A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. By various writers. Ed. by William Smith. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood.

396 ATHIANASIUS.
ing the condemnation of Athanasius. On the latter occasion, the whole weight of the imperial authority was thrown into the scale against him;
and those of the bishops who resolutely vindicated
his cause were punished with exile. Among these
(though his banishment occurred some time after
the synod of Milan had closed) was Liberius,
bishop of Rome. Persecution was widely directed
against those who sided with Athanasius; and he
himself, after some abortive attempts to remove
him in a more quiet manner, was obliged once
more to flee from Alexandria in the midst of
dreadful atrocities committed by Syrianus, a creature of the emperor's. The primate retired to the
Egyptian deserts, whence he wrote a pastoral
address to his persecuted flock, to comfort and
strengthen them amidst their trials. His enemies
meanwhile had appointed to the vacant primacy
one George of Cappadocia, an illiterate man, whose
moral character was far from blameless. The new
archbishop commenced a ruthless persecution against
the orthodox, which seems to have continued, with
greater or less severity, during the whole of his
ecclesiastical administration. The banished primate
was affectionately entertained in the monastic retreats which had already begun to multiply in the
deserts of Egypt; and he employed his leisure in
composing some of his principal works. His place
of retreat was diligently sought for by his enemies;
but, through his own activity and the unswerving
fidelity of his friends, the monks, the search was
always unsuccessful. In the year 361, Constantius, the great patron of the Arians, expired. He
was succeeded by Julian, commonly called the
Apostate, who, at the commencement of his reign,
ordered the restoration of the bishops banished by
Constantius. This was rendered the easier in the
case of Athanasius, inasmuch as George the Cappadocian was slain, at that very juncture, in a tumult
raised by the heathen population of the city. Once
more reinstated in his office, amidst the joyful acclamations of his friends, Athanasius behaved with
lenity towards his humbled opponents, while he
vigorously addressed himself to the restoration of
ecclesiastical order and sound doctrine. But, after
all his reverses, he was again to be driven from his
charge, and again to return to it in triumph. The
heathens of Alexandria complained against him to the
emperor, for no other reason, it would seem, than
his successful zeal in extending the Christian faith.
Julian was probably aware that the superstition he
was bent upon re-establishing had no enemy more
formidable than the thrice-exiled archbishop: he
therefore banished him not only from Alexandria,,
but from Egypt itself, threatening the prefect of
that country with a heavy fine if the sentence were
not carried into execution. Theodoret, indeed,
affirms, that Julian gave secret orders for inflicting
the last penalties of the law upon the hated prelate.
He escaped, however, to the desert (A. D. 362),
having predicted that this calamity would be but
of brief duration; and after a few months' concealment in the monasteries, he returned to Alexandria on receiving intelligence of the death of Julian.
By Jovian, who succeeded to the throne of the
empire, Athanasius was held in high esteem.
When, therefore, his inveterate enemies endeavoured to persuade the emperor to depose him, they
were repeatedly repulsed, and that with no little
asperity. The speedy demise of Jovian again deprived Athanasius of a powerful protector. During

ATHANASIUS.
the first three years of the administration of Valens,
the orthodox party seem to have been exempt from
annoyance. In this interval Athanasius wrote the
life of St. Antony, and two treatises on the doctrine of the Trinity. In the year 367, Valens
issued an edict for the deposition and banishment
of all those bishops who had returned to their sees
at the death of Constantius. After a delay occasioned by the importunate prayers of the people
on behalf of their beloved teacher, Athanasius was
for the fifth time expelled from Alexandria. His
last exile, however, was short. In the space of a
few months, he was recalled by Valens himself,
for reasons which it is now impossible to penetrate;
and from this time to the date of his death, A. D.
373, he seems to have remained unmolested. He
continued to discharge the laborious duties of his
office with unabated energy to the last; and after
holding the primacy for a term of forty-six years,
during which he sustained unexampled reverses
with heroic fortitude, and prosecuted the great
purpose of his life with singular sagacity and resolution, he died without a blemish upon his name,
full of years and covered with honour.
The following eulogium was extorted by his
merits from the pen of an historian who seldom
lavishes praise upon ancient or modern defenders
of orthodoxy:-" Amidst the storms of persecution, the Archbishop of Alexandria was patient of
labour, jealous of fame, careless of safety; and
though his mind was tainted by the contagion of
fanaticism, Athanasius displayed a superiority of
character and abilities, which would have qualified
him, far better than the degenerate sons of Constantine, for the government of a great monarchy.
His learning was much less profound and extensive
than that of Eusebius of Caesarea, and his rude
eloquence could not be compared with the polished
oratory of Gregory or Basil; but whenever the
primate of Egypt was called upon to justify his
sentiments or his conduct, his unpremeditated
style, either of speaking or writing, was clear,
forcible, and persuasive." (Gibbon, Decline and
Fa4ll, c. ch. xxi. vol. iii. pp. 351, 352, Milmnan's
edition.) Erasmus's opinion of the style of Athanasius seems to us more just and discriminating
than Gibbon's:---" Erat vir ille saeculo tranquillissimo dignus, dedisset nobis egregios ingenii facundiaeque suae fructus. Habebat enim vere dotem
illam, quam Paulus in Episcopo putat esse praecipuam, rd O MacrKicd'; adeo dilucidus est, acutus,
sobrius, adtentus, breviter omnibus modis ad docendum appositus. Nihil habet durum, quod offendit in Tertulliano: nihil EmrimtEcKrtcov,quod vidimus
in Hieronymo; nihil operosum, quod in Hilario:
nihil laciniosum, quod est in Augustino, atque
etiam Chrysostomo: nihil Isocraticos numeros, aut
Lysiae compositionem redolens, quod est in Gregorio Nazianzeno: sed totus est in explicanda re."
The most important among the works of Athanasius are the following:-" Oratio contra Gentes;"
" Oratio de Incarnatione;" " Encyclica ad Episcopos Epistola;" " Apologia contra Arianos;"
" Epistola de Nicaenis Decretis;" " Epistola ad
Episcopos Aegypti et Libyae;" " Apologia ad
Imperatorem Constantium;" "Apologia de Fuga
sua;" " Historia Arianorum ad Manachos; "
" Orationes quatuor contra Arianos;" "C Epistolae
quatuor ad Serapionem;" "Epistola de Synodis
Arimini et Seleuciae;" " Vita Antonii;" " Liber de Incarnatione Dei Verbi et c. Arianos."