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IT must be said that as long as Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria,
was alive, the emperor, restrained by the Providence of God,
abstained from molesting Alexandria and Egypt: indeed he knew very
well that the multitude of those who were attached to Athanasius was
very great; and on that account he was careful lest the public affairs
should be hazarded, by the Alexandrians, who are an irritable race,
being excited to sedition. But Athanasius, after being engaged in so
many and such severe conflicts on behalf of the church, departed this
life in the second consulate of Gratian and Probus, having governed
that church amidst the greatest perils forty-six years. He left as
his successor Peter, a devout and eloquent man.
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