the church of Antioch for 23 years; and Tillemont thinks it probable that he lived to the age of 95. The Greek church commemorates him on Sept. 26.
He left behind certain homilies, of which a few fragments are preserved. Theodoret, in his Eranistes, quotes one on John i. 14 (Dial. i. p. 46), another on St. John the Baptist (ib. p. 66), on Easter, and the treachery of Judas (Dial. iii. p. 250) or the Theophania, and a passage from his commentary on St. Luke (Dial. ii. p. 160).
[E.V.]
Flavianus (8), 18th bp. of Constantinople, between Proclus and Anatolius, for about two or three years. He is described by Nicephorus as being at his election guardian of the sacred vessels of the great church of Constantinople, with a reputation for a heavenly life. At the time of his consecration Theodosius II. was staying at Chalcedon. Chrysaphius his minister immediately plotted against the new patriarch. Foiled in an attempt to extort a present of gold to the emperor for acknowledging his elevation, Chrysaphius, with the empress Eudocia for an ally, planned two methods of attack against Flavian—the direct subversion of the authority of the emperor's sister Pulcheria; and the support of Eutyches, to whom the archbishop was opposed. Pulcheria had devoted herself to a religious life; let the emperor order the prelate to ordain her a deaconess. Flavian, receiving the emperor's command to this effect, and beyond measure grieved, sent a private message to Pulcheria, who divined the scheme, and to avoid a struggle retired to Hebdomum, where for a time she led a private life (Theoph. u. infr.).
Flavian having assembled a council of 40 bishops at Constantinople Nov. 8, 448, to compose a difference between the metropolitan bp. of Sardis and two bishops of his province, Eusebius, bp. of Dorylaeum, appeared and presented his indictment against Eutyches. The speech of Flavian remains, concluding with this appeal to the bp. of Dorylaeum: "Let your reverence condescend to visit him and argue with him about the true faith, and if he shall be found in very truth to err, then he shall be called to our holy assembly, and shall answer for himself." For the particulars of this great controversy see Dioscorus and Eutyches. When, on Aug. 8, 449 the Latrocinium assembled at Ephesus, Eutyches violently attacked the archbishop.
On Aug. 11, 449, Flavian expired at Hypepe in Lydia from the effects of the barbarous ill-usage which resulted from this attack. When Pulcheria returned to power, after her brother's death, she had Flavian's remains, which had been buried obscurely, brought with great pomp to Constantinople. It was more like a triumph, says the chronicler, than a funeral procession.
Among the documents which touch on the career of Flavian are the reply of Petrus Chrysologus, archbp. of Ravenna, to a circular appeal of Eutyches, and various letters of Theodoret. Leo wrote Flavian a beautiful letter before hearing that he was dead.
Leo. Mag. Epp. 23, 26, 27, 28, 44; Facund, Pro Trib. Capit. viii. 5; xii. 5; Evagr. ii. 2. etc.; Liberatus Diac. Breviar. xi. xii.; Soz. H. E. ix. 1; Theophan. Chronogr. pp. 84-88, etc.; Niceph. Constant. xiv. 47.
[W.M.S.]
Flavianus (16) II., bp. of Antioch, 458-512, previously a monk in the monastery of Tilmognon, in Coelesyria (Evagr. H. E. iii. 32), and at the time of his consecration "apocrisiarius" or nuncio of the church of Antioch at the court of Constantinople (Vict. Tunun. Chron.; Theophan. Chronogr. p. 122). Before his consecration Flavian passed for an opponent of the decrees of Chalcedon, and on his appointment he sent to announce the fact to John Haemula, bp. of Alexandria, with letters of communion, and a request for the same in return (Evagr. iii. 23). He speedily, however, withdrew from intercourse with the patriarchs of Alexandria, and joined the opposite party, uniting with Elias of Jerusalem and Macedonius of Constantinople (Liberat. c. 18, p. 128). Flavian soon found a bitter enemy in the turbulent Monophysite Xenaias or Philoxenus, bp. of Hierapolis. On Flavian's declaring for the council of Chalcedon, Xenaias denounced his patriarch as a concealed Nestorian. Flavian made no difficulty in anathematizing Nestorius and his doctrines. Xenaias demanded that he should anathematize Diodorus, Theodore, Theodoret, and others, as necessary to completely prove that he was not a Nestorian. On his refusing, Xenaias stirred up against him the party of Dioscorus in Egypt, and charged Flavian before Anastasius with being a Nestorian (Evagr. iii. 31; Theophan. p. 128). Anastasius used pressure, to which Flavian yielded partially, trusting by concessions to satisfy his enemies. He convened a synod of the prelates of his patriarchate which drew up a letter to Anastasius confirming the first three councils, passing over that of Chalcedon in silence, and anathematizing Diodorus, Theodore, and the others. Xenaias, seeking Flavian's overthrow, required of him further a formal anathema of the council of Chalcedon and of all who admitted the two natures. On his refusal, Xenaias again denounced him to the emperor. Flavian declared his acceptance of the decrees of Chalcedon in condemning Nestorius and Eutyches, but not as a rule of faith. Xenaias having gathered the bishops of Isauria and others, induced them to draw up a formula anathematizing Chalcedon and the two natures, and Flavian and Macedonius, refusing to sign this, were declared excommunicate,
a.d. 509 (Evagr. u.s.; Theophan. p. 131). The next year the vacillating Flavian received letters from Severus, the uncompromising antagonist of Macedonius, on the subject of anathematizing Chalcedon, and the reunion of the Acephali with the church (Liberat. c. 19, p. 135). This so irritated Macedonius that he anathematized his former friend, and drove with indignation from his presence the apocrisiarii of Antioch (Theophan. p. 131). On the expulsion of Macedonius, a.d. 511, Flavian obeyed the emperor in recognizing his successor Timotheus, on being convinced of his orthodoxy, but without disguising his displeasure at the violent and uncanonical measures by which Macedonius had been deposed. This exasperated Anastasius, who readily acceded to the request of Xenaias and Soterichus that a council should be con-
