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25

She then, even after her death, has obtained the honor which it was fitting for one to obtain who had so carefully and fervently served the God of all. But those of the Arian faction did not forget their all-wicked schemes. For it was for this reason that they agreed 66 with their hands to the confession of faith, so that, as though putting on sheepskins, they might do the works of wolves. For that divine Alexander, who by his prayer had struck down Arius (I mean the one of Byzantium, for so Constantinople was named at that time), was translated to the better life; but Eusebius, the advocate of impiety, caring little for the decrees which a short while before he had signed with the other bishops, immediately left Nicomedia and seized the throne of Constantinople, in open defiance of the canon forbidding bishops and presbyters alike not to move from one city to another. And it is no wonder that those who had so raged against the divinity of the Only-begotten should fearlessly transgress the other laws. And this was not the first time he had made this innovation, but he had already dared this very thing before. For having long ago been entrusted with Berytus, he jumped over to Nicomedia; and from this city after the council, on account of his manifest impiety, he was driven out, and with him Theogonius of Nicaea. And this the emperor Constantine made clear through his writings. I shall insert the end of the letter in my history; he wrote these things to the Nicomedians. "Who is it that has taught these things to so innocent a multitude? Eusebius, "forsooth, the fellow-initiate of tyrannical cruelty. For that he was everywhere "a partisan of the tyrant, it is possible to see from many things. For the "slaughters of the bishops bear witness to this, but of those who were truly "bishops; and the most grievous persecution of the Christians explicitly proclaims "it. For I will now say nothing about the insults committed against me, 67 "through which, when the conspiracies of the opposing parties were especially active, this man even sent spies against me and "all but rendered armed services to the tyrant. Let no one "suppose me to be unprepared for the proof of these things. For there is precise "proof, that it is established that the presbyters and deacons who "accompanied Eusebius were openly seized by me. "But I pass over these things; which have now been brought forward by me not for the sake of indignation, but to "their shame. This one thing I fear, this one thing "I consider, that I see you are being called to share in the "crime. For through the conduct and perversion of Eusebius you have "received a conscience separated from the truth. But there is a not-slow "cure, if at least now you take a faithful and sound bishop "and look to God; which at present is in your power and "ought long ago to have depended on your judgment, if the aforesaid "Eusebius, with a throng of his accomplices, had not come here and "shamelessly subverted the correctness of the order. "But since it was fitting to say a few things about Eusebius himself to your 68 Love, your long-suffering nature remembers that a synod was held in the city of "Nicaea, at which I myself was present, as was fitting for "the service of my conscience, wishing nothing else "than to bring about harmony for all, and before all else to convict "and to cast off this affair, which took its beginning "through the madness of Arius of Alexandria, and was immediately strengthened through the absurd and destructive zeal of Eusebius. But this "very Eusebius, most beloved and most honored, with how much support do you think, "since indeed he was defeated by his own conscience, and with how much "shame did he support a falsehood convicted on every side, secretly "sending to me various people to ask on his behalf, and begging "from me some assistance so that, having been convicted of so great a "crime, he might not be cast out of the honor which he possessed. God himself is my witness "of this, who may graciously abide with me and with you, since "he also turned me about and

25

ἐκείνη μὲν οὖν καὶ μετὰ τὴν τελευτὴν τιμῆς τετύχηκεν ὁποίας τυχεῖν ἐχρῆν τὴν οὕτως ἐπιμελῶς καὶ θερμῶς τὸν τῶν ὅλων τεθερα πευκυῖαν θεόν. Οἱ δὲ τῆς Ἀρείου συμμορίας τῶν παμπονήρων οὐκ ἐπελάθοντο βουλευμάτων. τούτου γὰρ δὴ ἕνεκα τῇ τῆς πίστεως ὁμολογίᾳ συνέ 66 θεντο ταῖς χερσὶν ὡς ἂν τὰ κώδια περικείμενοι τὰ τῶν λύκων ἐργάσαιντο. ὁ μὲν γὰρ θεῖος ἐκεῖνος Ἀλέξανδρος, ὁ τῇ προσευχῇ κατακοντίσας τὸν Ἄρειον (τὸν Βυζάντιον λέγω, οὕτω γὰρ ἡ Κων σταντινούπολις κατ' ἐκεῖνον ὠνομάζετο τὸν καιρόν), εἰς τὸν ἀμείνω μετετέθη βίον· Εὐσέβιος δὲ ὁ τῆς δυσσεβείας συνήγορος, μικρὰ φρον τίσας ὧν πρὸ βραχέος μετὰ τῶν ἄλλων ἀρχιερέων συνέγραψεν ὅρων, παραυτίκα τὴν Νικομήδειαν καταλιπὼν τὸν τῆς Κωνσταντινουπόλεως ἥρπασε θρόνον, ἄντικρυς τοῦ κανόνος ἐπισκόπους ὁμοῦ καὶ πρεσβυτέ ρους ἀπαγορεύοντος ἐξ ἑτέρας εἰς ἑτέραν μὴ μεταβαίνειν πόλιν. θαυ μαστὸν δὲ οὐδὲν τοὺς οὕτω κατὰ τῆς τοῦ μονογενοῦς μανέντας θεό τητος ἀδεῶς τοὺς ἄλλους παραβῆναι νόμους. οὐ νῦν δὲ τοῦτο πρῶτον κεκαινοτόμηκεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἤδη πρότερον ταὐτὸ τοῦτο τε τόλμηκεν. τὴν Βηρυτὸν γὰρ πάλαι πεπιστευμένος, εἰς τὴν Νικο μήδειαν μετεπήδησε· καὶ ταύτης δὲ μετὰ τὴν σύνοδον διὰ τὸ τῆς δυσσεβείας προφανὲς ἐξηλάθη, καὶ σὺν αὐτῷ Θεογόνιος ὁ Νικαίας. καὶ τοῦτο δῆλον βασιλεὺς Κωνσταντῖνος διὰ γραμμάτων πεποίηκεν. ἐγὼ δὲ τὸ τέλος τῆς ἐπιστολῆς ἐνθήσω τῇ συγγραφῇ· ἐπέστειλε δὲ ταῦτα Νικομηδεῦσι. "Τίς ἐστιν ὁ ταῦτα διδάξας οὕτως ἄκακον πλῆθος; Εὐσέβιος "δηλαδὴ ὁ τῆς τυραννικῆς ὠμότητος συμμύστης. ὅτι γὰρ πανταχοῦ "τοῦ τυράννου γεγένηται πρόσφυξ, πολλαχόθεν ἔστι συνορᾶν. τοῦτο "μὲν γὰρ αἱ τῶν ἐπισκόπων σφαγαὶ διαμαρτύρονται, ἀλλὰ τῶν ἀληθῶς "ἐπισκόπων· τοῦτο δὲ ἡ χαλεπωτάτη τῶν Χριστιανῶν ἐκδίωξις διαρ "ρήδην βοᾷ. οὐδὲν γὰρ περὶ τῶν εἰς ἐμὲ γεγενημένων ὕβρεων νῦν 67 "ἐρῶ, δι' ὧν ὅτε μάλιστα αἱ τῶν ἐναντίων μερῶν ἐπραγματεύσαντο "συνδρομαί, οὗτος καὶ ὀφθαλμοὺς κατασκόπους ἔπεμπε κατ' ἐμοῦ καὶ "μόνον οὐκ ἐνόπλους τῷ τυράννῳ συνεισέφερεν ὑπουργίας. μηδέ μέ "τις οἰέσθω εἶναι πρὸς τὴν τούτων ἀπόδειξιν ἀπαράσκευον. ἔλεγχος "γάρ ἐστιν ἀκριβής, ὅτι τοὺς πρεσβυτέρους καὶ τοὺς διακόνους τοὺς "Εὐσεβίῳ παρεπομένους φανερῶς ὑπ' ἐμοῦ συνειλῆφθαι συνέστηκεν. "ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν παρίημι· ἃ νῦν οὐκ ἀγανακτήσεως ἕνεκεν, ἀλλ' εἰς "ἐκείνων αἰσχύνην ὑπ' ἐμοῦ προενήνεκται. ἐκεῖνο μόνον δέδια, ἐκεῖνο "διαλογίζομαι, ὅτι ὑμᾶς ὁρῶ πρὸς τὴν τοῦ ἐγκλήματος καλεῖσθαι "κοινωνίαν. διὰ γὰρ τῆς Εὐσεβίου ἀγωγῆς τε καὶ διαστροφῆς συν "είδησιν τῆς ἀληθείας κεχωρισμένην εἰλήφατε. ἀλλ' ἔστιν οὐ βραδεῖα "θεραπεία, εἴ γε ἐπίσκοπον πιστόν τε καὶ ἀκέραιον νῦν γοῦν λαβόντες "πρὸς τὸν θεὸν ἀπίδητε· ὅπερ ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος ἐν ὑμῖν ἐστιν καὶ "πάλαι ἐχρῆν τῆς ὑμετέρας κρίσεως ἠρτῆσθαι, εἰ μὴ ὁ προειρημένος "Εὐσέβιος δίνῃ τῶν συλλαμβανομένων αὐτῷ ἐνταῦθα ἐληλύθει καὶ "τὴν τῆς τάξεως ὀρθότητα ἀναισχύντως συνεπεπράχει. "Ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ περὶ αὐτοῦ τοῦ Εὐσεβίου πρὸς τὴν ὑμετέραν ἀγά 68 "πην ὀλίγα προσῆκε φράσαι, μέμνηται ἡ ὑμετέρα ἀνεξικακία ἐπὶ τῆς "Νικαέων πόλεως γεγενῆσθαι σύνοδον, ᾗ καὶ αὐτὸς ἐγὼ πρεπόντως "τῇ τῆς ἐμῆς συνειδήσεως λατρείᾳ παρήμην, οὐδὲν ἕτερον βουλό "μενος ἢ ὁμόνοιαν ἅπασιν ἐργάσασθαι καὶ πρό γε πάντων ἐλέγξαι "τε καὶ ἀποσείσασθαι τὸ πρᾶγμα τοῦτο, ὃ τὴν μὲν ἀρχὴν εἰλήφει "διὰ τῆς Ἀρείου τοῦ Ἀλεξανδρέως ἀπονοίας, ἰσχυροποίητο δὲ παραχρῆμα διὰ τῆς Εὐσεβίου ἀτόπου τε καὶ ὀλεθρίας σπουδῆς. ἀλλ' αὐτὸς "οὗτος Εὐσέβιος, προσφιλέστατοι καὶ τιμιώτατοι, μεθ' ὅσης νομίζετε "συνδρομῆς, ἅτε δὴ ὑπὸ τῆς συνειδήσεως αὐτῆς ἡττώμενος, μεθ' ὅσης "δὲ αἰσχύνης τῇ πανταχόθεν ἐληλεγμένῃ ψευδολογίᾳ συνίστατο, ὑπο "πέμπων μέν μοι διαφόρους τοὺς ἀξιοῦντας ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ, ἐξαιτούμενος "δὲ παρ' ἐμοῦ συμμαχίαν τινὰ ὅπως μὴ ἐπὶ τοσούτῳ ἐλεγχθεὶς πλημ "μελήματι τῆς ὑπαρχούσης αὐτῷ τιμῆς ἐκβάλλοιτο. μάρτυς ἐστί μοι "τούτου ὁ θεὸς αὐτός, ὃς ἐμοί τε καὶ ὑμῖν φιλαγάθως ἐπιμένοι, ἐπεὶ "καὶ ἐμὲ ἐκεῖνος περιέτρεψε καὶ