of Dioscorus, Eusebius, and the others who had taken a leading part in these disgraceful transactions (ib. 323). Juvenal evidently felt that consistency must now be sacrificed to the maintenance of his position, and having given his vote and signature to the deposition of Dioscorus (ib. 458) and signed the tome of Leo (ib. 798), the objections of the commissioners were overruled. Juvenal and his four companions were allowed to resume their seats, amid a shout of welcome, "This is the Lord's doing." "Many years to the orthodox! This is the peace of the churches" (ib. 509). He subsequently took part in drawing up the declaration of faith (ib. 559–562) and signed the letter sent to Leo (Baluz. 1370). We have a Latin translation of a synodical letter written in his own name and that of the bishops of Palestine, A.D. 453, to the archimandrites, presbyters, and monks of the province confirming the decrees of Chalcedon (Labbe, iv. 889).
His enjoyment of his newly acquired dignity was speedily disturbed. The decrees of Chalcedon were not at all acceptable to a large number of the archimandrites and monks of Palestine, who generally held Eutychian views, and they, in 452, addressed letters to Marcian and to Pulcheria against the conduct of their bishop. The emperor and empress administered severe rebukes to the remonstrants (ib. 874, 879). The imperial displeasure, however, failed to repress the turbulence of the malcontents, and under the leadership of Theodosius, a fanatical Monophysite monk, patronized by the empress-dowager Eudocia, who had made Jerusalem her home, they threw the whole province into confusion. Juvenal's life was threatened. The walls and gates were guarded to prevent his escape. But he concealed himself, and together with Domnus made his way to the desert, whence he fled to Constantinople and laid his complaints against Theodosius and his partisans before the emperor (ib. 858; Cyrill. Scythop. Euthym. Vit. 82; Evagr. H. E. ii. 5; Theophan. p. 92). Marcian took decided measures to restore order. After holding possession for two years, Theodosius was expelled from Jerusalem, 453, and Juvenal was restored. Eudocia returned to Jerusalem, and renewed communion with Juvenal, her example proving influential to bring back the large majority both of monks and laity to the cathedral church (Euthym. Vit. 86). One of Juvenal's first acts on his restoration was to hold a council which issued a synodical letter to the two Palestines, declaring the perfect orthodoxy of the decrees of Chalcedon and denying that anything had there been altered in, or added to, the Nicene faith (Labbe, iv. 889). Mutual ill-will and suspicion still embittered the relations of Juvenal to his province, and Evagrius complains of the evils which had followed his return (Evagr. H. E. ii. 5). Leo (Sept. 4, 454) offered congratulations on his restoration, but told him plainly that he had brought his troubles on himself by his condemnation of Flavian and admission of the errors of Eutyches, and that having favoured heretics he cannot now blame them. Leo expressed his satisfaction that he had come to a better mind, and advised him to study his tome to confirm him in the faith (Leo Magn Ep. 139 [171]). In 457 Leo addressed Juvenal among the metropolitans of the East, with reference to the troubles at Alexandria, urging him to defend the faith as declared at Chalcedon (Ep. 150 [119]).
The statement of Basil of Seleucia that Juvenal first "began to celebrate the glorious and adorable salvation-bringing nativity of the Lord" (Patr. Gk. lxxxv. 469) must be interpreted to mean that he separated the celebration of the Nativity and the Epiphany, which, till then, had been kept on the same day, Jan. 6. We may gather from a letter professing to be addressed by the bp. of Jerusalem to the bp. of Rome that this change was in accordance with the Western practice. Basil of Seleucia, being a contemporary of Juvenal and associated with him in his public acts, may be regarded as trustworthy evidence for the fact. According to Basil, Juvenal built a basilica in honour of St. Stephen on the site of his martyrdom, for which the empress Eudocia furnished the funds. The death of Juvenal probably occurred in 458 (cf. Tillem. Note sur Juvenal, xv. 867). He was succeeded by Anastasius. Tillem. Mém. eccl. xv.; Ceillier, xiii. 247; Cave, Script. Eccl. i. 419; Oudin, i. 1270.)
[E.V.]
Juvencus, C. Vettius Aquilinus, a Christian poet, by birth a Spaniard, descended from a noble family. He was a presbyter, and composed his poem on the gospels during the reign of peace established by Constantine (Hist. Ev. iv. 808 sqq.; Hieron. de Vir. Ill. c. 84; Ep. lxx. Chronica ad 332 A.D.). His works shew an acquaintance with the chief Latin poets.
(i) Historia Evangelica. This is the only extant work attributed to him on the authority of St. Jerome. It is an hexameter poem on our Lord's life, based upon the gospels. It is of interest as the first Christian epic, the first effort to tell the gospel story in a metrical form. Its chief merit lies in its literal adherence to the text. Commencing with the events of Luke i. ii. (i. 1–258), it passes to the account of St. Matthew (i. 18), and follows that to the end, omitting only a few short passages (xiii. 44–53, xx. 29–34, xxi. 10–13, xxiii. 15–26, 29–36, xxiv. 28), rarely supplemented from the other Synoptists (v. i. 355, ii. 43), but having large extracts from St. John, viz. i. 43–iv. (lib. ii. 99–348), v. 19–47 (ii. 639 sqq.), xi. (iv. 306–404). It is saved from baldness by a clear fluent style, which shews a knowledge of Vergil, Ovid, and Lucan. It seems to have been widely known from the first and quoted with approval by St. Jerome (ad Matt. ii. 11), pope Gelasius, Venantius Fortunatus (de Vita S. Martini, 1), Isidore, Jonas Scotus, Bede, and Alcuin (Migne, Prolegg. col. 42 sqq.) It has been edited no less than 30 times. The best separate edd. are by Reusch (Frankfort, 1710); Arevalo (Rome, 1792) (reprinted in Migne); and esp. Huemer (Vienna, 1891) in Corpus Script. Eccl. Lat. xxiv. Cf. Gebser, de G. Vett. Aq. Vita et Scriptis (lib. i. with intro. and notes), Jena, 1827; C. Marold, Ueber d. Evang.-buch des Juvencus in seinen Verhältniss z. Bibeltext in Zeitschr. für wissenschaft. Theol. xxxiii. p 329 (1890); Kritische Beiträge zur Hist. Evang. des Juvencus von Dr. J. Huemer in Wiener Studien (Vienna, 1880), pp. 81–112.
