A.D. 375. DEATH OF ATHANASIUS. 251 by the persons with whom he familiarly conversed; and the exile or imprisonment of a private citizen are the favours the most readily granted in a despotic court. Such punishments were frequently inflicted on the leaders of the Homoousian party; and the misfortune of fourscore ecclesiastics of Constantinople, who, perhaps accidentally, were burnt on shipboard, was imputed to the cruel and premeditated malice of the emperor and his Arian ministers. In every contest the catholics (if we may anticipate that name) were obliged to pay the penalty of their own faults, and of those of their adversaries. In every election the claims of the Arian candidate obtained the preference; and if they were opposed by the majority of the people, he was usually supported by the authority of the civil magistrate, or even by the terrors of a military force. The enemies of Athanasius attempted to disturb the last years of his venerable age; and his temporary retreat to his father's sepulchre has been celebrated as a fifth exile. But the zeal of a great people, who instantly flew to arms, intimidated the præfect: and the archbishop was permitted to end his life in peace and in glory, after a reign of forty- Death of The death of Athanasius was the signal of seven years. the persecution of Egypt; and the Pagan minister of May 2. Valens, who forcibly seated the worthless Lucius on the archiepiscopa! throne, purchased the favour of the reigning party by the blood and sufferings of their Christian brethren. The free toleration of the neathen and Jewish worship was bitterly lamented, as a circumstance which aggravated the misery of the catholics, and the guilt of the impious tyrant of the East.68 Athanasius, A.D. 373, tion. The triumph of the orthodox party has left a deep stain of persecution on the memory of Valens; and the character of a Just idea of prince who derived his virtues, as well as his vices, from a his persecufeeble understanding and a pusillanimous temper, scarcely deserves the labour of an apology. Yet candour may discover some reasons to suspect that the ecclesiastical ministers of Valens often exceeded the orders, or even the intentions, of their master; and that the real measure of facts has been very liberally magnified by the vehement declamation and easy credulity of his antagonists.69 1. The silence of Valentinian may suggest a probable argument that the partial severities which were exercised in the name and provinces of his colleague amounted only to some obscure and inconsiderable deviations from the established system of religious toleration; and the judicious historian, who has praised the equal temper of the elder 68 This sketch of the ecclesiastical government of Valens is drawn from Socrates (1. iv.), Sozomen (1. vi.), Theodoret (1. iv.), and the immense compilations of Tillemont (particularly tom. vi. viii. and ix.). 69 Dr. Jortin (Remarks on Ecclesiastical History, vol. iv. p. 78) has already conceived and intimated the same suspicion. 252 IDEA OF THE PERSECUTION OF VALENS. CHAP. XXV. brother, has not thought himself obliged to contrast the tranquillity of the West with the cruel persecution of the East.70 2. Whatever credit may be allowed to vague and distant reports, the character, or at least the behaviour, of Valens may be most distinctly seen in his personal transactions with the eloquent Basil, archbishop of Cæsarea, who had succeeded Athanasius in the management of the Trinitarian cause. 71 The circumstantial narrative has been composed by the friends and admirers of Basil; and as soon as we have stripped away a thick coat of rhetoric and miracle, we shall be astonished by the unexpected mildness of the Arian tyrant, who admired the firmness of his character, or was apprehensive, if he employed violence, of a general revolt in the province of Cappadocia. The archbishop, who asserted, with inflexible pride,72 the truth of his opinions and the dignity of his rank, was left in the free possession of his conscience and his throne. The emperor devoutly assisted at the solemn service of the cathedral; and, instead of a sentence of banishment, subscribed the donation of a valuable estate for the use of an hospital which Basil had lately founded in the neighbourhood of Cæsarea.73 3. I am not able to discover that any law (such as Theodosius afterwards enacted against the Arians) was published by Valens against the Athanasian sectaries; and the edict which excited the most viclent clamours may not appear so extremely reprehensible. The emperor had observed that several of his subjects, gratifying their lazy disposition under the pretence of religion, had associated themselves with the monks of Egypt; and he directed the count of the East to drag them from their solitude, and to compel those deserters of society to accept the fair alternative of renouncing their temporal 70 This reflection is so obvious and forcible, that Orosius (1. vii. c. 32, 33) delays the persecution till after the death of Valentinian. Socrates, on the other hand, supposes (1. iii. [iv.] c. 32) that it was peased by a philosophical oration which Themistius pronounced in the year 374 (Orat. xii. p. 154, in Latin only). Such contradictions diminish the evidence and reduce the term of the persecution of Valens. 7 Tillemont, whom I follow and abridge, has extracted (Mém. Ecclés. tom. viii. p. 153-167) the most authentic circumstances from the Panegyrics of the two Gregories; the brother and the friend of Basil. The letters of Basil himself (Dupin, Bibliothèque Ecclésiastique, tom. ii. p. 155-180) do not present the image of a very lively persecution. 72 Basilius Cæsariensis episcopus Cappadocia clarus habetur. . . . qui multa continentiæ et ingenii bona uno superbiæ malo perdidit [Chron. Ann. 2392, tom. viii. p. 816, ed. Vallars.]. This irreverent passage is perfectly in the style and character of St. Jerom. It does not appear in Scaliger's edition of his Chronicle; but Isaac Vossius found it in some old MSS. which had not been reformed by the monks." 73 This noble and charitable foundation (almost a new city) surpassed in merit, if not in greatness, the pyramids, or the walls of Babylon. It was principally intended for the reception of lepers (Greg. Nazianzen, Orat. xx. p. 439). A.D. 370. CHECKS ON THE AVARICE OF THE CLERGY. 253 Valentinian restrains the the clergy, avarice of A.D. 370. possessions, or of discharging the public duties of men and citizens, 74 The ministers of Valens seem to have extended the sense of this penal statute, since they claimed a right of enlisting the young and able-bodied monks in the Imperial armies. A detachment of cavalry and infantry, consisting of three thousand men, marched from Alexandria into the adjacent desert of Nitria,75 which was peopled by five thousand monks. The soldiers were conducted by Arian priests; and it is reported that a considerable slaughter was made in the monasteries which disobeyed the commands of their sovereign.76 The strict regulations which have been framed by the wisdom of modern legislators to restrain the wealth and avarice of the clergy may be originally deduced from the example of the emperor Valentinian. His edict," addressed to Damasus, bishop of Rome, was publicly read in the churches of the city. He admonished the ecclesiastics and monks not to frequent the houses of widows and virgins; and menaced their disobedience with the animadversion of the civil judge. The director was no longer permitted to receive any gift, or legacy, or inheritance, from the liberality of his spiritual daughter: every testament contrary to this edict was declared null and void; and the illegal donation was confiscated for the use of the treasury. By a subsequent regulation, it should seem that the same provisions were extended to nuns and bishops; and that all persons of the ecclesiastical order were rendered incapable of receiving any testamentary gifts, and strictly confined to the natural and legal rights of inheritance. As the guardian of domestic happiness and virtue, Valentinian applied this severe remedy to the growing evil. In the capital of the empire the females of noble and opulent houses possessed a very ample share of independent property; and many of those devout females had embraced the doctrines of Christianity, not only with the cold assent of the understanding, but with the warmth of affection, and perhaps with the eagerness of fashion. They sacrificed the pleasures of dress and 74 Cod. Theodos. 1. xii. tit. i. leg. 63. Godefroy (tom. iv. p. 409-413) performs the duty of a commentator and advocate. Tillemont (Mém. Ecclés. tom. viii. p. 808) supposes a second law to excuse his orthodox friends, who had misrepresented the edict of Valens, and suppressed the liberty of choice. 75 See D'Anville, Description de l'Egypte, p. 74. Hereafter I shall consider the monastic institutions. 76 Socrates, 1. iv. c. 24, 25. Orosius, 1. vii. c. 33. Jerom. in Chron. p. 189 [tom. viii. p. 816, ed. Vallars.], and tom. ii. p. 212. The monks of Egypt performed many miracles, which prove the truth of their faith. Right, says Jortiu (Remarks, vol. iv. p. 79), but what proves the truth of those miracles? Cod. Theodos. 1. xvi. tit. ii. leg. 20. Godefroy (tom. vi. p. 49), after the example of Baronius, impartially collects all that the fathers have said on the subject of this important law; whose spirit was long afterwards revived by the emperor Frederic II., Edward I. of England, and other Christian princes who reigned after the twelfth century. 254 AVARICE OF THE CLERGY. CHAP. XXV. luxury; and renounced, for the praise of chastity, the soft endearments of conjugal society. Some ecclesiastic, of real or apparent sanctity, was chosen to direct their timorous conscience, and to amuse the vacant tenderness of their heart: and the unbounded confidence which they hastily bestowed was often abused by knaves and enthusiasts, who hastened from the extremities of the East, to enjoy, on a splendid theatre, the privileges of the monastic profession. By their contempt of the world, they insensibly acquired its most desirable advantages; the lively attachment, perhaps, of a young and beautiful woman, the delicate plenty of an opulent household, and the respectful homage of the slaves, the freedmen, and the clients of a senatorial family. The immense fortunes of the Roman ladies were gradually consumed in lavish alms and expensive pilgrimages; and the artful monk, who had assigned himself the first, or possibly the sole place, in the testament of his spiritual daughter, still presumed to declare, with the smooth face of hypocrisy, that he was only the instrument of charity, and the steward of the poor. The lucrative, but disgraceful, trade,78 which was exercised by the clergy to defraud the expectations of the natural heirs, had provoked the indignation of a superstitious age and two of the most respectable of the Latin fathers very honestly confess that the ignominious edict of Valentinian was just and necessary; and that the Christian priests had deserved to lose a privilege which was still enjoyed by comedians, charioteers, and the ministers of idols. But the wisdom and authority of the legislator are seldom victorious in a contest with the vigilant dexterity of private interest: and Jerom, or Ambrose, might patiently acquiesce in the justice of an ineffectual or salutary law. If the ecclesiastics were checked in the pursuit of personal emolument, they would exert a more laudable industry to increase the wealth of the church; and dignify their covetousness with the specious names of piety and patriotism. 79 78 The expressions which I have used are temperate and feeble, if compared with the vehement invectives of Jerom (tom. i. p. 13, 45, 144, &c. [tom. i. p. 259, &c., ed. Vallars.]). In his turn he was reproached with the guilt which he imputed to his brother monks: and the Sceleratus, the Versipellis, was publicly accused as the lover of the widow Paula (tom. ii. p. 363). He undoubtedly possessed the affections both of the mother and the daughter; but he declares that he never abused his influence to any selfish or sensual purpose. 79 Pudet dicere, sacerdotes idolorum, mimi et auriga, et scorta, hæreditates capiunt: solis clericis ac monachis hâc [hoc]" lege prohibetur. Et non prohibetur a persecutoribus, sed a principibus Christianis. Nec de lege queror; sed doleo cur meruerimus hanc legem. Jerom (tom. i. p. 13 [tom. i. p. 258, ed. Vallars.]) discreetly insinuates the secret policy of his patron Damasus. It is plain that the reading hoc (as in Vallars.), not hac, is necessary to the sense. The law forbidding the clergy to receive inheritances was the Constitutio Valentiniani Imp. ad Damasum Papam, afterwards abrogated by the Novella of Marcian, Cod. Theod. 1. 16, tit. 3.-S. A.D. 366-884. 66 66 AMBITION AND LUXURY OF DAMASUS. of Rome, 256 Damasus, bishop of Rome, who was constrained to stigmatise the avarice of his clergy by the publication of the law of Valen- Ambition tinian, had the good sense, or the good fortune, to engage in a Damasus, his service the zeal and abilities of the learned Jerom; and bishop of the grateful saint has celebrated the merit and purity of a A.D. 366-394. very ambiguous character.80 But the splendid vices of the church of Rome, under the reign of Valentinian and Damasus, have been curiously observed by the historian Ammianus, who delivers his impartial sense in these expressive words :-"The præfecture of "Juventius was accompanied with peace and plenty, but the tranquillity of his government was soon disturbed by a bloody sedition "of the distracted people. The ardour of Damasus and Ursinus to "seize the episcopal seat surpassed the ordinary measure of human "ambition. They contended with the rage of party; the quarrel was maintained by the wounds and death of their followers; and "the præfect, unable to resist or to appease the tumult, was con"strained by superior violence to retire into the suburbs. Damasus "prevailed: the well-disputed victory remained on the side of his "faction; one hundred and thirty-seven dead bodies were found in "the Basilica of Sicininus, 82 where the Christians hold their religious "assemblies; and it was long before the angry minds of the people "resumed their accustomed tranquillity. When I consider the splen"dour of the capital, I am not astonished that so valuable a prize "should inflame the desires of ambitious men, and produce the "fiercest and most obstinate contests. The successful candidate is "secure that he will be enriched by the offerings of matrons;83 that, as soon as his dress is composed with becoming care and elegance, "he may proceed in his chariot through the streets of Rome;84 and "that the sumptuousness of the Imperial table will not equal the profuse and delicate entertainments provided by the taste and at 66 81 80 Three words of Jerom, sanctæ memoria Damasus (tom. ii. p. 109 [Ep. ad Pammachium. tom. i. p. 228, ed. Vallars.]), wash away all his stains, and blind the devout eyes of Tillemont (Mém. Ecclés. tom. viii. p. 386-424). 81 Jerom himself is forced to allow, crudelissimæ interfectiones diversi sexûs perpetrata (in Chron. p. 186 [tom. viii. p. 809, ed. Vallars.]). But an original libel or petition of two presbyters of the adverse party has unaccountably escaped. They affirm that the doors of the basilica were burnt, and that the roof was untiled; that Damasus marched at the head of his own clergy, gravediggers, charioteers, and hired gladiators; that none of his party were killed, but that one hundred and sixty dead bodies were found. This petition is published by the P. Sirmond, in the first volume of his works. The Basilica of Sicininus, or Liberius, is probably the church of Sancta Maria Maggiore, on the Esquiline hill. Baronius, A.D. 367, No. 3; and Donatus, Roma Antiqua et Nova, 1. iv. c. 3, p. 462. 83 The enemies of Damasus styled him Auriscalpius Matronarum, the ladies' earscratcher. Gregory Nazianzen (Orat. xxxii. p. 526) describes the pride and luxury of the prelates who reigned in the Imperial cities; their gilt car, fiery steeds, numerous train, &c. The crowd gave way as to a wild beast, |