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26. But those having nothing to say against these things, what had been decided by the rulers to this

they add; saying that he should be subjected to anathema for not obeying, and that the decreed death should be inflicted upon him. But he gently and humbly thus, said, "May that which was ordained by God for me now receive its end, bringing Him glory known before all ages." But for the time being, they postponed what had been brought forth; but the emperor and patriarch, having held a council, no less than Pilate and the Jews over my Jesus, condemn the just man to exile; taking him away quickly to a certain small town, so called Bizye; and at the same time, taking his disciple Anastasius alone to a certain dreadfully foul place, and the farthest reaches of the Roman dominion (the place is so named Perberis, in a barbarous tongue); having done the same things, that is, also to his namesake, I mean the apocrisiarius of Rome.

27. And when many days had passed, they send to the saint in exile

that Theodosius, the bishop of Caesarea, and Paul and another Theodosius, both invested with the rank of consul; who themselves also proposed many and varied arguments to the blessed one; now flattering, now threatening; and now questioning in order to find out. The narrative of which in detail, the memorandum set forth by the good Anastasius, as was said by me above, makes clear. But perhaps it is not untimely for us too to say a few things from these, making the narration here as a brief summary. (97) For thus we might better understand the man's unconquerable nature in all things, that although there were many who were shaking him and attempting to agitate him in many ways, he nonetheless remained unbending, entirely firm and unchangeable in his conviction.

28. But let us see what things these aforesaid men propose to the saint. The things concerning him

they first inquire how he was; addressing this inquiry to him, supposedly friendly, or rather to say, flattering. And when he said: "As the end of his life has been foreknown and predestined by the providence of God concerning him, so indeed may I be;" they in turn ask again: "What does it mean to foreknow it, and what to be predestined, and what is the difference between the two." And when he said, that to foreknow, on the one hand, pertains to those things in our power, I mean thoughts, and words, and deeds, from which virtues and vices come to us; but to be predestined, on the other hand, pertains to things not in our power, but to those external things that happen to us involuntarily, such as all sorts of afflictions, and other modes of punishment; and when the most divinely inspired man had simply expounded on each of these; and had explained which of the tribulations are for the payment of sins, and which are brought upon us justly for testing, or even for a dispensation, and, as one could not say otherwise, for our benefit; they, leaving these things aside for the time being, brought their arguments back to the matter for which they had come; calling him to communion, and to consent to what they had done. But when he brought up against them the innovation that had occurred in the Church, and the confusion of the faith; then Theodosius of Caesarea also joins in discussion with him, and very insistently put forward that nothing contrary was believed among them, nor anything degenerate and foreign to right reason; upholding and championing the energy and that single will.

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Κστ´. Οἱ δέ μή ἔχοντες πρός ταῦτα ἀντειπεῖν, τό δόξαν τοῖς κρατοῦσι τούτῳ

προσεπιφέρουσιν· ὡς εἴη, φάσκοντες αὐτόν ἀναθέματι μή πειθόμενοι ὑποβληθῆναι, καί θάνατον αὐτῷ τόν ὁρισθέντα προσαπενέγκασθαι.Ὁ δέ πράως οὕτω καί ταπεινῶς, "Τό τῷ Θεῷ, φησίν, ὁρισθέν ἐπ' ἐμοί, νῦν δέξοιτο πέρας, φέρον αὐτῷ δόξαν πρό παντός ἐγνωσμένην αἰῶνος." Ἀλλά τέως μέν ἀναβάλλονται τά ἐξενηνεγμένα· συμβούλιον δέ ποιησάμενοι βασιλεύς ἅμα καί πατριάρχης, οὐδέν ἧττον ἤ Πιλάτος καί Ἰουδαῖοι ἐπί τῷ ἐμῷ Ἰησοῦ, κατακρίνουσιν ἐξορίᾳ τόν δίκαιον· ἐπί τι πολίχνιον, Βυζύη οὕτω καλούμενον, θᾶττον ἀπαγόμενοι· ἐν ταυτῷ δέ καί τόν μαθητήν Ἀναστάσιον, εἴς τινα τόπον ἐκτόπως φαῦλον, καί τῆςῬωμαίων ἀρχῆς ἔσχατον, μόνον ἀπενεγκάμενοι (Πέρβερις οὕτω πως γλώσσῃ βαρβάρῳ ὁ τόπος ὠνόμασται)· τά ἴσα δηλαδή καί τῷ αὐτοῦ δράσαντες συνωνύμῳ, τῷ τῆςῬώμης ἀποκρισιαρίῳ φημί.

ΚΖ´. Καί δή ἡμερῶν συχνῶν διαγενομένων, πέμπουσιν ἐν ἐξορίᾳ πρός τόν ἅγιον

Θεοδόσιον ἐκεῖνον τόν Καισαρείας ἐπίσκοπον, καί Παῦλον καί Θεοδόσιον ἕτερον, τήν τοῦ ὑπάτου ἀμφοτέρους περικειμένους ἀξίαν· οἵ καί αὐτοί, πολλούς μέν καί ποικίλους τῷ μακαρίῳ προὔτειναν λόγους· νῦν μέν κολακευόντες, νῦν δ' ἀπειλοῦντες· νῦν δέ καί πρός τό πύθεσθαι διερωτῶντες. Ὧν καί τήν ἀνά μέρος ὑφήγησιν, τό ἐκτεθέν πρός τοῦ καλοῦ Ἀναστασίου, καθά μοι καί ἀνωτέρω εἴρηται, διεμφαίνει ὑπόμνημα. Οὐκ ἄκαιρον δέ ἴσως καί ἡμῖν ὀλίγα καί ἀπό τούτων ἐρεῖν, ποιουμένοις κἀνταῦθα κατ' ἐπιδρομήν τήν διήγησιν. (97) Οὕτω γάρ ἄν μᾶλλον, τό ἐν πᾶσιν ἀνάλωτον τοῦ ἀνδρός καταμάθοιμεν, ὅτι καί πολλῶν ὄντων τῶν τινασσόντων, καί διασαλεύειν πολυτρόπως ἐπιχειρούντων, αὐτός οὐδέν ἧττον ἀκλινής ἔμενε, στεῤῥός ὅλος καί τό φρόνημα ἄτρεπτος.

ΚΗ´. Ἀλλά γάρ ἴδωμεν οἷα οἱ ῥηθέντες οὗτοι τῷ ἁγίῳ προσφέρουσι. Τά κατ' αὐτόν

ὅπως ἔχοι, πρῶτον διαπυνθάνονται· φιλικήν δῆθεν ταύτην, ἤ κολακικήν μᾶλλον εἰπεῖν, τήν πεῦσιν τούτῳ προσάγοντες. Ὡς δ' ἔφη οὗτος· "Καθά προεγνωσμένον τε καί προωρισμένον ἐστί τῷ προνοητικῷ τοῦ Θεοῦ τό περί αὐτόν τῆς βιοτῆς πέρας, οὕτως δή καί ἔχοιμι·" αὖθις ἀντερωτῶσιν αὐτοί· "Τί τό προγνῶναι αὐτό, καί τί τό προωρίσθαι δηλοῖ, καί τί τό τῶν ἑκατέρων διάφορον." Τοῦ δέ φάντος, τό μέν, τῶν ἐν ἡμῖν εἶναι, ἐννοιῶν τέ φημι, καί λόγων, καί ἔργων, τό προγνῶναι· ἐξ ὧν αἱ ἀρεταί καί αἱ κακίαι ἡμῖν ἐπεισίασι· τό δέ, τῶν οὐκ ἐφ' ἡμῖν, ἀλλά τῶν ἔξωθεν ἐπισυμβαινόντων ἀκουσίως, τό προωρίσθαι· ἐπιφορῶν τε δήπου παντοίων, καί ἄλλων κολαστικῶν τρόπων· καί ἁπλῶς περί ἑκάστου τούτων τοῦ θεοληπτικωτάτου διεξελθόντος· καί ποῖαι μέν τῶν θλίψεων, δι' ἔκτισιν ἁμαρτιῶν, διελθόντος· ποῖαι δέ διά δοκιμασίαν, ἤ καί οἰκονομίαν δικαίως ἡμῖν, καί ὡς οὐκ ἄν εἴποι τις ἄλλως, συμφερόντως ἐπάγονται· ἐκεῖνοι τούτων τέως ἀφέμενοι, περί ᾧν ἥκοντες ἦσαν ἀντεπῆγον τούς λόγους· πρός κοινωνίαν αὐτόν, ἐκκαλούμενοι, καί ὧν ἔδρασαν, συγκατάθεσιν. Ὡς δέ οὗτος τήν γενομένην τῇ Ἐκκλησίᾳ ἀνθυπέφερε καινοτομίαν, καί τήν τῆς πίστεως σύγχυσιν· τηνικαῦτα καί ὁ Καισαρείας Θεοδόσιος πρός διάλεξιν αὐτῷ ἐπισυνίσταται, καί ὡς οὐδέν ἐναντίον παρά τούτοις πρεσβεύοιτο, οὐδ' ἔκφυλον καί τοῦ ὀρθοῦ λόγου ἀλλότριον, μάλα ἐνστατικῶς προὔφερε· τήν ἐνέργειαν καί τό μονοθέλητον ἐκεῖνο θέλημα συγκροτῶν, καί ὑπερμαχόμενος.