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remained. And the terrible things were encroaching on the gates of Prousa and Nicaea, with everything outside having been plundered, and 337 the suffering terrible and the event inconsolable, with all things having been utterly destroyed in a few months. And just as the suffering was of divine wrath and demonic anger, so also it was reasonable to think that the terrible things would be stopped only by divine help and the compassion of the superior being.

27. But so much for these things. But it was not possible for the bishops to keep quiet and not to become a great annoyance to the patriarch on account of John of Ephesus again and his restoration. And one of them (this was Hilarion of Selyvria) uttered something great against the patriarch, not then for the first time, but when the patriarch was seated in the monastery of the Pammakaristos, retiring from his cares, not having seen it himself but having heard it from one who had seen, as he said. But the one who said it was not among the living, that man being also uncouth and known for slanders. But the accusation was also wholly discordant and an outright falsehood. Nevertheless, the bishop of Selyvria, not quite believing it himself, as he seemed when speaking, having received the absurdity of the matter in secret, entrusts the story to the emperor. And to him who heard it, it seemed a great thing, and he bore what was said heavily; nevertheless, however, even though he did not believe it, it occurred to him to take care that the story be kept in secret, as 338 being otherwise unseemly no less than false. For he had judged it worthwhile to guard against even the suspicions of the many. But he had also condemned the one who brought it forward, as the end showed, because he would believe such a thing at all and from such a person saying it. These things were so, and the bishops again, on account of the patriarch's indecisiveness toward them concerning the affairs of the bishop of Ephesus, were pressing the patriarch and were not purely at peace. But there were some of these who were of one mind with the patriarch and differed from the rest. But it was not possible for the emperor, who cherished the things of peace in every way, to be at rest, but on the one hand he both accepted the restoration of the bishop of Ephesus and cooperated with those who wished it, but on the other hand to compel the patriarch for his sake did not seem to him to be among the things that should be done. Therefore, even if he accepted those speaking on behalf of the bishop of Ephesus, yet he considered their being separated from the patriarch on account of these things as very burdensome and reproached them, and he treated some more severely. I consider whether the bishop of Ephesus was not a Patroclus and the phantom of Aeneas was being improvised, since the imperial will was already inclining towards Athanasius by pretending to reject John, even if 339 these things were still hidden. But when what was thought to be kept secret already began to be rumored about, and some were hinting about him in a way that was somehow disloyal and superficial, making their own separation from him more plausible, then the emperor suspected the one who had first brought this up, that he might have told the story to others as well, and even if by insinuating it he had not scandalized him, perhaps by telling others he would attach blame. For this reason, and trusting in the dignity of the patriarch, he makes light of the story, and makes known the one who first said it. For he very much desired it to be unspoken and unbelievable, as it seemed; but when it was being whispered about by others too, he, being forced, makes the accusation public, and does not release from the charge the one who said it, as an insolent man. The patriarch also hears these things, and being terribly distressed as was likely, since the one who first spoke of it was not present, as it was said, he laid the slander upon the bishop of Selyvria himself, and he appeals to the synod seeking vindication for himself, even if that man, trying to explain the story as best he could, said that he had told it in a different way. (28) For which reason the emperor also (for it was not possible for an emperor to be charged with falsehood), being forced to convict him of slandering in such matters, brought out before 340 many what he had previously wished to remain unmentioned: how and when and what the one who spoke had come and said. Meanwhile much blame was attached from this, with both sides vehemently contending. And because of these things the patriarch was suffering terribly from the insolence, and he neither accepted the emperor for raising the matter, but also was ill-disposed toward the one who first said it, and he was seeking from the synod from

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περιῆν. Προύσῃ δὲ καὶ Νικαίᾳ ταῖς πύλαις ἐπέχραε τὰ δεινά, ἁπάντων τῶν ἔξω προνομευθέντων, καὶ δει 337 νὸν τὸ πάθος καὶ ἀπαραμύθητον τὸ συμβάν, ἁπάντων ὀλίγων ἐξαπολωλότων μηνῶν. καὶ ὥσπερ θείας ὀργῆς καὶ μηνίματος δαιμονίου τὸ πάσχειν, οὕτω καὶ θείας ἀντιλήψεως μόνης καὶ συμπαθείας τοῦ κρείττονος τὸ τὰ δεινὰ στῆναι εἰκὸς ἦν ἐννοεῖν.

27. Ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν ἐς τοσοῦτον. οὐκ ἦν δὲ ἄρα καὶ ἀρχιερεῖς ἡσυχάζειν καὶ μὴ δι' ὄχλου μεγίστου τῷ πατριάρχῃ γί νεσθαι τοῦ τῆς Ἐφέσου καὶ πάλιν Ἰωάννου καὶ τῆς ἐκείνου ἀνορθώσεως ἕνεκα. εἷς δέ τις αὐτῶν (ὁ Σηλυβρίας οὗτος ἦν Ἱλα ρίων) καὶ μέγα τι κατὰ τοῦ πατριαρχοῦντος ἐφθέγξατο, οὐ τότε πρώτως, ἀλλ' ὅτε δὴ πατριάρχης ἐπὶ τῇ τῆς Παμμακαρίστου μονῇ ἀναχωρῶν τῶν φροντίδων καθῆστο, οὐκ αὐτὸς ἰδὼν ἀλλὰ παρ' ἰδόντος ἀκούσας, ὡς ἔλεγεν. ἀπῆν δὲ τῶν ζώντων ὁ φή σας, ἀνάγωγος καὶ ἄλλως ὢν ἐκεῖνος καὶ ἐπὶ διαβολαῖς γνώριμος. ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ ἔγκλημα ἀπᾷδον ὅλως καὶ ψευδολόγημα ἄντικρυς. ὅμως ὁ Σηλυβρίας οὐ πάνυ τι καὶ αὐτὸς πιστεύων, ὡς ἐῴκει λέ γων, τὸ τοῦ πράγματος ἄτοπον ἐν ἀπορρήτοις παραλαβών, βα σιλεῖ πιστεύει τὸν λόγον. τῷ δὲ μέγα μὲν ἀκούσαντι ἔδοξε, καὶ βαρέως ἤνεγκε τὸ λεχθέν· ὅμως δὲ μέντοι καὶ μὴ πιστεύσαντι ἐπῄει φροντίζειν τοῦ ἐν ἀπορρήτοις διακεῖσθαι τὸν λόγον, ὡς 338 ἄλλως καὶ ἀπρεπῆ ὄντα οὐ μᾶλλον ἢ ψευδῆ. διαφυλάττεσθαι γὰρ καὶ τὰς τῶν πολλῶν ὑπονοίας ἄξιον ἐκεκρίκει. πλὴν καὶ τοῦ προσανενέγκαντος κατεγνώκει, ὡς τὸ τέλος ἔδειξεν, ὅτι καὶ ὅλως ἐπὶ τοιούτῳ καὶ παρὰ τοιούτου πιστεύσειε λέγοντος. ἦν ταῦτα, καὶ οἱ μὲν ἀρχιερεῖς καὶ αὖθις διὰ τὸ τοῦ πατριάρχου πρὸς αὐ τοὺς ἀμφίγνωμον περὶ τῶν κατὰ τὸν Ἐφέσου πραγμάτων πα τριάρχῃ ἐπεῖχον καὶ οὐ καθαρῶς εἰρήνευον. ἦσαν δ' οἵτινες τούτων καὶ ὡμογνωμόνουν τῷ πατριάρχῃ καὶ πρὸς τοὺς λοιποὺς διεφέροντο. βασιλεῖ δὲ πάντα τρόπον τὰ τῆς εἰρήνης στέργοντι οὐκ ἦν ἠρεμεῖν, ἀλλὰ τὸ μὲν τὸν Ἐφέσου ἀποκαταστῆναι καὶ προσαπεδέχετο καὶ συνήργει τοῖς βουλομένοις, τὸ δ' αὖθις ἐκεί νου χάριν πατριάρχην προσαναγκάζειν οὔ οἱ τῶν δεόντων ἐδόκει. ὅθεν κἂν καὶ τοὺς ὑπὲρ τοῦ Ἐφέσου λέγοντας ἀπεδέχετο, ἀλλὰ τό γε σχίζεσθαι διὰ ταῦτα σφᾶς πατριάρχου καὶ λίαν διὰ βάρους ἦγε καὶ προσωνείδιζε, καί τισιν ἐμβριθέστερον προσεφέρετο. σκοπῶ δὲ μὴ Πάτροκλος ἦν ὁ Ἐφέσου καὶ τὸ τοῦ Αἰνείου ἐσχε διάζετο εἴδωλον, τῆς βασιλικῆς γνώμης ἤδη κλινούσης πρὸς Ἀθα νάσιον τῷ τὸν Ἰωάννην ἀποπροσποιεῖσθαι, εἰ καὶ ἐν ἀφανεῖ 339 ταῦτ' ἦσαν ἔτι. ὡς δέ που καὶ τὸ ὑπ' ὀδόντα κεῖσθαι δοκοῦν ἀνάπυστον ἤδη ἤρξατο γίνεσθαι, καί τινες ἀφωσιωμένως πως καὶ ἐπιπολαίως τὰ περὶ ἐκείνου ᾐνίσσοντο, τὸ ἐκείνου σχίζεσθαι ἑαυτοῖς εὐπροσωπότερον καθιστάντες, τότε βασιλεὺς τὸν πρώ τως ὑπομνήσαντα περὶ τούτου ὑπώπτευεν, ὡς καὶ ἄλλοις εἴποι τὸν λόγον, κἂν αὐτὸν μὴ σκανδαλίσειεν ὑπειπών, ἄλλοις ἴσως εἰπὼν μῶμον προστρίψειε. διὰ τοῦτο, καὶ τῇ τοῦ πατριάρχου θαρρῶν σεμνότητι, ἐκφαυλίζει τὸν λόγον, καὶ τὸν πρώτως εἰ πόντα δῆλον καθίστησιν. ἄρρητον μὲν γὰρ εἶναι καὶ ἄπιστον, καὶ λίαν ὠρέγετο, ὡς ἐῴκει· ὑπολαλουμένου δὲ καὶ παρ' ἄλλων, αὐτὸς ἀναγκασθεὶς φανερὰν καθίστησι τὴν κατηγορίαν, καὶ ὡς ὑβριστὴν οὐκ αἰτίας ἀνίει τὸν φάμενον. ἀκούει ταῦτα καὶ πα τριάρχης, καὶ ὡς εἰκὸς δεινοπαθήσας, ἐπεὶ οὐ περιῆν ὁ πρώτως ἐπειπών, ὡς ἐλέγετο, αὐτῷ δὴ Σηλυβρίας τὴν συκοφαντίαν ἐπέ τριβε, καὶ συνόδῳ ἐπεγκαλεῖ ζητῶν τὴν ἐκδίκησιν ἑαυτῷ, κἂν ἐκεῖνος ὡς εἶχεν ἐπειλύων τὸν λόγον ἄλλως ἔλεγεν ἐξειπεῖν. (28) παρ' ἣν αἰτίαν καὶ βασιλεὺς (οὐδὲ γὰρ ἦν ψεύδους γρά φεσθαι βασιλέα γε ὄντα) ἐπὶ τοῖς τοιούτοις συκοφαντοῦντα διε λέγχειν ἀναγκαζόμενος, ὃ τέως ἀνέκφορον ἠβούλετο μένειν, ἐπὶ 340 πολλῶν ἐξέφερεν, ὅπως καὶ ὅτε καὶ τί προσελθὼν εἴπειεν ὁ εἰ πών. τέως δὲ πολὺς προσετρίβετο ἐντεῦθεν μῶμος, ἀμφοτέρω θεν ἀντιδιατεινομένων. καὶ διὰ ταῦτα πατριάρχης δεινῶς ὑβριο παθῶν ἦν, καὶ οὔτε βασιλέα προσαπεδέχετο κινοῦντα τὸν λόγον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῷ πρώτως εἰπόντι κακῶς εἶχε, καὶ συνόδου ἐζήτει ἐκ