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he sent up to God thankful prayers, like certain fireless and smokeless sacrifices. But while he continued to rejoice in these things, yet not also in what he learned by hearing concerning the nations in the East that were being worn down. For a certain terrible beast was reported to him to be lying in wait there for both the church of God and the other provincials, with the evil demon striving, as it were, to work the opposite of the things being done by the God-beloved, so that the entire Roman dominion, having been divided into two parts, seemed to be like night and day, with darkness prevailing for those who had obtained the East, but with the brightest day shining down on the inhabitants of the other portion; 1.49.2 for whom, since countless good things were being dispensed by God, the sight of what was happening was not bearable to the hater-of-good, Envy, just as indeed it was not for the tyrant who was oppressing the other part of the world, who, though his rule was going well and he had been deemed worthy of a marriage-alliance with so great an emperor as Constantine, refrained from imitation of the God-beloved, but emulated the depravity of the principles of the impious, and of those whose destruction of life he had seen with his own eyes, he tried to follow their opinion rather than the friendly right hands of the better man. 1.50.1 He therefore wages an implacable war against his benefactor, taking no thought of the laws of friendship, nor of oaths, nor of kinship, nor of treaties. For the most humane emperor, offering him symbols of true goodwill, had deemed him worthy to become a partner in the kinship from their fathers and of the royal blood from of old, by joining his sister to him in marriage, and had granted him the authority to enjoy the rule over all who had obtained the East, but he, thinking the opposite of these things, was devising all kinds of schemes against the better man, inventing at different times other 1.50.2 ways of treachery, so that he might repay his benefactor with evils. And at first, pretending friendship, he did everything with deceit and fraud, hoping to escape notice for what he was daring to do, but for him, his God made manifest the plots contrived in darkness. But when he was caught in his first attempts, he proceeded to second deceptions, now extending friendly right hands, now ratifying treaties with oaths. Then suddenly breaking what had been agreed upon, and again making entreaties through embassies, and again behaving disgracefully with falsehoods, finally he declares open war, and in madness of mind he was at last moved to set himself in array against God himself, whom he knew the emperor worshipped. 1.51.1 And so first of all, he meddled quietly for a time with the ministers of God under him, who had never worked any wrong concerning his rule, hunting for malicious pretexts against them. Since he was supplied with no cause, however, nor had any way in which he might find fault with the men, he sends out a law commanding that the bishops in no place and in no way communicate with one another, nor that it be permitted for any of them to visit the church of his neighbor, nor indeed to hold synods nor councils 1.51.2 and deliberations about matters of common interest. And this was, in fact, a pretext for insult against us. For it was necessary either to be subjected to punishment for transgressing the law, or by obeying the command to dissolve the regulations of the church; for otherwise it is not possible for the great matters of inquiry to attain a right settlement except through synods; for at any rate, divine ordinances have already established that the ordinations of bishops are to take place in no other way than only in this way. And in other ways too, the God-hater, having decided to do the opposite to the God-beloved, commanded such things as these. For the one, as a promoter of peace and concord, gathered together the priests of God with honor for the sacred law, but the other, contriving to undo good things, tried to scatter their concordant harmony. 1.52.1 Then, since the friend of God deemed it worthy to receive the servants of God inside the royal houses, the God-hater, thinking the opposite, drove away all the pious under him from the royal houses, and especially gave to exile those most faithful and loyal men around him, and those who for former deeds of valor had obtained honor and rank from him to be slaves to others

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θεῷ εὐχαρίστους εὐχὰς ὥσπερ τινὰς ἀπύρους καὶ ἀκάπνους θυσίας ἀνεπέμπετο. ἀλλ' ἐπὶ μὲν τούτοις χαίρων διετέλει, οὐ μὴν καὶ ἐφ' οἷς ἀκοῇ περὶ τῶν κατὰ τὴν ἑῴαν τρυχομένων ἐθνῶν ἐπυνθάνετο. ∆εινὸς γάρ τις αὐτῷ κἀνταῦθα τῇ τ' ἐκκλησία τοῦ θεοῦ τοῖς τε λοιποῖς ἐπαρχιώταις ἐφεδρεύειν ἀπηγγέλλετο θήρ, τοῦ πονηροῦ δαίμονος ὥσπερ ἁμιλλωμένου τοῖς παρὰ τῷ θεοφιλεῖ πραττομένοις τἀναντία κατεργάζεσθαι, ὡς δοκεῖν τὴν σύμπασαν ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίοις ἀρχὴν δυσὶ τμήμασιν ἀποληφθεῖσαν ἐοικέναι νυκτὶ καὶ ἡμέρᾳ, σκότους μὲν τοῖς τὴν ἑῴαν λαχοῦσιν ἐπιπολάζοντος, ἡμέρας δὲ τηλαυγεστάτης τοῖς τῆς θατέρας μοίρας οἰκήτορσι κατα1.49.2 λαμπούσης· οἷς μυρίων ἀγαθῶν ἐκ θεοῦ πρυτανευομένων, οὐκ ἦν τῷ μισοκάλῳ φθόνῳ φορητὴ ἡ τῶν γινομένων θέα, ὥσπερ οὖν οὐδὲ τῷ θάτερον μέρος τῆς οἰκουμένης καταπονοῦντι τυράννῳ, ὃς εὖ φερομένης τῆς ἀρχῆς αὐτῷ Κωνσταντίνου τε τοσούτου βασιλέως ἐπιγαμβρίας ἠξιωμένος, μιμήσεως μὲν τοῦ θεοφιλοῦς ἀπελιμπάνετο, τῆς δὲ τῶν δυσσεβῶν προαιρέσεως ἐζήλου τὴν κακοτροπίαν, καὶ ὧν τοῦ βίου τὴν καταστροφὴν ἐπεῖδεν αὐτοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς, τούτων ἕπεσθαι τῇ γνώμῃ μᾶλλον ἢ ταῖς τοῦ κρείττονος φιλικαῖς δεξιαῖς ἐπειρᾶτο. 1.50.1 Πόλεμον δ' οὖν ἄσπονδον πρὸς τὸν εὐεργέτην αἴρεται, οὐ φιλικῶν νόμων οὐχ ὁρκωμοσιῶν οὐ συγγενείας οὐ συνθηκῶν μνήμην ἐν διανοίᾳ λαμβάνων. ὁ μὲν γὰρ φιλανθρωπότατος εὐνοίας αὐτῷ παρέχων ἀληθοῦς σύμβολα, τῆς ἐκ πατέρων συγγενείας βασιλικοῦ τ' ἀνέκαθεν αἵματος κοινωνὸν γενέσθαι ἠξίου γάμῳ τὴν ἀδελφὴν συνάψας, τῆς τε κατὰ πάντων ἀπολαύειν ἀρχῆς τῶν τὴν ἑῴαν λαχόντων παρεῖχε τὴν ἐξουσίαν, ὁ δὲ τούτοις τἀναντία γινώσκων παντοίας κατὰ τοῦ κρείττονος μηχανὰς συνεσκευάζετο ἄλλοτ' ἄλλους ἐπινοῶν ἐπι1.50.2 βουλῆς τρόπους, ὡς ἂν κακοῖς τὸν εὐεργέτην ἀμείψοιτο. καὶ τὰ μὲν πρῶτα φιλίαν ὑποκρινόμενος δόλῳ καὶ ἀπάτῃ πάντ' ἔπραττεν, ἐφ' οἷς ἐτόλμα λήσεσθαι ἐλπίζων, τῷ δὲ ὁ αὐτοῦ θεὸς τὰς ἐν σκότῳ μηχανωμένας ἐπιβουλὰς καταφώρους ἐποίει. ὁ δ' ὡς ἐπὶ τοῖς πρώτοις ἡλίσκετο, ἐπὶ δευτέρας ἀπάτας ἐχώρει, νῦν μὲν φιλικὰς προτείνων δεξιάς, νῦν δὲ συνθήκας ὁρκωμοσίοις πιστούμενος. εἶτ' ἀθρόως ἀθετῶν τὰ δεδογμένα, καὶ αὖθις ἀντιβολῶν διὰ πρεσβείας, καὶ πάλιν ἀσχημονῶν ταῖς ψευδολογίαις, τέλος προφανῆ πόλεμον ἀνακηρύττει, ἀπονοίᾳ τε λογισμοῦ κατ' αὐτοῦ λοιπὸν τοῦ θεοῦ ὃν ἠπίστατο σέβειν τὸν βασιλέα παρατάττεσθαι ὡρμᾶτο. 1.51.1 Πρώτους γέ τοι τοὺς ὑπ' αὐτῷ τοῦ θεοῦ λειτουργοὺς μηδὲν πώποτε πλημμελὲς περὶ τὴν ἀρχὴν διαπονηθέντας ἠρέμα τέως περιειργάζετο, προφάσεις κατ' αὐτῶν κακοτέχνους θηρώμενος. μηδεμιᾶς γε μὴν εὐπορῶν αἰτίας μηδ' ἔχων ὅπῃ τοῖς ἀνδράσι καταμέμψοιτο, νόμον ἐκπέμπει διακελευόμενον μηδαμῆ μηδαμῶς ἀλλήλοις ἐπικοινωνεῖν τοὺς ἐπισκόπους, μηδ' ἐπιδημεῖν αὐτῶν ἐξεῖναί τινι τῇ τοῦ πέλας ἐκκλησίᾳ, μηδέ γε συνόδους μηδὲ βουλὰς 1.51.2 καὶ διασκέψεις περὶ τῶν λυσιτελῶν ποιεῖσθαι. τὸ δ' ἦν ἄρα πρόφασις τῆς καθ' ἡμῶν ἐπηρείας. ἢ γὰρ παραβαίνοντας τὸν νόμον ἐχρῆν ὑποβάλλεσθαι τιμωρίᾳ, ἢ πειθαρχοῦντας τῷ παραγγέλματι παραλύειν ἐκκλησίας θεσμούς· ἄλλως γὰρ οὐ δυνατὸν τὰ μεγάλα τῶν σκεμμάτων ἢ διὰ συνόδων κατορθώσεως τυγχάνειν· ἐπισκόπων γοῦν οὐδ' ἑτέρως ἢ μόνως οὕτω γίνεσθαι τὰς χειροθεσίας θεσμοὶ προειλήφασι θεῖοι. καὶ ἄλλως δ' ὁ θεομισὴς τῷ θεοφιλεῖ τἀναντία πράττειν ἐγνωκὼς τὰ τοιάδε παρήγγελλεν. ὁ μὲν γὰρ τοὺς ἱερεῖς τοῦ θεοῦ τῇ πρὸς τὸν ἱερὸν νόμον τιμῇ, εἰρήνης τε καὶ ὁμονοίας ἐξάρχων, ἐπὶ ταὐτὸ συνῆγεν, ὁ δὲ τὰ καλὰ παραλύειν μηχανώμενος διασκεδάζειν τὴν σύμφωνον ἁρμονίαν ἐπειρᾶτο. 1.52.1 Εἶτ' ἐπειδήπερ ὁ τῷ θεῷ φίλος εἴσω βασιλικῶν οἴκων τοὺς θεράποντας τοῦ θεοῦ δέχεσθαι ἠξίου, τἀναντία φρονῶν ὁ θεομισὴς ἅπαντας τοὺς ὑπ' αὐτῷ θεοσεβεῖς βασιλικῶν ἀπήλαυνεν οἴκων, αὐτούς τε μάλιστα τοὺς ἀμφ' αὐτὸν πιστοτάτους καὶ εὐνουστάτους ἄνδρας εἰς ἐξορίαν ἐδίδου, τούς τ' ἐκ προτέρων ἀνδραγαθημάτων τιμῆς καὶ ἀξιωμάτων παρ' αὐτῷ λαχόντας δουλεύειν ἑτέροις