142

by which they try to show that the festival of the Passover and of the unleavened bread must by all means be celebrated after the equinox. But I pass over such materials of proof, demanding of those from whom the veil under the law of Moses has been removed, and with unveiled face now at last to reflect always Christ and the teachings and sufferings of Christ. The teachings in Enoch also are demonstrative that the first month among the Hebrews is about the time of the equinox.” 7.32.20 And the same man also left arithmetical introductions in ten whole treatises and other examples of his school and of his great experience in divine things. 7.32.21 Upon him first Theotecnus, the bishop of Caesarea in Palestine, laid hands for the episcopate, pre-ordaining that he would provide a successor for himself after his death for his own parish, and indeed for some short time they both presided over the same church; but when the synod against Paul summoned him to Antioch, as he was passing through the city of the Laodiceans, he was detained by the brethren there, since Eusebius had fallen asleep. 7.32.22 And after Anatolius departed this life, Stephen was appointed, the last of the bishops of the parish there before the persecution, admired by the many for philosophical discourses and the rest of Greek learning, but not similarly disposed with regard to the divine faith, as the progress of the time of the persecution proved, showing the man to be a dissembler rather, and cowardly and unmanly, than a true philosopher. 7.32.23 Yet not on this account were the affairs of the church to be ruined, but they were set aright by God himself, the Savior of all, when Theodotus was immediately shown forth as bishop of the parish there, a man who by his very deeds made true both his proper name and the title of bishop. For in the science of healing bodies he carried off the first prize, but in the healing of souls he was such as no other man, because of the genuineness of his benevolence, his sympathy, and his zeal for the benefit of those who needed him; and he had also much training in divine studies. 7.32.24 Such then was this man. And in Caesarea of Palestine, after Theotecnus had most diligently discharged his episcopal office, Agapius succeeded him. We know that he too labored much and exercised a most genuine providence in the leadership of the people, and with a bounteous hand took care of the poor above all. 7.32.25 In his time we came to know Pamphilus, a most renowned man and a true philosopher in his very life, who had been counted worthy of the presbyterate of the parish there. What sort of man he was and whence he came would be no small subject to declare. But the details of his life and of the school which he established, and his contests in various confessions during the persecution, and the crown of martyrdom which he wove at the end of all, we have treated in a separate work about him. 7.32.26 But this man was most admirable here; and we know of men who became most rare in our own time, Pierius from among the presbyters of Alexandria, and Meletius, a bishop of the churches in Pontus. 7.32.27 But the one was distinguished for a life of extreme poverty and for philosophical studies, being wonderfully trained in contemplation and expositions of divine things and in discourses in the public assembly of the church; and the other, Meletius (the men of learning called him the honey of Attica) was such as one might describe as most perfect in every respect on account of his learning. It is not possible to admire his excellence in rhetoric worthily, but one might say this was his natural gift. But who could surpass his excellence in his other great experience and erudition, 7.32.28 so that, having had only a taste of him, you would have said that he was the most skillful and most learned in all the liberal sciences? And the virtues of his life were on a par with these. This man we observed for seven whole years during the time of the persecution escaping to the regions of Palestine. 7.32.29 And of the church in Jerusalem, after the bishop Hymenaeus mentioned a little before, Zabdas the

142

ὧν παριστάνειν πειρῶνται τὴν τοῦ πάσχα καὶ τῶν ἀζύμων ἑορτὴν δεῖν πάντως μετ' ἰσημερίαν ἄγεσθαι· παρίημι δὲ τὰς τοιαύτας τῶν ἀποδείξεων ὕλας ἀπαιτῶν ὧν περιῄρηται μὲν τὸ ἐπὶ τῷ Μωυσέως νόμῳ κάλυμμα, ἀνακεκαλυμμένῳ δὲ τῷ προσώπῳ λοιπὸν ἤδη Χριστὸν καὶ τὰ Χριστοῦ ἀεὶ κατοπτρίζεσθαι μαθήματά τε καὶ παθήματα. τοῦ δὲ τὸν πρῶτον παρ' Ἑβραίοις μῆνα περὶ ἰσημερίαν εἶναι παραστατικὰ καὶ τὰ ἐν τῷ Ἐνὼχ μαθήματα». 7.32.20 καὶ ἀριθμητικὰς δὲ καταλέλοιπεν ὁ αὐτὸς ἐν ὅλοις δέκα συγγράμμασιν εἰσαγωγὰς καὶ ἄλλα δείγματα τῆς περὶ τὰ θεῖα σχολῆς τε αὐτοῦ καὶ πολυπειρίας. 7.32.21 τούτῳ πρῶτος ὁ τῆς Παλαιστίνων Καισαρείας ἐπίσκοπος Θεότεκνος χεῖρας εἰς ἐπισκοπὴν ἐπιτέθεικεν, διάδοχον ἑαυτοῦ μετὰ τελευτὴν ποριεῖσθαι τῇ ἰδίᾳ παροικίᾳ προμνώμενος, καὶ δὴ ἐπὶ σμικρόν τινα χρόνον ἄμφω τῆς αὐτῆς προύστησαν ἐκκλησίας· ἀλλὰ γὰρ ἐπὶ τὴν Ἀντιόχειαν τῆς κατὰ Παῦλον συνόδου καλούσης, τὴν Λαοδικέων πόλιν παριὼν πρὸς τῶν ἀδελφῶν αὐτόθι κοιμηθέντος Εὐσεβίου κεκράτηται. 7.32.22 καὶ τοῦ Ἀνατολίου δὲ τὸν βίον μεταλλάξαντος, τῆς ἐκεῖσε παροικίας ὕστατος τῶν πρὸ τοῦ διωγμοῦ καθίσταται Στέφανος, λόγων μὲν φιλοσόφων καὶ τῆς ἄλλης παρ' Ἕλλησι παιδείας παρὰ τοῖς πολλοῖς θαυμασθείς, οὐχ ὁμοίως γε μὴν περὶ τὴν θείαν πίστιν διατεθειμένος, ὡς προϊὼν ὁ τοῦ διωγμοῦ καιρὸς ἀπήλεγξεν, εἴρωνα μᾶλλον δειλόν τε καὶ ἄνανδρον ἤπερ ἀληθῆ φιλόσοφον ἀποδείξας τὸν ἄνδρα. 7.32.23 οὐ μὴν ἐπὶ τούτῳ γε καταστρέφειν ἔμελλε τὰ τῆς ἐκκλησίας, ἀνορθοῦται δ' αὐτὰ πρὸς αὐτοῦ θεοῦ τοῦ πάντων σωτῆρος αὐτίκα τῆς αὐτόθι παροικίας ἐπίσκοπος ἀναδειχθεὶς Θεόδοτος, πράγμασιν αὐτοῖς ἀνὴρ καὶ τὸ κύριον ὄνομα καὶ τὸν ἐπίσκοπον ἐπαληθεύσας. ἰατρικῆς μὲν γὰρ σωμάτων ἀπεφέρετο τὰ πρῶτα τῆς ἐπιστήμης, ψυχῶν δὲ θεραπευτικῆς οἷος οὐδὲ ἄλλος ἀνθρώπων ἐτύγχανεν φιλανθρωπίας γνησιότητος συμπαθείας σπουδῆς τῶν τῆς παρ' αὐτοῦ δεομένων ὠφελείας ἕνεκεν, πολὺ δὲ ἦν αὐτῷ καὶ τὸ περὶ τὰ θεῖα μαθήματα συνησκημένον. 7.32.24 οὗτος μὲν δὴ τοιοῦτος ἦν· ἐν Καισαρείᾳ δὲ τῆς Παλαιστίνης Θεότεκνον σπουδαιότατα τὴν ἐπισκοπὴν διελθόντα Ἀγάπιος διαδέχεται· ὃν καὶ πολλὰ καμεῖν γνησιωτάτην τε πρόνοιαν τῆς τοῦ λαοῦ προστασίας ἴσμεν πεποιημένον πλουσίᾳ τε χειρὶ πάντων μάλιστα πενήτων ἐπιμεμελημένον. 7.32.25 κατὰ τοῦτον ἐλλογιμώτατον αὐτῷ τε βίῳ φιλόσοφον ἀληθῆ πρεσβείου τῆς αὐτόθι παροικίας ἠξιωμένον Πάμφιλον ἔγνωμεν· ὃν ὁποῖός τις ἦν καὶ ὅθεν ὁρμώμενος, οὐ σμικρᾶς ἂν γένοιτο δηλοῦν ὑποθέσεως· ἕκαστα δὲ τοῦ κατ' αὐτὸν βίου καὶ ἧς συνεστήσατο διατριβῆς, τούς τε κατὰ τὸν διωγμὸν ἐν διαφόροις ὁμολογίαις ἀγῶνας αὐτοῦ καὶ ὃν ἐπὶ πᾶσιν ἀνεδήσατο τοῦ μαρτυρίου στέφανον, ἐν ἰδίᾳ τῇ περὶ αὐτοῦ διειλήφαμεν ὑποθέσει. 7.32.26 ἀλλ' οὗτος μὲν τῶν τῇδε θαυμασιώτατος· ἐν δὲ τοῖς μάλιστα καθ' ἡμᾶς σπανιωτάτους γενομένους ἴσμεν τῶν μὲν ἐπ' Ἀλεξανδρείας πρεσβυτέρων Πιέριον, Μελέτιον δὲ τῶν κατὰ Πόντον ἐκκλησιῶν ἐπίσκοπον. 7.32.27 ἀλλ' ὃ μὲν ἄκρως ἀκτήμονι βίῳ καὶ μαθήμασιν φιλοσόφοις δεδοκίμαστο, ταῖς περὶ τὰ θεῖα θεωρίαις καὶ ἐξηγήσεσιν καὶ ταῖς ἐπὶ τοῦ κοινοῦ τῆς ἐκκλησίας διαλέξεσιν ὑπερφυῶς ἐξησκημένος· ὁ δὲ Μελέτιος τὸ μέλι τῆς Ἀττικῆς ἐκάλουν αὐτὸν οἱ ἀπὸ παιδείας τοιοῦτος ἦν οἷον ἂν γράψειέν τις τὸν κατὰ πάντα λόγων ἕνεκα τελεώτατον. ῥητορικῆς μέν γε τὴν ἀρετὴν οὐδ' οἷόν τε θαυμάζειν, ἐπαξίως ἀλλὰ τοῦτο μὲν εἶναι αὐτῷ φαίη ἄν τις τὸ κατὰ φύσιν· τῆς δ' ἄλλης πολυπειρίας τε καὶ πολυμαθείας τίς ἂν τὴν ἀρετὴν ὑπερβάλοιτο, 7.32.28 ὅτι δὴ ἐπὶ πάσαις λογικαῖς ἐπιστήμαις τὸν τεχνικώτατον καὶ λογιώτατον, καὶ μόνον πεῖραν αὐτοῦ λαβών, εἶπες ἄν; ἐφάμιλλα δὲ αὐτῷ καὶ τὰ τῆς ἀρετῆς παρῆν τοῦ βίου. τοῦτον κατὰ τὸν τοῦ διωγμοῦ καιρὸν τοῖς κατὰ Παλαιστίνην κλίμασιν διαδιδράσκοντα ἐφ' ὅλοις ἔτεσιν ἑπτὰ κατενοή σαμεν. 7.32.29 τῆς δ' ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις ἐκκλησίας μετὰ τὸν μικρῷ πρόσθεν δεδηλωμένον ἐπίσκοπον Ὑμέναιον Ζαβδᾶς τὴν