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to assemble, and those from the East at Seleucia in Isau-4.16.22 ria, so that, since it was easy to persuade a few or all, if they could, being divided here and there, they might prepare both synods to vote with them; but if not, at least one of them, so that the heresy might not be renounced by all votes. Cooperating with them in these things was Eusebius, the eunuch who presided over the imperial household, being a friend to Eudoxius and otherwise of the same opinion, and many of those in power who owed favor to this Eusebius. 4.17.1 The emperor, being persuaded that it was advantageous neither for the treasury on account of the expense nor for the bishops on account of the long journeys for all to assemble in the same place, divided the synod; and he writes to those then in Ariminum and Seleucia to first arrange the disputed points concerning the faith, and in the end to decide according to the rule of the church also concerning the bishops who complained of having been unjustly deposed or of living in exile, of whom Cyril of Jerusalem was one, and to judge concerning the charges brought against certain of the bishops; for some were accusing others, and the Egyptians were accusing George of plunder and outrages; and when all these matters were decided, ten from each side were to come to the palace to report what had been done. 4.17.2 Accordingly, they each assembled where they had been ordered to assemble. And the synod convened at Ariminum was the first to meet; more than four hundred belonged to it. And those who were hostile toward him decided it was better to stir up nothing concerning Athanasius. 4.17.3 But when the question arose, in what manner one ought to believe, Valens and Ursacius came forward, supported by Germinius, Auxentius, Gaius, and Demophilus, and they demanded that the documents previously composed concerning the faith should be set aside, and that the one which they had not long before drawn up at Sirmium in the Roman language should prevail, which introduced that the Son is like the Father according to the Scriptures, but that of substance no mention at all should be made 4.17.4 in regard to God. They also said that the emperor had praised this, and that the synod must of necessity accept it without further meddling with each one's opinion, so that there might not be dissensions and factions when the terms were subjected to discussion and precise examination; for it was better, they said, to hold correct opinions about God while reasoning rather unlearnedly, than to introduce new 4.17.5 terms akin to dialectical trickery. They hinted, or rather <and> even openly slandered the name homoousios as being unknown to the sacred Scriptures and obscure to the majority; and instead of this, to say that the Son is like in all things to the one who begot him, according to the divine Scriptures. 4.17.6 When they had read the document brought forward by them, [and] containing these things, the majority argued that they needed no new creed, but were content with what had already been decreed by their predecessors, and that they had now assembled in order that, if any innovation were made against these decrees, they might prevent it; but if the document that had been read innovated nothing contrary to these, they demanded that the introducers of this document should speak out and openly renounce the dogma of Arius, as being the cause of the disturbances that had arisen from it and still 4.17.7 continued in all the churches. But when Ursacius and Valens, and Germinius, Auxentius, Demophilus, and Gaius, evaded the proposition, the synod ordered the exposition of the other heresies and that of those who had assembled at Nicaea to be read, so that they might renounce the other heresies, and vote in favor of the decrees of Nicaea, and that henceforth no one should complain about these same matters or ask for a synod, but be content with what had 4.17.8 been established. For it was absurd, as if just now beginning to believe, to compose such documents and to slander the tradition of the time before, by which both they themselves and those before them had governed the churches, the majority of whom had passed away in confessions and martyrdoms. 4.17. And those who held to these views thought it right to make no innovations, but since those around Valens and Ursacius were not persuaded, but insisted on upholding the creed they had proposed, they deposed them, having voted to be invalid the one which

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συνελθεῖν, τοὺς δὲ ἀπὸ τῆς ἕω ἐν Σελευκείᾳ τῆς ᾿Ισαυ-4.16.22 ρίας, ἵνα ῥᾳδίου ὄντος ὀλίγους ἢ πάντας πείθειν, εἰ μὲν δύναιντο, τῇδε κἀκεῖσε μερισθέντες παρασκευάσωσι σφίσι συμψήφους γενέσθαι ἑκατέραν σύνοδον· εἰ δὲ μή, θατέραν, ὥστε μὴ πάσαις ψήφοις ἀποκηρυχθῆναι τὴν αἵρεσιν. συνέπραττον δὲ αὐτοῖς ταῦτα Εὐσέβιος ὁ τοῦ βασιλείου οἴκου προεστὼς εὐνοῦχος, Εὐδοξίῳ ἐπιτήδειος ὢν καὶ ἄλλως ὁμόδοξος, καὶ πολλοὶ τῶν ἐν δυνάμει χάριν αὐτῷ Εὐσεβίῳ φέροντες. 4.17.1 Πεισθεὶς δὲ ὁ βασιλεύς, ὡς οὔτε τῷ δημοσίῳ λυσιτελεῖ διὰ τὴν δαπάνην οὔτε τοῖς ἐπισκόποις διὰ τὰς μακρὰς ὁδοὺς εἰς ταὐτὸν πάντας συνελθεῖν, διεῖλε τὴν σύνοδον· καὶ γράφει τοῖς τότε ἐν ᾿Αριμήνῳ καὶ Σελευκείᾳ τὰ περὶ τῆς πίστεως ἀμφίβολα προδιαθεῖναι, ἐν τέλει δὲ διαλαβεῖν κατὰ τὸν τῆς ἐκκλησίας θεσμὸν καὶ περὶ τῶν ἀδίκως καθῃρῆσθαι ἢ ὑπερορίαν οἰκεῖν μεμφομένων ἐπισκόπων, ὧν εἷς ἦν Κύριλλος ῾Ιεροσολύμων, καὶ περὶ τῶν ἐπαγομένων ἐγκλημάτων τισὶ τῶν ἐπισκόπων δικάσαι· κατηγόρουν γὰρ ἄλλοι ἄλλων, Γεωργίου δὲ Αἰγύπτιοι ἁρπαγῶν καὶ ὕβρεων· ἐπὶ κεκριμένοις δὲ πᾶσι δέκα ἑκατέρωθεν καταλαβεῖν τὰ βασίλεια ἐπὶ μηνύσει τῶν γενομένων. 4.17.2 Κατὰ ταῦτα ἕκαστοι συνελέγησαν ἔνθα συνελθεῖν προσετάγησαν. καὶ φθάνει ἡ ἐν ᾿Αριμήνῳ συστᾶσα σύνοδος· ἐτέλουν δὲ εἰς αὐτὴν πλείους ἢ τετρακόσιοι. καὶ περὶ μὲν ᾿Αθανασίου μηδὲν ἀνακινεῖν ἄμεινον ἐδοκίμασαν 4.17.3 οἳ πρὸς αὐτὸν ἀπεχθῶς εἶχον. ζητήσεως δὲ οὔσης, εἰς ὃν χρὴ τρόπον πιστεύειν, παρελθόντες εἰς μέσον Οὐάλης τε καὶ Οὐρσάκιος, οἷς συνελαμβάνοντο Γερμήνιός τε καὶ Αὐξέντιος καὶ Γάιος καὶ ∆ημόφιλος, τὰς μὲν ἤδη πρότερον περὶ πίστεως γενομένας γραφὰς ἀργεῖν ἠξίουν, κρατεῖν δὲ ἣν οὐ πρὸ πολλοῦ ἐν Σιρμίῳ συνέταξαν διὰ τῆς ῾Ρωμαίων φωνῆς, ὅμοιον μὲν εἶναι τῷ πατρὶ τὸν υἱὸν κατὰ τὰς γραφὰς εἰσηγουμένην, οὐσίας δὲ παντελῶς 4.17.4 ἐπὶ θεοῦ μὴ ποιεῖσθαι μνήμην. ἔλεγον δὲ ταύτην καὶ βασιλέα ἐπαινέσαι, χρῆναι δὲ καὶ τὴν σύνοδον ἀναγκαίως προσίεσθαι μηδὲν τοῦ λοιποῦ πολυπραγμονοῦσαν τῆς ἑκάστου ἐννοίας, ἵνα μὴ διχόνοιαι καὶ στάσεις γίνωνται διαλέξει καὶ ἀκριβεῖ βασάνῳ παραδιδομένων τῶν ὀνομάτων· ἄμεινον γὰρ εἶναι ἀμαθέστερον διαλεγομένους ὀρθῶς περὶ θεοῦ δοξάζειν ἢ καινότητας 4.17.5 ὀνομάτων ἐπεισάγειν διαλεκτικῆς τερθρείας συγγενεῖς. ὑπῃνίττοντο δέ, μᾶλλον <δὲ> καὶ προφανῶς διέβαλλον τὸ ὁμοούσιον ὄνομα ὡς ἄγνωστον ταῖς ἱεραῖς γραφαῖς καὶ τοῖς πολλοῖς ἀσαφές· ἀντὶ δὲ τούτου ὅμοιον κατὰ πάντα τῷ γεννήσαντι λέγειν τὸν υἱὸν κατὰ τὰς θείας γραφάς. 4.17.6 ᾿Επεὶ δὲ ταῦτα περιέχουσαν [καὶ] τὴν προκομισθεῖσαν παρ' αὐτῶν γραφὴν ἀνέγνωσαν, οἱ μὲν πλείους μηδὲν δεῖσθαι νεωτέρας πίστεως ἰσχυρίζοντο, ἀλλ' ἀρκεῖσθαι τοῖς ἤδη δόξασι πρὸ αὐτῶν, συνεληλυθέναι δὲ νῦν ἵνα, εἴ τι καινοτομοῖτο κατὰ τούτων, κωλύσωσιν· εἰ δὲ μηδὲν παρὰ ταῦτα καινοτομεῖ τὰ ἀνεγνωσμένα, λέγειν ἐζήτουν τοὺς εἰσηγητὰς ταύτης τῆς γραφῆς καὶ φανερῶς ἀποκηρύττειν τὸ ᾿Αρείου δόγμα ὡς θορύβων αἴτιον εἰσέτι 4.17.7 νῦν ἐξ ἐκείνου γενόμενον ταῖς πανταχῇ ἐκκλησίαις. ἀποφυγόντων δὲ τὴν πρότασιν Οὐρσακίου καὶ Οὐάλεντος, Γερμηνίου τε καὶ Αὐξεντίου καὶ ∆ημοφίλου καὶ Γαΐου ἐκέλευσεν ἡ σύνοδος ἀναγνωσθῆναι τὴν ἔκθεσιν τῶν ἄλλων αἱρέσεων καὶ τῶν ἐν Νικαίᾳ συνεληλυθότων, ὥστε τὰς μὲν ἄλλας ἀποκηρύξαι αἱρέσεις, ἐπιψηφίσασθαι δὲ τοῖς ἐν Νικαίᾳ δεδογμένοις καὶ περὶ τῶν αὐτῶν τοῦ λοιποῦ μηδένα ἐγκαλεῖν ἢ σύνοδον αἰτεῖν, ἀλλ' ἀρκεῖσθαι τοῖς 4.17.8 φθάσασιν. ἄτοπον γὰρ εἶναι ὡς νῦν ἀρχομένους πιστεύειν τοιαῦτα ξυγγράφειν καὶ τοῦ προλαβόντος χρόνου τὴν παράδοσιν διαβάλλειν, ᾗ κεχρημένοι αὐτοί τε καὶ οἱ πρὸ αὐτῶν τὰς ἐκκλησίας ἐπετρόπευσαν, ὧν οἱ πλείους ἐν ὁμολογίαις καὶ μαρτυρίοις τὸν βίον μετήλλαξαν. 4.17. Καὶ οἱ μὲν τάδε προϊσχόμενοι οὐδὲν ἠξίουν νεωτερίζειν, μὴ πειθομένους δὲ τοὺς ἀμφὶ Οὐάλεντα καὶ Οὐρσάκιον, ἀλλ' ἐνισταμένους κρατεῖν ἣν προίσχοντο πίστιν καθεῖλον, ἄκυρον εἶναι ψηφισάμενοι ἣν