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he has seized improperly, which you also will recognize. For all things were then done as he himself desired, hiding whatsoever evil in his own mind. But recently, that I may pass over the rest of this man's awkwardness, what he especially accomplished with Theogonius, whom he has as a partner in his folly, listen, I beseech you. I had ordered certain Alexandrians who had withdrawn from our faith to be sent here, since through their agency the torch of discord was being raised. but these 69 good and noble bishops, whom the truth of the synod had once reserved for repentance, not only received those men and secured them in their own company, but also shared with them in the malevolence of their ways. Therefore I decided to do this concerning these ungrateful men: for having had them seized, I ordered them to be exiled as far away as possible. now it is your part to look to God with that faith which has always been established and ought to be, and to so act that we may rejoice in having pure, orthodox, and philanthropic bishops. But if anyone should dare imprudently to be inflamed toward the memory of those destroyers or toward their praise, he will be stopped at once from his own audacity by the action of the servant of God, that is, of me; God will keep you, beloved brothers." At that time, therefore, these men were both deposed and driven out of the cities. And Nicomedia was entrusted to Amphion, and Nicaea to Chrestus. But again using their customary machinations and finding the emperor's philanthropy a resource for deceit, they wrestled back and recovered their former power. 70 But Eusebius, as I have already said, also seized the leadership of Constantinople tyrannically. And so, having laid hold of greater power and frequently visiting the emperor and having gained boldness from more frequent association, he devised machinations against the champions of the truth. And first, feigning a desire to see the sights of Jerusalem, and by this deceiving the emperor that he was going to see the much-talked-of work of building, he departed from there with the greatest honor, the emperor having assigned to him both carriages and the other attendance. And Theogonius of Nicaea also departed with him, being a partner, as we have said before, in his wicked counsels. And having arrived in Antioch and put on the mask of friendship, they enjoyed the greatest possible attention; for the champion of the truth, the great Eustathius, offered them every brotherly kindness. But when they reached the holy places and saw their like-minded colleagues, Eusebius of Caesarea and Patrophilus of Scythopolis and Aetius of Lydda and Theodotus of Laodicea and the others who had received the pestilence of Arius, they revealed what was being plotted and with them took possession of Antioch. And the pretext for the visit of the others was a 71 respectful escort; but what was being stitched together was the war against piety. For having hired a harlot who sold her beauty and having persuaded her to sell them her tongue, they assembled in the council. Then, having ordered all the others to go outside, they brought in the thrice-wretched woman. And she, pointing to a suckling child, said that from intercourse with Eustathius she had both conceived and borne this child, and she shouted shamelessly. But he, knowing the obviousness of the slander, ordered her, if she had any witness to this, to bring him forward. But when she said that she had no witness to the accusation, the most just judges proposed an oath, although the law cries out explicitly that on the testimony of two and three witnesses statements are to be established, and the apostle plainly commands not even to accept a written charge made against an elder without two or three witnesses. But these men, despising the divine laws, accepted an unwitnessed accusation against so great a man. And when she added the oath to what she had said, crying out that the baby was indeed Eustathius', as against an adulterer therefore the

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ἀπρεπῶς ὑφήρπασεν, ὃ καὶ ὑμεῖς ἐπι "γνώσεσθε. πάντα μὲν γὰρ ἐπράχθη τότε καθὼς αὐτὸς ἐπόθει, πᾶν "ὁτιοῦν κακὸν ἐπὶ τῆς ἑαυτοῦ διανοίας ἀποκρυπτόμενος. "Ἀλλὰ πρώην, ἵνα τὰ λοιπὰ τῆς τούτου σκαιότητος παρῶ, τί "μάλιστα μετὰ Θεογονίου, ὃν τῆς ἀνοίας ἔχει κοινωνόν, διεπράξατο, "ἀκούσατε, παρακαλῶ. Ἀλεξανδρέας τινὰς τῆς ἡμετέρας πίστεως "ἀναχωρήσαντας ἐνταῦθα κεκελεύκειν ἀποσταλῆναι, ἐπειδὴ διὰ τῆς "τούτων ὑπηρεσίας ὁ τῆς διχονοίας ἠγείρετο πυρσός. ἀλλ' οὗτοι οἱ 69 "καλοί τε καὶ ἀγαθοὶ ἐπίσκοποι, οὓς ἅπαξ ἡ τῆς συνόδου ἀλήθεια "πρὸς μετάνοιαν τετηρήκει, οὐ μόνον ἐκείνους ἐδέξαντο καὶ παρ' "ἑαυτοῖς ἠσφαλίσαντο, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐκοινώνησαν αὐτοῖς τῆς τῶν τρόπων "κακοηθείας. διὸ τοῦτο περὶ τοὺς ἀχαρίστους τούτους ἔκρινα πρᾶξαι· "ἁρπαγέντας γὰρ αὐτοὺς ἐκέλευσα ὡς πορρωτάτω ἐξορισθῆναι. νῦν "ὑμέτερόν ἐστιν πρὸς τὸν θεὸν ἐκείνῃ τῇ πίστει βλέπειν ἣ πάντοτε καὶ "γεγενῆσθαι συνέστηκε καὶ εἶναι πρέπει, καὶ διαπράξασθαι οὕτως [ὡς] "ἐπισκόπους ἁγνούς τε καὶ ὀρθοδόξους καὶ φιλανθρώπους ἔχοντες "χαίρομεν. εἴ τις δὲ πρὸς μνήμην τῶν λυμεώνων ἐκείνων ἢ πρὸς "ἔπαινον ἀπρονοήτως ἐξαφθῆναι τολμήσει, παραχρῆμα τῆς ἰδίας "τόλμης διὰ τῆς τοῦ θεράποντος τοῦ θεοῦ, τουτέστιν ἐμοῦ, ἐνεργείας "ἀνασταλήσεται· ὁ θεὸς ὑμᾶς διαφυλάξει, ἀδελφοὶ ἀγαπητοί." Τότε μὲν οὖν οὗτοι καὶ καθῃρέθησαν καὶ τῶν πόλεων ἐξηλά θησαν. καὶ τὴν μὲν Νικομήδειαν Ἀμφίων ἐπιστεύθη, τὴν δὲ Νίκαιαν Χρῆστος. ἀλλὰ πάλιν ταῖς ἐξ ἔθους χρησάμενοι μηχαναῖς καὶ τὴν βασιλέως φιλανθρωπίαν ἐφόδιον ἐξαπάτης εὑρόντες, ἀνεπάλαισάν τε καὶ τὴν προτέραν δυναστείαν ἀπέλαβον. 70 Ὁ δὲ Εὐσέβιος, ὡς ἤδη ἔφην, καὶ τὴν Κωνσταντινουπόλεως ἡγε μονίαν κατέσχε τυραννικῶς. οὕτω δὲ τῆς πλείονος ἐπιλαβόμενος δυναστείας καὶ θαμὰ παρὰ βασιλέως φοιτῶν καὶ τὴν παρρησίαν ἐκ τῆς συχνοτέρας συνουσίας λαβών, τὰς κατὰ τῶν τῆς ἀληθείας προ μάχων κατεσκεύασε μηχανάς. καὶ πρῶτον ἱμείρεσθαι τῆς τῶν Ἱερο σολύμων θέας σκηψάμενος, καὶ ταύτῃ τὸν βασιλέα βουκολήσας ὡς τὸ πολυθρύλητον τῆς οἰκοδομίας ἔργον ὀψόμενος, μετὰ πλείστης ἐκεῖθεν ἀπῆρε τιμῆς, τοῦ βασιλέως αὐτῷ καὶ ὀχήματα καὶ τὴν ἄλλην ἀπο νείμαντος θεραπείαν. συναπῆρε δὲ αὐτῷ καὶ Θεογόνιος ὁ Νικαίας, κοινωνὸς ὤν, ὡς καὶ πρόσθεν εἰρήκαμεν, τῶν πονηρῶν βουλευ μάτων. Ἀφικόμενοι δὲ εἰς τὴν Ἀντιόχειαν καὶ τὸ τῆς φιλίας περιθέμενοι προσωπεῖον, θεραπείας ἀπήλαυσαν ὅτι μάλιστα πλείστης· ὁ γὰρ τῆς ἀληθείας πρόμαχος ὁ μέγας Εὐστάθιος πᾶσαν αὐτοῖς ἀδελφικὴν φιλο φροσύνην προσήνεγκεν. ἐπειδὴ δὲ τοὺς ἱεροὺς κατέλαβον τόπους καὶ τοὺς ὁμόφρονας ἐθεάσαντο, Εὐσέβιόν τε τὸν Καισαρείας καὶ τὸν Σκυθοπολίτην Πατρόφιλον καὶ τὸν Λύδδης Ἀέτιον καὶ τὸν Λαοδικείας Θεόδοτον καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους ὅσοι τὴν λώβην εἰσεδέξαντο τὴν Ἀρείου, ἐμήνυσάν τε τὸ τυρευόμενον καὶ σὺν αὐτοῖς τὴν Ἀντιόχου κατέλαβον. καὶ τὸ μὲν πρόσχημα τῆς τῶν ἄλλων ἐπιδημίας προ 71 πόμπιος ἦν τιμή· τὸ δὲ καττυόμενον, ὁ κατὰ τῆς εὐσεβείας πόλεμος. γύναιον γὰρ ἑταιρικὸν τὴν ὥραν ἀπεμπολοῦν μισθωσάμενοι καὶ τὴν γλῶτταν αὐτοῖς ἀποδόσθαι πείσαντες, συνῆλθον εἰς τὸ συνέδριον. εἶτα τοὺς ἄλλους ἅπαντας ἔξω γενέσθαι κελεύσαντες, τὸ τρισάθλιον εἰσήγαγον γύναιον. ἡ δὲ παιδίον ὑπότιτθον ὑποδεικνῦσα, ἐκ τῆς Εὐσταθίου συνουσίας ἔλεγε τοῦτο καὶ συνειληφέναι καὶ τετοκέναι καὶ ἀναίδην ἐβόα. ὁ δὲ τῆς συκοφαντίας τὸ προφανὲς ἐπιστάμενος, εἴ τινα ἔχοι τούτου συνίστορα, ἄγειν εἰς μέσον ἐκέλευσεν. ἐκείνης δὲ μηδένα ἔχειν μάρτυρα τῆς κατηγορίας λεγούσης, ὅρκον προὔτειναν οἱ δικαιότατοι δικασταί, καίτοι τοῦ νόμου διαρρήδην βοῶντος ἐπὶ δύο καὶ τριῶν μαρτύρων εἶναι βέβαια τὰ λεγόμενα, καὶ ἄντικρυς τοῦ ἀποστόλου κελεύοντος μηδὲ κατὰ πρεσβυτέρου γινομένην γραφὴν δίχα δύο ἢ τριῶν μαρτύρων προσδέχεσθαι. ἀλλὰ τῶν θείων οὗτοι νόμων καταφρονήσαντες ἀμάρτυρον κατ' ἀνδρὸς τοσούτου κατηγορίαν ἐδέξαντο. ἐπειδὴ δὲ οἷς εἶπεν ἐκείνη τὸν ὅρκον προστέθεικε, βοῶσα ἦ μὴν Εὐσταθίου τὸ βρέφος εἶναι, ὡς κατὰ μοιχοῦ λοιπὸν οἱ