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But when the birthday of Christ came, the emperor, as was his custom, did not come to the church; and he declared to John that he would not have communion 8..4 with him until he should appear innocent of the charges. And when he said he was ready to defend himself, his accusers, being afraid, did not dare to press the charges; and it seemed to the judges not to be necessary for one who had been deposed in any way to proceed to a second trial, so they did not investigate any of the other matters; but they demanded that John defend himself on this point alone, that having been deposed, before a synod 8..5 permitted, he had sat on the episcopal throne. But when he put forward the vote of those who had been in communion with him after the first synod, on the grounds that more had voted against him and for this reason a priestly canon forbade it, they did not accept his defense, but deposed him, as he insisted that this was a law of heretics 8..6. For when those of the Arian heresy had slandered Athanasius and taken away the church of the Alexandrians, for fear of a reversal of affairs they enacted these laws, being anxious that the things decreed against him should remain unexamined. 8.21.1 But John, having been deposed, no longer went to church, but remained quiet in the episcopal residence. And as the forty days were already ending, on that very sacred night on which the annual festival is celebrated in memory of the resurrection of Christ, his followers were driven out of the church, as soldiers and his enemies attacked them while they were still administering the mysteries. 8.21.2 This having happened unexpectedly, a great tumult arose around the baptistery, with women being disturbed with lamentation, children crying, and priests and deacons being beaten and driven out by force just as they were dressed. And the other things which were likely to happen in so great a disorder, the initiated are not ignorant of, but I must of necessity be silent, lest some uninitiated person should happen upon this writing 8.21.3. Perceiving the plot, the rest of the multitude, leaving the church on the following day, celebrated the Pascha in a very spacious public bath, named after the emperor Constantius, under bishops and presbyters and other clergy, to whom it is permitted to administer the affairs of the church; 8.21.4 who indeed were with the people, holding the views of John. And having been driven out from there, they assembled before the city in a certain place, which the emperor Constantine, not yet having settled the city, had cleared for the spectacle of a hippodrome, enclosing it with wooden fences; and from that time, sometimes here, sometimes elsewhere, as was possible, they held their own church services and were called Johnites 8.21.5. And about this time a certain man, who was or was thought to be demon-possessed, having a dagger, as if prepared for the murder of John, but not yet having attempted the deed, was discovered; and having been seized by the crowd as one hired for the plot, he was brought before the prefect. But John, sending some of the bishops around him, rescued this man before he was tortured 8.21.6. But afterwards a running slave of Elpidius the presbyter, who happened to be an open enemy of John, burst into the episcopal house. But one of the bystanders, recognizing him, stopped him, asking the reason for his running 8.21.7. But he, answering nothing, immediately struck the man with a small sword, and after him another who came to help at the first man's wound; and he stabbed a third in addition to these. And when those present raised a clamor with a shout, he turned back and escaped. And as his pursuers urged those at a distance to seize the fugitive, a certain man running up, returning from bathing at a bathhouse, 8.21.8 seized him, and receiving a fatal wound, he lay dead. And when, having been surrounded, he was with difficulty overcome by the crowd, they brought him to the palace. And testifying to the plot of those who hated John, they cried out for both the murderer and those who had instigated him to this to be punished. But the prefect, taking him as if to prosecute the case, dispersed the anger of the people. 8.22.1 From that time the more zealous of the people guarded John by night and after

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ἐπιγενομένης δὲ τῆς γενεθλίου ἡμέρας τοῦ Χριστοῦ ὁ μὲν βασιλεύς, ὡς εἰώθει, εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν οὐκ ἦλθεν· ἐδήλωσε δὲ ᾿Ιωάννῃ μὴ κοινωνεῖν 8..4 αὐτῷ πρὶν ἀνεύθυνος φανῇ τῶν ἐγκλημάτων. ἐπεὶ δὲ προθύμως ἀπολογεῖσθαι ἔφη, οἱ δὲ κατήγοροι δείσαντες ἐπεξιέναι τοῖς ἐγκλήμασιν οὐκ ἐθάρρουν, ἐδόκει δὲ τοῖς δικασταῖς μὴ δέον εἰς δευτέραν χωρεῖν κρίσιν τὸν ὁπωσοῦν καθαιρεθέντα, τῶν μὲν ἄλλων οὐδὲν ἐξήταζον· πρὸς τοῦτο δὲ μόνον ἀπολογεῖσθαι τὸν ᾿Ιωάννην ἀπῄτουν, ὅτι καθαιρεθείς, πρὶν ἐπιτρέψαι σύν8..5 οδον, εἰς τὸν ἐπισκοπικὸν ἐκάθισε θρόνον. τοῦ δὲ τὴν ψῆφον τῶν κεκοινωνηκότων αὐτῷ μετὰ τὴν προτέραν σύνοδον προϊσχομένου, ὡς πλειόνων αὐτοῦ καταψηφισαμένων καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἱερατικοῦ κανόνος ἀπαγορεύοντος οὐ προσίεντο τὴν ἀπολογίαν, ἀλλὰ καθεῖλον αὐτόν, ἑτεροδόξων ἐνιστάμενον 8..6 τοῦτον εἶναι νόμον. ἐπεὶ γὰρ οἱ ἀπὸ τῆς ᾿Αρείου αἱρέσεως συκοφαντήσαντες ᾿Αθανάσιον ἀφείλοντο τὴν ᾿Αλεξανδρέων ἐκκλησίαν, δέει τῆς τῶν πραγμάτων μεταβολῆς τάδε ἐνομοθέτησαν, ἀνεξέταστα μένειν τὰ ἐπ' αὐτῷ βεβουλευμένα σπουδάζοντες. 8.21.1 ῾Ο δὲ ᾿Ιωάννης καθαιρεθεὶς οὐκέτι ἐκκλησίαζεν, ἀλλ' ἐν τῷ ἐπισκο-πικῷ καταγωγίῳ ἠρέμει. ἤδη δὲ ληγούσης τῆς τεσσαρακοστῆς, κατ' αὐτὴν τὴν ἱερὰν νύκτα, ἐν ᾗ ἡ ἐτήσιος ἑορτὴ ἐπὶ ἀναμνήσει τῆς ἀναστάσεως τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐπιτελεῖται, ἐξωθοῦνται τῆς ἐκκλησίας οἱ τὰ αὐτοῦ φρονοῦντες, ἐπιθεμένων αὐτοῖς ἔτι μυσταγωγοῦσι στρατιωτῶν καὶ τῶν αὐτοῦ δυσμενῶν. 8.21.2 ἀπροόπτου δὲ τούτου συμβάντος πολὺς περὶ τὸ βαπτιστήριον ἐγένετο θόρυβος, γυναίων μὲν μετ' οἰμωγῆς ταραττομένων, παιδίων δὲ κλαόντων, ἱερέων τε καὶ διακόνων τυπτομένων τε καὶ πρὸς βίαν ὡς εἶχον σχήματος ἐλαυνομένων. τἆλλα δὲ οἷα εἰκὸς ἦν γενέσθαι ἐν ἀταξίᾳ τοσαύτῃ οἱ μυηθέντες οὐκ ἀγνοοῦσιν, ἐγὼ δὲ ἀναγκαίως σιγήσομαι, μὴ καὶ ἀμύητός τις ἐντύχῃ 8.21.3 τῇ γραφῇ. αἰσθόμενοι δὲ τὴν ἐπιβουλὴν καὶ τὸ λοιπὸν πλῆθος τῇ ὑστεραίᾳ καταλιπόντες τὴν ἐκκλησίαν ἐν δημοσίῳ λουτρῷ πολυχωρήτῳ μάλα, Κωνσταντίου τοῦ βασιλέως ἐπωνύμῳ, τὸ πάσχα ἐπετέλεσαν, ὑπὸ ἐπισκόποις καὶ πρεσβυτέροις καὶ λοιποῖς ἄλλοις, οἷς θέμις τὰ περὶ τὴν ἐκκλησίαν διέπειν· 8.21.4 οἳ δὴ τῷ λαῷ συνῆσαν τὰ ᾿Ιωάννου φρονοῦντες. ἐλαθέντες δὲ ἔνθεν συνῆλθον πρὸ τοῦ ἄστεως εἴς τινα χῶρον, ὃν Κωνσταντῖνος ὁ βασιλεὺς μήπω τὴν πόλιν συνοικίσας εἰς ἱπποδρόμου θέαν ἐκάθηρε ξύλοις περιτειχίσας· ἐξ ἐκείνου τε πῇ μὲν ἐνθάδε, πῇ δὲ ἑτέρωθι, ᾗ ἐξῆν, ἰδίᾳ ἐκκλησίαζον καὶ ᾿Ιω8.21.5 αννῖται ὠνομάζοντο. περὶ δὲ τοῦτον τὸν χρόνον ἄνθρωπός τις δαιμονῶν ἢ νομιζόμενος, ἐγχειρίδιον ἔχων ὡς ἐπὶ σφαγὴν ᾿Ιωάννου παρεσκευασμένος, οὔπω δὲ ἐπιχειρήσας τῷ πράγματι, φωρᾶται· καὶ ὑπὸ τοῦ πλήθους ὡς ὠνητὸς εἰς τὴν ἐπιβουλὴν συλληφθεὶς ἄγεται πρὸς τὸν ὕπαρχον. ἐπισκόπους δέ τινας τῶν ἀμφ' αὐτὸν ἀποστείλας ᾿Ιωάννης ἐξείλετο τοῦτον πρὶν αἰκισθῆ8.21.6 ναι. ἐς ὕστερον δὲ καὶ ᾿Ελπιδίου πρεσβυτέρου, ὃς προφανὴς ἐχθρὸς ᾿Ιω-άννου ἐτύγχανε, δοῦλος δρομαῖος εἰς τὸν ἐπισκοπικὸν οἶκον εἰσέβαλεν. ἐπιγνοὺς δέ τις αὐτὸν τῶν παρατυχόντων ἐπέσχε, τοῦ δρόμου τὴν αἰτίαν πυνθα8.21.7 νόμενος. ὁ δὲ μηδὲν ἀποκριθεὶς παραχρῆμα ξιφιδίῳ παίει τὸν ἄνδρα, καὶ μετ' ἐκεῖνον ἕτερον ἐπιβοήσαντα τῇ τοῦ πρώτου πληγῇ· νύττει δὲ καὶ τρίτον ἐπὶ τούτοις. θορυβησάντων δὲ σὺν βοῇ τῶν παρόντων ὑποστρέψας διέφυγε. παρακελευομένων δὲ τῶν διωκόντων τοῖς πόρρωθεν συλλαμβάνεσθαι τὸν φεύγοντα, προσδραμών τις ἐκ βαλανείου λελουμένος ἀναχωρῶν 8.21.8 ἐπελάβετο αὐτοῦ, καὶ καιρίαν πληγεὶς ἔκειτο νεκρός. ἐπεὶ δὲ κυκλωθεὶς μόλις ὑπὸ τοῦ πλήθους ἐκρατήθη, ἄγουσιν αὐτὸν εἰς τὰ βασίλεια. καὶ μαρτυρόμενοι τῶν ἀπεχθανομένων ᾿Ιωάννῃ τὴν ἐπιβουλήν, καὶ τὸν φονέα καὶ τοὺς ἐπὶ τοῦτο ἀναπείσαντας ἐπεβόων τιμωρίαν δοῦναι. παραλαβὼν δὲ τοῦτον ὁ ὕπαρχος ὡς ἐπεξιὼν τῇ δίκῃ διέλυσε τοῦ δήμου τὴν ὀργήν. 8.22.1 ᾿Εξ ἐκείνου δὲ τὸν ᾿Ιωάννην ἐφύλαττον οἱ τοῦ λαοῦ σπουδαιότεροι νύκτωρ καὶ μεθ'