3

Receive from me this writing and examine it, and having brought to your labors the additions and subtractions of your accuracy, purify it; for in whatever way seems good to you, in that way also will it appear useful and brilliant to those who read it, nor will anyone lay a finger on your approval. pref.1.1 My history proceeds from the third consulate of Crispus and Constantine, the Caesars, to your seventeenth. It seemed good to me to divide the entire work into nine parts. The first and second books will contain the events which befell the churches under Constantine; the third and fourth, the events under his children; the fifth and sixth, the events under Julian, the cousin of the children of the great Constantine, and pref.1. Jovian, and also Valentinian and Valens. The seventh and eighth book will declare to us the events under Gratian and Valentinian, the brothers, until the proclamation of Theodosius, your divine grandfather, until your renowned father, most excellent emperor, Arcadius, having succeeded to the paternal rule together with your most pious uncle Honorius, was allotted to govern the Ro-pref.1.21 man world. The ninth book I have dedicated to your Christ-loving and most holy highness, whom may God ever guard in unshaken joy, magnifying you over enemies and having all under your feet and transmitting the pious kingdom to children's children, with the assent of Christ; through whom and with whom to God the Father be glory with the Holy Spirit for ever, amen.

1.t.1 OF SALAMANES HERMIAS SOZOMEN ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY

BOOK THE FIRST

1.1.1 The thought once occurred to me, why indeed faith in the divine Word came more readily to other men, but was disbelieved by the Hebrews, although from the beginning they had received the divine oracles and had learned through the prophets about the coming of 1.1.2 Christ, how it would be, before it happened. For Abraham, having become the founder of their race and of circumcision, was deemed worthy to be an eyewitness and host of the Son of God. Isaac, his son, was honored by the imitation of the sacrifice on the cross, having been brought bound to the altar by his father, by which it also happened that the passion of Christ came to be, as 1.1.3 those who accurately study the holy scriptures say. And Jacob foretold the now-existing expectation of the nations for him and the time at which he came, when, he says, the rulers of the Hebrews from the tribe of Judah the patriarch would fail; and he was indicating the rule of Herod, who, being an Idumean by his father's race, and an Arabian by his mother's, was entrusted with the Jewish 1.1.4 nation by the Roman Senate and Augustus Caesar. And of the other prophets, some proclaimed the birth of Christ and that ineffable conception and the mother who remained a virgin after childbirth and his lineage and fatherland, others his divine and wondrous deeds, and still others his passion and resurrection from the dead and his ascension into heaven and signified what happened in each case. But if these things are unknown to anyone, it is not 1.1.5 difficult to know by reading the holy books. And Josephus, the son of Matthias the priest, a man who became most renowned among the Jews, and also among the Romans, would be a credible witness of the truth concerning Christ. For he hesitates to call him a man, as a doer of wondrous works and a teacher of true words, and openly calls him Christ; and he is not ignorant that he was condemned to the cross and appeared alive on the third day, and that ten thousand other wonderful things were foretold about him by the divine prophets. He testifies that the many whom he won over, both Greeks and Jews, remained loving him, mar-1.1.6 and that from

3

δέχου παρ' ἐμοῦ ταύτην τὴν γραφὴν καὶ ἐξέτασον, καὶ τὰς τῆς σῆς ἀκριβείας προσθέσεις τε καὶ ἀφαιρέσεις προσαγαγὼν τοῖς σοῖς πόνοις κάθαρον· πάντως γὰρ ὅπῃ ἂν σοὶ φίλον δοκῇ, ταύτῃ καὶ τοῖς ἐντυγχάνουσι χρήσιμον καὶ λαμπρὸν φανεῖται οὐδ' ἐπιθήσει τις δάκτυλον τῇ δοκιμασίᾳ τῇ σῇ. πρεφ.1.1 Πρόεισι δέ μοι ἡ γραφὴ ἀπὸ τῆς Κρίσπου καὶ Κωνσταντίνου τῶν Καισάρων τρίτης ὑπατείας μέχρι τῆς ἑπτακαιδεκάτης τῆς σῆς. ἔδοξε δέ μοι καλῶς ἔχειν εἰς ἐννέα μέρη τὴν πᾶσαν πραγματείαν διελεῖν. περιέξει δὲ ὁ πρῶτος καὶ δεύτερος τόμος τὰ ἐπὶ Κωνσταντίνου συμβάντα ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις· ὁ δὲ τρίτος καὶ τέταρτος τὰ ἐπὶ τῶν αὐτοῦ παίδων· ὁ δὲ πέμπτος καὶ ἕκτος τὰ ἐπὶ ᾿Ιουλιανοῦ τοῦ ἀνεψιοῦ τῶν παίδων τοῦ μεγάλου Κωνσταντίνου, καὶ πρεφ.1. ᾿Ιοβιανοῦ, καὶ προσέτι Οὐαλεντινιανοῦ καὶ Οὐάλεντος. ὁ δὲ ἕβδομος καὶ ὄγδοος ἡμῖν δηλώσει τόμος τὰ ἐπὶ Γρατιανοῦ καὶ Οὐαλεντινιανοῦ τῶν ἀδελφῶν, μέχρι τῆς ἀναρρήσεως Θεοδοσίου τοῦ θεσπεσίου σου πάππου, ἐσότε δὴ ὁ ὑμέτερος, κράτιστε βασιλεῦ, ἀοίδιμος πατὴρ ᾿Αρκάδιος τὴν πατρῴαν ἡγεμονίαν διαδεξάμενος ἅμα τῷ εὐσεβεστάτῳ σου θείῳ ᾿Ονωρίῳ τὴν ῾Ρω-πρεφ.1.21 μαίων οἰκουμένην ἰθύνειν ἔλαχε. τὸ δὲ ἔννατον βιβλίον ἀνατέθεικα τῇ φιλοχρίστῳ καὶ εὐαγεστάτῃ ὑμῶν κορυφῇ, ἣν εἰσαεὶ φυλάττοι θεὸς ἐν ἀκλονήτοις εὐθυμίαις, κατευμεγεθοῦσαν ἐχθρῶν καὶ πάντας ἔχουσαν ὑπὸ πόδας καὶ εἰς παῖδας παίδων παραπέμπουσαν τὴν εὐσεβῆ βασιλείαν, κατανεύοντος τοῦ Χριστοῦ· δι' οὗ καὶ μεθ' οὗ τῷ θεῷ καὶ πατρὶ ἡ δόξα σὺν τῷ ἁγίῳ πνεύματι εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας, ἀμήν.

1.τ.1 ΣΑΛΑΜΑΝΟΥ ΕΡΜΕΙΟΥ ΣΩΖΟΜΕΝΟΥ ΕΚΚΛΗΣΙΑΣΤΙΚΗΣ ΙΣΤΟΡΙΑΣ

ΤΟΜΟΣ ΠΡΩΤΟΣ

1.1.1 ῎Εννοια μοί ποτε ἐγένετο, τί δὴ ἄρα τοῖς μὲν ἄλλοις ἀνθρώποις ἑτοιμοτέρα συνέβη ἡ περὶ τὸν θεὸν λόγον πίστις, ῾Εβραίοις δὲ δύσπιστος καίτοι τὰ θεῖα πρεσβεύειν ἐξ ἀρχῆς παρειληφόσι καὶ τὰ περὶ τῆς παρουσίας τοῦ 1.1.2 Χριστοῦ, ὅπως ἔσται, πρὶν γένηται μαθοῦσι διὰ τῶν προφητῶν. ᾿Αβραὰμ μὲν γὰρ αὐτοῖς ἀρχηγὸς τοῦ γένους καὶ τῆς περιτομῆς γενόμενος αὐτόπτης καὶ ἑστιάτωρ ἠξίωται εἶναι τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ. ᾿Ισαὰκ δὲ ὁ τούτου παῖς τῇ μιμήσει τετίμηται τῆς ἐπὶ τοῦ σταυροῦ θυσίας, δέσμιος παρὰ τοῦ πατρὸς τῷ βωμῷ προσαχθείς, ᾗ συνέβη καὶ τὸ τοῦ Χριστοῦ γενέσθαι πάθος, ὥς 1.1.3 φασιν οἱ τὰς ἱερὰς ἀκριβοῦντες γραφάς. ᾿Ιακὼβ δὲ τὴν ἐπ' αὐτῷ νῦν οὖσαν προσδοκίαν τῶν ἐθνῶν καὶ τὸν καιρὸν καθ' ὃν ἦλθε προεμήνυσεν, ἡνίκα, φησίν, ἐκλείψουσιν οἱ ἡγούμενοι τῶν ῾Εβραίων ἐκ τοῦ γένους ᾿Ιούδα τοῦ φυλάρχου· ὑπεδήλου δὲ τὴν ἡγεμονίαν ῾Ηρῴδου, ὃς ᾿Ιδουμαῖος ὢν ἐκ πατρὸς τὸ γένος, ᾿Αράβιος δὲ κατὰ μητέρα, ἐπετράπη τὸ τῶν ᾿Ιουδαίων 1.1.4 ἔθνος ὑπὸ τῆς συγκλήτου ῾Ρωμαίων καὶ Αὐγούστου Καίσαρος. καὶ τῶν ἄλλων δὲ προφητῶν οἱ μὲν τὴν Χριστοῦ γέννησιν προεκήρυξαν καὶ τὴν ἄφραστον ἐκείνην κύησιν καὶ μητέρα μετὰ τοκετὸν παρθένον μείνασαν καὶ γένος καὶ πατρίδα, οἱ δὲ τὰς θείας αὐτοῦ καὶ παραδόξους πράξεις, ἄλλοι δὲ τὸ πάθος καὶ τὴν ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀνάστασιν καὶ τὴν εἰς οὐρανοὺς ἄνοδον καὶ τὸ ἐπὶ ἑκάστῳ συμβὰν προεσήμαναν. ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν εἴ τῳ ἠγνόηται, οὐ 1.1.5 χαλεπὸν εἰδέναι ταῖς ἱεραῖς ἐντυγχάνοντι βίβλοις. καὶ ᾿Ιώσηπος δὲ ὁ Ματθίου ὁ ἱερεύς, ἀνὴρ παρά τε ᾿Ιουδαίοις ἐπιδοξότατος γενόμενος, ἔτι δὲ καὶ παρὰ ῾Ρωμαίοις, ἀξιόχρεως ἂν εἴη μάρτυς τῆς περὶ τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἀληθείας. ἄνδρα μὲν γὰρ αὐτὸν ἀποκαλεῖν ὀκνεῖ ὡς παραδόξων ἔργων ποιητὴν καὶ διδάσκαλον λόγων ἀληθῶν, Χριστὸν δὲ περιφανῶς ὀνομάζει· καὶ τῷ σταυρῷ καταδικασθῆναι καὶ τριταῖον ζῶντα φανῆναι καὶ ἄλλα μυρία θαυμάσια περὶ αὐτοῦ προειρῆσθαι τοῖς θείοις προφήταις οὐκ ἀγνοεῖ. πολλοὺς δὲ ὄντας οὓς ἐπηγάγετο ῞Ελληνάς τε καὶ ᾿Ιουδαίους ἐπιμεῖναι ἀγαπῶντας αὐτὸν μαρ-1.1.6 τυρεῖ, καὶ τὸ ἀπ'