Evagrius Scholasticus, Church History 4.7b
https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/230
Context
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 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 (4.7), in particular his association with the otherwise
unknown grandee Arcesilaus, who became the venerable monk’s discussant and likely patron. In
this passage, Evagrius recounts the self-maiming by the wife of Arcesilaus and the
miraculous intercession by Zosimas and John of Choziba, bishop of Caesarea (ca. 516
C.E.).
Text
Διὰ τούτου πολλαί τε
καὶ ἕτεραι θεοσημεῖαι γεγόνασιν, ὧν τὸ πλῆθος παρείς, ἐπεὶ καὶ κρείττονος εἰπεῖν ἀριθμοῦ
τυγχάνουσιν οὖσαι, ἔνια λέξω. Συνήκμαζε τῷ Ζωσιμᾷ ἀνήρ, Ἰωάννης τοὔνομα, ταῖς ἀρεταῖς
παραπλήσιος, ἐν Χουζιβᾷ τῇ μάνδρᾳ—κεῖται δὲ πρὸς τῇ ἐσχατιᾷ τῆς χαράδρας ἀνὰ τὸ ἀρκτῷον
μέρος τῆς λεωφόρου τῆς φερούσης τοὺς διαπορευομένους ἐξ Ἱεροσολύμων ἐπὶ τὴν Ἱεριχουντίων
πόλιν—τὸν μονήρη τε καὶ ἄϋλον διαπαλαίσας βίον, ἐπισκοπήσας δὲ τὴν εἰρημένην μοι
Καίσαρος πόλιν. Οὗτος ὁ Ἰωάννης ὁ Χουζιβίτης, ἐπεὶ τὴν Ἀρκεσιλάου
τοῦ λελεγμένου μοι γυναῖκα ἠκηκόει θάτερον τοῖν ὀφθαλμοῖν ὑπὸ κερκίδος ἐκκοπέντα, δρομαίως
ᾔει πρὸς αὐτὴν τὸ πάθος ἐπισκεψόμενος. Ὡς δ’ οὖν ἐθεάσατο τήν τε κόρην ἐκπεσοῦσαν τέλεόν τε
τὸν ὀφθαλμὸν διαρρυέντα, σπόγγον ἐπιτάττει τῶν τινι παρεφομαρτούντων ἰατρῶν ἐνεγκεῖν,
εἰσαγαγεῖν τε τὸ διαρρυὲν ὡς ἂν δύναιτο, καὶ τὸν σπόγγον περιθέντα τελαμῶσιν ἀναδῆσαι, οὔτι
παρόντος Ἀρκεσιλάου. Ἔτυχε γὰρ τῷ Ζωσιμᾷ παρὼν ἐν τῷ κατ’ αὐτὸν φροντιστηρίῳ, ὅπερ ἐπὶ τῆς
Σινδηνῶν ἔκειτο κώμης, διεστώσης τῆς Καίσαρος σταδίους μάλιστα
πεντακοσίους. Δρομαῖοι τοίνυν παρὰ τὸν Ἀρκεσίλαον ἐκτρέχουσίν οἱ ταῦτα διαγγέλλοντες.
Καθῆστο δὲ πρὸς Ζωσιμᾷ ὁ Ἀρκεσίλαος τὰς διαλέξεις ποιούμενος: ὅπερ ἐπειδὴ διέγνω, διωλύγιον
ἀνεκώκυε, καὶ τὰς τρίχας ἐκτίλλων καὶ διασπῶν εἰς οὐρανὸν ἀνέπεμπε. Τοῦ δὲ Ζωσιμᾶ
πυνθανομένου τὴν αἰτίαν, τὸ συμβὰν ὁ Ἀρκεσίλαος ἔλεγε ταῖς οἰμωγαῖς καὶ τοῖς δάκρυσι συχνὰ
διακοπτόμενος. Ἀφεὶς οὖν τοῦτον ὁ Ζωσιμᾶς αὐτὸς καθ’ ἑαυτὸν εἴς τι δωμάτιον ἐστρέχει ἔνθα τῷ
θεῷ, ὡς θεμιτὸν τοῖς τοιούτοις, ἐνετύγχανεν. Μετὰ δ’ αὖ τινα καιρὸν προσελθὼν ἔχαιρέν τε καὶ
σεμνὰ μειδιῶν πρὸς Ἀρκεσίλαον ἔλεγε τὴν χεῖρα καταψήχων· Ἄπιθι χαίρων, ἄπιθι· ἡ χάρις τῷ
Χουζιβίτῃ δέδοται. Ἰάθη σου τὸ γύναιον, ἄμφω τὼ ὀφθαλμὼ ἔχει, οὐδὲν ἰσχυσάσης τῆς συμφορᾶς
ἀφελέσθαι, οὕτω τοῦ Χουζιβίτου βουληθέντος. Ὅπερ καὶ γέγονεν ἀμφοῖντοῖν δικαίοιν κατὰ ταὐτὸ
θαυματουργησάντοιν.
1
Textual Note
Ed. Bidez and Parmentier 1898Translation
Through him many other
miracles occurred; omitting the majority, because they are of too great a number to recount,
I will relate a few. At the same time as Zosimas there flourished a man named John, who was
similar in his virtues. He had wrestled in the solitary life without matrial possessions at
the monastery of Choziba, which is situated at the edge of the ravine at the northern part
of the highway that leads travelers from Jerusalem to the city of Jericho, but now he was
bishop of the city of Caesar, which I have mentioned. When he heard
that the wife of Arcesilaus, whom I have mentioned, had put out one of her eyes with a
weaving shuttle, this John the Chozibite went running to her to examine the injury. When he
saw that the pupil had fallen out and that the entire eye was discharging, he instructed one
of the attending doctors to bring a sponge, to reinstate what had discharged as far as he
could, and to bind on the sponge and secure it with bandages. All this happened while
Arcesilaus was absent, for he was by chance with Zosimas in his institution, which lay near
the village of Sinde about 500 stadia from the city of Caesar.
Accordingly runners raced off to bring news of this to Arcesilaus. He was sitting beside
Zosimas having a discussion. When Arcesilaus learned this he uttered a piercing wail, rent
and pulled out his hair, and threw it into the air. When Zosimas asked the reason,
Arcesilaus said what had happened with frequent interruptions for groans and tears. And so
Zosimas left him and hurried by himself into a certain room where, as is the custom for such
people, he used to encounter God. After some time he approached him again and greeted
Arcesilaus with a solemn smile and spoke to him, touching his hand, “Depart in happiness,
depart: grace has been granted to the Chozibite. Your wife is cured, she has both her eyes,
and the misfortune cannot deprive her of anything, because such was the will of the
Chorizibite.” This indeed happened because the two just men had worked wonders for the same
purpose.
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), bk: 4.7b, p: 157-158.
- 2 Evagrius Scholasticus, The Ecclesiastical History of Evagrius Scholasticus, trans. Michael Whitby, Translated Texts for Historians 33 (Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2000), bk: 4.7b, p: 206-207.
How to Cite This Entry
Joseph L. Rife, “Evagrius Scholasticus, Church History 4.7b,” in Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia, entry published June 30, 2023, https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/230.
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Bibliography:
Joseph L. Rife, “Evagrius Scholasticus, Church History 4.7b.” 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/230.About this Entry
Entry Title: Evagrius Scholasticus, Church History 4.7b
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 editor, “Evagrius Scholasticus, Church History 4.7b”
- Joseph L. Rife, entry contributor, “Evagrius Scholasticus, Church History 4.7b”
Additional Credit:
- TEI encoding by William L. Potter
- Electronic text added by Joseph L. Rife
- Testimonia identified by Joseph L. Rife