Note 340 — Chapter XII
Reading edition
"It was almost implied in the meaning of the word. An 'Œcumenical Synod,' that is an 'Imperial gathering,' from the whole οἰκουμένη, or empire (for this was the technical meaning of the word, even in the Greek of the New Testament) could be convened only by the emperor."—Stanley's Lectures on the Eastern Church, 80. The first council of Arles, inferior only to a General Council, was called by the Emperor Constantine.—Euseb. Hist., lib. x. c. v.