Church History 5.1.31

Summary: Pothinus answered the governor boldly, was beaten by the mob, and died in prison two days later.

Greek text · Dindorf 4:190

ἀνεταζόμενος δὲ ὑπὸ τοῦ ἡγεμόνος τίς εἴη Χριστιανῶν ὁ θεὸς, ἔφη ῾ ἐὰν ᾖς ἄξιος, γνώσῃ.’ ἐντεῦθεν δὴ ἀφειδῶς ἐσύρετο, καὶ “ποικίλας ἔπασχε πληγὰς, τῶν μὲν σύνεγγυς χερσὶ καὶ ποσὶν ἐνυβριζόντων παντοίως, μηδὲ τὴν ἡλικίαν αἰδουμένων αὐτοῦ, τῶν δὲ μακρὰν, ὃ μετὰ χεῖρας ἕκαστος εἶχεν, εἰς αὐτὸν ἀκοντιζόντων, πάντων δὲ ἡγουμένων μεγάλως πλημμελεῖν καὶ ἀσεβεῖν, εἴ τις ἀπολειφθείη τῆς εἰς αὐτὸν ἀσελγείας· καὶ γὰρ τοὺς θεοὺς ἑαυτῶν ᾤοντο οὕτως ἐκδικήσειν. καὶ μόγις ἐμπνέων ἐρρίφη εἰς τὴν εἱρκτὴν, καὶ μετὰ δύο ἡμέρας ἀπέψυξεν.

English · Claude translation

When the governor asked him who the God of the Christians was, he said, “If you are worthy, you will know.” Then he was dragged about unsparingly and suffered all kinds of blows: those near him insulted him in every way with hands and feet, not even respecting his age, while those far off hurled at him whatever each had in hand; and all thought it a great offence and impiety if anyone fell short in violence against him, for they supposed that in this way they would avenge their gods. Scarcely breathing, he was thrown into prison, and after two days he breathed his last.

About this passage

Source

Dindorf 4:190 · 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

Ep. Lugd. (Letter of the Churches of Vienne and Lyons) · quotation, high confidence

Topics

Martyrdom

Cite this passage

Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 5.1.31 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/5/1/31/).

Plain text

Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 5.1.31 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/5/1/31/).

Greek text · Dindorf 4:190

English · Claude translation

About this passage

Notes

Translation notes

Cite this passage