In 373 he had been at death’s door.
Indeed, the news of his death was actually circulated, and bishops
arrived at Cæsarea with the probable object of arranging the
succession. Ep.
cxli. He had
submitted to the treatment of a course of natural hot baths, but with
small beneficial result. Ep.
cxxxvii. By 376, as he
playfully reminds Amphilochius, he had lost all his teeth. Ep.
ccxxxii. At last the powerful mind and the fiery
enthusiasm of duty were no longer able to stimulate the energies of the
feeble frame.