A part of the canons of Epaon remained in force in Southern France, as canons of the Council of Agde {'■'■Affatkeiiscs''). This council had been held in 504, and established 47 canons, to which subsequently, for the purpose of obtaining a complete code of discipline, 24 canons of other councils were added ; of these 24, 13 were taken from the Council of Epaon.
The site of Epaon cannot bo established with cer- tainty. According to scane, it is the little town of Yenne, in Savoj', on the left bank of the Rhone ; ac- •cording to others, a little village, Ponas, about half way between Lyons and Vienne. — Herzog, Reul-Ency- klop. iv, 75 ; Wetzer und Wclte, Kirckcn-Ler. iii, 603 ; Hefele, Conciliengesehiehle, ii. 660 : Landon. Manual of Councils, p. 224 ; jMansi, Coll. Cuncil. viii, 310 ; Labhe, Bissertdtio de Cmicil. Epaunensi. (A. J. S.)
Ep'aphras (ETrcappatj, usually considered a con- traction of Kpaphroditus, but the last syllable in that case is hardlj' regular), an eminent teacher in the Church at Colossa?, denominated b}' Paul "his dear fellow-servant," and " a faithful minister (cu'ikovoq) of Christ" (Coloss. i, 7; iv, 12). A.D. 67. It has been inferred from Coloss. i, 7 that he was the found-
EPAPHRODITUS
23G
EPHAH
er of the Colossian Church ; and Dr. Neander supposes that the apostle terms him vTrto I'lfion' cirt/coi'ot; \pia- Toi< (it servant of Christ in our stead) because he com- mitted to him the office of prochiimiuj^ tlie Gospel in the three I'hr^-ffian cities Coloss;e, Hieraiwlis, and La- odicea, whicli lie coidd not visit himself {/list, of Flant- in(j, i, •20i>, 373). This languaj^e, however, is by no means decisive ; 3'et most pr()i)alily Epaphras was one of the earliest and most zealous instructors of the Co- lossian Church (see Alford's prolegomena to that epis- tle, dr. Test, iii, 35 sq.). Lardner thinks that the ex- pressiou respecting Epaphras in Coloss. iv, 12, o t^ I'fuZi', is quite inconsistent with the supposition of his being the founder of the Church, since the same phrase is apjilied to Onesimus, a recent convert (/list, of the A])ost!cs and £vanrjelists, c. xiv ; Wo7-ks, vi, 153). But in both cases the words in question seem intended sim- plv to identify these individuals as the fellow-towns- men of the Colossians, and to distinguish them from others of the same name in Rome (see Macknight on Coloss. iv, 2). He was at that time with Paul at Rome (Coloss. iv, 12), and seems by the expression there used to have been at least a Colossian by birth. AVe find him again mentioned in the epistle to Phile- mon (ver. 23), which was sent at the same time as that to the Colossians. Paul there calls him 0 avvaixiJic- \uiTog fioii, my fellow-pi-isoner ; but some regard the word there as only a tender and delicate expression of Epaphras's attention to the apostle in his imprison- ment (comp, Rom. xvi, 13). The martyrologies make Epaphras to have been first bishop of Coloss;e, and to have suflfered martyrdom there.- — Kitto, s. v. ; Smith, 8. v.. See Epaphkoditus.
Epaphrodi'tus ('EiraippociTOc, belonging to Aphrodite, or Yenus), a messenger {cnroaroXoq) of the Churcli at Philijipi to the apostle Paul during his im- prisonment at Rome, who was intrusted with their contriliutions for his support (Phil, ii, 25; iv, 18). A.D. 57. Paul's high estimate of his character (see Evans, Script. Biog. ii, 300) is shown by an accumulation of honorable epithets (jljv a<)tK(pw, kciI avvtpydp, Kct'i avarnurutJTiiv iioii), and by fervent expressions of gratitude for his recovery from a dangerous illness brought on in part by a generous disregard of his per- sonal welfare in ministering to the apostle (Phil, ii, 30). Epaphroditus, on his return to Philippi, was the bearer of the epistle which forms part of the canon. Grotius and some other critics conjecture that Epaph- roditus was the same as the Epaphi-as mentioned in the epistle to the Colossians (sfe Sirk, De Epaphrodito Philippensium opostolo, Lips. 1741 ; Strohbach, De Epa- phra Colossensi, Lips. 1710). But, though the latter name ma)' be a contraction of tiie former, the fact that Epaphras was most probably in prison at the time, suf- liciently marks the distinction of the persons. The name I'papluoditus was bj' no means uncommon (see Tacit. Ann. xv, 55; Sueton. Jkmit. 14; Joseph. Life, 7()), as Wctstein has shown {Nov. Test. Gr. ii, 273). — Kitto, s. V.
Eparch (J-rraQxac, nder over a district), a com- mander (e. g. of vessels, yEsch3'lus, Aff. 1227), hence prafect of a province (comp. t7r«()x<n, Acts xxiii, 24; XXV, 1) ; applied as a title to Sisinnes (q. v.), the Per- sian satrap of Syria (1 Esdr. vii, 1, " governor"). See ToPAUcuv, etc.
Eparchy (iwiinxii') was the official term of a prov- ince in the administration of the Roman empire. It consi>ted of a number of communities, and was a sub- division of a diocese {noiKr]<n(S). In the organization of the Church, the ecclesiastical heads of communities were called l)ishops, those of the capitals of eparchies, m('tro])olitans ; those of the dioceses, patriarchs. The term cjiarchy is thus used in can. 4 of the Council of Nice, and by Macarius of Ancyja (Suicer, Thesaur. Ec- cles. s. v.). The meaning of the term was subsequently changed in the Greek Church, so as to denote, in gen-