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Chapter VII.—Of Theodorus the Confessor.
Julian could not endure the shame brought upon him by these doings, and
on the following day ordered the leaders of the choral procession to be
arrested. Sallustius was prefect at this time and a servant of
iniquity, but he nevertheless was anxious to persuade the sovereign not
to allow the Christians who were eager for glory to attain the object
of their desires. When however he saw that the emperor was impotent to
master his rage, he arrested a young man adorned with the graces of a
holy enthusiasm while walking in the Forum, hung him up before the
world on the stocks, lacerated his back with scourges, and scored his
sides with claw-like instruments of torture. And this he did all day
from dawn till the day was done; and then put chains of iron on him and
ordered him to be kept in ward. Next morning he informed Julian of what
had been done, and reported the young man’s constancy and added
that the event was for themselves a defeat and for the Christians a
triumph. Persuaded of the truth of this, God’s enemy suffered no
more to be
so treated and ordered Theodorus624
624 “Gibbon seems to confuse this young man Theodorus with
Theodoretus the presbyter and martyr who was put to death about this
time at Antioch by the Count Julianus, the uncle of the emperor, (Soz.
v. 8., Ruinart’s Act. Mart. Sinc. p. 605 sq.) for he speaks in
his text of ‘a presbyter of the name of Theodoret,’ and in
his notes of ‘the passion of S. Theodore in the Acta Sincera of
Ruinart,’” Bp. Lightfoot. p. 43. | to be let out
of prison, for so was named this young and glorious combatant in
truth’s battle. On being asked if he had had any sense of pain on
undergoing those most bitter and most savage tortures he replied that
at the first indeed he had felt some little pain, but that then had
appeared to him one who continually wiped the sweat from his face with
a cool and soft kerchief and bade him be of good courage.
“Wherefore,” said he, “when the executioners gave
over I was not pleased but vexed, for now there went away with them he
who brought me refreshment of soul.” But the demon of lying
divination at once increased the martyr’s glory and exposed his
own falsehood; for a thunderbolt sent down from heaven burnt the whole
shrine625
625 “Gibbon says, ‘During the night which terminated this
indiscreet procession, the temple of Daphne was in flames,’ and
later writers have blindly followed him. He does not give any
authority, but obviously he is copying Tillemont H. E. iii. p. 407
‘en mesme temps que l’on portant dans la ville la
châsse du Saint Martyr, c’est à dire la nuit
suivante.’ The only passage which Tillemont quotes is Ammianus,
(xxii. 13) ‘eodem tempore die xi. Kal. Nov.,’ which does
not bear him out. On the contrary the historians generally (cf. Soz. v.
20, Theod. iii. 7) place the persecutions which followed on the
processions, and which must have occupied some time, before the burning
of the temple.” Bp. Lightfoot. | and turned the very statue of the Pythian
into fine dust, for it was made of wood and gilded on the surface.
Julianus the uncle of Julian, prefect of the East, learnt this by
night, and riding at full speed came to Daphne, eager to bring succour
to the deity whom he worshipped; but when he saw the so-called god
turned into powder he scourged the officers in charge of the temple,626
626 νεωκόρους νεωκόρος is the word rendered “worshipper” in
Acts xix.
35 by
A.V. The R.V. has correctly “temple-keeper,” the old
derivation from κορέω = sweep,
being no doubt less probable than the reference of the latter part of
the word to a root KOR = KOL, found in colo, curo. | for he conjectured that the conflagration
was due to some Christian. But they, maltreated as they were, could not
endure to utter a lie, and persisted in saying that the fire had
started not from below but from above. Moreover some of the
neighbouring rustics came forward and asserted that they had seen the
thunderbolt come rushing down from heaven.E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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