WEBVTT 00:19.940 --> 00:25.940 CHURCH HISTORY by EUSEBIUS OF CAESAREA translated by ARTHUR CUSHMAN MCGUIFFERT 00:26.420 --> 00:30.060 Book 10, Part 3, Chapters 6-9. 00:31.880 --> 00:33.220 Chapter 6. 00:33.740 --> 00:38.220 Copy of an Imperial Epistle in which money is granted to the Churches. 00:39.900 --> 00:45.280 Constantine Augustus Tukaichilianus, Bishop of Carthage, Since it is our 00:45.280 --> 00:50.020 pleasure that something should be granted in all the provinces of Africa and Numidia 00:50.020 --> 00:55.060 and Mauretania to certain ministers of the legitimate and most holy Catholic religion 00:55.060 --> 01:01.220 to defray their expenses, I have written to Ursus, the illustrious finance minister 01:01.220 --> 01:06.180 of Africa, and have directed him to make provision to pay to thy firmness three 01:06.180 --> 01:07.300 thousand folies. 01:08.160 --> 01:13.500 Do thou therefore, when thou hast received the above sum of money, command that it be 01:13.500 --> 01:18.180 distributed among all those mentioned above according to the brief sent to thee 01:18.180 --> 01:18.940 by Hosius. 01:19.920 --> 01:24.400 But if thou shouldst find that anything is wanting for the fulfillment of this 01:24.400 --> 01:29.640 purpose of mine in regard to all of them, thou shalt demand without hesitation from 01:29.640 --> 01:34.320 Heracleides, our treasurer, whatever thou findest to be necessary. 01:34.740 --> 01:38.960 For I commanded him when he was present that if thy firmness should ask him for 01:38.960 --> 01:42.940 any money, he should see to it that it be paid without delay. 01:43.880 --> 01:48.520 And since I have learned that some men of unsettled mind wish to turn the people 01:48.520 --> 01:53.160 from the most holy and Catholic church by a certain method of shameful corruption, 01:53.820 --> 01:59.000 do thou know that I gave command to Annulinus, the proconsul, and also to 01:59.000 --> 02:03.760 Patricius, vicar of the prefects, when they were present, that they should 02:03.760 --> 02:08.560 give proper attention not only to other matters but also above all to this, 02:09.000 --> 02:12.320 and that they should not overlook such a thing when it happened. 02:13.440 --> 02:17.980 Wherefore, if thou shouldst see any such men continuing in this madness, 02:18.640 --> 02:23.080 do thou without delay go to the above-mentioned judges and report the 02:23.080 --> 02:27.580 matter to them, that they may correct them as I commanded them when they were 02:27.580 --> 02:28.020 present. 02:28.540 --> 02:32.180 The divinity of the great God preserve thee for many years. 02:33.420 --> 02:34.380 Chapter 7. 02:34.820 --> 02:36.620 The Exemption of the Clergy. 02:38.100 --> 02:42.600 Copy of an epistle in which the Emperor commands that the rulers of the churches 02:42.600 --> 02:45.080 be exempted from all political duties. 02:46.660 --> 02:51.680 Greeting to thee, our most esteemed Annulinus, since it appears from many 02:51.680 --> 02:56.840 circumstances that when that religion is despised, in which is preserved the chief 02:56.840 --> 03:01.380 reverence for the most holy celestial power, great dangers are brought upon 03:01.380 --> 03:06.700 public affairs, but that when legally adopted and observed, it affords the most 03:06.700 --> 03:12.000 signal prosperity to the Roman name and remarkable felicity to all the affairs of 03:12.000 --> 03:16.900 men, through the divine beneficence, it has seemed good to me, most esteemed 03:16.900 --> 03:21.760 Annulinus, that those men who give their services with due sanctity and with 03:21.760 --> 03:26.180 constant observance of this law, to the worship of the divine religion, 03:26.600 --> 03:28.980 should receive recompense for their labors. 03:30.120 --> 03:34.440 Wherefore it is my will that those within the province entrusted to thee, 03:34.800 --> 03:39.420 in the Catholic Church, over which Caecilianus presides, who give their 03:39.420 --> 03:43.940 services to this holy religion, and who are commonly called clergymen, 03:44.480 --> 03:49.940 be entirely exempted from all public duties, that they may not by any error or 03:49.940 --> 03:55.320 sacrilegious negligence be drawn away from the service due to the deity, but may 03:55.320 --> 03:58.600 devote themselves without any hindrance to their own law. 03:59.220 --> 04:03.880 For it seems that when they show greatest reverence to the deity, the greatest 04:03.880 --> 04:05.900 benefits accrue to the state. 04:06.480 --> 04:09.760 Farewell, our most esteemed and beloved Annulinus. 04:11.530 --> 04:12.340 CHAPTER VIII. 04:12.900 --> 04:16.280 THE SUBSEQUENT WICKEDNESS OF LICINIUS AND HIS DEATH. 04:17.940 --> 04:22.220 Such blessings did divine and heavenly grace confer upon us through the 04:22.220 --> 04:27.060 appearance of our Saviour, and such was the abundance of benefits which prevailed 04:27.060 --> 04:32.300 among all men in consequence of the peace which we enjoyed, and thus were our 04:32.300 --> 04:35.100 affairs crowned with rejoicings and festivities. 04:36.320 --> 04:42.140 But malignant envy and the demon who loves that which is evil were not able to bear 04:42.140 --> 04:47.120 the sight of these things, and moreover the events that befell the tyrants whom we 04:47.120 --> 04:51.620 have already mentioned were not sufficient to bring Licinius to sound reason. 04:52.740 --> 04:57.280 For the latter, although his government was prosperous and he was honored with the 04:57.280 --> 05:02.000 second rank after the great Emperor Constantine, and was connected with him by 05:02.000 --> 05:07.600 the closest ties of marriage, abandoned the imitation of good deeds, and emulated 05:07.600 --> 05:12.020 the wickedness of the impious tyrants whose end he had seen with his own eyes, 05:12.280 --> 05:16.300 and chose rather to follow their principles than to continue in friendly 05:16.300 --> 05:18.700 relations with him who was better than they. 05:19.600 --> 05:24.600 Being envious of the common benefactor, he waged an impious and most terrible war 05:24.600 --> 05:29.840 against him, paying regard neither to laws of nature, nor treaties, nor blood, 05:30.360 --> 05:32.260 and giving no thought to covenants. 05:33.320 --> 05:38.340 For Constantine, like an all-gracious Emperor, giving him evidences of true 05:38.340 --> 05:43.740 favor, did not refuse alliance with him, and did not refuse him the illustrious 05:43.740 --> 05:48.700 marriage with his sister, but honored him by making him a partaker of the ancestral 05:48.700 --> 05:54.280 nobility and the ancient imperial blood, and granted him the right of sharing in 05:54.280 --> 05:59.440 the dominion over all as a brother-in-law and co-regent, conferring upon him the 05:59.440 --> 06:04.360 government and administration of no less a portion of the Roman provinces than he 06:04.360 --> 06:05.360 himself possessed. 06:06.620 --> 06:11.300 But Licinius, on the contrary, pursued a course directly opposite to 06:11.300 --> 06:16.780 this, forming daily all kinds of plots against his superior, and devising all 06:16.780 --> 06:20.900 sorts of mischief that he might repay his benefactor with evils. 06:21.400 --> 06:26.080 At first he attempted to conceal his preparations, and pretended to be a 06:26.080 --> 06:31.220 friend, and practiced frequently fraud and deceit in the hope that he might easily 06:31.220 --> 06:33.140 accomplish the desired end. 06:34.340 --> 06:39.700 But God was the friend, protector and guardian of Constantine, and bringing the 06:39.700 --> 06:44.400 plots which had been formed in secrecy and darkness to the light, he foiled them. 06:45.180 --> 06:49.760 So much virtue does the great armor of piety possess for the warding off of 06:49.760 --> 06:52.960 enemies and for the preservation of our own safety. 06:53.800 --> 06:59.020 Protected by this, our most divinely favored emperor escaped the multitudinous 06:59.020 --> 07:00.840 plots of the abominable man. 07:01.880 --> 07:07.040 But when Licinius perceived that his secret preparations by no means progressed 07:07.040 --> 07:11.780 according to his mind, for God revealed every plot and wickedness to the 07:11.780 --> 07:17.660 God-favored emperor, being no longer able to conceal himself, he undertook an open 07:17.660 --> 07:18.140 war. 07:19.180 --> 07:23.940 And at the same time that he determined to wage war with Constantine, he also 07:23.940 --> 07:28.320 proceeded to join battle with the God of the universe, whom he knew that 07:28.320 --> 07:32.540 Constantine worshipped, and began, gently for a time and quietly, 07:32.960 --> 07:37.520 to attack his pious subjects, who had never done his government any harm. 07:38.040 --> 07:42.360 This he did under the compulsion of his innate wickedness which drove him into 07:42.360 --> 07:43.480 terrible blindness. 07:45.020 --> 07:50.100 He did not therefore keep before his eyes the memory of those who had persecuted the 07:50.100 --> 07:55.100 Christians before him, nor of those whose destroyer and executioner he had been 07:55.100 --> 07:58.800 appointed on account of the impieties which they had committed. 07:59.640 --> 08:03.940 But departing from sound reason, being seized in a word with insanity, 08:04.560 --> 08:09.780 he determined to war against God himself as the ally of Constantine instead of 08:09.780 --> 08:12.240 against the one who was assisted by him. 08:13.180 --> 08:17.820 And in the first place he drove from his house every Christian, thus depriving 08:17.820 --> 08:22.980 himself, wretched man, of the prayers which they offered to God in his behalf, 08:23.440 --> 08:26.620 which they are accustomed, according to the teaching of their fathers, 08:26.920 --> 08:28.300 to offer for all men. 08:28.700 --> 08:32.940 Then he commanded that the soldiers in the cities should be cashiered and stripped of 08:32.940 --> 08:36.400 their rank unless they chose to sacrifice to the demons. 08:37.100 --> 08:41.060 And yet these were small matters when compared with the greater things that 08:41.060 --> 08:41.520 followed. 08:42.380 --> 08:47.960 Why is it necessary to relate minutely and in detail all that was done by the hater 08:47.960 --> 08:53.340 of God, and to recount how this most lawless man invented unlawful laws? 08:53.700 --> 08:58.260 He passed an ordinance that no one should exercise humanity toward the sufferers in 08:58.260 --> 09:02.680 prison by giving them food, and that none should show mercy to those that were 09:02.680 --> 09:04.460 perishing of hunger in bonds. 09:05.120 --> 09:10.380 That no one should in any way be kind or do any good act, even though moved by 09:10.380 --> 09:13.100 nature herself to sympathize with one's neighbors. 09:13.680 --> 09:19.460 And this was indeed an openly shameful and most cruel law calculated to expel all 09:19.460 --> 09:20.620 natural kindliness. 09:21.500 --> 09:26.360 And in addition to this it was also decreed, as a punishment, that those who 09:26.360 --> 09:29.880 showed compassion should suffer the same things with those whom they 09:29.880 --> 09:34.720 compassionated, and that those who kindly ministered to the suffering should be 09:34.720 --> 09:39.240 thrown into bonds and into prison, and should endure the same punishment with 09:39.240 --> 09:40.080 the sufferers. 09:40.560 --> 09:42.940 Such were the decrees of Licinius. 09:44.460 --> 09:49.760 Why should we recount his innovations in regard to marriage or in regard to the 09:49.760 --> 09:55.020 dying, innovations by which he ventured to annul the ancient laws of the Romans which 09:55.020 --> 09:59.620 had been well and wisely formed, and to introduce certain barbarous and 09:59.620 --> 10:03.320 cruel laws which were truly unlawful and lawless? 10:03.680 --> 10:07.760 He invented, to the detriment of the provinces which were subject to him, 10:08.160 --> 10:13.340 innumerable prosecutions, and all sorts of methods of extorting gold and silver, 10:13.800 --> 10:17.880 new measurements of land, and injurious exactions from men in the country, 10:18.200 --> 10:21.160 who were no longer living, but long since dead. 10:22.300 --> 10:27.240 Why is it necessary to speak at length of the banishments which, in addition to 10:27.240 --> 10:32.060 these things, this enemy of mankind inflicted upon those who had done no 10:32.060 --> 10:37.420 wrong, the expatriations of men of noble birth and high reputation, whose young 10:37.420 --> 10:41.620 wives he snatched from them and consigned to certain baser fellows of his own, 10:42.000 --> 10:46.440 to be shamefully abused by them, and the many married women and virgins 10:46.440 --> 10:51.060 upon whom he gratified his passions, although he was in advanced age? 10:52.040 --> 10:57.200 Why, I say, is it necessary to speak at length of these things, when the excessive 10:57.200 --> 11:01.840 wickedness of his last deeds makes the first appear small and of no account? 11:02.180 --> 11:06.920 For, finally, he reached such a pitch of madness that he attacked the bishops, 11:07.280 --> 11:12.160 supposing that they, as servants of the God over all, would be hostile to his 11:12.160 --> 11:12.580 measures. 11:12.960 --> 11:17.480 He did not yet proceed against them openly, on account of his fear of his 11:17.480 --> 11:23.040 superior, but as before, secretly and craftily, employing the treachery of the 11:23.040 --> 11:26.200 governors for the destruction of the most distinguished of them. 11:26.440 --> 11:31.280 And the manner of their murder was strange, and such as had never before been 11:31.280 --> 11:32.000 heard of. 11:33.060 --> 11:38.380 The deeds which he performed at Amasea and in the other cities of Pontus surpassed 11:38.380 --> 11:39.900 every excess of cruelty. 11:40.640 --> 11:45.120 Some of the churches of God were again raised to the ground, others were closed, 11:45.380 --> 11:49.180 so that none of those accustomed to frequent them could enter them and render 11:49.180 --> 11:50.760 the worship due to God. 11:51.840 --> 11:56.420 For his evil conscience led him to suppose that prayers were not offered in his 11:56.420 --> 12:00.960 behalf, but he was persuaded that we did everything in the interest of the 12:00.960 --> 12:04.560 God-beloved emperor and that we supplicated God for him. 12:05.140 --> 12:08.260 Therefore he hastened to turn his fury against us. 12:09.280 --> 12:14.020 And then those among the governors who wished to flatter him, perceiving that in 12:14.020 --> 12:19.040 doing such things they pleased the impious tyrant, made some of the bishops suffer 12:19.040 --> 12:24.600 the penalties customarily inflicted upon criminals, and led away and without any 12:24.600 --> 12:28.240 pretext punished like murderers those who had done no wrong. 12:29.020 --> 12:33.640 Some now endured a new form of death, having their bodies cut into many pieces 12:33.640 --> 12:38.660 with the sword, and after this savage and most horrible spectacle being thrown into 12:38.660 --> 12:40.980 the depths of the sea as food for fishes. 12:42.460 --> 12:47.740 Thereupon the worshippers of God again fled, and fields and deserts, forests and 12:47.740 --> 12:50.760 mountains again received the servants of Christ. 12:51.000 --> 12:54.880 And when the impious tyrant had thus met with success in these measures, 12:55.160 --> 12:58.900 he finally planned to renew the persecution against all. 13:00.000 --> 13:04.160 And he would have succeeded in his design, and there would have been nothing to 13:04.160 --> 13:08.500 hinder him in the work, had not God, the defender of the lives of his own 13:08.500 --> 13:13.600 people, most quickly anticipated that which was about to happen, and caused a 13:13.600 --> 13:18.380 great light to shine forth as in the midst of a dark and gloomy night, and raised up 13:18.380 --> 13:23.680 a deliverer for all, leading into those regions with a lofty arm his servant 13:23.680 --> 13:24.640 Constantine. 13:25.540 --> 13:26.740 Chapter 9. 13:27.100 --> 13:31.480 The Victory of Constantine, and the Blessings which under him accrued to the 13:31.480 --> 13:33.160 subjects of the Roman Empire. 13:34.700 --> 13:40.200 To him, therefore, God granted, from heaven above, the deserved fruit of 13:40.200 --> 13:45.440 piety, the trophies of victory over the impious, and he cast the guilty one with 13:45.440 --> 13:49.580 all his counsellors and friends prostrate at the feet of Constantine. 13:50.380 --> 13:55.300 For when Licinius carried his madness to the last extreme, the Emperor, 13:55.580 --> 14:00.740 the friend of God, thinking that he ought no longer to be tolerated, acting upon the 14:00.740 --> 14:05.700 basis of sound judgment, and mingling the firm principles of justice with humanity, 14:06.280 --> 14:10.020 gladly determined to come to the protection of those who were oppressed by 14:10.020 --> 14:14.480 the tyrant, and undertook, by putting a few destroyers out of the way, 14:14.800 --> 14:17.220 to save the greater part of the human race. 14:18.540 --> 14:23.360 For when he had formerly exercised humanity alone, and had shown mercy to him 14:23.360 --> 14:27.940 who was not worthy of sympathy, nothing was accomplished, for Licinius did 14:27.940 --> 14:32.320 not renounce his wickedness, but rather increased his fury against the peoples 14:32.320 --> 14:36.600 that were subject to him, and there was left to the afflicted no hope of 14:36.600 --> 14:40.040 salvation, oppressed as they were by a savage beast. 14:41.220 --> 14:45.980 Wherefore, the protector of the virtuous, mingling hatred for evil with love for 14:45.980 --> 14:51.800 good, went forth with his son Crispus, a most beneficent prince, and extended a 14:51.800 --> 14:54.060 saving right hand to all that were perishing. 14:55.000 --> 15:00.060 Both of them, father and son, under the protection as it were of God, the 15:00.060 --> 15:05.200 universal King, with the Son of God, the Saviour of all, as their leader and 15:05.200 --> 15:09.840 ally, drew up their forces on all sides against the enemies of the Deity, 15:10.020 --> 15:14.660 and won an easy victory, God having prospered them in the battle in all 15:14.660 --> 15:16.500 respects according to their wish. 15:17.380 --> 15:22.200 Thus suddenly, and sooner than can be told, those who yesterday and the day 15:22.200 --> 15:27.160 before breathed death and threatening were no more, and not even their names were 15:27.160 --> 15:31.140 remembered, but their inscriptions and their honors suffered the merited 15:31.140 --> 15:31.700 disgrace. 15:32.620 --> 15:37.180 And the things which Licinius with his own eyes had seen come upon the former impious 15:37.180 --> 15:42.060 tyrants he himself likewise suffered, because he did not receive instruction, 15:42.060 --> 15:46.960 nor learn wisdom, from the chastisements of his neighbors, but followed the same 15:46.960 --> 15:51.720 path of impiety which they had trod, and was justly hurled over the same 15:51.720 --> 15:52.380 precipice. 15:52.700 --> 15:54.220 Thus he lay prostrate. 15:55.440 --> 16:00.300 But Constantine the mightiest victor, adorned with every virtue of piety, 16:00.740 --> 16:05.300 together with his son Crispus, a most God-beloved prince, and in all 16:05.300 --> 16:09.980 respects like his father, recovered the East which belonged to them, and they 16:09.980 --> 16:15.420 formed one united Roman Empire as of old, bringing under their peaceful sway the 16:15.420 --> 16:20.380 whole world from the rising of the sun to the opposite quarter both north and south 16:20.380 --> 16:23.320 even to the extremities of the declining day. 16:24.460 --> 16:28.800 All fear therefore of those who had formerly afflicted them was taken away 16:28.800 --> 16:32.700 from men, and they celebrated splendid and festive days. 16:33.180 --> 16:37.540 Everything was filled with light, and those who before were downcast be held 16:37.540 --> 16:40.360 each other with smiling faces and beaming eyes. 16:40.960 --> 16:46.260 With dances and hymns, in city and country, they glorified first of all God 16:46.260 --> 16:51.340 the universal King, because they had been thus taught, and then the pious emperor 16:51.340 --> 16:53.140 with his God-beloved children. 16:54.200 --> 16:59.180 There was oblivion of past evils and forgetfulness of every deed of impiety. 16:59.720 --> 17:04.240 There was enjoyment of present benefits and expectation of those yet to come. 17:04.900 --> 17:09.320 Edicts full of clemency and laws containing tokens of benevolence and true 17:09.320 --> 17:13.140 piety were issued in every place by the victorious emperor. 17:14.200 --> 17:19.520 Thus after all tyranny had been purged away, the empire which belonged to them 17:19.520 --> 17:24.140 was preserved firm and without a rival for Constantine and his sons alone. 17:24.520 --> 17:29.360 And having obliterated the godlessness of their predecessors, recognizing the 17:29.360 --> 17:34.240 benefits conferred upon them by God, they exhibited their love of virtue and 17:34.240 --> 17:39.520 their love of God, and their piety and gratitude to the deity by the deeds which 17:39.520 --> 17:41.820 they performed in the sight of all men.