Nicetas Choniates, Treasury of the Orthodox Faith 5.7
https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/511
Context
Nicetas from Chonae in Phrygia (“Choniates”) was an important
Byzantine historian (ca. 1155-1217 C.E.) He was educated in Constantinople and rose to
serve the Imperial government both at the capital and as a provincial administrator at
Philippopolis (modern Plovdiv), before fleeing the sack of 1204 to Nicaea for the last
two decades of his life, when he devoted himself to writing. Although most well known
for his history of the Byzantine Empire in 1118-1207, he also wrote a theological
compilation, which lacks a complete modern critical edition. In his Treasury of
the Orthodox Faith, Nicetas here summarizes a now lost passage from
Philostorgius’ Church History (ca. 425-433), in which the author lists
church leaders who adopted to Arianism at the Council of Nicaea, including Eusebius of
Caesarea, but it is not without errors
Text
Φιλοστόργιος δέ φησιν ἐν τῷ πρώτῳ λόγῳ τῆς ἑαυτοῦ ‘Iστορίας ὅτι
Ἀρειόφονες ἦσαν ἐκ μὲν τῆς ἄνω Λιβύης Σεντιανὸς Βορείου, Δάχιος Βερονίκης, Σεκοῦνδος
Τευχείρων, Ζώπυρος Βάρκης, Σεκοῦνδος ἕτερος Πτολεμαΐδος, Θεωνᾶς Μαρμαρικῆς· ἐκ δὲ Θηβῶν
τῶν Αἰγυπτίων Μελίτιος· ἐκ δὲ Παλαιστίνης Πατροφίλος Σκυθοπολέως, Εὐσέβιος
Κασαιρείας ὁ Παμφίλου ἐπικαλούμενος· ἐκ δὲ Φοινικῆς Παυλῖνος
Τύρου, Ἀμφίων Σιδῶνος· ἐκ δὲ Κιλικίας Νάρκισσος Εἰρηνουπόλεως, Ἀθανάσιος Ἀναζάρβου,
Ταρκοδίματος Αἰγῶν· ἐκ δὲ Καππαδοκίας Λεόντιος, Λογγιανὸς καὶ Εὐλάλιος· ἐκ δὲ Πόντου
Βασιλεὺς Ἀμασείας, Μελίτιος Σεβαστουπόλεως· ἐκ δὲ Βιθυνίας Θέογνις Νικαίας, Μάρις
Χαλκηδόνος, Εὐσέβιος τῆς Νικομήδους ὁ μέγας ἐπίκλην Λουκιανοῦ τοῦ μάρτυρος ὁμιλητὴς καὶ
περίοπτος ἐν τοῖς μάλιστα τὴν ἀρέτην, ἀφ᾽ οὗ καὶ ὁ μέγας ἔλαβε τὴν ἐπωνυμίαν.1
Textual Note
Ed. Bidez and Winkelmann 1981Corrigenda Note
Minor corrections (capitalization)Translation
Philostorgius says in the first book of his History
that those with Arian views were the following. From Upper Libya: Sentianus of Boreum,
Dachius of Berenice, Secundus of Teuchira, Zopyrus of Barce, another Secundus, of
Ptolemaïs, and Theonas of Marmarica. From Egyptian Thebes: Melitius. From Palestine:
Patrophilus of Scythopolis and Eusebius of Caesarea, or “son of
Pamphilus,” as he was surnamed. From Phoenicia: Paulinus of Tyre and Amphion of Sidon.
From Cilicia: Narcissus of Irenopolis, Athanasius of Anazarbus, and Tarcondimatus of
Aegae. From Cappadocia: Leontius, Longianus, and Eulalius. From Pontus: Basileius of
Sebastopolis. From Bithynia: Theognis of Nicaea, Maris of Chalcedon, and Eusebius of
Nicomedia, surnamed “the Great,” a disciple of the martyr Lucian conspicuous above all
for this virtue, from which he received the surname.2
Translation Note
Revised from Amidon 2007 with ref. to Morello and Migne 1865Works Cited
- 1 Philostorgius, Philostorgius Kirchengeschichte, mit dem Leben des Lucian von Antiochien und den Fragmenten eines arianischen Historiographen, ed. Joseph Bidez and Friedhelm Winkelmann, 3rd ed., Die griechischen christlichen Schriftsteller (Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 1981), section: 8a, p: 9.
- 2 Philostorgius, Philostorgius, Church History, trans. Philip R. Amidon, Writings from the Greco-Roman World 23 (Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2007), section: 8a, p: 11.
Additional Bibliography
- Nicetas Choniates, Nicetae Choniatae, magni logothetae secretorum, inspectoris et judicis Veli, praefecti sacri cubiculi, Thesaurus orthodoxae fidei, in Nicetae Choniates opera omnia, trans. Pietro Morello and J.-P. Migne, vol. 1, 2 vols., Patrologiae cursus completus, series Graeca 139 (Paris: Thibaud, 1865), 1087–1444, bk: 5.7, col: 1868B-C.
How to Cite This Entry
Joseph L. Rife, “Nicetas Choniates, Treasury of the Orthodox Faith 5.7,” in Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia, entry published June 30, 2023, https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/511.
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Bibliography:
Joseph L. Rife, “Nicetas Choniates, Treasury of the Orthodox Faith 5.7.” 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/511.About this Entry
Entry Title: Nicetas Choniates, Treasury of the Orthodox Faith 5.7
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, “Nicetas Choniates, Treasury of the Orthodox Faith 5.7”
- Joseph L. Rife, entry contributor, “Nicetas Choniates, Treasury of the Orthodox Faith 5.7”
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- Testimonium edited by Joseph L. Rife
- TEI record created by Joseph L. Rife
- Testimonium translated by Joseph L. Rife
- Testimonium transcribed by Joseph L. Rife
- Testimonium identified by Joseph L. Rife
- Editorial review by Joseph L. Rife
- Testimonium edited by Joseph L. Rife
- TEI record created by Joseph L. Rife
- Testimonium translated by Joseph L. Rife
- Testimonium transcribed by Joseph L. Rife
- Testimonium identified by Joseph L. Rife
- Editorial review by Joseph L. Rife