The Earthquake at Nicomedia, and Arsacius the Confessor

Such were the events at Sirmium. At this time it seemed as if, from fear of displeasing the emperor, the Eastern and Western churches had come together in professing the same doctrine. The emperor had decided to call a council at Nicaea to consider the innovations introduced at Antioch and the heresy of Aetius. But Basil and his party did not want the council held in that city, because questions of doctrine had been debated there before. So it was decided to hold it at Nicomedia in Bithynia. Edicts went out summoning the most intelligent and eloquent bishops of every nation to be there without fail on an appointed day, so that every priest in the empire might have the privilege of taking part in the synod and being present at its decisions. Most of the bishops had already set out when news came of the calamity that had struck Nicomedia: God had shaken the whole city to its foundations. As the story of the city’s destruction spread everywhere and grew, the bishops halted their journey; for, as usually happens in such cases, far more was rumored among those at a distance than had actually happened. It was reported that Nicaea, Perinthus and the neighboring cities, even Constantinople, had been caught in the same disaster. The orthodox bishops were grieved beyond measure at this, for the enemies of religion seized on the collapse of a magnificent church to tell the emperor that a multitude of bishops, men, women and children had fled into the church hoping to find safety there, and that all of them had perished. This report was not true. The earthquake struck at the second hour of the day, when there was no assembly in the church. The only bishops killed were Cecropius, bishop of Nicomedia, and a bishop from the Bosporus, and they were outside the church when the disaster happened. The city was shaken in an instant, so that the people had no power to flee to safety, even if they had wanted to. At the first moment of danger they were either saved or perished on the very spot where they stood. [a]

It is said that this calamity was foretold by Arsacius. He was a Persian, a soldier employed in looking after the emperor’s lions. During the reign of Licinius he became a well-known confessor and left the army. He then went to the citadel of Nicomedia and lived the life of a monk, practicing philosophy within its walls. There a vision from heaven appeared to him, and he was commanded to leave the city at once, so that he might be saved from the calamity about to fall on it. He ran in great earnest to the church and begged the clergy to offer prayers to God that his anger might be turned away. But far from being believed, he was laughed at, as one announcing disasters nobody expected. So he went back to his tower and threw himself on the ground in prayer. Just at that moment the earthquake struck, and many perished. Those who were spared fled into the countryside and the desert. And, as happens in a large and prosperous city, there were fires in the braziers and fire vessels of every house, in the furnaces of the baths, and in the furnaces of all whose crafts use fire. When the structures fell in ruin, the flames were hemmed in by the material; and of course there was dry wood mixed in, much of it oily. All this added to the speed of the blaze and fed the fire without check. Creeping everywhere and seizing on everything around it, the flame turned the whole city, so to speak, into one mass of fire. Since it was impossible to get into the houses, those who had escaped the earthquake rushed to the citadel. Arsacius was found dead in the tower, which had not been shaken, lying face down on the ground in the same posture in which he had begun to pray. It was said that he had begged God to let him die, because he preferred death to seeing the destruction of the city where he had first come to know Christ and had practiced the monastic philosophy. [d]

Since I have been led to speak of this good man, it is right to mention that God gave him the power to drive out demons and to cleanse those troubled by them. Once a man possessed by a demon ran through the marketplace with a drawn sword in his hand. The people fled from him, and the whole city was in an uproar. Arsacius went out to meet him and called on the name of Christ, and at that name the demon was driven out and the man was restored to his right mind. Besides this, Arsacius did many other things beyond human power and skill. There was a dragon, or some other kind of reptile, which had made its lair in a hollow by the roadside and killed passers-by with its breath. Arsacius went to the spot and prayed, and the serpent crept out of its hole of its own accord, dashed its head against the ground, and killed itself. I have all these details from people who heard them from those who had seen Arsacius.

Since the news of the calamity at Nicomedia kept the bishops from continuing their journey, some waited for further orders from the emperor, while others set out their views on the faith in letters they wrote on the subject. The emperor was unsure what to do, and wrote to Basil to ask whether a council ought to be called. In his reply, it seems, Basil praised his piety and tried to console him for the destruction of Nicomedia with examples from the Holy Scriptures. He urged him, for the sake of religion, to hurry the synod on: not to give up this proof of his zeal for religion, and not to send away the priests gathered for the purpose, who had already set out and were on their way, until some business had been done. He also suggested that the council might be held at Nicaea instead of Nicomedia, so that the disputed points might be settled once and for all on the very spot where they had first been called in question. In writing this, Basil believed the emperor would be pleased with the proposal, since he had himself first suggested holding the council at Nicaea. On receiving this letter from Basil, the emperor ordered the bishops to assemble at Nicaea at the beginning of summer, except those who were in poor health. These were to send presbyters and deacons in their place, to make their views known, to consult together on the contested points of doctrine, and to arrive at one decision on every point at issue. He ordered that ten delegates be chosen from the Western churches and as many from the Eastern, to examine whatever decrees might be issued and decide whether they agreed with the Holy Scriptures, and also to keep a general oversight of the council’s proceedings. After further consultation the emperor ordered the bishops to stay where they were living, or in their own churches, until it had been decided where the council was to be held and they received notice to go there. He then wrote to Basil, directing him to ask the Eastern bishops by letter where they advised that the council be held, so that a public announcement might be made at the beginning of spring; for the emperor thought it unwise to call the council at Nicaea because of the earthquake that had recently struck the province. Basil wrote to the bishops of every province, urging them to deliberate together and decide quickly on the most suitable place for the council, and he put a copy of the emperor’s letter at the head of his own. As often happens in such circumstances, the bishops were divided in their opinions, and Basil went to the emperor, who was then at Sirmium. There he found several bishops who had come to the city on their own private business, among them Mark, bishop of Arethusa, and George, who had been appointed to preside over the church of Alexandria. At length Valens and his party decided that the council should be held at Seleucia, a city of Isauria, for Valens was then staying at Sirmium. Since they favored the heresy of the Anomoeans, they urged the bishops who were present at the imperial court in camp to sign a statement of faith which had been prepared, in which there was no mention of the term “substance.” [g]

But while preparations for the council were being eagerly made, Eudoxius and Acacius, Ursacius and Valens, with their followers, weighed the situation. Many of the bishops held to the Nicene faith, and others favored the statement of faith drawn up at the dedication of the church of Antioch; yet both parties kept the term “substance” and maintained that the Son is in every respect like the Father. They knew that if both parties met together in one place, they would readily condemn the doctrines of Aetius as contrary to their own creeds. So they arranged matters so that the bishops of the West were called to Ariminum and those of the East to Seleucia, a city of Isauria. Since it is easier to convince a few people than a great many, they thought that by dealing with the two parties separately they might bring both round to their views, or at any rate succeed with one of them, so that their heresy would not be condemned by all. They managed this through Eusebius, a eunuch who was head of the imperial household. He was a friend of Eudoxius and held the same doctrines, and many of those in power were courting the favor of this same Eusebius.