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 208 DONATISTS rinus was consecrated bishop of Carthage. Thus there were two bishops at the same time in the one see, each with a powerful party of bishops and laymen. The disorders which en- sued were so great that in 312 Constantino expressly excepted " the party of Majorinus " from the privileges which his first edicts con- t'envil on the churches of Africa. The ag- grieved party thereupon appealed to him, and requested to be judged by a court of Gallic bishops. The emperor referred the matter to Melchiades, bishop of Rome, who pronounced the charges against Caecilian groundless, and declared the leading accuser, Donatus of CasaB Nigrse, guilty of several transgressions of ec- clesiastical law. Donatus and Majorinus ap- pealed a second time to Constantine, begging to have the whole matter judged in Gaul, where the late persecution had not raged and no tra- ditors existed. The emperor acquiesced, ap- pointing a council to meet in Aries, and com- manding the proconsul of Carthage, JElian, to investigate judicially the accusation against Felix of Aptungis. JElian pronounced Felix innocent, and convicted his accuser of having falsified the record in order to sustain his charge. The council of Aries met Aug. 1, 314; bishops from Italy, Spain, Gaul, Africa, and Great Britain heard both parties, and re- affirmed the sentence of the court of Rome. The emperor was once more appealed to, and summoned both parties before himself at Milan in 316. His decision was in conformity with that of the ecclesiastical courts. But Donatus and Majorinus and their followers raised the cry that Constantine had been biassed in his decision by Hosius of Corduba. The empe- ror now had recourse to legal repression, and severe edicts were issued against "the party of Majorinus." In the same year, 316, Majo- riuus died, and was succeeded by a second Do- natus, a man of great learning, austerity of life, and enthusiastic and headlong disposition. His followers gave him the appellation of Great, and from him called themselves "the party of Donatus," while their opponents styled them Donatists. He excited his followers to resist the imperial edict. Fearful retaliations followed everywhere the attempts to coerce the Donatists, and at length in 321 Constantine suspended the execution of his edicts, but the conflict between the parties still continued. In 330 upward of 200 Donatist bishops met in council, enacted decrees favorable to the rec- onciliation of traditors, and proclaimed them- selves the only true church of Christ. Unfor- tunately for their cause, it had been espoused from the beginning by a large class of fanatics known as circumcelliones, "hut-rovers," in the rural and mountainous districts of north- ern Africa. They had contributed not a little to provoke the barbarities of the pagans du- ring the late persecution, by committing deeds of violence and folly while the persecution last- ed, in order to secure martyrdom for the faith. From the beginning of the schism they had been the soldiers of the Donatists. Constans on his accession determined to employ both bribery and coercion against the Donatists. His commissaries Macarius and Leontius dis- tributed everywhere large sums of money and rich presents in the emperor's name, accom- panying them with exhortations to Christian unity, and threats of serious repression against recalcitrants. Donatus of Carthage repelled the imperial officer and his presents. " What has the emperor to do with the church ? " ex- claimed he, although he and his party had been the first to invoke the imperial interven- tion. Donatus sent his warning voice through all northern Africa, and the whole country rose in arms. In 349 Macarius defeated the united forces of the Circumcelliones in a pitched battle near Bagaja or Bagais, and then no al- ternative was left the vanquished but exter- mination or submission to the emperor's edicts. Their churches were taken from them, and their religious meetings were dispersed by force of arms. The accession of Julian in 361 brought them peace ; their churches were restored, and their confiscated property was given back to them. The wild excesses into which they were hurried by this short-lived triumph only made their condition more intolerable under Gratian and his successors. Internal divisions added to their sufferings. In 393, 100 Dona- tist bishops assembled at Cabarsussi in the Byzacena, deposed Primianus of Carthage, and ordained in his stead Maximian, his accuser. In 394 a council of 310 bishops reversed this sentence ; but still the Donatists continued split into two factions, the " Primianiats " and " Maximianists." During the latter half of the century the voice of theological contro- versy had been heard above the unceasing clash of arms. Parmenian, successor of Do- natus of Carthage, had vindicated his followers in works which were refuted by such men as Optatus of Mileve and Augustine of Hippo. But reasoning and argument could not be listen- ed to amid this civil and religious warfare. In 398 Augustine, after trying in vain to bring about a peaceful discussion of their mutual grievances, obtained an order that the bishops of the province of Carthage should meet year- ly to devise means of healing the schism. In 411 at length a fortunate concurrence of cir- cumstances led to what is known as the great conference of Carthage, in which, under the presidency of the imperial commissary, Mar- cellinus, 286 Catholic bishops and 279 Dona- tists discussed during three days the points which divided them. Once more the two oft disputed questions were argued on both sides, whether Felix of Aptungis -and Csecilian were traditors, and whether the church, by communicating with unworthy members, lost the character of the true church of Christ. What then shook the allegiance of many Donatist bishops to their party was the offer made in the conference by the Catholics to receive the Donatist bishops