Meletius, Bishop of Antioch

We must now speak of Meletius, who, as we noted a little earlier, was made bishop of Sebaste in Armenia after Eustathius was deposed. From Sebaste he was moved to Beroea, a city of Syria. He was present at the Synod of Seleucia and signed the creed Acacius set out there, and he went straight back from there to Beroea. When the synod at Constantinople was held, the people of Antioch, finding that Eudoxius, dazzled by the splendor of the see of Constantinople, had looked down on their church, sent for Meletius and installed him as bishop of the church at Antioch. At first he avoided all questions of doctrine and kept his sermons to moral subjects. But later he expounded the Nicene Creed to his hearers and maintained the doctrine of the homoousion. When the emperor was told of this, he ordered him sent into exile, and had Euzoius, who had once been deposed together with Arius, installed as bishop of Antioch in his place. Those who were attached to Meletius, however, separated themselves from the Arian congregation and held their meetings apart. Even so, those who had held the homoousian view from the beginning would not hold communion with them, because Meletius had been ordained by the Arians and his followers had been baptized by them. So the church at Antioch was divided, even among those whose views on matters of faith agreed exactly. Meanwhile the emperor, learning that the Persians were preparing to make war on the Romans again, hurried to Antioch. [a]