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enjoying grace, he did not even need this help, but stood for the forty days, not partaking of food, but being strengthened by zeal and divine grace. 26.10 So then, as I said, having spent three years in that hut, he occupied this much-celebrated peak, having arranged for an enclosure to be made in a circle, and having fashioned a chain of iron twenty cubits long and having nailed one end of it to a very large rock, and fitting the other to his right foot, so that not even if he wished could he go outside those bounds, he spent his time constantly within, contemplating heaven and striving to see the things above the heavens. For the iron bond did not hinder the flight of his mind. But when the admirable Meletius, at that time appointed to oversee the region of the city of Antioch, a man of sound mind, shining with understanding and adorned with sagacity, said that the iron was superfluous, since the will was sufficient to place rational bonds on the body, he yielded and obediently accepted the advice, and summoning a smith, he ordered him to loose the bond. And since a piece of leather had been fitted to his leg, so that the body might not be injured by the iron, and this also had to be torn apart—for it had been sewn together—they said that they saw more than twenty very large bugs lurking in it. The admirable Meletius also said that he had seen this. And I have recorded this to show from it the man's great endurance; for though he was easily able to press the leather with his hand and destroy them all, he endured their painful bites, persevering in small things and embracing the training for greater contests. 26.11 So then, as his fame spread everywhere, all ran together, not only his neighbors, but also those who were many days' journey away. Some brought those paralyzed in body, others asked for health for the sick, others pleaded to become fathers and, what they had not received from nature, they begged to receive through him. And receiving and obtaining their requests, they returned with joy, and by proclaiming the benefits they had received, they sent out many times more people who would ask for the same things. Thus, with everyone arriving from all directions and every road resembling a river, it is possible to see a sea of people gathering in that place, receiving the rivers from every side. For not only do those who inhabit our world flock together, but also Ishmaelites and Persians and the Armenians subject to them and Iberians and Homerites and those more inland than them. Many came also who inhabit the farthest parts of the west, both Spaniards and Britons and Gauls who occupy the land between them. For it is superfluous even to speak of Italy. For they say that the man became so famous in great Rome that in the entrances of all the workshops they set up small images of him, providing for themselves some protection and security from them. 26.12 Since, then, those who arrived were beyond number, and all attempted to touch him and to gather some blessing from those leather garments, first, believing the excess of honor to be out of place, and then also disliking the burdensome nature of the matter, he devised his stance upon the pillar, first ordering one to be cut of six cubits, then twelve, and after this twenty-two, and now thirty-six; for he longs to fly up to heaven and to be released from this earthly sojourn. But I suppose that this stance has not come to be without divine dispensation, for which reason I urge the fault-finders to bridle their tongue and not to allow it to be borne along at random, but to consider how often the master has contrived such things for the benefit of the more slothful. For indeed Isaiah naked and

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χάριτος ἀπολαύσας οὐδὲ ταύτης ἐδεήθη τῆς βοηθείας, ἀλλ' ἕστηκε τὰς τεττα ράκοντα ἡμέρας σιτίων μὲν οὐκ ἀπολαύων, προθυμίᾳ δὲ καὶ θείᾳ ῥωννύμενος χάριτι. 26.10 Τρία τοίνυν, ὡς ἔφην, ἐν ἐκείνῳ τῷ οἰκίσκῳ διατε λέσας ἔτη τὴν πολυθρύλητον ταύτην κατέλαβε κορυφὴν θριγκίον ἐν κύκλῳ γενέσθαι παρεγγυήσας, ἄλυσιν δὲ ἐκ σιδήρου πήχεων εἴκοσι κατασκευάσας καὶ ταύτης θατέραν μὲν ἀρχὴν πέτρᾳ τινὶ μεγίστῃ προσηλώσας, θατέραν δὲ τῷ δεξιῷ ποδὶ προσαρμόσας, ὡς ἂν μηδὲ βουλόμενος ἔξω τῶν ὅρων ἐκείνων ἀπίοι, ἔνδον διῆγεν διηνεκῶς τὸν οὐρανὸν φανταζόμενος καὶ τὰ ἄνω τῶν οὐρανῶν θεωρεῖν βιαζόμενος· οὐ γὰρ ἐκώλυε τῆς διανοίας τὴν πτῆσιν ὁ τοῦ σιδήρου δεσμός. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ Μελέτιος ὁ θαυμάσιος ἐπισκοπεῖν τηνικαῦτα τῆς Ἀντιόχου πόλεως τεταγμένος τὴν χώραν, ἀνὴρ φρενήρης καὶ συνέσει λάμπων καὶ ἀγχινοίᾳ κεκοσμη μένος, περιττὸν ἔφη τὸν σίδηρον, ἀρκούσης τῆς γνώμης λογικὰ τῷ σώματι περιθεῖναι δεσμά, εἶξε μὲν καὶ τὴν παραίνεσιν εὐπειθῶς εἰσεδέξατο, χαλκέα δὲ κληθῆναι κελεύ σας λῦσαι προσέταξε τὸν δεσμόν. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ καὶ δέρμα τῷ σκέλει προσήρμοστο, ὡς ἂν μὴ λωβηθείη ὑπὸ τοῦ σιδήρου τὸ σῶμα, καὶ ἔδει καὶ τοῦτο- συνερραμμένον γὰρ ἦν-διαρραγῆναι, πλείους ἢ εἴκοσι μεγίστους κόρεις ἔφασαν ἐν ἐκείνῳ κατιδεῖν ἐμφωλεύοντας. Καὶ τοῦτο ἔφη ὁ θαυμάσιος τεθεᾶσθαι Μελέτιος. Ἐγὼ δὲ ἀπεμνημόνευσα τὴν πολλὴν κἀντεῦθεν τοῦ ἀνδρὸς καρτερίαν ἐπιδεικνύς· πιλῆσαι γὰρ τῇ χειρὶ τὸ δέρμα καὶ διαφθεῖραι πάντας ῥᾳδίως δυνάμενος τῶν ἀνιαρῶν δηγμάτων ἠνείχετο καρτερῶν ἐν τοῖς μικροῖς τὴν τῶν μειζόνων ἀγώνων ἀσπαζόμενος γυμνασίαν. 26.11 Τῆς τοίνυν φήμης πάντοσε διαθεούσης συνέθεον ἅπαντες, οὐχ οἱ γειτονεύοντες μόνοι, ἀλλὰ καὶ οἱ πολλῶν ἡμερῶν ἀφεστηκότες ὁδόν· οἱ μὲν παρειμένους τὸ σῶμα προσφέροντες, οἱ δὲ ἀρρώστοις ὑγιείαν αἰτοῦντες, οἱ δὲ πατέρες γενέσθαι παρακαλοῦντες καί, ὃ παρὰ τῆς φύσεως οὐκ ἔλαβον, ἱκέτευον δι' ἐκείνου λαβεῖν. Λαμβάνοντες δὲ καὶ τῶν αἰτήσεων ἀπολαύοντες μετ' εὐφροσύνης μὲν ἐπανῄ εσαν, κηρύττοντες δὲ τὰς εὐεργεσίας, ὧν ἔτυχον, πολλα πλασίους τῶν αὐτῶν δεησομένους ἐξέπεμπον. Οὕτω δὲ πάντων πανταχόθεν ἀφικνουμένων καὶ πάσης ὁδοῦ ποταμὸν μιμουμένης πέλαγος ἀνθρώπων ἔστιν ἰδεῖν ἐν ἐκείνῳ συνιστάμενον τῷ χωρίῳ τοὺς πανταχόθεν δεχόμενον ποτά μους. Οὐ γὰρ μόνον οἱ τὴν καθ' ἡμᾶς οἰκουμένην οἰκοῦντες συρρέουσιν, ἀλλὰ καὶ Ἰσμαηλῖται καὶ Πέρσαι καὶ Ἀρμένιοι οἱ τούτων ὑποχείριοι καὶ Ἴβηρες καὶ Ὁμηρῖται καὶ οἱ ἐκείνων ἐνδότεροι. Ἀφίκοντο δὲ πολλοὶ τὰς τῆς ἑσπέρας οἰκοῦντες ἐσχατιάς, Σπάνοι τε καὶ Βρεττανοὶ καὶ Γαλάται οἱ τὸ μέσον τούτων κατέχοντες. Περὶ γὰρ Ἰταλίας περιττὸν καὶ λέγειν. Φασὶ γὰρ οὕτως ἐν Ῥώμῃ τῇ μεγίστῃ πολυθρύ λητον γενέσθαι τὸν ἄνδρα, ὡς ἐν ἅπασι τοῖς τῶν ἐργαστηρίων προπυλαίοις εἰκόνας αὐτῷ βραχείας ἀναστηλῶσαι, φυλακήν τινα σφίσιν αὐτοῖς καὶ ἀσφάλειαν ἐντεῦθεν πορίζοντας. 26.12 Ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν ἀριθμοῦ κρείττους οἱ ἀφικνούμενοι προσψαύειν δὲ ἅπαντες ἐπεχείρουν καί τινα εὐλογίαν ἀπὸ τῶν δερματίνων ἐκείνων ἱματίων τρυγᾶν, πρῶτον μὲν τῆς τιμῆς τὸ ὑπερβάλλον ἄτοπον εἶναι νομίζων, ἔπειτα καὶ τοῦ πράγματος τὸ ἐπίπονον δυσχεραίνων τὴν ἐπὶ τοῦ κίονος ἐμηχανήσατο στάσιν, πρῶτον μὲν ἓξ πήχεων τμηθῆναι κελεύσας, εἶτα δύο καὶ δέκα, μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα δύο καὶ εἴκοσι, νῦν δὲ ἓξ καὶ τριάκοντα· ἀναπτῆναι γὰρ εἰς οὐρανὸν ἐφίεται καὶ τῆς ἐπιγείου ταύτης ἀπαλλαγῆναι διατριβῆς. Ἐγὼ δὲ οὐδὲ τῆς θείας ἄνευ οἰκονομίας ταύτην ὑπολαμ βάνω γεγενῆσθαι τὴν στάσιν, οὗπερ εἵνεκα τοὺς μεμψιμοίρους παρακαλῶ χαλινῶσαι τὴν γλῶτταν καὶ μὴ ἐπιτρέπειν ὡς ἔτυχε φέρεσθαι, σκοπεῖν δὲ ὡς πολλάκις τοιαῦτα ὁ δεσπότης τῶν ῥᾳθυμοτέρων εἵνεκεν ὠφελείας ἐμηχανήσατο. Καὶ γὰρ τὸν Ἡσαΐαν γυμνὸν καὶ