Διαδικασία απονομής Σοφιστικού Τρίβωνος στους υποψηφίους φοιτητές των Σχολών των Αθηνών του 4ου μΧ αιώνος

Η πόλις των Αθηνών, ακόμη και τον 4ο μ.Χ αιώνα εξακολουθούσε να είναι κέντρο ανώτερης Παιδείας. Άλλωστε, οι φιλοσοφικές σχολές των Αθηνών ήταν βασικός λόγος για να επισκεφθεί κάποιος την πόλη εκείνη την εποχή. Σε μία τέτοια σχολή φοίτησαν τον 4ο αιώνα τόσο ο Βασίλειος όσο και ο Ιουλιανός, όπου είχαν ως δάσκαλο τον χριστιανό σοφιστή Προαιρέσιο. Ένεκα αυτής της πνευματικής λάμψης οι Αθηναίοι κλήθηκαν από τον μετέπειτα αυτοκράτορα Ιουλιανό (361-363) ως οι “κατ’ εξοχήν Έλληνες”.

Όσοι ήθελαν να σπουδάσουν φιλοσοφία, ρητορική, μουσική αλλά και θετικές επιστήμες ερχόντουσαν στην πόλη των Αθηνών. Άμα τηι αφίξει των νεοφερμένων (οι οποίοι δεν ήταν μόνον νέοι, αλλά και προέρχοντο και από μεγαλύτερες ηλικίες) οι διάφορες σχολές συναγωνίζονταν ποια θα τους προσελκύσει. Από την στιγμή που διάλεγαν σχολή περνούσαν κάποια δοκιμασία από τους παλαιότερους μαθητές ενώ ο υπεύθυνος Σοφιστής αποφάσιζε εάν κάποιος υποψήφιος θα γίνονταν δεκτός για να φοιτήσει στην Σχολή. Από τη στιγμή που έδινε την συγκατάθεσή του ο Σοφιστής ο νέος φοιτητής έδιδε τον νενομισμένο όρκο και θυσίαζε στους θεούς (ο λόγος είναι ότι η ανώτερη Παιδεία στην Αθήνα δεν μπορούσε να διαχωριστεί από την παραδοσιακή λατρεία της πόλης). Μετά τον οδηγούσαν στο δημόσιο βαλανείο (δημόσια λουτρά) ώστε να περάσει από καθαρμό. Κατά την διάρκεια της διαδρομής οι παλαιότεροι φοιτητές συνόδευαν τον νεοεισαχθέντα. Έπειτα φορούσε τον Τρίβωνα (ένα είδος Τηβέννου που είχε τα χαρακτηριστικά της σχολής) και πήγαινε στον Ακρωμίτη για να ρυθμίσει την πληρωμή των διδάκτρων (οι σχολές αυτές δεν ήταν δωρεάν, αλλά επί πληρωμή). Ο Ακρωμίτης ήταν ο υπεύθυνος επί των οικονομικών της σχολής. Κάτι σαν τον σημερινό Λογιστή.

Την παραπάνω διαδικασία εξηγεί το κείμενο του Ολυμπιοδώρου, όπως σώζεται από τον Πατριάρχη Φώτιο στην περίφημη “Βιβλιοθήκη”:

“Ότι ο ιστορικός περί του οικείου διαλαμβάνων διάπλου πολλά παθείν και δυστηχήσαί φασι. Λέγει δε και εις τας Αθήνας κατάραι, και τηι αυτού σπουδήι και επιμελείαι εις τον σοφιστικόν θρόνο αναχθήναι Λεόντιον ούπω εθέλοντα. Λέγει δε και περί του τρίβωνος, ως ουκ εξήν κατά τας Αθήνας περιβαλέσθαι αυτόν τινα, και μάλιστα ξένον, ω μη των σοφιστών η γνώμη επέτρεπε και αι κατά τους σοφιστικούς νόμους τελεταί εβεβαίουν το αξίωμα. Ην δε τα τελούμενα τοιαύτα` πρώτον μεν κατήγοντο επί το δημόσιον βαλανείον όσοι νεήλυδες, αν τε μικροί αν τε μεγάλοι. Εξ ων και οι προς τον τρίβωνα επιτήδειοι, ηλικίας ήδη καιρού γεγονότες, ους εις μέσον έβαλλον οι κατάγοντες σχολαστικοί. Είτα των μεν έμπροσθεν τρεχόντων και κωλυόντων, των, των δε ωθούντων και επεχόντων, πάντων δε των κωλυόντων ταύτα βοώντων` «στα, στα, ου λούει», κατακρατείν δήθεν του αγώνος εδόκουν οι αντωθούντες εις τιμήν του καταγομένου σχολαστικού` όστις μετά πολλήν ώραν, στάσεως πολλής επί τοις προαχθείσιν εθίμοις ρήμασι προγενομένης, εισάγεται εις τον θερμόν οίκον και απολούεται, είτα ενδυσάμενος εδέχετο την του τρίβωνος εξουσίαν, και αυτόθεν μετά τρίβωνος εκ του βαλανείου εντίμωι και περιδόξωι δορυφορούμενος πομπήι απήει, δαπάνας επιγνούς φανεράς εις τους των διατριβών προστάτας τους λεγομένους Ακρωμίτας.”

Χρονογραφία από τον Bar Hebraeus

O Γρηγόριος Bar Hebraeus (1226 - 30 Ιουλίου 1286), παλαιότερα γνωστός από του λατινική ονομασία ως Abulpharagius (στα συριακά: ܓܪܝܓܘܪܝܘܣ‎  Grigorios, Ġrīġūriyūs), ήταν ένας Καθολικός (επίσκοπος) της Συριακής Ορθοδόξου Εκκλησίας τον 13ο αιώνα. Είναι γνωστός για τα έργα του σχετικά με τη φιλοσοφία, την ποίηση, τη γλώσσα, την ιστορία και τη θεολογία και έχει αποκληθεί «ένας από τους πιο ευρυμαθείς άνδρες από τη Συριακή Ορθόδοξη Εκκλησία» (Δρ. William Wright).

Στα έργα του συγκαταλλέγονται πολλές και περίτεχνες πραγματείες, τα αποτελέσματα της έρευνάς του στη θεολογία, τη φιλοσοφία, την επιστήμη και την ιστορία. Τα περισσότερα από τα έργα του γράφτηκαν στα Συριακά. Ωστόσο, ο ίδιος έγραψε και στην αραβική, η οποία είχε γίνει η κοινή γλώσσα στην εποχή του.

Εδώ παραθέτουμε απόσπασμα από την Χρονογραφία του σχετικά με τους Ρωμαίους αυτοκράτορες, έως το 238 μ.Χ: (Wikipedia)

Bar Hebraeus' ChronographyThe Roman Emperors 

Translated from Syriac by Ernest A. Wallis Budge

Oxford University PressLondon 1932

VIII

Here beginneth the Eighth Series, which passeth from the Kings of the pagan Greeks to the Kings of the Rhomaye.
THE sovereignty of the PTOLEMIES, that is to say GREEKS, having come to an end in EGYPT also, the whole of EGYPT and the whole of SYRIA came under the dominion of the RHOMAYE.

AUGUSTUS CAESAR

After CLEOPATRA [came] AUGUSTUS CAESAR, and whilst reigning over EGYPT he was named 'SEBASTUS'; and also [the month] of SEKSTILIS was called 'AUGUSTUS'. And in [his] eighteenth year AUGUSTUS sent TIBERIUS, the captain of [his] host, to ARMENIA, and he subjugated it. And HEROD built SHAMRIN (SAMARIA), and in honour of SEBASTUS called it 'SEBASTIA'. And he also built the Tower of 'ESTRATON (TURRIS STRATONIS)and named it 'CAESAREA', and he also built GABHALA in GALILEE. And in the forty-third year of AUGUSTUS, which is the thirty-third year of HEROD, and the three hundred and ninth year of the GREEKS, on the twenty-fifth day of the month of the FIRST KANON (DECEMBER), on the night of the dawn of the third [day of the week], our Lord JESUS CHRIST, the Son of God, was born in the flesh of the VIRGIN MARY, the daughter of DAVID; and that year entered (i.e. began) on the second day of the week. And in that year KEURINOS (CYRENIUS), the governor, was sent by the Senate of ROME to levy poll-tax of the JEWS because GALILEAN JUDAH had rebelled, and many of the JEWS said, [46] 'It is not right to pay poll-tax to Caesar', and, 'to make for ourselves lords who are mortal'.
And thirty years after this, on the fourth day of the week, on the sixth day of the LATTER KANON (JANUARY), Christ was baptized by JOHN in the JORDAN. And when our Lord in the flesh was two years old, and JOSEPH and MARY were going up from NAZARETH to JERUSALEM and they came to BETHLEHEM, the MAGI came, and there they bowed down in homage to Him. And by night they departed to Egypt, and they lived there for two years, until HEROD died, and then they returned. Now when the Holy Virgin gave birth to Him she was thirteen (or, fifteen) years old, and she died when she was fifty-one (or. sixty-three) years old. LONGINUS, the Roman sage, wrote to CAESAR concerning the coming of the MAGI, saying, 'PERSIANS from the east have travelled and come to thy kingdom, and they have brought offerings to a child who hath been born in JUDAH, but who he is, and whose Son he is, we have not yet heard'. And AUGUSTUS sent [an answer saying], 'HEROD, the Satrap, whom we have left there, shall make known to us who he is'. And as for the year of the birth of our Lord, although writers (or, historians) have stated it differently, we find that it was only the three hundred and ninth year of the GREEKS (1), which began on the second day of the week--besides the other things which they wrote. And HEROD having slain the children of BETHLEHEM and the borders thereof, the Lord smote him; he suffered sorely for two years and died aged seventy years.
And AUGUSTUS set up ARCHELAUS his son, who reigned nine years. And having committed an act of folly he was banished to BHINAN (VIENNA), a city of the GALSINE (GAULS). And then AUGUSTUS set up the four governors, TETRARCHS, HEROD, and ANTIPATER, and PHILIP--these then were brothers of ARCHELAUS--and the fourth was LYSANIUS, the alien. And in the same year AUGUSTUS died.

TIBERIUS CAESAR

After AUGUSTUS CAESAR, TIBERIUS CAESAR [reigned] twenty-three years. And in his fourteenth year PILATE, the governor, was sent to the JEWS, and he was Prefect over them. And he introduced the statue of CAESAR into [47] the Temple, and [thus] stirred up the JEWS to revolt. And besides this he expended all the treasure of the priests when the aqueduct came into [the city], which became the cause of the second revolt.
And in the nineteenth year of TIBERIUS, ABHGAR, king of URHAI (EDESSA), sent a certain painter, whose name was JOHN, the tabellarius, and he painted a portrait of our Lord JESUS upon a tablet, and brought [it] to ABHGAR. And ABHGAR also sent [a letter] to our Lord by the hands of HANANYA, saying, 'I have heard that mighty deeds flow from thee, and that thou effectest healings without medicines. Therefore thou must either be God Himself, who hath come down from heaven, or the son of God. Because of this I have written [and] I have asked thee to trouble thyself to come to me and heal the sickness which is in me. Moreover I have also heard that the JEWS are jealous (or, envious) of thee, and that they murmur complainingly concerning thee, and are very wishful to do thee an injury. Now have a small and beautiful city, and it will suffice for the two [of us].'
And our Lord made answer to him, saying, 'Blessed is he who hath believed in me, though he hath not seen me! And as concerning what thou hast written, that I should come to thee. A course of life and action is [laid] upon me, and it is meet that I should fulfil in this place that on account of which I have been sent, and I shall be taken up to Him who hath sent me. But 1 will send unto thee immediately one of my disciples who shall heal thy sickness, and shall give life unto thee and unto those who are with thee'.
And in the nineteenth year of TIBERIUS Our Redeemer suffered, and died, and was buried, and rose up again, and ascended into heaven. And on the day of Pentecost a great quaking seized the priests of the JEWS, who heard a voice from the inside of the Temple, saying, 'We must depart from this place'. And ABHGAR of EDESSA, wrote to TIBERIUS concerning everything Which the JEWS did to Christ. And the Emperor replied, 'Behold, because of this I have dismissed PILATE in disgrace, and I will take vengeance on the JEWS'. And HEROD the Tetrarch, who was also named 'ANTPATOS (ANTIPATRUS)--now, he was the son of HEROD, the slayer of the children--killed JOHN. And he took to wife HERODIAS, the wife of his brother, whilst her husband was still living. And he was sent into exile with HERODIAS, and both he and she were killed in the city of BAWINNA (WINNA?).
The years from ADAM to the year in which our Redeemer suffered, make a total of five thousand five hundred and thirty-nine years, and that year began on the First Day of the Week (Sunday). According to HIPPOLYTUS, and JOHN, and MAR JACOB, the total is five thousand five hundred and fifty years; according [48] to EUSEBIUS five thousand two hundred, and thirty-two; according to the SYRIANS four thousand one hundred and fifty-six; according to AFRICANUS, five thousand five hundred and thirty-two; and according to others five thousand three hundred and twenty years; and in the chronology which many hold to, five thousand five hundred and nine (nineteen?); and according to ANDRONICUS, it was in the year three hundred and forty-two of the GREEKS (A.D. 31).

GAIUS CAESAR

After TIBERIUS CAESAR, GAIUS CAESAR [reigned] four years. That AGRIPPA, who was called 'HEROD', was the son of ARISTOBULUS, the son of HEROD, the slayer of the children, by MARY, the daughter of HYRCANUS, the chief of the priests. When in the days of TIBERIUS he went up to ROME to lay an accusation against HEROD the Tetrarch, that is to say, ANTIPATOS(ANTIPATRUS), he was put in prison. And whilst he was fettered he used to pray that GAIUS might become king. Therefore when GAIUS reigned he gave him the principalities of PHILIP and of LUSANIA, and because of this HERODIAS cursed HEROD ANTIPATOS (ANTIPATRUS), saying that, because she had not gone to Caesar 'thou hast been deprived of governorship. For if AGRIPPA, who was of the common folk, became a governor, how much more ought thou, who wast of the tetrarchship, to become one?' And because of this, when GAIUS went up to ROME to receive the kingdom, he was wroth, and he drove him forth into exile with his wife, and there they died. And when this AGRIPPA reigned, in his first year, he slew JAMES, not the brother of our Lord [but the son of ZABHDAI (ZEBEDEE)], of whom PAUL maketh mention [I Cor. xv. 7]; and he was crowned (i.e, martyred) on a cork tree, and not by the sword of AGRIPPA.
And at that time FELIX, the Eparch of EGYPT, was sent, and he afflicted the JEWS for seven years. and because of this ambassadors were sent to GAIUS that they might break him, namely JOSEPHUS, the wise man, and PHILO the Hebrew philosopher, who was from ALEXANDRIA. And GAIUS in his fourth year commanded PATRONUS, the Eparch of SYRIA, to set up images of himself in the Temple and in the synagogues of the JEWS, and thus was fulfilled what DANIEL [wrote] concerning the polluted sign which stood in the Holy Place [Daniel xi. 3 I I. And when AGRIPPA had reigned in his kingdom for three full years he came to CAESAREA, and made a festival of theatricals representing the life of CAESAR. And on the second day of the theatricals he put on a garment in which was sewn silver [threads], and he came in the dawn to the theatre, and when the first rays of the sun fell [49] upon the silver it sparkled in a most wonderful fashion, whereupon his adulators called him 'God'. And because he did not restrain them he was smitten with a stroke, and after five days he came to an end.

CLAUDIUS CAESAR

After GAIUS CAESAR, CLAUDIUS CAESAR [reigned] fourteen years. In his time a revolt took place in JERUSALEM, on the day of the feast of the Passover. And whilst the people were crowded together in a dense mass at the exits of the Temple three myriads of JEWS were trampled under foot, each by the other, and died. And a great famine took place throughout the inhabited world, and the prophecy of 'AGHABHOS (Agabus), which is in the Book of PRAXIS [Acts xi. ~8; xxi. 10], was fulfilled. And the disciples who were in ANTIOCH, according to the sufficiency which was in their hands, divided up their possessions and sent [gifts] to the poor who were in JERUSALEM. And PHILO, the wise man, met the apostle PETER when he was preaching in ROME, and he wrote about those who became disciples of the Faith which is in our Lord, and who had stripped themselves of the possessions and anxiety of [this] world. None of them ate food before the sun set. They adjudged the cultivation of wisdom to be like unto the light, and the necessary care and use of the body to be like unto darkness. Some among them only ate food every second day, and some only every third day, and there were others who only ate every sixth or seventh day.
At this time a certain EGYPTIAN, a lying prophet, came to JUDEA, and he led astray after him three myriads of men. And having marched them round in the desert he brought them to the MOUNT OF OLIVES, and he wished to take JERUSALEM. Then came FELIX and a battle took place, and the EGYPTIAN fled and his force perished. And because of this it was said to PAUL by the Chiliarch, 'Wert not thou thyself that Egyptian?' [Acts xxi. 38], &c.

NERO CAESAR

After CLAUDIUS CAESAR, NERO CAESAR [reigned] fourteen years. He sent FESTUS and dismissed FELIX. And he was the first one who set up the persecution of the Christians in which PETER and PAUL testified in ROME and were crowned (i.e. suffered martyrdom). In the thirteenth year of NERO the JEWS rebelled, and NERO sent [against them] VESPASIAN and TITUS his son. And in one year, in the month of HAZIRAN (JUNE), TITUS captured the city of YOTOPATA (IOTOPATA) because he heard that JOSEPHUS, the scribe, the son of MATTAI the priest, who was the captain of the host of the JEWS, was there. And when he was taken he prophesied concerning the death of [50] NERO and who was going to reign after him. Therefore TITUS did not kill him. Now this JOSEPHUS was not KAYAFA (CAIAPHAS), as some men have thought, for CAIAPHAS was also called JOSEPHUS.
And after these things the ROMANS encircled JERUSALEM, and whilst VESPASIAN was occupied in the war against JERUSALEM, the report of the death of NERO arrived, and of the tyrant OTHO, who stood for three months, and he killed him, and of VITALLIANUS, the tyrant, who stood for eIght months. Him the ROMANS slew in the middle of the city. Then the Roman troops who were with VESPASIAN proclaimed him king, and he committed the war against JERUSALEM to TITUS his son, who went to ALEXANDRIA and subjugated it, and [then] departed by sea to ROME.

VESPASIAN CAESAR

After NERO CAESAR, VESPASIAN CAESAR [reigned] ten years. It was he who built the CAPITOLIUM. And he made the CIRCUS in ALEXANDRIA, the length of which was one hundred and twenty-five feet. And TITUS his son, on the fourteenth day of the month of NISAN (APRIL), in the three hundred and eighty-second year of the GREEKS (i.e. A.D. 71), encamped against JERUSALEM; he captured it on the eighth day of the month of ILOL (SEPTEMBER), and destroyed it completely in the second year of VESPASIAN. He burnt the Temple on the tenth day of the month of 'AB (AUGUST), before the city was captured, the same day on which the Temple was burnt in the days of ZEDEKIAH. From ADAM to this final overthrow was five thousand four hundred and thirty-seven years, but according to others five thousand two hundred and three years. And from the building of the Temple to the destruction thereof was ten hundred and ninety-five years, and from the year of the PASSION forty years. And, according to others, five thousand five hundred and eighty-five years, and after the PASSION thirty-three years, in the year of the GREEKS three hundred and twenty-three (2).
And if, as JOSEPHUS saith, the Passover took place on the twelfth day of NISAN (APRIL), and the Resurrection on the fifteenth day, it must be the three hundred and eighty-first year of the GREEKS. And how many people perished therein! This same JOSEPHUS saith, 'On the day of the Passover they offered up two hundred and fifty thousand rams, and around each ram twenty men were gathered together. And these were people ceremonially pure, for the unclean, and the people with fluxes, and the children did not eat. Sixty thousand men were killed in the war, and one million one hundred thousand perished through hunger, [51] and one hundred thousand people were sold as slaves, and the rest were distributed about as menials for service. This is the terrible calamity which came to the JEWS in JERUSALEM. As concerning the great tribulation which took place in the city, and the calamities which the JEWS suffered in bondage, JOSEPHUS describes very many of them, the which a small treatise like this cannot contain.

TITUS

After VESPASIAN, TITUS his son [reigned] two years. The Senate proclaimed this man to be 'God', and having accepted the proclamation which thus styled him, he died suddenly.

DOMITIAN CAESAR

After TITUS CAESAR, DOMITIAN CAESAR, his brother, [reigned] sixteen years. This Emperor drove the CHALDEANS and the philosophers out of ROME, and he commanded that no vine should be planted in the city, and he prohibited the castration of the male. CORNELIA, the priestess, a virgin, was accused ot unchastity, and she was buried alive. And as the Gospel of CHRIST was increasing mightily, PATROPILOS (PATROPHILUS) the philosopher said unto URSINOS his master, 'What is this? THEODORE, the chief of the sages in ATHENS, and AFRICANUS, the Alexandrian philosopher, and MARTINUS irom BADU (BARDU?), and many others worship a man who was crucified, and though they are not rewarded with riches, they are mighty in word and deed.' And he replied, 'Yea, even the gods and their priests become disciples of His. The fact that His disciples do not give themselves up to the hateful habits of sin testifieth that their doctrine is the best of all doctrines.' And when DOMITIAN heard these things he marvelled, and he brought the persecution to an end. At this time APOLLONIUS, that is PILARE (PHILARIUS), exhibited talismatas (i.e. the art of magic), and he performed everything by means of devils, and he used to say, 'Woe is me! For the Son of MARY hath obtained pre-eminence over me "(or, anticipated me).

NERVA CAESAR

After DOMITIAN CAESAR, NERVA CAESAR [reigned] one year. Then he fell sick, and his body rotted, and he died in the garden of SALLUST.

TRAJAN CAESAR

After NERVA CAESAR, TRAJAN CAESAR [reigned] nineteen years. He stirred up the persecution of the Christians in which SIMON, the son of CLEOPHAS of JERUSALEM, and JOHN the Apostle, and IGNATIUS of ANTIOCH were crowned (i.e. suffered martyrdom), and PLINIUS SECUNDUS, the Eparch, killed many Christians. And when he saw how many they were, he was greatly troubled, and he wrote [52] to TRAJAN, saying, 'No other offence can be urged against the Christians except that they do not wish to offer sacrifice to idols; they abhor adultery and murder and every disgraceful act'. And when CAESAR learned these things he commanded that they should not be searched for, but that whenever anyone of them was discovered he should be proceeded against until he offered sacrifice. And in the tenth year of TRAJAN, GALEN the physician was born, and at the end of his reign the JEWS who were in CYPRUS uprooted the city of SALOMONI (SALAMINA), and slew the GREEKS (YAWNAYE) who were therein. And the JEWS also who were in LYDIA stirred up to revolt the GREEKS who were therein, and thus also did the JEWS who were in CYRENAICA, and in THEBES (THEBAID?), and in ALEXANDRIA and in BETH NAHRIN (MESOPOTAMIA). And the JEWS who were in EGYPT rebelled, and set up for themselves a king whose name was LUMPIS, and he governed them and came to JUDEA. Now the JEWS conquered in every place. And BASILIDES, the head of the heresy of the GNOSTICS, that is to say, the worshippers of the serpent, became celebrated.

HADRIAN CAESAR

After TRAJAN CAESAR, HADRIAN CAESAR [reigned] twenty-one years. When he reigned, he abolished liability for debts, and he remitted many tributes to many peoples, and he burnt the documents on which the debts (or, liabilities) of cities were recorded. In the fourth year of his reign the sovereignty of EDESSSA ceased, and governors administered affairs there as in every other place. And in his fifth year he brought the river PISOS (KEPISOS to 'ALOSINA, and made for it a bridge, and he wintered in ATHENS.
And in his time there became famous CLAUDIUS PTOLEMY the astronomer, who made the Book of MAGISTI and called it 'SYNTAXIS'; and GALEN, the physician, who learoed and taught, and SECUNDUS, the silent philosopher. [At the last named] HADRIAN marvelled, and wished to break his silence, but SECUNDUS maintained it until his death.
And a certain Jew , whose name was BAR KAWKEBHA, rebelled in JUDEA, and he used to carry off and kill those who would not agree with him. The Emperor sent troops and destroyed the JEWS; and he uprooted JERUSALEM thoroughly. And they built there a city and called it 'HELlOS HADRIANUS', and they settled aliens therein. And he bound the ears of the JEWS, and he made a law that they were not to look upon that place, even from a distance. [53] And the Christian philosophers KURTOS (QUADRATUS?) and ARISTIDES, the ATHENIANS, wrote an Apologiafor the doctrine of the Christians. And SAYRAINOS (SERENUS) the governor wrote to the Emperor [saying], 'It is not right to kill them merely because of the name Ch;istian, without any blameworthy act'; and the Emperor wrote, 'Unless there is a reason for condemnation they shall not die'. And in his days the First Council in NICEA was gathered together, namely forty-three bishops; and they excommunicated SABELLIUS, who said, 'One Person of the Trinity', and VALENTlNUS, who confessed that our Lord brought a body for Himself from heaven.

TITUS ANTONINUS CAESAR

After HADRIAN CAESAR, TITUS ANTONINUS CAESAR, who was called EUSEBIUS, and was named 'Righteous' and 'Father of the Country'--he and his sons [reigned] twenty-two years. This Emperor commanded that the Christians should not be persecuted. And in his time GALEN flourished. And that he did not live in the time of our Lord, as some men think, is known from GALEN'S own words. For he saith in the beginning of the First Chapter, which treateth of fissures (or, wounds), 'I composed the first book of fissures when I went up. to ROME the first time'. And he saith also in his exposition of PLATO'S Book of PEDON (PHAEDO), 'We have seen these men who are called "NAZRAYE" (NAZARENES), who found their Faith upon Divine indications (or, inspirations) and miracles, and they are in no wise inferior to those who are in truth philosophers. For they love purity (or, chastity), and they are constant in Fasting, and they are zealous in avoiding the committal of wrong, and there are among them some who during the whole course of their lives never indulge in carnal intercourse. I say that this is a sign of the monastic life which became famous after the Ascension of our Lord, during the period of one hundred years'. Now the total of the years from the Ascension of our Lord to the death of GALEN, according to the accurate opinion of chronographers, is one hundred and sixty years.Now this GALEN came from the city of PERGAMUS, and he wrote many books on the craft of the physician. and of these about one hundred works are extant. He revived the Hippocratic system of medicine which had fallen into disuse (or , become antiquated). And when he was told about the mighty deeds and healings which [54] CHRIST, our Lord, used to do, he said, 'I have no doubt whatsoever that He doeth these things by means of the Divine Power'. And he asked, 'Doth any man of His disciples still remain?' And it was 'told him, 'Such remaineth in JERUSALEM'; and he rose up to go to JERUSALEM. And when he arrived in SICILY he died there at the age of eighty-eight years. And at the beginning [of his career] GALEN became a pupil of 'ELYANOS (AELIANUS) the physician, who, a pestilence having broken out among the people of ANTIOCH, took 'theriake' and went there, and made the people drink it. And of those who drank it after they had fallen sick some were saved and some of them perished; and of those who drank before the sickness [attacked them] all of them escaped.CLAUDIUS PTOLEMY [wrote] many books on the science of astronomy, and of these the most famous are the great Book of SYNTAXIS, and the Book of GEOGRAPHY, and the Book of FRUIT, and the Book of ASTROLOGY in four discourses. He was the first who made the planisphere, i.e. the brazen sphere which was the similitude of the heavens. At this time flourished ALEXNDER, the APHRODISITE, who translated the books of ARISTOTLE; now his translations were very famous among the GREEKS, and they still are among the SYRIANS and SARACENS (or, Arabs). And many disputatioris, and debates, and investigations are attributed to him and to GALEN. And he gave GALEN the nickname of 'mule-head', because of the strength of his head at the time of disputation and debate. THEON, the geometrician, the ALEXANDRIAN, also lived at this time. He was the author of some books which are famous throughout nearly the whole world, viz. the Book of the WORKING OF THE BRAZEN CIRCLES, by means of which the observations of stellar motions are perfected, and the Book of the CANON, by means of which one placeth the observations of the changing reckoning of the tropical positions face to face with those which cleave thereto every eighty years one degree, up to eight divisions and then come back. This was not thought possible by PTOLEMY because, with the exception of this addition. the reckonings (or, computations) agree with the indications which are made by means of the instruments for observations. [And THEON also wrote] the Book of ISAGOGE, that is to say, an introduction to the Syntaxis of PTOLEMY.

MARCUS AURELIUS CAESAR

After TITUS ANTONlNUS CAESAR, MARCUS AURELIUS CAESAR, and his sons, [reigned] [55] nineteen years. In the beginning of his reign WALGASH, king of the PARTHIANS, laid waste many of the provinces of the ROMANS, and the sons of MARCUS AURELIUS ANTONlNUS and LUCIUS went and brought the PARTHIANS into subjection. And the ROMANS made war on the GARMANAYE, and the KWARAO (KODAYE?), and the SARMATAYE (SARMATIANS), and the DAKAS, and LUCIUS triumphed over them and was called 'Autocrator'; and after nine years he died. Then ANTONINUS his brother associated his son COMMODUS with him in the kingdom; and ANTONINUS fell sick in PANNONIA and died. And his son COMMODUS, having ruled thirteen years, was strangled in the house of VESTILIANUS. And lightning fell on the Capitolium, and burnt up the Library, and the Palace, and the House of the Virgins.

PERTINAX

After MARCUS CAESAR and his sons PERTINAX [reigned] six months, and was killed.

SEVERIANUS CAESAR

After PERTINAX CAESAR, SEVERIANUS CAESAR [reigned] eighteen years. In the first year of his reign a fierce war between the JEWS and the SAMARITANS took place, and from the ninth year of his reign to the end of his life he persecuted the Christians cruelly and continually, and many of them bore witness and were crowned (i.e. suffered martyrdom). And whilst marching against a barbarous people, who lived on the skirts of the mountains to the west [and] north, and who harried greatly the ROMANS who were on their borders, he died. In other manuscripts [it is said that] he was killed.

ANTONINUS CAESAR

After SEVERIANUS CAESAR, ANTONINUS CAESAR his son [reigned] four (seven?) years. This Emperor removed the ban of exile on those who had been banished because of their Faith: he was killed in BETH NAHRIN MESOPOTAMIA) between HARRAN and EDESSA.

MACRINUS CAESAR

After ANTONINUS CAESAR, MACRINUS CAESAR [reigned] one year; and in that year the CIRCUSES of IPASTIA (HEPHAISTIA) which were in ROME were, burnt down, and he was killed in 'ARKELAIS (ARCHELAIS).

ANTONINUS CAESAR

After MACRINUS CAESAR, ANTONINUS CAESAR, who was from ALYOGALA (ALYOGABAL?), [reigned] four years. In his time NIKOPOLIS of PALESTINE, that is to say EMMAUS, was built; it stood on the building of JULIUS AFRICANUS the chronographer.

ALEXANDER CAESAR BAR MARNA

After ANTONINUS CAESAR, ALEXANDER CAESAR BAR MARNA [reigned] thirteen years. This MARNA believed on Christ, and helped the Christians greatly. In his third year, which is the year [56] five hundred and forty-two of the GREEKS, 'ARDASHIR the son of PABAK, reigned over PERSIA, and another kingdom of the PERSIANS which is called BETH SASAN began, and it continued for four hundred and eighteen years, until the kingdom of the Arabs arose and ended it.

MAXIMlNUS CAESAR

After ALEXANDER CAESAR, MAXIMlNUS CAESAR [reigned] three years. This Emperor, because of his hatred of his predecessor, stirred up a persecution of the Christians, and SERGIUS and BACCHUS, who had been sent to MESOPOTAMIA, and CYPRIAN the bishop and many others, bore witness and were crowned with martyrdom. [This went on] until MAXIMlNUS was killed in KWENA (AQUILEIA?).

(1) Bedjan's note reads, 'Doctors agree general1y in stating that our Lord Jesus Christ was born in the three hundred and eleventh year of the Greeks, and we keep to this date throughout this book'.
(2) Bedjan does not accept these figures, for he considers them incorrect; he thinks that the correct number is either 373 or 383 years.

Ο εποικισμός της Θράκης από τους Τερβίγκους (Βησιγότθους) το 376 μ.Χ

Ο Αμμιανός Μαρκελλίνος ήταν ιστορικός ελληνικής καταγωγής που έζησε τον 4ο μ.Χ αιώνα. Είναι γνωστός για το έργο του "Res Gestae" (Πράξεις), το οποίο είναι γραμμένο στην Λατινική.

Η διήγηση του Αμμιανού Μαρκελλίνου, για το πως επετράπη το 376 μ.Χ στους Τερβίγκους Γότθους να περάσουν ειρηνικά στα νότια του Δουνάβεως και να εγκατασταθούν στα ρωμαϊκά εδάφη, συγκλονίζει. Προβλέπει τα δεινά που θα φέρουν στην αυτοκρατορία και όντως το 378 μ.Χ ο στρατός του αυτοκράτορος Βάλη, που τους επέτρεψε να εισέλθουν ειρηνικά, υπέστη τρομακτική ήττα στην Αδριανούπολη από τους Γότθους. Στη συνέχεια η πάλη για την επικράτηση, μεταξύ των Τερβίγκων Γότθων (Βησιγότθων) και των ανατολικορωμαίων στο Ανατολικό Ρωμαϊκό κράτος θα αποδειχτεί λυσσαλέα και αιματηρή. Στο απόσπασμα που παρατίθεται ο Αμμιανός Μαρκελλίνος γράφει για την συμφωνία μετεγκατάστασης και τις πρώτες τριβές. 

Το κείμενο είναι από Αγγλική μετάφραση:

A.D. 376.

§ 1. ACCORDINGLY, under the command of their leader Alavivus, they occupied the banks of the Danube; and having sent ambassadors to Valens, they humbly entreated to be received by him as his subjects, promising to live quietly, and to furnish a body of auxiliary troops if any necessity for such a force should arise.2. While these events were passing in foreign countries, a terrible rumour arose that the tribes of the north were planning new and unprecedented attacks upon us: and that over the whole region which extends from the country of the Marcomanni and Quadi to Pontus, a barbarian host composed of different distant nations, which had suddenly been driven by force from their own country, was now, with all their families, wandering about in different directions on the banks of the river Danube.3. At first this intelligence was lightly treated by our people, because they were not in the habit of hearing of any wars in those remote districts till they were terminated either by victory or by treaty.4. But presently, as the belief in these occurrences grew stronger, being confirmed, too, by the arrival of the foreign ambassadors, who, with prayers and earnest entreaties, begged that the people thus driven from their homes and now encamped on the other side of the river, might be kindly received by us, the affair seemed a cause of joy rather than of fear, according to the skilful flatterers who were always extolling and exaggerating the good fortune[Pg 586] of the emperor; congratulating him that an embassy had come from the furthest corners of the earth unexpectedly, offering him a large body of recruits; and that, by combining the strength of his own nation with these foreign forces, he would have an army absolutely invincible; observing further that, by the yearly payment for military reinforcements which came in every year from the provinces, a vast treasure of gold might be accumulated in his coffers.5. Full of this hope he sent forth several officers to bring this ferocious people and their waggons into our territory. And such great pains were taken to gratify this nation which was destined to overthrow the empire of Rome, that not one was left behind, not even of those who were stricken with mortal disease. Moreover, having obtained permission of the emperor to cross the Danube and to cultivate some districts in Thrace, they crossed the stream day and night, without ceasing, embarking in troops on board ships and rafts, and canoes made of the hollow trunks of trees, in which enterprise, as the Danube is the most difficult of all rivers to navigate, and was at that time swollen with continual rains, a great many were drowned, who, because they were too numerous for the vessels, tried to swim across, and in spite of all their exertions were swept away by the stream.6. In this way, through the turbulent zeal of violent people, the ruin of the Roman empire was brought on. This, at all events, is neither obscure nor uncertain, that the unhappy officers who were intrusted with the charge of conducting the multitude of the barbarians across the river, though they repeatedly endeavoured to calculate their numbers, at last abandoned the attempt as hopeless: and the man who would wish to ascertain the number might as well (as the most illustrious of poets[190] says) attempt to count the waves in the African sea, or the grains of sand tossed about by the zephyr.7. Let, however, the ancient annals be accredited which record that the Persian host which was led into Greece, was, while encamped on the shores of the Hellespont, and making a new and artificial sea,[191] numbered in battalions[Pg 587] at Doriscus; a computation which has been unanimously regarded by all posterity as fabulous.8. But after the innumerable multitudes of different nations, diffused over all our provinces, and spreading themselves over the vast expanse of our plains, who filled all the champaign country and all the mountain ranges, are considered, the credibility of the ancient accounts is confirmed by this modern instance. And first of all Fritigern was received with Alavivus; and the emperor assigned them a temporary provision for their immediate support, and ordered lands to be assigned them to cultivate.9. At that time the defences of our provinces were much exposed, and the armies of barbarians spread over them like the lava of Mount Etna. The imminence of our danger manifestly called for generals already illustrious for their past achievements in war: but nevertheless, as if some unpropitious deity had made the selection, the men who were sought out for the chief military appointments were of tainted character. The chief among them were Lupicinus and Maximus, the one being Count of Thrace, the other a leader notoriously wicked—and both men of great ignorance and rashness.10. And their treacherous covetousness was the cause of all our disasters. For (to pass over other matters in which the officers aforesaid, or others with their unblushing connivance, displayed the greatest profligacy in their injurious treatment of the foreigners dwelling in our territory, against whom no crime could be alleged) this one melancholy and unprecedented piece of conduct (which, even if they were to choose their own judges, must appear wholly unpardonable) must be mentioned.11. When the barbarians who had been conducted across the river were in great distress from want of provisions, those detested generals conceived the idea of a most disgraceful traffic: and having collected hounds from all quarters with the most insatiable rapacity, they exchanged them for an equal number of slaves, among whom were several sons of men of noble birth.12. About this time also, Vitheric, the king of the Gruthungi, with Alatheus and Saphrax, by whose influence he was mainly guided, and also with Farnobius, approached the bank of the Danube, and sent envoys to the emperor[Pg 588] to entreat that he also might be received with the same kindness that Alavivus and Fritigern had experienced.13. But when, as seemed best for the interests of the state, these ambassadors had been rejected, and were in great anxiety as to what they should do, Athanaric, fearing similar treatment, departed; recollecting that long ago when he was discussing a treaty of alliance with Valens, he had treated that emperor with contempt, in affirming that he was bound by a religious obligation never to set his foot on the Roman territory; and that by this excuse he had compelled the emperor to conclude a peace in the middle of the war. And he, fearing that the grudge which Valens bore him for this conduct was still lasting, withdrew with all his forces to Caucalandes, a place which, from the height of its mountains and the thickness of its woods, is completely inaccessible; and from which he had lately driven out the Sarmatians.V.§ 1. BUT the Thuringians, though they had some time since received permission to cross the river, were still wandering up and down the banks, being hindered by a twofold obstacle; first, that in consequence of the mischievous dissimulation of the said generals they were not supplied with the necessary provisions; and also because they were designedly detained that they might the more easily be plundered under the wicked semblance of traffic.2. And when they ascertained these facts, they began to grumble, and proposed to resist the evils which they apprehended from the treachery of these men by open force; and Lupicinus, who feared that they would resist, brought up his troops close to them, in order to compel them to be gone with all possible rapidity.3. The Gruthungi seized this as a favourable opportunity, and seeing that the Roman soldiers were occupied in another quarter, and that the vessels which used to go up and down, to prevent them from crossing, were now stationary, crossed the river on roughly-made rafts, and pitched their camp at a great distance from Fritigern.4. But he, by his innate foresight, provided against[Pg 589] everything that could happen, and marching on slowly as well in obedience to the commands he had received as to allow time for other powerful kings to join him, came by slow marches to Marcianopolis, arriving later than he was expected. And here another atrocious occurrence took place, which kindled the torches of the Furies for general calamity.5. Alavivus and Fritigern were invited to a banquet; while Lupicinus drew up his soldiers against the chief host of the barbarians, and so kept them at a distance from the walls of the town; though they with humble perseverance implored admission in order so to procure necessary provisions, professing themselves loyal and obedient subjects. At last a serious strife arose between the citizens and the strangers who were thus refused admittance, which gradually led to a regular battle. And the barbarians, being excited to an unusual pitch of ferocity when they saw their relations treated as enemies, began to plunder the soldiers whom they had slain.