The Arians and Melitians Plot against Athanasius

The many troubles that befell Athanasius were first brought about by Eusebius and Theognis. Since they spoke freely before the emperor and had great influence with him, they worked to have Arius, with whom they were on terms of agreement and friendship, recalled to Alexandria, and at the same time to have the man who opposed them expelled from the church. They accused him before Constantine of being the author of all the seditions and troubles that were shaking the church, and of shutting out those who wanted to join the church; and they claimed that unity would be restored if he alone were removed. Their accusations against him were backed up by many bishops and clergy of John’s party, who took pains to gain access to the emperor. These men made a great show of orthodoxy, and they blamed Athanasius and the bishops of his party for all the bloodshed, imprisonments, unjust beatings, wounds, and burnings of churches. But Athanasius showed the emperor that the ordination of John’s followers was illegal, that they had made innovations against the decrees of the Council of Nicaea, that their faith was unsound, and that they had insulted those who held right opinions about God. Then Constantine did not know whom to believe. [a]

Since the charges went back and forth, and each party kept stirring up accusations, and since he was eager to restore unity of mind among the people, he wrote to Athanasius that no one should be shut out. If this should be disregarded to the end, he would send someone, whatever the consequences, to expel him from the city of Alexandria. Anyone who wishes to see this letter of the emperor’s will find here the part of it that concerns this matter: “You now know my will, which is that you offer free entrance to all who wish to enter the church. For if I hear that any who are willing to join the church have been kept out or hindered by you, I will at once send an officer who will remove you by my command and take you to some other place.” Athanasius, however, wrote to the emperor and convinced him that the Arians ought not to be received into communion by the catholic church. Eusebius saw that his schemes could never be carried out while Athanasius stood against them, and he resolved to use any means to get rid of him. But since he could not find a good enough pretext, he promised the Melitians that he would win the emperor and those in power over to their side, if they would bring an accusation against Athanasius.

So came the first charge: that he had imposed on the Egyptians a tax of linen tunics, and that this tribute had been demanded of the accusers themselves. Apis and Macarius, presbyters of Athanasius’s church, who happened to be at court at the time, clearly proved this persistent accusation false. When he was summoned to answer for the offense, Athanasius was further accused of conspiring against the emperor, and of having sent a casket of gold to one Philumenus for that purpose. The emperor saw through the slander of his accusers and sent Athanasius home. He wrote to the people of Alexandria to testify that their bishop was a man of great moderation and right faith; that he had been glad to meet him and had recognized him as a man of God; and that, since envy had been the only cause of the charge against him, he had come off better than his accusers. Having heard, too, that the Arian and Melitian sectarians had stirred up dissension in Egypt, the emperor in the same letter urged the people to look to God, to pay heed to his judgments, to be kindly toward one another, and to pursue with all their might those who plotted against their unity of mind. So the emperor wrote to the people, urging them all to be of one mind and trying to prevent divisions in the church.