The Return of John’s Remains, and the Faith of Theodosius and His Sisters

Later the very remains of the great teacher were brought to the imperial city. Once again the faithful crowd, turning the sea into land, as it were, with their close-packed boats, covered the mouth of the Bosporus toward the Propontis with their torches. The precious treasure was brought into Constantinople by the present emperor, who received his grandfather’s name and has kept his piety unstained. First he gazed on the bier; then he laid his head against it and prayed for his parents, and for pardon for those who had sinned in ignorance. For his parents had died long before, leaving him an orphan while he was still very young. But the God of his fathers and forefathers did not let him suffer harm from being an orphan. He provided for his upbringing in piety, protected his empire from the attacks of sedition, and bridled rebellious hearts. Always mindful of these blessings, the emperor honors his benefactor with hymns of praise. His sisters share with him in this divine worship. They have kept their virginity all their lives, count the study of the divine oracles their greatest delight, and reckon that ministering to the poor is wealth beyond the reach of robbers. The emperor himself was adorned with many graces, not least his kindness and mercy, an unruffled calm of soul, and a faith as pure as it is well known. Of this I will give a proof no one can deny. [a]

A certain ascetic, rather rough in temper, came to the emperor with a request. He came several times without getting what he wanted, and at last he excommunicated the emperor and left him under his ban. The faithful emperor went back to his palace. It was the time for dinner and his guests had gathered, but he said he could not share in the meal until the ban was lifted. So he sent the most trusted of his attendants to the bishop, begging him to order the man who had imposed the ban to remove it. The bishop answered that a ban ought not to be accepted from just anyone, and he declared it not binding. But the emperor refused to accept this release until the man who had imposed the ban had been found, with great difficulty, and had given back the communion he had withdrawn. So obedient was he to the divine laws.

Following the same principles, he ordered the complete destruction of what remained of the idol temples, so that those who come after us might be spared the sight of even a trace of the ancient error. That was the reason he gave in the edict he published on the subject. He is always reaping the fruit of this good seed, for he has the Lord of all on his side. So when Rhoilas, prince of the Scythian nomads, had crossed the Danube with a vast army, was ravaging and plundering Thrace, and was threatening to besiege the imperial city, take it at a stroke and destroy it, God struck him from on high with thunderbolt and storm, burning up the invader and destroying his whole army. The same providence was shown in the Persian war too. The Persians learned that the Romans were busy elsewhere, so in breach of the treaty of peace they marched against their neighbors. These found no one to help them under the attack, because the emperor, trusting in the peace, had sent his generals and his soldiers off to other wars. Then the Persians’ advance was stopped by a violent storm of rain and hail. Their horses refused to go forward, and in twenty days they had not managed to advance even two and a half miles. Meanwhile the generals returned and mustered their troops. [d]

In the earlier war, too, these same Persians were made ridiculous by providence when they besieged the city that bears the emperor’s name. Bahram had surrounded that city for more than thirty days with all his forces. He brought up many of the great siege towers called city-takers, used countless other engines, and built high towers outside the wall. Yet resistance was offered, and the assault of the engines was beaten back, by the bishop Eunomius alone. Our men had refused to fight the enemy and were shrinking from bringing help to the besieged, but the bishop, by setting himself against the enemy, kept the city from being taken. One of the barbarian chieftains ventured on his usual blasphemy, and with words like those of the Rabshakeh and Sennacherib he madly threatened to burn the temple of God. The holy bishop could not endure his furious rage. He himself ordered a ballista that went by the name of the Apostle Thomas to be set up on the battlements and a huge stone to be fitted to it. Then, in the name of the Lord who had been blasphemed, he gave the word to let fly. Down crashed the stone on that impious chief. It struck him on his wicked mouth, crushed his face, broke his head in pieces and spattered his brains on the ground. When the commander of the army, who had hoped to take the city, saw what had happened, he admitted defeat and withdrew, and in his alarm he made peace. [f] So the Ruler of all protects the faithful emperor, for the emperor plainly acknowledges whose slave he is and gives fitting service to his Master.