The Church Historians (II): Philostorgius and Gelasius of Cyzicus

Abstract

Philostorgius' Ecclesiastical History dealt with the period from the beginning of Arius' heresy to the accession to the throne of Valentinian III in 425. This History was composed in twelve books, and the first letter of each of them was one of his name. This use of an acrostic reveals Philostorgius' literary taste and culture, which characterizes all his writings. The date of the beginning of Philostorgius' work, indeed, can be linked to the ending of Eusebius' Historia ecclesiastica (HE) and indicates that he considered himself one who carried on Eusebius' writings, like orthodox historians. After the great flowering during the first decades of the Vth century, ecclesiastical historiography was neglected for a period: only during the last quarter of this century was this literary genre taken up again, by one Gelasius of Cyzicus, but for particular purposes, where polemic was linked to the interests of erudition and research. Keywords: ecclesiastical historiography; Eusebius; Gelasius of Cyzicus; Historia ecclesiastica (HE); literary genre; Philostorgius