The Ecclesiastical History of Evagrius Scholasticus - Coptic ...

24
EVAGRIUS
from Panopolis by barbarian soldiers to a certain Elephantine,
which is on the border of the Thebans’ eparchy, being dragged
towards it by the aforesaid military unit. 73 And, after being
crushed by the greater part of the journey, we again encountered
an unwritten instruction from your valour to return to Panopolis.
Soundly thrashed by [16] the adversities of travelling in a sick
and aged body, and crushed in both hand and side we arrived
back at Panopolis, at the last gasp, in a manner of speaking, and
still lacerated in our adversities by the troubles of pains. But
again another written command from your valour winged its
way and moved us from Panopolis to its dependent territory. 74
While reckoning that these measures against us would come to a
stop, and awaiting the decision concerning us of the gloriously
victorious emperors, suddenly yet another command was mercilessly
constructed for another exile for us, a fourth one.
And a little later:
But be satis¢ed with what has been done, I beseech, and by the
decreeing of so many banishments against a single body; 75 and
in moderation desist, I beseech, from the investigation into what
was reported by your magni¢cence and by us, through whom it
was right that it be made known to our gloriously victorious
emperors. 76 These exhortations from us are as from a father to a
son. But should you be vexed even now as before, do what you
73 Elephantine, located on the southern boundary of the province of Egypt, was about
200 miles from Panopolis; a military unit was stationed there, so that it would have been a
safer place of custody for Nestorius than the isolated Oasis.
74 This presumably means that Nestorius was prohibited from entering the nome
capital, but was allocated a speci¢c place of residence in its rural territory.
75 Although Nestorius regarded these successive moves as deliberate o⁄cial harrassment
(cf. the stories in Barhadbeshabba ch. 30, pp. 579^81), which would not have been
surprising in the light of the Egyptian Church’s attitude towards him, a plausible explanation
is that the local governor was in a quandary about how to treat his important captive:
the captivity should not be comfortable, but it would be an even greater embarrassment if
the captive were to disappear; it was perhaps also necessary to protect Nestorius from his
Egyptian enemies. According to Rufus, Plerophories 36, p. 84, Nestorius was in the fort at
Panopolis when the news of his recall by Marcian arrived in 451.
76 The construction of this sentence is complicated, and is interpreted di¡erently by BEL
and Festugie' re. Nestorius had presumably sent a report on his capture by the Blemmyes to
Theodosius, perhaps with some comments on the governor’s defence of the province and his
own subsequent treatment, and inferred that the brutal marching and countermarching was