Eudoxius of Antioch

“ How early, then, does the first-named condition compel us to place the ‘Defence?’ Upon the news of the death of Leontius reaching Italy (Soz. iv. 12) , Eudoxius obtained the leave of Constantius (who was in Italy, April 28 to July 3, 357, and again, Nov. 10 to Dec. 10, Gwatk. p. 292) , to repair to Antioch. There he got himself elected bishop, assembled a council (Acacius and other Homœans) , and wrote a synodal letter, expelling from the Antiochene Church those who dissented. ”

“ As he persisted in the enunciation of the same sentiments, either by word of mouth or by means of signs, when the archdeacon closed his mouth, a contention between both sides occurred, not unlike that of the pancratium; the followers of Eustathius shouted aloud and rejoiced and leaped, while the Arians were cast down. Eudoxius and his partisans were transported with indignation at this discourse, and contrived by their machinations to expel Meletius from Antioch. ”

“ But the party of Basil, having contrived by their artifices to divide the synod into two factions, and having met together apart from the rest, declared the Son to be like to the Father in substance; they also proceeded to depose such as entertained the opposite opinion, condemned the doctrine which asserts the Persons to be unlike, and finally by themselves ordained Annianus bishop of Antioch. But Eudoxius and Aetius, having subscribed their names to the doctrine of unlikeness, sent their letters about in every direction. ”

“ The Meletian Schism at Antioch. The Arians at Antioch had already in A.D. 330 driven away Eustathius, the bishop of the see, who favoured the Nicene doctrine. A portion of his people, however, remained attached to him and Homoousianism under the leadership of the Presbyter Paulinus, and were called Eustathians. When in A.D. 360 Eudoxius, the Arian bishop, left Antioch, in order to take possession of the episcopal chair of the capital, his former congregation chose Meletius, bishop of Sebaste, formerly a Eusebian, but for some time friendly to the Nicene party, as his successor. ”

“ Plain men were weary of the strife, and only the fishers in troubled waters wanted more of it. Now that Marcellus and Photinus had been expelled, the Easterns looked for rest. But the Sirmian manifesto opened an abyss at their feet. The fruits of their hard-won victories over Sabellianism were falling to the Anomœans. They must even defend themselves, for Ursacius and Valens had the Emperor's ear. As if to bring the danger nearer home to them, Eudoxius the new bishop of Antioch, and Acacius of Cæsarea convened a Syrian synod, and sent a letter of thanks to the authors of the manifesto. ”

“ The council, however, eventually deposed George, bishop of Alexandria; Acacius, bishop of Cæsarea; Uranius, bishop of Tyre; Patrophilus, bishop of Scythopolis; and Eudoxius, bishop of Antioch; and several other prelates. Many persons were likewise put out of communion until they could purge themselves of the crimes imputed to them. The transactions were conveyed in writing to the parish of each of the clergy. Adrian, [5]
a presbyter of Antioch, was ordained bishop over that church, in room of Eudoxius; but the partisans of Acacius arrested him and delivered him over to Leonas and Lauricius. ”

“ Attended by a royal cortege of courtiers and eunuchs and slaves, the Empress Eudocia set out on her journey. Her ostentatious progress through the East hardly seems in keeping with the spirit of Christian humility. One of the most impressive events of her journey was the sojourn in Antioch, the metropolis of the Far East. Here she pronounced to the senate, from a throne of gold, studded with precious gems, an eloquent Greek oration, which was regarded as a marvel of Hellenic rhetoric. ”

“ Theophilus too was implicated in the same series of charges. The emperor believed the story of Basil, which was supported by the women, whom Basil had already brought over to his side, and accordingly sentenced Theophilus to exile, and banished him to Heraclea on the Pontus, while he ordered Eudoxius to quit Antioch, and to keep himself within his own house. Afterwards he gave up Aetius and the rest of his party into the power of his calumniators. But Basil had held a disputation concerning the faith in the presence of the emperor. ”

“ EUSTATHIUS, of Antioch, sometimes styled “the Great” (fl. 325) , was a native of Side in Pamphylia. About 320 he was bishop of Beroea, and he was patriarch of Antioch before the council of Nicaea in 325. In that assembly he distinguished himself by his zeal against the Arians, though the Allocutio ad Imperatorem with which he has been credited is hardly genuine. His anti-Arian polemic against Eusebius of Caesarea made him unpopular among his fellow-bishops in the East, and a synod convened at Antioch in 330 passed a sentence of deposition, which was confirmed by the emperor. ”

“ Ignatius, third bishop of Antioch in Syria from the apostle Peter, who also had conversed familiarly with the apostles themselves, saw a vision of angels, hymning in alternate chants the Holy Trinity; after which he introduced this mode of singing into the Antiochian Church, whence it was transmitted by tradition to all the other churches." [2]
It seems probable that Evodius vacated the see of Antioch about the year 70. There are traditions that represent Evodius to have been martyred ”

“ An old archimandrite in Constantinople called Eutyches taught not only that after His incarnation Christ had only one nature, but also that the body of Christ as the body of God is not of like substance with our own. The patriarch Domnus of Antioch accused him without success to Theodosius II., and Theodoret wrote against him a controversial treatise under the title Ἐρανιστὴς ἤτοι Πολύμορφος, in which he opposed the doctrine of Eutyches as a conglomeration of many heresies. ”

“ He then entered on his true vocation as a Christian orator, the greatest next to Paul. On one occasion, when the people of Antioch had offended the Emperor Theodosius, and were threatened with a punishment like that which had fallen on Thessalonica, the eloquence of St. John Chrysostom saved them: he was so adored by the people, that when he was appointed patriarch of Constantinople, it was necessary to kidnap him, and carry him off from Antioch by a force of armed soldiers, before the citizens had time to interfere. ”

“ Antiochus, the king of Antioch, (from whom the city takes its name,) had a daughter of such uncommon beauty, that when she came of marriageable years, she was sought after with the greatest eagerness. But on whom to bestow her was a source of much anxiety to the king; and, from frequently contemplating the exquisite loveliness of her face, the delicacy of her form, and the excellence of her disposition, he began to love her with more than a father's love. He burned with an unhallowed flame, and would have excited a simultaneous feeling in his daughter. ”

“ Theodosius was moved almost to tears by the old man's words. "What wonder is it," he said, "if I, who am but a man, should pardon my fellow-men, when the Maker of the world has come on earth, and has submitted to death, for the forgiveness of mankind?" and he pressed Flavian to return to Antioch with all speed, for the comfort of his people. The bishop, on reaching home, found that his sister, whom he had not hoped to see any more in this world, was recovered ”

“ Ptolemy came then to Antioch, and was made king by its inhabitants, and by the army; so that he was forced to put on two diadems, the one of Asia, the other of Egypt: but being naturally a good and a righteous man, and not desirous of what belonged to others, and besides these dispositions, being also a wise man in reasoning about futurities, he determined to avoid the envy of the Romans; so he called the people of Antioch together to an assembly, and persuaded them to receive Demetrius ”

“ Euzoius, who had been an intimate friend and constant associate of Arius himself, was put into the see. The Church of Antioch now split into three parties: the old and rigid orthodox set, who, ever since the deposition of Eustathius in A.D. 327, had adhered to his doctrine, and were called after his name; the moderate Catholics, who regarded Meletius as their bishop ”

“ They bear in themselves indubitable proofs of being the production of a later age than that in which Ignatius lived. Neither Eusebius nor Jerome makes the least reference to them; and they are now by common consent set aside as forgeries, which were at various dates, and to serve special purposes, put forth under the name of the celebrated bishop of Antioch.
But after the question has been thus simplified, it still remains sufficiently complex. Of the seven epistles which are acknowledged by Eusebius (Hist. Eccl. iii. 36) , we possess two Greek recensions, a shorter and a longer. ”

“ You don’t know how they despise all barbarians as they call them; and, despising them, they are disposed to let them alone. They don’t want us to worship their gods; they think that we are not [pg 329] good enough. But Antiochus was mad with pride and arrogance, and it is not likely that any one else should be found to follow his steps. We may have trouble; indeed I feel sure that we shall; but depend upon it there will not be another such attempt as the madman made to stamp out our religion.”
And the tidings that soon after reached Jerusalem from Antioch seemed to justify this forecast. ”

“ Let no one among you be idle; for idleness is the mother of want. I do not enjoin these things as being a person of any consequence, although I am in bonds [for Christ] ; but as a brother, I put you in mind of them. The Lord be with you!
Chapter X.—Salutations.
May I enjoy your prayers! Pray ye that may attain to Jesus. I commend unto you the Church which is at Antioch. The Churches of Philippi, [37] whence also I write to you, salute you. Philo, your deacon, to whom also I give thanks as one who has zealously ministered to me in all things, salutes you. ”

“ Eudæmonism, the doctrine that the production of happiness is the aim and measure of virtue.
Eudocia, the ill-fated daughter of an Athenian Sophist, wife of Theodosius II., embraced Christianity, her name Athenais previously; was banished by her husband on an ill-founded charge of infidelity, and spent the closing years of her life in Jerusalem, where she became a convert to the views of Eutyches (q. v.) (394-400) .
Eudoxus of Cnidus, a Grecian astronomer, was a pupil of Plato, and afterwards studied in Egypt; said to have introduced a 3651⁄2 day year into Greece ”

“ At Antioch Domnus became bishop in 442, at Alexandria Dioscurus in 444, and at Constantinople Flavian in 446. Early in 448 Dioscurus, who aimed at the domination of the East, began to attack the Antiochians as Nestorians. In this he was supported at Constantinople by Chrysaphius, the all-powerful minister of the weak Theodosius II, and the archimandrite Eutyches, the godfather of the minister. Eusebius of Dorylæum thereupon accused Eutyches, who held the Alexandrian position in an extreme form, of being heretical on the doctrine of the Incarnation. ”

“ Not long after Megasthenes was at Palibothra, Ptolemy Philadelphus sent an expedition overland through Persia to India, and later Ptolemy Euergetes, who lived between 145-116 B.C., sent a fleet under Eudoxius on a voyage of discovery to the western shores of India, piloted, as is said, by an Indian sailor who had been shipwrecked, and who had been found in a boat on the Red Sea. Eudoxius reached India safely, and returned to Egypt with a cargo of spices and precious stones. ”

“ But when Antiochus came into it, and saw how strong the place was, he broke his oaths, and ordered his army that was there to pluck down the walls to the ground; and when he had so done, he returned to Antioch. He also carried with him Onias the high priest, who was also called Menelaus; for Lysias advised the king to slay Menelaus, if he would have the Jews be quiet, and cause him no further disturbance, for that this man was the origin of all the mischief the Jews had done them, by persuading his father to compel the Jews to leave the religion of their fathers. ”

“ Furthermore, during Eudocia's absence a new factor had entered prominently into the life of the palace. The influence of the eunuchs, which had been so marked during the reign of Arcadius, had not made itself felt during the earlier years of Theodosius's reign, because of the ascendency of the two women, but it gathered strength by degrees as years passed. Antiochus was the first chamberlain to make himself powerful, and upon his fall, the eunuch Chrysaphius, because of his personal beauty and winning manner, won the favor of Theodosius and acquired the art of bending the emperor to his will. ”

“ One of these, Methodius, and six other metropolitans subscribed the protest of the Eastern Church against the errors of Calvin. Hamilton, subsequently, found at Antioch an inscription reading ANTIOCHEAE CAESARE, which proves the truth of Arundell’s inferences (i. p. 474) .
87. Strabo speaks of the worship of this deity (ἱεροσύνη τις Μηνὸς Ἀρκαίου) at Antioch in olden times. It seems to have been abolished for some time, but to have been revived in Roman days, as coins exist with the god Lunus leaning on a column, and the legend COL. MEN. ANTIOCH, or MENSIS. COL. CAES. ANTIOCH. ”

“ They also sent succours to Gythium which he had already besieged, and ambassadors to Rome to make known these transactions. King Antiochus having, this winter, solemnized the nuptials of his daughter with Ptolemy king of Egypt, at Raphia, in Phoenicia, returned thence to Antioch, and came, towards the end of the season, through Cilicia, after passing Mount Taurus, to the city of Ephesus. Early in the spring, he sent his son Antiochus thence into Syria, to guard the remote frontiers of his dominions, lest during his absence, any commotion might arise behind him ”