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And for many years he continued doing this, sleeping on the ground and on a mat, and resting for a short time of the night, he spent the greater part in the study of the sacred oracles, pressing on in these things. And by pressing himself with fasting and sleeplessness and nakedness he so subdued the vigor of his body that he was seen to be completely withered; for abstaining from wine and oil and the rest he suffered a great collapse of his chest. From this, indeed, becoming 1.444 famous as being pre-eminent in deed and word, having persuaded many Greeks to loathe idolatry, he prepared them to be crowned with the crown of martyrdom. Since, therefore, a great reputation was spreading about him and many were flocking to him from afar, he not only drew notable Greek philosophers and heretics to piety, but also further instructing those who were Christians, he confirmed them. whom the aforesaid Ambrose, having besought and compelled him much in Caesarea, and having provided him with seven or more stenographers and calligraphers, made him interpret the divine scriptures. And the one provided him with the necessary support, while the other, at his leisure, dictated to the stenographers, and the scribes, along with women, wrote, having been trained in calligraphy. And he interpreted all of divine scripture over 18 years. And it is said that he composed six thousand books. For Ambrose showed such zeal for the exegesis of the divine oracles, that Origen, testifying to his great diligence, writes to someone, saying "The sacred Ambrose, genuinely dedicated to God, greets you much, who, thinking me to be industrious and very thirsty for the divine word, has put me to shame by his own industry with his love for the holy teachings. For this reason he has so overwhelmed me that I am in danger of giving up in the face of his proposals. For it is not possible for us to dine while comparing texts, nor, after dining, is it permitted to walk about and rest our bodies, but even in those moments we are forced to 1.445 study and correct the manuscripts. Nor, indeed, is it permitted for us to sleep the whole night for the care of the body, as the study extends far into the evening. I omit to speak of the time from dawn until the ninth, and sometimes even the tenth hour; for all those who wish to be industrious dedicate those times to the examination of the divine oracles and to readings." Having therefore interpreted all the divine scripture, he died at the age of 69. Concerning whom also the great Epiphanius in his *Panarion* says: "While Ambrose provided sufficient things for nourishment for him and for the scribes and for the servants, and papyrus and the other expenses, Origen, in sleepless nights and extraordinary disciplines and with the greatest leisure, accomplishing the labor concerning the scripture, and the man, with labor, has ambitiously produced the whole so-called treatise of the Hexapla and the rest. For not only did he gather together the notable editions, but also, having come across a fifth and a sixth in Jericho in a certain jar during these times, he arranged these. Therefore, having gathered them all together, and having divided and set them side-by-side with one another along with the Hebrew text itself, he constructed the copies of the so-called Hexapla very skillfully and knowledgeably from great experience." But his glory did not remain unquenchable to the end. For the very energy of his great experience resulted in an extraordinary fall for him, and indeed he became a scandal to many and an agent of destruction. For 1.446 wishing to leave nothing of the divine scriptures unexplained, he enveloped himself in the inducement of sin and interpreted deadly words. For from him also Arius took his starting points, and those after him, the Anomoeans and the impious and all the rest. For this one asserts, having dared in the beginning, that the only-begotten Son is not able to see the Father, nor the Holy Spirit the Son, nor the angels the Spirit, nor men the angels. and from

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καὶ ἐν πολλοῖς ἔτεσι τοῦτο ποιῶν διετέλει, καὶ ἐπ' ἐδάφους καὶ ψιάθῳ καθεύδων καὶ ὀλίγον καιρὸν τῆς νυκτὸς ἀναπαυόμενος τὸν πλείονα εἰς τὴν μελέτην τῶν ἱερῶν λογίων διήνυεν, ἐν τούτοις ἐπεκτεινόμενος. ἐπί τε ἀσιτίᾳ καὶ ἀγρυπνίᾳ καὶ γυμνότητι ἑαυτὸν πιέζων τοσοῦτον κατεδάμασε τὴν ἀκμὴν τοῦ σώματος ὡς ὁρᾶσθαι παντελῶς αὐτὸν ἀπεσκληκέναι· οἴνου γὰρ καὶ ἐλαίου καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν ἀπεχόμενος ἀνατροπὴν τοῦ θώρακος μεγίστην ὑπέμεινεν. ἔνθεν γέ τοι δια 1.444 βόητος γενόμενος ὡς διαπρέπων ἔργῳ καὶ λόγῳ, πολλοὺς Ἕλλη νας τὴν εἰδωλομανίαν βδελύττεσθαι πείσας μαρτυρίου στέφανον ἀναδήσασθαι παρεσκεύασε. πολλῆς οὖν φήμης περὶ αὐτοῦ τρε χούσης καὶ πολλῶν μακρόθεν πρὸς αὐτὸν συρρυέντων, οὐ μόνον Ἕλληνας φιλοσόφους καὶ αἱρετικοὺς ἐλλογίμους πρὸς εὐσέβειαν εἵλκυσεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς ὄντας Χριστιανοὺς μᾶλλον στοιχειώσας ἐπεβεβαίωσεν. ὃν ὁ προλεχθεὶς Ἀμβρόσιος ἱκετεύσας πολλὰ καὶ παραβιασάμενος ἐν Καισαρείᾳ, καὶ ταχυγράφους μὲν αὐτῷ παρα στήσας ἑπτὰ πλείους δὲ καλλιγράφους, ἑρμηνεῦσαι τὰς θείας γραφὰς αὐτὸν πεποίηκε. καὶ ὁ μὲν τὴν δέουσαν χρείαν αὐτῷ παρεῖχεν, ὁ δὲ ἐπὶ σχολῆς γενόμενος ὑπηγόρευσε τοῖς ταχυγράφοις, καὶ οἱ βιβλιογράφοι σὺν γυναιξὶν ἔγραφον, καλλιγραφεῖν ἐξησκη μένοι. πᾶσάν τε θείαν γραφὴν ἡρμήνευσεν ἐπὶ ἔτη ιηʹ. λέγεται δὲ ὅτι ἑξακισχιλίας βίβλους συνέταξε. τοσοῦτον γὰρ ζῆλον εἰς τὴν ἐξήγησιν τῶν θείων λόγων ὁ Ἀμβρόσιος ἐπεδείκνυτο, ὥστε τὴν πολλὴν αὐτοῦ σπουδὴν Ὠριγένης μαρτυρῶν γράφει πρός τινα λέ γων "ὁ ἱερὸς καὶ θεῷ γνησίως ἀνακείμενος Ἀμβρόσιος πολλὰ προσαγορεύει σε, ὅστις νομίζων με φιλόπονον εἶναι καὶ πάνυ διψᾶν τοῦ θείου λόγου ἤλεγξε τῇ ἰδίᾳ φιλοπονίᾳ τῷ πρὸς τὰ ἅγια μαθή ματα ἔρωτι. ὅθεν ἐπὶ τοσοῦτόν με παρελήλυθεν ὥστε κινδυνεύειν ἀπαυδᾶν πρὸς τὰς αὐτοῦ προτάσεις. οὔτε γὰρ δειπνῆσαι ἔστιν ἡμῖν ἀντιβάλλουσιν, οὔτε δειπνήσασιν ἔξεστι περιπατῆσαι καὶ διαναπαῦσαι τὰ σώματα, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν τοῖς καιροῖς ἐκείνοις φιλο 1.445 λογεῖν καὶ ἀκριβοῦν τὰ ἀντίγραφα ἀναγκαζόμεθα. οὔτε μὴν ὅλην ἐπὶ θεραπείᾳ τοῦ σώματος τὴν νύκτα ἔξεστιν ἡμῖν κοιμᾶσθαι, ἐπὶ πολὺ τῆς ἑσπέρας τῆς φιλολογίας παρατεινούσης. ἐῶ δὲ λέγειν καὶ τὰ ἕωθεν μέχρι τῆς θʹ, ἔσθ' ὅτε καὶ δεκάτης ὥρας· πάντες γὰρ οἱ θέλοντες φιλοπονεῖν τοὺς καιροὺς ἐκείνους τῇ ἐξετάσει τῶν θείων λογίων καὶ ταῖς ἀναγνώσεσιν ἀνατιθέασι." πᾶσαν τοίνυν ἑρμηνεύσας τὴν θείαν γραφὴν ἐτελεύτησεν ἐτῶν ξθʹ. περὶ οὗ καὶ ὁ μέγας Ἐπιφάνιος ἐν τοῖς Παναρίοις λέγει "τοῦ μὲν Ἀμβροσίου τὰ πρὸς τροφὴν αὐτῷ τε καὶ τοῖς ὀξυγράφοις καὶ τοῖς ὑπηρετοῦσιν ἐξαρκοῦντος, χάρτας τε καὶ τἆλλα τῶν ἀναλωμάτων, τοῦ δὲ Ὠρι γένους ἔν τε ἀγρυπνίαις καὶ πολιτείαις ὑπερβαλλούσαις καὶ σχολῇ μεγίστῃ τὸν περὶ τῆς γραφῆς διανύοντος κάματον, καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν καλουμένην τῶν ἑξαπλῶν πραγματείαν καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν ὁ ἀνὴρ μετὰ καμάτου πεφιλοτίμηται. οὐ μόνον γὰρ τὰς ἐπισήμους ἐκ δόσεις κατὰ ταὐτὸν συνήγαγεν, ἀλλὰ καὶ πέμπτην καὶ ἕκτην κατὰ τοὺς χρόνους τούτους ἐν Ἰεριχὼ παρατυχὼν ἔν τινι πίθῳ, ταύτας συνέταξεν. ἐπὶ ταὐτὸν οὖν πάσας συναγαγών, διελὼν δὲ καὶ ἀντι παραθεὶς ἀλλήλων μετὰ αὐτῆς τῆς Ἑβραίων σημειώσεως τὰ τῶν λεγομένων ἑξαπλῶν ἀντιγράφων εὐφυῶς μάλα καὶ ἐπιστημόνως ἐκ πολυπειρίας κατεσκεύασεν." Ἀλλ' οὐκ εἰς τέλος ἄσβεστον αὐτοῦ τὸ κλέος διέμεινε. συμ βέβηκε γὰρ αὐτῷ τὸ τῆς πολυπειρίας δραστήριον πτῶμα ἐξαίσιον, καὶ μέντοι σκάνδαλον πολλοῖς καὶ ἀπωλείας πρόξενος γέγονε. βου 1.446 λόμενος γὰρ μηδὲν ἐᾶσαι τῶν θείων γραφῶν ἀνεξήγητον, εἰς ἐπα γωγὴν ἑαυτὸν περιέβαλεν ἁμαρτίας καὶ θανάσιμα ἐξηγήσατο ῥή ματα. ἐξ αὐτοῦ γὰρ καὶ Ἄρειος τὰς ἀφορμὰς εἴληφε καὶ οἱ καθε ξῆς ἀνόμοιοί τε καὶ ἀνόσιοι καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ πάντες. φάσκει γὰρ οὗτος τολμήσας κατὰ τὴν ἀρχὴν ὅτι ὁ μονογενὴς υἱὸς ὁρᾶν τὸν πατέρα οὐ δύναται, οὔτε τὸν υἱὸν τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον, οὔτε οἱ ἄγγελοι τὸ πνεῦμα, οὔτε οἱ ἄνθρωποι τοὺς ἀγγέλους. καὶ ἐκ