Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 7.djvu/423

 HISTORY

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HISTORY

century by Julius Africanus and by Hippolj-tus, some fragments of which are yet extant. It is only during the fourth century that ecclesiastical history, properly so called, makes its appearance. Any synopsis of its vast materials falls into three periods corresponding to the tliree main periods of church history.

(A) Church Historians during the First Period. — Eusebius, Bishop of Caesarea in Palestine (d. 340), is rightly styled the "Father of Church History". We are indebted to him for a "Chronicle" (P. G., XIX) and a "Church History" (ibid., XX; latest .scientific edition by Schwartz and Mommsen, 2 vols, in "Die griechischen christlichen Schriftsteller der drei ersten ■Jahrhunderte", Berhn, 1903-S). The "Church His- tory" was an outgrowth of the "Chronicle", and was the first work to merit fully the name it bore. It first appeared in nine books and covered the time from the death of Christ to the victories of Constantine and Licinius (312 and 313). Eu.sebius afterwards added a tenth book, which carried the narrative to the victory of Constantine over Licinius (323). He made use of many ecclesiastical monuments and documents, acts of the mart\TS, letters, extracts from earlier Christian writings, lists of bishops, and similar sources, often quoting the originals at great length so that his work contains very precious materials not elsewhere pre- served. It is therefore of great value, though it pre- tends neither to completeness nor to the observance of due proportion in the treatment of the subject-matter. ' Nor does it present in a connected and sj-stematic way the history of the early Christian Church. It is to no small extent a vindication of the Christian religion, though the author did not primarily intend it as such; it is impossil^le, however, for any true history of the Church not to exhil)it at once the Divine origin of the latter and its invincible power. Eusebius has been often accused of intentional falsification of the truth, but quite unjustly; it may Ije admitted, however, that in judging persons or facts he is not entirely unbiased. On the other hand, he has been rightly censured for his partiality towards Constantine the Great and his pal- liation of the latter's faults ("Vita Constantini" in P. G., XX, 905 sqq.; latest scientific ed. Heikel, "Eusebius' Werke", I, Leipzig, 1902, in "Die griech, christl. Schriftsteller der ersten drei Jahrhunderte"). In Ills biography of the great emperor, Eusebius, it must be remembered, sought to set forth in the most favourable light the Christian sentiments of the im- perial convert and his great services to the Christian Church. A brief historical treatise of Eusebius, " On the Martyrs of Palestine", has also been preserved.

This great Christian historian found several imita- tors in the first half of the fifth century; it is to be regretted, however, that the first two general narra- tives of ecclesiastical history after Eusebius have been lost — i. e. the "Christian History" of the presbyter Philip of Side in Pamphylia (Philippus Sidetes), and the "Chm-ch History" of the Arian Philostorgius. Three other early ecclesiastical histories written about this period are also lost (the presbyter Hesychius of Jerusalem (d. 433), the ApoUinarian, Timotheus of Berytus, and Sabinus of Heraclea). About the mid- dle of the fifth century the " Church History " of Eu- sebius was continued simultaneously by three wTiters — an evidence of the esteem in which this work of the " Father of Church History " was held among scholarly ecclesiastics. All three continuations have reached us. The first was wTitten by Socrates, an advocate (scholasticus) of Constantinople, who, in his "Church History" (P. G., LXVII, 29-S42; ed. Hussey, Ox- ford, 1S53), which he expressly (I, 1) calls a continua- tion of the work of Eusebius, describes in seven books the period from 305 (Abdication of Diocletian) to 439. It is a work of great value. The author is honest, exhibits critical acumen in the use of his sources, and has a clear and simple style. After him, and fre- quently making use of his history, comes Hermias

Sozomenus (or vSozomen), also an advocate in Con- stantinople, whose "Church History" in nine books comprises the period from .324 to 425 (P. G., LXVII, S34-1630; ed. Hussey, Oxford, 1860), but is inferior to that of Socrates. Both these wTiters are surpassed bv the learned Theodoret. Bishop of C\tus (d. about 4oS), who, in his "Church History" (P. G., LXXXII, 8S1-12S0; ed. Gaisford, Oxford, iS54), a continuation of the work of Eusebius, describes in five books the period from the beginning of Arianism (320) to the beginning of the Xestorian troubles (42S). In addi- tion to the WTitings of his predecessors, Socrates and Sozomen, he also used those of the Latin scholar Rufinus, and w-ove many documents into his clear well-written narrative. Theodoret wrote also a " His- tory of the Monks" (P. G., LXXXII, 12S3-1496), in which he sets forth the lives of thirty famous ascetics of the Orient. Like the famous " History of the Holy Fathers " (" Historia Lausiaca ", so called from one Lausus to whom the book was dedicated bv Palladius, WTitten about 420; Migne, P. G., XXXIV, 995-1278; Butler, "The Lausiac History of Palladius", Cam- bridge, 189S), this work of Theodoret is one of the principal sources for the history of Oriental monasti- cism. Theodoret also published a " Compenditma of Heretical Falsehoods", i. e. a short history of heresies with a refutation of each (P. G., LXXXIII, 335-556). Together with the similar " Panarion " of St. Epipha- nius (P. G., XLI-XLII), it offers important material to the student of the earliest heresies.

During the sixth century these historians fotmd other continuators. Theodoras Lector compiled a brief compendium (yet unedited) from the works of the above-mentioned three continuators of Eusebius: Socrates, Sozomen, and Theodoret. He then wrote in two books an independent continuation of this stmi- mary as far as the reign of Emperor Justin I (518-27) ; only fragments of this work have reached us (P. G., LXXXVI, I, 165-228). Zacharias Rhetor, at first an advocate at Berj-tus in Phoenicia and then (at least from 536) Bishop of Mitylene in the Island of Lesbos, composed, while yet a layman, an ecclesiastical his- tory, which describes the periotl from 450 to 491, but is mostly taken up with personal experiences of the author in Egypt and Palestine. A Syriac version of this work is extant as books III-VI of a SjTiac univer- sal history, while there are also extant some chapters in a Latin version (Laud, " Aneedota SjTiaca", Ley- den, 1870; P. G., LXXV, 1145-78; Ahrens and Kruger, "Die sogennante Kirchengeschichte des Zacharias Rhetor", Leipzig, 1899). Apart from this history, his inclination towards Monophysitism is also apparent from his biography of the Monophysite patriarch, Severus of Antioch, and from his biography of the monk Isaias, two works extant in a SjTiac version (Laud, op. cit., 346-56, edited the "Life of Isaias", and Spanuth, Gottingen, 1893, the "Life of Severus"; cf. Nau in "Revue de I'orient chr^tien", 1901, pp. 26-88). More important still is the " Church History " of Evagrius of Antioch, who died about the end of the sixth century. His work is a continuation of Socrates, Sozomen, and Theodoret, and treats in sLx books the period from 431 to 594. It is based on good sources, and borrows from profane his- torians, but occasionally Evagrius is too credulous. For Nestorianism and Monophysitism, however, his work deserves careful attention (P. G., LXXXVI, I, 2415-886; edd. Bidez and Parmentier in "Byzantine Texts" by J. B. Bury, London, 1899). Among the chronicles that belong to the close of Grseco-Roman antiquity, special mention is due to the Chrouicon Paschale, so called because the Paschal or Easter canon forms the basis of its Christian chronology (P. G., XCII). About the year 700 the Monophysite bishop, John of Nikiu (Egypt) compiled a universal chronicle; its notilice are of great value for the seventh century. This chronicle has been preserved in an Ethiopic