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to allot one portion to each. For he had decided to eat each day in the evening, but never to take his fill, but always to be hungry, and always to be thirsty, and to offer to the body what was sufficient for living. For he used to say that he who partakes of food every several days, performs the Lord's services more weakly on the days of fasting; and on the day he again partakes of food, taking more, as is likely, he burdens his stomach; and this, being weighed down, renders the soul more sluggish for the vigil. Therefore he said it was better to partake of food daily, but never to wait for satiety; for true fasting is perpetual want. That divine man continued to legislate these things, and having a very large body, and being the largest and most beautiful of all the men of his time, he nourished it with a little food. 3.4 And when some time had passed, he received two companions, Eusebius, who became the heir of that sacred hut, and Agapetus, who transplanted this angelic rule to the region of Apamea; for it is a very large and populous village, and its name is Nicerte; so he established two very large schools of philosophy in it, the one named after himself, and the other after the wondrous Symeon, who shone forth in this philosophy for the number of fifty years. In these, even to this day, live more than four hundred men, athletes of virtue and lovers of piety, who purchase heaven with their labors. The lawgivers of this community were Agapetus and Symeon, having received the laws from the great Marcian. And from these, a myriad other ascetic dwellings were planted, governed by these laws, which it is not easy to number. But the planter of all these was that divine man; for he who provided the most beautiful seed, he might reasonably be called the cause of the good things that have grown. 3.5 At first, therefore, as I said, he alone had that voluntary prison; then, having received these two, he did not have them as companions; for the little house was not sufficient even for him alone, being extremely small, and causing him much hardship both standing and lying down. For neither was he able to stand upright when standing, as the roof bent both his head and his neck, nor could he stretch out his feet when lying down, since the length of the house was not equal to his body. Therefore, having permitted them to build another one, he ordered them to live in that one and to sing hymns and pray by themselves, and to study the divine oracles. But since it was necessary for more to partake of this benefit, having ordered another dwelling to be built far off, he commanded those who wished to live in it. Eusebius was their leader, transmitting the teaching of the great Marcian. But that divine Agapetus, having been trained as was necessary, and having exercised and been excellently instructed in this athletic art, returned, as I said, and sowed as seeds what he had received from that divine soul. And so he became renowned and admired, that he was deemed worthy even of the high-priestly presidency and was entrusted with pastoral care, and was entrusted with the care of his own homeland. 3.6 But the wondrous Eusebius, while protecting the gathered flock, had also undertaken the care of the teacher, and he alone was deemed worthy to visit him at times and to ask if he wanted anything. But once, wishing to see at night what he was doing, he dared to approach the window—and it was a small one—; and peeking in he sees a light not from a lamp, nor man-made, but God-given and of grace from above, of the

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ἑκάστῃ μίαν ἀπονέμεσθαι μοῖραν. Ἐκεκρίκει γὰρ ἑσπέρας καθ' ἑκάστην ἐσθίειν ἡμέραν, κόρον δὲ μὴ λαβεῖν μηδέποτε, ἀλλ' ἀεὶ μὲν πεινῆν, ἀεὶ δὲ διψῆν, προσφέρειν δὲ τῷ σώματι τὰ εἰς τὸ ζῆν ἀποχρῶντα. Ἔλεγε γὰρ ὡς ὁ διὰ πλειόνων ἡμερῶν σιτίων μεταλαγχάνων, ἀσθενέστερον μὲν ἐν ταῖς τῆς ἀπαστίας ἡμέραις τὰς δεσπο τικὰς λειτουργίας ἐπιτελεῖ· ἐν ᾗ δὲ πάλιν ἡμέρᾳ τῶν σιτίων μεταλαμβάνει, πλείονα, ὡς εἰκός, προσφερόμενος τὴν γαστέρα φορτίζει· βαρυνομένη δὲ αὕτη ὀκνηροτέραν περὶ τὴν ἀγρυπνίαν καθίστησι τὴν ψυχήν. Ἄμεινον τοίνυν ἔλεγεν εἶναι καθ' ἡμέραν μὲν μεταλαμβάνειν τροφῆς, κόρον δὲ περιμεῖναι μηδέποτε· ἀληθὴς γὰρ νηστεία ἡ διηνεκὴς ἔνδεια. Ταῦτα νομοθετῶν διετέλει ὁ θεῖος ἐκεῖνος ἀνὴρ καὶ σῶμα μέγιστον ἔχων καὶ τῶν ἐπ' αὐτοῦ πάντων ἀνθρώ πων μέγιστός τε ὢν καὶ κάλλιστος μικρῷ τοῦτο σιτίῳ διέτρεφεν. 3.4 Χρόνου δέ τινος διελθόντος δύο συνοίκους ἐδέξατο, Εὐσέβιον ὃς τῆς ἱερᾶς ἐκείνης καλύβης κληρονόμος ἐγένετο, καὶ Ἀγαπητὸν ὃς τὴν ἀγγελικὴν ταύτην νομοθεσίαν εἰς τὴν Ἀπαμέων μετεφύτευσε· κώμη γάρ τίς ἐστι μεγίστη καὶ πολυάνθρωπος, Νικέρτη δὲ ὄνομα ταύτῃ· δύο τοίνυν φιλοσοφίας ἐν ταύτῃ φροντιστήρια κατεσκεύασε μέγιστα, τὸ μὲν τῆς αὐτοῦ προσηγορίας ἐπώνυμον, τὸ δὲ τοῦ θαυ μαστοῦ Συμεώνου, ὃς πεντήκοντα ἐτῶν ἀριθμὸν ἐν ταύτῃ τῇ φιλοσοφίᾳ διέλαμψεν. Ἐν τούτοις μέχρι καὶ τήμερον πλείους ἢ τετρακόσιοι διάγουσιν ἄνδρες, ἀρετῆς ἀθληταὶ καὶ εὐσεβείας ἐρασταὶ καὶ τὸν οὐρανὸν τοῖς πόνοις ὠνούμενοι. Θεσμοθέται δὲ ταύτης τῆς πολιτείας Ἀγαπητὸς καὶ Συμεώνης, παρὰ τοῦ μεγάλου Μαρκιανοῦ τοὺς νόμους δεξάμενοι. Ἐκ δὲ τούτων μυρία ἐφυτεύθη ἕτερα ἀσκητῶν καταγώγια, τουτοισὶ τοῖς νόμοις κοσμούμενα ἃ οὐ ῥᾴδιον ἀριθμεῖν. Ἀλλὰ φυτουργὸς τούτων ἁπάντων ὁ θεσπέσιος ἐκεῖνος ἀνήρ· ὁ γὰρ τὸ σπέρμα τὸ κάλλιστον παρασχών, οὗτος καὶ τῶν φύντων ἀγαθῶν αἴτιος ἂν εἰκότως κληθείη. 3.5 Τὸ μὲν οὖν πρῶτον, ὡς ἔφην, μόνος τὴν ἐθελουσίαν ἐκείνην εἶχεν εἰρκτήν· ἔπειτα τοὺς δύο τούτους ὑποδεξάμενος, οὐ συνοίκους εἶχεν· οὐδὲ γὰρ αὐτῷ μόνῳ ὁ οἰκίσκος ἀπέχρη, σμικρὸς ὢν κομιδῆ, καὶ πολὺν αὐτῷ καὶ ἑστῶτι καὶ κατα κειμένῳ παρέχων πόνον. Οὔτε γὰρ ἑστὼς ἀνορθοῦσθαι οἷός τε ἦν, τῆς ὀροφῆς καὶ τὴν κεφαλὴν καὶ τὸν αὐχένα καμπτούσης, οὔτε κατακλινόμενος ἐκτείνειν τοὺς πόδας ἠδύνατο, ἰσόμετρον τῷ σώματι τοῦ οἴκου τὸ μῆκος οὐκ ἔχοντος. Ἕτερον οὖν αὐτοῖς ἐπιτρέψας κατασκευάσαι, ἐν ἐκείνῳ διάγειν ἐκέλευε καὶ καθ' ἑαυτούς τε ὑμνεῖν καὶ προσεύχεσθαι, καὶ τοῖς θείοις ἐντυγχάνειν λογίοις. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ ἔδει πλείονας τῆς ὠφελείας ταύτης μεταλαχεῖν, ἕτερον πόρρωθεν οἰκοδομηθῆναι καταγώγιον παρεγγυήσας, ἐν ἐκείνῳ διάγειν τοὺς βουλομένους ἐκέλευεν. Ἡγεμόνευε δὲ αὐτῶν ὁ Εὐσέβιος τὴν τοῦ μεγάλου Μαρκιανοῦ διδασκαλίαν διαπορθμεύων. Ὁ δὲ θεῖος ἐκεῖνος Ἀγαπητὸς παιδοτριβηθεὶς ὡς ἔδει, καὶ γυμνασάμενος καὶ τὴν ἀθλητικὴν ταύτην ἄριστα παι δευθεὶς ἐπανῆκεν, ὡς ἔφην, καὶ ἃ παρὰ τῆς θείας ἐκείνης ψυχῆς ἐδέξατο, κατέσπειρε σπέρματα. Οὕτω δὲ περιφανὴς ἐγένετο καὶ περίβλεπτος, ὡς καὶ τῆς ἀρχιερατικῆς προεδρίας ἀξιωθῆναι καὶ ποιμενικὴν ἐγχειρισθῆναι κηδεμονίαν, καὶ τῆς οἰκείας πατρίδος ἐμπιστευθῆναι τὴν ἐπιμέλειαν. 3.6 Εὐσέβιος δὲ ὁ θαυμάσιος, τῆς συναθροισθείσης προστα τεύων ἀγέλης, καὶ τοῦ διδασκάλου τὴν ἐπιμέλειαν ἀνεδέδεκτο, καὶ μόνος εἰς καιρὸν αὐτῷ φοιτᾶν καὶ πυνθάνεσθαι μή τι βούλοιτο ἠξιοῦτο. Ἐθελήσας δέ ποτε νύκτωρ ἰδεῖν ὅ τι πράττοι, ἐτόλμησε τῇ φωταγωγῷ-βραχεῖα δὲ ἦν αὕτη- πελάσαι· καὶ διακύψας ὁρᾷ φῶς οὐ λυχνιαῖον, οὐδὲ χειρο ποίητον, ἀλλὰ θεόσδοτον καὶ τῆς ἄνωθεν χάριτος, τῆς τοῦ