The subject prompted me to set forth his vices more fully, were it not that it is beyond this work to enter upon so vast a matter; I am content to have noted only this much: that he advanced through every kind of foulest and cruelest deed to the point of killing his mother, and afterwards even of being married off to a certain Pythagoras after the manner of solemn weddings; and the bridal veil was put upon the emperor; a dowry, the marriage couch, the nuptial torches—everything, in short, that even in women is not beheld without shame—were on display. As for the rest of his deeds, it is uncertain whether one should be more wearied or ashamed to discuss them. He was the first to undertake to abolish the Christian name; for vices are always hostile to virtues, and all the best men are looked upon by the wicked as if reproaching them.
For at that time the divine religion had grown strong in the city, Peter holding the episcopate there, and Paul—after he had appealed to Caesar from the unjust judgment of the governor—having been brought to Rome; to hear whom many then gathered, who, having understood the truth and being moved by the miracles of the Apostles, which they then frequently performed, betook themselves to the worship of God. For at that time occurred that famous encounter of Peter and Paul against Simon. When he, by magical arts, in order to prove himself a god, supported by two demons had flown up, the demons being put to flight by the prayers of the Apostles, he fell to the ground in the sight of the people and was dashed to pieces.
Meanwhile, with the multitude of Christians now abounding, it happened that Rome was consumed by fire, while Nero was stationed at Antium. But the opinion of all turned the odium of the fire back upon the prince, and it was believed that the emperor had sought the glory of renewing the city. Nor could Nero by any means bring it about that the fire should not be thought to have been ordered by him. So he turned the odium upon the Christians, and most cruel investigations were carried out against the innocent; indeed even new modes of death were devised, so that, covered with the skins of wild beasts, they perished by the mangling of dogs, many were fastened to crosses or burned with flame, and very many were reserved for this, that when the day had failed they might be burned for the use of nocturnal light. With this beginning the raging against the Christians commenced.
Afterwards, by laws enacted, the religion was forbidden, and by edicts openly published it was made unlawful to be a Christian. Then Paul and Peter were condemned to death; of these, the neck of the one was cut off with a sword, while Peter was raised upon a cross. While these things were being done at Rome, the Jews, not enduring the wrongs of their governor Festus Florus, began to rebel. Against them Vespasian, sent by Nero with proconsular authority, having defeated them in many heavy battles, forced them to take refuge within the walls of Jerusalem. Meanwhile Nero, now hateful even to himself because of the consciousness of his crimes, was removed from human affairs; it is uncertain whether he himself brought about his own death; certainly his body was not found.
Hence it is believed that, even if he pierced himself with a sword, his wound being healed he was preserved, according to that which is written of him: 'and the wound of his death was healed'—to be sent forth at the end of the age, that he may work the mystery of iniquity. So after the death of Nero, Galba seized the empire; soon Otho, having killed Galba, took it over. Then Vitellius, relying on the armies he commanded, entered the city from Gaul, killed Otho, and usurped the supreme power. After these matters had been reported to Vespasian, although by a bad precedent yet with good intent toward the commonwealth, that it be vindicated from the wicked, while he was besieging Jerusalem he took up the imperial office and, as is the custom, with a diadem placed upon his head, was hailed by the army. He made his son Titus a Caesar;
to him was given a part of the forces and the task of besieging Jerusalem. Vespasian, having set out for Rome, was received with the highest favour of the senate and people, and, when Vitellius had killed himself, confirmed his hold on the empire. Meanwhile the Jews, shut up in the siege, since no opportunity either of peace or of surrender was given, at last began to perish of hunger, and the roads everywhere began to be filled with corpses, the duty of burial being now overcome; indeed, daring all unspeakable foods, they did not even spare human bodies, except such as the wasting brought on by such nourishment had carried off beforehand. So, the defenders being worn out, the Romans burst in. And it then happened to fall on the day of the Passover that the whole multitude had assembled from the fields and other towns of Judaea;
doubtless it was so pleasing to God that at that very time at which they had crucified the Lord, this impious nation should be given over to destruction. The Pharisees for some while resisted most fiercely on behalf of the temple, until, with minds obstinate unto death, they cast themselves of their own accord into fires they had set beneath. The number of those slain is reckoned at one million one hundred thousand, while one hundred thousand were captured and sold. It is reported that Titus, having summoned a council, first deliberated whether he should overthrow a temple of such great workmanship. For to some it seemed that a sacred edifice, illustrious beyond all things mortal, ought not to be destroyed, which, if preserved, would furnish testimony to Roman moderation, but if demolished, a perpetual mark of cruelty.
But on the contrary, others, and Titus himself, judged that the temple ought above all to be overthrown, so that the religion of the Jews and of the Christians might be more fully abolished; for these religions, although contrary to each other, yet proceeded from the same authors; the Christians had arisen out of the Jews; with the root removed, the stock would easily perish. So, by the nod of God, the minds of all being inflamed, the temple was demolished, three hundred and thirty-one years ago. And this last overthrow of the temple and final captivity of the Jews, by which they are seen as exiles from their homeland, scattered throughout the whole world, are a daily testimony to the world that they were punished for no other reason than that they laid impious hands upon Christ.
For often at other times, when on account of their sins they were given over to captivities, yet they never paid the penalty of servitude beyond seventy years. After an interval of time, Domitian, the son of Vespasian, persecuted the Christians. At which time he banished John the apostle and evangelist to the island of Patmos; where he, with secret mysteries revealed to him, published the book of the sacred Apocalypse, which indeed is by very many either foolishly or impiously not received. Not long afterward came the third persecution, under Trajan. Who, when by torments and inquisitions he had found nothing in the Christians worthy of death or punishment, forbade them to be raged against any further.
Then under Hadrian the Jews wished to rebel, attempting to plunder Syria and Palestine; an army being sent, they were subdued. At which time Hadrian, thinking that he would destroy the Christian faith by an outrage upon the place, set up images of demons both in the temple and in the place of the Lord's Passion. And because the Christians were thought to be especially from among the Jews—for then at Jerusalem the church had a priest only from among the circumcised—he ordered a cohort of soldiers to keep guard in perpetuity, which should bar all Jews from approach to Jerusalem. This indeed profited the Christian faith, because then almost all believed Christ to be God under the observance of the Law.
Doubtless this was so ordered and arranged by the Lord, that the servitude of the Law might be removed from the liberty of the faith and of the church. So then for the first time Marcus, from among the Gentiles, was bishop at Jerusalem. The fourth persecution is reckoned under Hadrian, which however he afterwards forbade to be carried on, declaring it unjust that anyone should be made a defendant without a crime. After Hadrian, while Antoninus Pius was emperor, there was peace for the churches. Then under Aurelius, son of Antoninus, the fifth persecution was set in motion. And then for the first time martyrdoms were seen within Gaul, the religion of God having been received across the Alps somewhat later. Then the sixth vexation of the Christians occurred under Severus as emperor. At which time Leonidas, the father of Origen, shed his sacred blood in martyrdom.
Then, an interval of thirty-seven years having passed, there was peace for the Christians, except that in the meantime Maximinus harassed the clergy of some churches. Soon, under Decius, in the now seventh persecution, the Christians were treated with savagery. Thereupon Valerian was the eighth enemy of the saints. After him, an interval of almost fifty years having passed, while Diocletian and Maximian were emperors, a most bitter persecution arose, which for ten continuous years ravaged the people of God. At which time nearly the whole world was stained with the sacred blood of the martyrs; for men rushed in rivalry into the glorious contests, and martyrdoms were then sought by glorious deaths far more eagerly than now bishoprics are sought after by base ambitions.
Never was the world more exhausted by any wars, nor did we ever conquer with a greater triumph than when, by ten years of slaughters, we could not be conquered. There also exist, committed to writing, the illustrious sufferings of the martyrs of that time, which I did not think should be appended here, lest I exceed the measure of the work. But the end of that persecution was eighty-nine years ago, from which time Christians began to be emperors. For then Constantine held power, who was the first of all Roman princes to be a Christian. To be sure, Licinius then, who contended with Constantine for the empire, had ordered his soldiers to sacrifice; those refusing he was casting out of military service. But this is not counted among the persecutions;
so much was it a matter of lighter consequence than to reach to the wounding of the churches. From then on, with affairs tranquil, we fully enjoy peace; nor do we believe there will be any further persecution, except that which Antichrist will carry on at the very end of the age. For it is declared by sacred voices that the world is to be afflicted with ten plagues; so, since there have now been nine, the one that remains will be the last. In the course of these times it is wonderful how greatly the Christian religion has grown strong. For at that time Jerusalem, formerly bristling with ruins, was adorned with most numerous and most magnificent churches. For Helena, mother of the prince Constantine, who as Augusta reigned jointly with her son, when she had conceived a desire to become acquainted with Jerusalem, having found idols and temples there, ground them down;
soon, using the powers of the kingdom, she built basilicas in the place of the Lord's Passion and Resurrection and Ascension. That is wonderful, that the place in which the divine footsteps had last stood, when the Lord was taken up into heaven by a cloud, could not be joined to a pavement with the rest of the paved part; since whatever was applied, the earth, unaccustomed to receive human things, spat back, the marble slabs being often dashed into the faces of those who set them in place. Indeed of the dust trodden by God there is such a perpetual memorial that the footprints impressed are seen; and although daily the faith of those flocking together in rivalry plucks away the ground trodden by the Lord, yet the sand suffers no loss, and the earth still keeps the same appearance of itself, as though sealed by the impressed footprints.
By the benefaction of the same queen the cross of the Lord was then found; which had not been able to be consecrated in the beginning because the Jews opposed it, and afterwards, the city being destroyed, lay buried under the rubble, and was deemed worthy to be shown to none but so faithful a seeker. So Helena, first being informed about the place of the Passion, with a military force brought up and a multitude of all the provincials vying in eagerness for the queen's wishes, ordered the earth to be dug up and whatever adjoined it and the vastest heaps of ruins to be cleared away; soon, as the reward of faith and labour, three crosses together, just as long ago they had been fixed for the Lord and the two robbers, were found.
But here a greater difficulty—of distinguishing the gibbet on which the Lord had hung—had disturbed the minds and thoughts of all, lest by the error of mortals they should perchance consecrate a robber's gibbet in place of the Lord's cross. They then took counsel to bring some recently dead person near the crosses. And without delay, as if by the nod of God, the corpse of one who had died was being borne with solemn funeral rites, and amid the gathering of all the body was snatched from the bier. The two crosses being first applied in vain, when it was touched to the gibbet of Christ—a thing wonderful to tell—while all trembled, the corpse was roused and stood up amid its own spectators; the cross was found and consecrated with worthy honour. These things having been done through Helena, the world had received liberty and an example of faith under a Christian prince;
but a far more dreadful danger to all the churches was bred by that peace. For then the Arian heresy broke out and threw the whole world into turmoil with the error it had injected. For, with two Arii as the most fierce authors of this perfidy, the emperor himself also being corrupted, while he thinks himself to be fulfilling the duty of religion, exercised the force of persecution; bishops were driven into exile, savagery was inflicted on the clergy, the laity were punished, who had separated themselves from the communion of the Arians. Now what the Arians preached was of this sort: that God the Father, for the sake of establishing the world, had begotten the Son, and out of his own power had, from nothing, made into a new and other substance a new and other God; and that there had been a time when the Son was not.
So, on account of this evil, a synod was gathered at Nicaea from the whole world, with indeed three hundred and eighteen bishops assembled; the full faith was set down in writing, the Arian heresy was condemned, and the emperor embraced the episcopal decree. The Arians, not daring to retract anything against the sound faith, mingled themselves also with the churches as though acquiescing and feeling no otherwise; yet there remained implanted in their hearts a hatred against catholic men, and those against whom they could not dispute concerning the faith they assailed by suborned accusers and feigned charges. And so first they attacked Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria, a holy man, who had been present as a deacon at the Nicene synod, and in his absence condemned him.
For to the charges which false witnesses had heaped up, they added this: that he had with perverse zeal received Marcellus and Photinus, heretical priests condemned by the judgment of a synod. But concerning Photinus there was no doubt that he had been deservedly condemned; in Marcellus nothing then seemed to have been found worthy of condemnation, and his innocence had accrued to him chiefly from the partisan zeal of his accusers, because no one doubted that those very judges by whom he had been condemned were heretics. But the Arians desired to remove Athanasius rather than these. And so they pressed the emperor to such a point that Athanasius was sent into exile to Gaul. Soon, eighty bishops gathered in Egypt declared that Athanasius had been unjustly condemned.
The matter was referred to Constantine; he ordered bishops to be gathered from the whole world at Sardica and the whole judgment by which Athanasius had been condemned to be re-examined. In the midst of these things Constantine died; the synod, gathered now under the emperor Constantius, absolved Athanasius, and Marcellus too was restored to his bishopric; for concerning Photinus, bishop of Sirmium, the sentence was not rescinded, who is also by the judgment of our own people proved a heretic. And yet this very thing weighed upon Marcellus, because Photinus seemed to have been his pupil in his youth.
Nevertheless, to the absolution of Athanasius this too had accrued: that Ursatius and Valens, leaders of the Arians, when after the synod of Sardica they seemed to be cut off from communion, presenting themselves before Julius, bishop of the city of Rome, begged pardon for having condemned an innocent man, and professed that he had been deservedly absolved by the sentence of the council of Sardica. After an interval of time, Athanasius, when he had thoroughly discovered Marcellus to be of insufficiently sound faith, suspended him from communion. And that man had this modesty, that, branded by the judgment of so great a man, he voluntarily withdrew. But, though innocent before and corrupted afterwards, he could seem to have been guilty even then, when judgment had been passed concerning him.
The Arians therefore, having seized an occasion of this sort, conspired to subvert utterly the decrees of the synod of Sardica. For there seemed to them to be some pretext available, that judgment had been given for Athanasius as unjustly as Marcellus had been absolved, who now even by the judgment of Athanasius was proved a heretic. For Marcellus had stood forth as an upholder of the Sabellian heresy; but Photinus had previously brought forth a new heresy, dissenting indeed from Sabellius in the matter of the union, but preaching that the beginning of Christ was from Mary.
So the Arians, by a cunning design, mingled the innocent man with the guilty, and comprehended the condemnation of Photinus and Marcellus and Athanasius in one and the same sentence, doubtless contriving this beforehand in the minds of the unskilled, that those should not be thought to have judged wrongly concerning Athanasius, who had judged truly concerning Marcellus and Photinus. Nevertheless at that time the Arians concealed their perfidy; not daring openly to preach the dogmas of their error, they bore themselves as catholics, thinking that nothing should be done by them sooner than that they remove Athanasius from the church, who had always stood against them like a wall; with him removed, they hoped the rest would yield to their caprice. But the portion of the bishops which followed the Arii received the longed-for condemnation of Athanasius;
A part of them, compelled by fear and faction, had gone over to the zeal of the parties; a few, to whom good faith was dear and truth more precious, did not accept the unjust judgment. Among these Paulinus, bishop of Trier, when a letter was offered to him for signature, is said to have subscribed thus: that he gave his consent to the condemnation of Photinus and Marcellus, but did not approve concerning Athanasius. Then indeed the Arians, when their deceits had advanced too little, resolved to act by force. For it was easy to dare and do anything for those who relied upon the friendship of the king, whom they had bound to themselves by base flatteries. Nay more, by the agreement of many they were unassailable; for nearly all the bishops of the two Pannonias, and many of the Eastern bishops and all of Asia, had conspired together in their treachery.
The chief authors of that evil were held to be Ursacius from Singidunum, Valens from Mursa, Theodorus from Heraclia, Stephanus of Antioch, Acacius from Caesarea, Menophantus from Ephesus, Georgius from Laodicea, Narcissus from Neronopolis. These had so seized the palace that the emperor did nothing without their nod, being indeed in their power as a whole, but above all devoted to Valens. For at the time when arms were contended at Mursa against Magnentius, Constantius, not daring to come down within sight of the battle, took lodging in the basilica of the martyrs situated outside the town, having taken Valens, then bishop of that place, as a comfort to himself.
Moreover Valens had cunningly arranged through his men that he should be the first to learn what would be the outcome of the battle, either to seek the favor of the king, if he should bring the good news first, or to provide for his own life, intending to seize beforehand a space for flight, if anything should turn out badly. And so, while the few who were around the king trembled with fear and the emperor was anxious, he is the first to announce that the enemy were fleeing. When the emperor demanded that the very informant be brought in, Valens, to add reverence to himself, replied that an angel had been his messenger. The emperor, easy to believe, was afterwards accustomed to say openly that he had conquered by the merits of Valens, not by the valor of the army.
From this beginning the Arians, having lured the emperor, raised their spirits, ready to use the power of the king where they had availed too little by their own authority. Therefore, since our people would not accept their sentence which they had given concerning Athanasius, an edict was set forth by the emperor, that those who did not subscribe to the condemnation of Athanasius should be driven into exile. But by our people there were then held councils of bishops at Arles and Béziers, towns of Gaul. It was demanded that, before they were compelled to subscribe against Athanasius, they should rather dispute concerning the faith, and that only then should the matter be examined, when it had been settled concerning the persons of the judges. But Valens and his allies desired first to extort the condemnation of Athanasius, not daring to contend concerning the faith.
From this conflict of parties Paulinus is driven into exile. Meanwhile there is an assembly at Milan, where the emperor was then present; that same contention relaxed nothing on either side. Then Eusebius, bishop of Vercelli, and Lucifer of Cagliari in Sardinia were banished. But Dionysius, the priest of Milan, subscribed his consent to the condemnation of Athanasius, provided only that the question of the faith should be examined among the bishops. But Valens and Ursacius and the rest, for fear of the people, who were preserving the catholic faith with remarkable zeal, not daring to profess their impieties openly, gather within the palace.
From there they send out a letter under the emperor's name, infected with every perversity, with this intent of course: that if the people received it with favorable ears, they might bring forth their desires with public authority; but if it were otherwise received, all the odium would fall upon the king, and even that pardonable, since being then still a catechumen he might rightly be thought to have been able not to know the sacrament of the faith. Therefore, when the letter was read in the church, the people turned away from it. Dionysius, because he had not assented, is driven from the city, and immediately in his place the bishop Auxentius is substituted. Liberius too of the city of Rome and Hilary of Poitiers, the bishops, are given over to exile.
Rhodanius too, the bishop of Toulouse, who, being by nature more gentle, had not yielded to the Arians, not so much by his own strength as by his fellowship with Hilary, was entangled by the same condition, although all these were prepared to suspend Athanasius from communion, provided only that the question of the faith should be examined among the bishops. But it seemed best to the Arians to remove the most outstanding men from the contest. Thus those whom we mentioned above were driven into exile, forty-five years ago from now, in the consulship of Arbitio and Lollianus. But Liberius a little afterwards was restored to the city on account of the Roman seditions.
Moreover it is well established that the exiles were honored by the zeal of the whole world, and that monies were heaped up in abundance for their maintenance, and that they were frequented by embassies of the catholic people from nearly all the provinces. Meanwhile the Arians no longer, as before, in secret, but openly and in public preached the impieties of their heresy; nay more, interpreting in their own favor the Council of Nicaea, which they had corrupted by the addition of a single letter, they had cast a certain darkness over the truth. For where 'homoousion' was written, which means 'of one substance,' they said that 'homoiousion' had been written, which means 'of like substance,' conceding a likeness while taking away the unity, because likeness differs much from unity;
so that, for example, a painting of the human body might be like a man, yet not have the reality of a man. But some of these had gone still further, asserting 'anomoiousion,' that is, an unlike substance. And matters had advanced so far in these contentions that the whole world was entangled in impieties of this kind. For Italy, Illyricum, and the East, Valens and Ursacius and the rest, whose names we have published, had infected. Saturninus, bishop of Arles, an intemperate and factious man, was oppressing our Gauls. There was also an opinion that Hosius from Spain had gone over into the same treachery;
which seemed the more wonderful and incredible, because for nearly the whole time of his life he had been most steadfast on our side, and the Council of Nicaea was held to have been accomplished under his authorship—unless, as his age was failing (for he was more than a hundred years old, as the holy Hilary relates in his letters), he had become senile. While the world was thus disturbed by these matters and the churches were languishing as with a certain disease, a slower indeed, but no less grievous, care was exercising the emperor: that although the Arians, whom he favored, seemed superior, yet there was still no agreement among the bishops concerning the faith. Therefore he orders a council to be gathered at Ariminum, a city of Italy;
and he commands the prefect Taurus that he should not dismiss those gathered into one body before they should agree upon one faith, with a consulship promised to him if he should bring the matter to effect. Thus, masters of the offices having been sent through Illyricum, Italy, Africa, the Spains, and the Gauls, four hundred and somewhat more Western bishops were summoned or compelled to assemble at Ariminum; for all of whom the emperor had ordered provisions and supplies to be given. But this seemed unbecoming to our people, that is, to the Aquitanians, the Gauls, and the Britons; rejecting the public funds, they chose to live at their own expense. Only three from Britain, through poverty of their own, used the public allowance, when they had refused the contribution offered by the rest, thinking it more holy to burden the treasury than individuals.
This I have heard our bishop Gavidius accustomed to relate, as if in disparagement; but I have judged far otherwise, and attribute it to praise, that the bishops were so poor that they had nothing of their own and took rather from the treasury than from others, where they burdened no one; thus in both cases an outstanding example. Concerning the rest nothing worthy of memory is handed down, but I return to the order of my narrative. After all, as we said above, had been collected into one body, a secession of parties takes place. Our people obtain the church; but the Arians take, in place of an oratory, a temple then purposely standing empty; but these were no more than eighty, while the rest were of our party.
Therefore, in frequent councils nothing was accomplished, our people remaining in the faith, while those did not yield from their treachery. At last it was resolved to send ten legates to the emperor, that he might learn what was the faith or opinion of the parties, and might know that there could be no peace with heretics. The Arians do the same and send an equal number of legates, who should contend against ours in the presence of the emperor. But on the part of our people, young men are chosen, too little learned and too little cautious; while the Arians sent old men, crafty and strong in talent, steeped in the lethargy of treachery, who easily proved superior before the king. But it was enjoined upon our men that they should in no way enter into communion with the Arians, and should reserve everything intact for the synod.
Meanwhile in the East, after the example of the Westerners, the emperor orders nearly all the bishops to be gathered at Seleucia, a town of Isauria. At which time Hilary, now passing the fourth year of his exile in Phrygia, is compelled to be present among the rest of the bishops, the means of public conveyance having been granted through the vicar and the governor, although the emperor had ordered nothing specifically concerning him, the judges merely following the general command by which all bishops were ordered to be compelled to the council, willingly sent this man too among the rest. As I conjecture, it was so done by the nod of God, that a man most fully instructed in divine matters should be present when the faith was to be disputed.