The discovery of
the “True Cross” is related with many marvellous
particulars by Socrates, Eccles. Hist. i. 17; and Sozomen, E.
H. ii. 1. A portion was said to have been left by Helena at
Jerusalem, enclosed in a silver case; and another portion sent to
Constantinople, where Constantine privately enclosed it in his own
statue, to be a safeguard to the city. Eusebius, Life of
Constantine, iii. 25–30 , gives a long account of the
discovery of the Holy Sepulchre, but makes no mention of the
Cross. Cyril seems to have been the first to record it, 25 years
after. Cf. Greg. Nyss. Bapt. Christi (p. 519).