Книга пятая (403–404 гг.)

Eudoxia orders that his statue be placed near the Church of Hagia Sophia. - The Wrath of Chrysostom; his sermon against the empress. - A new Council was convened against him in Constantinople. – He is denied the right to defend himself, citing the 4th decree of the Council of Antioch. – Chrysostom declares this Council and its resolution to be Arian. – Division in the Council; The Emperor demands an account of the affairs of the Council. – Chrysostom’s speech against those who left the Church. “He is imprisoned in his episcopal house.” – Horrors in the baptismal sanctuary on Holy Saturday. – Converts find refuge in the Baths of Constantius. - Appeal of Chrysostom to Pope Innocent. – Attempts on the life of Chrysostom. – The Emperor sends the Archbishop into exile. – Farewell scene in the Church of Hagia Sophia. - Bloody fight in the church. – Saint Sophia and the Curia were put on fire. This peace, for all the sincerity with which it was concluded, turned out to be in fact only a short truce. The empress's feelings changed in relation to Chrysostom under the influence of extreme horror, when she considered him covered by the right hand of God himself, but there were many people at court and in the Church who explained to her the earthquake as a natural phenomenon and extinguished in this woman, along with superstitious fear, the last spark of honesty of which she was still capable. And, as this saving fear dissipated, she apparently returned to her former self. Her friends, removed from the palace out of respect for the archbishop, little by little again transferred their gossip and intrigues there, and Chrysostom, as before, became the subject of ridicule and hatred. The archbishop, for his part, followed this restless movement, and the measures he took sometimes resembled preparations for self-defense. From the time of his victorious return to Constantinople, to his throne, after the popular repentance that proud Augusta was forced to bring to him, he felt even closer to the people. On that memorable night, when the whole city, intoxicated with joy, brought him to the Church of Hagia Sophia and, against his will, again placed him on the throne in front of Arcadius and Augusta, numerous voices shouted to him from the crowd: “Bishop, cleanse your clergy, drive out the traitors!” And he answered them then that “he will decide according to the advice of his people and the most pious empress.” And he really decided to make changes. Suspicious clergy were sent away, the most disgraced condemned themselves, while the faithful were rewarded with church degrees. Deacon Tigrius, elevated to the priesthood, was to serve under Chrysostom himself. Another man devoted to him, Serapion, who became a priest, received the Heraclean bishopric in Thrace, which was not occupied after the flight of Paul, who sat with Theophilus at the Council in Oak and even presided over it in the end. So, the favors of the archbishop generously rewarded the clergy who showed loyalty and courage in a moment of danger, and the transformed Constantinople clergy now represented around the bishop a force more homogeneous and closely associated with him. The people, who more and more acted at one with their shepherd, welcomed both the rewards and the strict measures of the archbishop. Did Chrysostom consult with the people on this, according to his promise? It is unknown, because history does not say a word about it, but it can be considered quite reliable that he did not consult Augusta. Things quickly reached the point where the slightest pretext could cause an explosion and reignite the war - Eudoxia’s insatiable pride served to renew it. This woman, raised by the machinations of a eunuch minister to the second throne of the Roman world, laid claim to honors that the most haughty patricians of old Rome, connected by close ties with the Caesars, would not have dared to seek. Many empresses, indeed, received solemn honors as mothers and consorts of emperors - honors that belonged to the sovereigns of which these women were a reflection, because the Emperor, according to the Roman view, was a living deity, as if the embodiment of the people themselves, who had transferred to him all their rights. For a Roman, the concepts of Emperor - people - Rome seemed to merge together, or each of them was the embodiment of the others. That is why the Roman people had a special worship of the Emperor. By this right, Livia, Agrippina, Julia Severa, Julia Maesa and others were honored in the ancient empire, as well as later Saint Helen, the mother of the founder of Constantinople, and Flacilla, the beloved wife of Theodosius and the mother of both sovereigns now reigning. This was not enough for Eudoxia. She obtained from her husband the right to be adored, like the Emperor himself, in images transported from one province to another with the ceremony befitting august persons. This act aroused the indignation of the West, which saw in it not only a desecration of the sign of imperial power, which could not be transferred to a woman, but also a violation of Roman customs. Honorius sent bitter reproaches to his brother, but he did not listen to him. And the statue of Eudoxia was put up for worship by the peoples of the East, who, it should be noted, were not as picky in this regard as the inhabitants of the Western Empire, because in their history they were accustomed to hearing about queens - and famous queens. Eudoxia's vanity could be considered satisfied, but it was not satisfied. She also needed a statue within the walls of the capital, and the Senate issued a decree that the statue should be placed in the main forum opposite the palace, where the public meetings were held, not far from the Byzantine rostra, a ridiculous copy of the Roman tribune, which was once trampled by the feet of the Gracchi, Hortensius and Cicero. Some details about this forum and about the buildings surrounding it will help to understand subsequent events. The place chosen to satisfy Eudoxia’s vanity was a vast quadrangle, bounded on the south by the Senate building, which bore the name of the Great Curia, on the north by the front side of the Church of Hagia Sophia, on the east and west by magnificent buildings where the court officials and the richest citizens of the city lived. Behind the Curia, on a smaller square, stood the imperial palace in which Arcadius and his family lived. Opposite the main entrance to the Church of Hagia Sophia, on the edge of the side facades of the square, a wide passage opened, connecting in the east with the Bosphorus quarter, and in the west with the Baths of Constantius, forming one of the most crowded streets of Constantinople. In the middle of the forum there was a platform paved with multi-colored marble. It housed a tribune from which the Emperor and his representatives addressed their speeches to the Senate, people and army. On this spot a statue of Augusta was erected, on a porphyry column, raised on an even higher pedestal. The statue was made of solid silver. Depicted in imperial clothes, in a commanding position, Eudoxia seemed to dominate from there over the church, the palace and the entire city and seemed to inspire the meetings of the Senate with her image. The Great Curia, against which the Emperor Constantius erected the church of Hagia Sophia, was built by his father Constantine on the model of the Roman Capitol, where the Senate of the Western Empire met on important occasions. The Great Byzantine Curia, intended for the same purpose, was given by its founder, who was not yet baptized at that time, under the protection of the same gods, Jupiter and Minerva, but since Jupiter Capitoline was the deity most honored in the West, Constantine chose Jupiter of Dodon, who enjoyed no less honor in the East, for his Byzantine Capitol. He also ordered the transportation from the Asian city of Linda of the statue of Minerva, once consecrated by mystical rites, the worship of which was widespread throughout Asia Minor. Both images were placed at the entrance to the Curia as guardians of the greatness of the new empire. In addition, under the porticos there was a choir of Muses, arranged in a row, with their various accessories, stolen from the sanctuaries of Helicon. So the Great Curia of Constantinople, decorated with so many pagan shrines, became a real temple, consecrated by the most important deities of Greece. The building itself, “dressed” in precious marble, decorated with solid columns, friezes, statues, where visitors from other cities of the East could see and compare this greatness with the losses of their own churches, presented to art lovers, as well as admirers of the ancient Greek religion, a whole collection of sacred objects, which they could not approach without reverence and reverence. A strange incident placed both of the most magnificent monuments - pagan and Christian - against each other, as if in order to soon mix them up in common ruins. The opening of the imperial statues was carried out according to an ancient ritual, which was strongly influenced by paganism. Considerations of state also maintained under Christian sovereigns these ancient rites, which strengthened among the people the reverence befitting authority. Theodosius himself demanded the worship of his images. Only the grandson of this Emperor, the son of Arcadius and Eudoxia, Theodosius II, abolished by a special decree what in the rituals of this celebration was too contrary to Christian feeling. In the case of the statue of Eudoxia, the ritual was performed even with all sorts of additions that flattery could come up with. For several days, public celebrations were held around the statue of Eudoxia, to which people flocked in droves: there were dances, competitions of strength and dexterity, performances of mimes and buffoons, and all sorts of “funny” spectacles. All this was reminiscent of the festivities that were once held in honor of the goddess Cybele, and perhaps the orgiastic mysteries served as a model for these “amusements” - Latin writers convey what absurd and obscene spectacles were offered to the crowd by the priests and castrated servants of this mother of the gods. This is what appeared and was to take place for many days in the Senate Square, essentially in front of the entrance to the Orthodox church. Chrysostom had an open aversion to spectacles, and no one, perhaps, declared himself more strict towards entertainment than he - the saint saw in them the snares and fabrications of the devil. Allowing the devil to spread these nets at the doors of the holy church seemed to him a deliberate insult to both the Church and himself. In addition, the screams of buffoons, the sounds of music, applause and exclamations of those present penetrated into the church, disturbing both church singing and the teachings of the shepherd. He complained to the city prefect, asking him to curb the outrage. The prefect, who was accused of Manichaeism, but who most likely curried favor with Eudoxia and was on friendly terms with her court, received the archbishop's remark coldly. Isn't this an old custom? Is it really impossible to do for the Empress Eudoxia what was always done for all the Caesars, and it is necessary to punish the subjects for the animation that they show to their empress? However, he reported this to Augustus. Such was the prefect, as far as one can conclude about him from the testimony of historians and from the course of the case itself. The next day after these warnings, it seemed to the archbishop that the noise and disorder not only did not stop, but even intensified; he saw in this a deliberate challenge not only to the prefect, but also to a high-ranking personality who wanted to show him disdain. Then he resorted to his intercessor and ordinary judge - the people of his Church. From the height of the pulpit he thundered against those who took part in these unholy games, against the prefect who organized them, against the one in whose honor they were organized, and who in her pride allowed the holy place to be desecrated with obscene shouts, as if placing herself above God himself. His speech has not been preserved, but history testifies that never before had his word been more harsh, that allusions to the wicked women of the Old and New Testaments were squandered in this improvisation without mercy or cover, and that again there was talk of Herodias and St. John the Baptist. It seemed that John Chrysostom this time sought to overfill the measure. In the evening the whole city was in excitement. The Empress hurried to the palace to ask for revenge. The Emperor, himself deeply offended, declared that this rebel should be put to rest. Two months had already passed since Chrysostom returned to Constantinople, when this second war broke out - with no less force than the first. Marsa, Kastrizia and Evgrafiya, this “purely possessed one,” as a modern church historian called her, again took possession of the empress in order to excite her even more. Severian, Antiochus and Acacius, who arrived from their dioceses, again became, together with many other clergy and laity, advisers to a new conspiracy against the church world. The same historian calls them a cohort intoxicated with rage: they were so excited by the desire to destroy Chrysostom. Those of them who wanted a quick solution submitted an opinion that the archbishop should be brought to a secular court on charges of insulting the Empress and Emperor. They said: “Didn’t he insult the empress with vile words during the festivities that were determined for her by the people and the Senate? Did he call the population to revolt, which is an insult to His Majesty, as defined in the laws of the empire? Moreover, this crime requires neither investigation nor legal debate: it was committed publicly, in the archbishop's church, among festive celebrations; so there can be no doubt about the condemnation.” The more cautious replied that one should be wary of the tricks of this man, who had such power over the crowd, and that the Emperor and Empress should not be interfered with in a process whose outcome should be the death penalty. Then one of the advisers, perhaps Severian, gave the following advice, which was accepted by everyone: “John has been pestering the Emperor for two months in order to force him to convene a Council, which, having canceled the decision of the previous one, would have acquitted him and condemned his judges; let the Emperor agree to Chrysostom’s request in order to turn the Council to his own disgrace. This will not be difficult to do, in view of the new crime he has now committed and which has brought upon him general indignation. Without neglecting any means, it is easy to come, with the help of the court, to a decision by which the dignity of the Sovereign will not be tarnished. And John, convicted twice by the church court for church affairs, will have no choice but to go to die in exile, unless the empress considers it good to return him again.” This proposal seemed to solve all the difficulties, or at least eliminate the most important ones. The Emperor received him and ordered the documents to be prepared for convening the Council. It was believed that it would be better to hold a Council in Constantinople, under the supervision of Augusta, who, depending on the situation, would encourage or keep the bishops at bay, and also so that John could not complain, as he did before, that he was being judged outside his archbishopric. Obviously, they now realized the mistake made before when they moved the first Council to Chalcedon, beyond the influence of the court, and left the accused in some way the ruler of Constantinople. During these meetings, especially when it came to convening the Council, the name of Theophilus was pronounced by everyone. The Patriarch of Alexandria seemed to everyone a necessary lever in the church conspiracy aimed at the overthrow of John Chrysostom. He was the soul of the Council in Oak, or, better to say, personified the entire Council: he composed it from persons devoted to him, he drew up the entire plan, led the debates, dictated the resolutions... For those who saw him in action, who could actually appreciate this talent, inexhaustible in the invention of means, which could not be embarrassed by any unforeseen circumstance, no truth could be ashamed, which alternately took him with cunning, then with insolence, was sometimes accommodating, sometimes commanding, sometimes seductive, sometimes threatening and captivating the entire assembly of bishops with the wit of his arguments or the fear of his vengeance - Theophilus seemed to be an irreplaceable person in the upcoming Council. On the other hand, when they remembered that lack of courage, the fear that he showed when a handful of mob were looking for him, intending to drown him, they doubted that he would come. In addition to the general invitation, the bishops wrote him a special letter with the following content: “Theophilus, come to be our leader, and if you cannot come in any way, show us what we should do.” Theophilus responded with an apology, which he tried to make worthy of the attention of the Empress and the Emperor, that “he could not leave Alexandria again without violating his episcopal duties and the wishes of the people, already dissatisfied, who would no doubt be agitated if he tried to leave.” He also gave other reasons, “but it was not this that held him back, but simply fear,” adds Palladius: his imagination vividly imagined the day when he had to escape with his Egyptians on a fragile boat, so as not to be thrown into the Bosporus. However, if the patriarch, despite his desire to harm Chrysostom, could not be present among the archbishop’s enemies in body, then at least he was with them with his whole soul. And indeed, he reported that he had an infallible means of achieving the immediate deposition of John, that this means consisted in documents that he would communicate to the Egyptian bishops, from his entourage, teaching how to use them, that his bishops would enter into an agreement with the bishops of the court, but that the matter required the strictest secrecy in relation to others in order for it to achieve the desired outcome. There were three Egyptians who were given secret documents and verbal instructions from Theophilus, all of them completely worthy of the trust of their patron in their already proven abilities for intrigues, although one of them was still very young and had just been elevated to the rank of bishop. According to Palladius, these were “pathetic bishops” who were more suited to the title of “nonentity.” Upon arrival in Constantinople, they were welcomed with open arms by Severian and his court associates. Thus casting his nets around the future Council, Theophilus neglected nothing to ensure that it was prepared according to the wishes of the Emperor and his own. The Patriarch wrote urgent letters to all the bishops of the regions adjacent to Egypt, who either could hope to receive something from him, or were afraid of him (because his influence in Palestine and Syria was great), giving them instructions and, in a way, prescribing to them the opinions that they would have to express at the Council. Severian, Antiochus and Acacius did the same in the Churches neighboring their dioceses - Gavalian, Ptolemaidan and Berean, promising or frightening in the name of the Emperor. This is how judges were recruited to depose St. John. These machinations did not go unnoticed. In all dioceses - from Egypt to Pontus, from Constantinople to the borders of Thrace - extraordinary excitement spread. The convening of a new Council to revise the acts of the Council in Oak, which Chrysostom demanded for his justification, was turned by his opponents into a means of confirming the first sentence and strengthening it with a new, more serious one, in accordance with the desire of the Emperor and the vengeance of Augusta. The more and more obvious participation that Emperor Arcadius took in this process made a depressing impression on bishops who were impartial or loyal to Archbishop John, and vice versa - the ardent activity of the court aroused the passions of his enemies. If amid this confusion of feelings and conscience there were many manifestations of justice and courage, then many basenesses came to light. There were bishops who, not daring to appear in person to cast their votes, perhaps out of fear of popular unrest because of Chrysostom, sent their written consent to whatever they decided against him. One bishop is named who had the good intention of coming to Constantinople to defend the accused, but hastily returned to his diocese when he saw all the treachery of the opposing party and heard the threats that were uttered around him. This poor man's name was Theodore, he was the bishop of Tian in Cappadocia. Meanwhile, according to contemporaries, he was a smart archpastor: apparently, courage was not considered among the gifts of the mind. The assembled bishops, no matter which side they belonged to, considered it necessary to visit Chrysostom upon their arrival - if only in order to avoid the challenge that he made to Theophilus during the Council in Oak, citing reluctance to visit him as the local archbishop. But Arkady vehemently condemned this - and the visits stopped. Nevertheless, despite the machinations and fear, according to some sources, 40, according to others - 42 bishops gathered around the saint, who remained faithful to him to the end. The council brought together more than 100 bishops. On the other side, new personalities appeared who did not act at the Council in Oak, and now declared themselves under one banner or another. The core of the court party were the same - Akakios, Antiochus, Severian and Cyrinus of Chalcedon. Everything hostile to the archbishop gathered around them. The statue of the Empress was inaugurated at the end of September 403, and at the beginning of January 404 the Council already began its meetings. A few days before that there was the feast of the Nativity of Christ. Previously, the Emperor and Empress used to be present at the service performed by the archbishop in his basilica. That year, Arkady announced that he would not go there, not wanting, as he said, to have communication with the archbishop until he was justified. This act was interpreted by many as a sign given to the Council from the heights of the throne. Under such circumstances, the meetings of the Council opened. The subject for which the Council was convened was the revision of the decisions of the Council in Duba. Chrysostom demanded it, having in mind his brilliant justification. His enemies agreed to the Council with the exact opposite intentions: not only to confirm, but to make the previous sentence even more severe. Be that as it may, with all the differences in motives, and whatever the outcome, favorable or unfavorable for the archbishop, it was possible to reconsider the case only by starting the process itself all over again - by checking all the investigative documents: the indictment, the points of question, the interrogations of the accusers and witnesses - in a word, everything that constituted the content of the investigative part in the first instance. Meanwhile, more than six months after the pronouncement of the verdict, great changes took place in the Church of Constantinople, partly because the archbishop “purified” his clergy, partly for other reasons. Some of the accusers disappeared or abstained for fear of the people, recalling the threats directed against Theophilus. The same thing happened among the witnesses, especially the clergy. So, from the very first step we had to face a great difficulty: with the resumption of office work according to its original data - to begin a new proceeding with new people and new complaints meant to evade the subject on which the Council was convened, and to embark on dangerous accidents. Then the question of debate between the parties was presented. John Chrysostom, not heard at the Council in Duba, had this claim even now, and informers and witnesses did not dare to speak out, tremblingly awaiting his angry eloquence, which could lead them into confusion and cover them with shame. The court archbishops, it seems, also became worried, although somewhat late, at the thought of what effect Chrysostom’s fiery word would have on the people who idolized him. For all these reasons, the Council dragged on without taking decisive measures and wasted time in preparatory actions. The Egyptians, spies of Theophilus, seeing the stupor that had taken possession of the Council, decided that the time had come to launch an “offensive.” Their number was increased by new secret allies, whose devotion they had learned about. Among them were Leontius, Archbishop of Ancyra from Galatia Minor, and Ammonius, Bishop of Laodicea in the Pisidian province. Both were reputed to be excellent theologians, and Leontius even enjoyed great celebrity in his province, but his merits were overshadowed by greed and exorbitant arrogance. He was looking forward to the opportunity to finally appear in a new field instead of his little-known town of Galatia and thought that he had found this field in the struggle that was now opening in Constantinople against the first speaker in the entire Christian world. As for Ammonius, he was an extremely partial and quarrelsome man, and they said about him that the bishop of Laodicea Burnt came only to “put fire under the Church.” They were surrounded by minor personalities, theologians who were on short terms at court: Antiochus, Acacius, Cyrinus, Severian. Theophilus's Egyptians wisely kept a low profile so as not to cast suspicion on the proposal they had made at the first time. The roles were distributed as follows: Leontius and Ammonius were assigned to give speeches to the Council. And one of them, in all likelihood Leontius, who exceeded his comrade both in the degree of his diocese and in his importance as a theologian, spoke first, with approximately the following words: “Why did we come here and why did they call us? “We have come to reconsider the condemnation of the Council, which deposed John from the episcopal throne of Constantinople; John himself submitted to us a statement about the invalidity of this council resolution. But our first task must be to consider the question: is John within our jurisdiction? Does he have the right to ask us or another church court to cancel the decree that deposed him? In a word, is the deposed John a bishop who has the right to canonically ask for his restoration? - No, John is not a bishop or a presbyter; according to formal church law, he no longer even belongs to the Church.” Having then unrolled the scroll of articles brought by the Egyptians from Alexandria, the speaker read publicly two resolutions of the Council of Antioch in 341 under the Emperor Constantius. That's what they contained. Fourth decree: “Every bishop deposed by the Council from his throne, whether rightly or not, who dared to ascend to it without permission, without clearing his condemnation by one or another Council and without being called again by his judges to perform his episcopal duties, - let him be excommunicated from the Church without permission to justify himself in the future, and everyone who participated in his illegal return or dealt with him, - let him be, like him, excommunicated from the Church." The fifth decree added: “If a priest or bishop, excommunicated from the Church, continues to stir up unrest, he must be pacified by secular authority, as a rebel.” “What should be done,” added the speaker, “in the present case? John was dethroned by the Council of Oak; he returned it to himself of his own free will, by deception, without permission by a new decree - and by this one act he placed himself outside the Church laws. What does he ask from us now? He asks for his justification for the crimes that led to his overthrow; he wants to defend his innocence to us and prove to us that he was convicted unjustly. But whether he was justly convicted or not is not our concern. John ceased to be subject to the jurisdiction of the church court, John is no longer a bishop or presbyter; he is excommunicated, and we cannot listen to his defense or communicate with him without incurring the punishment of excommunication on ourselves; The council resolutions I have read now require this. Our further path is clear: we can do nothing in this process other than to call for the assistance of secular power in order to put an end to the abuses that worry the Church and cover it with ignominy; this is prescribed by those very council decrees,” This was the plan of attack inspired by the Patriarch of Alexandria - a truly diabolical plan, because if such an order of affairs had prevailed at the Council, then Chrysostom himself, with his ardent desire to prove his innocence, would have dug an abyss in which he was supposed to perish. By admitting its incompetence in reviewing the case, moreover, surrounded by all sorts of difficulties, the Council would thereby only confirm the previous verdict, it would even add significant new guilt: from a simply deposed bishop, John turned into an excommunicated one, who is forbidden to ask for his own justification. We must admit that Theophilus turned out to be worthy of himself - never before has the spirit of malice shown greater perversity. Listening to the reading of these council decisions, so successfully applied to the case of Archbishop John, the Council, with the exception of those initiated into the secret of the case, was dumbfounded in the full sense of the word. They were unknown to most of the bishops, because they were not at all included in the body of church decrees of the composition that existed in the 4th century, and the reason for this will be shown below; to others they were known as historical documents only superficially and not from ecclesiastical practice, because they were never used. They were usually not in church archives, because the acts of the Council of Antioch were canceled almost immediately after their promulgation by another council, the Council of Sardica. But it was easy for Theophilus to obtain them from the learned treasury of the Church of Alexandria - moreover, they concerned the most glorious of his predecessors of the Patriarchal Throne, the great Saint Athanasius, “that oracle” of the Council of Nicaea and an eloquent theologian. What were these decrees of the Council of Antioch, under what circumstances did they arise and what value could they have when they wanted to apply them to Chrysostom? Saint Athanasius, relentlessly persecuted by opponents of his teaching, expelled by the will of the sovereigns - as a result of their error or because they themselves were Arians, found refuge in the West. Although he was deposed by the Council in the East, he could enter into communion with the bishops of Italy, who recognized him. In order to deprive him of this last refuge, the head of the Arian party, Eusebius of Nicomedia, obtained from Emperor Constantius permission to convene bishops in Antioch regarding the consecration of a church and managed to drag the Emperor himself there, whose passion for Arianism was known to him better than to anyone else. The meeting was numerous and turned into a Council: it consisted of about 90 bishops, of which 36 were open Arians, others submitted to the machinations of Eusebius, supported by the authority of the Emperor. The real purpose of the Council, clear to everyone, was to strike a blow to the Patriarch of Alexandria, to prevent him from seeking help in the West, as had already happened once. So, the Council, having approved the deposition of Saint Athanasius, issued those decrees that were mentioned above and which, in the opinion of Eusebius, should have frightened the bishops of the West or, at least, made the position of the deposed patriarch difficult in the East. But, however, this did not happen. The cause of Saint Athanasius was so just, the malice of his enemies was so obvious that neither the pope nor the Western bishops stopped short of threats of excommunication: not only did they, without any hesitation, dare to have communion with the fleeing saint, but two Councils - the Roman and Sardician, having destroyed the deposition of Saint Athanasius, condemned the Arians and abolished the decrees of the Council of Antioch. Consequently, the punitive clauses invented by the fathers of the Council as a weapon against St. Athanasius were considered invalid throughout the West, and indeed, Pope Innocent, sixty years later, publicly announced that he did not recognize them. In the East itself, after the pacification of the Alexandrian unrest, when the Emperor Constantius took upon himself the return of St. Athanasius, the decrees of the Council of Antioch, directed precisely against this return, fell into disuse, and only later the collectors of disciplinary canons borrowed from there some rules, good in themselves, which were finally accepted by the Universal Church. These are the reasons why at the Council convened for the trial of Chrysostom, most of the bishops did not know the Antiochian decrees when they were suddenly read them; the same reasons explain why these decrees could be the subject of heated controversy when everyone became aware of them. When Chrysostom's case took a new direction, he realized everything that was truly diabolical in this dexterity of Theophilus, who even took advantage of his own desire to justify himself to refuse this justification. However, he did not lose heart at all. Deprived of the right to defend himself personally, by virtue of an imaginary law brought against him, he provided protection to the members of the Council who were close to him. And we find the main points of this defense in the “Dialogues” of Palladius, historian and biographer of St. John Chrysostom, and, finally, a participant in these events. Chrysostom was no less knowledgeable than Theophilus himself in the history of the Eastern churches. The traditions of the Antiochian Church, of which he himself was one of the sons, provided him with the means to blunt or break the weapon that the Patriarch of Alexandria had sharpened against him. The plan of his defense consisted, firstly, in pointing out the invalidity of the decrees of the Council of Antioch, which were not the rules of the Universal Church, and secondly, in proving that, whatever their merit, they could not be attached to any charge in his case. First of all, Chrysostom proved by historical facts that these decrees were Arian: they arose in an assembly called and led by the leaders of the Arian people. The meeting itself deliberated in the presence of the Emperor, an Arian, and finally, it had the goal of not only deposing from the throne, but also putting to death Saint Athanasius, the great teacher of the Church. If these proofs of Arianism were insufficient to characterize the Council of Antioch, one could also add that the attempt of this Council to formulate its doctrine in symbols only led to expressions of Orthodoxy that were more than dubious, filled with Arian tricks and subterfuges, which were rejected by the Orthodox Church. And these decisions of the heretical assembly, caused by hatred against Saint Athanasius, the Orthodox Council is now going to bring against the Orthodox bishop in a matter that has nothing to do with dogma at all! After this, doesn’t Chrysostom have the right to protest against such a strange, outrageous, unfair act? Then, even if we assume the validity of the decrees of the Council of Antioch, they are completely inapplicable to the present case. Who are they talking about? About a bishop who was deposed by the Council and who voluntarily returned to his throne without being restored to it by the Council. But Chrysostom was never deposed, he never ceased to be a bishop. The assembly that had the claim to judge him was not a Council at all - it was an illegal gathering made up of his open opponents; the bishops, faithful to the laws of the Church, gathered around him, numbering 42, did not leave him throughout the lawless trial, and 65, remaining in communion with him after the decisions of the illegal Council, protested against their power. In addition, none of the rules of church office work were observed in this self-proclaimed court. In vain did Chrysostom try to remove from among the judges certain persons, his obvious enemies - they were retained, the charges were not at all contested, he was convicted without being heard, and, finally, the sentence of deposition was not presented to him at all. The Archbishop learned about all this only from the fact that he received an order from an imperial official to leave his Church and go into exile; another official came the next morning to take him out and hand him over to the authorities. What relation do such facts have to the cases provided for in the decrees of the Council of Antioch? None, obviously. And whatever the power of these decrees, which are nevertheless contested by them, they have nothing to do with it. As for the fact that Archbishop John sought from the Emperor to convene a new Council to reconsider his case, it would be a mistake to conclude that he thereby recognized his first judges. Condemned illegally by the enemy bishops, he filed a correct appeal to the bishops, his brothers, protesting before them and in the face of the entire Christian world, frustrating the evil machinations of others and sweeping away even the shadow of reproaches with which they tried to tarnish his name. In essence, his defense consisted of three points: 1) the decisions of the Council of Antioch were heretical, and the Orthodox assembly had no right to refer to them; 2) in any case, these decrees were not applicable to him, for he was not at all deposed by the Council; 3) by asking for the convening of this Council, his goal is not the return of power, which he has never been deprived of and was not, but retribution for the slander of an innocent bishop who is faithfully fulfilling his duties. These were the offense and defense. First, a debate ensued before the Council about the validity of the acts of the Council of Antioch, which became the main knot of the whole matter. Each side presented various evidence in this dispute, drawing them from the historical circumstances of the Council, and the enemies of the archbishop supported the Orthodoxy of the decisions of the meeting, others responded that the Council, of the 90 members of which there were 36 heretics, elected by the leader of the Arian heresy, the Council, which took place under strong pressure from the Emperor and, moreover, intended to condemn St. Athanasius, could not be otherwise than heretical. They even suspected the acts themselves, copies of which were made by Theophilus, of being forged. They argued, incriminated each other, indulged in various subtleties - time passed, but did not come to any decision. The name of Saint Athanasius, so revered throughout the Christian world, could not, however, fail to produce some effect on those bishops who were narrow-minded in theology and history. The disputes were carried even into the city itself and into the imperial palace; at meetings they immediately asked the question: “Was the Council of Antioch Arian or Orthodox?” The Emperor himself took part in the dispute, and although the Council directed against Chrysostom should have seemed to the Emperor and, in particular, the Empress, to be highly Orthodox, however, Arcadius showed hesitations that worried the court bishops. To strengthen the Emperor in his original opinion, Severian and his supporters then suggested that he himself remove the difficulty by calling ten bishops from each side into his cabinet so that they would argue in his presence. They fully hoped to turn the debate in their favor, partly by intimidating their opponents by the proximity of a hostile court, partly by entangling the Sovereign, who knew absolutely nothing about theology and was ready to take upon himself the solution of the issue, into their usual networks. With his consent, this small “Cathedral” met in the palace. The party hostile to Chrysostom was represented here by Acacius, Antiochus, Cyrinus, Severian, Leontius, Ammonius and others; among his intercessors, history names only Tranquilinus, whose diocese remains unknown to us, and Elpidias of Laodicea of ​​Syria - he alone was worth a whole army of fighters. He was an old man with extensive knowledge, a straightforward and firm disposition, an impeccable life, whose meek face, framed by long gray hair, inspired respect at first glance. Arkady wished him to speak first. And so Elpidius began to present evidence with the help of which Chrysostom’s supporters confirmed that the Antiochian decrees were not at all applicable to the archbishop, whatever their meaning, which Elpidius completely rejected with reason. He outlined the actual position of Archbishop John from the point of view of canonical rules: why it cannot be said that he was deposed; why the grounds, having no force, collected during the clerical work of the Council in Duba, turned this self-proclaimed Council into nothing. He recalled that the Emperor himself expelled the archbishop from the church through his official, and then voluntarily and with his own authority returned Chrysostom, as a result of which the archbishop, who was not canonically deposed, who did not arbitrarily leave or return, never ceased to be a bishop from the point of view of church laws. So, contrary to all law and all justice, they wanted to apply to him these canons, which had nothing to do with him at all. While the elder was delivering his speech, filled with ardent conviction, Severian and others interrupted him at every word with exclamations and objections, shrugged their shoulders, made thousands of indecent antics, not embarrassed by the presence of the Emperor, and even tried to shout down the speaker. Elpidius at first bore these insults calmly, but then, losing patience, he ended up saying to the Emperor: “Sir, we are abusing your kindness here and making you only waste time. Deign to order my brothers to be silent, for I have something to offer that can satisfy us all. Let Antiochus, Acacius and others declare in writing that they share the creed of the Council whose decisions they approve, and I admit myself defeated: the dispute will be over.” This proposal, bearing the stamp of obvious sincerity, pleased the Emperor, who, turning to Antiochus, told him, smiling: “I like this, I must fulfill it.” At these words, Elpidius’ opponents turned pale. And indeed: it was another matter to support in the minority of the Council the validity of the well-known decrees, which were needed in order to deal with Chrysostom, and another matter to confirm with one’s own signature, in the face of the entire Christian world, one’s unanimity with the people who condemned St. Athanasius. They muttered something in agreement, deferred writing their application form until another day, and then left. Thus, Emperor Arkady never saw either the statement or the signature of any of them. While the council debates were going on, Chrysostom remained in his Church, fulfilling all the episcopal duties, multiplying the instructions to the faithful and performing the liturgical ceremonies with greater precision than ever before - all the time calm and clear, as if he did not know that a few steps from here they were noisily bickering about his honor, and perhaps about his life itself. One thing that seemed to upset him was that the highest society of Constantinople did not appear in his church, especially women, who were afraid of angering the empress and being ill-received at court if they were present at his teachings. Of all the torments invented by his enemies, the most cruel and most unjust for him was to prevent people from hearing the word of God - and all in order for the clergyman, obliged to teach them with this word, to strike a blow, thus imposing on him responsibility for the sins of others. Many of his sermons date back to this time. Often the saint’s words seemed to continue the verses of the psalmist: “The nations attacked me from all sides, but in the name and power of the Lord I crushed and defeated them. They besieged me many times, but in the name and power of the Lord I crushed and defeated them. They attacked me with fury, like angry bees, they burned like a flame devouring a thorn tree, but in the name and power of the Lord I crushed and defeated them.” Sometimes Chrysostom directly accused high society of alienation from the Church, which lay so heavily on his heart; he boldly addressed secular women, and through them, the empress. “To tear apart the Emperor’s purple,” he said, “is considered a more serious crime than to surrender to his enemies; Moreover, if someone tore the Emperor himself to pieces, he would commit a crime above all executions: so the hell with which God threatens us is small for the crime of those who kill Christ and torment him to pieces with heresies introduced into the Church, for the Church is His body and members.” He added: “If among those gathered here there is someone who wants to harm me, who wishes me harm and is ready to leave the Church only because of revenge on me, then I will show him the best way to insult me ​​without causing harm to himself; at least, if it is impossible for him to avenge himself without destroying his soul, then I will show him a means that is less destructive for his salvation than that which many are now using. This is the remedy: if any of you dares to accept it, then let him get up and approach me, let him hit me in the face, let him publicly insult me, let him cover my body with wounds as much as he wants!.. How? Women, you tremble when I say to you: insult me - and do not tremble when you insult Christ!.. Do you torment the members of your Lord and do not tremble?.. Do not take what I tell you as a mockery, but look at my words as a sincere expression of my thoughts: yes, I would like that everyone who has any evil against me and who harms themselves by this separation from the Church because of her shepherd, I I wish they would come here to hit me in the face, cover me with shame, pour out all their anger on me, whether I deserve it or not, rather than do as they do! And in fact, there would be nothing strange if they did this to an insignificant person, a poor sinner like me - and I myself, under the blows of your evil treatment of me, satiated with your reproach, I would pray to God for you, and God would forgive you; I say this not because I attribute importance to myself in His presence, but because a person, offended, beaten, disgraced, can confidently pray for his enemies and hope for the forgiveness of those who offend him. The Gospel itself advises us, prescribes this, but the Gospel cannot deceive us. If I, a complete nonentity, could doubt that my pathetic voice would be heard, I would call on the saints, I would pray to them; I would ask them to be intercessors for my executioners before God, and God - I am sure of this - would grant them what they prayed to Him for. But if you insult God, God himself... who do you want me to turn to?” Chrysostom intended these words for high society, but they inflamed the common people, who did not cease to surround their shepherd and father. Meanwhile, Lent was ending. Easter was approaching. Nowhere in the entire Christian world was the day of the Resurrection of Christ, this holiday of feasts, celebrated with such splendor as in Constantinople, in the Church of Hagia Sophia, where the Emperor appeared with great pomp, accompanied by his family and court, to partake of the Holy Mysteries. This custom was carried on from the very foundation of Christian Rome and was not abolished by any of Constantine's successors, with the exception of Julian. Arkady has always been his faithful executor. The thought of what to do on the upcoming Easter began to bother him - from his appearance and words one could assume that he was pondering some kind of intention. The court was very concerned about this. Encouraged by the empress, the bishops of the party hostile to Chrysostom, headed by Antiochus, went to the Emperor in order to secretly talk about John. It is the duty of the Sovereign, they told him, to remove from the Church with the onset of these holy days the impostor, deposed and excommunicated. The emperor cannot have communication with him, just as he cannot allow either his family or the Orthodox people, for whom he is responsible, to have this communication. True, the verdict of the Council had not yet been pronounced, but the bishops, taking into account the number of votes of each party, found it possible to consider John already condemned. They claimed this - and the Emperor believed them. “And in fact,” adds the same historian Palladius, “wasn’t it the bishops who affirmed this? And how can one suspect lies in the words of a bishop or priest who is obliged to teach the people the word of truth?” As a result of such assurances, Arkady ordered, through one of his officials, to announce to the archbishop that he should immediately leave the Church. “I cannot fulfill this,” Archbishop John answered calmly, “I accepted this Church from God himself, my Savior, in order to take care of the salvation of the people, and I will not leave it.” When the official insisted, Saint John added: “If the Emperor wants this, let him force me to do it by force, for the city belongs to him. Violence will be my justification before heaven, but I will never leave here voluntarily.” The answer was clear, and everyone was well aware of the unshakable character of Chrysostom. There was only one way left, indicated by the archbishop himself - to drive him out with the help of soldiers. Arkady did not dare to do this, but he sent an official to announce to the archbishop that the Emperor had appointed the episcopal palace as the place of his imprisonment - with a ban on appearing in the church. Chrysostom obeyed - this was violence, if not physical, then moral, and the bishop yielded in order to avoid the great temptation in front of the holy place. Arkady's considerations when inventing this average measure were strange, to say the least. Remembering the earthquake that immediately followed the first expulsion of the archbishop, he said to himself: “What the bishops offer me is either pleasing to God or not. If you like, I will go further; if you don’t want it, He will show it with some miraculous sign, and then, without doing violence, but on the contrary, keeping John close to his church, I can restore him without delay, so that everything is corrected.” This kind of thinking was very immature, but that is what historians report. The old child cheated with heavenly justice. There was no sign, and the Emperor calmed down, but the archbishop, who had half-consented to the voluntary arrest in his archbishop's house, felt remorse. Holy Week, during which preparations for Holy Easter were made, imposed special responsibilities on bishops, especially on Holy Saturday, which in the Ancient Church, like the eve of Pentecost, was designated for the baptism of catechumens. The bishop himself usually performed this sanctification of converts to the Christian life, preparing them with instructions throughout the year. Chrysostom knew that more than three thousand converts should appear on Holy Saturday at the fonts of the archbishop's church in order to receive Holy Baptism there. As the solemn moment approached, he reproached himself more and more for violating his sacred duty, for running away from his flock, for which a good shepherd should lay down his life, and, finally, for evading evil, which entailed even greater evil. And he decided to be in his church on Saturday and fulfill the duties of a bishop there. And indeed, on Holy Saturday, in the morning, the archbishop, breaking his “captivity”, went to the church, where thousands of converts, sitting under the galleries, awaited the hour of baptism. When he appeared, mass began. The guard assigned to him, to whom any violence was strictly prohibited, did not dare to hold him against his will, but she ran to the palace to warn the officials of the Emperor, who, apparently, was very alarmed. The respect that such a great day demanded seemed to him an obstacle to resorting to force to maintain his authority, and besides, he was afraid of any movements among the people who flocked to Hagia Sophia from all over the city and from neighboring villages. He demanded Antiochus and Acacius to come to him, told them in a few words about everything that had happened and added with anger: “You see what you advised me! At least figure out what I should do now.” The embarrassed bishops responded that they only advised what was fair, that John was no longer a bishop and had no right to perform the Sacraments, and, insisting on his condemnation, they exclaimed: “Let his condemnation be on our heads.” The Jews said to Pilate, demanding the crucifixion of Jesus Christ: “His blood be on us and on our children!” The bishops were guided by the same feeling, although the words were different. Their explanation reassured the Emperor, who, considering himself freed from responsibility for all consequences, ordered that they immediately go to the church - to force the prisoner from there back to the bishop's premises. The soldiers went to carry out the order. Meanwhile, in the Church of Hagia Sophia, the service went on as usual. The incantations had already been pronounced, the myrrh and holy water had been consecrated, the deacons and deaconesses stood in their places exchanging robes, and the new converts were immersed in order in the fonts. Suddenly, a terrible commotion was heard at the door and rows of soldiers with drawn swords burst into the church. They first grabbed the archbishop, who was roughly dragged along the passages out of the church, despite his protest, then, dividing into two detachments, some ran to the baptismal sanctuary, others headed through the nave of the church to the pulpit and altar. Those who entered the men's baptismal chamber cleansed the font with blows of swords, indiscriminately striking both the catechumens and the clergy. In this battle, many were wounded, “and the waters of rebirth were stained with human blood,” according to one of the witnesses to these violence. In the women's baptismal the sight was even more deplorable. The unfortunate women, half dressed, rushed in different directions in horror, with loud screams; They saw one who, mad with horror, made her way through the crowd and, completely naked, began to run through the streets of the city. The soldiers, moving towards the altar, forcibly opened its doors and there they desecrated the shrine, the mere memory of which for a long time infuriated the church writers who reported this sacrilege. The Holy Gifts and the Holy Blood sprinkled their clothes. “I remain silent,” exclaims the historian Sozomen, “so that, while revealing the meaning of what happened, I would not unwittingly desecrate in front of the infidels what is most terrible in our Sacraments with a simple human word.” The catechumens and clergy, expelled from the church, agreed to gather in another place: a meeting was scheduled in the Baths of Constantius, where the Sacrament of Baptism was to end, and this agreement, passing from mouth to mouth, soon gathered there a huge number of Christians of all classes and ages. The public baths, the construction of which was attributed to the Emperor Constantius, son of the great Constantine, were the most extensive in the entire city and served one of the most populous quarters. There the converts took refuge with the priests and deacons. They blessed the water in the pools, placed all the accessories needed for worship around them - in a word, the secular place was turned into a church. On the hastily erected altar, the service continued, starting from the place where it was interrupted by the violence of the troops. While singing sacred songs, Christians, summoned by the news that instantly spread throughout the city, paraded through the streets in dense crowds. This completely upset the plans of Severian and his accomplices, who wanted to baptize the clergy of their clique - the invasion of the Church of Hagia Sophia turned out to be useless. They sent for the chief of the guard to ask him to disperse these crowds of rebels, whom John, according to them, had gathered in order to disobey the Emperor. “There is no more Sovereign,” they added, “there is no more government. John is both the Sovereign and the government here.” The chief of the guard, Anthymius, to whom they turned, was a restrained and fair man who, while remaining faithful to the Emperor, condemned court intrigues and in his soul remained attached to Chrysostom. He did not like the bishops' instructions. “It’s already late,” he answered, “night will soon come; they say that the crowd is significant, and the use of weapons can cause a lot of trouble.” “But if they are not dispersed,” Akaki objected with irritation, “we will have to appear before the Emperor as liars—we, his advisers!” After all, we did not cease to assure him (which is quite fair) of the people’s hatred of John, whom they no longer want to have as a bishop. If the Emperor, leaving the palace, finds the church empty and the people gathered in another place, he will think that we have deceived him, and will consider us unscrupulous people. Meanwhile, the matter is very simple to arrange. It is necessary to put an end to this rebellious gathering and announce to the crowd, embarrassed by several deceivers, that their place is in the church, where they will be forced to return, whatever the cost. “Do as you know,” he only told them, “I place the responsibility on you. Go, find officer Lucius, arrange a deal with him, but the main thing is that there is no violence.” Lucius at court commanded a detachment of shield-bearers, who received this name from the shields that were their distinctive accessory. This detachment was recently reinforced by Thracian recruits, rude men, almost barbarians and mostly pagans. Lucius was also a pagan. He was a rude man, but precise in the performance of his duties. Anthemius' orders prohibited him from using weapons against unarmed people; So, he contented himself with addressing the crowd gathered in the baths with an exhortation, leaving almost all the soldiers outside the doors. He told the assembled Christians, as eloquently as he could, that this was not the place for baptism and the celebration of their Sacraments, that there were churches that remained empty, that they would do well if they returned there with their priests, that this is what the Emperor wants. The improvisation of the shield-bearer commander had little success. The converts did not move from the fonts: the church singing continued; it ended with the crowd ridiculing Lucius. In the palace, where he returned with the soldiers, he found Antiochus, who was waiting for him there. Antiochus added the following mocking words to the humiliation the officer had just suffered: “How? Do you allow yourself to be fooled when you have soldiers with you? This is how you carry out the Emperor's orders! What kind of mercies do you expect for this? He then promised him a promotion if he behaved better - “he spoke gilded words to him,” as Palladius put it. In short, he won him over to his side, rewarded the soldiers with money and sent him on a second, more decisive raid. However, Lucius insisted that at the head of his army there should be persons from the clergy who would lead him and relieve him of responsibility. Antiochus gave him deacons who were in his person, and under this double command the shield-bearers went back to the baths of Constantius. This time there were no negotiations, no exhortations. Lucius, his head spinning with rage, jumped into the main reservoir with a stick or spear shaft in his hands and began to disperse the converts right and left. With a blow to the hand of the deacon who was anointing those being baptized, he knocked the holy myrrh into the water, then attacked the priest who was uttering the sacred exclamation. The old man fell with a crushed head and stained the holy font with his blood. An example was set for the soldiers, and they no longer knew any measure. Some ran into the women's dressing room and grabbed clothes and jewelry there, others set to work on the altar, from which they tore off the silk covers, took away the sacred vessels and divided them among themselves; priests in vestments were beaten and trampled, women were insulted, mothers were crushed along with their children. With such violence, this entire crowd was expelled, but persecution continued in the streets themselves, but no one went to church... Meanwhile, 40 or 42 bishops who sided with Chrysostom at the Council made a last effort to save him. Having learned that the Emperor and Empress, according to tradition, visited the Martyrs (this name was used in the Ancient Church for basilicas and chapels where the relics of saints who accepted death for their faith rested), they seized a moment, approached the Emperor and, throwing themselves at his feet, implored him with tears to “spare the Church of Christ, if only for the sake of Easter and the converts awaiting Baptism, and return them to them.” bishop." The Emperor listened to them, but the Empress arrogantly ordered them to leave. Then one of them, Paul, Bishop of Cratia, stood up and said to her indignantly: “Eudoxia, fear God and have pity on your children: do not desecrate the Holy Feast of Christ with bloodshed.” The Empress passed by. The bishops, beside themselves with grief, dispersed. Each, sadly lowering his head, went to his home: some - to cry about the disasters of the Church, others - to perform the established prayers in their own homes: persecutors dominated the churches. The defeat of the believers in the baths of Constantius took place during the first watch of the night; those expelled, having gathered again and calling other Orthodox Christians to themselves, went in crowds to the field to continue there with their priests the service of Holy Saturday, which, according to the ancient missal, ended only with the crowing of the roosters. The crowd, consisting of many thousands of men, women and children, among whom the converts were distinguished by their white robes, sat in a field - near a place called Pampton, because there stood a fifth pillar, indicating the number of miles from the Forum of Constantinople. The next day, Easter Day, early in the morning, the Emperor, having gone for his usual walk outside the city with his retinue, saw, not without surprise, this crowd in the field and the white clothes of the converts, shining in the light of the rising sun. “What kind of people are these?” – he asked one of his retinue curiously. “These are followers of one heretical sect,” he answered, “who gather here in order to disrespect the Church.” “Then drive them away,” said the Emperor, “and seize their teachers.” Then he turned the other way. The soldiers sent to carry out the order arrived at a gallop on horseback and rushed at unarmed people as if they were an enemy army: men, women, children, priests - everyone was indiscriminately trampled by horses, beaten; priests and converts were seized and tied up. Some soldiers, jumping off their horses, began to rob, because there were also rich people there, in festive clothes. They tore off necklaces and earrings from women, simply tearing them out of their ears so that things would go faster, and took away tunics and cloaks if they were made of valuable fabrics. When the robbery was over, the detachment returned to the city as if in triumph, with “rich spoils” taken from the women, dragging behind them groups of bound priests and newly baptized people, with whom the dungeons were soon filled. What happened here on the field happened in many other places, where believers, driven out from everywhere, steadily gathered again. Some decided to hold their meetings in a large plank circus built by Emperor Constantine outside the city, called Xylokerke in Greek, i.e. wooden circus They were besieged there as if in a fortress. An internecine war broke out - a war against people who, strictly speaking, did not engage in battle. Military expeditions were followed by searches and police harassment. Houses where secret meetings were suspected were searched, obvious supporters of the archbishop were arrested on the slightest suspicion, who in the language of the law began to be called Johannites, as if they had formed a sect outside the Church - and the prisons were filled with laymen and clergy accused of this “crime.” They courageously endured persecution for the sake of the shepherd, who personified for them hierarchical legality and the Orthodox faith; in addition, they saw genuine love in him and repaid him in kind. As soon as these “criminals” of a special kind entered the prison cells, the singing of psalms began, and if a priest happened to be there, they began to worship. “Dungeons were then,” says Palladius, “the true churches of God, and churches were places of lawlessness and blasphemy,” and believers avoided them as if they were plagued, unless they hoped to meet there a clergy friendly to Chrysostom. Meanwhile, the Council ended its meetings in obscurity; no one was curious to know anything about its debates or decisions, knowing in advance its decision. And indeed, it was decided that John, having been deposed and then returned to his archbishopric throne by deception, was thereby excommunicated from the Church, and that the secular authorities must carry out church decrees. After this verdict, the bishops dispersed, delighted that they had satisfied the empress with the unconditional approval of the decisions of the Council in Duba, avoiding, on their part, difficulties in reviewing the cases. So, the archbishop was handed over to the secular authorities, but at the moment of execution of the sentence, this hand trembled. New fear seized Arkady, and he left the condemned man in his present confinement, content with making this confinement closer. Chrysostom was imprisoned in his episcopal palace at the approach of Easter - he was kept there until the day of the Holy Trinity, and Arkady did not dare to either transfer him to another prison or send him into exile. How did this man, the honor of the Eastern Church, betrayed a second time by his brothers, endure such a cruel blow, although, unfortunately, too foreseen? Without losing any peace of mind, he became convinced that from now on he had nothing to expect from the eastern bishops - neither to justify his actions, nor to preserve his life, and that he no longer had any remedy against oppression and treachery. But the path that he was now to follow was determined by his enemies themselves, recalling St. Athanasius in the midst of the debate on his case. Saint Athanasius, persecuted, like him, by the revenge of representatives of secular power, envy and malice, condemned, deposed, expelled by his eastern brothers, found justice in the West. But in the case of Chrysostom the situation was different. Saint Athanasius, personally free, could cross to Italy, where his formidable word thundered before the appellate judges, which once conquered the Universal Church in Nicaea. Chrysostom was a prisoner - his lips were closed; he could not bring himself to listen either in Constantinople or in Duba, and his persecutors triumphed, seeing this forced silence. So, he was left with only a written form of defense before the Western bishops, but they could distort or refute it in his absence. However, he settled on this measure and drew up an appeal to the Western Church against the definition of the Council of Constantinople and the illegal meeting in Duba. He did this before 40 bishops, his supporters, left Constantinople, because he wanted them to confirm as witnesses what was happening before their eyes. He wanted, moreover, that two deacons, representing the clergy of Constantinople, should go to confirm with personal explanations the authenticity of the words set forth in his appeal and the testimony of the bishops of his side. The appeal was written in the form of a letter addressed to Innocent, Bishop of Rome, Venerius of Milan and Chromatius of Aquileia, for Aquileia and Milan were the highest bishops of Italy after Rome, the first in the whole West. Only the copy intended for Pope Innocent has reached us, but from its very contents it is clear that the other two were exactly the same. It began like this: “To my most venerable master, most God-loving Bishop Innocent, John (wants) to rejoice in the Lord. We assume that already before the arrival of this letter, rumors of the assassination attempt being carried out here had reached the ears of Your Holiness. The power of the crime is truly such that there is no place in the entire Universe that would not be filled with indignation at the narration of it. Everywhere it aroused sorrow and great weeping. But since cases so vile cannot be satisfied only with contrition and tears, but require quick healing, and it is necessary to intelligently explore how this storm that has disturbed the Church can be calmed, I convinced the venerable fathers Demetrius, Pansophius, Pappus and Eugene to leave their flocks, entrust themselves to the sea and, after a long journey, resort to Your mercy, setting out to You the details of the case, and ask from Your prudence truly heals our ailments. We have added to them our dear and venerable deacons Paul and Cyriacus, who, due to the insufficiency of written communications, will verbally present to Your mercy all the information that will be pleasing to it.” Chrysostom then goes into a detailed account of the circumstances. He paints with astonishing colors the audacity and shamelessness of Theophilus of Alexandria, who, having been demanded to Constantinople to justify his behavior regarding the Long Brothers, appeared with a gang of Egyptians, as if prepared for battle, refused a meeting with the local bishop, refused prayer and communication with him, refused even to enter the holy place and, passing by the archbishop's basilica lying on his way, settled outside cities. Then it tells about the intrigues, criminal twists that prepared the illegal meeting in Duba, and its final results: violation of all church laws; the corruption of the bishop's clergy, who left their churches to accuse him; meetings of the Council, composed of his opponents, led by his obvious enemies; his firm refusal to recognize such judges and an appeal to another Council, then - an indictment and his deposition, which were not reported to him at all; his capture by soldiers, his subsequent conscription through the imperial notary and his restoration to the archbishop's throne, and finally the shameful flight of Theophilus on a fragile boat, in the middle of the night, in order to avoid popular indignation. This account is followed by a narrative about the events that took place after his return: about the second Council, the convening of which he himself demanded in order to present his justification, and, finally, about the condemnation not of those imaginary crimes for which he was deposed at the Council of Oak, but in a new and unheard-of matter... The letter also describes the persecutions carried out against him and his brothers by officials of the imperial court at the instigation of some Syrian bishops, guns and Creature of Theophilus. Here, for example, is how the saint conveys the Saturday scenes in the baptismal chapel of Hagia Sophia; "Alas! How can I describe scenes before which the darkest tragedy would pale? What human word can tell about them? What human ear can listen to this without horror? On the day of Holy Saturday, when the sun was already setting in the evening, many soldiers flood the church, forcefully drive away the entire clergy who surrounded us, and rush to the holy altars with their weapons drawn. The women, who threw off their clothes inside the church to receive Holy Baptism, are scattered and run away almost naked, struck by extreme horror, from which they forgot both the shame and modesty of their sex. Many of these unfortunates were wounded in the baptismal chapel; Their very blood stains the holy waters, and the saving source of people’s rebirth is presented to the eyes only by the color of blood. But that's not all. The soldiers forcefully break into the terrible fence where the Holy Gifts are kept; and among these people there were pagans, and in the general confusion the Holy Blood of Christ was shed on their clothes...” The letter ended like this: “What can I say about other Churches? And they are subject to the same turmoil, the same suffering, for evil is not limited to Constantinople; it flooded the entire East. Truly, just as in the human body, when poisonous juices, spreading from the head to all members, infect them, so here, when in this main city disorder and crime broke out, as if from a deep abyss, they soon penetrated into other cities. Confusion and sedition now reign everywhere, everywhere the clergy rebels against their bishops, and the faithful are separated from the body of the Church or are ready to do so; Everywhere this plague is spreading, and soon the whole world will present one picture of ruins and sacrilegious encroachments. When thinking about these disasters, - O blessed and venerable men, - make an unshakable decision, worthy of your zeal, strength and firmness; remove, remove - we beg you - this scourge that is devastating the Churches, for if such discords become accustomed to spreading from distant countries into the province of another bishop, when they interfere in his affairs, expel him, replace him at their own discretion - what can we expect then, except general war and worldwide disasters? So, in order to prevent this terrifying turmoil from spreading everywhere, write, I pray you, - declare by your authority that the unjust decisions that befell me in my absence, when I did not evade the right judgment, are insignificant, have no force, no meaning and fall by themselves. Subject to church condemnation those who committed such iniquities; As for me, who is innocent, not convicted of anything, against whom no accusation could be proven, order that I be returned to my Church, so that I can there again enjoy the mercy and peace that bound me with my brothers. If the perpetrators of so many evils want to support the accusation of my imaginary crimes, then let them tell me their acts, let all the accusations be before my eyes, let my accusers appear, and an impartial and just court gather to pronounce its verdict: I will not refuse it, I asked for it, I ask it now. Yes, let me be judged! This will be my justification, for everything that was done against me was done contrary to all reason, every right, every rule, every church law. This method of judgment is unheard of among the barbarians themselves. There are no Scythians or Sarmatians who would condemn a person without listening to him, in his absence, while he asks for judges, and a thousand of them, if necessary, but not enemies, and, asserting his innocence, declares himself ready in the face of the whole world to refute all the accusations raised against him. Not a single person in the world would dare to declare him guilty. Deign to discuss the whole matter, which my venerable bishops will explain to you in more detail, and act in accordance with your zeal and active love for the good. By this you will help not only me, who is writing to you, but you will help all the Churches, and God will reward you - God, who always does everything to send peace to his sons. We wrote the same to Venerius of Milan and Chromatius of Aquileia. May peace be with you in the Lord!” This is what Chrysostom wrote in his letters. Four bishops who belonged to the minority of the Council, Demetrius of Pisinuntus from Galatia, Pansophius of Pisidia, Pappus from Syria, Eugene from Phrygia, accepted the task of taking three lists of appeal from the archbishop to Italy, deacons Paul and Cyriacus were to accompany them on behalf of the faithful clergy. It was, by the way, decided that this small embassy would not take the land route for fear of the machinations of the bishops and violence from the government. Although the sea route was longer and more tiring, it was preferred as it was more reliable. Those sent obtained a ship for themselves that was going to the West, and, boarding it secretly, sailed from Constantinople, joyful and full of hope. However, despite all the haste with which Chrysostom equipped his friends and drew up his appeal, he was nevertheless warned in Rome by the hatred of Theophilus. As soon as the Patriarch of Alexandria learned of the second verdict, confirming the deposition of his opponent, he hastened to notify Pope Innocent about it, so that he, too, would immediately interrupt communication with the condemned man. One Alexandrian reader carried a letter with which “Pope Theophilus (this is how the historian puts it) notified Pope Innocent” about what happened in Constantinople. This letter, written in a commanding tone to the point of impudence, seemed more like a demand than a message. Theophilus said in it that he deposed John, without explanation with whom, for what reason and in what way, as if this was the action of his only and supreme will. Innocent, reading this letter, was extremely surprised. At that time, a deacon named Eusebius was in Rome on some business with the Eastern Church. Having learned about what Theophilus wrote to Innocent, he hastened to submit a request in which he implored him not to rush, not to form a final opinion about the events reported to him, because he would soon receive more detailed information about them - and indeed, Demetrius and his companions arrived in Rome three days later. The letters brought by these bishops, and the explanations that they could add to them, exposed to Innocent all the intrigues and conspiracy against Chrysostom. Other documents that arrived in the meantime finally clarified everything for him: they were the very acts of the illegal Council of Oak and the Council of Constantinople, transmitted to him by two agents of Theophilus - Peter, an Alexandrian priest, and Martyrius, a Constantinople deacon from a party hostile to Chrysostom. Innocent was horrified. He saw that the matter was not a personal issue for him, as the Patriarch of Alexandria posed it, asking whether or not the pope would stop the relations of the Council, against which Chrysostom appealed, in extreme blindness they committed a whole series of violations and all kinds of violence: their paperwork violated the most initial requirements of justice, their decisions, made without objection and, moreover, by obvious enemies of the accused, were unconscionable, and finally, important The dignitaries of the Eastern Church behaved unworthily in this whole matter, and the very honor of the Church demands that the decisions of these Councils be judged in turn. Moreover, what a tempting violation of the very protective laws of the church hierarchy was revealed there! How could it happen, for example, that a bishop, legally called to rule the Church by its free election and the will of the Holy Spirit, could be thrown out of this Church by another bishop, who was kindled against him with envious hatred and gathered against him to satisfy his malice a Council of bishops, weak or bribed, under the pressure of external power? What else can be said, if we take into account that the expelled bishop was the second bishop of the second Rome in the entire Christian world? Impunity for such actions would open the way to innumerable unrest, threatening the very existence of the Church founded by Christ and his Apostles. Reflecting on the means that could heal this evil, Innocent found them only in the Ecumenical Council, which would abolish the decisions of the Councils of Constantinople and Dub and establish precise disciplinary laws in the Eastern Church. It also seemed to him that in the present case, in everything that concerns Chrysostom, it would be necessary to remove from the presence at the Ecumenical Council both obvious supporters of Chrysostom, as well as his obvious enemies, so that the matter could be started first with unprejudiced minds and hearts free from any previous influence; he, however, excluded from this number Theophilus of Alexandria, the soul of the entire conspiracy and the leader of both Councils. Calling upon Chrysostom, he considered it fair to bring his enemy face to face with him, but not as a judge, but as an accuser. Honorius was then in the “eternal city,” which, as usual, happened rarely and not for long. He wholeheartedly approved of Innocent's proposal regarding the convocation of Western bishops, but, often rash both in his own affairs and when interfering in the affairs of others, he vouched for the consent of his brother Arcadius, who was to convene the eastern bishops. The consequences showed that, in accepting such an obligation, Honorius exaggerated his influence over his brother too much and attached too little importance to the influence of Eudoxia on him. While the Pope was thus preparing for the Council, Venerius of Milan and Chromatius of Aquileia, armed with letters from Chrysostom, took care of gaining supporters among the bishops of Upper Italy. The goodwill of Venerius received the gratitude of the persecuted man, who wrote to him twice from the wilderness of his exile, and the zeal of Chromatius in favor of this just cause is even more brilliantly evidenced by a rescript from the Emperor Honorius. No matter how devoted Innocent was to material concerns, he did not neglect spiritual means that could call upon the help and blessing of Heaven for his holy undertaking. He ordered fasting for the entire Roman Church. At the same time, he wrote two letters: one to Chrysostom in response to his appeal, the other to Theophilus, announcing the upcoming convening of the Ecumenical Council. The first bears the stamp of restraint, quite understandable on the part of the future judge, but under this cold exterior one cannot help but notice a noble trust in the correctness of the accused and warm sympathy for his misfortunes. “My venerable brother,” he wrote, “let the sorrow that burdens you not prevail over the voice of a clear conscience that comforts you. Being the ruler and shepherd of so many nations, you do not need to be reminded that persecution only strengthens virtue when virtue is stronger than them. A clear conscience is truly an invincible bulwark against all injustices, and those who do not know how to endure them patiently and with submission to the will of Providence, show by this very weakness the poor state of their soul... Your soul, purified by long suffering, will achieve the desired goal by the mercy of the Savior, who looks at you and sees your soul from the heights of heaven.” The second letter, written in a completely different tone, shows how little respect Innocent had for the Patriarch of Alexandria and how correctly he already assessed his behavior. It is stated in the following expressions: “My brother, Theophilus, we have decided to accept you and John, our brother, into our fellowship, as we have already written to you about this. Being in the same feelings and with the same desire, we can only repeat the same thing to you: no matter how much you write to us about this, it is impossible for us to refuse communication with John except after a fair and legal trial, for we are informed about everything that happened there, strange and worthy of condemnation. So, if your conscience is clear, immediately appear at the Council, which will soon open in the name of Jesus Christ, and prepare for it in accordance with the canons and decrees of the Council of Nicea, for the Roman Church does not accept others regarding this subject (this concerned the canons of the Council of Antioch). Let only truth be on your side, and I will not hesitate to recognize the excellence of your cause.” This letter reached Theophilus unhindered, but the other one, entrusted to Deacon Kyriak, was not as happy: during this period of time events accelerated, and Chrysostom was no longer in Constantinople. While all this was happening in Rome, Chrysostom's enemies, worried about the success of their cause and irritated by the slowness of Arcadius, against which even the urgent will of Eudoxia was powerless, were waiting for some new circumstance that could prompt action or end the matter. But what most frightened Severian and the bishops, his accomplices, was the intervention of the Roman Church and Emperor Honorius, who could turn their private strife into a state issue; the impatient desire to finish the job drove them crazy. From the heights of the episcopal thrones, this evil anxiety penetrated into those lowly strata where crime is considered a natural means of resolving difficulties. One morning, near the palace where the archbishop was kept, a man, pretending to be possessed, amidst convulsions that distracted attention from his secret intention, was looking for an opportune time to slip into the courtyard and make his way into the hallway when the gates opened. He did so, but they managed to grab him and found a dagger on him. No one doubted that he had the intention of killing Chrysostom, and the crowd, attracted by the noise, took him to the prefect for interrogation. Chrysostom, having learned about this, immediately sent to ask for mercy to this man. The prefect did not force himself to beg and repeat it twice. A few days later, another person attempted the same thing, perhaps encouraged by the impunity of the first attempt. This one was dressed as a slave or servant. He was seen wandering around the palace, watching the servants, who, after the recent incident, were apparently on guard. As soon as the gates were opened, he headed from the street to the bishop's dwelling, taking on the appearance of a man with an important letter to Chrysostom. Someone passing by, who seemed suspicious of his appearance, stopped him already on the threshold, asking what he needed; the unknown person responded by stabbing him in the chest. At the cry of the wounded man, other passers-by ran up along with the archbishop's servants; the surrounded killer defended himself and struck two more, then, waving a bloody dagger, made his way through the large crowd, striking right and left, and was ready to escape, when suddenly one of the residents of this quarter, returning from the bathhouse, hearing screams, tried to stop him, grabbed him in his arms, but fell himself, struck by the blow. This fight detained the killer. He was surrounded and dragged into the praetorium of the court, which did not have to interrogate him, because the villain confessed everything, and when they began to search him, they saw that he was armed with three sharp knives. He confessed that he had the intention of killing Chrysostom, having received fifty gold pieces for this, which turned out to be with him that he was a servant of a priest named Elpidius (this priest was one of the most ardent enemies of the archbishop in the lower clergy), who prompted him to this crime. The people demanded a quick trial of this scoundrel, who was almost torn to pieces. The judge promised to judge him as soon as the case was completely over, put him in chains and imprisoned him. Meanwhile, the man's seven victims died one after another, because the wounds were dangerous and deep; four were buried on the same or the next day, and a large crowd accompanied their coffins, filling the streets with expressions of their love for Chrysostom and indignation against the priests who caused these murders. After the killer’s confessions, which left no doubt about him, the court should only have found his accomplices and shown an example of the greatest severity, but nothing of this was done: no conspiracy was discovered; even the culprit himself disappeared from prison, and it was impossible to know what became of him. This strange behavior of the judge, which can only be explained by the fact that he was following orders from above, brought the irritation of the people to the highest degree. Gatherings were held in the main quarters of the city, and around the archbishop's house the people set up a guard, which took turns both day and night. “We must guard our father well,” the people said, “because his jailers do not care about him, and his murderers are being released.” Meanwhile, the Feast of Pentecost arrived. In the Hagia Sophia quarter, people gathered in thick crowds, and the situation seemed threatening. An alarm was raised in the imperial palace. There they pretended to be afraid for the life of the Emperor. By agreement with the empress, the four bishops, the inventors of all evil designs, tried to make a last attempt before Arcadius. “Sovereign,” they told him (history has preserved their words), “God himself made you Emperor, so that you would not submit to anyone, but, on the contrary, so that everyone would submit to you - you are allowed everything you wish. Do not be more merciful than priests and holier than bishops. We told you in front of everyone: let the deposition of John be on our heads! Think about this, Most August Sovereign, and do not destroy us all by saving one person.” For the second time they presented the proof that had an effect on him - their responsibility before heavenly justice - fear left him, and he made up his mind. Pentecost in 404 was on June 5, and two weeks later, at dawn, numerous detachments of troops began to settle in various places around the church and the archbishop's palace. At noon, or a little earlier, the notary of the Sovereign, named Patrick, appeared to the archbishop with the following order: “Acacius, Antiochus, Cyrinus and Severian took responsibility for your condemnation: entrust your case to God and leave here without delay.” Such an order, which by its very expressions showed that Arkady’s fears had ceased, was clear and, according to the historian, “did not tolerate objections.” John gave a sign to several bishops and clergy who were present there that he wanted to go into the church. “Let’s go,” he told them, “let’s pray and say goodbye to the Angel of this church.” Having entered the church, he began to pray. While the saint was saying his prayers, he was given a letter from one of the city leaders, on whom he could fully rely. “Hurry,” his friend wrote to him, “Lucius, this shameless and daring man, is stationed not far from here, in the public baths, and is ready to seize and escort you out by force if you refuse or delay your departure. The city population is in extraordinary excitement; hurry to leave secretly so that there is no clash and bloodshed between him and the army.” He immediately rose and ordered his servants to saddle and blanket his horse and keep it ready at the western door, as if he were preparing to go out there soon. Then approaching the bishops, he kissed two of them and, turning away in tears, said to the others: “I kiss you all in these faces; stay in the holy church so that I can calm down a little before I leave.” Then, with a firm step, he headed towards the baptismal chapel, where his deaconesses were gathered. Calling Olympias, Pentadia, Ampructa and Salvina - those whom he especially loved - to him, Chrysostom said to them: “Come, my daughters, and listen to me carefully. As for myself, I feel that everything is over: my path is complete; perhaps you will not see my face again. I give you only one instruction: let not one of you violate the respect that you owe to the Church. Someone elevated to this throne by common consent, without intrigues and lust for power, will be my successor; submit to him as you would to myself, for the Church cannot remain without a bishop. Thus earn mercy and remember me in your prayers.” Women rushed to his feet, kissing them and pouring tears on them. Then, calling one of the priests who followed him, he said: “Remove them, so that their grief does not awaken the people.” His farewell was over. Quickly passing through the church, the saint reached the eastern doors, where he surrendered into the hands of soldiers, who took him away, hiding him from prying eyes. “The angel of the church,” said Palladius, a witness to this sad scene, “departed with him.” The usual presence of Chrysostom's horse at the western doors for some time left the people who were patiently waiting there confused. Finally, suspecting something was wrong, some ran to the pier and saw how the boat on which the prisoner was with several bishops and priests was sailing along the Bosporus to the Bithynian shore; others, breaking down a secret door in the fence, entered the church. They found it guarded by soldiers, who occupied it the minute Chrysostom came out. The soldiers wanted to push away those who entered, whose number was constantly increasing, but they resisted, and a massacre began on the church slabs, staining them with blood. The crowd that had gathered under the portico of the main entrance, hearing the shouting and clashing of weapons inside the church, thought that they had attacked the archbishop, and began to break down the main doors, but they were strong and reinforced from the inside with iron strips and bolts. A real siege began: crowbars and huge stones were brought, chips flew - a wave of people hit the doors with irresistible force. Having come face to face with another mass that was making its way towards them, the crowd “crumpled”; people knocked each other over, and there was inexpressible confusion. Heaps of strangled and crushed people soon filled up both the nave and the side parts of the building. The soldiers completed the chaos by using their weapons. In this holy place only curses and blasphemies, cries of threat and suffering were heard; Jews and pagans, attracted to the crowd by curiosity, reviled the God of the Christians even in the altar itself. Much time passed before the confusion ceased, and the bodies of the killed and dying were carried out of the church. Meanwhile, the excitement was not only occurring on one land: one of those sudden storms was approaching, which are so frequent at this time of year in the regions adjacent to the Black Sea. Having flown into the city from the north, it burst over Hagia Sophia, which was ready to shake to the ground. One could say that heaven and earth united in order to complete the disaster on this unfortunate day. The crowd dispersed, and the church was almost empty, when suddenly they saw a bright light flashing over the pulpit, from which Archbishop John spoke his teachings to the people, then the flame, wriggling like a snake along the pillars of the choir, in an instant captured half the church and the rafters of the roof. A column of sparks and smoke rose above the apse and, fanned by the wind, spread the fire to other parts of the building. But the matter did not end there: the flames, escaping from this huge crucible, carried by the gusts of the storm to the south, reached the Senate building and threatened the Emperor’s palace itself, spreading across the square like a huge bridge, under which, according to historians, one could walk. Under the influence of the fire, the roof of the Curia melted, and molten lead, flowing in streams into the interior of the building, split columns, marble walls and statues. Gold, silver, bronze - all the metals, having fused, presented to the eye only an ugly fiery mass, and the building, deprived of support, suddenly sank. Help, which arrived in a timely manner, saved the Emperor's palace with great difficulty; as for the magnificent buildings on both sides of the square, they were all reduced to ashes. Thus, two beautiful monuments perished, one Christian, the other pagan, the pride of the new Rome, without hope of restoration in the same form. The whole city was in terror. Seeing how the famous choir of Muses, the work of the great artists of Greece, collapsed into flames, the pagans exclaimed in a fit of despair: “What should the Muses do in our sad days? They leave us in all fairness." But later, when, sorting through the rubble, they dug up the statues of Jupiter and Minerva, the ancient guardians of the church, which had been thrown to the ground and remained untouched, sadness gave way to joy. “The sight of them,” says one pagan writer, “revived the hearts of all the good in the city; they saw in this an omen that the gods decided not to remove their protection, and hope began to be revived... However,” he hastens to add with a feeling of deep sorrow, “let it be as their will pleases.” And Christians, at least the Orthodox supporters of Chrysostom, also found some consolation in one miraculous phenomenon. Among the ruins of the church and neighboring buildings, one chapel survived, only barely blackened by the flames. It was the archbishop's home sacristy, where he placed the richest decorations of his church and holy vessels, too precious for daily use - in a word, it was the bishop's treasury. Having found these valuable objects in the sacristy completely intact and remembering that at the Council in Oak one of the crimes charged against Chrysostom was the theft of church treasures, his friends saw in this circumstance, and indeed a strange one, confirmation that God himself wanted to testify to the world the innocence of the persecuted and all the vileness of the persecutors. Two Constantinople clerics, priest Germanus and deacon Cassian, loyal to John Chrysostom, immediately ran to the imperial palace, asking that an accurate inventory of what was found be compiled. The inventory was compiled in two lists under Studius, prefect of the city, Eutychian, prefect of the praetorium, John, imperial treasurer, quaestor Eustathius and several notaries. One list of the inventory remained in the hands of the court, the other was demanded for greater fidelity by Herman and Cassian and taken to Rome the following year. While these circumstances were occurring in Constantinople, Chrysostom followed the Chalcedonian road to Nicaea - accompanied by a detachment of praetorian soldiers, two bishops and several other clergy who wished to be with their archbishop.