36

late and of vegetables after sunset he would partake. 8.4 They say that Anthemius, who later became both prefect and consul, when he was appointed ambassador and undertook the journey to Persia, brought him a tunic woven among the Persians and said: "O father, knowing that to each man his own homeland is sweet and the fruits that grow there are most pleasant, I have brought you this tunic from my homeland, and I beg you to receive it, and for me to receive in return your blessing." But he first ordered it to be placed on the step; then, when other words had passed between them, he said he was disheartened, his reasoning being divided in two. When the other asked the reason, he said, "I have always chosen to have one companion and I have laid down a law for myself to refuse utterly the companionship of two; therefore, when one has lived with me for sixteen years and been pleasing, a certain kinsman has arrived, wishing to live with me and asking to obtain this. This divides my mind; for I will not endure to have two at the same time. For I welcome the kinsman as a kinsman; but to cast out the former one, who has become pleasing to me, I consider both grievous and unjust." And he said, "Reasonably, o father, for it is not right to send away as unsuitable the one who has served for a very long time, and to receive the one who has not yet given proof of his own character solely on account of his homeland." To this the divine Aphraates said, "Therefore, o admirable man, I will not take this tunic; for I will not endure to have two. But the one who has served me for so long a time is more pleasant in my judgment and better in yours." Thus outwitting Anthemius and providing an object of wonder for his sagacity, he persuaded him that no one should henceforth bring him any word about that tunic. And I have recounted these things, wishing to show two things at once: both that he received from one only the sufficient care for his body, and that he was so full of wisdom as to prepare the one who was begging him to accept to vote not to accept. 8.5 But leaving aside these and such things, I will narrate the greater things. When Julian the God-hated had paid the penalty for his impiety in the barbarian land, the nurslings of piety enjoyed a little calm, when Jovian received the rudders of the Roman dominion. But when he too, having reigned for a very short time, received the end of his life, and Valens succeeded to the rule of the East, squalls again and storms fanned up the sea around us, and a harsh surge was roused, and billows from all sides beat against the ship; and the lack of helmsmen made the storm more difficult; for the emperor, bold only against piety, forced them to live in exile. And having employed such lawlessness, he did not get his fill of impiety; but he scattered every assembly of the pious, striving to tear apart the flock like a wild beast. For this reason, he not only drove them out of every church, but also from the foot of the mountain and from the bank of the river and from the military training ground. For they continually moved between all these places, becoming a sideshow for the armed force. And the Scythians and the other barbarians were plundering all of Thrace from the Ister to the Propontis without fear; but he, as the saying goes, could not even receive the report of these things with ears standing up, but against his own countrymen and subjects who were distinguished for their piety he used his arms. 8.6 And the divine people, lamenting the unseasonableness of those evils, sang that Davidic ode: "By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down and wept, when we remembered Zion." But the rest of the ode was no longer fitting for them; for Aphraates and Flavian and Diodore did not allow on the willows

36

βαθὺ καὶ λαχάνου μετὰ ἡλίου δυσμὰς μετελάμβανεν. 8.4 Φασὶ δὲ Ἀνθέμιον ὃς καὶ ὕπαρχος ἐς ὕστερον ἐγεγόνει καὶ ὕπατος, ἡνίκα πρεσβευτὴς χειροτονηθεὶς τὴν εἰς Πέρσας ἀποδημίαν ἐστείλατο, χιτῶνα αὐτῷ κομίσαι παρὰ Πέρσαις ὑφασμένον καὶ εἰπεῖν ὅτι· "Ὦ πάτερ, εἰδὼς ἑκάστῳ τῶν ἀνθρώπων τὴν οἰκείαν πατρίδα γλυκεῖαν καὶ τοὺς ἐκεῖ φυομένους ἡδίστους καρποὺς, ἐκ τῆς πατρίδος σοι τοῦτον κεκόμικα τὸν χιτῶνα, καὶ ἱκετεύω σε μὲν τοῦτον λαβεῖν, ἐμὲ δὲ τὴν σὴν εὐλογίαν ἀντιλαβεῖν". Ὁ δὲ πρῶτον μὲν τοῦτον ἐν τῷ βάθρῳ θεῖναι προσέταξεν· εἶτα λόγων ἑτέρων μεταξὺ γενομένων, ἀθυμεῖν ἔλεγε διχῇ μεριζομένου τοῦ λογισμοῦ. Ἐκείνου δὲ τὴν αἰτίαν πυθομένου· "Ἕνα, ἔφη, σύνοικον ἔχειν εἱλόμην ἀεὶ καὶ νόμον ἐμαυτῷ τέθηκα τῶν δύο πάμπαν ἀρνηθῆναι τὸ συνοικέσιον· ἑκκαίδεκα τοίνυν ἔτη μοί τινος συνοικήσαντος καὶ θυμήρους ὄντος ἀφίκετό τις φυλέτης ἐμοὶ συνοικεῖν ἐθέλων καὶ τούτου τυχεῖν ἀξιῶν. Τοῦτό μοι μερίζει τὸν νοῦν· δύο μὲν γὰρ ἔχειν κατὰ ταὐτὸν οὐκ ἀνέξομαι. Τὸν γὰρ φυλέτην ὡς φυλέτην ἀσπάζομαι· τὸν δὲ πρότερον ὡς καταθύμιόν μοι γεγενημένον ἐκβαλεῖν καὶ ἀνιαρὸν ἡγοῦμαι καὶ ἄδικον". Ὁ δὲ· "Εἰκότως, ἔφη, ὦ πάτερ, οὐδὲ γὰρ ὅσιον τὸν μὲν ἐπὶ πλεῖστον τεθεραπευκότα χρόνον ὡς οὐκ ἐπιτήδειον ἀποπέμψασθαι, τὸν δὲ οὐδέπω πεῖραν τῶν οἰκείων δεδωκότα τρόπων διὰ μόνην εἰσδέξασθαι τὴν πατρίδα." Πρὸς ταῦτα ὁ θεῖος Ἀφραάτης· "Οὐκοῦν, ἔφη, ὦ θαυμάσιε, τὸν χιτῶνα τοῦτον οὐ λήψομαι· δύο μὲν γὰρ ἔχειν οὐκ ἀνέξομαι. Ἡδίων δὲ κατὰ τὴν ἐμὴν καὶ κρείττων κατὰ τὴν σὴν ψῆφον ὁ τοσοῦτόν μοι διακονήσας χρόνον." Οὕτω κατασοφισάμενος τὸν Ἀνθέμιον καὶ θαῦμα τῆς ἀγχινοίας παρεσχηκὼς ἔπεισε μηδένα λοιπὸν αὑτῷ περὶ τοῦ χιτῶνος ἐκείνου λόγον προσενεγκεῖν. Ἐγὼ δὲ ταῦτα διεξῆλθον, δύο κατὰ ταὐτὸν ἐπιδεῖξαι βουλόμενος, καὶ ὅτι παρ' ἑνὸς ἐδέχετο μόνου τὴν ἀποχρῶσαν τῷ σώματι θεραπείαν καὶ ὅτι τοσαύτης ἦν σοφίας ἀνάπλεως ὡς παρασκευάσαι τὸν ἱκετεύοντα δέξασθαι ψηφίσασθαι τὸ μὴ δέξασθαι. 8.5 Ἀλλὰ ταῦτα καὶ τὰ τοιαῦτα καταλιπὼν τὰ μείζονα διηγήσομαι. Ἰουλιανοῦ τοῦ θεομισοῦς δίκας τῆς ἀσεβείας ἐν τῇ βαρ βάρῳ δεδωκότος, ὀλίγης μὲν γαλήνης ἀπέλαυσαν τῆς εὐσεβείας οἱ τρόφιμοι, Ἰοβιανοῦ τῆς Ῥωμαίων ἡγεμονίας δεξαμένου τοὺς οἴακας. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ καὶ οὗτος βραχὺν κομιδῇ βασιλεύσας χρόνον τοῦ βίου τὸ πέρας ἐδέξατο, Οὐάλης δὲ τῆς ἕω τὴν ἡγεμονίαν διεδέξατο, καταιγῖδες πάλιν καὶ θύελλαι τὸ καθ' ἡμᾶς ἀνερρίπιζον πέλαγος καὶ κλύδων ἐγήγερτο χαλεπὸς καὶ τρικυμίαι πάντοθεν τῷ σκάφει προσέβαλλον· χαλεπώτερον δὲ τὸν χειμῶνα ἡ τῶν κυβερνη τῶν ἐρημία ἐποίει· τούτους γὰρ ὁ κατὰ μόνης τῆς εὐσεβείας θρασὺς βασιλεὺς τὴν ὑπερορίαν οἰκεῖν κατηνάγκασεν. Καὶ τοσαύτῃ παρανομίᾳ χρησάμενος κόρον τῆς δυσσεβείας οὐκ ἔλαβεν· ἀλλὰ πάντα τῶν εὐσεβῶν ἐσκεδάννυ τὸν σύλλογον, θηρὸς δίκην ἀγρίου τὸ ποίμνιον διασπᾶσαι φιλονεικῶν. Τούτου εἵνεκα οὐ μόνον αὐτοὺς ἁπάσης ἐκκλησίας ἐξήλασεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐκ τῆς ὑπωρείας καὶ ἐκ τῆς ὄχθης τοῦ ποταμοῦ καὶ ἐκ τοῦ πολεμικοῦ γυμνασίου. Ταῦτα γὰρ ἅπαντα ἀμείβοντες διετέλεσαν τὰ χωρία, τῆς ὁπλιτικῆς χειρὸς γενόμενοι πάρεργον. Καὶ Σκύθαι μὲν καὶ οἱ ἄλλοι βάρβαροι τὴν Θρᾴκην ἅπασαν ἀπὸ τοῦ Ἴστρου μέχρι τῆς Προποντίδος ἀδεῶς ἐληΐζοντο· ὁ δὲ τούτων μὲν οὐδὲ τὴν ἀκοὴν ἑστῶσι τοῖς ὠσί, τὸ δὴ λεγόμενον, ἠδύνατο δέχεσθαι, κατὰ δὲ τῶν ὁμοφύλων καὶ ὑπηκόων καὶ εὐσεβείᾳ λαμπρυ νομένων τοῖς ὅπλοις ἐκέχρητο. 8.6 Ὁ δὲ θεῖος λεὼς τὴν τῶν κακῶν ἐκείνων ἀωρίαν ὀλοφυρόμενος τὴν ∆αυϊτικὴν ἐκείνην ἔψαλλεν ᾠδὴν· "Ἐπὶ τῶν ποταμῶν Βαβυλῶνος, ἐκεῖ ἐκαθίσαμεν καὶ ἐκλαύσαμεν ἐν τῷ μνησθῆναι ἡμᾶς τῆς Σιών". Τὰ δὲ λοιπὰ τῆς ᾠδῆς οὐκέτι αὐτοῖς ἁρμόδια ἦν· οὐ γὰρ εἴασεν Ἀφραάτης καὶ Φλαβιανὸς καὶ ∆ιόδωρος ἐπὶ ταῖς ἰτέαις