Evagrius Scholasticus, Church History 2.25
created: This entry is taken from Church History 2.25 written by Evagrius Scholasticus in
edition published: 2023-06-30-05:00
language: grc; grc
availability: Except for materials quoted from other sources, this entry is copyright 2023 by the contributors (Joseph L. Rife, et al.) and the Caesarea City and Port Exploration Project. It is licensed under the Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license. Some texts quoted in this entry may be in the public domain in the United States. No copyright is asserted for these quotations. Some texts quoted in this entry may have copyright restrictions and are reused under Section 107 of the Copyright Act of (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)

https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/229

Caesarea Maritima is indirectly attested at Evagrius Scholasticus, Church History 2.25. This passage was written ca. 593-598 CE possibly in Antioch on the Orontes. Evagrius Scholasticus came from a background of wealth and education in Syria and rose to prominence in the circles of power in the early Byzantine empire and church, as legal advisor of 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. This passage describes the tense aftermath of the Fourth Ecumenical Council at Chalcedon (451 C.E.), which condemned the Monophysite heresy and validated Orthodox teaching on the unity of Christ’s divine and human nature (4.2-4.3). Juvenal, the bishop of Jerusalem who signed at Chalcedon, fled to Caesarea, where, we know from other accounts (see Related Texts), a mob of anti-Chalcedonian monks were agitating outside the city; thereafter they ensured the election of Theodosius to occupy the vacated throne at Jerusalem.

Ἀλλ’ οὐδὲ τὰ κατὰ τὴν ἔρημον τὴν πρὸς τὰ Ἱεροσόλυμα τὴν ἠρεμίαν εἶχεν. Ἔνιοι γὰρ τῶν μοναχῶν τῶν ἀνὰ τὴν σύνοδον εὑρεθέντων καὶ τἀναντία ταύτης βουληθέντων φρονεῖν πρὸς τὴν Παλαιστίνην ἀφικνοῦνται· καὶ προδοσίαν τῆς πίστεως ὀδυρόμενοι τὸ μοναδικὸν ἔσπευδον ἀναρριπίσαι καὶ ἀνασοβῆσαι. Καὶ ἐπειδή περ Ἰουβενάλιος τὸν οἰκεῖον κατειλήφει θρόνον, καὶ βιαζόμενος παρὰ τῶν ἀνασυρέντων τὰ οἰκεῖα ἀνασκευάσαι τε καὶ ἀναθεματίσαι κατὰ τὴν βασιλέως πόλιν ἀνέδραμεν, ἁλισθέντες οἱ τἀναντία τῆς ἐν Καλχηδόνι συνόδου, ὡς ἀνωτέρω εἰρήκαμεν, φρονοῦντες χειροτονοῦσιν ἀνὰ τὴν ἁγίαν Ἀνάστασιν Θεοδόσιον, τὸν μάλιστα κυκήσαντα τὴν ἐν Καλχηδόνι σύνοδον, τὸν καὶ πρῶτον περὶ ταύτης αὐτοῖς ἀγγείλαντα.

[Ed. Bidez and Parmentier 1898]

But the desert areas near Jerusalem did not even maintain tranquility. For some of the monks who had been present at the Synod but wished to hold different opinions from it came to Palestine; and lamenting the betrayal of the faith, they were eager to reignite and reawaken the monastic community. After Juvenal had occupied his own see, being compelled to reverse and anathematize his own views by those raving men, he took refuge in the emperor’s city, while those who, as we mentioned above, held different opinions from the Synod of Chalcedon assembled in the Church of the Resurrection and elected Theodosius. He in particular threw the Synod at Chalcedon into confusion, and was also the first to bring a report of it to them.

[Rev. Whitby 2000] ["[T]he emperor's city" means Caesarea Maritima.]

Works Cited

[...] 2.5 51-52
[...] 2.5 78

[Cyril of Scythopolis, Life of Euthymius 27

Evagrius Scholasticus, Church History 4.2-4.3

John Rufus, Reassurances 10

John Rufus, Reassurances 25

John Rufus, Reassurances 56

Nicephorus Callistus Xanthopoulos 15.9

Pseudo-Zacharias Scholasticus, Historical Miscellany 3.3

Theophanes the Confessor, Chronicle 107.6-14]

[Chalcedon

Jerusalem

Palestine]

[Juvenal of Jerusalem, bishop

Theodosius of Jerusalem, bishop]

[Christianity

Government and Law

Roman History

Travel]