Flavianus by writing a letter to Emperor Theodosius in
which he strongly attacked what he unfairly called the
‘Dioscorian’ council, appealing to the Emperor to give his
consent to the convocation of another council somewhere
in Italy.^23 To add pressure to his entreaty, Leo enlisted
the aid of Valentinianbus III, Emperor of the West, his
wife Empress Eudoxia, and his mother Galla Placida.
Each of them wrote to the Emperor of the East endorsing
Leo’s plea.
- Emperor Theodosius answered each of them
separately, saving that the second Ephesian council was
“an assembly of pious bishops who had behaved according
to the fear of God, and in conformity with the Orthodox
Faith as I know for certainty. It would, therefore, be
better that you do not interfere in the matter, hence why
another council?”^24 - Meantime, Leo persisted in his endeavour, and
sent letters to the clergy of Constantinople, to its people
and to its archmandrites, hoping thereby to provoke
them.^25 But all his efforts were fruitless because the
Emperor, to emphasise his respect for the Dioscorian
council, authorised the people of Constantinople to elect a
new Bishop, entreating them to concentrate on an
Orthodox, and evade all Nestorians. Accordingly
Anatolius was chosen to fill the vacated chair.^26
This choice angered the Bishop of Rome because
the new elect had originally been a deacon from
Alexandria, and an apocrisiary of the Alexandrian Pope in
Constantinople.^27
Abba Dioscorus presided over the ceremony of
consecrating Anatolius Bishop of Constantinople, then set
sail for his native shores.