The Acts of the
Disputation1453
with the
Heresiarch Manes.
————————————
1. The true
Thesaurus;1454
to wit, the Disputation
conducted in
Carchar, a city of
Mesopotamia, before Manippus
1455
| 1455
In Epiphanius, Hæres., lxvi. 10, it is
Marsipus. |
and Ægialeus and Claudius and
Cleobolus, who acted as judges. In this city of
Mesopotamia there
was a certain man, Marcellus by name, who was esteemed as a person
worthy of the highest honour for his manner of
life, his pursuits, and
his
lineage, and not less so for his discretion and his nobility of
character: he was
possessed also of
abundant means; and, what is
most important of all, he
feared God with the deepest
piety, and gave
ear always with due
reverence to the things which were spoken of
Christ. In short, there was no good quality lacking in that man,
and hence it came to pass that he was held in the greatest regard by
the whole city; while, on the other
hand, he also made an ample return
for the good-will of his city by his munificent and oft-repeated acts
of liberality in bestowing on the
poor, relieving the
afflicted, and
giving help to the
distressed. But let it suffice us to have said
thus much, lest by the
weakness of our words we rather take from the
man’s
virtues than adduce what is worthy of their
splendour. I shall come, therefore, to the task which forms my
subject. On a certain occasion, when a large body of captives
were offered to the
bishop Archelaus by the
soldiers who held the
camp
in that place, their numbers being some seven
thousand seven
hundred,
he was harassed with the keenest
anxiety on account of the large sum of
money which was demanded by the
soldiers as the
price of the
prisoners’ deliverance. And as he could not conceal his
solicitude, all aflame for the
religion and the
fear of
God, he at
length hastened to Marcellus, and explained to him the importance and
difficulty of the case. And when that pattern of
piety,
Marcellus, heard his narration, without the least delay he went into
his
house, and
provided the
price demanded for the
prisoners, according
to the value set upon them by those who had led them captive; and
unlocking the
treasures of his goods, he at once distributed the
gifts
of
piety1456
among the
soldiers, without any severe consideration of number or
distinction,
1457
| 1457 Nec
numero aliquo nec discretione ulla distinguit. For
distinguit, some propose distribuit. |
so that they
seemed to be presents rather than
purchase-moneys. And those
soldiers were filled with wonder and admiration at the grandeur of the
man’s
piety and munificence, and were struck with amazement, and
felt the force
1458
| 1458
Reading commonentur, as in the text. Commoventur is
also suggested, ="were deeply moved.” |
of this
example of pity; so that very many of them were added to the
faith of
our
Lord Jesus Christ, and threw off the belt of military
service,
1459
| 1459 On the
attitude of the Christians of the primitive Church towards warfare, see
Tertullian’s De Corona Militis, ch. 11, and the twelfth
canon of the Nicene Council. |
while others
withdrew to their camp, taking scarcely a fourth part of the ransom,
and the rest made their departure without receiving even so much as
would defray the expenses of the way.
E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
