From Eusebius Pamphilus : His Ten Books of Ecclesiastical History, Faithfully Translated and Abridg’d from the Original, by Samuel Parker, Gent.; London : Printed for George Sawbridge at the Three Flower de-Luces in Little Britain, 1703; pp. 165-180.
THE
Ecclesiastical History
OF
Eusebius Pamphilus
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165
BOOK IX, X.
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NOtwithstanding the Publication of Galerius’s Rescript in all the Provinces and Dominions which he had made himself Master of, the Impious Usurper Maximin, obstructed the good Effects of it in those Parts, where he had made himself a de Facto Emperor, by communicating his Pleasure concerning a Mitigation, only in a private and occasional way to his Agents in Commission. But Sabinus, deputed Præfectus-prætorio in that Quarter of the World by Galerius, issued out his Orders in the Name of their Imperial Majesties to all Prefects of Provinces, importing, That whereas of a long time the severest Methods had in vain 166 been us’d to fright and force the Christians out of their Perswasion, ’twas the Resolution and Purpose of their Imperial Majesties, that all such rigorous Prosecutions should cease, and that notice hereof be given to all Curators and Prefects of Provinces, and others their Inferior Officers. Upon this the confessors, whether in the Prisons, or in the Mines, were all releas’d and return’d to their respective abodes, singing Anthems and Songs of Thanksgiving in the Streets and Highways, as they pass’d, and in every City large Congregations and Assemblies of the Faithful flock’d together, exercising the Publick Duties of Religion, as formerly, so that the Infidels themselves openly acknowledg’d that the God of the Christians was the only True God, and those very Men, who a little before had been the most active against us, were the forwardest of any to congratulate our Deliverance.
But the Tyrant having purely out of Fear, and for Reasons of State, acquiesc’d in this Indulgence about half a Year, could now dissemble no longer, but hinder’d us from frequenting our places of Publick Devotion, and contriv’d that his Agents and Creatures should Petition him to molest the Christians; as particularly from Antioch, where Theotecnus his Curator, a Malevolent and Crafty Wretch, erected an Image of Jupiter Philius, and to his execrable Form of Consecration, annext a Jargon of Oraccles to flatter the Tyrant. The rest of his Deputies, when they saw ’twas an 167 acceptable Piece of Service, did the like, and Maximin ratify’d their Proceedings by an Edict, constituting withal, several new Orders of Priests, and giving all sorts of Persons the fullest Encouragement imaginable to Vex, Injure, and Destroy the Christians; in a word, the Persecution upon the Revival was more violent than it had ever been before.
The Spurious and Blasphemous Acts of Pilate were sent about, every way, with Instructions for making them as Publick as they could be made, and that even the School-Masters should oblige their boys to get them without Book. At Damascus, a Journey-man of the Tyrant’s produc’d a Set of Strumpets, having threaten’d them to put them to the Torture if they scrupled obeying his Command, which was, that they should Swear they had formerly been Christians, and often concern’d in the Perpetration of those flagitious Practices and Mysteries, which were charg’d upon the Christians. These Depositions were recorded, and by the Usurper’s Order made as Public as the Acts of Pilate, and within a little time after the Projector of the Stratagem prov’d his own Executioner.
The Constitutions and Orders which every Corporation enacted against us, were engrav’d and promulg’d In Tables of Brass, and so likewise the Rescript of Maximus to encourage the Prosecution, in which Rescript he Celebrates their Zeal for the Honour of the Gods, 168 and declares, That as nothing could be more acceptable to himself than the Measures they took to chastize the Opposers of Jupiter, and his Fellow Deities, so they could no way more significantly express their Gratitude to the Power themselves for the many Publick Evils diverted, and Benefits bestow’d by them, notwithstanding the Provocations and Perverseness of the Christians, and that therefore whatever Boon and Privileges such good Subjects can desire of him, they shall find him most ready to grant.
Such was the Folly and Insolence of this wild Blasphemer, but within a very little time he was made to understand, That the Great Creator of Heaven and Earth is the only Fountain of all Felicity, whether Publick or Private, and that he never defers his Judgments, but when Delaying the Execution may best answer the ends of them; for so soon as the Tyrant’s Edicts were effectually dispers’d, God was pleas’d to confute them by a depopulating Famine and Pestilence, accompany’d with the Miseries of an unsuccessful War, which the Usurper begun upon the Armenian Christians; and indeed, so good a Cause as that of opposing a Rebel-Tyrant in Defence of their Religion, could hardly fail of a suitable Success. By the Famine which was Preliminary to the Pestilence, perish’d chiefly the Plebeians and the Peasants, among whom the Necessity was so extremely Calamitous, that they devour’d Hay or any Herbs they could lay their Hands on, (wholesome 169 or noxious) and dropt down in the Streets, begging for a Morsel with their departing Breath. Nor did the Wealthier Sort decline to bring them Relief, till the dismal Prospect of their own Occasions discourag’d them. But though the Provisions they reserv’d might have been a Remedy against Famine, there were none against the Infection of a Pestilence, and those contagious Exulcerations and Inflammations, which swept away the People of Condition and Substance, and among these not a few of the Prefects of the Provinces, while the Famine thinn’d the Populace. Insomuch, that between the one and the other, you might have seen two or three Corpses brought at once out of the same House. All this while the Christians went about distributing their Bread indifferently to their poor Neighbours and Fellow Citizens; and only They had the courage to Attend the Sick, and bury the Dead; by these hazardous Offices of Humanity and Tenderness towards their Enemies, gaining Glory to God, and good Repute to themselves.
While Devastation and Death were thus executing their Commission, God was pleas’d to vouchsafe to his afflicted Church the sure Tokens of Reconcilement, in the Victories which the Two Emperors obtain’d, Constantine over Maxentius in the West, and Licinius over Maximin in the East. Constantine, the Proper and Sovereign Emperor, being now fixt upon endeavouring the Rescue of his oppress’d Subjects 170 in Rome and Italy; in the first place solemnly implor’d the Protection and Assistance of the Holy Trinity, and then march’d his whole Army against the Power of Maxentius, whose innumerable forces lay encamp’d on every side of Rome, besides the Detachments and Garrisons, he had plac’d in Possession of all the considerable Holds and Fortress in Italy, though nevertheless the Usurper all the while rely’d upon the Efficacy of his Necromancy and Magical Operations, much more than upon the Strength of his Martial Preparations, or the Fidelity of his Soldiers. The Emperor confiding in the Favour of his God, and the Justice of his Cause, gave Battel to the main Body of the Rebels, as he found them distributed into three Battalions, defeated them in every Engagement, and follow’d his Victory up to the Walls of Rome. Maxentius and the Guards that were with him, being closely pursu’d, came under a Necessity of taking to a Bridge of Boats, (artificially plac’d and contriv’d for a Snare to the Constantinians) which shattering under the Crowd and Tumult of those who run aboard, sunk down on a sudden, and along with it the Tyrant and his Retinue, to the bottom of the Flood. So Constantine enter’d Rome in Triumph, and was receiv’d by the Senate, the whole Order of the Equites, and all the Inhabitants, with Transports of Joy, and congratulated, as the Deliverer of his People, with Shouts and Acclamations, while himself ascrib’d unto God 171 the whole Success and Glory of his Expedition, and gave Directions that the Triumphal Statue, which the Citizens erected to his Honour, should hold a Cross in the Right Hand, and that the Inscription upon the Pedestal should run in these Words, Under the Auspices of this Propitious Ensign of the only True and Genuine Fortitude, I deliver’d your City from the Yoak of Usurpation and Tyranny, and retriev’d the lost Authority and Grandeur of the Senate and People of Rome. In the next place, the Two Emperors (for the Frenzy of Atheism and Rebellion had not seiz’d Licinius yet) having publickly return’d their Thanks and Praises to God for the Mercies vouchsafed them, promulg’d their Edicts and Constitutions in favour of the Christians, the first of which declares it to be the Pleasure of the Emperor, that all Sects and Parties should enjoy the free Exercise of their Religion, more especially the Christians, to whom all such Persons, as either by Grant or Purchase stand possest of such Grounds or Buildings, as the Christians had Dedicated to Religious Uses, are commanded to restore the same, and promis’d an Equivalent upon their Application to the Officers of the Exchequer. Of this Resolution, and the Success with which God had prosper’d their Arms, the Emperors inform the Tyrant in the East, very much to his Mortification; but he knew full well the only way to be secure, was to Dissemble and Comply, as he had hitherto done, and to keep up a shew of 172 Amity and Condescention, and so he presently Repeals his last Edict of Persecution, endeavouring in the Preamble of his Revocation to give a plausible Turn and Complexion to his late Proceedings, but then the Repeal was so worded, as only to stop the Prosecutions, without intimating any thing like a Liberty of Rebuilding the Churches, or of Assembling for the discharge of Religious Duties, and the Exercise of Church Discipline. But the Divine Majesty no longer suffer’d it self to be mock’d by this Prevaricating Adversary, whose Pride and Vanity run away so fast with his Understanding, that he assum’d a Pre-eminence of Dignity above the two Emperors, placing his Name before theirs in all his Acts; and soon after violating those Fæderal Engagements which had pass’d between Licinius and himself, he march’d against Licinius with all the Forces he could raise, reposing a resolute Confidence in the Power of his Arms, and the Patronage of his Dæmons, but these were too weak to withstand the purpose of God, who gave the Victory to Licinius; the Traytor-Tyrant being so deserted and distress’d at the end of the Day, that he was glad to throw off his Purple, and make the best of his way in the Garb of a Common Soldier; under the obscurity of which Disguise, he narrowly escap’d, and was no sooner got home but he sacrific’d the Diabolical Priests and Augurs, that had put him upon so fatal an Expedition, acknowledg’d the Justice and Omnipotence 173 of the great God of the Christians, and publish’d a Rescript in their favour, granting to them the full and free Exercise of their Religion, with the liberty also of Rebuilding their Churches, and restoring all such Lands, Houses, and Endowments, as Dioclesian and Maximian had confiscated. But then this forc’d and sudden Restitution avail’d him very little in the sight of God, by whose Appointment he was seiz’d with a most malignant, painful, and terrible Distemper, which so strangely emaciated and consum’d his Body, that he became literally a living Skeleton, and his inward Inflammations encreasing, his very Eye-balls started out of his Head, soon after which the comfortless Creature expir’d, vowing (too late) a Reformation, and freely confessing that his Inveteracy and Violences against the Christians, deserv’d the Severity of the Punishments which God had inflicted.
Maximin being thus remov’d, all the Churches of the Christians were without delay Rebuilt, and themselves instated in greater Privileges and Liberties than ever. Manifesto’s were issued out by the Emperors, declaring Maximin to have been an Impious Usurper, a Cruel Tyrant, and a Common Enemy. The Statues and Images erected in Honour of him, or his Children were defac’d, broke to Pieces, and kick’d about the Streets : All his Rebel-Agents and Officers disgrac’d and cashier’d, and such of them as had had a hand in the Persecution, put to Death; of which number was Picentius, 174 having been created a Prefect under Maximin, thrice Consul, and his Treasurer; Culcianus, who had Spilt the Blood of thousands of Christians; and Theotecnus, the Contriver of the Idol at Antioch, upon whom, and upon the Priests and Augurs too, that belong’d to the Image, the Sentence of Torture was executed before that of Death. Also the Sons, and all the Relations of Maximin, receiv’d their Share in the Vengeances, as they had shar’d in the Provocation. And thus, by the Divine Favour, their Imperial Majesties recover’d and establish’d their Government, put a Period to the Insults of our Enemies, and encourag’d as well by their Example as Authority the Profession and Practice of true Religion; and though this miraculous Deliverance was a Subject of Joy and Triumph to all Mankind, and imputed universally to the gracious Providence of our God; yet the Christians could not be sensible of less than Extasies and Raptures, when they beheld all the Churches and Sacred Edifices rais’d higher, and more splendidly adorn’d than ever, and consecrated with all Solemnity; the Holy Fathers of the Church publickly Celebrating the divine Goodness in Panegyrical Orations, and Convening in Councils and Synods; the Regularity and Significancy of their Canons and Constitutions; the Decency of their Rites and Ceremonies; and their Uniform Devotion in performing the Offices of Divine Service, Administring the Sacraments, Reading and Expounding the Scriptures, and singing Psalms 175 and Anthems, the People of all Ages and either Sex concurring Joyfully and Religiously in the Discharge of these Duties, and preserving an entire Unity among themselves in the Bond of Peace and Love, and in Righteousness of Life : Which prosperous Estate of the Church was every Day confirm’d and improv’d by the many Laws and Rescripts that were publish’d in our Favour, by those Honours and Donations with which his Imperial Majesty Invested the Bishops, and by the Epistolary Correspondence he kept on foot with them, a Specimen of which we have in his Letter to Miltiades, Bishop of Rome, upon occasion of the Schism of the Donatists in Africa; requiring that the Cause of Cæcilian, Bishop of Carthage, be Synodically Examin’d and Determin’d at Rome, and wholly submitting the Cognizance and Decision to the Sacred Authority of the Spiritual Judicature; as also in Two Letters directed the one to Chrestus, Bishop of Syracuse, requiring him to be present in the Council appointed to Assemble at Arles, for a more Effectual and Satisfactory Decision of the African Cause, and ordering that he should be accommodated with a publick Carriage and a handsome Retinue; the other to Cæcilian, Bishop of Carthage, which empower’d him to receive out of the Crown-Revenues in Africa, such Sums of Money, as should appear to him necessary for the Use of certain Ecclesiasticks, to defray the Expences of their Attendance upon the former Council that met at Rome under Miltiades, and to distribute 176 them according to the Direction sent him by Hosius, and to inform against all such Persons, as in any sort seduc’d or impos’d upon well-meaning Christians, his Imperial Majesty having given his Officers Instructions for their Punishment. To these Favours and Benefactions conferr’d upon the African Clergy, the Emperor added another, by an Order directed to Anulinus, Proconsul of Africa, which exempted them from the Burthen of Administring any Secular Offices.
Thus under the Support and Encouragement of God and his Vice Gerent, the Church enjoy’d a settled Peace, and very large Immunities and Privileges, till the Infernal Enemy had put into the Heart of Licinius, to Betray and Rebel against his and the Sovereign Lord of the whole Empire, who had honour’d and oblig’d him with the two greatest Benefactions, which an Universal Monarch could bestow, the Government of half his Dominions, and the Person of his Royal Sister; but all the Sacred Ties of Natural Justice, Oaths, Leagues, and Affinity, being too weak to restrain him, he begun with clandestine Artifices and insidious Practices, but the Divine Providence from time to time defeating those Measures, and so discovering the Villany of the Traytor’s Intentions, at length he Proclaim’d open War at once against his God, and his Sovereign, by Oppressing and Banishing many of the Christians, that had always offer’d up their Prayers for him, and by Breaking and Cashiering all 177 the Military Men that refus’d to do Sacrifice to Devils, and by enacting (among a thousand other monstrous Instances of his Legislature) this inhumane Law for one, that no Man should relieve a Christian in Custody with any Necessaries of life, under Pain of suffering the same Penalties as the Confessor; not here to particularize all his illegal Impositions and barbarous Innovations, the Virgins, Wives, and Matrons, he forc’d himself, or deliver’d up the Lust of those that were about him, and how many Persons of Condition and Repute he banish’d and imprison’d. Against the Bishops, whose Piety and Vigilance he knew would go a great way toward rendering his Designs abortive, he proceeded, tho’ clancularly for fear of the Emperor, yet with a most implacable and sanguinary Malice. In Amasia, and the other Cities of Pontus, he levell’d the Churches with the Ground, or else shut up the Doors of them, well knowing that the Christians*, being, I say, fully perswaded that the Christians would use their insuperable Weapon of Prayer, was earnestly for the Success of their Sovereign against the Attempts of a Rebel, and a Persecutor, 178 as they had ever done for himself before he became such, or in Opposition to the Madness of those Heathen Emperors that had formerly made Havock of the Church : This and other the like Considerations made him Outrageous against the Christians, as well as Angry with their Temples. The Bishops were condemn’d to the same Punishments as the common Cut-throats and Felons. The Bodies of others were chopp’d to Pieces, Inch by Inch, and then thrown into the Sea for the Fish to feast upon. And the prospect of a general Persecution seem’d so near and certain, that the Christians thought it high time to take Sanctuary in the Solitude of the Woods and Mountains.
When behold! our Invincible and Gracious Emperor, the Messenger of God, finding all the gentler Methods of Mercy that had been try’d to reclaim Licinius, disdain’d and abus’d by him, came with his son Crispus (a Son in every Respect worthy of so great and good a Father) most seasonably to the Rescue of God’s Religious Servants, and his own distress’d Subjects. And this was effected easily. For although the Emperor’s Army lay surrounded by the Forces of the Rebel, yet having distributed his Men into Two Bodies, (the one Commanded by himself, the other by his Son) and recommended himself and his Cause to God, he vigorously charg’d the Enemy, obtain’d an entire Victory, chas’d and destroy’d the Wolves that were ready to Devour the Prey, convinc’d Licinius and his Creatures, to the Sorrow of 179 what, it seems, the late overthrow of Maxentius and Maximin, could not, the miserable Effects of Impiety and Rebellion, defac’d all their Images and Ensigns of Honour, recover’d his Dominions in the East, administer’d the whole Empire himself, establish’d an universal Peace and Happiness, and fill’d the world with his Laws and Edicts of Favour and Benevolence towards the Christians; who dismissing all remembrances of their past Dangers and Sufferings, exercis’d every where the Publick Offices of Religion, and celebrated their Festivals, particularly those appointed upon this glorious Occasion, with all imaginable Pomp and Joy, magnifying with Processions, Dances, and Musick, the Infinite Power and Goodness of God, the King of Kings, extolling the Virtues of the Emperor, and his Royal Off-Spring, and resting assur’d of the daily Encrease of their Happiness upon Earth, to the Consummation of it in Heaven.
* Who had always consider’d Loyalty as a Fundamental of their Religion, and still given their Persecutors the more eminent Proofs of it, as the Provocations to the contrary had been greater, and the Dangers more immediate, even when they had Number and Strength more than sufficient for Resistance, as we have seen in the Dioclesian Persecution.
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