Sophia Scriptura

Church History 7.10.3

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

Summary: At first Valerian was exceptionally friendly to Christians, and his household was full of believers.

Greek text · Dindorf 4:304

ἀμφότερα “δὲ ἔστιν ἐπὶ Οὐαλεριανοῦ θαυμάσαι, καὶ τούτων ‘μάλιστα τὰ πρὸ αὐτοῦ ὡς οὗτος ἔσχε συννοεῖν, ὡς ῾μὲν ἤπιος καὶ φιλόφρων ἦν πρὸς τοὺς ἀνθρώπους ῾τοῦ θεοῦ. οὐδὲ γὰρ ἄλλος τις οὕτω τῶν πρὸ αὐτοῦ “βασιλέων εὐμενῶς καὶ δεξιῶς πρὸς αὐτοὺς διετέθη, “οὐδʼ οἱ λεχθέντες ἀναφανδὸν Χριστιανοὶ γεγονέναι, ῾ὡς ἐκεῖνος οἰκειότατα ἐν ἀρχῇ καὶ προσφιλέστατα “φανερὸς ἦν αὐτοὺς ἀποδεχόμενος. καὶ πᾶς τε ὁ ‘οἶκος αὐτοῦ θεοσεβῶν πεπλήρωτο καὶ ἦν ἐκκλησία “θεοῦ.

English · Claude translation

Both are to be marvelled at in Valerian, and most of all one should consider how he was before, how mild and friendly he was toward the men of God. For none of the emperors before him was so kindly and favourably disposed toward them, not even those said to have been openly Christians, as he plainly received them at the beginning most intimately and affectionately; and his whole house was filled with godly people and was a church of God.

About this passage

Source
Dindorf 4:304 · 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 Alexandria (Dionysius of Alexandria (letters and fragments)) · quotation, high confidence
Topics
Persecution

Notes

Translation notes

  • Quotation from Dionysius of Alexandria. “Those said to have been openly Christians” probably refers to Philip (6.34).

Cite this passage

Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 7.10.3 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/7/10/3/).

Plain text
Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 7.10.3 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/7/10/3/).

Download citation:BibTeX ·RIS (Zotero, EndNote)

Whole work:BibTeX ·RIS ·Markdown text

Report an error in this passage