E04004: Socrates in his Ecclesiastical History reports that, in 358/359, bishop Macedonius of Constantinople had the sarcophagus of the emperor *Constantine (emperor, ob. 337, S00186) moved from the shrine of the Holy Apostles to the church of *Akakios (soldier and martyr of Byzantion, S00468) in Constantinople. The act caused a violent reaction among the people. Written in Greek at Constantinople, 439/446.
Creators: name: Erizos
Publisher: name: University of Oxford
Year: 2017
Subjects: History

description: Socrates, Ecclesiastical History, 2.38. 35-44<br><br>35. (…) Ὁ οἶκος, ἔνθα ἡ λάρναξ, ἐν ᾗ τὸ σῶμα τοῦ βασιλέως Κωνσταντίνου ἀπέκειτο, πτῶσιν ἠπείλει. 36. Ἦσαν οὖν διὰ τοῦτο οἵ τε εἰσπορευόμενοι οἵ τε προσεδρεύοντες καὶ εὐχόμενοι ἐν φόβῳ πολλῷ. Ὁ οὖν Μακεδόνιος ἐβουλεύσατο μεταφέρειν τὰ τοῦ βασιλέως ὀστέα, ὅπως ἂν μὴ συλληφθείη ἡ θήκη ὑπὸ τοῦ πτώματος. 37. Τοῦτο γνόντες οἱ λαοὶ διακωλύειν ἐπεχείρουν, φάσκοντες μὴ δεῖν τοῦ βασιλέως τὰ ὀστᾶ μεταφέρεσθαι· ἴσον γὰρ εἶναι τὸ ἀνορύττεσθαι. 38. Διῃροῦντο δὲ εὐθὺς εἰς δύο τμήματα οἱ λαοί, καὶ οἱ μὲν μηδὲν βλάπτεσθαι τῷ μεταφέρεσθαι τὸν νεκρὸν ἔφασκον, οἱ δὲ ἀνόσιον ἔλεγον τὸ γινόμενον. 39. Συνήρχοντο οὖν καὶ οἱ τοῦ ὁμοουσίου φρονήματος τῷ γινομένῳ ἀντέχοντες. 40. Ὁ μέντοι Μακεδόνιος μικρὰ τῶν αὐτῷ ἀντιλεγόντων φροντίσας μεταφέρει τὸ σῶμα τοῦ βασιλέως εἰς τὴν ἐκκλησίαν, ἐν ᾗ τὸ σῶμα τοῦ μάρτυρος Ἀκακίου ἀπέκειτο. 41. Τούτου γινομένου συνδρομὴ τῶν διχονοούντων τοῦ πλήθους εἰς ἐκείνην τὴν ἐκκλησίαν σύντονος γίνεται, 42. ἀνθίσταντό τε ἀλλήλοις τὰ μέρη, καὶ μὴ μελλήσαντες χερσὶν ἠμύναντο, καὶ γίνεται φόνος ἀνθρώπων πολύς, ὥστε τὴν αὐλὴν τῆς ἐκκλησίας ἐκείνης αἵματος πλήρη γενέσθαι καὶ τὸ ἐν αὐτῇ φρέαρ ὑπερβλύσαι τοῦ αἵματος, ἐκρεῖν τε τοῦτο καὶ εἰς τὴν ἐχομένην στοὰν ἄχρι τῆς πλατείας αὐτῆς. 43. Τοῦτο τὸ ἀτύχημα πυθόμενος ὁ βασιλεὺς ὀργίζεται κατὰ Μακεδονίου διά τε τοὺς ἀπολωλότας καὶ ὅτι τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ τὸ σῶμα παρακινῆσαι παρὰ τὴν αὐτοῦ γνώμην ἐτόλμησεν. Καταλιπὼν οὖν τῶν ἑσπερίων μερῶν φροντίζειν τὸν Καίσαρα Ἰουλιανὸν αὐτὸς ἐπὶ τὴν ἑῴαν ἐπορεύετο. 44. Ὅπως μὲν οὖν ὁ Μακεδόνιος μικρὸν ὕστερον καθῃρέθη, βραχεῖαν ἀντὶ τηλικούτων κακῶν ταύτην δεδωκὼς δίκην, ὀλίγον ὕστερον λέξω.<br><br>‘The building where the sarcophagus lay that contained the body of the emperor Constantine threatened to fall. Because of that, visitors and those staying and praying there were in much fear. Macedonius, therefore, wished to remove the emperor's bones, lest the coffin were caught in the collapse. When the populace heard about it, they endeavoured to stop him, claiming that the emperor's bones could not possibly be moved, for such a thing would be equivalent to their being dug up. And the public was quickly divided into two parties, some saying that the there was nothing wrong about moving the corpse, others calling the act sacrilegious. Those believing in the Consubstantial joined together in opposing the act. Macedonius bothered very little about those who complained, and had the emperor's body transferred to the church where the body of the martyr Akakios lay. As this was happening, members of the two rival parties of the crowd rushed turbulently towards that church. The two sides engaged with one another and immediately started fighting. And there occurred so much killing that the courtyard of that church was covered with blood, and even the well in it overflowed with blood which ran into the adjacent portico and thence even into the street itself. When the emperor was informed of this disaster, he was highly incensed against Macedonius, both on account of the victims, and because he had dared to move his father's body without consulting him. He therefore left the Caesar Julian to take care of the western provinces, and departed for the East. Now how Macedonius was shortly afterwards deposed, thus suffering a petty punishment for such great crimes, I shall relate shortly below.’<br><br>Text: Hansen 1995.<br>Translation: E. Rizos.