History Of The Decline And Fall Of The
Edward Gibbon, Esq.
With notes by the Rev. H. H. Milman
Vol. 3
1782 (Written), 1845 (Revised)
Chapter XXVII: Civil Wars, Reign Of Theodosius.
Part I.
Death Of
Gratian. - Ruin Of Arianism. - St. Ambrose. - First
Civil War, Against Maximus. - Character, Administration,
And
Penance Of Theodosius. - Death Of Valentinian II. -
Second Civil
War, Against Eugenius. - Death Of Theodosius.
The fame of
Gratian, before he had accomplished the
twentieth year of his age, was equal to that of the most
celebrated princes.
His gentle and amiable disposition endeared
him to his private friends, the graceful affability of
his
manners engaged the affection of the people: the men of
letters,
who enjoyed the liberality, acknowledged the taste and
eloquence,
of their sovereign; his valor and dexterity in arms were
equally
applauded by the soldiers; and the clergy considered the
humble
piety of Gratian as the first and most useful of his
virtues.
The victory of
invasion; and the grateful provinces of the East ascribed
the
merits of Theodosius to the author of his greatness, and
of the
public safety.
Gratian survived those memorable events only four
or five years; but he survived his reputation; and,
before he
fell a victim to rebellion, he had lost, in a great
measure, the
respect and confidence of the Roman world.
The remarkable
alteration of his character or conduct may
not be imputed to the arts of flattery, which had
besieged the
son of Valentinian from his infancy; nor to the
headstrong
passions which the that gentle youth appears to have
escaped. A
more attentive view of the life of Gratian may perhaps
suggest
the true cause of the disappointment of the public
hopes. His
apparent virtues, instead of being the hardy productions
of
experience and adversity, were the premature and
artificial
fruits of a royal education. The anxious tenderness of his
father was continually employed to bestow on him those
advantages, which he might perhaps esteem the more
highly, as he
himself had been deprived of them; and the most skilful
masters
of every science, and of every art, had labored to form
the mind
and body of the young prince. ^1 The knowledge which they
painfully communicated was displayed with ostentation,
and
celebrated with lavish praise. His soft and tractable
disposition received the fair impression of their judicious
precepts, and the absence of passion might easily be
mistaken for
the strength of reason.
His preceptors gradually rose to the
rank and consequence of ministers of state: ^2 and, as
they
wisely dissembled their secret authority, he seemed to
act with
firmness, with propriety, and with judgment, on the most
important occasions of his life and reign. But the influence of
this elaborate instruction did not penetrate beyond the
surface;
and the skilful preceptors, who so accurately guided the
steps of
their royal pupil, could not infuse into his feeble and
indolent
character the vigorous and independent principle of
action which
renders the laborious pursuit of glory essentially
necessary to
the happiness, and almost to the existence, of the
hero. As soon
as time and accident had removed those faithful
counsellors from
the throne, the emperor of the West insensibly descended
to the
level of his natural genius; abandoned the reins of
government to
the ambitious hands which were stretched forwards to grasp
them;
and amused his leisure with the most frivolous
gratifications. A
public sale of favor and injustice was instituted, both
in the
court and in the provinces, by the worthless delegates of
his
power, whose merit it was made sacrilege to question. ^3
The
conscience of the credulous prince was directed by saints
and
bishops; ^4 who procured an Imperial edict to punish, as
a
capital offence, the violation, the neglect, or even the
ignorance, of the divine law. ^5 Among the various arts
which had
exercised the youth of Gratian, he had applied himself,
with
singular inclination and success, to manage the horse, to
draw
the bow, and to dart the javelin; and these
qualifications, which
might be useful to a soldier, were prostituted to the
viler
purposes of hunting.
Large parks were enclosed for the Imperial
pleasures, and plentifully stocked with every species of
wild
beasts; and Gratian neglected the duties, and even the
dignity,
of his rank, to consume whole days in the vain display of
his
dexterity and boldness in the chase. The pride and wish
of the
Roman emperor to excel in an art, in which he might be
surpassed
by the meanest of his slaves, reminded the numerous
spectators of
the examples of Nero and Commodus, but the chaste and
temperate
Gratian was a stranger to their monstrous vices; and his
hands
were stained only with the blood of animals. ^6 The
behavior of
Gratian, which degraded his character in the eyes of
mankind,
could not have disturbed the security of his reign, if
the army
had not been provoked to resent their peculiar
injuries. As long
as the young emperor was guided by the instructions of
his
masters, he professed himself the friend and pupil of the
soldiers; many of his hours were spent in the familiar
conversation of the camp; and the health, the comforts,
the
rewards, the honors, of his faithful troops, appeared to
be the
objects of his attentive concern. But, after Gratian more freely
indulged his prevailing taste for hunting and shooting,
he
naturally connected himself with the most dexterous
ministers of
his favorite amusement.
A body of the Alani was received into
the military and domestic service of the palace; and the
admirable skill, which they were accustomed to display in
the
unbounded plains of
theatre, in the parks and enclosures of
the talents and customs of these favorite guards, to whom
alone
he intrusted the defence of his person; and, as if he
meant to
insult the public opinion, he frequently showed himself
to the
soldiers and people, with the dress and arms, the long
bow, the
sounding quiver, and the fur garments of a Scythian
warrior. The
unworthy spectacle of a Roman prince, who had renounced
the dress
and manners of his country, filled the minds of the legions
with
grief and indignation. ^7 Even the Germans, so strong and
formidable in the armies of the empire, affected to
disdain the
strange and horrid appearance of the savages of the
North, who,
in the space of a few years, had wandered from the banks
of the
echoed through the camps and garrisons of the West; and
as the
mild indolence of Gratian neglected to extinguish the
first
symptoms of discontent, the want of love and respect was
not
supplied by the influence of fear. But the subversion of an
established government is always a work of some real, and
of much
apparent, difficulty; and the throne of Gratian was
protected by
the sanctions of custom, law, religion, and the nice
balance of
the civil and military powers, which had been established
by the
policy of
what cause the revolt of
commonly the parent of disorder; the seeds of rebellion
happened
to fall on a soil which was supposed to be more fruitful
than any
other in tyrants and usurpers; ^8 the legions of that
sequestered
island had been long famous for a spirit of presumption
and
arrogance; ^9 and the name of Maximus was proclaimed, by
the
tumultuary, but unanimous voice, both of the soldiers and
of the
provincials. The
emperor, or the rebel, - for this title was not
yet ascertained by fortune, - was a native of
countryman, the fellow-soldier, and the rival of
Theodosius whose
elevation he had not seen without some emotions of envy
and
resentment: the events of his life had long since fixed
him in
the marriage, which he is said to have contracted with
the
daughter of a wealthy lord of Caernarvonshire. ^10 But
this
provincial rank might justly be considered as a state of
exile
and obscurity; and if Maximus had obtained any civil or
military
office, he was not invested with the authority either of
governor
or general. ^11 His abilities, and even his integrity,
are
acknowledged by the partial writers of the age; and the
merit
must indeed have been conspicuous that could extort such
a
confession in favor of the vanquished enemy of
Theodosius. The
discontent of Maximus might incline him to censure the
conduct of
his sovereign, and to encourage, perhaps, without any
views of
ambition, the murmurs of the troops. But in the midst of the
tumult, he artfully, or modestly, refused to ascend the
throne;
and some credit appears to have been given to his own
positive
declaration, that he was compelled to accept the
dangerous
present of the Imperial purple. ^12
[Footnote 1: Valentinian was less attentive to the
religion of
his son; since he intrusted the education of Gratian to
Ausonius,
a professed Pagan. (Mem. de l'Academie des Inscriptions,
tom. xv.
p. 125 - 138. The
poetical fame of Ausonius condemns the taste
of his age.]
[Footnote 2: Ausonius was successively promoted to the
Praetorian
praefecture of
was at length invested with the consulship, (A.D. 379.)
He
expressed his gratitude in a servile and insipid piece of
flattery, (Actio Gratiarum, p. 699 - 736,) which has
survived
more worthy productions.]
[Footnote 3: Disputare de principali judicio non oportet.
Sacrilegii enim instar est dubitare, an is dignus sit,
quem
elegerit imperator.
Codex Justinian, l. ix. tit. xxix. leg. 3.
This convenient law was revived and promulgated, after
the death
of Gratian, by the feeble court of Milan.]
[Footnote 4: Ambrose composed, for his instruction, a
theological
treatise on the faith of the Trinity: and Tillemont,
(Hist. des
Empereurs, tom. v. p. 158, 169,) ascribes to the
archbishop the
merit of Gratian's intolerant laws.]
[Footnote 5: Qui divinae legis sanctitatem nesciendo
omittunt,
aut negligende violant, et offendunt, sacrilegium
committunt.
Codex Justinian. l. ix. tit. xxix. leg. 1. Theodosius indeed may
claim his share in the merit of this comprehensive law.]
[Footnote 6: Ammianus (xxxi. 10) and the younger Victor
acknowledge the virtues of Gratian; and accuse, or rather
lament,
his degenerate taste. The odious parallel of Commodus is
saved by
"licet incruentus;" and perhaps Philostorgius
(l. x. c. 10, and
Godefroy, p. 41) had guarded with some similar reserve,
the
comparison of Nero.]
[Footnote 7: Zosimus (l. iv. p. 247) and the younger
Victor
ascribe the revolution to the favor of the Alani, and the
discontent of the Roman troops Dum exercitum negligeret,
et
paucos ex Alanis, quos ingenti auro ad sa transtulerat,
anteferret veteri ac Romano militi.]
[Footnote 8: Britannia fertilis provincia tyrannorum, is
a
memorable expression, used by Jerom in the Pelagian
controversy,
and variously tortured in the disputes of our national
antiquaries. The
revolutions of the last age appeared to justify
the image of the sublime Bossuet, "sette ile, plus
orageuse que
les mers qui l'environment."]
[Footnote 9: Zosimus says of the British soldiers.]
[Footnote 10: Helena, the daughter of Eudda. Her chapel may
still be seen at Caer-segont, now Caer-narvon. (Carte's Hist. of
prudent reader may not perhaps be satisfied with such
Welsh
evidence.]
[Footnote 11:
governor at
followed, as usual, by his blind progeny. Pacatus and Zosimus
had taken some pains to prevent this error, or fable; and
I shall
protect myself by their decisive testimonies. Regali
habitu
exulem suum, illi exules orbis induerunt, (in Panegyr.
Vet. xii.
23,) and the Greek historian still less equivocally,
(Maximus)
(l. iv. p. 248.)]
[Footnote 12: Sulpicius Severus, Dialog. ii. 7. Orosius, l. vii.
c. 34. p. 556.
They both acknowledge (Sulpicius had been his
subject) his innocence and merit. It is singular enough, that
Maximus should be less favorably treated by Zosimus, the
partial
adversary of his rival.]
But there was
danger likewise in refusing the empire; and
from the moment that Maximus had violated his allegiance
to his
lawful sovereign, he could not hope to reign, or even to
live, if
he confined his moderate ambition within the narrow
limits of
Gratian; the youth of the island crowded to his standard,
and he
invaded
remembered, as the emigration of a considerable part of
the
British nation. ^13 The emperor, in his peaceful
residence of
he idly wasted on lions and bears, might have been
employed more
honorably against the rebels. But his feeble efforts announced
his degenerate spirit and desperate situation; and
deprived him
of the resources, which he still might have found, in the
support
of his subjects and allies. The armies of
opposing the march of Maximus, received him with joyful
and loyal
acclamations; and the shame of the desertion was
transferred from
the people to the prince.
The troops, whose station more
immediately attached them to the service of the palace,
abandoned
the standard of Gratian the first time that it was
displayed in
the neighborhood of
cities along the road, where he hoped to find refuge, or
at least
a passage, he was taught, by cruel experience, that every
gate is
shut against the unfortunate. Yet he might still have reached,
in safety, the dominions of his brother; and soon have
returned
with the forces of
himself to be fatally deceived by the perfidious governor
of the
Lyonnese province. Gratian was amused by protestations of
doubtful fidelity, and the hopes of a support, which
could not be
effectual; till the arrival of Andragathius, the general
of the
cavalry of Maximus, put an end to his suspense. That resolute
officer executed, without remorse, the orders or the
intention of
the usurper.
Gratian, as he rose from supper, was delivered into
the hands of the assassin: and his body was denied to the
pious
and pressing entreaties of his brother Valentinian. ^14
The death
of the emperor was followed by that of his powerful
general
Mellobaudes, the king of the Franks; who maintained, to
the last
moment of his life, the ambiguous reputation, which is
the just
recompense of obscure and subtle policy. ^15 These
executions
might be necessary to the public safety: but the
successful
usurper, whose power was acknowledged by all the
provinces of the
West, had the merit, and the satisfaction, of boasting,
that,
except those who had perished by the chance of war, his
triumph
was not stained by the blood of the Romans. ^16
[Footnote 13: Archbishop Usher (Antiquat. Britan. Eccles.
p. 107,
108) has diligently collected the legends of the island,
and the
continent. The
whole emigration consisted of 30,000 soldiers,
and 100,000 plebeians, who settled in Bretagne. Their destined
brides, St. Ursula with 11,000 noble, and 60,000
plebeian,
virgins, mistook their way; landed at Cologne, and were
all most
cruelly murdered by the Huns. But the plebeian sisters have been
defrauded of their equal honors; and what is still
harder, John
Trithemius presumes to mention the children of these
British
virgins.]
[Footnote 14: Zosimus (l. iv. p. 248, 249) has
transported the
death of Gratian from Lugdunum in Gaul (Lyons) to
Singidunum in
Moesia. Some hints
may be extracted from the Chronicles; some
lies may be detected in Sozomen (l. vii. c. 13) and
Socrates, (l.
v. c. 11.) Ambrose is our most authentic evidence, (tom.
i.
Enarrat. in Psalm lxi. p. 961, tom ii. epist. xxiv. p.
888 &c.,
and de Obitu Valentinian Consolat. Ner. 28, p. 1182.)]
[Footnote 15: Pacatus (xii. 28) celebrates his fidelity;
while
his treachery is marked in Prosper's Chronicle, as the
cause of
the ruin of Gratian. Ambrose, who has occasion to
exculpate
himself, only condemns the death of Vallio, a faithful
servant of
Gratian, (tom. ii. epist. xxiv. p. 891, edit. Benedict.)
Note: Le Beau
contests the reading in the chronicle of
Prosper upon which this charge rests. Le Beau, iv. 232. - M.
Note: According to
Pacatus, the Count Vallio, who commanded the
army, was carried to Chalons to be burnt alive; but
Maximus,
dreading the imputation of cruelty, caused him to be
secretly
strangled by his Bretons.
Macedonius also, master of the
offices, suffered the death which he merited. Le Beau, iv. 244.
- M.]
[Footnote 16: He protested, nullum ex adversariis nisi in
acissie
occubu. Sulp. Jeverus in Vit. B. Martin, c. 23. The orator
Theodosius bestows reluctant, and therefore weighty,
praise on
his clemency. Si
cui ille, pro ceteris sceleribus suis, minus
crudelis fuisse videtur, (Panegyr. Vet. xii. 28.)]
The events of
this revolution had passed in such rapid
succession, that it would have been impossible for
Theodosius to
march to the relief of his benefactor, before he received
the
intelligence of his defeat and death. During the season of
sincere grief, or ostentatious mourning, the Eastern
emperor was
interrupted by the arrival of the principal chamberlain
of
Maximus; and the choice of a venerable old man, for an
office
which was usually exercised by eunuchs, announced to the
court of
Constantinople the gravity and temperance of the British
usurper.
The ambassador condescended to justify, or excuse, the
conduct of
his master; and to protest, in specious language, that
the murder
of Gratian had been perpetrated, without his knowledge or
consent, by the precipitate zeal of the soldiers. But he
proceeded, in a firm and equal tone, to offer Theodosius
the
alternative of peace, or war. The speech of the ambassador
concluded with a spirited declaration, that although
Maximus, as
a Roman, and as the father of his people, would choose
rather to
employ his forces in the common defence of the republic,
he was
armed and prepared, if his friendship should be rejected,
to
dispute, in a field of battle, the empire of the
world. An
immediate and peremptory answer was required; but it was
extremely difficult for Theodosius to satisfy, on this
important
occasion, either the feelings of his own mind, or the
expectations of the public. The imperious voice of honor and
gratitude called aloud for revenge. From the liberality of
Gratian, he had received the Imperial diadem; his
patience would
encourage the odious suspicion, that he was more deeply
sensible
of former injuries, than of recent obligations; and if he
accepted the friendship, he must seem to share the guilt,
of the
assassin. Even the
principles of justice, and the interest of
society, would receive a fatal blow from the impunity of
Maximus;
and the example of successful usurpation would tend to
dissolve
the artificial fabric of government, and once more to
replunge
the empire in the crimes and calamities of the preceding
age.
But, as the sentiments of gratitude and honor should
invariably
regulate the conduct of an individual, they may be
overbalanced
in the mind of a sovereign, by the sense of superior
duties; and
the maxims both of justice and humanity must permit the
escape of
an atrocious criminal, if an innocent people would be
involved in
the consequences of his punishment. The assassin of Gratian had
usurped, but he actually possessed, the most warlike
provinces of
the empire: the East was exhausted by the misfortunes,
and even
by the success, of the Gothic war; and it was seriously
to be
apprehended, that, after the vital strength of the
republic had
been wasted in a doubtful and destructive contest, the
feeble
conqueror would remain an easy prey to the Barbarians of
the
North. These
weighty considerations engaged Theodosius to
dissemble his resentment, and to accept the alliance of
the
tyrant. But he
stipulated, that Maximus should content himself
with the possession of the countries beyond the
Alps. The
brother of Gratian was confirmed and secured in the
sovereignty
of Italy, Africa, and the Western Illyricum; and some
honorable
conditions were inserted in the treaty, to protect the
memory,
and the laws, of the deceased emperor. ^17 According to
the
custom of the age, the images of the three Imperial
colleagues
were exhibited to the veneration of the people; nor
should it be
lightly supposed, that, in the moment of a solemn
reconciliation,
Theodosius secretly cherished the intention of perfidy
and
revenge. ^18
[Footnote 17: Ambrose mentions the laws of Gratian, quas
non
abrogavit hostia (tom. ii epist. xvii. p. 827.)]
[Footnote 18: Zosimus, l. iv. p. 251, 252. We may disclaim his
odious suspicions; but we cannot reject the treaty of
peace which
the friends of Theodosius have absolutely forgotten, or
slightly
mentioned.]
The contempt
of Gratian for the Roman soldiers had exposed
him to the fatal effects of their resentment. His profound
veneration for the Christian clergy was rewarded by the
applause
and gratitude of a powerful order, which has claimed, in
every
age, the privilege of dispensing honors, both on earth
and in
heaven. ^19 The orthodox bishops bewailed his death, and
their
own irreparable loss; but they were soon comforted by the
discovery, that Gratian had committed the sceptre of the
East to
the hands of a prince, whose humble faith and fervent
zeal, were
supported by the spirit and abilities of a more vigorous
character. Among
the benefactors of the church, the fame of
Constantine has been rivalled by the glory of
Theodosius. If
Constantine had the advantage of erecting the standard of
the
cross, the emulation of his successor assumed the merit
of
subduing the Arian heresy, and of abolishing the worship
of idols
in the Roman world. Theodosius was the first of the
emperors
baptized in the true faith of the Trinity. Although he was born
of a Christian family, the maxims, or at least the
practice, of
the age, encouraged him to delay the ceremony of his
initiation;
till he was admonished of the danger of delay, by the
serious
illness which threatened his life, towards the end of the
first
year of his reign.
Before he again took the field against the
Goths, he received the sacrament of baptism ^20 from
Acholius,
the orthodox bishop of Thessalonica: ^21 and, as the
emperor
ascended from the holy font, still glowing with the warm
feelings
of regeneration, he dictated a solemn edict, which
proclaimed his
own faith, and prescribed the religion of his
subjects. "It is
our pleasure (such is the Imperial style) that all the
nations,
which are governed by our clemency and moderation, should
steadfastly adhere to the religion which was taught by
St. Peter
to the Romans; which faithful tradition has preserved;
and which
is now professed by the pontiff Damasus, and by Peter,
bishop of
Alexandria, a man of apostolic holiness. According to the
discipline of the apostles, and the doctrine of the
gospel, let
us believe the sole deity of the Father, the Son, and the
Holy
Ghost; under an equal majesty, and a pious Trinity. We authorize
the followers of this doctrine to assume the title of
Catholic
Christians; and as we judge, that all others are
extravagant
madmen, we brand them with the infamous name of Heretics;
and
declare that their conventicles shall no longer usurp the
respectable appellation of churches. Besides the
condemnation of
divine justice, they must expect to suffer the severe
penalties,
which our authority, guided by heavenly wisdom, shall
think
proper to inflict upon them." ^22 The faith of a
soldier is
commonly the fruit of instruction, rather than of
inquiry; but as
the emperor always fixed his eyes on the visible
landmarks of
orthodoxy, which he had so prudently constituted, his
religious
opinions were never affected by the specious texts, the
subtle
arguments, and the ambiguous creeds of the Arian
doctors. Once
indeed he expressed a faint inclination to converse with
the
eloquent and learned Eunomius, who lived in retirement at
a small
distance from Constantinople. But the dangerous interview was
prevented by the prayers of the empress Flaccilla, who
trembled
for the salvation of her husband; and the mind of
Theodosius was
confirmed by a theological argument, adapted to the
rudest
capacity. He had
lately bestowed on his eldest son, Arcadius,
the name and honors of Augustus, and the two princes were
seated
on a stately throne to receive the homage of their
subjects. A
bishop, Amphilochius of Iconium, approached the throne,
and after
saluting, with due reverence, the person of his
sovereign, he
accosted the royal youth with the same familiar
tenderness which
he might have used towards a plebeian child. Provoked by this
insolent behavior, the monarch gave orders, that the
rustic
priest should be instantly driven from his presence. But while
the guards were forcing him to the door, the dexterous
polemic
had time to execute his design, by exclaiming, with a
loud voice,
"Such is the treatment, O emperor! which the King of heaven has
prepared for those impious men, who affect to worship the
Father,
but refuse to acknowledge the equal majesty of his divine
Son."
Theodosius immediately embraced the bishop of Iconium,
and never
forgot the important lesson, which he had received from
this
dramatic parable. ^23
[Footnote 19: Their oracle, the archbishop of Milan,
assigns to
his pupil Gratian, a high and respectable place in
heaven, (tom.
ii. de Obit. Val. Consol p. 1193.)]
[Footnote 20: For the baptism of Theodosius, see Sozomen,
(l.
vii. c. 4,) Socrates, (l. v. c. 6,) and Tillemont, (Hist.
des
Empereurs, tom. v. p. 728.)]
[Footnote 21: Ascolius, or Acholius, was honored by the
friendship, and the praises, of Ambrose; who styles him
murus
fidei atque sanctitatis, (tom. ii. epist. xv. p. 820;)
and
afterwards celebrates his speed and diligence in running
to
Constantinople, Italy, &c., (epist. xvi. p. 822.) a
virtue which
does not appertain either to a wall, or a bishop.]
[Footnote 22: Codex Theodos. l. xvi. tit. i. leg. 2, with
Godefroy's Commentary, tom. vi. p. 5 - 9. Such an edict deserved
the warmest praises of Baronius, auream sanctionem,
edictum pium
et salutare. - Sic itua ad astra.]
[Footnote 23: Sozomen, l. vii. c. 6. Theodoret, l. v. c. 16.
Tillemont is displeased (Mem. Eccles. tom. vi. p. 627,
628) with
the terms of "rustic bishop," "obscure
city." Yet I must take
leave to think, that both Amphilochius and Iconium were
objects
of inconsiderable magnitude in the Roman empire.]
Chapter XXVII: Civil Wars, Reign Of Theodosius.
Part II.
Constantinople
was the principal seat and fortress of
Arianism; and, in a long interval of forty years, ^24 the
faith
of the princes and prelates, who reigned in the capital
of the
East, was rejected in the purer schools of Rome and
Alexandria.
The archiepiscopal throne of Macedonius, which had been
polluted
with so much Christian blood, was successively filled by
Eudoxus
and Damophilus.
Their diocese enjoyed a free importation of vice
and error from every province of the empire; the eager
pursuit of
religious controversy afforded a new occupation to the
busy
idleness of the metropolis; and we may credit the
assertion of an
intelligent observer, who describes, with some
pleasantry, the
effects of their loquacious zeal. "This city,"
says he, "is full
of mechanics and slaves, who are all of them profound
theologians; and preach in the shops, and in the
streets. If you
desire a man to change a piece of silver, he informs you,
wherein
the Son differs from the Father; if you ask the price of
a loaf,
you are told by way of reply, that the Son is inferior to
the
Father; and if you inquire, whether the bath is ready,
the answer
is, that the Son was made out of nothing." ^25 The
heretics, of
various denominations, subsisted in peace under the
protection of
the Arians of Constantinople; who endeavored to secure
the
attachment of those obscure sectaries, while they abused,
with
unrelenting severity, the victory which they had obtained
over
the followers of the council of Nice. During the partial reigns
of Constantius and Valens, the feeble remnant of the
Homoousians
was deprived of the public and private exercise of their
religion; and it has been observed, in pathetic language,
that
the scattered flock was left without a shepherd to wander
on the
mountains, or to be devoured by rapacious wolves. ^26
But, as
their zeal, instead of being subdued, derived strength
and vigor
from oppression, they seized the first moments of
imperfect
freedom, which they had acquired by the death of Valens,
to form
themselves into a regular congregation, under the conduct
of an
episcopal pastor.
Two natives of Cappadocia, Basil, and Gregory
Nazianzen, ^27 were distinguished above all their
contemporaries,
^28 by the rare union of profane eloquence and of
orthodox piety.
These orators, who might sometimes be compared, by
themselves,
and by the public, to the most celebrated of the ancient
Greeks,
were united by the ties of the strictest friendship. They had
cultivated, with equal ardor, the same liberal studies in
the
schools of Athens; they had retired, with equal devotion,
to the
same solitude in the deserts of Pontus; and every spark
of
emulation, or envy, appeared to be totally extinguished
in the
holy and ingenuous breasts of Gregory and Basil. But the
exaltation of Basil, from a private life to the
archiepiscopal
throne of Caesarea, discovered to the world, and perhaps
to
himself, the pride of his character; and the first favor
which he
condescended to bestow on his friend, was received, and
perhaps
was intended, as a cruel insult. ^29 Instead of employing
the
superior talents of Gregory in some useful and
conspicuous
station, the haughty prelate selected, among the fifty
bishoprics
of his extensive province, the wretched village of
Sasima, ^30
without water, without verdure, without society, situate
at the
junction of three highways, and frequented only by the
incessant
passage of rude and clamorous wagoners. Gregory submitted with
reluctance to this humiliating exile; he was ordained
bishop of
Sasima; but he solemnly protests, that he never
consummated his
spiritual marriage with this disgusting bride. He afterwards
consented to undertake the government of his native
church of
Nazianzus, ^31 of which his father had been bishop above
five-and-forty years.
But as he was still conscious that he
deserved another audience, and another theatre, he
accepted, with
no unworthy ambition, the honorable invitation, which was
addressed to him from the orthodox party of
Constantinople. On
his arrival in the capital, Gregory was entertained in
the house
of a pious and charitable kinsman; the most spacious room
was
consecrated to the uses of religious worship; and the
name of
Anastasia was chosen to express the resurrection of the
Nicene
faith. This
private conventicle was afterwards converted into a
magnificent church; and the credulity of the succeeding
age was
prepared to believe the miracles and visions, which
attested the
presence, or at least the protection, of the Mother of
God. ^32
The pulpit of the Anastasia was the scene of the labors
and
triumphs of Gregory Nazianzen; and, in the space of two
years, he
experienced all the spiritual adventures which constitute
the
prosperous or adverse fortunes of a missionary. ^33 The
Arians,
who were provoked by the boldness of his enterprise,
represented
his doctrine, as if he had preached three distinct and
equal
Deities; and the devout populace was excited to suppress,
by
violence and tumult, the irregular assemblies of the
Athanasian
heretics. From the
cathedral of St. Sophia there issued a motley
crowd "of common beggars, who had forfeited their
claim to pity;
of monks, who had the appearance of goats or satyrs; and
of
women, more terrible than so many Jezebels." The
doors of the
Anastasia were broke open; much mischief was perpetrated,
or
attempted, with sticks, stones, and firebrands; and as a
man lost
his life in the affray, Gregory, who was summoned the
next
morning before the magistrate, had the satisfaction of
supposing,
that he publicly confessed the name of Christ. After he was
delivered from the fear and danger of a foreign enemy,
his infant
church was disgraced and distracted by intestine faction.
A
stranger who assumed the name of Maximus, ^34 and the
cloak of a
Cynic philosopher, insinuated himself into the confidence
of
Gregory; deceived and abused his favorable opinion; and
forming a
secret connection with some bishops of Egypt, attempted,
by a
clandestine ordination, to supplant his patron in the
episcopal
seat of Constantinople.
These mortifications might sometimes
tempt the Cappadocian missionary to regret his obscure
solitude.
But his fatigues were rewarded by the daily increase of
his fame
and his congregation; and he enjoyed the pleasure of
observing,
that the greater part of his numerous audience retired
from his
sermons satisfied with the eloquence of the preacher, ^35
or
dissatisfied with the manifold imperfections of their
faith and
practice. ^36
[Footnote 24: Sozomen, l. vii. c. v. Socrates, l. v. c.
7.
Marcellin. in Chron.
The account of forty years must be dated
from the election or intrusion of Eusebius, who wisely
exchanged
the bishopric of Nicomedia for the throne of
Constantinople.]
[Footnote 25: See Jortin's Remarks on Ecclesiastical
History,
vol. iv. p. 71.
The thirty-third Oration of Gregory Nazianzen
affords indeed some similar ideas, even some still more
ridiculous; but I have not yet found the words of this
remarkable
passage, which I allege on the faith of a correct and
liberal
scholar.]
[Footnote 26: See the thirty-second Oration of Gregory
Nazianzen,
and the account of his own life, which he has composed in
1800
iambics. Yet every
physician is prone to exaggerate the
inveterate nature of the disease which he has cured.]
[Footnote 27: I confess myself deeply indebted to the two
lives
of Gregory Nazianzen, composed, with very different
views, by
Tillemont (Mem. Eccles. tom. ix. p. 305 - 560, 692 - 731)
and Le
Clerc, (Bibliotheque Universelle, tom. xviii. p. 1 -
128.)]
[Footnote 28: Unless Gregory Nazianzen mistook thirty
years in
his own age, he was born, as well as his friend Basil,
about the
year 329. The
preposterous chronology of Suidas has been
graciously received, because it removes the scandal of
Gregory's
father, a saint likewise, begetting children after he
became a
bishop, (Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. tom. ix. p. 693 - 697.)]
[Footnote 29: Gregory's Poem on his own Life contains
some
beautiful lines, (tom. ii. p. 8,) which burst from the
heart, and
speak the pangs of injured and lost friendship.
In the Midsummer Night's Dream, Helena addresses the same
pathetic complaint to her friend Hermia: -
Is all the
counsel that we two have shared.
The sister's
vows, &c.
Shakspeare had never read the poems of Gregory Nazianzen;
he was
ignorant of the Greek language; but his mother tongue,
the
language of Nature, is the same in Cappadocia and in
Britain.]
[Footnote 30: This unfavorable portrait of Sasimae is
drawn by
Gregory Nazianzen, (tom. ii. de Vita sua, p. 7, 8.) Its
precise
situation, forty- nine miles from Archelais, and
thirty-two from
Tyana, is fixed in the Itinerary of Antoninus, (p. 144,
edit.
Wesseling.)]
[Footnote 31: The name of Nazianzus has been immortalized
by
Gregory; but his native town, under the Greek or Roman
title of
Diocaesarea, (Tillemont, Mem. Eccles. tom. ix. p. 692,)
is
mentioned by Pliny, (vi. 3,) Ptolemy, and Hierocles,
(Itinerar.
Wesseling, p. 709).
It appears to have been situate on the edge
of Isauria.]
[Footnote 32: See Ducange, Constant. Christiana, l. iv.
p. 141,
142. The Sozomen
(l. vii. c. 5) is interpreted to mean the
Virgin Mary.]
[Footnote 33: Tillemont (Mem. Eccles. tom. ix. p. 432,
&c.)
diligently collects, enlarges, and explains, the
oratorical and
poetical hints of Gregory himself.]
[Footnote 34: He pronounced an oration (tom. i. Orat.
xxiii. p.
409) in his praise; but after their quarrel, the name of
Maximus
was changed into that of Heron, (see Jerom, tom. i. in
Catalog.
Script. Eccles. p. 301).
I touch slightly on these obscure and
personal squabbles.]
[Footnote 35: Under the modest emblem of a dream, Gregory
(tom.
ii. Carmen ix. p. 78) describes his own success with some
human
complacency. Yet
it should seem, from his familiar conversation
with his auditor St. Jerom, (tom. i. Epist. ad Nepotian.
p. 14,)
that the preacher understood the true value of popular applause.]
[Footnote 36: Lachrymae auditorum laudes tuae sint, is
the lively
and judicious advice of St. Jerom.]
The Catholics
of Constantinople were animated with joyful
confidence by the baptism and edict of Theodosius; and
they
impatiently waited the effects of his gracious
promise. Their
hopes were speedily accomplished; and the emperor, as
soon as he
had finished the operations of the campaign, made his
public
entry into the capital at the head of a victorious army.
The next
day after his arrival, he summoned Damophilus to his
presence,
and offered that Arian prelate the hard alternative of
subscribing the Nicene creed, or of instantly resigning,
to the
orthodox believers, the use and possession of the
episcopal
palace, the cathedral of St. Sophia, and all the churches
of
Constantinople.
The zeal of Damophilus, which in a Catholic
saint would have been justly applauded, embraced, without
hesitation, a life of poverty and exile, ^37 and his
removal was
immediately followed by the purification of the Imperial
city.
The Arians might complain, with some appearance of
justice, that
an inconsiderable congregation of sectaries should usurp
the
hundred churches, which they were insufficient to fill;
whilst
the far greater part of the people was cruelly excluded
from
every place of religious worship. Theodosius was still
inexorable; but as the angels who protected the Catholic
cause
were only visible to the eyes of faith, he prudently
reenforced
those heavenly legions with the more effectual aid of
temporal
and carnal weapons; and the church of St. Sophia was
occupied by
a large body of the Imperial guards. If the mind of
Gregory was
susceptible of pride, he must have felt a very lively
satisfaction, when the emperor conducted him through the
streets
in solemn triumph; and, with his own hand, respectfully
placed
him on the archiepiscopal throne of Constantinople. But the
saint (who had not subdued the imperfections of human
virtue) was
deeply affected by the mortifying consideration, that his
entrance into the fold was that of a wolf, rather than of
a
shepherd; that the glittering arms which surrounded his
person,
were necessary for his safety; and that he alone was the
object
of the imprecations of a great party, whom, as men and
citizens,
it was impossible for him to despise. He beheld the innumerable
multitude of either sex, and of every age, who crowded
the
streets, the windows, and the roofs of the houses; he
heard the
tumultuous voice of rage, grief, astonishment, and
despair; and
Gregory fairly confesses, that on the memorable day of
his
installation, the capital of the East wore the appearance
of a
city taken by storm, and in the hands of a Barbarian
conqueror.
^38 About six weeks afterwards, Theodosius declared his
resolution of expelling from all the churches of his
dominions
the bishops and their clergy who should obstinately
refuse to
believe, or at least to profess, the doctrine of the
council of
Nice. His
lieutenant, Sapor, was armed with the ample powers of
a general law, a special commission, and a military
force; ^39
and this ecclesiastical revolution was conducted with so
much
discretion and vigor, that the religion of the emperor
was
established, without tumult or bloodshed, in all the
provinces of
the East. The writings of the Arians, if they had been
permitted
to exist, ^40 would perhaps contain the lamentable story
of the
persecution, which afflicted the church under the reign
of the
impious Theodosius; and the sufferings of their holy
confessors
might claim the pity of the disinterested reader. Yet
there is
reason to imagine, that the violence of zeal and revenge
was, in
some measure, eluded by the want of resistance; and that,
in
their adversity, the Arians displayed much less firmness
than had
been exerted by the orthodox party under the reigns of
Constantius and Valens.
The moral character and conduct of the
hostile sects appear to have been governed by the same
common
principles of nature and religion: but a very material
circumstance may be discovered, which tended to
distinguish the
degrees of their theological faith. Both parties, in the
schools, as well as in the temples, acknowledged and
worshipped
the divine majesty of Christ; and, as we are always prone
to
impute our own sentiments and passions to the Deity, it
would be
deemed more prudent and respectful to exaggerate, than to
circumscribe, the adorable perfections of the Son of
God. The
disciple of Athanasius exulted in the proud confidence,
that he
had entitled himself to the divine favor; while the
follower of
Arius must have been tormented by the secret
apprehension, that
he was guilty, perhaps, of an unpardonable offence, by
the scanty
praise, and parsimonious honors, which he bestowed on the
Judge
of the World. The
opinions of Arianism might satisfy a cold and
speculative mind: but the doctrine of the Nicene creed,
most
powerfully recommended by the merits of faith and
devotion, was
much better adapted to become popular and successful in a
believing age.
[Footnote 37: Socrates (l. v. c. 7) and Sozomen (l. vii.
c. 5)
relate the evangelical words and actions of Damophilus
without a
word of approbation. He considered, says Socrates, that
it is
difficult to resist the powerful, but it was easy, and
would have
been profitable, to submit.]
[Footnote 38: See Gregory Nazianzen, tom. ii. de Vita
sua, p. 21,
22. For the sake
of posterity, the bishop of Constantinople
records a stupendous prodigy. In the month of November, it was a
cloudy morning, but the sun broke forth when the
procession
entered the church.]
[Footnote 39: Of the three ecclesiastical historians,
Theodoret
alone (l. v. c. 2) has mentioned this important
commission of
Sapor, which Tillemont (Hist. des Empereurs, tom. v. p.
728)
judiciously removes from the reign of Gratian to that of
Theodosius.]
[Footnote 40: I do not reckon Philostorgius, though he
mentions
(l. ix. c. 19) the explosion of Damophilus. The Eunomian
historian has been carefully strained through an orthodox
sieve.]
The hope, that
truth and wisdom would be found in the
assemblies of the orthodox clergy, induced the emperor to
convene, at Constantinople, a synod of one hundred and
fifty
bishops, who proceeded, without much difficulty or delay,
to
complete the theological system which had been
established in the
council of Nice.
The vehement disputes of the fourth century had
been chiefly employed on the nature of the Son of God;
and the
various opinions which were embraced, concerning the
Second, were
extended and transferred, by a natural analogy, to the
Third
person of the Trinity. ^41 Yet it was found, or it was
thought,
necessary, by the victorious adversaries of Arianism, to
explain
the ambiguous language of some respectable doctors; to
confirm
the faith of the Catholics; and to condemn an unpopular
and
inconsistent sect of Macedonians; who freely admitted
that the
Son was consubstantial to the Father, while they were
fearful of
seeming to acknowledge the existence of Three Gods. A final and
unanimous sentence was pronounced to ratify the equal
Deity of
the Holy Ghost: the mysterious doctrine has been received
by all
the nations, and all the churches of the Christian world;
and
their grateful reverence has assigned to the bishops of
Theodosius the second rank among the general councils.
^42 Their
knowledge of religious truth may have been preserved by
tradition, or it may have been communicated by
inspiration; but
the sober evidence of history will not allow much weight
to the
personal authority of the Fathers of Constantinople. In an age
when the ecclesiastics had scandalously degenerated from
the
model of apostolic purity, the most worthless and corrupt
were
always the most eager to frequent, and disturb, the
episcopal
assemblies. The
conflict and fermentation of so many opposite
interests and tempers inflamed the passions of the
bishops: and
their ruling passions were, the love of gold, and the
love of
dispute. Many of the same prelates who now applauded the
orthodox
piety of Theodosius, had repeatedly changed, with prudent
flexibility, their creeds and opinions; and in the
various
revolutions of the church and state, the religion of
their
sovereign was the rule of their obsequious faith. When the
emperor suspended his prevailing influence, the turbulent
synod
was blindly impelled by the absurd or selfish motives of
pride,
hatred, or resentment.
The death of Meletius, which happened at
the council of Constantinople, presented the most
favorable
opportunity of terminating the schism of Antioch, by
suffering
his aged rival, Paulinus, peaceably to end his days in
the
episcopal chair.
The faith and virtues of Paulinus were
unblemished. But
his cause was supported by the Western
churches; and the bishops of the synod resolved to
perpetuate the
mischiefs of discord, by the hasty ordination of a
perjured
candidate, ^43 rather than to betray the imagined dignity
of the
East, which had been illustrated by the birth and death
of the
Son of God. Such
unjust and disorderly proceedings forced the
gravest members of the assembly to dissent and to secede;
and the
clamorous majority which remained masters of the field of
battle,
could be compared only to wasps or magpies, to a flight
of
cranes, or to a flock of geese. ^44
[Footnote 41: Le Clerc has given a curious extract
(Bibliotheque
Universelle, tom. xviii. p. 91 - 105) of the theological
sermons
which Gregory Nazianzen pronounced at Constantinople
against the
Arians, Eunomians, Macedonians, &c. He tells the Macedonians,
who deified the Father and the Son without the Holy
Ghost, that
they might as well be styled Tritheists as
Ditheists. Gregory
himself was almost a Tritheist; and his monarchy of
heaven
resembles a well-regulated aristocracy.]
[Footnote 42: The first general council of Constantinople
now
triumphs in the Vatican; but the popes had long
hesitated, and
their hesitation perplexes, and almost staggers, the
humble
Tillemont, (Mem. Eccles. tom. ix. p. 499, 500.)]
[Footnote 43: Before the death of Meletius, six or eight
of his
most popular ecclesiastics, among whom was Flavian, had
abjured,
for the sake of peace, the bishopric of Antioch, (Sozomen,
l.
vii. c. 3, 11.
Socrates, l. v. c. v.) Tillemont thinks it his
duty to disbelieve the story; but he owns that there are
many
circumstances in the life of Flavian which seem
inconsistent with
the praises of Chrysostom, and the character of a saint,
(Mem.
Eccles. tom. x. p. 541.)]
[Footnote 44: Consult Gregory Nazianzen, de Vita sua,
tom. ii. p.
25 - 28. His general and particular opinion of the clergy
and
their assemblies may be seen in verse and prose, (tom. i.
Orat.
i. p. 33. Epist.
lv. p. 814, tom. ii. Carmen x. p. 81.) Such
passages are faintly marked by Tillemont, and fairly
produced by
Le Clerc.]
A suspicion
may possibly arise, that so unfavorable a
picture of ecclesiastical synods has been drawn by the
partial
hand of some obstinate heretic, or some malicious
infidel. But
the name of the sincere historian who has conveyed this
instructive lesson to the knowledge of posterity, must
silence
the impotent murmurs of superstition and bigotry. He was one of
the most pious and eloquent bishops of the age; a saint,
and a
doctor of the church; the scourge of Arianism, and the
pillar of
the orthodox faith; a distinguished member of the council
of
Constantinople, in which, after the death of Meletius, he
exercised the functions of president; in a word - Gregory
Nazianzen himself.
The harsh and ungenerous treatment which he
experienced, ^45 instead of derogating from the truth of
his
evidence, affords an additional proof of the spirit which
actuated the deliberations of the synod. Their unanimous
suffrage had confirmed the pretensions which the bishop
of
Constantinople derived from the choice of the people, and
the
approbation of the emperor. But Gregory soon became the victim
of malice and envy.
The bishops of the East, his strenuous
adherents, provoked by his moderation in the affairs of
Antioch,
abandoned him, without support, to the adverse faction of
the
Egyptians; who disputed the validity of his election, and
rigorously asserted the obsolete canon, that prohibited
the
licentious practice of episcopal translations. The pride, or the
humility, of Gregory prompted him to decline a contest
which
might have been imputed to ambition and avarice; and he
publicly
offered, not without some mixture of indignation, to
renounce the
government of a church which had been restored, and
almost
created, by his labors.
His resignation was accepted by the
synod, and by the emperor, with more readiness than he
seems to
have expected. At
the time when he might have hoped to enjoy the
fruits of his victory, his episcopal throne was filled by
the
senator Nectarius; and the new archbishop, accidentally
recommended by his easy temper and venerable aspect, was
obliged
to delay the ceremony of his consecration, till he had
previously
despatched the rites of his baptism. ^46 After this
remarkable
experience of the ingratitude of princes and prelates,
Gregory
retired once more to his obscure solitude of Cappadocia;
where he
employed the remainder of his life, about eight years, in
the
exercises of poetry and devotion. The title of Saint has
been
added to his name: but the tenderness of his heart, ^47
and the
elegance of his genius, reflect a more pleasing lustre on
the
memory of Gregory Nazianzen.
[Footnote 45: See Gregory, tom. ii. de Vita sua, p. 28 -
31. The
fourteenth, twenty-seventh, and thirty-second Orations
were
pronounced in the several stages of this business. The
peroration of the last, (tom. i. p. 528,) in which he
takes a
solemn leave of men and angels, the city and the emperor,
the
East and the West, &c., is pathetic, and almost
sublime.]
[Footnote 46: The whimsical ordination of Nectarius is
attested
by Sozomen, (l. vii. c. 8;) but Tillemont observes, (Mem.
Eccles.
tom. ix. p. 719,) Apres tout, ce narre de Sozomene est si
honteux, pour tous ceux qu'il y mele, et surtout pour
Theodose,
qu'il vaut mieux travailler a le detruire, qu'a le
soutenir; an
admirable canon of criticism!]
[Footnote 47: I can only be understood to mean, that such
was his
natural temper when it was not hardened, or inflamed, by
religious zeal.
From his retirement, he exhorts Nectarius to
prosecute the heretics of Constantinople.]
It was not
enough that Theodosius had suppressed the
insolent reign of Arianism, or that he had abundantly
revenged
the injuries which the Catholics sustained from the zeal
of
Constantius and Valens.
The orthodox emperor considered every
heretic as a rebel against the supreme powers of heaven
and of
earth; and each of those powers might exercise their
peculiar
jurisdiction over the soul and body of the guilty. The decrees
of the council of Constantinople had ascertained the true
standard of the faith; and the ecclesiastics, who
governed the
conscience of Theodosius, suggested the most effectual
methods of
persecution. In
the space of fifteen years, he promulgated at
least fifteen severe edicts against the heretics; ^48
more
especially against those who rejected the doctrine of the
Trinity; and to deprive them of every hope of escape, he
sternly
enacted, that if any laws or rescripts should be alleged in
their
favor, the judges should consider them as the illegal
productions
either of fraud or forgery. The penal statutes were directed
against the ministers, the assemblies, and the persons of
the
heretics; and the passions of the legislator were expressed
in
the language of declamation and invective. I. The
heretical
teachers, who usurped the sacred titles of Bishops, or
Presbyters, were not only excluded from the privileges
and
emoluments so liberally granted to the orthodox clergy,
but they
were exposed to the heavy penalties of exile and
confiscation, if
they presumed to preach the doctrine, or to practise the
rites,
of their accursed sects.
A fine of ten pounds of gold (above
four hundred pounds sterling) was imposed on every person
who
should dare to confer, or receive, or promote, an
heretical
ordination: and it was reasonably expected, that if the
race of
pastors could be extinguished, their helpless flocks
would be
compelled, by ignorance and hunger, to return within the
pale of
the Catholic church.
II. The rigorous prohibition of
conventicles was carefully extended to every possible
circumstance, in which the heretics could assemble with
the
intention of worshipping God and Christ according to the
dictates
of their conscience. Their religious meetings, whether
public or
secret, by day or by night, in cities or in the country,
were
equally proscribed by the edicts of Theodosius; and the
building,
or ground, which had been used for that illegal purpose,
was
forfeited to the Imperial domain. III.
It was supposed, that
the error of the heretics could proceed only from the
obstinate
temper of their minds; and that such a temper was a fit
object of
censure and punishment.
The anathemas of the church were
fortified by a sort of civil excommunication; which
separated
them from their fellow- citizens, by a peculiar brand of
infamy;
and this declaration of the supreme magistrate tended to
justify,
or at least to excuse, the insults of a fanatic populace.
The
sectaries were gradually disqualified from the possession
of
honorable or lucrative employments; and Theodosius was
satisfied
with his own justice, when he decreed, that, as the
Eunomians
distinguished the nature of the Son from that of the
Father, they
should be incapable of making their wills or of receiving
any
advantage from testamentary donations. The guilt of the
Manichaean heresy was esteemed of such magnitude, that it
could
be expiated only by the death of the offender; and the
same
capital punishment was inflicted on the Audians, or
Quartodecimans, ^49 who should dare to perpetrate the
atrocious
crime of celebrating on an improper day the festival of
Easter.
Every Roman might exercise the right of public
accusation; but
the office of Inquisitors of the Faith, a name so
deservedly
abhorred, was first instituted under the reign of
Theodosius.
Yet we are assured, that the execution of his penal
edicts was
seldom enforced; and that the pious emperor appeared less
desirous to punish, than to reclaim, or terrify, his
refractory
subjects. ^50
[Footnote 48: See the Theodosian Code, l. xvi. tit. v.
leg. 6 -
23, with Godefroy's commentary on each law, and his
general
summary, or Paratitlon, tom vi. p. 104 - 110.]
[Footnote 49: They always kept their Easter, like the
Jewish
Passover, on the fourteenth day of the first moon after
the
vernal equinox; and thus pertinaciously opposed the Roman
Church
and Nicene synod, which had fixed Easter to a
Sunday. Bingham's
Antiquities, l. xx. c. 5, vol. ii. p. 309, fol. edit.]
[Footnote 50: Sozomen, l. vii. c. 12.]
The theory of
persecution was established by Theodosius,
whose justice and piety have been applauded by the
saints: but
the practice of it, in the fullest extent, was reserved
for his
rival and colleague, Maximus, the first, among the
Christian
princes, who shed the blood of his Christian subjects on
account
of their religious opinions. The cause of the Priscillianists,
^51 a recent sect of heretics, who disturbed the
provinces of
Spain, was transferred, by appeal, from the synod of
Bordeaux to
the Imperial consistory of Treves; and by the sentence of
the
Praetorian praefect, seven persons were tortured,
condemned, and
executed. The
first of these was Priscillian ^52 himself, bishop
of Avila, in Spain; who adorned the advantages of birth
and
fortune, by the accomplishments of eloquence and
learning. Two
presbyters, and two deacons, accompanied their beloved
master in
his death, which they esteemed as a glorious martyrdom;
and the
number of religious victims was completed by the
execution of
Latronian, a poet, who rivalled the fame of the ancients;
and of
Euchrocia, a noble matron of Bordeaux, the widow of the
orator
Delphidius. ^54 Two bishops who had embraced the
sentiments of
Priscillian, were condemned to a distant and dreary
exile; ^55
and some indulgence was shown to the meaner criminals,
who
assumed the merit of an early repentance. If any credit could be
allowed to confessions extorted by fear or pain, and to
vague
reports, the offspring of malice and credulity, the
heresy of the
Priscillianists would be found to include the various
abominations of magic, of impiety, and of lewdness. ^56
Priscillian, who wandered about the world in the company
of his
spiritual sisters, was accused of praying stark naked in
the
midst of the congregation; and it was confidently
asserted, that
the effects of his criminal intercourse with the daughter
of
Euchrocia had been suppressed, by means still more odious
and
criminal. But an
accurate, or rather a candid, inquiry will
discover, that if the Priscillianists violated the laws
of
nature, it was not by the licentiousness, but by the
austerity,
of their lives.
They absolutely condemned the use of the
marriage-bed; and the peace of families was often
disturbed by
indiscreet separations.
They enjoyed, or recommended, a total
abstinence from all anima food; and their continual
prayers,
fasts, and vigils, inculcated a rule of strict and
perfect
devotion. The
speculative tenets of the sect, concerning the
person of Christ, and the nature of the human soul, were
derived
from the Gnostic and Manichaean system; and this vain
philosophy,
which had been transported from Egypt to Spain, was ill
adapted
to the grosser spirits of the West. The obscure disciples of
Priscillian suffered languished, and gradually
disappeared: his
tenets were rejected by the clergy and people, but his
death was
the subject of a long and vehement controversy; while
some
arraigned, and others applauded, the justice of his
sentence. It
is with pleasure that we can observe the humane
inconsistency of
the most illustrious saints and bishops, Ambrose of
Milan, ^57
and Martin of Tours, ^58 who, on this occasion, asserted
the
cause of toleration.
They pitied the unhappy men, who had been
executed at Treves; they refused to hold communion with
their
episcopal murderers; and if Martin deviated from that
generous
resolution, his motives were laudable, and his repentance
was
exemplary. The
bishops of Tours and Milan pronounced, without
hesitation, the eternal damnation of heretics; but they
were
surprised, and shocked, by the bloody image of their
temporal
death, and the honest feelings of nature resisted the
artificial
prejudices of theology.
The humanity of Ambrose and Martin was
confirmed by the scandalous irregularity of the
proceedings
against Priscillian and his adherents. The civil and
ecclesiastical ministers had transgressed the limits of
their
respective provinces.
The secular judge had presumed to receive
an appeal, and to pronounce a definitive sentence, in a
matter of
faith, and episcopal jurisdiction. The bishops had disgraced
themselves, by exercising the functions of accusers in a
criminal
prosecution. The cruelty of Ithacius, ^59 who beheld the
tortures, and solicited the death, of the heretics,
provoked the
just indignation of mankind; and the vices of that
profligate
bishop were admitted as a proof, that his zeal was
instigated by
the sordid motives of interest. Since the death of Priscillian,
the rude attempts of persecution have been refined and
methodized
in the holy office, which assigns their distinct parts to
the
ecclesiastical and secular powers. The devoted victim is
regularly delivered by the priest to the magistrate, and
by the
magistrate to the executioner; and the inexorable
sentence of the
church, which declares the spiritual guilt of the
offender, is
expressed in the mild language of pity and intercession.
[Footnote 51: See the Sacred History of Sulpicius
Severus, (l.
ii. p. 437 - 452, edit. Ludg. Bat. 1647,) a correct and
original
writer. Dr.
Lardner (Credibility, &c., part ii. vol. ix. p. 256
- 350) has labored this article with pure learning, good
sense,
and moderation.
Tillemont (Mem. Eccles. tom. viii. p. 491 - 527)
has raked together all the dirt of the fathers; a useful
scavenger!]
[Footnote 52: Severus Sulpicius mentions the arch-heretic
with
esteem and pity Faelix profecto, si non pravo studio
corrupisset
optimum ingenium prorsus multa in eo animi et corporis
bona
cerneres. (Hist.
Sacra, l ii. p. 439.) Even Jerom (tom. i. in
Script. Eccles. p. 302) speaks with temper of Priscillian
and
Latronian.]
[Footnote 53: The bishopric (in Old Castile) is now worth
20,000
ducats a year, (Busching's Geography, vol. ii. p. 308,)
and is
therefore much less likely to produce the author of a new
heresy.]
[Footnote 54: Exprobrabatur mulieri viduae nimia religio,
et
diligentius culta divinitas, (Pacat. in Panegyr. Vet.
xii. 29.)
Such was the idea of a humane, though ignorant,
polytheist.]
[Footnote 55: One of them was sent in Sillinam insulam
quae ultra
Britannianest.
What must have been the ancient condition of the
rocks of Scilly?
(Camden's Britannia, vol. ii. p. 1519.)]
[Footnote 56: The scandalous calumnies of Augustin, Pope
Leo,
&c., which Tillemont swallows like a child, and
Lardner refutes
like a man, may suggest some candid suspicions in favor
of the
older Gnostics.]
[Footnote 57: Ambros. tom. ii. Epist. xxiv. p. 891.]
[Footnote 58: In the Sacred History, and the Life of St.
Martin,
Sulpicius Severus uses some caution; but he declares
himself more
freely in the Dialogues, (iii. 15.) Martin was reproved,
however,
by his own conscience, and by an angel; nor could he
afterwards
perform miracles with so much ease.]
[Footnote 59: The Catholic Presbyter (Sulp. Sever. l. ii.
p. 448)
and the Pagan Orator (Pacat. in Panegyr. Vet. xii. 29)
reprobate,
with equal indignation, the character and conduct of
Ithacius.]
Chapter XXVII: Civil Wars, Reign Of Theodosius.
Part III.
Among the
ecclesiastics, who illustrated the reign of
Theodosius, Gregory Nazianzen was distinguished by the
talents of
an eloquent preacher; the reputation of miraculous gifts
added
weight and dignity to the monastic virtues of Martin of
Tours;
^60 but the palm of episcopal vigor and ability was
justly
claimed by the intrepid Ambrose. ^61 He was descended from
a
noble family of Romans; his father had exercised the
important
office of Praetorian praefect of Gaul; and the son, after
passing
through the studies of a liberal education, attained, in
the
regular gradation of civil honors, the station of
consular of
Liguria, a province which included the Imperial residence
of
Milan. At the age
of thirty-four, and before he had received the
sacrament of baptism, Ambrose, to his own surprise, and
to that
of the world, was suddenly transformed from a governor to
an
archbishop.
Without the least mixture, as it is said, of art or
intrigue, the whole body of the people unanimously
saluted him
with the episcopal title; the concord and perseverance of
their
acclamations were ascribed to a praeternatural impulse;
and the
reluctant magistrate was compelled to undertake a
spiritual
office, for which he was not prepared by the habits and
occupations of his former life. But the active force of his
genius soon qualified him to exercise, with zeal and
prudence,
the duties of his ecclesiastical jurisdiction; and while
he
cheerfully renounced the vain and splendid trappings of
temporal
greatness, he condescended, for the good of the church,
to direct
the conscience of the emperors, and to control the
administration
of the empire. Gratian
loved and revered him as a father; and
the elaborate treatise on the faith of the Trinity was
designed
for the instruction of the young prince. After his tragic death,
at a time when the empress Justina trembled for her own
safety,
and for that of her son Valentinian, the archbishop of
Milan was
despatched, on two different embassies, to the court of
Treves.