The Character of Proclus

Proclus became a reader at a very early age. He attended the schools diligently and devoted himself to the study of rhetoric. When he reached manhood he was constantly in the company of Atticus the bishop, who had made him his secretary. When he had made great progress, his patron promoted him to the rank of deacon. Later he was raised to the rank of presbyter and, as we said before, was ordained by Sisinnius to be bishop of Cyzicus. But all this had happened long before; now he was given the bishop’s chair of Constantinople. He was a man of moral excellence equal to any. For he had been trained by Atticus and eagerly imitated all that bishop’s virtues. Patience, however, he practiced to a greater degree than his master, who sometimes dealt harshly with the heretics. Proclus was gentle toward everyone, being convinced that kindness does far more than violence to advance the cause of truth. He resolved, therefore, not to harass any heresy whatever, and in his own person he restored to the church that gentle and kindly dignity of character which had so often before been sadly violated. In this he followed the example of the emperor Theodosius. For as the emperor had determined never to use his imperial power against criminals, so Proclus too had resolved not to trouble those who held views on divine things different from his own. [a]