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Eusebius....
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Eusebius of Caesarea in
Palestine (the Roman empire
offered many cities with the name), sometimes known as 'Pamphilus' or the
'son of Pamphilus,' was born a little after A.D. 260, became bishop of
Caesarea about 313 and lived there until his death in 339. Perhaps because
of his Panegyric of Constantine as well as his long
Life of Constantine, Eusebius is always linked with the
Christian emperor;
in fact, he encountered Constantine but rarely, and his information about
his emperor is mostly secondhand. |
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Eusebius also wrote quite a number of other works,
ranging from the theological treatises and works on
Christian Scripture to
the Ecclesiastical History. He seems to have taken quite an interest in martyrs; his
history offers many examples treated at length, and his Martyrs of
Palestine
was written in several editions over a period of years. Indeed, one of the
problems with any study of Eusebius is the number and the dating of the
editions of his works. I shall not attempt any further remarks here, but
refer readers to T.D. Barnes, Constantine and
Eusebius (Cambridge, Mass.,
1981), who treats the problems thoroughly and refers to detailed discussions
of his own and those of others. |
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Eusebius devotes a considerable portion of his
ecclesiastical history, particularly the first seven books (which he
finished before the Great Persecution of Diocletianic times), to doctrinal
matters and heresy, the successions of bishops, etc. For the student of
history, these may be of somewhat less interest. I have therefore abstracted
from Books VI and VII those portions which refer to emperors from Septimius
Severus onwards, as well as the persecutions of the third century and the
experiences of the persecuted, though complete versions of these books are
available through the links below. When he wrote ecclesiastical history
again, his perspective seems to have changed somewhat. |
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Consequently, Books
VIII, IX and X address, with little exception, emperors, persecutions and
martyrdom. I have therefore included complete versions only; these books are
in any case considerably shorter than Books VI and VII. Throughout his
historical work, especially, Eusebius is fond of quoting documents, whether
these be imperial decrees which he has translated from the Latin into
Greek or letters written by bishops and others. The
historicity of some documents has occasionally been impugned. Of this the
reader should be aware, but my brief notes can hardly do justice to the
topic, and the absence of a note ought not to be regarded as indicative of
veracity. |
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