The Ecclesiastical History of Evagrius Scholasticus - Coptic ...

40
EVAGRIUS
So, to the left-hand side of the column, 142 in the opening itself, in
company with the whole crowd which had gathered there, while the
country people were circling around the column, 143 I saw an enormous
star that ran gleaming across the whole opening, not once nor twice nor
three times but frequently indeed, constantly ceasing once more and
again suddenly appearing. 144 This occurs only at the commemorations
of the all-holy one. 145 There are some who say ^ and because of the credibility
of the reporters and because of the other things which I have
seen, there is no reason to disbelieve the miracle ^ that they have even
seen his very face indeed, £ying around here and there with a beard
hanging down and his head covered by a hood as was his custom. Thus,
on coming to the place, men gain entry without restriction and they
repeatedly go around the column with their beasts of burden, but for
whatever reason I cannot say there is a most strict watch that no woman
should visit the interior of the sanctuary. 146 The women stand outside
also not have been an appropriate location for the star (see below). Krencker’s reconstruction
of the basilica, although unfashionable since he postulated that the central octagon was
covered by a cupola, solves this particular problem (Simeon 10^15): Evagrius is referring to
openings located in the faµade of each basilica above the richly decorated arch that linked
the basilica to the octagon at ground level. Although the octagon only survives to the top of
the arches (Mango, Architecture plate 62), a set of large windows above this level would
match Evagrius’ speci¢cations and Krencker identi¢ed some carved blocks which could
have come from the decorated surrounds of these openings.
142 Evagrius probably imagines himself facing the eastern basilica, the main one since it
terminated in a triple apse, so that the following miracle occured at the entry to the northern
basilica (Festugie' re 223 n. 62).
143 Cf. Theodoret, RH 26.14, for the excited and somewhat unruly crowd which
thronged around the column during Symeon’s life. MacMullen, Christianity 103^6, connects
this with other references to the persistence of ritual dancing, in spite of clerical disapproval;
this may be right, although Evagrius might just be describing a more orderly
movement around Symeon’s column.
144 Symeon Metaphrastes (PG 114, col. 392) preserves a version of this miracle; as Allen,
Evagrius 86, noted, this is one of the few occasions that Evagrius was used as a source by
later writers.
145 The main feast day was 1 September.
146 The prohibition had applied in Symeon’s life: Theodoret, RH 26.21, records that an
Arab queen sent her infant in to be blessed since she herself was prohibited from entering;
even Symeon’s mother was not allowed to see him during her lifetime, while a sinful woman
had her prayer answered before she attempted to contravene the ban, and a female snake
waited in the women’s section while her mate approached the column to obtain the saint’s
relief for her su¡ering (Life by Antony 14, 23, 25).