Chapter Xxxviii
eS)
CONSTANTINE.
[IV. 38.
IN Se Si Se ee ee twentieth, while Constans, the third, whose name expresses the firmness and stability of his character, was advanced to the same dignity at the thirtieth anniversary of his father's reign.'
Having thus reared a threefold offspring, a Trinity,? as it were, of pious sons, and having received them severally at each decennial period to a participation in his imperial authority, he judged the festival of his Tricennalia to be a fit
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
How the Market-town of Gaza was made a City for its Frofession of Christianity, and received the Name of Constantia.
For in fact the place now called Constantia, in the province of Palestine, having embraced the saving religion, was distinguished both by the favor of God, and by special honor from the emperor, being now for the first time raised to the rank of a city, and receiving the more honored name of his pious sister in exchange for its former appellation. occasion for thanksgiving to the Sovereign Lord of all, at the same time believing that the dedication of the church which his zealous magnificence had erected at Jerusalem might advantageously be performed.
CHAPTER XLI.
CHAPTER XXXIX.
That in the meantime he ordered a Council to That a Place in Phenicia also was made a City, be convened at Tyre, because of Controversies raised in Egypt. and in Other Cities Idolatry was abolished, and Churches built.
MEANWHILE that spirit of envy which is the enemy of all good, like a dark cloud intercepting the sun's brightest rays, endeavored to mar the joy of this festivity, by again raising contentions to disturb the tranquillity of the Egyptian churches.
Our divinely favgred emperor, however, once more convened a synod composed of many bishops, and set them as it were in armed array, like the host of God, against this malignant spirit, having commanded their presence from the whole of Egypt and Libya, from Asia, and from Europe, in order, first, to decide the questions in dispute, and afterwards to perform the dedication of the sacred edifice above mentioned.
He enjoined them, by the way, to adjust their differences at the capital city of Phoenicia, reminding them that they had no right, while harboring feelings of mutual animosity, to engage in the service of God, since his law expressly forbids those who are at variance to offer their gift until they have first become reconciled and mutually disposed to peace.
Such were the salutary precepts which the emperor continually kept vividly before his own mind, and in accordance with which he admonished them to undertake their present duties in a spirit of perfect unanimity and concord, in a letter to the following purport.
A SIMILAR change was effected in several other cities; for instance, in that town of Pheenicia which received its name from that of the emperor, and the inhabitants of which committed their innumerable idols to the flames, and adopted in their stead the principles of the saving faith.
Numbers, too, in the other provinces, both in the cities and the country, became willing inquirers after the saving knowledge of God ; destroyed as worthless things the images of every kind which they had heretofore held most sacred ; voluntarily demolished the lofty temples and shrines which contained them ; and, renouncing their former sentiments, or rather errors, commenced and completed entirely new churches.
But since it is not so much my province to give a circumstantial detail of the actions of this pious prince, as it is theirs who have been privileged to enjoy his society at all times, I shall content myself with briefly recording such facts as have come to my own personal knowledge, before I proceed to notice the last days of his life.
CHAPTER XL.
That having conferred the Dignity of Cesars on his Three Sons at the Three Decennial Periods of his Reign, he dedicated the Church at Jerusalem.
CHAPTER XLII.
Constantine's Letter to the Council at Tyre.
By this time the thirtieth year of his reign was completed.
In the course of this period, his three sons had been admitted at different times as his colleagues in the empire.
The first, Constantinus, who bore his father's name, obtained this distinction about the tenth year of his reign.
Constantius, the second son, so called from his grandfather, was proclaimed Cesar about the "VicTOR CONSTANTINUS, Maximus AuGustus, to the holy Council at Tyre.
1 These are general dates; "' about" the tenth, etc., would have been more exact.
Compare Prolegomena, under Life.
? [['puddos Ady.
Well may the old English Translator remark on this, '* An odd expression."
We may go further, and denounce it as an instance of the senseless and profane adulation to which our author, perhaps in the spirit of his age, seems to have been but too much inclined. — Bag. ]
IV. 44.]
THE LIFE OF CONSTANTINE.
55!
'"'Surely it would best consist with and best become the prosperity of these our times, that the Catholic Church should be undivided, and the servants of Christ be at this present moment clear from all reproach.
Since, however, there are those who, carried away by a baleful and furious spirit of contention (for I will not charge them with intentionally leading a life unworthy of their profession), are endeavoring to create that general confusion which, in my judgment, is the most pernicious of all evils ; I exhort you, forward as you already are, to meet together and form a synod without delay: to defend those who need protection ; to administer remedies to your brethren who are in peril; to recall the divided members to unity of judgment; to rectify errors while opportunity is yet allowed : that thus you may restore to so many provinces that due measure of concord which, strange and sad anomaly ! the arrogance of a few individuals has destroyed.
And I believed that all are alike persuaded that this course is at the same time pleasing to Almighty God (as well as the highest object of my own desires), and will bring no small honor to yourselves, should you be successful in restoring peace.
Delay not, then, but hasten with redoubled zeal to terminate the present dissensions in a manner becoming the occasion, by assembling together in that spirit of true sincerity and faith which the Saviour whom we serve especially demands from us, I may almost say with an audible voice, on all occasions.
No proof of pious zeal on my part shall be wanting.
Already have I done all to which my attention was directed by your letters.
I have sent to those bishops whose presence you desired, that they may share your counsels.
I have despatched Dionysius, a man of consular rank, who will both remind those prelates of their duty who are bound to attend the Council with you, and will himself be there to superintend the proceedings, but especially to maintain good order.
Meantime should any one, though I deem it most improbable, venture on this occasion to violate my command, and refuse his attendance, a messenger shall be despatched forthwith to banish that person in virtue of an imperial edict, and to teach him that it does not become him to resist an emperor's decrees when issued in defense of truth.
For the rest,
CHAPTER XLIII.
Bishops from all the Provinces attended the Dedication of the Church at Jerusalem.
No sooner had these injunctions been carried into effect, than another emissary arrived with despatches from the emperor, and an urgent admonition to the, Council to hasten their journey to Jerusalem without delay.'
Accordingly they all took their departure from the province of Phoenicia, and proceeded to their destination, availing themselves of the public means of transport.
Thus Jerusalem became the gathering point for distinguished prelates from every province, and the whole city was thronged by a vast assemblage of the servants of God.
The Macedonians had sent the bishop of their metropolis;? the Pannonians and Meesians the fairest of God's youthful flock among them.
A holy prelate from Persia too was there, deeply versed in the sacred oracles; while Bithynian and Thracian bishops graced the Council with their presence; nor were the most illustrious from Cilicia wanting, nor the chief of the Cappadocians, distinguished above all for learning and eloquence.
In short, the whole of Syria and Mesopotamia, Phcenicia and Arabia, Palestine, Egypt, and Libya, with the dwellers in the Thebaid, all contributed to swell the mighty concourse of God's ministers, followed as they were by vast numbers from every province.
They were attended by an imperial escort,' and officers of trust had also been sent from the palace itself, with instructions to heighten the splendor of the festival at the emperor's expense.
CHAPTER XLIV.
Of their Reception by the Notary Marianus ; the Distribution of Money to the Poor; and Offerings to the Church.
Tue director and chief of these officers was 2 most useful servant of the emperor, a man eminent for faith and piety, and thoroughly acquainted with the Divine word, who had been honorably conspicuous by his profession of godliness during the time of the tyrants' power, and therefore was deservedly entrusted with the arrangement of the present proceedings.
Accordingly, in faithful obedience to the emperor's commands, he received the assembly with courteous hospitality, and entertained them with it will be for your Holinesses, unbiased either by enmity or favor, but consistently with ecclesiastical and apostolic order, to devise a fitting remedy whether it be for positive offenses or for unpremeditated errors; in order that you may at once free the Church from all reproach, relieve my anxiety, and, by restoring
1 Compare on the Synod of Tyre (held 335 A.D.), Hefele, Hzst. of Councils, 2 (1876), 17-26.
1 Compare Hefele, 2. 26-7.
[Alexander, bishop of Thessalonica.
By the Pannonian and Meesian bishops are meant Ursacius and Valens, leaders of the.
Arian ow by the Bithynian and Thracian, Theogonius of Nicza, and Theodorus of Perinthus (Valesivs). — Bag.] the blessings of peace to those who are now divided, procure the highest honor for yourselves.
God preserve you, beloved brethren !""* 3 "' The emperor showed himself very attentive to them." — Mo/z.
CONSTANTINE.
[IV. 44. feasts and banquets on a scale of great splendor. and silver, and precious stones, I have described to the best of my ability, and dedicated to the emperor in a separate treatise, which on a fitting opportunity I shall append to this present work.
I shall add to it also that oration on his Tricennalia which shortly afterwards, having traveled to the city which bears his name, I delivered in the emperor's own presence.'
This was the second opportunity afforded me of glorifying the Supreme God in the imperial palace itself: and on this occasion my pious hearer evinced the greatest joy, as he afterwards testified, when he entertained the bishops then present, and loaded them with distinctions of every kind.
' He also distributed lavish supplies of money and clothing among the naked and destitute, and the multitudes of both sexes who suffered from want of food and the common necessaries of life.
Finally, he enriched and beautified the church itself throughout with offerings of imperial magnificence, and thus fully accomplished the service he had been commissioned to perform.
CHAPTER XLV.
Various Discourses by the Assembled Bishops ; also by Eusebius, the Writer of this History.
MEANTIME the festival derived additional luster both from the prayers and discourses of the ministers of God, some of whom extolled the pious emperor's willing devotion to the Saviour of mankind, and dilated on the magnificence of the edifice which he had raised to his memory.
Others afforded, as it were, an intellectual feast to the ears of all present, by public disquisitions on the sacred doctrines of our religion.
Others interpreted passages of holy Scripture, and unfolded their hidden meaning; while such as were unequal to these efforts presented a bloodless sacrifice and mystical service to God in the prayers which they offered for general peace, for the Church of God, for the emperor himself as the instrumental cause of so many blessings, and for his pious sons.
I myself too, unworthy as I was of such a privilege, pronounced various public orations in honor of this solemnity, wherein d partly explained by a written description the
CHAPTER XLVII.
That the Council at Nicea was held in the Twentieth, the Dedication of the Church at Jerusalem in the Thirtieth, Year of Constanuine's Reign.
TuIs second synod the emperor convened at Jerusalem, being the greatest of which we have any knowledge, next to the first which he had summoned at the famous Bithynian city.
That indeed was a triumphal assembly, held in the twentieth year of his reign, an occasion of thanksgiving for victory over his enemies in the very city which bears the name of victory! The present meeting added luster to the thirtieth anniversary, during which the emperor dedicated the church at the sepulchre of our Saviour, as a peace-offering to God, the giver of all good. details of the imperial edifice, and partly endeavored to gather from the prophetic visions apt illustrations of the symbols it displayed.
Thus joyfully was the festival of dedication celebrated in the thirtieth year of our emperor's
CHAPTER XLVIII.
That Constantine was displeased with one who praised him excessively.
' reign.
AND now that all these ceremonies were completed, and the divine qualities of the emperor's character continued to be the theme of universal praise, one of God's ministers presumed so far as in his own presence to pronounce him blessed, as having been counted worthy to hold absolute and universal empire in this life, and as being destined to share the empire of the Son of God in the world to come.
These words, however, Constantine heard with indignation, and forbade the speaker to hold such language, exhorting him rather to pray earnestly on his behalf, that whether in this life or in that which is to come, he might be found: worthy to be a servant of God
CHAPTER XLVI.
That Eusebius afterwards delivered his Description of the Church of the Saviour, and a Tricennial Oration before Constantine himself.
THE structure of the church of our Saviour, the form of his sacred cave, the splendor of the work itself, and the numberless offerings in gold,
1 [Eusebius gives us no example of his application of Scripture an this case. is commentator Valesius refers to Zeph. iii. 8
{LXX), Ata rodro bmdmevdv me, Aéyer Kvptos, cis nuépay avaoTdtews "ov eis mapTvptoy, and tells us that Cyril of Jerusalem, in this fourth Homily, explains this passage in Zephaniah of the Marpare or Basilica, which Constantine built on the spot of the ord's resurrection.
Let any one examine the whole passage (alJowing for the mistake of one Hebrew word for another by the X), and say, if this be a fair specimen, what we are to think of the Fathers of the fourth century as interpreters of Scripture.
See also Bk. 3, ch. 33, note.
— Bag.] "'' Interpreted pertinent Passages from the prophets."
— Sty, and Mo/z.
1 The Oration is appended to this work.
1 Nicea, 1 Yet Eusebius himself in his Oration uses language almost as obnoxious, and records that Constantine was much pleased with it.
The difference was probably one of gracefulness,
V5 25
THE LIFE OF CONSTANTINE.
with true religious principles, being himself their guide to the knowledge of sacred things, and also appointing men of approved piety to be their instructors.
At the same time he assigned them the most accomplished teachers of secular learning, by some of whom they were taught the arts of war, while they were trained by others in political, and by others again in legal science.
To each moreover was granted a truly royal retinue, consisting of infantry, spearmen, and body guards, with every other kind of military force ; commanded respectively by captains, tribunes, and generals,' of whose warlike skill and devotion to his sons the emperor had had previous experience.
CHAPTER XLIX.
Marriage of his Son Constantius Caesar.
On the completion of the thirtieth year of his reign he solemnized the marriage of his second son, having concluded that of his first-born long before.
This was an occasion of great joy and festivity, the emperor himself attending on his son at the ceremony, and entertaining the guests of both sexes, the men and women in distinct and separate companies, with sumptuous hospitality.
Rich presents likewise were liberally distributed among the cities and people.
CHAPTER L.
CHAPTER LII.
Embassy and Presents from the Indians.
That after they had reached Man's Estate he was their Guide in Piety.
Apsout this time ambassadors from the Indians, who inhabit the distant regions of the East, arAs long as the Cesars were of tender years, they were aided by suitable advisers in the management of public affairs; but on their arrival at the age of manhood their father's instructions alone sufficed.
When present he proposed to them his own example, and admonished them to follow his pious course: in their absence he furnished them by letter with rules of conduct suited to their imperial station, the first and greatest of which was an exhortation to value the knowledge and worship of the Sovereign
Lord of all more than wealth, nay, more than empire itself.
At length he permitted them to direct the public administration of the empire without control, making it his first request that they would care for the interests of the Church of God, and boldly profess themselves disciples of Christ.
Thus trained, and excited to obedience not so much by precept as by their own voluntary desire for virtue, his sons more than fulfilled the admonitions of their father, devoting their earnest attention to the service of God, and observing the ordinances of the Church even in the palace itself, with all the members of their households.
For their father's forethought had provided that all the attendants of his sons should be Christians.
And not only so, but the military officers of highest rank, and those who had the control of public business, were professors of the same faith: for the emperor placed confidence in the fidelity of men devoted to the service of God, as in a strong and sure defense.
When our thrice blessed prince had completed these arrangements, and thus secured order and tranquillity throughout the empire, God, the dispenser of all blessings, judged it to be the fitting rived with presents consisting of many varieties of brilliant precious stones, and animals differing in species from those known to us.
These offerings they presented to the emperor, thus allowing that his sovereignty extended even to the Indian Ocean, and that the princes of their country, who rendered homage to him both by paintings and statues, acknowledged his imperial and paramount authority.
Thus the Eastern Indians now submitted to his sway, as the Britons of the Western Ocean had done at the commencement of his reign.
CHAPTER LI.
That Constantine divided the Empire between his Three Sons, whom he had instructed in Politics and Religion.
Havine thus established his power in the opposite extremities of the world, he divided the whole extent of his dominions, as though he were allotting a patrimonial inheritance to the dearest objects of his regard, among his three sons.
To the eldest he assigned his grandfather's portion; to the second, the empire of the East; to the third, the countries which lie between these two divisions.'
And being desirous of furnishing his children with an inheritance truly valuable and salutary to their souls, he had been careful to imbue them es 1 His second son by Fausta.
Crispus seems now to be counted out.
This was not the famous Eusebia who was his second wife, — 1 ['* The younger Constantine was pprcnieh to hold his court in Gaul; and his brother Constantius exchanged that department, the ancient patrimony of their father, for the more opulent, but less martial, countries of the East.
Italy, the Western Illyricum, and Africa, were accustomed to revere Constans, the third of his sons, as the representative of the great Constantine " (Gibbon, Decline and Fall, ch. 18). — Bag.] Compare Prolegomena, under Life, 2 Centurions, generals, tribunes.
1 The expression is over strong.
Constantius, e.g., was not baptized until just before his death.