Church History 8.2.1–8.12.11
Greek text: Dindorf, Eusebii Opera 4 (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).English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0). Compare: Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 1 (1890).
Church 8, chapter 2
8.2.1Dindorf 4:350–351
Συντετέλεσται δῆτα καθʼ ἡμᾶς πάντα, ὁπηνίκα τῶν μὲν προσευκτηρίων τοὺς οἴκους ἐξ ὕψους εἰς ἔδαφος αὐτοῖς θεμελίοις καταρριπτουμένους, τὰς δὲ ἐνθέους καὶ ἱερὰς γραφὰς κατὰ μέσας ἀγορὰς πυρὶ παραδιδομένας αὐτοῖς ἐπείδομεν ὀφθαλμοῖς, τούς τε τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν ποιμένας αἰσχρῶς ὧδε κἀκεῖσε κρυπταζομένους, τοὺς δὲ ἀσχημόνως ἁλισκομένους, καὶ πρὸς τῶν ἐχθρῶν καταπαιζομένους, ὅτε καὶ κατὰ τὸν προφητικὸν λόγον, ἐξεχύθη ἐξουδένωσις ἐπʼ ἄρχοντας, καὶ ἐπλάνησεν αὐτοὺς ἐν ἀβάτῳ καὶ οὐχ ὁδῷ. “
Syntetelestai dēta kathʼ hēmas panta, hopēnika tōn men proseuktēriōn tous oikous ex hypsous eis edaphos autois themeliois katarriptoumenous, tas de entheous kai hieras graphas kata mesas agoras pyri paradidomenas autois epeidomen ophthalmois, tous te tōn ekklēsiōn poimenas aischrōs hōde kakeise kryptazomenous, tous de aschēmonōs haliskomenous, kai pros tōn echthrōn katapaizomenous, hote kai kata ton prophētikon logon, exechythē exoudenōsis epʼ archontas, kai eplanēsen autous en abatǭ kai ouch hodǭ. “
All these things have indeed been fulfilled in our day, when we saw with our own eyes the houses of prayer thrown down from their height to the ground, foundations and all, and the inspired and holy Scriptures committed to the fire in the middle of the marketplaces, and the shepherds of the churches shamefully hiding here and there, while others were disgracefully captured and mocked by their enemies; when also, according to the prophetic word, “contempt was poured out upon rulers, and he made them wander in a trackless place and not on a road.”
Ps 107:40 (106:40 LXX) (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Eusebius saw churches demolished, Scriptures burned in public, and church leaders hiding or captured, as the psalm foretold.
- The quotation is Ps 107:40 (106:40 LXX).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (garbled words in the digital text): ὅτε καὶκ κατʼ προφητικὸν → ὅτε καὶ κατὰ τὸν προφητικὸν.
Topics: Persecution, Scripture and canon, Church office
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.2.1 (Dindorf 4:350–351; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/8-2-1/#p-8-2-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.
8.2.2Dindorf 4:351
ἀλλὰ τούτων μὲν οὐχ ἡμέτερον διαγράφειν τὰς ἐπὶ τέλει σκυθρωπὰς συμφορὰς, ἐπεὶ καὶ τὰς πρόσθεν τοῦ διωγμοῦ διαστάσεις τε αὐτῶν εἰς ἀλλήλους καὶ ἀτοπίας οὐχ ἡμῖν οἰκεῖον μνήμῃ παραδιδόναι. διὸ καὶ πλέον οὐδὲν ἱστορῆσαι περὶ αὐτῶν διέγνωμεν ἢ διʼ ὧν ἂν τὴν θείαν δικαιώσαιμεν κρίσιν.
alla toutōn men ouch hēmeteron diagraphein tas epi telei skythrōpas symphoras, epei kai tas prosthen tou diōgmou diastaseis te autōn eis allēlous kai atopias ouch hēmin oikeion mnēmę̄ paradidonai. dio kai pleon ouden historēsai peri autōn diegnōmen ē diʼ hōn an tēn theian dikaiōsaimen krisin.
But it is not our part to describe the gloomy misfortunes that befell these men in the end, since it is not fitting for us either to hand down to memory their dissensions with one another and their misconduct before the persecution. Therefore we have decided to record nothing more about them than what may vindicate the divine judgment.
Notes and citation
Summary: Eusebius declines to describe the failures and quarrels of church leaders beyond what shows that God's judgment was just.
Topics: Church office
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.2.2 (Dindorf 4:351; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/8-2-1/#p-8-2-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.
8.2.3Dindorf 4:351
οὐκοῦν οὐδὲ τῶν πρὸς τοῦ διωγμοῦ πεπειραμένων, ἢ τῶν εἰς ἅπαν τῆς σωτηρίας νεναυαγηκότων, αὐτῇ τε γνώμῃ τοῖς τοῦ κλύδωνος ἐναπορριφέντων βυθοῖς, μνήμην ποιήσασθαι προήχθημεν, μόνα δὲ ἐκεῖνα τῇ καθόλου προσθήσομεν ἱστορίᾳ, ἃ πρώτοις μὲν ἡμῖν αὐτοῖς, ἔπειτα δὲ καὶ τοῖς μεθʼ ἡμᾶς γένοιτʼ ἂν πρὸς ὠφελείας. ἴωμεν οὖν ἐντεῦθεν ἤδη, τοὺς ἱεροὺς ἀγῶνας τῶν τοῦ θεοῦ λόγου μαρτύρων ἐν ἐπιτομῇ διαγράψοντες.
oukoun oude tōn pros tou diōgmou pepeiramenōn, ē tōn eis hapan tēs sōtērias nenauagēkotōn, autę̄ te gnōmę̄ tois tou klydōnos enaporriphentōn bythois, mnēmēn poiēsasthai proēchthēmen, mona de ekeina tę̄ katholou prosthēsomen historią, ha prōtois men hēmin autois, epeita de kai tois methʼ hēmas genoitʼ an pros ōpheleias. iōmen oun enteuthen ēdē, tous hierous agōnas tōn tou theou logou martyrōn en epitomę̄ diagrapsontes.
Accordingly, we have not been led to make mention either of those who were tried by the persecution or of those who made complete shipwreck of their salvation and of their own will were cast into the depths of the flood; we shall add to the general history only those things that may be profitable first to ourselves and then to those after us. Let us go on, then, from here to describe in summary the sacred contests of the martyrs of the divine Word.
Notes and citation
Summary: Eusebius will pass over those who fell away and record only what is useful: the contests of the martyrs.
Topics: Martyrdom, Persecution
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.2.3 (Dindorf 4:351; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/8-2-1/#p-8-2-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.
8.2.4Dindorf 4:351
ἔτος τοῦτο ἦν ἐννεακαιδέκατον τῆς Διοκλητιανοῦ βασιλείας, Δύστρος μὲν (λέγοιτο δʼ ἂν οὗτος Μάρτιος κατὰ Ῥωμαίους), ἐν ᾧ τῆς τοῦ σωτηρίου πάθους ἑορτῆς ἐπελαυνούσης ἥπλωτο πανταχόσε βασιλικὰ γράμματα, τὰς μὲν ἐκκλησίας εἰς ἔδαφος φέρειν, τὰς δὲ γραφὰς ἀφανεῖς πυρὶ γενέσθαι προστάττοντα, καὶ τοὺς μὲν τιμῆς ἐπειλημμένους ἀτίμους, τοὺς δὲ ἐν οἰκετίαις, εἰ ἐπιμένοιεν τῇ τοῦ Χριστιανισμοῦ προθέσει, ἐλευθερίας στερεῖσθαι προαγορεύοντα.
etos touto ēn enneakaidekaton tēs Dioklētianou basileias, Dystros men (legoito dʼ an houtos Martios kata Rhōmaious), en hǭ tēs tou sōtēriou pathous heortēs epelaunousēs hēplōto pantachose basilika grammata, tas men ekklēsias eis edaphos pherein, tas de graphas aphaneis pyri genesthai prostattonta, kai tous men timēs epeilēmmenous atimous, tous de en oiketiais, ei epimenoien tę̄ tou Christianismou prothesei, eleutherias stereisthai proagoreuonta.
It was the nineteenth year of the reign of Diocletian, the month Dystrus (which the Romans would call March), when, as the feast of the Savior's passion was approaching, imperial letters were published everywhere, ordering the churches to be razed to the ground and the Scriptures to be destroyed by fire, and proclaiming that those who held honors should lose them, and those in households, if they persisted in the profession of Christianity, should be deprived of their freedom.
Notes and citation
Summary: In March 303, near Easter, Diocletian's first edict ordered churches razed, Scriptures burned, and Christians stripped of rank and freedom.
- The first edict of the Great Persecution, AD 303. Dystrus is the Macedonian month name.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (misspelling in the digital text; opening parenthesis missing in the digital text): ἐννεακαιδέκατου → ἐννεακαιδέκατον; Δύστρος μὲν, λέγοιτο → Δύστρος μὲν (λέγοιτο.
Topics: Persecution, Scripture and canon
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.2.4 (Dindorf 4:351; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/8-2-1/#p-8-2-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.
8.2.5Dindorf 4:351–352
καὶ ἡ μὲν πρώτη καθʼ ἡμῶν γραφὴ τοιαύτη τις ἦν· μετʼ οὐ πολὺ δὲ ἑτέρων ἐπιφοιτησάντων γραμμάτων προσετάττετο τοὺς τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν προέδρους πάντας τοὺς κατὰ πάντα τόπον πρῶτα μὲν δεσμοῖς παραδίδοσθαι, εἶθʼ ὕστερον πάσῃ μηχανῇ θύειν ἐξαναγκάζεσθαι.
kai hē men prōtē kathʼ hēmōn graphē toiautē tis ēn; metʼ ou poly de heterōn epiphoitēsantōn grammatōn prosetatteto tous tōn ekklēsiōn proedrous pantas tous kata panta topon prōta men desmois paradidosthai, eithʼ hysteron pasę̄ mēchanę̄ thyein exanankazesthai.
Such was the first decree against us. But not long after, other letters arrived, commanding that all the presidents of the churches in every place should first be put in chains, and afterward be compelled by every means to sacrifice.
Notes and citation
Summary: A second edict ordered all church leaders imprisoned and then forced to sacrifice.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (wrong accent in the digital text): τοιαύτη τις ἠν· → τοιαύτη τις ἦν·.
Topics: Persecution, Church office
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.2.5 (Dindorf 4:351–352; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/8-2-1/#p-8-2-5).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.
Church 8, chapter 3
8.3.1Dindorf 4:352
Τότε δὴ οὖν, τότε πλεῖστοι μὲν ὅσοι τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν ἄρχοντες, δειναῖς αἰκίαις προθύμως ἐναθλήσαντες, μεγάλων ἀγώνων ἱστορίας ἐπεδείξαντο, μυρίοι δʼ ἄλλοι τὴν ψυχὴν ὑπὸ δειλίας προναρκήσαντες προχείρως οὕτως ἀπὸ πρώτης ἐξησθένησαν προσβολῆς, τῶν δὲ λοιπῶν ἕκαστος εἴδη διάφορα βασάνων ἐνήλλαττεν, ὁ μὲν μάστιξιν αἰκιζόμενος τὸ σῶμα, ὁ δὲ στρεβλώσεσι καὶ ξεσμοῖς ἀνυπομονήτοις τιμωρούμενος, ἐφʼ οἷς ἤδη τινὲς οὐκ αἴσιον ἀπηνέγκαντο τοῦ βίου τέλος.
Tote dē oun, tote pleistoi men hosoi tōn ekklēsiōn archontes, deinais aikiais prothymōs enathlēsantes, megalōn agōnōn historias epedeixanto, myrioi dʼ alloi tēn psychēn hypo deilias pronarkēsantes procheirōs houtōs apo prōtēs exēsthenēsan prosbolēs, tōn de loipōn hekastos eidē diaphora basanōn enēllatten, ho men mastixin aikizomenos to sōma, ho de streblōsesi kai xesmois anypomonētois timōroumenos, ephʼ hois ēdē tines ouk aision apēnenkanto tou biou telos.
Then indeed, then, very many rulers of the churches contended eagerly under terrible tortures and displayed histories of great contests; but countless others, their souls numbed beforehand by cowardice, readily grew weak at the very first assault. Of the rest, each underwent different kinds of torture: one had his body mangled with scourges, another was punished with the rack and unendurable scrapings, in which some already met an unhappy end of life.
Notes and citation
Summary: Many church leaders endured torture bravely, many others gave way at once, and some died under the rack and scourge.
Topics: Persecution, Martyrdom, Church office
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.3.1 (Dindorf 4:352; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/8-2-1/#p-8-3-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.
8.3.2Dindorf 4:352
ἄλλοι δʼ αὖ πάλιν ἄλλως τὸν ἀγῶνα διεξῄεσαν· ὁ μὲν γάρ τις ἑτέρων βίᾳ συνωθούντων καὶ ταῖς παμμιάροις καὶ ἀνάγνοις προσαγόντων θυσίαις ὡς τεθυκὼς ἀπηλλάττετο, καὶ εἰ μὴ τεθυκὼς ἦν, ὁ δὲ μηδʼ ὅλως προσπελάσας, μηδέ τινος ἐναγοῦς ἐφαψάμενος, εἰρηκότων δʼ ἑτέρων ὅτι τεθύκοι, σιωπῇ φέρων τὴν συκοφαντίαν ἀπῄει, ἄλλος ἡμιθανὴς αἰρόμενος ὡσὰν ἤδη νεκρὸς ἐρρίπτετο.
alloi dʼ au palin allōs ton agōna diexę̄esan; ho men gar tis heterōn bią synōthountōn kai tais pammiarois kai anagnois prosagontōn thysiais hōs tethykōs apēllatteto, kai ei mē tethykōs ēn, ho de mēdʼ holōs prospelasas, mēde tinos enagous ephapsamenos, eirēkotōn dʼ heterōn hoti tethykoi, siōpę̄ pherōn tēn sykophantian apę̄ei, allos hēmithanēs airomenos hōsan ēdē nekros erripteto.
Others, again, went through the contest in other ways. One man, while others forcibly pushed him and brought him to the utterly foul and impure sacrifices, was dismissed as though he had sacrificed, even though he had not; another, who had not come near at all nor touched anything polluted, but others said he had sacrificed, went away bearing the false accusation in silence; another, taken up half dead, was thrown out as if already a corpse.
Notes and citation
Summary: Some were dragged to sacrifice and released as if they had sacrificed; others were falsely reported to have done so; others were thrown out half dead.
Topics: Persecution
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.3.2 (Dindorf 4:352; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/8-2-1/#p-8-3-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.
8.3.3Dindorf 4:352
καί τις αὖ πάλιν ἐπʼ ἐδάφους κείμενος μακρὰν ἐσύρετο τοῖν ποδοῖν, ἐν τεθυκόσιν αὐτοῖς λελογισμένος· ὁ δέ τις ἐβόα, καὶ μεγάλῃ διεμαρτύρετο φωνῇ τῆς θυσίας τὴν ἄρνησιν· καὶ ἄλλος Χριστιανὸς εἶναι ἐκεκράγει, τῇ τοῦ σωτηρίου προσρήματος ὁμολογίᾳ λαμπρυνόμενος· ἕτερος τὸ μὴ τεθυκέναι μήτε θύσειν ποτὲ διετείνετο.
kai tis au palin epʼ edaphous keimenos makran esyreto toin podoin, en tethykosin autois lelogismenos; ho de tis eboa, kai megalę̄ diemartyreto phōnę̄ tēs thysias tēn arnēsin; kai allos Christianos einai ekekragei, tę̄ tou sōtēriou prosrēmatos homologią lamprynomenos; heteros to mē tethykenai mēte thysein pote dieteineto.
And again, one lying on the ground was dragged a long way by the feet and counted among those who had sacrificed. One cried out and testified with a loud voice that he refused to sacrifice; another shouted that he was a Christian, shining with the confession of the saving name; another insisted that he had not sacrificed and never would.
Notes and citation
Summary: Some were counted as having sacrificed against their will, while others loudly refused and confessed themselves Christians.
Topics: Persecution, Martyrdom
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.3.3 (Dindorf 4:352; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/8-2-1/#p-8-3-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.
8.3.4Dindorf 4:352–353
ὅμως δʼ οὖν καὶ οἵδε πολυχειρίᾳ τῆς ἐπὶ τοῦτο τεταγμένης στρατιωτικῆς παρατάξεως κατὰ στόματος παιόμενοι καὶ κατασιγαζόμενοι, κατά τε προσώπου καὶ παρειῶν τυπτόμενοι μετὰ βίας ἐξωθοῦντο. οὕτως ἐξ ἅπαντος οἱ τῆς θεοσεβείας ἐχθροὶ τὸ δοκεῖν ἠνυκέναι περὶ πολλοῦ ἐτίθεντο. ἀλλʼ οὐ καὶ κατὰ τῶν ἁγίων αὐτοῖς μαρτύρων ταῦτα προυχώρει, ὧν εἰς ἀκριβῆ διήγησιν τίς ἄν ἡμῖν ἐξαρκέσειε λόγος;
homōs dʼ oun kai hoide polycheirią tēs epi touto tetagmenēs stratiōtikēs parataxeōs kata stomatos paiomenoi kai katasigazomenoi, kata te prosōpou kai pareiōn typtomenoi meta bias exōthounto. houtōs ex hapantos hoi tēs theosebeias echthroi to dokein ēnykenai peri pollou etithento. allʼ ou kai kata tōn hagiōn autois martyrōn tauta prouchōrei, hōn eis akribē diēgēsin tis an hēmin exarkeseie logos?
Yet these too were struck on the mouth and silenced by the many hands of the troop of soldiers assigned to this, and were beaten on the face and cheeks and thrust out by force. So much did the enemies of piety value appearing, by any means, to have succeeded. But these things did not go their way against the holy martyrs; and what account would suffice us for an exact narration of them?
Notes and citation
Summary: Those who confessed were beaten and driven out, for the persecutors cared only to seem successful; but the true martyrs could not be overcome.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (line-break hyphen left in the digital text; wrong breathing and accent in the digital text): ἐξω- θοῦντο → ἐξωθοῦντο; ἐξ ἅπαντος οἶ τῆς → ἐξ ἅπαντος οἱ τῆς.
Topics: Persecution, Martyrdom
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.3.4 (Dindorf 4:352–353; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/8-2-1/#p-8-3-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.
Church 8, chapter 4
8.4.1Dindorf 4:353
Μυρίους μὲν γὰρ ἱστορήσαι ἄν τις θαυμαστὴν ὑπὲρ εὐσεβείας τοῦ θεοῦ τῶν ὅλων ἐνδεδειγμένους προθυμίαν, οὐκ ἐξότουπερ μόνον ὁ κατὰ πάντων ἀνεκινήθη διωγμὸς, πολὺ πρότερον δὲ, καθʼ ὃν ἔτι τὰ τῆς εἰρήνης συνεκροτεῖτο.
Myrious men gar historēsai an tis thaumastēn hyper eusebeias tou theou tōn holōn endedeigmenous prothymian, ouk exotouper monon ho kata pantōn anekinēthē diōgmos, poly proteron de, kathʼ hon eti ta tēs eirēnēs synekroteito.
For one could record countless people who showed an admirable zeal for piety toward the God of the universe, not only from the time the persecution against all was stirred up, but long before, while peace still prevailed.
Notes and citation
Summary: Countless Christians showed their devotion to God even before the general persecution began.
Topics: Persecution
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.4.1 (Dindorf 4:353; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/8-2-1/#p-8-4-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.
8.4.2Dindorf 4:353
ἄρτι γὰρ ἄρτι πρῶτον ὥσπερ ἀπὸ κάρου βαθέος ὑποκινουμένου τοῦ τὴν ἐξουσίαν εἰληφότος, κρύβδην τε ἔτι καὶ ἀφανῶς μετὰ τὸν ἀπὸ Δεκίου καὶ Οὐαλεριανοῦ μεταξὺ χρόνον ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις ἐπιχειροῦντος, οὐκ ἀθρόως τε τῷ καθʼ ἡμῶν ἐπαποδυομένου πολέμῳ, ἀλλʼ ἔτι τῶν κατὰ τὰ στρατόπεδα μόνων ἀποπειρωμένου — ταύτῃ γὰρ καὶ τοὺς λοιποὺς ἁλῶναι ῥᾳδίως ᾤετο, εἰ πρότερον ἐκείνων καταγωνισάμενος περιγένοιτο —, πλείστους παρῆν τῶν ἐν στρατείαις ὁρᾶν ἀσμενέστατα τὸν ἰδιωτικὸν προασπαζομένους βίον, ὡς ἂν μὴ ἔξαρνοι γένοιντο τῆς περὶ τὸν τῶν ὅλων δημιουργὸν εὐσεβείας.
arti gar arti prōton hōsper apo karou batheos hypokinoumenou tou tēn exousian eilēphotos, krybdēn te eti kai aphanōs meta ton apo Dekiou kai Oualerianou metaxy chronon tais ekklēsiais epicheirountos, ouk athroōs te tǭ kathʼ hēmōn epapodyomenou polemǭ, allʼ eti tōn kata ta stratopeda monōn apopeirōmenou — tautę̄ gar kai tous loipous halōnai rhądiōs ǭeto, ei proteron ekeinōn katagōnisamenos perigenoito —, pleistous parēn tōn en strateiais horan asmenestata ton idiōtikon proaspazomenous bion, hōs an mē exarnoi genointo tēs peri ton tōn holōn dēmiourgon eusebeias.
For when he who had received the authority was only just beginning to stir, as though from a deep stupor, and was attacking the churches still secretly and covertly, in the time after Decius and Valerian, and was not arming himself all at once for the war against us but was still making trial only of those in the camps (for in this way he thought he would easily capture the rest too, if he first overcame and mastered them), one could see very many in the army most gladly embracing private life, so that they might not deny their piety toward the Creator of the universe.
Notes and citation
Summary: When persecution began quietly in the army, many Christian soldiers gladly left the service rather than deny God.
- “He who had received the authority” is not named; probably Galerius or the commander mentioned in 8.4.3.
Topics: Persecution
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.4.2 (Dindorf 4:353; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/8-2-1/#p-8-4-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.
8.4.3Dindorf 4:353
ὡς γὰρ ὁ στρατοπεδάρχης, ὅστις ποτὲ ἦν ἐκεῖνος, ἄρτι πρῶτον ἐνεχείρει τῷ κατὰ τῶν στρατευμάτων διωγμῷ, φυλοκρινῶν καὶ διακαθαίρων τοὺς ἐν τοῖς στρατοπέδοις ἀναφερομένους, αἵρεσίν τε διδοὺς ἢ πειθαρχοῦσιν ἧς μετῆν αὐτοῖς ἀπολαύειν τιμῆς, ἢ τοὐναντίον στέρεσθαι ταύτης, εἰ ἀντιτάττοιντο τῷ προστάγματι, πλεῖστοι ὅσοι τῆς Χριστοῦ βασιλείας στρατιῶται τὴν εἰς αὐτὸν ὁμολογίαν, μὴ μελλήσαντες, τῆς δοκούσης δόξης καὶ εὐπραγίας ἧς εἶχον ἀναμφιλόγως προυτίμησαν.
hōs gar ho stratopedarchēs, hostis pote ēn ekeinos, arti prōton enecheirei tǭ kata tōn strateumatōn diōgmǭ, phylokrinōn kai diakathairōn tous en tois stratopedois anapheromenous, hairesin te didous ē peitharchousin hēs metēn autois apolauein timēs, ē tounantion steresthai tautēs, ei antitattointo tǭ prostagmati, pleistoi hosoi tēs Christou basileias stratiōtai tēn eis auton homologian, mē mellēsantes, tēs dokousēs doxēs kai eupragias hēs eichon anamphilogōs proutimēsan.
For when the commander of the camps, whoever he was, first undertook the persecution against the troops, sorting out and purging those enrolled in the camps and giving them a choice either to obey and enjoy the rank they held, or else to be deprived of it if they opposed the command, very many soldiers of Christ's kingdom without hesitation unquestionably preferred the confession of him to the seeming glory and prosperity they had.
Notes and citation
Summary: Offered the choice between their rank and their faith, many Christian soldiers chose to confess Christ.
Topics: Persecution, Martyrdom
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.4.3 (Dindorf 4:353; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/8-2-1/#p-8-4-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.
8.4.4Dindorf 4:353–354
ἤδη δὲ σπανίως τούτων εἷς που καὶ δεύτερος οὐ μόνον τῆς ἀξίας τὴν ἀποβολὴν, ἀλλὰ καὶ θάνατον τῆς εὐσεβοῦς ἐνστάσεως ἀντικατηλλάττοντο, μετρίως πως ἤδη τότε τοῦ τὴν ἐπιβολὴν ἐνεργοῦντος καὶ μέχρις αἵματος ἐπʼ ἐνίων φθάνειν ἐπιτολμῶντος, τοῦ πλήθους, ὡς ἔοικε, τῶν πιστῶν δεδιττομένου τε αὐτὸν ἔτι καὶ ἀποκναίοντος ἐπὶ τὸν κατὰ πάντων ἀθρόως ἐφορμῆσαι πόλεμον.
ēdē de spaniōs toutōn heis pou kai deuteros ou monon tēs axias tēn apobolēn, alla kai thanaton tēs eusebous enstaseōs antikatēllattonto, metriōs pōs ēdē tote tou tēn epibolēn energountos kai mechris haimatos epʼ eniōn phthanein epitolmōntos, tou plēthous, hōs eoike, tōn pistōn dedittomenou te auton eti kai apoknaiontos epi ton kata pantōn athroōs ephormēsai polemon.
And already, here and there, one or two of them received in exchange for their pious steadfastness not only the loss of their rank but also death, since the one carrying out the scheme was by then moderately daring to go as far as blood in some cases, the great number of the faithful, it seems, still frightening him and deterring him from rushing all at once into war against all.
Notes and citation
Summary: A few soldiers were even put to death, though the persecutor, fearing the number of believers, did not yet dare a general attack.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (line-break hyphen left in the digital text): τού- τῶν → τούτων.
Topics: Persecution, Martyrdom
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.4.4 (Dindorf 4:353–354; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/8-2-1/#p-8-4-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.
8.4.5Dindorf 4:354
ὡς δὲ καὶ γυμνότερον ἐπαπεδύετο οὐδʼ ἔστι λόγῳ δυνατὸν ἀφηγήσασθαι, ὅσους καὶ ὁποίους τοῦ θεοῦ μάρτυρας ὀφθαλμοῖς παρῆν ὁρᾶν τοῖς ἀνὰ πάσας τάς τε πόλεις καὶ τὰς χώρας οἰκοῦσιν.
hōs de kai gymnoteron epapedyeto oudʼ esti logǭ dynaton aphēgēsasthai, hosous kai hopoious tou theou martyras ophthalmois parēn horan tois ana pasas tas te poleis kai tas chōras oikousin.
But when he stripped more openly for the attack, it is impossible to describe in words how many and what kind of martyrs of God those who lived throughout all the cities and countries could see with their own eyes.
Notes and citation
Summary: When the persecution became open, the martyrs were beyond counting.
Topics: Persecution, Martyrdom
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.4.5 (Dindorf 4:354; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/8-2-1/#p-8-4-5).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.
Church 8, chapter 5
8.5.1Dindorf 4:354
Αὐτίκα γοῦν τῶν οὐκ ἀσήμων τις, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἄγαν κατὰ τὰς ἐν τῷ βίῳ νενομισμένας ὑπεροχὰς ἐνδοξοτάτων, ἅμα τῷ τὴν κατὰ τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν ἐν τῇ Νικομηδείᾳ προτεθῆναι γραφὴν, ζήλῳ τῷ κατὰ θεὸν ὑποκινηθεὶς, διαπύρῳ τε ἐφορμήσας τῇ πίστει, ἐν προφανεῖ καὶ δημοσίῳ κειμένην ὡς ἀνοσίαν καὶ ἀσεβεστάτην ἀνελὼν σπαράττει, δυοῖν ἐπιπαρόντων κατὰ τὴν αὐτὴν πόλιν βασιλέων, τοῦ τε πρεσβυτάτου τῶν ἄλλων καὶ τοῦ τὸν τέταρτον ἀπὸ τούτου τῆς ἀρχῆς ἐπικρατοῦντος βαθμόν. ἀλλʼ οὗτος μὲν τῶν τηνικάδε πρῶτος τοῦτον διαπρέψας τὸν τρόπον, ἄμα τε τοιαῦτα, οἷα καὶ εἰκὸς ἦν, ὑπομείνας ὡσὰν ἐπὶ τοιούτῳ τολμήματι, τὸ ἄλυπον καὶ ἀτάραχον εἰς αὐτὴν τελευταίαν διετήρησεν ἀναπνοήν.
Autika goun tōn ouk asēmōn tis, alla kai agan kata tas en tǭ biǭ nenomismenas hyperochas endoxotatōn, hama tǭ tēn kata tōn ekklēsiōn en tę̄ Nikomēdeią protethēnai graphēn, zēlǭ tǭ kata theon hypokinētheis, diapyrǭ te ephormēsas tę̄ pistei, en prophanei kai dēmosiǭ keimenēn hōs anosian kai asebestatēn anelōn sparattei, dyoin epiparontōn kata tēn autēn polin basileōn, tou te presbytatou tōn allōn kai tou ton tetarton apo toutou tēs archēs epikratountos bathmon. allʼ houtos men tōn tēnikade prōtos touton diaprepsas ton tropon, ama te toiauta, hoia kai eikos ēn, hypomeinas hōsan epi toioutǭ tolmēmati, to alypon kai atarachon eis autēn teleutaian dietērēsen anapnoēn.
Immediately, at any rate, as soon as the decree against the churches was posted in Nicomedia, a man not obscure but most highly honored in the eminences of this life, moved by zeal for God and rushing on with burning faith, seized it as it lay posted in a conspicuous public place and tore it to pieces as unholy and most impious, while two emperors were present in the same city, the eldest of them and the one who held the fourth rank of rule after him. This man, the first of those at that time to distinguish himself in this way, after enduring such things as were to be expected for so daring a deed, kept himself free of grief and undisturbed to his very last breath.
Notes and citation
Summary: At Nicomedia a prominent Christian tore down the posted edict in the presence of two emperors and died for it calmly.
- The two emperors are Diocletian and Galerius.
Topics: Persecution, Martyrdom
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.5.1 (Dindorf 4:354; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/8-2-1/#p-8-5-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.
Church 8, chapter 6
8.6.1Dindorf 4:354–355
Πάντων δὲ, ὅσοι τῶν πώποτε ἀνυμνοῦνται θαυμάσιοι καὶ ἐπʼ ἀνδρείᾳ βεβοημένοι, εἴτε παρʼ Ἕλλησιν εἴτε παρὰ βαρβάροις, θείους ἤνεγκεν ὁ καιρὸς καὶ διαπρεπεῖς μάρτυρας τοὺς ἀμφὶ τὸν Δωρόθεον βασιλικοὺς παῖδας, οἱ καὶ τῆς ἀνωτάτω παρὰ τοῖς δεσπόταις ἠξιωμένοι τιμῆς, γνησίων τε αὐτοῖς διαθέσει τέκνων οὐ λειπόμενοι, μείζονα πλοῦτον ὡς ἀληθῶς ἥγηνται τῆς τοῦ βίου δόξης καὶ τρυφῆς τοὺς ὑπὲρ εὐσεβείας ὀνειδισμούς τε καὶ πόνους, καὶ τοὺς κεκαινουργημένους ἐπʼ αὐτοῖς πολυτρόπους θανάτους, ὧν ἑνός τινος οἵω κέχρηται μνησθέντες τῷ τοῦ βίου τέλει, σκοπεῖν ἐξ αὐτοῦ καὶ τὰ τοῖς ἄλλοις συμβεβηκότα τοῖς ἐντυγχάνουσι καταλείψομεν.
Pantōn de, hosoi tōn pōpote anymnountai thaumasioi kai epʼ andreią beboēmenoi, eite parʼ Hellēsin eite para barbarois, theious ēnenken ho kairos kai diaprepeis martyras tous amphi ton Dōrotheon basilikous paidas, hoi kai tēs anōtatō para tois despotais ēxiōmenoi timēs, gnēsiōn te autois diathesei teknōn ou leipomenoi, meizona plouton hōs alēthōs hēgēntai tēs tou biou doxēs kai tryphēs tous hyper eusebeias oneidismous te kai ponous, kai tous kekainourgēmenous epʼ autois polytropous thanatous, hōn henos tinos hoiō kechrētai mnēsthentes tǭ tou biou telei, skopein ex autou kai ta tois allois symbebēkota tois entynchanousi kataleipsomen.
Of all who have ever been celebrated in song as admirable and renowned for courage, whether among Greeks or barbarians, the occasion produced divine and illustrious martyrs in Dorotheus and the imperial servants with him. Though they had been counted worthy of the highest honor by their masters and were loved by them no less than true children, they truly considered the reproaches and toils for piety, and the many kinds of death newly devised against them, greater wealth than the glory and luxury of life. We shall mention how one of them met the end of his life, and leave our readers to judge from it what happened to the others.
Notes and citation
Summary: Dorotheus and the Christian servants of the palace preferred suffering for God to honor and luxury; Eusebius tells one of their deaths as an example.
Topics: Martyrdom, Persecution
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.6.1 (Dindorf 4:354–355; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/8-2-1/#p-8-6-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.
8.6.2Dindorf 4:355
ἤγετό τις εἰς μέσον κατὰ τὴν προειρημένην πόλιν ἐφʼ ὧν δεδηλώκαμεν ἀρχόντων. θύειν δὴ οὖν προσταχθεὶς, ὡς ἐνίστατο, γυμνὸς μετάρσιος ἀρθῆναι κελεύεται, μάστιξί τε τὸ πᾶν σῶμα καταξαίνεσθαι, εἰσότε ἡττηθεὶς κἂν ἄκων τὸ προσταττόμενον ποιήσειεν.
ēgeto tis eis meson kata tēn proeirēmenēn polin ephʼ hōn dedēlōkamen archontōn. thyein dē oun prostachtheis, hōs enistato, gymnos metarsios arthēnai keleuetai, mastixi te to pan sōma kataxainesthai, eisote hēttētheis kan akōn to prostattomenon poiēseien.
A certain man was brought forward in the city already mentioned, before the rulers we have named. Being ordered to sacrifice, and refusing, he was commanded to be stripped, raised aloft, and have his whole body torn with scourges until, overcome, he would do what was commanded even against his will.
Notes and citation
Summary: One palace servant who refused to sacrifice was hung up naked and scourged.
Topics: Martyrdom, Persecution
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.6.2 (Dindorf 4:355; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/8-2-1/#p-8-6-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.
8.6.3Dindorf 4:355
ὡς δὲ καὶ ταῦτα πάσχων ἀδιάτρεπτος ἦν, ὄξος λοιπὸν ἤδη τῶν ὀστέων ὑποφαινομένων αὐτοῦ σὺν καὶ ἅλατι φύραντες κατὰ τῶν διασαπέντων τοῦ σώματος μερῶν ἐνέχεον· ὡς δὲ καὶ ταύτας ἐπάτει τὰς ἀλγηδόνας, ἐσχάρα τοὐντεῦθεν καὶ πῦρ εἰς μέσον εἵλκετο, καὶ κρεῶν ἐδωδίμων δίκην τὰ λείψανα αὐτῷ τοῦ σώματος ὑπὸ τοῦ πυρὸς οὐκ εἰς ἄθρουν, ὡς ἂν μὴ συντόμως ἀπαλλαγείη, κατὰ βραχὺ δὲ ἀνηλίσκετο, οὐ πρότερον ἀνεῖναι τῶν ἐπιτιθέντων αὐτὸν τῇ πυρᾷ συγχωρουμένων, πρὶν ἂν καὶ μετὰ τοσαῦτα τοῖς προστασσομένοις ἐπινεύσειεν.
hōs de kai tauta paschōn adiatreptos ēn, oxos loipon ēdē tōn osteōn hypophainomenōn autou syn kai halati phyrantes kata tōn diasapentōn tou sōmatos merōn enecheon; hōs de kai tautas epatei tas algēdonas, eschara tounteuthen kai pyr eis meson heilketo, kai kreōn edōdimōn dikēn ta leipsana autǭ tou sōmatos hypo tou pyros ouk eis athroun, hōs an mē syntomōs apallageiē, kata brachy de anēlisketo, ou proteron aneinai tōn epitithentōn auton tę̄ pyrą synchōroumenōn, prin an kai meta tosauta tois prostassomenois epineuseien.
But when he remained unmoved even under these sufferings, they next mixed vinegar with salt and poured it on the mangled parts of his body, where the bones were already showing. And when he scorned these pains too, a gridiron and fire were then brought forward, and the remnants of his body were consumed by the fire like meat for eating, not all at once, so that he might not be released quickly, but little by little; those who laid him on the pyre were not permitted to let him go until, after so much, he should consent to what was commanded.
Notes and citation
Summary: Salt and vinegar were poured into his wounds, and he was slowly roasted on a gridiron to force him to yield.
Topics: Martyrdom, Persecution
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.6.3 (Dindorf 4:355; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/8-2-1/#p-8-6-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.
8.6.4Dindorf 4:355
ὁ δʼ ἀπρὶξ ἐχόμενος τῆς προθέσεως νικηφόρος ἐν αὐταῖς παρέδωκε τὴν ψυχὴν ταῖς βασάνοις. τοιοῦτον τῶν βασιλικῶν ἑνὸς τὸ μαρτύριον παίδων, ἄξιον ὡς ὄντως καὶ τῆς προσηγορίας· Πέτρος γὰρ ἐκαλεῖτο.
ho dʼ aprix echomenos tēs protheseōs nikēphoros en autais paredōke tēn psychēn tais basanois. toiouton tōn basilikōn henos to martyrion paidōn, axion hōs ontōs kai tēs prosēgorias; Petros gar ekaleito.
But he, holding fast to his purpose, gave up his soul victorious in the midst of the tortures. Such was the martyrdom of one of the imperial servants, truly worthy of his name: for he was called Peter.
Notes and citation
Summary: The servant, named Peter (“rock”), died unshaken under torture.
- The play is on Peter, “rock.”
Topics: Martyrdom
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.6.4 (Dindorf 4:355; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/8-2-1/#p-8-6-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.
8.6.5Dindorf 4:355–356
οὐ χείρονα δὲ καὶ τὰ κατὰ τοὺς λοιποὺς ὄντα, λόγου φειδόμενοι συμμετρίας, παραλείψομεν, τοσοῦτον ἱστορήσαντες, ὡς ὅ τε Δωρόθεος καὶ ὁ Γοργόνιος, ἑτέροις ἅμα πλείοσι τῆς βασιλικῆς οἰκετίας, μετὰ τοὺς πολυτρόπους ἀγῶνας βρόχῳ τὴν ζωὴν μεταλλάξαντες, τῆς ἐνθέου νίκης ἀπηνέγκαντο βραβεῖα.
ou cheirona de kai ta kata tous loipous onta, logou pheidomenoi symmetrias, paraleipsomen, tosouton historēsantes, hōs ho te Dōrotheos kai ho Gorgonios, heterois hama pleiosi tēs basilikēs oiketias, meta tous polytropous agōnas brochǭ tēn zōēn metallaxantes, tēs entheou nikēs apēnenkanto brabeia.
The deeds of the rest were no less, but, sparing the proportions of our account, we shall pass them over, recording only that Dorotheus and Gorgonius, with many others of the imperial household, after contests of many kinds, departed this life by the noose and carried off the prizes of divine victory.
Notes and citation
Summary: Dorotheus, Gorgonius, and many others of the imperial household were strangled after many tortures.
Topics: Martyrdom
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.6.5 (Dindorf 4:355–356; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/8-2-1/#p-8-6-5).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.
8.6.6Dindorf 4:356
ἐν τούτῳ τῆς κατὰ Νικομήδειαν ἐκκλησίας ὁ τηνικαῦτα προεστὼς Ἄνθιμος διὰ τὴν εἰς Χριστὸν μαρτυρίαν τὴν κεφαλὴν ἀποτέμνεται· τούτῳ δὲ πλῆθος ἄθρουν μαρτύρων προστίθεται, οὐκ οἶδʼ ὅπως ἐν τοῖς κατὰ τὴν Νικομήδειαν βασιλείοις πυρκαϊᾶς ἐν αὐταῖς δὴ ταῖς ἡμέραις ἁφθείσης, ἣν καθʼ ὑπόνοιαν ψευδῆ πρὸς τῶν ἡμετέρων ἐπιχειρηθῆναι λόγου διαδοθέντος, πανγενῆ σωρηδὸν βασιλικῷ νεύματι τῶν τῇδε θεοσεβῶν οἱ μὲν ξίφει κατεσφάττοντο, οἱ δὲ διὰ πυρὸς ἐτελειοῦντο. ὅ τε λόγος ἔχει προθυμίᾳ τινὶ ἀρρήτῳ ἄνδρας ἅμα γυναιξὶν ἐπὶ τὴν πυρὰν καθάλλεσθαι· δήσαντες δὲ οἱ δήμιοι ἄλλο τι πλῆθος ἐπὶ σκάφαις τοῖς θαλαττίοις ἐναπέρριπτον βυθοῖς.
en toutǭ tēs kata Nikomēdeian ekklēsias ho tēnikauta proestōs Anthimos dia tēn eis Christon martyrian tēn kephalēn apotemnetai; toutǭ de plēthos athroun martyrōn prostithetai, ouk oidʼ hopōs en tois kata tēn Nikomēdeian basileiois pyrkaïas en autais dē tais hēmerais haphtheisēs, hēn kathʼ hyponoian pseudē pros tōn hēmeterōn epicheirēthēnai logou diadothentos, pangenē sōrēdon basilikǭ neumati tōn tę̄de theosebōn hoi men xiphei katesphattonto, hoi de dia pyros eteleiounto. ho te logos echei prothymią tini arrētǭ andras hama gynaixin epi tēn pyran kathallesthai; dēsantes de hoi dēmioi allo ti plēthos epi skaphais tois thalattiois enaperripton bythois.
At this time Anthimus, who then presided over the church at Nicomedia, was beheaded for his testimony to Christ. A whole crowd of martyrs was added to him, for in those very days a fire broke out, I do not know how, in the imperial palace at Nicomedia; and when a report spread, on false suspicion, that it had been attempted by our people, by imperial command the godly there were killed in heaps, whole families together, some slaughtered by the sword, others perfected by fire. It is said that men together with women leapt onto the pyre with an indescribable eagerness. The executioners bound another crowd and threw them from boats into the depths of the sea.
Notes and citation
Summary: Bishop Anthimus of Nicomedia was beheaded, and after a palace fire was falsely blamed on Christians, many were killed by sword, fire, and drowning.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (misread letters in the digital text): πργγενῆ → πανγενῆ.
Topics: Martyrdom, Persecution, Church office
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.6.6 (Dindorf 4:356; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/8-2-1/#p-8-6-6).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.
8.6.7Dindorf 4:356
τοὺς δέ γε βασιλικοὺς μετὰ θάνατον παῖδας, γῇ μετὰ τῆς προσηκούσης κηδείας παραδοθέντας, αὖθις ἐξ ὑπαρχῆς ἀνορύξαντες ἐναπορρῖψαι θαλάσσῃ καὶ αὐτοὺς ᾤοντο δεῖν οἱ νενομισμένοι δεσπόται, ὡς ἂν μὴ ἐν μνήμασιν ἀποκειμένους προσκυνοῖέν τινες, θεοὺς δὴ αὐτοὺς, ὥς γε ᾤοντο, λογιζόμενοι. καὶ τὰ μὲν ἐπὶ τῆς Νικομηδείας κατὰ τὴν ἀρχὴν ἀποτελεσθέντα τοῦ διωγμοῦ τοιαῦτα.
tous de ge basilikous meta thanaton paidas, gę̄ meta tēs prosēkousēs kēdeias paradothentas, authis ex hyparchēs anoryxantes enaporripsai thalassę̄ kai autous ǭonto dein hoi nenomismenoi despotai, hōs an mē en mnēmasin apokeimenous proskynoien tines, theous dē autous, hōs ge ǭonto, logizomenoi. kai ta men epi tēs Nikomēdeias kata tēn archēn apotelesthenta tou diōgmou toiauta.
As for the imperial servants, who after death had been committed to the earth with fitting burial, their reputed masters thought it necessary to dig them up again from the beginning and throw them too into the sea, so that no one might worship them lying in tombs, regarding them, as they supposed, as gods. Such were the things done at Nicomedia at the beginning of the persecution.
Notes and citation
Summary: The emperors had the buried palace martyrs dug up and thrown into the sea so that no one would venerate their graves.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (wrong breathing and accent in the digital text): οἶ νενομισμένοι → οἱ νενομισμένοι.
Topics: Martyrdom, Persecution
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.6.7 (Dindorf 4:356; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/8-2-1/#p-8-6-7).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.
8.6.8Dindorf 4:356
οὐκ εἰς μακρὸν δὲ ἑτέρων κατὰ τὴν Μελιτηνὴν οὕτω καλουμένην χώραν, καὶ αὖ πάλιν ἄλλων ἀμφὶ τὴν Συρίαν ἐπιφυῆναι τῇ βασιλείᾳ πεπειραμένων, τοὺς πανταχόσε τῶν ἐκκλησιῶν προεστῶτας εἱρκταῖς καὶ δεσμοῖς ἐνεῖραι πρόσταγμα ἐφοίτα βασιλικόν.
ouk eis makron de heterōn kata tēn Melitēnēn houtō kaloumenēn chōran, kai au palin allōn amphi tēn Syrian epiphyēnai tę̄ basileią pepeiramenōn, tous pantachose tōn ekklēsiōn proestōtas heirktais kai desmois eneirai prostagma ephoita basilikon.
Not long afterward, when others in the region called Melitene, and again others in Syria, attempted to seize the empire, an imperial order went out that the presidents of the churches everywhere be put in prisons and chains.
Notes and citation
Summary: After uprisings in Melitene and Syria, an imperial order had church leaders everywhere imprisoned.
Topics: Persecution, Church office
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.6.8 (Dindorf 4:356; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/8-2-1/#p-8-6-8).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.
8.6.9Dindorf 4:356–357
καὶ ἦν ἡ θέα τῶν ἐπὶ τούτοις γινομένων πᾶσαν διήγησιν ὑπεραίρουσα, μυρίου πλήθους ἐν παντὶ τόπῳ καθειργνυμένου, καὶ τὰ πανταχῆ δεσμωτήρια, ἀνδροφόνοις καὶ τυμβωρύχοις πάλαι πρότερον ἐπεσκευασμένα, τότε πληρούντων ἐπισκόπων καὶ πρεσβυτέρων καὶ διακόνων, ἀναγνωστῶν τε καὶ ἐπορκιστῶν, ὡς μηδὲ χώραν ἔτι τοῖς ἐπὶ κακουργίαις κατακρίτοις αὐτόθι λείπεσθαι.
kai ēn hē thea tōn epi toutois ginomenōn pasan diēgēsin hyperairousa, myriou plēthous en panti topǭ katheirgnymenou, kai ta pantachē desmōtēria, androphonois kai tymbōrychois palai proteron epeskeuasmena, tote plērountōn episkopōn kai presbyterōn kai diakonōn, anagnōstōn te kai eporkistōn, hōs mēde chōran eti tois epi kakourgiais katakritois autothi leipesthai.
And the spectacle of what happened then surpassed all description: a countless multitude was shut up in every place, and the prisons everywhere, long before prepared for murderers and grave-robbers, were then filled with bishops, presbyters, and deacons, readers and exorcists, so that there was no longer room there for those condemned for crimes.
Notes and citation
Summary: The prisons filled with bishops, presbyters, deacons, readers, and exorcists until there was no room for criminals.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (line-break hyphen left in the digital text): πλη- ρούντων → πληρούντων.
Topics: Persecution, Church office
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.6.9 (Dindorf 4:356–357; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/8-2-1/#p-8-6-9).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.
8.6.10Dindorf 4:357
αὖθις δʼ ἑτέρων τὰ πρῶτα γράμματα ἐπικατειληφότων, ἐν οἷς τοὺς κατακλείστους θύσαντας μὲν ἐᾶν βαδίζειν ἐπʼ ἐλευθερίας, ἐνισταμένους δὲ μυρίαις καταξαίνειν προστέτακτο βασάνοις, πῶς ἂν πάλιν ἐνταῦθα τῶν καθʼ ἑκάστην ἐπαρχίαν μαρτύρων ἀριθμήσειέ τις τὸ πλῆθος, καὶ μάλιστα τῶν κατὰ τὴν Ἀφρικὴν καὶ τὸ Μαύρων ἔθνος, Θηβαΐδα τε καὶ κατʼ Αἴγυπτον, ἐξ ἧς καὶ εἰς ἑτέρας ἤδη προελθόντες πόλεις τε καὶ ἐπαρχίας διέπρεψαν τοῖς μαρτυρίοις.
authis dʼ heterōn ta prōta grammata epikateilēphotōn, en hois tous katakleistous thysantas men ean badizein epʼ eleutherias, enistamenous de myriais kataxainein prostetakto basanois, pōs an palin entautha tōn kathʼ hekastēn eparchian martyrōn arithmēseie tis to plēthos, kai malista tōn kata tēn Aphrikēn kai to Maurōn ethnos, Thēbaïda te kai katʼ Aigypton, ex hēs kai eis heteras ēdē proelthontes poleis te kai eparchias dieprepsan tois martyriois.
Again, when other letters followed the first, in which it was ordered that the prisoners, if they sacrificed, be allowed to go free, but if they resisted, be torn with countless tortures, how could anyone here again count the number of martyrs in each province, especially those in Africa and among the nation of the Moors, in the Thebaid and throughout Egypt, from which some had already gone to other cities and provinces and became illustrious by their martyrdoms?
Notes and citation
Summary: A further edict freed prisoners who sacrificed and tortured those who refused; the martyrs of Africa, Mauretania, and Egypt were countless.
Topics: Persecution, Martyrdom
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.6.10 (Dindorf 4:357; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/8-2-1/#p-8-6-10).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.
Church 8, chapter 7
8.7.1Dindorf 4:357
Ἴσμεν γοῦν τοὺς ἐξ αὐτῶν διαλάμψαντας ἐν Παλαιστίνῃ, ἴσμεν δὲ καὶ τοὺς ἐν Τύρῳ τῆς Φοινίκης, οὓς τίς ἰδὼν οὐ κατεπλάγη τὰς ἀναριθμήτους μάστιγας, καὶ τὰς ἐν τούτοις τῶν ὡς ἀληθῶς παραδόξων τῆς θεοσεβείας ἀθλητῶν ἐνστάσεις, τόν τε παραχρῆμα μετὰ τὰς μάστιγας ἐν θηρσὶν αἱμοβόροις ἀγῶνα, καὶ τὰς ἐν τούτῳ παρδάλεων καὶ διαφόρων ἄρκτων, συῶν τε ἀγρίων καὶ πυρὶ καὶ σιδήρῳ κεκαυτηριασμένων βοῶν προσβολὰς, καὶ τὰς πρὸς ἕκαστον τῶν θηρίων θαυμασίους τῶν γενναίων ὑπομονάς;
Ismen goun tous ex autōn dialampsantas en Palaistinę̄, ismen de kai tous en Tyrǭ tēs Phoinikēs, hous tis idōn ou kateplagē tas anarithmētous mastigas, kai tas en toutois tōn hōs alēthōs paradoxōn tēs theosebeias athlētōn enstaseis, ton te parachrēma meta tas mastigas en thērsin haimoborois agōna, kai tas en toutǭ pardaleōn kai diaphorōn arktōn, syōn te agriōn kai pyri kai sidērǭ kekautēriasmenōn boōn prosbolas, kai tas pros hekaston tōn thēriōn thaumasious tōn gennaiōn hypomonas?
We know, at any rate, those of them who shone in Palestine, and we know also those in Tyre of Phoenicia. Who that saw them was not amazed at the numberless scourgings, and the steadfastness under them of those truly marvelous athletes of godliness; and the contest with bloodthirsty beasts immediately after the scourgings, the attacks of leopards and various bears, wild boars and bulls goaded with fire and iron; and the marvelous endurance of these noble people before each of the beasts?
Notes and citation
Summary: Eusebius knew the Egyptian martyrs in Palestine and Tyre, who endured scourging and were exposed to leopards, bears, boars, and bulls.
Topics: Martyrdom, Persecution
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.7.1 (Dindorf 4:357; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/8-2-1/#p-8-7-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.
8.7.2Dindorf 4:357–358
οἷς γινομένοις καὶ αὐτοὶ παρῆμεν, ὁπηνίκα τοῦ μαρτυρουμένου σωτῆρος ἡμῶν αὐτοῦ δὴ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ τὴν θείαν δύναμιν ἐπιπαροῦσαν, ἐναργῶς τε αὐτὴν τοῖς μάρτυσιν ἐπιδεικνῦσαν ἱστορήσαμεν, τῶν ἀνθρωποβόρων ἐπὶ πλείονα χρόνον μὴ προσψαύειν μηδὲ πλησιάζειν τοῖς τῶν θεοφιλῶν σώμασιν ἐπιτολμώντων, ἀλλʼ ἐπὶ μὲν τοὺς ἄλλους, ὅσοι δήπουθεν ἔξωθεν ἐρεθισμοῖς παρώρμων αὐτὰ, φερομένων, μόνων δὲ τῶν ἱερῶν ἀθλητῶν γυμνῶν ἑστώτων καὶ ταῖς χερσὶ κατασειόντων, ἐπί τε σφᾶς αὐτοὺς ἐπισπωμένων (τοῦτο γὰρ αὐτοῖς ἐκελεύετο πράττειν) μηδʼ ὅλως ἐφαπτομένων, ἀλλʼ ἔσθʼ ὅπη μὲν καὶ ἐπʼ αὐτοὺς ὁρμώντων, οἷα δὲ πρός τινος θειοτέρας δυνάμεως ἀνακρουομένων καὶ αὖ πάλιν εἰς τοὐπίσω χωρούντων.
hois ginomenois kai autoi parēmen, hopēnika tou martyroumenou sōtēros hēmōn autou dē Iēsou Christou tēn theian dynamin epiparousan, enargōs te autēn tois martysin epideiknysan historēsamen, tōn anthrōpoborōn epi pleiona chronon mē prospsauein mēde plēsiazein tois tōn theophilōn sōmasin epitolmōntōn, allʼ epi men tous allous, hosoi dēpouthen exōthen erethismois parōrmōn auta, pheromenōn, monōn de tōn hierōn athlētōn gymnōn hestōtōn kai tais chersi kataseiontōn, epi te sphas autous epispōmenōn (touto gar autois ekeleueto prattein) mēdʼ holōs ephaptomenōn, allʼ esthʼ hopē men kai epʼ autous hormōntōn, hoia de pros tinos theioteras dynameōs anakrouomenōn kai au palin eis toupisō chōrountōn.
We ourselves were present when these things happened, and we observed the divine power of our Savior Jesus Christ himself, to whom they bore witness, present and manifestly displayed in the martyrs. For a long time the man-eating beasts did not dare to touch or even approach the bodies of those dear to God, but rushed at the others, who no doubt were goading them on from outside; while the holy athletes alone stood naked, waving their hands and drawing the beasts toward themselves (for they were ordered to do this), the beasts did not touch them at all, but sometimes rushed at them, and then, as though driven back by some more divine power, retreated again.
Notes and citation
Summary: Eusebius himself saw the beasts refuse to touch the martyrs, turning instead on those who goaded them.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (opening parenthesis missing in the digital text): ἐπισπωμένων τοῦτο → ἐπισπωμένων (τοῦτο.
Topics: Martyrdom, Persecution
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.7.2 (Dindorf 4:357–358; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/8-2-1/#p-8-7-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.
8.7.3Dindorf 4:358
ὃ καὶ εἰς μακρὸν γινόμενον θαῦμα παρεῖχεν οὐ σμικρὸν τοῖς θεωμένοις, ὥστε ἤδη διὰ τὸ ἄπρακτον τοῦ πρώτου δεύτερον καὶ τρίτον προσαφίεσθαι ἐνὶ καὶ τῷ αὐτῷ μάρτυρι θηρίον.
ho kai eis makron ginomenon thauma pareichen ou smikron tois theōmenois, hōste ēdē dia to aprakton tou prōtou deuteron kai triton prosaphiesthai eni kai tǭ autǭ martyri thērion.
This, continuing for a long time, caused no small wonder to the spectators, so that, because the first beast did nothing, a second and a third were let loose against one and the same martyr.
Notes and citation
Summary: Because the first beast would not attack, a second and third were sent against the same martyr.
Topics: Martyrdom
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.7.3 (Dindorf 4:358; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/8-2-1/#p-8-7-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.
8.7.4Dindorf 4:358
καταπλαγῆναι δʼ ἦν τὴν ἐπὶ τούτοις ἀπτόητον τῶν ἱερῶν ἐκείνων καρτερίαν, καὶ τὴν ἐν σώμασι νέοις βεβηκυῖαν καὶ ἀδιάτρεπτον ἔνστασιν. ἑώρας γοῦν ἡλικίαν οὐδʼ ὅλων ἐτῶν εἴκοσι δίχα δεσμῶν ἑστῶτος νέου, καὶ τὰς μὲν χεῖρας ἐφαπλοῦντος εἰς σταυροῦ τύπον, ἀκαταπλήκτῳ δὲ καὶ ἀτρεμεῖ διανοίᾳ ταῖς πρὸς τὸ θεῖον σχολαίτατα τεταμένου λιταῖς, μηδʼ ὅλως τε μεθισταμένου μηδʼ ἀποκλίνοντός ποι τοῦ ἔνθα εἱστήκει τόπου, ἄρκτων καὶ παρδάλεων θυμοῦ καὶ θανάτου πνεόντων σχεδὸν αὐτῆς καθαπτομένων αὐτοῦ τῆς σαρκὸς, ἀλλʼ οὐκ οἶδʼ ὅπως θείᾳ καὶ ἀπορρήτῳ δυνάμει μονονουχὶ φραττομένων τὸ στόμα, καὶ αὖθις παλινδρομούντων εἰς τοὐπίσω. καὶ οὗτος μὲν οὖν τοιοῦτός τις ἦν.
kataplagēnai dʼ ēn tēn epi toutois aptoēton tōn hierōn ekeinōn karterian, kai tēn en sōmasi neois bebēkuian kai adiatrepton enstasin. heōras goun hēlikian oudʼ holōn etōn eikosi dicha desmōn hestōtos neou, kai tas men cheiras ephaplountos eis staurou typon, akataplēktǭ de kai atremei dianoią tais pros to theion scholaitata tetamenou litais, mēdʼ holōs te methistamenou mēdʼ apoklinontos poi tou entha heistēkei topou, arktōn kai pardaleōn thymou kai thanatou pneontōn schedon autēs kathaptomenōn autou tēs sarkos, allʼ ouk oidʼ hopōs theią kai aporrētǭ dynamei mononouchi phrattomenōn to stoma, kai authis palindromountōn eis toupisō. kai houtos men oun toioutos tis ēn.
One could be astonished at the fearless endurance of those holy men in these circumstances, and at the firm and unmoved steadfastness in young bodies. You might have seen a youth not fully twenty years old standing unbound, stretching out his hands in the form of a cross, and with unterrified and untrembling mind intent on the most unhurried prayers to God, not moving or turning aside at all from the place where he stood, while bears and leopards, breathing fury and death, all but touched his very flesh, yet, I know not how, had their mouths all but stopped by a divine and secret power and ran back again. Such a one was he.
Notes and citation
Summary: A youth under twenty stood with arms outstretched in the form of a cross, praying calmly, while bears and leopards were held back from him.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (wrong accent and breathing in the digital text; wrong accent in the digital text): τις ἢν. → τις ἦν.; μὲν οὑν τοιοῦτός → μὲν οὖν τοιοῦτός.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.7.4 (Dindorf 4:358; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/8-2-1/#p-8-7-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.
8.7.5Dindorf 4:358–359
πάλιν δʼ ἂν ἑτέρους εἶδες, πέντε γὰρ οἱ πάντες ἐτύγχανον, ἠγριωμένῳ ταύρῳ παραβληθέντας, ὃς τοὺς μὲν ἄλλους τῶν ἔξωθεν προσιόντων τοῖς κέρασιν εἰς τὸν ἀέρα ῥίπτων διεσπάραττεν, ἡμιθνῆτας αἴρεσθαι καταλιπὼν, ἐπὶ μόνους δὲ θυμῷ καὶ ἀπειλῇ τοὺς ἱεροὺς ὁρμῶν μάρτυρας οὐδὲ πλησιάζειν αὐτοῖς οἷός τε ἦν, κυρίττων δὲ τοῖς ποσὶ καὶ τοῖς τῇδε κἀκεῖσε χρώμενος καὶ διὰ τοὺς ἀπὸ τῶν καυτήρων ἐρεθισμοὺς θυμοῦ καὶ ἀπειλῆς πνέων εἰς τοὐπίσω πρὸς τῆς ἱερᾶς ἀνθείλκετο προνοίας, ὡς μηδὲ τούτου μηδὲν μηδαμῶς αὐτοὺς ἀδικήσαντος, ἕτερα ἄττα αὐτοῖς ἐπαφίεσθαι θηρία.
palin dʼ an heterous eides, pente gar hoi pantes etynchanon, ēgriōmenǭ taurǭ parablēthentas, hos tous men allous tōn exōthen prosiontōn tois kerasin eis ton aera rhiptōn diesparatten, hēmithnētas airesthai katalipōn, epi monous de thymǭ kai apeilę̄ tous hierous hormōn martyras oude plēsiazein autois hoios te ēn, kyrittōn de tois posi kai tois tę̄de kakeise chrōmenos kai dia tous apo tōn kautērōn erethismous thymou kai apeilēs pneōn eis toupisō pros tēs hieras antheilketo pronoias, hōs mēde toutou mēden mēdamōs autous adikēsantos, hetera atta autois epaphiesthai thēria.
Again, you might have seen others (there were five in all) thrown to a maddened bull. With its horns it tossed into the air and tore apart the others who approached from outside, leaving them to be carried off half dead; but when it rushed with fury and threat at the holy martyrs alone, it was not even able to come near them. It pawed the ground with its feet and tossed its horns this way and that, breathing fury and threat because of the goading of the hot irons, yet it was drawn back by holy Providence; so that, since it did them no harm whatever, other beasts were let loose on them.
Notes and citation
Summary: A maddened bull gored the attendants but could not approach five martyrs, so other beasts were loosed on them.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (wrong accent in the digital text; wrong breathing and accent in the digital text): πέντε γὰρ οἶ πάντες → πέντε γὰρ οἱ πάντες; οἷός τε ἠν, → οἷός τε ἦν,.
Topics: Martyrdom
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.7.5 (Dindorf 4:358–359; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/8-2-1/#p-8-7-5).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.
8.7.6Dindorf 4:359
τέλος δὴ οὖν μετὰ τὰς δεινὰς καὶ ποικίλας τούτων προσβολὰς ξίφει κατασφαγέντες οἱ πάντες, ἀντὶ γῆς καὶ τάφων τοῖς θαλαττίοις παραδίδονται κύμασι.
telos dē oun meta tas deinas kai poikilas toutōn prosbolas xiphei katasphagentes hoi pantes, anti gēs kai taphōn tois thalattiois paradidontai kymasi.
At last, after the terrible and varied attacks of these beasts, they were all slaughtered with the sword and, instead of to earth and tombs, were committed to the waves of the sea.
Notes and citation
Summary: In the end the martyrs were killed with the sword and their bodies thrown into the sea.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (wrong breathing and accent in the digital text): κατασφαγέντες οἶ πάντες → κατασφαγέντες οἱ πάντες.
Topics: Martyrdom
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.7.6 (Dindorf 4:359; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/8-2-1/#p-8-7-6).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.
Church 8, chapter 8
8.8.1Dindorf 4:359
Καὶ τοιοῦτος μὲν ὁ ἀγὼν τῶν κατὰ Τυρὸν τοὺς ὑπὲρ εὐσεβείας ἄθλους ἐνδειξαμένων Αἰγυπτίων. θαυμάσειε δʼ ἄν τις αὐτῶν καὶ τοὺς ἐπὶ τῆς οἰκείας γῆς μαρτυρήσαντας, ἔνθα μυρίοι τὸν ἀριθμὸν ἄνδρες ἅμα γυναιξὶ καὶ παισὶν, ὑπὲρ τῆς τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν διδασκαλίας τοῦ προσκαίρου ζῆν καταφρονήσαντες, διαφόρους ὑπέμειναν θανάτους, οἱ μὲν αὐτῶν μετὰ ξεσμοὺς καὶ στρεβλώσεις μάστιγάς τε χαλεπωτάτας καὶ μυρίας ἄλλας ποικίλας καὶ φρικτὰς ἀκοῦσαι βασάνους πυρὶ παραδοθέντες, οἶ δὲ πελάγει καταβροχισθέντες, ἄλλοι δὲ εὐθαρσῶς τοῖς ἀποτέμνουσι τὰς ἑαυτῶν προτείναντες κεφαλὰς, οἶ δὲ καὶ ἐναποθανόντες ταῖς βασάνοις, ἕτεροι δὲ λιμῷ διαφθαρέντες, καὶ ἄλλοι πάλιν ἀνασκολοπισθέντες, οἱ μὲν κατὰ τὸ σύνηθες τοῖς κακούργοις, οἱ δὲ καὶ χειρόνως ἀνάπαλιν κατωκάρα προσηλωθέντες, τηρούμενοί τε ζῶντες, εἰσότε καὶ ἐπʼ αὐτῶν ἰκρίων λιμῷ διαφθαρεῖεν.
Kai toioutos men ho agōn tōn kata Tyron tous hyper eusebeias athlous endeixamenōn Aigyptiōn. thaumaseie dʼ an tis autōn kai tous epi tēs oikeias gēs martyrēsantas, entha myrioi ton arithmon andres hama gynaixi kai paisin, hyper tēs tou sōtēros hēmōn didaskalias tou proskairou zēn kataphronēsantes, diaphorous hypemeinan thanatous, hoi men autōn meta xesmous kai streblōseis mastigas te chalepōtatas kai myrias allas poikilas kai phriktas akousai basanous pyri paradothentes, oi de pelagei katabrochisthentes, alloi de eutharsōs tois apotemnousi tas heautōn proteinantes kephalas, oi de kai enapothanontes tais basanois, heteroi de limǭ diaphtharentes, kai alloi palin anaskolopisthentes, hoi men kata to synēthes tois kakourgois, hoi de kai cheironōs anapalin katōkara prosēlōthentes, tēroumenoi te zōntes, eisote kai epʼ autōn ikriōn limǭ diaphthareien.
Such was the contest of the Egyptians who displayed their struggles for piety at Tyre. But one would admire also those of them who suffered martyrdom in their own land, where countless men, together with women and children, despising this passing life for the sake of our Savior's teaching, endured various deaths. Some of them, after scrapings and racks and most cruel scourgings and countless other varied tortures terrible even to hear of, were committed to the fire; others were drowned in the sea; others boldly stretched out their own heads to those who cut them off; others died under the tortures; others were destroyed by hunger; and others again were crucified, some in the manner usual for criminals, others still more cruelly, nailed the other way round, head downward, and kept alive until they perished of hunger on the very crosses.
Notes and citation
Summary: In Egypt itself countless men, women, and children died by fire, drowning, beheading, torture, starvation, and crucifixion, some head downward.
Topics: Martyrdom, Persecution
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.8.1 (Dindorf 4:359; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/8-2-1/#p-8-8-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.
Church 8, chapter 9
8.9.1Dindorf 4:359–360
Πάντα δʼ ὑπεραίρει λόγον καὶ ἃς ὑπέμειναν αἰκίας καὶ ἀλγηδόνας οἱ κατὰ Θηβαίδα μάρτυρες, ὀστράκοις ἀντὶ ὀνύχων ὅλον τὸ σῶμα μέχρις ἀπαλλαγῆς τοῦ βίου καταξαινόμενοι, γύναιά τε τοῖν ποδοῖν ἐξ ἑνὸς ἀποδεσμού μετέωρά τε καὶ διαέρια κάτω κεφαλὴν μαγγάνοις τισὶν εἰς ὕψος ἀνελκόμενα, γυμνοῖς τε παντελῶς καὶ μηδʼ ἐπικεκαλυμμένοις τοῖς σώμασι θέαν ταύτην αἰσχίστην καὶ πάντων ὠμοτάτην καὶ ἀπανθρωποτάτην τοῖς ὁρῶσιν ἅπασι παρεσχημένα.
Panta dʼ hyperairei logon kai has hypemeinan aikias kai algēdonas hoi kata Thēbaida martyres, ostrakois anti onychōn holon to sōma mechris apallagēs tou biou kataxainomenoi, gynaia te toin podoin ex henos apodesmou meteōra te kai diaeria katō kephalēn manganois tisin eis hypsos anelkomena, gymnois te pantelōs kai mēdʼ epikekalymmenois tois sōmasi thean tautēn aischistēn kai pantōn ōmotatēn kai apanthrōpotatēn tois horōsin hapasi pareschēmena.
But all words fall short of the outrages and pains that the martyrs in the Thebaid endured. Their whole bodies were torn with potsherds instead of hooks until they departed this life; women were tied by one foot and hoisted aloft by some machines into the air head downward, their bodies wholly naked and not even covered, presenting to all who looked on this most shameful, cruelest, and most inhuman spectacle.
Notes and citation
Summary: In the Thebaid martyrs were torn with potsherds, and women were hung naked, head downward, in public view.
Topics: Martyrdom, Persecution
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.9.1 (Dindorf 4:359–360; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/8-2-1/#p-8-9-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.
8.9.2Dindorf 4:360
ἄλλοι δʼ αὖ πάλιν δένδρεσι καὶ πρέμνοις ἐναπέθνησκον δεσμούμενοι· τοὺς γὰρ μάλιστα στερροτάτους τῶν κλάδων μηχαναῖς τισιν ἐπὶ ταὐτὸν συνέλκοντες, εἰς ἑκάτερά τε τούτων τὰ τῶν μαρτύρων ἀποτείνοντες σκέλη εἰς τὴν ἑαυτῶν ἠφίεσαν τοὺς κλάδους φέρεσθαι φύσιν, ἄθρουν τῶν μελῶν διασπασμὸν καθʼ ὧν ταῦτʼ ἐνεχείρουν ἐπινοοῦντες.
alloi dʼ au palin dendresi kai premnois enapethnēskon desmoumenoi; tous gar malista sterrotatous tōn kladōn mēchanais tisin epi tauton synelkontes, eis hekatera te toutōn ta tōn martyrōn apoteinontes skelē eis tēn heautōn ēphiesan tous kladous pheresthai physin, athroun tōn melōn diaspasmon kathʼ hōn tautʼ enecheiroun epinoountes.
Others again died bound to trees and trunks. For with machines they drew together the very strongest branches, stretched out the martyrs' legs to each of them, and let the branches spring back to their natural position, devising an instant tearing apart of the limbs of those on whom they practiced this.
Notes and citation
Summary: Some were tied between bent branches and torn apart when the branches sprang back.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (stray number in the digital text): σκέλη 5 εἰς → σκέλη εἰς.
Topics: Martyrdom, Persecution
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.9.2 (Dindorf 4:360; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/8-2-1/#p-8-9-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.
8.9.3Dindorf 4:360
καὶ ταῦτά γε πάντα ἐνηργεῖτο οὐκ ἐπʼ ὀλίγας ἡμέρας ἢ χρόνον τινὰ βραχὺν, ἀλλʼ ἐπὶ μακρὸν ὅλων ἐτῶν διάστημα, ὁτὲ μὲν πλειόνων ἢ δέκα, ὁτὲ δὲ ὑπὲρ τοὺς εἴκοσι τὸν ἀριθμὸν ἀναιρουμένων· ἄλλοτε δὲ οὐχ ἧττον καὶ τριάκοντα, ἤδη δὲ ἐγγύς που καὶ ἑξήκοντα, καὶ πάλιν ἄλλοτε ἑκατόν ἐν ἡμέρᾳ μιᾷ ἄνδρες ἅμα κομιδῆ νηπίοις καὶ γυναιξὶν ἐκτείνοντο, ποικίλαις καὶ ἐναλλαττούσαις τιμωρίαις καταδικαζόμενοι.
kai tauta ge panta enērgeito ouk epʼ oligas hēmeras ē chronon tina brachyn, allʼ epi makron holōn etōn diastēma, hote men pleionōn ē deka, hote de hyper tous eikosi ton arithmon anairoumenōn; allote de ouch hētton kai triakonta, ēdē de engys pou kai hexēkonta, kai palin allote hekaton en hēmerą mią andres hama komidē nēpiois kai gynaixin ekteinonto, poikilais kai enallattousais timōriais katadikazomenoi.
And all these things were carried out not for a few days or a short time, but over a long space of whole years, sometimes more than ten, sometimes more than twenty being put to death; at other times no fewer than thirty, and again nearly sixty; and at other times a hundred men, together with very young children and women, were killed in a single day, condemned to various and changing punishments.
Notes and citation
Summary: The killings went on for years, sometimes ten, twenty, thirty, sixty, or even a hundred in a day.
Topics: Martyrdom, Persecution
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.9.3 (Dindorf 4:360; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/8-2-1/#p-8-9-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.
8.9.4Dindorf 4:360
ἱστορήσαμεν δὲ καὶ αὐτοὶ ἐπὶ τῶν τόπων γενόμενοι πλείους ἀθρόως κατὰ μίαν ἡμέραν τοὺς μὲν τῆς κεφαλῆς ἀποτομὴν ὑπομείναντας, τοὺς δὲ τὴν διὰ πυρὸς τιμωρίαν, ὡς ἀμβλύνεσθαι φονεύοντα τὸν σίδηρον, ἀτονοῦντά τε διαθλᾶσθαι, αὐτοὺς δὲ τοὺς ἀναιροῦντας ἀποκάμνοντας ἀμοιβαδὸν ἀλλήλους διαδέχεσθαι.
historēsamen de kai autoi epi tōn topōn genomenoi pleious athroōs kata mian hēmeran tous men tēs kephalēs apotomēn hypomeinantas, tous de tēn dia pyros timōrian, hōs amblynesthai phoneuonta ton sidēron, atonounta te diathlasthai, autous de tous anairountas apokamnontas amoibadon allēlous diadechesthai.
We ourselves, being on the spot, observed many in a crowd on a single day, some suffering beheading, others punishment by fire, so that the murderous iron was blunted and, weakened, broke in pieces, and the executioners themselves grew weary and relieved one another in turn.
Notes and citation
Summary: Eusebius himself saw so many executed in a day that the swords grew blunt and the executioners took turns.
Topics: Martyrdom, Persecution
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.9.4 (Dindorf 4:360; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/8-2-1/#p-8-9-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.
8.9.5Dindorf 4:360–361
ὅτε καὶ θαυμασιωτάτην ὁρμὴν θείαν τε ὡς ἀληθῶς δύναμιν καὶ προθυμίαν τῶν εἰς τὸν Χριστὸν τοῦ θεοῦ πεπιστευκότων συνεωρῶμεν. ἅμα γοῦν τῇ κατὰ τῶν προτέρων ἀποφάσει ἐπεπήδων ἄλλοθεν ἄλλοι τῷ πρὸ τοῦ δικαστοῦ βήματι, χριστιανοὺς σφὰς ὁμολογοῦντες, ἀφροντίστως μὲν πρὸς τὰ δεινὰ καὶ τοὺς τῶν πολυειδῶν βασάνων τρόπους διακείμενοι, ἀκαταπλήκτως δὲ παρρησιαζόμενοι ἐπὶ τῇ εἰς τὸν τῶν ὅλων θεὸν εὐσεβείᾳ, μετά τε χαρᾶς καὶ γέλωτος καὶ εὐφροσύνης τὴν ὑστάτην ἀπόφασιν τοῦ θανάτου καταδεχόμενοι, ὥστε ψάλλειν καὶ ὕμνους καὶ εὐχαριστίας εἰς τὸν τῶν ὅλων θεόν μέχρις αὐτῆς ἐσχάτης ἀναπέμπειν ἀναπνοῆς.
hote kai thaumasiōtatēn hormēn theian te hōs alēthōs dynamin kai prothymian tōn eis ton Christon tou theou pepisteukotōn syneōrōmen. hama goun tę̄ kata tōn proterōn apophasei epepēdōn allothen alloi tǭ pro tou dikastou bēmati, christianous sphas homologountes, aphrontistōs men pros ta deina kai tous tōn polyeidōn basanōn tropous diakeimenoi, akataplēktōs de parrēsiazomenoi epi tę̄ eis ton tōn holōn theon eusebeią, meta te charas kai gelōtos kai euphrosynēs tēn hystatēn apophasin tou thanatou katadechomenoi, hōste psallein kai hymnous kai eucharistias eis ton tōn holōn theon mechris autēs eschatēs anapempein anapnoēs.
Then too we beheld a most wonderful eagerness, a truly divine power and zeal, in those who had believed in the Christ of God. For as soon as sentence was pronounced on the first, others from one side and another would leap up to the judgment seat before the judge, confessing themselves Christians, unconcerned about the terrors and the kinds of manifold tortures, boldly declaring their piety toward the God of the universe without dismay, and receiving the final sentence of death with joy and laughter and gladness, so that they sang psalms and sent up hymns and thanksgivings to the God of the universe until their very last breath.
Notes and citation
Summary: As some were condemned, others rushed forward to confess Christ and went to death singing psalms and hymns.
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.9.5 (Dindorf 4:360–361; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/8-2-1/#p-8-9-5).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.
8.9.6Dindorf 4:361
θαυμάσιοι μὲν οὖν καὶ οὗτοι, ἐξαιρέτως δὲ ἐκεῖνοι θαυμασιώτεροι, οἱ πλούτῳ μὲν καὶ εὐγενείᾳ καὶ δόξῃ, λόγῳ τε καὶ φιλοσοφίᾳ διαπρέψαντες, πάντα γε μὴν δεύτερα θέμενοι τῆς ἀληθοῦς εὐσεβείας καὶ τῆς εἰς τὸν σωτῆρα καὶ κύριον ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν πίστεως·
thaumasioi men oun kai houtoi, exairetōs de ekeinoi thaumasiōteroi, hoi ploutǭ men kai eugeneią kai doxę̄, logǭ te kai philosophią diaprepsantes, panta ge mēn deutera themenoi tēs alēthous eusebeias kai tēs eis ton sōtēra kai kyrion hēmōn Iēsoun Christon pisteōs;
These, then, were wonderful; but more wonderful still were those who, though distinguished by wealth, noble birth, and reputation, and by learning and philosophy, put everything second to true piety and faith in our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ;
Notes and citation
Summary: Even more admirable were martyrs of wealth, rank, and learning who put faith in Christ above everything.
Topics: Martyrdom
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.9.6 (Dindorf 4:361; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/8-2-1/#p-8-9-6).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.
8.9.7Dindorf 4:361
οἷος Φιλόρωμος ἦν, ἀρχήν τινα οὐ τὴν τυχοῦσαν τῆς κατʼ Ἀλεξάνδρειαν βασιλικῆς διοικήσεως ἐγκεχειρισμένος, ὃς μετὰ τοῦ ἀξιώματος καὶ τῆς Ῥωμαϊκῆς τιμῆς ὑπὸ στρατιώταις δορυφορούμενος ἑκάστης ἀνεκρίνετο ἡμέρας· Φιλέας τε τῆς Θμουιτῶν ἐκκλησίας ἐπίσκοπος, διαπρέψας ἀνὴρ ταῖς κατὰ τὴν πατρίδα πολιτείαις τε καὶ λειτουργίαις, ἔν τε τοῖς κατὰ φιλοσοφίαν λόγοις·
hoios Philorōmos ēn, archēn tina ou tēn tychousan tēs katʼ Alexandreian basilikēs dioikēseōs enkecheirismenos, hos meta tou axiōmatos kai tēs Rhōmaïkēs timēs hypo stratiōtais doryphoroumenos hekastēs anekrineto hēmeras; Phileas te tēs Thmouitōn ekklēsias episkopos, diaprepsas anēr tais kata tēn patrida politeiais te kai leitourgiais, en te tois kata philosophian logois;
such as Philoromus, who had been entrusted with no ordinary office in the imperial administration at Alexandria, and who, with his dignity and Roman honor, attended by a bodyguard of soldiers, was examined every day; and Phileas, bishop of the church of the Thmuites, a man distinguished for his public services and offices in his native city and for his learning in philosophy.
Notes and citation
Summary: Examples were Philoromus, a high imperial official at Alexandria, and Phileas, bishop of Thmuis, a learned philosopher.
Topics: Martyrdom, Church office
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.9.7 (Dindorf 4:361; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/8-2-1/#p-8-9-7).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.
8.9.8Dindorf 4:361
οἱ καὶ μυρίων ὅσων πρὸς αἵματός τε καὶ τῶν ἄλλων φίλων ἀντιβολούντων, ἔτι μὴν τῶν ἐπʼ ἀξίας ἀρχόντων, πρὸς δὲ καὶ αὐτοῦ τοῦ δικαστοῦ παρακαλοῦντος, ὡς ἂν αὐτῶν οἶκτον λάβοιεν, φειδώ τε παίδων καὶ γυναικῶν ποιήσαιντο, οὐδαμῶς πρὸς τῶν τοσούτων ἐπὶ τὸ φιλοζωῆσαι μὲν ἑλέσθαι, καταφρονῆσαι δὲ τῶν περὶ ὁμολογίας καὶ ἀρνήσεως τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν θεσμῶν ὑπήχθησαν, ἀνδρείῳ δὲ λογισμῷ καὶ φιλοσόφῳ, μᾶλλον δὲ εὐσεβεῖ καὶ φιλοθέῳ ψυχῇ, πρὸς πάσας τοῦ δικαστοῦ τάς τε ἀπειλὰς καὶ τὰς ὕβρεις ἐνστάντες, ἄμφω τὰς κεφαλὰς ἀπετμήθησαν.
hoi kai myriōn hosōn pros haimatos te kai tōn allōn philōn antibolountōn, eti mēn tōn epʼ axias archontōn, pros de kai autou tou dikastou parakalountos, hōs an autōn oikton laboien, pheidō te paidōn kai gynaikōn poiēsainto, oudamōs pros tōn tosoutōn epi to philozōēsai men helesthai, kataphronēsai de tōn peri homologias kai arnēseōs tou sōtēros hēmōn thesmōn hypēchthēsan, andreiǭ de logismǭ kai philosophǭ, mallon de eusebei kai philotheǭ psychę̄, pros pasas tou dikastou tas te apeilas kai tas hybreis enstantes, amphō tas kephalas apetmēthēsan.
Though countless relatives and other friends begged them, and also magistrates of rank, and even the judge himself urged them to take pity on themselves and spare their children and wives, they were in no way led by all these to choose love of life and despise the ordinances of our Savior about confession and denial; but, resisting all the judge's threats and insults with a manly and philosophic mind, or rather with a pious and God-loving soul, both were beheaded.
Matt 10:32–33 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Despite the pleas of family, officials, and the judge, Philoromus and Phileas refused to deny Christ and were beheaded.
- The Savior's “ordinances about confession and denial” allude to Matt 10:32–33.
Topics: Martyrdom
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.9.8 (Dindorf 4:361; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/8-2-1/#p-8-9-8).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.
Church 8, chapter 10
8.10.1Dindorf 4:361–362
Ἐπεὶ δὲ καὶ τῶν ἔξωθεν μαθημάτων ἕνεκα πολλοῦ λόγου ἄξιον γενέσθαι τὸν Φιλέαν ἔφαμεν, αὐτὸς ἑαυτοῦ παρίτω μάρτυς, ἄμα μὲν ἑαυτὸν ὅστις ποτʼ ἦν ἐπιδείξων, ἅμα δὲ καὶ τὰ κατʼ αὐτὸν ἐν τῇ Ἀλεξανδρείᾳ συμβεβηκότα μαρτύρια ἀκριβέστερον μᾶλλον ἢ ἡμεῖς ἱστορήσων διὰ τούτων τῶν λέξεων
Epei de kai tōn exōthen mathēmatōn heneka pollou logou axion genesthai ton Philean ephamen, autos heautou paritō martys, ama men heauton hostis potʼ ēn epideixōn, hama de kai ta katʼ auton en tę̄ Alexandreią symbebēkota martyria akribesteron mallon ē hēmeis historēsōn dia toutōn tōn lexeōn
Since we have said that Phileas deserved great esteem for his secular learning as well, let him come forward as his own witness, both to show who he was and to relate, more exactly than we could, the martyrdoms that took place in his time at Alexandria, in these words:
Notes and citation
Summary: Eusebius introduces a letter of Phileas describing the martyrdoms at Alexandria.
Topics: Martyrdom
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.10.1 (Dindorf 4:361–362; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/8-2-1/#p-8-10-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.
8.10.2Dindorf 4:362
τούτων ἁπάντων ὑπο- “δειγμάτων ἡμῖν καὶ ὑπογραμμῶν καὶ καλῶν γνωρι- “σμάτων ἐν ταῖς θείαις καὶ ἱεραῖς γραφαῖς κειμένων,·‘οὐδὲν μελλήσαντες οἱ μακάριοι σὺν ἡμῖν μάρτυρες, “τὸ τῆς ψυχῆς ὄμμα πρὸς τὸν ἐπὶ πάντων θεὸν κα- “θαρῶς τείναντες, καὶ τὸν ἐπʼ εὐσεβείᾳ θάνατον ἐν “νῷ λαβόντες, ἀπρὶξ τῆς κλήσεως εἴχοντο, τὸν μὲν “κύριον ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν εὑρόντες ἐνανθρω- “πήσαντα διʼ ἡμᾶς, ἵνα πᾶσαν μὲν ἁμαρτίαν ἐκκόψῃ, “ἐφόδια δὲ τῆς εἰς τὴν αἰώνιον ζωὴν εἰσόδου ἡμῖν “κατάθηται· οὐ γὰρ ἁρπαγμὸν ἡγήσατο τὸ εἶναι ἴσα “θεῷ, ἀλλʼ ἑαυτὸν ἐκένωσε μορφὴν δούλου λαβὼν, “καὶ σχήματι εὑρεθεὶς ὡς ἄνθρωπος ἑαυτὸν ἐταπεί- ‘νωσεν ἕως θανάτου, θανάτου δὲ σταυροῦ.
toutōn hapantōn hypo- “deigmatōn hēmin kai hypogrammōn kai kalōn gnōri- “smatōn en tais theiais kai hierais graphais keimenōn,;‘ouden mellēsantes hoi makarioi syn hēmin martyres, “to tēs psychēs omma pros ton epi pantōn theon ka- “tharōs teinantes, kai ton epʼ eusebeią thanaton en “nǭ labontes, aprix tēs klēseōs eichonto, ton men “kyrion hēmōn Iēsoun Christon heurontes enanthrō- “pēsanta diʼ hēmas, hina pasan men hamartian ekkopsę̄, “ephodia de tēs eis tēn aiōnion zōēn eisodou hēmin “katathētai; ou gar harpagmon hēgēsato to einai isa “theǭ, allʼ heauton ekenōse morphēn doulou labōn, “kai schēmati heuretheis hōs anthrōpos heauton etapei- ‘nōsen heōs thanatou, thanatou de staurou.
[Phileas writes:] “Since all these examples, models, and fine tokens lie before us in the divine and holy Scriptures, the blessed martyrs who were with us did not hesitate, but, directing the eye of the soul purely toward the God over all and taking to mind death for piety, they held fast to their calling. For they found that our Lord Jesus Christ became man for our sakes, so that he might cut off all sin and lay up for us provisions for the entrance into eternal life. ‘For he did not regard being equal with God as something to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant; and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself to death, even death on a cross.’
Phil 2:6–8 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Phileas writes that the martyrs, following the examples of Scripture and the Christ who humbled himself to death, held fast to their calling.
- From the letter of Phileas of Thmuis to his church, quoted by Eusebius. The quotation is Phil 2:6–8.
Topics: Martyrdom, Christology, Scripture and canon
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.10.2 (Dindorf 4:362; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/8-2-1/#p-8-10-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.
8.10.3Dindorf 4:362
διὸ καὶ “ζηλώσαντες τὰ μείζονα χαρίσματα οἶ Χριστοφόροι “μάρτυρες πάντα μὲν πόνον καὶ παντοίας ἐπινοίας “αἰκισμῶν οὐκ εἰσάπαξ, ἀλλʼ ἤδη καὶ δεύτερόν τινες “ὑπέμειναν, πάσας δὲ ἀπειλὰς οὐ λόγοις μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἔργοις τῶν δορυφόρων κατʼ αὐτῶν φιλοτιμουμένων, οὐκ ἐνεδίδουν τὴν γνώμην, διὰ τὸ τὴν τελείαν ἀγάπην ἔξω βάλλειν τὸν φόβον.
dio kai “zēlōsantes ta meizona charismata oi Christophoroi “martyres panta men ponon kai pantoias epinoias “aikismōn ouk eisapax, allʼ ēdē kai deuteron tines “hypemeinan, pasas de apeilas ou logois monon, alla kai ergois tōn doryphorōn katʼ autōn philotimoumenōn, ouk enedidoun tēn gnōmēn, dia to tēn teleian agapēn exō ballein ton phobon.
“Therefore, ‘earnestly desiring the greater gifts,’ the Christ-bearing martyrs endured every pain and every kind of devised torment, some not once only but even a second time; and though the guards vied with one another in every threat against them, not only in words but in deeds, they did not give up their resolve, because ‘perfect love casts out fear.’
1 Cor 12:31 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 John 4:18 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The martyrs endured repeated tortures and threats without yielding, because perfect love casts out fear.
- Phileas continues. The quotations are 1 Cor 12:31 and 1 John 4:18.
Topics: Martyrdom
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.10.3 (Dindorf 4:362; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/8-2-1/#p-8-10-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.
8.10.4Dindorf 4:362
ὧν καταλέγειν τὴν ἀρετὴν καὶ τὴν ἐφʼ ἑκάστῃ βασάνῳ “ἀνδρείαν, τίς ἂν ἀρκέσειε λόγος; ἀνέσεως γὰρ οὔσης ἅπασι τοῖς βουλομένοις ἐνυβρίζειν, οἱ μὲν “ξύλοις ἔπαιον, ἕτεροι δὲ ῥάβδοις, ἄλλοι δὲ μάστιξιν, ἕτεροι δὲ πάλιν ἱμᾶσιν, ἄλλοι δὲ σχοινίοις.
hōn katalegein tēn aretēn kai tēn ephʼ hekastę̄ basanǭ “andreian, tis an arkeseie logos? aneseōs gar ousēs hapasi tois boulomenois enybrizein, hoi men “xylois epaion, heteroi de rhabdois, alloi de mastixin, heteroi de palin himasin, alloi de schoiniois.
“What account could suffice to recount their virtue and their courage under each torture? For since anyone who wished was free to abuse them, some beat them with clubs, others with rods, others with scourges, others again with straps, and others with ropes.
Notes and citation
Summary: Anyone who wished could abuse the martyrs, beating them with clubs, rods, whips, and ropes.
- Phileas continues.
Topics: Martyrdom, Persecution
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.10.4 (Dindorf 4:362; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/8-2-1/#p-8-10-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.
8.10.5Dindorf 4:362–363
καὶ “ἦν ἡ θέα τῶν αἰκισμῶν ἐνηλλαγμένη, καὶ πολλὴν “τὴν ἐν αὐτῇ κακίαν ἔχουσα. οἶ μὲν γὰρ ὀπίσω τὼ χεῖρε δεθέντες περὶ τὸ ξύλον ἐξηρτῶντο, καὶ μαγγάνοις τισὶ διετείνοντο πᾶν μέλος, εἶθʼ οὕτως διὰ “παντὸς τοῦ σώματος ἐπῆγον ἐκ κελεύσεως οἶ βασα- “νισταὶ, οὐ καθάπερ τοῖς φονεῦσιν ἐπὶ τῶν πλευρῶν “μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῆς γαστρὸς καὶ κνημῶν καὶ πα- “ρειῶν τοῖς ἀμυντηρίοις ἐκόλαζον· ἕτεροι δὲ ἀπὸ τῆς “στοᾶς μιᾶς χειρὸς ἐξηρτημένοι ᾐωροῦντο, πάσης “ἀλγηδόνος δεινοτέραν τὴν ἀπὸ τῶν ἄρθρων καὶ με- “λῶν τάσιν ἔχοντες· ἄλλοι δὲ πρὸς τοῖς κίοσιν ἀντι- “πρόσωποι ἐδοῦντο, οὐ βεβηκόσι τοῖς ποσὶ, τῷ δὲ “βάρει τοῦ σώματος βιαζομένων μετὰ τάσεως ἀνελ- “κομένων τῶν δεσμῶν.
kai “ēn hē thea tōn aikismōn enēllagmenē, kai pollēn “tēn en autę̄ kakian echousa. oi men gar opisō tō cheire dethentes peri to xylon exērtōnto, kai manganois tisi dieteinonto pan melos, eithʼ houtōs dia “pantos tou sōmatos epēgon ek keleuseōs oi basa- “nistai, ou kathaper tois phoneusin epi tōn pleurōn “monon, alla kai tēs gastros kai knēmōn kai pa- “reiōn tois amyntēriois ekolazon; heteroi de apo tēs “stoas mias cheiros exērtēmenoi ę̄ōrounto, pasēs “algēdonos deinoteran tēn apo tōn arthrōn kai me- “lōn tasin echontes; alloi de pros tois kiosin anti- “prosōpoi edounto, ou bebēkosi tois posi, tǭ de “barei tou sōmatos biazomenōn meta taseōs anel- “komenōn tōn desmōn.
“And the spectacle of the outrages was varied and full of great wickedness. For some, with their hands bound behind them, were hung on the stake, and every limb was stretched by certain machines; then the torturers, at command, went over the whole body, punishing them with their instruments not only on the sides, as with murderers, but also on the belly, the legs, and the cheeks. Others were hung aloft from the portico by one hand, suffering from the stretching of their joints and limbs a pain more terrible than any other. Others were bound to the pillars face to face, their feet not touching the ground, and the ropes were drawn tight by the weight of the body pulling against them.
Notes and citation
Summary: Phileas describes martyrs stretched on the rack, torn all over, hung by one hand, or tied to pillars with their feet off the ground.
- Phileas continues.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (missing letter in the digital text): πάσης “ἀληδόνος → πάσης “ἀλγηδόνος.
Topics: Martyrdom, Persecution
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.10.5 (Dindorf 4:362–363; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/8-2-1/#p-8-10-5).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.
8.10.6Dindorf 4:363
καὶ τοῦθʼ ὑπέμενον, οὐκ “ἐφʼ ὅσον προσδιελέγετο οὐδʼ αὐτοῖς ἐσχόλαζεν ὁ “ἡγεμὼν, ἀλλὰ μονονουχὶ διʼ ὅλης τῆς ἡμέρας. ὅτε “γὰρ καὶ ἐφʼ ἑτέρους μετέβαινε, τοῖς προτέροις κα- “τελίμπανεν ἐφεδρεύειν τοὺς τῇ ἐξουσίᾳ αὐτοῦ ὑπη- “ρετουμένους, εἴ πού τις ἡττηθεὶς τῶν βασάνων ‘ἐνδιδόναι ἐδόκει, ἀφειδῶς δὲ κελεύων καὶ τοῖς ‘δεσμοῖς προσιέναι, καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα ψυχορραγοῦν- “τας αὐτοὺς κατατιθεμένους εἰς τὴν γῆν ἕλκεσθαι· “
kai touthʼ hypemenon, ouk “ephʼ hoson prosdielegeto oudʼ autois escholazen ho “hēgemōn, alla mononouchi diʼ holēs tēs hēmeras. hote “gar kai ephʼ heterous metebaine, tois proterois ka- “telimpanen ephedreuein tous tę̄ exousią autou hypē- “retoumenous, ei pou tis hēttētheis tōn basanōn ‘endidonai edokei, apheidōs de keleuōn kai tois ‘desmois prosienai, kai meta tauta psychorragoun- “tas autous katatithemenous eis tēn gēn helkesthai; “
“And they endured this not only while the governor was conversing with them and occupied with them, but almost the whole day long. For when he passed on to others, he left those in the service of his authority to watch the first, in case anyone, overcome by the tortures, seemed to give way; and he ordered them to apply the bonds without mercy, and afterward, when they were at the point of death, to take them down and drag them along the ground.
Notes and citation
Summary: The governor kept the martyrs under torture all day, ordering them dragged away when near death.
- Phileas continues.
Topics: Martyrdom, Persecution
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.10.6 (Dindorf 4:363; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/8-2-1/#p-8-10-6).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.
8.10.7Dindorf 4:363
οὐ γὰρ εἶναι κἂν μέρος φροντίδος αὐτοῖς περὶ “ἡμῶν, ἀλλʼ οὕτω καὶ διανοεῖσθαι καὶ πράττειν, “ὡς μηκέτʼ ὄντων, ταύτην δευτέραν ἐπὶ ταῖς πληγαῖς τῶν ὑπεναντίων ἐφευρόντων.
ou gar einai kan meros phrontidos autois peri “hēmōn, allʼ houtō kai dianoeisthai kai prattein, “hōs mēketʼ ontōn, tautēn deuteran epi tais plēgais tōn hypenantiōn epheurontōn.
“For they said that they had not the least concern for us, but thought and acted as though we no longer existed, our adversaries having invented this second torment on top of the blows.
Notes and citation
Summary: The persecutors treated the Christians as though they no longer existed.
- Phileas continues.
Topics: Persecution
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.10.7 (Dindorf 4:363; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/8-2-1/#p-8-10-7).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.
8.10.8Dindorf 4:363
ἦσαν δὲ οἶ ‘καὶ μετὰ τοὺς αἰκισμοὺς ἐπὶ τοῦ ξύλου κείμενοι διὰ “τῶν τεσσάρων ὀπῶν διατεταμένοι ἄμφω τὼ πόδε, “ὠς καὶ κατʼ ἀνάγκην αὐτοὺς ἐπὶ τοῦ ξύλου ὑπτίους εἶναι, μὴ δυναμένους διὰ τὸ ἔναυλα τὰ τραύματα ἀπὸ τῶν πληγῶν καθʼ ὅλου τοῦ σώματος ἔχειν· ἕτεροι δὲ εἰς τοὔδαφος ῥιφέντες ἔκειντο ὑπὸ τῆς τῶν βασάνων ἀθρόας προσβολῆς, δεινοτέραν τὴν ‘ὄψιν τῆς ἐνεργείας τοῖς ὁρῶσι παρέχοντες, ποικίλας καὶ διαφόρους ἐν τοῖς σώμασι φέροντες τῶν βασάνων τὰς ἐπινοίας.
ēsan de oi ‘kai meta tous aikismous epi tou xylou keimenoi dia “tōn tessarōn opōn diatetamenoi amphō tō pode, “ōs kai katʼ anankēn autous epi tou xylou hyptious einai, mē dynamenous dia to enaula ta traumata apo tōn plēgōn kathʼ holou tou sōmatos echein; heteroi de eis toudaphos rhiphentes ekeinto hypo tēs tōn basanōn athroas prosbolēs, deinoteran tēn ‘opsin tēs energeias tois horōsi parechontes, poikilas kai diaphorous en tois sōmasi pherontes tōn basanōn tas epinoias.
“There were also some who, after the outrages, lay in the stocks with both feet stretched to the fourth hole, so that they were forced to lie on their backs in the stocks, unable to hold themselves otherwise because of the fresh wounds from the blows over their whole body. Others, thrown to the ground, lay there under the massed assault of the tortures, presenting to those who saw them a sight more terrible than the actual torment, bearing in their bodies the various and different devices of the tortures.
Notes and citation
Summary: Some martyrs lay in the stocks with their legs stretched apart; others lay on the ground covered with wounds.
- Phileas continues. “To the fourth hole” renders διὰ τῶν τεσσάρων ὀπῶν, the widest setting of the stocks.
Topics: Martyrdom, Persecution
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.10.8 (Dindorf 4:363; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/8-2-1/#p-8-10-8).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.
8.10.9Dindorf 4:363–364
τούτων οὕτως ἐχόντων οἱ “μὲν ἐναπέθνησκον ταῖς βασάνοις, τῇ καρτερίᾳ κα- “ταισχύναντες τὸν ἀντίπαλον, οἶ δὲ ἡμιθνῆτες ἐν τῷ δεσμωτηρίῳ συγκλειόμενοι μετʼ οὐ πολλὰς ἡμέρας ταῖς ἀλγηδόσι συνεχόμενοι ἐτελειοῦντο, οἶ δὲ λοιποὶ τῆς ἀπὸ τῆς θεραπείας ἀνακτήσεως τυχόντες τῷ ῾χρόνῳ καὶ τῇ τῆς φυλακῆς διατριβῇ θαρσαλεώτεροι ἐγίνοντο.
toutōn houtōs echontōn hoi “men enapethnēskon tais basanois, tę̄ karterią ka- “taischynantes ton antipalon, oi de hēmithnētes en tǭ desmōtēriǭ synkleiomenoi metʼ ou pollas hēmeras tais algēdosi synechomenoi eteleiounto, oi de loipoi tēs apo tēs therapeias anaktēseōs tychontes tǭ ῾chronǭ kai tę̄ tēs phylakēs diatribę̄ tharsaleōteroi eginonto.
“This being so, some died under the tortures, putting the adversary to shame by their endurance; others, shut up half dead in the prison, were perfected after a few days, overcome by their pains; while the rest, recovering through treatment, grew bolder with time and their stay in prison.
Notes and citation
Summary: Some died under torture, some died later in prison, and the survivors grew bolder.
- Phileas continues.
Topics: Martyrdom
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.10.9 (Dindorf 4:363–364; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/8-2-1/#p-8-10-9).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.
8.10.10Dindorf 4:364
οὕτω γοῦν ἡνίκα προστέτακτο αἱρέσεως κειμένης, ἢ ἐφαψάμενον τῆς ἐναγοῦς θυσίας ἀνενόχλητον εἶναι, τῆς ἐπαράτου ἐλευθερίας παρʼ αὐτῶν “τυχόντα, ἢ μὴ θύοντα τὴν ἐπὶ θανάτῳ δίκην “χεσθαι, οὐδὲν μελλήσαντες ἀσμένως ἐπὶ τὸν θάνα- “τον ἐχώρουν· ᾔδεσαν γὰρ τὰ ὑπὸ τῶν ἱερῶν γρα- “φῶν ἡμῖν προορισθέντα. ὁ γὰρ θυσιάζων, φησὶ “θεοῖς ἑτέροις ἐξολοθρευθήσεται, καί· ὅτι οὐκ ἔσον- “ταί σοι θεοὶ ἕτεροι πλὴν ἐμοῦ.”
houtō goun hēnika prostetakto haireseōs keimenēs, ē ephapsamenon tēs enagous thysias anenochlēton einai, tēs eparatou eleutherias parʼ autōn “tychonta, ē mē thyonta tēn epi thanatǭ dikēn “chesthai, ouden mellēsantes asmenōs epi ton thana- “ton echōroun; ę̄desan gar ta hypo tōn hierōn gra- “phōn hēmin prooristhenta. ho gar thysiazōn, phēsi “theois heterois exolothreuthēsetai, kai; hoti ouk eson- “tai soi theoi heteroi plēn emou.”
“So when it was ordered, the choice being set before them, that whoever touched the polluted sacrifice should be left unmolested, having obtained from them that accursed freedom, but whoever did not sacrifice should undergo the penalty of death, they did not hesitate but went gladly to death. For they knew what had been ordained for us by the holy Scriptures: ‘He who sacrifices to other gods,’ it says, ‘shall be utterly destroyed,’ and, ‘You shall have no other gods besides me.’”
Exod 22:20 (22:19 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Exod 20:3 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Offered freedom if they sacrificed or death if they refused, the martyrs gladly chose death, obeying the Scriptures that forbid worshiping other gods.
- Phileas's letter ends here. The quotations are Exod 22:20 (22:19 LXX) and Exod 20:3. The verb “undergo” is supplied: the digital text reads only “χεσθαι”, part of a word lost at a line break (probably ὑπέχεσθαι).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (repeated syllable in the digital text): ἔσον- “ταί ταί σοι → ἔσον- “ταί σοι.
Topics: Martyrdom, Scripture and canon
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.10.10 (Dindorf 4:364; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/8-2-1/#p-8-10-10).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.
8.10.11Dindorf 4:364
τοιαῦται τοῦ ὡς ἀληθῶς φιλοσόφου τε ὁμοῦ καὶ φιλοθέου μάρτυρος αἶ φωναὶ, ἃς πρὸ τῆς τελευταίας ἀποφάσεως ὑπὸ τὴν δεσμωτικὴν ἔθʼ ὑπάρχων τάξιν τοῖς κατὰ τὴν αὐτοῦ παροικίαν ἀδελφοῖς ἐπεστάλκει, ἄμα μὲν τὰ ἐν οἶς ἦν ἀνατιθέμενος, ἅμα δὲ καὶ παρορμῶν αὐτοὺς ἐπὶ τὸ ἀπρὶξ ἔχεσθαι καὶ μετʼ αὐτὸν ὅσον οὔπω τελειωθησόμενον τῆς ἐν Χριστῷ θεοσεβείας.
toiautai tou hōs alēthōs philosophou te homou kai philotheou martyros ai phōnai, has pro tēs teleutaias apophaseōs hypo tēn desmōtikēn ethʼ hyparchōn taxin tois kata tēn autou paroikian adelphois epestalkei, ama men ta en ois ēn anatithemenos, hama de kai parormōn autous epi to aprix echesthai kai metʼ auton hoson oupō teleiōthēsomenon tēs en Christǭ theosebeias.
Such are the words of the martyr, truly both a philosopher and a lover of God, which he sent to the brothers in his own diocese before the final sentence, while he was still in the condition of a prisoner, at once setting before them his own circumstances and urging them to hold fast to godliness in Christ even after him, who was soon to be perfected.
Notes and citation
Summary: Phileas wrote this letter from prison to his church before his execution, urging them to hold fast.
Topics: Martyrdom
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.10.11 (Dindorf 4:364; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/8-2-1/#p-8-10-11).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.
8.10.12Dindorf 4:364
ἀλλὰ τί χρὴ πολλὰ λέγειν, καὶ καινοτέρας ἐπὶ καινοτέραις τῶν ἀνὰ τὴν οἰκουμένην θεοπρεπῶν μαρτύρων ἀθλήσεις παρατίθεσθαι, καὶ μάλιστα τῶν οὐκέτι μὲν κοινῷ νόμῳ, πολέμου δὲ τρόπῳ πεπολιορκημένων;
alla ti chrē polla legein, kai kainoteras epi kainoterais tōn ana tēn oikoumenēn theoprepōn martyrōn athlēseis paratithesthai, kai malista tōn ouketi men koinǭ nomǭ, polemou de tropǭ pepoliorkēmenōn?
But why must we say much, and set out ever newer contests of the godly martyrs throughout the world, especially of those who were assailed no longer by common law but as in war?
Notes and citation
Summary: Eusebius turns to martyrs who were attacked not by legal process but as in war.
Topics: Martyrdom, Persecution
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.10.12 (Dindorf 4:364; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/8-2-1/#p-8-10-12).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.
Church 8, chapter 11
8.11.1Dindorf 4:364–365
Ἤδη γοῦν ὅλην Χριστιανῶν πολίχνην αὔτανδρον ἀμφὶ τὴν Φρυγίαν ἐν κύκλῳ περιβαλόντες ὁπλῖται, πῦρ τε ὑφάψαντες, κατέφλεξαν αὐτοὺς ἅμα νηπίοις καὶ γυναιξὶ, τὸν ἐπὶ πάντων θεὸν ἐπιβοωμένους· ὅτι δὴ πανδημεὶ πάντες οἱ τὴν πόλιν οἰκοῦντες, λογιστής τε αὐτὸς καὶ στρατηγὸς σὺν τοῖς ἐν τέλει πᾶσι καὶ ὅλῳ δήμῳ, Χριστιανοὺς σφᾶς ὁμολογοῦντες, οὐδʼ ὁπωστιοῦν τοῖς προστάττουσιν εἰδωλολατρεῖν ἐπειθάρχουν.
Ēdē goun holēn Christianōn polichnēn autandron amphi tēn Phrygian en kyklǭ peribalontes hoplitai, pyr te hyphapsantes, katephlexan autous hama nēpiois kai gynaixi, ton epi pantōn theon epiboōmenous; hoti dē pandēmei pantes hoi tēn polin oikountes, logistēs te autos kai stratēgos syn tois en telei pasi kai holǭ dēmǭ, Christianous sphas homologountes, oudʼ hopōstioun tois prostattousin eidōlolatrein epeitharchoun.
For instance, soldiers surrounded a whole small town of Christians in Phrygia, with its inhabitants, set fire to it, and burned them up together with young children and women as they called upon the God over all; because all the inhabitants of the city in a body, the curator himself and the chief magistrate with all the officials and the whole people, confessed themselves Christians and would in no way obey those who ordered them to worship idols.
Notes and citation
Summary: In Phrygia soldiers burned a whole Christian town with its people because all of them, officials included, refused to worship idols.
Topics: Martyrdom, Persecution
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.11.1 (Dindorf 4:364–365; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/8-2-1/#p-8-11-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.
8.11.2Dindorf 4:365
καί τις ἕτερος ῾Ρωμαϊκῆς ἀξίας ἐπειλημμένος, Ἄδαυκτος ὄνομα, γένος τῶν παρʼ Ἰταλοῖς ἐπισήμων, διὰ πάσης διελθὼν ἀνὴρ τῆς παρὰ βασιλεῦσι τιμῆς, ὡς καὶ τὰς καθόλου διοικήσεις τῆς παρʼ αὐτοῖς καλουμένης μαγιστρότητός τε καὶ καθολικότητος ἀμέμπτως διελθεῖν, ἐπὶ πᾶσι τούτοις διαπρέψας τοῖς ἐν θεοσεβείᾳ κατορθώμασι καὶ ταῖς εἰς τὸν Χριστὸν τοῦ θεοῦ ὁμολογίαις, τῷ τοῦ μαρτυρίου διαδήματι κατεκοσμήθη, ἐπʼ αὐτῆς τῆς τοῦ καθολικοῦ πράξεως τὸν ὑπὲρ εὐσεβείας ὑπομείνας ἀγῶνα.
kai tis heteros ῾Rōmaïkēs axias epeilēmmenos, Adauktos onoma, genos tōn parʼ Italois episēmōn, dia pasēs dielthōn anēr tēs para basileusi timēs, hōs kai tas katholou dioikēseis tēs parʼ autois kaloumenēs magistrotētos te kai katholikotētos amemptōs dielthein, epi pasi toutois diaprepsas tois en theosebeią katorthōmasi kai tais eis ton Christon tou theou homologiais, tǭ tou martyriou diadēmati katekosmēthē, epʼ autēs tēs tou katholikou praxeōs ton hyper eusebeias hypomeinas agōna.
And another, who held Roman rank, Adauctus by name, of a distinguished Italian family, a man who had advanced through every honor under the emperors, so as to have passed blamelessly through the general administrations of what they call the magistracy and the office of finance minister, besides all these being distinguished for his righteous deeds in godliness and for his confessions of the Christ of God, was adorned with the crown of martyrdom, enduring the contest for piety while actually holding the office of finance minister.
Notes and citation
Summary: Adauctus, a high Roman official of Italian family, was martyred while serving as imperial finance minister.
- “Finance minister” renders καθολικός (Latin rationalis).
Topics: Martyrdom
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.11.2 (Dindorf 4:365; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/8-2-1/#p-8-11-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.
Church 8, chapter 12
8.12.1Dindorf 4:365
Τί με χρὴ νῦν ἐπʼ ὀνόματος τῶν λοιπῶν μνημονεύειν, ἢ τὸ πλῆθος τῶν ἀνδρῶν ἀριθμεῖν, ἢ τὰς πολυτρόπους αἰκίας ἀναζωγραφεῖν τῶν θαυμασίων Χριστοῦ μαρτύρων, τοτὲ μὲν πέλυξιν ἀναιρουμένων, οἷα γέγονε τοῖς ἐπʼ Ἀραβίας, τοτὲ δὲ τὰ σκέλη καταγνυμένων, οἷα τοῖς ἐν Καππαδοκίᾳ συμβέβηκε, καὶ ποτὲ μὲν κατὰ κεφαλῆς ἐκ τοῖν ποδοῖν εἰς ὕψος ἀναρτωμένων, καὶ μαλθακοῦ πυρὸς ὑποκαιομένου τῷ παραπεμπομένῳ καπνῷ τῆς φλεγομένης ὕλης ἀποπνιγομένων, οἷα τοῖς ἐν Μέσῃ τῶν ποταμῶν ἐπήχθη, ποτὲ δὲ ῥῖνας καὶ ὦτα καὶ χεῖρας ἀκρωτηριαζομένων, τά τε λοιπὰ τοῦ σώματος μέλη καὶ μέρη κρεουργουμένων, οἷα τὰ ἐπʼ Ἀλεξανδρείας ἦν;
Ti me chrē nyn epʼ onomatos tōn loipōn mnēmoneuein, ē to plēthos tōn andrōn arithmein, ē tas polytropous aikias anazōgraphein tōn thaumasiōn Christou martyrōn, tote men pelyxin anairoumenōn, hoia gegone tois epʼ Arabias, tote de ta skelē katagnymenōn, hoia tois en Kappadokią symbebēke, kai pote men kata kephalēs ek toin podoin eis hypsos anartōmenōn, kai malthakou pyros hypokaiomenou tǭ parapempomenǭ kapnǭ tēs phlegomenēs hylēs apopnigomenōn, hoia tois en Mesę̄ tōn potamōn epēchthē, pote de rhinas kai ōta kai cheiras akrōtēriazomenōn, ta te loipa tou sōmatos melē kai merē kreourgoumenōn, hoia ta epʼ Alexandreias ēn?
Why need I now mention the rest by name, or number the multitude of the men, or picture the manifold outrages suffered by the wonderful martyrs of Christ: sometimes slain with axes, as happened to those in Arabia; sometimes having their legs broken, as befell those in Cappadocia; and at times hung up head downward by the feet over a slow fire and suffocated by the smoke rising from the burning wood, as was done to those in Mesopotamia; sometimes having their noses, ears, and hands cut off and the other limbs and parts of the body cut up like meat, as was done at Alexandria?
Notes and citation
Summary: Eusebius lists tortures in Arabia, Cappadocia, Mesopotamia, and Alexandria: axes, broken legs, suffocation by smoke, and mutilation.
Topics: Martyrdom, Persecution
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.12.1 (Dindorf 4:365; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/8-2-1/#p-8-12-1).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.
8.12.2Dindorf 4:365–366
τί δεῖ τῶν ἐπʼ Ἀντιοχείας ἀναζωπυρεῖν τὴν μνήμην, ἐσχάραις πυρὸς οὐκ εἰς θάνατον, ἀλλʼ ἐπὶ μακρᾷ τιμωρίᾳ κατοπτωμένων, ἑτέρων τε θᾶττον τὴν δεξιὰν αὐτῶν πυρὶ καθιέντων ἢ τῆς ἐναγοῦς θυσίας ἐφαπτομένων; ὧν τινὲς τὴν πεῖραν φεύγοντες, πρὶν ἁλῶναι καὶ εἰς χεῖρας τῶν ἐπιβούλων ἐλθεῖν, ἄνωθεν ἐξ ὑψηλῶν δωμάτων ἑαυτοὺς κατεκρήμνισαν, τὸν θάνατον ἅρπαγμα θέμενοι τῆς τῶν δυσσεβῶν μοχθηρίας.
ti dei tōn epʼ Antiocheias anazōpyrein tēn mnēmēn, escharais pyros ouk eis thanaton, allʼ epi makrą timōrią katoptōmenōn, heterōn te thatton tēn dexian autōn pyri kathientōn ē tēs enagous thysias ephaptomenōn? hōn tines tēn peiran pheugontes, prin halōnai kai eis cheiras tōn epiboulōn elthein, anōthen ex hypsēlōn dōmatōn heautous katekrēmnisan, ton thanaton harpagma themenoi tēs tōn dyssebōn mochthērias.
Why need we revive the memory of those at Antioch, who were roasted on gridirons, not to death but for prolonged punishment, and of others who thrust their right hands into the fire sooner than touch the polluted sacrifice? Some of them, to escape the trial, before being caught and falling into the hands of those who plotted against them, threw themselves down from high houses, regarding death as a prize snatched from the wickedness of the impious.
Notes and citation
Summary: At Antioch Christians were roasted on gridirons; some put their hands in the fire rather than sacrifice, and some leapt to their deaths to escape capture.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (doubled letter in the digital text; line-break hyphen left in the digital text): Ἀντιοχείαας → Ἀντιοχείας; κατοπτω- μένων → κατοπτωμένων.
Topics: Martyrdom, Persecution
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.12.2 (Dindorf 4:365–366; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/8-2-1/#p-8-12-2).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.
8.12.3Dindorf 4:366
καί τις ἱερὰ καὶ θαυμασία τὴν τῆς ψυχῆς ἀρετὴν, τὸ δὲ σῶμα γυνὴ, καὶ τὰ ἄλλα τῶν ἐπʼ Ἀντιοχείας πλούτω καὶ γένει καὶ εὐδοξίᾳ παρὰ πᾶσι βεβοημένη, παίδων ξυνωρίδα παρθένων, τῇ τοῦ σώματος ὥρᾳ καὶ ἀκμῇ διαπρεπουσῶν, θεσμοῖς εὐσεβείας ἀναθρεψαμένη, ἐπειδὴ πολὺς ὁ περὶ αὐτὰς κινούμενος φθόνος πάντα τρόπον ἀνιχνεύων λανθανούσας περιειργάζετο, εἶτα ἐπʼ ἀλλοδαπῆς αὐτὰς διατρίβειν μαθὼν πεφροντισμένως ἐπὶ τὴν Ἀντιόχειαν ἐκάλει, δικτύων δὲ ἤδη στρατιωτικῶν εἴσω περιβέβληντο, ἐν ἀμηχάνοις ἑαυτήν τε καὶ τὰς παῖδας θεασαμένη, καὶ τὰ μέλλοντα ἐξ ἀνθρώπων δεινὰ τῷ λόγῳ παραθεῖσα, τό τε πάντων δεινῶν ἀφορητότερον, πορνείας ἀπειλὴν, μηδὲ ἄκροις ὠσὶν ὑπομεῖναι δεῖν ἀκοῦσαι, ἑαυτῇ τε καὶ ταῖς κόραις παρακελευσαμένη, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ προδοῦναι τὰς ψυχὰς τῇ τῶν δαιμόνων δουλείᾳ πάντων ὑπάρχειν θανάτων καὶ πάσης χεῖρον ἀπωλείας φήσασα, μίαν τούτων ἀπάντων εἶναι λύσιν ὑπετίθετο, τὴν ἐπὶ τὸν κύριον καταφυγήν·
kai tis hiera kai thaumasia tēn tēs psychēs aretēn, to de sōma gynē, kai ta alla tōn epʼ Antiocheias ploutō kai genei kai eudoxią para pasi beboēmenē, paidōn xynōrida parthenōn, tę̄ tou sōmatos hōrą kai akmę̄ diaprepousōn, thesmois eusebeias anathrepsamenē, epeidē polys ho peri autas kinoumenos phthonos panta tropon anichneuōn lanthanousas perieirgazeto, eita epʼ allodapēs autas diatribein mathōn pephrontismenōs epi tēn Antiocheian ekalei, diktyōn de ēdē stratiōtikōn eisō peribeblēnto, en amēchanois heautēn te kai tas paidas theasamenē, kai ta mellonta ex anthrōpōn deina tǭ logǭ paratheisa, to te pantōn deinōn aphorētoteron, porneias apeilēn, mēde akrois ōsin hypomeinai dein akousai, heautę̄ te kai tais korais parakeleusamenē, alla kai to prodounai tas psychas tę̄ tōn daimonōn douleią pantōn hyparchein thanatōn kai pasēs cheiron apōleias phēsasa, mian toutōn apantōn einai lysin hypetitheto, tēn epi ton kyrion kataphygēn;
And a certain holy woman, admirable in virtue of soul though a woman in body, and otherwise renowned above all at Antioch for wealth, family, and good reputation, had brought up in the precepts of piety her two daughters, virgins distinguished by the bloom and beauty of their bodies. Since great envy was stirred up against them, searching out in every way where they were hiding, and then, learning that they were staying in a foreign place, deliberately summoned them to Antioch, they were already caught in the soldiers' nets. Seeing herself and her daughters in desperate straits, and setting before them in words the terrible things to be expected from men, and the most unbearable of all terrors, the threat of prostitution, she urged herself and the girls that they must not endure even to hear of it with the tips of their ears; and saying that to surrender their souls to the slavery of demons was worse than all deaths and every destruction, she proposed that there was one release from all these things: flight to the Lord.
Notes and citation
Summary: A noble Christian woman of Antioch and her two virgin daughters, arrested and threatened with forced prostitution, resolved to escape by death rather than be defiled or deny God.
- “Prostitution” renders πορνεία, elsewhere “sexual immorality”; here it means the threat of being forced into a brothel. Eusebius presents their choice approvingly; the church later discussed whether such suicides were permissible.
Topics: Martyrdom, Persecution
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.12.3 (Dindorf 4:366; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/8-2-1/#p-8-12-3).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.
8.12.4Dindorf 4:366
κἄπειτα ὁμοῦ τὴν γνώμην συνθέμεναι, τά τε σώματα περιστείλασαι κοσμίως τοῖς περιβλήμασιν, ἐπʼ αὐτῆς μέσης γενόμεναι τῆς ὁδοῦ, βραχύ τι τοὺς φύλακας εἰς ἀναχώρησιν ὑποπαραιτησάμεναι, ἐπὶ παραρρέοντα ποταμὸν ἑαυτὰς ἠκόντισαν.
kapeita homou tēn gnōmēn synthemenai, ta te sōmata peristeilasai kosmiōs tois periblēmasin, epʼ autēs mesēs genomenai tēs hodou, brachy ti tous phylakas eis anachōrēsin hypoparaitēsamenai, epi pararreonta potamon heautas ēkontisan.
And then, all agreeing in their resolve and decently wrapping their bodies in their garments, when they were in the middle of the road, they asked the guards for a little time to withdraw and threw themselves into the river flowing by.
Notes and citation
Summary: On the road the mother and daughters asked the guards for privacy and threw themselves into a river.
Topics: Martyrdom
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.12.4 (Dindorf 4:366; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/8-2-1/#p-8-12-4).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.
8.12.5Dindorf 4:366–367
αἵδε μὲν οὖν ἑαυτάς· ἄλλην δʼ ἐπʼ αὐτῆς Ἀντιοχείας ξυνωρίδα παρθένων τὰ πάντα θεοπρεπῶν καὶ ἀληθῶς ἀδελφῶν, ἐπιδόξων μὲν τὸ γένος, λαμπρῶν δὲ τὸν βίον, νέων τοὺς χρόνους, ὡραίων τὸ σῶμα, σεμνῶν τὴν ψυχὴν, εὐσεβῶν τὸν τρόπον, θαυμαστῶν τὴν σπουδὴν, ὡς ἂν μὴ φερούσης τῆς γῆς τὰ τοιαῦτα βαστάζειν, θαλάττῃ ῥίπτειν ἐκέλευον οἱ τῶν δαιμόνων θεραπευταί. ταῦτα μὲν οὖν παρὰ τοῖσδε.
haide men oun heautas; allēn dʼ epʼ autēs Antiocheias xynōrida parthenōn ta panta theoprepōn kai alēthōs adelphōn, epidoxōn men to genos, lamprōn de ton bion, neōn tous chronous, hōraiōn to sōma, semnōn tēn psychēn, eusebōn ton tropon, thaumastōn tēn spoudēn, hōs an mē pherousēs tēs gēs ta toiauta bastazein, thalattę̄ rhiptein ekeleuon hoi tōn daimonōn therapeutai. tauta men oun para toisde.
These, then, did it themselves. But another pair of virgins at Antioch itself, godly in every way and truly sisters, illustrious in family, splendid in life, young in years, fair in body, grave in soul, pious in conduct, admirable in zeal, the servants of demons ordered thrown into the sea, as though the earth could not bear to carry such. So much for these.
Notes and citation
Summary: Two virgin sisters of Antioch, noble and devout, were thrown into the sea.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (wrong accent in the digital text; wrong breathing and accent in the digital text): ἐκέλευον οἶ τῶν → ἐκέλευον οἱ τῶν; ταῦτα μὲν οὑν → ταῦτα μὲν οὖν.
Topics: Martyrdom
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.12.5 (Dindorf 4:366–367; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/8-2-1/#p-8-12-5).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.
8.12.6Dindorf 4:367
τὰ φρικτὰ δὲ ἀκοαῖς κατὰ τὸν Πόντον ἔπασχον ἕτεροι, καλάμοις ὀξέσι τοῖν χεροῖν ἐξ ἄκρων ὀνύχων τοὺς δακτύλους διαπειρόμενοι, καὶ ἄλλοι πυρὶ μολίβδου διατακέντος βρασσούσῃ καὶ πεπυρακτωμένῃ τῇ ὕλῃ τὰ νῶτα καταχεόμενοι, καὶ τὰ μάλιστα ἀναγκαιότατα τοῦ σώματος κατοπτώμενοι·
ta phrikta de akoais kata ton Ponton epaschon heteroi, kalamois oxesi toin cheroin ex akrōn onychōn tous daktylous diapeiromenoi, kai alloi pyri molibdou diatakentos brassousę̄ kai pepyraktōmenę̄ tę̄ hylę̄ ta nōta katacheomenoi, kai ta malista anankaiotata tou sōmatos katoptōmenoi;
Others in Pontus suffered things horrible to hear: their fingers were pierced with sharp reeds under the tips of the nails; others had molten lead, bubbling and red-hot, poured over their backs, and the most vital parts of the body roasted;
Notes and citation
Summary: In Pontus martyrs had reeds driven under their nails and molten lead poured over them.
Topics: Martyrdom, Persecution
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.12.6 (Dindorf 4:367; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/8-2-1/#p-8-12-6).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.
8.12.7Dindorf 4:367
διά τε τῶν ἀπορρήτων ἕτεροι μελῶν τε καὶ σπλάγχνων αἰσχρὰς καὶ ἀσυμπαθεῖς καὶ οὐδὲ λόγῳ ῥητὰς ὑπέμενον πάθας, ἃς οἶ γενναῖοι καὶ νόμιμοι δικασταὶ, τὴν σφῶν ἐπιδεικνύμενοι δεινότητα, ὥσπερ τινὰ σοφίας ἀρετὴν φιλοτιμότερον ἐπενόουν, ἀεὶ ταῖς καινότερον ἐφευρισκομέναις αἰκίαις, ὡσπερεὶ ἐν ἀγῶνος βραβείοις, ἀλλήλους ὑπερεξάγειν διαμιλλώμενοι.
dia te tōn aporrētōn heteroi melōn te kai splanchnōn aischras kai asympatheis kai oude logǭ rhētas hypemenon pathas, has oi gennaioi kai nomimoi dikastai, tēn sphōn epideiknymenoi deinotēta, hōsper tina sophias aretēn philotimoteron epenooun, aei tais kainoteron epheuriskomenais aikiais, hōsperei en agōnos brabeiois, allēlous hyperexagein diamillōmenoi.
others endured, in their private parts and bowels, shameful, pitiless, and unspeakable sufferings, which the noble and law-abiding judges, displaying their own cleverness, devised with rivalry as if it were some virtue of wisdom, always striving to outdo one another with newly invented outrages, as though for prizes in a contest.
Notes and citation
Summary: Judges competed to invent new and unspeakable tortures of the private parts.
- “Noble and law-abiding” is ironic.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (wrong accent in the digital text): ἀσυμπαθεῖς καἰ οὐδὲ → ἀσυμπαθεῖς καὶ οὐδὲ.
Topics: Martyrdom, Persecution
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.12.7 (Dindorf 4:367; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/8-2-1/#p-8-12-7).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.
8.12.8Dindorf 4:367
τὰ δʼ οὖν τῶν συμφορῶν ἔσχατα, ὅτε δὴ λοιπὸν ἀπειρηκότες ἐπὶ τῇ τῶν κακῶν ὑπερβολῇ καὶ πρὸς τὸ κτείνειν ἀποκαμόντες, πλησμονήν τε καὶ κόρον τῆς τῶν αἱμάτων ἐκχύσεως ἐσχηκότες, ἐπὶ τὸ νομιζόμενον αὐτοῖς χρηστὸν καὶ φιλάνθρωπον ἐτρέποντο, ὡς μηδὲν μὲν ἔτι δοκεῖν δεινὸν καθʼ ἡμῶν περιεργάζεσθαι·
ta dʼ oun tōn symphorōn eschata, hote dē loipon apeirēkotes epi tę̄ tōn kakōn hyperbolę̄ kai pros to kteinein apokamontes, plēsmonēn te kai koron tēs tōn haimatōn ekchyseōs eschēkotes, epi to nomizomenon autois chrēston kai philanthrōpon etreponto, hōs mēden men eti dokein deinon kathʼ hēmōn periergazesthai;
The last of these calamities came when, at length, worn out by the excess of evils and weary of killing, and having had their fill and surfeit of shedding blood, they turned to what they considered kindness and humanity, so that they seemed no longer to be doing anything terrible against us.
Notes and citation
Summary: At last, tired of killing, the persecutors turned to what they called kindness.
Topics: Persecution
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.12.8 (Dindorf 4:367; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/8-2-1/#p-8-12-8).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.
8.12.9Dindorf 4:367–368
μὴ γὰρ καθήκειν φασὶν αἵμασιν ἐμφυλίοις μιαίνειν τὰς πόλεις, μηδʼ ἐπʼ ὠμότητι τῇ ἀνωτάτω διαβάλλειν τὴν τῶν κρατούντων ἀρχὴν, εὐμενῆ τοῖς πᾶσιν ὑπάρχουσαν καὶ πραεῖαν, δεῖν δὲ μᾶλλον τῆς φιλανθρώπου καὶ βασιλικῆς ἐξουσίας εἰς πάντας ἐκτείνεσθαι τὴν εὐεργεσίαν, μηκέτι θανάτῳ κολαζομένους· λελύσθαι γὰρ αὐτῶν καθʼ ἡμῶν ταύτην τὴν τιμωρίαν, διὰ τὴν τῶν κρατούντων φιλανθρωπίαν.
mē gar kathēkein phasin haimasin emphyliois miainein tas poleis, mēdʼ epʼ ōmotēti tę̄ anōtatō diaballein tēn tōn kratountōn archēn, eumenē tois pasin hyparchousan kai praeian, dein de mallon tēs philanthrōpou kai basilikēs exousias eis pantas ekteinesthai tēn euergesian, mēketi thanatǭ kolazomenous; lelysthai gar autōn kathʼ hēmōn tautēn tēn timōrian, dia tēn tōn kratountōn philanthrōpian.
For they said it was not fitting to defile the cities with the blood of their own people, nor to bring the government of the rulers, which was kindly and gentle to all, into disrepute for extreme cruelty; rather, the benevolence of the humane imperial authority should extend to all, and they should no longer be punished with death: for this punishment of theirs against us had been abolished because of the humanity of the rulers.
Notes and citation
Summary: The authorities announced that, out of imperial humanity, Christians would no longer be put to death.
Topics: Persecution
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.12.9 (Dindorf 4:367–368; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/8-2-1/#p-8-12-9).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.
8.12.10Dindorf 4:368
τηνικαῦτα ὀφθαλμοὺς ἐξορύττεσθαι καὶ τοῖν σκελοῖν πηροῦσθαι θάτερον προσετάττετο. ταῦτα γὰρ ἦν αὐτοῖς τὰ φιλάνθρωπα, καὶ τῶν καθʼ ἡμῶν τιμωριῶν τὰ κουφότατα, ὥστε ἤδη ταύτης ἕνεκα τῆς τῶν ἀσεβῶν φιλανθρωπίας οὐκέτʼ εἶναι δυνατὸν ἐξειπεῖν τὸ πλῆθος τῶν ὑπὲρ πάντα λόγον τοὺς μὲν δεξιοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς ξίφει πρότερον ἐκκοπτομένων, καὶ μετὰ τὴν ἐκκέντησιν τούτους πυρὶ καυτηριαζομένων, τοὺς δὲ λαιοὺς πόδας κατὰ τῶν ἀγκυλῶν αὖθις καυτῆρσιν ἀχρειουμένων, μετά τε ταῦτα τοῖς κατʼ ἐπαρχίαν χαλκοῦ μετάλλοις οὐχ ὑπηρεσίας τοσοῦτον, ὅσον κακώσεως καὶ ταλαιπωρίας ἕνεκεν καταδικαζομένων, πρὸς ἅπασί τε τούτοις ἄλλων ἄλλοις ἀγῶσιν, οὓς μηδὲ καταλέγειν δυνατόν, (νικᾷ γὰρ πάντα λόγον τὰ κατʼ αὐτοὺς ἀνδραγαθήματα), περιπεπτωκότων.
tēnikauta ophthalmous exoryttesthai kai toin skeloin pērousthai thateron prosetatteto. tauta gar ēn autois ta philanthrōpa, kai tōn kathʼ hēmōn timōriōn ta kouphotata, hōste ēdē tautēs heneka tēs tōn asebōn philanthrōpias ouketʼ einai dynaton exeipein to plēthos tōn hyper panta logon tous men dexious ophthalmous xiphei proteron ekkoptomenōn, kai meta tēn ekkentēsin toutous pyri kautēriazomenōn, tous de laious podas kata tōn ankylōn authis kautērsin achreioumenōn, meta te tauta tois katʼ eparchian chalkou metallois ouch hypēresias tosouton, hoson kakōseōs kai talaipōrias heneken katadikazomenōn, pros hapasi te toutois allōn allois agōsin, hous mēde katalegein dynaton, (niką gar panta logon ta katʼ autous andragathēmata), peripeptōkotōn.
Then it was ordered that their eyes be gouged out and one of their legs be maimed. For this was their humanity, and the lightest of their punishments against us; so that because of this humanity of the impious it is no longer possible to tell the number, beyond all words, of those whose right eyes were first cut out with the sword and then cauterized with fire, and whose left feet were then disabled at the joints by branding irons, and who after this were condemned to the copper mines in the provinces, not so much for service as for ill-treatment and misery; and besides all these, of those who fell into various other contests, which it is not even possible to list (for their brave deeds surpass all words).
Notes and citation
Summary: The “humane” penalty was to put out an eye, cripple a foot, and send Christians to the copper mines.
Topics: Persecution, Martyrdom
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.12.10 (Dindorf 4:368; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/8-2-1/#p-8-12-10).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.
8.12.11Dindorf 4:368
ἐν δὴ τούτοις ἐφʼ ὅλης τῆς οἰκουμένης διαλάμψαντες οἱ μεγαλοπρεπεῖς τοῦ Χριστοῦ μάρτυρες τοὺς μὲν ἁπανταχοῦ τῆς ἀνδρείας αὐτῶν ἐπόπτας εἰκότως κατεπλήξαντο, τῆς δὲ τοῦ σωτῆρος ἡμῶν θείας ὡς ἀληθῶς καὶ ἀπορρήτου δυνάμεως ἐμφανῆ διʼ ἑαυτῶν τὰ τεκμήρια παρεστήσαντο. ἑκάστου μὲν οὖν ἐπʼ ὀνόματος μνημονεύειν μακρὸν ἂν εἴη, μή τί γε τῶν ἀδυνάτων,
en dē toutois ephʼ holēs tēs oikoumenēs dialampsantes hoi megaloprepeis tou Christou martyres tous men hapantachou tēs andreias autōn epoptas eikotōs kateplēxanto, tēs de tou sōtēros hēmōn theias hōs alēthōs kai aporrētou dynameōs emphanē diʼ heautōn ta tekmēria parestēsanto. hekastou men oun epʼ onomatos mnēmoneuein makron an eiē, mē ti ge tōn adynatōn,
In these, then, the magnificent martyrs of Christ, shining throughout the whole world, naturally astonished those everywhere who witnessed their courage, and through themselves presented manifest proofs of the truly divine and ineffable power of our Savior. To mention each by name would be a long task, not to say an impossible one,
Notes and citation
Summary: The martyrs' courage amazed onlookers everywhere and showed the divine power of Christ; to name them all is impossible.
Topics: Martyrdom
Cite (SBL): Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.12.11 (Dindorf 4:368; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/8-2-1/#p-8-12-11).
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.