The Ecclesiastical History of Evagrius Scholasticus - Coptic ...

190
EVAGRIUS
overcome by the Romans, and Albania and Iberia and the Colchians and
Arabs were subordinated to the Romans. And in the 123rd Olympiad
Gaius Caesar subjected with great struggles Gauls, Germans and
Britons and annexed to the Roman rule the inhabitants of 500 cities,
[142] as is recorded by the historians. He too was the ¢rst to be a
monarch after the consuls, thereby ¢rst preparing a way and introducing
in advance respect for sole rule in place of multiplicity of reverence and
mob rule, because the sole rule of Christ was all but present. At once
both the whole of Judaea and the adjacent territories were added, with
the result that there then occurred the ¢rst census, in which Christ was
also included, so that Bethlehem might publicize the ful¢lment of the
prophecy concerning it. For there was said about it by the prophet
Micah something like this: ‘And you Bethlehem, land of Judah, you are
by no means the least among the leaders of Judah. For from you will
come forth for me a leader who will guide my people Israel.’ 163
And after the birth of Christ our God, Egypt was attached to the
Romans, after Caesar Augustus, under whom Christ was born, had
completely outfought Antony and Cleopatra, who indeed made away
with themselves. After them Cornelius Gallus was appointed by
Augustus Caesar as controller of Egypt, the ¢rst man to rule Egypt after
the Ptolemies, as has been established by the writers of history. How
many times the Persians were cut down by Ventidius and Corbulo,
Nero’s general, and Severus, Trajan and Carus, Cassius and Odaenathus
of Palmyra, and Apollonius and others, how often Seleucia and Ctesiphon
were captured, and Nisibis, which shifted to either side, Armenia,
and the neighbouring nations were attached to the Romans, you narrate
as do others. 164
I almost forgot what you record that Constantine achieved, who
163 Micah 5.2, quoted at Matthew 2.6.
164 The temporal bene¢ts produced by correct worship are a recurrent theme throughout
classical history; for an example from ecclesiastical historiography, cf. Socrates vii.20,
23; Sozomen ix.16.3^4 on Theodosius II; see Krivushin ‘Socrates’ 97^9; Kaegi, Byzantium
194^201.
There are several errors in Evagrius’ survey: the Romans had turned Macedonia into a
province in the second century BC, though there were extensive campaigns in the north
Balkans under both Augustus and Tiberius; the sub-Caucasian regions of Albania, Iberia
and Colchis were never ¢rmly subordinated to Rome, at least not before the reign of Justinian;
the Olympic date for Julius Caesar’s Gallic wars is wrong, and should probably be 180,
181 or 182; Antony and Cleopatra had been overcome at Actium in 31 BC, and the Ptolemaic
dynasty came to an end in the following year.