He was left
fatherless
and in Theophilus Blemmys introduced him to Gallus (S.
William Smith - 1844 - Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities - a
3; Hygin.
Fab.
14.
) In the night in Moesia (Jornandes, de reb.
Get.
34), and his
in which this took place, Poseidon also was be father Gaudentius, a Scythian in the employ of
Jieved to have been with her. (Apollod. iii. 15. the empire, having been killed in a mutiny, he
$7; Hygin. Fab. 37. ) According to Plutarch was early given as a hostage to Alaric, and under
(Thes. 6) her father spread this report merely that bim learnt the arts of barbarian war. (Philostorgius,
Theseus might be regarded as the son of Poseidon, xii
. 12. ) After an ineffectual support of the usuiper
who was much revered at Troezen. This opinion, John with an army of 60,000 men (A. D. 424), he
however, is nothing else but an attempt to strip became the general of the Roman forces under
the genuine story of its marvels. After this event Placidia, at that time guardian of her son, the
she appears living in Attica, from whence she was emperor Valentinian III. In order to supplant in
carried off to Lacedaemon by Castor and Poly- her favour his rival Boniface, by treacherous accu-
deuces, and became a slave of Helen, with whom sations of each to the other, Aëtius occasioned his
she was taken to Troy. (Plut. Thes. 34 ; Hom. revolt and the loss of Africa (Procop. Bell, Vand. i.
Il. ii. 144. ) At the taking of Troy she came to 3, 4); the empress, however, discovered the fraud,
the camp of the Greeks, where she was recognised and Aëtius, after having met Boniface at Ravenna,
by her grandsons, and Demophon, one of them, and killed him in single combat (BONIFACIUS), was
asked Agamemnon to procure ber liberation. himself compelled to retire in disgrace to the
Agamemnon accordingly sent a messenger to Helen Hunnish army which in 424 he had settled in
to request her to give up Aethra. This was Pannonia. (Prosper. and Marcellinus, in anno
granted, and Aethra became free again. (Paus. X. 432. )
25. § 3; Dict. Cret. v. 13. ) According to Hy- Restored with their help to Italy, he became
ginus (Fab. 243) she afterwards put an end to her patrician and sole director of the armies of the
own life from grief at the death of her sons. The western empire. (Jprnandes, de reb. Get. 34. ) In
history of her bondage to Helen was represented this capacity, through his long acquaintance with
on the celebrated chest of Cypselus (Paus. iv. 19. the barbarian settlers, and chiefly with the Huns
$1; Dion Chrysost. Orat. 11), and in a painting and Attila himself, in whose court his son Carpilio
by Polygnotus in the Lesche of Delphi. (Paus. X. was brought up, he checked the tide of barbarian
25. & 2. )
invasion, and maintained the Roman power in
2. A daughter of Oceanus, by whom Atlas be peace for seventeen years (433-450) in Italy, Spain,
got the twelve Hyades, and a son, Hyas. (Ov. Britain, and Gaul, in which last country especially
Fast. v. 171; Hygin. Fab. 192. ) [L. S. ] he established his influence by means of his Hun
AETHU'SA (Aldovoa), a daughter of Poseidon and Alan allies and by his treaty with Theo
And Alcyone, who was beloved by Apollo, and doric the Visigoth. (Sidon. Apoll
. Panog. duit.
bore to him Eleuther. (Apollod. iü. 10. § 1; 300. ) And when in 450 this peace was broken by
Paus. ix. 20. § 2. )
(L. S. )
the invasion of Attila, Aetius in concert with
E 2
## p. 52 (#72) ##############################################
52
AETIUS.
A ETIUS.
1
1
1
Theodoric arrested it first by the timely relief of servant, and instructed him ; but he was dismissed
Orleans and then by the victory of Chalons in disgrace on publicly disputing against his
(Greg. Turon. ii. 7; Jornandes, de reb. Get. master's interpretation of the Scripture. The
36), and was only prevented from following up his Arian Bishop of the city, named Athanasius, re-
successes in Italy by want of support both from ceived him and read with him the Gospels. After-
Valentinian and his barbarian allies. (Idatius wards he read the Episties with Antonius, a priest
and Isidorus, in anno 450. ) [ATTILA) The of Tarsus till the promotion of the latter to the
greatness of his position as the sole stay of | Episcopate, when he returned to Antioch and
the empire, and as the sole link between Chris studied the Prophets with the priest Leontius.
tendom and the pagan barbarians, may well have His obtrusive irreligion obliged him again to quit
given rise to the belief, whether founded or not, Antioch, and he took refuge in Cilicia (before A. D.
that he designed the imperial throne for himself 348), where he was defeated in argument by some
and a barbarian throne for his son Carpilio (Sid. of the grossest (Borborian) Gnostics. He returni-
Apoll. Paneg. Avit. 204), and accordingly in ed to Antioch, but soon left it for Alexandria,
454, he was murdered by Valentinian himself in being led thither by the fame of the Manichee
an access of jealousy and suspicion (Procop. Bell. Aphthonius, against whom he recovered the fame
Vand. i. 4), and with him (to use the words of the for disputation which he had lately lost. He now
contemporary chronicler Marcellinus, in anno 454), resumed the study of medicine under Sopolis and
"cecidit Hesperium Imperium, nec potuit relevari. ” practised gratuitously, earning money by following
His physical and moral activity well fitted him his former trade by night (Phil. iii. 15) or living
for the life of a soldier (Gregor. Turon. ii. 8), and upon others. (Theodoret, Hist. Eocl. ii. 23. ) His
though destitute of any high principle, he belongs chief employment, however, was an irreverent ap
to the class of men like Augustus and Cromwell
, plication of logical figures and geometrical dia-
whose early crimes are obscured by the usefulness grams to the Nature of the Word of God. (S.
and glory of later life, and in whom a great and Epiphan. adv. Hoeres. & 2, and comp. $ 6, p. 920. )
trying position really calls out new and unknown He returned to Antioch on the elevation of his
excellences.
former master Leontius to that See, A. D. 348, and
(Renatus Frigeridus, in Gregor. Turon. i. 8. ; was by him ordained Deacon (S. Ath. $ 38, transl.
Procop. Bell. Vand. i. 3, 4; Jomandes, de Reb. p. 136), though he declined the ordinary duties of
Get. 34, 36 ; Gibbon, Decline and Fall. c. 33, 35; the Diaconate and accepted that of teaching, A. D.
Herbert's Attila, p. 322. )
[A. P. S. ] 350. (Phil. ii. 17. ) The Catholic laymen,
A EʻTIUS ('Aétios), surnamed the Atheist
, from Diodorus and Flavian, protested against this or-
his denial of the God of Revelation (St. Athanas dination, and Leontius was obliged to depose him.
de Synod. g 6, p. 83, of the translation, Oxf. 1842; | (Thd. ii. 19. ) His dispute with Basil of An-
Socr. Hist. Ecd. ii. 35; Sozom. Hist. Eccl. iv. 29), cyra, A. D. 351 (fin. ), is the first indication of the
was born in Coele Syria ilostorg. Hist. Eccl. future schism in the Arian heresy. (Phil. iii. 15. )
iii. 15; St. Basil, adv. Eunom. i. p. 10) at Antioch Basil incensed Gallus (who became Caesar, March,
(Soc. ii. 35;* Suidas, s. o. 'Aétios), and became A. D. 351) against Aëtius, and Leontius' interces-
the founder of the Anomoean (avbnosov) form of sion only saved the latter from death. Soon
the Arian heresy.
He was left fatherless and in Theophilus Blemmys introduced him to Gallus (S.
poverty when a child, and became the slave of a Gr. p. 294), who made him his friend, and often
vine-dresser 's wife (St. Gregory Nazianz. c. Eunom. sent him to his brother Julian when in danger of
p. 292, C, D; but see Not. Valesii ad Philost. ii. apostacy. (Phil. iii 17. ) There is a letter from
15), then a travelling tinker (S. Gr. ibid. ) or a Gallus extant, congratulating Julian on his ad-
goldsmith. (Phil. ibid. ) Conviction in a fraud or hesion to Christianity, as he bad heard from
ambition led him to abandon this life, and he ap Aëtius (Post. Epist. Juliani, p. 158, ed. Boisson.
plied himself to medicine under a quack, and soon Mogunt. 1828. ) Aëtius was implicated in the
set up for himself at Antioch. (Soc. jä. 15. ) murder of Domitian and Montius (see Gibbon,
From the schools of medicine being Arian, he ac- c. 19), A. D. 354 (S. Gr. p. 294, B), but bis
quired a leaning towards heresy. He frequented insignificance saved him from the vengeance of
the disputations meetings of the physicians (S. Gr. Constantius. However, he quitted Antioch for
p. 293, D) and made such progress in Eristicism, Alexandria, where St. Athanasius was maintain-'
that he became a paid advocate for such as wished ing Christianity against Arianism, and in A. D. 355
their own theories exhibited most advantageously. acted as Deacon under George of Cappadocia, the
On his mother's death he studied under Paulinus violent interloper into the See of St. Athanasius.
II. , Arian Bishop of Antioch, a. D. 331 ; but his (St. Ep. 76. & 1; Thdt. ü. 24. ) Here Eunomius
powers of disputation having exasperated some in- became his pupil (Phil. iii. 20) and amanuensis.
fluential persons about Eulalius, the successor of (Soc. ii. 35. ) He is said by Philostorgius (iii. 19)
Paulinus, he was obliged to quit Antioch for to have refused ordination to the Episcopate, be
Anazarbus, where he resumed the trade of a gold. cause Serras and Secundus, who made the offer,
smith, A. D. 331. (Phil ii. 15. ) Here a profes- had mixed with the Catholics ; in A. D. 358, when
sor of grammar noticed him, employed him as a Eudoxius became bishop of Antioch (Thdt. ii. 23),
he returned to that city, but popular feeling pre-
* After the first reference, the references in this vented Eudoxius from allowing him to act as Deacon.
article are thus abbreviated : St. Athanasius, The Aëtian (Eunomian, see Arius) schism now
de Synodis [S. Ath. ); St. Basil, adv. Eunomianos begins to develop itself. The bold irreligion of
[S. Bas. ); St. Gregory Nazianzen adv. Eunomian Aëtius leads a section of Arians (whom we may call
(S. Gr. ] The Histories of Socrates, Sozomen, here Anti-Aerians) to accuse him to Constantius
Theodoret, and Philostorgius, the Arian panegyrist (Soz. iv. 13); they allege also his connexion with
of Aëtius (Soc. , Soz. , Tbdt. , Phil. ); S. Epiphanius, Gallus, and press the emperor to summon a general
adv. Haereses (S. Ep. ).
Council for the settlement of the Theological
## p. 53 (#73) ##############################################
AETIUS.
53
AETIUS.
gnestion. The Aëtian interest with Eusebius AETIUS ('Aétios, Aëtius), a Greek medical
(Soz. i. 16), the powerful Eunuch, divides the in- writer, whose name is commonly but incorrectly
tended council, but notwithstanding, the Aëtians spelt Aetius. Historians are not agreed about
are defeated at Seleucia, A. D. 359, and, dissolving his exact date. He is placed by some writers as
the council, hasten to Constantius, at Constanti- early as the fourth century after Christ; but it is
nople, to secure his protection against their op- plain from his own work that he did not write till
ponents. (S. Ath. transl
. pp. 73, 77, 88, 163, the very end of the fifth or the beginning of the
164. ) The Anti-Aëtians (who are in fact the sixth, as he refers (tetrab. iii. serm. i. 24, p. 464)
more respectable Semi-Arians, see ARIUS) follow, not only to St. Cyril
, Patriarch of Alexandria, who
and charge their opponents with maintaining a died 1. D. 444, but also (tetrub. ü. serm. iii. 110,
Difference in Substance (étepootolov) in the Trinity, p. 357) to Petrus Archiater, who was physician
producing a paper to that effect. A new schism to Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths, and there
ensues among the Aëtians, and Aëtius is aban- fore must have lived still later ; he is himself
doned by bis friends (called Eusebians or Aca- quoted by Alexander Trallianus (xii
. 8, p. 346),
cians, see Arius) and banished (S. Bas. i. 4), who lived probably in the middle of the sixth
after protesting against his companions, who, century. He was a native of Amida, a city of
holding the same principle with himself (viz. that Mesopotamia (Photius, cod. 221) and studied at
the Son was a creature, atlona), refused to ac- Alexandria, which was the most famous medical
knowledge the necessary inference (viz. that He school of the age. He was probably a Christian,
is of unlike substance to the Father, dybuotov). which may account perhaps for his being con-
(Thdt. i. 23; Soz. iv. 23; S. Greg. p. 301, D. ; founded with another person of the same name, a
Phil iv. 12. ) His late friends would not let him famous Arian of Antioch, who lived in the time of
remain at Mopsuestia, where he was kindly re the Emperor Julian. In some manuscripts he has
ceived by Auxentius, the Bishop there : Acacius the title of accouns Overior, comes obsequii, which
procures his banishment to Amblada in Pisidia means the chief officer in attendance on the em-
(Phil
. v. 1), where he composed his 300 blas peror (see Du Cange, Gloss. Med. et Inf. Latin. );
phemies, captious inferences from the symbol of this title, according to Photius (l. c. ), he attained
his irreligion, viz. that Ingenerateness (dyervola) at Constantinople, where he was practising medi-
is the essence (ovola) of Deity; which are refuted cine. Aëtius seems to be the first Greek medical
(those at least which St. Epiphanius had seen) in writer among the Christians who gives any speci-
S. Ep. ado. Hacr. 76. He there calls his op men of the spells and charms so much in vogue
ponents Chronites, ie. Temporals, with an apparent with the Egyptians, such as that of St. Blaise
allusion to their courtly obsequiousness. (Praefat. (tetrab. ii. serm. iv. 50, p. 404) in removing a
ap. S. Ep. ; comp. c. 4. )
bone which sticks in the throat, and another in re-
On Constantíus's death, Julian recalled the lation to a Fistula (tetrab. iv. serm. iii. 14, p. 762. )
various exiled bishops, as well as Aëtius, whom The division of his work Bubría 'latpind 'Ekraí-
he invited to his court (Ep. Juliani, 31, p. 52, deka,“ Sixteen Books on Medicine,” into four
ed. Boisson. ), giving him, too, a farm in Les tetrabibli (Tetpáb16101) was not made by himself,
bos. (Phil
. ix. 4. ) Euzoïus, heretical Bishop of but (as Fabricius observes) was the invention of
Antioch, took off the ecclesiastical condemnation some modern translator, as his way of quoting
from Aëtius (Phil. vii. 5), and he was made his own work is according to the namerical series
Bishop at Constantinople. (S. Ep. 76.
in which this took place, Poseidon also was be father Gaudentius, a Scythian in the employ of
Jieved to have been with her. (Apollod. iii. 15. the empire, having been killed in a mutiny, he
$7; Hygin. Fab. 37. ) According to Plutarch was early given as a hostage to Alaric, and under
(Thes. 6) her father spread this report merely that bim learnt the arts of barbarian war. (Philostorgius,
Theseus might be regarded as the son of Poseidon, xii
. 12. ) After an ineffectual support of the usuiper
who was much revered at Troezen. This opinion, John with an army of 60,000 men (A. D. 424), he
however, is nothing else but an attempt to strip became the general of the Roman forces under
the genuine story of its marvels. After this event Placidia, at that time guardian of her son, the
she appears living in Attica, from whence she was emperor Valentinian III. In order to supplant in
carried off to Lacedaemon by Castor and Poly- her favour his rival Boniface, by treacherous accu-
deuces, and became a slave of Helen, with whom sations of each to the other, Aëtius occasioned his
she was taken to Troy. (Plut. Thes. 34 ; Hom. revolt and the loss of Africa (Procop. Bell, Vand. i.
Il. ii. 144. ) At the taking of Troy she came to 3, 4); the empress, however, discovered the fraud,
the camp of the Greeks, where she was recognised and Aëtius, after having met Boniface at Ravenna,
by her grandsons, and Demophon, one of them, and killed him in single combat (BONIFACIUS), was
asked Agamemnon to procure ber liberation. himself compelled to retire in disgrace to the
Agamemnon accordingly sent a messenger to Helen Hunnish army which in 424 he had settled in
to request her to give up Aethra. This was Pannonia. (Prosper. and Marcellinus, in anno
granted, and Aethra became free again. (Paus. X. 432. )
25. § 3; Dict. Cret. v. 13. ) According to Hy- Restored with their help to Italy, he became
ginus (Fab. 243) she afterwards put an end to her patrician and sole director of the armies of the
own life from grief at the death of her sons. The western empire. (Jprnandes, de reb. Get. 34. ) In
history of her bondage to Helen was represented this capacity, through his long acquaintance with
on the celebrated chest of Cypselus (Paus. iv. 19. the barbarian settlers, and chiefly with the Huns
$1; Dion Chrysost. Orat. 11), and in a painting and Attila himself, in whose court his son Carpilio
by Polygnotus in the Lesche of Delphi. (Paus. X. was brought up, he checked the tide of barbarian
25. & 2. )
invasion, and maintained the Roman power in
2. A daughter of Oceanus, by whom Atlas be peace for seventeen years (433-450) in Italy, Spain,
got the twelve Hyades, and a son, Hyas. (Ov. Britain, and Gaul, in which last country especially
Fast. v. 171; Hygin. Fab. 192. ) [L. S. ] he established his influence by means of his Hun
AETHU'SA (Aldovoa), a daughter of Poseidon and Alan allies and by his treaty with Theo
And Alcyone, who was beloved by Apollo, and doric the Visigoth. (Sidon. Apoll
. Panog. duit.
bore to him Eleuther. (Apollod. iü. 10. § 1; 300. ) And when in 450 this peace was broken by
Paus. ix. 20. § 2. )
(L. S. )
the invasion of Attila, Aetius in concert with
E 2
## p. 52 (#72) ##############################################
52
AETIUS.
A ETIUS.
1
1
1
Theodoric arrested it first by the timely relief of servant, and instructed him ; but he was dismissed
Orleans and then by the victory of Chalons in disgrace on publicly disputing against his
(Greg. Turon. ii. 7; Jornandes, de reb. Get. master's interpretation of the Scripture. The
36), and was only prevented from following up his Arian Bishop of the city, named Athanasius, re-
successes in Italy by want of support both from ceived him and read with him the Gospels. After-
Valentinian and his barbarian allies. (Idatius wards he read the Episties with Antonius, a priest
and Isidorus, in anno 450. ) [ATTILA) The of Tarsus till the promotion of the latter to the
greatness of his position as the sole stay of | Episcopate, when he returned to Antioch and
the empire, and as the sole link between Chris studied the Prophets with the priest Leontius.
tendom and the pagan barbarians, may well have His obtrusive irreligion obliged him again to quit
given rise to the belief, whether founded or not, Antioch, and he took refuge in Cilicia (before A. D.
that he designed the imperial throne for himself 348), where he was defeated in argument by some
and a barbarian throne for his son Carpilio (Sid. of the grossest (Borborian) Gnostics. He returni-
Apoll. Paneg. Avit. 204), and accordingly in ed to Antioch, but soon left it for Alexandria,
454, he was murdered by Valentinian himself in being led thither by the fame of the Manichee
an access of jealousy and suspicion (Procop. Bell. Aphthonius, against whom he recovered the fame
Vand. i. 4), and with him (to use the words of the for disputation which he had lately lost. He now
contemporary chronicler Marcellinus, in anno 454), resumed the study of medicine under Sopolis and
"cecidit Hesperium Imperium, nec potuit relevari. ” practised gratuitously, earning money by following
His physical and moral activity well fitted him his former trade by night (Phil. iii. 15) or living
for the life of a soldier (Gregor. Turon. ii. 8), and upon others. (Theodoret, Hist. Eocl. ii. 23. ) His
though destitute of any high principle, he belongs chief employment, however, was an irreverent ap
to the class of men like Augustus and Cromwell
, plication of logical figures and geometrical dia-
whose early crimes are obscured by the usefulness grams to the Nature of the Word of God. (S.
and glory of later life, and in whom a great and Epiphan. adv. Hoeres. & 2, and comp. $ 6, p. 920. )
trying position really calls out new and unknown He returned to Antioch on the elevation of his
excellences.
former master Leontius to that See, A. D. 348, and
(Renatus Frigeridus, in Gregor. Turon. i. 8. ; was by him ordained Deacon (S. Ath. $ 38, transl.
Procop. Bell. Vand. i. 3, 4; Jomandes, de Reb. p. 136), though he declined the ordinary duties of
Get. 34, 36 ; Gibbon, Decline and Fall. c. 33, 35; the Diaconate and accepted that of teaching, A. D.
Herbert's Attila, p. 322. )
[A. P. S. ] 350. (Phil. ii. 17. ) The Catholic laymen,
A EʻTIUS ('Aétios), surnamed the Atheist
, from Diodorus and Flavian, protested against this or-
his denial of the God of Revelation (St. Athanas dination, and Leontius was obliged to depose him.
de Synod. g 6, p. 83, of the translation, Oxf. 1842; | (Thd. ii. 19. ) His dispute with Basil of An-
Socr. Hist. Ecd. ii. 35; Sozom. Hist. Eccl. iv. 29), cyra, A. D. 351 (fin. ), is the first indication of the
was born in Coele Syria ilostorg. Hist. Eccl. future schism in the Arian heresy. (Phil. iii. 15. )
iii. 15; St. Basil, adv. Eunom. i. p. 10) at Antioch Basil incensed Gallus (who became Caesar, March,
(Soc. ii. 35;* Suidas, s. o. 'Aétios), and became A. D. 351) against Aëtius, and Leontius' interces-
the founder of the Anomoean (avbnosov) form of sion only saved the latter from death. Soon
the Arian heresy.
He was left fatherless and in Theophilus Blemmys introduced him to Gallus (S.
poverty when a child, and became the slave of a Gr. p. 294), who made him his friend, and often
vine-dresser 's wife (St. Gregory Nazianz. c. Eunom. sent him to his brother Julian when in danger of
p. 292, C, D; but see Not. Valesii ad Philost. ii. apostacy. (Phil. iii 17. ) There is a letter from
15), then a travelling tinker (S. Gr. ibid. ) or a Gallus extant, congratulating Julian on his ad-
goldsmith. (Phil. ibid. ) Conviction in a fraud or hesion to Christianity, as he bad heard from
ambition led him to abandon this life, and he ap Aëtius (Post. Epist. Juliani, p. 158, ed. Boisson.
plied himself to medicine under a quack, and soon Mogunt. 1828. ) Aëtius was implicated in the
set up for himself at Antioch. (Soc. jä. 15. ) murder of Domitian and Montius (see Gibbon,
From the schools of medicine being Arian, he ac- c. 19), A. D. 354 (S. Gr. p. 294, B), but bis
quired a leaning towards heresy. He frequented insignificance saved him from the vengeance of
the disputations meetings of the physicians (S. Gr. Constantius. However, he quitted Antioch for
p. 293, D) and made such progress in Eristicism, Alexandria, where St. Athanasius was maintain-'
that he became a paid advocate for such as wished ing Christianity against Arianism, and in A. D. 355
their own theories exhibited most advantageously. acted as Deacon under George of Cappadocia, the
On his mother's death he studied under Paulinus violent interloper into the See of St. Athanasius.
II. , Arian Bishop of Antioch, a. D. 331 ; but his (St. Ep. 76. & 1; Thdt. ü. 24. ) Here Eunomius
powers of disputation having exasperated some in- became his pupil (Phil. iii. 20) and amanuensis.
fluential persons about Eulalius, the successor of (Soc. ii. 35. ) He is said by Philostorgius (iii. 19)
Paulinus, he was obliged to quit Antioch for to have refused ordination to the Episcopate, be
Anazarbus, where he resumed the trade of a gold. cause Serras and Secundus, who made the offer,
smith, A. D. 331. (Phil ii. 15. ) Here a profes- had mixed with the Catholics ; in A. D. 358, when
sor of grammar noticed him, employed him as a Eudoxius became bishop of Antioch (Thdt. ii. 23),
he returned to that city, but popular feeling pre-
* After the first reference, the references in this vented Eudoxius from allowing him to act as Deacon.
article are thus abbreviated : St. Athanasius, The Aëtian (Eunomian, see Arius) schism now
de Synodis [S. Ath. ); St. Basil, adv. Eunomianos begins to develop itself. The bold irreligion of
[S. Bas. ); St. Gregory Nazianzen adv. Eunomian Aëtius leads a section of Arians (whom we may call
(S. Gr. ] The Histories of Socrates, Sozomen, here Anti-Aerians) to accuse him to Constantius
Theodoret, and Philostorgius, the Arian panegyrist (Soz. iv. 13); they allege also his connexion with
of Aëtius (Soc. , Soz. , Tbdt. , Phil. ); S. Epiphanius, Gallus, and press the emperor to summon a general
adv. Haereses (S. Ep. ).
Council for the settlement of the Theological
## p. 53 (#73) ##############################################
AETIUS.
53
AETIUS.
gnestion. The Aëtian interest with Eusebius AETIUS ('Aétios, Aëtius), a Greek medical
(Soz. i. 16), the powerful Eunuch, divides the in- writer, whose name is commonly but incorrectly
tended council, but notwithstanding, the Aëtians spelt Aetius. Historians are not agreed about
are defeated at Seleucia, A. D. 359, and, dissolving his exact date. He is placed by some writers as
the council, hasten to Constantius, at Constanti- early as the fourth century after Christ; but it is
nople, to secure his protection against their op- plain from his own work that he did not write till
ponents. (S. Ath. transl
. pp. 73, 77, 88, 163, the very end of the fifth or the beginning of the
164. ) The Anti-Aëtians (who are in fact the sixth, as he refers (tetrab. iii. serm. i. 24, p. 464)
more respectable Semi-Arians, see ARIUS) follow, not only to St. Cyril
, Patriarch of Alexandria, who
and charge their opponents with maintaining a died 1. D. 444, but also (tetrub. ü. serm. iii. 110,
Difference in Substance (étepootolov) in the Trinity, p. 357) to Petrus Archiater, who was physician
producing a paper to that effect. A new schism to Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths, and there
ensues among the Aëtians, and Aëtius is aban- fore must have lived still later ; he is himself
doned by bis friends (called Eusebians or Aca- quoted by Alexander Trallianus (xii
. 8, p. 346),
cians, see Arius) and banished (S. Bas. i. 4), who lived probably in the middle of the sixth
after protesting against his companions, who, century. He was a native of Amida, a city of
holding the same principle with himself (viz. that Mesopotamia (Photius, cod. 221) and studied at
the Son was a creature, atlona), refused to ac- Alexandria, which was the most famous medical
knowledge the necessary inference (viz. that He school of the age. He was probably a Christian,
is of unlike substance to the Father, dybuotov). which may account perhaps for his being con-
(Thdt. i. 23; Soz. iv. 23; S. Greg. p. 301, D. ; founded with another person of the same name, a
Phil iv. 12. ) His late friends would not let him famous Arian of Antioch, who lived in the time of
remain at Mopsuestia, where he was kindly re the Emperor Julian. In some manuscripts he has
ceived by Auxentius, the Bishop there : Acacius the title of accouns Overior, comes obsequii, which
procures his banishment to Amblada in Pisidia means the chief officer in attendance on the em-
(Phil
. v. 1), where he composed his 300 blas peror (see Du Cange, Gloss. Med. et Inf. Latin. );
phemies, captious inferences from the symbol of this title, according to Photius (l. c. ), he attained
his irreligion, viz. that Ingenerateness (dyervola) at Constantinople, where he was practising medi-
is the essence (ovola) of Deity; which are refuted cine. Aëtius seems to be the first Greek medical
(those at least which St. Epiphanius had seen) in writer among the Christians who gives any speci-
S. Ep. ado. Hacr. 76. He there calls his op men of the spells and charms so much in vogue
ponents Chronites, ie. Temporals, with an apparent with the Egyptians, such as that of St. Blaise
allusion to their courtly obsequiousness. (Praefat. (tetrab. ii. serm. iv. 50, p. 404) in removing a
ap. S. Ep. ; comp. c. 4. )
bone which sticks in the throat, and another in re-
On Constantíus's death, Julian recalled the lation to a Fistula (tetrab. iv. serm. iii. 14, p. 762. )
various exiled bishops, as well as Aëtius, whom The division of his work Bubría 'latpind 'Ekraí-
he invited to his court (Ep. Juliani, 31, p. 52, deka,“ Sixteen Books on Medicine,” into four
ed. Boisson. ), giving him, too, a farm in Les tetrabibli (Tetpáb16101) was not made by himself,
bos. (Phil
. ix. 4. ) Euzoïus, heretical Bishop of but (as Fabricius observes) was the invention of
Antioch, took off the ecclesiastical condemnation some modern translator, as his way of quoting
from Aëtius (Phil. vii. 5), and he was made his own work is according to the namerical series
Bishop at Constantinople. (S. Ep. 76.
