XXIII. symbol of their innocence; and the tumultuous CHAP. concourse of an innumerable people. But the zeal of Antioch was diverted, since the reign of Christianity, into a different channel. Instead of hecatombs of fat oxen sacrificed by the tribes of a wealthy city, to their tutelar deity, the em peror complains that he found only a single goose, provided at the expence of a priest, the pale and solitary inhabitant of this decayed tem ple*. The altar was deserted, the oracle had been reduced to silence, and the holy ground was profaned by the introduction of Christian and funereal rites. After Babylas (a bishop of Antioch, who died in prison in the persecution of Decius) had rested near a century in his grave, his body, by the order of the Cæsar Gallus, was transported into the midst of the grove of Daphne. A magnificent church was erected over his remains; a portion of the sacred lands was usurped for the maintenance of the clergy, and for the burial of the Christians of Antioch, who were ambitious of lying at the feet of their bishop; and the priests of Apollo retired, with their affrighted and indignant votaries. As soon as * Julian (Misopogon, p. 361, 362.) discovers his own character with that naïveté, that unconscious simplicity, which always constitutes genuine humour. + Babylas is named by Eusebius in the succession of the bishops of Antioch, Hist. Eccles. 1. vi. c. 29. 39. His triumph over two emperors (the first fabulous, the second historical) is diffusely celebrated by Chrysostom (tom. ii. p. 536 -579. edit. Montfaucon.). Tillemont (Mém. Eccles, t. iii. part ii. p. 287–302. 459-465.) becomes almost a sceptic. CHAP. as another revolution seemed to restore the fortune of Paganism, the church of St Babylas was demolished, and new buildings were added to the mouldering edifice which had been raised by the piety of Syrian kings. But the first and most serious care of Julian was to deliver his oppressed deity from the odious presence of the dead and living Christians, who had so effectually suppressed the voice of fraud or enthusiasm *. The scene of infection was purified, according to the forms of ancient rituals; the bodies were decently removed; and the ministers of the church were permitted to convey the remains of St Babylas to their former habitation within the walls of Antioch. The modest behaviour which might have assuaged the jealousy of an hostile. government, was neglected on this occasion by the zeal of the Christians. The lofty car, that transported the relics of Babylas, was followed, and accompanied, and received, by an innumerable multitude; who chanted, with thundering acclamations, the Psalms of David the most expressive of their contempt for idols and idolaters. The return of the saint was a triumph'; and the triumph was an insult on the religion of the emperor, who exerted his pride to dissemble his resentment. During the night which terminated this Ecclesia:tical critics, particularly those who love relics, exult in the confession of Julian (Misopogon, p. 361.) and Libanius (Nania, p. 185.), that Apollo was disturbed by the vicinity of one dead man. Yet Ammianus (xxii. 12.) clears and purifies the whole ground, according to the rites which the Athenians farmerly practised in the isle of Delos. XXIII. this indiscreet procession, the temple of Daphne CHAP. was in flames; the statue of Apollo was consumed ; and the walls of the edifice were left a naked and awful monument of ruin. The Christians of Antioch asserted, with religious confidence, that the powerful intercession of St Babylas had pointed the lightnings of heaven against the devoted roof: but as Julian was reduced to the alternative, of believing either a crime or a miracle, he chose, without hesitation, without evidence, but with some colour of probability, to impute the fire of Daphne to the revenge of the Galilæans *. Their offence, had it becn sufficiently proved, might have justified the retaliation which was immediately executed by the order of Julian, of shutting the doors, and confiscating the wealth, of the cathedral of Antioch. To discover the criminals who were guilty of the tumult, of the fire, or of secreting the riches of the church, several ecclesiastics were tortured ; and a presbyter, of the name of Theodoret, was beheaded by the sentence of the Count of the East. But this hasty act was blamed by the Julian (in Misopogon, p. 361.) rather insinuates, than affirms their guilt. Ammianus (xxii. 13.) treats the imputation as levissimus rumor, and relates the story with extraordinary candour. + Quo non atroci casû repente consumpto, ad id usque imperatoris ira provexit, ut quæstiones agitare juberet solito acriores (yet Julian blames the lenity of the magistrates of Antioch), et majorem ecclesiam Antiochie claudi. This interdiction was performed with some circumstances of indignity and profanation: and the seasonable death of the principal actor, Julian's uncle, is related with much superstitious complacency by the Abbé de la Bleterie. Vie de Julien, p. 362-369. Julian shuts the cathe dral of An tioch. XXIII. CHAP. the emperor; who`lamented, with real or affected concern, that the imprudent zeal of his ministers would tarnish his reign with the disgrace of per secution *. The zeal of the ministers of Julian was instantly checked by the frown of their sovereign; but when the father of his country declares himself the leader of a faction, the licence of popular fury cannot easily be restrained, nor consistently punished. Julian, in a public composition, applauds the devotion and loyalty of the holy cities. of Syria, whose pious inhabitants had destroyed, at the first signal, the sepulchres of the Galilæans; and faintly complains, that they had revenged the injuries of the gods with less moderation than he should have recommended †. This imperfect and reluctant confession may appear to confirm the ecclesiastical narratives; that in the cities of Gaza, Ascalon, Caesarea, Heliopolis, &c. the Pagans abused, without prudence er remorse, the moment of their prosperity; that the unhappy objects of their cruelty were released from torture only by death; that as their mangled bodies were dragged through the streets, they were pierced (such was the universal rage) by the spits of cooks, and the distaffs of enraged women; and that the entrails of Christian priests and virgins, after they had been tasted by those bloody Besides the ccclesiastical historians, who are more or less. to be suspected, we may allege the passion of St Theodore, in the Acta Sincera of Ruinart, p. 591. The complaint of JuJan gives it an original and authentic air. +Julian. Misopogon, p. 361. and CHAP. bloody fanatics, were mixed with barley, and contemptuously thrown to the unclean animals of the city *. Such scenes of religious madness exhibit the most contemptible and odious picture of human nature; but the massacre of Alexandria attracts still more attention, from the certainty of the fact, the rank of the victims, and the splendour of the capital of Egypt. XXIIE Cappadocia George t, from his parents or his education, George of surnamed the Cappadocian, was born at Epiphania in Cilicia, in a fuller's shop. From this obscure and servile origin he raised himself by the talents of a parasite: and the patrons, whom he assiduously flattered, procured for their worthless dependant, a lucrative commission, or contract, to supply the army with bacon. His employment was mean; he rendered it infamous. He accumulated wealth by the basest arts of fraud and corruption; but his malversations were so notorious, that George was compelled to escape from the pursuits of justice. After this disgrace, in which he appears to have saved his fortune at the expence of his honour, he em braced, Sozomen * See Gregory Nazianzen, Orat. iii. p. 87. (1. v. c. 9.) may be considered as an original, though not impartial, witness. He was a native of Gaza, and had conversed with the confessor Zeno, who, as bishop of Maiuma, lived to the age of an hundred (1. vii. c. 28.). Philostorgius (1. vii. c. 4. with Godefroy's Dissertations, p. 284.) adds some tragic circumstances, of Christians, who were literally sacrificed at the altars of the gods, &c. The life and death of George of Cappadocia are descri bed by Ammianus (xxii. 11.), Gregory Nazianzen (Orat. xxi. p. 382. 385. 389, 390.), and Epiphanius (Hæres. Ixxvi.). The invectives of the two saints might not deserve much Credit, unless they were confirmed by the testimony of the cool and impartial infidel. |