Bishops from Every Province Gather at Jerusalem

No sooner had these instructions been carried out than another messenger arrived with letters from the emperor, urging the council to hurry on to Jerusalem without delay. So they all left the province of Phoenicia and went on to their destination, traveling by the public transport. In this way Jerusalem became the meeting place of distinguished church leaders from every province, and the whole city was crowded with a vast gathering of the servants of God. The Macedonians had sent the bishop of their chief city; the Pannonians and Moesians, the fairest of God’s young flock among them. A holy church leader from Persia was there too, deeply versed in the sacred Scriptures. Bishops from Bithynia and Thrace honored the council with their presence. The most illustrious from Cilicia were not missing, nor was the chief of the Cappadocians, who stood out above all for learning and eloquence. In short, the whole of Syria and Mesopotamia, Phoenicia and Arabia, Palestine, Egypt, and Libya, with those who lived in the Thebaid, all helped to swell this mighty throng of God’s ministers, and vast numbers from every province followed them. They were accompanied by an imperial escort, and trusted officers had also been sent from the palace itself, with instructions to add to the splendor of the festival at the emperor’s expense. [a]