142 The word in the original is stoixeia&Eaxute\ on this Valesius annotates "This does not mean the four elements, for the Persian Magi did not worship the four elements but only fire and the sun and moon." In illustration of this use of the word he quotes Chrysostom. Hom. 58 in Matth.
o gar daimwn epi diabolh tou stoixeiou kai epitiqetai toij alousi, kai anihsin autouj kata touj thj selhnhj dromouj&Eaxute\ and St. Jerome Ep. ad Hedyb. 4 where he speaks of the days of the week as being described by the heathen "Idolorum et elementorum nominibus."
143 i.e. Isdigirdes II. 440-457.
144 Achaemenes was the name of the Grandfather of Cambyses, father of Cyrus, and also of a son of Darius, son of Hystaspes. Hence the Achaemenidae were the noblest stock of Persia.
147 The edict of Diocletian against the Christians was issued on the feast of the Terminalia, Feb. 23, 303. Good Friday, here h tou swthriou paqouj hmera, was commonly known as hmera tou staurou, pasxa staurwsimou, and paraskeuh.
Tertullian speaks of its early observance as a general fast, and Eusebius confirms his testimony.
148 Theodorus was born at Antioch in 350, consecrated bishop of Mopsuestia in 392, and died in 428 in Cilicia.
149 The evidence is in favour of distinguishng this Polychronius from the monk described in the Religious History.
150 "The date of the death of Theodotus is fixed for a.d. 429 by a passage of Theodoret's letter to Dioscorus, where, when speaking of his having taught for six years under him at Antioch, he refers to his blessed and holy memory, combined with one in his history, stating that the death of Theodore of Mopsuestia took place in the episcopate of Theodotus." Dict. Christ. Biog. iv. 983.
The last event referred to by Theodoretus seems to be the accession of Isdigirdes II. in 440. Vide pp. 155, 156.