Theodosius and Agapetus, Bishops of Synada

A certain Theodosius was bishop of Synada in Phrygia Pacata. He fiercely persecuted the heretics in that province, and there were a great many of them, especially those of the Macedonian sect. He drove them out not only from the city but from the countryside as well. He did this not by following any precedent in the orthodox church, nor out of desire to spread the true faith. He was a slave to the love of shameful gain, and what drove him was greed: he wanted to amass money by extorting it from the heretics. To this end he tried every means against the Macedonians. He put weapons into the hands of his clergy, used countless schemes against them, and did not hold back from handing them over to the civil courts. He troubled their bishop, whose name was Agapetus, most of all. And finding that the governors of the province did not have enough authority to punish heretics as he wished, he went to Constantinople and asked the praetorian prefect for harsher edicts. [a]

While Theodosius was away on this business, Agapetus, who as I said led the Macedonian sect, came to a wise and prudent decision. After consulting his clergy, he called together all the people under his care and persuaded them to embrace the homoousian faith. When they agreed, he went at once to the church, followed not only by his own people but by the whole population. There, after offering prayer, he took possession of the bishop’s chair in which Theodosius used to sit. From then on he preached the doctrine of the one substance, reunited the people, and became master of the churches in the diocese of Synada. Soon after this, Theodosius came back to Synada with wider powers from the prefect. Knowing nothing of what had happened, he went straight to the church, just as he was, and was at once expelled by everyone together. He went off again to Constantinople. When he arrived there he complained to Atticus the bishop of how he had been treated and how he had been deprived of his bishopric. Atticus saw that this turn of events had worked to the good of the church. He comforted Theodosius as well as he could and advised him to accept a retired life with a contented mind, and so to give up his own private interests for the public good. He then wrote to Agapetus, authorizing him to keep the office of bishop and telling him not to fear any trouble on account of Theodosius’s grievance.