Letters of the Council of Sardica

But Eusebius and his party still went on without shame, disturbing the churches and plotting the ruin of many. When the most religious emperors Constantius and Constans were informed of this, they ordered the bishops of both the West and the East to meet together in the city of Sardica. In the meantime Eusebius died. But a great number gathered from every quarter, and we challenged the associates of Eusebius and his party to submit to a trial. They, however, had before their eyes the things they had done, and they saw that their accusers had come to the council, so they were afraid to do it. While everyone else met with honest intentions, they once again brought with them the counts Musonianus and Hesychius the Castrensian, so that, as was their custom, they might gain their ends by those men’s authority. But when the council met without counts, and no soldiers were allowed to be present, they were thrown into confusion and stricken in conscience, because they could no longer get the judgment they wanted, but only the judgment that reason and truth required. We, however, repeated our challenge again and again, and the council of bishops called on them to come forward, saying: “You have come here to undergo a trial. Why then do you now withdraw? Either you ought not to have come, or, having come, you ought not to hide yourselves. This conduct will be your greatest condemnation. Look, Athanasius and those with him are here, the men you accused while they were absent. So if you think you have anything against them, you may convict them face to face. But if you pretend to be unwilling, when in truth you are unable, you plainly show yourselves to be slanderers, and that is the decision the council will give you.” When they heard this, they stood condemned by their own judgment, for they were conscious of their own schemes and fabrications against us. They were ashamed to appear, and so they proved themselves guilty of many base slanders. [a]

So the holy council denounced their unseemly and suspicious flight, and admitted us to make our defense. When we had told how they had treated us, and had proved the truth of what we said by witnesses and other evidence, the bishops were filled with astonishment. All of them acknowledged that our opponents had good reason to be afraid to meet the council, for fear their guilt would be proved to their faces. They also said that our opponents had probably come from the East supposing that Athanasius and those with him would not appear, but that when they saw them confident in their cause and challenging a trial, they fled. So they received us as wronged men who had been falsely accused, and they confirmed their fellowship and love toward us all the more. But they deposed Eusebius’s associates in wickedness, who had become even more shameless than he was: Theodore of Heraclea, Narcissus of Neronias, Acacius of Caesarea, Stephanus of Antioch, Ursacius and Valens of Pannonia, Menophantus of Ephesus, and George of Laodicea. And they wrote to the bishops in every part of the world, and to the diocese of each of the wronged men, in the following terms.

Letter of the Council of Sardica to the Church of Alexandria The holy council, assembled by the grace of God at Sardica, from Rome, Spain, Gaul, Italy, Campania, Calabria, Apulia, Africa, Sardinia, Pannonia, Moesia, Dacia, Noricum, Siscia, Dardania, the other Dacia, Macedonia, Thessaly, Achaia, Epirus, Thrace, Rhodope, Palestine, Arabia, Crete, and Egypt, to their beloved brothers, the presbyters and deacons, and to all the holy church of God living at Alexandria: greetings in the Lord.

We were not unaware of it. In fact it was well known to us, even before we received the letters of your piety, that the supporters of the hateful heresy of the Arians were carrying on many dangerous schemes, more to the destruction of their own souls than to the harm of the church. For this has always been the aim of their unprincipled craft; this is the deadly design they have been busy with all along: how they may best drive from their places and persecute everyone found anywhere who holds orthodox views and keeps the teaching of the catholic church, handed down to them from the fathers. Against some they have brought false accusations. Others they have driven into exile. Others they have destroyed by the punishments inflicted on them. At any rate, they tried by violence and tyranny to overpower the innocence of our brother and fellow bishop Athanasius, and so they conducted their inquiry into his case without any care, without any good faith, without any kind of justice. So, having no confidence in the part they had played on that occasion, nor in the reports they had spread against him, and seeing that they could not produce any certain evidence in the case, when they came to the city of Sardica they were unwilling to meet the council of all the holy bishops. From this it became clear that the decision of our brother and fellow bishop Julius was a just one. After cautious deliberation and care he had decided that we ought not to hesitate at all about communion with our brother Athanasius. For he had the credible testimony of eighty bishops, and he could also offer this fair argument in support: that merely by means of our dearly beloved brothers, his own presbyters, and by letters, he had defeated the design of Eusebius and his party, who relied more on violence than on a judicial inquiry. [d]

So all the bishops from every region decided to hold communion with Athanasius, on the ground that he was innocent. And let your love also note that when he came to the holy council assembled at Sardica, the bishops of the East were told of it, as we said before, both by letter and by instructions sent by word of mouth, and we invited them to be present. But, condemned by their own conscience, they fell back on unseemly excuses and set themselves to avoid the inquiry. They demanded that an innocent man be rejected from our communion as a guilty one, not considering how unseemly, or rather how impossible, such a thing was. As for the reports drawn up in the Mareotis by certain most wicked and utterly depraved young men, to whom one would not entrust even the lowest office of the ministry, it is certain that they were one-sided statements. For neither our brother Bishop Athanasius nor the presbyter Macarius, whom they accused, was present on that occasion. Besides, their inquiry, or rather their falsifying of the facts, was carried on in the most disgraceful way. Sometimes pagans, sometimes catechumens were examined, not so that they might say what they knew, but so that they might assert the falsehoods others had taught them. And when you presbyters, who were in charge while your bishop was away, wanted to be present at the inquiry to show the truth and disprove the falsehoods, no attention was paid to you. They would not let you be present, but drove you away with insults. Now although their slanders have been exposed most plainly before everyone by these facts, we also found, on reading the reports, that that most wicked Ischyras, who received from them the empty title of bishop as his reward for the false accusation, had convicted himself of slander. He declares in the reports that at the very time when, by his own firm assertions, Macarius entered his room, he was lying there sick. Yet Eusebius and his party had the boldness to write that Ischyras was standing up and offering when Macarius came in.

The base and slanderous charge they brought against him next has become well known to everyone. They raised a great outcry, claiming that Athanasius had committed murder and had done away with a certain Arsenius, a Melitian bishop. They pretended to mourn his loss with feigned lamentations and fake tears, and demanded that the body of a living man be handed over to them as though he were dead. But their fraud did not go undetected. Everyone knew that the man was alive and was numbered among the living. And when these men, who are ready to seize any opportunity, saw their falsehoods detected (for Arsenius showed himself alive, and so proved that he had not been done away with and was not dead), still they would not rest, but went on to add further slanders to their earlier ones and to slander the man by a fresh device. Well then, our brother Athanasius, dearly beloved, was not thrown into confusion. In this case too he boldly challenged them again to prove it, and we too begged and urged them to come to the trial and, if they could, to establish their charge against him. What great arrogance! What dreadful pride! Or rather, if one must tell the truth, what an evil and accusing conscience! For that is how everyone sees it. [h]

So, beloved brothers, we warn and urge you above all to hold fast the right faith of the catholic church. You have endured many severe and painful trials; the catholic church has suffered many insults and injuries. But “the one who endures to the end will be saved.” So even though they still recklessly attack you, let your affliction be a joy to you. For such afflictions are a kind of martyrdom, and confessions and tortures like yours will not go without their reward: you will receive the prize from God. So strive above all for the sound faith, and for the innocence of your bishop and our fellow minister Athanasius. We too have not kept silent or been careless of what concerns your comfort, but have deliberated and done whatever love demands. We share the sufferings of our suffering brothers, and we count their affliction as our own.

So we have written to beg our most religious and godly emperors that in their kindness they would order the release of those who are still suffering affliction and oppression. We asked them to command that none of the magistrates, whose duty is to attend only to civil cases, should pass judgment on clergy, nor from now on, on the pretext of providing for the churches, attempt anything at all against the brothers; but that everyone may live as he prays and wishes to, free from persecution, violence, and fraud, and may follow the catholic and apostolic faith in quietness and peace. As for Gregory, who is said to have been illegally appointed by the heretics and has been sent by them to your city, we want you, in your unity, to understand that he has been deposed by the judgment of the whole sacred council, although in fact he has never at any time been considered a bishop at all. So receive your bishop Athanasius gladly, for it is for this that we have sent him away in peace. And we urge all those who, whether through fear or through the intrigues of certain persons, have held communion with Gregory, that now, warned, urged, and persuaded by us, they withdraw from that detestable communion of his and immediately unite themselves to the catholic church. [j]

But we have learned that Aphthonius, Athanasius the son of Capito, Paul, and Plutio, our fellow presbyters, have also suffered from the schemes of Eusebius and his party, so that some of them have experienced exile and others have fled at the risk of their lives. So we have thought it necessary to let you know that we have received and acquitted them too. For we know that whatever Eusebius and his party have done against the orthodox has tended to the glory and praise of those they attacked. It would be fitting for your bishop and our brother Athanasius to tell you this about them, his own people about his own. But since he wanted the holy council also to write to you, as a fuller testimony, we did not delay, but hurried to tell you this, so that you may receive them as we have done. For they too deserve praise, because through their devotion to Christ they have been counted worthy to endure violence at the hands of the heretics. What decrees the holy council has passed against those who lead the Arian heresy and have wronged you and the rest of the churches, you will learn from the documents attached. We have sent them to you so that you may understand from them that the catholic church will not overlook those who offend against her.

Letter of the Council of Sardica to the Bishops of Egypt and Libya The holy council, assembled by the grace of God at Sardica, to the bishops of Egypt and Libya, their fellow ministers and dearly beloved brothers: greetings in the Lord.

We were not unaware of it. In fact it was well known to us, even before we received the letters of your piety, that the supporters of the hateful heresy of the Arians were carrying on many dangerous schemes, more to the destruction of their own souls than to the harm of the church. For this has always been the aim of their craft and villainy; this is the deadly design they have been busy with all along: how they may best drive from their places and persecute everyone found anywhere who holds orthodox views and keeps the teaching of the catholic church, handed down to them from the fathers. Against some they have brought false accusations. Others they have driven into exile. Others they have destroyed by the punishments inflicted on them. At any rate, they tried by violence and tyranny to overpower the innocence of our brother and fellow bishop Athanasius, and so they conducted their inquiry into his case without any good faith, without any kind of justice. So, having no confidence in the part they had played on that occasion, nor in the reports they had spread against him, and seeing that they could not produce any certain evidence in the case, when they came to the city of Sardica they were unwilling to meet the council of all the holy bishops. From this it became clear that the decision of our brother and fellow bishop Julius was a just one. After cautious deliberation and care he had decided that we ought not to hesitate at all about communion with our brother Athanasius. For he had the credible testimony of eighty bishops, and he could also offer this fair argument in support: that merely by means of our dearly beloved brothers, his own presbyters, and by letters, he had defeated the designs of Eusebius and his party, who relied more on violence than on a judicial inquiry. [k]

So all the bishops from every region decided to hold communion with Athanasius, on the ground that he was innocent. And let your love also note that when he came to the holy council assembled at Sardica, the bishops of the East were told of it, as we said before, both by letter and by instructions sent by word of mouth, and we invited them to be present. But, condemned by their own conscience, they fell back on unseemly excuses and began to avoid the inquiry. They demanded that an innocent man be rejected from our communion as a guilty one, not considering how unseemly, or rather how impossible, such a thing was. As for the reports drawn up in the Mareotis by certain most wicked and depraved young men, to whom one would not entrust even the lowest office of the ministry, it is certain that they were one-sided statements. For neither our brother Bishop Athanasius nor the presbyter Macarius, whom they accused, was present on that occasion. Besides, their inquiry, or rather their falsifying of the facts, was carried on in the most disgraceful way. Sometimes pagans, sometimes catechumens were examined, not so that they might say what they knew, but so that they might assert the falsehoods others had taught them. And when you presbyters, who were in charge while your bishop was away, wanted to be present at the inquiry to show the truth and disprove falsehood, no attention was paid to you. They would not let you be present, but drove you away with insults. Now although their slanders have been exposed most plainly before everyone by these facts, we also found, on reading the reports, that that most wicked Ischyras, who received from them the empty title of bishop as his reward for the false accusation, had convicted himself of slander. He declares in the reports that at the very time when, by his own firm assertions, Macarius entered his room, he was lying there sick. Yet Eusebius and his party had the boldness to write that Ischyras was standing and offering when Macarius came in.

The base and slanderous charge they brought against him next has become well known to everyone. They raised a great outcry, claiming that Athanasius had committed murder and had done away with a certain Arsenius, a Melitian bishop. They pretended to mourn his loss with feigned lamentations and fake tears, and demanded that the body of a living man be handed over to them as though he were dead. But their fraud did not go undetected. Everyone knew that the man was alive and was numbered among the living. And when these men, who are ready to seize any opportunity, saw their falsehood detected (for Arsenius showed himself alive, and so proved that he had not been done away with and was not dead), still they would not rest, but went on to add further slanders to their earlier ones and to slander the man by a fresh device. Well then, our brother Athanasius, dearly beloved, was not thrown into confusion. In this case too he boldly challenged them again to prove it, and we too begged and urged them to come to the trial and, if they could, to establish their charge against him. What great arrogance! What dreadful pride! Or rather, if one must tell the truth, what an evil and accusing conscience! For that is how everyone sees it. [l]

So, beloved brothers, we warn and urge you above all to hold fast the right faith of the catholic church. You have endured many severe and painful trials; the catholic church has suffered many insults and injuries. But “the one who endures to the end will be saved.” So even though they may still recklessly attack you, let your affliction be a joy to you. For such afflictions are a kind of martyrdom, and confessions and tortures like yours will not go without their reward: you will receive the prize from God. So strive above all for the sound faith, and for the innocence of your bishop and our brother Athanasius. We too have not kept silent or been careless of what concerns your comfort, but have deliberated and done whatever love demands. We share the sufferings of our suffering brothers, we count their afflictions as our own, and we have mingled our tears with yours. And you, brothers, are not the only ones who have suffered: many others of our brothers in the ministry have also come here, bitterly lamenting these things.

So we have written to beg our most religious and godly emperors that in their kindness they would order the release of those who are still suffering affliction and oppression. We asked them to command that none of the magistrates, whose duty is to attend only to civil cases, should pass judgment on clergy, nor from now on, on the pretext of providing for the churches, attempt anything at all against the brothers; but that everyone may live as he prays and wishes to, free from persecution, violence, and fraud, and may follow the catholic and apostolic faith in quietness and peace. As for Gregory, who is said to have been illegally appointed by the heretics and who has been sent by them to your city, we want you, in your unity, to understand that he has been deposed by the judgment of the whole sacred council, although in fact he has never at any time been considered a bishop at all. So receive your bishop Athanasius gladly, for it is for this that we have sent him away in peace. And we urge all those who, whether through fear or through the intrigues of certain persons, have held communion with Gregory, that now, warned, urged, and persuaded by us, they withdraw from his detestable communion and immediately unite themselves to the catholic church. What decrees the holy council has passed against Theodore, Narcissus, Stephanus, Acacius, Menophantus, Ursacius, Valens, and George, who are the heads of the Arian heresy and have wronged you and the rest of the churches, you will learn from the documents attached. We have sent them to you so that your piety may assent to our decisions, and so that you may understand from them that the catholic church will not overlook those who offend against her. [m]

Circular Letter of the Council of Sardica The holy council, assembled by the grace of God at Sardica, to their dearly beloved brothers, the bishops and fellow ministers of the catholic church everywhere: greetings in the Lord.

The Arian madmen have repeatedly dared to attack the servants of God who hold the right faith. They tried to substitute a counterfeit teaching and to drive out the orthodox, and at last they made so violent an attack on the faith that it came to the notice even of the piety of our most religious emperors. So, with the grace of God helping them, our most religious emperors have themselves gathered us from different provinces and cities, and have allowed this holy council to be held in the city of Sardica, so that all dissension may be removed, all false teaching driven from us, and Christian godliness alone kept by everyone. The bishops of the East also attended, urged to do so by the most religious emperors, chiefly because of the reports they have so often spread about our dearly beloved brothers and fellow ministers Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria, and Marcellus, bishop of Ancyra in Galatia. Their slanders have probably reached you already, and perhaps they have tried to trouble your ears, so that you might be led to believe their charges against the innocent, and so that they might wipe from your minds any suspicion about their own wicked heresy. But they have not been allowed to accomplish this to any great extent. For the Lord is the defender of his churches, he who endured death for their sake and for us all, and who through himself opened the way to heaven for us all. So when Eusebius and his party wrote long ago to Julius, our brother and bishop of the church of the Romans, against our brothers named above, that is, Athanasius, Marcellus, and Asclepas, the bishops from the other regions also wrote, testifying to the innocence of our fellow minister Athanasius and declaring that what Eusebius and his party had alleged was nothing but sheer falsehood and slander. [n]

And indeed their slanders were clearly proved by the fact that, when our dearly beloved fellow minister Julius invited them to a council, they would not come, and also by what Julius himself wrote to them. For if they had had confidence in the measures and actions they were carrying on against our brothers, they would have come. Besides, they gave still clearer proof of their conspiracy by their conduct at this great and holy council. For when they reached the city of Sardica and saw our brothers Athanasius, Marcellus, Asclepas, and the rest, they were afraid to come to a trial, and though they were invited again and again, they would not answer the summons. All of us bishops met together, and above all that man of most blessed old age, Hosius, who for his age, his confession, and the many labors he has undergone is worthy of all reverence. We waited and urged them to come to the trial, so that in the presence of our fellow ministers they might prove the charges they had spread and written against them in their absence. Yet when they were invited in this way, as we said before, they would not come. So they gave proof of their slanders, and by this refusal they all but proclaimed to the world the plot and conspiracy they had been carrying on. Those who are confident that what they say is true are able to make it good against their opponents face to face. But since they would not meet us, we think no one can now doubt, however they may fall back on their bad practices again, that they have no proof against our fellow ministers, but slander them in their absence while avoiding their presence.

They fled, beloved brothers, not only because of the slanders they had uttered, but because they saw that men had come who had various charges to bring against them. For chains and irons they had used were brought forward. People appeared who had returned from exile. There came also our brothers, relatives of those still held in exile, and friends of those who had died because of them. And, what was the weightiest ground of accusation, bishops were present. One of them brought forward the irons and chains they had made him wear, and others appealed to the death their slanders had brought about. For they had gone so far in their madness as even to try to destroy bishops, and they would have destroyed them if these had not escaped their hands. Our fellow minister Theodulus, of blessed memory, died while fleeing from their false accusations, after orders had been given, because of those accusations, to put him to death. Others showed sword wounds; others complained that through them they had been exposed to the pains of hunger. Nor were the witnesses to these things ordinary people, but whole churches, on whose behalf delegates appeared and told us of soldiers with swords in hand, of crowds armed with clubs, of the threats of judges, of the forging of false letters. For certain false letters of Theognis and his party were read, written against our fellow ministers Athanasius, Marcellus, and Asclepas with the aim of stirring up the emperors against them, and men who had then been deacons of Theognis proved it. From these men we heard of virgins stripped naked, churches burned, ministers held in custody, and all for no other purpose than the accursed heresy of the Arian madmen: whoever refused their communion was forced to suffer these things. [p]

When they saw how things stood, then, they were at a loss what course to take. They were ashamed to confess what they had done, yet they could no longer hide it. So they came to the city of Sardica, so that by their coming they might seem to clear themselves of suspicion of such offenses. But when they saw the men they had slandered and those who had suffered at their hands, when they had before their eyes their accusers and the proofs of their guilt, they were unwilling to come forward. Yet they were invited by our fellow ministers Athanasius, Marcellus, and Asclepas, who complained of their conduct with great freedom and urged and challenged them to the trial, promising not only to refute their slanders but also to prove the offenses they had committed against their churches. But such terror of conscience seized them that they fled. And by fleeing they exposed their own slanders, and by running away they confessed the offenses they were guilty of.

But although their malice and their slanders have been plainly shown on this occasion as on earlier ones, still, so that they may not devise ways to do further mischief because of their flight, we thought it wise to examine the part they have played by the standard of truth. This has been our purpose, and we have found by their own actions that they are slanderers and the authors of nothing but a plot against our brothers in the ministry. For Arsenius, whom they said Athanasius had murdered, is still alive and is numbered among the living. From this we may infer that the reports they have spread on other matters are fabrications too. And whereas they spread a rumor about a cup, which they said had been broken by Macarius, the presbyter of Athanasius, those who came from Alexandria, the Mareotis, and the other districts testified that nothing of the kind had happened. And the Egyptian bishops who wrote to Julius our fellow minister firmly declared that not even the slightest suspicion of such a thing had ever arisen among them.

Moreover, the reports which they say they have to produce against him are, as everyone knows, one-sided statements. And even in drawing up these very reports, pagans and catechumens were examined. One of them, a catechumen, said in his examination that he was present in the room when Macarius burst in on them. Another declared that Ischyras, of whom they make so much, was lying sick in his room at the time. From this it appears that the mysteries were never celebrated at all, because catechumens were present, and also that Ischyras was not present, but was lying sick on his bed. Besides, this most worthless Ischyras, who falsely asserted, as he was proved to have done, that Athanasius had burned some of the sacred books, has himself confessed that he was sick and lying in his bed when Macarius came. From this it is plain that he is a slanderer. Yet as a reward for these slanders they have given this very Ischyras the title of bishop, although he is not even a presbyter. For two presbyters who were once associated with Melitius, but were afterward received by the blessed Alexander, bishop of Alexandria, and are now with Athanasius, appeared before the council. They testified that Ischyras was not even a presbyter of Melitius, and that Melitius never had either a church or a minister in the Mareotis. And yet this man, who has never even been a presbyter, they have now put forward as a bishop, so that by this title they may have the means of overpowering those who are within hearing of his slanders.

The book of our fellow minister Marcellus was also read, and through it the fraud of Eusebius and his party was plainly uncovered. For what Marcellus had put forward as a question for inquiry, they falsely presented as his declared opinion. But when the later parts of the book were read, and the parts before the questions themselves, his faith was found to be correct. He had never claimed, as they firmly asserted, that the Word of God had his beginning from holy Mary, nor that his kingdom had an end. On the contrary, he had written that his kingdom was both without beginning and without end. Our fellow minister Asclepas also produced reports that had been drawn up at Antioch in the presence of his accusers and of Eusebius of Caesarea, and he proved his innocence by the declarations of the bishops who had judged his case. So they had good reason, dearly beloved brothers, for not heeding our repeated summons and for deserting the council. Their own consciences drove them to it. But their flight only confirmed the proof of their slanders, and made people believe the things their accusers, who were present, were asserting and arguing against them. But besides all this, they had not only received those who had earlier been degraded and expelled because of the heresy of Arius, but had even promoted them to higher rank, advancing deacons to the presbyterate and making bishops of presbyters, for no other purpose than to spread impiety far and wide and to corrupt the orthodox faith. [s]

Their leaders now, after Eusebius and his party, are Theodore of Heraclea, Narcissus of Neronias in Cilicia, Stephanus of Antioch, George of Laodicea, Acacius of Caesarea in Palestine, Menophantus of Ephesus in Asia, Ursacius of Singidunum in Moesia, and Valens of Mursa in Pannonia. These men would not allow those who came with them from the East to meet the holy council, or even to come near the church of God. While they were on their way to Sardica, they held councils of their own in various places and made a pact, under threats, that when they reached Sardica they would not so much as appear at the trial or attend the meeting of the holy council, but would simply come, announce their arrival as a formality, and quickly take flight. We have been able to learn this from our fellow ministers Macarius of Palestine and Asterius of Arabia, who came in their company but separated themselves from their unbelief. These two came to the holy council and complained of the violence they had suffered, and said that nothing right was being done by those men. They added that there were many among them who held to the orthodox faith but were kept by those men from coming here, by threats and by promises held out to those who wanted to separate from them. That is why they were so anxious that all should stay in one lodging, and would not let them be on their own even for the shortest time. [t]

It was not right for us to keep silent, or to pass over unnoticed their slanders, imprisonments, murders, wounds, conspiracies by means of false letters, outrages, the stripping of the virgins, banishments, destruction of churches, burnings, transfers of bishops from small cities to larger dioceses, and above all the rise, through them, of the ill-named Arian heresy against the orthodox faith. We have therefore declared our dearly beloved brothers and fellow ministers Athanasius, Marcellus, and Asclepas, and those who serve the Lord with them, to be innocent and clear of offense. And we have written to the diocese of each, so that the people of each church may know the innocence of their own bishop, may regard him as their bishop, and may look for his coming. As for those who like wolves have invaded their churches, Gregory at Alexandria, Basil at Ancyra, and Quintianus at Gaza, let the people neither give them the title of bishop, nor hold any communion at all with them, nor receive letters from them, nor write to them. And as for Theodore, Narcissus, Acacius, Stephanus, Ursacius, Valens, Menophantus, and George: George, out of fear, did not come from the East; yet because he was deposed by the blessed Alexander, and because both he and the others were bound up with the Arian madness, and also because of the charges that lie against them, the holy council has unanimously deposed them from the office of bishop. We have decided that they not only are not bishops, but are unworthy to hold communion with the faithful. [u]

For those who separate the Son and estrange the Word from the Father ought themselves to be separated from the catholic church and estranged from the Christian name. So let them be anathema to you, because they have “corrupted the word of truth.” It is the apostle’s command: “If anyone preaches to you any other gospel than the one you have received, let him be accursed.” Charge your people that no one is to hold communion with them, for there is no communion of light with darkness. Put all these away from you, for there is no agreement between Christ and Belial. And take care, dearly beloved, that you neither write to them nor receive letters from them. Rather, brothers and fellow ministers, as being present in spirit with our council, make it your desire to assent to our judgments by your signatures, so that harmony may be preserved among all our fellow ministers everywhere. May divine Providence protect and keep you, dearly beloved brothers, in holiness and joy. I, Hosius, bishop, have signed this, and all the rest likewise.

This is the letter the Council of Sardica sent to those who were unable to attend, and they in turn gave their judgment in agreement with it. And the following are the names both of the bishops who signed at the council and of the others as well.

Hosius of Spain; Julius of Rome, through his presbyters Archidamus and Philoxenus; Protogenes of Sardica; Gaudentius, Macedonius, Severus, Praetextatus, Ursicius, Lucillus, Eugenius, Vitalius, Calepodius, Florentius, Bassus, Vincentius, Stercorius, Palladius, Domitianus, Chalbis, Gerontius, Protasius, Eulogus, Porphyrius, Dioscorus, Zosimus, Januarius, Zosimus, Alexander, Eutychius, Socrates, Diodorus, Martyrius, Eutherius, Eucarpus, Athenodorus, Irenaeus, Julianus, Alypius, Jonas, Aetius, Restitutus, Marcellinus, Aprianus, Vitalius, Valens, Hermogenes, Castus, Domitianus, Fortunatius, Marcus, Annianus, Heliodorus, Musaeus, Asterius, Paregorius, Plutarchus, Hymenaeus, Athanasius, Lucius, Amantius, Arius, Asclepius, Dionysius, Maximus, Tryphon, Alexander, Antigonus, Aelianus, Petrus, Symphorus, Musonius, Eutychus, Philologius, Spudasius, Zosimus, Patricius, Adolius, Sapricius. From Gaul, the following: Maximianus, Verissimus, Victurus, Valentinus, Desiderius, Eulogius, Sarbatius, Dyscolius, Superior, Mercurius, Declopetus, Eusebius, Severinus, Satyrus, Martinus, Paulus, Optatianus, Nicasius, Victor, Sempronius, Valerinus, Pacatus, Jesses, Ariston, Simplicius, Metianus, Amantus, Amillianus, Justinianus, Victorinus, Satornilus, Abundantius, Donatianus, Maximus. From Africa: Nessus, Gratus, Megasius, Coldaeus, Rogatianus, Consortius, Rufinus, Manninus, Cessilianus, Herennianus, Marianus, Valerius, Dynamius, Mizonius, Justus, Celestinus, Cyprianus, Victor, Honoratus, Marinus, Pantagathus, Felix, Baudius, Liber, Capito, Minervalis, Cosmus, Victor, Hesperio, Felix, Severianus, Optantius, Hesperus, Fidentius, Salustius, Paschasius. From Egypt: Liburnius, Amantius, Felix, Ischyrammon, Romulus, Tiberinus, Consortius, Heraclides, Fortunatius, Dioscorus, Fortunatianus, Bastamon, Datyllus, Andreas, Serenus, Arius, Theodorus, Evagoras, Helias, Timotheus, Orion, Andronicus, Paphnutius, Hermias, Arabion, Psenosiris, Apollonius, Muis, Sarapampon, Philo, Philippus, Apollonius, Paphnutius, Paulus, Dioscorus, Nilammon, Serenus, Aquila, Aotas, Harpocration, Isac, Theodorus, Apollos, Ammonianus, Nilus, Heraclius, Arion, Athas, Arsenius, Agathammon, Theon, Apollonius, Helias, Paninuthius, Andragathius, Nemesion, Sarapion, Ammonius, Ammonius, Xenon, Gerontius, Quintus, Leonides, Sempronianus, Philo, Heraclides, Hieracys, Rufus, Pasophius, Macedonius, Apollodorus, Flavianus, Psaes, Syrus, Apphus, Sarapion, Esaias, Paphnutius, Timotheus, Elurion, Gaius, Musaeus, Pistus, Heraclammon, Heron, Helias, Anagamphus, Apollonius, Gaius, Philotas, Paulus, Tithoes, Eudaemon, Julius. Those on the road of Italy are: Probatius, Viator, Facundinus, Joseph, Numedius, Sperantius, Severus, Heraclianus, Faustinus, Antoninus, Heraclius, Vitalius, Felix, Crispinus, Paulianus. From Cyprus: Auxibius, Photius, Gerasius, Aphrodisius, Irenicus, Nunechius, Athanasius, Macedonius, Triphyllius, Spyridon, Norbanus, Sosicrates. From Palestine: Maximus, Aetius, Arius, Theodosius, Germanus, Silvanus, Paulus, Claudius, Patricius, Elpidius, Germanus, Eusebius, Zenobius, Paulus, Petrus. These are the names of those who signed the acts of the council. But there are very many others besides, from Asia, Phrygia, and Isauria, who wrote on my behalf before this council was held, and whose names, nearly sixty-three in number, may be found in their own letters. Altogether they amount to three hundred and forty-four. [x]