Eusebius of Caesarea, Martyrs of Palestine 1.1-1.2
https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/121
Text
Πρῶτος τοιγαροῦν τῶν ἐπὶ Παλαιστίνης μαρτύρων Προκόπιος, πρὶν ἢ φυλακῆς πεῖραν λαβεῖν, εὐθὺς ἀπὸ πρώτης εἰσόδου τοῖς ἡγεμονικοῖς παραστὰς δικαστηρίοις, θύειν τε τοῖς λεγομένοις προσταχθεὶς θεοῖς, ἔνα μόνον ἔφησεν εἰδέναι, ᾧ καθῆκεν ὡς αὐτὸς βούλεται θύειν· ὡς δὲ κἂν τοῖς βασιλεῦσι τέσσαρσι σπένδειν ἐκελεύετο, ῥῆμά τι φθεγξάμενος τῶν οὐ προσηνῶν αὐτοῖς αὐτίκα τὴν κεφαλὴν άποτέμνεται, τὸ ποιητικὸν εἰπὼν ἐκεῖνο “οὐκ ἀγαθὸν πολυκοιρανίη, εἷς κοίρανος ἔστω, εἶς βασιλεύς.” Δεσίου μηνὸς ἑβδόμῃ, πρὸ ἑπτὰ εἰδῶν Ἰουνίων λέγοιτ’ ἂν παρὰ Ῥωμαίοις, ἡμέρᾳ τετράδι σαββάτου τοῦτο πρῶτον ἐπὶ Καισαρείας τῆς Παλαιστίνης ἀπετελέσθη σημεῖον.1
Translation
The first of the martyrs of Palestine was Procopius, who, before he had received the trial of imprisonment, immediately on his first appearance before the governor’s tribunal, having been ordered to sacrifice to the so-called gods, declared that he knew only one to whom it was proper to sacrifice, as he himself wills. But when he was commanded to offer libations to the four emperors, having quoted a sentence which displeased them, he was immediately beheaded. The quotation was from the poet: “The rule of many is not good; let there be one ruler and one king.” It was the seventh day of the month Desius, the seventh before the ides of June, as the Romans reckon, and the fourth day of the week, when this first example was given at Caesarea in Palestine.
2
Works Cited
- 1 Eusebius of Caesarea, De martyribus Palaestinae (Recensio Brevior): Machine Readable Text, ed. Wilhelm Dindorf (Leipzig: University of Leipzig, 2014), section: 1.1-1.2.
- 2 Eusebius of Caesarea, Martyrs of Palestine: Machine Readable Text, ed. Philip Schaff, trans. Arthur Cushman McGiffert (Grand Rapids, MI: Christian Classics Ethereal Library, 1993), section: 1.1-1.2.
Additional Bibliography
- Eusebius of Caesarea, Liber de martyribus Palestinae, in Eusebii Caesariensis Opera, ed. Wilhelm Dindorf, vol. 4, Bibliotheca scriptorum Graecorum et Romanorum Teubneriana (Leipzig: Teubner, 1867), 383–418, section: 1.1-1.2.
- Eusebius of Caesarea, Martyrs of Palestine, in Eusebius: Church History, Life of Constantine the Great, and Oration in Praise of Constantine., ed. Arthur Cushman McGiffert et al., repr. of American ed., Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers. 2nd Series 1 (New York: Christian Literature Publishing, 1890), 342–56, section: 1.1-1.2.
How to Cite This Entry
Eliana Yonan et al., “Eusebius of Caesarea, Martyrs of Palestine 1.1-1.2,” in Caesarea Maritima: A Collection of Testimonia, entry published June 10, 2020, https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/121.
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Bibliography:
Eliana Yonan et al., “Eusebius of Caesarea, Martyrs of Palestine 1.1-1.2.” 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 June 10, 2020. https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/121.About this Entry
Entry Title: Eusebius of Caesarea, Martyrs of Palestine 1.1-1.2
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, Martyrs of Palestine 1.1-1.2”
- Eliana Yonan and Joseph L. Rife, entry contributors, “Eusebius of Caesarea, Martyrs of Palestine 1.1-1.2”
Additional Credit:
- TEI encoding by William L. Potter
- Electronic text added by Eliana Yonan
- Testimonia identified by Joseph L. Rife