To the Emperor Jovian

A copy of a letter of the emperor Jovian, sent to Athanasius, the most holy archbishop of Alexandria. To the most religious Athanasius, friend of God, from Jovian. We greatly admire the achievements of your most honorable life, your likeness to the God of all, and your love for our Savior Christ, and we welcome you, most honored bishop. You have not shrunk from any labor, nor from fear of your persecutors. You have counted dangers and threats of the sword as dung, and, holding the rudder of the orthodox faith that is dear to you, you are contending for the truth even now, and you continue to show yourself a pattern to all the faithful people and an example of virtue. So our imperial Majesty recalls you, and wishes you to return to the office of teaching salvation. Return, then, to the holy churches, tend the people of God, and send up your prayers to God with zeal for our clemency. For we know that through your supplication we, and all who hold the Christian faith with us, will have great help from the supreme God.

A desire to learn and a longing for heavenly things befit a religious emperor, for in this way you will truly have “your heart” also “in the hand of God.” Since, then, Your Piety wished to learn from us the faith of the catholic church, we gave thanks to the Lord for this, and we judged it best above all to remind Your Piety of the faith confessed by the fathers at Nicaea. Certain people set this faith at nothing, plotting against us in many ways because we would not go along with the Arian heresy, and they have become the authors of heresy and schisms in the catholic church. For the true and godly faith in the Lord has become plain to all, being “known and read” from the divine Scriptures. In it the saints were made perfect and suffered martyrdom, and they have now departed in the Lord. And the faith would have remained unharmed always, if the wickedness of certain heretics had not dared to tamper with it. For a certain Arius and those with him tried to corrupt it and bring in impiety in its place, affirming that the Son of God was from nothing, a creature, a thing made and changeable. With these words they deceived many, so that even “those who seemed to be something were carried away” by their blasphemy. And yet our holy fathers, as we said before, came together promptly at the synod at Nicaea, anathematized them, and confessed in writing the faith of the catholic church, so that, with this faith preached everywhere, the heresy the heretics had kindled might be put out. This faith, then, was known and sincerely preached everywhere, in every church. But now certain people who wish to revive the Arian heresy have dared to set at nothing this faith confessed by the fathers at Nicaea. While pretending to confess it, they in fact deny it, explaining away “of one substance,” and, of their own accord, blaspheming against the Holy Spirit by affirming that he is a creature and came into being as a thing made by the Son. So we hasten, as is our bounden duty, in view of the harm such blasphemy does to the people, to hand to Your Piety the faith confessed at Nicaea, so that Your Religiousness may know what has been written with all accuracy, and how far wrong those are who teach contrary to it.

For know, most religious Augustus, that these things have been preached from time immemorial. This is the faith that the fathers who met at Nicaea confessed, and all the churches in every region have agreed to it: those in Spain, Britain and the Gauls, all Italy and Dalmatia, Dacia and Moesia, Macedonia and all Greece, all Africa, Sardinia, Cyprus and Crete, as well as Pamphylia, Lycia and Isauria, those in Egypt and the Libyan provinces, Pontus and Cappadocia, those near at hand to us, and the churches in the East, except a few who hold with Arius. For we have learned the opinion of all those named above by experience, and we have their letters. And you know, most religious Augustus, that even if a few speak against this faith, they cannot set up a prior judgment against it, since the whole world holds the apostolic faith. For they have long been infected by the Arian heresy, and now oppose the truth all the more stubbornly. And so that Your Piety may know it, although you know it already, we hasten to append the faith confessed by the bishops at Nicaea. The faith confessed at Nicaea by the fathers, then, is as follows: [e]

“We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of all things visible and invisible. “And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, begotten of the Father, the only Son, that is, from the substance of the Father; God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of one substance with the Father, through whom all things were made, both things in heaven and things on earth; who for us men and for our salvation came down and was made flesh, was made man, suffered, and rose again on the third day, ascended into heaven, and is coming to judge the living and the dead. “And in the Holy Spirit. “And those who say, ‘Once he was not,’ and ‘Before he was begotten he was not,’ and ‘He came to be from nothing,’ or who claim that the Son of God is ‘of another hypostasis or substance,’ or ‘created,’ or ‘subject to alteration,’ or ‘changeable,’ the catholic church anathematizes.” [g]

All must abide by this faith, Augustus, as divine and apostolic, and no one must unsettle it with plausible arguments and quarrels about words. That is what the Arian madmen have done, saying that the Son of God is from nothing, that once there was when he was not, and that he is created, made and changeable. For this reason, as we said before, the synod at Nicaea anathematized such heresy, but confessed the faith of the truth. For they did not merely say that the Son is like the Father, so that he would not be believed to be merely like God, instead of true God from God. They wrote “of one substance,” a word proper only to a genuine and true Son, truly and by nature from the Father. Nor did they make the Holy Spirit a stranger to the Father and the Son, but rather glorified him together with the Father and the Son in the one faith of the Holy Triad, because in the Holy Triad there is also one Godhead. [h]

A petition made at Antioch to the emperor Jovian by Lucius and Bernicianus and certain other Arians, against Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria. The first petition, which they made at the Roman Gate as the emperor was setting out for the camp. “May it please Your Might and Your Majesty and Your Piety to hear us.” “Who are you, and where are you from?” “Christians, my lord.” “Where from? From what city?” “Alexandria.” “What do you want?” “May it please Your Might and Your Majesty, give us a bishop.” “I have ordered the one you had before, Athanasius, to occupy the see.” “May it please Your Might, he has been many years both in exile and under accusation.” Suddenly a soldier answered indignantly: “May it please Your Majesty, ask them who they are and where they are from. These are the leftovers and refuse of Cappadocia, the remnants of that unholy George who laid waste the city and the world.” When the emperor heard this, he spurred his horse and went off to the camp.

The second petition of the Arians. “We have accusations and clear proofs against Athanasius: ten and twenty years ago he was deposed by Constantine and Constantius, of ever-honored memory, and he was banished under the most religious and philosophic and blessed Julian.” “Accusations ten, twenty and thirty years old are out of date now. Do not speak to me about Athanasius, for I know why he was accused and how he was banished.”

The third petition of the Arians. “And now again we have certain other accusations against Athanasius.” “The rights of the case will not come out through crowds and shouting. Choose two of your own number, and two others from the majority party, for I cannot answer each of you one by one.” “These are the leftovers of the unholy George, who laid waste our province and would not let a councilor live in the cities.” “May it please you, anyone you like except Athanasius.” “I told you that the case of Athanasius was already settled.” And then, angrily: “Strike! Strike!” “May it please you, if you send Athanasius, our city is ruined, and no one assembles with him.” “Yet I took pains and found out that he holds right opinions, is orthodox, and teaches rightly.” “With his mouth he says what is right, but in his soul he harbors guile.” “That will do. You have testified about him that he says what is right and teaches rightly. But if he teaches and speaks rightly with his tongue and harbors evil thoughts in his soul, that concerns him before God. For we are men, and hear what is said; but what is in the heart, God knows.” “Authorize us to hold communion together.” “Why, who is stopping you?” “May it please you, he denounces us as sectarians and inventors of doctrines.” “That is his duty, and the duty of those who teach rightly.” “May it please Your Might, we cannot bear this man. He has taken away the lands of the churches.” “Oh, then it is because of property that you have come here, and not because of the faith.” Then he added: “Go away, and keep the peace.” Once more he said to the Arians: “Go away to the church. Tomorrow you have a communion service, and after the dismissal, there are bishops here, and here is Nemesinus. Each one of you will sign as he believes. Athanasius is here too. Whoever does not know the word of faith, let him learn it from Athanasius. You have tomorrow and the day after, for I am going out to the camp.”

And a certain lawyer, one of the Cynics, petitioned the emperor: “May it please Your Majesty, on account of Bishop Athanasius, the receiver-general seized my houses.” “If the receiver-general seized your houses, what has that to do with Athanasius?” Another lawyer, Patalas, said: “I have a complaint against Athanasius.” “And what have you to do with Christians, when you are a pagan?” But some of the majority party of Antioch took Lucius and brought him to the emperor, saying: “May it please Your Might and Your Majesty, look whom they wanted to make a bishop!”

Another petition, made by Lucius at the porch of the palace: “May it please Your Might, listen to me.” The emperor stopped and said: “I ask you, Lucius, how did you come here, by sea or by land?” “May it please you, by sea.” “Well, Lucius, may the God of the world, and the radiant sun and moon, be angry with those men who made the voyage with you, for not throwing you into the sea. And may that ship never again have fair winds, nor find a harbor with her passengers when she is caught in a storm.” Then, through Euzoius, the unbelieving Arians asked Probatius and his companions, the eunuchs who had succeeded Eusebius and Bardio, to obtain an audience for them. The emperor learned of this, tortured the eunuchs, and said: “If anyone wants to make a petition against Christians, let this be his fate.” And so the emperor dismissed them.