Church History 8.14.17 · Sophia Scriptura

Greek text · Dindorf 4:376

ὡς γὰρ ἐπιστάντας τῷ οἴκῳ τοὺς τὰ τοιαῦτα τῷ τυράννῳ διακονουμένους ἐπύθετο, Χριστιανὴ δὲ καὶ αὕτη ἦν), τόν τε ἄνδρα τὸν αὐτῆς, καὶ ταῦτα Ῥωμαίων ὄντα ἔπαρχον, τοῦ δέους ἕνεκα λαβόντας ἄγειν αὐτὴν ἐπιτρέψαντα, εἰς βραχὺν ὑποπαραιτησαμένη, ὡς ἂν δὴ κατακοσμηθείη τὸ σῶμα, εἴσεισιν ἐπὶ τοῦ ταμιείου, καὶ μονωθεῖσα ξίφος καθʼ ἑαυτῆς πήγνυσι, θανοῦσά τε παραχρῆμα τὸν μὲν νεκρὸν τοῖς προαγωγοῖς καταλιμπάνει, ἔργοις δʼ αὐτοῖς ἁπάσης φωνῆς γεγωνοτέροις, ὅτι μόνον χρημάτων ἀήττητόν τε καὶ ἀνώλεθρον ἡ παρὰ Χριστιανοῖς ἀρετὴ πέφυκεν, εἰς πάντας ἀνθρώπους τούς τε νῦν ὄντας καὶ τοὺς μετὰ ταῦτα γενησομένους ἐξέφηνε.

English · Claude translation

For when she learned that those who served the tyrant in such matters were at the house (she too was a Christian), and that her husband, though he was prefect of Rome, had allowed them out of fear to take her and lead her away, she asked to be excused for a short time, as if to adorn her body, went into her chamber, and, alone, drove a sword into herself. Dying at once, she left her corpse to the procurers; but by deeds louder than any voice she showed to all people, both those now living and those yet to be, that the virtue found among Christians is the only thing unconquerable and indestructible.

About this passage

Source

Dindorf 4:376 · Wilhelm Dindorf, ed., Eusebii Caesariensis Opera, vol. 4: Historiae ecclesiasticae libri I–X (Leipzig: Teubner, 1871) · Greek text: W. Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Leipzig: Teubner, 1871), digitized by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0

Text

As printed in Dindorf, Eusebii Opera 4. Manuscript variants and the editor's apparatus are not reproduced; no textual problem is noted in this passage.

Translation

Claude translation (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27 · Translated by Claude from the Greek text of Dindorf, Eusebii Caesariensis Opera 4 (Teubner, 1871); made independently of existing English translations.

Compare

Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 1 (1890) (an older public-domain English translation, whole volume at CCEL; checked against ours only after ours was made)

Topics

Persecution, Ethics

Notes

Translation notes

The digital text lacks the opening parenthesis before “she too was a Christian”. Eusebius praises her act as courage; he does not discuss the morality of suicide.

Notes on the original text

Digital text corrected (repeated syllable in the digital text): Χριστιανοῖς νοῖς ἀρετὴ → Χριστιανοῖς ἀρετὴ.

Cite this passage

Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.14.17 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/8/14/17/).

Plain text

Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 8.14.17 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/eusebius-historia/8/14/17/).