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of his patriarchate, Arsenios, knowing well that it was on his account that the former had been exiled in the first place and had deliberately taken up the monastic habit, wished to restore him, having him immediately lay aside his rags, but it was not possible for him to persuade the hierarchs to this. For when that man, having then conferred with the patriarch in private, found him assenting, if only the synod would also agree, he went out from there and decided to put the matter to the test. And so on one of the synodal days, with the patriarch also having agreed, he put on an episcopal mantle and placed the sacred miter on his head and, having seated himself outside, he sought an opportunity to join the synod, which was in session with the patriarch. And when 357 it was announced to the synod that he was waiting and they learned that he was robed as a bishop, they were indignant and did not want to receive him. And when one of them showed his letter, in which he had signed himself Athanasius with his own hands, immediately the patriarch's impulse to help was blunted and his warmth for him happened to grow cold, and for the one who had been checked to give up the attempt and to live from then on without taking action. But these things happened before; but then many of both the monks and the common folk, having separated themselves, gathered by themselves, saying, "Do not touch, nor handle at all, whoever might consent to the deposition of the patriarch or indeed have communion with those who consent." But the emperor, since it was not possible for the church to remain without a shepherd, allowed the bishops to elect the one they thought fit, but he himself, perceiving something profound and wishing to stop the schisms, ordered a general assembly and, when all were gathered in the same place, from the window of his cell, which was indeed fenced around with iron poles, some vertical, some transverse, he began to speak to them with words such as these.

11. Address of the emperor concerning those who were in schism. "I think, O subjects of my empire, that none of you all has come to such a state of madness as to be unable to use himself as a counselor, but rather his neighbor. For though counsel from others is naturally of the greatest assistance to those deliberating—for this is why it is called 'counsel,' because both counsels are brought together to the same point—but this is necessary in those matters where the subject of deliberation is doubtful, so that equally balanced arguments are moved from both sides, whichever one might adopt; but in matters where the opinions are of unequal weight, so that on the one hand what is firm appears along with what is good, and on the other hand what is harmful is clear, it is truly pointless and unprofitable, to disregard one's own familiar reasonings, and to use those of others, in which there is both foolishness and desire; in addition to this, what is foreign is always unfeeling, since everything of one's own is naturally pressing. It is therefore necessary for you also to use your own reasoning first and thus to test that from without. But he who, despising his own, gives himself over to those who reason from without, so as to pay attention 359 to whatever they might bring forth, let such a one know that he is confessedly a fool in himself; for it is certainly characteristic of a fool neither to understand from himself and, even if someone from without should speak, not to know how to distinguish the better and the worse; and so for him there is no benefit even from external counsel. At any rate, you all certainly know what has happened, and nothing of what has occurred has been hidden from you; for it was for this purpose that the gathering of each of you here was arranged, by the command of our majesty. For this also happened at another time; except that the difference in the causes will provide grounds for some to dispute it. For then, when the one in the patriarchal office voluntarily resigned, another was appointed in his place; but now, since he has been deposed on capital charges, as you know, it is reasonable that another be installed. What, at any rate, went wrong in the past, it is best to manage this beforehand for the future. Then, therefore, some of the mob and the uneducated, for whom the disturbance of the church is a delight, infiltrating the houses of the people, made the schism a source of profit from it. And we would have pursued them, if the shortness of the time had not stood in the way both of their disorder and of our prosecution

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αὐτοῦ πατριαρχίας Ἀρσένιος, εὖ εἰδὼς ὡς δι' ἐκεῖνον τὸ πρῶτον ἐξορισθέντα ὑπέδυ τὰ μοναχῶν ἐξεπίτηδες, ἤθελεν ἀνορθοῦν, ἀποθέμενον εὐθέως τὰ ῥάκη, ἀλλ' οὐκ ἐξεγένετό οἱ εἰς τοῦτο καὶ τοὺς ἱεράρχας συμπείθειν. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἐκεῖνος, τότε τῷ πατριάρχῃ κατ' ἰδίαν κοινο λογησάμενος, εὗρεν, εἰ μόνον θελήσοι καὶ ἡ σύνοδος, κατανεύοντα, ἐξελθὼν ἐκεῖθεν, ἔγνω πείρᾳ διδόναι τὸ πρᾶγμα. Καὶ δὴ κατὰ μίαν τῶν συνοδικῶν ἡμερῶν, συνεγνωκότος καὶ τοῦ πατριάρχου, μανδύαν τε ἀρχιερατικὸν περι βάλλεται καὶ ἐπὶ κεφαλῆς τὴν ἱερὰν ἐπιτίθεται κίδαριν καί, καθεσθεὶς ἔξω, καιρὸν ἐζήτει συνελθεῖν τῇ συνόδῳ, τῷ πατριάρχῃ συνεδρευούσῃ. Ὡς δ' 357 ἠγγέλλετο τῇ συνόδῳ τὰ περὶ τούτου περιμένοντος καὶ ἀρχιερατικῶς ἐστολί σθαι ἐμάνθανον, δεινὰ ἐποίουν καὶ οὐκ ἤθελον δέχεσθαι. Ὡς δέ τις ἐκείνων καὶ τὴν ἐπιστολὴν ἐνεφάνιζε τὴν ἐκείνου, ἐν ᾗ ἐπέγραφεν ἑαυτὸν οἰκείαις χερσὶν Ἀθανάσιον, αὐτίκα τῷ μὲν πατριάρχῃ τὴν τοῦ βοηθεῖν ὁρμὴν ἠμβλύ σθαι καὶ τὸ ὑπὲρ ἐκείνου θερμὸν ἐψῦχθαι συνέβαινε, τῷ δ' ἀνακοπέντι καθυφεῖναι τῆς πείρας καὶ ἀπραγμόνως ἐντεῦθεν διάγειν. Ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν πρότερον· τότε δὲ πολλοὶ τῶν τε μοναχῶν καὶ τῆς λαώδους μοίρας ἀποσχισθέντες καθ' αὑτοὺς συνελέγοντο, «μὴ ἅψῃ, μηδὲ θίγῃς τὸ παράπαν, λέγοντες, ὃς ἂν συναινοίη τῇ καθαιρέσει τοῦ πατριάρχου ἢ μὴν κοινωνοίη τοῖς συναινοῦσιν». Ἀλλ' ὁ βασιλεύς, ἐπεὶ οὐκ ἦν τὴν ἐκκλησίαν ἀποίμαντον διαμένειν, τοῖς μὲν ἀρχιερεῦσιν ἐφῆκε ψηφίζεσθαι τὸν σφίσι δοκοῦντα, αὐτὸς δέ, βαθύ τι συνορῶν καὶ ἀναστέλλειν θέλων τὰ σχίσματα, σύναξίν τε κοινὴν παραγγέλλει καί, πάντων ἐν ταὐτῷ συλλε γέντων, ἐκ τοῦ παραθύρου τῆς αὐτοῦ κέλλης, ὃ δὴ καὶ σιδηροῖς, τοῦτο μὲν ὀρθίοις, τοῦτο δ' ἐγκαρσίοις, περιεδρυφακτοῦτο τοῖς κάμαξι, λόγων ἥπτετο πρὸς αὐτοὺς τοιῶνδε.

ιαʹ. ∆ημηγορία τοῦ βασιλέως περὶ τῶν σχιζομένων. «Ἐγὼ νομίζω, ὦ τῆς ἐμῆς βασιλείας ὑπήκοοι, μηδένα τῶν ἁπάντων ὑμῶν ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον ἥκειν φρενοβλαβείας ὥστε μὴ ἑαυτῷ δύνασθαι χρᾶσθαι συμβούλῳ, ἀλλὰ τῷ πέλας. Εἰ γὰρ καὶ ἡ παρὰ τῶν ἄλλων βουλὴ συλλαμβά νειν τὰ πλεῖστα πέφυκε τοῖς βουλευομένοιςταύτῃ γὰρ καὶ συμβουλὴ λέγεται, εἰς ταὐτὸ συναγομένων ἀμφοῖν τῶν βουλῶν, ἀλλ' ἀναγκαῖον τοῦτο ἐφ' ὅσοις ἐπ' ἀμφιβόλῳ κεῖται τὸ βουλευόμενον, ὡς ἀμφοτέρωθεν λογισμοὺς ἰσορρόπους κινεῖσθαι, κἂν ὁποίας τις ἅψηται· ἐφ' ὅσοις δὲ ἑτερορρεπῆ τὰ τῆς δόξης, ὡς ἐντεῦθεν μὲν μετὰ τοῦ καλοῦ καὶ τὸ πάγιον ἀνα φαίνεσθαι, ἐκεῖθεν δὲ δῆλον εἶναι τὸ βλάπτον, εἰκαῖον ὄντως καὶ ἀλυσιτελές, λογισμῶν συντρόφων ὑπερορῶντα, ἀλλοτρίοις χρᾶσθαι, οἷς ἔνι μὲν ἀβουλία, ἔνι δ' ὄρεξις· πρὸς τούτοις καὶ τὸ ξένον ἀεί ποτ' ἀνάλγητον, ὡς παντὸς τοῦ οἰκείου πεφυκότος πιέζειν. ∆εῖ τοίνυν γε καὶ ὑμᾶς τοῖς ἀφ' ἑαυτῶν λογισμοῖς προηγουμένως χρᾶσθαι καὶ οὕτω δοκιμάζειν τοὺς ἔξωθεν. Ὃς δέ, τῶν οἰκείων ὑπερφρονῶν, ἑαυτὸν τοῖς ἔξωθεν λογιζομένοις παρέχει, ὡς, 359 εἴ τι ἂν φέροιεν ἐκεῖνοι, προσέξων, ὁ τοιοῦτος ὁμολογῶν ἴστω ὡς ἄφρων ἐστὶ τὸ καθ' αὑτόν· ἄφρονος δὲ πάντως τὸ μήτ' ἀφ' ἑαυτοῦ συνιέναι καὶ τό, κἄν τις καὶ τῶν ἔξωθεν λέγοι, μὴ διακρίνειν εἰδέναι τὸ κρεῖττόν τε καὶ τὸ χεῖρον· καὶ λοιπὸν οὐδὲ τῆς θυραίας ἐκείνῳ συμβουλῆς ὄφελος. Τὰ γοῦν ξυμπεσόντα οἴδατε πάντως, καὶ οὐδὲν ἐξ ὑμῶν τῶν γενομένων κέκρυπται· ἐπὶ τούτῳ γὰρ καὶ ᾠκονομεῖτο ἡ ἐφ' ἑκάστῳ ὑμῶν ἐνταυθοῖ συνδρομή, οὕτω τοῦ ἡμετέρου κελεύσαντος κράτους. Τοῦτο γὰρ καὶ ἄλλοτε ξυνέβη· πλὴν τὸ ἐπὶ ταῖς αἰτίαις διαλλάττον ἀμφισβητεῖν παρέξει τισί. Τότε μὲν οὖν ἐθελίμου παραιτουμένου τοῦ ἐπὶ τῆς πατριαρχίας ὄντος, ἄλλος ἀντικαθίστατο· νῦν δὲ καὶ ἐπὶ κεφαλαίοις καθαιρεθέντος, ὡς οἴδατε, ἄλλον ἐγκαταστῆναι τὸ εἰκὸς δίδωσιν. Ὃ γοῦν ἐκ τοῦ παρελθόντος ἐσφάλη, τοῦτο πρὸς τὸ μέλλον βέλτιστον προοικονομεῖν. Τότε τοίνυν τινὲς τῶν τῆς ὀχλώδους μοίρας καὶ ἀπαιδεύτων, οἷς ἡ ταραχὴ τῆς ἐκκλησίας ἀσμένισις, παρεισδυόμενοι ταῖς τῶν ἀνθρώπων οἰκίαις, πορισμὸν εἶχον ἐντεῦθεν τὸ σχίσμα. Κἂν μετῇμεν ἐκείνους, εἰ μή γε τὸ βραχὺ τοῦ καιροῦ ἐκείνοις τε τῆς ἀταξίας καὶ ἡμῖν τῆς ἐπεξελεύσεως ἐμποδὼν