JOHANNES MEURSIUS

Book IV, Chapter XXII. Let us first place Abbot John, who resided near Lycon, which is a town of the Thebaid A region in Upper Egypt named after its capital, Thebes., and who, having been elevated to the grace of prophecy on account of the virtue of obedience, became so renowned throughout the whole world that he was deservedly made illustrious even to the kings of this earth. For while he was staying in the furthest reaches of the Thebaid, as we have said, the Emperor Theodosius did not presume to proceed to wars against powerful tyrants before he was encouraged by John's oracles and responses. Trusting in these as if they had been brought down to him from heaven, he carried back trophies from desperate wars and enemies.

One should also see Nicephorus Callistus, Book XII, Chapter XXXIX. Cedrenus An 11th-century Byzantine historian. is the authority that he used his staff in place of a spear, and a monk's cowl instead of a helmet. original Greek: ἐξιών γοῦν (ὁ Θεοδόσιος) κατὰ τοῦ τυράννου Εὐγενίου, οὐκ ἰδίᾳ ἰσχύϊ ἐθάρρησεν· Ἰωάννου δὲ πυνθανόμενος Αἰγυπτίου μοναχοῦ μεγάλου τὴν ῥάβδον ἀντὶ δόρατος, τὴν ἐπωμίδα δὲ ἀντὶ κράνους ὁπλισάμενος, κατὰ κράτος τὸν ἀλιτήριον χειροῦται ζῶντα, καὶ τοὺς σὺν αὐτῷ ἀνεῖλε. "Therefore, when [Theodosius] went out against the tyrant Eugenius, he did not trust in his own strength; but having learned of John, the great Egyptian monk, and arming himself with the John's staff instead of a spear, and the monk's cloak original: epomida; literally a shoulder-strap or cloak. instead of a helmet, he forcefully subdued the villain while he was still alive and destroyed those with him." Theodore Metochites records the same things in Roman History, Book II, but he names him Senuphius, not John. original Greek: ἔθνη ποτὲ ἄπειρα κατὰ τοῦ μεγάλου ἐγειρομένου Θεοδοσίου· τί τὸ ἐπὶ τούτοις γράφει τηνικαῦτα ὁ βασιλεὺς τῷ τῆς Ἀλεξανδρείας προέδρῳ, ἵνα τὸν κατ' Αἴγυπτον μέγαν Σενούφιον ποιήσῃ πρὸς συμμαχίαν τοῦ βασιλέως ἐλθεῖν. ὁ δὲ οὐ πείθεται. στέλλει δὲ τῷ βασιλεῖ ῥάβδον, καὶ μικρὸν αὐτοῦ τριβώνιον· οἷς δὴ καὶ χρησάμενος ὁ βασιλεὺς ἀντὶ κράνους καὶ δόρατος κατὰ τῶν πολεμίων ὁρμᾷ καὶ διὰ χειρῶν αὐτοὺς κατατροποῦται. "Once, when countless nations rose up against the great Theodosius, the emperor then wrote to the presiding bishop of Alexandria so that he might make Senuphius the Great, who lived in Egypt, come as an ally to the emperor. But Senuphius was not persuaded to come. Instead, he sent the emperor a staff and his small, worn cloak original: tribonion; a simple, inexpensive cloak worn by philosophers and monks.; using these indeed instead of a helmet and spear, the emperor rushed against the enemies and overthrew them with his own hands." The governor of the region entered, named Alypius. This is that same Alypius, to whom, as the then Prefect

of the City,