CHAPTER VII

COUNCIL HELD AT SARDICA

Two hundred and fifty bishops assembled at Sardica (A.D. 347 al. 344), as is proved by ancient archives. The great Athanasius, Asclepas bishop of Gaza already mentioned, and Marcellus bishop of Ancyra the metropolis of Galatia who had held this bishopric ever since the council of Nice, all repaired thither. The calumniators, and the chiefs of the Arian faction, who had judged the cause of Athanasius, also attended. But when they found that the members of the synod were firmly attached to divine and sound doctrines, they would not even enter the council, although they had been summoned to it; and they fled from the city in much trepidation. All these circumstances arc far more clearly explained in a letter drawn up by the council; and I shall therefore now insert it.