50 Chapter 1 so they probably do not reflect the recordings of a session like the rest of the Acts.172 The canons might have been debated over during an informal session, but the absence of names of bishops who participated or signed leaves open the option that they were drafted later (in that case, probably by Anatolius, Patriarch of Constantinople).173 For only three canons we know that a previous version was actually discussed during the official sessions of the council. This happens to include canon 4, in addition to canon 3 and canon 20. During session 6 at 25 October 451, right after the acceptance of the new definition of faith by the delegates, Emperor Marcian (r. 450-457) proposes three decrees which, he indicates, he would like to have the council decide on as canons, rather than issuing them as (civil) laws.174 The canon nearly reproduces the proposal by Marcian word by word, except for some alterations. Canons 3, 4 and 20 thus mostly reflect Marcian’s proposals, while the alterations reflect the wording of the bishops, in particular of the Patriarch of Constantinople, Anatolius. The canon is as follows: Οἱ ἀληθῶς καὶ εἰλικρινῶς τὸν μονήρη μετιόντες βίον τῆς προσηκούσης ἀξιούσθωσαν τιμῆς· ἐπειδὴ δὲ τινὲς τῷ μοναχικῷ κεχρημένοι προσχήματι τάς τε ἐκκλησίας καὶ τὰ πολιτικὰ διαταράττουσι πράγματα περιιόντες ἀδιαφόρως ἐν ταῖς πόλεσιν, οὐ μὴν ἀλλὰ καὶ μοναστήρια ἑαυτοῖς συνιστᾶν ἐπιτηδεύοντες, ἔδοξεν μηδένα μὲν μηδαμοῦ οἰκοδομεῖν μηδὲ συνιστᾶν μοναστήριον ἢ εὐκτήριον οἶκον παρὰ γνώμην τοῦ τῆς πόλεως ἐπισκόπου, τοὺς δὲ καθ’ ἑκάστην πόλιν καὶ χώραν μονάζοντας ὑποτετάχθαι τῷ ἐπισκόπῳ καὶ τὴν ἡσυχίαν ἀσπάζεσθαι καὶ προσέχειν μόνῃ τῇ νηστείαι καὶ τῇ προσευχῇ, ἐν οἷς τόποις ἀπετάξαντο, προσκαρτεροῦντας, μήτε δὲ ἐκκλησιαστικοῖς μήτε βιωτικοῖς παρενοχλεῖν πράγμασιν ἢ ἐπικοινωνεῖν καταλιμπάνοντας τὰ ἴδια μοναστήρια, εἰ μή ποτε ἄρα ἐπιτραπεῖεν διὰ χρείαν ἀναγκαίαν ὑπὸ τοῦ τῆς πόλεως ἐπισκόπου. Μηδένα δὲ προσδέχεσθαι ἐν τοῖς μοναστηρίοις δοῦλον ἐπὶ τῷ μονάσαι παρὰ γνώμην τοῦ ἰδίου δεσπότου. Τὸν δὲ παραβαίνοντα τοῦτον ἡμῶν τὸν ὅρον ὡρίσαμεν ἀκοινώνητον εἶναι, ἵνα μὴ τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ θεοῦ βλασφημῆται, τὸν μέντοι ἐπίσκοπον τῆς πόλεως χρὴ τὴν δέουσαν πρόνοιαν ποιεῖσθαι τῶν μοναστηρίων.175 Those who truly and sincerely enter on the solitary life are to be accorded due honour. But since some people use a cloak of monasticism to disrupt both the churches and civil affairs, while they move around the cities indiscriminately and even try to set up monasteries for themselves, it is decreed that no one is to build or found a monastery or oratory anywhere contrary to the will of the bishop of the 172 As is suggested in Ibid., pp. 92–94. 173 Which is the view of Price and Gaddis in Ibid., pp. 92–94. 174 The Acts of the Council of Chalcedon, session 6, 25 October, 16-19. See Price and Gaddis (2007b), pp. 241–242. 175 In Schwartz (1933), p. 159.
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