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Chapter 27
The Terrible Events Which Resulted from the Treatment of John. Death of
the Empress Eudoxia. Death of Arsacius. And Further Concerning
Atticus, the
Patriarch, His Birthplace, and Character.
Such were the letters of Innocent from which the opinion which he
entertained of John
may readily
be inferred. About the same period some hailstones of extraordinary
magnitude fell at
Constantinople and in the suburbs of the city. [Soc. vi. 19, 20, vii. 2;
Pallad.
Dialog. 1-3] Four days afterwards, the wife of the emperor died.
These occurrences were by many regarded as indications of Divine wrath on
account of
the
persecution that had been carried on against John. For Cyrinus, bishop of
Chalcedon, one
of his
principal calumniators, had long previously terminated his life in the
midst of great bodily
agony,
arising from the accident that had occurred to his foot, and the
consequent necessary
amputation of
the leg by the physicians. Arsacius, too, died after he had presided but a
very short period
over the
church of Constantinople. Many candidates were proposed as his successor;
and four
months after
his decease, Atticus, a presbyter, of the clergy of Constantinople, and
one of the enemies
of John,
was ordained. He was a native of Sebaste in Armenia. He had been
instructed from his
youth in the
principles of monastic philosophy by monks of the Macedonian heresy. These
monks, who
then
enjoyed a very high reputation at Sebaste for philosophy, were of the
discipline of
Eustathius, to
whom allusion has been already made as bishop there, and a leader of the
best monks.
When
Atticus attained the age of manhood, he embraced the tenets of the
Catholic Church. He
possessed
more by nature than by learning, and became a participant in affairs, and
was as skillful in
carrying
on intrigues as in evading the machinations of others. He was of a very
engaging
disposition, and was
beloved by many. The discourses which he delivered in the church did not
rise above
mediocrity;
and although not totally devoid of erudition, they were not accounted by
his auditors of
sufficient
value to be preserved in writing. Being intent, if an opportunity offered
itself anywhere, he
exercised
himself in the most approved Greek authors; but lest, in conversation
about these writers,
he might
appear unlettered, he frequently concealed what he did know. It is said
that he manifested
much zeal
in behalf of those who entertained the same sentiments as himself, and
that he rendered
himself
formidable to the heterodox. When he wished he could easily throw them
into alarm; but
he at once
transformed himself and would appear meek. Such is the information which
those who
knew the
man have furnished.
John acquired great celebrity even in his exile. He possessed ample
pecuniary resources,
and being
besides liberally supplied with money by Olympias, the deaconess, and
others, he
purchased the
liberty of many captives from the Isaurian robbers, and restored them to
their families. He
also
administered to the necessities of many who were in want; and by his kind
words
comforted those
who did not stand in need of money. Hence he was exceedingly beloved not
only in
Armenia, where
he dwelt, but by all the people of the neighboring countries, and the
inhabitants of Antioch
and of the
other parts of Syria, and of Cilicia, who frequently sought his society.
Chapter 28
Effort of Innocent, Bishop of Rome, to Recall John Through a Council.
Concerning Those Who Were Sent by Him to Make Trial of the Matter.
The Death of
John Chrysostom.
Innocent, bishop of Rome, was very anxious, as appears by his former
letter, to procure
the recall
of John. [Pallad. Dialog. 1-3; Soc. vi. 21; Theodoret, H. E.
v. 34.] He sent
five bishops and two presbyters of the Roman church, with the bishops who
had
been delegated as ambassadors to him from the East, to the emperors
Honorius and
Arcadius, to
request the convocation of a council, and solicit them to name time and
place. The
enemies of John
at Constantinople framed a charge as though these things were done to
insult the Eastern
emperor,
and caused the ambassadors to be ignominiously dismissed as if they had
invaded a foreign
government. John was at the same time condemned by an imperial edict to a
remoter place
of
banishment, and soldiers were sent to conduct him to Pityus; the soldiers
were soon on
hand, and
effected the removal. It is said that during this journey, Basiliscus, the
martyr, appeared to
him at
Comani, in Armenia, and apprised him of the day of his death. Being
attacked with pain in
the head,
and being unable to bear the heat of the sun, he could not prosecute his
journey, but
closed his life in
that town.
Have mercy, O Lord, upon Thy servant
the translator Chester, and on Caryn and Jeff.