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Or the church of Rome at this period Silvester held the reins. His
predecessor in the see was Miltiades, the successor of that
Marcellinus who had so nobly distinguished himself during the
persecution.
In Antioch, after the death of Tyrannus, when peace began to be
restored to the churches, Vitalis received the chief authority, and
restored the church in the" Palaea " which had been destroyed by the
tyrants. He was succeeded by Philogonius, who completed all that was
wanting in the work of restoration: he had, during the time of
Licinius, signalised himself by his zeal for religion.
After the administration of Hermon, the government of the church in
Jerusalem was committed to Macarius, a man whose character was equal
to his name, and whose mind was adorned by every kind of virtue.
At this same period also, Alexander, illustrious for his apostolical
gifts, governed the church of Constantinople.
It was at this time that Alexander, bishop of Alexandria,
perceiving that Arius, enslaved by the lust of power, was assembling
those who had been taken captive by his blasphemous doctrines, and was
holding private meetings, communicated an account of his heresy by
letter to the rulers of the principal churches. That the authenticity
of my history may not be suspected, I shall now insert in my narrative
the letter which he wrote to his namesake, containing, as it does, a
clear account of all the facts I have mentioned. I shall also subjoin
the letter of Arius, together with the other letters which are
necessary to the completeness of this narrative, that they may at once
testify to the truth of my work, and make the course of events more
clear.
The following letter was written by Alexander of Alexandria, to the
bishop of the same name as himself.
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