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A. D. 387.

Antioch.

20.

526. A.

3

ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY.

BOOK XIX.

THE Emperor Theodosius levied new taxes, in order to I. defray the expense of several wars' in which he was engaged, Sedition at and to bestow largesses on the soldiers, particularly in the Theodor.v. tenth year of his reign, which began in A.D. 888, and in the * Liban. in fifth of his son Arcadius, which was the year before. These1 Helleb. p. taxes occasioned a sedition at Antioch, which is supposed to have happened in A.D. 387. The people seeing those who did not pay put to the torture, were enraged at it, and began with throwing stones at the painted representations of the Emperor; p. 527. A. afterwards they threw down his brazen3 statues, and not his [See too only, but also those of his father, his children, and of the 41.] Empress Flaccilla or Placilla his wife, who died some time [A.D.386. before, and was very much esteemed on account of her Chronol. virtues, particularly her humility and charity to the poor. She used to visit them in the hospitals', and at their houses, 6 Theodor. without any attendants; she dressed the sick in their beds, [TV EKKAN- tasted what was prepared for them, helped to feed them, cut ev@vas.] their bread, served them with drink, and performed all the offices of a nurse and a servant. She continually warned the Emperor, who had married her before he was raised to the Empire, to be mindful of his former condition. Such was the Empress Flaccilla.

Žos. 4. c.

Gothofr.

Cod. The

od.]

v. 19.

σίων τοὺς

Soz. vii. c. 23. Zos. iv. c. 41. [p. 766.]

9 Liban. ad

S. Chrys

The people of Antioch were not satisfied with throwing down the Emperor's statues, but they tied cords to them, Theodos. dragged them through the city and broke them in pieces, p. 395. D. with insolent outcries and jeers. These extravagancies were Hom. ii. ad chiefly committed by children, strangers', and the meanest tom. ii. p. of the people; but the commotion was so great throughout 24.D. (tom, the city, that the magistrates durst not oppose them, nor i. p. 26. E.) even shew themselves, being in danger of their lives. Soon1 p. 174. D.] after the whole people fell into the utmost consternation

pop. Ant.

[See too

Hom. xvii.

c. 2. (p.

25.) p.23. A.

evov i kethe pan. φαλή. P: 23. A.] p. 22.

τὴν ἕω κει

when they foresaw the Emperor's resentment; many forsook A. D. 386. the city', and fled to several places in the neighbourhood; [¦ tŵy ind others' hid themselves in the houses, no one ventured to appear, and the public places became desolate; for magistrates began to make search for the guilty in order to bring them to justice. Various reports were spread concerning the punishment which the Emperor designed them. It was said that he would confiscate all their estates, that he 'Hom.xvii. would cause them to be burnt in their houses, and entirely (p. 193. B.) destroy the city, insomuch that the plough might pass over it. All the comfort which Antioch received in this great affliction was from the Christians'; especially from the Bishop ['Cf. Hom. Flavian, and the Priest John, who was better known by the 172-3.j surname of Chrysostom, or the Golden-mouthed, which was given him by after-ages on account of his eloquence.

p. 171. E.

xvii. p.

Hom. xxi.

p. 214-15.

(xx. p. 224. E. 225.)

Flavian3 set out as soon as the disorder happened, to go to the Emperor, being hindered neither by his great age nor the season of the year, for it was a little before Lent, and still winter; nor yet by the condition in which he left his sister, who had long lived with him, and who was then at the point of death. He set forward, and his journey was very successful. The weather was fair all the while notwithstanding the season; and the holy Bishop was more expeditious than Hom. vi. those who set out on the very day when the sedition hap- (28. C. 29.) pened, in order to carry the news; for though they went before him they met with so many obstacles that they were forced to quit their horses, and to get into a carriage.

6

p. 75. B.

II.

Homilies of

the people

7 Tom. ii.

tom. vi.]

In the mean time the Priest John comforted the people of Antioch, by those discourses' which are still remaining, being st. Chrytwenty in number, and the first of which was spoken in the sostom to church called the Palea, or the Old Church. He tells them of Antioch. that he was silent for seven days, like the friends of Job, [Ed. Sav. that is to say, before he spoke to the people, he waited 8 Hom. ii. till the first heat of the sedition was over, and their minds p. 20. D. appeased. He gives a melancholy description of the calamity Hom. i. p. of that great city, which he ascribes to the little care which 18.(p.20.D.) they took in suppressing blasphemers, as he had exhorted them in his last sermon, which is placed before these. He afterwards explains' the text of Scripture which had been read p. 26. B. according to the course of the service. It was this passage

9

(p. 28.)

3

17.

Rom. Rub.

§. 8.]
3 Hom. iii.
p. 39. A.
(p. 52. D.)

re

A. D. 387. of the first Epistle to Timothy: Charge' them that are rich in 11 Tim. 6. this world that they be not high-minded. This shews that Vid. Brev. they concluded the reading of the Epistles of St. Paul, as we General 26. still do about the same time. In the following3 homily it apthat Lent was begun. During this holy season, pears he commends them to strive against three sorts of sins, viz. hatred, evil-speaking, and blasphemy, against which he had begun to speak, and continues to speak throughout these twenty homilies. It is very plain that the present misfortunes of the city excited them to commit these sins. He particularly attacked swearing the first week, during which he spoke every day. He observes however, the good effect p. 49.A.B. which affliction and fear had upon the people. "The public (p. 53.) [and p. 52. place is empty," says he, "but the church is full; men are "sought for in the city as in a solitude, but in the church

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Hom. iv. (p. 63. c.)

p. 57. E.

c.]

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we are crowded by them; every body flies thither as into "a port to avoid a storm." For four days together he spent his whole time in comforting them and exhorting them to patience, and to repent; by the example of Job, of the three children in the fiery furnace, and of the Ninevites, which are generally made use of to excite people to repentance. He did not begin' till the fifth day to explain Genesis to them, which is read after Lent is begun. In the Greek Church 93. E.) it begins on the Monday of the first week at evening service;

• Const. Apost. lib. fi. c. 22.

7 Hom. vii. p. 84. (p.

8 Triod.

6

8

Græc... for that is their first day of fasting. St. John Chrysostom [See Brev. Rom. Fer. continued this explanation on the following days; but he all along applies it to comfort them, and excite them to repentance.

24, infra

Hebd. Sep

tuag.]

9 Tom. ii. Hom. xv.

init p. 180.

B.

9

In one of these discourses he takes notice of an abuse p. 151. D. which prevailed very much at that time; which was to take precautions against fasting, by plenteous meals before and Hom.xviii. after them, as it were to repair a loss. In another' he reproves those who rejoiced that Lent was half over, as though they had gained a great victory; and those who grieve during Lent at the prospect of the recurrence of the fast the year after. "This all proceeds," he says, " from our supposing fasting to consist in the mere abstinence from food, instead "of a right disposition of the soul." In another place reproves those who scruple coming to church after they have eaten. Perhaps," says he3, "the ill state of your health

Hom. ix.

p. 97. D.

(107.D.)

p. 98. A.

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66

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5. p. 61. A.

excuses you from fasting; but it does not excuse you from A. D. 387. hearing the word of God;" and "the expectation of going "to church should lead to a becoming moderation in food." This discourse had its effect; and in that' which followed' Hom. x. init. p. 105. St. Chrysostom congratulated his hearers, inasmuch as many D. who had not kept the fast, nevertheless came to church [Tŵv hp!oafter they had dined; for in Lent the sermon was preached Kóτ.] τηκότων.] in the evening, and the sacrifice followed. This holy preacher did not value the applause" which was sometimes Hom.ii.p. expressed by the people: he simply desired and cared for 25. A. and their salvation. He did not rest satisfied with speaking, he made a strict enquiry into what advantage was derived by his hearers, as a physician' enquires into the condition of his p. 97. B. patients; and on this he was continually employed. From hence it is that he reverts to swearing again and again in Hom. xv. p. 152. (p. his homilies, and does not leave off till he has cured his 169.) people of it. He had often spoken to them against the public shows, but fear was now more effectual than all his [ Gieseler, discourses. The people withdrew from them of their own §. 100.] accord in this time of affliction, and not only the Christians

The

a This looks like a mistake. Homily from which Fleury is quoting seems at first sight to speak of the Holy Eucharist, but the context shews that where St. Chrysostom speaks of spiritual food and a Holy Feast, he is only speaking of Christian preaching, to which he exhorts the people to come, though not fasting. The fact that St. Chrysostom denied solemnly the charge of admitting persons, not fasting, to the Oblation, makes against the statement in the text. (Fleury, bk. xxi. ch. 20.)

However, though the Oblation was, as the rule, made in the morning, in token of the Resurrection of our Lord, even as He made the offering in the evening in token of the "sunset and evening" of the world, (St. Cypr. Ep. 63. ad Cæcil. p. 109.) yet there were occasions, on which it was made in the evening. 1. As a local custom, in the Thebaid and among the Egyptians near Alexandria, (Socr. 5. 22.) viz. on the Sabbath (Saturday) after feasting. 2. As a custom of the Church Catholic, (See St. Ambrose, Serm. viii. in Ps. 118. §. 43. tom. i. p. 1073. and compare Epist. Supposit. Chrom. et Heliod. ad B. Hieron. de

opere Martyrol. colligendo.) viz. (a)
on Thursday in Holy Week (Maundy
Thursday) to commemorate more ex-
actly the Institution of this Sacrament,
S. August. Ep. 54. (118) ad Januar.
§. 5, 6. (on which one day, for the same
reason, it was a common practice in the
African Church to break the fast before
communicating, to which St. Augustine
(ubi supra) refers, and which is ordered
in Can. 28. (85) Conc. Carth. A. D.
398. Mansi, tom. iii. p. 923. though
disallowed in the rest of Christendom
by Conc. Laodic. A. D. 320. Can. 50.
Mansi, t. iii. p. 571. and again, with
express reference to the Carthaginian
Canon, in Conc. Quinisext. in Trullo.
A. D. 680-1. Can. 29. Mansi, tom. xi.
p. 956. Comp. Concil. Calibon. A. D.
643-4. Mansi, tom. x. p. 1196. inter
canones hoc titulo apud Vet. Collect.
inscriptos, Can. 5.) (8) on the Great
Sabbath or Easter Eve. See Fleury,
bk. xxi. ch. 36. and St. Chrysost. Epist.
1. ad Innocent. tom. iii. p. 518. E.
(Comp. Hom. in Ps. 145. tom. v. p. 525.)
On the subject of this note see Hospinian.
Hist. Sacrament. ps. i. lib. ii. p. 49.
Cassander, p. 88. and Bingham, xv.
7, 8.

2nd. Period.

A

A. D. 387. but the Pagans forsook the theatre and the hippodrome, in order to come to church and sing the praises of God. 1p. 153. A. daily improvement' was perceptible, and instead of impure songs and merriment, with which the streets and public places formerly resounded, nothing was heard but groans, [einuía.] prayers, and pious supplications'; the shops were shut, and the whole city became a church.

(170. A.)

III.

Arrival of

the Impe

missioners.

3 Gothofr. Chronol.

p.

Soz. vii. 23.

6 Hom.xxi.

6

In the mean time the Emperor heard of the sedition at Antioch, being then at Constantinople, in the beginning of rial Com- the year 387. At first he only heard it by common report, on account of the delay of the messengers, and in the first Cod. Theod. excitement of his indignation he resolved to deprive that P. cxvii, city of all its privileges, and to transfer the dignity of the metropolis of Syria and of all the East to Laodicea, which had long been jealous of the greatness of Antioch. He immediately sent thither two of his principal ministers, Helli[See note bicus the Magister Militum, and Cæsarius the Magister y page 74.] [See note officiorum, in order to enquire into the affair, and punish page 65.1 the ringleaders. The Bishop Flavian met them half way, and on being informed of the cause of their journey, with the view of the afflictions of his flock full before him, he shed torrents of tears, and with redoubled earnestness besought God to soften the heart of the Emperor. And indeed their arrival spread terror throughout Antioch. They declared the city deprived of its privileges, they forbade the public shows of the theatre, and of the hippodrome, and, which was a severe punishment in hot countries, ordered the baths to be closed. They began to prosecute the criminals, and chiefly the Hom. xiv. senators and magistrates' who had not quelled the sedition. §. 6. p. 149. D. (p. 166. All the people who remained in the city, appeared at the D.) Hom.xiii. gates of the palace where the tribunal was set. And these p. 133. (p. wretched citizens, each man suspecting his neighbour, stood 148.)

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p. 216. B.
(20. p. 227.
C.)

gazing at each other, not daring to speak, for they had seen several persons apprehended contrary to all expectation, and confined in the palace. Thus they continued silent, lifting up their eyes and hands to heaven, and praying that God p. 134 A. would soften the hearts of the judges. The hall' was filled with soldiers, armed with swords and clubs commanding silence, in order to prevent the tumult which might be occasioned by the wives and relations of the persons accused. Amongst

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