History of the Arians

 a wild beast has come forth upon the earth, this heresy. For not only does it harm the innocent with its words as with teeth, but it has also hired ex

 Nevertheless, since Eusebius was lusting after and wanting to seize the episcopate of the city (for thus also he had moved from Berytus to Nicomedia),

 seeing themselves, who happened to be suspected in all things, not prevailing in an ecclesiastical judgment, they approach Constantius alone and then

 you deemed them worthy to have communion from them, they were not worthy of blows but if you were beating them as wicked men, why were you summoning

 of the accusers, as they themselves had suborned everything and contrived such things. Seeing these things, although they had come with haste, thinkin

 deeds to be revealed. For since those in Adrianople did not wish to have communion with them, as men who had fled from the Synod and had become liable

 wonderful and daring in all things, as they have seen them in Antioch, they plotted together, but Stephen alone undertook the drama as being well-suit

 the people of Alexandria. Making our aim your good order in all things ... (This too was likewise written in the same 65th oration and because it vari

 having received letters from him. And having gone up also to Rome, they were repenting, confessing that everything whatsoever they had done and said a

 present, not with palace officials or notaries having been sent, such as they themselves now do, but not even when the emperor was present, nor having

 the emperor commanded.” How many were harassed by them in every city, so that they might not 31.6 condemn them as friends of the bishops. For letters

 Lucifer the bishop from the metropolis of Sardinia, and Eusebius from Vercelli in Italy, and Dionysius 33.7 from Milan, which is also a metropolis of

 Accept these things.” 36.1 But the bishop, persuading by speech, was teaching: “How is it possible for this to happen against Athanasius? For how can

 of the gates, so that no orthodox person, entering, might see Liberius? Rome also had experience of the Christ-fighters and knew at last what it had n

 with 40.3 Constantius’ soldiers. Truly, wickedness is blind for in that by which they thought to vex the confessors by separating them from one anoth

 he might write against us, but hold communion with the Arians. 43.2 But the old man, finding the hearing of it unpleasant and being grieved that he sh

 What courtier of his compelled him to subscribe against anyone, that Valens and his party should say such things? Cease, I beseech you, and remember t

 (for he was now a hundred years old) the heartless one was put to shame. For the new Ahab, another Belshazzar who had arisen among us, overlooked all

 he writes evil things again to the council and the people of Alexandria, inciting the younger men, so that they all might come together and either exp

 to Felicissimus, the then duke, and to Nestorius the prefect, so that if either Philip the prefect or anyone else should dare to plot against Athanasi

 ordered the church to be handed over.” And while all were marveling at this and nodding to one another and saying, “Has Constantius become a heretic?”

 the miracle had a more manifest proof. For a certain licentious young man, running in and daring to do so, sat upon the throne. And sitting down, the

 And to their women they have given authority to abuse whomever they wish. And the respectable and faithful women would turn aside and yield the way to

 And they, seeing the man blind from birth now seeing, and the man who had been a paralytic for a long time made well, they accused the Lord who had do

 the evils that have come to pass, after the persecution which occurred through Heraclius, they again do not cease slandering to the emperor. For they

 the antichrist himself? For he himself, because of his heresy, was the first to hasten to rival Saul in cruelty. For that one, when the priests had gi

 writing, he repents, and repenting, he is provoked, and again he laments and not having what he should do, he shows the desolation of his soul's mind.

 For they did not even pity them when they were sick, but even drove them on when they were bearing up with difficulty on account of their weakness, so

 he is, such as that one might become. For he speaks words against the most high, being the head of the impious heresy, and he makes war against the sa

 to the man. But if you speak having heard from these men, it is just for you to believe also the things said by him, but if you do not believe him, bu

 having caused the Arian heresy to be so much as 78.5 named in it. For still only in the whole of Egypt was there freedom of speech for orthodoxy, and

 It is good to be content with the divine scripture and for all to be persuaded by it as it commands, both because of the other heresies and especially

 as the soldiers were coming on, and men were being shot with arrows and killed. And some of the soldiers also turned to plundering and stood the virgi

the miracle had a more manifest proof. For a certain licentious young man, running in and daring to do so, sat upon the throne. And sitting down, the wretch made some sort of harlot-like sound through his nostrils. Then standing up he tried to tear the throne away and drag it towards himself, but he was ignorant that he was drawing down judgment upon himself. For just as those then inhabiting Azotus, who dared to touch the ark, at which it was not even lawful for them to look, were immediately destroyed by it, first being afflicted with torments in their posteriors, so also this wretch only dared to drag it, and what he was dragging, he drew upon himself, and as if justice were sending it back, the wood struck his own belly, and instead of the throne, by the blow he brought forth his own bowels, and the throne tore away his life rather than being torn away by him. Therefore, as is written concerning Judas, his bowels gushed out, and falling down he was carried away and after one day he perished. And another, entering with branches and, like a Greek, waving them with his hand and mocking, was immediately struck with dizziness and could not see nor did he know any longer where on earth he was; and being about to fall, he too was led by the hand by his companions and supported as he went out, scarcely recovering his senses after a day, and not knowing either what he had done or what he had suffered, the audacious man. Seeing these things, the Greeks were afraid and dared nothing more, but the Arians were not even so ashamed, but like the Jews, seeing signs, the faithless ones did not believe. For they were rather hardened like Pharaoh, having their hopes placed somewhere below in the emperor and in his eunuchs. They therefore permitted the Greeks, or rather the more outcast of the Greeks, to do the aforementioned things; for they had Faustinus inciting them to such things and provoking the Greeks, the one called the Catholicus, but a man of the marketplace in character and licentious in soul. But they undertook to do similar things themselves, so that just as they had copied their heresy from other heresies, so also they might have their wickedness shared with the more licentious. Therefore they did the other things through them, as I said before, but the wrongs they committed themselves, how do they not surpass all wickedness and conquer the evil of every public executioner? For what household did they not plunder? What house did they not ransack on the pretext of searching? What garden did they not trample down and what tomb did they not open? Putting forward the pretext that they were seeking Athanasius, but their whole endeavor was to plunder and despoil those they met. How many houses were sealed up? The property of how many in lodgings have they given over to the soldiers serving them? Who has remained unacquainted with their wickedness? Who, having met them, did not hide in the marketplace? Who on account of them did not leave their house and spend the night in the desert? Who, for their sake, hastening to protect his own property, did not lose most of it? Who, inexperienced with the sea, did not rather choose it and to experience its dangers than to see these men threatening? Many both changed their houses and moved from lane to lane and from the city to the suburbs. And how many suffered how many losses and, not having the means, borrowed from others, just to escape their plots? For they showed themselves to be terrible to all and were arrogant towards all, naming the emperor to everyone and threatening with the fear of him, and having as ministers for their wickedness Duke Sebastianus, a Manichean and a licentious young man, and the prefect and the count and the hypocrite Catholicus. Therefore, many virgins who had condemned their impiety and recognized the truth they brought down from their homes, and others walking about they insulted and caused their heads to be bared by the young men among them;

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θαύματος φανερωτέραν ἔσχε τὴν 57.2 ἀπόδειξιν. τῶν ἀσελγῶν γάρ τις νεώτερος εἰσδραμὼν καὶ τολμήσας ἐπεκάθισε τῷ θρόνῳ. καὶ καθίσας διὰ τῶν ῥινῶν τι πορνικὸν ἀπήχησεν ὁ ἄθλιος. εἶτα ἀναστὰς ἐβιάζετο τὸν θρόνον ἀποσπᾶν καὶ πρὸς ἑαυτὸν ἕλκειν, ἠγνόει δὲ καθ' ἑαυτοῦ τὴν δίκην ἐπισπώμενος. 57.3 ὡς γὰρ οἱ τότε τὴν Ἄζωτον κατοικοῦντες τολμήσαντες ἅψασθαι τῆς κιβωτοῦ, ᾗ κἂν προσβλέψαι θέμις οὐκ ἦν αὐτοῖς, παρ' αὐτῆς εὐθὺς ἀπώλλυντο πρότερον διαφθειρόμενοι ταῖς βασάνοις τὰς ἕδρας, οὕτως καὶ οὗτος ὁ ἄθλιος μόνον ἐτόλμησεν ἕλκειν καί, ὅπερ εἷλκεν εἰς ἑαυτὸν ἐπεσπάσατο, καὶ ὡς ἀντιπεμπούσης τῆς δίκης τὸ ξύλον ἐν αὐτῷ τὴν ἰδίαν κοιλίαν ἔπληξε, καὶ ἀντὶ τοῦ θρόνου τῇ πληγῇ τὰ ἴδια ἐξήνεγκεν ἔντερα, καὶ μᾶλλον ὁ θρόνος 57.4 ἐκείνου τὸ ζῆν ἀπέσπασεν ἢ αὐτὸς ἀπεσπάσθη παρ' ἐκείνου. ἐξεχύθη γοῦν, ὡς γέγραπται κατὰ τὸν Ἰούδαν, τοῖς σπλάγχνοις καὶ καταπεσὼν ἐβαστάχθη καὶ μετὰ μίαν ἡμέραν ἀπώλετο. καὶ ἕτερος δὲ μετὰ θαλλῶν εἰσελθὼν καὶ ὡς Ἕλλην κινῶν αὐτὰ τῇ χειρὶ καὶ χλευάζων εὐθὺς ἐσκοτώθη καὶ οὐκ ἔβλεπεν οὐδὲ ἐγίνωσκεν ἔτι λοιπόν, ὅποι γῆς ἐτύγχανε· μέλλων τε καὶ αὐτὸς καταπίπτειν χειραγωγούμενος ὑπὸ τῶν συνόντων καὶ ὑποβαστα ζόμενος ἐξήρχετο καὶ αὐτός, μόγις μεθ' ἡμέραν διανήψας καὶ οὐ γινώσκων, οὔτε τί πεποίηκεν οὔτε τί πέπονθεν ὁ τολμηρός. 58.1 Ταῦτα βλέποντες Ἕλληνες μὲν ἐφοβήθησαν καὶ οὐδὲν πλέον ἐτόλμησαν, Ἀρειανοὶ δὲ οὐδὲ οὕτως ᾐσχύνθησαν, ἀλλ' ὡς Ἰουδαῖοι σημεῖα βλέποντες οὐκ ἐπίστευον οἱ ἄπιστοι. μᾶλλον γὰρ ἐσκληρύνοντο κατὰ τὸν Φαραὼ τὰς ἐλπίδας ἔχοντες καὶ αὐτοὶ κάτω που 58.2 κειμένας ἐν τῷ βασιλεῖ καὶ ἐν τοῖς εὐνούχοις αὐτοῦ. τοὺς μὲν οὖν Ἕλληνας, μᾶλλον δὲ τῶν Ἑλλήνων τοὺς ἐκβλητοτέρους τὰ προειρημένα ποιεῖν ἐπέτρεπον· εἶχον γὰρ τὸν ὑπο κρινόμενον αὐτοῖς τὰ τοιαῦτα καὶ παροξύνοντα τοὺς Ἕλληνας Φαυστῖνον, τὸν καθολικὸν μὲν λεγόμενον, ἀγοραῖον δὲ τὸν τρόπον καὶ ἀσελγῆ τὴν ψυχήν. αὐτοὶ δὲ τὰ ὅμοια τού τοις ἀνεδέξαντο δι' ἑαυτῶν ποιεῖν, ἵν', ὥσπερ τὴν αἵρεσιν ἀπὸ τῶν ἄλλων αἱρέσεων 58.3 ἀπεμάξαντο, οὕτω καὶ τὴν πονηρίαν μετὰ τῶν ἀσελγεστέρων ἔχωσι μεμερισμένην. τὰ μὲν οὖν ἄλλα δι' ἐκείνων, καθὰ προεῖπον, ἔπραττον, ἃ δὲ δι' ἑαυτῶν ἐπλημμέλουν, πῶς οὐ πᾶσαν ὑπερβάλλει πονηρίαν καὶ παντὸς δημίου νικᾷ κακίαν; ποῖον γὰρ οἶκον οὐκ ἐπόρθη σαν; ποίαν οἰκίαν προφάσει τοῦ ἐρευνᾶν οὐ διήρπασαν; ποῖον κῆπον οὐ κατεπάτησαν καὶ τάφον οὐκ ἐπήνοιξαν; πρόφασιν μὲν ὡς Ἀθανάσιον ἐπιζητοῦντες προβαλλόμενοι, τὸ δ' ὅλον ἦν αὐτοῖς σπουδαζόμενον διαρπάζειν καὶ σκυλεύειν τοὺς ἀπαντῶντας. πόσων ἐπεσφραγίσθησαν οἶκοι; πόσων τὰ ἐν ταῖς ξενίαις ἐκδεδώκασι τοῖς ὑπουργοῦσιν αὐτοῖς στρατιώταις; τίς τούτων ἀπείρατος τῆς κακίας γέγονε; τίς τούτοις ἀπαντήσας οὐκ ἐκρύβη κατὰ τὴν ἀγοράν; τίς διὰ τούτους οὐ καταλείψας τὴν οἰκίαν ἐπὶ τῆς ἐρημίας διῆγε τὴν 58.4 νύκτα; τίς τούτων χάριν φυλάξαι τὰ ἴδια σπεύδων οὐκ ἀπώλεσε τὰ πλεῖστα; τίς ἄπειρος θαλάττης οὐ μᾶλλον εἵλετο ταύτην καὶ τῶν ταύτης κινδύνων πεῖραν λαβεῖν ἢ τούτους ὁρᾶν ἀπειλοῦντας; πολλοὶ καὶ οἴκους μετῆλθον καὶ μετέστησαν ἀπὸ λαύρας εἰς λαῦραν καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς πόλεως εἰς τὰ προάστεια. πόσοι τε ζημίας πόσας ὑπέστησαν καὶ μὴ ἔχοντες ἐδανείσαντο παρ' ἑτέρων, ἵνα μόνον τὰς ἐπιβουλὰς τούτων ἐκφύγωσι; 59.1 Πᾶσι γὰρ φοβεροὺς ἑαυτοὺς ἐδείκνυον καὶ πρὸς πάντας ἠλαζονεύοντο, βασιλέα πᾶσιν ὀνομάζοντες καὶ ἀπειλοῦντες μὲν τὸν ἐκείνου φόβον, ἔχοντες δὲ ὑπουργοὺς εἰς τὴν πονηρίαν τὸν δοῦκα Σεβαστιανόν, Μανιχαῖον ὄντα καὶ ἀσελγῆ νεώτερον, καὶ τὸν ἔπαρχον καὶ 59.2 τὸν κόμητα καὶ ὑποκριτὴν τὸν καθολικόν. πολλὰς γοῦν παρθένους καταγνούσας αὐ τῶν τῆς ἀσεβείας καὶ τὴν ἀλήθειαν ἐπιγνούσας κατήνεγκαν ἀπὸ τῶν οἰκιῶν καὶ ἄλλας περι πατούσας ὕβριζον καὶ ἐποίουν ὑπὸ τῶν παρ' αὐτοῖς νεωτέρων γυμνοῦσθαι τὰς κεφαλὰς 59.3 αὐτῶν·

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