Vita Constantini

Chapters of the Godly Life of the Blessed Emperor Constantine. 1. First Discourse: Prologue concerning the death of Constantine. Concerning his sons who reigned. Further prologue. Concerning God honoring pious emperors and destroying tyrants. That God honored Constantine. That he reigned piously for more than thirty years as sole ruler, and lived for more than sixty. That he was a servant of God and a conqueror of nations. Comparison with Cyrus, king of the Persians, and Alexander, king of the Macedonians. That he held sway over nearly the whole inhabited world. That he was a pious son of an emperor and left the empire to his sons, who were emperors. Concerning this history being both necessary and beneficial to the soul. That he has now recorded only the God-loving deeds of Constantine. That Constantine, like Moses, was raised in the houses of tyrants. Concerning his father Constantius, who did not tolerate the persecution of Christians by Diocletian, Maximian, and Maxentius. How Constantius the father, reproached for poverty by Diocletian, filled the treasuries and returned the money to those who had brought it. Concerning the persecution by the others. How Constantius the father, feigning idolatry, expelled those willing to sacrifice but kept those resolved to confess in the palace. The same concerning his Christ-loving disposition. That after Diocletian and Maximian had abdicated, Constantius was the first remaining Augustus, abounding in good children. Concerning his son Constantine as a young man, having previously come to Palestine with Diocletian. Constantine's departure to his father because of Diocletian's plots.

The death of Constantius left his son Constantine as Emperor. How, when Constantius was laid out, the armies proclaimed Constantine Augustus. The destruction of the tyrants by brief reminder. That by the will of God Constantine came to rule. Constantine's victories over barbarians and Britons. How he set out to free Rome from Maxentius. That, considering the downfalls of those who worshipped idols, he rather chose Christianity. How, when he prayed, God granted him a vision, a cross of light in the sky at midday and an inscription exhorting him to conquer by this. How the Christ of God appeared to him in sleep and commanded him to use a sign like the cross in wars. Construction of that same cross-shaped sign. Description of the cross-shaped sign, which the Romans now call the labarum. How Constantine, after being instructed, read the divine scriptures. Concerning the adulteries of Maxentius in Rome. How the prefect's wife, for the sake of chastity, killed herself. The slaughter of the Roman people by Maxentius. The magic of Maxentius and the scarcity of food in Rome. The defeat of Maxentius' armies in Italy. The death of Maxentius at the bridge of the river Tiber. Constantine's entry into Rome. Concerning his statue holding a cross and the inscription. Rejoicings throughout the provinces and Constantine's gifts. Honors for bishops and building of churches.

On Constantine's benefactions to the poor and needy. How he attended the councils of bishops. How he also tolerated the Africans. Victories over barbarians. The death of Maximian, who attempted to plot, and of others, whom Constantine discovered through revelation. The festival of Constantine's decennalia. How Licinius was mistreating the East. How Licinius wished to plot against Constantine. Licinius's machinations against bishops and his prevention of councils. Exiles and confiscations against Christians. An order that women not assemble in churches and that the people pray before the gates. That those who did not sacrifice be discharged from the army, and that those in prisons not be fed. On Licinius's lawless acts, greed, and shameful deeds. That he next attempted to instigate a persecution. That Maximian, subdued by a fistula and a worm, wrote in favor of Christians. That Maximinus, after persecuting Christians and fleeing, hid like a slave. That Maximinus, blinded by disease, wrote in favor of Christians. Chapters of the first book.

Chapter headings of the second book. The secret persecution of Licinius, who put bishops to death in Amaseia of Pontus. Demolitions of churches and butcheries of bishops. How Constantine was moved on behalf of Christians who were about to be persecuted. That Constantine prepared for war with prayers, but Licinius with divinations. What Licinius said in the grove while sacrificing concerning the idols and Christ. Phantasms in the cities under Licinius, as if the armies of Constantine were passing through. That in battles where the sign of the cross was present, there the victory occurred. That fifty men were chosen to carry the cross. That of the cross-bearers, the one who fled was killed, but the one who remained in faith was saved. Various engagements and victories of Constantine. Flight of Licinius and his sorceries. How Constantine, praying in his tent, conquered. Humanity towards captured soldiers. Further concerning the prayers in the tent. Licinius' deceit concerning friendship and idolatry. How Licinius advised his soldiers not to fight against the cross. Victory of Constantine. Death of Licinius, and triumphal celebrations concerning this. Joy and public festivals. How Constantine legislated on behalf of confessors. How also concerning martyrs and ecclesiastical properties. How he also restored the people. That he proclaimed God as the cause of good things, and concerning copies of laws. Law of Constantine concerning piety towards God and Christianity, in which are these things. Example from ancient times. Concerning those who were persecuted and those who persecuted. How many evils the persecution caused to those who waged war.

That God chose Constantine as the servant of good things. Pious utterances of Constantine to God and praise of confessors. A law releasing from exile, from the council, and from confiscation. Those in the islands likewise. Those in the mines and those publicly dishonored. Concerning confessors who had served in the army. Releases of free persons given to women's quarters or into slavery. Concerning inheritance of the properties of martyrs and confessors and of those who had been resettled and whose property had been placed in the treasury. That the church is to be the heir of those having no relatives, and that gifts given by them to certain persons are to remain secure. That those holding such lands, gardens, and houses are to return them without the fruits they have enjoyed. In what manner petitions concerning these matters are to be submitted. That the treasury is to return to the churches lands, gardens, houses, and other things. That the martyria and the cemeteries are to be returned to the churches. That those who have purchased or received as a gift ecclesiastical properties are to return them. Exhortations to worship God zealously. How the laws enacted by Constantine were fulfilled through deeds. That he promoted Christians as governors; but if they were Greeks, he forbade them to sacrifice. Concerning laws forbidding sacrifices and ordering the building of churches. Constantine's letter to Eusebius and the other bishops concerning the building of churches, and that the old ones be repaired and larger ones built through the governors. That he wrote against idolatry. Constantine's edict to the provinces concerning polytheistic error, in which there is a preface concerning vice and virtue.

Concerning the father of the God-loving Constantine and concerning Diocletian and Maximian the persecutors. That on account of the oracle of Apollo, as being unable to prophesy because of the righteous, the persecution was set in motion. That while still a young man Constantine himself heard Diocletian, because he heard that the righteous were Christians, writing about the persecution. How many forms of tortures and punishments were dared against Christians. That barbarians received Christians. What justice overtook those who persecuted on account of the oracle. Doxology of Constantine to God and confession concerning the sign of the cross and prayer concerning churches and peoples. That he prays that all be Christians, but does not compel. Doxology to God through the Son enlightening those who err. Doxology again from the service of the world. Doxology to God always teaching good things. Exhortations at the end of the edict that no one trouble anyone. How from the Alexandrians because of the matter concerning Arius questions were stirred up. Concerning the same and concerning the Melitians. How Constantine sent concerning peace and wrote. Constantine to Alexander the bishop and Arius the presbyter. That he was customarily concerned about peace. That he also corrected the questions in Africa. That from the East the matters of piety began. That grieved by the strife he advises concerning peace. Whence the dispute of Alexander and Arius began, and that these things ought not to be debated. Exhortations concerning concord. Not to contend over small words concerning the same. That through reverence he was compelled to weep, being greatly pained, and intending to go to the East he delayed on account of these things.

Persistent disturbance of the inquiries even after this letter. Chapters of the second book.

3. CHAPTERS OF THE THIRD BOOK Comparison of the piety of Constantine and the lawlessness of the persecutors. Further concerning the piety of Constantine, who openly boasted in the sign of the cross. Concerning his image, in which the cross was placed above, and the dragon was struck down below. Further concerning the disputes in Egypt caused by Arius. Concerning the disagreement over Easter. How he ordered a council to be held in Nicaea. Concerning the ecumenical council, at which bishops from all nations were present. That, as in the Acts of the Apostles, they assembled from different nations. Concerning the virtue and age of the two hundred and fifty bishops. A council in the palace, where Constantine entered and sat with them. Silence of the council after Eusebius the bishop spoke. Constantine's address to the council concerning peace. How he united the disputing bishops in harmony. Concerning the faith and the unanimous declaration of the council on Easter. How Constantine feasted with the bishops on the occasion of his vicennalia. Gifts to the bishops and letters to all. Constantine's letter to the churches concerning the council in Nicaea. The same concerning the agreement on the feast of Easter and against the Jews. Exhortation to follow rather the majority part of the inhabited world. Exhortation to be persuaded by the writings of the council. Advice to the bishops returning concerning harmony. How he sent some on their way, wrote to others, and distributed money. How he wrote and exhorted the Egyptians concerning peace.

That he often wrote reverently to both bishops and peoples. How he ordered a house of prayer to be built in Jerusalem at the holy site of our Savior's resurrection. That the godless had hidden the divine tomb with mounds of earth and idols. How Constantine ordered the materials of the idol temple and the mounds to be cast far away. Revelation of the holy tomb. How he wrote concerning the building both to the governors and to Macarius the bishop. Constantine's letter to Macarius concerning the construction of the martyrion of the Savior, that it be built more beautifully than all the churches in the world with walls, columns, and marbles, and also concerning the beauty of the apse, and to indicate to the governors about workmen and materials. How the prophesied new Jerusalem, the church of the Savior, was built. Description of the building of the all-holy tomb. Description of the court and porticoes. Description of the temple of the church, its walls and roofing, beauty and gilding. Description of the double porticoes on each side and the three eastern gates. Description of the hemisphere and the twelve columns and the basins. Description of the inner court and the exedrae and the propylaea. Concerning the multitude of offerings. Concerning the building of churches in Bethlehem and on the Mount of Olives. That Helena, the queen and mother of Constantine, having come for prayer, built these. Further concerning the church in Bethlehem. Concerning the magnanimity and beneficence of Helena. How Helena reverently attended the churches. How, being eighty years old and having made her will, she died. How Constantine buried his mother, and before this honored her while she lived.

How he built martyria in the city of Constantine and removed all idolatry. The sign of the cross in the palace and Daniel in the fountains. That he built churches both in Nicomedia and in other cities. Concerning the church built in Antioch. That he also ordered a church to be built at Mamre. Constantine to Eusebius concerning Mamre. That the Savior appeared there to Abraham. The destruction of idol temples and statues everywhere. The removal of the idol temple at Aphaca in Phoenicia and of its licentiousness. The destruction of Asclepius at Aegae. How the Greeks, condemning the idols, turned to the knowledge of God. How in Heliopolis, after demolishing Aphrodite, he first built a church. Concerning the disturbance in Antioch caused by Eustathius. How Constantine, seeking peace, wrote about these matters. Constantine to the Antiochenes, not to remove Eusebius of Caesarea but to seek another. Constantine to Eusebius, praising his refusal of Antioch. Constantine to the synod, not to remove Eusebius from Caesarea. How he strove to cut out the heresies.

Edict of Constantine against the heretics. Concerning the removal of places of assembly of the heretics. How, when unlawful books were found among them, many of the heretics returned to the Catholic Church.

4. CHAPTERS OF THE FOURTH BOOK: How he honored the majority with gifts and advancements in offices. Remission of the fourth part of the taxes. Equalizations also of the burdensome taxes. That to those defeated in financial lawsuits he himself granted relief from his own resources. Subjugation of the Scythians, conquered through the sign of our Savior. Subjugation of the Sarmatians on the pretext of a revolt of their slaves. Embassies and gifts from various barbarians from him. That he also wrote to the King of the Persians when he sent an embassy concerning the Christians there. Constantine Augustus to Sapor, King of the Persians, making most pious confession to God and Christ. Further against idols and concerning doxology of God. Further against tyrants and persecutors and concerning Valerian who was taken captive. That he saw the falls of the persecutors, but now rejoices because of the peace of the Christians. Exhortations to love the Christians among him. How there was peace for the Christians through the zeal of Constantine's prayers. That he had himself depicted on coins and in images as praying. That he also by law prevented the placing of his images in idol temples. Prayers and readings of the divine Scriptures in the palace. Legislation to honor the Lord's day and the day of Preparation. How he also ordered the pagan soldiers to pray on the Lord's days.

Words of prayer given by Constantine to the soldiers. Signs of the cross of the Savior on the soldiers’ weapons. Zeal for prayer and honor of the feast of Pascha. How he forbade idolatry but honored martyrs and feasts. That he said he himself was like a bishop of external affairs. Further concerning the prohibition of sacrifices, rites, gladiatorial combats, and the formerly unbridled behavior of the Nile. Correction of the law concerning childless persons, and likewise correction of the law concerning wills. That he legislated that a Christian should not be a slave to Jews, and that the decrees of synods should be binding, and other matters. Gifts to churches and distributions to virgins and the poor. Writings and orations by Constantine. That he indicated the measure of a tomb to one of the greedy, to shame him. That he was mocked for his excessive philanthropy. Concerning a treatise of Constantine which he wrote to the assembly of the saints. How he listened standing to Eusebius’s orations concerning the tomb of the Savior. That he wrote to Eusebius concerning Pascha and the divine books. Constantine praising to Eusebius the discourse on Pascha. Constantine to Eusebius concerning the production of divine books. How the books were produced. How the emporium of the Gazans was made a city because of Christianity and named Constantia. That a city was founded in Phoenicia, while in other cities there was destruction of idols and construction of churches. That after proclaiming his three sons Caesars in three decades, he purposed to celebrate the dedication of the martyrium in Jerusalem.

That because of the matters in Egypt he ordered a synod to be held at Tyre in the meantime. Constantine to the synod at Tyre. Of the dedication of the church in Jerusalem

bishops from all provinces were present for the feast. Concerning the reception of them through Marianus the notary and the distributions to the poor and the offerings of the church. Various addresses of the bishops in assemblies and of Eusebius who wrote these things. That he also delivered the description of the martyrdom of the Savior and a tricennial oration later in the presence of Constantine himself. That the synod at Nicaea took place at the vicennalia, and the dedication at Jerusalem at the tricennalia of Constantine. How Constantine did not tolerate someone praising him excessively. The marriage of Constantius his son the Caesar. An embassy from the Indians and gifts. How Constantine divided the empire among his three sons and related the imperial affairs with piety. How he also led them when grown to piety. That having reigned about thirty-two years and lived more than sixty years he kept his body sound. Concerning those who by reason of his excessive philanthropy were given to greed and hypocrisy. How Constantine continued to write until his death. How when campaigning against the Persians he took along bishops and a tent as a form of the church. How after receiving an embassy from the Persians he spent the whole night with the others at the feast of Pascha. Concerning the building of the so-called martyrium of the Apostles in Constantinople. A description of that same martyrium. That in this he also built a monument for his own burial.

A bodily illness in Helenopolis and prayers concerning baptism. Constantine's entreaty to the bishops regarding the administration of the bath. Having received the bath, how he praised God. Constantine's death at midday on the feast of Pentecost. Lamentations of soldiers and officers. Transfer of the body from Nicomedia to Constantinople, to the palace. How even after death he was honored by comets and other things, just as in life. How the army decreed that his sons should henceforth be Augusti. Rome's mourning for Constantine and honor through images after death. Burial of the body by his son Constantius in Constantinople. Assembly in the so-called Martyrium of the Apostles on the occasion of Constantine's death. Concerning the phoenix bird. How they engraved Constantine on coins as ascending to heaven. That God, honored by him, justly honored him in return. That Constantine was more pious than the previous Roman emperors. The chapters of the fourth book.

Eusebius Pamphili's Oration on the Life of the Blessed Emperor Constantine, Book One. Just recently the great emperor was celebrating with the whole human race in the festivities of feasts the cycles of all kinds of decades, both double and triple, and we ourselves, having taken the triumphant one in the midst of an assembly of God's ministers, were honoring him with hymns for the twentieth year, and we had already woven crowns of words for his thirtieth year, and in the very palace we were crowning his sacred head. But now our speech stands helpless, longing to utter something customary, yet at a loss where to turn, struck dumb by the very wonder of the astonishing sight. For wherever it might gaze intently, whether toward the east or toward the west, whether over the whole earth itself or toward the sky itself, everywhere and in every direction it beholds the blessed one present with it in his imperial power. For it sees his sons, like new lamps of his radiance, filling the whole world, and him living in power and governing the whole of life more excellently than before, multiplied by the succession of his children. They previously shared the honor of Caesars, but now, having put on the whole of him in virtue of piety, they have been proclaimed emperors, Augusti, Sebastoi, adorned with their father's embellishments. And the speech is utterly amazed, seeing him who shortly before was visible in a mortal body and was with us and with them, most paradoxically, even after the end of his life, when nature rejects the superfluous as alien, deemed worthy of the same royal houses, possessions, honors, and hymns.

And now, stretching himself out even to the heavenly vaults, he imagines the thrice-blessed soul dwelling with God himself, freed from every mortal and earthly covering, and illuminated by a garment of flashing light. Then, no longer conceiving of it as revolving in the long cycles of time within mortal abodes, but honored with an ever-blooming diadem of unending life and the immortality of a blessed eternity, he stands speechless, as mortal reason is, uttering no sound, but condemning his own weakness, and having decreed silence against himself, he yields to the superior and universal Word to receive the due of hymns of praise. For it is possible only for that immortal Word, being the Word of God, to confirm his own utterances. Through these, having declared that he will surpass with reciprocal gifts those who glorify and honor him, and that he will bring about the destruction of souls for those who have made themselves his enemies and foes, he has from the outset shown the promises of his words to be unerring, having displayed the abhorrent ends of the lives of godless and God-fighting tyrants, and having shown the death of his own servant to be enviable and much-hymned, even in life, so that this too became worthy of remembrance and of monuments not mortal but immortal.

For the nature of mortals, having found as a consolation for a mortal and perishable end the dedication of images, thought to honor the memories of their predecessors with immortal honors by means of votive offerings. And some, by the flowers of wax-melted painting in shadow-drawing, others by fashioning lifeless figures from the carving of inanimate matter, and others by engraving deep lines on tablets and stelae, supposed that they were handing down the virtues of those honored to eternal memories. But all these things were, in fact, mortal, consumed by the length of time, being images of perishable bodies, and not representing the forms of the immortal soul. Nevertheless, these things seemed sufficient to those who placed no hopes of good things after the end of mortal life. But God—God, the common savior of all—having stored up for himself greater goods for lovers of piety than mortal reasoning can conceive, pledges in advance the first fruits of the rewards here, somehow confirming immortal hopes to mortal eyes. Ancient oracles, delivered in writing by prophets, proclaim these things; the lives of godly men, who shone long ago with every virtue, bear witness to them, being remembered by later generations; and the time in our own day has proved these things to be true, in which Constantine, having become the only one of all who ever ruled the Roman empire to be a friend of God the universal king, established for all men a clear example of a godly life. And God himself, whom Constantine honored, standing by his side at the beginning, the middle, and the end of his reign, confirmed these things with clear tokens, having set forth the man as a teaching of godly example for the mortal race.

He alone, then, of the emperors heard of from time immemorial, he set before himself as a kind of greatest luminary and most loud-voiced herald of the unerring piety, and to him alone he displayed the pledges of his own piety through all the good things that had been furnished to him, honoring the time of his reign with three complete cycles of decades and more, and limiting his life among men to twice that, and giving the image of his monarchic power, he showed him victor over every tyrannical race and destroyer of god-fighting giants, who in their mental derangement took up arms of impiety against the universal king himself. But they, as soon as they appeared, in a brief moment, simultaneously vanished, while God, the one and only, having armed his servant with divine panoply against many, through him cleansed the mortal life of the multitude of the godless, and established him as a teacher of piety to all nations, testifying with a great cry to the ears of all that he knew the God who is, and that he turned away from the error of things that are not.

And he, as a faithful and good servant, did and proclaimed this, openly calling himself a slave and servant of the universal King, while God from nearby requited him, establishing him as lord and master, and as the only invincible and unconquered of the emperors from time immemorial, always victorious and ever resplendent with trophies over his enemies, a king so great as no one remembers from hearing of any of the ancients to have existed, so beloved of God and thrice-blessed, so pious and all-fortunate, that with complete ease he held more nations than those before him, and his rule was untroubled down to its very end. Now, ancient story hymns Cyrus of the Persians as having been the most illustrious of all who ever were. But since one must consider the end of a long life, they say he suffered a death not auspicious but shameful and reproachful at the hands of a woman. And the sons of the Greeks sing of Alexander of Macedon, that he subdued countless races of all kinds of nations, but that he came to a swift end before reaching manhood, cut off by revels and drunkenness. This man completed his whole life in thirty-two years, and of these, the time of his reign limited more than a third, and he proceeded like a thunderbolt through blood, mercilessly enslaving whole nations and cities, young and old. And just when his prime was briefly flourishing, and he was terribly mourning his youthful favorites, death overtook him, childless, rootless, homeless, on foreign and hostile soil, as if to prevent him from longer ravaging the mortal race, and it annihilated him.

Immediately the empire was being cut up, each of his servants tearing away some portion and seizing it for himself. But while that man is celebrated with such choruses, our own emperor began from the very point where the Macedonian died, doubled the length of that man's life, and made the span of his reign three times as long. Having fortified his army with gentle and temperate precepts of piety, he advanced against the Britons and those dwelling in the ocean bounded by the setting sun, and he brought over the entire Scythian race, which is divided under the very Bear among countless barbarian tribes differing in kind. And already extending his dominion to the farthest reaches of the south, as far as the Blemmyes and Ethiopians themselves, he did not consider the possession of the lands toward the rising sun foreign, but up to the very limits of the whole inhabited world, as far as the outermost Indians and the surrounding inhabitants of the entire element of the earth, shining with rays of pious light, he held all as subjects—toparchs, ethnarchs, satraps, kings of all kinds of barbarian nations willingly greeting him and rejoicing, sending embassies with their hospitality and gifts, and esteeming above all else acquaintance and friendship with him, so that they honored him among themselves with painted images and dedications of statues, and that Constantine alone of all emperors was known and proclaimed among all peoples. And he, even with royal proclamations here, with all frankness proclaimed his own God.

Then he did not merely accomplish this in words while falling short in deeds, but advanced through every virtue, exulting in all kinds of fruits of piety,

subduing his acquaintances by magnanimous benefactions, ruling by laws of philanthropy, rendering the empire docile and greatly desired by all his subjects, until finally, after long cycles of years, when he was wearied by divine contests of struggles, God honored him with prizes of immortality, crowning him, and transferred him from the mortal kingdom to the endless life stored up for holy souls, having raised up a threefold offspring of children as successors to the empire. Thus the throne of the kingdom descended from father to him, and by the law of nature was reserved for his children and their descendants, extending like a paternal inheritance into ageless time. Now God himself, while the blessed one was still with us, having exalted him with godly honors and at his death having adorned him with exceptional privileges from himself, would be his recorder, engraving the contests of his achievements on tablets of heavenly pillars for long ages. But for me, even if speaking something worthy of the man's blessedness is impossible, and silence is safe and without risk, yet it is necessary, in imitation of mortal outline drawing, to dedicate the verbal image to the memory of the God-beloved, discharging the charge of hesitation and idleness. For I would be ashamed of myself if I did not contribute, to the best of my ability, even if these things are small and humble, to the one who honored all of us through an excess of reverence for God.

I think, moreover, that my writing will be in another way beneficial and necessary for life, encompassing the deeds of imperial magnanimity that are pleasing to God, the King of all. For is it not shameful that the memory of Nero and of those far worse than him, certain impious and godless tyrants, has met with zealous writers, who, having adorned the base subjects of their dramas with elegant expression, have dedicated them to voluminous histories, while we should be silent about those whom God himself deemed worthy to bring together with so great a king—such as the whole age has not recorded—and to come into his sight, knowledge, and converse? Therefore it would be fitting, if for any others, for us ourselves to proclaim to all an abundant account of good things, by which the imitation of noble deeds stirs up desire for the divine. For some, having collected the lives of men not virtuous and deeds useless for the improvement of character, whether out of favor toward some or hostility, and perhaps also for a display of their own learning, have with a boast of words and elegance of speech dramatized the narratives of shameful matters not as they should be, becoming teachers of deeds not good but worthy of being consigned to silence in oblivion and darkness for those who have been fortunate by God’s will not to partake of evils. But for me, the expression of my discourse, even if it falls short of the magnitude of the significance of the things described, would at least be brightened by the mere narration of good deeds; and the recollection of these godly narratives will provide not useless but indeed very beneficial reading for those whose souls are well prepared.

Now, the majority of the imperial narratives of the thrice-blessed one—the battles and military engagements, the feats of valor and victories, the trophies over enemies and the many triumphs he led, as well as his peacetime measures for the correction of public affairs and for the benefit of each individual, the ordinances of laws which he composed for the advantage of the polity of his subjects, and many other contests of imperial labors, those remembered by all—I think I will pass over, since the aim of the present treatise before us suggests that I should speak and write only of those things that pertain to the God-loving life. And although these matters are countless, I will select the most essential and, for those after us, most memorable of those that have come down to us, and I will set forth the account of these very things as briefly as possible, since the occasion now permits us to hymn the truly blessed one with all kinds of voices without hindrance, because it was not possible to do this before, since it had been enjoined not to call a man blessed before his death due to the uncertainty of life's change. And let God be invoked as helper, and a heavenly collaborator for us.

Let the account now breathe. We shall begin our narrative from the very first age of the man, at this point in the writing. An ancient report holds that once a terrible race of tyrants oppressed the Hebrew people, and that God, appearing favorably to the oppressed, caused Moses, then still a child, to be reared in the very midst of the tyrants’ houses and bosoms, and to partake of the wisdom provided among them. But when, as time advanced, it called him to manhood, and Justice, the helper of the wronged, pursued the wrongdoers, then the prophet of God, emerging from those very tyrants’ palaces, served the will of the superior power, becoming alienated in deeds and words from the tyrants who had raised him, while declaring those who were true in speech to be his own brothers and kinsmen, and then God raised him up as leader of the entire nation, freeing the Hebrews from slavery under their enemies, and through him visited the tyrant race with god-sent punishments. This is an ancient report, handed down to the many in the form of a myth, which formerly filled everyone’s ears; but now the same God has granted to us, through fresh sights, clear and visible spectacles of wonders greater than myths, more truthful than any hearing. For in our own time, tyrants who had set out to war against the God over all were oppressing His Church, and in their midst was Constantine, soon to be the tyrant-slayer, a young boy, tender, with the bloom of early beard, like that very servant of God himself, who dwelt at the hearths of tyrants, yet, though young, did not share in their godless ways.

For from that time his good nature, together with a divine spirit, drew him toward a pious life pleasing to God; moreover, paternal zeal also urged him on, calling the boy to the imitation of good things. For his father—and it is indeed worthwhile at this point to revive his memory as well—was Constantius, the most illustrious of the emperors of our time. Concerning him, it is necessary to relate briefly those things that bring honor to the son. For while four men shared the imperial rule of the Romans, this man alone, adopting a manner unshared with the others, cultivated friendship with the God over all. Those who were ravaging the churches of God by siege, razing them from height to ground, destroying the houses of prayer to their very foundations, he kept his hands pure from their abominable impiety, in no way resembling them. And while they polluted the provinces under them with civil slaughters of pious men and women, he kept his own soul unstained by the pollution. And while they, by a confusion of evils, first enslaved themselves to the lawless idolatry of wicked demons and then enslaved all their subjects, he, presiding over the deepest peace for those ruled by him, awarded to his own people the untroubled blessings of piety toward God. Moreover, while the others imposed the heaviest exactions on all men, making life unlivable for them and more grievous than death, Constantius alone, having prepared a painless and calm rule for his subjects, provided assistance from himself that fell short in no respect of paternal care.

And since countless other virtues of the man are celebrated by all, having recalled one or two achievements and using these as evidence for the things left unspoken, I will proceed to the intended purpose of this writing. Now, a great deal of talk was circulating by report about this emperor—how gentle, how good, how exceedingly possessed of the love of God, how because of excessive care for his subjects no treasury of money was stored up for him. The emperor who at that time held the first rank of power sent to him and reproached him for his neglect of public affairs and rebuked his poverty, offering as proof of his argument that he had nothing laid away in treasuries. But he, having bidden the envoys from the emperor to wait, summoned from all the nations under his rule those who possessed abundant wealth, said that he needed money, and that this was the occasion on which each should show his own voluntary goodwill toward their emperor. And those who heard, as if they had long made this their prayer, to show their good zeal, with speed and eagerness filled the treasuries with gold and silver and the rest of the money, vying with one another in ambition for the greater amount, and they did this with cheerful and smiling faces. When this was done, Constantius bade the envoys from the great emperor to become eyewitnesses of the treasuries.

Then he ordered those who had received the testimony by sight to serve the man who had complained of poverty, adding to the statement that these things were not prepared from lamentations or from unjust greed, and that now they were gathered by him, but long ago they had been guarded for him by the masters of the money, as if by faithful deposit-keepers. Now amazement seized them at the deed, and the most philanthropic emperor, after their departure, summoned the masters of the money, and the account holds that they, having received everything back, were told to go home, the men having been received with persuasion and good will. This is one deed bearing a sign of the philanthropy of the one described; the other would contain a clear testimony of piety toward the divine. For everywhere on earth the rulers of each nation were driving out the pious by order of those in power; and from the imperial houses themselves, first of all, the God-loving martyrs underwent the contests for piety, enduring fire, iron, the depths of the sea, and every manner of death most eagerly, so that in a short time the imperial courts everywhere were bereft of pious men; and this especially made those who did it bereft of God's oversight. For together with driving out the pious, they also drove out the prayers on their behalf. But to Constantius alone some wisdom of pious reasoning entered, and he did a deed both paradoxical to hear and most wondrous to perform.

For to all the imperial officials under him, from his own household up to the rulers in authority, a choice was offered: either to sacrifice to the demons and be permitted to remain with him and share in the customary honors, or, if they did not do this, to be barred from access to him, thrust out, and depart from his acquaintance and intimacy. When, therefore, they were divided into both groups, some inclining one way, others the other, the character of each one's choice was revealed. Then the admirable man, uncovering the hidden nature of the stratagem, condemned the cowardice and self-love of some, while highly approving of the conscience toward God in others. And then he declared that those who were betrayers of God were not worthy even of a king; for how could those who had been found ungrateful toward the higher power ever keep faith with a king? Therefore he legislated that these should be driven far from the imperial palaces, while those who were testified to by the truth as worthy of God, he said would be similarly so toward the king, and he appointed them as bodyguards and guardians of the empire itself, asserting that such men ought to be honored first and foremost among friends and household, and valued more highly than great treasuries of wealth. But such is the father of Constantine as is remembered, as has been briefly shown. And what end followed for him, having shown himself thus toward God, and to what degree the God honored by him revealed the difference between him and his partners in the empire, one might learn by applying one's mind to the nature of events.

Since he had given proofs of imperial virtue over a long time, knowing only the God over all and condemning the polytheism of the godless, and by the prayers of holy men he had fortified his entire household, he thereafter completed his life in a calm and untroubled manner, such as indeed is said to be the blessed state of having neither business nor causing it for another. Thus, throughout the entire time of his reign, steering a stable and tranquil course, he consecrated his entire household—his children, his wife, and the company of servants—to the one supreme God, so that the multitude assembled within the imperial palace was in no way inferior to a church of God; with them were also ministers of God who performed the perpetual liturgies on behalf of the emperor. And these things were accomplished in his case alone, when among the rest not even the name of the pious was permitted to exist. In close consequence, the rewards from God followed him, so that he already obtained the primacy of the imperial office. For those who preceded him in time somehow withdrew from power, a sudden change having befallen them after the first year of the siege of the churches, and only Constantius remained, proclaimed first Augustus and Sebastos, at first distinguished by the diadem of the Caesars and having received the primacy among them, and after proving himself in these, he was adorned with the highest honor among the Romans, being the first Sebastos of the four who were later proclaimed. Moreover, he surpassed the other emperors in the blessing of children, having gathered a very great chorus of male and female offspring.

Since he was about to pay the common debt to nature in his ripe old age and was on the point of departing from life, here again God revealed himself as the author of marvelous works, having arranged that his first son Constantine should be present to receive the empire as he was about to die. For this son lived with the partners in the empire, and, as has been said, spent his time among them in the manner of that ancient prophet of God. Already having passed from boyhood to youth, he was deemed worthy of the first honor among them; we ourselves knew him as he traversed the nation of the Palestinians with the elder of the emperors, at whose right hand he stood, most conspicuous to those who wished to see, providing from that time evidence of a royal mind. For in beauty of body and stature of height there was none other to compare with him, and in strength of might he so surpassed his contemporaries as to be formidable to them; yet he took more pride in the virtues of the soul than in the advantages of the body, adorning his soul first of all with temperance, and then excelling especially in education in letters, in natural prudence, and in God-given wisdom. So then, the rulers of that time, seeing the youth proud, robust, great, and full of spirit, and thinking that their associations with him were not safe for them, devised secret plots against him out of envy and fear, refraining from openly inflicting death upon him out of respect for his father.

When the young man perceived this, since both the first and second plots were discovered by God's inspiration, he sought safety in flight, preserving in this also the imitation of the great prophet Moses. And God cooperated with him in everything, providing for his presence at his father's succession. So immediately after escaping the machinations of the plotters, he hastened and arrived at his father's side. He himself was present after a long absence, and at the same time his father's life was on the verge of its end. When Constantius saw his son unexpectedly standing before him, he leaped from his bed, embraced him with both arms, and said that the only grief he had as he was about to depart from life—namely, his son's absence—had now been cast from his soul. He offered a grateful prayer to God, declaring that he now considered death better than immortality, and then arranged his own affairs. After taking leave of his sons and daughters, who surrounded him like a chorus, in the imperial palace on the imperial bed, he handed over the inheritance of the empire by natural law to the eldest of his children, and then rested.

The empire did not remain without a ruler; Constantine, adorning himself with his father's purple, went forth from his father's palaces, as if by a resurrection showing his father reigning through himself to all. Then, leading the procession with his father's friends around him, he escorted his father forward. Countless multitudes of the people and companies of soldiers, some leading, others following behind, accompanied the God-beloved one with all splendor, and all honored the thrice-blessed one with acclamations and hymns. With unanimous agreement they glorified the son's rule as a resurrection of the deceased, and with favorable shouts they immediately from the first cry proclaimed the young emperor as autokrator and Sebastos Augustus. The shouts honoring the son adorned the deceased, and they blessed the child as having been declared successor to such a father. All the nations under the empire were filled with joy and indescribable delight, as if the royal order had not been bereft even for the briefest moment. This end of a pious and God-loving character God showed to our generation in the case of Emperor Constantius. As for the others, all those who attacked the churches of God by the law of war, I judged it not fitting to consign the ends of their lives to the present narrative, nor to defile the memories of the good by juxtaposition with the wicked. The experience of their deeds suffices for the correction of those who have received by their own eyes and ears the history of what befell each.

Thus Constantine, born of such a father, was appointed by God, the governor of the whole universe, through his own agency as ruler and leader of all, so that no man could boast of his advancement except this one alone, while others were deemed worthy of honor by the judgment of others. When he was established in the empire, he first provided for his father's portion, overseeing with great benevolence all the nations that had previously been governed under his father's share, and all the barbarian tribes dwelling around the Rhine River and the western ocean that dared to rebel, subduing them all and rendering them tame from wildness, while restraining others, like wild beasts, he drove them away from his own territory, those whom he saw as incurable for a settled civilized life. When these matters were in order for him, he set before his eyes the remaining portions of the inhabited world, and first crossed over to the British nations, which lay within the ocean under his authority, and after subduing them, he surveyed the other parts of the whole, so as to heal those in need of assistance. Then, conceiving the whole earth as a great body, and next the head of the whole, the imperial city of the Roman dominion, seeing it subjected to tyrannical slavery, he at first deferred its defense to those ruling the other parts, since they were prior in time; but when none of them was able to help, and those who wished to make the attempt suffered a shameful end, he said that life was not worth living if he should overlook the imperial city suffering thus, and he prepared for the overthrow of the tyranny.

He considered well that he needed assistance stronger than military aid because of the malicious and magical sorceries zealously practiced by the tyrant, and he sought God as a helper, ranking the aid of soldiers and military numbers as secondary (for he thought these were nothing without God's help), and declaring that cooperation from God was invincible and unconquerable. He then considered what sort of God he should invoke as helper, and while seeking, a thought came to him: that of the many who had previously grasped at power, those who had attached their hopes to many gods, serving them with libations, sacrifices, and offerings, were deceived at first by flattering oracles and prophecies announcing favorable outcomes, but in the end met no favorable fate, and none of the gods stood by them to prevent them from being subjected to divinely sent disasters; but only his own father, having taken the opposite path from them, condemned their error, and honored the one God beyond all, throughout his life, found him as savior, guardian of his kingdom, and giver of every good. Having distinguished these things in himself and reasoned well, that those who trusted in a multitude of gods fell into greater disasters, so that neither race, nor nature, nor root, nor name, nor memory of them was left among men, while his father's God had given clear and abundant proofs of his power to his father; and also having examined those who had previously marched against the tyrant, who had arrayed their battle line with a multitude of gods but suffered a shameful end.

One of them, indeed, withdrew from the engagement in shame, accomplishing nothing, while the other was slaughtered in the very midst of his armies and became a mere incidental victim of death. Gathering all these things together in his mind, he considered it an act of folly to continue in vain pursuits concerning gods that were nothing and to be led astray after so great a refutation, and he thought that he ought to honor only the ancestral God. He then called upon this God in prayers, beseeching and imploring that He reveal to him who He was and extend His right hand to the tasks at hand. While the emperor was praying and earnestly entreating thus, a most extraordinary divine sign appeared to him, which, had another related it, would hardly have been credible; but when the victorious emperor himself, long afterward, at the time when we were deemed worthy of his acquaintance and conversation, recounted it to us who were setting forth the narrative, and confirmed the account with oaths, who could doubt but that the story should be believed? Especially since the subsequent time provided true testimony to the account. He said that about the midday hours of the sun, when the day was already declining, he saw with his own eyes in the sky itself, above the sun, a trophy of a cross formed of light, and that a writing was attached to it, saying: "By this, conquer." Amazement at the spectacle seized both him and the entire military force, which was accompanying him on his march and was a witness to the marvel. And he said that he was perplexed within himself as to what the vision might be. While he was pondering and reasoning for a long time, night overtook him.

While he was sleeping, Christ of God appeared to him together with the sign that had been seen in the sky, and commanded him to make a copy of the sign that had appeared in the sky and to use it as a protection against the attacks of the enemy. At daybreak he arose and told his friends the secret. Then, summoning workers in gold and precious stones, he sat down in their midst and described the image of the sign, and ordered them to imitate it in gold and precious stones. This sign the emperor himself, God having granted this also, deemed us worthy to receive with our own eyes at a later time. It was constructed in the following form. A tall spear, overlaid with gold, had a transverse bar attached to it, made in the shape of a cross. At the top of the whole, a wreath of precious stones and gold was fastened, and on it the symbol of the saving name, two letters indicating the name of Christ by means of the first characters, with the Rho intersecting the Chi at the middle. The emperor was accustomed to bear this also on his helmet in later times. From the transverse bar, which was fixed to the spear, a piece of cloth hung suspended, a royal fabric covered with a variety of precious stones set together, flashing with the rays of light, and interwoven with much gold, presenting an indescribable beauty to the beholders. This cloth, then, attached to the bar, assumed a proportionate length and breadth.

The upright spear, extending far upward from the lower base, suspended aloft, bore at the very extremities of the depicted fabric, beneath the trophy of the cross, the golden image of the God-beloved emperor down to the chest, and similarly those of his children. Now the emperor always used this saving sign as a protection against every opposing and hostile force, and he ordered that likenesses of it should lead all his armies. But these matters are for a little later. At the time indicated, however, struck with wonder at the extraordinary vision, and judging that he should worship no other god than the one who had appeared, he summoned the initiates of his words and asked who this god was and what was the meaning of the sign that had been seen. They said that he was the only-begotten child of the one and only God, and that the sign which had appeared was a symbol of immortality and a trophy of the victory over death which he had once achieved when he came upon earth; and they taught him the reasons for his coming, setting forth the precise account of his economy among men. He was instructed in these words, but he also marveled at the theophany that had been vouchsafed to his eyes, and comparing the heavenly vision with the interpretation of the words, he strengthened his understanding, persuaded that his knowledge of these things was divinely taught. And he himself now deemed it right to attend to the inspired writings. And having made the priests of God his companions, he thought it necessary to honor the god who had appeared with all manner of devotions. Then, fortified with good hopes in him, he set out to quench the threat of the tyrant’s fire.

And indeed, many were those who had seized the imperial city before him, engaging in impieties and unholy deeds, so that no outrage of foul and unclean action was left undone. For he would separate men from their lawful wives, insult them most shamefully, and send them back to their husbands, and this not to obscure or unknown persons, but he committed these outrages even against those who held the highest rank in the Roman senate. Though he shamefully insulted countless free women, he could not satisfy his unrestrained and licentious soul. But when he attempted the same against Christian women, he was no longer able to devise means for his adulteries. For they would sooner put their souls to death than allow their bodies to be given over to corruption by him. At any rate, one of the women there, the wife of a senator who held the office of prefect, when she learned that those who served the tyrant in such matters had come to her house (for she was a Christian), and knew that her husband, out of fear, had ordered them to take her away, she asked for a brief delay, so that she might put on her customary attire, then entered her chamber, and, being alone, drove a sword into her breast, and died immediately, leaving her corpse to the panderers. By deeds louder than any voice, she revealed to all men, both those now living and those yet to come, that the celebrated chastity among Christians is the only invincible and indestructible thing. Such, then, was this woman.

wives, and would force them to serve his own licentious purposes, and would commit other such outrages. All, both people and rulers, the renowned and the obscure, cowered before such a man, worn down by a terrible tyranny, and even when they remained quiet and endured the bitter servitude, there was no release from the tyrant's murderous cruelty. On one occasion, for a trivial pretext, he handed the populace over to his bodyguards for slaughter, and countless multitudes of the Roman people were cut down in the midst of the city itself, not by Scythians or barbarians, but by the spears and full armor of their own countrymen. As for the slaughter of senators, so great was it, carried out through plots against each one's property, that it is impossible to count, with countless others being killed on various fabricated charges at different times. The crowning evil of the tyrant was his pursuit of sorcery, as he would sometimes rip open pregnant women, at other times search the entrails of newborn infants, slaughter lions, and perform unspeakable rites for summoning demons and averting the war; for through these means he hoped to gain victory. Thus, while tyrannizing in Rome, it is impossible to describe what he did to enslave his subjects, so that even the necessities of life were in the most

scarcity and want, such as those in our time never remember having occurred in Rome before. But Constantine, taking pity on all these things, armed himself with every preparation against the tyranny. First setting before himself God, and calling upon Christ as his savior and helper, and placing before his own soldiers and bodyguards the victorious trophy, that is, the saving sign, he led his whole army, securing for the Romans their ancestral freedom. While Maxentius, trusting more in magical devices than in the goodwill of his subjects, and not daring to advance even as far as the gates of the city, had fortified every place, region, and city that was subject to him with an innumerable multitude of soldiers and countless companies of troops, the emperor, relying on the alliance of God, attacked the tyrant's first, second, and third battle lines, and subduing them all with his very first charge, advanced far into the land of the Italians. He was already very near Rome itself. Then, so that he would not be forced to wage war against the Romans for the sake of the tyrant, God himself, as if by some bonds, drew the tyrant far from the gates, and confirmed by actual deeds, for all to see with their own eyes, both believers and unbelievers, the things that were long ago disbelieved by most as if in a myth, but were recorded as trustworthy in the holy books for the faithful.

Just as once in the time of Moses himself and the godly race of the Hebrews, the chariots of Pharaoh and his power were cast into the sea, and his chosen riders and three-rank warriors were sunk in the Red Sea, so too Maxentius and the hoplites and bodyguards around him sank into the deep like a stone, when, turning his back to the divinely accompanied power of Constantine, he was crossing the river before his march, which he himself had yoked with boats and well bridged, constructing a device of destruction against himself, hoping thus to ensnare the friend of God. But for the latter his God was at his right hand, while the wretch contrived secret devices against himself. Concerning this one could say that he dug a pit and excavated it for himself, and he would fall into the ditch he had made. His labor would return upon his own head, and his injustice would descend upon his own crown. Thus, by God's will, when the devices on the bridge and the trap within them gave way not at the expected moment, the crossing subsided, and the boats, with all their crews, plunged headlong into the deep, and first the wretch himself, then his shield-bearers and bodyguards around him, sank like lead in a strong flood, as the divine oracles had foretold. So that fittingly, even if not in words, yet in deeds like those concerning the great servant Moses, those who won the victory from God might thus hymn and say concerning the ancient impious tyrant: Let us sing to the Lord, for he has been gloriously glorified.

horse and rider he cast into the sea, he became my helper and protector for salvation. And who is like you among the gods, O Lord, who is like you? Glorified among the saints, wondrously performing miracles. These things and all that is akin to them Constantine, at the proper time, similarly to the great servant, hymned with his very deeds to the all-guiding and cause of victory, and then with triumphal songs he entered the imperial city. And all together, both those from the senate and those otherwise eminent and distinguished there, as if freed from prisons, with the entire Roman people, with bright eyes and with their very souls, received him with acclamations and insatiable joy, men together with women and children and countless multitudes of slaves, hailing him with unrestrained cries as deliverer, savior, and benefactor. But he, possessing innate piety toward God, neither puffed up by the cries nor elated by the praises, but conscious of the assistance from God, offered a prayer of thanksgiving.

Immediately he offered a prayer to the cause of victory. With a great inscription and on columns he proclaimed the saving sign to all people, having erected in the midst of the imperial city a great trophy of this kind against the enemies, and having expressly engraved with indelible letters this saving sign as a guardian of the Roman dominion and of the whole empire. At once, therefore, he commanded that a tall spear in the shape of a cross be placed under the hand of his own image, wrought in a statue, among the public monuments at Rome, and that this very inscription be engraved in the Roman tongue in these words: "By this saving sign, the true test of valor, I freed your city from the yoke of tyranny and liberated it; moreover, I restored the senate and the Roman people to their ancient distinction and splendor." Thus the God-beloved emperor, exulting in the confession of the victory-bringing cross, with all frankness made the Son of God known to the Romans themselves. And all at once the inhabitants of the city, together with the senate and the multitudes of the people, as if breathing again after a bitter and tyrannical domination, seemed to enjoy purer rays of light and to partake of a new and fresh life of rebirth. And all the nations bounded by the ocean toward the setting sun, freed from the evils that had previously beset them, rejoicing in bright festivals, continued to hymn the glorious victor, the pious one, the common benefactor, and with one voice and one mouth all confessed that Constantine had shone forth as a common good for humanity by the grace of God.

A royal edict was also spread everywhere, granting to those who had been robbed of their possessions the enjoyment of their own property, and recalling to their own hearths those who had suffered unjust exile, and it freed from bonds and from every danger and fear those who had been subjected to these things by the cruelty of the tyrant. The emperor himself, summoning the ministers of God, deemed them worthy of the highest honor through his care, and by deeds and words he treated the men as if consecrated to his own God, showing them kindness. Indeed, men of humble appearance in their outward garb sat at table with him, but they were not considered such by him, because he seemed to look not at the man visible to the many, but at the God honored in each one. He also took them with him wherever he might journey, persuaded that in this way the God served by them was present to him as his ally. Moreover, he provided abundant assistance from himself to the churches of God, both increasing and raising to a height the houses of prayer, and adorning the sacred places of the church consecrated to God with very many offerings.

He also made distributions of money of all sorts to the needy, and besides these, to those who approached him from outside he showed himself humane and beneficent. For those who were pitiable and cast off, begging in the marketplace, he provided not only money and necessary food but also decent covering for the body. For those who had been well-born but had fallen into misfortune through a change of fortune, he provided more lavish support, offering benefactions with a royal magnanimity to those in such circumstances. To some he granted estates of land, and others he honored with various offices. He cared for orphans in the place of a father, and for widows he restored their helplessness through his own personal solicitude, so that he even joined in marriage to men known to him and wealthy those girls who had been orphaned by the loss of their parents. And he did this while also giving to the brides what was necessary for those receiving them to contribute to the partnership of marriage. And just as the sun rising above the earth ungrudgingly imparts its rays of light to all, so too Constantine, appearing from the imperial palaces at the same time as the rising sun, as if rising together with the heavenly luminary, to all who came before him

the light of his own goodness. It was impossible to approach him without enjoying some benefit, nor could those who hoped to obtain his aid ever fall from good hope. So he was toward all in common. But he devoted special care to the church of God, and when some were at variance with each other in different regions, like a common bishop appointed by God, he convened synods of the ministers of God. In the midst of their assembly he did not disdain to be present and to sit with them, becoming a participant in the matters under discussion, arbitrating the peace of God for all; he would sit in the middle as if he were one of the many, having shaken off bodyguards and soldiers and the whole class of guards, clothed instead in the fear of God and surrounded by the most loyal of his faithful companions. Then, as many as he saw obedient to the better judgment and prepared for a stable and harmonious way of life, he heartily approved, showing himself joyful at the common concord of all; but those who were disobedient he turned away. And when some even grew harsh toward him, he bore it patiently, urging them with a calm and gentle voice to be sensible and not to cause faction. Of these, some departed, shamed by his exhortations; but those who were incurable in their sensible reasoning he left to God, releasing them, himself never conceiving anything painful against anyone.

Hence it naturally happened that the dissidents in the region of Africa were driven to such a pitch of mischief that they even attempted some daring acts, some evil demon, as it seems, begrudging the abundance of present goods and inciting the men to outrageous deeds, so as to provoke the emperor's wrath against them. But envy did not succeed, for the emperor made a jest of what was done and declared that he understood the instigation of the evil one; for the daring acts were not those of sane men but of those either utterly deranged or goaded by the evil demon, whom it was necessary to pity rather than punish; and that he himself was in no way harmed by the madness of the senseless, except insofar as he felt compassion for them through an excess of philanthropy. Thus the emperor, serving the overseer God of all through every action, made his care for the churches untiring. And God, in return, subjected all races of barbarians to his feet, so that he raised trophies everywhere and against all enemies, and proclaimed him victor among all, making him fearsome to foes and enemies, though he was not by nature such, but was the most gentle, mild, and philanthropic of any who ever lived. While he was thus engaged, the second of those who had laid down the imperial office, having contrived a plot of death and being caught, ended his life by a most shameful death. And first of all, his honorific inscriptions, statues, and all other such things customarily set up for honor were everywhere on earth demolished as those of an unholy and impious man.

Then after him, others of his kin, plotting secret conspiracies against him, were caught, the paradoxically revealing all their plans to his servant through visions. For indeed, he often deemed him worthy of theophanies, a divine vision appearing to him in the most extraordinary manner and providing foreknowledge of future events. The indescribable wonders from God's grace, which God himself deigned to bestow upon his servant, cannot be encompassed by speech. Fortified by these, he henceforth passed his life in security, rejoicing in the goodwill of his subjects, rejoicing also in seeing all those under him living a cheerful life, and exceedingly delighting in the splendor of the churches of God. Thus, as he was, the tenth year of his reign was completed. On this occasion, celebrating public festivals, he offered up to the king of all, God, prayers of thanksgiving, like some fireless and smokeless sacrifices. He continued to rejoice in these things, but not in what he learned by report concerning the distressed nations in the East. For a terrible beast was reported to be lurking there against the church of God and the rest of the provincials, the evil demon, as it were, vying to accomplish the opposite of what was being done by the God-beloved, so that the entire empire under the Romans, divided into two parts, seemed to resemble night and day, darkness prevailing over those who had obtained the East, while the most brilliant daylight shone upon the inhabitants of the other portion.

with countless blessings being bestowed upon him by God, the sight of these events was unbearable to the envious spirit, as indeed it was also to the tyrant oppressing the other part of the world, who, although he had been deemed worthy of an alliance by marriage with Constantine, such a great emperor, while his rule was prospering, fell short of imitating the God-beloved and instead emulated the wickedness of the impious, and, having seen with his own eyes the ruin of those whose way of life he followed, he attempted to adhere to their opinion rather than to the friendly right hands of the better. He therefore undertook an implacable war against his benefactor, taking no thought in his mind of the laws of friendship, nor of oaths, nor of kinship, nor of treaties. For the most philanthropic one, offering him tokens of true goodwill, deemed him worthy of sharing in the ancestral kinship and royal blood from the beginning by joining his sister to him in marriage, and granted him authority over all those who had obtained the East; but he, thinking the opposite of these things, devised all sorts of machinations against the better, contriving now one, now another method of conspiracy, so as to repay his benefactor with evils. And at first, feigning friendship, he did everything with deceit and treachery, hoping to escape notice; but his God made the conspiracies contrived in darkness manifest. And when he was caught in his first attempts, he proceeded to second deceptions, now offering friendly right hands, now confirming treaties with oaths.

Then, suddenly repudiating his agreements and again sending embassies with entreaties, and once more disgracing himself with falsehoods, he finally declared open war, and in his madness of mind he set out to array himself against the very God whom he knew the emperor worshipped. First, he quietly began to harass the ministers of God under his own authority, who had never committed any offense against his rule, seeking malicious pretexts against them. Finding no cause and having no ground on which to blame these men, he issued a law commanding that the bishops should on no account communicate with one another, that none of them should be permitted to visit the church of a neighbor, and that they should hold no synods, councils, or deliberations about beneficial matters. This was clearly a pretext for his hostility toward us. For either they had to violate the law and be subjected to punishment, or by obeying the decree they would have to dissolve the institutions of the Church; for it is otherwise impossible for important deliberations to be successfully conducted except through synods. Indeed, the divine canons have prescribed that the laying on of hands for bishops is to be done in no other way than this. And besides, the God-hated one, having resolved to do the opposite of the God-beloved, issued such orders. For the one, honoring the priests of God with reverence for the sacred law and promoting peace and concord, gathered them together; the other, contriving to dissolve what is good, attempted to break up their harmonious unity.

Then, since the friend of God deemed it worthy to receive the servants of God within the imperial palaces, the God-hated one, thinking the opposite, drove all the pious under his authority away from the imperial palaces, and especially gave over to exile the most faithful and most loyal men around him, and ordered those who had obtained honor and offices from him for their former brave deeds to serve others and perform servile ministrations, while already seizing everyone's possessions as plunder and threatening death to those who bore the saving name. Moreover, having a soul passionate and licentious, and committing countless adulteries and shameful obscenities, he despaired of the adornment of temperance in human nature, using evil as a reproach against himself. Therefore he enacted a second law, decreeing that men should not be present together with women at the prayers of God, nor should the female sex attend the venerable schools of virtue, nor should bishops instruct women in pious discourses, but women should choose women as teachers. When these things were laughed at by all, he devised something else for the destruction of the churches, declaring that the customary assemblies of the people should be held outside the gates in the open plain, for the air outside the gates differed greatly in purity from the places of prayer in the city. Since he had no one obeying him even in this, he finally commanded with bare head that the soldiers of the imperial ranks in the city be dismissed unless they chose to sacrifice to the demons.

Thus the ranks of offices in every nation were stripped of God-fearing men, and the very lawgiver of these men was himself stripped of prayers, having deprived himself of holy men. Why need I mention the external matters, how he ordered that no one should show kindness by providing food to those suffering in prisons, nor take pity on those perishing in chains from hunger, nor simply be good, nor do any good deed, even those who by nature were drawn to compassion for their neighbors? And this law was outright shameless and most lawless, surpassing every savage nature, and a penalty was attached to it: those who showed mercy were to suffer the same as those pitied, and those who ministered acts of humanity were to be confined in bonds and prisons, enduring the same punishment as the oppressed. Such were the ordinances of Licinius. Why need I enumerate his innovations concerning marriages or his novelties regarding those who depart from life, by which, having dared to abrogate the ancient and wisely established laws of the Romans, he introduced instead some barbarous and savage ones, devising countless pretexts against his subjects? Hence he devised measurements of land, so that he might reckon the smallest as greater in measure, out of greed for excessive exactions. Hence he made registrations of men who no longer existed in the countryside but had long lain among the dead, procuring shameful profit from this. For his stinginess had no limit, nor was his greed bounded by satiety.

Therefore, having filled all his treasuries with gold and silver and an infinite quantity of wealth, he groaned and lamented his poverty, his soul tormented by the passion of Tantalus. What banishments he devised against those who had done no wrong, what confiscations of property, what arrests of nobles and men of repute, whose wedded wives he handed over to foul servants for the shame of a base act, and how many women, both married and virgin girls, he himself, though already aged in body, assailed—these things I need not prolong, since the excess of his final actions showed the earlier ones as trivial and as nothing. At any rate, the end of his madness was armed against the churches and advanced against the bishops, especially those whom he saw opposing him and whom he considered enemies, friends of the God-beloved and great emperor. Therefore, he sharpened his wrath especially against us, having turned aside from sound reason and clearly gone mad in his mind, neither taking to heart the memory of those before him who had persecuted Christians, nor of those whom he himself had become the destroyer and avenger because of the impieties they committed, nor of what he had witnessed with his own eyes, having seen with his own eyes the chief instigator of evils, whoever that was, struck by a god-sent scourge. For when this man began the siege of the churches and was the first to

the blood of the pious, and a heaven-sent punishment pursued him, beginning from his very flesh and proceeding as far as his soul. For suddenly, in the region of the secret parts of his body, an abscess occurred, then a deep fistulous ulcer, and an incurable spreading of this into the innermost organs, from which an unspeakable multitude of worms bred and a deadly stench exhaled, the whole bulk of his body having been changed from overindulgence into an excessive mass of fat, which then putrefied and, they say, presented an unbearable and most horrible sight to those who approached. And so, wrestling with such evils, he at last gained awareness of what he had dared against the church, and then, having confessed to God, he stopped the persecution against the Christians, and by imperial laws and decrees he urged the building of their churches, and commanded them to perform their customary prayers, making them for him. But the one who began the persecution paid such a penalty. The one revealed by this account, having been an eyewitness of these things and having accurately recognized them by experience, suddenly made a complete forgetfulness of all of them, neither recalling in his memory the punishment of the former nor the avenging justice from the latter. He indeed, as if ambitious in a contest of evils to surpass the first, prided himself on the invention of newer punishments against us. For fire and iron and crucifixion were not enough for him, nor wild beasts and the depths of the sea, but in addition to all these, himself devising some novel torture, he legislated that the organs of light must be mutilated.

Suddenly, then, multitudes not only of men but also of children and women, with their right eyes and their feet crippled by iron and branding irons, were handed over to be tormented in the mines. Because of these things, the justice of God overtook him not long after, when, trusting in the hopes of demons, which he thought were gods, and in countless myriads of armed men, he drew up for battle. At that time, stripped of hope from God, he put off the royal adornment that did not befit him, and cowardly and unmanly, slipping into the crowd, he devised safety in flight, and then, hiding in the fields and villages in the guise of a servant, he thought to escape notice. But he did not escape the great eye of universal providence. For when he hoped that his life would henceforth be secure, struck by a fiery bolt of God, he lay prone, his whole body consumed by a heaven-sent fire, so that the entire form of his former shape was obliterated, only dry bones and skeleton-like images remaining for him. And when the blow of God was applied more violently, his eyes leaped out, falling from their proper place, leaving him blind, and he suffered the very tortures which he had first devised against the martyrs of God, by the most just judgment of God.

And indeed, while still breathing after all these things, at long last even he [Licinius] confessed to the God of the Christians and acknowledged his own battles against God, and he too composed a palinode like the former [Maximinus], confessing in written laws and edicts his own error concerning the gods he had supposed, and testifying that he had come to know the God of the Christians alone by actual experience. Having learned these things by deeds and not by hearsay from others, Licinius clung to the same [evil], as if shrouding his mind in some dark mist. 2. BOOK II. So then the aforementioned man was hurtling down into the abyss of the god-fighters, and pursuing for his own harm the zeal of those whose ruin through impiety he had seen with his own eyes, he rekindled the persecution against the Christians like some long-extinguished blaze of fire, kindling the flame of impiety more terribly than his predecessors. And indeed, like some terrible beast or crooked serpent coiling around itself, breathing fury and god-fighting threat, not yet daring openly because of fear of Constantine to make war on the churches of God under his authority, but hiding the venom of his malice,

He made secret and partial conspiracies against the bishops, and through the machinations of the provincial governors he destroyed the most esteemed among them. The manner of their murder was something strange, such as had never before been known by report. At any rate, the deeds perpetrated in the region of Amaseia of Pontus surpassed every excess of cruelty. There, some of the churches were razed from their heights to the ground for the second time after the first sieges, while others were closed by the local governors, so that no one could gather for the customary assemblies or render to God the lawful worship. For the one who ordered such things did not consider that these rites were performed on his behalf, reasoning with a base conscience that we do everything and propitiate God on behalf of Constantine. And some of his flatterers and sycophants, believing they were doing what pleased the impious man, subjected the most esteemed presidents of the churches to capital punishments; those who had done no wrong were led away and punished without excuse, like murderers. Already some were undergoing a novel end of life, their bodies being cut into many pieces by the sword, and after this cruel and most horrifying punishment, beyond any tragic report, they were thrown into the depths of the sea as food for fish. Thereupon, flights of the pious men occurred again, just as a little while before, and once more fields and once more deserts received the servants of God.

And when these things were proceeding in this way for the tyrant, he then began to consider stirring up a persecution against all, and he was fixed in his resolve, and nothing stood in his way from already proceeding to action, had not the divine champion, anticipating the future, shone forth like a great light in the darkest night and gloom, guiding his servant Constantine to this world. Perceiving that the report of these matters was no longer tolerable, he gathered his prudent reasoning, and blending the firmness of his character with his innate philanthropy, he hastened to the defense of the oppressed, judging it to be pious and holy to remove one man and thereby save the greater part of the human race. For although he showed great philanthropy and pitied even one unworthy of sympathy, nothing more was accomplished, as the tyrant did not at all desist from his evil practices, but rather increased his rage against those under his power, while for those afflicted by him no hope of salvation remained. Reflecting on these things, the emperor, without delay, set out to extend a saving right hand to those who had been driven to the extremes of evil. He made the usual preparations for military armament, and a whole phalanx of infantry and cavalry was assembled for him, and he was guided in all things by the symbols of good hope in God through the aforementioned sign. And knowing well that now, if ever, he needed prayers, he brought with him the priests of God, considering it necessary that they be with him and present, like good guardians of the soul.

Hence naturally the one who had assumed the tyranny, learning that Constantine’s victories over his enemies were procured in no other way than with God’s cooperation, and that the said symbols attended him and were present with him throughout, and that the sign of the saving passion had guided both him and his entire army, considered these things worthy of ridicule, mocking and disparaging them with blasphemous words. He himself kept around him diviners and seers, Egyptian sorcerers and magicians, sacrificers and prophets of the gods he believed in, and then, propitiating with sacrifices those he thought to be gods, he inquired how the outcome of the war would go for him. They, without delay, unanimously declared through lengthy oracles and fine-sounding verses from oracles everywhere that he would be victor over his enemies and prevail in war; and augurs, through the flight of birds, foretold that favorable signs were indicated for him; and sacrificers showed that the movement of the entrails similarly hinted at the same. Elated

Then, with great boldness, relying on their deceitful promises, he advanced against the emperor’s camps, ready as he was to join battle. When about to begin the war, he summoned the chosen among his shield-bearers and honored friends to one of the places considered sacred by them. It was a grove, well-watered and thickly shaded, and in it were set up images of those they considered gods, carved in stone. Having kindled wax tapers there and performed the customary sacrifices, he is said to have delivered the following speech: “Men, friends and allies, these are the ancestral gods, whom we have received from our forebears from the beginning and honor with worship; but the one who leads the opposing battle line against us, having betrayed the ancestral traditions, has chosen the godless belief, honoring some strange god, I know not whence, in error, and with his shameful sign disgraces his own army. Trusting in him, he rushes not only against us, but much sooner against the very gods he has transgressed, taking up arms. Now the present moment will expose the one who has erred in his belief, judging between the gods honored among us and those on the other side. For either, showing us victorious, it will most justly demonstrate our gods to be true saviors and helpers, or if he should prevail over our forces, which are very numerous and for now superior in number, this one god of Constantine, I know not what sort nor whence he comes, let no one henceforth be in doubt which god one ought to worship, but it will be necessary to adhere to the victor and to attribute the prizes of victory to him.

And if the stranger, whom we now mock, should prove superior, let nothing prevent us from recognizing and honoring him, bidding a long farewell to those for whom we vainly kindle our wax tapers; but if our own side prevails, which is not in doubt, after the victory here we shall set out for the war against the godless. Such were the words he addressed to those present; and we who are composing this account later received knowledge of them from those who heard the speeches. Having delivered such words, he ordered the troops to begin the engagement. While these things were happening, a vision beyond description is said to have appeared in the cities subject to the tyrant: for they seemed to see various regiments of Constantine’s soldiers passing through the cities in broad daylight, as though they had prevailed in the battle; and this was observed, though nowhere in truth was anyone visible, a divine and superior power revealing the future through the apparition. When the armies joined battle, the one who had broken the friendly treaties began the war. Then Constantine, calling upon the God over all as savior and giving this as a watchword to the soldiers around him, prevailed in the first engagement; and soon after, he was superior in a second encounter and obtained even greater victories, with the saving trophy leading his phalanx. Wherever this appeared, flight of the enemy ensued and pursuit by the victors.

The emperor, perceiving this, whenever he saw some division of his own army growing weary, would order the saving trophy to be brought there as a kind of victory-bringing remedy, and victory immediately appeared, strength and might, with some divine portion, empowering the combatants. Therefore he commanded that of the shield-bearers around him, those preeminent in bodily strength, virtue of soul, and modes of piety should attend solely to the service of the standard; and they were men not fewer than fifty in number, whose only concern was to surround and attend the standard with a bodyguard, each taking turns carrying it on his shoulders. These things the emperor himself related to us, who were making the written record, at a time of leisure long after the events, adding a wonder worthy of mention to the narrative. For he said that once, in the midst of a battle engagement, when a sudden noise and confusion seized the army, the man carrying the standard on his shoulders became fearful in the struggle and then handed it over to another, so that he might escape the war. But when the one had received it and the one who had stepped aside was outside the protection of the standard, a hurled missile struck him in the belly and took his life. So he lay dead there, having paid the penalty for cowardice and faithlessness, while the one bearing the saving trophy became a guardian of life, so that often, when missiles were shot at him, the bearer was preserved, and the spear of the trophy received the projectiles.

And this was beyond any wonder, that in the very small circumference of the spear the enemy's missiles, arriving, were fixed and pierced into it, but freed the bearer from death, so that none of those performing this service were ever touched. This is not our account, but again the emperor's own, which he recalled to our hearing among other things. When by the power of God he had won his first victories, he then advanced further, moving his army in order. The opposing side's leaders, not withstanding the first onset of these troops, threw down their arms with their hands and submitted themselves at the emperor's feet. He received them all unharmed, rejoicing in the men's safety. Others, remaining under arms, engaged in the clash of war. When the emperor, offering them friendly overtures, found them disobedient, he let loose his army. They immediately turned their backs and fled. Then some of them were slain in the custom of war as they were overtaken, while others, falling upon one another, were struck down by their own swords. Their commander, astounded at these events, when he saw himself stripped of aid from his own men, and that the great multitude of the army and alliance he had gathered was lost to him, and that the hope he had placed in his gods was proved worthless by experience, then endured a most shameful flight. Fleeing with a few companions, he crossed into the interior of his subject territory and was in safety, since the God-beloved emperor did not order his own men to pursue him closely, so that the fugitive might be saved.

He hoped that at some point, perceiving the depth of his evils, he would cease his mad audacity and change his mind to better reasoning. But the one, in an excess of philanthropy, thought these things and wished to bear with him patiently and grant forgiveness to one unworthy of it, while the other did not abstain from wickedness, but heaping evil upon evil, he undertook worse daring deeds, and again grew bold, resorting to the evil arts of sorcerers. And it could be said of him, as of the ancient tyrant, that God hardened his heart. But while he entangled himself in such things and thrust himself into pits of destruction, the emperor, when he saw that a second deployment of war was needed for him, devoted his leisure to his own savior, pitching his tent outside and far away from the camp, and there living a pure and chaste life, offering prayers to God, just like that ancient prophet of God, whom the divine oracles attest pitched his tent outside the encampment. Only a few men, approved by him for their faith and piety, remained with him. This was his custom also whenever he prepared to engage in other battle arrays. For he was slow for the sake of security, and he deemed it right to do everything by God's will. In his leisure, making his supplications to his God, he would certainly also receive theophanies, and then, as if moved by a divine inspiration, suddenly leaping up from his tent, he would immediately order the troops to move and not to delay, but to take up arms even at that very hour.

But they, attacking in a mass, cut them down in their prime, until they had seized victory in the briefest moment of an hour and set up trophies for invincible enemies. Thus, indeed, the emperor was accustomed to conduct himself and his army in the line of battle even long before, always placing his own god before his soul and intending to do everything according to his counsels, and in piety he set the death of the many. Hence he took thought for the safety of his own men no less than for that of his enemies. For this reason, when his own men prevailed in battle, he urged them to spare the captives and not, being human, to forget their kindred nature. And if ever he saw the passions of his soldiers unbridled, he curbed them with a gift of gold, ordering that anyone who took a prisoner of war be rewarded with a fixed weight of gold. And this bait for the salvation of men the emperor's wisdom devised, so that already countless men, even among the barbarians themselves, were saved, the emperor buying their lives for them with gold. These things, then, and countless others akin to them, it was the emperor's delight to do at other times. And at the present time, as was his custom, pitching his tent by himself before the battle, he devoted his leisure to prayers to God, holding himself aloof from all ease and luxurious living, oppressing himself with fasts and mortification of the body, and by this means propitiating God with suppliant prayers, that he might have him favorable and as a helper, and that he might do those things which God would cast into his mind. But he kept a sleepless watch over the common welfare, praying for the safety of his own men no less than for that of the enemy.

Since the one who had recently fled was again pretending with irony to seek friendly pledges and demanded that they be granted to him, offering terms of agreement that were beneficial for life and advantageous for all, the aforementioned one pretended to comply eagerly with the agreements, confirming his faith with oaths, but again secretly gathered a force of armed men, again began war and battle, and summoned barbarian men as allies, and went about seeking other gods, as if deceived by the former ones. And he laid down no memory in his mind of the things spoken to him shortly before about the gods, nor did he wish to recognize the protector god of Constantine, but more and stranger gods were ridiculously sought by him. Then, learning by experience how great a divine and ineffable power there was in the saving trophy, through which the army of Constantine learned to prevail, he advised the armed men around him not to go against it in any way nor to look upon it carelessly as it happened, for it was terrible to be both enemy and foe to its strength, and therefore they must avoid engaging with it. And having arranged these things, he rushed to join battle with the one who, out of philanthropy, hesitated and delayed his own death. So these, trusting in a multitude of gods, advanced with a great force of military might, having set before them the dead images of the departed in lifeless statues; but the other, fortified by the breastplate of piety, arrayed the saving and life-giving sign like a terror and a defense against evils before the multitude of the enemy.

At first he held back, using forbearance, so as not to be the first to begin the war because of the treaties that had been made. But when he saw that the adversaries were persisting and were already laying hands on their swords, then the emperor, indignant, with a single impulse routed the entire force of the enemy and at once carried off victories both over his foes and over the demons. Then, having distinguished the god-hated man himself and those around him by the law of war, he handed them over to the fitting punishment; and the tyrant himself was led away and perished, suffering the appropriate penalty, as did the counselors of his war against God, and those who shortly before had been elated by the hope of seers now in fact learned what sort of god Constantine’s was and confessed that this indeed was the true and only god to be recognized. And when the impious men had been removed, the sun’s rays were henceforth pure from tyrannical dominion, and every portion that was under Roman rule was united, the nations of the East joining the other part, and the whole was adorned as a single body under one head of the whole, with monarchical authority extending through all, and bright gleams of the light of piety provided radiant days to those previously sitting in darkness and the shadow of death. Nor was there

neighbors, he no longer tolerated the delay. Assembling his entire army, he advanced against the enemy, trusting in God as his ally. And when he had conquered, as was his custom, he ascribed the victory not to himself but to God, the sole cause of all good. After this, there was no longer any memory of former evils; everywhere all were hymning the victor alone and acknowledging only his savior God. The victorious emperor, conspicuous for his piety in every way (for he himself had devised this most appropriate title for himself, derived from the victory granted him by God over all his enemies and foes), took possession of the East, and united the whole Roman empire under his sole rule, as it had been in ancient times, inaugurating a monarchy for all by God's proclamation, while he himself steered the entire life of the Roman dominion with a monarchy. All fear of the evils that had previously oppressed everyone was removed, and the peoples in every province and city celebrated splendid festivals, looking at one another with smiling faces and bright eyes, those who had before been downcast. Choirs and hymns taught them first of all to honor the universal king God, and then they extolled the victorious emperor and his most orderly and God-beloved sons, the Caesars, with unrestrained voices. There was forgetfulness of past evils and oblivion of all impiety, enjoyment of present goods and expectation of future ones. Among us too, as previously among those who had obtained the other part of the inhabited world, ordinances full of imperial benevolence were published, and laws breathing piety toward God offered promises of all kinds of goods, granting to the provincials of each nation what was suitable and beneficial, and prescribing what was appropriate for the churches of God.

They were recalling, first of all, those who, for the sake of not worshipping idols, had undergone exile and resettlement at the hands of the provincial governors; and then they freed from public services those who had been enrolled in the councils for the same reason, and they urged those who had been deprived of their properties to recover them. And those who, at the time of the struggle, had been distinguished by steadfastness of soul for God and had been consigned to suffer in the mines, or condemned to inhabit islands, or compelled to serve in public works, all of them at once enjoyed freedom. And those who had been cast out of military rank for their steadfastness in piety were recalled from that disgrace by the imperial gift, which offered them the choice either to recover their own positions and be distinguished by their former dignities, or, embracing a tranquil life, to remain undisturbed by any public services. And those who had been condemned to serve in women's works for insult and dishonor were likewise freed along with the rest. So much for those who had suffered these things; the emperor's edict legislated concerning them. And concerning the property of these same persons, the law gave complete instructions. For the properties of the holy martyrs of God who had ended their lives in confession, it ordered that their relatives by blood should recover them; but if there were no such person, the churches were to receive the inheritances. And the imperial letter decreed that properties previously alienated from the treasury to others, whether by sale or by gift, as well as those left in the treasury itself, should be restored to their owners retroactively.

Such were the gifts sent down to the church of God. To the external peoples and to all nations, the emperor’s magnanimity bestowed other gifts surpassing in number, on account of which all among us, who previously had learned by hearsay of what was happening in the other part of the Roman empire and had counted those who were well off as blessed, setting themselves the prayer that they too might one day enjoy the same, now seeing these things with their own eyes, deemed themselves also worthy of felicitation, confessing that the emperor was something extraordinary, such as the whole age under the sun’s rays had never seen shine upon the mortal race. Such was their opinion. But since everything had been subjected to the emperor by the power of God the Savior, he made manifest to all the provider of good things to himself, and testified that that one, not himself, should be considered the cause of the victories, and he proclaimed this very thing through characters of both the Roman and Greek tongue in a writing dispatched to each nation. You would learn the virtue of the speech by applying yourself to the letters themselves. There were two of these, one sent to the churches of God, the other to the external peoples in each city, which, being appropriate to the present subject, it seems to me should be inserted, so that through the history the exposition of this document might remain and be preserved for those after us, both for the sake of truth and as confirmation of our narratives. It is taken from the authentic copy of the imperial law preserved among us, to which the written subscription of his right hand, like a seal, marks the testimony of the confirmation of the words. Victor Constantinus Maximus Augustus to the provincials of Palestine.

The difference was manifest from above and long ago among those who rightly and prudently hold opinions about the superior being, and it removed all doubt from afar, by as much as the precise observance concerning the most venerable worship of Christianity differed in the middle from those who were hostile to it and wished to hold it in contempt. But now, even more, by more conspicuous deeds and more brilliant achievements, the irrationality of doubt has been demonstrated, and how great is the power of the great God, when to those who faithfully revere the most holy law and dare to violate none of its precepts, abundant goods and the best strength for their undertakings meet them with good hopes, while for those who have adopted the impious opinion, the outcomes were consistent with their choices. For who could obtain any good, neither knowing the God who is the cause of goods nor wishing to offer the proper reverence? And the works give faith to what has been said.

If, then, one were to run back in thought to the times extending from above until now and observe with reason all the deeds that have ever occurred, one would find that all those who laid a just and good foundation for their affairs brought their undertakings to a good and successful conclusion, and, as from a sweet root, reaped also sweet fruit, while those who attempted unjust ventures and either madly raged senselessly against the higher power or took no pious thought for the human race, but dared many such things as exiles, dishonors, confiscations, and slaughters, and never repented nor turned their mind to better things, met with equal and reciprocal consequences. And this would not happen unreasonably nor without logic. For all those who approach their actions with a just mind and continually keep the fear of the higher power in their thoughts, preserving a firm faith in him, and do not consider present fears and dangers more worthy than those future hopes, even if for a time they experience some difficulties, because they believe that greater honors are stored up for themselves, they bear even what befalls them not heavily, but obtain so much more brilliant glory as they have experienced heavier hardships.

But those who either dishonorably disregarded justice or failed to recognize the superior, and dared to subject those who faithfully pursued it to insults and incurable punishments, and did not judge themselves wretched for the pretexts on account of which they inflicted such punishments, but deemed happy and blessed those who preserved piety toward the superior even in such circumstances—of these, many armies fell, many were turned to flight, and every battle array of theirs ended in the most shameful defeat. From such things arise grievous wars, from such things come utterly destructive ravages, hence come shortages of necessities, and a multitude of impending evils, hence the leaders of such great impiety either endured the worst and suffered a completely destructive death, or, living a most shameful life, found it heavier than death, and received punishments as if measured to their injustices. For each found as much calamity as he thought to war against the divine law.

by irrationality were led, so that not only were the burdens of life heavy for them, but they also feared something more terrible than the punishments of the underworld. When such a grievous impiety held sway over human affairs, and the commonwealth, as if by a pestilential disease, was in danger of utter destruction and in need of much saving remedy, what relief did the divine conceive, what deliverance from these evils? That must certainly be understood as divine which alone truly exists and has enduring power over all time. It is surely no boast to speak reverently while acknowledging the beneficence of the superior. He sought and judged my service suitable to his own will, he who, beginning from that sea near the Britons and from the regions where the sun is ordained by some higher necessity to set, repelling and dispersing all the evils that beset everything, so that at once the human race might be recalled to the service of the most holy law, instructed by my ministry, and at once the blessed faith might increase under the guidance of the superior (for I would never be ungrateful for the grace owed, having entrusted this as the best service, this as a gift pleasing to myself), I have advanced even to the eastern regions, which, oppressed by heavier calamities, called for greater care from us. And I have firmly believed that my whole soul and every breath I draw, and whatever revolves in the innermost recesses of my mind, all this is owed by us to the greatest God.

I know well that those who have rightly pursued the heavenly hope and have established it as a special and secure foundation in the divine realms have no need of human goodwill, enjoying as they do greater honors to the extent that they have separated themselves from earthly weaknesses and terrors. Nevertheless, I think it is fitting for us to keep as far as possible from them the compulsions applied to them for a time and the undeserved tortures inflicted on those who were neither guilty nor responsible. For what could be more absurd than that, while the persecutors who eagerly sought to test these men for the sake of their service to the divine sufficiently recognized the endurance and firmness of their soul, the servant of God should not raise their glory to a more brilliant and blessed form? Therefore, all those who either exchanged their homeland for exile because they did not neglect their faith in the divine, to which they dedicated themselves with whole souls, having been subjected to the harsh judgments of magistrates at the times each encountered; or those who were enrolled in the lists of councillors, not fulfilling the previous number of these, having been restored to their ancestral lands and to their customary leisure, bearing thank-offerings to the liberator of all, God; or those who were deprived of their possessions and, struck by the loss of all their existing property, have lived until now a most dejected life, having been restored to their ancient dwellings, families, and properties, might enjoy the beneficence of the Superior.

Moreover, we command that even those who dwell on islands against their will should enjoy this provision, so that, enclosed by rough terrain and surrounding sea, they may be freed from their grim and inhuman desolation and restore themselves to their loved ones, fulfilling their longed-for desire. They have for a long time lived a wretched life with some kind of abominable filth, making their return as if it were a prize, and freed from cares for the future. For to live under us in fear—we who boast and believe ourselves to be servants of God—would be among the most absurd things even to hear of, let alone to believe; we are by nature those who correct even the errors of others. As for those who have been condemned to labor in wretched mines or to perform services in public works, exchanging their unremitting toils for sweet leisure, they now live a life lighter even than that of those who already live with authority, having dissolved the excessive unpleasantness of their labors into gentle ease. And if there are any who have fallen from common freedom of speech and, having suffered misfortune, have incurred dishonor, as if separated by a long sojourn abroad, let them take up their former rank and hasten to their own homelands with due joy. Moreover, for those who were once examined in military ranks but fell from them because of a harsh and unjust pretext—since they confessed that knowing the better was more honorable than the rank they held—let it be according to their wish either to remain in the military, content with the position they had, or to lead a free leisure with an honorable discharge.

It would be fitting and consistent that he who has displayed such magnanimity and endurance in the face of the dangers brought against him should also enjoy, if he wishes, both leisure and honor in accordance with his choice. Moreover, as for those who, being forcibly deprived of their nobility, underwent some such judgment of the magistrates as to be cast into women's or linen-workers' workshops and endure unaccustomed and wretched toil, or to be considered slaves of the treasury, with their former birth availing them nothing—let these, recovering their customary dignities and rejoicing in the blessings of freedom, live henceforth in all cheerfulness. And he who exchanged freedom for slavery by some unlawful and inhuman folly, often lamenting his unaccustomed services and suddenly knowing himself a slave instead of a free man, let him, taking hold of his former freedom by our command, give himself back to his parents and pursue labors befitting a free man, casting out of memory the servile tasks he formerly toiled at. Nor must we pass over the matter of the properties of which each was deprived on various pretexts.

But if some, having undergone the best and divine contest of martyrdom, were deprived of their possessions with fearless and courageous resolve, or if some, having become confessors, secured for themselves the eternal hope, and all those who were compelled to migrate because they did not yield to the persecutors by betraying the faith, were also deprived of their possessions, or if some, though not condemned to death, unfortunately suffered deprivation of their possessions, we order that the inheritances be assigned to their relatives. And since the laws of kinship designate the nearest kin, it is easy to discern to whom the inheritances belong, and that these would rightly come into the succession, those who were more closely related, even if the deceased had met their end naturally. But if no relative remains who would reasonably be the heir of any of the aforementioned—I mean of the martyrs, or of the confessors, or of the migrants who departed on such a pretext—then the local church in each place is to receive the inheritance. This will not be burdensome to the departed, if the church, for the sake of which they endured all their labors, should become their heir. It is also necessary to add this: if any of the aforementioned gave away any of their possessions to whomever they wished, it is reasonable that the ownership remain valid for those recipients.

But so that no error might appear in the decree, but that justice might be ready for all to know, let all know, whether they hold a plot of land, a house, a garden, or any other of the things previously mentioned, that it is good and beneficial for them both to confess and to restore with all speed. For even if some of them should appear to have reaped much from unjust ownership, and we deem the demand for these things not just, nevertheless, let them themselves, recognizing how much and from where they collected, beg that forgiveness for this transgression be granted by us, so that at once by such correction the past greed may be healed, and at once the greatest God, accepting this as a kind of repentance, may be gracious for the sins committed. For perhaps some who have become masters of such properties will put forward as an excuse, if indeed it is worthy or possible to call them masters, that it was not possible to set aside at that time, when there was a manifold spectacle of all horrors—being cruelly driven out, ruthlessly destroyed, carelessly cast aside, frequent confiscations of the innocent, insatiable persecutions, sales of possessions. But if some should insist on such arguments and persist in insatiable intentions, they will not find such conduct unpunished, especially since in this way our actions serve the greatest God. What destructive necessity formerly compelled them to take, it is now perilous to retain. Moreover, it is necessary by every means to reduce insatiability through reasoning and examples.

Nor will the treasury, if it holds any of the things previously mentioned, be permitted to hold them securely; but, as though it had not dared to speak against the holy churches, it will justly withdraw from those things which it unjustly held for a time, and they will be restored to the churches. And all things that would rightly appear to belong to the churches, whether they be houses, or some lands and gardens, or any other things whatsoever, with no diminution of the right of ownership but with all things remaining intact, we order to be restored. And indeed, as for the places themselves which have been honored by the bodies of the martyrs and stand as memorials of their glorious retirement, who could doubt that they belong to the churches, or would not so order? Since there is no better gift, no more gracious labor, and none that brings such great benefit, than to make earnest effort concerning such things at the prompting of divine will, and that which was taken away through the wicked pretexts of unjust and most depraved men, when justly restored, be preserved again for the holy churches. And since it would be a matter of complete foresight not to pass over in silence those who either by right of purchase bought something from the treasury or held it by gift as granted, vainly extending their insatiable desires even to such things, let them know that such persons, even though they attempted to establish as their own the philanthropy from us toward them by daring to purchase what belonged to another, will nevertheless not fail to obtain this philanthropy in a possible and fitting manner. So much, then, for these matters.

Since it has been shown by the clearest and most evident proofs, through the power of the all-powerful God and through the exhortations and aids which he deigns to provide for me frequently, that the former difficulty which beset all human affairs has been driven out from every land under the sun, you see, both individually and collectively, with zealous concern, what that authority is, what grace it is, which has, so to speak, annihilated and destroyed the very seed of the most wicked and depraved, and has extended the restored joy of the good to all regions without stint, and again grants full authority that the divine law itself be served with fitting reverence, and that those who have consecrated themselves to it observe the proper honors. They, as if emerging from some profound darkness and gaining a clear understanding of affairs, will henceforth show the appropriate service and harmonious honor toward it. Let this be set forth in our eastern regions. Now the first part, as a letter sent down to us from the emperor, prescribed these things. Immediately, what was ordained by the law was put into effect through deeds, and everything was done contrary to what had been dared shortly before by tyrannical savagery, and those for whom these things had been legislated enjoyed imperial gifts. Passing on from these matters, the emperor, acting in reality, set to work. And first, he sent out to the nations divided into provinces governors, most of them devoted to the saving faith, while those who seemed to be Hellenizers were forbidden to sacrifice. The same law applied also to those who held the higher offices.

governorships of offices, both the highest and those who held the prefectural authority. For either he allowed those who were Christians to be distinguished by the title, or he commanded those who were otherwise disposed not to practice idolatry. Then, in succession, two laws were sent at the same time: one forbidding the abominable practices of the ancient idolatry performed in cities and countryside, so that no one should dare to erect statues, nor engage in divinations and other such curiosities, nor indeed sacrifice at all; the other decreeing that the buildings of prayer-houses be raised and the churches of God be increased in width and length, as if almost all men were henceforth to be attached to God, the madness of polytheism having been removed. For such were the thoughts and writings that the emperor’s piety toward God inspired in the local rulers, and the law included that there should be no sparing of expenditure, but that the repairs should be made from the imperial treasuries themselves. And letters were also written to the presidents of the churches in every place, such as he deigned to send to us, dispatching this first letter to our person. Victor Constantine, Greatest Augustus, to Eusebius. Up to the present time, when the servants of the savior God were being persecuted by the unholy will and tyranny, I have believed and have thoroughly convinced myself that the works of all the churches have either been ruined by neglect or, through fear of the impending injustice, have become less than their worth, most beloved brother.

Now that freedom has been restored and that serpent has been driven from the administration of the commonwealth by the providence of the greatest God and through our service, I consider that the divine power has become manifest to all, and that those who have fallen into some errors either through fear or disbelief, having recognized that which truly is, will come to the true and right order of life. Therefore, as many churches as you yourself preside over, or as many as you know of others who preside over them locally—bishops, presbyters, or deacons—remind them to be zealous about the works of the churches, either to correct what exists, or to increase it to greater things, or, where need requires, to make new ones. And you yourself, and through you the rest, shall ask for the necessities from both the governors and the provincial order. For instructions have been sent to them to serve with all eagerness whatever is said by your holiness. May God preserve you, beloved brother. So these things were written to the presidents of the churches in each nation, and the governors of the nations were commanded to do what followed from these, and with great speed the enacted measures were carried out in deed. And the king, intensifying still more his pious teaching toward God, which was refutative of the idolatrous error of those who had prevailed before him, sent to the provincials in every nation, more eloquently urging his subjects to recognize the God over all and to designate explicitly his Christ as Savior.

And this letter, which is his own autograph, translated from the Latin language, it is necessary to include in the present account, so that we may seem to hear the emperor himself proclaiming in this manner to the ears of all men. Victor Constantinus Maximus Augustus to the provincials of the East. All things that are encompassed by the most fundamental laws of nature provide to all a sufficient perception of the providence and contemplation according to the divine ordinance, and there is no doubt that for those who follow the straight path of knowledge, the mind is led to that goal, in that the accurate comprehension of sound reasoning and of sight itself refers, by a single impulse of true virtue, to the knowledge of God. Therefore, every sensible man would never be disturbed seeing the many carried away by contrary inclinations. For the grace of virtue would be hidden in folly, if evil had not set forth opposite the life of perverted madness. Hence, a crown is set before virtue, and the highest God is the arbiter of judgment. I, as far as possible, openly

I will attempt to confess to you all concerning my own hopes. I myself found that the emperors who came before this one were harsh due to the savagery of their ways; only my father practiced works of gentleness, with wonderful reverence invoking the savior God in all his actions. But the rest, not being sound of mind, cultivated savagery rather than gentleness, and fostered it abundantly, perverting the true doctrine in their own times, and the dreadfulness of their wickedness was so inflamed that, although all divine and human affairs were at peace, civil wars were kindled by them. At that time, they said that Apollo, from some cave and dark recess and not from heaven, gave an oracle, that the righteous on earth were an obstacle to his truth-telling, and that because of this the tripods made their prophecies false. For indeed his priestess, letting down her gloomy locks and driven by frenzy, lamented the evil among men. But let us see to what end these things drifted. Now I call upon you, the highest God. I was listening then, when I was still a very young boy, how the one who at that time held the first place among the Roman emperors—wretched, truly wretched, deceived in soul by error—inquired from his bodyguards, being curious, who indeed the righteous on earth were, and one of the sacrificial priests around him answered, saying, "Christians, of course.

He swallowed the reply like honey, and then stretched out the swords found against the crimes against blameless piety. Immediately, therefore, he composed edicts with bloody, murderous points, so to speak, and commanded the judges to extend their natural acumen toward the discovery of novel punishments. Then one could see with what authority that reverence of piety suffered not ordinary outrages each day from the continuity of brutality, and chastity, which no enemy had ever wronged, became a byproduct of the drunken violence of angry citizens. What fire, what tortures, what form of rack was not applied indiscriminately to every body and every age? At that time the earth undoubtedly wept, and the cosmos encompassing all things was stained with gore and lamented, and the day itself was veiled in grief at the spectacle. But why these things? The barbarians now boast of those events, who received those fleeing from us at that time and kept them in humane captivity, that they not only secured their safety but also ensured that their reverence remained safe. And now the Roman race bears this perpetual stain, which the Christians driven from the Roman world at that time inflicted upon it by fleeing to the barbarians. But why must I recall further those lamentations and the common grief of the world? Those authors of the abomination are now gone, consigned to eternal punishment in the chasms of Acheron, with a shameful end.

For they, embroiled in civil wars, have left behind neither name nor race. This would never have befallen them had that impious oracle of the Pythian shrine not possessed a counterfeit power. Now I call upon you, the greatest God: may you be gentle and gracious to your eastern subjects, may you be so to all your provincials crushed by long-standing calamity, extending healing through me, your servant. And I ask these things not unreasonably, O master of all, holy God; for under your guidance I have undertaken and accomplished saving works, everywhere displaying your victorious sign as I led a victorious army. And whenever public need calls, I advance against enemies following the same tokens of your virtue. For these reasons I have dedicated my soul to you, mingled purely with love and fear; for I genuinely love your name, and I revere your power, which you have shown by many proofs and have rendered my faith more secure. I hasten, therefore, to offer my own shoulders to renew your most holy house, which those abominable and most impious men defiled by the outrage of its demolition. I desire your people to be at peace and to remain free from sedition for the common good of the world and the benefit of all mankind. Let those who err, rejoicing, receive the same enjoyment of peace and quiet as the faithful. For this sweetness of fellowship will be able to correct them and lead them to the straight path. Let no one trouble another; let each hold and use what his soul desires.

But those who are right-minded must be convinced that only those whom you yourself call to rest upon your holy laws will live in a holy and pure manner. Those who drag themselves away, wishing to possess the precincts of falsehood—we have the most radiant house of your truth, which you have given according to nature. We pray for them as well, that through common concord they too may carry away delight. For what concerns us is neither new nor recent, but from the time we have firmly believed the ordering of the whole to have been established, together with the reverence befitting you, this was commanded; the human race went astray, led aside by all kinds of errors. But you, through your son, lest evil weigh down further, raised up a pure light and reminded all about yourself. Your deeds confirm these things; your power renders us innocent and faithful; the sun and moon have their lawful course, nor do the stars have a disorderly revolution of the cosmic cycle; the changes of the seasons revolve lawfully; the steadfast position of the earth is established by your word; and the wind makes its motion according to the ordained law; the flow of waters runs forward with a measure of boundless stream; the sea is contained within fixed boundaries; and whatever extends together with the earth and the ocean, all this is crafted with some wonderful and useful refinements. If this were not done according to the judgment of your will, without doubt such great difference and the great distinction of authority would have ruined the whole of life and affairs.

For those who have fought against themselves have more grievously harmed the human race, which they do even when not seen. But great thanks to you, master of all, greatest God; for to the extent that humanity is known by its various pursuits, so much more are the teachings of the divine word established for those who think more rightly and genuinely care for virtue. Yet let no one who prevents himself from being healed attribute this to another; for the art of healing presides over all remedies, lying openly before all. Only let no one harm that which the facts enjoin to be undefiled. Let us therefore all men avail ourselves of the allotment of the given good, that is, the good of peace, clearly separating conscience from everything contrary. But let no one harm another by that which he has persuaded himself to adopt; let him, if possible, benefit his neighbor by what the other has seen and understood, but if impossible, let it be passed by. For it is one thing to undertake voluntarily the contest for immortality, and another to compel by punishment. I have said these things, I have gone through them at greater length than the purpose of my moderation demands, because I did not wish to conceal the faith of the truth, especially since some, as I hear, say that the customs of the temples have been abolished and the authority of darkness removed; which I would have advised to all men, had not the violent uprising of wretched error, to the detriment of the common salvation, become excessively fixed in the souls of some.

Thus the king, like a most loud-voiced herald of God, addressed all the provincials through his own letter, on the one hand restraining his subjects from demonic error, and on the other urging them to pursue true piety.

While he was rejoicing in these things, a certain report was announced to him concerning a disturbance of no small extent that had seized the churches; at this he was struck in his hearing and began to devise a remedy for the evil. The matter was as follows. The people of God were taking pride in and adorning themselves with the king's deeds, and there was no external fear disturbing them, since a bright and very deep peace was fencing the church about on all sides by the grace of God. But envy, it seems, was lying in wait for our blessings as well, creeping in from within and dancing in the very midst of the holy congregations. It set the bishops at odds with one another, having cast in a quarrel under the pretext of divine doctrines; and then, as from a small spark a great fire was kindled, beginning at the summit, as it were, from the church of the Alexandrians, and running through all Egypt and Libya and the Thebaid beyond, and already it was consuming the remaining provinces and cities, so that one could see not only the presidents of the churches contending with words, but also the multitudes being divided, some inclining to these, others to those. And the spectacle of what was happening went so far in absurdity that already in the very theaters of the unbelievers the sacred matters of divine teaching were enduring the most shameful mockery.

Now in Alexandria itself they were wrangling fiercely over the highest matters, while throughout all Egypt and the Upper Thebaid they were divided into factions on account of an older underlying dispute, so that the churches were everywhere split. And as with a diseased body, the whole of Libya shared in the affliction, and the remaining parts of the outer provinces were also sick. For some from Alexandria sent embassies to the bishops of the province, while others, taking the opposite side, shared in the same faction. When the emperor learned of this, he was deeply grieved in his soul and regarded the matter as a personal calamity. Immediately he sent one of the pious men about him, whom he well knew to be approved in temperate life and in the virtue of faith, a man who had been greatly distinguished by his confessions for piety in former times, as a peacemaker to those at variance in Alexandria, and he attached through him a most necessary letter to the authors of the strife, which itself, containing a token of the emperor's care for the people of God, it is fitting to include in the narrative concerning him. It runs as follows: Victor Constantinus, Greatest Augustus, to Alexander and Arius. I call God himself, the helper of my undertakings and the savior of all, as witness that I have had a twofold reason for undertaking this task, as is fitting. For first I desired to unite the disposition of all nations concerning the divine into one consistent state, and second I was eager to restore and harmonize the body of the whole inhabited world, which had suffered as if from a grievous wound.

Foreseeing this, I was considering one thing with the secret eye of my mind, and attempting to accomplish another by the authority of the military hand, knowing that if I established a common harmony among all the servants of God for my prayers, then the need of public affairs would also reap a change concurrent with the pious opinions of all. For since a madness, surely intolerable, had seized all of Africa because of those who, with thoughtless levity, had dared to split the religion of the peoples into different heresies, I, wishing to quell this disease, found no other remedy sufficient for the matter than to remove the common enemy of the inhabited world, who opposed his unlawful opinion to your sacred synods, and to send some of you as helpers for the harmony of those who were at variance with each other. For since the power of light and the law of the sacred religion, given forth by the beneficence of the Almighty as if from the bosom of the East, illuminated the whole inhabited world at once with a sacred lamp, it is fitting that you, as it were leaders of the salvation of the nations

believing that it would come to pass, I attempted to seek it both by the inclination of my soul and the activity of my eyes. At the same time, then, with the great victory and the true triumph over the enemies, I chose first to investigate this, which I considered to be first and most honorable of all for me. But, O most excellent and divine Providence, what a mortal wound touched my hearing, or rather my very heart, signifying that the dissension occurring among you was far more grievous than that which was left behind there, so that your affairs now require more healing than I hoped would come to others from those sources. And as I reflected, the beginning and the pretext of these things were revealed to me as utterly trivial and in no way worthy of such contentiousness. Therefore, hastening to the necessity of this letter, and writing to your like-minded sagacity, and calling upon divine Providence as an ally in the matter, I naturally present myself as a kind of mediator of peace in the midst of your mutual dispute. For if, with the help of the superior power, even if there were a greater occasion for discord, I could easily, by entrusting the argument to the pious judgments of the hearers, turn each thing to a more useful end, how would this, when there is a small and very trivial occasion standing in the way of the whole, not procure for me a more facile and much easier correction of the matter? I learn, then, that the foundation of the present inquiry was laid from that source.

For when you, Alexander, were asking of the elders what each of them thought about some place among those written in the law, or rather about a part of some vain inquiry, and you, Arius, incautiously set forth that which it was fitting either never to have conceived at all, or, having conceived it, to have consigned to silence, from which, when discord arose among you, the synod was rejected, and the most holy people, divided into both parties, were separated from the harmony of the common body. Therefore, each of you, offering forgiveness equally, let him accept whatever your fellow servant justly advises. And what is this? It was fitting neither to inquire about such things from the beginning, nor, when asked, to answer. For such inquiries, as many as no necessity of law prescribes but the idle chatter of useless leisure proposes, even if they occur for the sake of some natural exercise, nevertheless we ought to confine them within the mind and not bring them forth readily into public assemblies, nor entrust them thoughtlessly to the ears of the populace. For how great is each man, that he can either accurately comprehend the force of such great and exceedingly difficult matters or interpret them worthily? And even if someone were thought to do this easily, what part of the populace would he persuade? Or who, outside the dangerous slip, could withstand the subtleties of such inquiries?

Therefore, in such matters one must refrain from excessive speech, lest, either because we are unable to interpret the question due to the weakness of our nature, or because the hearers, with slower understanding, cannot attain an accurate comprehension of what is said, the people should be compelled by either of these into blasphemy or schism. For this reason, both an incautious question and an ill-considered answer should grant each other equal pardon on both sides. For the pretext of your contention was not kindled over the chief of the commandments in the law, nor was any new heresy concerning the worship of God introduced by you, but you hold one and the same reasoning, so that you are able to come together under the sign of communion. For while you contend with each other over small and very trivial matters, it is believed that it is neither fitting nor at all lawful for so great a people of God, whom it is proper to be guided by your minds, to be divided. And to remind your understanding by a small example, you know, of course, that even the philosophers themselves all agree on one doctrine, but often, when they differ on some part of their statements, even if in the

follow the virtue of knowledge, but by the unity of doctrine they breathe together again. If this is so, how much more just is it for us, who are servants of the great God, to be of one mind with each other in such a purpose of worship? Let us then examine with greater reasoning and fuller understanding what has been said, whether it is right that, because of a few and vain verbal quarrels among you, brothers should be set against brothers, and the honor of the council be divided by impious discord through us, who quarrel with each other over such small and utterly unnecessary matters. These things are vulgar and more suited to childish follies than to the understanding of priests and wise men. Let us willingly desist from diabolical temptations. Our great God, the savior of all, has extended the light common to all; under whose providence, grant me, the servant of the higher power, to bring this endeavor to completion, so that I may lead those very peoples of his back to the communion of the council by my address, service, and insistence on admonition. For since, as I said, there is among us one faith and one understanding of our sect, and the commandment of the law encloses the whole in a single purpose of the soul through its own parts, let this thing which has raised a slight quarrel among you, since it does not pertain to the power of the whole law, create no division or sedition among you. And I say this not as compelling you to agree at all costs with that very simple inquiry, whatever it may be.

For the honor of the synod can be preserved for you intact, and one and the same communion maintained for all, even if among you there should arise some partial disagreement with one another over a very small matter, since not all of us wish the same thing in everything, nor is there any single nature or opinion that governs us. Therefore, concerning divine providence, let there be among you one faith, one understanding, one agreement about the better; but as for those minute inquiries you debate among yourselves, even if you do not arrive at a single opinion, it is fitting that they remain within the realm of reason, kept in the secret of the mind. However, let the excellence of common friendship, the faith of truth, and the honor for God and the worship of the law remain unshaken among you. Return then to mutual friendship and grace; give back to the whole people their proper embraces, and you yourselves, as if having cleansed your own souls, recognize one another again. For friendship often becomes sweeter after the laying aside of enmity, when it returns to reconciliation. Therefore, grant me calm days and carefree nights, so that for me too some pleasure of pure light and the joy of a peaceful life may be preserved; but if not, I must groan and be wholly overwhelmed with tears, and not even endure the span of life gently. For when the peoples of God—I mean my fellow servants—are thus separated by unjust and harmful contentiousness with one another, how can I possibly remain composed in my reason? And so that you may perceive the excess of my grief over this:

Having arrived at the city of Nicomedia, I immediately hastened toward the East in purpose. While I was already hurrying to you and was with you in the greater part of my mind, the report of this matter checked my reasoning and turned it back, so that I might not be forced to see with my eyes what I thought could not even be heard with my ears. Open for me, then, the road of the East through your concord, which you have closed by your contentions with one another, and allow me more quickly to see you together and all the other peoples rejoicing, and to acknowledge to the Almighty the thanks owed for the common harmony and freedom of all, with auspicious words of agreement. Now the God-beloved one, through the letter that had been sent, was thus providing for the peace of the Church of God. And he was not only cooperating with the letter, but also with the nod of the one who had sent it, in a good and noble manner, and he was in all things a pious man, as has been said. But it was, it seems, too great for the service of the letter, so that the strife of the disputants increased to a greater extent, and the spread of the evil extended into all the Eastern provinces. These things, then, some envy and an evil demon, begrudging the good of the Church, brought about. Book 3. Now the envious demon, begrudging the good of the Church in this way, brought storms and civil disturbances upon her in a time of peace and joy.

The God-beloved emperor did not neglect what was fitting for him, but did everything contrary to what had recently been dared by tyrannical cruelty, and was superior to every enemy and foe. Immediately, then, those who were estranged from the true God compelled men by every kind of constraint to worship gods that do not exist, while he, refuting by deeds and words that the non-existent are not, exhorted them to recognize the only true God. Then, while they mocked the Christ of God with blasphemous utterances, he, on the very point on which the godless most stirred up their blasphemies, inscribed this very thing as a victorious safeguard, priding himself on the trophy of the Passion. While they drove out the servants of God, making them homeless and destitute, he recalled them all and restored them to their own hearths. While they heaped dishonor upon them, he made them honored and enviable to all. While they unjustly confiscated the property of the pious, seizing their livelihoods, he restored them, lavishing abundant gifts. While they published slanders against the bishops in written edicts, he, on the contrary, by raising and exalting the men with honor in his own esteem, made them more distinguished through proclamations and laws. While they razed the houses of prayer from their foundations, leveling them from on high to the ground, he legislated that the existing ones be raised up and new ones be magnificently erected from the imperial treasuries themselves. While they ordered the divinely inspired scriptures to be destroyed by fire, he commanded that these too be multiplied from the imperial treasuries, increased many times over in magnificent production.

Some forbade the holding of synods of bishops anywhere at all, but he assembled them from all the nations at his own court, and deemed them worthy to be present within the imperial palaces, to proceed even to the innermost chambers, and to become sharers of the imperial hearth and table. Some honored the demons with votive offerings, but he exposed the error, continually distributing the useless material of the votive offerings to those who could use it. Some ordered the temples to be adorned with lavish expense, but he razed to the foundations even those which were most highly valued among the superstitious. Some subjected the martyrs of God to the most shameful punishments, but he pursued those who had done these things, chastening them with the fitting punishment of God, and did not cease honoring the memorials of the holy martyrs of God. Some drove the God-fearing men from the imperial palaces, but he continued to trust especially in these very men, knowing that they were more loyal and faithful to him than all others. Some were slaves to money, their souls enslaved by the passion of Tantalus, but he, having opened all the treasuries with imperial magnificence, made distributions with a rich and magnanimous hand. Some perpetrated countless murders for the sake of plunder and confiscation of the property of those slain, but under Constantine’s entire reign every sword was hung up as useless from the judges, the peoples of each nation and the citizens being governed more by paternal care than by compulsion.

Looking upon these things, one might reasonably say that a new and freshly established life seemed then to have appeared, a strange light suddenly shining from darkness upon the mortal race, and that one must confess the whole work to be God's, who had set up the God-loving emperor as an opponent to the multitude of the godless. For since men such as had never before been seen, and such as had never from the beginning of time been heard of, had dared such things against the Church, God naturally, by setting up a strange instrument, accomplished through him things neither known by hearing nor delivered to sight. And what newer thing is there than the marvel of the emperor's virtue, bestowed upon the mortal race by the wisdom of God? Therefore he continued to preach the Christ of God with all boldness to all, concealing nothing of the saving title, but glorying in the matter; he made himself manifest, now sealing his face with the saving sign, now exulting in the victorious trophy, which indeed he also caused to be seen by the eyes of all in a very lofty painted tablet set up before the imperial gates, having delivered to the painting the saving sign placed above his own head, and having represented the enemy and hostile beast that had besieged the Church of God through the tyranny of the godless as being borne into the deep in the form of a serpent. For the oracles in the books of God's prophets proclaimed him a serpent and a crooked snake.