92	THE BYZANTINE CHURCH
to play the part of bishop; he had cut the Gordian knot
by imposing the Homoousion—a formula suggested by the
simple faith of a Spanish bishop which was repugnant to the
philosophical conscience of the Orientals. A little later he
came to realize the strength of that hostility. Emperor of
Nicomedia and of Constantinople, in the end he took the
part of the bishops of Asia against Athanasius. Constantius
II, living in the East, passes through various shades of
Arianism, while his brother Constans, Emperor of the West,
defends the faith of Nicaea. This duality in the government
of the Empire produces a kind of equilibrium: the bishops,
both in East and West, maintain their positions; the Council
of Sardica (343)3 assembled symbolically at the frontier
where two Empires met, could not reconcile the differing
points of view, though out of respect for each other the two
brothers were not intolerant. In 350 Constans was assassi-
nated; during the years 351 to 353 Constantius reconquered
the West from the usurper Magnentius. More and more
Constantius sets his heart upon forcing the Consubstan-
tialists to accept the creed of the Eastern bishops, or formulas
of compromise invented by ingenious Oriental theologians,
or even Anhomoean formulas of the left wing of Arianism,
until the day when at the two Councils of Ariminum and
Seleucia a neutral confession which proscribed even the
name of substance is imposed upon East and West alike.
The reign of Constantius is in many respects an anticipa-
tion of the whole course of the religious history of Byzantium.
A theological difference ranges one half of the Empire
against the other. The Emperor to settle the dispute sum-
mons council after council: the highways of the Empire
are crossed and recrossed by 'galloping bishops': one sees
now Court prelates or ecclesiastical assemblies won over or
intimidated by the Government, now heroic athletes of the
faith braving the Emperors themselves and gaining from
these religious duels an immense popularity: one sees the
Emperor seeking by any and every means to secure the
support of the Bishop of Rome. And all this will recur—
again and again. But in the fourth century the struggle
between Christians is not without its danger: Constantius
and Constans had thought that by their draconian edicts of