Arius and the Melitians

So some at Alexandria kept up a stubborn conflict over the highest questions, while others throughout Egypt and the Upper Thebaid were at odds over an earlier dispute, so that the churches everywhere were torn by divisions. With the body diseased in this way, the whole of Libya caught the infection, and the rest of the more distant provinces were affected by the same disorder. For the disputants at Alexandria sent envoys to the bishops of the various provinces, who lined up as partisans on one side or the other and shared in the same spirit of discord. [a]