518

PTOLEMAEUS

PUBLICOLA

the Decian persecution. He is mentioned byDionysius Alexand. as quoted by Eusebius (H. E.vi. 41). [G. T. S.]

PTOLEMAEUS (4), bishop of Thmuis inEgypt, but probably intruded (Le Quien, Or.Chr. ii. 540). He attended the Councils ofSeleucia in 359 and Constantinople in 360. Hewas a partisan of Acacius of Caesarea [Aca-CIUS (2)], and is called MeAiTiivSv riva by St.Athanasius (De Synod. § 12), as a follower ofMeletius of Lycopolis [Meletius (2)]. (Baron.Annal . a.d. 359, lxix.; Tillem. vi. 469, 488 ;Ceillier, AuL Sacr. iv. 333.) [J. G.]

PTOLEMAEUS (5) ((rvyKAyTUcSs), ad-dressed by St. Nilus the ascetic ( Epp . i. nos, 1,2, 3, 8-21) upon the honour attached to themonastic life. [J. G.]

PTOLEMAEUS (6), bishop of Ehinoco-rura, upon whose information to Timotheuspatriarch of Alexandria the presbyter Alphaeuswas degraded for embracing the Messalianheresy (Phot. Cod. 52; Le Quien, 0. C. ii. 543).Tillemont (viii. 536) thinks that the Timotheushere spoken of was Salofaciolus. [C. H.]

PUBLIA, Oct. 9, deaconess and widow ofAntioch, and confessor under Julian. She wasmother of a certain John, presbyter of Antioch,whom some have taken to be John Chrysostom.She was head of a community of women whotormented Julian by chanting psalms, ridiculingthe worship of idols. On one occasion he was sovexed by her audacity in thus bearding him,that he ordered a soldier to strike her on theface. (Theodoret, H. E . iii. 19.) [G. T. S.]

PUBLICOLA, son of Melania [Mela-nia (1) Yol. III. p. 888], the only one remain-ing to her after the loss of two others, whofrom his station and fortune might have at*tained to senatorial rank, but of whom hismother was anxious that he should renouncethe world and live a monastic life. However,he married Albina, daughter of Rufius CeioniusAlbinus, and by her had a daughter, Melania.He died before a.d. 406, for in that year hiswidow was residing for a time at Nola in thehouse of Paulinus, together with her mother-in-law, the elder Melania and others. (Paulinus,Ep. xxix. 8-11; Carm . xxi. 281-295.)

He was probably possessed of property inAfrica, near Arzuges, perhaps the name of theheathen native inhabitants of Arsura or Azzura,a place of unknown site in the province of Byza-cene in Africa, and wrote to St. Augustine toconsult him as to his own conduct towardsthem and also on some other cases of consciencewhich troubled him (Morcelli, Afr. Chr. i. 84).Surrounded by heathens he found himself andthe business transactions of his estate in contactfrequently with them. I. In respect of oathstaken by them in the names of their deities:(a) respecting carriage of goods; (6) respectingcare taken by them of agricultural produce be-longing to him ; (c) respecting passage throughtheir territory. He was in doubt whether theywho relied on such oaths, whether taken to theowner or to the magistrate of the district, were

not polluted by receiving them, and not only sobut also the goods in respect of which they weretaken. Again, supposing that he knew by hear-say only of the oaths being taken, and theinformation should turn out to be untruewould not the doubt until it should be clearedup contaminate the object, and also its price,and make it unfit for him to meddle with : fol-lowing out the principle laid down by St. Paul,

1 Cor. x. 28, what ought he to do in such acase ? If a heathen should induce a Christianproprietor or magistrate, heathen or Christian,to swear that he will keep a promise, is theChristian polluted by such an oath, and in anycase arc the objects in question polluted: ( d )If he sends a messenger to the Arzuges, is he atliberty to take an oath from them, or does hepollute himself by so doing ? II. As to Offer-ings. (a) May a Christian eat of produce outof which an idol-offering has been taken: (6)May he cut wood from an idol-grove* (c) Goingto market and buying meat, if a doubt crosseshis mind as to its origin, does he commit sin byeating it: ( d ) Does doubt about the nature ofa good action involve the doer of it in sin: ( e )If a man says falsely that such or such food isidol sacrifice, and afterwards confesses his untruth, is a Christian justified in eating or sellingit or making use of the price paid for it: (/)Is he justified in eating such food in extremenecessity, in order to save his own life : ( g ) Mayhe drink of a well, with which any portion ofidol-sacrifice has entered, or of a spring in adeserted temple not so tainted: ( h ) At a feastif a Christian have idol-meat set before him,and refuses to eat it, and afterwards in ignorancebuys the same meat when exposed for sale, is heguilty of sin: (*) May he buy vegetables froma temple-garden, or from a heathen priest: (/)Ought a Christian to bathe in places whereidol-sacrifices are offered, especially on heathenfestival-days, either at the same time as hea-thens, or in their absence: (£) Ought he to siton the same bathing-seat (solium) on whichheathens here sat on such occasions. III. Con-duct in general, (a) Is a man justified inkilling another to prevent his killing him : (b)Is he at liberty to surround his property with awall, and thence defend it even to the killing ofinvaders ?

On all these questions he begs Augustine togive him immediate and decided answers so asto leave no doubt concerning them, and quotesmany scriptural passages and instances bearingon them. (Aug. Ep 46.)

In his reply, St. Augustine, while expressinghis great anxiety to calm his friend’s sensitivemind, expresses also his doubts as to his abilityto do so. He points out (a) that a man whoswears by false gods and breaks his promise isguilty of two faults, but that no one wouldblame him for keeping his promise: (6) hethat makes use of the true promise of one whohas sworn by false gods involves himself in nosin on that account. Not that his faith can beplaced on a level with that of a Christian, butit is plainly a less evil to swear truly by a falsegod than untruly by the true one, for as theobject of appeal is greater, so also is the perjurymore heinous. It is a question thereforewhether he who causes another to swear by falsegods is not guilty of sin, a question which he