23.  Now, consider the charges laid against us.  You have been ruler of the church, it is said, for so long, and favoured by the course of time, and the influence of the sovereign, a most important matter.  What change have we been able to notice?  How many men have in days gone by used us outrageously?  What sufferings have we failed to undergo?  Ill-usage?  Threats?  Banishment?  Plunder?  Confiscation?  The burning103    The burning, etc., cf. This was by order of Valens. of priests at sea?  The desecration of temples by the blood of the saints, till, instead of temples, they became charnel-houses?  The public slaughter of aged Bishops, to speak more accurately, of Patriarchs?  The denial of access to every place in the case of the godly alone?  In fact any kind of suffering which could be mentioned?  And for which of these have we requited the wrongdoers?  For the wheel of fortune gave us the power of rightly treating those who so treated us, and our persecutors ought to have received a lesson.  Apart from all other things, speaking only of our experiences, not to mention your own, have we not been persecuted, maltreated, driven from churches, houses, and, most terrible of all, even from the deserts?  Have we not had to endure an enraged people, insolent governors, the disregard of Emperors and their decrees?  What was the result?  We became stronger, and our persecutors took to flight.  That was actually the case.  The power to requite them seemed to me a sufficient vengeance on those who had wronged us.  These men thought otherwise; for they are exceedingly exact and just in requiting:  and accordingly they demand104    Demand.  After all these persecutions, some thought S. Gregory ought to have used his influence with Theodosius to requite or punish the former persecutors of the orthodox. what the state of things permits.  What governor, they say, has been fined?  What populace chastised?  What ringleaders of the populace?  What fear of ourselves have we been able to inspire for the future?

ΚΓʹ. Σκοπείτε γὰρ καὶ ἡμῶν τὰ ἐγκλήματα. Τοσοῦτος χρόνος, φησὶν, ἐξ οὗ τὴν Ἐκκλησίαν ἄγεις, μετὰ τῆς τοῦ καιροῦ ῥοπῆς, καὶ τῆς τοῦ κρατοῦντος ὁρμῆς, τοσούτου πράγματος: τί τῆς μεταβολῆς ἡμῖν ἐπεσήμηνε; Πόσοι καθ' ἡμῶν ἔμπροσθεν γεγόνασιν ὑβρισταί; Τί δεινὸν οὐ πεπόνθαμεν; Οὐχ ὕβρεις; Οὐκ ἀπειλάς; Οὐ φυγάς; Οὐ χρημάτων ἁρπαγάς; Οὐ δημεύσεις; Οὐ πρεσβυτέρων ἐμπρησμοὺς θαλαττίους; Οὐ ναοὺς βεβηλωμένους ἁγίων αἵμασι, καὶ γενομένους ἀντὶ ναῶν πολυάνδρια; Οὐ πρεσβυτέρων ἐπισκόπων, οἰκειότερον δὲ πατριαρχῶν εἰπεῖν, σφαγὰς δημοσίας; Οὐ τὸ πάντα τόπον ἄβατον εἶναι τοῖς εὐσεβέσι μόνοις; Οὐχ ὅ τι ἂν εἴποι τις τῶν δεινῶν; Ὧν τί τοῖς πεποιηκόσιν ἀντιδεδώκαμεν, ἐπειδὴ τὸ ἐξεῖναι ποιεῖν εὖ ποιοῦν ἀντεστράφη, καὶ παιδεύειν ἔδει τοὺς ὑβριστάς; Ἐῶ τἄλλα: τὰ δὲ ἡμέτερα, ἵνα μὴ τὰ σὰ λέγωμεν, οὐ δεδιώγμεθα; Οὐχ ὑβρίσμεθα; Οὐκ ἀπεληλάμεθα ἐκκλησιῶν, οἰκιῶν, ἐρήμων αὐτῶν, τὸ δεινότατον Οὐκ ἠνέγκαμεν δῆμον μαινόμενον; ὑπάρχους ὑβρίζοντας; Βασιλέας ὑβριζομένους, καὶ μετὰ τῶν προσταγμάτων; Εἶτα τί; Γεγόναμεν ἰσχυρότεροι, καὶ διαπεφεύγασιν οἱ διώκοντες. Τοῦτο γάρ: αὐτάρκης ἐμοὶ τιμωρία κατὰ τῶν ἀδικούντων, ἡ τοῦ ἀντιδρᾷν ἐξουσία. Τοῖς δὲ οὐχ οὕτω δοκεῖ: λίαν γάρ εἰσιν ἐντελεῖς καὶ δίκαιοι περὶ τὴν ἀντίδοσιν: καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἀπαιτοῦσι τὰ τοῦ καιροῦ. Τίς ὕπαρχος, φησὶν, ἐζημίωται; Τίς δῆμος σεσωφρόνισται; Τίνες δήμων ἀνάπται; Τίνα φόβον ἡμῖν αὐτοῖς καὶ πρὸς τὸ μέλλον ἐχαρισάμεθα;