Theophanes the Confessor, Chronicle 30.32-31.15

https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/337

Context

Theophanes, born to noble parents in Constantinople, was raised in the Palace under Constantine V (740-775 C.E.) He spent much of his career as a member and leader of monastic communities around the Sea of Marmara, before his condemnation and exile to Samothrace in 817 C.E. by Leo V the Armenian during the controversies over iconoclasm. At the request of George Syncellus, Theophanes wrote a continuation of his chronicle from Diocletian down to Michael I Rhangabes (284-813 C.E.), in the usual dry style and format of Byzantine chronography. In his entry for the year 334/5 C.E. he describes the campaign against Athanasius of Alexandria, the stalwart champion of Nicene orthodoxy, by Eusebius of Nicomedia, which culminated in the First Synod of Tyre. Dalmatius, the Caesar in Antioch, planned the trial to occur at Caesarea, but the city’s bishop Eusebius intervened on Athanasius’ behalf.

Text

τῷ δ’ αὐτῷ ἔτει καὶ ἡ κατὰ Ἰσχύραν ἐπιβουλὴ Ἀθανασίου ἐτυρεύθη ἐν τῷ Μαρεώτῃ. οὗτος ὁ Ἰσχύρας ἱερέα ἑαυτὸν σχηματίσας περιῄει ἱερουργῶν· ὅπερ μαθὼν Ἀθανάσιος τοῦτον ἐκώλυσε τοῦ τολμήματος διὰ Μακαρίου πρεσβυτέρου. ὁ δὲ φυγὼν ἦλθε πρὸς Εὐσέβιον τὸν Νικομηδείας, κατηγορῶν Ἀθανασίου ὡς ἱερὰ σκεύη τῷ καιρῷ τῆς μυσταγωγίας ἐκ τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου κατεάξαντος καὶ ἱερὰς βίβλους διὰ Μακαρίου καύσαντος· Ἀρσενίου τε τὴν περιβόητον χεῖρα κατεψεύσαντο πρὸς μαγείας ταύτῃ κεχρῆσθαι τὸν ἅγιον οὕτως ἀναιδῶς διαβάλλοντες. γνοὺς δὲ ὁ βασιλεὺς τὰς κατὰ Ἀθανασίου διαβολὰς Δαλματίῳ πρῶτον τῷ ἰδίῳ ἀνεψιῷ ἐπιτρέπει τὴν ζήτησιν εἰς Ἀντιόχειαν ὄντι. ὕστερον δὲ μεταφέρει τὴν δίκην εἰς Καισάρειαν, ἣν ὑπερθέμενος Ἀθανάσιος διὰ τὸν Παμφίλου Εὐσέβιον ἐν Τύρῳ κρίνεται ὑπὸ τῶν ἀντιδίκων τῆς ἀληθείας, Εὐσεβίου, φημί, τοῦ Νικομηδείας ἀπατήσαντος τὸν βασιλέα ἐπιθυμίᾳ δῆθεν τῶν οἰκοδομηθέντων ἁγίων τόπων καὶ τοῦ εὑρεθῆναι εἰς τὸν ἐγκαινισμὸν αὐτῶν. ὃν καὶ μετὰ μεγάλης τιμῆς ἀπέλυσε κελεύσας λυθῆναι τὰς κατὰ Ἀθανασίου διαβολάς, καὶ οὕτω σὺν Ἀθανασίῳ εἰς τὴν ἑορτὴν τῶν ἐγκαινίων γενέσθαι.1

Textual Note

Ed. de Boor 1883

Translation

[A.M. 5827=334/5 C.E.] In the same year Ischyras concocted a plot against Athanasius in Mareotis. This man Ischyras, having disguised himself as a priest, travelled about celebrating mass. When Athanasius learned of this, he forbade this outrageous behaviour through the presbyter Macarius. Ischyras then fled to Eusebius of Nicomedia and accused Athanasius of having thrown the sacred vessels off the altar at the time of the divine service and of having burned the sacred books through the agency of Macarius. They also lied about the much vaunted hand of Arsenius, claiming that he had used it for magic, and so shamelessly slandered the holy man. When the emperor had heard of these accusations against Athanasius he first entrusted the inquiry to his nephew Dalmatius who was in Antioch. He later transferred the trial to Caesarea, but since Athanasius put it off because of Eusebius Pamphili, he was tried at Tyre by those opponents of truth, particularly Eusebius of Nicomedia, who had tricked the emperor with his supposed longing (to see) the holy sites that had been built up and to be present at their consecration. The emperor (Constantine) sent Eusebius on his way with great honor, ordering that the slanders against Athanasius be dismissed, and thereafter that he together with Athanasius should be present at the feast for the consecration.2

Translation Note

Trans. Mango, Scott, and Greatrex 1997

Works Cited

1 Theophanes the Confessor, Theophanis Chronographia I, ed. Karl de Boor, 2 vols., Bibliotheca scriptorum Graecorum et Romanorum Teubneriana (Leipzig: B. G. Teubner, 1883), p: 30.32-31.15.
2 Theophanes the Confessor, The Chronicle of Theophanes Confessor: Byzantine and Near Eastern History, A.D. 284-813, trans. Cyril Mango and Roger Scott (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1997), p: 51.

How to Cite This Entry

Joseph L. Rife, “Theophanes the Confessor, Chronicle 30.32-31.15,” in Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia, entry published October 19, 2022, https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/337.

Bibliography:

Joseph L. Rife, “Theophanes the Confessor, Chronicle 30.32-31.15.” In Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia, edited by Joseph L. Rife., edited by Joseph L. Rife. Caesarea City and Port Exploration Project, 2022. Entry published October 19, 2022. https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/337.

About this Entry

Entry Title: Theophanes the Confessor, Chronicle 30.32-31.15

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, “Theophanes the Confessor, Chronicle 30.32-31.15”
Joseph L. Rife, entry contributor, “Theophanes the Confessor, Chronicle 30.32-31.15”

Additional Credit:

TEI encoding by William L. Potter
Electronic text added by Joseph L. Rife
Testimonia identified by Joseph L. Rife

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