Church History 2.25.5 · Sophia Scriptura

Summary: Under Nero, Paul was beheaded and Peter crucified in Rome, as the cemeteries named after them confirm.

Greek text · Dindorf 4:81–82

ταύτῃ γοῦν οὗτος θεομάχος ἐν τοῖς μάλιστα πρῶτος ἀνακηρυχθεὶς ἐπὶ τὰς κατὰ τῶν ἀποστόλων ἐπήρθη σφαγάς. Παῦλος δὴ οὑν ἐπʼ αὐτῆς Ῥώμης τὴν κεφαλὴν ἀποτμηθῆναι, καὶ Πέτρος ὡσαύτως ἀνασκολιπισθῆναι κατʼ αὐτὸν ἱστοροῦνται. καὶ πιστοῦταί γε τὴν ἱστορίαν ἡ Πέτρου καὶ Παύλου εἰς δεῦρο κρατήσασα ἐπὶ τῶν αὐτόθι κοιμητηρίων πρόσρησις.

English · Claude translation

So he, proclaimed as the first chief fighter against God, was stirred up to the slaughter of the apostles. Paul, then, is recorded to have been beheaded in Rome itself, and Peter likewise to have been crucified under him. And the account is confirmed by the names of Peter and Paul, which still prevail over the cemeteries there to this day.

About this passage

Source

Dindorf 4:81–82 · Wilhelm Dindorf, ed., Eusebii Caesariensis Opera, vol. 4: Historiae ecclesiasticae libri I–X (Leipzig: Teubner, 1871) · Greek text: W. Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Leipzig: Teubner, 1871), digitized by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0

Text

As printed in Dindorf, Eusebii Opera 4. Manuscript variants and the editor's apparatus are not reproduced; no textual problem is noted in this passage.

Translation

Claude translation (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.

Compare

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 1 (1890) (an older public-domain English translation, whole volume at CCEL; checked against ours only after ours was made)

Topics

Martyrdom, Persecution

Cite this passage

Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 2.25.5 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/2/25/5/).

Plain text

Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 2.25.5 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/2/25/5/).