Eusebius' accusation of Antoninus 117 ff.
401 (Jan.). Visit to Ephesus 125
Deposition of six bishops 127
Theophilus' condemnation of Origenism 54
402. Arrival of the monks at Constantinople 58
403. The Synod of The Oak 65 ff
First expulsion of Chrysostom 73
Theophilus' intrigues 74 ff
404 (Easter----April 16). Tumult in the Church 81
Chrysostom's letter to Innocent 10 ff.
Attempt upon his life 177
(June 20). Second expulsion 85 ff
Burning of the Church 88
Reception of the news at Rome 21 ff
Deputation of Western Bishops 28 ff.
Cruel treatment of Chrysostom's supporters 174 ff.
(Sept.). Arrival at Cucusus 90
407 (June). Removal to Pityus 94
(Sept. 14). Death 96
Accounts are introduced of Olympias (p. 150), of Porphyrius (p. 133 ff.) and of various monks (p. 145). The charges brought against Chrysostom which are |xiv met are those of eating alone (pp. 98, 112), of deposing sixteen bishops (p. 116), of excessive outspokenness (p. 160), of personal attacks upon individuals (p. 163), and of haughtiness and insolence towards clergy (p. 165). The author also moralizes at great length upon various subjects, which will be found in the General Index.
The treatise as it stands is anonymous, but it is generally attributed to Palladius, Bishop of Helenopolis. Its present title is "An historical dialogue of Palladius, Bishop of Helenopolis, held with Theodorus, Deacon of Rome, concerning the life and conversation of the blessed John, Bishop of Constantinople, the Golden-mouthed." And in the margin the words are added, "In other (copies) it is written, Bishop of Aspona."
Thus the title represents, not that Palladius of Helenopolis, or of Aspona, is the writer of the treatise, but that he is the nameless bishop who takes the chief part in the Dialogue. Yet this is nowhere stated. He is described simply as a member of John's synod (pp. 7, 66), from the east (p. 6), though not of Constantinople (p. 150), who had suffered on his behalf (p. 173). Nor can it be intended to identify the bishop with Palladius; it is asserted that it is the bishop's first visit to Rome (p. 6), yet within a few pages (p. 25) that Palladius of Helenopolis had been one of the first who brought to Rome the news of the troubles. He is represented as an old man (p. 33), while Palladius was not forty-five years old at the time of Chrysostom's death. There is nothing except the title to suggest that the interlocutor is Palladius, who is always spoken of in the third person----a fact which some have supposed to forbid the idea of his being the author. The same argument would show that Boswell was not the author of the Life of Johnson. In fact, it is quite clear that the bishop of the Dialogue is an entirely |xv imaginary person. Yet George tells us that he has made extracts from "the Dialogue of Bishop Palladius with Theodore," without naming his diocese; Theodore of Trimuthus also regards him as the bishop of the Dialogue. Neither of these writers had better information than we possess; they simply accepted the statement of the title as we have it.
Palladius, Bishop of Helenopolis (Drepanum, in Bithynia), is known to us as the author of the Lausiac History, an English translation of which, by W. K. Lowther Clarke, is published in the present Series; this consists of a number of brief biographies or anecdotes of worthies, chiefly monks, whom he had known, or of whom he had heard, during his life as a monk in the desert, or in the course of his travels. The Introduction to this work states that it was compiled for the same purpose of moral instruction which is alleged for the Dialogue. He was evidently a friend of Chrysostom, who writes to him from Cucusus, asking for his prayers, and saying that he ceases not daily to be anxious for his welfare (Ep. 113). The History shows that he was consecrated Bishop of Helenopolis after leaving the desert, in the year 400, "having become embroiled in the disturbance connected with the blessed John"; the Dialogue gives us the account of his journey to Ephesus (p. 125 ff.), of his visit to Rome (p. 25), his voyage to Constantinople (p. 29), and his exile to Syene (pp. 174, 178). On his return, he lived for two years in Galatia, and (in 417), as Socrates informs us, he was translated as bishop to Aspona, in Galatia. Two years later he wrote his Lausiac History, and some time between 420 and 430 he died. |xvi
The only manuscript copy of the treatise appears to be one of the eleventh century (Bigot in error says the seventh) in the Medicean Library at Florence; the Life of Chrysostom by George contains copious extracts from the work, by which our text may be checked. It was first edited, with a Latin translation, by Emeritus Bigot, in 1680. It is written in late Greek, many words being used in senses unknown to classical authors, and grammatical mistakes are frequent. The historical order of events is disregarded, as it is the chief object of the author, not so much to write a biography, as to set forth an ideal, to stimulate his readers to follow the good example of the saint, and to warn them against improperly seeking the priesthood (p. 173).
It is cast in the form of a dialogue, a recognized method of presenting a moral treatise. Chrysostom's famous work On the Priesthood is so written; the "liberal education "----of which Palladius both here and in the Lausiac History speaks with admiration-----which he had received certainly included the dialogues of Plato, and it was natural to him to use this vehicle of thought. Palladius' love for his master led him to follow his example; but he had not his knowledge of Plato, or his ability, and at times the Dialogue is somewhat wearisome, and the form unsuitable to the subject. He cannot do two things at once----give a memoir of a good man, and compile a moral treatise; when he introduces long accounts of historical incidents, and, above all, the letter to Innocent (p. 10), he makes a wide departure from the methods followed in the Platonic dialogues which have a similar purpose to his own, such as the Apology of Socrates and Crito. We forget that we are reading a dialogue, and have a sense of annoyance when the deacon interrupts with his jejune questions and remarks.