Sophia Scriptura

Church History 3.6.17

Eusebius of Caesarea · Church History · ca. 300–325 · Caesarea · Read in context

Summary: Josephus (quoted): countless died of famine, and families fought each other for any trace of food.

Greek text · Dindorf 4:93

καὶ ἐν τῷ ἕκτῳ δὲ βιβλίῳ οὕτω γράφει τῶν δʼ ὑπὸ “τοῦ λιμοῦ φθειρομένων κατὰ τὴν πόλιν ἄπειρον μὲν ‘ἔπιπτε τὸ πλῆθος, ἀδιήγητα δὲ συνέβαινε τὰ πάθη. καθʼ ἑκάστην γὰρ οἰκίαν, εἴ που τροφῆς παραφανείη σκιὰ, πόλεμος ἦν, καὶ διὰ χειρῶν οἷ φίλτατοι πρὸς ἀλλήλους, ἐξαρπάζοντες τὰ ταλαίπωρα τῆς ψυχῆς ἐφόδια. πίστις δʼ ἀπορίας οὐδὲ τοῖς θνήσκουσιν ἦν.

English · Claude translation

And in the sixth book he writes thus: “Of those perishing of famine throughout the city a countless number fell, and indescribable sufferings took place. For in every house, wherever a shadow of food appeared, there was war, and the dearest fought hand to hand with one another, snatching the wretched sustenance of life. There was no belief in want even in the dying.

About this passage

Source
Dindorf 4:93 · 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)
Extrabiblical texts
  • Josephus, J.W. 6.193–194 (Josephus (works)) · quotation, high confidence

Notes

Translation notes

  • The quotation (3.6.17–28) is Josephus, J.W. 6.193–213.

Cite this passage

Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 3.6.17 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/3/6/17/).

Plain text
Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 3.6.17 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/3/6/17/).

Download citation:BibTeX ·RIS (Zotero, EndNote)

Whole work:BibTeX ·RIS ·Markdown text

Report an error in this passage