[II. 19.] They therefore assembled together, and begged an audience with Khosrun their king, and said, 'O king, live for ever! Behold we have learnt that the Roman Caesar requireth, and forceth, and compelleth all persons within his realm to conform themselves to his faith, and obligeth many throughout all his dominions to worship according to his religion. And all those who will not. submit, he driveth away, and persecuteth from all his realm. Let thy godship therefore in like manner command, that so it shall also be throughout thy realm: that all religions shall conform to thy religion, and all persons in thy dominions worship according to thy worship; and that such as insolently dare to resist thy commandment shall no longer live.' And when Khosrun the king heard these words of the Magians, he consented thereto, and accepted their counsel: and immediately he began with the Christians first, and sent and seized three bishops and many of the clergy, and commanded them to deny their faith, and worship with him fire and the sun and the other objects of his reverence. |120
But they argued with him, and manfully resisted, and confessed, saying; 'We are of Christian sentiments, and worship and honour the God Who made the heavens and the earth and the seas, and all that therein is: and we cannot leave Him Who is the Creator of all to worship His creatures. Let not the king mistake: for over our bodies thou hast power to do with them whatsoever thou wilt: but our souls are His, and in His hands, and over them thou hast absolutely no power at all.' And when the king heard the bishops testify these things, and much besides of a similar nature, he commanded that they should be that instant flayed, and die. And many evils besides he inflicted upon the Christians, and their monasteries and churches were everywhere levelled to the ground, and multitudes bound and thrown into prison: and the heart of the king was lifted up, and he blasphemed Christ, and said, 'Let us see what Christ the God of the Christians will do unto me: for I do not know who or what He is.' And this then, and much more, was related by these bishops as having been said and done at this time by the king of the Persians previously to the revolt of Armenia to the Romans, and which was occasioned by his command that fire-temples should be erected throughout all that part of Armenia which was subject to his rule.
[II. 20.] His next measure, as the Catholicus and his companions proceeded to relate, was to send a |121 Marzban to our territories, attended by an armed force of two thousand cavalry, who came first of all to our city, and commanded us to erect a fire-temple, for the celebration of the rites of the king's religion. But when, said he, he showed it to me and the people of the city, I burnt with zeal, and stood up against him, I and all the people of the city, and we said, 'We are indeed servants of the king of kings, and to him we pay tribute; but we are Christians, and in matters of faith we can yield him no obedience, even though we have to die for our faith's sake. For this same thing was attempted in the days of Sapor, king of kings, who also wanted to build here a temple for his worship, but the people of the land gathered themselves together, and a war ensued, which lasted seven years, and at the end he made terms, and published an edict, commanding that no one should meddle or interfere with us as regards our being Christians for ever.' |122 And we further shewed him the original copy of king Sapor's edict: but he refused to obey it, and in obedience to Khosrun's commands, began by main force to mark out a site, and to dig and lay the foundations, and to build the walls; while at the same time he made determined preparations for battle. And I besought him again and again, but availed nothing, nor would he attend to me, or even deign me a single look; and finally I sent everywhere to all the people of the land, and when they heard the news, they burnt with zeal for the faith's sake in Christ, and assembled all as one man, to the number of ten thousand, armed for battle either to live or die for Christ, and firmly determined not to permit a Magian and heathen temple to be built in their land. And when there were assembled all the princes and chieftains of the land, we went to the Marzban, to the place where he was building the fire-temple, and had a long conference with him, and boldly resisted him, saying, 'We are Christians, and subjects of the king of kings: but in matters of faith we neither can nor will yield submission to any one, and even though the king come in person, yet as long as any one of us lives to resist it, there shall no heathen temple be built to all eternity in our land. Depart therefore without war or devastation from our country, and tell the king of the firm determination of our minds to defend our faith; and let him take such steps as he thinks right; for though it cost us all our lives, we will never permit a temple for the |123 Magian worship to be erected in our land?' A long conference followed, in which the Marzban protested to the people assembled that he must build the temple according to his orders, and argued with them, and testified against them, saying, 'You are resisting the commandment of the king of kings, and setting him at nought, though it is in his power to command you to be put to an evil death: beware therefore what you do.'
But when he saw their readiness and their preparations to resist him, and perceived moreover that they were stronger than himself, he retired, with threats nevertheless and protests against their conduct: and returning in great anger to the king, informed him of all that had taken place. And he, on learning it, was roused to anger, and burnt with indignation; and vowing death against all the people of the land, he sent against them the Marzban with a body of fifteen thousand men ready for war, with instructions to exterminate any who ventured to resist his commandment, and erect there a shrine for a temple of fire. But the people of the land, when they heard thereof, assembled together to the number of twenty thousand men, and made ready for battle, prepared to struggle even unto death in defence of their Christianity. And on the arrival of the Persians, they drew themselves up in order of battle against them; and shouting, 'In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ,' they moved onward to the attack. And Christ broke the foe before the children of the land, and they utterly |124 destroyed them as one man, and slew the Marzban, and took off his head, and sent it to the patrician Justinian, who was encamped at that time at Theodosiopolis in the marches. Such then were these events, and they were followed by others, the full recital of which would occupy greater space than we can spare.
[II. 21.] And when these things had taken place, and the whole people of the Greater Armenia saw that a fierce war was stirred up against them from the wicked kingdom of the Persians, they all gathered themselves together from one end of it to the other, and ran for refuge to the kingdom of the Christians, saying, 'Henceforward we are the servants of the kingdom of the Christians, and have run to take refuge in the Roman realm, that it may deliver us from the savage violence of the Magians.' And all this, and much more, the Catholicus of Dovin, and the other bishops who were with him, related in the presence of our merciful king and queen, and of the whole senate: but we have admitted only a small portion of it into our history; for they recounted also the details of the repeated |125 conflicts and devastations which followed, and in which the Persian hosts had more than once been vanquished, and their elephants captured; but which we at present must omit for want of space.
[II. 22.] Such then is a short abstract of the account of the Catholicus of Dovin, the capital of Persarmenia, related in the royal city of us Romans, by him, and the other bishops and the numerous noblemen who accompanied him, in the presence of many witnesses: and all on their arrival were received with distinguished respect, and large presents and regal honours paid them, and high dignities granted them, and some of the royal residences and chief monasteries were set apart for their abode, and an income assigned sufficient for their proper maintenance; and titles of high rank were also sent to the leading men in the land, as also a large subsidy of gold, and orders that no tax should be levied for three years for the king of the Romans, but that they should do their best to assist those who, having accepted the sovereignty of the land, were warring in their defence, and that of the whole of Armenia against the Persians. And this they did for a long time, and the Magian people fell before the Christians on numerous occasions in the first six years of the time during which the war lasted. Of these events we will subsequently give some brief particulars in their proper place. As for the Catholicus, at the end of two years he died |126 at Constantinople, and never returned to his own land.
[II. 23.] Upon the first arrival at the capital of the Catholicus of Armenia, and the bishops and nobles in his suite, as men who had fled from the wicked and heathenish kingdom of the Magians, and had come for refuge to the kingdom of the Christians, meeting immediately upon their arrival with so honourable a reception, they went, without making inquiries, and through inattention communicated in full confidence with the patriarch of the city, as not being aware of the schism and quarrel which had arisen in all the churches of the Roman dominions, from the corruption of the faith by the council of Chalcedon. But when intelligence of this reached the bishops and leading men of Armenia, they were angry with them, and wrote sharply to them such things as may now be well passed over in silence; and therefore they withdrew, and separated themselves, and having fitted up a large hall, in a building granted to one of their nobles for a residence, into a church, they there formed a distinct congregation, and celebrated the communion after their own manner; and continued so to do even after the death of the Catholicus.
[II. 24.] We are well aware that the events which happened in our time are numerous, especially now at last, and that they exceed the limits of history: and more particularly after the defection of Armenia to the Romans, which took place in |127 the year eight hundred and eighty , of the era of Alexander, (A. D. 569.) For this act was the cause of constant and numerous battles on all sides, and of dreadful devastations, and the shedding of much blood. For the Magian, after his defeats, was again lifted up in his wickedness, and fell upon the Roman armies in Armenia, expecting to route and annihilate them utterly. But when he found himself unequal to this, he turned aside and entered the Lesser or Roman Armenia, in the hope of being able to capture and pillage the city of Caesarea, in Cappadocia: but the Roman armies hemmed him in, and drove him back from thence, and gave him battle, and deprived him utterly of his baggage, and made him return ashamed; and had it not been for a disagreement between the Roman commanders, he would scarcely have escaped with his life. And again the Roman king sent presents and subsidies, and despatched fresh troops to Armenia to ensure his victories; but nevertheless, after it had been completely taken possession of and occupied by the Romans, and they had gained numerous victories, and had reduced several powerful tribes to obedience, finally, either by the unskilful measures of their generals, or because in many things they had brought upon them the anger of God, when they were not fewer in number than a hundred |128 thousand men, they were stricken with a panic at the presence of a single paltry Marzban, with but thirty thousand troops, and all the Roman hosts fled, with the loss of their arms and horses, and were put to shame. And the Persian was lifted up, and increased in strength, and overran and conquered the whole of Armenia, and all the land asked for terms of peace from him, and he granted them; whereupon it returned to its allegiance, excepting those only who had betaken themselves to Constantinople, when seven years before they rebelled against him, and the struggle began .
After this, men of high rank in both kingdoms were sent as ambassadors to examine the matters in dispute between the two realms, and to confer about peace; and for more than a year they were occupied at the borders talking and discussing, and disputing with one another, but without effecting any thing. And at first the Persian required a sum of money, before he would make peace; but at this the king of the Romans was stirred up manfully, and said, 'This man demands of us gold, as if we were afraid of him, or subject to him; but let him know that as he never yet has received of us a single mina, so neither shall he as long as we live. And if he treats not with us on equal terms, kingdom with kingdom, we will not make |129 peace with him.' And so, finally, the Persian gave way on this point; but nothing came of it. But of all this, it is not possible for us to give the particulars: many books would scarce hold a full account of it, and of the other contests in the church and the world, which happened in our days, and which therefore, from their too great length, we must omit . |130
[II. 25.] Contemporaneously with the disgrace which befell the Roman arms in Armenia, there was seen in very deed the meaning and accomplishment of the apostolic lesson, [Rom. i. 18] 'that the wrath of God is revealed from heaven upon all iniquity and wickedness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness.' For because Christians, on slight and insufficient reasons, had risen up as stern and violent persecutors of Christians, mercilessly and without fear of God, yea, savagely, barbarously, and unchristianly, 'like unto a lion roaring that he may break in pieces, and as a lion's whelp that sitteth in secret,' therefore did the Lord arise before their faces, and lay them low, |131 so manifestly that it was known and observed of all men. For they had intemperately practised every cruelty against the members of their own body, even against the whole people of the orthodox, in vehement wrath, not treating them in that orderly and gentle manner which becomes just and Christian men, but stirring themselves up to be violent and merciless persecutors. For they sentenced the servants of God to cruel imprisonments in dark and narrow dungeons, though they were aged men, infirm and frail in body, and venerable for their years; yea, they condemned them to merciless banishment, without fear of God; ordering them in bonds and strict confinement, to be left exposed to hunger and thirst, and no friend permitted to visit them: and when they banished them, they gave directions that the exiles should have no mercy shown them, but be ill treated in every possible way, in the expectation that the greatness of their sufferings and trials would compel them to submit themselves to the will of their tormentors. And when, by force and compulsion, they had made any submit, they then, in violation of all law and canonical order, pronounced the ordination invalid, which they had received long before at the hands of orthodox bishops, and ordained them afresh, both priests and bishops. And so many were their deeds of this kind, that the time is too short to relate them, nor, as the event plainly proved, could the justice of God either tolerate or endure them. For quick and speedy |132 was the wrathful sentence sent down from heaven upon this cruelty and savageness, or rather upon those who, unrestrained by the fear of God, had practised it, even upon John the patriarch, and upon the king, who was led by him astray, and who did these things under his influence. For both were scourged by the same angry rod, and received the same sentence, that they should be given over to evil spirits. And they had much meanwhile to suffer, which was terrible and alarming, but which shall now be veiled by us in silence, because of the honour due to the priesthood and the royal dignity; but which being wrought in them during a lengthened period of time by the devils, to whom they were severally given up, became matters of common report and conversation, and to the truth of which, and their terrible and fearful reality, we have the testimony of all the people of those times.
[II. 26.] Upon this alarming chastisement falling upon the king and patriarch, the bishop John was at first rather stimulated to increased persecution of the believers by the operation and incitement of the evil spirit which wrought within him, so that every day, without knowing what he was doing, or settled purpose, he gave utterance to savage and cruel threats, unwarned by the chastisement which, from time to time, he received from the evil spirit; and thus he still more irritated the righteous Judge, Who sent yet again upon him a disease of the bowels, and internal |133 pains, and the bitter agonies of gout: so that, being now tormented beyond hope of cure, and pain following upon pain, and blow upon blow more intensely every day; and all the care of his many physicians being in vain, and no respite or aid appearing, at length, as the magicians confessed before Pharaoh, saying, 'This is the finger of God,' so also was he now forced to understand that his chastisement came from Heaven; and he began with sighs and tears to say to his physicians, 'Why weary ye yourselves, my children, about me, a miserable wretch? for my maladies are past the power of healing. For all these tortures have been inflicted upon me by the just sentence of Heaven because of my cruelty, and men cannot heal them. For now I know and understand that as I, without mercy, smote many, so am I now singly scourged without mercy by the One.' And in process of time the physicians ceased to attend him, for he himself refused their services; and he became unable to take food, and even when he swallowed any thing liquid, he quickly threw it off his stomach, and finally his bowels came away piecemeal. And his torment was not only thus bitter and severe, but also protracted, so that he often said with tears before many people, 'I know, O Lord, that I have done evil in Thy sight, and that the curses of Thy aged and honoured servants have overtaken me, and stirred up Thy wrath against me, because I treated them without mercy.' His punishment began about a year |134 after he commenced the persecution, and never abated: and as he did not even then desist from the cruelty of his measures, there finally fell upon him this severe and most painful torment, under which he lingered two years, and at length departed from this present life in the thirteenth year of the reign of king Justin. The latter still lingered under his maladies, finding occasional relief, but never being entirely delivered from his sufferings until the day of his decease. [II. 27.] His death was followed by the immediate recall of Eutychius to the patriarchal throne: and as we have mentioned briefly before the purport of this chapter, so now we will shew at length the just judgment of God, which not only at the day of future trial, but also here, visits men with retribution according to their deeds. For John the bishop of the capital, of whom we are now |135 speaking, being urged onwards by savage violence, and hurried along by pride and arrogance like a boy, and intoxicated and drunken with power, took down and erased all the pictures of the orthodox fathers, and fixed up his own everywhere in their place. And while he thought not that he should die, suddenly the time of his departure overtook him, and Eutychius his predecessor, who had been deposed, was summoned to fill his place. And though by the persuasion of their majesties he consented upon his return to let all that had previously passed between him and John rest in silence, yet his pictures he everywhere obliterated, and expelled them, not merely from the episcopal palace and the churches, but even had a search made for them, lest any one should here and there escape notice. And the inhabitants of both towns and villages, when they learnt his will, that they might not be informed against, obliterated all John's pictures, whether painted on the walls or on tablets, and took them down, and fixed up those of Eutychius in their place, so that at most only one or two remained here and there: [Jud.ix.56.] 'and God requited the wickedness of Abimelech, which he had done, in slaying his brethren, fifty men, upon one stone.' And this became a wonder and an astonishment to all men, that God so quickly had recompensed John even here, and that as he had done, so it was done unto him, [1 Sam.xxv.39] 'and the Lord returned the requital of Nabal upon his own head.' And thus the pictures of John were obliterated as soon as |136 he was dead, just as he had boldly taken down the pictures of the saints and set up his own.
The time during which John occupied the patriarchal throne was thirteen years, more or less.
[II. 28.] Among the satellites of the patriarch was a certain deacon, named Theodulus, who distinguished himself by the activity he displayed in the persecution, and who also was overtaken by the Divine vengeance. From his youth this man had been remarkable for his demureness, and humility, and quietness, and had thereby earned with many the reputation of extraordinary virtue. These qualities had moreover gained him an introduction to the king Justinian, who, on seeing his humility and sedateness, employed him as his almoner, and intrusted him with large sums of money to distribute to the poor, and prisoners, and to the monasteries in the suburbs and outskirts of the city. The money thus given him amounted to many talents; and his services were not confined to the capital, but he was often sent on similar errands even to distant countries: |137 and finally, by little and little, he amassed for himself out of the sums given him to distribute great riches. After Justinian's death, he was employed by Justin in the same confidential post; and when the persecution broke out, being anxious to obtain the favour of men, he was the means, as one who held a confidential position, of bringing, in company with John and the rest, many evils upon the whole body of the believers. His business was to go in advance to the monasteries, and there, by his false oaths, he deceived many: but finally, he was detected in his wickedness.
His zeal and vehemence in defence of the synod, and the whole heresy of the two natures, was even greater than that of John himself; and as he was perpetually slandering the believers both to the king and patriarch, and exciting cruel anger against them, he was himself invested with power to seize and imprison and torture whom he would, besides being often intrusted with special commands, in the execution of which he treated the believers in the most wilful manner. Even the patriarch himself was in no little alarm and fright at his rising power, and the more so when the Arians everywhere were put under his authority. But when he was thus lifted up, and still busied with persecution, God severely scourged him, so that he could no longer walk erect. For while he was still in his strength, and angrily urging on the persecution, it so happened that his own and his wife's cousins and his |138 secretary embarked in a carvin , or small vessel, to cross the sea: but it foundered, and all on board, two or three only excepted, were drowned. Nor was this the only calamity which befell him: for, soon after, his wife died, and a severe illness stretched him also upon his bed, where he lay in much pain for three years. And now, in the misery brought upon him by these severe chastisements, he confessed with bitter tears, saying, 'Woe is me! for the curses of those whom I persecuted have overtaken me, and the cry of those whom I oppressed has gone up before God, and therefore is this my humiliation sent upon me from Heaven.' For it had so happened, a little time before, that somehow or other he offended his vestryman, who had the charge of all which he possessed; and for revenge he went in secret and informed the king of the talents which his master Theodulus had secreted, and which it is said—for we have no means of knowing exactly —were from twenty-four to thirty. These the king had secretly removed, and then sending for Theodulus, he said; 'We are in great need, O deacon, of money for the wars; and if thou wilt lend us two or three talents, we will requite thee.' And he replied, 'Me, my lord, whence could I have talents?' ' By my life and my salvation,' exclaimed the king, ' say you that you have none?' |139 'None, certainly,' was the answer; and he took his oath that he was not worth a talent. Upon this, the king ordered the talents to be produced, and with them the vestryman, and sternly said, 'Knowest thou these? and how didst thou swear, and perjure thyself unto us and unto God? Thy shame suffice thee: depart hence.' And so he departed, ashamed like the shame of a thief when he is caught, and hid himself for shame; and became the scorn and ridicule of all men.
Thus then disgrace was added to his other afflictions, and he was further dismissed from his office, and continues so to the present day.
[II 29.]Another of the chief persecutors was the king's quaestor, Anastasius, who by birth was a Samaritan; and when his countrymen in Palestine were being brought to judgment by Photius, they accused him also of practising their idolatrous customs, and an indictment against him was drawn up, and laid before the king. And upon this the alarm of Anastasius was extreme, and he ran hither and thither, and. gave bribes on all sides, and so the indictment disappeared, and no inquiry was made into his conduct. This man was the foe and stern enemy of the believers, and used to threaten them severely; and whenever in the patriarch's absence he acted as his commissary, he used the opportunity for stirring up the king against them by his calumnies: and on John's return, the two persisted, whenever they had an audience, in these representations, and so abused the king's confidence, that, |140 being roused to anger, he published decrees of alarming severity against the whole body of the believers. And, as was known to every one, Anastasius was constantly in the habit of receiving sums of money from John, and was his adviser and inciter to every thing that was abominable, like his accursed teacher Aetherius , who prided himself upon Anastasius having been from the first a labourer in the same cause as himself, and eager to walk in all his footsteps.
But justice could no longer endure this man's cruelty, who, while professing himself a Christian, used the opportunity of his office secretly in every way, and on every pretext, to smite the Christians, as only a heathen and a Samaritan would do, and conspired with the other secret heathens to prevent the unity of the church. But God saw his crafty purposes, and while he supposed that he was deceiving both God and men, He brought his falsehood to light before the whole church, when it was crowded with people, on the day of the adoration of the holy cross of our Saviour. On this festival the cross is brought out, and set up in the great church, and the whole senate and all the people of the city assemble to adore it: and with the senate came also the quaestor, to show forsooth in |141 pretence that he also was an adorer. And as they formed themselves in rows, and drew near in order, he too approached the holy cross; but before he could adore it, a demon entered into him, and lifted him up, and threw him on the ground before the holy cross,—yes, this man, I say, who falsely and deceitfully, in mockery of the Christian religion, had drawn near to worship —and he began to foam, and was torn by the devil, and deprived of his senses, and screamed so long, that at length the patriarch gave orders for them to lift him up, and carry him through the throng, and place him in an inner apartment of the church: while the whole multitude who filled the church long continued crying Kyrie eleison, being in wonder at the revelation of his fraud, and at the chastisement which the Lord of the cross had inflicted upon him, before the eyes of so many people. And terror fell on many deceivers and hypocrites.
As for Anastasius, he never again raised his head, but being thus tormented by the devil, he lived about a year and a half, more or less, and so departed from this life.
[II. 30.] Nor did vengeance fall only upon individuals, but as the synodites had rooted up the churches of the orthodox during the persecution, so after a short time, by a righteous sentence, the altars of their churches throughout Thrace, and up to the very walls of the city, were rased to the ground by the barbarians. For it seemed good to the rulers in church and state, to |142 overthrow the meeting-houses of the believers, and level their altars with the ground: but when a short time only had elapsed, a barbarous people, who from their unshorn hair are called Avars, invaded the country and marched up to the outer walls of Constantinople: and all the churches in Thrace were plundered by them and desolated with the whole land, and the altars were stripped and overthrown, and the ciboria destroyed and plucked down, even to the very walls of the city. And many of them understood this just judgment, and said, 'Lo, that which was unjustly done by men of our own party unto those who do not agree with us, in uprooting their churches, this has God done unto us in anger, and our churches also are rooted up and ruined.' —And all men wondered thereat and praised God, Who requiteth every man according to his works.
[II. 31.] Upon the death of the patriarch John, Eutychius was once again summoned to fill the archiepiscopal throne, from a monastery at Amasea in the north. And on his arrival at |143 the capital, he was received by their majesties and the whole city with the utmost pomp: for wonderful rumours were spread abroad concerning him, to the effect that he wrought miracles and did mighty works. The whole city therefore rejoiced at his arrival, and congratulated themselves upon their deliverance from the perfidy and falseness and usurpation of John, who had been appointed in violation of canonical order; and moreover originally he held a menial position, and subsequently was a jurist; nor was it until a very short time before that he received the tonsure and became a clergyman, and then unexpectedly bishop of the royal city; but this in no way broke him of his habits as a layman and jurist. Eutychius, on the contrary, was a sober monk: and already at his deposition he had occupied the throne of the capital for twelve years; and on his expulsion John had held the episcopate also for twelve years, and just entered upon the thirteenth: and so Eutychius returned, feeling as though he could not sit upon his throne until he had excommunicated John, and cast, his memory out of the church of God.
[II.32.] His return brought with it a practical difficulty as to who had been the real bishop of Constantinople during the twelve years of John's |144 occupancy: and therefore the archdeacon of Rome, after the death of John of Sirmin and the restoration of Eutychius, spake with much freedom before the king, as follows: 'Be it known unto your clemency, that according to the canons and rules of the church, if John was patriarch,—and he certainly acted in that capacity all the days of his life,—then Eutychius was not patriarch, and it is utterly impossible for him to be admitted into the church, and occupy the throne. If however Eutychius is received, and admitted as patriarch, and occupies the throne, then John and all that he did cannot be acknowledged by the church, but must be rejected, whether it be the consecration of bishops, or ordinations, or any baptism which he performed, or the consecration of a church, or an altar, it is all null and void, and his name must be erased, and proclamation made of his expulsion from the church of God, and the order of the priesthood. And this is the more necessary, because the two have mutually deposed and excommunicated each other, and all who severally communicate with them: so that it plainly follows from the canons, that one or other is deposed and ejected from the church.' And when the archdeacon had said these things in the presence of the king, and declared that the pope of Rome held the same view, he was sharply rebuked, and told to hold his peace, and not trouble himself about the exact letter of the canons. And so he held |145 his peace, and passed the matter by; and the rule of the canons was trampled under foot and broken.
[II.33.] The archdeacon of Rome had however only expressed the general opinion: for all men had expected that Eutychius, upon his recall, would refuse to occupy the patriarchal throne, until a synod had been assembled, and full enquiry made. But on arriving at the city, he mounted and sat upon his throne without opposition: and both parties drank and swallowed down the turbid dregs of the mutual excommunications, which John and Eutychius had pronounced against each other and their respective adherents; so that astonishment took possession of all men.
[II.34.] But though Eutychius abstained from a ca nonical enquiry into the validity of John's patriarchate, fearing lest he should stir up some opponent against himself, and lose his manger, he showed his hatred and fierceness against him by giving orders that all his pictures should immediately be extirpated and removed from the palace; which John had himself rebuilt in a magnificent manner, after it had been destroyed by fire. His pictures also elsewhere were obliterated, and his name no longer heard at the recitation from the diptychs of the former patriarchs of Constantinople, until the king expressed his displeasure at the omission. He moreover drove away and deprived all his relatives of their offices, and heaped upon his |146 predecessor's memory every possible contumely. And every one who wished to please him, when they saw his infatuation, spoke ill of John, and he listened to it with pleasure: and finally, his folly reached such a height, that he used openly to say, 'John never was bishop of Constantinople, but was simply keeping my place, having himself nothing to do with it.' But these absurdities deceived no one but himself: for all knew that he had been deposed, and that John was appointed in his stead, and had occupied the see, and formally pronounced his deprivation.
[II. 35.] The restoration of Eutychius did not promise much peace to the orthodox party: for in his exile he had occupied himself in his monastery in tearing up and arranging books of lacerations , as a proof from the fathers of the doctrine of a quaternity instead of the Holy Trinity, as it had been set forth at the synod of Chalcedon in the wicked tome of Leo. For he in like manner taught that there are two natures in Christ even after the union, and said that all the fathers also acknowledged this. Immediately then that he had been reinstated in his see, he busied himself in eagerly sending copies of these books to the leading men, and ladies of note, requesting them to read and understand, and so be led themselves to acknowledge the two natures: and especially he sent them to such persons as were |147 offended at the doctrine of the two natures, and held, in accordance with all. the fathers, that there was but one nature in Christ as He existed corporeally. But the contrary effect to what he had expected followed upon the perusal of his books: for even his own suffragans and people generally ridiculed his absurdity, and the whole city began to be excited, and those especially, who had not drunk of the turbid dregs of Nestorius' gall, expressed freely and in severe terms their indignation, including some of his own bishops. And at length so much excitement and debate was stirred up against him, that they assembled at the palace, and frankly said, 'Know that if thou dost not gather in thy books, and say nothing more upon this matter, thou wilt cause a schism in the church of God, even among our own party.' And so he gathered in his books, upon which the excitement died away, though he continued to hold the same views as before.
[II.36] After these things, the haughty Eutychius, who belonged originally in the main to the heresy of Paul of Samosata, was not long in precipitating himself into a fresh snare, by adopting the views of those who denied the resurrection of the body: nor did he merely assent to their opinions, but set himself industriously and zealously to confess and publicly teach their doctrine, saying, 'These bodies of men do not attain to the resurrection, but others are created anew, which arise in their stead.' And this view he not merely taught by word of mouth, but even drew up |148 written treatises in its defence, and distributed them publicly, and constantly spoke of nothing else. And again, on this account the whole city was excited against him, and murmurs were every where heard, and expressions of scorn and ridicule. And those especially were scandalized who were of his party, and finally they said to him, 'If thou dost not hold thy tongue about this doctrine, we will in a body excommunicate thee.' And even this threat did not divert him from his opinion, but he attempted no longer to teach it, especially as all men had come to regard him as a heretic and a simpleton.