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they denied it and indeed readily gave themselves up for punishment, if they were truly convicted. And they said that to disagree with the high priests was not among the unreasonable things; for when men differ in their actions, it is to be expected that they make their words contrary, except not speaking evil, as they themselves say, and reproaching them for their assent; for each person is master of his own opinion, and what does not seem right to someone today, tomorrow perhaps he will approve and love, not being someone fickle and turning aside at random, but serving reason, and when reasons change to whatever might also seem expedient, they themselves act upon it; and this is what it means not to act against conscience, as we believe. "But as for our being questioned about the matters before us, what need is there even to speak, since first of all, according to the canons, we have no part in the deliberation of these things, being under a high priest and obliged to follow him? Nevertheless, let each one be questioned privately on his own, and perhaps there is no fear, since your majesty is proposing the matter for deliberation, in speaking what comes to mind." 499 Then, therefore, when they were being questioned, one rejected all three points; for he did not understand at all that the church would use one of these alone, but that it was necessary to preserve for those born later what they themselves had received from their predecessors; but if danger threatens, they themselves ought not to worry, except indeed to pray, but the ruler ought not to neglect any of the things pertaining to his care, so that we might otherwise escape the danger without peril. But there were some who granted only the primacy and the right of appeal, as if these things alone could be simulated and have the form and name, but not be put into practice; and that for the pope, who seemed to be in disagreement, to be included in the commemoration—and this over a symbol of faith—was not among the things utterly forbidden. But Xiphilinos, who was the great oikonomos at that time, trusting in his old age and his familiarity with the emperor, even beseeched him, standing and even touching the emperor's knees, not, while seeking to check a foreign war, to devise in addition a private one among ourselves; for not everyone will be at peace, he said, even if we were at peace.

19. How the clergy, being slandered for disloyalty, were harassed. In these circumstances, when that day was finished, the emperor, having waited for some days and learned that the affairs of the church were in turmoil and that one did not accept another, the supposedly unyielding one not accepting the one who had submitted, first, having drafted a tome which had as its aim loyalty to the emperor, he ordered them to sign it, I know not for what need, except to seem to have the signatures of the churchmen, even if the propositions were different. And they readily signed what God said to Abraham: Those who bless you are blessed, and those who curse you are cursed. Then, sending his own men, he searched the house of each one, both the guilty and the innocent. And the pretext was that, since he was the one who had taken the city, among his other possessions the houses were also his alone, and that he was granting these as a favor to the loyal, but for those who were in any way rebellious he was revoking the favor, and that it was just also to demand from the inhabitants the rents for past times. The rents, therefore, were summed up for a long period of time, and immediately all kinds of ornaments and furniture and everything that anyone had were taken as pledges, and what was more, they were judged for confiscation. And transport ships were also being prepared for exiling those who already 501 seemed condemned. Indeed, the terrible things were not just expectations, but some even experienced the terrible things, so that some were banished to Lemnos, others to Skyros, others to Keos and others to the city of Nicaea, and others again were exiled from the city, some unwillingly, others willingly, and others as far as Selymbria and Rhaedestus, and some, too, after resisting within the harbor of Pharos, both submitted and returned.

20. The account concerning the rhetor of the church and the author's lamentation. To these things let the account concerning the rhetor also be added, a thing terrible to see, and terrible to suffer, except it did not happen at this time, but before.

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ἀπηρνοῦντο καί γε σφᾶς πρὸς τιμωρίας ἑτοίμως ἐδίδοσαν, εἰ ἀληθῶς ἐλέγχοιντο. Τὸ δὲ πρὸς τοὺς ἀρχιερεῖς διαφέρεσθαι μὴ εἶναι τῶν ἀπεικότων ἔλεγον· διισταμέ νους γὰρ ταῖς πράξεσι, τοὺς λόγους ἐναντίους ποιεῖσθαι τῶν λίαν ἀκολούθων εἶναι, πλὴν οὐ κακολογοῦντας, ὡς αὐτοί φασι, καὶ τὴν κατάνευσιν ὀνειδί ζοντας σφίσι· γνώμης γὰρ ἰδίας ἕκαστον εἶναι κύριον, καὶ ὃ σήμερον οὐ δοκεῖ τινι, αὔριον ἴσως στέρξειν καὶ ἀγαπήσειν, οὐ παλίμβολόν τινα ὄντα καὶ κατὰ τὸ τυχὸν ἐκτρεπόμενον, ἀλλὰ λογισμοῖς δουλεύοντα, ἐκείνων μετα κλινομένων ἐς ὅ τι καὶ δόξοι συμφέρον καὶ αὐτοὺς πράττειν· καὶ τοῦτο εἶναι τὸ μὴ παρὰ συνείδησιν, ὡς πιστεύομεν. «Τὸ δὲ περὶ τῶν προκειμένων ἡμᾶς ἐρωτᾶσθαι, πρῶτον μὲν ὡς οὐ μετὸν ἡμῖν τῆς περὶ τούτων σκέψεως ἐκ κανόνων, ὑπ' ἀρχιερεῖ τελοῦσι καὶ ὀφείλουσιν ἕπεσθαι, τί χρὴ καὶ λέγειν; Πλὴν ἀλλ' ἕκαστος ἰδίᾳ καθ' αὑτὸν ἐρωτάσθω, καὶ ἴσως φόβος οὐδείς, τῆς σῆς βασιλείας εἰς βουλὴν προτιθείσης τὸ προκείμενον, λέγειν τὸ παριστά μενον.» 499 Τότε τοίνυν ἐρωτωμένων, ὁ μὲν ἀπέλεγε καὶ τὰ τρία· μηδὲ γὰρ κατα λαβεῖν ὅλως τὴν ἐκκλησίαν ἑνὶ τούτων χρησομένην καὶ μόνῳ, χρῆναι δὲ δια τηρεῖν καὶ τοῖς ὀψὲ γενησομένοις ὃ δὴ σφεῖς ἐκ τῶν προτέρων παρέλαβον· εἰ δ' ἐπισείεται κίνδυνος, αὐτοὺς μὲν μὴ χρεὼν φροντίζειν, πλὴν μὴν τοῦ εὔχεσθαι, τὸν δέ γε κρατοῦντα μὴ ἀνιέναι μηδὲν τῶν εἰς μέριμναν ἀνηκόντων, ἐφ' ᾧ ἀκινδύνως τὸν κίνδυνον ἄλλως ἐκφύγοιμεν. Ἦσαν δ' οἳ καὶ πρωτεῖον μόνον ἐδίδουν καὶ ἔκκλητον, ὡς αὐτῶν γε καὶ μόνων οἵων τ' ὄντων ὑπο κριθήσεσθαι καὶ σχῆμ' ἕξειν καὶ ὄνομα, πλὴν τοῦ πράττεσθαι· μνημοσύνου δὲ μετεῖναι τῷ πάπᾳ δοκοῦντι διαφέρεσθαι, ἐπὶ συμβόλῳ καὶ ταῦτα πίστεως, μὴ καὶ τῶν λίαν ἀπειρημένων ἦν. Ὁ δὲ Ξιφιλῖνος, μέγας ὢν οἰκονόμος τῷ τότε, τῷ γήρᾳ τε καὶ τῇ πρὸς βασιλέα συνηθείᾳ πιστεύων, καὶ προσελιπάρει, σταθεὶς καί γε τῶν γονάτων τοῦ βασιλέως ἁπτόμενος, μή, ζητῶν ἀναχαι τίζειν ἀλλότριον πόλεμον, ἴδιον καθ' ἡμᾶς αὐτοὺς προσεπινοεῖν· μηδὲ γὰρ εἰρηνεύσειν πάντας, κἂν ἡμεῖς, φησίν, εἰρηνεύσαιμεν.

ιθʹ. Ὅπως, εἰς δύσνοιαν διαβαλλόμενοι, οἱ κληρικοὶ ἠνοχλοῦντο. Ἐν τούτοις τῆς ἡμέρας τελεσθείσης ἐκείνης, ἐπισχὼν ἐφ' ἡμέραις ὁ βασιλεὺς καὶ μαθὼν ὡς ἐν κλύδωνι τὰ τῆς ἐκκλησίας εἰσὶ καὶ εἷς τὸν ἕνα οὐ παραδέχεται, ὁ δῆθεν ἀνένδοτος τὸν ὑποκλιθέντα, πρῶτον μὲν σχεδιάσας τόμον, σκοπὸν τὴν πρὸς βασιλέα εὔνοιαν ἔχοντα, ἐκέλευεν ὑπογράφειν, οὐκ οἶδ' ἐπὶ ποίαν χρείαν, πλὴν τοῦ δόξαι σχεῖν τῶν τῆς ἐκκλησίας ὑπο σημάνσεις, κἂν αἱ ὑποθέσεις τὸ διάφορον εἶχον. Κἀκεῖνοι προθύμως ὑπέ γραφον τὸ πρὸς τὸν Ἀβραὰμ τοῦ Θεοῦ· Οἱ εὐλογοῦντές σε εὐλογημένοι, καὶ οἱ καταρώμενοί σε κεκατήρανται. Ἔπειτα πέμψας τοὺς ἰδίους, οἰκίαν ἑκάστου κατεψηλάφα, ὅς τ' αἴτιος ὅς τε καὶ οὐκί. Καὶ ἡ πρόφασις, ὡς αὐτὸν μὲν εἶναι τὸν κατασχόντα τὴν πόλιν καὶ πρὸς τοῖς ἄλλοις αὐτοῦ καὶ μόνου καὶ τὰς οἰκίας εἶναι, ἀποχαρίζεσθαι δὲ ταύτας τοῖς εὐνοοῦσι, τοῖς δὲ κατά τι ἀφηνιάζουσι καὶ τὴν χάριν ἀνατρέπειν, δίκαιον δ' εἶναι καὶ τὰ τῶν ὄπισθεν χρόνων ἀναζητεῖν τοὺς ἐνοικοῦντας τὰ ἐποίκια. Ἀνεκεφαλαιοῦντο τοίνυν ἐπὶ χρόνοις εἰς πολὺ τὰ ἐποίκια, καὶ ἐνεχυράζοντο παραυτίκα κόσμιά τε παντοῖα καὶ ἔπιπλα καὶ πᾶν ὅ τί τις εἶχε, καὶ τὸ μεῖζον ἐκρίνοντο καὶ εἰς καθοσίωσιν. Ἡτοιμάζοντο δὲ καὶ φορτίδες τοῦ ἐξορίζεσθαι τοὺς ἤδη 501 κατακρίτους δοκοῦντας. Οὐ μὴν δὲ καὶ μέχρις ἐλπισμῶν τὰ δεινὰ ἦσαν, ἀλλὰ καὶ πείρᾳ τινὲς τῶν δεινῶν μετεῖχον, ὡς τοὺς μὲν εἰς Λῆμνον, τοὺς δ' ἐς Σκῦρον, ἄλλους δ' ἐς Κέω καὶ ἄλλους ἐς Νικαίας πόλιν περιορίζεσθαι, ἄλλους δ' αὖθις τῆς πόλεως, τοὺς μὲν ἀκουσίως, τοὺς δ' ἑκοντάς, ἐξο ρίζεσθαι, ἄλλους δὲ μέχρι Σηλυβρίας καὶ Ῥαιδεστοῦ, τινὰς δὲ καί, ἐντὸς τοῦ κατὰ τὸν Φάρον λιμένος γνωσιμαχήσαντας, ὑποκλῖναί τε καὶ ὑπο στρέψαι.

κʹ. Τὸ κατὰ τὸν ῥήτορα τῆς ἐκκλησίας διήγημα καὶ τοῦ συγγραφέως σχετλίασις. Τούτοις προσκείσθω καὶ τὸ κατὰ τὸν ῥήτορα διήγημα, φοβερὸν ὂν ἰδεῖν, φοβερὸν δὲ καὶ παθεῖν, πλὴν οὐκ ἐπὶ τούτου τοῦ καιροῦ γεγονός, ἀλλὰ πρότερον.