Evagrius Scholasticus, Church History 4.7a
https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/163
Context
Evagrius Scholasticus came from a background of wealth and education in
Syria. He rose to prominence in the circles of power in the early Byzantine empire and
church, as legal advisor to the Patriarchate of Antioch and honorary officeholder under
Maurice and Tiberius II. His Church History covering the First Council of
Ephesus to the middle reign of Maurice (431-593/4 C.E.) provides especially rich evidence
for the history of Late Antique Syria. His famous portrait of Zosimas of Synda reveals the
holy man’s close connection to Caesarea, in particular his association with the otherwise
unknown grandee Arcesilaus, who became the venerable monk’s discussant and likely patron. In
this passage, Evagrius introduces Zosimas and Arcesilaus, and recounts the monk’s
simultaneous reaction to the earthquake that struck Antioch in May of 526 C.E.
Text
Ἀλλ’ ἐπεὶ τῶν
εἰρημένων ἐμνήσθημεν παθημάτων, φέρε καὶ ἕτερα ἄττα τῶν ἀξιολόγων τῷ παρόντι προσθῶμεν πόνῳ,
ἅπερ εἰς ἡμᾶς ἐκ τῶν ἱστορησάντων ἐνηνέκται. Ζωσιμᾶς ἀνήρ, γένος Φοῖνιξ, τῆς λεγομένης
παραλίας, κώμην Σίνδην πατρίδα κληρωσάμενος διέχουσαν τῆς τῶν Τυρίων οὔτι σταδίους εἴκοσι,
τὸν μονήρη διαθλεύων βίον, οὕτως ταῖς τε ἀφέξεσι καὶ μεθέξεσι τῶν τροφῶν καὶ ταῖς ἄλλαις
ἀρεταῖς τοῦ βίου τὸν θεὸν εἰσοικισάμενος ὡς μὴ μόνον διορᾶν τὰ μέλλοντα, ἀλλὰ καὶ πάσης
ἀπαθείας χάριν λαβεῖν, συνῆν τῶν τινι ἐπισήμων ἀνὰ τὴν Καίσαρος
πόλιν, ἣ μιᾶς τῶν Παλαιστινῶν ἡγεῖται: ἦν δὲ ἄρα οὗτος Ἀρκεσίλαος, ἀνὴρ
εὐπατρίδης τε καὶ λόγιμος, εὖ τε ἀξιωμάτων καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν τῶν κοσμούντων ἀνδρὸς βίον ἥκων.
Οὗτος ὁ Ζωσιμᾶς ἐν τῷ ἀκαρεῖ τῆς Ἀντιόχου πτώσεως ἀθρόον ἐπιστυγνάσας ὀλοφυρόμενός τε καὶ
μύχιον ἀνοιμώξας, δάκρυά τε τοσαῦτα σπείσας ὡς καὶ τὴν γῆν ἐπιβρέξαι, θυμιατήριον ἐξῃτήσατο,
καὶ πάντα τὸν χῶρον ἐν ᾧ καθειστήκεισαν ἐπιθυμιάσας ἐπὶ γῆς ἑαυτὸν ῥίπτει, προσευχαῖς τε καὶ
λιταῖς τὸν θεὸν ἱλεούμενος. Εἶτα πυνθανομένου τοῦ Ἀρκεσιλάου τί ἄρα τὸ οὕτω διαταράξαν εἴη,
διαρρήδην εἶπε τὴν ἠχὴν τῆς Ἀντιόχου πτώσεως αὐτίκα τὰ ὦτά οἱ περιβομβῆσαι.
1
Textual Note
Ed. Bidez and Parmentier 1898Translation
But since we have
mentioned the said misfortunes, come now, let us add to the present work some other
memorable events, which have been conveyed to us by those who have told the story. There was
a man Zosimas, a Phoenician by birth from the part called Maritima, who had been allotted as
his fatherland the village of Sinde, which is not 20 stadia distant from the city of Tyre.
He was a contender in the solitary life, and had to such an extent brought God into his
person through his abstinence from and partaking of food, and by the other virtues of his
life, that not only was he able to foresee future events, but also had the gift of complete
serenity. He was in the company of one of the distinguished men of the city of
Caesarea, which is the chief city of one of the Palestines. The man
indeed was Arcesilaus, a man of good birth and famous, who was well provided with honors and
the other things which decorate the life of man. This Zosimas, at the very moment of the
collapse of the city of Antioch, suddenly had a gloomy appearance, and lamented and groaned
inwardly, pouring forth so many tears that he actually soaked the earth. He requested a
censer, and after fumigating the whole place where they stood, he threw him on the ground
and appeased God with prayers and entreaties. Next, when Arcesilaus inquired what indeed it
was that was so distressing, he clearly said that the cry of the fall of the city of
Antiochus had just then echoed around his ears.
2
Translation Note
Rev. Whitby 2000Works Cited
- 1 Jerome, S. Eusebii Hieronymi Opera I.2: Epistulae LXXI-CXX, ed. Isidor Hilberg and Conrad Slovak, Corpus scriptorum ecclesiasticorum latinorum 55 (Vienna: Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1996), section: 4.7a.
- 2 Evagrius Scholasticus, Ecclesiastical History, with the Scholia, ed. Joseph Bidez and Léon Parmentier (London: Methuen, 1898), p: 205-206.
How to Cite This Entry
Eliana Yonan et al., “Evagrius Scholasticus, Church History 4.7a,” in Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia, entry published June 30, 2023, https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/163.
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Bibliography:
Eliana Yonan et al., “Evagrius Scholasticus, Church History 4.7a.” In Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia, edited by Joseph L. Rife., edited by Joseph L. Rife. Caesarea City and Port Exploration Project, 2023. Entry published June 30, 2023. https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/163.About this Entry
Entry Title: Evagrius Scholasticus, Church History 4.7a
Authorial and Editorial Responsibility:
- Joseph L. Rife, general editor, Vanderbilt University
- Joseph L. Rife, editor, Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia
- David A. Michelson, Daniel L. Schwartz, and William L. Potter, technical editors, “Evagrius Scholasticus, Church History 4.7a”
- Eliana Yonan and Joseph L. Rife, entry contributors, “Evagrius Scholasticus, Church History 4.7a”
Additional Credit:
- TEI encoding by William L. Potter
- Electronic text added by Eliana Yonan
- Testimonia identified by Joseph L. Rife