communed with John, that they might not commit the same things as before. When the leaders learned of this, they were annoyed at their communion with John. And Theodore, indeed, the bishop of Tyana, a distinguished man, A having understood the conspiracy from the things that reached his ears, so that he might not follow the rashness of Theophilus, left everyone uninvited, and returned to his own Church, saying a long farewell to the Comitatus, and walling off his province with the rampart of piety, persevering to the end in the communion of the faithful Romans; of whom Paul testifies: "Your faith is proclaimed throughout the whole world" (Rom. 1:8). Pharetrius, moreover, the bishop of Caesarea by Argaeus, fearing in excess—like children at masks—not even having gone out of his city, agreed by letter with the adversaries of John, although not called into the midst, acting ineptly in the episcopate, from ignorance of better things. Finally, Leontius, the bishop of Ancyra in Galatia, was joined with Ammonius, bishop of Laodicea the Burnt, and rendered the Church burnt. These men, not only defeated by the threats of the princes, but on the contrary deceived by the hope of imperial gifts, suggested to the second Synod an evil opinion against Acacius and Antiochus, that the unjuridical judgment of Theophilus might prevail, and that by no means should a place for defense be given to John, on the allegation of the canons sent by Theophilus, which forty of the communion of Arius had composed, which stand thus: "If any bishop or presbyter, properly or improperly deposed, returns of himself to the Church without a Synod, such a one shall no longer have a place for defense, but shall be absolutely expelled." And this canon, as one impious, brought forth by the impious, was abrogated in the Council of Sardica by the Romans, Italians, Illyrians, Macedonians, and Greeks, as thou, O great-named Theodore, knowest better than I, when Liberius or Julius, during the reign of Constans, admitted Athanasius into communion, as well as Marcellus the Galatian, for whose sake this canon had also been made. B Yet Ammonius and Leontius, a wonderful pair, joined with Acacius, Antiochus, Cyrinus of Chalcedon, and Severian, went in to the Emperor, intending to advise that ten bishops should be summoned from John’s side (though there were more than forty), to bring authority to the canons; with some indeed contending that they were of the orthodox, but others demonstrating that they were of the Arians. Now, Elpidius, bishop of Laodicea in Syria, an old man in mind and gray hair, and Tranquillus, entered, and persuaded the Emperor that it was not right for John to be cast out with his case unheard. For he had not been deposed before, but cast out by the Count, nor had he returned of himself, but by the command of thy piety, a notary having been sent for that purpose: "And the canons which they now bring forth, we show to be those of heretics." But when John's adversaries persisted in arguing disorderly, others indeed with a more contentious voice, others agitated impudently by the tumultuous shaking of their chests before the Emperor: Elpidius, most learned and observant of the canons, after a moderate quiet had been made, as if in a calm, said gently to the Emperor: "Emperor, let us not vex thy clemency any longer, but let this one thing be done; let our brothers Acacius and Antiochus subscribe that they are of the same faith as those who edited the canons, which they propose as if edited by the orthodox: and the controversy is solved." The Emperor, having observed the simplicity of the proposal, smiling, said to Antiochus: "Nothing seems to me more useful than this." But the Emperor was unaware of all the things that had been done, with others changing things that had been well constituted. Driven therefore by vertigo, and turned within themselves, they who were with Severian, like unstable water, because of that which had been prudently said by Elpidius and approved by the Emperor’s judgment, held their peace, their faces turning pale: yet constrained by the tightness of the place, even unwillingly they promised to subscribe. Having thus gone out, they do not fulfill the promise, as it was involuntary, fearing that they might be vanquished; but they were machinating by what means John might be expelled. While these things and others were being done otherwise, nine or ten months passed, while Bishop John, with forty-two bishops added to him, held meetings, and the people enjoyed his teaching with great alacrity of spirit. For a mind free of vainglory is accustomed, in afflictions, to pour forth a more pleasant and powerful sermon. Meanwhile, the Dominical fast flourished, arriving like spring after a year. C Having entered therefore privately with his own men, Antiochus spoke thus to the Emperor about John, as if he were already defeated, that he might order him to be cast out with the approach of Pascha. The Emperor, when he was urged by them, necessarily placed faith in them as bishops. For whoever is truly a presbyter or bishop does not know of falsehood. For those names are of the heavenly region, since there is nothing older to God, nothing which He inspects more watchfully: for God inspects and contemplates all things. Therefore, a bishop or presbyter ought to be a partaker of the things as well as of the names. John, therefore, the Emperor notifies to depart from the Church. He replies: "I have received this Church from God the Savior, that I may take care of the salvation of the people, and I cannot abandon it. If, however, thou willest (for the city pertains to thee), cast me out by force, that I may have thy authority as an excuse for the abandoned order." So, with a certain bashfulness, sending [him] out of the palace, when they had cast him out, ordering him meanwhile to remain in the house of the episcopate, awaiting some event of divine wrath: so that, if anything sad should happen to them, they might the more quickly return him to the Church, and appease God: if not, that they might again weave snares, like Pharaoh against Moses. Meanwhile, there came the day of the great Sabbath, on which the Savior, having been crucified, despoiled hell: and again they notify him to depart from the Church. He writes back things that were consistent. D Moreover, the Emperor, fearing the sanctity of the day and the turmoil of the city, summons Acacius and Antiochus, saying to them: "What is the need of being done? See that you have not counseled rightly." Then those generous and more than magnanimous men said to the Emperor: "Emperor, let the deposition of John be upon our head." A final aid: the forty bishops who were with John, equal in number to the days of the holy fast, approached the Augustus and the Augusta in the martyr-shrines, beseeching with tears that they might spare the Church of Christ, especially because of Pascha.