§ 134. THE OKIGENISTIC CONTROVERSY IN EGYIT, 703
then almost an octogenarian, as a tool of his hierarchical plans. This old man journeyed in mid-winter in 402 to Constantinople, in the imagination that by his very presence he would V)e able to destroy the thousand-headed hydra of heresy, and he would neither hold church fellowship with Chrysostom, who assembled the whole clergy of the city to greet him, nor pray for the dying son of the emperor, until all Origenistic heretics should be banished from tlie caj-»ital, and he might publish the anathema from the altar. But he found that injustice was done to the Kitrian monks, and soon took ship again to Cyprus, saying to the bishops who accompanied him to the sea shore : " I leave to you the city, the palace, and hypocrisy ; but I go, for I must make great haste." He died on the ship in the summer of 403.
What the honest coarseness of Epiphanius failed to effect, was accomplished by the cunning of Theophilus, who now himself travelled to Constantinople, and immediately appeared as accuser and judge. He well knew how to use the dissatisfaction of the clergy, of the empress Eudoxia, and of the court with Chrysostom on account of his moral severity and his bold denunciations.' In Chrysostom's own diocese, on an estate " at the oak " ^ in Chalcedon, he held a secret council of thirty-six bishops against Chrysostom, and there procured, upon ftilse charges of immorality, unchurchly conduct, and high treasoUjhis deposition and banisliment in 403.' Chrysostom was recalled indeed in three days in consequence of an earthquake and the dissatisfaction of the people, but was again condemned by a council in 404, and banished from the court, because, incensed by the erection of a silver statue of Eudoxia
* According to Socrates (H. E. vi. 4) another special reason for the disaffection was, that Chrysostom always ate alone, and never accepted an invitation to a ban-. quet, either on account of dyspepsia or habitual abstemiousness. But by the people he was greatly esteemed and loved as a man and as a preacher.
' Uphi TTjf Spvv, Synodus ad Quercum. The estate belonged to the imperial prefect Rufinus, and had a palace, a large church, and a monastery. Sozomen, viii. 17.
* Among the twenty-nine charges were these : that Chrysostom called the saint Epiphanius a fool and demon ; that he wrote a book fuU of abuse of the clergy ; that he received visits from females without witnesses ; that he bathed a.'one, and ate alone ! See Hefele, ii. p. 78 sqq.
704 THIRD PERIOD. A.D. 311-590.
close to the cliureli of St. Sophia, and by the theatrical performances connected with it, he had with unwise and unjust exaggeration opened a sermon on Mark vi. 17 ft'., in coniineinoratioii of John the Baptist with tiie jjcrsunal alhision: " Again Herodias rages, again she raves, again she (hinces, and again she demands the liead of Jolm [this was Chrysostoni'a own name] upon a charger." ' From his exile in Cucusus and Arabissus he corresponded with all parts of the Christian world, took lively interest in the missions in Persia and Scythia, and appealed to a general council. His opponents procured from Arcadius an order for bis transportation to the remote desert of Pityus. On the way thither he died at Comana in Pontus, a. d. 407, in the sixtieth year of his age, praising God for everything, even for his unmerited persecutions."
Chi-ysostom was venerated by the people as a saint, and thii'ty years after his death, by order of Theodosius II. (438), his bones were brought back in triumph to Constantinople, and deposited in the imperial tomb. The emperor hinoself met the remains at Chalcedon, fell down before the coffin, and in the name of his gnilty parents, Arcadius and Eudoxia, implored the forgiveness of the holy man. The age could not indeed understand and appreciate the bold spirit of Origen, but was still accessible to the narrow piety of Epiphanius and the noble virtues of Chrysostom.
In spite of this prevailing aversion of the time to free speculation, Origen always retained many readers and admirers, especially among the monks in Palestine, two of whom, Domitian and Theodoras Askidas, came to favor and influence at the court of Justinian I. But undiM' this emperor the dispute on the orthodoxy of Origen was renewed about tlie middle of the sixth century in connection with the controversy on the Three Chapters, and ended with the condemnation of
' nd\iv 'HpooSias fxaiverat, TrdXiv rafiaaacrai, irdKiv opx*"""') ""dXiv tVi m^-a.ci t^» ■Ki<paK}iv Tov luavvov C^JTeT Xa^tlv. Comi). Socr. II. E. vl. 18. Eudoxia was a joung and beautiful woman, who despised her husband, and indulged her passions. She died four years after the birth of her son Theodosius the Younger, whose true fathei ia said to have been the comes John. Comp. Gibbon, ch. ixxii.
' Ao|a Tijj 06<j; Ttavrwv fvfKtVy were his last word.s, tlie motto of his life and work