Page:Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire vol 5 (1897).djvu/141

OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 119 whispers of the court that Cyril was assured of success if he could displace one eunuch and substitute another in the favour of Theodosius. Yet the Kgyi^tian could not boast of a glorious or decisive victory. The iMiiperor, with unaccustomed firmness, adhered to his j)romise of j^rotecting the innocence of the Oriental bisho})S ; and Cyril softened his anathemas, and confessed, with ambiguity and reluctance, a twofold nature of Christ, before he was permitted to satiate his revenge against the unfortunate Nestorius.! The rash and obstinate Nestorius, before the end of theExUeof - , . , Neatonug. synod, was oppressed by Cyril, betrayed by the court, and lamtly ad. 435 supported by his Eastern friends. A sentiment of fear or in- dignation prompted him, while it was yet time, to affect the glory of a voluntary abdication ; ^- his wish, or at least his request, was readily granted ; he was conducted with honour from Rphesus to his old monastery of Antioch ; and, after a short pause, his successors, Maximian and Proclus, were acknow- ledged as the lawful bishops of Constantinople. But in the silence of his cell the degraded patriarch could no longer re- sume the innocence and security of a private monk. The past he regretted, he was discontented with the present, and the future he had reason to dread ; the Oriental bishops successively disengaged their cause from his unpopular name ; and each day decreased the number of the schismatics who revered Nestorius as the confessor of the faith. After a i-esidence at Antioch of four years, the hand of Theodosius subscribed an edict,^^ which ranked hina with Simon the magician, proscribed his opinions and followers, condemned his writings to the Hames, and banished his person first to Peti'a in Arabia, and at length to Oasis, one 51 The tedious negotiations that succeeded the synod of Ephesus are diffusely related in the original Acts (Concil. torn. iii. p. T339-1771, ad fin. vol. and the Synodicon, in torn, iv.), Socrates (1. vii. c. 28, 35, 40, 41), Evagrius (1. i. c. 6, 7, 8, 12), Liberatus (c. 7-10), Tillemont (M^m Eccl^s. torn. xiv. p. 487-676). The most patient reader will thank me for compressing so much nonsense and falsehood in a few lines. 5^ AvTo'i re av 5er)0e'i'TO?, eTrerpaTrr/ Kara to oiKeior inava^ev^ai fj.oi'a(TTTqpioi'- EvagriUS, 1. i. c. 7. The original letters in the Synodicon (c. 15, 24, 25, 26) ]usuiy the a/>/>eariince of a voluntary resignation, which is asserted by Ebed-Jesu, a Nestorian writer, apud Asseman. Bibliot. Oriental, torn. iii. p. 299, 302. [For this writer see also Wright's Syriac Literature, p. 285 sq(/.] •"'•' See the Imperial letters in the Acts of the Synod of Ephesus (Concil. tom. iii. p. 1730-1735). The odious name of Simom'ans, which was affixed to the disciples of this TfoaTuiUnv: SiSaCTxaAia;, waS designed w? av oveCSecTL 7rpo^Ar)0e'i'TfS aiujvioi' i/TTOjoLeVocei' ri/uiupiai' tmv anapTrnj.o.Tuji', Kai /i/'/xe t^Vji'Ta? Ti/iwpiVis. /jdjte davovra'; iiTinia? e/cxo? vna.p-!(^ei.v. Yet these were Christiaps ! who differed only in names and in shadows,