Eusebius, Bishop of Samosata, and the Bishops He Ordained

Having failed in this way to gain the government of the churches, Apollinarius from then on preached his newfangled doctrine openly and set himself up as the leader of the heresy. He lived for the most part at Laodicea, but at Antioch he had already ordained Vitalius, a man of excellent character, brought up in the apostles’ teaching but afterward tainted with the heresy. Diodorus, whom I have already mentioned, who had saved the ship of the church from sinking in the great storm, had been appointed bishop of Tarsus by the divine Meletius and had received the charge of the Cilicians. The see of Apamea Meletius entrusted to John, a man of illustrious birth, but more distinguished for his own fine qualities than for those of his ancestors, for he was outstanding for the beauty of both his teaching and his life. During the storm John had steered the congregation of his fellow believers, with the worthy Stephen to support him. But the divine Meletius moved Stephen to carry on another contest. When word came that Germanicia had been infected by the plague of Eudoxius, he sent him there as a physician to ward off the disease, for Stephen had been thoroughly trained in the whole learning of the pagans as well as nourished on the divine teachings. He did not disappoint the hopes placed in him, for by the power of his spiritual instruction he turned the wolves into sheep. [a]

When the great Eusebius returned from exile, he ordained Acacius, whose fame is great, at Beroea, and at Hierapolis Theodotus, whose ascetic life is on everyone’s lips to this day. Eusebius was also appointed to the see of Chalcis, and Isidore to our own city of Cyrrhus. Both were admirable men, conspicuous for their divine zeal. [c] Meletius is also reported to have ordained Eulogius to the pastorate of Edessa, where the godly Barses had already departed this life. Eulogius was the well-known champion of the apostles’ teaching who had been sent to Antinoe with Protogenes. Eulogius gave Protogenes, his companion in hard service, the charge of Carrhae, a healing physician for a sick city. [e]

Last of all, the divine Eusebius ordained Maris bishop of Doliche, a little town at that time infected with the Arian plague. The great Eusebius came to Doliche intending to enthrone this Maris, a truly worthy man famous for many virtues, in the bishop’s chair. As he was entering the town, a woman thoroughly infected with the Arian plague dropped a tile from the roof. It crushed his head and wounded him so badly that not long afterward he departed to the better life. As he lay dying, he charged those standing by not to exact the slightest penalty from the woman who had done the deed, and he bound them by oaths to obey him. In this he imitated his own Lord, who said of those who crucified him, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” [f] So too he followed the example of Stephen, his fellow servant, who, after the stones had rained down on him, cried aloud, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” So died the great Eusebius after many and varied struggles. He had escaped the barbarians in Thrace, but he did not escape the violence of impious heretics, and through them he won the martyr’s crown. [g]

These things happened after the return of the bishops. Gratian now learned that Thrace was being laid waste by the barbarians who had burned Valens, so he left Italy and went to Pannonia. [i]