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AFTER a time, at the suggestion of the accusers of Eudoxius,
Constantius ordered the synod to be held at Seleucia. This town of
Isauria lies on the seashore and is the chief town of the district.
Hither the bishops of the East, and with them those of Pontus in
Asia, were ordered to assemble.
The see of Caesarea, the capital of Palestine, was now held by
Acacius, who had succeeded Eusebius. He had been condemned by the
council of Sardica, but had expressed contempt for so large an
assembly of bishops, and had refused to accept their adverse decision.
At Jerusalem Macarius, whom I have often mentioned, was succeeded
by Maximus, a man conspicuous in his struggles on behalf of religion,
for he had been deprived of his right eye and maimed in his right arm.
On his translation to the life which knows no old age, Cyrillus, an
earnest champion of the apostolic decrees, was dignified with the
Episcopal office. These men in their contentions with one another for
the first place brought great calamities on the state. Acacius seized
some small occasion, deposed Cyrillus, and drove him from
Jerusalem. But Cyrillus passed by Antioch, which he had found
without a pastor, and came to Tarsus, where he dwelt with the
excellent Silvanus, then bishop of that see. No sooner did Acacius
become aware of this than he wrote to Silvanus and informed him of the
deposition of Cyrillus. Silvanus however, both out of regard for
Cyrillus, and not without suspicion of his people, who greatly
enjoyed the stranger's teaching, refused to prohibit him from taking a
part in the ministrations of the church. When however they had arrived
at Seleucia, Cyrillus joined with the party of Basilius and
Eustathius and Silvanus and the rest in the council. But when
Acacius joined the assembled bishops, who numbered one hundred and
fifty, he refused to be associated in their counsels before Cyrillus,
as one stripped of his bishopric, had been put out from among them.
There were some who, eager for peace, besought Cyrillus to
withdraw, with a pledge that after the decision of the decrees they
would enquire into his case. He would not give way, and Acacius left
them and went out. Then meeting Eudoxius he removed his alarm, and
encouraged him with a promise that he would stand his friend and
supporter. Thus he hindered him from taking part in the council, and
set out with him for Constantinople.
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