(1) THE EMPRESS EUDOXIA.--(2) THE GAZA CHURCH "EUDOXIANA"[30]
1. The Emperor Arcadius married Eudoxia, a beautiful Frank maiden, the
daughter of Bauto, who had held office as master of the soldiery.
Arcadius, always weak and indolent, was accustomed to be ruled by his
clever wife. "She imagined herself to be religious, because she was
liberal in almsgiving, and in building churches, attended the Church
services, reverenced the relics of martyrs, and patronised the clergy,
so long as they let her have her own way. But she was superstitious,
thoroughly worldly-minded, avaricious, absorbed in luxuries and
pleasures, and these of a not very innocent character. She at first
welcomed St. Chrysostom, and assured him of her favour, but soon turned
against him."[31] Her death occurred on October 4, 404.
2. At the end of the fourth century there were eight heathen temples
within the city--that of the Sun, of Venus, of Apollo, of Koré
(Proserpina), of Hecate, that known as the Heroon (Ἡρῷον), of
Juno, of the City's fortune called the Tychæon (Τυχεῖον[32])
depicted on the coins of Gaza, and lastly that of Marnas, that is to
say the Marneion, which was thought as being that of Zeus of Crete, and
was held to be the most famous of all the temples. There were, besides,
numberless idols in the houses and in the villages. A church was built
on the site of the Marneion, which latter was destroyed by order
of the Empress Eudoxia. The plans of the new church were sent from
Constantinople, and were adapted by the architect Rufinus, of Antioch.
The construction of the church took five years to complete. It was
consecrated by Porphyrius on Easter Day, A.D. 406, and dedicated to St.
John Baptist. The Deacon Mark (Biographer of Bishop Porphyrius) says
that there were about one thousand hermits present at its consecration.
"The enforcement of Arcadius' Decree was entrusted to Cynegius, who
arrived at Gaza ten days after Porphyrius with a force of soldiers and
a body of civil officers. When the order for closing the temples was
read, the citizens protested; but the soldiers carried out the Imperial
commands, and were aided by the Christians and the sailors. The
fiercest opposition was encountered at the Marneion, where the priests
blocked the entrance with large stones. Seeing, however, that their
defence was vain, they buried the temple treasures and escaped. The
Marneion was then burned; it took ten days to complete the destruction
of all the temples. After the site of the Marneion had been purified, a
cruciform church was built on it out of the funds furnished by Eudoxia,
after whom it was named the 'Eudoxiana.'
"The courtyard of the church was paved with stones taken from the
Marneion, and the women of Gaza refused to walk in it because of their
strong attachment to the old cult."[33]
The Eudoxiana was eventually converted into a mosque, and the Roman
garrison, consisting of sixty soldiers under the command of Callinicus,
having refused to apostatise, were slain at Eleutheropolis and
Jerusalem.
FOOTNOTES:
[30] Additional information concerning this church is contained in Mr.
G. F. Hill's translation of _The Life of Porphyry by Mark the Deacon_.
Oxford: the Clarendon Press, 1913. Unfortunately, my attention was only
drawn to this charming little book after these pages were in the hands
of the printer.
[31] Hore's _Eighteen Centuries of the Orthodox Greek Church_, p. 188.
James Parker & Co., 1899.
[32] See page 44, under chapter on Coins.
[33] Meyer's _History of the City of Gaza_, pp. 64, 65.