Particular. ly the munificence of

plundered or demolished almost as soon as they had erected them. But in times of peace great multitudes of converts forsook the temples, and came over to the Church, and those, many times, persons of fortune and quality; and in some of the heathen reigns the Church enjoyed a more serene and uninterrupted gale of tranquillity, as in that happy interval of near fifty years between the death of St. Cyprian and the last persecution. And then there was a necessity to build more ample and stately churches, and they had ability to do it, and were not without hopes of continuing to enjoy their works of piety in a settled and lasting peace. So that then, in that promising interval, as Eusebius 95 observes, when Diocletian's court and family were almost all become Christians, and great multitudes of believers in all cities came over daily to the Faith; their ancient fabrics could not contain them, but they built them more ample and spacious churches in every city from the foundation. And when many of these had been destroyed in the long decennial persecution, they were again rebuilt from the ground, more lofty and beautiful than they were before, as the same Eusebius 96 words it, as soon as Constantine had revived the Christians' hopes, by publishing his edicts in favour of their religion.

3. But now there were two other reasons concurred, after the Emperors were become Christians, which contributed much Christian toward the state and magnificence of Christian churches. Emperors contributed Which were, first, the great liberality and munificence of the toward this. Emperors themselves, who were at great expense in erecting

many noble fabrics in several cities to the honour of Christ; and, secondly, their orders for converting heathen temples into churches. Constantine spared no charge to erect, beautify, and adorn churches in all parts of the East, as at Jerusalem, Antioch, Nicomedia, Mambre, Heliopolis, in Phoenicia, and many other places, of which the reader that pleases may find a

95 L. 8. c. I. See before, ch. I. s. 15. p. 32. n. 57.

96 L. 10. c. 2. (v. I. p. 463. 15.) Μάλιστα δ ̓ ἡμῖν, τοῖς ἐπὶ τὸν Χριστὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ τὰς ἐλπίδας ἀνηρτημένοις, ἄλεκτος παρὴν εὐφροσύνη ̇ καί τις ἔνθεος ἅπασιν ἐπήνθει χαρά πάντα τόπον πρὸ μικροῦ ταῖς τῶν τυράννων

δυσσεβείαις ἠρειπωμένον, ὥσπερ ἐκ μακρᾶς καὶ θανατηφόρου λύμης ἀναβιώσκοντα θεωμένοις, νεώς τε αὖθις ἐκ βάθρων εἰς ὕψος ἄπειρον ἐγειρομέ νους, καὶ πολὺ κρείττονα τὴν ἀγλαΐαν τῶν πάλαι πεπολιορκημένων ἀπολαμ βάνοντας.

particular account in Eusebius 97 and Socrates 98. But especially at Constantinople, where, among others, he built the beautiful church called Ecclesia Constantiniana, to the memory of the Twelve Apostles; which, as Eusebius 99 describes it, was vastly high, and yet had all its walls covered with marble, its roof overlaid with gold, and the outside, instead of tiles, covered with gilded brass. He also laid the foundation of the famous temple called Sancta Sophia, and Magna, which was finished and dedicated, thirty-four years after, by his son Constantinus, anno 36o, who joined the Temple of Peace to it, (which was another church built by Constantine,) including them both in one, as Socrates1 and the author of the Chronicon Alexandrinum2 inform us. Constantine's example was followed by the succeeding Emperors, but more especially by Justinian, who, among many other works of this nature, rebuilt the church of St. Sophia, which had been burnt down in the time of Anastatius. And now it became the glory of the world for its greatness, curious architecture, richness, and beauty; insomuch that Justinian himself, having finished it, was heard to say, 'Nevíκηκά σε, Σολομών, I have outdone thee, Solomon. They who are desirous to read the particular description of this church may find it briefly delineated in Evagrius3, Procopius+, and

7 De Vit. Constant. 1. 3. c. 5o tot. (ibid. p. 605.) et c. 51 tot. (p. 606.) 98 L. Ι. c. 16-18. (v. 2. pp. 45, seqq.)

4 De Vit. Constant. 1. 4. c. 58. (v. I. p. 659. 8.) Ἐπὶ τούτοις τὸ μαρτύριον ἐν τῇ ἐπωνύμῳ πόλει, ἐπὶ μνήμῃ τῶν ̓Αποστόλων οἰκοδομεῖν παρεσκευάζετο. Αὐτὸς δὲ νεὼν ἅπαντα εἰς ὕψος ἄφατον ἐπάρας, λίθων ποικίλαις παντοίων ἐξαστράπτοντα ἐποίει, εἰς αὐτὸν ὄροφον ἐξ ἐδάφους πλακώσας διαλαβὼν δὲ λεπτοῖς φαντώμασι τὴν στέγην, χρυσῷ τὴν πᾶσαν ἐκάλυπτεν· ἄνω χαλκὸς μὲν ἀντὶ κεράμου, φυλακὴν τῷ ἔργῳ πρὸς ὑετῶν ἀσφάλειαν παρεῖχε καὶ τοῦτον δὲ πολὺς περιέλαμπε χρυσός· ὡς μαρμαρυγὰς τοῖς πόρρωθεν ἀφορῶσι ταῖς ἡλίου αὐγαῖς ἀντανακλωμέναις ἐκπέμπειν· δικτυωτὰ δὲ πέριξ ἐκύκλου τὸ δωμάτιον ἀνάγκυφα, χαλκῷ, καὶ χρυσῷ κατειργασμένα.

1 L. 2. c. 16. (v. 2. p. 95. 25.) Karà

δὲ τὸν καιρὸν τοῦτον, καὶ ὁ βασιλεὺς τὴν μεγάλην ἐκκλησίαν ἔκτιζεν, ἥτις Σοφία μὲν προσαγορεύεται νῦν συνῆπται δὲ τῇ ἐπωνύμῳ Εἰρήνῃ, ἣν ὁ πατὴρ τοῦ βασιλέως, μικρὰν οὖσαν τὸ πρότερον, εἰς κάλλος καὶ μέγεθος ηὔξησε· καὶ νῦν εἰσὶν εἰς ἕνα περίβολον ἄμφω δρώμεναι, μιᾶς τὴν προσωνυμίαν ἔχουσαι.

2 Al. Paschale, an. 360. p. 685. [Paris. 1686. P. 294.] (ap. Byzant. Hist. Scriptor. t. 4. p. 235 b. i.) ̓Επὶ τῆς αὐτῆς συνόδου τῶν ἐπισκό πων, οὐ μετὰ πολλὰς ἡμέρας τοῦ ἐνθρονισθῆναι τὸν Εὐδόξιον ἐπίσκοπον Κωνσταντινουπόλεως, τὰ ἐγκαίνια τῆς μεγάλης εκκλησίας τῆς αὐτῆς πόλεως ἐτελέσθη, δι' ἐτῶν λδ' μικρῷ πρὸς ἀφ ̓ οὗ θεμελίους κατεβάλλετο Κωνσταν τῖνος.

3 L. 4. c. 31 tot. (v. 3. p. 411.)

4 De Edific. Justinian. 1. 1. c. I tot. (ap. Byzant. Hist. Scriptor. t. 2. pp. 5, seqq.) De Sancta Sophia.

As also

their orders

into

Agathias; but more fully and exactly by Paulus Silentiarius, and his learned commentator, Du Fresne, whose accurate knowledge in these matters exceeds all that ever came before him. I have extracted out of him such observations as I thought necessary to my own design; but they that please to peruse the whole may find it at the end of Johannes Cinnamus 6, among the Byzantine Historians, published at Paris, 1670.

4. The other reason which I said contributed toward the for convert magnificence of Christian churches, was the orders of several ing heathen emperors for converting heathen temples into churches. At temples first, indeed, whilst the reformation from heathenism was in churches. its infancy, no idol-temples were made use of as churches, but they were either permitted to the heathen for some time, or else shut up, or demolished. Till the twenty-fifth year of Constantine, i. e. anno 333, the temples were in a great measure tolerated; but in that year he published his Laws, commanding temples, altars, and images to be destroyed; which Laws are sometimes referred to in the Theodosian Code7. And, pursuant to these Laws, a great many temples were defaced in all parts of the world, and their revenues confiscated, as appears not only from the Christian writers, St. Jerom 8, and Eusebius 9, and others, but also from the complaints of the heathen writers, Eunapius 10, Libanius 11, and Julian 12. In some of the follow

6 L. 5. sub med. (p. 152 b. c. d.) Επεφρόντιστο δὲ οἱ ἐν τὰ μάλιστα ὁ μέγιστος τοῦ Θεοῦ νεὼς, κ. τ. λ.

6 [Surnamed the Grammarian. He was secretary to the Emperor Manuel Comnenus, whose life is included in his History. It is considered the best written of the Byzantine series. It forms tome 13, Venet. 1729, according to Mr. Darling's Cyclopædia Bibliographica, Lond. 1854. part. I. col. 665. ED.]

1.

L. 9. tit. 17. de Sepulcr. Violalat. leg. 2. (t. 3. p. 138.) Sed si et præcepto judicium, &c.

8 Chronic. an.332.—[Ed. Vallars. 335.] (t. 8. p. 788.) Edicto Constantini gentilium templa subversa

an.

sunt.

9 De Vit. Constant. 1. 3. c. 54. (v. I. p. 609. 15.) Ενθεν εἰκότως ἐγυμνοῦτο μὲν αὐτοῖς τῶν κατὰ πόλιν νεῶν τὰ προπύλαια, θυρῶν ἔρημα γι

νόμενα, βασιλέως προστάγματι· ἑτέρων δ ̓ ἡ ἐπὶ τοῖς ὀρόφοις στέγη, τῶν καλυπτήρων ἀφαιρουμένων, ἐφθείρετο.

10 Vit. Edesii. (p. 33.) ToÚτwv γὰρ οὐδὲν εἴχομεν ἀναγράφειν, ὅτι τὸ μὲν ἐπέκρυπτεν ἴσως Αἰδέσιος διὰ τοὺς χρόνους. Κωνσταντῖνος γὰρ ἐβασίλευε, τά τε τῶν ἱερῶν ἐπιφανέ στατα καταστρέφων, καὶ τὰ τῶν Xptoriavov ȧveyeipwv oikημata.

11 Orat. 26. Apolog. (t. 2. p. 591 b. 11.) Κωνστάντιον καὶ τὴν ἐκείνου βασιλείαν, ὃς παρὰ τοῦ πατρὸς σπινOnpa kakav deέáμevos eis próya поλλὴν τὸ πρᾶγμα προήγαγεν ὁ μὲν γὰρ eyuurode roi TÀOUTOU TOUS Deous ὁ δὲ κατέσκαψε τοὺς ναοὺς, καὶ πάντα ἱερὸν ἐξαλείψας νόμον, ἔδωκεν αὐτὸν, οἷς ἴσμεν.

12 Orat. 7. (p. 424. 18.) Патр@α μὲν ἱερὰ κατεσκάπτετο παρὰ τῶν παίδων, ὀλιγωρηθέντα πρότερον ὑπὸ τοῦ πατρὸς, καὶ ἀποσυληθέντα τῶν ἀναθη

ing reigns also the same method was taken to shut up or to deface the temples, as is evident from the account which Ruffin 13 gives of the general destruction of them in Egypt by the order of Valentinian. But in the next reign, in the time of Theodosius, another method was taken with some of them. For, as Gothofred 14 observes out of the Chronicon Alexandrinum, anno 379, Theodosius turned the famous temple of Heliopolis, called Balanium, into a Christian church,— Εποίησε αὐτὸ ἐκκλησίαν Χριστιανῶν. And about the same time, Socrates 15 tells us, that when Valens had banished the two Macarii, the heads of the Egyptian monks, into a pagan island, they converted all the inhabitants, and turned their temple into the form of a church. The like was done by the famous temple of the Dea Celestis, at Carthage, by Aurelius, the bishop, in the time of Honorius, anno 399, which the author of the book, De Prædictionibus, under the name of Prosper 16, tells with this remarkable circumstance: that it had been dedicated before, by one Aurelius, a heathen highpriest, with this inscription, Aurelius Pontifex Dedicavit ; which,' our author says, was left in the frontispiece to be read by all the people, because, by God's providence, it was fulfilled again in Aurelius, the bishop, for whom it served as well as the former Aurelius, when he had once dedicated it to the use and service of the Christian religion, and set his

μάτων, ἃ τέθειτο παρὰ πολλῶν μὲν καὶ ἄλλων, οὐχ ἥκιστα δὲ τῶν προπατόρων αὐτοῦ· καθαιρομένων δὲ τῶν ἱερῶν, ἀνῳκοδομεῖτο παλαιὰ καὶ νέα μνήματα.

13 L. 2. [al. 11.] c. 28. (p. 258. b. 2.) Per cunctas Ægypti urbes, per castella, per vicos, per omne rus, per ripas fluminis, per eremum quoque, si qua phana vel potius busta reperiri potuerunt, instantia uniuscujusque episcopi subruta et ad solum deducta sunt, ita ut denuo rus culturæ redderetur, quod injuste fuerat dæmonibus deputatum.

14 In Cod. Theod. 1. 16. t. 10. de Pagan. leg. 25. (t. 6. p. 297.) Sic Theodosius Magnus, &c.

15 L. 4. C. 24. (v. 2. p. 244. 4.). . . Εἰς πίστιν τοῦ χριστιανισμοῦ ἤγαγον τόν τε ἱερέα καὶ πάντας τοὺς ἐκεῖ

ἐνοικοῦντας ἐν τῇ νήσῳ· εὐθὺς οὖν τὰ μὴν ἀγάλματα ἐξέβαλον· τὸ δὲ σχῆμα τοῦ ναοῦ εἰς ἐκκλησίας τύπον μετοποιήσαντες, ἐβαπτίζοντο, κ. τ. λ.

16 De Promiss. 1.3. c. 38. (append. p. 186 d. 1.)..... Antistes Aurelius, cœlestis jam patriæ civis, cathedram illic loco cœlestis et habuit, et sedit. Ipse tunc aderam cum sociis et amicis, atque (ut se adolescentium ætas impatiens circumquaque vertebat) dum curiosi singula quæ pro magnitudine inspicimus, mirum quoddam et incredibile nostro se ingessit aspectui, titulus æneis grandioribusque literis in frontispicio templi conscriptus, AURELIUS PONTIFEX DEDICAVIT. Hunc legentes populi mirabantur. Præsago tunc Spiritu acta, quæ præscius Dei ordo certo isto fine concluserat.

chair in the place of the goddess.' Not long after this, Honorius, anno 408, published two laws 17 in the Western Empire, forbidding the destruction of any more temples in cities, because they might serve for ornament or public use, being once purged of all unlawful furniture, idols, and altars, which he ordered to be destroyed, wherever they were found. These laws, as Gothofred rightly observes, seem to have been published at the instance of the African Fathers, who, as appears from one of the canons of the African Code 18, petitioned the Emperor that such temples as were in the country only, and private places, not serving for any ornament, might be destroyed.' Arcadius published such another law 19 for the Eastern Empire, which relates only to the destruction of temples in country places and not in cities, where now there was no such danger of superstition, since they might be converted to a better use. And upon this ground the author under the name of Prosper 20 commends Honorius for his piety and devotion, because he gave all the temples, with their adjacent places, to the Church, only requiring the idols to be destroyed.' It is true, indeed, after this we find a law of Theodosius Junior 21 commanding all temples to be destroyed. But, as Gothofred seems rightly to interpret it, the word destroying in that law is to be understood only of

17 Cod. Theod. 1. 16. tit. Io. de Pagan. leg. 18. (t. 6. p. 287.) Ædes illicitis rebus vacuas ne quis conetur evertere. Decernimus enim, ut ædificiorum quidem sit integer status. Ibid. leg. 19. (p. 288.) Ædificia ipsa templorum, quæ in civitatibus vel oppidis, vel extra oppida sunt, ad usum publicum vindicentur: aræ locis omnibus destruantur. 18 C. 58. (t. 2. p. 1086 b.) v χάριν αἰτῆσαι δεῖ τοὺς θρησκευτικωτάτους βασιλεῖς, ὥστε τὰ ἐγκαταλείμματα τῶν εἰδώλων τὰ κατὰ πᾶσαν τὴν Αφρικὴν κελεῦσαι παντελῶς ἀνακοπῆναι καὶ γὰρ ἐν πολλοῖς τόποις παραθαλασσίοις καὶ διαφόροις κτήσεσιν ἀκμάζει ἔτι τῆς πλάνης ταύτης ἡ ἀδικία, ἵνα παραγγελθῶσι καὶ αὐτὰ ἀπαλειφθῆναι, καὶ οἱ ναοὶ αὐτῶν, οἱ ἐν τοῖς ἀγροῖς καὶ ἐν ἀποκεκρυμμένοις τόποις χωρίς τινος εὐκοσμίας καθε

στῶτες, παντὶ τρόπῳ κελευσθῶσι και Taσтpapĥvai.

19 Cod. Theod. 1. 16. tit. 1o. de Pagan. leg. 16. (t. 6. p. 283.) Si qua in agris templa sunt, sine turba et tumultu diruantur. His enim dejectis, omnis superstitionis materia consumetur.

20 De Promiss. 1. 3. c. 38. (append. p. 185 d. 13.) Honorius..... Christiana religione ac devotione præditus, templa omnia cum suis adjacentibus spatiis ecclesiis contulit; simulque eorum simulacra confringenda in potestatem dedit.

21 Cod. Theod. ib. 25. (t. 6. p. 296.) Cuncta eorum fana, templa, delubra, si qua nunc etiam restant integra, præcepto magistratuum destrui, collocationeque veneranda Christiauæ religionis signi expiari præcipi

mus.