207

they proclaimed together with Volusianus, the son of Decius; who also reigned according to Dexippus for 18 months, having done nothing noteworthy, but according to some others for 3 years, and according to others for 2 years. They were slain, having been betrayed by their own forces in the Forum of Flaminius, holding to the same evil ways as Decius, as the blessed Dionysius, bishop of Alexandria, somewhere says, writing to Hermammon concerning Gallus: but neither did that man recognize the evil of Decius, nor did he foresee what had tripped that man up, but he stumbled against the same stone that had been before his eyes; who, when his reign was prosperous and matters were proceeding according to his mind, drove away the holy men who were interceding with our God for his peace and health. Therefore, with them he persecuted also the prayers on his behalf. In these times the great and wonderworking Gregory was resplendent in the perfection of the philosophy according to Christ, of whom Eusebius of Caesarea, I know not for what reason, although having dwelt upon unreasonable encomiums for the impious Origen, 460 has not made a suitable mention, of him who was renowned throughout the whole world, shining forth with divine words and wonders, so as even to command demons themselves as if they were slaves, through his great boldness toward God and the purity of his life and speech. But I think Eusebius was silent about the greatness of the divine virtue of the wonderworking and God-bearing Gregory because of the integrity of his doctrines everywhere and their foreignness to the nonsense of Origen and the blasphemies of Arius, by which Eusebius had been corrupted. The same Eusebius also was silent about the martyrdom of Cyprian, the great bishop and martyr of Carthage in Libya, representing him as being still alive in the time of Gallus and Volusianus and as having convened the synod in Carthage against those who did not accept that some from the heresies should be rebaptized, an ancient custom, he says, having prevailed in the church to purify these people by the laying on of hands and by prayer alone. But the most theological Gregory of Nazianzus, in his oration on Cyprian, says that he was perfected in the time of Decius. Eusebius says that Origen died in the time of Gallus, being in his seventieth year, having clearly added spiritual death to the doctrines of impiety. When Cyprian first decreed that some of those returning from the heresies should be cleansed by the font, Stephen, who administered the throne of the Romans after Lucius, opposed him as one who was innovating something new against the prevailing custom. To this Stephen, bishop of Rome, the great Dionysius wrote his first letter concerning baptism, and again he wrote many things giving advice concerning the doctrine according to Cyprian, that since the churches everywhere were at peace from the unpleasantness of Novatus, he too should be at peace, writing as follows: 461 From the hortatory letter of Dionysius concerning baptism to Stephen, bishop of Rome Know now, brother, that all the churches in the East and even farther, which were formerly divided, have been united, and all the leaders everywhere are of one mind, rejoicing exceedingly at the peace that has come about contrary to expectation, Demetrianus in Antioch, Theoctistus in Caesarea, Mazabanes in Aelia, Marinus in Tyre after Alexander fell asleep, Heliodorus in Laodicea after Thelymides rested, Helenus in Tarsus and all the churches of Cilicia, Firmilianus and all Cappadocia; for I have named only the most distinguished of the bishops, so that I might not add length to the letter nor weight to my discourse. But all the Syriac provinces and Arabia, to whom you give aid from time to time and to whom you have written letters, and Mesopotamia, Pontus and Bithynia, and, to sum up, all everywhere are exulting in concord and brotherly love, glorifying God. These things Dionysius writes to Stephen, who presided over the church of Rome for two years and died, and other similar things, calming him toward peace. But to Xystus after Stephen the throne

207

ἀναγορεύουσιν ἅμα Βουλουσιανῷ τῷ ∆εκίου παιδί· οἳ καὶ βασιλεύουσι κατὰ ∆έξιππον μῆνας ιηʹ, πράξαντες οὐδὲν ἀξιόλογον, κατὰ δὲ ἄλλους τινὰς ἔτη γʹ, καὶ καθ' ἑτέρους ἔτη βʹ. ἐσφάγη σάν τε προδοθέντες ὑπὸ τῆς ἰδίας δυνάμεως ἐν ἀγορᾷ Φλαμενίου τῆς αὐτῆς κακοτροπίας ἐχόμενοι τῷ ∆εκίῳ, ὥς πού φησιν ὁ μακάριος Ἀλεξανδρείας ἐπίσκοπος ∆ιονύσιος Ἑρμάμμωνι γράφων περὶ τοῦ Γάλλου· ἀλλ' οὐδὲ ἐκεῖ νος ἔγνω τὸ ∆εκίου κακὸν οὐδὲ προεσκόπησε τί ποτε ἐκεῖνος ἔσφηλεν, ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὸν αὐτὸν πρὸ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν αὐτοῦ γενόμενον ἔπταισε λίθον· ὃς εὐφραινομένης αὐτῷ τῆς βασιλείας καὶ κατὰ νοῦν χωρούντων τῶν πραγ μάτων καὶ τοὺς ἱεροὺς ἄνδρας τοὺς περὶ τῆς εἰρήνης αὐτῷ καὶ τῆς ὑγιείας πρεσβεύοντας πρὸς τὸν θεὸν ἡμῶν ἤλασεν. οὐκοῦν σὺν ἐκείνοις ἐδίωξε καὶ τὰς ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ προσευχάς. Τούτοις τοῖς χρόνοις ὁ μέγας καὶ θαυματουργὸς Γρηγόριος ἐν τελειότητι τῆς κατὰ Χριστὸν φιλοσοφίας διέλαμπεν, οὗ μνήμην ἁρμόζουσαν ὁ Και σαρείος Εὐσέβιος οὐκ οἶδα τίνος ἕνεκα, καίπερ Ὠριγένους τοῦ δυσσεβοῦς 460 ἀλόγοις ἐνδιατρίψας ἐγκωμίοις, οὐ πεποίηται, τοῦ καθ' ὅλης τῆς οἰκου μένης ἐξηχουμένου θείοις τε λόγοις καὶ τέρασιν ἐξαστράπτοντος, ὡς καὶ αὐτοῖς δαίμοσι προστάττειν οἷά τισιν ἀνδραπόδοις διὰ πολλὴν πρὸς θεὸν παρρησίαν καὶ βίου καὶ λόγου καθαρότητα. νομίζω δὲ τὸν Εὐσέβιον τὸ τῆς θείας ἀρετῆς τοῦ θαυματουργοῦ καὶ θεοφόρου Γρηγορίου μέγεθος σιω πῆσαι διὰ τὸ πανταχοῦ τῶν δογμάτων ἀκέραιον καὶ ἀλλότριον τῶν Ὠριγένους ληρημάτων καὶ τῶν Ἀρείου βλασφημιῶν, οἷς Εὐσέβιος ἐλελώβητο. Ὁ αὐτὸς Εὐσέβιος καὶ τὸ Κυπριανοῦ τοῦ μεγάλου Καρθαγένης τῆς κατὰ Λιβύην ἐπισκόπου καὶ μάρτυρος σεσίγηκε μαρτύριον, κατὰ Γάλλον καὶ Βουλουσιανὸν εἰσάγων αὐτὸν περιεῖναι τῷ βίῳ καὶ τὴν ἐν Καρθαγένῃ σύν οδον συστησάμενον κατὰ τῶν μὴ δεχομένων τινὰς τῶν ἐξ αἱρέσεων ἀνα βαπτίζεσθαι, παλαιοῦ, φησίν, ἔθους κεκρατηκότος ἐν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ μόνῃ τῇ διὰ τῶν χειρῶν ἐπιθέσει τούτους καθαίρειν καὶ εὐχῇ. ὁ δέ γε θεολογι κώτατος Γρηγόριος ὁ Ναζιανζοῦ ἐν τῷ εἰς Κυπριανὸν λόγῳ κατὰ ∆έκιόν φησιν αὐτὸν τελειωθῆναι. Κατὰ τὸν Γάλλου χρόνον ἑβδομηκοστὸν ἄγοντα ἔτος λέγει τεθνάναι τὸν Ὠριγένην Εὐσέβιος, προστεθεικότα δηλονότι τὸν ψυχικὸν θάνατον τοῖς τῆς ἀσεβείας δόγμασι. Πρῶτον Κυπριανῷ δογματίσαντι διὰ λουτροῦ τινας τῶν ἐξ αἱρέσεων ἐπιστρέφοντας ἀποκαθαίρεσθαι Στέφανος μετὰ Λούκιον τὸν Ῥωμαίων διέπων θρόνον ἀντέπεσεν ὡς νεώτερόν τι παρὰ τὴν κρατήσασαν καινοτο μοῦντι συνήθειαν. Στεφάνῳ τούτῳ Ῥώμης ἐπισκόπῳ τὴν πρώτην περὶ βαπτίσματος ὁ μέγας ἐπιστέλλει ∆ιονύσιος, καὶ αὖθις περὶ τοῦ κατὰ Κυπριανὸν δόγματος παραινεῖ πλεῖστα γράφων, τῶν ἁπανταχοῦ ἐκκλη σιῶν εἰρηνευουσῶν ἐκ τῆς Ναυάτου δυσχερείας καὶ αὐτὸν εἰρηνεύειν, οὕτως γράφων ἑξῆς· 461 Ἐκ τῆς ∆ιονυσίου ἐπιστολῆς περὶ βαπτίσματος πρὸς Στέφανον ἐπίσκοπον Ῥώμης παραινετική Ἴσθι νῦν ἀδελφὲ ὅτι ἥνωνται πᾶσαι αἱ πρότερον διεσχισμέναι κατά τε τὴν ἀνατολὴν ἐκκλησίαι καὶ ἔτι προσωτέρω, καὶ πάντες εἰσὶν ὁμόφρονες οἱ πανταχοῦ προεστῶτες, χαίροντες καθ' ὑπερβολὴν ἐπὶ τῇ παρὰ προσ δοκίαν εἰρήνῃ γενομένῃ, ∆ημητριανὸς ἐν Ἀντιοχείᾳ, Θεόκτιστος ἐν Και σαρείᾳ, Μαζαβάνης ἐν Αἰλίᾳ, Μαρῖνος ἐν Τύρῳ κοιμηθέντος Ἀλεξάνδρου, Ἡλιόδωρος ἐν Λαοδικείᾳ ἀναπαυσαμένου Θηλυμίδρους, Ἕλενος ἐν Ταρσῷ καὶ πᾶσαι αἱ τῆς Κιλικίας ἐκκλησίαι, Φιρμιλιανὸς καὶ πᾶσα Καπ παδοκία· τοὺς γὰρ περιφανεστέρους μόνους τῶν ἐπισκόπων ὠνόμασα, ἵνα μήτε μῆκος τῇ ἐπιστολῇ μήτε βάρος ἅψω τῷ λόγῳ. αἱ μέντοι Συρίαι ὅλαι καὶ ἡ Ἀραβία οἷς ἐπαρκεῖτε ἑκάστοτε καὶ οἷς ἐπεστείλατε ἥ τε Με σοποταμία Πόντος τε καὶ Βιθυνία καὶ συνελόντι εἰπεῖν ἀγαλλιῶνται πᾶσαι πανταχοῦ τῇ ὁμονοίᾳ καὶ φιλαδελφίᾳ δοξάζοντες τὸν θεόν. ταῦτα μὲν ὁ ∆ιονύσιος δυσὶν ἔτεσι προστάντι Στεφάνῳ τῆς ἐκκλησίας Ῥώμης καὶ τελευτήσαντι γράφει καὶ ἄλλα τούτοις ὅμοια κατευνάζων πρὸς εἰρήνην. Ξύστῳ δὲ μετὰ Στέφανον τὸν θρόνον