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Such was the death of Theodosius, who had contributed so efficiently
to the aggrandizement of the Church. He expired in the sixtieth year
of his age, and the sixteenth of his reign. He left his two sons as
his successors. Arcadius, the elder, reigned in the East, and
Honorius in the West. They both held the same religious sentiments
as their father.
Damasus was dead; and at this period Siricius was the leader of the
church of Rome; Nectarius, of the church in Constantinople;
Theophilus, over the church of Alexandria; Flavian, over the
church of Antioch; and John, over that of Jerusalem. Armenia and
the Eastern provinces were at this time overrun by the barbarian
Huns. Rufinus, prefect of the East, was suspected of having
clandestinely invited them to devastate the Roman territories, in
furtherance of his own ambitious designs; for he was said to aspire to
tyranny. For this reason, he was soon after slain; for, on the
return of the troops from the conquest of Eugenius, the Emperor
Arcadius, according to custom, went forth from Constantinople to
meet them; and the soldiers took this opportunity to massacre
Rufinus. These circumstances tended greatly to the extension of
religion. The emperors attributed to the piety of their father, the
ease with which the tyrant had been vanquished, and the plot of
Rufinus to gain their government arrested; and they readily confirmed
all the laws which had been enacted by their predecessors in favor of
the churches, and bestowed their own gifts in addition. Their
subjects profited by their example, so that even the pagans were
converted without difficulty to Christianity, and the heretics united
themselves to the Catholic Church.
Owing to the disputes which had arisen among the Arians and
Eunomians, and to which I have already alluded, these heretics daily
diminished in number. Many of them, in reflecting upon the diversity
of sentiments which prevailed among those of their own persuasion,
judged that the truth of God could not be present with them, and went
over to those who held the same faith as the emperors.
The interests of the Macedonians of Constantinople were materially
affected by their possessing no bishop in that juncture; for, ever
since they had been deprived of their churches by Eudoxius, under the
reign of Constantius, they had been governed only by presbyters, and
remained so until the next reign. The Novatians, on the other hand,
although they had been agitated by the controversy concerning the
Passover, which was an innovation made by Sabbatius, yet the most of
them remained in quiet possession of their churches, and had not been
molested by any of the punishments or laws enacted against other
heretics, because they maintained that the Three Persons of the
Trinity are of the same substance. The virtue of their leaders also
tended greatly to the maintenance of concord among them. After the
presidency of Agelius they were governed by Marcian, a good man; and
on his decease, a little while before the time now under
consideration, the bishopric devolved upon Sisinius, a very eloquent
man, well versed in the doctrines of philosophy and of the Holy
Scriptures, and so expert in disputation that even Eunomius, who was
well approved in this art and effective in this work, often refused to
hold debates with him. His course of life was prudent and above the
reach of calumny; yet he indulged in luxury, and even in
superfluities; so that those who knew him not were incredulous as to
whether he could remain temperate in the midst of so much abundance.
His manners were gracious and suave in assemblies, and on this account
he was esteemed by the bishops of the Catholic Church, by the
rulers, and by the learned. His jests were replete with good nature,
and he could bear ridicule without manifesting the least resentment.
He was very prompt and witty in his rejoinders. Being once asked
wherefore, as he was bishop, he bathed twice daily, he replied,
"Because I do not bathe thrice." On another occasion, being
ridiculed by a member of the Catholic Church because he dressed in
white, he asked where it was commanded that he should dress in black;
and, as the other hesitated for a reply, he continued, "You can
give no argument in support of your position; but I refer you to
Solomon, the wisest of men, who says, 'Let your garments be always
white.' Moreover Christ is described in the Gospel as having
appeared in white, and Moses and Elias manifester themselves to the
apostles in robes of white." It appears to me that the following
reply was also very ingenious. Leontius, bishop of Ancyra, in
Galatia, settled in Constantinople after he had deprived the
Novatians in his province of their churches. Sisinius went to him to
request that the churches might be restored; but far from yielding
compliance, he reviled the Novatians, and said that they were not
worthy of holding churches, because, by abolishing the observance of
penance, they intercepted the philanthropy of God. To this Sisinius
replied, "No one does penance as I do." Leontius asked him in
what way he did penance. "In coming to see you," retorted
Sisinius. Many other witty speeches are attributed to him, and he is
even said to have written several works with some elegance. But his
discourses obtained greater applause than his writings, since he was
best at declamation, and was capable of attracting the hearer by his
voice and look and pleasing countenance. This brief description may
serve as a proof of the disposition and mode of life of this great man.
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