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saying, how ignorantly thus 345 he fled from our hands; and if he appeared to cause grief, for what reason did he come to us? But as it seems, while striving to escape the accusations, he unwittingly pushed himself especially toward his trial. Let him not, therefore, profit any longer by evading justice; but since the third summons remains, let this also take place when they are assembled. And if he appears, let him be judged; but if not, it will be your concern how you will prosecute him for evading justice. As for my part, it must be committed to God, that it might be administered as is His will.” Having said these things and skillfully adding those things by way of anticipation, that the reason these men were not heard when they often reported on the affairs of their own churches was the single cause of the patriarch’s enmity toward him, and that if this stumbling block were removed, they would have great influence with him, he ended his speech.

2. How, when the bishops were assembled, the final summons and thereupon the decision were made. On the following day, when they were assembled together again, after much discussion and the emperor’s sort of excuse that not even he wished to be present, unless the bonds of the church gave way and compelled him, the final summons was sent, with bishops and clerics mediating in this matter also. And when the patriarch again refused to come, adding: “Let what seems good to you be done in my absence; for I will not appear, no matter what happens,” then, after much deliberation, the hierarchs, wishing to rely as it were on the canons, had also the apostolic canon concerning evasion of justice, which greatly contributed to their declaring what seemed right; nevertheless, wishing to act in safety, since they were doing these things before, so to speak, the whole city, with the emperor managing affairs on account of the underlying suspicion of enmity and so that they might not be divided again upon learning what had happened, they again brought Hepsetopoulus into their midst. And the bill of indictment was read out chapter by chapter, and he was asked if he had witnesses to testify. And he said: “For manifest matters, it is not necessary for this or that person to be a witness, but all together, because all are aware of what has happened.” When, therefore, some from the clergy were chosen and questioned, and especially about the sultan, whether 347 after praying with the patriarch he had sat with him, while the theological discourse was being read according to custom, they immediately confessed that it had so happened; but as to whether the sultan is a Christian or not, they said they did not know, but for the time being they openly considered him then to be a Christian. The judges, therefore, wished to take only this point, that he had sat down after praying with him, but as to whether he was a Christian or not, they said this was for them to investigate; and on these points many were brought forward to testify that his worship was not according to the Christians, I know not whether truthfully, or indeed to curry favor with the emperor. For the time being, however, as we were later to learn, when such things had come to an end, the sultan, sending to the emperor, since he had learned that the patriarch had been expelled on his account, along with other things which he reported, also reported this wittily or rather pointedly, asking him to send him the sacred amulets that were especially his, which common parlance calls enkolpia, and, if he wished, also a cured ham of pork, so that he might eat it as he desired. And this was at that time a clear refutation for the emperor concerning the patriarch, since on the one hand he presented his worship as that of a venerator of the divine images, and on the other he showed his conduct to be according to the Christians by his craving for pork. At that time, while they were deliberating about the sultan as if the matter were inconclusive, danger seemed to arise for the patriarch. But there were others who also more elegantly attempted to add to the accusations, supposedly, that if he truly counted among the Christians, it would at least have been extremely good for the patriarch to be on his guard concerning the Persian element around him; for not even all of them were or were considered Christians. So then, in order to declare what seemed right

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λέγων, πῶς ἀμαθῶς οὕτω τῶν 345 ἡμετέρων χειρῶν ἀπεδίδρασκε· καὶ εἰ λυπήσων ἐφάνη, κατὰ τί γε καὶ παρ' ἡμᾶς ἀφῖκται; Ἀλλ' ὡς ἔοικε, τοὺς ἐλέγχους διαφυγγάνειν πραγματευόμε νος, ἔλαθεν ἑαυτὸν συνωθήσας μάλιστα πρὸς τὴν δίκην. Μὴ οὖν ἐπὶ πλέον φυγοδικῶν κερδαινέτω· ἀλλ' ἐπεὶ τὸ τρίτον ἐναπολέλειπται μήνυμα, συνα χθέντων γενέσθω καὶ τοῦτο. Καὶ εἰ μὲν ἀπαντήσει, κρινέσθω· εἰ δ' οὖν, ἀλλ' ὑμῖν γε μελήσει πῶς ἂν φυγοδικοῦντα μετελεύσησθε. Τὸ δ' ἐμὸν ἀναθετέον Θεῷ, ὅπως ἂν ὡς ἐκείνῳ βουλητὸν οἰκονομηθείη.» Ταῦτ' εἰπὼν καὶ προσθεὶς κἀκεῖνα κατά τινα πρόληψιν εὐμεθόδως ὅτι καὶ τὸ τούτους πολλάκις ἀναφέροντας περὶ τῶν κατὰ τὰς σφῶν ἐκκλησίας μὴ εἰσακούεσθαι, αἰτίαν μίαν εἶναι τὴν τοῦ πατριάρχου πρὸς αὐτὸν ἀπέχθειαν καὶ ὡς, εἰ ἐκποδὼν τὸ σκάνδαλον γένηται, αὐτοὺς τὰ μεγάλα παρ' αὐτῷ δύνασθαι, καταπαύει τὸν λόγον.

ʹ. Ὅπως, συναχθέντων τῶν ἀρχιερέων, τὸ τέλειον μήνυμα καὶ ἐπὶ τούτῳ ἡ ἀπόφασις γέγονεν. Τῆς δὲ μετ' αὐτὴν ἡμέρας συναχθέντων ἅμα καὶ πάλιν, μετὰ πολλὰ τὰ λαληθέντα καὶ τὴν τοῦ βασιλέως οἷον παραίτησιν, ὡς μηδὲ αὐτὸν θέλειν παρεῖναι, εἰ μή γε τῆς ἐκκλησίας δεσμοὶ ἐξεχώρουν καὶ προσκατηνάγκαζον, καὶ τὸ λοιπὸν πέμπεται μήνυμα, ἀρχιερέων κἀν τούτῳ μεσολαβησάντων καὶ κληρικῶν. Ὡς δὲ καὶ αὖθις ὁ πατριάρχης ἀπεῖπε τὴν ἄφιξιν, προστιθεὶς ὡς· «Τὸ δοκοῦν ὑμῖν ἀπόντος γενέσθω· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἀπαντήσαιμι, κἂν ὅ τι γένοιτο», τότε μετὰ τὴν πολλὴν σκέψιν οἱ ἱεράρχαι, κανόσιν οἷον ἐπερείδε σθαι θέλοντες, εἶχον μὲν καὶ τὸν τῆς φυγοδικίας κανόνα τῶν ἀποστόλων, τὰ πολλὰ σφίσι πρὸς τὸ τὰ δοκοῦντα ἀποφαίνεσθαι συμβαλλόμενον· ὅμως δέ γε ἐν ἀσφαλεῖ βουλόμενοι πράττειν, ἐπεὶ καὶ ἐπὶ πάσης, ὡς εἰπεῖν, τῆς πόλεως ταῦτ' ἔπραττον, τοῦ βασιλέως οἰκονομοῦντος διὰ τὴν τῆς ἀπεχθείας ὑποτρέ χουσαν ὑποψίαν καὶ ἵνα μὴ καὶ αὖθις σχίζοιντο, μαθόντες τὰ γεγονότα, παρί στων καὶ αὖθις ἐπὶ μέσου τὸν Ἑψητόπουλον. Καὶ ὁ λίβελλος καθ' ἓν κεφάλαιον ὑπανεγινώσκετο, καὶ εἰ ἔχει τοὺς μαρτυρήσοντας ἠρωτᾶτο. Ὁ δέ· «Πραγμάτων φανερῶν, εἶπεν, οὐ τόνδε ἢ τόνδε ἀνάγκη εἶναι τὸν μάρτυρα, ἀλλ' ἅμα σύμπαντας, ὅτι καὶ πάντες συνοίδασι γενομένοις.» Ὡς γοῦν ἐκλε γέντες τινὲς ἠρωτήθησαν τῶν τοῦ κλήρου, καὶ μᾶλλον περὶ τοῦ σουλτάν, εἰ 347 συλλιτανεύσας τῷ πατριάρχῃ συγκαθίσειεν, ἀναγινωσκομένου τοῦ θεολογικοῦ λόγου κατὰ τὸ σύνηθες, εὐθὺς ὡμολόγουν οὕτω γενέσθαι· τὸν δὲ σουλτὰν εἰ χριστιανός ἐστιν εἴτε καὶ μή, μὴ εἰδέναι ἔφασκον, τέως δ' ἐκεῖνον τότε χρι στιανὸν νομίζειν ἄντικρυς. Οἱ γοῦν κρίνοντες τοῦτο μόνον λαμβάνειν ἤθελον τὸ συλλιτανεύσαντα καθεσθῆναι, τὸ δ' εἴτε χριστιανὸς εἴτε καὶ μή, αὐτοῖς ἔφασκον ζητητέον εἶναι· καὶ ἐπὶ τούτοις πολλοὶ παρήγοντο μαρτυρήσοντες τὸ σέβας ἐκείνῳ μὴ κατὰ χριστιανοὺς εἶναι, οὐκ οἶδ' εἴτ' ἀληθῶς, εἴτε μὴν καὶ θεραπεύοντες τὸν κρατοῦντα. Τέως δέ γε, ὡς ὕστερον ἡμᾶς πυνθάνεσθαι, τῶν τοιούτων τέλος λαβόντων, ὁ σουλτάν, ἀποστείλας πρὸς τὸν κρατοῦντα, ἐπεὶ παρὰ τὴν αὐτοῦ αἰτίαν μεμαθήκει τὸν πατριάρχην ἐξελαθέντα, σὺν ἄλλοις οἷς ἐμήνυε, καὶ τοῦτο χαριέντως ἢ μᾶλλον καὶ βαθέως ἁπτόμενος προσεμήνυε, ἀξιῶν στεῖλαί οἱ τῶν ἐκείνου διαφερόντως τὰ ἱερὰ περιάμματα, ἃ δὴ καὶ ἐγκόλπια ὁ κοινὸς ὀνομάζει λόγος, καί, εἰ βούλοιτο, καὶ χοίρου ταριχευθέντα μηρόν, ὡς ὀρεγόμενος φάγοι. Καὶ τοῦτ' ἦν τότε τῷ βασιλεῖ περὶ τοῦ πατριάρχου ἔλεγχος ἄντικρυς, τῷ μὲν εἶναι τῶν θείων ἐκτυπωμάτων προσκυνητὴν τὸ σέβας αὐτοῦ παριστῶντος, τῷ δὲ καὶ κρεῶν ὑείων ὀρέγεσθαι τὴν κατὰ χρι στιανοὺς πολιτείαν ἐμφαίνοντος. Τότε δὲ ὡς ἀτελέστου περὶ τοῦ σουλτὰν βουλευομένων ἐκείνων, ἐδόκει κίνδυνος ἐξῆφθαι τῷ πατριάρχῃ. Ἦσαν δ' ἄλλοι οἳ καὶ γλαφυρώτερον ἐπεχείρουν δῆθεν προσεπιτιθέμενοι ταῖς κατηγο ρίαις ὡς, εἴπερ κἀκεῖνος εἰς χριστιανοὺς ἀληθῶς ἐτέλει, τὸ γοῦν περὶ ἐκεῖνον Περσικὸν καλὸν ἦν ἐκτόπως τὸν πατριάρχην φυλάττεσθαι· μηδὲ γὰρ κἀκείνους πάντας χριστιανοὺς εἶναι ἢ καὶ λογίζεσθαι. Ὡς γοῦν πρὸς τὸ τὰ δοκοῦντα ἀποφαίνεσθαι