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| First Arian Persecution under Constantius.
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Part II.
First Arian Persecution under
Constantius.
9. Eusebius and his fellows, however, seeing the
declension of their heresy, wrote to Rome, as well as to the Emperors
Constantine and Constans, to accuse1537
Athanasius:
but when the persons who were sent by Athanasius disproved the
statements which they had written, they were put to shame by the
Emperors; and Julius, Bishop of Rome, wrote to say1538
that a Council ought to be held, wherever we
should desire, in order that they might exhibit the charges which they
had to make, and might also freely defend themselves concerning those
things of which they too were accused. The Presbyters also who were
sent by them, when they saw
themselves making an exposure, requested that this might be done.
Whereupon these men, whose conduct is suspicious in all that they do,
when they see that they are not likely to get the better in an
Ecclesiastical trial, betake themselves to Constantius alone, and
thenceforth bewail themselves, as to the patron of their heresy.
‘Spare,’ they say, ‘the heresy; you see that all men
have withdrawn from us; and very few of us are now left. Begin to
persecute, for we are being deserted even of those few, and are left
destitute. Those persons whom we forced over to our side, when these
men were banished, they now by their return have persuaded again to
take part against us. Write letters therefore against them all, and
send out Philagrius a second time1539
| 1539 §7, note 1, Encycl. 3. | as Prefect of
Egypt, for he is able to carry on a persecution favourably for us, as
he has already shewn upon trial, and the more so, as he is an apostate.
Send also Gregory as Bishop to Alexandria, for he too is able to
strengthen our heresy.’
10. Violent Intrusion of Gregory.
Accordingly Constantius at once writes letters,
and commences a persecution against all, and sends Philagrius as
Prefect with one Arsacius an eunuch; he sends also Gregory with a
military force. And the same consequences followed as before1540
| 1540 Upon
the Commission, Apol. Ar. 15. | . For gathering together a multitude of
herdsmen and shepherds, and other dissolute youths belonging to the
town, armed with swords and clubs, they attacked in a body the Church
which is called the Church of Quirinus1541
;
and some they slew, some they trampled under foot, others they beat
with stripes and cast into prison or banished. They haled away many
women also, and dragged them openly into the court, and insulted them,
dragging them by the hair. Some they proscribed; from some they took
away their bread1542
for no other
reason, but that they might be induced to join the Arians, and receive
Gregory, who had been sent by the Emperor.
11. The Easterns decline the Council at
Rome.
Athanasius, however, before these things
happened1543
| 1543 [A
misstatement, cf. supra pp. 91, 95, note 1.] | , at the first report of their
proceedings, sailed to Rome, knowing the rage of the heretics, and for
the purpose of having the Council held as had been determined. And
Julius wrote letters to them, and sent the Presbyters Elpidius and
Philoxenus, appointing a day1544
| 1544 προθεσμίαν, Apol. Ar. 25, note 6 [a.d. 340]. | , that they might
either come, or consider themselves as altogether suspected persons.
But as soon as Eusebius and his fellows heard that the trial was to be
an Ecclesiastical one, at which no Count would be present, nor soldiers
stationed before the doors, and that the proceedings would not be
regulated by royal order (for they have always depended upon these
things to support them against the Bishops, and without them they have
no boldness even to speak); they were so alarmed that they detained the
Presbyters till after the appointed time, and pretended an unseemly
excuse, that they were not able to come now on account of the war which
was begun by the Persians1545
| 1545 Apol. Ar. 25, note 8. | . But this was not
the true cause of their delay, but the fears of their own consciences.
For what have Bishops to do with war? Or if they were unable on account
of the Persians to come to Rome, although it is at a distance and
beyond sea, why did they like lions1546
go about the
parts of the East and those which are near the Persians, seeking who
was opposed to them, that they might falsely accuse and banish
them?
12. At any rate, when they had dismissed the
Presbyters with this improbable excuse, they said to one another,
‘Since we are unable to get the advantage in an Ecclesiastical
trial, let us exhibit our usual audacity.’ Accordingly they write
to Philagrius, and cause him after a while to go out with Gregory into
Egypt. Whereupon the Bishops are severely scourged and cast into
chains1547
| 1547 Apol. Ar. 30 and foll. | . Sarapammon, for instance, Bishop and
Confessor, they drive into banishment; Potammon, Bishop and Confessor,
who had lost an eye in the persecution, they beat with stripes on the
neck so cruelly, that he appeared to be dead before they came to an
end. In which condition he was cast aside, and hardly after some hours,
being carefully attended and fanned, he revived, God granting him his
life; but a short time after he died of the sufferings caused by the
stripes, and attained in Christ to the glory of a second martyrdom. And
besides these, how many monks were scourged, while Gregory sat by with
Balacius the ‘Duke!’ how many Bishops were wounded! how
many virgins were beaten!
13. Cruelties of Gregory at
Alexandria.
After this the wretched Gregory called upon all
men to have communion with him. But if thou didst demand of them
communion, they were not worthy of stripes: and if thou didst scourge
them as if evil persons, why didst thou ask it of them as if holy? But
he had no other end in view, except to fulfil the designs of them that sent him, and to establish the
heresy. Wherefore he became in his folly a murderer and an executioner,
injurious, crafty, and profane; in one word, an enemy of Christ. He so
cruelly persecuted the Bishop’s aunt, that even when she died he
would not suffer her to be buried1548
| 1548 Cf.
Apol. Const. §27 fin. | . And this
would have been her lot; she would have been cast away without burial,
had not they who attended on the corpse carried her out as one of their
own kindred. Thus even in such things he shewed his profane temper. And
again when the widows and other mendicants1549
| 1549 ἀνεξόδων, vid. infr. §60. Tillemont translates it, prisoners.
Montfaucon has been here followed; vid. Collect. Nov. t. 2. p.
xliii. |
had received alms, he commanded what had been given them to be seized,
and the vessels in which they carried their oil and wine to be broken,
that he might not only shew impiety by robbery, but in his deeds
dishonour the Lord; from whom very shortly1550
| 1550 ὅσον
οὐδέπω, as
§32. George was pulled to pieces by the populace, a.d. 362. This was written a.d.
358, or later. [There is the common confusion in this note between
Gregory and George. Gregory had died June 26, 345.] | he
will hear those words, ‘Inasmuch as thou hast dishonoured these,
thou hast dishonoured Me1551
.’
14. Profaneness of Gregory and death of
Balacius.
And many other things he did, which exceed the
power of language to describe, and which whoever should hear would
think to be incredible. And the reason why he acted thus was, because
he had not received his ordination according to ecclesiastical rule,
nor had been called to be a Bishop by apostolical tradition1552
| 1552 [Prolegg. ch. iv. §4.]. | ; but had been sent out from court with
military power and pomp, as one entrusted with a secular government.
Wherefore he boasted rather to be the friend of Governors, than of
Bishops and Monks. Whenever, therefore, our Father Antony wrote to him
from the mountains, as godliness is an abomination to a sinner, so he
abhorred the letters of the holy man. But whenever the Emperor, or a
General, or other magistrate, sent him a letter, he was as much
overjoyed as those in the Proverbs, of whom the Word has said
indignantly, ‘Woe unto them who leave the path of uprightness who
rejoice to do evil, and delight in the frowardness of the wicked1553
.’ And so he honoured with presents the
bearers of these letters; but once when Antony wrote to him he caused
Duke Balacius to spit upon the letter, and to cast it from him. But
Divine Justice did not overlook this; for no long time after, when the
Duke was on horseback, and on his way to the first halt1554
| 1554 μονήν. vid.
supr. Ap. Ar. 29, note 2. This halt or station which lay up the
Nile was called Cereu (V. Ant. §86), or Chæreu, or the
land or property of Chæreas, vid. Naz. Orat. 21, 29, who
says it was the place where the people met Athanasius on his return
from exile on Constantius’s death. [The incident is related
differently in Vit. Ant. ubi supra: see note there.] | , the horse turned his head, and biting him
on the thigh, threw him off; and within three days he died.E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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