Eusebius of Caesarea, Life of Constantine 1.19
created: This entry is taken from Life of Constantine 1.19 written by Eusebius of Caesare
edition published: 2023-06-30-05:00
language: grc; grc
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https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/130

Caesarea Maritima is indirectly attested at Eusebius of Caesarea, Life of Constantine 1.19. This passage was written ca. 335-339 C.E. possibly in Caesarea. In this passage from his biography of Constantine the Great, Eusebius describes the physical and spritual virtues of the adolescent. The historian refers to seeing Constantine himself, presumably at Caesarea, during the young man’s visit to Palestine in the company of the senior emperor Diocletian in 301/2 C.E.

Συνῆν μὲν γὰρ οὑτος τοῖς τῆς βασιλείας κοινωνοῖς, καὶ μέσοις αὐτοῖς, ὡς εἵρηται, κατ’ αὐτὸν ἐκεῖνον τὸν παλαιὸν τοῦ θεοῦ προφήτην τὰς διατριβὰς ἐποιεῖτο. ἤδη δ’ ἐκ τοῦ παιδὸς ἐπὶ τὸν νεανίαν τιμῆς τῆς πρώτης παρ’ αὐτοῖς ἠξιοῦτο. Οἷον αὐτὸν καὶ ἡμεῖς ἔγνωμεν τὸ Παλαιστινῶν διερχόμενον ἔθνος σὺν τῷ πρεσβυτέρῳ τῶν βασιλέων, οὗ καὶ ἐπὶ δεξιὰ παρεστὼς περιφανέστατος ἦν τοῖς ὁρᾶν θέλουσιν, οἷός τε βασιλικοῦ φρονήματος ἐξ ἐκείνου τεκμήρια παρέχων. σώματος μὲν γὰρ εἰς κάλλους ὥραν μέγεθός τε ἡλικίας οὐδ’ ἦν αὐτῷ παραβαλεῖν ἔτερον, ῥώμῃ δ’ ἱσχύος τοσοῦτον ἐπλεονέκτει τοὺς ὁμήλικας ὡς καὶ φοβερὸν αὐτοῖς εἶναι, ταῖς δὲ κατὰ ψυχὴν ἀρεταῖς μᾶλλον ἢ τοῖς κατὰ τὸ σῶμα πλεονεκτήμασιν ἐνηβρύνετο, σωφροσύνῃ πρώτιστα τὴν ψυχὴν κοσμούμενος πάντων, κἄπειτα παιδεύσει λόγων φρονήσει τ’ ἐμφύτῳ καὶ τῇ θεοσδότῳ σοφίᾳ διαφερόντως ἐκπρέπων.

[Ed. Winkelmann 1991]

This son (sc. Constantine) was with his imperial colleagues (sc. the tetrarchs); and in their midst, as has been said, he conducted himself in the same way as the ancient prophet of God. Now that he had passed from childhood to youth, he was granted highest honor among them. As such we knew him ourselves as he travelled through the land of Palestine in the company of the senior emperor (sc. Diocletian), at whose right he stood, a noble sight for those with eyes to see, able already to display an Imperial quality of mind. In handsome physique and bodily height no other could bear comparison with him; in physical strength he so exceeded his contemporaries as even to put them in fear; he took pride in moral qualities rather than physical superiority, ennobling his soul first and foremost with self-control, and thereafter distinguishing himself by the excellence of his rhetorical education, his instinctive shrewdness and his God-given wisdom.

[Rev. Cameron and Hill 1999] [“as has been said, he conducted himself in the same way as the ancient prophet of God”: the simile compares Constantine among the tetrarchs to Moses among the Egyptians.]

Works Cited

[...] 1.19
[...] 77, 197-198

[Palestine]

[Constantine I, Emperor

Diocletian, emperor

Eusebius of Caesarea

Moses the Prophet]

[Byzantine History

Christianity

Family

Government and Law

Medicine and Biology

Travel]