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AFTER his deposition, John held no more assemblies in the
church, but quietly remained in the episcopal dwelling-house. At the
termination of the season of Quadragesima, on the same holy night in
which the yearly festival in commemoration of the resurrection of
Christ is celebrated, the followers of John were expelled from the
church by the soldiers and his enemies, who attacked the people while
still celebrating the mysteries. Since this occurrence was
unforeseen, a great disturbance arose in the baptistery. The women
wept and lamented, and the children screamed; the priests and the
deacons were beaten, and were forcibly ejected from the church, in the
priestly garments in which they had been officiating. They were
charged with the commission of such disorderly acts as can be readily
conceived by those who have been admitted to the mysteries, but which
I consider it requisite to pass over in silence, lest my work should
fall into the hands of the uninitiated.
When the people perceived the plot, they did not use the church on the
following day, but celebrated the Paschal feast in the very spacious
public baths called after the Emperor Constantius. Bishops and
presbyters, and the rest, whose right it is to administer church
matters, officiated. Those who espoused the cause of John were
present with the people. They were, however, driven hence, and then
assembled on a spot without the walls of the city, which the Emperor
Constantine, before the city had been built, had caused to be cleared
and inclosed with palisades, for the purpose of celebrating there the
games of the hippodrome. From that period, the people held separate
assemblies, sometimes, whenever it was feasible, in that locality,
and sometimes in another. They obtained the name of Johnites. About
this time, a man who was either possessed of a devil, or who feigned
to have one, was seized, having a poniard on his person, with the
intention of assassinating John. He was apprehended by the people as
one who had been hired for this plot, and led to the prefect; but
John sent some bishops of his party to free him from custody before he
had been questioned by torture. Some time afterwards, a slave of
Elpidius the presbyter, who was an avowed enemy of the deacon, was
seen running as swiftly as possible towards the episcopal residence. A
passer-by endeavored to stop him, in order to ascertain the cause of
so much haste; but instead of answering him, the slave plunged his
poniard into him. Another person, who happened to be standing by,
and who cried out at seeing the other wounded, was also wounded in a
similar way by the slave; as was likewise a third bystander. All the
people in the neighborhood, on seeing what had occurred, shouted that
the slave ought to be arrested. He turned and fled. When those who
were pursuing called out to those ahead to seize the fugitive, a man,
who just then came out from the baths, strove to stop him, and was so
grievously wounded that he fell down dead on the spot. At length, the
people contrived to encircle the slave. They seized him, and conveyed
him to the palace of the emperor, declaring that he had intended to
have assassinated John, and that the crime ought: to be visited with
punishment. The prefect, allayed the fury of the people by putting
the delinquent into custody, and by assuring them that justice should
have its course against him.
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