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what memory of former evils still remained, when everywhere all were celebrating the victor and confessing that they knew only his saviour, God. 2.19.2 But the victorious emperor, distinguished in all piety and virtue (for he had found this most fitting title for himself on account of the victory given to him by God over all enemies and foes), was recovering the East, and was making the Roman empire one united whole under himself, as of old, on the one hand initiating for all the proclamation of God's monarchy, and on the other hand, himself steering the entire course of the Roman power by a monarchy. 2.19.3 All fear of the evils which had previously oppressed all was taken away, and the peoples in all the provinces and cities were celebrating splendid festivals. Those who were formerly downcast looked at one another with smiling faces and cheerful eyes. Choirs and hymns taught them, first of all, about God the Universal King, †that he was indeed this one†, and then with unrestrained voices they honored the triumphant victor and his most modest and God-beloved Caesars. There was an amnesty of former evils and a forgetting of all impiety, and an enjoyment of present goods and, in addition, an expectation of those to come. 2.20.1 Decrees full of the emperor's benevolence were also spread among us, just as before among those who had obtained the other part of the world, and laws breathing piety towards God offered all kinds of promises of good things, on the one hand bestowing on the provincials of each nation things suitable and beneficial, 2.20.2 and on the other hand decreeing what was appropriate for the churches of God. At any rate, they recalled first of all those who, for the sake of not committing idolatry, had endured exile and removal by the governors of the nations, then they freed from their public duties those enrolled in the councils for the same reason, and commanding those who had been deprived of their property to recover it. 2.20.3 Those who at the time of the contest were made illustrious by the endurance of their soul for God's sake, and had been handed over to suffer hardship in the mines, or condemned to inhabit islands, or forced to serve in public works, enjoyed freedom from all these things at once. 2.20.4 And those who had been cast out of their military rank on account of their stand for piety, the imperial grant recalled from the insult, giving them the choice of authority either to recover their own positions and be distinguished in their former ranks, or, if they preferred a quiet life, to remain free from all public duties. 2.20.5 And those condemned to serve in women's work with insult and dishonor, they freed in like manner as the rest. 2.21.1 And the emperor's letter legislated these things concerning those who had endured them. But concerning their property, the law decreed completely. For concerning the property of the holy martyrs of God who had laid down their life in confession, it commanded their relatives by birth to receive it, and if there were none of these, the churches were to receive the inheritances. And the letter of the grant commanded that the things from the treasury previously made over to others either by sale or by gift, and the things seized into it, were to be returned to their rightful owners. So many things did the grants which were sent down provide for the church of God. But to the peoples outside and to all the nations, the emperor's magnanimity bestowed other things than these, surpassing in number, on account of which all of us, who, having previously learned by hearsay what was happening in the other part of the Roman empire, had counted blessed those who received such benefits, praying that they themselves might one day enjoy the same, now seeing these things before their eyes, deemed ourselves happy also, confessing that so great an emperor was a strange thing and such as the whole age under the sun's rays has never recorded to have shone upon the mortal race. But they indeed thought thus. But since all things had been subjected to the emperor by the power of God the Saviour, he made the provider of good things to him manifest to all, and he testified that they should consider Him, and not himself, the cause of the victories, and this very thing he proclaimed through letters both Roman and Greek

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τις ἔτι προτέρων μνήμη κακῶν, ἁπανταχοῦ πάντων τὸν νικητὴν ἀνυμνούντων μόνον τε τὸν τούτου σωτῆρα θεὸν ὁμολογούντων γνω2.19.2 ρίζειν. ὁ δ' ἀρετῇ θεοσεβείας πάσῃ ἐμπρέπων νικητὴς βασιλεύς (ταύτην γὰρ αὐτὸς αὐτῷ τὴν ἐπώνυμον κυριωτάτην ἐπηγορίαν εὕρατο τῆς ἐκ θεοῦ δεδομένης αὐτῷ κατὰ πάντων ἐχθρῶν τε καὶ πολεμίων νίκης εἵνεκα) τὴν ἑῴαν ἀπελάμβανε, καὶ μίαν συνημμένην κατὰ τὸ παλαιὸν τὴν Ῥωμαίων ἀρχὴν ὑφ' ἑαυτὸν ἐποιεῖτο, μοναρχίας μὲν ἐξάρχων θεοῦ κηρύγματος τοῖς πᾶσι, μοναρχίᾳ δὲ καὶ αὐτὸς τοῦ Ῥωμαίων κράτους τὸν σύμπαντα πηδαλιουχῶν 2.19.3 βίον. ἀφῄρητό τε πᾶν δέος τῶν πρὶν πιεζόντων τοὺς πάντας κακῶν, λαμπρὰς δ' ἐπετέλουν ἑορτὰς οἱ κατὰ πάσας ἐπαρχίας καὶ πόλεις δῆμοι, μειδιῶσί τε προσώποις ὄμμασί τε φαιδροῖς οἱ πρὶν κατηφεῖς ἀλλήλοις ἐνέβλεπον, χοροὶ δ' αὐτοῖς καὶ ὕμνοι τὸν παμβασιλέα θεὸν πρώτιστα πάντων †ὄντα δὴ τοῦτον ἐδίδασκον†, κἄπειτα τὸν καλλίνικον παῖδάς τ' αὐτοῦ κοσμιωτάτους καὶ θεοφιλεῖς καίσαρας φωναῖς ἀσχέτοις ἐγέραιρον, κακῶν τ' ἀμνηστία παλαιῶν ἦν καὶ δυσσεβείας ἁπάσης λήθη, παρόντων δ' ἀγαθῶν ἀπόλαυσις καὶ προσέτι μελλόντων προσδοκία. 2.20.1 Ἡπλοῦντο δὲ καὶ παρ' ἡμῖν, ὥσπερ οὖν καὶ πρότερον παρὰ τοῖς θάτερον μέρος τῆς οἰκουμένης λαχοῦσι, βασιλέως φιλανθρωπίας ἔμπλεοι διατάξεις, νόμοι τε τῆς πρὸς τὸν θεὸν ὁσίας πνέοντες παντοίας παρεῖχον ἀγαθῶν ἐπαγγελίας, τοῖς μὲν κατ' ἔθνος ἐπαρχιώταις τὰ πρόσφορα καὶ λυσιτελῆ 2.20.2 δωρούμενοι, ταῖς δ' ἐκκλησίαις τοῦ θεοῦ τὰ κατάλληλα διαγορεύοντες. ἀνεκαλοῦντο γοῦν ἐκείνους πρώτιστα πάντων, ὅσοι τοῦ μὴ εἰδωλολατρῆσαι χάριν ὑπὸ τῶν κατ' ἔθνος ἡγουμένων, ἐξορίας καὶ μετοικίας ὑπέμειναν, κἄπειτα τοὺς βουλευτηρίοις ἐγκριθέντας τῆς αὐτῆς ἕνεκεν αἰτίας ἠλευθέρουν τῶν λειτουργημάτων, καὶ τοῖς ἀφῃρημένοις δὲ τὰς οὐσίας ἀναλαμβάνειν ταύτας 2.20.3 ἐγκελευόμενοι. οἵ τ' ἐν καιρῷ τοῦ ἀγῶνος καρτερίᾳ ψυχῆς διὰ θεὸν λαμπρυνόμενοι μετάλλοις τε κακοπαθεῖν παραδοθέντες ἢ νήσους οἰκεῖν κριθέντες ἢ δημοσίοις ἔργοις δουλεύειν κατηναγκασμένοι τούτων ἀθρόως ἁπάντων 2.20.4 ἐλευθερίας ἀπήλαυον. καὶ τοὺς στρατιωτικῆς δ' ἀξίας δι' ἔνστασιν θεοσεβείας ἀποβλήτους γενομένους ἀνεκαλεῖτο τῆς ὕβρεως ἡ βασιλικὴ δωρεά, ἐπ' ἐξουσίας αἵρεσιν παρέχουσα ἢ τὰς οἰκείας ἀπολαμβάνειν καὶ διαπρέπειν τοῖς προτέροις αὐτῶν ἀξιώμασιν, ἢ ἀγαπῶντας τὸν εὐσταλῆ βίον πάντων 2.20.5 λειτουργημάτων ἀνεπηρεάστους διατελεῖν. καὶ τοὺς γυναικείοις δ' ἔργοις ἐφ' ὕβρει καὶ ἀτιμίᾳ δουλεύειν κριθέντας ὁμοίως τοῖς λοιποῖς ἠλευθέρουν. 2.21.1 Καὶ ταῦτα μὲν περὶ τῶν ταῦθ' ὑπομεινάντων ἡ βασιλέως ἐνομοθέτει γραφή. περὶ δὲ τῆς ὑπάρξεως τῶν αὐτῶν ἐντελῶς διηγόρευεν ὁ νόμος. τῶν τε γὰρ ἁγίων τοῦ θεοῦ μαρτύρων τῶν ἐν ὁμολογίᾳ τὴν τελευτὴν ἀποθεμένων τοῦ βίου τὰς οὐσίας ἐκέλευε τοὺς τῷ γένει προσήκοντας ἀπολαμβάνειν, εἰ δὲ μὴ τούτων τις εἴη, τὰς ἐκκλησίας ὑποδέχεσθαι τοὺς κλήρους. καὶ τὰ ἐκ ταμείου δὲ πρότερον ἑτέροις ἢ κατὰ πρᾶσιν ἢ κατὰ δωρεὰν ἐκποιηθέντα τά τ' ἐν αὐτῷ καταληφθέντα εἰς τοὐπίσω προσήκειν τοῖς δεσπόταις ἀποδίδοσθαι τὸ τῆς δωρεᾶς γράμμα διεκελεύετο. τοσαῦτα μὲν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ τοῦ θεοῦ αἱ καταπεμφθεῖσαι δωρεαὶ παρεῖχον. ∆ήμοις δὲ τοῖς ἐκτὸς καὶ πᾶσιν ἔθνεσι τούτων ἕτερα ὑπερβάλλοντα τῷ πλήθει ἡ βασιλέως ἐδωρεῖτο μεγαλοψυχία, ἐφ' οἷς ἅπαντες οἱ καθ' ἡμᾶς, ὅσα τὸ πρὶν ἀκοῇ πυνθανόμενοι ἐν θατέρῳ μέρει τῆς Ῥωμαίων ἀρχῆς γιγνόμενα τοὺς εὖ πάσχοντας ἐμακάριζον, εὐχὴν τιθέμενοι τῶν ἴσων ἀπολαῦσαι καὶ αὐτοί ποτε, ταῦθ' ὑπ' ὄψεσιν ὁρῶντες, ἤδη καὶ σφᾶς εὐδαιμονίζειν ἠξίουν, ξένον τι χρῆμα καὶ οἷον ὁ πᾶς αἰὼν ὑφ' ἡλίου αὐγαῖς οὐδέποθ' ἱστόρησεν ἐπιλάμψαι τῷ θνητῷ γένει τὸν τοσοῦτον ὁμολογοῦντες βασιλέα. ἀλλ' οἱ μὲν ὧδε ἐφρόνουν. Ἐπεὶ δὲ πάνθ' ὑποτέτακτο βασιλεῖ θεοῦ σωτῆρος δυνάμει, τὸν τῶν ἀγαθῶν αὐτῷ πάροχον τοῖς πᾶσι φανερὸν ἐποίει, κἀκεῖνον τῶν νικητηρίων αἴτιον ἀλλὰ μὴ αὐτὸν νομίζειν διεμαρτύρετο, τοῦτό τ' αὐτὸ ἀνεκήρυττε διὰ χαρακτήρων Ῥωμαίας τε καὶ Ἑλληνίδος