of the people; whence the phrases, exosculari limina, and liminibus martyrum affundi, in Sidonius and Prudentius, are by him interpreted to this purpose. But I conceive the former opinion most probable, which takes it for the Emperor's throne, which was toward the east end of the church, in the men's portico, over-against the altar, where now the Sultan has his seat among the Turks. For that place which Dr. Beveridge calls the embolus, and others the circuitus, or side-aisles on both sides, were, in the temple of Sancta Sophia, porticoes for men below, and women above. And as the Empress had her seat in the upper end of the women's apartment, so the Emperors had theirs in the men's apartment, next to the chancel, from the time that Sozomen 46 tells us Theodosius submitted to the reproof of St. Ambrose, who blamed him for taking his seat within the rails of the sanctuary, though it had been customary for the Emperors so to do. After which admonition both he and his successors always took their place without the rails, whence that place seems to be called the solium, the royal seat. Which is confirmed in a little by what Suicerus 47 observes out of Cedrenus and Codinus, that Justinian made the solea of gold and onyx-stone; which are proper materials to adorn a throne, but not so proper to be laid in the pavement of a church. Not far from this, Du Fresne 48 observes, in some

a

46 L. 7. c. 25. (v. Ι. p. 317. 2.) "Ε- χίτου λίθου όντας συνέτριψε, και εις θος ήν τους βασιλείς εν τω ιερατείο χούν απετέλεσε. ED.] εκκλησιάζειν, κατ' εξοχήν των ορίων 48 In Paul. Silent. p. 560. (ut suTOV Naoù keywplouévous" kolarias de pra, p. 215. n.49. col. dextr.) Sed et ή αταξίας είναι τούτο συνιδών, τόπον presbyterium senatorium videtur apείναι βασιλέως εν εκκλησία τέταχε, pellari in eodem Ordine Romano TÒV TPÒ TWV ÒpupákTwv Toù lepatelov non semel, voce Latina, quæ idem ώστε του μεν λαου τον κρατούντα την quod πρεσβυτέριον Sonat : ubi ad προεδρίαν έχειν, αυτού δε τους ιερέας senatorium dicitur descendere pontiπροκαθήσθαι. Ταύτην δε την αρίστης fer, ut suscipiat oblationes princiTrapádogiv etjvege Deodógios ó Ba- pum, vel ut communicet eos, qui in σιλεύς, και οι μετά ταύτα εκράτυναν senatorio sunt. Descendit nempe ab kai é ékeivov vuvi Duhartopévnu ó- altari, ubi sacra peragit, in presbypôuev.

terium, ut principum et fidelium ob47 [Thes. Eccles. voce Ewléas lationes suscipiat, vel ut communicet (t. 2. p. 1208.) Solea erat in templis eos, qui sunt in presbyterio, nempe Græcorum bemati ambonique proxi- sacerdotes, clericos, atque adeo poma. Colligitur ex Codino, c. 17. de pulum ipsum, quod diserte ibi diciOfficiis; Kai katépzetat, k. 7.d. (See tur... Sed, ut verum fatear, nescio, n. 37, preceding.) Cedrenus: 'H an his locis, in Ordine Romano, seτρούλλα της αγίας του θεού μεγάλης natorium idem sit omnino quod presεκκλησίας φουρνική ούσα έπεσε, τον byterium. Dubitandi causarm movet, τε άμβωνα, και τους σωλείας εξ ονυ- quod in eo locus principum fuisse

modern churches a place called the senatorium, which some take to be only another name for the seats of the bishop and presbyters, who were the senate of the church : but Du Fresne thinks it was rather the seat of the magistrates, called senators, whence their apartment had the name of senatorium in the church.

CHAP. VI.

by many

Of the bema, or third part of the temple, called the altar and

the sanctuary, and the parts and uses of it. 1. The third and innermost part of the ancient churches was The chanthat which we now call the chancel, but originally it was known ly called

cel,ancient. other names. One of the most common names was bema, or

tribunal. that of Brua, or tribunal, which, as I have noted before, is a word of various signification, denoting sometimes the ambo or reading-desk, and sometimes the altar; and sometimes the seats or thrones of the bishop and presbyters; and sometimes the whole space where these thrones and the altar stood : in which sense I understand that canon of the Council of Laodicea 49 which forbids presbyters to go into the bema and sit there before the bishop comes. Suicerus 50 has observed it fre

dicitur : Pontifex autem, sustentatus dei atpeoßutépous apò tñs cisódov Toù
hinc inde deatra levαφue α primice- επισκόπου εισιέναι και καθέζεσθαι εν
rio notariorum, descendit ad senato- tỘ Bhuatı.
rium, quod est locus principum, ut 50 "Thes. Eccles. voce Bộua. (t. I.
suscipiat oblationes eorum. Et infra: p.682.) Bņua igitur est locus in tem-
Pontifex descendit ad senatorium, . plo, tabulato inclusus, sacer ac ve-
suscipit oblationes principum per or- nerandus, et clericis tantum, viris
dines arcuum. Siquidem enim sena- sæcularibus raro, mulieribus nun-
torium locu in quo consiste- quam, penetrabilis. In Liturgia Ba-
bant principes, seu magnates, dum silii M. p.44. Toù lepéus déyovtos TIV
sacre intererant liturgie; idem ille ευχήν μυστικώς εν τω βήματι, εν τω
forte fuerit cum εolea, seu pavi- αυτό καιρό λέγει έξω του βήματος τα
mento editiori ante cancellos bema- eipruiká. Eadem habes in Liturgia
tis; ita appellatus, quod ibi senatores Chrysostomi, p:79. In eadem Li-
seu principes consisterent. Nam ob- turgia, p. 77, Eio ép xetai eis tò ãylov
servatum supra, ad sacros cancellos Brua, k.7.1. A Chrysostomo, Hom.
assignatam fuisse imperatoribus in 25. t. 5. Edit. Paris. p. 553., vocatur
ecclesia sedem ab Ambrosio. Sena- iepòv Brua. De Flaviano Episcopo :
tores autem appellatos magnates, a- Eί μή Πνεύμα άγιον ήν εν τω κοινό
pud scriptores Christianos veteres, τούτω πατρί και διδασκάλω, ουκ αν
notum est. Proinde in senatorio ότε πρό μικρού ανέβη επί το ιερόν βή-
pontifex non modo suscipiebat ob- μα τούτο, και πάσιν υμίν έδωκεν ειρή-
lationes principum, sed et populum νην, και έπεφθέγξασθε αυτά κοινή
ibidem communicabat, &c.

πάντες, Και το πνεύματί σου. Εx his C. 56. (t. 1. p. 1505 d.) "Oti oů patet, Bñua fuisse elatiorem templi

6

quently to be thus used in the Liturgies of St. Chrysostom and
St. Basil. And Chrysostom, in one of his Homilies 50, more par-
ticularly describes it to be the place whither the bishop'went
by an ascent into it, to preach, to pray, to stand by the holy
temple, and offer the tremendous sacrifice for the people.' By
which it is easy to understand, that he takes it not barely for
the altar alone, or the bishop's throne, but for the whole place
where they stood, and where these several offices were per-
formed. And the reason of the name bema was what Chryso-
stom also intimates when he says, they went up by an ascent
into it.' For bema and ambo have both the same original, from
åvaßalvelv 51, because they were places exalted above the rest,
and, like the tribunals of judges, had an ascent by steps into
them. Now the bema was more peculiarly allotted to the

.
clergy, and, upon that account, as I have noted before in a
former Book 52, the clergy were sometimes styled oi toù Bń-
ματος, and τάξις του βήματος, the order of the bema, or the

sanctuary.
Also άγιον, 2. For the name sanctuary was also appropriated to this
oriepatecov, part of the church. The Greeks peculiarly styled it äylov, the
,

. and sacrarium, the holy; and from thence the altar was called dylov åyiwv, the holy, or the

holy of holies, which is the term that Eusebius 53 uses in desanctuary.

scribing the temple of Paulinus. In other places 54 he calls it
åyiaoua, which is the name whereby the Seventy call the
sanctuary in the Old Testament. The Latins called it sacra-
rium, the sanctuary; as in the first Council of Bracara 55,
which forbids laymen to come into the sanctuary to com-
municate; and the Council of Vaison 56, which speaks of the
office of ordering or disposing the things of the sanctuary;
partem, sive chorum, nomen haben- Avolaothplov év uéow Deis.
tem a gradibus, quibus eo ascende- 54 L. 7. c. 15. (ibid. p. 341. 23.)
batur.

Της χειρός λαβών επί την εκκλη-
50 Hom. 36. [al. 1.) de Pentecost. Olav a poáyel, ciow tempòs aŭto otń-
t. 5. p. 553, (t. 2. p. 463 b.) Aià toù- σας τώ αγιάσματα, κ. τ.λ.
το ουκ αναβαίνοντι μόνον, ουδε δια- 55 [Al. Bracar. 2.) c. 13. (t. 5, p.
λεγομένω προς υμάς, ουδε εύχομένω 841 c.) ... Sanctuarium altaris [al.
υπέρ υμών, ταύτην επιφθέγγεσθε την sacrarium) ingredi ad communican-
ρησιν, αλλ' όταν παρά την ιεράν ταύ- dum non liceat laicis .... nisi tan-
την εστήκη τράπεζαν όταν την φρι- tum clericis.
κτήν εκείνην θυσίαν αναφέρειν μέλλη.

and the fourth Council of Carthage 57, which forbids the oblation of such, as are at variance one with another, to be received either in the treasury or the sanctuary. 3. The Greeks also termed it Ovolaotplov, the altar-part; And Avoie

αστήριον, for though that word commonly signifies the altar itself, or the altar. the Lord's-table, yet in some ancient canons and ecclesiastical part. writers, as Habertus 58 and Mr. Mede 59 have observed, it is used to denote the whole sanctuary within the rails, where none but the clergy were allowed. As in the Councils of Laodicea 60 and Trullo 61, which forbid women and laymen to come into the Avolaotplov, it must mean the whole altar-part or chancel. And so in Socrates 62, and Theodoret 63, and many others, who speak of St. Ambrose excluding Theodosius, the Emperor, from within the rails of the sanctuary.

4. St. Cyprian, in his fifty-fifth Epistle 64, calls it consessus Presbytecleri, the presbytery: and Forbesius 65 and some other learned rium and

diaconicum. men think it was also called diaconicum, from the presbyters sitting and the deacons ministering there. Thus they understand the Council of Laodicea 66, which forbids subdeacons to have any place in the diaconicum, or to touch the sacred

sacram

57 C. 93. (t. 2. p. 1207 b.) Obla- xeobal. tiones dissidentium fratrum, neque 61 C. 69. (t. 6. p. 1174 b.). Mň in sacrario, neque in gazophylacioétéotw, K.F... as quoted by Habert. recipiantur.

See n. 58, preceding. 58 Archierat. ad Rit. Varios Altar. 62 L. 1. c. 25. (Corrige, Sozom. observ. I. (p. 663.) Porro Avoiaorn- 1.7.c.25. (V. 2. p. 377.2.),"Edos iv prov aliquid aliud præter altare et τους βασιλείς εν τω ιερατείο εκκλη

mensam sepe significare, σιάζειν ..... Κολακίας δε ή αταξίας nempe spatium sive locum sanctu- είναι τούτο συνιδών, τόπον είναι βαarii seu sacrarii sacerdotalis, του ιε- σιλέως εν εκκλησία τέταχε, τον προ ρατείου, in quo et prothesis minus των δρυφάκτων του ιερατείου. ED.] altare, et sacra mensa altare majus 63 L. 1. c. 14. [Corrige, 1.5. c. 18. positum est. Quod elucet ex illa (v. 3. p. 218. 14.).. Tà čvdov, & Baformula quotidie in his officiis ob- σιλεύ, μόνοις έστιν ιερεύσι βατά τους via : Εισέρχεσθαι εις το θυσιαστή- δε άλλοις άπασιν άδυτά τε και άψουριον, non vero dicitur εισέρχεσθαι στα. έξιθι τοίνυν και τοις άλλοις κοιεις την αγίαν τράπεζαν.--Canone 79. νώνει της στάσεως. ED.] in Trullo: Μη εξέστω τινι των απάν- 64 [Al. Ep. 59. ad Cornel. (p. των εν λαϊκοίς τελούνται ένδον ιερού 268.) See before, b. 2. ch. 19. 3. 7. εισιέναι θυσιαστηρίου.

v. 1. p. 225. n. 29. Ed.] 59 Comment. in Apocalyps. (p.

65 Irenic. 1. 2. C. II. prop. 13. p. 479.) Ubi Avolaothplov, non altare 221. (t. 1. p. 437.) ..... Dicebatur tantum holocausti quod ibi situm, etiam presbyterium et diaconicum, sed spatium etiam circumjectum, id &c.—See b. 17. ch. 2. s. 2. est, totum altaris et sacrificii locum, 66 C. 21. (t. 1. p. 1500 e.) "OTL designat, &c.

ου δεί υπηρέτας έχειν χώραν εν τω 60 C. 44. (t. 1504 e.) "Οτι ου δεί διακονικό, και άπτεσθαι δεσποτικών γυναίκας εν τώ θυσιαστηρίω εισέρ- σκευών.

BINGHAM, VOL. III.

G

rus, or choir.

vessels of the Lord's table. But I must note, that though the name, diaconicum, in that canon may signify the chancel or sanctuary, yet it more commonly means the vestry or repository of the sacred vessels; of which we are to give a further account when we come to speak of the exedræ of

the church. Also cho- 5. In some canons it seems also to have had the name of

chorus whence comes our English word, choir; as in the fourth Council of Toledo 66, which thus appoints the order and manner of men's communicating in the church, so as that the priests and deacons should communicate before the altar, the inferior clergy in the choir, and the people without the choir.' Though some take the chorus to signify rather the place of

the singers and readers in the other part of the church. This place 6. Eusebius 67, describing this part of the temple of Paulinus, separated from the says, it was divided from the rest by certain rails of wood, rest by curiously and artificially wrought in the form of net-work, to rails, called cancelli,

make it inaccessible to the multitude. These the Latins call whence

cancelli, whence comes our English name, chancel. In other chancel. Greek writers they are termed klykiloes : whence, in Theo

doret 68, tà čvdov TÔV klyklíòwv, the place within the rails, is but another name for the altar-part or chancel: and, to lay hold of the rails,' in the phrase of Synesius 69, is the same

thing as to take sanctuary at the altar. And kept 7. By these rails, as Eusebius words it, this whole altarinaccessible to the mul- place was kept inaccessible to all but the clergy in time of titude : divine service. The Council of Laodicea has one canon 70 parwas called ticularly forbidding women to come within the altar-part; and adyla.

another 71 in more general terms, allowing none but the iepatiko to communicate there: in which canon some take the word,

comes

6

whence it

66 C. 17. (t. 5. p. 1711 c.) Sacer- 68 L. 5. c. 18. (v. 3. p. 218. 32.) dotes et Levite ante altare com. Τη ιερα τραπέζη τα δώρα προσενεγmunicent, in choro clerus, extra κών δε, ώσπερ είώθει, ένδον παρά τας chorum populus.—Vid. C. Turon. Klyklidas peuévnkev, K. t. d. 2. c. 4. (ibid. p. 853 e.) See s. 7. 69 Catast. (p. 303 b. 8.) 'Q Togákis n. 80, following.

ταις κιγκλίσι τα χείρε προσμάξομαι; 67 L. 10. c. 4. p. 381. (v.1. p. 474. 70 C. 44. See s. 3. n. 60, pre15.)... Aύθις και τάδε ώς αν είη τοις ceding. πολλοίς άβατα, τους από ξύλου πε- 71 C. 19. (t. 1. p. 1500 d.) Kai ριέφραττε δικτύοις, εις άκρον εντέχνου μόνοις εξόν είναι τοις ιερατικούς εισλεπτουργίας εξασκημένοις, ώς θαυμά- ιέναι εις το θυσιαστήριον και κοισιον τοις ορώσι παρέχειν την θέαν. νωνείν.