The Synod of Saragossa

So, after many disputes among them that are not worth mentioning, a synod was assembled at Saragossa, and even the bishops of Aquitaine were present at it. But the heretics did not dare to submit themselves to the judgment of the council. Sentence was passed against them in their absence, however, and the bishops Instantius and Salvianus, together with the laymen Helpidius and Priscillian, were condemned. It was also added that if anyone admitted the condemned men to communion, he should understand that the same sentence would be pronounced against him. The task was given to Ithacius, bishop of Ossonoba, of seeing that the bishops’ decree was made known to all, and especially that Hyginus should be shut out from communion. Hyginus had been the first to begin open proceedings against the heretics, but had afterward fallen away shamefully and admitted them to communion. [a]

In the meantime Instantius and Salvianus, who had been condemned by the judgment of the priests, appointed Priscillian as bishop in the town of Avila. He was a layman, indeed, but the leader in all these troubles, and he had been condemned along with them in the Synod at Saragossa. They did this to add to their strength, no doubt imagining that if they armed a bold and cunning man with priestly authority, they would find themselves in a safer position. But then Hydatius and Ithacius pressed their measures more eagerly, believing that the mischief might be stamped out at its beginning. With unwise counsel, however, they appealed to the secular judges, so that by their decrees and prosecutions the heretics might be expelled from the cities. So, after many disgraceful squabbles, a rescript was obtained, at the request of Hydatius, from Gratian, who was then emperor. By it all heretics were ordered not only to leave the churches or the cities, but to be driven out beyond all the lands under his rule. When this edict became known, the Gnostics, losing confidence in their cause, did not dare to oppose the judgment. Those of them who bore the name of bishops gave way of their own accord, and fear scattered the rest.