prisoned. St. Potamon, who had
narrowly missed martyrdom during the persecution of Diocletian, was
scourged with rods until he died. The many cruelties of the usurper
made him so hateful to the Alexandrians that, after four years of
tyranny, he was killed by the mob in a sudden outbreak of fury.

Athanasius, in the meantime, had made his way to Rome, where he was
received by St. Julius I as a champion of the Faith. The case should
be tried in his own presence, the Pope declared; but it was impossible
to get the Arians to Rome. Excuse followed excuse, pretext followed
pretext. Eusebius, the head of the Arian party, died at last in his
usurped see, but his spirit survived in his followers. They drew up a
creed of their own and sent it to the Pope, who rejected it at the
Council of Milan. The Nicene Creed was the confession of Faith of the
Catholic Church, he said. But the Nicene Creed, which proved so fully
the divinity of Christ, was just what the Arians would not accept.

A fresh Council was called at Sardica, at which they were at last
induced to be present. But when Athanasius was proved innocent, and
the Bishops whom the Arians had banished appeared to bear witness to
the violence and cruelty with which they had been treated, the Arians
abruptly left the Council and returned to Philippopolis. Here they
formed a council of their own, in which they not only excommunicated
Athanasius, but had the impudence to "excommunicate" Pope Julius
himself.

The Council of Sardica, at which were present the orthodox Bishops of
Italy, Spain, Gaul, Africa, Greece, Palestine and Egypt, was very well
able to get on without them. The innocence of Athanasius was finally
established, the Arians and their creed condemned. A circular letter
was then written to all the Churches, informing them of what had
passed, and legates were dispatched to the two Emperors, Constans and
Constantius.

Constantius dared not resist. Urged by his brother, who did his best
to show the conduct of the Arians in its true light and threatened him
with civil war if he persisted in upholding them, he sent letters to
Alexandria ordering that Athanasius should be honorably received.
Gregory had met his death a short time before, so there was no
obstacle to Athanasius' return.

The Alexandrians, in the meantime, had received a letter from Pope
Julius in praise of their Patriarch. "If precious metals," he wrote,
"such as gold and silver, are tried in the fire, wh