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to agree, nor to be a sharer with you and the emperor in religion. For even if you happen to be very distinguished and you rule over no small portion of the world, not for this reason must one gratify men, and neglect the faith in the divine, which I would never betray, whether I be condemned to confiscation of property, or exile, or death. Since none of these things will be able to grieve me, seeing that I have for property rags and a few books, and I inhabit the earth as one always passing through, and my body, because of its weakness, after the first blow is beyond sensation and torments.” 6.16.7 When Basil had spoken so frankly, the prefect, admiring the man’s virtue, reported it to the emperor. And he, when the festival of the Theophany was being celebrated, came to the church with the magistrates and bodyguards, and offered gifts at the holy table and entered into conversation with him and praised his wisdom and the decorum and good order concerning the priesthood and the church. 6.16.8 Yet not long after, because of the slander of his adversaries, the decision prevailed that he should dwell in exile. And the night was at hand on which this was determined to happen; and suddenly a fever seized the emperor's son and cast him into a sudden and dange6.16.rous sickness. And the father threw himself on the ground, mourning his son while he was still alive; and being at a loss and striving in every way to have him safe, he allows his household to summon Basil to visit the one lying sick; for he was ashamed to command this himself to one he had recently insulted. As soon as he was present, the boy felt better, so that many at that time asserted that he would not have perished, if he had not also summoned heterodox persons along with Basil to pray for the 6.16.10 child. The story goes that the prefect also fell ill at that time, and by entreating and beseeching him, he became well. But these things perhaps would not seem wonderful when considered in the case of Basil, a most philosophical and God-loving man, who was extraordinarily renowned for his deeds and words. 6.17.1 Being contemporaries, he and Gregory became, so to speak, rivals in virtues. For both, when they were young, studied in Athens under Himerius and Prohaeresius, the most renowned sophists of that time, and after this, in Antioch under Libanius the Syrian; but scorning to be sophists or to plead cases, 6.17.2 they decided to philosophize according to the law of the church. And after spending some time in the studies of the philosophers among the Greeks and after carefully examining the explanations of the sacred scriptures from the works of Origen and of those renowned before and after him in the interpretation of the ecclesiastical books, they became a great help at that time to those of the same 6.17.3 opinion as those who had gathered at Nicaea. For each manfully defended this doctrine against those who held the opinions of Arius, and refuted them as neither thinking correctly on other matters nor on the opinions of Origen, which they especially abu6.17.4sed. And by a common agreement or by lot, as I have learned from some, they divided the dangers. And Basil, going around the cities in Pontus, established many communities of monks there and by teaching the multitudes 6.17.5 he persuaded them to think as he did. And Gregory, having been allotted to be bishop of the small city of Nazianzus after his own father, on this account was constantly visiting elsewhere and especially Constantinople. Not long after, he was entrusted with the leadership of the people here by the vote of many priests; for since there was neither a bishop nor a church here, the doctrine of the synod of Nicaea was in danger of no longer existing in Constantinople. 6.18.1 And when the emperor arrived in Antioch, he completely drove out from the churches here and throughout the surrounding cities those who held the same opinions as those who had assembled at Nicaea, and he afflicted them with all kinds of punishments, so that some even asserted that he killed many of them by other means and by ordering them to be thrown into the 6.18.2 Orontes river. And having learned that there was a famous oratory in Edessa named after Thomas the apostle, he came to visit it.

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συνομολογεῖν, οὐδὲ κοινωνὸς σοί τε καὶ βασιλεῖ τῆς θρησκείας εἶναι. εἰ γὰρ καὶ λίαν ἐπίσημοι τυγχάνετε καὶ οὐκ ὀλίγης τῆς οἰκουμένης ἡγεῖσθε μοίρας, οὐ παρὰ τοῦτο ἀνθρώποις χαριστέον, ὀλιγωρῆσαι δὲ τῆς εἰς τὸ θεῖον πίστεως, ἣν οὐκ ἄν ποτε προδοίην, οὔτε δήμευσιν οὐσίας οὔτε ὑπερορίαν φυγὴν οὔτε θάνατον καταδικασθείς. ἐπεὶ καὶ τούτων οὐδέν με ἀνιᾶν δυνήσεται, εἴ γε οὐσίαν μὲν ἔχω ῥάκη τε καὶ βιβλία ὀλίγα, οἰκῶ δὲ τὴν γῆν ὡς ἀεὶ παροδεύων, σῶμα δέ μοι δι' ἀσθένειαν μετὰ τὴν πρώτην πληγὴν αἰσθήσεως καὶ βασάνων 6.16.7 κρεῖττον.» τοιαῦτα Βασιλείου παρρησιασαμένου θαυμάσας τοῦ ἀνδρὸς τὴν ἀρετὴν ὁ ὕπαρχος ἀνήγγειλε τῷ βασιλεῖ. ὁ δὲ ἐπιτελουμένης τῆς τῶν θεοφανίων ἑορτῆς σὺν τοῖς ἄρχουσι καὶ δορυφόροις εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν παραγενόμενος δῶρά τε τῇ ἱερᾷ τραπέζῃ προσήνεγκε καὶ εἰς λόγους αὐτῷ ἦλθε καὶ σοφίας καὶ τοῦ περὶ τὸ ἱερᾶσθαι καὶ ἐκκλησιάζειν κόσμου τε καὶ εὐταξίας 6.16.8 ἐπῄνεσεν. ἐκράτει δὲ ὅμως οὐκ εἰς μακρὰν ἐκ διαβολῆς τῶν ἐναντίων ὑπερορίαν αὐτὸν οἰκεῖν. καὶ ἡ νὺξ παρῆν καθ' ἣν ἐδόκει τοῦτο γενέσθαι· ἐξαπίνης δὲ πυρετὸς τοῦ βασιλέως τὸν υἱὸν ἐπιλαβὼν εἰς ἀθρόαν καὶ σφαλε6.16. ρὰν νόσον κατέβαλε. καὶ ὁ πατὴρ κατὰ τοῦ ἐδάφους ἔρριπτο ἔτι ζῶντα τὸν παῖδα πενθῶν· ἀμηχανῶν δὲ καὶ πανταχόθεν σῶον αὐτὸν ἔχειν σπουδάζων ἐπιτρέπει τοῖς οἰκείοις μετακαλέσασθαι Βασίλειον εἰς ἐπίσκεψιν τοῦ κειμένου· ἔναγχος γὰρ ὑβρισμένῳ ᾐδεῖτο αὐτὸς περὶ τούτου κελεύειν. ἅμα δὲ παρῆν καὶ ὁ παῖς ῥᾷον ἔσχεν, ὡς πολλοὺς τότε ἰσχυρίζεσθαι ὡς οὐκ ἂν ἀπωλώλει, εἰ μὴ καὶ ἑτεροδόξους ἅμα Βασιλείῳ συνεκάλεσεν ὑπὲρ τοῦ 6.16.10 παιδὸς εὐξομένους. λόγος δὲ καὶ τὸν ὕπαρχον τότε νόσῳ περιπεσεῖν, ἀντιβολοῦντα δὲ καὶ παραιτούμενον αὐτὸν ὑγιᾶ γενέσθαι. ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν οὐ θαυμαστὰ ἴσως δόξειεν ἐπὶ Βασιλείου σκοπούμενα, ἀνδρὸς φιλοσοφωτάτου καὶ θεοφιλοῦς ἔργοις τε καὶ λόγοις ὑπερφυῶς εὐδοκιμήσαντος. 6.17.1 Σύγχρονοι δὲ ὄντες αὐτός τε καὶ Γρηγόριος ὁμόζηλοι ταῖς ἀρεταῖς ὡς εἰπεῖν ἐγένοντο. ἄμφω μὲν γὰρ νέοι ὄντες ῾Ιμερίῳ καὶ Προαιρεσίῳ τοῖς τότε εὐδοκιμωτάτοις σοφισταῖς ἐν ᾿Αθήναις ἐφοίτησαν, μετὰ ταῦτα δὲ ἐν ᾿Αντιοχείᾳ Λιβανίῳ τῷ Σύρῳ· σοφιστεύειν δὲ ἢ δίκας ἀγορεύειν ὑπεριδόντες 6.17.2 φιλοσοφεῖν ἔγνωσαν κατὰ τὸν τῆς ἐκκλησίας νόμον. ἐπί τινα δὲ χρόνον τοῖς μαθήμασι τῶν παρ' ῞Ελλησι φιλοσόφων ἐνδιατρίψαντες καὶ τὰς ἐξηγήσεις τῶν ἱερῶν λόγων ἐξακριβώσαντες ἐκ τῶν ᾿Ωριγένους καὶ τῶν πρὸ αὐτοῦ καὶ μετ' ἐκεῖνον ἐν ταῖς ἑρμηνείαις τῶν ἐκκλησιαστικῶν βιβλίων εὐδοκιμησάντων, μέγα ὄφελος κατὰ τὸν παρόντα καιρὸν ἐγένοντο τοῖς ὁμο6.17.3 δόξοις τῶν ἐν Νικαίᾳ συνεληλυθότων. ἑκάτερος γὰρ ἀνδρείως συνίστατο τούτῳ τῷ δόγματι πρὸς τοὺς τὰ ᾿Αρείου φρονοῦντας, καὶ διήλεγχεν ὡς μήτε τὰ ἄλλα ὀρθῶς φρονοῦντας μήτε τὰς ᾿Ωριγένους δόξας, αἷς μάλιστα ἐπηρεί6.17.4 δοντο. κοινῇ δὲ συνθήκῃ ἢ κλήρῳ, ὡς πρός τινων ἐπυθόμην, τοὺς κινδύνους ἐμερίσαντο. καὶ Βασίλειος μὲν τὰς πρὸς τῷ Πόντῳ περιιὼν πόλεις συνοικίας τε μοναχῶν πολλὰς ἐκεῖσε κατεστήσατο καὶ τὰ πλήθη διδάσκων 6.17.5 ὁμοίως αὐτῷ φρονεῖν ἔπειθε. Γρηγόριος δὲ Ναζιανζοῦ πόλεως μικρᾶς ἐπισκοπεῖν μετὰ τὸν αὐτοῦ πατέρα λαχὼν ἀλλαχῇ τε τούτου χάριν καὶ μάλιστα τῇ Κωνσταντινουπόλει συνεχῶς ἐνεδήμει. οὐ πολλῷ δὲ ὕστερον τοῦ τῇδε λαοῦ προστατεῖν ἐπετράπη ψήφῳ πολλῶν ἱερέων· μήτε γὰρ ἐπισκόπου μήτε ἐκκλησίας οὔσης ἐνθάδε ἐκινδύνευε μηκέτι εἶναι λοιπὸν ἐν Κωνσταντινουπόλει τὸ δόγμα τῆς ἐν Νικαίᾳ συνόδου. 6.18.1 ᾿Επεὶ δὲ εἰς ᾿Αντιόχειαν παρεγένετο ὁ βασιλεύς, παντελῶς ἐξήλασε τῶν τῇδε ἐκκλησιῶν ἀνά τε τὰς πέριξ πόλεις τοὺς ὁμοίως φρονοῦντας τοῖς ἐν Νικαίᾳ συνελθοῦσι, καὶ παντοδαπαῖς ἐπέτριβεν αὐτοὺς τιμωρίαις, ὡς καί τινας ἰσχυρίζεσθαι πολλοὺς αὐτῶν ἀνελεῖν ἄλλοις τε τρόποις καὶ εἰς τὸν 6.18.2 ᾿Ορόντην ποταμὸν ἐμβάλλεσθαι προστάξαντα. μαθὼν δὲ ἐν ᾿Εδέσσῃ εὐκτήριον ἐπιφανὲς εἶναι Θωμᾶ τοῦ ἀποστόλου ἐπώνυμον, ἦλθε τοῦτο ἱστορῆσαι.