Αὐξέντιος
Auxentios, Auxentius
Translated by William Hutton26 Mar 2002Vetting: high7 revisions
Translation
Bishop of Mopsuestia,1 he was one of the so-called confessors. He was one of those attending the emperor Licinius2 in a prominent capacity in the army, having become one of the clerks whom the Romans call notarii.3 The manner of his confession was as follows: In a certain courtyard in the royal dwelling there was a water fountain and on it a statue of Dionysos; a magnificent vine grew all around it and made the whole place pleasantly shady and sheltered. Here Licinius arrived on the pretext of resting,4 with Auxentius and many others from his retinue following. Looking up at the vine he saw a certain bunch of grapes, ripe and large, hanging from the branches. He ordered Auxentius to cut it. And he straightaway took off the dagger that was attached to his breeches and cut it, suspecting nothing. Then Licinius said to him: "Now put the bunch at the feet of Dionysos." But he answered, "No, my king, for I am Christian." And Licinius said: "Then resign from the army and remove yourself from my presence, for you must do one or the other of those two things." And he, without hesitation, undid his belt and gladly departed, just like that, from the palace. And after some time the authorities made him bishop of Mopsuestia. His younger brother was Theodoros, one of those who were educated at Athens. He later happened to be assigned to the bishopric of the church of Tarsos. For previously Aetios5 by himself taught Eudoxios himself and other who were extremely worthy of note, but when he promoted Eunomios6 to teaching duty, he immediately began to use him as a teacher most often instead of himself, especially in the case of those who were most advanced and in need of instruction. For the former was best at providing foundations, but the latter was far more capable of perfecting and explaining in a clear and impressive manner those that had been provided.