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The Ecclesiastical History of Theodoret (CCEL)
Chapter III. Second Exile of St. Athanasius. Ordination and Death of Gregorius.
With these and similar arguments, the bishops assailed the weak-minded emperor, and persuaded him to expel Athanasius from his church. But Athanasius obtained timely intimation of their design, and departed to the west. 1 The friends of Eusebius had sent false accusations against him to Julius, who was then bishop of Rome 2. In obedience to the laws of the church, Julius summoned the accusers and the accused to Rome, that the cause might be tried 3. Athanasius, accordingly, set out for Rome, but the calumniators refused to go because they saw that their falsehood would easily be detected 4. But perceiving that the flock of Athanasius was left without a pastor, they appointed over it a wolf instead of a shepherd. Gregorius, for this was his name, surpassed the wild beasts in his deeds of cruelty towards the flock: but at the expiration of six years he was destroyed by the sheep themselves. Athanasius went to Constans (Constantine, the eldest brother, having fallen in battle), and complained of the plots laid against him by the Arians, and of their opposition to the apostolical faith 5. He reminded him of his father, and how he attended in person the great and famous council which he had summoned; how he was present at its debates, took part in framing its decrees, and confirmed them by law. The emperor was moved to emulation by his father’s zeal, and promptly wrote to his brother, exhorting him to preserve inviolate the religion of their father, which they had inherited; “for,” he urged, “by piety he made his empire great, destroyed the tyrants of Rome, and subjugated the foreign nations on every side.” Constantius was led by this letter to summon the bishops from the east and from the west to Sardica 6, a city of Illyricum, and the metropolis of Dacia, that they might deliberate on the means of removing P. 67 the other troubles of the church, which were many and pressing.
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Easter, a.d. 340. The condemnation was confirmed at the Council of Antioch, a.d. 341. ↩
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They were met by a deputation of Athanasians, bringing the encyclical of the Egyptian Bishops in favour of the accused. Apol. Cont. Ar. §3. ↩
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On the bearing of these communications with Rome on the question of Papal jurisdiction, vide Salmon, Infallibility of the Church, p. 405. Cf. Wladimir Guettée, Histoire de l’Eglise, III. p. 112. ↩
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The innocence of Athanasius was vindicated at the Council held at Rome in Nov. a.d. 341. ↩
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For the violent resentment of the Alexandrian Church at the obtrusion of Gregorius, an Ultra-Arian, and apparently an illustration of the old proverb of the three bad Kappas, “ Καππάδοκες, Κρῆτες, Κίλικες, τρία κάππα κάκιστα ,” for he was a Cappadocian—vide Ath. Encyc. 3, 4, Hist. Ar. 10. The sequence of events is not without difficulty, and our author gives here little help. Athanasius was in Alexandria in the spring of 340, when Gregorius made his entry, and started for Rome at or about Easter. Constantine II. was defeated and slain by the troops of his brother Constans, in the neighbourhood of Aquileia, and his corpse found in the river Alsa, in April, 340. Athanasius remained at Rome till the summer of 343, when he was summoned to Milan by Constans ( Ap. ad Const. 3, 4). Results of his visit to Rome were the adherence of Latin Christianity to the orthodox opinion (Cf. Milman, Hist. of Lat. Christianity, vol. i. p. 78), and the introduction of Monachism into the West. Vide Robertson’s Ch. Hist.* ii. 6. ↩
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Now Sophia, in Bulgaria. The centre of Mœsia was called Dacia Cis-Danubiana, when the tract conquered by Trajan was abandoned. ↩
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Kirchengeschichte (BKV)
1. Rückkehr des heiligen Athanasius
S. 91 Nachdem der heilige Athanasius zwei Jahre und vier Monate in Trier geweilt hatte1, kehrte er nach Alexandrien zurück. Aus diesem Anlaß richtete der Kaiser Konstantin, der älteste unter den Söhnen Konstantins des Großen, der im Abendlande über Gallien herrschte, an die Kirche von Alexandrien folgendes Schreiben2.
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Erste Verbannung des hl. Athanasius 335—338. ↩
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Nach dem Tode Konstantins des Großen (22. Mai 337) teilten sich seine Söhne dem Testament des Vaters zufolge in die Regierung des weiten Reiches. Der älteste Sohn, Konstantin, erhielt den westlichen Reichsanteil: Gallien, Spanien und Britannien; der zweite, Konstantius, erhielt die Morgenlande, der jüngste, Konstans, Italien und Afrika. Außerdem sollte ein Neffe des Kaisers, Dalmatius, Thrazien, Mazedonien, Illyricum und Achaja, ein anderer Neffe, Annibalianus, zugleich Schwiegersohn des Kaisers, Pontus und die Nachbarländer erhalten. Nach der Ermordung der beiden Neffen nahmen die drei Söhne in einer persönlichen Zusammenkunft eine neue Reichsteilung vor, beschlossen bei dieser Gelegenheit die Rückberufung aller exilierten Bischöfe und gaben jedem zurückkehrenden Bischofe ein Schreiben mit an dessen Gemeinde. Da Athanasius nach Trier verbannt worden war, so hatte ihm Konstantin, der Beherrscher des Westens, dieses Schreiben an die Alexandriner mitzugeben. Vgl. Hefele, CG I, 482 ff. — Konstantin war katholisch und ein Beschützer der Orthodoxie, ebenso sein jüngster Bruder Konstans. Dagegen ließ sich Konstantius durch seine Umgebung immer mehr und mehr für den Arianismus und für die Pläne der Eusebianer einnehmen und zur Verfolgung der Katholiken verleiten. — Konstantin starb schon 340 im Kampfe gegen seinen Bruder Konstans; dieser letztere erlangte dadurch die Herrschaft über das ganze Abendland, über den Westen und die Mitte, nahm sich auch der von Konstantius verfolgten Bischöfe an, verlor aber 350 gegen den Usurpator Magnentius Thron und Leben. Konstantius besiegte endlich den Empörer in einem dreijährigen Kampfe und wurde damit 353 Alleinherrscher des ganzen römischen Reiches. S. 92 Von da an wurde seine Parteinahme für die Sache der Arianer noch rücksichtsloser, seine Verfolgung der orthodoxen Katholiken noch grausamer. Er starb 361. Sein Nachfolger war Julian der Abtrünnige (361—363). ↩
