 CHURCH HISTORY by Eusebius of Caesarea translated by Arthur Cushman MacGifford Book 10, Part 2, Chapter 4, Paragraph 36, through Chapter 5 This, our new and excellent Zarubabel, having heard the word which announced beforehand that she who had been made a desert on account of God should enjoy these things, after the bitter captivity and the abomination of desolation, did not overlook the dead body, but first of all with prayers and supplications propitiated the Father with the common consent of all of you, and invoking the only one that giveth life to the dead as his ally and fellow worker, raised her that was fallen, after purifying and freeing her from her ills, and he clothed her not with the ancient garment, but with such an one as he had again learned from the sacred oracles, which say clearly, and the latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former. Thus, in closing a much larger space, he fortified the outer court with a wall surrounding the whole, which should serve as a most secure bulwark for the entire edifice, and he raised and spread out a great and lofty vestibule toward the rays of the rising sun, and furnished those standing far without the sacred enclosure a full view of those within, almost turning the eyes of those who were strangers to the faith to the entrances, so that no one could pass by without being impressed by the memory of the former desolation and of the present incredible transformation. His hope was that such an one being impressed by this might be attracted and be induced to enter by the very sight. But when one comes within the gates, he does not permit him to enter the sanctuary immediately, with impure and unwashed feet, but leaving as large a space as possible between the temple and the outer entrance, he has surrounded and adorned it with four transverse cloisters, making a quadrangular space with pillars rising on every side, which he has joined with latticework screens of wood, rising to a suitable height, and he has left an open space to enter. He has left an open space in the middle, so that the sky can be seen, and the free air brightened the rays of the sun. Here he has placed symbols of sacred purifications, setting up fountains opposite the temple which furnish an abundance of water wherewith those who come within the sanctuary may purify themselves. This is the first halting place of those who enter, and it furnishes at the same time a beautiful and splendid scene to everyone, and to those who still need elementary instruction, a fitting station. But passing by this spectacle, he has made open entrances to the temple with many other vestibules within, placing three doors on one side, likewise facing the rays of the sun. The one in the middle, adorned with plates of bronze, iron bound, and beautifully embossed, he has made much higher and broader than the others, as if he were making them guards for it as for a queen. In the same way, arranging the number of vestibules for the corridors on each side of the whole temple, he has made above them various openings into the building, for the purpose of admitting more light, adorning them with very fine wood carving. But the royal house he has furnished with more beautiful and splendid materials using unstinted liberality in his disbursements. It seems to me superfluous to describe here in detail the length and breadth of the building, its splendor and its majesty-surpassing description, and the brilliant appearance of the work, its lofty pinnacles reaching to the heavens, and the costly cedars of Lebanon above them, which the divine oracle has not omitted to mention, saying, the trees of the Lord shall rejoice and the cedars of Lebanon which he hath planted. Why need I now describe the skillful architectural arrangement and the surpassing beauty of each part, when the testimony of the eye renders instruction through the ear superfluous? For when he had thus completed the temple, he provided it with lofty thrones in honour of those who preside, and, in addition, with seats arranged in proper order throughout the whole building, and finally placed in the middle the Holy of Holies, the altar, and that it might be inaccessible to the multitude, enclosed it with wooden latticework, accurately wrought with artistic carving, presenting a wonderful sight to the beholders. And not even the pavement was neglected by him, for this too he adorned with beautiful marble of every variety, then finally he passed on to the parts without the temple, providing spacious exodry and buildings on each side which were joined to the basilica and communicated with the entrances to the interior of the structure. These were erected by our most peaceful Solomon, the maker of the temple of God, for those who still needed purification and sprinkling by water and the Holy Spirit, so that the prophecy quoted above is no longer a word merely, but a fact, for now it has also come to pass that in truth the latter glory of this house is greater than the former. For it was necessary and fitting that as her shepherd and lord had once tasted death for her, and after his suffering had changed that vile body which he assumed in her behalf into a splendid and glorious body, leaving the very flesh which had been delivered from corruption to incorruption, she too should enjoy the dispensations of the Saviour, for having received from him the promise of much greater things than these, she desires to share uninterruptedly throughout eternity with the choir of the angels of light in the far greater glory of regeneration in the resurrection of an incorruptible body in the palace of God beyond the heavens with Christ Jesus himself, the universal benefactor and Saviour. But for the present, she that was formerly widowed and desolate is clothed by the grace of God with these flowers, and is become truly like a lily, as the prophecy says, and having received the bridal garment and the crown of beauty, she is taught by Isaiah to dance and to present her thank offerings unto God the King in reverent words. Let us hear her saying, My soul shall rejoice in the Lord, for he hath clothed me with a garment of salvation and with a robe of gladness, he hath bedecked me like a bridegroom with a garland, and he hath adorned me like a bride with jewels, and like the earth which bringeth forth her bud, and like a garden which causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth, thus the Lord God hath caused righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations. In these words she exalts, and in similar words the heavenly bridegroom, the word Jesus Christ himself, answers her. Here the Lord saying, Fear not because thou hast been put to shame, neither be thou confounded because thou hast been rebuked, for thou shalt forget the former shame, and the reproach of thy widowhood shalt thou remember no more. Not as a woman deserted and faint-hearted hath the Lord called thee, nor as a woman hated from her youth, sayeth thy God, for a small moment have I forsaken thee, but with great mercy will I have mercy upon thee, in a little wrath I hid my face from thee, but with everlasting mercy will I have mercy upon thee, sayeth the Lord that hath redeemed thee. Awake, awake, thou who hast drunk at the hand of the Lord the cup of his fury, for thou hast drunk the cup of ruin, the vessel of my wrath, and hast drained it, and there was none to console thee of all thy sons whom thou didst bring forth, and there was none to take thee by the hand. Behold, I have taken out of thine hand the cup of ruin, the vessel of my fury, and thou shalt no longer drink it, and I will put it into the hands of them that have treated thee unjustly and have humbled thee. Awake, awake, put on thy strength, put on thy glory, shake off the dust and arise, sit thee down, loose the bands of thy neck, lift up thine eyes round about, and behold thy children gathered together, behold they are gathered together and are come to thee. As I live, sayeth the Lord, thou shalt clothe thee with them all as with an ornament, and gird thyself with them as with the ornaments of a bride, for thy waste and corrupted and ruined places shall now be too narrow by reason of those that inhabit thee, and they that swallow thee up shall be far from thee. For thy sons whom thou hast lost shall say in thine ears the places too narrow for me, give place to me that I may dwell, then shalt thou say in thine heart, who hath begotten me these? I am childless and a widow, and who hath brought up these for me? I was left alone, and these where were they for me? These are the things which Isaiah foretold, and which were anciently recorded concerning us in sacred books, and it was necessary that we should some time learn their truthfulness by their fulfilment. For when the bridegroom, the word, addressed such language to his own bride, the sacred and holy church, this bridesman, when she was desolate and lying like a corpse, bereft of hope in the eyes of men, in accordance with the united prayers of all of you, as was proper, stretched out your hands and aroused and raised her up at the command of God, the universal King, and at the manifestation of the power of Jesus Christ, and having raised her he established her as he had learned from the description given in the sacred oracles. This is indeed a very great wonder, passing all admiration, especially to those who attend only to the outward appearance, but more wonderful than wonders are the archetypes and their mental prototypes and divine models, I mean the reproductions of the inspired and rational building in our souls. This, the Divine Son himself created after his own image, imparting to it everywhere and in all respects the likeness of God, an incorruptible nature, incorporeal, rational, free from all earthly matter, a being endowed with its own intelligence, and when he had once called her forth from non-existence into existence, he made her a holy spouse, an all-sacred temple for himself and for the Father. This also he clearly declares and confesses in the following words, I will dwell in them and will walk in them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Such is the perfect and purified soul, so made from the beginning as to bear the image of the celestial word. But when by the envy and zeal of the malignant demon she became, of her own voluntary choice, sensual and a lover of evil, the deity left her, and as if bereft of a protector, she became an easy prey and readily accessible to those who had long envied her, and being assailed by the batteries and machines of her invisible enemies and spiritual foes, she suffered a terrible fall, so that not one stone of virtue remained upon another in her, but she lay completely dead upon the ground, entirely divested of her natural ideas of God. But as she, who had been made in the image of God, thus lay prostrate, it was not that wild bore from the forest which we see that despoiled her, but a certain destroying demon and spiritual wild beasts who deceived her with their passions as with the fiery darts of their own wickedness, and burned the truly divine sanctuary of God with fire, and profaned to the ground the tabernacle of his name, then burying the miserable one with heaps of earth, they destroyed every hope of deliverance. But that divinely bright and saving word, her protector, after she had suffered the merited punishment for her sins, again restored her, securing the favour of the all-merciful Father. Having won over first the souls of the highest rulers, he purified, through the agency of those most divinely favoured princes, the whole earth from all the impious destroyers, and from the terrible and God-hating tyrants themselves, Then bringing out into the light those who were his friends, who had long before been consecrated to him for life, but in the midst, as it were, of a storm of evils, had been concealed under his shelter, he honoured them worthily with the great gifts of the spirit. And again, by means of them, he cleared out and cleaned with spades and mattocks, the admonitory words of doctrine, the souls which a little while before had been covered with filth and burdened with every kind of matter and rubbish of impious ordinances. And when he had made the ground of all your minds clean and clear, he finally committed it to this all-wise and God-beloved ruler, who, being endowed with judgment and prudence, as well as with other gifts, and being able to examine and discriminate accurately the minds of those committed to his charge, from the first day, so to speak, down to the present, has not ceased to build. Now he has supplied the brilliant gold, again the refined and unalloyed silver, and the precious and costly stones in all of you, so that again is fulfilled for you in facts a sacred and mystic prophecy which says, Behold, I make thy stone a carbuncle, and thy foundations of sapphire, and thy battlements of jasper, and thy gates of crystals, and thy wall of chosen stones, and all thy sons shall be taught of God, and thy children shall enjoy complete peace, and in righteousness shall thou be built. Building therefore in righteousness he divided the whole people according to their strength. With some he fortified only the outer enclosure, walling it up with unfeigned faith. Such were the great mass of the people who were incapable of bearing a greater structure. Others he permitted to enter the building, commanding them to stand at the door and act as guides for those who should come in. These may be not unfitly compared to the vestibules of the temple. Others he supported by the first pillars which are placed without about the quadrangular hall, initiating them into the first elements of the letter of the four gospels. Still others he joined together about the basilica on both sides. These are the catechumens who are still advancing and progressing, and are not far separated from the inmost view of divine things granted to the faithful. Taking from among these the pure souls that have been cleansed like gold by divine washing, he then supports them by pillars, much better than those without, made from the inner and mystic teachings of the scripture and illumines them by windows. Adorning the whole temple with a great vestibule of the glory of the one universal king and only God, and placing on either side of the authority of the Father Christ and the Holy Spirit as second lights, he exhibits abundantly and gloriously throughout the entire building the clearness and splendor of the truth of the rest in all its details. And having selected from every quarter the living and moving and well-prepared stones of the souls, he constructs out of them all the great and royal house, splendid and full of light both within and without, for not only soul and understanding, but their body also is made glorious by the blooming ornament of purity and modesty. And in this temple there are also thrones, and a great number of seats and benches in all those souls in which sit the Holy Spirit's gifts, such as were anciently seen by the sacred apostles and those who were with them when there appeared unto them tongues parting asunder, like as of fire, and sat upon each one of them. But in the leader of all it is reasonable to suppose that Christ himself dwells in his fullness, and in those that occupy the second rank after him, in proportion as each is able to contain the power of Christ and of the Holy Spirit. And the souls of some of these, namely who are committed to each of them for instruction and care, may be seats for angels. But the great and august and unique altar, what else could this be than the pure holy of holies of the soul of the common priest of all? Standing at the right of it, Jesus himself, the great high priest of the universe, the only begotten of God, receives with bright eye and extended hand the sweet incense from all, and the bloodless and immaterial sacrifices offered in their prayers, and bears them to the heavenly Father and God of the universe. And he himself first worships him, and alone gives to the Father the reverence which is his due, beseeching him also to continue always kind and propitious to us all. Such is the great temple which the great creator of the universe, the word, has built throughout the entire world, making it an intellectual image upon earth of those things which lie above the vault of heaven, so that throughout the whole creation, including rational beings on earth, his Father might be honored and adored. But the region above the heavens, with the models of earthly things which are there, and the so called Jerusalem above, and the heavenly Mount of Zion, and the super mundane city of the living God, in which innumerable choirs of angels and the church of the first born, whose names are written in heaven, praise their maker and the supreme ruler of the universe with hymns of praise unutterable and incomprehensible to us, who that is mortal is able worthily to celebrate this, for I hath not seen nor ear heard, neither hath entered into the heart of men those things which God hath prepared for them that love him. Since we, men, children and women, small and great, are already in part partakers of these things, let us not cease altogether, with one spirit and one soul, to confess and praise the author of such great benefits to us, who forgiveth all our iniquities, who healeth all our diseases, who redeemeth our life from destruction, who crowneth us with mercy and compassion, who satisfieth our desires with good things. We hath not dealt with us according to our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities, for as far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our iniquities from us, like as a father pityeth his own children, so the Lord pityeth them that fear him. Rekindling these thoughts in our memories, both now and during all time to come, and contemplating in our mind night and day, in every hour and with every breath, so to speak, the author and ruler of the present festival, and of this bright and most splendid day, let us love and adore him with every power of the soul, and now rising, let us beseech him with loud voice to shelter and preserve us to the end in his fold, granting his unbroken and unshaken peace for ever, in Christ Jesus our Saviour, through whom be the glory unto him for ever and ever. Amen. Chapter 5. Copies of Imperial Laws Let us finally subjoin the translations from the Roman tongue of the imperial decrees of Constantine and Licinius. Copy of imperial decrees translated from the Roman tongue. Perceiving long ago that religious liberty ought not to be denied, but that it ought to be granted to the judgment and desire of each individual to perform his religious duties according to his own choice, we had given orders that every man, Christians as well as others, should preserve the faith of his own sect and religion. But since in that rescript, in which such liberty was granted them, many and various conditions seemed clearly added, some of them it may be, after a little retired from such observance. When I, Constantine Augustus and I, Licinius Augustus, came under favourable auspices to Milan, and took under consideration everything which pertained to the common wheel and prosperity, we resolved, among other things, or rather first of all, to make such decrees as seemed in many respects for the benefit of everyone, namely, such as should preserve reverence and piety toward the deity. We resolved, that is, to grant both to the Christians and to all men freedom to follow the religion which they choose, that whatever heavenly divinity exists may be propitious to us and to all that live under our government. We have, therefore, determined, with sound and upright purpose, that liberty is to be denied to no one to choose and to follow the religious observances of the Christians, but that to each one freedom is to be given to devote his mind to that religion which he may think adapted to himself, in order that the deity may exhibit to us in all things his accustomed care and favour. It was fitting that we should write that this is our pleasure, that those conditions being entirely left out which were contained in our former letter concerning the Christians which was sent to your devotedness, everything that seemed very severe and foreign to our mildness may be annulled, and that now everyone who has the same desire to observe the religion of the Christians may do so without molestation. We have resolved to communicate this most fully to thy care, in order that thou mayest know that we have granted to these same Christians freedom and full liberty to observe their own religion. Since this has been granted freely by us to them, thy devotedness perceives that liberty is granted to others also who may wish to follow their own religious observances, it being clearly in accordance with the tranquility of our times that each one should have the liberty of choosing and worshipping whatever deity he pleases. This has been done by us in order that we might not seem in any way to discriminate against any rank or religion. And we decree still further in regard to the Christians that their places in which they were formerly accustomed to assemble, and concerning which in the former letter sent to thy devotedness a different command was given, if it appear that any have bought them either from our treasury or from any other person, shall be restored to the said Christians without demanding money or any other equivalent with no delay or hesitation. If any happen to have received the said places as a gift, they shall restore them as quickly as possible to these same Christians, with the understanding that if those who have bought these places or those who have received them as a gift demand anything from our bounty, they may go to the judge of the district that provision may be made for them by our clemency. All these things are to be granted to the society of Christians by your care immediately and without any delay. And since the said Christians are known to have possessed not only those places in which they were accustomed to assemble, but also other places, belonging not to individuals among them, but to the society as a whole, that is to the society of Christians, you will command that all these, in virtue of the law which we have above stated, be restored, without any hesitation to these same Christians, that is to their society and congregation, the above mentioned provision being of course observed, that those who restore them without price, as we have before said, may expect indemnification from our bounty. In all these things, for the behalf of the aforesaid society of Christians, you are to use the utmost diligence, to the end that our command may be speedily fulfilled, and that in this also by our clemency provision may be made for the common and public tranquility. For by this means, as we have said before, the divine favor toward us which we have already experienced in many matters will continue sure through all time. And that the terms of this are gracious ordinance may be known to all, it is expected that this which we have written will be published everywhere by you and brought to the knowledge of all, in order that this gracious ordinance of ours may remain unknown to no one. Copy of another imperial decree which they issued, indicating that the grant was made to the Catholic Church alone. Greeting to thee, our most esteemed annualinus, it is the custom of our benevolence, most esteemed annualinus, to will that those things which belong of right to another should not only be left unmolested, but should also be restored. Wherefore it is our will that when thou receivest this letter, if any such things belong to the Catholic Church of the Christians, in any city or other place, but are now held by citizens or by any others, thou shalt cause them to be restored immediately to the said churches, for we have already determined that those things which these same churches formerly possessed shall be restored to them. Since therefore thy devotedness perceives that this command of ours is most explicit, do thou make haste to restore to them as quickly as possible everything which formerly belonged to the said churches, whether gardens or buildings or whatever they may be, that we may learn that thou hast obeyed this decree of ours most carefully. Farewell, our most esteemed and beloved annualinus. Copy of an epistle in which the emperor commands that a senate of bishops be held at Rome in behalf of the unity and concord of the churches. Constantine Augustus II. Miltiades, bishop of Rome, and to Marcus. Since many such communications have been sent to me by annualinus, the most illustrious proconsul of Africa, in which it is said that Caicillianus, bishop of the city of Carthage, has been accused by some of his colleagues in Africa in many matters, and since it seems to me a very serious thing that in those provinces which divine providence has freely entrenched, and in which there is a great population, the multitude are found following the baser course, and dividing, as it were, into two parties, and the bishops are at variance. It has seemed good to me that Caicillianus himself, with ten of the bishops that appear to accuse him, and with ten others whom he may consider necessary for his defense, should sail to Rome, that there, in the presence of yourselves and of Reticius and Maternus and Morinus, your colleagues whom I have commanded to hasten to Rome for this purpose, he may be heard, as you may understand to be in accordance with the most holy law. But in order that you may be enabled to have most perfect knowledge of all these things, I have subjoined to my letter copies of the documents sent to me by annualinus, and have sent them to your above-mentioned colleagues. When your firmness has read these, you will consider in what way the above-mentioned case may be most accurately investigated and justly decided. For it does not escape your diligence that I have such reverence for the legitimate Catholic Church that I do not wish you to leave schism or division in any place. May the divinity of the great God preserve you, most honoured sirs, for many years. Copy of an epistle in which the emperor commands another senate to be held for the purpose of removing all dissensions among the bishops. Constantine Augustus to Crestus, Bishop of Syracuse. When some began wickedly and perversely to disagree among themselves in regard to the holy worship and celestial power and Catholic doctrine, wishing to put an end to such disputes among them, I formerly gave command that certain bishops should be sent from Gaul and that the opposing parties who were contending persistently and incessantly with each other should be summoned from Africa, that in their presence and in the presence of the bishop of Rome the matter which appeared to be causing the disturbance might be examined and decided with all care. But since, as it happens, some, forgetful both of their own salvation and of the reverence due to the most holy religion, do not even yet bring hostilities to an end and are unwilling to conform to the judgment already passed, and assert that those who expressed their opinions and decisions were few, or that they had been too hasty and precipitate in giving judgment before all the things which ought to have been accurately investigated had been examined. And, on account of all this, it has happened that those very ones who ought to hold brotherly and harmonious relations toward each other are shamefully, or rather abominably, divided among themselves, and give occasion for ridicule to those men whose souls are aliens to this most holy religion. Wherefore it has seemed necessary to me to provide that this dissension which ought to have ceased after the judgment had been already given by their own voluntary agreement should now, if possible, be brought to an end by the presence of many. Since, therefore, we have commanded a number of bishops from a great many different places to assemble in the city of Arle, before the callons of August, we have thought proper to write to thee also that thou should secure from the most illustrious Latronianus, corrector of Sicily, a public vehicle, and that thou shouldst take with thee two others of the second rank, whom thou thyself shall choose, together with three servants who may serve you on the way, and betake thyself to the above-mentioned place before the appointed day, that by thy firmness, and by the wise unanimity and harmony of the others present, this dispute which has disgracefully continued until the present time, in consequence of certain shameful strife, after all has been heard which those have to say who are now at variance with one another, and whom we have likewise commanded to be present, may be settled in accordance with the proper faith, and that brotherly harmony, though it be but gradually, may be restored. May the Almighty God preserve the in health for many years. End of Book 10, Part 2 Chapter 6 Copy of an Imperial Epistle in which Money is Granted to the Churches The illustrious Finance Minister of Africa, and have directed him to make provision to pay to thy firmness three thousand follies. Do thou therefore, when thou hast received the above sum of money, command that it be distributed among all those mentioned above according to the brief sent to thee by Hoseas. But if thou shouldst find that anything is wanting for the fulfillment of this purpose of mine in regard to all of them, thou shalt demand without hesitation from Heracleides, our treasurer, whatever thou findest to be necessary, for I commanded him when he was present that if thy firmness should ask him for any money, he should see to it that it be paid without delay. And since I have learned that some men of unsettled mind wish to turn the people from the most holy and catholic church by a certain method of shameful corruption, do thou know that I gave command to annualinus, the proconsul, and also to patricius, vicar of the prefects, when they were present, that they should give proper attention not only to other matters but also above all to this, and that they should not overlook such a thing when it happened. Wherefore, if thou shouldst see any such men continuing in this madness, do thou without delay go to the above mentioned judges and report the matter to them, that they may correct them as I commanded them when they were present, the divinity of the great God preserve thee for many years. Chapter 7 The Exemption of the Clergy Copy of an epistle in which the emperor commands that the rulers of the churches be exempted from all political duties. Greetings to thee, our most esteemed annualinus. Since it appears from many circumstances that when that religion is despised, in which is preserved the chief reverence for the most holy celestial power, great dangers are brought upon public affairs, but that when legally adopted and observed it affords the most signal prosperity to the Roman name and remarkable felicity to all the affairs of men through the divine beneficence, it has seemed good to me, most esteemed annualinus, that those men who give their services with due sanctity and with constant observance of this law, to the worship of the divine religion, should receive recompense for their labors. Wherefore it is my will that those within the province entrusted to thee, in the catholic church over which Caicillianus presides, who give their services to this holy religion, and who are commonly called clergymen, be entirely exempted from all public duties, that they may not by any error or sacrilegious negligence be drawn away from the service due to the deity, but may devote themselves without any hindrance to their own law, for it seems that when they show greatest reverence to the deity, the greatest benefits accrue to the state. Farewell, our most esteemed and beloved annualinus. Chapter 8. The Subsequent Wickedness of Licinius and His Death Such blessings did divine and heavenly grace confer upon us through the appearance of our Saviour, and such was the abundance of benefits which prevailed among all men in consequence of the peace which we enjoyed, and thus were our affairs crowned with rejoicings and festivities. But malignant envy and the demon who loves that which is evil were not able to bear the sight of these things, and moreover the events that befell the tyrants whom we have already mentioned were not sufficient to bring Licinius to sound reason. For the latter, although his government was prosperous and he was honoured with the second rank after the great emperor Constantine, and was connected with him by the closest ties of marriage, abandoned the imitation of good deeds, and emulated the wickedness of the impious tyrants whose end he had seen with his own eyes, and chose rather to follow their principles than to continue in friendly relations with him who was better than they. Being envious of the common benefactor, he waged an impious and most terrible war against him, paying regard neither to laws of nature nor treaties nor blood, and giving no thought to covenants. For Constantine, like an all-gracious emperor, giving him evidences of true favour, did not refuse alliance with him, and did not refuse him the illustrious marriage with his sister, but honoured him by making him a partaker of the ancestral nobility and the ancient imperial blood, and granted him the right of sharing in the dominion overall as a brother-in-law and co-regent, conferring upon him the government and administration of no less a portion of the Roman provinces than he himself possessed. But Licinius, on the contrary, pursued a course directly opposite to this, forming daily all kinds of plots against his superior, and devising all sorts of mischief that he might repay his benefactor with evils. At first he attempted to conceal his preparations, and pretended to be a friend, and practiced frequently fraud and deceit in the hope that he might easily accomplish the desired end. But God was the friend, protector, and guardian of Constantine, and bringing the plots which had been formed in secrecy and darkness to the light he foiled them. So much virtue does the great armour of piety possess for the warding off of enemies and for the preservation of our own safety. Protected by this, our most divinely favoured emperor escaped the multitudinous plots of the abominable man. But when Licinius perceived that his secret preparations by no means progressed according to his mind, for God revealed every plot and wickedness to the God-favoured emperor, being no longer able to conceal himself, he undertook an open war. And at the same time that he determined to wage war with Constantine, he also proceeded to join battle with the God of the universe, whom he knew that Constantine worshipped, and began, gently for a time and quietly, to attack his pious subjects, who had never done his government any harm. This he did under the compulsion of his innate wickedness which drove him into terrible blindness. He did not therefore keep before his eyes the memory of those who had persecuted the Christians before him, nor of those whose destroyer and executioner he had been appointed, on account of the impieties which they had committed. But departing from sound reason, being seized in a word within sanity, he determined to war against God himself as the ally of Constantine, instead of against the one who was assisted by him. And in the first place he drove from his house every Christian, thus depriving himself, wretched man, of the prayers which they offered to God in his behalf, which they are accustomed, according to the teaching of their fathers, to offer for all men. Then he commanded that the soldiers in the cities should be cashiered and stripped of their rank unless they chose to sacrifice to the demons. And yet these were small matters when compared with the greater things that followed. Why is it necessary to relate minutely and in detail all that was done by the hater of God, and to recount how this most lawless man invented unlawful laws? He passed an ordinance that no one should exercise humanity toward the sufferers in prison by giving them food, and that none should show mercy to those that were perishing of hunger in bonds. That no one should in any way be kind or do any good act, even though moved by nature herself to sympathize with one's neighbors. And this was indeed an openly shameful and most cruel law calculated to expel all natural kindliness. And in addition to this it was also decreed, as a punishment, that those who showed compassion should suffer the same things with those whom they compassionate. And that those who kindly ministered to the suffering should be thrown into bonds and into prison, and should endure the same punishment with the sufferers. Such were the decrees of Licinius. Why should we recount his innovations in regard to marriage or in regard to the dying, innovations by which he ventured to annul the ancient laws of the Romans which had been well and wisely formed, and to introduce certain barbarous and cruel laws which were truly unlawful and lawless? He invented, to the detriment of the provinces which were subject to him, innumerable prosecutions, and all sorts of methods of extorting gold and silver, new measurements of land and injurious exactions from men in the country who were no longer living but long since dead. Why is it necessary to speak at length of the banishments which, in addition to these things, this enemy of mankind inflicted upon those who had done no wrong, the expatriations of men of noble birth and high reputation, whose young wives he snatched from them and consigned to certain baser fellows of his own, to be shamefully abused by them, and the many married women and virgins upon whom he gratified his passions, although he was in advanced age? Why, I say, is it necessary to speak at length of these things when the excessive wickedness of his last deeds makes the first appear small and of no account, for, finally, he reached such a pitch of madness that he attacked the bishops, supposing that they, as servants of the God over all, would be hostile to his measures. He did not yet proceed against them openly, on account of his fear of his superior, but as before, secretly and craftily, employing the treachery of the governors for the destruction of the most distinguished of them, and the manner of their murder was strange, and such as had never before been heard of. The deeds which he performed at Amacea, and in the other cities of Pontus, surpassed every excess of cruelty. Some of the churches of God were again raised to the ground, others were closed, so that none of those accustomed to frequent them could enter them and render the worship due to God. For his evil conscience led him to suppose that prayers were not offered in his behalf, but he was persuaded that we did everything in the interest of the God-beloved emperor, and that we supplicated God for him, therefore he hastened to turn his fury against us. And then those among the governors who wished to flatter him, perceiving that in doing such things they pleased the empeous tyrant, made some of the bishops suffer the penalties customarily inflicted upon criminals, and led away and without any pretext punished like murderers those who had done no wrong. Some now endured a new form of death, having their bodies cut into many pieces with the sword, and after this savage and most horrible spectacle, being thrown into the depths of the sea as food for fishes. Thereupon the worshipers of God again fled, and fields and deserts, forests and mountains again received the servants of Christ, and when the empeous tyrant had thus met with success in these measures, he finally planned to renew the persecution against all. And he would have succeeded in his design, and there would have been nothing to hinder him in the work had not God, the defender of the lives of his own people, most quickly anticipated that which was about to happen, and caused a great light to shine forth as in the midst of a dark and gloomy night, and raised up a deliverer for all, leading into those regions with a lofty arm, his servant, Constantine. Chapter 9 The Victory of Constantine and the Blessings which under him accrued to the subjects of the Roman Empire To him therefore God granted, from heaven above, the deserved fruit of piety, the trophies of victory over the empeous, and he cast the guilty one with all his counsellors and friends prostrate at the feet of Constantine. For when Licinius carried his madness to the last extreme, the emperor, the friend of God, thinking that he ought no longer to be tolerated, acting upon the basis of sound judgment, and mingling the firm principles of justice with humanity, gladly determined to come to the protection of those who were oppressed by the tyrant, and undertook by putting a few destroyers out of the way to save the greater part of the human race. For when he had formerly exercised humanity alone, and had shown mercy to him who was not worthy of sympathy, nothing was accomplished, for Licinius did not renounce his wickedness, but rather increased his fury against the peoples that were subject to him, and there was left to the afflicted no hope of salvation, oppressed as they were by a savage beast. Wherefore, the protector of the virtuous, mingling hatred for evil with love for good, went forth with his son Crispus, a most beneficent prince, and extended a saving right hand to all that were perishing. Both of them, father and son, under the protection as it were of God, the universal king, with the son of God, the savior of all, as their leader and ally, drew up their forces on all sides against the enemies of the deity, and won an easy victory, God having prospered them in the battle in all respects according to their wish. Thus suddenly, and sooner than can be told, those who yesterday and the day before breathed death and threatening were no more, and not even their names were remembered, but their inscriptions and their honors suffered the merited disgrace. And the things which Licinius with his own eyes had seen come upon the former impious tyrants he himself likewise suffered, because he did not receive instruction nor learn wisdom from the chastisements of his neighbors, but followed the same path of impiety which they had trod, and was justly hurled over the same precipice, thus he lay prostrate. But Constantine, the mightiest victor, adorned with every virtue of piety, together with his son, Crispus, a most God-beloved prince, and in all respects like his father, recovered the east which belonged to them, and they formed one united Roman empire as of old, bringing under their peaceful sway the whole world from the rising of the sun to the opposite quarter, both north and south, even to the extremities of the declining day. All fear therefore of those who had formerly afflicted them was taken away from men, and they celebrated splendid and festive days. Everything was filled with light, and those who before were downcast beheld each other with smiling faces and beaming eyes. With dances and hymns, in city and country, they glorified first of all God the Universal King, because they had been thus taught, and then the pious emperor with his God-beloved children. There was oblivion of past evils and forgetfulness of every deed of impiety. There was enjoyment of present benefits and expectation of those yet to come. Edicts full of clemency and laws containing tokens of benevolence and true piety were issued in every place by the victorious emperor. Thus, after all tyranny had been purged away, the empire which belonged to them was preserved firm and without arrival for Constantine and his sons alone, and having obliterated the godlessness of their predecessors, recognizing the benefits conferred upon them by God, they exhibited their love of virtue and their love of God, and their piety and gratitude to the deity by the deeds which they performed in the sight of all men. End of Book 10 Part 3 End of Church History by Eusebius of Caesarea, translated by Arthur Cushman MacGifford