Church History 6.3.9 · Sophia Scriptura

Summary: Origen sold his books for a small daily income and lived an austere life of study, fasting, and little sleep.

Greek text · Dindorf 4:244–245

εἶτα λογισμῷ καθήκοντι, ὡς ἂν μὴ γένοιτο τῆς παρʼ ἑτέρων ἐπικουρίας ἐνδεὴς, ὅσαπερ ἦν αὐτῷ πρότερον λόγων ἀρχαίων συγγράμματα φιλοκάλως ἐσπουδασμένα μεταδοὺς, τοῖς ὑπὸ τοῦ ταῦτα ἐωνημένου φερομένοις αὐτῷ τέτταρσιν ὀβολοῖς τῆς ἡμέρας ἠρκεῖτο, πλείστοις τε ἔτεσι τοῦτον φιλοσοφῶν διετέλει τὸν τρόπον, πάσας ὕλας νεωτερικῶν ἐπιθυμιῶν ἑαυτοῦ περιαιρούμενος, καὶ διὰ πάσης μὲν ἡμέρας οὐ σμικροὺς ἀσκήσεως καμάτους ἀνατλῶν, καὶ τῆς νυκτὸς δὲ τὸν πλείονα χρόνον ταῖς τῶν θείων γραφῶν ἑαυτὸν ἀνατιθεὶς μελέταις, βίῳ τε ὡς ἔνι μάλιστα ἐγκαρτερῶν φιλοσοφωτάτῳ, τοτὲ μὲν τοῖς ἐν ἀσιτίαις γυμνασίοις ἐνασκούμενος, τοτὲ δὲ μεμετρημένοις τοῖς κατὰ τὸν ὕπνον καιροῖς, οὗ μεταλαμβάνειν οὐδʼ ὅλως ἐπὶ στρωμνῆς, ἀλλʼ ἐπὶ τοὔδαφος διὰ σπουδῆς ἐποιεῖτο.

English · Claude translation

Then, with proper foresight, so as not to be in need of help from others, he disposed of all the volumes of ancient literature which he had formerly prized, and was content with four obols a day paid him by the purchaser. For very many years he continued to live as a philosopher in this way, removing from himself every incentive of youthful desires; all day long he endured no small labours of discipline, and he devoted the greater part of the night to the study of the divine Scriptures, persevering as far as possible in a most philosophic life, sometimes exercising himself in fasts, sometimes measuring out the times of sleep, which he was careful to take never on a bed but on the floor.

About this passage

Source

Dindorf 4:244–245 · 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

Fasting, Scripture and canon, Ethics

Cite this passage

Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 6.3.9 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/6/3/9/).

Plain text

Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 6.3.9 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/6/3/9/).