Church History 4.23.2 · Sophia Scriptura

Summary: Dionysius wrote to Sparta on orthodoxy and peace, and to Athens, which had nearly fallen away after its bishop Publius was martyred.

Greek text · Dindorf 4:172

ὧν ἐστιν ἡ μὲν πρὸς Λακεδαιμονίους, ὀρθοδοξίας κατηχητικὴ, εἰρήνης τε καὶ ἑνώσεως ὑποθετικὴ, ἡ δὲ πρὸς Ἀθηναίους διεγερτικὴ πίστεως καὶ τῆς κατὰ τὸ εὐαγγέλιον πολιτείας, ἧς ὀλιγωρήσαντας ἐλέγχει, ὡσὰν μικροῦ δεῖν ἀποστάντας τοῦ λόγου, ἐξ οὖπερ τὸν προεστῶτα αὐτῶν Πούπλιον μαρτυρῆσαι κατὰ τοὺς τότε συνέβη διωγμούς.

English · Claude translation

Of these, one is to the Lacedaemonians, instructing them in orthodoxy and urging peace and unity; another to the Athenians, rousing them to faith and to life according to the gospel, which he rebukes them for neglecting, as having almost fallen away from the word since their leader Publius was martyred in the persecutions of that time.

About this passage

Source

Dindorf 4:172 · 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

Dionysius of Corinth, Letters to the Lacedaemonians and Athenians (Dionysius of Corinth (letters)) · allusion, high confidence

Topics

Church office, Martyrdom

Cite this passage

Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 4.23.2 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/4/23/2/).

Plain text

Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 4.23.2 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/4/23/2/).