Signs of Wrath, Atticus Made Bishop, and John in Exile

Such were the letters of Innocent, from which the opinion he held of John can easily be seen. About the same time, hailstones of extraordinary size fell at Constantinople and in the suburbs of the city. Four days later the emperor’s wife died. Many took these events as signs of God’s wrath because of the persecution that had been carried on against John. For Cyrinus, bishop of Chalcedon, one of his chief slanderers, had died long before in great bodily agony. It came from the accident that had happened to his foot, and the amputation of the leg that the physicians then had to perform. Arsacius too died after presiding over the church of Constantinople for only a very short time. [a]

Many candidates were put forward to succeed him, and four months after his death Atticus was ordained, a presbyter of the clergy of Constantinople and one of John’s enemies. He was a native of Sebaste in Armenia. From his youth he had been trained in the principles of the monastic philosophy by monks of the Macedonian heresy. These monks, who at that time had a very high reputation at Sebaste for philosophy, followed the discipline of Eustathius, whom I mentioned earlier as bishop there and as a leader of the best monks. When Atticus reached manhood, he embraced the teaching of the catholic church. He owed more to nature than to learning. He became involved in affairs, and he was as skillful at carrying on intrigues as at escaping the schemes of others. He had a very engaging manner and was loved by many. The sermons he preached in the church did not rise above the ordinary; and although they were not entirely without learning, his hearers did not think them worth preserving in writing. Whenever he found an opportunity, he applied himself eagerly to the most esteemed Greek authors; but for fear of seeming unlearned in conversation about these writers, he often concealed what he did know. It is said that he showed great zeal on behalf of those who held the same views as himself, and made himself feared by the heterodox. When he wished, he could easily throw them into alarm; but then he would change at once and appear gentle. This is the information supplied by those who knew the man.

John became very famous even in his exile. He had ample means, and since he was also generously supplied with money by Olympias the deaconess and others, he bought the freedom of many captives from the Isaurian robbers and restored them to their families. He also met the needs of many who were in want, and with kind words he comforted those who did not need money. So he was greatly loved, not only in Armenia, where he lived, but by all the people of the neighboring countries, and by the people of Antioch, of the rest of Syria, and of Cilicia, who often came to be with him. [d]