Sozomen

Salamanes Hermias Sozomenos(Ancient Greek:Σαλαμάνης Ἑρμείας Σωζομενός;Latin:Sozomenus;c. 400 – c. 450 AD), also known asSozomen,was a Roman lawyer andhistorianof theChristian Church.

Family and home

He was born around 400 inBethelia,a small town nearGaza,into a wealthy Christian family ofPalestine.

He told the history of Southern Palestine derived fromoral tradition.He appeared to be familiar with the region around Gaza, and mentioned having seen Bishop Zeno ofMajuma,at the seaport of Gaza.

Grandfather

Sozomen wrote that his grandfather lived atBethelia,near Gaza, and became a Christian together with his household, probably underConstantius II.A neighbor named Alaphrion was miraculously healed bySaint Hilarion,who cast out a demon from Alaphrion, and, as eyewitnesses to the miracle, his family converted, along with Alaphrion's. The conversion marked a turning-point in the Christianization of southern Palestine, according to his account.

The grandfather became within his own circle a highly esteemed interpreter ofScriptureand according to Sozomen "much beloved by the Christians of Ascalon, Gaza and of the surrounding country". The descendants of the wealthy Alaphrion founded churches and convents in the district, and were particularly active in promotingmonasticismand were also esteemed by Sozomen.Sozomen himself had conversed with one of these, a very old man. He states that he was brought up under monastic influences and his story bears this out.

Life and career

Education

Sozomen seems to have been brought up in the circle of Alaphrion and acknowledges a debt of gratitude to the monastic order. His early education was directed by the monks in his native place. It is impossible to ascertain what curriculum he followed in these monastic schools, but his writings give clear evidence of the thoroughness with which he was grounded inGreekstudies.

As a man he retained the impressions of his youth, and his great work later was to be also a monument of his reverence for the monks in general and for the disciples ofHilarionin particular.

Sozomen studied at theLaw school of Berytusbetween 400-402.

Lawyer

As an adult he acquired training as alawyer.He studiedlaw in Beirut.He then went toConstantinopleto start his career as a lawyer, perhaps at the court ofTheodosius II.While thus engaged he conceived, around the year 443 the project of writing a history of the Church.

Writings on Church history

Sozomen wrote two works on church history, of which only the second one is extant.

His first work covered the history of the Church, from theAscensionofJesusto the defeat ofLiciniusin 323, in twelve books. His sources for it includedEusebius of Caesarea,theClementine homilies,Hegesippus,andSextus Julius Africanus.

Sozomen's second work continues approximately where his first work left off. He wrote it in Constantinople, around the years 440 to 443 and dedicated it to EmperorTheodosius II.

The work is structured into nine books, roughly arranged along the reigns ofRoman Emperors:

• Book I: from the conversion ofConstantine Iuntil theCouncil of Nicea(312–325)
• Book II: from the Council of Nicea to Constantine's death (325–337)
• Book III: from the death of Constantine I to the death ofConstans I(337–350)
• Book IV: from the death of Constans I to the death ofConstantius II(350–361)
• Book V: from the death of Constantius II to the death ofJulian the Apostate(361–363)
• Book VI: from the death of Julian to the death ofValens(363–375)
• Book VII: from the death of Valens to the death ofTheodosius I(375–395)
• Book VIII: from the death of Theodosius I to the death ofArcadius(395–408).
• Book IX: from the death of Arcadius to the accession ofValentinian III(408–25).

Book IX is incomplete. In his dedication of the work, he states that he intended cover up to the 17th consulate ofTheodosius II,that is, to 439. The extant history ends about 425. Scholars disagree on why the end is missing.Albert Guldenpenningsupposed that Sozomen himself suppressed the end of his work because in it he mentioned the EmpressAelia Eudocia,who later fell into disgrace through her supposed adultery. However, it appears thatNicephorus,Theophanes,andTheodorus Lectoractually read the end of Sozomen's work, according to their own histories later.Therefore, most scholars believe that the work actually came down to that year and that consequently it has reached us only in a damaged condition.

Other writings

According to historian and scholar of IslamMichael Cook,Sozomen wrote that a group of "Saracens"(Arabs) in Palestine had adopted Jewish laws and customs after coming into contact with Jews and may have been (according to Cook) the forerunners of Islam and Muslims.

Sources

Sozomen borrowed heavily from other sources for his work.

The source for about three fourths of his material was the writings ofSocrates Scholasticus.The literary relationship of those writers appears everywhere.Valesius asserted that Sozomen read Socrates, andRobert Husseyand Guldenpenning have proved this. For example, Socrates, in I.x, relates an anecdote which he had heard, and says that neither Eusebius nor any other author reports it, yet this anecdote is found in Sozomen, I.xxii, the similarity of diction showing that the text of Socrates was the source.

The extent of this dependence cannot be accurately determined. Sozomen used the work of Socrates as a guide to sources and order. In some matters, such as in regard to the Novatians, Sozomen is entirely dependent on Socrates.

But Sozomen did not simply copy Socrates. He went back to the principal sources used by Socrates and other sources, often including more from them than Socrates did.

He used the writings of Eusebius, the first major Church historian. TheVita Constantiniof Eusebius is expressly cited in the description of the vision of Constantine.

Sozomen appears also to have consulted theHistoria Athanasiiand also the works ofAthanasiusincluding theVita Antonii.He completes the statements of Socrates from theApologia contra Arianos,lix, sqq., and copies Athanasius'Adv. episcopos AEgypti,xviii-xix.

Rufinusis frequently used. Instructive in this respect is a comparison of Sozomen, Socrates, and Rufinus on the childhood of Athanasius. Rufinus is the original; Socrates expressly states that he follows Rufinus, while Sozomen knows Socrates' version, but is not satisfied with it and follows Rufinus more closely.

The ecclesiastical records used by Sozomen are principally taken fromSabinus,to whom he continually refers. In this way he uses records of the synods from that ofTyre(335) to that ofAntiochinCaria(367).

For the period from Theodosius I, Sozomen stopped following the work of Socrates and followedOlympiodorus of Thebes,who was probably Sozomen's only secular source. A comparison withZosimus,who also made use of Olympiodorus, seems to show that the whole ninth book of Sozomen, is mostly an abridged extract from Olympiodorus.

Sozomen used many other authorities. These include sources relating to Christianity in Persia, monkish histories, theVita MartiniofSulpicius Severus,the works of Hilarius,logoiofEustathius of Antioch,the letter ofCyril of Jerusalemto Constantius concerning the miraculous vision of the cross, andPalladius.

He also used oral tradition, adding some of the most distinctive value to his work.

Publication

The first printed (though untranslated) version of Sozomen, which was based on theCodex Regiusof 1444, was that ofRobert EstienneatParisin 1544.The first translated edition to be published was that of Christophorson, which appeared inLatininGenevain 1612.

A noteworthy edition was done byValesius(Cambridge, 1720), who used, besides the text of Stephens, aCodex Fucetianus(now at Paris, 1445), "Readings" of Savilius, and the indirect traditions ofTheodorus Lectorand ofCassiodorus-Epiphanius.

Hussey's posthumous edition (largely prepared for the press by John Barrow, who wrote the preface) is important, since in it the archetype of theCodex Regius,theCodex Baroccianus142, is collated for the first time. But this manuscript was written by various hands and at various times and therefore is not equally authoritative in all its parts.

There is an excellent English translation published in 1846 (London, Samuel Bagster and sons), translator unnamed, later reprinted and credited toChester David Hartranft(1839-1914), with a learned though somewhat diffuse introduction, in theNicene and Post-Nicene Fathers,II (published New York, 1890).(This text is available on-line at theChristian Classics Ethereal Library.)

References

Sources

• Cook, Michael (2000).The Koran: A Very Short Introduction.Oxford University Press.ISBN0192853449.The Koran: A Very Short Introduction.

Attribution

• This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Harnack, Adolf; McGiffert, Arthur Cushman (1911). "Sozomen".InChisholm, Hugh(ed.).Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 25 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 525.
• This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Healy, Patrick J. (1912). "Salminius Hermias Sozomen".In Herbermann, Charles (ed.).Catholic Encyclopedia.Vol. 14. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
• This article incorporates text from a publication in thepublic domain:Loeschke, G. (1914)."Sozomen, Salminius Hermias".In Jackson, Samuel Macauley (ed.).New Schaff–Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge.Vol. XI (third ed.). London and New York: Funk and Wagnalls. pp.22–23.

Further reading

• On ethnic identity and ecclesiastical politics in Sozomen, see:
  • Argov, Eran I. (2005). "A Church Historian in Search of an Identity: Aspects of Early Byzantine Palestine in Sozomen'sHistoria Ecclesiastica".Zeitschrift für Antikes Christentum.9(2):367–396.doi:10.1515/ZACH.2005.006.S2CID170779831.
• The English translation of theEcclesiastical Historyascribed to Chester D. Hartranft is available online:
  • Sozomen (1890)."Ecclesiastical History".In Schaff, Philip; Wace, Henry (eds.).Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Second Series.Vol. 2. Translated by Chester D. Hartranft. Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature Publishing Co.Retrieved13 March2016– via New Advent.
• The English translation of theEcclesiastical Historyby Edward Walford as originally published in the Bohn Ecclesiastical Library, is available in book form:
  • Sozomen, Hermias (2018).The Ecclesiastical History of Sozomen.Merchantville, New Jersey: Evolution Publishing.ISBN978-1-935228-15-8.

External links

• Online text of theEcclesiastical History
• Greek Text by Migne Patrologia Graeca with analytical index