Nicaea - The Rise of the Imperial Church. William Speir

explained to me his plans for the churches. He was my first teacher, and I miss seeing him every day. I know that the reasons he sent me to serve Alexander are important, and even though I still serve Hosius, I’d rather be serving him in Córdoba.

      Three days later at mid-day, the galley rowed into the harbor at Gades. Athanasius could hardly contain his excitement to be back in the city again. The smells and sounds assaulted his senses, triggering happy memories from his youth. As much as he wanted to spend time walking along its all-too-familiar streets, he had messages to deliver to Córdoba. He walked past two Roman warships that were taking on supplies as he headed for the city. Once he had left the harbor area, he began looking for ground transportation to Hosius’ church.

      As Athanasius walked through the crowded streets at the base of the hill east of the harbor, he recognized the pucker from an old scar near the left ear of a man walking away from him. The man turned, and Athanasius saw his face. “Sebastian!” he called out.

      The short, balding young man turned and noticed Athanasius. “Athanasius!” he called back, making his way through the crowd to his old friend. Hosius’ acolyte and chief scribe grasped Athanasius by the wrists. “It’s good to see you, my friend. What brings you to Gades?”

      Athanasius held up the leather pouch hanging around his neck. “I have messages from Alexander to Hosius. I was about to hire a chariot or ox-cart to take me to Córdoba. Perhaps we can ride there together?”

      Sebastian shook his head. “It’s good that you arrived today. Hosius isn’t in Córdoba; he’s here in Gades. He received a summons to Byzantium by the Emperor. We leave in the morning.”

      “Then I’m glad that I arrived just in time,” Athanasius said, surprised. “Can you take me to him? I have instructions to wait for his reply before returning to Alexandria.”

      “Sounds important,” Sebastian noted. “Follow me. We’re staying at an inn two streets over.

      As they walked to the inn, Athanasius asked, “Why did the Emperor summon Hosius?”

      “I have no idea,” Sebastian replied. “Do you think Hosius tells me such things? All I know is that the Emperor sent two warships and some of his personal guards to make sure that Hosius comes as quickly as possible.” Dropping his voice to a whisper, he added, “But I can guess what the summons is about.”

      Athanasius leaned forward, and Sebastian continued. “It’s the Imperial Church. Constantine’s impatient for a religion that he can use to control the people of the empire.”

      Athanasius nodded. Hosius is playing a dangerous game with the churches and the Emperor, and I’ve had my part to play in that game. Hosius instructed me to make things worse between Alexander and Arias, and I’ve done my best to do that. When I’m serving as Alexander’s scribe, I always make a copy of each letter to Arias for Alexander to keep. How would he react if he discovered that his copies don’t match the letters that Arias actually receives? Would he forgive me, send me back to Hispania, or banish me from the churches altogether? One thing is for certain: he’d never trust me again. And now the Emperor is growing impatient. I wonder why Hosius wanted me to keep Alexander and Arias unable to reach an agreement. “Emperors are dangerous to cross,” Athanasius said aloud. “I wonder if Hosius has figured out how to get the churches to agree to the new theology.”

      “I don’t know,” Sebastian said. “But he’d better figure it out before we reach Byzantium.”

      They reached the inn a few moments later, and Athanasius saw an imperial guard blocking the entrance.

      “Don’t worry,” Sebastian said to Athanasius as they approached the guard.

      “State your business,” the guard said to Athanasius.

      “Athanasius, I’d like you to meet Imperial Guard Lucius Artorius Gemellus. Lucius, this is Athanasius. He has messages for Hosius from the Patriarch of Alexandria.”

      Lucius nodded curtly and allowed Athanasius and Sebastian to enter the inn.

      The inn was a two story building along a narrow road that ran from the harbor to the base of the hills east of the city. Athanasius followed Sebastian through the large common room to a corridor that ran to the back of the inn. Sebastian knocked on the last door on the right.

      The door opened, and Athanasius recognized Titurius, another one of Hosius’ trusted acolytes. His close-cropped black hair and hawk-nose made the tall acolyte look sinister, but he was man with a tremendous love for life. “Athanasius! Welcome to Gades! Come in, come in. We had no idea you were coming.”

      “Thank you, Titurius.” Athanasius and Sebastian entered the long room covered in rugs and thick wooden furniture.

      Athanasius saw Hosius sitting next to the window at the far end of the room, reading a letter. The bishop had sandy hair and Celtic features, making him look more like a barbarian tribesmen that a Roman citizen. Hosius looked up when Athanasius entered the room and jumped to his feet, causing the pile of letters in his lap to fall onto the floor.

      “Athanasius! You’re a welcome sight. What brings you here?”

      Athanasius and Hosius embraced. Athanasius then removed the leather pouch from around his neck and handed it to Hosius. “I have messages from Alexander. He’s instructed me to wait for your reply.”

      Hosius took the pouch and smiled. Reaching down to pick up the letters he had dropped, he said, “I expected as much. I received Arias’ letter three days ago – delivered by an imperial courier.”

      “I’ve heard that Arias’ servant is clever, but I had no idea he was connected to the imperial couriers,” Athanasius said. “It took me seventeen days to get here. The courier made good time!”

      Hosius gestured for Athanasius to sit down in another chair near the window. Sebastian poured a cup of wine for Athanasius and refilled Hosius’ cup. He and Titurius withdrew across the room so Athanasius and Hosius could speak in private.

      “I hear that you’ve been summoned to Byzantium,” Athanasius said as Hosius opened the leather pouch.

      “Yes, Emperor Constantine wants to see me,” Hosius said casually as he removed the contents of the pouch.

      Athanasius sat quietly as Hosius read Alexander’s letters and the reply from Arias. Hosius shook his head several times but didn’t say anything until he had read each letter twice.

      Hosius looked up at Athanasius, smiling. “May I assume that the letter here from Alexander to Arias is not the same letter that Arias received?”

      Athanasius grinned and nodded.

      “You’ve done well, Athanasius. I think it’s safe to say that neither Alexander nor Arias will ever be able to reach agreement on points of theology.”

      “That much is certain,” Athanasius agreed. “But won’t that make the Emperor angry? I hear that he’s impatient for the Imperial Church to be handed over to him.”

      Hosius glanced across the room at his acolytes. “Sebastian talks too much.” Looking back to Athanasius, he continued, “But you’re right. Constantine wants his church, and he wants it soon.”

      “But instead of getting the two theological factions led by Alexander and Arias to come to an agreement, we’ve been making things worse between them.”

      Hosius smiled. “Exactly.”

      “I don’t understand. Why?” Athanasius asked.

      “Because I need the Emperor to step in and personally resolve the disagreement. What’s more, I need the churches to practically beg the Emperor to step in. That way the Imperial Church can be crafted as Constantine wants it with the full blessing of the Patriarchs and the churches.”

      Athanasius nodded. “So your plan is to make Constantine the head of the Imperial Church?”

      “The secular head of the Imperial Church, yes.”