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is our testimony of his pre-eminence in impiety? For if, having defended himself before the judges and overcome his opponents, he had thus received the honor at Cyzicus, he would have had occasion to bring forward our words against us; but if it is continuously testified in the account that, fleeing the hostility of those in control of the vote, he accepts in silence the punishment imposed upon him, not enduring to conduct his contests among enemies, why does he deceive himself and use the very name of the prize as testimony of his acquittal, this marvellous man not understanding the emphasis of the prize, that as a kind of gift and reward to him for his pre-eminence in impiety 1.1.118 "1Cyzicus was proposed as a toast"2. But since he accepts the prize according to his own opinion and as a victory-gift, let him also accept what is attached to the account, that in impiety he gained the advantage through the victory. For since he makes his case against us with our own words, it is right for him to use either both or neither. 1.1.119 But such is he in our own affairs; but in the rest of the things said with insolence, will he be shown to be telling the truth in anything? in which 20cowardly and timid and running away from the harder labors20 and all such things he relates against him, laboriously contriving the experiences of cowardice, 20a small, hidden house20 and 20a securely fastened door20 and 20a startlement at the fear of those entering20 and 20voice20 and 20glance20 and 20the features on his face20 and all such things, by which the passion of cowardice 1.1.120 is signified. But even if he were convicted of lying in nothing else, this alone would have been sufficient to refute his character. For who does not know that great champion at the time of the contention of the Emperor Valens against the churches of the Lord, how with the greatness of his spirit he rose above the so great mass of affairs and was higher than the things that caused fear, having been raised above by his courage all the consternation devised against him? 1.1.121 Who of the people in the East, who of those dwelling at the farthest ends of our inhabited world, was ignorant of his battle for the truth against the rulers? Who was not 1.1.122 astonished looking upon his adversary? For he was not one of the common sort, nor did he possess the power of conquering by counterfeit sophistries, against whom to prevail is inglorious and to be defeated is without loss, but he had under him the entire Roman empire, then thriving; and, priding himself on so great a kingdom, he had been prejudiced by the slander against our doctrine, Eudoxius of Germanicia having won him over to himself through deceit; and all those in authority and the attendants around him and those who held power over affairs he had as fellow-combatants for his own impulse, some having inclined willingly because of the similarity of their opinion, but the majority, through fear of his power, readily granting favors to please him, and through the severity against those who held to the sound faith demonstrating their zeal for him. 1.1.123 a time when flights and confiscations and exiles and threats and penalties, dangers, guards, prisons, scourgings—and what of the most terrible things was not inflicted against those not agreeing with the impulse of the emperor; when it was more grievous for the pious to be caught in the house of God than to be convicted of the most wicked 1.1.124 crimes. But to go through all these things one by one would require a great treatise and much time and a special study, especially since the evils of that time are manifest to all, nothing more would be gained for the present discourse from setting forth those calamities in detail. There is also another burdensome thing in the narrative about them, to necessarily make some mention of our own affairs 1.1.125 when recounting in order the history of those sad events. For if anything of such a sort has been done by us because of the struggles for piety as to bring honor to the narrative, wisdom commands us to leave it to our neighbors; For let him praise you, it says, the

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ἡ τοῦ προέχειν αὐτὸν ἐν ἀσεβείᾳ παρ' ἡμῶν μαρτυρία; εἰ μὲν γὰρ ἀπολογησάμενος πρὸς τοὺς δικαστὰς καὶ τῶν ἀντι τεταγμένων κρατήσας οὕτως ἐδέξατο τὴν ἐπὶ Κυζίκῳ τιμήν, καιρὸν ἂν εἶχε τὰ ἡμέτερα καθ' ἡμῶν προχειρίζεσθαι· εἰ δὲ συνεχῶς ἐπὶ τοῦ λόγου μαρτύρεται, ὅτι φεύγων τὸ δυσμενὲς τῶν κυρίων τῆς ψήφου σιωπῇ δέχεται τὴν ἐπα χθεῖσαν αὐτῷ τιμωρίαν, ἐν ἐχθροῖς διαθέσθαι τοὺς ἀγῶνας οὐκ ἀνασχόμενος, τί ἑαυτὸν φενακίζει καὶ τῇ φωνῇ τοῦ ἄθλου εἰς μαρτυρίαν τοῦ ἀπολελογῆσθαι συγκέχρηται μὴ συνιεὶς ὁ θαυμάσιος τοῦ ἄθλου τὴν ἔμφασιν, ὅτι καθάπερ τι γέρας καὶ ἀριστεῖον αὐτῷ τῆς κατὰ τὴν ἀσέβειαν ὑπερ 1.1.118 οχῆς "1ἡ Κύζικος προεπόθη"2. ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ πρὸς τὸ δοκοῦν δέχεται τὸ ἆθλον καὶ ὡς δωρεὰν ἐπινίκιον, δεξάσθω καὶ τὸ συνημμένον τῷ λόγῳ, ὅτι ἐν ἀσεβείᾳ τὸ πλέον διὰ τῆς νίκης ἔσχεν. ἐπειδὴ γὰρ τοῖς ἡμετέροις καθ' ἡμῶν ἰσχυ ρίζεται, ἢ ἀμφοτέροις ἢ οὐθετέροις κεχρῆσθαι δίκαιος. 1.1.119 Ἀλλ' ἐν μὲν τοῖς ἡμετέροις τοιοῦτος· ἐν δὲ τοῖς λοι ποῖς τῶν ἐφ' ὕβρει ῥηθέντων ἆρά τι ἀληθεύων ἐπιδειχθή σεται; ἐν οἷς 20δειλόν τε καὶ ἄτολμον καὶ τοὺς τραχυτέρους τῶν πόνων ἀποδιδράσκοντα20 καὶ πάντα τὰ τοιαῦτα κατ' αὐτοῦ διεξέρχεται, φιλοπόνως δια σκευάζων τῆς δειλίας τὰ πάθη, 20οἰκίσκον λανθάνοντα20 καὶ 20θύραν ἀσφαλῶς ἐπικειμένην20 καὶ 20πτόησιν πρὸς τὸν φόβον τῶν εἰσιόντων20 καὶ 20φωνὴν20 καὶ 20βλέμμα20 καὶ 20τὰ ἐπὶ τοῦ προσώπου γνωρίσματα20 καὶ πάντα τὰ τοιαῦτα, δι' ὧν τῆς δειλίας 1.1.120 τὸ πάθος διασημαίνεται. ἀλλ' εἰ καὶ μηδὲν ἕτερον κατε ψευσμένος ἠλέγχετο, ἱκανὸν ἂν ἦν τοῦτο μόνον αὐτοῦ διε λέγξαι τὸν τρόπον. τίς γὰρ οὐκ οἶδε τὸν μέγαν ἐκεῖνον ἀγωνιστὴν ἐν τῷ καιρῷ τῆς τοῦ βασιλέως Οὐάλεντος κατὰ τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν τοῦ κυρίου φιλονεικίας ὅπως ὑπερανέστη τῇ μεγαλοφυΐᾳ τῆς γνώμης τοῦ τοσούτου τῶν πραγμάτων ὄγκου καὶ τῶν φοβούντων ὑψηλότερος ἦν, πάσης τῆς ἐπιμηχανη 1.1.121 θείσης αὐτῷ καταπλήξεως ὑπεραρθεὶς τῷ φρονήματι; τίς τῶν κατὰ τὴν ἑῴαν ἀνθρώπων, τίς τῶν κατὰ τὰ τελευταῖα τῆς καθ' ἡμᾶς οἰκουμένης οἰκούντων τὴν ὑπὲρ τῆς ἀλη θείας αὐτοῦ μάχην πρὸς τοὺς κρατοῦντας ἠγνόησε; τίς οὐ 1.1.122 κατεπλάγη πρὸς τὸν ἀντίπαλον ἀπιδών; οὐδὲ γὰρ τῶν ἐπι τυχόντων εἷς ἦν οὐδὲ ἐν σοφισματίοις κιβδήλοις τὴν τοῦ νικᾶν ἐκέκτητο δύναμιν, οὗ καὶ τὸ ὑπερέχειν ἄδοξον καὶ τὸ ἡττηθῆναι ἀζήμιον, ἀλλὰ πᾶσαν μὲν ὑφ' ἑαυτὸν εἶχεν εὐθηνουμένην τότε τὴν Ῥωμαίων ἀρχήν· καὶ τῇ τοσαύτῃ βασιλείᾳ κομῶν προείληπτο τῇ κατὰ τοῦ δόγματος ἡμῶν διαβολῇ, Εὐδοξίου τοῦ Γερμανικείας δι' ἀπάτης αὐτὸν πρὸς ἑαυτὸν μεταστήσαντος· πάντας δὲ τοὺς ἐν τέλει καὶ τοὺς περὶ αὐτὸν θεραπευτὰς καὶ τοὺς ἐπὶ τῶν πραγμάτων παρα δυναστεύοντας συναγωνιστὰς εἶχε τῆς ἰδίας ὁρμῆς, τοὺς μὲν ἑκουσίως διὰ τὴν ὁμοιοτροπίαν τῆς γνώμης προσκεκλι κότας, τοὺς δὲ πολλοὺς τῷ φόβῳ τῆς δυναστείας τὰ πρὸς ἡδονὴν ἑτοίμως χαριζομένους, καὶ διὰ τῆς ἀποτομίας τῆς κατὰ τῶν ἀντεχομένων τῆς πίστεως τῆς ὑγιαινούσης τὴν 1.1.123 πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐνδεικνυμένους σπουδήν. ὅτε φυγαὶ καὶ δημεύσεις καὶ ἐξορίαι ἀπειλαί τε καὶ προστιμήματα κίνδυνοι φυλακαὶ δεσμωτήρια μάστιγες καὶ τί γὰρ οὐχὶ τῶν δεινοτάτων ἐνηργεῖτο κατὰ τῶν μὴ συντεθειμένων τῇ τοῦ βασιλέως ὁρμῇ· ὅτε χαλεπώτερον ἦν ἐν οἴκῳ θεοῦ καταληφθῆναι τοὺς εὐσεβοῦντας ἢ ἐπὶ τοῖς πονηροτάτοις 1.1.124 τῶν ἐγκλημάτων ἁλῶναι. ἀλλὰ τὸ μὲν τούτοις πᾶσι καθ' ἕκαστον ἐπεξιέναι μεγάλης τινὸς ἂν δέοιτο συγγραφῆς καὶ χρόνου πολλοῦ καὶ πραγματείας ἰδίας, ἄλλως τε καὶ φανερῶν ἅπασιν ὄντων τῶν τηνικαῦτα κακῶν οὐδὲν ἂν γένοιτο πλέον πρὸς τὸν παρόντα λόγον ἐκ τοῦ μετὰ ἀκριβείας τὰς συμφορὰς ἐκείνας ἐπὶ τῶν πραγμάτων ἐκτίθεσθαι. ὕπεστι δὲ καὶ φορτικὸν ἕτερον ἐν τῷ περὶ αὐτῶν διηγήματι, τὸ καὶ τῶν ἡμετέρων τινὰ μνήμην ἐξ ἀνάγκης ποιήσασθαι 1.1.125 καθεξῆς διεξιόντα τὴν τῶν σκυθρωπῶν ἱστορίαν. εἰ γάρ τι καὶ πέπρακται τοιοῦτον ἡμῖν διὰ τοὺς ὑπὲρ τῆς εὐσεβείας ἀγῶνας οἷον φιλοτιμίαν φέρειν τῷ διηγήματι, τοῖς πλησίον καταλιπεῖν ἡ σοφία κελεύει· Ἐγκωμιαζέτω σε γάρ, φησίν, ὁ