Epiphanius of Salamis, Weights and Measures 18.506-518
created: This entry is taken from Weights and Measures 18.506-518 written by Epiphanius o
edition published: 2023-06-30-05:00
language: grc; grc
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https://caesarea-maritima.org/testimonia/338

Καισαρείᾳ

,

Καισάρειαν τὴν Στράτωνος

,

Caesarea

, and

Straton’s Caesarea

are directly attested at Epiphanius of Salamis, Weights and Measures 18.506-518. This passage was written ca. 392 C.E. possibly in Constantinople. Epiphanius, who spent his early life and career as a student and monk in southern Palestine and Egypt, was appointed bishop of Salamis on Cyprus in ca. 365-367 C.E., a post he held until his death in 403 C.E. Apart from his staunch defense of Orthodoxy, he was also a renowned scholar. At the invitation of the emperors he wrote a compendium of linguistic, historical, metrological, geographical knowledge that was later entitled On Weights and Measures (Περὶ μέτρων καὶ στάθμων). It survives in a complete, earlier Syriac version and a fragmentary, later Greek version. In this passage from the Greek version on the reign of Decius, Epiphanius discusses the career of Origen.

Τοῦτον διεδέξατο Δέκιος καὶ ἐβασίλευσεν ἐνιαυτὸν ἕνα καὶ μῆνας γʹ. Ἐν τοῖς χρόνοις Δεκίου Ὠριγένης ἐγνωρίζετο ἀπὸ χρόνων Δεκίου ἀκμάσας ἕως χρόνων Γαλιήνου καὶ Οὐολουσιανοῦ καὶ ἐπέκεινα. Ἐπὶ δὲ τοῦ διωγμοῦ τοῦ προειρημένου Δεκίου γεγονότος ἐμαρτύρησε Βαβύλας μὲν ἐν Ἀντιοχείᾳ, Φλαβιανὸς δὲ ἐπὶ Ῥώμης, Ἀλέξανδρος ἐπίσκοπος Ἱεροσολύμων ἐν Καισαρείᾳ. Καὶ αὐτὸς δὲ Ὠριγένης ὁ καὶ Ἀδαμάντιος κληθεὶς πολλὰ πεπονθὼς εἰς τέλος τοῦ μαρτυρίου οὐκ ἔφθασεν. Ἐλθὼν δὲ εἰς Καισάρειαν τὴν Στράτωνος καὶ διατρίψας εἰς Ἱεροσόλυμα χρόνον ὀλίγον, εἶτα ἐλθὼν εἰς Τύρον ἐπὶ ἔτη κηʹ, ὡς ὁ λόγος ἔχει, τὴν μὲν πολιτείαν ἐνησκεῖτο, τὰς δὲ γραφὰς ἡρμήνευσεν, ὅτε καὶ τὰ ἑξαπλᾶ καὶ τὰς δύο τῶν ἑβραϊκῶν σελίδας ἄντικρυ ἐκ παραλλήλου μιᾶς ἑρμηνείας πρὸς τὴν ἑτέραν συνέθηκεν ἑξαπλᾶ τὰς βίβλους ὀνομάσας, καθ’ ἅπερ ἄνω διὰ πλάτους εἴρηται.

[Ed. Moutsoulas 1973]

Decius succeeded this one (sc. Philip the Arab) and ruled for one year and three months. In the time of Decius Origen grew famous, flourishing from the reign of Decius until the reigns of Gallienus and Volusianus and their successors. During the persecution of the aforementioned Decius, Babylas was martyred in Antioch, Flavianus in Rome, and Alexander the bishop of Jerusalem in Caesarea. Origen himself, called the Man of Steel, suffered many things but did not reach the end of his life in martyrdom. After he came to Straton’s Caesarea and spent a short time in Jerusalem, he went to Tyre. For 28 years, so the story goes, he devoted himself to an ascetic regimen and translated the Scriptures. He compiled six columns (of Greek text) opposite two columns of Hebrew (text), one translation facing opposite the other, calling the books Hexapla, just as has been fully related above. [Trans. J. L. Rife]

Works Cited

[...] 18.506-518 180-181

[Epiphanius, Weights and Measures, Syriac 57a-b

Hexapla

Jerome, Illustrious Men 54]

[Antioch

Jerusalem

Rome

Tyre]

[Alexander of Jerusalem

Babylas

Decius, emperor

Flavian

Gallienus, emperor

Origen

Philip the Arab, emperor

Volusianus, emperor]

[Christian Bible

Christianity

Death and Burial

Government and Law

Greek Language

Hebrew Language

Roman History

Society and Culture]