E04013: Socrates in his Ecclesiastical History reports that, in 400, the emperor Arcadius and the Gothic leader Gainas took oaths of non-aggression at the shrine of *Euphemia (martyr of Chalcedon, S00017) at Chalcedon, near Cosntantinople. Later, Gainas was prevented by angels from torching the imperial palace in Constantinople, and settled at the shrine of *John (the Baptist S00020, or the Evangelist S00042) at Hebdomon, pretending to suffer from a demon. Written in Greek at Constantinople, 439/446.

Socrates, Ecclesiastical History, 6.6.9-23

9. Τοῦ δὲ ἐξαιτοῦντος δύο τῶν πρώτων τῆς συγκλήτου ἄνδρας ἀπὸ ὑπάτων, οὓς ὑπενόει ἐκκόψειν αὐτοῦ τὰς ὁρμάς, Σατορνίλον καὶ Αὐρηλιανόν, ἄκων αὐτοὺς τῇ ἀνάγκῃ τοῦ καιροῦ παρεῖχεν ὁ βασιλεύς. 10. Καὶ οἱ μὲν ὑπὲρ τοῦ κοινοῦ προαποθνῄσκειν αἱρούμενοι γενναίως τῇ τοῦ βασιλέως κελεύσει ὑπήκουον καὶ πόρρω τῆς Χαλκηδόνος ἐν χωρίῳ ἱπποδρόμῳ <καλουμένῳ> ὑπήντων, ἕτοιμοι πάσχειν πᾶν ὁτιοῦν ὁ βάρβαρος ἤθελεν. 11. Ἀλλ’ οὗτοι μὲν οὐδὲν φαῦλον ὑπέμειναν, ὁ δὲ ἀκκιζόμενος παρῆν ἐπὶ τὴν Χαλκηδόνα, ἀπήντα δὲ ἐκεῖσε καὶ ὁ βασιλεὺς Ἀρκάδιος. 12. Γενόμενοί τε ἐν τῷ μαρτυρίῳ, ἔνθα τὸ σῶμα τῆς μάρτυρος Εὐφημίας ἀπόκειται, ὅρκοις ἐπιστοῦντο ἀλλήλους ὅ τε βασιλεὺς καὶ ὁ βάρβαρος ἦ μὴν μὴ ἐπιβουλεύσειν ἀλλήλοις. 13. Ἀλλ’ ὁ μὲν βασιλεύς, εὔορκός τις ἀνὴρ καὶ διὰ τοῦτο θεοφιλής, τοῖς ὅρκοις ἐνέμεινεν, Γαϊνᾶς δὲ παρεσπόνδει τε καὶ τοῦ οἰκείου σκοποῦ οὐκ ἐξέβαινεν, ἀλλ’ ἐμπρησμούς τε καὶ λαφυραγωγίας ἐμελέτα ποιήσασθαι κατά τε τῆς Κωνσταντινουπόλεως καὶ καθ’ ὅλης, εἰ δύναιτο, τῆς Ῥωμαίων ἀρχῆς. 14. Βεβαρβάρωτο γοῦν ἡ πόλις ὑπὸ τῶν πολλῶν μυριάδων <τῶν Γότθων>, καὶ οἱ αὐτῆς οἰκήτορες ἐν αἰχμαλώτων μοίρᾳ ἐγένοντο. 15. Τοσοῦτος δὲ ἦν ὁ ἐπικρεμασθεὶς τῇ πόλει κίνδυνος, ὡς καὶ κομήτην μέγιστον ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ μέχρι τῆς γῆς διήκοντα, καὶ οἷον οὐδεὶς ἐθεάσατο πρότερον, μηνύειν αὐτόν. 16. Ὁ μέντοι Γαϊνᾶς πρῶτον μὲν ἐπειράθη ἀνέδην διαρπαγὴν τοῦ δημοσίᾳ ἐν τοῖς ἐργαστηρίοις πωλουμένου ἀργύρου ποιήσασθαι. 17. Ὡς δὲ φήμης προμηνυσάσης τὴν ἔφοδον ἐφυλάξαντο προθεῖναι ἐν ταῖς τραπέζαις τὸν ἄργυρον, αὖθις ἐπὶ ἑτέραν ἐχώρει βουλήν, καὶ νυκτὸς μεσούσης ἐκπέμπει πλῆθος βαρβάρων ἐπὶ τὸ ἐμπρῆσαι τὰ βασίλεια. 18. Τότε δὴ καὶ ἐδείχθη περιφανῶς, ὅπως ὁ Θεὸς πρόνοιαν ἐποιεῖτο τῆς πόλεως· ἀγγέλων γὰρ πλῆθος ὤφθη τοῖς ἐπιβουλεύουσιν ἐν σχήματι ὁπλιτῶν μεγάλα ἐχόντων τὰ σώματα. 19. Οὓς ὑποτοπήσαντες οἱ βάρβαροι ἀληθῶς εἶναι στρατὸν πολὺν καὶ γενναῖον, καταπλαγέντες ὑπανεχώρησαν. 20. Ὡς δὲ ἀγγελθὲν τοῦτο τῷ Γαϊνᾷ πέρα πίστεως κατεφαίνετο (ἠπίστατο γὰρ μὴ παρεῖναι τὸ πολὺ τῶν Ῥωμαίων ὁπλιτικόν· κατὰ τὰς πόλεις γὰρ ἐνίδρυτο), πέμπει καὶ αὖθις ἑτέρους τῇ τε ἐχομένῃ νυκτὶ καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα πολλάκις. 21. Ὡς δὲ καὶ διαφόρως ἀποστείλαντι τὰ αὐτὰ ἀπηγγέλλετο, (ἀεὶ γὰρ οἱ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἄγγελοι τὴν αὐτὴν τοῖς ἐπιβουλεύουσιν παρεῖχον φαντασίαν), τέλος αὐτὸς σὺν πλήθει πολλῷ προσελθὼν πεῖραν λαμβάνει τοῦ θαύματος. 22. Ὑπονοήσας δὲ ἀληθῶς στρατιωτῶν εἶναι πλῆθος καὶ τοῦτο δι’ ἡμέρας μὲν λανθάνειν, νύκτωρ δὲ πρὸς τὴν αὐτοῦ ἐπιχείρησιν ἀντέχειν, τεχνάζεται βούλησιν, ὡς μὲν ἐνόμιζεν, Ῥωμαίους βλάπτουσαν, ἐπωφελῆ δέ, ὡς ἡ ἔκβασις ἔδειξεν. 23. Ὑποκρινόμενος γὰρ δαιμονᾶν ὡς εὐξόμενος τὸ μαρτύριον τοῦ ἀποστόλου Ἰωάννου (ἑπτὰ δὲ σημείοις ἀπέχει τοῦτο τῆς πόλεως) καταλαμβάνει.

‘Gainas asked for two of the most distinguished members of the senate, the former consuls Satornilos and Aurelianos, whom he suspected as likely to spoil his plans. The emperor delivered them against his own will, yielding to the pressure of the situation. The two men, preferring to die for the common good, bravely obeyed the emperor's orders and met the barbarian at a place near Chalcedon, which is called Hippodrome, being ready to endure whatever the barbarian would choose to do to them. Yet they suffered no harm, and Gainas, pretending that everything was well, came to Chalcedon where the emperor Arcadius also went to meet him. Both the emperor and the barbarian visited the shrine where the body of the martyr Euphemia rests, and they reassured one another on oath that neither would attempt to harm the other. The emperor, being a man who honoured his oaths and therefore dear to God, remained faithful to his commitment, but Gainas violated it and did not swerve from his original purpose. On the contrary, he was planning to burn down and plunder Constantinople and, if he could, the whole Roman Empire. The city was indeed taken over by myriads of barbarians, and its residents were reduced to a state of captivity. The danger threatening the city was so great that it was indicated by a huge comet, reaching from heaven to earth, such as no one had ever seen before. Gainas first shamelessly attempted to make seizure of the silver displayed for sale at the workshops. Yet a rumour made his raid known in advance, and they avoided putting the silverware out on display. He therefore proceeded with another plan, and, in the middle of the night, sent a vast group of barbarians to torch the palace. Then, however, it became plainly clear that God was protecting the city. A multitude of angels appeared to the attackers in the form of armed men of gigantic stature. The barbarians, believing that these were a large and valiant regiment of troops, were terrified and turned away. When this was reported to Gainas, he could not believe it—for he knew that the greatest part of the Roman army was not present in the capital, but was stationed in the cities—and he sent others on the following night and several other times afterwards. Since all the different groups he sent returned reporting the same thing—for the angels of God kept presenting the same vision to the attackers—he came with a great multitude and experienced the prodigy himself. Then believing that what he had seen was indeed a body of soldiers, which was kept secret by day, but was marshalled against his ventures by night, he conceived a plan which he thought to be detrimental to the Romans, but its outcome proved it to be greatly to their advantage. Pretending to suffer from a demon, he arrived at the shrine of John the Apostle, which is seven miles distant from the city, supposedly in order to pray (…).’

Text: Hansen 1995.
Translation: E. Rizos.