Eusebius of Caesarea, Church History 6.39
https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/110
Text
Ἀλλὰ γὰρ Φίλιππον ἔτεσιν ἑπτὰ βασιλεύσαντα διαδέχεται Δέκιος, ὃς δὴ τοῦ πρὸς Φίλιππον ἔχθους ἕνεκα κατὰ τόν ἐκκλησιῶν ἐγείρει, ἐν ᾧ Φαβιανοῦ ἐπὶ Ῥώμης μαρτυρίῳ τελειωθέντος Κορνήλιος τὴν ἐπισκοπὴν διαδέχεται. ἐπὶ δὲ Παλαιστίνης Ἀλέξανδρος ὁ τῆς Ἱεροσολύμων ἐκκλησίας ἐπίσκοπος, αὖθις διὰ Χριστὸν ἐν τῇ Καισαρείᾳ ἡγεμονικοῖς παραστὰς δικαστηρίοις, καὶ ἐπὶ δευτέρᾳ διαπρέψας ὁμολογίᾳ, δεσμωτηρίου πειρᾶται, λιπαρῷ γήρει καὶ σεμνῇ πολιᾷ κατεστεμμένος. τούτου δὲ μετὰ τὴν ἐν τοῖς ἡγεμονικοῖς δικαστηρίοις λαμπρὰν καὶ περιφανῆ μαρτυρίαν ἐπὶ τῆς εἱρκτῆς κοιμηθέντος, Μαζαβάνης διάδοχος τῆς ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις ἐπισκοπῆς ἀναδείκυται. τῷ δ᾿ Ἀλεξάνδρῳ παραπλησίως ἐν Ἀντιοχείᾳ τοῦ Βαβύλα μετὰ τὴν ὁμολογίαν ἐν δεσμωτηρίῳ μεταλλάξαντος Φάβιος τῆς αὐτόθι προΐσταται ἐκκλησίας. τὰ μὲν οὖν Ὠριγένει κατὰ τὸν διωγμὸν συμβάντα οἷα καὶ ὅσα, καὶ ὁποίας ἔτυχε τελευτῆς, τοῦ πονηροῦ δαίμονος ἐφαμίλλως τῷ ἀνδρὶ πανστρατιᾷ παραταξαμένου, πάσῃ τε μηχανῇ καὶ δυνάμει κατ᾿ αὐτοῦ στρατηγήσαντος, παρὰ πάντας τε τοὺς τηνικάδε πολεμηθέντας διαφερόντως ἐπισκήψαντος αὐτῷ, οἷά τε καὶ ὅσα διὰ τὸν Χριστοῦ λόγον ὁ ἀνὴρ ὑπέμεινε δεσμὰ καὶ βασάνους τὰς κατὰ τοῦ σώματος, τάς τε ὑπὸ σιδηρῷ κλοιῷ καὶ μυχοῖς εἱρκτῆς τιμωρίας, καὶ ὡς ἐπὶ πλείσταις ἡμέραις τοὺς πόδας ὑπὸ τέσσαρα τοῦ κολαστηρίου ξύλου παραταθεὶς διαστήματα κατασπώμενος πυρός τε ἀπειλὰς καὶ ὅσα ἄλλα πρὸς τῶν ἐχθρῶν ἐπενεχθέντα καρτερῶς ἤνεγκεν, οἵου τε τὰ κατ᾿ αὐτὸν ἔτυχε τέλους, μηδαμῶς αὐτὸν ἀνελεῖν παντὶ σθένει τοῦ δικαστοῦ φιλονείκως ἐνστάντος, ὁποίας τε μετὰ ταύτα καταλείπει φωνὰς, καὶ αὐτὰς πλήρεις τοῖς ἀναλήψεως δεομένοις ὠφελείας, πλεῖσται ὅσαι τἀνδρὸς ἐπιστολαὶ τἀληθὲς ὁμοῦ καὶ ἀκριβὲς περιέχουσι.1
Translation
When Philip had reigned for seven years he was succeeded by Decius. He, on account of his enmity towards Philip, raised a persecution against the churches, in which Fabian came to and end by martyrdom at Rome, and was succeeded in the episcopate by Cornelius. In Palestine, Alexander, the bishop of the church of Jerusalem, appeared once more for Christ’s sake at Caesarea before the governor’s courts, and for the second time distinguished himself by the confession he made; he underwent the trial of imprisonment, crowned with the venerable hoary locks of ripe old age. And when after the splendid and manifest testimony that he gave in the governor’s courts he fell asleep in prison, Mazabanes was proclaimed his successor in the episcopate at Jerusalem. And when at Antioch Babylas, in like manner to Alexander, after confession departed this life in prison, Fabius was made presiding officer of the church there. Now the nature and extent of that which happened to Origen at the time of the persecution, and what was the end thereof; how the evil demon marshalled all his forces in rivalry agrialnst the man, how he led them with every device and power, and singled him out, above all others upon whom he made war at that time, for special attack; the nature and extent of which he endured for the word of Christ, chains and tortures, punishments inflicted on his body, punishments as he lay in iron and in the recesses of is dungeon; and how, when for many days his feet were stretched four spaces in that instrument of torture, the stocks, he bore with a stout heart threats of fire and everything else that was inflicted by his enemies; and the kind of issue he had thereof, the judge eagerly striving with all his might on no account to put him to death; and what sort of sayings he left behind him after this, sayings full of help for those ho needed uplifting —[of all these matters] the man’s numerous letters contain both a true and accurate account.2
Translation Note
Translation corrected and adapted from its source.Corrigenda Note
Inaccuracies found in the transcription of the electronic text compared to its printed source have been corrected.Works Cited
- 1 Eusebius of Caesarea, Historia ecclesiastica: Machine Readable Text, ed. Wilhelm Dindorfius (Leipzig: University of Leipzig, 2014), section: 6.39.
- 2 Eusebius of Caesarea, Historia ecclesiastica [English Translation]: Machine Readable Text, trans. Kirsopp Lake (Leipzig: University of Leipzig, 2014), section: 6.39.
Additional Bibliography
- Eusebius of Caesarea, Eusebii Caesariensis opera, ed. Wilhelm Dindorf, vol. 4, Bibliotheca scriptorum Graecorum et Romanorum Teubneriana (Leipzig: B. G. Teubner, 1867), section: 6.39.
- Eusebius of Caesarea, The Ecclesiastical History: Books 1-5, trans. Kirsopp Lake, vol. 1, 2 vols., Loeb Classical Library 153 (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1926), section: 6.39.
How to Cite This Entry
William L. Potter et al., “Eusebius of Caesarea, Church History 6.39,” in Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia, entry published April 29, 2020, https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/110.
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Bibliography:
William L. Potter et al., “Eusebius of Caesarea, Church History 6.39.” In Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia, edited by Joseph L. Rife., edited by Joseph L. Rife. Caesarea City and Port Exploration Project, 2020. Entry published April 29, 2020. https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/110.About this Entry
Entry Title: Eusebius of Caesarea, Church History 6.39
Authorial and Editorial Responsibility:
- Joseph L. Rife, general editor, Vanderbilt University
- Joseph L. Rife, editor, Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia
- David A. Michelson, Daniel L. Schwartz, and William L. Potter, technical editors, “Eusebius of Caesarea, Church History 6.39”
- William L. Potter and Joseph L. Rife, entry contributors, “Eusebius of Caesarea, Church History 6.39”
Additional Credit:
- TEI encoding by William L. Potter
- Electronic text added by William L. Potter
- Testimonia identified by Joseph L. Rife