A. D. 403.] RE-INSTALLATION OF JOHN. 389 small city of Bithynia, whither he had been banished; and protested that she had taken no part in the machinations that had been carried on against him, but had, on the contrary, always respected him as a priest, and as the administrator of baptism to her children. When John, on his journey homeward, reached the suburbs belonging to the empress, he stopped near Anaples, and refused to re-enter the city until the injustice of his deposition had been recognised by a larger synod of bishops: but as this refusal tended to augment the popular excitement, and led to many public declamations against the emperor and the empress, he allowed himself to be persuaded to enter the city. The people went forth to meet him, bearing lighted torches, and singing psalms in honour of his return. They conducted him to the church, and although he at first objected to enter the edifice until the sentence enacted against him had been revoked, yet they compelled him to take the episcopal seat, and to bestow the benediction of peace, as usual, upon the people. He then delivered an extemporaneous discourse, in which, by a pleasing figure of speech, he declared that Theophilus had meditated an injury against his church, even as the king of Egypt had contemplated the violation of Sarah, the wife of the patriarch Abraham, which is recorded in the books of the Hebrews: he then proceeded to commend the zeal of the people, and to extol the emperor and the empress; and his praises of these august personages so excited the admiration of his auditors, that the discourse was interrupted by their acclamations. CHAP. XIX-PERVERSITY OF THEOPHILUS. ENMITY BETWEEN THE EGYPTIANS AND THE CITIZENS OF CONSTANTINOPLE. DE ALTHOUGH Theophilus would fain have brought an accusation against John,2 under the plea that he had unlawfully reinstated himself in his bishopric, yet he was deterred from doing so by the fear of offending the emperor, who had been compelled to 1 μvoraywyós. Others regard the word as equivalent to tutor; others, to catechist. But, as Valesius remarks, the meaning of the term is settled by the use of uvoтaywyɛîv, in ch. 21, below, in the sense of "baptize." 2 Compare Socrates, Eccl. Hist. vi. 17. recall John, as the means of suppressing the popular insurrection. Theophilus, however, received an accusation against Heraclides during the absence of the accused, in the hope of thereby authorizing the sentence of condemnation which had been issued against John. But the friends of Heraclides interposed, and declared that it was unjust, and contrary to ecclesiastical law, to condemn one who was absent. Theophilus and his partisans maintained the opposite side of the question: the people of Alexandria and of Egypt sided with them, and were opposed by the citizens of Constantinople. The strife between the two parties became so vehement that bloodshed ensued; many were wounded, and others slain in the contest. Severian, and all the bishops at Constantinople who did not support the cause of John, became apprehensive for their personal safety, and quitted the city in haste. Theophilus, also, fled the city at the commencement of the winter; and, in company with Isaac the monk, sailed for Alexandria. A wind arose which drove the vessel to Gera,1 a small city about fifty stadia from Pelusium. The bishop of this city died, and the inhabitants, I have been informed, elected Nilammon to preside over their church; he was a good man, and had attained the summit of monastic philosophy. He dwelt without the city, in a cell, of which the door was built up with stones. He refused to accept the dignity of the priesthood; and Theophilus, therefore, visited him in person, to exhort him to receive ordination at his hands. Nilammon repeatedly refused the honour; but, as Theophilus would take no refusal, he said to him, "To-morrow, my father, you shall act as you please; to-day it is requisite that I should arrange my affairs." Theophilus repaired, on the following day, to the cell of the monk, and commanded the door to be opened; but Nilammon exclaimed, "Let us first engage in prayer." Theophilus complied, and began to pray. Nilammon likewise prayed within his cell, and in the act of prayer he expired. Theophilus, and those who were with him without the cell, knew nothing at the time of what had occurred; but, when the greater part of the day had passed away, and the name of Nilammon had been loudly reiterated without his returning any answer, the stones were removed from the door, and the monk was found dead. He was interred with great solemnity, a tomb was erected to his honour, and a house of 1 This city is mentioned in the 4th Act of the council of Chalcedon. PUBLIC TEACHING OF JOHN. 391 prayer built on the spot; and the day of his death is still commemorated. Thus died Nilammon, if it can be called death to quit this life for another, rather than accept a bishopric of which, with extraordinary modesty, he considered himself unworthy. After his return to Constantinople, John appeared to be more than ever beloved by the people. Sixty bishops assembled together in that city, and annulled all the decrees of the council of the Oak. They confirmed John in the possession of the bishopric, and enacted that he should officiate as a priest, confer ordination, and perform all the duties of the church usually devolving on the bishop. At this time, Serapion was appointed bishop of Heraclea in Thrace. CHAP. XX.-THE STATUE OF THE EMPRESS. PUBLIC TEACHING OF JOHN. CONVOCATION OF ANOTHER SYNOD AGAINST JOHN. HIS DEPOSITION. Not long after these occurrences, the silver statue of the empress, which is still to be seen to the south of the church opposite the grand council-chamber, was placed upon a column of porphyry; and the event was celebrated by loud acclamations, dancing, games, and other manifestations of public rejoicing, usually observed on the erection of the statues of the emperors. In a public discourse to the people, John declared that these proceedings reflected dishonour on the church. This remark recalled former grievances to the recollection of the empress, and irritated her so exceedingly, that she determined to procure the convocation of another council. Instead of striving to conciliate her, John added fuel to her indignation, by openly declaiming against her in the church; and it was at this period that he pronounced the memorable discourse commencing with the words, "Herodias is again enraged; again she dances; again she demands the head of John in a basin." Several bishops arrived soon after at Constantinople; and amongst them were Leontius, bishop of Ancyra, and Acacius, bishop of Berea. The festival of our Lord's Nativity was then at hand; and the emperor, instead of repairing to the church as usual, sent to acquaint John that he could not hold communion with him until he had cleared himself of the crimes 1 Compare Socrates, Eccl. Hist. vi. 10. whereof he was accused. John replied that he was ready to prove his innocence; and this so intimidated his accusers, that they did not dare to appear against him, or proffer the accusations. The judges decided that, having been once deposed, he ought not to be admitted to a second trial. Without taking cognizance of any other ground of accusation, they therefore called him to account for having taken possession of the bishopric of Constantinople after having been deposed by one council, and before he had been reinstated by another. In his defence, he appealed to the decision of the bishops who had, subsequently to the council of the Oak, held communion with him. The judges waved this argument, under the plea that those who had held communion with John were inferior, in point of number, to those who had deposed him,' and that a canon was in force by which he stood condemned. Under this pretext, they therefore deposed him, although the law in question had been enacted by heretics: for the Arians, after having taken advantage of various calumnies to expel Athanasius from the church of Alexandria, enacted this law from the apprehension that their machinations against him, and the cause and manner of his deposition, might at some future time be subjected to investigation. CHAP. XXI.-CALAMITIES SUFFERED BY THE PEOPLE AFTER THE EXPULSION OF JOHN. MACHINATIONS AGAINST HIS LIFE. AFTER his deposition, John held no more assemblies in the church, but quietly remained in the episcopal dwelling-house. At the termination of the season of Quadrigesima, on the holy night on which the people were gathered together to commemorate the resurrection of Christ, the celebration of the baptismal mysteries2 was suddenly interrupted by the unexpected entrance of some soldiers, and the enemies of John. baptistry was filled with tumult and disorder; the women wept and lamented, and the children screamed; the priests and the deacons were beaten, and were forcibly ejected from the church, in the priestly garments in which they had been officiating. They The The exact number is debated; according to one account they were 36, according to another, 45. 2 μνoтаYWYоvνтεs. See above, note on chap. 18. Some commentators have wrongly interpreted the term as referring to the holy eucharist. A. D. 404.] MACHINATIONS AGAINST JOHN. 393 were charged with the commission of such disorderly acts as can be readily conceived by those who have been admitted to the mysteries, but which I consider it requisite to pass over in silence, lest my work should fall into the hands of the uninitiated. The next day the church was, in consequence of this outrage, abandoned; and the people assembled at some public baths of vast extent, called the baths of Constantius,' to celebrate the Passover, under the guidance of bishops and presbyters who espoused the cause of John. They were, however, driven hence, and then assembled on a spot without the walls of the city, which the emperor Constantine had caused to be cleared and enclosed with woods, for the purpose of celebrating there the games of the hippodrome. From that period, the people held separate assemblies, sometimes in that locality, and sometimes in another; and they hence obtained the name of Johnites. About this time, a man who was either possessed of a devil, or who feigned to have one, was seized with a poignard on his person, which he had concealed, with the intention of assassinating John; he was dragged by the people before the magistrate, but John sent some bishops to free him from custody before he had been questioned by torture. Some time afterwards, a slave of Elpidus the presbyter, who was an avowed enemy of the deacon,2 was seen running as swiftly as possible towards the episcopal residence. A passer-by endeavoured to stop him, in order to ascertain the cause of so much haste; but, instead of answering him, the slave plunged his poignard into him. Another person, who happened to be standing by, and who cried out at seeing the other wounded, was also wounded in a similar way by the slave, as was likewise a third by-stander. All the people in the neighbourhood, on seeing what had occurred, shouted that the slave ought to be arrested; and as he tried to escape, they pursued him. A man, who just then came out from the baths, strove to stop him, and was so grievously wounded that he fell down dead on the spot. At length, the people contrived to encircle the slave; they seized him, and conveyed him to the palace of the emperor, declaring that he had intended to See Socrates, Eccl. Hist. iv. 8. And Palladius, Life of Constantine, |