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| What Constantine the Great effected about the Oak in Mamre; he also built a Temple.
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Chapter IV.—What
Constantine the Great effected about the Oak in Mamre; he also built a
Temple.
I consider it necessary to
detail the proceedings of Constantine in relation to what is called the
oak of Mamre.1147
| 1147Eus. V. C. iii. 51–53; Soc. i. 18. As a
native of Palestine, Soz. here adds local details.
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This place is now called Terebinthus, and is about fifteen stadia
distant from Hebron, which lies to the south, but is two hundred and
fifty stadia distant from Jerusalem. It is recorded that here the Son
of God appeared to Abraham, with two angels, who had been sent against
Sodom, and foretold the birth of his son. Here the inhabitants of the
country and of the regions round Palestine, the Phœnicians, and
the Arabians, assemble annually during the summer season to keep a
brilliant feast; and many others, both buyers and sellers, resort
thither on account of the fair. Indeed, this feast is diligently
frequented by all nations: by the Jews, because they boast of their
descent from the patriarch Abraham; by the Pagans, because angels there
appeared to men; and by Christians, because He who for the salvation of
mankind was born of a virgin, afterwards manifested Himself there to a
godly man. This place was moreover honored fittingly with religious
exercises. Here some prayed to the God of all; some called upon the
angels, poured out wine, burnt incense, or offered an ox, or he-goat, a
sheep, or a cock. Each one made some beautiful product of his labor,
and after carefully husbanding it through the entire year, he offered
it according to promise as provision for that feast, both for himself
and his dependents. And either from honor to the place, or from fear of
Divine wrath, they all abstained from coming near their wives, although
during the feast these were more than ordinarily studious of their
beauty and adornment. Nor, if they chanced to appear and to take part
in the public processions, did they act at all licentiously. Nor did
they behave imprudently in any other respect, although the tents were
contiguous to each other, and they all lay promiscuously together. The
place is open country, and arable, and without houses, with the
exception of the buildings around Abraham’s old oak and the well
he prepared. No one during the time of the feast drew water from that
well; for according to Pagan usage, some placed burning lamps near it;
some poured out wine, or cast in cakes; and others, coins, myrrh, or
incense. Hence, as I suppose, the water was rendered useless by
commixture with the things cast into it. Once whilst these customs were
being celebrated by the Pagans, after the aforesaid manner, and as was
the established usage with hilarity, the mother-in-law1148
| 1148Eutropia, the mother of Fausta.
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of Constantine was present for prayer, and apprised the emperor of what
was being done. On receiving this information, he rebuked the bishops
of Palestine in no measured terms, because they had neglected their
duty, and had permitted a holy place to be defiled by impure libations
and sacrifices; and he expressed his godly censure in an epistle which
he wrote on the subject to Macarius, bishop of Jerusalem, to Eusebius
Pamphilus, and to the bishops of Palestine. He commanded these bishops
to hold a conference on this subject with the Phœnician bishops,
and issue directions for the demolition, from the foundations, of the
altar formerly erected there, the destruction of the carved images by
fire, and the erection of a church worthy of so ancient and so holy a
place. The emperor finally enjoined, that no libations or sacrifices
should be offered on the spot, but that it should be exclusively
devoted to the worship of God according to the law of the Church; and
that if any attempt should be made to restore the former rites, the
bishops were to inform against the delinquent, in order that he might
be subjected to the greatest punishment. The governors and priests of
Christ strictly enforced the injunctions contained in the
emperor’s letter.
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