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Ecclesiastical History Of Sozomen

Salamanes Hermias Sozomenos

This comprehensive work is a history of the Church in late Antiquity, from the reign of Constantine the Great (306-337) to Theodosius II (408-450). The last part of the text, after the death of Honorius (423), is lost. Like its contemporary and spiritual twin, the Ecclesiastical History of Socrates Scholasticus, it strives to continue the work of Eusebius Pamphilus' Ecclesiastical History. About 3/4 of the history is drawn from Socrates. But Sozomen didn't merely copy, he often went back to Socrates' sources and included extra material. Other authorities include: Eusebius Pamphilus, Athanasius, Rufinus, Sabinus, and Olympiodorus. The history abounds with stories of early Christians, martyrs and confessors, leaders and heretics. It describes a time in which theological differences, considered minute even by contemporaries, frequently explode into widespread violence. It shows the supposedly all-powerful emperors who, only a few decades previous, had tried to suppress and eradicate Christianity, are now forced to rely on its leaders to maintain civil cohesion. The deep sadness of his words belies the fact that, even as Sozomen depicts the rise to pre-eminence of Christendom throughout Western civilization and beyond, he is also documenting the decline and imminent fall of the Western Roman Empire. - Summary by ARodrigo