topEusebius Book 10

Introduction

τάδε καὶ δεκάτη περιέχει βίβλος τῆς Ἐκκλησιαστικῆς ἱστορίας ἱστορίας The Τenth Book of the Ecclesiastical History contains the following:

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter 1 Περὶ τῆς ἐκ Θεοῦ πρυτανευθείσης ἡμῖν εἰρήνης .
On the Peace Vouchsafed to Us from God.

Chapter 2 Περὶ τῆς τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν ἀνανεώσεως .
On the Restoration of the Churches.

Chapter 3 Περὶ τῶν κατὰ πάντα τόπον ἐγκαινίων .
On the Dedications in Every Place.

Chapter 4 Πανηγυρικὸς ἐπὶ τῇ τῶν πραγμάτων φαιδρότητι .
Panegyric On the Joyful Condition of Affairs.

Chapter 5 Ἀντίγραφα βασιλικῶν νόμων περὶ τῶν Χριστιανῶν προσηκόντων .
Copies of Imperial Laws Having Reference to the Christians.

Chapter 6 Περὶ τῆς τῶν κληρικῶν ἀλειτουργησίας .
On the Exemption from Public Service Granted to the Clerics.

Chapter 7 Περὶ τῆς Λικιννίου εἰς ὕστερον κακοτροπίας καὶ τῆς καταστροφῆς αὐτοῦ .
On the Subsequent Wiekedness of Licinius and His Tragic End.

Chapter 8 Περὶ τῆς νίκης Κωνσταντίνου καὶ τῶν ὑπ’ αὐτοῦ τοῖς ὑπὸ τὴν Ῥωμαίων ἐξουσίαν ὑπαρξάντων .
On the Victory of Constantine and the Blessings Which He Was the Means of Procuring for the Subjects of the Roman Empire.

Chapter 1

1-1 Θεῷ δὴ χάρις ἐπὶ πᾶσιν τῷ παντοκράτορι καὶ βασιλεῖ τῶν ὅλων , πλείστη δὲ καὶ τῷ σωτῆρι καὶ λυτρωτῇ τῶν ψυχῶν ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστῷ , δι’ οὗ τὰ τῆς εἰρήνης ἔκ τε τῶν ἔξωθεν ὀχληρῶν καὶ τῶν κατὰ διάνοιαν βέβαια καὶ ἀσάλευτα φυλάττεσθαι ἡμῖν διὰ παντὸς εὐχόμεθα . Thanks for all things be given unto God the Omnipotent Ruler and King of the universe, and the greatest thanks to Jesus Christ the Saviour and Redeemer of our souls, through whom we pray that peace may be always preserved for us firm and undisturbed by external troubles and by troubles of the mind.
1-2 Ἅμα δὲ εὐχαῖς καὶ τὸν δέκατον ἐν τούτῳ τοῖς προδιεξοδευθεῖσιν τῆς Ἐκκλησιαστικῆς ἱστορίας ἐπιθέντες τόμον , σοὶ τοῦτον ἐπιγράψομεν , ἱερώτατέ μοι Παυλῖνε , ὥσπερ ἐπισφράγισμά σε τῆς ὅλης ὑποθέσεως ἀναβοώμενοι , εἰκότως δ’ ἐν ἀριθμῷ τελείῳ τὸν τέλειον ἐνταῦθα καὶ πανηγυρικὸν τῆς τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν ἀνανεώσεως λόγον κατατάξομεν , θείῳ πνεύματι πειθαρχοῦντες ὧδέ πως ἐγκελευομένῳ Since in accordance with your wishes, my most holy Paulinus,1 we have added the tenth book of the Church History to those which have preceded, we will inscribe it to you, proclaiming you as the seal of the whole work; and we will fitly add in a perfect number the perfect panegyric upon the restoration of the churches, obeying the Divine Spirit which exhorts us in the following words:
1Bishop of Tyre, and subsequently of his native city, Antioch. Eusebius had a great admiration for him, and dedicated to him not only this book, but also his Onomasticon.
1-3ᾄσατε τῷ κυρίῳ ᾆσμα καινόν , ὅτι Θαυμαστὰ ἐποίησεν· ἔσωσεν αὐτῷ δεξιὰ αὐτοῦ καὶ βραχίων ἅγιος αὐτοῦ· ἐγνώρισεν κύριος τὸ σωτήριον αὐτοῦ , ἐναντίον τῶν ἐθνῶν ἀπεκάλυψεν τὴν δικαιοσύνην αὐτοῦ .” “Sing unto the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things. His right hand and his holy arm has saved him. The Lord has made known his salvation, his righteousness has he revealed in the presence of the nations.”
1-4 Καὶ δὴ τῷ λογίῳ προστάττοντι τὸ καινὸν ᾆσμα διὰ τοῦδε νῦν ἀκολούθως ἐπιφωνῶμεν ὅτι δὴ μετὰ τὰς δεινὰς καὶ σκοτεινὰς ἐκείνας ὄψεις τε καὶ διηγήσεις τοιαῦτα νῦν ὁρᾶν καὶ τοιαῦτα πανηγυρίζειν ἠξιώθημεν , οἷα τῶν πρὸ ἡμῶν πολλοὶ τῷ ὄντι δίκαιοι καὶ Θεοῦ μάρτυρες ἐπεθύμησαν ἐπὶ γῆς ἰδεῖν , καὶ οὐκ εἶδον , καὶ ἀκοῦσαι , καὶ οὐκ ἤκουσαν . And in accordance with the utterance which commands us to sing the new song, let us proceed to show that, after those terrible and gloomy spectacles which we have described, we are now permitted to see and celebrate such things as many truly righteous men and martyrs of God before us desired to see upon earth and did not see, and to hear and did not hear.1
1-5 ἀλλ’ οἳ μὲν τάχος σπεύσαντες τῶν πολὺ κρειττόνων ἔτυχον ἐν αὐτοῖς οὐρανοῖς καὶ παραδείσῳ τῆς ἐνθέου τρυφῆς ἀναρπασθέντες , But they, hastening on, obtained far better things, being carried to heaven and the paradise of divine pleasure.
1-6 ἡμεῖς δὲ καὶ τάδε μείζονα καθ’ ἡμᾶς ὑπάρχειν ὁμολογοῦντες , ὑπερεκπεπλήγμεθα μὲν τῆς τοῦ αἰτίου μεγαλοδωρεᾶς τὴν χάριν , θαυμάζομεν δὲ εἰκότως ὅλης ψυχῆς δυνάμει σέβοντες καὶ ταῖς ἀναγράπτοις προρρήσεσιν ἀλήθειαν ἐπιμαρτυροῦντες , δι’ ὧν εἴρηται· But, acknowledging that even these things are greater than we deserve, we have been astonished at the grace manifested by the author of the great gifts, and rightly do we admire him, worshiping him with the whole power of our souls, and testifying to the truth of those recorded utterances, in which it is said,
1-7δεῦτε καὶ ἴδετε τὰ ἔργα κυρίου , ἔθετο τέρατα ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς , ἀνταναιρῶν πολέμους μέχρι τῶν περάτων τῆς γῆς· τόξον συντρίψει καὶ συγκλάσει ὅπλον , καὶ θυρεοὺς κατακαύσει ἐν πυρί ” · “Come and see the works of the Lord, the wonders which he has done upon the earth; he removes wars to the ends of the world, he shall break the bow and snap the spear in sunder, and shall burn the shields with fire.”
1-8 ἐφ’ οἷς ἐναργῶς εἰς ἡμᾶς πεπληρωμένοις χαίροντες , τὸν ἐφεξῆς συνείρωμεν λόγον . Rejoicing in these things which have been clearly fulfilled in our day, let us proceed with our account.
1-9 Ἠφάνιστο μὲν δὴ καθ’ ὃν δεδήλωται τρόπον πᾶν τὸ τῶν θεομισῶν γένος καὶ τῆς ἀνθρώπων ἀθρόως ὄψεως οὕτως ἐξαλήλειπτο , ὡς πάλιν ἐπιστρέψας ῥῆμα θεῖον τέλος ἔχειν τὸ λέγον· The whole race of God’s enemies was destroyed in the manner indicated, and was thus suddenly swept from the sight of men. So that again a divine utterance had its fulfillment:
1-10εἶδον ἀσεβῆ ὑπερυψούμενον καὶ ὑπεραιρόμενον ὡς τὰς κέδρους τοῦ Λιβάνου· καὶ παρῆλθον , καὶ ἰδοὺ οὐκ ἦν , καὶ ἐζήτησα τὸν τόπον αὐτοῦ , καὶ οὐχ εὑρέθη .” “I have seen the impious highly exalted and raising himself like the cedars of Lebanon and I have passed by, and behold, he was not and I have sought his place, and it could not be found.”
1-11 ἡμέρα δὲ λοιπὸν ἤδη φαιδρὰ καὶ διαυγής , μηδενὸς νέφους αὐτὴν ἐπισκιάζοντος , φωτὸς οὐρανίου βολαῖς ἀνὰ τὴν οἰκουμένην ἅπασαν ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις τοῦ Χριστοῦ κατηύγαζεν , οὐδέ τις ἦν καὶ τοῖς ἔξωθεν τοῦ καθ’ ἡμᾶς θιάσου φθόνος συναπολαύειν εἰ μὴ τῶν ἴσων , ἀπορροῆς δ’ οὖν ὅμως καὶ μετουσίας τῶν θεόθεν ἡμῖν πρυτανευθέντων . And finally a bright and splendid day, overshadowed by no cloud, illuminated with beams of heavenly light the churches of Christ throughout the entire world. And not even those without our communion were prevented from sharing in the same blessings, or at least from coming under their influence and enjoying a part of the benefits bestowed upon us by God.

Chapter 2

2-1 Πᾶσι μὲν οὖν ἀνθρώποις τὰ ἐκ τῆς τῶν τυράννων καταδυναστείας ἐλεύθερα ἦν , καὶ τῶν προτέρων ἀπηλλαγμένοι κακῶν , ἄλλος ἄλλως μόνον ἀληθῆ Θεὸν τὸν τῶν εὐσεβῶν ὑπέρμαχον ὡμολόγει· All men, then, were freed from the oppression of the tyrants, and being released from the former ills, one in one way and another in another acknowledged the defender of the pious to be the only true God.
2-2 μάλιστα δ’ ἡμῖν τοῖς ἐπὶ τὸν Χριστὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ τὰς ἐλπίδας ἀνηρτημένοις ἄλεκτος παρῆν εὐφροσύνη καί τις ἔνθεος ἅπασιν ἐπήνθει χαρὰ πάντα τόπον τὸν πρὸ μικροῦ ταῖς τῶν τυράννων δυσσεβείαις ἠριπωμένον ὥσπερ ἐκ μακρᾶς καὶ θανατηφόρου λύμης ἀναβιώσκοντα θεωμένοις νεώς τε αὖθις ἐκ βάθρων εἰς ὕψος ἄπειρον ἐγειρομένους καὶ πολὺ κρείττονα τὴν ἀγλαΐαν τῶν πάλαι πεπολιορκημένων ἀπολαμβάνοντας . And we especially who placed our hopes in the Christ of God had unspeakable gladness, and a certain inspired joy bloomed for all of us, when we saw every place which shortly before had been desolated by the impieties of the tyrants reviving as if from a long and death-fraught pestilence, and temples again rising from their foundations to an immense height, and receiving a splendor far greater than that of the old ones which had been destroyed.
2-3 Ἀλλὰ καὶ βασιλεῖς οἱ ἀνωτάτω συνεχέσι ταῖς ὑπὲρ Χριστιανῶν νομοθεσίαις τὰ τῆς ἐκ Θεοῦ μεγαλοδωρεᾶς ἡμῖν εἰς μακρὸν ἔτι καὶ μεῖζον ἐκράτυνον , ἐφοίτα δὲ καὶ εἰς πρόσωπον ἐπισκόποις βασιλέως γράμματα καὶ τιμαὶ καὶ χρημάτων δόσεις· But the supreme rulers also confirmed to us still more extensively the munificence of God by repeated ordinances in behalf of the Christians; and personal letters of the emperor were sent to the bishops, with honors and gifts of money.
2-4 ὧν οὐκ ἀπὸ τρόπου γένοιτ’ ἂν κατὰ τὸν προσήκοντα καιρὸν τοῦ λόγου , ὥσπερ ἐν ἱερᾷ στήλῃ , τῇδε τῇ βίβλῳ τὰς φωνὰς ἐκ τῆς Ῥωμαίων ἐπὶ τὴν Ἑλλάδα γλῶσσαν μεταληφθείσας ἐγχαράξαι , ὡς ἂν καὶ τοῖς μετ’ ἡμᾶς ἅπασιν φέροιντο διὰ μνήμης . It may not be unfitting to insert these documents, translated from the Roman into the Greek tongue, at the proper place in this book, as in a sacred tablet, that they may remain as a memorial to all who shall come after us.

Chapter 3

3-1 Ἐπὶ δὴ τούτοις τὸ πᾶσιν εὐκταῖον ἡμῖν καὶ ποθούμενον συνεκροτεῖτο θέαμα , ἐγκαινίων ἑορταὶ κατὰ πόλεις καὶ τῶν ἄρτι νεοπαγῶν προσευκτηρίων ἀφιερώσεις , ἐπισκόπων ἐπὶ ταὐτὸν συνηλύσεις , τῶν πόρρωθεν ἐξ ἀλλοδαπῆς συνδρομαί , λαῶν εἰς λαοὺς φιλοφρονήσεις , τῶν Χριστοῦ σώματος μελῶν εἰς μίαν συνιόντων ἁρμονίαν ἕνωσις . After this was seen the sight which had been desired and prayed for by us all; feasts of dedication in the cities and consecrations of the newly built houses of prayer took place, bishops assembled, foreigners came together from abroad, mutual love was exhibited between people and people, the members of Christ’s body were united in complete harmony.
3-2 συνήγετο γοῦν ἀκολούθως προρρήσει προφητικῇ μυστικῶς τὸ μέλλον προσημαινούσῃ ὀστέον πρὸς ὀστέον καὶ ἁρμονία πρὸς ἁρμονίαν καὶ ὅσα θεσπίζων λόγος δι’ αἰνιγμάτων ἀψευδῶς προανετείνατο , Then was fulfilled the prophetic utterance which mystically foretold what was to take place: “Bone to bone and joint to joint,”1 and whatever was truly announced in enigmatic expressions in the inspired passage.
3-3 μία τε ἦν θείου πνεύματος διὰ πάντων τῶν μελῶν χωροῦσα δύναμις καὶ ψυχὴ τῶν πάντων μία καὶ προθυμία πίστεως αὐτὴ καὶ εἷς ἐξ ἁπάντων θεολογίας ὕμνος , And there was one energy of the Divine Spirit pervading all the members, and one soul in all, and the same eagerness of faith, and one hymn from all in praise of the Deity.
3-4 ναὶ μὴν καὶ τῶν ἡγουμένων ἐντελεῖς θρῃσκεῖαι ἱερουργίαι τε τῶν ἱερωμένων καὶ θεοπρεπεῖς ἐκκλησίας θεσμοί , ὧδε μὲν ψαλμῳδίαις καὶ ταῖς λοιπαῖς τῶν θεόθεν ἡμῖν παραδοθεισῶν φωνῶν ἀκροάσεσιν , ὧδε δὲ θείαις καὶ μυστικαῖς ἐπιτελουμέναις διακονίαις , σωτηρίου τε ἦν πάθους ἀπόρρητα σύμβολα . Yea, and perfect services were conducted by the prelates, the sacred rites being solemnized, and the majestic institutions of the Church observed, here with the singing of psalms and with the reading of the words committed to us by God, and there with the performance of divine and mystic services; and the mysterious symbols of the Saviour’s passion were dispensed.
3-5 ὁμοῦ δὲ πᾶν γένος ἡλικίας ἄρρενός τε καὶ θήλεος φύσεως ὅλῃ διανοίας ἰσχύϊ δι’ εὐχῶν καὶ εὐχαριστίας γεγηθότι νῷ καὶ ψυχῇ τὸν τῶν ἀγαθῶν παραίτιον Θεὸν ἐγέραιρον . At the same time people of every age, both male and female, with all the power of the mind gave honor unto God, the author of their benefits, in prayers and thanksgiving, with a joyful mind and soul.
3-6 Ἐκίνει δὲ καὶ λόγους ἅπας τῶν παρόντων ἀρχόντων πανηγυρικούς , ὡς ἑκάστῳ παρῆν δυνάμεως , θειάζων τὴν πανήγυριν . And every one of the bishops present, each to the best of his ability, delivered panegyric orations, adding luster to the assembly.

Chapter 4

4-1 καί τις ἐν μέσῳ παρελθὼν τῶν μετρίως ἐπιεικῶν , λόγου σύνταξιν πεποιημένος , ὡς ἐν ἐκκλησίας ἀθροίσματι , πλείστων ἐπιπαρόντων ποιμένων ἐν ἡσυχίᾳ καὶ κόσμῳ τὴν ἀκρόασιν παρεχομένων , ἑνὸς εἰς πρόσωπον τὰ πάντα ἀρίστου καὶ θεοφιλοῦς ἐπισκόπου , οὗ διὰ σπουδῆς μάλιστα τῶν ἀμφὶ τὸ Φοινίκων ἔθνος διαπρέπων ἐν Τύρῳ νεὼς φιλοτίμως ἐπεσκεύαστο , τοιόνδε παρέσχε λόγον . A certain one of those of moderate talent,1 who had composed a discourse, stepped forward in the presence of many pastors who were assembled as if for a church gathering, and while they attended quietly and decently, he addressed himself as follows to one who was in all things a most excellent bishop and beloved of God, through whose zeal the temple in Tyre, which was the most splendid in Phoenicia, had been erected.
1This is Eusebius himself.
4-2 πανηγυρικός ἐπὶ τῇ τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν οἰκοδομῇ Παυλινῳ Τυρίων ἐπισκοπῳ προσπεφωνημενος Panegyric upon the building of the churches, addressed to Paulinus, Bishop of Tyre.1
1The previous line is in uppercase: ΠΑΝΗΓΥΡΙΚΟΣ ΕΠΙ ΤΗΙ ΤΩΝ ΕΚΚΛΗΣΙΩΝ ΟΙΚΟΔΟΜΗΙ ΠΑΥΛΙΝΩΙ ΤΥΡΙΩΝ ΕΠΙΣΚΟΠΩΙ ΠΡΟΣΠΕΦΩΝΗΜΕΝΟΣ
4-3 φίλοι Θεοῦ καὶ ἱερεῖς οἱ τὸν ἅγιον ποδήρη καὶ τὸν οὐράνιον τῆς δόξης στέφανον τό τε χρῖσμα τὸ ἔνθεον καὶ τὴν ἱερατικὴν τοῦ ἁγίου πνεύματος στολὴν περιβεβλημένοι , σύ τε , νέον ἁγίου νεὼ Θεοῦ σεμνολόγημα , γεραιρᾷ μὲν φρονήσει παρὰ Θεοῦ τετιμημένε , Νέας δὲ καὶ ἀκμαζούσης ἀρετῆς ἔργα πολυτελῆ καὶ πράξεις ἐπιδεδειγμένε , τὸν ἐπὶ γῆς οἶκον αὐτὸς τὸν σύμπαντα κόσμον περιέχων Θεὸς δείμασθαι καὶ ἀνανεοῦν Χριστῷ τῷ μονογενεῖ καὶ πρωτογενεῖ δὲ αὐτοῦ λόγῳ τῇ τε ἁγίᾳ τούτου καὶ θεοπρεπεῖ νύμφῃ γέρας ἐξαίρετον δεδώρηται , “Oh, Friends and priests of God who are clothed in the sacred gown1 and adorned with the heavenly crown of glory, the inspired unction and the sacerdotal garment of the Holy Spirit; and thou, Oh pride of God’s new holy temple, endowed by him with the wisdom of age, and yet exhibiting costly works and deeds of youthful and flourishing virtue, to whom God himself, who embraces the entire world, has granted the distinguished honor of building and renewing this earthly house to Christ, his only begotten and first-born Word, and to his holy and divine bride; —
1Thea word is used in the LXX in connection with the priestly attire. See Exodus 29:5 χιτῶνα τὸν ποδήρη a “full-length garment reaching to the feet.”
4-4 εἴτε τις νέον σε Βεσελεηλ θείας ἀρχιτέκτονα τέκτονα σκηνῆς ἐθέλοι καλεῖν εἴτε Σολομῶνα καινῆς καὶ πολὺ κρείττονος Ἱερουσαλὴμ βασιλέα εἴτε καὶ νέον Ζοροβαβελ τὴν πολὺ κρείττονα δόξαν τῆς προτέρας τῷ νεῷ τοῦ Θεοῦ περιτιθέντα , one might call you a new Besaleel, the architect of a divine tabernacle, or Solomon, king of a new and much better Jerusalem, or also a new Zerubabel, who added a much greater glory than the former to the temple of God; —
4-5 ἀλλὰ καὶ ὑμεῖς , τῆς ἱερᾶς ἀγέλης Χριστοῦ θρέμματα , λόγων ἀγαθῶν ἑστία , σωφροσύνης παιδευτήριον καὶ θεοσεβείας σεμνὸν καὶ θεοφιλὲς ἀκροατήριον· and you also, Oh nurslings of the sacred flock of Christ, habitation of good words, school of wisdom, and august and pious auditory of religion:
4-6 πάλαι μὲν ἡμῖν τὰς παραδόξους θεοσημίας καὶ τῶν τοῦ κυρίου θαυμάτων τὰς εἰς ἀνθρώπους εὐεργεσίας διὰ θείων ἀναγνωσμάτων ἀκοῇ παραδεχομένοις ὕμνους εἰς Θεὸν καὶ ᾠδὰς ἀναπέμπειν ἐξῆν λέγειν παιδευομένοις It was long ago permitted us to raise hymns and songs to God, when we learned from hearing the Divine Scriptures read the marvelous signs of God and the benefits conferred upon men by the Lord’s wondrous deeds, being taught to say,
4-7 Θεός , ἐν τοῖς ὠσὶν ἡμῶν ἠκούσαμεν , οἱ πατέρες ἡμῶν ἀνήγγειλαν ἡμῖν ἔργον εἰργάσω ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις αὐτῶν , ἐν ἡμέραις ἀρχαίαις’·1 ‘Oh God! We have heard with our ears, our fathers have told us the work which you did in their days, in days of old.’1
4-8 ἀλλὰ νῦν γε οὐκέτ’ ἀκοαῖς οὐδὲ λόγων φήμαις τὸν βραχίονα τὸν ὑψηλὸν τὴν τε οὐράνιον δεξιὰν τοῦ παναγάθου καὶ παμβασιλέως ἡμῶν Θεοῦ παραλαμβάνουσιν , ἔργοις δ’ ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν καὶ αὐτοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς τὰ πάλαι μνήμῃ παραδεδομένα πιστὰ καὶ ἀληθῆ καθορωμένοις , Δεύτερον ὕμνον ἐπινίκιον πάρεστιν ἀναμέλπειν ἐναργῶς τε ἀναφωνεῖν καὶ λέγειν But now as we no longer perceive the lofty arm and the celestial right hand of our all-gracious God and universal King by hearsay merely or report, but observe so to speak in very deed and with our own eyes that the declarations recorded long ago are faithful and true, it is permitted us to raise a second hymn of triumph and to sing with loud voice, and say,
4-9καθάπερ ἠκούσαμεν , οὕτως καὶ εἴδομεν ἐν πόλει κυρίου τῶν δυνάμεων , ἐν πόλει τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡμῶν .’1 ‘As we have heard, so have we seen; in the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God.’1
4-10 ποίᾳ δὲ πόλει τῇδε τῇ νεοπαγεῖ καὶ θεοτεύκτῳ ; ἥτις ἐστὶν ἐκκλησία Θεοῦ ζῶντος , στῦλος καὶ ἑδραίωμα τῆς ἀληθείας ,1 And in what city but in this newly built and God-constructed one, which is a ‘church of the living God, a pillar and foundation of the truth,’
4-11 περὶ ἧς καὶ ἄλλο τι θεῖον λόγιον ὧδέ πως εὐαγγελίζεταιδεδοξασμένα ἐλαλήθη περὶ σοῦ , πόλις τοῦ Θεοῦ·’1 concerning which also another divine oracle thus proclaims, ‘Glorious things have been spoken of you, Oh city of God.’1
4-12 ἐφ’ ἣν τοῦ παναγάθου συγκροτήσαντος ἡμᾶς Θεοῦ διὰ τῆς τοῦ μονογενοῦς αὐτοῦ χάριτος , τῶν ἀνακεκλημένων ἕκαστος ὑμνείτω μόνον οὐχὶ βοῶν καὶ λέγωνεὐφράνθην ἐπὶ τοῖς εἰρηκόσιν μοι Εἰς οἶκον κυρίου πορευσόμεθακαὶκύριε , ἠγάπησα εὐπρέπειαν οἴκου σου καὶ τόπον σκηνώματος δόξης σου ,’ Since the all-gracious God has brought us together to it, through the grace of his Only-Begotten, let every one of those who have been summoned sing with loud voice and say, ‘I was glad when they said to me, we shall go unto the house of the Lord,’1 and ‘Lord, I have loved the beauty of your house and the place where your glory dwells.’2
4-13 καὶ μὴ μόνον γε καθεῖς , ἀλλὰ καὶ οἱ πάντες ἀθρόως ἑνὶ πνεύματι καὶ μιᾷ ψυχῇ γεραίροντες ἀνευφημῶμεν , ‘ μέγας κύριοςἐπιλέγοντεςκαὶ αἰνετὸς σφόδρα ἐν πόλει τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡμῶν , ἐν ὄρει ἁγίῳ αὐτοῦ . ’1 And let us not only one by one, but all together, with one spirit and one soul, honor him and cry aloud, saying, ‘Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in his holy mountain.’
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4-14 καὶ γὰρ οὖν μέγας ὡς ἀληθῶς , καὶ μέγας οἶκος αὐτοῦ , ὑψηλὸς καὶ ἐπιμήκης καὶὡραῖος κάλλει παρὰ τοὺς υἱοὺς τῶν ἀνθρώπων·’1 for he is truly great, and great is his house, lofty and spacious and ‘comely in beauty above the sons of men.’
4-15μέγας κύριος ποιῶν θαυμάσια μόνος·’1 ‘Great is the Lord who alone does wonderful things’;1
4-16μέγας ποιῶν μεγάλα καὶ ἀνεξιχνίαστα ἔνδοξά τε καὶ ἐξαίσια , ὧν οὐκ ἔστιν ἀριθμός·’1 ‘great is he who does great things and things past finding out, glorious and marvelous things which cannot be numbered’;1
4-17μέγας ἀλλοιῶν καιροὺς καὶ χρόνους , μεθιστῶν βασιλεῖς καὶ καθιστῶν ,’1 great is he ‘who changes times and seasons, who exalts and debases kings’;
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4-18ἐγείρων ἀπὸ γῆς πτωχὸν καὶ ἀπὸ κοπρίας ἀνιστῶν πένητα .’1 ‘who raises up the poor from the earth and lifts up the needy from the dunghill.’1
4-19καθεῖλεν δυνάστας ἀπὸ θρόνων , καὶ ὕψωσεν ταπεινοὺς ἀπὸ γῆς· πεινῶντας ἐνέπλησεν ἀγαθῶν , καὶ βραχίονας ὑπερηφάνων συνέτριψεν ,’1 ‘He has put down princes from their thrones and has exalted them of low degree from the earth. The hungry he has filled with good things and the arms of the proud he has broken.’1
4-20 οὐ πιστοῖς μόνον , ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀπίστοις τῶν παλαιῶν διηγημάτων τὴν μνήμην πιστωσάμενος , θαυματουργός , μεγαλουργός , τῶν ὅλων δεσπότης , τοῦ σύμπαντος κόσμου δημιουργός , παντοκράτωρ , πανάγαθος , εἷς καὶ μόνος Θεός , Not only to the faithful, but also to unbelievers, has he confirmed the record of ancient events; he that works miracles, he that does great things, the Master of all, the Creator of the whole world, the omnipotent, the all-merciful, the one and only God.
4-21 τὸ καινὸν ᾆσμα μέλπωμεν προσυπακούοντεςτῷ ποιοῦντι θαυμάσια μόνῳ , ὅτι εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τὸ ἔλεος αὐτοῦ· τῷ πατάξαντι βασιλεῖς μεγάλους καὶ ἀποκτείναντι βασιλεῖς κραταιούς , ὅτι εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τὸ ἔλεος αὐτοῦ· ὅτι ἐν τῇ ταπεινώσει ἡμῶν ἐμνήσθη ἡμῶν καὶ ἐλυτρώσατο ἡμᾶς ἐκ τῶν ἐχθρῶν ἡμῶν .’ To him let us sing the new song, supplying in thought, ‘To him who alone does great wonders: for his mercy endures forever; To him which smote great kings, and slew famous kings: for his mercy endures forever; For the Lord remembered us in our low estate and delivered us from our adversaries.’
4-22 Καὶ τὸν μὲν τῶν ὅλων πατέρα τούτοις ἀνευφημοῦντες μή ποτε διαλείποιμεν· And let us never cease to cry aloud in these words to the Father of the universe.
4-23 τὸν δὲ τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἡμῖν Δεύτερον αἴτιον , τὸν τῆς θεογνωσίας εἰσηγητήν , τὸν τῆς ἀληθοῦς εὐσεβείας διδάσκαλον , τὸν τῶν ἀσεβῶν ὀλετῆρα , τὸν τυραννοκτόνον , τὸν τοῦ βίου διορθωτήν , τὸν ἡμῶν τῶν ἀπεγνωσμένων σωτῆρα Ἰησοῦν ἀνὰ στόμα φέροντες γεραίρωμεν , And let us always honor him with our mouth who is the second cause of our benefits, the instructor in divine knowledge, the teacher of the true religion, the destroyer of the impious, the slayer of tyrants, the reformer of life, Jesus, the Saviour of us who were in despair.
4-24 ὅτι δὴ μόνος , οἷα παναγάθου πατρὸς μονώτατος ὑπάρχων πανάγαθος παῖς , γνώμῃ τῆς πατρικῆς φιλανθρωπίας τῶν ἐν φθορᾷ κάτω που κειμένων ἡμῶν εὖ μάλα προθύμως ὑποδὺς τὴν φύσιν , οἷά τις ἰατρῶν ἄριστος τῆς τῶν καμνόντων ἕνεκεν σωτηρίαςὁρῇ μὲν δεινά , θιγγάνει δ’ ἀηδέων ἐπ’ ἀλλοτρίῃσί τε ξυμφορῇσιν ἰδίας καρποῦται λύπας ,’ οὐ νοσοῦντας αὐτὸ μόνον οὐδ’ ἕλκεσι δεινοῖς καὶ σεσηπόσιν ἤδη τραύμασιν πιεζομένους , ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐν νεκροῖς κειμένους ἡμᾶς ἐξ αὐτῶν μυχῶν τοῦ θανάτου αὐτὸς ἑαυτῷ διεσώσατο , For he alone, as the only all-gracious Son of an all-gracious Father, in accordance with the purpose of his Father’s benevolence, has willingly put on the nature of us who lay prostrate in corruption, and like some excellent physician, who for the sake of saving them that are ill, examines their sufferings, handles their foul sores, and reaps pain for himself from the miseries of another, so us who were not only diseased and afflicted with terrible ulcers and wounds already mortified, but were even lying among the dead, he has saved for himself from the very jaws of death.
4-25 ὅτι μηδ’ ἄλλῳ τῳ τῶν κατ’ οὐρανὸν τοσοῦτον παρῆν ἰσχύος , ὡς τῇ τῶν τοσούτων ἀβλαβῶς διακονήσασθαι σωτηρίᾳ . For none other of those in heaven had such power as without harm to minister to the salvation of so many.
4-26 μόνος δ’ οὖν καὶ τῆς ἡμῶν αὐτῶν βαρυπαθοῦς φθορᾶς ἐφαψάμενος , μόνος τοὺς ἡμετέρους ἀνατλὰς πόνους , μόνος τὰ πρόστιμα τῶν ἡμετέρων ἀσεβημάτων περιθέμενος , οὐχ ἡμιθνῆτας , ἀλλὰ καὶ πάμπαν ἐν μνήμασι καὶ τάφοις μυσαροὺς ἤδη καὶ ὀδωδότας ἀναλαβὼν πάλαι τε καὶ νῦν σπουδῇ τῇ φιλανθρώπῳ παρὰ πᾶσαν τὴν οὗτινος οὖν ἡμῶν τε αὐτῶν ἐλπίδα σῴζει τε καὶ τῶν τοῦ πατρὸς ἀγαθῶν ἀφθονίαν μεταδίδωσιν , ζωοποιός , φωταγωγός , μέγας ἡμῶν ἰατρὸς καὶ βασιλεὺς καὶ κύριος , Χριστὸς τοῦ Θεοῦ . But he alone having reached our deep corruption, he alone having taken upon himself our labors, he alone having suffered the punishments due for our impieties, having recovered us who were not half dead merely, but were already in tombs and sepulchers, and altogether foul and offensive, saves us, both anciently and now, by his beneficent zeal, beyond the expectation of any one, even of ourselves, and imparts liberally of the Father’s benefits — he who is the giver of life and light, our great Physician and King and Lord, the Christ of God.
4-27 ἀλλὰ τότε μὲν ἅπαξ ἐν νυκτὶ ζοφερᾶς καὶ σκότῳ βαθεῖ δαιμόνων ἀλιτηρίων πλάνῃ καὶ θεομισῶν πνευμάτων ἐνεργείαις πᾶν τὸ τῶν ἀνθρώπων γένος κατορωρυγμένον ὁρῶν αὐτὸ μόνον ἐπιφανείς , ὡς ἂν κηροῦ διατακέντος ταῖς αὐτοῦ βολαῖς τοῦ φωτός , τὰς πολυδέτους τῶν ἀσεβημάτων ἡμῶν σειρὰς διελύσατο . For then when the whole human race lay buried in gloomy night and in depths of darkness through the deceitful arts of guilty demons and the power of God-hating spirits, by his simple appearing he loosed once for all the fast-bound cords of our impieties by the rays of his light, even as wax is melted.
4-28 Νῦν δ’ ἐπὶ τῇ τοσαύτῃ χάριτι καὶ εὐεργεσίᾳ τοῦ μισοκάλου φθόνου καὶ φιλοπονήρου δαίμονος μόνον οὐχὶ διαρρηγνυμένου καὶ πάσας αὐτοῦ τὰς θανατοποιοὺς καθ’ ἡμῶν ἐπιστρατεύοντος δυνάμεις καὶ τὰ μὲν πρῶτα κυνὸς δίχην λυττῶντος τοὺς ὀδόντας ἐπὶ τοὺς ἀφιεμένους κατ’ αὐτοῦ λίθους προσαράττοντος καὶ τὸν κατὰ τῶν ἀμυνομένων θυμὸν ἐπὶ τὰ ἄψυχα βλήματα καθιέντος , τοῖς τῶν προσευκητρίων λίθοις καὶ ταῖς τῶν οἴκων ἀψύχοις ὕλαις τὴν θηριώδη μανίαν ἐπερείσαντος ἐρημίαν τε , ὥς γε δὴ αὐτὸς ἑαυτῷ ᾤετο , τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν ἀπεργασαμένου , εἶτα δὲ δεινὰ συρίγματα καὶ τὰς ὀφιώδεις αὐτοῦ φωνὰς τοτὲ μὲν ἀσεβῶν τυράννων ἀπειλαῖς , τοτὲ δὲ βλασφήμοις δυσσεβῶν ἀρχόντων διατάξεσιν ἀφιέντος καὶ προσέτι τὸν αὐτοῦ θάνατον ἐξερευγομένου καὶ τοῖς ἰώδεσι καὶ ψυχοφθόροις δηλητηρίοις τὰς ἁλισκομένας πρὸς αὐτοῦ ψυχὰς φαρμάττοντος καὶ μόνον οὐχὶ νεκροῦντος ταῖς τῶν νεκρῶν εἰδώλων νεκροποιοῖς θυσίαις πάντα τε ἀνθρωπόμορφον θῆρα καὶ πάντα τρόπον ἄγριον καθ’ ἡμῶν ὑποσαλεύοντος , But when malignant envy and the evil-loving demon nearly burst with anger at such grace and kindness, and turned against us all his death-dealing forces, and when, at first, like a dog gone mad which gnashes his teeth at the stones thrown at him, and pours out his rage against his assailants upon the inanimate missiles, he leveled his ferocious madness at the stones of the sanctuaries and at the lifeless material of the houses, and desolated the churches, — at least as he supposed — and then emitted terrible hissings and snake-like sounds, now by the threats of impious tyrants, and again by the blasphemous edicts of profane rulers, vomiting forth death, moreover, and infecting with his deleterious and soul-destroying poisons the souls captured by him, and almost slaying them by his death-fraught sacrifices of dead idols, and causing every beast in the form of man and every kind of savage to assault us —
4-29 αὖθις ἐξ ὑπαρχῆς τῆς μεγάλης βουλῆς ἄγγελος , μέγας ἀρχιστράτηγος τοῦ Θεοῦ , μετὰ τὴν αὐτάρκη διαγυμνασίαν ἣν οἱ μέγιστοι τῆς αὐτοῦ βασιλείας στρατιῶται διὰ τῆς πρὸς ἅπαντα ὑπομονῆς καὶ καρτερίας ἐνεδείξαντο , ἀθρόως οὕτως φανείς , τὰ μὲν ἐχθρὰ καὶ πολέμια εἰς ἀφανὲς καὶ τὸ μηθὲν κατεστήσατο , ὡς μηδὲ πώποτε ὠνομάσθαι δοκεῖν , τὰ δ’ αὐτῷ φίλα καὶ οἰκεῖα δόξης ἐπέκεινα παρὰ πᾶσιν , οὐκ ἀνθρώποις μόνον , ἀλλ’ ἤδη καὶ δυνάμεσιν οὐρανίοις ἡλίῳ τε καὶ σελήνῃ καὶ ἄστροις καὶ τῷ σύμπαντι οὐρανῷ τε καὶ κόσμῳ προήγαγεν , then, indeed, the ‘Angel of the great Council,’ the great Captain of God after the mightiest soldiers of his kingdom had displayed sufficient exercise through patience and endurance in everything, suddenly appeared anew, and blotted out and annihilated his enemies and foes, so that they seemed never to have had even a name. But his friends and relatives he raised to the highest glory, in the presence not only of all men, but also of celestial powers, of sun and moon and stars, and of the whole heaven and earth,
4-30 ὥστε ἤδη , μηδὲ ἄλλοτέ πω , τοὺς πάντων ἀνωτάτω βασιλέας ἧς λελόγχασι παρ’ αὐτοῦ τιμῆς συνῃσθημένως νεκρῶν μὲν εἰδώλων καταπτύειν προσώποις , πατεῖν δ’ ἄθεσμα δαιμόνων θέσμια καὶ παλαιᾶς ἀπάτης πατροπαραδότου καταγελᾶν , ἕνα δὲ αὐτὸν μόνον Θεὸν τὸν κοινὸν ἁπάντων so that now, as has never happened before, the supreme rulers, conscious of the honor which they have received from him, spit upon the faces of dead idols, trample upon the unhallowed rites of demons, make sport of the ancient delusion handed down from their fathers, and acknowledge only one God, the common benefactor of all, themselves included.
4-31 καὶ ἑαυτῶν εὐεργέτην γνωρίζειν Χριστόν τε τοῦ Θεοῦ παῖδα παμβασιλέα τῶν ὅλων ὁμολογεῖν σωτῆρά τε αὐτὸν ἐν στήλαις ἀναγορεύειν , ἀνεξαλείπτῳ μνήμῃ τὰ κατορθώματα καὶ τὰς κατὰ τῶν ἀσεβῶν αὐτοῦ νίκας μέσῃ τῇ βασιλευούσῃ τῶν ἐπὶ γῆς πόλει βασιλικοῖς χαρακτῆρσι προσεγγράφοντας , And they confess Christ, the Son of God, universal King of all, and proclaim him Saviour on monuments, imperishably recording in imperial letters, in the midst of the city which rules over the earth, his righteous deeds and his victories over the impious.
4-32 ὥστε μόνον τῶν ἐξ αἰῶνος Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν τὸν ἡμῶν σωτῆρα καὶ πρὸς αὐτῶν τῶν ἐπὶ γῆς ἀνωτάτω οὐχ οἷα κοινὸν ἐξ ἀνθρώπων βασιλέα γενόμενον ὁμολογεῖσθαι , ἀλλ’ οἷα τοῦ καθ’ ὅλων Θεοῦ παῖδα γνήσιον καὶ αὐτὸν Θεὸν προσκυνεῖσθαι . Thus Jesus Christ our Saviour is the only one from all eternity who has been acknowledged, even by those highest in the earth, not as a common king among men, but as a trite son of the universal God, and who has been worshipped as very God, and that rightly.
4-33 Καὶ εἰκότως· τίς γὰρ τῶν πώποτε βασιλέων τοσοῦτον ἀρετῆς ἠνέγκατο , ὡς πάντων τῶν ἐπὶ γῆς ἀνθρώπων ἀκοὴν καὶ γλῶσσαν ἐμπλῆσαι τῆς αὐτοῦ προσηγορίας ; For what king that ever lived attained such virtue as to fill the ears and tongues of all men upon earth with his own name?
4-34 τίς βασιλεὺς νόμους εὐσεβεῖς οὕτω καὶ σώφρονας διαταξάμενος ἀπὸ περάτων γῆς καὶ εἰς ἄκρα τῆς ὅλης οἰκουμένης εἰς ἐπήκοον ἅπασιν ἀνθρώποις ἀναγινώσκεσθαι διαρκῶς ἐκράτυνεν ; What king, after ordaining such pious and wise laws, has extended them from one end of the earth to the other, so that they are perpetually read in the hearing of all men?
4-35 τίς ἀνημέρων ἐθνῶν ἔθη βάρβαρα καὶ ἀνήμερα τοῖς ἡμέροις αὐτοῦ καὶ φιλανθρωποτάτοις παρέλυσε νόμοις ; Who has abrogated barbarous and savage customs of uncivilized nations by his gentle and most philanthropic laws?
4-36 τίς αἰῶσιν ὅλοις ὑπὸ πάντων πολεμούμενος τὴν ὑπὲρ ἄνθρωπον ἀρετὴν ἐπεδείξατο , ὡς ἀνθεῖν ὁσημέραι καὶ νεάζειν διὰ παντὸς τοῦ βίου ; Who, being attacked for entire ages by all, has shown such superhuman virtue as to flourish daily, and remain young throughout his life?
4-37 τίς ἔθνος τὸ μηδὲ ἀκουσθὲν ἐξ αἰῶνος οὐκ ἐν γωνίᾳ ποι γῆς λεληθός , ἀλλὰ καθ’ ὅλης τῆς ὑφ’ ἥλιον ἱδρύσατο ; Who has founded a nation which of old was not even heard of, but which now is not concealed in some corner of the earth, but is spread abroad everywhere under the sun?
4-38 τίς εὐσεβείας ὅπλοις οὕτως ἐφράξατο τοὺς στρατιώτας , ὡς ἀδάμαντος τὰς ψυχὰς κραταιοτέρους ἐν τοῖς πρὸς τοὺς ἀντιπάλους ἀγῶσιν διαφαίνεσθαι ; Who has so fortified his soldiers with the arms of piety that their souls, being firmer than adamant, shine brilliantly in the contests with their opponents?
4-39 τίς βασιλέων ἐς τοσοῦτον κρατεῖ καὶ στρατηγεῖ μετὰ θάνατον καὶ τρόπαια κατ’ ἐχθρῶν ἵστησιν καὶ πάντα τόπον καὶ χώραν καὶ πόλιν , Ἑλλάδα τε καὶ βάρβαρον , βασιλικῶν οἴκων αὐτοῦ πληροῖ καὶ θείων ναῶν ἀφιερώμασιν , οἷα τάδε τὰ τοῦδε τοῦ νεὼ περικαλλῆ κοσμήματά τε καὶ ἀναθήματα ; καὶ αὐτὰ σεμνὰ μὲν ὡς ἀληθῶς καὶ μεγάλα ἐκπλήξεώς τε καὶ θαύματος ἄξια καὶ οἷα τῆς τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν βασιλείας ἐναργῆ δείγματα , ὅτι καὶ νῦν αὐτὸς εἶπεν καὶ ἐγενήθησαν , αὐτὸς ἐνετείλατο καὶ ἐκτίσθησαντί γὰρ καὶ ἔμελλεν τοῦ παμβασιλέως καὶ πανηγεμόνος καὶ αὐτοῦ Θεοῦ λόγου ἐνστήσεσθαι τῷ νεύματι ; ’ What king prevails to such an extent, and even after death leads on his soldiers, and sets up trophies over his enemies, and fills every place, country and city, Greek and barbarian, with his royal dwellings, even divine temples with their consecrated oblations, like this very temple with its superb adornments and votive offerings, which are themselves so truly great and majestic, worthy of wonder and admiration, and clear signs of the sovereignty of our Saviour? for now, too, ‘he spoke, and they were made; he commanded, and they were created.’ for what was there to resist the nod of the universal King and Governor and Word of God himself?
4-40 σχολῆς τε λόγων οἰκείας εἰς ἀκριβῆ θεωρίαν τε καὶ ἑρμηνείαν τυγχάνει δεόμενα· A special discourse would be needed accurately to survey and explain all this;
4-41 οὐ μὴν ὅσα καὶ οἷα τὰ τῆς τῶν πεπονηκότων προθυμίας κέκριται παρ’ αὐτῷ τῷ θεολογουμένῳ τὸν ἔμψυχον πάντων ὑμῶν καθορῶντι ναὸν καὶ τὸν ἐκ ζώντων λίθων καὶ βεβηκότων οἶκον ἐποπτεύοντι εὖ καὶ ἀσφαλῶς ἱδρυμένον ἐπὶ τῷ θεμελίῳ τῶν ἀποστόλων καὶ προφητῶν , ὄντος ἀκρογωνιαίου λίθου αὐτοῦ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ , ὃν ἀπεδοκίμασαν μὲν οὐχ οἱ τῆς παλαιᾶς καὶ μηκέτ’ οὔσης ἐκείνης μόνον , ἀλλὰ καὶ τῆς εἰς ἔτι νῦν τῶν πολλῶν ἀνθρώπων οἰκοδομῆς κακοὶ κακῶν ὄντες ἀρχιτέκτονες , and also to describe how great the zeal of the laborers is regarded by him who is celebrated as divine, who looks upon the living temple which we all constitute, and surveys the house, composed of living and moving stones, which is well and surely built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, the chief cornerstone being Jesus Christ himself, who has been rejected not only by the builders of that ancient building which no longer stands, but also by the builders — evil architects of evil works — of the structure, which is composed of the mass of men and still endures.
4-42 δοκιμάσας δ’ πατὴρ καὶ τότε καὶ νῦν εἰς κεφαλὴν γωνίας τῆσδε τῆς κοινῆς ἡμῶν ἐκκλησίας ἱδρύσατο . But the Father has approved him both then and now, and has made him the head of the corner of this our common church.
4-43 τοῦτον δὴ οὖν τὸν ἐξ ὑμῶν αὐτῶν ἐπεσκευασμένον ζῶντος Θεοῦ ζῶντα ναόν , τὸ μέγιστον καὶ ἀληθεῖ λόγῳ θεοπρεπὲς ἱερεῖόν φημι , οὗ τὰ ἐνδοτάτω ἄδυτα τοῖς πολλοῖς ἀθεώρητα καὶ ὄντως ἅγια καὶ τῶν ἁγίων ἅγια , τίς ἂν ἐποπτεύσας ἐξειπεῖν τολμήσειεν ; Who that beholds this living temple of the living God formed of ourselves — this greatest and truly divine sanctuary, I say, whose inmost shrines are invisible to the multitude and are truly holy and a holy of holies — would venture to declare it?
4-44 τίς δὲ κἂν εἰσκύψαι περιβόλων ἱερῶν εἴσω δυνατός , ὅτι μὴ μόνος μέγας τῶν ὅλων ἀρχιερεύς , μόνῳ θέμις πάσης λογικῆς ψυχῆς τὰ ἀπόρρητα διερευνᾶσθαι ; Who is able even to look within the sacred enclosure, except the great High Priest of all, to whom alone it is permitted to fathom the mysteries of every rational soul?
4-45 τάχα δὲ καὶ ἄλλῳ δευτερεύειν μετὰ τοῦτον ἑνὶ μόνῳ τῶν ἴσων ἐφικτόν , τῷδε τῷ προκαθημένῳ τῆσδε τῆς στρατιᾶς ἡγεμόνι , ὃν αὐτὸς πρῶτος καὶ μέγας ἀρχιερεὺς δευτερείοις τῶν τῇδε ἱερείων τιμήσας , ποιμένα τῆς ὑμετέρας ἐνθέου ποίμνης κλήρῳ καὶ κρίσει τοῦ πατρὸς τὸν ὑμέτερον λαχόντα λαόν , ὡς ἂν θεραπευτὴν καὶ ὑποφήτην αὐτὸς ἑαυτοῦ κατετάξατο , τὸν νέον Ἀαρὼν Μελχισεδεκ ἀφωμοιωμένον τῷ υἱῷ τοῦ Θεοῦ μένοντά τε καὶ πρὸς αὐτοῦ τηρούμενον εἰς τὸ διηνεκὲς ταῖς κοιναῖς ἁπάντων ἡμῶν εὐχαῖς . But perhaps it is granted to another, to one only, to be second after him in the same work, namely, to the commander of this army whom the first and great High Priest himself has honored with the second place in this sanctuary, the shepherd of your divine flock who has obtained your people by the allotment and the judgment of the Father, as if he had appointed him his own servant and interpreter, a new Aaron or Melchizedek, made like the Son of God, remaining and continually preserved by him in accordance with the united prayers of all of you.
4-46 τούτῳ δὴ οὖν ἐξέστω μόνῳ μετὰ τὸν πρῶτον καὶ μέγιστον ἀρχιερέα , εἰ μὴ τὰ πρῶτα , τὰ δεύτερα γοῦν ὅμως ὁρᾶν τε καὶ ἐπισκοπεῖν τῆς ἐνδοτάτω τῶν ὑμετέρων ψυχῶν θεωρίας , πείρᾳ μὲν καὶ χρόνου μήκει ἕκαστον ἀκριβῶς ἐξητακότι σπουδῇ τε τῇ αὐτοῦ καὶ ἐπιμελείᾳ τοὺς πάντας ὑμᾶς ἐν κόσμῳ καὶ λόγῳ τῷ κατ’ εὐσέβειαν διατεθειμένῳ δυνατῷ τε ὄντι μᾶλλον ἁπάντων , ὧν αὐτὸς σὺν θείᾳ δυνάμει κατηρτίσατο , τούτων τοῖς ἔργοις ἐφαμίλλως ἀποδοῦναι τοὺς λόγους . To him therefore alone let it be granted, if not in the first place, at least in the second after the first and greatest High Priest, to observe and supervise the inmost state of your souls — to him who by experience and length of time1 has accurately proved each one, and who by his zeal and care has disposed you all in pious conduct and doctrine, and is better able than any one else to give an account, adequate to the facts, of those things which he himself has accomplished with the Divine assistance.
1These words seem to imply that Paulinus, though young, had been a bishop for some time.
4-47 μὲν οὖν πρῶτος καὶ μέγας ἡμῶν ἀρχιερεὺς ὅσα βλέπει τὸν πατέρα ποιοῦντα , ταῦτα , φησίν , ὁμοίως καὶ υἱὸς ποιεῖ· As to our first and great High Priest, it is said, ‘Whatsoever he sees the Father doing those things likewise the Son also does.’
4-48 δὲ καὶ αὐτὸς ὡς ἂν ἐπὶ διδάσκαλον τὸν πρῶτον καθαροῖς νοὸς ὄμμασιν ἀφορῶν , ὅσα βλέπει ποιοῦντα , ὡς ἂν ἀρχετύποις χρώμενος παραδείγμασιν , τούτων τὰς εἰκόνας , ὡς ἔνι μάλιστα δυνατόν , εἰς τὸ ὁμοιότατον δημιουργῶν ἀπειργάσατο , οὐδὲν ἐκείνῳ καταλιπὼν τῷ Βεσελεηλ , ὃν αὐτὸς Θεὸςπνεύματος ἐμπλήσας σοφίας καὶ συνέσεως1 καὶ τῆς ἄλλης ἐντέχνου καὶ ἐπιστημονικῆς γνώσεως , τῆς τῶν οὐρανίων τύπων διὰ συμβόλων ναοῦ κατασκευῆς δημιουργὸν ἀνακέκληται . So also this one, looking up to him as to the first teacher, with pure eyes of the mind, using as archetypes whatsoever things he sees him doing, produces images of them, making them so far as is possible in the same likeness, in nothing inferior to that Beseleel, whom God himself ‘filled with the spirit of wisdom and understanding’1 and with other technical and scientific knowledge, and called to be the maker of the temple constructed after heavenly types given in symbols.
4-49 ταύτῃ δ’ οὖν καὶ ὅδε Χριστὸν ὅλον , τὸν λόγον , τὴν σοφίαν , τὸ φῶς ἐν τῇ αὐτὸς αὐτοῦ ἀγαλματοφορῶν ψυχῇ , οὐδ’ ἔστιν εἰπεῖν οἵᾳ σὺν μεγαλοφροσύνῃ πλουσίᾳ τε καὶ ἀπλήστῳ διανοίας χειρὶ καὶ σὺν οἵᾳ πάντων ὑμῶν φιλοτιμίᾳ , τῇ τῶν εἰσφορῶν μεγαλοψυχίᾳ τῆς αὐτῆς αὐτῷ προθέσεως κατὰ μηδένα τρόπον ἀπολειφθῆναι φιλονεικότερον μεγαλοφρονουμένων , τὸν μεγαλοπρεπῆ τόνδε Θεοῦ τοῦ ὑψίστου νεὼν τῷ τοῦ κρείττονος παραδείγματι , ὡς ἂν ὁρώμενον μὴ ὁρωμένου , τὴν φύσιν ἐμφερῆ συνεστήσατο , Thus this one also bearing in his own soul the image of the whole Christ, the Word, the Wisdom, the Light, has formed this magnificent temple of the highest God, corresponding to the pattern of the greater as a visible to an invisible, it is impossible to say with what greatness of soul, with what wealth and liberality of mind, and with what emulation on the part of all of you, shown in the magnanimity of the contributors who have ambitiously striven in no way to be left behind by him in the execution of the same purpose.
4-50 χῶρον μὲν τόνδε , τι καὶ ἄξιον εἰπεῖν πρῶτον ἁπάντων , πάσης οὐ καθαρᾶς ὕλης ἐχθρῶν ἐπιβουλαῖς κατακεχωσμένον οὐ παριδὼν οὐδὲ τῇ τῶν αἰτίων παραχωρήσας κακίᾳ , ἐξὸν ἐφ’ ἕτερον ἐλθόντα , μυρίων ἄλλων εὐπορουμένων τῇ πόλει , ῥᾳστώνην εὕρασθαι τοῦ πόνου καὶ πραγμάτων ἀπηλλάχθαι . And this place — for this deserves to be mentioned first of all — which had been covered with all sorts of rubbish by the artifices of our enemies he did not overlook, nor did he yield to the wickedness of those who had brought about that condition of things, although he might have chosen some other place, for many other sites were available in the city, where he would have had less labor, and been free from trouble.
4-51 δὲ πρῶτον αὑτὸν ἐπὶ τὸ ἔργον ἐγείρας , εἶτα δὲ τὸν σύμπαντα λαὸν προθυμίᾳ ῥώσας καὶ μίαν ἐξ ἁπάντων μεγάλην χεῖρα συναγαγών , πρῶτον ἆθλον ἠγωνίζετο , But having first aroused himself to the work, and then strengthened the whole people with zeal, and formed them all into one great body, he fought the first contest.
4-52 αὐτὴν δὴ μάλιστα τὴν ὑπὸ τῶν ἐχθρῶν πεπολιορκημένην , αὐτὴν τὴν προπονήσασαν καὶ τοὺς αὐτοὺς ἡμῖν καὶ πρὸ ἡμῶν διωγμοὺς ὑπομείνασαν , τὴν μητρὸς δίκην τῶν τέκνων ἐρημωθεῖσαν ἐκκλησίαν συναπολαῦσαι δεῖν οἰόμενος τῆς τοῦ παναγάθου μεγαλοδωρεᾶς . For he thought that this church, which had been especially besieged by the enemy, which had first suffered and endured the same persecutions with us and for us, like a mother bereft of her children, should rejoice with us in the signal favor of the all-merciful God.
4-53 ἐπειδὴ γὰρ τοὺς παῖδας αὖθις μέγας ποιμήν , τοὺς θῆρας καὶ τοὺς λύκους καὶ πᾶν ἀπηνὲς καὶ ἄγριον γένος ἀποσοβήσας καὶ τὰς μύλας τῶν λεόντων , φησιν τὰ θεῖα λόγια , συντρίψας , ἐπὶ ταὐτὸν αὖθις συνελθεῖν ἠξίωσεν , δικαιότατα καὶ τῆς ποίμνης τὴν μάνδραν ἀνίστη τοῦ καταισχῦναι ἐχθρὸν καὶ ἐκδικητὴν καὶ ὡς ἂν ἔλεγχον ταῖς θεομάχοις τῶν ἀσεβῶν προαγάγοι τόλμαις . For when the Great Shepherd had driven away the wild animals and wolves and every cruel and savage beast, and, as the divine oracles say, ‘had broken the jaws of the lions,’ he thought good to collect again her children in the same place, and in the most righteous manner he set up the fold of her flock, ‘to put to shame the enemy and avenger,’ and to refute the impious daring of the enemies of God.
4-54 καὶ νῦν οἳ μὲν οὐκ εἰσὶν οἱ θεομισεῖς , ὅτι μηδὲ ἦσαν , And now they are not — the haters of God — for they never were.
4-55 ἐς βραχὺ δὲ ταράξαντες καὶ ταραχθέντες , εἶθ’ ὑποσχόντες τιμωρίαν οὐ μεμπτὴν τῇ δίκῃ , ἑαυτοὺς καὶ φίλους καὶ οἴκους ἄρδην ἀναστάτους κατέστησαν , ὡς τὰς πάλαι στήλαις ἱεραῖς καταγραφείσας προρρήσεις ἔργοις πιστὰς ὁμολογεῖσθαι , δι’ ὧν τά τε ἄλλα θεῖος ἐπαληθεύει λόγος , ἀτὰρ καὶ τάδε περὶ αὐτῶν ἀποφαινόμενος After they had troubled and been troubled for a little time, they suffered the fitting punishment, and brought themselves and their friends and their relatives to total destruction, so that the declarations inscribed of old in sacred records have been proved true by facts. In these declarations the divine word truly says among other things the following concerning them:
4-56ῥομφαίαν ἐσπάσαντο οἱ ἁμαρτωλοί , ἐνέτειναν τόξον αὐτῶν τοῦ καταβαλεῖν πτωχὸν καὶ πένητα , τοῦ σφάξαι τοὺς εὐθεῖς τῇ καρδίᾳ· ῥομφαία αὐτῶν εἰσέλθοι εἰς τὰς καρδίας αὐτῶν καὶ τὰ τόξα αὐτῶν συντριβείη ‘The wicked have drawn out the sword, they have bent their bow, to slay the righteous in heart; let their sword enter into their own heart and their bows be broken.’
4-57 καὶ πάλιν ἐπιστρέψαςἀπώλετο τὸ μνημόσυνον αὐτῶν μετ’ ἤχου ,’ καὶτὸ ὄνομα αὐτῶν ἐξήλειπται εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα καὶ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τοῦ αἰῶνος ,’ and again: ‘Their memorial is perished with a sound’1 and ‘their name have you blotted out forever and ever’;2
4-58 ὅτι δὴ καὶ ἐν κακοῖς γενόμενοιἐκέκραξαν , καὶ οὐκ ἦν σῴζων· πρὸς κύριον , καὶ οὐκ εἰσήκουσεν αὐτῶν ,’ for when they also were in trouble they ‘cried out and there was none to save: unto the Lord, and he heard them not.’
1
4-59 ἀλλ’ οἳ μὲνσυνεποδίσθησαν καὶ ἔπεσαν , ἡμεῖς δὲ ἀνέστημεν καὶ ἀνωρθώθημεν’· But ‘their feet were bound together, and they fell, but we have arisen and stand upright.’1
4-60 καὶ τό γ’ ἐν τούτοις προαναφωνοῦνκύριε , ἐν τῇ πόλει σου τὴν εἰκόνα αὐτῶν ἐξουδενώσειςἀληθὲς ὑπ’ ὀφθαλμοῖς πάντων ἀναπέφανται . and that which was announced beforehand in these words —‘O Lord, in your city you shall set at naught their image,’1 — has been shown to be true to the eyes of all.
4-61 Ἀλλ’ οἳ μὲν γιγάντων τρόπον θεομαχίαν ἐνστησάμενοι τοιαύτην εἰλήχασιν τὴν τοῦ βίου καταστροφήν· But having waged war like the giants against God, they died in this way.
4-62 τῆς δ’ ἐρήμου καὶ παρ’ ἀνθρώποις ἀπεγνωσμένης τοιαῦτα οἷα τὰ ὁρώμενα τῆς κατὰ Θεὸν ὑπομονῆς τὰ τέλη , ὡς ἀναφωνεῖν αὐτῇ τὴν προφητείαν Ἡσαΐου ταῦτα But she who was desolate and rejected by men received the consummation which we behold in consequence of her patience toward God, so that the prophecy of Isaiah was spoken of her:
4-63εὐφράνθητι , ἔρημος διψῶσα , ἀγαλλιάοθω ἔρημος καὶ ἀνθείτω ὡς κρίνον· καὶ ἐξανθήσει καὶ ἀγαλλιάσεται τὰ ἔρημα . ἰσχύσατε , χεῖρες ἀνειμέναι καὶ γόνατα παραλελυμένα· παρακαλέσατε , ὀλιγόψυχοι τῇ διανοίᾳ , ἰσχύσατε , μὴ φοβεῖσθε . ἰδοὺ Θεὸς ἡμῶν κρίσιν ἀνταποδίδωσιν καὶ ἀνταποδώσει , αὐτὸς ἥξει καὶ σώσει ἡμᾶς· ὅτι , φησίν , ἐρράγη ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ ὕδωρ , καὶ φάραγξ ἐν γῇ διψώσῃ , καὶ ἄνυδρος ἔσται εἰς ἕλη , καὶ εἰς τὴν διψῶσαν γῆν πηγὴ ὕδατος ἔσται . ’ ‘Rejoice, thirsty desert, let the desert rejoice and blossom as the lily, and the desert places shall blossom and be glad. Be strengthened, you weak hands and feeble knees. Be of good courage, you feeble-hearted, in your minds; be strong, fear not. Behold our God recompenses judgment and will recompense, he will come and save us. For,’ he says, ‘in the wilderness water has broken out, and a pool in thirsty ground, and the dry land shall be watered meadows, and in the thirsty ground there shall be springs of water.’
4-64 Καὶ τάδε μὲν λόγοις πάλαι προθεσπισθέντα βίβλοις ἱεραῖς καταβέβλητο , τά γε μὴν ἔργα οὐκέτ’ ἀκοαῖς , ἀλλ’ ἔργοις ἡμῖν παραδέδοται . These things which were prophesied long ago have been recorded in sacred books; but no longer are they transmitted to us by hearsay merely, but in facts.
4-65 ἔρημος ἥδε , ἄνυδρος , χήρα καὶ ἀπερίστατος , ἧς ὡς ἐν δρυμῷ ξύλων ἀξίναις ἐξέκοψαν τὰς πύλας , ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ ἐν πέλυκι καὶ λαξευτηρίῳ συνέτριψαν αὐτήν , ἧς καὶ τὰς βίβλους διαφθείραντες ἐνεπύρισαν ἐν πυρὶ τὸ ἁγιαστήριον τοῦ Θεοῦ , εἰς τὴν γῆν ἐβεβήλωσαν τὸ σκήνωμα τοῦ ὀνόματος αὐτοῦ , ἣν ἐτρύγησαν πάντες οἱ παραπορευόμενοι τὴν ὁδὸν προκαθελόντες αὐτῆς τοὺς φραγμούς , ἣν ἐλυμήνατο ὗς ἐκ δρυμοῦ καὶ μονιὸς ἄγριος κατενεμήσατο , Χριστοῦ δυνάμει παραδόξῳ νῦν , ὅτε θέλει αὐτός , γέγονεν ὡς κρίνον· This desert, this dry land, this widowed and deserted one, ‘whose gates they cut down with axes like wood in a forest, whom they broke down with hatchet and hammer,’1 whose books also they destroyed, ‘burning with fire the sanctuary of God, and profaning unto the ground the habitation of his name,’2 ‘whom all that passed by upon the way plucked, and whose fences they broke down, whom the boar out of the wood ravaged, and on which the savage wild beast fed,’3 now by the wonderful power of Christ, when he wills it, has become like a lily.
4-66 ἐπεὶ καὶ τότε αὐτοῦ νεύματι , ὡς ἂν προκηδομένου πατρός , ἐπαιδεύετο· For at that time also by His command, as of a careful father, she was chastened.
4-67 ὃν γὰρ ἀγαπᾷ κύριος , παιδεύει , μαστιγοῖ δὲ πάντα υἱὸν ὃν παραδέχεται . For at that time also she was chastened at his nod as by a careful father; ‘for whom the Lord loves he chastens, and scourges every son whom he receives.’
4-68 μέτρῳ δῆτα κατὰ τὸ δέον ἐπιστραφεῖσα , αὖθις ἄνωθεν ἐξ ὑπαρχῆς ἀγαλλιᾶν προστάττεται ἐξανθεῖ τε ὡς κρίνον καὶ τῆς ἐνθέου εὐωδίας εἰς πάντας ἀποπνεῖ ἀνθρώπους , Then after being chastened in a measure, according to the necessities of the case, she is commanded to rejoice anew; and she blossoms as a lily and exhales her divine odor among all men.
4-69 ὅτι , φησίν , ἐρράγη ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ ὕδωρ τὸ νᾶμα τῆς θείας τοῦ σωτηρίου λουτροῦ παλιγγενεσίας , καὶ νῦν γέγονεν πρὸ μικροῦ ἔρημος εἰς ἕλη , καὶ εἰς τὴν διψῶσαν γῆν ἔβρυσεν πηγὴ ὕδατος ζῶντος , ἴσχυσάν τε ὡς ἀληθῶς χεῖρες αἱ τὸ πρὶν ἀνειμέναι , καὶ τῆς τῶν χειρῶν ἰσχύος ἔργα τάδε τὰ μεγάλα καὶ ἐναργῆ δείγματα· ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ πάλαι σεσαθρωμένα καὶ παρειμένα γόνατα τὰς οἰκείας ἀπολαβόντα βάσεις , τὴν ὁδὸν τῆς θεογνωσίας εὐθυποροῦντα βαδίζει , ἐπὶ τὴν οἰκείαν ποίμνην τοῦ παναγάθου ποιμένος σπεύδοντα . ‘For,’ it is said, ‘water has broken out in the wilderness,’1 the fountain of the saving bath of divine regeneration. And now she, who a little before was a desert, ‘has become watered meadows, and springs of water have gushed forth in a thirsty land.’2 the hands which before were ‘weak’ have become ‘truly strong’; and these works are great and convincing proofs of strong hands. The knees, also, which before were ‘feeble and infirm,’ recovering their wonted strength, are moving straight forward in the path of divine knowledge, and hastening to the kindred flock of the all-gracious Shepherd.
4-70 εἰ δὲ καὶ ταῖς τῶν τυράννων ἀπειλαῖς τὰς ψυχάς τινες ἀπενάρκησαν , οὐδὲ τούτους σωτήριος ἀθεραπεύτους παρορᾷ λόγος , εὖ μάλα δὲ καὶ αὐτοὺς ἰώμενος ἐπὶ τὴν τοῦ θείου παράκλησιν παρορμᾷ λέγων· “παρακαλέσατε , οἱ ὀλιγόψυχοι τῇ διανοίᾳ , ἰσχύσατε , μὴ φοβεῖσθε .’ And if there are any whose souls have been stupefied by the threats of the tyrants, not even they are passed by as incurable by the saving Word; but he heals them also and urges them on to receive divine comfort, saying, ‘Be comforted, you who are faint-hearted; be ye strengthened, fear not.’1
4-71 Τούτων δεῖν ἀπολαῦσαι τὴν διὰ Θεὸν γενομένην ἔρημον τοῦ λόγου προαγορεύοντος , ἐπακούσας ὀξείᾳ διανοίας ἀκοῇ οὗτος νέος ἡμῶν καὶ καλὸς Ζοροβαβελ μετὰ τὴν πικρὰν ἐκείνην αἰχμαλωσίαν καὶ τὸ βδέλυγμα τῆς ἐρημώσεως , οὐ παριδὼν τὸ πτῶμα νεκρόν , πρώτιστα πάντων παρακλήσεσιν καὶ λιταῖς ἵλεω τὸν πατέρα μετὰ τῆς κοινῆς ὑμῶν ἁπάντων ὁμοφροσύνης καταστησάμενος καὶ τὸν μόνον νεκρῶν ζωοποιὸν Σύμμαχον παραλαβὼν καὶ συνεργόν , τὴν πεσοῦσαν ἐξήγειρεν προαποκαθάρας καὶ προθεραπεύσας τῶν κακῶν , This our new and excellent Zerubabel,1 having heard the word which announced beforehand, that she who had been made a desert on account of God should enjoy these things, after the bitter captivity and the abomination of desolation, did not overlook the dead body; but first of all with prayers and supplications propitiated the Father with the common consent of all of you, and invoking the only one that gives life to the dead as his ally and fellow-worker, raised her that was fallen, after purifying and freeing her from her ills.
4-72 καὶ στολὴν οὐ τὴν ἐξ ἀρχαίου παλαιὰν αὐτῇ περιτέθεικεν , ἀλλ’ ὁποίαν αὖθις παρὰ τῶν θείων χρησμῶν ἐξεπαιδεύετο , σαφῶς ὧδε λεγόντωνκαὶ ἔσται δόξα τοῦ οἴκου τούτου ἐσχάτη ὑπέρ τὴν προτέραν . ’1 And he clothed her not with the ancient garment, but with such an one as he had again learned from the sacred oracles, which say clearly, ‘And the latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former.’
4-73 Ταύτῃ δ’ οὖν πολὺ μείζονα τὸν χῶρον ἅπαντα περιλαβών , τὸν μὲν ἔξωθεν ὠχυροῦτο περίβολον τῷ τοῦ παντὸς περιτειχίσματι , ὡς ἂν ἀσφαλέστατον εἴη τοῦ παντὸς ἕρκος· Thus, enclosing a much larger space,1 he fortified the outer court with a wall surrounding the whole, which should serve as a most secure bulwark for the entire edifice.
1i.e., much larger than what was occupied by the previous church. The description here given is the earliest account that we possess of the structure and furniture of a Christian church.
4-74 πρόπυλον δὲ μέγα καὶ εἰς ὕψος ἐπηρμένον πρὸς αὐτὰς ἀνίσχοντος ἡλίου ἀκτῖνας ἀναπετάσας , ἤδη καὶ τοῖς μακρὰν περιβόλων ἔξω ἱερῶν ἑστῶσιν τῆς τῶν ἔνδον παρέσχεν ἀφθονίαν θέας , μόνον οὐχὶ καὶ τῶν ἀλλοτρίων τῆς πίστεως ἐπὶ τὰς πρώτας εἰσόδους ἐπιστρέφων τὰς ὄψεις , ὡς ἂν μὴ παρατρέχοι τις ὅτι μὴ τὴν ψυχὴν κατανυγεὶς πρότερον μνήμῃ τῆς τε πρὶν ἐρημίας καὶ τῆς νῦν παραδόξου θαυματουργίας , ὑφ’ ἧς τάχα καὶ ἑλκυσθήσεσθαι κατανυγέντα καὶ πρὸς αὐτῆς τῆς ὄψεως ἐπὶ τὴν εἴσοδον προτραπήσεσθαι ἤλπισεν . And he raised and spread out a great and lofty vestibule toward the rays of the rising sun, and furnished those standing far without the sacred enclosure a full view of those within, almost turning the eyes of those who were strangers to the faith, to the entrances, so that no one could pass by without being impressed by the memory of the former desolation and of the present incredible transformation. His hope was that such an one being impressed by this might be attracted and be induced to enter by the very sight.
4-75 εἴσω δὲ παρελθόντι πυλῶν οὐκ εὐθὺς ἐφῆκεν ἀνάγνοις καὶ ἀνίπτοις ποσὶν τῶν ἔνδον ἐπιβαίνειν ἁγίων , διαλαβὼν δὲ πλεῖστον ὅσον τὸ μεταξὺ τοῦ τε νεὼ καὶ τῶν πρώτων εἰσόδων , τέτταρσι μὲν πέριξ ἐγκαρσίοις κατεκόσμησεν στοαῖς , εἰς τετράγωνόν τι σχῆμα περιφράξας τὸν τόπον , κίοσι πανταχόθεν ἐπαιρομέναις· ὧν τὰ μέσα διαφράγμασι τοῖς ἀπὸ ξύλου δικτυωτοῖς ἐς τὸ σύμμετρον ἥκουσι μήκους περικλείσας , μέσον αἴθριον ἠφίει εἰς τὴν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ κάτοψιν , λαμπρὸν καὶ ταῖς τοῦ φωτὸς ἀκτῖσιν ἀνειμένον ἀέρα παρέχων . But when one comes within the gates he does not permit him to enter the sanctuary immediately, with impure and unwashed feet; but leaving as large a space as possible between the temple and the outer entrance, he has surrounded and adorned it with four transverse cloisters, making a quadrangular space with pillars rising on every side, which he has joined with lattice-work screens of wood, rising to a suitable height; and he has left an open space in the middle, so that the sky can be seen, and the free air bright in the rays of the sun.
4-76 ἱερῶν δ’ ἐνταῦθα καθαρσίων ἐτίθει σύμβολα , κρήνας ἄντικρυς εἰς πρόσωπον ἐπισκευάζων τοῦ νεὼ πολλῷ τῷ χεύματι τοῦ νάματος τοῖς περιβόλων ἱερῶν ἐπὶ τὰ ἔσω προϊοῦσιν τὴν ἀπόρυψιν παρεχομένας . Here he has placed symbols of sacred purifications, setting up fountains opposite the temple which furnish an abundance of water wherewith those who come within the sanctuary may purify themselves.
4-77 καὶ πρώτη μὲν εἰσιόντων αὕτη διατριβή , κόσμον ὁμοῦ καὶ ἀγλαΐαν τῷ παντὶ τοῖς τε τῶν πρώτων εἰσαγωγῶν ἔτι δεομένοις κατάλληλον τὴν μονὴν παρεχομένη . This is the first halting-place of those who enter; and it furnishes at the same time a beautiful and splendid scene to every one, and to those who still need elementary instruction a fitting station.
4-78 Ἀλλὰ γὰρ καὶ τὴν τούτων θέαν παραμειψάμενος , πλείοσιν ἔτι μᾶλλον τοῖς ἐνδοτάτω προπύλοις τὰς ἐπὶ τὸν νεὼν παρόδους ἀναπεπταμένας ἐποίει , ὑπὸ μὲν ταῖς ἡλίου βολαῖς αὖθις τρεῖς πύλας ὑφ’ ἓν καταθεὶς πλευρόν , ὧν πολὺ τὰς παρ’ ἑκάτερα μεγέθει τε καὶ πλάτει πλεονεκτεῖν τῇ μέσῃ χαρισάμενος παραπήγμασι τε χαλκοῦ σιδηροδέτοις καὶ ποικίλμασιν ἀναγλύφοις διαφερόντως αὐτὴν φαιδρύνας , ὡς ἂν βασιλίδι ταύτῃ τοὺς δορυφόρους ὑπέζευξεν· But passing by this spectacle, he has made open entrances to the temple with many other vestibules within, placing three doors on one side, likewise facing the rays of the sun. The one in the middle, adorned with plates of bronze, iron bound, and beautifully embossed, he has made much higher and broader than the others, as if he were making them guards for it as for a queen.
4-79 τὸν αὐτὸν δὲ τρόπον καὶ ταῖς παρ’ ἑκάτερα τοῦ παντὸς νεὼ στοαῖς τὸν τῶν προπύλων ἀριθμὸν διατάξας , ἄνωθεν ἐπὶ ταύταις ἄλλῳ πλείονι φωτὶ διαφόρους τὰς ἐπὶ τὸν οἶκον εἰσβολὰς ἐπενόει , ταῖς ἀπὸ ξύλου λεπτουργίαις καὶ τὸν περὶ αὐτὰς κόσμον καταποικίλλων . In the same way, arranging the number of vestibules for the corridors on each side of the whole temple, he has made above them various openings into the building, for the purpose of admitting more light, adorning them with very fine wood-carving.
4-80 Τὸν δὲ βασίλειον οἶκον πλουσιωτέραις ἤδη καὶ δαψιλέσι ταῖς ὕλαις ὠχύρου , ἀφθόνῳ φιλοτιμίᾳ τῶν ἀναλωμάτων χρώμενος· But the royal house1 he has furnished with more beautiful and splendid materials, using unstinted liberality in his disbursements.
1i.e., also called the “basilica.”
4-81 ἔνθα μοι δοκῶ περιττὸν εἶναι τοῦ δομήματος μήκη τε καὶ πλάτη καταγράφειν , τὰ φαιδρὰ ταῦτα κάλλη καὶ τὰ λόγου κρείττονα μεγέθη τὴν τε τῶν ἔργων ἀποστίλβουσαν ὄψιν τῷ λόγῳ διεξιόντι ὕψη τε τὰ οὐρανομήκη καὶ τὰς τούτων ὑπερκειμένας πολυτελεῖς τοῦ Λιβάνου κέδρους , ὧν οὐδὲ τὸ θεῖον λόγιον τὴν μνήμην ἀπεσιώπησενεὐφρανθήσεται φάσκοντὰ ξύλα τοῦ κυρίου , καὶ αἱ κέδροι τοῦ Λιβάνου ἃς ἐφύτευσεν .’1 It seems to me superfluous to describe here in detail the length and breadth of the building, its splendor and its majesty surpassing description, and the brilliant appearance of the work, its lofty pinnacles reaching to the heavens, and the costly cedars of Lebanon above them, which the divine oracle has not omitted to mention, saying, ‘The trees of the Lord shall rejoice and the cedars of Lebanon which he has planted.’1
4-82 Τί με δεῖ νῦν τῆς πανσόφου καὶ ἀρχιτεκτονικῆς διατάξεως καὶ τοῦ κάλλους τῆς ἐφ’ ἑκάστου μέρους ὑπερβολῆς ἀκριβολογεῖσθαι τὴν ὑφήγησιν , ὅτε τῆς ὄψεως τὴν διὰ τῶν ὤτων ἀποκλείει μάθησιν μαρτυρία ; Why need I now describe the skillful architectural arrangement and the surpassing beauty of each part, when the testimony of the eye renders instruction through the ear superfluous?
4-83 ἀλλὰ γὰρ ὧδε καὶ τὸν νεὼν ἐπιτελέσας θρόνοις τε τοῖς ἀνωτάτω εἰς τὴν τῶν προέδρων τιμὴν καὶ προσέτι βάθροις ἐν τάξει τοῖς καθ’ ὅλου κατὰ τὸ πρέπον κοσμήσας ἐφ’ ἅπασίν τε τὸ τῶν ἁγίων ἅγιον θυσιαστήριον ἐν μέσῳ θείς , αὖθις καὶ τάδε , ὡς ἂν εἴη τοῖς πολλοῖς ἄβατα , τοῖς ἀπὸ ξύλου περιέφραττε δικτύοις εἰς ἄκρον ἐντέχνου λεπτουργίας ἐξησκημένοις , ὡς θαυμάσιον τοῖς ὁρῶσιν παρέχειν τὴν θέαν . For when he had thus completed the temple, he provided it with lofty thrones in honor of those who preside, and in addition with seats arranged in proper order throughout the whole building, and finally placed in the middle the holy of holies, the altar, and, that it might be inaccessible to the multitude, enclosed it with wooden lattice-work, accurately wrought with artistic carving, presenting a wonderful sight to the beholders.
4-84 Ἀλλ’ οὐδὲ τοὔδαφος ἄρα εἰς ἀμελὲς ἔκειτο αὐτῷ· καὶ τόδε γοῦν λίθῳ μαρμάρῳ εὖ μάλα κόσμῳ παντὶ λαμπρύνας , And not even the pavement was neglected by him; for this too he adorned with beautiful marble of every variety.
4-85 ἤδη λοιπὸν καὶ ἐπὶ τὰ ἐκτὸς τοῦ νεὼ μετῄει , ἐξέδρας καὶ οἴκους τοὺς παρ’ ἑκάτερα μεγίστους ἐπισκευάζων ἐντέχνως ἐπὶ ταὐτὸν εἰς πλευρὰ τῷ βασιλείῳ βασιλείῳ συνεζευγμένους καὶ ταῖς ἐπὶ τὸν μέσον οἶκον εἰσβολαῖς ἡνωμένους· Then finally he passed on to the parts without the temple, providing spacious exedrae and buildings on each side, which were joined to the basilica,1 and communicated with the entrances to the interior of the structure.
1i.e., the “royal house” was provided with additional rooms, for various ecclesiastical purposes, which adjoined the main building, or, as we should say, the church proper.
4-86 καὶ αὐτὰ τοῖς ἔτι καθάρσεως καὶ περιρραντηρίων τῶν διὰ ὕδατος καὶ ἁγίου πνεύματος ἐγχρῄζουσιν εἰρηνικώτατος ἡμῶν Σολομὼν τὸν νεὼν τοῦ Θεοῦ δειμάμενος ἀπειργάζετο , ὡς μηκέτι λόγον , ἀλλ’ ἔργον γεγονέναι τὴν ἄνω λεχθεῖσαν προφητείαν· These also were built by our most peaceful Solomon, who built the temple of God, for those who still needed the cleansing and sprinkling with water and the Holy Spirit, so that the previously mentioned prophecy is no longer words only, but has become a reality.
4-87γέγονεν γὰρ καὶ νῦν ὡς ἀληθῶς ἐστιν δόξα τοῦ οἴκου τούτου ἐσχάτη ὑπὲρ τὴν προτέραν .’ ‘For the latter glory of this house has now become greater than the former.’
1 Haggai 2:9 which predicts that “the latter house will become greater than the former” in the future and is now being fulfilled in the church.
4-88 Ἔδει γὰρ καὶ ἀκόλουθον ἦν τοῦ ποιμένος αὐτῆς καὶ δεσπότου ἅπαξ τὸν ὑπὲρ αὐτῆς θάνατον καταδεξαμένου καὶ μετὰ τὸ πάθος , χάριν αὐτῆς ῥυπῶν ἐνεδύσατο σῶμα ἐπὶ τὸ λαμπρὸν καὶ ἔνδοξον μεταβεβληκότος αὐτήν τε σάρκα τὴν λυθεῖσαν ἐκ φθορᾶς εἰς ἀφθαρσίαν ἀγαγόντος , καὶ τήνδε ὁμοίως τῶν τοῦ σωτῆρος οἰκονομιῶν ἐπαύρασθαι , For it was necessary and fitting that as her shepherd and Lord had once tasted death for her, and after his suffering had changed that vile body which he assumed in her behalf into a splendid and glorious body, leading the very flesh which had been delivered from corruption to incorruption, she too should enjoy the dispensations of the Saviour.
4-89 ὅτι δὴ καὶ τούτων πολὺ κρείττονα λαβοῦσα παρ’ αὐτοῦ τὴν ἐπαγγελίαν , τὴν πολὺ μείζονα δόξαν τῆς παλιγγενεσίας ἐν ἀφθάρτου σώματος ἀναστάσει μετὰ φωτὸς ἀγγέλων χορείας ἐν τοῖς οὐρανῶν ἐπέκεινα τοῦ Θεοῦ βασιλείοις σὺν αὐτῷ Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τῷ πανευεργέτῃ καὶ σωτῆρι διαρκῶς ἐπὶ τοὺς ἑξῆς αἰῶνας ἀπολαβεῖν ποθεῖ . For having received from him the promise of much greater things than these, she desires to share uninterruptedly throughout eternity with the choir of the angels of light, in the far greater glory of regeneration, Matthew 19:28 in the resurrection of an incorruptible body, in the palace of God beyond the heavens, with Christ Jesus himself, the universal Benefactor and Saviour.
4-90 ἀλλὰ γὰρ τέως ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος τούτοις πάλαι χήρα καὶ ἔρημος Θεοῦ χάριτι περιβληθεῖσα τοῖς ἄνθεσιν γέγονεν ἀληθῶς ὡς κρίνον , φησιν προφητεία , καὶ τὴν νυμφικὴν ἀναλαβοῦσα στολὴν τόν τε τῆς εὐπρεπείας περιθεμένη στέφανον οἷα χορεύειν διὰ Ἡσαΐου παιδεύεται τὰ χαριστήρια τῷ βασιλεῖ Θεῷ φωναῖς εὐφήμοις γεραίρουσα , But for the present, she that was formerly widowed and desolate is clothed by the grace of God with these flowers, and has become truly like a lily, as the prophecy says, and having received the bridal garment and the crown of beauty, she is taught by Isaiah to dance, and to present her thank-offerings unto God the King in reverent words.
4-91 αὐτῆς λεγούσης ἐπακούωμενἀγαλλιάσθω ψυχή μου ἐπὶ τῷ κυρίῳ· ἐνέδυσεν γάρ με ἱμάτιον σωτηρίου καὶ χιτῶνα εὐφροσύνης· περιέθηκέν μοι ὡς νυμφίῳ μίτραν , καὶ ὡς νύμφην κατεκόσμησέν με κόσμῳ· καὶ ὡς γῆν αὔξουσαν τὸ ἄνθος αὐτῆς , καὶ ὡς κῆπος τὰ σπέρματα αὐτοῦ ἀνατελεῖ , οὕτως κύριος ἀνέτειλεν δικαιοσύνην καὶ ἀγαλλίαμα ἐνώπιον πάντων τῶν ἐθνῶν .’1 Let us hear her saying, ‘My soul shall rejoice in the Lord; for he has clothed me with a garment of salvation and with a robe of gladness; he has bedecked me like a bridegroom with a garland, and he has adorned me like a bride with jewels; and like the earth which brings forth her bud, and like a garden which causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth, thus the Lord God has caused righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.’1
4-92 Τούτοις μὲν οὖν αὕτη χορεύει· In these words she exults.
4-93 οἵοις δὲ καὶ νυμφίος , λόγος οὐράνιος , αὐτὸς Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς αὐτὴν ἀμείβεται , And in similar words the heavenly bridegroom, the Word Jesus Christ himself, answers her.
4-94 ἄκουε λέγοντος κυρίουμὴ φοβοῦ ὅτι κατῃσχύνθης μηδὲ ἐντραπῇς ὅτι ὠνειδίσθης· ὅτι αἰσχύνην αἰώνιον ἐπιλήσῃ καὶ ὄνειδος τῆς χηρείας σου οὐ μὴ μνησθήσῃ , ’ Hear the Lord saying, ‘Fear not because you have been put to shame, neither be confounded because you have been rebuked; for you shall forget the former shame, and the reproach of your widowhood shall you remember no more.’
4-95οὐχ ὡς γυναῖκα ἐγκαταλελειμμένην καὶ ὀλιγόψυχον κέκληκέν σε κύριος οὐδ’ ὡς γυναῖκα ἐκ νεότητος μεμισημένην . εἶπεν Θεός σου· χρόνον μικρὸν ἐγκατέλιπόν σε , καὶ ἐν ἐλέῳ μεγάλῳ ἐλεήσω σε· ἐν θυμῷ μικρῷ ἀπέστρεψα τὸ πρόσωπόν μου ἀπὸ σοῦ , καὶ ἐν ἐλέῳ αἰωνίῳ ἐλεήσω σε· εἶπεν ῥυσάμενός σε κύριος . ’ ‘Not as a woman deserted and faint-hearted has the Lord called you, nor as a woman hated from her youth, says your God. For a brief moment have I forsaken you, but with great mercy will I have mercy upon you; in a little wrath I hid my face from you, but with everlasting mercy will I have mercy upon you, says the Lord that has redeemed you.’
4-96ἐξεγείρου , ἐξεγείρου , πιοῦσα ἐκ χειρὸς κυρίου τὸ ποτήριον τοῦ θυμοῦ αὐτοῦ· τὸ ποτήριον γὰρ τῆς πτώσεως , τὸ κόνδυ τοῦ θυμοῦ μου , ἐξέπιες καὶ ἐξεκένωσας . καὶ οὐκ ἦν παρακαλῶν σε ἀπὸ πάντων τῶν τέκνων σου ὧν ἔτεκες , καὶ οὐκ ἦν ἀντιλαμβανόμενος τῆς χειρός σου . ἰδοὺ εἴληφα ἐκ τῆς χειρός σου τὸ ποτήριον τῆς πτώσεως , τὸ κόνδυ τοῦ θυμοῦ μου , καὶ οὐ προσθήσεις ἔτι πιεῖν αὐτό· καὶ δώσω αὐτὸ εἰς τὰς χεῖρας τῶν ἀδικησάντων σε καὶ τῶν ταπεινωσάντων σε .’ ‘Awake, awake, you who have drunk at the hand of the Lord the cup of his fury; for you have drunk the cup of ruin, the vessel of my wrath, and have drained it. And there was none to console you of all your sons whom you brought forth, and there was none to take you by the hand.’1 ‘Behold, I have taken out of your hand the cup of ruin, the vessel of my fury, and you shall no longer drink it.’2 And I will put it into the hands of them that have treated you unjustly and have humbled you.’3
4-97 ἐξεγείρου , ἐξεγείρου , ἔνδυσαι τὴν ἰσχύν , ἔνδυσαι τὴν δόξαν σου· ἐκτίναξαι τὸν χοῦν καὶ ἀνάστηθι . κάθισον , ἔκλυσαι τὸν δεσμὸν τοῦ τραχήλου σου . ‘Awake, awake, put on your strength,’ put on your glory. Shake off the dust and arise. Sit down, loose the bands of your neck.
4-98ἆρον κύκλῳ τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς σου καὶ ἴδε συνηγμένα τὰ τέκνα σου· ἰδοὺ συνήχθησαν καὶ ἦλθον πρός σε· ζῶ ἐγώ , λέγει κύριος , ὅτι πάντας αὐτοὺς ὡς κόσμον ἐνδύσῃ καὶ περιθήσῃ αὐτοὺς ὡς κόσμον νύμφης· ὅτι τὰ ἔρημά σου καὶ τὰ διεφθαρμένα καὶ τὰ καταπεπτωκότα νῦν στενοχωρήσει ἀπὸ τῶν κατοικούντων σε , καὶ μακρυνθήσονται ἀπὸ σοῦ οἱ καταπίνοντές σε .’ ‘Lift up your eyes round about and behold your children gathered together; behold they are gathered together and have come to you. As I live, says the Lord, you shall clothe yourself with them all as with an ornament, and gird yourself with them as with the ornaments of a bride. For your waste and corrupted and ruined places shall now be too narrow by reason of those that inhabit you, and they that swallow you up shall be far from you.’
4-99 ἐροῦσιν γὰρ εἰς τὰ ὦτά σου οἱ υἱοί σου οὓς ἀπολώλεκαςστενός μοι τόπος , ποίησόν μοι τόπον ἵνα κατοικήσω ,’ For your sons whom you have lost shall say in your ears, ‘the place is too narrow for me, give me a place that I may dwell.’
4-100 καὶ ἐρεῖς ἐν τῇ καρδίᾳ σουτίς ἐγέννησέν μοι τούτους ; Then shall you say in your heart, ‘Who has begotten me these?
4-101 ἐγὼ δὲ ἄτεκνος καὶ χήρα τούτους δὲ τίς ἐξέθρεψέν μοι ; I am childless and a widow, and who has brought up these for me?
4-102 ἐγὼ δὲ κατελείφθην μόνη , οὗτοι δέ μοι ποῦ ἦσαν ;’ I was left alone, and these, where were they for me?’
4-103 Ταῦτα Ἡσαΐας προεθέσπισεν , ταῦτα πρόπαλαι περὶ ἡμῶν ἐν ἱεραῖς βίβλοις καταβέβλητο , χρῆν δέ που τούτων τὴν ἀψεύδειαν ἤδη ποτὲ ἔργοις παραλαβεῖν . These are the things which Isaiah foretold; and which were anciently recorded concerning us in sacred books and it was necessary that we should sometime learn their truthfulness by their fulfillment.
4-104 ἀλλὰ γὰρ τοιαῦτα τοῦ νυμφίου λόγου πρὸς τὴν ἑαυτοῦ νύμφην τὴν ἱερὰν καὶ ἁγίαν ἐκκλησιαν ἐπιφωνοῦντος , εἰκότως νυμφοστόλος1 ὅδε αὐτήν , τὴν ἔρημον , τὴν πτῶμα κειμένην , τὴν παρὰ ἀνθρώποις ἀνέλπιδα , ταῖς κοιναῖς ἁπάντων ἡμῶν εὐχαῖς χεῖρας τὰς ὑμῶν αὐτῶν ὀρέξας ἐξήγειρεν καὶ ἐξανέστησεν Θεοῦ τοῦ παμβασιλέως νεύματι καὶ τῆς Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ δυνάμεως ἐπιφανείᾳ τοιαύτην τε ἀναστήσας κατεστήσατο , οἵαν ἐκ τῆς τῶν ἱερῶν χρησμῶν καταγραφῆς ἐδιδάσκετο . For when the bridegroom, the Word, addressed such language to his own bride, the sacred and holy Church, this groomsman,1 — when she was desolate and lying like a corpse, bereft of hope in the eyes of men — in accordance with the united prayers of all of you, as was proper, stretched out your hands and aroused and raised her up at the command of God, the universal King, and at the manifestation of the power of Jesus Christ; and having raised her he established her as he had learned from the description given in the sacred oracles.
1the νυμφοστόλος (paranymph) is one of the groomsmen and in the singular is probably what we would call the "best man." Paulinus describes himself as the "best man" of the groom (Christ) who assists the Bride (the Church).
4-105 Θαῦμα μὲν οὖν μέγιστον τοῦτο καὶ πέρα πάσης ἐκπλήξεως , μάλιστα τοῖς ἐπὶ μόνῃ τῇ τῶν ἔξωθεν φαντασίᾳ τὸν νοῦν προσανέχουσιν· This is indeed a very great wonder, passing all admiration, especially to those who attend only to the outward appearance;
4-106 θαυμάτων δὲ θαυμασιώτερα τά τε ἀρχέτυπα καὶ τούτων τὰ πρωτότυπα νοητὰ καὶ θεοπρεπῆ παραδείγματα , τὰ τῆς ἐνθέου φημὶ καὶ λογικῆς ἐν ψυχαῖς οἰκοδομῆς ἀνανεώματα· but more wonderful than wonders are the archetypes and their mental prototypes and divine models; I mean the reproductions of the inspired and rational building in our souls.
4-107 ἣν αὐτὸς θεόπαις κατ’ εἰκόνα τὴν αὐτὸς αὐτοῦ δημιουργήσας πάντῃ τε καὶ κατὰ πάντα τὸ θεοείκελον δεδωρημένος , ἄφθαρτον φύσιν , ἀσώματον , λογικήν , πάσης γεώδους ὕλης ἀλλοτρίαν , αὐτονοερὰν οὐσίαν , ἅπαξ τὸ πρῶτον ἐκ τοῦ μὴ ὄντος εἰς τὸ εἶναι συστησάμενος , νύμφην ἁγίαν καὶ νεῶν πανίερον ἑαυτῷ τε καὶ τῷ πατρὶ κατειργάσατο· This the Divine Son himself created after his own image, imparting to it everywhere and in all respects the likeness of God, an incorruptible nature, incorporeal, rational, free from all earthly matter, a being endowed with its own intelligence; and when he had once called her forth from non-existence into existence, he made her a holy spouse, an all-sacred temple for himself and for the Father.
4-108 καὶ σαφῶς αὐτὸς ὁμολογῶν ἐκφαίνει , λέγωνἐνοικήσω ἐν αὐτοῖς καὶ ἐμπεριπατήσω , καὶ ἔσομαι αὐτῶν Θεὸς καὶ αὐτοὶ ἔσονταί μοι λαός .’ This also he clearly declares and confesses in the following words: ‘I will dwell in them and will walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.’
4-109 καὶ τοιαύτη μὲν τελεία καὶ κεκαθαρμένη ψυχή , ἀρχῆθεν οὕτω γεγενημένη , οἵα τὸν οὐράνιον λόγον ἀγαλματοφορεῖν . Such is the perfect and purified soul, so made from the beginning as to bear the image of the celestial Word.
4-110 Ἀλλὰ γὰρ φθόνῳ καὶ ζήλῳ τοῦ φιλοπονήρου δαίμονος φιλοπαθὴς καὶ φιλοπόνηρος ἐξ αὐτεξουσίου αἱρέσεως γενομένη , ὑπαναχωρήσαντος αὐτῆς τοῦ θείου But when by the envy and zeal of the malignant demon she became, of her own voluntary choice, sensual and a lover of evil, the Deity left her;
4-111 ὡς ἂν ἔρημος προστάτου , εὐάλωτος καὶ εἰς ἐπιβουλὴν εὐχερὴς τοῖς ἐκ μακροῦ διαφθονουμένοις ἀπελήλεγκται , and as if bereft of a protector, she became an easy prey and readily accessible to those who had long envied her;
4-112 ταῖς τε τῶν ἀοράτων ἐχθρῶν καὶ νοητῶν πολεμίων ἑλεπόλεσι καὶ μηχαναῖς καταβληθεῖσα , πτῶμα ἐξαίσιον καταπέπτωκεν , ὡς ὅσον οὐδ’ ἐπὶ λίθῳ λίθον τῆς ἀρετῆς ἑστῶτα ἐν αὐτῇ διαμεῖναι , ὅλην δὲ δι’ ὅλου χαμαὶ κεῖσθαι νεκράν , τῶν περὶ Θεοῦ φυσικῶν ἐννοιῶν πάμπαν ἀπεστερημένην . and being assailed by the batteries and machines of her invisible enemies and spiritual foes, she suffered a terrible fall, so that not one stone of virtue remained upon another in her, but she lay completely dead upon the ground, entirely divested of her natural ideas of God.
4-113 πεπτωκυῖαν δῆτα αὐτὴν ἐκείνην τὴν κατ’ εἰκόνα Θεοῦ κατασκευασθεῖσαν ἐλυμήνατο οὐχ ὗς οὗτος ἐκ δρυμοῦ τοῦ παρ’ ἡμῖν ὁρατοῦ , ἀλλά τις φθοροποιὸς δαίμων καὶ θῆρες ἄγριοι νοητοί , οἳ καὶ τοῖς πάθεσιν οἷα πεπυρακτωμένοις μένοις τῆς σφῶν κακίας βέλεσιν αὐτὴν ἐξυφάψαντες , ἐνεπύρισαν ἐν πυρὶ τὸ θεῖον ὄντως ἁγιαστήριον τοῦ Θεοῦ εἰς τὴν γῆν τε ἐβεβήλωσαν τὸ σκήνωμα τοῦ ὀνόματος αὐτοῦ , But as she, who had been made in the image of God, thus lay prostrate, it was not that wild boar from the forest which we see that despoiled her, but a certain destroying demon and spiritual wild beasts who deceived her with their passions as with the fiery darts of their own wickedness, and burned the truly divine sanctuary of God with fire, and profaned to the ground the tabernacle of his name.
4-114 εἶτα πολλῷ τῷ προσχώματι τὴν ἀθλίαν κατορύξαντες , εἰς ἀνέλπιστον πάσης περιέτρεψαν σωτηρίας . Then burying the miserable one with heaps of earth, they destroyed every hope of deliverance.
4-115 Ἀλλ’ γε κηδεμὼν αὐτῆς λόγος θεοφεγγὴς καὶ σωτήριος τὴν κατ’ ἀξίαν δίκην τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων ὑποσχοῦσαν αὖθις ἐξ ὑπαρχῆς ἀνελάμβανεν , πατρὸς παναγάθου φιλανθρωπίᾳ πειθόμενος . But that divinely bright and saving Word, her protector, after she had suffered the merited punishment for her sins, again restored her, securing the favor of the all-merciful Father.
4-116 αὐτὰς δὴ οὖν πρώτας τὰς τῶν ἀνωτάτω βασιλευόντων ψυχὰς προελόμενος , τῶν μὲν δυσσεβῶν καὶ ὀλεθρίων πάντων αὐτῶν τε τῶν δεινῶν καὶ θεομισῶν τυράννων τὴν οἰκουμένην ἅπασαν δι’ αὐτῶν τῶν θεοφιλεστάτων ἐκαθήρατο· Having won over first the souls of the highest rulers, he purified, through the agency of those most divinely favored princes, the whole earth from all the impious destroyers, and from the terrible and God-hating tyrants themselves.
4-117 εἶτα δὲ τοὺς αὐτῷ γνωρίμους ἄνδρας , τοὺς πάλαι διὰ βίου ἱερωμένους αὐτῷ , κρύβδην γε μὴν ὡς ἐν κακῶν χειμῶνι πρὸς τῆς αὐτοῦ αἰδῷ καλυπτομένους , εἰς φανερὸν ἀγαγὼν καὶ ταῖς τοῦ πατρὸς μεγαλοδωρεαῖς ἐπαξίως τιμήσας , Then bringing out into the light those who were his friends, who had long before been consecrated to him for life, but in the midst, as it were, of a storm of evils, had been concealed under his shelter, he honored them worthily with the great gifts of the Father.
4-118 αὖθις καὶ διὰ τούτων τὰς μικρῷ πρόσθεν ἐρρυπωμένας ψυχὰς ὕλης τε παντοίας καὶ χώματος ἀσεβῶν ἐπιταγμάτων συμπεφορημένας ὄρυξι καὶ δικάζοντι ταῖς πληκτικαῖς τῶν μαθημάτων διδασκαλίαις ἐξεκάθηρέν τε καὶ ἀπέσμηξεν , And again, by means of them, he cleared out and cleaned with spades and mattocks — the admonitory words of doctrine — the souls which a little while before had been covered with filth and burdened with every kind of matter and rubbish of impious ordinances.
4-119 λαμπρόν τε καὶ διαυγῆ τῆς πάντων ὑμῶν διανοίας τὸν χῶρον ἀπειργασμένος , ἐνταῦθα λοιπὸν τῷ πανσόφῳ καὶ θεοφιλεῖ τῷδε παραδέδωκεν ἡγεμόνι· And when he had made the ground of all your minds clean and clear, he finally committed it to this all-wise and God-beloved Ruler,
4-120 ὃς τά τε ἄλλα κριτικὸς καὶ ἐπιλογιστικὸς τυγχάνων τὴν τε τῶν αὐτῷ κεκληρωμένων ψυχῶν εὖ διαγινώσκων καὶ φυλοκρινῶν διάνοιαν , ἐκ πρώτης ὡς εἰπεῖν ἡμέρας οἰκοδομῶν οὔπω καὶ εἰς δεῦρο πέπαυται , who, being endowed with judgment and prudence, as well as with other gifts, and being able to examine and discriminate accurately the minds of those committed to his charge, from the first day, so to speak, down to the present, has not ceased to build.
4-121 τοτὲ μὲν διαυγῆ τὸν χρυσόν , τοτὲ δὲ δόκιμον καὶ καθαρὸν τὸ ἀργύριον καὶ τοὺς τιμίους καὶ πολυτελεῖς λίθους ἐν πᾶσιν ὑμῖν ἁρμόττων , ὡς ἱερὰν αὖθις καὶ μυστικὴν ἔργοις τοῖς εἰς ὑμᾶς ἀποπληροῦν προφητείαν , δι’ ἧς εἴρηται Now he has supplied the brilliant gold, again the refined and unalloyed silver, and the precious and costly stones in all of you, so that again is fulfilled for you in facts a sacred and mystic prophecy, which says,
4-122ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ ἑτοιμάζω σοι ἄνθρακα τὸν λίθον σου καὶ τὰ θεμέλιά σου σάπφειρον καὶ τὰς ἐπάλξεις σου ἴασπιν καὶ τὰς πύλας σου λίθους κρυστάλλου καὶ τὸν περίβολόν σου λίθους ἐκλεκτοὺς καὶ πάντας τοὺς υἱούς σου διδακτοὺς Θεοῦ καὶ ἐν πολλῇ εἰρήνῃ τὰ τέκνα σου· καὶ ἐν Δικαιοσύνῃ οἰκοδομηθήσῃ .’1 ‘Behold I make your stone a carbuncle, and your foundations of sapphire, and your battlements of jasper, and your gates of crystals, and your wall of chosen stones; and all your sons shall be taught of God, and your children shall enjoy complete peace; and in righteousness shall you be built.’1
4-123 Δικαιοσύνῃ δῆτα οἰκοδομῶν , κατ’ ἀξίαν τοῦ παντὸς λαοῦ διῄρει τὰς δυνάμεις ,1 Building therefore in righteousness, he divided the whole people according to their strength.1
1He begins to compare the material church with the spiritual temple (i.e., those who worship in it).
4-124 οἷς μὲν τὸν ἔξωθεν αὐτὸ μόνον περιφράττων περίβολον , τὴν ἀπλανῆ πίστιν περιτειχίσας (πολὺς δὲ τοιοῦτος καὶ μέγας λεώς , οὐδὲν κρεῖττον φέρειν οἰκοδόμημα διαρκῶν), With some he fortified only the outer enclosure, walling it up with unfeigned faith; such were the great mass of the people who were incapable of bearing a greater structure.
4-125 οἷς δὲ τὰς ἐπὶ τὸν οἶκον ἐπιτρέπων εἰσόδους , θυραυλεῖν καὶ ποδηγεῖν τοὺς εἰσιόντας κατατάττων , οὐκ ἀπεικότως τοῦ νεὼ πρόπυλα νενομισμένους , Others he permitted to enter the building, commanding them to stand at the door and act as guides for those who should come in; these may be not unfitly compared to the vestibules of the temple.
4-126 ἄλλους δὲ πρώτοις τοῖς ἔξωθεν ἀμφὶ τὴν αὐλὴν ἐκ τετραγώνου κίοσιν ὑπεστήριζεν , ταῖς πρώταις τῶν τεττάρων εὐαγγελίων τοῦ γράμματος προσβολαῖς ἐμβιβάζων· Others he supported by the first pillars which are placed without about the quadrangular hall, initiating them into the first elements of the letter of the four Gospels.
4-127 τοὺς δ’ ἤδη ἀμφὶ τὸν βασίλειον οἶκον ἑκατέρωσε παραζεύγνυσιν , ἔτι μὲν κατηχουμένους καὶ ἐν αὔξῃ καὶ προκοπῇ καθεστῶτας , οὐ μὴν πόρρω που καὶ μακρὰν τῆς τῶν ἐνδοτάτω θεοπτίας τῶν πιστῶν διεζευγμένους . Still others he joined together about the basilica on both sides; these are the catechumens who are still advancing and progressing, and are not far separated from the inmost view of divine things granted to the faithful.
4-128 ἐκ δὴ τούτων τὰς ἀκηράτους ψυχὰς θείῳ λουτρῷ χρυσοῦ δίκην ἀποσμηχθείσας παραλαβών , κἀνταῦθα τοὺς μὲν κίοσιν τῶν ἐξωτάτω πολὺ κρείττοσιν ἐκ τῶν ἐνδοτάτω μυστικῶν τῆς γραφῆς δογμάτων ὑποστηρίζει , τοῖς δὲ πρὸς τὸ φῶς ἀνοίγμασιν καταυγάζει , Taking from among these the pure souls that have been cleansed like gold by divine washing, he then supports them by pillars, much better than those without, made from the inner and mystic teachings of the Scripture, and illumines them by windows.
4-129 προπύλῳ μὲν ἑνὶ μεγίστῳ τῆς τοῦ παμβασιλέως ἑνὸς καὶ μόνου Θεοῦ δοξολογίας τὸν πάντα νεὼν κατακοσμῶν , Χριστοῦ δὲ καὶ ἁγίου πνεύματος παρ’ ἑκάτερα τῆς τοῦ πατρὸς αὐθεντίας τὰς δευτέρας αὐγὰς τοῦ φωτὸς παρασχόμενος· τῶν τε λοιπῶν διὰ τοῦ παντὸς οἴκου ἄφθονον καὶ πολὺ διάφορον τῆς καθ’ ἕκαστον ἀληθείας τὸ σαφὲς καὶ φωτεινὸν ἐνδεικνύμενος , πάντῃ δὲ καὶ πανταχόθεν τοὺς ζῶντας καὶ βεβηκότας καὶ εὐπαγεῖς τῶν ψυχῶν λίθους ἐγκράτειαν , τὸν μέγαν καὶ βασιλικὸν ἐξ ἁπάντων οἶκον ἐπισκευάζεται λαμπρὸν καὶ φωτὸς ἔμπλεω τά τε ἔνδοθεν καὶ τὰ ἐκτός , ὅτι μὴ ψυχὴ μόνον καὶ διάνοια , καὶ τὸ σῶμα δὲ αὐτοῖς ἁγνείας καὶ σωφροσύνης πολυανθεῖ κόσμῳ κατηγλάϊστο . Adorning the whole temple with a great vestibule of the glory of the one universal King and only God, and placing on either side of the authority of the Father Christ, and the Holy Spirit as second lights, he exhibits abundantly and gloriously throughout the entire building the clearness and splendor of the truth of the rest in all its details. And having selected from every quarter the living and moving and well-prepared stones of the souls, he constructs out of them all the great and royal house, splendid and full of light both within and without; for not only soul and understanding, but their body also is made glorious by the blooming ornament of purity and modesty.
4-130 Ἔνεισιν δ’ ἐν τῷδε τῷ ἱερῷ καὶ θρόνοι βάθρα τε μυρία καὶ καθιστήρια , ἐν ὅσαις ψυχαῖς τὰ τοῦ θείου πνεύματος ἐφιζάνει δωρήματα , οἷα καὶ πάλαι ὤφθη τοῖς ἀμφὶ τοὺς ἱεροὺς ἀποστόλους , οἷς ἐφάνησαν διαμεριζόμεναι γλῶσσαι ὡς εἰ πυρὸς ἐκάθισέν τε ἐφ’ ἕνα ἕκαστον αὐτῶν . And in this temple there are also thrones, and a great number of seats and benches, in all those souls in which sit the Holy Spirit’s gifts, such as were anciently seen by the sacred apostles, and those who were with them, when there ‘appeared unto them tongues parting asunder, like as of fire, and sat upon each one of them.’
4-131 ἀλλ’ ἐν μὲν τῷ πάντων ἄρχοντι ἴσως αὐτὸς ὅλος ἐγκάθηται Χριστός , ἐν δὲ τοῖς μετ’ αὐτὸν δευτερεύουσιν ἀναλόγως , καθ’ ὅσον ἕκαστος χωρεῖ , Χριστοῦ δυνάμεως καὶ πνεύματος ἁγίου μερισμοῖς . But in the leader of all it is reasonable to suppose that Christ himself dwells in his fullness, and in those that occupy the second rank after him, in proportion as each is able to contain the power of Christ and of the Holy Spirit.
4-132 βάθρα δ’ ἂν εἶεν καὶ ἀγγέλων αἱ τινῶν ψυχήν τῶν εἰς παιδαγωγίαν καὶ φρουρὰν ἑκάστῳ παραδεδομένων , And the souls of some of those, namely, who are committed to each of them for instruction and care — may be seats for angels.
4-133 σεμνὸν δὲ καὶ μέγα καὶ μονογενὲς θυσιαστήριον ποῖον ἂν εἴη τῆς τοῦ κοινοῦ πάντων ἱερέως τῆς ψυχῆς τὸ εἰλικρινὲς καὶ ἁγίων ἅγιον ; But the great and august and unique altar, what else could this be than the pure holy of holies of the soul of the common priest of all?
4-134 παρεστὼς95 ἐπὶ δεξιᾷ μέγας τῶν ὅλων ἀρχιερεὺς αὐτὸς Ἰησοῦς , μονογενὴς τοῦ Θεοῦ , τὸ παρὰ πάντων εὐῶδες θυμίαμα καὶ τὰς δι’ εὐχῶν ἀναίμους καὶ ἀΰλους θυσίας φαιδρῷ τῷ βλέμματι καὶ ὑπτίαις ὑποδεχόμενος χερσὶν τῷ κατ’ οὐρανὸν πατρὶ καὶ Θεῷ τῶν ὅλων παραπέμπεται , Standing at the right of it, Jesus himself, the great High Priest of the universe, the Only Begotten of God, receives with bright eye and extended hand the sweet incense from all, and the bloodless and immaterial sacrifices offered in their prayers, and bears them to the heavenly Father and God of the universe.
4-135 πρῶτος αὐτὸς προσκυνῶν καὶ μόνος τῷ πατρὶ τὸ κατ’ ἀξίαν ἀπονέμων σέβας , εἶτα δὲ καὶ πᾶσιν ἡμῖν εὐμενῆ διαμένειν καὶ δεξιὸν εἰς ἀεὶ παραιτούμενος . And he himself first worships him, and alone gives to the Father the reverence which is his due, beseeching him also to continue always kind and propitious to us all.
4-136 Τοιοῦτος μέγας νεὼς ὃν καθ’ ὅλης τῆς ὑφ’ ἥλιον οἰκουμένης μέγας τῶν ὅλων δημιουργὸς λόγος συνεστήσατο , τῶν ἐπέκεινα οὐρανίων ἁψίδων πάλιν ἐπιστρέψας καὶ αὐτὸς νοερὰν ταύτην ἐπὶ γῆς εἰκόνα κατεργασάμενος , ὡς ἂν διὰ πάσης τῆς κτίσεως τῶν τε ἐπὶ γῆς λογικῶν ζῴων πατὴρ αὐτῷ τιμῷτό τε καὶ σέβοιτο . Such is the great temple which the great Creator of the universe, the Word, has built throughout the entire world, making it an intellectual image upon earth of those things which lie above the vault of heaven, so that throughout the whole creation, including rational beings on earth, his Father might be honored and adored.
4-137 τὸν δὲ ὑπερουράνιον χῶρον καὶ τὰ ἐκεῖσε τῶν τῇδε παραδείγματα τὴν τε ἄνω λεγομένην Ἱερουσαλὴμ καὶ τὸ Σιὼν ὄρος τὸ ἐπουράνιον καὶ τὴν ὑπερκόσμιον πόλιν τοῦ ζῶντος Θεοῦ , ἐν μυριάδες ἀγγέλων πανηγύρεις καὶ ἐκκλησία πρωτοτόκων ἀπογεγραμμένων ἐν οὐρανοῖς1 ταῖς ἀρρήτοις καὶ ἀνεπιλογίστοις ἡμῖν θεολογίαις τὸν σφῶν ποιητὴν καὶ πανηγεμόνα τῶν ὅλων γεραίρουσιν , But the region above the heavens, with the models of earthly things which are there, and the so-called Jerusalem above, and the heavenly Mount of Zion, and the supramundane city of the living God, in which innumerable choirs of angels and the Church of the first born, whose names are written in heaven,1 praise their Maker and the Supreme Ruler of the universe with hymns of praise unutterable and incomprehensible to us —
4-138 οὔτις θνητὸς οἷός τε κατ’ ἀξίαν ὑμνῆσαι , who that is mortal is able worthily to celebrate this?
4-139 ὅτι δὴ ὀφθαλμὸς οὐκ εἶδεν καὶ οὖς οὐκ ἤκουσεν καὶ ἐπὶ καρδίαν ἀνθρώπου οὐκ ἀνέβη αὐτὰ δὴ ταῦτα ἡτοίμασεν Θεὸς τοῖς ἀγαπῶσιν αὐτόν· ‘For eye has not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of men those things which God has prepared for them that love him.’
4-140 ὧν ἤδη ἐν μέρει καταξιωθέντες , ἄνδρες ἅμα παισὶν καὶ γυναιξίν , σμικροὶ καὶ μεγάλοι , πάντες ἀθρόως ἐν ἑνὶ πνεύματι καὶ μιᾷ ψυχῇ μὴ διαλίπωμεν ἐξομολογούμενοι καὶ τὸν τοσούτων ἡμῖν ἀγαθῶν παραίτιον ἀνευφημοῦντες , Since we, men, children, and women, small and great, are already in part partakers of these things, let us not cease all together, with one spirit and one soul, to confess and praise the author of such great benefits to us,
4-141τὸν εὐιλατεύοντα πάσαις ταῖς ἀνομίαις ἡμῶν , τὸν ἰώμενον πάσας τὰς νόσους ἡμῶν , τὸν λυτρούμενον ἐκ φθορᾶς τὴν ζωὴν ἡμῶν , τὸν στεφανοῦντα ἡμᾶς ἐν ἐλέει καὶ οἰκτιρμοῖς , τὸν ἐμπιμπλῶντα ἐν ἀγαθοῖς τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν ἡμῶν , ‘Who forgives all our iniquities, who heals all our diseases, who redeems our life from destruction, who crowns us with mercy and compassion, who satisfies our desires with good things.’
4-142 ὅτι οὐ κατὰ τὰς ἁμαρτίας τίας ἡμῶν ἐποίησεν ἡμῖν οὐδὲ κατὰ τὰς ἀνομίας ἡμῶν ἀνταπέδωκεν ἡμῖν ,1 ‘For he has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities;’1
4-143 ὅτι καθ’ ὅσον ἀπέχουσιν ἀνατολαὶ ἀπὸ δυσμῶν , ἐμάκρυνεν Ἀφ’ ἡμῶν τὰς ἀνομίας ἡμῶν· καθὼς οἰκτείρει πατὴρ υἱοὺς αὐτοῦ , ᾠκτείρησεν κύριος τοὺς φοβουμένους αὐτόν . ‘for as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our iniquities from us. Like as a father pities his own children, so the Lord pities them that fear him.’1
4-144 Ταῦτα καὶ νῦν καὶ εἰς τὸν ἑξῆς ἅπαντα χρόνον ταῖς μνήμαις ἀναζωπυροῦντες , ἀτὰρ καὶ τῆς παρούσης πανηγύρεως καὶ τῆς φαιδρᾶς ταύτης καὶ λαμπροτάτης ἡμέρας τὸν αἴτιον καὶ πανηγυριάρχην νύκτωρ καὶ μετ’ ἡμέραν διὰ πάσης ὥρας καὶ δι’ ὅλης ὡς εἰπεῖν ἀναπνοῆς ἐν νῷ προορώμενοι , στέργοντες καὶ σέβοντες ψυχῆς ὅλῃ δυνάμει , Rekindling these thoughts in our memories, both now and during all time to come, and contemplating in our mind night and day, in every hour and with every breath, so to speak, the Author and Ruler of the present festival, and of this bright and most splendid day, let us love and adore him with every power of the soul.
4-145 καὶ νῦν ἀναστάντες μεγάλῃ διαθέσεως φωνῇ καθικετεύσωμεν , ὡς ἂν ὑπὸ τὴν αὐτοῦ μάνδραν ἐς τέλος ἡμᾶς σκεπάζων διασῴζοιτο , τὴν παρ’ αὐτοῦ βραβεύων ἀρραγῆ καὶ ἄσειστον αἰωνίαν εἰρήνην ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τῷ σωτῆρι ἡμῶν , δι’ οὗ αὐτῷ δόξα εἰς τοὺς σύμπαντας αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων . ἀμήν . And now rising, let us beseech him with loud voice to shelter and preserve us to the end in his fold, granting his unbroken and unshaken peace forever, in Christ Jesus our Saviour; through whom be the glory unto him forever and ever. Amen.

Chapter 5

5-1 Φέρε δή , λοιπὸν καὶ τῶν βασιλικῶν διατάξεων Κωνσταντίνου καὶ Λικιννίου τὰς ἐκ τῆς Ῥωμαίων φωνῆς μεταληφθείσας ἑρμηνείας παραθώμεθα . Let us finally subjoin the translations from the Roman tongue of the imperial decrees of Constantine and Licinius.
5-2 ἀντίγραφον βασιλικῶν διατάξεων ἐκ Ῥωμαϊκῆς γλώττης μεταληφθεισων1 Copy of imperial decrees translated from the Latin language.1
1The line above appears in uppercase: ΑΝΤΙΓΡΑΦΟΝ ΒΑΣΙΛΙΚΩΝ ΔΙΑΤΑΞΕΩΝ ΕΚ ΡΩΜΑΙΚΗΣ ΓΛΩΤΤΗΣ ΜΕΤΑΛΗΦΘΕΙΣΩΝ
This document, quoted in book 2, goes by the name of the “Edict of Milan,” although it is, properly speaking, not an edict, but a rescript, being addressed to an individual, to wit, a governor, by whose edict it was to be made known to the people of his province. It is probable that at Milan, in 313, Constantine and Licinius drew up a norm of instructions to governors which might be copied, with perhaps some variations in detail, and sent to the various provinces. One redaction of that norm was translated by Eusebius, another was transcribed by Lactantius.
5-3 Ἤδη μὲν πάλαι σκοποῦντες τὴν ἐλευθερίαν τῆς θρῃσκείας οὐκ ἀρνητέαν εἶναι , ἀλλ’ ἑνὸς ἑκάστου τῇ διανοίᾳ καὶ τῇ βουλήσει ἐξουσίαν δοτέον τοῦ τὰ θεῖα πράγματα τημελεῖν κατὰ τὴν αὐτοῦ προαίρεσιν ἕκαστον , κεκελεύκειμεν τοῖς τε Χριστιανοῖς . .. τῆς αἱρέσεως καὶ τῆς θρῃσκείας τῆς ἑαυτῶν τὴν πίστιν φυλάττειν· Perceiving long ago that religious liberty ought not to be denied, but that it ought to be granted to the judgment and desire of each individual to perform his religious duties according to his own choice, we had given orders that every man, Christians as well as others, should preserve the faith of his own sect and religion.
5-4 ἀλλ’ ἐπειδὴ πολλαὶ καὶ διάφοροι αἱρέσεις ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ ἀντιγραφῇ , ἐν τοῖς αὐτοῖς συνεχωρήθη τοιαύτη ἐξουσία , ἐδόκουν προστεθεῖσθαι σαφῶς , τυχὸν ἴσως τινὲς αὐτῶν μετ’ ὀλίγον ἀπὸ τῆς τοιαύτης παραφυλάξεως ἀπεκρούοντο . But since in that rescript, in which such liberty was granted them, many and various conditions seemed clearly added, some of them, it may be, after a little retired from such observance.
5-5 Ὁπότε εὐτυχῶς ἐγὼ Κωνσταντῖνος Αὔγουστος κἀγὼ Λικίννιος Αὔγουστος ἐν τῇ Μεδιολάνῳ ἐληλύθειμεν καὶ πάντα ὅσα πρὸς τὸ λυσιτελὲς καὶ τὸ χρήσιμον τῷ κοινῷ διέφερεν , ἐν ζητήσει ἔσχομεν , ταῦτα μεταξὺ τῶν λοιπῶν ἅτινα ἐδόκει ἐν πολλοῖς ἅπασιν ἐπωφελῆ εἶναι , μᾶλλον δὲ ἐν πρώτοις διατάξαι ἐδογματίσαμεν , οἷς πρὸς τὸ θεῖον αἰδώς τε καὶ τὸ σέβας ἐνείχετο , When I, Constantine Augustus, and I, Licinius Augustus, came under favorable auspices to Milan and took under consideration everything which pertained to the common good and prosperity, we resolved among other things, or rather first of all, to make such decrees as seemed in many respects for the benefit of every one; namely, such as should preserve reverence and piety toward the deity.
5-6 τοῦτ’ ἔστιν , ὅπως δῶμεν καὶ τοῖς Χριστιανοῖς καὶ πᾶσιν ἐλευθέραν αἵρεσιν τοῦ ἀκολουθεῖν τῇ θρῃσκείᾳ δ’ ἂν βουληθῶσιν , ὅπως τί ποτέ ἐστιν θειότητος καὶ οὐρανίου πράγματος , ἡμῖν καὶ πᾶσι τοῖς ὑπὸ τὴν ἡμετέραν ἐξουσίαν διάγουσιν εὐμενὲς εἶναι δυνηθῇ . We resolved, that is, to grant both to the Christians and to all men freedom to follow the religion which they choose, that whatever heavenly divinity exists may be propitious to us and to all that live under our government.
5-7 τοίνυν ταύτην τὴν ἡμετέραν βούλησιν ὑγιεινῷ καὶ ὀρθοτάτῳ λογισμῷ ἐδογματίσαμεν , ὅπως μηδενὶ παντελῶς ἐξουσία ἀρνητέα τοῦ ἀκολουθεῖν καὶ αἱρεῖσθαι τὴν τῶν Χριστιανῶν παραφύλαξιν θρῃσκείαν ἑκάστῳ τε ἐξουσία δοθείη τοῦ διδόναι ἑαυτοῦ τὴν διάνοιαν ἐν ἐκείνῃ τῇ θρῃσκείᾳ , ἣν αὐτὸς ἑαυτῷ ἁρμόζειν νομίζει , ὅπως ἡμῖν δυνηθῇ τὸ θεῖον ἐν πᾶσι τὴν ἔθιμον σπουδὴν καὶ καλοκἀγαθίαν παρέχειν· We have, therefore, determined, with sound and upright purpose, that liberty is to be denied to no one, to choose and to follow the religious observances of the Christians, but that to each one freedom is to be given to devote his mind to that religion which he may think adapted to himself, in order that the Deity may exhibit to us in all things his accustomed care and favor.
5-8 ἅτινα οὕτως ἀρέσκειν ἡμῖν ἀντιγράψαι ἀκόλουθον ἦν , ἵν’ ἀφαιρεθεισῶν παντελῶς τῶν αἱρέσεων , αἵτινες τοῖς προτέροις ἡμῶν γράμμασι τοῖς πρὸς τὴν σὴν καθοσίωσιν ἀποσταλεῖσι περὶ τῶν Χριστιανῶν ἐνείχοντο καὶ ἅτινα πάνυ σκαιὰ καὶ τῆς ἡμετέρας πραότητος ἀλλότρια εἶναι ἐδόκει , ταῦτα ὑφαιρεθῇ καὶ νῦν ἐλευθέρως καὶ ἁπλῶς ἕκαστος αὐτῶν τῶν τὴν αὐτὴν προαίρεσιν ἐσχηκότων τοῦ φυλάττειν τὴν τῶν Χριστιανῶν θρῃσκείαν ἄνευ τινὸς ὀχλήσεως τοῦτο αὐτὸ παραφυλάττοι . It was fitting that we should write that this is our pleasure, that those conditions being entirely left out which were contained in our former letter concerning the Christians which was sent to your devotedness, everything that seemed very severe and foreign to our mildness may be annulled, and that now every one who has the same desire to observe the religion of the Christians may do so without molestation.
5-9 ἅτινα τῇ σῇ ἐπιμελείᾳ πληρέστατα δηλῶσαι ἐδογματίσαμεν , ὅπως εἰδείης ἡμᾶς ἐλευθέραν καὶ ἀπολελυμένην ἐξουσίαν τοῦ τημελεῖν τὴν ἑαυτῶν θρῃσκείαν τοῖς αὐτοῖς Χριστιανοῖς δεδωκέναι . We have resolved to communicate this most fully to your care, in order that you may know that we have granted to these same Christians freedom and full liberty to observe their own religion.
5-10 ὅπερ ἐπειδὴ ἀπολελυμένως αὐτοῖς ὑφ’ ἡμῶν δεδωρῆσθαι θεωρεῖς , συνορᾷ σὴ καθοσίωσις καὶ ἑτέροις δεδόσθαι ἐξουσίαν τοῖς βουλομένοις τοῦ μετέρχεσθαι τὴν παρατήρησιν καὶ θρῃσκείαν ἑαυτῶν ὅπερ ἀκολούθως τῇ ἡσυχίᾳ τῶν ἡμετέρων καιρῶν γίνεσθαι φανερόν ἐστιν , ὅπως ἐξουσίαν ἕκαστος ἔχῃ τοῦ αἱρεῖσθαι καὶ τημελεῖν ὁποίαν δ’ ἂν βούληται τὸ θεῖον . Since this has been granted freely by us to them, your devotedness perceives that liberty is granted to others also who may wish to follow their own religious observances; it being clearly in accordance with the tranquillity of our times, that each one should have the liberty of choosing and worshiping whatever deity he pleases.
5-11 τοῦτο δὲ ὑφ’ ἡμῶν γέγονεν , ὅπως μηδεμιᾷ τιμῇ μηδὲ θρῃσκείᾳ τινὶ μεμειῶσθαί τι ὑφ’ ἡμῶν δοκοίη . This has been done by us in order that we might not seem in any way to discriminate against any rank or religion.
5-12 Καὶ τοῦτο δὲ πρὸς τοῖς λοιποῖς εἰς τὸ πρόσωπον τῶν Χριστιανῶν δογματίζομεν , ἵνα τοὺς τόπους αὐτῶν , εἰς οὓς τὸ πρότερον συνέρχεσθαι ἔθος ἦν αὐτοῖς , περὶ ὧν καὶ τοῖς πρότερον δοθεῖσιν πρὸς τὴν σὴν καθοσίωσιν γράμμασιν τύπος ἕτερος ἧν ὡρισμένος τῷ προτέρῳ χρόνῳ , ἵν’ εἴ τινες παρὰ τοῦ ταμείου τοῦ ἡμετέρου παρά τινος ἑτέρου φαίνοιντο ἠγορακότες , τούτους τοῖς αὐτοῖς Χριστιανοῖς ἄνευ ἀργυρίου καὶ ἄνευ τινὸς ἀπαιτήσεως τῆς τιμῆς , ὑπερτεθείσης δίχα πάσης ἀμελείας καὶ ἀμφιβολίας , And we decree still further concerning the Christians, that their places, in which they were formerly accustomed to assemble, and concerning which in the former letter sent to your devotedness a different command was given, if it appear that any have bought them either from our treasury or from any other person, shall be restored to the said Christians, without demanding money or any other equivalent, with no delay or hesitation.
5-13 ἀποκαταστήσωσι , καὶ εἴ τινες κατὰ δῶρον τυγχάνουσιν εἰληφότες , τοὺς αὐτοὺς τόπους ὅπως τοῖς αὐτοῖς Χριστιανοῖς τὴν ταχίστην ἀποκαταστήσωσιν If any happen to have received the said places as a gift, they shall restore them as quickly as possible to these same Christians:
5-14 οὕτως ὡς οἱ ἠγορακότες τοὺς αὐτοὺς τόπους οἱ κατὰ δωρεὰν εἰληφότες αἰτῶσί τι παρὰ τῆς ἡμετέρας καλοκἀγαθίας προσέλθωσι τῷ ἐπὶ τόπων ἐπάρχῳ δικάζοντι , ὅπως καὶ αὐτῶν διὰ τῆς ἡμετέρας χρηστότητος πρόνοια γένηται . with the understanding that if those who have bought these places, or those who have received them as a gift, demand anything from our bounty, they may go to the judge of the district, that provision may be made for them by our clemency.
5-15 ἅτινα πάντα τῷ σώματι τῷ τῶν Χριστιανῶν παρ’ αὐτὰ διὰ τῆς σῆς σπουδῆς ἄνευ τινὸς παρολκῆς παραδίδοσθαι δεήσει . All these things are to be granted to the society of Christians by your care immediately and without any delay.
5-16 Καὶ ἐπειδὴ οἱ αὐτοὶ Χριστιανοὶ οὐ μόνον ἐκείνους εἰς οὓς συνέρχεσθαι ἔθος εἶχον , ἀλλὰ καὶ ἑτέρους τόπους ἐσχηκέναι γινώσκονται διαφέροντας οὐ πρὸς ἕκαστον αὐτῶν , ἀλλὰ πρὸς τὸ δίκαιον τοῦ αὐτῶν σώματος , τοῦτ’ ἔστιν τῶν Χριστιανῶν , ταῦτα πάντα ἐπὶ τῷ νόμῳ ὃν προειρήκαμεν , δίχα παντελῶς τινος ἀμφισβητήσεως τοῖς αὐτοῖς Χριστιανοῖς , τοῦτ’ ἔστιν τῷ σώματι αὐτῶν καὶ τῇ συνόδῳ ἑκάστῳ αὐτῶν ἀποκαταστῆναι κελεύσεις , τοῦ προειρημένου λογισμοῦ δηλαδὴ φυλαχθέντος , ὅπως αὐτοὶ οἵτινες τοὺς αὐτοὺς ἄνευ τιμῆς , καθὼς προειρήκαμεν , ἀποκαθιστῶσι , τὸ ἀζήμιον τὸ ἑαυτῶν παρὰ τῆς ἡμετέρας καλοκἀγαθίας ἐλπίζοιεν . And since the said Christians are known to have possessed not only those places in which they were accustomed to assemble, but also other places, belonging not to individuals among them, but to the society as a whole, that is, to the society of Christians, you will command that all these, in virtue of the law which we have above stated, be restored, without any hesitation, to these same Christians; that is, to their society and congregation: the above-mentioned provision being of course observed, that those who restore them without price, as we have before said, may expect indemnification from our bounty.
5-17 Ἐν οἷς πᾶσιν τῷ προειρημένῳ σώματι τῶν Χριστιανῶν τὴν σπουδὴν δυνατώτατα παρασχεῖν ὀφείλεις , ὅπως τὸ ἡμέτερον κέλευσμα τὴν ταχίστην παραπληρωθῇ , ὅπως καὶ ἐν τούτῳ διὰ τῆς ἡμετέρας χρηστότητος πρόνοια γένηται τῆς κοινῆς καὶ δημοσίας ἡσυχίας . In all these things, for the benefit of the aforesaid society of Christians, you are to use the utmost diligence, to the end that our command may be speedily fulfilled, and that in this also, by our clemency, provision may be made for the common and public tranquillity.
5-18 τούτῳ γὰρ τῷ λογισμῷ , καθὼς καὶ προείρηται , θεία σπουδὴ περὶ ἡμᾶς , ἧς ἐν πολλοῖς ἤδη πράγμασιν ἀπεπειράθημεν , διὰ παντὸς τοῦ χρόνου βεβαίως διαμείναι , For by this means, as we have said before, the divine favor toward us which we have already experienced in many matters will continue sure through all time.
5-19 ἵνα δὲ ταύτης τῆς ἡμετέρας νομοθεσίας καὶ τῆς καλοκἀγαθίας ὅρος πρὸς γνῶσιν πάντων ἐνεχθῆναι δυνηθῇ , προταχθέντα τοῦ σοῦ προστάγματος ταῦτα τὰ ὑφ’ ἡμῶν γραφέντα πανταχοῦ προθεῖναι καὶ εἰς γνῶσιν πάντων ἀγαγεῖν ἀκόλουθόν ἐστιν , ὅπως ταύτης τῆς ἡμετέρας καλοκἀγαθίας νομοθεσία μηδένα λαθεῖν δυνηθῇ . And that the terms of this our gracious ordinance may be known to all, it is expected that this which we have written will be published everywhere by you and brought to the knowledge of all, in order that this gracious ordinance of ours may remain unknown to no one.
5-20 ἀντίγραφον ἑτέρας βασιλικῆς διατάξεως ἥν Αὖθις πεποίηται , μόνῃ τῇ καθολικῃ ἐκκλησίαι τὴν δωρεάν δεδόσθαι ὑποσημηνάμενος .1 Copy of another imperial decree which they issued, indicating that the grant was made to the Catholic Church alone.1
1The above line was in uppercase: ΑΝΤΙΓΡΑΦΟΝ ΕΤΕΡΑΣ ΒΑΣΙΛΙΚΗΣ ΔΙΑΤΑΞΕΩΣ ΗΝ ΑΥΘΙΣ ΠΕΠΟΙΗΤΑΙ ΜΟΝΗΙ ΤΗΙ ΚΑΘΟΛΙΚΗΙ ΕΚΚΛΗΣΙΑΙ ΤΗΝ ΔΩΡΕΑΝ ΔΕΔΟΣΘΑΙ ΥΠΟΣΗΜΗΝΑΜΕΝΟΣ
5-21 Χαῖρε Ἀνυλῖνε , τιμιώτατε ἡμῖν . Greeting to you, our most esteemed Anulinus.
5-22 ἔστιν τρόπος οὗτος τῆς φιλαγαθίας τῆς ἡμετέρας , ὥστε ἐκεῖνα ἅπερ δικαίῳ ἀλλοτρίῳ προσήκει , μὴ μόνον μὴ ἐνοχλεῖσθαι , ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀποκαθιστᾶν βούλεσθαι ἡμᾶς , Ἀνυλῖνε τιμιώτατε . ὅθεν βουλόμεθα ἵν’ , It is the custom of our benevolence, most esteemed Anulinus, to will that those things which belong of right to another should not only be left unmolested, but should also be restored.
5-23 ὁπόταν ταῦτα τὰ γράμματα κομίσῃ , εἴ τινα ἐκ τούτων τῶν τῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ τῇ καθολικῇ τῶν Χριστιανῶν ἐν ἑκάσταις πόλεσιν καὶ ἄλλοις τόποις διέφερον καὶ κατέχοιντο νῦν ὑπὸ πολιτῶν ὑπό τινων ἄλλων , ταῦτα ἀποκατασταθῆναι παραχρῆμα ταῖς αὐταῖς ἐκκλησίαις ποιήσῃς , Wherefore it is our will that when you receive this letter, if any such things belonged to the Catholic Church1 of the Christians, in any city or other place, but are now held by citizens or by any others, you shall cause them to be restored immediately to the said churches.
1Eusebius took this to mean the Catholic Church as opposed to the Donatist schismatics; but this is very improbable. The phrase refers to the Church in Africa as it was before the persecution and before the schism.
5-24 ἐπειδήπερ προῃρήμεθα ταῦτα ἅπερ αἱ αὐταὶ ἐκκλησίαι πρότερον ἐσχήκεσαν , τῷ δικαίῳ αὐτῶν ἀποκατασταθῆναι . For we have already determined that those things which these same churches formerly possessed shall be restored to them.
5-25 ὁπότε τοίνυν συνορᾷ καθοσίωσις σὴ ταύτης ἡμῶν τῆς κελεύσεως σαφέστατον εἶναι τὸ πρόσταγμα , σπούδασον , εἴτε κῆποι εἴτε οἰκίαι εἶθ’ ὁτιουνδήποτε τῷ δικαίῳ τῶν αὐτῶν ἐκκλησιῶν διέφερον , σύμπαντα αὐταῖς ἀποκατασταθῆναι ὡς τάχιστα , ὅπως τούτῳ ἡμῶν τῷ προστάγματι ἐπιμελεστάτην σε πειθάρχησιν παρεσχηκέναι καταμάθοιμεν . Since therefore your devotedness perceives that this command of ours is most explicit, do thou make haste to restore to them, as quickly as possible, everything which formerly belonged to the said churches, — whether gardens or buildings or whatever they may be — that we may learn that you have obeyed this decree of ours most carefully.
5-26 ἔρρωσο , Ἀνυλῖνε , τιμιώτατε καὶ ποθεινότατε ἡμῖν . Farewell, our most esteemed and beloved Anulinus.
5-27 ἀντίγραφον βασιλικῆς ἐπιστολῆς δι’ ἧς σύνοδον ἐπισκοπῶν ἐπὶ Ῥώμης κελεύει γενέσθαι ὑπὲρ τῆς τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν ἑνώσεως τε καὶ ὁμονοίας Copy of an epistle in which the Emperor commands that a synod of bishops be held at Rome in behalf of the unity and concord of the churches.1
1The preceding line was in uppercase: ΑΝΤΙΓΡΑΦΟΝ ΒΑΣΙΛΙΚΗΣ ΕΠΙΣΤΟΛΗΣ ΔΙ’ ΗΣ ΣΥΝΟΔΟΝ ΕΠΙΣΚΟΠΩΝ ΕΠΙ ΡΩΜΗΣ ΚΕΛΕΥΕΙ ΓΕΝΕΣΘΑΙ ΥΠΕΡ ΤΗΣ ΤΩΝ ΕΚΚΛΗΣΙΩΝ ΕΝΩΣΕΩΣ ΤΕ ΚΑΙ ΟΜΟΝΟΙΑΣ
5-28 Κωνσταντῖνος Σεβαστὸς Μιλτιάδῃ ἐπισκόπῳ Ῥωμαίων καὶ Μάρκῳ . Constantine Augustus to Miltiades, bishop of Rome, and to Marcus.
5-29 ἐπειδὴ τοιοῦτοι χάρται παρὰ Ἀνυλίνου τοῦ λαμπροτάτου Φροντίνου ἀνθυπάτου τῆς Ἀφρικῆς πρός με πλείους ἀπεστάλησαν , ἐν οἷς ἐμφέρεται Καικιλιανὸν τὸν ἐπίσκοπον τῆς Χαρταγενησίων πόλεως παρά τινων κολλήγων αὐτοῦ τῶν κατὰ τὴν Ἀφρικὴν καθεστώτων ἐν πολλοῖς πράγμασιν εὐθύνεσθαι , καὶ τοῦτό μοι βαρὺ σφόδρα δοκεῖ τὸ ἐν ταύταις ταῖς ἐπαρχίαις , ἃς τῇ ἐμῇ καθοσιώσει αὐθαιρέτως θεία πρόνοια ἐνεχείρισεν κἀκεῖσε πολὺ πλῆθος λαοῦ , ὄχλον ἐπὶ τὸ φαυλότερον ἐπιμένοντα εὑρίσκεσθαι ὡς ἂν εἰ διχοστατοῦντα καὶ μεταξὺ ἐπισκόπους διαφορὰς ἔχειν , Since many such communications have been sent to me by Anulinus, the most illustrious proconsul of Africa, in which it is said that Caecilianus,1 bishop of the city of Carthage, has been accused by some of his colleagues in Africa, in many matters; and since it seems to me a very serious thing that in those provinces which Divine Providence has freely entrusted to my devotedness, and in which there is a great population, the multitude are found following the baser course, and dividing, as it were, into two parties, and the bishops are at variance —
1The Donatists (so-called from a bishop of theirs, Donatus) alleged that Caecilian had been consecrated by a bishop (Felix) who in the Diocletian persecution had proved himself a traditor, i.e., had surrendered up the Scriptures to the pagan authorities. Hence they held that Caecilian’s consecration was invalid; and by appointing a bishop of their own in his stead began what is known as the Donatist schism.
5-30 ἔδοξέ μοι ἵν’ αὐτὸς Καικιλιανὸς μετὰ δέκα ἐπισκόπων τῶν αὐτὸν εὐθύνειν δοκούντων καὶ δέκα ἑτέρων οὓς αὐτὸς τῇ ἑαυτοῦ δίκῃ ἀναγκαίους ὑπολάβοι , εἰς τὴν Ῥώμην πλῷ ἀπιέναι , ἵν’ ἐκεῖσε ὑμῶν παρόντων , ἀλλὰ μὴν καὶ Ῥετικίου καὶ Ματέρνου καὶ Μαρίνου , τῶν κολλήγων ὑμῶν , οὓς τούτου ἕνεκεν εἰς τὴν Ῥώμην προσέταξα ἐπισπεῦσαι , δυνηθῇ ἀκουσθῆναι , ὡς ἂν καταμάθοιτε τῷ σεβασμιωτάτῳ νόμῳ ἁρμόττειν . it has seemed good to me that Caecilianus himself, with ten of the bishops that appear to accuse him, and with ten others whom he may consider necessary for his defense, should sail to Rome, that there, in the presence of yourselves and of Retecius and Maternus and Marinus, your colleagues, whom I have commanded to hasten to Rome for this purpose, he may be heard, as you may understand to be in accordance with the most holy law.
5-31 ἵνα μέντοι καὶ περὶ πάντων αὐτῶν τούτων πληρεστάτην δυνηθῆτε ἔχειν γνῶσιν , τὰ ἀντίτυπα τῶν ἐγγράφων τῶν πρός με παρὰ Ἀνυλίνου ἀποσταλέντων γράμμασιν ἐμοῖς ὑποτάξας , πρὸς τοὺς προειρημένους κολλήγας ὑμῶν ἐξέπεμψα· But in order that you may be enabled to have most perfect knowledge of all these things, I have subjoined to my letter copies of the documents sent to me by Anulinus, and have sent them to your above-mentioned colleagues.
5-32 οἷς ἐντυχοῦσα ὑμετέρα στερρότης δοκιμάσει ὅντινα χρὴ τρόπον τὴν προειρημένην δίκην ἐπιμελέστατα διευκρινῆσαι καὶ κατὰ τὸ δίκαιον τερματίσαι , When your firmness has read these, you will consider in what way the above-mentioned case may be most accurately investigated and justly decided.
5-33 ὁπότε μηδὲ τὴν ὑμετέραν ἐπιμέλειαν λανθάνει τοσαύτην με αἰδῶ τῇ ἐνθέσμῳ καθολικῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ ἀπονέμειν , ὡς μηδὲν καθόλου σχίσμα διχοστασίαν ἔν τινι τόπῳ βούλεσθαί με ὑμᾶς καταλιπεῖν . For it does not escape your diligence that I have such reverence for the legitimate Catholic Church that I do not wish you to leave schism or division in any place.
5-34 θειότης ὑμᾶς τοῦ μεγάλου Θεοῦ διαφυλάξαι πολλοῖς ἔτεσι , τιμιώτατε . May the divinity of the great God preserve you, most honored Sirs,1 for many years.
1The Greek is singular “Sir”; but the Latin is correctly in the plural. The Letter, however, seems to have been addressed primarilly to Miltiades. Nothing is known of Mark, who is associated with him in the opening sentence.
5-35 ἀντίγραφον βασιλικῆς ἐπιστολῆς δι’ ἧς προστάττει δευτέραν γενέσθαι σύνοδον ὑπὲρ τοῦ πᾶσαν τῶν ἐπισκοπῶν περιελεῖν διχοστασίαν Copy of an epistle in which the emperor commands another synod to be held for the purpose of removing all dissensions among the bishops.
1The preceding line was in uppercase: ΑΝΤΙΓΡΑΦΟΝ ΒΑΣΙΛΙΚΗΣ ΕΠΙΣΤΟΛΗΣ ΔΙ’ ΗΣ ΠΡΟΣΤΑΤΤΕΙ ΔΕΥΤΕΡΑΝ ΓΕΝΕΣΘΑΙ ΣΥΝΟΔΟΝ ΥΠΕΡ ΤΟΥ ΠΑΣΑΝ ΤΩΝ ΕΠΙΣΚΟΠΩΝ ΠΕΡΙΕΛΕΙΝ ΔΙΧΟΣΤΑΣΙΑΝ
5-36 περιελεῖν διχοστασίαν Κωνσταντῖνος Σεβαστὸς Χρήστῳ ἐπισκόπῳ Συρακουσίων . ἤδη μὲν πρότερον , ὅτε φαύλως καὶ ἐνδιαστρόφως τινὲς περὶ τῆς θρῃσκείας τῆς ἁγίας καὶ ἐπουρανίου δυνάμεως καὶ τῆς αἱρέσεως τῆς καθολικῆς ἀποδιίστασθαι ἤρξαντο , ἐπιτέμνεσθαι βουληθεὶς τὰς τοιαύτας αὐτῶν φιλονεικίας , οὕτω διατετυπώκειν ὥστε ἀποσταλέντων ἀπὸ τῆς Γαλλίας τινῶν ἐπισκόπων , ἀλλὰ μὴν καὶ τούτων κληθέντων ἀπὸ τῆς Ἀφρικῆς τῶν ἐξ ἐναντίας μοίρας καταλλήλως , ἐνστατικῶς καὶ ἐπιμόνως διαγωνιζομένων παρόντος τε καὶ τοῦ τῆς Ῥώμης ἐπισκόπου , τοῦτο ὅπερ ἐδόκει κεκινῆσθαι , δυνηθῇ ὑπὸ τῆς παροιμίαι αὐτῶν μετὰ πάσης ἐπιμελοῦς διακρίσεως κατορθώσεως τυχεῖν . Constantine Augustus to Chrestus, bishop of Syracuse. When some began wickedly and perversely to disagree among themselves concerning the holy worship and celestial power and Catholic doctrine, wishing to put an end to such disputes among them, I formerly gave command that certain bishops should be sent from Gaul, and that the opposing parties who were contending persistently and incessantly with each other, should be summoned from Africa; that in their presence, and in the presence of the bishop of Rome, the matter which appeared to be causing the disturbance might be examined and decided with all care.
5-37 ἀλλ’ ἐπειδή , ὡς συμβαίνει , ἐπιλαθόμενοί τινες καὶ τῆς σωτηρίας τῆς ἰδίας καὶ τοῦ σεβάσματος τοῦ ὀφειλομένου τῇ ἁγιωτάτῃ αἱρέσει , ἔτι καὶ νῦν τὰς ἰδίας ἔχθρας παρατείνειν οὐ παύονται , μὴ βουλόμενοι τῇ ἤδη ἐξενεχθείσῃ κρίσει συντίθεσθαι καὶ διοριζόμενοι ὅτι δὴ ἄρα ὀλίγοι τινὲς τὰς γνώμας καὶ τὰς ἀποφάσεις ἑαυτῶν ἐξήνεγκαν καὶ μὴ πρότερον ἁπάντων τῶν ὀφειλόντων ζητηθῆναι ἀκριβῶς ἐξετασθέντων πρὸς τὸ τὴν κρίσιν ἐξενέγκαι πάνυ ταχέως καὶ ὀξέως ἔσπευσαν , ἔκ τε τούτων ἁπάντων ἐκεῖνα συμβαίνει γενέσθαι , τὸ καὶ τούτους αὐτοὺς ἀδελφικὴν καὶ ὁμόφονα ὀφείλοντας ἔχειν ὁμοψυχίαν αἰσχρῶς , μᾶλλον δὲ μυσερῶς ἀλλήλων ἀποδιεστάναι καὶ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις τοῖς ἀλλοτρίας ἔχουσι τὰς ψυχὰς ἀπὸ τῆς ἁγιωτάτης θρῃσκείας ταύτης πρόφασιν χλεύης διδόναι ,— But since, as it happens, some, forgetful both of their own salvation and of the reverence due to the most holy religion, do not even yet bring hostilities to an end, and are unwilling to conform to the judgment already passed, and assert that those who expressed their opinions and decisions were few, or that they had been too hasty and precipitate in giving judgment, before all the things which ought to have been accurately investigated had been examined — on account of all this it has happened that those very ones who ought to hold brotherly and harmonious relations toward each other, are shamefully, or rather abominably, divided among themselves, and give occasion for ridicule to those men whose souls are aliens to this most holy religion.
5-38 ὅθεν προνοητέον μοι ἐγένετο , ὅπως τοῦτο ὅπερ ἐχρῆν μετὰ τὴν ἐξενεχθεῖσαν ἤδη κρίσιν αὐθαιρέτῳ συγκαταθέσει πεπαῦσθαι , κἂν νῦν ποτε δυνηθῇ πολλῶν παρόντων τέλους τυχεῖν . Wherefore it has seemed necessary to me to provide that this dissension, which ought to have ceased after the judgment had been already given by their own voluntary agreement, should now, if possible, be brought to an end by the presence of many.
5-39 ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν πλείστου ἐκ διαφόρων καὶ ἀμυθήτων τόπων ἐπισκόπους εἰς τὴν Ἀρελατησίων πόλιν εἴσω Καλανδῶν Αὐγούστων συνελθεῖν ἐκελεύσαμεν , καὶ σοὶ γράψαι ἐνομίσαμεν ἵνα λαβὼν παρὰ τοῦ λαμπροτάτου Λατρωνιανοῦ τοῦ κονρήκτορος Σικελίας δημόσιον ὄχημα , συζεύξας σεαυτῷ καὶ δύο γέ τινας τῶν ἐκ τοῦ δευτέρας θρόνου , οὓς ἂν σὺ αὐτὸς ἐπιλέξασθαι κρίνῃς , ἀλλὰ μὴν καὶ τρεῖς παῖδας τοὺς δυνησομένους ὑμῖν κατὰ τὴν ὁδὸν ὑπηρετήσασθαι παραλαβών , εἴσω τῆς αὐτῆς ἡμέρας ἐπὶ τῷ προειρημένῳ τόπῳ ἀπάντησον , Since, therefore, we have commanded a number of bishops from a great many different places to assemble in the city of Arles, before the kalends of August, we have thought proper to write to you also that you should secure from the most illustrious Latronianus, corrector1 of Sicily, a public vehicle, and that you should take with you two others of the second rank,2 whom you yourself shall choose, together with three servants who may serve you on the way, and betake yourself to the above-mentioned place before the appointed day;
1In the fourth century this was the title of governors of certain provinces.
2i.e., presbyters.
5-40 ὡς ἂν διά τε τῆς σῆς στερρότητος καὶ διὰ τῆς λοιπῆς τῶν συνιόντων ὁμοψύχου καὶ ὁμόφρονος συνέσεως καὶ τοῦτο ὅπερ ἄχρι τοῦ δεῦρο φαύλως δι’ αἰσχράς τινας ζυγομαχίας παραμεμένηκεν , ἀκουσθέντων πάντων τῶν μελλόντων λεχθήσεσθαι παρὰ τῶν νῦν ἀπ’ ἀλλήλων διεστώτων , οὕσπερ ὁμοίως παρεῖναι ἐκελεύσαμεν , δυνηθῇ εἰς τὴν ὀφειλομένην θρῃσκείαν καὶ πίστιν ἀδελφικήν τε ὁμόνοιαν κἂν βραδέως ἀνακληθῆναι . that by your firmness, and by the wise unanimity and harmony of the others present, this dispute, which has disgracefully continued until the present time, in consequence of certain shameful strifes, after all has been heard which those have to say who are now at variance with one another, and whom we have likewise commanded to be present, may be settled in accordance with the proper faith, and that brotherly harmony, though it be but gradually, may be restored.
5-41 ὑγιαίνοντά σε Θεὸς παντοκράτωρ διαφυλάξαι ἐπὶ πολλοῖς ἔτεσιν . May the Almighty God preserve you in health for many years.

Chapter 6

6-1 ἀντίγραφον βασιλικῆς ἐπιστολῆς δι’ ἧς χρήματα ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις δωρεῖται Copy of an Imperial Letter in which grants of money are made to the churches.
1The line above was in uppercase: ΑΝΤΙΓΡΑΦΟΝ ΒΑΣΙΛΙΚΗΣ ΕΠΙΣΤΟΛΗΣ ΔΙ’ ΗΣ ΧΡΗΜΑΤΑ ΤΑΙΣ ΕΚΚΛΗΣΙΑΙΣ ΔΩΡΕΙΤΑΙ
6-2 Κωνσταντῖνος Αὔγουστος Καικιλιανῷ ἐπισκόπῳ Χαρταγένης . Constantine Augustus to Caecilianus, bishop of Carthage.
6-3 ἐπειδήπερ ἤρεσεν κατὰ πάσας ἐπαρχίας , τάς τε Ἀφρικὰς καὶ τὰς Νουμιδίας καὶ τὰς Μαυριτανίας , ῥητοῖς τισι τῶν ὑπηρετῶν τῆς ἐνθέσμου καὶ ἁγιωτάτης καθολικῆς θρῃσκείας εἰς ἀναλώματα ἐπιχορηγηθῆναί τι , ἔδωκα γράμματα πρὸς Οὖρσον τὸν διασημότατον καθολικὸν τῆς Ἀφρικῆς καὶ ἐδήλωσα αὐτῷ ὅπως τρισχιλίους φόλλεις τῇ σῇ στερρότητι ἀπαριθμῆσαι φροντίσῃ . Since it is our pleasure that something should be granted in all the provinces of Africa and Numidia and Mauritania to certain ministers of the legitimate and most holy catholic religion, to defray their expenses, I have written to Ursus, the illustrious finance minister of Africa, and have directed him to make provision to pay to your firmness three thousand folles.1
1The follis was originally a bag of small coins, but later came to denote a coin itself, the double denarius.
6-4 σὺ τοίνυν , ἡνίκα τὴν προδηλουμένην ποσότητα τῶν χρημάτων ὑποδεχθῆναι ποιήσεις , ἅπασι τοῖς προειρημένοις κατὰ τὸ βρέουιον τὸ πρὸς σὲ παρὰ Ὁσίου ἀποσταλὲν ταῦτα τὰ χρήματα διαδοθῆναι κέλευσον . Do thou therefore, when you have received the above sum of money, command that it be distributed among all those mentioned above, according to the brief sent to you by Hosius.
6-5 εἰ δ’ ἄρα πρὸς τὸ συμπληρωθῆναί μου τὴν εἰς τοῦτο περὶ ἅπαντας αὐτοὺς προαίρεσιν ἐνδεῖν τι καταμάθοις , παρὰ Ἡρακλείδα τοῦ ἐπιτρόπου τῶν ἡμετέρων κτημάτων ἀναμφιλέκτως ὅπερ ἀναγκαῖον εἶναι καταμάθοις , αἰτῆσαι ὀφείλεις , But if you should find that anything is wanting for the fulfillment of this purpose of mine concerning all of them, you shall demand without hesitation from Heracleides, our treasurer, whatever you find to be necessary.
6-6 καὶ γὰρ παρόντι αὐτῷ προσέταξα ἵν’ εἴ τι ἂν χρημάτων παρ’ αὐτοῦ σὴ στερρότης αἰτήσῃ , ἄνευ δισταγμοῦ τινος ἀπαριθμῆσαι φροντίσῃ . For I commanded him when he was present that if your firmness should ask him for any money, he should see to it that it be paid without delay.
6-7 καὶ ἐπειδὴ ἐπυθόμην τινὰς μὴ καθεστώσης διανοίας τυγχάνοντας ἀνθρώπους τὸν λαὸν τῆς ἁγιωτάτης καὶ καθολικῆς ἐκκλησίας φαύλῃ τινὶ ὑπονοθεύσει βούλεσθαι διαστρέφειν , γίνωσκέ με Ἀνυλίνῳ ἀνθυπάτῳ ἀλλὰ μὴν καὶ Πατρικίῳ τῷ οὐικαρίῳ τῶν ἐπάρχων παροῦσι τοιαύτας ἐντολὰς δεδωκέναι ἵν’ ἐν τοῖς λοιποῖς ἅπασι καὶ τούτου μάλιστα τὴν προσήκουσαν φροντίδα ποιήσωνται καὶ μὴ ἀνάσχωνται περιορᾶν τοιοῦτο γινόμενον . And since I have learned that some men of unsettled mind wish to turn the people from the most holy and catholic Church by a certain method of shameful corruption, do you know that I gave command to Anulinus, the proconsul, and also to Patricius, vicar of the Prefects,1 when they were present, that they should give proper attention not only to other matters but also above all to this, and that they should not overlook such a thing when it happened.
1In the administration of this period, the Vicar was the governor of a “diocese” or group of provinces; the Prefect had under his control a still larger administrative area. Patricius as Vicar of Africa was in the jurisdiction of the Prefect of Italy. His title vicarius praefectorum (pl.) is a relic of more ancient days, when the Prefects were regarded as associated together in office.
6-8 διόπερ εἴ τινας τοιούτους ἀνθρώπους ἐν αὐτῇ μανίᾳ ἐπιμένειν κατίδοις , ἄνευ τινὸς ἀμφιβολίας τοῖς προειρημένοις δικασταῖς πρόσελθε καὶ αὐτὸ τοῦτο προσανένεγκε ὅπως αὐτοὺς ἐκεῖνοι , καθάπερ αὐτοῖς παροῦσιν ἐκέλευσα , ἐπιστρέψωσιν . Wherefore if you should see any such men continuing in this madness, do thou without delay go to the above-mentioned judges and report the matter to them; that they may correct them as I commanded them when they were present.
6-9 θειότης τοῦ μεγάλου Θεοῦ σε διαφυλάξαι ἐπὶ πολλοῖς ἔτεσιν . The divinity of the great God preserve you for many years.

Chapter 7

7-1 ἀντίγραφον βασιλικῆς ἐπιστολῆς δι’ ἧς τοὺς προεστῶτας τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν πάσης ἀπολελύσθαι τῆς περὶ τὰ πολιτικὰ λειτουργίας προστάττει Copy of an Epistle in which the emperor commands that the rulers of the churches be exempted from all political duties.
1The line above was in uppercase: ΑΝΤΙΓΡΑΦΟΝ ΒΑΣΙΛΙΚΗΣ ΕΠΙΣΤΟΛΗΣ ΔΙ’ ΗΣ ΤΟΥΣ ΠΡΟΕΣΤΩΤΑΣ ΤΩΝ ΕΚΚΛΗΣΙΩΝ ΠΑΣΗΣ ΑΠΟΛΕΛΥΣΘΑΙ ΤΗΣ ΠΕΡΙ ΤΑ ΠΟΛΙΤΙΚΑ ΛΕΙΤΟΥΡΓΙΑΣ ΠΡΟΣΤΑΤΤΕΙ
7-2 Χαῖρε , Ἀνυλῖνε , τιμιώτατε ἡμῖν . Greeting to you, our most esteemed Anulinus.
7-3 ἐπειδὴ ἐκ πλειόνων πραγμάτων φαίνεται παρεξουθενηθεῖσαν τὴν θρῃσκείαν , ἐν κορυφαία τῆς ἁγιωτάτης ἐπουρανίου αἰδὼς φυλάττεται , μεγάλους κινδύνους ἐνηνοχέναι τοῖς δημοσίοις πράγμασιν αὐτήν τε ταύτην ἐνθέσμως ἀναληφθεῖσαν καὶ φυλαττομένην μεγίστην εὐτυχίαν τῷ Ῥωμαϊκῷ ὀνόματι καὶ σύμπασι τοῖς τῶν ἀνθρώπων πράγμασιν ἐξαίρετον εὐδαιμονίαν παρεσχηκέναι , τῶν θείων εὐεργεσιῶν τοῦτο παρεχουσῶν , Since it appears from many circumstances that when that religion is despised, in which is preserved the chief reverence for the most holy celestial Power, great dangers are brought upon public affairs; but that when legally adopted and observed it affords the most signal prosperity to the Roman name and remarkable felicity to all the affairs of men, through the divine beneficence —
7-4 ἔδοξεν ἐκείνους τοὺς ἄνδρας τοὺς τῇ ὀφειλομένῃ ἁγιότητι καὶ τῇ τοῦ νόμου τούτου παρεδρίᾳ τὰς ὑπηρεσίας τὰς ἐξ αὐτῶν τῇ τῆς θείας θρῃσκείας θεραπείᾳ παρέχοντας τῶν καμάτων τῶν ἰδίων τὰ ἔπαθλα κομίσασθαι , Ἀνυλῖνε τιμιώτατε . it has seemed good to me, most esteemed Anulinus, that those men who give their services with due sanctity and with constant observance of this law, to the worship of the divine religion, should receive recompense for their labors.
7-5 διόπερ ἐκείνους τοὺς εἴσω τῆς ἐπαρχίας τῆς σοι πεπιστευμένης ἐν τῇ καθολικῇ ἐκκλησίᾳ , Καικιλιανὸς ἐφέστηκεν , τὴν ἐξ αὐτῶν ὑπηρεσίαν τῇ ἁγίᾳ ταύτῃ θρῃσκείᾳ παρέχοντας , οὕσπερ κληρικοὺς ἐπονομάζειν εἰώθασιν , ἀπὸ πάντων ἅπαξ ἁπλῶς τῶν λειτουργιῶν βούλομαι ἀλειτουργήτους διαφυλαχθῆναι , ὅπως μὴ διά τινος πλάνης ἐξολισθήσεως ἱεροσύλου ἀπὸ τῆς θεραπείας τῆς τῇ θειότητι ὀφειλομένης ἀφέλκωνται , ἀλλὰ μᾶλλον ἄνευ τινὸς ἐνοχλήσεως τῷ ἰδίῳ νόμῳ ἐξυπηρετῶνται , Wherefore it is my will that those within the province entrusted to you, in the catholic Church, over which Caecilianus presides, who give their services to this holy religion, and who are commonly called clergymen, be entirely exempted from all public duties, that they may not by any error or sacrilegious negligence be drawn away from the service due to the Deity, but may devote themselves without any hindrance to their own law.
7-6 ὧνπερ μεγίστην περὶ τὸ θεῖον λατρείαν ποιουμένων πλεῖστον ὅσον τοῖς κοινοῖς πράγμασι συνοίσειν δοκεῖ . For it seems that when they show greatest reverence to the Deity, the greatest benefits accrue to the state.
7-7 ἔρρωσο , Ἀνυλῖνε , τιμιώτατε καὶ ποθεινότατε ἡμῖν . Farewell, our most esteemed and beloved Anulinus.

Chapter 8

8-1 Τοιαῦτα μὲν οὖν ἡμῖν θεία καὶ οὐράνιος τῆς τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν ἐπιφανείας ἐδωρεῖτο χάρις , τοσαύτη τε ἅπασιν ἀνθρώποις ἀγαθῶν ἀφθονία διὰ τῆς ἡμετέρας ἐπρυτανεύετο εἰρήνης . Such blessings did divine and heavenly grace confer upon us through the appearance of our Saviour, and such was the abundance of benefits which prevailed among all men in consequence of the peace which we enjoyed.
8-2 καὶ ὧδε μὲν τὰ καθ’ ἡμᾶς ἐν εὐφροσύναις καὶ πανηγύρεσιν ἐτελεῖτο· And thus were our affairs crowned with rejoicings and festivities.
8-3 οὐκ ἦν δὲ ἄρα τῷ μισοκάλῳ φθόνῳ τῷ τε φιλοπονήρῳ δαίμονι φορητὸς τῶν ὁρωμένων θέα , ὥσπερ οὖν οὐδὲ Λικιννίῳ πρὸς σώφρονα λογισμὸν ἐτύγχανεν αὐτάρκη τὰ τοῖς πρόσθεν δεδηλωμένοις τυράννοις συμβεβηκότα· But malignant envy, and the demon who loves that which is evil, were not able to bear the sight of these things; and moreover the events that befell the tyrants1 whom we have already mentioned were not sufficient to bring Licinius to sound reason.
8-4 ὃς εὖ φερομένης τῆς ἀρχῆς αὐτῷ βασιλέως τε μεγάλου Κωνσταντίνου δευτερείων τιμῆς ἐπιγαμβρίας τε καὶ συγγενείας τῆς ἀνωτάτω ἠξιωμένος , μιμήσεως μὲν τῆς τῶν καλῶν ἀπελιμπάνετο , τῆς δὲ τῶν ἀσεβῶν τυράννων μοχθηρίας ἐζήλου τὴν κακοτροπίαν , καὶ ὧν τοῦ βίου τὴν καταστροφὴν ἐπεῖδεν αὐτοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς , τούτων ἕπεσθαι τῇ γνώμῃ μᾶλλον τῇ τοῦ κρείττονος ἐμμένειν φιλίᾳ τε καὶ διαθέσει ᾑρεῖτο . For the latter, although his government was prosperous and he was honored with the second rank after the great Emperor Constantine, and was connected with him by the closest ties of marriage, abandoned the imitation of good deeds, and emulated the wickedness of the impious tyrants whose end he had seen with his own eyes, and chose rather to follow their principles than to continue in friendly relations with him who was better than they.
1Maxentius and Maximin.
8-5 διαφθονηθείς γέ τοι τῷ πανευεργέτῃ , πόλεμον δυσαγῆ καὶ δεινότατον πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐκφέρει , οὐ φύσεως νόμων φεισάμενος , οὐχ ὁρκωμοσιῶν οὐχ αἵματος οὐ συνθηκῶν μνήμην ἐν διανοίᾳ λαβών . Being envious of the common benefactor he waged an impious and most terrible war against him, paying regard neither to laws of nature, nor treaties, nor blood, and giving no thought to covenants.
8-6 μὲν γὰρ αὐτῷ οἷα πανάγαθος βασιλεὺς εὐνοίας παρέχων ἀληθοῦς σύμβολα , συγγενείας τῆς πρὸς αὐτὸν οὐκ ἐφθόνησεν γάμων τε λαμπρῶν ἀδελφῆς μετουσίαν οὐκ ἀπηρνήσατο , ἀλλὰ καὶ τῆς ἐκ πατέρων εὐγενείας βασιλικοῦ τε ἀνέκαθεν αἵματος κοινωνὸν γενέσθαι ἠξίωσεν τῆς τε κατὰ πάντων ἀπολαύειν ἀρχῆς οἷα κηδεστῇ καὶ συμβασιλεῖ παρεῖχεν τὴν ἐξουσίαν , οὐκ ἔλαττον μέρος τῶν ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίους ἐθνῶν διέπειν αὐτῷ καὶ διοικεῖν κεχαρισμένος . For Constantine, like an all-gracious emperor, giving him evidences of true favor, did not refuse alliance with him, and did not refuse him the illustrious marriage with his sister, but honored him by making him a partaker of the ancestral nobility and the ancient imperial blood, and granted him the right of sharing in the dominion1 over all as a brother-in-law and co-regent, conferring upon him the government and administration of no less a portion of the Roman provinces than he himself possessed.
1This perhaps refers to the treaty of December 314, when a new partition of the Empire was made, and five of the European provinces passed frrom Licinius to Constantine.
8-7 δ’ ἔμπαλιν τούτοις τἀναντία διεπράττετο , παντοίας ὁσημέραι κατὰ τοῦ κρείττονος μηχανὰς ἐπιτεχνώμενος πάντας τε ἐπινοῶν ἐπιβουλῆς τρόπους , ὡς ἂν κακοῖς τὸν εὐεργέτην ἀμείψοιτο . But Licinius, on the contrary, pursued a course directly opposite to this; forming daily all kinds of plots against his superior, and devising all sorts of mischief, that he might repay his benefactor with evils.
8-8 τὰ μὲν οὖν πρῶτα πειρώμενος τὴν συσκευὴν ἐπικρύπτειν , φίλος εἶναι προσεποιεῖτο , δόλῳ τε καὶ ἀπάτῃ πλειστάκις ἐπιθέμενος ῥᾷστα ἂν τυχεῖν τοῦ προσδοκωμένου ἤλπισεν· At first he attempted to conceal his preparations, and pretended to be a friend, and practiced frequently fraud and deceit, in the hope that he might easily accomplish the desired end.
8-9 τῷ δὲ ἄρα Θεὸς ἦν φίλος κηδεμών τε καὶ φύλαξ , ὃς αὐτῷ τὰς ἐν ἀπορρήτῳ καὶ σκότει μηχανωμένας ἐπιβουλὰς εἰς φῶς ἄγων διήλεγχεν . But God was the friend, protector, and guardian of Constantine, and bringing the plots which had been formed in secrecy and darkness to the light, he foiled them.
8-10 τοσοῦτον ἀρετῆς τὸ μέγα τῆς θεοσεβείας ὅπλον πρὸς ἄμυναν μὲν ἐχθρῶν , οἰκείας δὲ φυλακὴν σωτηρίας ἰσχύει· So much virtue does the great armor of piety possess for the warding off of enemies and for the preservation of our own safety.
8-11 δὴ πεφραγμένος θεοφιλέστατος ἡμῶν βασιλεὺς τὰς τοῦ δυσωνύμου πολυπλόκους ἐπιβουλὰς διεδίδρασκεν . Protected by this, our most divinely favored emperor escaped the multitudinous plots of the abominable man.
8-12 δὲ τὴν λαθραίαν συσκευὴν ὡς οὐδαμῶς ἑώρα κατὰ γνώμην αὐτῷ χωροῦσαν , τοῦ Θεοῦ πάντα δόλον τε καὶ ῥᾳδιουργίαν τῷ θεοφιλεῖ βασιλεῖ κατάφωρα ποιοῦντος , οὐκέθ’ οἷός τε ὢν ἐπικρύπτεσθαι , προφανῆ πόλεμον αἴρεται . But when Licinius perceived that his secret preparations by no means progressed according to his mind — for God revealed every plot and wickedness to the God-favored emperor — being no longer able to conceal himself, he undertook an open war.
8-13 ὁμόσε δῆτα Κωνσταντίνῳ πολεμεῖν διαγνούς , ἤδη καὶ κατὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ τῶν ὅλων , ὃν ἠπίστατο σέβειν αὐτόν , παρατάττεσθαι ὡρμᾶτο , κἄπειτα τοὺς ὑπ’ αὐτῷ θεοσεβεῖς , μηδὲν μηδ’ ὅλως πώποτε τὴν ἀρχὴν αὐτοῦ λυπηρὸν διαθεμένους , ἠρέμα τέως καὶ ἡσυχῇ πολιορκεῖν ἐπεβάλλετο . καὶ τοῦτ’ ἔπραττεν , δεινῶς ἀβλεπτεῖν ὑπὸ τῆς ἐμφύτου κακίας ἠναγκασμένος . And at the same time that he determined to wage war with Constantine, he also proceeded to join battle with the God of the universe, whom he knew that Constantine worshipped, and began, gently for a time and quietly, to attack his pious subjects, who had never done his government any harm. This he did under the compulsion of his innate wickedness which drove him into terrible blindness.
8-14 οὔτ’ οὖν τὴν μνήμην τῶν πρὸ αὐτοῦ Χριστιανοὺς ἐκδιωξάντων πρὸ ὀφθαλμῶν ἔθετο οὐδ’ ὧν αὐτὸς ὀλετὴρ καὶ τιμωρὸς δι’ ἃς μετῆλθον ἀσεβείας κατέστη· He did not therefore keep before his eyes the memory of those who had persecuted the Christians before him, nor of those whose destroyer and executioner he had been appointed, on account of the impieties which they had committed.
8-15 ἀλλὰ γὰρ τοῦ σώφρονος ἐκτραπεὶς λογισμοῦ , διαρρήδην δὲ μανεὶς τὰς φρένας , τὸν Θεὸν αὐτὸν οἷα δὴ Κωνσταντίνου βοηθὸν ἀντὶ τοῦ βοηθουμένου πολεμεῖν ἐγνώκει . But departing from sound reason, being seized, in a word, with insanity, he determined to war against God himself as the ally of Constantine, instead of against the one who was assisted by him.
8-16 Καὶ πρῶτα μὲν τῆς οἰκίαις τῆς αὐτοῦ πάντα Χριστιανὸν ἀπελαύνει , ἔρημον αὐτὸς αὑτὸν δείλαιος τῆς τούτων καθιστὰς ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν εὐχῆς , ἣν ὑπὲρ ἁπάντων αὐτοῖς ποιεῖσθαι πάτριον μάθημα τυγχάνει· And in the first place, he drove from his house every Christian, thus depriving himself, wretched man, of the prayers which they offered to God in his behalf, which they are accustomed, according to the teaching of their fathers, to offer for all men.
8-17 εἶτα δὲ τοὺς κατὰ πόλιν στρατιώτας ἐκκρίνεσθαι καὶ ἀποβάλλεσθαι τοῦ τῆς τιμῆς ἀξιώματος , εἰ μὴ τοῖς δαίμοσιν θύειν αἱροῖντο , παρακελεύεται . Then he commanded that the soldiers in the cities should be cashiered and stripped of their rank unless they chose to sacrifice to the demons.
8-18 Καὶ ἔτι γε ταῦτα ἦν μικρά , τῇ τῶν μειζόνων συγκρινόμενα παραθέσει . And yet these were small matters when compared with the greater things that followed.
8-19 τί δεῖ τῶν καθ’ ἕκαστα καὶ κατὰ μέρος τῷ θεομισεῖ πεπραγμένων μνημονεύειν ὅπως τε νόμους ἀνόμους παρανομώτατος ἐξεῦρεν ; Why is it necessary to relate minutely and in detail all that was done by the hater of God, and to recount how this most lawless man invented unlawful laws?
8-20 τούς γέ τοι ἐν ταῖς εἱρκταῖς ταλαιπωρουμένους ἐνομοθέτει μηδένα μεταδόσει τροφῆς φιλανθρωπεύεσθαι μηδ’ ἐλεεῖν τοὺς ἐν δεσμοῖς λιμῷ διαφθειρομένους μηδ’ ἁπλῶς ἀγαθὸν εἶναι μηδένα μηδ’ ἀγαθόν τι πράττειν τοὺς καὶ πρὸς αὐτῆς τῆς φύσεως ἐπὶ τὸ συμπαθὲς τῶν πέλας ἑλκομένους . He passed an ordinance that no one should exercise humanity toward the sufferers in prison by giving them food, and that none should show mercy to those that were perishing of hunger in bonds; that no one should in any way be kind, or do any good act, even though moved by Nature herself to sympathize with one’s neighbours.
8-21 καὶ ἦν γε νόμων οὗτος ἄντικρυς ἀναιδὴς καὶ ἀπηνέστατος , πᾶσαν ἥμερον ὑπερεξάγων φύσιν , And this was indeed an openly shameful and most cruel law, calculated to expel all natural kindliness.
8-22 ἐφ’ καὶ τιμωρία προσέκειτο τοὺς ἐλεοῦντας τὰ ἴσα πάσχειν τοῖς ἐλεουμένοις δεσμοῖς τε καὶ φυλακαῖς καθείργνυσθαι , τὴν ἴσην τοῖς καταπονουμένοις ὑπομένοντας τιμωρίαν , τοὺς τὰ φιλάνθρωπα διακονουμένους . And in addition to this it was also decreed, as a punishment, that those who showed compassion should suffer the same things with those whom they compassionated; and that those who kindly ministered to the suffering should be thrown into bonds and into prison, and should endure the same punishment with the sufferers.
8-23 τοιαῦται αἱ Λικιννίου διατάξεις . Such were the decrees of Licinius.
8-24 τί χρὴ τὰς περὶ γάμων καινοτομίας ἀπαριθμεῖσθαι τοὺς ἐπὶ τοῖς τὸν βίον μεταλλάττουσιν νεωτερισμοὺς αὐτοῦ , δι’ ὧν τοὺς παλαιοὺς Ῥωμαίων εὖ καὶ σοφῶς κειμένους νόμους περιγράψαι τολμήσας , βαρβάρους τινὰς καὶ ἀνημέρους ἀντεισῆγεν , νόμους ἀνόμους Why should we recount his innovations concerning marriage or concerning the dying — innovations by which he ventured to annul the ancient laws of the Romans which had been well and wisely formed, and to introduce certain barbarous and cruel laws, which were truly unlawful and lawless?
8-25 ὡς ἀληθῶς καὶ παρανόμους , ἐπισκήψεις τε μυρίας κατὰ τῶν ὑποχειρίων ἐθνῶν ἐπενόει χρυσοῦ τε καὶ ἀργύρου παντοίας εἰσπράξεις ἀναμετρήσεις τε γῆς καὶ τῶν κατ’ ἀγροὺς μηκέτ’ ὄντων ἀνθρώπων πρόπαλαι δὲ κατοιχομένων ἐπιζήμιον κέρδος , He invented, to the detriment of the provinces which were subject to him, innumerable prosecutions, and all sorts of methods of extorting gold and silver, new measurements of land and injurious exactions from men in the country, who were no longer living, but long since dead.
8-26 οἵους δ’ ἐφεῦρεν ἐπὶ τούτοις μισάνθρωπος κατὰ μηδὲν ἠδικηκότων ἐξορισμούς , οἵας εὐπατριδῶν καὶ ἀξιολόγων ἀνδρῶν ἀπαγωγάς , ὧν δὴ τὰς κουριδίας ἀποζευγνὺς γαμετὰς μιαροῖς τισιν οἰκέταις ἐφ’ ὕβρει πράξεως αἰσχρᾶς παρεδίδου , ὅσαις δὲ αὐτὸς ἐσχατόγηρως γυναιξὶν ὑπάνδροις παρθένοις τε κόραις ἐμπαροινῶν τὴν ἀκόλαστον τῆς αὐτοῦ ψυχῆς ἐπιθυμίαν ἐπλήρου—τί χρὴ ταῦτα μηκύνειν , τῆς τῶν ἐσχάτων αὐτοῦ πράξεων ὑπερβολῆς μικρὰ τὰ πρῶτα καὶ τὸ μηθὲν εἶναι διελεγχούσης ; Why is it necessary to speak at length of the banishments which, in addition to these things, this enemy of mankind inflicted upon those who had done no wrong, the expatriations of men of noble birth and high reputation whose young wives he snatched from them and consigned to certain baser fellows of his own, to be shamefully abused by them, and the many married women and virgins upon whom he gratified his passions, although he was in advanced age — why, I say, is it necessary to speak at length of these things, when the excessive wickedness of his last deeds makes the first appear small and of no account?
8-27 Τὸ γοῦν τέλος αὐτῷ τῆς μανίας ἐπὶ τοὺς ἐπισκόπους ἐχώρει , ἤδη τε τούτους , ὡς ἂν τοῦ ἐπὶ πάντων Θεοῦ θεράποντας , ἐναντίους ὑπάρχειν οἷς ἔδρα ἡγούμενος , For, finally, he reached such a pitch of madness that he attacked the bishops, supposing that they — as servants of the God over all — would be hostile to his measures.
8-28 οὔπω μὲν ἐκ τοῦ φανεροῦ διὰ τὸν ἀπὸ τοῦ κρείττονος φόβον , λάθρα δὲ αὖθις καὶ δολίως συνεσκευάζετο , ἀνῄρει τε τούτων δι’ ἐπιβουλῆς τῶν ἡγεμόνων τοὺς δοκιμωτάτους . He did not yet proceed against them openly, on account of his fear of his superior, but as before, secretly and craftily, employing the treachery of the governors for the destruction of the most distinguished of them.
8-29 καὶ τρόπος δὲ τοῦ κατ’ αὐτῶν φόνου ξένος τις ἦν καὶ οἷος οὐδεπώποτε ἠκούσθη . And the manner of their murder was strange, and such as had never before been heard of.
8-30 τὰ γοῦν ἀμφὶ τὴν Ἀμάσειαν καὶ τὰς λοιπὰς τοῦ Πόντου πόλεις κατεργασθέντα πᾶσαν ὑπερβολὴν ὠμότητος ὑπερηκόντισεν· The deeds which he performed at Amaseia and in the other cities of Pontus surpassed every excess of cruelty.
8-31 ἔνθα τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ αἳ μὲν ἐξ ὕψους εἰς ἔδαφος αὖθις κατερρίπτοντο , τὰς δὲ ἀπέκλειον , ὡς ἂν μὴ συνάγοιτό τις τῶν εἰωθότων μηδὲ τῷ Θεῷ τὰς ἐποφειλομένας ἀποδιδῷ λατρείας . Some of the churches of God were again razed to the ground, others were closed, so that none of those accustomed to frequent them could enter them and render the worship due to God.
8-32 συντελεῖσθαι γὰρ οὐχ ἡγεῖτο ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ τὰς εὐχάς , συνειδότι φαύλῳ τοῦτο λογιζόμενος , ἀλλ’ ὑπὲρ τοῦ θεοφιλοῦς βασιλέως πάντα πράττειν ἡμᾶς καὶ τὸν Θεὸν ἱλεοῦσθαι πέπειστο· For his evil conscience led him to suppose that prayers were not offered in his behalf; but he was persuaded that we did everything in the interest of the God-beloved emperor, and that we supplicated God for him.
8-33 ἔνθεν ὡρμᾶτο καθ’ ἡμῶν τὸν θυμὸν ἐπισκήπτειν . Therefore he hastened to turn his fury against us.
8-34 καὶ δῆτα τῶν ἡγεμόνων οἱ κόλακες , τὰ φίλα πράττειν τῷ δυσαγεῖ πεπεισμένοι , τῶν ἐπισκόπων τοὺς μὲν συνήθως ταῖς τῶν κακούργων ἀνδρῶν περιέβαλλον τιμωρίαις , ἀπήγοντό τε καὶ ἐκολάζοντο ἀπροφασίστως τοῖς μιαιφόνοις ὁμοίως οἱ μηδὲν ἠδικηκότες· And then those among the governors who wished to flatter him, perceiving that in doing such things they pleased the impious tyrant, made some of the bishops suffer the penalties customarily inflicted upon criminals, and led away and without any pretext punished like murderers those who had done no wrong.
8-35 ἤδη δέ τινες καινοτέραν ὑπέμενον τελευτήν , ξίφει τὸ σῶμα εἰς πολλὰ τμήματα κατακρεουργούμενοι καὶ μετὰ τὴν ἀπηνῆ ταύτην καὶ φρικτοτάτην θέαν τοῖς τῆς θαλάσσης βυθοῖς ἰχθύσιν εἰς βορὰν ῥιπτούμενοι . Some now endured a new form of death: having their bodies cut into many pieces with the sword, and after this savage and most horrible spectacle, being thrown into the depths of the sea as food for fishes.
8-36 φυγαὶ δὴ αὖθις ἐπὶ τούτοις τῶν θεοσεβῶν ἐγίνοντο ἀνδρῶν , καὶ πάλιν ἐπιστρέψας ἀγροὶ καὶ πάλιν ἐπιστρέψας ἐρημίαι νάπαι τε καὶ ὄρη τοὺς Χριστοῦ θεράποντας ὑπεδέχοντο . Thereupon the worshipers of God again fled, and fields and deserts, forests and mountains, again received the servants of Christ.
8-37 ἐπεὶ δὲ καὶ ταῦτα τοῦτον προυχώρει τῷ δυσσεβεῖ τὸν τρόπον , λοιπὸν καὶ τὸν κατὰ πάντων ἀνακινεῖν διωγμὸν ἐπὶ διάνοιαν ἐβάλλετο , And when the impious tyrant had thus met with success in these measures, he finally planned to renew the persecution against all.
8-38 ἐκράτει τε γνώμης καὶ οὐδὲν ἐμποδὼν ἦν αὐτῷ μὴ οὐχὶ ἐν ἔργῳ χωρεῖν , εἰ μὴ τάχιστα τὸ μέλλον ἔσεσθαι προλαβὼν τῶν οἰκείων ψυχῶν ὑπέρμαχος Θεὸς ὡς ἐν βαθεῖ σκότῳ καὶ νυκτὶ ζοφωδεστάτῃ φωστῆρα μέγαν ἀθρόως καὶ σωτῆρα τοῖς πᾶσιν ἐξέλαμψεν , τὸν αὐτοῦ θεράποντα Κωνσταντῖνον And he would have succeeded in his design, and there would have been nothing to hinder him in the work, had not God, the defender of the lives of his own people, most quickly anticipated that which was about to happen, and caused a great light to shine forth as in the midst of a dark and gloomy night, and raised up a deliverer for all, leading into those regions with a lofty arm, his servant, Constantine.

Chapter 9

9-1 ὑψηλῷ βραχίονι ἐπὶ τὰ τῇδε χειραγωγήσας . τούτῳ μὲν οὖν ἄνωθεν ἐξ οὐρανοῦ καρπὸν εὐσεβείας ἐπάξιον τὰ τρόπαια τῆς κατὰ τῶν ἀσεβῶν παρεῖχε νίκης , τὸν δ’ ἀλιτήριον αὐτοῖς συμβούλοις ἅπασιν καὶ φίλοις ὑπὸ τοῖς Κωνσταντίνου ποσὶν πρηνῆ κατέβαλεν . To him, therefore, God granted, from heaven above, the deserved fruit of piety, the trophies of victory over the impious, and he cast the guilty one with all his counselors and friends prostrate at the feet of Constantine.
9-2 Ὡς γὰρ εἰς ἔσχατα μανίας τὰ κατ’ αὐτὸν ἤλαυνεν , οὐκέτ’ ἀνεκτὸν εἶναι λογισάμενος βασιλεὺς τῷ Θεῷ φίλος τὸν σώφρονα συναγαγὼν λογισμὸν καὶ τὸν στερρὸν τοῦ δικαίου τρόπον φιλανθρωπίᾳ κερασάμενος , ἐπαμῦναι κρήνας τοῖς ὑπὸ τῷ τυράννῳ ταλαιπωρουμένοις , καὶ τό γε πλεῖστον ἀνθρώπων γένος , βραχεῖς λυμεῶνας ἐκποδὼν ποιησάμενος , ἀνασώσασθαι ὁρμᾶται . For when Licinius carried his madness to the last extreme, the emperor, the friend of God, thinking that he ought no longer to be tolerated, acting upon the basis of sound judgment, and mingling the firm principles of justice with humanity, gladly determined to come to the protection of those who were oppressed by the tyrant, and undertook, by putting a few destroyers out of the way, to save the greater part of the human race.
9-3 μόνῃ γὰρ αὐτῷ χρωμένῳ φιλανθρωπίᾳ τὸν πρὸ τούτου χρόνον καὶ τὸν οὐ συμπαθείας ἄξιον ἐλεοῦντι , τῷ μὲν οὐδὲν ἐγίνετο πλέον , τῆς κακίας οὐκ ἀπαλλαττομένῳ , αὔξοντι δὲ μᾶλλον τὴν κατὰ τῶν ὑποχειρίων ἐθνῶν λύτταν , τοῖς δὲ κακουμένοις οὔτις ἐλείπετο σωτηρίας ἐλπίς , ὑπὸ δεινῷ θηρὶ κατατυραννουμένοις . For when he had formerly exercised humanity alone and had shown mercy to him who was not worthy of sympathy, nothing was accomplished; for Licinius did not renounce his wickedness, but rather increased his fury against the peoples that were subject to him, and there was left to the afflicted no hope of salvation, oppressed as they were by a savage beast.
9-4 δι’ δὴ τῷ φιλαγάθῳ μίξας τὸ μισοπόνηρον τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἀρωγὸς πρόεισιν ἅμα παιδὶ Κρίσπῳ βασιλεῖ φιλανθρωποτάτῳ σωτήριον δεξιὰν ἅπασιν τοῖς ἀπολλυμένοις ἐκτείνας· Wherefore, the protector of the virtuous, mingling hatred for evil with love for good, went forth with his son Crispus, a most beneficent prince, and extended a saving right hand to all that were perishing.
9-5 εἶθ’ οἷα παμβασιλεῖ Θεῷ Θεοῦ τε παιδὶ σωτῆρι ἁπάντων ποδηγῷ καὶ συμμάχῳ χρώμενοι , πατὴρ ἅμα καὶ υἱὸς ἄμφω κύκλῳ διελόντες τὴν κατὰ τῶν θεομισῶν παράταξιν , ῥᾳδίαν τὴν νίκην ἀποφέρονται , τῶν κατὰ τὴν συμβολὴν πάντων ἐξευμαρισθέντων αὐτοῖς ὑπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ κατὰ γνώμην . Both of them, father and son, under the protection, as it were, of God, the universal King, with the Son of God, the Saviour of all, as their leader and ally, drew up their forces on all sides against the enemies of the Deity and won an easy victory;1 God having prospered them in the battle in all respects according to their wish.
1Licilnius was defeated first at Adreanople, July 3, and second, when he had fled to Byzantium and had been forced to cross the Straits, at Chrysopolis (Scutari) September 18 or 20, 324. Shortly after, Constantine had him put to death.
9-6 ἀθρόως δῆτα καὶ λόγου θᾶττον οἱ μὲν χθὲς καὶ πρὸ ἡμέρας θανάτου πνέοντες καὶ ἀπειλῆς οὐκέτ’ ἦσαν , οὐδὲ μέχρις ὀνόματος μνημονευόμενοι , γραφαί τε αὐτῶν καὶ τιμαὶ τὴν ἀξίαν αἰσχύνην ἀπελάμβανον , Thus, suddenly, and sooner than can be told, those who yesterday and the day before breathed death and threatening were no more, and not even their names were remembered, but their inscriptions and their honors suffered the merited disgrace.
9-7 καὶ τοῖς πάλαι δυσσεβέσιν τυράννοις ἐνεῖδεν αὐτοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς Λικίννιος , ταῦτα ὁμοίως καὶ αὐτὸς ἔπασχεν , ὅτι μηδ’ αὐτὸς ἐδέξατο παιδείαν μηδὲ ἐπὶ ταῖς τῶν πέλας ἐσωφρονίσθη μάστιξιν , τὴν ὁμοίαν δ’ ἐκείνοις τῆς ἀσεβείας μετελθὼν ὁδόν , ἐπὶ τὸν ἴσον αὐτοῖς ἐνδίκως περιηνέχθη κρημνόν . And the things which Licinius with his own eyes had seen come upon the former impious tyrants he himself likewise suffered, because he did not receive instruction nor learn wisdom from the chastisements of his neighbours, but followed the same path of impiety which they had trod, and was justly hurled over the same precipice. Thus he lay prostrate.
9-8 Ἀλλ’ οὗτος μὲν ταύτῃ πῃ βεβλημένος ἔκειτο· δ’ ἀρετῇ πάσῃ θεοσεβείας ἐκπρέπων μέγιστος νικητὴς Κωνσταντῖνος σὺν παιδὶ Κρίσπῳ , βασιλεῖ θεοφιλεστάτῳ καὶ τὰ πάντα τοῦ πατρὸς ὁμοίῳ , τὴν οἰκείαν ἑῴαν ἀπελάμβανον καὶ μίαν ἡνωμένην τὴν Ῥωμαίων κατὰ τὸ παλαιὸν παρεῖχον ἀρχήν , τὴν ἀπ’ ἀνίσχοντος ἡλίου πᾶσαν ἐν κύκλῳ κατὰ θάτερα τῆς οἰκουμένης ἄρκτον τε ὁμοῦ καὶ μεσημβρίαν εἰς ἔσχατα δυομένης ἡμέρας ὑπὸ τὴν αὐτῶν ἄγοντες εἰρήνην . But Constantine, the mightiest victor, adorned with every virtue of piety, together with his son Crispus, a most God-beloved prince, and in all respects like his father, recovered the East which belonged to them; and they formed one united Roman empire as of old, bringing under their peaceful sway the whole world from the rising of the sun to the opposite quarter, both north and south, even to the extremities of the declining day.
9-9 ἀφῄρητο δ’ οὖν ἐξ ἀνθρώπων πᾶν δέος τῶν πρὶν αὐτοὺς πιεζούντων , λαμπρὰς δ’ ἐτέλουν καὶ πανηγυρικὰς ἑορτῶν ἡμέρας , All fear therefore of those who had formerly afflicted them was taken away from men, and they celebrated splendid and festive days.
9-10 ἦν τε φωτὸς ἔμπλεα πάντα , καὶ μειδιῶσι προσώποις ὄμμασί τε φαιδροῖς οἱ πρὶν κατηφεῖς ἀλλήλους ἔβλεπον , Everything was filled with light, and those who before were downcast beheld each other with smiling faces and beaming eyes.
9-11 χορεῖαι δ’ αὐτοῖς καὶ ὕμνοι κατὰ πόλεις ὁμοῦ καὶ ἀγροὺς τὸν παμβασιλέα Θεὸν πρώτιστα πάντων , ὅτι δὴ τοῦτ’ ἐδιδάχθησαν , κἄπειτα τὸν εὐσεβῆ βασιλέα παισὶν ἅμα θεοφιλέσιν ἐγέραιρον , With dances and hymns, in city and country, they glorified first of all God the universal King, because they had been thus taught, and then the pious emperor with his God-beloved children.
9-12 κακῶν δ’ ἀμνηστία παλαιῶν ἦν καὶ λήθη πάσης δυσσεβείας , παρόντων δ’ ἀγαθῶν ἀπόλαυσις καὶ προσέτι μελλόντων προσδοκίαι . There was oblivion of past evils and forgetfulness of every deed of impiety; there was enjoyment of present benefits and expectation of those yet to come.
9-13 ἥπλωντο δ’ οὖν κατὰ πάντα τόπον τοῦ νικητοῦ βασιλέως φιλανθρωπίας ἔμπλεοι διατάξεις νόμοι τε μεγαλοδωρεᾶς καὶ ἀληθοῦς εὐσεβείας γνωρίσματα περιέχοντες . Edicts full of clemency and laws containing tokens of benevolence and true piety were issued in every place by the victorious emperor.
9-14 οὕτω δῆτα πάσης τυραννίδος ἐκκαθαρθείσης , μόνοις ἐφυλάττετο τὰ τῆς προσηκούσης βασιλείας βέβαιά τε καὶ ἀνεπίφθονα Κωνσταντίνῳ καὶ τοῖς αὐτοῦ παισίν , Thus after all tyranny had been purged away, the empire which belonged to them was preserved firm and without a rival for Constantine and his sons alone.
9-15 οἳ τῶν πρόσθεν ἁπάντων ἀποσμήξαντες τοῦ βίου τὴν θεοστυγίαν , τῶν ἐκ Θεοῦ πρυτανευθέντων ἀγαθῶν αὐτοῖς ᾐσθημένως τὸ φιλάρετον καὶ θεοφιλὲς τό τε πρὸς τὸ θεῖον εὐσεβὲς καὶ εὐχάριστον δι’ ὧν εἰς προῦπτον ἅπασιν ἀνθρώποις παρέσχον ὁρᾶν , ἐπεδείξαντο And having obliterated the godlessness of their predecessors, recognizing the benefits conferred upon them by God, they exhibited their love of virtue and their love of God, and their piety and gratitude to the Deity, by the deeds which they performed in the sight of all men.
The end, with God’s help, of the Tenth Book of the Church History of Eusebius Pamphili.