Gibbon's The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire
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269 - 402.) He refers to the great Armenian History of Galanus,
(3 vols. in fol. Rome, 1650 - 1661,) and commends the state of
Armenia in the iiid volume of the Nouveaux Memoires des Missions
du Levant. The work of a Jesuit must have sterling merit when it
is praised by La Croze.]
[Footnote *: See vol. iii. ch. xx. p. 271. - M.]
[Footnote 140: The schism of the Armenians is placed 84 years
after the council of Chalcedon, (Pagi, Critica, ad A.D. 535.) It
was consummated at the end of seventeen years; and it is from the
year of Christ 552 that we date the aera of the Armenians, (L'Art
de verifier les Dates, p. xxxv.)]
[Footnote 141: The sentiments and success of Julian of
Halicarnassus may be seen in Liberatus, (Brev. c. 19,) Renaudot,
(Hist. Patriarch. Alex. p. 132, 303,) and Assemannus, (Bibliot.
Orient. tom. ii. Dissertat. Monophysitis, l. viii. p. 286.)]
[Footnote 142: See a remarkable fact of the xiith century in the
History of Nicetas Choniates, (p. 258.) Yet three hundred years
before, Photius (Epistol. ii. p. 49, edit. Montacut.) had gloried
in the conversion of the Armenians.]
[Footnote 143: The travelling Armenians are in the way of every
traveller, and their mother church is on the high road between
Constantinople and Ispahan; for their present state, see
Fabricius, (Lux Evangelii, &c., c. xxxviii. p. 40 - 51,)
Olearius, (l. iv. c. 40,) Chardin, (vol. ii. p. 232,) Teurnefort,
(lettre xx.,) and, above all, Tavernier, (tom. i. p. 28 - 37, 510
- 518,) that rambling jeweller, who had read nothing, but had
seen so much and so well]
-
In the rest of the Roman empire, the despotism of the
prince might eradicate or silence the sectaries of an obnoxious
creed. But the stubborn temper of the Egyptians maintained their
opposition to the synod of Chalcedon, and the policy of Justinian
condescended to expect and to seize the opportunity of discord.
The Monophysite church of Alexandria ^144 was torn by the
disputes of the corruptibles and incorruptibles, and on the death
of the patriarch, the two factions upheld their respective
candidates. ^145 Gaian was the disciple of Julian, Theodosius had
been the pupil of Severus: the claims of the former were
supported by the consent of the monks and senators, the city and
the province; the latter depended on the priority of his
ordination, the favor of the empress Theodora, and the arms of
the eunuch Narses, which might have been used in more honorable
warfare. The exile of the popular candidate to Carthage and
Sardinia inflamed the ferment of Alexandria; and after a schism
of one hundred and seventy years, the Gaianites still revered the
memory and doctrine of their founder. The strength of numbers
and of discipline was tried in a desperate and bloody conflict;
the streets were filled with the dead bodies of citizens and
soldiers; the pious women, ascending the roofs of their houses,
showered down every sharp or ponderous utensil on the heads of
the enemy; and the final victory of Narses was owing to the
flames, with which he wasted the third capital of the Roman
world. But the lieutenant of Justinian had not conquered in the
cause of a heretic; Theodosius himself was speedily, though
gently, removed; and Paul of Tanis, an orthodox monk, was raised
to the throne of Athanasius. The powers of government were
strained in his support; he might appoint or displace the dukes
and tribunes of Egypt; the allowance of bread, which Diocletian
had granted, was suppressed, the churches were shut, and a nation
of schismatics was deprived at once of their spiritual and carnal
food. In his turn, the tyrant was excommunicated by the zeal and
revenge of the people: and none except his servile Melchites
would salute him as a man, a Christian, or a bishop. Yet such is
the blindness of ambition, that, when Paul was expelled on a
charge of murder, he solicited, with a bribe of seven hundred
pounds of gold, his restoration to the same station of hatred and
ignominy. His successor Apollinaris entered the hostile city in
military array, alike qualified for prayer or for battle. His
troops, under arms, were distributed through the streets; the
gates of the cathedral were guarded, and a chosen band was
stationed in the choir, to defend the person of their chief. He
stood erect on his throne, and, throwing aside the upper garment
of a warrior, suddenly appeared before the eyes of the multitude
in the robes of patriarch of Alexandria. Astonishment held them
mute; but no sooner had Apollinaris begun to read the tome of St.
Leo, than a volley of curses, and invectives, and stones,
assaulted the odious minister of the emperor and the synod. A
charge was instantly sounded by the successor of the apostles;
the soldiers waded to their knees in blood; and two hundred
thousand Christians are said to have fallen by the sword: an
incredible account, even if it be extended from the slaughter of
a day to the eighteen years of the reign of Apollinaris. Two
succeeding patriarchs, Eulogius ^146 and John, ^147 labored in
the conversion of heretics, with arms and arguments more worthy
of their evangelical profession. The theological knowledge of
Eulogius was displayed in many a volume, which magnified the
errors of Eutyches and Severus, and attempted to reconcile the
ambiguous language of St. Cyril with the orthodox creed of Pope
Leo and the fathers of Chalcedon. The bounteous alms of John the
eleemosynary were dictated by superstition, or benevolence, or
policy. Seven thousand five hundred poor were maintained at his
expense; on his accession he found eight thousand pounds of gold
in the treasury of the church; he collected ten thousand from the
liberality of the faithful; yet the primate could boast in his
testament, that he left behind him no more than the third part of
the smallest of the silver coins. The churches of Alexandria
were delivered to the Catholics, the religion of the Monophysites
was proscribed in Egypt, and a law was revived which excluded the
natives from the honors and emoluments of the state.
[Footnote 144: The history of the Alexandrian patriarchs, from
Dioscorus to Benjamin, is taken from Renaudot, (p. 114 - 164,)
and the second tome of the Annals of Eutychius.]
[Footnote 145: Liberat. Brev. c. 20, 23. Victor. Chron. p. 329
330. Procop. Anecdot. c. 26, 27.]
[Footnote 146: Eulogius, who had been a monk of Antioch, was more
conspicuous for subtilty than eloquence. He proves that the
enemies of the faith, the Gaianites and Theodosians, ought not to
be reconciled; that the same proposition may be orthodox in the
mouth of St. Cyril, heretical in that of Severus; that the
opposite assertions of St. Leo are equally true, &c. His
writings are no longer extant except in the Extracts of Photius,
who had perused them with care and satisfaction, ccviii. ccxxv.
ccxxvi. ccxxvii. ccxxx. cclxxx.]
[Footnote 147: See the Life of John the eleemosynary by his
contemporary Leontius, bishop of Neapolis in Cyrus, whose Greek
text, either lost or hidden, is reflected in the Latin version of
Baronius, (A.D. 610, No.9, A.D. 620, No. 8.) Pagi (Critica, tom.
-
p. 763) and Fabricius l. v c. 11, tom. vii. p. 454) have made
some critical observations]
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