Defence before Constantius (Apologia ad Constantium)
An address to the emperor Constantius II in which Athanasius answers charges of disloyalty. Written as he was driven from Alexandria in 356, it quotes two letters of the emperor, one of them to the rulers of Aksum about their bishop Frumentius.
Read the text at newadvent.org ↗The same translation divided by section, with its introduction (CCEL) ↗
Athanasius composed this defence for the emperor at the time when imperial troops forced him out of his church and a rival bishop, George, was sent to Alexandria. Its editor in the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers dates the main part to 356 and the closing sections, which mention George’s arrival, to early 357.
Near the end Athanasius says that he has learned of letters written against him and copies two of them out (30–31). The second is addressed by Constantius to Aezanes and Sazanes, the rulers of Aksum. It tells them to send Frumentius, whom Athanasius had ordained, to Egypt to be examined. Athanasius quotes it to show how far the campaign against him reached. For the history of Aksum it is a contemporary document from outside the kingdom that names Ezana and connects him with a Christian bishop.
Cited in
- c. AD 330–356, estimated date