Athanasius Returns to Alexandria

At this time Athanasius returned from Gaul to Alexandria. It is said that Constantine had intended to recall him, and that he even gave orders to that effect in his will. But since death kept him from carrying out his intention, his son who bore his name, and who was then in command in western Gaul, recalled Athanasius and wrote a letter about it to the people of Alexandria. I came across a copy of this letter translated from Latin into Greek, and I will insert it exactly as I found it. It reads as follows: [a]

“Constantine Caesar, to the people of the catholic church in the city of Alexandria. [b] “I do not think you can be unaware that Athanasius, the interpreter of the revered law, was sent into Gaul for a time, because the cruelty of his bloodthirsty and hostile enemies went on, to the danger of his sacred person. This was done so that he would not suffer extremities beyond repair through the wickedness of those worthless opponents. To make that danger come to nothing, then, he was taken out of the jaws of the men who were pressing upon him and was ordered to live near me, so that in the city where he stayed he might be fully supplied with everything he needed. But his virtue is so famous and extraordinary, because he trusts in divine help, that he thinks nothing of all the harsher burdens of fortune. “Our lord and my father, Constantine Augustus, of blessed memory, intended to restore this bishop to his own place, and so above all to give him back to your much beloved piety. But since the common lot of mankind overtook him first, and he died before carrying out his intention, I, as his successor, mean to carry out the purpose of the emperor of divine memory. When Athanasius sees you face to face, he will tell you in what great reverence I have held him. Nor is it surprising that I have acted toward him as I have, for the picture of your own longing and the sight of so noble a man moved and urged me to this step. May divine providence watch over you, my beloved brothers and sisters.”

Because of this letter from the emperor, Athanasius went home and took up again the government of the Egyptian churches. Those who held the Arian doctrines were thrown into dismay and could not keep the peace. They stirred up one riot after another and turned to other schemes against him. Eusebius and his party accused him before the emperor of stirring up sedition, and of having overturned the sentence of exile against the laws of the church and without the consent of the bishops. In the proper place I will tell how, through their intrigues, Athanasius was driven out of Alexandria again.

About this time Eusebius, surnamed Pamphilus, died, and Acacius succeeded him in the bishopric of Caesarea in Palestine. He was a zealous imitator of Eusebius, having been taught the sacred word by him. He had an able mind and a polished style, so that he left many writings that deserve praise. Not long afterward the emperor Constantine made war on his brother Constans at Aquileia, and was killed by his own generals. The Roman Empire was divided between the surviving brothers: the West fell to Constans and the East to Constantius. [c]