Liberius of Rome Is Exiled, and Felix Takes His Place

The things I have recorded did not all happen to Athanasius and the church of Alexandria at the same period after the death of Constans; but I thought it right, for the sake of greater clearness, to tell all these events together. [a]

The Council of Milan broke up without any business being done, and the emperor condemned to banishment all who had opposed the plans of Athanasius’s enemies. Constantius wanted to establish one doctrine throughout the church and to unite the priesthood in holding the same views, so he formed a plan to call the bishops of every region to a council to be held in the West. He knew how hard the plan would be to carry out, because of the vast distances of land and sea some of the bishops would have to travel; yet he did not entirely despair of success. While this project was occupying his mind, and before he prepared to make his triumphal entry into Rome, he sent for Liberius, the bishop of Rome, and tried hard to persuade him to agree in his views with the priests who attended the emperor, among whom was Eudoxius. But Liberius refused to comply and declared that he would never give way on this point, and so the emperor banished him to Beroea in Thrace.

It is said that another reason for banishing Liberius was that he would not withdraw from communion with Athanasius, but boldly opposed the emperor, who insisted that Athanasius had wronged the church, had caused the death of the elder of the emperor’s two brothers, and had sown the seeds of enmity between Constans and himself. When the emperor revived all the decrees that various councils, and particularly that of Tyre, had passed against Athanasius, Liberius told him that no regard ought to be paid to edicts issued out of hatred, favor or fear. He asked that the bishops of every region be made to sign the statement of faith drawn up at Nicaea, and that the bishops exiled for holding to it be recalled. He proposed that once these matters were put right, all the bishops should travel to Alexandria at their own expense, without being given public transport or money, so as not to seem burdensome and ruinous. There they should make an exact test of the truth, which could be done more easily in that city than anywhere else, since the injured, those who had done the injury, and those who refuted the charges all lived there. He then produced the letter that Valens and Ursacius had written to Julius, his predecessor in the see of Rome, in which they asked his forgiveness and admitted that the evidence brought against Athanasius at the Mareotis was false. He begged the emperor not to condemn Athanasius in his absence, and not to trust decrees that had plainly been obtained by the schemes of his enemies. As for the wrongs said to have been done to the emperor’s two brothers, he begged him not to take revenge through the hands of priests, who had been set apart by God not to carry out vengeance, but for sanctification and for just and kind deeds.

The emperor saw that Liberius was not inclined to obey his order, and he commanded that Liberius be taken to Thrace unless he changed his mind within two days. Liberius replied: “For me, emperor, there is no need to deliberate. My resolution was formed and settled long ago, and I am ready to go into exile.” It is said that while he was being taken into banishment, the emperor sent him five hundred pieces of gold. He refused to accept them, and said to the messenger who brought them: “Go and tell the man who sent this gold to give it to the flatterers and hypocrites who surround him. Their greed is never satisfied, and it plunges them into a state of constant want that can never be relieved. Christ, who is in all respects like his Father, supplies us with food and with every good thing.” [e]

When Liberius had been deposed from the Roman church for these reasons, its government was handed over to Felix, a deacon of the clergy there. It is said that Felix always held to the Nicene faith, and that in religious matters his conduct was blameless. The only thing alleged against him was that before his ordination he had held communion with the heterodox. When the emperor entered Rome, the people loudly demanded Liberius and begged for his return. After consulting the bishops who were with him, the emperor replied that he would recall Liberius and give him back to the people if he would agree to hold the same views as the priests of the court. [g]