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being bishop for days, "I am not reaching the third," he said. Since he continually wore white clothing, someone from the catholic church mocked him; but he said to him, "Then tell me, where is it said that one must be clothed in black raiment"; and when the man was at a loss, he responded and said: "You would not be able to show this; but to me Solomon the wisest advises, saying, 'Let your garments be always white,' and Christ himself, appearing in white robes in the gospels, shows Moses and Elijah as such to the apost8.1.13 les." But I also think that other of Sisinnius's sayings was witty. For Leontius, bishop of Ancyra in Galatia, was staying in Constantinople; and since a church of the Novatians there had been taken away, he came 8.1.14 to him, begging to get it back. But when he would not give it back, but reviled the Novatians as unworthy to hold church, saying that they abolish repentance and the loving-kindness from God, "But indeed," said Sisinnius, "no one repents as I do." And when Leontius asked in what way, he replied, "Because 8.1.15 I have seen you." And they relate many other apt sayings of his, and they say that many of his discourses were not ungraceful; but he was praised more for his speaking, as he was capable of captivating the listener by performing most excellently with his voice and glance and most charming countenance. But of what sort this man was, let these things have been said as proof of the nature, training, and life which he obtained. 8.2.1 About this time, when Nectarius died and there was deliberation about whom it was necessary to ordain, some voted for some, others for others, and not all 8.2.2 held the same opinion, and time was being wasted. Now there was a certain presbyter in Antioch on the Orontes, John by name, of noble birth, good in his life, skilled in speaking and persuading and surpassing the orators of his time, as Libanius the Syrian sophist testified; for when he was about to die, and his associates asked who would be in his place, he is said to have named John, 8.2.3 if the Christians had not stolen him. And he benefited most of his hearers in the church towards virtue and made them of one mind with him concerning the divine. For by living a godly life he inspired in his listeners a zeal springing from his own virtue; and he was readily believed, as one who did not compel them by some art and power of speech to think similarly to him, but as one who expounded the sacred books with since8.2.4 rity as the truth holds. For speech adorned by deeds rightly appears worthy of belief, but without these it shows the speaker to be an imposter and an accuser of his own words, even if he is zealous in teaching. But he had the added quality of being esteemed in both respects; for he practiced a sober conduct of life and 8.2.5 a precise regimen, and a clear expression of speech with brilliance; for he was well-endowed by nature, and he had as teachers Libanius for rhetorical exercise, and Andragathius for philosophical discourses. But having been expected to plead cases in court and to pursue this way of life, he decided to practice 8.2.6 the sacred books and to be a philosopher according to the rule of the church. And for this philosophy he had as teachers those who then presided over the famous ascetic houses there, Carterius and Diodore who was head of the church in Tarsus; whom I have learned left behind many books of his own writings, and made his expositions on the literal sense of the sacred words, avoiding allegorical interpretations. 8.2.7 And not only did he frequent their company, but he also persuaded Theodore and Maximus, who had become his companions from the school of Libanius, to be of the same mind; of whom the one later became bishop of Seleucia in Isauria, while Theodore became bishop of Mopsuestia in Cilicia, a man sufficiently skilled both in the sacred books and in the other 8.2.8 learning of orators and philosophers. But this man, when he first encountered the divine laws and conversed with holy men, praised this way of life and condemned that of the city; but he did not continue having the same zeal, but having changed his mind, towards his former way of life

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ἡμέρας ἐπίσκοπος ὤν «ὅτι μὴ τρίτον», ἔφη, «φθάνω.» ἐπεὶ δὲ λευκῇ ἐσθῆτι διετέλει χρώμενος, ἐπέσκωψέ τις αὐτῷ τῶν ἀπὸ τῆς καθόλου ἐκκλησίας· ὁ δὲ πρὸς αὐτόν «οὐκοῦν εἰπέ, ποῦ εἴρηται ἐσθῆτα μέλαιναν χρῆναι ἀμφιέννυσθαι»· τοῦ δὲ ἀπορήσαντος ὑπολαβὼν ἔφη· «σὺ μὲν οὐκ ἂν τοῦτο ἐπιδεῖξαι δυνήσῃ· ἐμοὶ δὲ καὶ Σολομῶν ὁ σοφώτατος «ἔστωσάν σου τὰ ἱμάτια ἀεὶ λευκά» παραινεῖ λέγων, καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ Χριστὸς λευχείμων ἐν τοῖς εὐαγγελίοις φαινόμενος Μωσῆν τε καὶ ᾿Ηλίαν τοιούτους τοῖς ἀποστό8.1.13 λοις ἐπιδεικνύς.» οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ κἀκεῖνο τῶν εἰρημένων Σισιννίῳ χάριεν οἶμαι. ἐνεδήμει μὲν γὰρ τῇ Κωνσταντινουπόλει Λεόντιος ὁ παρὰ Γαλάταις ᾿Αγκύρας ἐπίσκοπος· ἐκκλησίας δὲ τῶν ἐκεῖσε Ναυατιανῶν ἀφῃρημένης ἧκε 8.1.14 πρὸς αὐτὸν ἀπολαβεῖν ταύτην δεόμενος. ἐπεὶ δὲ οὐκ ἀπεδίδου, ἐλοιδόρει δὲ τοὺς Ναυατιανοὺς ὡς οὐκ ἀξίους ἐκκλησιάζειν, μετάνοιαν καὶ τὴν ἐκ θεοῦ φιλανθρωπίαν ἀναιρεῖν αὐτοὺς λέγων, «ἀλλὰ μήν», ἔφη Σισίννιος, «οὐδεὶς οὕτως ὡς ἐγὼ μετανοεῖ.» ἐρομένου δὲ Λεοντίου τίνα τρόπον «ὅτι 8.1.15 σε τεθέαμαι» ἀπεκρίνατο. καὶ ἕτερα δὲ πολλὰ αὐτοῦ εὐστόχως εἰρημένα ἀπομνημονεύουσιν, οὐκ ἀκόμψους τε πολλοὺς αὐτοῦ λόγους φέρεσθαί φασιν· ἐπῃνεῖτο δὲ μᾶλλον λέγων, ὡς ἄριστα ὑποκρινόμενος φωνῇ τε καὶ βλέμματι καὶ χαριεστάτῳ προσώπῳ τὸν ἀκροατὴν ἑλεῖν ἱκανός. ἀλλ' οἷος μὲν ἦν οὗτος ὁ ἀνήρ, τάδε εἰρήσθω εἰς ἀπόδειξιν ἧς ἔλαχε φύσεως ἀγωγῆς τε καὶ βίου. 8.2.1 Περὶ δὲ τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον Νεκταρίου τελευτήσαντος καὶ βουλῆς οὔσης, τίνα δέοι χειροτονεῖν, ἄλλοι μὲν ἄλλους ἐψηφίζοντο καὶ οὐ ταὐτὰ πᾶσιν 8.2.2 ἐδόκει, καὶ ὁ χρόνος ἐτρίβετο. ἦν δέ τις ἐν ᾿Αντιοχείᾳ τῇ παρ' ᾿Ορόντῃ πρεσβύτερος ὄνομα ᾿Ιωάννης, γένος τῶν εὐπατριδῶν, ἀγαθὸς τὸν βίον, λέγειν τε καὶ πείθειν δεινὸς καὶ τοὺς κατ' αὐτὸν ὑπερβάλλων ῥήτορας, ὡς καὶ Λιβάνιος ὁ Σύρος σοφιστὴς ἐμαρτύρησεν· ἡνίκα γὰρ ἔμελλε τελευτᾶν, πυνθανομένων τῶν ἐπιτηδείων, τίς ἀντ' αὐτοῦ ἔσται, λέγεται εἰπεῖν ᾿Ιωάννην, 8.2.3 εἰ μὴ Χριστιανοὶ τοῦτον ἐσύλησαν. πλείστους δὲ τῶν αὐτοῦ ἀκουόντων ἐπ' ἐκκλησίας εἰς ἀρετὴν ὠφέλησε καὶ ὁμόφρονας αὐτῷ περὶ τὸ θεῖον ἐποίησε. θείως γὰρ πολιτευόμενος τὸν ἐκ τῆς οἰκείας ἀρετῆς ἐνετίθει ζῆλον τοῖς ἀκροαταῖς· καὶ ἐπιστοῦτο ῥᾳδίως, ὡς οὐ τέχνῃ τινὶ καὶ δυνάμει λόγου βιάζεται παραπλήσια δοξάζειν αὐτῷ, ἀλλ' ὡς ἔχει ἀληθείας εἰλι8.2.4 κρινῶς τὰς ἱερὰς ἐξηγεῖτο βίβλους. λόγος γὰρ ὑπὸ τῶν ἔργων κοσμούμενος πίστεως ἄξιος εἰκότως φαίνεται, ἄνευ δὲ τούτων εἴρωνα καὶ τῶν οἰκείων λόγων κατήγορον ἀποφαίνει τὸν λέγοντα, κἂν σπουδάζῃ διδάσκων. τῷ δὲ κατ' ἀμφότερα εὐδοκιμεῖν προσῆν· ἀγωγῇ μὲν γὰρ βίου σώφρονι καὶ 8.2.5 πολιτείᾳ ἀκριβεῖ ἐχρῆτο, φράσει δὲ λόγου σαφεῖ μετὰ λαμπρότητος· φύσεώς τε γὰρ εὖ ἔσχε, διδασκάλους δὲ τῆς μὲν περὶ τοὺς ῥήτορας ἀσκήσεως Λιβάνιον, ᾿Ανδραγάθιον δὲ τῶν περὶ φιλοσοφίας λόγων. προσδοκηθεὶς δὲ δίκας ἀγορεύσειν καὶ τοῦτον μετιέναι τὸν βίον, ἐγνώκει τὰς ἱερὰς ἀσκεῖσθαι 8.2.6 βίβλους καὶ κατὰ θεσμὸν τῆς ἐκκλησίας φιλοσοφεῖν. ταύτης δὲ τῆς φιλοσοφίας διδασκάλους ἔσχε τοὺς τότε προεστῶτας τῶν τῇδε περιφανῶν ἀσκητηρίων, Καρτέριόν τε καὶ ∆ιόδωρον τὸν ἡγησάμενον τῆς ἐν Ταρσῷ ἐκκλησίας· ὃν ἐπυθόμην ἰδίων συγγραμμάτων πολλὰς καταλιπεῖν βίβλους, περὶ δὲ τὸ ῥητὸν τῶν ἱερῶν λόγων τὰς ἐξηγήσεις ποιήσασθαι, τὰς θεωρίας ἀποφεύγοντα. 8.2.7 οὐ μόνος δὲ παρὰ τούτους ἐφοίτα, ἔπεισε δὲ τῆς αὐτῆς γνώμης εἶναι ἑταίρους αὐτῷ γενομένους ἐκ τῆς Λιβανίου διατριβῆς Θεόδωρόν τε καὶ Μάξιμον· ὧν ὁ μὲν ὕστερον ἐπίσκοπος ἐγένετο Σελευκείας τῆς ᾿Ισαύρων, Μόμψου δὲ ἑστίας τῆς Κιλίκων Θεόδωρος, ἀνὴρ καὶ τῶν ἱερῶν βίβλων καὶ τῆς ἄλλης 8.2.8 παιδείας ῥητόρων τε καὶ φιλοσόφων ἱκανῶς ἐπιστήμων. ἀλλ' οὗτος μέν, ἡνίκα τὴν ἀρχὴν ἐνέτυχε τοῖς θείοις νόμοις καὶ ἱεροῖς ἀνδράσιν ὡμίλησεν, ἐπῄνεσε ταύτην τὴν ἀγωγὴν καὶ κατέγνω τῶν ἀστικῶν· οὐ διήρκεσε δὲ τὴν αὐτὴν προθυμίαν ἔχων, μεταμεληθεὶς δὲ πρὸς τὸν πρότερον βίον