kingdom of the Homerites, whom he barbarously destroyed, with all his people. But this cloud quickly blowing over by the assistance of Justin, the Roman emperor, and Elesban, king of Ethiopia, who conquered Dunaan 14, the government fell again into the hands of a Christian king; in whose time Gregentius, archbishop of Tephra,' the royal city, is said to have had that famous disputation with Herbanus, the Jew, the result of which was the conversion of an incredible number of Jews in that region. Here I chiefly observe that Gregentius is styled archbishop of Tephra,' which implies, that he had suffragan bishops under him; and in the relation of his death, at the end 15 of the dispute, it is added, that both bishops, priests, and deacons were gathered together to attend his funeral:' by which it appears, that the state of that Church, so far as we have any account of it, was conformable to other Churches. among the 19. We have some few intimations also given us of churches Of bishops planted anciently among the Saracens in Arabia, which were Saracens in never under the Roman empire. Hilarion is said by some 16 Arabia. to have begun the conversion of this nation, but it was not completed till Mauvia, queen of the Saracens, made it a condition of her making peace with the Romans in the time of Valentinian, that they should send her one Moses, a famous monk, to be the bishop of her nation; which was accordingly done, and so he became the first bishop of that region of the Saracens, as Ruffin 17 and Socrates 18 and the other historians 14 Act. Mart. Homerit. ap. Baron. ann. 522, 523. (t. 7. pp. 80 c, seqq.) Qui sequitur, &c. 15 Disput. cum Herb. (ap. Bibl. Patr. Gr.-Lat. t. 1. p. 272 d. 7.) 'Eτάφη δὲ ἐν τῷ κοιμητηρίῳ τῆς μεγάλης ἐκκλησίας, ἀθροισθέντων ἐκεῖσε ἐπισκόπων, ἱερέων, διακόνων, μοναζόνTV μνpionowν éñì tỷ êηdeia avtoù, πολλὰ θρηνούντων καὶ ἀποδυρομένων τὴν στέρησιν αὐτοῦ. 16 Baron. an. 372. n. 103. p. 344. (t. 4. p. 348 d.) Jecerat jam ante fundamenta fidei apud Saracenos S. Hilarion abbas, qui (ut testatur S. Hieronymus) multos Saracenorum arreptos a dæmone frequenter liberavit, cultuique Veneris addictæ gentis illius sacerdotem convertit ad fidem: qui quidem nec ipsum Hi- 17 L. 2. [al. 11.] c. 6. (p. 246 a. 7.) inform us. Sozomen also adds, that one Zocomos, another regulus, or petty prince, of another region of the Saracens, being converted by a monk, brought over all his subjects to the Christian faith.' Theodorus Lector 19 likewise mentions another of these Saracen princes, named Alamundarus, who embraced the Faith in the reign of the Emperor Anastasius, anno 513. And Cyril of Scythopolis 20, who wrote the Lives of Euthymius and Sabas, takes notice also of a plantation of Saracens under the Roman government in Palestine, over whom one Peter, a converted Saracen, who had before been their captain, was made the first bishop by Juvenal, bishop of Jerusalem, about the middle of the fifth century. Now we are to observe, that as these Saracens were thus divided into little plurimis peremptis, reliquos vertisset in fugam, orata pace, non aliter se amplexuram promittit, nisi Moyses quidam nomine, monachus, gentis suæ ordinaretur episcopus: qui in eremo, partibus suis propinqua, vitam solitariam ducens, merito et virtutibus ac signis, quæ faciebat Deus per illum, magnifice innotuerat. Petitio ejus principi indicata Romano, sine ulla dilatione jubetur impleri a ducibus nostris, qui ibi infeliciter pugnaverant. Captus Moyses, ad sacerdotium suscipiendum, Alexandriam ex more deducitur. Adest Lucius, cui ordinandi ferebatur officium. Quo viso, Moyses præsentibus ducibus, qui perurgebant, et populis, ait: Ego quidem me non esse dignum tanto sacerdotio judico: verum tamen si aliqua in me, licet indigno, divina dispensatio putatur explenda, Deum nostrum, cœli ac terræ Dominum testor, quod Lucius sanctorum sanguine pollutas et cruentas super me non injiciet manus. Cumque Lucius tam gravi nota inustum se videret in oculis plurimorum, Quare, inquit, o Moyses, tam facile condemnas eum, cujus fidem ignoras? Aut si tibi aliquis de me aliter indicavit, audi fidem meam et tibi ipse magis quam aliis crede. Tunc ille: Desine, inquit, o Luci, dolosis tuis me quoque imaginibus aggredi. Bene mihi nota est fides tua, quam protestantur servi Dei per metalla damnati episcopi, in exilium trusi presbyteri, diaconi extra Christiani nominis habitacula relegati, bestiis alii, alii etiam ignibus traditi. Numquid potest verior esse fides, quæ auribus capitur, quam quæ oculis pervidetur? Apud me certum est, quod, qui Christo recte credunt, ista non faciunt. Et ita Lucius majore dedecore deformatus (quoniam perurgebat necessitas reipublicæ consulendi) compulsus est acquiescere, ut ab episcopis, quos in exilium truserat, sacerdotium sumeret. Quo suscepto, et gentis ferocissimæ pacem tenuit, et fidei Catholicæ custodivit intemerata consortia. 18 L. 4. c. 36. tot. (v. 2. p. 257. 25.)-Conf. Sozom. 1. 6. c. 38. ab init. ad med. (ibid. p. 275. 1.)— Theodoret. 1. 4. c. 23. tot. (v. 3. p. 182. 1.) 19 L. 2. p. 564. (v. 3. p. 579. 32.) 'Aλapovvdápov тoû þvλápxov Ɛapakηvwv xpiστiavíČOVTOS, K. T. λ. 20 Vit. Euthym. ap. Baron. an. 420. p. 481. (t. 5. p. 487 b.) Cum usque adeo multiplicarentur filii Agar et ad veram traducerentur nobilitatem, et in diversas excrescerent copias; mittit divinus Euthymius ad Juvenalem patriarcham Hierosolymitanum, postulans, ut eis ordinaretur episcopus. Ille vero mittit ad eum Petrum, patrem Terebonis ut qui esset idoneus præesse animabus et deducere ad salutem.... Petrus ergo sic primus ordinatur episcopus, qui erat in Palæstina. nations, after the manner of the Arabians, and had each their regulus, or petty prince: so they seem each to have had their proper bishop, one to a nation, and no more. And therefore in Councils we find them usually subscribing themselves rather by the title of their nation, Episcopus Gentis Saracenorum, than any other way; which I take to be an indication, not that all the Saracens in the world had but one bishop, but that every petty nation had a bishop of its own, though it is hard to distinguish sometimes which family or tribe of them is meant by that general title. In the second Council of Ephesus 21 one Auxilaus is styled Episcopus Saracenorum Fœderatorum, among the bishops of Palestine, whence it is easy to conclude, that there the same Saracens are meant as Cyril speaks of, who were confederate with the Romans, or under the Roman government. But in other places we are left to guess what Saracens may be meant, since they were divided into several petty nations, and more than one nation of them, as we have seen, were converted to the Christian faith. the Axu The Indians beyond Egypt. 20. There is one Eastern country more, famous for its con- Bishops of version by Ædesius and Frumentius, in the time of Athanasius ; ' mites, or but yet learned men are not agreed where to place it. ancient historians, Ruffin 22, Socrates 23, and the rest that relate the story, commonly call it India Ulterior, the Inner India: whence Carolus à Sancto Paulo 24, and Baronius 25, and many 21 Ap. Act. I. C. Chalced. (t. 4. p. 117 e.). ... Καὶ Αὐξιλάου Σαρακηνῶν τῶν ὑποσπόνδων. [The citation in the text is according to the version of Dionysius Exiguus. Vid. Ed. Crabb. t. 1. p. 830. ED.] 22 L. 1. [al. 10.] c. 9. (p. 224 b. 18.) Metrodorus quidam philosophus, inspiciendorum locorum et orbis perscrutandi gratia, ulteriorem dicitur Indiam penetrasse. Cujus exemplo etiam invitatus Meropius, quidam Tyrius philosophus, simili ex causa adire Indiam voluit, habens secum duos puerulos, quos liberalibus literis utpote propinquos instituebat. Quorum unus, qui erat junior, Edesius, alter Frumentius vocabatur, &c. 23 L. 1. c. 19. (v. 2. p. 49. 31.) Αὖθις οὖν μνημονευτέον καὶ ὅπως ἐπὶ τῶν καιρῶν τοῦ βασιλέως ὁ Χριστια νισμὸς ἐπλατύνετο· τηνικαῦτα γὰρ Ιν- 24 Geogr. Sacr. [1. 8. n. 8.] p. 268. 25 Not. ad Martyrol. Rom. die 27. others, take it for granted that they mean India within the Ganges, the other part, without the Ganges, having been converted before, as they think, by the Apostle St. Bartholomew. But Holstenius 26 and Valesius 27 correct this mistake, and Bp. Pearson 28 has more fully proved, that the India they speak of was no part of the East Indies, but India beyond Egypt, which was part of Ethiopia, whereof Axumis was the metropolis. This lay not far from the mouth of the Red Sea, over against the country of the Homerites, in Arabia; whence Constantius, in one of his laws 22, joins these two nations together from Octobr., Ad verba, Apud Indos sancti Frumentii episcopi. (p. 418.) Vixit iisdem temporibus alius Frumentius, episcopus Auxumeos in Ægypto, ordinatus a S. Athanasio, confessione clarus: multa enim passus est ab Arianis ob tuendam Catholicam fidem. 26 Not. in Car. a S. Paul. Geogr. Sacr. p. 171. (ap. Oper. Car. a S. P. p. 258. n. 2.) Fallitur, fallitque in hujus Indiæ nomine et situ explicando, sicuti etiam Baronius ad Martyrologium Romanum, die 27. Octobris. Nam India illa, in quam Frumentius missus fuit a S. Athanasio, est Æthiopia sub Ægypto, cujus metropolis celeberrima fuit Axumis, et sic Indiam illam Athiopiæ finitimam vocat Socrates, quæ toto cœlo ab Asiatica, sive Gangetica distat. 27 Not. in Socrat. 1. 1. c. 19. (v. 2. p. 51. n. 2.)... Baronius, in annotationibus ad Martyrologium Romanum, Frumentium hunc Auxumis episcopum distinguendum esse ducit ab altero Frumentio Indorum episcopo; de quo Ruffinus et Socrates loquuntur. Ego vero unum eumdemque Frumentium esse contendo, eum, qui Auxumis, et eum qui Indorum episcopus dicitur. Auxumis enim metropolis est Ethiopiæ. Ethiopes autem ab antiquis confundi solent cum Indis, &c. 28 Vindic. Ignat. part. I. c. II. (Cotel. v. 2. p. 332.) Etsi enim Ruffinus [See n. 22, preceding.] ita historiam pertexat, quasi in Indiam ulteriorem et Orientalem Frumentius perrexisset; constat tamen Indiam eam fuisse Ægypto proximiorem et Æthiopiæ partem. Indi enim Æthiopes anti quitus appellabantur, ut apud Virgilium de Nilo: Usque coloratis amnis devexus ab Indis. Ad hanc autem Indiam Frumentium primo pervenisse constat : ex illa Alexandriam rediit, in eamdem rursus etiam missus est, et ab Athanasio ordinatus episcopus Axumeos. Erat autem Axumis Ethiopum metropolis. Stephanus de Urbibus: ̓Αξουμίτης, ἀρσενικῶς, μητρόπολις Ailiónov. Apud Arrianum in Periplo Maris Erythræi, quod Procopio Gazensi dáλaσσa 'İvdıên vocatur: ̓Απὸ δὲ ταύτης εἰς αὐτὴν τὴν μητρόπολιν, τὸν Αξωμίτην λεγόμενον, äλλwv yμepov TÉVTE. Nonnosus apud Photium: 'H dè "A§ovμa ñódis ἐστὶ μεγίστη, καὶ οἷον μητρόπολις τῆς öλns Albioпías. Et clarius adhuc Procopius, Persicorum 1. 1. c. 19. (t. I. p. 58 b. 5.): Oμпpiт@v de κатaνTIKрÙ μάλιστα ἐν τῇ ἀντιπέρας ἠπείρῳ Αἰθίοπες οἰκοῦσιν, οἳ Αὐξωμεῖται ἐπικαλοῦνται, ὅτι δὲ αὐτοῖς τὰ βασίλειά eσri év Av§óμidi móλei. Erat igitur Axumis metropolis Ethiopia, et in ea Ethiopum regia posita fuit. Ad hanc igitur Axumim, et hanc Indiam, quæ pars est Ethiopia Egypto proxima; non ad Indiam intra Gangem, aut ad Axumim illam, quam ad latus orientale Indi fluvii constituit Ptolemæus, Frumentium missum fuisse a S. Athanasio credendum est, &c. 29 Cod. Theod. 1. 12. tit. 12. leg. 2. (t. 4. p. 582.) Nullus ad gentem Auxumitarum et Homeritas ire præ 6 which, and many other authorities, Bp. Pearson unanswerably proves, that this India can be understood of no other but the Ethiopic India, whereof Axumis was the metropolis. This the Ancients called India as well as the other: for Virgil says the Nile 30 flowed from the Blackamoor Indians,' and Procopius Gazensis styles the Red Sea the Indian Sea 31, because it bordered upon this India beyond Egypt. Now, in this country, Frumentius was the first bishop that we read of, being ordained bishop of Axumis by Athanasius and a synod of Egyptian bishops, and sent thither to convert the country, and settle churches among them; which, therefore, we need not doubt were of the same species with those in Egypt and the rest of the world. For Axumis was not the only place that had a bishop; for Palladius 32 mentions one Moses, bishop of Adulis, which was another city of Ethiopia: and, in his Life of St. Chrysostom 33, he also speaks of one of his own name, Palladius, bishop of the Blemyes, which were a people of Ethiopia, adjoining to Egypt, as Strabo 34, and Pliny 35, and other geographers inform us. Bp. Pearson gives some other proofs, out of Cedrenus and the Arabic canons of the Nicene Council, and their ancient Liturgies, that they had bishops in that country ever since this their first conversion. But nothing more particular occurring concerning their dioceses, for want of better light, we can give no further account of them. For the same reason, I must omit several other Eastern nations, as the Parthians, and Indians about Ganges, which were con ceptus, ultra annui temporis spatia debet Alexandriæ de cætero commorari. 30 As cited in n. 28, preceding. 31 See n. 28, preceding, and Procopius, de Bell. Persic. 1. 1. c. 19. (t. I. p. 57 a. 7.) Αὕτη δὲ ἡ θάλασσα ἐξ Ινδων ἀρχομένη, κ. τ. λ. — Conf. ibid. (p. 58 c. 12.) Πλοῖα μέντοι ὅσα ἔν τε Ινδοῖς καὶ ἐν ταύτῃ τῇ θαλάσσῃ ἐστὶν, κ. τ. λ. [The version in this place has, In hoc autem atque Indico mari, &c., but I do not find the express term Ινδική θάλασσα applied to the Red Sea. ED.] 32 De Gent. Ind. [Lond. 1665. fol. p. 2.] (as cited by Pearson, Vind. Ignat. p. 332; see n. 28, preceding,) Ἐγὼ δὲ εἰς τὰ ἀκρωτήρια μόνον ἔφθα σα τῆς Ἰνδικῆς πρὸς ἐτῶν ὀλίγων μετὰ τοῦ μακαρίου Μωϋσέως τοῦ ἐπισκόπου τῶν ̓Αδουληνῶν. 33 C. 20. p. 194. (Oper. Chrysost. t. 13. p. 77 b.) Haλλádiov de Bλeμμύων, ἢ Αιθιόπων, ἐκ γειτόνων φρουρεῖσθαι Συήνῃ καλούμενον τὸ χωρίον. 34 [L. 17. p. 786. (t. 2. p. 1134 c. 1.) Τὰ δὲ κατωτέρω ἑκατέρωθεν Μερόης, παρὰ μὲν τὸν Νεῖλον πρὸς τὴν Ερυθρὰν, Μαγάβαροι, καὶ Βλέμμυες, Αἰθιόπων ὑπακούοντες, Αἰγυπτίοις δ ̓ ὁμópot. 35 L. 5. c. 8. (p. 69. 11.) Horum oppidum Mavin quidam solitudinibus imposuerunt. Atlantas juxta eos, Ægipanas semiferos, et Blemmyas, &c. Grischov.] |