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St Photius the Great, tr. Freese, 1920; selections
28. Codex 28: Socrates, Ecclesiastical History
Read Socrates’s1 Ecclesiastical History, a continuation of that of Eusebius. Beginning with the reign of Constantine, it goes down to the time of Theodosius the Younger.2
The writer, who had attended the lectures of Ammonius and Helladius the Alexandrine grammarians,3 even when a boy had been instructed in “grammar” by heathen tutors, who had been banished from their native country for sedition and carried on their profession at Constantinople. The work contains the events of 140 years, and the entire history is included in seven books. There is nothing remarkable in the author’s style, and he is not very accurate in matters of doctrine.
Notes
- Socrates of Constantinople (c. 380----439), originally a lawyer.
- Emperor 408-450.
- The Greek γραμματικός is equivalent to “a literary man” generally, with special reference to the study of poetry. The same idea appears in γραμματική(grammar). Ammonius and Helladius had fled for refuge to Constantinople, where they taught Socrates.