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 GREECE

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GREECE

All through the Middle Ages Greeks called them- selves 'PufmioL, meaning citizens of the Roman Em- pire brought by Constantino to his new capital. This strange adaptation of their conquerors' name lasted till the nineteenth century. Even now peasants call themselves 'Poifiawi, and (except in towns and among schoolmasters) the Greek for "Do you speak Greek?" is: 'O/uiX^re 'PufiatVd; It was during the great re- vival of political national feeling at the beginning of the nineteenth century that the classical name began to be used again, almost as a war-cry, by the people whose imagination was full of Pericles and Socrates. When the Morea, the islands, and part of the mainland succeeded in throwing off the Turk, the first provis- ional independent government naturally called its territory neither after the Turkish vilayets nor Roman province, but went back to the glorious name llcUa.i. And when things %vere settled by the London Confer- ence, in 1S32, the new kingdom was the BacriXfia riji 'EXXdSos, and Otto of Bavaria became (title unknown to history) 6 BatrtXeil's tujv 'EWi^vojv.

II. The Chuhch in Greece Before the Schism (52-1054). — Greece possesses by the most undisputed right an Apostolic Church. St. Paul, in his second missionary journey (52-53, with Silas and Timothy), while he was at Troas in Mysia, saw the vision (" Pass over into Macedonia, and help us". Acts, xvi, 9) that brought him for the first time to Europe. At Philippi in Macedonia he founded the first Christian Church on European soil (ibid., 12 sij.). Thence he came to Thessalonica (xvii, 1), Berea (xvii, 10), and, travelling southwards, to Athens (xvii, 15). Here he preached about "the unknown God" on the Areopagus (xvii, 22-31), and went on to Corinth (xviii, 1). At Corinth he was brought before Gallio, "proconsul of Achaia" (xviii, 12); from Cenchrje, the port of Corinth, he sailed back to Ephesus with Priscilla and Aquila (xviii, 18). In the third journey (54-58) he came again to Macedonia (about the year 57 — Acts, xx, 1), thence "to Greece" (els ttjv 'EXXdSa, xx, 2), and stayed three months at Corinth (xx, 3), then back to Asia Minor (Troas) by Macedonia (xx, 4, 5). In all these places St. Paul preached, according to his cus- tom, first to the colonies of Jews and then to Gentiles too; in all he left Christian communities from which others in the neighbourhood were formed by his dis- ciples: " I have planted, Apollo watered, but God gave the increase" (I Cor., iii, 6). So that he could say: " From Jerusalem round about as far as unto Illyricum, I have replenished the gospel of Christ" (Rom.,xv, 19). Among the Pauline Churches of Greece two stand out as the most important — those of Athens and Corinth. This is what one would e.xpeet from the Apostle's general practice of bringing his message first and most completely to the great cities. From these it would spread more easily to the country round. Athens, in St. Paul's time no longer of first importance politically or economically, still held a great place through her immortal memories. A nimiber of Romans had set- tled there, such as T. Pomponius Atticus, Cicero's friend. These are apparently the "foreign dwellers" (oi ^7ri5r)/ioCvT£s ^hoi) of Acts, xvii, 21. There was also a colony of Jews, to whom St. Paul preached first. " He disputed, therefore, in the synagogue with the Jews, and with them that served God [rois ae^oni- TOis], and in the market-place, every day with them that were there" (the heathen — Acts, xvii, 17). Of far greater practical importance was Corinth, then one of the chief commercial centres of the empire, the resi- dence of Gallio, Proconsul of Achaia (Acts, xviii, 12). Corinth became the centre of the Apostle's work, the chief centre of Christianity in Greece. It is supposed that he wrote here his Epistle to the Romans (J. Belser, "Einleitung in das Neue Testament", Freiburg im Br., 1901, p. 507), both those to the Thessalonians (ibid, 401 and 468), perhaps that to the Galatians (so Zahn). His care for the Church of Corinth is shown in VI.— 47

his two Epistles to the Corinthians. For an account of this, the most typical of the Pauline Churches, see Belser, op. cit., V, xl (pp. 476-489).

The alleged mission of other Apostles to Greece rests on a less firm footing. St. Andrew is said to have preached in Scythia, Thrace, Epirus, Macedonia, and Achaia, and to have been crucified (on a cross of the shape to which he has given his name) at Patras, by order of the Proconsul ^Egeas. The story of his mission and martyrdom is as old as the second cen- tury. It formed part of a work on the Apostles writ- ten then by a heretic, Leucius Charinus (Leukios Chareinos. — cf. Epiphanius, "adv. Ha»r.", Ixi, 1; Ixiii, 2). There is an alleged contemporary encyclical letter

Church of St. Eleut

of the priests and deacons of Achaia which tells the story, including speeches made by the saint in verse: —

O bona crux diu desiderata,

lam concupiscent! animo proeparata,

Securus et gaudens venio ad te,

Et tu exsultans suscipias me,

Discipulum eius qui pependit in te. The whole text is published by Tischendorf, " Acta Apostolorum apocrypha" (Leipzig, 1851, p. 105-131), and Lipsius, "Die apokryph. Apostelgeschiehten " (1883, I, 543 sq.), where the question of its origin is discussed. The lessons, antiphons, and responses for St. Andrew's day (.30 Nov.) in the Roman Breviary are taken from this document. On account of the tradition that St. Andrew preached in Thrace, the Patriarchs of Constantinople claim him as their first predecessor; the Russians have enlarged his mission in Scythia into the conversion of their country (he came and preached as far as Kiev). St. Thomas and St. Matthew are also said to have visited Greece on missionary journeys.

The Church spread rapidly in Greece. We hear of bishops in various cities during the persecution. Under the Emperor Hadrian (117-38), Publius, Bishop of Athens, was martyred (Euseb., H. E., IV, x.xiii). A certain Philip was Bishop of Gortyna (ibid.). Eu- sebius writes of Dionysius of Corinth and his works (ibid.). Publius at Athens was succeeded by Quad- ratus the apologist (Bardenhewer, "Altkirchl. Lit- teraturgeschichte, I). Aristides of Athens was also a famous apologist (ibid.).