be sad and dejected?" He replied: "When I asked Naboth to sell me his garden, and he refused, it troubles me that he rejected me and did not do what I wanted." D Therefore, Jezebel having left King Ahab, and having called together certain Israelites—men who knew not how to contradict her—she said: "Bear witness against Naboth, that he has denied God and cursed Moses." And when they had testified to this against him [196], by the command of Jezebel he was stoned, so that he died. Then she returned to Ahab, king of Israel, and said: "Do not be distressed; I have indeed killed Naboth; take the garden, therefore."
A Elijah, therefore, having taken twelve stones, built an altar, around which he dug a trench; then, placing wood upon the stones and preparing the slaughtered bullock upon the stones and the wood, and pouring twelve jars of water over them, including filling the trench that was around the altar with water, having called upon his Lord, fire descended from heaven and devoured the flesh, the stones, and the water, to the extent that it even hollowed out a great trench in the earth, which struck the Israelites with astonishment. Elijah also killed the false prophets with the sword at the torrent Kishon. Then he called upon the Lord, who sent rain upon them, and the plague was lifted. Jezebel, however, the wife of Ahab, king of Israel, upon hearing what Elijah had done to the false prophets, sent to him, threatening him with death; hence, fearing her, he fled. In the meantime, Elisha, the son of Shaphat, who had left his oxen—which he was tending—followed Elijah and became his disciple.
Then Ben-Hadad, king of Damascus, having gathered his subjects and called thirty-two kings to his aid, set out with a huge army that exceeded all count and, going forth to wage war against Ahab, king of Israel, sent to him, saying: "Whatever gold and silver you possess is mine; your servants also, and your wives and women, all that you possess is mine." Fearing him, therefore, Ahab yielded all that he had requested. Meanwhile, while messengers were running back and forth between them, behold, some young men from the sons of the leaders went out to surround the Syrian army. Seeing them, the Syrian armies suspected that the Israelites had attacked them, to such an extent that, having turned to flight, they pressed upon one another and slew each other. When the report of this matter reached Ahab, king of Israel, he, pursuing them with his men, plundered their camps, tents, beasts of burden, and whatever else they had. Ben-Hadad, however, king of Damascus, escaped alone to the city of Damascus, where all those of his companions who had escaped were gathered to him. Having therefore gathered his forces, he set out to exact vengeance due to what had befallen him. Ahab, king of Israel, however, went out to meet him, and having put him to flight, killed twenty-seven thousand men of his companions, with Ben-Hadad alone escaping as far as Damascus. B Being in council, some of his men and his associates said: "The king of Israel is merciful; let us therefore approach him and ask that he spare us, for otherwise we shall perish." Therefore, clothed in torn garments, they went to Ahab, king of Israel, and said: "Your servant Ben-Hadad says: 'Do not be angry with me for what I have brought upon you.'" To them Ahab, king of Israel, replied: "Is there anyone other than my brother?" Then they said: "If he is your brother, make a covenant with him concerning Damascus, and let there be peace between you and him." To this he agreed. Three years later, when Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, went down to greet Ahab, king of Israel, Ahab went out to meet him and received him with hospitality into his own dwelling. Jehoshaphat also joined his son Joram in marriage to Athaliah, the sister of King Ahab.
C Ahab, however, said to Jehoshaphat, king of Judah: "The city of Ramoth-Gilead, which was ours, the king of Syria has taken from us, from whom, if you yourself bring me aid, we shall be able to take it back." Jehoshaphat acceding to what he requested, they set out to Ramoth-Gilead with his men. Upon hearing this, the king of Syria, having gathered his own men, also went out against them. Ahab therefore said to Jehoshaphat: "I will change my apparel, and you shall put on my robes, so that you may not be recognized in battle." And he did so. The king of Syria, however, having instructed his own men to seek the king of Israel in battle, had described his attire to them. They, therefore, having caught sight of Jehoshaphat's robes, thinking him to be Ahab, the king of Israel, surrounded him to attack; but he escaped from them by shouting. D Now when a certain man had struck the king of Israel, Ahab, with an arrow, they turned to flight before the king of Syria, and as Jehoshaphat was returning to Jerusalem, Ahab—already wounded—returned to his own place.
Ahab died from the wound that had been inflicted upon him and was buried in Samaria. After him, his son Ahaziah reigned in Samaria for two years, and this was in the nineteenth year of the reign of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah. His conduct was of such a kind as his father's, regarding both wickedness and the worship of idols, along with his mother Jezebel, who had killed Naboth. When Ahaziah, king of Israel, was suffering from a grievous illness, to the extent that he feared for himself, he sent a messenger to the idols' priests who were with them, to inquire whether he would recover from his illness or not; Elijah the prophet, having come to meet him, said: "Tell the king: 'You shall certainly die.'" The messenger, therefore, having returned and made this known to the king, the king said: "Describe to me the man who met you." When he said: "The man was hairy and girded with a leather belt," the king said: "This is Elijah the prophet." He therefore sent a leader accompanied by fifty men to him, while Elijah was sitting on the top of Mount Carmel. The leader said to him: "Hey! Prophet of God, descend! The king summons you." Elijah replied: "If I am a prophet of God, let fire descend from heaven and devour you and those who are with you." Descending, therefore, the fire consumed them. Then the king sent another leader with fifty men, who also said: "Hey! Prophet of God, descend; for the king summons you." To whom Elijah said: "If I am a prophet of God, may fire fallen from heaven consume you and those who are with you"; which also came to pass. Then he sent a third leader also accompanied by fifty men; and when the prophet had addressed him the same way he had addressed the former ones, the same fate befell him and those who were with him. Then Elijah went down to the king himself and said: "You shall by no means recover from your illness, but you shall die because you have worshipped idols and done what is evil before God Almighty." Furthermore, in the days of Ahaziah, king of Israel, and Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, Elijah was taken up as if into heaven. Ahaziah, king of Israel, died of his illness and was buried with his father, with his brother Joram, the son of Ahab, reigning after him over the Israelites in Samaria for twelve years, and this was in the year of the reign of King Jehoshaphat.
A Jehoshaphat, King of Judah, having then gone out against the Ammonites and Amalekites with a great multitude of men, was struck with fear of them, such that, a clamor having arisen among the army of the Ammonites and Amalekites, they turned to slaughtering one another and fled. Therefore, when Jehoshaphat’s companions had spent three days plundering their camp, tents, and vessels, he himself returned to Jerusalem. Afterwards, when the King of Moab had gone out against Joram, King of Israel, he [Joram] sent to Jehoshaphat, King of Judah, and sought help from him against the King of Moab. He also sent to the King of the Edomites, who was at that time in Sharah, calling him to his aid. Having gathered, therefore, the three kings, they marched against the King of Moab, B taking the way of the desert in order to attack him; but when they had completed a seven-day journey in the desert, they lacked water to drink, so much so that they were near to perishing from thirst. However, the prophet Elisha was with them, who said to them: "This valley will be filled with torrents, and God is about to grant you victory over your enemies." And it happened just as the prophet had predicted, God granting them victory over their enemies, to such an extent that a great slaughter was wrought of the companions of the King of Moab. Therefore, when the King of Moab saw that he was defeated, he entered his citadel, took his eldest son, and offered him as a sacrifice upon the ramparts of Moab. Struck with horror at this, the Israelites ceased making war upon him and returned home. C Jehoshaphat, King of Judah, died and was buried in the City of David, and his son Joram, thirty-three years of age, succeeded him in the kingdom. He reigned in Judah, in Jerusalem, for eight years; and this was in the fifth year of the reign of Joram, son of Ahab, King of Israel. In his time prophesied Elisha, the disciple of Elijah, and Obadiah. Furthermore, Benhadad, King of Syria, having gone out with his troops, attacked Joram, King of Israel, in Samaria in war. When Joram was frightened by this, Elisha said to him: "Do not fear, but simply fortify yourself in your city; for God is about to grant you victory over your enemy." Therefore, when he had fortified himself in the city, the approaching troops of the Syrians surrounded the citadel-border of the sea, the city of Joram, and the whole region of Samaria. D And when the Israelites had persisted for three years, included in the siege, there was a great famine in Samaria, so much so that men were compelled to eat corpses, and they even ate pigeon dung; and the head of a dead donkey was sold for eighty drachmas, and a cab of pigeon dung for five drachmas. While Joram, King of Israel, was therefore walking upon the fortifications of the city, behold, a woman, holding another woman, met him and sought aid from the king, saying: "This woman said to me, 'Kill your son today, so that we may eat, lest we die of hunger; tomorrow I will kill mine, so that we may eat of it also.' I therefore slaughtered my son yesterday, whom we ate; but she, having captured her son today, has hidden him." Terrified upon hearing these things, the king rent his garments, and having cast dust upon his head, A* A* [A* is the marginal note indicating the continuation of this text to the following page, which represents the conclusion of the interrupted sentence: "poured dust upon his head, and passing by [the wall/the city]..."]
"] A king struck his heart, and having killed him, he took away his head; and Ahaziah the king of Judah having fled, whom Jehu also pursued and wounded: but coming to Megiddo, he died there.
Ahaziah therefore, the king of Judah, having been carried by his servants to Jerusalem, was buried in the city of David; he commanded the nobles of Samaria: If you are obedient to me and to the sons of Ahab, the king of Israel, be king. To them writing back: It is not for us before the king, write: If you are the sons of Ahab, the king of Israel, take him away into the midst. There were seventy of the sons and grandsons of Ahab, whose heads they sent to Jehu. Jehu having gone to Samaria, left none of the lineage of Ahab surviving, whom he did not kill. Meeting on the way forty-two men, whom he asked, saying: Are you the brothers of Ahaziah, king of Judah? And he killed them. He tore down the temple of the idol of Baal in Samaria, and gave the priests and princes to the sword; and he reigned over the Israelites for twenty-eight years. And Jezebel, the wife of Ahab, who had adorned herself to meet Jehu, and was killed, whom dogs had eaten, having lain for a few days. Then he ordered her remains to be buried. But Athaliah, when she placed her son in Judah to reign in Jerusalem, she killed the children of Ahaziah, the family of David seeking them out to take them away, which lineage she herself, being from Ahab the king of Israel, wished to extinguish. This was her own daughter; Ahaziah's sister, the wife of the prince of priests, Jehoiada, who took away the stolen son of the father of Ahaziah whose name was Joash, and hid him for seven years. Prophets in his time were Elisha and Obadiah. But Athaliah defiled Jerusalem with fornication. She ordered women publicly without fear to commit fornication, and also men to commit lewdness with women, no one rebuking them. But when Joash, the son of Ahaziah, had grown up, Jehoiada, the priest, having called the princes of Judah, brought them in to visit the son of Ahaziah himself, whom they established as king for themselves. Which having heard, Athaliah, having gone out to see him, was killed by the sword. Joash therefore, the son of Ahaziah, reigned in Judah for forty years; and he was seven years old; in the seventh year of the reign of Jehu the king of Israel. The mother of Joash was Sebia of Beer-sheba. In his time, prophets were Elisha, Uriah, and Zechariah, the son of Jehoiada the priest. Nor did he cease to do well in Judah, until Jehoiada the priest died, who was one hundred and thirty years old. Then Joash gave himself to idols which he worshiped, which he was forbidden to do. Zechariah the prophet, the son of Jehoiada, was stoned to death by his order. Truly this reward he returned to Jehoiada the priest; having obtained his kingdom by his help, he killed his son Zechariah. And going out, B against him Hazael, king of Syria, took the city of Gath from him, having defeated him there; then he had the intention to ascend to Jerusalem. Fearing him, Joash therefore took all the treasures which were in the temple, which his fathers Jehoshaphat, Joram, and Ahaziah had deposited, and which he himself had brought, and sent them to Hazael, the king of Syria, who returned from him.
Jehu, the king of Israel, having died, was buried in Samaria, and his son Jehoahaz reigned after him over Samaria for seventeen years, and this in the twenty-third year of the reign of Joash, king of Judah. There he worshiped idols also that he had accepted. But Hazael, the king of Syria, and Hadad, the son of Hazael, prevailed, and consumed the Israelite men in war, so that there were not left to Ahaz, the king of Israel, in the war more than a thousand footmen and 224 horsemen. Furthermore, Elisha the prophet died. Hazael also died, the king of Syria, to whom succeeded his son Hadad. Then Achaz, the king of Israel, having defeated the king of Syria, took away from him the cities which his father had captured and which he had ruled. Then Achaz, the king of Israel, died and was buried in Samaria, and his son reigned after him in Samaria for sixteen years, which was the thirty-ninth year of the reign of Joash, king of Judah. He conducted himself worse than his father, and also worshiped idols. But the servants of Joash, the king of Judah, arose and killed him, who, buried in the city of David, reigned; Amaziah, the son of his son, reigned in Jerusalem for twenty-nine years. C This was in the second year of the reign of Joash, the king of Israel. He killed the captured servants who had killed his father. Under him, the prophet Amos, the prophet of David, was. But Joash, the king of Israel, ascending to Jerusalem, Amaziah, the king of Judah, fled from his terror to Beth-shemesh, and left the city empty. Joash therefore destroyed four hundred cubits of the wall of the city of Jerusalem, and took whatever gold, silver, and jewels were in the temple, and whatever of gold and silver was in the palace of the king of Amaziah, and carried them off to Samaria. Then Joash, the king of Israel, having died, was buried in Samaria, and after him in Israel reigned for forty-one years his son Jeroboam, which was in the fifteenth year of the reign of Amaziah, king of Judah. Joash, the king of Israel, having died, D Amaziah, the king of Judah, having returned from Beth-shemesh to Jerusalem. But after some space of time, Jeroboam, the king of Israel, ascended onto Jerusalem; from which, when Amaziah, the king of Judah, had fled to the city of Lachish, he sent after him to Lachish, and killed him there; who, having been carried back by his servants to Jerusalem, was buried in the city of David. There reigned after him in Judah in Jerusalem for fifty years his son Uzziah, sixteen years old, and this in the fifth year of the reign of Jeroboam, king of Israel. In his time were the prophets Amos, and his son Isaiah and the family of David, Joshua the son of Joram, Jonah the son of Amittai from Gath-hepher.
Jeroboam, king of Israel, died and was buried in Samaria A. After him, his son Zechariah reigned in Israel for six months, in the twenty-ninth year of the reign of Uzziah, king of Judah; whom Shallum the son of Jabesh, and Bileam, who were among his commanders, having set upon and killed, Shallum the son of Jabesh occupied the kingdom, and reigned in Samaria over Israel for thirty days, in the twenty-ninth year of the reign of Uzziah, king of Judah. Him Menahem the son of Gadi, who had been among his commanders, set upon; and having killed him, he occupied the kingdom and reigned in Samaria over Israel for twenty years, in the beginning of the thirtieth year of the reign of Uzziah, king of Judah. He then set out for the city of Tirsan, and having captured it, he put to death all who were in it, and ripped open the bellies of the pregnant women. When Pul, the king of the Musal, B later advanced against him, Menachem, king of Israel, having given him a great quantity of gold and silver, mollified him, so that he might not [harm him], wherefore he returned from him. Upon the death of Menachem, and his burial in Samaria, his son Pekahiah reigned after him in Israel for two years, in the fiftieth year of the reign of Uzziah, king of Judah. Him Pekah, the son of Remaliah, one of his commanders, set upon; and having killed him, he occupied the kingdom and reigned himself in Israel in Samaria for twenty-eight years, in the fifty-second year of the reign of Uzziah, king of Judah. But this Uzziah did every evil; for having entered the Holy of Holies, and having seized the censer from the hand of the priest, he brought the incense to the altar; for which cause he was struck with leprosy on his face, but was not yet C removed from the kingdom, since his son Jotham, administering the kingdom, looked after him. Uzziah, king of Judah, died and was buried in the city of David. After him, his son Jotham reigned in Jerusalem over Judah for sixteen years, being twenty-five years of age, in the second year of the reign of Pekah, king of Israel. In his time prophesied Isaiah, Micah the Morasthite, and Joel the son of Phanuel. Tiglath-Pileser, the king of the Musal, having set out, captured many cities of the Israelites and took them away from them.
Jotham, king of Judah, died and was buried in the city of David, Bethlehem; and after him, his son Ahaz, twenty years of age, reigned in Jerusalem over Judah for sixteen years, in the seventeenth year of the reign of Pekah, king of Israel. In his time prophesied Isaiah, Hosea, and Micah, and Uria was the prince of the priests. But Rezin, the king of Damascus, having set out together with Pekah, king of Israel, ascended and besieged Jerusalem; and as they could not take it, they returned. Rezin, king of Damascus, devastated the city of Lam in Syria, in which, after the Jews were led away, he settled Romans to inhabit it, who dwell in it to this day. Therefore Ahaz, king of Judah, wrote to Shalmanassar, king of the Musal, seeking help from him, having sent to him whatever gold, silver, and jewels had been stored in the temple. The king of the Musal, therefore, advancing toward him with his armies, burned captured Damascus with fire and put its king Rezin to death. Ahaz, king of Judah, therefore set out to him D to give him thanks for what he had done. But Hoshea, the son of Elah, who was among the commanders of Pekah, king of Israel, set upon him and killed him, and having occupied the kingdom, he reigned in Samaria over Israel for nine years, in the twelfth year of the reign of Ahaz, king of Judah. 232 Then Ahaz, king of Judah, died and was buried in the city of David, after he had reigned in Jerusalem over Judah for twenty-nine years; his son Hezekiah, twenty-five years of age, reigned after him, in the third year of the reign of Hoshea, king of Israel. In his days prophesied Isaiah, Hosea, and Micah the Ephraimite. Moreover, in the fourth year of the reign of Hezekiah, king of Judah, which was the seventh of Hoshea, king of Israel, Shalmanassar, king of the Musal and Mesopotamia, ascending to Samaria, captured it after he had besieged it for three years; and he cast Hoshea, king of Israel, into prison, and deported the ten tribes of the Israelites from the Samaritan region to Amidum and the Musal and Babylon, so that there remained nothing but the tribe of Judah, with the Davidic line that ruled over them, and the tribe of Benjamin. The inhabitants of Babylon, Amid, and Musal he settled in the cities of the Samaritans in place of the Israelites; leaving behind for them a priest named Lun to teach them the law. Lun therefore taught them that law which they hold. They were the fathers of the Samaritans, but the Samaritans who are found at this time are their children. Separated indeed from the Jews, they repudiated the prophecy of David and of all the prophets, saying: "There was no prophet after Moses the prophet," appointing for themselves a prince from the descendants of Aaron, to whom they gave the title of king. 233-235 But once Hezekiah, the king of Judah, had gained the kingdom over all the Israelites, and those who remained from them in Samaria, they broke idols and removed statues; and he also crushed the bronze serpent which Moses had made in the desert, which the Israelites until that time had not ceased to act strongly and to worship. He also pursued the foreign tribes that had been fought, as far as Gaza and the city of Raphach. He also sent to all the Israelites who inhabited the Samaritan jurisdiction and the land of Judah, a convocation, so that coming together to Jerusalem they might celebrate the Passover. They therefore gathered and celebrated the Passover in Jerusalem. Hezekiah, the king of Judah, slaughtered two thousand calves and twenty thousand sheep; his prefects [slaughtered] a thousand calves and ten thousand sheep, and they celebrated a beautiful and abundant festival. Moreover, in the fourteenth year of the reign of Hezekiah, king of Judah, when Sennacherib, king of the Musal, ascending into the land of Judah, had captured many of its cities, Hezekiah, king of Judah, struck by fear of him, sent to him, while he was then remaining at Lachish, [saying]: "Whatever you impose upon me, I take upon myself to perform, if only you retreat from me." Sennacherib, king of the Musal, therefore wrote to him: "Make, [and] bring to me three hundred talents of gold and three thousand of silver." Hezekiah therefore offered him whatever gold and silver was in the temple, and he even sent to him the golden doors of the temple which had been broken off. 836 But on that same night, in the army of Sennacherib...
by the rumor of the King of Mosul, and as they were falling upon A one another, Hezekiah, king of Judah, slaughtered one hundred eighty-five thousand men from among them. As for Sennacherib, king of Mosul, when he had fled to Nineveh, his two sons—the name of one being Anzar Malach and of the other Sareser—rushed upon him and killed him with the sword; then they fled into the land of Korda, which is the land of Al-Mosul. This King Hezekiah was he whose life the Lord lengthened by fifteen years, because, forsooth, when his death was near and he had no son, he turned his face to the wall and wept before the Lord. The most clement Lord, having pity on him, sent an angel to him and made it known to him that He had added fifteen years to his life. A son was therefore born to him, whom he named Manasseh. Furthermore, it is said that he who said to him from God, "The Lord has added fifteen years to your life," was the prophet Isaiah; and this is true. Sennacherib’s son, named Esarhaddon, reigned in Mosul. In the time of King Hezekiah of Judah, a king named Romus ruled over the Romans, who, in founding the city, took for it the name of Rome from his own name; from him also the Romans were B denominated; from that time the city of Rome was the head of the kingdom. Romus reigned thirty-eight years.
Hezekiah, king of Judah, died and was buried in the house of David. After him, his son Manasseh reigned in Jerusalem over Judah for fifty-five years, having been twelve years old; in the third year of his reign he made idols and forced the Israelites to worship them, for which, having been rebuked by the prophet Isaiah, he killed him and burned him with fire, having had him sawn in two between two beams. It is said, moreover, that Isaiah, being thirsty before his death, had called upon the Lord, and a spring had opened from which he drank; that is the spring of Siloam, the interpretation of whose name is "Sent." It is also said that when later the Gentiles inhabited Jerusalem, that spring dried up; but when the Israelites [returned to] it, water flowed forth. The Israelites worshipped idols for fifty-four years. Then the king of Babylon took King Manasseh of Judah and shut him into the belly of a bronze calf, under which he set a fire. Since King Manasseh of Judah, C while in the belly of the idol, prayed and did penance for what he had done and poured out prayers to the Lord, when He had forgiven his sin and had had mercy on him, the idol burst asunder so that he could come out; and the Lord sent an angel to him who brought him back to Jerusalem. Manasseh died and was buried in the garden of Uzzah; and after him reigned for two years his son Amon, twenty-two years old, who imitated his father in the worshipping of idols. His own servants attacked him and put him to death in his own house, and they buried him with his father in the garden of Uzzah; reigning after him in Jerusalem over Judah for thirty-one years was his son Josiah, eight years old. In the second year of his reign, he broke the idols and burned with fire all the temples of the idols in Samaria which the kings of Israel had built; he further killed the priests of the idols and burned them with fire, and he also gathered the bones of the dead who had worshipped D idols and committed them to the flames. Furthermore, in the eighteenth year of his reign, he celebrated a Pasch such as no one had ever celebrated since the time of Joshua the son of Nun. The priest then was Hilkiah, the father of the prophet Jeremiah; who, having found the book of the law in the temple, when he had read it, instituted the Pasch according to what was [written] therein. Under him prophesied Hulda the wife of Shallum, the keeper of the vestments of the temple, and the prophets Jeremiah and Zephaniah: Jeremiah, moreover, took the ark and hid it in the middle of a rock; there was also there a certain false prophet named Hananiah. In the time of King Josiah of Judah, Pharaoh Necho (which means "the Lame"), king of Egypt, ascending against the king of Mosul, provoked him to war, overcame him, and put him to flight until he reached the Euphrates; and when he was returning, King Josiah of Judah went out to meet him with many gifts, but [Pharaoh] killed him when he saw him, whom his servants then carried back from Megiddo (which is Menbai) to Jerusalem and buried him there, thirty-nine years old. After him His son Jehoahaz reigned in Jerusalem over Judah for three months, twenty-three years old. But Pharaoh Necho, ascending, took Jehoahaz, king of Judah, captive and in chains, along with a multitude of the Jews, and deported him to Egypt. Pharaoh Necho also imposed on all who were in Jerusalem a tribute, which he enjoined them to offer to him annually, one hundred talents of gold and as much silver. Then he returned to Egypt.
After King Jehoahaz of Judah died in Egypt, his son Eliakim, the son of Josiah (who was also called Jehoiakim), reigned after him in Jerusalem over Judah for eleven years, twenty-five years old. In his time were the prophets: the prophet Jeremiah, Uriah the son of Shemaiah from the town of Aanab, and the father of Ezekiel, Buzi. King Jehoiakim of Judah carried annually to Pharaoh Necho, king of Egypt, for himself and for his region, as tribute, one hundred talents of gold and as many of silver. In the fourth year of the reign of King Jehoiakim of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon ruled, and when he was ascending against Jerusalem, King Jehoiakim of Judah went out to meet him, became like a servant to him for three years. Nebuchadnezzar then returned to Babylon, sending to him annually the same amount of gold and silver that he used to send to Pharaoh Necho; for Nebuchadnezzar held the empire from Babylon as far as the city of Raphak. Afterward, Jehoiakim made the pact void, sending him nothing. King Jehoiakim of Judah died and was buried in the house of David. After him reigned his son Jehoiachin, who was also called Abia, in Jerusalem for three months, eighteen years old; and because he would not send tribute, Nebuchadnezzar came along with his army and besieged Jerusalem; Jehoiachin, king of Judah, went out to him with his mother, his servants, and the princes of the Israelites, and they opened the city to him, which Nebuchadnezzar entered...
A and cast into the furnace of fire. But God sent to them an angel from heaven who so extinguished the fire that it was cold and they remained unharmed. Seeing this, Nebuchadnezzar brought them out of the furnace, and having examined them and found no trace of fire either on them or on their garments, he was greatly amazed and, struck with fear, B showed them honor and, placing them in a lofty position, appointed them princes in his palace. Furthermore, in the fourth year after the destruction of Jerusalem, when Nebuchadnezzar had seen dreams, he gathered the dream-interpreters and astrologers and said: "Narrate to me the visions I have seen along with their interpretations; otherwise, I shall have you beheaded." They answered him: "We do not have the knowledge of visions, unless you yourself tell us what C you have seen, so that we may explain it to you." Nebuchadnezzar, in his anger, intended to cut their throats, but Daniel the prophet, who was a youth at the time of the captivity and whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken for himself, educated in his own house, and placed in authority, said to him: "I will narrate to you the dream you saw and I will interpret it for you." For the king saw a great image, terrible to behold, whose head was of gold, its hands of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet of earthenware; then the king saw a great stone cut from a mountain without the help of anyone, which struck and crushed that image, so that no trace of it could be found; but the stone became a great mountain and filled the earth: this is what the king saw. The interpretation of it is this: "You, O king, are the golden head of this image; after you will reign a king inferior to you, which is silver; after him, one inferior to him, of bronze; D after him, one further inferior, of iron; after whom, finally, one inferior to him will reign, which is earthenware; but after him there will reign a great king whose kingdom will never cease; and just as you saw the stone cut from the mountain without anyone's help which crushed the image and filled the earth, so it shall be that this king will rule over the whole earth unto the ages." Nebuchadnezzar, therefore, honored Daniel, clothing him in fine garments, placed him over all the learned men of Babylon, and appointed him ruler of his house, giving him the name Belteshazzar. Furthermore, in the fifth year of the Babylonian captivity after the destruction of Jerusalem, the following men prophesied in Babylon from among the Israelites: Ezekiel son of Buzi, in the place called Carmela; Baruch son of Neriah, and his brother Saras; Daniel of the Davidic lineage; Mordecai, Benjamin, Hacai, Zechariah son of Barachiah, Malachi, Ezra, and Nahum. And there were prophets in Egypt, Habakkuk the Simeonite, and Jeremiah. But the Israelites in Babylon worshipped idols, for which reason, when the prophet Ezekiel rebuked them, the leaders of the Israelites rushed upon him and put him to death. Furthermore, in the twenty-fifth year of his reign, Nebuchadnezzar set out for Egypt and killed its kings; he ruled over Egypt, Syria, and the land of Judea, the Romans, the Greeks, the Persians, Babylon, and Mosul. The whole duration of his reign was forty-five years, of which nineteen were spent in the devastation of Jerusalem and the captivity of the Israelites.
A Since 253-255 the captivity of the Israelites had been preceded, twenty-six years followed.
Upon the death of King Nebuchadnezzar, his son Evil-Merodach reigned for twenty-three years. He brought Jehoiachin, the king of the Israelites, out of prison, clothed him in royal garments, treated him well, and set free all the Israelites who were in prison. The prophet Jeremiah, however, was taken out of this life in Egypt by stoning; he was pelted with stones until he died, and was buried there. They say that when Alexander entered Egypt, he had the body of the prophet Jeremiah transferred to Alexandria and buried there.
Upon the death of Evil-Merodach, his son Belshazzar reigned for three years, after which he was killed. For, as he was eating and drinking with his companions at an elaborate banquet, being already drunk, he ordered the golden and silver vessels of the temple, which his grandfather Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Jerusalem, to be brought in. When he had drunk from them and had served his companions to drink, meanwhile, as he slept in his place, he saw, lo, the palm of a hand on the wall, the fingers of which wrote something. Struck with great fear, he summoned all the learned men of Babylon so that they might read and interpret this writing. Since they could not do this for him, they said to the king: “There is a certain man here from among the Israelites, by the name of Daniel, whom your grandfather Nebuchadnezzar promoted to honor and held in high esteem; he will both read and interpret this writing for you.” B The king therefore fetched Daniel, who read to him that which was written. It was, however, Mene, Thecel, Phares. He said therefore: “The interpretation of Mene is: God has perfected your kingdom and brought it to greatness. The interpretation of Thecel is: where a kingdom has been perfected, it is to fall. The interpretation of Phares is: your kingdom is to be divided between the Medes and the Persians.” The king therefore clothed Daniel in a robe and a golden collar. However, that very night King Belshazzar was killed, and Darius, the son of Ahasuerus, a Mede from the lineage of the Medes, occupied the kingdom after him for one year. C He took Daniel and placed him in charge of his army, for which reason his commanders, moved with envy against him, accused him before the king, saying: “It is on Daniel’s mind to rebel against the king and to kill him.” The king therefore threw Daniel into a pit filled with fierce lions. Then he was moved to repentance. On the following day, Daniel was taken out of the pit unharmed by the beasts. Fearing therefore those commanders who had accused Daniel, the king threw them into the pit, and the beasts devoured them. Daniel, however, he restored to the command of the army and to his administrative power.
When Darius, king of the Persians, had died, the first who reigned over the Persians was Cyrus the Persian, who also placed Daniel in charge of his army. There was in Babylon a huge brazen idol whose name was Bel, whose daily ration 257-259 was twelve modii of fine flour, forty sheep, and six sextarii of wine, which, while the king was adoring it daily, Daniel forbade him to do, saying: “Those who serve the idol are the ones who eat its ration.” The king, therefore, having summoned these servants, threatened them D and they confessed the matter; wherefore he broke the idol and put the servants to death. There was also a huge dragon in Babylon, which, when the inhabitants of Babylon worshipped it, the king said to Daniel: “You will not say that this one is living brass; if you grant me power over it, I myself will slay it.” Having accepted, Daniel took fat, pitch, and hair, and after boiling them with the dragon, it died on the spot. When the king saw what Daniel had done, he was greatly moved against the Babylonians, saying: “Daniel is plotting against the king,” and sought to deal him death. The king, therefore, being angry, threw him into a pit full of noxious beasts, where he remained for six days; the beasts had been given nothing to eat for those six days. Habakkuk the prophet, who was in the land of Judea, while he was boiling lentils and putting bread into a bowl to feed the reapers, an angel of the Lord cried out from heaven: “Take that which you have to Daniel, in Babylon.” He, indeed, having been for six days in the pit without eating anything, Habakkuk the prophet 260 being caught by the hair of his head, carrying the food that was in his hands, was brought to the pit where Daniel had been placed; who, crying out to him, said: “O Daniel, the Lord has sent Habakkuk to you with food to eat with.” He therefore ate in the pit and praised God, and again he descended into the pit. Habakkuk, however, having been taken back to the land of Judea, was restored by the angel. Then the king, moved to repentance for what he had done to Daniel, brought him out of the pit unharmed by the beasts; the king, wondering at this, restored him to the command of the army. Cyrus the Persian, however, having reigned for three years, died, and after him reigned his son Ahasuerus for twelve years. After him, his son Cyrus, nicknamed Darius, ruled for thirty years. In the first year of whose reign, shortly after, the prophet Daniel died. But in the second year of his reign, he ordered the Israelites to return to Jerusalem and to rebuild the city and the temple. The cause of which was that Cyrus the Persian, having married a certain Israelitess named Mahalat, sister of Zerubbabel, made her queen in the manner of the Persians. Because Cyrus loved her, he asked her to send the Israelites from her brother back to Jerusalem.
Cyrus therefore ordered Zerubbabel to rule over Jerusalem. Under him prophesied Haggai and Zechariah. Furthermore, there was in the captivity 261-263 by the name of Nehemiah, son of Haja, who took up the leadership of the building of the temple, with whom were Ezra the priest, son of Seraiah, and the multitude of the Israelites.
From the Babylonian captivity to the founding of the temple, seventy years had passed. The structure, however, was completed in four years; its structure was overseen by Zerubbabel, son of Salathiel, son of Jehoiachin, a king of Judah, whom Nebuchadnezzar had taken captive and thrown into prison. Zerubbabel reigned in Jerusalem over the Israelites.
A Furthermore, after the city was founded, in that same year, Ezra the priest died—he who, before the arrival of Joshua, son of Jozadak the priest, had performed the office of priest. Because he was offended that the Jews had erred in many things concerning the Law, he wrote out the book of the Law for them, specifically the one which is in their hands today, and he renewed for them matters pertaining to their Law and taught them the statutes.
After Cyrus Darius, king of Babylon, died, his son Cambyses reigned after him for nine years; after whom, Smerdis the Magus [reigned for] one year. This Magus is known for the fact that in his time flourished a certain Persian by the name of Zoroaster, who established the religion of the Magi in temples dedicated to fire. After him, Darius the First reigned for twenty years. After him, Artaxerxes Longimanus, B nicknamed the [264th], reigned for twenty-four years, in whose time there flourished in the region of the Greeks, in the city of Cos, Hippocrates, the wise author of the medical art. Said, son of Patricius, a physician, says: Evidence of this matter is what Galen reports in his explanation of the oath and commandment of Hippocrates, namely that the king of the Persians had sent for Hippocrates and, having offered a great sum of money, had invited him to come to him; but that Hippocrates had not agreed to his wish, nor gone to him, since it seemed to him in no way right to heal the Persians, who were enemies of the Greeks. However, Hunain, son of Isaac, reports in his version of this book from the Greek language into the Arabic, that Galen made mention that Hippocrates did not go to Artaxerxes, called Longimanus, because it is said that during his reign a disease called Al-Mawarek (or, according to another copy, the plague) befell the Persians. He therefore sent a prefect of the city of Cos, whom he asked to pay Hippocrates one hundred talents of gold, and to bring him to himself, treated honorably, so that he might heal the Persians of the disease that had befallen them; but that Hippocrates refused, since he did not judge it just to bring aid to the enemies of the Greeks and to heal them.
After Artaxerxes Longimanus died, Artaxerxes the Great reigned after him for thirty-one years. After him, Saadianus for three years. After him, Darius the Second, C [265–267], who is nicknamed Al-Nakhsh, for seventeen years. After him, Artaxerxes, son of the brother of Cyrus the Second, for twenty-two years. In his time, there flourished in Greece the wise men and philosophers: Hercules, Thales, Pythagoras, Socrates, Solon the lawgiver, Zeno, and Empedocles. After him, his son Artaxerxes, who is nicknamed Ochus, reigned for twenty years. Having gathered his forces, he sought out Egypt, which he occupied after conquering its king. The king of Egypt (whose name was Pharaoh Shanak), having been defeated and fearing that if he fell into the hands of Ochus, the king of the Persians, he would be evilly punished by him, having shaved his head and beard and changed his clothes, fled to the city of Macedonia. Ochus, however, the king of the Persians, founded the citadel of Egypt at Fustat, which is today called Kasr al-Sham'a, in which he also built a great temple, dedicated to fire, which today... D [these] obtained this: it follows that to the emperors and patriarchs alone, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, and by ancient custom and order received, this right was conceded on account of the cases judged.
A Your men shall be yours. Farewell." He sent to him a bag of mustard seed. When his envoy returned to him and reported what Alexander had done, Alexander, having convened the patricians and leading men, addressed them thus: "O people, things are brought to perfection by three qualities: namely, good counsel, the strength to carry the same into effect, and then the bringing of both of these into action with pure intention. Whoever is thus prepared is capable of attaining the things he desires. Therefore, if any of you is instructed in these, let him join himself to me, and whoever behaves otherwise, let him depart from me." They replied to him: "God has placed these qualities joined in the king, but dispensed among us; nor will anyone among us fail to provide the utmost that is within his power." When Alexander had approved this answer of theirs, having made himself ready, he immediately set out with his forces to wage war against Darius.
When they had clashed in Mesopotamia, there was war between them for the space of forty days. Darius, however, having finished five trenches, had placed in each a leader with twelve thousand men, of whom only every fifth day did their turns to fight occur. He had also ordered his own men to bring him the heads of two Greeks each day. Therefore, there were brought to him daily the heads of two, or at least one, of the Greeks. B Struck by great grief of soul on account of this, and seething with as much anger as could possibly be, Alexander sent to Darius to say to him: "It is close that we be consumed by one another; it seems to me, however, that the welfare of both us and you should be consulted, namely that when the battle lines are drawn up, your companions should leave space for us, so that I may move my ranks to the border of your dominion, and then return to my own country. For it is not in our mind to decline the struggle; this would be a disgrace that could not be washed away, a stain that could not be cleansed, a crime that could not be pardoned." Darius replied: "It has not seemed good to us in any way to grant what you have requested." When Alexander had seen this, he incited [men] to devise something against his head, saying: "Ho! Greeks, is this weakness and lack of resource? Is there anyone among you or among the Persians who can devise something for me in this matter, by which he might release me from this sadness, on [this reward] condition: that there be for him half the kingdoms of Persia and Greece, and also of all things that are in the treasuries?" When Clesnesph and Adarshist, sons of Adarbacht, who were in charge of the guards of Darius [or, according to another exemplar, the armies], heard these words of Alexander, they—the battle already having been joined—attacked Darius and pierced him with their swords, so that he fell prone, and the Persians were turned to flight after a great slaughter of them had been inflicted. C But Alexander, when he had arrived at Darius finding him in that state, dismounting from his horse, laid Darius's head upon his lap, and having wiped his face and bound his wound, and having kissed him, he burst into tears and said: "Praise be to God, who did not will that you be killed by any of my companions; this, which we see, was the providence of God [determined] natum]: but you ask of me what has seemed best to you."
"Three things it shall be lawful for you to obtain from me, provided you grant me one thing alone. For this I ask of you: that you do not kill the nobles born of illustrious Persian families, but that you release those who are free; I ask also that you do not tear down the temples of the fire, and that you command their keepers to be well treated; finally, that you do not take vengeance on me for my assassin, but join him to me: for if he remains a survivor, he will be unmindful of your benefits as well, that he might act ungratefully toward me as before." Alexander promised to grant what he asked. Then Alexander said: "As to what I wished of you—that you grant me your daughter Rushtac as wife—I would wish that this be done with your knowledge and consent." Darius answered him: "I hand her over to you as a wife on the condition that D you leave behind the kingdom of your offspring from her." When he had assented to this, Alexander took her as his wife.
But when he had arranged for the most precious things to be wrapped in linens by the king, he then ordered the army of Greeks and Persians to accompany the bier in arms, and the same one followed among his chief men until he had committed him to the earth. Therefore Alexander said: "Even if he was an enemy to me, he was certainly a great man, and I have need of rewarding him who completed this business; let him bring his petition to me; for I swear by God that he shall be exalted and lifted above all my companions." Immediately there came to him those offering, Cheslnesph and Adarshist, the sons of Adarbacht, and said: "We are the companions of Darius, and we have completed for you the business you asked: therefore grant what you promised." Alexander then ordered them to be hanged on two lofty beams; and said: "These men are worthy of this penalty, for they have committed such a crime against their own master, his infidelity and fraud; for those who do not perform their fidelity to their master, will not perform it to another. I, however, have showed them what I promised: I have exalted them above all my companions." Then he ordered the mother, wife, and daughter of Darius to be presented with gifts and garments, and treated them with honor: he also confirmed the leaders and the noble men of the Persians with gifts, vestments, honors, and by commanding that they be supplied with the necessary sustenance, and he confirmed them in the same ranks of dignity as they had; wherefore they pursued him with love, and had fellowship with him. He also invited those he pleased to invade India, which they performed for him eagerly and joyfully. Thus Alexander became master of the seven climates of the kingdom.
From the Babylonian captivity to the kingdom of Alexander, there are two hundred and sixty-three years. From the kingdom of David, seven hundred and forty. From the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt, one thousand three hundred and forty-six. From Abraham, eight hundred and fifty-three. From Peleg, two thousand three hundred and ninety-four. From the flood, two thousand nine hundred and ninety-five. From
Adauro, 5181. The tutor of Alexander was the philosopher Aristotle. There was also a sage at Athens named Diogenes. Alexander therefore conquered regions, and thirteen kings of the Greeks were subject to him; he also founded thirteen cities, some in the West, others in the East. He waged wars and brought back victories such as no king [besides himself] ever achieved. He also founded a city which he named after himself, Alexandria; to which he transferred the empire from Macedonia. He also built the Pharos at Alexandria, which he placed as a signal for all navigators, by which they might be directed to Alexandria. But after the kings had been conquered and the world subjugated, having reached Babylon, they gave him poison to drink, by which he died. A The cause of which was that when his mother Olympias had written letters to him, in which she accused the man whom he had set over Macedonia, angered, Alexander intended to put him to death; which being understood, that man, sending his son with beautiful gifts, handed to him also a deadly poison, ordering him to use some ruse by which to destroy him with the poison. The youth, therefore, having set out, when he had offered the gifts which he had with him, among the rest he chanced upon Alexander's cupbearer, whose heart was seething with rage because, not long before, Alexander had struck him; he therefore favored his proposal, with one of Alexander's household also conspiring with them. It happened, however, that Alexander was arranging a banquet for his companions, B at which, while they were eating and drinking, he himself sat with his household and guests, indulging in merriment and conversation. When, therefore, he was overcome by wine, the cupbearer, mixing that poison into the king's cup, handed it to the king; upon drinking it, he immediately felt [impending] death; wherefore, having summoned his scribe, he dictated to him a letter to his mother, of which this is the copy: "From Alexander, servant of God, who until today was lord of the ends of the earth, now a deposit of the same, to Olympias his kind mother, most wretched, whom it is not permitted to enjoy more closely. Peace be to you, whole and entire. The way which I tread is that which they who went before me have trodden. You, C and the others who survive me, [tread in our] footsteps 284. For that to which we are similar in this world is the present day, which pushes away the preceding one. But do not be saddened on account of this world, since it is accustomed to deceive its own. You have an example of this thing in that which is known to you concerning King Philip, who by no means could obtain that he either should remain with you or survive me: gird yourself therefore with patience, and cast away impatience, and withdrawing yourself from the crowd, command that no one enter unto you, unless to whom some misfortune has happened, by which you will be able to know what that is, and understand your own state the better. See to your own affairs, but that to which I tend is better and easier than that [state] in which I was. But well, I tend to you, lest sadness dominate you. These letters of mine were written to you on the last day of this world and the first of the future: in this hope, that they may serve for your consolation, and be pleasing for the future. Do not, however, act against what I think, nor sadden my spirit. Farewell." Then he ordered the letters to be sealed and sent secretly to his mother; and when he had instructed Philemon his counselor to conceal his death and to go most swiftly to Alexandria, he died. It is reported, however, that Alexander, when he had arrived at Komosum, fell into a severe illness, with which he labored continuously, his sickness increasing day by day 285-287: and that it had been told him by his mother that the astrologers, when he was first being born, D had said that he would die in a place whose heaven was gold, (and) the earth iron: that he, therefore, finding himself thus, had pushed on until he reached Shahrazur; and as he went, the illness intensifying, he dismounted, and two tablets were placed under him, with an iron cuirass laid over them, upon which he sat, covered by a certain gilded shield: which being seen, he remembered what his mother had recounted to him, and having summoned him who was his advisor, he dictated a letter to his mother and then died. But when the letters arrived at his mother, she ordered a feast to be prepared for herself, to which she then summoned men, stationing at the gates those who would allow no one to enter, unless to whom some misfortune had happened. The door-keepers, therefore, questioning all who approached, when they found that someone had suffered some misfortune, would allow them to enter, so that all, with no one left, returned. Which when she saw, she accepted consolation and put on patience, holding it for certain that this is a way [common to all]. Furthermore, Philemon, the counselor of Alexander, placed the body for honor's sake in a golden ark. In another copy it is read that he had filled it with honey, and with his death concealed, had brought back the army and the treasures to Alexandria; but when he had arrived there, he made his death known to men 288, the ark being brought out into the middle and deposited on the pavement, and that he had ordered the sages each to sing an Epicedium which might serve for the solacing of friends and the instruction of all. Philemon the sage, therefore, said: Here the day exhibits a great example. His evil, which was behind, went before; and his good, which had gone before, went behind. Whosoever, however, wishes to mourn him whose kingdom has departed, let him mourn. Plato the sage: Alas! you who didst [all things] by force, you have gathered what deceived you, and departed from you; so that its guilt clings to you, while the utility has returned to another. Aristotle the sage: Alexander has departed from us speaking, he has returned to us silent. Naren the sage: Say to the flock of Alexander, This is the day in which the flock keeps its shepherd. Nilon: Shall we be consoled for our king, unless by one who has received consolation having suffered misfortune? Another said: This is the way, which it is necessary to travel. With the same emotion, therefore, what is durable seek, where you seek what will perish. Another:
Sunday of Meat-fare. Concerning the great and illustrious day of our Lord Jesus Christ. Discoursed upon the final Meat-fare
Brothers and Fathers, it is a universal law that on this day, worldly people cease from the eating of meat, and you may see a great contest of gluttony and boozing agitated among them, as well as foul spectacles of mockery, which it is shameful even to report; and those who ought to have used these things temperately, and to have given thanks to God for the present, and to have prepared themselves for the imminent feast, as is fitting, do everything else due to the A diabolical deceits of the enemy, showing themselves to be one thing while receiving another. But why are these things said to me? So that we, poor monks, might not also let our minds slip into the same, nor be led by their desire, which is by no means worthy of desire, but of lamentation; rather, with eyes fixed upon the Gospel which is to be heard today, regarding which the Canon has also been chanted, let us meditate on the great and illustrious day of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, on which the Judge, having set the sheep on the right and the goats on the left, will address the former with that happy and most desired voice: *Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world* (Matt. xxv, 34); while to the latter He will speak that dire and most sad sentence: *Depart from me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels* (ibid. 41). These things are, by heaven, full of horror, fear, and consternation: which it behooves us, reflecting upon them along with them, to bewail, and to prepare God as propitious before we arrive at the experience of the things which are heard. And as they finish thus, we, I exhort, let us hear the Evangelical proclamations swiftly, striving to serve God timidly and fearfully, all vice having been removed from the soul; and with all knowledge of excellent function introduced among us in turn—deep mercy, kindness, submission, gentleness, mildness, or whatever else is excellent and praiseworthy, by which we may be accounted worthy of a life conformable to the Gospel of Christ and the heavenly kingdom through Christ Jesus our Lord: to whom be glory and empire, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and always, and unto all eternity. Amen.
What then? After this, clearly, there is again to be opposed and again to be crowned, and by how much the struggles are greater, by so much is the consolation of the Holy Spirit greater: for these are the words of the Apostle: *As the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so also our consolation aboundeth by Christ. And whether we be in tribulation, it is for your consolation and salvation* (II Cor. i, 5-7), which worketh in the endurance of the same sufferings which we also suffer, *and our hope for you is firm; or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation, knowing that as you are partakers of the sufferings, so shall you be also of the consolation*. In these words he shows that we are partakers in turns in consolations and struggles, as one body and one mind, so that we are summoned and called into one hope as well. Wherefore, let us not collapse in the future, brothers, nor grieve, but let us all rise together as excellent soldiers of Christ, bearing arms not B carnal, but God-powerful, which overturn fortresses—that is, prudence, fortitude, temperance, justice—following in this also the sentence of Christ: *When they shall persecute you in this city, flee into another* (Matt. x, 23). Wherefore, let us not care what we shall eat, or drink, or wear, being outcasts; for He Himself said: *I will not leave you, nor forsake you* (Josue i, 5), so that He will be the one to open a window through it, and be our helper in all things. How should we not rejoice, affected by these promises? Should we not be glad, who are disciples of the Lord? Thus they also persecuted the holy apostles, whom the Lord addresses in these words: *Blessed are you when they shall revile you, and persecute you, and speak all that is evil against you, untruly, for my sake: be glad and rejoice* (Matt. v, 11); therefore, these are the presence of joy and exultation, which procure ineffable gladness, life everlasting, and the kingdom without end. *Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into the cities of the Samaritans enter not* (Matt. x, 5); this is to be understood as concerning heretics. Wherefore let us not enter their churches nor their houses, but wherever there is a son of peace and the seed of piety, there let us turn aside, and there let us be engaged, as in recent times; let us beware of those who feign the truth, who call themselves overseers, but are not, but rather those who wander and drive others to error, and beguile and are beguiled, whose judgment is just; let us defend the consolidated faith, and then an integral life, not harming one another, but rather let us be integral and perfect on both sides. Which is the confession proposed, derived from the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ, as he who denies that He is represented in a painting denies also that He was seen in the flesh: for it is the same thing, to have been seen in the flesh as to be represented in a painting. He who does not adore His holy image does not adore the Lord: for the principal exemplar resides in the image, and in the principal exemplar the image of each one is shone forth and adored. But if the Iconoclasts say that they do not adore, they lie: for, *They profess*, he says, *that they know God, but by their works do they deny him*.
A twenty-nine years, Ptolemy, surnamed Leipus. He built a great hippodrome at Alexandria for a horse race, which perished by fire in the time of Emperor Zeno. After him his son, Philadelphus, reigned for twenty-six years. Then Ptolemy, surnamed Euergetes, for twenty-five years. And after him Ptolemy, surnamed Philopator, for seventeen years. Then Ptolemy, surnamed Leipus, for twenty-four years. After him, Ptolemy Philometor for twenty years. In his time Antiochus, king of the Greeks, having defeated Syria and Judea, expelled the Jews from Syria and brought all kinds of evils and tortures upon them. After him, his brother Ptolemy, also called Euergetes, reigned for twenty-three years. In his reign, Antiochus, king of the Greeks, founded Antioch, to which he gave the name that it bears according to his own; after whom reigned Ptolemy, called the Liberator, for twenty years, in whose time the city of Seleucia was built. Then Ptolemy, who also had the epithet Liberator, for fifteen years. Then Ptolemy named Alexander, with the epithet Jasphis Philopator, for ten years [or according to another copy, twelve]. Then Ptolemy B 300, surnamed Phosas, for eighteen days [or according to another copy, eight years]. After him, Ptolemy Dionysius for twenty-nine years. After whom his daughter Cleopatra (the meaning of whose name is "shining in black"), for twenty-two years. She built many great and wonderful buildings in Alexandria; and she made tessellated works. She also built a great temple, which she called the Temple of Saturn; under Christianity this was converted into a church and named the Church of Saint Michael; it is this same thing that was called Alkaisariah, and it perished by fire at the time when the Westerners entered Alexandria with our lord Almansor Abixalem, who is called Abdallah, and the Caliph Habbasa, then Al Moktadar Jafar, and his servant Tacinus, prefect of Egypt and Alexandria. She also built a Nilometer measuring column in the city of Achmim, by which the increase of the Nile is perceived: and likewise in the city of Ansena. Moreover, in the fourth year of her reign, a king named Gaius Caesar ruled the city of Rome for four years. Then after him Augustus Caesar, the monarch, and this was in the eleventh year of Cleopatra’s reign. He, having defeated the kings, ruled the world, and his fame having reached Cleopatra, she, fearing him, fortified her kingdom, having built a wall from the eastern side to the bank of the Nile, from the region of Nubia 301-303 as far as Phamam, and also another from Nubia as far as Alexandria on the western side: which today is called Hayet Ol Ajuz, the "Wall of the Old Woman." Cleopatra herself dwelt at Alexandria, and there was C assigned to her in Egypt one named Antonius. Furthermore, Augustus, having heard reports of her, coveted her. It was reported to Augustus that the Jews in the city of Jerusalem did not render him obedience because of the subject of the Council of Chalcedon; he wrote many treatises under the name of Saint Isaac, one of which books is named *Amartana* in the Armenian language. Moreover, he wanted John the "Quid" to be his successor to the throne. However, he did not achieve this, but rather Christophorus did. But when Christophorus had fallen from the see, John rejoiced; yet he did not obtain his wish. Now, Esdras was made Catholicos; John, however, looked upon him with a heavy eye. While he was sitting, the Emperor Heraclius, in the 23rd year of his reign and the fourth from the time of Chosroes, commanded a great council of all the bishops and the learned men of Greater Armenia to be assembled, summoning the Catholicos Esdras and all the Armenians to Theodosiopolis, and to inquire and look into the two natures in Christ our God, and the Council of Chalcedon. They searched therefore for a month; and the Armenians, being led by the Scriptures to the faith, swore in a note written in their own hand that they would never again contradict them in this matter. They returned therefore to Dwin, and then John provoked the monk companions, and also Stephen, Bishop of Cartamana, and Mathusala, an anchorite of Sinai, and certain others who did not at all consent to the council, so that they would not communicate with Esdras the Catholicos, nor with those who thought as he did. Meanwhile, he had already provoked everyone and struggled to draw them back from their opinion; some of those who had participated in the council having already been deceived, Stephen of Cartamana came to the Catholicos Esdras. When John heard that he had communicated with him, he, of his own petulance, bore enmities toward Stephen, as he did also toward Mathusala, for the reason that he too had approached Esdras. He said that he had offended less than the others, and that Esdras had lapsed: "For he," he said, "swerved from the truth out of fear of the emperor; but you have fallen through vainglory and gifts into an incurable collapse." To this, Esdras testifies against John in these words: "Three times I called, with Mathusala, with Stephen, saying: You are teachers and scribes of the world; come that we may satisfy the emperor; but now you reprove us, as though we had consented to them. What we heard from them, we deemed to be true, and we confessed two natures in the Lord Jesus Christ; perfect in divinity, and perfect in humanity, in one hypostasis and one person, the incarnation being indivisible; and the Scriptures which we read, both our own and theirs, confirmed this same thing: and we have kept the faith in our thoughts, according to what the Holy Scriptures carried. Truly, not yet have the years passed: all the writings of the holy Fathers are with us; searching them, you may learn the truth." When he had shown the written testimony, John said: "Because the Nestorians added these things to the writings of the holy Fathers; just as Saturninus of old used to add many heresies to the Holy Scriptures, for example, those words in the Gospel of Luke: *Jesus desires to feed and to drink*."
A of vipers, to have cast into a wound, which immediately died.
In the twelfth year of the reign of Augustus Caesar, the kingdom of Cleopatra was abolished. Furthermore, from the kingdom of Alexander to the end of the reign of Cleopatra, there are two hundred and eighty-nine years. Then, as he returned from Egypt to Rome, Augustus met Herod by chance at Ramla and offered him many gifts; for this reason, he placed all of Judea, with its districts and the mountainous region of Galilee, under his authority, and Augustus placed the royal diadem upon him. When, having already been made king, he returned to Jerusalem, the Jews did not want him to reign over them. Therefore, exercising tyranny over them, he put many of them to death. 308 He also destroyed the records of the city and the books of the Jews which Ezra had restored, and which had been taken from their tribal genealogies and their lineage; he burned them all, so that no one might know his own tribe or his own father: he even sold the temple furniture he had seized, and branded the garments of the priests with his own signet ring; nay, he even held the priesthood itself for sale, to such an extent that unless a large sum of money was first received, he would not allow anyone to be invested with that office: he acted evilly and unjustly in his kingdom.
In the forty-first year of the reign of Augustus Caesar, an edict went forth from him that the names of all the men throughout his whole empire—I mean, with their wives (as they used to be counted in censuses)—should be registered, and their number counted. Therefore, he sent a leader with the scribes, a certain man named Cyrenius, whom he appointed over Syria and Judea. In the forty-first year of his reign, a message was brought from the Lord to the Virgin Mary, who was pure and spotless, concerning the Lord Messiah: in the forty-second year of the reign of Augustus Caesar, and in the thirty-third year of the reign of Herod the son of Antipater, in the Syrian land, according to another copy, in the Israelitic land, our Lord Christ was born on the twenty-fifth of the month of Kanun [309-311] in the twenty-ninth year. To Christ from the end of the reign of Cleopatra there are thirty years. From the kingdom of Alexander, three hundred and nineteen years. From the time the Israelites were taken captive by Nebuchadnezzar, five hundred and eighty years. A From the kingdom of David, one thousand fifty-nine. From the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt, one thousand six hundred and sixty-five. From Abraham, two thousand two hundred and seventy-two. From Peleg, two thousand seven hundred and thirteen. From the Flood, one thousand two hundred and forty-four. From Adam, five thousand five hundred.
In the forty-fourth year of the reign of Augustus Caesar, Herod the son of Antipater, in the thirty-fifth year, three Magi coming from the East into Judea, sought where this great King was born. Fearing, therefore, Herod, and the whole region of Judea because of their words, having summoned the Magi, he answered them: "I have seen a great star in the East which indicated to us that a great King was born, whom we have come to adore"; nor did the star cease to go before us, and to offer itself as a guide of the way, until we arrived at this place, [and then] it withdrew from us. Herod then asked the Jews, saying: "Where ought the Christ to be born?" They answered him: "In Bethlehem of Judea." Then Herod, having secretly called the Magi, inquired of them the 312 time when the star had appeared to them; having answered him, "It appeared to us in the East two years ago"; he said to them, "Go and seek this newborn King, and when you have found and adored him, return and tell me, so that I too may go and adore him." B Having gone forth from Herod, the star appearing to them went before them, until it reached the place where our Lord Christ was with our Lady Mary his mother. They adored him therefore and offered him gifts, gold, myrrh, and frankincense. But command having been given to them in a dream, they returned to their own country by another way and did not return to Herod. Furthermore, from the time the star appeared to the Magi until the Lord Christ was adored, there passed two years. But Joseph, the spouse of Mary, was warned in a dream, that taking the child and his mother, he should flee into Egypt: which Joseph did. But the Magi delaying, Herod, when he perceived that he had been mocked by them, becoming very inflamed with wrath, C he ordered all the children in Bethlehem and its surrounding areas to be put to death. The infants were therefore killed, so that not one remained surviving. But God poured out his wrath and indignation upon Herod, so that he fell into a severe illness, from the torments of which he did not cease until he died, when he had reigned thirty-seven years. [313-315] He left four sons, one by the name of Archelaus, the second Herod, the third Philip, the fourth Lysanias, among whom the kingdom was divided, and each took a fourth part of the Jewish region. The lot of Bethlehem and Jerusalem fell to Archelaus. Herod therefore, having heard that he was dead in Jerusalem, departed from Egypt with our Lord Christ and his D mother, the Christ being then four years old. Fearing to dwell in Bethlehem because of Archelaus, he fixed his seat in Nazareth, and for this reason he was called a Nazarene. Furthermore, in the eighth year of Archelaus, our Lord Christ, being then twelve years old, was teaching the doctors in the temple, in the midst of them seated. Then Joseph, who had raised Christ, died; Archelaus also died having reigned nine years, no heir of the kingdom being left. Augustus Caesar also died, after he had reigned fifty-six years; and in the empire of Rome, his son Tiberius succeeded [him], our Lord Christ being then fifteen years old. Moreover, there was a friend of King Tiberius, Pilate, in a certain island near Rome, which is Ponta
named after which he is called Pontius Pilate, whom he appointed governor of Judea in place of Archelaus.
A In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, John the Baptist, son of Zacharias, appeared, baptizing the Jews in the Jordan for the remission of their sins; and when our Lord Christ approached him and was baptized by him in the Jordan, [He was then] thirty years of age. Now Herod, the son of Herod the son of Antipater, having sent away his own wife, the daughter of Aretas, King of the Arabs [or, according to another exemplar, the daughter of Al-Gauri], married the wife of his brother Philip, named Herodias, while he [Philip] was still alive. John said to him, "It is not lawful for you to take your brother's wife while he is living." Therefore he ordered him to be cast into prison. Afterward, when Herod had arranged a banquet for his companions, and they were eating and drinking, the daughter of Herodias danced in the midst of the gathering, which pleased him; and he said to her, "Ask of me whatever you wish." She asked that the head of John be brought to her in a charger, and he, upon the order of the dancers, handed over his head. But the wife of Aretas went off to her father, who, moved with anger, gathered his forces B against Herod, set out, and attacked him in war, killed many of his associates, took some captive, burned their [crops?], and this occurred in the eighteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar.
In the twenty-ninth year of the reign of Herod, son of Herod, son of Antipater, our Lord Christ was crucified on Friday, the twenty-third of the month of Barmahāt [317-319]—in this manner: while our Lord Christ was celebrating the Passover with His disciples, and on the night of Friday, which was the day of the Passover, His disciple named Judas Iscariot went away and said to the Jews, "What will you give me if I show you where He is?" When they had given him thirty pieces of silver, he led them under cover of night to the place where Jesus was with His disciples. They took Him, and led Him to their high priests, Annas and Caiaphas, who, having kept Him in custody, handed Him over the next day to Pontius Pilate, the governor. When he found nothing worthy of death in Him, he said, "What do you say of this man, this king of the Jews?" They answered, "We have no king but Caesar." He said to them, "What then shall I do to Him?" They said, "Crucify Him; for He has corrupted our religion, broken the Law, and pretends to be the Son of God." Fearing this C, Pilate washed his hands in water, and declared Him innocent of His blood, while the Jews shouted that His blood was upon themselves and their children, who were [to be] His liberators. Then he ordered that He be crucified; and together with the Crucified were two robbers, one on His right, the other on His left, at the sixth hour of Friday; and darkness covered all things like the thick night, the sun was darkened, 320 stars appeared, the rocks were split, and many of the dead rose from their graves. When our Lord Christ was dead on the cross, they pierced His side, from which water flowed with blood. After His death, there came a certain man named Joseph, who, having asked Pilate—now that He was given to him—for His body, having taken it down from the cross, wrapped it in linen cloths and buried it in a new monument which he had hewn out for himself, blocking its opening with a stone. The next day, the Jews having gathered before Pilate, said to him, "Give orders that in the night His disciples do not come and steal His body, and then say to the people that He is alive." Pilate answered them, "Go, do as you see fit." They, therefore, having taken certain guards along, set them to watch the monument, and having sealed the stone, returned. Then, in the middle of the night D, when certain women came bringing spices and aromatics with them to anoint the body in the monument, an angel descending from heaven rolled away the stone from the opening of the monument and sat upon it; and he said to them, "Do not fear, He has risen. Tell His disciples to go to the mountain of Galilee, for they will meet Him there." When the women reported this to the disciples, [321-323] the guards who were watching the monument, when they saw in their faces the dead man [rising], and saw the angel and what happened, fled. And when they went and reported to the Jews what had happened to them, they gave them money and said, "If anyone asks you about this, say that His disciples stole Him away." The disciples, however, went to the mountains of Galilee, where they met our Lord Christ, who, having blessed them, sent them into the world that they might invite men to faith in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
After forty days He ascended into heaven, being thirty-three years old. Then after ten days, the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples in the upper room of Zion, so that they spoke in all tongues. But the disciples daily visited the tomb and the place of the cross. When the Jews saw this, they said, "This place shall not remain hidden, [but will be] as if a building were [constructed] on it; let us cover it with earth, so that no one may see it, or that any trace of it might remain; for as long as men see the tomb empty, they will believe and place their faith in it." By which pact for us they covered the site with earth, so that it became a great heap of refuse.
Moreover, Pilate informed King Tiberius by letter about the things pertaining to our Lord Christ, 324 and also about the disciples of His, and the many miracles that were performed by Him, healing the sick, raising the dead; that many desired to believe in our Lord Christ, but His companions did not want to make the Christian religion known; and [he wrote] that Herod was angry because he had killed John, the brother of Herodias, on account of his wife's pleasure, and after the same [John] had been taken away, had committed adultery, which he [did] with the favor of Christ.
A Furthermore, in the ninth year of Claudius Caesar, the evangelist Mark invited men in the city of Alexandria to the faith of our Lord Christ; who, whilst he was walking through the city, had his sandal strap broken; wherefore he betook himself to a cobbler named Ananias, that he might mend his shoe. He, taking an awl to pierce the shoe, pierced his own finger, so much so that much blood flowed out, and that not without great pain, whereat he murmured against Mark; whereupon Mark said to him: If you believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, your finger shall be healed; and taking his finger, he said: In the name of Jesus Christ, be your finger healed; whereby at that same moment it was restored to health, with no more blood flowing. Ananias then believed in Christ at that time, and Mark baptized him and appointed him patriarch of Alexandria.
It was he who was the first of the patriarchs who presided over Alexandria. But the evangelist Mark, together with the patriarch Ananias, constituted twelve presbyters, who should remain with the patriarch, so that when the patriarchate became vacant, they might choose one of the twelve presbyters, and the other eleven laying their hands B upon his head should appoint him patriarch; afterwards, they should choose some other distinguished man whom they would appoint as a presbyter in the place of him who had become patriarch, so that there should always be twelve. Nor did Alexandria cease to institute this practice of presbyters, namely, the creating of patriarchs, until the times of the Alexandrian patriarch Demetrius, who was the three-hundred-and-eighteenth. He, however, forbade that the presbyters should create the patriarch thereafter. And he decreed that upon the death of a patriarch, the bishops should come together C who would ordain the patriarch. He decreed also that, when the patriarchate was vacant, they should choose from whatever region it might be, whether from those twelve presbyters or others, some eminent man, having inspected his character, and create him patriarch. And thus that ancient custom vanished, by which the patriarch was wont to be created by the presbyters, and it was succeeded in its place by his decree for creating the patriarchs by the bishops.
As to what some inquire, Why the Alexandrian patriarch is called Papa (the meaning of whose name is grandfather), it must be known that Ananias (whom Mark the evangelist D constituted patriarch of Alexandria, until the times of Demetrius in that place, whose patriarchate was the eleventh) had no bishop in the provinces of Egypt; nor did the patriarch have any bishop created under him. He, however, the patriarch, constituted three bishops. And the first was this Alexandrian patriarch who acted as bishop.
Upon the death of Demetrius, Heraclas succeeded as patriarch of Alexandria, who appointed twenty bishops. One of them, named Ammonius, was a deserter of the faith. Of whom, as soon as the report was brought to Heraclas, he gathered a synod of bishops, and in
A the city of Ammonius he arrived, where, the matter being sufficiently known and examined, he brought him back to the truth. When, however, men had heard the bishops call the patriarch Abba or Father, 333-335 they said among themselves: "We call any bishop Abba or Father, and the bishops call the patriarch Abba. Whence it is certainly fitting that we call the patriarch Papa, that is, Grandfather; since he is the Father of fathers." Thus, from the time of Heraclas, the Alexandrian patriarch has been called Papa—that is, Grandfather. After, however, Hananias, the Alexandrian patriarch whom Mark the evangelist had established in his see, had sat for twenty-two years, he died. And Mark the evangelist had gone into Barca, that he might invite men to the faith in Christ, the Son of God. Then died Claudius Caesar, the emperor, and after him his son Nero Caesar reigned for thirteen years; who was the first author of the most grievous evils against the Christians, a man indeed most wicked in his way of planning and living. And in the time of Nero Caesar, Peter, the prince of the apostles, wrote the Gospel of Mark, Mark dictating, in the Roman language, in the city of Rome; but he attributed it to Mark. Also in the time of this emperor, Luke wrote his Gospel in Greek, to a noble man from among the wise Romans, whose name was Theophilus, to whom he also wrote the Acts, or the history of the disciples. Now Luke the evangelist was a companion of Paul the apostle, with whom he remained for some time. Whence it is that Paul the apostle 336 says in a certain Epistle of his: "Luke the physician greets you." But Nero Caesar seized Peter and fixed him to the cross, namely with his body inverted, and thus put him to death; for Peter had even said to him: "If you wish that I be fixed to a cross, fix me to the cross with my body inverted, lest my death be similar to that which was inflicted upon my Lord Christ, who was fixed to the cross with his body erect." But he slaughtered Paul with a sword. Now Peter was killed in the twenty-second year after our Lord Christ. And after Peter, Linus was patriarch of Rome, who, having discharged this dignity for twelve years, died. And this man was the first Roman patriarch. Now Mark was the author of the Gospel, inviting men in Alexandria and Barca to the faith in Christ the Son of God for seven years. And in the first year of the reign of the aforementioned Nero Caesar, Mark was killed in Alexandria, and his body was cremated by fire. B Furthermore, in the twelfth year of the reign of Nero Caesar, Ignatius was established as patriarch of Antioch, who, after he had presided for thirty-two years, was put to death. Moreover, Festus, the governor of Jerusalem, having died, and the city having been left without a prince to govern it, the Jews incited James, the son of Joseph, who is called the brother of the Lord, and attacked him with stones until he died; they killed him, and many 337-339 of the disciples, having been cruelly tortured, they cast out of the city. Therefore, having escaped from the city by flight, the Christians crossed the Jordan and inhabited those places. Having heard these things, Nero Caesar sent to the prefect who had been in the East, named Vespasian, that, having gathered his forces, he might attack the region of Judea and destroy the entire population (with not one survivor) by slaughter, and lay waste their homes. Having heard this, the Jews gathered, the wealthier ones supplying the expenses, and built three walls around Jerusalem, by which, having fortified and strengthened them with towers, they might protect themselves. Therefore, Vespasian, having set out into Judea, left no city in Galilee that he did not destroy by fire; against Jerusalem, however—because it was so well fortified—since he was unprepared for any siege works, in order to conduct the matter more safely, he besieged it for an entire year, the Jews meanwhile secretly bursting out by night and cutting down the Romans. C Furthermore, in the time of Nero, flourished a certain physician named Andromachus, who prepared for Nero a most excellent theriac. (The Arabs call it Dherlacam.) Now the emperor Nero was killed in Rome. Therefore, Vespasian, having heard that the king had been killed, loosened the siege of Jerusalem and returned to Caesarea and stayed there. Now after him Galba reigned for seven months, then he was killed; after him, Otho reigning for three months, 340 he too having been expelled after Vitellius had reigned for eight months, was killed. Then the entire dominion of the Romans was greatly stirred, with the nations everywhere being aroused against them; but after a grave contention and a great commotion, to the leaders, prefects, and scribes, as many as there were in the Roman lands as well as in the East, it seemed to all to appoint to the empire Vespasian, who had been occupied with the besieging of Jerusalem. Who, therefore, having set out from Caesarea to Rome, upon his arrival there, those leaders who were in Rome, rushing against a certain leader named Artitinus, who had determined to seize the empire for himself, killed him. Then, having departed from the city and going to meet Vespasian, they placed a diadem upon his head; who, when he had entered the city and had sat upon the royal throne, put to death every wicked and rebellious man among the Romans, so that under him the land of the Romans was brought into a better and tranquil state. Now he himself had two sons, to one of whom was the name Titus, to the other Domitian; D of whom he sent Domitian, equipped with great forces, to the barbarian nations, which he killed, plundered, and destroyed; but Titus, also equipped with a frequent army, he sent to Jerusalem, which he besieged for two years; with those who were in the city dying of hunger, to such an extent that for very famine they would eat the flesh of their dead and children: which, having then been captured, all 341-343 who were in it, as well men as women, he killed, the soldiers cutting open the wombs of pregnant women, and dashing infants against stones. He also laid waste and burned the city and the temple. Then, those who were killed by his order were numbered as three thousand thousand, while others had fled to Syria, others to Egypt, others into the land of Al Gaur. Now it is seventy years from the birth of Christ to the destruction of Jerusalem by Titus. From Alexander, three hundred eighty-nine; from the Babylonian Captivity, six hundred fifty-
-two. He was a writer, and after he had presided for nine years he died. In the ninth year of his reign, Philetius was appointed patriarch of Alexandria, who, after he had presided for thirteen years, died. Vespasian, moreover, after he had reigned for nine years and seven months with honor and power, died. After him, his son Titus reigned for three years and two months, then died. After him, his brother Domitian reigned for fifteen years. He exercised great cruelty against the Jews, C so that in his time no Jew appeared. Furthermore, he intended to remove their kings and their sons from their midst, so that there would be no king on earth except himself. Therefore, he even removed the descendants of kings, and killed many kings. And when it was reported to him that the Christians 345-347 claimed that Christ was their king, and that His kingdom was eternal, and that they were a numerous army and a great multitude of men, he was inflamed with violent anger, and ordered the Christians to be destroyed from their midst, so that not a single Christian should remain in his kingdom. At that time, John the Evangelist was on the island of Patmos, who, having heard of this and fearing, fled to Ephesus. The emperor, however, sending to Jerusalem, seized the children of Joseph, one of the disciples, and brought them in chains to Rome, and interrogated them about Christ and His kingdom. They answered him that His kingdom was heavenly, not earthly, and that He would come in the last times with great glory and splendor to judge the living and the dead, and to reward each one according to his works. Having heard these things, he was terrified and released the children, and even ordered the Christians to be treated with honor, and ceased opposing them.
Furthermore, in the second year of his reign, Evaristus was appointed patriarch of Rome, where after he had presided for eight years he died. In the tenth year of the same reign, Alexander was made patriarch of Rome, who presided there for ten years, then died. In the fifth year of his reign, Gordius was appointed patriarch of Alexandria, who, after he had presided for ten years, died. In the fifteenth year of the same, Darmius was appointed patriarch of Alexandria, who 348 presided for twelve years, then died. But after the death of Domitian Caesar as emperor, Nerva Caesar, who is also called Barastius Caesar, reigned after him at Rome for one year and five months, then died, being succeeded by Trajan Caesar, who was also called Adrianus Caesar, who reigned at Rome for nineteen years. This emperor stirred up great evils against the Christians, and was the cause of long-standing sorrow and bitter grief to them, while he condemned many martyrs to death, having killed Ignatius at Rome, who had been patriarch of Antioch, as well as Simeon, son of Cleopas, the bishop of Jerusalem, whom he crucified at the age of one hundred twenty. He also ordered the Christians to be reduced to servitude, as people who, in his judgment, had no religion or law. But because of the harsh servitude which the Christians suffered, and the grave slaughters by which they were destroyed, the Romans were moved with mercy toward them, and testified to the emperor that his own councilors and leaders considered the Christian religion sound and a good law, and that it was not fitting to reduce them to servitude. He ordered, therefore, that they should no longer be slaves, and refrained from inflicting evil upon them.
Furthermore, in the time of the emperor Trajan Caesar, John wrote his Gospel in Greek, on an island called Patmos, out of the land of Asia, which is the land of the Romans. In his time 349-351 there was a certain philosopher among the Roman magnates, by the name of Commodus. In the sixth year of his same reign, Judas was appointed bishop of Jerusalem, where after he had presided for seven years he died. In the fourteenth year of the same, Zacchaeus was appointed bishop of Jerusalem, who after he had presided for seven years died. In the sixth year of the same, Jeron was appointed patriarch of Antioch, who after he had presided for twenty years died. In the fourth year of his reign, Xystus was appointed patriarch of Rome, who presided for ten years, then died. In the fourteenth year of the same, Telesphorus was made patriarch of Rome, who after he had presided for eleven years D died. In the eleventh year of his reign, Justus was appointed patriarch of Alexandria, where he presided for ten years, then died. At that time the Jews returned to Jerusalem, and when they had multiplied so much that the city was filled with them, they decided to appoint a king for themselves; which, when it was reported to Trajan, he sent a leader to Jerusalem with huge forces and killed countless Jews. Against this Trajan a certain rebel arose in Babylon, against whom Trajan marched and a very fierce battle was fought between them, in which many from both armies were killed, and Trajan himself was killed in the battle. After whom reigned Aelius Adrianus 352 Caesar for twenty years. He marched against this rebel of Babylon and defeated him. Then he marched to Egypt.
A Benjamin was made bishop of Jerusalem, who after he had sat for three years, died. In the tenth year of the same, Joannes was made bishop of Jerusalem, who, when he had sat for two years, died. In the thirteenth year of the same, Matathaeus was made bishop of Jerusalem, who also sat for two years, then died. In the fifteenth year of the same, Philippus was appointed bishop of Jerusalem, who when he had also sat for two years, died. In the seventeenth year of the same, Seneca was made bishop of Jerusalem, who sat for one year, then died. In the eighteenth year of the same, Justus was created bishop of Jerusalem, where when he had sat for five years, he departed from the living.
Now, Aelius the emperor having died, Antoninus Caesar reigned over Rome after him for twenty-two years: in the fifth year of whose rule, Anicetus was made Patriarch of Rome, who sat for eleven years, then died. In the sixteenth year of the same, Soterichus was made Patriarch of Rome; he sat for eight years, then died. In the fourth year of his rule, Clarius was appointed Patriarch of Alexandria; he sat for eleven years, then died. In the fifteenth year of the same, Agrabius was appointed Patriarch of Alexandria, who sat for twelve years, then died. In the third year of his rule, Erus was created Patriarch of Antioch; he sat for thirteen years, then died. In the sixteenth year of the same, B Theophilus was created Patriarch of Antioch, who when he had sat for twenty-one years, died. In the first year of his rule, Levi was appointed bishop of Jerusalem; he sat for five years, then died. In the sixth year of the same, Ephrem was appointed bishop of Jerusalem; he sat for two years, then died. In the eighth year of the same, Arsanius was made bishop of Jerusalem, who when he had sat for three years, died. In the eleventh year of the same, Juda was appointed bishop of Jerusalem; he sat for two years, then died. Now, from Jacob, the first bishop of Jerusalem, up to this Juda, the bishop of the same place, there were bishops who were set over that see, [all of them] circumcised.
In the thirteenth year of the rule of Antoninus, C Marcus was appointed bishop of Jerusalem, where he sat for eight years, then died. In the twenty-first year of the same, Cassianus was created bishop of Jerusalem, who having sat for five years, died.
Antoninus Caesar having died, Marcus succeeded him in the empire, who was called Aurelius Caesar, as well as Antoninus and Verus, and who, when he had reigned for nineteen years, departed from the living. He was the author of great calamity and long-lasting sadness for the Christians, many of whom suffered martyrdom under him. In his time there was a great famine, and drought, and pestilence, while it did not rain for two years, so much so that it lacked little but that both the king and the people subject to his empire would have perished by famine and pestilence; D wherefore they asked the Christians that they might obtain rain from their Lord through their prayers. Therefore, for them...
A pouring forth prayers to the Lord, He sent down a great abundance of rain, by which means both famine and pestilence were removed. In his time, in the territory of Greece, flourished Magnus the wise. In the second year of his reign, Eleutherius was constituted Patriarch of Rome, who, after he had sat for fifteen years, died. In the seventeenth year of the same reign, Victor was made Patriarch of Rome; he sat for ten years, then died. In the fifth year of the same reign, Julian was constituted Patriarch of Alexandria, and he sat for ten years, then died. In the decimo-quinto [fifteenth] year, Demetrius was constituted Patriarch of Alexandria, who sat for forty-three years, then died. He was the first of the patriarchs to ordain bishops in the Egyptian jurisdiction. In the fifteenth year of the same reign, Maximus was created Patriarch of Antioch, where he sat for nine years, then died. In the fourth year of his reign, Eusebius was made Bishop of Jerusalem, who, when he had sat for two years, died. In his sixth year, Julius was created Patriarch of Jerusalem, who, when he had sat for two years, died. In the tenth year of the same reign, Maximus was made Bishop of Jerusalem, who sat for four years, then died. In the fifteenth year of the same reign, Julian was constituted Bishop there, who, when he had sat for two years, died; and in the seventeenth year, Gabius, who sat for three years, then died. At that time, Demetrius, Patriarch of Alexandria, wrote to Gabius, Bishop of Jerusalem, Maximus, Patriarch of Antioch, and Victor, Patriarch of Rome, concerning the method of the Paschal computation and the fasting of Christians, and how it is derived from the Pasch of the Jews; concerning which matter many books and letters were written, until they established the Pasch among Christians in the manner now observed. And this is because Christians, after the ascension of the Lord Christ into heaven, when they had celebrated the feast of baptism, were accustomed to begin on the following day a forty-day fast, which they then concluded, just as the Lord Christ did—inasmuch as, after He had been baptized in the Jordan, He went away into the desert, where He remained fasting for forty days—and they observed the same feast as the Jews held their Pasch. Therefore, these patriarchs decided on the Paschal computation so that Christians might fast for forty days, and then be released from their fast on the day of Pasch.
Now, Marcus Caesar the Emperor died, and after him, Commodus Caesar, son of Antoninus, reigned for twelve years. In his time flourished, in the Greek domain, in the city of Pergamum, Galen the wise, author of medical arts. Moreover, Galen mentions in the index of his books that he was Prefect for the education of the Emperor Commodus [in what pertains to health]. He also mentions in the first book of the discourse which is inscribed *On the Passions of the Soul* that there was during the time of the Emperor Commodus a man named Perennius, who, when he had been sought for death by Commodus, fled, and—because he had beaten two slaves who belonged to him—[as] when he told them, that they might indicate to him if they themselves were B by their own nobility and by the desire of serving their master, they refused to do that; and [that it was] from Alexander to Perennius had been five hundred and sixteen [years]: and this in the nine hundred and sixty-seventh year of the reign of Caesar Commodus. So says Galen.
There flourished also in the same time Democrates the wise. In the eighth year of his same reign, Zephyrinus was created Patriarch of Rome, who sat for eighteen years, then died. In the fifth year of his reign was constituted Serapion, Patriarch of Antioch, who, when he had sat for ten years, died. In the first year of his [reign], Symmachus was constituted Bishop of Jerusalem, where when he had sat for two years B he died. In his third year, Gabianus was made Bishop of Jerusalem, who when he had sat for three years, died. In his sixth year, Julian was made Bishop of Jerusalem, who when he had sat for four years, died. In the eleventh year of the same, Elias was constituted Bishop of Jerusalem, who sat for two years, then died.
In the tenth year of his same reign, the Persians arose [and] occupied Babylon, Amida, and Persia, [to wit] namely, Ardashir the son of Papak, of the sons of Sasan, the Estochritan, who was the first of the kings to reign in Persia, and [who], having sent letters to all the kings of the Persians who were neighbors to him, as well as those who were further off in other provinces—the kings of the tribes—invited them to assent to him and to provide aid, warning them not to manifest themselves as adversaries C to him, and threatening death and punishments if they did any such thing. And to those to whom the letters and epistles arrived, some were very much afraid; others voluntarily 368 obeyed, and they themselves set out to bring him aid, while others remained until he approached them, and either by their own will they obeyed, or they were forced into service, and others delayed until they were caught and perished. And no one performed such obedience, whom not even he rewarded with kindness, but increased his dignity, except that he permitted no one, save himself, to bear the title of king. Nor did he cease to pass from dominion to dominion, from kingdom to kingdom, from region to region, until he arrived at the city of Saturn, which is called the Fortress, in which was fortified D King Alsawadi. He surrounded that [city] with a long siege, and since he could find no way of taking it, Ardashir ascended to the King’s [i.e., Alsawadi’s] daughter to inspect the forces of Ardashir, and when she had seen the form of Ardashir, she was captured by love for him. Therefore, having taken an arrow, when she had inscribed this upon it: "If you will promise me that you will take me as your wife, I will indicate to you the place by which you can take this city," she threw it toward Ardashir; and when it pleased him what she had written, having inscribed a response on the arrow, he sent it back to her, [saying]: "I will perform for you what you have asked." When she had read this, she wrote back: "To this city there is a back gate, behind the wall and above it, in this place," with an added description. Ardashir, therefore, turned [369-371] to that place with his army [in part].
REV. XVIII, 20. "Rejoice over her, O heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets, for God hath judged your judgment upon her." By heaven, understand either angels or saints, who have their conversation in it; with whom, together with the apostles and prophets, joy and festive gladness is proclaimed; for this reason, indeed, that vengeance is exacted once for all from those by whom they had often suffered great injury; and they had often been affected with great grief and reproach on account of the prevarication of the divine precepts: inasmuch as, with almost no fruit, they had slaughtered the divine and salutary teachings of the soul for the inhabitants of the aforementioned city. Or for this reason, surely, because, since they were slaughtered by the confused power of the world on account of God and His word, which they were faithfully administering, they see at last just retribution. For it is certain that the holy prophets were slaughtered by the Jews, but the apostles by the Gentiles, to whom they had chiefly preached the Gospel. Now the saints rejoice, when the impious and
A And Andrew taught those who came to him during the day, and healed those who were sick; but at night he would go out to the mountain toward the east, and there he would pray to God with his disciples to cooperate with him, because many resisted him. And there occurred a festival of the Greeks, and they sacrificed to them; and on the following day the demons entered into the men, and having become mad, the whole people ate their own flesh. And they immediately went out to the mountain toward Andrew, lamenting, crying out and shouting: "Have mercy on us, apostle of the good God." These things the people of the place B [omitted: defective OCR/facsimile garble in source text at this position] C D
who after he had sat for nine years, died. But Sapor, son of Ardashir, the king of the Persians, having returned to Nisibis, when he saw what they had done to the rampart, accusing them of fraud, said: "You have acted fraudulently and deceitfully," and he besieged them [again]. But when, after a long time had been spent there, he had been unable to take the city by storm, he was greatly distressed by this. Therefore, he said to his companions: "Can you find anyone in our army who is not distressed by what we are suffering?" An inquiry having been made, they found two men who were given to wine and singing; to whom he said: "It appears that our affairs are of little concern to you, since you behave as if what we are doing were nothing to you." They replied: "If the state of this city, O king, fares badly for you, we hope that we shall take it in the manner we are about to tell you." When he asked, "What is that, then?" they replied: "That you yourself, having advanced with your troops, should pour out prayers to the Lord with joined hands, so that He may grant you to take the city." When Sapor had done this, and saw that it availed nothing, he said to them: "We have followed your counsel and see that there is no efficacy in it; what then do you say now?" They replied: "We fear that men have held our counsel in contempt; but if you see to it that all, with sincere hearts, pour out prayers like one man, you will obtain your wish." Sapor, therefore, having called his companions, asked that they [should act] with sincere hearts and a pure mind. They assert, therefore, that they had not finished their two short prayers before the wall of the city was split from top to bottom, and an opening was revealed through which men could enter; the inhabitants of the city, being greatly terrified by this, said: "Here is the end of our fraud." Sapor, having entered the city, killed whosoever among the men fit for war fell into his hands, and led the rest of its inhabitants B away as captives, and found in it a great quantity of wealth. He commanded, however, that the place which was split in the wall be left in that way, so that as men saw it, they might take it as an example. Then he captured various cities in Syria, with many being killed and many being made captives. He even entered the land of the Greeks and caused great slaughter among them, capturing Kalonia and Cappadocia.
Upon the death of Antoninus Caesar, Alexander Caesar reigned over the Romans after him for thirteen years, and this was in the seventeenth year of the reign of Sapor, son of Ardashir, king of the Persians. Under him, the Christians enjoyed peace and safety. For his mother, named Mamma, was inclined with great love toward the Christians. In the first year of his empire, Heraclius was appointed patriarch of Alexandria, where, after he had sat for thirteen years, he died. In his time the patriarch of Alexandria was called Baba, that is, grandfather. In the third year of his empire, Anterus was created patriarch of Rome, who sat for twelve years, then died. In the eighth year of his reign, Babylas was made patriarch of Antioch, who sat for eight years, then died. In the second year of his empire, realizing [the truth], they drove out every opposing and depraved heresy, and delivered it to eternal anathema. Among whom also our holy and divinely inspired Father, Gregory the Illuminator of Armenia, ordained in the most holy metropolis of Caesarea, set down decrees and canons, so that it should not be lawful for a bishop of Great Armenia to be ordained elsewhere than at the church of Caesarea; and thus, after our divine Father Gregory, other bishops were ordained successively. When, however, as has been predicted, the holy synod was gathered in the Holy Spirit at Chalcedon, they made a schism and turned themselves to their own heresies, that Mane, who is also called Mantacunes, and the remaining profane priests of all Armenia. But the prince of malice, the serpent, with the instruments of his wickedness found, Dioscorus of Alexandria, Peter of Antioch, and the Monothelite Eutyches, who had been expelled and struck with anathemas by the holy and ecumenical synods—this serpent, I say, and the Armenians were gathered in the city called The, and there, in a synod as they thought it to be, gathered, they wrote down impious and blasphemous dogmas; and thence [sprang] the error of the Chantzitzarians, as they are called by them. They add passion to passion, and [hold] that what of itself cannot suffer by reason of its divinity, suffers; they introduce confusion and commixture; and they impiously teach that there is one nature of our Lord Jesus Christ: such are the things that Eutyches, Dioscorus, and the unhappy Peter feel with them; and the heresy of the impious Severus concurs; and from them the Acephali, Severians, and Jacobites have [their origin]. Furthermore, the same impious Eutyches, and Dioscorus, and Peter, and the leader of the Armenians, Mantacunes, say that our Savior and God, before He was born of Mary ever-Virgin, had flesh from heaven; for they say that He took from the Virgin a likeness and [took it] only according to appearance and opinion, not in truth. They say, moreover, that He took neither soul nor body from the Virgin, nor did He remain God in her womb, but passed through it as if through a tube, and from two natures was commixed into one. And therefore the Armenians do not celebrate the Annunciation at its proper time; but they celebrate the feast of the Annunciation in the evening eight days before the holy Lights, and have the feast of the Nativity of Christ at night; and having passed through seven days, they thus later celebrate the Lights, in no way making any memorial of the circumcision. To these [things] the Armenians imitate the Jews in their own way; for in the very time of Pascha they sacrifice a lamb, with whose blood they smear the thresholds of their doors; they roast them with fire and eat them. They fashion their oblation without leaven; they do not perform the union of blood and water, but are content with wine alone, according to the custom and tradition of the legal worship of the Jews; not understanding the divine Gospels, nor that which is said by the Apostle: "Old things have passed away, behold all things have become new" (II Cor. v, 17). Moreover, they do not adore the sign of the venerable cross, nor do they honor it, nor anything of divine virtue...
and A having sat for five years, he died. In his fourth year, Narcissus, Bishop of Jerusalem, who had fled, returned and sat for a year under Gordian; after whose death, Narcissus sat for ten years after him, and then died, having reached the age of one hundred and sixteen years. However, a certain commander named Decius attacked the Caesar and Emperor Philip, and, having killed him, occupied the empire and reigned over the Romans for two years; this was in the tenth year of the reign of Bahram, son of Bahram, King of the Persians. From this Decius, the Christians suffered a grave persecution and great evils, while he killed1 innumerable numbers of them; very many underwent martyrdom under him, among whom was Flavianus, Patriarch of Rome, who was put to death. Then, having gone from Carthage to the city of Ephesus, in its center he built a great temple in which he placed idols, ordering men to offer worship and sacrifices to them, and bringing death to those who refused to do so: for which reason a great multitude of Christians were put to death, whom he fastened to gallows B above the wall of Ephesus. Decius the Emperor also took seven youths, the sons of the magnates of Ephesus, and appointed them as keepers of his royal wardrobe; their names are Maximian, Malchus, Martin, Dionysius, Antonius, and John. Because these seven youths did not worship the idols, this was made known to the king by informers: wherefore, being enraged, he ordered them to be thrown into prison, then, departing for the army, he dismissed them until he should return. The Emperor having therefore left the city, they distributed all they possessed as alms and departed for the great mountain called Chaos, to the eastern part of Ephesus; they hid themselves in a certain great cave that was therein, from whence one of them would enter the city daily in disguise, so that he might hear what men were saying about them, and, having purchased food for them, he would return and report it to them. When, therefore, the Emperor returned and asked about them, and it was announced that they had been on the mountain in a cave, he himself ordered the entrance of the cave to be blocked, so that they might die there. But God sent a sleep upon these seven youths, by which they slept as if dead. Therefore, one of his prefects took a leaden tablet and inscribed their history and what had happened to them with the Emperor Decius; which he then enclosed in a bronze box, and, having left it in the cave, he blocked its entrance.
392 After the death of the Emperor Decius, two emperors, Gallus and Volusianus, Caesars, held the empire over the Romans for two years; and this was in the twelfth year of the reign of Bahram, son of Bahram, King of the Persians. In the first year of their empire, Cornelius was appointed Patriarch of Rome and sat for two years, then died. In the same year, Demetrius was made Patriarch of Antioch, who sat for eight years and then died. The Emperor Volusianus died, and eighteen days later Gallus, his partner in the empire, was killed; ruling after them over the Romans was Gallienus Caesar, who is also called Alterianus Caesar, for fifteen years, and this was in the fourteenth year of the reign of Bahram, son of C Bahram, King of the Persians. In the first year of his empire, Maximus was appointed Patriarch of Alexandria, who sat for eighteen years and then died. In the same year, Lucius was also made Patriarch of Rome, who died after having sat for eight months. After him, Eustathius was made patriarch in the same place, and he sat for six years and then died. In the eighth year of the same, Xystus was appointed patriarch there, who died after he had sat for nine years. In the same year, Domnus was appointed Patriarch of Antioch, who died after he had sat for three years. In the twelfth year of the same, 393-395, Timothy was created patriarch there, who also died after he had sat for three years. In the fifth year of his empire, Alexander, Bishop of Jerusalem, was made, whom this emperor put to death in the city of Caesarea after he had sat for seven years, this being in the eleventh year of his own empire. In the fourteenth year of the same, Marziban was appointed Bishop of Jerusalem, who sat for twenty-one years and then died. In the seventh year of the empire of Gallienus Caesar, Cyprian was martyred in the town called Arsagena. But Gallienus [Gallienus] Caesar was cruel to the Christians, the author of great evils for them. His son, who had gone to wage war with the Persians, was captured and sent by the Persians to Bahram, son of Bahram, King of the Persians, who cut off his head; upon hearing this, D Gallienus Caesar was affected with great sadness and ceased from inflicting evil upon the Christians. In the fifth year of his empire, Bahram, son of Bahram, King of the Persians, died; after whom reigned Bahram, also the son of Bahram, who is also called Shahan Shah, for four months, then he died, being succeeded by his brother Narses, son of Bahram, son of Sapor, son of Adashir, son of Babec, son of Sasan; who reigned over the Persians for nine years, then died. In the fourteenth year of the same empire (namely, that of Gallienus Caesar), 396, Hormoz, son of Narses, obtained the kingdom over the Persians for seven years and five months, then died.
Upon the death of Gallienus Caesar, the Roman emperor, there ruled after him at Rome Claudius Caesar, for one year, and this was in the third year of the reign of Hormoz, King of the Persians. In the first year of the empire of Claudius Caesar, Paul was appointed Patriarch of Antioch, who died after he had sat for eight years. He was surnamed, however, Paul of Samosata, because he was from the inhabitants of Samosata, and he was the same author of the heresy of the Paulicians. Those indeed who professed the faith with him, and embraced the same opinion, were called Paulicians from his name, Paul. The opinion of Paul of Samosata, however, was this: that the Lord Christ was a man created by the Deity, of the same substance as ours in some way, and that the beginning of the Son was from Mary, and that He was chosen to be the Savior of human substance, with divine grace accompanying Him and dwelling in Him through love and
A union; she is transferred to a better and eternal mansion. Today the spiritual moon, illuminated by God, encounters the Sun of Justice, indeed wanes from the present temporal life, and at the same time, rising, is illumined by the dignity of immortality. Today the golden and divinely fashioned ark of holiness migrates from earthly tabernacles to the heavenly Jerusalem, into a rest without end; this is what the God-father David, as if singing on a cithara, says to us: *Virgins shall be brought to the king*, that is, the soul, *they shall be brought after her to thee*. She raises for us great spiritual luminaries that shall never set, clearly watching before the sight of God for the protection of the world: now, when the articulate voice is silent on her lips moved by God, she opens her mouth in supplication for the whole human race to eternal speech; now, lowering her bodily hands that bore God, she has become immortal, and lifts them up to the Lord for the salvation of the world; now, withdrawing the natural form equal to the sun, she nevertheless shines in her painted icon, which she presents to the peoples for the salutary contact of appropriate veneration; even if heretics would wish this least of all: and when the most holy dove has flown to the heights, she does not cease to protect these lower things: having gone out from the body, she is with us in spirit; having been carried to heaven, she puts demons to flight, having become a mediatrix before the Lord. Formerly, indeed, death entered through the progenitress Eve; it pressed upon the world with its empire; now, however, it has attacked the blessed daughter of her, and has been driven away; defeated from the same place whence it had once derived its power. Let the female gender, therefore, rejoice, having obtained glory in place of ignominy. Let Eve rejoice, who is now no longer cursed, since she brought forth Mary, the offspring of the blessing. Let the whole creation exult, which mystically draws the streams of immortality from the virginal fountain, by which it is delivered from mortal thirst. This is our solemnity today: this is the hymnology which Jesse supplies to us: the root which sent forth Christ as a flower, the sacred rod of Aaron putting forth leaves, the intellectual paradise where the tree of life is, the spiritual meadow of virginal aromas, the flourishing vine cultivated by God from which mature clusters of life flow: the lofty and D elevated Cherubic throne of the universal King, the house full of the glory of the Lord, the holy veil of Christ, the most lucid region of the Orient, you who have fallen asleep in peace and justice—you have fallen asleep, I say, rather than died: you have been translated, and yet you do not cease to protect the human race. With what words, therefore, shall we explain your mystery, we waver in mind, the infirm tongue does not speak, we hesitate to write, because it is strange and sublime, and transcends all thoughts. Nor indeed does it have anything common or comparative, so that easily from our own things
A In the fifth year after the patriarch Peter was killed, Achillas, his disciple, was established as patriarch of Alexandria; he sat for six years, then died. Arius, however, having implored the help of his friends against Achillas, feigned that he had returned from that impious opinion and infidelity; wherefore Achillas admitted him into the Church and appointed him presbyter. King Diocletian, meanwhile, afflicted the Christians with death, having hunted them down from everywhere; and as he continued his search, when he had reached a place called Dalmatia, God poured out His vengeance upon him, such that his body dissolved into a grave illness and he contracted severe sores, so that his body produced worms which fell from his flesh to the ground, and his tongue dripped from his mouth, and so he died. Maximian, B however, who is called Galerius, fell into an illness in which his body was scorched, such that it was like charcoal; and he died at Tarsus, while Maxentius, the son of Maximian, ruled after them, together with the other Maximin, who was also called Galerius, for nine years—this in the thirty-second year of the reign of Sapor, son of Hormuz, the Persian. They divided the empire such that Maximian, who is called Galerius, ruled the East, Syria, and the Roman territory; Maxentius ruled Rome and its territories. They were to the Christians like raging lions, and authors of evils and exiles for them such as no one can describe, nor had any of the kings who preceded them done the like. Constans, the father of Constantine, ruled with them in Byzantium and the adjacent parts; he was a composed and religious man, a hater of idols, and a friend to the Christians. C He, having traveled into the parts of Mesopotamia and Edessa, while he was staying in a certain town of Edessa called Caphar Phacar [Potter's Shop], saw there a beautiful woman, fair in appearance, named Helena, who had been converted to the Christian faith by Barsica, the bishop of Edessa, and had also learned to read. Having asked for her from her father and taken her as his wife, she became pregnant by him; then, with Constans having returned to Byzantium, she gave birth to a beautiful and gentle son, endowed with intellect, fleeing from evil and loving wisdom, namely Constantine, who, having been educated in Edessa, learned the wisdom of the Greeks. Maximian, however, who is called Galerius, was a harsh and bold man, greatly hostile to the Christians, and one who gave many of them to death; he was a lecher, to the extent that he would not leave behind any maiden daughter of the Christians without having caught and violated and killed her; and his companions treated the virgins of the Christians in the same way, and slaughtered them after stripping them of their wealth, so that the Christians were in a very bad state because of them. The fame of Constantine had reached him—that he was a gentle boy, fleeing from evil, and of much learning, and one whom the astrologers who were with him had predicted would enjoy a great empire; wherefore he strove to bring him to death. D When this became known to Constantine, he fled Edessa and traveled to Byzantium, and went to his father, who handed the kingdom over to him. Shortly after, Constans, the father of Constantine, died. God, however, sent severe illnesses upon the emperor Maximian, so that his flesh melted away, and he remained lying on the ground, and no one could approach him or was able to approach him. Therefore his companions were amazed at what had happened to him, and even his enemies felt pity for him because of what he had suffered. He, however, having come to himself, said, "Perhaps what I suffer happens to me because I killed the Christians." He therefore gave letters to all his provinces, that they should release the Christians, whosoever were in prisons, and should honor them, and inflict no harm upon them; but that they should pray and pour out vows for the emperor. The Christians having prayed and poured out petitions for the emperor, God restored his health to him, so that he enjoyed better strength and health than before. But he, when he had been restored to health and had regained his strength, having fallen into a greater degree of impiety than before, wrote to all his domains and ordered that the Christians be killed, and that no one of his profession be left in his empire, and that they should not be allowed to inhabit a city or town, but should be utterly exterminated. There were killed, therefore, from among the Christians, both men and women and children, more than can be counted, such that due to the multitude of the slain they were carried in wagons into the sea and cast into the deserts. Then Sergius and Bacchus were put to death in a city of Cappadocia, of which they were inhabitants. Saint Barbara was also killed. In the second year of the reign of Maximian, Vitellius was made patriarch of Antioch, where he died after having sat for six years. In the third year of his reign, Marcellus was created patriarch of Rome, who sat for two years, then died. Furthermore, Sapor, the son of Hormuz, king of the Persians, when he had already grown older and reached youth, and his kingdom had been rightly established, having heard of the fame of the Roman emperor Maximian, and what he was doing to the Christians, said to his companions, "I wish to enter the Roman region alone, so that I may have a view of the condition of their kings and armies, and of the position of the regions; then, when I have accomplished what I wanted, I will return to my own kingdom, so that afterward, having been taught by experience, I may attack them." His companions therefore ordered him to beware, pointing out what they feared would happen to him from it. But he did not want to listen to them as they advised him, but traveled in disguise until he had arrived in the Roman region, where he stayed for a time, wandering here and there. And while he was acting in this way, behold, he heard that the son of Maximian was preparing a banquet; and that his father had ordered that even men of the lowest rank, upon arriving, should attend his banquet after the nobles had finished eating. Sapor went, therefore, dressed in the habit of a beggar, so that he might attend this gathering. While
A he was reclining at the table, Emperor Maximianus brought out a vessel from among the vessels of Sapor, on which his image had been sculpted. This vessel was being passed around by his servants to the emperor and the nobles who were with him. When it was finally brought to one of his learned men, who was skilled in both astrology and physiognomy, he inspected the image—having previously caught sight of Sapor’s face while he was sitting in the assembly—and said: "I see among those reclining a man who bears the likeness and figure of him sculpted on this cup; if it is not Sapor himself, there is no one on earth who resembles him more." When Emperor Maximianus asked who he was, he replied: "I see the image of Sapor on this cup, and he is that man." He seized Sapor by the hand and brought him to the king, who asked him his identity. Sapor replied: "I am a poor man from among the inhabitants of Persia." But Maximianus, suspecting what he had observed in him and perceiving that he was not telling the truth, questioned him more vehemently. Sapor therefore said to them: "Since you wish for the truth, I am one of the Persian leaders; my father, having committed a grave offense against the king, was put to death by him, and his riches were taken away. I, fearing for myself, fled to you, hoping to be safe in your territory. Reduced to poverty and driven by necessity, I came here, urged by hunger, need, and destitution." They pitied him, thinking that he had spoken the truth, and decided to let him go. But the learned man prevented them, saying: "Know that this is Sapor himself; press him more vehemently B until he reveals the truth about himself." Emperor Maximianus therefore hovered over him, threatening him [417-419] and promising him security only on the condition that he reveal who he truly was. Sapor said: "It is astonishing that you should think Sapor would choose need and poverty in your country rather than survive in his own kingdom." But they did not accept this answer from him until he confessed that he was indeed Sapor. By order of Emperor Maximianus, he was placed inside a hollow figure made of ox hides, which was then closed, and he set guards and watchmen over him.
When Maximianus invaded the Persian region, he slaughtered a great number of them and laid waste to their cities, destroying even the trees and palms, while Sapor accompanied him everywhere he went. He did not cease these actions until he reached Jondi-Sabur, where the Persian leaders had taken refuge; he had leveled half of the city by aiming machines at it, but could not enter it. As affairs stood in this way, one night the guards were negligent regarding Sapor, and did not close the gate through which food was accustomed to be brought in to the figure. It was then the night of Oshanan (according to another manuscript, a festival night), and there were many from among the Abvazi inhabitants around him, whom the Romans had taken captive, and hearing their language, Sapor understood it. 420 They had wineskins full of oil. He called one of them to him during the night and said: "Take one of these skins and pour it over me." When he had done this, the thong with which he was bound became soaked. He went out, therefore, creeping like a beast until he reached the city gate, and shouted. When the guards called out to him, he told them his name; recognizing his voice, they opened the city gate for him. As soon as he entered the city, they were filled with great joy and raised their voices, praising and celebrating God. Maximianus’s associates, having been awakened, thought that reinforcements had arrived for them from the rear. Sapor said to those who were in the citadel: "Prepare yourselves, and when you hear the sound of the bell, attack them." When they did this, the Romans were turned to flight before them. Pursued by the sword, they suffered a great slaughter, and their riches and treasures were plundered. Then Sapor entered the Roman region, slaughtered many of them, and devastated many cities, taking many captives away from there. A grave famine, pestilence, and plague raged in the Roman region, to such an extent that they were unable to bury the dead due to their multitude. Thus, they were prevented from killing the Christians by the war with Sapor, as well as by famine, pestilence, and death. Furthermore, Maxentius, the Roman emperor [421-423], was worse than all who had ruled before him; he reduced all who were in Rome, especially the Christians, into servitude, plundered their riches, and killed their wives and children.
When the inhabitants of Rome heard that Constantine was ruling, that he was a hater of evil and a lover of the good, and that his subjects enjoyed tranquility and peace under his rule, their leaders wrote letters to him in which they asked and begged him to free them from the servitude of Maxentius. Upon reading their letters, he was afflicted with great sadness and remained in doubt, not knowing what to do. But while he was turning these things over in his mind, behold, at midday there appeared to him a cross C shining in the stars, around which it was written: "By this sign, conquer." He went out and said to his associates: "Did you see what I saw?" They answered: "Yes." From that time on, therefore, he embraced the Christian religion. This was in the sixth year after the death of his father, Constantius. Therefore, Constantine, equipped with all his forces prepared to fight Maxentius, the Roman emperor, made a great cross, and proceeded with it as a standard to attack Maxentius. Maxentius, however, having heard that Constantine was approaching to wage war against him, prepared himself as well, and having laid a bridge across the river adjacent to Rome, he led out all his troops and contended with Constantine in battle 424. Constantine, having achieved victory and having dealt a great slaughter to the associates of Maxentius, caused him to flee with the small remnant of them toward the City. Maxentius was pushed beneath the bridge itself and drowned with his men, to such an extent that he filled the space by both drowning and being slaughtered.
The Romans having gone forth with golden crowns and various kinds of games and play, met Constantine, being greatly affected by his coming. When he had entered the city, he ordered the bodies of the Christian martyrs who had been affixed to the cross to be buried. Those who had withdrawn in flight and whom Maxentius had ordered to be exiled returned to their homeland and their own place. If anything had been taken from anyone, he restored it to them. Therefore, for seven days they celebrated a festival in honor of the King and the cross, eating, drinking, and being filled with joy. A When Maximinus, called Galerius, heard this, he, boiling with great rage, gathered his forces and set out to attack Constantine in war. Hearing this, Constantine also, having had his forces instructed and matters prepared, went out to meet him. Maximinus’s companions, however, when they saw the cross upon the standard, were turned to flight before him; he, pursuing them with the sword, inflicted a great slaughter upon them, with some even being made captives and others imploring his mercy, so that Maximinus, fleeing naked, did not cease [425-427] to withdraw from place to place until he arrived at his own city, where he beheaded the sacrificers of his gods, the sorcerers, and the scholars, to whom he had been inclined and from whom he had been accustomed to take counsel, lest if they fell into the hands of Constantine he might use their help.
God, however, sent fire into the belly of Maximinus, which tormented him so much that he burst, his B inward parts being affected by the heat he felt within: and his eyes even fell out unto the ground, and the scorched flesh separated from the bones, in such a way that he perished by the worst of deaths. Constantine therefore ruled over all the lands of the Romans tranquilly and in peace, and this in the forty-first year of the reign of Sapor, son of Hormizd, King of the Persians. Now Constantine was the son of Constantius, the son of Valentius, the son of Arsisis, the son of Decius, son of the Emperor Claudius who flourished at Rome in the time of the apostles. There was, however, a leader whom Constantine loved and raised to honors, by the name of Licinius; and, having given his own sister Constantia in marriage to him, he made him prefect of Rome; commanding him to show honor to the Christians, to hold them in high regard, and to harm none of them. But Licinius, having obtained the empire, returned to the worship of idols and ordered the Christians to be led to death. C Under him, therefore, the martyrdom of the soldier Theodorus, of the metropolis of 428 Barka, took place, along with the forty martyrs who were from the city of Sebastia in Cappadocia. There was for him in Sebastia a prefect by the name of Agricola, who, having captured the forty Cappadocian martyrs, cast them naked into a pool of water, while there was a severe frost, from which they died of cold. Only one of them went out into the bath that was on the bank of the lake in order to warm himself, whom, falling into the bath itself, he killed. The prefect, however, who was in charge of the guards by whom they were kept, seeing forty crowns having descended from heaven upon the heads of those martyrs, and that one, however, had remained empty, he himself, having stripped off his clothes and throwing himself into the lake, believed in Christ, and accepted that crown from the light. D Then, when they were dragging them from the pool to load them onto a wagon to be carried away, a certain youth was found among them not yet dead, whom, therefore, left behind, his mother standing there lifted up to cast him into the wagon along with the dead; because they were preventing her from doing so, since he was still alive, he died on her shoulders. Wherefore she also cast him into the wagon along with the martyrs, whom they had led out of the city of Sebastia and burned. But when Constantine had heard these things, and had upbraided him by letter for the baseness of his deed, and yet he did not cease, [429-431] but rather, having collected his forces, set out to wage war against Constantine, Constantine sent an army which clashed with him in battle in Bithynia, by which, when he had been routed, he was even captured and brought to Constantine, who relegated him to the city of Thessalonica: when the prefect there, having collected forces from the Thessalonians, tried to provoke Constantine to war again, he himself sent someone to cut off his head. Constantine embraced Christianity in the city called Nicomedia, and this in the twelfth year of his reign: and he ordered churches to be built in all regions, having distributed money from the treasury of his taxes to fashion vessels for the churches.
In the first year of his reign, Eusebius was appointed Roman patriarch, he sat for six years, then died. In the seventh year of the same reign, Meletianus was made Roman patriarch, who, when he had sat for four years, died. In the eleventh year, however, Silvester was appointed patriarch in the same place, he sat for twenty-eight years, then died. In the ninth year of his principate, the council in the city of Nicaea was celebrated. Also, in the third year of the reign of Constantine, Philonius of Antioch was created patriarch, who sat for five years, then died. In the ninth year of the same, Apollonius was appointed patriarch of Antioch, who 432 when he had sat for five years, died. In the fifteenth year of the same, Eustathius was made patriarch in the same place, who sat for eight years, then died. In the fifth year of his principate was the Nicene council. Also in the first year of the reign of Constantine, Ason was appointed bishop of Jerusalem, who sat for nine years, then died. In the tenth year of the same reign, Macarius was appointed bishop in the same place, who sat for nineteen years, then died. In the tenth year of his principate, the Nicene council was celebrated. Also in the fifth year of the reign of Constantine, Alexander was made patriarch of Alexandria. This man, a disciple of the martyr Peter, patriarch of Alexandria, who was killed, and likewise a companion of Achillas, patriarch of Alexandria, sat for sixteen years, then died. In the fifteenth year of his principate, the Nicene council was celebrated. For indeed Alexander, patriarch of Alexandria, forbade Arius to enter the church, and cursed him, saying:
“Peter, the patriarch, said to us before he underwent martyrdom: ‘God has cursed Arius; do not therefore receive him, nor admit him into the Church with you.’” Now there was a bishop in the city of Asyut in the Egyptian region named Meletius, who had embraced the opinion of Arius A; for this reason, patriarch Alexander also cursed him. Furthermore, there was a great temple in Alexandria which Queen Cleopatra had built and dedicated to the name of Saturn, in which there was a large bronze idol that was called Michael, to whom the inhabitants of Alexandria and Egypt, on the day of the month of Hathyr, which is the later Tishrin, celebrated a great feast, sacrificing many offerings to him. When, therefore, Alexander had been made patriarch of Alexandria, and the Christian faith had obtained there, he wished for the idol to be broken and the sacrifices to be taken away. When the Alexandrians themselves resisted him, he approached them with craft, saying: “This idol is useful for absolutely nothing; but if you celebrate that feast to the angel Michael, and set those offerings for him, he himself will intercede for you before God, and will be the cause of greater good for you than this idol.” They therefore consenting, from the broken idol he fashioned a cross; but he called the temple a church of Michael (and that is the church which was called Caesarea; and it perished by fire when the Occidentals entered Alexandria and plundered it); and the feast and victims were consecrated to the angel Michael; whence even until now the Copts in Egypt and Alexandria celebrate the feast to the angel Michael on that day, and slaughter very many victims.
B 436 When, therefore, Alexander, the Alexandrian patriarch, forbade Arius from entering the Church, and cursed him, he set out to Constantine the emperor and sought help from him against patriarch Alexander. Now two bishops offered themselves as companions to Arius, one of whom was named Eumenius [i.e., Eusebius], bishop of Nicomedia, the other Eusebius, bishop of Philae, imploring aid from Constantine. Arius saying: “Patriarch Alexander has afflicted me with injury, and has undeservedly expelled me from the Church,” he requested the emperor to summon him, that he might debate with him before the emperor. Constantine the emperor, therefore, having sent a messenger to Alexandria, summoned him, and caused Arius to convene that he might have a disputation with him. Constantine therefore ordered Arius to explain his opinion. Then Arius: “I say,” he said, “that the Father existed when the Son did not; then that He brought forth anew the Son, who was to Him the Word, except that he was created and made anew. Then the Father handed over to the Son, who is called His Word, the empire, and he was the creator of the heavens and the earth, and of all things that are between them, just as it is testified in the holy Gospel, saying: ‘All authority is given to me in heaven and on earth’; he was therefore their creator by the power that was given to him.” Then 437-439 that Word was afterwards from the Virgin Mary [assumed a body, and from the Holy Spirit; that which was made is the one Christ. Therefore, Christ signifies two comprehended things, the Word and the body; which, however, are both created. Then Alexander answered him: “Tell me (he said) whom do you think is to be held or worshipped, him by whom we were created, or he by whom we were not created?” Arius answering, “Him by whom we were created”; Alexander said: “If the Son created us, as you said, and the same one is created, then even the Son who is created, we are more bound to worship, than C the Father who is uncreated; nay, the worship of the Father the creator would be infidelity, the worship of the created Son would be faith; which is most absurd of things.” The emperor therefore, and those who were present with the others, felt the opinion of Alexander was pleasing, and that of Arius, however, seemed absurd. Other questions also were agitated there. The emperor Constantine therefore ordered patriarch Alexander and Arius and all who embraced the same opinion to be present. But Alexander said to the emperor: “Not so; but rather send for the patriarchs and bishops, that we may form a council, and define the matter, and curse Arius, and make the true faith known to all.”
The emperor Constantine therefore sent into all regions, and summoned the patriarchs and bishops 440, so that after a year and two months, twice forty-plus-forty bishops convened at Nicaea, D differing among themselves in opinions and religions. There were among them those who affirmed that Christ and His Mother were two gods besides the highest God; there were the Barbarians, and the Marianites, who said that Christ was from the Father, like the flame of a fire which hangs from the burning fire, and that the former is not diminished by the derivation of the latter. And this was the opinion of Sabellius and his followers. Others asserted that the Virgin Mary did not bear him in her womb, but that he passed through her womb like water through a pipe; and that the Word entered through her ear, and immediately emerged from there, where an infant is accustomed to emerge; which opinion was that of Elianus and his followers. Others [asserted that Christ was] a man created by divinity, that he was the principle of the same substance with us, and that he was chosen by the grace of God, and that in him, through love and will, he dwelt, and therefore was called the Son of God. They also said that he was of one substance with God, and one person, which is called by three names, nor in the Word, nor in the Holy Spirit, believing: this opinion of Paul of Samosata, the patriarch of Antioch, and his sectaries, who are called Paulicians, was [held] 441-443. There were those who asserted that there were three gods, who are not otherwise than good and evil, and who hold the middle between them by temperament; which is the opinion of the accursed Marcion and his sectaries; and who affirmed that Marcion
A prince of the apostles, with the apostle Peter rejected. Others [finally] asserted the divinity of Christ; which is the opinion of the apostle Paul, and also of the three hundred and eighteen bishops.
Having heard their opinions, King Constantine was astonished at this discrepancy, and having set apart a house in which he prepared a place for them, he ordered them to hold discussions so that, having perceived with whom the true faith lay, he might follow it. These three hundred and eighteen therefore agreed into one faith and one opinion while arguing, and having emerged superior to them with their arguments, they declared the true faith; but the remaining bishops were diverse among themselves in opinions and religions. The King, therefore, having prepared a certain proper and spacious place for these three hundred and eighteen bishops, he himself sat in their midst, and having received his ring, sword, and scepter, he handed them over to them, saying to them: "Today I have granted you power in my empire, that in it you may do whatever is expedient for you to do of those things which pertain to the right establishment of religion and the convenience of the faithful." They, blessing the king, girded him with his sword, saying: "May you publicly profess the Christian faith, and defend it." They themselves also composed forty books, which contained constitutions and laws: of which some taught what it behooved the king to know and do, others what it behooved the bishops to do, out of those things which were contained in them. The prince and president of the council was Alexander, Patriarch of Alexandria, and [with him] Eustathius, Patriarch of Antioch, and Macarius, Bishop of Jerusalem; Sylvester, Patriarch of Rome, sent in his name two priests, one named Victor, the other Vincentius, who agreed to the excommunication of Arius and his associates; and they cursed them and all who professed the same opinion. They also published a confession of faith, establishing that the Son was begotten of the Father before all ages; and that He is of the same nature with the Father, uncreated. Moreover, they appointed Metrophanes as Patriarch for the city of Constantinople. Among them also it was agreed that the Pascha of Christians should be celebrated on the Sunday after the Pascha of the Jews, and that the Pascha of the Jews and of the Christians ought not to fall on the same day. B They also confirmed the calculation of Pascha and the fast established by Demetrius, Patriarch of Alexandria, Gaianus, Bishop of Jerusalem, Maximus, Patriarch of Antioch, and Victor, Patriarch of Rome; and that the breaking of the fast among Christians would be on the same day as their Pascha, namely, the Sunday next following the Pascha of the Jews. Said, the son of the Patrician, a student of medicine, says: "I am anxious to know on what day of the week our Lord Jesus Christ was born, and likewise, on what day He was crucified, and how many those days were; therefore, in this matter, in order to inquire, I turned over the years and I found that He was born in the twelfth year of the solar cycle, in the number of the lunar cycle, and that the epact of the sun was then one, but that the first day of the former Canun was the lunar..."
[Regarding] the morning star. Does the prophet Isaiah call the morning star the Assyrian or Satan, whom even Christ signaled to have been seen falling like lightning from heaven, and declared to be given to the saints for trampling? Of whom Paul also says that God shall come to crush him under the feet of His disciples, and David, confirming him who approached the exalted God, says: "Upon the asp and the basilisk you shall ascend, and you shall trample the lion and the dragon." Therefore, either God promises to give this star, or that which is called the Lucifer in the hearts of the faithful rising, namely, the light of Christ. Moreover, the star that arose before the advent of Christ is John the Baptist, or Elias the Thesbite, the herald of the second advent of Christ; with whom we hope those who have conquered the devil will have a share. It is not, however, to be wondered at, if we have understood much by the same word; since even Christ is called the lion roused from the tribe of Judah, and the lion proceeding from Basan, according to Divine Scripture, is called Antichrist, adapting each to that which is proposed. But the Rising of the future age is also understood, since the shadows of the present life, although they seem to be light, will grow dark: when the Sun of justice shall appear with the saints and shall have dispersed this gloom; and it is an angel who announces this rising; for he is before Him.
A And Helena, the mother of Constantine, also said: "I have vowed to go to Jerusalem so that, having searched out the holy places, I may honor them with buildings." When he had granted her a great abundance of wealth, she set out, along with Bishop Macarius, to Jerusalem to search for the cross, where, having summoned one hundred men from those inhabiting Jerusalem and the mountain of Galilee, and having chosen ten from among them, and then three from those, to one of whom the name was Judas, she asked them to indicate the holy places; but they refused, saying that the place was unknown to them; for which reason she cast them into a pit void of water, where, after they had remained seven days neither eating nor drinking, the third one, named Judas, said to his companions: "My father revealed to me those places which this woman is seeking, and they were indicated to his father by his grandfather." The other two, having been extracted from the pit, shouted and told Helena what Judas had related to them. When she had ordered him to be beaten with scourges, he confessed that he knew the place; and he went on until he reached the places where the sepulcher and the skull were (the place was, however, a great dunghill), and pouring out prayers there, said: "Lord, if the sepulcher B be in this place, cause that with the earth trembling here, smoke may go forth, whereby I may believe." The earth trembling, and a fragrant smoke issuing forth from it, he believed. And when Helena had ordered the place to be cleared of dust, the sepulcher and the skull appeared; and upon three crosses being found there, "How," said Helena, "shall we distinguish which of these was the cross of Christ?" Now there was near them a certain man suffering from a very grave disease, so much so that no hope of health remained for him; the first and second crosses applied to him were of no avail; but as soon as the third was brought to him, the sick man arose, completely freed from his disease and restored to health. Whence Helena knew it to be the cross of our Lord Christ, worthy of being remembered with veneration. She carried it away, therefore, placed in a golden chest; and whatever had been hidden in relation to our Lord Christ, she brought to her son Constantine. And having built the church of the Resurrection, and having placed the skull and the church, she returned to Constantine, having ordered Macarius, Bishop of Jerusalem, to build the remaining churches.
This occurred in the twenty-second year of the reign of Constantine. Moreover, from the birth of the Lord Christ to the invention of the cross, three hundred and twenty-eight years had passed. Furthermore, in the twenty-first year of the reign of Constantine, Athanasius was constituted patriarch of Alexandria, who was a writer; he sat for forty-six years. In the twenty-third year of his reign, Valerius was constituted patriarch of Antioch, who sat for eleven years, then died: he was an Arian. In the twenty-ninth year of the same, Maximianus was made Bishop of Jerusalem, a humble man, and whose right eye had perished at the time of the sedition; he sat for twenty-three years, then died. C In the twenty-third year of the same reign, Metrophanes, patriarch of Constantinople, died, when he had occupied the chair for three years, and after him Alexander was made patriarch of Constantinople, who sat for eight years, then died. Furthermore, Eusebius, Bishop of Nicomedia, and his associate, whom the three hundred and eighteen condemned along with Arius, approaching Constantine, implored his aid, asking that, they having been received, he might make the excommunication void: for they claimed that they cursed Arius and his opinion, and professed the same faith as those three hundred and eighteen. The king, having therefore received them, lifted the excommunication, and taking Eusebius of Nicomedia, appointed him patriarch of Constantinople. But Helena, having sent a certain general instructed with many riches, built a church at Rome, for which, just as for the churches built at Jerusalem, when she had imposed an end, the emperor wished them to be consecrated, to which end he ordered Eusebius, patriarch of Constantinople, to set out for Jerusalem, and there to convene a council of bishops so that they might be present at the consecration of the places. And the Emperor Constantine wrote to Athanasius, patriarch of Alexandria, that he too might be present at this dedication, so that he might obey his command, and not show himself disobedient D to him. He also gave orders to his nephew, whose name was Delmatinus, that he should go to that council and remain in the city of Tyre.
When therefore they had agreed among themselves concerning the consecration, tending toward Jerusalem, they were gathered in the city of Tyre; where were present Maximianus Monoculus, Bishop of Jerusalem, Athanasius, patriarch of Alexandria, and Valerius, patriarch of Antioch, with very many bishops and a great multitude of people. There was there in the council a certain man by the name of Eumenius, and along with him many who embraced the opinion of Arius. Eusebius, patriarch of Constantinople, therefore signaled to Eumenius that he might move the question to Athanasius, patriarch of Alexandria. For Eusebius, although he had returned to the King and professed himself to be contrary to Arius, nevertheless thought the same as he did, and maintained it. Eumenius therefore said: "Arius did not affirm that Christ created things, but that through Him things were created: for that He Himself is the Word of God by whom heaven and earth were created; for God created things through His Word, but the Word Himself did not create these things; and as the Lord Christ said in the Gospel, *And all things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made.*" And he said: "*Through Him was life, and the life was the light of men.* Item: *He was in the world, and the world was made through Him.*" He reported, therefore, that things were made through Him, but not that they were made by Him: "This," he said, "was the opinion of Arius, but those three hundred and eighteen, acting unjustly with him—
and undeservedly excommunicated him. To this, Athanasius, Patriarch of Alexandria, replied: "The three hundred and eighteen bishops did not falsely charge Arius with anything, nor did they treat him unjustly. For he himself affirmed that the Son created things without the Father. But if things were created by the Son in such a way that the Father is not their creator, it would follow that He [the Father] created nothing at all of them, which imputes to Him the crime of falsehood, since it is said in the Gospel: *My Father creates, and I create* 1. And He said: *If I do not do the works of my Father, do not believe me* 2. And also: *As the Father quickens whom he will, and puts to death; so also the Son quickens whom he will, and puts to death* 3: by which he shows that He both quickens and puts to death, and creates. And hence, anyone who denies that He is the creator, and that things were created through Him in such a way that He Himself is not their creator, is convicted of falsehood. But as for your saying that things were made through Him, we do not doubt that when they were being made, Christ said [that they were created], and that they were made, which He implies by His saying: 'I do, and the Father does,' both creatures and life. For your saying, 'Through Him things were made,' returns to this, that it signifies that He created them, and that they were created through Him; for otherwise, one of these sayings would contradict the other. Furthermore, Athanasius replied to Eumenius, saying: 'As for the opinion of those among the followers of Arius who say that the Father wished for something, but the Son created it; if the will of the Father is the creation of the Son, then that [opinion] is false; for he claims that the Son was a created being; whence follows that parts of the created thing are better in creation than the parts of the creator; for the one willed and did it, while the other willed, but did not do it. His parts, therefore, in what he did, will be better than those of the other. Furthermore, it is necessary that the same reasoning apply to the other concerning that which he willed, by completing what he wished the creator to do from the creatures, in that which he wished to be brought about by himself: and in the same way they stand with respect to coercion and freedom of will. For if he acted under coercion, there will be no merit of his in the action; but if he acted freely, it is possible that he either obeys or shows himself disobedient, and that he is either rewarded or punished: which is absurd to say. B He also replied to the same person in another way: 'If the Creator created His creatures through a Created being, there will without a doubt be another Created being separate from the Creator; you imagine, therefore, that the Creator acts through another; but whoever acts through another is in need of the one who makes it possible for him [to act], so that through him he may act, and without him the work would not be completed for him; but whoever has need of another is imperfect, which is far from being said of the Creator.' When, therefore, Athanasius, Patriarch of Alexandria, had overthrown the arguments of those who opposed him, to such an extent that the falsehood of what they were saying was apparent to all who were present, they were confounded and, blushing with shame, fell upon Athanasius and, having beaten him severely, almost killed him. He, therefore, having been snatched from their hands by Dalmatius, a nephew of the emperor, fled to Jerusalem and A arrived, where, having finished the oil of chrism, with no bishop present, he anointed the churches consecrated with this oil, then, betaking himself to the emperor, reported to him what he had done, and the emperor, showing him honor, sent him back to Alexandria. But the emperor was moved to anger against Eusebius, Patriarch of Constantinople, and regretted that he had promoted him to the patriarchate. Thereafter the others, who had gathered in the city of Tyre, B the bishops [having departed for] Jerusalem, found that Athanasius had preceded them in consecrating the churches. Celebrating, therefore, a great feast on account of the dedication of the churches, and filled with immense joy, they returned. This took place in the thirtieth year of the reign of Constantine. But Eusebius, Patriarch of Constantinople, died, having sat for two years, and upon his death, Paulus was substituted in his place C as Patriarch of Constantinople, who, after four years of sitting, was banished by the emperor Constantine. Furthermore, Constantine the emperor forbade any Jew from living in Jerusalem or passing through it; he also ordered that all who did not embrace the Christian religion be put to death. Therefore, a great many from the Gentiles and from the Jews professed the name of Christ, and Christianity prevailed everywhere. But it was reported to the emperor Constantine that the Jews were professing the religion of Christ for fear of death, while for the meantime retaining their own. The emperor therefore asked: 'How shall we know this for certain?' Paulus, Patriarch of Constantinople, replied: 'Pork is forbidden by the law, which is why the Jews do not eat it; command, therefore, that pork be slaughtered, and their flesh be cooked, and let it be offered to this sect for tasting; for if anyone does not eat it, you will know that he still persists in Judaism.' To whom the emperor Constantine said: 'If pork is forbidden by the law, how will it be permitted for us to eat it, and to offer the same to others to be eaten?' The Patriarch Paulus replied: 'Our Lord Christ abrogated all such things as are in the law, a new law having been given to us, namely the Gospel. D For He said in the holy Gospel, *That which enters into the mouth does not defile a man*, namely whatever is eaten; but that which goes out from the mouth defiles a man, namely foolishness and infidelity and that sort of thing. It has also been said by the apostle Paul in his first Epistle to those living in the city of Corinth: *Food for the stomach and the stomach for food, but God will abolish both* 4. It is also written in the Acts of the Apostles that Peter, the prince of the apostles, when he was in the city of Joppa, at the home of a certain tanner named Simon, and had ascended to the roof of the house at the sixth hour of the day for the sake of prayer, fell into a sleep, and saw the heaven opened, and behold, a great sheet descended from heaven until it reached the earth, in which there were all kinds of four-footed animals and wild beasts, and reptiles, and birds of the sky, and together he heard a voice which said to him: 'Come, Peter, arise, kill and eat'; and he—
having responded to Peter: 'Lord, never have I eaten anything unclean,' the voice came to him a second time: 'Whatever God has purified, do not call unclean,' and that the voice repeated this to him three times, and then the sheet was taken up to heaven again: Peter was therefore amazed and perplexed within himself. Having seen this, therefore, and because of what our Lord Christ said in His holy Gospel, Peter and Paul commanded us to eat any flesh of any four-footed beast whatsoever, wherefore the pig and all other animals are permitted to us. The emperor therefore ordered pigs to be slaughtered, and their meat cooked and cut into pieces, and to be set out at the doors of the churches throughout his entire kingdom on the Lord’s Day of Pascha, so that to every one going out of church a morsel of pork might be offered, and whoever would not eat it would be put to death, by which means a great multitude of men was killed.
Byzantium also, having been encircled by a wall, the Emperor Constantine named Constantinople, in the thirtieth year of his reign. Moreover, Helena, the mother of Constantine, now eighty years old, died. Constantine reigned thirty-two years, then died, after he had lived sixty-five years, leaving three sons, the eldest of whom he called by his own name, Constantine; the second, in his father’s name, Constans; and the third, Constantius. Of these, he placed B Constantine at Constantinople, Constans over Antioch of Syria, Damascus, and Egypt, and Iulius over the city of Rome.
Sapor, however, the son of Hormizd, king of the Persians, called the city built in Susa "Choat-Sabur," and another in the region of Sawad, "Phiruz-Sabur"; he also founded cities in India and Sejestan, and he dug many rivers and built arches and bridges. But now, exhausted by old age, his strength was broken, and his sight became dim, with his eyebrows hanging over his eyes; wherefore, having sent an envoy to the king of the Indians, he requested a physician from him. He therefore sent back a certain man skilled in his art named George, who restored him to health, so much so that his nerves were strengthened, his sight was returned, and he was able to mount a horse. He therefore ordered him to choose the city he wished to inhabit. He lived in the city of Choat-Sabur, which is also called Coreb, and is the city of Susa, until he departed from the living. The whole span that Sapor lived was seventy-two years; upon the completion of which he died. After him, his son Ardashir, son of Sapor, reigned over the Persians for four years, then died; this was the first year of the reign of Constantine, son of Constantine, emperor of the Romans. After him, his brother Sapor, son of Sapor, reigned over the Persians for fifty-two years and four months, and this was in the fifth year of the reign of Constantine, son of Constantine, emperor of the Romans. In the fifth year of his reign, a certain prefect named Maxentius, attacking Rome against his brother Constantius, killed him. On hearing this, Constantine, son of Constantine, having sent a great army, took Maxentius and all who had conspired C with him in the slaughter out of the way, and appointed a certain man in Rome by his own name. In the seventh year of his reign, Marcus was made patriarch of Rome, who, when he had sat for two years, died. In the ninth year of the same, Julius was appointed [473-475] patriarch of Rome, who sat for fifteen years, then died. In the twenty-fourth year of his reign, Linarius [Liberius] was appointed patriarch of Rome; he sat for six years, then died. In the twentieth year of his reign, Cyril was appointed bishop of Jerusalem, where, after he had sat for five years, he fled. At that time, the followers of Arius, having gathered together with all who embraced his opinion, preached before the Emperor Constantius all that was best for their faith and opinion, and said that those three hundred and eighteen [bishops] who had convened at Nicaea had erred, and had deviated from the truth in their opinion, while they asserted that the Son was of the same substance as the Father; they said: "Reject, therefore (they say), this saying, since it is an error"; which the emperor also decided to do. However, at that time over the place of the skull [cranium], which is Golgotha, at midday, a cross appeared from light, reaching from the earth to heaven and extending to the Mount of Olives, by the splendor of which light the light of the sun was hidden. Everyone who was present in the city of Jerusalem, as well the great as the small, beheld it, with Cyril the bishop of Jerusalem also being present; he, therefore, having immediately written letters, informed the emperor of the matter, saying: "Under your father, the emperor of blessed memory, the cross of the Lord Christ appeared [portrayed] in stars in the midst of the sky, and now while you reign (fortunate emperor) 476 the cross appeared over the place of the skull, from light, the splendor of which surpasses the splendor of the sun at midday." And by his letters he persuaded him not to embrace the opinion of Arius and his followers, inasmuch as they had deviated from the truth and had lapsed into infidelity, whom the council of three hundred and eighteen bishops had cursed, as well as all who asserted the same with them. The emperor, therefore, having received Cyril’s letters, was filled with joy because of those things which he had written to him, and having returned to the truth, forbade the opinion of Arius from being admitted.
At that time at Constantinople, Antioch, Babel, D and Alexandria, the opinion of Arius prevailed, and those who embraced his faith and opinion were called Arians, their name being derived from his own name, Arius. In the second year of the reign of Constantius, son of Constantine, Cyprian was appointed patriarch of Antioch, who was an Arian, and when he had sat for two years, died. In the fourth year of his reign, Blasius was made patriarch of Antioch, who sat for four years, then died. He also was an Arian. In the eighth year of the same, Eustathius was made patriarch of Antioch, who sat for five years, then died; he was also an Arian. In the thirteenth year of the same, Leo was created patriarch of Antioch, he also being an Arian, where he sat for nine years,
A then died. In the twenty-second year of his reign, Athanasius was appointed patriarch of Antioch, who was also a Manichaean; when he had sat for four years, he died. The same king, in the first year of his reign, having sent Paul, patriarch of Constantinople, into exile, appointed in his place Eusebius, also a Manichaean, as patriarch there; who, when he had sat for three years, died.
Upon his death, the emperor restored to his chair Paul the patriarch, whom he had previously exiled; he occupied it for three years, then died. In the tenth year of the same emperor’s reign, Macedonius was appointed patriarch of Constantinople, who asserted that the Holy Spirit was a created being; he sat for ten years, then died. In the twenty-first year of his reign, the emperor transferred Eudoxius, patriarch of Antioch, to Constantinople and appointed him patriarch there; he was a Manichaean; he sat for ten years, then died. Furthermore, the Egyptians and Alexandrians, since most of them were Arians and Manichaeans, occupied the churches of Egypt and Alexandria B and held them, and they also assaulted Athanasius, patriarch of Alexandria, with the intention of slaying him, but he escaped by flight and hid himself, having by then fulfilled the patriarchal office for ten years; and Gregory, who was a Manichaean, was appointed patriarch of Alexandria, who sat for ten years, then died. Upon his death, Athanasius the patriarch of Alexandria returned to his place and sat for three years. At that same time, a certain prefect named Syrianus, an Arian, coming from Constantinople to Alexandria, banished the patriarch Athanasius to a certain place called Tiberias, having appointed in his stead George, who was an Arian, and he sat for six years. Then Syrianus departed, having set out for Constantinople; upon his departure from Alexandria, the inhabitants of the city, the Melchites, assaulted the patriarch George, killed him, and burned him with fire, and Athanasius returned to his place. At the same time, the sea, agitated by storms, flooded many places in Alexandria, as well as churches. The emperor Constantius, son of Constantine, died after having occupied the empire for twenty-four years.
After him, Julian the emperor, C who denied the faith, reigned over the Romans for two years, and this in the twenty-first year of the reign of Sapor, son of Sapor, king of the Persians. This emperor Julian, having denied the Christian faith, strove to lead men back to the worship of idols and put a great multitude of martyrs to death. In the first year of his reign, the inhabitants of Jerusalem who followed the Arian party assaulted Cyril, bishop of Jerusalem, with the intention of slaying him. When he had rescued himself from them by flight, they made Heraclius bishop of Jerusalem; he was an Arian, sat for three years, then died. In the second year of the same emperor’s reign, Meletius was created patriarch of Antioch, who was orthodox; he sat for twenty-five years, in the twenty-first year of whose prefecture the second council was celebrated at Constantinople. Under this emperor, Athanasius was patriarch of Alexandria; Eudoxius the Manichaean was patriarch of Constantinople; D and Linarius was patriarch of Rome. During his reign flourished Basil, bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia, which is in the Roman dominion; and also Gregory, bishop of Nazianzus: now all the inhabitants of that city of Nazianzus were Sabians. When therefore Gregory, bishop of Nazianzus, was delivering a sermon on the Nativity of Christ our Lord, at the beginning of which he said: "Christ is born, glorify Him; Christ from heaven, receive Him; Christ on earth, exalt Him"; and having recited it before them, they began to mock and ridicule him. When, therefore, the Epiphany had arrived, he composed another sermon, in which he refuted the religion of the Sabians and covered them with reproaches, being that at the beginning of which he says: "Again my Jesus, and again the mystery." In the time of Julian the apostate also flourished Father Antony, who was the first of the monks inhabiting the desert of Egypt, where, having built monasteries, he gathered monks. Likewise Father Flavius in Syria, who was the first of the monks inhabiting the desert of the Jordan, and in it he gathered monks, and built very many monasteries and places.
Now it was reported to Julian the apostate emperor that Sapor, son of Sapor, king of the Persians, had determined to attack him in war. Therefore, having prepared his forces, Julian set out to meet him. But because of his depraved conduct, and his bad faith and intent, and because he strove to force men to idolatry, it came to pass that, defeated in battle, he was killed. Sapor, king of the Persians, dealt a great slaughter to his followers. Now Basil, bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia, recorded for memory that, sitting in his place, he had before his eyes a panel on which was depicted the effigy of the martyr Mercurius; and while he was looking at the panel, the effigy of the martyr had disappeared: and while he was wondering at this, after a short space of time, it had returned to the same panel, and something like blood was on the point of the lance which was depicted in the hand of the aforementioned martyr. Struck with greater admiration, Basil the bishop remained confused, until it was reported to him that Julian the apostate had died in battle at that same hour; whence Basil knew that he, because of the great hatred with which he had persecuted the Christians, and because he had tried to promote the worship of idols, had been killed by the martyr Mercurius.
The emperor Julian the apostate being killed, Jovian reigned over the Romans for one year after him; and this...
was in the twenty-first year of the reign of Sapor, son of Sapor, king of the Persians. Jovian was orthodox in faith, a champion of the Christian religion; and indeed, against a certain rebel, he died on the road while marching to wage war against him, at a place called Dades. After him, Valens reigned over the Romans for twelve years, this occurring in the twenty-fourth year of the reign of Sapor, son of Sapor, king of the Persians. In the third year of his empire, Damasus was installed as Roman patriarch, who sat for twenty-eight years and then died; in the seventeenth year of his tenure, the Second Council of Constantinople was celebrated. In the fourth year of the empire of Valens, Demophilus was installed as patriarch of Constantinople, who was a Manichaean; he sat for eleven years and then died. B In the first year of his empire, Arvis was installed as bishop of Jerusalem, who was also a Manichaean, and after sitting for five years, he died. In the seventh year of the same empire, Hilary was made bishop of Jerusalem, who was an Arian; he sat for four years and then died. Upon his death, Cyril, bishop of Jerusalem, who had fled from the Arians, returned to his see, where he sat for sixteen years and then died. Therefore, the total length of time that Cyril served in the episcopacy was thirty-three years. In the twenty-seventh year of his episcopacy was the Second Council of Constantinople. Furthermore, the Alexandrians undertook to kill patriarch Athanasius, but he escaped by flight and hid himself. They therefore raised Lucius the Arian to the patriarchal dignity of Alexandria. Five months later, some bishops, together with a multitude of Christian Melchites, cursed patriarch Lucius and drove him into exile; and Athanasius, having returned to his see, occupied it until he died. He held the patriarchate for forty-six years. In the eighth year of the empire of Valens, Peter was installed as patriarch of Alexandria, whom the Arians attacked with the intent of killing him, but he escaped by flight. C Then, having returned to his see and occupied it for six years, he died. A certain man stirred up a rebellion against Valens in the West, against whom he set out with his forces and killed him in battle; his brother Valentinian reigned over the Romans after him for three years, in the thirty-sixth year of the reign of Sapor, son of Sapor, king of the Persians. Furthermore, during the time of the emperor Valens, there was a man in Alexandria named Theodore who defended the opinion of the Melchites and refuted that of the Arians; him, therefore, the followers of the cursed Arius seized, and having bound his hands, they tied them to the feet of horses, which they then whipped into a run across a field, until, his limbs being torn apart, he suffered martyrdom. In the second year of the empire of Valens, emperor of the Romans, Timothy was installed as patriarch of Alexandria, D who was his brother; he sat for seven years and then died. In the sixth year of his administration, the Second Council of Constantinople was held. Moreover, Timothy, patriarch of Alexandria, built many churches and not a few monuments. He also converted many from the opinion of Arius to the doctrine of the Melchites. In the second year of the reign of the same emperor Valens, emperor of the Romans, Evagrius 492 was appointed patriarch of Constantinople: having professed the faith of the Melchites here, after he had sat for two months he was driven into exile. The emperor Valens therefore, having summoned Gregory Nazianzen, commanded him to take charge of the see of Constantinople, which indeed he administered for four years, and then he died. Under the same emperor Valens of the Romans, Saint Euthymius was born. A certain man in the West stirred up a rebellion against Valens, against whom he led his army; a battle having been joined between them for several days at a place called Taraka, the emperor Valens fled to a certain village in the territory of Adrianople, where they burned him along with the village. His son Valentinian succeeded him, with whom Valentinianus the younger reigned for three years.
After the emperor Gratian died, and then a few days later emperor Valentinian, a great dissension arose among the Romans concerning the empire: some saying that the empire should not be held by one, but by the sons of the great emperor Valentinian; others saying: "Let no one rule over us unless he is approved by us, who will defend the Christian faith." The opinions of the Christians were indeed discrepant, and their sentiments divided, by which ultimately the opinion of the Arians and Macedonians prevailed, 493-495. For six months they remained in confusion without an emperor. Nor was there any patriarch presiding in Constantinople at that time. For upon the death of Gregory Nazianzen, who had held the charge of the see of Constantinople, the cathedra remained empty, with no one having been suffragan to the patriarchate. The senators and generals therefore [selected] a certain bishop named Cyrus, a good and excellent man: "We have you (they say) as acceptable, and we decide that whatever you wish regarding us, we permit, that you may appoint as king a man whose character you approve; for if we remain without a king, we fear the Persians and others, lest they destroy our region, prevailing over us by their multitude of opinions and magnitude of differences." The bishop replied: "If I, having chosen a man, appoint him king, I fear that while it may please some, it will not please others, and wars and slaughters will arise among you. But if you embrace the opinion which I will suggest to you, it will be useful to me and to you." They asked: "What is it?" The bishop replied: "That throughout the city of Constantinople, a proclamation be made, so that no person may be absent from the church at sunset, where [they may pray... next page begins: ...nis vace edicatur, ne sit qui ad solis occasum in ecelesia non conveniat, ubi to…
the whole night, and then, celebrating the sacred rites, we may beseech God and our Lord Jesus Christ to choose a king for us, and that we may set over us whoever He himself chooses." To this opinion they assented. Now there were in Constantinople two poor men of humble station, joined in friendship to one another, one named Theodosius, a man with a sparse beard, thirty years of age; the other Theophilus, a wise man and a philosopher, twenty-five years A of age. Every day they would leave Constantinople together in the morning and gather wood, which they carried on their heads, selling it and distributing half the proceeds to the poor, while with the other half they bought food and other things necessary for themselves, and nothing separated them except the night, as both would go to their homes and then return to their task. Therefore, on that day, Theophilus, coming to Theodosius early in the morning to wake him from sleep so that they might go to gather wood, was called out by him: "My brother," he said, "I have been held in a dream just now, which seemed to me most wondrous, until you called out and I awoke, struck with fear; and if I could find someone to interpret it for me, I would give him everything I hope to earn this whole week, poor as I am, for I have nothing else except what I earn by selling wood." Theophilus said to him: "I have skill in interpreting dreams. If, therefore, you tell me yours, I, with the Lord Christ willing, will explain it to you, so that you need not spend anything on an interpreter." Then Theodosius said: "While sleeping, I heard a great voice (upon waking from which I was overwhelmed with fear) saying to me: 'The armies of the Persians have reached Constantinople; therefore, with hurried step and having proceeded onto the road, I saw no one there, nor did I hear anything. Having returned to my bed, therefore, I slept and saw myself standing, as it were, in a desert place that was very spacious, and it was full of rams, sheep, oxen, beasts of burden, wild animals, birds, and animals of every kind, and very large trees, and also vast piles of grain. I therefore said to myself: 'I wish I had some of this grain, since I am poor.' But meanwhile, as I examined the animals, trees, and grain with my eyes, lo, there approached me a man fifty cubits tall, his body shining like pure gold, holding a two-edged sword in his right hand, and there were four seals impressed upon the sword, shining like gold; in his left hand, however, a golden shield. When I saw him approaching me, I was struck with fear and fell upon my face. He, however, taking my hand, raised me up, saying: 'Do not fear. B What is it that you would prefer from all that is in this desert?' Then I said: 'My lord, I would wish for nothing else than a little grain.' He replied: 'Whatever you see in this desert is from this time forth yours, and in your power.' Then he said to me: Follow me." C Following him, therefore, while I walked with him, I saw rams, sheep, oxen, beasts of burden, and birds bowing themselves to me; and trees also bowed their heads to show me honor. But the lions roared at me, at which I greatly feared. "Do not fear," he said, "take this sword and grasp the shield which you have in your hand" (there was indeed a two-edged sword, having four seals). Therefore, when I took them from him to hold, the wild beasts, seeing me with them in my hand, immediately fell to the ground and worshipped me. Then he led me to the sea, where I saw a column of light, and proceeding from the sea. But he, taking hold of the column with his hand, invited me in. And that column was divided into three stars, the first of which was like a girdle, and it encircled my chest; the second, like an emerald, my thighs; the third, however, like a blue jacinth, down to my feet. Then, when he had led me back to that great desert with his hand, he said: "Lift your eyes to heaven." I beheld a great star like lightning which, divided into two parts, fell upon my head; then he led me to the side of the desert, where many briars were growing, and among them, fruit-bearing trees. Then he led me to a large and beautiful tent, the interior of which when I examined, behold, in the midst of it was a lamb, and a fountain of water shining like milk. This lamb, however, was transformed into flame and ascended into heaven with this water. Having gone out of the tent, I saw in the hand of that man a key of a cubit’s length, and of the same width, which when he had handed to me, I said: "My Lord, how can I carry a shield, a sword, and this key?" He answered: "This is what is given to you in command." While, however, I stood considering to whom I should hand the key, I saw one standing at my right hand, clothed in a white and beautiful cloak, having a crown encircling his head; to him I handed the key. Then, as I departed with that man, we went to seek our home; but we met a wall which blocked our path, two hundred cubits long. I said therefore: "How can we pass this wall?" Having been occupied with these things, lo, I saw one descending from heaven like lightning, who, D when he had thrown down that wall, we passed through; then you calling to me, I awoke.
Theophilus said to him: "If you have truly recounted your vision to me, it is the case that you are to be chosen king; I shall therefore interpret the dream for you. That vast desert is the world; the rams and sheep are men, both good and bad, who inhabit the world; the beasts of burden, the Greeks; the birds, cities and towns everywhere; the trees are councilors and leaders. All these will bow to you in your kingdom. The lions are the enemies of the king; the sword is the King, and the other creatures are the books of the Old and New Testaments; the four seals impressed upon the sword are the four Gospels; the piles of grain, a great abundance of wealth
in your kingdom, denote the column of light with which you are clothed, the grace of God in you, by which you shall flourish in your age; the three stars that surrounded you are the baptism with which you were anointed in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. A The star which descended from heaven onto your head is your royal crown, which, as you saw it divided into two parts, so it shall come to pass that you will have two sons while you reign. The thorns and fruitless trees are the nations that do not believe in the Lord Christ. The tent is the Church; the lamb which you saw in its midst is the Eucharist; the water similar to milk is baptism; and as you saw the lamb like flame of fire ascend into heaven with the water, so the Eucharist ascends there. 505 The key is the power granted to you to appoint a prefect of the Church by your mandate. But you have handed the key to me, that is, you shall appoint me patriarch. The wall, moreover, is the peace and tranquility that will be in your kingdom. This is the interpretation of your vision. B Theodosius replies: "How beautifully, my brother, you have interpreted it! For that I should be king and you patriarch, that is the thing that can never come to pass. But rise, that we may proceed together to our task." But when the people going to the church saw them, they asked: "What day is this?" from whom they received the answer: "We are seeking the Church that we may see whom God will choose as king for us." Therefore, Theophilus said to Theodosius, "Let us also go with the others to the church; perhaps your dream will turn out to be true." But when they had entered the church and prayed, C Theodosius said to Theophilus, "Our garments are filthy and worn; let us stand behind the people, that we may see what is to happen." When, therefore, the sacred rites were finished and the people had ceased, behold, a great bird, holding in its beak a crown of light, upon which when the people had fixed their eyes for two hours, saying "Have mercy, O Lord," it flew down and placed that luminous crown upon the head of Theodosius, who was therefore immediately led to the altar, and having put off his worn and filthy garments, and being clothed in royal apparel, a royal diadem was placed upon his head. 508 When the bishop had placed it on him and had blessed him, he was carried, mounted on one of the royal horses, not yet believing these things that had happened to him, with counselors and military leaders surrounding him until they had led him to Dar-el-Balat, that is, the royal palace, and then they returned. D Theodosius therefore commanded the Romans, who is also called Theodosius the Great, for seventeen years, and this in the forty-second year of the reign of Sapor, son of Sapor, king of the Persians. Then the counselors and prefects, gathering to King Theodosius, said to him: "The opinions of men are corrupted, with the doctrine of Arius and Macedonius prevailing among them; therefore, that you may cure this and declare the Christian faith defended, you should issue letters to all the patriarchs and bishops, ordering them to assemble to deliberate on this matter and to provide an explained Christian faith." King Theodosius therefore, by letters 509 to Timothy, the patriarch of Alexandria, Meletius, the patriarch of Antioch, Damasus, the patriarch of Rome, and Cyril, the bishop of Jerusalem, commanded them to be present at Constantinople together with their bishops, that they might inquire about the Christian faith and give it explained to the people. Therefore the patriarchs gathered with their bishops at Constantinople, with one exception, 510 Damasus, the Roman patriarch, who did not come himself, but wrote to Theodosius the true faith, explained and set forth. Therefore one hundred and fifty bishops were gathered at Constantinople. The presidents of the Council were Timothy, patriarch of Alexandria, Meletius of Antioch, and Cyril, bishop of Jerusalem; to whom Emperor Theodosius handed the letters of Damasus, the Roman patriarch, in which he had written and explained the true faith. When these had been read and set forth, they consented to the same confession of faith which he himself had written. Then they revoked the opinion of Macedonius to examination, whose doctrine it was that the Holy Spirit is not God, but a creature, a thing made. Therefore Timothy, the patriarch of Alexandria, said: 511 "The Holy Spirit signifies nothing else among us than the Spirit of God; but the Spirit of God is nothing else than His life; if therefore we call the Holy Spirit a creature, we assert the Spirit of God to be a creature; but if the Spirit of God is a creature, then His life is also a creature; but if we affirm His life to be a creature, we shall presume Him to lack life; and by asserting this we shall utterly deny Him; but he who denies God is worthy of a curse." Therefore, agreeing in the 512 condemnation of Macedonius, they cursed him with his followers, as well as the patriarchs succeeding him who taught the same as he did. They also cursed Sabellius the Libyan bishop and his followers, because he asserted that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are one person; as well as Apollinaris and his followers, because he affirmed that the body of Christ was devoid of an intellect. Furthermore, they defined the Holy Spirit to be Creator and uncreated, true God, of the same nature as the Father and the Son, one substance, one nature; adding to the Creed of the faith which the three hundred and eighteen bishops who had gathered at Nicaea had composed: "And in the Holy Spirit the Lord, the Giver of Life, who proceeds from the Father, who with the Father and the Son is simultaneously worshiped and glorified." And that which those three hundred and eighteen had said only in the confession of faith they published: "And in the Holy Spirit." They also decreed that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are three persons, three hypostases, and three properties, a unity in Trinity, and a Trinity in unity, one essence in three persons, one God, one substance, one nature; and also that the body of the Lord Christ was provided with an intelligent, rational soul. Furthermore, they appointed a certain one from the royal attendants named Nectarius as patriarch of Constantinople; they also decreed that the Roman patriarch should be first in order; the Constantinopolitan, second; the Alexandrian, third; and the Antiochene, fourth.
A They also honored him with the title of patriarch of Jerusalem, although he was previously a bishop, and no one had held the patriarchate of Jerusalem before that time; and they assigned him the fifth position, and [having finished these things] they departed.
From the first council of the three hundred and eighteen bishops, who gathered in the city of Nicaea, to this second one, in which one hundred and fifty bishops were gathered in Constantinople, who cursed Macedonius and his followers, fifty-eight years have passed. Furthermore, Timothy, the patriarch of Alexandria, permitted bishops and monks to eat meat on the Lord's days, because of those Manichaeans who were called Sadikei, so that it might be known who among the patriarchs and bishops was a Manichaean; so that in this way, by the eating of meat, their religion might be rendered vain and their laws dissolved. For the Manichaeans judge that it is not lawful to slaughter an animal, nor do they eat meat or anything else that comes from a living creature. But most of the metropolitans and bishops of Egypt were Manichaeans. Therefore, the orthodox patriarchs, with their bishops and monks, would eat meat on the Lord's days; but the Manichaean metropolitans, with their bishops and monks, would abstain and instead eat fish, placing them in the place of meat, since fish are counted among the animals. This was observed in the time of Mani B the infidel heretic. But when he and his followers were removed from the midst, the orthodox patriarchs, with their bishops and monks, returned to their old custom and abstained from eating meat on Lord's days. Said Ebn Batrik, a student of medicine, says that the patriarch Timothy of Alexandria did not permit eating meat on Lord's days because the Manichaeans called Sadikei use fish instead of it, but because he indicated the immolated nature of the meat C; but fish are not considered as immolated. Another sect of Manichaeans, which is called Sammaeun, that is, fishermen, ate fish because these are not considered as immolated; but they abstain from eating meat because it was immolated. But the Manichaeans called Sadikei also err, who have fish in place of meat, since the Lord Christ ate meat; whence it is necessary for all who profess the Christian faith to eat meat, by the example of our Lord Christ, at least one day every year, so that they may remove the suspicion from their own people, and make it known to all that they go contrary to the wicked sect of the Manichaeans. In the Acts, indeed, it is written that Peter, when he was in the city of Joppa, at the house of a certain tanner D whose name was Simon, and had gone up to the rooftop at the sixth hour of the day to pray, fell into a deep sleep, and in the meantime saw the heaven opened, from which a sheet descended that reached to the ground, in which were some of every kind of quadruped that are on the earth, and of wild beasts and reptiles and birds, and he heard a voice saying, "Rise, Peter; kill A and eat."
The preparatory oration of our Holy Father Eustathius, Metropolitan of Thessalonica, for Holy Lent, defining what trembling and unforgetful prayer is, such as befits a teacher, not through itself, but through the wise God, in the manner of him who, having been allotted to be near God in the abysses of wisdom, drew down from there the flows of wisdom; and after I have walked around these beautiful things in the church, and composed you in fraternal love, a few days have intervened. For three have passed, during which I have instructed myself so that I might benefit you more than before. For indeed, what I have gathered through such meditation beforehand, when I lead it into the meadow of this instruction, I shall make it more joyful with this rain. We were saying from the Gospel: B "Every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down with an axe and thrown into the fire to be burned," and we were contemplating the trees held in such repute. This paraphrase was terrible, intoned, if I may speak by way of augmentation, by the most holy Precursor, and preached in common, vulgar speech: in which were explained both other most ancient places of the Holy Scriptures, and more vividly that prophecy of Davidic philosophy, through which we learned that it will come to pass that all sinners shall be exterminated from the earth. Furthermore, these are the things which, as I think, that chief and prince of the baptized has explained, not only with clear abundance but also with that sublimity which befits an illustrious master: first, who those sinners are whom the servant of God, David, declares will perish C; since it is manifest that they are those who do not bring forth fruits pleasing to God. Next, what that destruction is which the holy Psalmist threatens, when (the Precursor shows it to sinners), in an altogether implacable mirror, they themselves, D
A in their rites, fast; nor do they fail to fast on the day of the Parapromone, which precedes the Epiphany; on which days they do not eat fish, because they say they are in that place where they keep a great fast. Therefore, since it seemed to the Greeks that the Nativity of the Virgin, and the grace of the apostles, should be observed by fasting, they observe these three fasts, while abstaining in the meantime from fish, from which they abstain only on Wednesdays and Fridays. In the same way, if it is desired that one fast on the days of Wednesday and Friday for the whole year, it is permitted to him even then to fast and abstain from fish. For it is neither necessary, nor is anyone allowed B to grant the observance of the fast from fish during fasting, unless on the days of Wednesday and Friday, as has already been said, and in the great fast, nor on the two vigils which precede the feasts of the Nativity and Epiphany. But some of the Greeks, the Melchites, in their fasts, also observe that of the Virgin, and refrain from fish. This matter they derived from the rule of St. Sabas; nor is this sin in their abstinence. Since he established that it is not sin, and it contradicts the law and dissolves the commandment. But let us return to the history of Theodosius and Theophilus, which we were relating. Theophilus, the friend of Theodosius the king, stayed at his gate for an entire year without having been received; for although he daily requested the porters and begged that they report his petition to the king, he was repulsed and prohibited by them. A year having elapsed, C lo, the Emperor Theodosius, during prayer, heard a voice which said to him: O Theodosius, the friends and associates of Theophilus are forgotten by you. Theodosius said: My Lord, who are you? He answered: I am the man who was with you in the desert: and just as I established you as king, so I establish Theophilus as patriarch. Immediately, therefore, Theodosius sent and called for Theophilus; and having welcomed him to his presence, the king addressed him thus: Believe me, my brother, I had forgotten you, and had completely lost the memory of you, until yesterday during prayer, lo, the man whom I saw in a dream reminded me of you. Theophilus answered: I too, in a dream, was told by someone: Just as I established Theodosius as king, so I establish you as patriarch. Lo, at this moment the janitor spoke to the king and announced that people from Alexandria had arrived, who said that their patriarch was dead, and asked whom they should appoint as patriarch: therefore the king immediately appointed Theophilus as patriarch and sent him to Alexandria, where he died twenty-eight years later. When Theophilus arrived in Alexandria, he destroyed every idol he found there. And there was a great marble pavement in Alexandria on which were inscribed three Thetas D and in a circle the inscription: These three Thetas signify that which is underneath them. Theophilus asked: I will interpret that. The first Theta is God; the second, Theodosius the king; the third, Theophilus the patriarch. Then, the pavement being raised, he found a great amount of money under it, about which, when he had informed King Theodosius by letter, he wrote back: Build churches with this money. Theophilus the patriarch then built a great church in the name of King Theodosius, which he adorned entirely covered in gold, and furthermore he built many other churches in Alexandria, of which in number are the church of Saint Mary and the church of Saint John. Moreover, there were born to Emperor Theodosius two sons; to his firstborn he gave the name Arcadius; to the younger, Honorius: for whom, when they had grown, he sought someone who would teach them letters. Since, therefore, Rome had lost a searching wise man who would instruct his children, there they found a certain philosopher named Arsanes, whom they sent to him, who then set himself to educate the king's sons. The king, however, one day, having seen Arsanes standing while teaching, his sons sitting, disapproving of it, disliking it: Do not (he said) do this: Arsanes answering: It is fitting (O king) that I teach your sons; the king ordered him to sit, and that they should stand before him. When, however, they were already sufficiently imbued with letters, Arsanes beat Arcadius rather severely, so much so that his footprint was imprinted on his own skin; for which reason Arcadius conceived anger in his heart against him. For this reason he further wanted to afflict him: so that, when after his father he obtained the empire, if he ever wanted to have someone beaten, the pain of the beatings would be to him in place of a reminder. Moreover, in the eighth year of the reign of Theodosius the Great, those youths appeared who, fleeing from King Dacius, had hidden themselves in a cave in the city of Ephesus: and this because the shepherds, in passing over a long interval of time, used to move from the place the rocks by which the cave's entrance had been obstructed, it had become opened like a door. The youths, therefore, having awakened, thinking they had slept for only one night, said to their companion, who used to buy food for them: Go, they said, buy food for us, and inquire what Emperor Dacius is doing. He, having gone out to the cave's door, where he saw ruins constructed there, did not know what this was; nonetheless, rising, he proceeded until he had arrived at the gate of the city of Ephesus, above which, seeing a great cross placed, he was astonished at this also: Me, he said, I think I am sleeping; he began to wipe his eyes and to look around to the right and left, whether he could see anything familiar to him, as he saw none of it, he stood confused, thinking this to himself: Perhaps I have strayed from the road, or perhaps this city is not Ephesus. Having entered the city, he handed the coin he had to a baker to buy bread; the baker, having seen the man in a foreign habit, fearful and consternated by dread, since he had coins with which Dacius the im-
Aperator's image was inscribed, not knowing what this was, suspected that he had found a treasure. Whence, he said, have you this coin? To which he answering nothing, he called out to men, a great crowd of whom had gathered beside him; and while he spoke to him, since he gave them no answer, they led him away to the city patrician and prefect, by name Antipater, who also addressed him and threatened him. Yet he answered nothing. Also, Marcus, the bishop of the city, came to him, who spoke to him, and received no answer. He, therefore, wishing to terrify him, said: Unless you speak to us and declare whence you have this coin, we shall punish you with death. Yet he still did not answer, refusing to speak, of course, from fear of the Emperor Dacius, as if he were still alive (for he thought him to be still among the living). Therefore, they inflicted blows upon him, the pain of which when he felt, Where, he said, is King Dacius? To them answering that the Emperor Dacius was dead, and that many kings had held the empire after him, and had obtained the faith of Christ, and that he who was currently reigning was Theodosius the Great, then, with his fear removed, he related all that had befallen him. They therefore accompanied him to the cave, and there they beheld his companions, and they found a bronze chest and, enclosed within it, a leaden tablet on which their history was written, and what had happened to them with the Emperor B Dacius, as Taddus, the patrician of the Emperor Dacius, had ordered to be written. Seized with the greatest wonder at these things, they wrote letters to King Theodosius, by which they informed him of these matters. He, therefore, having mounted a horse, went to the city of Ephesus, where he both saw them and conversed with them. But three days later, when he went in to them into the cave, he found them already dead. He ordered, therefore, that they should not be moved from there, but buried in the cave itself, and he built a church over them which was marked by their name, and a festival instituted in their honor is celebrated every year on that day: then King Theodosius returned to Constantinople. Now from the time that those boys fled from the Emperor Dacius into the cave and slept in it, to the time when they appeared again and died, according to that which we read in the history of their martyrdom, are three hundred and seventy-two years. Furthermore, in the thirteenth year of the reign of Theodosius the Great, Siricius was established as Roman patriarch, who sat for twelve years, then died. In the seventeenth year of the same reign, Nectarius, the patriarch of Constantinople, died, who had performed the patriarchal office there for sixteen years. After whom, John Chrysostom was established as patriarch of Constantinople, who, when he had remained there for five years and ten months, was driven into exile and died in the same. In the sixth year of the same reign, Flavian was created patriarch of Antioch, who, after he had sat for six years, died. In the twelfth year of the same, BarkuCnus was made patriarch of Antioch, who sat for ten years, then died. In the eighth year of the same reign, John was established as patriarch of Jerusalem, where he sat for sixteen years, then died. Likewise, in the time of King Theodosius, Epiphanius, bishop of Cyprus, flourished. Also, King Theodosius built a church in Jerusalem, Jesmaniah, in which was the sepulcher of the holy Mary, which the Persians destroyed, at which time they marched as far as Jerusalem and destroyed the Jerusalem churches, so that even to this day they remain devastated.
Furthermore, in the tenth year of the reign of King Theodosius, Sabur, son of Sabur, king of the Persians, died; after whom, Bahram, son of Sabur, king of the Persians, reigned for eleven years, from which time the kingdom of Theodosius enjoyed tranquility and peace, and then he died. King Theodosius also died, with his sons Arcadius and Honorius succeeding him in the empire. Arcadius ruled over the Romans in Constantinople for thirteen years; but his brother Honorius over the city of Rome for eleven years; and this in the seventh year of the reign of Bahram, son of Sapor, king of the Persians. Now King Arcadius sought the death of his tutor Arsanes because he bore hatred toward him in his heart. Informing himself of this matter, Arsanes fled to Alexandria and professed monasticism in a certain monastery that is situated in the valley of Hobaib, near Tarnut, and is called Askit. Arcadius, afterward, when a son was born to him, to whom he gave the name Theodosius, asked his tutor Arsanes that he might also teach his son; and when it was reported to him that he had slipped away by flight into Egypt and was professing the monastic life there in the monastery of Askit, he sent after him, commanding him that he should be secure in his life. But Arsanes, refusing, was so persuasive to the [messenger] that he departed from him. Then, fearing lest [the king] might send those who would carry him off by force, he went to the Said of Egypt and dwelt there on Mount Mokattam in the region of the village called Tora, where, after he had remained for three years, he died. Then, indeed, King Arcadius sent another messenger to bring him by force, to whom, when he had arrived at the monastery of Askit, it was reported that Arsanes had already departed from the living on Mount Mokattam. The messenger, therefore, returned and reported that to the king. The king, therefore, sending a monk by the name of Trasius, and having provided him with funds, Go, he said, and build a monastery over Arsanes' tomb that may be called by his name. Trasius, therefore, went to Egypt and built a monastery over the sepulcher of Arsanes, which is situated on Mount Mokattam and is called Dic Alkasir to this day.
Furthermore, in Egypt a certain bishop, as he was dying, left three sons who, having professed the monastic life, sat in Askit, one of whom Theophilus, the patriarch of Alexandria, took and appointed as a bishop in some cities of Egypt, the remaining two as deacons and his own disciples; who, therefore, served Theophilus, the patriarch of Alexandria; but after three years had elapsed, wishing to return to Askit again, when he forbade them to do so.
Therefore, they departed without his permission; A for which reason he forbade them the Eucharist for three years. They therefore went to John Chrysostom, and begged him to write to Theophilus, the patriarch of Alexandria, asking him to grant them access to the Eucharist. John Chrysostom sent letters of his own to Theophilus, patriarch of Alexandria, requesting him to be reconciled with them. When he refused to do so, and they returned again to John Chrysostom, he ordered them to take the Eucharist. Thus, there arose a discord between Theophilus, the patriarch of Alexandria, and John Chrysostom. Now, there was at the time of the Roman Emperor Arcadius a certain man by the name of Theognostus, who was overflowing with wealth; and some, envious of him, B bore witness against him to the king, claiming that he had renounced the faith, and had been a companion to the king: for this reason the king himself sent him into exile and confiscated his goods. There was a vineyard of his which Eudoxia the queen, having passed by, coveted for its beauty. When she asked whose it was, she was told it belonged to the wife of the one who had been sent into exile by the king. Then she said: "I would that I might receive it for my own pleasure!" Some of the prefects responded: "The king's law is such that whatever the king treads upon is his own." Having heard this, the queen occupied the vineyard for herself. But this woman sent a petition to John Chrysostom, asking that he might intercede with the queen for the vineyard of her mistress; but she refused, and when he spoke with her regarding this matter, she did not respond at all. Then he said to her: "Beware C that you do not happen to [suffer] what happened to Jezebel, the wife of Ahab king of Israel"; and she, for no reason, hated John the palace. John therefore returned, saddened; he ordered the deacons, when the queen should enter the church, to lock the doors against her; which, because they had done, the queen returned, deeply moved. At that time, Epiphanius, the bishop of Cyprus, was in Constantinople to settle some affairs with the king. The queen therefore summoned him and said: "John Chrysostom contradicts the truth, and meddles in matters that do not concern him, for the sake of the throne he removes himself." Epiphanius replied to her: "If what you say is the case, D urge him to repentance; if not, we will remove him from his dignity." The queen said: "Unless you depose him, the temples of the idols are open, men go to them to worship." She then compelled some bishops and deacons to go to the king and bear witness against John before him, to argue against him, and to distress the inhabitants by persecuting him. The bishops, however, envying John for his great knowledge, conveyed to the queen what she hinted to them. King Arcadius ordered John to be removed from the patriarchal throne. But John sent to Epiphanius, the bishop of Cyprus, writing: "You, Epiphanius," he said, "have consented to my exile and have thwarted my work, saying of me things that are not fitting. A Know therefore that you shall by no means reach your own province before you depart from this world." To this Epiphanius returned an answer: "O John, I desire nothing other than all the good things I have said of you, and I have bestowed as much of my own effort as I could, and shown great diligence in averting evil from you, which, however, was in vain. For one who is present sees what one who is absent does not see. But since you reproach me with things I do not know, nor do, thus you know that you shall not reach the place of your exile to which you have been sent; before you arrive, you shall die." Epiphanius died while traveling to Cyprus, in the middle of the day, before he reached it. John Chrysostom, moreover, died on the very day that he was ordered to go into exile. Now, there was a great earthquake in Constantinople, along with heavy thunder, lightning, and rain. The king said: "Therefore these things occur because we drove John Chrysostom into exile." He ordered his body to be brought to Constantinople and buried there; and in the sixth year of B Arcadius, he was brought back. John was called Chrysostom because a certain woman, when he was dead, lamenting, said: "O John, O golden mouth," and from this he received the name Golden-mouthed. After him, another named John was established as patriarch of Constantinople, who, when he had sat for one year, died. In his place succeeded Gennadius as patriarch of Constantinople, who sat for three years, then died. After him, Atticus was made patriarch of Constantinople and sat for fifteen years, then died. C In the twelfth year of the reign of Arcadius, Anastasius was established as patriarch of Rome, who sat for three years, then died. In the eleventh year of his reign, Innocent was made patriarch of Rome, who, when he had sat for fifteen years, died. In the eighth year of his reign, Porphyry was established as patriarch of Jerusalem; he sat for twelve years, then died. In the fifth year of his reign, Paulinus was established as patriarch of Antioch, who sat for four years, then died. In the ninth year of his reign, Evagrius was established as patriarch of Antioch; he sat for five years, then died. In the fourth year of the reign of the Roman Emperor Arcadius, having gained the throne, Yazdejerd, son of Bahram, named Al-Aitham, reigned in Persia for twenty years. Furthermore, Theophilus, patriarch of Alexandria, built the great church of Alexandria, dedicated in the name of the Roman Emperor Arcadius. The Roman king Arcadius died when he had held the empire for thirteen years; reigning after him was his son Theodosius, called the younger, in Rome, for forty-two years, and in the year of Yazdejerd, son of Bahram, of the Persians, he reigned...
during which a serious war was engaged between them, and great slaughter occurred, such that at length each was put to flight by the other. In the A thirteenth year of his reign, Zosimus was appointed Patriarch of Rome, who, having held the see for one year, died; after him Boniface was raised to that dignity, who reigned for three years, and then died. After him, Celestine became patriarch there, who held the see for ten years, and then died. In the fifth year of his prefecture, the third council against Nestorius was held at Ephesus. In the first year of the reign of the same, namely Theodosius the Younger, Cyril was appointed Patriarch of Alexandria; he held the see for thirty-three years, and then died. In the twenty-first year of his prefecture, the third council against Nestorius was celebrated. Also in the first year of the reign of Theodosius the Younger, Alexander was appointed Patriarch of Antioch, who, having held it for four years, died. After him, Barodotus [Theodotus] was made patriarch there, who held it for six years, and then died. After him, John was made Patriarch of Antioch, who held it for seventeen years, and then died. In the eleventh year of his episcopate was the third council against Nestorius. In the seventh year of the reign of Theodosius the Younger, Flavius was appointed Patriarch of Jerusalem, who held the see for thirty-eight years, and then died. In the fourteenth year of his prefecture was the third council against Nestorius; and also in the thirty-seventh year of his prefecture, the fourth council at Chalcedon against Dioscorus.
In the fourteenth year of Theodosius the Younger, Sisinius was appointed Patriarch of Constantinople, who held the see for three years, and then died: after him, Nestorius was patriarch at Constantinople, who, when he had held the see for four years and two months, was condemned by anathema and deposed from his office. For Nestorius asserted that Mary the Virgin was not truly Theotokos; that there were two sons, one of whom was God, and He begotten of the Father, and the other a man, who was born of Mary: and that this man who called himself Christ was united to the Son by love, and was called God and Son of God, not in reality, but by concession, and by the communion of names, and for the sake of honor, just as one of the prophets is. When this opinion of Nestorius came to Cyril, Patriarch of Alexandria, he, disapproving it, wrote letters to him in which he chided his action as shameful, and refuted his opinion, and exposed for him the perversity of his view, asking him to return to the truth. And when many letters had passed between them, and Nestorius did not return from his opinion, Cyril, Patriarch of Alexandria, wrote to John, Patriarch of Antioch, asking him also to urge Nestorius by letters sent to him to change his opinion of filth and absurdity, and to return to the truth. B John, Patriarch of Antioch, then wrote to Nestorius that, unless he returned to the truth, they would come together, and would themselves denounce him. There also passed between them not a few letters; but Nestorius did not withdraw in any way from his opinion, but remained in his error and in the perversity of his opinion. John, therefore, the Patriarch of Antioch, made it known to Cyril, the Patriarch of Alexandria, by written letters, that Nestorius remained in the perversity of his opinion. Therefore Cyril wrote to Celestine, the Patriarch of Rome, and to Juvenal [Bu-Flavius], Patriarch of Jerusalem, and also to John, Patriarch of Antioch, asking that they might convene in the city of Ephesus to investigate the opinion of Nestorius, if C perhaps he might wish to return; if not, that they, separating themselves from him, might curse him and remove him from his office. There gathered, therefore, in the city of Ephesus, two hundred bishops. The presidents of the council were Cyril, Patriarch of Alexandria, Celestine, the Patriarch of Rome, and Juvenal, the Patriarch of Jerusalem. John promised them that he would be present, but since he was delaying and did not arrive, Cyril, the Patriarch of Alexandria, not waiting for him any longer, having called together the bishops who were present, sent to Nestorius, who was then in Ephesus, that he should present himself. Nestorius, however, refusing to approach, although he [Cyril] had sent to him three times, and yet he did not come, they reconsidered his opinion, and judging him worthy of condemnation, they anathematized him and removed him from office, and decreed D that the Virgin Mary is the Mother of God, and that Christ is true God and man, consisting of two natures, but is one in person, which is distinct from love. For Nestorius asserted that the unity was a consensus of two persons; whereas the true unity is such that it is one person [consisting] of two natures. When, however, they had already condemned Nestorius, John, the Patriarch of Antioch, approached, who, having discovered that they had already condemned Nestorius before his arrival, moved with anger: He said, "You have committed an injury against Nestorius, and have unworthily condemned him with curses." And joining himself to Nestorius, having called together the bishops who were with him, he excommunicated Cyril, the Patriarch of Alexandria, and also Simon, the Bishop of Ephesus. When therefore the associates of Cyril saw the absurdity of those things which John had done, a discord having arisen between them, they departed from Ephesus. And the associates of Cyril and the Oriental parties became two segments, between which strife occurred. But King Theodosius did not cease until he reconciled peace between them. The Orientals therefore wrote a document in which they asserted that the holy Virgin Mary gave birth to God and our Lord Jesus Christ, who is of the same nature as His Father, and the same [is] according to humanity of the same nature as men; they also confessed two natures, and one hypostasis, and one person, and they denounced an anathema against Nestorius. And this document, by...
A sending it to Cyril, the Patriarch of Alexandria, they sent Paul, Metropolitan of Emesa. When Cyril had received and read it, agreeing with them on the matters contained therein, he returned this response to them: "I embrace the same faith which you have described in your booklet; and in this way, there was concord between Cyril and the Orientals." But those who say that Cyril, when he received the booklet of the Orientals, rejected it and did not speak of two natures and one hypostasis, are in error regarding this. For all the books of Cyril explicitly assert this. Furthermore, Cyril sent a copy of the booklet of the Orientals to Hilary, bishop of the city of Corinth, and to Acacius, bishop of Melitene, and to many other bishops, B making them certain that the Orientals had returned to the true faith, and did not give assent to Nestorius, but rather embraced the opinion of the second council of those one hundred and fifty bishops who, assembling at Constantinople, anathematized Macedonius. Now, from the second council, which we have mentioned, to this third council of the two hundred bishops who were gathered in the city of Ephesus and who anathematized Nestorius, there are fifty-one years, and this was in the twenty-first year of the reign of Theodosius the Younger, Emperor of the Romans.
But Nestorius, when he had been expelled, heading toward Egypt, stayed for seven years in that part of it which is called Said, in a place named Ekhmim, then he died, and was buried C in the village called Saklan, in which a great heat occurs, and especially in the valley in which he himself had been buried, so that no one could walk or pass through it in the summer time. And thus the opinion of Nestorius was obliterated until, a long space of time after him, Barsauma, Metropolitan of Nisibis, revived it in the time of Justin, Emperor of the Romans, and of Kobad, son of Phiruz, King of the Persians, and established it in the East, and especially among the inhabitants of Persia; whence it is that there are many Nestorians in the East, namely in Iraq, Al-Musal, around the Euphrates, and in Mesopotamia, who are called Nestorians, the title being derived from the name of Nestorius. After Nestorius, Maximus was appointed Patriarch of Constantinople, D who sat for three years, and then died; and while he was not yet buried, Proclus was made patriarch there, who prayed over Maximus and buried him; and when he had sat for thirteen years after him, he died.
Said, son of the patrician, the physician, says: "It seemed good to me in this place of my book to return a response to the Nestorians, and to demonstrate the falsity and absurdity of their opinion, since it is an error, and they themselves in this our time have departed from the ancient teachings of Nestorius, claiming that Nestorius asserted that Christ consists of two substances and two persons, perfect God in His person and substance, and perfect man in his person and substance, and that Mary gave birth to Christ from the side of humanity, not from the side of His divinity, A inasmuch as the Father, according to them, begat God, but not man; whereas Mary gave birth to man, but not to God."
It will be said to them, therefore: "If the matter stands as you say, Christ will be two Christs and two Sons. Therefore Christ will be true God and the Son true God, and Christ will be true man and the Son true man, since it must necessarily be said either that Mary gave birth to Christ, or did not give birth to Him. If she gave birth to Him, the birth will necessarily be either spiritual or physical; if physical, He will be other than Him whom the Father begat, whence it must necessarily follow that there are two Christs; but if B it were spiritual, Christ will be one Son and one Person, and one Christ." This is proved [by the example] of a bar of iron to which fire is united, inasmuch as it is one sword which both burns and cuts, and gives light and flashes; nor can it be conceded that the iron part is that which burns and gives light, since iron in which fire is not present does not burn; nor can the glowing part which cuts be the fire, since the nature of fire causes it to give light and burn. And by this [example] it is established and confirmed that we Melkites profess that Christ is one person, perfect God and perfect man, and it is confuted that, as the Nestorians assert, Christ is two persons. Furthermore, it can be said to them: "Tell us about the humanity to which the divinity is united, and which has been named Christ; did C He not cease to be Christ from the time He was in the womb of His mother Mary until she gave birth to Him, and suckled Him, and He grew up, and was crucified, and suffered? Or until He completed thirty years, was He one of the number of men, and then at length united to the humanity, and made the Messiah?" But if they say that He was not Christ while He was in the womb of His mother Mary, but that Mary gave birth to a man, and he was one of the men until he completed thirty years, and then the divinity was united with the humanity, and he was made Christ, they have certainly established their own opinion, but have cast a lie upon the Gospel, and not only upon Paul and all the books which the Church receives, and have departed from the Christian opinion. But if they say the divinity was united to the humanity D while He was still being carried in the womb, and that He [then] was Christ, and was carried in the womb; and was born and brought up until He was crucified and killed, then they confess that the Virgin Mary gave birth to God, to one Christ, and to one person.
"It will be said to them again: When was the Word united to man? Before the birth, or before He was conceived, or at the moment of birth? For if they say, before the birth: we will reply to them, 'Was it before the birth, and before conception? Or before the birth after He was conceived?' But if they say, then 'before the nativity and before conception,' they claim that He was united before He was man, and before He was formed, and before He was born; which, if it is so, the Nestorian opinion is convicted of absurdity."
rum, wherein the Eternal has been united to man in such a way that he possesses the latter only in part. For a man thus circumstanced was such when he was clad in human form; whence it is necessary for them to maintain that the divinity alone, together with the humanity, existed for nine months or thereabout from the beginning of the conception, remaining together with the same in the place where an infant is accustomed to be carried; then that they were born together; which contradicts that which they say, that Mary bore Christ according to his humanity, and not according to his divinity. If they should say that it was united to him after he had been conceived and clad in a perfect form, we would reply to them: Then God was carried in the womb before birth; and if it can be conceded that he was carried in the womb, it can also be conceded that he could be born. If they should say that the union took place at the time of birth, we say: Then Mary bore the Word together with man; yet the Word, both with us and with you, is God. Therefore Mary bore God. If they should say, "It is so," we reply: Since it can be conceded that he could be born, why should it not be conceded that he could be carried in the womb? But if they concede this, they have already renounced their own view; if they do not concede it, we say: What is the discrepancy between being carried in the womb and being born? If they say that God was not born, and that there was no union before the birth, nor during that state, but that it existed at the time of birth, we say that this destroys B what you assert, namely that Mary bore Christ. Since for you Christ is not man alone. Since, therefore, Christ is not man alone, and yet on your view Mary bore a naked man before the union, it follows that she bore that which was not Christ, but after it had existed, it became Christ through the union, and the union was after the birth, and consequently Christ came into existence after the birth. But if this seems absurd to you, and Mary bore Christ, then she did not bear man alone, and this necessarily implies that she bore God himself with man, and that there was indeed a union before the birth: and thus the absurdity of that which the Nestorians assert is made manifest, namely that Mary bore Christ according to his humanity, not according to his divinity; and the truth of that which the Melkites confess is manifest, namely that Mary bore God, the one Christ, and one person, and an eternal substance, and a substance produced anew.
It will also be said to them: If you assert that Christ is two substances, one eternal, the other produced anew, and then that Mary bore Christ, you already confess that Mary bore these two substances which are Christ; therefore Christ consists of two natures, and when she bore them, one of them is God; therefore she bore the eternal God. Furthermore, it cannot be conceded that she bore anyone except that which had been carried in the womb, hence it follows of necessity that she carried that God in her womb. And thus is demonstrated also the absurdity of the view of the Nestorians who assert that Mary neither carried in her womb, nor bore, God, and the truth is confirmed of that which the Melkites profess, namely that C Mary bore God, and one Christ, and one son, and one person. Says Said the son of Patricius, a student of medicine: The leaders of error, namely Nestorius, Eutyches, Dioscorus, Severus, and Jacob Baradaeus, together with their followers and other heterodox persons, who desired to build up their own imaginings, which are alien to the fear of God, and declined from the way of God according to the depravity of their own view, daring against God, whose evil intentions and corrupt thoughts plunged them into a sea of errors, they (I say) all stubbornly retained those errors into which they had involved themselves, because they were ignorant of the union of the divinity of our Lord Christ with his humanity, while each one of them fell into one of the various modes of mixture and adhered to it. But it seemed good to me to show the [various] modes of mixture, and to explain them, so that you may perceive the absurdity of those who speak them. But with God is power. By the great providence of God, his perfect justice, and exceeding mercy, he himself sent his creating Word, by whom he created all things and gave them existence, which is out of uncreated substance, but begotten of the Father before all ages, when God was never without the Word and Spirit, nor was the Word ever separated from him, nor existing from his Spirit, or from his substance; and the Word of God came down creating with his own permanent, perpetual, and durable subsistence, which never was not, nor ceases to be, and was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, a holy girl, D chosen, of blessed stock, of the progeny of Abraham; of the seed of Israel, of the tribe of Judah, of the family of David, whom the Lord chose out of all the women of the world, and purified her with the Holy Spirit, with his substantial Spirit, [I say], so that he might render her fit into whom the substantial Word of God would descend, and thus the creating Word was veiled in the created man, whom he created for himself by the will of God the Father, and by the counsel of the Holy Spirit, a new creature without male seed, so that neither sin might fall into the same, nor might he have custom or intercourse with man, nor might the most holy virginity of the girl be violated, a perfect man with his body and animal soul, and the intellectual and rational spirit, which is the image of God in man, and his likeness. When he himself was most fit among the creatures of God in whom God might dwell, and descend, and take to himself as a veil, for the purity in which he surpasses all other creatures whatsoever there are. For know that a thing of pure nature is not seen, except in that which is of a coarser nature; nor can that which is most pure of all be seen, except with that which is coarser than itself [conjoined] in that which is apparent of matter, of a coarser nature. We find, however, that the intellectual and rational spirit of man is purer than that which is most pure in other creatures, and therefore out of all the creatures of God it was most fit to be a veil for God, and therefore it was made a veil for him; and its own
A union, or translation, or alteration, or change, of one of two substances into its own nature. The divine nature is not changed, so as [to cease to be] divine, creative, nor is human nature any longer created: and this is of such a kind that it does not appear absurd to one who understands. Now alteration and change necessarily require mixture, when there shall be two natures and substances, dense, like water and wine, honey and vinegar, gold and silver, brass and lead, or the like; which are all material and dense. But every material [thing] which is mixed with another material [thing], necessarily entails a change so that the one becomes other than those two substances were previously. B Nor does wine remain wine, nor water water, after they are mixed, [33-35] nor gold gold, nor silver silver, nor brass brass, nor lead lead, after the mixture is made, but both are altered and become a different substance, which is strictly neither of them; nor is either of them immune from corruption and alteration from the state in which it was. But if the mixture and nature were subtle, and the nature dense, this mixture does not entail such alteration or conversion, for example: In the mixture of soul and body, [of which] man consists as one, the one is united to the other, yet the soul is not changed or altered in its substance, nor is the soul known by its own actions, nor is the body changed or altered from its state and actions by them; or just as when fire is united C to iron and permeates it with its subtlety, at the same time they become one glowing mass, so that the fire is not altered or its substance changed so that it is not fire, glowing, burning; nor is the iron altered so that it is not iron, a material thing that wounds and cuts: in the same way, in every mixture which is composed of two different things, of which one is spiritual and subtle, the other material and dense; as are soul and body; fire and iron; or as when [oil] is mixed with water, mud, and every moist and putrid material, it is not changed or altered in the light of its cleanliness and purity, though it is mixed with all things black, and soiled [36] and foul; because there is never a mixture except in three modes, of which one is when two material natures are mixed D and corrupted; as in the mixture of water and wine, vinegar and honey; gold and silver; brass and lead; for all these, when this mixture of wine and water is made, neither is it wine nor is it water, because each of their natures is changed, and their mixture is made with their corruption and change from their state: and thus what is mixed from vinegar and honey, remains neither vinegar nor [honey], because each of them is changed from its state: so it is in the mixture of gold and silver, of lead and brass, [and] pure gold remains either one of them. And that which is one of the three modes of mixture is the second, which is separately
A Christ, two Christs, [of whom] one would be divine by nature and by his subsistence, like a golden thread in a woven necklace, or the outer part of silk in a double garment; the other human, like a brass thread in a necklace, or the inner part of cotton in a garment. B But it is greatly to be wondered at how those who disagree and differ with each other of both types do not perceive, nor understand, that these two [kinds] of mixture are mixtures of corporeal, gross matter; in which there is nothing spiritual, subtle, or thin; and so they cannot avoid these two modes of mixture for gross matter: for if it has been mixed by a mixture that [brings about] a coalition and composition, it tends toward change and corruption; if it remains in the same state in which it had been, it neither coalesces nor are the parts of it blended; and so they are mixed in no other way than that by which they are easily separated and pulled apart, even if one statue, one garment, or one vessel has joined them. Nor is there found ever in any material corporeal thing any other mode of mixture besides these two, either that which [brings] corruption or separation, unless the mixture is of two things of which one is material and corporeal, and the other is thin and spiritual. C But here is the third mode of mixture, which is also truly a mixture [in another copy it is, a mixture of nature] without confusion, conversion, corruption, or separation of partition; it is truly a mixture by which a spiritual, subtle nature penetrates a material, corporeal nature, D until it is diffused through all of it, and the whole is mixed, nor does any place of the material nature remain empty of the spiritual nature, without a change by which either the spiritual is changed from its subtle spiritual nature, or the corporeal material is changed from its gross, material nature, and without alteration or corruption of either, like the mixture of soul and body or of fire and iron in the same red-hot coal, which is one subsistence, and the nature of fire is joined and mixed with the nature of iron without separation or division, and without confusion, conversion, or corruption, [for] the fire has been diffused meanwhile through the whole iron, and has clothed the whole; it has also communicated to the iron its own power and its own light, and the force of burning, so that the iron both shines and burns; yet it has assumed nothing at all of the impotence of the iron, neither its blackness nor its coldness. And according to this mode of mixture the creating Word of God arranged his own mixture with human nature, and thus Christ is one, the only Son of God, begotten of the Father before all ages, light from light, true God from true God, begotten not created, of the substance and nature of his Father, and he himself is the same born from the Virgin Mary at the end of time, in one subsistence, [namely] the subsistence of the only Son of God, which comprehends two natures at once; the divine, which never was not, in the beginning, and before every beginning; and the human, which was made at the end of time, made to subsist through an eternal subsistence, and this is Christ, one, a single eternal subsistence, having two natures, the divine, which never was not
or human, which He created for Himself, that He might be united to it, from the Virgin Mary. That A subsistence is the very subsistence of the divine nature and of the human nature, comprehending both without mixture, and not subject to alteration, or corruption, or separation, and division.
The subsistence of the divine nature did not cease to be the subsistence of the human nature when He created it, and made it through His own subsistence, without which it does not subsist, and besides which it is not known to any. And Christ Himself is one before the incarnation, and after the incarnation, the same is begotten of the Father in the unity of the person of filiation, having a divine, simple substance, before all ages, without a mother; and the same is born of Mary in the last times without a father, in the unity of that same person, consisting of two substances at once, divine and human, joined in that B person; one Christ, and one Son, whom the Father addressed from the heavens in two places, namely, at the river Jordan on the day of baptism, and on Mount Tabor on the day of the transfiguration, saying: *This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased*, and Mary addressed Him, saying: My Son, there is not another son of the Father, and another son of Mary; far be it that this should be said! For natures are not born; for if a woman brought forth a nature, it would be necessary that all women should bear it, since one nature comprehends all men; but persons are born; nor does a woman bring forth two persons in one birth, unless the birth be separate for each person, as in twins. Nor is it fitting that there should ever be two mixed subsistences of one thing; C for nature comprehends subsistences. How then does it happen that the subsistences of diverse natures are joined together in one Christ with the difference of the subsistences? But subsistence is an act of superiority. If therefore Christ has two diverse natures, as is true, and at the same time had two diverse subsistences; then that which would join them [whereby He might be one] would be something other than the two natures and the two subsistences; such as nothing at all is found to be. But we know that there is no nature without a person; nor, however, is nature in one [only] person. For one nature comprehends many persons, but one person does not comprehend nature. But the divine eternal nature of Christ never lacked its own subsistence; now that subsistence D is that which joined to itself the nature of humanity assumed by it, and it was to it a subsistence from the time that it was not, before the habitation of that divine person in Mary, in whom, when He dwelt, He made from her an essence, namely the human nature, which He caused to subsist by His own subsistence, and deified while He attributed essence to it, 49-51 and this, namely that He assumed it, and caused it to be, and deified it, all were at once, while the humanity of Christ having a subsistence, which it is known is the subsistence of the Son of God, was assumed.
And adding, he says: *And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us* A, thus confirming his statement: that the subsistence of the Word is one, which never was not with the Father, and that the same [Word], by assuming human nature, became flesh to dwell among men, which [flesh] he created for himself by a new creation from the Virgin Mary without human seed. And it was the Word that formed this flesh in Mary, like a seed which is the cause of the formation of a man. And he is that very Person who is counted in the holy Trinity with the Father and the Holy Spirit. And the same [Person] is that which is counted as one with men; he is Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, that only-begotten Son; perfect God with the Father and the Holy Spirit, with no difference between them regarding the essence of divinity and his own subsistence; and [he is] perfect man with his Mother and other men, with no difference between them by reason of the essence of humanity and his own subsistence, without conversion or modification B of either of his natures from its own substance; whether [by the conversion of] divinity from its subtle and simple substance to the coarse [nature] and composition of humanity; or [by the conversion of] humanity from its coarseness and composition to the subtlety and simplicity of divinity; without, I say, any mixture that corrupts or changes either of them in any respect regarding their substance, whether small or great, whereby one mixed nature would be made from two natures. For this is infidelity and blasphemy against God: to attribute to him any change by which he would be converted from his creating substance into a created substance; or to say that the flesh which he created for himself as a dwelling-place is converted from its created substance and becomes creating. But if the two natures were mixed by some mixture such that they became one nature, Christ would not be, after his incarnation, of the substance of the Father and the Holy Spirit, since the substance of the Father and the Holy Spirit is a simple, subtle, creating light, which composition does not enter. And how would it be proper that the incarnate Son be enumerated with the Father and the Holy Spirit, after he had departed from their substance by the mixture and composition to which he would have been made liable? Or how would it be granted that he is one God with the Father and the Holy Spirit with that mixture which had happened to his nature? Furthermore, by this account, the humanity of Christ would be humanity with that change which it had undergone C in respect of its substance, from the nature of humanity to mixing with the substance of divinity, and [with] the alteration which would bring about the change of each nature from its former state. But we believe in one Christ, one D known by the unity of the Person in whom divinity and the substance of humanity are coupled, which joins them together without mixture, conversion, modification, or separation by which they might be divided. Nor is he in either of the natures without the other: just as we know God in the beginning created simple light in a state which remained in its simple [being] for three days, of which the first was the first day on which it was created: then, on the fourth day, he created the material body, and in it he placed it, and made it dwell [within], by necessary mixture and firm conjunction, and called all this by one name, which embraces both the nature of the light of the sun, and the nature of the body, in the unity of the one subsistence which it embraces; whose light is not called [light] before its body, nor [is] the body [called body] without the light, but the one is with the light and its body equally. In the same way, the light of Christ is known. Nor is he called Christ after his incarnation solely from the Virgin Mary; nor is his humanity said to be without the divinity of Christ, but the divinity and humanity of Christ are together, who is from the substance of the Father and Holy Spirit according to his divinity, and from the substance of his Mother and other men regarding his humanity; who wills by the volition of his humanity all his actions, except sin. For sin is not of the substance of nature, but an accident which, through rebellion, entered into nature. The substance of his humanity did not cease from the time he put on flesh, nor did the affect of his humanity cease to obey the divinity of Christ; nor did his humanity desire for itself, because the nature of humanity is concerned with food, drink, sleep, and other things which pertain to the substance of humanity, except sin, until his divinity makes his humanity desire that which he himself wills, as is proper for him, whatever he might take on account of necessity and compulsion, of those things which flesh necessarily requires, nor does he resort to them, but by the power of the substance of his divinity which is joined to his humanity in the unity of subsistence, for the removal of every compulsion and necessity from the substance of his humanity. But he himself created the substance of his humanity, and willed what the humanity willed for itself; so as to affirm the truth of the nature of humanity, [and] to retain it firmly in its own state, and not to be converted into something else from its own substance. Christ made all the actions of his humanity, except sin, when he incited his divinity itself to the doing of human actions, so that he might neither do that against his will, nor by necessity whatever of those things he was compelled [to do]; but when his divinity willed that he should will his own will, he performed them, namely [partly] by the divinity of the whole will of the divinity; nor did he do it as if from another or by prayer with supplication and request, but by essential divine volition. For the will is generic, not individual; therefore whatever the Father wills, the same the Son wills, and the Holy Spirit; and whatever the Son wills, the same the Father and the Holy Spirit
there is no contradiction or difference between them. And so also the will of the humanity is of the genus, not of the individual: therefore it is implanted in all men commonly to desire the good, nor is there any one, faithful or infidel, good or bad, who does not desire the good, and desire to receive it, both in this world and in the future; nor is there any one who rejects the good, or in whom there is not the appetite for food, drink, clothing, sleep, rest, tranquility, prosperity, health, and life; and the hatred of those things which 64 are contrary to these, namely, hunger, thirst, nakedness, insomnia, labor, annoyance, adversity, sickness, death.
But as for the fact that men differ beyond the universal appetite regarding things which some desire against others, this is not from the natural will which belongs to the genus, but is a singular desire that happens to only some men, and is contrary to the natural appetite; inasmuch as it desires something other than the good, and therefore they differ in these accidental desires which arise from the passions, with each one willing that which he desires because of the pleasure which hence accrues to him. Nor yet does anyone meanwhile divest himself of the common appetite by which men are incited B to will the good and to embrace it, both in this life and in the future.
And therefore to Christ belong two natural wills, entire, divine and human, and two entire genera, that which creates and that which is created, joined without mixture in one person who comprehends two natures, in a union proper to himself, inseparably, [so that] he speaks by the property of his own person alone, in the speech of two natures, divine and human, and he who speaks in human speech is not one, and he who speaks in divine speech another, but Christ is one, who speaks by both speeches at once, and performs both kinds of actions with two wills and with two [65–67] natures; since, when he wills with his divine will, he performs the operations of the Godhead, which he does whenever he wills, and as he wills, without his actions being preceded by a will, since it is in his power to do whatever he wills, whenever he wills, with no petition, prayer, or request intervening, according to that which the leper said to him: "Lord, if you will, you can make me clean"; and he himself answered, "I will, be clean," and by his own will he was cleansed of his leprosy: according also to his command to the demons, that they should go out from the demoniacs, when the demons asked him to order them to enter the swine (for they could not do that without his permission) C and he permitted them. Afterward, he also ordered the wind and the sea to be still, and this without prayer or petition.
And many such things are recorded in the Gospel which were done, by which he confirmed his divinity, and therefore the faithful believe him to be God perfect, while he performed the works of the divinity which no creature has ever performed, nor can ever perform, since they are the works of God alone D and belonging to God, which no one else has the power to perform, nor has it ever been granted to any of his creatures. And likewise he himself creates whatever he wills and knows hidden things, perceiving what is in the breasts, and forgives sins, which no one but himself can forgive. And he is in every place equally present and not limited, and in the sepulchers 68 he is buried, to be resurrected by his own power, as he is Lord of the day of judgment, occupying the throne and the kingdom and the stern judgment, rendering to each according to those things which he has done; and he is the same [who], descending from heaven, was incarnate, and took his body into heaven.
When, however, he performed the works of humanity, those [69–71] works which are generic and natural (such as eating, drinking, being clothed, sleep, sweat, sadness, passions, death), by these he laid claim to humanity, and [showed] himself to be man perfect by nature. He is therefore Christ the Son of God by essence and divine quality; the same is the Son of man by genus and human essence, Christ himself one by a peculiar unity, by the person of his own single self; by the person, namely, of eternal filiation, which is begotten of the Father without a mother, before the ages; and the same person of human filiation, which was born in the last times of the Virgin Mary, without a father; and he is himself one person, eternal as regards his divinity; temporal as regards his humanity: he speaks by both natures at once, and performs the actions of both genera. Where he said, "I am the Son of God," he speaks of his divinity; but where he said, "I am the Son of man," he acts out the afflictions of his humanity: he was crucified and died by reason of his humanity, nor was he crucified or did he die by reason of his 72 divinity. For mutation and passibility are proper to humanity, not to the divinity, which is immune from all these. Nor does he suffer anything by those accidents which are not appropriate to his nature: for example, the sun is not cut when the earth is cut, because cutting does not pertain to the sun. Therefore the tree is cut whose branches are lopped, but not the sun; for the cutting falls upon the wood, and not upon the sun. And just as when iron made hot is immersed in water, it occupies the cold of the water and extinguishes the heat of the fire, yet in such a way that the fire does not perish as it belongs to the iron, because the passion from the water [brought upon it] does not pertain to the iron so as to extinguish the fire itself, but the iron is made wet by it. In the same way, passions fall upon the human soul and upon the same body, because they have a place in that passion, but they do not fall in any way upon the divinity. Furthermore, we believe Christ to be the only Son of God after the incarnation, and also the Son of man, he himself and no other, Christ one, Lord one, having two generations, begotten of the Father before the ages, above all cause,
and time, and also born of a Mother in time, for our salvation, in the same way that we were born, and above our birth, namely in the way that we were born, 72 in that he was a man and from a woman; and in that he was at the time of birth, after nine months: but above our birth, in that he was not from seed; but from the Holy Spirit, and from the immaculate Virgin Mary, above the law of human birth, in that the virginity of his Mother remained untouched after he was born of her. And the same is perfect God and perfect man; he himself is entirely perfect God, with his humanity, and entirely perfect man with his divinity. For the Word was incarnate without change, diminution, or deficiency; and the humanity was deified, yet in such a way that it did not exceed its own limits, B with both natures remaining in their own state in one Christ, and acknowledged by their own wills and their own actions in the unity of the person of the Word of God, which comprehends both in its own property, whereby one Christ subsists, in whom are two natures, namely creating, which remains creating; and created, which remains created; and what was mortal, mortal: what is immortal, immortal; and what is limited, circumscribed by limits; and what is not capable of limits, unlimited; and what can be seen, visible; what cannot be seen, invisible, of which one shines with miracles, the other suffers afflictions. Thus the Word of God accepted passions, since they were the passions of his own holy flesh, and the flesh administered miracles C to confirm the union in [73-75] one person, and that Christ himself is one, who issues the miracles of his divinity together with his humanity; and performs the passions of humanity, together with his divinity.
But if someone should say: How (is it that) Christ did not say in the Gospel that he was God, by which all doubt concerning him would be removed? I answer that Christ, had he said he was God, would have led those who believe in him into great error. For whoever says he is God, names the whole divine substance, and one nature, and by this statement of his comprehends three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, one God. If therefore Christ had said that he was God, he would have attributed to himself, that he himself was the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and that they were three persons, and that he himself and the Father were one, and begotten of the Father before the ages, and also proceeding: but this is dangerous, and what cannot happen, namely that in God (whose name be glorified) there should occur a change, and he who begat becomes begotten; and he who is begotten, begetting; and he who proceeds, Father and Son. For if we were to say that the substance had been entirely in the body, [it would follow that] the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were incarnate together, and that the Father was born in the body from Mary, and also he who proceeds, and thus the Father would have been transferred from paternity to filiation, which is conversion and change, but he blasphemes D whoever attributes change to God. 76 But he [himself] spoke the truth by which men might understand, that he himself is also the Son of God, and begotten of the Father before all ages, by the property of filiation and the substance of divinity without flesh and without a mother, and also born even in the last times from the Virgin Mary in this peculiar respect, namely of filiation and of two substances joined together, the substance of divinity eternal, and the substance of humanity joined to it by a union which comprehends both substances, by the unity of the property of filiation, which has a double nativity, one from the Father, eternal, without flesh, and the other from the mother, in time, with flesh. And the same is one Son, the Son of God, and the Son of Mary, and therefore he did not cease to say and make known that he himself is the Son of God, which he also inculcated to the apostles and other men, not in one place, saying: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son for them, that whoever believes in him might not perish, but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that he might save the world. Whoever therefore believes in the Son is not condemned. But whoever has not believed in the Son is subject to judgment, because he does not believe in the name of the one God.
It is enough, however, what we have said and what we have explained concerning the union of the divinity of our Lord Christ [77-79] with his humanity, and concerning the unity of his filiation and that in which he is Lord, and it has been shown to whoever is gifted with intellect and judgment that Christ is one by the unity of a single subsistence, namely the subsistence of the eternal Word, endowed with two natures, the divine, which is eternal, and the human, which he created for himself, and the absurdity of those who profess this, both Nestorians and Jacobites, has been made manifest. And if we were not carefully avoiding [saying more] lest our book be too long, and lest we depart from the institution proposed to us, we would add more to explain and elucidate this opinion. But he who desires to know it clearly explained, let him consult my book which is titled *The Book of Disputation between the Heterodox and the Christian*. For in that book I confirmed the Christian opinion, that is, that of the Melchites, and responded to the heterodox.
D But now, that we may return to our project, and the history we were pursuing: Yazdejerd, the son of Bahram, nicknamed Al Athim [the wicked], king of the Persians, was rigid and austere, and of evil conversation, such that they resented that they had set him over themselves, yet they feared to kill him, not wishing that such a thing should become a custom concerning their Kings. They claim, moreover, that there appeared a horse which, while it would stand at the gate of the king, would depart, which men surrounded admiring 80 its beauty and the perfection of its structure: and when it was announced to the king that it had arrived, he went out to see it, and great joy on account of it...
affected him, and he ordered a chair to be placed so that he might ascend it; and as he approached it, he stroked its face and felt its mane and neck, and then wished to wipe its tail; but while he was standing directly behind it, it struck him with its hooves, by which his liver was injured so that he died. Then he fled with such speed that no one could follow him. People therefore said that this was by the kindness and mercy of God toward us. Yazdegerd Al-Athim reigned twenty-one years, five months, and eighteen days.
Upon the death of Yazdegerd, the Persian nobles assembled and said: "Let us not appoint anyone from his lineage over us, lest the same path befall us again." Yazdegerd had a son named Bahram, whom he had admitted to no business with him; he therefore said to certain of them, "It is not fitting," he said, "for you to appoint anyone as king over you, unless there be in him these seven qualities, namely: that he excel others in the excellence of his governance, in counsel, in truthfulness of speech, in courage, in eloquence, in gentleness in ruling, and in skill in discerning the ambushes of enemies." They therefore said, "But where shall we find such a man?" He said, "Give me your pledge that if I show you such a one, you will appoint him king." This they then agreed upon with him, and he, when he trusted them, said, "I myself am he." They therefore appointed him king. Bahram, son of Yazdegerd (who was also surnamed Bahram Jaur), reigned over the Persians eighteen years and eleven months, and this happened in the twelfth year of the reign of Theodosius the Younger, king of the Romans. B He ruled the Persians and comported himself so well among them that they loved him; then he did not cease to indulge in youthful affairs and games, to such a degree that men censured him, and neighboring kings entertained the hope of easily plundering his kingdom.
Therefore, Chakan the Great, king of the Turks, attacked him with twenty-five myriads of armed men (every Turkish king is styled Chakan), and advanced until he pitched his camp in Alsaid. They said therefore to Bahram: "O King, a matter has befallen us which distracts us and you from our sport; provide therefore for yourself and this nation, and by caring for its affairs and fighting for it, keep it secure from fear." He, not at all delaying their words, set out towards the regions of Aderbijan and Armenia to offer worship in the temple dedicated there to fire. When men did not doubt that he had done this to effect his escape, they, having gathered to hold counsel, said, "We have not the strength against Chakan; let us therefore offer him tribute by which we may redeem our homeland," with the exception only of Morsa, brother of Bahram, and Azdnar the Judge, who said, "We will not give our assent to you in this." C When it was announced to Chakan that the Persians were submitting, he became secure and laid down his arms. A certain man, therefore, approaching Bahram, informed him of his [Chakan's] security and negligence; he, therefore, setting out by night and falling upon them, slew Chakan with his own hand and dealt a slaughter upon his army, who then turned their backs.
Then Bahram, returning unharmed, distributed freely to the men the captives found in his power from the subjects and soldiers of Chakan, along with their wives; and when news of the things that had befallen Chakan was brought into the region of the Turks, they fled to the furthest limits of their land. Bahram, however, appointing his brother Morsa over Chorasan, returned himself to Aderbijan, leaving no place at all in which he did not perform some work of devotion, sacrificing there to return thanks to God, until he arrived at the temple of fire that was in Aderbijan; he dismounted from his horse and proceeded on foot until he had entered it, as a sign of the honor to be shown to it and to testify his thanks to God. Then he ordered the pearls, hyacinths, and precious gems which had been carried on Chakan’s diadem [85–87] to be hung up in the same temple. And to that same fire he donated Chakan’s sword, ornamented with pearls. Then, having set out for Erak, he stayed there for some days. From there he proceeded against the Greeks to attack them.
When Theodosius, emperor of the Greeks, heard this, he sent a certain man named Estratius to inspect the kingdom of Bahram, who, returning, announced to him that it was poorly fortified. Upon hearing this, he sought to engage Bahram. Therefore, having prepared his forces, when he advanced against him with his army, a vehement conflict occurred between them; so great was it that many from both armies were killed, and both sides took to flight, with King Theodosius returning to Constantinople. Bahram, however, set out and sought India, with his appearance disguised, and there remained for a time unknown to them. They observed, moreover, the strength and remarkable courage of the man, because of the wild beasts killed by him, which he attacked with wonderful audacity; so much so that when fame reached him of an elephant in their region that infested the roads and had killed many men, they asked him to judge where it might be; they said to him, "Since you are a stranger, we do not wish to expose you to danger." But when they reported this to the king, he sent with him a certain man who might show him the place where that elephant was; when Bahram saw it, he sought it with an arrow that remained fixed between its D eyes, then killed it, having pierced it one after another, and brought its severed head to the king; who, admiring him, asked who he might be. He said, "I am one of the nobles of the Persians, who, because our king was angry with me, fled to you, trusting in your power and clemency." Furthermore, there was an enemy of the king who, approaching nearer, sent men to demand tribute from him; when the king feared him, Bahram encouraged him, saying, "Let not what you hear about him terrify you—for I, indeed, will keep you safe from the evil you might fear from him." The king, therefore, and his army set out to attack that enemy, with Bahram following on horseback. Who, having India...
addressed his knights, "Guard my back," he said, "and observe what I am about to do." Charging into them, therefore, and having scattered their ranks, he struck a man on the shoulder, and the blow, reaching down to his back, cut him in half. He struck down another, cutting through both his lips with his sword. Then, throwing another rider from his horse to the ground, he killed him. He even seized the heads of two men, one in his right hand and one in his left, and struck them against each other so that the brain matter of both flowed out. The companions of Bahram, also rushing in, made a great slaughter of them and plundered their spoils. B The king therefore having returned, and with Bahram, the king gave him his daughter in marriage, and also bestowed upon him Daibal and Moeran and the lands lying around in the region of Sind. Bahram himself requested that he make this valid for him by a written contract and with witnesses to the deed. When the king had done this, Bahram returned to his own kingdom and ordered that tribute from those regions, which the king had gifted to him, be paid to him. And their wealth did not cease being carried off into Persia. Certain Persians report that Bahram Juur was under the protection of Noman Ebnil Mandari, king of the Arabs, in the desert; and that, when the news of the death of his father, Yazdejerd, reached Bahram, he set out with the Arabs who followed him until he pitched camp in Alsawa, where he contended for the kingdom with the Persian nobles until, having acknowledged his right, they placed him in charge of the kingdom. C Bahram Juur, therefore, reigned after his father Yazdejerd, son of Bahram, over the Persians for eighteen years, the thirtieth year of Theodosius the Younger, emperor of the Greeks. In the twenty-seventh year of the reign of Theodosius, emperor of the Romans, the sixth patriarch of Rome was established; he sat for eight years, then died. In the thirty-fifth year of the same reign, Leo was made patriarch of Rome, who sat for twenty-one years, then died. In the ninth year of his prefecture was the fourth council in the city 84 of Chalcedon. In the twenty-eighth year of the reign of Theodosius, Domnius was established as patriarch of Antioch, who sat for twenty-one years, then died. D In the thirty-ninth year of the same reign, Flavianus was established as patriarch of Constantinople, who, when he had sat for two years, died. In this same year also, Dioscorus the Jacobite was made patriarch of Alexandria, who, when he had sat for six years, was struck with anathema and driven into exile. There was truly at Constantinople a certain monk of the middle rank named Eutyches, who asserted that Christ did not have a body of the same nature as our bodies, and that Christ consisted of two natures before the incarnation, but after the incarnation had one nature. (And this is the opinion of the Jacobites, whose author was this monk Eutyches.)
A Juvenalius of Jerusalem, Mordastus of Ancyra, and Asa of Rho, along with many other bishops, as well as the deputies of Leo, the Roman patriarch, condemned Dioscorus, patriarch of Alexandria, for what he had done, and condemned his opinion as absurd. Dioscorus, therefore, excommunicated them and wrote to Leo the Roman patriarch and to many priests, in order that he might excommunicate them and interdict them from the sacrament unless they embraced the opinion of Eutyches; and in this state of mind he returned from the city of Ephesus, in the fortieth year of the reign of Theodosius the Younger 89–91, whence the faith was corrupted; and the faith and the sentence [which prevailed] was the sentence of Eutyches, especially in Egypt and Alexandria; and the Emperor Theodosius embraced this same sentence of Eutyches. In the fortieth year of his reign, Flavian, the Constantinopolitan patriarch whom Dioscorus had excommunicated, died; in the Constantinopolitan patriarchate, Athanasius succeeded him, who having sat for nine years, died. In the fourth year of his prefecture, the fourth council was held in the city of Chalcedon. Furthermore, in the forty-first year of Theodosius’s reign, Domnius, the Antiochene patriarch whom Dioscorus had excommunicated, died, and after him Maximus was established as patriarch there, who sat for four years, then died. In the third year of his prefecture, the B fourth council was held at Chalcedon. Now, Emperor Theodosius had a wife named Eudocia; and when a fruit was given to the emperor at a time when fruits were not to be found, he himself gave it to his wife Eudocia; but when afterwards he entered the house of a certain patrician one day, and found that fruit there, he took it very ill, and was affected with sadness, suspecting that his wife Eudocia was on more friendly terms with that patrician. Therefore, he sent her away to Jerusalem.
After the death of Theodosius the Younger, emperor of the Greeks, 92 Marcian reigned over them for six years, and this in the fourteenth year of the reign of Yazdegerd, son of Bahram, king of the Persians. When, however, Marcian had obtained the kingdom, the bishops from all regions assembled, and wishing him a prosperous reign, they made known to him how unjustly the second Ephesian council had acted, and what Dioscorus, C the Alexandrian patriarch, had done, having unjustly excommunicated the patriarchs who had since died, and having embraced the sentence of the infidel Eutyches and confirmed it as true, and how he had corrupted the faith and traditions, to such an extent that the sentence of Eutyches was gaining ground among men. Therefore, King Marcian ordered letters to be written to Leo the Roman patriarch, Maximus the Antiochene patriarch, and Juvenalius of Jerusalem, that they should come together with their metropolitans and bishops; he also gave letters to the bishops who were in the territory of the Greeks, that all should assemble at Chalcedon, in order that they might examine and inquire into the sentence of Eutyches and D the fact that he had embraced his doctrine, and had excommunicated the deceased patriarchs, and so that they might confirm the faith which the three holy councils had set forth. The bishops, six hundred and thirty in number, therefore assembled at Chalcedon. The first in the council were Anatolius, patriarch of 93–95 Constantinople, Maximus of Antioch, and Juvenalius of Jerusalem. Leo, however, the Roman patriarch, writing to the Emperor Marcian concerning the orthodox faith, the faith of the Melkites, sent a letter by a priest from among his disciples named Boniface, which later the Emperor Marcian sent by the priest Boniface to the bishops assembled there at Chalcedon, whom they reckoned among the six hundred and thirty. There were in the council disciples of the holy Euthymius: Stephen, bishop of Barabia, and John, bishop of the Barbarians. When, therefore, they had assembled, they inquired into the falsity of the opinion of Dioscorus, the Alexandrian patriarch, and what he had done in embracing the opinion of Eutyches, and they pronounced anathema upon him and also upon Eutyches, decreeing that our Lord Jesus Christ is God and man, and that he is of the same essence as the Father with respect to his divinity, and of the same essence as us with respect to his humanity, recognized in both natures, perfect in his divinity, and perfect in his humanity, one Christ. And they confirmed the doctrine of the three hundred and eighteen bishops who assembled at Nicaea, embracing their statement; that is, that the Son is coessential with the Father, light from light, true God from true God; they also pronounced anathema against Arius, and confirmed the doctrine of the second council of the hundred and fifty bishops who assembled at Constantinople against Macedonius, asserting that the Holy Spirit is God, and that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are one God, one nature, three persons, and three hypostases. They also anathematized Macedonius. They also confirmed the doctrine of the third council, namely those who had assembled at Ephesus for the first time, to wit, the two hundred bishops, against Nestorius; saying that the Virgin Mary gave birth to God, our Lord Jesus Christ, who is of the same divine nature as his Father, and of the same human nature as men, and they confessed that there are two natures in Christ, one person, one hypostasis; and they devoted Nestorius to anathema, as well as Dioscorus, and whosoever should embrace his opinion, and they removed him from his place, and they also pronounced anathema against the second Ephesian council. There was present at this council an archdeacon of Alexandria named Proterius, whom they set over Alexandria as patriarch in place of the infidel and cursed Dioscorus.
Now, from the third council, namely that of the two hundred bishops who first assembled at Ephesus and struck Nestorius with anathema, to the fourth, this council which was held at Chalcedon, twenty-one years have passed, this being in 97 98 in which the bishops, six hundred and thirty, assembled.
who devoted Dioscorus and Eutyches to anathema. The Egyptians and the inhabitants of Alexandria, however, had embraced the opinion of Dioscorus and Eutyches, and believed that they had been struck by anathema through the injury of Dioscorus; but for fear of the Emperor Marcian they did not dare to openly profess their opinion. Dioscorus, however, having been deposed from his see, departed for Palestine and Jerusalem and corrupted the faith of all those living there, so that they asserted the same things as he did; he even gained for himself their bishops. And Eudocia, the wife of the Emperor Theodosius, having heard the opinion of Dioscorus, gave her assent to him and sent him many gifts. But the holy Euthymius, who was defending and guarding the orthodox faith at Jerusalem, sent word to Eudocia and said: "Do not receive the opinion of Dioscorus, as one who has been driven from his see and struck by anathema, together with all who embrace his opinion. Therefore, return to the truth which you once professed." Eudocia, therefore, listening to the word of the holy Euthymius, abandoned the opinion of Dioscorus and returned to the truth, having sent him many gifts. Eudocia also founded many churches and monasteries in Jerusalem. B Furthermore, in the third year of the reign of Marcian, Anastasius was appointed Patriarch of Jerusalem, who was a Jacobite; he sat for nineteen years, then died. In the same year, 100, Basil was made Patriarch of Antioch; he sat for two years, then died. In the fifth year of the same reign, Martyrius was appointed Patriarch of Antioch, who sat for eight years, then died. In the sixth year of the same reign, Gennadius was appointed Patriarch of Constantinople, who sat for ten years, then died. In the time of Marcian was Simeon the recluse, who stood upon a column [Stylite]. He was the first of the monks who withdrew into a cell, and this was in the territory of Antioch, on the mountain which is called the Wonderful Mountain. At the same time, the holy Theodosius, prefect of the monastery of Al Dawakesi, having departed from his fatherland, went until he reached Simeon the recluse at Antioch; he remained with him for some days, then went to Jerusalem and became a monk. Furthermore, in the sixth year of the reign of the Roman Emperor Marcian, Yazdegerd, son of Bahram, King of the Persians, died. Upon his removal from the kingdom, his two sons, Phiruz and Hormizd, contended for it, some standing on the side of Phiruz and others on the side of Hormizd, whence a war flared up between them until Hormizd was killed together with three of his servants. Phiruz, son of Yazdegerd, therefore reigned over the Persians for twenty-seven years, and this was in the sixth year of the reign of the Roman Emperor Marcian. Marcian, however, was an orthodox king, who guarded and defended the faith of the Melkites. C Upon his death, 101-103, after him Leo the Great reigned over the Romans for sixteen years, and this was in the second year of the reign of Phiruz, son of Yazdegerd, King of the Persians. Leo was also an orthodox Melkite. The Alexandrians, having heard that the Emperor Marcian was dead, rose up against Proterius, the Patriarch of Alexandria, and killed him in the church of Cyrinus; they then dragged his body on a camel into the great Hippodrome, which was built by Ptolemy called Lagus, and burned it with fire. Furthermore, a fiery cloud appeared in the sky with thunder and lightning, and a great earthquake for forty days. Proterius had sat for six years when he was killed. After him, Timothy, brother of Anatolius, who is also called Janurius, was appointed to the Patriarchate of Alexandria, who was a Jacobite. After he had sat for three years, a certain duke named Balaus, arriving at Alexandria from Constantinople, banished him to a place called Marsuphin, which is a village on the seashore which is called Pontus. And Timothy the Second, who is called the Syrian, was appointed Patriarch of Alexandria, who was also a Jacobite; he sat for fifteen years, then died. Furthermore, in the sixteenth year of the reign of Leo the Great, Martin was made Patriarch of Jerusalem; he was a Jacobite: he sat for eight years, then died. In the tenth year of the same reign, Acacius was appointed Patriarch of Constantinople, who, after he had sat for thirteen years, 104, died. In the twelfth year of the same reign, John was appointed Patriarch of Antioch, who sat for one year, then died. In the thirteenth year of the same, Julian was made Patriarch of Antioch; he sat for five years, then died. In the eighth year of his reign, Hilary was created Patriarch of Rome, who D sat for six years, then died. In the sixteenth year of the same, Silas was appointed Patriarch of Rome, who sat for fourteen years, then died. And this man struck Timothy, brother of Anatolius, Patriarch of Alexandria, with anathema.
Upon the death of Leo the Great, Emperor of the Romans, Leo the Less reigned after him over the Romans for one year, and this was in the eighteenth year of the reign of Phiruz, son of Yazdegerd, King of the Persians. Upon the death of Leo the Less, Zeno, his son, reigned after him over the Roman Empire, who was also a Jacobite. And this was in the nineteenth year of the reign of Phiruz, King of the Persians. But Zeno having departed to a place called Surab for the sake of amusement, a certain man named Basiliscus, together with his son Marcus, occupied the kingdom for twenty months; after a continuous war between them, Zeno overcame them and, entering Constantinople, killed Basiliscus and his son, and pillaged their palaces and wealth; he also killed their followers. 105-107 At the same time, a huge earthquake happened in Constantinople. The sun also suffered an eclipse, so that the stars appeared in the daytime. Moreover, many houses collapsed, and a great multitude of people perished in the earthquake: and this was in the ninth year of the reign of Zeno, Emperor of the Romans. In the second year of his reign, Timothy, surnamed the Syrian, Patriarch of Alexandria, fled to the valley of Habib, and Timothy, brother of Anatolius, having returned from Marsuphin to the patriarchate of Alexandria, sat there for two years, then died. After him, Peter was...
A (who had been archdeacon) patriarch there; he was a Jacobite; he sat for six years and thirty days, then he fled to Constantinople, and Timothy, surnamed Surus, returned from the valley of Habib (or, according to another manuscript, the monastery of Habib, which is without doubt more correct), and having sat upon the patriarchal throne for four years, he died. In the ninth year of the reign of the same Zeno, a certain prefect of his in Alexandria, Ebn Gustus, appointed John as patriarch there, who was a Jacobite, and he sat there for six months. Then another prefect named Augustalius was sent to Alexandria by Zeno, and with him came Peter, the patriarch who had fled to Constantinople. Ebn Gustus the prefect indeed fled from Augustalius, and John the patriarch also fled with him. And Peter the patriarch who had fled returned to his place, sat for eight years, and then died. In the sixteenth year of the reign of Zeno, Abinas became patriarch of Alexandria, who was a Jacobite; he sat for seven years, then died. He built many churches in Alexandria, and many monuments. At that time the great Hippodrome, which had been built at Alexandria by Ptolemy who is surnamed Lagus, was burned down; in it Proterius the patriarch had been burned. In the seventh year of the reign of Zeno, Melitus was appointed patriarch of Jerusalem, who was a Jacobite; he sat for eight years, then died. In the sixteenth year of the same reign, Elias was created patriarch of Jerusalem, who sat for twenty-four years (or, according to another manuscript, fourteen), and he built churches [among others] the church of Helen, which he did not finish: and he was banished. At that time in Jerusalem there were Anba Theodosius, superior of the monastery of Aldawacesi, Anba Charitan, of the monastery of Al Saiki the elder, and Anba Saba, of Al Saiki the new. In the sixth year of the reign of Zeno, Euphuites was made patriarch of Constantinople; he sat for five years, then died. In the eleventh year of the same reign (or, according to another manuscript, the twenty-first), Euthymius was appointed patriarch of Constantinople, who sat for ten years, then died. In the B first year of the reign of Zeno, Peter, surnamed Fullo, was appointed patriarch of Antioch; he was a Jacobite; he sat for six years, then was banished (or, according to another manuscript, two years), against whom Basil, the Roman patriarch, pronounced anathema and cast him from the see. Upon his expulsion, Stephen was appointed patriarch of Antioch after him; who, after sitting for one year, died. Another Stephen succeeded him in the same place, who sat for six months, then died. After him, Clidion was appointed patriarch there, who was a Nestorian: he sat for four years, then died. Then Peter Fullo, the Antiochene patriarch, returned and sat for eight years, then died (or, according to another manuscript, three years). After him, Palladius was made patriarch there, who sat for ten C years, then died, and in that same year of the reign of Zeno—
nis imperatoris Rom. undecimo. Anno decimo tertio imperii ejusdem constitutus est Felix patriarcha Romanus, qui annos octo sedit, dein mortuus est. Porro Phiruz Yazdejerdi filius, Persarum rex, duas in Cascar urbes condidit, quarum una Duris Firuz, altera Ram Firuz; deinde copias suas Chorasanum versus ad invadendum Chashnawar: quod cum Chashnawar Hiyatelae rex audisset, metu perculsus convocatis suorum maxime fidis consilium ab ipsis petiit. Quorum ergo unus D ita afflatus est: Si pactum mecum firmum inieris, cui tuto confidere possum, te familiarum et liberorum meorum alendorum curam gesturum, meaque vice ipsis futurum; ostendam tibi rem qua Deus Phiruzum in potestatem tuam rediget. Cumque hoc rex ipse pactus esset: Colligatis, inquit mihi manibus et pedibus, (at in alio exemplari abscissis, quod sine dubio rectius est) me in via Phiruzo objicias, ita ego te ab ipsius incursu immunem praestabo. Quod cum illi fecisset sublatus est, atque in locum quem jusserat projectus, red-euntibus [qui illum eo deduxerant]. Ubi ergo Phiruz illac transiret, ipsumque quid ipsi evenisset rogaret: Ego (inquit) e proceribus fui Hitalensium, qui cum accessus tui fama ad nos pervenisset a rege Chashnawar inter reliquos ipsius comites sententiam rogatus, palam dixi non posse ipsum Phiruzum pro insigni ipsius fortitudine obsistere, quare saltus (inquam) tibi est ut ipsum tributo et pretio quo te redimas aggrediaris. Ille ergo ira in me accensus, ita me ut vides tractari jussit, illum (in-quiens) quem tantopere laudas adeas: accersitisque e militibus suis quibusdam: Profecti (inquit) hunc ad Phiruzum deferte. Misericordiam ergo et clementiam tuam mihi extendens me tecum abduces ne a feris hoc in deserto dilanier. Ego enim vobis viam istam breviorem indicabo, qua Achashnawarum in iis ubi se maxime tutum putat, locis adoriamini ut vindictam mihi Deus de ipso sumat, Via autem quam vobis ostensurus sum bidui tantum iter est, quo eo quo vultis perveniatis. Haec ubi audissent qui Phiruzo a consiliis erant, dolum ab Achashnawaro structum percipientes, dixerunt ipsi: Vir iste in consilium vocatus pro scientiae et prudentiae suae modo, consilium dedit, quod ab ipso dolo factum. Quod si ita illum Achashnawar ira commotus multasset nequaquam ipsum nobis in hoc deserto objecisset. Ne igitur dictis ipsius credas. Ac forsan Achashnawar cum comitatu suo ad istum locum perveniet quem descripsit vir iste, ac ibi quot satis sint, milites reliquit. Noluit autem Phiruz ipsis auscultare. Secuti sunt ergo virum istum qua ipsos duceret, biduo, needum desertum transierunt. Qua de re a Phiruzo interrogatus: Fefellit me (inquit) viae spatium, hodie autem ipsum pertransibitis. Cumque praeteriisset et dies iste, quotiescunque ipsum quantum sibi viae reliquum esset interrogarent, pro brevi admodum ac facili venditare, donec ubi
A late he should find that those who were with him had failed in everything they had among them, both in provisions and water, and had reached a place from which they could not return, but must confess it to him. Then Phiruz’s companions said, “O King, you refused to grant us counsel; now it is time to proceed directly, perhaps we shall find water.” They departed and searched for water by moving to the right and left, and the greatest part of them perished from thirst, not escaping—except for Phiruz and a few companions and the strongest soldiers—who accompanied him until the enemy were near, whom, at that very night and in the state in which they were, they attacked and overcame. Achshanwar asked Phiruz to show mercy to him and his companions who had been overcome, to send them off to their own country, and to engage in a formal treaty with him, with a condition established between them and the kingdom that would never be overstepped. When Achshanwar had agreed to this, Phiruz confirmed it for them in writing, with witnesses brought forward, and by an oath, pledging that he would commit no treachery, and so he returned to his own kingdom.
When he had halted for some time, B there came to his mind what had long ago happened with Achshanwar. Although he was ashamed of it, he yet feared to act deceitfully toward him. He was urged, therefore, to attack him again. But his own advisors said to him, “You have entered into a treaty with him; we fear that treachery and injury might befall us.” Phiruz answered them, “I have concluded a pact with him [designating the stone] which he shall not overstep. The stone has been placed on a wagon before us, nor will I ever abandon it.” But they said, “A treaty is not interpreted according to how you interpret it, but according to the manifest [sense of the words].” Phiruz, ignoring their counsel, set out to wage war on Achshanwar. Hearing this, Achshanwar was greatly astonished, and, not doubting that Phiruz would use treachery, he called the pact to his own memory by the written letters he had received from him, asking him to turn back. But he, having delayed thus, marched on until he reached C Iliyata. When Achshanwar had ordered a trench to be dug between his own position and Phiruz’s, and bridges to be built over it, Phiruz—in order to cross—set up the standards as if they were returning, sending them to Phiruz as if the army were already in marching order, and went forward to the space in the middle between the armies to confer. When he had come forward, Achshanwar said to him: “I believe that I have not summoned you to this place for any other reason than your own shame for having returned here in this manner. Even at the cost of my life, if we had committed treachery in this way, we would have expected something greater from you. Ponder this now in your heart, that the violation of the pact is a matter for which you should be held liable, just as much as what has befallen you. Let this be a reproach, or rather let it be said: Someone attempted something against him D that he did not succeed in accomplishing; but the enemy was superior to him and to those who were with him, showing them grace and letting them go by the pact that had been entered into; or, as it may be said: He violated the treaty and the pact, and repaid evil for good. But your companions know that they forced you to impose something unjust. To this, add that you are not certain of victory, but hope for such a thing as might also be hoped for of you. For if you win, your reputation will not be good, nor will what you have done be worthy of praise. But if you are defeated, you render both yourself and your armies infamous. The decision, therefore, rests with your judgment. I have warned you, nor does the weakness of what I say move me—of which I am aware either from my own experience or from that of my troops—but that I might use a stronger argument with you, and I prefer nothing to the safety that is in my hands.” Phiruz answered: “I am not one whom fear could divert from what I desire. If it seemed to me that treachery were contained in what I am attacking, no one would take it more indignantly than I myself would. I, however, struck a treaty with you on no other conditions than those I kept in my own heart. Therefore, let not that opinion of our paucity and impotence, which you first conceived of us, deceive you; but know that I shall by no means leave you until I obtain from you that which you had obtained from me.” Achshanwar said: “Let not that which you use to deceive yourself fool you, while you concern yourself with carrying a stone in front of you. Pacts and treaties, indeed, are entered into according to the sound of the words, not according to that which is kept hidden; and of all things, the violation of treaties and pacts is the most shameful.” But he refused to listen to him. Immediately, therefore, they returned. But Phiruz said to his companions: “Achshanwar was remarkable in the meeting; yet I have never seen his equal among draft animals on the horse he was riding. For the feet did not move at all, nor did it lift its hooves from the spot, nor did it neigh, nor did anything fall from him that would interrupt the conversation during all the time we were together.” Achshanwar, however, said to his own: “I met with Phiruz, as seemed best to me and to you, fully armed; but he never moved on his horse, nor did he ever withdraw a foot from the stirrup, nor did he bend his back, nor did he turn to the right or to the left. I, meanwhile, often leaned against my thigh, insisting on the horse, and looked back, then cast my eyes on the things that were placed before, while he remained fixed and quiet.” This, moreover, was what Phiruz and Achshanwar intended by these narrations, that those conversations might be spread through their armies, so that the men occupied by these things would not inquire into what they had conferred about together. The next morning, therefore, the written agreement that Phiruz had written for him was produced and set upon a spear by Achshanwar, so that it might be seen by the army, and he gained victory over Phiruz; who, having turned in flight from the place of the standards, which he had fixed for himself at the bridges by which he was to travel, strayed and retreated to the trench where he was...
A opposed by his brother, who had seized the kingdom. And having promised him that he would bring him aid and recover the kingdom for him, he remained with him for four years, during which he held him off. Afterwards, equipped with a strong army by him, Kobad set out until he reached Abrahasharum, and having stayed in the same place [where he had been before] he inquired about that woman who had come to him with the son whom she had borne, already holding the three-year-old child by the hand. And Kobad asked: "Who is this boy?" "He is your son," she said. Being informed then by Zormaharo that this was the daughter of the head of the family, he rejoiced, and took her along with the son, whose name was Dabudacht, with him. When, however, he had arrived at Al-Madayen, B he found that his brother had died, and having obtained the kingdom, Kobad the son of Phiruz reigned for forty-three years, and this was in the fourteenth year of the reign of Zeno the Roman emperor. He entrusted the administration of the kingdom to Suchran and his son Zormaharo, and he built a city between Ahwaz and Persia, which Kobad called Chorab, which is in A’Rajan, in which he placed the Hamdanite captives; he also built a city near Al-Mahat, which is called Harawan, and another in Azdshir Chorab, which is also called Chorab by Kobad; and he founded many other cities and villages, and dug canals, and constructed arches and bridges.
Zeno the Roman emperor died after he had reigned for seventeen years, and this was in the fifth year of the reign of Phiruz’s son Kobad, king of the Persians, C with Anastasius reigning after him over the Romans for twenty-seven years. This man was a Jacobite, opposed to the doctrine of the Melchites; he was born in the city of Dama, which he ordered to be built and fortified, the citadel being completed within the space of two years. But after he had already reigned for ten years, a severe famine befell the people in the East, and a great plague of locusts. Furthermore, Kobades, king of the Persians, attacked the [city of] Amedu and devastated it, and having sent a great army to Alexandria, he burned everything that was outside the city. Many and grievous battles and frequent skirmishes took place between the count of Kobad, king of the Persians, and the count of Anastasius, the Roman emperor. Now the prefect of Alexandria on behalf of the Emperor Anastasius was Eustathius. D There also happened after this, in Alexandria and Egypt, a severe famine, so that men died of starvation, and Alexandria and Egypt were desolated by the plague and death which seized men. There was at Alexandria a certain wealthy Jew named Urhib (who later embraced Christianity), who provided shrouds for the dead poor. On the day of the Lord’s Pascha, he distributed great alms in the Church of Arcadius [at which time] three hundred men died, crushed by the crowd. Furthermore, in the sixth year of the reign of the Roman emperor Anastasius, Joannes, a monk, was established as Patriarch of Alexandria, who was a Jacobite: he sat for eleven years, then died. In the fifteenth year of the same emperor’s reign, another John was made patriarch.
twenty-sixth year of the same, Dioscorus was made patriarch of Alexandria, also a Jacobite, [133-135] who, when he had sat for one year, died. In the twenty-seventh year of the same, Timothy was appointed patriarch in the same place; he too was a Jacobite, sat for two years, and then was deposed from his position. In the fourth year of his reign, Timothy (or, according to another exemplar, Macedonius) was appointed patriarch of Constantinople: he sat for six years, then died. In the ninth year of the same, Timothy was appointed patriarch of Constantinople, who sat for six years, then died. In the fifteenth year of the same, John the Cappadocian was made patriarch in the same place, who sat for nine years, then died. In the twenty-fourth year of the same, Anthimus was made patriarch in the same place, who was a Jacobite, sat for five years, and then was exiled. In the fourth year of his reign, Pelagius was appointed as Roman patriarch, who sat for four years, then died. In the eighth year of the same, Anastasius was appointed Roman patriarch, who, when he had sat for one year, died. In the ninth year of the same, Symmachus was made patriarch in the same place, who sat for fourteen years, then died. In the fourth year of the same reign, Flavian was appointed Patriarch of Antioch, who sat for fourteen years, then was driven into exile. Now, Emperor Anastasius was opposed to the confession of the Melkites, being himself 136 a Jacobite. On this account, Elias, patriarch of Jerusalem, by letter sent to him, set forth for him the truth of the Melkite confession, and that whoever should assert the contrary to them was accursed. And he sent to him the superiors of the monasteries, among whom were Theodosius, prefect of the monastery of Aldawakesi, Charitan, prefect of Old Al-Saiki, and Saba, prefect of New Al-Saiki, who was in charge of all the places designated by this name, and of Old Saiko—namely, the one that belonged to Charitan—together with many prefects of monks, among whom were also priests. He wrote this: "I have sent to you many of the servants of God, and the prefects of the monks of our desert, among whom is that excellent Saba, who converted our desert into cities, and made it habitable, who is also the star of Palestine." When the monks had arrived at Constantinople, they sought an opportunity of approaching Anastasius, who granted them permission to enter. Therefore, they went in to the king. Now, Saba was dressed in worn-out garments, and because he kept himself behind the others, the doorkeepers forbade him from entering. When Emperor Anastasius had read the letter of Elias, patriarch of Jerusalem, "Which of you," he said to the monks, "is this Saba who is praised in these letters?" Looking around and not seeing him present, they went to fetch him. When he had entered before the emperor [137-139], he ordered him to approach closer to him, and having placed him beside himself, he inquired about the state of the Jerusalemites and of those living there. He therefore replied to him that both the city and those who inhabited it were doing well. He also set forth for him the doctrine of the Melkites and its truth, and that whoever felt otherwise was execrable. He also said to him: "We entreat you, do not disturb the Church; for as long as the Church remains in peace, we also enjoy tranquility: but do not you embrace the opinion of the heterodox." The king therefore assented to him in those things which he sought, and, having bestowed gifts upon them, ordered the monks to return to Jerusalem, writing a letter to Elias, patriarch of Jerusalem, in which he answered his epistle. But he ordered Saba to remain with him. He therefore, the monks having returned to Jerusalem, stayed there until, after a year, seeking the opportunity to depart, he obtained it, and the emperor gave him two thousand gold pieces, saying: "Use these coins to build monasteries." Saba therefore returned to Jerusalem.
Furthermore, there was a certain man at Constantinople named Severus, who embraced the opinion of Dioscorus and Eutychius, asserting one nature, one person, one will. He, approaching Emperor Anastasius, said to him: "Those six hundred and thirty bishops who, meeting in the city of Chalcedon, spoke anathema 140 against Dioscorus and Eutychius, did evil in this: for the true faith is that which Eutychius and Dioscorus professed. Do not therefore," he said, "embrace the opinion of the monks who came to you from Jerusalem, inasmuch as it is false; but write to all your dominions, and command that anathema be denounced against the six hundred and thirty bishops who met at Chalcedon, and compel men to profess one nature, one will, and one person." In this the emperor assented to him. Having therefore heard what Emperor Anastasius had decided to do, Flavian, Patriarch of Antioch, wrote to him, persuading him not to do what Severus was saying. For he had embraced the six hundred and thirty bishops who met at Chalcedon, and whoever contradicted their opinion was execrable. But the emperor, burning with rage, sent messengers and ordered Flavian, Patriarch of Antioch, to go into exile, appointing Severus in his place to the patriarchate there. When, therefore, Elias, [patriarch of Jerusalem,] had heard that Flavian had been driven into exile and Severus appointed in his place, he convened the monks before the Sepulchre and Golgotha, who denounced anathema against Emperor Anastasius and the patriarch Severus, and as many as embraced his opinion. Emperor Anastasius, therefore, having heard what Elias, [141-143] patriarch of Jerusalem, had done, sending for him, banished him (and this in the twenty-third year of the reign of Anastasius), and appointed a certain man named John as patriarch in Jerusalem, inasmuch as he had promised him that he would speak anathema against the six hundred and thirty who were present at Chalcedon. When, therefore, he had reached Jerusalem, the monks and Saba gathered together, not (in—
A regularly, if I may so speak, the learned poet John—whoever he may be—handled the present strophe of the first hymn, distinguishing it not only by the word *hymn*, for the sake of which he formed the first strophe, introducing the chant with these words: "praising with divine chants"; but he also makes the very legislator the sole subject matter of the poetic work, though in a way other than custom dictates. For he did not weave in here the miracles of the Red Sea or of Egypt, but introduced instead those things which are gathered for the feast of the Holy Spirit—namely, the divine law, to which the law from Mount Sinai is comparable and consonant, as will be said afterwards, as well as the vision of God through the revelation of the Spirit, such as was granted today to the holy apostles, and the knowledge of the Spirit available from that time, as will soon be said. He discourses about the prophet as though he were taught by the Spirit those things that are fitting. This, then, is what he prefaces: Moses (whom it is hardly necessary to mention), a divine mind, and excellent in wisdom, though slow of tongue, was not simply covered by the Sinaitic darkness, but, surrounded by a divine cloud, he promulgated that law, most excellent of all, which was written by God, blazing with lightnings until that time unknown; or otherwise, revealing as if from a fiery stone the light which he himself first showed, which is said to be invisible to those who had neither seen nor known it, and to have made the scribe stand out or at all events to have spent time in the glory which he also cast off after he had planted excellent works of virtue: for it does not bud forth first, but after them. For it is the mark of vain glory to do anything well for the sake of human display. And see where he begins to expel it: from almsgiving, namely, and prayer and fasting; because vainglory most especially lies in wait for these good works. Just as the Pharisee prayed with vainglory, saying: "I fast twice in the week; I give tithes of all that I possess." He says, however: "Take heed," insinuating that the beast creeps in secretly like a thief. Truly saying: "Take heed that you do not perform your almsgiving before men," he did not remain there, as if he wished that you might shun the needy, lest any should observe this, but he added: B "That you may be seen by them"; as if he were to say: Take heed that you do not perform it before men for this reason, that you may be seen by them; for if you have not given it for this reason, nothing forbids you even to dispense it before them. For its end is sought, not its manner. It happens that one who gives before men does not offer it for display, when one gives moved solely by compassion; and that one who does not give before men gives for display, when he is not led by compassion, but so that he may be preached as pious and compassionate. The reward, he says, you do not have with God, because you have sought the reward of such an alms with men, namely, praise on its account. He puts, moreover, always among his other words "the Father who is in secret," admonishing them to ignore the earthly, having the Father in heaven, and at the same time inciting them to conduct themselves worthily of such a Father. Verse 3. "When thou doest alms," etc. He increases the dissuasion from performing almsgiving for display. "Do not sound a trumpet," that is, do not publicize it, so that it may be acknowledged by men. For those who sound trumpets, so that they may be heard by the multitude, are blowing. Some, however, say that at that time the hypocrites called the needy with a trumpet. Now, a hypocrite is one who appears otherwise because of human kindness. C But the countenance, or rather the mask of such people, is of mercy, but their nature indicates an insane desire for glory. They "report," that is, they take away, they have their reward. Verse 5. "But thou," etc. "will reward thee." After he had said how one ought not to give, he now says how one ought to offer. By the "left hand," he signified those who are near and familiar; for nothing is nearer and more familiar to you than your hand. Neither let these, he says, be known to your right hand.
They have denied humanity; and A if they say it is human, but not divine, they deny divinity and constitute a Christ who is not God. But if they assert that He is both human and divine, in this way they make both humans, and the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, of one nature. But if they say that this nature which is in Christ is one, and is neither divine nor human, they imagine a Christ who is neither God nor man; and so their opinion is surrounded on all sides by absurdity and by the denial of Christ. Furthermore, it is said to them: Is not Christ by nature equal to the Father and the Spirit? If they say: "Yes," then, answer us: Is this nature, which is equal to the Father and the Spirit, also equal to men? If they say: "Yes," they then make any humans and the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit of one nature, which is the most shameful of blasphemies against God, and not to be mentioned without due observance. But if they say that the nature which is equal to the Father and the Holy Spirit is different from that which is equal to men, they then deny what they had affirmed, and it is necessary for them to say that there are two natures in Christ: one which is equal to the Father and the Spirit, and another which is equal to men; and so the faith of the Melkites has been made manifest and truly proven, and the falsity of what the Jacobites assert has been shown.
Now, to return to the history that we were narrating: upon the death of Severus, patriarch of Antioch, Paul was established as patriarch there, who, after having sat for five years, died B [or, according to another copy, after two years]; and after him Euphrasius was made patriarch there, who sat for five years and then died. This was in the twenty-sixth year of the reign of Anastasius, emperor of the Romans. In the twenty-third year of his reign, after Elias, patriarch of Jerusalem, had been cast into exile, a great affliction befell Palestine and Jerusalem, with famine, plague, great calamity, many locusts, and mortality; and it did not rain for an entire five-year period. In the fifth year of the drought, there was great distress among the Jerusalemites due to the shortage of water, to such an extent that the spring of Siloam was dried up, and men digging everywhere for water could not find any. There was also a great earthquake at Antioch, by which many buildings collapsed and a great multitude of people perished. But after the patriarch Elias of Jerusalem had already been in exile for five years in the city of Aila, the heads of the monasteries, together with Sabas, set out toward him. When he had received them with great joy, they stayed with him there for seven days, after which he said to them: "Now the emperor Anastasius is dead, and in ten days I shall follow him, and before our Lord Christ I shall contend with him in judgment." Afterward, in ten days, the patriarch Elias fell asleep, at the age of eighty-eight years, having fulfilled his patriarchate for twenty-four C years. They say that Saint Sabas, having observed the time, asked the emperor Anastasius about it, and it was revealed to him that at that time there had occurred at Constantinople a great bolt of lightning and thunder, from which a disease befell the emperor Anastasius in his brain, so that holding his head with his hands, and screaming and begging for aid, he fled from house to house until the penalty from God overtook him and snatched his life away. But before his death, the emperor Anastasius had ordered in a written document that the holy Theodosius, the head of the monastery of Elias, be driven from Jerusalem. However, before the letter reached Jerusalem, the emperor was dead; and after him Justin reigned over the Romans for nine years, this being the second year of the reign of Kobad, son of Phiruz, king of the Persians.
The emperor Justin was of the orthodox faith and tenacious of the truth. He therefore ordered all those whom the emperor Anastasius had cast into exile to return to their places, and he sent his faith, signed in a letter, to Jerusalem. The monks therefore gathered, full of joy, and having displayed the emperor's letter, celebrated a famous feast and confirmed D the fourth council of the six hundred and thirty bishops who had gathered at Chalcedon. In the fifth year of the reign of Justin, John was established as patriarch of Rome, who, after having sat for two years, died. In the seventh year of the same reign, Felix was created patriarch there; he sat for four years and then died. In the second year of the same reign, Theodosius was established as patriarch of Alexandria, who was a Jacobite and a writer. He sat for three years, then was deposed from his place, and Caius was substituted as patriarch in his stead; he was a Manichaean and had been archdeacon; when he had sat for two years, he was deposed from his place, with the return of Theodosius, who had been banished, to the chair; after he had occupied it for five years, he went into exile and died. In the first year of his reign, when it was announced to him that Anthimius, patriarch of Constantinople, was a Jacobite, he deposed him from his place, and Menas was substituted in his stead for the patriarchate of Constantinople, who sat for eight years and then died. In the fifth year of the same reign, Ephraim was established as patriarch of Antioch, where he sat for eighteen years and then died. John, however, the patriarch of Jerusalem, who was substituted in place of the exiled Elias, sat for seven years and then died. Therefore, in the third year of the reign of Justin, Peter was established as patriarch of Jerusalem, who was from the inhabitants of Jabrin; he sat for ten years and then died [or, according to another copy, twenty years]. The emperor Justin sent to all regions, bidding men confirm the council of Chalcedon; then Justin, emperor of the Romans, died, with Justinian reigning after him over the Romans for thirty-nine years, this being the forty-first year of the reign of Kobad, son of Phiruz, king of the Persians. The emperor Justinian was a kinsman of the emperor Justin. Justinian, in the first year of his reign, sent to Alexandria
A Having sent for Theodosius, the patriarch, and brought him to Constantinople, he ordered him to renounce the Jacobite opinion and return to the truth. When he refused to do this, he intended to punish him with death, but his wife, Theodora by name, released him from his power. He, therefore, returned to Egypt and hid himself in a certain place called Masil and Lamidis, in the western provinces of Egypt, adhering to the doctrine he had embraced of the Jacobites. And when men began to gather to him and the fame of this reached the Emperor, he sent and ordered him to be exiled by the prefect of Alexandria, the patriarch whose name was Paul, who was a Melchite. When he had sat for two years, the Jacobites attacked him and put him to death; in whose place was substituted a patriarch named Zoilus, who was also a Melchite, and who sat for five years, enduring great annoyances and evils from the Jacobites, who sought to remove him as well from their midst. He, therefore, fled, and when he had persisted in flight for five years, he died. When the news was brought to the Emperor Justinian that the Jacobites had occupied Alexandria and Egypt, and were slaughtering whatever patriarchs were set over them, he, moved to anger, appointed a certain patriarch of Alexandria from among his own men and, joining a numerous army to him, sent him there; his name was Apollinarius. This leader, therefore, arriving at Alexandria, entered it dressed in military habit, as being a prefect on the part of the Emperor. But when he came to the church, having put off those garments and putting on the patriarchal habit, he approached and celebrated the sacred rites. The Alexandrians, therefore, began from every corner and side to attack him with rocks and stones, so that he was almost killed by them. Immediately then, withdrawing himself from them, after three days he pretended that letters had been brought to him from the Emperor which were to be read before the people. Therefore, the bell was rung and he warned the people to assemble in the church on the Lord’s day to hear the Emperor’s letters. When the Lord’s day arrived, no one was left who did not attend. B Concerning this, it had been agreed upon between Apollinarius the patriarch and his companions that when he gave a sign and nod to them, they should strike all who were present in the church with the sword. He therefore, having ascended the dais, said, "O inhabitants of Alexandria, if you return to the truth and depart from the Jacobite opinion, it is well; but if not, I fear for you, lest the Emperor send against you one who will permit your blood to be shed, your wives to be prostituted, and your children to become orphans." While he was speaking these things to them, they began to pelt him with stones, to such a degree that he feared for his life; wherefore he gave that sign to his companions, who attacked with the sword whosoever had been in the church. And countless men were killed inside and outside the church, so that the blood of the slain reached C up to the knees of the soldiers. A great multitude of men indeed fled from them into the valley of Habib to the monastery of Abu Makarius. From that time on, the Melchite opinion openly prevailed, and they took and occupied the temples which the Jacobites had invaded, and so the city was settled. This was in the fifteenth year of the reign of Emperor Justinian. And from that time the chair of the Jacobites has been in the monastery of Abu Makarius to this very day. From the time when Proterius, patriarch of Alexandria, was killed and burned with fire, to this time when the Jacobites were killed by Apollinarius and the opinion of the orthodox publicly prevailed, thirty-five years had passed, or according to another copy, eighty-five years. For indeed the Jacobite opinion had grown strong in Alexandria and all of Egypt; and there had been Alexandrian Jacobite patriarchs, as there were also among the Roman emperors, such as Leo the Less, Zeno, Anastasius, and others whom we recounted in the preceding pages. D Furthermore, in the twenty-first year of the reign of Justinian, the Samaritans in Palestine, having made an attack, destroyed all the churches, threw fire into them, killed not a few Christians, and inflicted grave tortures, and slaughtered the bishop of Neapolis. Upon hearing this, the Emperor Justinian sent a great army and killed a great multitude of Samaritans. 157-159 At that time, Peter, the patriarch of Jerusalem, asked Mar Saba to go to Constantinople and ask the Emperor to remit some of the tribute that the inhabitants of Palestine were paying, because of the desolation the Samaritans had caused there. Mar Saba went therefore to Constantinople, whom the Emperor received gladly, and when he had received letters from the patriarch of Jerusalem from him, he asked what his business was. Mar Saba said, "I ask that you remit part of the tribute of Palestine. For the Samaritans have devastated it, having killed its inhabitants; and may the Emperor order to be built the churches which the Samaritans burned, and also to be constructed a hospital for strangers at Jerusalem; and that the church of Helena be completed, which Elias, patriarch of Jerusalem, had begun to build." To all these things the Emperor agreed, and also to other things which he asked and requested of him. And the Emperor sent to that end a legate with him, provided with many riches, and wrote to the prefect of Palestine that he should surrender the tribute of Palestine to the legate for those things which the Emperor had given him commands to build. The Emperor also ordered the legate to tear down the church of Bethlehem, which was small, and to build another, large, great, and beautiful, so that there was no temple in Jerusalem as beautiful as it. The legate, therefore, arriving in Jerusalem, founded a hospital for strangers, completed the church of Helena, restored the temples which the Samaritans had burned, and also built very many monasteries, and having torn down the church of Bethlehem, he built it in the manner it now has. And when all these things were finished, he had returned to the Emperor, who said, "Describe to me how you built the church of Bethlehem." And when he described it to him—
A [The legate] built [the church] near the waters; but the temple on the mountain's summit, above the place where Moses received the law: the name of the monastery's prefect was Doula. Having returned to the Emperor Justinian, the legate narrated to him which churches and which monasteries he had built; he also described to him the manner in which he had built the monastery of Mount Sinai. To whom the Emperor said: "You have erred," he said, "and have done an injury to the monks, whom you have handed over into the hands of enemies. Why, however, did you not build the monastery on the mountain's summit?" The legate replied: "I placed it near the bush and near the waters; for if it had been built on the mountain’s peak, the monks would have lacked water, to such an extent that if, under siege at any time, water were cut off from them, they would have perished from thirst; furthermore, the bush would have been further away from them." The Emperor said: "Therefore, that mountain which hangs over the monastery from the north ought to have been leveled to the ground." The legate replied: "If we had spent all the wealth of the Roman lands, of Egypt, and of Syria, we could not have finished that mountain." The Emperor, therefore, being angry, ordered his head to be cut off. Then he sent another legate, and together with him, [one hundred men] from the Roman household, together with their wives and children, also ordering that he should receive another hundred from Egypt, together with their wives and children, for whom he might build houses outside Mount Sinai in which they might live, and by which they might guard the monastery and the monks; and he took care that food should be supplied to them, and that enough provisions be brought from Egypt for them and the monastery. B When, therefore, the legate had arrived at Mount Sinai, he built many dwellings outside the monastery toward the East, and fortified them with a citadel, in which he placed these servants so that they might guard the monastery and protect it; which place is called to this day *Dir ol Abi*, or the monastery of the servants. But when, having procreated children, they had multiplied and remained there for a long time, and Mohammedanism prevailed (which happened under the Caliph Abd-al-Malik ibn Marwan), some, rushing upon others, destroyed one another with mutual slaughter; some were killed, others fled, others embraced Mohammedanism, whose children to this day are called, in the monasteries, those who profess that religion, the *Banu Salehi*, and are named the servants of the monastery; and there are among them [those from] Lachm. But the monks destroyed the dwellings of the servants after they embraced the religion of Mohammed, so that no one might dwell in them, which therefore remain desolate even to this day.
Moreover, in the second year of the reign of Justinian, Boniface was appointed Roman Patriarch; C when he had sat for two years, he died. In the fourth year of the same reign, John was appointed patriarch there, who also sat for two years, and then died. In the sixth year of the same, Agapetus was made patriarch there, who sat for one year and died. In the seventh year of the same, Sylverius was appointed patriarch there; he sat for five years, and then died. In the thirteenth year of the same...
A there was appointed as patriarch in that place Vigilius, who sat for eighteen years, then died; in the fifteenth year of his prefecture was the fifth council. In the tenth year of the reign of the same Justinian, Epiphanius was appointed patriarch of Constantinople, who was a Jacobite; he sat for six years, then died. Emperor Justinian wrote a great epistle containing many laws and ordinances. In the seventeenth year of his reign, Eutychius was made patriarch of Constantinople; who, after he had sat for twelve years, was sent into exile. In the eleventh year of his prefecture was the fifth council. In the fourteenth year of the reign of Justinian, Macarius was appointed patriarch of Jerusalem; who sat for two years, then died. In the seventeenth year of the same reign, Eutychius was made patriarch of Jerusalem, who sat for twelve years, then died: in the eleventh year of his prefecture was the fifth council. In the fifteenth year of the same reign, Domnus was made patriarch of Antioch, who sat for fourteen years, then died. In the thirteenth year of his prefecture was the fifth council. Moreover, in the time of Emperor Justinian, a great star appeared in the sky, which lasted for fourteen days; and afterwards a fiery rod appeared in the sky, which remained for some days. There was also in the time of Justinian, Origen, bishop of Manban, who asserted metempsychosis, denying the resurrection. There were also Elias the bishop of Rohens, Thaddaeus the bishop of Massis, and Theodoret the bishop of Ancyra, who asserted that the body of our Lord Christ was phantastical, containing nothing real within itself; whose opinion having been heard, the emperor sent and summoned them to Constantinople, ordering them to meet with Patriarch Eutychius of Constantinople. To whom B the patriarch said: "If the body of Christ is a phantom, as you suppose, then his actions and his speech will also be a phantom, and consequently any body that we attribute to any man—or action, or word—will be the same." He also said to the bishop of Manban: "Our Lord Christ rose from the dead, and in the same way we know that at the day of judgment men are to rise again. For He said to us in His holy Gospel: 'The hour is coming when all who are in the graves, hearing the voice of the Son of God, shall live.' How then do you say there will be no resurrection?" For this reason he excommunicated and anathematized them. The emperor also ordered a council against them, in which they might be struck with anathema. Therefore, by letters written to the four patriarchs, he ordered them to assemble; namely, to Apollinarius the patriarch of Alexandria, Domnus the patriarch of Antioch, Eutychius the patriarch of Jerusalem, and Vigilius the patriarch of Rome, that they might come to Constantinople, to be present at the anathematization of these bishops. Those who came did so. Patriarch Eutychius of Constantinople also took part in this council. The patriarch of Jerusalem was not indeed present, but he sent his deputies. Thus neither was the patriarch of Rome present, nor was there a deputy for him; but he consented with them and embraced their sentence. C The number of bishops who assembled in this fifth council was one hundred and sixty-four, who pronounced anathema against these bishops and all who asserted the same things as them (namely, against Origen the bishop of Manban, Thaddaeus the bishop of Massis, Ibas the bishop of Rohens, and Theodoret the bishop of Ancyra); asserting that the body of Christ our Lord was real, not phantastical; and that He is perfect God and perfect man, with two natures, two wills, and the actions of two kinds, recognized in one person. They also confirmed the sentence of the four preceding councils, and that this world is transitory, and that the resurrection will necessarily come to pass, and that our Lord Christ will come with great glory and judge the living and the dead, just as the three hundred and eighteen Fathers asserted. Then, having been honored, they returned.
From the fourth council of the six hundred and thirty who assembled at Chalcedon and denounced anathema against the Jacobites, to this fifth council of one hundred and sixty-four bishops who assembled at Constantinople, are one hundred and three years; and this was in the twenty-seventh year of the reign of Justinian, the Roman emperor. As for Kobad, son of Phiruz, king of the Persians, men strove to take him out of his place, D except that they feared his vicar, Soacher. They did not cease, therefore, to instigate them by guile against his vicar Soacher until he had killed him; and when he had killed him, a certain man named Mazdek, with his associates, attacked him and said to him: "God has established measures for men on earth so that you may distribute them to them equally, that no one should have more than another; but men act with injustice among themselves, each preferring himself to his brother: therefore we, considering this matter, take from the rich what is owed to the poor, and from those who have more than enough we remove it and give it to the needy; and if anyone has more than is fair in wealth, wives, servants, and furniture, we will seize it from him, so that we may make him and others equal, and no one may have a right to anything over others." They began, therefore, to invade men's houses, women, and wealth. And when they had grown strong, they enclosed Kobad, son of Phiruz, in a place where no one was permitted to approach him, and substituted a certain man named Ramasph, his uncle, in his place. Seeing this, Bazarmahr attacked them with some Persian nobles, and having killed many of the followers of Mazdek, he restored Kobad, son of Phiruz, to his place and kingdom, having ejected Ramasph. But those who remained of the Mazdekites did not cease to pursue Kobad, until
negotium Bazar Mahrum being put to death A. From this, his kingdom was moved against, and those rose up who would stir up rebellion. When, therefore, he saw to what point his affairs had come, he was led to repentance Concerning Soacherem and his children. Then Kobades died, having held the power for the whole duration of his reign, together with the years in which Wamasph occupied the kingdom, for forty-three years. He was succeeded by his son, Cesra, the son of Kobadis, the same who was also called Anusherwan; he reigned for forty-seven years and six months; this was in the fourth year of the reign of Justinian, Emperor of the Romans. B Cesra, moreover, having expelled the princes of the Mazdekiani from his kingdom, took the wealth which they had snatched away by force and returned it to the owners; and if anyone had no heir [to whom it might be returned], he kept it with himself for the sake of repairing what was corrupt and rebuilding what had been destroyed. And if a house or field had been taken from anyone by force, upon investigating the matter, he restored it to him; and if anyone had taken a woman for himself by force, removing her from him, he took the same woman and gave her a dowry twice as large as her own, unless she was of equal status to him, and he took her as a wife for himself; but if she had a husband, he gave the husband only as much dowry as he had received when he first married her; and the husband, if she was of use to him, kept her for himself. That matter, however, which moved him not to inflict punishment upon those who had committed nefarious deeds, was that he had a care for the people, C whom he was unwilling to utterly destroy. He also ordered to be counted the children of the heads of families and of the nobles, who, when those who ought to have had a care for them had perished, were reduced to poverty; and he ordered that inquiry be made concerning their orphans who survived and their widows, to supply them with what was sufficient, and also that their daughters be instructed in arts for which they were suited, and that the daughters be given in marriage to their peers and to those who were wealthier. He also ordered inquiry to be made into the places and estates whose lords, being of a more humble lot, were not able to cultivate them, so that by digging channels and conduits, rivers might be diverted to them, and that their owners might be supplied with what they might expend in caring for the fields and livestock; he ordered that an accounting be kept of the villages that had been deserted; and that fortresses be built from which there might be occasion for fear. Then he appointed counselors, prefects, and judges in the provinces. Moreover, having brought forth the books of Azdshiri, which contained the institutions which he was accustomed to observe, he compelled men to observe them, and signaled this to the provinces in writing. Then, after he had reigned for nine years, and in the twelfth year of the reign of Justinian, Emperor of the Romans, he led his forces toward Antioch, D where, encountering the army of Justinian, he fought against them in battle and seized the city; and, ordering the city to be depicted for him according to its scale and the number of dwellings, both upper and lower, and its streets and all things that were in it, he sent this drawing to his deputy in Al-Madayen, and ordered him to build a city for him in that very form and manner, so that there might be no discrepancy at all between it and Antioch which could be perceived by the eye; when it had been built, he called it Romia, and transferred the inhabitants of Antioch to it to inhabit it. When they, upon arriving there, had entered the gate of the city, they went away, families by families, into houses similar to their own, as if they had departed from Antioch and returned into the same.
Moreover, in the thirty-first year of the reign of Justinian, Emperor of the Romans, Pelagius was constituted patriarch of Rome, who, after he had sat for four years, died. In the thirty-fifth year of the same reign, Joannes was constituted patriarch of Rome; he sat for twelve years, then died. In the thirtieth year of his reign, Anastasius the Great was constituted patriarch of Antioch, who, after he had sat for six years, was accused of fornication by the Antiochenes. Fleeing, therefore, from them, concealing the vestments in which he was wont to perform the sacred rites, he hid himself, and in a disguised habit departed for Jerusalem; where, having become a candle-lighter in the temple of the Resurrection, he lit the lamps; and he performed this duty for twenty-four years, serving that A church, lighting the lamps in it, with no one meanwhile recognizing that he had served as patriarch: in his place, however, was substituted Gregory, patriarch of Antioch, who sat for twenty-four years, then died. In the twenty-ninth year of the reign of Justinian, Macarius the second was constituted patriarch of Jerusalem, who sat for four years, then died. In the thirty-third year of the same reign, Joannes was constituted patriarch in the same place, who sat for ten years, then died. In the twenty-eighth year of his reign, [Justinian], having been informed that Eutychius, patriarch of Constantinople, was contradicting the truth and had become a Jacobite, cast him into exile, in whose place was substituted Joannes, so that he might discharge the office of the patriarchate of Constantinople, who sat for seven years, then died. Then Eutychius, the recalled patriarch, approached the emperor with the aid of counselors and dukes, who asked him to restore him to his cathedra, since that which had been said about him was false. The cathedra, therefore, was restored by the emperor; after he had occupied it for four years B he died. In the thirty-ninth year of the same, Joannes was constituted patriarch of Constantinople: he sat for thirteen years, then died. Apollinarius, patriarch of Alexandria, died after he had performed that office for nineteen years, in the tenth year of whose prefecture the fifth council was celebrated. Succeeding him in the patriarchate of Alexandria was Joannes, who was a Manichaean, and he sat for three years, then died. In the thirty-seventh year of the reign of the same Justinian, Petrus was constituted patriarch in the same place, who was a Jacobite. He sat for two years, then died. Emperor Justinian was of the orthodox faith, a lover of the good, hostile to the doctrine of the Jacobites, and a proponent of the opinion of the Melchites. He died after C
A After him, Justinus Junior reigned over the Romans for thirteen years, and this was in the thirty-seventh year of Kobad, king of the Persians. This Justinus Junior was orthodox in faith, distinguished in goodness, but fiercely hostile to the doctrine of the Jacobites and Nestorians, and favorable to the Melkites. In the first year of his reign, Athanasius was appointed Patriarch of Alexandria, who was a Manichaean; he sat for five years, then died. In the sixth year of the same reign, John, an orthodox man, was appointed Patriarch there; he sat for eleven years, then died. In the eighth year of the same reign, Benedictus became Patriarch of Rome, who, having sat for four years, died. In the twelfth year of the same reign, Pelagius became Patriarch of Rome, who sat for six years, then died. Now Kobad, king of the Persians, who was called Anusherwan, brought his forces against the Hiatelites, in vengeance for his grandfather Phiruz, whom they had killed. He had previously conspired with Chakan. Having dispatched letters to Chakan regarding his arrival, he requested that he attack the Hiatelites before he himself arrived there. Having arrived at them, he killed their king and handed over Belcha with her to Anusherwan, and he took her as his wife from the Charkani, placing his camp in Phargana. When he returned to Chorasan, he approached the son of Dyya- B zar Hamyarita, the prince of the Yemenites, and sought aid from him against the Ethiopians; and when he and his people were with him, they stayed behind in the captured Yemen. Whenever he sent his armies, Anusherwan always achieved prosperity and victory, so that he restored his subjects to the best condition. When he had reached the end of his life, he left the affairs of the kingdom to his son Hormoz, and died. The duration of the reign of Anusherwan was forty-seven years and six months. After him, his son Hormoz, son of Anusherwan, reigned for eleven years and six months; and this was in the twelfth year of the reign of Justinus, Emperor of the Romans.
In the year 189-191, after Justinus Junior died, Tiberius reigned over the Romans for four years; and this was in the third year of the reign of Hormoz, son of Anusherwan, king of the Persians. In the first year of the reign of Tiberius, Emperor of the Romans, Cyriacus was appointed Patriarch of Constantinople, who sat for sixteen years, then died. In the second year of the same reign, Anus was appointed Patriarch of Jerusalem; he sat for eight years, then died. Furthermore, Tiberius, Emperor of the Romans, reigned for twenty years after him, and Mauricius ruled over the Romans, which was in the seventh year of the reign of Hormoz, son of Anusherwan the king.
In the time of the Emperor Mauricius of the Romans, there was a certain monk named Marun, who asserted that in our Lord Christ there are two natures and one will, one operation and one person, and he corrupted the faith of men. The majority, however, having embraced his doctrine and his disciples, professed the same, and some of them were inhabitants of Hamah and Kennesrin and Awasem, together with some Romans; and they were called his followers, who he himself asserted were Maronites, taking the name from his own name, Marone. And when he himself died, the inhabitants of the city of Hamah built a monastery there, called the Monastery of Marun, and professed his faith. In the fifth year of the reign of Mauricius, a great earthquake occurred at Antioch, and a great part of the city was destroyed, along with its inhabitants. In the nineteenth year of the same reign, there was also a severe earthquake in the region of the Romans and in Syrian Damascus around the third hour, in which many cities under Roman rule perished, and not a few men. In the same year, Isaac was appointed Patriarch of Jerusalem, who sat for eight years, then died. In the same year, Gregory, Patriarch of Antioch, died. Travelers from Antioch went to Jerusalem to find a man whom they might appoint as their patriarch. Isaac, Patriarch of Jerusalem, spoke to them: "I do not recognize you," he said. They replied: "We are Anastasius, who was your patriarch, and when you accused me of being stunned, I was servant of the church of the Resurrection, depriving myself for the sake of the church." He had buried his clothes in a certain place at Antioch. Therefore, being brought from Antioch, he led them to the place where he had buried his clothes, and having extracted them, he returned to the cathedra; and he ruled over them for nine years, then died. In the seventeenth year of the reign of Mauricius, another Anastasius was appointed Patriarch of Antioch, who sat for 193-195 years, then perished. After his death, the cathedra of Antioch remained vacant for twenty-two years. In the fifteenth year of the same reign of Mauricius, Zachariah was appointed Patriarch of Jerusalem; he sat for seven years, then he was taken captive. In the fifth year of the same reign, Gregory was appointed Patriarch of Rome, who sat for thirteen years, then died. In the eighteenth year of the same reign, Sabinianus was appointed Patriarch of Rome, who, having sat for one year, died. In the nineteenth year of the same reign, Bonifacius was appointed Patriarch of Rome, who sat for six years, then died. In the fourteenth year of the same reign, Thomas was appointed Patriarch of Constantinople; he sat for fourteen years, then died. In the second year of the same reign, Eulogius was appointed Patriarch of Alexandria.
A and discovered him dead, with a shroud laid over his eyes; and they who were sleeping near the robber related what they had heard of his weeping and supplications. The physician, therefore, having taken the shroud, entered to the Emperor Maurice and showed it to him, and related both what he had seen in his dream and what he had heard from those who were sleeping near the robber; and he said to the emperor: Praise be to God who, by your aid, B received the robber, and forgave him, just as He admitted the former robber on the cross: that one was first, this one second. Hormizd, son of Anushirwan, the king of the Persians, was infamous for his ferocity, harshness, and tyranny, treating men badly and reducing them to straits; having cast many of his subjects into prison and deposed them from their rank. While he was behaving in this manner, behold, the Khagan set out against him with numerous armies; against whom Hormizd sent a certain man by the name of Bahram, C son of Bahram (who was also called Chobin), with twelve thousand soldiers. Bahram Chobin therefore killed the Khagan and gave his forces over to be plundered. But when he had finished this business with the Khagan, calling to mind the ferocity and tyranny of Hormizd, and the evil suspicions he harbored against his commanders and armies, he feared to return to him, and therefore, while he was still in Khorasan, he rebelled against him and withdrew his hand from rendering him obedience. Also, the forces that were in Iraq, D rising against Hormizd, because of the evil they saw in his rule, deposed him from the kingdom, though fearing to kill him. Now Hormizd had a son named Khosrow, whom he had sent to Azerbaijan. He, having heard what had happened to his father, arrived with his companions to bring him aid; but being unable to stand against him, he fled towards the Romans, having begged for help from the Emperor Maurice, and asked him to send an army with him for that purpose, having eight of his own men with him, and together with them his uncles, Nabda and Nustan; who, while they were going, taking counsel among themselves about their business, and Khosrow perceiving this, said to them: Tell me, what is it that you are deciding? They answered: It is not our opinion that you should depart from this region before we have killed Hormizd. For we do not wish to go to the Roman Emperor Maurice, lest, if Hormizd sets out to him, he should write that we have fled from him, and what we least want should happen to us. Having therefore returned, they killed Hormizd himself, then, returning to Khosrow, they departed together with him until, arriving at a certain monastery on the way, they took lodging there. But when morning came, the horsemen whom Bahram Chobin had sent to seek them arrived, and upon seeing them, they did not doubt for a moment that they were to die. Nabda therefore said to them: Depart you, leaving me behind; I will keep you safe. Therefore, having mounted their horses, they continued on their journey, and Nabda ordered the janitor of the monastery to close the gate. And approaching—
A The horsemen surrounded the monastery, to whom Nabda went up and said, "Chosroes tells you, ‘We are in your hands; if it pleases you to permit us to pass the rest of this day here, do so.’" Upon their granting this, as night came on, he went up again and, approaching them, said, "Chosroes gives you many thanks; and if it seems good to you to grant us the delay of the night hours until dawn, then, having set out, we shall travel to you," which they also granted; but Nabda did not cease to act in this manner with them until he knew that Chosroes and his companions had made much progress on their journey and had reached a land far away. But Bahram’s soldiers reported to him how the situation stood with them. Those therefore who brought him bound to Bahram related to him what had happened to them. He, however, marveling greatly at him, ordered him to be kept in prison in the custody of a certain kinsman of his named Bahram Ebu Siachusi. He began to draw the aforementioned Bahram to the service of Chosroes, and to alienate him from the friendship of Sunir, saying to him, "I suggest to you that you remove Sunir from the midst through treachery, by which deed you will gain great favor with Chosroes." B And he did not cease to send message after message on this matter until he had bent his heart, so that he attempted to kill Sunir; and when Sunir had perceived this, he ordered him [the messenger/Nabda] to be killed. But Nabda fled so that he could not be overtaken. Now when Chosroes had reached the Emperor Maurice, he received him, and sent with him a huge army to bring him aid. Chosroes therefore set out together with the forces that Maurice had sent with him by way of Armenia, until they pitched camp in Azerbaijan, with Sunir also coming to meet him, until he encountered him at that place. Where, a heavy battle having been joined between them, Sunir was put to flight and headed off to the Turks. Yet Chosroes did not cease to act through treachery until he had ensured he was killed there.
Chosroes, son of Hormizd, who was nicknamed Aperwiz, occupied the kingdom for thirty-nine years; and this was in the seventh year of the reign of Maurice, emperor of the Romans. Now with the kingdom already established in the hands of Chosroes, he sent back his forces to the Emperor Maurice, commanding them to be dismissed with gifts and presents and with the most excellent of those things which are usually bestowed by such a person upon such others. Furthermore, he wrote to the Emperor Maurice, asking for his daughter, named Maria, in marriage; to whom Maurice replied, "It is not permitted for me to give my daughter to you in marriage, unless you embrace the Christian religion." C Chosroes, assenting to this, embraced Christianity, with his companions, councilors, and generals blaming him and saying, "This will be a reproach both to us and to you; nor has any one of the kings of the Persians from Artaxerxes until this time done so." But do not let the love of this woman compel you to desert that which your fathers professed, since moreover we cannot prove that the Christian religion is such that you should embrace it: since Christians are oath-breakers, and no faith can be placed in their word. But he, once he had become a Christian, did inform Maurice himself of this by written letters, who thereupon sent his daughter to him with a quantity of gold and silver that cannot be told, together with such an entourage of household goods and of menservants and maidservants as it was proper to be sent from such a one to such another.
Chosroes Aperwiz, moreover, seizing those who had killed his father, destroyed them root and branch. He killed Nabda and Nastam, his own uncles, and as for his subjects, he began to rule tyrannically and to treat them badly; and he amassed more wealth than any of his fathers had ever amassed, and spared no expenses, having deposed the nobles and reduced the princes to ignominy. D Now as for Maurice, the Roman emperor, there was a servant of his whom he loved and had raised to dignity, named Theodorus, but having been angered at him at one time, he struck him severely, whence he conceived anger in his heart against him. There was in the service of the same [emperor] among his generals a certain man named Phocas, against whom he [Maurice] was angry. Phocas therefore said to the young Theodorus, after he had given him a large sum of money, "Employ some artifice by which you can kill Maurice." The boy therefore, because of the anger he had retained in his heart against him, entered at night and killed him. Phocas seized the empire. Phocas therefore ruled the Romans for eight years, and this was in the fifteenth year of the reign of Chosroes, king of the Persians. Phocas also laid hands on the children of Maurice and slaughtered them, but their nurse, having hidden one of them by snatching him away, handed over her own son to be killed in his place. This boy, when he had grown up, became a monk on Mount Sinai and died. But Chosroes, son of Hormizd, having heard that Maurice had been killed with all his children, having called together his companions, said to them, "It is necessary for me to seek out the blood of my father-in-law, and to avenge him (with his wife Maria, daughter of Maurice, inciting him to this very thing)." To whom his councilors replied, "We surely told you that there is neither pact nor faith nor treaty with Christians: but you did not wish to give ear to us; for if they had any care for a treaty or any faith, they would not have killed their own king. Now, however, we shall point out to the king that if he does [this], he will bend their hearts, shake their foundation, and reduce their religion to nothing; which is this: since they have a house in Jerusalem which they cherish greatly, by sending forces, you should destroy it, as when it is destroyed their powers will be weakened, and the empire will be brought into contempt." [D again] He sent therefore from among his generals a certain man named Chorawazail to Jerusalem, that he might devastate it: he also [sent] another into Egypt and Alexandria, who might kill the Romans gathered there. Chosroes himself set out for Constantinople and besieged it for fourteen years. Now indeed Cho—
A 1 Cor. xii. Not in mind, but in malice be infants, but in mind be perfect. Solomon: An imprudent heart will cause grief to its master. Ecclesiasticus x: The lips of the imprudent will submerge him. The imprudence of the discourse of his mouth; and the outcome of his mouth is a bad error. Proverbs xvi: An imprudent man digs up evils for himself; and on his lips he gathers fire. Ecclesiasticus xxii: Do not converse much with an imprudent man, and do not approach a man void of understanding. To a mind void of wisdom nothing is conducive; for he is ruled rather by imprudence. Ibid: Weep for the dead, for light has been taken away from him; and weep for the fool, for he is deprived of understanding. Ibid: Sand, salt, and a mass of iron are easier to bear than an imprudent man. Do not subject yourself to a foolish man. Ecclesiasticus viii: Do not enter into counsel with a fool. Theologians: He who teaches a fool glues together a broken pot. Count the neglect of the mind a disgrace. To take a fool as a leader and an ignorant counselor differ not at all. Not so much orphans as foolish men are in need of the presence of guardians. Crates: Crates compared foolish men to fetters, in that they do not perform their duty unless forced by bonds and necessity. Sextus: Neither is a voice to be sought in fishes, nor virtue in ignorant men.
B When I had reached the church, a certain man whom I had followed, who had garments of snow-white brightness, handed me a hundred gold pieces (in some copies it is said a thousand), saying: Having accepted these gold pieces, use them as it pleases you. And when I had turned around to return them to him, I saw no one. I said, therefore: Truly, this is no falsehood. Now, John the Merciful was accustomed to distribute whatever he possessed in alms, to such an extent that he would take off the clothes he was wearing and distribute them to the poor; indeed, he would sometimes even give them the sacred vestments in which he celebrated the holy rites, out of the extreme mercy he had; and he was named John the Merciful.
Furthermore, in the sixth year of the reign of Phocas, Theodore the Roman Patriarch was appointed; he sat for three years, and then died. But when the Persians had devastated the churches of Jerusalem and had returned having burned them with fire, a certain monk who was in the monastery of Drwakesi (which is the same as the monastery of Theodosius), by name Modestus, and its prefect, after they had returned, set out to Ramleh, Tiberias, Tyre, and Damascus, and asked the Christians that, by donating something, they might bring him help so that he might restore the churches of Jerusalem which the Persians had destroyed: by their donating and by a great collection of wealth, having returned to Jerusalem, he rebuilt the churches of the Resurrection, the Sepulcher, the Calvary, and of Saint Constantine, the structure which still exists today. And when John the Merciful, Patriarch of Alexandria, had heard that Modestus was restoring the churches destroyed by the Persians, he sent him a thousand beasts of burden, a thousand sacks of grain, a thousand of legumes, a thousand amphorae of brine, a thousand of wine, a thousand pounds of iron, with a thousand workmen. But Chosroes, when he had devastated Jerusalem, sought Egypt and Alexandria. John the Merciful, therefore, hearing that the Persians were heading for Alexandria, out of fear, together with the patrician who was in charge of Alexandria, by name Nicetas, fled to Cyprus. And when they had arrived at Cyprus, Nicetas asked him to go with him to Constantinople to the Emperor Phocas, to greet him, and to ask [God] that he might free him from the siege by which he was being pressed by the Persians. But while they were sailing on the sea, John the Merciful saw in a dream a servant saying to him: The heavenly King is nearer to you than the earthly king. C John, therefore, having awakened, said to Nicetas: Return with me to Cyprus, for I am about to die. And when they had returned to Cyprus, he died, after he had occupied the chair for ten years; and he was buried in a certain village of Cyprus called Asataneta. But after the death of John the Merciful, Alexandria remained without a patriarch for seven years. When, however, Caesar had besieged Constantinople, Syria remained empty of the Roman army. Now, there were four thousand Jews at Tyre. They wrote to the Jews who were in Jerusalem, Cyprus, Damascus, and in the mountain of Galilee and Tiberias, that all of them, gathered on the night of the Christians' Easter, should kill the Christians who were at Tyre, then, having set out to Jerusalem, should remove from the midst all who were there and occupy the city. D
When this became known to the patrician who was stationed at Tyre, and to the inhabitants of that city, they seized the Jews who were there, and, bound in iron chains, cast them into prison; and having closed the city gates, they placed A war machines and catapults beside them. When, therefore, the night of the Christians' Paschal feast had arrived, the Jews gathered to Tyre from all regions, just as the Jews had written to them and as they had agreed among themselves; and they amounted in number to more than twenty-six thousand men, whom the Tyrians vigorously attacked from the height of the citadel. The Jews, indeed, tore down all the churches that were outside the citadel of Tyre, and as often as they tore down any church, the inhabitants of Tyre, taking one hundred men from the Jews who were bound among them and placing them on the top of the citadel, cut off their heads and threw them outside; and in this way they beheaded two thousand men. Then, a clamor having arisen among them, the Jews were put to flight, and B the inhabitants of Tyre, having gone out, pursued them, turning their backs, and wrought a great slaughter of them; the rest fled in confusion back to their respective regions.
Furthermore, in the city of Thessalonica there was a youth named Heraclius, with certain patricians of that city. The patricians, having purchased ships and filled them with barley, wheat, and legumes, sent them via Heraclius to Constantinople to provide them with aid and food, since they had been reduced to straits by the siege. When therefore Heraclius had arrived at Constantinople, the people were affected with joy at his arrival, being refreshed by the wheat, barley, and legumes brought by him. Now Heraclius was a youth of exceptional fortitude, prudent, sagacious in counsel, [and] capable; he therefore said to the counselors C and the leaders: "The Emperor Phocas is of the worst rule, and unfortunate to all the Romans; for from the time he was appointed to the empire, for a space of eight years you have been surrounded by a siege, and the regions of the Greeks, Egypt, and Syria have been handled most wretchedly. For the Persians have occupied all your regions and lands; my counsel, therefore, is that, having killed that man, you should appoint another over you." To these, agreeing, Heraclius, having attacked Phocas, killed him. And when the counselors and leaders had gathered that they might choose someone from the royal line whom they might set over themselves: "It is not expedient," said Heraclius, "that you should appoint an emperor over you unless he be endowed with these D qualities, namely, that he be exceptionally temperate, skilled in matters pertaining to religion, sagacious, truthful in speech, strenuous, eloquent, merciful in governing, [and] skilled in laying snares for enemies." To them replying, "Who can produce such a one for us?" "Agree with me," he said, "if I point out such a one to you, that you yourselves will appoint him over you"; and promising them that he would perform this so that they could place faith in them, "I," he said, "am he." Wherefore they appointed him over themselves. Heraclius therefore ruled over the Romans, and this in the twenty-third year of the reign of Chosroes, son of Hormizd Aperwiz, king of the Persians.
THE BEGINNING OF THE HEIRA
In the first year of the reign of Heraclius, Emperor of the Romans, was the flight [of Mohammed, whom the Arabs took for their prophet, to Medina] in the month of Rabi' al-Awwal, in which he remained in exile for ten years, in the eighth year of which he erected a pulpit. Now from Diocletian to the Heira [or flight of Mohammed] there are three hundred and thirty-eight years, and from the Lord Christ to the same, six hundred and fourteen. From Alexander to the same, nine hundred and thirty-three. From the Babylonian captivity to the same, one thousand one hundred and ninety-six. From David to the same, one thousand six hundred and seventy-three. From the departure of the Israelites from Egypt to the same, two thousand two hundred and seventy-nine. From Abraham to the same, two thousand seven hundred and eighty-six. From Peleg to the same, three thousand three hundred and twenty-seven. From the Flood to the same, three thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight. From Adam to the same, six thousand one hundred and fourteen. Heraclius, moreover, after he was appointed to the Constantinopolitan empire, suffered a severe siege for six years. Therefore, the people of Constantinople, having been reduced to straits by the siege, when the greatest part of them had perished from famine, devised in their minds to open the city to Chosroes. When Heraclius had learned this, and feared lest they should deliver the open city to Chosroes, he himself, sending to Chosroes, said to him: "Whatever you shall impose upon me to be done, I will bind myself to perform it for you, provided you depart from me." To whom Chosroes wrote back: "If you wish," said he, "that I depart from you, you shall bring to me as the price of redemption for yourself and your region one thousand talents of gold, as many of silver, one thousand virgin girls, one thousand horses, [and] one thousand holoseric garments; and may this be the tribute to be paid by you annually; but pay me this year's tribute immediately, and that suddenly without delay, so that I may depart from you." Heraclius wrote back: "To the clement king in that which he asked annually; but it is not at present in my possession the whole which he asked of me for the price of redemption; since the clement king has cut me off from all my dominions. But if the clement king shall have granted me power into my regions, so that having gone out I may collect wealth, the whole which he asked of me I will bring to him after he has waited for me for six months; and he shall have guaranteed me security so that, traversing my dominions, I may collect wealth, and he shall have the one who is compliant to his will." Chosroes therefore assented to his requests. Then Heraclius, having convened his counselors and leaders, "I," [he] said, "have submitted myself to Chosroes that I might make him and his companions secure, but now I am about to set out into the region of the Persians. I trust, however, in our Lord, Jesus Christ, that He will provide me with aid against the Persians, and will deliver us and our people from Chosroes and his companions. That if, lingering, I have not returned within six months, beguile Chosroes with flatteries, and give him hope, and defer him up to an entire year. Then if I return to you [let it be well]; if not, do what shall seem best to you; moreover, I appoint my brother Constantine as my vicar among you, and you obey those things which I have said to you." They therefore, having acceptedthese things, and having prayed for a happy success for him, were satisfied.
A Heraclius, therefore, having selected the strongest and most eminent of the leaders of the Constantinopolitan army, more than five thousand men to take with him, and having prepared ships in which he might carry both men and horses, set out from Constantinople to Trebizond, and there he halted. Having collected his forces and given his commands, he sought aid from the King of the Khazars, pledging to him a throne upon which he might sit and take part in the sessions of the palace; he did the same with the King of Al Anjaz, bestowing upon him a diadem so that he might be adorned whenever he approached the same session; and he did likewise with the King of Al Sanariz, to whom he also granted by pact a throne so that he might sit in that same session; whence from that time he was called King Al Sanariz, King of the Solii [Lord].
And thus provided, he set out into the mountainous region as far as Isfahan and Mord and the city of Sapor, and into whatever city he entered, he gave commands and collected forces. B Wherever, however, he met any Persian man, woman, or child on the way, he cut their throats. The inhabitants of the city of Sapor, indeed, having seen the forces of Heraclius, and being terrified with great fear, fortified themselves and set up machines and ballistae at the gates. Heraclius harassed them with war for some days, then, having started the battle, he did not cease until he had taken the city, having destroyed with slaughter all those who were in it, both men and women and children, and even having ripped open the wombs of pregnant women, the embryos extracted from them were dashed against stones. Which being seen: "I," said Heraclius, "am he of whom David the prophet prophesied, where in Psalm cxxxvi he says: *Blessed is he who, taking thy little ones, shall dash them against the rock.* Then, having set fire to the city and carried off a great multitude of captives, along with countless gold and gems, he devastated the entire Persian region. Then, returning on his way through the regions of Halwan and Shiraz and C Madayen, he entered Miyapharekin, and having crossed the Tigris, he passed into Armenia as far as the river Arsanas.
He had with him, however, among the captives, the son of Chosroes named Kobades (who was also called Sirawoih), born of Maria, daughter of the Emperor Maurice, for whose sake these wars were waged. When therefore he had reached Miyapharekin, having summoned Kobades, the son of Chosroes, he shaved off his head and beard; then, having given him a letter to carry, he sent him to his father Chosroes, placing him upon an ass equipped with pack-saddles, along with a troop to whom he had given orders to convey him to his father. The copy of the letter which he wrote is this: "From the servant of Christ, Heraclius, who has obtained aid [from God], to the contemptible Chosroes, perplexed and destitute of aid. These things being promised: I have collected for you, as the price of my redemption and that of my dominions, what I could; there are, however, the heads of the Persians, by whose [giving] I shall pay what I promised you. Immediately, therefore, when you have read my letter, before you have let them fall from your hand, D send those who may convey them to you. Farewell."
When Kobades had arrived at his father Chosroes, and he had seen him with his head and beard shaved, and carried on an ass equipped with pack-saddles, "What," he asked, "do you bring by way of news?" To which he replied, "Heraclius," said he, "has devastated all the cities of the Persians, having slaughtered men, women, and children; he has destroyed and burned the royal city, having killed all who were in it, and he has carried off wealth and gems, the value of which no one could enumerate." And this is the letter of the man himself.
When Chosroes had read the letter of Heraclius, both he himself and his companions were affected with great sadness, and they lamented their families and their children with tears. Chosroes therefore, having summoned his councilors and leaders, "What," said he, "is your opinion, since our wives and children have been killed, and our homes and dwellings have been devastated?" His leaders and councilors answered him: "It will profit us nothing to sit here, but rather let us depart and seek the road which Heraclius holds, so that we may meet him." Chosroes therefore, having abandoned the siege of Constantinople, set out to seek Heraclius.
While he was traveling on the way, it was reported to him that Heraclius had already crossed the Tigris and that he necessarily had to ford the river Arsanas. "Let us make haste, therefore," they said, "to occupy the fords before him, that he may not be able to cross. For we hope that God will grant us victory over him, so that we may rescue the captives and capture all that he has carried with him; since he has destroyed the men of the Persians and made their women common."
Chosroes therefore, having arrived at the river Arsanas, encamped at the ford, awaiting Heraclius. When Heraclius was now only one day's journey distant from the river Arsanas, it was announced to him that Chosroes was sitting at the ford awaiting him: he, therefore, having left his army and whatever he had with him, the baggage, and having taken some of his companions, took with him straw and the dung of beasts, which, when he had traveled against the current of the river for one day's journey, he threw into the river. The water, therefore, carried the straw and the dung down to Chosroes and his companions, who, seeing them in the river, thought that Heraclius had crossed the river somewhere higher up, and, having left the ford, they set out to the place where they thought Heraclius had crossed. Then, it having been reported to Heraclius that had returned to his own men, Chosroes and his companions had left the ford and sought the regions higher up. He therefore, traveling with his companions, crossed the river and set out until he reached Trebizond. Then, having embarked on ships, he went to Constantinople, whose inhabitants met him with joy and exultation, and spent seven days in eating, drinking, and gladness.
It was reported, however, to Chosroes that Heraclius had returned to the ford and crossed, and that the straw and dung had been thrown into the river by him as a ruse and fraud. He therefore, having set out to his own city, found it desolate, so that there was not in it a child, nor anyone to call, nor anyone to answer. And from that time the kingdom of the Persians grew weak, and that in the seventh year of the reign of Heraclius, and in the same seventh year of the Hegira. In the second year of the reign of Heraclius was appointed Yusatins [Bonifacius] patriarch of Ro-
Rome, who sat for five years, and then died in the ninth year of the same reign, which was also the ninth of the Hegira. Having departed Constantinople, Heraclius was heading to Jerusalem, that he might see what the Persians had devastated therein. But when he had arrived at Hems, its inhabitants refused to receive him, saying, "You are a Maronite and opposed to our religion." Having left them, he went to the monastery of Maron, into which the monks who had gone out to meet him had proceeded. Now Heraclius was a Maronite and contributed many riches to them; and having donated lands to the monastery, their affairs were so prosperous. Thence he proceeded to Damascus. Now there was a certain man in Damascus by the name of Mansur, the son of Serjun, appointed to the levying of tributes in the name of the Emperor Maurice, from whom Heraclius sought the [debts] for the whole space of years during which the Romans had been besieged in Constantinople; and he replied that he had taken the Damascus tribute to Caesar. Heraclius examined him severely with lashes and imprisonment, until he extorted a hundred thousand gold pieces from him; then he confirmed him in that prefecture: for which reason Mansur nurtured anger in his heart against Heraclius. Thence Heraclius proceeded and sought Jerusalem. And when he had arrived at Tiberias, the Jews who were inhabitants of Tiberias, and also of the mountainous region of Galilee and Nazareth and all the towns of that part, came out to meet him with gifts, invoking blessings and asking that he grant security to them; which he granted, and sealed a pact with them in writing. A But when he had arrived at Jerusalem, the monks of [the monastery of] B 241 243 Al Sik, and the inhabitants of the city of Jerusalem, came out to meet him, accompanied by Modestus, with censers and incense. But when he had entered the city and seen what the Persians had destroyed and burned, he was affected with great sadness. Then, when Modestus had shown him those things, namely the Temple of the Resurrection, of the Cranium, and of St. Constantine, again being affected with joy, he rendered thanks to Modestus for what he had done. But the monks themselves and the inhabitants of Jerusalem recounted to him that the Jews who lived around Jerusalem, together with those who lived in the mountains of Galilee, at the time when the Persians came, had joined themselves to them and offered help, and had persecuted the Christians with slaughter more than the Persians had, and had devastated the churches, and had cast flames upon them, showing him the corpses that had been cast into the Mamela [pool]. They also informed him of those [crimes] which the Jews of Tyre had perpetrated, concerning the slaughter of the Christians and the demolition of the churches. To whom Heraclius said: "What, then, do you wish?" They answered: "That, doing us a favor, you wipe out all the Jews who are around Jerusalem and in the mountain of Galilee, since we are not certain that they, upon the arrival of some hostile people, will not again bring help to them against us, as they have already brought it to the Persians." Heraclius replied: "How shall I permit them to be killed, when I have already granted them security, and have verified the pact with them in writing?" C 244 D
A of Friday; except that in those days, namely on Wednesday and Friday, they fast until the ninth hour. This canon rebukes those who fast for the sake of the Emperor Heraclius, from the sect of the Maronites, from whose deeds may God turn us away, since it is not permitted to fast for the sake of a mortal man; and all the more so because that emperor, when he laid down the life of this world, died a Maronite. But to return to the history, Heraclius appointed Modestus, a monk and prefect of the monastery of Al Ducesi, as Patriarch of Jerusalem, and ordered him to follow him to Damascus, so that from the Damascus tribute he might grant him funds, and might remit to him the tribute of Palestine, so that he might restore all the churches of Jerusalem which the Persians had destroyed. Having returned, therefore, from Jerusalem to Damascus, Heraclius remained there, exacting money from Mansur. Modestus sat for nine months, then he died, and after his death the see of Jerusalem remained without a patriarch for six years.
Furthermore, in the eleven hundred and B 245-251 year of the empire of Heraclius, on the day of the Moon [Monday], which was the second day of the month Rabia the First, in the eleventh year of the Hegira, died Mohammed, son of Abdollah, the prophet of the Moslems; he was buried at his home where he died, namely at Ayesha’s. He suffered from his illness for thirteen days. He died having attained the age of sixty-three years. He left no surviving children except Phatema, but she also died forty—or according to others, seventy—days after him, and this was during the Caliphate of Abu Becr. For the Moslems gathered to inaugurate Abu Becr, whose name was Abdollah, son of Othman Amer, son of Ebn Caab, son of Ebn Saad, son of Ebn Tiyem, son of Ebn Morrah; his mother was Salma, daughter of Soehri, son of Ebu Amur, son of Ebn Saab, son of Ebn Saad, son of Ebn Tiyem, son of Ebn Morrah; and his inauguration took place on the same day that Mohammed died, with the others [in taking the oath to him] led by Omar Ebn Chetebi and Othmano Ebn Afani, and this was in the eleventh year of the empire of Heraclius, emperor of the Romans: and in this year was appointed Oborudus [Honorius], the Roman patriarch, who reigned for eighteen years, then died.
Cesra, however, the son of Hormoz, when he had arrived at his city, and had seen the ruin that Heraclius had brought upon it, was seized with great grief, yet he did not relent at all from the cruelty of his character, so that men bore his rule heavily, their patience failing, 252 calling him ill-fated, since during his reign the inhabitants of Persia perished and their houses were laid waste. Therefore, after thirty-eight years, he being deposed, they appointed in his place his son Kobades, who is also called Shirawaih, the son of Maria, daughter of Mauritius, emperor of the Romans, whose slaughter by them was the cause of all these evils; since [Cesra] was his father-in-law, and he desired to avenge his father-in-law. Kobades, however, having been set over the kingdom, made a show of justice, and removed the injury by which they had been oppressed, C and set himself against those who were hostile, killing eighteen, while the rest of his household fled. And he said: "I shall remit the tribute for men, so that my justice and beneficence may reach everyone universally." But little time had passed before a pestilence began to rage among his subjects, by which most of them were removed from the midst of life, the king Shirawaih, who is also Kobades, perishing alongside his father Cesra: the space which he reigned was eight months.
Then after him reigned Azdshir, son of Shirawaih, whom the prefect of the western regions immediately attacked and killed, after he had reigned for only five months. Then a certain man named Jorlism usurped the kingdom, who was not of the royal line, and from whose family no other person aspired to the kingdom. He is the one whom 253-255 Aperwiz had sent to wage war against the Romans. Then, by snares set for him, a certain woman of the royal lineage, named Arzmandocht, removed him from the midst, after he had reigned for twenty-two days: but he is not numbered among the kings. Then after him reigned a certain one of the sons of Hormozi, who was in the region of the Turks, and having heard what manner of disagreements had occurred, he approached; his name was Cesra, son of Kobad, son of Hormoz. But he who was in charge of the confines of Corasan attacked him and killed him, when he had reigned three months, so that he himself is not numbered among the kings.
Then after him Maria, Cesra’s daughter, who was Cesra’s sister of the same mother, reigned for a year and a half: she exacted no tribute, and distributed money to the army; and since she was confirmed in the kingdom, it is named after her. Then after her reigned a certain man named Hoshnastadah, who was to the sons of Cesra D as a father; he reigned for two months, then was killed, and is not numbered among the kings. After him reigned Arzmandocht, daughter of Cesra, who was also removed and died by poison after a short interval, when she had reigned a year and four months; and she was confirmed in the kingdom, and it is named after her. After her reigned a certain man named Paracheradchoshrs for one month, then he was killed, and he is not numbered among the kings. But the whole period during which Shirawaih, and those who succeeded him, 256 both male and female, as well those who are said to have reigned as those who are not counted in the number of kings, reigned—up to Paracheradchoshrs—along with the interval which came between any two kings, was four years, and that whole time was full of turmoil and commotion. When, therefore, the Persians saw to what they had come by their seditions, and with the Romans prevailing, and what evils had invaded both their religion and their common life, having sought out Cesra’s son, named Yazdejerdo, who had fled from Shirawaih when he was slaughtering his brothers, they appointed him king over themselves, being then fifteen years of age. But the tempers of the people were diverse, the factions divided, and they provoked one another with wars, the inhabitants of every region, city, or town of the entire kingdom bringing war upon their neighbors; and they remained in this state, the cities, those being the dissolved affairs, with the people divided, and the kingdom ruined.
C should they show themselves opposed to us in any matter that regards your lands, or blood, or wealth, or children, [that evil] we shall repel from you so long as you are confederated with us and have confirmed that pact with us. But if you deny it, there is no peace between us and you, but the matter must be decided by the sword until either we all die to the last man, or we obtain from you what we desire." The patrician, therefore, when he had heard the words of Omar Ebn al-Asi, and considered how little account he made of him, said to his companions: "I suspect that this man is the emperor of that people," and he gave orders that when he reached the gate of the city in departing, they should cut off his head. However, there was with Omar a youth named Wardan, who was skilled in the Roman language, since he was a Greek by nation. Wardan therefore told Omar what he had heard; "Use deceit," he said, "by which you may depart." When the patrician said to Omar Ebn al-Asi: "Is there among your companions anyone who is your equal?" Omar replied: "I am, among my companions, most rude of speech and of least counsel, since I am nothing other than an envoy, who refers to you what they said to me. There are, however, ten men more excellent than I who lead the army, and they wished to come with me to you, were it not that they sent me so that I might hear what you would say: but if it pleases you that I bring them, that you may hear their words and know that I have told you the truth, I will do so." The patrician said: "Do so." For he thought within his mind, and said the patrician: "It is better for me that I slay many than one." He sent therefore to those whom he had ordered to kill D Omar, so that they should not harm him with death or any other evil, hoping that his ten companions would arrive, so that he might take them out of the way. Omar therefore, having gone out of the gate and telling his companions how matters stood, said, "I shall never return to such a one." Then, "God is greatest," he exclaimed, and the Romans coming forth, battle was joined between them, in which the Romans having been put to flight, he dealt them a great slaughter, and the Moslems, following in their footsteps, drove them from Palestine and the Jordan to Jerusalem and Caesarea. In these they fortified themselves, and having left those men, they headed for the parts of bathnia; and concerning this affair they wrote letters to Abu Becr. But when the messenger arrived at him, he had departed from life, Omar Ebn al-Chetab having been appointed as successor; for Abu Becr, being sick, had designated Omar Ebn al-Chetab in his testament. The testament was written by the hand of Uthman Ebn Affan. Abu Becr died on the penultimate day of the month of Jumada al-Thani, in the thirteenth year of the Hegira; Omar Ebn al-Chetab prayed for him; he was buried in the same houses in which Mohammed was. His caliphate was of two years, three months, and twenty-two days. On the day he died, he was sixty-three years old. Abu Becr was tall, fair, though with a whiteness verging on yellow, thin, with sparse mustaches, and a lean face.
A The Caliphate of Omar Ebnil Chetabi.
Omar (Ebnol-Chetali, Ebn Nofail, Ebn Abdil azis, Ebn Riyoh, Ebn Ada, Ebn Caab—whose mother was Cathima, daughter of Hashami Ebni-l Mogayara, Ebn Abdillabi, Ebn Omari, Ebni Maclizum) obtained the Caliphate on the same Tuesday that Abu Becr died, in the thirteenth year of the reign of Heraclius, Emperor of the Romans. At the beginning of his Caliphate, George was appointed Patriarch of Alexandria; he held the see for four years, then, upon hearing that the Moslemin had conquered the Romans, had occupied Palestine, and were heading toward Egypt, he took to the sea and fled from Alexandria to Palestine. After his flight, the Alexandrian see remained without a Melkite patriarch for ninety-seven years. Following his flight, Cyrus was appointed Patriarch of Alexandria; he was a Maronite and of the same religion as Heraclius. B There was at that time in Alexandria a certain monk named Sophronius who disapproved of the doctrine of Patriarch Cyrus. Cyrus asserted that in our Lord Christ there were two natures, one will, one operation, and one person—which is the Maronite view. C Sophronius therefore approached Patriarch Cyrus and held a dispute with him: “If,” he said, “the matter were as you assert, and there were one will and one operation in Christ, it would necessarily follow that there is one nature in Him, not two natures, as the Jacobites assert. But we attribute two wills and two operations to Him, just as there are two natures, since it is impossible for there to be only one will in one who possesses two natures. If He had a single will, He would certainly also have a single nature. Since, therefore, He has two natures, He also has two wills.” To this Cyrus replied: “Both Theodorus [alias Horius], Patriarch of Rome, and Sergius of Constantinople have concurred in this judgment.” Sophronius then traveled to Constantinople, D and upon meeting Patriarch Sergius, recounted what had passed between himself and Cyrus, the Patriarch of Alexandria. Sergius of Constantinople was surprised at this, yet when two days later gifts were sent to him by Cyrus, his opinion changed, and, coming out against Sophronius, he shifted to the position of Cyrus. Theodorus, the Roman Patriarch, also thinking perversely, gave his assent to them, asserting that the nature of Christ is solely dual. Sophronius, rejecting this, said: “It is not so; every thing is dual [in itself] except that which pertains to the person.” They then said: “We affirm neither two wills nor one will.” The opinion of the Church remained undecided for about forty-six years. Later, Sophronius, arriving at Jerusalem from Constantinople, met with the monks and the inhabitants of the city of Jerusalem and recounted to them what had happened, setting forth his own history. And since there was no patriarch in Jerusalem, Sophronius was placed in charge of the patriarchal office because of the sincerity of his faith; he wrote a book about the faith, which he sent to all regions, and the inhabitants of [the whole] world accepted it. At that time, it was the second year of the Caliphate of Omar Ebnil Chetabi. In the fifth year of the same Caliphate, Macedonius was appointed Patriarch of Antioch in the city of Constantinople; he was a Maronite. He remained in Constantinople for six years, then departed from the living before he had even entered or seen Antioch.
In the sixth year of the Caliphate of Omar Ebnil Chetabi, and the eighteenth of the reign of Heraclius, Syrus was appointed Patriarch of Constantinople; he was also a Maronite. He held the see for eight years (or, according to another copy, two years), but he was sent into exile by Martina, the wife of Heraclius, who was orthodox, and she appointed Paul in his place as Patriarch of Constantinople. He, too, was a Maronite; he held the see for six years, then died. After his death, Heraclius restored Syrus, whom his wife had relegated, to the see, which he occupied for seven years, and then he died. Meanwhile, the Moslemin had laid siege to Damascus. When Omar Ebno'l Chetab had been placed in charge of the Caliphate, by written letters he removed Omar Ebno'l Asi from his command and entrusted it to Chaledo Ebnil Walidi. Heraclius, however, the Emperor of the Romans, who had retreated from Damascus to Hems, when he heard that the Moslemin had captured Palestine and Jordan and had advanced to Baithnia, descended from Hems to Antioch. He issued commands and, having gathered the Arab forces from the tribes of Gasan, Iedan, Calb, Lachai, and the rest who were under his authority, he appointed a leader over them from among his own men, one named Mahan, and sent them to Damascus, with letters written to his prefect Mansur, that by giving money he should retain those men for himself. When Mahan and the forces that were with him reached Damascus, Mansur said to them: “The Emperor has no need of this huge army; for the Arabs are a bellicose race, and if anyone advances against them, they will harass them in battle and bring slaughter upon their armies; but this army needs much money, and there is no money in Damascus which we might pay them (this was done by him with craft and guile, as some suppose, so that the men, hearing that there was no money in Damascus to be given to them, might disperse and Damascus might be surrendered to the Moslemin).” To which Mahan replied: “Give us the money you have, and we shall write to the Emperor to inform him that there is no cash in Damascus, so that if there is need for those men, he may devise another way to obtain funds and send them to them in whatever way he can.” When Mahan heard that the Arabs had departed from Tiberias and were heading to Damascus, he gathered his forces, set out from Damascus, and covered a two-day journey, then
A encamped at a certain large ford called Wadil Ramad, in a place named Aljaulan, and in common parlance Yakusah; the ford lay between him and the Arabs like a trench. There, then, they halted for some days, with the Arabs themselves positioned opposite. But after some days, Mansur the prefect, having gone out from Damascus, sought out Mahan’s army, carrying with him the money which he had collected there, so that he might distribute it to the soldiers. At night, however, he arrived at the army, with many of the inhabitants of Damascus accompanying him who carried torches; and when they had approached the army more closely, they beat drums, sounded trumpets, and raised a clamor—a thing done besides by Mansur through foul treachery. The Romans, however, seeing the torches behind them and hearing the din of the drums and trumpets, suspected that the Arabs were about to attack them from the rear and surround them; turning to flight, they all fell into that torrent, namely Wadil Ramad, which is a very large torrent, and perished. Very few of them escaped, some of whom fled in various directions, others returned to Damascus, and others fled to Jerusalem or to Caesarea in Palestine B. Those of the Romans who fled to Damascus, fearing lest they be surrounded by a siege by the Moslems, gathered whatever victuals and provisions and things of that kind they could, and positioned ballistae and engines at the gates, over which they set soldiers; then, writing to the Emperor Heraclius, they sought aid from him, and informed him of what Mansur had done to them and by what treacherous trick he had brought about a slaughter of men. Mahan, indeed, afraid to return to the Emperor Heraclius lest he be put to death by him, fled to Mount Sinai and embraced the monastic life, having taken for himself the name Anastasius. He is also the author of the discourse in which he interpreted the sixth Psalm of David. When, however, the Moslems had arrived at Damascus, Chaled Ebnol Walid set his camp at the Oriental Gate, Abu Obaida Ebnol Jarahi at the Gate of Jabia, Amrus Ebnol Asi at the Gate of Thomas, and Yazid Ebn Abi Sofyan at the Small Gate, as far as the Gate of Cisan. They therefore surrounded the city with a siege for six months, with the exception of one day, to the point that the Greeks came out daily from the gates and provoked them to battle C. Regarding which matter, when they had informed Omar Ebnol Chetabi by letter, he, by return letter, dismissed Chaled Ebnol Walid from his command, appointing Abu Obaida Ebn Jarrahi in his place. When, however, the Damascenes were being pressed by the siege, Mansur went out—Damascus 277-279—and, going to the Oriental Gate, asked Chaled Ebnol Walid to grant security to himself and his own, and to those who were with him, as well as to the inhabitants of Damascus, except for the Romans, so that he might open the gates of Damascus to him. Chaled, consenting to what he sought, wrote out for him a letter of security, the exemplar of which is this: “This document [is given] by Chaled Ebnol Walid to the inhabitants of the city of Damascus; [Let it be known] that I grant you security D for your lives, your houses, and your wealth, and that your churches shall not be torn down, nor shall they be inhabited, but shall be granted to you peacefully.” When he had handed the document to Mansur, he himself opened the Eastern gate; and he, having entered the city, calling out to his companions, “Sheathe your swords!” cried out [in a loud voice]. However, the soldiers of the Greeks who had been stationed at the gates, when they heard that proclamation, knowing that Mansur had let the Arabs into the city, fled through the deserted gates. Abu Obaida Ebnol Jarahi then entered the city with his sword drawn through the gate of Jabia; Yazid Ebn Abi Sofyan, with his sword also drawn, through the little gate; Omar Ebnol Asi, with his sword drawn, through the Gate of Thomas: where at the Gate of Thomas, the army on both sides fought a fierce battle, and a great multitude of men fell, nor did they cease slaughtering the Mohammedans, and taking them as captives. Chaled Ebnol Walid, Abu Obaida, Ebnol Jarahi, Yazid Ebn Abi Sofyan, and Amrus Ebnol Asi [all that has been said] met. A scroll was unrolled in the hand of Mansur. Chaled Ebnol Walid therefore recounted to them what he had conceded. Yazid Ebn Abi Sofyan said: “We do not hold [the pact] of security as valid”; Abu Obaida and Omar Ebnol Asi responded: “We hold it as valid,” exclaiming to their companions: “Sheathe your swords!” But Yazid said to his companions: “Do not sheathe them.” Amrus Ebnol Asi said: “Agree that the city was taken by surrender”; and when this pleased everyone, Mansur said: “Let it be written down by me immediately: there have been witnesses, Abu Obaida Ebnol Jarahi, Yazid Ebn Abi Sofyan, Amrus Ebnol Asi, and Sarjabil Ebn Hajanæ, to the document which Mansur accepted.” But as many of the Greek soldiers as had escaped went off to the Emperor Heraclius at Antioch. The emperor, however, having heard that Damascus had been captured, said: “Farewell, O Syria,” that is, “Farewell, Syrian Damascus,” and he departed towards Constantinople, and in that same year of the caliphate of Omar Ebnol Chetabi, for the third time; but because Mansur the prefect of Damascus was the cause of the evil that had befallen the Mohammedans against them 281-283, and had brought the army upon them, all the patriarchs and bishops throughout the whole world struck him with anathema. On the seventh day after he had reached Omar Ebnol Chetabi, the messenger made him aware that Damascus had been captured. Omar Ebnol Chetabi therefore wrote to Amrus Ebnol Asi that he should lead his army away from Palestine; and he wrote that Yazid Ebn Abi Sofyan should take Damascus as a garrison; [and that] Sarjabil Ebn Hasana [should take] Oroddano [the Jordan region]; and Abu Obaida Ebnol Jarahi, Hamsa. Amrus Ebnol Asi therefore set out for Palestine; Sarjabil [for] Oroddanus; and Abu Obaida Ebnol Jarahi, [for] Hamsa.
Antimensia without prohibition are sent wherever there is a need for them, nor are they restricted to this or that region, but are transferred to any other province, just as the sacred chrism. Thus they are named, as being opposed and responding to those holy tables (for what are antimensia if not, so to speak, altars?), which discharge the sacred and divine liturgy. Properly, however, they signify those tables which the consecrated rite has not yet sanctioned. XIV... Of Nicephorus the patriarch. A monk ought to enter the sanctuary and light wax candles and ornament the temple. In danger, a simple monk also baptizes. Similarly also a deacon. Or even a layman, if he is found in a place in the absence of a priest. B Therefore, the Israelites, moreover, had the Holy of Holies. And it is in the middle of the earth, and it was a sanctuary for the Israelites; who hold it in great veneration, and wherever they might be, during prayer their faces are turned toward it), on the condition that you write me a contract, that he shall not build within Jerusalem anything besides that [Mohammedan] place of worship. Omar Ibn al-Khattab therefore wrote a contract concerning this matter, which he delivered to him. Since, when they had embraced the Christian religion, and Helena, the mother of Constantine, had built churches in Jerusalem; the place of the Rock and the things adjacent to it had been devastated, and therefore abandoned. But onto the Rock they had thrown dust to such an extent that a great dunghill was upon it, and therefore they held it in neglect, and the Romans, neither did they offer it the honor which the Israelites were accustomed to, nor did they build a church upon it, because it was said by our Lord Christ in the holy Gospel: Behold, your house is left to you desolate; and also, There shall not be left here one stone upon another that shall not be thrown down. For this reason the Christians left it desolate, with no church built upon it. Sophronius, therefore, the patriarch, taking Omar Ibn al-Khattab by the hand, led him to the dunghill. Omar, however, taking hold of the hem of his garment, filled it with dust, which he threw into the valley of Gehenna. C The Mohammedans, therefore, seeing that Omar Ibn al-Khattab had carried the dust in his bosom, they themselves, without delay, all carried it away in their own bosoms, and in their garments, shields, baskets, and pitchers, until, the place having been cleansed and purified, the Rock appeared. Then, some saying: Let us build a temple such that we may set the Rock toward the Qibla; Omar said: By no means, but we shall build the temple so that we may place the Rock toward its rear part. Omar therefore built a temple, in the rear part of which he placed the Rock. Next, having set out for Bethlehem to visit it, when the time for prayer arrived, he prayed inside the church at the southern arch. The arch was entirely variegated with mosaic work. And Omar wrote a contract for the patriarch that the Mohammedans should not pray in that place except one by one, one after another, nor should they gather there to pray, nor be summoned to prayers by the voice of a muezzin; nor should anything in it be changed. But in this time of ours, the Mohammedans have acted contrary to the writing of Omar Ibn al-Khattab. D For, having removed the variegated work from the arch, they wrote whatever they wished there, and gathered for prayers, with men called by the voice of the muezzin. And they did the same on the steps which were near the gate of the Church of Constantine, upon which Omar prayed, and taking for themselves half of the vestibule of the church, they built an oratory in it, which they called the oratory of Omar. Furthermore, Sophronius the patriarch of Jerusalem died, after he had held that office for four years.
A 292 After his death, Jerusalem remained without a patriarch for twenty-nine years. But Omar Ebnol Chetbi ordered Ebnol Asi to prepare troops and set out for Egypt; and he commanded him that if his letter should reach him while he was still in the territory of Syria, he should halt and proceed no further; but if they were delivered to him after he had entered the borders of Egypt, he should proceed. Then Omar Ebnol Chetabi returned from Jerusalem to Medina.
Abu Obaidah Ebnol Iarahi [was] in Hams; then he set out for Kenasrin. The patrician of Kenasrin wrote to him, asking for a one-year truce, so that men might depart to the emperor Heraclius, and that those who remained there might be received into a treaty and pact. When Abu Obaidah had agreed to this, the patrician asked Abu Obaidah to set up a column between the Greeks and the Mohammedans, which it would be forbidden for the Mohammedans to cross to the Greeks, and for the Greeks to the Mohammedans, upon which B they had painted an effigy of the emperor Heraclius sitting upon a royal throne. Abu Obaidah accepted this. But while some of the Mohammedans were exercising the art of riding on horseback, behold, Abu Handali Ebn Amri, riding his horse at full speed, passed by that column and effigy while holding a spear in his hand, and the iron that was at the lower part of his spear, without intent, struck the eye of the effigy and gouged it out. The patrician, therefore, approaching Kenasrin, said to Abu Obaidah: "You have committed a fraud against us, O crowd of Moslems, violating the peace and dissolving the truces that were between us." When Abu Obaidah said: "And who violated it?" The patrician replied: "He who gouged out the eye of our king." Abu Obaidah said: "What then do you want?" They answered: "We will not be appeased unless the eye of your king is gouged out." Abu Obaidah said: "Place my statue in place of his; then C 293-295 do with it what you please and what seems best to you." They answered: "No image will please us other than that of your great king." To which, with Abu Obaidah nodding his assent, when the Greeks had made a statue of Omar Ebnil Chetabi, one of them approached and gouged out its eye with a spear. Then the patrician said: "Now you have acted justly toward us." Therefore, the year having concluded, they observed the peace and the treaty.
Aiyad Ebe Ganam took Mesopotamia, Rakkam, and Roham, with safety and peace contracted for them. Almogirah, however, conquered Aderbijan by the sword. Almogirah was the first to call Omar Ebnil Chetabi "Amirol Mumenin," or Emperor of the Faithful. For after the death of Mohammed, men called Abu Bekr "Khalifah," or vicar of the messenger of God. And when his prefects wrote to him, they were accustomed to write: "To the Vicar of the messenger of God, from N. etc." When, therefore, Omar Ebnol Chetabi had obtained the empire, they entitled him "vicar of the vicar of the messenger of God," and when they gave him letters, D his prefects wrote: "To the Vicar of the vicar of the messenger of God, from N. etc." But when Al Magiram Ebn Shaabe had been made prefect of Basora, he wrote to him thus: "To the servant of God, Omar Ebn Chetabi, to the emperor of the faithful"; which Omar Ebnol Chetabi bore with difficulty [at first], and did not acknowledge it. Then he said: "I am the servant of God, I am Omar Ebnol Chetabi, I am the emperor of the faithful; but Al Mogirah Ebn Shaabe has spoken the truth." Therefore 296 Omar Ebnol Chetabi was called Amirol Mumenin, or emperor of the faithful, and from that time they were distinguished by the title of Caliph, Amirol Mumenin.
Yazdejird, however, the king of the Persians, having been made certain by report of the arrival of Saadi Ebn Abi Wakkasi, ordered his family and treasures to be carried away into Sinan, remaining with few troops and meager resources; and having appointed Al Madayeno Chorado Al Uzdi, the brother of Rostam, as prefect, he sent Rostam to attack Saad Ebn Abi Wakkasi. He, therefore, fixing his seat at Kadesie, remained there until he was killed. When this was announced to Yazdejird, and he saw how hostile the people and his army were toward him, and how insubordinate they were, and that the leaders of his army had perished, and that there was discord among them, he determined that he would return to his kingdom. Wherefore he set out for Persia, and from there he journeyed toward Meran by way of Sejestami, until he was killed there; nor was he ever free from wars and dissensions until he was killed. He reigned for twenty years.
Omar Ebnol Chetabi, when he had reached Medina, wrote a letter discharging Omar Ebnol Asi from the prefecture of Palestine, and ordered him, after gathering his troops, to head for Egypt. He appointed Moawia Ebn Abi Sofyan prefect of Askelon, Caesarea, and Palestine, who took Caesarea and Askelon by the sword, and this was in the seventh year of the Caliphate of Omar Ebnil Chetabi. Then, with Othman Ebnil Aphano approaching Omar 297-299 Ebnil Chetabi, when Omar had said that he had written to Amrum Ebnol Asi discharging him from Palestine and Caesarea, and ordering him to go to Egypt, with Moawia Ebn Abi Sofyan as prefect of Palestine and Caesarea. Othman said: "You know, O emperor of the faithful, that Amrum is bold, and rash, and a lover of empire; I fear, therefore, lest, having set out without those whom he can trust, or without troops, he may expose the Moslems to destruction, hoping for an opportunity by which he knows not whether it will work for or against him." Therefore Omar Ebnol Chetabi regretted that he had written to Amrum Ebnol Asi, fearing that which Othman had said. Therefore he wrote to him again: "If," he said, "these letters reach you before you have entered the territory of Egypt, return to the place from which you set out; but if you have entered it, proceed as you have begun."
When the letters reached Amrum, while he was at Raphachi, fearing that if he should open the letters received he would find in them [a mandate] to return, he refused to receive the letters from the messenger, and, driving him away, he proceeded in the condition he was in, until he placed his camp in a certain village between Raphacum and Arishum. When he had inquired about this and brought back the answer: "This is from the territory of Egypt," having summoned the messenger, he accepted the letters from him, and together with those Moslems who were with him, he read through
them; and he said to them: "Do you not know that this place belongs to the territory of Egypt?" And when they answered: "Indeed, the Commander of the Faithful," he said, "ordered and commanded B that if his letters should reach me before I had entered the land of Egypt, I should turn back; but if I had already entered it, I should proceed: proceed, therefore, with the blessing of God and His assistance." Others report that Amru, when he was in Palestine, had set out for Egypt with his companions without having obtained permission, and that he had written to Omar Ebnol Chetabi while he was still on this side of Arish; but that Omar had not read the letters kept with him until he had reached Arish, and then he read them, in which it was written: "From Omar Ebnol Chetabi to Amru Ebnol Asi." These things having been premised: "You have set out for Egypt with those who are with you, in which there is a great multitude of Roman forces, while you have but few men with you. If, therefore, you have not yet reached Egypt, see that you return." Omar is said to have asked: "Which is this land?" And when they answered: "Egypt," he continued on his journey. Others, however, say that Amru was with his army near Caesarea, together with the rest of the forces that were there, surrounding it in a siege, and that Omar Ebnol Chetabi, who was at Jabia at that time, had sent letters to him secretly. That he had therefore hastened to Egypt, and by his order his companions had set out as if they were going from one nearby place to another, then had marched by night. And when they had already traveled a long way, the prefects of the army were annoyed at what he had done, seeing themselves deceived by him C as if by a clever stratagem. And having learned of this, they reported it to Omar Ebnol Chetabi. He wrote to Amro Ebnol Asi, with these words: "You have deceived those who are with you; if, therefore, my letters reach you before you have entered Egypt, return: but if, after you have entered it, they reach you, you shall proceed, and know that I will bring you aid." Having therefore set out as far as Pharma, he waited there for a month until he captured it, having surrounded it in a siege. Then, having set out for Mesr, where the Romans had fortified themselves with a citadel, which they had also surrounded on all sides with a wall, into which they had driven iron nails; having besieged that citadel for seven months, they fought them severely. But when the capture of it was delayed, he sought help by letters from Omar, who sent to his aid four thousand men, among whom were AlZobair Ebnol Arami, Abadah Ebnol Sameti, and Mosallema Ebu Mokalladi; and there were already four thousand men with Amru, so that now they amounted to eight thousand. The prefect of the taxes of Egypt, in the name of the Emperor Heraclius, was Almokaukas, who was also a Jacobite, and who hated the Greeks, D except that it did not seem right to him to make his Jacobite opinion known openly, lest he be killed by them. Moreover, he had withheld the revenues of Egypt from the time that Chosroes besieged Constantinople, so that he feared falling into the hands of the Emperor Heraclius, lest he put him to death. Cunningly, therefore, he used a ruse against the Romans, and said to them: "You are coming to help the Arabs, and since we cannot resist them, nor can we slaughter them by taking the fortress; therefore, by blocking the gate for the defense of the fortress, we shall depart to an island, and not fortify ourselves with the river." The Greeks, therefore, along with Mokaukas and an assembly of the leading Copts, went out from the southern gate, accompanied by the crowd of people who were to fight with the Arabs, and embarking on ships, they went to the island where the place Exclusorium is today, and cut the bridge behind them; for at that time the Nile was rising. Then Mokaukas sent to Amru Ebnol Asi and his companions: "You," he says, "are a nation that has arrived in our region, and you have remained in our land while the war is going on. Now, however, the Nile has surrounded you, and you are captured immediately. Send, therefore, to us in our name someone with whom you may say what we hear; perhaps we may come to an end between us and you as we both wish; and let there be an end to the quarrelling between us." When, therefore, they reached Amru Ebnol Asi, Mokaukas's messengers, he sent to them Abadah Ebnol Sameti (who was Abadah the Niger), who, when he had entered to Mokaukas, sat down near him and said: "What do you want with us? Tell us." Abadah said: "There is nothing between us and you except three things, of which you may choose either one; and the leader has commanded this to me, and the same has been received from the Commander of the Faithful; namely, that you embrace our Islamic religion; and you become brothers to us, and the same for you and for us, the same against those who are against us; [this pact] we will cease from making war upon you, nor will we allow any harm to be inflicted upon you, nor that anyone should make an incursion upon you. If you refuse this, you will pay tribute to us, which, if it be agreed upon, you will pay yearly in perpetuity, as long as we both shall exist, and by this agreement, we will protect you from all who may attack you, or who may inflict harm upon any part of your region, or upon your lives or goods, and we will do this for you, and if you be accepted into a pact with us, we will be bound by that same pact. If you refuse this, there remains nothing between us and you except the judgment of the sword, until either we all die, or we achieve what we desire." Almokaukas said to him: "That you propose that we embrace your religion, that thing cannot be done. But as for the pact which you propose, I accept it." But the Greeks refused to give their assent to entering into the pact, saying: "We will never do this." Almokaukas did this by trickery and deceit, so that he might lead the Greeks out from the fortress, that he might embrace peace, and keep the riches he had seized safe for himself. Having returned, Abadah Ebnol Sameti indicated to Amro what had been done. When the Mohammedans knew for certain that only a few remained in the fortress, they attacked the battle in the part where today is Sukol.
A They attacked the Hamam [the bath forum] with machines and catapults. Then Al-Zubayr, having placed a ladder against the side of the fortress, on the side looking toward that forum, ascended, and while they themselves were not noticing, once the top of the fortress was occupied, he exclaimed: "Allah Akbar," that is, "God is greatest." As men were climbing the ladder with great zeal, the Greeks, ceasing from the battle, having boarded their ships and retreated to the island to their companions; and thus the Mohammedans, the fortress having been captured, slaughtered, bound, and plundered. Therefore the Greeks, having seen what Al-Muqawqis had done, and that he had been led away from the fortress by them through fraud, and had surrendered it to the Mohammedans, fearing in part for themselves, boarded ships, and in the vineyard of Shoraik [the Shoraiki vineyard] arranged themselves in the manner of an army. B But Al-Muqawqis, having approached Amro to strike an agreement regarding a pact between them, it was settled between them that for all the inhabitants of Egypt, from its upper to its lower part, two gold coins should be imposed to be paid by each, as much by the nobles as by the commoners, namely, as many as had reached adulthood; but nothing was demanded nor from the elderly worn out with age, nor from boys not yet having reached the years of puberty, 309-311 nor from women. They also took a census of them, especially of the Copts, who were liable for the payment of the tribute; and those who were counted were six million men, whose tax was twelve million gold coins; but he imposed two gold coins on them, promising them immunity in exchange for this, with firm faith. C Then Al-Muqawqis, approaching Amro, said: "I have nothing in common with the Greeks, nor do I have the same religion with them, nor the same common opinion. But from fear that I might be put to death by them, I concealed my religion and my opinion regarding their belief, and kept it secret. I ask from you, however, that you grant me three requests." Amro asked, "What are these?" He replied: "Do not separate me from the Copts, but hold me in their number, and impose upon me the same thing which you impose upon them, since I associate with them and place my faith in them in those things which pertain to me. Furthermore, the covenant which you have entered into and promised with them, they are going to observe. Second, that if hereafter the Greeks seek from you that you make peace with them, do not do it until you have destroyed them and reduced them into slavery: for they are worthy of this. Third, that if I should die, you command them to bury me in the church of St. John of Alexandria." D And Amro granted this to him on the condition that they would take it upon themselves to repair two bridges, and provide inns and lodging for them, and prepare markets and bridges everywhere 312 between Fustat and Alexandria: which they also did, with the elders of the Copts coming forward to prepare the road for them; and the bridges, and markets, and inns were to be cared for by them: nay, they even carried aid to them in whatever matter they wished for attacking the Greeks. Amro therefore went with his men until he encountered all the Greeks at the vineyard of Shoraik; where they fought for three days; after...
A they had turned to flight; some took refuge at sea and boarded ships, while others departed by land. The Muslims entered Alexandria after they had spent fourteen months in its siege. When the city had been captured and those who had fled from the Romans had been dispersed, Amro ibn al-As went in search of those who had fled by land. However, those of them who had fled by sea returned to Alexandria and killed the Muslims who were found therein. When he heard this, Amro returned, but they met him in battle near the citadel; when it was taken by him, they fled once more to the ships. Amro ibn al-As wrote, therefore, to Omar ibn al-Khattab: "I have captured a city, the description of which I shall not attempt, save that I found in it four thousand palaces, four thousand baths, four hundred royal circuses, and twelve thousand gardeners who sell vegetables. I have taken it by force, with no covenant entered into." He further informed him B that the Muslims were requesting that it be divided among them. Omar ibn al-Khattab wrote back to him, disapproving of his counsel, and ordered him not to permit them to plunder or divide it, but rather to leave its taxation to the Muslims, that it might be a resource for them in overcoming their enemies. Amro therefore confirmed it in the state in which it was, and having numbered the inhabitants, he imposed tribute upon them. Moreover, all of Egypt was received into treaty, with a tribute of two gold coins to be paid by each individual; no further tax was imposed on their heads (unless something were added to it, and imposed on account of the lands and produce they possessed), with the exception of the inhabitants of Alexandria: for they paid taxation and tribute at the discretion of whoever was set over them. Indeed, Alexandria was taken by force, without promise or agreed covenants, and with no treaty or agreement initiated with them. It was taken on a Friday, on the new moon of the month of Moharram, in the twentieth year of the Hegira, and also the twentieth year of the reign of Heraclius, which was the eighth year of the caliphate of Omar ibn al-Khattab. Furthermore, Amro ibn al-As sent Bakham ibn Nafi as far as Zawila, and thus whatever lay between Barka and Zawila was in the possession of the Muslims; and at that time no one entered Barka to exact tribute, but they sent the tribute at the appointed time. However, a great calamity overcame the people of Medina due to the scarcity of provisions. Omar ibn al-Khattab therefore wrote to Amro ibn al-As, informing him of the great anguish and scarcity of provisions by which the people were pressed. Amro sent camels laden with wheat, the first of which reached Medina while the last were still in Egypt, in a continuous line. Omar ibn al-Khattab C then wrote to Amro ibn al-As that he should see to the digging of a channel that would reach Kolzum, so that provisions might be more easily transported. Amro therefore dug that river which is under the bridge, which is called the River of the Commander of the Faithful, through which boats used to carry wheat, barley, and legumes from Fustat to Kolzum, which were then carried by the Red Sea to Medina. Amro ibn al-As also captured Tripoli in the west in the twenty-second year of the Hegira, which was also the twenty-second year of the empire of Heraclius, and the tenth of the caliphate of Omar ibn al-Khattab. Amro also built a great mosque at Fustat. Furthermore, Omar ibn al-Khattab was killed at Medina, being killed by Abu Lulu, a slave of Mogira ibn Shaaba. He died on the twenty-seventh day of Dhu al-Hijjah in the twenty-third year of the Hegira, as well as the twenty-third year of the empire of Heraclius, when he was sixty-three years old, during the morning prayer. Now, he had already decided to call to a council [for the selection of a successor] six companions: Othman ibn Affan, Ali ibn Abi Talib, Talha, al-Zubayr ibn al-Awwam, Abd al-Rahman ibn Awf, and Saad ibn Abi Waqqas. Sahib al-Rumi prayed for him; he was buried in the same house in which Muhammad was buried. The length of his caliphate was ten years and nine months. During his caliphate, he went on a pilgrimage for religious reasons nine times. He was of a tawny complexion, tall, bald, and he dyed his head and beard with henna; the commander of his guards was Abdallah ibn Abbas, and his gatekeeper was his slave D Barka.
*The Caliphate of Othman ibn Affan.* Succeeding to the caliphate was Othman ibn Affan ibn Abi al-As, ibn Umayya, ibn Abd Shams. His mother was Arwa bint Kurayz, ibn Rabia, of the tribe [of Quraysh], after the death of Omar, at the end of Dhu al-Hijjah. The [beginning] of his caliphate was the new moon of the month of Moharram in the twenty-fourth year of the Hegira, which was also the twenty-fourth year of the reign of Heraclius, Emperor of the Romans. He held the caliphate for twelve years. In the third year of his caliphate, Cyrus was appointed patriarch of Antioch, who was a Maronite. In Constantinople, however, [for that office] was appointed, where he remained for five years, and did not reach Antioch. He died in Constantinople, and was buried there. In the tenth year of the same caliphate, Macarius was made patriarch of Antioch, who was also a Maronite. He too was created at Constantinople, and having stayed there for eight years, did not reach Antioch, and died, being buried there. In the ninth year of the same caliphate, Peter was appointed patriarch of Constantinople, who was also a Maronite; he sat for six years, then died. In the fourth year of the same caliphate, Peter was created patriarch of Alexandria; he was a Maronite; when he had sat for nine years, he died. In the eighth year of the same caliphate, Honorius the Roman patriarch died, who also had embraced the doctrine of Maro, and through him the opinion of the Church was divided. After his death, a certain man named Severinus was elected, who, having been appointed patriarch of Rome, sat for six months and died. After him, an excellent man named John was elected, to whom, when the cause of this doubt had been brought, at the time when Heraclius was reigning in Constantinople with his brother Constantine, he himself wrote
an apology for his predecessor, Honorius, the Roman Patriarch. The beginning of the letter, however, was as follows: "From Pope John, Roman Patriarch, to the emperors Heraclius and Constantine, brothers, A to whom the Church of Christ the true God was entrusted, whose light has shone in darkness; who has delivered us from the power of darkness by His wonderful light, the true light in which there are no shadows at all; who by the blood of the cross has made peace between heaven and earth; who always watches over the face of the Church. He is the one who has granted this grace to you, O emperors, that you may profess the best and most noble opinions in the Church, and may embrace the most perfect faith, which is closest to Him."
A matter must be recounted here which is necessary to be told, so that those who cherish equity and seek it for themselves may understand, whereby the truth may shine more clearly; when there had reached me the nature of the discrepancies and doubts among the inhabitants of the West, and it was brought to me along with the letters of our brother Pyrrhus, Patriarch of Constantinople, and others. It is necessary, therefore, that this matter be explained, so that it may be understood in its entirety. The beginning of it is as follows: it is said that about eighteen years ago, Cyrus, Patriarch of Alexandria, embraced the opinion of Maro, namely, that in the Lord Christ there are two natures, but one will and one operation. B When Sophronius, who was Patriarch of Jerusalem, heard this, he disputed with him and overcame him with arguments. Then Sophronius set out to Sergius, Patriarch of Constantinople, and finding that he taught the same as Cyrus, and said that Honorius, the Roman Patriarch, also affirmed the same, he returned from Constantinople to Jerusalem. And when he was Patriarch (for the inhabitants of that city had chosen him as Patriarch of Jerusalem on account of his orthodoxy), he wrote a book on faith, which the inhabitants of the whole world accepted.
When Honorius, the Roman Patriarch, and also Sergius, the Patriarch of Constantinople, knew this—falsely having said that he was a Maronite—he wrote a book in which he asserts that our Lord Christ, who is the prince of life, was born without sin. For the Word, through whom all things exist, when He descended from heaven, assumed a body from the Virgin Mary, and was made in nature similar to us, but in no way was He made with the will of sin. For to say, as Paul says, that He took on the likeness of our sins; this means the body without sin with a rational and intellectual soul, and so He saw fit to assume one will, which would belong to His humanity, not as we know that there are two contrary wills in us, of which one will is planted in the intellect and the other in the body, and they are contrary to one another; which happens to the whole human race, since it is under sin, nor is there anyone immune from the sin of rebellion: but of the Lord our Christ, there was no such thing, C nor did He contradict His own will, nor was there sin in Him who came to take away the sin of the world (God forbid! that is impossible). Nor do we say that there was in our Lord Christ even one sin, not in His birth, nor in His temperament.
But we say (he says) and confess one will whereby His holy humanity was directed: but we do not assert two contrary wills, which would be in His intellect and body. Honorius, the Roman Patriarch, wrote this to Sergius, the Patriarch of Constantinople. We indeed confess two contrary wills, the intellect and the body: which some, transferring to their own false opinions, thought that the Roman Patriarch had asserted one will in the divinity and humanity of our Lord Christ: but as to what they suppose, I ask, in what nature do they say there is one will in Christ God? If it is in the divinity only, then it is not in the humanity, and therefore He is not a perfect man. If they say that this will is in the humanity of Christ, we say to them: How then is God perfect? But if they say there is one will in both natures in the incarnation of the one Person D; this is what cannot happen. But we confess the incarnation of the one Christ, and therefore we do not deny the two wills which are in the two natures, lest we corrupt their properties. But we say that the one will is of the one Person of Christ 332; and there are not two persons, as the accursed Nestorius [asserts]. But those who assert that there are two natures and one will in the divinity of Christ and His humanity, and neither operation, they err like the accursed Maronites: and those who say, one nature, one will, and one operation, sin like Eutyches and Dioscorus and Severus the heretics: and this is the opinion of the Jacobites.
But the doctrine and the truth is that which the doctors have set forth, namely: That our Lord Christ possesses two natures, two operations, and one Person: as it is impossible that there should be one will with two natures: as if He had a will, He would also have a nature; since, however, He has two natures, He also has two wills. Let us ask you, therefore, that you order the sheet to be burned which contains the slanders against Leo, the Roman Patriarch, and also against the Council of Chalcedon, lest it be approved by the less learned, and corrupt their faith: and we ask our Lord Christ that He may look with mercy, clemency, and with the aid of your empire upon the peoples beneath the power of His insuperable strength. When John, the Roman Patriarch, had finished this letter, he sent it by a prominent man, by name Bar- sicanus, Archdeacon of the Roman Church, who, to Heraclius [333-335] and the emperor Constantine…
bringing it to them, found that Constantine had died A and also that Heraclius had been killed by his councilors, who had attacked him; just as they considered him ill-omened because Egypt and Syria had been snatched from them, and because he was a Maronite; and they had set over the empire the son of his deceased brother Constantine, whom they also named Constantine after his father's name.
This Emperor Constantine was a pious man, to whom, when the messenger Barsikanus had delivered the letter which had been sent from the Roman Patriarch John to the emperor, he himself took it and read it, and, marveling at the Patriarch’s understanding, ordered a response to be written in this manner: "We have received, holy and excellent father, your mandate. We, however, confess and believe that there are two natures, two wills, and two operations in the Lord Christ, and one person, and him who contradicts this we anathematize. We also believe in what the six hundred and thirty bishops who met in the city of Chalcedon asserted, and we devote to anathema those who anathematize that. And that matter B concerning the burning of the document in which there were slanders against the holy Roman Patriarch Leo and against the Council of Chalcedon, we have ratified, and we have committed it to the fire. We, however, firmly hold to your doctrine, which is the true doctrine: and we ask that you pray for peace for us, and that we may be preserved unharmed from all evils."
Barsikanus, therefore, having received the letters of Emperor Constantine, went with them to John the Roman Patriarch, to whose letter they contained a response. But when he arrived at Rome, he found that Patriarch John had died. After him sat a certain distinguished man by the name of Theodorus, to whom Barsikanus, approaching, informed him of what the emperor had said to him, and how orthodox he was, and at the same time he handed over to him the letters of Emperor Constantine in response to the letter of John which he had written to the emperors: which, when the Patriarch Theodorus had received and read, and marveled at his orthodoxy, he wrote a response to them in this manner:
"To Constantine the emperor, the sole [professor] of sincere faith: from Theodorus, Patriarch of Rome. The omnipotent Lord God, who regards His Church with the governance of His mercy in your piety, has gratified us, and has given us a place to address him with joy and gladness, by which we may manifest this gratitude openly. For you indeed have received your power in place of the holy apostles, that you may contend for the orthodox faith and manifest the true religion: not like Heraclius, who on account of his infidelity and because he deserted the truth, is not worthy to be called king; nor like Sergius, Honorius, Paulus, and Petrus, the patriarchs of Constantinople, C who contradicted the truth, and are worthy of anathema, and who are removed from the rank of the Church on account of the falsity of their opinions, and the doubts which they cast into the souls of men. You, however, most excellent king, know that the true orthodox faith is the fruit of paradise, and it is incumbent upon you to protect and defend it, and make it known to men. Further, we pray to Christ the Lord that He may, for His goodness, bring aid to you in this."
Patriarch Theodorus sent this sealed letter to Emperor Constantine as a response to the letters which he had sent to the Roman Patriarch John. When this reached Constantine, he was affected with grief on account of the death of John, but upon opening the letters he was wonderfully pleased by the goodness of the response which Patriarch Theodorus had returned to him in the place of John, who had died before him; and he ordered a reply to be written. But when the emperor's messenger arrived at Rome, he found Theodorus also dead, after whom Martinus was prefect at Rome.
Furthermore, in the time of Othman Ebn Affani, Emperor Constantine sent a certain servant, by name Manuel the eunuch, with an immense army by sea, who captured Alexandria. At that time in Egypt was Amrus Ebnol Asi. Against him, therefore, Amrus went forth together with the inhabitants of Misr, the Copts, and others, accompanied also by D Amokaukas, who furnished them with wealth, hospitality, and provisions; he met them with a grave battle at the gate of Alexandria, which indeed continued for several days; then Manuel the eunuch turned to flight with all the Romans who had been with him, who, having boarded their ships, returned to Constantinople. Also in the days of Othman Ebn Affani, Africa, Armenia, and Khorasan were captured.
Moawias Ebn Aby Sufyan ruled in Damascus, in the name of Othman. This Moawias made a treaty with the inhabitants of Cyprus in the twenty-eighth year of the Hijra, and that in the fourth year of the caliphate of Othman, with a tribute of seven thousand two hundred gold coins to be paid annually by them in perpetuity to the Moslems, and the same amount also to the Roman emperor. Furthermore, Othman collected the Al-Koran, composing the long with the long and the short with the short: and he produced this in seven books, having abolished the others in the thirty-second year of the Hijra. Then, with men discordant with him, Othman Ebn Affani was killed. Mahommed Ebn Abi Becri, Ammar Ebn Yaseri, and Canana Ebn Bashari killed him on the eighth day of Dhu al-Hijjah (or according to another copy, the eighteenth); in the thirty-fifth year of the Hijra, he being then eighty-two years old; he remained unburied for three days. He was [of] square [stature], of fair face, dark, with an ample beard which he used to braid, and he braced his teeth with gold. Merwan Ebn Hacem was very powerful with him; he was buried in Medina in a place called Iasar Caucab [star bridge]: the prince of his satellites was Abdallah Ebn Phahd the Adawite. His janitor was Hamdanus, his servant.
The Caliphate of Ali Ebn Abi Talebi. After Othman, Ali Ebn Abi Talebi obtained the caliphate (Ebn Abdil Motallabi, Ebn Hashemi, Ebni Abdil Manaphi; whose mother was Phatemah daughter of Asadi, Ebn Hashemi, Ebn Abdil Manaphi) in the month of Dhu al-Hijjah of the thirty-fifth year of the Hijra, and that in the year of the empire...
of Constantine, son of Constantine, the fourth year. A Indeed, he went to Basra, and the Battle of the Camel occurred; then, seeking Kufa and intending to go into Syria, the Battle of Nahrawan was fought. From there he returned to Kufa, where Abd al-Rahman ibn Muljam al-Muradi killed him ten days before the completion of the month of Ramadan, in the fortieth year of the Hijra. He was sixty-three years old when he was killed. His son Hasan prayed for him. His caliphate lasted for four years and ten months. He was dark-skinned, with a protruding belly and a long beard, so long that it covered his entire chest. He did not change the grayness of his hair. He was buried in Garriyan, or according to some, in Thawiah. For there is controversy concerning the place of his burial. His chief of guards was Maaka ibn Kisi al-Zabaji, the gatekeeper, and Kanbar was his servant.
B The Caliphate of Muawiya ibn Abi Sufyan.
Muawiya ibn Abi Sufyan went from Damascus to Iraq, and having there rendered the oaths, he was proclaimed caliph; his name was Sakhr ibn Harb ibn Umayya ibn Abd Shams; his mother was Hinda, daughter of Utba ibn Rabia, son of Abd Shams. He was inaugurated in the month of Rabi’ al-Awwal in the forty-first year of the Hijra, which was the tenth year of the empire of Constantine, son of the Emperor Constantine of the Romans; he ruled for nineteen years and five months. In the second year of his caliphate, George was appointed Patriarch of Constantinople; he sat for ten years and then died. In the second year of his prefecture was the Sixth Council, and at that time the Roman patriarch was Martin. Now the prefect of the West, under the name of the Emperor Constantine, was a certain man named Constans, who, being a Maronite, ordered the Roman patriarch Martin to profess the same sentiment; and when he would not, he relegated him to a certain distant city. There was at that time a holy monk named Maximus, who had two disciples. This man approached the prefect Constans and reproved him C for the perversity of his belief and worship, and for his heterodoxy and grave infidelity. Therefore, Constans ordered the hands and feet of Maximus to be amputated, and his tongue to be torn out, and cast him into a distant place. He also ordered one of his disciples to be seized, and the same to be done to him; the other was beaten with scourges; then he expelled both of them to a place far removed from one another. And when Constans had done this to the patriarch Martin and to Maximus and his two disciples, he appointed a certain excellent man named Deusdedit [Diyanum] as Roman patriarch. But when the faithful Emperor Constantine was made certain of the death of the Roman patriarch Theodore, and what Constans had done to the patriarch Martin and the monk Maximus and his disciples, and that he had appointed Deusdedit as Roman patriarch, he took this ill, and wrote letters to him D with a mandate, asking that he send to him from among the most outstanding bishops who communicated at his altar, giving him his word that he should fear nothing, but that it was for this reason, that Constantine might know the cause of that belief which was contrary to the Church, and what had given rise to it, so that in a council of holy Fathers anathema might be pronounced upon him who was deserving of it. But the emperor’s legate, arriving at Rome, found that Deusdedit had died, and that Agatho had been appointed Roman patriarch after him; when he had delivered the letters to him, he summoned all the bishops who were present, who were in number one hundred and twenty-four, with three deacons, from among those who communicated at his altar, and sent them together with the emperor’s legates. When, therefore, the bishops had arrived at Constantinople, they went in to the Emperor Constantine, and prayed for his health and blessing. But the Emperor Constantine summoned one hundred and sixty-eight bishops, so that they were now two hundred and ninety-two in number, and with the rejection of the three deacons who had been sent by the Roman patriarch Agatho, there remained two hundred and eighty-nine bishops: and so they are listed in the diptychs. Therefore, through the goodness of divine help, and the excellence of the kindness of the faithful Emperor Constantine, this business was transacted whereby those who argued for a single will were judged and struck with anathema; and the president of this Sixth Council was George, the Patriarch of Constantinople, and Theophanes, the Patriarch of Antioch: inasmuch as he was proclaimed patriarch in this very council, since Macarius, who was before him, was struck with anathema therein. At that time, there was no patriarch of Alexandria or Jerusalem, both sees being vacant. Therefore, they pronounced anathema upon Macarius, Macedonius, and Chazjus, the patriarchs of Antioch, and Stephen the disciple of Macarius; and also upon Cyrus and Peter, the patriarchs of Alexandria, and Honorius the Roman patriarch, and Theodore, Paul, and Peter the patriarchs of Constantinople; and furthermore upon Theodore, the bishop of Pharan, and Polychronius who was surnamed Simon Magus.
For this man was a heterodox Syrian priest who presumed that Christ had appeared to him in a dream and indicated that the belief of those who asserted a single will was true. Coming therefore to Constantinople after the decree against the heterodox had been enacted, he tried to defend the belief of the Monothelites; wherefore they devoted him to anathema along with his associates and rejected his false belief, and people called him Simon Magus. And when they had finished smiting the Monothelites with anathema, they sat down to compose for themselves a belief that was right, orthodox, sincere, and blameless; and they said: We believe that the only-begotten Son of the Trinity is one, who is the ancient and eternal Word, equal to the Father, God in one person and one hypostasis; who is recognized as perfect in regard to his humanity, and perfect in regard to his divinity, in that substance which is our Lord Jesus Christ, having two perfect natures, two operations, and two wills in one person.
He took upon himself our struggles and our pains; by whose wounds we have all been healed. For he was like a sheep led to the slaughter, and as a lamb that before its shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth. In his humiliation, his judgment was removed. Now let the pious children of the Church of God, who worship him, understand that in Jesus Christ our Lord and God there are truly two perfect natures, two wills, and two operations, but one person. This is the testimony and faith of the holy sixth council. They also confirmed what the previous five holy councils had confirmed; and they devoted to anathema those who would anathematize that council, and rejected those who rejected it. Furthermore, they received and confirmed the faith of Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem, which had been brought forward. These matters were concluded with God’s assistance, and in the presence of the faithful Emperor Constantine, for whom they prayed well before returning to their own places; this occurred in the thirteenth year of the reign of Constantine, and the fourth year of the caliphate of Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan. Between the fifth council of one hundred and sixty-four bishops, who met at Constantinople in the time of the Roman Emperor Justinian, and this sixth council of two hundred and eighty-nine bishops, who met in the same place in the time of Emperor Constantine, there are one hundred years. And when this business had been completed, in the time of the holy Roman Patriarch Agatho, those dwelling in Damascus and Egypt included the name of Agatho, the Roman Patriarch, in the diptychs, from him down to this present time.
B The faithful Emperor Constantine died after having held the throne for sixteen years; and his son Justinian reigned after him over the Romans for twelve years, which was in the eighth year of the caliphate of Mu'awiya ibn Abi Sufyan.
Some people then approaching the Roman Emperor Justinian said: "There are some among the people of Constantinople who disparage the sixth council, which took place in the time of your father Constantine, asserting that they met to confirm a falsehood." Justinian the Emperor therefore sent and summoned one hundred and thirty bishops, who confirmed the sentence of the sixth council, and devoted with curses those who would curse or contradict it; they also confirmed the sentence of the five previous councils, and pronounced anathema on those who would anathematize them, then returned.
C Furthermore, in the seventh year of the caliphate of Mu'awiya, John was appointed Patriarch of Jerusalem, who presided for forty years, and then died. The see of Jerusalem had remained after the death of Sophronius without a patriarch for twenty-nine years, until John was appointed. George, Patriarch of Constantinople, also died, having fulfilled that office for ten years. In the twelfth year of the caliphate of Mu'awiya, Thomas was created Patriarch of Constantinople, who presided for ten years (or, according to another exemplar, twenty), and then died. In the year of the same caliphate…
A twenty-third, Molsemah Ebn Mochalled Al-Ansartensis added to the structure of the temple which is at Phustati Mesri, after Amr Ibn al-As, a tower, upon which he inscribed his name. Furthermore, during the reign of Moawiah, Rhodes was captured from the land of the Romans. Under the same caliph an eclipse of the sun occurred, so that the stars appeared, in the fiftieth year of the Hegira. Moawiah Ebn Abi Sofyan died in the month of Rajab in the sixtieth year of the Hegira, an octogenarian. He was obese, with large haunches, short of stature, with a loud voice, protruding eyes, a broad chest, and a long beard, which he dyed with the juice of the Nile. He was buried at Damascus. His prefect of the guard was Yazid Ebnol Horri Al-Abasiensis; then Kais Ebn Hamzah Hamadanensis; then Dahak Ebn Kalis Pharensis; his doorkeeper was Riyalius, his slave.
The Caliphate of Yazidi Ebn Moawie
After oaths were sworn to him, Yazid Ebn Moawiah Ebn Abi Sofyani—whose mother was Misua, daughter of [361-363] Yabdaki Calbensis—was inaugurated in the month of Rajab in the sixtieth year of the Hegira. Furthermore, Hosain, son of Ali Ebn Abi Talebi, was killed at Carbale, in the territory of Eraki, on the tenth day of Moharram in the sixty-first year of the Hegira, being sixty-three years of age; and his head was carried to Damascus and paraded around the city. Now, after the death of Hosain Ebn Ali Ebn Abi Talebi, Abdallah Ebnol Zobair Ebnol Awami emerged from Mecca and vindicated the empire for himself. His mother was Asma, daughter of the righteous Abi Becri. When he had stirred up his quarrel, Yazid, son of Moawiah, died, having reigned for three years and 8 months. After him, his son Moawiah Ebn Yazid Ebn Moawiah was substituted in the empire for forty days. B His prefect of the guard was Hamid Ebn Charbat Ebn Yahdac Calbiensis; then Amer Ebn Abdollali Hamadanensis; the doorkeeper was Safwan, his freedman.The Caliphate of Merwan Ebnil Hacemi
Merwan Ebnol Hacemi Ebn Abi Asi, Ebn Ommaie, Ebn Abd-Shemsi—whose mother was Amenah, daughter of Alkema, Ebn Satwan Alcattoni—was inaugurated in the month of Rajab in the sixty-fourth year of the Hegira. Abdollah Ebn Zobair, however, kept himself at Mecca; nor was it permitted for the inhabitants of Damascus or Palestine to carry out pilgrimages, because Merwan Ebnol Hacemi obstructed them on account of Abdollah Ebnol Zobair. 364 The battle of Marj Rahat against Dadako Ebn Kais Pharensis was joined. And Merwan Ebnol Hacemi died in the month of Rabia I in the sixty-fifth year of the Hegira, having held his prefectship for nine months. He died at the age of sixty-one. He was tall, red-haired, and light-eyed. He was buried at Damascus. His guard was commanded by Yaya Ebn Kais Asanensis. His doorkeeper was Abusahel the Black, a freedman of his mother.The Caliphate of Abdil Maleci Ebn Merwan
Abdil Maleci Ebn Merwan Ebn-cl-Acemi, Ebn Abil' Asi—whose mother was Ayesshah, daughter of Moawiah, Ebn Mogira, Ebn Abil Asi, Ebn Ommaie, Ebn Abd Shemsi—was inaugurated in the sixty-fifth year. Sending A to Jerusalem, he enlarged the temple until he brought the rock into it, and ordered men to make a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, but he forbade them to go to Mecca on account of Abdollah Ebn Zobair. The same Abdol Malech Ebn Marwan, having convoked the Christians at Damascus, requested from them the Church of St. John, which was next to the great temple. When they brought him the writing of Chaledi Ebnil Walidi, he offered them much money so that they might build a similar church for themselves in any part of Damascus they wished; and when they were unwilling, he dismissed them. Furthermore, Thomas, Patriarch of [365-367] Antioch, died, after he had held that office for twenty years. Therefore, in the first year of his caliphate, Georgius was appointed Patriarch of Antioch, who sat for B twenty-four years, and then died. In the same year, Joannes was created Patriarch of Constantinople, who, after he had sat for thirty-five years, died. And the Roman Emperor Justinian died; after him Leo reigned for three years, then died; after him Tiberius ruled the Romans for seven years, this being in the thirteenth year of the caliphate of Abdil Malech, son of Merwan. Now Abdol Malech sent Hejajius Ebn Yuseph to Mecca, to besiege Abdollah Ebn Zobair in the Meccan temple; throwing stones into it, Hejajius destroyed its roof. Abdollah, therefore, fearing that it might collapse upon him, went out. His mother said to him: "My son, if you are defending the truth, the truth will be C in your hand; go forth, therefore, to them: if you are killed, you will be a martyr, since you were killed for the sake of the truth." To her he said: "Mother, I do not fear death, but I feel keenly being exposed to ignominy." She answered: "My son, a sheep, once slaughtered, does not fear being skinned." It is said that the mother also gave him some musk to drink. Then, going forward to Hejajius, he fought until he was slaughtered, and was affixed to a cross at Mecca. And men smelled the scent of musk from his body for many days. 368 Abdollah Ebn Zobair was killed in the month of Iomada I, in the seventy-third year of the Hegira, in the caliphate of Abdil Malec Ebn Merwan. Furthermore, an eclipse of the sun occurred so that the stars appeared on the day of the moon, on the last day of Iomada I, in the seventy-fourth year of the Hegira. Now in Egypt there was Abdol Aziz Ebn Merwan, brother of Abdil Malec, who rebuilt [anew] the great temple which had been destroyed at Phustati. Since leprosy had begun to appear in it, the physicians chose for him the city of Holwan: in which place he built a council chamber, and also a large pool which is there, and as for it, he diverted water through stone arches, which he built as far as the pool, from the springs which are on the mountain called Al-Mokattam: upon which he also made a glass throne. He spent a million gold coins at Holwan; and he planted date palms in it: every Thursday, however, he rode from Phustati, and spent the remainder of that day and the night there, then, after the prayer of the day of Venus, he returned to Holwan. He built alsoa pillar there by which the increase of the Nile water of Egypt is measured. There were, moreover, two Melkite Christian chamberlains, who, having requested of him the opportunity to build a church for themselves, were granted this by him; this church is small, and was called the Church of the Two Chamberlains. He also decreed that the Egyptian tax be paid at A different times, specifically a portion each Friday, for fear that if some dispute should arise, the king might have need of the money; nor did he cease to do this until Abdullah Ebnol Zobair was killed, and the empire of Abdil Malec Ebn Merwan was secure. Abdol Aziz set out for Alexandria in the seventy-fourth year, and having seized the leading men of that region, he distributed them among the villages and hamlets, imposing upon each village a certain sum of money according to the ratio of the houses and vineyards, and the types of crops. He also built a bridge which extends over the canal of the Commander of the Faithful. And he had it in mind to render the bridge which is at Phustati useless, and to fix his station at Holwan. He desired also to transfer the ports there, as well as the markets and merchants, so as to render Phustati of no value; yet this he could not accomplish. His scribe was a certain Jacobite by the name of Athanasius, to whom, when he requested permission to build a church for himself in Kasril Shamaa [the Castle of the Candle], he consented. He built, therefore, the church of Saint George, as well as the church of Abokiri which is within the castle, next to Ashabol Rabiat [al. Rebat]. It is said that the church of Abokiri was built from the remnants of the church of Saint George. Abdol Aziz died at that time in Phustati, and was buried there on the twelfth day of the month of Iamada the former, in the eighty-sixth year, aged sixty-two. Abdollah Ebn Merwan died also B on the tenth of the month of Shawali, in the eighty-sixth year of the Hegira, aged sixty-two; his caliphate lasted twenty years. He was dark-skinned, of square build, with a long beard and a prominent belly. He was buried at Damascus. His prefect of the guard was Yazid Ebn Abi Jalsa the Sacsacite; then Abdolol Ebn Yazid the Hacenite. The janitor was Abul Rogairaga, his servant.
The Caliphate of Al Walid Ebn Abdil Malec
Having had oaths sworn to him, Al Walid Ebn Abdil Malec Ebn Merwan was inaugurated; his mother was Waladah, daughter of Abbasi Ebn Harba, Ebn Hareth the Abbasite, at the time when Abdil Malec Ebn Merwan passed away; and he reigned for nine years and nine months. He sent to Jerusalem and built the Jerusalem Temple, and adorned it with white tile-work, and a rock was placed in the middle of the temple, which he also encompassed with a building, which he encrusted with marble; indeed, he took the dome which the Christians had in the church that the Dwal Beci possessed—which was cast in bronze and gilded—and placed it over the rock; he commanded that pilgrimages to the rock be established by the people. Sending also to Korrain Ebn Shebali, the Abbasid, who at that time C of his reign was in charge of Egypt, he demolished the entire great temple, and built or adorned that which is already there; and he gilded the capitals of the columns which are in the assembly of Kaisi; nor is there any column in the temple with a gilded capital except in this place. He also moved the pulpit, while he was demolishing the temple, to [the place called] Kaisariatol 'Asal, and there men prayed, and there they gathered on the days of Venus, until he had completed his building: but the dome remains in Kaisaria to this day. Walid also desired to build the temple which is at Damascus; having therefore summoned the Christians, he said: "It is in our mind to add to our temple this church, to wit, that of Saint John (it was a very beautiful church, and there was no other like it in the entire Damascene domain); we shall give you money so that you yourselves may build one like it wherever you wish: or, if you wish, we shall count out its price for you." And he offered them forty thousand gold pieces. But they, refusing, said: "We have a pact"; and they brought forth the document of Khaled Ebn Walid into the midst. Because of this, Walid, enraged, stood up and cut a beam with his own hand, and also a brick, and together with them they gave themselves to the task of demolishing [the church]: thus he augmented the temple and the entire sanctuary D from the eastern part of their [church], in the way that it now stands. In the third year of his caliphate, Theodorus was appointed patriarch of Jerusalem; he sat for twenty-five years, then died. At that time Justinian ruled over the Romans, who, when he had reigned for six years, died. Walid Ebn Abdil Malec died in the month of Iomada the latter, in the ninety-sixth year of the Hegira, aged forty-three. He was of perfect [stature] of body, with a large beard, into which gray hairs were mixed: he was buried at Damascus. His prefect of the guard was Caab Ebn Hazen the Abasite. The janitor was Saad, his freedman.The Caliphate of Soliman Ebn Abdil Malec
Soliman Ebn Abdil Malech Ebn Merwan, whose mother was Waladah, daughter of Al Abasi Ebn-Bahr the Abasite, was inaugurated in the month of Iomada the latter, in the ninety-sixth year of the Hegira. His reign was for two years and six months. In his time, Philippus was emperor of the Romans, who was a Maronite. He reigned for two years and a half. In Egypt, as tax-collector, in the name of Soliman Ebn Abdil Malec, was Asamah Ebn Zaid the Tannuchite. This man, writing to Soliman, informed him that the column for measuring the water which Abdol Aziz Ebn Merwan had erected at Holwan was of no use; to whom, therefore, writing back, he ordered him to build the column on the island that lies between the river of Fustati and the river of Allizza. Asamah, therefore, in the ninety-seventh year, built the column which is at the entrance of Jizi, by which they measure today, and it is called Alkadim [the ancient]. In the third year of Soliman's caliphate, Stephanus was appointed patriarch of Antioch, who sat for thirty-seven years, then died. Soliman Ebn Abdil Malec died in the month of Safar in the yearby his testament bequeathed the empire to Omar Ebn Abdil Aziz. He was handsome, corpulent, and had a black beard. The prefect of his guards was Caab Ebn Chaled, an inhabitant of Abasa; his doorkeeper was Abu Obadise, his freedman.
The Caliphate of Omar Ebn Abdil Aziz
Omar Ebn Abdil Aziz Ebn Merwan, Ebn ol-Hacemi, whose mother was Ommo Asemi, daughter of Asi Ebn Omar Ebn Chetabi, was inaugurated in the month of Safar in the ninety-ninth year. He turned away from the deeds of his family and abolished the custom of cursing Ali Abi Talebi from the pulpits. For from the caliphate of Moawiae Ebn Abi Sofyan down to the caliphate of Omar Ebn Abi Abdil Aziz, the Ommiad caliphs were accustomed to curse Ali Ebn Talebi from the pulpits, calling him Aba Torab [Father of Dust]. His caliphate lasted thirty months. In his time was the Roman Emperor Anastasius, who reigned for a year and a half.Now, the Christians made known to Omar Ebn Abdil Aziz what had been confirmed to them by a pact A regarding their churches, namely that they should not be torn down or inhabited, producing the document of Chaled Ebn Waled. Omar offered them forty thousand gold pieces, asking that they relinquish the church for the money and build another church in its place in whichever part of Damascus they wished. When they refused this, the matter reached the point that their church was returned to them with its boundaries so that they might restore it. But this seemed grave to the Moslems, and they said: "Our temple, in which we have called to prayer, prayed, and duly poured out prayers to God, has been handed over to them to be torn down and the church restored." Furthermore, Abu Edris Holwanensis said: "A treaty was indeed made with the Christians regarding half of the city of Damascus and the churches that are in it; but as for its other part, it was taken by the sword; and in the same way, the valley of Goutah which is around Damascus, and the monasteries and churches that are in it, all belong to the Moslems as they were taken by the sword. If, therefore, the Christians wish for us to return this church of theirs to them, let us return it on the condition that we tear down the remaining B churches in the half-part of the city of Damascus, and also the churches and monasteries that are outside the city in Goutah. But if they allow us this church, we will concede all those things to them, since the Moslems had possessed the churches of the valley of Goutah and the monastery of Moran and had inhabited them." Fearing, therefore, that their churches and monasteries would be torn down, the Christians left the church to them. Omar wrote them a diploma, ensuring them that their churches which were inside Damascus, as well as the churches and monasteries which were outside Damascus in Goutah, would not be torn down or inhabited, nor would any Moslem have power over them; and he confirmed this with witnesses. Moreover, Omar Ebn Abdil Aziz died in the month of Rajeb of the year of the Hegira 101, at the age of thirty-nine. He was of square stature, beautiful in body and face, sprinkled with grey, and had C a scar on his forehead. According to one account, he is buried in the monastery of Simeon in the district of Hems [Emissa]. The prefect of his guards was Rawahus Ebn Yazid, a native of Saccasa. His doorkeeper was Hobaish, his freedman.
The Caliphate of Yazid Ebn Abdil Maleci
Yazid Ebn Abdil Maleci Eba Merwan, Ebn ol-Hacemi, whose mother was Atecuah, daughter of Yazid Ebn Moawie, was inaugurated; he reigned for four years and one month. He was the first of the caliphs to take a singing girl for himself. That girl, whose name was Hababah, was very dear to him, such that she would appoint and remove prefects without his order. He died in the month of Schaban of the year 105, aged twenty-one; or, according to another account, thirty-seven; he is buried in Damascus. The prefect of his guards was Caab Ebn Chaled, of Abasa; his doorkeeper was Chaled, his freedman.The Caliphate of Hesham Ebn Abdil Maleci
Hesham Ebn Abdil Malec, Ebn Merwan, Ebn ol-Hacemi, whose mother was Ommo Hashemi, daughter of Hashemi, Ebn Ismael, Ebn Hashemi, Ebnol Waledi, Ebnol Magairae, of the tribe of Mahzum, was inaugurated. His reign lasted nineteen years and seven months. In his time, the Roman Emperor was Theodosius, who, after reigning for a year and a half, died; after him Leo reigned over the Romans for twenty-four years, after which he died. In the third year of the caliphate of Hesham, Constantine D was constituted patriarch of Constantinople, who sat for twenty-eight years, then died. In the seventh year of the same caliphate, Kozma was constituted patriarch of Alexandria, who sat for twenty-eight years. Now, the Melchite Christians in Alexandria prayed in the church of Saint Saba, since the Jacobites had already occupied all the churches; but Kozma, who was constituted patriarch, was an unlearned man, who could neither read nor write, as his trade was needlework. When he had traveled to Damascus to Hesham Ebn Abdil Malec, the churches that the Jacobites had occupied were conceded to him by the help of certain learned men; and Hesham wrote to his prefect of Egypt, who was Abdollah Ebnol Itjani of Sae, that he should return the churches that were in the hands of the Jacobites to Kozma the patriarch, and whatever else was comprised by their name. Patriarch Kozma therefore received the churches from the Jacobites, and [among others] the church of Al Kaisarie. For from the time when Georgius, patriarch of Alexandria, fled to Constantinople in the third year of the caliphate of Omar Ebnol Chetabi, until Kozma was constituted patriarch of Alexandria in the seventh year of the caliphate of Hesham, the Alexandrian throne was without a Melchite patriarch for a space of ninety-seven years; and the Jacobites had occupied all the churches in both Egypt and Alexandria. And since the Nubians had need of bishops, the Jacobite patriarch ordained bishops for them: and from that time they embraced the opinion of the Jacobites.And thus Egypt, both Upper and Lower, became Jacobite, except for the church of Michael, which was in Kasril Shamai [Castle of the Candle]. The Melkites held onto that church and prayed there. And when their bishop died, they used to send to the metropolitan of Tyre A to ordain a bishop for them. Nor did the state of the Melkites in Egypt and Alexandria cease to be maintained in this way until Patriarch Kozmas.
Furthermore, in the seventeenth year of the caliphate of Hesham, Elias was established as Patriarch of Jerusalem, where he sat for thirty-four years and then died. Hesham died in the month of Rabia al-Akhir in the year 125 of the Hijra, at the age of fifty-three: he was buried at Rosafah in the territory of Ar-Raqqah. He was cross-eyed, of deformed face, of depraved character, avaricious, and a hoarder of wealth. The prefect of his guards was Caab Ebn Hamed. His doorkeeper was Caleb, his freedman. Those who held the greatest favor with him were Said Ebnol Walid Al Abrash, the Kalbite, and his scribe, Salem Ebn Abdil Aziz.
The Caliphate of Al-Walid Ebn Yazid
Al-Walid Ebn Yazid, Ebn Abdil Malec, Ebn Merwan, was inaugurated; his mother was Ummu al-Hajjaj, daughter of Mohammed Ebn Yusef, Ebnol Hacemi, Ebn Abi Okail, a Thaqafite. He was foolhardy, witless, and given to pleasure: he ruled for one year and three months, then men gathered who disapproved of his deeds and killed him in Jomada al-Akhira of the year 126; he was thrown out in the region of Boheira of Damascus; he was C forty years old. Consequently, contention and unrest occurred in Syria. He was of beautiful face, eloquent of tongue, and perfect in stature. The prefect of his guards was Abdorrahman Ebn Homaidi, a Kalbite. His doorkeeper was Katrus, his freedman.The Caliphate of Yazid Ebnol Walid
Yazid Ebnol Walid Al-Naqes was inaugurated, who is Yazid, son of Walid, son of Abdil Malec, son of Merwan; his mother was a Persian, namely Shahkud, daughter of Firuz, King of the Persians, son of Yazdegerd, son of Shahriar; his grandmother was the daughter of the Roman Emperor Maurice: and so he was accustomed to say: "I am the son of Chosroes and the son of Merwan, and my grandfather was Maurice, and my grandfather was Sasan." He was prefect over the empire in the month of Rajab, and he ruled for five months, then died at the end of the month of Dhu al-Qi'dah of the year 126, at the age of thirty; he was buried in Damascus. The prefect of his guards was Yazid Ebnol Sammadjy, a Homsi: his doorkeeper was Salam, his freedman.The Caliphate of Ja'far al-Mansur
Abul Abbas had made a testament in which he designated as his heir his brother, Abi Ja'far, A Abdallah Ebn Mohammed, Ebn Ali, Ebn Abdollahi, Ebnol Abbasi, whose mother was a concubine named Salamah, daughter of Bashar, and who was from Basra; and likewise his paternal uncle, Isa Ebn Ali, Ebn Abdollahi Ebnol Abbasi. Whereupon he said, "If I die, bind with an oath of fidelity the men whom I have mentioned in this testament, and also those who are alive besides Abul Abbas; make them pledge fidelity." Isa Ebn Ali al-Hashemid, who was in Anbar, caused the leaders and the B commanders to pledge fidelity to Abi Ja'far Abdollah Ebn Mohammed. Ja'far had instituted this on account of the state of religion, accompanied by Abu Muslim. Therefore, having written letters, they informed him of this matter, and notification reached him, and Abu Muslim and the rest, who were the commanders with him, gave their oath. He headed toward Anbar. Now Abdollah Ebn Ali, Ebn Abdollahi, Ebnol Abbasi, was in Mesopotamia, and he there claimed [the] empire for himself; C sending against him Abu Muslim, he defeated him. Returning, al-Mansur went to Kufa. Then he founded the city of Baghdad, which he called Medinat al-Salam, that is, the City of Peace. The city was called Baghdad because it was the cell of a monk named Bagdad; it had an enclosure in a spacious and beautiful middle ground, a place which pleased Abi Ja'far. He himself laid it out, and founded the city, which is called Baghdad after the monk; as if to say: Abi Ja'far built the city in the place of the monk Bagdad. In the year of the caliphate of Abi Ja'far al-Mansur, the first, the Antiochene patriarch was constituted, who sat for eighteen years, then died. D In his twentieth year, his successor was constituted, Theodorus, patriarch of Antioch, who sat for twenty-three years, then died. In the fourth year of his caliphate, Balatianus was constituted patriarch of Alexandria, who sat for forty-six years, then died. In the first year of his [reign], Theodorus was constituted as patriarch of Constantinople, who sat for twenty years, then died. I do not know, however, the names of the patriarchs of Constantinople from the time that Theodorus died until I composed this book, nor of the patriarchs of the Romans, from the time of Agatho, patriarch of Rome; nor is anything said of them. In the twentieth year of his [reign], al-Mansur constituted Georgius, patriarch of Jerusalem, who sat for thirty-six years, then died. Artabatus was also Roman emperor, after whom Constantine, son of Leo, ruled. Furthermore, al-Mansur instituted the pilgrimage in the year of the Hegira one hundred and fifty-eight, and died in the month of Dhu al-Hijjah, at the age of sixty-eight, having discharged the caliphate for twenty-two years. His son, the son of his son, prayed for him; he was buried at Mecca near the well of Maimon.The Caliphate of al-Mahdi
Abul Ja'far al-Mansur was tall, swarthy, with sparse whiskers and a long beard on his chin. The prefects of his guards were Abdollah Ebn Abd al-Rahman, Azdensis, Ebn Caab, Ebn Musa, Tamimensis, and al-Musayeb al-Zahari, Dabbensis. His doorkeeper was Abul Chatib Marzuc, his freedman, and after him, al-Rabius, his freedman. After the death of al-Mansur at Mecca, they pledged their fidelity to Saleb Ebnol Mansur; and to Isa Ebn Musa, al-Mahdi, Ebn Mohammed, Ebn Abdollahi, Ebn Mohammed, Ebn Ali, Ebn Abdollahi, Ebnol Abbasi; whose mother was Omno Musa, daughter of al-Mansur, Ebn Abdollahi, Ebn Sahwi Hamyarensis, Ebn al-Roaini. Therefore, Saleb Ebn al-Mansur performed the rites of the pilgrimage for the people: or, as some report, Mohammed, Ebn Yahya, Ebn Mohammed, Ebn Ali, Ebn Abdollahi, Ebnol Abbasi; and he invited them to the obedience of al-Mahdi. A messenger, however, carried the news to al-Mahdi, who was in Baghdad at that time, namely, Monarah, the slave of al-Mansur. The oaths were therefore rendered to him in Baghdad, on the last day of Dhu al-Hijjah, in the year one hundred and fifty-eight. Furthermore, Constantine, son of Leo, the Roman emperor, died, and his son, Leo, son of Constantine, son of Leo, succeeded him in the empire. The caliphate of al-Mahdi was of ten years, with one month and sixteen days. He died in the month of Muharram of the year of the Hegira one hundred and sixty-nine, when he was thirty-nine years old, and this happened in a village called al-Rud in the land of Masabdan, where he was also buried. He was handsome in face, body, and stature, having a film on his right eye. The prefect of his guards was Nas Ebn Nosair, Ebn Malec, Chozaensis; and upon his death, Hamzah Ebn Malec, Ebn Abdollahi, Ebn Malec. His doorkeeper was al-Rabius, his freedman: then al-Hosaia Ebn Rashed, his freedman.The Caliphate of Musa al-Hadi
After al-Mahdi died in al-Rud, a town in the region of Masabdan, Musa Ebnol Mohdi was substituted, whose mother was a concubine named al-Khizaram, daughter of Ata, of the Jorfah region from the land of Yemen. Musa al-Hadi was occupied in the region of Jorjan, directing war against Madar Hurmuz, the lord of Tabaristan. Therefore, Harun, son of al-Mahdi, exacted an oath of fidelity toward his brother from those who approached the Hashemid, and from his commanders, having sent Salmatol Wasiph, a freedman of al-Mahdi, who was prefect of the couriers, to carry the message to Musa; and Harun Ebnol Mohdi returned with the commanders to Baghdad, until Musa al-Hadi arrived. His caliphate was of fourteen months. Musa al-Hadi died outside Baghdad, at a place which they call Isabad; and was buried there, at the age of twenty-five: he was handsome, a horseman, and of bodyvalid. His commander of the guard was Abdollah Ebn Hazem, Ebn Hozaimah, the Tamimite; then, upon his dismissal, Abdollah Ebn Malec, the Chozaensif. A 405-407 His doorkeeper was Al Rabius; then, upon his death, Al Fadlus Ebnol Rabii served in that office.
Reign of Harun Al Rashid
Then, having sworn the oath of fidelity, Al Rashid, son of Al Mohdi, whose mother was Al Chaizaran, was elevated to the caliphate on the same night that Musa Al Hadi died, namely on Friday, the fourteenth of the month of Rabii the first, in the year 170, the very night on which his son Al Mamun was born to him. He committed the care of managing affairs to Yahya Ebn Chaled, ebn Bormac; he performed the pilgrimage nine times during his caliphate; eight times he attacked the territories of the Romans in war. Then, in the month of Sasar of the year 187 of the Hegira, he conceived anger against the Bormacides. His caliphate lasted twenty-three years with two months and sixteen days. Furthermore, Leo, the son of Constantine, emperor of the Romans, died, to be succeeded in the empire by Nicephorus, son of Stiakis, who, when he sought a truce from Al Rashid, made a truce with him for three years. In Egypt, in the name of Al Rashid, Musa Ebu Isa Hashemida held command; he enlarged the rear part of the great temple which is in Mesri with buildings, in the manner in which it is now. But when Al Rashid had deposed Musa Ebn Isa from his place, B 408 he appointed Abdollah Ebuol Mohdi. Furthermore, Abdollah gave to Al Rashid a girl from the Yamanees, who inhabit the lower part of the land of Egypt, whom, because she was of excellent form and beautiful, Al Rashid loved very much. When she labored under a grave disease, and no method of healing which the physicians applied benefited her, they said to Al Rashid: "Send to your deputy in Egypt, Abdollah, so that he may send you someone from the Egyptian physicians; for such a one will be more suited to heal this girl than the physicians of Erach." Therefore Al Rashid sent to Abdollah Ebn Al Mohdi, asking him to seek out the most skilled of the Egyptian physicians and send him to him, and furthermore, he indicated to him how the girl was faring and with what she was affected. Therefore Abdollah summoned Balatianus, the patriarch of Alexandria, a Melchite, who was skilled in the art of medicine, and indicated to him the state of the girl and with what disease she was suffering, and sent him to Al Rashid. He therefore, taking hard Egyptian cakes and brine, when he had arrived in Baghdad, entered to the girl and gave her the coarse cake and brine to eat. Whence she returned to her original temperament, the disease receding from her: wherefore from that time forth, coarse cakes and brine are accustomed to be carried from Egypt to the royal larder. Al Rashid, however, rewarded Balatianus the patriarch with many coins. By letters of command, 409-411 he [ordered] all the churches in the region of the Jacobites, which the [Melchites] had possessed having been taken away, to be restored. Balatianus, therefore, having returned into Egypt, reclaimed the churches; and he died when he had performed the patriarchal office for forty-six years. Appointed after him was the Alexandrian patriarch Eustatius, and that in the sixteenth year of the caliphate of Al Rashid. This Eustatius had been a linen-weaver, who, when he had found a treasure in the house in which they were accustomed to beat linen, embraced the monastic life in the monastery of Al Kosairi, and having been made superior of the monastery, he built in it a church of the Two Apostles; he also built a chamber for the bishop, and afterwards was constituted patriarch of Alexandria; where, when he had sat for four years, he died. And in the same patriarchate, Christophorus succeeded him: and that in the twentieth year of the caliphate of Al Rashid. Then the patriarch Christophorus was seized by paralysis, so that he was carried by the hands of men; wherefore a certain person named Petrus, having been constituted bishop, while sitting upon the patriarchal cathedra, ordained bishops in his stead. Christophorus sat, however, for thirty-two years, then died. Furthermore, in the eighth year of the caliphate of Al Rashid, Theodoritus was constituted patriarch of Antioch, who sat for seventeen years, then died. Also, while Al Rashid held the caliphate, there occurred an eclipse 412 of the sun after the afternoon prayers, so that the stars appeared; wherefore men cried out to God, whose name is glorious, and supplicated Him. Furthermore, Rapheus Ebn Lithi, going forth against Al Rashid in Chorasan, occupied it: wherefore, when Al Rashid was marching towards Chosaran, seized by the disease in Georjani, he betook himself to Tusa, having sent Al Mamun with a great army to Merawum. And Al Rashid died in the month of Jomada the latter of the year 193, being forty-six years of age. He was buried in Tusa in the city of Al Tiran. The oath of fidelity, however, was sworn by those who were present of his sons, domestics, and commanders, to Mohammed Ebn Zobaida, his son, and Al Phadlus Ebnol Rabii returned with the men to Baghdad. Al Rashid was of perfect stature, with a handsome face, a black beard, and rather thick hair, which, when he was traveling, he would shave. His guards were commanded by Al Kajem Ebn Nasri, Ebn Maleci, then Hamzah Ebn Hazemi, Ebn Chaidillahi, Ebn Maleci; then D Haphu Ebn Omari Ebnol Shojsiri. His doorkeeper was Bashar Ebn Maimum, Ebn Mohammed, Ebn Chaled, Ebn Barmaci. Then Al Phadl Ebuol Rabii returned to the office of doorkeeper.
413-415 Reign of Mohammed Al Amin. The news of the death of Al Rashid reached Baghdad on a Wednesday, which was the twelfth before the end of the month of Jomada the latter. When, therefore, the people had come together, his son Mohammed, having ascended the platform, announced it. And on the same day men hailed him as caliph. But a dissension arose between him and Al Mamun. The mother of Mohammed Al Amin was named Ommo laafar, daughter of Abi laafar Al Mansoris. Therefore Mohammed Al Amin sent Alim Ebulsa into the region of Chorasan,
by Ebn Mahan, regarding the war brought against Al Mamun. But Al Mamun sent Thaberus Ebnol Hosain Ebn Saab Albusjensis to Marw, who, having killed Ali Ebn Isa, put the forces of Mohammed Al Amin to flight; and proceeding towards Bagdad, while Mazimab Ebu Ayonti and Homaido Ebn Abdil Hamid Tusensis joined themselves to him. And Al Mamun was saluted as Caliph in the one hundred and ninety-sixth year, and upon the discord reaching as far as Bagdad, Mohammed Al Amin was killed there on Saturday, five days before the end of the month of Al Moharram in the one hundred and ninety-eighth year. His caliphate lasted until that same time for four years, eight months, and six days. He was then twenty-eight years old. A Furthermore, in the year 416 died Nicephorus, son of Estabrak, Emperor of the Romans, with Romanus, son of Estabrak, son of Nicephorus, reigning after him. In the third year of the caliphate of Mohammed Al Amin, Thomas (whose surname was Tamrikus) was constituted Patriarch of Jerusalem; he sat there for ten years. Mohammed Al Amin was of a handsome countenance, with a sound body, fair complexion, plump, of robust frame, and elegant fingers. His body was buried in Bagdad, but his head was carried off to the Chorasanites. His guards were led by Ali Ebn Isa, Ebu Madian. His chamberlain was Al Fadlus Ebnol Rabise; Al Fadlus Ebnol Rabise possessed the greatest favor with him.
B The Caliphate of Al Mamun. His oaths having been fulfilled, Al Mamun was renounced as Caliph in Chorasan (who is himself Abdollah, son of Harun Al Rashidi, son of Mohammed Al Mohdi, son of Abdollah, son of Harun, son of Ebnol Mansur, whose mother was Marajel the Badigisensis) in the one hundred and ninety-sixth year. Mohammed Al Amin, brother of Al Mamun, was killed in Bagdad toward the end of the month of Al Moharram in the one hundred and ninety-eighth year, with Thdhaherus Ebuol Hosain occupying the eastern part of the city, Hozaima the western, and Homaido Ebn Abdillhamid Tusensis sitting four parasangs from the same. C In the year 417-419, Allhosain Ebn Sabl was made prefect of Erako, into whose power the Eraki districts and others came. But all the regions were full of dissensions, since there were those in each who claimed the empire for themselves, both from those begotten of Ali and others. Departing from Chorasan, Al Mamun arrived at Bagdad in the month of Saphar of the two-hundred-and-fourth year, with Thdhaherus Ebnol Hosain as prefect of his guards, and he ordered all men to be secure to a one. He also overcame Abrahimus Ebuol Mohdi, who is called Ebn Shaklah, who had claimed the empire for himself and had been called Emperor of the Faithful. Since he sent troops into other regions as well, all the domains were subjugated, and upon hearing this, all who had seized power for themselves submitted, and an end was put to the seditions. Abu Isaac Abrahim Ebn ol Mohdi, who is called Ebn Shaklah, said: Letters between men did not cease to be inscribed in this form, "From N. son of N. to N. son of N.," or "From Abi N. to Abi N.," or "To Abi N. from Abi N.," or "From Abi N. to N. son of N.," without any supplication in the titles, until the time of Mohammed Al Amin; and the prefect of Bagdad recalls regarding the couriers that Al Fadlus, possessing two principalities [Dil Riyasataini], had caused letters to be inscribed to him thus: "To Abi I-aaco, whom may God the Most High preserve, from Abi Abbaso." D "Of which," says Abu Isaac, "when I saw the inscription in the year 420, I sent them to my uncle Soliman, that I might show them to him as a new thing, and when my letter reached him, his chamberlain brought me others sent to him from Dil-Riyasatain, inscribed in the same way as those he had given to me." And from that time they were accustomed to use supplications in the inscriptions of their letters.
Furthermore, in Egypt there was Mohammed Ebnol Sari, Ebnol Hacemi, who, having become a rebel and withdrawing himself from the obedience of Al Mamun, occupied Egypt, which his father Al Sarius had occupied even before him; Al Mamun therefore sent Obaidallah Ebn Tihaheri into Egypt; who, upon arriving there, greeted Ebnol Sarius, as one who had been prefect at the time when Obaidallah entered Egypt. This man, then, having entered Egypt, led the collected wealth to Bagdad to Al Mamun. And the same man, with power granted by letters written by Al Mamun, enlarged the common temple which is in Mesri, [and] the whole [palace] of the Ramli, except for that which he left behind, the house of the money-changers. C Furthermore, the dome of the church of the Resurrection in Jerusalem vacillated, so that it lacked little of falling. A grave famine occurred in Palestine and Jerusalem, with a multitude of locusts, so that men perished from hunger, and the Moslems fled Jerusalem on account of the scarcity of food, and none of them remained there except for very few, [in the years] 421-423. Thomas therefore the Patriarch (who is called Tamrik), having taken advantage of this opportunity, whereby the city was empty of Moslems, sent to Cyprus and saw to the cutting of fifty trunks of cedar and fir, and had them brought to Jerusalem. And there was a certain man from Burza, an inhabitant of Egypt, by the name of Bocam, abounding in wealth, who sent a large sum of money to Thomas the Patriarch of Jerusalem, with which he might restore the dome, and ordered that he accept nothing from any mortal: and if he should have need of more money, he would send it to him. D Thomas the Patriarch therefore, little by little dismantling the dome, introduced these timbers and built it up. He saw, however, in a dream, from a certain column of those by which the dome of the [temple of the] Resurrection was supported, forty men coming forth who were supporting the dome, so that it might not fall, [from] the column, namely, which is placed beneath the house: having awakened, therefore, he said: "Those forty who support the dome are forty martyrs": he therefore put forty beams into the dome, so that each one might be embraced by a man to the number of forty martyrs. And this is that column which is placed over against the pulpit, beside the altar at the southern side, next to which...
“If anyone fasts on the Lord’s day on account of the assumed ascetic exercise, let him be anathema.” BALSAMON. It is provided by many canons that we should not fast on the festive and joyful Lord’s day, nor show sadness, on account of the Lord’s resurrection; but rather we should celebrate and give thanks to God, as those who have risen from the fall of sin. Therefore, the Eustathians, teaching that one should fast on the Lord’s days for the sake of exercise, he strikes with anathema. The sixty-fourth Apostolic canon separates the laymen who fast in this way, and likewise deposes the clerics. Whence also the fifty-fifth canon of the Synod in Trullo. ZONARAS. Eustathius also enjoined fasting on the Lord’s day; which, however, we ought to spend exulting and giving thanks to God, because through it Christ has risen from the dead and raised human nature from the fall of sin. But fasting is an argument of grief and sadness. Wherefore, against those who would fast on the Lord’s day, the penalty of anathema was established. ARISTENUS. “Whoever spends the Lord’s day or the Sabbath in fasting, let him be anathema.”
A ...any person, save for one daughter, whom Elias Ibn Ma‘sud, the Patriarch of Jerusalem, deprived of that allowance. After the death of Patriarch Thomas, his disciple, by name Basilah, was appointed in his place as Patriarch of Jerusalem; and this was in the seventh year of the Caliphate of al-Ma’mun; and Basilah occupied the cathedra for twenty-five years, then died. In the first year of the Caliphate of al-Ma’mun, Job was appointed Patriarch of Antioch, who sat for thirty-one years. B Now when ‘Ubaid Allah ibn Tahir returned to Baghdad, to al-Ma’mun, he reported to him how matters stood in Egypt, and what he had done there to restore order to it. After this, the al-Bima’idah, as they are called in Coptic—the interpretation of which is "The progeny of the forty"—revolted, for when the Romans departed from Egypt and the Mohammedan religion occupied it, forty men were left from among them, who multiplied because children were born to them there; and having increased in the lower part of the Egyptian land, they were called Bima’i, that is, "the progeny of the forty men." They, therefore, having become rebels, refused to pay the tax and tribute. When this was reported to al-Ma’mun, he sent al-Mu‘tasim, equipped with troops, into Egypt, whom the al-Bima’idah met in battle, just as he also met them; and having slaughtered a great number of them, he put them to flight and carried off their wives and children as captives to Baghdad, C from whence he returned after he had restored order to Egypt. Then al-Ma’mun himself, accompanied by al-Mu‘tasim, set out for Egypt, and entered it on Friday, the ninth of the month of al-Muharram, in the year of the Hijra two hundred and seventeen, and on the first of the month of Safar he set out toward the al-Bima’idah; then, returning from them, he entered Misr and Fustat on Saturday, the fourteenth of the month of Safar, and departed from Egypt in the month of Rabi‘ al-Awwal of the same year. Now when al-Ma’mun had come to Egypt, he built for himself a tower on Mount al-Muqattam, in which he sat, and it was called Kobbatil Hawa [the tower of desire]. There were also with al-Ma’mun two Christian chamberlains, who, since they were far from the churches that were in the palace, obtained from al-Ma’mun the opportunity to build a church in which they could pray, which was situated near Kobbatil Hawa; D and he granting it to them, they built a church of Saint Mary, which is near the bridge, and which is called today the Church of the Romans, though previously it was called the Church of the Two Chamberlains. It is said that they built it from the remains of the building of Kobbatil Hawa. Al-Ma’mun also built in the Said region of Egypt a column, by which the increase of the Nile is determined, in the place which is called Shurat, in the village known as Babanudah. The same man restored the Nilometer at Akhmim. Now approaching al-Ma’mun, Bocamus, a Christian of the inhabitants of Burah—the man who sent money to restore the Church of the Resurrection—asked of him that he be placed in charge of Burah (yet he was a very rich man), to whom al-Ma’mun said, “The Mohammedan religion (he said) ...and I shall set you over it; Bocamus answers, “O Emperor, of the faithful Mohammedan servants...
there are myriads; will there not be one Christian servant?” Laughing, therefore, al-Ma’mun entrusted to him the prefecture of Burz and the neighboring places.
Bocamus therefore founded many beautiful churches in Burz. Now near the gate of his residence was a common [Mohammedan] temple. Bocamus therefore said to the Mohammedan inhabitants, “I shall build you another common temple, if you will demolish this temple which is near the gate of my house.” The Moslems replied, “Build another temple; we [in the meantime] will pray in this temple, and when you have finished that temple, we will pray in it, and we will demolish this one.” Therefore he built a large, beautiful temple; and when he had finished it, he said, “Perform for me what you promised, and demolish the temple that is at my gate.” To which they replied, “It is not permitted to us by our religion that we should demolish a temple in which we have prayed, have called to prayer, and have assembled; our religion does not permit this at all.” Therefore, it was left in the state in which it was A, the temple; and thus there were two temples in Burz in which they would assemble, of which they prayed in one on the day of Friday, and in the other on the others.
Bocamus, however, when it was the day of Friday, dressed in black garments, and girt with a sword and belt, would ride a horse, surrounded by his companions, and when he arrived at the temple he would wait there, while his deputy, who was a Mohammedan, entered to lead the prayer for the people and to have the congregation in the name of the caliph as was mentioned; and then he would go out to him. Nor did the Christians cease to wear black garments and to ride horses until the time of al-Mutawakkil. Al-Ma’mun returned to Baghdad. B Constantine, however, having overcome Nicephorus, the son of Estabrak, reduced him to his power, and ruled over the Romans. Furthermore, al-Ma’mun undertook three expeditions against the enemies, the last of which was in the two hundred and eighteenth year, and when he arrived at al-Badanduna, he fell ill there and died. He was therefore carried and buried in the city of Tarsus. The duration of his caliphate from the time he was saluted as caliph in Khorasan was twenty-two years; he died forty-eight years old, in the month of Rajeb, in the year two hundred and eighteen. He was gray-haired, with a mixture of yellow, of comely countenance, and had a long beard that was turning white. The prefect of his guards was Zobair Ebn Masaiyeb Dobbensis. Then Talha Ebnol Hosain; Isaac Ebn Ibrahim also had power over them C. His janitor, when he was in Khorasan, was al-Husain Ebn Abi Said, then Ali Ebn Abi Salehi, Saheb al-Mosaile. Dul Riyasatain al-Fadlus Ebn Sabali had great influence with him at the beginning of his caliphate; then after him many, of whom were al-Hosain Ebn Sabali, Umar Ebn Saidi, and Ahmed Ebn Abi Chaledi.
The Caliphate of al-Mu'tasim
Al-Mu'tasim was declared caliph; he is the same as Abu Isaac Mohammed Ebn Harun al-Rashid (whose mother was a concubine named Maredah). In Tarsus, he... D[original-script column: see facsimile]
had himself designated successor, then left, having signed his abdication, and relinquished the throne. He died at Al-Mo-Ebn Abi Dawoud, and Mohammed Ebn Abdil Malec Alzaiyat, towards the end of the month of Rabia al-Awwal, in the year two hundred and twenty-seven, having served as caliph for eight years and eight months. He died at the age of forty-eight. He was buried at Samarra. He was of comely physique, beautiful appearance, broad-chested, robust, and had a thick beard that had not yet turned grey. His commanding officer was Isaac Ebn Ibrahim. His head doorkeeper was Simaus the Turk, his own freedman; and also [follows with the names of the regular doorkeepers Mohammed Ebn Asem the Hanacite, Jacob Ebn Ibrahim, Atab Ebn Atabi, and Mohammed Ebn Hammad Ebn Dankashi]. Among those who had the most influence with him were the supreme judge Ahmed Ebn Abi Dawoud and Mohammed Ebn Abdil Malec Al-Ziyat, the scribe.
The Caliphate of Al-Wathiq
AHe was inaugurated as Al-Wathiq (that is, Harun Ebn al-Mu'tasim, whose mother was a concubine named Karatis), on the very day that Al-Mu'tasim died. He stabilized affairs in the same state they had been during the time of Al-Mu'tasim, and he fortified the fortress which they call Al-Haruni, and repaired to it. Al-Wathiq asserted that the Quran was created, and recommended this view. Those who vouched for it were Ahmed Ebn Abi Dawoud and Mohammed Ebn Abdil Malec Al-Ziyat, his own counselors. Al-Wathiq wrote to all the provinces that the Muslims should be forced to profess that the Quran was created, and that this should be inscribed in the mosques. Since this seemed very grievous and harsh to them, they absolutely refused. As for those who were unwilling to profess this opinion, nor wished to embrace it, some were beaten with whips, others were thrown into prison, and others were put to death. His caliphate lasted five years and seven months, and thirteen days. He died when Theophilus was Roman emperor, who was succeeded by his son Michael. In the second year of the caliphate of Al-Wathiq, Sergius (son of Mansur), who had supported the Saracens in the capture of Damascus, and who had therefore been excommunicated in all regions, was Patriarch of Jerusalem; he died after holding the see for sixteen years. In the sixth year of the same caliphate, Nicolaus was established as Patriarch of Antioch; he held the see for twenty-three years, then died. Al-Wathiq died on a Wednesday, five days before the end of the month of Dhu al-Hijjah, in the year two hundred and thirty-two, at the age of thirty-four. He was square-built, of elegant physique, broad-chested, and had a thick beard, with a blemish in his eye. B His commander was Isaac Ebn Ibrahim; his head doorkeeper was the Turk Riah, his own freedman; then Baga the Turk, his own freedman; Mohammed Ebn Hammad Ebn Dankashi, and Mohammed Ebn Asam, the aforementioned—who also performed the regular duties of doorkeeper—were Jacob Ebn Ibrahim Kausarah, and Atab Ebn Atab. He held Ahmed Ebn Abi Dawoud in the highest regard.
445-447 The Caliphate of Jafar al-Mutawakkil
Jafar al-Mutawakkil was inaugurated, son of al-Mu'tasim (whose mother was a concubine named Shajam the Khwarizmian), on the same day that the life of Al-Wathiq ended. This man dismissed those who had been thrown into prison on account of the question of the creation of the Quran, and he was angered at Mohammed Ebn Abdil Malec, the counselor of Al-Mu'tasim and Al-Wathiq, and also at Omar Ebn al-Faraj al-Zajjaji, and Itah the Turk, and Ahmed Ebn Abi Dawoud, the supreme judge. And he compelled the men of the three ranks and his own sons to pledge their obedience, namely to Mohammed al-Mutawakkil billah, Abraham Al-Mu'ayyad billah, and Abi Abdallah al-Mu'tazz billah, whom he made the executors of his will in the beginning of the year two hundred and twenty-six; and once matters were thus composed, and the province restored to order, and the roads made safe, word was sent to Al-Mutawakkil that the pillar on the island of Rhoda in Egypt, which was accustomed to measuring the Nile, and which Soliman Ebn Abdil Malec Ebn Merwan had ordered to be built, had sustained damage; he therefore sent the astrologer Mohammed Ebn Musa to Egypt, who went to Egypt; and at his expense for this matter went Yasidum Ebn Abdallah Ebn Badan the Pharite, and at the expense of Soliman C 448 Ebn Wahab. Therefore, in the year two hundred and forty-five, he fashioned a measuring-rod in the Egyptian style, which is called the new measure, and no one used the old one any longer. Al-Mutawakkil also founded a city which he called Al-Jafariyah. The same physician Bachtishua, having been angered at the provinces, wrote so that the Christians might be compelled to wear the zunnar, and to affix cloth segments to their garments, one part in the front, and another in the back; and they were to be forbidden from riding on horses, and were to use straps on their saddles, and use wooden stirrups, and additionally they were to affix to their saddles the images of the devil (or, according to another copy, of pigs and similar animals): which was a cause of great harm and anxiety for the Christians. Furthermore, Theophilus the Roman emperor died, and was succeeded by his son Theophilus the Roman emperor; who, removing the images from the churches, destroyed them, and broke them, ordering that absolutely no image should exist in any church. The cause, however, which was whispered to his counselor, was that there was a place in the Roman dominion, in the church of Holy Mary, where such an image existed, and upon whose breasts, when the feast of that [Saint] was celebrated, milk would allegedly drip. Which, having been scarcely believed to be true by Theophilus, he searched into the matter and found the sacristan, who had made in the wall, behind the image, a hole which extended as far as the
A breasts, and had therein inserted a thin and slender leaden pipe, sealing the place with mud and lime so that it would not appear. And when the feast of St. Mary arrived, he was accustomed to pour milk into that hole, a drop of which would trickle from the breast of the image. For this reason, because of the pilgrimages of men setting out to that church, the sacristan earned much money. Emperor Theophilus, therefore, sending to the place after the image was pulled down, restored it, and ordered that no images be retained in churches at all. He beheaded the sacristan of that church and removed the images from the churches, saying that images are like idols, and that he who worships an image acts just as if he were worshipping idols. Hence, a dissension arose among the Romans concerning matters pertaining to images, so that some condemned others of infidelity, the one side saying: "He who worships an image is guilty of infidelity," and the others: "He who does not worship them is an infidel." When Sophronius, Patriarch of Alexandria, heard this, he wrote a long account in which he defended the worship of images, using this argument in it, saying: "God, whose fame is glorious and whose name is holy, commanded Moses to form golden images of the Cherubim in the tabernacle of the time, which he should station within the sanctuary; furthermore, because Solomon B the son of David, when he built the temple, placed golden images of the Cherubim therein." He says further: "When letters have been brought by a king to one of his prefects, signed with the royal seal, and it has been said to him who knows: 'This is the seal of the king,' and these are his letters: does he not, rising, stand until he has received the letters in his hand and kissed them, and applied them to his head and eyes? And yet, he does not meanwhile rise or kiss the letters because he venerates the paper, or the wax spread upon the paper, or the ink within the paper, or because he rises to the letters and venerates them. No, by my life, it is for none of these things, but this is the reason: because he venerates the king, and his name, since these are his letters. Therefore, on this side, it is fitting for us to kiss and venerate that image, not because we kiss it as idols are usually worshipped, but because we pursue with C veneration and honor the name of this martyr, whose image is depicted in these colors." And he sent this epistle to King Theophilus, having accepted which, he was glad, and was turned from that hatred with which he had pursued the images. There was also Abu Korra among those who defended the worship of images, and he wrote a book about that matter, which he called: *Sermons on the Worship of Images.* Sophronius, Patriarch of Alexandria, died affected by dropsy (on account of which, when he had drunk mandrake milk, it profited him nothing) in the two hundred and thirty-third year, with Michael being appointed Patriarch of Alexandria after him, who sat for twenty-four years. He was from the sons of Bacamus, a Buresian. Moreover, the caliphate of Al-Mutawakkil was of fourteen years, nine months, and nine days. In the tenth year of his D caliphate, [there was appointed] Salmun Zarkuni the son of the Patriarch of Jerusalem, where he sat for five years, then died. Al-Mutawakkil was killed in his palace in the city which he had founded, called Al-Ja'fariya. His slaughter was in the month of Shawwal, the third day, in the year two hundred and forty-seven, when he was forty-four years old; he was buried in Al-Ja'fariya. He was dark in color, inclining toward a yellowish tint, a handsome face, with sparse mustaches, and larger eyes. His prefect, Isaac Ebn Abrahim, was killed; and upon his death, Mohammed Ebn Abdollahi, Ebn Tdhaher, came to Chorasan, and was prefect of the same. The janitor was Wasif the Turk; and after him, Said Ebn Saleh; and not Bagaus the Turk. The ordinary janitor was Jacob Ebn Abrahim; then Kausarah, and Atab Ebn Atab. Most influential among them was Al-Phatah Ebn Chakan, and Obaid Allah Ebn Yahye Ebn Chakan, the secretary.
456 The Caliphate of Al-Muntasir Billah
He was inaugurated, Al-Muntasir Billah Mohammed Ebn Motawakkeli (whose mother was a concubine by the name of Habashiah), on the same day that Al-Motawaccel was killed: the fifth after he was proclaimed Caliph, he was sent to Sarramanraia, and he tore down Al-Ja'fariya and abandoned Al-Lausakum. He also exiled his brothers Abu Ab-lollah Al-Motaz Billahi and Abrahim Al-Moayad Billahi from the right of succession, and sent letters to the provinces about the matter. His caliphate was of one year, six months, and three days. He died at twenty-eight years of age. He was buried at Sarramanraia; his mother decorated his sepulcher with white stone work, which had not previously been done for the sepulchers of the caliphs. Al-Montaser was of square stature, a comely body, dark, and corpulent. His prefect was Mohammed Ebn Abdollahi Ebn Tdhaher. The janitor was Abu Naser the Turk and also Ahmed Ebn Chasab.The Caliphate of Al-Mostaini
The leaders of the Turks, for choosing whom they might proclaim caliph, refused the sons of Al-Motawaccel, because of the promise of peace. 457-459 The outcome of them [was] in Ahmed Ebn Mohammed Al-Motasami, whose mother was a concubine by the name of Machareck; whom they appointed caliph on the day fixed for this. They named him Al-Mostain Billahi. Then arose a dissension in the army, and in the tumult between the leaders, he fled in a boat to Bagdad, accompanied by the Turks Wasipho and Bagoa. But the servants and the army, who were at Sarramanraia, welcomed Abu Abdallah Ebn-Motazzi Ebn Motawacceli (whose mother was a concubine by name of Kabiha) on the throne and saluted him as caliph, at the beginning of the month of Moharram of the year two hundred and fifty. There was contention and war between Al-Mostaini and the followers of Al-Motazzi. But the military affairs were administered for Al-Motazzi by Abu Ahmed Ebn Motawaccel, and they did not cease to wage war until the beginning of the month of Moharram of the year two hundred and...fifty-two, who reigned for nineteen years, and then died. Al-Mostain was fat, A of robust body, with a black beard; the prefect of his satellites was Mohammed Ebn Abdollahi, Ebn Tdhaheri, and his janitors were Wasif and Boga, Turks.
The Caliphate of Al-Motazzi
All who were in Sarramanrai, both Turks and others, inaugurated Al-Motazz as caliph in good faith in the month of Al-Moharram of the year two hundred and fifty-one, while Al-Mostain was in Baghdad, and the provinces were in turmoil, with the greater part of the people adhering to Al-Mostain. But when Al-Mostain had abdicated the empire at the beginning of the month of Al-Moharram, in the year two hundred and fifty-two, upon hearing this, men submitted to him. Al-Motazz, however, after he had restored the right of succession to Ibrahim Al Moayad billahi, again stripped him of it, who then died: and since Abu Ahmed took it ill that this had happened to his brother, Al-Motazz relegated him to Basra: Wasiph and Boga were also killed. Mohammed Ebn Abdollahi, Ebn Tdhaheri, prefect of the satellites, died. Having summoned Al-Mostain to Waset, when the janitor Said Ebn Saleb saluted him, he killed him. Furthermore, Theophilus, son of Michael, son of Theophilus, emperor of the Romans, died, followed in the empire by his son Michael, son of Theophilus, son of Michael. There was a certain duke B 461-463 named Basilius, whom, having summoned him, he had appointed over all his dukes and counts. On a certain day, however, when the emperor Michael had gone out for the sake of amusement to a certain island which is situated in the region of Constantinople in the sea which is called the Pontus, the duke Basilius, rushing upon him, killed him inside the church which is on the island, and also those who were on the island, and reduced the empire to his own power, although he was not of royal stock, being as he was a Sicilian by race. And when it was said to him: "Why have you thought it right to kill the emperor?" he replied: "Because Michael, while he was madly in love with a woman, ordered me to marry her, but not to approach her; so that this woman might be mine in name, but he might sleep with her; for fear, namely, of his own wife, lest she should discover it, and because it was not lawful for him to take another wife beyond his own wife: which when I had done, afterward, led by penitence, I feared God: therefore I thought it right to remove him by slaughter: and Basilius retained the empire over the Romans."
The Caliphate of Al-Motazzi and Al-Mohtadi and part of the Caliphate of Al-Motamedi
Al-Motazz appointed Bacbac the Turk over Egypt, who, establishing Ahmed Ebn Tolun C as his deputy, sent him into Egypt. Bacbac had given his own daughter in marriage to Ahmed Ebn Tolun. Ahmed Ebn Tolun entered Egypt in the month of Ramadan of the year two hundred and fifty-four. However, disturbances arose between Al-Motazz and his freedmen. Al-Motazz died on Tuesday, three days before the end of the month of Rajeb, in the year two hundred and fifty-five. His caliphate after the abdication of Al-Mostain was three years, nine months, and eight days. He was, when he died, twenty-two years old. He was buried in Sarramanrai: his mother adorned his sepulcher with alabaster work next to the sepulcher of Al-Montasar.
Al-Motazz was fair, with a beautiful face, elegant hair, and a handsome body, so that no equal to him in form and beauty could be found. The prefect of his satellites was Mohammed Ebn Abdillahi, Ebn Tdhaheri: then, upon his death, Obaidallah Ebn Abdillahi, Ebn Tdhaheri: then Soliman Ebn Abdillahi Ebn Tdhaheri was set over the same, who obtained that [office], which was afterward returned to Obaidallahi Ebn Abdillahi, Ebn Tdhaheri. His janitors were Wasif and Boga: then Salehus was substituted in the place of his father; and in the place of Boga, Bacbac the Turk.
465-467 The Caliphate of Al-Mohtadi
Al-Mohtadi was inaugurated, namely Mohammed Ebn Harun Alwathek billahi, D son of Motasam billahi, whose mother was a concubine named Korb. His inauguration was on Tuesday, three days before the end of the month of Rajeb, in the year two hundred and fifty-five. His caliphate was of one year. He was killed when he was thirty-nine years old: he was buried in Sarramanrai. He was of medium stature, with a beautiful face, a handsome body, and a full, black beard. The prefect of his satellites was Obaidallahi Ebn Abdillahi. The janitor was Saleh Ebn Wasiph; then, after Saleh was killed, Tacin the Turk.
The Caliphate of Al-Motammed billahi
Al-Motammed billahi (namely, Ahmed Ebn Jaafari Almotawacceli, whose mother was a concubine named Knyai) was inaugurated in the month of Rajeb, in the year two hundred and fifty-six. He appointed as his Counselor Abdollahuin Ebn Yahya Ebn Chacam, who had been the counselor of Motawacceli. But with constant wars and dissensions, the regions and provinces were disturbed; and everywhere in the world many claimed the empire for themselves, so that his whole caliphate was full of perpetual dissensions and continuous wars. Abu Ahmed Almowaffek billahi, the brother of Al-Motammed, had the care of managing affairs. Al-Motammed indeed compelled men to give their allegiance to his son Jaafar as his successor, imposing upon him the name Almophawed Allallahi; and after him to his brother Abu Ahmedi Ebnil Motawaccel; whom he called Almowaffec billahi. Abu Ahmed himself, however, waged wars and set out into the provinces, and exhausted himself with cares and labors
while Al Motammed indulged in pleasures and games. Against him rebelled in Basra, Ali Ebn Mohammed, Ebn Ahmed, Ebn Ali, Ebn Yazid, Ebn Ali, Ebnol Hosain, Ebn Ali, Ebn Abi Taleb, on a Monday, two days before the end of the month of Ramadan; and having slaughtered all the inhabitants of Basra, he plundered their wealth and led their women and children away captive. The women, boys, girls, and riches were granted to the whim of Nabechi, and once Basra was devastated, he occupied its territories and provinces. Against him set out Abu Ahmed Almowaffec; and wars did not cease to be waged between them for fourteen years. This A Ali of Basra fell at the river Abi Sofyan, behind the river Abil Chasib—near which, indeed, he had founded his own city, which he called Al-Mochtarah—on a Wednesday near evening, on the fourth of the month of Safar, in the year two hundred and seventy. The entire time from when he rose up, until his standard was erected B until the day he was killed, was fourteen years, four months, and six days. Furthermore, Ahmed Ebn Tolun occupied Egypt and Damascus, and Antioch was also captured, by which Ahmed Almowaffec was delayed in waging war against the Ali of Basra. In the first year of the caliphate of Al Motammed, Stephen, Patriarch of Antioch, was appointed; he sat for only one day, being consecrated and dying on the same day. Taduso was appointed patriarch in his place there, and he sat for twenty years, then died. In the tenth year of the same caliphate, Elias, son of Mansuri (who had assisted the Muslims in the capture of Damascus, and was therefore cursed C throughout the whole world), was appointed Patriarch of Jerusalem, where he died after sitting for twenty-nine years. Moreover, Michael, son of Bicami, Patriarch of Alexandria, died in the year two hundred and fifty-six, and was buried in the city of Burah. Appointed after him was Michael, Roman by nationality (or, according to another copy, of Gaza), Patriarch of Alexandria, in the third year of the caliphate of Al Motammed, which is the two hundred and fifty-eighth; he sat for thirty-four years, then died, namely in the year two hundred and ninety-two, and was buried in Alexandria. Basil, Emperor of the Romans, also died, D and was succeeded by his son Leo, who was wise and a philosopher.
Furthermore, in the eighth year of the caliphate of Al Motammed, Said Ebn Batrik, a physician, was born, on a Sunday, the third day before the end of the month of Dil Hajje, in the year [of the Hegira] two hundred and sixty-three by the lunar calendar. From the Hegira, therefore, to his birth are two hundred and fifty-four solar years (for in history he calculates [these] times). From Diocletian to the birth of this same Said Ebn Batrik the physician are five hundred and sixty-eight years (or, according to another copy, five hundred and ninety-two). From our Lord Jesus Christ to the same birth are eight hundred and sixty-eight. From Alexander one thousand one hundred and eighty-nine. From the Babylonian captivity one thousand four hundred and fifty. From David one thousand nine hundred and twenty-seven. From the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt two thousand five hundred and thirty-three. From Abraham three thousand forty. From Peleg three thousand five hundred and eighty-one. From the Flood four thousand one hundred and twelve. From Adam six thousand three hundred and sixty-eight. And when he was already sixty years old, he was appointed Patriarch of Alexandria, and called Anba Eutychius.
Ahmed Ebn Tolun, having captured Antioch, returned to Egypt, where he built that communal mosque which overlooks the pool, and also a hospital. He also constructed a canal in which water flows from the pool which is called Al-Habash [of the Abyssinians] to Amaaphe. But being seized by the disease of which he died, namely a flow of the bowels, he ordered A the Muslims, Christians, and Jews to ascend the mountain which is called Almokattam, and to pour out prayers for him: which they did, ascending the mountain, distributed into their classes, and praying for him. He died of that disease on a Sunday, the tenth day before the end of the month of Dilkaada, in the year two hundred and seventy, and was buried in Almokattam.
The leaders, therefore, gathering together, after his eldest son Al Abbas had been killed, appointed in his place his younger son Chamarawaihu Ebn Ahmed Ebn Tolun, who was twenty years old. When he had led troops to Damascus in Syria, and Abu Al Abbas Ebnol Mowaffeki had advanced to meet him, a battle was joined between them in Al Tawahain in the territory of Palestine, where Chamarawaihu Ebn Ahmed Ebn Tolun was put to flight B and returned alone to Egypt, having exhausted five beasts on the way; a great slaughter of his companions, however, had been carried out, and Abul Abbas had captured everything that had belonged to his army. But there were soldiers of Chamarawaihu placed in ambush who were unaware of the flight of the rest. When their banners appeared and were seen by Abul Abbas and his companions, they left everything they had gained and took to flight, and many were killed while fleeing: wherefore, when the soldiers of Chamarawaihu returned, the troops were collected again and returned to Egypt, and stayed with Chamarawaihu. C Abul Abbas returned, fleeing to Baghdad, and was blamed by his father Almowaffec for what he had done. But there were many troops of Chamarawaihu in Damascus.
Furthermore, in the eighteenth year of the caliphate of Al Motammed, which was the two hundred and seventieth of the Hegira, there occurred in Egypt such a huge earthquake that many houses collapsed, and a great multitude of men perished. In the same year, a measure of grain [macuc] came to a gold coin, and men died of famine and of the scarcity of provisions, to such an extent that they ate linseed; and the streets of Misr were filled with corpses, which they carried away on camels, eight being placed on each single camel, and after a great pit was dug for them, they cast them into it. Then Chamarawaihu, upon hearing of the...
arrival of Ibn Diadad (who is also called Abalsaj) in Damascus with a great army, collected his own forces and marched out to meet him. A severe battle took place between them in a place called Bathnia, in the district of Damascus; and Mohammed Ebnol Diudad was put to flight, and his companions were slain, of whom the greater number sought security; and Chamarawaih A proceeded until he reached the Euphrates; his companions entered Ar-Raqqah, buying and selling in it, so that Almowaffek feared him. Chamarawaih returned to Egypt, holding the empire now from the Euphrates as far as the region of Nubia, appointing someone from his own counts in each of the provinces; and this was in the year two hundred and seventy-six. Almowaffek died in the month of Safar, in the year two hundred and seventy-eight, B his son Abul Abbas filling his place, who was also proclaimed successor in the caliphate, after Jaafar Ebnol Motammed had resigned that dignity. Therefore, Abul Abbas Ebnol Mowaffek was set in charge of the administration of affairs, and was called Al-Motaded. And Al-Motammed died in Baghdad on Sunday, the eleventh day before the end of the month of Rajab, in the year two hundred and seventy-nine. His caliphate lasted twenty-three years and six days. He was forty-six years of age when he died: and he was carried to Samarra and buried there.
The Caliphate of Al-Motaded
Al-Motaded billahi Abul Abbas (who is the same Ahmed Ebn Abi Ahmed Al Mowaffek billahi Elm Jaafar Almotawachel alallahi, whose mother was a concubine named Daror) was inaugurated on the same day that Al-Motammed died, the eleventh before the end of the month of Rajab, in the year two hundred and seventy-nine; and the disputes ceased, and peace was made in the provinces, wars being removed, and every rebel embracing peace, and goods for sale were offered at a low price. Al-Motaded sent to C Chamarawaih Ebn Ahmed Ebn Tolun, asking for his daughter to be his wife, which Chamarawaih granted to him and took care to conduct her to him, with many of his own riches, menservants, and maidservants; and thus peace was made between them and affairs were restored to order. Chamarawaih, however, having set out from Egypt to Syria, fixed his seat in Damascus, and there, outside the city under the monastery of Marran, near the river Taurah, he built a citadel in which he lived. And Chamarawaih was killed in this citadel which he had built in Damascus, on a Sunday, the third day before the end of the month of Dilkaada, in the year two hundred and eighty-two: his murder was procured by six of his principal servants, whose names were Tukaher, Sabur, Lula, Natif, Shafio the cupbearer, and Ganayem: the heads of these murderers were carried to Egypt, but their bodies were fixed to the gallows in Damascus. Chamarawaih was carried in a coffin from Damascus to Egypt D and buried on Mount Al-Mokattam. Egypt was held by Chamarawaih and after his death. After him, Jaish Chamarawaihi set out, who, having returned from Damascus to Egypt, and having sat there for eight months, with affairs between himself and the leaders in turmoil, they attacked and murdered him; he was succeeded in his place by his brother Harun Ebn Chamarawaihi, a boy ten years of age; and this was in the month of Rajab in the year two hundred and eighty-three. Indeed, he sent letters to Harun, in which he conferred upon him the prefecture of Egypt, and over the administration of these things he set Abu Jaafar, Ebn Mohammed, Ebn Abbas, a Turk. Moreover, a wondrous thing happened in Egypt on Thursday, two days before the end of the month of the first Rabi, which was the festival that Christians celebrate for the ascension of our Lord Christ into the heavens, in the year two hundred and eighty-four. With winds blowing most violently from evening until midnight, around midnight the darkness became very heavy, so that one could not see one's own finger placed before one's eyes, then grave winds were stirred up, more violent than the previous ones, by which many houses were thrown down; and even inside their houses, red sand was cast upon the heads of men, and they saw columns of flaming fire in the four quarters of the sky, and it did not cease to be thus until morning drew near. Then, as the wind eased a little, the sky turned red like the flame of fire, with a cold wind: for the earth, mountains, trees, men, and also their garments, and whatever could be seen anywhere, seemed to turn red from the extreme redness of the sky, which lasted for two hours; then it turned to a yellow hue until midday; then with the yellow hue fading, the sky became black, all that day until the evening of this day, before the blackness was dissolved, nor for an hour and a half did the sun appear, from which time the winds were stirred up, until that black cloud vanished. Again in the year two hundred and eighty-eight in Egypt, at the beginning of the Wednesday of the month of Dilkaada, it happened that from midnight until dawn stars were driven very violently, which they call falling stars, so that the sky was filled with them, being dispersed to the east, west, south, and north, nor could anyone look at the sky because of these stars. Now in the first year of the caliphate of Al-Motaded, Simeon, son of Zarnaki, was appointed Patriarch of Antioch, who sat for twelve years, then died. Furthermore, when the wife of the Roman Emperor Leo died leaving no offspring, he wished to take another wife; but the Patriarch of Constantinople, Nicholas, forbade him, saying: It is not lawful for you to take a wife; since you are a reader and consecrated by the prayers of the priests; and if you take a wife it is not permitted for you to approach the altar. To whom Leo replied: I wish to take a wife so that I might have a son who might inherit the kingdom after me. But the patriarch did not permit him to marry. So the Emperor Leo wrote to the Roman Patriarch, Michael, Patriarch of Alexandria, Elias, son of Mansur, Patriarch of Jerusalem, and Simeon, son of Zarnaki, the Antiochene occupant.
A requesting that they approach him so that they might discern whether it were lawful for him to take a wife: but none of them would approach him, except that they each sent an embassy in their own name 485-487. And certain bishops who were joining the legates in Constantinople, looking into the emperor's business, pronounced the marriage to him lawful; wherefore he took a wife, and a son was born to him whom he named Constantine. And when he had deposed Patriarch Nicholas from the chair, Euthymius was appointed Patriarch of Constantinople in his place. Al-Mu’tadid bi-llah, however, died on a Sunday, nine days before the end of the month of Rabi’ al-Akhir, in the year two hundred and eighty-nine. His caliphate lasted nine years, nine months, and two days. When he died, he was forty-seven years old. The chief power in his affairs belonged to his freedman Badr, and to Ghaidallah ibn Sulayman, to whose place succeeded his son Al-Qasim ibn Ubayd Allah. Al-Mu’tadid was handsome, comely in face and body, energetic, and tenacious of wealth.
The Caliphate of Al-Muktafi bi-llah
Al-Muktafi (who is the same as Abu Muhammad, son of Ahmad al-Mu’tadid) was inaugurated in Baghdad on the same day that Al-Mu’tadid died. At that time, however, Al-Muktafi was at Raqqa, and letters and epistles were sent to him so that he might come to Baghdad, and when he had arrived, he fixed his seat there. His mother was named Bachi-Tajannah, daughter of Al-Qasim ibn Ubayd Allah 488 ibn Sulayman, ibn Wahb. He appointed Abbas ibn al-Hasan al-Madara'i as scribe, and matters were brought into order by him. In the second year of the caliphate of Al-Muktafi, which is the year two hundred and ninety, the Egyptian Nile rose only thirteen cubits and two digits. Wherefore the Muslims, Christians, and Jews went out to seek water with prayers, yet the water did not rise beyond what we have said; then it receded. In the third year of the caliphate of Al-Muktafi, Elias was appointed Patriarch of Antioch; he was a writer; he sat for twenty-eight years, and then died. The city of Seleucia was captured from the land of the Romans in the month of Rabi' al-Akhir, from whence they brought captives to Egypt in the month of Rajab, in the year two hundred and ninety. In the second year of his caliphate, Michael, Patriarch of Alexandria, died on a Sunday, six days before the end of the month of Ramadan, in the year two hundred and ninety; he performed the patriarchate for thirty-four years: and after him the Alexandrian chair was vacant of a patriarch for four years. In the fifth year of his caliphate, Christodulus of Aleppo was appointed Patriarch of Alexandria; he was created at Jerusalem on the day of Great Sabbath, the fifth of the month of Nisan, the seventh of Barmudah. On the nineteenth of the month of Jumada al-Akhira, Elias, son of Mansur, Patriarch of Jerusalem, consecrated him. And when he had come to Alexandria, the inhabitants of that city said: We will not have him, unless with repeated 489-491 prayers [by which he is consecrated] as patriarch: wherefore they again applied the patriarchal prayers: B and this was on the fourth of the month of Ramadan, in the year two hundred and ninety-four: he sat for twenty-six years and six months, then died: and he was buried in the church of Michael, at Fustat in Egypt. In the sixth year of his same caliphate, George, son of Dayjan, was appointed Patriarch of Jerusalem, who sat for four years and six months, then died. Furthermore, a rebel appeared in Syria, by the name of Isma'il the Qarmatian, when there was in Damascus one named Chana-rawaih ibn Ahmad, ibn Tulun, Togu ibn Iffi the Farghani; who was put to flight by Isma'il the Qarmatian after many battles fought between them, with many of his companions having been killed. Therefore Togu, writing to Harun, son of Khumarawayh, informed him of the matter. Harun therefore sent a great army to him, in which were all those distinguished by the name of the Tulunids; and a battle was fought between their armies in the village called Qanāqir (Canacar), in the territory of Damascus, at a place which they call Al-Ascapham, in the month of Rajab, in the year two hundred and eighty-nine: and after frequent battles between them, the Qarmatian was killed, with about twenty thousand men having been slain from each army, of whom both yielded to flight; those who were survivors from Harun's forces sought Damascus and Tiberias; those from the Qarmatian's, 492 Hams [Emessa], and some of Harun's forces remained at Damascus with the one called Badr al-Jamami. Now the Qarmatian had a brother called Al-Najm; who, having gathered those who remained from his brother's army, collected forces, and went out into the parts of Emessa. Al-Muktafi, therefore, having heard that the Qarmatian had put the army of Egypt to flight and weakened it, with the strongest of the Egyptians killed, conceived the hope of capturing Egypt, and having sent Muhammad ibn Sulayman, to whom he joined the most excellent of his commanders with a great army, he himself went out to [Ba'qūbā] (Baccam), and there he stayed. Muhammad ibn Sulayman, however, when he had reached Emessa, routed the forces of the Qarmatian Al-Najm, having captured seven hundred of his companions; the Qarmatian, however, fleeing, was found at the place called Al-Dalia, whom Muhammad ibn Sulayman sent with seven hundred companions to Al-Muktafi at Al-Raqqah, to whom, having led them to Baghdad, Al-Muktafi cut his throat upon a board, and C impaled him, having tortured him beforehand: indeed, he also put his seven hundred companions to death, whose necks he cut upon a board, and impaled them; others he truncated by their hands and feet. D Al-Muktafi's army went out with Muhammad ibn Sulayman toward Damascus, where Badr al-Jamami surrendered himself to Muhammad's loyalty, along with those forces that were with him: from here Muhammad proceeded to Palestine, so that he might go into Egypt. Harun ibn Khumarawayh, therefore, having heard 493-495 that the forces and army were tending toward him, having gone out into the place which is called Al-Abbasia, in that part of the land of Egypt which they call Al-Hauf, he there stayed with his commanders and a great multitude of men, to meet Muhammad ibn Sulayman, and himA intending to wage war, Al-Muktafī’s ships meanwhile, having changed their course at sea, entered that part of the territory of Egypt of Tinnis and its villages. The commander of the ships was the Greek, Damian. Therefore, certain of the Harūnid commanders went forth and met Damian in the village called Tanūbah; where, having joined battle, they fought, and the Harūnid commanders turned their backs. Shiban ibn Muhammad, of the house of Ibn Tulun, the uncle of Harūn ibn Shamāwail, attacked Harūn and killed him on Sunday, the 18th of the month of Safar, in the year 292, and for some days he held power. But the Harūnid commanders, writing to Muhammad ibn Sulayman, sought immunity from him; to which he agreed, and ordered them to be secure. Muhammad ibn Sulayman entered Egypt, with no one hindering or repelling him, on Thursday, two days before the end of the month of Safar, in the year 292. Seeing this, Shiban and his brothers, after Muhammad ibn Sulayman had drawn up his battle line at the place called Al-Riyab near the gate of the city of Misr, also sought immunity for themselves and their property; upon his granting them this, the troops of Shiban were dispersed. Muhammad ibn Sulayman ordered all the commanders and scribes of the Harūnid retinue who were with him to betake themselves to Baghdad; they departed, therefore, and he himself remained in Egypt for six months; he collected from the scribes and commanders about a million gold pieces: then he went to Iraq, having left in Egypt, after he had spent six months there, Īsā al-Nūsharī; he also collected a million gold pieces in money from the provinces of the empire. Al-Muktafī threw Muhammad ibn Sulayman into chains, calling him to account for the wealth he had collected in Egypt. Meanwhile, there arose in Syria one of the Harūnid commanders, named Muhammad ibn ‘Ali al-Khalīj, one of those who had remained in Syria with Muhammad ibn Sulayman; having gathered a mixed crowd of men, he fixed his seat in the city of Ramlah. When this was reported to Īsā al-Nūsharī, he himself, with Al-Husayn ibn Ahmad al-Madarā’ī, who had the surname Abu Zinbā’, and the forces that were in Egypt, went forth to attack Muhammad ibn ‘Ali al-Khalīj; but when it was reported to them that he was equipped with a great multitude, they returned with the retinue of commanders to Fustat; thence, withdrawing to Al-Jīzah, they burned two bridges that had been cut, so that Muhammad ibn ‘Ali al-Khalīj might not follow them. And as they moved from one place to another, now to Alexandria, now to Al-Sa’īd, the city of Fustat was left without a ruler or any other official, and for five days the people stood guard over one another. Then Muhammad ibn ‘Ali al-Khalīj entered the city of Misr on Thursday, the 14th day before the end of the month of Dhu al-Qa’dah, in the year 292, and remained there for eight months, collecting wealth; and his power grew. Then, as Al-Muktafī’s forces arrived with his freedman Fātik and an assembly of commanders, Muhammad ibn ‘Ali ibn al-Khalīj went out to meet them, but then returned to Fustat with his companions; and after they had fought in a sharp conflict, Muhammad ibn ‘Ali, having turned to flight, returned to Fustat and hidden himself. Fātik, therefore, with the commanders who were with him, entered Fustat. But a man with whom Muhammad al-Khalīj had hidden approached Īsā al-Nūsharī and indicated that he was with him. The latter, therefore, sending men, seized him, and that was in the month of Rajab in the year 293, and together with his companions, relatives, commanders, and scribes, and those who had brought him aid, he took them away to Iraq. Furthermore, Al-Muktafī died on Sunday, the 13th of the month of Dhu al-Qa’dah, in the year 295. B His caliphate was of six years, nine months, and two days. Those held in the greatest favor by him, and who managed his affairs, were Al-Abbas ibn al-Hasan the vizier, and Fātik, his freedman. 500 The Caliphate of Al-Muqtadir billāh. Al-Muqtadir billāh Ja’far ibn Ahmad al-Mu’tadid billāh was inaugurated on the same day that his brother Al-Muktafī died, namely Sunday, the 13th of the month of Dhu al-Qa’dah, in the year 295. His mother was a concubine named Sha’ab. He confirmed this Al-Abbas, his brother’s vizier, in the position and dignity he held, and set him over his affairs. However, certain commanders conspired to place Abd Allah ibn al-Mu’tazz on the throne; whence for some days in Baghdad there was war: and among them were the vizier Al-Abbas ibn al-Hasan and Fātik, in the month of Rabī’ al-Thānī, in the year 299. Abd Allah ibn al-Mu’tazz was also seized and cast into chains. Al-Muqtadir appointed as vizier Al-Alī ibn Muhammad ibn Musa ibn al-Furāt. Furthermore, there arose in the West a certain man named Abd Allah al-Muhtasib billāh, who, having routed the forces of the Aghlabids and killed their commanders, occupied the West. Fleeing from him, Ziyādat Allāh ibn Muhammad ibn Ibrāhīm, of the house of Aghlab, having taken his domestics and those necessary to him, betook himself to Egypt, which he entered C in the month of Ramadan, in the year 296; then, having set out for Ramlah, 501-503 he remained there until he passed away. But Abu Abd Allah al-Muhtasib, who rebelled in the West, took a man who claimed to be a descendant of Ali, named Ubayd Allāh, and placed him on the throne, and having given him an oath of allegiance, invited [the people] into his service. But Ali Ubayd Allāh attacked Abu Abd Allah al-Muhtasib and killed him, and he himself occupied the West in the year 298. Furthermore, Al-Muqtadir, angered at Ali ibn Muhammad ibn al-Furāt, in the month of Dhu al-Hijjah, in the year 299, threw him into prison, having appointed as his own vizier Muhammad ibn Abd Allāh, ibn Yahyā, ibn Khāqān, who had the surname Dakka-Sedraho [striking the breast, indeed
A when anyone requested something of him, he was accustomed to strike his breast and say: Verily, I show you honor. In the third year of the caliphate of Al-Muqtadir, Leo was appointed patriarch of Jerusalem, who sat for seventeen years, and then died. Furthermore, the great church of Alexandria, which is called Caesarea, burned down; it was a temple which Queen Cleopatra had built, sacred to Saturn, on Monday, the third of the month of Shawwal, in the year 300.
In that same year, in the month of Rabi' al-Thani, Obaidallah sent one of his generals, named Habbasa, equipped with many forces, who captured Barqa; the reinforcements of Al-Muqtadir, which were there, showing him their backs. B Then, having marched to Alexandria, the armies of Al-Muqtadir engaged him in battle there, by whom, put to flight, he took Alexandria. He also sent from his own men an army to Al-Fayyum and Al-Bahnasa, and captured those as well. When he had informed Obaidallah of this matter by letter, he himself sent to him his son Abulkasem (in another copy he is called Abd-ar-Rahman) with a great army to assist Habbasa. Now Taccin, the Chosroan, was governor of Egypt, to whom Al-Muqtadir sent Al-Kasem ibn Sama, along with several generals, and also Mu'nis the eunuch and Hawau, to bring him aid. They set out for Al-Jizah and called the people to arms, of whom about one hundred thousand joined them, equipped for war. When [Habbasa] had come to meet them with his forces, they, having drawn up their battle line, engaged him in battle; and a struggle took place between them at a certain place called Ardol' Chamsin [the land of the fifty]. However, Habbasa was put to flight, with his companions and foot soldiers killed, whom the people pursued: but they, having turned back again against the people, killed whomsoever they met. As this happened in the evening time, night separated them. About twenty thousand were killed from the people; ten thousand from the soldiers of Habbasa: and the allies of Obaidallah returned by night; but heralds were called to gather the people. Therefore, Abulkasem returned with his companions C and forces to the west. Furthermore, Al-Muqtadir, being angry with Ali ibn Muhammad ibn Obaidallah, ibn Yahyā, ibn Khāqān, on the tenth day of Muharram in the year 300, first took unto himself as [vizier] Alim ibn al-Furat, who being again deposed in the month of Dhu al-Hijjah in the year 303, he appointed as vizier Alim ibn Muhammad ibn al-Hasan ibn al-Furat, brought out from prison; then, after deposing him, he threw him back into prison in the month of Jumada al-Ula in the year 304, having appointed Hamed ibn al-Abbas to that office.
In the year 307, Abulkasem, the son of Obaidallah, coming from the west with one hundred thousand men, took Alexandria, whereby the inhabitants of Egypt were struck with terror. He also took Al-Fayyum and Al-Bahnasa and the island of Al-Absmarin. When the report of this had reached Al-Muqtadir, he sent the eunuch Mu'nis, equipped with a great army. The armies therefore pitched camp in Al-Jizah; but at that time one hundred ships were readied for war by Obaidallah; eighty of them were those they call Al-Homul [transports], and twenty were of those called Ashareni: which arrived at the walls of Rashid. D When he had informed Al-Muqtadir of this matter by written letters, Mu'nis sent the eunuch Thamalus with fifty ships of war. Thamalus, therefore, meeting them, 508 set on fire their shattered ships, with very many of them killed and drowned, and many also seeking to be received into the faith; those, however, who had been received into the faith, he sent into Egypt: to whom the people said: "Whoever among you is a Kutaman, let him separate himself from the Sicilians, Africans, and Tripolitans." When, therefore, the Kutamans had withdrawn, who were in number over five hundred, the people rushing upon them, destroyed them, at the place which is called Amakas, in a slaughter most disgraceful and foul. The eunuch Mu'nis remained, however, with his forces in Al-Jizah for two years, having his army fortified with a rampart. Abulkasem, meanwhile, remained at Alexandria and from there marched to Al-Fayyum. The eunuch Mu'nis therefore wrote to the eunuch Thamalus that he should proceed to Alexandria with his ships (for there were not in Alexandria any of the forces of Abulkasem, except about three hundred men), and carry off its inhabitants, and allow no one to reside there. Thamalus, therefore, bringing his ships to Alexandria, gave notice by a herald that if anyone remained in Alexandria after three days, he would cut off his head. The men, therefore, leaving behind their furniture and all that they possessed, and their doors being closed, went out. Alexandria was like those who go out for the sake of amusement: and Thamalus led them off by ships to an island, which island is called Abukair: but many of them were drowned in the Nile. 509-511 Furthermore, there perished in the villages and in Fustat more than two hundred thousand men, women, and children from hunger and thirst. And the place remained desolate, with no one remaining in it. Thamalus did this, so that returning from Al-Fayyum, Abulkasem would not find a place where he might be received for hospitality. Then the eunuch Mu'nis, having collected his forces, went out against him while he was remaining at Al-Fayyum and put him to flight, with his companions killed and their wealth and everything else they had plundered. Abulkasem, therefore, fleeing with his friends, betook himself to Kirawan; and this in the month of Dhu al-Hijjah, in the year 308, after which, having remained there for two months, the eunuch Mu'nis sought Baghdad, having left Helal ibn Badar in Egypt. Alexandria, however, when as many as survived of its inhabitants had returned, was inhabited again. Furthermore, the Emperor Leo, seized by a grave sickness and fearing that he was about to die, sent for the patriarch Nicholas, whom he had removed from his place, seeking his favor, and restored him to the throne, having removed the patriarch Anthimus, whom he ordered to withdraw to a certain monastery in Constantinople; in which...
A he remained for two years and died. There survived him the Emperor Leo, who was suffering from the sickness from which he was afflicted for several months, and then he died. After him, his brother Alexander ruled for seven years, and he died in the year 512, with Constantine, the son of Leo, succeeding him, who was then twenty-three years old (or, according to another manuscript, thirteen). His mother, Augusta by name, administered the empire. Now the King of the Bulgarians sent to the Emperor Constantine, asking for his daughter to be given in marriage to his own son; when Constantine would not grant this, many wars were joined between them. When Nicholas, the patriarch, saw these wars continuing, fearing that they might destroy one another, he joined a certain leader by the name of Domitius to assist Constantine in the administration of the empire; having accepted Domitius's daughter, he gave her in marriage to Constantine: and it came to pass that the three, namely Constantine, Domitius, and Christopher the son of Domitius, were hailed as Roman emperors, and jointly governed the empire. By giving his daughter to the King of the Bulgarians as his wife, wars between them ceased. Now the vizier [counselor] of the Almoc tader, Hamed Ebnol Abas, being angry, had him put to death by the previous vizier in the year three hundred and thirteen, and had Alim Ebn Ahmed Ebnol Phorat removed to prison, and he appointed a vizier in his place at the end of the month of Rabi II, in the year three hundred and eleven, for the third time actually. The Moslems also tore down the Melchite churches, namely that of Saint Cosmas, and of Saint Cyriac, and also B the church of Ascalon and that of Caesarea, and likewise the church of Iomada, in the year three hundred and eleven. When the Christians brought a complaint about this to the Almoc tader, he ordered the rebuilding of what had been torn down for them. The Moslems also stirred up trouble [at] the church of the Melchites in Tinnis, which was outside the citadel of Tinnis, which is called the Buthaur church; they tore it down, in the month of Rajab: then the Christians set about building a church there, and when they had nearly finished it, the Moslems were stirred up again and burned down what they had built, but the King brought aid to the Christians so that they might build the church again. Now the Almoc tader, being angry with his vizier Ali Ebn Al-Phorat, had him put to death, and his son Mohsen, in the month of Rabi I, in the year three hundred and twelve, and appointed Abdillaho to that office in the month of Jumada II, in the year three hundred and fourteen. The Moslems also stirred up trouble in Damascus [and] tore down the cathedral of the Holy Virgin (which was very spacious, large, and beautiful, on which two hundred thousand gold pieces had been spent), having plundered the vessels and other ornaments that were in it. They also plundered the monasteries, and especially the monastery of the women which was next to the church. They also knocked down many Melchite churches; they also tore down the Nestorian church; and this happened in the month of Rajab in the year 516. C Then it was that Ali Ebn Isa Mecha, to whom the vizier Abdollah had written to travel into Egypt to inquire into its state. Others therefore, [namely] Ebn Isa, entered Egypt at the beginning of the month of Rajab and, having seized the monks and bishops, exacted tribute from them; indeed, from all, as much from the monks as from the infirm and the poor, and likewise from all the monasteries which were in the lower part of the region, and from the bishops and monks who were in the monastery of Mina. Some of the monks therefore, being terrified, fled to Al Moktader, demanding that he write letters [forbidding] that he exact tribute from them, and that they be allowed to live as they were accustomed to do in the same manner as before. Abdullah Ebn Mohammed Ebn Chakan, who had been removed from the vizierate, delegated Abi Abaso Ahmed Ebn Abdollahi Ebn Ahmed Al-Chasib, in the year three hundred and thirteen.
Now Nicholas, the patriarch of Constantinople, died after he had occupied the chair for thirty years, and after him Stephen was appointed, who had been a eunuch, and he died after having sat for three years. A great star appeared in Egypt with swift rays, and with sparks following it, and with a terrible flame, of a great body, and of a very red color, at the north and toward the east, almost thirty [cubits] long, two wide, like a serpent; and after the sun had set in the west in the month of 517-519 Rabi II, in the year three hundred and thirteen; D when it had lasted for three hours, it vanished. The vizierate being abdicated by Abul Abaso Ebnol Chasib, Ali Ebn Isa, Ebnol Iarahi was appointed in his place; who, having then been removed, secured as a vizier for himself [the caliph] Abu Ali Ebn Mohammed, Ebn Ali, in the middle of Rabi II in the year three hundred and sixteen.
But the leaders of Baghdad were stirred up against Al Moktader, to take him and his government, among whom were Abul Hijah, Nazuk, and others. Al Moktader, therefore, fearing that he might be killed, abdicated the caliphate himself on the Saturday in the middle of Moharram, in the year three hundred and seventeen; in whose place he established his brother Mohammed Ebn Ahmeh, who sat for the days of Saturday and Sunday. On Monday, the infantry, called Al Mosaphii, Narukum and Abul Hija, were stirred up and restored Al Moktader to the caliphate, having deposed Mohammed Ebn Ahmed, whom they sent to his own house. Now it happened in Egypt that there were countless locusts, so much so that they reached the ground, such as the inhabitants of Egypt had never seen before; and they devoured their crops, palms, and fruits, so much so that they hindered the sun's rays and trees and vineyards, and this in the month of Rabi I, in the year three hundred and twenty-seven, or (according to another manuscript) three hundred and twenty 520.
Then in Al Yamamah, and Al Bahrain, there arose rebels by the name of Soliman Ebnol Hasan, who
is commonly called Al-Abi Said Al-Jannabi; he, arriving at Pasoram, ravaged it after it was captured, and inflicted a great slaughter of men therein, and setting out thence to Cusam, having captured it also, he slew the inhabitants, and led away many captives thence, and carried off much wealth. Then proceeding near Baghdad, he pitched his camp in a place which is called Tel-Arkuph; and many battles were joined between him and the forces of Al-Moktader; but when he did not achieve what he desired, he returned to Cusam, and that in the three hundred and thirteenth year: nay, he even choked and filled up the wells of water on the road which leads to Mecca, so that for fear of him B the inhabitants of Baghdad and Chorasan abstained from pilgrimages, while the inhabitants of Egypt and Syria performed them in the meantime. And when in the three hundred and seventeenth year men were in the [observance of the pilgrim religious rites], on Tuesday, the seventh of Dil-Hajja, Allannabi arriving at Mecca with his forces, and having entered the same, slew innumerable men, both around the shrine, and within the holy house of prayer, and in the squares, so that the well of Zamzam was filled with the slain, as also the valleys, streets, houses, and deserts; and if any escaped the slaughter by flight, the Arabs slew them as well, plundering their property. There were also those who, fleeing, committed themselves to the sea 521-523. Allannabius therefore seized a quantity of wealth and goods greater than can be reckoned. Whatever gold or silver was within the holy shrine he took away. He also took away the silver plates which had been torn off from the door of the temple. C And there was in the outer corner of the shrine a black stone, which men greatly venerated and were wont to kiss, seeking a blessing thence; this he also moved from its place and carried off with him; and he spent seven days at Mecca, sacking it: then he returned home, the pilgrimages having been abolished. Moreover, Elias, the Patriarch of Antioch, died on Saturday the thirteenth of the latter Jomada, in the year three hundred and seventeenth, [after] he had occupied the chair for twenty-eight years. The office of Vizier was also privated from Mohammed Ebn Ali, Ebn Moklah, on Tuesday, the eleventh before the end of the former Jomada, when Soliman Ebnol Hasan Ebn Mochalled had been admitted thereto on Thursday, the thirteenth before the end of the same month, in the year three hundred and eighteenth; who again was removed from it on Thursday before the end of Rajeb, in the year three hundred and seventeenth, Obaidallah Ebn Mohammed Cadanensi having been constituted Vizier on Saturday, the sixth before the end of the same month, in the year three hundred and nineteenth; from whom, being then removed, was substituted Al-Hasan Ebnol Kasem 524 Ebn Obaid oddin Soliman, Ebn Wadad, on Saturday, the third before the end of the month of Shawal, in the year three hundred and nineteenth, and he was surnamed Omaidol-dulah, Ebn Walii-ldulahi, from whom then this dignity being taken away, Abul Fadl Ebn Jaafar, Ebnol-Forat, Ebn Chazayanah obtained it on Sunday, the third before the end of the latter Rabiam, in the year three hundred and twentieth, who took his surname from his mother, whose name was Chaizaranah. As for the Romans, upon the death of Christopher the son of Domnius, Domnius embraced the monastic life, and Constantine remained alone in the government of the empire. Stephen, Patriarch of Constantinople, also died, after he had occupied the chair for three years: and Atranphinus was constituted Patriarch in his place. Christodulus, Patriarch of Alexandria, also died on Wednesday, the eleventh before the end of Dil-Kaada, in the year three hundred and twentieth, which is the twenty-fifth of Tishrin the Second, of the six hundred and forty-ninth year of Diocletian; and he was buried at Phostati in Egypt, when he had sat in the chair for twenty-six years and six months. He was buried, moreover, in the church of Michael. Furthermore, the commanders, together with Munaso the eunuch, rebelling in Baghdad against Al-Moktader, set upon him; and when he had gone out to engage them in battle, they slew him, and carried his head, placed upon a spear, D around the city 525-527; and that on Wednesday, before the end of the month of Shawa the second, in the year three hundred and twentieth. His caliphate was of twenty-four years, eleven months, and fifteen days: his vizier was Alphadlus Ebn Jaafar, Ebuol Phorat. Trikonig, Patriarch of Constantinople, died when he had occupied the chair for five years, and Domnius constituted his own son named Theophylact, who was a eunuch, Patriarch, when he was a youth of twenty-two years.