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the sacellarius shouts: God sent you to be burned in this city. The servant of God says: I thank God, who purges me of my voluntary evils, through involuntary punishment; but, Woe to the world for temptations to sin! For it is necessary that temptations come, but woe to the one by whom the temptation comes. Truly such things should not be spoken in the presence of Christians; nor should those who do such things to please men, who are here today and gone tomorrow, remain unpunished. He should have said these things while Gregory was alive, (113) and made known to the emperor his goodwill toward him. And it is just, if it seems so to you, that the previous slanderer be compelled to go and bring the patrician Peter, and this Abba Thomas, and that blessed Pope Theodore; and then in the presence of all, I would say to the patrician Peter: Tell me, my lord patrician, did you ever write to me about the things your sacellarius said, or did I to you? And when he testified, I was put under punishment. And likewise to the blessed Pope: Tell me, master, did I ever relate a dream to you? And when he convicted me, his was the crime, not mine who saw it. For a dream is an involuntary thing; and the law punishes only voluntary acts, if they are contrary to it. Then Troilus says to him: You are joking, Abba, you do not know where you are. But he: I am not joking, but I mourn that my life has been preserved until now, that I might experience such phantoms. Epiphanius the patrician says: God knows, he does well to make a joke of them, if they are not true. After him the sacellarius again said to him with anger: Do all simply lie, and you alone speak the truth? And the servant of God answered and said, weeping as he spoke: You have the power, with God's permission, both to give life and to put to death; but if these men speak the truth, then Satan is also God by nature. But if he is not, as indeed he is not, neither have these men spoken the truth. For may I not be deemed worthy with Christians to behold the epiphany of the super-essential God, maker and creator, and founder, and provider, and judge, and Savior of all, if I ever related such a dream, or heard another relating it, except at this hour from my lord Sergius, the servant of the empire.

Γ΄ . Then they bring forward a third slanderer, Theodore the son of John called Candidatus, surnamed Chilas, the now son-in-law of the lord Platon the patrician, saying: That when a meeting took place between us in Rome concerning the emperor, he mocked what was being said, making casks and pots. To him the servant of God said: I never spoke with you, except once with the most holy presbyter my lord Theocharistus, the brother of the exarch, concerning the primicerius, having been urged by letters about this. And if I am found to be lying, I will take the consequences.

∆΄. And after him, they bring a fourth, Gregory the son of Photeinus, saying, that

I went to the cell of Abba Maximus in Rome, and when I said that the emperor is also a priest, Abba Anastasius his disciple said: May he not be worthy to be a priest. Immediately the servant of God says to him: Fear God, lord Gregory, my fellow servant said absolutely nothing in the conversation concerning these things. And (116) he throws himself to the ground, saying to the senate: Bear with your servant, and I will tell everything as it was spoken, and he will convict me if I lie. My lord Gregory, having come to Rome, deigned to come to the cell of your servant; whom seeing, as is my custom, I threw myself to the ground and did obeisance to him; and I greeted him, and said to him after he sat down: What is the reason for the desired

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κραυγάζει ὁ σακελλάριος· Ἔπεμψέ σε ὁ Θεός καυθῆναι εἰς τήν πόλιν ταύτην. Λέγει ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ δοῦλος· Εὔχαριστῶ τῷ Θεῷ, καθαίροντί με τῶν ἑκουσίων κακῶν, δι' ἀκουσίου κολάσεως· πλήν, Οὐαί τῷ κόσμῳ ἀπό τῶν σκανδάλων. Ἀνάγκη γάρ ἐλθεῖν τά σκάνδαλα· οὐαί δέ δι' οὗ σκάνδαλον ἔρχεται. Ὄντως οὐκ ἔδει τοιαῦτα λαλεῖσθαι παρουσίᾳ Χριστιανῶν· οὐδέ ἀτιμωρήτους μένειν τούς τά τοιαῦτα πράττοντας πρός τό ἀρέσαι ἀνθρώποις, σήμερον οὖσι, καί αὔριον οὐκ οὖσι. Ταῦτα ζῶντος Γρηγορίου ἔδει τοῦτον εἰπεῖν, (113) καί γνωρίσαι τιῷ βασιλεῖ τήν εἰς αὐτόν εὔνοιαν. ∆ίκαιον δέ ἐστι, εἰ καί ὑμῖν παρίσταται, τόν πρό τούτου συκοφάντην, ἐκβιασθῆναι ἀπελθεῖν ἐνέγκαι τόν πατρίκιον Πέτρον, καί τοῦτον τόν ἀββᾶν Θωμᾶν, κἀκεῖνον τόν μακάριον πάππαν Θεόδωρον· καί τότε παρουσίᾳ πάντων, ἔλεγον τῷ πατρικίῳ Πέτρῳ· Εἰπέ, κῦρι ὁ πατρίκιος · ἔγραψάς μοι ποτε περί ὧν εἶπεν ὁ σακελλάριός σου, ἤ ἐγώ σοί; Καί ὅταν κατέθετο, ὑπό κόλασιν ἐγενόμην. Ὁμοίως δέ καί τῷ μακαρίῳ πάππᾳ· Εἰπέ, δέσποτα, ἐγώ σοί ποτε ὄναρ ἀφηγησάμην; Καί ὅταν ἤλεγξέ με, ἐκείνου ἦν τό ἔγκλημα, οὐκ ἐμοῦ τοῦ ἑωρακότος. Ἀπροαίρετον γάρ πρᾶγμα τό ὄναρ· μόνα δέ τά προαιρετικά κολάζει ὁ νόμος, εἴπερ αὐτῷ ἐναντιοῦται. Τότε λέγει πρός αὐτόν ὁ Τρωΐλος· Παίζεις, ἀββᾶ, οὐκ οἶδας ποῦ εἶ. Ὁ δέ· Οὐ παίζω, ἀλλά πενθῶ τήν ζωήν μου συντηρηθεῖσαν μέχρι τοῦ νῦν, ἵνα τοιούτων λάβω πεῖραν φαντασμάτων. Λέγει Ἐπιφάνιος ὁ πατρίκιος· Ὁ Θεός γινώσκει, καλῶς ποιεῖ παίζων αὐτά, ἐάν οὐκ εἰσίν ἀληθῆ. Μεθ' ὅν ὁ σακελλάριος πάλιν πρός αὐτόν μετ' ὁργῆς εἶπεν· Ἁπλῶς πάντες ψεύδονται, καί σύ μόνος ἀληθεύεις ; Καί ἀποκριθείς εἶπεν ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ δοῦλος, συνδακρύσας τῷ λόγῳ· Ἐξουσίαν ἔχετε συγχωροῦντος τοῦ Θεοῦ, καί ζωῶσαι καί θανατῶσαι· πλήν ἐάν οὗτοι ἀληθεύωσι, καί ὁ Σατανᾶς φύσει Θεός ἐστιν. Εἰ δέ οὐκ ἔστιν, ὥσπερ οὖν οὐδέ ἐστιν, οὐδέ οὗτοι ἀλήθευσαν. Μήτε γάρ ἀξιωθῶ μετά Χριστιανῶν θεωρῆσαι τήν ἐπιφάνειαν τοῦ ὑπερουσίου Θεοῦ, ποιητοῦ τε καί δημιουργοῦ, καί κτίστου, κα προνοητοῦ, καί κριτοῦ, καί Σωτῆρος τῶν ὅλων, εἴ ποτε ὄναρ τοιοῦτον ἀφηγησάμην, ἤ ἄλλου ἀφηγουμένου ἤκουσα, εἰ μή τῇ ὥρᾳ ταύτῃ παρά τοῦ κυροῦ Σεργίου τοῦ εὐνοϊκοῦ τῆς βασιλείας.

Γ΄ . Εἶτα τρίτον συκοφάντην προβάλλονται, Θεόδωρον τόν υἱόν Ἰωάννου τοῦ

Κανδιδάτου λεγομένου, τόν ἐπίκλην Χιλά, τόν νῦν γαμβρόν τοῦ κυροῦ Πλάτωνος τοῦ πατρικίου, λέγοντα· Ὅτι συντυχίας μεταξύ ἡμῶν ἐν Ῥώμῃ γενομένης περί τοῦ βασιλέως, διέσυρε τό λαλούμενον, βυτία ποιῶν καί λαιβία. Πρός ὅν εἶπεν ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ δοῦλος· Οὐδέποτε διελέχθην σοι, εἰ μή ἅπαξ μετά τοῦ ὁσιωτάτου πρεστυτέρου κυροῦ Θεοχαρίστου, τοῦ ἀδελφοῦ τοῦ ἐξάρχου, διά τόν πριμικήριον, προτραπείς διά γραμμάτων περί τούτου. Καί ἐάν εὑρεθῶ ψευδόμενος, ἀπολαύω.

∆΄. Καί μετά τοῦτον, τέταρτον ἄγουσι Γρηγόριον τόν υἱόν Φωτεινοῦ, λέγοντα, ὅτι

Ἀπῆλθον εἰς τό κελλίον τοῦ ἀββᾶ Μαξίμου ἐνῬώμῃ, κἀμοῦ εἰπόντος, ὅτι καί ἱερεύς ἐστιν ὁ βασιλεύς, εἶπεν ὁ ἀββᾶς Ἀναστάσιος ὁ μαθητής αὐτοῦ· Μή ἀξιωθῇ εἶναι ἱερεύς. Εὔθέως λέγει πρός αὐτόν ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ δοῦλος· Φοβήθητι τόν Θεόν, κῦρι Γρηγόριε, οὐδέν παντελῶς ἐν τῇ περί τούτων διαλέξει λελάκηκεν ὁ σύνδουλός μου. Καί (116) ῥίπτει ἑαυτόν εἰς τήν γῆν, λέγων τῇ συγκλήτῳ· Ἀνάσχεσθε τοῦ δούλου ὑμῶν, καί πάντα λέγω ὡς ἐλαλήθη, καί ἐλέγξει με ἐάν ψεύσομαι. Ὁ κύριός μου εἶναι Γρηγόριος ἐλθών εἰςῬώμην, ἠξίωσεν ἐλθεῖν εἰς τό κελλίον τοῦ δούλου ὑμῶν· ὅν θεωρήσας, ὡς ἔθος μοί ἐστιν, ἔῤῥιψα ἑμαυτόν εἰς τήν γῆν, καί προσεκύνησα αὐτῷ· καί ἠσπασάμην αὐτόν, καί εἶπον αὐτῷ μετά τό καθίσαι· Τίς ἡ αἰτία τῆς ποθητῆς