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| Of Marcellus, bishop of Apamea, and the idols' temples destroyed by him.
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Chapter XXI.—Of Marcellus,
bishop of Apamea, and the idols’ temples destroyed by
him.
The first of the bishops to put the edict in force and destroy the
shrines in the city committed to his care was Marcellus, trusting rather in God
than in the hands of a multitude. The occurrence is remarkable, and I
shall proceed to narrate it. On the death of John, bishop of Apamea,
whom I have already mentioned, the divine Marcellus, fervent in
spirit,890
according to the apostolic law, was
appointed in his stead.
Now there had arrived at Apamea
the prefect of the East891
| 891 Valesius points out that this was Cynegius, prefect of the East,
who was sent by Theodosius to effect the closing of the idol’s
temples. cf. Zos. iv. | with two tribunes
and their troops. Fear of the troops kept the people quiet. An attempt
was made to destroy the vast and magnificent shrine of Jupiter, but the
building was so firm and solid that to break up its closely compacted
stones seemed beyond the power of man; for they were huge and well and
truly laid, and moreover clamped fast with iron and lead.892
| 892 καὶ σιδήρῳ
καὶ μολίβδῳ
προσδεδεμένοι. We are reminded of the huge cramps which must at one time
have bound the stones of the Colosseum,—the ruins being pitted
all over by the holes made by the middle-age pillagers who tore them
away. |
When the divine Marcellus saw
that the prefect was afraid to begin the attack, he sent him on to the
rest of the towns; while he himself prayed to God to aid him in the
work of destruction. Next morning there came uninvited to the bishop a
man who was no builder, or mason, or artificer of any kind, but only a
labourer who carried stones and timber on his back. “Give
me,” said he, “two workmen’s pay; and I promise you I
will easily destroy the temple.” The holy bishop did as he was
asked, and the following was the fellow’s contrivance. Round the
four sides of the temple went a portico united to it, and on which its
upper story rested.893
| 893 I
do not understand the description of this temple and its destruction
precisely as Gibbon does. “διορύττων” does not seem to mean “undermining the
foundations”; St. Matthew and St. Luke use it of the thieves who
“dig through” or “break in.” The word = dig
through, and so into. | The columns
were of great bulk, commensurate with the temple, each being sixteen
cubits in circumference. The quality of the stone was exceptionally
hard, and offering great resistance to the masons’ tools. In each
of these the man made an opening all round, propping up the
superstructure with olive timber before he went on to another. After he
had hollowed out three of the columns, he set fire to the timbers. But
a black demon appeared and would not suffer the wood to be consumed, as
it naturally would be, by the fire, and stayed the force of the flame.
After the attempt had been made several times, and the plan was proved
ineffectual, news of the failure was brought to the bishop, who was
taking his noontide sleep. Marcellus forthwith hurried to the church,
ordered water to be poured into a pail, and placed the water upon the
divine altar. Then, bending his head to the ground, he besought the
loving Lord in no way to give in to the usurped power of the demon, but
to lay bare its weakness and exhibit His own strength, lest unbelievers
should henceforth find excuse for greater wrong. With these and other
like words he made the sign of the cross over the water, and ordered
Equitius, one of his deacons, who was armed with faith and enthusiasm,
to take the water and sprinkle it in faith, and then apply the flame.
His orders were obeyed, and the demon, unable to endure the approach of
the water, fled. Then the fire, affected by its foe the water as though
it had been oil, caught the wood, and consumed it in an instant. When
their support had vanished the columns themselves fell down, and
dragged other twelve with them. The side of the temple which was
connected with the columns was dragged down by the violence of their
fall, and carried away with them. The crash, which was tremendous, was
heard throughout the town, and all ran to see the sight. No sooner did
the multitude hear of the flight of the hostile demon than they broke
out into a hymn of praise to God.
Other shrines were destroyed in
like manner by this holy bishop. Though I have many other most
admirable doings of this holy man to relate,—for he wrote letters
to the victorious martyrs, and received replies from them, and himself
won the martyr’s crown,—for the present I hesitate to
narrate them, lest by over prolixity I weary the patience of those into
whose hands my history may fall.
I will therefore now pass to
another subject. E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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