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Some things he did himself, and other things he endured when others did them. 5.6.1 At that time, Athanasius, who until then had been in hiding and his whereabouts unknown, upon the announcement of the death of Constantius, appeared by night in the church of the Alexandrians. And this was naturally remarkable, having happened so suddenly and unexpectedly. For when, through a plot of the partisans of George, the emperor commanded the commander of the legions in Egypt to hasten to arrest him, he failed, as has been stated before, and Athanasius, having escaped, was in hiding until the present reign with a certain consecrated virgin in Alex-5.6.2-andria. We have received that she so surpassed the women of that time in beauty, that she was a wonder to those who saw her, but to be avoided by those who professed propriety and modesty, lest any blame from suspicion should be attached to them. For she was, even in the bloom of her youth, exceedingly venerable and modest, which qualities are wont to adorn the body with 5.6.3 seemliness and beauty, even when nature does not assist. For it is true to say, not, as some think, that the soul is as the body is, but that in the practices of the soul the character of the body is reflected, and that the same person, in whatever pursuit he may happen to engage, appears to be such at the time he is so engaged; and to this 5.6.4 argument, if anyone should examine it carefully, no one, I think, will object. The story is that Athanasius fled for refuge to this virgin in accordance with a divine vision which suggested to him that he would be saved in this way. And it seems to me, looking at the outcome, that these things were not arranged without God's providence, but so that the partisans of Athanasius would not have trouble, if anyone attempted to meddle with them concerning him or forced them to swear, and so that he himself might escape notice while hidden with her, who by her beauty 5.6.5 did not allow it to be suspected that the priest was staying there, but through courage she received him and through prudence she saved him, having become such a most faithful guardian and diligent servant, that she would wash his feet and attend to his food and all other things, and whatever nature is compelled to endure in pressing needs, she alone ministered to him, and in addition, she would bring from others the books which he needed, and while these things were happening for a long time, no one of the inhabitants of the city of Alexandria learned of it. 5.7.1 Athanasius, therefore, having been saved in this way, appeared unexpectedly in the church, and it was not known from where he had come; but the people of Alexandria, becoming overjoyed, handed the churches over to him. But those who held the opinions of Arius were cast out and held their assemblies by themselves in private houses, putting forward Lucius 5.7.2 as bishop of their own heresy instead of George. For George happened to have already been killed; for as soon as the magistrates made it publicly known that Constantius was dead and that Julian was emperor, the Hellenic multitude of the Alexandrians rioted; and shouting and reviling, they rushed upon him with the intention of killing him at once, but being checked from their immediate 5.7.3 impulse, they then held him in bonds. But not long after, they ran down at dawn to the prison and killed him, and putting him on a camel, and after spending the whole day in outrages against him, towards late evening they handed him over to the fire. 5.7.4 But I am not ignorant that those of the Arian heresy say that George suffered these things at the hands of the partisans of Athanasius. But I think the deed was rather that of the Hellenists, reasoning that they had greater and more numerous reasons for hatred against him, and especially the outrage concerning the images and the temples and the prohibition of sacrifices and ancestral rites. And his power in the imperial court also increased their hostility toward him; and as the populace is wont to feel towards those 5.7.5 in power, they considered him intolerable. In addition to these things, something of this sort also happened then concerning what is called among them the Mithrium; for this place, which had long been desolate, Constantius had given to the church of the Alexandr-5.7.6-ians. And while George was clearing it for the purpose of repairing a house of prayer, a sanctuary was revealed, in which

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τὰ μὲν αὐτὸς ἐποίησε, τὰ δὲ ἄλλων ποιούντων ἠνέσχετο. 5.6.1 ᾿Εν δὲ τῷ τότε καὶ ᾿Αθανάσιος τὸν πρὸ τοῦ χρόνον λανθάνων ὅπῃ διέτριβεν, ἀγγελθείσης τῆς Κωνσταντίου τελευτῆς ἀνεφάνη νύκτωρ ἐν τῇ ᾿Αλεξανδρέων ἐκκλησίᾳ. ἦν δὲ τοῦτο εἰκότως παράδοξον, ἐξαπίνης ὧδε παρὰ προσδοκίαν συμβάν. ἡνίκα γὰρ ἐξ ἐπιβουλῆς τῶν Γεωργίου ἐπιτηδείων προστάξαντος τοῦ βασιλέως σπουδάσας αὐτὸν συλλαβέσθαι ὁ τῶν ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ ταγμάτων ἡγεμὼν ἀπέτυχεν, ὡς ἐν τοῖς πρόσθεν εἴρηται, διαφυγὼν μέχρι τῆς παρούσης ἡγεμονίας παρά τινα παρθένον ἱερὰν ἐν ᾿Αλεξ5.6.2 ανδρείᾳ ἐκρύπτετο. ἣν ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον κάλλει τὰς τότε γυναῖκας ὑπερβαλέσθαι παρειλήφαμεν, ὡς θαῦμα μὲν αὐτὴν εἶναι τοῖς ὁρῶσι, φευκτέαν δὲ τοῖς ἐπιείκειαν καὶ σωφροσύνην ἐπαγγελλομένοις, ἵνα μή τινα ψόγον ἐξ ὑπονοίας αὐτοῖς προστρίψηται. ἦν γὰρ καὶ ἐν ἀκμῇ τῆς ὥρας σεμνή τε καὶ σώφρων εἰσάγαν, ἃ μηδὲ τῆς φύσεως συλλαμβανούσης διακοσμεῖν εἴωθε τὸ σῶμα εἰς 5.6.3 εὐπρέπειαν καὶ κάλλος. ἦ γὰρ ἀληθὲς εἰπεῖν οὐχ, ὥς τισι δοκεῖ, ὁποῖα τὰ σώματα, τοιαύτην εἶναι τὴν ψυχήν, ἀλλ' ἐν τοῖς τῆς ψυχῆς ἐπιτηδεύμασιν ἀπεικονίζεσθαι τὸ τοῦ σώματος ἦθος, καὶ τὸν αὐτόν, ὅπῃ ἂν τύχῃ ἐπιτηδεύων, τοιοῦτον καὶ διαφαίνεσθαι καθ' ὃν ἂν ἐπιτηδεύῃ καιρόν· καὶ τούτῳ μὲν 5.6.4 τῷ λόγῳ, εἴ τις ἀκριβῶς ἐξετάσειεν, οὐδεὶς οἶμαι ἀντερεῖ. ᾿Αθανάσιον δὲ λόγος κατὰ θείαν ὄψιν ὡδὶ ὑποθεμένην αὐτῷ σωθήσεσθαι πρὸς ταύτην τὴν παρθένον καταφυγεῖν. καί μοι δοκεῖ πρὸς τὴν ἀπόβασιν ὁρῶντι οὐκ ἀθεεὶ ταῦτα οἰκονομηθῆναι, ἀλλ' ὥστε καὶ τοὺς ᾿Αθανασίου ἐπιτηδείους μὴ ἔχειν πράγματα, εἴ τις αὐτοὺς πολυπραγμονεῖν περὶ αὐτοῦ ἐπεχείρησεν ἢ ὀμνύναι ἐβιάσατο, καὶ αὐτὸν διαλαθεῖν παρὰ ταύτῃ κρυπτόμενον, ἣ τῷ μὲν κάλλει 5.6.5 οὐ συνεχώρει ὑπονοεῖσθαι ἐνθάδε διάγειν τὸν ἱερέα, δι' ἀνδρείαν δὲ αὐτὸν ὑπεδέξατο καὶ διὰ φρόνησιν ἀπέσωσεν, ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον πιστοτάτη φύλαξ καὶ διάκονος σπουδαία γενομένη, ὡς πόδας αὐτοῦ νίπτειν καὶ τὰ περὶ τροφὴν καὶ τἆλλα πάντα, καὶ ὅσα φύσις ὑπομένειν βιάζεται ἐν ταῖς κατεπειγούσαις χρείαις, μόνην αὐτὴν διακονεῖσθαι, προσέτι δὲ καὶ βίβλους ὧν ἐδεῖτο παρ' ἄλλων κομίζειν, καὶ ἐπὶ πολλῷ χρόνῳ τούτων γινομένων μηδένα τῶν οἰκούντων τὴν ᾿Αλεξανδρέων πόλιν μαθεῖν. 5.7.1 ῾Ο μὲν οὖν ᾿Αθανάσιος ὧδε διασωθείς, ἀπροσδοκήτως ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ φανείς, οὐδ' ὅθεν προῆλθεν ἐγιγνώσκετο· περιχαρὴς δὲ γενόμενος ὁ τῶν ᾿Αλεξανδρέων λαὸς τὰς ἐκκλησίας αὐτῷ παρέδωκεν. ἐκβληθέντες δὲ οἱ τὰ ᾿Αρείου φρονοῦντες ἐν ἰδιωτῶν οἰκίαις καθ' ἑαυτοὺς ἐκκλησίαζον Λούκιον 5.7.2 ἀντὶ Γεωργίου τῆς αὐτῶν αἱρέσεως ἐπίσκοπον προβαλλόμενοι. Γεώργιος γὰρ ἔτυχεν ἤδη ἀναιρεθείς· ἅμα γὰρ δημοσίᾳ δῆλον ἐποίησαν οἱ ἄρχοντες τετελευτηκέναι Κωνστάντιον, αὐτοκράτορα δὲ ᾿Ιουλιανὸν εἶναι, ἐστασίασε τὸ ῾Ελληνικὸν πλῆθος τῶν ᾿Αλεξανδρέων· κεκραγότες τε καὶ λοιδορούμενοι ὥρ-μησαν ἐπ' αὐτὸν ὡς παραχρῆμα ἀναιρήσοντες, ἀνακοπέντες δὲ τῆς παραυτίκα 5.7.3 ὁρμῆς τότε μὲν αὐτὸν ἐν δεσμοῖς εἶχον. οὐκ εἰς μακρὰν δὲ καταδραμόντες ἕωθεν εἰς τὸ δεσμωτήριον ἀναιροῦσιν αὐτόν, καὶ καμήλῳ ἐπιθέντες, διημερεύσαντές τε ἐν ταῖς κατ' αὐτοῦ ὕβρεσι, περὶ δείλην ὀψίαν πυρὶ παρέδωκαν. 5.7.4 οὐκ ἀγνοῶ δὲ ὡς οἱ ἀπὸ τῆς ᾿Αρείου αἱρέσεως τάδε λέγουσι παθεῖν τὸν Γεώργιον πρὸς τῶν τοῦ ᾿Αθανασίου σπουδαστῶν. ἐγὼ δὲ τῶν ῾Ελληνιστῶν ἡγοῦμαι μᾶλλον εἶναι τὸ δρᾶμα, λογιζόμενος ὡς μείζους οὗτοι καὶ πλείους ἀφορμὰς μίσους πρὸς αὐτὸν εἶχον, καὶ μάλιστα τὴν περὶ τὰ ξόανα καὶ τοὺς ναοὺς ὕβριν καὶ τὴν τῶν θυσιῶν καὶ πατρίων κώλυσιν. ἐπέτεινε δὲ τὴν πρὸς αὐτὸν ἀπέχθειαν καὶ ἡ ἐν τοῖς βασιλείοις δύναμις· καὶ οἷα φιλεῖ δῆμος πρὸς τοὺς 5.7.5 ἐν δυνάμει πάσχειν, οὐκ ἀνεκτὸν ἡγοῦντο. πρὸς δὲ τούτοις καὶ τοιόνδε τότε συνέβη περὶ τὸ καλούμενον παρ' αὐτοῖς Μίθριον· τοῦτον γὰρ τὸν τόπον ἔρημον πάλαι γενόμενον ἐδωρήσατο Κωνστάντιος τῇ ᾿Αλεξανδρέων ἐκκλη5.7.6 σίᾳ. Γεωργίου δὲ εἰς ἐπισκευὴν εὐκτηρίου οἴκου ἀνακαθαίροντος, ἄδυτον ἀνεφάνη, ἐν ᾧ