Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series II/Volume II/Sozomen/Book III/Chapter 10
Chapter X.—The Bishop of Rome writes to the Bishops of the East in Favor of Athanasius, and they send an Embassy to Rome who, with the Bishop of Rome, are to investigate the Charges against the Eastern Bishops; this Deputation is dismissed by Constans, the Cæsar.
The bishops of Egypt,[1]
having sent a declaration in writing that these allegations were false, and Julius having been apprised that Athanasius was far from being in safety in Egypt, sent for him to his own city. He replied at the same time to the letter of the bishops who were convened at Antioch, for just then he happened to have received their epistle,[2]
and accused them of having clandestinely introduced innovations contrary to the dogmas of the Nicene
council, and of having violated the laws of the Church, by neglecting
to invite him to join their Synod; for he alleged that there is a
sacerdotal canon which declares that whatever is enacted contrary to
the judgment of the bishop of Rome is null. He also reproached them for
having deviated from justice in all their proceedings against
Athanasius, both at Tyre and Mareotis, and stated that the decrees
enacted at the former city had been annulled, on account of the calumny
concerning the hand of Arsenius, and at the latter city, on account of
the absence of Athanasius. Last of all he reprehended the arrogant
style of their epistle.
Julius was induced by all these reasons to undertake the defense of Athanasius and of Paul: the latter had arrived in Italy not long previously, and had lamented bitterly these calamities. When Julius perceived that what he had written to those who held the sacerdotal dignity in the East was of no avail, he made the matter known to Constans the emperor. Accordingly, Constans wrote to his brother Constantius, requesting him to send some of the bishops of the East, that they might assign a reason for the edicts of deposition which they had passed. Three bishops were selected for this purpose; namely, Narcissus, bishop of Irenopolis, in Cilicia; Theodore, bishop of Heraclea, in Thrace; and Mark, bishop of Arethusa, in Syria. On their arrival in Italy, they strove to justify their actions and to persuade the emperor that the sentence passed by the Eastern Synod was just. Being required to produce a statement of their belief, they concealed the formulary they had drawn up at Antioch, and presented another written confession[3]
which was equally at variance with the doctrines approved at
Nicæa. Constans perceived that they had unjustly entrapped both
Paul and Athanasius, and had ejected them from communion, not for
charges against his conduct, as the depositions held, but simply on
account of differences in doctrine; and he accordingly dismissed the
deputation without giving any credit to the representations for which
they had come.