The Leading Bishops of the Time

At this time Silvester held the reins of the church of Rome. His predecessor in that see was Miltiades, the successor of the Marcellinus who had so nobly distinguished himself during the persecution. [a] In Antioch, after the death of Tyrannus, when peace was beginning to return to the churches, Vitalis received the chief authority. He rebuilt the church in the Palaea, which the tyrants had destroyed. He was succeeded by Philogonius, who finished everything still lacking in the work of rebuilding; in the time of Licinius he had made his name by his zeal for religion. [c] After Hermon’s term of office, the government of the church in Jerusalem was entrusted to Macarius, a man whose character matched his name and whose mind was adorned with every kind of virtue. [e] In this same period Alexander, famous for his apostolic gifts, governed the church of Constantinople. [f]

It was at this time that Alexander, bishop of Alexandria, saw that Arius, enslaved by the craving for power, was gathering together those who had been taken captive by his blasphemous teaching and was holding private meetings. So he sent an account of his heresy by letter to the heads of the principal churches. So that no one may doubt that my history is genuine, I will now insert into my account the letter he wrote to his namesake, since it gives a clear account of all the facts I have mentioned. I will also add the letter of Arius, together with the other letters needed to make this account complete, so that they may both bear witness to the truth of my work and make the course of events clearer. The following letter was written by Alexander of Alexandria to the bishop who bore the same name.