Sozomen

Sozomen was born in Palestine , the village of Bethlehem near Gaza . The year of his birth is not known and is estimated only on the basis of life expectancy. In book 5 of his “History”, he mentioned that his grandfather converted to the Christian faith after the miraculous healing of one of his relatives Alafian ^[5] by a certain monk Hilarion.

Sozomen received his primary education in the Christian tradition under the guidance of his relatives, then studied judicial law at the law school in the Phoenician Beria (modern Beirut ). He applied knowledge in Constantinople , working, according to Photius , a scholastic (lawyer in the modern sense). ^[6]

According to Sozomen himself, his first literary work was the reduction of Church History from the Nativity of Christ to the overthrow of the emperor Licinius in 324 . This work has not reached our time. A continuation of the Reduction was his main work, Church History (Εκκλησιαστική Ιστορία) in 9 books. According to the author’s intention, it should cover events from the 3rd consulate of Caesars Crispus and Constantine to the 17th ^[7] consulate of Theodosius the Younger , that is, the period 324–439 . However, "History" ends in 423 years . ^[eight]

Presumably, death did not allow the writer to complete the plan. In book 9.4, Sozomen mentions the Patriarch of Constantinople Proclus as already dead. Also in the introduction, Sozomen refers to the emperor Theodosius as the ruling monarch. Since Proclus died in 446 , and Theodosius at 450 , then the time of writing the work and very approximately the year of death of Sozomen are estimated quite accurately from here.

The Patriarch of Constantinople Photius ( IX century ) left a short review of the work of Sozomen, noting that his literary style is better than that of the earlier Socrates Scholastic . Sozomen, creating his “History”, borrowed a lot from Socrates’s “Church History”, however he conveyed the content in his own words, without copying literally. Sozomen also, unlike Socrates, did not sympathize with the teachings of Origen and did not share interest in Hellenic poetry and philosophy. Researchers mention Rufin , Eusebius , Eutropius , Eunapius as other sources of Sozomen. In general, although the history of Sozomen is lower in importance than the history of Socrates, however, a modern historian studying the 4th and 5th centuries cannot do without Sozomen (A. Lebedev).

According to the convictions, Sozomen represented the Orthodox trend in Christianity, which is especially noticeable in his glorification of the sister of the emperor Pulcheria, influential in church circles. Sozomen described the breakdown and content of his work:

“The first two books will embrace the church events under Constantine ; the third and fourth - with his sons; fifth and sixth - under the nephew of the sons of Constantine the Great Julian , as well as under Jovian , Valentinian and Valent ; the seventh and eighth will show us the events of the brothers Grazian and Valentinian - before the accession to the throne of your grandfather Theodosius . It will also be told here that the sovereign Sovereign, how glorious your father Arkady , along with your pious uncle Honorius , inherited the power of his parent and received the Roman Empire in control. And I set aside the ninth book to describe the Christ-loving and pious exploits of Your Majesty [Theodosius the Younger]. ”

Russian translation:

• The Church History of Hermia Sozomen Salaminsky . St. Petersburg, 1851.636 p.

• SOSOMENE SALAMINSKY (neopr.) . Eastern literature . Date of treatment May 11, 2011. Archived on August 22, 2011.
• Church History of Hermia Sozomen Salaminsky
• V. Bolotov, Lectures on the history of the ancient church.
• English translation of Church History (1890)