ADMONITION
On the following minor works edited in the time of the Emperor Jovian
A 621 I. After Julian the Apostate was removed by a most wretched death, a great light shone upon Christian affairs when Jovian was inaugurated in his place. He, as being, according to the testimony of Gregory Nazianzen, endowed with wondrous piety and gentleness of spirit, commenced his reign with the recall of exiled bishops. Above all others, however, he restored the exile Athanasius, who excelled all in virtue, and for his piety had been attacked without any hesitation. "He granted," thus says Gregory, "the exile to the bishops, and to all others, and above all, to the one who before all others excelled in virtue, and [to him who] had openly fought on behalf of piety." To him the emperor first sent the letter mentioned by Epiphanius (Haer. LXVIII, p. 726), which, having restored it to its proper place, we have placed here first, wherein, in sending Athanasius back to his fatherland and his Church, he testifies how much he values his virtue and the steadfastness of his soul. Furthermore, it is not to be doubted that Athanasius sent a letter of thanksgiving to Jovian, although they have by no means reached us. Nor, however, did Athanasius think he should wait for an opportunity to return; for he is said to have returned to Alexandria as soon as he heard of the death of Julian, as we narrate more fully in the Life of Athanasius.
II. Besides this letter, Jovian sent another to Athanasius, in which he asked that he transmit to him [an account of] the truth of the faith, which was distracted into six hundred opinions and factions, as the same Gregory says. This letter was indeed lost through the injury of time: there remains only that which Athanasius wrote back to the emperor, truly excellent and worthy of so great a teacher: wherein, having praised the prince's love for heavenly things and his zeal for learning, he commends the Nicene faith and inveighs sharply against the Arians, because they had refused to stand by the decrees of that synod: whence arose such great commotions and such great schisms throughout the Church. He enumerates then the provinces and regions whose Churches adhered to the Nicene faith, with the exception of a few Arians who had hitherto contended against it. Hence he reports the Nicene Creed, to which he adds a few things for the sake of clarity, and clearly declares the divinity of the Holy Spirit. Moreover, that this letter of Athanasius was received by Jovian the emperor himself testifies below, in the third, indeed, of the Arian petitions, where he says that he had inquired diligently and found that Athanasius held the right views and was orthodox. This [letter] is also commended by Gregory Nazianzen in his 21st Oration, and he says that the holy doctor confesses in that letter—albeit briefly—that the three Persons are of one substance, and [confesses] the divinity of the Holy Spirit. This very letter exists in Theodoret, book IV, chap. 2, [where he says] that Athanasius gathered bishops who were more distinguished in doctrine, so that by their counsel he might write it and send it to Jovian.
B III. Now, Valesius, in his notes to ch. 3, book IV of Theodoret, opines that this letter was written at Antioch by Athanasius and his companions, but he is surely led by a very flimsy argument. For he relies solely on the title of this letter, which stands thus in Theodoret: "To the most pious and most philanthropic victor, Augustus Jovian, Athanasius and the rest of the bishops who have come on behalf of all the bishops of Egypt and the Thebaid and Libya." And he thinks that by these words it is indicated that Athanasius and certain other bishops came to Antioch on behalf of all the prelates of Egypt, Thebaid, and Libya to present themselves before Jovian and wrote the letter there; but it is apparent from the preceding chapter of Theodoret, where he says that Athanasius had gathered bishops more distinguished in doctrine, that Athanasius himself had not moved from his place, but had remained at Alexandria, where he then was. For that expression, "who have come," is not referred to Athanasius, but to that "rest of the bishops," who, namely, had been summoned and had betaken themselves to Alexandria. What need, I ask, for bishops to approach the emperor if they were to deal with him by letter? In this place, we certainly prefer the opinion of Baronius, who thinks the letter was given at Alexandria, to that of Valesius, who thinks it was written at Antioch.
IV. To the letter of Athanasius to Jovian we add four supplicatory petitions of Lucius and the Arians made at Antioch to Jovian: which are erroneously inscribed in all the editions as "Colloquies." For the word *entychia* does not signify a colloquy here, but a supplicatory petition, whether by voice or by writing, offered to a prince or magistrate against someone: in which sense the word *entychanien* also comes into use. Thus in I Maccabees X, 63, it is said of Jonathan: "And the king made him sit with him, and said to his princes: Go out with him into the midst of the city, and proclaim that no one is to petition (*entynchanein*) against him regarding any matter." Where the Vulgate has: "And the king placed him to sit with himself. And he said to his princes: Go out with him into the midst of the city, and proclaim that no one may complain (*interpellet*) against him regarding any business." The word *entynchanein* is often repeated there in the same sense. The learned Valesius observed a similar use of the word *entychia* in his notes to Theodoret’s Ecclesiastical History, p. 5. These are, therefore, the supplicatory petitions of Lucius and the Arians against Athanasius, who was then at Antioch, in whose place they demand another bishop; they were, namely, very desirous that Lucius be ordained, whom the pseudo-bishop George of Alexandria had appointed as a presbyter. For that is plain from those things which are at the end of the third petition C
A
Now it is clear from Jovian’s responses how much he excelled in piety and sharpness of intellect: for he rejected the petitions of the Arians with wit and acuteness, while Lucius he cast aside without even a hearing, accompanied by reproof and curses. Moreover, these minor works were undoubtedly published in the year 363.
V. In the previous editions of Athanasius, after Jovian’s letter, there follows a fragment which bears the title, “Of the same Athanasius to the most pious Emperor Jovian,” but it is certain that this is falsely inscribed; it possesses no form of a letter, nor is it found in the older manuscripts; indeed, it seems to have been written after the age of Athanasius, concerning which we shall speak more fully in its proper place.
Exemplar of the Letter of the Emperor Jovian, sent to the most holy Athanasius, Archbishop of Alexandria
To the most God-beloved and friend of God, Athanasius, Jovian. B
Since we greatly admire your most honorable life, your likeness to the God of all, and your disposition toward Christ our Savior—which are your brilliant virtues—we praise you, most honorable bishop, because you have feared no labor, nor the fury of persecutors, and have held the dangers and threats of swords as nothing, but, holding the helm of the orthodox faith dear to you, you have fought for the truth until now; and you continue to offer yourself as a pattern to all the people of the faithful and as a type of virtue. Therefore, our Majesty recalls you and wishes you to return to the teaching of salvation. Return, therefore, to the holy Churches, and shepherd the people of God, and willingly send up prayers to God for our clemency. For we know that by your entreaty, both we and those who think as the Christians do with us shall obtain great aid from the God who is above.
OF OUR HOLY FATHER ATHANASIUS, ARCHBISHOP OF ALEXANDRIA, TO JOVIAN, CONCERNING THE FAITH.
1. It becomes a God-beloved king to have a study of learning and a love of heavenly things: for thus in truth will you have a heart in the hand of God. C Since, therefore, your piety desires to learn from us the faith of the Catholic Church, after we had given thanks to the Lord on this account, nothing seemed better to us than to remind your piety of the faith which the Fathers confessed at Nicaea. For certain men, having rejected this, have plotted against us in various ways, because we were unwilling to assent to the Arian heresy; and they have been the D cause of heresy and schisms in the Church.
A For indeed the true and pious faith in the Lord is manifest to all, being understood and read from the divine Scriptures. For in this the saints also were perfected and suffered martyrdom, and now they have departed to be with the Lord; and the faith would have remained unharmed throughout B all time, had not the wickedness of certain heretics dared to adulterate it. For a certain Arius and his followers attempted to corrupt it and introduce impiety against it, saying that the Son of God is from nothing, and is a creature and a work, and mutable. By such words they certainly deceived many, so that even those who appeared to be of some substance were led away into their impiety; although our holy Fathers, as we have said, gathered in the synod at Nicaea, anathematized them, and at the same time confessed in writing the faith of the Catholic Church, so that, by its being proclaimed everywhere, the heresy kindled by the heretics might be extinguished. This faith, then, was everywhere, in every Church, sincerely known and preached. But because now certain men, wishing to renew the Arian heresy, have dared to reject this faith which was confessed by the Fathers at Nicaea—and they feign to confess it while in truth they deny it, perversely interpreting the word "consubstantial," and they themselves C blaspheme against the Holy Spirit, in saying that He is a creature and has been made through the Son—we have necessarily, perceiving the harm which such impiety brings upon the peoples, taken pains to deliver to thy piety the faith confessed at Nicaea, so that thy God-fearing mind may know with what precision it is written, and how much they err who teach things contrary to this faith.
2. Know indeed, most religious Augustus, that these things have been preached from all time, and that this same faith was confessed by the Fathers who assembled at Nicaea, and that all the Churches throughout the world, D of Spain, and Britain, and the Gauls, and all of Italy, and Dalmatia, and Dacia, and Mysia, and Macedonia, and all of Greece, and all of Africa, and Sardinia, and Cyprus, and Crete, and Pamphylia, and Lycia, and Isauria, and in concert give their vote to this.
and the Churches throughout all Egypt and the Libyas, and Pontus, and Cappadocia, and our neighboring Churches, and those in the East, with the exception of a few who follow the heresy of Arius. For we know the mind of all the aforementioned, both by experience and by having their letters. And you know, most God-fearing Augustus, B that even if a few people contest this faith, they cannot produce a prejudice against it, since the whole world holds the apostolic faith. For those men, having been infected for a long time by the Arian heresy, oppose the true piety more obstinately today. Therefore, that your Piety might be more certain in this matter, although it is not hidden from you, we have made it our study to subjoin the faith which the bishops confessed at Nicaea. Therefore, the faith which the Fathers confessed at Nicaea is this:
3. We believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of all things visible and invisible; and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten from the Father as only-begotten, that is, from the substance of the Father, God from God, light from light, true God from true God, C begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father, through whom all things were made, both things in heaven and things on earth; who for us men and for our salvation came down, and was incarnate, and became man, suffered, and rose on the third day, and ascended into the heavens, and is coming to judge the living and the dead. And in the Holy Spirit. But those who say, "There was a time when he was not," and, "Before he was begotten he was not," and that he was made out of things that were not, or who speak of the Son of God as being from another hypostasis or substance, or as created, or mutable, or alterable—these the catholic and apostolic Church anathematizes.
4. It is necessary for all to remain in this faith, as divine and apostolic, and for no one to change it with subtleties of discourse and logomachies, D which is what the Ariomanites have done, saying that the Son of God is out of nothing, and that there was a time when he was not, and that he is created and made and mutable. For this reason, just as we said before, the synod at Nicaea anathematized such a heresy and confessed the faith of the truth. For they did not say simply that the Son is like the Father, lest he be thought to be merely like God, but
that God from God is believed to be true God. They wrote that he is consubstantial, which indeed properly befits A the genuine and true Son of the true and natural Father. Nor did they separate the Holy Spirit from the Father and the Son, but rather they glorified Him together with the Father and the Son in the one faith of the Holy Trinity, because there is indeed only one divinity in the Holy Trinity.
Petition made to Emperor Jovian at Antioch by Lucius, Bernicianus, and certain other Arians against Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria.
The first petition which they made, while the emperor was proceeding to the field, at the Roman Gate.
We ask thy power, thy empire, and thy piety, that you listen to us. The Emperor said: Who are you, and whence? The Arians answered: Christians, my lord. The Emperor said: Whence, and from what city? The Arians said: From Alexandria. The Emperor said: What do you want? The Arians said: We ask B thy power and thy empire that you give us a bishop. The Emperor said: I have ordered the former bishop whom you had, Athanasius, to be placed on the throne. The Arians said: We ask thy power; for many years he has been in exile and accused. A soldier, suddenly moved, replied: I beseech thy empire that you yourself inquire who they are and whence they come. For these are the abject relics of Cappadocia, the remnants of that wicked George, who rendered the city and the world a desert. Having heard this, the Emperor spurred his horse and went off into the field. C
The second petition of the Arians.
We have accusations and proofs against Athanasius, who twenty years ago was cast into exile by Constantine and Constantius of eternal memory, and he also went into exile under the god-beloved, most studious of philosophy, and holy Julian. The Emperor said: The accusations that were instituted ten, twenty, and thirty years ago have already passed. Do not speak to me about Athanasius, for I know why he was accused and why he was proscribed.
The third petition of the Arians.
And now again we have other accusations against Athanasius. D The Emperor said: That which is just will not appear from tumult and loquacity, but choose two from among yourselves, and from the populace two others. For I cannot respond to each one of you individually. Those from the populace said: These are the relics of the wicked George who devastated our province, and who permitted no councillor to dwell in the cities.