John acquired great celebrity even in the place of his exile. He possessed ample pecuniary resources, and being besides liberally supplied with money by Olympiade, the deaconess, and others, he purchased the liberty of many captives in Isauria, and restored them to their families. He also administered to the necessities of many who were in want; and by his kind words comforted those who did not stand in need of money. He was hence exceedingly beloved, not only in Armenia where he dwelt, but by all the people of the neighbouring countries, and the inhabitants of Antioch and of the other parts of Syria, and of Cilicia, frequently sought his society.

CHAP. XXVIII.-EFFORTS OF INNOCENT, BISHOP OF ROME,

TO CONVENE A COUNCIL AND PROCURE THE RECALL OF JOHN. DEATH OF JOHN CHRYSOSTOM.

INNOCENT, bishop of Rome, was very anxious, as appears by his letters, to procure the recall of John. He sent five bishops and two presbyters with the bishops 2 who had not returned from the East, to the emperors Honorius and Arcadius, to request the convocation of a council, and solicit them to name the time and place. The enemies of John at Constantinople brought the embassy into disrepute by their calumnies, and caused the ambassadors to be ignominiously dismissed under the pretext that indignity had been offered to the emperor of the East. John was at the same time condemned by an imperial edict to a remoter place of banishment, and soldiers were sent to conduct him to Pityuntum, the spot appointed by the emperor. It is said that during this journey, Basilicus, the martyr, appeared to him at Comana in Armenia, and apprized him of the time of his death. Being attacked with pain in the head, and being unable to bear the heat of the sun, he could not prosecute his journey, but closed his life in this town. 1 Compare Socrates, Eccl. Hist. vi. 21. 2 See above, note on chap. 26.

A. D. 408.]

DEATH OF ARCADIUS.

405

BOOK IX.

CHAP. I.-DEATH OF ARCADIUS. ACCESSION OF THEODOSIUS THE YOUNGER. PIETY, VIRTUE, VIRGINITY, AND GOOD WORKS OF THE PRINCESS PULCHERIA.

SUCH are the details that have been transmitted concerning John. Not long after his death, and three years after the elevation of Atticus to the bishopric of Constantinople, and during the consulate of Bassus and Philip, Arcadius died. He left Theodosius his son,1 who was still an infant, as his successor to the empire. He also left three daughters of tender age, named Pulcheria, Arcadia, and Marina.

It appears to me that it was the design of God to show by the events of this period, that piety alone suffices for the safety and prosperity of princes; and that without piety, armies, a powerful empire, and political resources, are of no avail. He who alone regulates the affairs of the universe, foresaw that the young emperor would be distinguished by his piety, and therefore caused his education to be conducted by his sister Pulcheria. This princess was but fifteen years of age, but was endowed with astonishing wisdom and prudence. She devoted her virginity to God, and instructed her sisters to do likewise. To avoid all cause of scandal and opportunity for intrigue, she permitted no man to enter her palace. In confirmation of her resolution, she took God, the priests, and all the subjects of the Roman empire as witnesses of her self-dedication, and presented a table, elaborately adorned with gold and precious stones, to the church of Constantinople, in token of the life of virginity to which she and her sisters had devoted themselves; and a suitable inscription was carved on the table. She superintended with extraordinary wisdom the transactions of the Roman government; concerted her measures well, and allowed no delay to take place in their execution. She was able to write and to converse with perfect accuracy in the Greek and Latin languages. She caused all affairs to be transacted in the name of her brother, and devoted great attention to furnishing him with such information as was suitable to his years. She employed masters to instruct him in

Compare Socrates, Eccl. Hist. vi. 23.

horsemanship and the use of arms, and in literature and science. But he was taught how to maintain a deportment befitting an emperor by his sister; she showed him how to gather up his robes, and how to take a seat; and taught him to refrain from ill-timed laughter, to assume a mild or a formidable aspect as the occasion might require, and to inquire with urbanity into the cases of those who came before him with petitions. But she chiefly strove to imbue his mind with piety and with the love of prayer; she taught him to frequent the church regularly, and to be zealous in contributing to the embellishment of houses of prayer; and she inspired him with reverence for priests and other good men, and for those who, in accordance with the law of Christianity, had devoted themselves to philósophical asceticism. Many troubles which would have been excited in the church at this period by the influence of erroneous opinions, were averted by her zeal and vigilance. It is mainly owing to her prudence, as we shall have occasion to show in the after-part of this history, that we are at the present time preserved from new heresies. It would take a long time to describe the magnificent houses of prayer which she erected, the hospitals for the relief of the poor and of strangers which she founded, and the monastical establishments which she endowed. If any one should doubt my statements, and desire to inquire into their truth, he will discover that I have been guilty neither of falsehood nor of partiality, if he will examine the registers kept by the treasurers of the princess. If these proofs suffice not to convince him of the truth, let him believe the testimony vouchsafed by God himself; for he heard and answered her prayers, and on many occasions bestowed on her the knowledge of future events. Such indications of Divine love are not conferred upon men unless they have merited them by their good works. But I must pass over in silence the manifestations of Divine favour that were granted to the sister of the emperor, lest I should be condemned as a mere panegyrist. One incident relating to her is, however, so connected with my history, that I shall now proceed to detail it, although it did not occur till a period subsequent to that which we are now reviewing.

A. D. 408.] PRESERVATION OF THE RELICS OF MARTYRS. 407

CHAP. II.-DISCOVERY OF THE REMAINS OF FORTY HOLY MARTYRS.

A WOMAN, by name Eusebia, who was a deaconess of the Macedonian sect, had a house and garden without the walls of Constantinople, in which she kept the holy remains of forty soldiers, who had suffered martyrdom under Licinius, at Sebaste in Armenia. When she felt death approaching, she bequeathed the aforesaid property to some orthodox monks, and bound them by oath to place the relics of the martyrs in her coffin, above her head, without apprizing any one of the circumstance. The monks fulfilled their promise: but in order to render due honour to the martyrs, and at the same time to keep the affair a secret, they formed a subterranean house of prayer beneath the spot where they had interred Eusebia; above this chapel they erected a small edifice, with the flooring so contrived as to furnish a secret means of access to the relics of the martyrs, which were preserved beneath. Soon after, Cæsar, a man of high rank, who had formerly been consul and prefect, lost his wife, and caused her to be interred near the tomb of Eusebia; for the two ladies had been knit together by the most tender friendship, and had been of one mind on all doctrinal and religious subjects. Cæsar was hence induced to purchase the whole of the adjacent spot of ground; for he desired to erect a sepulchre for himself close to that of his wife. After having disposed of the property, the monks went elsewhere, without divulging the concealment of the holy relics. Cæsar ordered the building to be demolished, and the ground to be cleared, in order to erect a magnificent temple in honour of Thrysus, the martyr, on the spot. It appears probable that God permitted the demolition of this building, in order that the discovery of the relics of the martyrs, after so long a period of concealment, might be regarded as a marvellous and auspicious event, and as a proof of the Divine favour towards the discoverer. The discoverer was, in fact, no other than Pulcheria, the sister of the emperor. Thry

The names of the Forty Martyrs (for such is the name under which they are commemorated) may be seen in Theod. Ruinart. Act. Mart. p. 581, and in the Lives of the Bollandists. They suffered martyrdom under Licinius at Sebaste in Armenia, about A. D. 320. The finest Homily on the Forty Martyrs extant is that by St. Basil.

sus, the martyr, appeared to her three times, and revealed to her that the relics of the martyrs were concealed beneath the earth, and commanded that they should be deposited near his tomb, in order that the same honour might be rendered to them that was rendered to him. The forty martyrs themselves also appeared to her, arrayed in shining robes, and made the same communication to her. But the occurrence seemed too marvellous to be credible; for the aged of the clergy of that region, after having prosecuted numerous inquiries, had always failed in gathering any information concerning the relics of the martyrs. At length, when all further researches had been abandoned as futile, a certain presbyter, who had formerly been a servant in the household of Cæsar, was reminded by God that the locality in question had once been inhabited by monks: he therefore went to the clergy of the Macedonian sect to inquire concerning them. All the monks were dead with the exception of one, who seemed to have been preserved in life for the express purpose of pointing out the spot where the relics of the holy martyrs were concealed. Polychronius questioned him closely on the subject, and finding that, on account of the promise made to Eusebia, his answers were reserved and unintelligible, he made known to him the revelation that had been vouchsafed to Pulcheria, and her consequent anxiety for further information. The monk then confessed that he remembered that in his youth, when he was first entering on the course of monastic discipline under the instructions of the superiors of the monastery, the relics of the martyrs had been deposited near the tomb of Eusebia; but that the subsequent lapse of time, and the changes which had been carried on in that locality, deprived him of the power of recalling to his recollection whether the relics had been deposited beneath the church, or in any other spot. "I remember," replied Polychronius, "that I was present at the interment of the wife of Cæsar, and, as well as I can judge from the relative situation of the high road, I infer that she must have been buried beneath the pulpit, where the desk of the readers now stands."

· ἀμβών. "Latini pulpitum vocant, quod medium est inter altare et capsum ecclesiæ." The term is derived from the Greek word ȧvaßaíveiv, ascendere. Valesius remarks that only priests, and martyrs, and founders of churches, were usually buried within the choir near the altar, the laity being buried outside the city in cemeteries.