The Emperor of the West Threatens War

Those gathered at Sardica, and those who had held a separate council at Philippopolis in Thrace, each did what they thought necessary and returned to their own cities. From that time, therefore, the Western church was cut off from the Eastern, and the boundary of communion between them was the mountain called Soucis, which divides the Illyrians from the Thracians. Up to this mountain there was communion without distinction, even though there was a difference of faith; but beyond it they did not share communion with one another. Such was the troubled state of the churches at that time. [a]

Soon after these events, the emperor of the Western parts told his brother Constantius what had taken place at Sardica, and asked him to restore Paul and Athanasius to their sees. But when Constantius put off doing this, the emperor of the West wrote to him again and gave him a choice: either to reinstate Paul and Athanasius in their former rank and give them back their churches, or, if he failed to do this, to regard him as his enemy and expect war at once. The letter he sent his brother was as follows:

“Athanasius and Paul are here with me, and after inquiry I am fully satisfied that they are being persecuted for the sake of godliness. If, then, you will pledge yourself to reinstate them in their sees and to punish those who have so unjustly wronged them, I will send them to you. But if you refuse to do this, be assured that I will come there myself and restore them to their own sees in spite of your opposition.”