A. D. 383. in the former. This prohibits the heretics from assembling even in the country, and from ordaining Bishops. It confiscates the houses in which they have assembled, and orders their teachers and public ministers to be expelled, and sent back to the places of their nativity. In short, it threatens the officers belonging to the magistrates, with answering for their negligence if they should fail to see this law put into execution. It was not however rigorously enforced, since we again find repeated prohibitions four months after, by a law Ibid. 1. 13. of the twelfth of the calends of February, that is on the twentyfirst of January in the following year, 384. For the Emperor Theodosius having no other design in it than that of uniting the heretics to the Church, sought rather to terrify than to punish them. The Novatians are not comprehended in these laws, because they agreed with the Catholics in relation to the Trinity, and they now began again to assemble in the cities. Cod. Th. xvi. tit. vii. 1. 2. About the same time, that is to say on the twenty-sixth of May, Theodosius made a second law against those Believers and Catechumens who returned to Paganism, depriving them of Ibid. 1. 3. the power of making wills. Valentinian the younger made Cod. Th. iii. tit. i. 1. 5. XXVII. Death of Emperor. St. Aur. Victor. Epit. ch. 47. another in Italy, bearing nearly the same date, against three sorts of apostates; viz. Christians who became Pagans, or Jews, or Manichees, and against those who seduced them. In the following year, 384, Theodosius made a law prohibiting Jews from having Christian slaves, or making them Jews, under the penalty of being deprived of them. In the mean time there arose a faction against Gratian, who was all this time in the Gauls conducting the war against the Germans. Maximus, who was a Spaniard by birth, comZos. iv. 35. manded in Great Britain, where he had served under TheoOros. vii.34. dosius; he claimed relationship to him, and bore his advancement with reluctance. He therefore took advantage of the discontent which the Roman soldiers felt against Gratian; for they complained that he placed all his confidence in the Barbarians, particularly the Alani. They therefore declared Maximus Emperor, giving him the Imperial robe and diadem. He crossed the sea, entered Gaul at the mouth of the Rhine, and excited the people against Gratian, who was abandoned by part of his soldiers, and offered him battle near Paris. But Gratian's forces again left him to take part with Maximus, Ep. 3. [35. p. 273. scr. A. D. 396.] c. 10. 4 See St. Ob. Valent. et Not. Var. and there remained with him only three hundred horse, with a. D. 383. which he took the road leading to the Alps, in order to pass into Italy. The cities' which lay in his route shut their 'S. Hieron. gates against him, and at last he was taken at Lyons and killed by the treachery of Andragathius. He was invited to a feast, and his safety pledged to him upon the Gospel2; but he St. Ambr. was instantly put to death, and even burial was refused' him. in. Ps. 61. § 23.25.&c. Thus died' the Emperor Gratian, on the 8th of the calends Epist. 24. of September, under the Consulate of Merobaudis and Satur- $ 10. ninus, that is, on the 25th of August, 383. He was about Ambr. de twenty-four years of age, being born in 359, and had reigned § 79. de $ sixteen years, part with his father and part with his brother ob Theod. $ 39. and Theodosius. He was comely in his person, and had a Soc.v.11. handsome countenance; his disposition was excellent, he was Marcellin. well skilled in polite literature, and religious matters; he Chron. An. always preserved his religion in its purity by the assistance of s. Hieron. St. Ambrose, whose absence he lamented when he was dying, 363. Chron. and of whom he frequently spoke. He was a slave neither to sleep, nor wine, nor any other excess, especially detesting mian.xxvii. impurity. He was mild and moderate, and yet very active. and vigorous in war. But resolving to confine his love of Epit. xlvii. pleasure, which is so natural at such an age, to innocent 13. diversions, he used bodily exercises to excess, and larly hunting wild beasts in a park with the bow. cheerful, and rather too timid in public, so that he was governed by those who were about him; they sold every thing to satisfy their avarice, and purposely increased his aversion to business. 6 particu- 383. Chron. An. Pasch. An. 359. Am 6. xxxi. 10. 6 Victor. Ruffin. xi. 7 Maximus' associated his son Victor in the empire with him, Zos. iv.47. whom he caused to take the name of Flavius, which had become venerable since the time of Constantine. For himself he assumed the names of Magnus, Clemens, Maximus. He took up his residence at Treves, the capital of the Gauls, of which he had the entire possession, together with Spain and Britain, that is to say, all that Gratian had reserved to himself. He put to death the consul Merobaudis, and several other persons of distinction. Macedonius, the Master of the Offices', who had suffered himself to be bribed to favour the Magister Officiorum; was of the highest rank of Senators (Illustres.) F "He was the supreme magistrate of the A. D. 383. Priscillianists, was also punished, which verified a prophecy of St. Ambrose. For when that holy Bishop went on one occasion to his palace to intercede for some person, he found the doors shut, and was refused admission. St. Ambrose then said to Macedonius': "Thou also shalt come to the Church and shalt ' Paulin. Vit. § 37. "not be able to enter." Accordingly, after the death of Gratian, as he endeavoured to take sanctuary in the Church, he could by no means enter, although the doors were openm Soon after Maximus had entered Treves, St. Ambrose came thither from the Emperor Valentinian, or rather from the Empress Justina his mother, and those who governed during his minority, for he was only twelve years old. Notwithstanding the aversion which Justina had to St. Ambrose, as she was an Arian, she had recourse to him upon this occasion, and put both her affairs and her son into his hands. He undertook this voyage notwithstanding the danger which attended it, and stayed with Maximus all the winter, in expectation of the return of the Count Victor, whom Maximus had sent on his part to Valentinian. At length St. Ambrose obtained the peace3 which he desired, prevented Maximus Ruff.xi.15. from passing into Italy', and gave Valentinian time to provide for his safety. Whilst St. Ambrose stayed at Treves, he would not communicate with Maximus, because he looked upon him as his master's murderer. * Ep. St. Ambr. 24. 5, 6, 7. 4 Ep. 20. $ 23. XXIX. Ithacius the Bishop' was still at Treves, busy in carrying on cutions of his prosecutions against the Priscillianists". He had escaped The prose Ithacius. [Bishop (prob.) of • Sulp.Sev. H. S. 2. 49. 66 Court who had obtained a right to decline the authority of the ordinary "judges. The correspondence between "the Prince and his subjects was 'managed by the four Scrinia, or offices "of this minister of State." Gibbon. 66 ch. xvii. vol. ii. p. 52. See Pancir. ap. m This rests on the authority of So called from Priscillian, a Spaniard, a man of birth, ability, and character. While Arianism engaged the East, the Manichees, who externally 'conformed to the Church, were silently spreading their doctrines in the West. Priscillian, A. D. 379, derived his tenets from this source (through Mark, an Egyptian. Sulp. Sev. Hist. Sac. II. 46.) They were condemned at the Synod of Cæsar Augusta (Saragoza) A. D. 380, after which Priscillian was made Bishop of Avila, by the condemned Bishops. The Priscillianists continued to exist till after the beginning of the Sixth Century. Gieseler, Period I. § 84. • The Priscillianist Bishops, after their condemnation at Saragoza (380), had, by a rescript of Gratian, obtained by Idacius and Ithacius, been driven out of their cities. Afterwards, by bribing the officers of the Court, particularly Macedonius, the heretic Bishops gained a being carried into Spain according to the rescript of the Em- A. p. 384. peror Gratian, which had been obtained through the intrigues of Macedonius, and as soon as he heard that Maximus was declared Emperor in Britain and was coming into Gaul, he resolved to continue quiet until his arrival. When Maximus ' 'Oros. 7.34. had entered victorious into Treves, Ithacius presented him a petition full of accusations against Priscillian and his followers. Maximus, who made profession of Christianity, and who, with the exception of his ambition, was in other respects a man of right sentiments, was moved by this petition, and wrote to the Præfect of the Gauls, and to the Vicar of Spain, to cause all those who were found infected with this error to be conducted in a body to Bourdeaux, to be there judged by a Council 2.2 [held Instantius and Priscillian were carried thither. Instantius was made to speak first, and he, making but a poor defence, was declared unworthy of the Episcopate. Priscillian, fearing to answer before the Bishops, appealed to the Emperor, and they were weak enough to allow it; "whereas they ought," says Sulpicius Severus, "to have condemned him for contumacy; "or, if he had any ground for suspecting them, to have "reserved the sentence to other Bishops, and not to have left "such manifest crimes to the determination of the Emperor." This is all that we know of the Council of Bourdeaux. 3 A. D. 384.] 3 Sulp. Sev. ibid. c. 50. Emerita politan of All those therefore who were included in this accusation were carried to Treves before Maximus, and the Bishops Idacius and Ithacius followed them as accusers. This was [Bishop of contrary to the wish of all good men, because they saw that (Merida) these men were influenced rather by the desire of succeeding in and Metrotheir enterprise, than by zeal for justice; particularly Ithacius, Lusitania.] who had neither the sanctity nor gravity of a Bishop. He was bold even to impudence, a great talker, expensive, fond of good cheer, and looked upon all those as Priscillianists whom he saw fasting or applying themselves to study. St. Martin happened to be then at Treves, whither he had reseript from the same Emperor commanding their restoration. On this Ithacius fled to Treves, where he still continued, notwithstanding the rescript which Macedonius procured for his return to Spain. Maximus would be naturally disposed to take part against the heretics, whom the fallen court had supported. See Sulp. Sev. H. S. II. This Præfect (see note 1, p. 21) A. D. 384. come to solicit pardon for certain unfortunate criminals. He ceased not to reprove the conduct of Ithacius, and pressed him to desist from this accusation; and on the other side, he besought Maximus to spare the blood of the guilty, saying, that it was sufficient that being declared heretics by the sentence of the Bishops, they should be driven out of the [Novum et Churches; and, in short, that there was no precedent of an nefas.] Ecclesiastical cause being brought before a secular judge®. inauditum XXX. Priscillian put to death. [of the Gauls.] Ithacius, far from benefiting by St. Martin's advice, presumed even to accuse him of heresy, as he generally reproached all those whose manner of living seemed to him to be too strict. But the Emperor Maximus had so much regard to the remon strances of the holy Bishop, that as long as St. Martin stayed at Treves the trial was deferred, and when he went away he prevailed so far as to make Maximus promise that the blood of the accused should not be spilled. But after St. Martin was gone, the Emperor suffered himself to be prevailed upon by the evil counsels of the Bishops Magnus and Rufus, the latter of whom is thought to be a Bishop of Spain, who was afterwards deposed for heresy. So the Emperor quitted his feelings of moderation, and committed the cause of the Priscillianists to Evodius, whom he had made Prætorian Præfect', a just man, but ardent and He twice examined Priscillian, and convicted him of several crimes by his own confession, for he did not deny that he had studied shameful doctrines, had held assemblies in the night time with corrupt women, and had been accustomed to pray naked. Evodius therefore declared him guilty, and put him into prison until he had made his report to the severe. All matters purely Ecclesiastical were confined to the decision of the Bishop. Gothofr. ad Cod. xvi. 2. 23. The law of Constantius, A. D. 355, forbidding any accusation against a Bishop to be brought before a secular magistrate, must at the least signify in Ecclesiastical causes. Cod. xvi. 2, 12. St. Ambrose, Ep. 32, mentions a law of Valen tinian, not now extant, to the same purpose, extending, however, the principle to all orders of Ecclesiastics; see ch. 44, below. So Cod. Th. xvi. 2. 23, A. D. 376, of Gratian; and Cod. xvi. 12. 3. of Theodosius (questioned by Gothofr. Extravagans de Episc. Judic. 3., and Boehmer, tom. 1. p. 528; re 66 ceived by Bingham). By Cod. Theod. xvi. 11. 1, A. D. 399, of Honorius, "whenever any cause relating to religion was debated, the Bishops were "to be judges; but other causes, belonging to the cognizance of the ordinary judges, or to the usage of the "Common Law, were to be heard by the Laws." This custom recognised by Valent. III. Novell. 12. ad Calc. Co Theod. p. 26. This confirmed by Justinian, A. D. 539. Authent. seu Novell. 83, ad finem. Cod. Justin. Gothof p. 174. To appeal in such matters to the civil power was to act in opposition to St. Matt. xxii. 21. 2 Tim. i, 14. |