SOZOMEN, CHURCH HISTORIAN (A.D. 400--_c._ 450)
SALAMANES HERMIAS SOZOMENUS, called Scholasticus, came of a wealthy
family, and was born at Bethelia, a small town close to Gaza, _c._
A.D. 400, where his grandfather had been one of the first to embrace
Christianity, probably under Constantius, through the influence of
St. Hilarion. This hermit, among his other miracles, had miraculously
healed an acquaintance of Sozomen's grandfather, one Alaphion.
Both men, with their families, became zealous Christians, and were
conspicuous for their virtues. Having been endowed with great natural
ability, this ancestor of Sozomen was distinguished as an interpreter
of Holy Scripture, and held fast his Christian profession, even
in the time of Julian. Sozomen was educated at first in Bethelia,
among the monks, for some memories of his youth are connected with
the neighbourhood of Gaza. In early manhood he went to Berytus
(Beirût)[29] to be trained in civil law at its famous school. As
a man he retained the impressions of his youth. When he became an
Advocate of Constantinople, he wrote his chief work, Ἐκκλησιαστικὴ
Ἱστορία. _c._ A.D. 440.--It consisted of nine books, from A.D. 323-423,
a continuation of Eusebius. It is a monument of his reverence for
the monks in general, and also for the disciples of St. Hilarion in
particular. He dedicated it to the Emperor Theodosius II. What Sozomen
has to tell of the history of Southern Palestine was derived from oral
tradition. Sozomen died _c._ A.D. 450.
Bethelia was formerly a town with a famous heathen temple, renowned for
its beauty and age, which Sozomen calls "the village of the Gazæans."
It is now the Arabic Beit Lehia, which lies among the olive groves
north of the city, and retains its religious character by the mosque
and minaret which, no doubt, replaced the ancient temple.
FOOTNOTE:
[29] "Beirût became renowned, during the Norman period, for its great
law school, perhaps the most famous in the empire."--_The History of
Beirût_, by Prof. Harvey Porter, Ph.D., pp. 30-1, 1912.