The Emperor Wins Over the Deputies of Both Councils

Immediately after these events Acacius’s party went to the emperor, while the other bishops returned to their own homes. When the ten bishops who had been chosen unanimously as deputies to the emperor arrived at the court, they met the ten deputies of the Council of Ariminum there, and also Acacius’s party. These had won over to their side the leading men of the palace, and through their influence had gained the emperor’s favor. It was reported that some of these converts had taken up Acacius’s views at some earlier time; that some were bribed with wealth belonging to the churches; and that others were led astray by the subtlety of the arguments put to them and by the rank of the man persuading them. Acacius was, in fact, no ordinary man. He was gifted by nature with great powers of mind and of speech, and he showed no lack of skill or tact in carrying out his plans. He presided over a famous church, and could boast of Eusebius Pamphilus as his teacher, whom he succeeded as bishop. He was better known than any other man for the reputation and the succession of his books. With all these advantages, he easily succeeded in whatever he undertook. [a]

At this time there were twenty deputies in Constantinople altogether, ten from each council, as well as many other bishops who had come to the city for various reasons. Honoratus, whom the emperor had appointed chief governor of Constantinople before he set out for the West, was instructed to examine, in the presence of the leaders of the great council, the reports going around about Aetius and his heresy. In the end Constantius himself, with some of his officials, undertook the inquiry into this case. When it was proved that Aetius had brought in teachings thoroughly opposed to the faith, the emperor and the other judges were offended by his blasphemous statements. It is said that Acacius’s party at first pretended not to know about this heresy, so as to lead the emperor and those around him to take up the matter themselves. For they imagined that Aetius’s eloquence would be irresistible, that he would certainly convince his hearers, and that his heresy would win over even the unwilling. When the outcome showed how empty their hopes were, they demanded that the deputies of the Council of Seleucia approve the creed accepted by the Council of Ariminum. When these deputies protested that they would never give up the use of the term “substance,” the Acacians swore to them on oath that they did not hold the Son to be unlike the Father in substance, but on the contrary were ready to denounce that opinion as heresy. They added that they valued the creed drawn up by the Western bishops at Ariminum all the more because the word “substance” had unexpectedly been struck out of it. For, they said, if this creed were received, there would be no further mention either of the word “substance” or of the term “of one substance,” to which many of the Western priests were especially attached out of reverence for the Council of Nicaea. [d]

It was for these reasons that the emperor approved the creed. He called to mind the great number of bishops who had met at Ariminum. He reflected that there is no error in saying either that “the Son is like the Father” or that he is “of one substance with the Father.” And he considered further that no difference in meaning would follow if terms that do not occur in Scripture were replaced by other equivalent and undisputed expressions, such as the word “like.” So he decided to give the creed his sanction. Holding these views himself, he ordered the bishops to accept the creed. The next day preparations were made for the grand ceremony of proclaiming him consul, which by Roman custom took place at the beginning of the month of January. The emperor spent the whole of that day and part of the following night with the bishops, and at last succeeded in persuading the deputies of the Council of Seleucia to accept the creed sent from Ariminum. [f]