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A Trial for Sorcery on August 22, A.D. 449Author(s): Ernest Honigmann

Source: Isis, Vol. 35, No. 4 (Autumn, 1944), pp. 281-284Published by: The University of Chicago Press on behalf of The History of Science SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/330839 .

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A TRIAL FOR SORCERY ON AUGUST 22, A.D. 449By ERNEST HONIGMANN

WHEN, 1500 years ago, the Vandals invaded Africaand conquered Carthage (A.D. 439), many bish-ops of the African provinces, terrified at the brutalityof the ruthless conquerors, fled to different parts ofthe Eastern Roman Empire, which a century laterwas destined to liberate these provinces from theiroppressors. The names of some of these refugeebishops appear in the lists of those who took part inthe councils of this time. One of these refugees,CYPRIANUS, appealed to the famous Church his-torian THEODORET of Cyrrus in Syria, who thenwrote a letter recommending him to his colleagueSOPHRONIUSof Constantina, beginning with thewords: "I know how willingly and generously yourright hand gives (Ka' T'O tX6&0)opovKaet T'L?eyaXo68xpov q7js r'5 e; taS ECTtaErraevos),"andasking aid for his impoverished colleague who hadformerly been charitable himself, to enable him toreach "other harbors" equipped with further lettersof recommendation.1

SOPHRONIUSwas the bishop of the Osrhoeniancity called Constantina in Greek, Tella or Tellade-Mawzelath in Syriac, and Tall Mawzan inArab; to-day its site is simply called Viransehir, theTurkish for "ruined city." 2 It is this SOPHRONIUSof Tella who, at the second session of the so-called"Robber-Council" or Latrocinium of Ephesus, onAugust 22, A.D. 449, was accused of practising themagical arts of phialomancy, tyromancy, oomancy,and other kinds of divination.The document enumerating the accusationsagainst SOPHRONIUSxists only in a Syriac transla-tion of the lost Greek minutes of this session. Thusno attention has been paid to it by those scholars whocollect and study the texts concerning ancient magicand divination, though it was translated long agointo German, French, and English.3

1THEODORETUS, pist. 53, ap. MIGNE, Patrol. Graec.,vol. LXXXIII, col. I228D-I229A.2Cf. FRAENKEL, R. E., I, col. 2571, s.V. Antoninopolis;IV, col. 953, s.v. Constantia No. 4. J. MARKWART,idar-menien und die Tigrisquellen (Vienna I930), p. 427 f.GEORGHOFFMANN, Verhandlungen der Kirchenver-sammlung zu Ephesus am 22. August 449, Universitats-Festschrift Kiel x873); reprinted ogetherwith the Syriactext by JOHANNESFLEMMING, Akten der EphesinischenSynode vom Jahre 449 syrisch mit Georg Hoffmannsdeutscher Uebersetzungund seinen Anmerkungen hrsg.,Abhandlungend. Kgl. Gesellsch d. Wissensch. u GCttin-

I give below PERRY'S English translation of theSyriac original,4 with some minor changes and afew notes. Like GEORG HOFFMANN, I add inbrackets the numbering of the folios in the SyriacMs. as well as the Greek words occurring in theSyriac text.

(Fol. 54r) Documents (virotuvqwuaTa) rawnup againstSophron(ius), bishopof the city of Tella.John, Presbyter and Prime Notary, said: Simeon,Presbyter, and Eustathius, Deacons of Tella, presentLibels (of Indictment, XA,3XXot) to your Holiness,which I hold in my hand 5 and will read, if your Greatand Blessed Synod will command it.Juvenal, Bishop of Jerusalem,said: Let them be readand be deposited along with the DocumentaryTransac-tions (rpaets of the vtro/vtjar'a).And he (John) read:To the Holy, God-loving, and CEcumenicalSynodwhich, by the Grace of God, is assembledat EphesustheMetropolis, from Simeon, Presbyter, and Cyrus andEustathius,Deacons, and the rest (of the Clergy) of theCity of Tella.We, having learnt from the Holy Fathers to acceptthose who honor God and to reject those who blas-pheme Him, pray that the Libel (of Indictment,XAlteAXos)which we bear, may be accepted, and thatthe samemay be read before your Holy and (EcumenicalSynod. Whereas, then, Sophronius,Bishop of our Cityof Tella, who is son of the paternaluncle of Hiba (Ibas),Bishop of Edessa,6 has put aside the fair name (fol. 54V)gen, phil.-hist. KI., N. F. Band XV (Berlin I917), No. I,p. 80. 82. 84 (Syriac text) i p. 8x. 83. 85 (German transl.).L'Abbe [JEAN PIERREPAULIN] MARTIN, Actes du Bri-gandage d'Aphese, Amiens 1874, p. 89-94 (extrait de laRevue des sciences ecclesiastiques). The Second Synod ofEphesus; together with certain extracts relating to it; fromSyriac MSS preserved in the British Museum, and now firstedited by the Rev. S[AMUEL] G[IDEON] F[REDERIC]PERRY, M.A., Vicar of Tottington, in the Diocese ofManchester. Syriac text (Dartford, Kent 1877); Englishversion (ibid. 1881), p. I89-I99.British Museum, cod. Syr. 905 (Add. 14. 530), foLt54r-57r. Cf. WILLIAM WRIGHT, Catalogue of the Syr.Mss. in the Brit. Museum, II, p. 1027-1030.5Translation of the Greek stera Xelpas Jyiv CrL.: ActaConciliorum Oecumenicorum, ed. EDUARD SCHWARTZ, t.II, vol. I, pars I, p. 83, 20 (Acta Chalced., I, 85) orIXw fSera Xegpas bid., pars III, p. 70 [429], i. 21. 33 (ActaChalced. XV, x6. 30. 36).6Dictionary of Christian Biography (DCB), ed. W.SMITH and H. WACE, III (1882) p. 192-196. EDUARDSCHWARTZ, Prosopographia et topographia Actorum Chal-

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Ernest Honigmannof Priest, beloved of God, and whereas he ought to havepersevered night and day in prayer, with the view toobtain pardon not only for his own personal sins butalso for those of the lay people (Xao') - none of thesethings has been thought of doing; but on the contrary,he has been participatingin the Daemons' Table,7 in theforbidden Calculations (of Astrology), and in the mo-tion and aberration of the Stars,8 and in Divination(tmavTLK)and in the vaticinate Art of the Pagans. Notbeing satisfiedwith the miserableDoctrine of Nestorius9which he learnt from his relative Hiba, he has in addi-tion thrown himself into all these miserableoccupations.We, therefore, pray of your Piety to deign to listen tothe few words we wish to say, in all humility, relative tothe conduct of Sophronius.Once upon a time as he was travelling, he happenedto lose a considerable amount of gold; and when hissuspicion rested on certain persons and he had madethem take the oath upon the Evangelists,10 not satis-fied with this - he, further, testing them by the ordealof bread and cheese 11 like the heathen, compelled themto eat. And when he still did not find (the money), heprepared himself (and used) a divining Cup 12 affirm-ing that "the money is to be found with such and such aperson, whose name is so and so, and who is clothed insuch and such way." (Fol. 55r.) And many times thecedonensiumet Encycliorum (Berolini et Lipsiae 1938),Acta Conc.Oec., t. II, vol. VI, p. 32, s. v. "I8as. DANIELof Carrhae,anotheraccusedbishopof Osrhoene,was also anephew of IBAS.7I Cor. X. 2I: TrpaCrersatuLoviov.8 i.e. Astrology.9 The chief purposeof this synodwas the suppression fall "Nestorians." The assertion that SOPHRONIUSas Nes-torian was the only one that mattered n the opinionof theassembly, but there is no evidence justifying it.10Christendomwas often consideredas compatiblewithmagical divination. Cf. S. JEROME,Vita Hilarionis, chap.20, MIGNE, Patrol. Lat., XXIII, col. 36D-38A. ARMANDDELATTE, La catoptromancie grecque et ses derives, Bibli-otheque de la Faculte de philosophic et lettres de l'Univer-site de Liige, fasc. XLVIII (Liege-Paris 1932), p. 178-i80 (trinity). L.-F. ALFREDMAURY,La magic et l'astro-logic dans l'antiquite et au moyen age (Paris I877), p. 438."Tvpoucavrela (HESYCHIUS, .v. AELIAN., VIII, 5. AR-TEMIDORUS,Onirocrit., II, 69). A. BOUCHE-LECLERCQ,Histoire de la divination dans l'antiquite, I (Paris 1879),p. 183. THEODORHOPFNER,Griechiscth-agyptischer Offen-barungszauber, II (Studien zur Palaeographie und Papyrus-kunde, XXIII, Leipzig 1924), p. 148, ? 326 (cf. ibid. I,Studien . . . , XXI, Leipzig 1921, p. 135, ? 531).2The >taXoocavretar divination by gazing into a bowl(cf. Papyr. Mag. Paris., I, 3209. 3243, ed. WESSELY,Denkschr. d. Wiener Akad., XXXVI, 2 [Wien i888],quoted in LIDDELL-SCOTT-SMITH, Diction., 2nd edit., II[Oxford 1940], p. 1931) was a kind of lecanomancy(XeKavocuavrela).Cf. BOEHM,R. E., IX (1914), col. 79-86, s.v. Hydromanteia. GANSZYNIEC, . E., XII (1925),col. I879-I889, s.v. AeKapvolavreia. WILLIAM REGINALDHALLIDAY, Greek Divination (London 1913), p. 145-I62,chap. VIII. THEOD. HOPFNER, loc. cit., II, pp. I14-I33,? 228.

Daemons, wishing to confirm him in the imposture,pointed out the thief,13 not because they wanted toconvict him (the thief), but becausethey were eager toplunge (overwhelm) the Bishop into perdition.On another occasion, too, he was guilty of this samething, and had recourse to the Divining-cup (phial-Divination, ftaXooLavrdea), as we learnt from Simeon,who used to act as Server to him at the Bishop's House(erMa7Korelov):for, he once took this man's son 14 andintroduced him quite alone into his bed-chamber(KotTiv), with one Abraham, Deacon, a relative of his,together; and, having placed a table in the middle, theyput under the table Incense,15destined for the Daemons,but, upon the table, a phial (dish, LaAXLov),n whichwere oil and water,16 and he placed the lad, in a state ofnudity,l7 at the side of the table; and the whole wascovered with clean linen.l8 Then, the Deacon beganintoning words 19 which the Bishop had formulated forhim from his wicked divining-art. Then they ques-tioned the lad,20saying to him: "What do you see in thePhial?" and he said, "I see flames (sparks) of fire 21going upwardsout of it"; and again, after a little while,he questioned him, saying: "What do you see yet?" andhe said, "I see a man sitting on a throne of gold, and cladin purple, and a crown upon his head." They then dugnear (behind) the door and made there a deep hole(well),22 which they filled with oil (fol. 55v) and water,

13Cf. Pap. Anast. 176: Trv KX\elTrr7PvAavl 7ro7aa(GANSZYNIEC, 1. c., col. I887, 46)." Boys as mediums in lecanomancy: HALLIDAY, p. 16o-I62. GANSZYNIEC,co1. 1882, 15 f. (divinatioper puerum).HOPFNER, Offenbarungszauber, I, p. 236, ? 846; the same,Die Kindermedien in den griechisch-dgyptischen Zauber-papyri, Recueil Kondakov, (Prag I926), p. 65-76. A.DELATTE, Anecdota Atheniensia, I (Liege I927), tablealphab., s.v. raStaov.15Cf. BOEHM, R. E., IX, col. 83, 7.1 HALLIDAY, loc. cit., p. I47. SAMUEL DAICHES, Baby-lonian Oil Magic in the Talmud and in the later JewishLiterature (London 1913), p. 39-41 (Jews' College Lon-don, Publication No. V). LYNN THORNDIKE, A History ofmagic and experimental science, I, General Index, p. 80o,s.v. Oil. HOPFNER,Offenbarungszauber, II, p. 15, ? 231 f.DELATTE,La catoptromancie, p. 208, Index alphab., s.v.huile.

1FRIEDR. PFISTER,R. E., XVI (I935), col. I546, s.v.Nacktheit (in Religion und Magie). HOPFNER, ibid., XIV(1928), col. 360 f., s.v. Mageia (Reinheit).1Cf. BOEHM, R. E., IX, col. 83, 44. IBN KHALDUN,Proleg., p. 221 f., transl. by M. G. DE SLANE (Paris1862-8): "un rideau s'interpose entre lui [le devin] et lemiroir." MAURY,loc. cit., p. 435.9 The whispering of charms: MAURY,p. 180 (carminadiabolica). BOEHM, R. E., IX, col. 82 (Zauberformeln).20"HIPPOLYTUS tells how the magicians pretend that thespirits give response through a medium to questions"(epwr-aets): THORNDIKE, . c., I, p. 467.21PS.-IAMBL.,De myst. Aeg., III, I4, p. 132, 7 ff. ed.PARTHEY. BOEHM,R. E., IX, col. 82, 43. HOPFNER, oc.cit., II, p. 122, ? 246; p. 125, ? 256.Divination at wells: HALLIDAY,p. 1- -53. It wassaid that the star of the Magi could be seen in the well of

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A Trial for Sorcery on August 22, A.D. 449and they made the lad stand there, and said to him:"What do you see in the hole (well)?" and he said, "Isee Habbib, the Bishop's son, proceeding on the road"(for, he was on a journey to Constantinople); "and Isee him," the lad continued to say, "seated on a blackmare-mule that is blindfolded; and behind him twomen on foot." Further still, they brought an egg,23and,when they had opened it, they threw away what was thewhite of the egg, and left the yolk of it; and they said tothe lad: "What do you perceive in the shell of the egg?"and he said, "I perceive Habbib proceeding on theroad,24on horse-back,and he has put a collar round hisneck,25 and before him are going two men." And onthe day after, the Bishop's son arrived from Constanti-nople, just as his father had divined.This the lad confessed on oath upon the Evangelists,along with his Father and Mother, in the presence ofwitnesses, who affirmed that the circumstancetook placeexactly as it was visioned to the lad. Moreover, the ladwent on to say: "For eight months, I used to be walking,(when) seven men, dressed in white, constantlywent infront of me." And in the lapse of these eight monthsthe lad was out of his mind, having been driven mad(lost his reason); and it was with difficulty that, afterhaving brought him into holy places and anointed himwith consecrated oil, they succeeded in curing his in-sanity.Now, what about these Astrological (acrpoXoyos)writings of his (Sophronius)? There are those, too, whowrote them; the very scribes, who copied them, are atTella (fol. 56r); there is Maras, the Sub-Deacon(v7ro&8tcovos), and there are Aedesia and Stratonice,Deaconesses of the Church; there is Peter, the ChiefPhysician (dpXtarpo6') of the City; lastly, there isUranius, Deacon of the same, who confessed to haveread them26 when he went to the Episcopal Palace(eirtaKOtrEtv) for the purpose of getting a ticket ofAlms (7rTraLKLov) signed, and there saw the good 27Bethlehem (GREG. TURON., Glor. Mart. I. EPIPHAN.monach., Enarrat., MIGNE, Patr. Graec., CXX, col. 264B.GANSZYNIEC,. E., XII, col. I882, i).

23'TQo,oavrela: DELATTE, La catoptromancie, p. 178-I80;(oacKOTria:HOPFNER, 1. C., II, p. 148, ? 324. LIDDELL-SCOTT, I, p. 2035. TH. HOPFNER,Ooskopia und Ooman-teia, R. E., XVIII (x939), col. 538 f. F. J. DOELGER,DasEi im Heilzauber nach einer Predigt des hl. Augustinus, inAntike und Christentum, VI (1940), p. 57-60 (both articlesare quoted in Byz. Ztschr., XL [1940], p. 239).The circumstancesf a distantrelative were often theobject of questioning in astrology. Cf. DELATTE, Lacatoptr., p. 6 8: ". . . la situation des voyageurs quirentrentau pays."2G. HOFFMANN hinks that the wearing of a collar(Syr. zira: p. 82, 8 ed. FLEMMING) points to a Persiancustom.

According to GEORGHOFFMANN, the phrase "who con-fessed to have read them" refers to PETER, he ChiefPhysician of the City.7Ironically, cf. a X%p7orbsALOa'Kopos: cta Conc. Oec., t.II, vol. I, pars I, p. 66, 34.

Bishop carrying and inspecting28 the brass-sphere(fopalpa) destined for his criminal incantations (divina-tion); and, on coming out, he told his colleaguesall hehad seen. Not satisfied with giving himself over tothese wicked practices,his son Habblb introduced a Jew,Hesychius, and bid him step up to the Bishop's Houseand ate with him Jewish food 29 in his Father'sabsence;and in the Week of Pentecost (rEvr,yKcoars), when weourselves fast, he was feasting with the Jew, at theBishop's House (1rttaKOTretov);and for about ten hours,this man continued feasting with the Jew, up to the timewhen he took him (the Jew) into the Church of theApostles, whilst the Service was being held. The Cityand the Clergy, shocked by this conduct, expelled boththe Jew and Habbib, who sought refuge in the Prae-torium (7rpatr4ptov)of the Commandant (Duke, 8ov'0)Florus.30 The impious and pagan Florus, becoming irri-tated, rushed upon the City, where (his people) mur-dered a great number of men and boys and woundedmore than a hundred, (fol. 56v) whilst those who, indespair, had fled to the Holy Altar,31 there, and withthe arrowsremaining unextractedfrom their bodies, hadtheir blood shed before the Altar, and many of themdied clasping the Altar.We have, then, prayed this of your Holy Synod: toavenge us of this pestilent and murderous man, sinceall the Lay-people, and the company (rayd&i) of theMonks have taken oath, declaring, "We will not for thefuture receive this man any more, or hold communica-tion with him, or have any intercoursewith him at all";because they have seen that any connection (relation)with him is dangerous. Already the Masters of theWorld have taken cognizance (of our complaints), andhave ordered that they be reserved, until your Holy

'Sphere: DELATTE,p. 41 ("un globe de verre ou decristal"). Cf. the "crystal-gazing"of the later MiddleAges: HALLIDAY, P. 150 f. DELATTE,p. 115.29Cf. the following canons of the council of Laodicea:(No. 37) "No one shall accept festal presentsfrom Jewsand heretics,or keep the festivals with them." (No. 38)"No one shall accept unleavenedbread from the Jews, ortakepart in theirprofanity";a similarcanonfiguresamongthe so-called Apostolic Canons (Canon 70; HEFELE,A His-tory of the ChristianCouncils,Eng. trans., I [EdinburghI871], p. 485. II [1876], p. 318).3He was not Dux Mesopotamiae (G. HOFFMANN,adlocum), but Dux Osrhoenae. Cf. AMMIAN. MARC.XXIV.i. 2: SECUNDINUSdux Osrhoinae (363 A.D.); CodexTheodosianus,XVI, io, 8: Palladio duci Osdroenae(No-vemb. 30, 382 A.D.). Notitia dignitatum, oriens, I, 46.XXXV. OTTOSEECK,Regesten der Kaiser und Pipste fiirdie Jahre 11-476 n. Chr. (Stuttgart 1919) p. 26 .3 FRANZ CUMONT, ttudes Syriennes (Paris 1917), p.330 f. MARTROYE,L'asile et la lgislation imperiale duIVe au VIe siecle, Memoires de la societe nationale desantiquaires de France, LXXV ( 9 8), p. x58f. H. LE-CLERCQ,Dictionnaire d'Arch. et de Liturg., IV (Paris1921), col. 1549-1565, s.v. Droit d'asile. LouIS JALABERTand RENE MOUTERDE,nscriptions grecques et latines de laSyrie, I (Paris 1929), p. 97, No. 60o Bibliotheque archeol.et historique, t. XII).

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Ernest HonigmannSynod has effected the Deposition (KaOalpctls) of Hibiand Sophronius.This is what we learnt when the City, the ClerksandMonks included, was assembled o draw up DocumentaryActs (the 7rpat of the ,ro'v jaarTa) in the presence ofthe Defender (gy8&Kos)f the City. From the personsbelonging to the household (of Sophronius) we haveour information. Others have heard it besides us. ThoseDocumentaryActs are in the custodyof the Defender ofthe same City. We, therefore, fall at the feet of yourHoly Synod, entreating you to have compassionon us,and on our City, and on all the region (X'pa) that isscandalized by Sophronius; (fol. 57r) and to rid ourChurch of him, which, being filled with the arms andthe blood of those who were slain in the very middle ofthe sanctuary,has been closed for two months.I, Cyrus, Deacon, present (this Libel) in conjunctionwith those of my Confraternity.I, Eustathius, Deacon, present (this) with those ofmy Confraternity.

* *It is very probable that the indictment I havequoted unabridged made an unfavorable and per-haps even painful impression upon the assembly.From its wording it appears that the accusers, mem-bers of the clergy in a remote provincial city of theEast, also believed in sorcery and demons. Further-more, the chief witness was a boy who, according totheir statement, lost his reason for eight monthsafter having served as medium. This shows, more-

over, that SOPHRONIUS was accused of the trans-gression long after its alleged perpetration, whichmust have occurred before the end of A.D. 448.The irreverent utterances not only against the bishopand his metropolitan,but also against the Dux ofOsrhoene, as well as the hidden menace to the as-sembly expressed n the remarkthat "the Mastersofthe world" were informed of the complaintsagainstSOPHRONIUS, may have irritated the bishops. Butof course a downright rejection of the motionpreferredby zealous Monophysiteswould have beenunwise; it was, moreover, inadvisable to offendthem, for the council needed the support of thenumerous monks led by the warlike archimandriteBARSUMAS. In these circumstances the only ex-

pedient was an adjournment of the procedureagainst SOPHRONIUS, nd this was the solution pro-posed by THALASSIUSof Caesarea in Cappadocia.He suggested that an inquiryshould be made by aprovincial synod of the OsrhoEnianbishops,to beheld after the appointmentof a new metropolitanofEdessa. This suggestionwas approvedby the entiresynod; but it is significantthat, when JUVENAL fJerusalem declared his consent to THALASSIUS'Sproposal,he added: "and whoever shall find Nesto-rians in the province shall eject them, and (so)purify the Church." These words implied that forhim only one charge againstSOPHRONIUSattered,i.e., that of professingthe doctrine of two naturesinChrist; all the other accusationswere insignificant.But just of this "Dyophysitism"the accusers hadfailed to produce any proof, and perhaps AbbeMARTIN reflected the real reaction of the bishopswhen he asserted that "en realite, son crime etaitd'etre cousind'IBAs."32

Probably the proposed provincial council nevertook place; for, when two years later the oppositepartywon the day, SOPHRONIUStill represented hebishopricof Constantina, continuing to hold it atleast until A.D. 458.33 In the minutesof the coun-cil of Chalcedon there is no mention of any Mono-physiticrival-bishoprepresentinghis bishopric,whileEdessa was representedthere by the two bishops,IBAS (HIBA) and NONNUS.But, whether SOPHRONIUSas guilty or not, therecord of his trial remains an interesting documentconcerning the variouskinds of divinationpractisedthroughout the Roman Empire in violation of nu-merous secularand ecclesiasticalaws.32 MARTIN, Revue des questions historiques, ge annee, t.XVI (Paris I874), p. 38; idem, Le Pseudo-Synode connudans l'histoire sous le nom de Brigandage d'tphese (Paris

I875), p. I84.3 Concerning the life of SOPHRONIUS see M. LE QUIEN,Oriens Christianus, II (Paris 1740), col. 967. LENAIN DETILLEMONT,Memoires, XV, p. 579. 886. E. V[ENABLES],DCB, IV (London I887), p. 7I8. A complete enumera-tion of all passages of the minutes of the councils of Antiochand Chalcedon in 444 and 45 A.D. and of the Encycliaof 458 A.D., where SOPHRONIUS is mentioned, is to be foundin Ed. SCHWARTZ'S Prosopographia, p. 63, s.v. Zwop6vrosNo. I.

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