st decisions of Nicaea. No later meeting could presume to
rival 'the great and holy council' where Christendom had once for all
pronounced the condemnation of Arianism. In short, East and West were
alike conservative; but while conservatism in the East went behind the
council, in the West it was content to start from it.

[Sidenote: Supported by influence of: (1.) Heathens.]

The Eastern reaction was therefore in its essence not Arian but
conservative. Its leaders might be conservatives like Eusebius of
Caesarea, or court politicians like his successor, Acacius. They were
never open Arians till 357. The front and strength of the party was
conservative, and the Arians at its tail were in themselves only a
source of weakness. Yet they could enlist powerful allies in the cause
of reaction. Heathenism was still a living power in the world. It was
strong in numbers even in the East, and even stronger in the imposing
memories of history. Christianity was still an upstart on Caesar's
throne. The favour of the gods had built up the Empire, and men's hearts
misgave them that their wrath might overthrow it. Heathenism was still
an established religion, the Emperor still its official head. Old Rome
was still devoted to her ancient deities, her nobles still recorded
their priesthoods and augurships among their proudest honours, and the
Senate itself still opened every sitting with an offering of incense on
the altar of Victory. The public service was largely heathen, and the
army too, especially its growing cohorts of barbarian auxiliaries.
Education also was mostly heathen, turning on heathen classics and
taught by heathen rhetoricians. Libanius, the teacher of Chrysostom, was
also the honoured friend of Julian. Philosophy too was a great
influence, now that it had leagued together all the failing powers of
the ancient world against a rival not of this world. Its weakness as a
moral force must not blind us to its charm for the imagination.
Neoplatonism brought Egypt to the aid of Greece, and drew on
Christianity itself for help. The secrets of philosophy were set forth
in the mysteries of Eastern superstition. From the dim background of a
noble monotheism the ancient gods came forth to represent on earth a
majesty above their own. No waverer could face the terrors of that
mighty gathering of infernal powers. And the Nicene age was a time of
unsettlement and change, of half-beliefs and wavering superstition, of
weakness and unclea