Book VI

Ecclesiastical History · Sozomen (Salaminius Hermias Sozomenus)

1. Expedition of Julian into Persia; he was worsted and broke off his Life Miserably. Letter written by Libanius, describing his Death.
2. He perished under Divine Wrath. Visions of the Emperor's Death seen by Various Individuals. Reply of the Carpenter's Son; Julian tossed his Blood aloft to Christ. Calamities which Julian entailed upon the Romans.
3. The Reign of Jovian; he introduced Many Laws which he carried out in his Government.
4. Troubles again arise in the Churches; Synod of Antioch, in which the Nicene Faith is confirmed; the Points which this Important Synod wrote about to Jovian.
5. Athanasius the Great is Very Highly Esteemed by the Emperor, and rules over the Churches of Egypt. Vision of Antony the Great.
6. Death of Jovian; The Life of Valentinian, and his Confidence in God; how he was advanced to the Throne and selected his Brother Valens to reign with him; the Differences of Both.
7. Troubles again arise in the Churches, and the Synod of Lampsacus is held. The Arians who supported Eudoxius prevail and eject the Orthodox from the Churches. Among the Ejected is Meletius of Antioch.
8. Revolt and Extraordinary Death of Procopius. Eleusius, Bishop of Cyzicus, and Eunomius, the Heretic. Eunomius succeeds Eleusius.
9. Sufferings of those who maintained the Nicene Faith. Agelius, the Ruler of the Novatians.
10. Concerning Valentinian the Younger and Gratian. Persecution under Valens. The Homoousians, being oppressed by the Arians and Macedonians, send an Embassy to Rome.
11. The Confession of Eustathius, Silvanus, and Theophilus, the Deputies of the Macedonians, to Liberius, Bishop of Rome.
12. Councils of Sicily and of Tyana. The Synod which was expected to be held in Cilicia is dissolved by Valens. The Persecution at that Time. Athanasius the Great flees again, and is in Concealment; by the Letter of Valens he reappears, and governs the Churches in Egypt.
13. Demophilus, an Arian, became Bishop of Constantinople after Eudoxius. The Pious elect Evagrius. Account of the Persecution which ensued.
14. Account of the Eighty Pious Delegates in Nicomedia, whom Valens burned with the Vessel in Mid-Sea.
15. Disputes between Eusebius, Bishop of Cæsarea, and Basil the Great. Hence the Arians took courage and came to Cæsarea, and were repulsed.
16. Basil becomes Bishop of Cæsarea after Eusebius; his Boldness towards the Emperor and the Prefect.
17. Friendship of Basil and of Gregory, the Theologian; being Peers in Wisdom, they defend the Nicene Doctrines.
18. The Persecution which occurred at Antioch, on the Orontes. The Place of Prayer in Edessa, called after the Apostle Thomas; the Assembly there, and Confession of the Inhabitants of Edessa.
19. Death of the Great Athanasius; the Elevation of Lucius, who was Arian-Minded, to the See; the Numerous Calamities he brought upon the Churches in Egypt; Peter, who served after Athanasius, passed over to Rome.
20. Persecution of the Egyptian Monks, and of the Disciples of St. Antony. They were enclosed in a Certain Island on Account of their Orthodoxy; the Miracles which they Wrought.
21. List of the Places in which the Nicene Doctrines were Represented; Faith manifested by the Scythians; Vetranio, the Leader of this Race.
22. At that Time, the Doctrine of the Holy Ghost was agitated, and it was decided that he is to be considered Consubstantial with the Father and the Son.
23. Death of Liberius, Bishop of Rome. He is succeeded by Damasus and Syricius. Orthodox Doctrines prevail Everywhere throughout the West, except at Milan, where Auxentius is the High-Priest. Synod held at Rome, by which Auxentius is deposed; the Definition which it sent by Letter.
24. Concerning St. Ambrose and his Elevation to the High Priesthood; how he persuaded the People to practice Piety. The Novatians of Phrygia and the Passover.
25. Concerning Apolinarius: Father and Son of that Name. Vitalianus, the Presbyter. On being dislodged from One Kind of Heresy, they incline to Others.
26. Eunomius and his Teacher Aëtius, their Affairs and Doctrines. They were the first who broached One Immersion for the Baptism.
27. Account Given, by Gregory the Theologian, of Apolinarius and Eunomius, in a Letter to Nectarius. Their Heresy was distinguished by the Philosophy of the Monks who were then Living, for the Heresy of these two held Nearly the Entire East.
28. Of the Holy Men who flourished at this Period in Egypt. John, or Amon, Benus, Theonas, Copres, Helles, Elias, Apelles, Isidore, Serapion, Dioscorus, and Eulogius.
29. Concerning the Monks of Thebaïs: Apollos, Dorotheus; concerning Piammon, John, Mark, Macarius, Apollodorus, Moses, Paul, who was in Ferma, Pacho, Stephen, and Pior.
30. Monks of Scetis: Origen, Didymus, Cronion, Orsisius, Putubatus, Arsion, Serapion, Ammon, Eusebius, and Dioscorus, the Brethren who are called Long, and Evagrius the Philosopher.
31. Concerning the Monks of Nitria, and the Monasteries called Cells; about the One in Rhinocorura; about Melas, Dionysius, and Solon.
32. Monks of Palestine: Hesycas, Epiphanius, who was afterwards in Cyprus, Ammonius, and Silvanus.
33. Monks of Syria and Persia: Battheus, Eusebius, Barges, Halas, Abbo, Lazarus, Abdaleus, Zeno, Heliodorus, Eusebius of Carræ, Protogenes, and Aones.
34. Monks of Edessa: Julianus, Ephraim Syrus, Barus, and Eulogius; Further, the Monks of Cœle-Syria: Valentinus, Theodore, Merosas, Bassus, Bassonius; and the Holy Men of Galatia and Cappadocia, and Elsewhere; why those Saints until recently were Long-Lived.
35. The Wooden Tripod and the Succession of the Emperor, through a Knowledge of its Letters. Destruction of the Philosophers; Astronomy.
36. Expedition against the Sarmatians; Death of Valentinian in Rome; Valentinian the Younger proclaimed; Persecution of the Priests; Oration of the Philosopher Themistius, on account of which Valens was disposed to treat those who differed from him more Humanely.
37. Concerning the Barbarians beyond the Danube, who were driven out by the Huns, and advanced to the Romans, and their Conversion to Christianity; Ulphilas and Athanarichus; Occurrences between them; whence the Goths received Arianism.
38. Concerning Mania, the Phylarch of the Saracens. When the Treaty with the Romans was dissolved, Moses, their Bishop, who had been ordained by the Christians, renewed it. Narrative concerning the Ishmaelites and the Saracens, and their Goods; and how they began to be Christianized through Zocomus, Their Phylarch.
39. Peter, having returned from Rome, regains the Churches of Egypt, after Lucius had given way; Expedition of Valens into the West against the Scythians.
40. Saint Isaac, the Monk, predicts the Death of Valens. Valens in his Flight enters a Chaff-House, is consumed, and so yields up his Life.