Stephen Deposed

When the judges had heard these answers, they ordered the youngest of those who had been arrested to be brought before them. Before he was put to the examination by flogging, he confessed the whole plot and stated that Onager had planned it and carried it out. When Onager was brought in, he declared that he had only acted on the orders of Stephen. Stephen’s guilt being thus proved, the bishops who were present were directed to depose him and expel him from the church. But his expulsion did not altogether free the church from the plague of Arianism. Leontius, who succeeded him as its head, was a Phrygian so subtle and cunning that he might be said to resemble the hidden rocks under the sea. We will soon tell more about him. [a]