Nectarius Dies and John Is Made Bishop

A short time afterward Nectarius, bishop of Constantinople, also died, on the twenty-seventh of September, in the consulship of Caesarius and Atticus. A dispute at once arose over who should succeed him, some proposing one man and some another. In the end, however, it was decided to send for John, a presbyter of the church at Antioch, because he was reported to be a very instructive teacher and at the same time an eloquent one. So, with the general agreement of both clergy and laity, he was summoned to Constantinople very soon afterward by the emperor Arcadius. To give the ordination more authority and weight, several bishops were asked to be present, and among them was Theophilus, bishop of Alexandria. Theophilus did everything he could to damage John’s reputation, because he wanted to promote to that see Isidore, a presbyter of his own church. He was deeply attached to Isidore because of a very delicate and dangerous affair that Isidore had taken on in his service. [a]

What this was I must now explain. When the emperor Theodosius was preparing to march against the usurper Maximus, Theophilus sent Isidore with gifts and two sets of letters. He instructed him to present the gifts, and the letter addressed to him, to whichever of the two should win. Following these instructions, Isidore went to Rome and waited there for the outcome of the war. But the business did not stay secret for long. A reader who was traveling with him secretly took the letters away, and at that Isidore returned to Alexandria in great alarm. This was why Theophilus favored Isidore so warmly.

The court, however, preferred John. Many people had revived the accusations against Theophilus and had drawn up written petitions setting out various charges, ready to present to the bishops then assembled. Eutropius, the chief officer of the emperor’s bedchamber, gathered these documents together and showed them to Theophilus, telling him to “choose between ordaining John and standing trial on the charges brought against you.” Terrified by this choice, Theophilus agreed to ordain John. So John was installed as bishop on the twenty-sixth of February, in the following consulship, which the emperor Honorius celebrated with public games at Rome, and Eutychian, then praetorian prefect, at Constantinople.

But since the man is famous, both for the writings he has left and for the many troubles he fell into, it is right that I should not pass over his life in silence. I will tell, as briefly as I can, where he came from and of what family; how he was raised to the office of bishop and how he was afterward brought down from it; and finally how he was more honored after his death than he had been during his life.