councils, might be protected and confirmed, and especially the dogma that the Son is of like substance with the Father. In order to proffer this request to the emperor, they sent to him a deputation composed of the following bishops: Basil, bishop of Ancyra; Eustathius, bishop of Sebaste; Eleusius, bishop of Cyzica; and Leontius, who, from being an attendant on the emperor, had been promoted to the priesthood. On their arrival at the palace, they found that Asphalius, a priest of Antioch, and a zealot of the Aetian heresy, was on the point of taking his departure, after having terminated the business for which he undertook the journey and obtained a letter from the emperor. On receiving, however, the intelligence concerning the heresy conveyed by the deputation from Ancyra, Constantius retracted his decision respecting Eudoxius, withdrew the letter he had confided to Asphalius, and wrote the following one.

CHAP. XIV.-LETTER OF THE EMPEROR CONSTANTIUS AGAINST

EUDOXIUS AND HIS PARTISANS.

"Constantius Augustus the Conqueror, to the holy Church in Antioch.

"EUDOXIUS Went to you without our permission, and we by no means regard such persons with favour. If they have recourse to deceit in transactions like this, they give evidence that they mock at God. What can be expected of people who, actuated by insatiable cupidity, go boldly from city to city, hither and thither, with the view of enriching themselves? It is reported that there are among these people certain sophists and impostors, whose very names are scarcely to be tolerated, and whose deeds are evil and impious. You all know to what set of people I allude; for you are all acquainted with the doctrines of Aetius and the heresy which he originated. He and his followers have devoted themselves exclusively to the task of corrupting the people, and have had the audacity to publish that we approved of their ordination. Such is the report they circulate; but it is not true, and, indeed, far removed from the truth. Recall to your recollection the formulary Sozomen makes no mention, though it is given by Epiphanius and Hilary.

A. D. 358.]

LETTER OF CONSTANTIUS.

165

words of which we made use when we first made a declaration of our belief, for we confessed that our Saviour is the Son of God, and of like substance with the Father. But these people, who have the audacity to set forth whatever enters their imagination concerning the Godhead, are not far removed from atheism; and they strive moreover to propagate their opinions among others. I am convinced that their iniquitous proceedings will fall back upon their own heads. In the mean time, it is sufficient to eject them from communion and from the synod; for I will not now allude to the chastisements which must hereafter overtake them, unless they will desist from their audacious and furious deeds. How great is the evil they perpetrate, when they collect together the leaders of heresies and the most wicked persons, and invest them with sacred orders, thereby debasing the priesthood, as if they were empowered to plunder the whole church at will! Who can bear with people who fill the cities with impiety, who sow corruption in the most distant regions, and who delight in nothing but in injuring the righteous? Now is the time for those who have imbibed the truth to come forward, for the artifices of these evil men have been so accurately detected, that it is impossible for them to remain concealed. It is the duty of good men to retain the faith of the Fathers, and, so to speak, to augment it, without busying themselves with other matters. I earnestly exhort those who have escaped though but recently from the precipice of this heresy, to assent to the decrees of the other bishops."

Thus we see that the heresy usually denominated Anomian, was very likely to have become predominant at this period.

CHAP. XV.-THE EMPEROR CONSTANTIUS REPAIRS TO SIRMIUM, RECALLS LIBERIUS, AND RESTORES HIM TO THE CHURCH OF ROME. FELIX IS ASSOCIATED WITH HIM IN THE GOVERNMENT OF THAT CHURCH.

Not long after these events, the emperor returned to Sirmium from Rome, received a deputation from the Western

1 κιβδηλεύοντας. The metaphor is taken from the debasing of coin with inferior alloy, and is very common in classical writers. The word, doubtless, is pointed at Eudoxius, who used to ordain bad and improper persons.

con

bishops, and recalled Liberius from Beroa. Constantius urged him, in the presence of the deputies of the Eastern bishops, and of the other priests who were at the court, to confess that the Son is not of the same substance as the Father. He was instigated to this measure by Basil, Eustathius, and Eusebius, who possessed great influence over him. They had formed a compilation, in one document,' of the decrees enacted at the council of Sirmium against Paul of Samosata, and Photinus; to which they subjoined a formulary of faith drawn up at Antioch at the consecration of the church, as if certain persons had, under the pretext of the term " substantial," attempted to establish a heresy of their own. Liberius, Athanasius, Alexander, Severianus, and Crescens, bishops of Africa, were induced to assent to this document; as were likewise Ursacius, Germanius, bishop of Sirmium, Valens, bishop of Mursa, and all the other Eastern bishops who were present. They likewise approved of a confession of faith drawn up by Liberius, in which he declared that those who affirm that the Son is not like unto the Father in substance and in all other respects, are excommunicated. For when Eudoxius and his partisans at Antioch, who favoured the heresy of Aetius, received the letter of Hosius, they circulated a report that Liberius had renounced the term "consubstantial," and had admitted that the Son is dissimilar from the Father. After these enactments had been made by the Western bishops, the emperor permitted Liberius to return to Rome. The bishops who were then convened at Sirmium wrote to Felix who governed the Roman church, and to the other bishops, desiring them to receive Liberius; they directed that Felix and Liberius should share the apostolical throne and be associated together, without dissension, in the discharge of the ministerial functions, and that whatever illegalities might have occurred in the ordination of the one, or the banishment of the other, might be buried in oblivion. The people of Rome regarded Liberius as a good man, and esteemed him highly on account of the courage he had evinced in opposing the emperor, so that they had even excited seditions on

Either the formula adopted at the council of Ancyra, or the new formula of faith which Hilary calls the heresy drawn up at Sirmium. Valesius inclines to the latter opinion. There were in all four synods of Sirmium, they were held in the years 349, 351, 357, 358.

A. D. 358.]

EARTHQUAKE AT NICOMEDIA.

167

Felix

his account, and had gone so far as to shed blood. survived but a short time; and Liberius found himself in sole possession of the church. This event was, no doubt, ordained by God, that the seat of Peter might not be dishonoured by the occupancy of two bishops; for such an arrangement, being contrary to ecclesiastical law, would certainly have been a source of discord.

CHAP. XVI.-THE EMPEROR PURPOSED, ON ACCOUNT OF THE HERESY OF AETIUS, TO CONVENE A COUNCIL AT NICOMEDIA: BUT AS AN EARTHQUAKE TOOK PLACE IN THAT CITY, THE COUNCIL WAS FIRST CONVENED AT NICEA, AND AFTERWARDS AT ARIMINUM AND SELEUCIA. ACCOUNT OF ARSACIUS, THE

CONFESSOR.

SUCH were the events which transpired at Sirmium. It seemed at this period as if, from the fear of displeasing the emperor, the Eastern and Western churches had united in the profession of the same doctrine. The emperor had determined upon convening a council at Nicæa to take into consideration the innovations introduced at Antioch, and the heresy of Aetius. As Basil, however, and his party were averse to the council being held in this city, because doctrinal questions had previously been agitated there, it was determined to hold the council at Nicomedia in Bithynia; and edicts were issued, summoning the most learned and eloquent bishops of every nation to repair thither punctually on an appointed day. The greater number of these bishops had commenced their journey when it was reported that Nicomedia had been visited by an earthquake, and that the whole city was destroyed.2 This report prevented the bishops from continuing their journey; for, as is usual in such cases, far more was rumoured than what had actually occurred. It was reported that Nicæa, Perinthus, and the neighbouring cities, even Constantinople, had been involved in the same catastrophe. The orthodox bishops were immoderately grieved at this occurrence, for the enemies of

See Dr. Beveridge on the 8th canon of the council of Nicæa; and his quotations from St. Cyprian, St. Pacian, and other ancient authorities on the subject.

2 Compare Socrat. Eccl. Hist. ii. 38.

religion took occasion, on the destruction of a magnificent church, to represent to the emperor that a multitude of bishops, men, women, and children, fled to the church in the hope of there finding safety; and that they all perished. This report was not true. The earthquake occurred at the second hour of the day, at which hour there was no assembly in the church. The only bishops who were killed, were Ceropius, bishop of Nicomedia, and a bishop from the Bosphorus, and they were at a distance from the church when the fatal accident happened. The earthquake occupied but an instant of time, so that the people had not the power, even if they had the wish, to seek safety by flight: at the first shock they were either preserved, or they perished on the spot where they were standing.

It is said that this calamity was predicted by Arsacius. He was a Persian, and was originally employed in tending the emperor's lions; but during the reign of Licinius he made a noble confession of Christianity, and left his former employment. He then went to Nicomedia, and led the life of a monastic philosopher within its walls. Here a vision from heaven appeared to him, and he was commanded to quit the city immediately, that he might be saved from the calamity about to happen. He ran with the utmost earnestness to the church, and besought the clergy to offer supplications to God that his anger might be turned away. But finding that, far from being believed by them, he was regarded with ridicule, he returned,to his tower, and prostrated himself on the ground in prayer. Just at this moment the earthquake occurred, and many perished. Those who were spared fled into the country and the desert. And as in this great and opulent city there were fires on the hearth of every house, and in the baths, and in the furnaces of mechanics, it so happened that combustible materials, coming in contact with these fires, excited a general conflagration. The flames spread in all directions, until the city became, so to speak, one mass of fire. It being impossible to obtain access to the houses, those who had been saved from the earthquake fled to the citadel. Arsacius was found dead in the tower, and prostrated on the ground, in the same posture in which he

had begun to pray. It was said that he had supplicated God to permit him to die, because he preferred death to beholding the destruction of a city in which he had first known Christ, and practised monastical philosophy. As I have