CHRYSOSTOM’S VISIT TO ASIA—DEPOSITION OF SIX SIMONIACAL
BISHOPS—LEGITIMATE EXTENT OF HIS JURISDICTION—RETURN TO
CONSTANTINOPLE—RUPTURE AND RECONCILIATION WITH SEVERIAN,
BISHOP OF GABALA—CHRYSOSTOM’S INCREASING UNPOPULARITY
WITH THE CLERGY AND WEALTHY LAITY—HIS FRIENDS—OLYMPIAS
THE DEACONESS—FORMATION OF HOSTILE FACTIONS, WHICH INVITE
THE AID OF THEOPHILUS, PATRIARCH OF ALEXANDRIA. A.D. 400,
401.
Up to this point the episcopal career of Chrysostom may be pronounced
eminently successful. He had distinguished himself not only as a
vigorous reformer of ecclesiastical discipline, an eloquent master of
pure Christian doctrine, and preacher of lofty Christian morality,
but he had done good service to the State; and even while he upheld
with inflexible firmness the full rights of the Church, he had not by
overbearing or haughty independence forfeited the goodwill, respect,
and admiration of the Emperor and Eudoxia. But now the horizon
gradually darkens. We have to begin unravelling a tangled skein of
troubles, to trace a series of subtle intrigues, against which the
single-minded honesty of Chrysostom was ill matched, ultimately
bringing about his degradation, exile, and death. We are fortunate
in possessing, to guide us among these complicated proceedings, the
narrative of one who was not only an eye-witness, but an actor in many
of the scenes which he relates.[502]
In the spring of the year A.D. 400, during the military usurpation of
Gaïnas, twenty-two prelates had assembled in Constantinople to confer
with the Archbishop on ecclesiastical business.[503] Palladius has
mentioned the names of a few, Theotimus from Scythia, Ammon an Egyptian
from Thrace, Arabianus from Galatia. One Sunday when the conclave was
sitting, Eusebius, bishop of Valentinopolis in Asia, apparently not
himself a member of the synod, entered the place of assembly, and
presented a document addressed to the Archbishop as President, which
contained seven grave charges against Antoninus, bishop of Ephesus: “He
had melted down some of the sacred vessels to make plate for his son;
he had transferred some of the marble at the entrance of the baptistry
to his own bath; he had placed some fallen columns which belonged to
the Church in his own dining-room; he had retained in his employment
a servant who had committed murder; he had taken possession of some
property in land which had been left to the Church by Basilina, the
mother of Julian; he had resumed intercourse with his wife, and had
children born to him, after his ordination; lastly, the worst offence
of all, he had instituted a regular system of selling bishoprics on a
scale proportioned to the revenue of the sees.” Chrysostom probably
perceived, or suspected from the eagerness of the accuser, that he
entertained some personal animosity towards the accused. He replied
with calmness and caution: “Brother Eusebius, since accusations made
under the influence of agitated feelings are often not easy to prove,
let me beseech you to withdraw the written accusation, while we
endeavour to correct the causes of your annoyance.” Eusebius waxed hot,
and repeated his tale of charges with much vehemence and acrimony of
tone. The hour of service was approaching; Chrysostom committed to
Paul, bishop of Heraclea, who appeared friendly to Antoninus, the task
of attempting to conciliate Eusebius, and passed with the remainder of
the prelates into the cathedral.
The opening salutation, “Peace be with you,” was pronounced by the
Archbishop as he took his seat in the centre of the other bishops,
ranged, according to custom, on either side of him round the wall
of the choir or tribune. The service was proceeding, when, to the
amazement alike of the clergy and the congregation, Eusebius abruptly
entered the choir, hurried up to the Archbishop, and again presented
the document of charges, adjuring him by the life of the Emperor and
other tremendous oaths to attend to its contents. From the agitation of
his manner, the people imagined that he must be a suppliant entreating
the Archbishop to intercede with the Emperor for his life. To avoid a
disturbance in the face of the congregation, Chrysostom received the
paper of charges, but when the lessons for the day had been read, and
the Liturgy of the Faithful (Missa Fidelium) was about to begin, he
desired Pansophius, bishop of Pissida, to “offer the gifts,” and, with
the rest of the prelates, quitted the church. His serenity of mind was
ruffled by the impetuous behaviour of Eusebius, and he dreaded the
possibility of infringing our Lord’s command to abstain from bringing
a gift to the altar when “thy brother hath aught against thee.” After
the conclusion of the service, he took his seat with the other bishops
in the baptistry, and summoned Eusebius into the presence of the
conclave. Once more the accuser was warned not to advance charges which
he might not be able to substantiate, and was reminded that when once
the indictment had been formally lodged, he could not, being a bishop,
retract the prosecution. Eusebius, however, intimated his willingness
to accept all the responsibility of persevering with the accusation.
The list of charges was then formally read. The bishops concurred in
pronouncing each of the alleged offences to be a gross violation of
ecclesiastical law, but recommended that Antoninus should be tried upon
the cardinal crime of simony, since this transcended, and in a manner
comprehended, all the rest. “Love of money was the root of all evil;”
and he who would basely sell for money the highest spiritual office,
would not scruple to dispose of sacred vessels, marbles, or land
belonging to the Church. The Archbishop then turned to the accused:
“What say you, brother Antoninus, to these things?” The Bishop of
Ephesus replied by a flat denial of the charges. A similar question
being addressed to some of the bishops there present, described
as purchasers of their sees, was answered by a similar denial. An
examination of such witnesses as could be procured lasted till two
o’clock in the day, when, owing to the lack of further evidence, the
proceedings were adjourned. Considering the gravity of the affair, and
the inconvenience of collecting the witnesses from Asia, the Archbishop
announced his intention of paying a visit to Asia Minor in person.
Antoninus, conscious of guilt, and aware of the rigorous scrutiny to
which his conduct would be subjected, was now thoroughly alarmed.
He made interest with a nobleman at court, whose estates he managed
(contrary to ecclesiastical law) in Asia, and besought him to prevent
the visit of the Archbishop, pledging himself to present the necessary
witnesses at Constantinople. The Archbishop, accordingly, found his
intended departure opposed by the Court. It was represented that the
absence of the chief pastor from the capital, undesirable at all
times, might be especially inconvenient at a crisis when tumults were
apprehended from the movements of Gaïnas; and it was unnecessary, as
the appearance of witnesses from Asia in due time was guaranteed.[504]
Any delay was an immediate relief to the accused; and there was a
further hope that, by bribery or intimidation, the ultimate production
of the witnesses might be prevented. But he was disappointed; for
though the Archbishop consented to defer his own visit to Asia, he
appointed, with the sanction of the synod, three delegates to proceed
thither immediately and institute an inquiry into the case of Antoninus.
The delegates were instructed to hold their court at Hypœpœ, a town
not far from Ephesus, in conjunction with the bishops of the province;
and the Archbishop and his synod further determined, that if either
the accuser or accused failed to appear there within two months, he
should be excommunicated. One of the delegates, Hesychius, bishop of
Parium on the Hellespont, was a friend of Antoninus, and withdrew from
the mission under the pretence of illness; the other two, Syncletius,
bishop of Trajanopolis in Thrace, and Palladius, bishop of Hellenopolis
in Bithynia, proceeded to Smyrna, announced their arrival to the
accuser and defendant by letter, and summoned them to appear at Hypœpœ
within the appointed time. The summons was obeyed, but the appearance
of the two was only for the purpose of playing off a farce before the
commissioners. Strange to relate, a reconciliation had taken place
between Antoninus and his apparently implacable accuser. Eusebius
had yielded to the temptation to commit the very crime which he had
so vehemently denounced. A bribe of money had quelled his righteous
indignation; plaintiff and defendant were now accomplices, whose one
interest was to conceal their joint iniquities. They professed great
willingness to produce their witnesses, but pleaded the difficulty
of collecting persons who lived in different and distant places, and
were engaged in various occupations. The commissioners requested the
accuser to name a period within which he could guarantee the appearance
of his witnesses. Eusebius required forty days. As this space of
time covered the hottest part of the summer, it was hoped that the
patience or health of the commissioners would be too much exhausted
at the expiration of it to prosecute the inquiry. Eusebius then
departed, ostensibly to search for witnesses; but, in fact, he quietly
sneaked away to Constantinople, and concealed himself in some obscure
corner in that great city. The forty days expired, and, Eusebius not
appearing, the two delegates wrote to the bishops of Asia, pronouncing
him excommunicated for contumacy. They lingered a whole month longer
in Asia, and then returned to Constantinople. Here they chanced to
light upon Eusebius, and upbraided him with his faithless conduct.
He affected to have been ill, and renewed his promises to produce
witnesses. During these prolonged delays Antoninus died; and Chrysostom
now received earnest solicitations from the clergy of Ephesus, and from
the neighbouring bishops, to apply a healing hand to the wounds and
diseases of the Asiatic Church. “We beseech your Dignity[505] to come
down and stamp a divine impress on the Church of Ephesus, which has
long been distressed, partly by the adherents of Arius, partly by those
who, in the midst of their avarice and arrogance, pretend to be on our
side; for very many are they who lie in wait like grievous wolves,
eager to seize the episcopal throne by money.”[506]
The death of Gaïnas in January, A.D. 401, set Chrysostom free to comply
with this earnest appeal to his authority and aid. It was the depth of
the winter season; his health was infirm and impaired by the strain
of the past year’s anxiety and toil; but the zeal of the Archbishop
disregarded these impediments. He embarked at Constantinople without
delay, leaving Severian, Bishop of Gabala, to act as deputy bishop in
his absence. Such a violent north wind sprang up soon after starting,
that the crew of the vessel, afraid of being driven on Proconnesus,
lay at anchor for two days under shelter of the promontory of Trito. On
the third day they took advantage of a southerly breeze to land near
Apamea in Bithynia, where Chrysostom was joined by three bishops, Paul
of Heraclea, Cyrinus of Chalcedon, and Palladius of Hellenopolis. With
these companions he proceeded by land to Ephesus. There he was received
with hearty welcome by the clergy and by seventy bishops.
The first business to which the Archbishop and this council of prelates
addressed themselves was the election of a new bishop to the see of
Ephesus. As usual there were many rival candidates, and factions
supporting each with equal vehemence. Chrysostom fell back on the
expedient of putting forward a candidate regarded with indifference
by all parties. The plan succeeded, and Heracleides was elected. He
was a deacon of three years’ standing, ordained by Chrysostom, and
in immediate attendance on him; a native of Cyprus, who had received
an ascetic training in the desert of Scetis, a man of ability and
learning. He comes before us again as a fellow-sufferer with the
Archbishop, to whom he had owed his elevation.
Not long after the arrival of Chrysostom, Eusebius, the original
persecutor of Antoninus and of the simoniacal bishops, appeared, and
requested to be re-admitted to communion with his brethren. The request
was not immediately granted; but it was determined to proceed with the
trial of the accused bishops, to prove whose guilt Eusebius affirmed
that he could produce abundant evidence. The witnesses were examined,
and the crime being considered fully proven in the case of six bishops,
the offenders were summoned into the presence of the council. At first
they stoutly denied their guilt, but finally gave way before the minute
and circumstantial depositions of lay, clerical, and even female
witnesses as to the place, time, and quality of the purchases which
they had transacted. They pleaded partly the prevalence of the custom
in excuse for their crime, and partly their anxiety to be exempted
from the burden of discharging curial duties; that is, from serving on
the common and municipal council of their city. Every estate-holder
to the amount of twenty-five acres of land was bound to serve in the
curia of his city. Many of the functions incident to that office, such
as the assessment and collection of imposts, were (especially under
an ill-administered despotism) invidious and onerous. Constantine had
exempted the clergy from curial office, and the consequence was that
many men got themselves ordained simply to evade the disagreeable duty;
and this becoming detrimental both to the Church and State, the law
of Constantine underwent modifications by his successors. The Church
passed canons forbidding those who were curiales to be ordained, the
effect of which was to diminish the number of wealthy men who entered
the ranks of the clergy.[507] The Asiatic bishops, therefore, if
curiales when ordained, had acted against the laws of the Church,
and could not legally have claimed exemption from curial duties on
the ground of their orders. They sued for mercy to the council; they
entreated that, if deprived of their sees, the money which they had
paid to obtain them might be returned. In many cases it had been
procured with much difficulty; some had even parted with the furniture
of their wives to raise the requisite amount. The Archbishop undertook
to intercede with the Emperor for their exemption from curial duty; the
ecclesiastical question he submitted to the council. The decision of
the prelates, under the influence of their president, was temperate and
wise. The six bishops were to be deprived of their sees, but allowed
to receive the Eucharist inside the altar rails with the clergy, and
the heirs of Antoninus were required to restore their purchase-money to
them. The deposed prelates were superseded by the appointment of six
men, unmarried, eminent for learning and purity of life.[508]
On his return through Bithynia the Archbishop was detained by a not
less difficult and delicate piece of business. Gerontius, Archbishop
of Nicomedia, the metropolitan of Bithynia, was a singular specimen of
an ecclesiastical adventurer. He had been a deacon at Milan, but was
expelled by Ambrose for misconduct. He made his way to Constantinople,
where, by general cleverness, and by some real or pretended skill in
medicine, he became a favourite with people of rank, and through the
interest of some influential friends obtained the See of Nicomedia.
He was consecrated by Helladius, bishop of Heraclea, for whose son
Gerontius had managed to procure a high appointment in the army. The
new bishop of Nicomedia gained the attachment of his people, again it
is said, through his skill in curing diseases of the body rather than
of the soul. Ambrose incessantly demanded of Nectarius, then Patriarch
of Constantinople, that he should be deposed; but Nectarius did not
venture to incur the displeasure of the Nicomedians. The bolder spirit
and more scrupulous conscience of Chrysostom did not hesitate to strike
the blow which his more worldly and courtly predecessor had shrunk
from striking. Gerontius was deposed, whether by the sole authority
of the Archbishop, or by the decree of a council acting under his
influence, is not stated. Pansophius, formerly tutor to the Empress,
a man of piety, wisdom, and gentleness, was promoted to the see. But
the Nicomedians bewailed the loss of their favourite; they went about
the streets in procession, singing litanies, as if in the time of some
great national calamity.[509]
Before quitting Asia, Chrysostom is also said to have taken active
measures for the suppression of the worship of Midas at Ephesus, and
of Cybele in Phrygia.[510] All these proceedings are worth recording,
not only as of some ecclesiastical interest in themselves, but also
because they were all remembered and turned against him by his enemies.
It has been much debated whether Chrysostom, by his acts in Asia,
overstrained his legal powers, or rather, whether he exceeded the
legal boundaries of his jurisdiction as Patriarch of Constantinople.
The fact seems to be that the importance of his see was in that
growing state which enabled the possessor of it, if a man of energy
and ability, to go great lengths without any exception being taken to
his authority, unless and until a hostile feeling was provoked against
him. By the Council of Constantinople, A.D. 381, the Patriarch of that
city was restricted in his jurisdiction to the diocese of Thrace.[511]
His authority over the dioceses of Asia Minor and Pontus was not
established till the Council of Chalcedon, A.D. 451, when there was
a long discussion on the subject, and the papal legates especially
resisted any claim to such an extension; but it was affirmed that the
Patriarchs had _long enjoyed_ the privilege of ordaining metropolitans
to the provinces of those dioceses, and so it was finally conveyed to
them by that Council; and the additional right was granted them of
hearing appeals from these metropolitans.[512] Theodoret (c. 28) simply
observes that the jurisdiction of Chrysostom extended not only over the
six provinces of Thrace, but also over Asia and Pontus. The Council of
Constantinople gave the bishop of that see the first rank after the
Bishop of Rome, because Constantinople was “a new Rome.” The Council
of Chalcedon declared him for the same reason to be invested with
_equal_ privileges.
Chrysostom was welcomed, on his return to Constantinople, with hearty
demonstrations of joy. On the following day he was at his post in the
cathedral, and once more addressing his beloved flock. In somewhat
rapturous language he expresses his thankfulness at learning that their
fidelity to the Church, and their attachment to their spiritual father,
had not been impaired by his absence, which had lasted more than a
hundred days. They were disappointed that he had not returned in time
to celebrate Easter with them. But he consoles them by representing
that every participation of the Eucharist was a kind of Easter. “_As
often_ as ye eat this bread, ye do show forth the Lord’s death till He
come.” “They were not tied to time and place like the Jew. Wherever
and whenever the Christian celebrated that holy feast with joy and
love, there was the true Paschal Festival.”[513] They regretted also
that so many had been baptized by other hands than his. “What then?
that does not impair the gift of God; _I_ was not present when they
were baptized, but _Christ_ was present.” “In a document signed by the
Emperor, the only question of importance is the autograph; the quality
of the ink and paper matters not. Even so in baptism, the tongue and
the hand of the priest are but as the paper and pen: the hand which
writes is the Holy Spirit Himself.”[514]
The thankfulness and joy of Chrysostom at the affectionate reception
with which he was greeted by the people were probably felt and
expressed the more warmly, owing to some unpleasant accounts which
had been forwarded to him by his deacon Serapion, that Severian,
Bishop of Gabala, had been endeavouring to undermine his influence
in his absence. It will be remembered that to Severian Chrysostom
had intrusted his episcopal duties during his visitation journey in
Asia. The circumstance of a bishop of Syria residing for so long a
time in Constantinople is worth considering, and affords a curious
insight into the character of the times. Antiochus, Bishop of Ptolemais
in Phœnicia, had a reputation as a learned and eloquent man; he
paid a visit to Constantinople, and excited much admiration by his
discourses. Severian, hearing of his success, was animated by a spirit
of emulation, if not envy, which could not be satisfied till he had
exhibited his powers on the same theatre. He carefully composed a
large stock of sermons, and set out to try his fortune in the capital.
The unsuspicious and generous Archbishop received him cordially, and
frequently invited him to preach. Severian possessed some powers of
speaking, though he had a harsh provincial accent, and he exerted all
his eloquence in the church, and all his arts of flattery out of it,
to win the confidence and admiration, not only of the Archbishop,
but also of the chief personages at court, and even the Emperor and
Empress. It was with their full approval that he remained as deputy
of the Archbishop during his sojourn in Asia. But he found himself
narrowly and suspiciously watched by the Archdeacon Serapion, who
opposed some of his proceedings as arbitrary, and made no concealment
of his dislike. One day after the return of Chrysostom, Severian
passed through an apartment of the episcopal palace where Serapion was
sitting. Serapion rose not to make the customary salutation of respect.
Severian, irritated by his discourtesy, exclaimed in a loud voice:
“If Serapion dies a Christian, then Jesus Christ was not incarnate.”
The last clause only of the sentence was repeated by Serapion to
Chrysostom. It was corroborated by witnesses; the indignation of the
Archbishop was excited. Severian was peremptorily commanded to quit
the city. The Empress resented the expulsion of a favourite preacher,
and commanded the Archbishop to recall him. Chrysostom yielded so
far, but was inflexible in his refusal to admit the offender to
communion, till Eudoxia came in person to the Church of the Apostles,
placed her infant son Theodosius on his knees, and conjured him by
solemn oaths to listen to her request. The Archbishop then, but with
some reluctance, consented.[515] He was, however, thoroughly honest
in doing that to which he had once made up his mind. Fearing that his
congregation, in their zealous attachment to him, might disapprove of
the reconciliation, he delivered a short address on the subject. He was
their spiritual father, and he trusted therefore they would extend to
him the respect and obedience of affectionate and dutiful children. He
came to them with the most appropriate message that could be delivered
by the mouth of a bishop—a message of peace and love. There was also
a further duty incumbent on all—respectful submission to the civil
powers. If the apostle Paul said, “Be subject to principalities and
powers” (Tit. iii. 1), how especially was this precept incumbent on
the subjects of a religious sovereign who laboured for the good of
the Church? He besought them to receive Severian with a full heart
and with open arms. The request was received by the congregation with
expressions of approbation. He thanked them for their obedience, and
concluded with a prayer that God would grant a fixed and lasting peace
to His Church.
Severian addressed them the next day in a rhetorical and artificial
discourse on the beauty and blessings of peace—a subject painfully
incongruous with the subsequent conduct of the speaker; for this
misunderstanding with the Bishop of Gabala was the first muttering
of the storm which was soon to burst over the head of the doomed
Archbishop.[516]
The inevitable fate of one who attempts to reform a deeply corrupt
society, and a secularised clergy, on an ascetic model befell
Chrysostom. He lashed with almost equal severity the most unpardonable
crimes and the more venial foibles and follies of the age. His
denunciations of heartless rapacity, sensuality, luxury, addiction
to debasing and immoral amusements, might have been borne; but he
presumed—an intolerable offence!—to censure the fashionable ladies for
setting off their complexions with paint, and surmounting their heads
with piles of false hair. The clergy, too, might have tolerated his
condemnation of the grosser offences, such as simony or concubinage,
but they resented his restraint of their indulgence in the pleasures
of society, and of their propensity to frequent the entertainments
of the noble and wealthy. He was, as Palladius expresses it, “like a
lamp burning before sore eyes,” for what he bade others be, that he
was pre-eminently himself.[517] None could say that he was one man in
the pulpit and another out of it. To set an example to his worldly
clergy, and to avoid contamination, he gave up his episcopal income,
save what sufficed to supply his simple daily wants. He resolutely
abstained from mingling in general society, and ate his frugal meals
in the seclusion of his own apartment. Thus, with the exception of a
few deeply attached friends, who measured practical Christianity by the
same standard as himself, he became deeply unpopular among the upper
ranks of society. With the poor it was otherwise; they regarded him as
a kind of champion, because he denounced the oppressions and extortions
of the rich, and the tyranny of masters over slaves, and because he was
ever inculcating the duty of almsgiving. In the eyes of his friends he
was the saint, pure in life, severe in discipline, sublime in doctrine;
in the eyes of his enemies he was the sacerdotal tyrant, odious to the
clergy as an inexorable enforcer of a rule of life intolerably rigid,
odious to clergy and laity as an inhospitable, if not haughty recluse;
a vigilant and merciless censor who rode roughshod over established
customs. Individuals at last, among clergy and laity, who conceived
that they themselves, or at any rate the section of society to which
they belonged, were the butts at which more especially the Archbishop
aimed his shafts, began to discuss their grievances, till their
conferences gradually assumed the shape of positive organised hostility
against the disturber of their peace. But before entering on the
troublous history of his enemies’ machinations, it may be well to take
a glance at the most conspicuous of Chrysostom’s friends.
The list of those who are known to us by more than their mere names
is soon exhausted. Among the clergy may be reckoned Heracleides, made
Bishop of Ephesus in the place of Antoninus; Proclus, afterwards (in
A.D. 434) Patriarch of Constantinople, at present the receiver of those
who demanded audiences with the Patriarch; Cassianus, founder of the
Monastery of St. Victor at Marseilles, and his friend and companion
Germanus; Helladius, the priest of the palace, probably equivalent
to private chaplain; Serapion, the deacon[518] or archdeacon,[519]
afterwards made Bishop of Heraclea in Thrace, from which see he was
expelled in the persecution which befell Chrysostom’s followers. With
most of these men he maintained a constant and affectionate intercourse
or correspondence during his exile to the close of his life. With such
intimate companions and friends the austerity and reserve of manner
which he assumed towards those outside this circle vanished. All the
natural amiability and playful humour of his disposition shone out when
he was in their company; he called some of them by nicknames of his own
invention, especially those who practised such ascetic exercises as he
specially approved.[520]
Three ladies are distinguished as among his most faithful friends.
Salvina was the daughter of the African rebel Gildo, and had been
married by Theodosius to Nebridius, nephew of his Empress, in the
hope—a vain one as it proved—that this tie would attach Gildo to
the Empire. Her husband died young; she vowed perpetual widowhood,
and became the patroness and protectress at the court of Arcadius of
oriental churches and ecclesiastics.
Pentadia was wife of the consul Timasius; and when her husband was
banished by Eutropius to the Oasis of Egypt, she had been persecuted by
the merciless tyrant, and fled for refuge to the Church, where she was
protected in sanctuary by the Archbishop in spite of the opposition of
her persecutor.
But by far the most eminent of Chrysostom’s female friends was the
deaconess Olympias. She sprang from a noble but Pagan family. Her
grandfather, Ablavius, was a prætorian prefect, highly esteemed and
trusted by Constantine the Great, and her father, Seleucus, had
attained the rank of count. She was early left an orphan, endowed
with great personal beauty, and heiress to a vast fortune. Her uncle
and guardian, Procopius, was a man of probity and piety, a friend
and correspondent of Gregory Nazianzenus. Her instructress also,
Theodosia, sister of St. Amphilocius, was a woman of piety; one whom
Gregory recommended Olympias to imitate as a very model of excellence
in speech and conduct. Under this happy training, the girl grew up to
emulate and surpass her preceptress in goodness. Gregory delighted to
call her “his own Olympias,” and to be called “father” by her.[521]
There could be no difficulty in finding a suitor for a lady possessed
of every attraction. The anxiety of Procopius was to secure a worthy
one. Nebridius was selected; a young man, but high in official rank;
Count or Intendant of the Domain in A.D. 382, Prefect of Constantinople
in A.D. 386. They were wedded in A.D. 384. Many bishops assisted at
the ceremony, but Gregory was prevented from attending by the state
of his health. He wrote a letter to Procopius, saying that in spirit,
nevertheless, he would join their hands to one another and to God.
Part of the letter is written in a vein of sprightly humour. “It
would have been very unbecoming for a gouty old fellow like himself
to be seen hobbling about among the dancers and merry-makers at the
nuptials.”[522] He also addressed a poem to Olympias, in which he
gives her advice how she ought to conduct herself as a married woman.
She did not long need his counsel. Nebridius died about two years
after their marriage. Olympias regarded this early dissolution of the
marriage-bond as an intimation of the Divine will that she should
henceforth live free from the worldly entanglements and cares incident
to married life. The Emperor Theodosius desired to unite her to a
Spaniard named Elpidius, a kinsman of his own, but she steadfastly
refused. The Emperor acted in that despotic manner which occasionally
marred his usually generous character. He ordered the property of
Olympias to be confiscated till she should be thirty years of age; she
was even denied freedom of intercourse with her episcopal friends, and
of access to the Church. But she only thanked the Emperor for those
deprivations, which were intended to make her hanker after worldly
life. “You have exercised towards your humble handmaiden a virtue
becoming a monarch and suitable even to a bishop; you have directed
what was to me a heavy burden, and the distribution of it an anxiety,
to be kept in safe custody. You could not have conferred a greater
blessing upon me, unless you had ordered it to be bestowed upon the
churches and the poor.” The Emperor was softened; at any rate he
perceived the uselessness, if not the injustice, of his treatment. He
cancelled the order for the confiscation of her property, and left her
in the undisturbed enjoyment of single life and of her possessions.
Henceforward her time and wealth were devoted to the interests of the
Church. She was the friend, entertainer, adviser of many of the most
eminent ecclesiastics of the day; the liberal patroness of their works
in Greece, Asia, Syria, not only by donations of money but even of
landed property. We may not admire what was regarded in those days as
among the most admirable traits of saintliness, a total disregard to
personal neatness and cleanliness; but we can admire her frugal living,
and entire devotion of her time to ministering to the wants of the
sick, the needy, and the ignorant. Her too indiscriminate liberality
was restrained by Chrysostom, who represented to her that, as her
wealth was a trust committed to her by God, she ought to be prudent
in the distribution of it. This salutary advice procured for him the
ill-will of many avaricious bishops and clergy, who had profited, or
hoped to profit, by her wealth.[523] She, on her side, repaid the
Archbishop for his spiritual care by many little feminine attentions
to his bodily wants, especially by seeing that he was supplied with
wholesome food, and did not overstrain his feeble constitution by a too
rigid abstinence.[524]
The leaders of the faction hostile to Chrysostom among the clergy were
the two bishops already mentioned—Severian of Gabala and Antiochus
of Ptolemais. To these was added a third in the person of Acacius,
Bishop of Berœa. He had, in A.D. 401 or A.D. 402, paid a visit to
Constantinople, and, in a fit of rage at what he considered the mean
lodging and inhospitable entertainment of the Archbishop, had coarsely
exclaimed, in the hearing of some of the clergy, “I’ll season a dainty
dish for him.”[525] The ladies who acquired a melancholy pre-eminence
among the enemies of the Archbishop were the intimate friends of
the Empress, already mentioned—Marsa, widow of Promotus, the consul
whom Rufinus murdered; Castricia, wife of the consul Saturninus;
and Eugraphia, a wealthy widow,—all rich women “who used _for_
evil the wealth which their husbands had _through_ evil obtained.”
Proud, intriguing, licentious, they were all exasperated against the
Archbishop for the censure which he had unsparingly pronounced upon
their moral conduct, as well as their vain and extravagant display
in dress. The house of Eugraphia became the rendezvous of all clergy
and monks, as well as laity, who were disaffected to him. Among the
clergy was Atticus, who was obtruded on the see as Archbishop after the
banishment of Chrysostom. This worthy cabal collected, and disseminated
with praiseworthy industry, whatever tales could damage the character
and influence of the Archbishop. His real failings were exaggerated,
others were invented, and his language misrepresented. He was
irascible, inhospitable, uncourteous, parsimonious; he had unmercifully
assailed Eutropius with harsh language when he fled for refuge to
the Church; he had behaved disrespectfully to Gaïnas when he was
“magister militum;” but, worse than all, he had audaciously attacked
the Augusta herself, and had insulted her sacred majesty by indicating
her under the name of Jezebel. This is scarcely credible in itself,
and is distinctly contradicted by the most trustworthy authorities;
but it is stated that he had reproved the Empress for appropriating
with harshness, if not violence, a piece of land; and of course the
blows which he directed against inordinate luxury, unseemly parade
of dress and the like, fell heavily upon the most prominent leader
in these follies. She was probably mortified also to find that her
display of religious zeal, her pious attendance on the services of the
Church, her pilgrimages, her really liberal donations to good works,
did not protect her from censure in other things. Chrysostom was not
one of those who would connive at evil for the benefit, as some might
have represented it, of the Church. He would not sacrifice what he
believed to be the interests of morality, for the supposed advantage
either of himself or of the Church over which he ruled. Wrong was
wrong and must be rebuked, though the actor was the Empress herself,
though that Empress was inclined to be the benefactress and patroness
of the Church, and though she might become, as she _did_ become, his
implacable foe.
The clergy only needed an equally potent leader on their side, and
then the organisation of the hostile forces would be complete. Such
a chief was to be found in the Patriarch of Alexandria, Theophilus,
who had already displayed a malignant spirit at the ordination of
the Archbishop, though intimidated by Eutropius into submission. He
was only waiting his opportunity for revenge, which a concurrence of
circumstances now put into his hands.
After making the most of such charges as gossip, aided by malice, could
manufacture at Constantinople, the enemy employed one of the party, a
despicable Syrian monk named Isaac, to make a scrutinising inquiry at
Antioch into the previous life of Chrysostom. A youth passed in such a
licentious and voluptuous city could not fail, they thought, to betray
some stains if submitted to a rigorous inspection. But their malevolent
expectations were disappointed, for their miserable spy could bring
back nothing but unmixed praise of an immaculate youth and a pious
manhood.[526]
At this juncture the intriguers applied to Theophilus, and they could
not have secured a more willing and able director of their plans. The
character of this prelate, and his prominent position in the final
events of Chrysostom’s career, demand some notice. Of his family and
early life little is known. He had a sister who sympathised with
him in his ambitious schemes; and Cyril, who succeeded him in the
patriarchate, and too largely inherited his spirit, was his nephew.
He spent a portion of his younger manhood as a recluse in the Nitrian
desert, where he became familiar with the most eminent anchorites of
that period, Elurion, Ammon, Isidore, and Macarius. He was secretary to
Athanasius, and a presbyter of Alexandria under Peter, his successor;
and, on the death of Timothy in A.D. 385, who succeeded Peter, he
was elevated to the see. All historians concur in admitting that he
possessed great ability; that he was capable of conceiving great
projects, and executing them with courage and address. Jerome has
described him as deeply skilled in science, especially mathematics and
astrology, and highly praises his eloquence.[527] He had a passion
for building, and his episcopate was distinguished equally by the
destruction of Pagan temples and the erection of Christian churches.
The most splendid of these were the church of St. John the Baptist at
Alexandria, and another at Canopus. But to gratify this expensive taste
he was grasping of money, too often to the neglect of those indigent
people who were dependent on the alms of the Church. He combined his
efforts with Chrysostom’s, as has been already related, in healing
the schism of Antioch in A.D. 399, after which little is known of his
history, till he becomes Chrysostom’s implacable and too successful
foe.[528]