Christian Texts

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Ser. II, Vol. IV: Letters of Athanasius with Two Ancient Chronicles of His Life.: The Historia Acephala.

Arian ControversyAthanasiusNicene and Post-Nicene Fathers

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This is a primary-source chronicle — almost certainly the *Historia Acephala* ("Headless History"), an anonymous 4th-century document — recording the career of Athanasius, Bishop of Alexandria, with unusual precision: every exile, return, and church transfer is dated to the exact day using both the Roman consular year and the Egyptian calendar. The text covers roughly 346–363 AD, tracing Athanasius's repeated expulsions and restorations as Arian-sympathizing emperors (chiefly Constantius II) sent military force against him, and as rival bishops like George of Cappadocia occupied his see. A recurring theme is popular resistance in Alexandria: crowds rioted to protect Athanasius, tore an imperial envoy through the streets, and ultimately lynched George and dragged his body through town on a camel when news of Julian's accession arrived. The chronicle also tracks the Macedonian and Anomoean splits within Arianism itself, noting how factions like those of Aetius and Eunomius pushed the subordinationist logic to its extreme — asserting the Son is wholly "unlike" and a "creature of the Uncreated." Its distinctive value is less theological argument than granular administrative record: it reads like an episcopal ledger, and historians rely on it as one of the most precisely dated sources for the mid-fourth-century church controversies. Anyone interested in the Arian controversy, early Christian politics, or 4th-century Alexandria as a site of violent ecclesiastical struggle will find it indispensable.

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, Ser. II, Vol. IV: Letters of Athanasius with Two Ancient Chronicles of His Life.: The Historia Acephala.

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